It’s been one week of absolutely no running.

NO RUNNING….AND I DID THIS ON PURPOSE…

AND I SURVIVED!!!

It has been a strange week.

It’s going to be a couple of strange weeks.

I’ve officially put myself on a running hiatus after training for and participating in two 50ks in the last few months (Holiday Lake and Grayson Highlands).

Basically, I’ve been in training mode since December and need a month off for mental and physical health.

One of my life goals is to stay a lifelong athlete. I need competition in my life. I always want to be competing because competition brings me joy, purpose, a reason to stay healthy, adventure, inspiration and so much more.

Also, I never want to lose my “super power” of being able to run up mountains like a freaking goat.  To keep this ability sharp I have to avoid overuse injury.

To be a lifelong athlete, it is important to take time off.  Not time off from being active, mind you, just time off from trail running.  This allows the body to recover and the mind to relax a bit.  So until June I am not signing up for any future events (beside a few backpacking trips I’m planning).

Instead for the month of May I’m doing two things:

1. Focusing my running muscles and joints on recovery
2. Expanding my horizons in different activities

I’m going to be doing much more yoga, bodyweight training, biking and swimming (if my face doesn’t swell up like the StayPuff Marshmallow Man again).

I’m not going to be in “training mode” per se so I won’t be on as strict of a diet or a training regime.  This doesn’t mean I won’t eat healthy most of the time, but it does mean that if someone offers me some cheesecake you can bet your life I’m not turning it down (and I’ll probably ask for seconds…sue me).

This is going to be a fun FUN month.  I’m looking forward to trying some new activities.  And I’ll make sure to report on my adventures (hopefully none involving face-planting on the bike)!

(Also I owe you guys a Grayson Highlands report which I promise I’ll post sometime this week…less training also equals more writing)

SIDE NOTE: I am signed up for a trail series in my town that I will be participating in once a week.  Each Wednesday in May about 45 people will run a 4-6 mile loop on the trails.  Times will be updated every week until there is an overall winner (think NASCAR for trail runners).  I’ve skipped it the last two years and wanted to make sure I signed up this year….though I probably won’t be competing too hard.

JUNK MILES

Miles you just run to do it.  You’re not really pushing yourself, not really mentally present.  You are just hooked on running and you are running to run.  These are not only unnecessary, but harmful to training.  They don’t fit into your plan; they are a waste of time.  You just think you need to run more and more and more.

Junk miles are bad and are counterproductive to training.  They are also an easy vice to fall into.  The miles where you feel like an addict “Gotta get the miles in” or “I haven’t ran for 18 hours better go out and do some more miles.”

These are the opposite of rest and recovery miles.  Which brings us to….

RECOVERY MILES

Miles you run to loosen up the legs.  A day out from a long hard training day you might run 4 or 5 recovery miles just to help your legs recover.

These ARE a part of your training plan and ARE necessary for a successful training cycle.

These are good, but these can become junk miles very easily if you aren’t careful.

You can convince yourself that junk miles are helping you recover when really you should be taking….

ACTIVE REST DAYS

Days where you run ZERO miles.  Don’t run dumb dumb.  You just ran all freakin’ week, you NEED to take one day off!

That doesn’t mean you should sit on your butt and shove potato chips in your mouth.

Do something else active.  Yoga, play basketball, go for a hike…whatever floats your boat.  Be active!  Just don’t go out running.

BALLS OUT MILES

These are also called TEMPO DAYS by more mature people.  The miles you just go hardcore and start sprinting.  These should be the least amount of miles you run, but you should do them every so often (like on “Do Something You Hate Tuesdays”)  These are the training days that are uncomfortable, the ones you dread (until you become a masochist).

These should be hard.  You should be sweating and breathing heavily after balls out miles.

These are also necessary to become a successful athlete.

In fact the variety of training is so utterly important!  Each aspect is difficult and can be hard to master.

For instance, today I have an active rest day but I feel good enough to go out and push myself hard!  Knowing that I need rest and recovery is important so I don’t go out and put in some junk miles that will ultimately hurt more than they will help.

That’s my battle for today.  I’ll overcome it!  Hope you all (southern) are overcoming your Sunday battles.  Have a good week!