Not motivated… or not in?

Yesterday I talked about reviving my motivation for next month marathon. During the flight, that sentence left me wondering: do I need to revive my motivation? do I lack motivation for running?…

Well… I don’t think so. I couldn’t run a single kilometer for the last three months of 2011. I was dying to get back on track and, right now, I’m still in this state of mind.

But I’m not confident with my running technique anymore. Being so injury-prone in the last few years has turned me eager to run and afraid to run at the same time. I’ve come to fear any sign of discomfort or pain sent by my body.

So now I tend to delay any running commitment or registration. When my sensations are ok, I think again of elusive future finish times but I’m afraid of following any training plan because it puts additional pressure on my shoulders.

Pressure to do what’s scheduled regardless of my sensations. Then feeling of guilt if I skipped the session or worries about injury if I decided to run and if I detected any warning sign afterwards.

Waiting till the last minute before registering for a race gives me freedom of mind to run or not. This is the good side. But, as I’m not in, well… I’m not in and I miss an extra spark of motivation.

Have you met this dilemma? Could you solve it?

Cold, other playing ground and “free” WIFI

Cold ! This week was cold, very cold for us. And it should last a full week more with temperatures under minus 10°C. But running is OK because it’s dry healthy cold and sidewalks are not as slippery as they were on Tuesday.

However, I go ! I mean: I take a break in Barcelona this weekend. An extended weekend coz I fly back no sooner than Monday evening. Locals will say it’s freezing in BCN these days but still I’ll get a 10~15°C bonus.

More than that, I’ll refresh my running routine with other streets to stride on and unusual training schedule. I’ll get Mediterranean air to breeze along the beach and hopefully I’ll revive my motivation for next month marathon here.

I’m not a big football (soccer) fan but, as a bonus, I might go watch a Barca match live. Just to experience the atmosphere in Camp Nou.

For now, I’m waiting for my flight at the airport (45′ delay). I’d like to publish this post from there but I can’t and I’m a bit p… off. With no mobile phone on me, it’s not possible to get the code to connect with the “free” WIFI and the airport staff is not really helpful to solve this tiny problem.

The interest of making a break is… to make a break! What kind of a break is it if you remain attached to your mobile leash?

Registered?

Apparently, yesterday was registration day for many and the excitation was palpable: “On October 7th, I’ll be a marathon runner!”, “Chicago, I’m coming!” were the mottos on many blogs and forums.

It seems that buying a start number for one of the five majors is already a big victory. You’d better know which marathon you want to run many months in advance coz they won’t wait for you…

The good side is you have a goal settled long before, plenty of time to get ready for it and a little bit of extra motivation thanks to the money you’ve already spent… The downside is that you also have plenty of time to burn yourself physically and/or mentally if you start putting in training miles too soon.

I guess this won’t be a dangerous threat for my next marathon: I got back to running 4 weeks ago, my longest run so far is under 1h, I haven’t registered yet but, still, I plan to run a marathon in “LSD mode” in 50 days… Yep, I should be able to manage mental burnout and overtraining risk!

Not so sure about undertraining…;)

Blisters and « real » running injuries…

After my Monday post, I’ve seen some of you smiling and I guess you were thinking « If all the running injuries you’ve had are blisters then… well, you’re gifted or lucky… or you’ve never run! »

Well, I wished it was true (I mean I wish I was gifted). But my “running injuries” CV is not so empty…

• 1994: periostitis (3 full months with no sport and I swore “No running again for me. Cycling is safer!”)
• 2005: recurrent patellar tendinitis (6 full months with no running after my best and fastest season ever. Totally depressed)
• 2006 winter: plantar fasciitis in my right foot (1 full month with no training)
• 2007 summer: stress fracture in my right foot (3 full months with no running)
• 2008 spring: muscle tear in my right calf (2 full months with no running)
• 2008 summer: plantar fasciitis in my right foot (1 full month with no training)
• 2009 spring: heel spur in my right foot (6 full months with no running)
• 2011 spring: muscle tear in my right calf (3 full months with no running)
• 2011 autumn: stress fracture in my left foot (3 full months with no running)
• 2012: nothing… yet. Please my friends, pray for me and make it last!

The questions are: why do I keep trying to run? Why do I like this activity so much? Am I completely numb? Can’t I see that running doesn’t like me anymore?

White!

Today is white. I mean really white: roads, sidewalks, paths… snow everywhere and, when a few people have stepped on it, it turns as slippery as ice. With no trail running shoes, today 45’ run turned out “technical” and, for once, my muddy Diadora were as clean as new when I came back…

Well, it’s nice to change of running environment but, quite honestly, I’m more at ease and less tense on good old tarmac. The good point is that, with such hazardous support, there’s very little room for technical flaw and you’d better not spend too much time with your feet on the ground if you don’t want to end up with your face in the snow. Nicholas Romanov would probably say “Enjoy it: it’s a real test of your Pose running technique!”

One year today…

One full year since my last marathon… By then, I knew I hadn’t put in enough training to hope for a « good » finish time. With no speed work and no threshold, there’s no miracle. Maybe the marathon will bring you what you trained for. But no free meal!

I just wanted to run the distance again and to get back some confidence. My real objective for 2011 was supposed to be in May so I had time to run for fun an « exotic » race under the sun of Marrakech.

Well, it rained a little bit on race day but the experience turned out beautiful with a lot of new sensations, some of them pleasant, some of them, well…

I’ve written there is no free meal in the sport of marathon. It’s true, if you only measure your success with your watch. But if you also consider your feelings, your mental attitude, the lessons you learn about the distance and about yourself, then each marathon can bring you a lot, whether you did your homework before or not 🙂

 

 However, one year later, I still haven’t solved this blister problem… Can you help me ?

Master quote

If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.
Emil Zatopek

MOTIV’ Marathon blog grand opening !

NOW …

But store shelves (cups) are still a bit empty.

No worry : posts (iso drinks) are coming soon 🙂