It started out fine, but before I was even 1/3 of the way done my speed was dropping and I just felt bad. I kept going, and kept getting slower, and finished the last mile walking.
The first time I had a bad run, I wasn't sure how to handle it mentally. Negative thoughts bounced around in my mind,
"I'm supposed to be faster, I'm supposed to be able to handle this, maybe I'm not as good at this as I thought I was."
Now I have learned how to benefit from the bad run.
1. Consider the factors that led to the underwhelming performance.
In my case, it was the hottest run I'd had this year, the longest run I'd gone on since my ultra-marathon in March, I had spent the previous day canoeing, I probably started off a little bit under hydrated, and I was under a large amount of personal stress.
2. Make changes as needed.
This weekend I will freeze my water bottles so that by the time I reach for gatorade it won't be 85 degree gatorade. I will try to get more rest the day before the long run. I will adjust my planned mileage down a little bit.
3. Monitor your next few workouts to see if this was a fluke or part of a larger trend.
On my next run, two days later, I was back up to my usual performance, so I think this one was a fluke.
4. Keep a workout log.
Not only can you look back on your log to see what caused the bad workout, you can use it to plan ahead to avoid future problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment