Getting My Groove Back...

It's super hard to establish a routine, but it's super easy to break one....especially when you travel.

Now, I need to qualify that statement a little bit because I travel a lot.  I don't tend to slack off when I'm on the road.  In fact, I am the queen of foreign country hotel gym treadmills if it isn't safe enough or convenient enough to run outside.  I make time when I'm on the road domestically.  I worked hard to create a routine, I'm darn determined to keep it.  Except when...

Vacation can be a tough one.  Especially a vacation with a schedule.  And even more so when the vacation is chock full of other physical activity like hiking and paddling.  It is SOOOOO hard to keep at the running routine when your legs are tired from a day of hiking, or your body is heavy from 2 hours of stand up paddling in stiff headwinds.  Not to mention, sleeping on an air mattress in a very cold tent, or drinking just a little too much wine the night before.  Those can hinder maintaining a routine too.

Did you catch that maybe I had those things happen last week on vacation?  Yeah.  My family traveled to Lake Mead, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Bearizona for 6 days of hiking, paddling and nature.  I had every intention of not letting down on my training schedule.  Every workout is important to achieving my goals.  But you know what they say about the best intentions.  I think I only ran twice last week.

Don't get me wrong.  I was not slacker.  I was still covering 6-10 miles a day, just a little differently. (I did run through Bryce Canyon City, UT and in Kingman, AZ, but that's only two).

However, those days off do make it difficult to right the ship and get back on track.  I'm finding I need to shift my training schedule around a little this week (maybe decreasing the intensity of my effort workouts) to allow my body to readjust back into my routine.  Well, that and the extreme heat warning we've got this week until Saturday night.  I'll be dragging myself out the door to get it done.

What gets you off track?  How do you get your groove back after?  Me, I have to thrust all my energy into getting one foot back in front of the other and just getting it done.  Happy trails!!!

2017 miles to date:  784.96 miles

Observations:  One advantage to shifting the routine for a week was that my left leg injuries were given a rest.  Frankly I've got no pain left in my calf.  I still get a bit sore in my foot tendons after a run, but not as bad.  Now, just to defeat the heat this week.

MARATHON TRAINING WEEK FOUR:

Monday - 6 mile repeats (switched to 5 miles treadmill....stiff and getting back into it)

Tuesday - 6 miles easy (shifted to Wednesday due to the 4th of July)

Wednesday - 5 miles hills (shifted to Thursday flat due to heat)

Thursday - Off (you know this didn't happen)

Friday - 3-4 miles easy

Saturday - 12 mile long run

Sunday - Off