Runners, Triathletes, Athletes, and Yogi's I need your help. PLEASE.

     It's been roughly 55+ days since the (Honolulu Marathon) and 53+ days post (Hilo to Volcano 50k), so where has all of my energy gone? Seriously, where did the energy I had in 2014 disappear to? 

    I feel as though I am going through the motions, but my mind and body are not responding as I want them too.

I'm waking up as early as I typically would even though I would rather sleep in. I am training for my upcoming Marathon, but my legs are not wanting to carry me through the miles. 

     

     My legs have been feeling heavy & not as strong, which I noticed my first run back after taking a week off to recover from December & January racing. I know I may have jumped back into training mode quicker than I should have. (My body seems to do better with about 2 weeks Recovery.) How long do you take to Recover after a Marathon or Ultra?

I went out on my typical Thursday 10 miler with my training partner anyways. Before leaving the house, in my head, I knew I probably should not go 10 miles, but rather 4-6 E-A-S-Y miles. I just came off this AMAZING high from two PR's and I was craving running the road. Two PR's was a huge deal for me and the fact that I felt Fricken Awesome from the start to finish of both races made it even better. 

I have heard that having a really good race can leave you in an almost depressed state of mind afterwards. It's like getting back into training mode is a chore rather than something we like to do. A friend/triathlete of mine, told me when he has just an ordinary race - nothing great, it is definitely easier for him to get back into training than it is when he has a PR race. What are your thoughts on this? 

• I bought a new pair of shoes only recently, even though I had a few more miles in my last bought pair. I do know I run better switching out my shoes more than less. I can cancel out any ideas that my shoes are bad or old because they are NOT. 

• My eating habits haven't really changed. (Mentally I feel like my body is extremely bloated and I am carrying extra pounds, but I stay away from the scale, so I cannot say what my weight is.)

• I have been on my phone more than I typically am. Maybe this is effecting my energy levels? Lol! 

• Sleep same same same.

• My joints and muscles seem to ache more in my Yoga Practice than they were last year. I'm significantly feeling it along my right side lower back, glute, down my leg across my thigh to the inside of my right knee.  Yogi's & runners help/any advice for aches? I take my time before entering asana's & I make sure my body is warmed before attempting my backends & deeper stretches. (I'm a yoga teacher & I think I do pretty good at not thinking I'm a kido anymore; I know I cannot backend or do crazy posyures like I used to without a warmup.)

My last run was Saturday and it completely went bonkers. I had to stop two maybe more different occasions to stretch out my right leg & knee. By the end I needed to walk it out completely not finishing my last mile (truthfully I should have stopped running altogether, but I wanted to make sure I was home before Nick had to leave for work & in time to get Whistler to soccer), so I just tried to keep going. By this point, I felt a not so good amount of tension in my right knee, but mentally wanted to pretend it wasn't there. 

So here I am taking time off running this week most definitely trying to heal & take care of whatever is going on in my body. Big Island International Marathon is March 15th & right after that I'm relaying the bike & run for Lavaman Waikoloa Triathlon.

I'm thinking that if I continue heating my leg, taking Epson Salt baths, taking BioAstin & Magnesuim, and using Nick's muscle simulator - I hope to be back to good. 

Thankfully I'm at a place in my life where listening to my body is becoming more and more important than forcing myself to go on. When I notice I force myself to continue running or practicing a posture, I end up paying for it with having to back off what I love to do. 

LESSON LEARNED I hope! 

I'm always up for advice & any helpful knowledge you may have or experienced yourself. Most likely I'm human and this is just my body asking me to take some extra time to relax please. . 

"Body I'm listening, but please help me get back on the road soon and into some of my deeper yoga postures I've been working on PLEASE"   :)

I'll get back to my work in progress pose later! 

~ just breathe

Brooke Myers