Friday, May 18, 2012

Long Run: Beaten Mentally

Last night I planned a 32k long run at the UP Oval. For the previous 2 weeks, I've failed to meet my long run distance goal.

Even with the ice chest on the ready with Gatorade and water, last night was no different.

The 32k plan shrunk to 15k. Time? A miserable 2:05.

As my officemate put it exactly, my will was beaten. As runners last night started to decrease since it was past 10pm, it got lonely. Then, I could feel my right foot arch aching again. Yup, the inevitable plantar fasciitis. I tried everything with my Brooks Pureflows: I removed the insole, I doubled my socks, I put back the insole. Damn, by the end of the run (or walk) I wanted to throw my Pureflows into the Sunken Garden.

By the last two 2.2km rounds, I just lost it and ended up walking.

I couldn't find the energy that made me finish 24 and 27k several weeks back when I started training for marathon #4. As of last night, my training logs seem to tell me that I won't be meeting sub-5 hours in my next marathon. I'm ok with the weekly speedwork and tempos. But the long run is really killing my progress.

Am I going thru a burn out phase?

I need something to perk me up on my long runs again. I'll probably tap my running buddy, @lingerboy, by next weekend (21k target as per my training plan).

If that doesn't go well, I will probably start thinking of postponing marathon #4 for now.

We'll see.


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