Mar 6, 2008

downtime

you can sometimes prolong the downtime by trying to speed up the return. coachy words of wisdom i got last night. and i hate to say it, but i wonder if i haven't been trying to speed up the return and maybe thats why i am still here -- four weeks later with my very "minor" and totally fixable issue. to me, minor means a week, two at the most.

i go back and forth with being okay with this downtime - and it pissing me off. patience has never, ever been one of my virtues. part of me knows that a little rest is what my body needs and part of me is worried that i'll lose everything i worked so hard for and be back at square one when i am ready to ramp it back up. i know the whole adage about taking the time off will make you stronger. but still. this is hard.

some days are better than others. some days i think - this is good. time off is good. i am fine. other days, i want to cry at the thought of how little running i am doing. this morning, i am okay with it. but the sun is shining and i am in love with my new tunes that want to go for a run with me. i don't know how long being okay with the downtime is going to last today.

5 comments:

RunToTheFinish said...

I think downtime sucks...and then I think it's an opportunity...and then I think it sucks...and then I think I am so lucky to have so much...holy cow what a mind game! Us runners need a place to collect our thoughts and channel them when we don't get to hit the pavement... I say start rubbing the Buddha and take up meditation in the Alps.

Gotta Run..... said...

I agree with Amanda.... we were born to RUN!!

I am doind a test run tonight..wish me luck!

Vickie said...

To a point, trying to speed up downtime can prolong it. But the fine line is whether you are trying to push the envelope of time and see how much you can get away with or whether you are truly resting the injured part. And then they say time off will make you stronger. I can't say that is necessarily true. Slower. Less fit maybe. But stronger? Only if you are doing intense enough cross training that actually makes the weak muscles stronger and takes the place of running. Maybe you need to find that cross training magic as a solution. That's why so many runners turn to biking and swimming because they don't want the down time. Just a suggestion!

zanne said...

well, my "downtime" has indeed been filled with other pursuits - swimming, biking, pool running and ellipticalling. but none of that is actually running - and so i consider any time spent not running "down" time - must have something to do with the fact that not running just gets me down - even when i am doing other stuff!

Anonymous said...

Aww, Zanne. :( I hope you're back on the road soon!