For anyone that knows me well enough, the fact that I crawl into a hole and disappear without a trace for weeks on end during exams comes as no surprise. If I believe my academic outlook is positive, I leave the house for practice or easy runs once a day, then descend back into my basement room to study during the remaining time. During terms where I am more concerned about my grades (and this is the majority), I completely disregard physical activity and by extension usually get fat- I am no monk when it comes to choosing between running or school, as school will win every time. This is followed by a period of about a week where I try to start running again, hating myself for being so out of shape, while worrying intensely about my grades and appealing to all the higher powers in the universe for scholastic mercy.
Once the grades do come in, I partake in what has become a silly and slightly embarrassing tradition since first year: I commence admitting to everyone I've previously told that I'm going to fail that I've instead somehow managed to pass the term and won't have to take 8 months off. Everyone I tell responds with something like "I told you so" or "you worry too much" or "why do you always think you're gonna fail?". Frankly, after 4 years, the entire routine is getting a little old. But as long as I stay afloat academically, I'm willing to let it play out.
I imagine I'd be less concerned if I'd entered into a program that emphasized my strengths, whatever those are…but instead I picked engineering when calculus was my weakest subject in high school. Because, you know, you don't need that much math in engineering.
As punishment for my decision, the gods of academia allow me to pass on the grounds that I become fat and slow every exam period. It's a fair tradeoff, but not one conducive to becoming a better runner. A return to running means everything aches, and what once was an easy 40 minutes becomes a slogfest. I feel like a factory-farm cow suddenly forced to graze; weak legs and excess weight are in abundance.
Running will not be altogether enjoyable for at least a couple weeks, but I'm making progress. I went from averaging 5-10 miles per week over a period of about a month to around 50 last week, by increasing the time on my feet by roughly 10 minutes daily. I had a slight hiccup on Friday, when my IT band decided I needed a day off, but recovered with my longest run in quite some time the next day. I plan to be hitting over 100 miles per week in two weeks time. That may sound like a recipe for injury, but I believe listening to what your own body tells you trumps the 10% rule. If the body doesn't protest, I don't worry. If it does, I listen. Simple. Running is simple.
I'm hurting today though. My foray back into running last week did not include workouts since even-paced slogs were difficult enough. Today workouts were re-introduced in a big way: 5x(3 min, 1 min jog, 5 min) at threshold pace with 4 minutes jog between sets. I struggled mightily from set #3 onward- Devon and Justin were stallions dragging me along North Campus. Add in the fact that I did an easy 40 minutes this morning, and…well…it hurt just to eat dinner afterwards.
Last week's log:
Sun: 60 minutes
Mon: 56 minutes
Tues: 30 min AM, 45 minutes PM
Wed: 37 minutes AM, 46 minutes PM
Thur: 40 minutes AM, 45 minutes PM
Friday: IT band hurt- nursed it all day
Sat: 90 minutes
- Patrick
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