I’m typing this post from my mom’s back bedroom, sucking down a cup of coffee, hoping to clear the cobwebs from my head that accumulated from the couple of bday glasses of vino last night.
Ouch. Glad today is my off day for running!
I brought the girls down to visit grandma – five hours in the car heading south, with some, “Stop it!” and “She took my crayons!” The trip was really a good one though, and i realized that in life we have two possibilities:
- Don’t do stuff because we are scared of how it will turn out
- Do stuff and just go with it
I’ve chosen to live my life by #2, and i think that most runners would agree this is how they live. You can’t face a marathon and not think like #2. If you are stuck in #1, not doing something because you are scared, then 26.2 is going to be terrifying!
This is why I feel a connection with runners. We live life. We get out there and we do it, and we don’t complain (much!) We understand the pain that is involved in living, but that the pain means simply this:
We are alive!
So, good morning kindred spirit runners!
Yesterday’s Run: Cold! Before we left I ran 7, all bundled up because it was in the teens! I had wanted to push the run a little faster but with the ski cap, ski gloves and several layers I couldn’t go much faster. When I got home, ready for a cup of hot coffee, the electricity was out! I feel for our northern neighbors who were without electricity for a week or so-like my cousin. I’m not sure I could handle that! One of the benefits of living in California for six years – mild weather year around.
Anyway, today’s post is about hitting a plateau. In my experience we do so for a few reasons. We either:
- Grow bored with our routine, or become worn out
- Don’t know what to do to change things up
I hit a plateau while training for the last marathon. I was running a set number of miles by the end and it was all about getting them in. Not making them effective, or taking time off when needed and pushing the envelope at other times. It was about, “Today is Monday. Today I do 8 miles. Tomorrow is Tuesday. Tomorrow I take a day off. The next day is Wednesday and I will do five miles, no more, no less.”
Does this sound like you?
If so, it’s time to make a change.
If you have hit a stagnant point in losing weight, or your body has remained the same for a while despite working out each day and you want to make a change, you need to switch things up.
So how do we do this?
- Increase mileage. In running, you may need to go a little further to see the effects because your body becomes used to what you are doing. If you are trying to lose weight and you’ve hit a plateau you may need to bump up your mileage. Do so slowly – no more than ten percent each time unless you are running high miles, and then you may be able to do a little more.
- Go faster. We don’t get faster unless we work on it! Our bodies have to adjust to these changes. We have to make our body go faster if we want to improve our speed. Work on interval training. Do speed days. Change it up: Run fast on a short day, then run the last few miles fast on a long run. Mix it up in the middle of runs, pushing yourself as much as you can for certain intervals and then holding back for a bit.
- Change it up. You need to change up your routine if you aren’t seeing differences in your body. You may need to lift heavier weights if your muscles have been doing bicep curls with ten pounds for eight months. You need to use different exercises while working on the same muscle group. If your body becomes used to exercise number one and you do that every single time you work on that body part, you will stop seeing results.
If you have hit a plateau, it’s time to make some changes!
I’m off now to shop with grandma. I’m going to get some new running shoes today. I’m excited! I didn’t like the last ones I got, and feel that was part of my injury during disney. Will post pics of the new shoes soon!
