Curse these perfect running days!

Here is my latest struggle.  The weather is perfect for running, and I mean perfect.  Even my kids have not been complaining that it’s either too hot or too cold which must mean we’re in the perfect temperature sweet spot for human beings.  Here is the weather forecast for the week:

Perfect.

So what’s wrong with this?  Well, there was one thing I could count on when running through this past winter – that was that I’d be toughing it out and could always feel like a bit of a hero regardless of how far or hard I ran.  Running through ice and slush in negative temperatures is not always fun, but just knowing you’re out there is pretty satisfying.  You don’t have to do much to give yourself a check mark.  Now I find myself overly exuberant about the weather and I think, if I ran 60 miles a week in dark, brutal conditions, I can certainly run more than that now that it’s actually thoroughly enjoyable!  There is no way I’m taking a day off if it’s nice out especially when other people (who weren’t out running all winter) are out running in droves.  Nature isn’t conspiring against me or slowing me down – in fact it’s luring me out to do more … and more!

Then comes the inevitable … I overdo it.  And that’s where I am now.  Sick for the second bout in two weeks (this one’s ear/throat as opposed to last week’s stomach bug), my body is exhausted and sore, I tempoed my last race for which I should have been in great shape, and I don’t even feel like running.  Even though it looks like this out:

How could this scene not make you want to just go out and run?  I didn’t.  I spent the day in bed trying to recover.

So lesson learned – I will take more breaks and rest days.  Maybe.  I’m a hard case when it comes to these things.  But I do have my sights set on the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon in two weekends and my plan between now and then is to really do as little as possible when it comes to running so that I have a chance of maximizing my recovery and hopefully showing some of my fitness gains from the winter of training.

I’m preparing myself mentally for a weekend of minimal running and maximal carb loading and recovering.  I’ve already stocked up on some of my carbs:

So obviously some tough times ahead – let’s hope they pay off!