01 May 2010

The Lost Mojo

I think I am officially having a depression...

It has been six weeks after the marathon, but I still can't shake out the tiredness and mental fatique. I am sure that everyone dips after a marathon race, but I've dipped to an extremely low level and wondered if I can be the same runner I was.

The common rule of thumb for recovery is 1 rest day for every mile raced. It has been 40 days and I am still not running well. Nowadays I found it 'hard' to run longer than 1 hour. I got tired easily and my legs felt dead and burning. Psychologically, I also seem to lose a lot of competitive juice or the 'mojo' to train.

In the last few weeks, I probably had about 3-4 long runs that ended-up as walk-run sessions. Speed workouts also turned into disasters. On Friday, I planned to run my favourite workout of 5x5mins session but I only could finish 1 rep. SW has designed an easy program post marathon, however for some reasons I am just not the same runner I was.

Some possible reasons:
- I ran my heart out in Seoul and probably I was pressing my upper stress limit (e.g a 87min HM runner running 89/94 marathon splits). The effort predisposed me to recovery problems, both mentally and physically
- fatiqued musculosketal system, leading to heavy legs syndrome
- post-marathon depression and mood swings. It has been documented that choline, a neurotransmitter precursor, is depleted with marathon-like efforts.
- low iron levels
- hormonal imbalance

Wondering what should I do to get out of this pariah situation? People said 1-2 months after a marathon can lead to the best shape of your lives on the back of marathon fitness (e.g Ritz which broke 5k AR, 60min HM after London). Unfortunately, it didn't happen to me and wondered whether it will. The worst thing is that the recent slew of failed/aborted workouts lead to more and more heightened frustrations.

I am depressed, frustrated and slow :(

7 comments:

ronnie said...

Give urself more time to recover ( even if it is longer than e 1 day 1 mile rule but everyone's different), e sub 3 game will be back on=)

Clown said...

Widi, you being crook last week wouldn't have helped your training this week and may be a sign to just ease off a bit. People recover from things at different rates, so just try and stay positive, I know it can be hard though when you want all systems go.

Things can turn around very quickly, so maybe just get out there and do a few easy runs eg 30-45 mins and slowly build your long run time and things will come good again quickly.

All the best and looking forward to hearing a change in fortunes.

Epi said...

Still 5 months to Melbourne - you can afford a few more weeks taking it easy. Your best running is still ahead of you, just give it some time.

trailblazer777 said...

as Epi said plenty of time to reignite the passion...

Im a big fan of crosstraining and variety could be you just need a better rest from running for a week or three...maybe just forget running of a week or two, go on some relaxed weekends with family , do something different and then come back try again...

I find it helps to analyse where you are at psychologically, spiritually and physiologically. Also look at your home and work environments since we all spend heaps of time in these two places, if there is something in either of both of there that is affecting you badly it may need to be fixed...could be just mental or physical burnour, in which case a week or twos holiday from running should help a lot...also could be a weather related thing too...

either way you have some very good work in the bank from the Seoul buildup, so try to hang in there, so you can build momentum again sooner rather than later, plenty of time to get going for Melbourne business time starts in July for that one...

I often feel down/discouraged or wonder if my body is going to crack up under the injuries, but push on instead...its always worth carrying on cos exercise gives you better quality of life! for one thing. You can be a better Father and Husband when you are fit, your boy may one day want to run with you, so you want to give him something to aim for.

hope things come good for you in the
coming weeks...

by7 said...

probably you are a bit stressed out with family/work/training combo...

and always battling against the stopwatch is not to do any good...

my couple of suggestions:
- leave the Garmin at home: just go out and run as you feel. Avoid the usual course, but try new routes so you do not have references to speed, etc...
- pick up cycling as cross-training: you will have a great workout anyway and a lot of fun.
- try some trail races of duathlon or anything where you can go with fresh mind

Basically you need to keep fit without the obsession of training and stopwatch for a while. Eventually you will feel great sooner than you imagine.

Ewen said...

Some great advice from the others already Sling. You've got to remember that Ritz is a full time runner with plenty of time for unlimited rest, massage, ice baths...

As by7 said, try and reduce the stress levels. Don't do 'workouts' for a while. Just run how you feel, listening to the body.

Anonymous said...

are all serious runners moody people?