At the end of CPY2 class last week, Ann shared this quote from Epicurus:
It struck me as capturing my current approach to fitness. I do a little of this (cycling, running) and a little of that (yoga, strength training), and enjoy all of it. It also captured my plans for the holiday weekend, which included running, cycling, time with friends, eating out, eating in, going to church, volunteering at the shelter, and getting my life in order for the busy fall that lies ahead. 🙂
Running In Moderation
When it comes to running, I find it hard to strike the right balance between under-training and over-training–to find that moderation sweet spot. This week I put more focus on running, to prepare for the Reston Perfect 10 on September 30. I didn’t dedicate more days to running, but I made my running days count more with a tough hill workout and a 9 mile long run.
When I saw how miserable it was on Wednesday morning, I decided I might as well suffer through hill repeats. My heart rate graph usually is an inverse of the elevation graph, but it stayed high the whole time.
I hoped Friday night’s storms would cool things off by Saturday, but I had no such luck. Rain was still moving through, and I waited out a brief downpour before I headed out on what turned out to be my most difficult run in ages.
My pace was pretty evenly in the 10:20 range, which is almost a minute slower than my usual pace. I can put some of the blame on the humidity, but I also felt stiff and creaky–like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. On the other hand, looking at my heart rate tells me this probably is the right pace for my long runs.
As I was slogging through this run, my thoughts were not of moderation, but of what I could do to get my pace back up again–how I need to get back to Orange Theory, how I’ve been slacking on foam rolling, that I should get a sports massage. While none of those are bad ideas, I need to be careful not to over-train myself back to an overuse injury.
Weekly Wrap
Monday: Strength Workout
Tuesday: Cyclebar
Wednesday: Hill Repeats
Thursday: Strength Workout
Friday: CPY 2
Saturday: 9.3 mile run
Sunday: 40.2 mi bike ride
Join the Weekly Wrap link up hosted by Holly and Wendy!
Stay tuned for my Reston Metric Century Recap coming on Friday!
Do you try to live in moderation or tend to go overboard in abundance?
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Summer can make even simple runs feel simply hard. You just have to adjust your expectations — which I will admit isn’t easy for me!
I have Rachel to make sure I don’t run too much or too little. 🙂 The other stuff can be up to me, and I agree, it’s hard to hit that sweet spot!
Sounds like you have a healthy approach to fitness and to life. Enjoy all of your activities!
I’m definitely a moderation girl. My running miles are always low and I love keeping lots of variety in my workouts. It does a body good. Especially an aging one like mine. The humidity is taking a toll on me here as well. So over it!
oh gosh…moderation is key for me. I am SOOO hyper afraid of over-training, that I probably take things too easy sometimes. My race today was tough, physically. Looking back, I probably should have allowed myself more walk breaks (I didn’t walk…other than through the water stands…until the final mile), and my glutes are now on fire.
Thats a good quote! I try to do things in moderation as well but sometimes (like right now) I just prefer running over everything else. As long as I don’t put pressure on myself to run a certain pace/mileage etc. I usually do ok.
Moderation is always key. If I do too much on a weekend, I feel tired and not ready for the work week.
When it comes to running, I”m all about moderation. I want to keep running. Which means I have to run less. Weird, but it’s working.
When you posted that quote on IG it stuck with me the whole day – I really love it!
I try to do everything in moderation, not just running. To me, this helps ensure that I always have variety in my life.
What a great quote! Thanks for sharing. You always seem to do a great job of mixing things up with the variety.
Really good analysis of pace. I need to get better at looking at my heart rate
I really like that quote! I definitely do a little bit of everything and I really enjoy getting to do that too! Finding a balance can be hard, but it keeps things interesting. :]!
You hit the nail on the head, so to speak. I realize I am trying to find that perfect balance between over training (and causing injury) and under training and getting injured.
I’m very impressed with your Zone 3 long run. I think you nailed exactly what a long run should be! I’m also impressed you stayed in Zone 4 on those hill repeats. I would have been in Zone 5. Could it be the Orange Theory working to your advantage? Regardless, nice job! Thanks for linking.
Love, love that quote. And I love how varied your holiday weekend plans were – from volunteering to running to socialising. That’s how life should be. 🙂
I agree, it’s so hard to find that balance between overtraining and undertraining! I’ve been trying to be really careful with my foot but then it’s hard to tell when it’s just phantom pain.
I’m mostly into moderation but I have majorly skimped on foam rolling and recovery stretches (hence my injury? possibly…). Finding a balance is hard! But it’s wise to err on the side of too much foam rolling and stretching. (haha does anyone ever say “I just foam roll too much!”, I’ve never heard it!)
I’m very much about moderation – I have got a sweet spot of 20-30 miles per week that leaves me not too exhausted and able to do other stuff. I need to blog about this, actually …