SUPER TERRIBLE RUN - THEORIES ON WHY

At rear in yellow.

On Saturday I ran sixteen miles with Coach Jim's group. It was absolutely awful. One of the worst runs I have been on in quite some time. I felt like shit about two miles in and the entire thing was just torture. I hated every minute and pretty much wanted to quit running and find a new hobby. By the time I was done I could barely walk and felt almost as bad as after my first ever twenty mile run.

I've felt like shit for awhile now. I haven't been able to pinpoint quite why or when exactly it started. I feel like I might have started to feel crappy before the run up Terwillager, but ever since then I definitely haven't quite felt the same. Basically it feels like someone has taken meat cleavers and hammered my legs. Initially I diagnosed it as my Brooks Adrenaline shoes breaking down early (they only had some 280 miles on them, but comparing them against other retired pairs, they seemed just as worn). Based on that, I switched to a new pair of Nike Structures, my other go to shoe.

That didn't really seem to help, although maybe a little. It's really hard to say. I feel like my recovery time just tripled and the wear and tear on my legs doubled. Six mile runs were now leaving me sore the next day, when they didn't before. This "breakdown" of my body, coupled with the dark and cold, has really soured me on running. Like seriously. Fuck this shit. Then again, yesterday I went for a run and took it pretty easy, I had the day off for President's Day, and I actually had a decent time running around in the sun.

However, here it is the next day, and my legs are kind of sore. From running a 10k at 9:30/mile. I can literally feel my legs burning as I sit here and type this. Wtf? It's really weird because my last two races, both during the worn down period, went really well. They weren't PR speed, but they were solid efforts and I didn't feel my legs let me down in either of them. I didn't even feel more worn down than usual after them, so I don't fucking know.

THEORIES:

Muscle Fatigue Accumulation Theory: Over the recent months I've slowly built up muscle fatigue/accumulation/breakdown and it's hit a critical mass point. The legs could rebuild and be okay to a certain point, but eventually they got to a level where they couldn't repair themselves decently enough before I ran on them and broke them down again. The solution is to just rest, maybe stop running for week or two, and let them reset. Kind of like hitting restart on the computer. I haven't done this because obviously if I stop running for a week I'll gain 15 pounds.

Gait Change Shoe Deficiency Hypothesis: Somewhere along the line my gait has changed enough that my shoes no longer fit my running style. I was put into a pair of Brooks Adrenalines about two years ago and since then I've changed my running style to more of a mid-foot strike as I've increased my distance. Maybe I need a different shoe? Points against this theory include my shoes working perfectly until two months ago despite the gait change happening a year and a half ago. In addition, if I go to a store and have this done, I'll feel guilty and buy shoes at full price.

Monthly runs over two years.

Old Man Body Syndrome: I'm getting older. The wear and tear on my body is increasing and I can no longer just go run without doing other forms of maintenance. Simple stretching and self massage after runs could fix a lot of my problems. I also ran out of gummy vitamins about six weeks ago and just now replaced them. Maybe my body was feeling deficient? Maybe I need to start doing other shit to work out my core and crap. I've needed a massage for about two years and now have a gift card, why don't I go get that done? Arguments against this conclusion are that I am 28 fucking years old.

That's really all I got. I really feel like the most likely theory is the first one... I never really took a rest after my marathon. I'm not doing marathon mileage, but I am still putting 100+ miles on my legs every month. Couple that with the hilly winter route, charge up Terwillager, faster pace group (not recently though), it all has just snowballed and my legs just need some time off. I haven't wanted to take time off because Shamrock is coming up and I hoped to beat my Dad's time there this year. Given my success at races still, I feel like maybe that is still a possibility.

However, if time off is all I need, then there is no time like the present. I could not run until March 1st, not lose a ton of fitness, and hopefully recharge and feel okay for Shamrock. If I end up doing the Eugene Marathon in May (still iffy, with the way I am feeling right now, a marathon sounds awful) then I need to start training basically right after Shamrock at the latest. So I wouldn't really have time to rest after Shamrock.

Anyways, I almost want to shut it down until March 1st. If my legs feel good after that and then as soon as I start running this shit happens again, then I know there is something else wrong (like maybe theory #2). But I think I maybe just need a break. I hate to break my 100 miles-a-month streak, but I think I might have to.