When a goal race comes and goes, it’s so easy to look ahead to the next big goal.  And in the excitement, we can often forget to give our bodies adequate time for recovery.

When I first started running in college, I stuck to my running schedule religiously.  I did some cross training as well, but I was determined not to miss my runs.  I never took more than a few days off from running.

I’m not sure what I thought would happen if I missed one.  That I would suddenly gain weight?  That I would lose all of my fitness?

Of course, I eventually learned the hard way.  My most memorable lesson was after my first marathon.  I was so thrilled with my accomplishment, and wanted to take advantage of my fitness and keep running double digits on the weekends.  My body quickly let me know that was not enough recovery time, and I was forced to take 10 weeks off for a stress reaction or possible stress fracture.

In those ten weeks, I went through the usual emotions- denial, frustration, anger, but I eventually accepted it.  And then I took it as an opportunity to get stronger- I swam.  I started experimenting with spin classes.  I did more weights than I had ever done before.  And by the end of it, I had not gained weight (I actually lost a few pounds from not eating everything in sight after long runs!) and I had not lost fitness.  I ran a 5k a few weeks afterwards in a respectable time and was able to build my miles back up quickly.

Post-injury 5k in 21 minutes

As a runner, sometimes I forget that there are other ways to stay fit!! Recent research shows that functional fitness, interval training and HIIT/strength combos are some of the most efficient ways to gain fitness.  Weights with short bursts of intensity has the same benefits as an interval run, and often in much less time.  And interval training has just as many health benefits as endurance training.

I know this.  As a health coach, I don’t push my clients to run unless they want to.  So why do I do it?

Because I love it! And finding an activity we love is what really matters for long term health and fitness.

So for now, as long as my body allows, I’ll keep running. And I have a big goal.  Most of you know I registered for the Philly Marathon in November.  And those of you who follow me via the Under Armour challenge saw that my goal is 3:20.  Yikes!

It’s a goal that my half marathon time predicts is possible, but it’s going to take a lot of work to get there.  Training starts in 8 weeks.

However, in order to keep running well, I have learned to build in seasons of relative rest.  And that’s what the next 8 weeks will be for me.  I’ll still run a bit… but I’ll run when and for as far as I feel like, with no training plan.  And I’ll incorporate more weights and cross training to change things up.

Working toward a 5 minute plank- my other UA goal

The goal is to be refreshed and itching for distance running by the time 8 weeks is up.  (Who am I kidding, I’m already itching for my long runs!)

I vlogged about my goals for the UA challenge here. More on the Blend retreat soon.

Do you build seasons of rest into your training? Have you ever learned the hard way?

One of the benefits of an Esprit de She race is that race photos are free!! They use professional photographers, and race photos are posted to Facebook a few days after the event.

You can search your photos by bib number and save them.  For the dozens of races I’ve done, I have never had [...]

Is it finally starting to feel like spring or summer where you are? We’re coming into the season where my body craves smoothies.

I tend to get stuck in a rut, making my same favorite healthy smoothies over and over again.  So I asked some friends to share their recipes.  Check out all these delicious [...]

Happy Mother’s Day!!

I hope those of you who are moms enjoy your special day.  My husband sent me out shoe shopping solo this week as my mother’s day gift for a much needed pair of sandals.  I don’t go shopping often these days, and it’s even more rare to shop alone, so I thoroughly [...]

It’s day three of seven for the sugar detox.  For those of you who are participating, how is it going? Often the first few days are the hardest, so congrats on getting this far!

I’m finding this round a little easier than the first one, at least so far.  As long as I keep chocolate [...]