I wrote in January about how I was eliminating ‘medium distance’ running from my routine. I thought these runs – any distance greater than three miles and fewer than eight – were having a negative impact on my overall running fitness. This was because I thought I improved as a runner when I (a) pushed my lung capacity with near-sprinting or (b) I challenged my endurance with long distances. The ‘medium distance’ was too long to run fast yet too short to run far and therefore I decided to experiment with cutting it out for a few months.
It was a simple thought and looked good on paper but it just hasn’t worked out. My running didn’t improve at all – if anything, I regressed. I spent a lot of time this winter thinking up other routines or approaches. However, after much deliberation, I decided early in April to shut down my running and take a break.
This is my first break from running since April 2015 – and that one was, like almost every other break I’ve ever taken, enforced through injury. If I think back to when I’ve simply decided not to run for this long, I would need to go all the way back to 2008.
At the time of writing, I’m on day fourteen of my running sabbatical. More importantly, there is no end in sight. I don’t think I’m done for good but I do think I’m going to extend this as far as I can tolerate. Reader, you must be wondering – what happened? I think a few things came together at just the right time to bring me to a stop.
First, the timing for a break is really good. For the first time in four years, I have a five to six week break from my weeknight basketball league (though I did have to skip one game in the middle to pull this off). This gives me a great opportunity to have a long period without doing any of the basic ‘fast twitch’ basketball movements – jumping, making quick changes of direction, complaining to the referee. I don’t have a ton of evidence that this impacts my ability to complete ‘slow twitch’ activities like running long distances but I’m also well aware that there is not a single marathon training program in the world that incorporates basketball into its program. Hopefully, this break will give me a chance to recover from any of the lingering effects basketball is having on my body.
Also, with the calendar (allegedly) turning to spring, the timing is great for using cycling as a cross training alternative. I’ve decided to keep it simple and easy during my sabbatical by aiming for a casual two-to-three hour bike ride every other day. The idea is to keep some of the long distance muscles fit while also giving my joints a chance to recover through a no-impact activity. On the days I don’t bike, I do a basic body-weight strength workout tailored to running (I can do this in my apartment because I don’t use extra weights). Ideally, this combination will build up muscle in my core and my legs in preparation for a return to the pounding and impact of running.
Finally, though, is… The Real Reason. Isn’t it a fact of life that whenever someone talks about ‘many things coming together’ or ‘the timing being really good’, there is a single, simple ‘Real Reason’ lurking in the background? Well, I think there is, and at the very least in this case it applies to me.
At some point in late March, I realized I needed a break. I figured this out because I was spending a lot of time thinking, planning, and talking about taking a break. Now, the catch here is that I was always conceptualizing this break as something to do in the future – around mid-December, to be exact. The big ‘ah-hah!’ moment came when I spontaneously named the break as I was describing it to a friend – I called it my ‘annual fallow running period’.
As soon as I said those words, I thought to myself – what the hell am I talking about? It was a ridiculous way to describe something most people usually do for at least twenty-three and a half hours a day (not running) and I wondered what prompted such an outburst (and in public, no less). What I quickly recognized was how I was guilty of something I’ve often been quick to note in others – when people talk on and on about long-term plans that involve some kind of rest or break, what they are really saying is that they need a rest or break right now. A few days later, I skipped that aforementioned basketball game and officially went on my running sabbatical.
In a sense, I suppose what I’m saying is that planning ahead isn’t really planning at all, it’s really just an excuse to ignore doing what needs to get done. It’s one of those silly truisms in action, reader, a lot like the concept that really good ideas don’t go on the backburner because if the idea was any good it would get implemented right away. I suppose one way to look at this is to say my plans for a ‘fallow’ period were so good I had no choice but to do it right away (using cycling instead of swimming).
The more basic version of the story is that I was lying to myself and probably doing so for a long, long time. This part of me ignored the misery my injured foot caused over the last two years and would come up with all kinds of ways to explain the long-term soreness or fatigue I’ve felt in my thigh, hamstring, or hip over the last few years. This liar was convinced I could run on and on, forever and ever,
without ever taking a break.
At some point – which I guess was early April – I had to throw in the towel and, along with it, any lingering illusions I harbored about my (running) immortality. The Real Reason I stopped running was that I finally called myself out on my own bullshit. Everyone who pushes
themselves, at some point or another, will need to take a break, and if you think you are an exception, reader, I suggest maybe trying to push yourself just a little bit harder.
