Dead Legs.

If one were to go through my running log for the past 6 weeks or so, you'd see lots of miles (for me) and lots of entries like this:

Spectacular run!

Who the F am I? This was a really, really good run for me!

Felt great to do intervals again!

My legs felt GLORIOUS.

etc, etc, etc...

That is, until this week...Tuesday I did an interval workout with the deadest legs I've had in ages. I made all my splits with no problem, but my legs just felt like concrete. And the next day's easy run didn't feel much better. I chalked it up to running the intervals a bit fast and didn't think much of it.

Until I got an email from my coach with the subject "dead legs."

So, I saw your run(s) this a.m., and what you're feeling right now is the cumulative fatigue that's been building since TK...not yesterday's run. That is exactly what's happened to me about 3-4 weeks out from a major PR effort at a moderately long distance. Speaking as one of the worst past mileage whores I know (for god's sake, look at the title of my blog), I would really recommend only a few, if any, miles tomorrow in addition to taking Friday off. Also, take in extra protein...I don't know if you're into protein powders or bars, but when I've felt ultra-dead, I double my protein intake and it really helps.

Because you're a good runner and devoted to training, taking time off is waaay harder than any workout, I know. But I would say you're at that teetery edge before injury or overtraining, so you want to be pretty careful.

Sincerely,

Coach Know-it-All

BOLLOCKS! (although please note that she told me I was a good runner! holla! coach's pet!). My first reaction was disappointment. Because, of course, I had planned on running like 8-9 miles this morning. I'm in the groove, yo! I want to get my miles on. Overtrained? Me? NEVER! I mean, seriously, me? The casual, recreational, funtimes mcgee runner being overtrained??? Hahahahahahaha. No effing way.

But, I decided to listen to Coach's advice and I scaled back my run this morning to only 3 easy miles. The thing is... I would have never considered dead legs this week to be a "cumulative fatigue." I would have just powered through and kept going. Which is DUMB as shit. (Amy=Dumb as shit). That's not to say that I'm not going to have dead legs after an interval workout. But, it is important to look at my training as a whole and not just pick and choose a couple of days here and there. I'm having so much fun with this running stuff now, that I kinda forget that I'm training pretty hard (for me). It's easy to get caught up in the awesomeness and the ultimate goal and not pay attention to the little signs that might show up along the way. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again... Thank God I have a coach.

Also, as an aside.... protein? Really? You've got to be freaking kidding me. I'm that hippie bitch that always scoffs at people when they start talking about protein in their diets. And now I gotta start looking to see if I'm getting enough? Does quinoa, broccoli and dark chocolate have protein? Crap.