Lessons Learned

As my IT heals and I'm running again, what nuggets did I glean from this last marathon training cycle?

1. Don't Skip Stretching.
As miles piled up in spring, I fell out of the habit of fully stretching after runs. A torn calf muscle resulted.

2. Accept What You Have
When I resumed running after eight weeks, my mind recalled a faster pace than my post-injury body could provide. This led to unrealistic long runs, that eventually burned me out.

3. Pick A Plan, Any Training Plan
There's all kinds of ways to tackle marathons and I tried every one. With 12 weeks to prepare for Chicago, I juggled the FIRST plan with old Team in Training routines. Choose one and commit.

4. Lift Weights
After tearing my calf muscle, I stopped lifting weights and never resumed. I felt the lack of strength on my long runs. Coupled with bad pacing and summer heat, this led to several miserable outings. Weight training really pays off beyond mile 20. (And strengthens the IT band.)

5. Don't Practice Quitting
Often I adopt an all-or-nothing attitude. Thus, if I miss a goal, I quit rather than modify my run. A few times I knew I couldn't maintain a certain pace. So I cut the run short, thus acquiring the habit of quitting. This ties in with No. 2 and No. 6 below.

6. Build Your Mental Muscles
Visualizations, mantras, counting steps and other mental tricks help you triumph over negativity and the "can'ts." But they should be integrated throughout the training cycle.

Now on to the next marathon and brand new errors.