Forecast for the run tomorrow, light running shorts, minimalist shoes, medium thickness socks, light breathable shirt, headband, mp3 player.
That's not what this post is really about, however. I'm thinking of how it is I decide when, where, and what to run from day to day. It's not unlike planning your clothes for the next day, the next week, or the days coming up when you have something going on.
Maybe you have a lunch meeting with a vendor, maybe you have a networking event one evening, maybe it's 'dress like your boss Wednesday'. Perhaps the CEO and a group of investors will be visiting the office, it's possible you have a conference or training session to attend, maybe it's ORANGE FRIDAY and the Giants are playing at home!
This is really the same way I think of planning my running mileage and locations for the upcoming days. Sometimes it's easy and kind of already planned out for me, sometimes it's not. I know my normal week is:
Monday - easy 2-3 miles - my hood, usually evening time.
Tuesday - ARM Academy track work out - local high school with the group, usually 4-6 miles depending on upcoming races, 6pm.
Wednesday - Easy 2-3 miles - my hood, usually evening time.
Thursday - ARM Academy tempo run - my hood, 5.5 with the group, 7pm.
Friday - Long run with a group buddy - Sawyer Camp trail(path) 8-12 miles, 10-12 am start time depending on weather
Saturday - Location run - 4-6 miles, late morning, early afternoon.
Sunday - If no location Saturday, location Sunday. Otherwise, easy 2-4 miles, usually afternoon/evening.
Now, this is a pretty straight forward, regular week for me, much like a normal week working (or doing whatever you do). As with most aspects of life, you will need to make adjustments based on planned events as well as unplanned events. For me, it's a little more simple than for others, but the idea is still the same. Probably also fair to keep in mind that not everyone is running every day. Two or three days a week is plenty for most and provides a few less opportunities for getting a screwdriver in the spokes of your running regimen (or other workouts, I understand people do things besides run for fitness. True story.).
Some of the running schedule adjustments that I handle:
Friends asking to run.
Different distance goal
Different average time goal
Different desired location
Different time of day
Schedule conflict.
Self-inflicted, ran out of time-poorly planned
Short notice event plans
Other sporting event (read as softball game)
Surprise phone screen for a job
Upcoming event, running related.
Running a 1/2 marathon with less than two week's notice
Unexpected physical impairment
Soreness
Injury
Fatigue
Self-induced (hangover, softball game aches, too much standing/walking, etc)
Stomach related
Too dehydrated (alchohol, caffiene, or vitamin d related)
Desired location not available
Location not motivating (pretty much when I don't want to run in my hood)
Equipment not ready (it's true, you shouldn't run a lot of miles, two days in a row, in the same pair of shoes)
Now, sometimes these things come up and you are forced to change your routine, and sometimes you don't. A great example of this is last week when I ran my normal 5.5 mile tempo run Thursday night around 7pm, then decided to run a 10 miler the next day because a friend from the group I run with on Tuesday at the track workout suggested a long run. Normally on Thursday's I'd run an easy 3-4 miler.
I decided to run that 10 miler because I have been drinking more beer than normal and wanted to burn off some of those calories en-masse. I also wanted to get a longer run in and don't normally do them on my own. It worked but I also had some other expected results: my feet were tired because my distance 'stability' shoes were not 'rested' properly. Legs were pretty tired too. I was dehydrated because I had a couple of beers after my softball game Thursday night, and was day running on a pretty warm afternoon.
The fact remains that despite the off-kilter schedule, poor preparation, and fatigue, I was able to pull off a good, calorie burning run and I was flexible in my mentality to adjust. Too bad my running buddy had to listen to me whine the whole time: "I'm not sure I'm going to make it all 10 miles", "oh man, I think my legs are going to give out", "my feet are really killing me", "go ahead without me if you want to burn these last couple of miles up, I'm wasted", and something like "how far out are we" every 1/4 mile. I did apologize later.
Maybe your boss finds out about 'dress like your boss Wednesday' and puts the kibosh on it. Maybe your lunch meeting gets cancelled. Maybe your conference is moved from Las Vegas to Gnome, Alaska. Of course, if the Giants are still playing at home, you wear that orange!
What I'm trying to say is, in the end, if you want to run, just go out and do it. Run fast, run slow, run whatever your pace is. Walk and run, run and walk, take breaks every 5 minutes, every 10 minutes. Just go out and run. Run 1 mile, run a half a mile, run 500 miles (no, don't do that). Just run baby! Plan ahead, routine is great, but don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Get out and run! Don't worry about what other people think or say.
Running is your thing, get out and pound the miles out!
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