I am going to refer to this week as my “comeback” week. I say that loosely because I was never out of the game, but the past couple weeks have been a struggle for me when it comes to workouts.

I switched things up when it came to my nutrition, stretching and strength training this week. It wasn’t necessarily easy but I have already noticed a great improvement in how I feel!

I also did something I haven’t done in quite some time – I ran on the treadmill.  You see, the past two weeks I have lost a lot of confidence. I was doing really well, workouts were going good, and then everything seemed to change. Struggling through the last few weeks has put a damper on my confidence.

This week I decided I would take my workouts to the treadmill. It usually isn’t my favorite choice, but I thought it might help push me a little bit!

 

Here is a look at my runs this week:

Monday – 8 miles

I started Monday off with an easy 8 miles. Wes started a new rotation this week so was up before me. His alarm went off and then I had trouble going back to sleep, so I just ended up laying there till I convinced myself to get up and get the run started.

I focused on keeping my heart rate down and a very easy pace the whole time.  I completed 8 miles in total with 6 x 10 second strides at the end to get my legs moving.

 

Tuesday – 9 miles (Workout)

Tuesday was my first workout, so I was a bit apprehensive.  I got down to our treadmill bright and early to get it done. I haven’t run on it in over a month!

I decided on the following workout:

Warm up
12 x 400 (with 400 recovery)
Cool down

It was a simple workout, but not easy by any means. I would never say this workout felt easy, but it was greatly improved from the past several weeks! It was a bit of a confidence boost, but I knew I still had a ways to go.

 

Wednesday – 7 miles

Wednesday was another easy day for me. I’ve really been trying to focus on relaxing on these easy runs so that was the primary focus.

A bit slower on Wednesday mostly because I’d had the workout on Tuesday, and gone to the gym after work for some lower body strength training. My legs were not happy with me.

 

Thursday – 8 miles (Workout)

My second workout for the week was Thursday. I had every intention of doing this one outside, but when I went outside to take my dog out that morning I realized just how tired I felt and it was drizzling so I opted to head back down to the treadmill.

Looking back on it I think my confidence was still struggling, but I’m still glad I got it done.

Thursday’s workout consisted of:

Warm up
4 miles at marathon pace (7:24 – as close as the treadmill could get)
Recovery
4 x 200 meters (with 200 recovery)
Cool down

The workout once again wasn’t easy, but felt much better!

 

Friday

I took all day Friday to rest and recover and get my body ready for the weekend.  I was ready for it too!

 

Saturday

Wes had to be at the hospital bright and early Saturday morning. When his alarm went off I ended up getting out of bed with him. I thought it might help him, plus I knew I’d beat the heat so why not? I could always go back to sleep after it.

I got up and started my 12 miles. It wasn’t the greatest run, but it wasn’t awful either. I had to stick to one main road which wasn’t ideal, but got the job done!

Having your long run done before 6:00 am is a pretty awesome feeling!

 

Sunday – 8/9 miles

The goal for Sunday is an easy 8-9 miles. I know we will be sleeping in, so I will just do whatever pace my body can handle that day.

 

Confidence is a funny thing. I’ve been doing these workouts for what feels like forever, but even if you know you can do it a few weeks of frustrating running can really get you down.

This week helped me gain some of that back, but it still needs some work. My focus over the last week before marathon training is to re-gain my confidence and get ready to work towards my new goals!

 

Have you ever lost your “running confidence”?

How did your running go this week?