Do you ever think about how the other stuff besides actual running affects your running? Over the past few years I have realized that other things impact our running more than should make sense. For example: stress, eating, getting enough sleep, sitting, and what shoes we wear when we are not running, to name a few.
This past weekend I was in NYC for a bachelorette party. I took the train there on Saturday morning and came back early on Sunday morning, to get the cheapest train tickets possible. This meant a quick trip in which I tried to squeeze in as much as possible! Before I left on Saturday I did an easy 4 miles which felt great. I got some blogging stuff done on the train rides which helped to prepare for the busy back to school week.
When I arrived I walked for about 15 minutes to my friends’ apartment. Then we went to lunch and ran errands- meaning more time on my feet. Usually this is totally fine, but I had worn a pair of flat sandals that I usually don’t do too much walking in. I was also on my feet quite a bit that night (more walking and some dancing), and up welllll past my usual bedtime- but all for good fun and good reason of course! However, when I got home on Sunday my left ankle felt really tight in a similar spot where I have had problems before.
I spent a good part of the day foam rolling and massaging it in any way I could, along with wearing my compression socks. I decided I wasn’t sure if I would run on Monday, depending on how it felt when I woke up. Luckily it felt great and I was able to do my easy run, although I will still be watching out for it (and not wearing those shoes for awhile!)
The point is that something as silly as shoes (possibly combined with extra time on my feet and a lack of sleep) were likely the cause on an issue that had the potential to become an injury. I have a feeling if I did that every weekend it would become a full blown injury very quickly.
A few notes on some of the other factors I mentioned:
-As for nutrition, I think by now most of us know the important role that nutrition plays in staying healthy. Our bodies require lots of nutrients to recover properly! While I know I am still far from perfect in this area, I think I have come a long way and it is an ongoing process.
-Many of us don’t have control over how much we sit at work. Luckily I am up and down throughout the day, but I generally have very tight hips so I make it a point to get up frequently if I have to sit for a while. I touched on this here and here.
-When it comes to sleep, I feel like I have a good amount of control with that and get at least 8 hours almost every night. If I know I am getting up at 5 to run, I get to bed by 9. I like having a routine because I think it helps me sleep better, also.
-The last one I mentioned above is stress- and that is the absolute hardest one for me. Looking back on things, it’s like as soon as I get stressed about something big, I get injured. And I’m terrible and managing stress- so right now it is something I am working on. That is a topic for a whole other post!
What other things in life affect your training?
How do you manage things like sleep and stress?
Sleep is a big one for me. If I’m not sleeping well my runs are terrible and my legs feel like lead. I try to make sure I get to bed between 9:30 and 10:00, but it doesn’t always happen.
Agreed! Sleep is so important. But I also find that if I get a bad nights sleep a run can help me feel better (if I can get through it).
Can really relate. It often seems like life’s purpose is to get in the way of my running! Joking, and I know my running gets in the way of life sometimes although I don’t want it to, but there are so many daily things that impact training.
Yup life can certainly get in the way of running! I mean if we lived in a bubble and all we had to worry about was running imagine what we could accomplish!
Sleep is a HUGE one for me especially with little kids that like to get up in the middle of the night several times a night. I really need to start going to bed earlier, but it’s so hard!!
Oh I’m sure that being woken up throughout the night makes for a less that ideal night’s sleep! I don’t know how I will ever handle having kids that require me to get up in the middle of the night:)
What I hate (with regards to training impacting my life) is when I can’t do normal things because of an injury or because I am afraid of injury. I have had a few times where just getting across the street quickly was a struggle. Or when something just hurts, and not in a dang that feels good because I worked it out way. Or when my husband and I can’t make plans because I have a long run the next day (although, at this point, I pretty much just do whatever, as evidenced by this weekend.)
Yep. I often wish I could just have that “dang that feels good because I worked it out” feeling rather that “ouch that probably shouldn’t feel that way” feeling. I am so paranoid about every little ache and pain too. I think that I was able to move away from the mindset of being 100% focused on running over the summer when I wasn’t training, so I’m trying to keep that relaxed approach now… we will see how that goes!
This year was the year it finally hit me how much everything in my life impacts my running. Previously, I figured as long as I ate pretty healthy and sleep for 8-9 hours, that was all I needed.
But boy does stress and restless nights wreck havoc on your body and energy. It’s terribly frustrating when you feel like you’re doing your best to control it, but really can’t. Thankfully, life has it’s up and downs, so sometimes you just need to hang in there until you reach a better place 🙂
I’m glad you’re foot is feeling better and nothing too serious came from those sandals!
Exactly! And I guess sometimes when you’re having rough patches in life you just need to accept it and back off on your training. Great points!
You nailed it! Sleep is WAY important to feeling right and being able to stay strong.
I like to set ideal times to be in bed by–it helps a lot. Otherwise I can be mindlessly doing things until late.
Injuries are such a downer though right? I feel like whenever I am excited about training for something big, i get injured and have to cut things back.
You’re awesome, keep rockin’!
I also have a set time that I go to bed- and you’re right that it helps to have that in mind! I used to just stay up doing nothing and then I would be tired and regret it every single day.
And yea- injuries are so annoying. We might try to do everything right and they still somehow pop up…so unfair!
That’s great that you are getting enough sleep. I thk that is where alot of us struggle. I know that’s the problem for me. With working many red eyes lately I have been lacking in the sleep department.
I could imagine that a changing schedule like that would be really hard! When I worked until 10pm most days I never felt like I could get on a good sleep schedule. I would get home and be wire so couldn’t fall asleep until late. I feel much better now that I’m in a consistent routine!
The “other stuff” really is so much more important than we often give it credit. I know that I don’t realize how much I’m affected when I’m walking a lot at Charm City Run on weekends or just being active in general. Then I can’t figure out why a long run feels like crap- because my legs aren’t rested, obviously. Same goes with food- I don’t think eating ice cream and burgers will affect me that much… until my run is sluggish and blah. Or sleep, even! There are so many little things to factor into our training that you wouldn’t think about at first!
Great points! I know when I am on my feet all day my legs really feel it. As for the food- now that I know which foods my stomach does not handle well before running, I try to avoid at all costs before a long run or race. But I just wish these were things we didn’t have to worry about!
Sleep is a big one for me. If I don’t get enough, those easy Monday runs don’t happen as I’ve been learning lately. My daughter is usually not asleep until 8-8:30, so that leaves me a single hour to do something by myself or for myself before I should go to bed at 9:30. Typically I end up going to be more like 10:30. Which isn’t bad, but after several days, it does catch up to me.
Shoes are another big one. I can’t wear flat shoes that have no arch support; so el cheapo flip flops are a thing of the past (I used to live in Old Navy flip flops in the summer). I’ve also noticed that wearing heels can make my calves tight. So I avoid them in the days leading up to my long runs.
I always notice that when I wear really flat sandals for too long my feet immediately feel it! I have rainbows that are just about the only flip flops I can wear all the time that don’t give me any problems.
Sleep and stress have a huge impact on my motivation to get out the door for a run. If I’m tired or stressed I usually just want to lay on the couch with a good book. In a lot of cases getting out for a run would probably make me feel better, but it can be so hard to take that first step!
I also never, ever wear heels anymore. (well, maybe once per year… for like a Christmas party or something)!
I don’t do heels either! I might wear them for weddings but take them off to dance:)
When I’m stressed I usually want to run more…so that likely just makes the correlation between stress and injury even worse!
Yes, yes and YES! 🙂
I found that wearing a pair of flat loafers when we were on the NYU tour (and walking all over the place for hours) made my feet tired and I didn’t wear them again (funny that my ultra-minimal Merrell Vapor Gloves were much better on my feet!). Lisa runs into the same thing – she has ankle and arthritis issues anyway, but can really suffer from bad shoe choices!
I’ve given up on cute shoes- its all about comfort for me! If I could I would wear my running shoes all the time!
Yes! It’s insane how much we are affected by other things besides the actual RUNNING! Now that I’m back to school, I’m on my feet for about ten hours a day-uggh, it’s exhausting. Things hurt. All the places. They hurt. LOL it’s going to take a while to get used to it, for sure! And I find sometimes that flats make me more sore? Weird.
My favorite shoes to wear to work are Sperrys. I have black flats (that are casual but a little nicer) but my feet don’t feel great in them. But I think after 10 hours on your feet things will hurt regardless of the shoes, unfortunately! I hope that you adjust and it gets less painful:)