1 : a spell of listlessness or despondency
2 often capitalized : a part of the ocean near the equator abounding in calms, squalls, and light shifting winds
3 : a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or slump
From: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doldrums
The third definition seems to fit my running of late.
On the "schedule" for this weekend: 12 miles on Saturday and 8 on Sunday. Hmmph... back to back runs take up a lot of my weekend. Maybe I should just run long one day... 12+8 = 20. Okay, can do that (or so I thought Friday night). Saturday dawned, I looked out the window and could barely see across the road. It had poured the night before, the trails would be soaked, I was tired, it was barely in the 50's... rolled over and went back to sleep for a bit. Woke later, ingested a couple of cups of coffee and still couldn't get enthused about a run. Checked the weather, Sunday was supposed to be nicer. Guess I will run 20 on Sunday. Spent most of the rest of the day either huddled under the covers reading or bundled up at my desk (sweats, fleece, wool hat and down booties) taking care of household finances.
Walked to and from the party (all of three blocks one way) so at least got some exercise.
Today I woke to overcast but no fog. Looking better. I was still tired and as I sat drinking my coffee and looking at my planned route I just could not get excited about the run. So, I started revising the run downward. Looked over an older training schedule and thought "I don't need to run 20 today I can run...." insert a number, 'cuz I kept revising it down! Texted Wayne for a little encouragement as he is usually good for a pep talk. Even he was saying I could bag the run ;->
By this time I had wittled the run down to 10 miles and I was feeling a little excitement about the prospect. Then, Mr. Wildknits called (on his way back from fishing - picking herring out of a net for several hours that is) and said a friend was flying over to go sailing. I had decided it was time to end all of my runs on the SHT at Bayfront where the Wild Duluth 50k finish will be located. The sailboat is less than a mile from there. Now running was sounding more interesting!
Packed up some supplies to have on hand for after the run, loaded them in the car and had Mr. Wildknits drop me off at the Highland & Getchell trailhead. By now it was in the upper 60's/low 70's and humid! Perfect conditions to make any run seem hard. Hit the trail and tried to maintain am easyish pace and ended up walking a lot of hills that I can usually run.
The whole time I was out I didn't feel all that great, but kept telling myself it was only 10 miles. Flushed a couple of grouse (that will get the heart rate up - possibly explaining the Peak HR of 190 recorded today) and saw lots of Corpse Plant/Indian Pipe (Monotropa uniflora). Will try to get a photo of this unique flowering plant this week as they are abundant right now.
As I neared my house I kept reminding myself that I wasn't turning down at the spur trail but instead heading for Enger Tower (would make a great aid station for Wild Duluth - has bathrooms!) and then downtown. From Enger the trail is mostly downhill, crossing several streets and some historic steps before coming out along Superior St near the M&H gas station.
Crossed the road, headed for the pedestrian overpass across the freeway and then down towards Railroad Street and Bayfront Park. Around the park and the back of the DECC and over to the Minnesota Slip Bridge. I crossed the bridge and just could not face running any further. From there I walked, crossing the Aerial Lift Bridge and heading down Park Point to the marina.
So what is with my running?!?
First a disclaimer: I am a low-mileage runner. In the past 6 weeks I have run the following weekly mileage: 20 miles; 16 miles (10k race); 32 miles (Half Voyageur Trail Marathon); 12 miles (donated blood); 24 miles; and 26 miles (5 mile race). I also seem to do best running 4 days a week. The new plan I am (was)trying out has me running 5 days a week. Oh yeah, and there was that monthly reality for all pre-menopausal women thrown in there too (sorry guys).
Maybe I have good reason to be tired!?!
Sailing
We headed out onto Lake Superior today. It was a much warmer sail than this past Friday (when I had on multiple layers and was still so chilled I had to go below for awhile and had trouble getting the jib down as I could not feel my hands).
On our way we picked up a couple additional crew members at the outer portion of the ship canal
Jeff (guy in the hat) likes to fly the spinnaker. I had never seen this sail so sat back and watched:
All too soon it was time to take the spinnaker down and head back. We waited outside the ship canal until the Vista King was also on it's way in (along with several other sail boats - they limit lifting the bridge for easier traffic flow on and off the Point) and then motored under the bridge:
Garden
Hop flowers
Eggplant
Eggplant flower (love the colors on this plant)
Tomato jungle
Broccoli
Knitting
Also in the Doldrums. Any progress I make on decreases is set-off by finding a split stitch 6 rows back and needing to fix it. Sigh.
Mr. Wildknits brought home some herring. For dinner we had:
Fish cakes made from today's catch, potatoes with yogurt and parsley, and broccoli (from our garden). Yum!
7 comments:
Hmm. Maybe you need to not run 5 days/week and stick to 4!
Pretty sail.
Take a break and don't feel bad about it - Sailing, gardening... it's not like you don't have lots of other interests :)
I often feel like that - a few weeks of solid running and then you hit a wall. The joy will come back. We just need to listen to our bodies - sometime we need to push through but other times we do need to rest or just change it up a bit. Now, knowing what to do when... ah, I've had a few too many overuse injuries to answer that accurately!!
Guess I won't ask for the secret formula to always enthusiastic running then ;->
The mountain bike ride last night helped, now it is figuring out what to do to prepare for Wild Duluth 50K. Any words of wisdom would be helpful! The problem with most of my other interests is that they are fairly sedentary - not exactly building aerobic fitness (knitting does not raise the heart rate - well, except when you find that split stitch 6 rows down in fingering weight wool on sz 0 needles at night with poor lighting and tired eyes ;->).
Sounds like you handled the doldrums fairly well and are now coming out of them... glad I could help! :)
You smoked the Half Voyageur... didn't you do that on 4 days a week?
Love the sailing pictures!!
Help... yeah - that was what that was, eh? ;->
Like I said - low-mileage runner. Was thinking about that yesterday on my mtb ride. I do seem to run fairly (for a middle-aged adult onset athlete) on 4 days a week. maybe shouldn't mess with success?
Finally remembered to throw the camera in the bag this week! Hoping for more sailing soon (another reason to bag back-to-back weekend runs - cuts into boat time).
The trick Wayne - timing a visit to Duluth for when there is enough wind to go sailing.... ;->
Oh my gosh...there are few things better than fishcakes made with fresh Lake Superior herring. Those look absolutely amazing!
And, great shots of the garden, as well as from the sailing trip. The picture approaching the aerial lift bridge is really cool!
I'm feeling a bit of the doldrums as well with no big race on the schedule until October. Maybe this is something of a mid summer phenomenon? Best wishes to you with your training!
Jean, I agree and, living with the fisherman (and cook), makes me one lucky person!!!
It is hard to capture the garden well - too close and you are lost in the greenery, too far away and, well hard to tell what it all is. Rather jungle like at this point (and badly needing a weeding). Garlic has all toppled over and needs to be pulled and hung to dry. Soon the hops will be ready for harvest (if we can figure out how to dry them). Will need to find some eggplant recipes I guess. Feasting on broccoli on a regular basis of late (after carefully deworming it - yeah saltwater).
The heat wave will not help things as far as the doldrums, but taking it easy this past weekend and then getting out on the mountain bike helped alot!
thanks for the inspiration to photograph my food ;->
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