This has happened to me before.
This slump.
This complete plummet in energy.
The fatigue.
The lethargy.
I know exactly what will fix it, but I think I need one more day in my sloth cocoon before I, in the words of the indomitable Ms. Swift, ‘shake it off’.
Last night I had several dream vignettes where the focus was my knotted stomach and my inability to get to the start line for the Chester Marathon – because I was stuck in traffic or more bizarrely, shopping.
The cold, rainy darker evenings are probably also a factor, but that doesn’t stop me from running in the day. What stops me is the inertia.
I can remember this happening to some degree in several of my taper periods, and if one of the taper weeks coincides with my periods (which are still, unfortunately, happening), then the symptoms seem to enlarge. I’m a week and a bit out from Chester marathon, and my legs are aching from doing nothing at all. I feel like I need to have a few glasses of red wine, just to make this ache worth it.
It’s taken me a few days to realise what was happening, as initially I thought that I could be ill. But my epiphany came this morning, only a couple of hours after I had (in my sleep-state) maxed out my credit cards and thrown away my race number. And with that knowledge, my stomach untied itself.
I could have gone running with the club tonight, and that would probably have been the best thing to do to pull me out of my doldrums, but having figured out what my problem is, I feel I can sit back and enjoy one more night indoors before I charge up my head torch again for the autumn season. And maybe I’ll have a glass of red, while I’m at it.
theleadlesspencil 