After the Colorado Trail Unsupported FKT I have been spending a lot of time on the couch. It is frustrating. I have this desire to run. Mentally it is there constantly. But physically it is a different story. My toes fell like they got skewered. My ankles are stiff and creaky and my knees scream or help if I expect too much from them.
For the first week I had to take it easy, but at nearly the end of my second week of recovery I am no closer to full days of training in the mountains. Being a habitual 5 hour a night sleeper I now log double that constantly. My body is exhausted every afternoon and getting out for a short walk is considered an exercise victory.
If I do the math nothing is wrong. In the ultramarathon world they say to take one day off for every 10 miles. That means I am supposed to take 49 days off. I don’t want to but my body needs it. With these new aches and pains both internal and external it has completely changed my love and appreciation for movement. My body and mind need movement. It has been my therapy over the years, and being without it highlights the close connection between physical and mental desires. They feed off each other. With the mental desire but not the physical ability I have adopted a new level of patience. It is a patience of anxious waiting and excitement over soon being able to run freely again.
As I enter week 3 of recovery my goal is to run 2 miles continuously. This was a drop in the bucket in my former training and the FKT, but as situations change so do goals. Smoke is covering my town and training grounds, so there are silver linings to be stuck on the couch, but every benefit to not running is physical, and mentally appeasing a desire cannot be done so easily. The two sides of my body fight over what is good for the present and the future. But at the moment I side with the physical discomfort and continue to wait until the time is right to train and plan out the next FKT.
#howtosetanfkt #coloradofkt #howtorecoverfromrunning #fastestknowntime #jeffgarmirecolorado #coloradotrailfastestknowntime #coloradotrail #jeffgarmire #recoveringfromathruhike #hike #coloradotrailfkt #coloradotrailrecord #jeffgarmirefkt #record #Colorado #howtothruhikethecoloradotrail #recoveringfromanfkt