World record post marathon blues?

 Hello

I would like re-assurance from fellow forumites

I ran the London Marathon this year and I didn't have a good race at all.  A personal worst and I'm sorry to say that I didn't enjoy it one bit.  It was my third marathon, second London.

I did run with an injury which didn't help matters but whilst this has now resolved, I'm still struggling to run much more than 4 miles in any run.  Its as if my body is rejecting the thought of doing anything like a marathon again. 

I really want to get back to running long runs at weekends, but so far I've not been able to.  Surely I can't have lost huge amounts of fitness.  Is it a psychological thing do you think?  Has anyone else taken months to get back into proper training from running a nightmare race?

Thanks!

I'm struggling as well, London was my first marathon, loved every minute of it,finished in a steady if unspectacular 4h 11mins. But since then I just can't get going again, done a 10k last week 4 and a half minutes slower than my 18 month old PB.

My legs feel like blocks of wood,I'm lethargic and my stomach feels (and looks!) like it's about to explode. I'm due to start a 16 week Liverpool marathon training programme this week but the way I'm feeling at the moment is putting me right off.

You're still recovering most likely, everyone is different and unless you're an elite then your body needs time to get over it. we all forget how much a mara takes out of us, just think of the weeks and weeks of intense training you put in, its no surprise your body is telling you to hold back. One of you ran with injury and one of you it was your first, you both need to ensure you're getting enough sleep and eating the right foods, if you're feeling a bit lack-lustre, go swimming, get on a bike do something else instead of running and give your legs a good rest.

With proper rest when you do get back to it you'll feel refreshed and will be ready to start up again. SLOWLY!

As Marina and the Diamonds sang - guess what? You're not a robot!

TT, really glad you've posted this. Second marathon for me this year and a huge personal worst and overall crappier experience than the first time around.

Like you I've been struggling since, and I suspect it's psychological. I don't think it's physical recovery, I think I'm suffering from a major loss of motivation. It's becoming a vicious cycle as I feel/am losing loads of fitness, which then makes running less enjoyable. I'm not sure what the answer is though. I've tried laying off the idea of any structured training, but I don't always find that helpful if that means I'm not getting the miles in. At the moment I'm thinking of mixing it up a bit more with different activities and seeing if that helps. 

Right - just jumping in again, cos you're all sounding very negative and sound like you all need to chill. Its not supposed to be stressful or hard work, chill out, pbs aren't the be all and end all and perhaps you should just try running - cos you can?? All very well sticking to training plans for events and stuff but you're not going to fail cos you first couple of weeks are off kilter.

Try enjoying it again, just run, one foot in front of the other, thats all, not time or distance, just pull on your trainers and go.

Tom

i greatly suspect that most of it is Physcological

i've only run 4 HM's in 6 months, been off 3 months with Prostate problems, and for first time in my life of running ( 40 years of it ) my GP advises me to run with caution especially in any heat

 one day i'm up for it and feel like going for it, another day i dont -

sport , ( in our case running )  is first meant to be fun and enjoyable, to keep fit and feel good about ones self - it's ok for me to talk i know, - i'll bounce back shortly and vast expereince will be  on my side

but for some of lesser expereince, the body and mind becomes lathargic, and if prepartion before a run isnt right ( IE fluid ) any runs with just get harder

i would suggest until momentum returns to run little and often and think positive about the good things- forget chasing PB's for a while, get that feel good factor back first

best wishes always

Mick   

i ran Brighton in April and it took me nearly 4 weeks to get any real interest back if i hadn’t had a 10k in may which both me and the O/H were running i think it may have taken longer it’s not that i had a bad race i beat my PB by a 1.5 minutes but it was very hot this year and i have to say i was just glad i was still running by the time i got to the 22 mile mark

I ran London in 2008, it was my first marathon.  I have never regained the same interest in running to be honest.  Since then I can count the number of runs I've done on my own on one hand and if I wasn't a club member I'm sure I would never have run again after it.  I did a couple of big pbs at 10k and half marathon 18 months ago on not that much training, then it went down hill again.  I'm still running and have regained some motivation but nowhere near my previous levels.  I've accepted now that I will probably never do any race over 10 mIles now (and more likely 10k) because I do not enjoy running any sort of distance.  If that changes in the future then so be it, but I won't be forcing myself.

I hope you get back to where you want to be.

I find that a good way to rekindle enjoyment in running is to just run for the sake of running for a while.

By that, I mean get off the roads and onto the trails and footpaths if you can, leave the Garmin at home, and just run with as clear a mind as possible. Don't think or worry about pace, time, distance or anything else. Just enjoy being out and about in the fresh air, feeling a bit more connected to the natural world, and away from any distractions or the daily palaver of modern life.

Works for me... I really hope it might work for some of you too.

I'm not so sure that it is psychological, I think it really is physical. I ran London last year and it took an age for me to recover. My third marathon and the only one I struggled to comeback from. I still went out running but couldn't get beyond 4 miles for a very long time.

I found the best thing was to stop the long runs and just focus on speed work. Short runs, the longest was 5k but mostly track work.

Unfortunately I then sustained a couple of injuries, or more to the point I was hit by a blind motorist so I was off all exercise for a long while. Now I'm fine to a point but having just run 3 races in the last week I'm at the can't run stage again.

I'm no spring chicken and I'm a newbie runner so I think I'll just have to accept that it takes my body time to recover much as I want to be out running.

But that doesn't explain why I dream about swimming all the time.