I didn't run today. I'm finally listening to my body, which gave me a bit of a cold a few days ago. But I just had to run those 30k this weekend to hit my weekly kilometrage--at least I didn't do the long run on trails at an ungodly hour of the morning with wind chills probably below -15C.
Coincidentally, there was a blog post on the NYTimes Well, which doesn't say anything you shouldn't already know, but it was nice to get a reminder to take things easy:
Experienced athletes know that the only way to improve is to push yourself. Lift weights that are heavier than those you’ve tried before. Run or cycle at a fast pace on some days, but focus on increasing your distance on others. Work out enough that you may not fully recover between sessions.I used to think that I was a two, at best three day a week runner--that anything more would just lead to injuries. That was because I went way too hard on my runs--pushing myself to the max every time. The most important run for me to learn was the recovery run--learning to go easy and short. Once I discovered that the trick of training is to go slower so you can go longer and more frequently, I was able to six days a week. I guess last week was too many tough days. Way too many! A 10k race, a 26km fasted long run (slow, but still...), a hard tempo workout, striders on an easy day (which I'm not used to), and a decent speed workout too. No wonder I got the sniffles.
You should feel tired, said John Raglin, a sports psychologist at Indiana University. But if you do too much with too little rest, your performance gets worse, not better.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/personal-best-workouts-have-their-limits-recognized-or-not/