Thanks for the ideas ladies!
Overall I've been feeling normal - sleeping fine, normal energy level. Since the last sprint (the slow time), I realized that I had gained weight over the season & had really let my diet slide so I've cleaned it up a lot & lost 5 pounds. But I'm eating lots of healthy carbs now in addition to plenty of protein. I did away with stuff like way too much candy, chips & diet sodas. I think I'm eating healthier than ever now. I am prediabetic & have started measuring my blood sugar in the morning and it's been reading a little high (112 yesterday)
Actually biked a little slower in that race where I ran slowly. I think that I just lost some fitness in general over the season by not training very hard (or nearly enough)
One race alone wouldn't bother me, it was the fact that my training run pace has increased by 2 min/mile! In the span of just about a month. And not a month of no running, a month of doing a HIM, an Xterra, a stroke & stride & a sprint.
I figured, okay had a bad race, pick the training back up and it'll come back, but that hasn't been the case. I've been increasing my mileage now and am running about 40 miles/ week now, with a mix of speed & long runs, and my avg training pace is still so unbelievably slow. I'm struggling with 6 mile runs, and having to take walk breaks. This isn't normal for me, especially at the end of a race season, where I *should* have a decent fitness base.
One only other clue I can think of is that I am drinking way more during workouts than ever. I finished two and a half water bottles yesterday during a 9 mile treadmill run !!
Overall I've been feeling normal - sleeping fine, normal energy level. Since the last sprint (the slow time), I realized that I had gained weight over the season & had really let my diet slide so I've cleaned it up a lot & lost 5 pounds. But I'm eating lots of healthy carbs now in addition to plenty of protein. I did away with stuff like way too much candy, chips & diet sodas. I think I'm eating healthier than ever now. I am prediabetic & have started measuring my blood sugar in the morning and it's been reading a little high (112 yesterday)
Actually biked a little slower in that race where I ran slowly. I think that I just lost some fitness in general over the season by not training very hard (or nearly enough)
One race alone wouldn't bother me, it was the fact that my training run pace has increased by 2 min/mile! In the span of just about a month. And not a month of no running, a month of doing a HIM, an Xterra, a stroke & stride & a sprint.
I figured, okay had a bad race, pick the training back up and it'll come back, but that hasn't been the case. I've been increasing my mileage now and am running about 40 miles/ week now, with a mix of speed & long runs, and my avg training pace is still so unbelievably slow. I'm struggling with 6 mile runs, and having to take walk breaks. This isn't normal for me, especially at the end of a race season, where I *should* have a decent fitness base.
One only other clue I can think of is that I am drinking way more during workouts than ever. I finished two and a half water bottles yesterday during a 9 mile treadmill run !!