Me, My Marathon(s) and My Zzzs

Yesterday, following a 2 week break from Luxembourg Marathon, I finally ran.

The first week break was necessary, but the second week was a mental struggle - guess it is obvious who won!

But Sunday, I was singing the theme song of Rocky III !

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance
Now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

Today, I wanted to run again feeling very enthusiastic about my return. BUT I was able to talk sense into myself and not commit the same mistake of not listening to the many running coach/trainer/gurus I've met and read.  Rest is part of training, too!

As well as going to bed early!

One (amongst many!) of the many reasons why I finally worked on fulfilling my childhood dream to run a marathon (what others viewed as an ambitious goal to have during my first year of running) was to sleep better.

If you are serious in wanting to have a strong body to cope with the rigors of the marathon, you need sleep. There are no buts, no short-cuts to this. It is very straightforward. No quality sleep, no quality performance, or no performance at all.

My lack luster performance in Egmond was due to lack of proper sleep.

Lack of sleep also made me late in Groet Uit Schoorl, and in the end made it my first DNF race.

I have not given up on sleeping better. The more I fall in love with running marathons, the more determine I am to sleep (and take power naps, if the day allows!) better.

Archive picture from My Daily Mooosings in the Netherlands:
A-Z Blogging Project