A little bit about myself. I just graduated from high school and I ran varsity on the XC and track team. Here are some of my PR's
3 mile XC: 17:42
2 mile: 11:23
Mile: 5:25
So here's the scoop. I had 3 indoor track meets before my senior track season got cancelled. I still did repeats and tempo runs for about a month after school was closed and stopped doing this and moved just to road running once they officially cancelled the season.
My typical road run pace was about 7-7:15 pace for 6-7 miles. On really good days I could pump that out around 6:50 pace while still feeling relatively easy. Although, as we got into May, these paces started to feel harder. I could still do them close to this pace, but it would feel like I would have to put in more effort to do so. So I was wondering if I needed to take a short break from running. I have not taken more than 4 days off from running in 2 years, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to take a 10 break from running.
So that's what I did. I stopped running for 10 days from May 24 to June 3. I still remained very active, so I could keep as much fitness as possible. I took walks, went swimming, and did a lot of yard work with my dad.
So, once the 10 days were up, I went running with a friend who is not in good of shape as I am. We ran 4 easy miles just talking and enjoying nature. Everything felt fine even though we were going pretty slow. So, the next day I decided to try 5 miles at a decent tempo. The big problem was it was the middle of the day and 90 degrees and humid (I live in northern Illinois). Plus the route was not very shady. It was so bad that I had to stop 4 miles in where there was a shaded area. My overall pace was garbage- 8:41 pace. My breathing was fine, but it felt like I had no power.
So I decided to take the next day off and refresh. The day after that I made sure I ran earlier in the morning. I did another 5 miler at 7:35 pace which felt ok. Still felt harder than I wanted it to feel, but was happy that it was better than the previous run.
I took the next day off and then ran again in the morning. I went for a 4.5 mile run and it was around 7:41 pace. I went out a little fast which may be why I felt really fatigued afterwards. My breathing felt really labored, but I felt like I had enough energy. It was slightly humid and very sunny once again.
Then I went for another run this morning. Almost identical conditions as yesterday. I tried for another 5 miles, but my breathing and energy felt labored. I got really demotivated on this run. Once I got back and checked the stats on my watch it was 8:25 pace. I still feel really frustrated by all this.
So, what I'm trying to ask is do you guys think that the 10 day break is the cause for why I'm struggling, or is it the heat and humidity? Or a combination of both?
Any feedback is appreciated! Sorry that this post is really long. Thanks to anyone who made it this far!