Hi everyone,
I'm 21 years old (female) and have been running (relatively) consistently for a few years. I never ran in high school so have had no experience in competing, and don't have any specific goals. I don't race, but would like to be able to run a marathon in a decent time if the opportunity came. I certainly do not want to peak for specific races. This time last year, I was running 80mpw consistently with one tempo/ threshold run and a long run per week, but since the beginning of the year I've been in a constant injury cycle.
I am getting back into running now, but feel a bit lost. I always got very bad anxiety before structured faster / tempo runs, but always loved the long easy runs. I like volume but have an aversion to intensity, and feel like my overly structured approach has sapped the fun out of running for me. I ran a marathon TT December last year where I managed 3:20.
I am now interested in a 'run by feel' approach, which for me will probably end up being all easy mileage between 70-100 mpw (including 2-3 14+ mi runs per week) . I am happy to include strides and drills 2x per week, but feel like structured threshold runs etc end up taking a toll on my mental health, as ridiculous as it sounds. I want to look forward to all my runs, but end up dreading structured workouts (mainly due to anxiety. I don't run tempos too fast either, I just don't enjoy them at the moment)
The problem for me is that I feel guilty for not including faster, harder workouts and pushing myself. I have no desire to do so, but I'm scared I'll lose all the fitness I've worked so hard to obtain (I have been replicating my weekly routine on the bike until now). And of course, less fitness means I'll enjoy running less.
TL, DR: Has anyone had any success in maintaining a good level of fitness on almost exclusively long easy mileage? I'm talking not even tempos. I want to train in a way that I enjoy, that eliminates the Psychological stress, and that I can keep up until I'm old. I feel like I've forgotten how to enjoy running, and feel scared to lose hard earned fitness. My focus is on longer distances. I may be interested in marathons and ultras, but not racing or aiming for specific times.