Ryan – Page 134 – HillRunner.com

How Can I Increasing Mental Toughness

June 19, 2013 / Training / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ed at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

I just read an article (Runner’s World) on beating mental roadblocks in training and racing. Some of their ideas seem so silly. It is tough to just "tell yourself" to do better or to just ignore or replace negative thoughts or to "just smile." For me mental roadblocks are more than motivation. A mental roadblock needs mental toughness to overcome any and (nearly) all obstacles.

For me a mental roadblock is brought on by some sort of physical signal from my body. Signals like the beginning of a side stitch or my breathing getting out of control or even that wonderful burning sensation in the legs. This is what I want to be able to overcome and push through to the end of the race.

I have realized that I need to distract myself with more than the silly ideas like "I really want the race shirt" or "its ok if I get a (much) slower time because I made my goal so wide open" mentioned in the article. It has to be something concrete and directly related to my goal for that workout or race. I have had some success with shortening the race mentally – "catch and pass that runner in front of you – that’s all, just pass them and hold on" which seems to work best. However, what do I do when I just cannot close that gap? Get a glimpse of the runner chasing me and try to widen that gap.

I want to learn how to ignore a side stitch as painful as they sometimes feel, running through it, working to control it and not slow down. I want to learn how to continue racing when my breathing is out of control or my legs feel like they are on fire. I want to do this without slowing down but by employing a technique to minimize the issue and engaging a superior mental toughness.

After the racing season (or maybe during the season depending on Coach Hill) I would like to start having a few workouts a month that are nearly impossible to complete. Workouts that would create tears in my eyes, which will require serious effort, so that I can start to develop that mental toughness of drawing on the pain and completing the goal regardless. We shall see what Coach Hill thinks and/or puts together for me.

Either way . . . there is more running in my future!

Training by Time

June 19, 2013 / Training / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Interesting thoughts over at the RT/RW site.

I like the general point of this article. I’ve long believed in training by time, though I accept that most people will think in terms of miles so I think of a target time, the expected pace of the run, then assign a corresponding distance. Want at least 1 hour and expect to run around 7:00 pace? Go for 9 miles. Want at least 1 hour and expect to run around 9:00 pace? 7 miles will get you there.

One place I think the author makes a mistake is in describing the workout. The 15:30 5K runner and the 18:00 5K runner running a 5K pace workout are not running at the same intensity. The 15:30 runner is running at a higher intensity than the 18:00 runner. What’s more similar to 15:35 (shouldn’t it be 15:30?) at 15:30 race pace, 14:28 at 18:00 race pace or 18:00 at 18:00 race pace? The problem is the author discusses focusing on time and intensity, then ignores the difference in intensity between the 15:30 5K and 18:00 5K. Maybe this doesn’t seem like a big deal but think of the difference between a 15:30 5K and a 20:00 or 25:00 5K. Same concept. As he mentions, the body doesn’t know distance, it knows time and effort. This doesn’t mean the workout shouldn’t be adjusted but the reason given is, in my opinion, questionable. Maybe you need to increase recovery duration so your ratio between work and recovery remains similar. Maybe you need to shorten the workout for other reasons, such as the possibility that the 18:00 runner may not have the same base and work capacity as the 15:30 runner (though the inverse could potentially be true of course).

In the end, I’m not trying to be critical of the author or what he wrote in general. I fully agree that the body knows effort and duration. It doesn’t really know whether you’re running 9 miles or 10. It knows you’re running 70 minutes at some given intensity. That said, we should carry this premise through to workouts and realize that a 15:30 5K runner and an 18:00 5K runner are not running the same intensity at race pace so targeting the same time means the 18:00 5K runner has an easier workout than the 15:30 runner. Maybe that’s called for given other factors. Maybe, though, it isn’t.

A different path

June 13, 2013 / Miscellaneous / 2 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Charlene at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

I wrote up a super long post. Preview post ate it.

I admit that it was a long self pity party of a post. About how my little pile of dreams and goals for racing has met their end. It is hard and emotional to let go but emotionally and physically I am tapped out. It is just not worth it to train for months and months without a niggle to just get injured or sick right before a race. It is also not fulfilling to me to train conservatively and safe just to run endless half marathons with no improvement. Or to just run more miles and harder workouts to hit the same plateau I have been at for years now. I really enjoy training but am so very weary of the failure at the end. This year I had high hopes that everything would come back together as I was finally able to train like I needed to to make a breakthrough. But things did not work out and my return to running after my last injury has been really horrible. Every run is like a horrible recovery run and I hate it. It is clear that I will not be able to return to normal training and mileage anytime soon and this summer is over as far as any racing goals. This is a final blow that really broke me.

I will still run but I am not really sure where I am going anymore. For this summer and perhaps for good it will just be for fitness. I will still do workouts but not to get ready for a race but to just gain some sense of fulfilment over little victories where I can somewhat control the conditions. I need some new goals in my life. It is really hard to give up racing as I used to love it so much.

KCCC Track

June 11, 2013 / Race Reports / 7 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by ksrunner at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Last week was the KC Corporate Challenge Track meet. The meet runs in the evenings Monday – Thursday. On Tuesday, I ran the mile run and on Thursday, I ran the 1200m leg of the distance medley relay and the 800m run.

After the half marathon a few weeks ago, I knew going in that there was just one guy to beat. Joe had beaten me soundly in the half marathon, I thought that I might have a better chance in the short races, but I knew that he still had a fitness advantage.

The weather last week was perfect and the track had been resurfaced since I had last been there. It was very nice. In KCCC, they accept two people from each company in 10 year age groups and then allow then on race day, you compete in 5-year age groups. This helps to keep the numbers down a bit, but in the middle age groups there are still lots of competitors. In the 100m and 400m on other nights, they run heats of eight until they get everyone in, but in the mile and 800m runs they put everyone together except for the biggest age groups (30-34 & 35-39) which they break into two heats. Still, we had just one heat for my age group with 41 runners in both the 800m and mile.

For the mile, I knew that Joe would be tough, so I planned just to stay close and hope that I could kick. Before I’d run the half marathon, I had thought ahead to the mile run and had hoped to break 5:00, but now, I just wanted to compete well. The track meet was running well behind schedule. I was glad that I had chosen to start my warm up after the relays completed instead of according to the time printed on the schedule. Joe mentioned that he had started his warm up too early, but I doubted that it would affect him too negatively. I was right. When the gun went off, I found myself unprepared for what happened. Joe took off at a much faster pace than I’d anticipated and I just tried to hang on. He went through the first 409 meters in around 66 and I was a second or two behind. I let him get away a bit and similar to in the half marathon, I hoped that he would come back to me later. His lead expanded a over the middle two laps, but then I began an attempt to reel him in. I did not make much progress and finished the race about 6 seconds back (4:57 to his 4:51). Third place finished in 5:34. I found out later that Joe was making some effort to pursue the record for our age group which remains at 4:40 (currently held by Mark Curp). Talking to him after the race, I learned that he would not be running in the distance medley relay on Thursday because he felt that he had a better shot at the 800m record of 2:09. His company has a lot more depth in distance runners and would only give up a second or two by running a younger runner who Joe had beaten at tryouts. That evening, I was understandably down about my chances on Thursday. The way Joe had taken off from the gun had hit me like a physical blow — affecting me both physically and mentally. The other thought that I pursued that night was that I want that weapon (hammering from the gun) in my repertoire. I’ve generally been the type of runner to run as easy as possible. Back in the day, I had the fitness and a nice kick to pull it off. That does not seem to be the case any more. Despite some disappointment, I felt that I had put forth a good effort. It just was not enough for the win that day.

Race time arrived on Thursday a bit earlier than on Tuesday since I had to run a relay before the individual 800m. I did not know who in my company would be running the other legs, but I was unaware of any particularly fast people being available and assumed that I would get the baton with a disadvantage. I did not give myself much time to warm up and did some of my warm up in the homestretch while waiting my turn with the baton. My goal was to pass at least two other teams. Anything less and I would feel that I would have been better off skipping the relay to give a better effort in the 800m. In the relay, our 800m runner performed fairly well finishing somewhere in the middle, but our two 400m runners gave up some ground. I do not know if I got the baton in last or second to last. There were 3 teams who had lapped us and some other teams who handed off just before us. I caught all of the latter in the first lap. Then I ran the next lap chasing the next person ahead of me. It turns out that they had lapped us and on my third and final lap there was no one in front of me. I maintained a good effort until about 150m to go. At that point, I glanced over my shoulder and saw that there was no one especially close, so I cruised into the finish in an attempt to save a bit for the 800m. One race down and I had achieved my goal.

Does anyone else remember a day when two races in the same evening were no big deal? As I waited for the 800m, my legs felt fatigued. I was still committed to get after it in the 800m and not to give Joe anything, but I was a bit concerned. After they got through all of the divisions of relays, I did a light warm up while they ran the older age groups in the men’s 800m. Then I headed to the starting line. Talking to Joe before the race, he mentioned overhearing a guy talking about Tuesday, "I thought I might have a chance in the mile, but two guys just took off …" I knew that unless there was a 400m/800m runner who was stepping up to give us some competition, that this race would be the same. The only such runner that I knew of I had spoken to on Tuesday and he said that he’s "semi-retired" and just running the relays this year provided that his knees hold out. Since he was there on Thursday, I knew that his knees must have held up. They started the race in a double water fall start. I decided to start on the inside of the outer waterfall. I am not always good about getting out quickly and have been cut off before, so I like to start a bit more outside. I almost wished that I had stared on the outside of the second waterfall. One guy got out very quick and could have cut me off, but he left me some room on the inside and I charged through. Joe had started in the inside waterfall and when I cut in, I settled right behind him. I was surprisingly comfortable with the pace, but after the first lap, I knew that I would not hold it and again Joe got away from me. In the end, Joe finished just off the record in 2:10 and I was again 6 seconds back in 2:16. Third place crossed the line in 2:20. Again, I felt that I had put forth a very good effort. As I came out of the last turn, I heard some cheering that I did not think was for me and I pushed hard to the line to hold off anyone who might be coming.

Though I had hoped to win my KCCC races, I enjoyed competing with Joe — probably more than I would have enjoyed winning a relatively easy race. These races have also served to provide motivation. I do not have any racing planned, but I do have a renewed desired to train. I don’t always need races to look forward to in order to enjoy training. Though it is still distant, it may be that next year’s KCCC is enough to look forward to.

One more

June 11, 2013 / Training / 3 minutes of reading

This article was originally posted by Ryan at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

If you’ve read my two most recent race reports, you might have noticed a pattern. About a week before the races, my training crashed. Fortunately, I bounced back in time for race day both times but I can’t keep counting on this happening.

So why did I crash both times, less than a month apart? The answer to that question appears to actually be more simple than one might think. I didn’t follow my own advice and I ran my workouts too hard. Essentially, I ran myself into the ground. I was fortunate that I recognized this both times and corrected in time but why did I fall into this trap not only once but twice in such a short time and what can we all learn about this?

The first time, it was simply a matter of getting too aggressive. I had one very challenging workout on my schedule. It felt so good to nail that workout, even though I had to dig deep to get it done, that I couldn’t resist the draw to feel that again so I ran later workouts harder than I should have. Meanwhile, easy days were not sufficiently easy to recover from such demanding workouts. I recognized this when I crashed but I then entered a shorter than usual training cycle between races and figured, with not as much time to train, I could put a little more into the workouts. Different reasoning, same trap.

I’m not sharing these examples of how I fell into the trap to make myself look like an idiot or to get your sympathy. I’m sharing these examples because they are examples of how easy it is to fall into the trap. I doubt I’m the only one here who has fallen into these traps.

So what should I have done and what will I do going forward? I’ll follow my own advice: finish every workout feeling like you could have done at least one more. If I do fall into the trap during a workout and run it too hard, I’ll take extra precautions in the following day or two to ensure I am adequately recovered before moving on.

Whether you’re running 30 second repeats or mile repeats, it’s good to aim to finish feeling like you could have done at least one more repeat. Even on long runs, finish like you could have run at least one more mile (I actually prefer feeling like I could have run at least 2-3 more miles on long runs). This will keep you from racing your hard days. Remember, save the racing for race day. On workout days, you’re generally not looking to challenge yourself. You’re looking to build yourself up. You need some stress to stimulate improvement but too much stress repeated too frequently will just break you down.