Training

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

Used properly, a great tool

Last week, I was listening to the Science of Running podcast with Steve Magness and Jon Marcus when I heard Marcus drop the line "Let the watch report, not direct".

I’ve wanted to write on this topic for a while but that perfect quote left me needing to write about it.

My view on racing with watches is pretty well established. What about training with watches, though? I’m not opposed to wearing a watch while training, am I?

Of course I’m not. However, I think too many people use their watches in the wrong way. Instead of letting the watch report on their training, far too many runners let it direct their training.

What does that mean? It means you’re checking your mile splits on your easy and long runs and adjusting pace to hit some "ideal" or, worse, checking more frequently than every mile to hit that "ideal". It means you’re checking splits in workouts instead of working by effort. Essentially, it means you’re letting the watch dictate what you’re doing while you’re doing it.

What should you be doing instead? Keep wearing the watch unless you can’t break the habit of checking it while you’re running. It is a great tool for reporting on how things went after the run is over. If you can’t stop looking at it, run watchless for a while to break the habit. Then bring it back out.

On easy and long runs, try to not check your watch at all unless you need to in order to determine when to turn around. Instead, let effort dictate your pace. I’m a big fan of "conversational pace" for easy and long runs. Essentially, if you’re running with someone, you should be able to hold a conversation. You might not be able to recite poetry but you should be able to say more than just a few words without having to stop and catch your breath.

In workouts, run by effort instead of targeting a pace. I drive the runners I coach crazy at times (I probably drive some of them crazy all the time) because, for the most part, I try to avoid giving them target paces for workouts in favor of target efforts (5K effort, 10K effort, half marathon effort, etc.).

In the end, look at your watch less during your runs and let it be a data recorder while you’re running. Then, once you’re done, you can look at the data and see what it’s telling you.

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

I know I’m still as fit as when I ran 17:15 without the perfect race, if not fitter

Those of you who know me probably know I don’t often run back to back bad races. When I have a bad race, it usually is followed by a very good race. Sometimes, after a bad race, I surprise myself with what I do next.

After having a rough day at Al’s Run, someone emailed me asking about this. Essentially, the question was how do I keep focus and keep training hard after a bad race?

That’s a good question. I see some people go into a downward spiral after a bad race. Personally, I can’t remember many instances where I went into such a spiral. I typically bounce back pretty well after a bad effort. But why?

I think there are a few reasons and I’d like to break them down in the hopes that I can help someone else bounce back from a race.

1) You’re as good as your best race: One of my past coaches, I believe Coach Hall at UW-Stout, once told me after I had a bad race you’re as good as your best race, not as bad as your worst race. Good races are the true indication of your fitness, bad races usually are a result of something else. You can’t race beyond your fitness but you can race short of your fitness for many reasons.

This is about keeping your confidence. It’s easy when you have a bad race to lose confidence but you shouldn’t. You’re still as fast as your best race. If you ran an 18:00 5K a month ago and you ran a 19:00 5K today, unless something drastic happened in the past month, you’re still capable of at least close to 18:00. Believe in that and you can bounce back to 18:00 or even better.

2) Know what went wrong and fix what you have control over: When I have a bad race and write the report on it, I’m not shy about going through the race just how I do in my mind. That includes asking myself what went wrong. I’ve been told I’m just making excuses when I do that but, to me, it’s not about making excuses. It’s about understanding the reasons so I can accept what I didn’t have control over and fix what I did have control over.

For example, in my Al’s Run report, I mentioned three things. The wind, the confusion and frustration with my registration mix-up and the oncoming head cold. Next time out, no matter what happens with my registration or anything else like that, I’m going to try to keep calm and not waste any more energy than necessary or let it take me out of my focus. If people around me are sick, I’m not going to quarantine myself but I’ll take every precaution reasonable to avoid getting sick myself. As for the wind, I’ll adjust as well as I can and accept that I can’t control everything.

3) Use it as motivation: Thinking back to my junior year of high school, I had a horrible race at the Conference cross country meet. I went out harder than I should have and faded to a finish well short of where I should have been. My bad race probably cost our team a conference title and definitely cost me an all-conference honor.

A week later, at the Sectional meet, I had one of the best races of my life. After barely hanging on to a top 20 finish at Conference, I finished 7th or 8th in a race with I believe all the teams from our conference plus many more teams, several of which were very good teams. I was a part of our team going from finishing second at Conference to a surprise second place finish at Sectionals, beating I believe two teams ranked in the top 10 of the state and qualifying for the State meet.

How did I make such a dramatic turnaround? After taking some time to be furious at myself for the stupid mistake I made, I refocused. I wanted to make it up to myself and my teammates. I didn’t get myself nervous with "I have to…" kind of statements but I did everything I could to ensure I would have the best race possible. I kept a level head in the preparation but made sure I did everything as perfectly as possible. Then, once the race started and I made sure I didn’t get out too fast in the first half mile, I channeled the frustration of the prior week into the determination to do everything in my power to help my teammates. I felt like I could have run through a brick wall in that race. I was so focused, so determined to do my absolute best, that nothing was going to get in my way.

To me, that’s the biggest key to bouncing back after a bad race. Keep a level head in your preparation for the next race, keeping that frustration there not as motivation to do something stupid but as motivation to get all your preparations right. On race day, keep it around early on to again do everything right. Then, when it’s time to let loose and run your hardest, let it drive you.

I know some would say you should think positive and not hold on to those negative feelings but I think, channeled properly, that frustration from a bad race can be an excellent motivator. Don’t be afraid to use it.

What do you think?

I know there are some aspects I didn’t cover here. I’d like to hear your thoughts. What do you do to bounce back from a bad race? Do you use the ideas I mentioned above? Do you do something else?

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

This is going to be a short post. I’m busy getting myself and Team HillRunner.com ready for Al’s Run and with a few other projects. I do have a longer post in the works but it’s not ready for today. Hopefully, I’ll have it ready for next week. It’s one I’m excited about.

This week, though, I came across this interesting article about mindfulness training.

While I haven’t always thought of it in this term, I’ve always been a fan of what is described there. The idea as I view it essentially boils down to being in the moment and remaining calm no matter what is going on. On race day, this means be fully aware of what’s happening right now and being ready to respond thoughtfully, not reflexively, to what goes on. If someone passes you, do you surge to get back ahead, do you try to go with them and attempt the pass later or do you let them go with the hopes you can pass them back later or the understanding that you just can’t hold that pace?

Of course, practicing listening to your body will help you naturally be more mindful on race day. Listening to your body is part of being mindful but it’s also more. It’s learning to not overreact, to remain calm no matter what happens. It’s remaining positive even in the face of a setback.

So practice being mindful, then put it to practice in your next race. I’m planning to put it to practice Saturday.

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

Ed ran a 52 second PR in a 5K this past weekend! 52 seconds in a 5K, that’s insane! Over 15 seconds per mile improvement off a respectable time for a runner of his age and background.

How did he do it? Well, a lot went into it.

However, I’d like to point out one factor right now. He didn’t limit himself. To be honest, I would have had him running with even fewer limits if it were up to me. I wanted him to run watchless and suggested before the race doing so. He wanted to wear his watch to keep himself from going out too fast.

It’s true, we can’t run with reckless abandon. Ed would have been foolish to go out in 5:00 for the first mile. That said, if I recall, he set a target of 6:07/mile to start. He did tell me, I think to reassure me, that he was only going to pay attention to his pace early.

It’s a good thing he did. Had he paid attention to his pace throughout and stuck with that 6:07/mile target, he would have run only a 22 second PR. The artificial limit he placed on himself would have left him 30 seconds short of what he obviously was capable of.

I see people do this a lot. They get the idea that they are "only" capable of some given performance and they don’t let themselves just run. As a result, they finish feeling good and questioning how well they may have run.

Don’t do this to yourself. Learn how a race effort should feel through practice, then run by effort. If you’re ready for something special, something that might even surprise yourself, this is how you’re going to get it done. You’re not going to get it done by placing artificial limits on yourself, then only running to those limits.