As the saying goes — you can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a
different result.
I think every time you experiment and try something new you keep your
fingers crossed and hope that it leads to improvement, advancement, or an overall sense of accomplishment. (As it relates to training/exercise) whether it’s
increasing your weekly mileage from 20 to 40, adding strength training to your
weekly routine or changing your diet…you want to see some big, noticeable improvement.
And in my case – I’m not exactly the most patient person – I want to see
results ASAP.
As I mentioned in my last post, I started working with a coach (soozsports.com) at the
beginning of the year (through the Tri Equal Program - launched to increase women's participation in triathlon). It wasn’t hard for me to
give up control and follow someone else’s plan. I actually like it…a lot. I log
into TrainingPeaks and my workouts for the week are posted – swim, bike, run,
time, pace, etc. It’s simple. I just follow a plan. When I have questions, I
ask. If my schedule gets hectic and I can’t get a specific workout in, coach
switches around a few things. We touch base just about every other day. So far
so good.
My workouts posted on TrainingPeaks
It’s different from what I’m used to. When I was “coaching” myself, I
was pretty much doing the same thing day in and day out – run 5-8 miles at an
easy pace, do a long run every Sunday, and a tempo run every other week, mixed
in with two days at the pool and two days on the bike (no specific workout,
just ride), take a day off every 10 days, the end. Pretty hum drum but it
worked for me and my times were coming down. But as I started to sign up for
races at the end of 2015 and write down goals, I realized that I needed
direction. Especially when it came to the Half Ironman.
Now my workouts are more specific….here's an example:
AM: Run 10 miles
(steady/even splits)
PM: Swim Workout
It’s funny. The first couple of weeks I was all like “Yeah I got this.
I’m crushing every workout. I got this.” And then it turned into…“oh no, I
don’t got this…I’m tired. Coach is crazy. I need a break. If she makes me swim
again I’m going to drown.”
Disclaimer: My coach believes in
a 3-week build followed by a down week. I happened to be on the 3rd
week thus the fatigued/tired/I need a break feeling.
With a race scheduled for Saturday, Feb 8th, I was worried. Reached
out to coach. Told her I was tired. She gave me two options: 1) cut back and go
into the race feeling recovered, or 2) keep going. It was up to me to decide
how important the race was. I picked option 2. Soldier on. Not that the race
wasn’t important, but my focus is on running fast at the One City Marathon next
month and getting myself into race shape for Ironman 70.3 Eagleman in June. So
I pushed onward and did the assigned workouts.
The Race: Toano 8K
Saturday morning I showed up to the starting line fatigued (more like
tired and slow as hell), but I accepted the fact that I was at the tail end of
a 3-week training block. This would just be a test to see how fast I could run on tired legs.
Coach’s advice: Smooth and steady
out on the first 2K (she’s Canadian … ummm what is that in miles lol) to get your legs, and your rhythm, then
build steadily through to the finish. Let go of any time expectation and run on
feel. .. Let the time be what it will be as we know you are going in with some
fatigue that you will be running through.
I did a two mile warm up and felt ok. I looked at my Garmin and it
showed I was running 9 minute pace. Umm yeah no wonder I felt ok. Ha! Drank
some Gatorade. Chatted with a few friends from my local running club. Then made my way over to the starting line. Ready (nope), Go (ok)…the
race began.
You know that feeling you get towards the end of a race, when you are
exhausted and giving it all you have and there’s only a mile or 2 left and you
just need to hang on? Well I felt like that throughout the entire race, from
mile 1 to 5. On a positive note, I wasn't hating my life and the act of running and wanting to drop out. #progress
I went through mile 1 in 6:23.
I hadn’t planned on looking at my watch but I just couldn’t help myself. I
decided I wasn’t going to look again and run by feel like my coach had
suggested. There was a volunteer at mile 3 shouting out splits. I heard her say
18 something. I decided to look at my watch again at the 5K mark (~19:12). I must have sped up and made up time somewhere
between miles 2 and 3. I picked up the pace again and tried to focus on the
men ahead of me. I tend to run most races
the same…get faster with each mile. It’s probably not ideal. I assume running
even splits is best (hold the same pace throughout). This has never worked out
for me. When I go out at goal pace I end up fading badly. Maybe it’s mental? I
don’t know. Any hoot I ran my last mile in 5:53 and went through the finish
line in 30 minutes and 46 seconds (~6:10 mile/pace).
Distance: 8K (~5 miles)
Time: 30:46 (6:10 mile/pace)
Place: 1st Female
PR and new female course record!
'Back in the day' when I placed second in my age group (~34 minute 8K). Again #progress
If I had ran a sub-30 (ultimate goal sometime in the future) I would
have really shocked the hell out of myself. But overall I’m happy with my time,
splits, and how I mentally and physically got through this race. PR’ing was the
furthest thing from my mind and yet I was able to run my fastest 8K in the
midst of heavy training. A small part of me wonders what time I could have run
if I lined up slightly tapered. Never satisfied *sigh*.
Next up… a 10-miler. My very first 10-miler J No matter what time I run it
will be a PR!
Oh and some exciting news … I’ll be partnering with my local running
store – Point 2 Running – for the One City Marathon next month. I’m super excited to represent them. They have
been my go-to running store since I moved to Newport News at the end of 2013.
The staff is friendly, the location is convenient (in the new Tech center on
Jefferson Ave), and they carry all those specialty products that you can’t find
at a Dick’s or Sports Authority. They actually came through for me in a bind right before my last
marathon. I needed new compression socks (to help with flying to and from
Dallas and also to race in). They didn’t have my size. No problem, we’ll order them, call you when they’re here. Two days
later my phone rang and I had my new socks.
http://www.runpoint2.com/
They do custom shoe fittings and even have a “Happy Hour” – 20% off all
nutrition products – from 3-7 pm on Fridays.