The Test

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 3^rd week thus the fatigued/tired/I need a break feeling.

With a race scheduled for Saturday, Feb 8^th, 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: 1^st 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.

Look for me in a pink Point 2 singlet on March 13^th!