Mental

According to Ramon, the rest of this season we will be concentrating on the mental aspect of our running. (This is good for me, because this is the part I struggle with most). He said that there is no possible way to get faster at this point, and all of our long runs are just supposed to make us feel like we can do the 26.2 miles. I would have to say, I pretty much agree with him. I mean, first of all, I think he is a pretty great coach, but also, in my experience, I have found this to be true.

So our Tuesday workout was a mental test.

It was three lower loops of the park. Each loop is 1.7 miles.

The first loop was supposed to be our race pace. For me, I have decided that this is 9 minute miles. The next loop was supposed to be FAST. The main objective of this loop was to get us very very tired. In fact, we should be so tired that we wouldn't be able to do another loop. Then the last loop should be as fast as the first loop.

Why?

Well, Ramon says that our bodies are hardwired to react, well, the way they should. So, when you expend all of your energy, say, racing, then your body reacts by slowing down. We want to train our bodies to know what that feels like, but still be able to push after that. Because during a marathon, we will be tired and not want to run any more, and will probably still have a few miles to go.

So I took out the first loop at around a 9 minute pace. But something felt wrong. I was super tired and drained. My legs felt heavy. I felt like I wanted to stop before the loop was over. I felt like I was sprinting, but my average pace for the loop was a 9:15. I felt so exhausted that I didn't even want to do the second loop. I even thought of cutting the workout short and only doing two loops.

I decided to try as best as I could to pick up the pace on the next loop, but I felt like I was going slower. I couldn't tell, because it was so dark that I couldn't really see my watch. I did know that I had lost Lauren on that loop. But the good thing was, that as far as I could tell, Molly hadn't passed me (she started behind me).

OK. By this time I was super exhausted and my legs felt like lead (especially my calves). I decided to just do the last loop as best as I could. It was tough and I was glad when it was over.

Turns out, I did the workout well!

My first loop averaged a 9:15 pace, my second a 8:34 pace and my third was an 8:43 pace. That made me feel better "mentally".

I am chalking up the slower times (because usually my pace would be faster) and the tired feeling to the fact that I did my 20 this weekend and that when I am at peak mileage I tend to tire out.

I guess we'll see for sure on Saturday during my long run.

It's a Mental Thing

First of all, I am amazed at how quickly my body has recovered. I no sooner had written my entry "Ow Ow Ow" when my legs really did feel better. I was able to walk all over the city of New York on Wednesday, tackling steps and everything! :)

So yesterday I went to Waterstones, which is basically the British version of Borders and I couldn't resist getting a book (on sale!) that was part of a series called "Teach Yourself To"...I picked up "Teach Yourself to Run a Marathon". I know, I know, I just ran a marathon, but that doesn't mean that I can't learn anything new. Besides, I am obsessed.

Already I am scoping out hills to practice repeats on in my neighborhood. Which brings me to today's title.
I started to feel a little anxious about the Hyde Park Blast. I mean, there are a TON of hills and it is usually sweltering that time of the year. I am just not used to running like that. But then I thought, 'you know, when I started marathon training, it was painful to run even 3 miles'. Also I remember amazing myself by saying that I was training mostly in the Hyde Park area. I mean my FAVORITE place to run is in Eden Park, which has no lack of hills. I decided that it is all a mental thing. (Well, not ALL). Because when you train properly, it is all up to you in your head, to get past whatever it is you are trying to get past.

On the day of the marathon, I was not asking myself if I could do 26 miles. I knew I could do it. The difficult part will be coming up with my own training program.

It starts tomorrow! 3.5 easy miles as part of my recovery (no sprints or repeats yet!)

Periodization

So, I first heard of this concept last Tuesday night at the running clinic we had about being mentally prepared for the race. Basically, it is the concept of breaking down the race in your mind into attainable pieces. I think it makes sense to do this and I have been doing this subconsciously since I have started running (even in high school cross country to some degree). I have no idea how you would get through a race otherwise. It is a little motivational thing for me ("if I can get past this hill...").
This REALLY helped me out when we did the 20. I broke it into
1. the part around downtown
2. the part in Newport (which I felt was already ingrained in me from the Thanksgiving Day Run...which always helps).
3. Downtown to Sawyer Point
4. Sawyer Point to the overlook at Eden Park
5. Eden Park to the Running Spot
6. The Running Spot to Delta UDF
7. Delta UDF to the purple people bridge
8. Done!

So, as I said before...Eastern was LOOOOOOOONG. I am familiar with it from driving to work sometimes, but not in a running way. So mentally, to get through it, I also had to break up Eastern, once I got there and my legs were screaming at me. So I did Delta to Schmidt Fields, Schmidt Fields to the overpass, the overpass to Montgomery Inn, and Montgomery Inn to the Bridge. I don't know why this is such a huge mental block for me. As I understand it is at the end of the race too, so I will really have to get over that.

Also I have been getting those day-by-day emails from the marathon.Every day breaks down one of the miles. I can't handle that. If I broke it down that much I would never finish the race! Nice idea though.