As some of you know I have some some lofty racing goals for 2011. I put this goals out there because I want to show myself that I am strong enough to set goals that are hard, that I may never achieve, that I set for myself with less regard for what others think about me if I do or do not meet them. I know I am not defined by meeting a certain goal. I also know that I love the chase more than achieving the actual goal...once you get to the top of the mountain and the views are amazing, you still have to walk down.
The first couple are running related - breaking 20min in the 5K and 1:30 in the half marathon. Honestly, the 5K should not be hard; in fact, I ran a 19:38 per Garmin in the summer, but you never know with longer courses, wind, snow, etc. The half marathon seems a tad of a challenge...
In my quest to improve my ability to focus I have been learning new things about my body. I have a pretty good aerobic engine. I don't get out of breath easily. When I run fast, my lungs are mostly fine, HR is not v high (perceived), but my muscles become weak as time goes by. This weakness manifests itself in decreased stride efficiency. I start to become less springy. My feet make contact with the ground longer than necessary. It becomes an effort to lift my knees up. My body becomes straight rather than leaning forward. Of course, my legs are not fresh as I work them pretty hard in the bike/run combo (I don't really use them much in swimming), but still, they need to be stronger. So I am doing plyometrics and hill sprints galore. I also have some longer hill efforts planned, which I am excited about because....I don't do well on hills.
I have also noticed that I run faster at track than on the road. This is likely mental. For ex., I ran 4 miles @ 6:25 average at the track 2 weeks ago, and 3.07 miles @ 6:30 on the road. The runs were a bit different in that the second was a progression with 4 faster descending miles before the 3, but still, running in circles seems easier to me. I manage to focus much better at the track and my pace seems to be more even. The 4 miles were ran descending from 6:35 to 6:17. In the 3 miler I lost focus during the second mile and ended up running a 6:46 (this was a bit uphill, however), and than had to bring it home at a 6:12.
The other thing I have been thinking about is tolerance. A really fast blogger just ran a sub 3 marathon. In her report she talked about having a HR of 188 at some point, the higher she's ever had, higher than her HR in a 5K. This is absolutely amazing to me. I picture myself in that situation, with heavy breathing forcing myself to slow down for fear of blowing up. Neither a Garmin or running by feel would help in this situation. It's sheer will power and confidence and toughness. I want some of that! I know these things are practiced in training. And I do that. But you can't really practice going all out all the time, because of the potential for injury. You need to somehow give it all in the race. I have always said that I train harder than I race. This strategy has served me well. However, I think that I am at the point where, if I want to be faster, I need to find a way to allow myself to suffer more in a race, to take risks, to believe that my training will allow me to go above and beyond the limits that my brain and body are putting on myself when things get tough in a race. And I think that I can practice this via mental rather than physical training.
What's your weakness and what do you do about it?
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17 comments:
Very interesting. Those are great goal. I like how you said you are not afraid to set goals you may not achieve. I feel the same way. I mean what is the point of setting a goal if you know you can achieve it.
Interesting that you are limited by your legs. I am limited by my aerobic capacity. For the most part I feel like my legs can just keep going faster but I get out of breath. The good thing is these are things we can train for...
Love this post! I'd like to break 20 in the 5k as well, I've got a lot of work to do though. I think I am somewhat like you in that my leg muscles fatigue before my breathing gets heavy.
Although in races I've felt its more the pain in my stomach holding me back and I need to work through it. Do you get that gut busting feeling in your stomach during races? It is possibly breathing related?
I have been doing a lot of hill work, mainly with treadmill inclines. I definitely feel like it is making my legs stronger and it is helping increase my aerobic capacity as well.
Your running times inspire me, keep it up :D
Katie, I get really bad nausea and vomiting urges in 5Ks
I love your goals and as focused as you are, I think you'll achieve them. Keep up the great work.
I'm probably a bit like you...I worry about blowing up too early on in races and will pull myself back in. I've gone for it a few times and paid the price, but I still think there's a happy medium in there somewhere.
Great post! Love it!
My weakness is my mind. If I feel confident, I can run very good. If I don't, I can't run good because I do not know how to push through that mental barrier that's telling me that I cannot do it.
Do you by any chance know any books or something that I can try reading and try to learn how to get mentally stronger?
Funny you should post this, I was going to say some similar stuff!!
Great post - as always you provoke lots of thought.
It's interesting to me that you feel you train harder than you race - for me it's definitely the other way round. I think you are tougher than you think you are and can cope with more - try it in a B race sometime - even if it's only for a few miles. Set yourself an ambitious pace and then tell yourself you'll do it, regardless of how you feel.
Petra, you are right. I think it is easier for me to take chances in training rather than in races.
Good post! I'm definitely limited more by my legs on a bike, but both legs & aerobic on the run. For the time being I'm having to take it slow due to a hamstring injury but hill work is definitely on the list.
I liked Monyka's question regarding any books for mental toughness. I just read Dara Torres' book Age is Just a Number and thought it was great. Haven't found any non-fiction though.
Hi there!
love your goals...and yah they're big ones.
Im gonna hop on board the 'let's break 20min 5k' goal for 2011 too..;-)
and my weaknesses? I feel they change almost monthly: mental fatigue and talking myself out of hard workouts seems to be the most prevelant though;-)
I wonder if maybe you aren't warming up enough for 5Ks if you're feeling sick. (I don't really know the best way to warm up for 5Ks, but I think most people don't warm up enough to really perform at their best, especially as longer distance runners). I think sub 20 should be easy for you.
i would love to sub-3 and sub-1:30... :) well and sub-19 while we're at it, lol. definitely a stretch for me though!
lately my weakness is mental - some of the 'hills' (they're not bad at all) that i run on daily i have to buck up and tell myself they are not that bad and toughen up. definitely been a bit of a mental wimp. speed-wise too, need to toughen up there. i know a lot of it is i'm afraid to push myself too hard and end up nauseous/dizzy for 12 months again...
My weaknesses: 1. My breathing...I have asthma and it can be a royal pain, 2. Running too hard when I should run easy (I too have always trained harder than I race), which often leads to injury, 3. Not wanting it bad enough...in college I wanted it and was willing to pay the price, not so much now. The real limiting factor is number 3. I won't ever really be in a position to PR unless I want it bad enough...
Wow, this is a REALLY REALLY good post! I love the fact that you put your goals out there. Also, I really don't believe 1:30 is going to be that much of a stretch for you. Difficult, of course, but not out of realms by any means. Those 4 descending miles consecutive?? You definitely have the speed!! You also have the endurance and the drive so it's only a matter of time.
My weaknesses-ahh too many to list. Thus far I don't think my legs have limited me too much. Even in Boston my legs were not dead. Even after the race my legs weren't bothering but my lungs and ribs felt sore for about a week. Only once have I run to the point of wanting to collapse in a race, maybe a few times in training usually when I'm very frustrated. I get confidence in a race from knowing I can and have run many miles at race pace. I am mentally weak in distances shorter than the marathon mainly because I'm not confident in my training for them. I'll get there!!
I love your insight!
Do you do any weight training, AM? That would definitely help weak muscles. I saw a woman in the gym yesterday who was a big TRI girl and she said it was the one thing that totally helped her best.
Hope you're surviving all the cold temps out east!!
i definitely think i try to play on my strenths a lot rather than focus on weaknesses and try to improve those... definitely something i want to work on this next cycle.
i think everyone else may ahve already said it, but completely awesome post. I know that fear is truly the only thing holding back my running and it's somethign I've been working on over the last year and hope to keep fine tuning in 2011
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