A little sunshine, a lot of sleep, a run on pavement (rather than ice), and my mood is much improved. Last week I lost confidence in my running. I felt tired and my pace was slow with a high effort and HR. Deep down I knew this had to do with the conditions, but I am such a numbers person that what I saw on the Garmin somehow ended up carrying more weight in my mind. Bad runs, or workouts can easily lead to more bad runs or workouts. It is easy to feel slow, stop trying, resent the suffering inherent in a key run. Last week I worried about that.
This morning I had a 2.5 hour endurance bike, mostly zone 1 and 2 with pickups and I felt amazing. I dreaded the 5 mile run that I had to do after, but got myself transitioned quickly and went out. The bike path was frozen, so I decided to run on the road. We had a beautiful day today, the sun was shining, and even the drivers were happy - no swears or splashes for me today:)
I wanted to run the post bike miles by feel, at a comfortable pace. I am very far from my HIM, so no need to run fast post bike so early on. I was surprised to be able to run a 7:50 average pace @ HR 158, and feel like I was running so slooow. This is not a fast pace or anything, but it is pretty good for an easy pace after a 2.5 moderate bike ride. This is clear proof for my mind of how important the running surface is.
So now I am starting my week excited about my runs! I'll use the mill for the intervals tomorrow, but am hoping to be able to run outside the rest of the week.
Happy training!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Nice job on the weekend and getting your perspective back!
Ahh-we are on the same page:) The warm weather cleared the roads for me today. Sole to pavement not ice, what a difference!! First paragraph-SO true!
Great work on the bike/run. My legs are trashed after I bike. I haven't yet tried to run immediately after! 7:50-great pace especially with the easy feeling effort level!
Good luck with the treadmill. Temps are supposed to drop here again so I will likely be fighting the treadmill tomorrow as well! I swear to GOD I will not run ONE STINKIN' MILE on that SOB this summer!!!! Good luck:)
Glad you got some confidence/perspective back. Hope the time on the treadmill isn't too torturous.
So glad you are feeling good about your running and that you were able to get out there and surprise yourself! Here's to a great week of training for you!
Lovely post to start the week with - and yes it makes such a difference. We are STILL experiencing these awful winds, so I am STILL confined to the mill - I can't wait to get out there and run some real live roads again without worrying about being beaned by a branch.
You've built up a lot with all the hard workouts you've been pushing yourself with over this winter - don't let a bad (hard weather) week scare you. It's ALL in there.
Good job!
this winter has been a rough one, I am glad I found and fell in love with snow shoeing! today is a good day weather wise but the rest of the week looks snowy and cold again.
Confidence is so great when it comes back home. I feel for you.. I've been on the treadmill for weeks now
Looks like the rest has really helped revive the legs :). I only wish I had ONE week of slower Garmin times, coming back from this heel thing has slapped me a dose of reality that I have lost almost everything I worked hard for. Sucks, but that's life.
i finally ran outside - it was so nice, sun out and not under 30 degrees.
i am finally wearing my HR monitor for all workouts and my freaking HR is so high. i can't believe your HR at such a fast pace. i am at 170 with 9 minute miles ???
I was just listening to Marathon Talk and they talked about "resetting" your brain after a run that doesn't go so well. The idea is to move completely past the slower times or suffering(if it was physically difficult)and move on to what you want, not what you did. It sounds like that is just what you're doing. I hope your NEW week goes well!
Post a Comment