Today I learned some valuable things. People often say: "90% [of a race/run] is mental." Well, today I learned that the statement is 100% true.
On the menu for today was four 5 mile loops at Marathon Goal Pace 6:50/mile.
3 weeks ago we did three loops and Jason and I nailed our times.
All this week, I had put it in my head that success was the only option. Simply put, there was no other option than to hit my times for 20 miles. Mentally I was ready, and once I got out there, I really had no doubts I wouldn't succeed. It might get real tough, but it's all temporary, good and bad feelings throughout the run come in waves, and you just keep running. There is no other option than success.
After the third I was mentally strong and ready to go crank out one more 5 mile loop. My legs were certainly not as fresh as after loop 1 or 2, but I knew i had it in the bag for 5 more miles, even though the last 2 miles would be tough and suck.
That's when coach pulled the plug: "You're done. All three of you." "What? No, I can do this." "I know you can, but you're done. Your race is in Boston, not today in Austin." Jason, Damon and I managed to talk him into 2 more miles at MGP, then a 2 mile cool down, so off we went, AND THIS IS WHERE THE LESSON WAS LEARNED.
You can knock out 5 more miles at pace, if you're determined to hit those miles. But once you know you only have 2 more, immediately your mind tells you "only two more mike" and you tire and the last two mile become painful.
We nailed our splits, but boy were those two miles (miles 16 and 17) the most painful two miles of the day. Had we had 5 more miles, those two miles would have been a piece of cake, and 19 and 20 would have been hell.
So that's the lesson I learned today. Your mind will automatically turn your body into feeling like crap as soon as it knows it's almost over. It's time to learn to control that mindset on top of the great mental gains I've made over the last year.
Here are the splits. Our #1 goal was to hit the 5 miles splits, #2 goal obviously to try and hit mile splits too, but the markers on the road aren't exact, and the road isn't flat...
(Since I missed the second mile marker on the first loop, I decided to skip the marker on every loop to be able to compare the loops. Miles 2 and 3 are slight descents)
GOAL MILE TIME
6:50 1 6.46
13:40 2-3 13.25 - downhills caught us off guard
6:50 4 6.58
6:50 5 7.01
34:10 5miles 34.11 PERFECT!!
6.50 6 6.47
13:40 7-8 13.07 - downhills and passing many runnners = adrenaline
6.50 9 6.54
7.50 10 7.09
1.08.20 10miles 1.08.10 1 second fast per mile PERFECT!
6.50 11 6.49
13.40 12-13 13.16 - split the difference between prior 2. I'll take it.
6.50 14 6.53
6.50 15 7.05
1.42.15 15miles 1.42.30 1 min fast per mile PERFECT!
6.50 16 6.43
6.50 17 6.52
1.56.10 17miles 1.55.51 19 seconds fast for 17 miles means about 1 second faster per mile. I'll take that any day.
+ 2 mile warmup and 1.5 mile warmdown = 20.5miles
By the way, I ran a fun little 3 mile speed workout on the trails with Karma on Friday to tire him out, and loosen up my legs. What a great sunrise!
Personal Markers: post 2:10 turn 4:40 park and in: 1min10
2 comments:
Isn't that mental thing weird? I knocked out 15 miles MGP no problem and then my legs would hardly turn over in the cool down.
The other thing I have noticed is that my brain and legs no exactly how fast I can run for a certain distance so whether it is 10 miles or a marathon, generally I run even effort the whole way without much thought. Doesn't necessarily happen in long runs but most of the time in races.
What does this mean: post 2:10 turn 4:40 park and in: 1min10
??????????????????????
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