Browsed by
Tag: Eugene

It’s a-callin…

It’s a-callin…

Comments 4 comments

And here we are, in April, which means only one thing: race month.

Looking forward to our date on 4/28! (and how nice that that also rhymes....)
Looking forward to our date on 4/28! (and how nice that that also rhymes….)

!!!!

When we last chatted, I had just run a strong 21-miler at the Arboretum with Mort, and I had about a month and change left til Eugene. Now, as the weekend approaches, I’ve got my third and final 20(+) miler of the training cycle, as well as the world’s largest 8k race the following day, and then will slowly and gradually start to taper off the long distances each Saturday morning from here til 4/28. (Sidenote: the only real goal for Sunday’s 8k is to be faster than last year’s 36:51, which I did after having my second sinus infection in four weeks, not running for five consecutive days because of it, and running 20 miles the day before in an obviously sub-par state. If I can’t post sub-36:51, I’ll be irked).

If you follow me on twitter and/or dailymile, it’s redundant of me to say in this space how cautiously optimistic and borderline thrilled I am that my training seems to be clicking these days. Last weekend’s 18 miler, back out at the Arboretum, except this time around, with David and a bunch of his friends from the Evanston Running Club, went exceedingly well, with a 7:36 average and two of my last 6 at a 7:01. David needed to run a 7:49 average for his 13 miler, and I thought that was a tall order–since that’s faster than my projected Eugene MP–but we stuck together and flew through it on the Arboretum’s hills.

Running with a bunch of dudes; the other two ladies were doing their own things. Apparently, you can also tell I don't exactly *belong* here :)
Running with a bunch of dudes; the other two ladies were doing their own things. Apparently, you can also tell I don’t exactly *belong* here 🙂

Aside from these past couple strong long runs, my speed stuff of late has been surprising me as well: 8x800s a couple weeks ago, ranging between a 3:04-3:23, and just a couple days ago, 4 sub-7 mile repeats embedded into a 10 miler.

Don’t get me wrong–I’m not listing all my training “accomplishments” to boast or anything like that–but I think what has helped things to “click” from the beginning of this training cycle has been my balls-out effort to convince myself here *points to forehead* and here *points to heart* that I am totally capable of going sub-3:30 in 24 days (wow… hello, wave of anxiety).

I would be lying if I told you that I haven’t been talking to myself–yup, out loud and everything–on some of my hard workouts in the past few weeks.

You’ve probably seen it just as much as I have, all this literature about sports psychology, flexing your mental muscle, overcoming your fears, chasing your A goal, all different sorts of “you can do it! just believe in yourself!” new age-y, self-help, ultra-motivational diatribes out there; hell, I linked to a bunch of resources about this very topic just a couple months ago!

While I think there is definitely some degree of “yeah, but…” that inevitably comes with folks believing that they should go after their ultimate race goal (namely: how has your training been… for starters, have you been training? any nagging injuries? and your diet, how have you been fueling your machine?), I think I am slowly but surely coming to the realization that, barring absolute catastrophe (read: hurricanes and superstorms, GI malfunctions), there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to finally realize my dream of entering club sub-3:30 in 24 days.

Nobody else is putting this pressure on me but me, myself, and I, and truthfully, I’ve started and stopped writing this post repeatedly–and have even considered deleting it–because the vulnerability of putting myself and my goal OUT THERE like this is just… well, it’s fucking scary. Heebee-jeebee inducing.

However, I need to.

I’ve got nothing to fear about this goal any more.

I’ve burned my boat.

I’m doing the work–the training, the speed, the strength, the core stuff–and the important ancillary stuff–sleeping and fueling effectively–so the only person (or thing?) weighing me down from *not* realizing my goal, at this point, is me.

Weeks 1-2 were my last taper week and then race week for Houston. Weeks 3-on have been recovery and Eugene training, and I just closed out March with 230 miles for the month, with several 50+ mpw--highest volume EVER for me... and still loving it!

Weeks 1-2 were my last taper week and then race week for Houston. Weeks 3-on have been recovery and Eugene training, and I just closed out March with 230 miles for the month, with several 50+ mpw–highest volume EVER for me.

So… here we are.

Twenty-four more days to wrap my head around my goal, to continue to train as well (read: effectively and intelligently) as I can, and perhaps most importantly, to continue to train… uh, my head (?), that FDR must have been a closet marathoner, talking about realizing our race goals, when he said that we had nothing to fear but fear itself.

I should buy this. Thank you, http://bit.ly/ZCgx9v :)
I should buy this. Thank you, http://bit.ly/ZCgx9v 🙂

 

Processing

Processing

Comments 2 comments

Seems all this ruminating about the process-versus-the-product of marathon training is really coming to a head right now for me, for at least two reasons:

  1. I closed out last week with 59 total miles, according to Dailymile (though truth be told, their calculations are always rounded up, so it’s probably closer to 58 and change), and
  2. I completed the longest training run OF MY LIFE on Saturday, with my galpal Amy, from Fleet Feet Boston Bound ’10, on Barrington’s awesome hills. The distance? 21.5 miles. …and by the end of it, after a decent negative split, I was ready to keep going. Fo realz.
21.5 miles later... and Amy and I are all smiles in Barrington HS. :)
21.5 miles later… and Amy and I are all smiles in Barrington HS. 🙂

I’m stressing the process here and less of the product because both occasions this past week marked a big deal for me—my heaviest training volume, in one week, OF MY LIFE, followed by a super long training run… again, the longest of my life.

I’m totally floored.

Health and well-being wise, I’m super stoked to report that I’m no worse for the wear. As I recently wrote, physiologically speaking, 35-40 miles/week is feeling the same to my body as 45+, which, again, makes me shake my head in disbelief because for the longest time, 50 mpw was my sweet spot and, essentially, the place of no return. My ITBs are feeling pretty happy these days, and really, though I might be slightly superstitious with going beyond 50mpw, my body is feeling pretty solid about it so far.

It’s also intriguing to consider a few other things that have happened recently. Excuse the lists, but in theory, they’ll force brevity:

  1. I’ve stopped weighing myself daily because it makes me neurotic, but I had to weigh myself Sunday (forthcoming post), and would you know… I dropped 5 pounds in about a month. After not weighing myself. Giddyup.
  2. I’ve been pretty diligent about doing the RYBQ SC and 10×10 routines each a couple times/week, and dare I say that I actually kinda enjoy both of them now.
  3. My appetite is pretty suppressed these days. I’m very conscious of it, since I know that can be a big red flag for overtraining, and naturally, there are a zillion reasons why marathoners need to be mindful of what they consume, but I’m just not “rungry”–or hell, even that hungry—like I usually am. In fact, most of the time, I find myself making the veritable shitton amount of food that I usually would… all for myself, I don’t share 🙂 … only to dump part of it or save it for later. That RARELY happened before. If anything, I’d want to go back for seconds… or thirds… I know I’m eating enough because I’m eating super nutrient-dense food to satiety, but the volume is almost on par with what a normal, non-runner would eat (blasphemous to say, I know). I don’t know what to make of this, but I think at least some of it is due to a funky stomach thing the familia and I had a week and a half ago.

I’m not really a numbers type of gal at all, but I think it’s intriguing to look at all these events in conjunction with each other as I’m chuggin’ along on my road to Eugene. I’ve had a good 5 or so weeks now of endurance training, and the new mesocycle I entered is focusing specifically on endurance+speed, so I’ve got some great ass-kickin’ workouts calling my name (hellllloo, long-ass tempo and V02 max! I’ve my first date with the track on Tuesday. It has been awhile! We have some serious catching up to do. Digression…).

Consider:

5 weeks of strong (45+ mpw) base mileage

+

renewed commitment to strength and core exercises (minimally, 2/week for each)

–

weighing myself every day

+

longest training run of my life

+

biggest training volume of my life in a single week

=

whoa.

And Erin -5 pounds.

At the risk of sounding like I’m self-aggrandizing, which isn’t how I roll here or in RT, I’ve just gotta say that I wonder what all this means. Technically, I jumped the ship a little early by doing this 21 miler this weekend, as opposed to two weekends from now, when it’s actually scheduled, but it just kinda happened with the route that we were doing… and really, I’d venture to say that the differential between running a 20 or a 21, or running 2 20s, or 2 21s, is negligible over the process of marathon training. Correct me if I’m wrong, experts.

Despite this assumed negligibility, though, I’m really considering now if I should adjust what would have been my legit “peak week,” that was scheduled for two weeks from now, or if I should just stick to the original Pfitzinger plan I’m following and not drown myself in the minutiae of it all.

After all, training plans are written in pencil, not stone.

It’s nearly an afterthought to mention it here, but suffice it to say that this new process of marathon training is definitely helping me rectify—nay, ameliorate—some of the nagging mental acuity and mental toughness issues I’ve been experiencing.

At the risk of sounding all Age of Aquarius, things seem to be coming together.

Though the work is a good challenge, it’s not impossible, and it’s making me concentrate and remain focused—probably one (if not two) of my biggest obstacles.

This process has been eye-opening, to be sure. No matter what happens in Eugene—though, clearly, I want things to go my way there—this round’s process is leaving an assuredly indelible impression on me, and it’s continuing to give me several glimpses into what I’m capable of… which, no surprise, has far surpassed my expectations.

Everything’s a process, people: including teaching your body to trust your mind and heart.

It’s a trifecta-style tango.