I had family in town this week and the big thing that I was worried about was the amount of time that I would have to complete my training. I am back on a heavy workload and need to devote a lot of time and energy, not only to the training itself, but to personal maintenance, ie: sleep, nutrition and general mental wellbeing. Last week I experienced a tremendous loss of motivation and found myself skipping workouts left and right. I came away from that feeling a little hopeless, but knew I could get back on it if I just did it. Nike definitely got it right there.
"You'll have to stay up later and wake up earlier," was the advice given when asked how to possibly train with family in town. So, I heeded that advice and after a completely frustrating dinner debacle with said family, I suited up and went for my scheduled run: 10min warm up, followed by a 5K at race pace, remaining time at Z2. I started running at 12:30am...
I didn't really focus much on speed for the warm up, but focused more on gradually increasing my heart rate to 150bpm so that I would be in a good range when I began my "race". I was successful in this endeavor.
As I began my main set, running south under the West Side Highway, I felt good. I felt like I was running at a pace that was fast, but not unsustainable and my body was cruising with good from and great cadence. I felt like I looked great running. What was intriguing to me, however, were the numbers coming from my Garmin watch. I was pacing within a 7:30-8 minute mile. Or less. I figured my watch was wrong, but when my iPhone informed me that Nike+ agreed with this pacing, I was elated. I was running fast, and I was feeling great!
I continued my run through the remainder of the 3.11 miles and as I ran, my gadgets reinforced my great work by calling out numbers like "average pace: 8'10" per mile" Awesome.
As I reached the last several feet of my 5K, I knew I had recorded a personal best. I knew I had run well. I knew I looked great running. I knew I had achieved something fantastic.
Turns out, due to my lazy recovery week, I had actually mimicked the step-down process that one goes through into race week, thereby allowing my body to experience the burst of energy that was created.
Similarly, my swim the following day (a fantastic 3000y triumph) felt equally fulfilling and gave me a great boost of enthusiasm. These two fantastic experiences followed by a difficult and disappointing bike ride further contributed to the "down" feeling I had.
Thankfully, after a splash of metaphorical cold water to the face, I realized that I was being entirely too hard on myself (what's new?) and had disregarded a key piece of information: I was trying a new saddle. Duh.
The things that I found the most difficult were all, likely, caused by my new equipment. My knees hurt. My muscles weren't responding the way they usually do. I felt bow-legged even as my knees graced the top tube. Instead of acting rationally and stopping the workout (something I am always loathe to do) in order to address the issue, I muscled through and put my body in a compromising position. My feet and lower legs began to go numb (saddle) and my knees were feeling strain that affected me when I stood (also saddle). Fortunately, I suppose, I became so fed up with my dysfunctional body that I quit halfway through. I could have really hurt myself if I had tried to push through with my equipment in the wrong position. Sigh. Use your brain, not just your brawn.
Tonight I will run again, a long haul - 40 minutes at race pace, over an hour on the road total. Tomorrow I will swim (with my new SportCount! Yay!) and bike, careful to listen to my body for cues as to whether the new equipment is working for or against me.
Pouring on the positive. I have worked very hard to make it to where I am now. Everyone has a bad workout, a bad day, even bad weeks. I am injury free (knock on wood) and in a great position to continue to succeed. There is no reason for me to stand in my own way by putting myself down. Plus, I have wonderful people in my life supporting me in ways I could never have asked for. I am so very grateful for their presence in my life and my humble appreciation can only begin to be expressed with words.
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