Posts in the Tips Category at , Page 18

Battling the Race Day Nerves — Use the Nerves to Your Advantage

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

Sunday again already, eh? Well, we are approaching the ‘GO TIME’ for races here; whether it’s the high schoolers gearing up and going through all the sectional/regional races, the college athletes doing the same, the road racers continually make the circuit, and of course the marathons. We have NYC Marathon fast approaching, other ones going on all around the world, and then come January the US Olympic Trials…exciting stuff!

Though, whether you are racing in a huge meet or a low-key fun run, there is something special about putting on that race bib. Even if you are going into a race using it more as a workout or a tune-up, you still get that little buzz right before that gun goes off.

Races wake up that competitive beast just a little more…if tough workouts are just poking it with a stick than having a gun go off is like kicking him in the mouth. I’ve talked about how people have different perspectives on races: for some they just want to survive, others don’t care a lick about time and are all about the fun, and then there are those who are out for time and want to push themselves to their absolute limits.

Any and all of those goals are valid and great; but if you do fall into that last category and each of these races are upping the ante: read as you need to hit a certain qualifying mark, place as high as possible to make it to the next round, and there is a lot on the line, you CAN’T let the nerves get the better of you.

You want that buzz of adrenaline, the prick of your hairs as you crouch at the line, because that’s all a part of racing. But you don’t want to take it to the extreme and sabotage yourself. Don’t ‘think’ yourself out of a race.

Out-thinking it can happen even days or weeks before you start your warm-up. For whatever reason I think I was pretty good at not psyching myself out to the point where it ruined my race before it even started; I think it was because of a few things, and I’ll just share a few tips or pointers that might work for you:

* It’s just a ‘workout-plus’: the thing is, I get nervous before hard workouts too. I can’t really put into words why exactly, part of it is because I want to do well of course, part of it is that I know it will hurt but I want to test my mental toughness and see how far I can push that. I am a big believer in that being a mentally gritty and tough runner is one of the best attributes to have; I respect that probably the most in other people. How to use this for the race then: just think of this race as you would a tough workout; yes, there is more ‘on the line’ but just like in hard track sessions, go out there and give it the best you’ve got. The ‘plus’ part comes from the extra boost the excitement, adrenaline, and competition will give you; usually that will happen on it’s own and will help push you a little harder.

* Go in with multiple goals: the races I’ve been the most nervous for were the ones where I wasn’t exactly sure where my fitness was. Maybe I was coming off on an injury, perhaps I hadn’t raced for awhile; whatever the case if you haven’t built up enough workouts to gauge your level of fitness that can be daunting. In this instance, I’d suggest looking at what workouts you HAVE done, (here is where a coach helps a LOT as they can help you predict and set a goal for the race) and set a few goals. Set one for what you would consider ‘acceptable’, another a little bit higher, and then have a third that you might think is a reach but you still have to put it out there. Now, the three goals things still works even if you are in good shape; you always want to have a third goal where you really put your neck on the line and set it; even if you don’t tell anyone but yourself.

* Carry the confidence: now if you DO know you are ready to rock that race, then I’d suggest thinking back on your key workouts. The ones where everything clicked, you did well, and they are proof you are in good shape; so then when there is the point in the race where it hurts like a beast you can tell yourself, “Okay, I did such-and-such workout and that hurt way more, I CAN do this.

* Power-down, Power-up: leading up to the ‘big race’ just try to push it out of your mind with about two days to go. If you stress out too much about it, what happens is you will physically just wear yourself out. Your body will produce this hormone called, cortisol, which will, come race day, leave you wiped out. Not only that, your mind will have been stewing and could just work against you. So set your goals in advance, then tune out the days leading up…flip the brain back on when you are starting your warm-up because then it’s GO time.

* Relax: ummm, thanks for the obvious advice? Haha…no but seriously, I know we all handle nerves differently; for me I used to sort of turn into this weirdo-yabber mouth. I was the one on the line saying good luck to people or making some dorky joke; for whatever reason that helped me let off some steam by keeping it light. There is a limit of course, you don’t want to be outright rude because some racers are the opposite and like to be completely stoic, so give them their quite. I respect that everyone works in their own way; for the relaxing though, it helps to sometimes just shake out your arms because your shoulders can be up to your ears without you knowing it.

We're equal opportunity here, here's one for the guys. 🙂

I hope a few of these things help. Lastly, if you’re running with a team, use the camaraderie to your advantage, not your undoing. Yes, let it propell you to pick off that last person down the stretch, to really reach…but don’t let the opposite happen where you just absorb all that pressure to perform. The funny thing about it, the more you focus on ‘wanting to do well’ that is usually when you are working against yourself the most. Often times the races or times I’ve felt my best is when I wasn’t thinking about ‘wanting to do well’ but instead just letting it happen.

I’ll share a quote my mom used to always tell me when I would be nervous: “If you weren’t nervous, then I’d be worried; that means you don’t care.”

1) Best way you’ve found to channel nerves to your advantage?

2) Do you get nervous before key workouts?

3) Did you race this weekend? If so…share!

A Hack-Hack Here a Cough-Cough There — Let’s NOT Wind up Sick!

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Ack…ack…ack. Cough…sneeze…achoo. You hear it and if you’re like me there is a tiny little part of your braining saying, “Alert…someone’s sick on the premises.” Is that really lame of me?

If so, I don’t care. It’s funny because when I was little I would actually *hope* I’d get sick so I could stay home from school (though I usually was regretting it when I was slumped over the porcelain god and hacking up phlegm) but today I look to illnesses like the plague. Anything that hampers my ability to do my ‘full’ workout is no friend of mine!

I hope my fellow fitness-a-holics can relate and not judge me too harshly over the next few sentences. When you’re living with a person who is ‘infected’ what do you do? Personally, I discreetly do what I can to keep my distance. If it’s family it’s easy because they would understand and they are like me and respectful to do what they can to hunker down and not get others sick.

But with roommates, or even just people you are working in tight quarters with, you have to be a little more respectful. I guess offering them a face-mask wouldn’t be too nice…even if I made it one of those nifty, tricked out, decorated SARS-esque ones? No, guess not.

This happened recently, when one of my housemates and REALLY good friends was sick. So I thought it worthwhile to highlight a little on ways to avoid getting sick; germies are even more ‘dangerous’ to those with an actual race or event they are gearing towards. The worst thing that could happen would be putting in ALL that work and then wind up with the flu the week of the race!

* Close-talker say what? Some people are generally close talkers, but even if they aren’t, I’ve been known to do the ‘slow step-back shuffle’ where during the course of the conversation you gradually increase the space between you.

* Wipe and wash. By nature I am pretty OCD about washing my hands if I’m going to be putting something into my mouth; but not everyone is and it’s easy to mindlessly grab a treat from a candy bowl and pop it in. Not only do you need to remember where your own hands have been, but where others’ have too. PS-did you know that touching your eye with dirty hands is just about as germy-hazardous? Not that we all go fishing on our eyeballs, but people with contacts should take note.

* Sleeps and Snores. We can’t control what others are going to do, we can hope and appreciate when they sort of stay in their rooms while they recoup depending on how bad the sickness (mine thankfully did!) but we can get proactive on our parts. Sleep is one of the biggest components that is so overlooked in training and by anyone; skimping on the zzzz’s will not only hamper your recovery but this is also the time when your body is restoring all aspects. Skating by with not enough sleep while working out will weaken the immune system.

* Noshes and habits. By already being worker-outers we cut our chances of getting sick in general (20% fewer colds says The University of South Carolina) but apply this healthy habit to your eating too. While I always say that thanks to all the running we do we get the luxury of having more indulgences, (which we DO…thank u pint of B+J’s Half Baked last night!) but that should be on top of an already healthy diet. Fruits and veggies are jam-packed with plenty of disease-fighting antioxidants. (That fun little 20% factoid comes to you from the latest issue of Runner’s World where there is a full-article worth a read as it helped remind me of some very key points!! So check that out. 🙂 )

* Stress and cortisol. Cortisol is an evil little hormone…no, I know it has it’s place but it gets eleveated when we are stressed AND after hard races and workouts. (Actually, this guy is one reason why you don’t want to have to ‘talk yourself up’ for big races too many times; it takes it out of you every time you do that; do that too much and you will be flat by the end of the season.) What it also does is put your immune system in a weakened state; so if you’ve already done a hard workout or race be extra diligent in your recovery. As for stress…that’s hard to avoid but what I’ve tried to do is if something is actually out of my control, I try to just accept that; do whatever I can to hopefully sway the outcome but from there push it out of my mind.

* Take it outside. Not fun fact…gyms are one of THE most germ riddled places around, no joke. And think about how many things you touch there and lie on top of. This is a time when maybe bypassing the gym and running outside would be a good idea; but c’mon almost all of us go to gyms so be SURE to wash your hands and take a shower right after you do.

Finally if you DO wind up sick, know how to smartly adjust. If it’s just strictly head-cold, (disclaimer, I’m not an actual doctor, this is personal opinion here!) I would say it’s okay to run/workout if you feel up to it. Somtimes that actually helps break the junk up; but also go in knowing that your energy may not be up to par. So if you’ve got a hard workout planned maybe push it off or go in knowing it may need to be adapted.

If it’s a cold that’s more severe and you feel it in your whole body you need to weigh the negatives vs. the positives. I call this the rule of: neck-and-above = okay to go, below the neck = maybe not a go…wow, I’m so medical here. Totally tapping yourself out when you are really sick will only prolong things and in the end you’ll miss more training. That said, if you’re full on prone on the bathroom floor the decision may have been already made for you. 😉

Here’s to not getting sick runner friends!!

1) What do you do to avoid getting sick?

2) Is it the same for you that whenever you think you may be getting sick the first thing that you think about is how it will effect your running or working out?

3) It’s Friday!! What are you up to this weekend??

Reinstituting the Long Run and the Debate on How to Run Them

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

Hello, good friend, oh how I’ve missed you. I knew today was coming since last week and I looked to it with both eager anticipation and trepidation. I’ve been running pretty much all outside the last two weeks, and it was high time to do an outside long run.

I have been doing quite a bit of weekly road miles, for me, so I wanted to be smart and gradually up the distance of my long run so I didn’t wind up injured and all that jazz. So today I added 2 miles to the 11 miles I’ve been covering outside…so let’s be smarter than a first grader and make that 13 miles.

hmmm, wich I ran there but not today.

Eons ago that would have been ‘nothing’ in my mind and I would have pushed the pace. But today’s goal was to just cover the distance and get ‘er done. I say I was both excited and a little nervous for these reasons:

* Long runs were and will always be my favorite runs/workouts. I’m a true distance person with not a single fast-twitch muscle fiber, so I feel more in my element. I have felt like a quasi-runner knowing that I haven’t been doing a ‘real’ long run.

* My favorite way to run long runs used to be to go fast; there was nothing more rewarding than finishing an awesome long run and looking back over my splits.

Today I knew for darn sure there was going to be no speed racer showing up. That’s okay, I am more than happy to at least be doing a long run at all, but it’s a shift of thinking. Plus, I’m kind of excited to see my progress; today was a starting point and I want to see myself gradually get the pace down. Sure, it still may not be of speed racer status, but there will at least be the element of putting in the effort and doing that offers that same kind of endorphin run/reward feeling.

But to long runs in general, I know that there are more and more articles and training philosophies that specifically say: DON’T go too fast and hard on your long runs, long runs are meant to be relaxed and just about building the aerobic base. I would agree that for the most part, that’s the way to go and I can vouch that my coaches were constantly telling me NOT to try and race my long runs and slow down for many of them.

Real fast, this next part is going to be only my personal opinion and I’m not a coach or bona-fide specialist, so take it for what it’s worth…only from experiences I’ve gleaned over the years. I say that for the most part, yes, you want to keep your long runs relaxed and make the priority covering the distance and not totally tapping out the tank. For those who are planning to run a marathon, it’s very important to just get the time out there on your feet and to do that, you want to safely ramp up the distances of your long runs. There is another rule that I agree with: only do introduce one new variable at a time in your training, either adding more volume OR increasing speed, not both at the same time.

So, if you are making your long run longer than last week you typically shouldn’t be then also trying to go faster. This is particularly true if your goal is to just finish the marathon and time is not a big factor.

BUT, if you plan on really racing longer distance races I think it’s smart to turn some of your long runs into workouts every couple of weeks. Use the first few miles as a warm-up and build the middle chunk into a tempo type workout, long repeats (multi-miles), or make it a progressive long run where you get faster and finish under marathon or whatever-goal-race pace.

Why? If you plan on running the actual distance fast you need to train fast. The reason I really liked doing tempo-long runs is because I felt it not only made me stronger physically but mentally as well. There are some big mental barriers that you need to crash through when you hit say, 5 miles of a tempo effort and know you’ve still got 5 more. (add more barriers if those distances are even longer!) I knew that by miles 6,7, and 8 I’d be grimacing, those dang middle miles are the worst because you’re not quite at the ‘okay, I’m almost done, the end is in sight’ point.

But I knew that when I ended that long run, using the rest as a cool-down, that the next time a 5k or 10k race came up it would feel so much shorter. So hard long runs callous the mind and the body. I think the aerobic base they build is very important as well.

Mind of matter, baby! 🙂

That said, they take a lot out of you and that’s why you then hear, read about, and see so much talk of stressing: take your long runs easy. You need the time to recover from them, make that exponentially more if you do them as a workout.

So I think it all just depends on your goals. If you aren’t concerned about the time/pace of your race and the goal is to finish, then by all means you probably should only keep your long runs easy and relaxed. But if you do want to race, then as they say, “Race fast? Run fast.” Going that route, don’t do a hard long run the day after a race or hard workout, make sure you do an easy run the next day if not the next two, and count it as your long interval workout for the week. Also know that you shouldn’t be doing this every week; do it every other week at the most. Finally, treat your body right and recover the rest of the day…veg style baby! 🙂

Wrapping up my epic post, like I said I love long runs. I used to love them because I felt in my element and would be chomping at the bit to see how fast I could do them. Today’s long run was not of the kind eons ago, it was about making sure I covered the distance, remembering that I still love the long runs and now I can at least feel like a ‘real’ runner again.

1) Do you do long runs, do you like them?

2) What have you heard about how to approach long runs?

3) What are you up to this weekend?

An Ode to Cross-country

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Cross-country. When I first started running it was after not being able to make any other sports team and my mom suggested I go out for the cross-country team. I thought it was some kind of traveling group.

When I found out it was running I wasn’t impressed. More like I was left in a pant but being that my parents were both runners I was also determined to do well; this was all on my own, my parents never put any pressure on me, all self-imposed.

But regardless, I wanted to do my best to keep up with the other runners if for no other reason than to avoid feeling embarrassed about being outed as the girl who couldn’t keep up. Cross-country was my first introduction to this whole ‘running thing’ and so it will have a special little place in my heart. *Cue warm fuzzy music and Hallmark card.*

I also thought it was a lot more exciting than track because of the change of terrain, I wasn’t all too jazzed about running in a million circles like a gerbil. (Cut to today, I’ve done 10 mile tempos on the track and actually preferred it because I can be OCD anal about my splits, not to mention countless thrilling miles on the treadmill…haha.) I liked the challenge of hills too…the first time I went to the Mount Sac course, that sick little part in my brain all us runners have thought, “Awesome, this course is going to HURT!”

Hills are tough but there is a method to tackling them. Keep your eyes locked on the crest, know the end is going to eventually be there and what goes up must come down. Don’t hunch over, don’t overstride; keep your feet moving forward, if anything shorten your stride and dig into the ground with your forefoot, claw your way to the top.

Use your arms to your advantage, keep them swinging, did you know your feet will always keep pace with your arms; swing your arms faster and your legs will follow suit. Run THROUGH the top of the hill, don’t stop right before you get to the crest; make it over the hump and use that momentum to your advantage to flllllly down the backside.

There is an art to running downhill too; don’t fight it, let the hill carry you down. Focus on staying controlled and keeping your form. Don’t fight it.

Cross-country will get you muddy, get you dirty, make you tough. It will make you strong mentally and physically. The challenges each course sets before you is different, unique, but in the end it comes down to this: Will it be you or the course that wins?

1) Did you ever run cross-country?

2) Do you prefer cross-country or track?

3) What do you have going on this weekend?

What NOT to do When Running — All or Nothing is Not Smart

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Cait — 2 Comments ↓

At least I didn’t step in it! Yes, this girl with no coordination was at least able to dodge the steamy pile of horse doodoo on the bike trail today. My friend, no so lucky in the poop department and he wound up with a splatter of birdie variety. Heads up.

On that lovely opening, I had a run around the lake today and while it really only has some rolling hills it felt like mountains. I honestly have to do some serious hill work. But for this girl, of the past seven days, six of them were not on the treadmill. (Yesterday I did a little quasi-tempo effort on the treadmill. I call it quasi- because while it felt hard the pace is a nice slap of reality too…lol.) So, total miles outside works out to be: 66.

Would I recommend ANYONE do that? No. Listen to what I say, not what I do. Also, one of the main reasons I had to run outside was that my treadmill was being moved so I couldn’t get on it. Like I said, there are differences between inside vs. outside running and if you are only used to doing one, jumping full bore into the other is just plain not smart. What I would tell people is that you should gradually switch from one or the other; or if you are a science person, titrate the ratio.

If you don’t? A sore tushie, hams, and calf muscles. Actually, now it’s that I’ve got twin psoas tightnesses going on. [These are really deep muscles on either side of your stomach/abs.] The funny thing is I feel them the most going downhill, so just further proof I need hill work. 🙂 Actually, I’m lucky it’s just sorenesses; like I said: DON’T go all or nothing, and that really applies to anything.

For example, if you are just starting to build your mileage, don’t go from 15 miles per week to 30. Stupid move. If you’ve never done a 400 repeat in eons, don’t go to the track and bust out 20 your first time out. Not smart. If you’ve only been running on flats, don’t go to a super hilly trail and only run there until you think you’ve mastered hills. Ouch and not a good idea.

Why? You’ll wind up injured, overly sore and not want to run at all, or mentally set yourself up for failure. Instead: the rule of thumb is to only up your total weekly mileage by 10% each week. If you’re just starting to integrate faster workouts into your routine, start out with doing some faster strides at the end of some of your runs or in the middle as pick ups. From there it might be smart to move to fartleks and tempos before gutting out tough track workouts.

Finally, with hills it’s not just that you’ll be sore if you haven’t done them but your entire body will be a little thrown out of whack; most likely your form will be altered because you aren’t used to doing them and that can lead to pulling or tweaking something. Also, running downhill puts an exponential amount more stress on all your bones/tendons/ligaments/muscles than just regular running and they will make you sore too.

Summing up here? It’s all about easing into new stressors…or, for science folk, titrating. 🙂

1) What did you do today? Did anyone race?
No race, just 11 and change on the trail…sans horse doodoo. Then I had a lot of fun cheering my sister on at her soccer game! It was a tie, but at least they still have their no losing streak alive.

2) Do you find yourself breaking rules, or doing things you would never suggest anyone else do?

3) Anything exciting coming up for you?

Coming Back After a Running Hiatus…Aint it a Kick in the Tush!!

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekends if you’re living in the States! It’s that time of the year again, even though World Track Champs is bleeding over into the start of it, for most teams out there it’s cross-country season. Now, cross-country season comes at another funky time if said person is still is in school; it’s right after summer break and classes are also starting up.

Now, for lots of high school kids, and I’m sure yes even some college level athletes, summer vacation may or may not include sticking to that training schedule. Now, I’m anal and was always getting in my runs and whatever I was supposed to do regardless (you’re talking to the girl who got into a fight with her mom because of the timing of that looooong, drawn out high school graduation ceremony conflicting with a track meet…I mean, I knew I graduated, did I need to sit for four plus hours sweating bullets in that robe?!) but others not so much.

Ack..hs senior portraits...Mom wasn't too stoked on obvious watch and running shirt tan lines. 😛

You can tell off the bat who did their summer running and who didn’t. In fact, I think it was Alberto Salazar that was quoted with something along the lines of, “I like to be in the best possible shape at the onset of the season so I can put the people who didn’t train through the worst possible torture that I can.”

Whether it’s due to actual quasi-malicious intent by your teammates or not, I would suspect that slacking in the off-season bring its own swift justice come practice time. I was joking with a high school coach as they were off to their first team practice, and he was mentioning how it should be interesting to see who did what they were supposed to over the summer.

There are those people that do snap into shape relatively fast, and thanks to good old muscle memory if you’ve been at this thing long enough, after a few horrible few weeks it is surprising how fast you’ll improve and be back to your ‘old self.’ Still, it’s never fun, or pretty, coming back to running after a break.

This goes whether it’s just a slacking-induced break or one that is planned (you DO need to take breaks periodically and especially after tough seasons) or even ones that come from an injury. During said injury you can be a master at the cross-training but it’s always a cold slap of reality when you return to actual running no matter what you did.

Those first few runs back...a kick to the face! When a 'short' four miler never felt sooooooo long!

That last one, coming back from an injury and starting to run again, can be rather defeating if you start to compare yourself to the ‘old you’ times and where you are now. Running is so mental that if you slip into that comparison trap too far you can take yourself out of the game, or the season, altogether. Heck, sometimes even the sport. So it’s not pretty…don’t go down that road.

Better to focus on the here and now and the workout set immediately before you. Put in the effort, in fact that’s paramount regardless of times, so many other factors can affect actual paces and times, but even if the pace is ‘off,’ if you are putting in the same amount of effort you are getting a benefit. (Side tangent here- so remember that sometimes when a workout is just going to pieces timewise, sometimes it’s just better to chuck the watch and put in the same amount of effort…your body is still working hard and cardio-wise you’re still reaping those benefits.)

Staying present in the season or where you are fitness-wise is best if you’re coming off a running hiatus. Start with a semi-blank slate and track your progress post-injury when it comes to workouts…then take the improvements you see there are big steps forward. Trust me, it will feel like he** sometimes getting back, but eventually if you keep at it and do everything right you’ll get back to the ‘old you’ and then some.

Racing into shape is never pretty. Don't bother a racer if they dash past the chute and head straight for the bushes!

So to all those starting cross-season, you might have had a race this weekend…where you one of the people inflicting torture on the other people who maybe skipped out on those morning runs, or were you one of the people paying the price?

1) If you competed in sports, did you always put in the work during the off-season?

See, this is one thing where my OCD can work to my favor if kept in check…if a coach tells me to do something you can bet I’ll do it, I get in trouble if I then do too much. Though, I think for ‘normal’ people it’s more of a progression, the more serious you get about a sport the more likely you are to want to train even when you’re not under supervision. You get to the point where you’re self-motivated to achieve certain goals you set for yourself.

2) If it’s an injury that kept you from running, isn’t it a bi*** coming back?! No, but really, I think it’s about a two week period of extra pain until you start to come back. What was the last major injury that kept you out and did you do any cross-training during that time? If so, what did you do?

I’m a big fan of the elliptical!

3) How are you living it up this weekend?

PS-this is another side tangent that NEEDS to be addressed…I have noticed that recently as things have been switching around techie-wise, I’ve gotten a TON of spam comments!! To the actual readers I’m very sorry and does anyone have any tips on how to block this?! I seriously spent over an hour just today deleting this junk…ugh! 🙁

When Garmins Turn into Gremlins and a Month of Fartleking Workouts to Refresh You Mentally

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Happy Saturfarts to you all!! If anyone has raced, I expect some bragging on your fine selves below pahleeez! 🙂

My workout was…surprise…9.5 miles on the treadmill to the distraction of Freaks and Geeks on the tube, followed by core and abs today. I know, I really am such a crazy person living on the edge and you never know what my workouts will be. 😉 Again, do as I say, not as I do, I know I should mix it up more.

So today I think I want to address a comment that was left HERE by the very fine Vanessa at The Gourmet Runner. It started when I read on her blog about a tempo run she had done. Basically she was saying how she was frustrated about not hitting the exact splits and that during her run she was constantly obsessing about what her pace might be, checking the Garmin, and that it was stressing her out.

Not a Gremlin but I wouldn't want to piss this guy off...

You can read my little comment I left her HERE if you like but I’ll sum it up, and I actually touched on this exact same thing in my own post HERE about things that could derail your race plan. Basically it’s this, in today’s age sometimes runners get sucked into information overload; I’ve seen people out there running at it looks like they’re hooked up to some kind of life support system between the iPods, watches, GPS trackers, Garmins, cell phones…etc. (Don’t get me started on the people fully decked out with fuel belts and three water bottles for a four miler…lol.)

Ummm, am I still the only person who (when I do run outside and am not being a weenie on the treadmill….haha) only wears a straight up watch? I don’t even own a Garmin or anything like that. Now, I’m just as obsessive about times and exact miles, trust me you can ask anyone who’s run with me, so I’m not saying I’m perfect about it and part of the reason I do like the treadmill is because I guess it has all of that info built in.

But, I digress, the point is that Vanessa’s workout was a 4 mile tempo at 9 min pace. She actually finished up the workout underpace but was frustrated because it was not ‘exactly’ what it should be and during the whole thing she was speeding up/slowing down depending on what the GARMIN was telling her. So here is a workout where she should leave feeling happy she’s actually fitter than she thought but she’s unhappy and the whole workout wasn’t even enjoyable because of the Garmin induced stresslevel. Can I call it a Gremlin at this point?

Workouts aren’t exactly supposed to be enjoyable, but the lactic acid will take care of that for you, so there is no need to make it harder on yourself. A coach once told their athlete (actually the athlete was my mom…lol.), “Don’t think. That’s my job, I’ll do it for you.” When you’re running, shut the brain off as best you can, zone out, and work on running hard.

Sure, we want to hit splits and times, we don’t want to loaf and we do need to check-in with the clock every now and again so we don’t let the lactic acid beast swallow us and if we are slowing down we need to know and try to pick up the pace. BUT you need to tread a fine line between being aware of the clock and not letting it stress you out to the point where it’s working against you. Running is so mental that if you’re obsessed too much you’ll be the one doing your undoing. (Reread that sentence, I’m convincing myself it does in fact make sense. 🙂 )

Think about running for FEEL too, you want to get to the point where you know what certain paces feel like. As you’re going along you want to stay relaxed, focus on keeping proper form, expending as little unnecessary energy as possible (don’t clench your fists or jaw, make sure your shoulders aren’t up to your chin), looking ahead, your breathing…and talking yourself through to the end.

Screw the Garmin, Vanessa, and run hard. Run for feel, and I’m pretty sure you’ll wind up running faster AND you’ll feel much better doing it.

In fact, if you want to read my little reply comment to her you can, and I told her that maybe doing some workouts that aren’t so ‘rigid’ for a period will give her mind a break too. Fartleks are perfect for this, you don’t know the exact distance, you don’t know the exact pace, you just run HARD for the sake of running hard and you’ll get in a great workout.

Try this: for the first week do a fartlek workout with sets of 1 minute hard and 1 minute easy. In Vanessa’s case I’d suggest that since her tempo run was about 36 minutes, she should aim for 18 repeats, so that would be 18 minutes of hard running. Later in the week she should run an un-Garmin tempo run for 36 minutes; take only the watch, run hard, she might come in running a little more than 4 miles, maybe a little less…who knows…live on the edge. (PS-it kinda goes without saying, but make sure and do a warm-up and cool-down with each hard workout…haha!)

The following week, for the fartleks do sets of 2 minutes hard and 2 minutes easy. This time that would be 9 sets total for Vanessa. Later in the week try the un-Garmin tempo but make it a little longer and go for 45 minutes. (Anyone can do this, to adjust it for your own pace pick a time that would be about 5 miles for yourself.)

Third week she should do 6 sets of 3 minutes hard and 3 minutes easy. Instead of the tempo for her second workout late in the week she should do this: 2 x 16 minutes hard (she’ll be going faster so this should be around 2 miles) with 3 minute recovery jog between each, then finish with 4 x 1 minute hard/easy. The goal is to finish with something faster to get those legs mooooving.

Finally, the last week will be a pyramid style farlek:

1 min hard/easy

2 min hard/easy

3 min hard/easy

Repeat 2 more times.

Later in the week she’ll come back with a tempo run and we’ll let her use the Garmin but ONLY to see what her splits end up being. The rules are these: she can only look at the Garmin at the END of each mile to see the split and not between. She can’t think about it during the tempo run and try to run like it isn’t even there…just run hard. Run the freaking tempo. When she’s done, look over those splits and I’m pretty sure she’ll have run faster, but regardless, be happy with a solid, hard effort. 🙂

Don't let the Garmin turn into your ball and chain; use it as a training tool alone.

Wow, this turned out to be an EPIC post, so I hope there might still be a few weary eyes reading this. Sometimes taking a mental break from really regimented workouts is necessary and that’s why no one does straight up track workouts all year round, it’s just too easy to make it too stressful. So, perhaps a few others might do well to ditch their Garmins and have a little farleking fun. 😉

1) What do you run with? A watch, a Garmin, iPod, or any other techie thing?

2) What’s your favorite type of workout?I know I’ve asked this before, sorry, but my answer is still going to be a tempo run! 🙂

3) What are your fun weekend plans?

4) Not really a question, but sorry Vanessa for the way overload of unsolicited advice and don’t feel any pressure to actually do any of it…haha! But, if you happen to, do feel free to let me know how it goes. 🙂

Flies Stink and an Epic Length Post on the Benefits of Bad Races

Posted on August 16, 2011 by Cait — 10 Comments ↓

Flies, what are their deal? They are attracted to all things refuse, decaying and dirty then at the same time feel like it’s okay to roll around in said filth and THEN come schmoozing up on me and my food? How wrong and to coin an annoying blonde haired child, “How rude?” (Stephanie was always my least favorite Tanner.)

I know we’ve all heard urban legend that the second a fly lands on anything it throws up, and so I ask, is that true? If so then I’m covered in sh** on top of being annoyed.

There are other ‘flies’ in life, the flies at the office would have to be those people that buzz around eavesdropping and then spread any juicy tidbits they pick up. Pretty much the same people would be flies at high school, only those flies are a hybrid with mosquitoes because they are out for blood. High school is a blood sport.

Being ticketed for a broken taillight could be a life ‘fly’ because unless you get tipped off by a friendly person watching you from the back, how are you to know? Ooooh, this is fun, so I’m going to keep going. Okay, how about going on a first date, you’re walking along on the beach thinking you’re all cool and romantic and BAM seagull poop lands right on your shoulder? True story, happened to my friend who shall remain nameless only a few weeks ago…so sad, he just started dating again and look what happened. 😛

I guess nothing to do but deal with those flies and swat them away the best that we can. Bad races and horrible workouts are obvious flies. Necessary evils that come with the territory. Heck, bad days in general, but when it comes to running and working out we ALL have those fly days…sadly sometimes fly weeks. Fly slumps. Been there, let’s not look back through those scrapbooks.

BUT, fly races can be good things:

*The Learning Tool: After you finish, mop up those tears, or wash out that mouth, and think. Could there be a reason that you had a less than stellar performance? Did you go out too fast in the beginning or make another obvious racing tactic blunder? Did you go too hard, too close to the big day? Did you not really prepare the way you should for the race? Are you overly tired? Races are like check-ins and if something’s not working then find a way to fix it.

*You Underestimated: Did you go in with an off race plan or maybe no race plan at all? Racing on the fly can be sort of liberating, but you still want to go in with at least some clear goal or tactic. If you knew certain people were in the race, or if you are on a cross team and you were hoping to beat a certain team, did you underestimate your competition? On the flip side, did you underestimate yourself? Did you hold back too long, maybe you should have surged on a certain lap, closed a gap sooner, made a decisive move? Planning mistakes happen, again, use them as a learning experience and be better prepared for next time.

*The Off-Taper: When you taper for a race that means you intentionally cut back mileage, the days leading up are easier. Tapering is a tricky science, all about finding the right balance between doing enough so that you are sharp and ready to go and not doing too much. Look and see if maybe your tapering was a little off. Tapering usually leaves people feeling like they have way too much excess energy and sometimes we have to force ourselves to not do any more than we should. On the flip side, you don’t want to do nothing or take out all fast running, which will leave you feeling sluggish and slow.

You got problems if THIS guy is beating you...

*Overdistance, Underdistance: Was this race ‘your’ race? I mean if you’re a miler and you go run a marathon, you may need to go in knowing that, “Hey, this race is going to be more of a challenge for me than the person who genetically is predisposed to running longer, marathon type distances.” The same for the marathoner running a mile race; it’s great to run a range of races but base the results off of you personally as a runner. If our marathoner runs a decent time FOR THEM in a mile race but comes in dead last, they need to be sure to keep things in perspective.

*Training Through: Did you train through this race? That means was this race not exactly ‘a really big race’ in your training program but instead one along the road to your ‘big goal’ race? This happens a lot for high school and college runners who have to go through league or prelim meets. You can’t rest up for everything because you’d never get in a solid block of training, so for many of the smaller meets you’ll go in without tapering and while you still may put forth your best effort, your legs have that extra workload in them and won’t be as fresh as when you eventually do taper for the big day. This is a big mental thing though because for some people these off races put doubts in their mind and they become afraid that come their ‘big goal’ race they will still feel flat. So you have to stay confident and know that come the big day you’ll be rested and ready.

*Something New: Trying something new on a race day isn’t something you should do. The pile of cheesy nachos an hour before the gun will bring you your own just desserts. In times like these, get through the race and let’s hope it’s a lesson learned.

*New Training: Anytime you go with or are transitioning to a new training method, program, or coach expect that to get results you’ll need to wait through the adjustment period. It takes a few months, yes months at least, to fully adjust to something new and see the results you want. Expect that, and if you really believe in the program stick it out and give it time. That said training philosophies and techniques are VERY personal and if something doesn’t click after an acceptable period of adjustment, reassess. Make sure anything you are doing you fully believe in, running and racing is mental, you have to believe in what you’re doing to make it work.

*Gut it Out: Making it to the finish line despite knowing that you’re having a bad race is one of the best ways to improve your mental fortitude. It’s a mind game. If you were to drop out and stop after each bad race, you run the risk of getting into a very bad habit. There are times when the smart thing to do is drop out, you don’t want to risk an injury, but I’d say for the majority of the time you should stick it out to the end. Why? It’s all mental, if you don’t force yourself to finish when it hurts and sucks too many times, you start to give yourself that ‘out’ and that ‘out’ becomes way too appealing any time a race or workout hurts…and running does hurt. 😉

*Test of Character: Lose as gracefully as you can, or if you don’t meet your goals give yourself an hour, maybe a day/night of wallow, but then get sane and productive.

*The Flies Gotcha: Look, sometimes there are just no reasons for bad races or bad days. The clouds align and they are stormy. To be honest, having exceptional races are a rarity, having good races you’d like to be the ‘almost’ majority, most of them are middle of the road or you at least hit some expectations, but there are plenty of fly races. Bad races and bad days come with the game. You do the most you can to swing the odds in your favor, but at the line it’s all in dem legs and dem legs can be moody like a menopausal woman.

1) What are other flies in life?

How about getting maybe 4 miles into a long run and already scoping out a place for a bathroom plot?

2) One good thing about bad races for you?

3) Worst bad race memory?

The one that instantly comes to mind was when I was running a 10k and through about 4 ½ miles stoked that I was underpace and on track to run a time I REALLY wanted. Crazy how much difference a lap or two can make, I CRAWLED in those last 5 laps. That race was one of the times I wanted to DNF soooo bad…but I didn’t. Haha…that last mile was horrendous!

4) Speaking of, did anyone race this weekend, how did it go? I’m hoping that this post didn’t reopen any fresh wounds. 😉

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away I Picked Up Some Racing Tips

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Cait — 6 Comments ↓

Okay, I sort of feel wonky about doing this post because it’s been about a zillion years since I last actually raced. But I was talking with some friends of mine and the whole subject of race tactics and such came up. That, and I know that a lot of my bloggy friends have big races coming up or they are training for, so I thought it might benefit a few folks out there to offer up some things that I’ve learned along the way. There is way too much to go on and on about regarding races, so I’ll probably have to make this a topic to return to again later. (Look there, every now and again when you come here you might actually be able to take something of worth away…haha)

Fire up those quads...

*Run the tangents: this one might some sort of ‘basic’ or ‘duh’ but I’m not kidding you that it took me forever to actually really apply it. One reason was because I just didn’t think about it or figured an extra few steps couldn’t really make all that much difference, but it adds up. There is a reason that you’ll see people hugging the curves or in a road race cross to the other side of the street to run as close to the little taped off markers as possible; there is also a reason why on the track you usually want to pass someone on a straightaway so you can go around them without running extra distance. If you’re going to focus on something during a race, look for the shortest routes to get to the end; this adds up even more the longer you go and if it comes to the finish line and you see you missed a PR by a few seconds, do you want to be kicking yourself in the bum thinking you could have beaten it if only you didn’t run a few turns too wide?

*Slap yourself into focus: it’s easy to let your mind wander…guilty (moreso though just in everyday life)! But whenever I am in a race or a hard workout I don’t tend to wander, the pain usually tries to take my focus. 😉 But really, you don’t want to be caught in mindless wandering, that will usually lead to the legs slowing down and you might not even be aware of it. So if you catch yourself starting to drift, slap yourself back to the moment, look at the person in front of you and key off of them. Stare a hole into their back and don’t let them get any further ahead of you, instead catch up to them, try to pass, and if you do, then look for the next person in front…pick people off one little bugger at a time. 😉 haha.

*Chuck the baggage: I see more and more people going gadgecized. It’s like before heading out for a run or race they are plugged into more things than NASA. Granted I’m maybe too ‘outdated’ but sometimes it’s good to ignore the garmin, the watch even, and just race off of feel. This is good for a few reasons; one, you can freak yourself out if you feel great and are clicking along but look at the clock and think, “Holy heck, I’m way ahead of pace, am I going to blow-up?” This can mess with you mentally and sometimes cause you to slow down when you’re on the verge of a breakthrough race. Second, constantly checking on your pace isn’t always necessary, as you become more experienced you want to be able to be in tune with your body and ‘know’ what paces feel like.

I don't even think I spy a watch on any of them...do you?

*Still, splits help: wow, so now I am going to contradict myself because there ARE times when the watch is playing to your benefit! Examples: giving you a clear warning you may be going out too fast, a nice kick in the tush if you have mentally checked-out and slowed down, are hitting target pace and a motivator to keep doing that, and there are other instances. The thing is, the clock has its time (horrible pun, sorry) and place, but in the end YOU are the one out there and how you feel is going to trump whatever the clock does say. So if looking at the splits is only going to stress you out or you’re having a bad day and the legs just didn’t show up, then the time can be a little defeating and better to just get through the race at that point.

Bwahaha...we've all been there.

*Hold dem horses: this one was mentioned in the last but it deserves it own because it’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make…going out too fast. We are all guilty but trust me that bootylock crawl to the finish is our only reward. Race day excitement makes it easy to get sucked into this but an experienced racer knows that even if that adrenaline makes the early mile pace feel much easier, it will catch up to you trifold. They say for every second you go out too fast the first mile, you’ll end up slowing down by at least 10 sec’s by the end…trust me it might be even more than that and it will certainly feel much longer. Trying to ‘get ahead’ and under your pace thinking you’ll get a ‘cushion’ by doing that will actually work against you…much better to pick it up and get faster as you go along, all about those negative splits.

Those are just a few tips and hopefully they might be of some use for you. I also want to bring up that there are benefits of ‘bad’ races or workouts and also how you can mentally come back after those…all jabber for another post as this one is getting mighty lengthy!

1) What’s one of your racing tips?

2) Do you have a funny story of you making an obvious racing blunder?

For awhile I used to not run the tangents because somehow in my mind I thought it might be ‘cheating’ or like I was trying to run less than the ‘real’ distance. Stupid, I know. The race directors measure the course gauging off of the shortest distance marked by cones (read: the tangents) and on the track, so long as you’re not crossing that white line you’re golden. 😛

3) When your mind does wander when you’re running or racing where does it go?

I get song lyrics stuck in my head, which can work to my benefit sometimes. I also get random words or phrases stuck in my head; when I was taking Spanish in high school there would be times where I’d honestly keep thinking ‘la luz’ in my head.

Bummin on no Froyo and Training Logs are A for Awesome

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Cait — 11 Comments ↓

Do you see it? It’s my curmudgeonly, scowly look of utter disappointment. Why? Well, for reasons that I can’t fully explain (one, because it’s a long backstory and telling it might wind me up with one of those cyber-faux pas where the thing you write about gets back to people you don’t want it to…second, because it’s sort of ridiculous to the amount you might not really believe me) I missed out on a chance for a real, live, in the flesh froyo date with Margs!!

Margs, you may recall has shot to worldwide celebdom for her role in TO YOGURTOPIA WE GO (how many times am I going to link that fairy tale, well for the time it took me I’m gonna milk it for all it’s worth…haha) and I was excited to learn that this SoCal living bunny was bopping around my neck of the woods for the weekend. But thanks to crazy events we weren’t able to make it to froyo bliss. 🙁

Don’t try to get all smart and figure you’ll pester Margs for my lame reason, partly because she’s got WAY cooler things to think/talk about than me, and second I pulled a Men in Black move and her memory is partially erased. I will say I was happy we at least did get to phone chat, and I hope my fast-talking chipmunk voice hasn’t left her deaf in addition to having a memory fugue.

Why so late a post? Sorry folks, internet still wonko on this side but I’m able to mooch a quickie blog post off of the internet at my parents’ house.

Next on the agenda, so I’ve spent quite a lot of time these past few days working on a project for my old high school’s cross-country and track teams. It’s a running log, something I think is not just really fun to have so you can look back on and track your progress, but it really is important to keep. Why you ask? I’ll tell you…

Even if you aren’t necessarily training for any big race, logging what your workouts are and what you’re doing can keep you on track and motivated to actually DO your workouts, you can reference it when you are feeling sore/sluggish/overly tired and look back at previous weeks’ workouts to figure out why. If you wind up injured you can look for signs of overtraining, then later should you come down with another injury you can look back to what you did then and do your best to cross-train and stay in shape.

People write all kinds of things in their logs, to varying degrees of detail, some people write how much sleep they get, when they feel sick, if they changed a workout their reasons, how they felt in their workout, replay a race, of course PR’s…the color of their poop…just kidding, just wondered if you were still with me. But all of this is useful and important info…oh, and making notes of when you switch out for a new pair of shoes so you remember to change them!

Anyways, anything I do I like to try and make it unique or at least a little better than the bare bones, so I have included lots of articles, quotes, and so forth. So I got to thinking, if I were back in high school, what would I have liked to read about, learn, or hear tips on? I put in things about stretching (when to do it/dynamic vs. static), mental ways to trick yourself into believing that it really doesn’t hurt as much as it does, things on goal setting, refueling right and such.

I think one of the best quotes I’ve ever gotten was from a coach whom I respect to no ends is this: “Stay the course.” Ya, there are tons of other quotes that I really like and are classics, you’ve got Pre’s quotes and other words from legends that are longer and more colorful, but I like this simple one because it is so true in running and in life.

In running, there are ups, downs, sideways, and stallouts. But what separates those from quit or lose their love of the sport from the people who are runners into geriatric years are the ones who just simply keep doing it. They know and accept there are going to be tough times that suck, but getting through those makes the sunny periods all the more special.

Sucks to be that dude.

In life, it’s the same thing, and we all get dealt some shiznit, but you just gotta stay the course. I’ve said this to myself tons of times, and not going to even try to lie, usually when I’ve said it I’m: 1) on the verge of a mega-girly-style breakdown and about to cry…one time that comes to mind was when I was on this horrid stair gauntlet climber cross-training and had been injured forever 2) fuming at the mouth because I’m SOOO irate at whatever 3) feeling so hopeless I have nothing else to do but just hope that things will in fact get better. So for me it’s not even about necessarily always believing at first that staying the course is the right thing, but knowing it’s the ONLY thing to do.

Wowza, so didn’t mean to turn this post into a preachy thing, really I tend to just sit down and type and see what spews out. Winding back to the training log I’ll ask you guys some questions:

1) Do you keep one?

I do, and now it’s a habit, I mean I tend to do really the same sorts of things (I know I need to mix-it up, really I do!) but I guess you can’t fight a habit.

2) What is a piece of advice you would have liked to hear about running/working out when you were younger?

3) What’s one of the best pieces of advice you’ve ever gotten?

4) Can’t end sappy, what is one the funniest random quotes you’ve heard? And do feel free to take it completely out of context!

This one leaps to mind because it just happened, and I’m blanking at the moment. I didn’t want to post it because I don’t want to seem like I’m a perv, but this was said dead-pan and in total seriousness by my mom: “I don’t know what a cat penis looks like, I’d have to Google it.” Later common sense took over and the realization set in that *duh* if you Googled that you’d definitely regret it!