‘Running’ Articles at , Page 32

A Case of Missing Legs: When ‘dead legs’ show up to your starting line, you still have to claim them as yours

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

Have you ever shown up to a race…CRACK…and from the first step the pair of legs you were running on felt completely and utterly foreign? Dead legs…strap in you’re in for a long race.

The funny, or maybe more correctly maddening, thing about running is that you can’t always predict how you’re going to be feeling on any particular day. You can erect the most scientific training plan in the world, taper like a genius, but still, come the day of the race there is the margin of the unknown. You do all you can to swing the favor of the running gods and them blessing you with the legs you worked your butt off for, that you earned, that you deserve to race on…but there are no guarantees.

Dead legs happen in races, in workouts, in random runs too. The ‘easy’ days after a hard workout you can kind of expect that the legs won’t be feeling so fresh, you anticipate some rougher miles; these days aren’t so much a case of dead legs due to chance but rather hard work of days’ past. What makes this case of dead legs bearable, almost sickly rewarding, is that you know the hard work of yesterday will eventually pay off.

But dead legs on a race are frustrating and can be incredibly defeating if you let them screw with your psyche. If that happens any chance of salvaging at least a respectable performance gets whittled down to near nil and you could bring a horrendous trudge to the finish line upon yourself.

While it certainly SUCKS to come to a big race, fully tapered, expecting a PR and wind up with legs you wouldn’t want to claim as your own it is fully possible to race respectable off of tired legs. You may not PR or race at you fitness level, true, but at the same time there are athletes that have raced phenomenally off of tired legs. Some runners haven’t tapered at all and others just mentally pushed themselves regardless of feeling the dead legs. It may come down to a more ‘survival mode’ race…

Latch on to anyone and everyone. If you feel your dead legs from the gun you would probably be wise NOT to play pace-setter if you can avoid it. Tuck in behind a runner or find a nice pack to work off of; you’d be surprised how sparing the mental energy of worrying about pace early on can leave you feeling much ‘fresher’ some miles later.

Surge. If your dead legs are leaving you trudging mid-race, while it sounds totally counterintuitive, putting in a surge or picking up the pace for a short bit can sometimes bust you out of a funk. When you switch gears, as in change up the pace, you work different muscle fibers, and it can act as a little ‘reset’ button sometimes.

Counting sheep…errr, miles. Don’t focus on how much further you have to go, instead play mind games and break the race down into small, much more manageable distances. Say you’re only going to run one more mile…just make it to the next mile marker. If it’s on the track, even just promise to make it past one more lap, one more lap, etc.

Focus on controllables. The controllables are your form, your breathing, your stride…anything NOT related to how crummy you are feeling. This also includes zoning in on a spot on someone’s back who is running in front of you; look at that spot and refuse to let a gap open up between you and the spot.

Wait it out. Crazy, yes, but sometimes dead legs can ‘wear off’ over the course of a race or workout. Sometimes, especially if you didn’t do a real good warm-up, once you get into the race your legs can feel much better.

Bottom line, don’t chuck in the towel after the gun due to dead legs. Doing so, and doing so too often, is like giving your mind an excuse to give up…that is a bad habit you don’t want to get into, because once ingrained it’s SUPER hard to get out of. 😉
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Olympic Trials: Okay, can we give a HUGE shout out to one Ashton Eaton!! The man is a beast and just set a World Record in the Decathlon…crazier still is that he may be ‘getting used’ to setting World Records by now. 😉 Scratch that because I’m certain in the case of World Records they just get sweeter and sweeter every time.
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1) Dead legs, when was the last time you felt your missing legs deserved a slot on a milk carton?? How did you manage?

2) Are there times when your dead legs seem to go away? Can you share your theories on how to bust out of some legs putting up a riot or seeming to rebel?

3) Opening up the comments to Trials talk here…
Since I can barely manage the coordination of doing one sport where you just run in circles, I have utmost respect to athletes who become the ‘jack of all trades’ for track and field. 😉

I’m All About Staying Positive…But Sometimes to Get That Smile You Need to Bust Out the Sarcasm!

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Cait — 9 Comments ↓

Running, and life, can be hard, it can be daunting, it can be amazing, it can be scary, it can wreck you with nerves, leave you inspired to be better, bring you down just as fast, have days where you feel just ‘meh’ and just about all else. I’ve harped a lot on staying positive throughout, even forcing that darned smile even when it feels fake, in order to whether the ‘lows’ so you can reach the ‘highs.’

That said, I’m sarcastic as heck and quite frankly life is too flipping hilarious, even that sick ironic kind of humor, NOT to laugh at it. Sometime it’s okay to indulge in that snarky side of yourself and laugh…even if it’s on the inside. Case in point…

You’d have to live in a box not to know that Olympic Trials are underway. At a gathering the other day the topic of the Trials came up. “When are they starting?” Person A. “Well, the hammer throw is on the 21st but everything else gears up on the 22nd,” Me. “Wait, but I was watching the diving on TV the other day, so it’s already going on,” Person A. “Diving?!?! Seriously, ummm, sorry when I said I’m excited for the Trials to start I thought it was obviously implied I meant the running events,” Me…alas, only in my head though.

On the bike trail doing my cool-down after a workout a biker approaches from behind, “Get the he## off the paved part, runner!” In my head, “Say what?!?! Get off your high horse biker, if I thought I might not get my arm ripped off I’d try and clothes line you.” Instead of saying anything though I just ran in a zig-zag to peeve him off…of yes, I admit to a moment of being the smaller person.

Earlier on the bike trail during a tempo, this time a biker is approaching me, “Great pace, keep it up!” He whizzed past me and in my head, “Dear lord, I’m glad he can’t look down at my watch and see my actual splits, he’d certainly take back that comment!” BOOM…I just gave an example of what not to think when you’re hurting in a workout…bad me! To my credit, I did catch myself and promptly replied, “Eh, take the little ego boost from the compliment and stay focused…shake out your arms, I see from that shadow they are flapping around like hummingbird wings.”

I’ve also had people comment to me while running, “Nice stride.” Okay, my snarky thoughts to this one are, “Obviously you have no clue about running because this is about as ambiguous a compliment as it can be. I see you are at least trying to be nice, but seriously, nice stride…you’d be better off just saying, ‘Nice shoes’.”

For this one I’m just a fly on the wall, details will be withheld to protect the guilty…lol. A man announces he is going for a run…kudos to him. About 15 minutes, maybe, the door bursts back open and the man is back. A person inquires, “Are you done with your run?” The runner replies, “Yup.” This snarky fly on the wall thinks, “What?! Did you get at least two miles in there, I hope so, or else that’s almost a waste of getting suited up for!” 😛

A friend recently tried to rope me into running an 800 with them. #thereisnowayinheck #onespeedrunnerwithnofasttwitchmuscles
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Track Trials News: Now all of us distance people were super stoked for the first day, talk about busting out of the gates with a BOOM with the 10k’s right away! 🙂 I’m beyond stoked that one Dathan Ritzenhein is off to London; he’s one of the grittiest runners around, and who didn’t share a little heart-break after his marathon? Not going to lie thought I called it that he’d be making the team in the 10k. Galen Rupp won (27:25), Matt Tegenkamp (27:33), and Dathan Ritzenhein (27:36).

For the women, hats off to Amy Hastings pulling off the win and in a similar ‘redemption mode’ as Dathan after her own Olympic Marathon Trials race. Hasting for the win (31:58), Natosha Rogers (31:59), and Shalane Flanagan in third (31:59). Here it’s a little tricky, with the Olympic A Standard Qualifying Time and the fact Shalane won’t run the 10k, the women’s team will be Hasting, Lisa Uhl (4th), and Janet Cherobon-Bawcom (7th).

Congrats to all the runners busting their bums out there!!
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1) Would you like to add any snarky, sarcastic running related barbs to the list? Or do you have anything else to give us a giggle this Friday?

2) What is sort of your ‘minimum’ distance for a ‘real’ run in your mind? Barring cases like injuries and such.
Four miles, unless it’s a double.

3) Which would be your least favorite event to race? What is your favorite distance?
Quite honestly I don’t feel like my old legs are able to handle the shock of anything less than at least a 5k…it takes some time even after a warm-up for them to wrangle up anything that might be considered a ‘race’ pace. 😛

4) Olympic Trials: give me your comments, reactions, thoughts, who you were/are rooting for…I want it all! 🙂

Hayward Field 2012: The Olympic Trials Begin as Athletes Scale Their Own Mount Olympus

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Cait — 8 Comments ↓

The Olympic Trials 2012 have officially hit Oregon. Whether you deem yourself a track fan or not (but you really should be!) I would implore all runners to catch a vicarious ‘high’ off of what is about to go down.

Running, regardless of the level, is hard. It takes insurmountable amounts of work, dedication, perseverance and perspective. The mental side of running is huge. All of the athletes taking part in the Trials at Hayward Field have been working towards these days, the goals they want to achieve on them, for years.

Of course the Olympics, and the Olympic Trials, are akin to the Mount Olympus of goals to us, mere mortal runners. While every competitor taking part warrants being put on a bit of a pedestal for their athletic prowess, there is much us mortals can glean from them outside of some phenomenal races to watch and cheer for.

Like a Boss. Getting to the line takes confidence; confidence is instilled through all of that hard work, owning those workouts like a boss and knowing that you BELONG on that starting line. Regardless of where that line is, Trials or no Trials, a goal is a goal none-the-less and every runner must build that confidence on their own level. Ironic how bolstering that confidence takes DOING and having the courage or guts to DO takes believing in yourself. So sometimes you have to just dive in and start the doing and KEEP up the doing again and again…the boss-like confidence may just have to follow.

Determination. Every single athlete at the Trials, just as every single runner, has their highs and lows. The running lows have weeded out plenty of runner wanna-be’s. Injuries, set-backs, horrible races, embarrassingly heinous performances, epically long injuries, surgeries, life obstacles…they’ve had them all and continued plowing forward. You can too so long as you just keep running forward…even if that ‘running’ forward is more of a symbolic metaphor.

Face the Mirror. Through the course of life and the trials running will toss your way (refer above), there will be many moments that cause you to question yourself, who you are, why you do things, why you keep running, and learn about yourself. Lessons learned through running apply to all areas in life; but for running, it is something you, in the end, are doing for yourself. You are accountable to YOU, you choose to get the run done or skip it. In the middle of hard workouts and races YOU control whether you dig for that extra gear or you let up. You have to decide if it’s worth doing what it takes to stay running in the direction of your goals. The runners you’re watching at the Trials…they all decided THEY wanted to keep running for their goals.

Cheer. The stands at the Trials should be in a state of unbridled ‘enthusiasm.’ (Shout out, any Seinfeld fans in the house?!) What I mean is people will be maniacally cheering and that’s how the Hayward Field Stands should be. While us mere mortals may or may not be personally tied to any one racer, we should all soak up the inspiration that will be flooding the track. The sweat dripped to the track is not dissimilar to the sweat of any other runner in actual make-up; it is the same salty water that can be shed by any runner if they work for it.

That said, while the sweat flooding Hayward may be anatomically the same as any other runners’ sweat, I can’t stress enough that it is STILL different. It is from one of the dreamers who has made it their dream to scale their way to that Mount Olympus and separate themselves from the mere mortals. It is then, that us mere mortals can tilt our head toward the mountain’s peak as the dreamers climb and cheer for them with…unbridled enthusiasm. 😉

1) Who is making their way to the Trials? To spectate or compete…BUT if you’re reading this and about to compete you better as heck leave a comment and brag on yourself. 😉

2) What events are you looking the most forward too?

3) How will you make sure you are putting out your fair share of unbridled enthusiasm? As in, what is something that you will ‘soak up’ from all of these phenomenal athletes and apply to your own running?

Run Like a Kid: Retaining some of those childlike qualities could be the best thing for your running

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Cait — 17 Comments ↓

I think we should all start running like children. Heck, I think in some aspects we all could benefit from being more like children in general…maybe that will be my excuse for acting like a six year old. Speaking of, who stole my box of Pop-Tarts, I don’t share those?!

If your goals are on a shoot star, grab hold and ride…errr, run! 😉

Children, the younger the are, the more unshaped they are by their surrounds. Before the world can mold you, beat out a few qualities, put some limits on what you should do, set boundaries and establish rules you’re a ‘raw’ version of humanity. Now not to say beating out a few nasty traits (hello screaming child throwing a tantrum in the middle of the store and let’s all be thankful our parents forced us into potty training!) isn’t called for, BUT there are some qualities I wish were better retained. How does this apply to the world of running?

Children have whimsy. I like looking at ‘little kid art’ sometimes because it typically just makes you smile. Whether it’s the bright colors or the way too perky happy, smiling suns, it has a way of lightening the mood and puuuuulling a smile out of you whether you want to or not. Running has some severe highs and lows; we need to accept that and brace ourselves for the inevitable rough patches. In order to not let those lows break you, or your drive to continue training and come back, you have to stay positive. This can really sound annoying when you’re in the midst of a low, when you have someone telling you to smile you sometimes want to scream, “Yea, and I just saw a unicorn sh##ing rainbows out my window too!” 😉 But have your vent and then, in all honesty, maybe crack open a picture book and look for that unicorn. You never know, children dream up crazy stuff…whatever can force a smile out of you and kick your butt out of the poor me rut and get you back on track and moving forward is a good thing.

Children don’t know limits. Kids, if you tell them it’s possible to jump off the roof and fly will blindly try to go where no man has gone before, make that small step and giant leap off the roof. They don’t over-analyze a goal to death and wonder if they can do it, they literally just go and try. In running, if you out-think yourself from a goal you never end up even trying. You could fall short, you could make it, even surpass it, but you’ll never know unless you try. There is also something to be said for the journey in the trying, regardless of the outcome. Heck, I’ve failed plenty of times but still think I’m better for it in many aspects.

Kids are brutally honest. I love asking kids for an opinion on things. While I do write posts on lying to yourself about how much your hard running workouts will actually be as an effective mental ‘trick’ to getting through the workout…there are times when we should try on our honesty pants. These times though, are usually AFTER the fact, once the work is done and you’re setting your sights forward. After a race, a workout, or even a run, there are things you can learn and apply forward. A bad race can be the best thing in the world if you learn you made a critical error; learn, don’t make it next time, and have a PR. If you have a stellar workout, look back not just at the workout itself but the training leading up to it, see if there is a pattern of WHY you rocked it. This is one reason why having a training log is a major training tool.

Kiddies live in the moment. A kid can fall flat on their face, scream that it hurts (please, I hope you weren’t the kid who cried over every bump and bruise…put on your big girl/boy Pull-Ups! Hehe), get up and run to the sandbox. Running is an action; once it’s over and you stop doing it, the running part is done and in the past. Good if you’re having a horrible run, a little sad if you just set a World-Record and wish you could live the moment again and again. The bottom line is we can’t get stuck in the past if it stops us from living in the now and looking forward. If you have a bad race (fall on your face), do your vent and learning session (scream), then put your big Pull-Ups on and gear up for next time…don’t dwell on something like that, know you’ll have another shot to try again.

So runners: be dreamers, be annoyingly positive when the unicorn is sh##ing on you during a low, be brutally honest when you’re not lying your way through a workout, admit there will be falls that hurt but in the end pick yourself up because there will be better times ahead too. 🙂
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Reminder: If you’re liking the art you see and would like prints of a certain piece check out my Etsy Store! If you don’t see the one you want there, contact me and I’ll get you squared away. 🙂
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1) What is one trait that children have but tend to lose touch with as they get older? How can that trait be applied to running and could it be of benefit?

2) What is a trait that you are SO glad the world beats out of kids?
True fact, I may be deemed a horrible runnerchick for saying this, but I do not love kids…I’m picky as heck when it comes to kids I like. But that usually has more to do with parents, and I’m not going to open that can of worms. BUT the kiddos I stamp approval of I really adore, so don’t come egg my house. I will say I’m not sad to see kids grow out of the pull your hair and punch you in the gut thing. 😉

3) What is one area that you need to start acting more like a kid when it comes to your running?

4) What are some of your favorite children’s books? Let’s be honest we all look at them for the pictures!

When Forcing Yourself to Feel Like You Don’t Belong Works: Running and life goals achieved by feeling like a ‘poser’

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Cait — 12 Comments ↓

In life, and in running, there will be times when you feel like you’re in over your head. Or that you are afraid the people around you will certainly sniff you out as the ‘poser’ you feel you are…that you really don’t belong, that you don’t have enough experience, credits to your name, accolades, etc. You can choose to dodge these types of situations, but if you do I’m willing to bet you’ll miss out on achieving something greater than you expected.

Run curious of what you CAN achieve when you force yourself to be in situations where you feel like a ‘poser’…then fake it til you make it. 🙂

In running, a sure-fire way to get better is to train with people who are better than you. Sure, you can have the ego boost of being the top dog and pace-setter for a particular group, but where is the fun in that? I always loved being the chaser, myself; that makes you hungry for more, for faster times…it’s the thrill of the hunt, right?

Being at the slower end of the company you keep, dare I even say the slowest, can surely be daunting though. If you’re new to the group your knees are probably quaking before the warm-up, anticipating that these fleeter footed runners were certainly sniff out the poser of the group. Maybe they even know your PR’s and in your mind you imagine what they are thinking, “Who in the heck do they think they are…they don’t belong with us…they aren’t good enough to even share the track with us.”

The honest truth is that humans can be pretty self-centered without meaning to or even be aware they are thinking that the world is revolving around them. They can be the most benevolent of people but there are times when we over-amplify the importance of ourselves. What I’m getting at is as you IMAGINE those others are thinking about you, they are probably actually thinking of themselves. those other runners most likely are thinking about the workout ahead and the splits they want to hit…not your presence.

But then again, worse case, even if they are thinking you ‘don’t belong’ then who really cares? If you want the BEST from yourself, toss yourself into the deep end on PURPOSE. You can run the risk of sinking but more often than not, when forced you’ll at least learn to doggie-paddle. That doggie paddle will most likely turn to some semblance of a stroke and eventually you will swim.

Truth is, runners tend to be awesome company and will welcome you onto their team. 🙂

With running, when you train smart, push yourself, are consistent, and ask more from yourself you generally improve. You may end up surprising yourself in actually becoming the fastest runner of the very group you once felt you were an idiot for thinking you even belonged sharing the same track with.

Stepping out of your comfort zone is scary, yes, but goals that demand the kind of work that offer a fulfilling reward aren’t achieved by feeling comfortable. So fellow kiddies, let’s dive into the deep end of the track and get swimming. 😉 [Extra credit to those who made sense of this totally mixed metaphor…haha!]

1) What is an instance where you felt like a ‘poser’ when it came to running?
The first day I went to my high school’s track practice…if you were keeping tabs on my Facebook Page I explained it was my dad who helped me get out there and just run.

2) When was an instance where you felt like a ‘poser’ in other life?
Actually, anytime people say, “Oh, you’re an artist!” It’s taken a lot of mental conditioning to not blurt out, “Well, actually, ummm, I dunno, I like doing art, but I’m not sure if I’m an ‘artist’ artist.” 😛

3) If you run in a group, where are you typically: front, middle, chaser? If you run alone, how do you ‘stretch’ yourself to run with ‘someone faster than you’? If you don’t try and run with someone better than you for the sake of ‘chasing’ that’s cool too, but do you want to try and state a goal of attempting that stretch??
I’m a bit of a solo runner for the current, but I use the treadmill and force my slow butt not to fall off the back for some tempo runs. 😉 Good old tready has enough power to certainly run the belt faster than me!

Racing Nerves: Thrilling, Addictive, Anxiety-provoking, and Potentially One of Your Greatest Assets

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Cait — 22 Comments ↓

“Do my legs normally feel this tired before my race?” I think this is a question that has run through every runner’s head during their warm-up at some point or another. In fact, I know some runners actually take it as a good sign that their legs feel like lead…the worse they feel before the gun goes off the better they feel once they’re off.

Nerves. You can’t avoid them in or sport; or rather, if you CARE about how you run and race you can’t avoid them. All that nervous energy, the excitement, the buzz, the flood of endorphins not only ensure you care but they are the the emotions that those who race thrive on…are probably addicted to. I’ve commonly written that there is a difference between running and racing; the runners who crave those races, NEED that buzz, know exactly what I’m talking about.

I recently wrote an article featured at Competitor online: Putting Your Nerves to Good Use. Check it out there, as it has tips to channel your nerves into a positive way to elevate your performance; but, as I am one who generally isn’t ever short on words, I have a bit more to add on.

“Nerves…many seem to to think these are ‘bad’ to have. Instead, they are NECESSARY,” Jim Bauman Ph.D, Sports Psychology, I have quoted in that article. He has it dead on and went on to add, “Bottom line, this energy IS the drug of sport. Those minutes and moments before a competition are difficult to replicate in other areas of life events. As much as athletes frame this as an aversive event, it is exactly what they miss most when they leave sport.”

Again, spot on. I think when athletes regard this nervousness and energy with a sense of hesitation and anxiety, it isn’t so much the actual event they precede, but rather a competitor dreads the window of time leading up to before the gun being fired…having the actual nerves around, bringing that flurry of thoughts into their mind. They ‘dread’ it the same way they ‘dread’ the anticipation of a hard workout because they know it will hurt. The pain of exertion is a given, a constant, but a part of running, and racing, is coping with this given. Coping often means a degree of denial before the hurt and pain actually starts…we have to lie to ourselves, say it won’t be ‘that bad,’ otherwise we may talk ourselves out of actually starting.

Racing takes that ‘dread’ and anxiety of starting to a whole other level because a lot more is at stake; the times, the places, our performance means a lot more to us than just another hard workout. We CARE more about the outcome of the event.

Usually with nerves they start to climb days (for some, even weeks) before the race…running takes a lot of training if you want to race well, so us runners have a LONG time to focus on a particular event and seasons last multiple months. So the climb starts, but the rate of that climb escalates the closer you get to the race; the anticipation gets to a point where we nearly think we will explode RIGHT before the gun goes off. Then, just before you think you can’t last a second longer…CRACK…and the nerves seem to disappear. Nerves dissipate and are replaced by ‘performance’ mode, where you focus on the actual doing.

Or at least the nerves should be pushed from your mind. But, nerves are a tricky bugger and hard to handle; that’s why they are a common source of anxiety for runners…because runners know that if NOT properly managed their nerves can be their undoing. Nerves can be a runner’s undoing or they can be one of their greatest assets…channeling those nerves positively, in a way to step up your ‘game’ after the gun goes off is a powerful tool in running and racing.

The funny thing with doing this, is that the ‘gamers’ of our sport often find it difficult to put into words the ‘hows’ of what they do. It sort of comes naturally to them without their being so cognitively aware, they don’t really know what they are doing differently, they just DO. A sports psychologist makes it their job to investigate the ‘hows’ and explain it to others. “We work on embracing this energy,” explains Bauman on his approach in working with his elite athletes, “Whenever we put ourselves on the line with performance being a key to why and what we are doing, the brain kicks in…the fear response is alive and well…we are going to run or fight.”

Nerves put athletes in a tricky spot, we have to battle nature, instincts and make sure that we don’t cross the line from the ‘fight or flight’ response and into the ‘panic’ response. “A characteristic of panic is ‘freezing’,” states Bauman.

So these nerves; there is good reason to regard them with a mix of dread and adoration. They can freeze you up, they can tie your stomach in knots, they can make you feel like you’re going to explode if the race doesn’t start NOW. Though, they also give you that buzz, make you feel alive, they make you want to jump out of your skin in a good way…and they are addictive…they are a thrill.

Racing is a thrill…CRACK.

1) Can you put into words what your nerves feel like before a race or hard workout?

2) How do you manage your nerves? Do you have a pre-race ritual that helps keep them in check?

3) If you consider yourself a ‘gamer’ can you try and explain the ‘how’ of doing that?

You Can’t Win if You Melt First…

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Cait — 17 Comments ↓

Running in the heat sucks…

It’s a Friday so I think we should kick the weekend off laughing. That said, I’m pretty sure I’ve left more than my fair share of melted person on the track in my time.

Today’s going to be short and sweet but I will also give you a refresher course on all things crazy hot and hydration related with some of my previous posts. Summer weather is hitting us full swing and here’s to hoping you don’t wind up a puddle of runner goo! 🙂

Runners Are Hot: Staying hydrated on the run

All About Liquids: What to drink and when

To Tote or Not to Tote: Carrying water-bottles on the run

The Great Smoothie Debate

1) Are you one of the runners who tend to run better than most in the heat? Do you tend to suffer more than others?

2) Do you live in an area with the dry heat or do you have the humid factor too?

3) How do you handle the heat where you live and your best survival tip?

Running Until Your Heart Explodes: What could you achieve if you never had the ‘pain’ signals from your brain?

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Cait — 7 Comments ↓

I read the Seabiscuit book before it was a movie…anything that involves running as fast as you can has my attention, even if the racers are horses. I loved the book, and movie too for that matter, but do you know what single detail will forever stick in my mind?

Horses will run themselves to death if the jokey lets them. A horse can actually race themselves so hard that their heart will explode due to the exertion.

How is that for proof that the mind can be your biggest limiting factor? The human brain, for its intricacies, problem solving skills, and evolved emotions we cite it as superior to any other creature’s. Along the way our brains have also developed a coping mechanism that screams at us to STOP if it gets messages from our muscles, organs and other systems telling the brain they are tired. The brain tosses up the red flags, it sends out PAIN signals…and they get louder and louder, echoing in our minds.

STOP. Stop this activity that is making you sweat and pant, the exertion that is causing your heart to work and pump oxygenated blood to those muscle fibers. Quit while your lungs aren’t completely maxed out, heed to the lactic acid building up in your muscles. Give those poor mitochondria a break already!

The evolved human brain reads these distress signals and implores us to quit while we’re ahead. It even manipulates things and over-amplifies these messages of fatigue, it will tell us that if we keep up this running hard business up maybe we will collapse and our body will just stage a protest right then and there.

The truth though is that the body can go on much longer than it tells the brain ‘thinks’. That sneaky body of ours knows it can keep going but the mind is duped pretty easy. Apparently the human brain, while it boasts of being so much keener than a horse’s, is fooled a lot easier by the body.

I am no veterinarian, I’m no horse whisperer, so I’m only left to wonder what really does go through a horse’s mind as he races around the oval. Is he cognitively aware that his muscles are so tired, does his heart even ever send a message that ‘I’m working super hard here’ to the brain? Does his brain get any kind of advanced warning, does this horse ever have to argue back that he can keep pushing, keep going, keep chasing the animal in front of him, that he wants soooo bad to be the first one across the line and please that dork who is sitting on his back spanking his tush?

Does that horse ever have the mental battle when he runs, or rather, does he race on blissfully unaware of hard hard the exertion is? Does he know how much pain he would have to be pushing through if he were human, with one of those evolved, fancy brains?

From a runner’s perspective, it sure does make you a bit envious of that horse.

While I’d never want to see someone race until their heart exploded on the track, certainly not, the reason this tiny detail of the book will forever be stuck in my ‘highly evolved human’ mind is that it is proof that we are capable of so much more than our brains want us to believe.

The brain you see, is just much too gullible and falls for the body every time. As runners, as racers, it is then a test, a game of sorts, to see how long we can stretch the gullibility of that brain. How long we can keep it from falling for the hoax…the longer we can hold out the more we can achieve.

1) Did you ever read the Seabiscuit book or see the movie?

2) Have you heard of this about horses and what is your take on it? Do you think the horses are getting some similar signals of fatigue from their bodies and are just able to ignore them and keep going?

3) When you imagine yourself running without ever having these pain signals, does it make you a little envious of horses? What do you think you could achieve?

Runners Can Thrive Being Predictable: Why ‘predictable’ monotony doesn’t deserve such a bad rep in our sport

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Cait — 16 Comments ↓

Can you predict what this runner is about to say next?Let’s face it, I’m pretty predictable in that I’m pretty happy with my own little routines. It’s not that I don’t enjoy adventure, I like to think I’m usually up for some adventures if they come my way, but at the same time I don’t find doing the same things all that boring. I sort of figure if it makes me happy, then where is the bad in that?

I can predict she'll be starting a run...

Confession: I think that most runners are comfortable routine. Isn’t running a sport filled with monotony? Sure we mix up our workouts, we have various routes, we stretch the box of left…right…left as far as it can go. Hey, even track mixed it up when it decided to toss a water jump into the schedule. But let’s face it, when you break it down runners have to, to a high degree, be fully comfortable in routine.

Taken to the extreme it can turn into a bad thing, getting stuck on HAVING to run the exact same route and getting competitive with yourself to run a faster time can ruin your easy days, yes. Yet you need some order behind that training schedule, there is a method to the madness. We all vary on how much predictability we are comfortable with; though we all have workouts we use as key indicators of our fitness, our old faithful easy run route, having the same rigid warm-up routine actually helps quell pre-race nerves.

So you see, being a bit predictable isn’t such a bad thing. It gets a bad rap, this predictability thing, and I guess if you’re marked by a stalker or serial killer, yes, having the same running route at the same time every Tuesday may eventually bite you in the butt, but that’s a whole other thing.

* Route Markers. I vividly remember the first ‘real run’ my dad took me on. By that I mean it was over 1.5 miles and in my mind it was an epic distance. I was dying and he told me, “Hey, you see that?” He pointed to a brick building, it was the gym where growing up we’d go swimming, “We are about one mile from home, and when I see this building, no matter how tired I am, I know I can make it home.” I always remembered that, and every time I ran past that building that day forward, no matter how tired I was, I knew I was going to make it. You see, having the same route can be the perfect mental mind game; you have ‘markers’ that you come to know, expect, and when you pass them they offer a little boost. No matter how tired you are, you know you can keep going…then you make it to the next ‘marker.’

* Fitness Indicators. There is a reason that you train in phases; there’s base building, strength workouts (tempos, long repeats), sharpening (speed workouts), tapering…etc. Your body also thrives on consistency, with smart conditioning you get the best results. As you make it through the cycles, you probably have benchmark workouts within each phases that indicate how great of shape you are compared to yourself of years past. You know that when you’ve been able to run such-and-such time you did your mile repeats at XXX pace. Then when you run those same repeats faster…you know you’re ready for a PR and you get excited, can’t wait to race and chase that PR.

* Know What Works. When it comes to races, do you really want to mess with what has worked in the past? It’s not the time to see if five chili dogs are going to be your winning pre-race fuel, also not the time to see if you should try those new spikes for the first time. A predictable pre-race, even pre-hard workout, routine sets you up physically for the best results and mentally too. Mentally the routine of things makes the run similar to any other day, and it gives you something concrete to focus on rather than those nerves. Find your pre-race predictability and then thrive in the routine.

* Just Do It…to Improve. The secret to getting faster and better? Consistency. Let me be your thesaurus and tell you that is another word for predictability, routine, monotonous running. You have to make your muscles predict that you’re going to be running another mile, another day, and repeating. Accept this, embrace it, because you know you love our sport, okay. Motivation can waver on a given day, but let’s face it you know you’ll be filling the future pages of your training log.

Is predictability such a bad thing? If it makes you a runner, it can make you faster, and it can offer you up some awesome PR’s, I sort of think you may agree this whole predictability thing isn’t such a bad thing. Well, unless you are a marked runner for a stalker or serial killer. 😉

1) Name one thing that makes you predictable.
Is it bad that when my family walked up to the ordering station at Costa Vida the worker knew all the orders? Strength in numbers at least…hehe.

2) What is one thing that is good about predictability when it comes to running and training?

3) What is an example of predictability going AWOL and actually hurting your running and training?
Overly obsessive of the pace of your easy runs…run easy enough to recover.

4) Now, even if you have some predictable traits, do you consider yourself pretty adventurous? If so, in what way?

Runners Create Their Own ‘Possibles’ All the Time: Dude, it’s just a car…get over it, suck it up, and go run

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Cait — 24 Comments ↓

Runners, it is my firm belief, tend to have a different set of ‘possibles.’ More correctly they can set their sights on what a ‘normal’ person would think of as IM-possible, put their head down, get to work and keep plugging away. I also believe runners tend to be more stubborn, grittier, and have a higher pain tolerance than most folk…honestly I think it’s because we’re just so used to suffering with running everything else in our mind gets a little skewed. “What, that blister takes up nearly my entire arch, just a minor flesh-wound, Neosporin that sucker and put your running shoes on!” 😉

I like to make light of my who car accident debacle because I just do that. I poke fun and joke around at things even if logically they aren’t that funny. It’s a coping mechanism probably, I mean it’s much easier to keep moving forward and stay positive if you’re able to laugh at yourself EVEN at your worst.

I don’t like to talk too much about my whole car accident though, mostly because I don’t want people to think I’m ‘working it’ or like I’m bragging. Sure, yes, I’m kinda proud of the fact the doctors were floored when I finally came back to report I could run again; the surgeon was sure I wouldn’t even walk right. BUT, the thing is, runners all around, all the time are constantly doing these sorts of things.

Dick Beardsley has an insanely inspiring story, he was a pivotal person who kept me going and instilled in my mind that I’d run again. I will forever be grateful to him. There’s the stories of the runners who have actual amputations and run with some awesome prosthetics.

Even without crazy accidents runners are ALWAYS redefining what is possible, the proof there are in the record books. Do we not in fact keep shaving those times down lower and lower? Are there not constant debates on if we really will see a woman break such-and-such time, will a man dip below the two hour mark for the marathon?

Runners are always faced with injuries, surgeries, that raise the question if they will ever get back…and then will they get back to the shape they want to be. The thing is, when you have running stripped away from you, brutal as it is, when you look into the ‘possible’ future of what you’re life would be without it, you probably don’t like the picture you see. When you shudder at that picture you often make a pact with yourself, “If I get back to running, in any form, I will not take it for granted.”

I’ve been there, lots of people have, and I think it are those haunting images of what a life without this running, our little drug of choice, are that keeps us going to redefine ‘possible’ and then create our OWN ‘possibles.’ So even on those crap-tastic runs where we feel anything but on cloud nine, we appreciate them deep down.

Not that anyone should, or has to settle for just running alone. There are still times, PR’s, races, titles, hopes and other goals that can be chased; things that take training, not just running. I love watching and hearing about people creating their own ‘possibles’ there and chasing those goals…but I also know running presents incredible highs and lows. Our sport sort of runs the line like an EKG with all those spikes; heartbreaks on the heels of triumph and vice-a-versa.

Runners can get lost in those lows sometimes and their goals abandoned, the sport can break them; to avoid that takes unwillingness to get stuck in a depressive rut during those lows. Keeping perspective and remembering that a life without running at all, on any level, is not the picture of a future you have envisioned for yourself.

Perspective: Be grateful for the run. When you’re nervous before a hard training run, race, or don’t even want to get out the door…strip it down to the bare bones, the root of it…be grateful for the simple act and remember why you do it. Chuck out the window unnecessary pressure, stresses, or worries, put your head down and get to work on creating your OWN ‘possibles.’

1) Was there ever a time, event, or injury that begged to question if you’d get back to running as your former self?

2) Was there ever a time or injury that seemed to drag on so long you thought it would never end? How did you deal with it?
Day by day, people…only way! 🙂

3) Where is your running, are you running just for the fun and love of it or are you training? What keeps you going and why do you do it, when it’s all stripped down to the bare bones?

4) What is a ‘possible’ you are currently working towards creating for yourself?

5) What is one ‘possible’ that you achieved and are proud of that others thought of as IM-possible?