Wednesday, May 14, 2008

lessons learned from racing

Today's run was an easy recovery 3 miler, since I did a tempo run yesterday. My training plan for the half mary is a little aggressive for me, since it only gives me one full rest day per week. I have one more week of 6 days of running, then a fallback week with 2 whole rest days! I hope I can make it. If not, I plan on changing my crosstraining day, where I do the elliptical, to a full rest day.

My last race was a local 10k, and I didn't do well. My time was pretty much the same as last year. When I think about the race, I realize that I never got into "race mode". I treated the race just like any other average old training run, and as a result I didn't push myself. I definitely wasn't thinking about the race. It's a shame because this is a course that I could really conquer. It's an out and back with a gradual climb going out, leading up to a killer hill. Then you turn around, and it's all downhill from there, baby! I should have run an easy, even pace going up, take it easy on the big hill, then really pushed for the return. I know I could have broken the 1 hour barrier. At least I learned something about racing. It isn't all physical training-you really have to focus on the task at hand.

2 comments:

LIrunner9 said...

Hi Tanya,

Welcome to the world of blogging! I found you through Bruces blog, and I also will be checking in to read about your progress. You are doing awesome, btw. On the about.com I'm newLIrunner9, but life is crazy, so I don't post there as often as I should, but I do keep my own running blog at http://trainingfornycmarathon2009.blogspot.com/

First things first, you are a RUNNER!! Doesn't matter how fast or slow you go. You got yourself to that race and finished. How many people are still home sitting on the couch!!!

Must be something about 10k's. I did the same thing 2 1/2 years ago that you did. Ran it as a training run. I turned 40 that year, and wanted to run our local 10k, so I trained for 3 months, and ran it in 1:01:30 (I wanted to beat an hour:(. I crossed the finish line feeling like I could have done it again. Yup, I ran it like a training run:( Didn't even know it until I ran my first race this year back in March, though only 4 miles this time, I again, ran it as a training run, and crossed the finish line, feeling like I could have run it again. It never occurred to me to RUN. Until I found Allen and Bruce over at about.com, and they made me realize I had to quicken my stride/cadence for the races. Now when I run a race, I am focussed. Granted, I have only run three 4 mile races to date, but I have a 10K on Saturday, which I'm a little nervous about, as I have not covered that ditance in 2 1/2 years.

Didn't mean to ramble, just wanted you to know you are doing great and you are not alone.

Joanne

robison52 said...

Howdy Tanya! It's so easy to race at a pace you're comfortable, because pushing yourself to a faster pace is very uncomfortable, hard work! Therefore, incorporate at least one training run per week at race pace...you could do race pace via intervals, tempos, or the last mile of your long run. Getting you body adjusted to the race pace will make race day much easier.

You're going to do well racing this Saturday, be sure to get plenty of sleep...I usually strive for more sleep on Thursday night as Friday night I'll be nervous and sleep fitfully. Don't try anything new!