I have a countdown on my Facebook page and today I realized that there are only 40 days left till my half marathon! Ok, it will be my third one and I should be used to it by now but I still get so excited at a race. And this one is important to me, it's emotional even. So I have to work on that one. Because if my expectations are TOO high, then my disappointment will be enormous if I don't do as well as I hope to.
There's always a risk at a race. You can start too fast, falter too soon, fall, get injured. You can forget something, your music may fail, the weather is crappy and then it all goes to hell. Too easy.
What can I do to prevent this? nothing at all. Just continue my training, work on the mental, believe in myself. I feel strong. I KNOW I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. When I started running last year, I decided that this would be for a long time and that I would be running half marathons and full marathons one day. And it's not because someone told me I couldn't do it, as it has happened too many times in my life. This time it's for me :)
So what's on store training wise right now?
More tempo work on Tuesdays, hills for another 2 weeks, all the way to 9 of them... then it's speed work for 3 weeks. My lsd runs will go all the way up to 20 but I'm at 12k only this coming weekend. However, after this weekend, it jumps right to 18k a HUGE jump of 6k! I definitely do want to do them on my own. Running my lsd run with someone is too fast. I prefer to do it at my own pace. I have no problem in running on my own. Ditto for hills, in fact talking while going up the hill is not what I want to do so doing them solo is preferrable. Speed work is another matter, however. That will be the challenge.
In any case, I am enjoying this training but I will definitely enjoy getting there, the excitement, the route, arriving there, waving to the crowds and seeing my family there. I hope I won't start bawling like a little kid... aw maybe I will. I'm human after all :)
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
What one learn at races...
Last week was the Acura 10 miler, or 16.1k in metric :) The 10 miler has only recently started to appear on this side of the border. It's an easy distance, more easily accessible to the person who is starting to run/race but who is not quite ready to tackle a half marathon.
The half marathon is also a very popular distance. After all, it's *only* 21.1k! To Joe average, the mere idea of running for 21.1k is just too daunting. And I have to agree that when I started to run, I would get all scared at the thought of one day say "I can do it, and do it well!" when I'd talk about a half marathon! LOL
But this post is not about what one feels about running... but what one can learn when doing a race. So back to the Acura 10 miler, on July 19 at 8am, I'm there with my friends, ready to do the race, which should be treated as a "practice run" as it is part of my training. Yeah right... practice run my ass! this is a race! There's a chip on my shoe! There is a gizmo that records the time I go across the starting mat and will record what time I come back. This is not training! ha!
But then of course, it has to be a training run... because this is the PERFECT time to experiment with your race strategy. I decided to go for a different one this time, 4 sets of 10/1s then running straight for the rest. I had hoped for a time of 1:30 to complete the race, I ended up doing 1:40. So this told me a few things, some technical, some mental:
Technical:
1. Doing the half in Montreal in 2 hours is NOT achievable right now. More work needs to be done. So must do more tempo work and really work on speed work in August
2. I need to find a better race strategy.
3. My fueling and hydration is good.
4. My playlist is good too :)
Right now, I plan on doing 20/1s at the half marathon. If I do the first part slow, then a bit faster, then finish all flat, I think I'll be able to do it. In any case, there is still a little over 40 days to get ready.
Mental:
1. My mental state during a race is good. No "this is hard, I can't do it" type of thinking. Being surrounded by people really helps.
2. Knowing there are people waiting for me at the finish line really help.
With the coaching almost finished, only one more day, then training will resume in full force. I know I will be ready come race day.
Happy running!
The half marathon is also a very popular distance. After all, it's *only* 21.1k! To Joe average, the mere idea of running for 21.1k is just too daunting. And I have to agree that when I started to run, I would get all scared at the thought of one day say "I can do it, and do it well!" when I'd talk about a half marathon! LOL
But this post is not about what one feels about running... but what one can learn when doing a race. So back to the Acura 10 miler, on July 19 at 8am, I'm there with my friends, ready to do the race, which should be treated as a "practice run" as it is part of my training. Yeah right... practice run my ass! this is a race! There's a chip on my shoe! There is a gizmo that records the time I go across the starting mat and will record what time I come back. This is not training! ha!
But then of course, it has to be a training run... because this is the PERFECT time to experiment with your race strategy. I decided to go for a different one this time, 4 sets of 10/1s then running straight for the rest. I had hoped for a time of 1:30 to complete the race, I ended up doing 1:40. So this told me a few things, some technical, some mental:
Technical:
1. Doing the half in Montreal in 2 hours is NOT achievable right now. More work needs to be done. So must do more tempo work and really work on speed work in August
2. I need to find a better race strategy.
3. My fueling and hydration is good.
4. My playlist is good too :)
Right now, I plan on doing 20/1s at the half marathon. If I do the first part slow, then a bit faster, then finish all flat, I think I'll be able to do it. In any case, there is still a little over 40 days to get ready.
Mental:
1. My mental state during a race is good. No "this is hard, I can't do it" type of thinking. Being surrounded by people really helps.
2. Knowing there are people waiting for me at the finish line really help.
With the coaching almost finished, only one more day, then training will resume in full force. I know I will be ready come race day.
Happy running!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Lessons in Training
Well, my training continues but not as well as I would like. Some people think I'm 'hardcore' about it and it always surprise me to hear this about me. I would like to think I'm rather mellow about the whole thing... however, if you're going to do something, might as well do it correctly right?
So here's what my typical week *should* be:
Monday = rest/cross training
Tuesday = tempo run
Wesnesday = hills
Thursday = steady run
Friday = rest/cross training
Saturday = steady run
Sunday = long slow distance
Since end of May, I have been coaching a 5k clinic. While it has been rewarding to do it, not to mention the discount that comes with it so I get good shoes at a decent price, it has been challenging for me to train on my own. Not so much to do it but it tires me so I had to scale back the intensity. For example, tempo runs are a fabulous way to improve your speed but man, oh man, when you've done a 14k LSD run on the Sunday, ran 5k on the Monday as part of the 5k clinic and you have to do your tempo on Tuesday, you're DEAD by Wednesday. The first week of hills, I combined the practice run with the clinic AND my hills and could barely run with the half marathon clinic the next day.
Lesson learned. Overtraining is NOT a good thing.
In my training schedule, I'm supposed to do 6 hills this coming week. It's a HUGE jump as I haven't done hills in at least 2 weeks. So as much as I hate to do it, I decided to scale back for a while and use the running I do with the 5k clinic as my training. It will change soon, in a few weeks so I'll be able to crank it up a little bit. I want to do well in Montreal, it's important to me. But at the same time, I have to realize that running CAN be unpredictable and getting too emotionally caught up in it is not a good thing.
Amazing to think that last year, all "this" was so not part of my life.
10 miler tomorrow, again as part of my training. This will give me a good indication as to where I'm at training wise. My legs are good, I think my endurance is good too. I have a race plan in place, start slow and finish strong. I'm excited.
I shall report. Meanwhile, lessons have been learned :)
So here's what my typical week *should* be:
Monday = rest/cross training
Tuesday = tempo run
Wesnesday = hills
Thursday = steady run
Friday = rest/cross training
Saturday = steady run
Sunday = long slow distance
Since end of May, I have been coaching a 5k clinic. While it has been rewarding to do it, not to mention the discount that comes with it so I get good shoes at a decent price, it has been challenging for me to train on my own. Not so much to do it but it tires me so I had to scale back the intensity. For example, tempo runs are a fabulous way to improve your speed but man, oh man, when you've done a 14k LSD run on the Sunday, ran 5k on the Monday as part of the 5k clinic and you have to do your tempo on Tuesday, you're DEAD by Wednesday. The first week of hills, I combined the practice run with the clinic AND my hills and could barely run with the half marathon clinic the next day.
Lesson learned. Overtraining is NOT a good thing.
In my training schedule, I'm supposed to do 6 hills this coming week. It's a HUGE jump as I haven't done hills in at least 2 weeks. So as much as I hate to do it, I decided to scale back for a while and use the running I do with the 5k clinic as my training. It will change soon, in a few weeks so I'll be able to crank it up a little bit. I want to do well in Montreal, it's important to me. But at the same time, I have to realize that running CAN be unpredictable and getting too emotionally caught up in it is not a good thing.
Amazing to think that last year, all "this" was so not part of my life.
10 miler tomorrow, again as part of my training. This will give me a good indication as to where I'm at training wise. My legs are good, I think my endurance is good too. I have a race plan in place, start slow and finish strong. I'm excited.
I shall report. Meanwhile, lessons have been learned :)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
I'm back
Well, I thought I give this blogging a new try. Not sure what the topics will be, probably mostly training/running related but what the heck, it's my page :)
So here I am, more than one year after starting as a runner. What have I accomplished during tha time? Many things, I've done 2 half marathons, countless 5k races, about 4 10k races, coached a few running clinics. Made good friends, met a few great running partners, said goodbye to someone whom, even though was totally wrong for me, was special in my life. I cried before, while and after I ran, I received the nicest hug after my first half marathon. I really felt like I wasn't alone at the finish line. I felt like I was 10 feet tall and could conquer the world. I also felt like I was still that little girl who yearns for acceptance from her friends and is willing to do almost anything to get it.
What a year it has been. Let's go to the technical.
5k races: My first 5k race was completed in 36:18 minutes; my last one was 27:41
10k race: My first "official"* 10k race was completed in 1:08, last one was 55:42
half marathon: My first half-marathon in early March was completed in 2:28, second one at the end of May was 2:09:57
My goal for my next half marathon is 2 hours even. Will I achieve it? that's the aim for now. I will do a 10k race in August which will give me an indication of where I'm at training/speed wise. Meanwhile, I follow the training pretty much to what I'm supposed to do to avoid injuries. I decided to wait to become a much stronger runner before I really push myself. Maybe I'm too conservative but I don't care :)
More to come... it's good to be back.
* means chipped time. Some "fun" runs are not officially timed.
So here I am, more than one year after starting as a runner. What have I accomplished during tha time? Many things, I've done 2 half marathons, countless 5k races, about 4 10k races, coached a few running clinics. Made good friends, met a few great running partners, said goodbye to someone whom, even though was totally wrong for me, was special in my life. I cried before, while and after I ran, I received the nicest hug after my first half marathon. I really felt like I wasn't alone at the finish line. I felt like I was 10 feet tall and could conquer the world. I also felt like I was still that little girl who yearns for acceptance from her friends and is willing to do almost anything to get it.
What a year it has been. Let's go to the technical.
5k races: My first 5k race was completed in 36:18 minutes; my last one was 27:41
10k race: My first "official"* 10k race was completed in 1:08, last one was 55:42
half marathon: My first half-marathon in early March was completed in 2:28, second one at the end of May was 2:09:57
My goal for my next half marathon is 2 hours even. Will I achieve it? that's the aim for now. I will do a 10k race in August which will give me an indication of where I'm at training/speed wise. Meanwhile, I follow the training pretty much to what I'm supposed to do to avoid injuries. I decided to wait to become a much stronger runner before I really push myself. Maybe I'm too conservative but I don't care :)
More to come... it's good to be back.
* means chipped time. Some "fun" runs are not officially timed.
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