Friday, August 18, 2006

Rewiring



Thanks everyone for kind words about my half IM, but unfortunately I am usually my own worst critic. Don't get me wrong, I pretty much accomplished what I wanted to on Sunday. I am content with my performance, but I know I still have some things to take care of before September 10th. I won't say I have my race day nutrition down to the exact number of calories, but I will have a plan in place.

What worries me a bit now is my mental interconnections. You see I am not really wired as an endurance athlete. I began my competitive running career doing 100 and 200 meter dashes. I was actually best at distances even shorter than that. The races were pretty simple: hear gun, explode to maximum speed, lean across the line, done. My first ever cross-country race in high school, I went out at a "conservative" 3:05 for my first 1km and died as I finished the 5k in like 22:00. On the final few miles on Sunday there were stretches where my legs just stopped running. Why? Because I was blitzing through some of those miles in the middle of the race at maybe 7:30-7:40ish. If Sunday was like a dress rehearsal for Ironman, well I certainly didn't follow the script.

So it's a little ironic that I can do brain (radio)surgery but don't know how to run a race. I know I am terrible with pace and "negative splits" is not in my vocabulary. When I did my marathon two years ago, every week I would have one run when the entire time I forced myself to keep my pace right near 7:00 mile so I could get a feel for it. My dress rehearsal that year was a 30k and I was hitting every mile pretty close to that mark. What happened during the marathon? My mile splits were like a yoyo and I missed my goal time by 10 minutes. (My nutrition plan wasn't the smartest that day either.)

So fast forward to now. Immediately after the race on Sunday I knew what I had to do: GO RUN SOME SLOOOOOOWW MILES!!! I need to know how they feel. I need to hardwire that sensation into my brain and into my legs. I will have to come up with some think-slow mantra and stick with it in the face of thousands of spectators and racers cheering me on to go faster. I'll want to back off almost 1 mph on the bike too. Wow that is going to be a real challenge to keep the blinders on and sticking to my plan the whole day. But no one makes the journey to Ironman without facing some challenges.

And that is one reason why I took this Ironman journey: to take on your weaknesses and not let them hold you back from the finish line. Time for me to rewire.

8 comments:

Trisaratops said...

I hear ya....this LSD stuff was REALLY hard to get used to! Of course, my version of LSD and yours are a little different...:)

Slow and steady--we'll get there.

Lloyd said...

Hmm...

I wonder if a run/walk strategy is in order. I dunno...I'm just thinking out loud here. For me in ultras, I have to do some walkin' early on in order to be still running at the end.

Also, I forgot to ask about your sodium capsule consumption. How did that go last week at GCT?

Good news is that you still have plenty of time to do some figuring. Please let us know how the new bike feels tomorrow.

RunBubbaRun said...

It's was a tough mental challenge to go slower this year, like I'm really fast anyway. But, I think if you can be patient and just "smash" the last half of the IM marathon while everybody is bonking, look at all the people you will pass up.

Enjoy the race day and give it all you have to finish. That is when you know you have had a good day.

Mike said...

Great post! I can totally relate to the yo-yo run pace during marathons. Not sure if you ever tried it but major improvements in my marathons when i started using a garmin GPS to monitor pace. It helped me to slow down during the early miles and kept me on track during the latter miles. Funny how running faster then goal pace seems so easy during the first 5-6 miles...with the Garmin, I stopped going out too fast- helped tons!

Enjoy the slower training- I prefer that vs. the painful faster stuff.

E-Speed said...

I found that not getting in all my during the week miles forced me to take it easy at Steelhead because I was afraid of blowing up if I didn't. In hindsight I could have pushed harder, but I exceeded my goal and that's all that matters in the end. So just lay off the workouts Al ;) lol

In all seriousness get out and run and ride with some slow people! I'll get my bike ready ;)

Pharmie said...

Funny. My problem is exactly the opposite. I cannot sprint, and I am the strongest "pacer" that I know. Unfortunately, that comes with its own set of problems, like worrying about cutoffs. Good luck figuring out your strategy!

Lloyd said...

have you run your slow miles yet?

i'm just getting started with photos, but i have a few of Virginia Kendall. perhaps the soft grass of the Cross-country trail will inspire you...

check the link over at rootsrunner

Rachel said...

I think triathlon is 30% physical and 70% mental so you have definitely hit the nail on the head. It's hard to zone out and adjust to going slow in order to go long. At least you know what to work on.