Forums >Racing>How do you push through the pain?
Okay, I'm probably just a pansy and need to suck it up, but I've been thinking about this for the last several days since I ran a 2 mile race last Saturday.
I had a goal going into the race to break 13:25 and really thought I should be able to. I paced myself pretty well with a 6:40ish first mile and felt really good through about the first 3/4 of a mile and still felt decent at the mile mark, but after that I just couldn't seem to push through.
My legs felt like they could do it and my heart rate said I still had a few beats left to give, but my breathing was labored and I had a knot in my stomach and I just couldn't make my legs turn over any faster. Or at least that's what I told myself. Of course at the finish when I was going to have to work to break 14:00 on the clock I was able to sprint it in and barely make it.
Talking with a friend who won the race, he said that it was hard because the way the race was run the 2 mile runners started 3 minutes after the 5 mile runners and so we were dodging through the slower 5 mile runners on a sidewalk path starting about 3/4 of a mile into the race. He said that it helps him if he can get in a rhythm and he was having a hard time because of the traffic. Also he said it was hard to focus on racing because you were having to focus on the passing the slower runners.
Thinking through some of my best races I can remember having a good rhythm going with my steps and breathing and maybe that does help.
Another thing that I remember about my best races is that I rarely feel like I need to push through the pain really because I don't hardly even notice it.
Part of the problem is that I'm not really in a 2 mile race training plan right now so I'm not running a lot of intense intervals so I guess I don't remember what it is like to have to really work at breathing hard.
Any tips or tricks that anyone has that can help me focus and run these shorter races faster?
I have another one coming up next month that I would like to do well on, but at the same time I don't want to derail my training plans for some half marathons and a 50K race coming up in April either.
Thanks, Nathan
Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)
Current PR's: Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)
If you figure it out, let me know too!!! Anything less than a 10K race now seems super fast to me. LOL. Seriously, I think you have to do some shorter intervals to work on turnover and be able to find the good rhythm. That and you have to convince yourself you aren't going to die if you start to breathe a lot harder than normal.
"Shut up Legs!" Jens Voigt
The mental side is just another piece to constantly work on. Here are some things I've found or try to do:
Ive read that some people (pros) use short mantras.
Thinking about form in rough spots.
TM running. Its not uncommon for me to hit rough spots on the TM. Just have to push through.
Hard (or easy) efforts without a watch. Learn to run by effort.
And, race simulation workouts.. or actual races..
Idk.. just have to figure out what works for you.
And we run because we like itThrough the broad bright land
runktrun
Don't think, just run.
Seriously though, I always try to anticipate it hurting way worse than it usually does, and then my mind is pleasantly surprised when my body is not freaking out as much as it thought, and then it lets me keep going. Getting flustered because things hurt more than expected can cause your brain to start to cap your physical expenditures. Remember when Jenny Barringer collapsed in the NCAA championships in 2009? Things were not BAD, but they were not as GOOD as she had expected...
http://running.competitor.com/2009/11/features/why-jenny-failed_6973
Not running for my health, but in spite of it.
Looking at your log, I would humbly suggest simulating a race during your interval workouts. Do this by running at race pace, and take shorter recoveries. For 5K's, my top workout regimen is 1000m repeats with only 200m recovery jogs.
BTW . . . by looking at your running log, you sir, are NOT a pansy. I wish I could put in the mileage that you do!!!!
-STS
I think most of it comes down to eliminating anxiety and learning not to panic. The concept of "pushing" through the pain is probably not right. I think what works is being able to put the pain aside, minimize it, and stay focused on the task at hand.
Most of the pain of racing is imagined anyway--we project, based on how much we're hurting right now, that it will become unbearable in the future and this freaks us out. It's fear of the unknown.
You can practice eliminating anxiety in training and it doesn't have to be intervals at 2-mile race pace--any hard workout will do.
But once you're in the race, the thing is to have a plan and to expect it to get really hard because that's part of the plan. So when things get really intense you don't freak out, you tell yourself, "This is a good thing, it's what's supposed to happen. It means I've given myself a chance."
If you could hear the inner dialogue that goes on in my head during a 3k or 5k race, it would sound more along the lines of how you calm a baby while rocking her to sleep than a coach yelling at an athlete to "PUSH HARDER."
It would be more like, "It's okay. Everything is okay. Stay calm. Let THEM panic. This is what you wanted to happen. Just. Hold. On."
At least until the very end ... and then it really does become all blood and guts and craziness. By but then you're so deep into it and so invested that you can't back down.
Runners run
Agree with mikey on the mental side of things. But, part of being able to tap into that is having practiced running at race pace. Digging through the log a bit, I can't find a day when you've done any running of any distance at 6:40, so suddenly asking your body/brain to know how to handle that on race day could be a tall order. Not saying it can't be done, but having a memory of handling race pace, knowing what it feels like (over and over again) is what really enables being able to calm yourself and know you can handle it.
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
I did a made up interval set 4 days before the race that had some 6:40 work in it but really haven't been focused on any speedwork since back in the early fall.
1/5 - Haphazard interval set invented by me. 2 mile warmup then 4 x 400m intervals with 400m recoveries then a 800m interval then 1 mile cool down. Interval splits paces for the 400's was 6:27, 6:05, 6:35 and 6:38, split pace for the 800 was 6:41.
Probably doing one workout isn't going to do much good though.
Lots of good nuggets already in this little thread, like training at faster paces so you are ready for them and staying chill and not freaking out as the discomfort starts to grow. One little mental thing that I did once, which yielded outstanding results, was to give myself permission to dog the end of the race after reaching a certain point. A couple of years ago I raced a mile that I did not feel ready for, and I knew there was another guy in the race who would probably beat me. But I told myself -- just get to 1000 meters -- whatever happens after that happens, if the wheels fall off and my lungs cave in after that, fine, but BE THERE at 1000 meters. And you know what? I got to 1000 in the lead and found that I didn't feel nearly as dreadful as I feared, and at that point I decided, what the heck, I might as well run to win this thing now. I lost anyway. By less than 1 second. And in the process I ran by far the fastest mile of my adult running life. In that case at least, it sure worked to make the race 40% shorter in my mind.
- Joe
We are fragile creatures on collision with our judgment day.
heh.. or you could find a boring job, become a Cubs fan and adopt a newborn.
You had lost me at "becomes a Cub's fan"
Why is it sideways?
Can you be totally relaxed while giving a maximum effort? That's Bekele, Geb, all the greats. That's the art.
I suggest training with a group. Something about running with others that calms the mind.
Lots of good advice here for the day of in terms of mentally getting through it, however, to me it totally comes down to your training. Peeking at your log it appears as though since roughly Oct. you have only done one or two runs where you ran some 400's slightly below this pace. If you want. You mention training for longer distances so the majority of your runs should be at a much slower pace, but if you want improve your speed that much at the shorter distance you simply have to do a little more speedwork beyond the intervals. I also didn't see any hill training. Personally, when I train hard I find hill repeats yield big improvements in my overall speed. I find them easier on the body in terms of recovery, and they for me they REALLY seem to improve my breathing since the hills push this to the limit. Again, I think you just have to have realistic expectations based on your most recent months of training.
Thanks again for the comments.
The last couple years I have been training for a goal 10K in mid September and do quite a bit of speed work preparing for that. Then I usually keep that up for another month for a 5K in October. Those were the best races I mentioned in my first post where I almost didn't seem to notice the pain and the races ended up being PRs. (Except this October my 5K came after 2 complete weeks off and I didn't do so well shockingly).
I see how training for the specific race distance does pay off and it has for me. What I've been pondering is that it seemed like I was in good enough shape to go for a 2 mile PR, and according to my HR and everything else maybe I could have, but I just wasn't mentally prepared to pull it off. Sucking in the cold air didn't help things either. Add in the distractions during the race and it didn't match up with my expectations. Thinking it through after the fact I just feel like I could have pushed harder. Probably not a PR, but maybe 10 or 15 seconds faster.
I'll try to use some of these tips on my next race and see if I can pull it off. The fat boy course record on it is 13:56 and last year I ran it in 14:06, but it is a little tougher course than the one I just ran although you don't have to deal with the slower runners as much on it. I may try to do more than 1 race specific workout between now and then and see if I can pull it off.
not bad for mile 25
Some random thoughts.
I guess I'm saying, don't fret over this one performance, but your question and the answers above are good ones for racing in general.