Beating my own mind (Read 1057 times)

I am a fairly new runner and I have read a lot of things about how these talented runners finished so fast in marathons, and how how this guy ran a one hundred mile race and so on.... but I rarely read anything about their journey there. At some point everyone is new to the sport and struggles to finish or feels as if they won't reach a certain goal. What I would love to hear about is how other runners got to where they are today... As of right now will be running my first 10k with a friend in about 2 weeks I've been trying to follow a training plan but I've been struggling to reach the longer distances nearing the end of the schedule a lot of it I know is in my head and just something that I will overcome but it's not like I haven't had proper time to prepare. Kind of discouraging. Just wondering if anyone else who is now a more experienced runner has been in this situation. I'd love to hear how you have grown and showed your mind and body who's boss.

I have been doing this so long that I really can't remember how it was when I started. So, I'm probably not the right person to respond to this (but that's never stopped me before!)

I feel like I can comment because what you write about here is something that I still struggle with in running. We battle with ourselves, our minds and bodies, hoping to get that goal. Sometimes it stays out of reach longer than we want, and we reach the point of frustration and want to give up. That's pretty much running in a nutshell.

So, I get that frustration. The frustration leads us to wanting to "force it" -- as you put it, show "the mind and body who's boss." But the problem with this way of thinking is that actually the mind and the body are the boss. There is no other boss to invoke. Your mind is frustrated, and your body is tired. 

How to react to this? You've got to fix those problems. You've got to get your mind un-frustrated and your body un-tired. That doesn't mean take time off, or quit working or giving up. Quite the contrary. It just means you've got to work in a different way, one that takes the longer view. Your immediate goals are to get your body fresh and your mind fresh so that you can continue the longer project toward your bigger goals. 

The hardest thing to learn as a runner is how to respond to your body, but if you can learn it, you will be in this sport for the long haul.

I've been through this myself. I ran in high school through my 20s -- never an outstanding athlete, but enough to stay in shape.

Then I stopped and didn't run at all for nearly a decade. Two years ago last month, I decided to start again. At first, that meant maybe 10 miles a week. There were days when I felt like my feet were going to snap off at my ankles. I was pushing 200 pounds.

I'm running 60mpw now, and I can handle that mileage comfortably. I'm not a great competitor, but I'm OK and getting better. "Easy" runs that I did at a 12:00 pace two years ago and a 10:00 pace a year ago I'm now doing at 8-9 pace. I used to avoid hills, now I eat them for breakfast. I'm down to 165 pounds and I FEEL lighter on my feet.

My attitude is that there's no "telling" your body anything. That's how people get injured and frustrated, and eventually quit. And while I play lots of little mind games with myself to deal with stuff like long runs, hot weather, hills, etc., really there are just two "tricks" that matter to me:

- Patience. Get your mileage in, learn to listen to your body, work on understanding when it's OK to push and when it's OK to dial back a notch or two. You'll do both at different times, and if you're not then you're doing something wrong. By all means, set short-term goals and strive for them, but also get comfortable with the idea that real progress happens over months and years.

- Consistency. You don't want or need to turn every workout into a death march. You DO need to commit to working out X days a week and then making every effort to keep that schedule. If you're sick or hurt, that's one thing. If it's too cold/hot/raining or you find yourself making lame excuses from day to day, then it's time for a gut check.

This is just how I do it, but it's working for me. I focus on these two things -- they're where I draw the line when it comes to showing who's the boss. If I'm taking care of business with these things, then the rest seems to take care of itself.

A little background and specific advice...

The first official race I ran that I trained for, I was 12yo and ran 27min+ for 2mi.  Pathetic for a young healthy (but fat) boy.  But I kept at it and ran 12:53(?) the next year.  In HS my 5K went from ~21:30 to 17:01.  In college I bettered that to 5K/10K of 16:13/34:18.  By age 28 my 10K was down to 30:57.

So what you see here is very gradual improvement over ~16 years, where I was running pretty regularly the whole time.  It was not linear, improvement came in blocks here and there, however.  Several points I would make based on this that are applicable to your situation:

1)  You are capable of more than you are willing to hope for.  This is true for 99% of people.  Remind yourself of that when a task or goal seems out of reach.  If at any point in that 16 years someone would have told me what I'd be able to run 2-3 years in the future, I would not have believed it.

2)  Break it up intp psychologically managable chunks.  This has multiple applications. 

        a) Now at some point I knew I wanted to break 31min 10K.  However if that had been my goal at the outset...or even 3 years earlier...it would have seemed an impossible, outlandishly wild goal, and this would have made it challenging to keep pursuing it.  Set reasonable goals in the short- to mid-term, then chase them. 

        b)  This applies to even workouts and races.  Maybe that 8 mile run or whatever it is seems impossibly long.  Focus on what you are going to do for the next mile.  Don't think past that.  Reach that goal, then focus on the next one.  I cannot tell you how many marathons I've spent the last 10 miles only running with the next mile marker in mind...it works!!!

3)  Find a way to love it for more than the goals.  Training is hard.  It is tedious.  If you do it only for the goals, and you sometimes won't make those goals, this will negatively affect your mind's willingness to do what it takes to keep getting out the door or add those last few miles onto a run.  Whether it be social reasons, solitude "me time" reasons, or whatever, find larger meaning behind your running and you are more likely to stay in the sport -- and be consistent, which is key to reaching your goals.

4)  Be patient.  Improvement will take time and will not be linear.  Those longer runs on the schedule may be hard now and the 10K may not go as you hoped, but don't get discouraged!  There is more time to train, and another race down the road.  Do the work and results WILL follow.

I ran a WHOLE MILE without stopping.  I mean, a WHOLE MILE.

That was so exciting!   I didn't experience that joy until age 55.  Now I'm the kid and running's my candy store.

As you can tell, there is some great advice here from experienced/knowledgeable people who are very willing to provide guidance, so you came to the right place.  I remember running with my Dad as far back as the 3^rd grade, and got interested in running at a very early age because I knew it would keep me in shape to play other sports, basketball in particular.  I ran cross country and track in High School, won a few races but never really thought of myself as a very good runner.  As a senior in the mile, a 5:08 got me last place in the league meet and I almost got lapped by the guy who won.  I played hoops in college and always ran to stay in shape.  Still semi active through marriage, kids, and then at 35 I looked in the mirror, got on the scale and realized I was 189 at 5’6.  Not pretty.  I started running and doing the elyptical machine at the gym and lost a bunch of weight.  Finally in 2009, I decided to train a little for a 5k.  Gradually got into better shape and ran a 23:13 5k.  Ran more consistently over the next few years and got my 5k down to 22:16.  Ran a marathon in 2011 but got hurt during my training and limped to a 5:18:59.  At the end of last year, I knew I was getting stronger and really building a great base in November, December, and January running more miles in a month (130) then I did training for the first marathon.  I got hurt in February because I was overdoing it, and it occurred to me I needed some help.  This spring, I asked a friend to help me get ready for my next marathon, and a prerequisite for his help was that I log all my activity in Running Ahead.  I ran a 21:18 5k on Father’s Day and approaching 180 miles for the month of June which bests my previous month, and my knew goal is to break 4 hours in the Maine Marathon in September.  The point to reiterate is that this takes time, planning, and persistence.  The progression is gradual, and you need to establish a base and increase your mileage over time (many months).  My weekly mileage during marathon training last year was never more than 35 miles (and mostly in the high 20s).  In the last 7 days I ran 52 miles.  The challenge is to stay healthy and not overdue what your body can’t handle which is a learning process.  I hurt my knee at 30 and never thought I would run more than 6 miles again.  That was 2001.  Lots of people have different running abilities, injury challenges, etc. but improvement is a process.  Ask questions, listen to these people, and learn from your mistakes.  But be patient because this is likely going to take time.  Oh…and make sure your workouts are public so people can view your progress.   Make comments about how you feel, what your pace felt like, aches and pains, etc.   Look at others logs, see what others do, see where they've been, and take mental notes.  It's ok to ask for help and it's great that you're doing so.