Nice job Sprinkles!
QOTD: I consider myself pretty good at the mental toughness game but I don't really know how to work on it? I usually have a very specific pace I want to hold and will kill myself to run as fast as I can.
CMB- good call. Snow and uneven footing can definitely irritate the ITBs.
It's been in the teens here lately and feels like negative temps with the winds. It's getting old and I'm really dreading going out there again.
Everything was conspiring against you. Good call.
Well, today was a wash. Supposed to do 20. Got all dressed, drove to the trail, and it still had 4 inches of snow on it (supposedly, they maintain it in the winter. not so much). Went out, and the footing was terrible - we were running 11:30s, but effort wise it felt like I was running 10s. Then we got to where the bridges on the path start, and they were lumpy and icy under the snow. So we decided to head back to town and see if the paths were better - but they weren't, and we had to dodge traffic to boot. And after 10 minutes in the car driving back, we had sat in our sweat for a while, and now we were COLD. My husband tried to drink from his Camelbak, and it was frozen and he started to panic. Then, I turned my ankle on an ice lump under the snow, and that was the last straw. Trying again tomorrow after work, which will not be much fun, but we can plan better. Either small loops past the house, or treadmill, or something. An hour and a half away from the house, and we managed 3.21 miles in two short jaunts, with a bunch of driving. We just ran out of time to go all the way home, change to dry clothes, and try again. We have too much else to do today. Based on how sore my hips and knees are after only three miles, I don't think all of the instability of running on the snow was going to do anything good for my IT band, either (which was actually feeling rather good this morning).
Well, today was a wash.
Supposed to do 20. Got all dressed, drove to the trail, and it still had 4 inches of snow on it (supposedly, they maintain it in the winter. not so much). Went out, and the footing was terrible - we were running 11:30s, but effort wise it felt like I was running 10s. Then we got to where the bridges on the path start, and they were lumpy and icy under the snow. So we decided to head back to town and see if the paths were better - but they weren't, and we had to dodge traffic to boot. And after 10 minutes in the car driving back, we had sat in our sweat for a while, and now we were COLD. My husband tried to drink from his Camelbak, and it was frozen and he started to panic. Then, I turned my ankle on an ice lump under the snow, and that was the last straw.
Trying again tomorrow after work, which will not be much fun, but we can plan better. Either small loops past the house, or treadmill, or something.
An hour and a half away from the house, and we managed 3.21 miles in two short jaunts, with a bunch of driving. We just ran out of time to go all the way home, change to dry clothes, and try again. We have too much else to do today.
Based on how sore my hips and knees are after only three miles, I don't think all of the instability of running on the snow was going to do anything good for my IT band, either (which was actually feeling rather good this morning).
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
Question of the Day: Any methods for increasing your mental toughness?
Ami - great question - i've asked this question as well and am always looking for ideas. Here are a few ways (outside of positive thinking) that i've tried to practice mental toughness - these are tough for me, but doing them makes me stronger (i think)
1) Running an out and back course - lack of new scenery
2) Running intervals at a track - we all like new scenery, but doing 8 miles on a loop track is tough for me
3) Running a course that passes your car at least one time - if you drive to a practice area, run a 12 mile run by doing 2, 6 mile loops
4) Running in a 10K at easy / recovery pace compared to race pace - i did this to practice for holding my pace on marathon day since i tend to get excited early in a race. It was tough to let people pass me given our competitive nature, but i challenge everyone to try this - it is tough !
5) This one is my toughest - dressing for race day in fall weather - it always happens - i train all year for only 1 main event. I train in summer heat in summer gear but the fall marathon day weather in October is unknown and can be 20-30 degrees. My point is that there is not enough time in my training cycle to slowly adjust back to the colder weather. So, for all my long runs in September, i start my them in the dark and in the cold in the gear i feel i'd wear on race day. It's cold. My teeth are chattering. I dont like doing this since i normally wear sweat pants running offseason in that weather and life is good. However, it's impractical for race day - i have to force myself to get used to the cold. I guess its kind of like a band aid approach to mental toughness - how does one get into a cold lake or bath - one toe or take the pain of jumping face first - lol !
PB's 10K 47:15 (9/13) HM 1:45 (9/13) M 3:57 (10/13)
Running Blog http://davesdigitaldestinations.blogspot.com/
Rusk Runner
cmb - agree that when its dangerous, it aint worth it. If you can get it done tomorrow, great. If not, it aint no big thang.
Sprinkles - Good race! How goes training?
Docket - Way to get'er dun early!
Nachos - if you run out here, you dont need to ice as much. Snow and cold water are available for all right now. Good run Bro.
Cbus - Way to tough it out. Nice mileage too.
Amik - Do everything possible to feel like crap in training and not give up. When you feel like crap in training it is your practice for not quitting in a race. If I were you I would spend some of your time that you are daydreaming about running (if you dont daydream about running, start) think about how you can steel yourself for overcoming those negative moment. If you dont mind my explaining myself on the feeling like crap part.... It is my beleif/opinion that if you are not every now and then feeling like you are hurting enough to quit during training, you are not training hard enough. Get out of your comfort zone sometimes.
Me - 23 deg, overcast, and breezy today. Did 16 with 12 @ GMP - 5 or so on avg. Attacking the hills at this pace has my legs pretty tired by the end of the run, but my HR is still "just" in GMP range on average.
My first intervals will be this coming week. This month is that part of pfitz 18/55 that gets interesting. How will I deal with the fatigue, the speed, etc... Hopefully all goes well.
Onemile - So I still think my goal pace looks good, even though my legs were spent in the end of my run today. You did decide to keep training at the paces you had already picked didnt you?
PRs...5K - 20:36, 4mile - 26:15, 13.1 - 1:32, 26.2 - 3:42
Just Run!!!
White Lightning
Sprinkles - great job
DTF - lucky, doubt i'll be going to any games this year. We used to have season tickets so i've been fortunate enough to see several hundred games growing up. Hard to get back into it this year with the stupid lockout but its coming around
Cbus - great mileage
Mdawg - glad you're still feeling better, keep at it
Amik - no advice on the mental toughness, still trying to figure that one out myself. But every time I accomplish something new and surprise myself, I think it gets better.
cmb - bummer on the run, totally understand what you went though
Me - did my 13 miles with 8 at GMP and surprised myself. The whole run averaged 9:13 and the MP miles averaged 9:01, starting at 9:05 and finishing strong at 8:52. HR's were great, maintained pace on my hills, could have easily kept going as I was feeling stronger and stronger throughout. Warm enough that I went down to a t-shirt. Had to re-think my route because there was so much ice with all of the melting that's been going on.
Play the Game Hard!
Smashy!!!
Cmb, way to tough it out as long as you did. Also a smart decision to call it. As much as I like winter, I'm getting kind of tired of slogging LRs in the snow. My legs are dead right now.
Indi, nice workout. Intervals at this stage of the game? Pfitz is tough?,
Sprinkles, nice race.
Ami, no advice on how to develop mental toughness. But I wonder if some of your walking in a race has to do with race execution. Maybe use Hansons to learn pace discipline, and then focus on hitting those paces in the actual race. If you've picked the appropriate pace, then maybe you won't experience as many lows.
Josh, nice workout! How are the legs?
PRs: 21:35 (5K); 1:46:46 (HM); 4:30:46 (FM)
Josh - Awesome! It all comes together eh!?
yeah, definitely all coming together and am noticing some huge fitness gains, still holding myself back a bit too. Today was a big confidence booster
Trail Monster
Hey all! I go out for a long run and come back to 2 more pages! Chatty Donuts!
Congrats to Sprinkles!
Sorry your run was a pain Ami.
Josh - nice job!
Everyone else, happy Sunday!
I did 21 miles today. Drove to a lake that has a nice 5 mile loop around it with rolling hills. Turned on my Garmin and... nothing. Dead battery. Turn on RunKeeper app and it tells me it's having GPS issues with the clouds and blowing snow. I press okay and go anyway so I'm guessing I really did more than 21 but lost a lot of mileage when my phone got messed up. First loop was not bad. Coach recommended 9:1 run/walks so I went with it. Second loop I started getting irritated because runners going the other way were trying to 'cheer me on' during my walk breaks. They would say 'You're almost there' and give me thumbs up and stuff. I quit timing the walk breaks then and instead walked only the steeper uphills. After that it was better. When I got back to my car after the fourth lap my phone said 20.1x miles. Last time I ran the lake loops for 15 miles I got 15.65 miles on my Garmin so this doesn't add up which lends credence to my theory my phone lost some distance. I ran around the parking lot a couple times to make it an even 21 at 11:13 average pace which I was pretty happy with for taking walk breaks and having snow blowing in my face the whole time. I even had ice in my eyelashes! I felt hard core!
2013 races:
3/17 Shamrock Marathon
4/20 North Coast 24 Hour
7/27 Burning RIver 100M
8/24 Baker 50M
10/5 Oil Creek (distance to be determined)
My Blog
Brands I Heart:
FitFluential
INKnBURN
Altra Zero Drop
Ball of Fury
Onemile: I think that's a big part of my problem...I have a specific pace I am supposed to hold, I go out too fast and then boom, I blow up!
Detroit: Thank you so much...those are great ideas! I especially like the idea of the 10K, because I have a HUGE competitive streak and it would take a lot of discipline for me to run it slow.
Indy: Nice run and good luck with the speed work this week! I am hoping the Hanson plan will help me get out of my comfort zone more often. We have mostly just run easy miles up to this point.
Josh: That is an awesome run! You are making terrific progress and I think you will surprise everyone (including yourself) at your race!
CBus: I definitely think I have an execution problem...I go out too fast and I know it. But, I also have a problem where I realize I will not reach my goal and then just give up. Or, maybe if I just pushed a bit harder for a mile or two, I would feel better and I would reach my goal, ya know? I mean, at my last HM, I was terrific until mile 11 and then I "blew up." But, if I had just stuck with it for mile 12, I know for a fact I could have kept up that pace for another 1.1!
PRs: 5K 22:59, 10K 46:54,HM: 1:51:15
! CBus: I definitely think I have an execution problem...I go out too fast and I know it. But, I also have a problem where I realize I will not reach my goal and then just give up. Or, maybe if I just pushed a bit harder for a mile or two, I would feel better and I would reach my goal, ya know? I mean, at my last HM, I was terrific until mile 11 and then I "blew up." But, if I had just stuck with it for mile 12, I know for a fact I could have kept up that pace for another 1.1!
!
I maybe alone in this, but I think these races are mostly physical. The mental part has to do with managing your body to maximize the physical. So as I see it, it's likely you couldn't stick to it for mie 12 not because you lack mental toughness but because you blew up.
Great run, Banshee.
AmiK, I don't know what to recommend for mental toughness. I am not sure I even have it or if I do, how to explain what I do.
YikesYikes inked, I realized I forgot Banshee! Great run today! I know exactly how you feel...at the marathon, I swear if one more person told me great job or you are almost there, wants going to kill them! I completely understand they were trying to help, it just wasn't what I needed to here (much like you didn't need to here encouragement during your planned walk breaks! Anyway, great run!
CBus: Maybe you are right. I'm not sure if it is mental, physical, or a bit of both!
Docket: You most definitely have mental toughness, or you wouldn't be able to run the miles and races you do!
I'll be back tomorrow for personals but wanted to do a drive by post and say that I may have figured out the cause of my left foot going to sleep at 3.5 miles in every run. I finished 9 today with a negative split and it felt GrEAT to run something more than 4.5.
PR's : HM 1:51:15 - 5K 21:27