Good Things Come to Those Who Wait... Patiently or Impatiently

I'm quite possibly the most impatient yogini/yogi that I know!  I've been this way since I was a child... I have memories of 'Patience is a virtue, Suzan', being said in my mother's stern voice - ugh!  Someone make it stop!!!

'Am I ever going to get any faster?' - this is all Eric (hubby) ever hears... as I look up at him with a sad face.  Dreams of finishing a race in the mid-pack finish times falling to the floor...

Running has only been my friend for about a year or so now... we had a relationship back in 2008 but we spent some time apart (I was seeing more of my bike and my physiotherapist...on my off-work hours) but we got back together again when I hooked up with JJ (coach) and I have been very happy about that.  But...  I am a slow runner.  I dream of being able to run 10k in 60 minutes.  That 6:00/km pace eludes me.  Not by a few seconds mind you... by about a minute per km!

We (well, JJ...) decided (and I agreed!) that I need to work on shorter and faster runs for my training for 2011.  It sounded okay at the time although I worried that without long slow runs I would put weight back on... and I didn't really have a clue how doing shorter runs would pay off... I began seeing things like 'tempo run' in Training Peaks and no matter how many times I tried to understand what that means (I never did any speedwork in my running clinic back in 2008... I was just focused on getting in the prescribed mileage - at whatever speed I could run) I just could not grasp what I was trying to accomplish.

Last week, I had an epiphany after reading an old Runners World article and the lightbulbs going off in my brain nearly blinded me!  A tempo run is a lactate threshold run!!!!  How simple!  Why this never sunk in before I do not know... other than I never heard the words 'lactate threshold' which what registered - finally!

Armed with this newfound clarity, I went to the MacMillan running site and downloaded some cool pace charts to get some ideas of what I was trying to 'hit' in terms of pace on various runs.   I was so excited, I wanted to go out for a run - RIGHT NOW!!  I didn't though... it was a bike night.

Then, in the midst of all this excitement, I opened my big mouth to JJ, and admitted that I wonder if actually hold myself back mentally (afraid to run out of steam before the end of the run), and could perhaps (gasp!) go faster than I do on my training runs...?

Lo and behold, I saw a prescribed pace show up in Training Peaks this week!  LOL!!!  I was terrified!  HOW could I possibly hold this pace that looked so fast to my terrified brain, for an entire 10 minutes??

No one could be more astonished than I was last night when I finally got up the courage to check my pace at regular intervals throughout my tempo run.  Oh. My. God.  I AM GETTING FASTER!!!  Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!!!  Not only was I able to 'hold' that prescribed pace for 10 minutes but I held a pace that was 20 seconds faster than that!  The best part?  I could have kept going longer!!

Is my running body finally adapting???  I think it IS!!

Well, after all those months (3!) of whining about how much I loathe speedwork because it isn't helping my stumpy legs run any faster, doing the runs but not feeling that I was seeing any results... feeling like I'm doomed to be a one-speed runner... the work is paying off. 

I couldn't be happier!!

Maybe I will actually run a 60 minute 10k sometime this year :)  Look out Boston... I'm coming to get you in... let's see... 2050??

Happy training everyone!


 

Winter Run Season Has Arrived

Winter running has it's own set of criteria - stay warm, stay hyrated, stay fuelled...

'I'm a rubber duck - you can't break me' - That was my mantra all through Timberman 70.3.  I thought that it would be reserved for race day but apparently it's an effective all-season training mantra too.

I found myself muttering 'rubber duck ... rubber duck... ' under my breath during my long run on the weekend - in the freezing cold, as I tromped through snow, puddles... and my (stupid) iPod ran out of battery power halfway through my run.  I was SO cold on Sunday... it felt like I just couldn't get any warmth to my body even when I tried feebly to pick up my pace... People on the sidewalk probably wondered if I was all there, as I trundled past them 'rubber duck...rubber duck'... with my lips all blue and icicles on my eyelashes...

Little did I realize until about 2 hours later, when I could not warm up even after 2 large cups of herbal tea, food, a hot bath... that I was actually very dehydrated and after I chugged some Gatorade and fruit juice and water... and soup.... I started feeling less like a human popsicle.  Between my coach and my nutritionist I have now been set straight and I see the light:  I need as much as, if not more, hydration and salt for my winter runs as summer.  Wow.  Don't I feel stupid... (hangs head in shame)

Wintertime has finally arrived in the Toronto area - goody!  It is so pretty to look at the snow... and on a mild day, when the snow is on the ground and the sun is shining - I adore going for a long run... but when it's dreary, grey, and the wind-chill is colder than -14, I'm not quite as enthusiastic.

I've been trying out my vast array of winter running clothing items to see which are the warmest (I don't know about you but I have an area between my navel and mid thigh, that wraps around my body and no matter what I wear, this area FREEZES!!) on these longer runs out in the elements.  Under Armour cold gear compression tights are pretty good as a base layer.  Mizuno Breath Thermal tights are very cozy although strangely they were not enough to keep me warm on the weekend.  Sugoi Firewall 220 tights seem pretty toasty, though I only wore them for a 30 minute run this week.  This weekend, I am kind of hoping to try out some Helly Hanson silkweight longjohns under the Firewalls...  as long as Eric remembers to bring me a pair from the store :)

Thank heavens I have OCD about my sock collection - I have a substantial array of SmartWool running socks and those are my favourite socks of all time - all year - any season ... cool in summer... warm in winter  - you can't beat that!!  Inside a pair of water-resistant Nike Triax trail shoes - perfection!

Here's hoping that my long run on Saturday finds me toasty, warm (but not overheated), properly hydrated, adequately fuelled, with happy and dry feet and plenty of battery time on my iPod so I can go back to singing aloud off-key and not just muttering to myself...

I figure I should have this all figured out by around spring... at which time the climate and my needs will change - again. 

Happy winter running, everyone!