The Virginia Beach half workout, two weeks before Philly, went close to expected. The plan was to start slower than marathon pace, gradually pick it up to marathon pace, and race the last few miles if I felt good and the weather cooperated. Though it was humid, I didn’t feel terrible and tried to pick it up at the end, but wasn’t successful. Still, I averaged 6:15 pace so it was a solid workout and the best/longest effort I’d had since Boston. I was excited to see what I could do in Philly, when tapered and given permission to really go for it.
My pace goal for Philly was to run 6:00, which seemed hard but not unreasonable. More than a specific pace, though, I wanted to focus on process goals. (Process goals are within your control, unlike an outcome goal—like a time or place—that depends on weather, other competitors, etc.) Lately I’ve been wondering if my two biggest weaknesses—heat/humidity and any distance shorter than a marathon—are in some part self-fulfilling prophesies. I tell myself I’m bad in that kind of weather and at that kind of distance and so… I run poorly. (Certainly there is truth to both issues: tough conditions will slow times down, the marathon is my strength. But I seem to be so much of an anomaly in both situations that I wonder if part of it is mental.) One of my power words this season is capable, to remind myself that I am capable of running well in poor conditions and I am capable of running faster in shorter stuff. With Philly, I wanted to run strong even if the weather sucked, to be tough when I needed to be, and to finish feeling proud that I gave what I had and didn’t let negativity get the best of me. I was also going up against a course that repeatedly plagued me in the past; I wanted to finally manage a win. All week long I talked myself up, reminding myself that I really wanted to fight when it got hard and not give up, no matter the time.
Race day was humid as always: 71° and 90% humidity. (On paper, it was similar to VA beach, but Philly felt much worse in my opinion.) This race gets a fast field (Desi, Jordan, Becky Wade, Lindsay Flanagan, and others, plus a ton of my speedy friends from DC and Richmond). At the gun, everyone flew by and I tried to reign in the excitement and not go out too fast. I looked at my watch approximately 8 million times to stay in check and remind myself to relax. The first four miles wind through the city, so my watch’s pace was wildly inaccurate, but I managed to twice follow a slightly too fast mile with a slightly too slow one and hit 4 miles right on pace. That seemed promising, although looking back now I may have been working a little too hard/in my head too much for so early in the race. (Though it’s easy to say this now given that I know how it ended up). I was also splashing water on my head as soon as possible. (Literally at the first water stop. Though I missed my head and hit the guy behind me in the face. Whoops, sorry!! Hope it was refreshing!)
Mile 1: Feeling fine. |
Mile 7: With Catherine on my right. |
I thought hitting the bridge at mile 9 and heading back towards the finish would be a mental boost. But mile 9 was my slowest yet (6:30!). Miles 10 and 11 were slightly better (~6:20) but I was desperately just trying to get to the finish. I really wanted to stop and walk. I wanted to cry. Why am I here AGAIN, running so poorly?? Women were passing me, some encouraging me to go with them, but I had no fight, no will do it. I figured I’d be slower than VA Beach and had nothing to fight for. Even as I got closer, I didn’t manage to kick it in. The last 2.1 miles were my slowest (more 6:30s).
Mile 10: Desperate to be done. |
I had to fight back tears at the finish (FYI it’s really difficult to cry when out of breath: it comes out in ragged gasps which feel like choking, though happy tears don’t seem to have this problem), but when I made it to the elite tent and saw some friends I lost it. It wasn’t the time that bothered me as much as the lack of fight. I have a lot of issues with confidence and toughness and the race seemed to confirm my suspicions. Yes, it was humid, but people PRed left and right. Why couldn’t I fight better? Why didn’t I?
Since the race, I’ve started talking to a sports psychologist (which was already in the works before Philly, though the race confirmed the need). I’m realizing that I need to relax a lot more early on (easier said than done!) and respond to negative feedback (a bad split, being passed by a pack, etc.) with less judgement. Even as I try mentally to be positive, my body is probably physically too tensed up, too ready to fight too early (which ironically robs me of the fight when I need it later). There’s lots to explore here and I’m just getting started but I’ll update as I try some tactics (like relaxation techniques, regular body scans, counting slowly) and see what works.
Despite my efforts to win one on this course, the race was a rerun of the 2012 edition. And just like past years, I find myself in the September slump. But in the past that slump has been followed by fast times when the heat and humidity finally lift. This year I ran a totally awful, demoralizing, humid half two minutes faster than last September's totally awful, demoralizing, humid half. So I'm right on track for a two-minute PR in November, right?
Dream big,
Teal
Awww, girl! You're just the best. I'm sorry it was a tough race for you with a disappointing outcome. And not to be all Pollyanna, but I know this will be part of a very important stress—>adaptation cycle that will make you a much stronger racer. I'll be super interested to hear what you have to say about your work with the sports psychologist; I for one for sure psych myself out for every important race (all my training will be on point or close to it and predict a certain time, and then I fall apart in MILE ONE and convince myself I need to be much more conservative, blowing the whole deal; it can be devastating after so many months of effortful preparation to miss the mark by so much).
ReplyDeleteMy guess for all of us who struggle with race performance after a strong training cycle is that it's a mix of
(1) optimizing training (I know you love Alex Hutchinson, so you've probably read his stuff on heat adaptation; get thee to a hot tub!)
(2) "making friends with the pain" (a phrase I've heard more than one elite utter in interview; "Here you are, Pain, right on time. Run with me." **said in intensely woowoo, patchouli-scented voice**)
(3) pregaming the controllables (I recently heard a great interview with multiple CrossFit champion Katrín Davíðsdóttir about how she and her coach spent a great deal of time identifying and preparing solutions for every single screw-up they could think might present come competition day—everything from "my shoelace breaks" to "the judges don't accurately count my reps"—so she would have a plan for automatically pushing through those challenges without breaking metaphorical stride; it also helped teach her to better identify what she could control and what she had to Let Go and Let Zen, as it were.)
(4) and taking the pressure off that particular race and deinvesting in a very narrow, particular result while maintaining motivation and focus—a tricky balance to achieve, no doubt (just anecdotally, it's amazing—and frustrating—to me how much better I race when I'm not running my A Race for the season; that tells me there's a ginormous psychological component).
Anyhoo, WORDS, Words, words. All this to say. Thank you for sharing your process. It's so valuable and appreciated. Keep pushing, keep loving it, we're so grateful for you and your generosity, and remember throughout it all that you have a legion of fans out here cheering you on.
Dream big, Teal!
Thank you, DJ, for all of this! And for always following along :) I definitely need to learn to make better friends with the pain, I think about/hope to do that a lot but continue to struggle with it! I'll certainly write about my experience with sports psych at some point (once I have a bit more perspective on it) so stay tuned :)
DeleteReading your thoughts here were very much like reading my own from certain races! Heat and humidity have typically been doozies for me. In fact, I passed out after my first 10k one summer. I've learned a few things since then! Anyway, you're tough. Breathe through it. Shake it off. Get back out there. Also, here are a few books that really helped me as far as running psychology goes (in case you're interested): Peak Performance (this one is REALLY good and practical. No frills or froo froo bs), Elite Minds, Unbeatable Mind, 26 Marathons by Meb and Run the Mile You're in by Hall.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jess! Ugh I'm hoping the heat and humidity are on their way out for the year!! Thanks for the book suggestions, I've ready Peak Performance and Meb and Ryan's books but will check out the others! :)
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