First off, congrats to Jim for winning his age-group last weekend at the U.S. National Snowshoe Championship in Bolten Valley, VT. It turns out he got “lost” the day before the race and ended up running 14 miles. Results can be found here.
I had a great 10-mile recovery run this morning. It really felt like my form had improved – overnight. My legs felt strong. I felt like I have “perfect” biomechanics. Every time I took a deep breath, it felt like my lungs would keep expanding as long as I wanted them to. Can the hill work and strides “kick in” that quickly? I don’t know, but if it’s a sign of things to come, I like it.
Things have pretty much just been about training around here lately. Kinda boring, even if I do say so myself. I thought I’d try to get a little more philosophical using a statement my friend Eric made to me a couple of months ago, after a year of kicking my ass in every race we entered;
Regardless of fitness, successful racing requires experiencing a fair amount of pain. You have to be willing to suffer. You have to, in a sense, embrace the suffering. My own opinion is that you're too analytical during the races. You're willing to run the race at a non-maximal suffering level. You need to learn to suffer. You need to be more like a football player, and less like a pool player.
While I don’t disagree with Eric, I wonder how much we can really “change our spots.” The last race we ran together, I beat Eric by 40 seconds. Does that now mean that he’s not suffering enough in a race? Does it mean I’m suffering more than last year?
I would venture a guess that we both suffered the same amount as we have in our previous races. After 25+ years of racing, I doubt someone is really going to change their approach to racing. Sure we may try different tactics, like going out hard, running even splits, surging, etc. But in the end, our thought process and the amount we’re really willing to suffer is probably already set.
If I just look at my last race, I don’t think I suffered any more than “normal” for a race. However, I’ve been more willing to suffer in practice this winter. No, not every day I step out the door. It’s more like a continuum of ever-so-slightly increasing the suffering; daily then weekly and then monthly - backing off where need-be.
Could I race better if I increased my ability to suffer during a race? Probably, but it’s easier said than done. However, there’s no substitute for fitness.
Quote of the day:
“So we're all together here, as usual, standing on the broad shoulders of those who have gone before.” Kenny Moore
7 comments:
Depending on who you consult, I'm either a wannabe Vermonter or a disgruntled flatlander out to destroy the tourism of the state and prevent the future purchase of Volvos in Chittenden County. Either way, the proper spelling of the location is Bolton Valley.
Ah, like Michael Bolton Valley. I was wondering how close this is to you.
It used to be right nearby, but I now live in PA, so it's nothing but a memory now.
Hill phases are funny. You can feel really good later that day and the next morning, and then two days after it'll catch up with you. Or, that has often been my experience. YMMV as they say.
Interesting discussion about suffering. I think it ties back into what you were writing about a while back with the mental approach stuff. You're right that suffering is no substitute for fitness, and in any case the measure we're all after is times. If it was suffering per se we were after, well you can suffer more by running the first 800m 15 seconds too quickly ... You'll sure suffer for that, but you probably won't run your best.
I would say, though, that at a given level of fitness the ability to keep going when it starts to get tough--which you could call suffering--can be the difference between your results in different races.
That said, when I look back at my PRs the only one where I felt like I suffered for the improvement between the old PR and the new one was the 5000m. And even then there was a definite feeling that I was suffering less than the previous season because I was so much fitter.
It's like you say, if you just keep pushing a little harder in training all the time then you become used to a certain level of effort and can go beyond that higher training effort in races.
i think this concept is a lot easier to put into practice in shorter races.
I think it is hard to suffer through a whole marathon. but with a 5k the difference between a PR and just a good race is definitely the will to suffer a bit more. (at least in my experience) I think this also comes into play in the later miles of the marathon.
I'd have to agree with Elizabeth- I find it hard to get myself into a zone of suffering and hold that for a marathon distance race. Granted I end up suffering anyway but not like it was conscious decision to race "hard"- my legs just get beat to crap.
Probably why I gravitated to long course triathlon. I don't have to turn the screws until I hit suffer-mode! The races are more like a steady training day- much easier mentally.
Just a thought -- I find it easier to make myself "suffer" if I'm well tapered for a race. The competitive juices flow, and kicking it in with that 100% effort at the end is something that becomes automatic. I just do it without even thinking.
In some sense, it's psychological, but it has more to do with the short-term effect of undertraining than anything else. I think that's why it's difficult to run the perfect race very often.
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