Category Archives: Running
The Athlete’s Comparison Trap
Well hello, lover.
Fruity salads have been calling my name lately. As I’ve been eating more raw foods, I’ve been seeing my energy levels skyrocket! A high-raw diet isn’t in the cards for me, but I certainly have been enjoying the benefits of a few extra raw greens here and there.
This variation: strawberries, gorgonzola, chickpeas, broccoli and carrots, drizzled with a creamy ranch.
I need to start stocking my kitchen with more creative salad toppings – this Eden’s habit is getting a little out of control!
The Athlete’s Comparison Trap
As a fledgling runner, I’ve been struggling with a lot of insecurity about my athletic ability. I’ve chronicled it a bit here, here and here, but it’s something that continues to bother me every time I lace up my sneakers or think about my upcoming Memorial Day 8k.
Just like insecurity with your body or appearance, insecurity with your athletic ability isn’t something that magically disappears. Whatever your sport may be, it becomes part of your identity. If you feel as though you don’t measure up, it’s a lot to process and quite the emotional – and sometimes physical – blow.
Athletes are driven by numbers. We love tracking miles, splits, minutes, reps, sets and any other measurable figure we can get our hands on. It’s awesome for measuring our own progress, but it also lends itself far too well to comparison.
Get a group of runners together, and naturally, PR’s start flying. When you hear numbers that seem to get progressively lower and lower than yours, it’s easy to feel tinges of inadequacy. It can delude you into dismissing your own efforts and feeling “unworthy” of calling yourself an athlete.
I deflate a bit when I hear other runners talking about completing full marathons at a pace that I can’t even maintain for a 5k. Over time, it eats at me, makes me doubt my own abilities and replaces the joy I get from running with anxiety about my performance. Is it worth it? Not in the slightest. Especially when I know that what I’m comparing myself to is something that simply isn’t realistic for me at this point in my running journey.
Part of digging your way out of the comparison trap is realizing that in time, you’ll be where you want to be. It may not be next week, and it may seem impossible, but if you’re willing to work like a manic, it’ll happen. It takes an insane level of mental commitment, and you may need several fires lit under your ass, but it can happen.
The other part is realizing that running isn’t everything. If it makes up a huge percentage of what you think about and what you hope to be, it’s not an easy realization. At the end of my life, though, I want to be remembered as more than just a runner. I want to have a marathon under my belt before I kick it (and some days I think that it could be a marathon that would kill me), but there are far more important things I’d rather be remembered for. If someone were to remember anything about me and running, I’d rather it be that I had a passion for it – not that I dragged myself through each run kicking and screaming.
Do you struggle with the athlete’s comparison trap?
10-20-30 Training
It must be a full moon – I’m identifying with Ricky Bobby.
You and I both, friend.
Most runners use drills like Fartleks and Yasso 800’s to increase their speed. I personally do high intensity intervals of 1:30 to 30, but a new study published in the May 2012 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology offers up a new method: 10-20-30 Training.
The study focused on 18 moderately trained runners who were divided into two groups: a high intensity training group and a control group.
The high intensity training group spent a week doing the 10-20-30 training. For their workouts, the training group completed 30 seconds of easy paced running, 20 seconds of moderately paced running and 10 seconds of sprinting. These intervals were repeated continuously for five minutes and broken up by two minute recovery intervals; runners completed three to four cycles per training session.
After a week of daily 10-20-30 intervals, the training group increased their V02-max (amount of oxygen their bodies can process during exercise) by 4 percent and shaved an average of 46 seconds off their 5k time.
As an added bonus, the group who completed the speedwork also experienced a drop in systolic blood pressure and total/LDL cholesterol, while the control group showed no changes.
10-20-30 Running Workout
As I push to improve my pace, I’ll definitely be incorporating speedwork once per week. Since I’d like to keep things as uncomplicated as possible, I’m a big fan of this time-based method (as opposed to methods that require measuring out 800 meters, etc). I’ll be implementing this into my weekly running schedule, using the following workout.
Repeat the following cycle for five minutes:
| Low intensity (30 percent effort) | 30 seconds |
| Moderate intensity (60 percent effort) | 20 seconds |
| High intensity (90 percent effort) | 10 seconds |
Recover for two minutes; repeat for three to four cycles.
Ever tried a 10-20-30 running plan for speedwork? Have you successfully used any speedwork plans to improve your running pace?
Second
Wait, what?
After all of that carrying on about the Run for Life Four Miler, I still finished second in my age group? With an pace that wasn’t the 17 minutes per mile it felt like it took me?
How the fresh hell did that happen?
I suppose it happened because as much as I feel like I need to preface all of my efforts with “I know it’s slow, but it’s fast for me”…I’ve put a lot of personal effort into training. I’ve pushed myself and I’m continuing to do so. I’m no Kara Goucher, but a little work, a little luck and a little age group pool came together and handed me my first competitive finish for a road race.
{Celebratory apple crumble cheesecake}
The sad part is that I let my perfectionism got the best of me. I cheated myself out of the satisfaction that would have come with receiving the competitive medal at the awards ceremony. So I’m no 6 minute miler – that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t deserve to feel proud!
We’re always our own biggest critics, no?
Even in areas where we still have light years of room to improve, we still need to grant ourselves the permission to enjoy the benefits of all the work we’ve put in that got us to exactly where we are. Who we are right now – no matter how much we’d like to change in the future – is the result of the work we’ve done our entire lives, and there’s no sense discounting it.
It’s good to be second!
Run for Life Four Miler Recap
Hello friends! Things are tough to get back in order after a holiday weekend, no? Hopefully everyone had a safe Cinco and transitioned back as smoothly as possible.
Before beginning the salsa-smothered festivities, I kicked off my weekend with a healthier event – the Run for Life four miler. The race had been in the back of my mind for weeks, but I waited until the morning of the event to fully commit.
Note to self: bad idea. The race was so well organized that I had high hopes heading in to it, but my body refused to cooperate. Once my stomach started arguing with my Clif bar and my quads started feeling like lead, my mind dropped out of the race as well. The only thing that keep me going after the first mile checkpoint was knowing how cranky a DNF would make me.
After what seemed like five hours of running, I rounded the final corner. After briefly eyeing up the remaining quarter mile stretch, I realized I could partially redeem my performance and overtake the other two females ahead of me. I’m not entirely sure how it was humanly possible, but I managed to cross the finish several steps in front of the other two ladies.
Even with the last-minute overtaking, I still was plagued with disappointment after I’d caught my breath. My {unofficial} finish of 41:58 was a solid two minutes more than I was shooting for, and despite the flat course, I felt like my body had been through an entire marathon. I skipped right over the post-race activities and requested a face-stuffing stop as quickly as possible.
One of the big qualms I’ve had about racing is that my competitive personality would get the best of me and turn me into a sore loser.
It’s never been an issue of being bitter against the winners of the race – the men and women on the course have worked their behinds off to run as well as they do and I’m incredibly happy for them – but I’m also incredibly hard on myself when I don’t earn the results I want.
I wholeheartedly believe that there’s pride to be had any time you really push yourself and work for something you want – but it’s also tough to be proud of yourself when you feel like you could have given a bit more, run a bit smarter and pushed a bit harder. I understand that not every race can be a PR, but it’s tough to walk away with your chin up when you under-perform.
How do you deal with sub-par performance? Are you able to be proud of “just a finish”, or do you also have to cope with a nagging sense of disappointment after missing a time goal?
Clawing
I don’t believe in the term “slow runner.”
If you run five minute miles, you’re a runner. If you jog 14 minute miles, you’re a runner. If you run, then walk, then run again, as long as you’re running towards the finish line, you’re a runner – no quantifiers necessary.
The awesome part is that no matter how “slow” of a runner you feel like right now, you always have room to grow. The trick is not getting hung up on where you are but deciding to do whatever it takes to get where you want to be.
Five months ago, I was proud as hell of finishing 3.1 miles on the treadmill in 35 minutes.
May 14th, I raced my first 5k in 30:55.
Last night, I clocked the same distance in 28:20.
Without accounting for the difference between treadmill running and pavement running, I’ve shaved two and a half minutes off my 5k time – and I’ve had to claw my way through every step.
I’ll straight up say it – it sucked.
Huffing and puffing at a pace that many other runners can maintain effortlessly isn’t fun. HULKSMASHING the treadmill stop button the second it clicks over to your final goal isn’t fun. Panting like Stevie from Malcolm in the Middle after you finish a set of intervals isn’t fun.
But when you start seeing progress, you don’t care about what it took you to get there. You just want to keep pushing to see how much further you can go. You appreciate the fact that you had to claw your way to where you are and you start looking for new places to dig in.
Target Acquired
One 5k down, one 8k coming right up!
Seeing improvements in my time is always fun, but I’ve always preferred seeing improvements in my endurance. With a six mile long run under my belt on Monday, I’m psyched to dedicate the next month to prepping for a Memorial Day five miler.
It’s true what they say about races being like tattoos – you get your first and can’t stop thinking about your next!
{Don’t worry – I still have no plans for a second tat}.
I do have plans, however, to repeat yesterday’s lunch…
My first visit to Chico’s Tacos was a bit of a letdown, but the recurring $5 for $10 Groupon keeps bringing me back. The barbeque chili ranch is really the kicker – it makes the ordinary salad extra bold!
Oof – time to do the work thang!
Any races or competitions coming up in your fitness roster?
From Podium to Pavement
Did anyone else watch the draft last night?
Even though I cherish draft day as the sole bright spot in the depressive void that is the NFL off-season, I’d forgotten that the draft was yesterday until about 10 minutes before it started. Thank God for internet streaming!
While watching the announcers make their predictions, I made myself a quick plate to enjoy during the first round.
{Sautéed asparagus + lemon, steamed spinach + stoneground mustard, smoky macaroni}
The recipe I followed for the white cheddar and gruyere macaroni wasn’t the best, but it was easily salvaged by a few drops of liquid smoke. If you’ve never splashed liquid smoke in your mac and cheese – you’re missing out!
The first round began right as I sat down to my first bite.
I know that a lot of you aren’t as football-crazed as I am, but stick with me for a second. This night was the culmination of everything those kids have worked for throughout their high school and college careers. It was their hopes, their dreams, their dedication and their luck {not of the Andrew persuasion} all paying off. It was everything the players had worked their tail off for, written all over their faces as they heard their new NFL team call their name.
I had chills just thinking about how proud these men {and their families} must be and how athletes can achieve great things when they bust butt.
The motivation was enough to convince myself to take on a short 6 AM run. I may not be a pro-caliber athlete, but I hope to one day stand on the pavement at the end of a marathon finish line, feeling some of the same emotions the now-NFL’ers must have felt last night at the Radio City Music Hall podium.
…Less sappy ramblings, more breakfast.
{Chocolate protein smoothie + toasted coconut + toasted walnuts}
Let the countdown to the weekend {and the second round of draft picks} begin!
Do professional athletes motivate you to push harder or go further in your own sport?
Off the Clock
This week’s long run is officially completed!
I’d penciled five miles in on Monday’s schedule, but impromptu dinner plans prompted me to postpone them until Tuesday.
I started working on psyching myself up around lunchtime:
{Romaine, cucumber, carrot, chickpea and gorgonzola salad, side of honey mustard.}
I don’t even have a Pinterest and still managed to spend a half hour browsing running photos for inspirational mantras.
A little later in the day, I put some carbs in the tank with the best flavor of Clif bar known to man:
White chocolate macadamia nut for the win.
To make the run more interesting, I plotted a path through a gorgeous part of town I was introduced to last weekend.
I was taken to the Orlando Science Center last Sunday, and on the walk over, I fell in love with the scenic roads around the museum-heavy strip of north Orlando.
Running past the museums yesterday was almost as fun as wandering through them last weekend!
The only downside to the run was the pretty heavy peppering of stoplights. Yesterday’s route was dotted with at least five major lights {and plenty of other short stops}. The lights are usually a welcome relief, but I’m never quite sure how to handle them when tracking my time.
{Without accounting for forced stops at the traffic lights, the 5 miles took me 52:38}.
Because I have to stop at red lights whether I want to or not {runners may be a crazy breed, but not quite crazy enough to dart into oncoming Orlando traffic}, I’ve been pausing the Soleus while I catch my breath and wait for the walk signal to flicker on.
I have no problem leaving the clock ticking when I take walking breaks on my own volition, but waiting for the longer lights to turn green can chew two or three full minutes off the clock. I don’t want those wasted minutes to skew my final stats.
Unfortunately, race clocks don’t stop ticking, and I also don’t want to chart my training using unrealistic patterns. A break is a break, and if my body is used to them, it’ll be hard to perform at the same pace without them come race day.
Decisions, decisions!
Even though I spent the last mile of my run mulling over my clock-stopping strategy, the debate was quickly forgotten once dinner was underway.
Long run, hungry girl!
My bowl was packed with quinoa, vegan spinach artichoke dip and tomatoes – I’m not sure I stopped to chew, but I am sure that you won’t want to miss the recipe for the dip coming your way tomorrow. See you then!
If you run outdoors with a tracking watch, how do you handle forced breaks for traffic? Do you take a breather off the clock or let the minutes count against your final time?
For the Love of It
There’s only one thing better than a Friday – and that’s a Friday that also happens to be a {hard-earned} rest day.
Knowing that it’s almost the weekend and that your only obligation is to make it through the final workday is total bliss!
I was so checked out last night that I seriously considered postponing my run until this morning. Between the rain, a stomachache, a headache and zero energy, it felt like the universe was telling me to stay home. After some internal debate, though, I womanned up and stuck to my original plan. It wasn’t easy – I was pulling every excuse out of the book to skip over the workout.
Sometimes the love of the run is the only motivation that can get you up and out the door!
{It’s certainly the only reason I was awake at 6 AM last Saturday!}
Even though I haven’t selected my next race yet, it’s much tougher to justify sitting out a workout once I have it on a training schedule for a longer-term event. I feel like not only is skipping ultimately letting myself down, but I also know that next time I cross a finish line, I’ll forget all about the training runs that I had to drag myself through kicking and screaming.
We just have to make it through one run at a time!
How often do you have workouts where the only thing keeping you going is your sheer love for the experience?
Running to the Light 5k Recap
Things you learn on the day of your first race:
- The snooze button is a she-devil temptress.
- Fill up on gas the day before. Even if you think you have gas in the tank.
- Just because your GPS tells you a BP is in a certain location doesn’t mean it will be there.
- Of course there will be six people in line at the 7-11 for a double-bacon-triple-egg-greasandwich when you run in to grab a water.
- A 40 mile drive is…well…a 40 mile drive. Not “oh not far, just like 20 miles.”
- Try to avoid running a Chinese Fire Drill on the side of the road near a race site. This is only acceptable if you have to pawn off your car on your passenger to sprint to the packet pickup area to get your bib in time.
- If a guy still likes you after he is trapped in a small, enclosed space with your manic-driving, road-ragey self for a solid hour, he’s a keeper.
- Cute little old men on the side of the trail cheering for you are oddly motivating.
- Covering the first half mile at a 6:10 pace when your fastest speedwork puts you around a 7:50/8 minute mile is not sustainable, but it’s not necessarily a recipe for disaster.
- As long as your legs keep going, it doesn’t matter what your mind is saying.
- Shinedown’s new album, Amaryllis, is full of epic running tunes.
- Y’all were right – the adrenaline makes racing so much easier than you’d ever imagine during training.
- If your final goal doesn’t work out for you, and you first see the finish clock ticking down thirty seconds before your backup goal, run like hell and you’ll manage to squeeze in five seconds before the radar.
- Anchors make surprisingly awesome places to sit and catch your breath after a sprint to the finish.
- The hugs and high fives you get after you finally cross that finish line after tons of hard work make you feel like the happiest girl in the world.
- Somehow, 3.1 miles starts seeming pretty close to 13.1…
