It's been fun - and remarkably educational - training for the race. For example, I learned several new exercise movements from my solo CrossFit training, and relearned that I push myself harder when there are others around than if it's just me. I also learned that increasing the mileage in my runs every week is pushing the endurance progression too fast. (My knees weren't happy with me for that - they've simmered down mostly by now.)
Had a few revelations while I was running at the Cross Country park, too.
- Controlled breathing and deliberate expansion of the rib cage helps tremendously in having enough breath to keep up your pace. I often found myself running low on oxygen, and it was because I was taking shallow breaths and not actually filling my lungs. Breathing is good for you. Good breathing is even better.
- On any less-than-ideal surface, you have to look down to make sure you don't trip. Watching the ground and thinking about foot placement, though, slows you down. In my push for a faster pace, I discovered that you actually don't need to look at the ground right in front of your feet very much. A quick look is all you usually need to see where the dangers are, and then you can look forward again. (Every time I would look forward instead of down, there was a noticeable increase in my speed.) This related readily to life in my mind: You absolutely need to focus on the present so you can keep up with all the little obstacles in front of you, but only give it as much attention as it requires. Keep your eyes forward as much as possible, and keep the path ahead in your peripheral at all times.
- When my runs started getting longer and I was still pushing for a quick pace, I came up with a mantra for myself: "All you can when you can." It's very easy to settle into an easy jog, but if you pay attention to the energy levels in your body, you usually have more to give. Sometimes I would have to stop and walk, but I found that this mantra kept me in the mindset of getting back to the run as soon as possible, which definitely helped my time.
- Sometimes the will to continue pushing yourself has to be just from you (as with that mantra). But sometimes it helps even more to have someone else there, either in reality or imagination. Having someone else to suffer with, compete with, and (in the narrow and broad sense) run with is invaluable. You can challenge, encourage, and coach each other through the hard stuff.
My most recent lesson from all this, though, was yet another lesson on attitude. My foot injury a few months ago prohibited me from running for a couple months, so once I could run again, I wanted to push myself as fast as I could to be ready. Last week, my goal was to run 3 miles for at least 3 days out of the week, and it did not go well at all. My times were so horrible I won't even mention them, but, based on my average mile time, I won't be able to run 3 miles in under 30 minutes in the near future, even under perfect conditions. When I realized that my training wouldn't be enough to get the results I wanted come race day, well, I wasn't very happy. My pride wants me to be able to keep up with the group I'm running with (surpass them, if I can) in addition to finishing in as short a time as I possibly can (meaning >50 minutes or >hour.) But, after some reflection, guess what simple truth I remembered? It is what it is! So, I decided I'd run that course for all I'm worth anyway. It may be that I'm last in our little group, but there's always a mini-race going on with at least one other person near you. I'll beat someone! And who knows? Maybe I'll surprise myself.
All you can when you can. Do or die. Le's get it, y'all!!
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