The Queen comes into the kitchen this morning and asks me if I rode my bike this morning. I tell her I did ... in the basement,on the trainer. Hard intervals. She responds with three words: Rule Number Five.
I'm pretty sure my wife just called me a wuss for staying inside.
All endurance sports are hard, both physically and mentally. If you race a 5k it hurts a lot, but only for a relatively short period of time. Race an Ironman or a 100 mile run and it still hurts, just in a really different and sadistic way. Add to that conditions - heat, rain, snow, wind - or hilly terrain ... it doesn't get any better. No matter the distance, if you are looking to find your limit you are going to suffer.
So harden the f#$k up.
The point of racing and training is to push/test your limits and see what you have inside you. You CANNOT do that if you keep backing off when things start to get a bit uncomfortable, in both training and racing ... which is the exact opposite of what you want to do. When you hit that point you want to just push right through to the other side. Put your head down and get 'er done.
Chris McCormack has referred to this as embracing the suck. I say harden the f#$k up.
Hardening up is simple. Maybe not easy, but really simple.
1. Train outside whenever the weather conditions allow, using personal safety as the limiting factor to move a workout indoors - Limiting conditions include 10 inches of snow; sub-zero and windy conditions; a hurricane; icy roads; flooding. There might be something else I can't remember right now. The point is, you race in whatever the conditions are on race day unless there is a very compelling reason for the race to cancel (like a hurricane). In 2009 me and 20k other people ran the Boston Marathon in a Nor'easter because that's the day we got.
2. Stop complaining and/or finding excuses - We all get tired from time to time, just as we all have days where we just aren't our best. That's life. Deal with it and keep going. If you wait for the "perfect" day to do your track workout you might not get there. Cut the complaints and you will be more consistent with your training, which will make you a fitter athlete.
3. When it is time to up the intensity in training, hit it hard - Interval training can and should be hard. Just like racing, the short stuff will hurt bad but for a short period, while longer intervals are that grinding kind of suffering. Whatever it is, hit your numbers and hold on for your dear life. And remember, fitness gains come on the last interval (or set) and not the first.4. When things get hard, turn the mind off - If there is one thing that will kill me it is when I start to think late in a race. The mind is a powerful thing. That's good and bad. I have found as soon as I start thinking about the finish line ... or breakfast ... or how much whatever it is I'm in the middle of sucks, I'm toast. I'm not talking about when you get grumpy at mile 80 on the bike (you need to eat). I'm talking about when you start telling yourself that your done. For me I start doing the math: "If I run at x pace I'll be home in x:xx:xx stuffing my face with chips." Turn the mind off immediately and get back into the moment.If that doesn't work, try getting this song stuck in your head:
With all that said, you need to stay on the correct side of the smart/stupid line. The best way to do this is to know your body. Recognize when the pain is bad pain, such as a strained muscle, twisted ankle, or severe dehydration. Understand when the weather just isn't conducive to training. There is a fine line between being tough and being stupid. Better to live to fight another day than put yourself on the sidelines with an injury. I've been on the wrong side of the smart/stupid line and it never works out well.
Here's an example of how to do it wrong:
Years ago I was out on a 20-mile run during a July heatwave with Lo-Jack down at the towpath. We got started late (around 11 am) and never even gave it a second thought that there we saw literally no one else on the path.We thought it was hot (90+ degrees) but we had tree cover. On the last 5-mile stretch things were getting ugly. Really, really ugly. The pace slowed and we were both clearly dehydrated. We finally stopped running when we saw his son who was going fishing. We got some water from him but it didn't matter. A few minutes we started to walk because our bodies forced us to stop. Barely made it back to the cars; wasn't back to being right for about a week.
A few years later, I did it right (kinda):
Again, I'm out on a hot Summer day doing a long run. I was working hard and felt good, all things considered. Around mile 12 I started to feel less good. By mile 14 I started to feel bad. Then I realize that I wasn't sweating, which is not ideal. In fact, it's really not good at all. Fortunately I realized this and stopped. I had water stashed about a mile away and walked to it. Drank the whole bottle, walked the mile and a half back to my car, lived to fight another day.
And that's that.
Getting back to me being a wuss this morning ... I did stay in, that is true. But I live in Eastern PA, not SoCal, and we have 8 inches of show and the thermometer reads 11 degrees as I write this. But after hitting the intervals hard, I think I held to the intent of Rule #5.
Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon
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