Monday, January 9, 2012

Some Things I Know For Sure

I've had so much I've wanted to blog lately but just, well, have not sat down to do it. I was going to post one last night but I spilled something on my keyboard and the only letter it wanted to type was 'm'. So had I posted last night it would have been really interesting I'm sure... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. That also would have made it really hard to play Words With Friends. Good thing for iPads. Phew.

Luckily this morning it was all dried out so I did not have to go get a new keyboard. That would have been a bit of an emergency b/c let's face it, I live on this computer!

I think blogging is harder when you do it less often b/c there's so much to write about... I become like a victim of over choice... like hmmm, what do they want to read about?? I ran a shitty 5K yesterday. Is that interesting? Not really. But I bet you wanna read about it, huh? For the sake of working through it in my own mind I'll write about it... I was bummed for sure and have yet to decide if I ran shitty because I overslept and didn't get in a decent warm up or just because I am a shitty runner. I am trying not to think it is the latter (training has been going so well!) but given that I am frustrated pretty much 100% of the time at the finish line of these damn running races it's hard to push that thought aside. Or maybe my goals are just unrealistic at these races? Maybe, except that yesterday I didn't even run my old 10K pace. For a 5K. Yet last week Wednesday I did a tune-up workout that consisted of 3 x 1000's @ 6:40 pace and nailed those so why I can't even come close to that when it (sort of) matters is beyond me. Maybe I'm a head case? I'd really like to think I'm not a head case but I very well might be when it comes to these running races. I swear I was not overly tired as I did next to nothing for the 2 days prior to the race so that was not it. Sometimes I wish I was one of those athletes that gets some sort of magic boost from wearing a timing chip but one thing I know for sure is that timing chips are not magic propellers for me. If I can't hold a pace on a Tuesday morning when I am by myself with my garmin then I'm not going to be able to do it on Sunday morning just because there are some other people around and I'm wearing a black velcro strap around my ankle. So there you go. I'll try again in a few weeks at another 5K. I must be a glutton for punishment or something but I swear there's nothing more motivating to me than failing to achieve a goal. Next time though I might actually train in the days leading up to it because while it goes against all conventional wisdom, my best days tend to be when I should be ass tired. So I think it would be fun to test that in a local 5K. It seriously can't go any worse than yesterday, so why not?

Moving on. Let's talk about something more fun, shall we? Last week I booked a plane ticket to Arizona! I'm going in March first to attend Hillary Biscay's SMASHFEST Training Camp in Tucson. (Any of you wanna join me there? Anyone? Anyone?) I am seriously looking forward to that! I better start swimming more b/c 100x100's is on tap (another thing I know for sure- scy is going to drive me batty for that set! Flipflipflipflipflip) and climbing Mt Lemmon (which I have never done) should be super fun (ok maybe not quite so sure about that one?) Afterward I'll hang out in Scottsdale for the week and then that following weekend I'm going to be working with some of my own athletes... several who live there and several who will be flying in (some of whom I have never met!) So March is going to be a very FUN month. I graduated from Arizona State and lived in Tempe/Scottsdale until I moved here 7+ years ago so that area feels a bit like my 2nd home. There's some awesome riding there too that I miss very much! Krista is going to get initiated to that Bartlett Lake climb, that's another thing I know for sure. It will be my little Thank You gift to her for letting me crash at her house for the week. :)

Let's see... what else? My Powertap should arrive this week... so I will look forward to that. Quantifying my suffering! Lol. Perfect.

That's all I know for sure tonight.

10 comments:

mtanner said...

Here's what I know for sure... You do not suck at running!
And FOMO of camp in Tucson. Good stuff!

mtanner said...

Here's what I know for sure... You do not suck at running!
And FOMO of camp in Tucson. Good stuff!

Kiet said...

Ha ha ha, my advice after reading the 5K part was to say, who cares, do another 5k, and another, and another until you do get the desired time. And then a sentence down, you say you're doing another 5K. That's just what you do when you don't get something right the first time, or the second, or the third.

mmmonyka said...

It indeed must be very frustrating about running. Grrrr. Is it psychological? Sometimes you just need to "break" certain time, which functions as a barrier and then you start believing that you are that athlete who can break X min and you have no problem running that sub-X min over and over.
But indeed strange because you are such a tough mentally strong athlete, aren't you?
Just keep training and racing:)

I am jealous about your March Smashfests:)

Iron Krista, "The Dog Mom" said...

I hate 5ks. Just sayin' - I usually PR my 5k pace in a workout or a 10k, but for some reason have never nailed that pace IN a 5k. Cause, they are STUPID. :)

You are gonna LOVE Mt Lemmon - but, I think I'm going to need to give you some layers for the way down. Last time I climbed it in March there was snow from about mile 10-up.

Bartlett. BRING IT :)

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain on the run races! And I can't believe Krista has never done Bartlet??? I used to do that ride every week during IM training - it's the BEST! You'll LOVE Lemmon - seriously!!

Molly said...

I was going to say...how has Krista not done the Bartlett Lake climb?

Wish I could be there to have fun with you all!!! Maybe our schedule will change and I will be around and can at least join you for drinks or something.

I think given what you've done this past year a 5k in the midst of heavy training might end up faster?

Betsy said...

I've been frustrated with my running as of late too and wondering why my "hard 1 min interval" this morning was slower than I ran a stinking half marathon last January.

My advice based on riding in AZ in November....watch out for those rez dogs and be prepared for a few sprints if they start to chase you.

Teresa said...

That camp sounds like so much fun! We will be in Costa Rica though. You are going to LOVE that powertap......you will have so much more to blog about ;)

tn

Ana-Maria RunTriLive said...

5Ks are so different than other races. You need to race a few to get your neuromuscular system used to them. Last year when I chased the sub 20, I ran 5 of them. My training showed that I could do it, but it took a while for that to happen in a race.

For the past year you've built a strong base by doing a lot of slow running. You only recently started picking up the pace. I think you just need more time and more 5K experience. Yes, go run another one, and another one, you will only get faster. Instead of focusing on the time only, perhaps you can judge the race based on how hard you worked physically and mentally.
Good luck!