That's right, your mind (brain) is your enemy. It is always trying to get you to slow down, mostly when you don't have to.
I was at an invitational track meet last weekend at which two of our runners were running. Both of them suffered from their worst enemy: their own minds.
On the first day, our runner was in the 3000 meter race. The first four laps went pretty well - he was patient and ran that first 1600 meters a little faster than when he ran his best time a few weeks ago in the 3200 meters. Then, he hooked up with what looked like a great situation - three or four other runners who were running about his pace. He could hide in the pack to stay out of the slight breeze, and let them do all the work. The only problem was that they slowed down. Our runner's brain most likely sent signals out that told him he was doing all the right things. The only problem, I believe, is that that brain ignored the sensation that he was slowing down, a sensation that this individual would ordinarily have noticed in an instant. So his brain said "You're doing great! Keep doing THIS!" when it should have been saying "Dude! You're slowing down! Pick it up!"
Our other runner ran the next day in the mile. In his case, he started off at the pace he hoped he could run for the first two laps. In the third lap, he tired a bit (as he should have!), and several runners passed him. As an experienced and talented runner, he should not let this kind of thing bother him. I don't believe it did, at least not consciously. But I think his brain said, "Nice try, kid, but you're just not as fast as those other guys." The final lap was interesting because those guys who passed him were about 5 meters ahead of him, but never increased that lead. To his brain, it appeared that they were out of reach, but standing where I was, it was a gap he definitely could have closed. IF his brain would have let him. But instead, his brain (subconsciously, I believe) told him the race was over. His final lap split was the same as his third lap, even though he had the ability to sprint in with a time 3 or 4 seconds faster, which would have put him ahead of at least a couple of those other guys.
Why does this happen and what can you do about it?
I think it happens as a defense mechanism. Your brain is in charge of your life support systems, and any time your heart rate and respiration rate and lactic acid production rate start heading upward, it's your brain's job to figure out how to reverse those trends. Your brain starts to tell you that you must slow down. It tries to trick you by telling you you can't do what you want to do. Even if it is doing this subconsciously, it is really, really good at it.
What you can do about it is, first and foremost, train appropriately for the goal you have. If your goal is to run a mile in under 5:00, train for that. But the key to overcoming your brain's tricks in the actual race is to trust that training. If you're trying to run under 5:00, but you've only trained enough to run under 5:15, then this will not help. If you have done the training, the next trick is to acknowledge that your brain WILL try to trick you. When you get to that third lap, start thinking, "I know my brain wants me to slow down, but I know - because of the training I've done - that I don't have to. I can actually keep this pace up, even speed up, because I know what I actually can do. My brain is just trying to trick me."
So next time you're in a race, remember that, no matter how well-intentioned it might be, your mind is your enemy. Use that knowledge to run the race you want to run.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
If You Can Do This, You Can Do Anything!
Earlier this week, the San Francisco Bay Area finally got a rainstorm with some strength to it (we are currently in a near-drought condition, running at about half of our normal rainfall for the rainy season).
Of course, we had a track workout scheduled.
The wind was gusting up to around 20 mph, and the rain was steady. The temperature dropped almost 10 degrees from the time we showed up at the track to the time the workout ended.
When you're running along a path or road on a stormy day just doing a regular run, it's not too bad. You're constantly moving, so you can adjust your clothing and pace to be reasonably comfortable. On the track, it's run, then stop, then run, then stop. The runs always include portions that are against the wind, which means - even if you wear a hat, like I do - you get rain in your face. You get cold in between the run segments. Ugh. It is really not fun.
What's worse is that it's really, really hard - no, darn near impossible - to get any sense of pace because of running against the wind, then with it, then against it, and so on. So the workout can be very frustrating, in addition to very miserable.
But here's the bonus: a lot of your competition won't do it. They'll change their workout to something easier or even skip it entirely. If you go ahead and do it, you should know that it will put you one step ahead of the competition in terms of training. Better yet, the mental toughness you gain by doing that workout under those conditions will give you a huge leg-up. You will be in races where you are feeling very fatigued, and you'll know that it will require a lot of toughness to continue running well all the way to the finish. If you have done this kind of workout under extreme conditions like what our runners did this week, you will know (not just hope) that you have that toughness to get the job done.
Of course, we had a track workout scheduled.
The wind was gusting up to around 20 mph, and the rain was steady. The temperature dropped almost 10 degrees from the time we showed up at the track to the time the workout ended.
When you're running along a path or road on a stormy day just doing a regular run, it's not too bad. You're constantly moving, so you can adjust your clothing and pace to be reasonably comfortable. On the track, it's run, then stop, then run, then stop. The runs always include portions that are against the wind, which means - even if you wear a hat, like I do - you get rain in your face. You get cold in between the run segments. Ugh. It is really not fun.
What's worse is that it's really, really hard - no, darn near impossible - to get any sense of pace because of running against the wind, then with it, then against it, and so on. So the workout can be very frustrating, in addition to very miserable.
But here's the bonus: a lot of your competition won't do it. They'll change their workout to something easier or even skip it entirely. If you go ahead and do it, you should know that it will put you one step ahead of the competition in terms of training. Better yet, the mental toughness you gain by doing that workout under those conditions will give you a huge leg-up. You will be in races where you are feeling very fatigued, and you'll know that it will require a lot of toughness to continue running well all the way to the finish. If you have done this kind of workout under extreme conditions like what our runners did this week, you will know (not just hope) that you have that toughness to get the job done.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
It's January. What do I do now?
So, here we are nearing the end of January already. What is going on for cross-country runners right now? Chances are, you are getting ready to start your track seasons. Are you running track? Should you? What event(s) should you run? How is track different from cross-country?
Lots of questions, of course. Here are my answers to these questions. If you think of other questions (or other answers!), add them in the comments, and I'll give you my two cents.
What are cross-country runners doing right now?
As I noted above, most are probably getting ready for track season. Track is a natural companion to cross-country because, well, it involves running. Different kinds of running, but running nonetheless. Since "track season" doesn't really start for at least a couple more weeks, most athletes are in a pre-season regimen of some kind. For our team, we are just running miles, with an occasional easy-ish tempo run or a few 50-meter strides thrown in. We also went to an "all-comers" meet just for fun (I even ran in it!).
Should you run track?
Absolutely! Why? For a couple of reasons. First of all, you should continue running throughout the year. There are times when you should take a break from running, but you don't need to make that break more than a couple of weeks. You are developing as an athlete, and running track will allow you to continue to develop without going backwards in that development. Second, track will give you some experience with different kinds of running that will keep you interested in the sport, as well as develop your ability to run fast. Finally, it's fun! I actually developed my love for running from running track. Even though I was one of the slowest runners in the entire county, running in a track meet made me feel like I was competing in the Olympics. There was something about the formality of the starts of the various races that just seemed really cool to me. I also found that I loved the competition itself, as well as the systematic-ness of dividing up races into easily dividable pieces, like laps or half-laps (did that make sense?).
What event(s) should you run?
Most cross-country runners will run the 1500/1600 meters and/or the 3000/3200 meters, and some will also do the 800. I encourage runners to try other events, too, just to see if they like them. The 400 is a good one to try because it can give you some perspective on your own pacing for the longer races. Depending on how big the meets are and what the order of events is, you should try to run in two events during each meet, maybe even three. This introduces you to a new skill, which involves cooling down from one event, then warming up for another one, which you did not have to do during cross-country season. It's a challenge to figure out how to make that work.
How is track different than cross-country?
First and foremost, the distances are shorter, which means that you will be running faster. In the case of the 800, especially, it will be a lot faster. This creates a new challenge because the faster you are running, the more you might be risking injury, especially if you have not trained enough.
Another major difference is that every course is the same, pretty much. There are some differences in surface (one track may be softer or harder than another) and, of course, weather, but 1600m on one track is the exact same distance as on another track and - some people will love this - there are no hills!
Training is different for track, too, primarily because of the shorter and homogeneous races. There is a lot of precise pacing involved, which you will learn during practices.
Like I noted above, if you have other questions about track, post them in the comments, and I will answer them!
Lots of questions, of course. Here are my answers to these questions. If you think of other questions (or other answers!), add them in the comments, and I'll give you my two cents.
What are cross-country runners doing right now?
As I noted above, most are probably getting ready for track season. Track is a natural companion to cross-country because, well, it involves running. Different kinds of running, but running nonetheless. Since "track season" doesn't really start for at least a couple more weeks, most athletes are in a pre-season regimen of some kind. For our team, we are just running miles, with an occasional easy-ish tempo run or a few 50-meter strides thrown in. We also went to an "all-comers" meet just for fun (I even ran in it!).
Should you run track?
Absolutely! Why? For a couple of reasons. First of all, you should continue running throughout the year. There are times when you should take a break from running, but you don't need to make that break more than a couple of weeks. You are developing as an athlete, and running track will allow you to continue to develop without going backwards in that development. Second, track will give you some experience with different kinds of running that will keep you interested in the sport, as well as develop your ability to run fast. Finally, it's fun! I actually developed my love for running from running track. Even though I was one of the slowest runners in the entire county, running in a track meet made me feel like I was competing in the Olympics. There was something about the formality of the starts of the various races that just seemed really cool to me. I also found that I loved the competition itself, as well as the systematic-ness of dividing up races into easily dividable pieces, like laps or half-laps (did that make sense?).
What event(s) should you run?
Most cross-country runners will run the 1500/1600 meters and/or the 3000/3200 meters, and some will also do the 800. I encourage runners to try other events, too, just to see if they like them. The 400 is a good one to try because it can give you some perspective on your own pacing for the longer races. Depending on how big the meets are and what the order of events is, you should try to run in two events during each meet, maybe even three. This introduces you to a new skill, which involves cooling down from one event, then warming up for another one, which you did not have to do during cross-country season. It's a challenge to figure out how to make that work.
How is track different than cross-country?
First and foremost, the distances are shorter, which means that you will be running faster. In the case of the 800, especially, it will be a lot faster. This creates a new challenge because the faster you are running, the more you might be risking injury, especially if you have not trained enough.
Another major difference is that every course is the same, pretty much. There are some differences in surface (one track may be softer or harder than another) and, of course, weather, but 1600m on one track is the exact same distance as on another track and - some people will love this - there are no hills!
Training is different for track, too, primarily because of the shorter and homogeneous races. There is a lot of precise pacing involved, which you will learn during practices.
Like I noted above, if you have other questions about track, post them in the comments, and I will answer them!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Visualization - More than Just Imagining Your Best Race
At this point in the Fall, many of you are approaching your league championships or some other final meet of the season, so you are hoping to run your best. Visualization is a technique that can help you with the mental aspect of running races.
I first learned about visualization in the 80's, specifically in 1987 when I was training for a marathon. I really wanted to run under three hours, and I found a book (The Total Runner, by Jerry Lynch) that described visualization. I didn't have a good race (died at about 17 miles) in the marathon, but I continued to use the technique because I was having success in other races from using it.
Without going into the detail of Lynch's book or anyone else's specific techniques, I can tell you a few things to get you started.
One of the main things is that visualization is more than just imagining your race and how wonderful everything will be. What I do is start there. Once I am relaxed (although not too relaxed - I will sometimes fall asleep!) and ready to do some visualization, I close my eyes and basically do a run-through of my race. During that first step, everything goes as planned.
But here's the benefit of visualization: the next step is to imagine various things going wrong: you get a blister; the weather is crappy; someone steps on your foot; your jersey doesn't feel right - anything you can think of that might reasonably happen.
"But isn't that kind of the opposite of thinking positively?"
It could be, except that in this exercise, you troubleshoot whatever the problem is during the visualization. That way, if it actually happens in the race, you will already know how to deal with it, and your race will continue on uninterrupted.
"Don't you have a funny story about visualization, Marty?"
Well, as a matter of fact, in the early spring of 1988, I was getting pretty fit, and was racing frequently. I decided to do a 5k race that was in a hilly park on trails. I did my usual visualization techniques in the week leading up to the race, going through various things that might happen. When I got into the race, though, something happened that was totally unexpected: I was leading. By a lot. Having not anticipated this, I started worrying that I had gone off course, but I resisted the urge to look behind me, knowing that you should never look behind you in a race. I finally decided to just keep pressing on, and I actually won the race by over a minute! My first win! Now I had one more thing to add to my visualizations.
As you get to within a week or so of your race, you should start doing some visualization. Find what works for you, in terms of where and when it works best. Think about how you want to implement your race strategy. Let me know how it works out by posting in the comments.
And don't forget to consider what you might do if you find yourself in front!
I first learned about visualization in the 80's, specifically in 1987 when I was training for a marathon. I really wanted to run under three hours, and I found a book (The Total Runner, by Jerry Lynch) that described visualization. I didn't have a good race (died at about 17 miles) in the marathon, but I continued to use the technique because I was having success in other races from using it.
Without going into the detail of Lynch's book or anyone else's specific techniques, I can tell you a few things to get you started.
One of the main things is that visualization is more than just imagining your race and how wonderful everything will be. What I do is start there. Once I am relaxed (although not too relaxed - I will sometimes fall asleep!) and ready to do some visualization, I close my eyes and basically do a run-through of my race. During that first step, everything goes as planned.
But here's the benefit of visualization: the next step is to imagine various things going wrong: you get a blister; the weather is crappy; someone steps on your foot; your jersey doesn't feel right - anything you can think of that might reasonably happen.
"But isn't that kind of the opposite of thinking positively?"
It could be, except that in this exercise, you troubleshoot whatever the problem is during the visualization. That way, if it actually happens in the race, you will already know how to deal with it, and your race will continue on uninterrupted.
"Don't you have a funny story about visualization, Marty?"
Well, as a matter of fact, in the early spring of 1988, I was getting pretty fit, and was racing frequently. I decided to do a 5k race that was in a hilly park on trails. I did my usual visualization techniques in the week leading up to the race, going through various things that might happen. When I got into the race, though, something happened that was totally unexpected: I was leading. By a lot. Having not anticipated this, I started worrying that I had gone off course, but I resisted the urge to look behind me, knowing that you should never look behind you in a race. I finally decided to just keep pressing on, and I actually won the race by over a minute! My first win! Now I had one more thing to add to my visualizations.
As you get to within a week or so of your race, you should start doing some visualization. Find what works for you, in terms of where and when it works best. Think about how you want to implement your race strategy. Let me know how it works out by posting in the comments.
And don't forget to consider what you might do if you find yourself in front!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Taking Workouts Seriously
As you get deeper into your season, the workouts your coach prescribes will get harder. This is because your coach is trying to prepare you to run your best race(s) at the end of your season, which may be a league championship meet, a sectional meet, or even your state's state meet. These hard workouts - tempo runs, repeats, hill workouts, etc. - are some of your most important workouts of your season.
Treat them like races.
No, that does not mean you should necessarily run them as hard as you do a race. You should run those workouts however your coach tells you to run them. But you need to be prepared for them because you don't want to have that be the day you show up at practice and - oops! - you forgot to hydrate properly, or you ate that greasy pizza slice for lunch only an hour ago, or you're just "not feeling it today."
On the days of these hard workouts, imagine you are running a race at 3:30 (or whatever time you practice). Wouldn't you be extra-sure to hydrate properly on a race day? What would you ordinarily eat on a race day? When would you eat your lunch? Did you go to bed early enough last night?
If your coach hasn't given you a practice schedule, ask him/her what the workout is going to be the day before you do it. Spend a few minutes the night before thinking about how you're going to run it, just like you would if it were a race.
Once you arrive at practice, treat the warmup/stretching/drills like you were about to race. When it comes time to actually do the workout, listen to your coach and do the workout like he/she says.
When the day finally comes to actually run the big race, you'll be ready!
Treat them like races.
No, that does not mean you should necessarily run them as hard as you do a race. You should run those workouts however your coach tells you to run them. But you need to be prepared for them because you don't want to have that be the day you show up at practice and - oops! - you forgot to hydrate properly, or you ate that greasy pizza slice for lunch only an hour ago, or you're just "not feeling it today."
On the days of these hard workouts, imagine you are running a race at 3:30 (or whatever time you practice). Wouldn't you be extra-sure to hydrate properly on a race day? What would you ordinarily eat on a race day? When would you eat your lunch? Did you go to bed early enough last night?
If your coach hasn't given you a practice schedule, ask him/her what the workout is going to be the day before you do it. Spend a few minutes the night before thinking about how you're going to run it, just like you would if it were a race.
Once you arrive at practice, treat the warmup/stretching/drills like you were about to race. When it comes time to actually do the workout, listen to your coach and do the workout like he/she says.
When the day finally comes to actually run the big race, you'll be ready!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
A New Trend in XC - Sock-Footed Running
On the team I coach, we've had a rash of shoe loss this season. One runner lost one of his shoes during two different races, and another runner had it happen once. In each case, the shoe either came completely off on its own, or the runner concluded that's what would end up happening anyway, so kicked it off.Sometimes, a poorly-tied shoe is the culprit. But in the most recent case, a runner from behind accidentally stepped on the heel of my guy's shoe, so better shoe-tying would not have helped. He kicked it off to the side of the course, then kept running. For over two more miles. His time was remarkably good, as he finished within just a few seconds of teammates who had routinely beaten him throughout the season by a half-minute or more.
This got me thinking.
How long would it take to put your shoe back on? I notice that many, if not most, young runners these days usually just leave their shoes tied and just jam them onto their feet when it's time to run. So if, during a race, your shoe came off (still tied), how long would it take to stop and jam it back on?
I would guess about 5 seconds, maybe 10.
So, knowing that, if it's late in the race, maybe it would still make sense to just leave it off and keep running. But if it was earlier in the race - say, with more than one mile still to go - it might be more productive to stop and put it back on. You could probably get those 5-10 seconds back by having both shoes on, maybe more.
The point of all this is that you should think about what you would do if it happens to you. That way, if it does, you'll be prepared and have some idea what to do.
Monday, October 3, 2011
"I'm Ruuuuuunning in the Rain....."
[Be sure to sing the title of this post to the tune of Singing in the Rain....]
Yes, where I am, we are expecting to get the first rain of the "winter" either today, tomorrow, or the next day. Many of you may not have run when it's raining before.
You are in for a treat!
Your initial reaction will be, "But won't I get wet?"
Um, yes, probably due to that watery stuff coming down out of the sky.
Running in the rain is one of those wacky traditions of cross-country, like hay bales on the course. It's actually pretty fun because you don't have Mom yelling at you "GET INSIDE OUT OF THE RAIN SO YOU DON'T GET WET!" You can actually step in puddles and splash water all over. On purpose!
Seriously, just like other weather conditions, you have to be prepared. You can't NOT hydrate, just because it's going to rain. Your body still needs fluids. Probably less than on a hot day, but about the same as on a regular day.
If it's colder than on a dry day, you might want to wear a long-sleeved shirt and maybe even running tights.
In general, whatever clothing you wear should be made of some kind of man-made fabric (a "wicking" fabric) because cotton will just absorb the water and make you cold. The other kinds won't hold onto the water, so it will be more comfortable. You probably don't have to worry too much about wearing "warm" clothes because running will keep you warm enough in most cases (remember that when it's dry, your body gets so warm that it sweats - you might sweat less when it's raining, but you probably won't get cold). Some people like wearing gloves because your hands can get cold when they get wet.
As in sunny weather, I like wearing a hat, but in rainy weather it's to keep the rain out of my eyes.
Most importantly, you need to have something dry to put on when you finish. You still have to stretch, etc., and you'll freeze if you don't get out of your wet clothes. That means you have to plan ahead. You have to bring a spare t-shirt (long sleeved, if possible) and some sweatpants with you to school.
If it might rain several days in a row, you should have at least two sets of "rain clothes." The wicking fabric will generally dry fairly quickly, so, even if you can't wash and dry your wet shirt, you can at least rinse it out and hang it up - it will be dry within a day and a half or so.
What about those sopping wet shoes? You need to dry them out because you don't want to be putting wet shoes on tomorrow, so here's what you do (even if you already have two pairs that you are rotating): Take out the insoles, set them up on their edges somewhere so they can dry, then stuff the shoes with newspaper. The newspaper will slowly absorb the water from the shoes. Leave them alone for a while, like a couple of hours. Before you go to bed, take the newspaper out and check to see how wet they are. If they're only a little wet, just leave them alone overnight - they should be dry by morning. If they're still pretty wet, stuff them with (dry) newspaper again and leave them overnight. When you get up the next morning, check them again and do the same thing. Don't put the insoles back in until right before you're about to put them on to run again.
Presto! Now you're ready to run in the rain. It's actually a useful thing to do in training because, guess what? They don't cancel cross-country races because of rain - you may as well get used to it. Heck, it's fun!!
Yes, where I am, we are expecting to get the first rain of the "winter" either today, tomorrow, or the next day. Many of you may not have run when it's raining before.
You are in for a treat!
Your initial reaction will be, "But won't I get wet?"
Um, yes, probably due to that watery stuff coming down out of the sky.
Running in the rain is one of those wacky traditions of cross-country, like hay bales on the course. It's actually pretty fun because you don't have Mom yelling at you "GET INSIDE OUT OF THE RAIN SO YOU DON'T GET WET!" You can actually step in puddles and splash water all over. On purpose!
Seriously, just like other weather conditions, you have to be prepared. You can't NOT hydrate, just because it's going to rain. Your body still needs fluids. Probably less than on a hot day, but about the same as on a regular day.
If it's colder than on a dry day, you might want to wear a long-sleeved shirt and maybe even running tights.
In general, whatever clothing you wear should be made of some kind of man-made fabric (a "wicking" fabric) because cotton will just absorb the water and make you cold. The other kinds won't hold onto the water, so it will be more comfortable. You probably don't have to worry too much about wearing "warm" clothes because running will keep you warm enough in most cases (remember that when it's dry, your body gets so warm that it sweats - you might sweat less when it's raining, but you probably won't get cold). Some people like wearing gloves because your hands can get cold when they get wet.
As in sunny weather, I like wearing a hat, but in rainy weather it's to keep the rain out of my eyes.
Most importantly, you need to have something dry to put on when you finish. You still have to stretch, etc., and you'll freeze if you don't get out of your wet clothes. That means you have to plan ahead. You have to bring a spare t-shirt (long sleeved, if possible) and some sweatpants with you to school.
If it might rain several days in a row, you should have at least two sets of "rain clothes." The wicking fabric will generally dry fairly quickly, so, even if you can't wash and dry your wet shirt, you can at least rinse it out and hang it up - it will be dry within a day and a half or so.
What about those sopping wet shoes? You need to dry them out because you don't want to be putting wet shoes on tomorrow, so here's what you do (even if you already have two pairs that you are rotating): Take out the insoles, set them up on their edges somewhere so they can dry, then stuff the shoes with newspaper. The newspaper will slowly absorb the water from the shoes. Leave them alone for a while, like a couple of hours. Before you go to bed, take the newspaper out and check to see how wet they are. If they're only a little wet, just leave them alone overnight - they should be dry by morning. If they're still pretty wet, stuff them with (dry) newspaper again and leave them overnight. When you get up the next morning, check them again and do the same thing. Don't put the insoles back in until right before you're about to put them on to run again.
Presto! Now you're ready to run in the rain. It's actually a useful thing to do in training because, guess what? They don't cancel cross-country races because of rain - you may as well get used to it. Heck, it's fun!!
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