Something happened over the weekend: the Race Demons, the ones that tell me I’m not fast enough, need more time, am sure to embarrass myself with a crappy race, died.

The past couple weeks have been pretty heavy as far as self-analysis.  In a timely turn, I ordered those books on Toughness, then a friend on the 3:20 thread paced his pal in a marathon, the pal bonked for a myriad of reasons both physical and mental, which opened a great discussion on toughness and the mental part of racing.

I’d already been in the midst of negative thoughts so when the subject came up, I immediately saw myself as the bonking pal and lumped myself as lacking toughness.  Hell, Amazon was delivering the secret on how to get tough any day now.  But when I thought about it more, I realized a lack of toughness was not my problem.

Sorry to beat a truly dead horse, but you don’t finish a race in the hospital, twice, by being a wuss.  And while I always wish I could give up in workouts or races, I don’t.  I may dread racing in crappy weather but I’ve run through every element Mother Nature can throw at me, again and again. A lack of toughness isn’t the problem.

The problem, I came to realize, was a lack of faith, a fear that whatever bad result I may produce today is somehow indicative of the future as well.  That it’s not just the best I can do on that day but means it’s the best I will ever be able to do.  Talk about all or nothing thinking.

Now, a very sweet Facebook friend, Chris P, with whom I shared a meal at Boston 2010, is a religious guy and posts a lot of religious quotes on Facebook.  Somehow, they don’t bug my cynical athiest sensibilities – I actually like the stuff he finds, it’s uplifting and positive and can usually be interpreted in a general sense.

The other day he posted “Faith: It does not make things easy, it makes them possible.”  Faith, toughness, possibility, it was everything I’d been thinking of in a nutshell.  A lack of faith is why, as race season approaches, I was so dreading Race #1, “It’ll be horrible and people will raise their eyebrows at my crappy result and wonder why that’s the best I could do.”  And that may be!  But you know what?  It’s nothing but a passing zit on the face of life.

Faith = future.  It’s not this moment in a vacuum, it’s about time as it unfolds, evolves.  We are works in progress.  So no matter how bad my first race is, or the second, by the end of the Spring I guarantee I will be faster, race better.  It can’t not be.

On Saturday, I paid the registration fee for my first race, a 10k this Sunday and the source of all this mental crap these last couple weeks.  I’m training through it so no taper, just gonna get out and start the season.  Anyway, the night I paid for it, I had an amazing dream.  It wasn’t long, didn’t have a plot, was really just an image and a feeling.  The picture I saw was a side view of myself, running, one blurry motion trail.  I was the runner I want to be.  I woke up free and accepting of whatever happens.  The demons are gone.

And now, a few more answers…

Yvette asks, “I was was wondering which aspect you felt helped increase your speed – losing weight, or tougher workouts (15 miler with 8 miles at lightening speed in the middle)? Getting a coach? A combination of many factors? Just wondering what made the difference for you, because I am banging my head against some invisible barrier….maybe you are able to really push yourself during workouts, and I am a slacker *lol*”
Different things at different times. The succession of training plans I did my first year got the ball rolling quickly.  Newbie gains are plentiful anyway, so doing both a weekly speed and tempo session brought those freebies instantly.  After a while though, the gains stopped and I landed on a 1.5 year plateau.

The thing that brought me back to life wasn’t hard workouts, in fact, I was burnt out on them.  Instead, I increased my mileage and made that my focus from last summer into fall.  My base speed increased substantially just from the added miles.  Eventually, as race season approached, I had to add in workouts because you can’t expect the fast stuff to be there without practice, but even that was done in a more causal, fun manner than before.

I’d never advise you to run high mileage, but if you’re stuck and don’t have the urge to be running hard workouts all the time (though fartleks are your friend), try adding 10 miles a week if you can.  Additionally, if you run 5 days/week, up it to 6, if you do 6, try a couple weeks of every day.  Just do more than what you’re doing now.  It doesn’t have to be daunting or make you hurt, but more quantity can give a real boost to your fitness without having to bust a gut.

I do want to say about weight-loss, since you mentioned it, is that unless you’re overweight, it’s only the cherry on the sundae, it doesn’t replace training or mileage at all.  I need to stress that.  Aerobic fitness is first and foremost in becoming a strong, faster runner over the long-term.  Now, if you are carrying extra fat, by all means get rid of it, but if you’ve a normal build, weight is the very last link in the chain and even then, not at all necessary, depending on what you want to accomplish.

Dina asks, “I love your blog and I am curious about your devotion to the foam roller. I have glute/hamstring issues, especially during longer runs of eight or more miles. Do you have any recommendations as to what type of roller to use and what types of stretches are best? Thanks for any advice you can offer!”
Thanks for the blog love!  I have 2 rollers at the moment, a Trigger Point roller and a 36″ black foam roller.  The Trigger Point one is super hard which can be a good thing when you need it but is overkill for regular daily rolling. Oh the other hand, it’s great for travel because it’s compact and hollow so you can stuff clothes inside.

For daily use, however, I much prefer the 36″ foam one.  It’s not as painful as the Trigger Point roller though it’s much firmer than my old Target one.  The length is great – you don’t have to reposition yourself to keep from falling off and you can do more whole body stuff.  And it’s only $21 at Runningwarehouse…total bargain.

As for stretches and rolling stuff, first download this Soft-Tissue E-Manual, it’s a fantastic resource. Then check out some hamstring foam rolling videos, scan the list and pick the ones with the most views (my method of finding the best videos).  Then do another search for “hamstring stretches”.   My personal fave stretch is just stick your leg up on a chair or counter and slowly try to touch your toes (slow being the key, back off if you feel too much pull). Also, a standing toe touch is easy and handy if you need to stop during a run.  Don’t be shy about stopping to stretch mid-run if it’s bugging, btw, both for immediate relief and better recovery after.

Lastly, if you roll your problem spots out after every run, it makes a big difference.  Good luck!

Peggy asks, “What do you think about while your doing all your running, if anything at all? What drives you through so many miles every day?”
So many things!  I think about whatever I read before leaving the house, imaginary conversations with people, thoughts about the people I pass whether park regulars or strangers, my running form or posture, if injured I’m totally “inside” the injury and focused on that, if I’m listening to music I can get totally wrapped up in a new song hitting “replay” a zillion times, or an old song might conjure up thoughts of whoever suggested it or where I was when I first heard it, I think about my effort level, the way the park and river changes with the weather/seasons, what I’ll make for dinner, or should I add an extra mile since I feel good?  On bad days while running over the bridge, I’ll imagine what it’d be like to fall or be thrown in and would I survive and occasionally I lose some coordination and then worry about whether it’s physical or mental and then spend time focused on that and my gait until it passes.

And of course, I write blog posts in my head.  In fact on Monday, I thought about how I’d answer this question which made me think of you and the last time we met by the rock climbing wall and that the rain/wind jacket I got this season is sort of like the one you were wearing but I really like the green of yours and maybe I should have gotten green instead of pink because damn, it is a bright pink…

But mostly, I think about running.

Jim asks, “I notice in the weekly table that your afternoon runs, even the non-quality-workout ones, are faster than your morning ones. Comment?”
Short answer: Winter.  Long answer: When I came back from injury, my bum leg was creaky in the cold mornings but by the afternoon felt fine. Instead of trying to fight it, I took the mornings as comfortably as needed.  Nowadays, the leg is normal but the mornings are still cold and I’m perfectly happy to start the day with a 9min mile or two.

My afternoon runs are naturally faster: I’ve been up and about for hours and it’s about 10 degrees warmer by then.  That said, I’ve had some peppier morning runs recently and I’m sure as the temperature improves they’ll speed up that by summer, it’ll have flipflopped entirely.

This is, btw, the first year I’ve ever run winter mornings, I always used to run once midday in the winter, so this has been a new experience.

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