Digging Out of The Grind and Starting to Feel Race Ready

When you're training for a marathon or any endurance event that causes you to create a large amount of fatigue, it seems logical to think about the workout you're executing and trying to correlate THAT workout to your race.  Often times, we seek instant gratification that what we are doing today will pay off tomorrow.  Unfortunately, training with this mindset often results in a constant war between your mind and your body to keep improving in the form of faster paces for every workout.  And while you should see a general progression toward faster paces as you get closer to race day, you can't simply force it.  The whole point of a training cycle is to stress the system appropriately so that you can improve your fitness and peak when it comes time to race.  Training is a process and an art, so it is never as simple as "If I do this workout, it means I'll be able to run my race in this time".  We know better than to turn a piece of art into a simple formula, but many of us do.  Those running calculators and predictors help guide you, but they will not guarantee you anything.  You have to work for it, day in and day out, over the course of a training cycle (or multiple training cycles) to teach yourself how to race.  And for those with ambitious goals, it is ever so important to do this a few times throughout the training cycle so you know you are on the right path.  However, the emphasis is on a few times, not every workout.  I've written before about feeling race ready and creating a confident athlete, both of which will help you get to where you need to be to know you are on the right path, so I won't delve back into that area. 

When I last posted, I was in "the grind", churning away those workouts, but a bit lost, as I was too far away from my race to feel the urgency, but close enough to know that every workout mattered.  Well I'm happy to say that I believe I am on my way toward exiting that feeling.  Some days, it really does feel tough to get out there.  Others, I'm hitting the pavement without thinking.  So how did I get there?

First, I've had a few runs that went extremely well, giving me the confidence I needed to know I'm moving in the right direction.  Second, the weather appears to be finally cooling off a bit, renewing my sense of enjoyment in being out in nature.  Its no surprise that these two things go hand in hand.  This is now the time to start reaping the reward for plowing through sweaty, humid miles all summer.  Our bodies have become efficient at dealing with the heat and humidity, so cooler weather brings more efficiency at the same paces or faster paces at the same effort, both of which are huge benefits. 

With a quick shot of cooler weather last weekend (of course, immediately followed by extreme heat, but I digress), I set out with some running buddies for a 22 miler.  Now these weren't just any running buddies.  They were some runners I admire for many reasons, the least of which for the fact that they are fast by anyone's definition.  They are all real people with real lives, and can make any long run feel like a short jog around the block.  This was just what I needed with a tough 22 miler planned.

Meghan, Jeff, and Jess (they were too cool for me and took a photo of themselves later)

 I knew we'd be running faster than what I'd typically be running if doing this solo, but had a race simulation workout in mind, where the bulk of my miles would be at or close to my goal marathon pace, which happens to be Meghan and Jeff's easy pace (and probably slower than they'd be running if they were running solo).  This run helped me not only to break the cycle of grinding out long runs, but also truly restore my confidence in my fitness.  I never pushed the effort on this run and simply felt strong the whole way, even with a few miles that might have happened to sneak a 6:xx in there.

Probably one of my best long runs ever

So while I hope to race at a bit faster paces, this was all done in the midst of some high mileage training.  My legs were nowhere close to fresh and I had only taken two days completely off in the previous 3 weeks.  I've been putting in the work, staying consistent, and getting it done.  I KNOW I am moving in the right direction and now it seems like race day is inching closer.  With only 5 more weeks of training, I've got some killer workouts planned, but nothing I don't think I can execute.  Just have to take it one workout at a time, and not read too much into the result of each or any of them.  I know where my fitness is, and it is exactly where I want it.

Fighting Through the Grind

As I mentioned in my last post on Creating Marathon Fitness Building Blocks, training for an endurance event takes an equal amount of  patience, persistence, and letting go of your ego.  The day in day out consistency required for training eventually reaches a point, typically in the middle of a training cycle when you are close to the race but still far enough away that it isn't THAT close, where the training becomes a grind.  I'll be the first to admit that I am at that point right now.  The cumulative effect of training, both on the body and mind, have started to take their toll.   Running is always enjoyable, but to reach new heights and achieve tough, but realistic goals takes an extra effort to go above and beyond what is comfortable.  Training for a difficult goal should be hard.  If it isn't, it probably isn't a difficult goal.  As a result, I am working through a few tough spots, but I am ok with that.  It means I am pushing myself and am close, but not over the edge.

I am now 11 weeks out from New York City with two of the most important blocks, the core of my marathon-specific training, sitting right in front of me.  I am also battling what I like to call the grind.  My motivation is still high to get the workouts in and my body is still cooperating to execute them, but the grind just makes things a little extra blah.  For lack of a better term, "blah" simply means that it feels like you're going through the motions.  Still executing, still improving fitness, but without that big fire.

However, there have certainly been moments of doubt where I let that blah feeling take over.  Take this weekend for example.  I was out of town officiating a few triathlons and had every intent on getting my long run done after the race.  I had the motivation and even set out running immediately after getting back to my hotel room, but I could tell something was off.  I knew it was a combination of spending all morning on my feet at the race and barely eating anything for 7 hours while working, but I still had it in my head that the run was going to happen.  I started off and felt horrible, but I wanted to give my body a chance to respond.  I've felt tired and off before, so sometimes it just takes a few miles to get that good feeling back.  However, I wouldn't recommend running up and down mountains as a way to do that.  Unfortunately, Luray, VA sits within the Shenandoah Mountains, right along Skyline Drive, so there is nothing but hills and mountains.  After about 4 miles, I knew my long run wasn't going to happen, so I ended it.  At the end of a recovery week with some serious weeks ahead of me, I found little reason to use that extra mental energy it would have required to finish the run.  The purpose of the week was to recover so I can hit my next phase of training hard, so recover is what I did and I have no regrets.  While a missed long run isn't ideal, it isn't going to determine the outcome of anything.  It was simply one run out of hundreds that I'll complete before race day.  So I've put it in my past and am ready to move on. 

For me, this grind period usually lasts a week or two, when I finally get to the point where the race feels real.  Fighting through the grind means you have to stay persistent and keep at it, even though you might not quite feel like it.  But is also means being smart and knowing when it is ok to pull back a bit.  Recovery is required in order to get stronger, so if I am going to miss a workout, I'd rather it be now as opposed to a key building week.  The training that happens at this point has a direct impact on my ability to execute many of the simulation workouts that come toward the end of the training cycle, where I'll determine if my pace goals are realistic, so letting off the gas could mean that my goals for NYC might slip.  With this recovery week and unexpected lower mileage behind me, I am putting my head down and going back to "work", taking it one day, one workout at a time.  And before I know it, the grind will be over, race day will be here, and I'll be able to run the race I've trained for.

While we all love to run, every run is not always rainbows and unicorns.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is naive or lying.  But what we can all agree on is that there is no feeling quite like crossing the finish line of a goal race with a shiny new PR.  And at the end of the day, that is what this is all about.