"Would you mind if I started taking over writing my training plans?" I asked Coach Bill last week as we discussed the odds and ends of our new coaching venture, VOLTE Endurance. To my surprise, the answer was a confident "yes, it's time." I tend to write openly about my training errors and mistakes I make (and sometimes remake) and the changes I try to implement.
There are a few reasons as to why I took over my Training Peaks. One being extra practice as a triathlon coach, I have recently undertaken. So far it has been very fun; working with mostly beginner to intermediate athletes at the moment. In triathlon training, there are more pieces and blanks to fill than regular run coaching and I feel like I'm "going into a lab" every time I write a training plan-so many possibilities, so much potential. Awesome.
Now for the candid stuff...
But I'll be honest-I posted earlier about having an affinity for solo training, notably running by myself, and without "judgement". Mostly self-judgement, feeling as if I had to run like a "fast runner" does (ok what does that mean anyhow!?) every time I ran and regardless of how I felt, especially around others. As a sport psych consultant, I'm always asking athletes I work with what "triggers" their mistakes and negative thinking. It can be anything, an opponent that is difficult to beat, when a race goes unexpectedly-so on and so forth. These things typically activate repeated behaviors in the athlete. In my case, I'm often triggered by either comments on my pace-good or bad-which make me feel like I need to run paces faster than prescribed or recommended. Let's face it, my race pace is in the low to mid 6's currently. I have no business running low 7:00's. As the V-Dot calculator online asserts, "if you run paces out of your range, you will get injured".
So here we have the cycle: internalize the "fast runner" trap then take a long run or easy run too fast, have another big workout like a long bike ride the day after, get sore, get soft tissue problems; as I'm currently battling my way out of.
Changing up the plan:
I have in the past tried to make changes by thinking "I'll slow down/put my competitive instincts aside this time", however I struggle with holding my end of the bargain. So I can try and fight my nature, or I can avoid the triggering situations by doing something different. I now have the perfect opportunity to do so now as my Wednesday night workouts have been replaced with coaching duties. What to do: to work out in the morning. 1st change: Long run on Wednesday morning. It seems to be a bit of a reach to do a long run on Saturday and then a long bike ride on Sunday, and the week starts from there. Spreading out the volume and intensity always seems to be a good fit for my finicky body. I recall a wise coach once saying that there is nothing sacred about running long on weekends, it just has to be completed.
This is going to be interesting.
Other modifications are a shorter run on Saturday-taking off after my athletes and the rest of the group. I get to run in my own little world, and then socialize later on. Sounds like a win-win. I also get to see my athletes start and finish their workout. Swim workouts are pre-set (provided by Magnolia Master's) and provide a nice active recovery on Thursday. Throw in about 100 miles of cycling per week divided up over a few rides and we've got a nice triathlon plan.
Luckily I'm a very self-motivated person, almost to a fault, but even more of a pleaser. When I should take a day off or need to move something on the schedule, I can do so without guilt-because I don't worry too much about disappointing my self or having to "admit weakness" to a coach. Silly I know, but it's the truth.
As things evolve and change, I'm excited about the ability to be creative and train without the fear of disappointing others. Bill is still well in the picture and of course an important advisor of mine. Who knows what I'll come up with or what will fit the best, but this is going to be a cool experiment. I have the keys to the lab, let's see what creations come from my careful research!
Stay the course.
5 comments:
I always enjoy getting inside your training brain. :)
You are very honest about your weaknesses, but it's good to know so that you can arm yourself accordingly.
Looking forward to seeing how spectacular things go from here!
How exciting is that to start your own training! You are going to learn so much more about yourself and I think that's pretty cool. Sure, you may make a mistake here or there but really, it's all about how you feel on a given day and learning how the body ticks. Looking forward to your journey! :)
I think writing and processing this is a really big step for you. It was no shock to me, however, after our recent discussions. I'm really excited for you, and I know that you and Bill have other things going besides him coaching you. It's all in the woodwork and I love it!
I am still a new runner (despite doing it for 12 years, as over 10 of them were a hundred years ago!) so I am constantly learning. I have just started to actually follow the schedule my coach sets me by sticking to ALL the paces he sets me. I didn't think it mattered if I ran my long runs faster, in fact I thought it could only help me to get faster. Wrong. Also, the group I usually run my long runs with are hitting a faster pace than I'm supposed to so it was easy to just go with the flow, I'm not going to let them leave me behind afteall! (you are not the only competitive jerk out there! :D)
But I do let them go now, I stick to my paces like glue, relaxing and enjoying running with those I never normally see until the end of a run. I admit I find it hard when a new person joins, I want to tell them about how fast my threshold run was on Wednesday and shout "I AM FASTER THAN THIS!!!!!!" but that would be insane, right....:D It's all bigger picture, let your racing do the talking.
I find it incredible how you fit in all you fit in to a week, between your training, your job, your athletes, and everything else you have going on! Keep up the good work soldier and DON'T let that fast runner ego get in the way ;)
It took me a while to be able to run my recovery and easy runs SLOWLY - super slowly - but it has made all the difference in allowing me to run my hard/fast workouts hard and fast.
You are such a talented athlete, coach, and person and I love reading your posts. The athletes you coach are lucky to have you and it sounds like you know your own strengths and weaknesses well enough to be very effective in writing your own plans. What is your next big goal? I am sure you are going to rock it! :) Hugs!
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