Sunday, February 1, 2015

A lion and I walk into a room...

The Super Bowl is here, and I do plenty of reading in the lead up to it. One article discussed the sports psych the Seahawks employ to work with their athletes. In the article, the psych says that he is just trying to get guys to acknowledge the lion they're most fearful of. But they don't want just to know its there, they want to invite it into the room and pet it. 

That is the attitude of the distance runner doing speed work- or at least my attitude. I have 18-20 years of experience that tells me what is or isn't feasible. Most times, this is great. The ability to temper enthusiasm in a marathon, hold back a little in a 5-10k. Be measured. But to get faster, you can't say "too fast". You can't go "I've never done a workout that fast, so I need to dial it back." Instead you need to acknowledge the fear of failure (fading, not finishing), and then stare it down.

That has been this speed cycle for me. I've done consecutive workouts that have been as fast as I've gone. 2ks in 6:25-6:27, 1600s in 5:06, 1200s around 3:48, 800s in 2:29. Each time there is the concern- venturing where you haven't been is unnerving. But the desire to get faster needs to outweigh that concern. The difference in pace isn't too micha we're talking 2:29 for 800 instead of 2:33. But it's enough to go- careful. 

But now isn't the time for careful. It's the time for fast.

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