For those of you who haven't worked with a Coach, this is normal. When you move to a structured program based on your own abilities, a Coach will work with your abilities and weaknesses. It's almost like MAGIC. The gains happen THAT quickly.
BUT.....my mind had not caught up to where my body was. My mind was thinking, "Ok, THIS effort means I'm going hard, so I need to feel tired."
That wasn't true anymore. Although I was racing faster, in training there were a couple of sessions where I found myself plugging along at old paces.
HABIT.
One day, I opened my email. There was a note from my Coach. All it said was:
Tea,
Don't be afraid of your newly found fitness and speed.
Hugsies,
Coach.
This quickly became a mantra: Don't be afraid of your power.
Recently, Thursdays have become a tough day. It's the day where I am starting to feel the fatigue of the week; most importantly, it's two days after the hardest day of the week: Tuesday: a long hard effort workout.
I was running yesterday, and it was so hard. I have moved beyond the "wanting to stop" phase when I'm tired. Under no circumstances am I going to stop. I will keep moving even if it means running at a 12:00 pace. (I'm pleased to say, I wasn't even close to a 12:00 pace BUT I wouldn't care if I was).
Those types of days force me to focus. If I don't focus, I swear I would end up walking.
I AM NOT GOING TO WALK. Hell, I'm STILL technically running.
THIS IS WHERE CHAMPIONS ARE MADE.
The people who want it bad enough will push. Everyone else will give up.
You might think this little bit of motivation got me all jazzed up to go. But, that's not always how it goes. Sometimes, it just saves me from walking.
When I was on the return, I started thinking that THIS RIGHT HERE is my weakness: Being willing to push even harder when I am tired. Being willing to push when my legs were screaming at me to stop. "Please stop. We'll buy you ice cream. You can finish the chocolate bunny. The whole thing....not just the ears....and the Peeps. Take them all. Just maybe a break? Please. Think of us. HAVE SOME SYMPATHY WOMAN."
Oh they hurt.....bad.
I started thinking: Don't be afraid of your power.
If you quit now, you give yourself the permission to quit every time. Don't make that time today. Don't do it. If you slow down now, you are giving yourself permission to quit in a race.
Even when it hurts like this, if you DON'T STOP, and IF YOU SPEED UP, you are teaching yourself just the opposite.
PUSH HARDER when things are hard. Don't back off. It hurts, but it hurts everyone equally. Don't be THAT athlete that you see walking at the end of a race.
MAKE A NEW HABIT.
I managed to pick up the pace toward the end, dropping :30 per mile. That alone shows I have more inside. I can go deeper into the pain.
Acknowledge it. Accept it. Push harder.
I can do this.
I will do this.
Oh they hurt.....bad.
I started thinking: Don't be afraid of your power.
If you quit now, you give yourself the permission to quit every time. Don't make that time today. Don't do it. If you slow down now, you are giving yourself permission to quit in a race.
Even when it hurts like this, if you DON'T STOP, and IF YOU SPEED UP, you are teaching yourself just the opposite.
PUSH HARDER when things are hard. Don't back off. It hurts, but it hurts everyone equally. Don't be THAT athlete that you see walking at the end of a race.
MAKE A NEW HABIT.
I managed to pick up the pace toward the end, dropping :30 per mile. That alone shows I have more inside. I can go deeper into the pain.
Acknowledge it. Accept it. Push harder.
I can do this.
I will do this.
