ha ha ha ... 20 mins! I also like blogging a little bit while I am in "recovery" - I have found myself going back to these posts when I have been injured, or recovering after races - seeing "how did I survive this last time" (there is no way I could remember without writing it down!). I also am in the statistical analysis mode of my race -- trying to figure out *if* I were *ever* to run a marathon again (he he) what would I do better ... so, I looked at the 5 mile average splits (because of the hills the 3 mile splits were a little too variable, the 5 mile splits are much more smooth): 7:32, 7:28, 7:37, 7:36, 7:40 - although I did slow down over the last half of the race, I am not sure that running miles 5 -10 slower would have helped at all (e.g., my normal strategy would have been the opposite splits - with the fastest being the last miles) -- I think I ran the best I could on the day. It is not my usual "negative split" race strategy, but, it is a marathon, and it was a race ... so, I guess I will just call it done! Greg is a pretty serious advocate about the recovery cycle after a marathon, I am sure by this weekend I will start to get antsy, right now though, I am happy to take some downtime. I did not feel at all like running until this AM ... I finally started some gentle rolling and some of my ab and back exercises yeterday. I am on my way to SF for a business trip tomorrow, it will keep my mind off of my running routine -- it will be nice not to worry about how I am going to fit in all my runs on this trip :) I wanted to share few tidbits I took away from Lauren Fleshman's talk (she was the guest speaker at the expo). She is a funny, smart, and very nice person (we use the same ART therapist in Phoenix, and so it was fun to see her in this "mode"). Her talk consisted of 4 major topics: 1. Mystery column - this is sort of what Sasha calls "factor X". No matter how good your training is, no matter how much you watch what you eat, and do everything right, there is always some intangible factor(s) that influence your race/your ability. Could be something like genetics, could be something immeasureable that influence your performance on the day ... it is a mystery. 2. Training - everyone has their favorite workouts, the workouts that they like, most likely what they are good at. It sometimes has to do with your strengths (e.g., some people are really good at short interval workouts really fast, others are better at tempo runs) - sometimes it is just how you are wired (see #1 above). Lauren made the case that you should focus on those strengths - train to them. Greg McMillan also advocates this - he structures our workouts so while we sometimes touch on those systems that are not our "favorite" - he tries to make sure that 80% of our workouts for any give target race focus on our strengths. It could be that people like Galen Rupp - who needed to work on his closing speed to compete at the world level - need to step outside of their comfort zone a little more often (Salazar sent him to work with the sprinters at U of Florida for a season -- it changed his kick a lot); but Lauren believes that even the world class athletes should spend the majority of their time training to their strengths. 3. Recovery - don't run through injuries, don't be afraid to take the time required to stay healthy. Learn from your training. Lauren talked about the fact that she is not a high-mileage runner. The first time she moved up from 70 mpw she broke her foot. She convinced herself that it was some sort of fluke. She recovered, and did the same training again, pushed the mileage again, broke it again. After a few of these cycles, and a surgery that was pretty bad, she learned to listen to her body and she doesn't push through pain/injury cycle -- and she trains to her strengths (see #2). Get massages, get treatment before injuries, not just wait until afterward. 4. Psychologic side to running. This is a growing area in professional athletics. It concerns "the little voice" -- you know the one ... the one that tells you the last 1-4 miles that you can't go on, that you need to stop ... the one that, for Lauren, almost paralyzes you before the race even begins. She told us how after winning her first US championship race (5K) she started to get so nervous before races that running wasn't fun anymore. Her mind, "the voice", would worry so much about what could happen ("what if I lose my national title", "what if I am 4th in this race and I don't make the team?") that she would be a mess before the race. This is also the same voice that you can turn into, "right now I am in 4th - all I have to do is push it this last lap and I will have 3rd" or, "if that woman in 3rd doesn't keep up, I *will* take her". There are specialists that can help you develop skills to "change the conversation" when the voice sabotages your races. I have to say that I thought a lot about this during my race. I have always been pretty good about convincing myself that "if I can do it in training, I can execute the race" - so I do a lot of fast finish runs, I run primarily on my own, so I spend a lot of time thinking "ok, how do I feel right now, what do I need to adjust to run 40 more minutes?", "can I go faster? do I need to slow down?". But, when things start to hurt, it is so hard to keep the negative thoughts out, and replace them with the positive ... for elite athletes (where the stakes are oh so much higher) - this aspect of their training/racing can make the difference between a big payday, or not. So, many are turning to experts in sport psychology, and Lauren believes this can make a substantial difference. There you go ... it was very entertaining, witty, and fun. I am sure I did not do it justice, and some of this stuff we all "know" (e.g., especially the injury one :)) - but it is so important, it is worth hearing all the time! I hope you are all doing well! Happy Wednesday, Bloggers!
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