Of Mice and Marathons

Failed workout... We've all been there. Nice job with the 400's. It's not quite the workout you wanted, but you got some quick stuff in. I won't think any less of you if you turn your pace back on for a hit. :) I'd blame the pacing on the mix of outside and treadmill miles.

When I read this, I'm not concerned by the bombed workout (insignificant in the grand scheme of training), but I see a couple phrases that raise yellow (not red) flags - lack of concentration, gunshy + anxious... it sort of reminds me of how I felt when I fell apart last May. I became an up and down basketcase for a month. I don't want to see you go down that path. Take the pressure off yourself. It's hard training through the winter, in places where winter hits hard! Save something for when the weather gets good again!

Thanks, Jake. I appreciate that. The pace was too hard (even though based on form I thought it was right), but I could have pushed another minute and change but I thought for a second and it was too late.

I had three really strong workouts and I think that went to my head. A number of factors at work here probably, but I'll take your advice and try to sort things out.

Think about it enough to sort it out, but not enough to drive yourself crazy.

And don't let the lows get too low, or the highs too high (unless you are in the last third of a race and feeling great, then just ride the high).

Did you just come up with that on the fly? Pretty good.

Hey Jason - sorry for the late reply, and sorry my ladder brought woe unto you. Which one was it by the way? (We do a few variations)

And joking aside, our club's coach (Joe Burgasser) is the proprietor of those workouts, although he's quick to point out that he just incorporated them from others over the years. Generic workouts, as one of my friends calls them when he's feeling uncharitable.

You already got all the good advice. The only thing I'd add is to *really* not worry about blowing up. Our club has about 15-20 workouts we rotate, and I've blown each one of them at some point. It's just inherent in the nature of intervals - if you overcommit early in the workout, you're doomed.

But going through that experience is actually incredibly valuable - it gives you a lot of insight into pace, which translates in races.

Also, one thing that is very likely is that the next time you attempt a similar workout, you'll pace it better.

Last comment, I really love Jake's comment about not too high or too low. I don't always live it, but I believe it.

Thanks, Drew. Sorry to attach your name to failure :-). For a long time I rarely missed in a workout but I've had a lot of bad ones this year (some breakthroughs as well I might add).

It's the mile/1200/800/800/(4)400 workout. I should probably do it on the track. Mile-2 mile repeats on my loop and tempos are great, but shorter distances don't always work (there's Garmin accuracy with really short stuff too).

Part of the problem is limited workouts before my half in a month and the pressure to smoke all of them. I don't usually get super impatient but I'm definitely not patient. Basically my drive is counterproductive right now.

Some sort of workout tomorrow. I may give Megan some workouts and have her randonly select one and text it to me so I don't know what it is until I head out.

So many variations of the "mile down". I like 1600-1200-800-400-4x200. If I ever run a short race again, I'll use it :-)

On the roads, considering Garmin issues w/ short distances, a good alternative is doing something like 5-4-3-2-1xX min efforts.

Drew that's a good thought about interval workouts that don't go well. It happens, you learn from it... you just don't want to get into a streak of doing it 5 sessions in a row. Provided you can deal with it mentally and allow yourself to physically recover, blowing up a little bit in a workout actually provides a huge adaptation stimulus.