Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable From utilizing the top of the line in performance testing equipment to my second Emergency Room visit here in the Woodlands I have had a great 2 months. Life here in Texas definitely has taken more time than I thought to adjust. I do feel like my purpose of taking my training to the next level is being met. Not only by my stupidity of not hydrating properly(my first ER visit- Heat Exhaustion) to casually and frequently playing Steve Irwin playing with squirrels and feeding French fries to the occasional raccoons.( 2nd ER visit 3 weeks later- Squirrel bite: possible infection and the worst surface pain I’ve experienced in a lonnng time). Heed my warning, Texas squirrels are on a mission to take over the world and they are not your friends. Iam looking forward to opening season here in Montgomery County, which will be October 1st… Squirrel Rant over… back to running. The type of training I have been undertaking is not one for the faint at heart. In college I/we were always impressed with ourselves running at 6:00 pace or under at the end of a long run or dropping 5:20s and 5:00miles at the end of tempos. This was referred to as an “accomplishment”, but now it’s just something we do 3-4x a week. There is no secret to becoming fast. Things take time, but how can someone justify “that always works for me” or “we’ve always done it like this” if you’re going to compete at the highest level? We always say these Africans just have it in their Gene and climate to run fast. YES these are attributes that certainly help their training. It is FACT that most Africans, Kenyans in particular, run 30% of their weekly volume at 80%... Let’s say you’re a 4:00 miler, that’s 5:00miling. Now show of hands how many of you think 80-90miles a week over the summer is beneficial to a great Cross Country season? Well I have to say I’d agree with you, unless you think going for a Sunday long run and playing 6 rounds of grab ass taking 2 hours to run 16 miles..(In the words of the great Coach Joe Vigil). This type of training takes progression and the understanding of listening to your body. Running slow enough pace on recovery days is not frowned upon, but rewarding to your body. I’m not trying to tell people how to train or that there is only one correct way, but just think outside the box and K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid). Having a knowledgeable coach like Dan Green has allowed me to trust in the training and the types of workouts we have been doing. Without trust in the long term goal and intensity of the running we are doing it is a total loss. Coach is always pressing the fact that, “It’s my job to make you comfortable being uncomfortable” as he hands me a swig of Gatorade on my 11mile 5:23 split of a 16 mile long run… There are big things in the future from myself and Team Green Running. It has been a solid 6 weeks of this type of training and it’s amazing what my body has already adapted to in just a short period of time. What about in 6 months? 12 months? 2016 Olympic trials!? Progression is always the key. In the words of the late gone, but not forgotten Robin Williams, “Whats right is whats left if you do everything else wrong.”
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 21:42:49 +0000
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