Building mental strength

Taking the new marathon shoes out for their first spin!

Taking the new marathon shoes out for their first spin!

It’s no secret, I was pretty down on myself after the London Marathon. I wanted to continue running but I didn’t want to commit to racing or training. There are definitely pros and cons to not focusing on training but knowing there’s an upcoming marathon. Pros – I definitely give myself a lot more leeway when it comes to sticking to certain workouts or following a schedule. For the most part, I run when I feel like it and with the exception of the long runs, I don’t usually care about the distance of any of the runs. Cons – Mentally, you start doubting your ability to run the distance. I’m not running NYC for time (as I try to keep reminding myself over and over), but I don’t want to suffer through a miserable experience if I am not physically ready to run 26.2.

I found Wilson Kipsang at Marcus Garvey Park.

I found Wilson Kipsang at Marcus Garvey Park.

The last couple of long runs have helped build my mental strength – 18, 18, 13.1, and 20+ miles yesterday. Yesterday’s run started off rocky. Coach Brian organized a 20-miler for the Alzheimer’s Association team and November Project. The run was organized by pace and the group I signed up for – 9:30/10:00 min/mile was starting at 7:00AM. For the first time in the 4 years that I have been driving out for early morning runs, there was a lot of traffic going through the Lincoln Tunnel and I was late getting to the start. The group already left by the time I arrived so I ended up heading out 20 minutes later with Coach Ali and another teammate. About a mile into the run, I had to use the bathroom again, and made a stop at Chelsea Piers (P.S. for anyone running along the West Side Highway, this is a great public bathroom option). After that point, I ended up running the rest of the run by myself.

Telling Cat Hill that I am better than it.

Telling Cat Hill that I am better than it.

In overly dramatic runner fashion, I was upset and angry that I was late to the start and ended up missing the group. I was disappointed I would need to run nearly 20 miles by myself and even more disappointed that I didn’t have my headphones with me. I mean how could I possibly do a long run without people or headphones? Ironically, it ended up being one of the best 20-milers I’ve ever run. The route wasn’t too difficult navigate and more than 13 miles of it was on the marathon course. There were 3 water stops organized throughout the route, manned by awesome volunteers. Josh was at the first water stop, right at the start of the Williamsburg Bridge, about 6 miles in, and by the time I got there, I was in a runner’s high and forgot all about the morning’s stress.

Just the run I needed.

Just the run I needed.

I ran a conservative first half, averaging around 10 minute pace with the slowest mile on 1st Avenue in Manhattan (mile 12-13) due to the traffic lights and crowds. The last 7.5 miles were the fastest, averaging around 9:30 minute pace with the last mile at 9:13. I finished feeling strong, with energy left in the tank, and mentally confident. My fueling was on point and I was relatively consistent with pacing the entire way despite the traffic lights. I started slow, and along the flatter parts of the course, I was slightly faster, a little slower on the bridges and hills, but despite the rolling hills in the last parts of the route, I maintained a strong finish. Yesterday’s run without friends and music was exactly what I needed to build my mental strength.

In my experience, a marathon is 1/3 physical and 2/3 mental. I am hoping this new-found strength will carry me into the marathon and help me run a consistent race.

Hope everyone had a good weekend! Congratulations to all of my friends who ran the Chicago Marathon (especially Amanda who ran a 6 minute PR), Brooklyn RnR Half, and Staten Island Half.

Keep calm and run on…

keep-calm-and-run“Keep calm and run on” was all I could think about during the NYRR TCS NYC Marathon Tune-Up yesterday morning. I have been petrified of this run all week and after last week’s hip pain, I was worried how I would fare yesterday. Three full loops of Central Park, means 18 miles of rolling hills, Harlem Hill and Cat Hill 3 times each. When you haven’t done any speed work or hill training in not sure how long and very inconsistent long runs, I had full expectation that either I was not going to finish or it was going to be incredibly painful.

To add on top of all of this, I worked on Saturday and was on my feet most of the day. After work, we took a quick trip to Stamford (more on that at a later date) and by the time we got home last night, I was beat. My body hurt and all I wanted to do was fall asleep over pizza carb-loading. Fortunately, I was able to go to sleep fairly early and woke up feeling well-rested.

IMG_3623Despite some parking troubles yesterday morning, I remained calm and reminded myself that I was doing this run, not for time, but rather just to finish. I started the run with my teammates Maria and Tovy but had to separate from them when I peeled off to use the porto-potties after mile 1. I never use bathrooms during run – its precious minutes off my time – but there wasn’t enough time beforehand to take care of business. After the stop, I put on my headphones (P.S. As a coach/runner, I don’t always encourage running with headphones. I believe there is a time and place.) and kept repeating the mantra, “Keep calm and run on.” Aside from the miles where I walked through the water stations, I maintained fairly even splits. When I saw Coach Ali right before mile 6, I was glowing.

IMG_3627I felt a little more tired as the run went on as one would expect, but loops 2 and 3 all felt strong. In the last loop, I was really enjoying myself and thanked almost every volunteer along the way. My fastest two miles were the last two – 17 and 18 and I even “sprinted” the last 0.25 miles into the finish at an average pace of 7:53. My average pace for the whole run including the bathroom stop was 10:14 per mile which is much slower than I have run my other long runs and over a minute slower than when I ran this same course last year. However, I don’t care. I was incredibly proud of myself for keeping calm and continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

Yesterday’s run was a reminder of how much fun running can be, even if it is 18 miles of hills. And more importantly I enjoyed the company of my amazing team afterwards.

Running is like riding a bike, you’ll never forget how to do it and your body can do amazing things.

Tell me about your fun weekend running activity.