Wednesday, October 8, 2008

TWO milestones!!

I'm just about as stoked as I can be with my training right now.....i'm super super happy. I had a track work out yesterday and it was a "one mile" time trial. So, I got there early since I had to run for a total of an hour, so one mile wasn't going to cut it.....(unless I was having a very very bad day =0).

Immediately I was nervous, I thought my new purple people eater shoes were too clunky and my legs..oh, my legs were STILL tired from Sunday. I knew it was going to be a stretch to ask them to perform well at track, but I was there and had to get it done. I just wanted to go under 7:00 minutes. I was thinking it would be possible but wasn't sure about my legs.

There was some discrepancy about the time because my Garmin read 1.03, so just over a mile, but if we're going with that time then:
FIRST MILESTONE: I did the mile in 6:36. I can't tell you how mentally motivating this is for me. It isn't a time that I would ever come close to pacing myself at, or something I would think of as my pace. But, the point is, I have worked my ass off all season, learning and trying to figure out what pacing meant and how to do that just right. And, the new Asics? Not a problem. They'll be here for the long haul.

For someone who ran their first marathon in 5:40, my second at 4:51 and my third at 4:28....to even be running anywhere in the "6's" is truly a reward of just learning what it means to feel good, but hurt. Running comes naturally to some people....swimming, soccer, skiing and tennis come naturally to me. Running doesn't. It means putting up with myself with a "slow" start (we're talking a 9:00 minute mile), and literally talking myself into pushing myself harder. It isn't always fun for me while i'm doing it, but I absolutely thrive on getting faster so it's worth it.


Ironman training for some doesn't always include speed work, but for me, it has and i'm excited to know that with distance, I can also improve some of my speed, that's been truly awesome.

SECOND MILESTONE!! I MOVED UP A LANE AT MASTERS!! I usually swim in lane 4 and moved up to 3...I don't even know how many lanes we have 7??

So..I forced myself to do it. I've been wanting to do it for a while, but was too chicken, so during warm up, I checked out the other lane and my thought went like this "ok, those are the two nice ladies, that guy looks nice, i'll try it." Meaning if the mean girl and fast lady were there, but attemps would have been foiled perhaps, but the mean people weren't there. How LAME is that?? BUT, it doesn't matter, because now that i've moved up, I will ONLY allow myself to move back if i'm getting lapped. And...this time, I kept up, no problem. Even better, I was able to work hard, keep up and my new lane mates were super sweet, motivating and just what I needed--I get a little insecure and it's nice to have that motivation. One lady goes "oh, you can tap my feet if you want," and I was like "if I tap your feet it's to grab on to them, not to get by." =0. I was just proud of myself for making myself switch lanes. My old lane mate in 3 gave me a look like "fine, leave me," (in a joking way, he's super nice)....but, with Ironman approaching, I want to know that I pushed hard everywhere...not just in running!!

This afternoon: 90 minute trainer ride and 45 minute run.......

4 comments:

Shan said...

YEAH MER!!!!! woop woop woop! That is so awesome! :)

Looking forward to Thursday!!!

Anonymous said...

awesome, mer! i vaguely remember what it's like to have to move up to a faster lane - good job on taking the initiative!

Anonymous said...

Hee hee, OH YEAH MER! WOO! Got up to the big girl's lane at masters and ran a 6.36 on the track - nice work!!! I am SO glad you are feeling SOOO good with your training and it is showing up! :) congrats!!! Jen H.

Christina said...

Hi- I've been reading your blog for a while (since I started training for my first triathlon)- it's fun to read because you're so positive and you really seem to have fun! And it's encouraging to know you used to be slow, too. :) Keep up the good work and the good blogging!