is slow just a state of mind?

Earlier this week I wrote about how I have doubts about myself as a runner and my progress with my training. I came across this article shortly after: slow is a state of mind. This really hit home with me, as something that I’ve seen in myself and have been working to overcome.

It made me think — am I really slow, or am I holding myself back because I think I’m slow?

For my training, I’ve tried everything: C25K, free training programs from Adidas miCoach, training programs from RunKeeper, a custom plan from Greg McMillan, Jeff Galloway’s Run Walk Run method, and assorted others. Clearly part of the problem could be inconsistent training methods.  🙂  

Each training program or method that I have tried has taught me something.  For example, I learned that with Galloway’s method I allowed myself to walk too much, and rather than sticking to set intervals, I would try to run in the beginning, get tired, and then walk way more than run. I also discovered that a lot of these training plans are designed to work for everyone, and as such, they are not necessarily ideal for anyone.  I felt the best when I was using the custom plan from McMillan Running.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for the Disneyland 1/2. I was waiting to see how Santa Cruz was, since I had mostly used a free RunKeeper “1/2 marathon intermediate” training plan. Except that I skipped almost every single long run. It was not that I didn’t want to do those runs, but I was traveling, recovering from surgery, or just busy.

The free plan, in all honesty, was probably fine. It was just boring. And for whatever reason, RunKeeper insists that training plans start on certain days and the workouts are on set days. I think they want some sort of social aspect on their website, but it just makes their training plans a pain to use, because, ah-hem, I don’t want to run on the days of the week that they have selected.

RunKeeper has other free plans. They even have one called “Sub 2:30 half marathon.” The problem is the very first long run says “Steady pace is 11:20 to 11:40 pace”.  Umm, for 5 miles?  I don’t think I can’t do that. I’m not trying to psych myself out, but if I pick a training plan that’s too aggressive, or too ahead of where I am, then I’m just setting myself up for failure.

After being really frustrated with a seeming lack of options, I decided to try something new.  McMillan Running now has a “pro” account feature that gives you access to recommended runs and race pace workouts. It’s only $24 for access for a year, and that is way cheaper than a 16-20 week custom plan. Based on those workouts and what I know about myself, I have crafted my own custom training plan. 🙂

The basics of my plan are simple. Long runs have been replaced by race pace workouts. These are starting at 4.6 miles and will build up to 8-10 miles. The goal of these is to practice running at my race pace, just like the name says. I started with 1 mile with .25 mile recovery (3x) and have already increased to 1.25 miles. The second key run is the easy run. I’m going back to basics on this one. Slow, easy, but running. Starting with 30 minutes, and working up to 60. The third run for each week will focus on a speed workout.  Sometimes these will be simple pyramid runs or intervals, but most have been taken from McMillan Running’s recommended workouts. For those weeks that I’m feeling ambitious, I will add in another easy run for 4 days.

So far so good.  Except this week I’ve been sick and missed most of my running days.  I’m not going to worry though, there is still plenty of time between now and the 1/2 marathon.

I’ve also decided to work on cross training more over the next few months. I’ve been going to yoga once a week, and I’d like to add in at least one strength training or core exercise day. I am not super motivated to workout on my own (other than running), so we’ll see how this goes.

As for feeling slow, well, guess what? I feel faster already. I went from looking at my race pace workouts and thinking “no way in hell I can do that” to thinking “hmm, I can modify it early on to something I can do and gradually work up to that.”

I am a runner. There, I said it. And whether I am slow or fast, it doesn’t matter. Because what matters is that I love the feeling of being free, of taking Roxy and just going out for the fun of it. Because it’s not about winning, it’s about becoming a better me.