"you gotta *learn* how to hurt" and other sage advice
Sage Advice
Sage advice #1:
Once upon a time I asked Dave - how do I get faster on the bike - our conversation went like this:
Dave: "you gotta learn how to hurt"
Me: "i am hurting when I'm going hard on the bike"
Dave: "ummm...no you aren't - you are uncomfortable but you aren't hurting"
Me (thinking to myself) 'you don't know what you are talking about because what I'm doing does hurt'
Turns out Dave was right - i was just in 'uncomfortable' mode not in 'burying myself in the pain cave mode'.
Sage advice #2:
I was talking to Dana D. about one of my laps at the 24 hours of Moab. I mentioned that I was chatting with a girl on the back side of the course.
Dana: "girrl!!! if you were talking to someone - you weren't racing"
me: "of course I was racing"
Dana: "nope - if you were racing you'd be too out of breath to hold a conversation"
Me (thinking to myself) 'damn it! she's right - I should have been pushing harder'
Sage advice #3
I was telling Phil how frustrated I was with a race I had raced the previous weekend. I told him - I worked my ass off to get the hole-shot so I wouldn't be bottle necked at the sharp switchbacks by other riders. I cleaned the switchbacks but in the process blew myself up and as a result 5 people passed me on the straight-away.
Phil: "oh that's great!"
Me: "what are you talking about?!?! that was bad - I lost a ton of places because I couldn't maintain"
Phil: "but you have to blow yourself up to find out where the ceiling is and what if feels like"
Me: "But it sucked - because I had a bad race result"
Phil: "nope - don't agree. You have to know where that ceiling is so you can push right to that edge when you are racing...and the only way to do that is to blow yourself up a couple of times"
Me(thinking to myself) 'well that sucks - you have to suck at a race to find out how to race'
Sage advice #4
This wasn't really advice from a person but something I learned from experience.
It's loud up front.
The year I raced Singlespeed - I would start with the Expert women - due to the gearing I was usually at the front of the pack on the opening climb. After a couple of races I noticed something that happened at the front-of-the-pack that doesn't happen in the middle-of-the-pack. Everyone is breathing a lot harder and louder.
I realized - it's loud up front because everyone is working as hard as possible. Everyone is breathing hard and loud. It's not like that in the middle - I thought 'hmmm- maybe the front of the pack is faster because they are working harder? they know how to hurt??'
Which brings up to my first running race...
Eerie Erie Race Report
the prep
I was a little leery going into this race - I thought I might have a good shot of placing in the top 5 of my age group. I had looked at previous years results and based on those times and my pre-run of the course - I knew I had a good chance for a top 5 finish - which would be a great result for me considering i'm not a runner and it would my first ever running race. BUT to think I might be in the top 5 made me feel a bit weird...maybe I was fooling myself. Maybe running 8:10s on the treadmill isn't the same as running a real course. Maybe i'd blow in the first mile and crawl to the finish.
BUT - in lots of ways I was more than ready for this race. I was hoping for a sub-26 minute race. 26 minutes is just a tad longer than the Short Track Races. And I've had a lot of practice this year of holding a just-below-anaerobic pace with all the gazillion 20 minute intervals LW Coaching had me do this summer. So I thought I had a good chance of being able to hold that 'in the hurt locker' pace.
I talked to Phil and he gave me some 5k race advice:
1. Do a 20 minute warmup: Start warming up ~40 minutes before the race. The 20 minute warmup instructions - run easy for 8-10 minutes and do 3 or 4x1 minute hard efforts just at race pace finish up at an easy pace. Then just try to keep moving until the race starts.
2. Do NOT go out too hard in the 1st mile!: According to Phil - this is a mistake a lot of people make. This was going to be difficult to not bust out the 1st mile because it's a slight downhill and quite fast. In my pre-run - I ran the 1st mile in 8:08. I was secretly hoping to have a sub-8minute on the 1st mile but I was going to listen to Phil and keep my pace in check.
3. TLC: run tall, lean and fast cadence. If I felt myself hunching over from the waist - take a few seconds and reset my form and then keep on motoring
4. Run just below the "i'm gonna blow up ceiling" until the finish line is crossed.
Runners Ready...
Turns out the 5k was going to start at 9:45 and Xanthe and the 10k-ers were going out at 9:30. oops! With that change - I timed my warmup too early. but what can you do? It was nice to see Xanthe off and I just tried to keep moving until the start.
.
I positioned myself in the top quarter of the pack figuring I'd be fast enough to not slow up the people behind me and hopefully the people in front of me would be faster so I wouldn't have much traffic to dodge.
then it was Runners ready...GO!
Mile 1
By feel I settled into my race pace in the first couple of minutes. I wasn't worrying about anyone but me and the perceived effort. I focused on running a smart race. Sure enough after ~half mile a lot of people in front of me faded. I was definitely in my race pace - it was just slightly below the anaerobic threshold edge. I could've gone a little harder that 1st mile but I believe it would have been at the cost of slower subsequent miles.
i was running neck-and-neck with a lady that looked like she might be in my age group. She was right behind my left elbow for probably most of the first mile. She had a strange stride but she was motoring right along with me...toward the end of the 1st mile she pulled away from me and I let her go.(turns out she was in my age group and finished 2nd - kudos to her) I wasn't going to worry about anyone but me.
Toward the end of that first mile - I was breathing hard (but not raggedly) and I looked at my GPS and saw I had ran the 1st mile in 8 minutes. 'good - that's just where you want to be' - I thought to myself. I was suffering but it was a manageable suffering. ;)
Mile 2
Here in mile 2 - I started catching up to people. I also noticed besides catching people that had went out too hard - no one was passing me. I had noticed a tall lean girl in a blue tank top and black knickers at the start. She looked like a fast runner and as the pack thinned out I was right behind her. I would pass her on the uphill and she'd pass me on the flats. I stayed right on her shoulder and caught a draft and when I tried to pass - her pace was just fast enough i couldn't pass her.
I saw Dana on her bike twice during the 2nd mile and she made me smile as she cheered me on. I could have gone just a tad harder during this mile but I wanted to make sure I was just below that "blowing up" pace and have enough in the tank for the last mile. But don't get me wrong - I was a hurting puppy.
Mile 3
I held just a tiny bit back on the first half of this mile and then a half mile from the finish I ran as hard as I could. Me and blue tank top girl kept going back and forth. I saw Dana again on the last hill (I was breathing *very* hard at this point) and she said "work this hill girl!" It was all I could do to barely acknowledge her. "Hey Dana - I am really racing!" - I wanted to say but didn't have any energy left to talk. I was deep in the 'pain cave' and was looking for the finish.
I was just behind blue tank top girl as we ran into the finishing chute - she kicked it out and finished 4 seconds ahead of me. As I crossed the finished line the race clock read: 25:47 and I punched the STOP button on my GPS. Oh my! that was HARD - i was WORKED.
Aftermath
I was really happy with my race. I felt I executed well and I thought *maybe* could have gone maybe 10 -15 seconds faster but in all I really felt like I had pushed as hard as possible. I didn't have any regrets on how I ran that race.
I was stoked to see Dave come in at 30:08. I was very proud of Dave. Just before Dave finished - Princess Leia came running through the finish line pushing a stroller with 2(!) kids. Dave made a joke about that. I wish I had a picture that would have been so awesome.
Dave and I ran the last few blocks with Xanthe. She had never raced a 10k before and she had a sub-hour goal in mind. She finished in 59:30 with an average 9:30 minute per mile pace. She did awesome.
Xanthe and Dana booked it back to Boulder. Dave and I hung around hoping to win a prize at the raffle. (we didn't)
Race Results
When the results were posted I saw that I had finished 3rd in my age group out of 26 runners. I was amazed and happy with that result. Especially when I saw I would have been 3rd in the 40-49 age group out of 39 runners and 5th in the 30-39 age group out of 57 runners. Out of the total of 205 women - I was 18th. wow! that's so crazy!!
Usually I feel I had to give an excuse when I have a good race result. In mountain biking - I am just at the age where there are few competitors in my category. When I was in my mid-forties there weren't that many 40 year olds. Then when I raced singlespeed - there weren't that many singlespeeds and now that I'm in the 50 year old category - there are very few competitors. Usually I would just have to show up and finish in order to get on the podium and I feel a bit like a fraud.
So it feels very odd to me that this is legitimately a darn good race result. There was plenty on competition present and plus this is Colorado where the competition is always stiff. I'm a bit shocked, embarrassed and happy that I did so well...and i'm gonna leave it at that...
Sage advice #1:
Once upon a time I asked Dave - how do I get faster on the bike - our conversation went like this:
Dave: "you gotta learn how to hurt"
Me: "i am hurting when I'm going hard on the bike"
Dave: "ummm...no you aren't - you are uncomfortable but you aren't hurting"
Me (thinking to myself) 'you don't know what you are talking about because what I'm doing does hurt'
Turns out Dave was right - i was just in 'uncomfortable' mode not in 'burying myself in the pain cave mode'.
Sage advice #2:
I was talking to Dana D. about one of my laps at the 24 hours of Moab. I mentioned that I was chatting with a girl on the back side of the course.
Dana: "girrl!!! if you were talking to someone - you weren't racing"
me: "of course I was racing"
Dana: "nope - if you were racing you'd be too out of breath to hold a conversation"
Me (thinking to myself) 'damn it! she's right - I should have been pushing harder'
Sage advice #3
I was telling Phil how frustrated I was with a race I had raced the previous weekend. I told him - I worked my ass off to get the hole-shot so I wouldn't be bottle necked at the sharp switchbacks by other riders. I cleaned the switchbacks but in the process blew myself up and as a result 5 people passed me on the straight-away.
Phil: "oh that's great!"
Me: "what are you talking about?!?! that was bad - I lost a ton of places because I couldn't maintain"
Phil: "but you have to blow yourself up to find out where the ceiling is and what if feels like"
Me: "But it sucked - because I had a bad race result"
Phil: "nope - don't agree. You have to know where that ceiling is so you can push right to that edge when you are racing...and the only way to do that is to blow yourself up a couple of times"
Me(thinking to myself) 'well that sucks - you have to suck at a race to find out how to race'
Sage advice #4
This wasn't really advice from a person but something I learned from experience.
It's loud up front.
The year I raced Singlespeed - I would start with the Expert women - due to the gearing I was usually at the front of the pack on the opening climb. After a couple of races I noticed something that happened at the front-of-the-pack that doesn't happen in the middle-of-the-pack. Everyone is breathing a lot harder and louder.
I realized - it's loud up front because everyone is working as hard as possible. Everyone is breathing hard and loud. It's not like that in the middle - I thought 'hmmm- maybe the front of the pack is faster because they are working harder? they know how to hurt??'
Which brings up to my first running race...
Eerie Erie Race Report
 |
| race number |
the prep
I was a little leery going into this race - I thought I might have a good shot of placing in the top 5 of my age group. I had looked at previous years results and based on those times and my pre-run of the course - I knew I had a good chance for a top 5 finish - which would be a great result for me considering i'm not a runner and it would my first ever running race. BUT to think I might be in the top 5 made me feel a bit weird...maybe I was fooling myself. Maybe running 8:10s on the treadmill isn't the same as running a real course. Maybe i'd blow in the first mile and crawl to the finish.
BUT - in lots of ways I was more than ready for this race. I was hoping for a sub-26 minute race. 26 minutes is just a tad longer than the Short Track Races. And I've had a lot of practice this year of holding a just-below-anaerobic pace with all the gazillion 20 minute intervals LW Coaching had me do this summer. So I thought I had a good chance of being able to hold that 'in the hurt locker' pace.
I talked to Phil and he gave me some 5k race advice:
1. Do a 20 minute warmup: Start warming up ~40 minutes before the race. The 20 minute warmup instructions - run easy for 8-10 minutes and do 3 or 4x1 minute hard efforts just at race pace finish up at an easy pace. Then just try to keep moving until the race starts.
2. Do NOT go out too hard in the 1st mile!: According to Phil - this is a mistake a lot of people make. This was going to be difficult to not bust out the 1st mile because it's a slight downhill and quite fast. In my pre-run - I ran the 1st mile in 8:08. I was secretly hoping to have a sub-8minute on the 1st mile but I was going to listen to Phil and keep my pace in check.
3. TLC: run tall, lean and fast cadence. If I felt myself hunching over from the waist - take a few seconds and reset my form and then keep on motoring
4. Run just below the "i'm gonna blow up ceiling" until the finish line is crossed.
Runners Ready...
 |
| Xanthe getting ready for the 10k, Dave & I the 5k |
Turns out the 5k was going to start at 9:45 and Xanthe and the 10k-ers were going out at 9:30. oops! With that change - I timed my warmup too early. but what can you do? It was nice to see Xanthe off and I just tried to keep moving until the start.
.
I positioned myself in the top quarter of the pack figuring I'd be fast enough to not slow up the people behind me and hopefully the people in front of me would be faster so I wouldn't have much traffic to dodge.
then it was Runners ready...GO!
Mile 1
By feel I settled into my race pace in the first couple of minutes. I wasn't worrying about anyone but me and the perceived effort. I focused on running a smart race. Sure enough after ~half mile a lot of people in front of me faded. I was definitely in my race pace - it was just slightly below the anaerobic threshold edge. I could've gone a little harder that 1st mile but I believe it would have been at the cost of slower subsequent miles.
i was running neck-and-neck with a lady that looked like she might be in my age group. She was right behind my left elbow for probably most of the first mile. She had a strange stride but she was motoring right along with me...toward the end of the 1st mile she pulled away from me and I let her go.(turns out she was in my age group and finished 2nd - kudos to her) I wasn't going to worry about anyone but me.
Toward the end of that first mile - I was breathing hard (but not raggedly) and I looked at my GPS and saw I had ran the 1st mile in 8 minutes. 'good - that's just where you want to be' - I thought to myself. I was suffering but it was a manageable suffering. ;)
Mile 2
Here in mile 2 - I started catching up to people. I also noticed besides catching people that had went out too hard - no one was passing me. I had noticed a tall lean girl in a blue tank top and black knickers at the start. She looked like a fast runner and as the pack thinned out I was right behind her. I would pass her on the uphill and she'd pass me on the flats. I stayed right on her shoulder and caught a draft and when I tried to pass - her pace was just fast enough i couldn't pass her.
I saw Dana on her bike twice during the 2nd mile and she made me smile as she cheered me on. I could have gone just a tad harder during this mile but I wanted to make sure I was just below that "blowing up" pace and have enough in the tank for the last mile. But don't get me wrong - I was a hurting puppy.
Mile 3
I held just a tiny bit back on the first half of this mile and then a half mile from the finish I ran as hard as I could. Me and blue tank top girl kept going back and forth. I saw Dana again on the last hill (I was breathing *very* hard at this point) and she said "work this hill girl!" It was all I could do to barely acknowledge her. "Hey Dana - I am really racing!" - I wanted to say but didn't have any energy left to talk. I was deep in the 'pain cave' and was looking for the finish.
I was just behind blue tank top girl as we ran into the finishing chute - she kicked it out and finished 4 seconds ahead of me. As I crossed the finished line the race clock read: 25:47 and I punched the STOP button on my GPS. Oh my! that was HARD - i was WORKED.
 |
| race data |
I was really happy with my race. I felt I executed well and I thought *maybe* could have gone maybe 10 -15 seconds faster but in all I really felt like I had pushed as hard as possible. I didn't have any regrets on how I ran that race.
I was stoked to see Dave come in at 30:08. I was very proud of Dave. Just before Dave finished - Princess Leia came running through the finish line pushing a stroller with 2(!) kids. Dave made a joke about that. I wish I had a picture that would have been so awesome.
Dave and I ran the last few blocks with Xanthe. She had never raced a 10k before and she had a sub-hour goal in mind. She finished in 59:30 with an average 9:30 minute per mile pace. She did awesome.
Xanthe and Dana booked it back to Boulder. Dave and I hung around hoping to win a prize at the raffle. (we didn't)
Race Results
When the results were posted I saw that I had finished 3rd in my age group out of 26 runners. I was amazed and happy with that result. Especially when I saw I would have been 3rd in the 40-49 age group out of 39 runners and 5th in the 30-39 age group out of 57 runners. Out of the total of 205 women - I was 18th. wow! that's so crazy!!
Usually I feel I had to give an excuse when I have a good race result. In mountain biking - I am just at the age where there are few competitors in my category. When I was in my mid-forties there weren't that many 40 year olds. Then when I raced singlespeed - there weren't that many singlespeeds and now that I'm in the 50 year old category - there are very few competitors. Usually I would just have to show up and finish in order to get on the podium and I feel a bit like a fraud.
So it feels very odd to me that this is legitimately a darn good race result. There was plenty on competition present and plus this is Colorado where the competition is always stiff. I'm a bit shocked, embarrassed and happy that I did so well...and i'm gonna leave it at that...
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