The week of any test or race is supposed to be filled with lots of rest, recovery and sleep, three things I did not receive at all. My 8K TT was scheduled for Sunday and I was leaving for Chicago, to be in my best friends wedding, on Thursday night. So while I tried my best to get the rest, recovery and sleep I needed before the weekend rolled around, the uncontrollables in life took over and made this week high in anxiety and stress, however, as seen by my test results, I think its safe to say that even with the uncontrollables, I was still able to throw down a great run.
This week was all about making sacrifices, ("an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important of worth"). This week's sacrifices were:
1) Gave up my chance to swim in the gorgeous Northwestern University pool and dominate my 400 TT swim for the opportunity to have girl chat and cuddle time.
- I love my friends. I also love my sleep and my sport. But how often do I get to spend time with my friends who live hundreds of miles away from me? So although I was crabby because I was up so late, I welcomed the opportunity to talk with my friends, even if that meant I got 5 hours of sleep and no swim in a pretty and cold pool.
2) Gave up alcohol the weekend of my best friends wedding so that I could stay hydrated and attempt to keep HR down for my Test.
- After seeing what happens to my HR after drinking alcohol, I opted to give up alcohol for the weekend for my race on Sunday. That meant I sacrificed toasting a beverage at my best friends wedding but left me drinking loads of water at the bar that night.
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| Cutting of the cake |
3) Sleep. Coach probably hates me for this one because sleep is a principle that GRN MCHN athletes follow.
- I do everything in my power to get between 7.5-8.5 hours a night because with the amount of training I do, the nightly recovery is so important!! The first night I was in Chicago, I got 5 hours of sleep. The second night I got 6 hours, but thankfully on the night before my 8k I got 8, however, that's not the rest I needed going in this TT.
For those of you who don't know, I suffer from anxiety and unfortunately get anxiety attacks when my triggers make themselves known in my life. In the nine days leading up to my test, I had two anxiety attacks, something I rarely only ever have once every two months or so. When I have one of these attacks, it's debilitating and so emotionally and physically exhausting that I lose the much needed rest that comes with rest week. Thankfully I was able to take a personal day and make up for some of that much needed rest before heading to Chicago for the weekend.
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| Shenanigans in the car before the wedding |
So clearly the time leading up to my test was ROUGH! However, with the help of my sister-in-law, Cait, I was able to PR by 1 minute in my 8K.
8K Test
Opposed to starting the run in the morning, to simulate a typical race morning, I opted to sleep in and go to brunch with my family for my dad's birthday. I was scared to even eat at brunch because lately my stomach hasn't been agreeing with things I eat before runs, however, chowed down on half a salad and a full bag of pretzels.
I did a solid 30-40 minutes of PT before going out and running. Cait and I ran out to the lake (a warmup of only 5 minutes) before starting the test.
First Mile: 8:19
Last test I took it out WAY too fast so I wanted to try and slow it down. I wouldn't of been able to on my own, but Cait kept telling met hat I was going faster than I thought and I had to slow down. I felt great, I could just go at that pace.
Second Mile: 8:25
Still feeling great. Cait asked if I ever talk while I run. I laughed. No, when my HR at BSE, there is not a chance that I can talk. I can formulate words, but no sentences, so she did all the talking. Still feeling pretty good at this point.
Third Mile: 8:33
I knew I was slowing down because my Garmin bings every time I hit a mile, but I continued to push and get after all the people who were out running. I would pick a person out in the crowd ahead of me and tell myself to push until I got to that person, but once I got there, I would tell myself to push until the next person and so on.
Fourth Mile: 8:47
All hell broke loose and my body hurt like hell. Dan tells me that if you don't hurt in an 8k, you're not doing it right, but this mile certainly proved that I was doing it right. It felt as though I had smashed into a brick wall and was failing to break through it.
Fifth Mile: 8:24
There was a blonde girl running probably 25 yards in front of me. I set my eyes on her. It was the last mile so I dug deep and I pushed through that brick wall and I caught that girl in the last 20 seconds of my run.
Final Time: 42:38
Overall, lightyears better than my last test and although I did't break the 8:00 barrier like in my last one, I can see tremendous progress and I can feel it, too! I paced it great, there were no dips in HR like last month and it was a well raced test.
Final Thoughts:
My first race, although a sprint, is in less than a month and I am feeling pretty good! I'm feeling great about my run which I've never said before. I'll feel great about my swim once I can get myself into some open water and the bike will come with time. Dan continues to be really supportive and tough love like when I need him to be. Lately, it's been a lot of positive feedback, which honestly, I haven't been used to, but it motivates me to keep the great work up and strive to be better.
I've finally reached build phase, and am already in shock with some of the workouts he has me doing but I know his methods will get me to good places, so keep on trusting, keep on believing and keep on pushing. I'm growing and loving the sport more and more everyday.
I did a solid 30-40 minutes of PT before going out and running. Cait and I ran out to the lake (a warmup of only 5 minutes) before starting the test.
First Mile: 8:19
Last test I took it out WAY too fast so I wanted to try and slow it down. I wouldn't of been able to on my own, but Cait kept telling met hat I was going faster than I thought and I had to slow down. I felt great, I could just go at that pace.
Second Mile: 8:25
Still feeling great. Cait asked if I ever talk while I run. I laughed. No, when my HR at BSE, there is not a chance that I can talk. I can formulate words, but no sentences, so she did all the talking. Still feeling pretty good at this point.
Third Mile: 8:33
I knew I was slowing down because my Garmin bings every time I hit a mile, but I continued to push and get after all the people who were out running. I would pick a person out in the crowd ahead of me and tell myself to push until I got to that person, but once I got there, I would tell myself to push until the next person and so on.
Fourth Mile: 8:47
All hell broke loose and my body hurt like hell. Dan tells me that if you don't hurt in an 8k, you're not doing it right, but this mile certainly proved that I was doing it right. It felt as though I had smashed into a brick wall and was failing to break through it.
Fifth Mile: 8:24
There was a blonde girl running probably 25 yards in front of me. I set my eyes on her. It was the last mile so I dug deep and I pushed through that brick wall and I caught that girl in the last 20 seconds of my run.
Final Time: 42:38
Overall, lightyears better than my last test and although I did't break the 8:00 barrier like in my last one, I can see tremendous progress and I can feel it, too! I paced it great, there were no dips in HR like last month and it was a well raced test.
Final Thoughts:
My first race, although a sprint, is in less than a month and I am feeling pretty good! I'm feeling great about my run which I've never said before. I'll feel great about my swim once I can get myself into some open water and the bike will come with time. Dan continues to be really supportive and tough love like when I need him to be. Lately, it's been a lot of positive feedback, which honestly, I haven't been used to, but it motivates me to keep the great work up and strive to be better.
I've finally reached build phase, and am already in shock with some of the workouts he has me doing but I know his methods will get me to good places, so keep on trusting, keep on believing and keep on pushing. I'm growing and loving the sport more and more everyday.
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