Channeling My Inner Superwoman

I did an easy speed work day 1 mile warm up followed by 6 x 400m sprints and a 1.3 mile cool down. The sprints felt great.  The sprints felt so good.  It made me realize I have mostly been doing 800s for speed work this summer and I love 400s.  I have missed them.   The rest of the week is going to be even easier :) 

Now is when the self doubt is starting to creep in.  Did I do enough?  Did I train hard enough, put in enough miles, get in all the key workouts?  5 days to go until the half marathon I have been waiting all year to do.  I just hope I am not putting my expectations to high.  I really want to get under 1:40. I know I can do it.  I ran a 1:40:51 on a hilly course in the heat of summer.  This is a downhill, flat course with expected cooler temps.  I just need to channel my inner Superwoman and be confident that I have done the speed work,  and I have done the long runs.  I AM READY.  I can do this.   I need to focus on the feelings I have had in other races this year where I felt confident and invincible. I need to erase the self doubt and concentrate on strategy that worked in the last half marathon I did.  If I do not PR it is not the end of the world I know this.  There will be other races and other days but this is the last half marathon I have on the schedule this year and I really want to smash it.  

 

 

 

Thanks to my daughter for letting me borrow her cape. 

 

 I do believe in my abilties and just have to trust in my body that it will be performing its best. I have done my training, I am amazing and I know I can do this.  I know some days the energy is there and others it is not.  I don't want to sound negative, but I do know that sometimes when I race my body feels on top of the world and other times I feel like I am fighting for every step. Even though I still do great it feels harder on some days than others.  Mentally I am going to believe it is going to be a Superwoman kind of day and if it isn't I will deal with that later. 

I will employ the same strategy I did in the last two half marathons of starting out slightly slower than goal pace and picking it up as I go.  I will hydrate well and use my energy gels at miles 5 and 10.  I will pee eight times before the start of the race and I will try to take time to enjoy the moment. I will remember I am strong, amazing, and love what I am doing. 

I also found a great article at  runningtimes.com about pre race jitters and two of the points discussed hit the nail on the head for me so I am going to share them with you the rest of the article can be found HERE. 
 I highlighted the parts that really spoke to me. I do recommend reading the rest of it too. 

2) SECOND-GUESSING SYNDROME

It's the week of our race, and the realization hits: Everything I've done to prepare for this race is wrong!

We're convinced we should have run more distance. Or more intervals. Or a long tempo run. Or hills. Or rested more. Or something. Anything!

Relax. Workouts overlap in their training effect. Mile repeats will tap the same muscles and energy systems as a tempo run. Hill repeats will buoy your "speed" every bit as well as a good set of quarters. And a long run with hills will work just about everything. So even if your training wasn't perfect, chances are good that you're fit to race.

Recently, a runner I coach phoned me three days before a half marathon. He was concerned that he'd run less volume and shorter tempos than some of his friends. I told him what I always tell my athletes: The training we scheduled was the training you needed. He calmed down. And then he set a PR by 11 minutes.

3) LEAVING YOUR RACE IN YOUR WORKOUT

The race is almost upon us, and we doubt our fitness. The answer seems clear: Run a time trial or all-out interval session to test our conditioning.

Stop. Do not pass go. Testing our race readiness will not improve our fitness, but it will deplete the resources we have available for the actual race.

This is the difference between a race and a workout: A race is a 100 percent effort, and a workout is not. As far as our bodies are concerned, a 100 percent effort during a time trial or workout is a race. It results in the same energy depletion, muscle inflammation, and psychological fatigue.

Trust the fitness you have. Don't waste it on a workout. 

Did I mention the sky looked amazing this morning when I was out running.  I love when the sun's rays of light shine through the clouds like fingers of love reaching out and embracing the earth.  It always feels like a special moment to me, like a blessing or something.  Hard to describe.  (Did I make you puke a little bit in the back of your mouth just now?  Sometimes I am like that :)





Last day to enter the RelaxReflect giveaway HERE and two days left for the Aspaeris pivot shorts giveaway HERE.  Good luck!

How do you channel your inner Superwoman and deal with pre race doubts and jitters?