What is it about some workouts…some goals…that get us so scared? Today I had one of those scary workouts on my schedule. 5 x 1000 m intervals run at 10K race pace. Why was I so scared?
I have a 10K race in March and one in April. If conditions are right I’m really hoping I can break an hour. I’ve run a sub-60 10K before…many times…but that was a few years ago. Am I capable of being that runner again? Can I hit those paces?
I’ve also had some big leg workouts these last few days. We had one crazy hard power set at spin class on Tuesday, then I ran some peppy intervals with Shannon and Kelly on Wednesday.
I was definitely going into this workout with some tired legs.
Oh well, it was time to put those nerves aside and just do the run. I had set up my Garmin to beep at me if I ran slower than a 9:30/mi pace, a pace that would get me a 59:00 10K. My Garmin would lap at 1000 m so I didn’t have to watch my Garmin. Just run and see what happens.
I didn’t pay attention to what my paces were at all. I just knew that my Garmin didn’t beep at me to tell me that I needed to speed up. It wasn’t until after all five of my intervals were done that I was able to see how I did.
- 5:44.08 (9:14/mi) – hello wind!
- 5:41.49 (9:10/mi)
- 5:43.28 (9:13/mi) – oh, hello wind again!
- 5:40.37 (9:08/mi)
- 5:40.45 (9:09/mi)
Oh my gosh, I nailed it! You can see where I had to contend with the wind, but otherwise these intervals were all bang on.
What a confidence boost!
Yes, my goal is still a little scary, I just need to believe in myself and trust myself a bit more. I think it helped to try and ignore my Garmin…something I may need to try at one of my upcoming 10Ks. I know one of the keys to success this year as I work towards Ironman Boulder will be working on my mental toughness.
Do you have workouts that scare the pants off of you? How do you tackle them?
Nice job on the run today! And nice seeing you again on the pathways. That wind was pretty wicked today! So far, I have been feeling fairly confident with each of my runs as per my training plan, but it’s starting to get into harder stuff and the nerves are definitely setting in
Pretty much every speed workout scares me. And one that had 1000m repeats would definitely scare me too. Did you do rests in between? Looks like it was great regardless. Good job!
Yeah… I did hill repeats yesterday, which was something I avoided doing since I began running a year and a half ago. There’s this one giant hill along my regular route, that I lovingly refer to as “That Damn Hill” or TDH. Last week, I thought I might try a trail race in August, so I asked a friend who runs trail ultras, and he said that hill training was really important. Aw, crap. So, off I went. I ran TDH 4 times. It didn’t kill me, so I guess I’ll do it again sometime!
great job on your speedy run! You can do a sub-hour 10k, I know it!
yes anything labeled speed workout scares the pants off me. I have started to enjoy tempo runs, but anything at a track brings back bad memories :0) you are killlling it!!
Way to go! Yes, I totally fear the intervals! Over the winter, I’ve been doing my interval training on the treadmill, which is so easy because you set the speed and you better keep up or you’ll be on the ground, eating treadmill belt, right? I’m a little scared to start hitting the track this Spring, but hopefully the results will outweigh any hesitations 🙂 Way to go on those splits, that’s awesome!
I fear anything that makes me run fast, because that’s where I’m mostly likely to get injured. Plus recovery time is a bitch at my age.
Speed and hills totally scare me, but I remind myself of how badass I feel when I’m done them and that gets me through!!
Hills, plain and simple. I really do try to love them… and running on icy conditions.
Speed workouts scare the crap out of me. It got to the point where I just stopped doing them during training last year 🙁 I’ve given myself a goal of being a speedy 5k-er this year, so I will force myself to get over my fear and learn to tolerate the speedwork! Ugh
Great job on yours – I’m sure you’ll nail your goal pace!
Speed workouts always scare me especially when they’re close to a race. I think the fear comes from the risk of injury. I usually try to just turn my brain off and focus on the workout plan.
Oh – I forgot to post on this workout earlier – what an AWESOME job!!! I used to love track workouts back in High School…but as an adult runner, I agree, they scared the crap out of me!!! I first attempted speed runs when I lived in a sub-division where the blocks were ~1/2 mile or 800 m. I slowly started with a few 400’s every other week, and increased by one each time until I reached 8. That lasted about 1 summer. I’m overly impressed that you completed a speed workout here – in the cold – in the ice – and along a river with fierce winds 🙂 Congrats – you are an inspiration!