Monkey on my Back
Ever since seeing my run split of 2 hours at Duke 1/2, I’ve had this monkey on my back. Based on the times that my friends, Scottie and Jennifer, yelled out to me, I think I ran the first lap in 1:04. That means I had to do the 2nd lap in 55 minutes. I wasn’t even sure if that was physically possible for me. I began to wonder if maybe I missed a turn or something. I guess my mentor, Jon Farber, is right, that I still have insecurities about my athletic abilities.
So, today, I plotted out a 6.5 mile run course which is hillier than Duke. Not too hard to find hills here in Chapel Hill! And I nailed it in 55 minutes! Zone 3. That 55 minute time even includes stopping to eat a Gu and taking my time to drink some water – to simulate what I did at the aid station around mile 7. And my legs weren’t exactly fresh this morning, either 🙂 And I feel great right now, like I could go out and run some more.
So, that monkey on my back is gone. I guess I really did have a breakthrough race. And truly I have had a breakthrough in my running. I have waited so long for this moment and worked so hard for it. I’ve finally learned how to dial in a pace and hold onto it. My friend Rebecca calls this a ‘sweet spot’. I like that!
For the first half of the Duke run, I was shooting for my long run pace of 9:45, which is top of Zone 2, moderately hard. After mile 7 – after I got past my ‘Suffer Section‘ – I started going ‘all out balls to the wall’ giving it everything I had left. And it worked. A huge thank you to Stacey Richardson for helping me find fast running legs. I can’t wait until B2B. I am going for Locker #1.
And a huge shout out to Scottie and Jennifer for coming out to cheer me on. It DID help-ALOT!
It was probably kind of stupid of me to go out for a hard run just two days after doing a hard race. I should be recovering and stretching and going easy. But I had to get this monkey off my back. I haven’t yet written a complete race report because I was in such a funk about this. I can do that now that the monkey is gone
Comparison:
Duke 1/2 run course
13.1 miles
1.7% Average Grade
Total Elevation Gain: 1,178.00 feet
“Monkey on my Back” route
6.51 miles
2.0% Average Grade
Total Elevation Gain: 692.00 feet
That’s great! It’s good to have these confidence-building moments before the race.
You are too funny, Carol! I am glad that you now have enough ‘proof’ that you are a rockstar triathlete who can also run fast. I have a feeling that you are going to surprise yourself at B2B. I am glad to hear that you are taking locker #1 now.
“You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” ~ Rosalynn Carter
Your definetly have shown your strong enough to follow through, now you have the confidence.
Yeah you were definitely kicking it on that run! Congrats on your breakthrough…it makes all of the training worthwhile!