The past 2 months I have been working on my running as many of you may know to try to improve what is my greatest weakness in my Ironman racing. I am still swimming about once a week and riding my bike once per week as well. But I just wanted to get better at this running thing because I always felt that there was more there, that I could do better.
I enlisted the help of Eric Neilsen to coach me so that I can change what I have been doing, have accountability in my workouts and wring as much as I could out of my ability in a short amount of time.
Well two months have passed since I began this "journey" and yesterday I experienced one of those rare days in endurance training when you just a have day that shows the hard work shining through and you know it is working.
Yesterday I had a 2.5 hour run here in Chula Vista that is quite hilly and was at the tail end of a pretty big workout week. I was expecting to slog through my long runs like I normally do. But yesterday that is not what happened. I had some great music going on my ipod, my mind was in a place where I was just going running (nothing else on my mind and no expectations) and I was focusing on how this run will help me in July at Ironman Lake Placid.
I started out slow, trying to keep my HR in Zone 1 and low Zone 2 - goal of about 145 - 150 bpm. This will aided by overcast skies and cool temperatures. Well soon I discovered that I was really "running" - not doing the Ironman shuffle as it is called. I kept my mind off the pace and focused on my HR and the music.
My energy level was so steady (thank you Bulletproof Coffee) that I just told myself, "keep running" and I did just that. So I make it out to the Olympic Training Center which is about 8 miles and I did a quick stop and even lost a water bottle from my fuelbelt out there and I didn't notice it. I was in the zone and I used that to gain momentum at the tough times.
Coming out of the OTC is very hilly so I did walk a little to keep my HR down but man I was moving along. At 13.1 miles I hit my lap button and it read 2:06 which I think is the fastest I have ever run that distance, running race or triathlon!
The last 2.5 miles were downhill and I kept the same pace as before. It was getting tougher but I finished at a pace of over 1 minute per mile faster than I did on that same course three weeks prior. Man, what a great day and mentally I am preparing to run that pace at IM Lake Placid. Can't wait!!
Thanks for sharing my journey and more to follow next Sunday. Happy New Year everyone, make it a safe and healthy one.
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