Hello Mario, I would like to join the relay team if you still need people. My email address is bthacker2@hotmail.com if you need any additional information.
It's a very interesting discussion on the pacing vs racing aspect of road running. Coming from a track and field background, and now moving into longer road races, it is interesting how different the mind set is when it comes to racing vs splits. Track is all racing, and we spent all of our time training with other people and learning to feed off the energy of the people around you. I would venture a bet that I would be 5-10% slower in any given race if I had to do it alone vs feeding off other people. There is something about being able to zone out and just get in the flow of the run that takes over at a certain point. Very similar to the Grant Fisher anecdote about wanting to FEEL the 61 sec pace vs having to worry about grinding it out himself. Your body has more in the tank then I think some people give it credit for if you let it do its thing. Don't get so hung up on the splits that if you start to feel good and see some fast ones in a race that you think that is somehow a bad thing!? That is what you did all that training for!
Trusting the training, only using the watch as a guide, and learning to check in with how the body feels throughout the race will get people father then I think they realize! Obviously you still need a race plan, but I personally like plans more about "how I want to feel" at 5k, 10km, etc, vs clock staring every 250m.
Exactly! That is very well said. I've coached a number of athletes whose biggest breakthroughs in the half-marathon and marathon have come when they either forget their watch, it died, or the GPS never caught and was clearly giving them inaccurate data. They had nothing to go off but feel and, fortunately, trusted themselves to push just a little bit more.
I've been reading since the beginning, and I'm stoked you're on substack. You always have at least one thing I click on every week. I appreciate all the effort you've put into your newsletter over the years.
Hi Mario! I love your points about competing versus pacing/going for a time. Makes me think of my dad, who would start hollering "Stop thinking! Stop thinking!" in the last half mile or so of my cross country races (and *definitely* don't look at your watch!) because at that point you just gotta go all out rather than "saving" or "pacing." Also, "Stay connected!" if somebody passed me on the track, or "Break the connection!" if I passed somebody -- it's such a mental sport, like the old school t-shirts say. :-)
Mario, good morning! Great piece. My fav is this part: It’s Not the Event, It’s the Process (from the James Clear article). Today, in my fourth day of a respiratory illness and the longest I have gone without running in over three years, I realized how much i miss it. I am a creature of habit, and this one really hit home.
Sorry to hear that Marty. The process is sometimes (oftentimes) messy but we've gotta learn how to roll through the bumpy bits, This has been a terrible winter for sickness (I got knocked back a few days a little over a week ago) and I hope you can turn the corner soon.
I am fortunate, that it's been since 11/23 that I have been out of it. I actually ran 5 on the mill today. IT. WAS. HARD. but that is OK, I am coming back.💪. All the best to you.
Hello Mario, I would like to join the relay team if you still need people. My email address is bthacker2@hotmail.com if you need any additional information.
Thank you,
Ben Thacker
Thanks Ben! The team is full right now but will add you to an alternate list should any spots open back up.
It's a very interesting discussion on the pacing vs racing aspect of road running. Coming from a track and field background, and now moving into longer road races, it is interesting how different the mind set is when it comes to racing vs splits. Track is all racing, and we spent all of our time training with other people and learning to feed off the energy of the people around you. I would venture a bet that I would be 5-10% slower in any given race if I had to do it alone vs feeding off other people. There is something about being able to zone out and just get in the flow of the run that takes over at a certain point. Very similar to the Grant Fisher anecdote about wanting to FEEL the 61 sec pace vs having to worry about grinding it out himself. Your body has more in the tank then I think some people give it credit for if you let it do its thing. Don't get so hung up on the splits that if you start to feel good and see some fast ones in a race that you think that is somehow a bad thing!? That is what you did all that training for!
Trusting the training, only using the watch as a guide, and learning to check in with how the body feels throughout the race will get people father then I think they realize! Obviously you still need a race plan, but I personally like plans more about "how I want to feel" at 5k, 10km, etc, vs clock staring every 250m.
You might just surprise yourself!
Exactly! That is very well said. I've coached a number of athletes whose biggest breakthroughs in the half-marathon and marathon have come when they either forget their watch, it died, or the GPS never caught and was clearly giving them inaccurate data. They had nothing to go off but feel and, fortunately, trusted themselves to push just a little bit more.
I've been reading since the beginning, and I'm stoked you're on substack. You always have at least one thing I click on every week. I appreciate all the effort you've put into your newsletter over the years.
Appreciate it Dax! That means a lot. Thank you for being a longtime subscriber and reader of the shakeout. I'm glad you're (still) enjoying it!
Hi Mario! I love your points about competing versus pacing/going for a time. Makes me think of my dad, who would start hollering "Stop thinking! Stop thinking!" in the last half mile or so of my cross country races (and *definitely* don't look at your watch!) because at that point you just gotta go all out rather than "saving" or "pacing." Also, "Stay connected!" if somebody passed me on the track, or "Break the connection!" if I passed somebody -- it's such a mental sport, like the old school t-shirts say. :-)
Wise words from dad! I think a lot of it is getting out of our own heads/way from time to time and learning how to trust our instincts and effort.
Mario, good morning! Great piece. My fav is this part: It’s Not the Event, It’s the Process (from the James Clear article). Today, in my fourth day of a respiratory illness and the longest I have gone without running in over three years, I realized how much i miss it. I am a creature of habit, and this one really hit home.
Sorry to hear that Marty. The process is sometimes (oftentimes) messy but we've gotta learn how to roll through the bumpy bits, This has been a terrible winter for sickness (I got knocked back a few days a little over a week ago) and I hope you can turn the corner soon.
I am fortunate, that it's been since 11/23 that I have been out of it. I actually ran 5 on the mill today. IT. WAS. HARD. but that is OK, I am coming back.💪. All the best to you.