swbkrun with us!!! - Closed (Page 43)

Training when you don't want to...Talking yourself out of quitting a long run when your not feeling it...getting up early when you want to sleep...having a miserable workout that you just suck at but survive.  This is your mental training!  These are the successes you think about in the middle of a race when the wheels are coming off.  You might walk for a minute or 20 and every step is agony and then you take a deep breath and try and pull it back together again and go again even it you have to do it 10 times during a race that is mental toughness.

It's an attitude...failure is not an option.  I didn't get up at 5am for the last 6 months to quit.  You didn't sacrifice all your social time to workout just to quit.  You haven't put up with all your spouses "moods" about your workouts to quit.  It's believing in yourself.  It's getting mad at yourself.  It's pushing yourself.  It's holding yourself accountable.

My IM swim sucked.  The water was 57 degrees and after 20 min the cold had jacked with my HR and I was getting testy with everyone around me and panicky and started having doubts 3/4 of the way through my first loop.  I started thinking that if I couldn't pull myself together I wasn't going to be able to finish.  You have to be able to shut your mind down when it starts talking crap and say "NO", I'm better than that. Or my actual conversation with myself was ", I'm not going back to work to tell everyone I quit".  Then I had to evaluate what was wrong and make a plan and adjust.

1.)  Stick to your workouts and finish them.  If you give yourself excuses in your workouts you will give yourself excuses while your racing.    My personal favorite when I'm having a bad swim or run is to promise myself I'll stop after 200 then just to be evil it's another 500 or whatever.  My brain hates my ego we talk to each other all through the workout. 

2.)  Find your happy/motivated place.  Know what will calm you down.  Is it a memory of a vacation, your kids, spouse, Happy and calm is different than Motivated and Fired up...a visual of the way you are or use to be or who you want to be?

3.)  Tell EVERYBODY you know what you are doing and post it on your office door.  I am not kidding here.  I can't tell you how many times I just wanted to change my goal and forget the IM but didn't because it was on my door and the GM would come by periodically and ask me about how things were going.  Pride is a great motivator.

4.)  Have a motto or two...pick a motto and know it by heart.  Use it in training and it will come to you in racing.  Tape it to your bike if you have to.

ie...Suck it up buttercup or HTFU..just don't tell Suzy. ,  Nothing to it but to do it!  Good, Better, Best, never rest until your good is better than the rest.  Not sure where I got this one from but it works when your running on each foot strike.

5.)  Evaluate and change plans on the fly. (SOOOOO, important)  You should always have a race plan A, B and C and even then you might have to be creative.  Very rarely will you ever have a race that goes exactly as planned.

6.)  Learn the difference between workout pain and injury pain.  There is no shame in pulling out of a race because you feel something that is just wrong.  I've been out for two years because of working through pain.  I am in the process of discovering how I need to prepare my body to race and what I need to do when things feel off but I won't ever hesitate to stop if I can't get things undercontrol because one race isn't worth two years.  We aren't talking blisters here.

7)  Know why you are doing this.  This isn't the simple answer, "because somebody asked me to do it."  There's a reason you decided to torture yourself.  You may not even know why right now but you will discover it in your training.  Race day is a catered training day.  It's just another day in the end.  Triathlon is a journey of self discovery.  The work, blood, sweat, tears and money come from a place within.  Know what your motivation is and use it when the going gets tough.

7)  Last but not least...be realistic with your goals and be prepared.

Sorry this got so long.  You hit a sore spot that I've been struggling with to get back on track.  You might have to feed this back to me as I go.

Training when you don't want to...
.

SSMinnow - 2011-01-07 7:54 AM

fowlmood - 2011-01-06 10:04 PM So far most of the questions I have read have been about workouts
miles/time on running and cycling, yards/meters swimming.

So what about mental  toughness what preparations does everyone make for training and races how do you coupe with different types of physical and mental stress.

I've gotten a lot better at digging deep for races (and training) than I used to be.  For me, I set a very specific goal (e.g. for IM I told myself I would walk only 10 steps through water stations to drink and then I would get huffing) and stick with it.  As the pain increases, I have that goal in my head and I know if I veer from it, I will totally disappoint myself post race.  In order to succeed, I have to believe I can achieve the goal with hard effort and have to really want it.

Believe in yourself and the sky really is the limit.  I'm sort of living proof of that.....not a ton of talent, but a ton of will.  Sometimes that's enough

PS. There are several worthy books out there....my favorite is Training and Talent are Underrated, but Running Within is also a good place to start.

AMEN!

Linda

Training when you don't want to...Talking yourself out of quitting a long run when your not feeling it...getting up early when you want to sleep...having a miserable workout that you just suck at but survive.  This is your mental training!  These are the successes you think about in the middle of a race when the wheels are coming off.  You might walk for a minute or 20 and every step is agony and then you take a deep breath and try and pull it back together again and go again even it you have to do it 10 times during a race that is mental toughness.

It's an attitude...failure is not an option.  I didn't get up at 5am for the last 6 months to quit.  You didn't sacrifice all your social time to workout just to quit.  You haven't put up with all your spouses "moods" about your workouts to quit.  It's believing in yourself.  It's getting mad at yourself.  It's pushing yourself.  It's holding yourself accountable.

My IM swim sucked.  The water was 57 degrees and after 20 min the cold had jacked with my HR and I was getting testy with everyone around me and panicky and started having doubts 3/4 of the way through my first loop.  I started thinking that if I couldn't pull myself together I wasn't going to be able to finish.  You have to be able to shut your mind down when it starts talking crap and say "NO", I'm better than that. Or my actual conversation with myself was ", I'm not going back to work to tell everyone I quit".  Then I had to evaluate what was wrong and make a plan and adjust.

1.)  Stick to your workouts and finish them.  If you give yourself excuses in your workouts you will give yourself excuses while your racing.    My personal favorite when I'm having a bad swim or run is to promise myself I'll stop after 200 then just to be evil it's another 500 or whatever.  My brain hates my ego we talk to each other all through the workout. 

2.)  Find your happy/motivated place.  Know what will calm you down.  Is it a memory of a vacation, your kids, spouse, Happy and calm is different than Motivated and Fired up...a visual of the way you are or use to be or who you want to be?

3.)  Tell EVERYBODY you know what you are doing and post it on your office door.  I am not kidding here.  I can't tell you how many times I just wanted to change my goal and forget the IM but didn't because it was on my door and the GM would come by periodically and ask me about how things were going.  Pride is a great motivator.

4.)  Have a motto or two...pick a motto and know it by heart.  Use it in training and it will come to you in racing.  Tape it to your bike if you have to.

ie...Suck it up buttercup or HTFU..just don't tell Suzy. ,  Nothing to it but to do it!  Good, Better, Best, never rest until your good is better than the rest.  Not sure where I got this one from but it works when your running on each foot strike.

5.)  Evaluate and change plans on the fly. (SOOOOO, important)  You should always have a race plan A, B and C and even then you might have to be creative.  Very rarely will you ever have a race that goes exactly as planned.

6.)  Learn the difference between workout pain and injury pain.  There is no shame in pulling out of a race because you feel something that is just wrong.  I've been out for two years because of working through pain.  I am in the process of discovering how I need to prepare my body to race and what I need to do when things feel off but I won't ever hesitate to stop if I can't get things undercontrol because one race isn't worth two years.  We aren't talking blisters here.

7)  Know why you are doing this.  This isn't the simple answer, "because somebody asked me to do it."  There's a reason you decided to torture yourself.  You may not even know why right now but you will discover it in your training.  Race day is a catered training day.  It's just another day in the end.  Triathlon is a journey of self discovery.  The work, blood, sweat, tears and money come from a place within.  Know what your motivation is and use it when the going gets tough.

7)  Last but not least...be realistic with your goals and be prepared.

Sorry this got so long.  You hit a sore spot that I've been struggling with to get back on track.  You might have to feed this back to me as I go.

It's an attitude...failure is not an option.  I didn't get up at 5am for the last 6 months to quit.  You didn't sacrifice all your social time to workout just to quit.  You haven't put up with all your spouses "moods" about your workouts to quit.  It's believing in yourself.  It's getting mad at yourself.  It's pushing yourself.  It's holding yourself accountable.

NAME: Tracy “Sugar”

FAMILY:  I have a very active family with 2 daughters (10 and 7) and a hubby that also races, so you can imagine balancing everyone’s training schedules is complicated.  

HISTORY: 
H.S. cheerleader, dancer, gymnast (and partier)
College:  cheerleader (still partying)
Post college:  college cheerleading coach – not so much partying
Post-post college – 2 thanksgiving turkey sized babies- bye-bye six pack abs  hello extra belly skin

I’ve been racing for 4 years and progressed from super sprints to my first Ironman this fall.  I will never describe myself as a runner. I am a functional runner and mainly run because it is the third leg of the sport I love. I am a cyclist.  If left to my own choices I spend my time chasing my all male riding group around, and occasionally passing a few of them.

WEIGHT: Other than reaching ideal race weight this is not a problem for me. I’m more concerned with maintaining the healthiest eating habits I can.  I have a very strong sweet tooth and will pass up sex for chocolate any day.  The long legs that were a liability in cheering are a pleasant asset in this sport.  Who knew?

2011 RACES:   All my races are in prep for IM Canada.  
March – half marathon
April – Olympic
May – Rev 3 HIM with the MG
June – Blood, Sweat and Gears century ride in the mountains
July – main IM build month
August – IM CANADA!!!!

GOOD ABOUT ME:  I make a great punch line for the boys in the group. They love finding embarrassing photos of me!  But on the serious side I hope I have made a contribution over the years.  This group is beyond supportive and has truly become synonymous with triathlons for me.  I find myself composing my race reports while racing b/c I can’t wait to share my thoughts and feeling with everyone here.  

CAUTION: I am a very bad speller. Be kind.