One Bad Run

I really despise bad training runs, and it can be one hard pill to swallow when they fall on a key track workout day. I’m not talking about the kind of day where you feel slightly off , you might have to work a little harder to achieve your goal, or at worse, your pace is a tad slower than goal pace…nope, I’m talking about the kind of day where even the coach says let’s stop this workout.

The road back from injury is usually slow (and seems to get slower with age) and requires a LOT of patience. Up until this past weekend, I had not raced since August 2008 and I missed the competition! The fact that I have recently been able to introduce some speed sessions into my training has been awesome and I truly love being out on the track. I am an athlete for many reasons, one of which is the joy and satisfaction I receive in testing my limits as I pursue my goals. These quality run days are in essence one way for me to fill the void of not being able to compete for the past 8 months. So when coach told me to stop my workout after only 1 interval, I was initially a bit dejected.

I knew when I started my interval that it was going to be a tough day. I expect tough days, but this workout was a little different. There was that internal struggle between YOU HAVE TO GUT THIS OUT versus You are not on today so let’s back it off because the risk outweighs the reward, and thankfully, I had another pair of eyes watching me. Honestly, had my coach not been at the track I probably would have completed the workout, been disappointed with the pace, and not gained one thing by doing so! Every workout has a purpose and when that purpose is compromised, adjustments need to be made, or at least expectations need to be reset. However, this is always easier said that done.

As athletes we are often our own worst critic. We condition our mind and body to handle pain, to block things out, and focus on the task ahead of us. Weakness is not tolerated. Stubbornness can get us to the finish line, but can also lead to our downfall. There are several articles and books written about what it takes to have a champions mentality and often one of the recurring themes is being able to adapt to adversity and rebound from failures. While my body was physically healing over the past several months, I focused my attention on reading such books as In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick, PhD. Today’s run was a test…would I obsess over the failed workout or embrace the day for what it was…just another training run? On that day, I chose the latter (with some help from Coach!) and decided to save the work for a better day.