McMillanElite :: Training Blog - New Blog Every Monday and Thursday!
Entry #204 It's one thing to have athletes come in to visit our team and commit to the program, but it's when everyone starts arriving and joining our daily runs and workouts that the excitement of new training partners really begins. From previous experiences, I was worried about having so many women training together. I've seen many talented runners compete with their training partners on a daily basis, as opposed to working together in a healthy, positive environment, and needless to say, the results do not always meet the initial goal.
Entry #203 Going For It We are now 17 months away from the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston, which means that leaves us all with only 16 months to either Qualify for the Trials or Prepare to race them. For me, my goal will be to make the Olympic Team in London. This goal a year ago for me seemed like a long shot, now as it gets closer and closer I can see it becoming more of a reality. I am starting to get a whole new attitude towards running a marathon, which has started from the confidence I have gained from the past few marathons I have run; each one being an improvement from the time before. Yet, there are still a few steps that I need to take to be able to run and compete with the top marathoners in the US, as well as the top in the world. No matter how well I think I have run my past few times out, my PR is still nearly 8 minutes slower than the World Record, and would still be over 5 minutes behind Wanjiru at the last Olympics. So what can I do to get myself better? How can I be more prepared? Should I have just been born more talented? Nope. Should I just let go of my mental limitations and just race? Maybe. That is what Greg and I have talked about over the past few months. Marathon races all over the world now are becoming just that. A 26.2 mile race. Guys are going for world record and course records every time out. Its getting to the point where a lot of them are able to hold on and run ridiculously fast times. These guys are just Going For It every time out. Going For It – That is Greg's Mantra for our team. Basically it means to not be afraid of the competition, not to be afraid of the distance of the marathon, and to go into every race with the ambition to run a breakthrough performance. Sometimes we will be ready to do it, and sometimes we won't. But looking at the alternative, if we never put ourselves out there in the mix of things, then we may never run well at all. We would be competing only with ourselves and we will almost always be behind all of the other Elite Marathoners who go out to win the race every time out. In less than 8 weeks, I will have my next real test to see how fast I can race a marathon. I am doing some pretty intense training for the Chicago Marathon, and I am setting my sights on a sub 2:10 performance, and hopefully being able to break into the top 5, which would be awesome. My preparation is going very well. I've put in a couple 140 mile weeks already, and my long runs, tempo runs, and even speed workouts are going much better than my last time out. My confidence is strong and I am preparing myself mentally to believe that I can run the pace and effort it will take to break 2:10. Less than 8 weeks to go…
Entry #202 The past few months have seemed to zoom by quicker than I thought possible. The last time I wrote it was the beginning on my journey in Flagstaff and the unknown future of what was to come. Filled with mixed emotions on whether this decision was right, I set some goals with Greg and put my head down and trained. I highly expected it not too be an easy comeback with adjusting to altitude, new coach, new training, and asking a lot of my body who for so long disappointed me. I started the summer with what some called impossible when I witnessed one of my best friends win the 5000m National Championship after a long road of frustration and setbacks. I know that road all too well because I was along side her on the stationary bike and in the pool desperately trying to keep our dreams alive. I took that inspiration back to Flagstaff and believed it was time to get to work. With the help of doctors in Portland, Dr. John Ball, and of course Greg's patience and guidance I found myself training consistently and without fear. That was until 2 weeks ago when I stood on the starting line of my first race in over a year- fear came back! It wasn't so much a feeling of being unprepared, but fear of unknown. How was altitude training going to affect me, would the race feel like a sprint, when was that gut check feeling in my stomach gonna come? I had so many questions that I'm sure Greg and Ben were thinking "geezzz... just race already." I tried to pretend whatever happened I would be pleased with, but let's get real. What runner is ever satisfied with mediocrity? However on that particular Sunday in foggy Santa Cruz I crossed the finish line with more satisfaction than perhaps the winner. I finished 3rd and had won the race within myself. After I crossed the finish line and saw my time I began to believe the impossible was now possible.
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