Long Distance Lesson Learned by an Adrenaline Junkie
This blog is written for any long distance endurance athletes checking in…
I’ve experienced a bit of a breakthrough in my training. Did I break a 5-minute mile? Nope. Swim across the rapidly freezing Susquehanna River? Of course not! No, to most others this breakthrough will sound pretty boring. To me, though, it’s a satisfying validation of sticking to a training philosophy advocated by many endurance gurus and continually reinforced by my coach, Patrick McCrann.
I am like a lot of other underachieving endurance athletes. I lack patience. I’m an adrenaline junkie. I sometimes revert to a “crush and destroy” mentality when training or racing. That’s all fine for competing in sprint or middle distance triathlons, but it’s a recipe for disaster over a long course. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way - MAJOR bonks at my first half Ironman race and during some race simulations. There’s no better teacher than a good metabolic meltdown. Call it the school of hard knocks.
For the last couple of years I’ve been fairly consistent at sticking to a training philosophy of slowing down… of building basic aerobic endurance and efficiency. It hasn’t been easy. Positive changes come slowly. It’s counterintuitive to think that slowing down in training leads to faster long distance racing. Doubt easily creeps in. But I’ve become a believer.
So what’s the breakthrough? Over the past year I’ve managed to knock about 45 seconds/mile off my steady aerobic running pace – the pace I hope to run at Ironman LP. I’m now four years into my triathlon training, but have just begun realizing this improvement recently.
Want another example of the fruits of this training philosophy? Last year I ended the racing season with back-to-back races. On Saturday I pushed for more than two hours above my aerobic threshold at an Olympic distance triathlon. The next morning I stuck my beat-up body in the water at 7:00 am for a Half Ironman race. Most of my friends and family thought I was nuts (I kind of enjoyed that!). But my plan paid off. I knocked the natural aggressiveness right out of my system on day #1. I showed up on day #2 totally relaxed and truly enthusiastic. I raced the Half IM very methodically, totally unconcerned about pace. I didn’t really start “racing” until about mile 9 of the run. The result? A personal record, at my fourth HIM, by more than 14 minutes.
This is no fluke, folks. My body now reverts to steady aerobic gearing instead of the turbo overdrive it had become accustomed to, and the gains are undeniable. Pretty encouraging stuff as I approach my first IM!
I’ve experienced a bit of a breakthrough in my training. Did I break a 5-minute mile? Nope. Swim across the rapidly freezing Susquehanna River? Of course not! No, to most others this breakthrough will sound pretty boring. To me, though, it’s a satisfying validation of sticking to a training philosophy advocated by many endurance gurus and continually reinforced by my coach, Patrick McCrann.
I am like a lot of other underachieving endurance athletes. I lack patience. I’m an adrenaline junkie. I sometimes revert to a “crush and destroy” mentality when training or racing. That’s all fine for competing in sprint or middle distance triathlons, but it’s a recipe for disaster over a long course. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way - MAJOR bonks at my first half Ironman race and during some race simulations. There’s no better teacher than a good metabolic meltdown. Call it the school of hard knocks.
For the last couple of years I’ve been fairly consistent at sticking to a training philosophy of slowing down… of building basic aerobic endurance and efficiency. It hasn’t been easy. Positive changes come slowly. It’s counterintuitive to think that slowing down in training leads to faster long distance racing. Doubt easily creeps in. But I’ve become a believer.
So what’s the breakthrough? Over the past year I’ve managed to knock about 45 seconds/mile off my steady aerobic running pace – the pace I hope to run at Ironman LP. I’m now four years into my triathlon training, but have just begun realizing this improvement recently.
Want another example of the fruits of this training philosophy? Last year I ended the racing season with back-to-back races. On Saturday I pushed for more than two hours above my aerobic threshold at an Olympic distance triathlon. The next morning I stuck my beat-up body in the water at 7:00 am for a Half Ironman race. Most of my friends and family thought I was nuts (I kind of enjoyed that!). But my plan paid off. I knocked the natural aggressiveness right out of my system on day #1. I showed up on day #2 totally relaxed and truly enthusiastic. I raced the Half IM very methodically, totally unconcerned about pace. I didn’t really start “racing” until about mile 9 of the run. The result? A personal record, at my fourth HIM, by more than 14 minutes.
This is no fluke, folks. My body now reverts to steady aerobic gearing instead of the turbo overdrive it had become accustomed to, and the gains are undeniable. Pretty encouraging stuff as I approach my first IM!
posted by dan kerr at 12:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home