Last night saw me attend my first track session, post
lactate retest.
My orders from #runboss Dave Tune of Blizard Physio were
quite simple. Get my heartrate (HR) up to Z3 and keep it there.
That meant at the start of each rep increasing my effort until
my HR hit the magic number of 166 BPM.
My zone 3 HR is between 166 and 185 BPM which gives me quite
a wide range to suffer in.
Last night I decided to just stay in Z3, I wasn't bothered
if my HR was 167 BPM or 184 BPM. The zone was what was important.
As soon as my HR passed 166 BPM I backed off ever so
slightly and didn't keep pushing the pace so as to stabilise my HR.
The session last night was 3 sets of 1200m with 1 min
recovery followed by 800m with 1 min recovery followed by 400m with a recovery
lap of the track at super slow pace to finish.
In the first set I felt strong and surprised the people I
usually run with by how quick I was going. My first rep of 1200 was at 6:42/mile pace.
Whoa where did that come from?
I completed the first set without incident (apart from being
in pain and breathing like a 90 year old with emphysema) and kept my HR in the
right zone.
On the second set I was starting to struggle mentally. I
wanted the pain and suffering to be over but had a word with myself during my
second 800m. I knew my body was capable of enduring the suffering as I had
proved that in the first set. So after a mental asskicking of my bad thoughts, I
persevered onwards. Afterall I had completed over half the main set at this
point.
The quote from Chrissie Wellington and accompanying picture were shamelessly stolen from @TriMotivation's Twitter feed but seem fitting to how I felt last night. |
So onwards we went with each rep my HR being above 166 BPM
after the first 200/250m had been completed.
I felt such a sense of pride in what I was achieving, I was
literally learning to suffer. Last night was important as I proved to myself
that I have the mental strength to suffer. Before this I didn't know if I did.
The previous sessions at track have hurt physically but I always backed off
when my head got involved. Last night was different, I silenced my demons and
showed them who’s boss.
I have seen some people perform in a different plane during
my time watching triathlon and last night I think I know how they get there, by
learning to suffer. One example which springs to mind is Jane Hansom at the World Championship in London last year.
She was in different place to other people mentally and was not aware of
people (me) cheering her on. If I can harness this ability like I started to last
night then who knows what I can achieve.
Each rep last night was completed at sub 7:17/mi pace with
the best pace achieved being 6:24/mi. Given my reps previously have been
between 7:20/mi and 8:00/mi, this is a huge leap forward but shows that previously my head
has been in control as my body is capable of a lot more. No longer, my body
will dictate the pace at track and in races in the future.
As Dave Tune says the worst that will happen is I will pass
out. Bring on the pain and suffering.
Thanks to Dave and everyone at Blizard for their help in
learning to suffer and improve me as an athlete.
Despite being knackered, I then followed this up with nearly
2km of speedwork and technique drills with Doncaster Triathlon Club at the pool. These hurt a lot after my efforts at track but are miles banked and I was pleased to complete most of the set despite cramp taking a hold on some reps.
Thanks for reading,
Michael
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