Drill, Baby, Drill

Day 5

Belief.  Essential to any goal.

Today was a speed drill day.  I use this day as a way to improve overall speed.  Today I tried running 2 miles at my best pace (which I achieved yesterday) so my goal was 2 miles in under 14:00.

                                     


"The body achieves what the mind believes."  Belief plays a big role in what I'm trying to accomplish.  I keep repeating "My goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon" because I need to believe that I can do it.  To believe that I feel like I need to prove to myself not that I can run a 7:00 mile, no I need to believe that I can run faster than that if necessary.  I do not plan on running 26.2 miles at a constant 7:00 pace.  I need to take it slow going out of the gate to conserve energy and make sure I'm not letting the adrenaline rush overtake my endurance.  To run an 8:00 or 9:00 mile in the first mile or two, I need to be able to average something under a 7:00 mile later in the race.  So days like today help to mentally prepare me for that requirement.

While getting a speed drill pace of 7:00 isn't my ultimate goal (this drill needs to get down to 6:30ish) I have 3 months and this is a good start.

This training helps me develop that belief in myself.  It's such a transferable lesson.  It's the age old concept of "practice makes perfect."  But perfection shouldn't be the goal in life, instead we should strive for the ability to overcome obstacles.  Running a marathon, getting a high SAT score, or riding a bike.  The more practice you put in, the better capable you are of overcoming obstacles like glycogen loss, math word problems, or lack of coordination (don't laugh riding a bike didn't come all that easy to me).  I teach my kids that belief in their abilities comes from proving to themselves that they can overcome obstacles. And the only way to prove is through practice.

And so I practice.  I train.

My goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Day 5: 2 miles, 13:56 minutes, 6:58 pace.  Core weight training.