I feel so bad after reading Nomi's post. It's so tough to be motivated and stay motivated with running, especially when you don't have someone to run with. So before I log in my own details from today's run, I'm going to take a moment to be Joy-the-Cheerleader to help Nomi get her groove back! :)
First things first, I think that what Nomi's grappling with is a typical experience of plateauing. I mean, on our first run together in Malaysia at the beginning of May 2010 we ran 9.67km in 1 hour and 6 minutes with an average pace of 6:52min/km. And by the end of the month we did that same loop in 54 minutes flat for an average pace of 5:55min/km (and that's after running our 10km race and both finishing under 60 minutes in race conditions). So to be clear, we were able to cut down our running time by 12 minutes and improve our pace by around 1 min/km without really doing any serious training. We just got out and ran. It was fun; it was brainless; it was relaxing; it was routine; and we were able to see the results. I think that we both just figured that we would continue improving along on that same pace and in another month would chop off another 12 minutes with a similar strategy - namely, run and have fun! Unfortunately for both of us, that's just not the case. I haven't done another 10km run at my race pace of around 5:30min/km and I certainly haven't shaved 12 minutes off my time. Neither has Nomi. So now I think it's fair to say that we've plateaued and to make matters worse, Nomi has to deal with the frustrations of a sore knee, feeling like she's not making progress, and running alone. So no wonder she's not feeling motivated!!! So here's where I come in....here are some strategies:
1.) Use this blog the same way that we used our runs together. What I mean by this, is try to use the blog to be accountable. Obviously it's not the same as knowing that I'm waiting for you to pick me up at 6am, but if you tell yourself that you know I'll check to see how your run was, maybe it'll help. In 2008-2009 I was a postdoctoral fellow, which means that I was accountable to no one. Another one of my friends was also a postdoctoral fellow that year, so we got into the habit of emailing each other "monthly reports" not really because we were checking up on each other, but just because somehow it felt more "real" to have to send our progress reports to someone.
2.) Instead of just running and hoping for it to get better, let yourself get into a 3 weeks "on" and 1 week "off" routine. That way you'll give yourself time to recover and get stronger, while also working in a kind of rhythm to the workouts so it's not just like running nonstop with no end in sight. So that way you can try to force yourself to run 3 or 4 times per week at a harder pace (let's say trying to average around 5:45min/km) and then take one week where you only run at around 6:10min/km for all your runs. Then when you're not feeling motivated, on the hard week, you can tell yourself, "oh, it's only 2 more runs until my easy week," or "hey, I just had an easy week, I can do this!" That way too, you can just see your runs as happening within 3 week "chunks" of time, so that if you run at 5:45min/km for 3 weeks, then after your easy week, you can always see if you want to up the pace for your next 3 weeks.
3.) Run with someone else. If you join up with a running group, even one that only meets on the weekends (you know who I mean), then that should help motivate you to get out the door during the week, because you won't want to fall behind the rest of the group! So then if you can recruit someone once or twice during the week to run with you, and you've got a group on the weekends at least you'll have other people there to get you through.
4.) Cross train with the bike. If you end up sleeping through or missing a run, then substitute it with a ride on the bike. A 2hr bike ride is about equivalent to a 1hr run. Heck, maybe the thought of having to make up a 1hr run with 2hrs on the bike will be enough to choose the lesser evil of the 1hr run!!! ;)
5.) The August 2010 edition of "Runner's World" magazine has some advice: In response to the question "I feel stuck in my comfort zone. How will I ever get faster?" the magazine offers this answer "Once a week, warm up, the run intervals. Pick up the pace for one minute (don't sprint), then walk for two minutes. Start with three or four of these accelerations. Add one or two intervals each week until you can do eight to ten of them."
6.) You'll just have to get yourself over to Canada to run with me!!! :) I've been doing some nice runs around here and I've thought many times just how much you'd enjoy running here. One of these days I'll take the camera with me when I run so that I can show you the loops.
Anyway, those are just some suggestions. Grappling with motivation is never easy. My 1/2 marathon is 17 October. Nomi's is 21 November. So I will keep my training information on this blog and then she can do the same workouts I do and since she's got a one month grace period, she'll be able to see if it works for me or not and thus tweak the program for herself.
Speaking of my own program, today (Saturday) was my long run. Thank goodness it rained yesterday and broke the heat a bit. It was a manageable temperature at 7am this morning when I headed out the door for 15kms. I ran out for 7.5km and then stopped for a pee break and to eat a chocolate flavoured GU for energy before turning around and heading back in the direction of home. I ran the first 7.5km at around 6min/km and ran the second 7.5km at around 5:40min/km. The theory is that if I try to run the second half of the long run a little bit longer than the first half, then I can get my body used to running quicker with kms in my legs. That way (in theory) I'll be able to speed up at the end of the 1/2 marathon and my body will be used to that. So my stats for today are:
15.01km in 1:27 for an average pace of 5:48min/km.
And now I'm going to settle down, share a beer with my husband, and watch the 3rd place game of the World Cup finals!
Over and out,
Joy
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