Went to do another evil speedwork session tonight. Felt reasonable today after yesterday's 10km, so thought I'd pull up but apparently not... I learnt an important rule tonight: Thou Shalt Not Do Speedwork The Day After Racing. I managed about half a session and didn't even have the beans to go at a reasonable pace.
I'm thinking about switching back to speedwork on a grass track. It's cheaper and it's also much less stressful than doing flat out sprints on a concrete surface. Concrete is not nice to run on and I have a suspicion it causes injuries. I figured out tonight that it's the reason my back twinged last week - it did it again tonight, mid sprint. I was feeling so good after yesterday about everything and then tonight was just crap.
Do other runners get so overly emotional about their training runs, I wonder? I think in my case tonight, it was mostly hormonal. I was so frustrated and pissed off tonight that I felt quite teary. Chasing after incredibly fast people down long straights is very demoralising. There's something a little bit symbolic about it for me on a personal level too, I think... I've spent a lot of time in my life metaphorically chasing after things and feeling like I just didn't measure up.
I think having a new trainer running the session didn't help matter either - I was last by a mile tonight and though she no doubt meant well, her tone was soooo patronising in telling me I was going well when I so blatantly wasn't. Being patronised is a bit of a pet hate of mine, actually - I like feedback and encouragement as next as the next person (and hurrah for CR being full of that :) and I do really value it when people who know their stuff give me feedback but having someone who doesnt even know me essentially tell me, there, there and only to go to 100m marker and back when everyone else is doing 400m sets instantly makes me see red and want to go all out... and so tonight I just ignored her and kept going to 400m, but at my own slow pace. Naughty me. I might not be Paula Bloody Radcliffe, but I've absolutely worked my arse off to get to where I am now and to my mind that makes me an equal with everyone else on that field, slow, fast or inbetween.
Anyway, like I say, hormones. But I think it's back to the track with me.
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6 comments:
Thanks again for my lovely new banner. I definitely get emotional about my training too, so you're not the only one! I'd also be getting off the concrete and back onto a softer surface for doing speed work.. it's the worst surface to run on.
There are times I feel like crying during or after a run because I've felt so crap - you are definitely not the only one.
Keep smiling chicky.
J
PS thank you for my wonderful new blog header - I love it !!
Hey Hannah...
Hormones don't you just love them (not!!) I could definately relate to your experience! We all put so much effort into our training it makes sense that we can react emotionally! I agree grass is best, especially if you are pushing it!
Tesso mentioned that you wouldn't mind doing a banner for my blog... I would love it if you would do that for me.
Thanks... nice to cross blog paths :)
Hannah there's no doubt about how hard you've worked to get where you are.
Hope the next session is better.
I got really really narky at Mark last week during speedwork. Part way through my 800m on the track, I ran past some guy holding my water bottle. (He wasn't a runner and it was somewhat disturbing. Mark had walked across the track and left my bottle on the far side, which was fair because I hadn't asked him to take it.) I got seriously distracted and ran pretty shit for the rest of the 800 and the 600, then got thirsty but was too scared to drink from my bottle and had to interrupt my session to wash and refill my bottle... and I felt miserable the rest of the night. Perhaps you should ask, 'Does anyone not get emotional about their training?'
When I do speedwork I actually hate everyone else around me! When its over and I get back a "normal" heart rate I think more kind thoughts...
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