50 Miles of Gratitude: (10) Burning Out

Posted on June 16, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Confessions of a Running Coach….
Well, as I expected, it finally happened…it took awhile and I didn’t want it to happen but I knew it would rear it’s ugly head sooner or later..I can’t believe I’m saying it but part of the reason for this blog is sharing my running story so I can help you with yours…

Which one of these will help me?? 😉

I’ve felt it coming in the last few weeks but ignored it…finally on my training run yesterday, it happened…I just started walking because I was done with running…I couldn’t muster up any physical or mental strength to run..I was trying to cram in a bunch of miles before I take a weekend vacation and miss those training miles that are scheduled on my calendar for the next 50K. This morning was the same, I taught track and was supposed to run 8 miles but I walked 3 instead.

YES, I think it’s official, I AM BURNED OUT.

I was afraid this would happen during my 50 Mile training and I’m glad that it did not. However, here I am, 4 months after the 50 miler and I’m training for another 50K….come to think of it, I’ve been training for ultra races since September of 2015 (today is 6/16/16).

I wonder how I could allow this to happen but as I reflect, I know exactly how it happened:

I was afraid to lose all that conditioning
A few friends were running Crown King a few months later, so why not?
Then that race was over and another friend said, let’s do Capitol Reef 50K on 7/9/16….so why not?

Well, now I know why not…because here I am, 3 weeks before the race, trying to follow a training plan to get in my miles done as outlined in my training plan…and I am no longer having fun. Am I still doing the 50K? Of course, I am! But here is what I am learning in the process.

Signs of Running Burnout

Running has become a chore. I am just putting my runs on my calendar trying to get my mileage in because I “have” to. Running is nowhere near as fun as it has been for me.
Tired physically and mentally which tells me I am overdoing it. I just got back from an awesome working vacation in MA that involved running and I was re-energized…until I came back home and “had” to start running again to get back on my training plan.
Moody and irritated. This is not like me as I am usually a happy person. Everything seems to annoy me lately.

I am not backing out of my race at this point as I paid for it and I am looking forward to running an ultra in another state with my friends. But here is how I will handle my next 3 weeks…

Dealing with this Running Burnout

Mini vacation that involves no running. I am going to the beach for 2 days and taking a break from all things running.
Listen to my body. I am grateful that I have learned this throughout my running story. I was kind to myself yesterday when I decided to cut my run short by 4 miles and walk several miles instead of running. I will be short 15 miles this week in my training plan and I am totally OK with that. I know I am trained well, I have my ChiRunning form behind me, and I am going to enjoy the rest of this journey. If my body is tired, I am going to rest and try to get more sleep as well. I will not be a slave to my training plan anymore.
Changing it up. I have already been doing this but will continue to do it over the next few weeks. I am going to run in different areas and do more fun/social runs.
Focus on different aspects of the race. I will read more blog reports, look at more pictures/videos from past years and get excited about the new scenery I will be enjoying in a few weeks.
Focus on other things about running that don’t involve actually running. I love learning new things about running. So much to learn! I will finish reading The Oxygen Advantage book on the beach. This book has a lot of great insight about breathing and I’ve really been enjoying it.

What will I do after the 50K? Taking a break from training for ultras for a bit. This is easier said than done as I’ve defined myself as an ultra runner now and it’s been part of my being (personally and professionally) since last September. A friend of mine laughed when I said this as she said, “you said that after your 50 miler”. Yes, I admit that I did…but I wasn’t clearly in the same place as I am right now. I am ready for a break. I don’t know how long of a break I am taking but I know I don’t like this feeling. I want to completely refresh my view on running. I am going to focus on shorter distances and run for fun, not because I have any races coming up. I love to focus on my ChiRunning form and will work on other aspects of this, maybe speed and performance.

What I do know is that I am grateful for the things I am learning in my running story as most everything applies to life as well (and I can share with you in hopes that you don’t get to this point!). I also know that next time a friend asks me to do an ultra race, I need to really think about the WHY rather than just agreeing to do something for F.O.M.O. (Fear of Missing Out)…this is an entire other blog post but very easy to get wrapped up in when most of your friends are runners and you want to do what they are all doing! 😉

Now, off to pack my beach bag…no running attire…no running equipment…no running shoes…but a bathing suit, some flip flops and a big smile on my face 😉

Yes!

Click here: 50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Race report: MASS Gathering Memorial Day Marathon

Image

….and My Story Runs On….

I guess I’m more likely to blog while I’m on “vacation” since this is my 2nd blog in a week!
About a month ago, I realized I needed to get in 20 miles on Sat and 10 on Sun during Memorial weekend for my next 50K race (Capitol Reef, UT on 7/9/16). I knew it would be hard to get this is in MA by myself. My trip consisted of: being in my friend’s wedding in Boston last weekend, 5 days at Kripalu assisting Danny Dreyer, the founder of ChiRunning for 5 days and then a weekend in Pittsfield MA to visit family (my home town). I knew I wouldn’t get any long runs in the weekend of the wedding so I started googling races…lo and behold I found this marathon: MASS Gathering Memorial Day Marathon.
I started looking into it and figured: it’s 30 min from Pittsfield, 26 miles in one day is close enough to 30 in 2 days, it would be my first marathon out of state (7th one), first marathon in my home state and the icing on the cake was that it was benefiting Team RWB (I’m a member of the Phoenix Chapter) and Soldier On. I thought about it for a few days and then decided to go for it.
This past week I tried to follow my training plan but also was on my feet a lot due to teaching and coaching. Even though I took Thu and Sat “off” of running, I went into the race with some mileage on my legs (61.2 according to my Jawbone but that’s including all my steps so a bit exaggerated…still a lot though).

I was on tired legs already!

The eve of the marathon, my head starting messing with me a bit. It was my first marathon where I didn’t have any friends or people that I knew. I couldn’t find any information about the course and elevation (I used to not care about this but as my running story evolves, I realize knowing this information really helps me prepare for the race and strategize). I knew it would be a hilly course so that made me feel better since I love hills due to the unique way we go up and down them with ChiRunning technique. I was also worried about the weather as it was supposed to rain (I’m too used to perfect weather conditions in AZ) and it was going to be humid (I’m used to a dry heat.) I even started googling ‘running in dry heat vs humidity’! Then I started thinking, do I want to “race” this? Could I possibly PR (have a personal record) on this course with the hills (my best time for a full is in Sedona with a 4:58 and it was because of my hill strategy). Then I realized, I was wasting too much valuable energy so I decided to go run it as the training run it was meant to be. I knew the cutoff was 7 hours (race director said they wouldn’t leave anyone on the course anyways) so I had plenty of time.

My aunt drove me the morning of the race and I was there in plenty of time which is rare for me. I had 50 minutes to kill so I did my ChiRunning body looseners and found a seat to relax in.

I noticed a guy from afar doing the body looseners and I knew he was a ChiRunner as we are the only ones who do this sequence (later I talked to him and he had been in the Kripalu class I assisted with last year!) He was doing the half though. The race started 10 minutes late and I felt good right away going down the gentle downhill. The race started with 80% humidity which I was not used to.

My biggest goal in a long race is pacing myself. I had to slow myself down as I knew I was going faster than I should, especially knowing there would be some uphills and I had several miles to go. The course was beautiful! I was bummed that I couldn’t find a trail race as I prefer that over the road but this race was hilly and nice enough scenery where I felt I could’ve been on a trail.

Roses:

Mentioned already in paragraph 3 above 😉
Loved the hilly course! I know this is not normal but I was fresh from teaching ChiRunning. I worked on my form quite so I could be as efficient as possible and maintain my energy throughout the miles. I practiced active and passive pelvic rotation on the uphills and downhills; had some great aha moments when my legs felt heavy by allowing my ankles to lift behind me and could feel my legs be more relaxed; I used my arm swing to help me on the hills and headwind we had on the last 3 miles of the race; focused on nose breathing as much as I could.
The scenery was beautiful! I love all the green and it’s one of the things I miss from MA that we don’t have in Phoenix. Here are some photos:

Added to the humidity I’m sure!

Lots of pretty flowers along the course!

Honoring Memorial Day

Love New England scenery!

Hills….

More hills…

Settled in 1750!

They said there would be aid stations at every 2-3 miles and there were! This was necessary for me as the day got hotter and hotter and more humid. I poured more water over my head than down my throat! I also kept imagining the scenery with lots of snow on the ground just to keep cool thoughts.
RAIN at mile 21 was AMAZING! I will say I was ready for the race to be over due to the heat and humidity and that rain definitely helped out.

Thank God for the rain!

The Mom/boyfriend team cheering squad! These guys kept moving along and cheering us on. Past the half way point, she had a cooler with wet cloths and ice that really helped. I even stuck some ice down my bra to stay cool for a while. I found out later that she was cheering on her 2 daughters (we were leap frogging) who were doing their first marathon together! I love this! I was able to get a photo of them at the end of the race.

Great running stalkers!

There were several home owners along the course that came out with water, oranges, etc which was great (although I think there could’ve been more)
My aunts at the end of the race cheering me in!
My dog tag medal and local craft beer which is a must at the end of any race for me 😉

Finisher showing off the dog tag and my Team RWB shirt!

Great craft beer from Big Elm Brewing. Had the stout…yummy!

Souvenirs from my training run 😉

Thorns:

I could deal with the heat but the humidity sucked! I wish the race would’ve started earlier but I chatted with a guy before the race who said he did it a few years ago and it was snowing. The frequent aid stations really helped though!
Not too crazy about the cant in the road. I had to move from left to the right side of the road frequently as I could tell my legs were not even with the pavement. I could feel this in my hips the next day.
I was disappointed in the lack of representation from Team RWB folks. Although I think in Phoenix we have an abnormally active chapter so I am used to seeing at least 20 other RWB shirts and running through the finish line with an American flag. I think I saw one other person with a shirt. (Although still happy to know that proceeds benefited this awesome charity!)

At the beginning of the race, my pace was good and I started thinking I could PR until the humidity got to me. I am still happy with my results. It’s my 4th best time out of 7 marathons and considering the amount of running I had done the week before, the humidity, etc. I was happy.

Placed 56th out of 98 total and 18th out of 38 women.

Dark blue is the elevation change

I normally judge my “success” on how I feel when I am done and how I feel the next day or two after a big race. I finished strong, I was a bit sore the day after and felt great 2 days after. My abs and obliques were sorer than my legs which is always a good sign that my ChiRunning form is good 😉

Overall, I would recommend this race! Not sure I would take a special trip for it as I like to experience new scenery and prefer trails… but if I happen to be up there and I’m trained, I would do it again.

What is your favorite race that you’ve done out of state?

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Here is a list of my blog posts that I am writing after my first 50 Mile race. It’s combination of what I learned, what I am grateful for and a way for me to keep the memory alive. It was one of the proudest moments of my life! My goal is to have 50 of these 😉

Updated on 7/30/17: I’m realizing this just isn’t going to happen. It was a great idea when I had it but I have other ideas for blogs, etc and too much time has gone by now. I have found that writing blogs works best for me when I feel inspired and too much time has gone by now to continue with this series. I hope you still enjoy these 😉

I’ve learned this… #neversaynever

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

50 Miles of Gratitude: (4) Massage

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I was never really a big massage person. I dated a massage therapist before my current boyfriend and that’s when I really started understanding the importance of them. It’s another way to help heal your body and gives you way more benefits than you can imagine. I can see tension when I’m trying to get my ChiRunners and ChiWalkers to relax and if they tell me they can’t, I always recommend a massage as ONE of the modalities (not the only one!).

I hate to admit that I did not get any massages during my training and should’ve. The reason this blog is coming up now is because I just had one yesterday from Andre Lee of ALL4U Massage & Bodywork. I met him at Running for Brews Tempe and he has been active member for the 2.5 years. He’s also a triathlete, runner, biker and knows the importance of taking care of your body…regardless of what you do.

“Experts estimate that upwards of 90% of disease is stress-related. And perhaps nothing ages us faster, internally and externally, than high stress. Massage is an effective tool for managing this stress, which translates into:

Decreased anxiety.
Enhanced sleep quality.
Greater energy.
Improved concentration.
Increased circulation.
Reduced fatigue.”

Ironically I had no major pain when I went to see Andre but I knew getting a massage was what my body needed. And he did not disappoint! He did a full body massage and it was incredible! One of the reasons I like Andre’s massages is that he is intuitive and can tell what your body needs between what you tell him and what he can feel. I have not updated my website as I write this but he will be included on my Power Partners page when I do.

No matter what life you lead, I guarantee you, your mind and body are carrying some kind of stress. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a massage! My lesson learned was that I should’ve done them more often..especially during this training process!

You can find Andre’s website here: ALL4U Massage & Bodywork and he is also on Facebook.

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

50 Miles of Gratitude: (3) Training

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Another reason for my success was sticking to my training plan. There were a few times that I was not able to stick to the plan but they were few and far between. This was by far, the hardest part of the entire process.

It was not the training that was hard but the amount of time it took. I knew it was going to be a big commitment but when you add the mileage, and add driving back and forth to trail heads, it was a part time job. In addition to the time, it was hard to focus on anything mentally after a few long days of running. My business suffered a bit from it and I spent less time with my boyfriend as well. Thankfully he is very supportive and that will be another blog post 😉 You have no idea how tempted I am right now to sign up for another 50 miler this year while my body/mind are trained! But I know I need to get refocused on my business and I truly need to be patient with the process. I see too many people get too excited and then things start falling apart. I want to keep running for the rest of my life and don’t want to burn my body or mind out!

I followed a training plan from Ultraladies. It’s a cool schedule generator so you plug in the date of your event and it spits out a training plan. I started training for my 2nd 50K and then switched over to the 50 Mile training. Here is my spreadsheet (50K on one sheet and 50 miles on another). My goal was to follow the plan as closely as I could but life gets in the way sometimes. If I couldn’t follow on the specific days, my goal was to try and meet the weekly miles and make sure that I was able to get my back to back long runs in. If you talk to any ultra runner, most of them will tell you that back to back long runs are crucial as it’s the way that you train to run on tired legs.

The other thing to do is make sure to find out the elevation profile of your run and what conditions you will be running in. Everything I read about Antelope Canyon was that it was 40 miles of sand. So I did quite a bit of training in the sand although the sand was coarser in our park washes than the fine sand in Page. I also made it a point to focus on ChiWalking and hiking. The idea was to get as much time on my feet so these helped quite a bit as well.

I was worried that 31 miles was my longest run and I didn’t know what it would feel like to run 20 more on the same day….but it really did come together on race day. My legs were tired but no where near as bad as I thought it would be.

I always tell my runners, you can go out and complete a race with little training, but how do you want to feel during and after? Training is an important part of any race, both mentally and physically.

I found this awhile ago and it cracked me up…if you are an ultra runner, you know you can relate 😉

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

50 Miles of Gratitude: (2) Nutrition

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I’ve heard so many horror stories about people with GI issues when doing long events or having to DNF (Did Not Finish) because of poor nutrition.

I am NOT a registered dietitian or nutritionist but as a trainer, I know what it takes to help people lose weight. I’ve helped many clients achieve weight loss goals via nutrition and exercise. However, I knew that training for endurance event was going to be an entire different situation. I have no background in this area and I’m a big proponent of reaching out to experts to help (I’m always so grateful when runners come into my workshops and know that some more expert advice will help them perform better).

So, I decided to hire a registered dietitian who specialized in endurance events. Brooke Schohl and her husband own Destination Kona (a triathlete store) and I’ve done a few free ChiRunning clinics there. She also owns Fuel To The Finish. I’ll admit it was a bit more money that I would normally spend but that’s how important it was for me to get this right. Again, these posts are not in any particular order but I would say that my nutrition plan up to and during the race was in the top 5 reasons why I was successful.

Before Brooke: She analyzed my diet and most important my macronutrient ratio (fat vs. carbs vs. protein). Right away she noticed that my protein was too low and my carbs were too high. We discussed the Metabolic Efficiency “Diet”…it’s not really a diet but a plan. So my goal was to have 40% fats, 35% carbs and 25% proteins (keep in mind that everyone is different so not recommending this for anyone. Please consider talking to Brooke or someone who is trained in this field). Long story short, I was teaching my body to burn energy more efficiently by using fat rather than the sugars.

Before Brooke…

During training: it was a challenge for me to lower my carbs and grains (I’m Italian, I love my carbs!) and increase my protein. The first few weeks were weird as I had low energy. But once it started kicking in, I couldn’t believe how much more energy I had and how good I felt. She asked me if I wanted to lose weight during the process and I said if I lost a few pounds I would be good with it. I’ve never been this focused on my nutrition (maybe when I lost the 40 lbs a long time ago but I was on a serious mission here) I used My Fitness Pal to log my food daily. Well, I lost about 10 lbs in the process and never felt this good in my life from my nutrition! On long training runs, I was to limit gus and gels and focus on real foods. I did 20+ mile training runs and never had a gu or gel! And felt great!

Example of how I was eating for 3 months…

Race Day: We had a final meeting to discuss my nutrition plan for race day. We picked the foods that I used while training and created the plan for the entire day, eating 150-200 calories every 90 minutes. I felt pretty good about my hydration and salt intake so I was going to listen to my body as I went. One the way up to the race, I had a genius idea to set alarms on my phone to go off every 90 minutes so I didn’t have to worry about reminding myself!

Had my alarms going off every 90 minutes to remind me what time and what to eat based on my plan!

The rule was to follow the plan until the last aid station (one of the reasons I picked this race is I was supposed to get birthday cake at one of the aid stations. Brooke said if it was too early in the day, not to do it as the sugar could mess with me. I was bummed but I never saw the birthday cake or cared). So at the last aid station, it was a freebie and I could do what I wanted. Which I did! I had 8 miles to go and I had a Coke (I don’t drink coke except for trail runs towards the end and it’s always soooo good), bacon and a quesadilla with Nutella! I even broke out with Honey Stinger gels with 4 miles to go as I knew I was close.

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW MUCH THIS HELPED THROUGHOUT THE DAY! I never bonked or felt sick! I felt good all day and stuck to my plan!

I can’t thank Brooke enough! I’m very grateful I made the investment as I’ve learned a lot more about fueling my body and it helped me have a great race! I highly recommend her!

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Race Report

Race Report: Antelope Canyon: My 1st 50 Miler

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Where do I even begin? It’s only been about 40 hours since I crossed the finish line and I’m still on Cloud 9. I’ve decided to write a race report about the Antelope Canyon race today. Continue Reading →

Blissing Out at the Finish Line!

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

“When you cross the finish line, your life will change forever.” -Unknown

Crossing a finish line is one of the most amazing feelings! It’s one of the reasons I love being a running coach as there is nothing more rewarding than watching someone work their butt off for any event and cross that finish line!

I’ve had some incredible finish line experiences but I have to admit, yesterday was one of the most amazing finish lines I experienced for a few reasons:

I signed up for the Inaugural Phoenix Women’s Half Marathon awhile back with Startline Racing (very well run event!). I first heard about it via Team RWB (more below!). We used to have the Women’s Half here and I used to be an Ambassador. I love women races as there is so much comraderie and different energy. I believe last week was my longest training week ever as far as running. My 50 Mile Training calendar called for 60 miles this week. I started the half marathon with tired legs. I had logged 48 miles at this point for the week and did 14 miles of sand training the day before. My original plan was to relax and just make this race a training run. I don’t listen to music often so I decided I was going to jam out while focusing on some new form focuses from ChiRunning. (In November, at the Instructor Weekend, Danny Dreyer, the founder, taught us an entire new series on Performance: learning how to get faster without increasing your perceived rate of exertion and without using your leg muscles to make it happen. Due to my distance training, I’ve been holding off feeling some of the new form focuses in my body so yesterday I decided to “play” around with a few of them). I was feeling great so was just chilling and enjoying it….when I reached mile 10, I realized there could be a slight chance that I would PR (personal record) this race. I continued to focus on some key areas and lo and behold, even though the results are still unofficial on their website, I beat my half marathon time by 20 seconds!
I have many friends that are part of Team RWB and I kept saying I would join them but I have so much on my plate and never really understood what they were all about. These friends kept encouraging me to join (IT’S FREE!) but I never got around to it until a few weeks ago. I love building my running community and I do this with my ChiRunners/ChiWalkers and Running for Brews. OMG, this community of people is AMAZING! I’ve never felt so part of something bigger than myself. The icing on the cake, and the main reason yesterday was one of my favorite finishes, was because someone came up to me close to the finish line and handed me the American Flag. GOOSE BUMPS! Mind you I was trying to get my PR and I knew I was close but there was no way I was going to turn down that experience! I got to run through the finish line carrying the American Flag! I’ve “only’ been running for about 8 years but I love this sport! This is why I am on a mission to turn people into runners. So many amazing experiences and people I have met via this awesome sport. Team RWB is a huge supportive community and they were out there until their very last walker came in to the finish line and we all got roses too! I am really looking forward to more amazing experiences with them!
Goose bumps carrying the flag through the finish line!

Unfortunately I missed getting in the photo but looks at this awesome group of supportive people!

Reflecting on this incredible day, here is what I believe contributed to my success (in no particular order):

My running conditioning. I’ve been running quite a bit lately (more than ever) for my first 50 miler. Here is a link to my plan and actual miles if you are interested.
ChiRunning/ChiWalking. Good running form has been crucial to my success. We can always learn to get better and more efficient at anything we do. I’ve been teaching this for 6 years now and I’m still amazed at how much I can keep working on it and seeing improvements. It’s one of my favorite parts of the form. I say Practice Makes Progress and I’ve seen some great improvements not just from my performance while running but more importantly with how great my body has been feeling with all these miles!
My Chiropractor. I’ve been working with Al for over a year on my forward head posture and alignment. Xrays have confirmed a significant improvement and I can feel it. Alignment is crucial to running and by working on my posture, I have felt an improvement in my form and more specifically my breathing. I also did a Fascial Stretch Therapy last week with him and will do these weekly until my race.
One of the reasons they say sitting is the new smoking. The position of your head effects your ENTIRE body!
My Nutritionist. As a trainer, I can help my clients with nutrition and weight loss but I’ve never really learned how to fuel my body for endurance and performance. I’ve been working with Brooke since November and learned a ton about my body and how it fuels properly. I did not have any Gus or Gels at all yesterday. I also haven’t been using those on my 20+ mile runs either. I’ve taught my body to use fat rather than sugar as I train longer. This will be a separate blog after my 50 miler.
Recovery and Rest. I’m grateful that I have a flexible schedule so I rarely set my alarm in the morning. I allow my body to get as much rest as it needs as I’m putting it under more stress than usual. I also foam roll, do leg drains and stretch every night before going to bed. Many people ignore this piece but your body needs it!

One of my biggest fears about the 50 mile training (aside from getting my plantar fascitiis back) was that I would burn out with all this running….the opposite is happening…I’m more energized and excited at all the new possibilities that running will bring to me for years to come!

What was your favorite finish line? Why do you remember it?

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

Getting High….and a Meltdown

Posted on January 25, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

Forget about writing every week for my first 50 Miler…there is no time for that! It seems I can barely get my weekly runs in and my work done these days! But I had to share about my weekend experience….because I was on a serious high on Saturday and a serious low on Sunday….and realized this is probably a normal thing that could happen while training for a 50 Miler or endurance event? Anyone else relate?

runnershigh

Getting High! Saturday I did Aravaipa’s Coldwater Rumble 20 Mile race. My plan was to do this as a training run (always great to have aid stations and be around other runners for a change!). I was oddly psyched up for this event. 20 milers don’t seem like a big deal anymore (yikes! did I just say that?!) and I love Estrella Regional Park (my old stomping grounds). My plan was to be as strategic as possible with my energy conservation on this run. I got a good nights sleep and was excited to see some friends that morning, including Bob, one of my client’s who was doing his first trail race, the 20K. Not too long ago, I wrote a blog post about my best run ever but I just had another one! Here are some reasons I had a runner’s high all day on Saturday and why I yelled across the finish line “I feel f%$#king awesome!”:

Like Javelina Jangover (my best run to date), I planned. I knew I had to strategize and manage my energy for the race. It started out on a hill so I ChiWalked right away rather than wasting energy so soon in the race. I looked behind me and I was 5th to last…everyone was ahead but I didn’t care.

Hill at the start of the race!

I didn’t want to race the event but I did want to see how well I could do. I was alone most of the race which was perfectly fine with me. I focused on my form, took in the breathtaking views, listened to music once in awhile and all around just focused on enjoying myself. I’ve been listening to a lot of the audios from the ChiSchool on my canal runs so I kept focusing on my form and most importantly, trying to stay as energy efficient as possible. My race performance is a clear example of how I am deepening my running practice.
2nd Aid Station was at Mile 11 and since I was half way, I knew I could start tapping into that reserved energy I had been conserving all along.
I’ll be doing a separate blog post about my nutrition (after my 50 miler) but this has been huge for me. I’ve been working with Brooke from Fuel to Finish. Long story short, I’ve been feeling amazing during the week, during my runs and races. I’ve never been this dialed in to fueling my body for performance and it feels amazing.
My last 9 miles were amazing. I still ChiWalked up the hills but I was very focused on changing my technique based on the environment that was coming at me. I was paying attention to my pace and my goal was to be comparable to Javelina which was a 13:03 for 15 miles (although I was detached enough by listening to my body first) It was hard to tell who I was passing since there were several distances going on.
The last few miles were downhill and used up all that free energy to my advantage. I was truly feeling f%$#king awesome by the time I crossed the finish line. I felt strong and was happy knowing that I could do more miles at that point if I had to (pretty soon I will be!)
When I checked my GPS, I found out that my fastest mile was my last one! and when I checked my placement in the event (not normally a big deal for me but was curious), I was 56th out of 80 people. By conserving my energy and being strategic, I was able to get in front of 24 people. I posted this quote on my facebook the other day and the highlighted is definitely how I measured my success on this race!

“Some runners judge performance by whether they won or lost. Others define success or failure by how fast they ran, whether or not they matched their time expectations. Still others judge performance by how good they felt running, focusing on the experience. Only you can judge your performance. Avoid letting others sit in judgment of you.”
– Hal Higdon

And now for my Meltdown:

Note to self: Don’t schedule 3 ChiRunning Alumni classes, a networking event, a 6 mile training run and dinner with your family the day after a big event (and add only getting 5.5 hours of sleep the night before). I’ve told myself this before and for some reason I thought I could handle it…Well, I did handle it but at the cost of being a nervous wreck and having a complete crying meltdown at my parents house by the end of the day. I love love teaching Alumni classes as I get to help my runners deepen their ChiRunning practice but they are always very draining for me as I cover a lot of material. I started by day at 7am. I haven’t attended Sisterhood of Superwomen in a while but I had a few friends that were going so I wanted to be there with them…then I had scheduled another training run but had to kill some time in between (when all I could think of is why did I schedule this rather than just doing my own thing so I could start/finish at my convenience)…then add on going to my parents house for dinner with the family. I left the house at 6:30am and was on the go ALL day. By the time dinner came, I just wanted to break down and cry as I was physically and mentally exhausted….and I DID! It’s been a long time since I had one of those moments but I just had to let it out.

Once I got it together, I looked back at the scenario and some things were beyond my control while some where within….

Learning lesson: Don’t underestimate the amount of rest my mind and body need while training for endurance events. To go from a huge high on Saturday to a meltdown on Sunday seriously messed with me. Not the first time I learn this lesson but apparently I need to remember this more often when planning my schedule….

So today is a rest day and I’m honoring getting done what I can and realizing that whatever doesn’t get done today, will get done tomorrow….or the next day…

always love seeing friends at a race!

Finish line feeling amazing!

pretty happy with these numbers but more importantly by how good I felt at the end! my pace was a 13:05 which is 2 sec slower than Javelina but 5 more miles sustained at it. I don’t pause my watch at aid stations as I like to see my true time.

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

5 Ways To Take The Dread Out of the Dreadmill

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Lisa Pozzoni by Lisa Pozzoni

….and My Story Runs On….

I’m so behind on blogging about my 50 Mile Training journey but will get back to that very soon. I couldn’t pass up posting about the dreaded treadmill as I’ve wanted to post about this before and it hasn’t happened it.

I’m an AZ girl and even in the summer when it’s 120 degrees, I run early in the morning or at night. I’ve always hated the dreadmill! One of the reasons I love trail running is because I’m out in nature enjoying the great outdoors. I seriously don’t know how people run on the treadmill all the time! But remember, my message to everyone when it comes to running is that we each have our own running story so I respect that someone’s running story might just be about the treadmill! This morning it was pouring so I didn’t have a choice… dreadmill

If you refer to the treadmill as the “dreadmill” or “Satan’s sidewalk”, you probably use it because you have to due of weather or maybe you are out of town on business and don’t know any safe locations to run. This morning, I didn’t want to run in the rain and realized it is possible to take the dread out of the dreadmill…here are my suggestions:

Change your attitude: This was a huge epiphany for me. I realized just calling it the dreadmill was not positive. I am making a choice to run and what it the other option? Not run at all? Well, of course I want to run! So embrace the treadmill as your option for this particular run and enjoy it! Just this change in attitude made me feel better about it. Maybe you can get really good with your attitude and be like this guy!

Mix it up: This is a great time to try some intervals. Instead of thinking about being on the treadmill for 30 minutes, think about it as six 5 minute intervals! In each 5 minute interval, switch it up every minute: you can go faster by increasing speed by .5 every minute OR you can add a bit of incline every minute, you can add walk breaks OR go faster than you normally do…which brings me to…
How fast can you go? : The treadmill is a controlled environment. You can see and adjust your speed immediately. I had a lot of fun working on speed intervals. Even when I’m doing a track workout, I have to keep looking at my watch to see my pace. On a treadmill, you can see it right there and so long as you are careful, you can manipulate your pace immediately. I had some fun with my intervals and seeing how fast I could go. I was playing around so I didn’t do this for long but it was funner than I thought it would be.
Focus on your running form: As a ChiRunning Instructor, this is something that I do often anyways. However I realize that are some specific form focuses that I can feel better on the treadmill. We always say in ChiRunning to make pretend you are running on the treadmill when you are on the road because the treadmill helps by bringing your legs behind you. I love focusing on pelvic rotation when on the treadmill as I can really feel the treadmill bring my leg back and then my hip follows it. This morning I was working on really relaxing my lower legs and letting my knees bend and letting my pelvis rotate. One of my other favorite focuses on the treadmill are combining breathing with cadence. I can get into a great rhythm! By the way, if you are a ChiRunner, click here for some great tips from Danny Dreyer about treadmill running.
Get distracted: As much as working on form is a priority for me, sometimes it’s nice to get distracted too. I rarely listen to music on the road or trails but on the treadmill, I enjoy it because I hardly ever do it. This morning I listened to a podcast for a while and then switched to some music. I’ve had friends tell me that they’ve watched entire movies or Netflix while on the treadmill too.

I am not an expert on purchasing treadmills but I found this website that has some great reviews about them!

So next time you have no choice (or do you?), try these tips and see how they work out for you. Heck, I might even just add a treadmill workout to my weekly routine after my 50 miler!

Anyone else have any other tips to share? 😉

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

The Running University

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Category Archives: AHA Moments

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Click here: 50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

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50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

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50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

50 Miles of Gratitude: (3) Training

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

50 Miles of Gratitude: (2) Nutrition

50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

Race Report: Antelope Canyon: My 1st 50 Miler

Blissing Out at the Finish Line!

Getting High….and a Meltdown

5 Ways To Take The Dread Out of the Dreadmill

Click here: 50 Miles of Gratitude: 50 Posts about my first 50 Miler

From My Running Story to Yours…. (if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)

From My Running Story to Yours….
(if you feel inspired to share your comments, do so below…I want to hear your story too!)