I did a brick workout today. I biked 27 miles. Easy pace out to Borland Hill. Rode up Borland three times hard (went easy on the way back down). Then all out back home.
Then I did a short (2.2 hilly miles) run, as fast as I could. This is how it went:
I was pushing hard. I was reaching that point where I’d had enough and wanted to stop. I kept pushing hard. Push, Push, Push. Oh wait, let’s try to clear my mind and relax.
I tried to recall the Kung Fu quote I wrote in yesterday’s blog post. I messed it up, and thought of “Let all pain leave the body” (instead of “Let all energy flow from the body”).
That reminded me of the title of Depeche Mode’s song – “A Pain that I am Used to”.
The rest of the run, I’d cycle through these three things:
Push, Push, Push.
A Pain that I am Used to
Relax & Clear the mind
All the while, I focused on good running form. It worked! I had a PR time for this brick/run of 19:40. I’ve never beaten 20 minutes!
I keep reaching for this mystical magical breakthrough moment that launches me to the next level. Today’s workout is more of a Kaizen moment. Hey – if reaching for a breakthrough helps me ‘kaizen’ my way there, I’m okay with that!
BTW, I was not truly in pain during this workout. It was just REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE.
More good news, is that I am able to run off the bike with my new aero position. I am working on a post all about my new aero position. I think it saved me 1.2 mph…that’s FREE SPEED, and worth it if I can still run afterwards!
Depeche Mode is my all time favorite band. Here’s “A Pain that I am Used to”:
[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=WwAzIlQMpLs]
What a perfect song for triathons. Tomorrow I compete in my 16th(?) race. I have a sinus infection, I feel rather icky and I’m underprepared, but I’m going anyway. Why? Cuz “It’s a pain that I am used to”!
Very strong, Carol.
“It was just REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE.” Your statement encapsulates the heart of training: teaching yourself to maintain detachment, objectivity and top-notch problem-solving mojo during immense effort.
Put another way, learning to be more and more functional while allowing yourself to become more and more uncomfortable.