The Head Games Begin!

I am having a problem with my paces.  I haven't run a half marathon in about 3 years and the last marathon I ran was at the end of Ironman Arizona, which was not my best showing.  A year ago I ran the Austin marathon, and just missed my goal.  For some reason I have it in my mind that I always have to push, push, push.  The first 4-6 miles always feels like a struggle and because of this, I have a hard time finding my pace in shorter distances.  Apparently on pace training runs too.

I've been running with a new running group this season because I am doing a later marathon.  It has been different, educational, and challenging.  I've met a some very cool people, and it has been an awesome experience.  The coach gives me daily feed back, advice, and contacts me regularly via email.  It is turning into quite the learning experience.

So far I've found out that when I hear pace, on runs shorter than 8 miles, I automatically think push it until it hurts.  I'm running like 10K pace all the time, when I should be running marathon pace.  My coach keeps telling me to slow down or I'm going to leave my PR on the streets of Cedar Park.  He looked at me on Tuesday morning and said, you have a high tech Garmin, use it!!  Why don't you look at it and slow down your pace.

So why don't I use my Garmin during a 5:30 am run???

• Because I can't get the light to turn on.  
• I am afraid of failing.  
• I think each run has to be better than the last. 
• I have that old school mentality, "Harder, Longer, Stronger"
• I'm afraid of quitting!

I program in workouts in my Garmin all the time, so why not use it to watch my pace?  I got home and figured out some cool things, I love this gadget!!

I programmed pace times in my Garmin and run workouts.  I now have a workout program for all of my runs, and the light goes off when I'm out of goal range.  This should help me with those paces.  I'm hoping that this will help me to learn the feel of the paces on my body with better confidence.

I'm taking a leap of faith here and actually trying to implement my own advice and the advice I've heard all the time, train smarter, not harder!

Am I the only one out there that struggles with the Harder, Longer, Stronger mentality???

Happy Running!
Tracy