A Runner's Will To Win / Whine

A Runner's Tale of A Constant Mental Challenge

Tuesday, I had an 11Km interval run workout on my training sched. I usually schedule my weekday runs at night after office hours. Last Tuesday though, we had a scheduled software release for Software Quality Control (QC) checking and a major bug remains unfixed. I had to debug and fix it until the wee hours of Wednesday. I had no time to run and so the scheduled intervals was to be skipped.

I decided to wake up at 6:30 in the morning on Wednesday and run. At 6:45, I found myself still lying on my bed. I need more sleep... I can't run intervals... I just had a week of rest and recovery.. Maybe I should...

OK. Stop there! Nobody loves to read a runner whining about his scheduled runs.. providing excuses and all sorts of reasons why he stayed in bed.. Heck, nobody asked me to run in the first place.. Nobody loves whiners. Even a whiner hates a fellow whiner. There's a reason why whining babies aren't as lovable.

Would you rather whine like a baby?

That was just the beginning of a never-ending whining self. During the run, I almost quit. Here are my reasons I almost did.

1. It's really tough on the lungs to run intervals. After the 4th 400m repeat, I was breathing hard already.
2. My legs were tired and my body still wants to sleep. It's still early. A full hour sleep would be fantastic.
3. I forgot to bring water. I needed to rehydrate. Maybe a 4K instead of 11 would do.
4. It's already 8 in the morning, the sun's heat is intolerable. Can I stop now?
5. Maybe I could finish 5 repeats and then do another 5 tonight.
6. I'm having blisters just under my right toe. It may get worse.
7. Nobody cares if I finish this or not. I'm all alone, I could just log 11K and nobody would knew I only did 4 or 5.
   

You know what? For every reason I wanted to stop, I found more reasons to go on.

1. I'm breathing hard and that's exactly how Intervals should be. I'm developing my anaerobic threshold here.
2. It's just natural for the legs to feel tired, it's working out. I could sleep longer tonight if I finish this run.
3. Alright. Valid reason to stop. No water. But hey, there's a faucet. Douse your head with water to stay cool.
4. Thank the sun for shining today. It had been raining all weekends long. Run because the weather allows it.
5. I find a way to stop today.. I'll find more ways to stop tonight, the next training day, the race.
6. Just push. The blisters arent that bad. We'll take care of it later.
7. Credibility. Sooner or later, a lie would be exposed. Nobody might care about your runs, just don't lie to the only probable person on this planet who totally believes in you - yourself.
   

And more reasons to finish the run.

• An 11K mark on an 11K running log looks much better than a 6 or an 8. Stick to the game plan. The race is easy when you train hard. You already know that don't you Jayson?
• I find a way to finish today.. I'll remember ways to finish tomorrow and most of my races in the future.
• I'm participating in a running contest.. not a whining spree. Run or whine?
• To compete, get fit. You don't get fit by slacking off. Push.
• For all the reasons I provided myself with, I found myself running the 8th 400m repeat. Hey, just a little bit more.
  

Yey! I found myself to finish strong on the last 3 repeats. I am not physically fit after a week of rest and recovery, but my mental toughness isn't about to give up even so. If running was that easy, everybody would be a runner. And the next time you see me whine.. Please remind me it's not a whining contest. And I'm not a baby anymore.

Here are my times for the 10x400m repeats. Note the 5th, 6th and 7th repeats - I almost stopped right then.

1. 1:43 minutes
2. 1:42
3. 1:43
4. 1:47
5. 1:57
6. 2:07
7. 2:03
8. 1:56
9. 1:53
10. 1:47
    

A Roller Coaster Interval Run

I related my whining to crying babies. Now let me relate my intervals to an enthusiastic kid on a roller coaster. A kid needs a lot of nerves and guts to queue for a challenging nerve-wracking roller coaster ride. He is fully aware that it's gonna be one hell of a stressful and joyful ride. He falls in line, collect all his nerves and guts, and brace for one tough roller coaster experience. After the journey, he gasps for air to breathe, cherishes the fun and thrills and then slowly finds his way again to the roller coaster queue. One more time baby, one more.

That's how I felt on my 10x400m run last Thursday night. In an 800m perimeter of Makati Sports Complex and Velazquez Park, I did 400m sprint pace and then the following 400m on recovery pace. After 800m, I'm back to where I started and will have to repeat the intervals all over again, sprint then recover, sprint and recover. I expect to be much faster on the straight roads along Velazquez Park as compared on the condo rooftop where I had to change direction every 55meters (just back and forth). On straights, I can sustain my pace all throughout (without deccelerating on turns).

The 400m interval sprint is my roller coaster ride. I love the need for speed, the stressful and powerful strides, the push to break every split of a second possible. There may not be Usain Bolt-like speeds in those sprints, but I do enjoy my own fastest laps just the same. At the finish line of the 400m dash, I'm panting crazy like a racer horse. It's too tiring. Painfully tiring.

I will then walk the first 100m for a more efficient oxygen intake and to recover. Will I go to that 400m starting line yet again? Yeah, like that kid queuing for another coaster ride, you bet I'd love another 400m try!! I will jog the next 300m back to the starting line and brace myself for another thrilling, fast and tiring sprint.

My 10x400m interval splits at Velazquez Park:

1. 1:11.6
2. 1:08.3
3. 1:07.9
4. 1:11
5. 1:12
6. 1:14
7. 1:11
8. 1:13.7
9. 1:12.5
10. 1:11.6
    

If I could only sustain this pace on a 5Km race. Nope, for now I can't. This frenetically mad pace is only sustainable for me on my 10x400m intervals.

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For those who want to benefit from High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), I recommend this website. It provides scientific studies regarding HIIT, training methods, benefits and DISadvantages. HIIT is perfect for weight loss, enhance running speed, increase anaerobic threshold and much more. However, HIIT exercises are highly intense workouts and are not suited for new runners and for those that are just starting to get fit. Be warned, HIIT is a great way to supercharge your fitness level yet it also increases your chances of getting injured, strained muscles and trigger psychological problems brought about by painful and difficult HIIT exercises. Just like a roller coaster, HIIT is not meant for the faint hearteds. And if you so insists.. just be extra careful, push but don't push yourself over your limits.


This blog post was continued here. This sequel talks about my third interval training in two weeks, how I was able to establish a new 400m PR, how I intended to test if my speed really improved from all these HIIT training, a new 5K training PR and much more on these intervals / HIIT workouts. Check it out.