I guess I've done quite a bit of thinking about triathlon/running during my vacation. I semi apologize with double promises to get back to some recipe-ing (that sounded weird) and other topics very shortly. Good? Good.
Now, onto more random musings on training. I might have touched on the subject of Training to Race or Racing to Train before, but I don't think I've spent any significant time on it, so here goes my 5 minute ramble.
What the heck am I talking about? Well, in the world of running and triathlon, there are two (well, kinda 3)camps.
1. TTR's: Train to race. These people sign up for a race (or multiples!) and diligently train (hopefully) in order to accomplish whatever their goal is on race day. They might be nervous, but they love the thrill of racing and "pedal to metal" feeling of the gun going off and crossing the finish line. They aren't a huge fan of training, but do it as a "means to an end". They aren't gonna jump on the bike and do a two hour ride or bust out a 10 mile run for $hits and giggles...unless it's for a darn good reason.
2. RTT's: These are the strange birds. They tend to sign up for races merely so they have a reason to train, but they love training just for training's sake. They might hop on the bike for a random 50 miler or head out for a 15 mile run with no race on the calendar...and may sign up for a race merely so they have an "excuse" to train. As in "Oh, I have a half marathon in a month so I need to get that 14 mile test run in" instead of "Oh, I just feel like running around my neighborhood for the heck of it for 2 hours. No biggie". You get alot less eye rolls that way, even if people secretly think you're nuts for calling a 14 mile run "fun".
3. The happy mediums-A good mix of both. They enjoy racing and training. They might thrown in a few random training sessions for no "good reason" but generally follow a training plan when they are prepping for a race, and when they aren't, engage in other activities.
So what kind of runner or triathlete are you? I think it's no secret...I'm #2, all the way. I think, if possible, I've gotten even worse over the years. I signed up for my first marathon to say I did 26.2 Same with my first half ironman and ironman. Why did I sign up for more 70.3's and 140.6's? I love to train! Some people call the 6 hour ride or 3 hour run the necessary evil....I freakin love it. Wish someone would pay me to do it...or that I could be independently wealthy :-P
Aside from loving to train (and yes, I will go ride 50 miles on the trainer for sheer giggles, go ahead, call the funny farm)...I don't like racing. Most of the time. Whew. Got that off my chest. I can pull off faster times training in most cases (I'm a freak), races are expensive, and I'm a lazy a$$ who would rather run at 10am than 7am thankyouverymuch.
But mostly...I'm still nervous of failure. How lame is that? I'm running in the Buffalo Half in 3 weeks and I've been sidelined for the past week because of this silly sea urchin crap. Lame. And now my inner self is warring with my outer self about doing the distance well. Notice, I said "well". I know I can run 13.1 miles. But if I paid the money to do it, I want to rock that race!
Looks like someone needs a shot of self-confidence. You should see me when I taper.
Anyone have any tips about how to get over this fear of mine? I love training, but this season I am having such a hard time motivating myself to sign up for races!
Now, onto more random musings on training. I might have touched on the subject of Training to Race or Racing to Train before, but I don't think I've spent any significant time on it, so here goes my 5 minute ramble.
What the heck am I talking about? Well, in the world of running and triathlon, there are two (well, kinda 3)camps.
1. TTR's: Train to race. These people sign up for a race (or multiples!) and diligently train (hopefully) in order to accomplish whatever their goal is on race day. They might be nervous, but they love the thrill of racing and "pedal to metal" feeling of the gun going off and crossing the finish line. They aren't a huge fan of training, but do it as a "means to an end". They aren't gonna jump on the bike and do a two hour ride or bust out a 10 mile run for $hits and giggles...unless it's for a darn good reason.
2. RTT's: These are the strange birds. They tend to sign up for races merely so they have a reason to train, but they love training just for training's sake. They might hop on the bike for a random 50 miler or head out for a 15 mile run with no race on the calendar...and may sign up for a race merely so they have an "excuse" to train. As in "Oh, I have a half marathon in a month so I need to get that 14 mile test run in" instead of "Oh, I just feel like running around my neighborhood for the heck of it for 2 hours. No biggie". You get alot less eye rolls that way, even if people secretly think you're nuts for calling a 14 mile run "fun".
3. The happy mediums-A good mix of both. They enjoy racing and training. They might thrown in a few random training sessions for no "good reason" but generally follow a training plan when they are prepping for a race, and when they aren't, engage in other activities.
Aside from loving to train (and yes, I will go ride 50 miles on the trainer for sheer giggles, go ahead, call the funny farm)...I don't like racing. Most of the time. Whew. Got that off my chest. I can pull off faster times training in most cases (I'm a freak), races are expensive, and I'm a lazy a$$ who would rather run at 10am than 7am thankyouverymuch.
But mostly...I'm still nervous of failure. How lame is that? I'm running in the Buffalo Half in 3 weeks and I've been sidelined for the past week because of this silly sea urchin crap. Lame. And now my inner self is warring with my outer self about doing the distance well. Notice, I said "well". I know I can run 13.1 miles. But if I paid the money to do it, I want to rock that race!
Looks like someone needs a shot of self-confidence. You should see me when I taper.
Anyone have any tips about how to get over this fear of mine? I love training, but this season I am having such a hard time motivating myself to sign up for races!
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