When Less is More: A (Personal) Case Study

So, this is another post about running (I know, shocking, right!?), however, I think there are some takeaways for anybody if you read long enough, so bear with me as I stay true-to-form and long-windedly unpack everything today.

Today’s thoughts are a flip-side to a previous post where I discussed some mental errors I made racing a few weeks back; one of those errors was being Hella distracted by things around me and notably the timepiece and what it said on my wrist. Full disclosure: this post was pre-planned after making some adjustments and racing again at yesterday’s Bayou City Classic 10k in Houston.

 And by adjustments, let’s say I basically did the runner’s equivalent of cutting my right hand off (or at least my right thumb, that thing’s important!) and running without a watch. Yep. Completely naked from the elbow down! No GPS, no Timex, no feedback whatsoever other than mile markers on the course and feel-you know, taking a more mindful approach. And it was everything I hoped it could be; made complete by freaking my friends and teammates out in the process. In fact, the only one who didn’t think it was weird was my coach-but he is, after all, a self-proclaimed weirdo-so that is not surprising at all. *By the way, if you’re reading this, I love you Coach Doug! 😉

“OMG Adrienne’s not wearing a watch!”

I’d be lying if I didn’t enjoy the fact that this was so aberrant from how many of us typically race-very data focused, but aberrant was what I felt I needed in order to eliminate distractions and just go out there and give what I have without judgement of how fast I ‘should’ be going or what type of performance I ‘should’ be having in the face of all the training I’ve done.  And I do like to defy convention at times. It’s more fun that way. And ‘should’ should be removed from our vocabulary-but that’s another topic for another time!

The fact is this: while I’m not a professional, I’m well-trained and I have the ability to run a good race without external validation or distraction. I don’t need a piece of plastic to tell me how I’m running. Or my own warped sense of giving control to that piece of plastic-silly I know but it happens to the best of us. And it’s Houston, TX, after all, in March. Temps are starting to average in the 70s with humidity 90% or greater. Actually, just like my race last month….

Not today, Allen Parkway!

This is where my post gets entertaining, or weird. Or both. You decide-it won’t hurt my feelings either way. I’m going to give you guys a head-to-head transcript of some of the things going on in my mind during both races: one being largely externally focused (Law Week 8k), and one being largely internally focused (Bayou City Classic). Both races were less than a month apart and VERY similar conditions on a VERY similar course and then I’ll give a little analysis on what it all means, because it’s likely a lot of this will not make sense. I will say my strategy was super simple for this past race: break the 10k up into 2-mile segments, pour water over my head at every aid station to manage the conditions, drink if my mouth got dry, and stay just “below the edge” of max effort. I also in the place of a watch wrote down the word “Rhythm” on my left hand as a visual cue.

Please note that It’s hard to put together any deep intellectual insights, more less coherent sentences when you’re at lactate threshold or beyond. So here we go, kids. Let’s get dirty. Here’s more or less what my internal dialogue sounded like out on the course. You guys know by now I’m always comfortable being real on here and this one is no exception. Be prepared for two very, very different race experiences.

Let’s look at the Law Week Race first. Context: lots of changes outside of running, lots of miles, not a lot of mental prep resulting. But that’s how it goes sometimes.

Start through Mile 2:

“Stay on pace, A. Just stay on pace..Should I feel like this already? ... OMG, it’s not a good day to race-it’s ok, just stay positive....Did I go out too hard…? we will see…

I proceeded to look at my Garmin at least a half dozen times.

“Can I hold this pace? I think I can....Oh geez, I still have like 3 more miles of this…it’s ok though. It’s ok. You’re fine.

Mile 2-4 on hilly-ish road with a weird box-shaped detour-pace has slowed about 15 seconds per mile.

“it’s ok, don’t panic. Checks watch (like that's going to fix anything!)....Focus, A, just stay focused….

This may not be my day…. just survive this….

Checks GPS again. AGAIN.

Why can’t I race like I train? This shouldn’t be so hard….

…you’re a friggin sports psychologist…get your s$%*  together…..”

Checks GPS yet again.

“…it’s okay, you can slow down a little. You’re not good in these conditions anyway.

Checks watch. Then looks around the course. Ok, really?! 

…Ok, I kind of wish this was over…. you’re still okay. Just keep moving….

Gets passed by a number of other runners.

…you messed up. You went out too hard…these are no conditions to be out there….

*Sees poor soul dry heaving under a bridge-

…at least you’re not that guy… ….I feel so bad right now though….”

*Final mile-fighting the negative beast hard

“…you have this. Just keep pushing…. man, I’m not liking road racing right now…

*sees pace slow a little more

…. why do I race in the spring…?

Checks GPS like 20 times. No exaggeration.  

…. stay strong, A. Just stay strong….

Approaching finish downtown

“Just get to that street corner …

…omg are we done yet….

…give it one last push…. aaarrrgh!

*Gets bottle of water. Chokes it down and pours the rest on head. Then goes and lays down in front of a high-rise building. In that exact order.  Now how’s that for coherent?! And I was all over the place mentally. We all have those experiences. 

Final impression: Not a horrible time or place all things considered but raced considerably in my head and focused on the uncontrollable and numbers. My RPE was off the charts and I “white knuckled” this race more than necessary. Here’s where messing up is a wonderful thing: it’s data for making adjustments and being adaptable. A great asset for running. A better one for life in general.

   

Now let’s look at Bayou City. Again, similar conditions, similar course. This time around life a little more routine and I was able to visualize handling the varying course, the conditions, hills, and running in a rhythm. I also had committed to run without a watch to eliminate a big distraction from the last race and replaced it with the word 'Rhythm' written in silver ink on my hand (mantra for the race, ya know). The goal was simple: run hard but smart, more fluidity and feeling over thinking, and work with the day instead of gripping tight to arbitrary, ambiguous goals. Boom.

All the feedback I got!

Start through mile 2 

“Let’s be smart today. Run within yourself, A. You’ve done this many time and you can do it today….

…embrace this day….

…Great, great start. Set yourself up….my hands feel weird!" 

*Teammates running alongside me after first half mile

…oh, hey ladies…let’s go…. I’m feeling pretty good right now….

Teammate accelerates, I stay on pace and DON’T look at my watch

…. let her go. Focus on YOUR race….

…ok good…. this is all it takes.

*Quiet for rest of mile 2. That's right!. Look down at silver lettering on my left wrist and smile a little.

…. this is going to be a good race today…. I’m in total control….

…work with the day, A…. work with it….

…you don’t have to make it harder than it needs to be.

*Mile 2-4 going up an incline and HR starts to rise

…it’s just a hill, don’t worry it gets easy once you crest it.

Picked a focal point at the top of the hill and visualized a magnet at the top pulling me in (I know, super weird but it worked!)

“…shake your hands out, relax and roll….…. wow, I’m having a good race….

…holy crap I can handle these conditions after all…. (near same spot where I had to mentally scrape myself off the pavement last race)

…Not today, Allen Parkway. Not today. You’re mine! …I don’t miss my watch. At all!”

Went back to just paying attention to running tangents. Head goes quiet and just focusing on buildings in the distance.

*Mile 5-6, going into downtown, fatiguing but still feeling strong overall. Grind time!

*looks down at hand again and got a little hit of positive emotion

“…you have this… this is a much better race….…this is going to be faster a faster time. NOTE: this was the only point I can recall where I thought about the outcome and instead of frustrated I got a bit of an adrenaline boost. Until the headwinds hit. 

“(running into the winds between buildings) don’t fight the wind, A, work with it…. there you go….

…what are you tilting your head back for? You don’t have to do that. You’ve got more still…

Corrected form and got back in rhythm

…. see that girl up there, work up to her…

…hey, you can pass her. Go for it! gets another little rush even though legs getting heavy and eventually overtook her.

…see? You’re just where you need to be…you’re good at this…

…. just a bit more…. there you go…. strong…. in rhythm….

*Coming into final two turns

…oh, heck yes…

…. show me what you got…. can you give me a little more…yes…?

*sees finish line and then clock

…. c’mon, give it…give it…. Nice, A.

…. it’s all mental…give it…. you have it…. drive it home….”

Sees clock-the first time I saw numbers all morning. I accelerated once more…. yes! I made the right choice today.

I have everything I need inside."

As you can see, I like to coach myself while out on the race course. It feels less emotional and personal. Hence the second-person language. And since my name is so long, I like to shorten it in my head-it just makes things easier!

Final verdict: crossed the line with no frustration and felt like I ran hard, but never over my head. Also clocked a time almost 2 minutes faster than the last time I ran a 10k and probably my fastest 10k of my thirties. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have any uncertainty of doing a race of that length without any temporal feedback, but in the end really helped me race in the present and get the most out of my day out there. For the most part, stayed in the moment. 

Whew! Okay, now that was kinda weird-thanks to all who made it to the end of this gibberish-laden post! So, to drive this sucker home, here’s some takeaways from my little experiment Also, please note that I don't plan on throwing away/smashing/giving away my watches any time soon-they do have a place as they are often helpful tools and we use them appropriately for us. Ok now for those takeaways... 

1.       So often in sport and in life, we try to engineer a performance. Sometimes this is the way to go. For some of you, this may be your style and thrive on this perspective. I however, seem to thrive more on ‘creating’ a performance; by that I mean working like heck to prepare, then when the moment comes, letting that work flow out of you instead of forcing of bending your will to some idea or template. I don’t think either perspective is superior to one another, we just are best served deciding which one resonates with us and which situation calls for it.

2.       As I beat to death on here, learn from your experiences and don’t be afraid to do something different moving forward. So many things we do are just experiments and I think that makes it more exciting and compelling. Besides, if we continuously do the same thing we’ll never move forward.

3.       We don’t have to make things harder than they actually are. Embrace what’s ahead and view it as a challenge. Then take that challenge and focus on what’s right in front of you. If something is bothering you or you have trouble focusing, find what may be the trouble spot (IE a Garmin) and remove it. You just may be surprised. Notice how much more access I had to my mental game when I stripped down my approach.

4.       Lastly, keep it simple. Keep it fun. Enjoy the ride. And, by the way, I don’t expect many or any of you to ditch your watches any time soon! To each one’s own!!

Thanks, as always, for reading. Let’s keep growing. You, too, have everything you need inside.