Play by play

In England a couple weeks ago I was doing some 'train the trainer' training and we focused heavily on chunking the information. Only giving trainees the information they need to know right then - trying to keep from overwhelming their brains!! I've been doing this more and more on runs - I'm sure I've always done it to some extent - I'm just more aware of it now.

For instance on my 8 mile run last week - around the same lake as in the last post (16 laps - think pond - not real lake) - I broke it up first into 2 lap segments. I didn't focus on having to do 16, merely on the two that were lying directly in front of me - literally taking it one mile at a time. This particular day it was raining (not pouring, not sprinkling - just a steady rain). No one else was out - no rabbits to chase so I had to bring it back a little more internal - focus on myself and of course my music. Because of the rain I was able to break my run up even further - there were 4 sections:

• Section 1 was an area where snails had decided to slime there way out onto the path (note: I hate snails/slugs!!) - this area was where I focused my energy solely on NOT stepping on one of them. I hate them, but I couldn't bear to hear the crunch or think of the slime on the bottom of my shoe, or just kill anything really!
• Section 2 had a uniqueness that didn't come to me till later - about 4 laps in I realized what I thought were rain drops hitting me were really bugs - a wipe of the face confirmed. From then on my goal during that section was to avoid them - duck, weave, whatever it took.
• Section 3 was the curves - just a little area where it made a few turns back and forth. This area was my chill place - it felt a little like a forest and there was a white egret and a great blue heron in this section. The egret did not seem happy about the blue heron and both seemed suspicious of me!
• Section 4 was the parking lot area - nothing special to it, but I would scope out the people that had stopped to sit and wait out the rain and the boy who was practicing on his skateboard while his Dad, I assumed, watched from the car.

Now add in the music to this - my mind was overly occupied and the miles seemed to fly by. Not to mention I really get a kick out of running in the rain if it's not too cold. I need to post my playlist from this run - it was unique for sure!

My second instance of the chunking on a run came on Saturday - the big day - 20 miles. Seriously, I wasn't sure if I would make it this far. My chunks for this run were a bit larger:

• Section 1 was a 6 mile (I thought - turned out to be 6.6) loop that I made out to the golf course and then back into town to meet up with Brooke at her house at 8am. I utilized my iPod and mini-race day fanny pack to carry along my fuel. Upon arrival at her house I indulged in a raspberry clif shot and water.
• Section 2 was getting to run with Brooke - I dumped the iPod and mini-fanny before we headed out on a 7 mile loop that included a stop at the Y for a drink, lots of chatting, a few stretch breaks, and another gu & water when we got back to her house.
• Section 3 was the loop to my house from Brooke's - not the direct 2 mile path, but the 4ish mile loop through the neighborhoods. I put the iPod back on for the trip and rocked it out a bit. I took one short walk/stretch break.
• Section 4 started at my house - it began with 1/2 a gu and some gatorade G2 (love that stuff). Brady was dressed and ready so he headed out with me for what ended up being 2.5 miles. I was starting to lock up at this point (I'd already done 2 miles more than my longest run to date) so he coached me through it. We started out running 6 - walking 1 minute until I was feeling better then we went to running 3, walking 30 seconds. It worked (except for a random calf cramp going up a slight grassy incline???). I was able to run it in and felt good when I saw my Garmin slip over to read 20 miles!! Happy day.

After the run to keep walking we went down to a rummage sale on our block - found a record player AND a cool decanter. (Needless to say there was some time spent Sunday rocking out to some oldies, but goodies!) Mom, Jar and the kids came over after I'd showered and we decided to grab lunch - the kids and I walked the mile there & back - that was probably the best cool down/post run stretch!!

So, anyway, I'm breaking it down into bits and I'm going to make it through Chicago one leg at a time. With some breaks I ran 20 in 3:30 so if I can fit in the other 6 miles in 3 hours (6:30 cut-off) I'll be good!! :-)

I'm taking a break tonight to catch a concert - whoohoo - DragonForce & Sonata Artica. Till next time...