Butterflies . . .

Stacie inspired me to run earlier today, which more than likely prevented me the oppourtunity to squirm out of running tonight - thanks Stacie! See - a little accountability to a third party really can help!

During our run, we discussed "hard workouts". As we were chatting - OK, she was chatting and I was gasping for breath - but between my gasps I was able to share some thoughts on hard workouts. We routinely have the conversation that most runners "run their easy runs too hard and their hard runs too easy." I put that into quotations - it is a quote of someone, I just don't know who. Whoever said it was dead on the money.

How many times do you run your daily maintenance runs at, near or possibly even below goal race pace? If you answered anything other than "none", then you're probably caught in the middle, as most of us tend to be. You are wasting precious energy on runs that just don't matter as much as the key workouts. If you find yourself "working" on your maintenance runs, then you're probably not working hard enough in your quality sessions - primarily because you wore yourself out already! All runners should have a specific purpose for every run they run - if it is a "key session", generally you will be training either endurance or speed. For example, the typical maarthon runner might have two primary "key sessions" in any given week. The long run to train endurance (where speed is not important) and a speed/tempo session to improve pace (where we're not concerned with distance, but how fast we're going). Hardly ever will you want to try to train both at the same time - that's what the race is for! The other runs, or the maintenance runs that I refer to, are more about building a bigger base of mileage that will enable you, over the long term, to withstand more and more in your quality sessions.

So why the butterflies? I too fall into the trap I described above about running in no-man's land, but I have learned how to guage when my hard workouts are hard enough - I get "butterflies" before my quality sessions. I literraly get nervous about the session I am about to run, because I know it is going to be hard enough that it is really going to tax me, and I will likely suffer a bit. I am either getting ready to go past my endurance threshold or my speed threshold and start pushing my body beyond what it is currently capable of. When that happens, I am entering some unknown/unfamiliar territory. That's what makes me nervous; that's where I train my body to go farther or faster; and that's exactly what I am seeking to accomplish in my quality sesisons.

So, next time you prepare for your long run, your track workout or your next tempo session - see if you get a little nervous about it. If you are, then I'd say you're right where you need to be.