Icepack Wisdom

Ah, the icepack. Of all the things I’ve won in my Run Nova Scotia career – either from finishing in the top 3 overall or the top 3 in my age division or from random door prize draws – I think the most useful has to be the icepack I won a few years ago. What’s especially useful about this one is that it’s soft and has elastic Velcro straps, so I can wrap it around any part of my body that ails me. Trophies and plaques and medals are nice and all – and they’re a bit better than the air compressor I won once – but they aren’t nearly as useful as an icepack. I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of this puppy.

And now I’ve pulled it out of its resting place in the freezer once more. Nothing serious – I don’t think. Just some very minor swelling on the inside of my right knee – perhaps from the bad footing on snow-covered sidewalks during Sunday and Monday’s runs. Hard to say. My new shoes may be tweaking things a bit too. Who knows? All I can do is put a little ice on the hurt bit and hope the resulting increased blood flow will speed up whatever self-healing needs to occur. So much is out of our control.

Sunday’s long run sucked – and goes on the shelf with all the other stupid training decisions I’ve made in my short amateur recreational career. After a glorious Saturday treadmill run with 40 minutes of threshold running, I decided to inject a little half-marathon pace running into my Sunday long run. On the whole, that wasn’t a bad idea – but considering I was supposed to be easing back into higher intensity, trying more threshold running the day after a fairly intense workout was a bad decision.

My plan was to do 20k total with 4 miles (6.4k) at goal half-marathon pace (between 5:45-5:50/mile or 3:34-3:38/km). So I started with 10k easy. And right from the start I should’ve known to dump the fast stuff. There was just enough snow on the sidewalk to make it feel like I was running through sand. Every step was slipping out behind me. These were not the conditions for fast running. But after 10k, I stopped and did some strides and then started the threshold running – I was going to do 4 miles of the final 10k back. The footing was okay for the first two miles (it was on road rather than sidewalk), but, as usual, I went out way too quick. First mile was 5:38 (3:29/k). Oops. Second mile was mostly uphill and I pushed for a 5:45 (3:34/k). Again, not good. For the third mile, I was back on snowy sidewalks and things degenerated. I was pushing like mad with plenty of downhill and still only managed a 5:58. After that mile, I ditched the workout. I was sucking wind – I’d pretty much blown up – on a threshold run!

There aren’t that many secrets in running. It’s a pretty straightforward kind of activity. Getting better is pretty straightforward too: you want to get better at running, run more. Sure, there are some form things coaches can help you with, but on the whole, most of the work is done simply by getting out the door consistently and avoiding injury. But if there’s one secret to getting faster, it’s this: you can’t push –you can only go.

Huh?

This is something Alex taught me, and it’s the rule I broke on that “half-marathon pace” run. Pushing for the pace won’t get you the pace – you have to be relaxed; you have to simply go. When you’re digging down for that extra gear, if you strain for it, you won’t improve, but if you glide into it, if you relax your breathing and your legs and let the faster pace come, then you’ll improve. It’s mysterious and counterintuitive, but it’s true. We tend to associate going faster with straining harder (with pushing) just like we associate lifting more weight with more effort. But running speed doesn’t work that way. Never has.

On Sunday, I was trying to force the pace in crappy conditions. Instead, I should’ve ignored the watch, listened to my body, and just went with the right effort, even if that meant running 6:30s. In the end, I wasted a workout and put myself at risk of injury – hence, the icepack.

The icepack stays in the freezer when you just go; it comes out when you push.

Even with a bit of a knee tweak, I was able to get in 14.5k on the treadmill today – it was too icy and windy to bother running outdoors. Tomorrow is my first workout back with the Antiques. Cliff will know what to do – he’ll tell me to take the long view, to be patient. The pace will only come if I stay relaxed, not if I chase.