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| A card that inspired me |
Pretty much all my life I've resided in my "comfort zone".
I like routine: I get up about the same time everyday, I eat the same breakfast and lunch, I workout in the morning and/or at midday, I go to bed at the same time each night.
It's simple, it's nice, and it's comfortable.
My training (and racing) too has been comfortable - although I didn't know it until recently.
Don't get me wrong - I've pushed myself out of my comfort zone.
I've river boarded down class IV+ rapids in Montana, I've rappelled off 400 foot cliffs in Utah, and I've changed jobs in the work setting where I was uncertain of my knowledge/capabilities.
So I know what it's like in certain instances.
However as I started to train for my OT push I didn't know that I had never done this with my running.
I started training with a heart rate monitor and thought when I hit 163-165 that I was working hard, that I was pushing my limits - although my coach told me differently.
What I finally realized about 2 weeks ago - yes it took me this long to figure it out - was I had been running in my comfort zone the whole time.
My entire running life - whether teenage years, early twenties, or during my adventure racing years I had been running comfortably.
It took a couple of break through workouts where I saw my heart rate hit 179/180, the above card, and a 10K race to finally make the lights come on in my head.
The race I mentioned above was a popular (2600 people) late summer event called Pints to Pasta.
The plan my coach had laid out for me was run 6.5 miles to the start, race the 10K, and finish up with a 5 mile post race run.
Never in my life had I run 6.5 miles right before a race - I was thinking this just might be crazy - but believed I could still run the 10K fast.
As I waited for the start to begin I felt calm and ready to see what I was capable of.
10K's - at least for me - are difficult races to run.
You definitely need speed, but you need a dose of strength as well.
If I wanted to run competitively I would need to go beyond my comfort zone.
The first 3 miles went by quickly and my coach was waiting to pace me at the 3 mile marker.
I was feeling strong but knew I was pushing myself beyond where I had been before.
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| Pints to Pasta 10K |
I had a slow mile and lost focus a bit between mile 4-5 - but got back on track for the final mile push to the finish.
When I crossed the line I saw the clock still had a 37 on it.
I had just run 37:40 - the fastest 10K of my life - 1 minute faster than what I had run 5 weeks before.
3 months ago I would have never believed that I could run sub 38 for this distance and yet here I was proving myself wrong.
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| Pints to Pasta 10K Finish Line |
The race wasn't easy - it was UNCOMFORTABLE - but at the same time it felt good.
Ok it felt good when the race was over, I could take a deep breath, and realize that I had just pushed out of my comfort zone and the results proved to be better than expected.
I know I learned a great lesson, at the right time, and I hope that I can apply it not only to my running going forward but to other aspects of my life.
Just like the card said...life begins at the end of your comfort zone...
