A Wellness Community for Women
Running Faster by Slowing Down: The NYC Marathon 2009
It has been two weeks since I ran the most exciting race of my life, the New York City Marathon. With the incredible support of the ‘Empowered and Fit Running Group’, I ran this race faster and stronger than my previous two! When questioned about the differences in my training for this particular run, people are surprised when I tell them that I ran faster because I learned how to slow down! Let me explain.
Marathons to me can be very exciting and extremely competitive. As the gun goes off and you cross the starting line, the goal becomes to run faster so you can get way ahead of the game. My thoughts would be; "I have a goal time to meet, and these people are getting in my way!" I would duck and dodge and stealthily weave in and out to get around other runners who were now my obstacles. Of course with this approach, the harder I ran to get ahead, the faster I ran out of 'gas'.
In my first marathon, I remember hitting the 'wall' around mile 17 and getting really angry with myself when this 75 yr old woman began to pass me. She was singing out loud and looked like she was having the time of her life. Of course, I couldn't have that... so I picked up my pace to save face. However, (like clock work) after a couple more miles here came 'the singing lady' with a smile on her face, running at a steady, even pace.
With Fred's help, training for this race has been very different. He said to me "Now I know this will be very hard for you to do, but I need you to run these first several miles slower than your normal pace." "WHAT ?!" Now as a high school sprinter this concept was very hard for me, but I trusted his advice. So, several weeks ago, on my 20-mile-run training day, I found that I had to constantly remind myself to sloooow down. I’m not sure how that 75 yr old singing lady found me again, because of course here she comes passing me again on this trail :) Despite the fact that I still had the energy to sprint ahead of her... I stayed slow. After 10 miles, I was feeling great! The usual aches and pain I would feel by this time, were but a whisper. I comfortably picked up the pace, aware of the strength in my body, the intention with my stride. Now I understood a little better what it meant to run a race inwardly.
I ran the NYC Marathon in my best time ever! 4 hours 36 minutes and 9 seconds. As challenging as it was, the greater challenge was to learn patience with myself. I am very grateful to all my teachers, including my singing lady, for this wonderful lesson learned.
So anytime I find myself running much faster than I should— on the trail or in life, I remember what it felt like to slow down. And you know what… it felt great!
Be easy in yourself,
Ann
Marathons to me can be very exciting and extremely competitive. As the gun goes off and you cross the starting line, the goal becomes to run faster so you can get way ahead of the game. My thoughts would be; "I have a goal time to meet, and these people are getting in my way!" I would duck and dodge and stealthily weave in and out to get around other runners who were now my obstacles. Of course with this approach, the harder I ran to get ahead, the faster I ran out of 'gas'.
In my first marathon, I remember hitting the 'wall' around mile 17 and getting really angry with myself when this 75 yr old woman began to pass me. She was singing out loud and looked like she was having the time of her life. Of course, I couldn't have that... so I picked up my pace to save face. However, (like clock work) after a couple more miles here came 'the singing lady' with a smile on her face, running at a steady, even pace.
With Fred's help, training for this race has been very different. He said to me "Now I know this will be very hard for you to do, but I need you to run these first several miles slower than your normal pace." "WHAT ?!" Now as a high school sprinter this concept was very hard for me, but I trusted his advice. So, several weeks ago, on my 20-mile-run training day, I found that I had to constantly remind myself to sloooow down. I’m not sure how that 75 yr old singing lady found me again, because of course here she comes passing me again on this trail :) Despite the fact that I still had the energy to sprint ahead of her... I stayed slow. After 10 miles, I was feeling great! The usual aches and pain I would feel by this time, were but a whisper. I comfortably picked up the pace, aware of the strength in my body, the intention with my stride. Now I understood a little better what it meant to run a race inwardly.
I ran the NYC Marathon in my best time ever! 4 hours 36 minutes and 9 seconds. As challenging as it was, the greater challenge was to learn patience with myself. I am very grateful to all my teachers, including my singing lady, for this wonderful lesson learned.
So anytime I find myself running much faster than I should— on the trail or in life, I remember what it felt like to slow down. And you know what… it felt great!
Be easy in yourself,
Ann
Tags: Empowered, Fit, NYC, and, marathons, power, program, running, training
Comment
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Comment by Fred Krazeise on November 17, 2009 at 10:17pm - Lovely post Ann. In most races, but especially in the marathon, you have to let the race come to you. And that is exactly what you did!
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