Life Is Like 400-meter Repeats..!

Last night I hosted the FTC (Frisco Triathlon Club) speed workout at Griffin Parc track.

It was one of "those" days. I wasn't feeling my best and still get frustrated with the amount of pain and fatigue I deal with on a daily basis. Personal challenges lurked in the back of my mind and my list of things to do for the week kept creeping to the forefront of my thoughts. 

I found myself distracted. Literally running in circles. Round and round the track I went. I started to find humor in it. I also began drawing parallels. Each time I rounded the track I thought of how each day of my life seemed to be redundant. 

Sometimes the same old routine becomes daunting. Whether it be kids, a spouse, work or a hobby, each day can become a blur. The events run together in such a way that you feel as though you are running around and around a track. You aren't even getting anywhere and in fact, you are getting more tired with each lap.

Suddenly your steps feel heavy, your breathing gets labored and the thought of going around the track again (400m) or facing another day becomes a MOUNTAIN.

Before our speed workouts, I always used to tell my athletes to pace themselves. We start with a warm-up mile to loosen up our muscles and slowly raise the heart rate. Last night our warm-up was followed by a main set of 400m repeats x 8-10. One lap around the track = 400 meters.

During the main set we would push ourselves to the limit (lactate/anaerobic threshold) with each lap around the track. Our recovery time after each lap on this particular day was 60 seconds. That recovery time would give the body just enough of a chance to start clearing the lactic acid, and then we would run begin another lap.  We flooded our systems time and again with the lovely toxic acid, teaching ourselves to tolerate it at higher levels. As a result over time, we learn to process it more efficiently and can tolerate higher levels of exertion with less fatigue. We become faster and stronger. More efficient.

The key to finishing 8-10 400-meter repeats at threshold, is to pace yourself.  If you start out too fast, you are sure to tire, making it tough to complete the entire main set.

Over the course of the 8-10 laps, you also want to be consistent. It would do the athlete no good to jog an easy lap as part of a speed work out plan. One needs to push themselves to threshold in order to see growth and results. 

The recovery minute is key. If you take too long a recovery, you will not achieve maximum results. You want repetition of the lactic acid flood, at certain intervals, and with only a certain degree of recovery in between. You must stay focused and disciplined in order to have a successful speed training session.

So last night as I ran my 400's, I began to think of my life as one big track. I ask you to do the same today.  Do you blast through each day at a high speed?  Are you eager to take on anything and everything with no limits?  Do you find yourself overwhelmed and before you know it, burned out? 

Surely if you do not pace yourself, your days become a very tough set of 400's. By number 4/10 you will be fatigued. You will find that you have overextended yourself. The duration of your workout will seem impossible to achieve. You will likely become overwhelmed, easily irritated and sometimes even feel like a failure.

Or perhaps you have the opposite problem: Perhaps you are not giving each day your ALL. Maybe you JOG the first 8/10 of your 400m repeats.  You play it safe and save your energy for the last couple of laps. Very little (if anything) changes as you make your way through each lap/day. You give only a small percentage of what you are actually capable. You are saving "the best for last". 

But what if you NEVER get the chance to run those last few laps?  You are doing yourself a disservice by failing to give your all. You are also failing those around you who could benefit from your talents and gifts. And yes, you DO have talents and gifts that are worth sharing! Don't waste them!

The best way to tackle a set of 400's, my friends, is to BE CONSISTENT. Give  your best to each lap or each day. Pace yourselves, but do not withhold your time, energy and talents. You want to finish and you want to FINISH STRONG.

You also want to make sure you take that important recovery in between laps. You need that bit of rest time before starting all over again. Before you fill your system again with all a new day has to offer you, REST. Be still and RECOVER. 

Like a good speed workout, come right back out on cue, ready to go. Get after your next lap!  Each one is tackled with a new sense of strength and power. You begin to crave giving your BEST and your ALL because THAT is what we are called to do. We are not called to live mediocre lives. We are called to learn each day how to be better individuals, gain strength from our experiences, and move forward with power and knowledge.

One of the greatest feelings EVER is knowing that you did your best, gave what you had to give, and became stronger and more powerful from your experience!  

How are you running your main set?