I am endlessly fascinated with the brain/body connection. As an athlete and coach, what I find most intriguing is how many athletes just can’t achieve what they want out of themselves. Why is that? What is holding us back? I propose that trust in our fitness, coupled with the willingness to push beyond our limited beliefs is the only way to find out.
Last Saturday during my bike ride I was assigned an interval set to complete during the back half of the four ride. Sweet. Intervals are tough, but I love’em. Also, after two frustrating weeks I finally sorted out my tech problem, (defunct Garmin bike computer), and had my *new* Garmin set up and ready to GO!
The first two hours of the ride were fine, pleasant even, but I was pushing less than stellar power, and was concerned if I would be able to hit any of the numbers I needed to once the intervals started? Then as I was pedaling up the final hill about to start the intervals, I said to myself, “You should be fit enough to do this. Stop blaming your legs, and try harder.”
Fun, breakthrough ride last Saturday.
I did try harder, and although they weren’t all barn burners, I cranked out some solid watts for a few of those intervals which confirmed that it wasn’t my fitness that was holding me back, but the limited belief in my fitness.
I let that revelation sink in on Saturday afternoon, and woke up Sunday morning to another opportunity to break through it.
Lynne and I charging through Venice Beach around mile 8 of her DIY marathon last Sunday.
My friend and teammate Lynne Fiedler had a DIY marathon planned for Sunday morning, and both she and our coach asked me to pace her for part of it. Lynne is a very good runner, and I knew she was gunning for a PR, which meant 7:45ish min. mile pace. That is not an outlandish pace for “pre-2020” Taryn, but um, that would be a push for “Present day” Taryn, however it’s amazing what belief and muscle memory can do.
I was slated to run 13-15 miles, instead I ran 19+, and LOVED every step. I haven’t felt that alive in over two years. It was hard, comfortable, hard again, and then awesome. I can’t believe that I almost didn’t believe I could still run like that.
Lynne on top of her "podium" after finishing her marathon in a blazing 3:24 hours!
It was a very special and enlightening event to be a part of, both by witnessing Lynne’s tenacity, and inspiring running ability, (she SMASHED her PR by over four minutes, clocking a 3:24 finish time), as well as re-discovering my own grit and belief for long, hard running.
From a coaching perspective, I give our coach, Hillary Biscay a lot of credit, her belief in Lynne and me never wavered; she knew we would rise to the challenge and we did.
Lynne's friends and DIY Marathon support team: Screen left, Yours Truly, Jenn Aronson, Lynne Fiedler, Shimshon David, and Lynne Caraway.
Next weekend should be fun, too. I have an adventure planned for Saturday, and Sunday I will be racing the Smashfest Queen Mother’s Day Virtual Smashfest benefiting the Dr. Shalon's Maternal Action Project.
I’m still not sure which distance I will run on race day, I think it will depend on how Saturday goes, gulp, but I can’t wait to put on this shirt and bib and run for Dr. Shalon and all of the Superheroes/Mothers around the world.
Race shirt and bib.
GREAT NEWS! There is still time to register for the race, CLICK HERE:
In the meantime, I will continue learning and experimenting with the brain/body connection everyday.
There is still a lot of fitness to be gained, and many limited beliefs to be shattered.
The song and video choice today is one that ALWAYS gets me fired up, and contains lyrics that are my life motto, Nicki Minaj's, The Night Is Still Young.