Ask Adrienne

Adrienne Neal, MA

Is it just me, or is the running culture marathon-obsessed? As long as I have been
running, people equate the activity of running distances of any kind with the word
‘marathon’. Some use it in the right context, others still(!) tie any distance over the 100-
meter dash as a ‘marathon’-whether that is 2 miles, or 50. I’m not here to air grievances
about the overuse of bad terminology, but I am here to talk more about a distance that
should get more love around here, the 5k. 5000 meters. It is its own challenge, and a
great entry point to the sport of running. Run it fast, run it with friends, walk it out, there
are many ways to approach a 5k.

I still track a bit of intimidation from those who have little experience in the running
community, however, often I sense a curiosity about training and trying out a 5k race. To
help those along who may be curious about dipping their toe in a road race, let me take
a moment to dispel some myths out there about running your first 5k:

• “A 5k isn’t a real race.” I immediately call BS on this one. You don’t have to run a marathon or chase some crazy time or distance goal to be a real runner. Yes, it is shorter, and can be user-friendly, but it presents itself as a unique challenge. Actually, some of the most satisfying races I’ve ever had were 5ks. Also, 5k doesn’t have to be a gateway drug to longer and longer events. At least here at BRC, you shouldn’t feel too pressured either!
• “The training takes too much time”. Yes, you have to run a little bit, or at least set aside some time, however, but even with some of the busiest of schedules, 5k training can be done. There may be some trade-offs to training, but much less so than longer distances. Training with a group where a designated day and time helps with the scheduling of things.
• “Everyone else will be faster than me”. Highly unlikely. Intimidation and feelings of incompetence seem to be the biggest barrier in my opinion of keeping people out of our wonderful sport. You will be surprised with how inclusive and supportive the running community actually is. Also, if you find that you like the running thing, beginners improve at a significantly faster rate than those who
• have been at it for years. That makes it fun and intriguing (okay, that may be a bit of a gateway but consider yourself warned).

Also, it’s good to remember that at one time, EVERYONE who runs was a beginner. So, embrace and meet yourself where you are at. Be willing to challenge yourself a little and see the personal growth and sense of community that can come from running. Run one 5k, or run thousands, there are plenty of lessons and parts of yourself to explore in the process!

Adrienne Neal, MA LPC-S

Okay, so the title is halfway true. Hey everyone, I’ve missed y’all. Between running my
practice, teaching, and training harder than I probably should the writing ideas took a bit
of a backseat. Or maybe I didn’t have another “5 ways” to do something that the internet
doesn’t have 1000 posts on already. Instead, I’ll try and blend sport psychology with
storytelling, and what better way to discuss what happened inside my head a couple
weeks ago at the Oktoberfest 10k/RRCA 10k Championships.

For starters, I didn’t know it was anything more than your local 10k to support a half
marathon until a few days before. Cue some doubt and then feeling silly about doubting
myself but doing it some more. In case I haven’t told you guys, this is totally normal to
have thoughts ping-pong in your head in the days leading up to a race. If we are aware
of what’s going on, they are more simply annoying and don’t have to mean anything.
Goal-wise, I wanted to finish Top 3, or first Master, however, what was more important to
me was to focus on the things I have control of- focusing on rhythm was a big one this
race- and accept how uncomfortable I was going to get at some point. It’s interesting if
we accept that something might suck, we are better able to meet it head on. More on
that later.

Moving on to race morning…
Ate my familiar breakfast of a bagel and began to sip my personal “jet fuel” aka Maurten
with caffeine (I’ve trained with it countless times, so know what works before you race,
just a PSA). Caffeine, for those who aren’t sensitive, can be a great performance
booster, but it also can make you more anxious. Arriving at Kyle Field I felt the usual
pre-race anxiety and simply labeled it as such. Yeah, it sucks, but if it is something I’m
just ‘experiencing’ and I just need to get out on the course and find a rhythm, I’m usually
good. Warming up and socializing a little tends to help.

Onto the race itself –
I have a bad habit of going out too fast. Upon reflection, I have realized it is a lack of
trust in myself mixed with a feeling of immediacy that is not entirely true for a race
longer than a 5k. This time, my first mile was exactly what I wanted it to be. I was able
to settle into a rhythm until the inevitable happened. Traffic jam. Given the Half
Marathon started 5 mins before the 10k, I knew I needed to stay calm and just go with
the situation. No sense getting frustrated in the moment when I can’t control it. I also got
to work on my running back skills and staying calm while my rhythm gets broken. Not a knock on the situation, for the most part, but cooler heads while racing saves a great deal of mental energy.

The mental energy I saved paid off in the second half, where after dodging, weaving,
and perhaps stopping abruptly and starting back again, physically, I was starting to feel
it. There usually is a moment of panic where the brain spits out “I can’t keep doing this”
or some variation and it’s our job to remind that voice that what we are doing is hard.
Follow that up with a simple thing to focus on, in this case was the thinning of the crowd
down Stotzer Pkwy, where I was able to get my breathing back to normal and simply
use upcoming turns as reference points. “I get to Olsen, I’m good” ….” I climb the little
hill, it flattens”, “I get on the military walk, let the statue pull me in”. These little
benchmarks may sound silly, but in practice can be really helpful.

I knew once I could see Kyle Field, I should get a second wind if I managed myself right.
Fortunately, that seemed to be the case. Even if my legs and lungs were burning-
because they were, I was able to tell myself all kinds of encouraging things to get me
into the stadium.

I went from feeling awesome, to a little frustrated and tired, to managing effort, to
excitement. My legs and lungs were still talking loudly to me; I told myself to give the
last push through the tunnel upon entering the stadium. Hearing my name called out as
“state champion” was really cool, and I probably smiled for the first time in the entire
event. It was also really cool to represent the BRC in getting to the line first-despite the
challenging situations I faced.

Bottom line-racing is hard. No matter what pace you are currently at. If we allow
ourselves, however, we can work to access our best racing selves by looking and
working within. Hope y’all enjoyed and maybe even got a little nugget here or there you
can use in your own running. See y’all out there.

“I [used to] imagine a comfortable chair where all I had to do was sit there and ride out
the storm. When I go in now (to the cave), I imagine grabbing a chisel and heading to
the farthest back portion of my cave to work on making it bigger,” -Courtney Dauwalter.

I recently accepted an invitation to be on a Habanero team this August. For those not
familiar with this storied race, it’s a multi-distance event put on at the end of August and
starts at High Noon. Now who would not love that?! Really though, hard events like this
can help bring the best out of us as runners, as many of us thrive on community and
challenge. But anyway, this means I have to get out in the maximum heat of the day to
prepare, so naturally, I have thought of the subject of discomfort tolerance quite a bit
lately. Today I hope to give you all some insight and techniques in better managing the
near-inevitable trips to ‘the cave’ if you are pursuing your best out there.

A little on the science of effort-related pain: the sensations we experience are caused by
a web of processes in your mind and body. In general, pain is both a physical and a
psychological experience, influenced by one’s past, present, and anticipated future. It is
also shaped by social, psychological, and of course, biological factors. It can serve in an
adaptive role, but it also can cause harm—hence, our challenging relationship with it as
runners.

Alex Hutchinson’s book, ‘Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human
Performance’ discusses a theory by researcher Samuele Marcora that focuses on the
brain’s perception of effort and a human’s motivation to tolerate that effort. In short, how
much suffering can you tolerate? As Marcora wrote, rate of perceived exertion (RPE)
correlates to physiological strain, such as heart rate and blood lactate concentration,
which depends on workload (speed, intensity), the athlete’s fitness and health (including
nutrition and hydration), and, something we are all familiar with here in Texas,
environmental factors (temperature, altitude).

So basically, your experience with pain depends on, well, a lot of things. But let us not
get too much further into the weeds today, how about we discuss some ways to expand
or just form a more comfortable seat, in our personal pain caves. One thing to
remember is that the definition of pain is relative.

1. You can start by asking yourself honest questions during activity, such as “is this
   ok with me?” “do I have the resources to continue?”, “Can I accept this right
   now?” I regularly use these during training and early on in races. Once you have
   made your assessment, proceed to committing to whatever effort or pace you’re
   performing.
2. Okay, now that you’ve clicked “accept changes” in your brain, running the mile, or
   stretch or road, or delineated amount of time on your watch, becomes a solid strategy. I always recommend talking yourself through hard parts and reminding
   myself that what I’m feeling is normal and productive. For example, this summer I
   have been running tempos on the treadmill, and mentally, I never go beyond a 5-
   minute interval. This seems to be an acceptable amount of time that helps me
   expand my cave gradually.
3. Another tactic that encompasses all the others is adjusting your comfort zone.
   According to Noake’s classic “Central Governor Theory”, we have to gradually
   challenge the things we are currently comfortable with. For example, set a goal to
   finish faster and ‘just see what it feels like” on the last interval of a track workout.
   Another way is to run with others who are slightly faster than you. Of course, we
   have to be realistic about who we choose to go with, but this helps those who
   need some external motivation to press their efforts. There also is the concept of
   co-regulation that can happen here-individuals feed off emotional states or one
   another (obviously, we want positive co-reg here!). Using a log and stating goals
   and intentions for races and workouts and de-briefing also helps the learning and
   re-learning process.
4. Lastly, practice acceptance and aim to stay present. This can go a long way if we
   think what is happening is normal and part of growth and improvement!
   On a concluding note, I think it is worth noting that the pain cave is different than “hitting
   the wall”, running out of glycogen, or messing up hydration or nutrition. We are talking
   about something we can actively manage. If one or all of these occur, we can simply
   use it as data and look to make adjustments as we go. If we keep striving to grow and
   become better versions of ourselves, then chiseling away can become something we
   can master one run at a time.