Perfect Practice Makes Perfect

I was going to title this blog with the cliche line of "Practice Makes Perfect," but then I realized I couldn't in good conscience do that because it was drilled into me at an early age that practice does not make perfect.  Instead, perfect practice makes perfect.  When learning any skill, whether it be how to shoot a basketball, kick a soccer ball, or 'catch' the water while swimming, it's imperative to use correct technique.  Otherwise you are simply training your body with the wrong mechanics, which will in time lead to incorrect muscle memory, which will never result in perfect technique no matter how many times you repeat the process.  So yes, I subscribe to "Perfect Practice Makes Perfect." 

Anyhow, I wanted to talk about how I've started going to Without Limits team practices and I really like it.  My first appearance was at the track.  We did 10 min @ 6:20 pace, 2 min break, 10 min @ 6:20 pace, 2 min break, 5 min at 6:20 pace.  This nearly killed me.  My second rendezvous w/ the team was for a tempo workout.  I did 2 x 2.5 mi at 7:00 pace with 2 min rest in between.  This got tiring b/c it was super humid that day, but was not as painful as the track.  Today was my third team practice and I ran 2 x [1000 @ 10K pace, 400 @ 5K pace, 200 @ FAST pace.]  At least that is what the pacing was supposed to be.  As one team member put it, "Are we doing heart attack pace or stroke pace today?"  Haha.  This workout almost killed me as well.

So here's what I like about being on the team and going to team practices so far:

1.  The coach, Mr. Tom Clifford, is there, usually yelling out splits like a maniac and I find this both helpful and humorous at the same time.

2.  The people on the team are quality peeps - all real friendly, funny, and genuinely nice folk.  Can't wait to get to know them better!

3.  The people on the team are freakin' fast!!!  When I run with them they make me push myself harder than I ever would if I were running alone.  Thanks guys! 

4.  Practices also include stretching and strength work, two things that I usually always neglect and I know are good for me so it's good that someone else is forcing me to do them.  (However, I do have a theory that stretching leads to injury so we'll see what happens with that...)

5.  Interaction with the coach - whether it be critique of your form, how your legs are feeling from the previous workout, or discussion about your training plan it's nice to have face time w/ your coach as opposed to digital long-distance communication.

6.  Camaraderie.  It's nice to be part of a team and it's really cool that so many people are training for the same races.  LOVING having training partners galore :)

Looking forward to lots more painful practices.  It'll make me faster, right?

Oh!  I almost forgot to mention that last Friday I got a call from the radio station and I ended up winning the $50 gift card to Massage Envy!  How cool is that!!??  It was certainly not a bad way to start the weekend :)