Who Am I?

I am an avid runner and have been running since I was 15 years old. I began running low to medium distances while on my high school track team, running the 800 meter and 1600 meter races (I was a sub 5 miler and a 2 minute 800 runner). In addition to the track team, I also joined the cross country team. After high school I still wanted to run and decided to start doing road races. I have probably ran a couple hundred 5k races (16.29 PR)along with many 10k's as well. In 2009 I decided to step up my game and try to tackle my first marathon. I will be honest; the only reason I did this was because my father ran a few and I wanted to show him that I could do what he did. I trained poorly for my first one and regret it. If you are going to run a race, train like you want to win. I still continue to run marathons and other distances as well, and every race is a chance for me to better myself.
I started this blog to hopefully communicate with other runners and to shed any knowledge I may have about the sport that can help other runners. I believe running is the best sport and can be a great stress reliever. I encourage all runners to spread the word of our sport and show people why running is so good and why the community of runners has such great people. You can follow me on twitter @byrne1324 or find me on facebook- Shaun Byrne

Thursday, April 3, 2014

The Zone

    In the first game of the 1992 basketball finals Michael Jordan found himself in a place most athletes dream about. That place is called the "ZONE".  Jordan made 6 consecutive three points shots and then turned to the announcers and gave a shrug, as if to say even he wasn't sure of what was happening.
      So what is the zone? the zone is when your skill, your training and your mental state all come together and put you in a zen like atmosphere where you feel invincible. You feel no matter what you are you doing it is going to end well.  Basketball players have said the hoop seemed triple in size and they couldn't miss a shot. Baseball players have said the ball seemed as big as a beach ball and was easy to hit. And runners have said their legs just take over and start to move on their own and they feel no pain.
     Let's get this straight, you still have to train and have skill to do what Jordan did. It's not like some Joe Schmoe is going to wake up today, go enter a marathon and win. Then when asked how he did it, he answers "Just got in the zone."
    Studies have been done on the "zone" also called "flow."  Supposedly most athletes will feel this at least once in their lifetime.  When? no one knows for sure though.  It could come on a training run, or during a race. When it happens it just happens.
   
"You don't get to choose when opportunity is going to knock, so you better be prepared  for it when it does." - Ted Anderson

    The reason I bring up the zone is as I was running yesterday, I started to think about my marathon coming up.  Wouldn't It be great for just that one day if everything came together and I ran the best race of my life.  I mean I am training harder than ever and I expect a PR, but what if I could go to a place even I didn't know I could.  Wishful thinking you could say.
     I have tried to think back to older races where I ran great times and I still can't think of a time where I felt like I was in a different state of mind.  So you know what this means......I still have a chance to go to that place according to studies. So I got that going for me!

Have you ever been in a race and felt like you were in the zone? and if so how did it feel?

4 comments:

  1. I ran the 2012 Run for the Red Marathon, and was in the zone the entire time. This was during the time, that I was running my fastest paces ever. During the race, it was sunny and 80°+ degrees, and I still PR'ed, and passed so many people the last few miles. I only wish the temp wasn't so hot, I know I could have PR'ed hugely. Oh well, I'll get back to that at some point. (I keep telling myself that anyway). After the race, I felt great! Best I've ever felt after a marathon. :)

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    1. I think my problem that prevents me from getting to that point is I over think things when I am running

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  2. I have a few experiences in the running zone but one was the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, OK in 2010. My Garmin went dead because I forgot to charge it so I had no idea of time after 6 miles. This was the 5th marathon I had done in that year and I just wanted to be done. I decided halfway in to get this race over as fast as possible so I could rest. I ended up running 3:11, qualifying for Boston and won the Clydesdale division. I got done with that race and thought the race clocks were wrong because I had never run that fast before.

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    1. Amazing!!! Congrats one that time as well.

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