Chasing the hare!

 Many many years ago I was invited to Shawfield Stadium in Glasgow to watch Greyhound racing.  I was fascinated by the speed of the greyhounds as they chased a hare (not a real one) round the track.  As soon as the hare went over the finish line and stopped, the race was over and the speeding greyhounds all stopped.  But what's that got to do with training? Quite a lot in my book as this weeks training has proven.
On a Wednesday night I usually train with the club for a "speed session" - short intervals runs, but faster that you'd normally run.  While you are always trying to improve on the week before, you're also aware of your team mates around you and trying to stay ahead of them or catching them up.  When you're hunting them down it's like the greyhound and the hare except you can overtake them in training or a race.  This Wednesday I couldn't make it so was given a session by my coach which was during my 45 min run I was to do faster intervals of 5/4/3/2/1 mins.  With no "hare" to chase the best you have is your Garmin to measure the time but it's not the same.  Still knowing these results would be viewed later by my coach meant I had to deliver a good result.
On Saturday we met at Chatelherault and there are some "hares" out that you don't bother with because if you try and catch them you'll blow up and end up slower than you would do if you paced your session more evenly.  But those "hares" give me something to aim for as we get through the winter and motivate me to work harder while I keep my "A race" in mind.  No point having a brilliant 10km time if I'm aiming to run 250 km - keep your eyes on the prize!
And today was more chasing the hare.  A zwift group ride.  My coach kept edging ahead of me and when I caught up, moved ahead again.  She knows me well and am sure it was deliberate as I pushed harder that I intended just to stay with her.  For the last 15 minutes I decided to pull away and leave nothing out there.  I pushed really hard as I shook of the "hare" and was not going to allow it to overtake me before the finish line.  
We need to be able to motivate ourselves when we are out on our own especially if our chosen races means you'll be spending time on our own.  But chasing the hare is definitely motivational and brings out the best in us.  Who would have thought all those years ago that greyhound racing would help me in later years!