Week 11 - Marathon Training

And just like that, something good happens. 

An improved result is inevitable, given the time and consistency of training—and the equally important condition of recovery.  But I have been getting impatient for an improvement to take place.  It didn’t happen three weeks ago during my last 5k race.  It didn’t happen two weeks before that in a 10k race.  I have been waiting for it to happen, and maybe that has been my problem—the waiting in my case was a sub-conscious will to force a race performance to happen.  My race performances were stiff, full of anxiety and expectation that something would go wrong.

It’s a lesson I learned several years ago: a focus on how the novel will eventually be received is a sure way to keep it from ever being written. 

A better plan is much simpler: 

Trust the process. 

Accept that the changes will take place when they take place.

Focus on the work, on the daily run, on the current repeat, on the proper arm-swing, on the foot popping off the ground. 

Breathe easy. 

Results are elusive when they are the focus of your attention; execution is the means to attain them.  

My expectations were limited on the day of my 5k race on Saturday.  I was nearing the end of a a week that covered the highest volume (60 miles) in my current training plan—and this on the heels of running the second highest volume (56 miles) the week prior.  Experience has informed me that personal best performances to not occur in such situations.  So I focused on what mattered for to be run that day. 

Week 11 - Training Record
Monday - 8.0 mi Easy
Tuesday - 9.9 mi w/ 6 x 1k @ 6:45 pace w/ 3 min jogs
Wednesday - 7.6 mi Easy
Thursday - 10.6 mi w/ 8 mi @ Steady State (7:25)
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 8.2 mi w/ 5k @ 20:49 (6:42)
Sunday - 15.7 mi Long Run
Total Mileage - 60.0

During my 20-minute warm up run, I was attentive to the task at hand, feeling my core heat up under the layers.  I did not think about the race.  I ran a workout on Tuesday that had dialed in the effort and pace that I would trust my body to run—an even effort, a deliberate execution.  But I would think about that on the starting line.  Until then, I attended the proper execution of my dynamic exercises.  I felt my muscles loosen with every A-skip and B-skip, my range of motion increase with every leg swing.  I felt almost too hot with ten minutes to go before the start—which is a good sign that your warm up is complete. 

With five minutes to the gun, I stripped down to my racing clothes—shorts and short sleeve shirt.  The shock was immediate with an air-temp of 41 degrees, but the chill would be temporary and end with the sound of the gun.

I like watching competitors start out too fast.  I let myself tuck in behind them.  An even effort over a 5k race can never begin with a sprint.  At 800 meters I heard the heavy breathing of other runners.  I knew it would be a nice day. I had no idea what my pace was, but my effort was spot on.  

Mile 1 – 6:40.4

It was PR pace, but didn’t feel like PR pace.  The breathing was easy.  

By now the runners had strung out.  Five or six of the leaders were not within sight.  There was one runner about 30 meters ahead of me.  I would keep my pace with her, maybe close the gap by the two mile mark, which is what I did.  She was breathing with a hard effort.  I had yet to feel taxed. I passed her.

Mile 2 – 6:50.8

Week 12 - Training Plan
Monday - Easy
Tuesday - Easy w/ Progression
Wednesday - Yasso 800s
Thursday - Easy
Friday - Easy w/ Progression
Saturday - Long Run
Mileage Target - 58-62 miles

It is hard not to slow down in the middle of a race, even while trying to maintain an effort.  I allowed myself to visualize the next junction, about 600 meters ahead.  At that point, I would press myself to engage.  I rounded a corner and came out of the forest.  I saw two other runners ahead of me.  

The chase was on. 

The gap was about twenty seconds, but I would see how far I could cut into it.  If I was breathing hard, I wasn’t aware of it.

Mile 3 – 6:41. 

Had I calculated the math in my head at the time, I would have noticed that I was thirty seconds away from running my fastest 5k as an adult, thirty-seven seconds away from my second fastest time. 

It would not have mattered anyway.  I was chasing the guy in front of me, not the clock.  

My final time was 20:49.9.  Seven seconds off my adult lifetime best.  At the end of a 60-mile week.  Which came after a 56-mile week. 

It’s easy to get caught up in comparisons.  You might be faster than I am.  You might be slower.  That is not my concern. I am not going to the Olympics. I am not a high school or college conference champion. I know that my story does not matter.  Nevertheless, I am 51 years old and have a goal to run a 3:20:00 marathon—a performance that just might wreck my body.  

And today, I am one day closer to doing just that.