In this blog entry I’m gong to focus on a break through I’ve
had with my running. I recently broke my half marathon PR by three minutes. That’s
pretty substantial especially when it wasn’t expected. I’m going to speculate
why I believe I was able to shave those three minutes off.
Last I wrote I mentioned a burnout. Yes, I felt I took on
too many events this year and after Longhorn in Oct. I took two weeks off from
training. That was a huge refresher. I
was able to join some friends in some unstructured activities. I swam a little
and ran a little but, most of all I slept a lot. That little break was needed.
Despite my short comings with my expected finish time in
Longhorn I did PR the course by 10 minutes. I enjoy setting high expectations
for my events and feel that’s the only way I can grow. The funny thing is I
find that I only do this with my triathlon events. When it comes to my running
events I set goals which I know are obtainable or very close to being
obtainable.
A couple weeks back I signed up for the 10k Turkey Trot in Fort Worth
I have three run workouts a week and wasn’t sure if my legs
would be able to hold my goal pace but, I was still going to give it a try. The
night before the race I was horsing around with my daughter and inadvertently
caught my big toe nail on the edge of the stair step. Three fourths of my toe
nail was dead from a previous trail run but the other one forth was not. The
nail bent back and I was in pain. I was upset at myself because I knew I now
had to take the nail off. I attended to my toe nail and the end result was I
had to leave about a forth of it on because it was still live. It throbbed and
I now had some uncertainty about running the half marathon the following day.
Race morning came and I decided not to bandage the toe. I’m
told myself you are no Prefontaine and if my toe gave me any issues on the run
I would pull out of the race. As we gathered at the start line I saw several
running friends who I had not seen in a while. Those prerace moments are always
welcomed. There were also a few fellow Tri Junkies out there along with some Texas Running
Center
The race promptly started at 7:30 a.m. and the weather was
still fairly cool. I didn’t know what the other athletes where going to run. My
goal was to go out and try and hold a 6 minute pace. From the start there were
3 of us in the lead following the lead biker. The course was fairly flat as
expected. What wasn’t expected was the headwind for the first 6 miles. I was
sitting in second place behind a runner who was averaging about 6 minutes per
mile. I knew that it takes me a while to warm up so I was just going to see how
my legs would respond to the headwind.
Four miles into the race I was comfortable sitting 100 to
200 meters back behind the leader. I was holding pace and my toe was not
bothering me. I grabbed water just about every mile. Took a sip and poured the
rest over my head to help keep my core cool. We reached the turn around point
and as the lead runner passed me I threw out a “Nice work” remark to him. When
I hit the turn around I saw that there was a 1 to 2 minute gap between my
second place position and the next group of guys.
I took my nutrition and got mentally ready for the second half
of the run. I knew there would be a little bit of a tail wind going back on a
couple sections and I was looking forward to it. The race continued and over
the next three miles to mile 9 I heard several friends call out and encourage
me on. Words from friends and even strangers are huge in any event. They keep
us going and I’m thankful for the ones I received on the course.
At mile 9 ½ the lead runner took his nutrition and eased up
a bit. I had slowly bridged the gap and was able to pass him at that point of
the race. I knew I was now in the hot seat. It was my race to either win or
lose. This was the longest tempo run I’ve had and was hoping for no calf cramps
or lactic acid build up for the last 3 1/2 miles. At about mile 11 the lead
bike finally realized that there was a new leader.
Legs and tempo were feeling really good. I was trying hard
not to look at my Garmin. I did glance every now and then but, didn’t take it
to heart. I knew I was running well. I was able to hold onto the lead and was
able to put a 1 minute 20 second gap between myself and the runner in 2nd
place. I crossed the finish line and stopped my watch. I looked down at it and
saw I had broke the 1:20 mark by 3 minutes. My official time was 1:16:56. I was
shocked and in disbelief. I also felt surprisingly good. I didn’t feel
fatigued.
Wow! So what just happened? Why did I run so well?
Reflecting back to my training the only thing I’ve done different is I’ve
adapted trail running into my workouts. Though my long trail running sessions
are much slower than what a normal long run session would be I believe I’ve
unknowingly build up my cardiovascular system and strengthen my legs at the
same time. The main reason for my long trail run training sessions is because I
am signed up for a 50k trial run in January. Also my abdominal injury is pretty
much healed up. I’m able to do core workouts again without any problems. My
lower calf injury is also non existent.
Since July my running has come around some. I’ve been able
to win a few trail run events, a 5k and now a ½ marathon. I hope that I can
continue to train and grow for 2013. I’ve put IM Texas on my plate for May and
I hope for a good showing there.
Thank you for reading this blog entry. As always feel free
to email me any questions or comments you may have.
..ej
ej@trilifeblog.com
www.facebook.com/trilifeblog
