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A reflection… and some admittance of fear

A reflection… and some admittance of fear

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Since the Chicago Marathon is inching closer and closer, I find myself reflecting more on my training these days… and comparing it to that of last summer.  Some things I’ve noticed:

  1. Quality.  This summer’s quality has been much better simply because I’ve been more diligent about mixing it up – going long on the weekends, doing some sort of speed each week (hills, tempos, or 800s), and doing the standard “run how you feel” jaunts.
  2. Quantity.  Thanks to a much more forgiving summer schedule this time around, I’ve had way more time to devote to running.  Last summer, I was in the throes of grad school and consequently juggling FT school, an unpaid, PT internship, and FT employment, so my days were quite long, and only sometimes included running.  I haven’t checked last year’s log to officially know, but anecdotally, I think I’m least a hundred or so miles ahead of where I was last time around.
  3. The enjoyment factor.  Closely related to #1 and 2, I enjoy running when I do it often, in no small part because it is not obnoxiously taxing.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good challenge, but it’s nice when “easy” runs are actually “easy” and not “death-defying.”
  4. Mixing-up the race calendar.  Like many, I tend to be a creature of habit, and in the running side of my life, this often means doing the same races year in and year out, just for the hell of it.  Since winning the Chicago Athlete contest earlier this year, I’ve been fortunate to not have to pay for many race entries (since I’m mostly only running what they’ve paid for me to run!), and I’ve also ventured out and have tried some new ones like the Sunburst Marathon or the San Francisco Marathon.  I’m still eyeing some other races later this summer and into the early fall, but suffice it to say that variety is the spice of life.
  5. Additional camaraderie.  Last summer, typically Jack and I were chugging out the miles together most Saturdays.  This summer, we’ve added my Boston Bound buddies to the group, and this additional camaraderie has been great.  Now I have a whole group of people to keep me accountable and on my toes (especially during speedwork!).   Running with a core group of buddies has also been fabulous during the summer because even though there will almost always be someone unavailable to run (due to vacation, work, whatever), chances are, there will almost always be at least someone ELSE who’s willing to run at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday to beat the Chicago humidity 🙂 Kristin Armstrong, over at Runner’s World, recently articulated these very same sentiments as she wrote about how humbling it is to train—hard—alongside running friends.  I encourage you to check it out here.

It’s a bit exciting, and also slightly terrifying, to think that we’re <50 days to the Chicago race.  I say “exciting” simply because that’s what I think races are—usually, tons of fun, and a great way to explore a city (be it your hometown or just somewhere you’re visiting for the week)—but also “slightly terrifying” in that, at this point, I’m about 90% certain I want to go for it and hit 3:35 this time around.  3:35 seems doable, given my training this summer, but is still a good 2 minutes faster than my marathon PR… which is enough to make me second-guess this… but if we don’t push ourselves outside our comfort zones, we don’t know what we can accomplish, right?

On that note, I’ll leave you with a few bits of sage wisdom that I’ve read lately that resonate with this “hunkering down” portion of my fall training schedule:

“You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.”

&

“A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they’re capable of understanding.”

–Steve Prefontaine

“You only ever grow as a human being if you’re outside your comfort zone.”

–Percy Cerutty, running coach (courtesy of RW’s “Daily Kick in the Butt” email from 8/24/10)

Back on (the) track

Back on (the) track

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Last week was my first week back on the track, or doing any sort of speedwork, since when I was in the throes of Boston 2010 training.  The schedule called for 4×800, and since the aforedescribed lightning spectacle prohibited me from doing it with my buddies on Wednesday night, I sucked it up and did it by myself… sola.

From middle throughout high school, I was always a track girl each spring, though of the sprinter mindset.  It’s pretty funny to think about this now, because back then, if you would have told me to go run a couple miles, I would have scoffed and probably have hidden under the bleachers until an acceptable amount of time passed.  I never understood why distance runners actually ran a couple “warm up” miles before their 800, 1600, or 3200 m event– because, after all, why would you ever run a *long* distance warm-up run to prepare you for another *long* distance race?  My, how things have changed!!

Anyway.  Nestled right amidst the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Northwestern University lakefront campus is an all-purpose outdoor track and softball fields, affectionately called the Lake Shore Park, since it’s right at Chicago Ave. and Lake Shore Drive.  After about a 2 mile warm-up there from work, I took a breath of courage (and mental tenacity, because I really didn’t want to be doing this by myself… speedwork, and pain in general, is usually more tolerable with others) and began the 800s and planned to do about 200 meters, or 2ish minutes of recovery, in between each one.

I’m happy to report that they actually went fairly well.  Granted, I was a little rusty from not doing speed in quite some time, and my times slowed a bit as I progressed, but I finished with 3:28, 3:31, 3:34, and 3:38.  I was shooting for somewhere between a 3:30-3:40 and tried to hit 3:35, but as you can see, that never happened.  After a mile cool-down, I bussed it back home and finished the night with some push-ups and core work.  It was a rather productive Thursday evening, and I can guarantee you that I slept like los muertos that night. 🙂

I can’t stress enough how important speedwork is to becoming a better, faster, fitter runner, and this is especially true for the marathoners of the world.  It doesn’t matter if you run a 6 hour or a 3 hour marathon; everyone has something to gain from speedwork.  Running 800s, or mile repeats, or hills forces you to leave that “long, slow run” mentality that often dominates, if not pervades, marathon training.  Speedwork makes you cognizant of your running form, for you can’t move all that quickly if your form is out of whack (a technical term, I know, I know…).  And, quite frankly, speedwork is FUN, IMHO, in a sick and twisted sort of way.  If you’re strapped for time and can’t do your entire workout, I strongly suggest you consider doing some sort of speedwork workout instead.  These workouts are usually short in duration but high in intensity.  And, like I said, they’re fun 🙂

Here are some additional resources on speedwork: doing speedwork sans track, speedwork 101 and the marathon connection, and more FAQ about speed.