Then the willlies set in, and eventually I got the heebie-jeebies. It all culminated in a spectacular case of the bends.

so are you comparing me to a heebie-jeebie?  GASP! 

Good post.  I strongly agree.  I hate to think about the time when there is no longer a chance to PR.  Like L Train (and maybe I'm worse), I am so disgustingly competitive that I'll probably move on to something else.     

Ha!  Welcome to my world.  I haven't moved on, but I've changed my goals.  I'm just biding my time until I hit 40.  That is when I'll take AP's advice and kill myself in the steeplechase.

Actually, there will always be a chance for a PR--unless you've run every event known to man already. 

I guess it's just something I've learned to accept.  There will always be great memories of PRs set, finish lines crossed, and miles run, but there should also be dreams of more finish lines crossed, new races to run, and more miles to go. 

Running is an odd thing to me.  It's something I probably hate to do more days than I enjoy it.  But those days I do enjoy it seem to stand out and rise to the front of my mind when I think about running.

I'll never set another PR on the track.  But when I go out running and I feel the sunshine, feel the breeze, see the colors, smell the blooms in spring and the leaves in the fall, I don't care.  Those sensations can bring back memories.  All I can do is remember those PRs.  And I can say, "Fuck, yeah.  I did that."

I'm happy with what I was able to accomplish when I had the chance, but I know there is more out there--maybe not as fast, but different.  It will still require all of the effort I can muster...exactly as it used to.  Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to say again, "Fuck, yeah.  I did that."

But when I go out running and I feel the sunshine, feel the breeze, see the colors, smell the blooms in spring and the leaves in the fall, I don't care.

 On my mind this morning. Thanks, Abe.  

I also really enjoy the competitive aspect, but I rarely get that in road races as I'm no where near being fast enough to be in contention. Sometimes you get a good race where a guy really wants to race you over the last mile or so, but often times it's just feels like "running for time" which just isn't the same to me. I don't mind killing myself to beat somebody, but have a hard time doing it just to have run a fast time.

I'm hardly at the pointy end, but when I was finishing midpack or slower, there were lots of people who either weren't racing anyone or had been dogging it and had a LOT left to respond.  That made racing feel a lot like time-trailing, which got old after a while.  As I've gotten (marginally) faster, the "quality" of the competition around me seems to have gotten better: people are likelier to run evenly paced races and to respond competitively to someone around them.  That's changed the racing dynamic in a positive way for me.

Do you run with groups at all?  I've found a handful of guys who finish around my race times, give or take, and it's made for some friendly competition.  And smack talk.

I'm hardly at the pointy end, but when I was finishing midpack or slower, there were lots of people who either weren't racing anyone or had been dogging it and had a LOT left to respond.  That made racing feel a lot like time-trailing, which got old after a while.  As I've gotten (marginally) faster, the "quality" of the competition around me seems to have gotten better: people are likelier to run evenly paced races and to respond competitively to someone around them.  That's changed the racing dynamic in a positive way for me.

 

Do you run with groups at all?  I've found a handful of guys who finish around my race times, give or take, and it's made for some friendly competition.  And smack talk.

No, I pretty much do 99.9% of training by myself, but I'm looking into joining a running club or something of the like just to get some more opportunities to meet and train with some people faster than myself. 

Guess that's the downside to starting running post HS and having some decent improvement...my friends that just run occasionally are too intimidated to run with me and I don't really know any faster people since I was never part of HS teams. 

Ha!  Welcome to my world.  I haven't moved on, but I've changed my goals.  I'm just biding my time until I hit 40.  That is when I'll take AP's advice and kill myself in the steeplechase.

 

I feel so worthwhile now.

L Train can't come to the swamp right now, he's drunk on Cape Cod.

Practice marathon effort for 4 miles. The purpose of the workout is just as much to find and familiarize yourself with that effort as it is to produce some sort of physiological effect. The questions you ask are (part of) the very reason for the workout!

This is the single biggest thing I'm taking away from my first experience with Pfitzinger  as i trained for Sugarloaf. I still haven't figured out marathon pace in training runs. Pfitz calls for running at goal MP, not your current MP. I was apparently too aggressive with my goal and the MP work felt pretty hard. And, even after 3 marathons, I really don't know what MP effort should feel like. I'll keep experimenting I guess but goal MP pace/effort is the trickiest thing for me. And this Saturday I have 16 with 8 @ goal MP  -whatever that is.