So I had a couple thoughts last night.
This will probably seem out of character for me I suppose, but watching Egad Sunday (briefly) and then again yesterday, something struck me. Put it simply, it looks so damn easy. When you were first getting started you were reading and stuff and wanted to start tinkering with your form. I said something along the lines of I don't think you can really change your form, it sort of finds itself by running more. You probably yessed me and then started working on your form. Well, whatever you did has clearly worked because you look damn strong and natural and efficient when you run to me, as opposed to Mr. Duct Tape Chicken Arm.
When we see your progress and you run, its easy to jump to conclusions. Here's mine. I think if you are serious about it for another two years you will have the best marathon times of all of us not named Dick, Salty and Bob, and you'll be a sub-3 marathoner. That isn't at all to add pressure, it's just an opinion based on what I see if you are patient.
I thought of all of this because of our conversation about the 4x1 mile yesterday. I know it's on your schedule. Was a 10 mile all out race on your schedule 3 days earlier, or did you have to fit that in? I don't think this one particular workout will help or hurt you one way or the other, of course. But what I heard is "it's on my calendar". That's dangerous if you take that too literally and ignore circumstances.
You made a comment on Sunday that reminded me of me. You said the danger of doing well is that now you expect continuously more, it's a spiral. It's so true, and I've been guilty of it myself. So my words are to not be greedy. Don't just keep ramping just because your times are getting better. Unless your goal is to BQ at Maine Coast (which you have not stated) you don't need to be pushing the limits on workouts. It's probably entered your mind now, so if that really is a goal maybe it's a different story.
You're a reasonable, methodical, planning person, so maybe none of this needs to be said. If that's so, ignore it.
Pretty good advice L Train
Thanks for taking the time to point all that out and provide what is undoubtedly very sound advice. It's interesting that some of the same thoughts entered my mind this morning as I contemplated "sticking to the plan" or listening to my body, its soreness and the glaring fact that I just ran an intense race. Three months ago, I set a a marathon goal in my mind. Although far reaching, it has recently become more of a possibility. As I ran the treadmill this morning at an easy pace, bored out of my mind, I realized that patience, running smart and staying healthy will get me there. Always chasing the next PR may leave me short of the goal. I can't say for sure if I'll get there or not this time around but I can say that I have the best chance sticking with the CN crew. Thanks again. BTW there wasn't one backhanded compliment, snub, slap, mock, jeer or ridicule in there. Cut the shit, your getting soft.
You made a comment on Sunday that reminded me of me. You said the danger of doing well is that now you expect continuously more, it's a spiral. It's so true, and I've been guilty of it myself. So my words are to not be greedy. Don't just keep ramping just because your times are getting better.
I don't necessarily disagree with this, but I'll play the devil's advocate just a bit here. Don't be greedy? Yes, I completely agree with that. I've done it (likely most of us have) and it does tend to backfire. The thing is, though, there's a fine line between being greedy and being reasonably aggressive in challenging yourself. There's a fine line between seeing the possibilities for improvement and working hard to get there vs. overdoing it and crashing or injuring yourself. Where that line is can be hard to determine, it's true, but I do believe it's worth looking for. I should add here that I've gotten it wrong a LOT, but I believe increased expectations aren't in and of themselves a bad thing. If you use them right, you get better, and a certain amount of edge-pushing is just part of it. You have to be smart about it, sure, but you also have to push. It takes both. Really, though, it depends what you want. I agree with Lance that you have the potential to get really fast, if that's what you want to do. And that's the thing of it. What do you want to do? If it's "get a lot faster" then you'll have to straddle that line to some extent. If it isn't, then you don't necessarily need to do that.
Anyway, blah blah blah I'm going to sleep now.
A list of my PRs in a misguided attempt to impress people that do not care.
Also really good insight. Thank you Mr. Cremer. Maybe a good strategy is to push that line a bit further in all the less important races and risk the crash then and be just a little more conservative in the marathon? Is running to the edge of your fitness level really good for training? Or are you risking injury? My thinking is that if you allow yourself true recovery with very easy runs after tough workouts or races and actually take off days then you will be in a position to avoid injury. I also feel like it is important to race often in order to see improvement. To me, the physical and mental effort of racing, getting used to the fast running and the discomfort on both planes is where the gains are achieved. Truthfully, it all seems very risky-this whole balancing act. Train hard to get the best results but not too hard because you'll end up on the shelf. All this so if you do make it to race day trained, healthy and ready to kick ass, it can be taken away by an unseasonably hot day. what do you guys think about any of this?
My $.02. What I'm talking about is mental as much as it is physical. And I'm not talking about being conservative in races. Races should be balls out almost always. That's where you learn where you are and learn how to manage racing. The exception might be the marathon because the consequences are so large, depending on your goals. But even then there will be races you want to approach aggressively and not. You'll win some and lose some. 5Ks are great for that because there's another one next week if you want and recovery is short. You SHOULD push to the limit and past in the 5K, if only to find where the limit is. Then build up from there.
I was more referencing the mental approach. Here's a personal example and a classic one. I have a 3:25 marathon goal. I wish I was in 3:10 shape. I used to be in 3:10 shape so this should be achievable. I start out running tempos and intervals at the pace a 3:25 guy should. I'm able to do them pretty easily. I get 14 comments in my log referencing my awesomeness. Mr. McCullough chimes in and says he's looking forward to racing. I decide to take that positive feedback and start running workouts at the pace a 3:10 guy does. More positive feedback, etc. I can complete the workout so I feel good about myself. I push further because I (kind of) can.
I don't even realize that what I'm essentially doing is racing my workouts, running them way too hard. The result is either an injury, or more importantly a disappointing race result, because my workouts falsely give me information that I'm a 3:10 guy but guess what? I'm a 3:25 guy who's running his workouts too damn hard. I flame in the race because I go out too hard. I wonder why my race didn't go better. 14 messages in my inbox telling me I'm awesome and that I'll get them next time and all kinds of excuses.
But I know the truth - I was stupid. But guess what? The damn thing is on a repeat loop because I just can't stop doing it. I'm probably projecting a bit telling you this because it's something I'm working on - but it may help you if you ever find yourself thinking this way.
mta: The best way I can say it shortly is to pick your goals, and let your process dictate your results rather than the other way around. Luckily, you are process-oriented and extremely disciplined, so this whole thing is probably nothing you need to worry about. I am process oriented but undisciplined as it relates to running.
hey there egads...i just saw your pic at SIS (the one by the rotary). very nice suit.
In order to see the truth, sometimes you have to loose an eye.
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Utri/
It's all an act. A disguise like Clark Kent but I'm no Superman. Good to see you for half a second on Tuesday. Thanks Cuch.
That's my boy, and he looks awesome!!
Where is that race report from this weekend?
Later this afternoon. Not much to say, made the goal, on to a new one. You know how it goes, continual progress. No time for savoring victories.
You know how it goes, continual progress. No time for savoring victories.
I hope you are kidding here, at least a little. It's not true in my opinion and not the healthiest way to look at it. Gotta enjoy the good ones when they happen even if you are focused on what's next.
My $.02
Congrats on the (huge) PR.
OK, now you can move on. Ha
No kidding. Enjoy it for a bit. Then go break 19!
He talks like he hasn't already peaked.
What was I chasing again?
What's the deal with the ankle. Are you going to give it a go or what? You paid for the registration, you might as well give it a shot.