Year in Review

From a running/training standpoint, this is generally the time you reflect on the past year and set goals for the next, so here goes. My previous year can pretty much be summed up by a line from the Grinch Song: stink, stank, stunk. There’s really not a whole lot of need to go into further detail. I’ve had worse years, believe it or not, but I certainly didn’t accomplish much in 2009. I won seven races, which is always nice, but from a time standpoint I just didn’t cut it, plain and simple. Furthermore, I certainly didn’t follow my plan for the year and therefore failed to approach any of the goals I set as a result. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first year this has happened. In fact, it’s happened more often than not over the past several years, so that is goal number one for 2010 – develop a solid training plan and stick to it.

Delving deeper into that topic, I think the key word in that goal is “training.” There is definitely a big difference between running a lot and training, and that’s a lesson I’ve failed to learn in spite of repeating the same error over and over. Training is a structured process designed to get you in shape for racing. It involves numerous steps, none of which you can skip, and it also involves making decisions with the end goal (racing fast) in mind. Too often I’ve forgotten that I’m supposed to be training and instead have just gone out and run a lot. As a result, fatigue has set in and workouts have suffered, rest and recovery has not been what it should have been, and ultimately injury has finally set in and put a stop to the whole thing. When you’re training, you take a rest day when you need it because you realize that is the decision that will most likely result in a fast race down the road. When you’re simply running a lot, all you care about is the mileage total you write in your log at the end of the week, whether or not that total is the best way for you to race fast when the time comes.

I think my biggest problem stems from the fact that it’s pretty easy to blur the line, because obviously the more you run the better you will be. However, that’s where keeping the end goal in mind comes into play. In the grand scheme of things, a cutback week every third or fourth week will keep you healthy, build consistency, and ultimately lead to the best race performances. It may not look as good in the log book, but it will look a lot better after a few months when you’re still logging miles instead of sitting on the couch beating yourself up because you hammered yourself into the ground and now have a stress fracture to show for it. In addition to the “training vs. running a lot” lesson, I think the other most important thing to learn in this sport is consistency is king. Those who build week upon week, month upon month, season upon season, will almost always have more success than the person who takes a short term approach of getting in shape quickly by overtraining but then falls victim to injury before repeating the whole cycle again.

Anyway, I guess my post about my year in review and goals for the next has turned more into a lecture about the proper way to train, but that’s what I have to put at the forefront right now. Knowing something is one thing. Actually putting what you know into practice is another. It’s time for me to use the experience I have to my advantage and make 2010 a great year! I have some specific goals in mind (still formulating some of them), and I may get up a post about those in the near future. Hope everyone has a great, safe New Year, and may you achieve all of your goals in 2010, running and otherwise.