The Remaking of a Runner: Part II

Part II of II

As I recapped in my last post, coming into 2013, I was finally feeling healthy and ready to make some changes in my training. I finished out training with Andrew for his late-January marathon then began the project of remaking myself as a runner. I knew it wouldn’t be easy nor would it happen quickly. I had neglected too many things for too long, plus I’m just not a young’un anymore. However, I figured it was now or never and knew I had to give it a shot.

I had come to realize that I had no ability to run faster paces. I could run right around 6 min per mile for long periods of time, but if I tried to drop down 20-30 sec faster than that, it was a whole other world. Sometimes it even seemed silly that I could run for an hour at 6:10 pace but not be able to run two miles at 5:30 pace. If I tried to run even faster than that, like 400 meter repeats for example, forget about it. I simply had no ability to turn my legs over at a fast rate. It didn’t matter how strong I was; I simply couldn’t get the pace down to where I needed and wanted it to be for running a distance such as 5 or 10k.

So, I developed a plan. The first part of my plan was to improve my turnover. Before I could worry about holding something like 5:15 pace for a 5k, I had to be able to run 400 meters at that pace. The idea was to get the speed down first, then gradually extend the distance for which I could hold that pace until I could finally race a full 5k fast. My first workout was 6X400 followed by 6X200. I wound up hitting 78’s and 79’s for the 400’s and 38’s for the 200’s. It was anything but easy. However, five weeks later, I did the same workout in arguably more difficult conditions and hit 75’s and 76’s for the 400’s and 36’s (ending with a 34) for the 200’s, and even though my splits were quicker, it felt smoother and easier. Afterward I knew I still had a long way to go, but I had some confirmation that maybe things were headed in the right direction. I’ve also run miles in training the past few weeks that were faster than some of my splits in 5k races last year, which is another good sign.

This past week made six full weeks since I started the task of getting faster. So far, I would say it’s been a success. There have been times where I’ve gotten frustrated, but overall I’m seeing progress. I know that progress will slow down as I get fitter, but I’m confident that if I can stay healthy and stay at it I will see results. I don’t expect any miracles. I’ve only broken 17 min for 5k once in the past two years, so I don’t expect to crush that barrier my first time out this year. Furthermore, I don’t know that I’ll ever see the sorts of times I ran when I was at my best. In fact, I’m pretty sure I won’t. However, my new goal is to run faster in my 40’s than I ever did in my 30’s. That won’t be entirely easy, but I think it’s attainable. I plan to start racing soon and I’m looking forward to it. That in and of itself is progress, because over the past couple years I’ve actually dreaded racing. It was just painful (in more than one way) confirmation of how I was struggling.

Where this will lead, I don’t know. All I know for sure is I have to stay focused and do what I need to do, and I have to give it time to work. I can’t get too wrapped up in early results because it’s likely to take quite of while of consistent, correct training to get where I hope to be. In the end, it might be a complete failure and I won’t be any faster this year than last. If that’s the case, at least I’ll know I tried. However, not to sound overly dramatic, but I hope when all is said and done I can be the proverbial Phoenix rising from the ashes. In the meantime, I’ll keep repeating my mantra: Nothing comes easy, so do what it takes.