Maybe if I write about my training and racing, it will force me to think about it more, do it more intelligently, and help me feel guilty and lame when I miss a workout or reduce a workout's intensity "because it doesn't feel awesome." So I am going to do that... probably for like a week and then never again.
Today was a 14.1 mile tempo run. 1:30:10. That's a 1:23:45 half marathon split for those who are keeping track. Which I am. And that is also an unofficial 1/2 marathon PR by a couple of seconds. However, I did have to work hard at it and it was far from an "easy" run. But it does show that I am making solid progress. I'd like to think there is a Universe (this one, right now) in which I could challenge sub-1:20 in an actual race in which I was willing to run myself well into the zone of painful discomfort.
Why run tempo runs when my goal distances are 50k+ (right now, 50 miles+)? It's all about keeping the ultra away from stranger danger. I mean away from oxygen debt. 50 miles at an 8:30 pace is going to be a hell of a lot more comfortable if I can run 14 miles in an hour and a half during a tempo effort than if it takes me 1:40 to run that same 14 miles. The ultra should be all about conquering emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. Making my legs go when they want to stop more than anything else in the world. Slaying dragons in the woods, if you will. My aerobic capacity should never ever be a limiting factor in my ability to run whatever zany race plan I come up with. Tempo efforts also teach me how to suffer. This is super important I think. Having the wherewithal to keep up the intensity when every fiber in your body wants you to stop. In an ultra, that skill can mean hours in terms of overall time. And by hours I mean actual, real life, hours. Tempo runs... do 'em.
Today was a 14.1 mile tempo run. 1:30:10. That's a 1:23:45 half marathon split for those who are keeping track. Which I am. And that is also an unofficial 1/2 marathon PR by a couple of seconds. However, I did have to work hard at it and it was far from an "easy" run. But it does show that I am making solid progress. I'd like to think there is a Universe (this one, right now) in which I could challenge sub-1:20 in an actual race in which I was willing to run myself well into the zone of painful discomfort.
Why run tempo runs when my goal distances are 50k+ (right now, 50 miles+)? It's all about keeping the ultra away from stranger danger. I mean away from oxygen debt. 50 miles at an 8:30 pace is going to be a hell of a lot more comfortable if I can run 14 miles in an hour and a half during a tempo effort than if it takes me 1:40 to run that same 14 miles. The ultra should be all about conquering emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. Making my legs go when they want to stop more than anything else in the world. Slaying dragons in the woods, if you will. My aerobic capacity should never ever be a limiting factor in my ability to run whatever zany race plan I come up with. Tempo efforts also teach me how to suffer. This is super important I think. Having the wherewithal to keep up the intensity when every fiber in your body wants you to stop. In an ultra, that skill can mean hours in terms of overall time. And by hours I mean actual, real life, hours. Tempo runs... do 'em.
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