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June 3, 2008
So Much Depends Upon . . .
. . . the final 18 days until I stand at the start of Grandma's Marathon in Duluth - heart pounding against my chest, legs suddenly growing weaker by the second - and the gun roars and I drop my heart on the road, duck my head, and RUN LIKE HELL! Oh wow . . . I am nervous.
But before I dissect my nerves, I want to thank everyone who reads this blog. I have received some of the most encouraging and inspiring words from all of you; I know this may sound really cheesy, but as a lover of language and a religious believer in the power of words, I hold your words dear and close to my heart. When I was struggling to finish my workout on Saturday, I reflected on this space and I knew that I couldn't leave it blank . . . I wanted to fill it with words that captured a successful workout, not words that reported another doomed interval session (and there have definitely been a few of those!). Anyway, I have been keeping this blog for 4 years and when I first embarked on this journey, I was just a 24 year-old kid trying to break 1:30 in the half! What a journey it has turned out to be.
Which brings me to H. In a recent email exchange, H. said something that sung into my ears like poetry. I am not a poet (though this title references one of my favorite poets: William Carlos Williams), but I have always appreciated poetry. One of my friends (a poet and a scientist) deconstructed poetry with this analogy: Science takes something complex and makes it simple, but poetry - POETRY - takes something seemingly simple and makes it complex. According to that kind of logic, running is incredibly poetic :)
H. deconstructed running in this way:
I was coached that every day has a training purpose (hard, easy, long, rest) and if you cannot achieve that daily purpose figure out why you can't, correct it and try it again. Actually, we weren't coached that as much as we were simply broken of our bad habits and quest for padding mileage. The easiest way to achieve it is by actually running hard, actually running easy, actually running long and actually resting. It sounds simple but it goes against the experiences of most runners that have been rewarded by doing more and more. This concept is about developing from one year to the next and the next, not just for a season or year.
That, in a nutshell, explains why H. has successfully coached me on 6 days/week, 6 single runs. We actually run hard, actually run easy, actually run long, and actually rest. Those 4 principles have been the magical ingredients and base over the past 18 months - not a magic mileage number or a specific pace for every run, but cyclically knitting together week after week of HARD, EASY, LONG, REST. Sounds simple, but I find the practice of it tough at times. I recently emailed H. begging him to let me run doubles. I'll get into that conversation some other time!
I do not want to bore anyone with a novel-esque post, so I'll briefly recap last week:
Monday: 0 (rest)
Tuesday: 11.5, including a 4.55 mile tempo run @ 6:03 pace. The pace is deceptive. We had 30 mph winds literally pushing us South down the lakefront path faster than we could turn our legs over.
Wednesday: 13.5 easy, first run ever with an ipod! It was quite relaxing.
Thursday: 11, including 5 x 1 mile @ 6:30 w/1:00 rest, 6:20 w/0:50 rest, 6:15 w/30 rest, 6:10 w/15 rest, 6:00. Our splits: 6:33, 6:20, 6:11, 6:06, 5:52
Friday: 8.5 very easy. I cut this run 1.5 miles short. I felt awful. And tired. And like a wimp. And I knew I had to get up again and run in 11 hours.
Saturday: 12.5, including 6 x 1.25 mile loop and 2 x 1 mile. This is the workout I failed to complete a few weeks ago, but I gutted it out and finished it with a smile (okay, I kid, I kid). All of my mile splits were between 6:03 - 6:13, 30 seconds rest in between everything. This was a confidence boosting workout.
Sunday: FINAL 20!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So far this week:
Monday: 0
Tuesday: 10 easy
Wednesday: 11 miles, including 5 varying the pace among 6:30, 6:15, 6:00. Ran the workout as assigned and came home in 30:47.
Let the countdown to Duluth begin!
The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williamsso much depends
upona red wheel
barrowglazed with rain
waterbeside the white
chickens.
Posted by bridget at June 3, 2008 6:31 PM
Comments
What a great entry! I like H's training philosophy, and you are so right that it's much easier said than done.
Just think of the marathon as an opportunity to go out and show off your hard-earned fitness! Regardless of how you do, you are such an inspiration.
Posted by: Alison at June 4, 2008 8:27 PM
That last workout is nutso! I'm impressed you're handling three hard days PLUS a long run. You are really really strong and so ready for Grandma's. Don't doubt it for a second!
Posted by: Salty at June 5, 2008 9:13 AM
This is just a fantastic post! I am very excited to see what will come for you at Grandma's - you are very strong and ready to rock it! I am praying to the weather gods for you as we speak (write?)!
Good luck and taper smart! YOU ARE READY!
Posted by: mindi at June 8, 2008 8:46 PM
Fantastic post!
It is with enormous pride that I have the privilege of assisting you in the "actually running easy" part of H's equation! Even us slow runners serve a purpose!
Love you!!!
Posted by: Colleen at June 9, 2008 4:51 PM
i read the title and silently recited one of my favorite poems... then read the post and remembered the discussion of said favorite poem. I absolutely loved this post. Running is simply one of the most difficult arts to master. i asked cooper what depends on the wheel barrow and he said, "everything" and laughed knowingly. keep it simple stupid.
Posted by: Annie at July 14, 2008 4:02 PM