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February 10, 2008
every wasted second gone
'Tis the week of expectations unmet. Tuscaloosarunner returned to racing after a long hiatus and did not run up to his expactations; I ran a half-marathon today about a minute slower than I did in October, and 11s slower than I did a year ago. I slept horribly last night and had a negligible warmup, but then again the weather was cool for once, and not too windy. Plus, I had a Plan that seemed to guarantee something close to 90min, or at least a PR. But here's what happened instead:
plan actual
7:03 7:05
7:03 7:03
7:00 7:01
7:00 7:01
7:00 7:01
6:55 7:02
6:53 7:00
6:50 7:07
6:47 7:03
6:43 7:04
6:43 7:17 (headwind)
6:43 7:08
6:43 7:08
? 6:06p (.1mi)
I started out conservatively, remained that way, then settled into a nice not-easy-but-not-hard conservative pace when I should've been picking it up. This was actually the most consistent half-marathon I've ever run; with the exception of the windy 11th mile, I never got more than 4s out of average pace. I passed a woman in the 12th mile, and I did manage to hold off the inevitable male-sprinting-to-the-finish-so's-not-to-let-a-woman-beat-him (yay!), but otherwise I completely, utterly, suck. Which is why I'm on my second big glass of bourbon at 10 in the morning.
Later this afternoon I will think about this again and try to figure out if I should: 1) keep doing the same thing, 2) start doing something different (what?), or 3) accept the possibility that at 44 I may not have any PRs in store.
Posted by joe positive at February 10, 2008 10:01 AM
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Comments
Hey Karen,
We all get those off days, know what I mean. I think--at least for me--I'm just getting my feet wet under a new system, a new coach, etc. I think I need to give things time, see what happens, etc. It's just so early.
Likewise, Tinman has you in the early parts of his training program. It often takes some time to see the fruits of a new training philosophy--and to tailor it to your particular strengths and weaknesses.
Per you PR days: If you've been running 15 years, maybe. But if you've been at this a decade or less, you probably got some PRs in you yet.
And take heart of this: half fitness is not marathon fitness. See where you're at the end of the training cycle...
Take it EZ on the bourbon my friend...
Posted by: tuscaloosarunner at February 10, 2008 4:53 PM
I am wondering why you had the pace so micro-managed before hand. I can just imagine how disappointed you felt when mile 6 came and went and you hadn't dropped the pace. Heck, the disappointment was probably beginning to build when you were 1 second "slow" for those few preceding miles. My point is that it sounds to me like you did not make your goal, not because you were physically uncapable, but because you set this race up to be disappointed. I think you will achieve big prs when you go to the starting line and trust yourself and are confident in your strength and ability to do it.
I could be totally wrong (and please tell me if you think so)--I mean I'm basing this off a few blog posts--but I figured it might help so I'd put it out there.
Now pass that bourbon over here!
Posted by: Salty at February 11, 2008 11:13 AM
They can't all the PBs, especially when you're running at a fairly high level.
At least you didn't run my race. I was hoping for 54-55, but finished in 66.
Posted by: Adeel at February 11, 2008 1:44 PM
Bourbon at 10AM ???
That's a PR in itself...
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at February 11, 2008 2:09 PM