As my marathon training has continued over the past several
months, I’ve thought often of writing about what’s been going on. I realized a while back that I hadn’t written
in this blog since my race recap from Boston last year. Wow, almost a full year since I’ve set down
to projectile vomit my thoughts into words.
Tricia has asked me every couple of weeks when I’m going to write
again. I haven’t really had a good
answer for her, but here’s a go at it.
So, 2015 turned out to be a pretty good year. I didn’t accomplish all of my goals, but here’s
a quick recap.
1. 2500 Miles – 2,091 Miles. I came up a couple hundred miles short on
this one. After being a hundred or so
miles ahead of schedule when I got to Boston, I quickly lost this momentum and
ran only 135 miles in April, 65 in May, 81 in June and 103 in July. I guess you could say I took some time
off.
2. A New PR in every distance – I ran 1 full, 1
half, 2 10k’s, and a couple of 5k’s.
Taking time off definitely decreased my chances of succeeding at this
goal. I did however PR in the 10k and
5k.
3. Help someone else achieve a PR – I’m going to
call this a success. When 2015 started,
Tricia and I had just started dating and she appeared to have no interest in
running. After sitting at the finish
line in Boston waiting for me to get there, Tricia had an itch that she needed
to scratch. She decided to run her first
5k, then another faster, then another one even faster. She ran her first 10k and then her first
half-marathon. I told her from the
beginning that I was going to do my best to stay out of her training but that I’d
be there every step of the way. I can
only hope I did a good job of staying out of her way while encouraging her and giving
her accurate, solid advice. We’re still
dating, so I guess I did.
4. Re-Qualify for Boston – DONE. CHECK.
Man ‘o man, was it good to check this one off the list.
5. Cross-Training – Yeah……I got off to a horrible
start with this one and never got back to it.
Training for Boston was intense, I took time off, and when I did get
back to it, I had a lot of work to do just to get into running shape.
Now, let’s take a look at 2016. My only goal for 2016 is to run faster than I
ever have. Considering it’s such a small,
little goal for an old guy, I think this is the only one I’ll have for the
year! Haha!!! Actually, I’m also carrying over the 2,500
miles goal to this year also. Had I not
taken off so much time last year, I would have destroyed this goal. I need to achieve this once in my life, just
to say I did.
One thing I’ve done to help with these goals is enlist the
help of a coach. I reached a point last
year of thinking I had gotten everything out of my body that my knowledge of
running would allow. I’d questioned and
studied all I knew to and was beginning to run out of answers. I asked a lot of the people that I run with who
are working with coaches about their guy/gal.
I even asked those that don’t have coaches if they’d considered anyone
and if so, who and why? Everyone had
their guy or gal for a reason and made compelling arguments for why I should
consider them. While I was in line at
Whole Foods getting lunch one day, I see Susan Wenner. Susan and I chat running every time I go in
and I mentioned to her I was considering a coach. Before I could finish my sentence, she says ‘Oh,
you have to go with Scott!’ I could
physically feel the enthusiasm with which she said this and for the most part,
my mind was made up. Scott Wietecha
would be my first choice to work with if it was an option.
Scott is easily the Nashville area’s most decorated runner:
a professional runner, Olympic Trials qualifier, and 3x winner of the Rock n’
Roll Country Music/Nashville Marathon, I think Scott knows what he’s
doing. After a few conversations, we
started working toward an April 18, 2016 peak date.
Back to running fast, I started working with Scott in late
September and immediately ran 45 consecutive days. Wow, that wasn’t what I had in mind, but I
quickly remembered why he’s even involved.
He’s the coach, I’m the athlete and I need to trust everything he suggests
I do. If I buy in fully, I may be able
to improve on the hard work I’ve already done.
After a day off, 53 more consecutive days to finish up the year. In December, I ran a 5k and PR’d by almost 30
seconds. My last 5k PR came the week
prior to Chicago in 2013. I like this as
a good sign.
2016 has started off extremely well. In February, I ran the Cedars of Lebanon Half
Marathon as a training run. I went in
with relatively low expectations and while I was hoping to PR, didn’t expect it
would be by much considering the course.
After 13.1 hilly miles I had a new PR by just over three minutes. WHOA!!!
Coach, whatever you’re doing, it’s working!!!
A month later, I ran the Tom King Half and ran another minute+ faster. I like this trend and hope to keep it up.
I’ve been given the chance to run Boston again, 21 days from
now. I’ve work extremely hard for the
past 6 months and feel like I’m in the best shape of my life. I told a friend last night I thought I was a
better runner now that I was in my 20’s.
Granted, I didn’t run a lot in my 20’s because I was busy with other
things. But, while I know I’m more committed
to it, I also feel I’m stronger both physically and mentally.
I’ve said for a long time now that I want my best
performance in the marathon to come on the world’s biggest stage. I’ll never have the opportunity to run in the
Olympics or even the Trials. I’ll never
compete for prize money at one of these big races. But, that big stage still awaits for all of
us. Mine just happens to be on Patriot’s
Day and I’m taking a whole sack full of grit and determination with me, along
with 6 months of hard work and fitness, and I’m going to find out just how good
I can be on one day.
