It was worth it…
…the mile after mile after mile that I have been disciplined/crazy enough to run for the last couple months have paid off:
http://www.bakersfieldtrackclub.com/2010btchalffeboverall.htm
18 place overall
3rd place in my age group
1/2 Marathon PR of 22 mins
1:31:31 – 6:59 pace
I am surprised by a few things:
1. That I got an age group award. I suppose that’s the advantage of a hometown/local race. If I were to run the Pasadena 1/2 again then I am pretty sure I would just be another mediocre runner. I don’t kid myself, I am happy that I am “fast” but I don’t really think I am that fast. At any rate, it was a great race and I am very grateful to have won an age group award.
2. That I ran a faster pace than all the other training runs so far. I have had some faster runs for sure – I have had 3milers at a a sub-6min/mi pace and I have had 8-10 mile runs at a mid to low-”ish” 7 pace but I never thought for a second that I would be able run a 7 even pace for so long. My nature will force me to give the excuses (and it’s the nature of all runners that any given performance isn’t good enough/didn’t live up to your standards) of – “it was a fast/flat course” or “I took 2 Gu packs instead of 1 or none” but I am definitely proud of what I have accomplished.
3. I am ultimately surprised at what I pulled out in the midst of heavy weekly mileage training. Prior to the 1/2 marathon I had run 46 miles including a 9 mile run the day before and 2 miles directly before the race. In my mind, it wasn’t a big deal cause I had been running daily for 40 days anyway but still, it is surprising. It goes back to my theory that I perform best when I am under heavy load. I am pretty infatuated with Arthur Lydiard style training and am definitely modeling my training/life around Nate Jenkins – I think (all anecdotal/conjecture) that my body likes high mileage training and I do my best after some extremely high mileage running. More experienced runners will tell me that I could accomplish more in less time with more focused training but for me, it’s all about continuing to enjoy running…
Right now, I love running so much. I love being able to lace my shoes and hit the pavement for a run of any length. I love that feeling of homeostasis where I am working hard but my body is agreeing with me. Hell, I even enjoy the runs where I am putting out tons of effort and getting nowhere. There is a certain naivety to running without a timer or Garmin Forerunner and while I do run with a timer now I still haven’t bought the Forerunner. There is a certain purity to it that I still value too much to jeopardize. I will be the 1st to admit that running is my free therapy. I go out and run and every time, I come back a new person. I find parts of me that I thought never existed and I am totally addicted to that. With the history of alcoholism and drug abuse in my family, I feel like I am very lucky to have found this addiction rather than something else.
Anyway, fair disclosure, I have had a nice celebration tonight with more than a few beers with close friends and family tonight, and I am totally making more out of 1 race than I ever should be. Thank you for reading this. I felt like I needed to get this off my chest for a while. I can’t wait to see the future PR’s, the future highs, and the future lows and the person I will eventually become.
/self indulgence mode = off.
9 miles tomorrow – I can’t wait.
