long slow distance makes long slow runners -seb coe
i've heard that so many times, yet always pawned off the excuse that you need "time on your feet" and "long slow runs are good for marathon training". yes, those are both true
in moderation, but too much lsd
* = lsr.
running has not been all cupcakes and sunshine for me since about october of last year. i've been slogging around for almost a year! this is pathetic. i've tried to do some analysis to see why this enormous rut was formed but haven't really pinpointed anything. i still don't think i was overtraining, but maybe all my nyc training plus the stress of life-on-the-road got to me. i've also had those random health issues (constant nausea/lightheadedness/feeling of malaise/inability to sweat/constant pain) that i am sure didn't help either. my training was slack before boston/kentucky derby and then i really slacked off from april to august. some weeks were better than others, but there wasn't any consistency. my easy pace kept getting slower and slower, and the speed work became
less frequent non-existent. finally, i granted myself a few weeks of guilt-free laziness in july. if i ran, fine; if not, that was fine too.
after cutting myself some slack i actually started to
want to run again come mid-august. now, not all days have been omgiwanttorunforhoursandhours, but i was enjoying it again. it's still a little frustrating because i seem to be getting slower and slower. yes i know i haven't done regular speedwork, but why is it so hard to get back to my cruise pace of 8:30-9:00/mile? (i've been seeing far too many 10:xx splits lately, what gives?) why do my legs feel heavy and slow; why does my form feel awkward? i've been running regularly, about 5x/week, for 5 weeks now. maybe i'm jumping the gun here, but i think after 11 years of running it should come back easier than this.
on my extremely slow "run" wednesday, i thought about the past almost-year of crappy running and all the ups and downs. i tend to be overly ambitious, and i probably went overboard trying to plan out the rest of the year to squeeze in as many miles as i can. yes, i used to run 60-70 mile weeks, but that's not something you can just hop back into (a lecture i've been having with myself). i'm living in the past like a former high school quarterback.
back in early august, i created a training plan for the upcoming 50k and (hopefully) a december marathon. i scheduled myself to be running 60-mile weeks again by the end of september... you know, 0-to-60 in 8 weeks is plenty of time, right? it's time i get realistic and focus on the big picture (running for life) instead of just my 2010 mileage. so what if i don't beat my 2009 mileage, it won't be the end of the world. i'm revamping the training plan so that i will still get miles in for upcoming fall/winter races, but with a new focus on base-building for bigger things (/better running) in 2011.
i think ice cube put it best --
tic-tic-boom
hear me banging down these back streets
bumpin blackstreet, fiending like an athlete
life aint a track meet (no)
its a marathon
*just for clarification: i can barely make myself do lsd runs, and i certainly do not/have not/will not do lsd drugs.