I think of myself as a fairly introspective person. I am aware, however, that most people including myself have an inflated sense of self when it comes to those qualities we think are important. This is a roundabout way of saying– I’ve been deluding myself for about a year now.
Last year at this time I was still feeling the fresh disappointment of falling short of my marathon goal to break 2:40. I shuffled through a McMullen Mile and then spent the summer focusing on shorter races, even managing a pretty good mile in July. But as summer gave way to fall, the residual effects of marathon training from the winter and spring began to fade, and one mediocre race after another pilled up along with my excuses.
At first it was just fatigue from the marathon. Then it was bad weather. Then it was the wrong kind of workouts. All along a soft but persistent voice was whispering in my ear, “you’re getting old, what do expect.” We all get old, we all eventually slow down, and one day all of our races have been run.
I’m not ready to accept that long slide to infirmary without a fight. There are other truths which are as inescapable as death, one of them is you need to do the work. A review of my training log for the past 12 months makes it clear, I have not done the work.
For a one year period between June 2014 and May 2015 I ran over 50 miles in week 32 times and 60+ miles in a week 13 times. For the same period 2015-2016 only 2 weeks were 50+ miles and none were over 60. If the key to home buying is LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION the key to successful distance running is VOLUME VOLUME VOLUME.
It is time to regroup, refocus and do the work. For the first time in over 10 years I have a coach (my Dad) and am ready to see what these legs still have left in them. I don’t have the time to put in 60 or 70 mile weeks, but certainly 50-55 mile weeks are possible. My coach has me doing some different workouts that will take me out of my training rut and work on some of my weaknesses.
“Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom.” ― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera