THANK YOU MR. KNOW-IT-ALL

While the cold weather is gone, my cold still lingers. I decided to sleep in today. I thought I’d see how I felt as the day progressed before deciding if/when I’d run. I had my running cloths with me and decided to head out at lunch time for an easy 5 miles. I only take a “30 minute lunch break.” So getting in 5 miles, showering and eating lunch was tough – but I managed. :-) The great thing about running with a cold is that it’s usually the only time I can breathe. My college coach used to refer to running with a cold as “poor man’s altitude training.”

I love to talk running as much as the next runner. I like to check out other running blogs, go to a handful of message boards and email my running friends. I like to ask questions and share ideas too. I also like giving advice too. Actually it’s more of a love/hate relationship because typing advice usually comes across like "Well, thankyou Mr. Know-It-All."

I was thinking about this the other day because my friend, super Jim (I gotta work on “blog names” for my friends) likes to race. Make that LOVES TO RACE!!! You may remember from earlier entries that Jim is 60, but he’s incredibly fast – like best ever in the state fast. Anyway, I think we’re 14 weeks into 2005 and between snow-shoeing and running, he’s raced 13 times already. We got to talking about races for the upcoming season and I told him I thought he was racing too much and I gave him my coaches’ advice:

Emphasize training over racing. Select a few, key race dates that allow you: REST to TRAIN, TRAIN to RACE, and RACE hard for an important GOAL. TRAINING IS the way to get faster, so do not race too often. Race 1-2 times per month, and build those races around important training preparation periods. Remember, the less often you race, the MORE mental energy you have to unleash on event day.

He replied, “I had cut it down from 52 to 34, but maybe I can get rid of a few more.”

I told him I think it really depends on what you want to get out of racing. If you like to race every weekend, that's fine. But if you'd rather run the big, more important races 5-10 seconds faster per mile, then you needs to prioritize your races.

Afterwards I was thinking “Who am I to give advice to this guy who wins his age group every weekend?” Hell, the only time I bring home hardware is if I run the small local-yokel races that no one else goes to. I’m 25 years younger than Jim and I can BARELY beat him now. Hmm, maybe I should start racing as often as Jim.