INITIAL TRADE-OFF

There is one thing I forgot to blog about last week. As I was running on the trails of Hyland Park for the first time this year it occurred to me that runners – or at least me – probably don’t realize when they are fit. However, they definitely realize when they aren’t fit. This thought came to me as I was struggling up some of the hills in the park. When I’m fit, I don’t even think about those hills. I took for granted my ability to run those trails for 2 hours in the middle of the week last year. Now 90 minutes is a struggle.

I was flipping through a book the other day – I can’t remember which one now – and I came across a line that made me feel a little better. It basically said that running a certain time in a race, year over year, is no indication of how the rest of your year will turn out. I took it to mean that just because I ran 1:40 slower than last year at the Human Race 8K, it doesn’t mean that I can’t get better results than last year as the season progresses. Granted, I have a long ways to go – but I guess that’s part of the whole ski/run experiment. Of course there’s an initial trade-off in running specific fitness, but at some point does being fresh and motivated to run counter act the effects of skiing?

Another indication that I have a long ways to go was seen with Tuesday’s workout; 9 miles with 4 at Lactate Threshold. Being my first such workout in this training cycle, I wasn’t too concerned about hitting exact paces, but I still wanted to have a ballpark idea of where I should be. I punched my 8K time into the McMillan Calculator and it spit out 6:31 to 6:48 pace for tempo runs. I was a tad slow, averaging 6:50 pace for the 4 mile stretch, but I’ll take it. It’s just a little frustrating that my marathon PR is faster than that pace. I just have to remind myself that it’s a long season and that I don’t have to be in PR shape for Grandma’s.

Yesterday I followed up my tempo run with a 12 miler and then this morning was a very easy 5 mile recovery run.

Finally, here’s my latest interview. Thanks to Adam for the suggestion.

Quote of the Day;

“Not sure I have any one fondest memory. There is a common feeling though. On the good days I feel like I have super powers – like I always have another gear I can tap into if I need it. I love those days!” - John Munger