No Substitute

I have to admit, over the last few years, although I have been running consistently, I have not kept a good training regimen.  I suspect this is why my times have fallen off.  There is no substitute for putting in the hard work and true training.  Of course, once you get beyond 50 and now 55, just getting out the door for a 5, 10, 15 miler can be hard work.  Speed work?  What is that?  I tend to run hills to help with "speed", in relative terms of course.  It's a bit ironic that I was a champion sprinter 38 years ago but have never been more of a mid-packer in distance running. It's the mid-packers, and I am talking about 90-95% of runners out there, who make the sport thrive.  As much as I like seeing the fast, elite runners, truly the ones who are putting in the hardest work, if running was only for them, there would be about 20 runners in every race.

Just in the last 4 weeks, I have seen where doing a little extra makes a difference.  From my previous blog I mentioned that I was going to physical therapy for my knees and lower back.  Truly, it has been more like a personal trainer.  Lauren, the PT, has had me working on strength and stretching exercises every week - hamstrings, quads, lower back, core, etc.  I am trying to loosen up some very tight hamstrings as well.  It's funny how your entire body is connected.  What she has taught me is that it is not all about running but about exercises to help me run better.  I have also not touched any weights. God knows I have plenty of weight to use on my own to create a running specific workout.

I was anxious to run the RACE 13.1 Wilmington half-marathon this past weekend as a bit of a test to see how PT was going.  My last 3 half-marathons were over 2 hours where my previous 23 out of 25 half's had been under 2 hours. The marathons I have run over the last few years have not been that great either. I have not run under 4 hours since 2010 in Fargo  after I had turned 50. There comes a point, with age, where you know you will not see the times that you once ran. For the marathon, I really haven't been close to running under 4 hours so I just accepted that I would never see a sub-4 again.  Since my last 3 half-marathons were over 2 hours, I was starting to feel the same about the half.  Would I ever run a sub-2 hour again or like the marathon, it is a thing of the past?

Wilmington was the perfect storm for me.  It was a perfect morning weather wise, a flat course, I felt good about running and was anxious to see how PT had helped me.  I started out a bit fast running around 8:48 but settled in with the 2 hour pace group after a mile or so.  I figured that I would run with them as long as I good and give myself a chance at a sub-2. They were also a bit fast so the pacer reeled it in about half-way to get back on pace. I actually felt like my breathing was a normal, sitting at my desk, breathing for the first 11 miles, just a nice comfortable effort.  My knees still ached some so it more about managing them with good mechanics than my aerobics.  I stayed with the pace group until mile 11.  Then I decided to make a move and go for it, to make those last 2 miles strong 8:45 miles. There comes a point where mentally you need to drive your body because your body just wants to stop. I ran a solid 2 miles and finished in a gun time of 1:59:36 and a chip time of 1:59:54 and age-graded time of 1:41:55. It truly was a perfect run, one that I have not experienced for quite some time.

I am a believer and should have been all along that there is no substitute for hard work, even as we age. I now have 4 marathons coming up over the next 4 months. There is still hard work to do, lets see if it translates to the marathon.

Overall, it was a great weekend with Cindy, Gabby and Casey.  It was Gabby and Casey's (dogs) first time in a hotel and they faired quite well.  We also got to walk the beach in Wrightsville, run in the freezing water, sit on the beach and watch the other dogs and people enjoying the warm winter days.  We also walked a little of the cross-city trail which was part of the course. Certainly, a fine weekend for all of us.