AJMac has already chronicled his achievements of this past year. Perhaps in a future post, I will do the same. For now, however, I just want to make a couple of points. It was February when we made the challenge, started this blog and began planning, training, and executing (with both success and non-success) to climb our "Pointe-du-Hoc". For AJMac, he made quick improvement and then had some disappointments. For NotsoflashGordon, he had some injury and some obstacles that held him back, only to return as AlotmoreflashGordon. And I, CGB, had slow and steady improvement, patience being elusive, as I constantly tried to catch AJMac.
What metaphors for so many situations in life! I have fallen in love with running because it mimics who we are, what we desire and what lies in the way before us. It is a chance to set goals that allow us to fail miserably and then rejoice when we succeed; and we take no one as collateral damage - we leave no bodies behind. It is just us and the road and our demons and our baggage. In the end, we learn how to think, how to plan, how to humble ourselves and how to persevere. In the end, we learn confidence.
That is what this has meant to me, this challenge and blog, and it has been most gratifying because of the chance to do it with two close friends. Now, it is December, and at least two of us have met our goal - and the same PR, in fact! The climb and improvement in the end became staggering; if only (here comes the next allegory) we had faith.
And so, here we are. 18:37, a chance to meet head-to-head, the Lord's birthday upon us and the anticipation of what lies ahead. The blog was set up in the beginning to be finite - December 31, 2008. Where will running take us as we move forward? Well, I suspect that when the time comes, we will lace up the running shoes, hit the road, and let the stride take us.
For now - congratulations to AJMac. Let's see what happens when we race together in a week or so. Let's try to get AlotmoreflashGordon below 19:00.
Monday, December 15, 2008
It's official
The official results are in from Saturday and they confirm that I actually did run 18:37, as hard as that is to believe. The road from 19:49 to 18:37 this year included seven five kilometer races, in four of which I set new post-high school personal records.
February 23: 19:49 (PR)
April 26: 19:12 (PR)
May 10: 19:51
September 1: 19:59
October 11: 19:16
December 6: 19:11 (PR)
December 13: 18:37 (PR)
Along the way, I ran more than 1000 miles this year, rode 1500 miles on the road bike, set a PR in the short-course duathlon (and won my age group), ran more than 40 interval sessions, and almost kept up with my friend Michael. On balance, I would say that this has been a pretty productive year. Thanks to Charles for the challenge and to both Charles and Gordon for the competition and encouragement.
February 23: 19:49 (PR)
April 26: 19:12 (PR)
May 10: 19:51
September 1: 19:59
October 11: 19:16
December 6: 19:11 (PR)
December 13: 18:37 (PR)
Along the way, I ran more than 1000 miles this year, rode 1500 miles on the road bike, set a PR in the short-course duathlon (and won my age group), ran more than 40 interval sessions, and almost kept up with my friend Michael. On balance, I would say that this has been a pretty productive year. Thanks to Charles for the challenge and to both Charles and Gordon for the competition and encouragement.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
What a Difference a Week Makes
One week ago today I ran 19:11 in the local Jingle Bell 5k. It was a huge disappointment. Eight months of training for a one-second improvement on my PR, and one more in a long line of failed attempts to beat nineteen minutes. I decided to take one more crack at it, since I've done the training, but I resigned myself to being a 19:11 runner.
This morning I ran the 5k race in the Wetumpka, Alabama 12k's of Christmas (and 5k too). The conditions wer nearly identical to last week's race conditions: 40 degrees and partly sunny at race time. This course was hillier than the one I ran last week and I had no one with whom to pace. Almost all of the good runners ran the 12k race. I was torched by an NCAA Div. 1 cross country runner, and the next closest runner was over 1/4 mile behind me by the 2 mile marker, so I was all alone, trying to pace with no frame of reference. I ran the first mile too fast (5:58) and the second mile way too slow (6:22), so when I passed the two-mile marker at 12:20, all by myself, with two (small) hills left to climb before the finish, I resigned myself to another near miss.
With my expectations adjusted downward, I concentrated on simply running the last 1.11 mile as evenly as I could and emptying the last fumes from my fuel tank right at the finish line. When the 3 mile marker came into sight I glanced at my watch. 16:27. That can't be right, I thought. Too focused on my stride, I didn't catch my time as I passed three miles, but as I made the last turn for the final 1/10 of a mile, I saw the NCAA runner still in the finishing chute. That doesn't look right, either. Then I dared not look at my watch, instead I concentrated on maintaining my form as I kicked down the stretch. The meagre crowd cheered me to the line, I punched the stop button, and looked down.
18:37. That's definitely not right. Yet the timekeeper yelled out the same number as I slowed to a stop. I had finished with a 5:40 final mile and a 37-second stretch kick. Not the smartest race I ever ran, but the fastest I have run since high school.
That's it. 18:37! That number sure does look familiar, don't it? That's a 34-second improvement in one week, and it gets this nineteen-minute monkey off my back. Now the stage is set for a head-to-head-to-head matchup against CGB and Alittlemoreflashgordon. We plan to race on Christmas week while I am visiting the Boston area. This will be the first time that all three of us have competed in the same race. Stay tuned...
This morning I ran the 5k race in the Wetumpka, Alabama 12k's of Christmas (and 5k too). The conditions wer nearly identical to last week's race conditions: 40 degrees and partly sunny at race time. This course was hillier than the one I ran last week and I had no one with whom to pace. Almost all of the good runners ran the 12k race. I was torched by an NCAA Div. 1 cross country runner, and the next closest runner was over 1/4 mile behind me by the 2 mile marker, so I was all alone, trying to pace with no frame of reference. I ran the first mile too fast (5:58) and the second mile way too slow (6:22), so when I passed the two-mile marker at 12:20, all by myself, with two (small) hills left to climb before the finish, I resigned myself to another near miss.
With my expectations adjusted downward, I concentrated on simply running the last 1.11 mile as evenly as I could and emptying the last fumes from my fuel tank right at the finish line. When the 3 mile marker came into sight I glanced at my watch. 16:27. That can't be right, I thought. Too focused on my stride, I didn't catch my time as I passed three miles, but as I made the last turn for the final 1/10 of a mile, I saw the NCAA runner still in the finishing chute. That doesn't look right, either. Then I dared not look at my watch, instead I concentrated on maintaining my form as I kicked down the stretch. The meagre crowd cheered me to the line, I punched the stop button, and looked down.
18:37. That's definitely not right. Yet the timekeeper yelled out the same number as I slowed to a stop. I had finished with a 5:40 final mile and a 37-second stretch kick. Not the smartest race I ever ran, but the fastest I have run since high school.
That's it. 18:37! That number sure does look familiar, don't it? That's a 34-second improvement in one week, and it gets this nineteen-minute monkey off my back. Now the stage is set for a head-to-head-to-head matchup against CGB and Alittlemoreflashgordon. We plan to race on Christmas week while I am visiting the Boston area. This will be the first time that all three of us have competed in the same race. Stay tuned...
Friday, December 12, 2008
19:11
It's actually worse than I thought. Eight months of training not for a three second advantage but for a one second pickup. The official results are out from last week's race, and I just lost 67% of my PR improvement.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Why?
This morning I ran intervals, 12 x 400 meters (jogging 300 meters between each to recover). I averaged just over 86 seconds per 400 meters. That's approximately a 5:45/mile pace. And I did that in rainy, humid, 69-degree weather.
This begs an obvious question. Somehow I am able to run fast during my speed workouts, and I am able to run consistently on my distance runs, but I can never put it all together on race day. Frustrating.
I plan to take another crack at 18:59 on Saturday in the Wetumpka 12 k's of Christmas (and 5k too). Needless to say, I will run the 5k race. I'll report back.
This begs an obvious question. Somehow I am able to run fast during my speed workouts, and I am able to run consistently on my distance runs, but I can never put it all together on race day. Frustrating.
I plan to take another crack at 18:59 on Saturday in the Wetumpka 12 k's of Christmas (and 5k too). Needless to say, I will run the 5k race. I'll report back.
Monday, December 8, 2008
No cigar
I edged a little closer but that nineteen minute barrier has proven insuperable. All the speed work, all the miles, all the stretching, and lunges, and long rides on the road bike... none of it has made any difference. I raced in the local Jingle Bell 5k on Saturday, and again I came up short.
Early this year I made a lot of progress. I ran my training miles and my tempo runs and my intervals, and mixed in miles on the bike, and I got a lot faster. On February 23, shortly after accepting CGB's challenge, I ran a 19:47. I then started training for a duathlon, and actually spend more effort on the bike than I did on the run. And even though I wan't focusing on the 5k, I still managed to take 35 seconds off my 5k time in less than two months. In April I ran a 19:12. I thought then that 18:59 was well within reach. If I could lose 35 seconds in two months without doing much short-distance speed work, surely I would drop 13 seconds more in a few weeks once I turned my attention directly to the 5k.
Um, no.
In the last eight months I have run, run, run, run, and run some more. And I have put a lot of effort into getting faster, running intervals and strides at least once each week, always pushing myself just as hard as I should and taking the appropriate amount of time to recover. But on Saturday, after eight months more of diligent training, much of it rather intense, I ran a 19:09 (unofficial time, according to my watch; they have not yet posted the official results). Fort those of you without a calculator, that's a whopping three seconds faster than my 5k time in April. That's about a .0001 second improvement for every 12 (or even 16) x 400 training session, a .000001 second improvement for every time I laced up the running shoes, and about a .0000000000000001 second improvement for every mile I have run.
In short, all my efforts have availed me naught.
On the bright side, I won my age group and got my picture in the local paper... twice. In the first photo, I am the second guy from the left in the front row, the one looking at his watch to make sure it's working.
The caption read, "The best runners were in the front row at the start of Saturday's event." That's almost as gratifying as it is amusing.
Early this year I made a lot of progress. I ran my training miles and my tempo runs and my intervals, and mixed in miles on the bike, and I got a lot faster. On February 23, shortly after accepting CGB's challenge, I ran a 19:47. I then started training for a duathlon, and actually spend more effort on the bike than I did on the run. And even though I wan't focusing on the 5k, I still managed to take 35 seconds off my 5k time in less than two months. In April I ran a 19:12. I thought then that 18:59 was well within reach. If I could lose 35 seconds in two months without doing much short-distance speed work, surely I would drop 13 seconds more in a few weeks once I turned my attention directly to the 5k.
Um, no.
In the last eight months I have run, run, run, run, and run some more. And I have put a lot of effort into getting faster, running intervals and strides at least once each week, always pushing myself just as hard as I should and taking the appropriate amount of time to recover. But on Saturday, after eight months more of diligent training, much of it rather intense, I ran a 19:09 (unofficial time, according to my watch; they have not yet posted the official results). Fort those of you without a calculator, that's a whopping three seconds faster than my 5k time in April. That's about a .0001 second improvement for every 12 (or even 16) x 400 training session, a .000001 second improvement for every time I laced up the running shoes, and about a .0000000000000001 second improvement for every mile I have run.
In short, all my efforts have availed me naught.
On the bright side, I won my age group and got my picture in the local paper... twice. In the first photo, I am the second guy from the left in the front row, the one looking at his watch to make sure it's working.
The caption read, "The best runners were in the front row at the start of Saturday's event." That's almost as gratifying as it is amusing.
And here I am at the finish (white shirt, grey shorts, black gloves), losing to a girl. (The girl, it turns out, is this year's Alabama high school cross country state champion).
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