On Deck: SF Kaiser Half Marathon

When I first started showing up for West Valley track workouts in late 2007, I made a few rules about me being a “runner” again. 1) I would only run on days I felt like running. Or perhaps more accurately, I wouldn’t run if I really didn’t feel it. 2) Running wouldn’t get in the way of being social. 3) I would have fun.

At first I enjoyed showing up at the track & developing my speed again. But outside of Tuesday workouts, overall mileage was light, long runs were occasional, and secondary workouts were non-existent.

In 2008 I started racing again on a regular basis. My initial results were uninspiring (not like my recent results are either), but I raced my way back into shape and steadily improved. With each mini breakthrough, I saw the opportunity to improve aspects of my training. I also got a taste of that fire back!

Fast forward to now, and I’ve thrown rules #1 & #2 out the window. Last Sunday night, I drove back from skiing, rather tired, but still got myself out the door for 7.5 miles when I’d have preferred the TV & a beer. The Friday before that, I passed on a happy hour to make sure I got a secondary workout in the books.

The key – and I’ve talked about this frequently, is that I’ve stuck very true to #3. The West Valley crew is exactly the type of team I want to train and race with. We workout hard, but have a fun time doing it. Running doesn’t consume anybody’s life, but something we all love doing, and work hard at. I’ve also enjoyed running with and competing against runners from other teams.

If a runner can’t enjoy the grind of training, he’ll ultimately lose the focus and desire necessary to carry on. Races will become stressful rather than exciting. But if he can enjoy track workouts, tempo runs, hill workouts, regular runs, and long runs, then race day becomes a privilege where all the pieces come together.

While I there are days I won’t feel like running, but I’ll push myself out the door anyway, these days are the exception. Most days I’ve been excited to get out and run. Quite often I’m feeling good out on a run, and extending what would have been a 7-8 mile run into 9-10. Even with weekend ski trips, I’ve only missed 1 day (a well deserved day off) all month. I’ve averaged 59 miles the past 4 weeks. In workouts, I don’t feel a lot of speed right now, but my tempo runs and strength intervals have been very consistent with a lot of volume in the low 5 min / mile pace range. There hasn’t been a single workout that I feel like I’ve just crushed, but every single one has been solid.

My next race is the Kaiser Half Marathon in SF the morning of the Super Bowl (Feb 7th). I’ve been happy with my strength and volume, but just wasn’t sure if I was ready for the race until Monday night. Our top runner – Jonathan Charlesworth – decided to join me for a long tempo run. With Charlesworth tagging along, I knew the pace wouldn’t be slow. We immediately ran faster than the 5:25 pace I had planned, hitting the first 3 miles at 5:15 pace. I slowed down a little toward the end but finished 7.5 miles @ 5:23 pace. A week and a half before my 1:11:08 PR last fall, I ran an 8 mile tempo at 5:28 pace. I’m feeling ready for this race!

Now if I could only manage to run 5-flat pace for a 5K!