I heard something I thought was funny on television the other day. It goes something like this, “Put your hand on a hot stove top and a second feels like an hour. Go on a date with the hottest woman you have ever seen and every hour feels like a second. That’s relativity.” If that’s the case then running has been an incredibly hot woman this past 6 months. You know what I’m talking about; tall, voluptuous, legs for days, long dark hair, olive skin, and a smile that could end (or start for that matter) a small war. I am talking about the kind of woman that is so hot it’s uncomfortable. That is the conclusion I have come to because this past fall just seemed like a blur.
I guess I will start with the end of the spring. After an awful first year at ZAP we decided to hit the reset button and start from scratch. We decided this after I ran 14.12 and then 14.07 at Mt Sac and Stanford respectively that the fitness just wasn’t there and some things needed to change. I took a down week and then started building mileage until I got to 140 miles a week. I held that for 2 full cycles (roughly 6 weeks) and began workouts. I knew before I even did my first tempo I was back on track and in good shape. I was training very hard and running faster for nearly every ZAP loop we have at the various running venues.
My first big race was the USA 20k Championships. I went out conservatively and passed people every single mile from start to finish. Despite playing it safe I was still 10th place at a USA championship. I was elated. So many things had gone wrong the previous year. To finally feel like myself again and running well was overwhelming. I called a few of the most important people in my life before even cooling down. Most of the messages I left went something like “Hell yes! F’n right! THAT’S WHAT I’M F’N TALKING ABOUT! YES! It’s about time!” I swear a lot when I get excited for whatever reason. Anyway, relative to some of the elites in this country 10th place at a race like that isn’t a big deal. To me at the time, it was a necessity. I needed to have a good race on a big stage.
After that I was 16th at the USA 10mile Championships in the best field the race has ever seen. The time I ran would have put me in the top 5 in all but 1 or 2 of the last 10 years of the race. I ended my season with a 10k out in Indiana. My teammate Landon Peacock paced myself and Cole Atkins through 5k in about 14.25 and then got me to 7k or so before I was on my own. Cole caught an unlucky break and injured his plantar somewhere in there. (The dude was rolling too) So I was all by myself the last 2.5k and still ran 28.41. That was 22 seconds faster than my previous PR, and I did it in basically a time trial. There were only 4 other guys on the track. Getting an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 10k was a good way to end my fall season.
I have much bigger goals in mind this coming season starting with the Olympic Trials in January. God has provided me with a big opportunity and I plan on taking advantage of it. I had a couple hiccups getting started into my marathon build up, but the last few weeks have been consistent and I am handling 120-140 mile weeks with workouts well. Workouts are on schedule and the training down here in Tallahassee FL has been a blast. My teammate Jesse Cherry and I are headed to Jacksonville this coming weekend to run a half marathon at our goal marathon pace. We have the door open to run the last 4 miles quicker if we are feeling good. That will be the first real test of how ready I am at this point in the buildup. We are certainly not backing off the training going into it though. All that matters is the marathon in January. I am very excited about my first marathon and first Olympic Trials race. The next month is going to be a lot of fun.
Time flies when you are having fun working hard, and apparently so do I. That's relativity.
I guess I will start with the end of the spring. After an awful first year at ZAP we decided to hit the reset button and start from scratch. We decided this after I ran 14.12 and then 14.07 at Mt Sac and Stanford respectively that the fitness just wasn’t there and some things needed to change. I took a down week and then started building mileage until I got to 140 miles a week. I held that for 2 full cycles (roughly 6 weeks) and began workouts. I knew before I even did my first tempo I was back on track and in good shape. I was training very hard and running faster for nearly every ZAP loop we have at the various running venues.
My first big race was the USA 20k Championships. I went out conservatively and passed people every single mile from start to finish. Despite playing it safe I was still 10th place at a USA championship. I was elated. So many things had gone wrong the previous year. To finally feel like myself again and running well was overwhelming. I called a few of the most important people in my life before even cooling down. Most of the messages I left went something like “Hell yes! F’n right! THAT’S WHAT I’M F’N TALKING ABOUT! YES! It’s about time!” I swear a lot when I get excited for whatever reason. Anyway, relative to some of the elites in this country 10th place at a race like that isn’t a big deal. To me at the time, it was a necessity. I needed to have a good race on a big stage.
After that I was 16th at the USA 10mile Championships in the best field the race has ever seen. The time I ran would have put me in the top 5 in all but 1 or 2 of the last 10 years of the race. I ended my season with a 10k out in Indiana. My teammate Landon Peacock paced myself and Cole Atkins through 5k in about 14.25 and then got me to 7k or so before I was on my own. Cole caught an unlucky break and injured his plantar somewhere in there. (The dude was rolling too) So I was all by myself the last 2.5k and still ran 28.41. That was 22 seconds faster than my previous PR, and I did it in basically a time trial. There were only 4 other guys on the track. Getting an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 10k was a good way to end my fall season.
I have much bigger goals in mind this coming season starting with the Olympic Trials in January. God has provided me with a big opportunity and I plan on taking advantage of it. I had a couple hiccups getting started into my marathon build up, but the last few weeks have been consistent and I am handling 120-140 mile weeks with workouts well. Workouts are on schedule and the training down here in Tallahassee FL has been a blast. My teammate Jesse Cherry and I are headed to Jacksonville this coming weekend to run a half marathon at our goal marathon pace. We have the door open to run the last 4 miles quicker if we are feeling good. That will be the first real test of how ready I am at this point in the buildup. We are certainly not backing off the training going into it though. All that matters is the marathon in January. I am very excited about my first marathon and first Olympic Trials race. The next month is going to be a lot of fun.
Time flies when you are having fun working hard, and apparently so do I. That's relativity.