For those of you tracking my progress to my personal milestone (thanks for the support, and I am sorry for you at the same time), I actually have 8 days left to my 1st Marathon and not 9 as I had calculated in error on my countdown. Oops.
In January, I ran a half marathon in an official race setting. I finished that race in 1:48. This was a achievement for me personally as I really only hoped to finish and I ended up getting it done in less then 2 hours. There were lots of challenges during that race for me. My pace was erratic, my cadence really slow, and I struggled with a few issues like slight cramping and leg pain toward the end. However, the adrenaline was pumping due to the race environment and I had some good moments that helped me come in at a really good time (for me and for my age).
Since that time I pursued an aggressive training agenda. I have never done anything close to this in my life. I really poured effort into the preparation and training regime. I read books, took courses, had lessons with coaches, invested in training plans, investigated and explored the best equipment and supplements the sport had to offer. I changed my diet, I focused on my athletic endurance and physical fitness. I poured in effort on running constantly. I logged an average of about 40 to 50 miles per week.
After all that, I ran a half marathon today around my house. I finished that 13.1 miles in 1:50. 2 minutes slower then my time in the competition 4 months ago. Am I disappointed with the results?
A full breakdown of the results from this morning’s test run:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3682442009?share_unique_id=2
Yeah, I would have liked to beat my time – but a close inspection of the results show a very critical and very relevant topic. In this run, I failed to form. I am much more likely to complete a full marathon at the same pace with these results then the results in January. Why?
In January – I was about to the point of failure when I crossed the finish line. This time, I was nowhere near failure. I was failing a bit, if you look at the results, you will notice that my pace slows and my cadence drops off. However, you will notice that is a slow and steady decline. It is not completely up and down and all over the place. It is consistent.
The thing to look at is my averages. My average cadence was 178 SPM. Before my training it was 162 SPM. For those of you who understand that, will know what an improvement that is. I am less likely to fatigue after 26.2 miles because I am more efficient in my running then I was 4 months ago. You will also notice that my split times do not have giant swings. I seem to go from under 7:30 to slightly over 8:30 min/mile. In previous races, I was really fast, or really slow. Not consistent at all. I have a lot of room to improve here, like perhaps not starting out so fast but the point is that my consistency has improved a lot.
Another consistent thing is my heart rate. I am staying right at zone 4 the entire time. I am extending the same amount of effort regardless of the condition. Up or down hill, my heart rate is at the same level. In previous races my heart rate would be in zone 3 on downhill, zone 4 on flats, and zone 5 on hills. An experienced runner will smile at this and laugh at my novice discoveries, but hey – I just spent 4 months preparing for something – I am trying to put a positive spin on it.
This is long way to state a really interesting principle and that is the more you practice and prepare the more consistent your results will be. If your results are not consistent, and you do not seem to have stamina and are erratic then the logically conclusion is that you need more practice! We want to be really good at something, I wonder how often we practice and prepare? We want to be really good at our jobs, yet we spend so little time in preparation, planning, and training. We want to be great communicators, yet we never practice presenting. If you want to win, you need to practice winning.
Guy Reams
8 Days Left to 1st Marathon
