Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Wednesday. Race report..
Race report- I went in to this race with little confidence, the most severe of the repercussions of the massage. My back was still tight every day leading up to the race and caused my glutes and hips to tighten during.. I averaged HR 161 for the race and ran several miles at 5:20 with my HR never breaking 168- so the pace I was running was easy on my aerobic system. The problem was my legs wouldn't turn over that quickly and they seemed to just fall apart. My hips became tight enough that I had to shorten my stride by mile 14 then my quads cramped at mile ~18 and I stopped twice to use a port-a-john and to stretch. It was like I hadn't ever run farther than 18 miles yet in my preparation for this race I had specifically focused on trying to prevent this. Frustrating to say the least. I see 2 things that helped to cause this- #1 is of course the massage. #2 is too much taper which was also caused by the massage. I cut my mileage and training quality too much. 2:31 is far from the fitness that I have in me right now but all I can do is SAY that... I don't have a result that shows that and I find myself more driven than I ever have been to train harder and farther for my next race. I promised Jo and Ben that I would take this week off from running though.. and I'll do that. I see that I need to recover from the months of training in order to progress upwards again. I plan to rest this week, jog a few times next week, then starting at ~30 miles slowly build my mileage back to 100+ and simply spend the next 16 weeks building my aerobic fitness.
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4 comments:
Lucho, Congratulations on a great race. 2:31 is no small feat and only 1-2 minutes off of your goal. Keep in mind that while you may be disappointed in your time, the effort on that day, all things considered, and more importantly, in the weeks and months leading up to that day, was incredible. Keep it up and thanks for sharing your journey.
I don't think that there's any question that the massage and it's aftermath had an impact on you. It is possible that your body really doesn't do well with too much tapering, chance to tighten up, etc.
In terms of rest, after you had me rest in the late fall, I was slower (at a higher heart rate) than I'd been in a long time. Now, three months later, after patiently believing in what my coach (you of course) told me, I am faster (at a lower heart rate) than ever. Let your body absorb some rest and downtime, expect a short term decline, then come back with a vengeance for that sub 2:20 marathon that is clearly in you! At least that's how you'd coach your athletes!
By the way, despite everything you went through, your pace barely fell off at the end. What an awesome effort!
I am in awe of your work ethic and commend you for taking some time off to rest and reflect. I'd give my right one to be able to run a 2:31.. I know you'll be right back in the saddle before long and ready to take on a new challenge, speaking of which. Do you have a marathon you'll be targeting next, or still not looking out that far?
the fitness was there... no question. a 2:31 on a bad day is a good marker for sure. I have a feeling the motivation and knowledge you will take from this race will only serve you better in future races. What's next?
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