Thursday, January 8, 2009 (steady state)

Ian's comments on this run

I think I've done a pretty good job, over six years of working on it, of no longer comparing myself with other runners. At least, the comparisons I do are more leaning more towards objective feedback than ego-stroking (or ego-self-flagellating (is "self" redundant when used in hyphenation along with "ego"?)). I've also been making progress on not comparing myself with my own arbitrarily-imposed standards. That means understanding the difference between a goal that keeps you motivated, and a standard you must meet, or else feel insufficient and worthless. Now I think I need to understand how to approach comparing my current self to my past self. Ideally, understanding where I am now in comparison to where I used to be should provide a guideline for what kind of training I should do next, based on where I am and where I want to be. It should also be helpful in setting reasonable goals. Instead, my comparison with my past performances is mostly an anxious litany of, "am I there yet? can I PR yet? Have I ever done that before? Am I fitter this time around? Am I working harder now than before?" Which is not the only set of questions I should be asking. Further, when I find that the only honest answer is "no", I swing between renewed, feverish resolve to force myself to new heights as quickly as possible, and defeatist acknowledgment that anything I previously achieved was a fluke, and is unlikely to ever be repeated.

Today Ian and I did 4 arroyo tempo loops, going
8:48
8:49
8:50
9:10 = 35:27

Ian pulled ahead on the last one, but I simply wasn't feeling the juice to go with him. That's largely because he's in great shape. The workout felt like I was getting just the right stimulus. Ideally, I want to be able to take that 8:50 pace and stretch it out to six laps by the end of February, which will indicate I'm at the sort of fitness level that will let me throw down some intense track workouts, and stay strong at the end of races.

One thing I want to improve this year as compared to last is the last 25% of my races. A couple of times last year my final lap of the 5000 was actually slower than my average pace. When I ran the 1500, I took the lead with a lap to go, but found I didn't have nearly as much a kick in my as I had thought. Having super speed is great for a kick. However, if you're running your last 200 in 37, and your 200 capability when fresh is 25, it's pretty clear that you're not being limited by your raw speed. Instead, it's frequently the most aerobically fit runners who can run the last 200 at a high percentage of their max speed. (I won't pretend to know the reason for this, but there's some empirical evidence.) It's a combination of raw speed and aerobic fitness that gives a big kick. So long runs and steady states, with a bit of tempo and a little faster stuff so my legs won't forget, are the order of the moment.