A Passion for Running

I just came back from a run that was designed to shake this head cold loose. While I’m not certain it worked, it didn’t seem to have done any harm. Besides that, you can never go wrong with some endorphins floating around in your blood. Right?

Especially with being sick, I was impressed with the pace for this easy run – 7:50 min/mile for 60 minutes. Over the past ten or so months, my paces have steadily dropped. I still remember when “easy” was nine or more minutes per mile.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict something. Within the next year, I am guessing that:

1. My easy training pace will become 7:30ish minutes per mile, and
2. My hard training pace will become 7:00 minutes per mile.

You heard it here first!

I took Thursday off after my sweet one-mile PB and then proceeded to get a terrible head cold on Friday. No running in three days. Ugh.

I’m feeling really stiff so I’ll try to get out later today if my head is up to it.

At the end of 2004 – prior to my learning the Pose Method and switching to high mileage training – my best one mile was clocked in 6:25.

On February 23/07 – after a two year hiatus from serious training, and followed by a long winter of base training – I decided to test myself and came up with a 6:19.

Today – a bit more than two weeks after Regina marathon – I decided another test was in order.

I’m pretty excited about this! But am I being greedy to say I’m also a bit burned I missed getting a sub-6:00 mile? I guess that’ll be another day’s triumph huh?

Whining aside, McMillan’s Running Calculator says I’m good for a 20:58 5k (6:45 pace) and a 43:32 10k (7:00 pace). Those are the two races I’m considering for October.

There was dry-heaving a-plenty at the end of that mile but it was SO worth it.
——
Aside: I need to shave 8 seconds off my mile time to beat my friend Nick’s SNOWSHOE world record mile time of 5:56.

Well, it’s been two weeks since the Regina Marathon and, interspersed with re-living that moment over and over and over, I’ve been thinking about what comes next. Here’s what I have so far.

Some Short Races: There are some 5k, 10k, 5 mile & 10 mile races around the 2nd and 3rd week in October. I’m pondering doing a couple of races then. I don’t expect too much since I haven’t done any race-specific training for those distances. However, I am wondering how my marathon fitness might translate in those shorter distances. hmmm…

Marathons: Of course I want to do more of them! After all, I’m getting faster and, at 40 years of age, I think I’m just getting started! In case you’re wondering, the goal for the next year will definitely be to qualify for the Boston Marathon. That would mean running a marathon in 3:20:59 – roughly 10 minutes faster than I ran my last one. That time works out to about a 7:40 minute per mile pace.

What amazes me about the Boston goal is that I’m even writing it down. It took FIVE marathons for me to get a 3:45 marathon and I worked hard in each of those marathons. However, what I’ve learned in the last year is that hard is not always right plus, now that I’ve changed how I train and acquired two PRs, a 3:20 Boston Qualifier seems attainable. Of course, it’s going to take consistency and dedication but, what meaningful goal doesn’t?

Strength Training: If you’ve been hanging around here for a while, you probably know about my struggles with chronic pain. Although things are currently much better than they were in that link you just saw, I’m still having some problems with my shoulder+neck thing. The good news? With the help of my soon-to-be-cousin who happens to be a Chiropractor and A.R.T. practitioner, I’ve finally figured out the root cause for my problem. Are you ready for this? It’s a RIB – a subluxated rib. What no one – no doctor or other chiropractor – ever figured out is that I have a really stubborn rib that has been the cause of all my grief. And how do I now know this? Because as soon as Dan pops that sucker back in, I have INSTANT and SUBSTANTIAL relief.

But, here’s the catch: Cousin Dan the Chiropractor tells me I need to get into the gym and strengthen my back, chest and shoulders so that, when he puts my rib back in, it stays in. So, I have some work to do. So be it.

So that’s it for the moment. What? You were expecting more? Well, if you’re so great let’s see your goals!

On another note, yesterday’s blast from the past was so much fun, I thought I’d embarrass myself some more. This picture was taken in 3rd year university (I would have been about 23). I have NO idea why I am dressed and posing like that but I THINK it was my roommate (Mary) that dared me. My kids just saw the picture as I was drafting this post. They think I looked “dumb”. Who am I to argue?