Fresh off the Houston Marathon back in mid January has a new fire set underneath me to reevaluate my perspective on competitive running. I am still looking forward to some of the "yocal" races in the area, but I am planning on switching it up similar to the infant years of New York. This means more obscure and adventurous races (off the pavement and onto Mother Earth like she intended). Some of the planning effort will be put on the shoulders of a close friend, Shaun Donegan. He is well versed in the funky trail races that are not quite as popular amongst the road hogs.
The series that is added immediately and the standard is the "New England Mountain Series." The marathon PR is from 2013. The progression of training that year was indoor track (skipped that this year due to Houston), mountain series, marathon specific build-up.
The loose formula to take away from that stellar year is:
(variety of distances x variety of terrain) + consistency = mental toughness + ability to grind
With that being said, I decided do some legwork and crunch some data for myself. Here is a history from the initial stab at the distance to the most recent with some numbers around it.
The new coach (Tim Ritchie) and myself had a few conversations leading up to Houston. It had been a long roller coaster ride of a year and a few setbacks (related and unrelated to training) so he decided that I needed to cross the finish down in Texas with a smile on my face and positive energy regardless of what the clock read. To sum it up and what 2020's motto is:
EFFORT > PACE
On Saturday, Eileen and I drove to another park where she walked/ran a loop while I did my shakeout jogs for the "long run" the next day (aka marathon race day). 70's and humid seemed to be the theme for the 3 days of running in Texas. Forecast had a drastic change for Sunday morning with 40's and low humidity. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
The training log will no longer be flooded with setmiles and specific paces. The day to day maintenance runs will be a total time to run (30 minutes, 50 minutes, 65 minutes, etc.) The workouts will have a similar structure. For example, 25 minute tempo with the total run being 60 minutes or 3 x 10 minutes with 4 minutes rest. It is something that we started towards the end of the Houston cycle when every 3rd or 4th workout going poorly. My mind was getting bogged down with my dang GPS watch giving me instant feedback on pace and how far I had run at any point during the session. Tim told me, "The body does not know mileage, but it does know time." This allows you to listen to your body and go off feeling.
The Houston trip was a complete blast! I flew in Thursday afternoon and flew out Monday afternoon. Stayed with my Uncle David and Aunt Eileen who live just outside of downtown Houston. This allowed my body and mind to acclimate to the weather and just straight up relax. Home-cooked meals, bed and bathroom of my own, and low-key vibes with the relatives made for a real recipe for success. My uncle David was beyond ecstatic to be a part of the final steps for this specific event.
On Friday, David and I drove down to the local town park where there is a dirt loop on one side of the main road and a pavement loop on the other. A standard run with some light pickups was on the schedule while David hammered as many loops as he could on the short loop across the way. Logistics coordinator Aunt Eileen recommended to swing down for the expo to avoid the crowds and allow for Saturday to be minimal travel. Such a smart lady!
On Saturday, Eileen and I drove to another park where she walked/ran a loop while I did my shakeout jogs for the "long run" the next day (aka marathon race day). 70's and humid seemed to be the theme for the 3 days of running in Texas. Forecast had a drastic change for Sunday morning with 40's and low humidity. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
I could go on forever about race day, but everything fell into place as much as it could. Coach and myself were prepped for the race as much as we could control. The long summer of dealing with the calf strain/issue from Pittsburgh Marathon cycle back in the spring and the unintentional breaking of my 2nd toe on my right foot after slipping out of the shower and ramming it into the door frame were minor setbacks to say the least.
I only looked at my watch at every 5 mile mark and hit the wall a bit around 22-23. The wheels did not fall off completely and I was able to re-rally for the last couple miles. A huge smile decorated my face for the next 24 hours and I was transported to cloud 9.
Looking forward to 2020 and making it my own!
See below some highlights from the last 4 years.
See below some highlights from the last 4 years.
Started growing my hair out for my sister's wedding.
Quality time with my niece.
Epic week in California.
RTB with my family and friends.
New addition - Mason.
Amherst 10 Miler.
Gotta let it flow.
Face to pavement. Broken jaw. 3 places.
Wired shut for 6 weeks.
Go big or go home.
Back for one of my favorite races.
Partied with the Black Cactus (5x Olympian).
ADK Distance Festival.
Celebrated a buddy's wedding at altitude (CO).
Niece & nephews.
Love these guys.
B2B.
Framer.
Hartford streets.
Another addition - Birdie.
Chunk-a-monk.
Ryder or die.
Barta boys.
Vacation mode to the max.
Henny snuggles.
I'll be your role model.
Foot to door frame.
Test drive after cross training.
Classic.
Happy camper in Houston.
NYC living.
Tourist at Busch Gardens Tampa.
Love it! Awesome pics! I absolutely agree with your body knows how many minutes you ran, and the intensity, not the mileage. I truly believe a lot of trail runners over train on trails to try to hit some mileage goal. Time is the better way of tracking training for sure.
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