New Year, New You

I was driving with one of my best friend's, Alex, in January and we read the phrase "New Year, New You" on a Wendy's billboard.  We both laughed and found it a little ironic for a fast food restaurant to be proclaiming something like this.  These words, however, have a deeper meaning for me in 2013.  I have an opportunity to train for something special this Spring.  I am running the Boston Marathon in just 9 short weeks.  I have been working diligently through the winter months of December, January, and now into February.  I have two tune-up races before Boston: a 10 miler and a half marathon.  My goals are ambitious for April.  I want to run sub-2:50 and get as close to 2:40 (or break it) as possible.  I have to believe this is something I am capable of achieving.  Step number one in reaching a running goal is having the confidence in yourself to get there.  You have to visualize yourself achieving your goal every day.  You have to want to get there.  It is easy to be intimidated of the goal you are chasing after.  This is why you need to have the faith in yourself to get there.  Surround yourself with the right people who believe in your goal too.  It is important to have the right people on your team.  I see 2013 as a new year, with endless opportunities to improve as a runner.  With Boston quickly approaching, I cannot help but think about last year.  I had one of those days where my body simply would not respond to the heat.  This is something that was out of my control.  My training had been great heading into the race.  Several great runners dropped out of Boston last year, including the defending champion Geoffrey Mutai.  Top American marathoner, Ryan Hall, dropped out of the Olympic marathon this past summer due to injury.  In a sport like running, it is impossible to control every situation.  Some days you feel great, and others are out of your control.  You can control the amount of effort you put into training and how badly you want to reach your goals.  I am fully invested in the Boston Marathon.  It is on my mind each day and I am training with a sense of purpose.  I am returning to the start line in Hopkinton with a sense of belonging.  I am now a Boston Qualifier and earned my spot in the prestigious race.  Whatever it is that you want to do with running in 2013, go out and get after it.  Do not listen to the people who tell you it cannot be done.  You may be far away from a particular goal, but you can still set smaller goals.  Running is a sport that requires patience, so RESPECT THE PROCESS.  Make 2013 into what you want it to be. 

I opened up the New Year with a local 5k race in Narragansett, RI.  I ran the Super 5k last weekend to test my speed and see where I was at in my training.  It is very difficult to race in the winter.  It was 30 degrees out and windy at the start of the race.  These conditions are not ideal for someone hoping to run a fast time or new PR.  When the gun went off, the leaders took off into a pack of about five runners.  There was then a second chase pack of about five to ten runners and then a third pack of about five runners.  I was in this third pack.  The 5k is one of the most challenging distances for me for a couple of reasons.  As a marathoner, the race feels much too short.  It also feels like an all-out sprint.  It is a painful race distance!  My final reason is that so many people run so fast at the beginning of 5k races.  Proper pacing is key to running a 5k time that you will be happy with.  After a half mile into the race I was in about 20th place or so.  I kept my pace the same and moved passed all of the runners in the third pack, caught the second pack, and then could only see the first pack in front of me.  I hit the first mile in 5:27.  I think, on the right day, that I could average 5:20/mile at the 5k distance.  This is the kind of shape I hope I am in now.  Looking back on this race, I should have started off faster and tried to hit 5:20 (or faster) for the first mile.  I probably started too slow, but I like to work myself into races.  The second mile has a slight uphill, but I knew I had slowed too much to account for this.  I reached the second mile in 5:42.  At this moment, I knew I still had a chance to try and push on and get close to my PR of 17:28.  I did my best to dig deep and push on to the third mile.  The final mile was run entirely into the wind.  At this point in the race, the field was strung out so that there were no other runners within 15 seconds in front of or behind me.  We were all running solo, racing against the clock and the elements.  I reached that final mile in 5:39, which I am fairly satisfied with because it was not my slowest mile of the race and it was run under the worst course conditions.  My kick to the finish over the last .1 miles was solid, being in the low 30s.  I crossed the finish line in 17:24 (5:36/mile), good for 8th place overall (1st age group) out of a couple hundred.  The race was won by William Sanders in 15:02.  He was followed by a local running legend named Matt Pelletier in 15:11.  It was fun to run behind these guys!  I ran a new PR by 4 seconds, but the 17:28 I ran was on a net downhill course so it was encouraging to run in the 17:00 range on a flat course in the cold.  My goal is to run sub-17:00, something I have still not been able to do yet.  I should also note that heading into this 5k race I did not taper.  I had run 80+ miles for four weeks previous and totaled the same for the week of the race.  My goal, right now, is not in the 5k but in the marathon.  My training is set up so that I peak in April and crush my marathon PR at the Boston Marathon.  I have it in my mind that I need to run faster at the shorter distances to produce a fast marathon time.  Whether this is entirely true or not, improving in the shorter distances does provide an added confidence boost in distance racing.  I do know that once I crossed the finish line, I felt I could have maintained the same pace for 10k.  I have my chance to see if I can maintain this kind of a hard pace for longer at the Old Fashioned 10 Miler in Foxboro next weekend.  I am looking forward to racing at a longer distance.  For now, I am approaching the heavy lifting of my program.  I have a few weeks coming up where I will be right at 100 miles for the week.  More marathon specific workouts are approaching too, where I will run longer tempos and strength workouts.  I am excited for this phase in the build-up!  Good luck to everyone with your winter training!  My motivation to get me outside each day is simply my goal race.  I want to do everything now to prepare for Boston.  I am fully invested in my goal.  Remember: New Year, New You.  Make it happen!

Run Happy,
David