Speed Kills, Distance Heals

I'm on the verge of yet another cold. Sore throat, congestion, malaise. I'm pretty sure my renewed speedy intervals have done me in again! Damn. I cannot handle this fast stuff. Moderate tempo runs are usually fine with my body, but not the hard intervals. Maybe I'm just getting older and not recovering quickly enough. Whatever. Something needs to be adjusted.

Speed kills. I'm hoping that distance heals.

I'm giving up on any goals at the Illinois half-marathon (in just over 4 weeks). I just don't care. I don't even feel like racing. Maybe a DNS is in the books? Why run if you aren't going to run well?

I'm ready to give up on any Boston qualifier ideas for my summer marathon. Hopefully I'll change my mind. My brother is doing that one as his first marathon--that's a BIG deal! I'll definitely run the race...but maybe not as a BQ attempt. Could jog the full thing with my bro? Lots of time between now and July 31. We'll see.

I am looking forward to summer and fall ultra marathons. If speed kills, maybe distance heals?

My Baby Is Turning Ten

My baby is growing up. The Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Race will happen again tomorrow and it'll be the 10th year of this trail ultra. Ten years old! Crazy. It's not easy to start a new race. Lots of planning, tons of approvals, and an amazing number of details to get right. And you have to pray that others will find the race worthy. No race continues without racers. If runners find it pleasing, they'll be back in subsequent years. If not, it's over.

It's awesome to see the Clinton Lake ultra reach its 10th year anniversary. While I will always be the race's "father," it has grown into its own entity and taken on the character of the later race directors that have fostered its development. I'm happy that Mike and Bob took over after me, and now Don and Ellen continue the tradition. Not sure why it takes two race directors to replace me each time, but I'll consider that a compliment! They've kept my baby alive, helped it grow, and given it a positive reputation and character it deserves. Thanks.

Tomorrow I'll volunteer at the race. In the middle of volunteering, I'll run one 10-mile loop of the race course--hopefully chatting with the runners. Do they find it fun? Challenging? Well-organized? I'll remember my first year of race directing here. The finishers, the winners, the DNFs. Good times. Then back to volunetering, race clean-up, and the post-race party. Should be a good day. Happy birthday Clinton Lake! You are now a mature 10-year old. May you see many more happy years.

Revised Training and Race Plan for 2016

Back in January (or even last December) I had a great plan for 2016. It had lots of lofty goals and personal bests...but I pushed too hard in training and became ill twice...and got achy a few times. I was on the verge of a breakdown. I'm older and wiser now. Need to adjust my plans for the year.

I have one main goal for the entire year: qualify for the Boston Marathon at the Jack & Jill Downhill Marathon (July 31). Notice the title of that trace? "Downhill." I like the sound of that marathon. I'm tossing out the idea of a PR at the Illinois Half-Marathon on April 30. To stay on track for the marathon PR (and BQ), I simply need to run "well" at the half-marathon. Something like 1:38 will do just fine. Much slower than my current half-marathon best, but it still predicts a 3:26 marathon. That'll work! And it seems doable.

To achieve that 1:38 (or better) finish time at the half-marathon in late April, I'm currently running consistently, inserting tempo runs, and implementing longer weekend trail runs. Nothing crazy, just 10-13 mile efforts on rolling trails. I'll race at least one 5K just to get that feeling of pushing very hard. Nothing beats experiencing that burn! And to have a baseline for what my half marathon (or marathon) time might be based on the 5K finish.

After the half-marathon, I'll turn my attention to endurance and stamina. More medium length runs (8-12 miles) and long jaunts (18-20 miles). I'll still incorporate tempo runs, but probably longer "steady-state" tempo efforts (6-9 miles) rather than the typical short (2-4 mile) lactate-threshold runs. No structured training scheme. Just simple stuff.

Best laid plans of mice and men. (And runners.) We'll see how this goes. I hope I'm left with more than grief and pain.

Trails Are Better

Here's a little secret I want to share...running on trails is better. Better than anything. Treadmills are probably better than sitting on the couch. And roads are certainly better than treadmills. But trails are much better than roads. Nothing beats a good trail run. I've known this for years, but lately I've gotten caught up in training for a road half-marathon. That meant more speed workouts, more treadmill and road runs, and less long trail runs with friends. Today, I ran one of my favorite local trails--the 10-mile north fork Clinton Lake trail. It's the home of the Clinton Lake 30-Mile Trail Race (my baby). It was perfect.

Find a trail in your area and run it. Then find a trail race in your area and race it. You can thank me later. Note to self: Don't sign up for road races. Stick to trails. The longer the better.

New Attitude: 60 Days to the Illinois Half-Marathon

I've got a new attitude. And it's coming at a good time. I now have 60 days until the Illinois Half-Marathon on April 30. That's two good months of training. Why the new perspective?  I realized my lofty PR goal (1:32) is really out of reach. I was pushing too hard and already got sick twice with a cold. I see that as a sign from the running gods that I need to revise my goals and train more appropriately. Message received!

With 60 days to go, I have a new set of half-marathon race goals:

• Dream goal: 1:32:30 (equates to 3:15 marathon)
• Reach goal: 1:35 (equates to 3:20 marathon)
• Doable goal: 1:38 (equates to 3:26:15 marathon)

If everything goes really well in the next 60 days, and I get perfect weather on race day, and I push hard for that dream goal, I might achieve that original new personal best of 1:32:30. It's a long-shot and my training will not focus on that finish time. Too much pressure. But it'll be in the back of my mind if the race is going well.

The doable goal is 1:38. That equates to a full marathon time of 3:26:15. That would get me to Boston. I feel 1:38 will be easy. It's nice having that in my back pocket. Very feasible and it will give me confidence that I'm still on track for a July marathon that will qualify me for Boston. If I finish in 1:38, and feel it was an "easy effort," then I'll be stoked for the marathon in July.

The "reach goal" of 1:35 is a nice challenge, but still reasonable. It would predict a 3:20 marathon (too fast for me!) and certainly give me the confidence to crank out a sub 3:30 in July. This one feels right. A finish of 1:35 or under, with no injuries, will set me up nicely for a fast July marathon.

As far as training goes, I'm not sticking to any plan. No more Hanson's. I'll run as I see fit, try to toss in a fast run each week, and a pseudo-long run. No pressure. No stress. The real goal is a Boston qualifier in late July, then a 50-mile personal best in November. This half-marathon is simply a benchmark test on the path to future PRs. My original "three goal races" for 2016 is still in play, but the first race is just a test.