Still running a bit of an accomplishment mental-high and having a day to digest things, I wanted to put down some thoughts and reflections I have.
The Very Beginning
Way back in jr high, we had an event in PE that was the mile run/walk. It was pretty simple - four cones were placed in a field making a square track 1/4 mile long, and we had to go around it four times. We could run, walk, or some combination thereof. I dont remember specifics, but I know that I ran some of it, and walked a good portion as well. The class after PE was band practice, and I remember having to excuse myself from class because I was so light headed and felt like I was going to faint. Afterwards, the band teacher said I looked as white as a ghost.
The Cross Country Years
That was in 8th grade, I believe. The next time I took up any sort of running was sophmore year in high school when I joined the cross country team. I remember shortly before practices started that my dad and I went out for a run around the fields at the high school. I ran maybe 1.5 or 2 miles that day, and suffered through a lot of it. How the hell was I going to survive a 3.1 mile race?
The first day of cross country practice, we did the 3.1 mile course. I had to walk the last 1/4 mile or so, and my legs were stiff and sore for a week afterwards. I've never been so sore in my life - I could barely walk down the stairs from the pain in my legs. If I walked around, I felt better, but after sitting down for more then about 10 seconds, the soreness came back.
As the season wore on, the endurance got better. I think my first race was somewhere around the 27 minute mark. Within a couple races, my time had dropped to around 24 minutes, and I remember one day in biology class that one of the varsity runners called me a machine, due to the improvements I had made. I'm convinced he was partially picking on me (varsity team members were routinely doing sub-19 minute races, and in some instances sub 17 minutes), but when questioned by someone else, the response was akin to 'dropping 3 minutes is huge!' He might have been ribbing me a little bit, but it felt pretty good.
Throughout two years in high school cross country, I clocked in under 20 minutes once - 19:41. Doing a 7:30 or 8 minute mile was a piece of cake by that time, but most of the runs were 3 to 6 miles or so.
The Dark Ages
By the time high school was over, I had stopped running. Throughout college and a few times during my 20's, I tried taking running up again. However, each time I over-exerted myself. I was holding myself up to standards years gone by, and was heavily disappointed when I couldn't even keep up 8 minute miles anymore. In my attempts to force things, I always ended up with shin splints or some other ailment that kept me from being able to run for the next week or two. Motivation was low.
The Renaissance
Then one day, I was conversing with an old coworker who swam competitively in college. He basically introduced me to the idea of using a heart rate monitor - saying 'If you go for speed - you will fail. You need to go for overall time and heartrate'. That was a turning point of sorts. I went out and got a heart rate monitor that day. Resolving to keep things slow, I ran 1.5 miles in 18 minutes before I was too tired to continue.
A lot of people dont like heart rate monitors - but it is safe to say that I wouldn't have kept up and re-attempted getting into running for the umpteenth time without one. Finally, I had something that could provide tangible feedback, and could allow me to concentrate on my gradual improvement instead of my overall performance. Performance and speed would come - but first I had to build endurance. That was a lesson that took a long time for me to learn.
The 21st Century
Fast forward about six years, and I still find the heart rate monitor an incredible tool. A coach can provide structure to a training program, motivation and pacing. A HR monitor instantly provides a pacing mechanism, and can also provide motivation in the form of seeing improvement over time (provided you log your exercise). It took a while to figure it all out - but at this point, all that is left to me is to provide the structure.
Lessons of Hydration
Prior to starting training for this half marathon, my longest run was 8 miles, and I suffered through the last 2 miles or so. When I signed up for the half marathon, I put all faith in a training program for giving me the structure and endurance to actually complete the race. It seems obvious now, but I had never drank any liquids during a run before, fearing that it would lead to cramps. How wrong I was.
My first long run of this training program really opened my eyes. In 1 hr and 12 minutes, I had lost 2.2 POUNDS of water. I was shocked. I now had a pretty damn good idea why I had routinely been suffering on any run longer then about 5 miles.
My next long run was significantly easier. I learned the lesson of keeping hydrated, and had begun bringing gatorade and/or water with me, sipping a mouthful every 4-5 minutes or so. The difference was immediately noticable - when I finished those subsequent long runs, my mouth was not as dry, and I did not need to down huge amounts of water when I got home.
Need for Speed
The compliment to the endurance building long runs is the speed work. There are two things that amaze me about speed work. One is that it is very intimidating at first - there are no two ways about it, it just plain sucks and is uncomfortable. It is very easy to say 'screw this - the long runs are more enjoyable'. The other amazing thing about speed work is that its benefits are almost immediately visible. In training for this race, I had done speed-work specific work outs all of 5 times - once per week. In one month, an entire 80 seconds per mile had been knocked off, and the HR stayed fairly consistent.
Altered Views
It amuses me how things have changed. Three to four months ago, a short run was three miles, a medium length run was four, and a long run was five. Now, anything under five is a short run. Ain't no thing - just go out and do it. Anything between six and ten is medium length - generally requiring water to be brought along, and maybe a stretch break somewhere in there for good measure. It really takes about eleven miles or so for me to consider a run to be long - definately requiring two bottles of fluid, and multiple stretch breaks - just to be safe. As I start training for the marathon next year, I'm sure those numbers will increase again - but it astonishes me that before, six miles was something to really plan my day around, and now the idea of an eight miler is met with 'oh, ok - only 8 miles? Let me just get my water and I'll be off'.
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