It was with great relief I killed two birds with one stone on Saturday. Getting the year's marathon in AND getting the solid BQ was a great relief, and far exceeded my wildest expectations.
Looking back on the "training plan", October had 4 weeks of 50+ miles running, the peak being race week with right at 68 miles (race included). Taken in isolation, this makes no sense. There are clearly other forces at work here.
The huge key is triathlon training. There is no way I'd have been able to do a 4-week training schedule without a huge cycling base. The race resoundingly puts the stamp on my assertion cycling transfers very well to running. I point this out for anyone wanting to do a long-course triathlon and are concerned with the run leg, perhaps because of chronic disability. It can be done, just build the training around the bike.
The second thing is quality went up because of... drum roll please... Strava. No kidding, Strava made me take those daily risks necessary to up quality. Sure, I hurt all the time, but... I was pulling my qualitative level up several steps alongside of raising mileage. Of course I hurt!
That Strava thingy applies both to cycling and running. I'll make no bones about it - I'm competitive to a fault, and having any carrot out there makes a huge difference to me. I'd compare it to that fitness app we all had last year, the one that helped us all lose weight? Just knowing how many calories are in a particular food is often enough to make you put it away. Well... knowing you are just this ][ close to another runner is all it takes sometimes to want to run harder. It's how I got started running and racing, and I suppose that will never change.
Scott and Miller are both huge pieces. Those guys just run harder, and when they do, they make me want to run harder. Greg had a part too, but he's gone now...
So what we wound up with was a perfect storm of intersecting components, and when they were compiled fit neatly into a concise training/racing transition/taper that worked - this time. I'm not sure I'd recommend this training cycle in any upcoming book. What I would take away is a lesson I've learned over and over... just when I think I have things pretty much figured out, I'll have my eyes opened and realize I really don't know much at all.
Looking back on the "training plan", October had 4 weeks of 50+ miles running, the peak being race week with right at 68 miles (race included). Taken in isolation, this makes no sense. There are clearly other forces at work here.
The huge key is triathlon training. There is no way I'd have been able to do a 4-week training schedule without a huge cycling base. The race resoundingly puts the stamp on my assertion cycling transfers very well to running. I point this out for anyone wanting to do a long-course triathlon and are concerned with the run leg, perhaps because of chronic disability. It can be done, just build the training around the bike.
The second thing is quality went up because of... drum roll please... Strava. No kidding, Strava made me take those daily risks necessary to up quality. Sure, I hurt all the time, but... I was pulling my qualitative level up several steps alongside of raising mileage. Of course I hurt!
That Strava thingy applies both to cycling and running. I'll make no bones about it - I'm competitive to a fault, and having any carrot out there makes a huge difference to me. I'd compare it to that fitness app we all had last year, the one that helped us all lose weight? Just knowing how many calories are in a particular food is often enough to make you put it away. Well... knowing you are just this ][ close to another runner is all it takes sometimes to want to run harder. It's how I got started running and racing, and I suppose that will never change.
Scott and Miller are both huge pieces. Those guys just run harder, and when they do, they make me want to run harder. Greg had a part too, but he's gone now...
So what we wound up with was a perfect storm of intersecting components, and when they were compiled fit neatly into a concise training/racing transition/taper that worked - this time. I'm not sure I'd recommend this training cycle in any upcoming book. What I would take away is a lesson I've learned over and over... just when I think I have things pretty much figured out, I'll have my eyes opened and realize I really don't know much at all.
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