Progression
It’s such a weird place to be at. Something that was once so natural became foreign to my body over the last 10 years. Slowing down my mind has always been difficult but I’ve found it especially hard in this case.
I was a runner for over half of my life. I started competing regularly in cross country, distance track events and road races at a young age. By the time I hit junior high I was a seasoned vet. It was my passion. I was lucky to have family, friends and coaches that shared the passion. They helped motivate and allowed me to push myself to be my best. Running was engrained in who I was. Through college I logged big miles and ran with the best in division 3 athletics. I presented myself with an ultimatum in the form of time goals per distance. If I hit those time goals I’d continue to pursue running post-collegiately. If I didn’t I would try my hand in the cycling world, a relatively new hobby to me. I battled some unfortunate injuries through my last year of college running. While I considered my last year a success in earning four All American plaques, I failed to reach my time goals. I threw my running stuff in a box, moved to Madison and started racing bikes.
From the summer of 2005 until November 2014 I was a cyclist through and through. I dipped my toes in running a few times over the years, but never longer than a month or so. I accomplished a lot in cycling. I never began cycling thinking I would ever be a national champion. I never thought I’d be fast enough for people to look up to me. Through a lot of hard work and sacrifice I made it farther than I could have imagined in the sport. But the sacrifice was not just mine. I asked a lot of my wife to help me succeed in cycling. She supported me immensely over the years and I could not have accomplished any of it without her. As we started a family I knew that I was not willing to sacrifice the amount of time it takes for me to be successful in bike racing. If you really know me you know that I refuse to half-ass anything that I put my name on. I’m a fierce competitor. I truly enjoy the camaraderie that comes with racing, but I enjoy pushing myself/competing/fighting for the win even more. Over the last few years I continued to compete in the cycling world but under drastically reduced training. With the birth of our second daughter in November I decided it was time for a new challenge. I was going to see if I could turn myself into a runner again.
I’m not sure what my aspirations are as a runner. I’m learning things all over again and slowly remembering what it takes to be successful. My training was going great as I prepared for my first race in nearly 10 years at the Crazy Legs 8k. I had worked up to 45 miles/week with a 16 mile long run. Everything was just miles at 6-7 minute pace depending on the run. Motivation was high but my body wasn’t quite ready for it. I ended March with the beginning of tendonitis in my achilles region. I made it through the next 3 weeks running 15 miles a week and took to the line at Crazy Legs. My goal pace was 5:30. I managed to hit that pace on the head as I came in 17th place, 27:22. The following 2 weeks I didn’t run a step. I went to the doctor and PT. I came away armed with some strengthening exercises and hope.
I’m now seven weeks back in the groove. I started week one at 3 miles, every other day. I’ve been gradually working up some miles along with some sort of faster work once a week. Last week I ran 36 miles and ran a 10k on Saturday. My goal pace was once again 5:30/mile. I hit mile 1 at 5:31 and felt relaxed. I kept the pace steady and hit mile 2 in 4:56. I’m fairly certain that mile was short. Mile 3 was mostly a gradual uphill and I hit 5:39. Mile 4 crossed back onto the 5k course that had just started. Chasing down 5k runners added motivation and I managed the closing 3 miles in 5:24, 5:27, 5:23 for a 33:27 win. I’m happy with my progression so far. Motivation is still high and I’m focusing on continuing to build my long run and weekly mileage. I’ll continue to race some 5 and 10k road races through the summer and hopefully a half marathon in the fall if all goes well.
All the while I continue to feed my bike addiction. For the first time in years I’m riding purely on fun!