AM: 24 miles, 6:50 average. Good run overall today, although Richie and I got into it about halfway through, and that cast a shadow.
Richie and Mike G. sometimes meet our Sunday group about 10 miles in. They're both strong runners, so their presence always helps. I told Richie this morning that I was training seriously for TCM, and he renewed his recommendation that I begin receiving online coaching from a friend of his, who runs a prominent American development program based on Canova workouts.
I like Richie very, very much, probably more than he likes me. Our relationship has never been terribly easy though. He bills himself as a New Yorker, and he is loud, brassy and domineering. Underneath that exterior though, is a sensitive guy who needs a very delicate balance of factors to feel validated. This isn't an ideal match for me. I rarely raise my voice, and am generally cordial- but my cool reserve goes deep, and when I argue with people I don't feel anything. It's easy for me to insult people. Not intentionally, and I've gotten better with age, but I have some disconnects.
What really enraged him today is that I told him I didn't need coaching. I know that sounds arrogant, it probably is. I'm not deluded though. Meb is a couple years younger than me, and can run a marathon 30 minutes faster. I wasn't trying to say I am a great runner. I was trying to say I know the path I need to walk.
Like many debates, be they politics, religion, or even running, one conversation often covers another. I tried pointing out to Richie, as he grew increasingly agitated, that we were really debating whether magic workouts exist. For Richie, they absolutely do. He attributes much of his success at Boston to "special blocks", in which you do a hard workout in the morning and another that evening. The theory being that your body is low on fuel reserves, and ..... (fill in scientific mumbo jumbo here) .... and adaptations occur. In seriousness though, I am sure that workout is great for Canova's Kenyan elites, but for a 41 year old father and full-time employee, I feel strongly that the risk of that approach is greater than the reward. As I've mentioned recently, I get injured most when stacking quality too close together, and the higher the mileage, the more caution is needed.
We do have a fundamental disagreement. I don't think there are gatekeepers, or keys, or special workouts. It's not so much that I have the answer- I don't think there's a real question. I think running a good marathon requires a boring, plodding base phase. Then at some point, a few months out, you transition to specific sessions - steady-state runs a bit above and below race pace, wave tempos - most of the things Canova advocates, actually.
And if there is one secret weapon to running, it is consistency. Richie says I'm a narrow minded computer programmer, and X+Y doesn't always = Z. Amusingly, my wife says the same thing. I am narrow minded, and pattern driven. But I still think I'm right. I have to feel that part of Richie's attraction to special workouts can be attributed to his aversion to structured training, which is an extension of his free spirit. His free spirit is one of the things that makes him special. I do think you need to run every day, though, if you want to maximize your potential.
I thought it was an interesting discussion, but Richie was out of sorts. I told him I'd keep tickling him until he got over his mood. Being from California, it's OK for me to do things like that.
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