Joe's Running Blog

Joe - I've been watching you run for a while - since 2001. I believe you have a potential to run in the 2:14 - 2:16 range at least without having to dig too deep. The big issue I see right now is what happened to your 5 K speed. In 2001 you ran 15:00 in the Salt Lake Classic. This predicts 14:37 in Draper Days, and 1:08:41 in the Great Salt Lake half, which I believe you actually beat that year with a low 1:08. In 2002, I do not remember you racing a 5K, but you did run 1:08:13 in GSL. In 2003 you ran 14:49 in Draper Days, and I believe 1:09:13 in GSL. So we are starting to see a gradual decline in the 5 K speed which carries into the half marathon, and then eventually the full marathon, although to a lesser extent. The decline continued at a steady rate until 2006.

Even with this decline, you still have enough juice to qualify for the Trials, and if you develop a super type endurance for the marathon, you might even get standard A in St. George, but this issue needs to be fixed if you are to reach the 2:15 and faster level.

What exactly is happening? That is the big question with no easy answers.

Some things I've noticed racing against you. In 2004 in the Peruvian Lodge you stride looked like you had so much control over your feet that if they gave you a pen and you put it between your toes you'd be able to write legibly without too much effort. In 2006 in Moab I noticed your quads appeared bigger than before, but you did not run better that year at all in any of the races, 5 K through the marathon. Your stride also did not appears as smooth as it used to be. The quad size and the stride change, of course, could be just my observation, if you have any videos or pictures from those years, it may be worth looking at to verify. What I would check in particular, if you have a chance, is if there was any change in the leg turnover at the same speed, the ground contact time, the flight time, and the ratio of ground contact time to flight time.

An easy suspect to mention would be the reduction of the intensity in training as a result of being away from the college team. This could definitely explain the loss of 5 K speed, and possibly even the half-marathon speed. But could this have the effects that would reach down all the way to the marathon, and make you run it slower in spite of gaining more experience with the distance, and having had more focused training?

I have thought about this for a while - I do have a habit of analyzing pretty much every runner I know. My strongest suspect at this point is that your spinal discs have been losing their resilience. One way to test it is to keep training the same, and start working on bringing your spine into a better shape somehow. I know two runners who have tried this and had good results - Trever Ball and Paul Petersen. They used different techniques, but in both cases there was a major improvement. On the other hand, I know two runners who have injured their backs, and afterwards were clearly not their old selves, even adjusting for possible reduction in the training volume - Steve King, and Nate Long. This might be something worth checking out.

Joe's Running Blog

May 05, 2024