I ran the Boulder Distance Carnival 5 mile race today. Today was a very good day for racing ,about 55-60 degrees and sunny (later it reached a blistering 80). The starting line looked pretty decent, but not unmanageable (if theres one thing I have learned from seeing all these huge runners up here, its to not be afraid to hold your hands in the fire). There was the typical one-two mile sprinter that flew off the starting line thinking that winning in the first mile would win him the race, only to die at a mile and a half. This was hard for me; I used to be this person, so it was hard for me not to follow. I hung back with the bigger pack and relaxed. When I passed him at mile two, I felt a sense of accomplishment, it was like passing myself four or five months ago. Now it was me and one other runner. He kept up for another half mile before dropping and I was alone in the lead. This kind of scares me now, mainly because I don't want to go too far ahead, fall apart and get passed. I just kept on cruising and finished strong. This turned out to be more of a glorified tempo run than a real race. I ran 5:24 pace, which is really not my race pace. I think that the lack of people the last 2.5 miles let me get a bit too comfy and forget that I was really racing (the course was also on gravel and a bit hilly) Oh well, If nothing else I learned a good lesson in composure, and how going out too fast is suicide. This was my last race before Bolder Boulder. Now my coach has me doing some easier running with a bit of fast stuff to keep me sharp. Doing big workouts are useless now, they will not contribute to my fitness until after the race. I am beginning to see the real beauty in my coaches strategy. He wants me to run well in a specific race, and to be in peak condition at that point in time. We discussed training strategy, and how important the "cycle" effect operates. More fitness can be gained by training hard, then resting to let your body recoup. When you restart a hard training interval, you will begin at a level higher than the previous interval. This "step" method is more efficient than continually pounding your body into the ground because it allows your body to recoup and gain fitness after each tough training period. Continually running a lot of miles and workouts can also eliminate the fun or excitement out of running, and without enthusiasm or excitement racing (as well as running in gereral) is useless. I am slowly realizing the large amounts of strategy that is involved with training. Getting out and continually doing mileage will definitely help you, but by using strategy and carfully placing miles at specific times, you can position yourself to run very well at a given time. That being said, the next few weeks before BB 10k will not be too strenuous to allow my body to strengthen from the training I have done. Whew, my longest entry yet. | 