You're faster than you think!

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Location:

Alexandria,VA,USA

Member Since:

Jun 03, 2007

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

4:34 mile, DC RR Mile, 2007

15:39 5k, Occidental College, 2007

25:52 8k, Rockville Twilighter, 2007

32:54 10k, Shelter Island (tough course!), 2004

49:30 15k, Tulsa Run, 2001

52:21 10 mile, Broad Street Run, Philly (fast course!), 2007

1:08:49 half marathon, Hobble Creek (downhill), 2001

2:28:55 marathon, St. George (downhill), 2006

2:33:04 marathon, Chicago, 2001

Short-Term Running Goals:

15:20 5k

4:25 mile

2:26:00 marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

sub 15:00 5k

sub 2:22:00 marathon

Personal:

I live in Alexandria, VA, but still consider myself affiliated with Wasatch Athletics in Salt Lake City, UT, and High Noon A.C. in Ithaca, NY. My coach is Demetrio Cabanillas.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Sat, Jul 14, 2007

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.00

Temple 10 1:05:40. I did a 25 min warm up on CC trail on my usual 10 mile course and then did 10 x 1 min on/off fartlek at between 1 mile and 2 mile race pace for my "on". Not sure if this is the optimal workout right now, but I felt terrible this morning -- woke with a tension headache and just could not stomach the thought of mile repeats. Given that I already did 5 miles worth of speed on Wed and this is only a 75 mile week I figured about 2 miles of speed would be sufficient (the 10% rule of thumb). Maybe it is even excessive. I have to admit that I am sort of flailing mentally right now. Last weekend really shook my confidence in my training. I think this simply means it is time to rebuild. But I am committed to this 8k next Sat. So I am just trying to give myself a fighting chance there. Then I'll try to refocus with a coherent plan.

Comments

From Randy on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 14:02:30

Sasha - If you happen to check out this entry, notice that here is another example of the Course syntax not working. "Temple 10" should be one of the listed courses. Any ideas why?

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 15:17:50

Randy - I've fixed the problem. You forgot to enable Share The Course With Others. It is now enabled.

This is a great course you happened to hit a glitch on. It gave me a chance to take a closer look at the Washington DC LDS Temple from above. I also thought that it was rather ironic or possibly more than just ironic that you move away from Utah, and still not being LDS, you keep running to the temple. If you are ever interested in going inside, I recommend you start with the Book of Mormon. Once you find out for yourself it came from God, and can deal with the consequences of that realization, you are good shape.

Regarding the training/your recent race/etc. I think you are putting too much weight on your failure to PR in that race. From a scientific point of view - if you run 15:39 in one track meet, and then 15:45 in another, it does not prove that you were any worse off in the second one. There are enough random factors that you may have no clue about that could cause a fluctuation of 6 seconds or even more in your performance on any given day. However, when you've trained hard, are mentally setting yourself up for a PR, and then fail to reach it, this can be a big psychological hit.

Re-evaluating the training may be a good idea anyway, though. I assume you care a lot more about the marathon than you do about the 5 K, 5 K only being the stepping stone. If not, I think you should. It takes about the same amount of talent to run a 2:30 marathon as it does to run a 15:30 5 K. However, because there is more work involved in the marathon case, there are a lot more people that can run a 15:30 5 K than a 2:30 marathon. A marathon also has an aura attached to it which in my opinion is exaggerated, but I can live with it - no complaints about a $1000 check + media coverage off a 2:30+ marathon. You do not get that for running a 15:30 5 K.

So assuming your true focus is the marathon, you should train for the marathon, and let your 5 K improve in a way that will help your marathon. 5 K can improve in two ways - through faster twitch muscle development, or through slower twitch. A marathoner wants it to improve through slower twitch and train accordingly.

From Scott Browning on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 15:31:39

One race does not make or break. Your fitness is strong, your training is great, stay with it, you will get what you want. Glad to see you enjoying the temple:)

From Randy on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 15:44:12

Thanks Sasha. I should have caught that.

As you have pointed me toward the Book of Mormon, I will point you toward the Tao Te Ching :).

You are correct that my long term focus is the marathon. But short term the focus is the 5k and XC. I just started reading Run Stong (edited by Beck). This may be more help with motivation than anything.

Scottay - Wish you were out here man... I raced a few guys riding their mountain bikes on the paved trails out here... they are afraid to get their tires dirty.

From Scott Browning on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 22:51:16

We will have to make a trip out at some point, I love spending time in that area. Are you racing a fall marathon this year?

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