I've been particularly motivated in my training lately. It's been a while since I had a drive for greater things in this sport. Last year at Christmas, I was coming off of several months of the greatest volume of miles I've ever achieved. I was running a 10k as a bench mark with no real plan to try and get a PR. I just wanted to see where I was competitively at the moment. I came out at a blistering pace for me, just to see how long I could sustain it. It wasn't until the 4 mile mark that I realized that I wasn't likely to bonk, and that I would likely get a PR. I finished the race in 45 and change, beating my PR by 3 minutes.
I then made the plan to try and PR every distance race up to the half marathon. I started training harder and doing a lot of trail speed work to build strength and endurance. I was working midnights and would do the majority of my running after work in the beautiful trails of Ann Arbor. I was doing speed work this day and was shredding the course. About 3/4 of a mile from the finish on final stretch through the wood chips, I felt a little pop in my calf. That would take me out of running for 3 months.
I still had hope to achieve my goals, but I had lost quite a bit of speed and endurance. I started training hard again, and saw some improvement without pain. Then one day I stepped out of work through the front door into the pretty morning sun and my calf popped as I stepped down off the curb. I was done for the season this time. I would run sporadically, but my hopes of achieving my goals were dashed. I gained a bunch of weight, ate stupidly, and drank beer without limits.
...
I lost most of the weight due to a weight loss challenge with a friend, which also put me on the road logging miles to lose the weight. I got back to within 10 lbs of my ideal weight and started amping up my mileage and speed. Before I knew it, I was breaching into the 7s per mile. Running has become a battle again, but not because I hate it, but because I am trying to improve every run. On my slow paced runs, I try to focus on form and breathing. On my speed runs, I try to race my best run on the course and focus on my mile splits.
I've decided to set goals again. I want to beat my 5k (23:58) time by 2 minutes. It sounds lofty, but I feel like I've unofficially beat that at least a dozen times. Ultimately, I'd like to find myself in the 6s for the 5k. My last goal was too broad and the training wasn't specific enough for the races I was planning. This will be one race, one distance, and my training will be focused on just that.
Sing.
Migrate.
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