Adjusting

Ed -

I’ve found that being focused on a particular goal demands a paradox.  In order for the plan to work one has to be persistent and patient, while being ready to quickly adjust when the need arises.  The trick is to know which way to go when doubts surface.

I had doubts galore this past weekend during the Commonwealth Games in Roanoke.

As usual, the 1500 race was held before the 800 and its the distance I’m really focused on at this point, so I do all I can to cover those 3 ¾ laps as quickly as possible.  The goal for Sunday was to break five minutes and I was confident I could because I ran that 5:01 back on June 22^nd.  I’ve had a full month of additional training since then and my workouts showed that I was getting faster on the top end.  However, the plan I had been following really dropped off of the longer runs.  This seems to be normal in the track world; the closer you get to your peak race, the more speed and race specific training you do.  I trusted the plan even though I found in my last long run that I couldn’t do a 10 mile Progression Run with a Fast Finish the way I had been able to the month before.

Originally I chalked that up to the heat, humidity and being back on the hills of Midlothian as opposed to the flat course in Manteo.  All logical things that would slow me up, but I think the real issue is that I’ve sacrificed some endurance.

While my 1500 wasn’t terrible (I ran a 5:16) it was nowhere near where I thought I would be and I definitely did not feel the way I thought I would.  There were some events that I’m sure didn’t help my run.  First off it was incredibly hot and humid.  I warmed up as usual, running about a mile at 8:30 to 8:45 pace, then some 100m strides.  I did three of those strides and while I was keeping them very relaxed and telling myself to hold back I was hitting 18’s.  That’s two seconds faster than my goal pace of 20 seconds so that made me feel pretty good even though I felt a little drained by the heat.

The second problem actually occurred earlier in the week.  I strained my left foot in a workout and it was threatening to keep me from racing.  I had taken some ibuprofen and smeared two coats of Blue Emu on it before the race, so I was able to keep the pain down enough that it wasn’t going to ruin things for me, but it still hurt.

Then the real “flow stopper” happened as we stepped to the line to start.  Lightning.  We were all leaning forward with our fingers on our watches when they told us to stand up and issued a half hour delay.  Half an hour is my normal warm up period!  I went and sat down for about 15 minutes and had some Gatorade, then got back up and started jogging to stay loose.  Two more 100m strides and they called for 15 more minutes.

What a pain.

I’m sure that took something out of me, but I still didn’t expect what I got in the race.

The first 300 meters was a tad ahead of pace as usual, but not bad.  A friend of mine, C.L., was helping me out by pacing with me since he was going to run the 1500, 400, 800 and 200 as a workout that day.  I guess when you’re 32 and fast as all get out you can do that.  He and I crossed the line in 56 seconds and started into the second lap.  I wanted to come across the line again right at 2:20 to make sure I wasn’t  pushing too hard the first half of the race, but when I slowed just a bit and came out of the first turn I began to feel a little winded.  Keeping up with C.L. became work.  By the time I got to the start/finish line we was a good 5 meters ahead of me and my watched had me at 2:23.  I was already fading with two laps to go.

This is the point that Greg McMillan calls the “Go Zone.”  The third quarter of any race and the object is to pick up the intensity just a little bit and attack the race now.  Not blow it all out, but move up because this is the lap where time can really be gained or lost.  I pushed through the first turn and just couldn’t draw anything out.

I was done.

I came across with one lap to go at 3:51 and the goal was to hit 3:40.  Still, I surged the first turn again, relaxed in the back stretch, tried to accelerate through the final turn then did all I could do in the final straight.  In June I was at the bell lap at 3:46 and finished with a 1:15 400.  On Sunday I tacked on a miserable 1:25 to that 3:51 mark.

Something was definitely not right.

There was another short delay during all the 400 heats, the races between the 15 and the 8, so this year there was plenty of rest before my second race.  Normally, there’s less than an hour so that race was always hard and slow, but a good workout.  With the bad 1500 in my mind I didn’t have any confidence at all in the 800 but figured I’d just do what I could do.

The shorter distance made it a completely different race.

The first lap felt very comfortable just like in the 1500 and I took the first 400 in 1:17.  One guy had taken a very large lead and C.L. had just come around me before we completed that first lap.  Since I felt comfortable I decided to try and go with C.L. and strangely enough I did fairly well.  We matched strides all the way down the back stretch and by the time we got to the final turn I knew we were going to catch the leader.  He was standing straight up.  A clear sign.

I'm betting I did that just after the halfway point in my first race.

I pushed hard and gained a couple of strides on C.L. but then he looked over his shoulder at me and I knew he had much more to give.  I saw him lean a bit and then simply run away from me.   Still, I sprinted past the original leader to finish about 3 seconds back for 2^nd place in 2:30.  Not a bad race and a second lap of 1:14 told me that I definitely have the speed I want, but the endurance or stamina was missing.

Perhaps it was the warm up, cool down, warm up routine and the fact that I ran about two miles before that 1500, but I’ve hashed it around in my head a lot and I think I have to make an adjustment this week.  The plan actually has an incredible workout the Wednesday before the State Games of America in two weeks, but there wasn’t enough distance in this week’s work.  So I’m adding it.

I’m not going crazy or bailing on the plan, but I need to get some of that stamina back in my lungs in time.  Plus, I reviewed my training for the week before my June race and discovered that I had missed my Monday workout leaving me almost 5 fewer miles than the week before this past race.  I’m going to repeat that “mistake” because it obviously left me with fresher legs.

Having a plan is critical to reaching a goal, but I believe it’s just as critical to track and react to results along the way.

Of course the proof will be in the race on August 4^th, but fast or not, I’ll do my best, pay attention to what goes on so I can keep on learning and have a great time competing.