Return Of The Monkey
I had a pretty decent summer of racing, with a peak performance of 18:38 at the Lunar Rendezvous 5K in July. Not a PR but my season best. But from there things began to go downhill. I raced only twice in August but both were poor performances. And September was awful. At every race a monkey would show up and climb on my shoulders, preventing me from doing what I was capable of, and in some cases, had even already done in training or recent races. I'd show up ready to hammer but would be winded after mile 1 at a pace that should have been relatively easy. Then October came, with longer races and the monkey was banished. I did the 10 miler and 1/2 marathon at a faster pace than the two 10Ks I had done the previous month, and I managed to run strong all the way through to the last mile of the 25K.
Today the monkey made a triumphant return at my Turkey Trot and I turned in a turkey of a performance. My recent race times suggested I should be able to go sub 38 in a 10K and that was my goal - a 6:05 to 6:10 pace through the first half then see what I had left. I hit the first mile in 6:11 but it felt fast and I was breathing hard - with the wind at my back. The second mile was a 6:10 - so far so good. But it just felt damned fast - I was inexplicably teetering on the verge of oxygen debt. The third mile was a 6:09 but I knew I was about to start slipping. Mile four was 6:16, and mile five was 6:18. We turned onto Post Oak and headed straight into a fierce north wind. There was no mile six marker but my final 1.2 miles was done in 8:02, a 6:40 pace. I finished in a disappointing 39:05, eight seconds slower than I went in training a week ago. I should have been a minute faster. I'm very, very disappointed.
I've done some thinking today and decided that while I may be able to turn in a good performance at the 5K distance all the way through 26.2 miles, the longer stuff comes naturally to me, while the shorter stuff I really have to work at to do well. I have to train specifically for the short stuff to do anything decent, while the longer stuff just plays better into the hand I've been dealt. I haven't trained for the short stuff recently, getting nowhere near sub 6 minute pace in months, and that hurt me today.
That explanation works okay for me, but it still sucks though. I just can't believe that I can run a 10K all out and hit a 6:18 pace, yet I can run a 1/2 marathon at a 6:22 pace and drop a 6:13 mile at mile 12. Damned monkey. I'm going to strangle that son of a bitch one day, once and for all.
Today the monkey made a triumphant return at my Turkey Trot and I turned in a turkey of a performance. My recent race times suggested I should be able to go sub 38 in a 10K and that was my goal - a 6:05 to 6:10 pace through the first half then see what I had left. I hit the first mile in 6:11 but it felt fast and I was breathing hard - with the wind at my back. The second mile was a 6:10 - so far so good. But it just felt damned fast - I was inexplicably teetering on the verge of oxygen debt. The third mile was a 6:09 but I knew I was about to start slipping. Mile four was 6:16, and mile five was 6:18. We turned onto Post Oak and headed straight into a fierce north wind. There was no mile six marker but my final 1.2 miles was done in 8:02, a 6:40 pace. I finished in a disappointing 39:05, eight seconds slower than I went in training a week ago. I should have been a minute faster. I'm very, very disappointed.
I've done some thinking today and decided that while I may be able to turn in a good performance at the 5K distance all the way through 26.2 miles, the longer stuff comes naturally to me, while the shorter stuff I really have to work at to do well. I have to train specifically for the short stuff to do anything decent, while the longer stuff just plays better into the hand I've been dealt. I haven't trained for the short stuff recently, getting nowhere near sub 6 minute pace in months, and that hurt me today.
That explanation works okay for me, but it still sucks though. I just can't believe that I can run a 10K all out and hit a 6:18 pace, yet I can run a 1/2 marathon at a 6:22 pace and drop a 6:13 mile at mile 12. Damned monkey. I'm going to strangle that son of a bitch one day, once and for all.
posted by Lance Collins at 7:10 PM
3 Comments:
You're a perfectionist, aren't you?:-)
That same monkey must have climbed on quite a few other runners' back as well. And after the Uptown race he got into the car and drove super fast to Sugar Land to jump on us 5-milers. I just think that the wind was pretty tough yesterday. Like the 10K, the 5th mile of the Sugar Land race ran pretty much into the wind, and my last mile was 20 seconds slower than my 4th.
I heard that there was also crosswind on the Richmond part of the course. That means you had to work harder to maintain a steady pace. If it had been a little bit calmer, you'd have gone under 39 for sure. Plus, the conditions are different from race to race. Yesterday could not be favorably compared w/ the half-marathon, which I think was very close to a prefect day.
I agree w/ you about training specifically for the shorter races. But I also think that the timing of the 10K after a series of longer races is also a factor. I know my legs didn't have that bouncy feeling even after warming up. In the fall, it's probably easier to improve on a warmup series race than to do so for a 5K or 10K which requires more repetition & interval trainings.
Let's hope for cool & calm weather in Dallas in 2 weeks.
Thanks Tuan. So, you doing Dallas too?
No, Lance. Just weather forecasting.:-)
I haven't been able to get in enough miles for a marathon. I already signed up for the half in January.
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