With all due respect to my high school cross-country coach, Ed Deiwert, the principles that he tried to instill in us have finally started to be implemented and are starting to prove advantageous. He tried for all four years to get me to buy into running throughout the summer in preparation for the cross-country season. I was never willing, or able, to do that work and I was at a further disadvantage because I played baseball and didn't run track. So I was trying to run cross-country from about July through the end of the season and wondered why I wasn't able to run the times that my potential led everyone to believe that I could.
Now I am running those times that myself and my coach thought that I could. I believe the reason that I am now running faster is because I have been able to put in about 6 years of consistent training. Of course I have had a few setbacks over the past couple years with nagging injuries but haven't missed a prolonged period of time that would damage my overall fitness. I can now go into any race knowing that I have plenty of miles in my legs to build upon.
In my first race of the season, the Anthem 5K in Louisville, I knew that I was in good enough shape that I should be able to PR, but I wasn't sure what type of speed I really had in my legs. The endurance was there from the consistent training, but I hadn't done much speed work to give me confidence that I could "go fast" when the race pace picked up. My goal was to settle into a solid pace early in the midst of a good group of runners, because running in a pack is always easier mentally than forging ahead solo. I went through the mile marker with the guys that I had determined were the ones to go with and I set about to get in position to follow any move that happened. Shortly after the mile marker, we hit a small little rise and the move happened. One guy hit the hill hard and I quickly realized that I, in fact didn't have that kind of speed, but I was confident that if I were patient and could just push the pace a little and hold on, that I could possibly get back into the mix. It took about 1/4 mile but I was able to close the gap and get back on the shoulder that I wanted. I stayed there until about 1/2 mile from the finish until he turned it on again and I was just able to hold my pace. In the end, I pushed it to a :20 5K PR and a finishing time of 15:56.
Compare that to the mid-17's that I ran in high school and I am confident that most of that time cut can be attributed to consistent training. I am now confident that although I don't have the speed that I once had, I can now hold a strong pace for much farther than I ever could. So my advice is to think twice before taking prolonged time away from running, unless it is due to injury. The consistency will pay off in the end. I just hope that you don't have to take 18 years to realize that fact.
As always, thanks to Maverick Multisport and all of our sponsors (Smith Optics, TYR sports, Swiftwick, Infinit Nutrition, CycleSmiths, Brooks Air Brush Studio, Occupational Kinetics, Louisville Slugger, Tri-Bike Transport and Scott Bikes) for their continued support in getting me to the starting line.
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