Goodbye to 2007 - Post Year Analysis and Thinking About 2008

Mon: off, Tues: 6 miles, Weds: abs/weights, Thurs: 6 miles, Fri: spinning, Sat: off, Sun: 9 miles

The week got off to a good start. I was able to take a day off on Monday and just take it easy. The weather was accommodating on Tuesday and I decided to go for a 6 mile run. Trakmaniak and I made up to run together for a 6 mile loop. It would be nice to chat it up with a friend while logging in some miles. While I was stretching, I see BH jogging up to me with fellow Flyer, and fellow speedster, NC. I was a little worried since both of them can pretty much kick my ass and I knew that I would have trouble keeping up with them for the whole run. To my surprise, I was able to push myself and stay with them for the entire 6 mile loop (granted they probably slowed down a bit from their usual pace) and log in an 8:06 pace, which is much faster than my usual loop pace of 8:45-9:00.

This run got me thinking. It showed me that I can usually "morph" into the runners that I am with. If I am with slower runners than myself, I run slower, but in a race or in the company of faster runners, I run the pace of the pack around me. If I am going to get better in the new year, I need to go out of my comfort zone a bit and run with people faster than me some of the time. The saying goes "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten." Also, "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If I'm always running at the same pace all the time with the same game plan, how do I expect to get faster? Maybe that means finally doing some speedwork or preparing myself to run harder on one or two of my weekly runs at a "race" pace rather than a "conversational" pace. Or finally starting to make a game plan that incorporates tempo runs or race pace runs that teaches my body work differently at various paces.

Another big thing I learned this year is that a debacle of a race or a tough running stretch can be helpful in the long run (no pun intended). Usually when our running is going well, we tend to overlook our weaknesses or things that we should be doing more often (better pacing, stretching, strength training, etc.) and forget to analyze what could be contributing to our good fortune. Sometimes we need a bad race to shake us up a bit and cause us to re-think our habits and what we could be doing to make ourselves better. In 2007, my awakening came in the weeks leading up to and including the Nike Half Marathon. Before the race, I was feeling sluggish, inflexible, uncomfortable and my running was suffering. During the NYC Half Marathon, my pacing was all over the place, I was feeling weaker due to not eating much beforehand, and I had to walk on and off for the last few miles. It was quite possibly the worst I have felt in a race over the past 7 years (or close to it - I was praying for it to be over). While I was not happy at all with my race or how I felt during it, it forced me to think to myself and say out loud "what went wrong here?" and "how do I change my habits so this doesn't happen again?". It forced me to add some strength training in some of my weaker areas (glutes and hips especially), have a more sensible and practical pre-race meal, consider what the best pacing methods for me are during a race, adding a weekly long run, etc. It was a wake-up call that I desperately needed and one that most runners need every once in a while so they don't get complacent.

While I won't be writing down specific time goals yet for next year, I do think that it is important to have a plan in mind to give you some focus and direction. Otherwise, it is easy to wander off course. I plan to add to this in the future, but here is a first try: 1) Keep up the long runs every week. They ease the pressure to run a certain number of days per week while keeping up my maintenance mileage. Also they keep me in constant shape to run a longer race or half marathons (if I want to run one). Finally, I am starting to enjoy them. 2) Run at least 2 half marathons outside of Central Park/Manhattan. They give me something to plan for and they also make for more interesting races. I don't know how many more long races I can take in Central Park anymore. Any fun ideas from anyone? 3) Make pacing a priority when training for longer races (10 miles or longer) and learn from someone who knows about how to pace properly and how to start to incorporate tempo and other paced runs into my regimen (talking to a Flyer coach or attending a speedwork class or contacting a Runner's World editor). 4) Run at least one relay race (they are fun). 5) Do at least one spinning or ab/weights class per week (adjust accordingly if training for a long race)

Finally, I looked at the end of the year plans for 2007 that I wrote in October to see how I was doing. I think I did pretty well for the most part. So far the only things that I didn't do from the list was try a speedwork class and check out a GPS watch.