Season's End: A Time for Decisions and Revisions

"There will be time...time for decisions and revisions." - John L. Parker, Once A Runner

Competitive runners divide the year into distinct seasons, often treating races like holidays and anniversaries that, over time, come to define specific months and provide focus during a repetitive or mundane schedule.  I concluded my spring season on Sunday at the Pike's Peek 10K in Rockville, Maryland (30:59, 12th place).  Such races can be cathartic - the culmination of more than a thousand miles over a period of months. Like many runners, I am a  planner, and, in order to plan analytically for the next cycle, it is necessary to assess the accomplishments and missteps of the last: a time for "decisions and revisions."

I began my "spring" cycle at the dawn of winter, after my body healed from the bruising it endured at the Philadelphia Marathon.  I was single-minded in my approach: vigorously pursue a 5K personal record and hopefully inch under 15:00. After consulting with my trusted training partners, I altered my mileage-heavy regimen of past cycles, in which the target races were at least 13.1 miles, and developed a program that emphasized speed endurance. To attain my goal, I'd have to composedly run 72-second 400s for three miles and blitz the remainder of the distance.

Tentatively and skeptically, I introduced new stimuli and emphasized components of my training that I had previously neglected or sacrificed for higher mileage and long tempo workouts.  

• Core:  For several years, I've floundered in attempting to establish a core routine. This cycle, I began executing a 20 to 30-minute core routine at least twice each week. I hoped it would improve my running form and thus my economy, or efficiency. 

• Speed/Form Drills:  In January, I began completing a series of drills before each intense workout, usually twice per week.  Rather than 3 or 4 miles for a warm up, I would run 2 or 2.5 miles and then complete 2K of drills and strides.  In doing so, I sought to regain and preserve speed and improve my form.  

• Short, Fast Fartlek: Early in the training cycle, I implemented a weekly fartlek session of 8 to 12 short, fast intervals, ranging from 40 to 75 seconds with full recovery after each. A typical workout consisted of 45-second intervals at mile race effort followed by 75 seconds of brisk recovery.  The purpose was to build and maintain speed and more easily transition to the longer and more demanding interval works at goal 5K and 3K paces. By March, I replaced most fartlek workouts with weekly track sessions.  

• Shorter, Faster Threshold Workouts: I eliminated longer, steady-state tempo runs and alternated weekly between 4-mile lactate threshold runs (half-marathon to ten-mile race pace) and sets of 1K intervals, or a fartlek equivalent, at about 10K effort or  critical velocity pace.  With the 10K-paced workouts, I sought to attain the same physiological benefits of a longer threshold workout while running at a quicker pace and thus also deriving VO2max gains.

• Reduced Mileage: After much cajoling and constructive criticism from my running cadre, I  reduced my mileage significantly from past cycles by virtually eliminating double sessions and long runs over 17 miles. We reasoned that the extra mileage was overkill, and I could invest my energy reserves into the aforementioned stimuli. 

As noted in earlier posts, the winter posed obstacles and precluded me from running many of my early season strength workouts.  After two mediocre races in February, I had a breakthrough in March at the Shamrock 5K, running a PR of 15:05.  I then spent four weeks focused entirely on training. During this period, I ran some of the best interval sessions and short threshold runs of my life.  The work was fruitful.  A week before the BAA 5K, I raced to a post-collegiate best at the 1500 in 4:07.55.  

These indicators projected a personal record at the BAA 5K. However, as I began tapering in the two weeks before the race, my legs remained flat - a term I use for a state of muscular malaise. Instead of feeling fluid, fast, and wispy, I was sluggish, heavy, even clumsy.  Consequently, my last two races, while solid performances for me historically, were slower than anticipated.

It's difficult to identify the specific variables, or combination thereof, that inhibited me from peaking.  I have theories.  Straying too far from the essential elements of past cycles may have reduced my overall strength and fitness, even while I increased my speed. I sensed this acutely during the 10K on Sunday, explaining afterward that I simply didn't feel as fit as last year. Additionally, I have a mixed history with hard (5K pace or quicker) interval workouts. In my early twenties, when I completed such workouts weekly, I was chronically fatigued and rarely snappy. An increased emphasis on speed was essential for improving at the 5K, but my body may not have been able to handle so much and, consequently, couldn't recover from the cumulative effects.  

It's been a good year, whether measured by experiences or race results. And there are valuable lessons and takeaways. Looking forward, I want to continue including core and speed/form drills in my regimen. These components benefit both the miler and marathoner.  The speed sessions, usually in the form of mile-effort fartlek, also paid dividends, and I will sprinkle these workouts into my upcoming marathon cycle to retain speed.  Never neglect anything is good mantra for distance runners.  I've yet to strike the balance, but I'm learning. Onward.