Here in Cincinnati it's the doldrums of winter. There's 9 inches of snow on the ground and it's been so cold that none of it is melting. And yet...spring marathon season is right around the corner. People here are in the thick of training for the Flying Pig, which is barely two months away. And on top of that, track season starts up in a couple weeks! High schoolers (and college athletes) all around the city -- around the country, really -- are about to dust off the cobwebs and start training some get-down speed. As a lifelong track nerd, nothing says spring quite like freshly melted snow on a March track. That's right around the corner.
So with all that in mind, I wanted to pass along some motivation:
You're not as good as your last race. You're as good as your best day, and that day has yet to come.
Right off the bat, that may not sound motivating. You're telling me that I'm not as fast as I just ran? What the hell, man? But stop for a second. Think about it. Read it again.
You're not as good as your last race. You're as good as your best day, and that day has yet to come.
You've run great. Be proud of the times you've thrown down. But you have the potential to be faster than previous-you. Don't limit yourself to your previous times, the pace calculators, or the GPS. Know that it only takes one special day for a breakthrough run, and that day is going to come sometime in the future.
To me, that sentiment is oddly motivating.
It's just different because it's a Kenyan attitude, not an American one. In this country (especially among competitive runners) we relate our identity to our current PRs. I'm not Tommy Kauffmann, runner; I'm 2:28:28, 1:05:28, 30:12, 14:33. Nice to meet you.
Nearly all of my training load is based around those respective fitness levels. My workouts are meticulously planned to correspond to specific effort levels based on those previous race results. The goal is to intelligently inch my training forward for a steady progression of PRs. If I try to do too much, too fast, too hard, then I run this risk of injury or burn out. All of my goals are reasonable improvements to those current times. Nothing too crazy here.
But to a certain extent, that approach can hold you back. You're limiting yourself to your previous times. Instead, focus on what you can achieve at the peak of your fitness. That's the Kenyan approach. A certain runner may only ("only...") have a marathon PR of 2:30, for example, but he knows he's capable one day of a 2:15. As such, he doesn't train like a 2:30 marathoner; he trains like a 2:15 marathoner. He trains with runners who have run 2:15, 2:10, 2:05, and he hangs on to their runs as long as he can (probably not long, at first). The next week he hangs on a little bit longer, and the week after that, a little longer still. Then, one day, when he's feeling good and everything clicks, he runs with those faster guys the whole workout. Maybe even beats them to the finish. Sure, his PR may still only be 2:30, but you better bet he's a 2:15 guy. From there all it takes is one race to prove it.
So my advice: approach training like a Kenyan, not an American. Don't limit yourself to what you've done in the past. Know that, if you maximize your training, you can race as fast as you believe you're capable of.
You're best day has yet to come. Bring it on this spring.
So with all that in mind, I wanted to pass along some motivation:
You're not as good as your last race. You're as good as your best day, and that day has yet to come.
Right off the bat, that may not sound motivating. You're telling me that I'm not as fast as I just ran? What the hell, man? But stop for a second. Think about it. Read it again.
You're not as good as your last race. You're as good as your best day, and that day has yet to come.
You've run great. Be proud of the times you've thrown down. But you have the potential to be faster than previous-you. Don't limit yourself to your previous times, the pace calculators, or the GPS. Know that it only takes one special day for a breakthrough run, and that day is going to come sometime in the future.
To me, that sentiment is oddly motivating.
It's just different because it's a Kenyan attitude, not an American one. In this country (especially among competitive runners) we relate our identity to our current PRs. I'm not Tommy Kauffmann, runner; I'm 2:28:28, 1:05:28, 30:12, 14:33. Nice to meet you.
Nearly all of my training load is based around those respective fitness levels. My workouts are meticulously planned to correspond to specific effort levels based on those previous race results. The goal is to intelligently inch my training forward for a steady progression of PRs. If I try to do too much, too fast, too hard, then I run this risk of injury or burn out. All of my goals are reasonable improvements to those current times. Nothing too crazy here.
But to a certain extent, that approach can hold you back. You're limiting yourself to your previous times. Instead, focus on what you can achieve at the peak of your fitness. That's the Kenyan approach. A certain runner may only ("only...") have a marathon PR of 2:30, for example, but he knows he's capable one day of a 2:15. As such, he doesn't train like a 2:30 marathoner; he trains like a 2:15 marathoner. He trains with runners who have run 2:15, 2:10, 2:05, and he hangs on to their runs as long as he can (probably not long, at first). The next week he hangs on a little bit longer, and the week after that, a little longer still. Then, one day, when he's feeling good and everything clicks, he runs with those faster guys the whole workout. Maybe even beats them to the finish. Sure, his PR may still only be 2:30, but you better bet he's a 2:15 guy. From there all it takes is one race to prove it.
So my advice: approach training like a Kenyan, not an American. Don't limit yourself to what you've done in the past. Know that, if you maximize your training, you can race as fast as you believe you're capable of.
You're best day has yet to come. Bring it on this spring.
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