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Something Old, Something New

In 2013, I ran the Boston Marathon, finishing in 2:28:28 for 67th place. I was student teaching and training on inconsistent 60-70 mile weeks. Even though I wasn't in great marathon shape, that race still stands as my personal best.

For comparison's sake, here are some historic results of similar placings (Boston's archived results are nearly impossible to find - I'm not even sure they exist online).

1993: 67th place - 2:32:01
1989: 50th place - 2:30:14
1983: 83rd place - 2:19:51 (a 2:30 would have been over 300th place!)
1980: 54th place - 2:25:47
1979: 50th place - 2:19:28

(source: http://www.coolrunning.com/boston/results3.htm)

The general trend seems to be that as we look at results from further in the past, race results actually get faster! How does that make any sense?

Since then, training methods have improved, performance technology has improved, prize money has improved; so why haven't we improved?

While road races have flourished in the decades since those historic results, competition seems to have taken a step back. Certainly top competition now is diluted by the sheer number of races available (while 40 years ago Boston may have been the only game in town, today there are multiple races over multiple distances every weekend), but it doesn't change the fact that Boston is still the most prestigious marathon on the calendar.

So why haven't the finishing times improved? At the very least, why haven't they even remained constant?

The answer lies not in sexy workouts or magic nutrition or gadgets that give you constant feedback; rather, the answer is the decidedly unsexy practice of consistent, high mileage running week after month after year.

As quoted in the classic Once a Runner, the Secret "had not so much to do with chemicals and with zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heartrending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottom of his training shoes."

Or, to put it another way: Dude, just run. A lot.

Going forward, my plan is for this blog to be a week-by-week chronicle of my attempt to recapture the spirit of the peak of the running boom in the '70s and '80s.

I do not plan on recreating the training of that time period -- after all, training methods have improved, and I'd be foolish not to take advantage of that.

However, many of the principles of training during road racing's heyday haven't really changed. Things like high mileage, much of it at steady efforts, coupled with the occasional hard workouts and regular racing remain key to distance running success.

So too are more abstract qualities, such as (twice) daily dedication, perseverance through rough patches, and overwhelming consistency. These, I think, are where we struggle the most today. Life in general, and the running world specifically, tries to pull us in different directions all at once. Work, school, social life is always calling. Minimalism is the answer to your injury woes! No, try maximalism! Try out this new kick-ass workout! Focus on VO2max to develop your true potential! Eat paleo!

There's always something new to try, some new answer to that most fundamental question: how do I get faster? Yet, all of these answers share something in common -- they all are aimed at reducing the work that one needs to do.

No wonder we don't get faster. Avoiding running isn't the answer; running is the answer. Stop trying to make it more complicated than it needs to be. Racing, at its core, is a simple sport; you'll most likely be best off keeping the training simple, too.

This is my attempt to embrace the lessons and attitudes of the past to reap rewards in the future.
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