Running Update to Start 2018

Despite the lack of activity on the blog, I have in fact been running.

I did have brief Achilles flare-up in August and into September which derailed my original plans for a fall marathon (and even backup plans for a half marathon). I stayed active, but I had lost enough fitness that it wouldn't come back quickly enough for that season.

However, I had a slight epiphany while I was injured: as I was cycling a lot, I saw how popular cyclocross was, and for the first time since college I missed racing cross country. As luck would have it, USATF Club XC was being hosted in December in Lexington, KY -- an easy drive only an hour and a half away and enough time to round into some semblance of racing shape.

To sum up training, I did a six-week block of fundamental base-type workouts, which I then blended into about six more weeks of race-specific ones. I was definitely overly cautious with my training, because I didn't want to aggravate any injuries (I'm still managing my Achilles), but as training went on an I felt better and better, I gained at least a little confidence. I thought I could challenge my 10k XC PR from college (31:15), and maybe if I was feeling good I could roll some people during the last 2 miles.

Race day was absolutely freezing. About 30 degrees with a strong wind and snow gusts that started halfway through the race. The ground was frozen...which actually turned out to be nice, since I wasn't racing in spikes (hey, it's been 7 years...).

I'm in the orange...and looking like I'm on the struggle bus.

I finished in 68th place and ran exactly 31:15. Of course. But hey, you know what? If I could equal my college times on a crappy day off of sub-optimal training, then I'm in a pretty good position going forward.

But really, I'd forgotten how much fun the cross country atmosphere is. I've been getting a little jaded with road racing lately, but this race really reinvigorated my passion for the pure competition. I don't know why there aren't more open / all-comers XC races around; I'd really like to see one here. I mean, to compare it to cycling again, if this area can support a 15-race cyclocross series, then surely we can support at least one open cross country race.

So anyway, USATF Club XC was a great motivator. After a brief week of recovery I'm on to the next season: the 2018 Boston Marathon. Since my buildup to my fall race was so short, instead of starting over I'm using it as a springboard to marathon fitness.

My training for Boston will have two general phases: the first will be about two-months (January-February) where I'll be using fartleks and hill reps to preserve my 10k speed (or what of it actually exists) coupled with extending my aerobic endurance through marathon effort tempo runs (45-60 minutes, a classic Lydiard workout). The second phase will be the final 6-8 weeks leading up to Boston, and it'll be all about marathon specificity. All the base elements of my previous foundational phase will be extended: fartleks become alternations, hill reps become hill cycles or long uphill tempos, and the marathon-effort tempo runs become either marathon pace intervals or the second half of long runs. I'll use a few races in March to sharpen up, and then it'll be time to get down.

I'm really excited. I think I've finally nailed the training progression for myself in the marathon -- doing enough to be fit but not leaving my race on the training ground -- and I'm cautiously optimistic that I can manage my Achilles limitation (for example, I can't double, that just seems to aggravate everything even when I keep it easy; so I'll just be doing extended singles).

So anyway, that's the update. Doing all this in 15-degree weather has been...interesting.