Running Shorts

2/26-3/04 Monday: 16 miles in 1:51:01 Tuesday: 9 mile fartlek in 56:03 Wednesday: 6 miles easy Thursday: OFF Friday: 6 miles easy + strides Saturday: 11 miles total - 5k race, 1st in 16:06 Sunday: OFF TOTAL :  48 miles in 5 days This week started well enough, I got in the long run I missed on Sunday and then a true fartlek workout on Tuesday. My plan had been to alternate longer easier days with shorter faster days in classic Lydiard fashion, and that's how this week started. I ran slow for my long run, but that's the only gear I had. For the fartlek I just ran hard for 30 seconds to 2 minutes whenever I felt like it. I felt more fatigued as the run went on, so this one was a mistake -- especially the day after the long run. I should have taken an easy day instead. I needed all easy days the rest of the week, especially since I had a low-key race that I was nervous about. I was planning on a longer marathon-effort tempo on Thursday, but I just didn...

...when you completely bomb a race? What do you do when your pour your heart and soul into training and come up empty on race day? What do you do when you're in the shape of your life, but it doesn't show in the results? What do you do when, on the biggest stage of your career, you choke? Do you give up? Do you sulk? Do you wallow in self-pity? Do you hang your head in defeat? No. Hell no. You race again. You rest, recover (physically and psychologically) and then you get after it. You don't let all that training go to waste. You don't let that disappointment consume you; you use it for fuel. You pour gasoline on the fire that's still burning -- faintly, smoldering, but still burning. You don't let that fire go out. You're better than that failed race. You race again, and again, and again; until your feet are bleeding and you physically can't push your legs one...more...stride... These races are validation and vindication. Validation for the ...

Stepping Down in Distance This evening is the Little Kings Mile here in Cincinnati. It's the second leg of the beer series (a series of three races all sponsored by Christian Moerlein brewing) and the first event of Flying Pig weekend . It's also sweet because it's one of the few races in town with an elite element and prize money to boot. I haven't raced a mile in two years, when I competed in the inaugural Little Kings Mile. That, though, was three weeks after my Boston Marathon...so I followed up the longest road race with the shortest. Not an ideal situation, but considering that I still ran decent (4:31 for 4th place). This year I'm not in peak mile shape, but I am in much better than post-marathon shape. I've been getting in some real good base training, with lots of hills and threshold running. While the mile will be a bit of a shock to the system, it'll still be fun to see what I can do. But, if I'm ultimately training for half and full...