Sometimes a race doesn't tell the whole story. Sometimes there is more going on behind the scenes that is waiting to manifest...waiting to be revealed. That can amply sum up my Houston Half-marathon last weekend.
I wrote last about some of the changes I was making to my training. They're going great! I can run speedwork with what most people would now call speed. I can run long runs long and steady. The changes that were made have been great!
Fast forward to Houston for race day and we have what looks like crashing and burning. I was out right where I belonged through 10k at 30:05. I was working, but not all out by any means. My training has been right around this pace and/or effort for a few months and it feels like it's coming together.
Just after 10k, I fell off of a huge pack of guys. There had to be 30 guys all running 63:30 pace and working together great. If I could just get back onto the pack, I can coast and ride home, right? If only this were a fairy tale that would have happened. It didn't.
I spent the next 5k running backward. I felt gassed. It reminded me of being in the an overtime period of a wrestling match, hanging on and just trying not to get scored on. It wasn't until about 16k that I snapped out of it and got my mind and body together again. I wound up passing about 6-8 guys in the last 5k, but the damage was done. I ran a 65:30, which I think I've run about a dozen times now since first doing it in 2009.
So how can I possibly take anything positive from that crash and burn of a race ending? It was where my training has been for the last 3 months. I have my legs back, but my fitness took a hit to get them there. I have had strong workouts lately and finally am settling into a training rhythm with some guys out here in Colorado Springs. This was just that my body hasn't gotten to where I am using that in my races.
We've all either been at a point or trained with someone who was at a point where training indicates one level of fitness gains, but races aren't there yet. I'm confident now that I can run great in LA this year and next. I am confident that my approach wasn't looking only toward January of 2015, but longer term into what my real goals are going to be.
One other positive take-away from Houston was getting to run with Johnny Crain, a fellow North Central College alumnus who got his first Olympic trials qualifier on Sunday with a 63:20 and 12th place finish! That energizes and excites me to not only run well myself, but help a new crop of talented guys find their own success with less barriers than I've encountered over my career. The great thing about this sport is that we can ALL be successful without requiring anyone else to fail in the journey.
As always, if you have any questions or comments give me a shout out on Twitter (@runPRizzo) and best of luck to all of you in 2015!
