Summer and Fall of 2014: Training and Reality
It’s time to update my blog.
I’ve been reluctant because I said I was going after a state record and
now the reality has set in that it may be more difficult than I imagined. In fact I’ve concluded that going after that
record entails more training that I wish to take on at the age of 70.
To recap, I was aware that the state record in the men’s
70-74 age group for the marathon is 3:57:04.
Last fall I ran 4:04:14 at the Erie Marathon. I figured that if I incorporated speedwork
into my running routine, I could get down to that time. Through the summer, I gradually built up
doing series of Yasso 800s until I got to complete ten in one session. The idea, espoused by Bart Yasso of Runner’s
World 20 years ago, is that if one can do a series of 800s in a specified
number of minutes and seconds, one should be able to do a marathon in a similar
number of hours and minutes. I aimed to
do the 800s in 3:56, hoping to complete a marathon in 3:56.
However, I left something out – the caveat is that one must
also complete the other elements of training – enough miles, long runs and
tempo runs. Well, I always do long
runs. But I didn’t do tempo runs or
enough mileage. My mileage was still
averaging less than 30 per week. That
may be enough to finish a marathon, even to finish fast enough for a
70-year-old to qualify for Boston. But
apparently it is not enough for a seventy year-old wishing to be able to run a
sub-four-hour marathon.
As the fall approached, I ran a few 5Ks for speedwork after
I had finished the track workouts. The
5Ks were showing times in the 25 + range.
But race predictors said I should be running a 5K in about 24:30 in
order to be fast and strong enough to run a 3:56 marathon. I began to doubt I could do it.
Then I went to the Mo’ Cowbell Marathon outside St. Louis in
early October, my doubts were confirmed.
The course for this event was not as flat or fast as I had hoped. The second half was on a sloped gravel trail
and I really slowed down, finishing in 4:22.
But early on I knew I wasn’t running fast enough. My 2:03 first half was already at least five
minutes too slow to assault the record.
After returning from Mo’ Cowbell, I began to distribute my
door hangers for my political campaign for state representative. During the next four weeks, I imagine I
walked about 40 miles per week.
Somewhere in there I ran the Eracing the Blues 10K in the fastest time I
had done in nine years. But other than
that, I was only running a couple times a week.
While I had already abandoned the idea of another attempt at the record
in the next marathon, I thought it would be interesting to see how I did after
a lot of walking, but a spare amount of running.
The Saturday after the election in early November, I flew to
Savannah and ran the Rock ‘n’ Rock Marathon.
I finished in 4:14:43 almost eight minutes faster than the last
one. The course was easier, but not as
easy as I had hoped. I was happy enough
with that time and, as a bonus, as the first male finisher over 70, beating the
next guy by 27 minutes. I think I’m going
to have to get used to that as male runners over 70 seem to be a vanishing
breed, compared to those 65-69. Maybe
injury and time is simply catching up.
But I count myself lucky that I feel healthy with no serious running
issues. Missouri and Georgia represented
my 26th and 27th states in which I have run a marathon. I
have busy planning on several more in the next few months – Alabama, Texas and
Michigan.
As for the two I just ran: I would not recommend Mo Cowbell
because it is not fast and flat as advertised, but it is easy to get to from
the airport. Savannah is a nice town and
this race could be incorporated as part of a tourist visit. I am not particularly fond to the Competitor
group, which organizes the Rock and Roll events.
