What the Heck Happened?

Fargo! A lot of analysis isn’t need to figure out why I’m so excited about it. In case you can’t remember, I ran four minutes faster than my previous PR and I came in under two hours. Yes, I know you didn’t forget but I wanted to say it again anyway. If a race is a disappointment, it’s natural to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what happened. Because my race went so much better than I could have hoped, I’ve probably spent even more time thinking. How did it happen that I had surgery eight months ago, missed several weeks of running between then and now, and somehow crushed my PR from three years ago?

It sounds strange, but the surgery itself is probably one reason I’m running faster now. No, I do not mean that my boobs are now more aerodynamic. Not being able to run for three weeks gave my legs time to heal up from five years of consistent running and racing. Within a week of the surgery, I was walking at least twice a day and was at the gym every day. Since I wasn’t allowed to do any upper body lifting, I worked on my core and leg strength. I had lifted consistently twice a week before the surgery, but while I waited to run again I was there every day doing squats, lunges, sit ups, and anything else I could think of to make myself feel like I was doing something productive. Step one on the road to Fargo: Rest and Strength Training.

Once I was cleared to run again, two things happened. Snow came early this year and my training partner started heart rate training. Those three factors resulted in more miles at a slower pace than I had been running in the fall. Not a lot slower, but at least 30 to 45 seconds a mile slower. Layers of heavy clothing isn’t conducive to fast running. I was just glad to get the runs in and didn’t worry too much about my pace. I did a little bit of speed work every other week on an indoor track and ran one 10 mile long run each week, but the rest of my runs were very casual . Step two: limited speed work coupled with slower running.

In January, I set up the bike trainer in the basement and started riding my triathlon bike. I was concerned that running three or four days a week and riding three days a week would leave my legs tired. I wanted plenty of time to get used to it before training for the Chisago half iron got too serious. I was surprised to find that my legs weren’t tired at all. The more I rode, the stronger my legs were feeling. The tri bike puts more emphasis on the quads and less on the hamstrings. My quads have always been weaker and my hamstrings are prone to tendinitis. With the bike building strength in my quads, my hamstrings seemed to be taking less of a beating while running. Doing a cardio workout at least six days a week increased my cardio fitness and my average heart rate during my runs is now 10 beats a minute lower than it was last fall. Step three: Adding biking and cardio fitness.

Stronger Legs + Improved Cardio Fitness = PR

A whole week just thinking about that simple equation? It’s so obvious! Everybody knows that a stronger body combined with a stronger heart will lead to better performance. It took some circumstances beyond my control to find a new path to improved strength and fitness. My old approach of just trying harder and running more miles wasn’t an option. While I trained more, I didn’t train any harder. I had equated training hard with being spent after each workout.  For those eight months, I trained for more hours each week but at a lower intensity.

So what did I learn that I can use in the last half of my half iron training? I have learned to rest when I feel like I’m getting worn down. I can rest by concentrating on another aspect of training and come back even stronger. I have learned that running at a slower pace is not a waste of time but is instead just a different kind of training. I’ve learned that biking is a compliment to running, not a competitor. Legs are resilient and I can work them every day without necessarily running every day.

Next on my schedule is the Liberty Olympic distance triathlon on June 11th. It’s a training race for Chisago, so my goal is to learn as much as I can from the race. I’ve only done one other tri at this distance and that was two years ago, so it will be good to do another one before the much longer race six weeks later. Six weeks should be enough time to try and incorporate what I learned and see if I can make some progress. Now that my analyzing is done from Fargo, I can move on to just wearing my shirt with a smile. I promise to stop talking about it now. Well, I’ll stop talking about it here on my blog. I may have to mention it every once in a while at home.