It's three more weeks before the Milo Marathon regional elimination race in Davao City. Preparing for the race has been the main focus of my running life these past couple of months. My goal is to improve on my last 21k time of 1:42:42.
I did my longest run so far of 25 kilometers last Sunday. I have pushed my lungs to bursting during intervals. I have worked my heart to near maximum during hard tempo runs. I have held a pace I never thought I can in my hilly city where I can hardly find a flat course to run, burning uphills and flying downhills to the best my mere mortal capacities allow.
Still, there is that tinge of doubt. Will all these really translate into a better finishing time for a 21k come race day?
I guess self doubt is something that we can never truly dispel. I am confident that I can run a 21k. The 25k long run has proven that I have the required endurance. An earlier 22k long run up a course that climbs for an entire 10 kilometers is proof I have the strength. Running the distance faster is of course another thing. That is what brings in the questions.
I have never seen myself as a fast runner. I have always dreamed, nay, fantasized I was one. More than once, I hear loud cheers in my mind as I race toward the finish line tape, breaking it in victory. More than once, I wake up to the reality that some runners in my age category finish races way ahead of me on very minimal training. While I believe that I was born to run, others are just born to run faster than me.
I have three more weeks of hard work ahead of me. More intervals, more tempo runs, more workouts to burn my lungs and make my heart pump faster. Maybe somewhere in those runs I will finally find the confidence I need about my ability to run fast. That one feel-good run that will tell me that there is a tiger in this cat.
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5 comments:
I got a question Caloy. You said you have three more weeks before the regional elimination race then at the end of your post you say that you have three more weeks of hard work. Does this mean that you don't taper for your big races?
I'm a big believer in the taper myself. I just feel more energetic and lighter on my feet once the taper process is completed. Let me know if you want more of my thoughts on the matter and I'll send more info.
hello, rick. my schedule does have a taper. shorter intervals but at 10k pace, shorter long runs too. i still consider that as hard work. i'm not really used to training this way. in fact, this is my first time to follow a trainings scheduled as structured as this one :). the final week before the race is the real easy one - short tempo run, an even shorter interval workout with longer recovery times. any training tip from you would be very much appreciated. hey, man, you rock in your races! :)
kaya mo yan caloy!
The interval training will teach you how to go faster and be confident in doing it. :) Goodluck mate!
As for me.... I'm switching back to a 5km bib for the milo elims in Legazpi Albay. I can't crash train for a 21km race in 3 weeks. :(
there's always another time, ben. and thanks for the encouragement. :)
hey caloy. we're doing a virtual training run on wednesday, your time. hope you can join us!
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