So hot, So Slow...

Today was one of those races I'd like to forget. It was hot, yes. It was humid, yes. A lot of other people in the race struggled, yes. But I had tapered this week for a half, which I've never really done before. With the weather forecast I went out conservatively and was going pretty slowly in the first hilly 7.5 miles and then expected to pass lots of people in the flats. Then the side stitch from hell hit again around mile 9 and it just hurt so damn much and I had no goal that I was shooting for anymore that I basically jogged in the last 3 miles of the race at 7:15 to 7:30 pace. So that was the story of today's NYC Half and my awesome 1:29:54, which was in case anyone cared six seconds slower than my half split in the Jersey Marathon in May. I've only failed to break 1:30 in two of my 11 half marathons, and it was in my first and third ones ever---the first time before I had ever run 13 miles before and the other one after I had taken two weeks off running and it was equally hot.

 I could live with this all but I feel like it's becoming too much of a trend this summer with these slower times. I haven't run a good race since the marathon in May and that was already a step down from where I was in April. I ran one respectable 5K in 18:08 at the beginning of June and a half the weekend before that which all things considered wasn't so bad in 1:25:59 but suffered from a side stitch in that too. I don't feel beaten up or tired or anything right now I'm just slower than I should be. Every time I think all is lost I run a workout like the 16 miles at 7 minute pace that I did two weekends ago or the three one mile repeats a month ago in 5:42 average that make me think all is still well or at least might not be awful. But all these side stitches (this has been going on in longer races for years now) and all these slow races recently really have me questioning things. I guess I'm going to stick the course but maybe I should bag the marathon for this fall or just sort of do it and chill and wait until Boston next year because I sure don't see how I'm breaking 3 hours in New York this year right now. Sorry to vent, I'll get over it I promise!

The Seduction of Mileage

You know I've always been one of those runners who always laughs a little under his breath when people get obsessed with their Garmins, heart rate monitors, or fixating on a certain weekly, monthly, or yearly mileage goal. In fact as late as January or February of this year I was still in the camp of avoiding too much mileage just for the sake of mileage and taking a day or two of the week to cross train on the eliptical or stationary bike and not really caring or trying to figure out how that fit into my total "mileage." I guess that in part was why my weekly "mileage" number was a bit meaningless to me because even if I was running 50 or 60 miles I was still doing more than a typical 50 or 60 mile per week runner because I was doing it on just 5 runs a week and I had extra training I wasn't even including but must have counted for something. Anyway I have to officially admit I have been seduced a bit by the mileage game since I have upped my mileage and started running doubles recently. A few weeks ago I added an extra mile here or there just to hit 80 instead of 78 for the week, this week I just hit 83 and I will probably take tomorrow off because that is what I would normally do with the number of days I've run and the work I've put in but it is tempting to go out for an easy run and hit 90 for the first time. The real change in my thinking though is that I do judge my weeks some right now on how much mileage I run, which is something I never did in the past. I'm not sure if I like this development or not but I guess it will all come down to how I race later this year in some half marathons and in the marathon. There is also no question that if possible I would like to hit 3,000 miles for the year as I'm just a couple miles shy of 1,800 right now.

Anyway for those interested today's organized long training run with New York Roadrunners went reasonably well as I stuck with the 7 minute per mile group for 16 miles and ran an easy 3+ miles each way to and from the start for a total of 22.5 miles today. The run was nothing to write home about and I would have started struggling with a couple more miles at 7 minute pace but I felt reasonably good at least for the temperature climbing towards 80 degrees (the lower humidity made such a difference though) and having run my highest mileage week ever. Now if I can just drop 10 seconds off that per mile pace and hold it for an additional 10 miles by November 1 in hopefully much cooler conditions when I'm rested and I'll be all set.