The morning chill left my breath visible in the pre-dawn darkness. The sun had not risen over Palmer Ranch yet as the crowd of runners had begun to gather. I had my timing chip, my bib number, and even better, a long sleeved dry fit shirt from my race packet. It was Florida but it was November and the morning was colder than any we had experienced in a while. My fingers were shaky. Maybe it was the cold… or maybe it was my pre-race nerves. My husband and I made our way to the starting line and found our respective corrals. “2 hours and 10 minutes Tiffany, you can do this” I kept telling myself as I got in behind the 2 hour pace runner. I had no iPod, no music. Just me and my thoughts and my aspirations of 10 minute split times for my first “fast and flat” half marathon. I tucked my gel packs into my back pocket and waited for the clock to count down.
The sun was first making an appearance over the horizon as the
race began. “Slow and steady, slow and
steady” I repeated to myself. I looked
down at my GPS watch. I had it on the wrong
setting. It was on Kilometers and not
miles. So much for knowing my pace…
I reached the first mile mark before I was even expecting
it. The volunteer there shouted out the
time as each runner passed. “8:30” she
said as I slipped past mile 1. Had I
started out too fast? Was I setting
myself up for failure? I didn’t know.
I just kept running.
Miles 2 and 3 passed.
Then miles 4, 5, and 6. My times
were almost identical at around 9 minute miles.
When I reached 7 miles… I knew I was set in that cadence. Nothing was going to stop me from achieving a
sub 2 hour half marathon time at that point.
I was over halfway there and I had committed myself to running that race
pace for the duration.
Miles 9 and 10 came and went. I had used up both gels at that point and had
made every water stop. The streets were
lined with well-wishers. They had signs,
bells, and cheered and clapped as the droves of runners passed by them. I couldn’t help but smile. I felt amazing. Tired.. but definitely amazing.
I wasn’t expecting to turn that corner on mile 12 when I did. One. More. Mile (and an extra tenth of
course). I didn’t even stop at the 12
mile water stop. The anticipation and
desire to reach the finish line were all I could think of. “I might actually do this!”. My mind was racing. I knew that the 2 hour pace runner was
somewhere behind me. Not far behind me,
but behind me nonetheless. I was going
to do it.
I was approaching the finish line when I saw my husband in the
crowd with his head down watching the time on his phone. I knew he wasn’t expecting me for 10 more
minutes. It took everything I had to
yell his name as loud as I could above the roar of the crowd around. I saw the clock ticking way. 1:58… 1:58:30, 1:58:40…
I gave my one last push to cross the line at 1:58:56. I had done it. I knew that mingled in the sweat dripping
down my face there were tears of joy. I
felt accomplished. The early mornings,
the strict diet, the weekend training… it had all paid off. I even managed to finish 3rd in my
age group that day. I was hooked.
And I have been ever since.
We went on to run the Rock and Roll St. Petersburg half marathon in the following February. But now, I've conquered the 13.1. I need more.
So this is the year. This is the year that my husband and I run a full marathon. 26.2 miles of perseverance, sweat, and maybe some tears. But this will be no small feat. It will take some serious training, discipline, and a lot of will-power. I mean, where do you even start to train for running that distance? In my little hometown, that would be longer than the distance from the Stanton Mountain Parkway Exit to the I64 interchange (I know all my Powell County folks are now thinking, “that’s absolutely crazy!”).
We went on to run the Rock and Roll St. Petersburg half marathon in the following February. But now, I've conquered the 13.1. I need more.
So this is the year. This is the year that my husband and I run a full marathon. 26.2 miles of perseverance, sweat, and maybe some tears. But this will be no small feat. It will take some serious training, discipline, and a lot of will-power. I mean, where do you even start to train for running that distance? In my little hometown, that would be longer than the distance from the Stanton Mountain Parkway Exit to the I64 interchange (I know all my Powell County folks are now thinking, “that’s absolutely crazy!”).
Good thing I have an Exercise Scientist by my side who
always does his research. If we were
going to train, we had reduce our risk of injury as much as possible. If we were going to do it, we had to give it
our best shot and deliver our best performance.
If we were going to do it, we were going to do it right.
The solution?
A book called Run
Less, Run Faster. The authors
are from Furman
University’s FIRST program and have spent years developing various running
programs. I won’t spoil the book because
it details a lot of their work, but I will tell you, if you plan on training
for a race, this is an excellent resource.
You can even get it on Amazon for as little as $4.00.
It has pages and pages of race tables in 10 second increments to help you calculate your paces for the various runs. You will do one short run to improve VO2 max, one medium run to improve your racing tempo and a longer run day to improve distance.
It has pages and pages of race tables in 10 second increments to help you calculate your paces for the various runs. You will do one short run to improve VO2 max, one medium run to improve your racing tempo and a longer run day to improve distance.
The best part? It can
start you out at a 5K. The book covers
common racing distances from 5K’s to Boston Qualifiers. Even if you are a novice runner, there’s a
plan in it for you.
I’ve had people ask me how to prepare for races. Well, if you plan on running a road race, I
couldn’t do this book justice. It does
all of the pacing and calculating for you, you simply have to adhere to it and
put in the work. It will help you
customize your plan to your pace.
Cameron and I are 9 weeks out from our Marathon and in just
the 7 weeks we’ve been training, I can see the merits of the book. Three runs a week keep up from getting run
down and each run has a specific purpose.
I’ll be honest, I’m a distance runner and the sprint days,
well… the sprinting/speed work days are not my friend. But you know what? When I’m finished, I know it had a purpose
and I can feel myself getting better.
I know the proof will come on December 8th when I
run the Palm Beaches
Marathon but so far, this book is working for us. Maybe it will work for you too :)
Goal Time for the marathon:
4:20:00 (a 10 minute mile)
Above average performance:
4:10:00 (9:33m/mile)
Excellent performance: 4:00:00
or less (9:09m/mile or less)