5/2/11

Ramble 10K

Sometimes I hate posting but I force myself to do so for a few reasons.
  • So I can look back to see how I have progressed. 
  • To keep from being labeled a fair-weather-blogger.
  • To keep myself thinking about why things happen and what I can do to fix and improve. 
This post falls under all three reasons above.

This year's Ramble was designated as the New England 10k Championship. It's an awesome, very unique race that is extremely well run. They also happen to have the best after party around.

What really hurts is that had I run like I did in 2007 I would have cracked the top 10 (age group) easily in an extremely competitive field (top 100 runners were under 6mp). Instead I didn't even crack the top 20 in my age group.  I have decided to delve into some fun facts to try to understand or see where I am at.

For starters here are my last 5 years worth of results from this very same race: 
April 2007 42:15  My focus was on 3 marathons for that year.  No tri training yet.
April 2008 43:25  Just started tri-ing. Training to do first Olympic in June
April 2009 43:17  Training to do 2 half irons that year.
April 2010 42.57  Training to do 2 half irons that year.
April 2011 45:13  Training to 1 half iron this June.

I'm convinced that I had a crappy run simply because I am and have been focused on triathlon.  This drop in my time makes me cringe. I do not even like to think about that race result which, as you can see,  is almost 3 minutes slower than 2007. Three minutes is a shit load. 

You might say that age could play a part in this demise and you are probably right. As a matter of fact I'm pretty sure we slow down each year even as we try to maintain. The issue I have with this fact is that the slowdown rate is only about 1%. That would equal 4 seconds. I think.  So this really does not explain anything to me. The other age related issue could be hormones. Yes, hormones.  Mine happen to be out of whack but fear not.  They will be back in working function by the end of May. That's a whole other post in itself.  Still, I just don't believe it's all due to hormones and age.  There are women my age and older who just keep getting faster.

Do I sound like I regret getting into triathlon?  If I do I don't mean to sound that way. I just miss my faster running times and how I felt.  In the end I'm just totally sick of bad running performances. I do not want to see my running suffer any further. And I refuse to let it. After my next half iron I'm focusing exclusively on running and that is that. Please let me know your thoughts.

7 comments:

Kim said...

ugh im sorry melissa that youre running isnt where you want it to be. youre doing patriot half right? i will see you there lady!

GoBigGreen said...

Yea I know what you mean, its hard to not compare, but really I think you are right, your open runs are not going to be as fast with the biking, but that is ok!
I think we have also had a CRAPPPPPPPYYYYYY spring, i mean who wants to train in rain and sleet?
You will get your mojo back. I know it!

Tricia said...

good luck with your goals!

Linda said...

Oh! I've had the same frustration! I'm obviously not at the same level as you (speedwise), but I think I can still offer a comment. :) When I first started tri training my 5K time got slower. And I really think that it was because my focus was no longer run it was swim-bike-run. And it's kinda impossible (unless you're a pro and have the time) to maintain the same caliber in each component as you could if you were only focusing on that one thing.

My run has improved since then, though, so there's hope. :)

So - it makes sense for you to focus on run after Patriot. But I think you'll miss tri's. :) And I hope you don't get discouraged if your tri times get worse.

I guess (unfortunately) we just can't have it both ways.

kT said...

Definitely the tri training; I mean, you wouldn't expect to PR in a tri while doing run training, would you? I know it seems like running is a subset of triathlon, but really it's its own thing. That said, it's also true that the day-to-day variation in performance is, well, variable--so totally out of my butt, I'm going to say plus or minus 45 seconds at least for a 10K, even on the same course.

mjcaron said...

Thanks guys. You really did shed some good light on this. I really can't have it both ways.

GetBackJoJo said...

I think your run can improve while you do tri, but it requires that you run 5x a week even though you are biking and swimming, too. The runs don't need to be long, but the consistency factor is absolutely key with running, I think. 3-4 runs a week just won't allow you to maintain your previous run fitness.

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