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3:59:59

September 22, 2006

finally.

the boardroom i've worked in for the past couple of weeks is almost empty. people tend to work extra hours earlier in the week, so they can leave early on friday, many of them commuting back to houston or dallas for the weekend, so the usual staff of 15 is down to four of us.

i feel like i've been burning the past couple of weeks, combusting from the inside out with emotions, and then also with the unmet need to create, to do something worthwhile in words, and music.

lately, it's like i've been moving, forcefully and swiftly, but towards nothing i cared about. i work a temporary job. i run, but the motivation and drive hasn't been there in a long time, and the runs haven't been satisfying. and when i think of writing in the time left in a given day, i once again think of the job searching i should be doing, and of the need to get to bed so i can either get up for work, which means i run after work, or get up to run before work. and there's the need to just sit and relax and shut down for a while.

but, i think it's time for a surge.

the chicago marathon is october 22, but it hasn't been enough of a goal in and of itself to drive me through the runs, or at times, to even run at all. and for the past month or so, a painful hamstring has, well, hamstrung me, altering my gait, slowing and shortening my left leg's motion.

but i have a new plan, one that flies in the face of almost all logic and reason.

earlier in the training, we ran two two-mile time trials, and plugged those times into the frighteningly-accurate mcmillan pace calculator. both were horrible running efforts on my part, but the better result projects me with a marathon time of 4:10 and change. the same calculator projected a 4:28 for me last february, but i trained poorly and had a rough day, and ran a 4:54.

so, here's the thing - i've struggled with a lot of my runs, and gotten unnecessarily crabby and despondent at times. but on as many workouts, where we were supposed to run at a pace dictated by the calculator, i was able to push a faster pace, so the ability is in there somewhere. now, whether it's available for 26.2 miles is the obviously critical issue, but i was thinking the other day that a 4:05 should be a reasonable, achievable goal for me.

it occurred to me again, though, that if i could run a 4:05, then why not run in under four hours? those hour marks are huge for a lot of runners - they're the biggest landmarks on the quest for improvement.

here's the difference in per-mile pace:

4:10 - 9:33/mile
4:05 - 9:22/mile
3:59:59 - 9:10/mile

:23 seconds faster per mile than a pace I've never held for more than seven or either miles is more than it sounds like, but then it's not entirely improbable, either.

for a couple of days, now, i feel energized again, even though part of me knows this is a truly silly plan. but a few days ago, i didn't even want to run the thing at all, couldn't see doing well, or even getting through the 26.2 miles without a complete failure of will.

and today still dragged, i still felt a lot of the things i've been feeling, but once again, finally, i had something to distract me, an event and a goal big enough to feel meaningful. now, i can't wait for my run tonight, six miles, four of it at my new half marathon goal pace of 8:42 per mile. it's been a while.

so, crazy's better, right?

Posted by Rob at September 22, 2006 03:19 PM

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Posted by: Wiley Mike at September 23, 2006 08:03 PM

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