Over the past few days, a couple of folks have asked me questions about my speed, how long I’ve had it and how hard I’ve had to work to get it. So, I figured I’d write a blog to briefly go over that. I’ve covered this before, but not in a while, so I’ll write about it again.
Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I’m attempting to run 61 full marathons this year to raise money for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism.
So far, I’m through 51 of the 61. Getting pretty close!
Anyways, I think I’ve run 20-something Boston qualifiers, including maybe a dozen or so this year. My fastest so far this year is a 3:03, which came two days after a 3:21. I’m not going to win any races running a 3:03, but I know it’s better-than-average speed. I’m frequently asked if I’ve always run at this speed. Nope, not even close!
I was always slow growing up. I never ran a mile faster than 8:30 before my 31st birthday. Not once in my life. Well, I might have hit 8:28 or so in high school, but that’s it.
I started walking as a lose-weight thing when I was 30 and after working up to light jogging, I got dared into running a half marathon a couple of weeks after my 31st birthday. I trained for a bit, but it was still a miserable experience. I went 2:29:45. I’ll consider that my starting point.
From there, I had a simple mentality that I learned from my college days, when I was a student reporter at Kansas State University covering the football team. Head coach Bill Snyder used to say that his goal for the program was to get a little bit better every day. I wanted to get a little bit better every day.
If I ran 6 miles in training at a 10:30 pace, I wanted to run 6 miles at a 10:29 pace the next day. I didn’t’ always pull it off, but I tried hard every day. There was no coaching and no consulting with anybody on message boards or social media. I just went out, ran my best without caring who was watching, and tried to get a little bit better.
I learned pretty early that if I pushed myself, I’d improve. Pretty unsophisticated, huh? I worked hard and I noticed my times getting a little bit better in training. I ran a 2:11 a month later and a 2:08 a month after that. I started training for my first marathon at that point. I had no clue what I was doing. I just knew I needed to taper for the last three weeks.
I started my long runs at 14 miles and aimed for 10:00 a mile. Sometimes I hit it, sometimes I didn’t. But I sure did try hard. I added a mile a week and built it up. Nothing advanced about it. I didn’t run track workouts or tempo workouts or strides. I just tried my best every time out, doing everything I could to bring that average time down by a second.
I ran my first marathon six months after that first half marathon and went 4:06. I started my long runs over at 13 miles, but I worked to keep my average pace below 9:00 a mile. I was still running just 6 or 7 miles for my mid-week runs, maybe three times a week. But I was aiming for that 9:00 pace. I’m sure it wasn’t the smartest way to train, but the concept was simple. I kept pushing, I noticed small gains, and that kept me going. Each week, if I hit the goal in the long run, I added a mile.
18 weeks after that first marathon, I went 3:49 in my second marathon. For the next eight months, all I did was run hard and try to keep getting better. I never had a training plan or a coach and I never did a speed workout. Not one. I gradually increased my mileage, going from an average of 40 or so miles per week to 55 miles per week.
I used to thrive on the difficulties I’d face in training. I’d be running up a hill in the morning, looking into the sun, telling myself Boston was at the top of that hill. I’d be out there running in the dark and in the rain and my neighbors were all warm and comfy in their beds, so I’d tell myself that’s why I was going to go to Boston and they weren’t.
I know I have some natural ability I uncovered, but I had to work to do that. I wanted it, so I went after it, and I got it. On nothing but the “get a little bit better every day” plan, I worked my way up to a 3:21 a year after my first marathon, then I finally poured myself into an 18-week plan complete with all sorts of speedwork and strategic workouts. I ran a 3:07 victory lap at the end of that cycle, earning my way to Boston.
So, any time I ever hear a slower runner say they’ll never qualify for Boston, I just kind of roll my eyes. If you’re even saying that, then a Boston qualifier is something you want. If you want it, get it. Work hard and get a little bit better every day. That’s all I did.
Excellent. I know I can improve on my 8:30 miles if I just worked on it. But, I’m focused on my swimming atleast through July 2012. I’ll have to do what I can on running once a week until then. And I feel the same way about swimming, that anybody can be good at it if they just work at it. Speaking of swimming, you know who was a swimmer in highschool? Bill Snyder! He went to highschool with my father inlaw in St. Joseph, MO.
You know I want to get to Boston! And someday, I will. I have to work a lot harder on my speed, something that I am not good at–it’s hard for me to push myself. This training cycle hasn’t been my best because of work and travel, etc, so, I have no high hopes for MCM, but, I know that I can run faster. I just have to want it enough and right now, I just didn’t. Someday!
There aren’t enough people who look at the small improvements over time, but just about EVERY personal improvement or success guru will tell you that’s the way to go. Funny how the same stuff really works for everyone but so many people have to discover it for themselves!