Analyze This

[by Candis]

It’s that time of year again, time to panic. It’s 11 days until the Bolder Boulder. It’s the race that made us runners. For those of you who don’t know (where have you been?) every Memorial Day thousands of runners trek to beautiful downtown Boulder, Colorado. We trek for 30 minutes- some Kenyans trek further (it’s why I never win, not my 10:40 pace). [Ed. Note: This year Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall are also treking to Boulder.]

I’m not panicked about my training. I’ve run year round and followed a strict scientific plan the last 12 weeks (FIRST). I’ve researched tapering so as not to repeat last year. (Did you know that if you taper too much it can be seriously detrimental? Of course you did- shut up.) Plus, it’s only 6.2 miles- almost all of my runs the last 3 months have been longer than that. I’ve dropped 5 lbs, 3% body fat, and shaved over a minute off my pace. It’s minor but it’s a step in the right direction. I should be out of excuses and ready.

Ya, right. Ian probably never lets on, but I’m a little obsessive compulsive [Ed. Note: A little? And Amy Winehouse has a ‘little’ drug problem.] So every year when we hit May- I hit panic. I run the same but my mind runs into overload.

• Is my tapered schedule right?
• Should my hair just be in my normal ponytail or would a bun without any movement help. I want all momentum going forward not side to side like a little girls hair- yup I think about it with each swish.
• Does a visor help enough blocking the sun to compensate for the loss of the cool breeze?
• Should I run through the sprinkler or dump water on my head if I get really hot? It must cool your body several degrees and add a nice breeze for a block or two, but it will make my face and eyes sting, my glasses slip and add ounces of water to my frame that may cost me valuable seconds (like 3).
• What shirt should I wear? I feel like I get super hot when I run. Maybe just the Under Armor base gear? Maybe sleeveless? I ran in just my sports bra once but I chafed and I don’t know if that’s really appropriate- unless you’re Katie Holmes. [Ed. Note: This is diametrically (+8 word score) opposed to official Half-Fast policy which is in full support (pun intended) of women running in just a sports bra.]
• Which clothes weigh the least? Nope, none of my stuff will work. I will have to go buy those $28 Adidas short shorts (Ian will be happy.) They weigh like an ounce less and aren’t black. (Can you say butt on fire?)
• Should I eat my pre-race Rice Krispie bar 30 minutes or an hour before?
• When do you pin your bib on your shorts? Before the drive? On the shuttle while you wait? While you’re waiting in the starting wave? What if a big wind comes up and blows my number away?
• What if I carb load too much? Last year I was so nervous (first 10k) that I didn’t eat hardly anything and the wench of a waitress (that’s right I know who you are) wouldn’t bring me my bottomless breadsticks until I had ordered.

Now I realize you’re saying “she said 10:40 pace not 5:40 right?” Yup- and I still care, these are all important decisions that could affect my time. Now you can feel sorry for Ian, but just this once.

Back to Asics

Despite the fact that my Mizunos only have 325 miles on them, they are just killing the balls of my feet on longer runs and they have been for quite some time. When I told the guy at the running store this he agreed with me that Mizunos do in fact “suck more than the suckiest suck that ever sucked!” I think that was the technical term that he used. We also agreed that anyone who likes Mizunos is a good for nothing, low-life, under-achieving simpleton. I know from your comments and blogs that many of you just love your Mizunos so I’m sorry that you had to hear that from me. It must be tough to find out the sad truth about yourselves from a blog.

OK, maybe Mr. Running Shoe Guru said something more along the lines of the Mizunos being designed for a heel-striker, and that I would break them down a lot faster as I have become more of a forefoot runner since I bought them. Maybe he said that they were good shoes for some folks but just not for me. I was reading between the lines, I know what he meant.

One thing that I think we can all agree on is that buying new shoes is like runner’s crack. I get high off it and I don’t want to stop at just one pair. I tried on so many different shoes last night that I simply couldn’t make up my mind which ones to buy. I was like the over-sympathetic dog lover picking out a puppy at the pound. “Can’t I just take them all home?”

I finally bonded with a pair of the new Asics 2130 GTs and thought that I was done, but the store carried them in several different colors. Running is not just about being fast it’s also about looking good, so choosing the right color shoe is just as important as choosing the right type of shoe (motion control, stability, cushioning, trail etc.). I settled on the blue and white ones that you see in the picture.

I’m excited to run in my new shoes, I’m excited to be going back to Asics as I have had good success with them in the past, but most of all I’m excited for my balls not to ache after long runs... balls of my feet... the balls of my feet ache after long runs!

Setting a Goal

The ticker at the bottom of the site indicates that there’s less than 17 days until the Bolder Boulder 10K so the purpose of this entry is to do 3 things:
1. Set a goal for myself
(b) Make it public so as to hold myself accountable (yes, this counts as making it public)
3. Impress my boss who is always encouraging me to set goals.

The question is should I set an attainable goal so that I feel like I've accomplished something? Or should I set the impossible, impractical, upper-management-thinks-we-should-do-this goal that will push me harder but make it look like I’ve failed at the end. To resolve this inner dilemma, this inner struggle between lazy and motivated, I’m going to set a stretch goal to push myself and an easy goal so I can feel good about myself. Running is all about feeling good.

My time in 2006 was 58:53, almost 8 minutes faster than in 2005, so if I could cut another 8 minutes off my time this year that would put me at 50 minutes. This translates to 8 minute miles and according to the McMillan Running Calculator my workouts are not fast enough to believe that I could accomplish this. I actually think I heard it laughing at me when I input the data, so that will be the high end goal or perhaps it’s more accurate to call it an aspiration.

On the attainable side my aspiration is that I’ll be able to run sub 9 minute miles or under 56 minutes. Plugging this into the McMillan calculator gives me results that are more inline with my current workouts. There you have it, that’s my goal aspiration, or is it more exact to call it a tentative anticipation? Bingo! I tentatively anticipate that I will run the Bolder Boulder somewhere between 50:00 and 56:00. Strong words I know, but if you want to succeed in this life you have to be a go-getter, a goal-setter, at least that’s what my boss is always telling me.