The Lure of just one sport!

• On: 10/20/2009 14:42:27

Just a little taste.  Every year in the fall I get a little taste of marathon fever.  Most years I can not be bothered.  But, I love the marathon.  The pure, rawness of the 26.2 miles run.  But, most years I am FRIED by the fall and DONE or I am coming off of a marathon in an Ironman…so an open marathon – just doesn’t do it for me.  This year is different.

I blame part of this on the explosion of marathons that my friends and athletes I coach are running.  IT IS INSANE!  I had so many runners at the Chicago Marathon, I started to talk about myself as a pure marathon coach!  HA….no swimming? No cycling?  I can not even get my head around that.  Sure, I have done a couple open marathons.  Loved the one I ran in Houston…where I PRd and where the temps were ironically cold at 30-40F….but coming out of Chicago’s winter, it was ideal for me.  I worked super hard.  I mean, who doesn’t work hard training for the open marathon.  It was SO different.  The training is soooo different it is SO hard.  To run a PR in the marathon is well, hard work. 

All fall I think in marathon terms.  I am constantly talking and thinking about “JUST running” and the simplicity of the entire thing.  BUT, now that I am back working with Coach Dave (pure marathoner) I am remembering very quickly how hard that running is.  I mean, at the most, I run 45 mpw while training for ½ Ironmans (now in fact for Clearwater 70.3) but much more than that I am constantly trashed and have NO quality in my swims or bikes.  So, take away the swims, bikes and what do you have?  Ah, more time to run….but also more time to get injured.  The marathon training is a delicate balance.  I hurt in places that I don’t hurt when I am training for a well-balanced Triathlon….the swimming SAVES my ass – it stretches me out and keeps the joints healthy and loosened up.  Marathon runners – pure runners – are hurt a LOT more than Triathletes .  Sure, I realize this is quite a generalization, but this is partially true. 

Coach Dave is always telling me to THINK like a runner.  RUN like a runner, not a triathlete.  I was on the track last week and he is screaming at me….RUN like a runner, Jennifer...NOT a triathlete.  And, you know what?  He is right.  When I do all my Triathlon run training, we are trashed, we are coming off intervals off the bike….of course…that is key and something we need to do…but when you run for road races…you become a much better runner.  You run hard more.  You run more miles.  You become more efficient.  You start to feel more fluid.  Marathons do not make people slow.  That is a myth.  What makes people slow is how SLOW they train for marathons.  That IS the difference.

I am starting to feel my running coming back.  It really didn’t go anywhere far, but trying to balance swimming, biking and running and strength and nutrition – well, we only have so many hours in the day…and when you are training for more long course stuff…you shuffle around between the sports….and we put our heads down and do the work. 

So all of this marathon talk got me thinking.  Uh oh.  I remember training for Houston a few years ago – that race is usually mid-january. And, I remember doing my long, hard run on Christmas Eve day – it could not have been 10F degrees outside and 6” -10” of new snow and I said, “THIS IS NUTS!”  But, I really liked Houston and I liked racing that Marathon….so back to this “thought.”

I am not discounting training for a marathon.  IT IS HARD WORK.  You have to run VERY hard a lot.  None of this wussy stuff where you just run and go out and run 20 miles ….easy. Nope, the runs are hard and the track workouts, tempo runs….it almost scares me to even hint at the thought that I would like to run a marathon again.  But, I think coach Dave is brainwashing me.   He is pure marathoner.  He lives and breathes and dies running.  It can not help but to rub off on me.  And, under his guidance, he makes me feel like I am a runner again….and that in itself is exciting.  He said to me last week, “The old Jennifer is almost back.”  Crap, how bad did I look?  Well, all those years of shuffing thru triathlons, makes the run form look bad.  HE was right.  I am working hard on it and the times are coming down and my track times are almost back.  And, that is a good sign.  I was also NOT swimming and cycling at this level when I did the faster run times…I have more bulk on me now and probably 5lbs.  And, that does make a difference in the open run races. 

Next year I am doing some early season ½ IMs.  I am doing IM Roth.  Which, by the way, I still cannot believe I am doing in July.  I am training for Clearwater now and killing myself….in the dark, in the rain, in the cold and wind.  I will say that if it 40F and raining in Clearwater, I will be a rock star.  Of course….we know that will not happen! Lol.  Anyway, I planned on being done in July next summer.  I want to do some fun summer family stuff and NOT spend my weekends and days shifting around the work, the kids, the family so I can ride long.  But, of course, I will have to do SOMETHING….funny how this all starts to come together.  So, in July, after I rest….I will rest very hard….and will have the engine from the IM….then,I could just run and do some cross training EASY swim/bike….for recovery.  IMAGINE that?  !!  Just running….and keeping things simple.  Hmmm, got me thinking….but that may be something I tackle in the fall of 2010.  But, if I do it and commit to it, it would be to PR….and that, my friends, would probably kill me, but I think I need that challenge.   I mean, I age up to 40 in January 2011.  I MEAN FRIGGIN 40.  The least I could do is run a measly marathon.  I wonder how fast I can go.   It is almost too good to pass up.  Chicago is in mid-October.

Ah, the possibilities are tantalizing.