Eagerness

This training cycle is keeping me eager. I've written already about patience. I am learning that patience must be applied on each and every scale. From patience minute-to-minute in a workout, all the way to patience in the year-long and lifelong goals in running. The patience I'm learning right now falls in the middle of the micro-macro scale.

I've never used a 24-week plan before in training. Quite honestly, I've never really had the time. Between recovery and/or time off, it always seemed to work out that my marathon training cycles were 16-18 weeks. I really feel like I have been doing myself an injustice. Phase I (of a 4 phase - six weeks per phase plan) is all "easy" paced work. Too oversimplify, "easy" pace gets a runner going fast enough to sweat, but never fast enough to breathe heavily. The reason for not running faster is so that your body can adapt to consistent mileage. There are TONS of physiological (as well as psychological) changes that are taking place during this phase. But, at the highest level, you are building up your mileage capacity. Consistent(-ly slow) gradual increase in mileage is the goal. In a 16 (or even 18) week plan, there seems to just be no time for a Phase I. You must get going on the speedwork while simultaneously building up your mileage. But with time for a phase I, you can increase your weekly mileage without the stresses of speedwork! This dramatically decreases the probability of injury. I have been basebuilding (another word for phase I) for a month now and have no signs of injury. In fact, my legs feel great! I ran 38 miles this week, which sounds low to me but, in actuality, is dead on schedule.

This is where the need for patience kicks back in. Even though I've been running for a month, I will still be in phase I until the end of June. June! My legs feel great, my workouts are getting easier. My ego is telling me to run faster, farther. I am eager for more hard work. I am eager for the gaudy numbers that I've never been able to hit without injuring myself.

I must exercise patience and stick to the plan. I must. Stick. To the plan. Boston or Bust. To hell with ego. To hell with what I want right now. Stick to the plan. This is it. I can do this. Patience. 40 miles this week. Slow and steady. Ok, enough pep talk. Shut up and run.
...Slowy.