When I was in college, my coach had a term for people who would run their threshold runs harder than he asked: “Threshold All Americans.” It was meant as a derogatory term or, more gently, as a phrase to try to discourage them from going so hard.
But, if they were feeling good and the workout felt easy, why not run faster? You get more out of it, right?
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What is success to you as a runner? Is it the same now as it was (if you’ve been running that long) 10 years ago? Is it the same as you expect it to be 10 years from now?
I kind of hope not. I also hope not everybody says success is the same thing.
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I’ve been walking that fine line of training recently. Between my own training, which was going very well, and joining my daughter for her off-season training, things were getting pretty intense.
Through volumes I haven’t hit in probably a decade or more and workouts at paces I haven’t hit in years, I was building very good fitness. I was feeling great, strong, fit, invincible. Then, I believe I went just a touch too far.
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Have you ever had such good training that you expected your race to be easier than usual?
How did that turn out for you?
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After my recent “Ask me anything” post, I received an email, asking the following:
…I’ve been told I need to race over the winter to be ready for my spring races. What do you think of this? It seems like you don’t race much during the winter and you seem to be able to get a good start to the spring. Do you race incognito? I hate racing in the winter!
