Optimism

Maybe you find like I do when the calendar turns, it’s an opportunity to look at things anew.  For us runners, we know when the major races will be held — in New England that includes the USATF Grand Prix slate.  For the first time ever, I believe, the 7-race series does not include a marathon.  There is a marathon championship, but it’s a separate race.  That means those of us who have left marathons in the rear-view mirror have a chance to be an ‘Ironman,” completing the entire series.

I found 2023 particularly challenging.  A hamstring injury carrying over from 2022 dogged me as 2023 wore on.  An MRI in April showed a partially torn proximal hamstring tendon and running was just making it worse.  In mid-May I had a PRP (platelet-rich-plasma) injection, and was only cleared to start jogging in late June.  PRP is not a silver bullet.  It merely helps the healing process, which takes its sweet time.  And for us seniors, recovery can be longer by a factor of two or even three times depending on the injury.  My first races in August were hardly stellar.  I couldn’t get out of 2nd gear.  In the back of my mind (maybe even in the front of it!) was the thought that pushing too hard would set the hamstring back and I certainly didn’t want that! Nevertheless, it was good to be able to enter the races even if my competition dusted me.  There was incremental improvement through the fall, topping out on November 3rd with a 78% age grading effort for a 5K.  However, for the year total mileage was just 830, less than I had run in any of the prior 45 years of running.  I had proven you can’t expect to run hard, fast, or long on that kind of mileage.

So, 2024 beckons and with it something most runners share – optimism.  Afterall, why do all the training if there’s not a sense of potential payback. I’ve missed doing well in my age group and feel ready to step up to the challenge. My plan is to run 1,300 miles in 2024, pretty well spaced out over the year.  This would approximate my average for 2018-2022 but is a 57% increase over 2023.  I can’t realistically expect to run more than that. The Grand Prix schedule has a four-mile race in February and then a half marathon and 15K in March.  After that, everything is shorter, with the longest through fall a 10K.  If all goes well, maybe I run the BAA Half in November.

If I’ve learned anything over the past year, it is progress can’t be rushed.  Patience is the name of the game and anything else is a recipe for re-injury.  This suggests that as I build up to run the half and 15K I should focus on progressively increasing long runs more than speed, with a long run every 2-3 weeks.  I’m at 11 miles now, so the calendar allows for runs of 12, 13, and 14 miles before the half.   Granted, to run one’s best half marathon requires longer runs – maybe 15 to 17 miles.  But I don’t have time to build up to that this spring.  And while at one time the half was my most competitive distance, maybe that is now trending towards the 10K?

In any event, I am enthused about the year ahead.  Will it turn out as well as hoped?  Maybe, maybe not.  But that’s part of the lure of distance running – a curiosity to find out.