At the Crossroads..

As the title suggests, I am at a training crossroads..

Since recovering from December's knee fracture, I have been working to get my running fitness and times back to normal while improving my cycling fitness in parallel.  Even after three months of training, I am still not "feeling it" with my longer distance running paces.  It is a very odd feeling..

For example:  at last year's Huntsville Half Marathon, I was comfortably and consistently holding a 7'20" to 7'30" per mile splits until a back flare-up (about mile 10) forced me to slow down and interval myself to the finish.  As of yesterday, the same 7'20" per mile pace has consistently been around the pace that I've held in my last few 5k races.  While this may be good enough for age group awards, it is not good enough for me.  I am a perfectionist..  I can't help it.

In parallel, I can seemingly run 9' to 9'30" miles perpetually with zero pain at all; which is a very respectable pace for ultra-marathons.  I love to run long, so this is a good sign!  Also, I have ZERO pain or issues when cycling regardless of distance or intensity -- this is also great news!

My in-between running paces are currently what is suffering.  When I try to hold my full race pace for distances longer than 5k, my back starts to give me trouble and flares up.  My only guess about why this happens is that my cadence is higher for a longer period of time -- forcing the quick-twitch muscles around my rebuilt spine to spasm.  Other than this, I have no explanation for what is happening.  My back and arthritis are very weird creatures and offer no explanation at all.

This has forced me to make a decision regarding my running regimen.  After next weekend's 10.2 mile race, I am going revamp my training plans for running while continuing my cycling routine.  My new running focus will be gaining speed for the 5km and shorter distance events while gaining endurance in preparation for ultra-marathon season.

After enough miles on this regimen, I think my other running paces will fall back into place.  I sure hope so..

Until next time, happy racing!

-Randall