This is a guest post by Eric on running, training and the Las Vegas Half Marathon.
After my first 5k at the age of 21, a distance that was a personal longest at the time, I felt myself becoming interested in running distances longer than regular two mile jogs. Ages 22-27 have now been spent running a variety of distances greater than 5k, including three half marathons.
After my first 5k at the age of 21, a distance that was a personal longest at the time, I felt myself becoming interested in running distances longer than regular two mile jogs. Ages 22-27 have now been spent running a variety of distances greater than 5k, including three half marathons.
Two themes have arisen during my running career so far: learn
from mistakes and learn from others.
My mistakes came in the form of poor quality training,
poor quality shoes which caused injury, and lack of sufficient
hydration/nutrition on race weekends.
Most of these mistakes were redeemable, they were my own after all. The learnings certainly help all of this in hope of running faster and faster times.
After a pair of 10k’s and two half marathons, the first
of which was littered with rookie mistakes, my times were in the mid-40s for
the 10k and 1:47 & 1:44 for 13.1. I created personal goals, bucket list
items rather, of completing a 10k in less than 40 minutes and a half marathon
in less than 90 minutes. Goals which would require me to change my pace from
above 7:00 min/mile, to well under 7:00.
My third half marathon was in 2013 at the age of 26. It
followed a training season which was the most I had personally run yet for any
race (progressive 3-4x weekly run over 16 weeks). A sub-90 min time was the
goal, but alas, 1:35 was the final result, 7:17/mile.
In mid-2014, I decided to pursue training advice outside
myself and the internet. I had made good progress, but the levels of fitness I
needed to obtain were outside my own knowledge and low level self-taught
skills. I needed to go to the next level. I called on a co-worker and
experienced runner/triathlete, Brian Wellman.
The benefits of a running coach, and actually taking his
advice, were almost immediate. I purchased a GPS watch with a heart rate
monitor, instantly improving the way I was able to understand my body’s
performance. My training plans had a complete makeover, with workouts I had
never experienced at levels I would probably never push myself to without
direction like this.
Within six months of training under Brian, I achieved
both a sub-40min 10k and a sub-90min half marathon. The training plan focused
on strength/speed rather than running progressively longer distances. it made
me anxious that I wouldn't be ready for race day. However, Brian would quickly
talk me out of it and ask for my trust; which I reluctantly gave him.
The physical core and leg strength gained during my
coach’s training plans catapulted me to the next level. Most of it was not
easy, sometimes extremely inconvenient, but 99% worth it when one crosses the
finish line with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment in achieving goals
thought to be nearly impossible. Every bit of coaching from Brian paid off.
Every. Bit!
What I learned:
What I learned:
- Advanced hydration techniques
- How to run faster
- How to know when to rest
- How to recover better, stretching & foam rolling
- How to trust others better informed than I, even though I doubted
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| Eric (left) and his brother, just after running a 1:29:05, beating his goal |
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