Reflection is the better part of a champion

Craig Hanson has meant a lot to me in my life (don't worry everyone else, it's an inside joke).

In a nut shell, training has 2 components: 1) weekly mileage and 2.) speed work.

A basic schedule goes like this: Monday is a short run (3-4 miles)and speed work, Tuesday is a medium run (5-6 miles), Wednesday is another short run (4-5 miles). Thursday is an off-day and Friday is the weekly long run. The weekly long run is usually un-timed (early in training) cuz the major reason for the long run is to begin to strengthen/condition your body for the prolonged pounding it will take over a number of hours while running.

The week started out well: Monday, Jesse and I did a 4 mile run and then our speed work: 5X400 meter repeats (I will explain a repeat in a minute). A 400 meter repeat is one lap around a track. When you do "repeats," you do a timed run of whatever distance (we did 400 meters) then you rest for a predetermined period of time (usually not longer than your timed run) you repeat the process of timed run followed by timed rest. We timed our repeats to run one lap in 1:45 followed by a 2 minute rest. These repeats are designed to increase cardiovascular output...enabling us to maintain a faster pace over a longer distance.

Anyway, we did our Monday workout in the rain and it was nice, cuz it kept your from overheating, but it was not nice....cuz in the end,it was still raining. During the workout Monday, I think I stretched something/pulled something in my left leg and it hurt quite a bit after the workout. Tuesday we did 5 miles and I did it, but the leg was still quite sore. I took off Wednesday cuz I wanted to rest up for the long on Friday: 13 miles. Jesse and I did the 13 miles in just over 2.5 hours but my leg was killin' me! It did not improve Saturday or Sunday. I'm sitting here on Monday still limping around like a gimp.

So now comes the title of this post. "Reflection is the better part of a champion" to me, means that being able to look back at where you've been, where you screwed up or succeeded, and making necessary adjustments is part of what successful people do. I'm taking Monday-Wednesday off to see how my leg feels Friday. If it feels good, I'll go out and do a short 4 miler...if not, I may entertain the thought of not running the Harrisburg Marathon. That sucks, but I don't enjoy walking around hobbling like an old man (ok, a reeeeaaaallllyyyy old man). Maybe people fail because they never look back in order to make adjustments...maybe they look back and decide they don't need to make any adjustments....or maybe they make the wrong adjustments. Regardless, I believe one's ability to reflect and adjust is crucial in one's success.

I'm going to take some days off and hope to heal, if not...I guess I'll adjust.......I am just that good and that's just the way it is people!

Thanks for reading!

SEE YA ON THE HILL
Michael