How does one measure progress? Is it the ability to run a faster mile or a faster 5K or 10K? Or is it the ability to go from the "couch" to running at all? Progress is defined as "a forward or onward movement" or a "gradual betterment." So how are you able to determine your own progress?
In my opinion the very first thing you need to have is consistency. You will never be able to gauge your progress if you let your training "get away from you." We all lead extremely busy lives, some more so than others. Make no mistake about it, if the choice comes to run or take care of my family, the family wins every time. We are all human and being human allows us the opportunity to make choices. There are times when I wake up in the morning and the last thing I want to do is go run or cross train. I would be willing to put my money where my mouth is and say that the Elite runners of the world feel the same way at various times. What separates them from us is that even when they don't "want" to train they still do because their lively hood depends on it. I often explain to people who are trying to lose weight that they need to eat when they are NOT hungry and drink when they are NOT thirsty. The same can and should be said about your training. On those mornings when the last thing you want to do is lace up your running shoes and head out for a 7 mile Tempo run, these are the mornings when running a 7 mile Tempo run is exactly what you NEED to do!
On a personal note, over the last 5 weeks I have had a very busy racing schedule. I ran the Calloway Gardens Marathon in Georgia on January 30th. Very hilly yet very beautiful course. It was a loop course and though I am not a fan of looped courses I did enjoy this race. Finished in 3:47:01 which I felt was a good time with the hills and some serious intestinal problems lol. I was also surprisingly enough able to place 3rd in my age group at that race. Then the following weekend I ran the Pensacola Double Bridge run. This is a 15K over both bridges. If anyone has ever been to Pensacola these are the bridges that take you to Gulf Breeze, Florida and then the 2nd bridge takes you to Pensacola Beach. Great race and hit a pretty big PR by running it in 1:03:03. The following weekend after that I ran the Rock and Roll New Orleans Marathon. By far the best race I have ever run time wise, 3:25:49. Everything just felt "right." And finally this past Saturday I ran the Snickers Energy Bar Marathon in Albany, Georgia. This is a great little race with a ton of support. My official time was 3:36:18. Again, not super fast, however, I was basically running this race on fumes and tired legs so all in all I was very happy with it. I only have a few races left before Fargo in May. I am going to run a few 5K's one more 10K and a couple of half marathons as training runs leading up to Fargo. Over these next two months I am going to go into a sort of "mini training" mode to prepare for Fargo. I would very much like to run a great race there and I know that with some significantly different training (mostly speed work) and a decent taper I will be ready to take on the challenge of Fargo.
That is all I have for now, until next time....
Happy Running!
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