A Short-Lived Marathon Career
Actually I have changed my training approach a few times over 40+ years of running and I’ll write more on other transitions or phases as we go.
Last month I described the background and build-up for my first marathon, way back in 1983. It was a success, with a 2:35 debut in Denver, but with just one more serious attempt at the distance, I did not carry it much further.
With great hopes, my plan was to run the relatively new Twin Cities Marathon in October 1983 with a goal of about 2:28, which seemed pretty reasonable for sea level.
At the end of a good summer of marathon training while spending months living and working in the mountains at an elevation of 9,000 feet, I contracted a nasty case of giardia. It took two rounds of antibiotics and then some to knock it back. I lost about 10 or 15 days of crucial training and decided that I would not recover in time for Twin Cities, so I deferred running a marathon for couple weeks and signed up for Rawhide Marathon in Fort Collins. At the time it was the best marathon in Colorado.
However, as we rolled into October I was down to about 132 lbs about 4-5 lbs light, and not at full strength. I was buoyed by PRs in 5K and 10K (32:51 at 6000 feet elevation) on consecutive weekends. Missing some long runs, I still felt confident and set out for a 2:32.
I ran a decent race there, holding 2:32 pace through 21 miles, but slowed over the last few miles and ended up with 2:34. So it was a PR by about a minute and a half, but I walked away disappointed.
With my seasonal job in the mountains wrapping up, I planned to go back to CSU to get ready for graduate school. I even contacted the women’s coach there to see if he’d be willing to coach me in 1984. We said, let’s talk in a few months. In my head I planned to up my training to +/-90 miles a week (up from 80) to prepare for the Boston Marathon the following spring.
However, on Christmas day of 1983, I did a 10 mile run in brutal 0 degree temps, windchill -15 on icy roads, and ended up with a persistent case of bursitis in my hip. This bothered me off and on since the week before the marathon and never really went away.
From Runner to Nordic Skier
So I skied and joined the CSU Nordic team. This year I purchased some good racing gear, a racing suit, and competed my first full season with a series of races in Colorado and Utah usually 15K on Friday, 5K relay leg on Saturday.
At the end of the season in March I tried to run again but couldn’t even get around the block. Physical therapy and a couple cortisone shots later it still hurt. Eventually, I found a new doctor and physical therapist, and they loaded me up with anti inflammatory meds. It wasn’t until July that I was able to run again.
False Start
My comeback was short and unpleasant. After some 9 months of battling the bursitis and several months of not training much at all I was starting from practically the beginning. By summer I was in grad school and for the first time getting paid to be a student. I didn’t want to blow that great opportunity and figured I’d only train about an hour a day. By September I had built up to 40-50 miles a week and had a couple test runs at 2 and 2.5 miles, in which I was only able to muster the previous year’s 10K pace.
Over Labor Day I tried a 5K in Fort Collins, the old Colorado Run (precursor to the Fortitude), and was disappointed to run 16:23. Considering the altitude this was a good 20 seconds faster than I had done in college. But it was nearly a half minute behind what I had done the previous September. I joined up with a group of triathletes for their Wednesday intervals. And that was always a set of 6-8X half mile on the schools vastly outdated cinder track. They were very regimented and aimed to do their sets in 2:40. I was aiming to get back under 16, so would do a progression with the first two or so at their pace before working into 2:34-2:35. That created some friction with the triathletes and they scolded me for running too fast. This arrangement lasted only four or five sessions.
And I ended the season early with a very disappointing 34:06 10K at the Governor’s Cup in Denver. This was a fast point-to-point race, starting at the Museum of Natural History and finishing in downtown Denver. I expected to run in the 32s and could not even hold pace for 33!
One of the triathletes, Greg the most outspoken, called me up the following week and asked what had happened in Denver. I didn’t really have an answer other than I could not hold a 5:20 pace on a course with a net downhill of 200 feet. “You ran your intervals too fast.” was his final word.
I shut the season down and just ran easy 40-60 minutes a day for the next couple of months until ski season rolled around and was able to get up to the high country a couple times a week.
rrunnin234 
One thought on “How I Reinvented My Training – background”