Sunday, July 5, 2009

The Marathon Project

What I decided to do after Ironman was run the best marathon of my life. Actually, that’s not it. The kick-ass marathon, that’s the goal to justify a process, which is what really matters, the process. (It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Like that.) In a way it could have been any program—Fitzgerald, Daniels, Galloway, Pfitzinger, the list goes on—but there was something about FIRST that grabbed me. Though the program is sold with the words “Run Less Run Faster” it wasn’t the idea of running less that I found especially appealing. I rather like to run and I wasn't looking for a shortcut. No, what became clear as I read more about FIRST was that it was relentlessly specific and intense in its workouts. That’s what I wanted. Triathlon training is necessarily a little fuzzy. There are so many workouts in a week, they basically break down into pretty hard and pretty easy and if you get them all done you’re rightfully pleased. "Quality" fades away. Anyway, that’s how it seemed to me. With FIRST, they’re are just the three runs each week and each is, if not a killer, a workout that demands respect, concentration and big effort. That’s what this is about. That's what I want. Well, that and big fat chunk out of my 3:18:52 PR on the streets of Berlin come September 20. Yeah, the goal matters. After all, I know Geb's going to be running hard.

1 comment:

  1. After snagging that PR in Berlin you're coming home to run PDX and do it again, yes?
    See you there!
    Pdx, not Berlin.

    ReplyDelete