Post Teen Personal Record (PTPR)
24:59 was my 5K time trial result last night - and I'm happy with it...
I could have shaved off a minute or so pushing a littler harder. It would still be 7 minutes (30%!) slower than what I used to run - and I'm happy with it...
Over the last year, every warm up, track workout, long run, or race, I've been haunted by my teen self, comparing my pace and times to my teenage self.
While racing this last year I'd think about my teenage workouts:
"This is slower than what used to be our warm up pace???"
"Why am I so tired? Why is my heart pounding?"
"This should be easy!"
"We used to talk, joke, and laugh at this pace."
"When coach wasn't running with us we would sometimes 'slack off" at this pace"
Whenever I had a fastest time this last year I'd start saying I got a new PR. That excitement would quickly deteriorate into, well it's kind of a new PR, I mean if you exclude what I did in my teens, I guess an old man PR?. It would turn into a PR with an asterisk. Nobody wants to see an asterisk next to a record. It means lesser, not as important, some technicality got in the way, someone was doping or cheating, etc.. Where's the fine print explaining this false record?! I like to compare it to the Patriots crushing the Colts 45-7. Who knows if they were cheating or not but it is a blemished win nonetheless. Either way Tom Brady apparently likes soft balls...
Last night I think I finally got over this, I'm no longer haunted by my teenage self, and it feels great...
Katie was a big help "You'll be fine. You're only racing against yourself! 35 year old Zach. NOT 16 year old Zach."
I jogged over to the Mamaroneck high school track, did some stretching and drills. Before I could get stuck all up in my head, I just took off, maybe too fast but that's OK.
For those who completed my first Tough Mudder with me, you can compare it to my finish through electroshock therapy. There was no "1,2,3, go!", there was no mentally preparing myself., there was no delay I just took off like a crazy man knowing that is sometimes the only way to get the ball rolling. This also led to me not realizing there was a barrier in the middle of electroshock therapy, resulting in a wild display of something that resembled a gymnastics round-off ending with a face plant.
Back to the track. I had dubstep going in my ears. The track was gently lit. I never checked my watched for pace or heart rate. Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) was going to be my measuring stick. Or as my coach Jeff Boyer says in the Pain Cave, how much pain are you in on a scale of 1-10? Taking the advice of Mirinda Carfrae I only focused on each stride to make sure I had good technique. As always, I lost count of my laps, but that didn't matter, I'd need to just keep the pedal to the metal until it's over. My watch auto-laps and buzzed at mile 3 to signal I was near the end.
Of course I reset the watch before I saw my time or any stats. I'd need to wait until I ran home and sync'd the watch with my computer to know the results...
I'm twice the age of when I ran a sub 18 minute 5K. If I get there again, great. If not, I'll just keep working for new PTPRs and will be proud of them.
I could have shaved off a minute or so pushing a littler harder. It would still be 7 minutes (30%!) slower than what I used to run - and I'm happy with it...
Over the last year, every warm up, track workout, long run, or race, I've been haunted by my teen self, comparing my pace and times to my teenage self.
While racing this last year I'd think about my teenage workouts:
"This is slower than what used to be our warm up pace???"
"Why am I so tired? Why is my heart pounding?"
"This should be easy!"
"We used to talk, joke, and laugh at this pace."
"When coach wasn't running with us we would sometimes 'slack off" at this pace"
Whenever I had a fastest time this last year I'd start saying I got a new PR. That excitement would quickly deteriorate into, well it's kind of a new PR, I mean if you exclude what I did in my teens, I guess an old man PR?. It would turn into a PR with an asterisk. Nobody wants to see an asterisk next to a record. It means lesser, not as important, some technicality got in the way, someone was doping or cheating, etc.. Where's the fine print explaining this false record?! I like to compare it to the Patriots crushing the Colts 45-7. Who knows if they were cheating or not but it is a blemished win nonetheless. Either way Tom Brady apparently likes soft balls...
Last night I think I finally got over this, I'm no longer haunted by my teenage self, and it feels great...
Katie was a big help "You'll be fine. You're only racing against yourself! 35 year old Zach. NOT 16 year old Zach."
I jogged over to the Mamaroneck high school track, did some stretching and drills. Before I could get stuck all up in my head, I just took off, maybe too fast but that's OK.
For those who completed my first Tough Mudder with me, you can compare it to my finish through electroshock therapy. There was no "1,2,3, go!", there was no mentally preparing myself., there was no delay I just took off like a crazy man knowing that is sometimes the only way to get the ball rolling. This also led to me not realizing there was a barrier in the middle of electroshock therapy, resulting in a wild display of something that resembled a gymnastics round-off ending with a face plant.
Back to the track. I had dubstep going in my ears. The track was gently lit. I never checked my watched for pace or heart rate. Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) was going to be my measuring stick. Or as my coach Jeff Boyer says in the Pain Cave, how much pain are you in on a scale of 1-10? Taking the advice of Mirinda Carfrae I only focused on each stride to make sure I had good technique. As always, I lost count of my laps, but that didn't matter, I'd need to just keep the pedal to the metal until it's over. My watch auto-laps and buzzed at mile 3 to signal I was near the end.
Of course I reset the watch before I saw my time or any stats. I'd need to wait until I ran home and sync'd the watch with my computer to know the results...
I'm twice the age of when I ran a sub 18 minute 5K. If I get there again, great. If not, I'll just keep working for new PTPRs and will be proud of them.
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