My racing season is over. Valley was it until next April. I must admit, though, that I have mixed emotions about entering the so-called “off season.”
On the one hand, I’m tired and a little sore from a hard season of training and racing. My mind and body could use a break from the sense of urgency I feel during race season. It’ll be nice just to run easy, especially while the fall colours are still brilliant. There’s a certain amount of freedom that I allow myself during off season to run new routes and explore new areas. Running like that can be rejuvenating.
On the other hand, though, I’ve had some really great races since starting up with Cliff and his group of dedicated runners, and I’m a bit curious to see what else my legs can do. I feel like I’ve got some momentum, and I hate to let the energy dissipate – but I’ve got to let it go and start building for what I hope will be a breakthrough season next year. I’m looking to focus on shorter races – 5s and 10s – in the first half of the season and to break 17:00 for the 5 and 36:00 (maybe even 35:00) for the 10. Those are big goals, so it’s going to take some foundational work to get there.
Something else is making me wish my season weren’t over: so many runners I know are still racing. This weekend is the National 10k run in Toronto, the Toronto Marathon, and the PEI Marathon – the weekend after that is the Moncton Marathon. Beyond that, a number of runners I know are running the Sacramento Marathon in December, so they’ll have a focus right up until then… and then it will be time to gear up for Boston. I feel a little left out of the excitement now that my own goal race has passed. I’m also a little uncomfortable with not running anything big in the spring, but I really do think it will be best for me to focus on the shorter distances and then build back up to the longer ones. The marathon takes so much mental and physical energy as well as time – I want to have a shot at a big PB before I make that kind of commitment again.
So I’m feeling a little adrift as I detach from my Valley goal and start looking for a new goal to attach to. But I need to remember that there is opportunity in this “in-between” or liminal state. I now have a chance to do some runs without purpose, to explore a broader spectrum of running experiences. I’ll still be building towards next season, but I won’t be so narrowly and intensely focused for awhile – perhaps I’ll even smile more while I’m running! (I’ve been told that I look too serious and too focused when I race!)
What the off season holds for me is a little uncertain. Now that I have a coach, I’ll be very interested to see what kinds of workouts I’ll be doing. Will I do hills or uphill bounding or weight training or what? What kind of mileage will he suggest I run? Will I get to do any threshold, VO2, or speed work? I’ve never really known what to do in the off season; consequently, I’ve usually ended up regressing rather than improving and then spending all spring trying to catch back up to where I was the previous season. This time, I hope to emerge from the winter a stronger and faster runner.
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