Every Run Teaches

Earlier I wrote on the topic of weekly mileage and I remarked that one of the most important things is consistency - week to week and month to month. This means that if you decide your weekly mileage goal is 15-25 miles, or 25-50, you must consistently stick to this goal. A goal, after all, is a commitment, and a commitment requires discipline. I am reading already of runners who are amending their goals even as they are just beginning their summer training which is so absolutely essential for success in the marathon season ahead. Don't do it!

Late spring/early summer here in South Central Texas is brutal this year. It's the humidity, or more accurately the dewpoint. This (dewpoint) is the truer measure of how much water vapor is in the air. As many observers will point out, dewpoint begins to be "felt" when it rises above the 60 degree mark. My own threshold is somewhere around 65. Lately it has been consistently in the 72-75 range here in San Antonio. For me, this translates into challenging running conditions and being completely drenched when I finish up a 4 or 5 or 6 mile run.

Hills are another great tool, not only for physical development, but also for mental toughness.
Try this with a 75 degree dewpoint and you learn a lot about yourself.

The easy way out is to rationalize that since these weeks are only the beginning of a long process of marathon training, that you can compromise, cut back the mileage, maybe even take the week off. After all, you can make up for it later, can't you? Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Oh, I suppose there's a bit more wiggle room in weeks one through four, but don't use it. Here's an important lesson: every run teaches us something, and one of the most important things we learn when running in adverse conditions is mental toughness. Granted, we sometimes learn things like when to speed up, or maybe more importantly when to slow down, by listening to our bodies. But there are times we have to teach our bodies to listen to our minds. It's a fine line, and one which is only understood with experience, but always consider that when the body begins to argue for stopping, for walking for a while, that a degree of skepticism is in order. This is the 21st mile, the wall. Is my body serious? What happens if I push on through? A runner can learn a lot about this while running a 5 miler when the temperature is 85 and the dewpoint is 75. Don't allow this opportunity to be missed. You'll need every advantage come race day.