A race isn't always just a race

In the world of recreational running most races are against yourself or against the clock. Unlike the elite, near elite or even Masters runners who are looking to the podium our race experiences and strategies are very different. Many times during a race you may pick a target for a portion of the race to try and "pick off" but for the most part you are just trying to put in your best performance regardless of who else is running.

Sometimes however, a race is more than a race. Like when I started triathlons and my wife, a former national level swimmer and I decide to see who would be the faster in an Olympic distance race. It really puts a different spin on the whole race experience.  In that story, Kiza kicked my pants, although I'm a faster runner, we are pretty evenly matched on the bike, but she would take such a huge lead off the swim I couldn't catch her. But I've never pushed myself so hard.

A few years ago I ran Around the Bay Road Race with my buddy Mark. We stayed together much of the middle third of the race, but I dropped back around to 20km and regrouped, then when the hills started I found my stride and passed him finishing 2 minutes ahead of him by the end.

When I found out he was planning to run it this year I made an off hand comment about dropping him in the hills again and suddenly it was "game on".

I've thought about this race a great deal, especially on my long runs, evaluating my strengths and weaknesses and guessing at his.

He is a more powerful athlete than I am. He's running more mileage than I am with my combination running and Crossfit and consequently is paces are getting frighteningly fast.

My strengths are specificity training, all my long runs are outside and end with very hilly terrain, whereas Mark's been running a lot on treadmills (due to travel mostly, but also because he's apparently wimp when it comes to crummy weather ). Also my weight, I have about 25lbs on Mark which again will pay off in the last 10km of Around the Bay which is very hilly and where it becomes less about power and more about power to weight ratio.

So I have been assuming that he is aware and also believes these are the strengths and weaknesses in play, and so believe his strategy will be to get as much distance between us in the first 20km and hold on for dear life in the last 10km.

Therefore my strategy will be try to keep him in sight for 20km and push as hard as I can in the last 10km to repeat our last match up and "drop him in the hills".

If it were to play out this way, it'll be all about how much the first 20km costs each of us, and what we have left to play with in the hills. He could blow up trying to distance me before the hills even start, or I could blow up just trying to hold on for that first 20km.

It's all very nerve racking and exciting to think about.

All that being said, my last 3 training runs have been dismal. Interval sessions lasting only 3 intervals when I need 5, and today's 30km run turned into 20km, I just couldn't finish it.

So I'm starting to worry.

Maybe 30 clean and jerks the day before a long run wasn't such a good idea after all.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet. But I really need a good training run to boost my confidence.