Mark provides more material!

Sunday, January 03, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning. Grab your coffee and pull up a chair. Friday one of NFLR’s Mark Arsenault ran the New Year’s Day “Hangover Classic” and for the second consecutive race he ran a personal best time. This time however he did not run a good race and despite the seemingly successful results, neither one of us was particularly happy. A couple days prior to the race I laid out the strategy for the race with the intent that Mark continue to develop pace discipline while still pushing. The strategy for this race was to run 2 5K races with in the total 10K distance. The first 3 miles was to be run at a comfortable (for him) 19 minutes. The second 5K was to be considerably faster at 18 minutes. The actual results were that he ran the first 3 miles at an overall 18:15 and the final 3.1 at 20 minutes. Nearly the opposite pacing of the pre-race design. Mark knew that he went out to fast (5:54 first mile) and consequently died at mile 5 (6:22) before finishing his 6 mile in 6:18. He text me immediately and confessed his failings and while I appreciate that, it is my job to make sure he doesn’t repeat his mistakes in the future. As we text back and forth I told him that his next race would not be anything close to a “PR” and his response to that was: “Ugh. Shouldn’t racing be for racing and training be for training?” My answer to that was: “Depends what the ultimate goal is.” His response: “Right.” My final text said: “Thanks for the blog material!” We all are usually thrilled to “PR” a race and as a running coach we are certainly pleased that our training brings such great results. However, Mark has goal for Boston in April that will take hard work and discipline. Overall results of races between now and April have little if any significance beyond a chance to gain confidence in the results of “intelligent training” as well as disciplined racing. Next time out Marks challenge will be running a far slower race for a good portion and that is never fun for any runner, never mind someone that feels at the top of his game. The last thing I want right now if for Mark to be at his running best. Unfortunately or fortunately, his training with us has him feeling strong and fast and it difficult not to keep knocking of personal records. While it might be really cool to “PR” each race, the ultimate goal of a strong 26.2 requires disciplines that need developed and races are opportune times to do it. Mark understands this but, who wouldn’t want to turn a newfound confidence into superior results. I would certainly be okay with Mark consistently hitting “PR’s” if Boston wasn’t the focus of his goals but, for him to be successful he will have to sacrifice some pride in the short term. Mark did share some pictures of him running and I am so very proud of his running form. We worked on his running form last fall and he has most definitely continued with working on the changes we recommended. His knee drive and posture are so much better and I have no doubt he is running with great efficiency now. It is never easy to take a very good runner and help them become even better but, Mark has most definitely grasped and embraced our training and teaching in both the running gait and “intelligent training.” The results speak for themselves but, Mark’s confidence speaks volumes for NFLR and our technique. Well, have a great Sunday and see you on the roads! God Bless! Mike