Understanding the Formula (Part II)
I have been entertaining dealings
with a foreign count. Very old line
of nobility. Very old and eccentric.
The first and foremost ingredient for running success according to Daniels is inherent ability. You heard it here first, some folks are just built different. If a coach actually said that to me, I think I’d run away screaming. Since I’m coaching myself, I have no choice but to face the curse of my bloodline head-on.
To give Daniels some credit, there are a couple things to note straight away:
- Daniels primarily concerns himself with the maximum performance of elite runners, which is neither me nor most folks.
- Daniels implies a person’s transient race-day physiological, bio-mechanical, and psychological state is part of this category (e.g., an injured runner will probably not put up their best time).
So the whole thing reads a little more Harrison Bergeron, perhaps, than Dracula; it is a sober view aimed at promoting patience in development of performance to avoid injury.
On the other hand, I’m sure you have heard, no doubt, of the appalling superstition of the Vampyr, and their unimaginable strength and speed. Perhaps if one were to find a Karnstein moldering, say, fascinate oneself with the engrossing vehemence of the sanguine, and run the marathon under the light of that odylic and magnetic moon…
Excuse me.
Speaking of blood, though, the second worst time I put forth in competitive 5K running was a day after I donated blood. A worthy cause, but I saw myriad brillances and nearly passed out. Incidentally the worst time I put up in the 5K was when I took a fall early in the race and (technical term incoming) f’ed up my hips, but I continued to run, and as a result bought myself several weeks of dates with the physical therapist. It would have been wise to drop out of both races, and had I spent more time thinking about my inherent limitations, maybe I would have.
In any event, by and large my “inherent ability” has been carefully cultivated by loving family and coaches with my best interests at heart for many years…certainly worthy of its own post later this week. As for my abilities now, I’ve chosen a 3:30 goal time as I think it is realistically achievable for me given my high mileage training for ultra-marathons, general mile times during training, and current good health.
Daniels’s first basic law of running is that every runner has unique strengths and weaknesses, and so training should focus on taking advantage of those strengths and improving the weaknesses. One of my strengths, I learned from “ultra-running”, is that I can tolerate high mileage programs and generally avoid injury running 5-6 times a week. I know I’ve also got the guts to hit the infamous wall and survive…although I’ve never competed at marathon distance, I ran about six marathons training for my two ultras this year. A weakness I have is a tendency to disdain running fast. Christensens are built for comfort, not speed. On repeat, interval, and tempo run days, I’ll have to make sure I’m focused up.
As the old adage goes, run your own race.
P.S.: Some of the prose paraphrased from Carmilla, who charms in most particulars.
P.P.S: I ran my 4ish mile route today, but I forgot to hit the patrol button on my watch. It’s like it never even happened…a good day for birds, saw tons of geese and ducks, and five swans, which doesn’t happen every day. One of the lakes was frozen, and the adjacent one connected by a tiny canal was not…their border had this strange undulating ice sheet where the surface hadn’t totally frozen. Pretty cool.
- Mileage Today: 4.0 (estimated)
- Mileage This Week: 13.2
- Mileage on Lake Patrol: 41.1
- Mileage To Date: A lot.
About Me
Hey everyone! I’m John Christensen, the top-ranked non-finisher at the 2025 Never Summer 60k. I’ll be running the 2026 Grandma’s Marathon in support of the American Cancer Society, a nationwide non-profit in operation since 1913 dedicated to eliminating cancer.
The “Lake Patrol” blog will catalog my training and some of my pontifications and bloviations. I intend to use this as a form of self-coaching, as well as a record of my state of mind that I might appreciate re-reading one day.
If you enjoy the blog, consider making a donation to the ACS on my personal page, directly to the ACS, or to a charity of your choice.