Why am I not getting any faster

So I've finally joined the running blogosphere. I was pretty bashful at the idea of it because, let’s face it, I’m not a national caliber runner. Heck I’m probably not even a top 10 runner in my city (Virginia Beach.. in case you’re wondering). So why the heck am I blogging?  Well, first and foremost, I'm not necessarily writing for a greater audience. I think this will be more like journaling for me. A way to keep track of my progress since I am absolutely HORRIBLE at keeping a running log. Maybe writing out my weekly workouts, mileage, aches and pains and race experiences will help shed some light on why I haven’t improved in about .. ummm 3 years!! Yep.. 3 years = no progress. Actually, I take that back. I did have one PR. Last year at the Shamrock Half Marathon I ran a 1:33:57. About a minute and a half faster than the previous year. Not sure where that time came from because I wasn’t quite keeping track of my training thus my resort to blogging. But anyways, besides that one PR my times have not improved. What I find most frustrating is the fact that I actually dedicate more time to running, stretching and lifting.

To give you a brief look into my athletic background I’ll rewind the clock to high school. I was a swimmer. In fact I swam varsity all four years of high school. Yep that was me. A black, awkward, lanky swimmer. Up until my senior year I had every intention of swimming in college. Then out of nowhere, with a few months left of school, I had this novel idea that I could run and jump in college. I had never even ran a mile before, but I had long legs, my Grandpa played football, ran track and long jumped for Alabama, and my Dad could dunk (he’s only 6’) and played football for Michigan State. I knew I had genetics on my side and out of this world confidence so I tried out for my high school team. Next thing I knew the stars aligned and I was right. I was fast and could jump high. That summer I contacted my future college coach and asked if I could walk on to the team.  Before I go any further with this story, I attended a D3 school so walking on wasn’t a one-in-a-million crazy idea. But running was very new to me and I was very inexperienced so it was quite scary.

Fast forward to my junior year of college: I was high jumping over a 5’5” bar and running a 58 second 400m split on a super fast relay team. In fact, I came in 9^th in the country that year at Div III NCAAs in the high jump, missing All-American status by one place. And my 4x400 relay team came in second in the nation..I ran the third leg and we earned the coveted All-American status.

After graduation I took a job in New York with JPMorgan and gradually ran less and less. I was lucky if I got in 3 days a week of running. But I wanted to stay in shape (and not gain any weight) so I started signing up for some local 5k races. With very little mileage, no lifting, no stretching and no speed work I could run around a 19:30 5K. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now that I run 40 miles a week, stretch daily, lift twice a week, hit the track every week and struggle to break 20, I can’t help but wonder why my time has slowed so much. Did the speed from college help me initially run those fast times? Was youth on my side? I’m 10lbs bigger, is it my weight? Do I drink too much wine lol.

I HAVE to figure this out. A piece of the puzzle is missing and I truly believe that when I find that piece… well, I’m not sure what will happen, but I need to know. I know this is crazy coming from a 20 minute 5Ker but I felt the same way in college when I could only run a 62 sec 400. I knew there was more talent lying under the surface that I just needed to find.

More to come….