How I Should Calculate PRs

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My next big race is the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, and while I’m not doing hardcore run training, I am putting in some good long runs on the weekend.  So in my training plan this month, my coach has me pushing and then on race day, she says “Do you think you can get a PR?”

And my first answer?  Nope.

My PR is from right before my HR issues were diagnosed in 2010.  It’s a 1:51 at Cherry Blossom.  I don’t think I’ll ever get back there.  I was racing great, but feeling awful for days afterwards because I was completely wearing my body out.  Not what you want to be doing to your heart.

It’s interesting to look at my ten miler results, because after the diagnosis, my pace immediately dropped by a minute per mile.  But I was feeling much better.

Of course, that’s not to say that my current pace is all due to heart issues.  My fastest race since diagnosis was that same year at the Army Ten Miler – a 2:09.  I was in excellent shape, having been working towards my first (and second and third) half marathon.  I’ve gotten close to that again, but never quite back to it.

I’ve said it before, but I need to have pre and post diagnosis PRs.  I don’t know that I’ll ever get back to a 1:51, and if that’s because of my heart issues, so be it.  Nothing I can do about it without causing harm to my body, and that’s clearly not worth it.

So rather than worry about a sub-2, this year, I’m going to try for a ten miler under 2:09.  I’ve got two ten mile races on my schedule, one in April and (hopefully) one in October.  Obviously, my big push is the 70.3, but that doesn’t mean I can’t also work on my running pace.

Now, to get back to working out.  I took a week off with my brother and sister-in-law visiting.  It was a nice break, but now I have no excuses.

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