First Post - A Bit of Running Philosophy and Psychology

Running Boston has been in the back of my mind since I started training for my first marathon four years ago, on a whim, the year after I graduated from college. That first race, the idea was just to finish. But after completing the local Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) in Washington, DC with a middle-of-the-pack finishing time of 4:57, setting a new personal record (PR) became my obsession.

Standard running philosophy says young runners run to be competitive, middle-aged runners run to chase their younger years, and older runners plod along simply for the joy of running. I think this accurately describes my raison d'etre for running.

I set incremental goals along the way so as not to get discouraged. (See Richard Layard's book Happiness (2006) for a mathematical description of goal setting as it relates to happiness. You will be happier if you set attainable goals.) It took me four attempts to complete a sub-four-hour marathon. After crossing the MCM finish line in October at 3:58, I felt a brief sense of accomplishment that was immediately replaced by the thought I can do better than this.

Four days later I started training for the next marathon. Initially I set a goal of 3:40 (my average improvement had been about 18 minutes per race), but toward the end of my training program I realized 3:30 was attainable.

This past weekend, after 18 weeks of training through the winter, I posted a 3:28 at the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach. Exhausted at the end of the race, the 30-minute improvement to my PR barely registered. My "anchor point" had moved; I had already been thinking of myself as a 3:30 marathoner before the race began. This same phenomenon occurs when you receive a raise at work; you are temporarily happy, then you adjust to your new income level, and one week later your level of happiness is the same as it was before the raise. (See Layard (2006) and Dan Gilbert's Stumbling on Happiness (2006) for a full description of the "anchoring" effect.)

As I powered across the finish line, my mind started doing the math, almost independently from my higher consciousness. Improve by 18 minutes, or about 41 seconds per mile, to qualify for Boston. Pace must improve from 7:58 to 7:17. Is it achievable?

Four days later I sit at my desk writing my first blog post. I'm about to skip lunch with my co-workers to do a recovery run at the gym. I know I have four months before I move to Chicago to begin graduate school, which is likely to disrupt my six-day-per-week running routine. Four months to improve pace to 7:17. Is it achievable?