Following a successful 10 km TT on the track this morning I took some time to reflect on just where the running has come from since 2008.

Only relying on my bad memory I think 2008 had a best 10 km of still over ~35 minutes but a new marathon clocking of 2:50 down from a previous 2:52 but over a time span of ~ 4 years. Prior to 2008 I was a very numbers/split kind of runner, probably to a fault. In 2008 Aerobic Power partnered up with Kamren and the 5 Peaks Trail Race Series ,therefore i became a trail racer, I also signed up for my first crack at the Transrockies Run Race in CO. Running was stress free now, all done on trails, intervals were only what I call "Perceived Exertion" intervals, 30 seconds on, 60, 90, etc, etc. The only criteria was it had to be done on hilly trails. We may have hit the track 1x per month, only because my mind needed the check up badly. The best result of 08 on the road was a fabulous Canada Day 15km. The part I remember most about it was not my slightly improved time but the most amazing powerful feeling while I was running. Overall the season brought a transitioning run ability and an opening up of my mind about types of training. In 2009 the 5 peaks races continued and now the new stimulus was going to show it pay off. In May 09 my 10 km dropped to just under 35 minutes, in August it dropped to just under 34 minutes, a full minute faster. Finally in October my marathon dropped 7 minutes in Chicago, and its not because Chicago was hilly, it is anything but hilly, but my "shift" in thinking and style of training ie, improving my strength improved my mechanics and power out there on the road, I felt it in every stride. Now the point here is not that everyone needs to take up trail running, but we must beware of the ruts we fall into in our thinking, whether its in your own training plans or writing somebody else's. Coming off the road, the strength work applied to my constant search for improved mechanics catapulted me up a level in my running, it could go the other way to . Some of the many great trail runners I have met now over the past couple of years could probably really benefit from a little addition of road or track work possibly for some improved foot speed, just as tiny example.

So as an athlete I encourage you to examine your tendicies, and possibly as a result you have plateaued? If so you need to change things up or don't panic if your coach seems to take you away from your "Norm".