Runner's World UK's June cover is the "Slow Runners' Manifesto." The whole message: speed is relative, racing is for all paces, your finish time doesn't define your worth as a runner.
I read it and thought: yeah, obviously.
Not dismissively. I've run a 3:40 marathon. I'm not embarrassed about it. I never needed someone to tell me my pace was valid.
However, I also want 3:15. Really badly.
So I'm not totally sure who this manifesto is for. If it's for the person who quit running cause they felt too slow — okay, come back, pace doesn't decide if you belong. That's real and I mean it.
But here's what I've learned over the past couple years of training: it's about specificity.
Marathon training and 5K training are completely different things. The workouts are different, the long run structure is different, the pace targets are different. If I'm just "running" without a goal in mind, I don't know what I'm training for. I'm prob just doing the same comfortable miles over and over, which keeps me in shape but doesn't make me faster.
The goal time is how I know what kind of training I actually need.
So yeah — a 3:15 finish time doesn't define me. If I blow up at Indianapolis and run 3:50, I'll be frustrated for a few days and move on. My wife doesn't love me less. Roman doesn't care.
But the 3:15 is still necessary. Not for my self-worth. For my training plan.
Don't let your goal define you. But have one. You need it more than you think.