Solo Time Trials are tough. They are even tougher when it is a repeat performance. Let me walk you through my difficulty with one particular time trial course where I have been trying to best my PR that was set on my initial attempt.

Back in late spring/early summer I knew I needed to set some time trial goals as “live” races were not going to happen. I decided on time trials that were geared towards speed but were not traditional distances (1 mile, 5k, 10k, etc.). The course I settled on ending up being 2.57 miles. It was a loop course that was perfectly flat. The first time I did it I had no idea what pace I would hold so I went out somewhat conservatively and ran a negative split. I emptied the tank and ran how you are supposed to run a race. That being said I thought I could go faster.

As you can see, a well paced time trial but probably a little too slow in the first mile given the large discrepancy between the first mile and the last .58 miles. At this point, the standard was set and breaking 14:00 was my next goal.

Breaking 14:00 would mean running 5:25 miles. Six seconds per mile faster is significant but not insurmountable. I felt I could always hang on in that last .58 and I just needed to get faster for the first two miles. It was a good theory or at least so I thought. My next attempt would be on Labor Day weekend, two months after my initial attempt. My training was not very specific to this distance but more of the same of what I did leading up to my initial attempt. I did a little bit more speed work and my weekly mileage stayed about the same. The result:

This was an epic fail. Mentally, I just did not have it. I hit the first two miles just as I had hoped, but my theory of being able to hold on for those last two miles proved to be false. There was no way I would be able to maintain a sub 5:30 mile pace so I threw in the towel. Back to the drawing board.

I knew I now had the speed but did not have the endurance. My training now would include more longer runs with some speed mixed in. Again, I was not doing a specific training plan geared towards this distance but certainly I was thinking of redemption as I trained over the next month and a half.

This brings me to attempt number three which was more or less a repeat of attempt number two. Got to the two mile marker and did not have it mentally. Threw in the towel again. In this attempt I actually thought I could have pushed through but mentally did not have it on this day whereas in the second attempt I don’t think I could have made it without completely hitting the wall. I came away from this attempt disappointed, but at least encouraged.

I knew I had to give it one last attempt. No matter what happened I had to at least finish the time trial and not quit. Even if it meant walking it in, I was determined to at least finish next time I attempted the distance. The next opportunity would come on Thanksgiving weekend.

I was ready to run fast, but more importantly determined to finish. The weather was perfect, 50 degrees and a very slight headwind on my way back. I went out fast but reeled myself in knowing what happened in the last two attempts. I started to hurt where I typically do, but set small goals for myself, just make it one more block. At about the 2.2 mile mark I stopped looking at my watch and focused just on reaching my small, intermediate goals and the bigger goal of finishing. I made the final turn and pushed as hard as I could. Finally I reached the finishing marker and hit stop on my watch, took a look down and saw I had beaten my initial time by over 30 seconds.

Running a time trial solo is mentally grinding. There is nobody watching and certainly very few people care what your results are. It is a physical and mental battle with yourself. As I have shown, it is easy to throw in the towel. Compared to a “live” race that provides crowds and competition and results that are memorialized. I believe the time trial ultimately makes you a stronger run mentally. Physically, the lack of people and competition probably doesn’t allow you to reach your full potential. Ultimately, I believe this will make me a faster runner since I know what I can achieve when other people aren’t watching.

Have you done any solo time trials? What was the distance? How did you feel about it?