Hey, all. I saw the nurse practitioner at the campus Health Services on Tuesday. She determined I had sinus and lung infections and a possible one in my throat. I was prescribed a 5 day course of antibiotics and a short-term inhaler. Although Peter really wanted me to race this weekend at the New England DIII Championships, I didn't feel quite right on Saturday and decided it was better to be conservative. Also, the championship part of indoors (ie, the part that actually matters) is just beginning, and I have already raced 16 times this indoor season (including my DNF in the DMR at Valentine). I'm plenty race sharp and very fit- now my concern is just being at 100% for the next three weeks.
Here's the sad, pitiable log from this week:
Monday- off, still can't breathe.
Tuesday- off, still wheezing badly.
Wednesday- 5 miles easy, 40:25, felt ok. Meds started to take effect.
Thursday- 2 miles warmup, 8x220 on Baker St (31, 31, 31, 31, 30, 29, 29, 25) with 220 jog, just striding through and trying to feel easy. I opened up on the last one a little just because I was glad to be running again.
Friday- 7 miles easy, 48:15
Saturday- total of 10 miles jogging around with everyone at NED3s.
Sunday- 10 miles steady, rolling course, 61:13. I have a workout tomorrow, this was just a little moderate effort to get the legs going. Split roughly 33 through the first 5 and 28 for the last.
Total- 38 miles
I'm still not quite 100%, but I'm pretty sure I'll be safe with just running 60s for the first next three weeks instead of 80s. I'm still in great shape, but there's little use to being in great shape if you're too sick to use it.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Relapse
Unfortunately, this week didn't go nearly as planned. I should have known something was up when it took me a long time to recover from that 800. Looking back, I wasn't quite over being sick, and pushing two workouts and three races last week was a little much. I relapsed on Tuesday, then decided I could train through a fever, a hacking, wheezing cough, and a sore throat. The end result was a DNF on the anchor leg of our DMR- after one lap I was gasping for air, after two I was rigging, and after three I just collapsed. This makes twice in my life I have tried to run while considerably ill and paid the price for it- the first being when I passed out running an XC race my senior year with pneumonia. The fall proved to be the two-by-four that got this jackass's attention, so I'm taking a few days off and seeing a doctor on Monday. I can usually go years without seeing a doctor except for checkups, so this is needles to say, very disappointing. I also got to watch everybody and their mom run ridiculous times at the Valentine's Meet, since Peter somehow got permission from our A.D. to have our fastest guys skip our Conference meet and go to BU. Unfortunately for me, my being sick wasted that opportunity.
Here's the log-
Monday-3 easy
PM- 7 easy, bagged scheduled workout.
Tuesday- AM- 3 easy
PM- 10 easy, hilly course. Noticed in the shower I was coughing a lot, cough got progressively worse til bed, then couldn't sleep- fever, coughing.
Wednesday- 3pm- 2 miles up, Baker St- 2x440- 58, (28/30) 58 (30/28) 440 jog. 3x330 (43, 43, 42) 330 jog, 4x220 (28, 28, 28, 26) 220 jog. 2 miles down. Felt awful- I was supposed to really rip this workout and just couldn't go.
8pm- 3 mile shakeout to test lungs, still can't breathe very well.
Thursday- PM- 7 miles easy, can't breathe but fever seemed to be gone.
Friday- AM- 3 miles easy, bad news. I was running about 10 minute pace and gasping for air.
PM- 3 miles up, anchor leg of the DMR, collapsed three laps. Totally screwed us over for qualifying for nationals- now we have to hope we make the fast heat at D1 New Englands or wait until ECACs, the week before nationals.
Saturday- off, went to BU and watched.
Sunday- off, still sick. Doctor's tomorrow.
Total 47
All in all a pretty useless week. A word of a advice: never run when you're sick. It's just not worth it. If I had been a little more conservative last week, I would have been able to put together a 4:07 anchor this week and Keene would have a nationals ticket booked. I owe my teammates and coach and apology for not being more cautious last week and trying to downplay how sick I was this week. I figured I could just tough it out and run well, but I was wrong. I am, however, proud of myself in a twisted sort of way that rather than give up and jog the race, I ran no different than how I would have run if I was sick. I put myself in a position to do really well and I literally ran until my legs came out from under me. I'd have much rather run so hard I went down than jogged a 4:30 and gave us no chance at all of going.
Thumbs up of the Week: Sean Gavs, a 4:23 mile PR at our conference meet to take third. Also, Jared Samuel, in the 5k at BU. He fell at 400 meters and got trampled really badly, then got up, sprinted back to where he was before he fell, and made it to 3k in about 8:50 before the spike wounds were bleeding too much. Jared was aiming for 14:40 and I have every faith that he would have made it there had he not fallen. A double thumbs up for running tough, Jared.
Here's the log-
Monday-3 easy
PM- 7 easy, bagged scheduled workout.
Tuesday- AM- 3 easy
PM- 10 easy, hilly course. Noticed in the shower I was coughing a lot, cough got progressively worse til bed, then couldn't sleep- fever, coughing.
Wednesday- 3pm- 2 miles up, Baker St- 2x440- 58, (28/30) 58 (30/28) 440 jog. 3x330 (43, 43, 42) 330 jog, 4x220 (28, 28, 28, 26) 220 jog. 2 miles down. Felt awful- I was supposed to really rip this workout and just couldn't go.
8pm- 3 mile shakeout to test lungs, still can't breathe very well.
Thursday- PM- 7 miles easy, can't breathe but fever seemed to be gone.
Friday- AM- 3 miles easy, bad news. I was running about 10 minute pace and gasping for air.
PM- 3 miles up, anchor leg of the DMR, collapsed three laps. Totally screwed us over for qualifying for nationals- now we have to hope we make the fast heat at D1 New Englands or wait until ECACs, the week before nationals.
Saturday- off, went to BU and watched.
Sunday- off, still sick. Doctor's tomorrow.
Total 47
All in all a pretty useless week. A word of a advice: never run when you're sick. It's just not worth it. If I had been a little more conservative last week, I would have been able to put together a 4:07 anchor this week and Keene would have a nationals ticket booked. I owe my teammates and coach and apology for not being more cautious last week and trying to downplay how sick I was this week. I figured I could just tough it out and run well, but I was wrong. I am, however, proud of myself in a twisted sort of way that rather than give up and jog the race, I ran no different than how I would have run if I was sick. I put myself in a position to do really well and I literally ran until my legs came out from under me. I'd have much rather run so hard I went down than jogged a 4:30 and gave us no chance at all of going.
Thumbs up of the Week: Sean Gavs, a 4:23 mile PR at our conference meet to take third. Also, Jared Samuel, in the 5k at BU. He fell at 400 meters and got trampled really badly, then got up, sprinted back to where he was before he fell, and made it to 3k in about 8:50 before the spike wounds were bleeding too much. Jared was aiming for 14:40 and I have every faith that he would have made it there had he not fallen. A double thumbs up for running tough, Jared.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Rabbit, Run
First off, RIP to John Updike, who died recently. He was an author whom I have never read, because I'm not very well read.
Quick thing before the log- in the winter, we do our interval work on Baker Street, near campus. Essentially, giant rectangle that measures 880 yards around (exactly one-half mile, or about 805 meters). We have 220s, 330s, 440s, and 880s measured out.
Monday- AM- 3 easy w/Amy and Geoff
PM- 2 mi warmup, strides, 4xmile at Baker Street w/880y jog 4:35 (2:17/2:18), 4:39 (2:22/2:17) 4:37 (2:20, 2:17) 4:30 (2:16, 2:14). After that, we did 2x440 starting slow and gradually accelerating until the last 110 yards was really fast- I averaged 63s on those, which is great considering we were hitting 220 in about 35. Then we did 3x220 striding the first 110 and then switching gears and running the last 110 as fast as possible. I was pleased with these- I went 28s with the first 110 no faster than 15.0. 2miles c/d, hops/bounds.
Tuesday- 3 easy w/Najem
PM- 7 very slow, 52min, with Amy, Geoff, Westcott (girl's assistant coach)
Wednesday- AM- 3 easy w/Amy
PM- 2 mile warmup, Baker St- 4x220, (31s)220 jog rest, 3x440 (62s) 440 jog rest, 1x880 (2:16 (66/70- backstretch very windy)) 880 jog rest, 3x440 (63, 62, 59) 440 jog, 4x220 (1st 110 in 15-16, 2nd 110 fast) (28, 28, 27 (12.xx last 110 on this one! very gratifying)) 220 jog. Felt pretty crappy, shin sore. 2 mile c/d, abs, pullups
Thursday- 3pm- 5 easy with Wilson, 35:50.
8:30pm- 5+ easy indoors with Ben, lots of gear changes and striding. We ran 36 minutes upstairs on the jogging track but it was probably closer to 5.5 than 5.
Friday- 7 easy, felt sluggish.
Saturday- AM- Tufts Invite. I raced the 800 and for the first time in my career ran a race with a designated "rabbit" in it. I didn't really know what to expect from the 800 after ignoring the event for two years, but I followed the rabbit through laps of 27.5 and 27.3, then the rabbit stopped in lane one and I had to shove him out of the way. I ran the next lap alone in 28.9, then rigged hardcore and staggered to a 30.3 finish, which still left me with a 1.4 second PR of 1:54.12, a DIII national provisional qualifying time. It was kind of a strange race- usually in 800s, the 2nd 200 isn't the fastest 200 of the race. I think I have a 1:52 in me, provided I 1) race it on a banked track instead of a flat one, 2) go out in 55.5 or so, as opposed to a negative split 54.8, and 3) have competition and don't have to lead the entire second half. I doubt I'll get a chance to do it this season, but it's good to know it's there if I need it. Also, I pr'd in the 600- 1:23.8, a .93 improvement on the 600 time I ran at the same track three weeks ago.
My next race was the open 200- I just strode through it, not really knowing what to expect. I ran 25.8, which is slower than I usually split in the 4x4, but at the same time, some jackass from Umass Dartmouth (I know you guys read this, so do me a favor and mock this kid for me) thought it was ok to cut in from lane 2 to lane 1 and blocked me from passing him until the last 70 meters or so. Also, my Usain Bolt-esque celebration in the last 30 meters probably cost me a little time. I ended the day with a 53.4 relay split, which is pretty mediocre, but I was tired and sore and just not loving the anchor leg.
Total for the day with warmups, cooldowns, and an 8:30 pm run back at school was 14.
Sunday- 13 miles hilly course, very slow to start but strong effort by the end- Eric pushed the pace a lot going up the hills (and this being Keene, there were a lot of hills).
Total- 82, a solid week. I'll keep it 80-85 for a while. No need to do pack on the miles too heavily.
Shoutout of the Week- a teammate, this time- Pat Craven earned his way onto the Keene DMR team with a 1:24.74 600 PR, 2:34 1000 PR, and 51.7 PR relay split. Three races, three PRs, one ticket to BU on Friday to run a DMR. We'll be gunning for a DMR qualifier on Friday at Valentine, then heading to USM on Saturday to triple at our Conference meet for points. Which brings me to:
Thumbs Down of the Week: WHOEVER DECIDED TO HAVE OUR CONFERENCE MEET BE THE SAME DAY AS ONE OF THE BIGGEST INVITES IN THE NORTHEAST. Seriously, guys?
Thanks for reading, everyone- see you next week
Craig
Quick thing before the log- in the winter, we do our interval work on Baker Street, near campus. Essentially, giant rectangle that measures 880 yards around (exactly one-half mile, or about 805 meters). We have 220s, 330s, 440s, and 880s measured out.
Monday- AM- 3 easy w/Amy and Geoff
PM- 2 mi warmup, strides, 4xmile at Baker Street w/880y jog 4:35 (2:17/2:18), 4:39 (2:22/2:17) 4:37 (2:20, 2:17) 4:30 (2:16, 2:14). After that, we did 2x440 starting slow and gradually accelerating until the last 110 yards was really fast- I averaged 63s on those, which is great considering we were hitting 220 in about 35. Then we did 3x220 striding the first 110 and then switching gears and running the last 110 as fast as possible. I was pleased with these- I went 28s with the first 110 no faster than 15.0. 2miles c/d, hops/bounds.
Tuesday- 3 easy w/Najem
PM- 7 very slow, 52min, with Amy, Geoff, Westcott (girl's assistant coach)
Wednesday- AM- 3 easy w/Amy
PM- 2 mile warmup, Baker St- 4x220, (31s)220 jog rest, 3x440 (62s) 440 jog rest, 1x880 (2:16 (66/70- backstretch very windy)) 880 jog rest, 3x440 (63, 62, 59) 440 jog, 4x220 (1st 110 in 15-16, 2nd 110 fast) (28, 28, 27 (12.xx last 110 on this one! very gratifying)) 220 jog. Felt pretty crappy, shin sore. 2 mile c/d, abs, pullups
Thursday- 3pm- 5 easy with Wilson, 35:50.
8:30pm- 5+ easy indoors with Ben, lots of gear changes and striding. We ran 36 minutes upstairs on the jogging track but it was probably closer to 5.5 than 5.
Friday- 7 easy, felt sluggish.
Saturday- AM- Tufts Invite. I raced the 800 and for the first time in my career ran a race with a designated "rabbit" in it. I didn't really know what to expect from the 800 after ignoring the event for two years, but I followed the rabbit through laps of 27.5 and 27.3, then the rabbit stopped in lane one and I had to shove him out of the way. I ran the next lap alone in 28.9, then rigged hardcore and staggered to a 30.3 finish, which still left me with a 1.4 second PR of 1:54.12, a DIII national provisional qualifying time. It was kind of a strange race- usually in 800s, the 2nd 200 isn't the fastest 200 of the race. I think I have a 1:52 in me, provided I 1) race it on a banked track instead of a flat one, 2) go out in 55.5 or so, as opposed to a negative split 54.8, and 3) have competition and don't have to lead the entire second half. I doubt I'll get a chance to do it this season, but it's good to know it's there if I need it. Also, I pr'd in the 600- 1:23.8, a .93 improvement on the 600 time I ran at the same track three weeks ago.
My next race was the open 200- I just strode through it, not really knowing what to expect. I ran 25.8, which is slower than I usually split in the 4x4, but at the same time, some jackass from Umass Dartmouth (I know you guys read this, so do me a favor and mock this kid for me) thought it was ok to cut in from lane 2 to lane 1 and blocked me from passing him until the last 70 meters or so. Also, my Usain Bolt-esque celebration in the last 30 meters probably cost me a little time. I ended the day with a 53.4 relay split, which is pretty mediocre, but I was tired and sore and just not loving the anchor leg.
Total for the day with warmups, cooldowns, and an 8:30 pm run back at school was 14.
Sunday- 13 miles hilly course, very slow to start but strong effort by the end- Eric pushed the pace a lot going up the hills (and this being Keene, there were a lot of hills).
Total- 82, a solid week. I'll keep it 80-85 for a while. No need to do pack on the miles too heavily.
Shoutout of the Week- a teammate, this time- Pat Craven earned his way onto the Keene DMR team with a 1:24.74 600 PR, 2:34 1000 PR, and 51.7 PR relay split. Three races, three PRs, one ticket to BU on Friday to run a DMR. We'll be gunning for a DMR qualifier on Friday at Valentine, then heading to USM on Saturday to triple at our Conference meet for points. Which brings me to:
Thumbs Down of the Week: WHOEVER DECIDED TO HAVE OUR CONFERENCE MEET BE THE SAME DAY AS ONE OF THE BIGGEST INVITES IN THE NORTHEAST. Seriously, guys?
Thanks for reading, everyone- see you next week
Craig
Sunday, February 1, 2009
New Study Shows Poorly Functioning Lungs Decrease Performance
Hi everyone
News of the week: I was very sick from about last Thursday- this Wednesday. I had to take a second down week in both mileage and intensity, which is fine with me. I finally started feeling better by the end of the week and now I'm pretty much back to normal. The upside to being sick was that I KNEW I was better shape than 4:09 and that something was off while I was running- at the time I thought I was just nervous because I was leading.
Monday- AM- 4 miles easy with Andrea, one of the freshmen.
PM- 2 miles up, 1xDrummer Hill mile (5:48) too sick to do anything more. Got a ride back from Peter.
Tuesday- AM 5 easy
PM- 5 easy
Wednesday- 3pm- 5 easy
8pm- 5 easy including strides, feeling better
Thursday-
2PM- 2 miles warmup, 7xDrummer 400s (62s) 8xDrummer 200s (28.5 avg, last one 27). Felt awful- heavy legged, slow, rigging a lot. The hill itself was covered in 1-2 inches of pure slush, which probably slowed us down a little. 2 miles c/d, stair bounding and one-legged hops back at school.
8pm- 3 miles easy with Jared and Amy + abs, pushups, pullups. I am very weak. Amy's 5 min ab routine destroyed me.
Friday- PM- 8 miles easy, cant do any motion that involves my core without feeling yesterday's ab workout. Amy seems to think this is funny.
Saturday- AM- 3mi warmup, fartlek workout pacing Jen Adams, a 2007 Keene graduate, 16:39/34:40 girl, and a good friend of mine. The workout was 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 3, 2, 1 min hard with 2 minutes rest after everything except the 1 minutes. We did it before the Dartmouth meet started (I was there watching the Keene guys and she coaches the RPI men's distance runners) 3 mile c/d.
PM- (at Dartmouth) 2 mile shakeout, 6x100 meters on the track with spikes, 100 meter jog.
Sunday- 11 miles easy with a nice group including Amy.
Total- 72, not bad for a week I couldn't really train due to sickness. Last winter I think I only had two or three weeks higher. Not sure what I'm up to next week- I'm racing at Tufts, but we're not sure if I'll run the 5k or the 800. We'll probably just see how the workouts go and decide at the last possible moment.
Dartmouth results- A few notable Keene results. . . my roommate, Geoff, defended his mile title there, winning with a nice 4:19. Eric MacKnight, the birthday boy himself dropped his first sub4:30 with a solo 4:26 from the second heat. However, the story of the day was Amy Knoblock, a sophomore 800 runner, who roared into the lead after the first lap of the mile and ended up finishing 2nd in 5:11.98, a huge 18 second pr! Great job to Amy, who also came back with a 2:23 800 not long after that. I'm confident this is only a sign of even better things to come from her this season.
Have a good week, everyone!
News of the week: I was very sick from about last Thursday- this Wednesday. I had to take a second down week in both mileage and intensity, which is fine with me. I finally started feeling better by the end of the week and now I'm pretty much back to normal. The upside to being sick was that I KNEW I was better shape than 4:09 and that something was off while I was running- at the time I thought I was just nervous because I was leading.
Monday- AM- 4 miles easy with Andrea, one of the freshmen.
PM- 2 miles up, 1xDrummer Hill mile (5:48) too sick to do anything more. Got a ride back from Peter.
Tuesday- AM 5 easy
PM- 5 easy
Wednesday- 3pm- 5 easy
8pm- 5 easy including strides, feeling better
Thursday-
2PM- 2 miles warmup, 7xDrummer 400s (62s) 8xDrummer 200s (28.5 avg, last one 27). Felt awful- heavy legged, slow, rigging a lot. The hill itself was covered in 1-2 inches of pure slush, which probably slowed us down a little. 2 miles c/d, stair bounding and one-legged hops back at school.
8pm- 3 miles easy with Jared and Amy + abs, pushups, pullups. I am very weak. Amy's 5 min ab routine destroyed me.
Friday- PM- 8 miles easy, cant do any motion that involves my core without feeling yesterday's ab workout. Amy seems to think this is funny.
Saturday- AM- 3mi warmup, fartlek workout pacing Jen Adams, a 2007 Keene graduate, 16:39/34:40 girl, and a good friend of mine. The workout was 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 3, 2, 1 min hard with 2 minutes rest after everything except the 1 minutes. We did it before the Dartmouth meet started (I was there watching the Keene guys and she coaches the RPI men's distance runners) 3 mile c/d.
PM- (at Dartmouth) 2 mile shakeout, 6x100 meters on the track with spikes, 100 meter jog.
Sunday- 11 miles easy with a nice group including Amy.
Total- 72, not bad for a week I couldn't really train due to sickness. Last winter I think I only had two or three weeks higher. Not sure what I'm up to next week- I'm racing at Tufts, but we're not sure if I'll run the 5k or the 800. We'll probably just see how the workouts go and decide at the last possible moment.
Dartmouth results- A few notable Keene results. . . my roommate, Geoff, defended his mile title there, winning with a nice 4:19. Eric MacKnight, the birthday boy himself dropped his first sub4:30 with a solo 4:26 from the second heat. However, the story of the day was Amy Knoblock, a sophomore 800 runner, who roared into the lead after the first lap of the mile and ended up finishing 2nd in 5:11.98, a huge 18 second pr! Great job to Amy, who also came back with a 2:23 800 not long after that. I'm confident this is only a sign of even better things to come from her this season.
Have a good week, everyone!
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