Sunday, April 19, 2009

Shuffling Forward, Gaining Momentum

Hi everybody-

Before I go into the by-now routine log and overanalysis of my race, can I just mention that DIII is BLOWING UP right now? Seems like everybody and their mom is coming out of nowhere to run 14:30s or 3:50s or 30:30s. If nothing else, I've learned that a daily iron pill and having most of the people you have to run against at Nationals run fast are the best cures for feeling rundown and shitty. I've been taking an iron supplement for about two weeks now and I don't know if it's the placebo effect or if my iron really was low but I've been feeling fantastic lately and I'm really looking forward to throwing my own hat in the ring over the next few weeks. This many people running well just makes me excited to work my butt off and see how I stack up!

Here's the log:

Monday- AM- 4 miles easy
PM- 9 miles easy

Tuesday- PM- 2 miles w/u- then to the track for the first time in forever. The workout was 1xmile at 3k-5k effort, 2x800 at 3k effort, 3x400 starting at 3k effort and cutting down quicker but nothing crazy. Recovery was jog half the distance you just ran- so 800 (about 3:30) 400 (about 1:45), and 200 (about :50). I went 4:32, 2:14, 2:15, 67, 63, and 59, feeling great the whole way. The mile was a little slow but we went out very cautiously (~2:18ish) as we wanted the workout to be controlled. 2 mile c/d.

Wednesday- This requires a little explanation. Keene State celebrated it's 100th year, and as part of this celebration, the Proclamation declaring Keene State's opening was delivered from the Capitol in Concord, NH to Keene via relay. It was a 57 mile trip and different college representatives took the proclamation (encased in something like a relay baton) to the College. Pete and I had a 3.5 mile leg together in the early stages, then I had a 10-11ish stretch with different members of the team later in the day. It was really fun and very well-organized (Pete helped organize it, ha, so I had to say that). I'm going to conservatively put the day's mileage at 13, even though it was probably closer to 14-14.5.

Thursday- Travel to Princeton, 3 miles + strides at 10pm when we arrived.

Friday- Princeton Invite 1500- 3rd heat. 3 miles warmup, 1500m race in 3:53.77 (62.5, 2:05.6 (63.1) 3:07.7 (62.1) 3:53.77 (46.0). I was satisfied with my season opener; last year I opened up in 4:01 or so. I was a little disappointed with the slower-than-expected pace (I had been hoping for 60, 2:01, 3:03) but I was pleased that I felt so good. Until 1200 I was basically in a trance- not thinking about anything, just running on instinct in perfect position just off the leader's shoulder. At 1200 I heard 3:07 and thought how effortless it seemed. At 200 to go I started striding out, getting ready to pull the trigger and hit that 3:50. Coming off the last turn I was in still in 2nd, in a perfect spot- then all the sudden it was like running in peanut butter. I believe the entire Western Hemisphere passed me, including a lost-looking little old lady asking someone in the stands where the bathroom was. I guess I was only in shape for a 1400m race, haha- but that's ok, I'm chalking it up to a positive experience.

I cooled down for 3 miles and I want to say the company and the venue (grass fields, my favorite surface) was without par.

Saturday- We got back to Keene at 4am and I passed out til early afternoon. I did get in an easy 5 in 32 min, then did a good set of drills and strides. Then it was to the library all day- I was not a diligent enough student on the trip and am now way behind on my school work.

Sunday- very slow 10 in the morning (73min), lunch, quick blog entry, and now I'm back to work. If anyone has any insights on how Cicero's rhetorical style contributed to the development of Latin sentence structure, please email me and help me out.

Week total- 60. I'm not pushing the mileage this season as much as I have in the past. This season is about feeling good, not over-racing, and loving running. I'm doing the 5k at Penn on Thursday, then coming back to run in our Conference meet on Saturday (I think 1500/800? not sure yet, depends where we need points). If all goes well at Penn I might still double at nationals, but we'll see.

Have a nice week, everyone!

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