Hi, everyone- hope you all had a nice Christmas. It's always tricky training over break because I seem to have a severe allergic reaction whenever I come home resulting in wheezing, congestion, and sinus issues. Fortunately, they weren't too bad this time and I adjusted to being here relatively quickly. Christmas was good- I got a copy of Running to the Top!
Log-
Monday- AM- 29min easy with Ken, felt good. 12:15PM- Realized I was going to be late to my last final! Booked it, took the final (aced it) ran back for 3mi total. PM- 8mi easy, solo, slums to Mass Ave bridge and a few minutes indoors with Ellie. For my last run of the day I wore my new Nike Marathoners and one of the eyelets bruised the crap out of my right ankle because the shoe was so stiff.
Tuesday- Noon- 65 real easy minutes with Ken downtown and back, snowy out. 5PM- River Loop + a mile on Nickerson solo in the dark, felt really good- would have hammered if not for the really bad footing on the river paths. ~14 on the day.
Wednesday- Back in Derry! 25min up to pick up some of the long distance Pinkerton kids, then 27min of pretty hard tempo over really hilly roads, 18min down. Felt fairly good and ran at what I thought was a honest, hard tempo effort. It was tough to estimate pace on hills, but I would think I covered 5mi or so during the tempo. Chilly out! About 15deg with the wind factored in.
Thursday- 2PM- 10mi untimed over a really hilly loop. I didn't necessarily mean to not time this run, but I must have missed the start button on my watch with the thick gloves. 9PM- Snuck in another untimed 4mi after I felt guilty for sleeping in.
Friday- (Christmas!) 10AM 12mi easy, 85:47, hilly, hilly course. Dressed for the 20deg start to the run- did not expect the temperature to climb to 45deg by the finish. Got hot and felt awful.
Saturday- 4mi up, 8x90sec hills hard intensity, 4mi down. Snowy and slippery out- I decided to sacrifice a little speed for better footing- still got a great workout in.
Sunday- Noon- 12 easy with Geoff, same course as earlier, 84:45. It was 45deg and raining, shorts weather! Then watched my former Keene and Pinkerton teammate Peter Najem crush the field at the Millennium Mile (a downhill road race the next town over) in 4:01! 7PM- 4 easy with Geoff to cap off a solid week of hilly running.
Tot- 94mi. I'm feel like I'm rounding into very good shape and right now I'd like to just build on that momentum and keep training well but not at an unsustainable level.
Hope everyone's winter break is going great!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Finals Week
Hello, all. This was the bulk of my finals week (I have one tomorrow but that's it). It was nice to have a lot of extra time, but sad that all my teammates drifted away from Boston one by one over the course of the week. I'll be going home on Tuesday for a week (my younger sister's birthday is Dec 29th, so I have to at least stay for that).
Training wise, it was a good week. Mileage wasn't much, but it was good mileage- I'm looking forward to my upcoming 3k. Other than that, nothing too monumental happened.
Log-
Monday- Noon- 9 easy with Eric, out to Fresh Pond and back, 64min + strength work. 7pm- River Loop plus a mile inside, felt good, 5mi tot.
Tuesday AM- slept in, whoops! PM 9mi steady (checked the Coolidge mile- 6:18 except for Peter who has an inaccurate watch) + 6x140m strides in spikes + a few minutes jogging in spikes, 10 tot. Then walked to work.
Wednesday- PM 3mi up to Brookline Res, 5mi tempo in 26min- split 24:20 through 5 laps then added on 1:40. 3 down, then some 140 buildups in spikes. Peter and Eric were having good days, so it was tough to run my own tempo effort instead of running with them, but I think I did the right thing. Traveled to Worcester after to see about a girl.
Thursday- 10PM- Got back from Worcester just in time to take an exam, then finished my last lab of the season, then worked a shift, then came home and ran with Ken. Fit in the 7mi version of the River Loop very easy, untimed. 2deg with windchill and the wind was blasting us in the face the whole way back from the Mass Ave bridge.
Friday- 3pm- 95min easy, with James and some with Ken- did two laps around Fresh Pond (Ken did one, still recovering from his hamstring issues) then ended up with 15min indoors or so. Tuckered out towards the end but not too bad.
Saturday AM 25 easy indoors, then helped at the BU mini-meet. Mostly just worked the finish line and cracked jokes with Bruce. PM 10mi River Loop with Ken and James after dark again (too many dark, cold night runs this week!) in 69min, then 6x150 strides in spikes all in 22-23sec.
Sunday- 3pm- 25min up, then 2x(600, 600, 800) with 1:40 rest after each 6 and 2:20 after each 8, then 2 bonus 600s.
600 1:42
600 1:41
800 2:16
600 1:41
600 1:40
800 2:17
600 1:38
600 1:32.0 (31.8, 30.2, 30.0- smooth progression, felt very easy. Didn't see the sense in hammering, so to end quickly without hammering was nice. Peter did a good job going quick without racing or positive splitting, too).
1mi down, hungry. 9:30pm- 4mi River Loop with Ken and James- really snowy and slow going but an enjoyable run.
Tot 84
All in all, a good week. I'm pleased with where my fitness is right now. I didn't expect a 1:32 600 to be that easy, but it was. I'm very tired, though, and my sleep schedule is all out of whack from being able to sleep in late and all the night running. As soon as this is posted, I'm showering, eating, then bed by 1! (Which will be the earliest I've been to bed all week, haha!)
I hope those of you dealing with winter weather are coping ok. For me, the first week or two of bad winter weather always sucks really bad, then I adjust. Right now I'm definitely in the adjustment phase and I've done quite a very grumpy, windy runs. Fortunately, it's impossible not to crack up on runs with the guys.
Have a nice week, everyone!
-Craig
PS- I can't believe Christmas is 5 days away. I already got my mom her stuff, but I need to get the ball rolling on gifts for my younger brother and sister. . .
Training wise, it was a good week. Mileage wasn't much, but it was good mileage- I'm looking forward to my upcoming 3k. Other than that, nothing too monumental happened.
Log-
Monday- Noon- 9 easy with Eric, out to Fresh Pond and back, 64min + strength work. 7pm- River Loop plus a mile inside, felt good, 5mi tot.
Tuesday AM- slept in, whoops! PM 9mi steady (checked the Coolidge mile- 6:18 except for Peter who has an inaccurate watch) + 6x140m strides in spikes + a few minutes jogging in spikes, 10 tot. Then walked to work.
Wednesday- PM 3mi up to Brookline Res, 5mi tempo in 26min- split 24:20 through 5 laps then added on 1:40. 3 down, then some 140 buildups in spikes. Peter and Eric were having good days, so it was tough to run my own tempo effort instead of running with them, but I think I did the right thing. Traveled to Worcester after to see about a girl.
Thursday- 10PM- Got back from Worcester just in time to take an exam, then finished my last lab of the season, then worked a shift, then came home and ran with Ken. Fit in the 7mi version of the River Loop very easy, untimed. 2deg with windchill and the wind was blasting us in the face the whole way back from the Mass Ave bridge.
Friday- 3pm- 95min easy, with James and some with Ken- did two laps around Fresh Pond (Ken did one, still recovering from his hamstring issues) then ended up with 15min indoors or so. Tuckered out towards the end but not too bad.
Saturday AM 25 easy indoors, then helped at the BU mini-meet. Mostly just worked the finish line and cracked jokes with Bruce. PM 10mi River Loop with Ken and James after dark again (too many dark, cold night runs this week!) in 69min, then 6x150 strides in spikes all in 22-23sec.
Sunday- 3pm- 25min up, then 2x(600, 600, 800) with 1:40 rest after each 6 and 2:20 after each 8, then 2 bonus 600s.
600 1:42
600 1:41
800 2:16
600 1:41
600 1:40
800 2:17
600 1:38
600 1:32.0 (31.8, 30.2, 30.0- smooth progression, felt very easy. Didn't see the sense in hammering, so to end quickly without hammering was nice. Peter did a good job going quick without racing or positive splitting, too).
1mi down, hungry. 9:30pm- 4mi River Loop with Ken and James- really snowy and slow going but an enjoyable run.
Tot 84
All in all, a good week. I'm pleased with where my fitness is right now. I didn't expect a 1:32 600 to be that easy, but it was. I'm very tired, though, and my sleep schedule is all out of whack from being able to sleep in late and all the night running. As soon as this is posted, I'm showering, eating, then bed by 1! (Which will be the earliest I've been to bed all week, haha!)
I hope those of you dealing with winter weather are coping ok. For me, the first week or two of bad winter weather always sucks really bad, then I adjust. Right now I'm definitely in the adjustment phase and I've done quite a very grumpy, windy runs. Fortunately, it's impossible not to crack up on runs with the guys.
Have a nice week, everyone!
-Craig
PS- I can't believe Christmas is 5 days away. I already got my mom her stuff, but I need to get the ball rolling on gifts for my younger brother and sister. . .
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sorry this is late
I'm sure there were hordes of runners unable to sleep last night, ha. I had a very very busy week academically, and so yesterday I sat around like a bump on a log and fell asleep before I remembered to write the entry.
It's funny what a difference a week makes. Last week I had to take a bunch of time off and I was worried my cuboid might be developing a stress fracture. This week, I've been 100% structurally. Here's the log-
Monday- PM- River West with the lads, 61min- this run is in the 9mi neighborhood.
Tuesday- AM- River Loop, ~29min, with Eric and Senor Ken.
PM- Ran to Jamaica Pond via South Campus and the Muddy River with a solid group including Teddy and his Northeastern guys, did the JP lap in 9:19, then headed home via Marky Mark, did the Coolridge Corner mile in 6:06, then added on inside til we got to about 58min. Good moderate run, couple tenths longer than 9. 6 strides on the track in spikes after, then 2x200 with Eric and Peter- 28.3, 27.7, smooth.
Wednesday- PM- 3 up, stomach issues. 2.5 in 12:40 on the treadmill (.5% incline), stomach issues, 5min jog, 2k in 6:17, 15min down. The plan was 2.75mi, 3k a touch faster, 1500 a touch faster. With all the essays I was writing and stomach issues I was having, I was just stressed, dehydrated, and feeling like crap. I cut it 2k into the 3k and while I felt pretty miserable about stopping short, it was just one of those days. Doesn't mean anything.
Thursday- 9 solo, didn't bother timing it- ran easy but not necessarily all that slow. Didn't feel great. Finished all my school work, finally.
Friday- Faulkner Hospital loop with Eric, Peter, Caputo. Started real easy and got it down into the 6:20 range by about halfway, then just stayed there. First cold day of the year- windchill of about 15. Still balmy compared to Keene. Added on a minute or two indoors to feel better about calling it 12- 80-81min tot.
Saturday- AM- River Loop backwards with a stop at Harvard to pick up Geoff and Kevin Gilmore. They were racing at Harvard at like 5:30 so Petah and I hung out with 'em all day at the house so they could relax. Peter and I did 6x~130m buildups on the track, then a relaxed 200 in 29.3. PM- Ran back to Harvard with the aforementioned + Krinjak and ran around the fields at Harvard with Krinjak and Peter. Peter went 4, Dave and I went 50min. Watched Geoff and Kevin race a 3k (Geoff 8:41.8 FTW, a pr, Kevin 9:00.02- I think that was a PR for him but he's too hard on himself) then jogged back to the house for roughly 8mi tot.
Sunday- AM- Ran to Heartbreak Hill on Comm Ave (26min) then did 8xhills with a decent sustained jog down. Ran more or less with Eric and ran between 79.x-80.x on all of 'em. Slight tailwind. Then ran to the BC Res (~10min), did 4x20 second strides pretty damn fast (or at least, after the hill it felt fast!) and then ran home. 12 tot.
Tot- 78 mi
All in all, not an awful week of training. Bruce called the bad workout on Wednesday ahead of time, then gave us 3 days of rest as opposed to 2 so we could do a restorative long run. Worked like a charm, I felt good on Heartbreak. I'm trying to be a little more cautious, a little more conservative with building volume and intensity back up. I'll probably try to run no more than ~85 this week. Jan 2nd Mini-meet is still penciled into the schedule.
It's funny what a difference a week makes. Last week I had to take a bunch of time off and I was worried my cuboid might be developing a stress fracture. This week, I've been 100% structurally. Here's the log-
Monday- PM- River West with the lads, 61min- this run is in the 9mi neighborhood.
Tuesday- AM- River Loop, ~29min, with Eric and Senor Ken.
PM- Ran to Jamaica Pond via South Campus and the Muddy River with a solid group including Teddy and his Northeastern guys, did the JP lap in 9:19, then headed home via Marky Mark, did the Coolridge Corner mile in 6:06, then added on inside til we got to about 58min. Good moderate run, couple tenths longer than 9. 6 strides on the track in spikes after, then 2x200 with Eric and Peter- 28.3, 27.7, smooth.
Wednesday- PM- 3 up, stomach issues. 2.5 in 12:40 on the treadmill (.5% incline), stomach issues, 5min jog, 2k in 6:17, 15min down. The plan was 2.75mi, 3k a touch faster, 1500 a touch faster. With all the essays I was writing and stomach issues I was having, I was just stressed, dehydrated, and feeling like crap. I cut it 2k into the 3k and while I felt pretty miserable about stopping short, it was just one of those days. Doesn't mean anything.
Thursday- 9 solo, didn't bother timing it- ran easy but not necessarily all that slow. Didn't feel great. Finished all my school work, finally.
Friday- Faulkner Hospital loop with Eric, Peter, Caputo. Started real easy and got it down into the 6:20 range by about halfway, then just stayed there. First cold day of the year- windchill of about 15. Still balmy compared to Keene. Added on a minute or two indoors to feel better about calling it 12- 80-81min tot.
Saturday- AM- River Loop backwards with a stop at Harvard to pick up Geoff and Kevin Gilmore. They were racing at Harvard at like 5:30 so Petah and I hung out with 'em all day at the house so they could relax. Peter and I did 6x~130m buildups on the track, then a relaxed 200 in 29.3. PM- Ran back to Harvard with the aforementioned + Krinjak and ran around the fields at Harvard with Krinjak and Peter. Peter went 4, Dave and I went 50min. Watched Geoff and Kevin race a 3k (Geoff 8:41.8 FTW, a pr, Kevin 9:00.02- I think that was a PR for him but he's too hard on himself) then jogged back to the house for roughly 8mi tot.
Sunday- AM- Ran to Heartbreak Hill on Comm Ave (26min) then did 8xhills with a decent sustained jog down. Ran more or less with Eric and ran between 79.x-80.x on all of 'em. Slight tailwind. Then ran to the BC Res (~10min), did 4x20 second strides pretty damn fast (or at least, after the hill it felt fast!) and then ran home. 12 tot.
Tot- 78 mi
All in all, not an awful week of training. Bruce called the bad workout on Wednesday ahead of time, then gave us 3 days of rest as opposed to 2 so we could do a restorative long run. Worked like a charm, I felt good on Heartbreak. I'm trying to be a little more cautious, a little more conservative with building volume and intensity back up. I'll probably try to run no more than ~85 this week. Jan 2nd Mini-meet is still penciled into the schedule.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Cuboid Issue
Hi, all. Sorry for the brevity of this entry- I proved myself an impatient moron yet again. After hurting my foot last Friday, I took Sunday off, felt a little better Monday, then tried to force a workout. I made it through 6 of the planned 8x800 and averaged 2:23s with Peter and Elliot. I ended up having to take Tuesday and Wednesday off, then did a pitiful 4 on Thursday. Since then I've just added one mile a day, so I got through 7 today pain free. Everything is fine now- the trainer at the school, Brian (who is AWESOME, by the way) tells me I did something that sounds serious but is much less scary than it sounds. What's most likely, in his opinion, is that I slightly dislocated my cuboid bone, and the pain in my foot was the cuboid resettling back into position. That sounds pretty exotic though, so let's just go with "I stepped on a rock funny and hurt my foot, and it was fine a couple days later."
In terms of racing, I believe I'll be redshirting this indoor season. Between the credit transfer from Keene and my courseload here, I'll be here through the 2012 academic year anyway. Nothing is final yet, of course, but as things stand right now, this is what Bruce thinks is best. I'll likely open my racing season up January 2nd with a 3000 at the last BU developmental meet, then run a mile or two before finishing up at Valentine with perhaps a 3k, 5k, or mile. Basically, the goal of this cycle is to get some great training in, race sparingly, and really focus on taking significant chunks off my PRs. This will allow me to get another solid block of training in through March and come into the outdoor season with formidable fitness and some new personal bests. However, I don't want to look too far ahead. Right now, my immediate goals are (in order):
Stay healthy
Get in good training
Survive finals with a respectable GPA
Get my Christmas shopping done
Avoid starving to death due to lack of funds
Wish me luck on the last 3 things!
Have a nice week, everyone.
-Craig
In terms of racing, I believe I'll be redshirting this indoor season. Between the credit transfer from Keene and my courseload here, I'll be here through the 2012 academic year anyway. Nothing is final yet, of course, but as things stand right now, this is what Bruce thinks is best. I'll likely open my racing season up January 2nd with a 3000 at the last BU developmental meet, then run a mile or two before finishing up at Valentine with perhaps a 3k, 5k, or mile. Basically, the goal of this cycle is to get some great training in, race sparingly, and really focus on taking significant chunks off my PRs. This will allow me to get another solid block of training in through March and come into the outdoor season with formidable fitness and some new personal bests. However, I don't want to look too far ahead. Right now, my immediate goals are (in order):
Stay healthy
Get in good training
Survive finals with a respectable GPA
Get my Christmas shopping done
Avoid starving to death due to lack of funds
Wish me luck on the last 3 things!
Have a nice week, everyone.
-Craig
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