HOT HOT HEAT

Well, internet, I was late with this week's post. I don't have a good excuse, so I'll make one up: I was running through the woods last night, came across a 70 year old Brad Pitt wrestling a bear armed only with a knife, and took advantage of their mutually weakened states. After sending both of them off to the taxidermist, I called up the Legends of the Fall people to negotiate some tuition payments, and ended up not being able to write my entry.

So, feats of nascent beard-fueled excellence aside, here's what I got up to last week:

Monday- AM- 9mi steady with the team, ran early to beat the heat, which we did. 7PM- 36' easy shakeout with Joe, Peter, and the Melon (my favorite freshman) around Comm Ave.

Tuesday- 7:30AM- 3mi up, 5k tempo, 17:20, 3mi down. The assignment for today was 7.5k (3 laps of the BC Reservoir at 5:20/mile + or -) but it was already low 80s with a dewpoint around 72 when when we started. Heat + Humidity + Early is the same combo that did me in at Falmouth this year, so I simply stopped when "medium effort" we were assigned became "extra medium" to euphemize.

Wednesday- AM- Had a chat with Bruce regarding balancing volume/intensity. He suggested I keep the volume on the recovery days less aggressive, since I seem to have trouble converting training to racing at > 90 miles a week. PM- 9mi easy with Ken and James on the river, in accordance with Bruce's suggestions.

Thursday- 4PM- 95 degrees out, but very dry, so it wasn't actually that uncomfortable. I ran a moderate 9miler in 56:37 with Peter, Matt, and Billy, and was surprised at how good I felt in the heat. Class for me started today, but I only had one class since there are no discussion sections yet.

Friday- 3:30PM- 11mi easy, first 10 or so with the team. Rainy but very warm, so it kinda felt like getting drooled on for 75 minutes. Certainly a strange sensation.

Saturday- 11:30AM- 3mi up, "mile repeats" at Franklin. I put mile repeats in quotes, because Bruce had us run hard for 4:55 and then recover for 3min, regardless of how much ground we covered in that 4:55. We alternated the first (30m short, flat) mile of the course with the 2nd (30m long, hilly) mile of the course, and I'd say I averaged covering a mile for all 4, even though some were less and some were more. The team looked great out there today; we rolled in a big group most of the time, working hard but not competing. If things keep up, I could PR for 8k this year and not make the Regional squad- which would be bad for me individually, but great for the team, since last year I was our 2-3 man! 6PM- 3mi shakeout with James, "Kenyan Shuffle style" + pushups and pullups.

Sunday- 6PM- 7mi easy with Ken, again in accordance with Bruce's instructions. I didn't feel a hint of soreness, which was surprising.

Tot- 73, core after pretty much every run

I feel lazy only running once a day most days and for only about an hour or so at a time, but looking back over my logs, this seems to be my "sweet spot" in terms of balancing volume, intensity, and consistency. I don't think 70-80 miles a week is an inconsequential volume for someone who fits the mold of the miler a little more naturally than the long distance runner, so my aim is to get in 2-3 very quality efforts a week, let the easy days be, and keep my legs reasonably fresh throughout the season. I'm actually very excited to see everyone race in the coming weeks, because as I said, the way things look now, I could PR and not make the travel squad for Conferences/Regionals. If that happened, I'd be a little irked at myself, but beside myself that BU has such a strong team. I'm hesitant to share all this, lest I reveal too much information, but why engage in mind games? We're doing well now, hopefully we'll all keep that momentum going. For anyone who is racing us, we'll see you out there and see who's better on the given day!

The weather has calmed down now, and I'm off to get in a run. Have a great week, everybody!