Monday, February 28, 2011

Keep it in the Family

Hello, Internet. The big news this week relates to me only tangentially. My teammate, junior Joey Greenspun, executed a well-run tactical race to win a New England Intercollegiate title in the mile. The time (~4:12.8) doesn't tell the story of a race that went out in 2:10.x and saw about 8 guys in it with a shot to win with ~150 to go. Once Joey made his move down the backstretch of the last lap, though, it was the Greenspun Show on every channel. I was kidding Joey earlier this week about "keeping the title in the family" since I won it last year, and the fact that a teammate won somewhat mitigated the sting of being unable to attempt to defend the title. Perhaps next year we'll a battle of two NE champs! (if we do, I'm going out fast- Joey's last 200 was like 27.9, I'm pretty sure, all in the last 135m)

My week was solid- plenty of running, a good workout, a bad workout, and an unplanned mishap that resulted in three runs totaling 18 miles on a recovery day (whoops). Here we go:

Monday 2/21- 3:30PM- 3 up, 4xmile w/3min jog indoors: 4:46, 4:46, 4:44, 4:45. 3mi down. I was just floating today, couldn't be bothered to go any slower. Tot 11

Tuesday 2/22- 10mi moderate, 62:30 with Peter and Eric, mostly. I had planned on running slowly, but we were having a good conversation and I didn't notice we were moving along pretty good.

Wednesday 2/23- 14mi easy solo around Fresh Pond 3 times from the track, no watch because I wanted to keep things easier. Verrry tired today, sluggish.

Thursday 2/24- 3:30PM- 7 miles easy including a pitstop at 5.5, 4x150 strides, 200 in 28.3, half-mile jog. I thought I was gonna to pass out on this run, had no idea how I could feel so bad running 6:45 pace, but after I stopped to use the bathroom, I suddenly felt like I could run all day 6:00 pace. I didn't, of course, but I was relieved to know I wasn't that tired, just. . . burdened. Too much information? Yes.
9:30PM- 4mi easy on the treadmill after work, felt really good but I was disciplined and kept the treadmill on 7:24/mile because the last 3 days hadn't been particularly easy.

Friday 2/25- 3PM- 4mi easy on the treadmill, started my planned tempo run at 3mi, ran a mile at 5:25 pace, felt crappy, figured I'd do it after the meet. (Day one of the New England Championships) 8PM- 3 up, 3mi tempo 15:4? (forget what it was, hit "Delete" instead of "store" on my watch- yes, I'm an idiot), 3mi down. Too tired to tempo right today, I was really hammering and you're not supposed to do that on a tempo. Long day, stressful week, yadda yadda yadda.

Saturday 2/26- 1:30PM- 3mi easy with the newly crowned NE mile Champ, didn't intend on doubling today but couldn't resist the shakeout. 8PM- 8mi easy, some with James indoors while he warmed up for a workout, last 40' or so solo on the river. Cut my planned 12 way back since I doubled and yesterday was a stinker, kept the pace real easy too.

Sunday 2/27- Ok, so here was the shitshow day. I did 6.5 or so with James and Ken on the river at about 1PM. It was perfect winter temperature, about 38 with minimal wind, but there was all kinds of snow on the ground due to a late night storm. It was well packed and not slippery at all though, so it was a nice run. Later that evening, I had planned on running about 7 miles to meet up with a friend of mine from Northeastern for dinner. It took me about an hour to get to her apartment, but I figured ah, no big deal, now that I know where it is, I know it's not much more than two miles from my place as the crow flies. Well, about three hours later, after dinner, I figured it'd be an hour on the bus to get home, 75 minutes on the T, or a 15min jog. I figured I could jog really slow and not be too affected. Well, I got all turned around leaving the Northeastern campus and ended up way the hell down on Mass Ave. I wandered around for a while before I found some direction signs to Fenway and made my way back to my apartment some 28min after leaving my friend's place. I ran at least 18 miles on the day, which is what I logged it as. I was shooting for 13 in two runs, but sometimes, things happen. In this case, "things" was my combination of confidence in my sense of direction and ignorance as to what Mission Hill looks like at night. Whoops.

Total- 89 miles

I am so very tired now, even a day later. And before anyone asks, I didn't go to dinner in my running clothes. I carried regular people clothes with me in a plastic bag, which was both annoying to carry and appreciated by my friend.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Conference Meet

I'm in the middle of midterm season, and the fact that I'm not a diligent studier is biting me in the ass right now (hence the late blog). I have a Microecon exam tomorrow that's like 35% of my grade in the class, blech. Anyway, the last week was very good to me. I got in two good workouts and a moderate long run and got to watch most of my teammates set personal records or otherwise compete with distinction. BU placed third on the men's side and the 141 points my teammates racked up were the most ever scored by BU at the indoor conference meet. The women were a little more plagued with injuries than the men's team, but I do want to mention my friend Katie's solo 16:06 win and automatic qualifier for indoor nationals. Our coach summed it up perfectly when he called it "the perfect example of mind over matter." I don't want her getting a swelled head, though, so I won't say anything further :)

Here's what I did this week:

Monday Feb 14- 8AM: 30min easy indoors, outside pants were in the wash. 3:30PM: 3mi up, 4mi tempo on a measured two-mile section of the Charles, 20:13, out in 10:20 into a 20mph headwind, back in 9:53 same effort, but with the wind at my back, 3mi cool down. It was like 50 degrees out and I figured I could run a little under 5:15s if I was feeling good. I felt so good that I was sure the course was about 100m short (200 total, obviously, since I ran it twice) but a re-measure on mapmyrun confirmed it. It felt great to have some nice weather.

Tuesday Feb 15- 9:30AM: 4mi easy indoors, tired. I was more sleepy tired than fatigued tired because the heat in our apartment obeys no commands but its own whim, and so I didn't sleep much because the heater was imitating a wounded animal and keeping my room at a balmy 50 deg. Anyway, 3:30PM- 9mi to Fresh Pond and around with Rob, felt pretty good.

Wednesday Feb 16- 3:30PM: Too much homework for a morning run (worked Tuesday night and didn't get any school work done). A lap around JP with the Melon and Colin, plus two laps outside for 9, then 4x150 and a 200 in 28.9 with a few more minutes of jogging for 10 total. Felt tired on the strides, but that's to be expected.

Thursday Feb 17- 10AM: ~2 and 1/2 to the doctor's and back for my allergy shots. 55 out and you all better believe that no force of man or nature could wipe the shit-eating grin off my face all day today. I didn't have class, it was beautiful and sunny out, and I had not yet found out about the D on my Spanish exam (no me gusta). 3:30PM- 3mi up to Fisher Hill in Brookline, 8x60 seconds HARD up the hill with jog down rest. I ran to a convenient landmark on the first one, right at the top of the hill, in 63 seconds, and got down to 57 by the last one. Today was just one of those days, so I ran hard. 3mi down.

Friday Feb 18- America East Day 1. Lots of good performances. I did 10mi easy after the meet, mostly with another redshirt teammate, but some with cooling down DMR folk, too. Night runs are all well and good, but I wish I had woken up a little earlier to run before going to class all day.

Saturday Feb 19- America East Day 2. Even more good performances, which got me fired up to rejoin my friends outdoors. 3:30PM- After the meet I nipped out for a progressive 17mi long run. No watch, but I ran with some of the mid-D guys on their cooldown, pulled Bhatt along for about 10 and a half, then did the last 6 and a half solo, running increasingly faster as the run drew to a close. Part of it was coming home with the wind at my back, but it was funny how once I got to 13 miles, I just wanted to HAMMER. I've had some trouble with recovering from runs like that, though, and I tried to keep a lid on things.

Sunday Feb 20- 11AM: Snuck in 4mi before I had brunch with my mother, brother, and sister, who came down to visit me. We were celebrating my brother's 18th birthday and his decision to attend the University of Portland out in Oregon next year. As an approximately 4:30y/9:40y kid, he's not going to be having too much one on one time with the coach, but Kev met him on his visit and should be able to walk on. Hopefully he won't run afoul of roster limits or anything. I like what Connor has done with his athletes, and I hope my brother ends up one of those scrubs-made-good stories you hear about on occasion. At least it gives me an excuse to go out and visit him and run in Forest Park. 5:30PM- 8.5 nice and easy with James. There was a tennis match going on at the TTC, so I didn't get to do my strides or the short add-on I had planned to do, but I was hungry anyway.

Total- 90.5

A good week. All my best to all you folks readin'

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sniffles and Valentine

How can I start this post with anything other than a reaction to Rich's destruction of the 4 minute barrier yesterday? Sweet Jesus, kid does a few 2:10 800s and keeps up with the strides and all the sudden he's running 3:58.2 indoors! Even stranger to consider is that the two guys in front of him are also in the America East conference. I picked a bad time to be out of shape and on the sidelines. Side note: the rabbit for the race was my roommate, James Weider, and his 1:58.1 half-mile was a personal best for him. Almost (but not!) lost in the shuffle was Rob Gibson's 14:18 5k PR near the end of the day.

My week was unfortunately not as stellar as many of teammates'. I mean, it was nothing terrible, but I picked up a little cold from my trip up to the mountains and had to take it real easy for a couple of days to nip it before it got worse.

Anyway, here's my log:

Monday 2/7- 5mi easy, partways with Matt and Eric, pretty stuffed and tired, but no fever or chest congestion yet.

Tuesday 2/8- 5mi easy on the treadmill after work, more fatigue, mild chest congestion, but feeling a little improved.

Wednesday 2/9- Nearly better, decided to take a day off to kick this thing before it got any worse. Chest congestion clear, not too stuffy, just tired as all get out.

Thursday 2/10- 10 hours of sleep later, woke up feeling like a million bucks. 3:30PM- 8mi easy/moderate, first 7 with Peter out and back on the river in around 45min, 52 min total after an easy indoor add-on. 9PM- Got sent home from work early, which was sweet, so I celebrated with 4mi on the treadmill at the indoor track, radio a' blarin'.

Friday 2/11- 8pm- God awful treadmill workout in the indoor track garage while the Lady Valentine meet was going on. 3mi up, 1.5mi avg 5:15/mile (going 2:40, 2:37, 2:32 for each half-mile), half mile jog, 4x400 at 4:39/mile with a quarter jog at about 6:00/mile, half mile in 2:40, stepped off the treadmill with a mile to go in the workout. Wasn't quite ready to push like that, oh well. Cooldown # 1 with my fellow Terrier Bree Potter after her 3k, then another cooldown after my old Keene teammate Paige's 5k. Bree didn't have the race she wanted, but Paige showed 2 weeks of running after being in a boot for 6 weeks was all she needed to dip under 18 with a 17:58. Unfortunately, Paige miscounted the laps and stopped at 4800, otherwise, she would have run about 17:52-3 easily. I watched almost the entire meet with Pete, the Keene coach. 11 on the day.

Saturday 2/12- 12:30PM- tried to do some homework before the guy's meet started. I failed, so I set out to do an easy 4 by myself. 7PM- 9 miles easy with Billy after most of the meet was over, with various teammates tagging along for various distances. Ruben Sanca was with us for a good bit, but didn't like my choice of route (mostly because I picked a route that was entirely ice, and a busted ass doesn't lead to any PRs).

Sunday 2/13- 3PM- 15mi easy, first 4 out and back with James, last part out to Fresh Pond and around twice solo. I didn't run with a watch, just started nice and easy and felt myself get going pretty good toward the back half of the run. I felt surprisingly good when I finished-- a little hungry, but not particularly tired. I debated going 17, but I had only planned on 15 and I think I'm tempo-ing tomorrow, so I decided against adding on.

Total- 61 in 6 days, one mediocre workout. I did core one day too, but, as per usual, didn't record which day. Wednesday, probably?

Anyway, have a great week, everyone. Also, I missed out on a bunch of great Terrier performances, and so I apologize to my teammates for not listing them all here.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Progress and a trip up North

Another late entry, internet. Here's what I got up to:

Monday 1/31 3:30PM- 8mi, out in 27min, back in 25:40, with Peter, Eric, and Matt on the river. 9PM- At the TTC. 2mi easy, 8x100 in spikes avg ~14.5 w/100 jog, mile total in 5:58, 1mi barefoot in the green warmup lane. Felt good.

Tuesday 2/1 3:30PM- 3 up, 3mi treadmill tempo 15:27, 3mi down. 9PM- 36min indoors with Krinjak, felt good.

Wednesday 2/2- 3:30PM- 7mi easy indoors with the gang, felt terrible, absolutely terrible. Not sure why, but the weather wasn't cooperating much. 9:30PM- Strength circuit at the track.

Thursday 2/3- 3:30PM- 8mi out and back with Rob on the river, terrible footing, but good run regardless, 59:20. 5x150 strides in spikes after, short cooldown for 9. 9:30PM- 4mi on the treadmill in the TTC, first 3 at 7:30 pace, last one in 5:50, last half-mile 2:40 or so.

Friday 2/4- 3PM- 4mi up, solo workout indoors. 6x1000 avg 2:55, 2:00 jog rest. I felt much better than expected and was pleased to get in 6k of quality. I ran the last kilo in 2:49, closing in 29.5, just for the joy of it. Otherwise, I was only looking at the watch at the end of each interval, because I hate knowing intermediate times. 3mi down, ending at Harvard to watch the Battle of Beantown. 9:00PM- 3mi easy with Joey after his race. BU lost to the Battle of Beantown (the track version of the Beanpot) to Northeastern by a single measly point. You better believe stuff like that keeps a redshirt up at night.

Saturday 2/5- 10AM- leave for Keene, NH with James. 3PM- 10mi in Keene with James, some with old teammates George and Adam. I ran James up Drummer Hill and around town for 72 minutes- we got caught in an ugly hail/freezing rain storm, and James was introduced properly to Keene winters. It's funny, on our way out to Drummer, I got a familiar "oh, shit" feeling in my stomach. It was an ugly kind of foreboding I almost didn't remember- the old "on your way to Drummer" panic. I laughed when I recognized it.

Sunday 2/6- 10AM- In-Town 5 easy (39:40) with Pete, Andrea, and James. It was really good to talk to Pete again. Funny how quickly we slipped back into old rhythms and jokes, but when you spend the better part of two years working with someone every day, maybe it isn't so curious after all. 9:30PM- 2mi easy, 4x200 on, 200 off in spikes on the track, 5:44 total, 31.2 avg for the on parts, 2mi easy barefoot, finished just as they turned the lights out on me. Looong travel day, felt a cold coming on, which I woke up to deal with full force today.

81 mi
12 runs

Back to the grind. . .