No word yet on my bloodwork. Not sure what the delay is, but it's getting annoying. It'd be unbearable if I was still feeling terrible, but my running has taken a turn for the better. My "empty well" issues fortunately don't affect my normal base running, since normal base running requires no dipping into the well. Now if only I can get my "normal base running" down to 4:30/mile. . .
Anyway, nothing really special to report on this week. I'm waiting on my blood work, done with my Census work, making a killing on Telefund commissions, and enjoying the beginnings of the conditioning period. I'm also trying to eat healthier and less. I know "eat less" sounds stupid, but by that, I mean eating healthy, good food when I'm hungry, as opposed to eating half a bag of sour gummy worms at 1am because I'm bored. Thus far, though, I'm still less-than-svelte.
The log:
Monday- 9PM- 3miles easy, got back to Boston late and ran with Joe and James on the infield of Nickerson sans shoes.
Tuesday- 10AM- standard 4mi morning loop with a stop at Nickerson for a 30min core/body strength routine. It included a laughably small amount of pushups, lunges, dips, squats, and various core exercises. 4PM- Pretty quick run with James- ~6:20s for the 3mi out to Fresh Pond, did the lap at a good surge (13:32, ~5:25 pace), then went home at ~6:20 pace again, adding on a little at Harvard to make it 9 instead of 8.5.
Wednesday- 10AM- 4mi on the river with Ken. 4PM- Mayor's Run with Ken and James (and Joe for the first 15min), 8mi.
Thursday- 10AM- Maintenance run on the river, by myself. I spent the first 5mi waking up, then got into a really good gear for the back half. The last mile is measured and except for having to sprint through an intersection to make a walk light, I kept the pace as similar as I could to get a gauge on my effort. I was 5:37 for the last mile, so I think I can safely say I was 5:45s or so for most of the last 4mi. 61:44 tot, good strong run in rainy, cool weather. 4PM- 4mi easy on the river, partway with Ken and James, who were doing their primary run. 20min of running drills on Nickerson afterward with 4x100m flat out.
Friday- 5PM- 10mi easy on the river with Ken and the Born-Again Kevin DTP Cordaro, 67:40. Strength routine at the indoor track afterward. Legs very tired today.
Saturday- 5PM- 12 miles down Comm Ave, through the Common, past Faneuil Hall, into the North End for a while, then we wound around the waterfront, through the Financial District, and back home via Comm Ave. Got that? 79 minutes a decent clip through rainy, cool weather.
Sunday- 10AM- 14mi at a decent clip with James, 92:07. We did the first ten on the river in 66:27, then ran from the house to the BC Res and back in 25:40 for the last 4. We were 7:23 at the mile and 14:25 at 2. . . that's all I got for intermediate marks.
Tot- 78 miles, 10 runs, one day basically off, 2 sessions of strength/core, 1 session of drills/leg speed. A solid start to summer!
Lastly, thanks to the couple people who emailed/facebooked me with well wishes. It helped!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The Hiatus Is Over
I'm sure my hypothetical readers were wondering what I've been up to. You know that saying "no news is good news?" Well, it doesn't apply to a blog. I haven't written in a couple weeks because I've been too demoralized to rehash how crappy running has been going. Getting through the last two weeks was bad enough, typing it up again was nothing I wanted to deal with.
I'm not sure what's up with me, but my tank, so to speak, is empty. You know when you're about 2/3rds of the way through a race and things start to suck and you can either dig down or slow down? I get to that point, and it's like I'm stuck in neutral. I can hit the gas all I want, but I'm not going anyway. I dropped out of my last two races- a 5k and a 3k. I was running slow as death in each of them, and worse, felt more than maxed out doing it.
Bruce and I talked things over and both agreed I should get back to basics. I also need to get a little leaner and stronger- I've joked before about being a soft miler, but seriously, it's time to do some pushups and situps. I've got probably 7-8 pounds of fat on me that I don't need, despite decent mileage and a good diet.
My mileage for the two weeks I didn't blog were 69 and 61, respectively, with a day off this past Sunday. To spare a little redundancy, here's how most of those runs went: "9 miles slow, felt terrible."
I got blood work done a week ago, so hopefully, I'll be hearing from my doctor today or tomorrow. He tested me for just about everything from ferritin reserves to abnormal hormonal activity. If nothing else, knowing that I don't have any chemical problems will be a huge relief.
Anyway, I hope the end of everyone's seasons was much better than mine. I'm very frustrated, but trying to keep my chin up. At the very least, I can send a congratulations to my younger brother, who just finished his junior year of high school with a 9:36 3200, which was a 13 or 14 second PR.
I'm not sure what's up with me, but my tank, so to speak, is empty. You know when you're about 2/3rds of the way through a race and things start to suck and you can either dig down or slow down? I get to that point, and it's like I'm stuck in neutral. I can hit the gas all I want, but I'm not going anyway. I dropped out of my last two races- a 5k and a 3k. I was running slow as death in each of them, and worse, felt more than maxed out doing it.
Bruce and I talked things over and both agreed I should get back to basics. I also need to get a little leaner and stronger- I've joked before about being a soft miler, but seriously, it's time to do some pushups and situps. I've got probably 7-8 pounds of fat on me that I don't need, despite decent mileage and a good diet.
My mileage for the two weeks I didn't blog were 69 and 61, respectively, with a day off this past Sunday. To spare a little redundancy, here's how most of those runs went: "9 miles slow, felt terrible."
I got blood work done a week ago, so hopefully, I'll be hearing from my doctor today or tomorrow. He tested me for just about everything from ferritin reserves to abnormal hormonal activity. If nothing else, knowing that I don't have any chemical problems will be a huge relief.
Anyway, I hope the end of everyone's seasons was much better than mine. I'm very frustrated, but trying to keep my chin up. At the very least, I can send a congratulations to my younger brother, who just finished his junior year of high school with a 9:36 3200, which was a 13 or 14 second PR.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
When Bloggin's No Fun
This is one of those weeks where writing this thing is a damned drag. That's because I dropped out of my 5k on Saturday after going through 3k ass-slow and feeling absolutely terrible doing it. It didn't feel different than any other race day until I started warming up, but from step one, I just felt terrible. I wasn't dehydrated or unfed or anything, but within a few minutes into my warmup, I was sweating buckets and just felt out of it.
The race went out and a 70 sec opening quarter just felt straaainy. I'm afraid I can't be more precise. I traded laps with a Dartmouth guy for a while, but even then, hanging on to 72s was like life or death. I got through 3k in 8:57 and thought "fuck it, it's not worth it to run 15:10 or worse." I hate dropping out, but I'm sorry to say I'm not one of those guys who puts this huge premium on finishing no matter what. I mean, I'm guessing I could have jogged in, but to what end? I don't think running slow on purpose and just trying to finish makes me any tougher. Perhaps I'm being overly defensive; who knows.
I think I'm going to take another crack at the 5k on June 5th. Bruce's hypothesis (in general, not what he believes led to my troubles today) is that I'm trying to do traditional 5k/10k training, but that I've neglected developing my speed, and could in fact be more competitive at 800/1500 than the 5k. I think the strongest point in his favor is that I can run a much "better" (comparatively) mile than a 3k or 5k off high mileage + tempos with no speed work. Obviously, you don't change horses in mid-stream, so we'll finish out this season according to plan, but it's food for thought for next November when it's time get in gear for track.
In any event, I'm going to do my best to call yesterday one of those shitty days that doesn't have any implications darker than bad luck. Redemption is only two weeks away ;)
Log:
Monday- 7:30PM- Fresh Pond from the house with Rob, Eric, and Ellie- felt dehydrated and kinda sick. 8.5.
Tuesday- 10:30AM- River Loop with James, felt ok. 3:30PM- 8mi easy with Joey on the river, drills at Nickerson, short cooldown + back to house for 9 tot.
Wednesday- 12:30PM- 3 up, 1200 in 3:26 (splits 70-63-73, Bruce wanted to go 70-66-70, but I overestimated the 66, then underestimated the 70), 1200 jog, then 5x400 in 66 with an 80sec jog. Easy workout, ready to roll. Windy. 2mi down. 9:30PM- 4mi easy after work, rainy but warm, so I got pretty slimy.
Thursday- AM- 4mi easy solo. PM- Marky Mark with a JP lap with Ken and James. Hot out.
Friday- 3:30PM- 10mi easy down Comm Ave, through the Common, along the waterfront, and back. Perfect weather- I was dying to get at that 5k after this run. I felt ready to knock it out of the park. Guess I should have just done it on Friday!
Saturday- 6:15PM- 3 up at Bentley, 3k in 8:57, nothing after that. The DNF was compounded by Bruce driving out to Bentley to witness the ignominy in person. Just one of those days I hope doesn't happen often, or at all, actually.
Sunday- 7 easy with Ken and James, kept it short as Bruce instructed.
Tot- 69 mi, lots of thinking to do.
Hope your collectives weeks were better than mine!
The race went out and a 70 sec opening quarter just felt straaainy. I'm afraid I can't be more precise. I traded laps with a Dartmouth guy for a while, but even then, hanging on to 72s was like life or death. I got through 3k in 8:57 and thought "fuck it, it's not worth it to run 15:10 or worse." I hate dropping out, but I'm sorry to say I'm not one of those guys who puts this huge premium on finishing no matter what. I mean, I'm guessing I could have jogged in, but to what end? I don't think running slow on purpose and just trying to finish makes me any tougher. Perhaps I'm being overly defensive; who knows.
I think I'm going to take another crack at the 5k on June 5th. Bruce's hypothesis (in general, not what he believes led to my troubles today) is that I'm trying to do traditional 5k/10k training, but that I've neglected developing my speed, and could in fact be more competitive at 800/1500 than the 5k. I think the strongest point in his favor is that I can run a much "better" (comparatively) mile than a 3k or 5k off high mileage + tempos with no speed work. Obviously, you don't change horses in mid-stream, so we'll finish out this season according to plan, but it's food for thought for next November when it's time get in gear for track.
In any event, I'm going to do my best to call yesterday one of those shitty days that doesn't have any implications darker than bad luck. Redemption is only two weeks away ;)
Log:
Monday- 7:30PM- Fresh Pond from the house with Rob, Eric, and Ellie- felt dehydrated and kinda sick. 8.5.
Tuesday- 10:30AM- River Loop with James, felt ok. 3:30PM- 8mi easy with Joey on the river, drills at Nickerson, short cooldown + back to house for 9 tot.
Wednesday- 12:30PM- 3 up, 1200 in 3:26 (splits 70-63-73, Bruce wanted to go 70-66-70, but I overestimated the 66, then underestimated the 70), 1200 jog, then 5x400 in 66 with an 80sec jog. Easy workout, ready to roll. Windy. 2mi down. 9:30PM- 4mi easy after work, rainy but warm, so I got pretty slimy.
Thursday- AM- 4mi easy solo. PM- Marky Mark with a JP lap with Ken and James. Hot out.
Friday- 3:30PM- 10mi easy down Comm Ave, through the Common, along the waterfront, and back. Perfect weather- I was dying to get at that 5k after this run. I felt ready to knock it out of the park. Guess I should have just done it on Friday!
Saturday- 6:15PM- 3 up at Bentley, 3k in 8:57, nothing after that. The DNF was compounded by Bruce driving out to Bentley to witness the ignominy in person. Just one of those days I hope doesn't happen often, or at all, actually.
Sunday- 7 easy with Ken and James, kept it short as Bruce instructed.
Tot- 69 mi, lots of thinking to do.
Hope your collectives weeks were better than mine!
Monday, May 17, 2010
Whoops, Spaced This One! First Race
I woke up today thinking, "I know I forgot to do something yesterday. . . Let's see. . ." It took about ten minutes before I remembered there was probably a tiny group of bored track nerds who had to waste extra time at cracked or the failblog yesterday because I didn't put this up!
It was a good week of training and racing, as I predicted last week. I eked out a close win over 3000m at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet held at Lowell in 8:26.33.
They put the video of the race on Flotrack, which you can find here: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/237092-new-balance-boston-twilight-meet-1/334683-mov00b
Ignore the splits given, not sure why, but they were way off. From the video, I hand-timed my last 400 in 61.5 or so; they announce it as 57 with a 26 last 200. I wish! Things were windy and slow, but I'll take a win any day of the week.
Here's the log for the week:
Monday- 1PM- 10mi easy with Eric and Ken mostly, ran up Beacon through Newton and came back Comm Ave. 8PM- 4mi solo with 8 strides ad hoc over the course of the run.
Tuesday- 1:30PM- 2mi up, 2mi on a measured course on the Esplanade in 9:40 (4:40, 5:00) goal was 10:00 but I was out too fast; managed to find the right gear in the 2nd mile. Still, this was a very easy run. 2mi jog to MIT, quick bathroom trip, spikes, then 4x800 w/400j, taking turns leading with Ken and Eric. 2:13avg, last one in 2:11. I think finally getting to work out with people really helped me today, because I felt effortless. 3mi down, 12 on the day.
Wednesday- 10AM- 4mi easy with my buddy Owen, an old high school teammate of mine who just got back from a semester in Europe. 3:30PM- One lap around Fresh Pond from the house with Ken and James, something between 8.5 and 8.9. Logged it as 8.5.
Thursday- 3 up, 8x200 w/200j, 33.0 avg, nice and easy, 3 down. Ran the whole thing with James.
Friday- 2PM- 4 easy solo, muggy. 9PM- 7 easy solo again, muggy again. I was about 150 yards from my front door when a drunk clown down the street hucked a beer bottle at me. It missed, but landed at my feet and exploded, splashing me with beer. Cheap beer, from the smell of it. Yech.
Saturday- 11AM- 4 mile shakeout. 6PM- NB Twilight Meet, 3000m, 8:26.33 for 1st. Slow pace, windy day- from 1200-2600 it was truly slow going. Surprised, though, how quickly I recovered and how good I felt overall. After my race, I spent most of the evening in the booth with Steve Infascelli, my old counselor from running camp. Infa did a bangup job with the announcing, despite it being his second track meet of the day. I also met a fellow dyestatter IRL, and no one was assaulted or abused, so remember, kids- the internet is a great place to make friends!
Sunday- 2:30PM- Fresh Pond solo from the house, perfect weather again. Is this Boston or the Bay Area?! A safe 8.5 miles. 8:30PM- The standard 4mi shakeout loop solo. Sometime in the intervening hours between runs, my hamstrings and calves tightened up a little, but I'm not concerned.
Week total- 82mi
Somewhere in there, I did pushups and core work and drills. . . but for the life of me, I can't remember which day! I think I have a long way to go with core/drills- the video shows quite a bit of wasted motion in my form which I think I can mostly get a handle on with stronger core muscles. Being the softest sub-4:10 miler I know is a dubious honor at best.
Anyway, hope everyone had as good a week as I did! Next up for me is another NB Twilight Meet, but this time I'll be running the 5000. I'd like to take a crack at 14:40, but we'll see how things go.
It was a good week of training and racing, as I predicted last week. I eked out a close win over 3000m at the New Balance Boston Twilight Meet held at Lowell in 8:26.33.
They put the video of the race on Flotrack, which you can find here: http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/237092-new-balance-boston-twilight-meet-1/334683-mov00b
Ignore the splits given, not sure why, but they were way off. From the video, I hand-timed my last 400 in 61.5 or so; they announce it as 57 with a 26 last 200. I wish! Things were windy and slow, but I'll take a win any day of the week.
Here's the log for the week:
Monday- 1PM- 10mi easy with Eric and Ken mostly, ran up Beacon through Newton and came back Comm Ave. 8PM- 4mi solo with 8 strides ad hoc over the course of the run.
Tuesday- 1:30PM- 2mi up, 2mi on a measured course on the Esplanade in 9:40 (4:40, 5:00) goal was 10:00 but I was out too fast; managed to find the right gear in the 2nd mile. Still, this was a very easy run. 2mi jog to MIT, quick bathroom trip, spikes, then 4x800 w/400j, taking turns leading with Ken and Eric. 2:13avg, last one in 2:11. I think finally getting to work out with people really helped me today, because I felt effortless. 3mi down, 12 on the day.
Wednesday- 10AM- 4mi easy with my buddy Owen, an old high school teammate of mine who just got back from a semester in Europe. 3:30PM- One lap around Fresh Pond from the house with Ken and James, something between 8.5 and 8.9. Logged it as 8.5.
Thursday- 3 up, 8x200 w/200j, 33.0 avg, nice and easy, 3 down. Ran the whole thing with James.
Friday- 2PM- 4 easy solo, muggy. 9PM- 7 easy solo again, muggy again. I was about 150 yards from my front door when a drunk clown down the street hucked a beer bottle at me. It missed, but landed at my feet and exploded, splashing me with beer. Cheap beer, from the smell of it. Yech.
Saturday- 11AM- 4 mile shakeout. 6PM- NB Twilight Meet, 3000m, 8:26.33 for 1st. Slow pace, windy day- from 1200-2600 it was truly slow going. Surprised, though, how quickly I recovered and how good I felt overall. After my race, I spent most of the evening in the booth with Steve Infascelli, my old counselor from running camp. Infa did a bangup job with the announcing, despite it being his second track meet of the day. I also met a fellow dyestatter IRL, and no one was assaulted or abused, so remember, kids- the internet is a great place to make friends!
Sunday- 2:30PM- Fresh Pond solo from the house, perfect weather again. Is this Boston or the Bay Area?! A safe 8.5 miles. 8:30PM- The standard 4mi shakeout loop solo. Sometime in the intervening hours between runs, my hamstrings and calves tightened up a little, but I'm not concerned.
Week total- 82mi
Somewhere in there, I did pushups and core work and drills. . . but for the life of me, I can't remember which day! I think I have a long way to go with core/drills- the video shows quite a bit of wasted motion in my form which I think I can mostly get a handle on with stronger core muscles. Being the softest sub-4:10 miler I know is a dubious honor at best.
Anyway, hope everyone had as good a week as I did! Next up for me is another NB Twilight Meet, but this time I'll be running the 5000. I'd like to take a crack at 14:40, but we'll see how things go.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Careful, but better
Not a lot of commentary this week- but overall it was an encouraging week of training. I say "encouraging" instead of "good" because my workouts weren't anything special in terms of pace, but what's more important is that I felt strong again. I felt like I could push if I wanted to and that I was running with elements of control instead of just hanging on for dear life and trying not to bonk.
Before I do my log for the week, a special congratulations is in order for Ken "Kid Cudi" Haltom, my roommate and fellow miler, who ran 3:50.55 today the New England Championships to qualify for his first ever outdoor IC4A Championship! Ken's been on a roll with PRs this outdoor season, cutting his 1500 best from 3:54 to 3:51 at America East last week, and now down to 3:50.52. It was also his birthday on Friday, which is why he gets an extra-special mention.
Anyway, here's what I got myself up to this week:
Monday- 2:30PM- 4mi with James and Eric in the heat, absolutely miserable. 8:30PM- 8mi easy in the cool dark, much nicer out. Did a mile on the track with 100 on/100 off in 5:39
Tuesday- 3:30PM- 3 up, then a fartlek at the Brookline Reservoir- 2.5 laps, .5 lap off, 1.5 laps, .5 lap off, 1 lap. Ran between 5:00-5:10 pace for the hard parts and averaged 5:35s for 9k total. Jogs were really slow, but I was finally feeling like I could work hard without bonking.
Wednesday- 9:30AM- 4mi easy on the river, quads TRASHED. 5PM- 8 on the river solo, plus drills + abs + pushups after.
Thursday- 3:30PM- Rob's Farm Loop with Peter, mostly, some with Billy and Colin. Peter and I ended up running the last 6mi or so at 5:45ish pace. I say ish because it isn't measured, but we ended the run with a control lap on the track at 5:35 pace and it didn't feel any faster than the previous six miles. Drills afterward- quads still awful, but I started to get some bounce back in my step.
Friday- 11AM- 3.5 up to Brookline High's track, mile in 4:30, 800 jog, 800 in 2:16, 400 jog, 400 in 71, then stopped the workout because my quads were really trashed. I was actually really encouraged by this- 4:30 pace was easy, I just didn't want to push my quads.
Saturday- 5PM- 10mi solo on the river, through rain, muggy sunshine, and more rain. My patience yesterday paid off- quads weren't sore, just really heavy.
Sunday- 1PM- 9mi easy with Eric and his girlfriend, Emily. 8PM- 4mi easy solo, more or less out of my funk.
82 cautious miles- 6 days until my 3k at Lowell! Have a good week everybody!
Before I do my log for the week, a special congratulations is in order for Ken "Kid Cudi" Haltom, my roommate and fellow miler, who ran 3:50.55 today the New England Championships to qualify for his first ever outdoor IC4A Championship! Ken's been on a roll with PRs this outdoor season, cutting his 1500 best from 3:54 to 3:51 at America East last week, and now down to 3:50.52. It was also his birthday on Friday, which is why he gets an extra-special mention.
Anyway, here's what I got myself up to this week:
Monday- 2:30PM- 4mi with James and Eric in the heat, absolutely miserable. 8:30PM- 8mi easy in the cool dark, much nicer out. Did a mile on the track with 100 on/100 off in 5:39
Tuesday- 3:30PM- 3 up, then a fartlek at the Brookline Reservoir- 2.5 laps, .5 lap off, 1.5 laps, .5 lap off, 1 lap. Ran between 5:00-5:10 pace for the hard parts and averaged 5:35s for 9k total. Jogs were really slow, but I was finally feeling like I could work hard without bonking.
Wednesday- 9:30AM- 4mi easy on the river, quads TRASHED. 5PM- 8 on the river solo, plus drills + abs + pushups after.
Thursday- 3:30PM- Rob's Farm Loop with Peter, mostly, some with Billy and Colin. Peter and I ended up running the last 6mi or so at 5:45ish pace. I say ish because it isn't measured, but we ended the run with a control lap on the track at 5:35 pace and it didn't feel any faster than the previous six miles. Drills afterward- quads still awful, but I started to get some bounce back in my step.
Friday- 11AM- 3.5 up to Brookline High's track, mile in 4:30, 800 jog, 800 in 2:16, 400 jog, 400 in 71, then stopped the workout because my quads were really trashed. I was actually really encouraged by this- 4:30 pace was easy, I just didn't want to push my quads.
Saturday- 5PM- 10mi solo on the river, through rain, muggy sunshine, and more rain. My patience yesterday paid off- quads weren't sore, just really heavy.
Sunday- 1PM- 9mi easy with Eric and his girlfriend, Emily. 8PM- 4mi easy solo, more or less out of my funk.
82 cautious miles- 6 days until my 3k at Lowell! Have a good week everybody!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Long Week, Short Week, Hard Blog
Well, this week was nothing if not eventful across a broad scope of topics. Personally speaking, it was an awful week- I had Enumerator Training for the US Census (my brief little summer job) which ran all day Tuesday-Friday and killed consistent sleep and decent training. I had very little time to run and felt awful most of the week- my workout on Tuesday was crap and I got about 1500m into a workout on Friday before I canned it and jogged home. I even had to take Sunday off because I was just spent. However, I'm hoping this week with much better sleep, I'll bounce back fine.
From a team perspective, things went well. We had the America East Conference Champs this weekend at the U of New Hampshire. Since that's only about 40min from my house, Peter, Mike, and I drove up to watch. We were treated to watching Eric lead the whole damn steeple until the last backstretch, then rallying to finish 2nd in 9:02.7, Elliot come back from injury (he's done like one workout in the last three weeks, and maybe half a dozen easy runs) to nab 3rd in the 10k, and Katie make her own successful 10k debut for 2nd. That was just the first day!
On Sunday, our 800 crew ran well, with four of our six entrants setting big personal or seasonal bests. Three of roommates ran the extremely deep, competitive 1500, with Ken leading the way in a 3:51.3 PR, Eric coming back from the steeple, running 3:52 out of unseeded heat with a ~2:01 last half, and James running a PR of 4:03. Rob won a disgustingly hot/humid 5k in 14:48. To give you a hint of how bad it was, Riley Masters, Maine's sub-4 miler, had what I think was a heatstroke and was taken to the hospital. He's ok, fortunately- but it was scary nonetheless.
Of course, I'd be a self-centered fool not to mention the Payton Jordan 10k on Saturday night. I'm sorry it's being used more as a means to bash Rupp than give credit to Solinsky's incredible race. The fact of the matter is that American distance running is better than its ever been. Two Americans just broke Meb's 27:13 standard. Rupp is 23? Solinsky is 25? 24 and 26, maybe? Either way, its fantastic for American running.
From a team perspective, things went well. We had the America East Conference Champs this weekend at the U of New Hampshire. Since that's only about 40min from my house, Peter, Mike, and I drove up to watch. We were treated to watching Eric lead the whole damn steeple until the last backstretch, then rallying to finish 2nd in 9:02.7, Elliot come back from injury (he's done like one workout in the last three weeks, and maybe half a dozen easy runs) to nab 3rd in the 10k, and Katie make her own successful 10k debut for 2nd. That was just the first day!
On Sunday, our 800 crew ran well, with four of our six entrants setting big personal or seasonal bests. Three of roommates ran the extremely deep, competitive 1500, with Ken leading the way in a 3:51.3 PR, Eric coming back from the steeple, running 3:52 out of unseeded heat with a ~2:01 last half, and James running a PR of 4:03. Rob won a disgustingly hot/humid 5k in 14:48. To give you a hint of how bad it was, Riley Masters, Maine's sub-4 miler, had what I think was a heatstroke and was taken to the hospital. He's ok, fortunately- but it was scary nonetheless.
Of course, I'd be a self-centered fool not to mention the Payton Jordan 10k on Saturday night. I'm sorry it's being used more as a means to bash Rupp than give credit to Solinsky's incredible race. The fact of the matter is that American distance running is better than its ever been. Two Americans just broke Meb's 27:13 standard. Rupp is 23? Solinsky is 25? 24 and 26, maybe? Either way, its fantastic for American running.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Marathon Week
Hi there, internet. I had a good week of training, starting off with an awesome run on the marathon course early Monday morning/team brunch afterward.
Before the log, however, I have a brief topic to discuss. As many running internet nerds know, the message boards at dyestat.com are getting transferred over to the ESPN RISE format, which I believe was designed in 1993, then put on ice until now. In addition to being vastly inferior boards from a user standpoint, the RISE boards will damage a very important community dyestat has built.
Now, I'm not going to get on a soap box and try to inspire the 41 people who read this blog to make some grand protest to ESPN. The fact of the matter is that they don't give a shit about running and they don't give a shit about dyestat. Fair enough; they bought dyestat fair and square.
Instead, I just want to let anyone know who would be interested in a new running site that some of dyestat users have created a new site to fulfill dyestat's purpose: www.tracktalk.tk . This is an entirely user-driven, user-created site for the dyestat exiles and anyone else interested in running. Right now, the message board is the only working part, but the people behind the site are working on a content-, coverage- and news-driven front page, much like dyestat of old. Yours truly has been asked to become a regular contributor to the site, so once the front page goes live, don't be surprised to see a weekly column or two!
There are already several hundred users signed up for the site, but we've got a ways to go before it's a truly national community. Head on over and check things out; if you don't like the buzz there, make your own buzz!
Without further ado, my log:
Monday- 7AM- 11 mi fairly steady over the last part of the marathon course. We got dropped off by our support crew (aka Sean Gallagher, who also cooked brunch, Jeff Trethewey, my old roommate from Keene, and Chris Mercurio, a Terrier on the injury comeback trail) somewhat before the 30k mark and ran to the finish, then ran back up Comm Ave to the track house for the race coverage and a delicious brunch, cooked by Sean. All in all, an exhausting but fun day.
Tuesday- AM- 4mi easy, felt fine. PM- 3 up, solo track workout, 2k-1k-1k-2k with a 600 jog. Goal pace was 70-72, no pressing.
2k- 5:53
1k- 2:55
1k- 2:54
2k- 5:59
After the last 2k, I added a 200j to make the entire workout, including rest, 8k in 26:24 (~5:18 a mile including rest jogs). 3 mi down. All in all, a very tiring but satisfying workout.
Wednesday- AM- 5mi easy, felt tire/tight. PM- 10mi easy- felt inexplicably fantastic and had a real tough time running slower than 6:20s. I forced myself to keep it firmly out of the 6:1xs, but barely.
Thursday- 12PM- 7mi easy after a 2hour walking tour of Boston for a class, felt tired. 9:30PM- 7mi easy after work, very tired, then 8x100 in spikes with 100 jog.
Friday- 3:30PM- Squires Fartlek- I'm beginning to think these runs will be the death of me. Workout was about 20min up and down, with the hard part being 1-3-10-1-3-5 minutes hard (with the 10min section and 5min section being harder than the others) with 5min of steady running in between. In the 48 minutes, I covered about 8.5 mi, or something like 5:40 pace. Very tired/heavy today, glad I wasn't doing anything measured. 14 tot.
Saturday- AM- 4 easy solo, shocked at how awful/heavy I felt. PM- 10mi very easy with Rob and his girlfriend, Marita, who is also a Terrier-ette. We did a nice variation of the Farm Loop through Brookline.
Sunday- AM- 10 nice and easy on the Charles with Ken and James, feeling much better. PM- 4 mi easy, some with James, after work- definitely feeling human again.
Tot- 98mi
This next week will be a busy one. I got a job with the US Census (cheaaaa $22.75 an hour!) and the job training goes from Tuesday-Friday this week from 8am-6pm. The good news is I get paid for this! The bad news is it means running at 7am and 7pm for 4 days, which will include two quality workouts. So it goes. The end-on-a-good-note news is that the America East conference meet is this upcoming Saturday and Sunday, and it's at UNH, so I'm going to head home early Saturday morning, then watch the guys and gals of BU kick ass!
My first race is 20 days from today. . . things are getting close, and I'm getting excited!
Have a nice week, everyone-
and visit tracktalk!
Before the log, however, I have a brief topic to discuss. As many running internet nerds know, the message boards at dyestat.com are getting transferred over to the ESPN RISE format, which I believe was designed in 1993, then put on ice until now. In addition to being vastly inferior boards from a user standpoint, the RISE boards will damage a very important community dyestat has built.
Now, I'm not going to get on a soap box and try to inspire the 41 people who read this blog to make some grand protest to ESPN. The fact of the matter is that they don't give a shit about running and they don't give a shit about dyestat. Fair enough; they bought dyestat fair and square.
Instead, I just want to let anyone know who would be interested in a new running site that some of dyestat users have created a new site to fulfill dyestat's purpose: www.tracktalk.tk . This is an entirely user-driven, user-created site for the dyestat exiles and anyone else interested in running. Right now, the message board is the only working part, but the people behind the site are working on a content-, coverage- and news-driven front page, much like dyestat of old. Yours truly has been asked to become a regular contributor to the site, so once the front page goes live, don't be surprised to see a weekly column or two!
There are already several hundred users signed up for the site, but we've got a ways to go before it's a truly national community. Head on over and check things out; if you don't like the buzz there, make your own buzz!
Without further ado, my log:
Monday- 7AM- 11 mi fairly steady over the last part of the marathon course. We got dropped off by our support crew (aka Sean Gallagher, who also cooked brunch, Jeff Trethewey, my old roommate from Keene, and Chris Mercurio, a Terrier on the injury comeback trail) somewhat before the 30k mark and ran to the finish, then ran back up Comm Ave to the track house for the race coverage and a delicious brunch, cooked by Sean. All in all, an exhausting but fun day.
Tuesday- AM- 4mi easy, felt fine. PM- 3 up, solo track workout, 2k-1k-1k-2k with a 600 jog. Goal pace was 70-72, no pressing.
2k- 5:53
1k- 2:55
1k- 2:54
2k- 5:59
After the last 2k, I added a 200j to make the entire workout, including rest, 8k in 26:24 (~5:18 a mile including rest jogs). 3 mi down. All in all, a very tiring but satisfying workout.
Wednesday- AM- 5mi easy, felt tire/tight. PM- 10mi easy- felt inexplicably fantastic and had a real tough time running slower than 6:20s. I forced myself to keep it firmly out of the 6:1xs, but barely.
Thursday- 12PM- 7mi easy after a 2hour walking tour of Boston for a class, felt tired. 9:30PM- 7mi easy after work, very tired, then 8x100 in spikes with 100 jog.
Friday- 3:30PM- Squires Fartlek- I'm beginning to think these runs will be the death of me. Workout was about 20min up and down, with the hard part being 1-3-10-1-3-5 minutes hard (with the 10min section and 5min section being harder than the others) with 5min of steady running in between. In the 48 minutes, I covered about 8.5 mi, or something like 5:40 pace. Very tired/heavy today, glad I wasn't doing anything measured. 14 tot.
Saturday- AM- 4 easy solo, shocked at how awful/heavy I felt. PM- 10mi very easy with Rob and his girlfriend, Marita, who is also a Terrier-ette. We did a nice variation of the Farm Loop through Brookline.
Sunday- AM- 10 nice and easy on the Charles with Ken and James, feeling much better. PM- 4 mi easy, some with James, after work- definitely feeling human again.
Tot- 98mi
This next week will be a busy one. I got a job with the US Census (cheaaaa $22.75 an hour!) and the job training goes from Tuesday-Friday this week from 8am-6pm. The good news is I get paid for this! The bad news is it means running at 7am and 7pm for 4 days, which will include two quality workouts. So it goes. The end-on-a-good-note news is that the America East conference meet is this upcoming Saturday and Sunday, and it's at UNH, so I'm going to head home early Saturday morning, then watch the guys and gals of BU kick ass!
My first race is 20 days from today. . . things are getting close, and I'm getting excited!
Have a nice week, everyone-
and visit tracktalk!
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