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!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
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!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
A Pain in the Butt
This week was my last week of my prepracticum, so it was awesome to get that out of the way. The reasonably tough training of the last few weeks started to sink in this week- I went into zombie-mode for a couple days, then came away from a longer run with a really bad left piriformis. I ended up taking a just-to-be-safe day off, and I think I'm all back to normal now.
The next couple weeks are going to be tough ones- in addition to needing to maintain the training load I've built up to over the last few weeks, I have a bunch of papers due this Thursday, then my job-training for the Census the week after (which runs 8am-6pm, Tuesday-Friday), then final exams the week after that. It'll nice to celebrate being done with school for the summer by opening up with a 3000 at Umass Lowell on the 15th.
I also got a chance to go to the Boston Marathon Expo this weekend with a teammate. We just happened to stumble in on a panel that included, at various times, Bob Larsen (Meb's coach), Bill Squires, Bill Rodgers, Greg Meyer, and Catherine Ndereba. It was AWESOME to hear Rodgers and Meyer reminisce about their training and to hear Squires talk about the way he used to structure workouts and why he did things the way he did. He had some interesting comments on group training and why he wasn't particularly impressed with American marathoning today. He said that while America has some very top-quality talent up front, the depth is pathetic compared to the late 70s, early 80s. As Squires observed, "There were guys running 2:12 and 2:13 who couldn't even get shoes, much less a contract! I had 2:12 and 2:13 guys paying club dues to be in the Greater Boston Track Club. They paid for the uniform and we had two group workouts a week: the speed work on Tuesday and the long fartlek on Sunday. Good things happen in a group; there were local-yokels who were working full time and running 2:15 marathons and weren't even on my varsity squad for xc. We gotta get more guys training in groups like that if we wanna see a hundred US runners go under 2:20 in one year."
All in all, it was electric listening to Squires hold court. It was also a little eerie in the sense that Bruce has inherited a lot of Squires' mannerisms (the good ones!) and points of view. It was funny to see either Keith or Kevin Hanson sitting on the floor of the crowded room, listening raptly to what Squires had to say.
Last thing before the log, I had some unanswered comments:
Ben- Do you need the late-season sharpening stuff yet? How far out is your state meet? Seems to me that it's pretty early in the season to be doing that kind of stuff. For the early and mid-season conditioning, I like to use short intervals at mile pace to start getting a little pace familiarity going, with longer intervals at about 3k type gear to really do the bulk of the conditioning word. Bruce calls these "Marshmallow Workouts." Ex- 4x200 (200j) at mile gear, 4x800 (400j) at 3k gear, 4x200 (200j) at mile gear. That's a solid 3mi worth of work, which is a good work volume for a high school guy.
JJ- Like all things, it takes time and patience. The longer you're an active runner doing training, the more lifetime fitness you'll have. The more lifetime fitness you have, the more consistent you'll be able to be. Just keep training hard and keep your chin up. Sorry I don't have anything sexier to tell you.
Finally, the log:
Monday- 5PM- 3up to Brookline with Eric after a long day, then had to modify the planned workout of 2.5, 1.5, 1 lap(s) of the Res. Instead, I did 2lap, 1lap, 1lap with about a 5min jog rest. Just not my day out there, today- temp was great, strides felt sluggish, wind noticeable but not too bad.
3000- 9:05
1500- 4:29
1500- 4:27
Solid workout, regardless, but it would have been nice to get the whole thing in. Jogged to the bottom of Summit with Eric (who had a good workout and did the whole thing to boot) and 6x15 seconds hill sprints up Summit with a jog down rest, then headed back to the TTC. Time for a down week. Tot 12
Tuesday- AM- Very slow on the River, 4mi, complete zombie mode. PM- River Loop again + 20min barefoot on the turf.
Wednesday- PM- 13mi steady, most of it with Rob, some of it with the guys- ran through Brookline on one of Rob's secret runs. This was the run where my left piriformis just about exploded, which destroyed my stride and tightened my whole left side up.
Thursday- OFF, trying not to push the piriformis or stay in zombie mode too long.
Friday- AM- An easy 3mi that only occurred because I had a class that's about ~1.5 away, I woke up very late, and had to turn in an assignment. Running was faster than taking the T, so my double was born. PM- 4 up, 8xHeartbreak with no watch, 4 down. Left piriformis blew up again, but not during the hills. It shut down exactly when it shut down on Wednesday- just about the 65min mark of the run. It responded well to stretching and didn't blow up as bad as it did on Wednesday.
Saturday- 12:30PM- 8mi easy with Krinjak, then off to the marathon expo. No secondary run today partly because I wanted to baby the piriformis a little and partly because when I was debating going out for the 2nd run, Ken, James, and Sean were leaving for McDonalds. That ended that debate.
Sunday- 11:30AM- 13mi with the first ~10mi very slow with Ken and James, then the last 3 faster, ending with a mile on the track in 5:21. Felt pretty good the whole way, piriformis didn't go at all; hopefully, I've beaten it.
Tot- 72 mi
8 runs
No strength, core, drills, or strides. Bad, bad, Craig.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL BOSTON MARATHONERS TOMORROW!
The next couple weeks are going to be tough ones- in addition to needing to maintain the training load I've built up to over the last few weeks, I have a bunch of papers due this Thursday, then my job-training for the Census the week after (which runs 8am-6pm, Tuesday-Friday), then final exams the week after that. It'll nice to celebrate being done with school for the summer by opening up with a 3000 at Umass Lowell on the 15th.
I also got a chance to go to the Boston Marathon Expo this weekend with a teammate. We just happened to stumble in on a panel that included, at various times, Bob Larsen (Meb's coach), Bill Squires, Bill Rodgers, Greg Meyer, and Catherine Ndereba. It was AWESOME to hear Rodgers and Meyer reminisce about their training and to hear Squires talk about the way he used to structure workouts and why he did things the way he did. He had some interesting comments on group training and why he wasn't particularly impressed with American marathoning today. He said that while America has some very top-quality talent up front, the depth is pathetic compared to the late 70s, early 80s. As Squires observed, "There were guys running 2:12 and 2:13 who couldn't even get shoes, much less a contract! I had 2:12 and 2:13 guys paying club dues to be in the Greater Boston Track Club. They paid for the uniform and we had two group workouts a week: the speed work on Tuesday and the long fartlek on Sunday. Good things happen in a group; there were local-yokels who were working full time and running 2:15 marathons and weren't even on my varsity squad for xc. We gotta get more guys training in groups like that if we wanna see a hundred US runners go under 2:20 in one year."
All in all, it was electric listening to Squires hold court. It was also a little eerie in the sense that Bruce has inherited a lot of Squires' mannerisms (the good ones!) and points of view. It was funny to see either Keith or Kevin Hanson sitting on the floor of the crowded room, listening raptly to what Squires had to say.
Last thing before the log, I had some unanswered comments:
Ben- Do you need the late-season sharpening stuff yet? How far out is your state meet? Seems to me that it's pretty early in the season to be doing that kind of stuff. For the early and mid-season conditioning, I like to use short intervals at mile pace to start getting a little pace familiarity going, with longer intervals at about 3k type gear to really do the bulk of the conditioning word. Bruce calls these "Marshmallow Workouts." Ex- 4x200 (200j) at mile gear, 4x800 (400j) at 3k gear, 4x200 (200j) at mile gear. That's a solid 3mi worth of work, which is a good work volume for a high school guy.
JJ- Like all things, it takes time and patience. The longer you're an active runner doing training, the more lifetime fitness you'll have. The more lifetime fitness you have, the more consistent you'll be able to be. Just keep training hard and keep your chin up. Sorry I don't have anything sexier to tell you.
Finally, the log:
Monday- 5PM- 3up to Brookline with Eric after a long day, then had to modify the planned workout of 2.5, 1.5, 1 lap(s) of the Res. Instead, I did 2lap, 1lap, 1lap with about a 5min jog rest. Just not my day out there, today- temp was great, strides felt sluggish, wind noticeable but not too bad.
3000- 9:05
1500- 4:29
1500- 4:27
Solid workout, regardless, but it would have been nice to get the whole thing in. Jogged to the bottom of Summit with Eric (who had a good workout and did the whole thing to boot) and 6x15 seconds hill sprints up Summit with a jog down rest, then headed back to the TTC. Time for a down week. Tot 12
Tuesday- AM- Very slow on the River, 4mi, complete zombie mode. PM- River Loop again + 20min barefoot on the turf.
Wednesday- PM- 13mi steady, most of it with Rob, some of it with the guys- ran through Brookline on one of Rob's secret runs. This was the run where my left piriformis just about exploded, which destroyed my stride and tightened my whole left side up.
Thursday- OFF, trying not to push the piriformis or stay in zombie mode too long.
Friday- AM- An easy 3mi that only occurred because I had a class that's about ~1.5 away, I woke up very late, and had to turn in an assignment. Running was faster than taking the T, so my double was born. PM- 4 up, 8xHeartbreak with no watch, 4 down. Left piriformis blew up again, but not during the hills. It shut down exactly when it shut down on Wednesday- just about the 65min mark of the run. It responded well to stretching and didn't blow up as bad as it did on Wednesday.
Saturday- 12:30PM- 8mi easy with Krinjak, then off to the marathon expo. No secondary run today partly because I wanted to baby the piriformis a little and partly because when I was debating going out for the 2nd run, Ken, James, and Sean were leaving for McDonalds. That ended that debate.
Sunday- 11:30AM- 13mi with the first ~10mi very slow with Ken and James, then the last 3 faster, ending with a mile on the track in 5:21. Felt pretty good the whole way, piriformis didn't go at all; hopefully, I've beaten it.
Tot- 72 mi
8 runs
No strength, core, drills, or strides. Bad, bad, Craig.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL BOSTON MARATHONERS TOMORROW!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Good Luck, Allison!
My boss, Allison, is running the Boston Marathon a week from Monday. Since she's such a nice lady, I thought I should mention that.
Anyway, I had another very good week of training. The volume was solid, the quality was good, and I only had one particularly bad run, which I'm pretty sure was due to the fact that one day we randomly had a 91 degree high.
There isn't much to go over this week, but before I get to the log, Bruce and I figured out, roughly, what my racing schedule will look like this spring. It's a pretty compact series of races, which I'm glad of, since I'll be able to take a couple shots at some PRs, then move right into summer training without needing too much of a break.
Tentative, tentative race schedule:
May 15: 3000, NB Twilight Meet, Lowell.
May 22: 5000, NB Twilight Meet, Bentley.
June 5: 1500, "
June 12: 5000, "
Hopefully I can take down some of my PRs, especially my very weak ones at 3000 and 5000.
Log:
Monday- 3 up, 4mi tempo at the Brookline Res (19:27 through 6000, added on 93 seconds to ensure I went 4mi), then a couple minutes of jogging, then 8 strides with equal jog rest, then 3mi down, 11mi total. It was fairly warm out for this one and perhaps I was just feeling the increased volume particularly, because I felt like dogshit on this one the whole way. Absolutely no smoothness at all in my stride; I tried not to fight it and just run the correct effort. Ideally, this baby would have been closer 5:00 pace than 5:15, but whatever.
Tuesday- AM- 5mi easy PM- 9 very easy, first 56min with the Lady Terriers, then a barefoot 2k on the turf to finish off the run.
Wednesday- 6PM- 91 degrees out, tried to go long and bonked hardcore. Managed to get in a very healthy 12 (85min at ~6:40 pace) but good God, I forgot how much I hate running in heat like that. Student teaching didn't help; I'm glad I've only got 2 days left.
Thursday- 3:30pm-BC Res - Beacon - Comm Ave with James, Joey, and Eric. Added on a couple minutes indoors to make it 10, then did 5x150 in spikes indoors and cooled down 5min for 11mi. Spent most of the run at a good clip, maybe 6:20s or so. 9:30PM- 4mi easy on the Charles solo after work, felt pretty good.
Friday- 3:30PM- 3mi up with Eric in a downpour; rain tapered off toward the end of the warmup, so we decided to work out on the outdoor track. By the time we spiked up and strided out, it started pouring again, but we figured, ah, screw it, we're out here and already soaked. I did 2x(1000, 800, 600, 600) with the 1000s and 800s at ~5k type gear and the 600s at ~3k type gear. Kept a continuous 2:30 jog rest in between everything.
1000- 2:53
800- 2:18
600- 1:41
600- 1:40
1000- 2:53
800- 2:15
600- 1:37
600- 1:40
Very good workout, given that I recovered very quickly in between each hard bout. The 600s felt fast, but I think that was more because of the pouring rain and winds than anything. 3mi down with Eric indoors.
Saturday- AM- 10mi easy, 68:30, with Eric on the Charles, very windy coming home (40mph gusts- it was like we were walking!) PM- 5mi easy after work with Eric and his girlfriend, Emily, who is a merciless pace pusher but an all-around nice gal :) Last mi barefoot on the turf. 36:30 tot
Sunday- 1pm- A reasonably-paced 9mi to Jamaica Pond with an add-on at the outdoor track in 59:11, then some barefoot strides and a short cooldown for 10mi. Legs were dead after this run, I was probably a little dehydrated going into it. 8PM- 4mi on the Charles solo, felt much better for this run. Foodshopping afterward, then some homework, and now a failed attempt to be asleep by midnight.
Tot- 93 mi
11 Runs
0 core/strength
I know, I know, I gotta stop talking about core/strength work and start DOING it. Have a good week, everybody! If you're running Boston, good luck!
Anyway, I had another very good week of training. The volume was solid, the quality was good, and I only had one particularly bad run, which I'm pretty sure was due to the fact that one day we randomly had a 91 degree high.
There isn't much to go over this week, but before I get to the log, Bruce and I figured out, roughly, what my racing schedule will look like this spring. It's a pretty compact series of races, which I'm glad of, since I'll be able to take a couple shots at some PRs, then move right into summer training without needing too much of a break.
Tentative, tentative race schedule:
May 15: 3000, NB Twilight Meet, Lowell.
May 22: 5000, NB Twilight Meet, Bentley.
June 5: 1500, "
June 12: 5000, "
Hopefully I can take down some of my PRs, especially my very weak ones at 3000 and 5000.
Log:
Monday- 3 up, 4mi tempo at the Brookline Res (19:27 through 6000, added on 93 seconds to ensure I went 4mi), then a couple minutes of jogging, then 8 strides with equal jog rest, then 3mi down, 11mi total. It was fairly warm out for this one and perhaps I was just feeling the increased volume particularly, because I felt like dogshit on this one the whole way. Absolutely no smoothness at all in my stride; I tried not to fight it and just run the correct effort. Ideally, this baby would have been closer 5:00 pace than 5:15, but whatever.
Tuesday- AM- 5mi easy PM- 9 very easy, first 56min with the Lady Terriers, then a barefoot 2k on the turf to finish off the run.
Wednesday- 6PM- 91 degrees out, tried to go long and bonked hardcore. Managed to get in a very healthy 12 (85min at ~6:40 pace) but good God, I forgot how much I hate running in heat like that. Student teaching didn't help; I'm glad I've only got 2 days left.
Thursday- 3:30pm-BC Res - Beacon - Comm Ave with James, Joey, and Eric. Added on a couple minutes indoors to make it 10, then did 5x150 in spikes indoors and cooled down 5min for 11mi. Spent most of the run at a good clip, maybe 6:20s or so. 9:30PM- 4mi easy on the Charles solo after work, felt pretty good.
Friday- 3:30PM- 3mi up with Eric in a downpour; rain tapered off toward the end of the warmup, so we decided to work out on the outdoor track. By the time we spiked up and strided out, it started pouring again, but we figured, ah, screw it, we're out here and already soaked. I did 2x(1000, 800, 600, 600) with the 1000s and 800s at ~5k type gear and the 600s at ~3k type gear. Kept a continuous 2:30 jog rest in between everything.
1000- 2:53
800- 2:18
600- 1:41
600- 1:40
1000- 2:53
800- 2:15
600- 1:37
600- 1:40
Very good workout, given that I recovered very quickly in between each hard bout. The 600s felt fast, but I think that was more because of the pouring rain and winds than anything. 3mi down with Eric indoors.
Saturday- AM- 10mi easy, 68:30, with Eric on the Charles, very windy coming home (40mph gusts- it was like we were walking!) PM- 5mi easy after work with Eric and his girlfriend, Emily, who is a merciless pace pusher but an all-around nice gal :) Last mi barefoot on the turf. 36:30 tot
Sunday- 1pm- A reasonably-paced 9mi to Jamaica Pond with an add-on at the outdoor track in 59:11, then some barefoot strides and a short cooldown for 10mi. Legs were dead after this run, I was probably a little dehydrated going into it. 8PM- 4mi on the Charles solo, felt much better for this run. Foodshopping afterward, then some homework, and now a failed attempt to be asleep by midnight.
Tot- 93 mi
11 Runs
0 core/strength
I know, I know, I gotta stop talking about core/strength work and start DOING it. Have a good week, everybody! If you're running Boston, good luck!
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Easter Weekend
Hello, handful of readers. The weather turned this week, and I hate to admit it, but so did my mood. It's funny what a couple days of nice weather can do to an attitude. I'm writing this blog while I watch Mr. Holland's Opus. I have to write a review of it from a teaching perspective from my education class. I'm not sure why, but it's been really tough to do schoolwork the last couple weeks. I'm starting to feel a little disconnect between what I'm learning and what I want I do. For whatever intelligence I've been given and developed on my own, I don't think I'm a particularly academic type. Reading about Gardner's Intelligences and Rothstein and Payne and looking at theoretical case studies doesn't give me any particular satisfaction. I like being able to look at a problem, solve the problem, evaluate my solution, do something better, and so on, etc. I don't really know where I'm going with this- other than expressing a little burnout with theory and background. I don't mind doing a lot of reading, or the constant flow of papers and deadlines. I like sitting down and working hard on a challenge that requires intellectual rigor; I don't like working in the hypothetical.
Anyway, no one wants to hear an undergrad whining. Cathartic as it is, it doesn't have anything to do with running!
Here's my log from the week:
Monday: 12:30PM- 7mi east in some miserable-ass wind and rain.
9:30PM- 5mi easy indoors.
Tuesday: AM- 30:30 shakeout indoors, downpouring again. 3:30PM- Bruce and I decided to switch up the tempo and intervals this week so I could work out with Eric instead of tempoing in crappy weather alone. 3 up, 2xmile with Eric, 4:43, 4:41 with an 800 jog (led the 2nd 800 of the first mile and the first 1000 of the 2nd mile) then paced Eric through the 1000 of his 3rd mile (2:54) then jogged 3min, gave Bruce some feedback, and in the end, he told me to run another 1000 at 3:00 and stay in an "easy gear." I ran 2:58 and was surprised at how easy the whole workout went. Bruce originally wanted me to shoot for 4xmi at ~4:45 or so, but I got a little out of hand trying to help Eric out. Still, it was a good, solid 5200m of work at ~5k gear. I'm pleased with the way my fitness is progressing. 3mi down.
Wednesday- PM- 8mi solo after student teaching. The kids were taking exams today, so I got to sit in the back of the room and pretend to read a book while sneakily making sure no one was cheating. I caught a couple texters but no major offenses.
Thursday- 4PM- 10mi easy on the River, got down to ~6:15s or so for a lot of the second half of the run. The weather probably had a lot to do with it! Drills on Nickerson after.
10:30PM- 4mi easy on the River alone, tough to get going but glad I got it in. Core/strength
Friday- 1PM- 6mi easy with Eric to Brookline Res and back. Took the T to the bus station then the bus back home. 7PM- At Hood Field, my old summer standby for workouts. Continuous run with a 4mi tempo section included: 3mi up, 19:46, 4mi tempo, 20:55 (5:26, 5:16, 5:11, 5:02) nice and easy. The field has seen a lot of rain lately, so I ran barefoot and got to splash through the mud in the puddles, which made it fun even if it slowed me down quite a bit. It was pretty dark by the time I finished, so I jogged a mile and headed home for dinner. I averaged 5:14s through the mud, compared to 5:22s two weeks ago for a tempo at the perfect firm dirt of the Brookline Res, so I was pleased to see yet another solid indicator of progression.
Saturday- 12pm- 5mi easy on the railroad beds, warm out. 5:30PM- 10mi easy, through some monster hills on the backroads of Derry.
Sunday- 14mi easy around Beaver Lake and Cross St a couple times, warm with a strong sun. I didn't drink enough (or anything, actually) before this run, so I paid for it.
Tot 92mi
12 runs
1 core/strength session
1 day of drills
0 strides
Getting better at incorporating at the nitty gritty stuff. This week I want 2 of each extra session in addition to continuing the momentum I've built up. On the docket for this week is a harder tempo tomorrow and then some kind of interval work on Thursday, I think. Hope everybody's outdoor seasons are going well!
Anyway, no one wants to hear an undergrad whining. Cathartic as it is, it doesn't have anything to do with running!
Here's my log from the week:
Monday: 12:30PM- 7mi east in some miserable-ass wind and rain.
9:30PM- 5mi easy indoors.
Tuesday: AM- 30:30 shakeout indoors, downpouring again. 3:30PM- Bruce and I decided to switch up the tempo and intervals this week so I could work out with Eric instead of tempoing in crappy weather alone. 3 up, 2xmile with Eric, 4:43, 4:41 with an 800 jog (led the 2nd 800 of the first mile and the first 1000 of the 2nd mile) then paced Eric through the 1000 of his 3rd mile (2:54) then jogged 3min, gave Bruce some feedback, and in the end, he told me to run another 1000 at 3:00 and stay in an "easy gear." I ran 2:58 and was surprised at how easy the whole workout went. Bruce originally wanted me to shoot for 4xmi at ~4:45 or so, but I got a little out of hand trying to help Eric out. Still, it was a good, solid 5200m of work at ~5k gear. I'm pleased with the way my fitness is progressing. 3mi down.
Wednesday- PM- 8mi solo after student teaching. The kids were taking exams today, so I got to sit in the back of the room and pretend to read a book while sneakily making sure no one was cheating. I caught a couple texters but no major offenses.
Thursday- 4PM- 10mi easy on the River, got down to ~6:15s or so for a lot of the second half of the run. The weather probably had a lot to do with it! Drills on Nickerson after.
10:30PM- 4mi easy on the River alone, tough to get going but glad I got it in. Core/strength
Friday- 1PM- 6mi easy with Eric to Brookline Res and back. Took the T to the bus station then the bus back home. 7PM- At Hood Field, my old summer standby for workouts. Continuous run with a 4mi tempo section included: 3mi up, 19:46, 4mi tempo, 20:55 (5:26, 5:16, 5:11, 5:02) nice and easy. The field has seen a lot of rain lately, so I ran barefoot and got to splash through the mud in the puddles, which made it fun even if it slowed me down quite a bit. It was pretty dark by the time I finished, so I jogged a mile and headed home for dinner. I averaged 5:14s through the mud, compared to 5:22s two weeks ago for a tempo at the perfect firm dirt of the Brookline Res, so I was pleased to see yet another solid indicator of progression.
Saturday- 12pm- 5mi easy on the railroad beds, warm out. 5:30PM- 10mi easy, through some monster hills on the backroads of Derry.
Sunday- 14mi easy around Beaver Lake and Cross St a couple times, warm with a strong sun. I didn't drink enough (or anything, actually) before this run, so I paid for it.
Tot 92mi
12 runs
1 core/strength session
1 day of drills
0 strides
Getting better at incorporating at the nitty gritty stuff. This week I want 2 of each extra session in addition to continuing the momentum I've built up. On the docket for this week is a harder tempo tomorrow and then some kind of interval work on Thursday, I think. Hope everybody's outdoor seasons are going well!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Turning it Around
Hi, all. Running went much better this week, which made it easier to stomach how crappy school, student teaching, and work is going. I don't have anything to say, really, so I guess I'll just include the log and leave it at that.
Oh, I did witness a hit and run accident walking home from work. The guy who got hit drove after the dude who hit him, screaming murder. I'm not sure if I hope chased got away or got brought to justice for hitting and running.
Anyway, here's the log:
Monday- 12PM- 7mi moderate, felt good after ten minutes and just starting squeezing down the pace. Ended up at about ~5:30 for the last 8min or so, then added on a 2:30 half on the outdoor track (78.x/71.x) for the heck of it. 8:30PM- 4mi easy on the river, felt good.
Tuesday- AM- 29' easy indoors, downpour out- I was going to do a hill workout in the morning but decided to put it off til the afternoon in case the rain tapered off a little. PM- Rain tapered off just barely, did 3+ warmup, then did 6x80 seconds up Summit Ave in Brookline (which is a ridiculous hill!) and would have died of bootylock but for a small booty. Ran steady back to the indoor track (about 8min the way I went) then did 6x200 cutdowns with a 200 jog, starting at 33 and cutting down to 30 (200 rest jogs in 50-55). Pretty solid day, short c/d.
Wednesday- 3:30PM- 9mi easy after a day of student teaching and napping through the start of my afternoon class (whoops!). Felt pretty good after the nap, felt like trash covered in crap before the nap. Ran to Jamaica Pond with a nice big group, averaged about 6:40s.
Thursday- AM- 4 easy, very stiff first 10min but good thereafter. PM- West on the Charles with a big group, was very surprised to run 6:40s and have it feel so slow. Had just enough time to rinse off and hightail it to work.
Friday- 3:30PM- Bruce took a page right out of his own book (Speed With Endurance, which he co-wrote with Bill Squires) and assigned me a "Long Run with Movements" which is Squires' way of saying a long ass fartlek. 20min easy, 15min moderate, then 2-4-6-6-4-2 hard with equal steady rest. I ran laps around Fresh Pond (~2.45mi) and ran the one I looked at in 13:20 including rest. The trail was soft and muddy with all the rain, so I'll conservatively say 5min pace on the ons and 6min pace for the rests. All in all the fartlek took 48min, or something just over 8.5mi. Ran an 11min steady cool down for a 15+ mile run in 94 min, tired but too hungry to run slower. Felt pretty good about this workout- my weak little aerobic capacity is slowly getting better.
Saturday- AM- 4 mi very slow, some with the guys as they warmed up for their interval work. Heavy, heavy legs. PM- 51min very slow, most cooling down with Peter and Eric after their workout. Heavy legs, especially quads.
Sunday- 1mi easy, then met up with Eric for ~9mi easy with Eric around Fresh Pond (17:40) legs pretty heavy still. Eric stopped once he had done 9, I pressed on and built the pace the last 4mi, ending at 6:03 for the last mile and running harder than I thought 6min pace required. Last 4mi in ~25:30. Very, very tired after this, despite a great night's sleep on Friday. Ate and ate and ate then went to work and ate and ate some more.
Tot- 88mi
11 runs
Two very solid workouts
0 core/strength sessions
0 drill sessions
Goal for next week: Maintain volume/quality but be more diligent about doing some drills, strides, and finishing two 30min core/strength circuits.
Oh, I did witness a hit and run accident walking home from work. The guy who got hit drove after the dude who hit him, screaming murder. I'm not sure if I hope chased got away or got brought to justice for hitting and running.
Anyway, here's the log:
Monday- 12PM- 7mi moderate, felt good after ten minutes and just starting squeezing down the pace. Ended up at about ~5:30 for the last 8min or so, then added on a 2:30 half on the outdoor track (78.x/71.x) for the heck of it. 8:30PM- 4mi easy on the river, felt good.
Tuesday- AM- 29' easy indoors, downpour out- I was going to do a hill workout in the morning but decided to put it off til the afternoon in case the rain tapered off a little. PM- Rain tapered off just barely, did 3+ warmup, then did 6x80 seconds up Summit Ave in Brookline (which is a ridiculous hill!) and would have died of bootylock but for a small booty. Ran steady back to the indoor track (about 8min the way I went) then did 6x200 cutdowns with a 200 jog, starting at 33 and cutting down to 30 (200 rest jogs in 50-55). Pretty solid day, short c/d.
Wednesday- 3:30PM- 9mi easy after a day of student teaching and napping through the start of my afternoon class (whoops!). Felt pretty good after the nap, felt like trash covered in crap before the nap. Ran to Jamaica Pond with a nice big group, averaged about 6:40s.
Thursday- AM- 4 easy, very stiff first 10min but good thereafter. PM- West on the Charles with a big group, was very surprised to run 6:40s and have it feel so slow. Had just enough time to rinse off and hightail it to work.
Friday- 3:30PM- Bruce took a page right out of his own book (Speed With Endurance, which he co-wrote with Bill Squires) and assigned me a "Long Run with Movements" which is Squires' way of saying a long ass fartlek. 20min easy, 15min moderate, then 2-4-6-6-4-2 hard with equal steady rest. I ran laps around Fresh Pond (~2.45mi) and ran the one I looked at in 13:20 including rest. The trail was soft and muddy with all the rain, so I'll conservatively say 5min pace on the ons and 6min pace for the rests. All in all the fartlek took 48min, or something just over 8.5mi. Ran an 11min steady cool down for a 15+ mile run in 94 min, tired but too hungry to run slower. Felt pretty good about this workout- my weak little aerobic capacity is slowly getting better.
Saturday- AM- 4 mi very slow, some with the guys as they warmed up for their interval work. Heavy, heavy legs. PM- 51min very slow, most cooling down with Peter and Eric after their workout. Heavy legs, especially quads.
Sunday- 1mi easy, then met up with Eric for ~9mi easy with Eric around Fresh Pond (17:40) legs pretty heavy still. Eric stopped once he had done 9, I pressed on and built the pace the last 4mi, ending at 6:03 for the last mile and running harder than I thought 6min pace required. Last 4mi in ~25:30. Very, very tired after this, despite a great night's sleep on Friday. Ate and ate and ate then went to work and ate and ate some more.
Tot- 88mi
11 runs
Two very solid workouts
0 core/strength sessions
0 drill sessions
Goal for next week: Maintain volume/quality but be more diligent about doing some drills, strides, and finishing two 30min core/strength circuits.
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