46:14(5:11), 2 c/down with Nick Arciniaga, 14:59 tot. 15
Summary 96 miles for week, 1 **** workout, 1 **** race.Houston
we have a problem.Something is
definitely wrong I have been training without any real layoffs since doing this
race last year and I was a minute and a half slower, placed lower in a less
competitive field, in fact really the weakest field they have had in
decades.Talk about an opportunity lost.My splits last year, 5k-15:36 10k-30:31,
5:01, 9:55(4:54), 15:00(5:00), 20:14(5:14), 24:37(4:22), 29:25(4:47),
34:42(5:17), 39:31(4:49), 44:46(5:15)Every single one except the last mile is notable faster then last year
and I was falling over in the last mile last year and having a bit of a second
wind this year.
The positive.For the first time in a year I ran a race
longer then 10k and didn’t have to stop for the hamstring!It flared up a bit in the sixth mile but as
soon as I started climbing in the 7th mile it passed.It is much better on rolling/hilly courses
but even so this is a huge step in the right direction and the first solid sign
of improvement.I’ve only been doing
these exercises for a bit more then a month and injury forced me away from them
for part of that.I don’t have another
long race until October.I hope to be
100% past it by then.
What the hell is
wrong?I don’t know.I should get blood tests but I don’t have
ins. And well the couple hundred bucks I won this weekend represent the only
prize money I have won since the trials and I won’t see that check for weeks
and it will go straight to over due bills as it is.I’m guessing I’m not anemic.Its not a problem I’ve had in the past and I
take a multi with 100% of my daily iron and have been eating an avg. of two
servings of cream of wheat each day for the last 4 weeks(which has 100% of
daily dose iron) I worry that I might be getting mono again, or back or
whatever.Also I tend to put a **** ton
of sugar on some foods, I mean a stunning shocking amount. Really I can’t tell
you how much.I love sweet stuff and I
have been looking at it as a cheap way of getting enough calories in.But at the race I talked to an Australian
lady who had similar habits and gave herself diabetes and it was part of all
sorts of other problems.Anyway it
scared the hell out of me, mainly because I’m a bit of a hypochondriac.So I’m going to stop doing that.I also may be suffering from a lack of
protein.I try to eat enough but meat is
expensive.I try to make up for it by
eating yogurt and eggs but if I had to guess I’m short of what I should be
getting on the avg. day.
So what to do?Well I’ve decided to take some rest and try
to get my legs under me.Mostly I’m
afraid of mono and chronic fatigue syndrome. So next week will be an end of
season rest week, the next week much the same.I still plan on doing the Bix 7 if rest is the cure I should at least be
better then the last couple of weeks by then.Also no added sugar and try to up the protein.
Finally I’m looking
for ideas.I really would like to get my
blood tested, not just right now but every couple of weeks.I tried to getsomething going with the UML ep department,
seeing if someone could do it as a project or unpaid internship( in charge of
weekly medical testing and blood levelmonitoring for 8th ranked marathoner in the USA seemed like a
good resume builder to me) but they didn’t go for it.Does anyone have any ideas of how to get
someone to sign on for this?Also I’d
love to get my Vo2 max and aerobic threshold tested but I can’t even find
anyone who does that in the area, at least not a running test.Any ideas (I’ll do the leg work) would be
appreciated.I’m pretty good about
asking for stuff so they can be pretty outlandish; I’m willing to at least
check it out.Thanks.
Monday AM rd. 6 solo shakeout, 43:11, very tired tot. 6
PM rd.
6 w/ ruben( who was doing 10) 43:59 shakeout, tot. 6
XT Fig.
8 backwards running 3x2mins low leg stuff
Tuesday Noon 3+ w/up, 24:59, 400m in 79, strides, 3200m on
track(9:42.2)first 1600 in
5:02.1 then shift and ran 4:40.1, 3+ c/down 23:45,tot. 9
PM
55:16 mostly with gary, started w/ uml kids, at
Maudsley in Newburyport.
Tot. 7+
Wednesday Travel to Atlanta
took day off in hopes of getting legs under me for race, it
didn’t work
Thursday AM rd. 7+, 53:55 w/ Josh Moen, Kyle O’Brien, Luke
Humphrey(I might be
misspelling that), and a local guy they knew who’s name I have
forgotten,
most on the Peachtree course, then took MARTA back home tot. 7
Friday 4:30AM 10 min shakeout with Moen
AM 18 min
w/up 80 second effort strides drills ect.. race Peachtree 10k, very bad,
31:24,
actually got beat by first master, Sean Wade, the mans a real good
master
but there is no excuse for that. Splits 4:43, 9:28, 14:15, 19:22, 24:58,
30:10.tough course particularly with the new hilly
finish.30th place, again
justawful.I did beat Rodgers Rop though who is a big hero of mine. 13:56
c/down tot. 11
PM rd.
53:39, hilly, tot. 8+
Saturday 8AM very hilly 10++, in 1:08:03(just went out 35
mins) tot. 10+
Travel to boston
6PM rd.
6 solo shakeout in Lowell, 43:31 tot. 6
Sunday 1PM lake rd. 10, 1:07:50, stupid tired,
XT 4x2
mins backward fig.8 running
Summary 81 miles for the week, 1 sub par workout, 1 ****ty
race.Something is not right and I
really don’t know what it is but I did 80 miles this week and my body feels
like I did 160.Josh Moen is my new
hero, this is the second straight race I’ve roomed with him and I’m telling you
he rocks.So he is in the AtlantaAirport tram and the doors don’t reopen
if they close on you, they just force shut and there are like a million signs
telling you this.But this women decides
to push it and sees the doors closing and leads with her stroller to get in and
sure enough the doors close on her arms and instantly the doors are closed and
the baby and stroller are on the tram and mom isn’t.So Josh leaps to action giving the woman one
of his huge smiles and a solid double thumbs up he takes possession of the
child.And she sprints for the next
station, Josh keeps the kid entertained, gets off with his new found little one
at the next stop and returns the tike to a very stressed out mom.All in days work for the man from Iowa.His reward for this kind act and his crazy
friendliness was that he got into a conversation with a very loud and very
racist women on the MARTA on his way to the hotel and thought he might get
killed.Again all in days work for
Division 3’s greatest son.
But for real this
kid is one of the US’s
best road runners he will mix it up with anyone and is always in the race from
the gun and very often in it at the end.
Quote of the week “Of course I’m going out in the lead pack
that’s why I like running on the roads the only tactic is to run with the lead
and go for the win”Josh Moen (he may
not have actually said this in so many words but its close enough)
This past week was the 26th week of this year of
2008 we are living in.The half way
point!Scary, think back to all those
things you wanted to do this year, have you done half of them yet? Well get too
it!But I digress, the reason for this
is that it seems like a good time to assess how things are going and to tie it
together and get a little perspective on all this running I do.
First the races,
why? Well that’s what all the running is for to race well so it’s the most important
measure of how things are going
January – Houston
half- 1:08, Grade F. the time really tells the story here, chicks run faster
then that with the regularity.Not cool
ran ok but not well to 5 miles 24:17, then hammy went and I basically limped in
cause it would have been weird to run the course backwards and the course was
theonly way I knew how to get back to
my hotel.
March
USATF 8k champs 25th place 23:55, Grade C+, I ran
like **** cause I overestimated myself but for a tough little course and going
out too fast that’s not a horrible time.That said 25th!!! Listen this ain’t world XC or anything
there is no reason to finish 25th!
April
Cherry Blossom 10 mile, DNF, Grade F, well I had a great
first mile and a half, bob. What can I say the hammy went it sucked.Nothing worse then a DNF, except maybe a DNF
in a race where they paid for an airline ticket and a hotel for you to be
there.
George Davis Invitational Track 2mile, 9:08, 3rd,
Grade C-, not a bad effort.But I lost
to college kids and was only 6 seconds faster then my 2 miles split in NY for
the 8k and there were hills there.Pace
sense was poor and just wasn’t ready to race this short.Didn’t run with enough pride either.
May
RRCA 5k National Championship 5k, 14:52, 1st,
Grade B, I did what I could in this one there were really only two solid
runners in the race and I beat the other kid.I was supposed to and I did.I
pushed ok for running mostly solo. I struggled with the corners, so many
corners!Not a great race by any stretch
but I did what I could and should have with it.
Boston High Performance Track 3000m, 8:22, 1st,
Grade B+, Not a great time but I really raced strongly and felt real good
running the last 2k in 5:30, which is quick for me particularly from the
front.This felt like a real good
stepping stone race, but I tweaked my Achilles and it ended up being a stepping
stone to 4 weeks of 10 mile runs at 7min pace.
June
Steamboat 4 mile, 19:14, 11th place, Grade C,
well I ran hard.I don’t have much else
to say about this one it was probably doomed from before the gun. Hey thems the
breaks sometimes
Newton
10k(short), 28:38, 3rd, Grade D, lacked focus, intensity, or
energy.I do enjoy arguing with cops
though.Tough to gauge with no mile
markers and not running the real distance I’m left not knowing the pace I was
running, I lost by a lot and didn’t run with race intensity, I hope it was for
mental and not physical reasons.
Best Race BHP 3000m
Worst Race Cherry Blossom 10 mile
PR’s none
Close calls, 23:55 at 8k, my best is 23:26 but on a much
faster course, 8:22 for 3000m, my best is 8:20 from college.
Next up TRAINING!!
First the numbers 2652 miles in 26 weeks for an avg. of 102
17 weeks of more then 100 miles (that leaves 9 less then 100
weeks)
High week 141
Low week 29
Most consecutive weeks over 100, 8
Best stretch 14 of 15 over 100
Now the problems, a lot of low quality miles there a lot of
banged up jogging with no quality.No
real tempo work at all because of hammy. That said miles are miles and for long
term improvement they are always good news.
My objective
review.
First the negatives (so I can finish with the positives and
head into the second half of the year on an up note)I was banged up and raced really poorly.The hammy problem has been the real standard
problem it hurts training, though it doesn’t hurt.But it really screws racing anything much
over 10k which basically is everything I’m good at.Now I could have, and in hind site should
have, focused on the short stuff this winter and spring and most likely would
have ended up weathering the hammy a lot more successfully if I had.But I really thought I would get it under
control sooner.But the last couple of
weeks for the first time I have seen slight improvements and I hope that these
are the beginning of the long road back to the marathon.
Now I also had
tendonitis in my right knee, which I ran through painfully but
successfully.That was followed by a
bruised metatarsal head in my left foot.Again I ran through it again successfully, at a few points I was pretty
convinced it must be a stress fracture but in the end it came around and with
no time off.That was followed by the
peronous/heel thing that I’m just getting over now. The heal hurt me mostly
because of timing but which I have hopefully behind me.This one I sort of ran through, I seriously
reduced miles.Hopefully I have taken a
new will to do the small stuff as far as cross training to stay healthy and
avoid these types of problems down the road.
The long and the
short is I ran like **** and trained acceptably but not well.
BUT…..
The positives
But I got through
it.I trained through it.I lost no time.I’m tired and running like ****.But I’m strong as hell and I have this
monster fitness in me just waiting to be unlocked.I’m getting better I really think I got the
hammy on the run for the first time in 18 months and I feel that though my next
few races may be piss poor it will all be ok because I am really only 6 good
weeks from the best races of my life, why?Because I have persevered and refused to give in to the pain, to the
desire to just quit, to the easy road.I
am ready and able and I’m smarter for it.I believe that when I look back on my career, hopefully many years from
now, that 2008 will be the watershed mark.It will be the year that made me.I may even race well this year, I may not.But I believe that surviving this past 26
weeks and really make that 32 weeks to include my training at the end of 2007
and the lessons I have learned will be key to the best racing of my life.The hammy will heal and I will train better,
I will do a better job of taking care of myself and I will be better.
Thursday AM 24:40 w/up with gary, lyra, Ivory, and the X-Factor. Strides,
4x mile at
mines falls with 2 mins rest, slightly up hill(very slightly) on 1 and
3,
slightly down on 2 and 4, (4:55.8, 4:49.9, 4:54.8, 4:49.3), ****ing
ugly.
13:54 c/down tot. 10
XT
Hammy stuff
5PM
rd. 6 solo shakeout, 46:09. tot. 6
Friday Noon Methuen
rd. 10 solo, 1:04:44, again felt real easy tot. 10
XT low leg
stuff
6PM rd. 6
solo shakeout, 43:43 tot.6
Saturday AM rd. 6 solo shakeout, 44:38 tot. 6
XT
hiked up and down mnt. Watchusett, about 2 hours of hiking
PM rd.
6 solo shakeout, 45:48 tot. 6
Sunday Noon 3 w/up with Casey Moulton, ton of strides and
jogging around because the
race started a half hour late, race 10k in Newton, 3rd place (Dylan Wykes
1st, Ethiopian from Westchester
2nd) 28:38, it was a cluster F. we did the
first 5k loop in 12:40 or so, as you may have guessed the cops led us
the
wrong way but the kicker was they kept leading us off course to
boot.I
mean if you going to take us the wrong way, that’s bad enough but
couldn’t you do it with some confidence.I should also note that I got in a
bit of shouting match with one of the cops
on a motorcycle during the race,
I’m a classy fellow what can I say. 3c/down with Casey tot. 13
Summary 107 miles for the week.Ok both workouts were **** and I ran like
16:00 for the real 5k in the race, it was humid but it wasn’t that humid.Basically I’ve been **** since my four low
weeks, I’m guessing its from ramping right into the race I just got myself in a
whole lot of tired.What ever it is it
doesn’t bode well for Peachtree or my beloved Boilermaker.But I had no hammy problems in the
progression run so that’s a little something.
Quote of the week “Son we are here to keep you from getting
hit, that’s it!”Newton Cop shortly
after a guy standing next to him at the start said he would be our police
escorts to show us the course and shortly before hestopped to talk to a cop in a cruiser and
left us to run out into traffic on our own. In the interest of fair reporting
it should be noted this was in response to me yelling “what the ****” at
him.
Finally Apology of the week Sorry for using the f word twice
this week. If it really pisses you off you should complain.
XT 32
mins aqua jogging, hammy stuff, low leg stuff(bare foot shin drills,
perounous exercises w/ rubber band)
Tuesday 6PM woods 10 w/ uml guys and Kevin Alliette,
1;07:15, strides after tot. 11
XT
hammy, low leg and core
Wednesday AM woods 10 solo, 1:07:27, tot. 10
PM
woods 5 solo shakeout, 38:32 tot. 5
Thursday AM woods 10 solo, 1:09:17, rolled left ankle, tot.
10
PM
woods 6 w/ gary, 44:48 tot. 6
XT low
leg stuff
Friday AM mika for massage and treatment
1PM woods
10 solo, legs still tired/heavy, 1:08:42 tot. 10
5PM woods
6 solo shakeout, 44:32, did backward fig. 8 running after tot. 6
XT 5x1min
fig.8 backward running 1min rest
Saturday AM woods 10 solo, legs tired, 1:07:25 tot. 10
PM
woods 6, no time, very tired, tot. 6
Sunday AM Methuen
rd. 10 solo, 1:05:09, legs tired, stridesafter tot. 11
XT low
leg, hammy and core
PM rd. 6
solo, 41:46 tot. 6
Summary 101 miles for the week, very tired really struggled
to recover from the race felt like I did a half marathon not a 4 mile, I’m sure
the fast 12 the day after didn’t help.But injuries feel good so all is well.
got lucky cause it went out real slow but man I struggled anyway but
heel
was fine, splits 4:44.0, 9:26.1(4:42.1), 14:21.8(4:55.8), 5k-14:52,
19:14(4:53), 3++ cool down tot. 11
Sunday AM 12 mile “boredom run” in Peoria
with Illinois
valley striders and elite field
from
race, 1:08:39 tot. 12
Summary 62 miles for week, 1 poor race, but I’m happy with
it. I just wanted to get through the race healthy and I did.I’m pretty sore now but it was a step forward
XT
Swedish ball hammy extentsions and core, all I can do with the heal for the
Hammy
Tuesday AM woods 10 solo, 1:10:40, tot. 10
XT 90
mins bikram yoga
Wednesday AM woods 8 w/ gary just under an hour, tot. 8
XT
90 mins bikram yoga
Thursday AM the finn for massage/treatment/ect..
PM
woods 10, 1:11:16 tot. 10
XT 90
mins bikram yoga
Friday AM woods 10, 1:12:08 tot. 10
Saturday PM woods 10, 1:10:48 tot. 10
Sunday Noon woods 10, 1:13:08 tot. 10
XT
Swedish ball hammy extension curls ect..
Summary 68 miles for the week, heel not any better the yoga
helped at first but then didn’t, second trip to the finn didn’t seem to do much
good.Not real sure whats up.Was supposed to race but I’ll pulled out of
it.Not the best week all around.I’m thinking of getting a job.
Quote of the week“Beware the
lollipop of mediocrity - lick it once and you suck forever.”
Summary 56 miles for week, heel hurts and the reduced
running doesn’t seem to be doing the hammy any good which is to say its been
bothering me which is unusual. Rough week hopefully I can get this heel thing
squared away this week.
2:55.2(2:17.3), 3.5 cool down, 24:49 good workout it was really windy
tot.12+
11AM
core work and hammy work and some drills at Focus Fitness plus a half
mile on treadmill
PM At
mines Falls, 7.5 easy, 54:05, into 4k hard(12:18.7) over rolling figure 8
loop, and a mile easy back to car after in 7:10, tot. 11
Wednesday AM woods 6 shakeout, heel very tight, 46:39, tot.6
PM
off for heel
Thursday Off heel
Friday Off heel saw mika for heel and hammy
Saturday AM woods 5 solo easy, 38:58 tot.5
Sunday AM woods 6 solo, 44:45 tot. 6
Summary 53 miles for the week, two good workouts on Tuesday
but the heel sucks.It had been tight
for a few days but got real painful.Basically it’s the peroneal connection point and it being so ****ed up
has caused a little problem in the Achilles because of favoring and all
that.So I had to drop the 5k on
Saturday and won’t be working out for probably a week at the rate things are
going.So that’s a **** week, but
hopefully I’ll get on track in a week or so.
Monday AM woods 6 shakeout, 48:24, 8x100m strides on turf
tot. 7
PM
woods 6+ solo shakeout, no time forgot watch tot. 6
XT
hammy exercises
Tuesday AM 3 ¼ warm up extremely windy!!, 400m in 80,
strides, 4k on track in
12:30.4,
first 2k at mp type effort, 6:39.9(again it was crazy windy) then
shifted
gears and ran last 2k in 5:50.5(70,2:19, 3:30, 4:40) absolutely all out
real
good effort. 3 ¾ cool down, 28:26 tot. 10
3:30PM
woods 8 solo, 50:23, easy tot.8
6PM
exam by Dr. Tom Michaud to see if I need orthotics for the hammy, the
verdict was no so that’s good news
8:30PM
4 miles easy, 28:06 tot. 4
Wednesday AM woods 6+ solo shakeout, 49:32 tot. 6
PM
woods 7 shakeout with UML guys, 49:29 tot. 7
XT
5 sets of short(40-50m) hill bounding and springing jog down rests,
5x30m straight leg bounds on turf, 4x40m side shuffle and 4x40m
karaoke, 2 sets of backward figure 8 running, this by the way is the
first
exercise I have done that was hard on my bad hammy and not my good
one.I have a very hard time
kicking that heel up.I hope it works to
fix
the problem.
Thursday AM woods 10 easy, 1:09:00 tot. 10
1PM
core work and stuff for hammy at Focus Fitness in Boston with Peter
Donohoe finished with a mile and a half at 8min pace on 1% incline on
treadmill for cool down tot. 1+
PM
woods 10+ shakeout, 1:24:30 tot. 10+
Friday AM 32:15 w/up 25:38 progression run just under
8k(7980m) on old uml winter
workout
loop in dracut (lightly
rolling), I did a blog on this one if you want
details,
I avg. 5:10 pace and did the last loop (1140m) at 4:45 pace the last 3
loops(3420m)
were all at 5:02 pace or better and avg. 4:56.3.I was real tired
heading
into this one so I was happy with it basically I just wanted a hard
effort
regardless of pace so that I got down anywhere near fives makes me
happy.
15:20 cool down mostly with Gary, Rex and Tim who I ran into as I
started
my cool down and they were warming up for their last workout before
ncaa’s
(tim qualified in the steeple (9:14) and rex in the 5k (14:23) tot. 12
Noon Mika
for massage ect..
PM 24:14
w/up 20x short hills w/ jog down rest, much better recovery’s then last
week,
24 min cool down followed with 2x1mins
of backward fig. 8 running
tot.
9+
XT 2x1
min of backward figure 8 running
Saturday AM rd. and track 6 solo shakeout, 45:29, super
tired tot. 6
PM
woods 6 solo shakeout, 45:51, followed with drills, super tired again tot.6
XT full
continuous w/up drills with extra set of karaoke and followed with 3x1
min
backwards figure 8 running
Sunday AM nothing, slept in I was hurting.I had planned to get up and get in some
miles
but slept till 9am instead.
3PM 3+
w/up 400m in 77, strides, 200 in 32, strides race 3K at boston high
performance. 1st place 8:22.65 Sat in 2nd through
1400m(3:58) then pushed
hard to finish,4:24 for last 1600m.Good effort not a great time but I
shifted gears well we went out in 2:50 but slowed a bit but I managed to
run two 2:45 and change k’s to the finish, which is fast for me.Much
better run then the 2 mile at George Davis a few weeks ago so that’s good.
I was also happy that even though I felt like I was pushing hard out
there I
recovered very quickly after and that tells me there is more in the tank
to
be found. 8 cool down, 57:46, first 19:20 with the Dartmouth guys. Tot. 14
7PM
woods 6+ solo shakeout, 45:31 tot. 6
Summary 122 miles for the week, two good workouts and an acceptable
race.A good week.I really just wanted to get some good
anaerobic work in this week and keep the miles respectable and I did.I told my self to be happy with anything
under 8:30 in the race after that awful 9:08 two mile a few weeks ago and with
the lack of anyone real quick at the BHP meet.I was thrilled that one of the guys took the pace out at a ok pace I had
pretty much decided that I wouldn’t lead till the 1k and that I would hammer
home from there no matter how slow it went but I was real afraid it would be
like 3 flat or something. Again 8:22 isn’t very fast but its good work and it
felt good.
I did my first progression run in a while.It was shorter then usual, to protect the
hammy and by the nature of going a little shorter it was also a little
faster.I did a lightly rolling loop in Dracut that we used to use
for workouts in the winter when George Davis was coaching at UML.
I did a longer warm
up of about 4.5 miles in about 33 minutes.Then I did 7 laps each lap was 1140 meters.It was a total of just under 8
kilometers(7.980) in 25:38.2.The lap by
lap breakdown below.I did a little over
2 miles cool down.
LapLapLap
splitpace kpace mile
Lap 1 3:58.0 – 3:28.9 – 5:36.1
Lap 2 3:48.3 – 3:20.3 – 5:22.4
Lap 3 3:43.7 – 3:16.3 – 5:19.9
Lap 4 3:39.3 – 3:12.4 – 5:09.7
Lap 5 3:33.9 – 3:07.7 - 5:02.7
Lap 6 3:32.8 – 3:06.7 – 5:00.5
Lap 7 3:22.4 – 2:57.6 – 4:45.8
Total distance just under 8k at an average pace of 3:12.8 a
K/ 5:10.3 a mile.
This was a pretty good workout particularly because I was
real heavy and tired hence the extra warm up.I followed this up in the afternoon with 20x11 second hills.
67.3(45.7), 67.1(46.4), 1:40.3(66.8, 33.5), 4 cool down, 30:28 there was
a
breeze
but it wasn’t too bad, tot. 12+
PM Trail
1:16:47 on trails behind UNH track tot.11+
Saturday AM woods 6+ shakeout, 50:05 tot. 6+
11AM
just under 2 miles on treadmill at Focus Fitness on Congress in
Boston(very
trendy nice place) getting stride analyzed by finn, Peter
Donohoe and Christine Kloiber, started walking then at 8 min pace then
at
6 min pace then last miles at 5:27 pace then 5:13 pace.Then they had me
do some stretching and
core stuff tot. 2-
PM
woods 6+ shakeout, 52:03 tot. 6+
XT
stretching and core stuff
Sunday AM rd. 19 easy, hilly same loop as last couple of
weekends, 2:09:31 tot. 19
Summary 125 miles for the week, 1 horrible workout and 1
solid workout. Frankly not a very good week just tired and still a bit stuffed
up with the remnants of my head cold.But I got in some solid work.Now
I just need to keep moving forward and race myself sharp over the next few
weeks.The judgment on the form check on
Saturday wasn’t good but they seemed to think the problem was fixable.I have a bunch of extra motion in my right hip
and at the paces I have trouble at I kick that heal about 4 inches higher on
the back swing.Mika said he will work
on some other stuff because of what he saw and I’ll be back into Focus fitness
to get my exercise program finalized and what not. I was going to put up a
quote from again to carthage but lets run used it this week before I could so
you get nothing, sorry.
First if you are
looking for my weekly training I posted it before this blog so its up.Ok so this weekend I went to the Road Runners
Club of America (RRCA) and ran their national 5k championship all in Cincinnati hosted by the
Flying Pig Marathon and other races.
Let me
first preface this with a bit about the RRCA.They gave me one of there Road Scholar Awards last year which in
addition to being a huge honor also made quitting my job and training full time
for the trials a possibility.That was a
huge part of my performance at the trials and as such I am extremely grateful
to their organization.I also had a
great time at the convention functions I went to and learned a lot about their
history and their roll in the sport.
Now I was
invited down by the RRCA to be the Road Scholar representative at their
convention and since I was coming I would obviously run their national 5k
championships.I don’t particularly like
the 5k cause I suck at it but it ended up fitting my schedule quite
nicely.I also figured this would be a
good race the other RRCA national championships I know of are the Cherry
Blossom 10 mile, the Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon and the 10k in
Alabama the
name of which is slipping my mind but it has hosted the USATF nationals as
well.All these events are quite competitive.This one was not.I’m not sure if the Flying pig people just
assumed that throwing the national championship title up would bring in a solid
field or what.But they put up no prize
money and they didn’t bother to bring in a single Athlete.The RRCA brought me in and their runner of
the year.That was it for the men’s
competitive field, 3rd place was a very nice HS kid, who’s name I’ve
forgotten but he wants to walk on at Miami
in the Fall.
Now I’m not
saying that every race should have a huge prize purse but I as a professional
runner do believe that the race for the win is a compelling part of any event
and Prize money helps assure the best possible level of competition.Now the Flying Pig races offer no money.Its something I disagree with but its there
call, fine.But they bid for and were
hosting a national championship.I know
its not there thing and they can claim naiveté in terms of not knowing how to
put together a professional field but not putting up prize money is shameful.Its not like they don’t have the money.This is a truly successful race that is very
well sponsored.I would be surprised if
after all the sponsorship money is counted up they aren’t making a profit
already.But lets run on the assumption
that the sponsorship dollars are covering expenses.Now they had 911 finishers who paid between
$25 and $35 in the 5k, they also had at least that many who paid5 dollars less to run in the not chip timed
5k.They had 1254 finishers who paid
between $30 and $50 to run the 10k.The
half had 7353 finishers each who paid $50 to $80, the marathon had 4725
finishers at $60 to $100.That is a
total of 14,243 finishers who paid between $25 and $100.Now that doesn’t include the 1000 or so in
the not chip timed 5k or the relays teams that paid $220 to $500 or anyone who
didn’t show up or finish the races but paid an entry fee, which was probably a
good number because of the rain.Now
they also had about 2000 kids in races but I’m hoping that all that money went
into stuff for the kids.What’s my point
with all the numbers.If this race
committee had simply said “Gee we are hosting a national championship maybe we
should offer some prize money.”They
could have easily committed one dollar from every entry to drum up at least
15k.Split that between the men and
women and you have a 7500 prize purse on both sidespay 5 deep and you could have easily done
something like 3k 2k 1k, 800 700.You
put up that kind of money and people will show up.But better yet why not for this one year say
we are going to really go for it and bring in some people and take two bucks
from every entry.Now you got 15k to spend
on travel money as well.
Point is it
wouldn’t take much for a race like this to put on a class race.Instead they put on what was honestly an
embarrassment that everyone involved should be ashamed to call it a national
championship.
Now coming down off
my soap box.I had a great trip and the
RRCA’s hospitality was great.I enjoyed
the city very much and I had some very nice runs.Also I got to talk with some great people and
I had a nice conversation with Dick Beardsley who is one of my biggest hero’s
in the sport.I really relate to him as
a runner, to quote him “about two weeks before boston (in 1982) I ran my pr, 29:12, and I
was tickled pink.Alberto (Salazar) ran
like 27:20’s that same weekend but two weeks later who only beat me by 2
seconds at Boston.”
Dick was an
absolute beast in the marathon, both in terms of how fast he ran at his best,
2:08:50’s at Boston on a day when the temp was in the 70’s and 2:09:30’s at
grandma’s a record that will probably never be approached, and his consistency
of top performances on short notice.I
believe he was at one time in the Guinness book of world records because he
PR’d in each of his first 13 marathons.Also he run one marathon after another, Houston in jan. London in april, grandma’s in june.All fast.I’m not positive about this but I think in 1981 he ran 2:12 at Houston, 2:11 at London
and 2:09 at grandma’s.I asked him how
he found time to train wasn’t he just recovering from and backing off for the
races and he said he didn’t really bother too much with recovery or backing
off.He said he ran 100 or so most weeks
after a marathon and then just got back to work from there.
I also
really like Dick because he is a talker and a story teller and let me tell you
the man can weave a tail.
So that’s
it a little complaining a little explaining and a little history.Oh ya and now I get to tell people I’m a
national champion.The only problem is
I’ll feel dirty every time I do, just like when I tell them I’ve run 4 mins in
the mile.
Monday PM woods 10, 1:14:08, first 5 w/ jack and gary,
strides after tot. 11
Head
cold
Tuesday AM rd and woods 10, 1:15:26, first 5 w/ tim and
gary, pouring rain tot. 10
PM rd.
10+ w/ ruben and Kevin, 1:06:26 tot. 10
Still
sick had workout scheduled pushed it
Wednesday AM rd. and woods 10, first 5 w/ lyra and gary, no
time tot. 10
PM
Lake rd. 10 solo, 1:11:59, foot real sore,
tot. 10
Filling a bit better but still pretty sick
Thursday AM 25:05 w/up w/ gary, then with ben Ndaya, 600m in 1:45 100m
jog rest
400m in 67.1, then a few strides, then 4x tempo 1600m and one hard 1200
with less then a minute rest, 4:59.2 (rest 50.3), 4:57.6 (rest 55.0),
4:59.2
(rest 54.5) 4:58.0(that’s 22:33 for 4 miles with the rests included)
(rest
58.8) 1200 in 3:24.4(66, 2:16, 2:50)3.5 cool down 26:15 tot. 12
PM
woods 8 solo shakeout, 1:00:00, foot very sore tot. 8
Friday AM travel to Cincinnati,
PM 46:06
along river easy tot. 6+
Saturday AM 3+ w/up 24 mins, 80 second tempo effort, strides
Race RRCA National 5k
championship (flying pig 5k), 1st place 14:52? Pretty flat
course but lots of
sharp turns and it was raining and slick, Not a great effort just
couldn’t get
it out by myself, not proud of it that’s just how it was. Splits 4:44.9,
9:34.7(4:49.8), 3 c/down tot. 10+
PM rd.
10+ along ohio river, actually ended up rolling pretty good on way back
so
this may have been a little bit long, 1:10:44 tot. 10
Sunday AM travel from Cincinnati
PM
Methuen rd. 19, easy, 2:06:17, same loop as last week, not sore at all but
definitely tired tot. 19
Summary 116 miles for the week, 1 medium workout, 1 medium
race.Well I won a sort of pansy
national title but don’t think that will stop me from telling most everyone in
the world I’m a national champion. But I’ll do another blog on that. I was sick
most of the week but I’m feeling much better now, just a bit of the sniffles.Honestly it wasn’t that bad.I’m ok with colds unless I start coughing
then they get real bad and last forever.I didn’t get any treatment this week cause I was broke but I all set now
and I’ll be back in the finn’s office on Monday.
13x1600m on track (clockwise) with stretching and hammy
exercises between each
5:01.5, 55.8 rest
5:00.0, 59.3
4:58.1, 56.2
4:58.3, 57.4
4:59.1, 58.9
4:57.9, 58.6
4:59.8, 58.8
4:56.8, 60.1
4:59.1, 53.6
4:57.6, 55.8
4:57.4, 54.4
4:58.1, 51.8
5:00.0
That is a 4:58.8 average per 1600m which is 5:00.56 mile
pace and 3:06.8 kilometer pace.2:11:20
marathon pace.
This was a little
different.I’ve been really looking for
some means of getting some sort of enduring tempo work but because of the hammy
most of my traditional workouts wouldn’t work.The hammy was ok doing this which is great in two ways, one it is a
means of getting some aerobic work in but also I feel like if I can run 13
miles (and hopefully more in the next time) at goal marathon pace without causing
the hammy to go it should help strengthen the muscle.I also felt like running on the track back
ward was good.It is something I have
tried before and not been happy with but never at pace and the extra speed
really seemed to activate some very weak muscles in the bad leg.
This really was a
very easy workout but getting that much volume left me much more tired over the
last couple of days then I thought it would.It makes sense, I mean I haven’t done a workout with more then 10k of
volume in months but still it was so easy to do it caught me a bit by surprise.
d before and not been happy with but never at pace and the extra speed
really seemed to activate some very weak muscles in the bad leg.