Monday, May 31, 2010

Rest->Strides->Ready to Race?

I opted out of a tentatively planned AM track workout. Needed some additional sleep and i still felt like I wasn't totally recovered from Fri. Later in the day, I went to the neighborhood track, which turned out to be a 200m track in my estimate. I ran a few warm-up laps, stretched, did some form running, and then did 6 laps at a stride-ish sort of pace. It felt good to move the legs. Tonight (hours later), my legs feel damn near tip top. Now I'm ready for a good week of running. And I am going to look for a 5K to run this coming weekend if a decent one is available. TBD.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Super sore Sun

Legs also felt super dead for the first 35 min. Otherwise, all was good. 10 miles, 1:14

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Shakiner out

Easy 65 min this morning starting at 9am. My legs were decently sore, I felt poky, and was drenched afterward. In Austin, it has pretty much hit the point to where it is best to finish running by 9am (at the latest).

Friday, May 28, 2010

Austin Summer Twilight Track Meet #1

It was pretty damn hot on this sunny afternoon - 95 degrees for those scoring at home. A few hours before the meet, I decided my approach for the day was - don't let your first track meet be your last. Translation, I was not going to go out there & try to be a super star. I was aiming to get in some uptempo work and have fun while doing so. I decided to for sure run the 3200, the quarter, and maybe the 1600 (depending on how I was feeling after two races).

There wasn't a huge crowd for the 3200, could have been folks were at the NCAA regional meet (who knows for sure). I believe there were 11 total in the race. My plan was to run 80-82s and no faster until 800m to go. However, I was not going to go out and take the lead. I wanted to sit back and get a feel for things. And that's what I did. The pace was freaking slow at the start: 87 for the first lap, and I had about 545 at the mile mark. With a mile left there was one guy ahead of me (about 30 meters if I had to guess). The pace was sorta fucking with me (mentally) and at 2000m I had no desire to speed up. I just sorta crept along until there were 400m left. I picked up the pace some with a lap to go, but dude was still at least 30m ahead. I didn't think I was going to be able to catch him, but w/ 150 to go, I began to find that other gear. I made up about 20-25m (if I had to guess) in the last 80m. I passed the leader w/ approx 5m to go. First place -11:13 - nothing to really brag about, but I still won. :-)

The 400m came up quickly after the 3200m. About 20 min if I had to guess. I was very, very close to throwing in the towel and calling it a day. But I walked over to the starting line anyway. The goal was to run a relaxed quarter, maybe 63-65. But then the 20 yo's ran in the heat before us. They hauled ass. All of em but one were 58 or better, and the leader came in at 51 sec. Uh oh, I thought. My heat only had 4 people, but one of them, I could tell was going fly. Starting line final plan, I decided I was going to take off at a good clip, but nothing too crazy. At the 200m mark (after starting in lane 4), I saw 28 sec on the watch (holy shit, I thought), so I dug deep and tried to maintain speed. I held on good and ended up at 59 sec for the quarter mile. Nice!

After the quarter, I called it a day, feeling it would be good to end on a high note. No 1600m on this day, next time! I am thinking one or 2 more meets at the max this summer. Then I will take a one week break and start the real base training in July/August. Could change, but that's the plan as of now.



Thursday, May 27, 2010

List of events for tomorrow's track meet

http://austinsummertwilightseries.com/

Order of events:

• 3200m Run
• 300 hurdles Dash
• 400m Dash
• 800m Run
• 100m Dash
• 1600m Run
• 4×400 Co-Ed Relay
• Long Jump – 7:00 p.m.


The plan is to do the 3200m unless I chicken out due to the heat. I'm also eyeballing the 400. I don't see the 200m on there, but I am pretty sure it will be run also. Will decide on what events to run for sure in the next 24 hours. Any suggestions?

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Tr day

2 up/down. 4 x 600 (158, 156, 155, 152) and 4x100 strides. The legs felt sorta wacked from the weights (I suppose). Maybe doing them the day before a track workout was not such a good idea. Learn something new everyday...

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Afternoon save

Chose not to get up this morning and run today - I was tossing and turning last night something serious. So around 3am I sent the email of shame informing my compatriots. Got some extra sleep, but that meant facing the afternoon heat in all its brutality. Fortunately, a brief storm came through, and I was treated to mid 80s and overcast skies. Damn, it was cold out. I ran for about 70 min. The legs felt much better today. Squats & lunges were served afterward as the cherry on top. Now I am hungry.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Ugh, ouch

Ran for 31 min today, my legs were very sore and dead from the Sunday running shenanigans. I may have overdone it just a bit this weekend. Gots to be more careful...

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Back to work

Warm-up/cooldown - 16 minutes of easy running

Meat & potatoes - 7 mile trail loop in 46:30 @ between steady & easy pace. Steasy?

The steady run sorta sucked toward the end cuz it got pretty hot. I was drenched and my shoes were completely soaked- good preamble to summer base training which I am not looking forward to. I can't wait.

Refinement - 5 100m strides

The first 100m strider I did felt a little funky cuz I wasn't loose, but nothing like 6 weeks ago when I started this experiment, and I felt like an 84 Caprice Classic navigating the dirt roads of SE Texas at 70 mph. That ain't a good thing.

The last 4 strides felt just great. I felt smooth, relaxed, and like a real runner. Mind you this was after the steady run. The 100s & 200s I have done over the last 6 weeks have done wonders for my overall running economy.

Foundation work
- squats, lunges, single leg hip extension w/ swiss ball, crunches, v-ups, side leg lifts (hip/groin), on teh stomach leg lifts, lower back ext, hanging pike leg lifts, bent rows w/ bar, and military press w/ bar & weight. That is all.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Congress Ave Mile Road Race

I had a good race today - 444. It couldn't have gone much better. Well, I did make a mistake. I was feeling good between the half mile mark and 3/4 of a mile mark - which came as much of a surprise to me. I was also passing some folks and creeping up on others. So, between 3rd and 2nd street, I started my kick. All was well until I approached the 100m to go mark. Right as I came to it, I began to tighten up and could feel my stride shortening. "Aw fuck!" I did my best to pick up my knees the rest of the way, but have a feeling I probably looked a little funny down the final stretch. Next time I should be able to capitalize on this learning experience. (Broken record) I can't wait race one mile again. I love this short & fast stuff.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Race pace 200s

Today I ran over to AHS from Rogue to hit up some 200s. The plan was to run race pace on feel (200 at pace/200 easy x 8). Well, race pace felt hard as hell. Throughout the reps, it seemed like I was having to expend too much effort to hit pace. Not real encouraging - thank goodness the race wasn't today. I may have run 520 if so.

Kidding! I'm sure I will be fine. I'm healthy, and that's about all I can ask for at this point. Can't wait to run in my debut mile race...

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Congress Ave Mile Heats

8:00am – Females 40 and Over
8:10am – Males 40 and Over (Texercise Heat)
8:20am – Females 39 and Under
8:30am – Males 39 and Under
9:00am – Born to Run Family Fun Run (Untimed)
9:30am – Boys and Girls Elementary School (Ages 10 and Under)
9:40am – Boys and Girls Middle School (11-13 years old)
9:55am – Girls High School Open (14-17 years old)
10:05am – Boys High School Open (14-17 years old)
10:15am – Open Elite Females (Sub 5:00 minutes per mile)
10:25am – Open Elite Males (Sub 4:25 minutes per mile)
10:35am – Texas State High School Girls Mile Championship (By invite only)
10:45am – Texas State High School Boys Mile Championship (By invite only)


Looks like I will be taking off around 8:30am. Should be a good sized heat...

AM run

78 min w/ part of the gang (Chris, Asia, and Kamran) this morning. Man it feels good to get up and run in the morning. I should do this more often.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Easy 4 miles. Then felt good, but I was more than a little sore from the Sunday workout.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Bannister mile workout

The plan was 10 quarters at mile pace w/ 60 sec rest in between. Toward the end of this workout I was closer to 90 sec at times. I guess I wasn't quite ready for the 60 sec recovery - next time!

75
73
72
74
74
72
73
73
72
72

The last three were pretty tough. I was able to stay relaxed and maintain good form, but my legs definitely were a hurtin. I'm sure that is pretty close to how it will feel next Saturday from the 1/2 mile point on. I seem to be ready, just have stay focused mentally before/during the race and then execute. Pretty simple really.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Easy 11 - ole skool st eds loop. I felt slow and weak. Hopefully tomorrow is better.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Most expensive race EVAR

I officially registered for the CAM the other day; the cost was $40. Pretty steep for just one mile.

I am going to have to make this one worth it, if that is even possible.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

1:21 - the running gods showed mercy on me and provided some cloud cover during this afternoon run. The humidity, however, was still > 80% I suspect. Good times.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Road .50s

I have really been dreading this 800m workout. So much so I skipped it two mornings in a row. Wednesday afternoon, though, I could dodge it no more. I opted to run the 1/2 mile repeats on the road for a couple reasons: a) 20 mile per hour wind; b) the Congress Ave Mile is on the road.

These things hurt. After the first one, I immediately decided 4 was enough. Somehow with all my tiredness, I forgot to start my watch on the third one. The last one I was able to pick it up some and finish strong so that was a good sign I suppose. Without further ado...

2miles up
2:30
2:38
? (somewhere between set two and four)
2:35
2 miles down

Maybe the toughest 2 miles I have ever run. :)

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mon shakeout

Easy 4 miles. My legs were still pretty sore, specifically my right calf. Weird. It felt good to move the legs some though.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mile workouts

These are the workouts I'm thinking to do over in the next 10 days in final preparation for the Congress Ave Mile:

Tues: 800 repeats (4-6) - 1.5 min rest in between
Thurs: 4 mile temp run
Sat: 10x 400m (60 sec rest)
Mon: mile repeats (4) - 2 min rest/rec jog in between
Wed: 8-10 x 200m intervals

Of course this could change or I could be lazy and miss a day, but I'm going to try to stay focused the next 2 weeks to get it done.

Feel free to join me. :-)

Longest run off the week

12 miles with Muz...Kamran and Asia tagged along for about half of the trip. I was a little sore at the beginning of the run today from the race. Also, my quads were a little ragged at the end. Thirty min of weights afterward helped work out some of the kinks. I need to stretch and roll this evening - we shall see about that though.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Chuys 5K

I made it out to the race today, quite unsure what to expect. I knew race pace was going to be uncomfortable, but had forgotten exactly how running at that intensity level felt. It was very uncomfortable. I wanted to stop on 2 occasions during the race. Of course I didn't though.

The race - I looked at my watch about half way into the first mile - 505. "Holy shit, I need to slow down." The next 3/4 of a mile was uphill, hit the one mile mark in 538. I looked at my watch again about half way through mile 2 - 605. "Damn it!" I rallied the the second half and ended Mile 2 with a 547 split. This was very disappointing in hindsight because at least 1/2 of Mile 2 was downhill. Oh well. I stayed steady in the third mile - 537. The official time was 1740.

Pain and discomfort aside, I really want to run another 5K (not next weekend, but in like 4-6 weeks). But I don't know that I will be able to find a good one w/ the TX summer looming. I suppose the Congress Ave Mile and some summer track meets will have to do instead.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Morning run - the hunt for racing flats is over



Getting up to run was no issue this morning - funny how a run in >95 degree temperatures will motivate one to roll out of bed. After much staring at the shoes, walking around the apartment, smelling them, and other highly scientific shoe examination procedures - I decided to go for the planned 8 mile run in the Mizuno Ronins. Upon arrival at Rogue, the shoes (which are bright yellow) immediately caught the eye of both Kamran & Asia. Neither seemed too impressed, as they both gave them the curdled milk look. -1 point - didn't gain peer approval.



The shoes felt awesome on the run. Although they are much different than the Brooks Launch, I didn't feel like there was less cushioning. Call me crazy if you like. The Ronins are much more firm than the Launch, and in the same vein, they are also more responsive. All that said, I will only use them for uptempo workouts and races - no training.

Lastly, I felt pretty damn good on the run also. We got in just about 8 miles in a little over 58 minutes. A great day of running & stuff.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

A hot one

My streak of failed morning wake-ups continued today. Thus, I had to get in a run in the 96 degree afternoon sunshine. It felt pretty good in the shade during my jog over, but was quite the scorcher at the not so shaded ASID track. All in all, the heat wasn't that bad, though, I did amend my workout and made it esp short/easy. I got in 10 x 200 at 5K effort; each set included a 200m recovery jog. The first one was in 39, second in 41, then the 7 in a row were 40 on the dot, and finished up w/ one at mile effort -- 35. A good day.

On a side note, I do believe I finally found a pair of racing flats - Mizuno Ronin. Going to test them out in the morning - that is assuming I can get my ass out of bed.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

2nd time a charm?

No run today. Didn't want to wake up in the morning, and Ididn't want to suffer in the heat this afternoon. Wed is a new day. It should be a good one if I can pry myself out of the bed. Track day.

I went ahead and registered for the Chuys 5K this Saturday. Looking forward to the competition...

Monday, May 3, 2010

Easy 46 minutes. Ho hum.

1 hr in the gym (let's see if I can recall my freestyle routine):

squats ( warm-up + 2 sets of 10 @ 95 lb)
stability ball single leg hip extensions ( 2x20)
lunges w/ 10 lb dumbell ( 2x 20)
clams ( 2 x 30 sec), side leg lifts ( 2 x 12), leg raises lying on the stomach ( 2 x 10)
step-ups w/ 10 lb dumbell (2x20)
sideways step ups no weight ( 2 x 10 on each side)
sideways walk w/ resistance band ( 2 x 10 on each side)
crunches ( 1x20), v-ups ( 2 x 12), leg push aways ( 2 x 20)
lower back extensions ( 2 x 16)
dumbbell military press 20 lb (2 x 12)
single leg calf raises ( 2 x 10 on each leg)
hanging leg raises ( 2 x 12)
the pull down machine that works your lats and upper back ( 2x 10)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

When was the last time you ran 530 for 1600m?

Dustin asked me that question the other day when I was in Boston, and we were discussing 5K pace. After thinking about it, I responded that it must have been around last summer when training for Portland (ie, for a race prep). Our conversation concluded with me agreeing that it would probably be better to be conservative when running the first 5K out the box.

Anyway, this afternoon I was progressively feeling better as time passed, so I decided to go get in a run. I did not look at the temp, but just left the house. The initial plan was to do mile intervals at 6 min pace (ie, lactate threshold work). Once I got to the track at around 330pm, I realized it was pretty warm out. And thus I did not want to do the intervals.

I don't know that what I decided to do (vo2 max work) was any easier: 1600m @ 525, 800m @ 234, 400m@ 70, 4x 200m (37, 32, 34, 29). I felt really good on the mile muscularly, but my cardio system was working overtime. I wimped out on the 800 - was thinking to go under 230, but that shit hurt muscularly. I cruised and stayed relaxed on the 400, but I still have some deep ingrained mental thing against the quarter. The 200s were a breeze...

Tomorrow I hope to get in an easy run.

DNS today

Yesterday evening I came down w/ some sort of stomach bug/food poisoning. I did not sleep worth a damn and was in the restroom constantly. Thus, it was a pretty easy call to skip the race.

Now, having slept several more hours (up around 11ish), I am feeling a little better. Guess I may have to just eye the Chuys 5K next Saturday. We shall see.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Seem to be ready

I did an easy 4 miles from the gym down along tomorrow's race route. The first half of it is gradual downhill and the 2nd half is the opposite. During the run, I did four pickups of approx 200m at race pace. Was quite fast on the 200s. I am going to run w/ the Garmin tomorrow, because the last thing I want to do is run a 515 first mile. Doing that would likely spell disaster.

Overall, I feel good and am ready to go. Today, I declare that my injury area is 100% healed. Only took 7 weeks...