I couldn’t be more happy for 2011 to be coming to an end and to have a new year, with a fresh start right upon me. The title of this post describes my year nicely. I’ve explained my feelings and other thoughts in much more depth throughout the year, so I won’t write any more on that, and quite frankly I’d like to stop thinking about the negative sides of this year. I’ve rebounded and learned from any mistakes that I made.
On a positive note, here are some important things that happened in 2011:
January - Started writing the blog
February - Made my college decision and decided to attend Adams State College
March - Had the most successful string of indoor meets of my High School career (not long enough to be considered a true season) and medaled at Illinois Prep Top Times
April - Ran PRs at all distances from 800m-3200m even if some were very slight
August - Made the biggest move of my life, leaving Illinois for Colorado
August-December - Got to be a part of a collegiate XC/Track team, a very successful one at that.
I don’t have an exact mileage count for 2011 as this fall I didn’t really record much of my training in an organized fashion.
I don’t know what 2012 will bring, but I can only hope for good things!
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Log for last week of the year:
Sunday (Christmas Day) - 15 Mile Long Run in Nebraska. Incredibly nice day for Christmas with the temperature getting up into the mid 50s!! Finished with my shirt off which is a first for a run on Christmas or December for that matter!
Monday - 60 minutes easy (8 miles) with some strides scattered throughout
It’s now been over four months since I’ve posted a blog entry. I wrote my last entry while in the car on the way out to attend my first semester at Adams State College. I’m writing this entry on the train on my way back home after my first semester. A lot has changed. The last time I posted was with an optimistic view of what was to come while being out there. I had been coming off of a four month layoff and one of the most difficult times of my life. Luckily, that’s over with and my training is now progressing the way that I have hoped.
There are a combination of factors and numerous reasons why I took the long break in posting. I didn’t want to rush things and come back too quick. Oftentimes while training with everything public, I would often do things that my body wasn’t ready for. I wanted so badly to be able to post happy, upbeat entries where everything was coming along just fine. But it wasn’t. I also needed a break. I needed a break from the meticulous totaling of weekly mileage. From the constant assessment of where I was in relation to my goals. I needed a break from setting goals.
While being at Adams I’ve put my focus off of myself for a bit. It’s awesome being surrounded by such great teammates. 4:03 milers, national champions, international talents. I’m such a small fish in a big pond. Instead, I’ve just been trying to enjoy the experience as much as possible. It’s truly an honor to be surrounded by such phenomenal athletes on a daily basis. I chose to just soak everything in and focus on taking small steps in the right direction. Nothing else.
Alright, now we can get to the details. I became able to gradually increase mileage in the beginning of September. I did this with 20-30 minute runs on grass fields and then slowly transitioned to dirt and gravel trails and roads. I would supplement this running with cross training after and several times a week I would still only cross train. Aside from a couple days here and there with minor nagging injuries, I was able to increase quite rapidly and saw the gains in fitness coming back quickly. By the beginning of October I was already doing 75 minute long runs. When I’d try to hop into team workouts, I’d get blown away by the rest of the Freshmen who had a summer base. I think I may have tried to jump into the fast stuff a bit too soon, as I had a tiny setback period in mid october where I kept missing a few days here and there with more aches and pains. I just wasn’t structurally adapted to the training that I was trying to do yet. So, after several weeks of trying to do XC workouts, I went back to just easy running.
Through mid to late October I continued to only run easy and started seeing mileage increases without any setbacks. By November I was doing similar mileage to the rest of the Freshmen most days of the week. I then started doing workouts with an emphasis on long aerobic strength building. The tempo runs I was attempting to do in September were laughable, but these were now starting to feel a bit more promising. Week by week I was seeing small but noticeable improvements. With the mileage and quality of my workload increasing, I was starting get on the same level of training as the rest of my first-year teammates.
I can feel myself getting stronger each week. Tempo run paces are getting faster while the effort seems to be dropping as well- even at 7500 feet! Yesterday while doing a tempo workout on the country roads surrounding Alamosa, I started to get a feeling that I haven’t experienced in all too long. I was gliding along, clipping off 5:40s and it felt effortless. Effortless! I felt smooth, controlled, and powerful.
While my fitness still isn’t where I want it to be and far behind most others on my team, I know it’s headed in the right direction. I haven’t ran a race almost eight months. I’m finally started to get the itch again though. Confidence in my ability is coming back. I’m looking forward to hopping into a few late indoor meets, even if I am getting my butt kicked. The adrenaline that comes with toeing the line is something that I’ve missed for far too long. I want to get back to the level of fitness I had before the injury and then continue to build and continue to get stronger. This time though, I’m smarter.
If I’m feeling pain, I take a day off and cross train. No question. There’s no guarantee that I’m going to stay injury-free and follow the path that I want, but I’ll give it the best shot I can. I still have so much I want to get out of myself. I’m only 19. I know I’ve got loads of untapped potential. So if I stay smart and diligent with my training, the improvements will continue to come and I will see what I can get out of myself.
Like always though, the number one reason that I run is because I enjoy it. I’m thankful to be able to take personal satisfaction from it. To be able to get out there and cover distances on foot. It’s not a solitary pursuit anymore though. I have a group of teammates, all of whom are pursuing their own goals and all of whom are extremely motivated. As a group they come together and really represent Adams State well. They are what makes Adams State excellent.
Here's a quick video of the our guys finishing (and winning) the regional championships:
I won’t get too detailed on what I did last week, but here’s a brief overview (12/11-12/17):
14 mile Long Run with the team on Sunday, which was my first one in a very long time. Started off at 0 degrees, but warmed up slightly throughout. The rest of the week consisted of a moderate tempo run on Tuesday a tempo repeat workout on Friday and easy 65-70 minute easy runs on all other days.
I’ll get back to the detailed logging of mileage for this next week of training.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas break.
Wow, it's been awhile. I haven't been in my normal blog writing mood as of late. I'd say that's mostly due to things not going so well in terms of running. I've had numerous more problems since the last entry and my layoff was extended considerably. I figured if I was having bad news on a weekly basis, why keep writing about it? I know my readers wouldn't want to listen to me moan and complain about how shitty my training is, or how my foot hurt today, or how I'm feeling quite down about this, especially on a weekly basis! I know I wouldn't want to read about that.
Well, I think things have changed for the better. I'm not going to proclaim that "I'm back" or that I'm sure I'll now be training uninterrupted from here on out, but things are looking the best that they have.
Here's the somewhat depressing outline of how the last 8 weeks have played out (with plenty of aqua jogging and biking in between that seemed to get less enjoyable with each passing day) :
Day after I got out of boot- Started having very bad knee pain (I've speculated many different causes, but still don't exactly what happened for sure, although I think it may have been a minor meniscus tear due to twisting my knee some on the day I watched NCAA's as I'm still feeling it a little now, but luckily it got better). For a good 10 days I was limping around considerably.
6/22 - 10min easy on grass at Spring Lake
6/25- 10min easy on grass at Spring Lake
6/28 - 12min easy on grass at a golf course in Nebraska
Felt some pain in my RIGHT foot while walking down the stairs and the next several days while pushing on it.
7/4 - 10min easy on grass at Spring Lake
Got the right foot imaged, stress reaction in my intermediate cuneiform.
Two more weeks off.
7/17 - 2 miles easy on grass at Spring Lake in 14:19 (7:10/mi)
7/19 - 2 miles easy on grass at Spring Lake in 13:40 (6:51/mi)
7/21 - .9 miles-quit with unbearable pain in my left toe
10 days off, with which the toe was still bothering me after, but bearable
Last several days of building back up - I'm still having daily pains walking and sore spots here and there, but am running with hardly any pain:
8/3 - 2 miles very slow on treadmill testing the toe out
8/3 - 2.62 miles outside at western soccer fields and roads, felt toe some on the fields to did what I normally don't do and ran on the hard roads, but the smooth surface really made it feel better
8/5 - 3 miles very slow on treadmill
8/7 - 3.5 miles on crushed gravel trail averaging 6:52/mi
8/8 - 2miles very slow on treadmill
8/10 - 4 miles with first 3 on treadmill, last on outside in 6:32! 27:32 (6:52/mi)
8/11 - 2.63 miles on golf course in 18:25 (7:01/mi)
As of now, that's where my comeback stands. I'm going into this with no expectations. I'm really just trying to enjoy running right now and enjoy the confidence boost that occurs with watching my fitness improve on a daily basis.
I'd obviously like to be in much better shape coming into a top notch program as I am usually adequately prepared and confident in the training I have done in the prior weeks and months coming into a season. The important thing is to get (and stay) healthy. I'm going to try and not compare myself to the other freshman or teammates constantly, who have had healthy and good summers of running. I don't think it will take me long to bounce back long if I stay patient
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Okay, putting my training aside and where my fitness is at, I'm at a very exciting point in my life….
I moved out of my house today and am currently on my way across the country to my new home- Alamosa, Colorado. It's a definitely a bittersweet moment, but I'm ready. I'm ready to get out and see my new teammates (as a real team is something I've never really been able to be a part of), scope out my new training grounds, be under Coach Martin's expert guidance.
I'll be stopping at my Grandparents in Nebraska for a couple of days before resuming the trip out there. I'll be moving my belongings into my dorm room on the 14th or 15th. We have a team meeting/barbecue on the 17th and my three-day freshman orientation starts the following day. Classes will begin soon after on Monday the 22nd.
I really only have good news this week. Yesterday I spent most of the day traveling to Des Moines and watching the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships, which turned out to be a good meet. I headed over with Bradley University runner Nathan Davis early in the morning and made a day out of it. In the distance races Chelanga and Centro didn’t disappoint, although I couldn’t help but pull for Illinois natives Dorian Ulrey and Chris Derrick in both races. I also got to meet one of my future ASC teammates, Brady McGuire, who travelled over from North Platte, NE to watch the meet.
Although I was unsure of what to think of my foot in the last entry, things are definitely looking up. The most recent x-ray looked good and showed bone growth. I’ve been walking in regular shoes a lot and I think today I will finally be able to say bye to the boot for good. It has now been 6 weeks since the injury occurred, which is supposed to be when I could resume running. I’m going to give it a few more days before I start easing back into running on soft surfaces, just due to the fact that I’ve only begun walking within the last week.
Cross Training Log 6/5-6/11:
Sunday - 61 minutes of aquajogging
Monday - AM: 15mi of cycling on a pretty hilly course in 1:06:23 (Avg. HR of 138bpm); PM: 30min of aquajogging
Tuesday - AM: 45 minutes of cycling on stationary bike pretty hard; PM: 45 minutes of aquajogging that wasn’t very intense
Wednesday - 60min of aquajogging including hard portions and some swimming with Chase and Gatlin Marlow. My first real cross training session with someone else, which definitely made things easier and more enjoyable. *Walking: 14min of walking on treadmill
Thursday - AM: 45min of cycling on stationary bike; PM: 41min of aquajogging
Friday - AM: 14mi of cycling in 1:00:00 (stopped 6min in to help some old people catch their dog on my bike and earned $2, score!) , wind really slowed me down; PM: 30min of aquajogging with Nathan Davis before getting kicked out by a storm and lightning that were rolling through *Walking: 13min gradually getting faster
Saturday - 60min of cycling on stationary bike covering 21.2 miles. First 15min weren’t too intense but I definitely started going hard midway through and had a few hard, sustained portions to make it a good workout *Walking: 1 mile of walking on the treadmill slowly getting up to 3mph and 3.0 incline and then working back down in 21min
Weekly Total: 543 minutes of aerobic activity, 267 of that from aquajogging and 276 of that from cycling.
Not a horrible week, but like I’ve said cross training is just getting old. Being able to walk now and mix some of that in there has helped a lot. I’ll definitely be upping the supplemental walking this week and hoping to start running some mid week! It won’t be much running I’m sure, so I’ll still be cross training about the same amount in addition to keep my aerobic fitness where it is. I'll likely add the elliptical to my cross training routine, since I can now probably do that pain free.
Hopefully everyone had a good week and is enjoying their summer.
I haven’t been getting my posts out like I should be at the end of my training week (Saturday), so I’ll try to be better at doing that or at least being closer to that day. It’s not like I have had anything more important to do that’s been occupying my time! Last week I was talking about the progress that the foot had made, but now it seems I’ve taken a couple of steps back. I was implementing some walking in regular shoes into my daily schedule starting at the end of week 4 and into the beginning of week 5. I didn’t experience any pain during these short 10 minute sessions, but did feel very weak in my left side. After a few days of this though, I started getting some soreness in my foot/toes when walking in the boot again. Like I said, I didn’t have any walking in normal shoes though. Really, this could also have been from me early on in the week getting out of the shower and walking across my bathroom barefoot for the first time in 5 weeks and doing the same thing in my bedroom. Again, I didn’t have ANY pain doing this, but it just could have been a little thing that contributed to a bit of a setback with the foot. Today though, it’s feeling better and walking in the boot has been pain free as I made a point to stay off of it all day yesterday (used crutches again).
Here’s the Week 5 Cross Training Log:
Sunday - PM: 5min of aquajogging, just wasn’t feeling it, 34min of cycling outside. I think mentally I was tired from the cross training the day/week before, which is a poor excuse regardless.
Monday - AM: 1hr of cycling on stationary bike in which I went really hard-10min warmup, 5x3min hard ~170bpm (1:30 recovery) , 10min moderate, 5min ~Tempo pace, 2min moderate, 5min ~Tempo pace, 7min cooldown. (Avg. HR of 144bpm); PM: 30min of easy aquajogging
Tuesday - AM: 14.75 mile bike ride to Macomb which was exclusively against the wind in 1:17:50; PM: 53min of aquajogging
Wednesday - AM: Only 18min of Stationary bike cycling-aborted workout when I felt slight soreness in my left foot; PM: 60min of aquajogging with some hard portions
Thursday - None, completely off. Spent most of the day in St. Louis with my friends and was walking in the mall more than I would have liked, which made the foot sore again.
Friday - AM: 20 mile bike ride in 1:24:30 (Avg. HR of 150bpm); PM: 30min of Aquajogging
Saturday - AM: 45min of easy stationary bike cycling; PM: 30min of Aquajogging
Weekly Total: 545 minutes of aerobic activity. 208 of those minutes being aquajogging and 337 of those minutes being from cycling. Really am not that happy with the totals and was hoping for a jump from last week, but on two of the days this last week, I just wasn’t feeling it.
Cycling is much more enjoyable than aquajogging (except for how my butt feels afterwards). I could continue to ramble on about how much I dislike cross training, but I really don’t want to talk about it more than I have to, as it just makes me more sick of it.
Sitting out writing this entry
I was supposed to be off of running a total of six weeks, which would mean that I would be able to ease back in by next week, but at this point I’m unsure of whether I’ll realistically be able to do that or not. Until next week, I’ll just continue to play it by feel and see how the foot is progressing day by day. That’s really all that I can do.
It’s been awhile since my last post, but I feel that a bit of a break from the blog was a good thing. Since the last post, I've graduated and the IHSA track season has officially come to a close. Things seem to be going better now though. The quality and volume of my cross training has been improving over the last few weeks, although I am getting sick and tired of aquajogging. It’s not the least bit enjoyable now. Fortunately, as the recovery of the foot has gotten farther along, I’ve been able to add in some cycling. At the moment that’s probably the training that I enjoy most. At first, the change of scenery that came with biking was a big bonus. Aquajogging is just about as boring as the treadmill, or worse. It has been harder to drag myself into the pool each consecutive day. It’s a motivation problem that I don’t seem to have with running.
Progress has been the theme of the last couple of weeks. First it was getting off of my crutches, which I couldn’t stand. It’s amazing just about how much you appreciate walking when you can’t do it. I got off of them gradually by introducing small spurts of walking in the boot. My crutches have been laying in the back seat of my car for about 6 days now, and I don’t miss them one bit. Now I’m getting around exclusively on foot, which is nice and I’m even taking the boot off for a small amount of time each day. Soon I’ll be getting around in normal shoes and (hopefully) introducing small amounts of running into my schedule.
Here’s what week number four of cross training looked like (5/22-5/28):
Sunday - AM: 35minutes of aquajogging; PM: 45 minutes of aquajogging/swimming - This turned out to be scheduled nicely around my graduation and graduation party
Monday - 75min of aquajogging, with some hard portions
Tuesday - AM: ?; PM: 30min of Stationary Bike
Wednesday - 3pm: 13mi bike ride in 52min (Avg. HR 150bpm); 9pm: 30min of aquajogging
Thursday - AM: 10mi of cycling outside SLOW with first half into wind, with first half into the wind 47:48 (Avg. HR 146bpm); PM: 45min of aquajogging
Friday - 18mi of cycling outside in 1:16:35 (Avg. HR 152bpm)
Saturday - AM: Hard aquajogging workout- 10min warmup, 1-2-3-4-3-2-1 hard w/ half recovery, 5min easy, 100m swim, 5min easy, 3x(60sec-45sec-30sec) No hand w/ 30 sec rec. in between, 5min easy, 100m swim, the rest cooldown easy (Tot. 65min); PM: 60min of stationary bike covering 20mi (Avg. HR 136bpm)
Weekly Total: 561 minutes of aerobic activity (9 hours, 21 minutes); 295min (4:55) of that aquajogging, and 266min (4:26) of that cycling
I was pretty happy with the week as a whole. The hard thing about cross training, especially aquajogging, is that you don’t get the feedback that you do from running. I don’t get any splits, there is no way to monitor my pace or speed, it’s just me judging effort, which can sometimes be nice, but ultimately leaves me questioning how good my workout was, or makes it hard to compare workouts to one another.
I had a check up x-ray and things seem to be healing like they should. I’ll be getting another one in a few weeks to make certain that everything is fine. I was worried for a while that it had led to something worse than a regular stress fracture as I wasn’t able to walk at all. A friend of mine who recently had a stress fracture was walking fine in his boot right away, whereas I was still having considerable pain, although along with my stress fracture I found out that I had multiple stress reactions in various spots around my left foot as well. The recent clean x-ray image that was taken 3.5 weeks after the injury cleared up some of that fear I was having.
Now, enough of that..
The IHSA State Track Meet was this last weekend. I tried to ignore the fact that if I were running, I would have been able to place considerably well, and dare I say be in contention for the title with the winning time being 9:27. Regardless, I didn’t run, and hypothetical situations don’t mean anything in the real world. With that said, I tried to focus mainly on the Men’s 800m where a teammate of mine, Lance Curtis would be running (the only other serious distance runner in Bushnell).
Lance didn’t disappoint. He went to Charleston with three goals in mind: 1)Get to finals, 2)Medal, 3)Break our school’s 50+ year old 800m record. He accomplished all three, as a Junior! He battled all year with that two minute barrier, running equal to it several times throughout the season, but it continued to elude him. At the sectional meet he ran yet another 2:00 and was probably his closest to being under so far (as I had hand timed him at 1:59.8). Going into prelims at the state meet he knew that he would have to be sub 2:00 to have any chance of making the final. With the right competition, he was well under it with 1:59.39. Now, I’m pretty sure he was somewhat relieved to finally be sub-two, but he would still have to put together a heck of a race if he wanted either a medal or the record on Saturday. Lance has always been able to perform well and exceed his/others expectations on the right day. So I’m sure Saturday before the 800m final he was quite nervous. It seems that nerves only helped as he ended up placing ninth (the last medal spot) and cementing his name in B-PC history by dipping under the school record with a time of 1:58.01.
That gradual progress has come quite well for Lance as each successive year since he started running in sixth grade has consisted of him chipping away at the clock bit by bit, second by second. Now I know that once you get to a certain point in the 800 (or time for this matter), improvement is harder to come by and the gains are smaller and smaller as one continues to get faster. So most are probably thinking that for next year at least, Lance shouldn’t be looking to improve as much as he has been, or make monstrous leps. I look at this a bit differently. I feel that Lance still has considerably more room to improve and that he still hasn’t come that close to developing his full potential. Most of his previous success and gains have come from his great foot speed and a gift of natural endurance. This fall was his first time ever running Cross Country. He went from a relatively mediocre 18:45 3mi XC time in early September to a 16:37 over tough terrain by the end of the Cross Country season. Aerobically, he has a great amount to improve. With him establishing his first solid base this summer and having all fall to develop his aerobic strength and build the mileage, he’s going to be a runner to lookout for. He’ll be flying under the radar in the fall, but I feel he can do some damage at the State XC Meet and most likely be turning some heads with the proper training. If all goes as planned he’ll go into next track season more experienced and better equipped to tear it up over 800m and keep the big gains going. So keep an eye out!
I have the intentions to be posting the weekly cross training from here on out, and hopefully within a matter of weeks you will be seeing some running included in the log!
I haven’t been posting my weekly entries on the normal dates for the past two weeks due to my aforementioned foot injury in my last post. Unfortunately, my worst fears have been realized and it is a stress fracture located in my third metatarsal. After dealing with the pain for close to a week before the official diagnosis was made, I had already come to the realization that was probably what it was. Obviously I’m not at all happy about this, as my expectations coming into the last four weeks of my high school career were at an all time high. I won't be able to finish out the season, or see what I could have done at the state meet.
It’s crazy how fast things can change. One day I’m feeling on top of the world, exceeding my expectations in workouts and races, and a week later I can’t even run. I know where my fitness was, and I truly believe that I was capable of running sub 9:30 or even quicker as the fast meets actually featuring good competition were just getting ready to start. Both of the outdoor 3200s that I had run were completely solo without any competition. I was also just starting the fast work and going to start getting those splits down there in my 3200 specific workouts as well.
I'm thankful for the good block of training that I was able to put in over the past few months. Last 12 weeks mileage before the last week: 64.5, 66.5, 64.5, 69.5, 61, 62.5, 72, 65.5, 54, 63, 72, 61. My fitness has been raised to a whole new level, and I know what it takes to get to those quick times now. I feel that I wasn't able to reap all of the benefits of the training though as I was definitely aiming to peak at the end of May.
Here's the week of training that I never posted with comments that I had during the week in my log:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4/24-4/30- Sunday - 7 miles easy in 46:15 (6:37/mi); 10x80m barefoot strides on football field at school. Felt very good and had to keep slowing myself
down on the run. (Tot. 7.5mi)
Monday - AM: 10min shakeout. The weather was cool and it felt really good.
Hoping for a quick mile tonight, and hoping for the rain to stay away!!
PM: Meet cancelled as it was supposed to storm (which didn't turn out too
bad). It was hard to tell what to do but I did 5.62mi easy in 37:24
(6:39/mi), strides, 2x200 in 35.3 and 34.03 to get the legs feeling the
pace, more strides and then .53 mile jog back home. (tot. 7mi, 8.5 on day)
Tuesday - Warmup totaling 4mi with a 2mi warmup in 13:00 and a quicker
portion and good amount of strides; 1600m race in 4:37-PR but not at all
satisfied with the race; 5mi workout/cooldown with fartlek (5x1min hard,
1min easy in the middle). Tot. of 10mi
Race thoughts- Was hoping for a big PR today with some solid competition
(4:24 guy, 4:29 guy). I ended up leading the first 1500m and then getting
out kicked. I had originally planned to run 4:32 pace but after such a slow first lap that was thrown out the window. They definitely weren't wanting to run a quick time with the
wind, and were running for place. Huge negative split: 2:22 first 800m,
2:15 second 800m! Can't complain if it's a PR, just know that I had more.
*Video of race will be uploaded soon
Wednesday - 6.5mi recovery on Golf Course in 46:00 (7:09/mi)
Thursday - AM: Running short on time before school, just a 1mi shakeout in
7:33, very stiff
PM: WINDY! Warmup totaling a bit more than 3mi with a quick portion. 800m race in 2:09-poorly executed, 5min shakout, 1600m race in 4:39 in flats,
solo-felt very smooth!, some jogging around when I found out that I would
be hopping into the 4x4 for the first time in high school, 400m split in
56.85-considering that I've never officially broke 60 it was nice to see what I could run.; Only a mile and a half cooldown as I had to get on the bus(Tot. 7.5mi)
Friday - 8mi recovery in 55:56 (7:00/mi). Started feeling a pain in the ball of my foot yesterday when cooling down. I didn't feel it at all today at school, but started feeling it again midway through the run, it almost felt muscular or like plantar fasciitis, but it made me compensate my form some towards the end.
Saturday - 3mi warmup around town in 20:24 (6:49/mi), strides, planned
20min tempo, stopped at 13:12/2.22mi due to foot pain becoming unbearable.
(Tot. of 5.2mi)
Weekly Total: 54.2 miles with the workout cut short on Saturday. The week was shaping up to be my first week under 60 miles for a very long time.
As you can see from my log, if anything my mileage was much lower that week. It was my first week without an actual long run and it was going to be my first week under 60 miles in quite a while. I had a good amount of intensity crammed into a few days between Tuesday and Thursday and then doing a medium workout Saturday, but still nothing too far out of the ordinary. Spiking up and going really hard in that 400 probably brought the pain out some when I felt it during my cooldown, but it couldn't have been caused by that as these injuries happen over a course of time.
Looking back, I probably got a bit too caught up in not wanting my mileage to dip below a certain amount, or not wanting my easy days to be below 7 or 8 miles. I've handled mileage in the mid 70s (up to 78) quite fine for the past couple years, but that's generally during my base phase without much intensity and racing hard on top of it is a whole different stimulus. I probably could have handled this intensity with the mileage I was doing, but I don't think I executed it properly. I should have had a "down" week or a lower mileage week for me to absorb some of the training a bit better and to let my bones and muscles recover. I probably could have afforded to take a day or two off over the past couple months. It's just really hard to tell yourself that when things are going so well.
I've looked back at the things I could have changed to avoid this and have learned some more valuable lessons to take with me in the future. I can't continue to dwell on what I could have done at the end of my high school career as that's not going to help things at all. As my future Coach Martin told me on the phone "you're best days are ahead of you" along with the numerous other friends and competitors reassuring me that I've got bigger things to look forward to in the coming years.
So, the best thing for me to do is to look forward. Currently I'm trying to cross train the best that I can to maintain my fitness. I'll be off of running a total of 4-6 weeks. Right now about the only cross training I can do is aquajogging. I'm trying to increase that daily, but I have to go hard everyday in the pool to really get the effect that I want. I'm hoping I'll be able to start biking soon once I can walk in my aircast without pain (and I'm still on crutches).
I know that I'll make a great comeback and within a matter of weeks will be increasing my mileage and getting back to where I was. I'm still confident I can have the great summer of training that I envisioned, this time with more knowledge than before. I'm definitely excited for being a part of a great team and tradition next year and being able to take my running to the next level.
Lastly, when I put the complicated training aside and the racing aside, I enjoy running. I'm fortunate enough to have the ability to cover long distances on foot daily. Just being able to run and enjoy nature and the outdoors is extremely satisfying to me, and from not being able to run over the past two weeks, I've found how much I take that for granted. Giving this the proper time to heal is of utmost importance, so that I can come back and be able to enjoy running again.
Thanks to everyone for reading. It truly means a lot.
Unfortunately, the reason I'm several days late on this blog post isn't a good one. I won't be starting out with what has become the typical, upbeat "what a great week of training" paragraph.
I'm injured and it's not looking good. What started out as a slight nuisance on Thursday during a cooldown after our meet, escalated into an unbearable pain by Saturday morning. I'll elaborate:
Thursday we had a meet in Warsaw. I was doubling up in the 800 and 1600, hoping to run a quick 800 and then get in a solid effort in the 1600 for the win. After an okay 800, I won the 1600 in 4:39 in flats feeling controlled. With that I was pretty excited, so when getting ready for my cooldown my coaches asked me if I'd be able to hop into the 4x400 as one of our runners was having a bit of an injury. Tired, but still feeling good, I figured I'd do it and put a little more speed onto a solid day of work. For not having run a 400 since Junior High and (embarrassingly) never having broken 60 in the race, I wanted to see what I could do. I ended up running 56.85 for my split which I was pleased with for a "slow distance runner". My parents weren't at the race, and since I was riding home on the bus, I had to hurry up and get my cooldown in. When cooling down on the track though, I did notice a slight pain in the bottom upper part of my foot. It was hardly noticeable though, so I didn't think much of it.
Friday I didn't notice anything when walking around during the day with flip flops, so had really forgotten about it. During my 8 miler though, I noticed the pain again midway through. It was still more of a nuisance, and definitely bearable. I couldn't distinguish whether it was the bone, my arch or what though, so did normal mileage. Afterward though it was more noticeable walking around and I started taking it a bit more seriously.
Saturday morning I had a tempo run on the agenda, and a tentative plan to get a total of 10mi in on the day. In hindsight, this was the mistake. Knowing about the foot but not wanting to have the week's mileage suffer I didn't change the plan. When on my 3mi warmup, I was somewhat confident that the pain was in my foot tendons and not the bone. The pain was a bit more noticeable but still "nothing". Did some strides and started off on my 20min tempo run. I opted to wear trainers being somewhat cautious about the foot. I felt that I was compensating some with my form as the pain was maybe 4/10 on a pain scale, but still felt fine. At 13min in though, it was as if a switch had flipped and the pain had suddenly become unbearable. I immediately stopped and was lucky that my Dad was following me, so I hopped in and headed for home, scratching the planned 200s as well. Since that point I haven't really put any weight on the foot as it has been to painful to even walk.
Left foot's purpleness compared to right one..
It's crazy how quick things can change and how I felt on top of the world even Thursday, but by Saturday couldn't even walk. I'm still on crutches, and will be until I feel that I can walk pain free. This obviously couldn't have happened at a worse time, and I've been pretty upset over the matter. The worst case scenario is that it's a stress fracture, which if that's the case, I can kiss my season goodbye and all of the work that I've put into it.
I've been getting around on crutches for the past 3 days. I went to Benningfield Chiropractic on Monday in Peoria, and as I've mentioned in a previous post, they've done some good things for me. We took the conservative approach and tried some ARP shock treatment which will help if it's not a stress fracture. I'm going back tomorrow (Wednesday) to see if there is any improvement and most likely take an x-ray, or MRI, or bone scan.
Video of the treatment:
The last few days have really only consisted of aquajogging, which isn't too exciting.
At this point, I really don't know what to think. I'm still holding out hope and will definitely update you guys when I find out more.
I'll also post the last week's log sometime soon..
Good week. I had Thursday's Rob Garcia Invitational at Rushville penciled in as a day to go for a fast 3200. I ran 9:45 two weeks prior and although I wouldn't have any competition there I wanted to be sub 9:40, which doesn't seem like that big of a jump. Well, the problem with picking a random day in the middle of April to go fast several weeks in advance is that you don't have any idea about how the weather will be. Basically, I was praying for a calm day with moderate temperatures. A few days in advance it seemed that the weather would be perfect, but as the day drew near I realized that they were calling for pretty a pretty strong wind. With temperatures in the mid 50s and a 21mph wind accompanied with 27mph gusts, the weather was eerily similar to that of the Boston Marathon a few days prior (except for the fact that I would be running in a circle!) So, I just dealt with it and ran 9:52. I guess the effort is what counts. More thoughts on the race are below, but it got me the meet record (sorry, Nate) and that's something I was very happy with especially considering where I was at this point last year...
In the 2010 version of this meet things weren't going so well. As I've touched on some in the past, I was dealing with some injury struggles. What started out as good winter training block transformed into a downward spiral of nagging muscular injuries that wouldn't allow me to train anywhere near optimally. What made matters worse was that once I got on top of the issues my left leg was randomly losing control. Having a solid aerobic foundation, I wanted to get into the race specific work, but with new nagging injuries popping up weekly or my lack of leg control preventing me from doing any good tempos or long intervals, my fitness wasn't developing like it should have been.
Actually, at this point last year I had only run 10:35 so far for 3200 meters (50 seconds slower than where I'm at now) and hadn't run any fast than 4:59 for 1600 for the season (both of which were well slower than my PRs set my Sophomore year). So back to this same meet last year..I was wanting to run somewhere around 10:10 (which my fitness didn't indicate I was anywhere near). I ended up going through the first mile in 5:05 trying to stay in contention with Nathan Davis of Lewistown who ended up running 9:59 and breaking the then meet record. I faded horribly and kept getting slower each successive lap due to leg coordination problems. I was pretty upset and crossed the line in just over 11 minutes, luckily not getting lapped by Nathan. Discouraged by that horrible performance, I wasn't a very pleasant runner. Nathan listened to me whine and complain about my injury troubles and how I didn't even know if I wanted to continue running anymore. Luckily I pushed through it, and ended up making the best of the season with some slight PRs several weeks later. After the season, I focused on gaining better overall strength in those areas, which has left me much better off.
With consistent work over the past 12 months, I'm in a much better position than I was here last year.
Here's the log:
Sunday - 12 mile Long Run on varying terrain at Spring Lake
Monday - WINDY! Low key race and workout at Bushnell for Muggs McGinnis Relays. Warmup totaling 3.5 miles, race 1600 wanting to "cruise" to a 4:40 again, wind didn't allow that-4:47 (felt easy though); 1.5 mile cooldown with Gatlin; .5mi warmup for workout, Aussie Quarters (7x400 at 3200 effort with quick 200m recovery jog) - 74 (46), 74 (47), 75 (47), 75 (48), 76 (49), 75 (49), 74 (46) covering 4200 meters in 14:21; ~1.25mi cooldown. Everything slowed by wind, but workout felt under control. Wanted to hit 73s, but adjusted them to 74s due to wind.
Tuesday - 7 miles very easy in 49:39 (7:05/mi)
Wednesday - 6.5mi in 43:12 (6:32/mi); 4x200m relaxed in Matumbos going 36.26, 36.57, 35.71, 35.48 jog back recovery (Tot. 7.25mi)
Thursday - AM: 10 minute shakeout covering 1.4 miles PM: 2.5 mile warmup in 16:40 (6:42/mi), strides, 1:42 quicker (.3mi @5:40/mi), more strides
3200m race - 9:52
.5 mile shakeout in 3:30, Meet cancelled due to lightning-was going to run 1600m as well, 3 mile cooldown in pouring rain in 21:50 (7:13/mi)
Thoughts on race: Felt great! Probably went out a bit agressive (4:49, 5:02). Wind ate me up though. I generally prefer to run even to negative splits, so that wasn't great. Also had no competition, seeing as I lapped the whole field.
Friday - 8 miles recovery on Barn School Road (no crazy weather this time) in 57:59 (7:14/mi)
Saturday - 3 mile warmup in 20:07 (6:43/mi)Strides
20 minute tempo run covering 3.6 miles (5:34/mi). Splits: 1-5:36, 2-5:32, 3-5:30, 3.6-3:20
1.25 miles easy in 8:07 (6:37/mi)
6x200 progression: 36.01, 35.61, 33.59, 34.73, 33.41, 33.88
.75mi cooldown
Weekly Total: 64.5 miles. Core and general strength every day but Saturday. Hurdle drills and inversion table done several days as well.
Happy with the training. I felt pretty crummy on most of my easy days, but great on my hard days. I guess that's the point when training hard, and it shows that I'm recovering well. It's going to be awhile until my next 3200. I'm going to take a few weeks to jump into some more serious 1600 and 800s, but still try to keep solid mileage and good 3200 specific workouts.
Tomorrow I'm racing in the Fulton County Invite and running the 1600m. I'm hoping for a fast one and a PR as there will be some good guys in the field. It will also be my first 1600m that I'm spiking up in so far this year!
The 2011 outdoor season is starting to get into full swing. Our team headed down to Canton, Missouri for the Cansippi Relays on Thursday. I hopped into an 800m in addition to the mile to get the legs turning over a bit quicker and to use it as some under distance speed work. Besides the meet Thursday, I had quality workout days on Monday and Saturday.
Log:
Sunday - 11 miles easy around Spring Lake. Mostly on grass and trails. No time and with GPS off. Felt better than expected considering afterprom last night. Still cut it a bit short and stayed at a VERY comfortable effort. Last 10 minutes or so barefoot
Monday - Workout in Monmouth due to us having a little meet there. 3.11 mile warmup with Gatlin Marlow from Monmouth-Roseville to Monmouth college, strides; 6x800m intended to be run on Monmouth College track, but right when I was getting ready to start the workout the whole MC track team came out for their workout and was using basically the whole track. So I used my watch to measure an improv 800m route on the sidewalk with sharp 90 degree turns and hills. Originally wanted to run 2:26s on the track(right at 3200m effort), but with the route change it slowed things drastically. I worked from mid 2:30s on the first few down to 2:28 on the last one. Gauging by my effort, I'm sure these were run at the right pace. I used about 2min recovery with a bit of jog in between; 2 miles easy to MC soccer fields (getting turned around on the way there); 8x80m barefoot strides; 3.61 mile cooldown back to the high school, getting somewhat lost again. (Tot. 12mi, way more than I had planned)
Tuesday - 8 miles easy in 54:57
Wednesday - 6.11 miles easy in 40:10 (6:35/mi); 6x200m progression w/ jog back recovery: 35.96, 35.5, 34.32, 34.83, 33.59, 33.67 (Last 2 wearing victories, trying to break them in some) Tot. 7.1mi
Thursday - AM: 10min shakeout before school. Muscles pretty stiff, but feeling good (1.4 miles) PM: Cansippi Relays in Canton, MO - Various warmup totaling 4.2 miles; Race 1600m wanting to cruise to 4:40 as comfortable as possible, ran right at 4:40 which got me the win by quite a bit; Half mile easy after 1600m; Half mile warmup and strides, 800m in 2:06.3 (2nd); 2.5mi cooldown with most of it barefoot. The 800m was a 4 second PR, and for someone who has absolutely no speed, I was pretty happy with it.
Friday - 8 miles easy in 56:40 (7:05/mi) on Barn School Road. The weather got really bad really fast midway through my run. I was still quite aways from my car, this road is 8 miles from town, and there is an about one house per mile on this road. I was mainly concerned with the lightning, but the clouds were making weird formations as well. Somehow, right as it began to hail and get even nastier, I see my dad who came out to get me. It was quite the experience, but I'm happy he came and got me. Later I found out there was a tornado spotted about 10 miles east of there. I finished the rest of my run in town when I got home.
Saturday - 3 mile warmup in 19:20 (6:27/mi), strides, 25 minute *Wind Aided Tempo Run covering 4.45mi (5:37/mi), splits: 1-5:43, 2-5:40, 3-5:34, 4-5:31, 4.45-2:31; 2.5 mile cooldown in 17:39 (7:04/mi) (Tot. 10mi)
Total: 66.5 miles. Good core/general strength workouts every day but Sunday
I'm pretty pleased with this week's training as a whole. I'm still keeping the mileage up, but the intensity has been increasing quite a bit, which makes the overall training load that much tougher. I'm trying to balance the hard days with the recovery days, but still am probably in a pretty high state of fatigue overall.
This next week we'll have a home meet on Monday where I'll just run the mile and do a workout after. I'm wanting to cruise to a 4:40 again and get in a specific 3200m pace workout after. The plan is to go for a fast 3200 on Thursday in a meet in Rushville (weather permitting). Like I said, the mileage is staying up there, as I don't respond to dropping the mileage that much, especially not this early. I'm trying to get in a solid tempo run weekly and not get too far away from that stimulus either. The week after next, I'll be trying to go for a fast 1600m at the Fulton County Invitational, as there will be some good competition there.
I do have an excuse for being late on getting the post out this week. Prom was yesterday, which outside of my run, ate up my whole day. After staying up way too late last night, my body was pretty tired/run down. So I got my run in this morning, ate, and then napped for a few more hours.
The week featured some pretty average workouts, but also a very good time trial. The plan was to race Thursday, and run both the 3200m and 1600m, with the goal being to get in a fast 3200. Well, the meet ended up being cancelled due to the weather on Thursday (which I thought was fine), but I decided to follow through with the plans for a quick 3200m, as I wouldn't get another chance for another 2 weeks. I'm quite happy with my decision to do so, because it resulted in a new PR. I ran 9:45 solo. I was very pleased with the effort, but gotta keep moving forward
Here's the log:
Sunday - 12 mile Long Run at Spring Lake. Kept pace function off on watch. Ran by feel, and enjoyed the unusually warm weather we were having. It ended up hitting a high of 87 degrees later in the day!
Monday - WINDY! Wanted to get in some long, cross-country type repeats at a bit slower pace to touch on that system some, but also sprinkle in some 400s at 2mi pace to try and run that pace when tired. 3mi warmup with the last mile at tempo pace, drills and strides; 2x1200, 400, 1200, 400, 1200; 2.5mi cooldown
Tuesday - 7.5 miles easy (6:35/mi); 6x200 relaxed starting at 3200 speed and working to mile effort (last 4 in spikes): 36.26, 35.92, 36.39, 35.8, 34.7, 35.44
.5 miles back home (Tot. 9mi)
Wednesday - 6.5mi easy in 44:32 (6:51/mi); strides and a 200 (Tot. 7mi)
Thursday - 2mi+ progressive warmup (14:10--6:35/mi); drills, strides, .42 quicker (2:18--5:28/mi), 2x200 in 37, 36; 3200 Time Trial - 9:45 (4:48, 4:56); 4x200m in 35, 35, 35, 33; 4mi cooldown in 28:44 (7:11/mi). Total of 9mi
Friday - 8 miles very easy on Barn School Road, 56:38 (7:04/mi)
Saturday - At Lake Argyle- Hilly 3.5mi warmup very slow, including a pretty hard fall going down a hill; some strides; 20min tempo covering 3.46 (5:46/mi) with a very steep, long uphill to start out with, splits: 1-5:58, 2-5:37, 3-5:48 (varying terrain), last portion at 5:36/mi; 3mi hilly cooldown again in 22:17, by this time it was pretty warm out and the hills were rendering me to a very slow crawl. Solid workout overall.
Weekly Total: 64.5 miles. Was pretty diligent with all of my core and general strength work all week as well, getting in some hurdle drills on several days as well.
This next week I'll get a chance to have the legs moving a bit quicker, as on Thursday I'm entered in both the 1600m and 800m at the Cansippi Relays in Canton, MO. That will serve as some under distance speed work and my first real bit of stuff faster than mile pace. I'll also be looking forward to a good 3200 specific session and a tempo run.
This was my first PR set in the 3 1/2 months that I've been doing the blog, hopefully we can have a lot more of those soon as the outdoor season gets rolling along..
I'm not in the "in depth training rambling" mood right now, so I'll keep this post somewhat brief. Another good week. I'm happy to be keeping the mileage up this far into the track season. I wanted to hit 70 or more this week since I was feeling good, but my planned early morning shakeout on Wednesday and Friday didn't happen due to my sleep deprived body's cravings for more rest.
Log:
Sunday - 13 mile Long Run to Macomb, 1:23:54 (6:27/mi). Splits: 1-6:37, 2-6:26, 3-6:31, 4-6:34, 5-6:27, 6-6:27, 7-6:28, 8-6:25, 9-6:28, 10-6:25, 11-6:20, 12-6:23, 13-6:17. About 24 degrees, which is too cold for Spring!
Monday - 7.5 easy in 50:40 (6:45/mi); 12x200 relaxed, jog back diagonally recovery, working from 3200 pace to a bit quicker than mile pace. Splits: 37.04, 36.49, 37.34, 36.22, 35.67, 36.27, 35.88, 35.33, 35.5, 34.77, 35.17, 34.94. Put on the Matumbos the last 6 to break them in some. First time in spikes so far this year.
Tuesday - 9 mile, 1:01:09 (6:47/mi). Lower right back/piriformis hurting some throughout the day. Had bothered me some in the past few days. Icing and stretching good.
Wednesday - 2.5mi warmup, drills and strides, 20min tempo covering 3.57mi (5:37/mi), 5x10sec flat sprints with full recovery, 2.5mi cooldown. Total of 9mi
Thursday - 7.5 easy in 51:07 (6:49/mi). Strides and 2x200 after. (Tot. 8mi)
Friday - WINDY! - Complicated warmup totaling 4.75mi with a few miles at low 6min pace and some strides and 200s (misjudged my race time and the meet was going slower than planned so I initially warmed up way too early), race/cruise a 1600 in 4:45, 2mi easy, workout-Aussie Quarters (just 6x400 at 3200 pace (74-75) with 200m jog recovery). Splits-1:15 (:50), 1:14 (:52), 1:15 (:50), 1:15 (:52), 1:14 (:53), 1:15 (:52).; just a half mile cooldown home, spent. Total of 10.5mi
Saturday - AM: 5mi recovery in 38:15 (7:39/mi). Tried to go way slower than I have in a long time. Very windy. PM: 5mi easy in 33:49 (6:46/mi), perfect weather.
Total: 69.5 miles. This shows that there isn't a magic number. It's tough to see that 69.5 there, as I would rather have ran 70 or more miles. I also didn't total the week's mileage until today. Very good week. Friday I just wanted to run my season goal 3200 pace for that mile (4:45) and still get in a solid workout after. I did that even with some crazy wind. I did have problems with my lower right back and my piriformis/glute this week, but have been doing everything I can to keep that at bay. If it gets worse I might have to take a day off, hopefully that's not the case.
This next week I'm hoping for some more solid work. I'll be gunning for a quick 3200 time on Thursday with weather permitting. It's a small meet, so it will be more of a time trial, and I'm going to double up to make it a good day of work overall.
If I can keep stacking weeks like this together, I'll be looking for somewhat of a breakthrough soon.
Yesterday I raced at the Illinois Prep Top Times meet in Bloomington, which serves as our “Indoor State”, although it isn’t affiliated with the IHSA. I was 7th in 9:57. “Stepping stone” is the term I would use to describe this race. I feel that I’m in the right place for this point in my training cycle. Honestly, I'm really confident with where I'm at right now. I feel that the specific work that I’m doing is going to keep building on it’s self over the next few weeks, and that I’m going to be in very good shape come the end of May if everything goes according to plan. I can’t speak for any of the guys training that finished ahead of me, but knowing a few of them I’ve got a pretty good idea of what they’re doing, and when you’re running huge PRs or 9:30 indoors, where are you going from there? I'm confident my aerobic base is better than most of theirs and know I'll be ready to race my fastest when it matters most.
I’m excited to see my workouts progress over the next few weeks. The few specific two mile workouts that I’ve done have been just been run at 75s (5:00/mi pace) and I ran 9:57 off of those. So the goal moving forward is to get those workouts to feel just as easy when running 74s, and then 73s, and so on.
Log:
Sunday - 12mi Long Run. Kept GPS off, just ran around Spring Lake for 1:21:00 (6:45/mi). Felt good. Ran the trails for a long time, and some on the roads and XC course as well. 6x10sec Hill Sprints/Flat Sprints after. Felt strong and fast.
Monday - 9mi easy in 1:00:54 (6:46/mi)
Tuesday - Windy. At Knox College track because our team had a small indoor meet there. 2mi warmup, drills and strides; 12:30 tempo run on the track covering 2.2 miles (5:41/mi); change into flats- 2x800 in 2:30 with 200m jog, and 4x400 in 1:15 with 100m jog. Hit each split perfectly (within the second) and felt pretty relaxed; 2mi cool down in 14:05 (7:03/mi) and some more strides. Total of 9mi counting jog rests and strides.
Wednesday - 6.5mi recovery in 45:05 (6:56/mi). 4x200m relaxed after progressing from 2mi gear to mile gear: 37.16, 36.28, 36.28, 35.34. (Tot. 7mi)
Thursday - 7 miles easy in 47:11 (6:46/mi) and 6-8x80m strides
Friday - 5min shakeout inside, some stretching,1.12 miles outside with some strides and a 200 at race feel (slow), jog back to shirk center, more relaxed running inside (they were behind schedule) with some quicker stuff and strides right before, Race 3200m IPTT in 9:57, after procrastinating on the cooldown for too long from talking to various runners that I don't get the chance to talk to that often I did about 6min inside and then an extra 3.11 miles outside for about 4mi total cooldown. (Total of 9mi)
Saturday - Easy 8mi at Spring Lake in 56:00. Had GPS off and just ran by feel. Felt really good, probably too good to have ran a race the day before. The temperature was too cold for my liking in the Spring (35 degrees with a 22 degree wind chill), but once I got into the woods it felt a lot better without the wind..
Total: 61 miles. General Strength/core just about every day but two, with a very good core workout today with hurdle drills and other mobility stuff.
Another good week.
The last few months I’ve been experimenting with monitoring my resting/sleeping heart rate to gauge my fatigue level and to see how it fluctuated based on the various training that I have been doing. I’m not going to put much of that data up this week, as I don’t have the time to do that, but that might be something to add to the log. The first week that I did it I found that my resting heart rate dipped below 40 bpm a few times throughout the night, hitting around 38 bpm for the lowest point. I didn’t wear the heart rate monitor to bed much early on this week, but I did the last few days. For example, my average heart rate for the 8.5 hours that I slept the night before my race on Friday was 47 bpm, and I felt pretty good that Friday. Last night I averaged 50 bpm, which really isn’t much of a jump, but it shows how heart rate fluctuates during varying levels of fatigue. It’s definitely an interesting (and nerdy) thing to do. I'll try to post more of this info in the next few weeks
Our team races a lot (too much), and has a pretty hectic meet schedule, especially in April. I’m trying to change that. With over 20 races on the schedule in less than a 3 month period, that’s too much. When racing that much you can’t train optimally and it jleads to burn out. Soo..We have two meets on the schedule this week, with both of them being small and at home with little overall importance. I won’t be racing the one on Monday, and on Thursday I’ll just be running the mile. I should be able to get in a few good workouts and put in some good mileage with no important races to worry about.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll get some pics of the week up and a race video.
Sorry about the late entry. Last night I was way too tired to write a post, and this morning after my run I was too occupied watching on demand coverage of both the NYC Half and the IAAF World XC Champs.
Last weekend I started developing a bit of a cough and sore throat, which seemed to get worse through the early portions of the week. I went to the doctor Wednesday and luckily found it wasn't anything more than some bronchitis and sinus drainage. I got put on some antibiotics just to be cautious, as I didn't want it to develop into anything more that would cause me to miss training time. The week did feature good training overall, with one mediocre race that I didn't feel too great about, but the important thing is that I am making gradual progress in my training. Even if the results aren't fully apparent, I feel really good about the direction that I'm heading in.
Tuesday - 5:17 shakeout, stretching, 1 mile warmup in 6:15, drills and strides, 2x200-38.9,37.5, 3min more of warmup, 2min of more running including a quicker portion, more strides and waiting; Race 3200m- 1st in a mediocre 10:10; Cooldown totaling 5mi, with 4.5mi in 33:13 and 4x80m barefoot strides on MC turf football field. (Tot. of 10mi)
Getting a postion the first 200 meters. Photo courtesy of David Giagnoni
Thoughts on race: Ran almost all of it solo, with no one to gauge off of. Running a fast 16 laps indoors is hard to do without competition, as the race can get pretty dull, and it can be easy to lose momentum after the first mile. I didn't feel that I put in a full effort, but all that matters is getting my qualifier for Illinois Prep Top Times (which was only 10:25 for Class A).
Wednesday - 8.5mi recovery, 1:00:31 (7:07/mi)
Thursday - 3mi warmup including strides @ 6:45/mi, 10min @ LT pace (1.71mi--5:51/mi), 90sec recovery, 10min @ LT pace(1.72mi--5:49/mi), 90 sec recovery, 4:24 @ LT pace (.79mi--5:34/mi); close to a mile of barefoot strides on the football field; 2mi cooldown in 13:27 (6:44/mi) Tot. of 10+
Friday - 10mi easy, 1:08:34 (6:52/mi)
Saturday - AM: 2mi warmup in 13:23 (6:42/mi), drills and strides,
Workout (goal splits in parenthesis):
800m (2:30) - 2:28
Few minutes recovery, then into a continuous alternation of 400m at 75 (5:00/mi), 400m at 90 (6:00/mi). Really just alternating ~2mi pace with a little slower then tempo pace. Since the recovery is run so quick this can get tough!
400m (1:15) - 1:15.07
Rec. 400m (1:30) - 1:26
400m (1:15) - 1:15.37
Rec. 400m (1:30) - 1:28
400m (1:15) - 1:13.95
Rec. 400m (1:30) - 1:29
400m (1:15) - 1:15.01
Rec. 400m (1:30) - 1:29
400m (1:15) - 1:15.2
Rec. 400m (1:30) - 1:30
400m (1:15) - 1:14.85
Rec. 400m (1:30) - 1:30
400m (1:15) - 1:15.35, Stop. Didn't want to overdo it in a workout (3.25mi in 17:39--5:26/mi)
~2min recovery. Decided on one more.
Last 400m (1:15) - 1:13
3mi cooldown in 20:34 (6:51/mi). Workout felt good and under control. Had to dig a bit deeper than what I've been used to, but overall it felt like I was working aerobically, and was the right intensity. Total of 9mi
PM: 45min of Aquajogging and 100m of swimming with Gatlin and Devin Clark from Monmouth. Since Gatlin's injured with a stress fracture in his foot, I figured I'd head up to Monmouth and join him for some of his pool workout since I know it can be boring. Also spent much of the day watching another Monmouth College HS Invite. After a solid workout in the morning, I was spent!
Weekly Total: 62.5 miles, and 45min of aquajogging. Pretty good mileage without a long run or any supplemental morning runs (I was just too tired in the mornings!). Tuesday's race wasn't great, but with doing it mostly solo, the hassle of lapping that many people, and not really any specific work yet, it wasn't horrible. Really, I don't want to be running super fast this early in the season anyways. Thursday's workout was kind of rough, but good to get in some tempo stuff and the barefoot strides felt good. I was really pleased with Saturday's workout, it was my first real workout at 2mi specific paces, and I expect to keep building on what I did. I'm thinking Prep Top Times will offer a good opportunity to run a quick time with competition, and I'm excited about that, because I know I'm in good fitness. I'm hoping we're all in one heat there, or that I'm at least in the fast section. The last thing I want is to be in the slow heat.
The last seven days have featured some crummy running weather, most of which occurred mid-week, but it wasn't anything atypical for the middle of March. Most days were mid 30s to mid 40s, some days very wet and rainy, and it was really windy all week long. I did get in another solid week of work, so I can't complain.
Log:
Sunday - 12 mile Long Run, 1:21:00. Day after race, kept the effort easier than normal and turned off the GPS on watch so that I wouldn't be looking at splits. So, basically guessed that I ran 6:45/mi, could be off, but that's about 15sec/mile slower than normal. All of run done on soft surfaces at Spring Lake in the trails and on xc course.
Monday - 9 miles easy in 1:01:30 (6:50/mi), 6x80m strides XT: Full general strength routine (L/R side plank, regular plank, glute/hip raise, pushups, supermans, leg lifts, single leg raises, med. glute exercise), stretching, rolling out, hurdle drills, inversion table
Doing General Strength routine
Tuesday - AM: 2mi shakeout PM: Cold and pouring rain, not fun. 2.5mi warmup (17:07-6:51/mi), strides, 25min tempo run covering 4.33mi (5:46/mi)-splits: 1-5:54, 2-5:49, 3-5:44, 4-5:40, 1:51; 4x400m relaxed (1:14, 1:13, 1:16, 1:15), 2mi cooldown in 13:56 (6:58/mi). Total of 10mi, 12 on day XT: Full general strength routine, stretching, rolling out, inversion table
Wednesday - 8 miles recovery, 57:05 (7:08/mi) XT: Full general strength routine, stretching
Thursday - AM: 1mi shakeout. I know, 1mi shakeout? I didn't have enough time for anything else, as I woke up far too late. PM: WINDY! First half of workout into it, second half with it. 9miles: 15min warmup-7:20, 6:50, :52, fartlek- 5x1min "on", 1 "off", 5x2min "on",2 "off", the rest cool down cooldown (58:21-6:29/mi); 6x200m relaxed, starting at mid 37s working to high 35s (Tot. of 10mi, 11 on day) XT: Full general strength routine, stretching
Friday - 9 miles easy, 1:01:00 (6:47/mi). No track practice, so I got to do it on Barn School Road, a rolling dirt road. Very windy, first half into it. XT: Half of general strength routine, stretching
Saturday - 11 miles with wind, 1:07:12 (6:07/mi): First 8 progression-6:27,6:20,6:02,6:08,5:57,5:51,5:53,5:46, mile easy-6:25, 3x1min hard/2min easy, the rest cool down. Felt very controlled and relaxed.; 6x10sec Hill Sprints afterwards, full recovery. Trying to get SOME leg speed. Great workout overall. XT: Full general strength routine, stretching, Inversion table
Total: 72 miles. Good mileage and good quality.
Happy with the week. Consistency is what it's all about, and things are going good. I got in my general strength/injury prevention everyday this week but Sunday. Also, in addition to my main workouts this week, got in some hill sprints this week to assist in my embarrassing top end leg speed. Wanted to do a lot more of this during the base phase this winter, but with no hills in town it was always too iced over or snow covered out of town. Or I seemed to be dealing with some little nagging injury. I'm not really having any nagging pains right now, and in contrast to last year, I have full control of my left leg. Hopefully it can stay that way for the foreseeable future. Still doing a lot of long tempo stuff which I seem to thrive off of well, also touching on the race pace stuff with the 200s and 400s I did after my workouts this week, but still nothing too hard yet. I'll be getting into the more specific track stuff here in the next few weeks. Once I start hitting those workouts, I feel that I'll be reaping more of the benefits of this good aerobic work. I'm excited.
I'll race Tuesday in a 3200 at Monmouth College. Hopefully that'll be my qualifier for Illinois Prep Top Times (our "Indoor State"). Most likely the effort will be solo, as a good friend of mine from Monmouth-Roseville, Gatlin Marlow, is out with a stress fracture in his foot and Coffey isn't in the 3200. We'll see how things go, though.
Sunday - 12 mile Long Run, 1:19:02 (6:35/mi). Kept the effort a bit easier this week, and stayed cautious about the popliteal tendon. Luckily it didn't hurt and I felt pretty smooth. It was 32 degrees and raining most of the way, that was the least enjoyable part-ending the run soaked.
Monday - 9 miles in 1:01:29 (6:50/mi), 8x80m strides afterwards
XT: General strength/Core
Tuesday - 10 miler in 1:04:09 (6:27/mi): First 4 miles gradual progression, then 7x1min "on" (~5k effort), 2 "off" fartlek, easy cooldown the rest. Splits: 1-6:45, 2-6:17, 3-6:05, 4-5:44, easy 5min, 20min worth of fartlek, cooldown 2+ cooldown at 6:42 and 6:43; 6x200 relaxed, starting at mid 36s working to high 35s. (Tot. 11mi)
XT: General Strength/Core, hurdle drills for hips, inversion table
Hurdle Drills. Made sure to keep it light since it's been awhile.
Wednesday - 7.5 very easy in 53:14 (7:06/mi), knowing the rest of the week will be hard, I'm trying to get some good recovery. Most of it on golf course. It's good to get on the soft surfaces now and to be on something other than a flat hard road so that I can engage those stabilizing muscles some.
XT: General Strength, inversion table
Thursday - 2.5mi warmup in 16:33 (6:38/mi), strides, 5xMile cruise intervals @ LT pace. Splits: 5:42, 5:42, 5:37, 5:41, 5:36. 2.5 mi cool down in 16:47 (6:43/mi). (Tot. of 10)
XT: Light General Strength/Core, Inversion Table
Friday - 7.5 easy in 50:59 (6:47/mi), 4x80m strides, 4x200 relaxed in racing flats: 36.88, 36.98, 36.08, 35.56. (Tot of 8+)
XT: General Strength/Core
Saturday - Jacksonville Invite- Warmup (~2.75mi): light stretching, 6min really easy outside(7:28/mi), check in for race, 1.03mi a bit quicker (6:18/mi-didn't feel like I was running that quick), dynamic stretches and drills, strides, 2x200 trying to feel out mile rhythm (37.19, 37.28-too slow,felt sluggish), back inside for half mile more of jogging around and strides. Race 1600m in 4:42-felt good, race description below. Total cooldown was 4.25 miles in 31 minutes with the first 5min or so with Will Cross and Cole Dill of Tremont, and the rest of the first mile with Cole. (Tot. of 8mi)
XT: Light General Strength/Core at home afterwards
Total: 65.5 miles. 3 good, quality days-which included 2 good workouts and a solid race.
Race Summary: This meet's always a long one, and I knew I was going to be waiting awhile. I ate good throughout the day, and also somehow got a random bloody nose while napping, which took about a half hour to clear up, but luckily didn't get on my clothes or affect me at all. Going into the race I was realistically hoping for 4:45 to 4:48ish. Based on not having done anything fast or mile specific yet, I just wanted to re-accustom the legs to the pace they would have to be running this spring. My heat of the mile (final heat), included some solid guys: Will Cross of Delevan (9:38 3200m and 3rd at State last year), Cole Dill of Tremont, and Shane Hoerbert of PORTA. We ran smart splits, and didn't have anybody take off ridiculously fast, which was nice. I found myself in the lead the first lap or two and wasn't really expecting that, right after-Cross took care of the pace and kept us pretty solid. We were 4:45 pace throughout most of the race and negative split pretty good. My Splits per 200 (within a half second): 35, 1:11 (37), 1:45 (34), 2:22 (37), 2:59 (37), 3:35 (36), 4:09 (34), 4:42 (33). Overall, I was happy that I'm not completely slow right now. I know I'm in great shape aerobically and I'm excited for what's going to happen when I start with the specific work.
Here's a video of the race. I lowered the audio in parts, just so that my dad's loud yelling wouldn't annoy anyone too much,ha..(I'm third from the left on the starting line) :
Also, I want to give a shout out to Mr. Will Cross for officially being back, and racing for the first time in entirely too long. He struggled with a pretty bad hamstring injury for a good part of the summer and all of this fall during XC. Hopefully he's past all of that now, and will be posting some fast results this Spring!
