Illinois Prep Top Times

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.

Thanks for reading

-John

A Taste of Spring

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.

Great weather this week. Here's the log:

Sunday - 8 miles easy, 53:38 (6:42/mi)

Monday - 6.5mi easy, 42:47 (6:37/mi); strides, 4x200m relaxed-37.2,37.4,35.28,35.1 (Tot. of 7+)

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.

Thanks for reading

-John

Wet and Windy Week

Hey there, readers!

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.

Feeling Strong

-John

Bustin' That Rust

Solid week.

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!