Motivated to Succeed

12:00 PM - Went to Monument Mountain with Emmy and we ran it. The uphill hurt us, but we did it like champs. A couple ladies cheered us on. First .7 is balls to the wall hard. We hit the top in about 16 mins or so, and just kept going. There were way too many people on the top as it is. I have been wearing my Vibrams on nearly every run since MTD. I like them and they are comfy. I am trying to get stronger and more graceful. We'll see how it goes. Flew down to the finish line and ran a 35:35 for the total. Felt awesome!

7:00 PM - Long day of grading and meetings. Finally got out and asked Emm if she wanted to hike Monument. We were the only ones there for once. That never happens! We went up to the top, jogging a bit, but mostly power hiking, then stopped and plunged down the backside. Made a brief jog up to Devil's Pulpit as is customary. Finished running on the road a nice 500m downhill pick up. I don't know how I'm going to race the Green Mile Race on Thursday! (If I'm able to make it that is). Took 42 mins for the total. 

6:00 PM - High was 93 degrees today. Crazy. Saw a runner while driving home from BART and I nearly died just looking at him. I went ahead and cranked up the A/C a bit more. I do not do well in temps above 65 or so (This is why I think Oregon would be perfect for us.) Got on the treadmill and ran 30:00. Two pick ups including 1 x 400 at 11mph and another at 10mph. Felt pretty good. Right heel a bit tender from yesterday's run/hike where I stepped on a few rocks and roots. Total Time was 30:00, good for 9:00/ mile average pace.

7:20 PM  - Has been a crazy end of the year. Stress through the roof with portfolio presentations and I have had a sore throat for more then a week and a half now. Got a race tomorrow. The Green Mile on North Street. Has been about 7 years since I raced a 1 mile race. Never been this fat either. 230 lbs this morning. Blah. Might not go as planned. Plus, crappy training this month to boot.  4.2 miles in the Vibrams at the track in 34:00.

6:00 PM - Came right from school after watching another 3 juniors pass their gateway portfolios and another giving a SLC. Feeling really good. Rather warm. Temp was about 82 degrees at the start. I was wearing Vibrams, Nike shorts, and my BART hoodie. Don't know why I was wearing my sweatshirt aside from 1. I feel like shit the last few days and I feel like a complete walrus and like to hide behind baggy sweatshirts and 2. I wanted to wear something to represent BART.

 Saw Melissa Herliczek there at the start. She ran a high 6:40s last year, so I figured she'd run similarly this year. No idea where the start was. Didn't feel like trying to get in a warm up in the middle of all the Third Thursday celebration nonsense. Waited around. Emm joined me to wish me luck. A few of my runners were there. It's a big deal to see them out and I have to remember to encourage them now that I am the official head coach for next year's xc team!

About three minutes before the start, they asked us to go to the finishing chute. They made us line up there. WTF mate. 204 runners crammed into an area big enough for about 50. I was about in 7th row back. Not ideal. I wedged myself behind Melissa and once the gun went off I swung wide and ran the extra distance on the outside of the first turn. Route went down North St. for 1/2 mile and then came back.  They hadn't even closed the road to people and the cop cars were barely clearing the road for the leaders. Hit the 1/2 in 2:59 and I knew that wasn't good. I haven't done any speedwork and I knew I would pay for it.

Kept plodding along. One guy passed me on a mission. Must have had a bad start in the kiddy corral. Pushed hard to the finish and finished in 6:10. That's the fastest I've run a mile in my Vibrams and considering I was 232lbs at the start, I was very pleased. I might have been the top Clydesdale if they had that division. 10th overall in my division and 35th of 204 finishers with a time of 6:10. 

6:30 PM - Jogged 2 miles on the treadmill in Vibrams in 18:20 before Emmy got home and then we went down to Lenox and hiked/ran Monument Mountain in about 44 mins. Felt really great. Not too many people out aside from the first .3 miles of the trail. I am getting better at running trails in my KSOs but wonder if there is a better Vibram trail running shoe as it hurts the bottom of my feet sometimes when I hit roots and rocks. BART mile race up tomorrow. I am not racing it though I don't think. Just trying to get miles in my Vibrams!

9:30 AM - Sunny and humid, mid 70s. We hopped on the buses and went up to Shady Pines for Field Day. Last year I won the BART Field Day Mile, which is about the only sanctioned sporting event other than advisory volleyball that we do. I wore my Vibrams and that got a lot of lucks and comments from kids and teachers alike. I knew I wasn't the fastest in the race, and there were three of my xc runners that I knew should have been able to beat me. Well 2 of them dropped and scratched and the other decided last minute, maybe because of my toeshoes, to run barefoot.

I positioned myself in the third row and when Morgan said "On your marks, go!" I lumbered off the starting line. Eased into the first lap and tried to talk to as many of my students as possible: JH who ended up going on to run a 10:02, his fastest mile ever, MD, who just like last year did it in his jeans and button up shirt (would end up doing his last lap with him), and JK, who never fails to amaze me.

By about the halfway point of lap 1 of 3, they starting dropping. As is the case with most middle school and high school runners, they start too fast. I moved from 10th to 8th, and then to 5th. By the start of the second lap I was in 3rd comfortably. I kept an even tempo and fell into rhythm. 2nd place. I took command of the race about 100m from the end of the second lap, and then when I hit the line I pushed it into overdrive.

I ended up cruising to the tape in 6:42, not bad considering I was 52 lbs heavier this year then this time last year AND that I putzed around the first lap. Cruised in and then waited for MD and AK to come through and did a bit with each of them. Really proud of my kiddos.

Total Time: 6:42 good for first place overall and in AG. 

Today I successfully completed my first official year of teaching! Woot! Don't know how I made it there but I did. Gave out awards today called "The Bearded Griffin"s to deserving students that put in the consistent effort and dedication it takes to be successful. As testament to their going the "extra mile" I took a pair of my bright yellow Asics track spikes and turned them into awards for JH and AS. They were so happy they ended up putting them on and walking with one foot in an oversized track spike for a few minutes. Hah!

Emma and I were going to a Jack and Jill party so I had to get a few miles in quickly for sanity's sake. Did 5.03 on the treadmill in my Vibrams at a fine pace. I need to lose some lbs and get back in shape!

Total Time: 45:45 Total Distance: 5.03 miles Average Pace:  9:06/ mile

2.25 miles nice and easy on the treadmill listening to WAMC. More tonight hopefully when Emm gets home from work if it's not raining. (20:00)

Storms moved in this evening. Wanted to get outside, but thunder and such. So at about 8:00pm hopped on the treadmill for another jog while Emm did P90x. Did an easy 3.15 miles with a progression towards the end with the last mile being substantially faster than the earlier ones. (26:03)

Today was quite productive. I was able to draft a training guide for my young cross country runners. Most have never run before, so I want to ease them in. I made an "A" and "B" training schedule where they have to pick which is more appropriate for them. I think this will pay off hugely if any of them actually stick to it! A is more serious, but B is just to get them moving and spending time on their feet. Check it out via Google Docs

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THE SUMMER TRAINING PLANS AT:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/15dQ-ZJ541Lmg3PCnm0rjmwhMi3fjK1G3hZo4Fjqw8lo/edit?hl=en_US

Email Mr. Griffin with any questions, comments or concerns: benn.griffin@bartcharter.org 

10:00 AM - Temp was in the high 60s. Humidity near 70%. Went with Emmy to Lenox to Olivia's Lookout and went around the loop that I favored so much last year before seeing the black bear. Can't believe I used to run this trail, let alone run it multiple times in a row! We power hiked the uphill and then ran the second half. The bottom of my feet were beat up by the roots and rocks. Still hurt when I'm writing this on Tuesday evening. A good workout though. They are changing the far part of the loop where it goes down. Noticed this after the fact; we kept plodding on past the signs and came across a good dozen trees that had been felled across the trail but not picked up. A new nicely groomed single track goes down just before that turn so will have to try that out next time.

Total Time: 51:00 Total Distance: 3.5 miles Average Pace:  14:34

6:00 PM - It was nice to have my car back today. I have missed it. Funny thing though. Now when you go to fill the gas tank, every .70 cents of gas or so it triggers the shut off thing. My mom said that she didn't mention it to me before because she figured it was an ongoing problem. I said, no it had never happened to me before though. I am going to try to hold the gas pump upside down though next time because I read somewhere that sometimes that helps this problem. Just annoying. Took like 8 minutes to pump gas today for my little 12 gallon tank haha.

Went jogging on the treadmill this a.m. Did 3.6 miles in 30:00 and did 2 x 3 minute pick up, also 3 x 400m at 6:00/mi pace. Felt really nice. After errands and making a cross country wiki page for my runners, I came home helped with dinner and then jogged after dinner for 23:00. Did an easy 2.5 miles after dinner. Felt good overall. Trying to track calories and be careful of I eat. Weight was 232 yesterday, and 229 today.

Total Time: 53:00 Total Distance: 6.1 miles Average Pace:  8:41

Relaxed on the treadmill listening to Obama on WAMC and reading Running Times and Runner's World.

Total Time: 47:00 Total Distance: 5.1 miles Average Pace: 9:13 

Felt really good. Warm up and then 6 x 400m at 5:30-6:00 pace. Cool down afterwards.

Total Time: 33:57 Total Distance: 4 miles Average Pace: 8:29