track fan

1:18:37 (40:45/37:52; 9:03/8:24). My back was still in spasms this morning, but once I loosened up it felt pretty good. My run was awesome. It was about 4 degrees cooler, and it really felt good! Who knew that 80F could be so comfortable? Because I am traveling today (it takes forever to get to the East coast from here) I will be missing my second run ... so I decided to pick it up a little on the way home. I felt really good, even the 2 miles uphill!! yea!

Happy weekend bloggers, my posts will be sporatic in the upcoming week. Good luck in your runs and races!!

1:48:04 (56:26/51:38).   76F and raining -- it was so nice!  Humid, but so much cooler than I am used to these days.  Second long run in as many weeks where I was soaked most of the run.  I don't mind, summer rains are pretty nice.  Ran with Dean for about 2.5 miles - he hasn't been running the past couple days and he took off, usually we run really really slowly the first mile or so, but he was just antsy I guess.  I was glad I got to slow down some after he turned to go back.  I ran from the hotel to the Washington Memorial, then to the Lincoln Memorial, and then I kept going past The Watergate and turned towards Georgetown.  I wanted to run on the C&O canal, but since it was pouring I thought it might be pretty muddy, so instead I opted for the Capitol Cresent trail (bike trail) to Fletchers Landing (got water here) and then back.  I am estimating it was between 12 and 13 miles ... Felt pretty darn good today.  My back only hurt for about 2 hours early in the morning ... once I stretched and started walking around it felt much better.

This conference (The American Statistical Association - Joint Statistical Meetings) is the largest of the stats meetings - this year we have about 6000 people preregistered from all over the world.  It is the one time to see all of your friends from school and previous jobs!  In the past I have spent the whole 4/5 days going to talks and taking short courses ... but now I am missing many of the talks because I am on two committees and we have meetings all the time.  Tonight is the very exciting "ASA Biometrics Section Executive Committee Meeting (closed)"  - I know you wish you could come, but it is a closed meeting (because we talk about very exciting things --- NOT). Tommorrow I have the "ASA Council of Chapters Meeting (part closed/part open)" - all day!!  I am hoping to at least get to see the keynote speaker on Tuesday and some talks that my friends are giving! 

Happy rest of the weekend bloggers!

1:10:21.  Switched my usual Tuesday workout with Wednesday because I was so tired last night I just couldn't get up eary this morning.  It was a little warmer than Sunday, but despite the humidity it was SO much cooler than Tucson.  Nice run, ran back to Georgetown.  Tomorrow I am going to taxi it down to the dirt trail and then run back ... my legs really don't like all the asphalt and concrete ...

The absolute HIGHLIGHT of my day today??  Having lunch with the beautiful, funny, and speedy Argentine Rocket!!!  What a lovely person!

AM: (9 miles, 1:17:48).  Nice run on the C&O towpath and then back to the hotel.

PM: (4 miles, easy).  Running with one of my colleagues from Arizona.

Wonderful run with the Rocket! More later

AM: (10+ miles, 1:32:09).  Total this was probably closer to 10.5, but oh well. I overestimated how long it would take me to get home after doing the faster bits, so again I overshot the distance a tad.  5 x 5` SS pace (I averaged around 7:40's) w/3` recovery.  24:14 wu/28:36 cd.

PM: (3 miles easy).  I will definately wait until the sun goes down, after so many lower temp days it feels mighty hot here to me right now.

I will not be able to catch up on all the blogs until this weekend, I am giving a talk this afternoon, and - as usual - I am not prepared. 

Have a nice day bloggers!

1:02:59 (31:46/31:13).  Nice recovery run. AHHHHH.  Nice 78F today -- what a difference.  I knew it was going to be cooler today, since last night @ 11PM it was "almost" as cool outside as inside!  This I can handle!

Happy weekend bloggers.

1:47:25 (57:35/49:50), last 4 miles were 8:02, 7:51 and 7:24 average for the last 2 miles (I missed a mile marker).

Surprisingly I really felt like crap most of this run. I think a combination of the travel, two days in a row of overshooting my mileage (because of cab problems and underestimating how far things were), and the last couple months of work stress have really started to wear on me. I am planning on really focusing on taking it easy next week, trying to lower my stress levels (I am not sure exactly how I am going to do this, since I am under a lot of pressure right now -- but maybe just mentally easing up without actually easing up ;-) ) and get ready for the semester to start. Also -- I am planning out my new racing schedule this week, so my training should be getting interesting soon -- I am hoping that the 101F days stay around (versus the 113F they have been) -- although I really really can't wait until October when it will be back to normal weather again.

Happy rest of the weekend bloggers!!

(126.8) 

Day off, but I had forgotten last week that I wanted to post an article from Flotrack on Lindsay Allen, one of Greg's athletes.  Close-by, the World Track and Field Championships start next weekend - yea ... a week of T&F!

So, the weather forecast from the radio yesterday: "highs of 101 today and tomorrow, but warming up by Wednesday and Thursday" ;-) ha ha.  Despite the high numbers - the mornings have been much cooler as of late, much more tolerable.  Actually, even 101 feels cooler to me now.

One more tidbit before I go to work, I went to clean the filter basket for the pool on Saturday.  WHOA, there was a huge spider that had built a web in there (as an aside, I am terrified of spiders).  As I looked on, mortified, I realized that "she" had a huge red hourglass on her belly. I quietly backed away and ran inside the house and "holed up" until Dean came home (all manner of insects, and live rodents, are his job).  I was sad that he killed her and her egg sac - but he said, "it was either her or us".  

Have a great week bloggers. 

AM: (9 miles, 1:20:08 (40:38/39:30)).  Very nice morning, a little hot, but cloudy so it felt pretty good. 

PM: (4 miles).  If I can leave work early enough I will actually try to run 4.5 on my favorite course tonight -- the sunset was spectacular and would have been an awesome night to run this course (the mountain views are very nice).

Happy running!

1:02:27 (31:29/30:58).  I felt so great today ... pretty surprising given I felt sort of sluggish on my run last night.  It was a nice day, a little on the hot side but under 100F so all is good!

AM: (9.5+ miles, 1:20:43). 25:18 wu 15 x 1` w/1` recovery at 3K-5K pace (supposedly ~ 6:30-6:44; probably more in the 6:50-6:55 range) 24:47cd. I ran these really hard, trying to get closer to 3K pace. I ran the first few recoveries a little too hard, so the last 3 were very challenging. Felt good on the recovery run home though (still ran faster on the uphill run home than the downhill out) so I must of been in the right pace range. I am getting geared up for some speedwork soon, I think things are cool enough in the morning now (rarely above 80F) that I can hit the track soon. I have a tentative racing schedule that I hope to get to Greg soon -- which will require quite a bit of training soon. My main goals are 10K and 10 mile PRs. The 10 mile is probably going to be easier to hit, the 10K will take some work. I am hoping for a good half-marathon this spring as well.

PM: (4.5 miles, 40:19).  Beautiful night.

Happy Thursday bloggers. tight schedule today.

1:01:49 (31:07/30:42).  Longer than 7, I don't know what got into me today -- I was about 30 secs/mile faster than usual.  This despite about 1 hour sleep and a hard day yesterday ... weird.  I won't complain though, unless I crash and burn tomorrow!

Last night I came about 1" from stepping on a snake ... I got out a little late for my PM run (in part by design, in hopes it would be cooler, and in part because my day was crazy).  I was finishing up, my favorite run in my favorite park, and it was just dusk.  I was looking out for rocks (it is a trail run) and looked to my right just in time to see him/her laying across the trail.  My heart beat a little faster (and I jumped in the air), I did not actually stop to get a closer look!

Happy Friday bloggers!

AM:(8 miles, 1:11:18 (37:20/33:57). I had to suffer through a very hot run because I slept in a little and didn't get out until almost 8:30 ... it was almost 92F and sunny. I had another tough night ... at 2:53AM I finally had to break down and take an ambien, I have so much work to do this weekend and I just couldn't afford another brain dead day like yesterday. I have two big projects that I am working on, and my class starts in a week ... I really need to get 4 lectures and the first homework written (along with the solutions which will be hard) before the first day of class. This class is so hard, I know that I can finish the homework/exams in less time than it will take them, but I am pretty sure that many times it will still be hours of work for me too ... I did not actually ace this class myself! One of my colleagues was bemoaning her experience as a student in this class and how she worked for 3 days on an exam only to get a 50% ...ahhhh, the good ole days. My professor would give us open problems that had not been solved just to see how far we could get. I don't plan on being that mean ;-).

PM:(4 miles). I really want to go to my favorite spot to run, but I can't because we are having dinner with one of the Deans from my college and his wife. As it is I won't be able to wait until the sun goes down, so it will be a little hot ... again.

Have a wonderful weekend bloggers ... enjoy the dog-days of summer!

Don't forget the World Track and Field Championships start today.  Today and tomorrow NBC will be showing recaps of the first two days.  Then there will be some live and recap coverage on Versus the rest of the week.  I am thankful for DVR -- I have already set my TV to record about 15-18 hours of coverage (though some of it might be reruns, I am not sure).  Jenny Barringer made the finals in the steeple, but it was down to the wire and she had to make a final mad sprint down the backstretch to make the top 5.

1:44:02 (55:33/48:28).  First 6 + miles 8:53 pace, 2 @ 8:16 pace and the final 4+ @ 7:30 pace (the + is about 1/4 mile from where I park my car to the first mile marker).  It was about 95F and sunny when I finished. I was pretty hot, actually the last mile I was a bit sick to my stomach ... but once I stopped and got some water (and poured a bunch on my head) I felt better.  I ran with some pretty fast kids for a while -- I am pretty sure they were high school runners, they were running much easier than me ;-).

Happy Sunday bloggers.

AM: (9 miles, 1:18:55 (40:31/38:24)).  I was thinking about racing today ... whoops, it always makes me run a little faster.

PM: (4 miles).

Last night was one of the best track and field nights at our house ever.  WOW!  The men's 10K was a stunning performance.  Dominated by Zersenay Tadese (Eritera) for most of the race ... he picked up the pace little-by-little, going from 2:46/K the first K down to 2:35 by the 5K mark (with a 4:10 mile between 4K and 6K!!!).  Tadese tried to wear Bekele out ... but as soon as they hit the bell lap Bekele just took off and ran a 56 sec last lap -- wow.  It was an amazing race.  Big HUGE shout out to Ritz ... his 6th place showing -where he moved up quite a bit with a 13:50/13:32 (though many think his first 5K was a little faster than that) was a PR and he is now #4 all-time (American) performers list.  Did I mention it was 77F and 41% humidity when they ran this race?

The women's steeple was great for  Jenny Barringer ... I am sure she is a little disappointed with her first 1/2 of the race, but she ran so well after being gapped in the first 2 laps -- but holy cow the leaders went out with a *3:01* first K - she was clearly smart not to go out with them as she passed about 5 women in the last 800.  She ended up with an American record (9:12) and finished really strong in 5th.  The gold medalist in this race, Marta Dominguez (33 years old and a World Champs gold medalist in the 5K) just took off the last 800 and never looked back.  She was amazing!

My final "highlight" was watching 3 out of the 4 Americans make it to the 1500 final -- WOW.  Leo Manzano is looking very very fit right now (as are Bernard and Lopez Lomong), he strode in 2nd place and his kick was just jaw-dropping!

Most heartbreaking moment was Isinbayeva no-heighting in the World Championship ...the horrid announcers said, "that is kind of like Usain Bolt not winning the 100 meters" -- duh, not really, it is more like Usain Bolt not even making it out of the first round.

1:02:53 (31:44/31:08). Very humid today -- no monsoons, this is kind of like a cold winter day without snow (I always thought I got cheated, since if it is going to be cold it might as well snow).

I am pretty overwhelmed right now. I am sort of stuck with respect to a project I am working on ... I have been working on it for a few days now and need to get it finished by tomorrow. I am hoping the solution (mathematical) is right around the corner. I am sure my students will too, as it is taking away from my preparation time for my lectures next week!

Track shorts:

Sonya Richards ran a fabulous race last night to win gold in the 400 meters. Yesterday also was the qualifying rounds for the 200m, 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles ... very fun.

The men's 3000m steeple finals were very very entertaining. The winner, Ezekiel Kemboi was hysterical after his 8:00 win. I am telling you, he is one skinny dude (maybe 110 lbs?) - all the Kenyan distance guys are, but these steeplechase guys are really skinny. Nice performance by the Frenchman Bob Tahri who beat Paul Koech with a lean at the line.

AM: (10.5 + miles, 1:31:37). 3 x 10` @ SS pace w/3` recovery (7:12, 7:24, 7:14 per mile -- this pace would mean I ran about 2300 m/10` push with 600 m recovery). My target pace for the pushes was 7:24 - 7:36 per/mile. I was able to get 800 meter splits on every one of the pushes, the first and last ones were more accurate because they were about 5` into it, the middle one is the first 800 meters. I was having a hard time with the arithmetic today!! my watch counts down the 10 mins so I had to subtract the time between the 1/2 mile markers - somehow in the middle one I had calculated 10:00 - 6:18 to 7:37 pace ... good think I work with greek letters and not numbers ;-).  25:54 wu/24:46 cd.

I am excited, this was a confidence builder for me. I am starting my 10K training and am a little nervous since I haven't been doing fast stuff in such a long time (2 years!) ... now I won't be so nervous to hit the track!

PM: (4 miles).

Am late to a meeting ... have a good day bloggers!

1:02:40 (31:55/30:34).  Nice recovery run. I feel great today, running-wise. 

More track and field last night -- the men's 200 final was very entertaining.  Bernard did well in the 5K prelim, despite needing 5 stitches after getting spiked in the first part of the race (I was a little upset that did not show more of the race ... but luckily it is online).  I am getting excited for Paige Higgins who will be running the marathon on Sunday.

Dean is going to kick me off of the computer, so that is it for now!

AM:(8 miles, 1:14:51 (38:13/36:37).  Pretty sluggish today, maybe feeling the effects of Thursday's run or maybe because we had a monsoon come through yesterday (so there is lots of water in the washes) so it was pretty humid - 84% which is super high for us! (though blissfully cooler at about 80F).

PM:(4 miles).  I am actually hoping to get up to my favorite running spot, if I can get out of work before it is dark and if it isn't raining (since the washes will be flooded and this run runs through a bunch of washes).

 Today is new student orientation, so I am at work all day ... here in the morning it is talking with the new students and in the afternoon trying to get my lectures finished for next week.  I did, finally, get their first homework written, and more importantly, got the solution set finished.

Last night was nail-biting middle distance racing!  Christine Wurth-Thomas ran a gutsy exciting 1500 leading for about 600 meters and finishing easily in the top 5 even though the race was super fast (2:10 at the 800 I think)!  The race with Anna Willard and Shannon Rowbury was just edge of  your seat action.  It was a super slow race, I want to say 2:20 for the first 800.  This was not good, since the top 5 finishers and two fastest times in both races advance to the final.  This meant that both Anna and Shannon had to get a top 5 finish because the first heat was much faster so the top two time finishers were going to come from that race.  Both of them were boxed in at the bell lap ... luckily they showed their racing maturity by waiting it out and Shannon ran out to lane 3 in the last 10 meters and Anna (this was really nerve-racking) stayed on the inside and trusted her speed and was able to get an opening within the last 5 meters.  WHEW!

The men's 800 semi-finals were equally as exciting, in different ways.  Three men went down in the first 400 meters - pretty much the favorite to win (Sudanese runner Abubaker Kaki who has run the fastest time in the world this year) got clipped and when he went down he took the other two leaders with him (he ended up not finishing the other two will likely contest and get in the final).  Nick Symmonds ended up running in front and taking one of the three automatic qualifier spots.  Depressing second heat -- it was the "whos-who" of 800 meter runners, I mean this heat really looked liked like it could have been the finals ... so the American Khadevis Robinson did not make it through to the final.  It was a great race though with Yuriy Borazakovsky showing the world that he is not done racing yet (even though he had a tough year last year).

Bummer that the US men were DQd from the 4 x 100m relay for a bad pass -- they passed too soon.  

Happy Saturday bloggers. 

2:01:24 (1:05:16/56:08 - this wasn't exact, I forgot to hit my watch at the the turn-around, it was probably more like 1:03:xx/58:xx). Stupid weather-people, stupid me. Like a dummy I listened to the weather report last night and slept in until 6AM ... I was so tired, I did not leave work until about 7 last night and by the time I ran and drove home it was about 9PM when we sat down to eat. All we did was watch track and go to bed ... but I was beat. So, anyway, the weather report said that it was going to rain last night and be cloudy this morning and rain again this afternoon -- monsoons (they are really cool -- it really pours, and the washes fill with water, it "greens" up, and although it gets pretty humid, it is about 10 degrees cooler during the day - only about 95F high yesterday). I thought I could start at a nice late 7:30 and be ok. Well, it was horrible. It was bright sunny, humid as all get out, and about 80F at 7:30. I spent the first 3 miles cussing under my breath at the weather people, and myself, for starting so late; then I decided to make "lemonade from the lemons", and as I was trying to do that (think of something positive about this hot horrid run) - I spent about 2 miles thinking about how good an ice cold lemonade would be ;-) - and I don't even like lemonade. Then I spent about 3 miles obsessing about whether or not I put sunscreen on my face -- I knew had put it on the rest of me, but I did not remember putting on my face (did I tell you how tired I was this morning?).

By the time it was time to push it (I was supposed to run the last 20 mins hard, I usually just make it a progression run and run harder every mile after the turnaround) it was probably 90F (and at least 60% humidity), so then I was cussing the weather people, and myself, again. With 2 miles to go I ran into a woman who runs with a local running club (we have run together before) and we ran the last couple miles together. She had run a 22 miler yesterday and was supposed to be running an easy 10 miles today, I told her I was going to email her coach (who I know slightly) and tell on her that she was running her easy day too hard ... but she made me promise I wouldn't because apparently she gets in trouble for that all the time ;-). She was surprised to see me out there so late - she had gone to a concert the night before so she had a better excuse than me to start so late, but it was tough. We did make plans to try to meet again and run together, we seem to have similar schedules (not early ;-) ) and our paces are pretty similar. Anyway -- I was happy that I was able to run the last 4 miles as hard as I did in the heat, and all and all I am happy. I guess that was my lemonade, if I can run this hard right now and feel so good, I am hoping it will translate into some good races when it is cooler. And, although I did not quite make my target weight goal this summer I have come pretty close (127.6 today, but probably dehydrated, I am about 129 on average lately, which is about 20.8 BMI and 6th percentile for my age, so I will just be happy with that) ... there is some lemonade, no sugar added though!

World Champs Highlights: Dwight Philip is a 4 time world champion a the long jump! The US men and women 4 x 400 relay team rock, if they don't mess up the baton exchange they are pretty much favorites for the win tonight. Kenyan's 1-2 in the womens 5K final (Jen Rhines ran a season's best 15:11). Desiree Dravila ran a pr 2:27 marathon - almost beating Kara Goucher (who had a bad day today) -- great finish by Xue Bai of China against Yoshimi Ozaki of Japan.

Happy Sunday bloggers. A little work, and hopefully a little play this afternoon.

It was nice to see coverage of the women's WC marathon last night, especially since the men's coverage seemed to be watching the last 5 seconds (what is up with that?).  Both the men's and women's 4 x 400 were awesome - predictable perhaps, but nice.

The men's 5K was the type of race everyone dreams of.  If you are going to get 2nd place in a race (Lagat) that is the way to do it -- in the last 50 meters, neck-and-neck with Bekele.  Dean and I both thought that the difference between 1st and 2nd for Lagat was his 36 (versus 34) year old legs, and maybe the 4 stitches that had put in on Thursday after being spiked ... he is a fierce competitor, and he is a great spokesperson for the sport ...

In the worst show of fair play I have ever seen in a race the women's 1500 was a disaster.  Don't let your kids see such a horrible display of sportsmanship.  Both Natalia Rodriguez of Spain and Natalya Evdokimova from Russia pushed, shoved and elbowed the field from the start.  In the end Rodriguez was DQ for stepping off of the track after throwing an elbow into Gelete Burka, little consolation for Burka who was certainly looking like the potential winner for most of the race.  To her credit, Burka did get up and finish the race ... long after everyone else had finished -- very gutsy.

First day of classes ... yikes.

AM: (9+, 1:15:37 (38:33/37:03)). hmmm.  I was actually pretty distracted today on my run.   I hit my ~2 mile landmark and I was a minute faster than usual.  I decided to just stay with it and run a little faster today - I was still within my "easy run" pace range (according to Greg and Daniel's), and within my "effort" too, I could still breath through my nose (except for the uphills at the end) - it just a little faster than I would normally run.  Part of the reason was because I was thinking about racing ... and I got a little "competitive" in my mind.  When I ran into Merry (the woman I ran with for a while last Sunday) she had mentioned that there were a few women in her running club she thought I knew (I didn't) -- she said, "they know you".  I think in part because of a couple of local races I was a part of ... but basically they are gunning for me ;-).

Then  this reminded me of a woman that was in the cross-country race last year (she won the 40-44 age group and was about 15 secs in front of me) ... anyway, she cheated (went around inside the back barriers instead of going over them).  I had the hardest time standing next to her when they took our picture (age group winners).  I keep telling myself to forget about her little cheating foray (it was obviously important enough to her to do that even though it was a turkey trot for goodness sakes! and a muddy, rainy slide-fest so time meant nothing). She would have beat me that day anyway ... but now I just want to beat her so I can forget about it!  So ... I guess it is getting closer to time to race ... ;-).

I don't know how I am going to survive this semester ... seriously.  I had so many typo's in my slides yesterday ... I hope I get more productive at getting ready for my lectures.  I probably won't be checking in on blogs until Thursday ...

PM:(4 miles).  Preblogging, I  might run 4.5 miles.

Run well, be safe and healthy bloggers!

1:02:20 (31:21/30:59).  I will try to write more later ... very busy today.

Have a happy day bloggers! 

AM: (9.5+ miles, 1:20:12).  15 or 16 x 1` @ 5k pace w/1` recovery.  

PM: (4 miles, 37:32).  Hot ... I waited as long as I could, so it was dark for most of the run ... about 101F.

Things are tough right now ... luckily I can run, but lack of sleep is getting to me.  I was so busy yesterday that I missed lunch - I could feel it today.

Happy almost Friday bloggers! 

1:02:47.  felt pretty good at least running-wise.  

Happy Friday bloggers!

!!!!!! Ritz just ran an American Record in the 5K!!!!!

 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12:56.27 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AM: (8 miles, 1:15:40) ... very slow today, it is super hot and I don't feel well ... sort of run down.  Dean and I are both going into work this morning, but I am hoping to be able to work from home tomorrow (though poor Dean will be going in tomorrow too) ...

PM: (4 miles -- if I can get out of work before it gets dark I might try to do my favorite 4.5 mile run instead, but this is unlikely).

I hope everyone is having a great day and good luck at the races ... I am having fond memories of TOU 1/2 last year!
 

91F (but only 18% humidity)

2:02:45 (1:06:13/56:32). The first two miles of this run were super slow, I just felt sluggish. I started picking it up a little by the end, but I just wanted to finish the run and feel good so I really didn't check my splits going out. I got water at the turn-around (the good thing about doing 14 miles is that at 7 miles there is this huge park that has refrigerated drinking fountains!!! quite a luxury - the water coming from some of the other drinking fountains on this route is so hot you could make hot tea from it -- not that I am complaining, when it is 90-100F out water is water ;-) ). Anyway, I just started picking it up at the turnaround, my first couple miles were about 8:30 pace and then by about mile 12 I was dropping down into the 7:45-7:50 range. It felt good. The last mile was about 7:30 and I still felt like I was running pretty easy.

No cussing today -- I guess I am too tired ;-).

Happy Sunday bloggers. Congratulations to all the racers yesterday, and happy family day to everyone.