Run Buffs Run!

Easy run up the mesa trailhead today.

Today Wetmore had us doing some 400 repeats at a tad under race pace. We went out to Foothills park, a grassy field located in north Boulder. The park is very hilly and has pretty deep grass, ideal for cross country prepearation. My group was assigned 75's, which seemed very manageable. On the uphill intervals we hit as slow as 78, while hitting as fast as 67 on the downhills. It did not seem too bad, but after twelve I definitely felt the workout; the hills and grass really did it. In all, I felt pretty good. I don't have too much lingering soreness or fatigue from Saturdays race.

I ate lunch really late today, and it ended up hurting me pretty well during my run. I was scheduled twelve miles at "steady" pace. The first nine went fine, but after that a hurricane erupted in my stomach. After this hit, any hope of getting some steady miles in was shot. I feel better now, but there was a couple of hours after the run that I felt like dying. On a better note, I get to run pre-nats!!! Wetmore is taking the top ten which I apparently made! I can't wait to run a quicker course than the Buff Ranch, especially at sea level. We leave next Thursday, so I am stoked for that!

Really easy miles tonight. I am still feeling a bit of my stomach problem from yesterday.

Today was mile repeats on the practice football fields. We warmed up for 20 mins. then put on spike and began. I was assigned 5x1mile at 5:00/mile with 400 meters for recovery. We hit almost all of the miles on target. On the last interval, we hit 1200 in 3:50 (slow), so I hit the last 400 in 70 secs. We did some strides at the end and cooled down and headed to the gym to lift weights. Good workout!

Easy miles tonight.

Today was a good run at Gold Hill. This place is ridiculously hard. Anything under 7:00 mins. per mile is hauling, mainly since there are some giant hills and the elevation is around 8500 to 9000 ft. Man, it will feel nice going to sea level!

I have had so much going on that I haven't posted on my blog lately. Anyhoo, today was an easy eight on the creek path. Tommorrow will be repeat 300's at faster than race pace, a workout that is probably going to hurt. Today was cake, though, so tommorrow should not be ridiculous.

"Welcome to Anaerobia" was todays theme (as stated in Running the Buffaloes/Pauls blog). We did 12x300 meter repeats at sub 50 second pace on the grass. This did not feel too bad at the beginning, but definitely had some hurt at the end. We were in charge of making ourselves hurt, and I definitely made that happen. Feelin good!

Today we went to the tank for a medium long run. I hit the first 6.25 in 38 mins, and picked it up the second half to run 34:40. This was a pretty big change in tempo, but I felt good and didn't want to just sit and feel sluggish. Tommorrow we leave for Terra Haute (Pre-Nationals)!!! Saturday wil be the biggest/most competitive race I have ever ran. I am confident in my ability, though, and am going to run to my full potential. Excitement!

Easy run today in Indianapolis with the team along a canal. It was really good temp. for running.

Easy miles on the race course with some strides thrown in. Ready to go!

Awesome race! Today was Pre-Nationals in Terra Haute, Indiana. I did not really feel too nervous until I saw the amount of insane runners toeing the start line. This is a really nice course, about 700' elevation, rolling hills and grassy. After running the Buff Ranch a couple of times this felt like quite the experience. Anyways, we warmed up, stretched and prepared for the race ahead. It was really good conditions (about 65 degrees and overcast). We did our pre-race strides then put on jerseys at headed to the starting line. Again, the pack mentality helped me out tremendously. It feels like you are not alone; everyone is feeding off each others anxiety just waiting for the gun to go off. The gunman took incredibly long to fire the gun (I swear it was around 15 seconds of silence before he did). I was really going to go out slow and pick it up as the race progressed. The first mile was insane; runners were hitting 4:30's and destroying themselves just to make it through 2k with a fast time. I think they forget the race is 8k, not 2k. I was in about 40th place at 2k, and around 20-25th at 5k (15:38). From there on, it was all about how many people I could catch. I managed to get another 10-15 runners in the last 3k, and outkicked a runner with 100 meters to go. I was really amazed that I ran this fast, mainly because it did not feel that terribly hard. I only began to hurt after the 5k mark, but even then, the pain was manageable. I am happy with the race and am excited to see what will come next. I finished in ninth overall for our team, but one runner (typically in the top seven) was sick. Well see if I can eek my way to regionals!

Ten easy miles this morning. It was raining and everyone seemed tired after yesterdays traveling and race.

Easy day today with Jeff. It was awesome to run with my old coach again and talk about training/life/everything. Definitely a good run!

Today was probably the hardest workout I have ever done. The plan was 12x400 meter repeats at 65 second pace with 200 meters of rest. The first eight were comfortable, but after that, things started to hurt. I hit 64-65 for all of the intervals (we even hit 62 for an interval), but it was not easy. I think that a combination of pre-nationals last Saturday and a decent paced run on Sunday hit me a bit more than I thought. Anyways, this was a money in the bank type of workout, one that you need to get under the belt and call it good. After the workout Wetmore jokingly told me that these were probably the fastest 400 repeats I have ever done. I laughed because these are the only 400 repeats I have ever done. I just got some awesome news, too. I am waaaay happy because I get to go to conference next weekend in Texas! I can't wait! 

Slug pace today. Tommorrow is going to be a monster workout, and yesterday was pretty tough. I want to keep my easy days really easy. My new picture has quite the background!

Today was a really good workout. I felt a bit off earlier in the day, but that did not seem to effect me much during the workout. Our team did 8x1000 meter repeats on a hilly course in the wind (I don't know if it get much worse than that!). I hit all of my splits running around 3:12 to 3:15 for most. This doesn't sound all that fast, but it was much harder than numbers make it sound. It was weird, though. This workout seemed far easier than Tuesdays workout for me, while a lot of other guys thought today was way tougher. I guess it is just different strokes for different folks!  

Easy day up the Boulder Creek Path.

Today was middle distance at Coot Lake. We ran around 6:00-6:15 for the whole run. I am definitely feeling tired.

Easy run today (our schedule is a bit weird right now so we didn't do the usual Sunday long run). Although my mileage is not that high, I am really feeling the density of our work. I really have to be careful not to dig myself into a hole, so today was really easy. I am not sure what will happen this weekend regarding conference. Previously I was pretty sure I would go, but it depended on how another teammate ran at the Air Force Invite this weekend. He ran really well and has been a scorer for our team in years past, so I am guessing he will go instead of me. Hey, it happens. All that matters is that I have gotten the best training of my life here in the last couple weeks. I am not sure what Wetmore will have me do tommorrow My season may be over (I'll take a week/two off) or I might keep training. If he does tell me I'm done, I may do a random race this weekend to call nationals! It is weird, a lot of our team is already done and taking time off. I guess where you rank on the team predicts how long your season is. Anyhow, I am thankful to be here and can't wait to start track!

Easy workout today, mainly targeted to simulate a race. We did 8x300's with 30 seconds of rest between intervals. On the first few we went out hard and settled, while on the last few we went out comfortably and kicked the end. I am feeling really tired, definitely going to rest. Oh, Wetmore is taking me as an alternate for conference! I get to go to Texas and hopefully will run. As much as I want everyone to stay heathy (no injury/sickness), I would not be heartbroken if someone were to not be able to run. What a terrible thing to say, I should be ashamed! We'll see.

Nine easy miles today before the trip tommorrow. I am not going to run tommorrow to rest in case I am summoned to action! New photo is on the line of Pre-Nats seconds before the gun went off.

Goose egg!

Shakeout today. Hopefully I will race tommorrow!

Easy miles. I warmed up and cooled down with the team. No race for me today :( Our team rocked it out though, taking first in both mens and womens divisions. Crazzzy!

Easy miles today in Raton, NM before our bus ride back to Boulder. My mileage was really low this week, but I needed some time to let my body catch up. Besides, Wetmore wants us to forget about mileage right now and do what it takes to get good workouts in and feel rested for racing. I was feeling really bogged down at the end of last week, so a bit of recovery was nice. 

Today was possibly the best long run I have ever done. We went out to Magnolia Road and hauled for the whole run. I was assigned 15 "steady" miles, meaning about 6:30 pace up here (8500 ft.). We went out pretty hard, hitting 6:00 flat for a few miles, but then toned it down a bit as the run progressed. This pace felt like 5:40's anywhere else because these slow rolling hills at high altitude kill you. I plan on getting a solid training week in. I was originally going to take my two week break beginning today, but Wetmore wanted me to keep running and doing workouts with the team because he is "not sure what will happen in the next few weeks". Maybe regionals for me? haha wishful thinking!

Today was an easy run up into the Boulder foothills. I felt a bit out of it, but besides that the run was really good!

Today was 12x200 meters at 30-31 pace (on grass). This felt pretty easy compared to some of the workouts we have done. I think the lack of distance made the workout feel not so bad. I did a cooldown then went to lift some weights. Good day!

We went out to the tank today for our middle distance run. I was assigned 6:15's, so nothing too ridiculous. The first half went fine, but on the second half my stomach hit a wall. There is not that much foliage or brush around here to pit stop, so I did my best to hide well. I was definitely not feeling the best for the last three miles. Nonetheless, it was still a good workout!