You're faster than you think!

NOON: Clopper 10 1:14:30 + weights

Today I added two more arm exercises to my routine: pull backs (lean over the bench with back horizontal and pull back on the dumb bell) and incline press.

PM: 8 miles, 57:36, around Placid Lake in Germantown after helping a friend move from his 4th floor apt!  Man, I am dead.

NOON: 10 NIST, treadmill, 1:14:00.  It was like 98 F today.  No thanks.

PM: 6 NIST, treadmill, 44:13.

NOON: NIST 6 43:17

PM: 8+, Montgomery County RR 2 Mile, 9:58.8, 3rd.

Splits: first 18 meters = 3.4, 71.2, 73.3, 73.4, 74.4, 74.0, 76.1, 78.4, 74.6 = 9:58.8

I realized early on that I did not have it for this race.  With the mileage I have done this week, I expected this to be just a workout, and indeed I barely broke 10 min.  We went through the first mile in 4:54, so my second was 5:05.  From my splits it is easy to see where the wheels came off.  On the 6th lap these two guys just dropped me like I was walking and I fell apart.  This tends to happen to me frequently in races and is something I need to learn to overcome.  Anyway, like I said, I am not bummed about this one because my legs were clearly dead from increased miles.  In fact, I ran practically the same time for the 3k AFTER my mile PR last Wed. 

AM: 17, 1:59:52, Centreville, VA, trails by Brian Tullock's house.  Hot day, but the shade made it bearable.

AM: Riley's Lock 18 miles, 2:19:45.  Did the first 8 by myself at 7 min pace.  Then John McClean joined me for the next 6 which were closer to 8 min pace.  Then I finished up in 6:45ish for the last few.

NOON: Clopper 10 1:15:47

PM: NIST 6 43:30

HOT!
 

Ugh!  Today was a bust.  It reminded me of the blog that Scott posted about Draper.

NOON: NIST 6 42:32

PM: track 8ish 

It was 100F with 54% RH at noon.  Actually, this did not feel all that bad.  But the day was not over yet.  Later in the afternoon the humidity rolled in, like a blanket covering the sizzling concrete.  I made it out to the track and went through my usual warm up routine: 3 miles + 9 sets of drills, and I was already feeling horrid.  I put on the spikes and started my 400s hitting 67 and 66 for the first 2.  On the third I just quit on the finishing straight, pulled up with 20 meters to go and finished in 68.  Done.  I had absolutely no desire to do another one and something let me just walk away.  Maybe it was a blessing in disguise because my Achilles was sore, but really I think my bank account is empty.  Oh well.  Keep plugging away I guess and hope I can get my motivation and my legs back.
 

NOON: Clopper 10 1:19:02

And then the rains came! Finally. This was one of the nicest runs in weeks... a nice down pour.

PM: Temple 10 1:09ish

This was one of those runs where before hand I felt terrible -- like I should just go to bed -- but once I got going I felt pretty good. Having decided to try 400s again on Sat, I thought a little tempo would be good today. I got up to a good clip on the way back and pushed hard for a little over a mile but then it was dark and the footing was not so great, so I backed off a bit. Also, it rained during this run. This makes all the difference. If I can just stay with it through the Dog Days, I think the fall will be really nice.

Ice bath! 

NOON: Clopper 10 1:16:15

PM: NIST 6 44:24

Weather: low 90s moderate humidity (for here). 

AM: track workout, Walt Whitman HS,

3 sets of 5x400 with 400 rest, with a water break in between sets

For warm up I did 3 miles easy and mile of speed changes (drills are for tonight, see below).

This was an interesting workout. On Joe Madrano's (4:01 miler for Abilene Christian -- who lives in my building) suggestion, instead of timing the 400s, I set my interval timer for 17 second segments and the goal of the workout was to hit the 100m splits right on 17 sec. The interval timer makes it nice because you do not have to look down at your watch and break form to know how your splits are doing. My first 400 was slow (71) for two reasons: first, I was a little nervous about this workout due to the busted workout on Wed and I wanted to make sure I did not go out too fast; second, not being much of a track guy, I was not exactly sure where the 100s were, but I soon figured out that this was one of those tracks with short curves where the straights are exactly 100m, as are the curves. For the next nine I hit 67. and for the last five I hit 67-68... pretty much right on target. My tendency was to be ahead on the first 100 and then maintain 17 for the next 3 100s to hit the 67. So all in all I think I did a good job of running even splits. This was a good confidence booster given the week I've had. The weather was a big help. Today is low 80s and dry, nicest day without rain we've had in weeks.

Took an ice bath after the workout.

Tonight I'm planning to jog a couple more miles to get my 100 in. And also planning a drills session with Joe, who is enthusiastic about helping me get faster. More to come...

PM: 2+ miles (16 minutes) to and from Bethesda/Chevy Chase HS.  We did about an hour's worth of drills.  Everything from knee skips to bounds to hurdles.  It was pretty humiliating.  The good news is that there is a lot of room for improvement.  The trouble is finding time to fit this all in.  This is all pretty much the same stuff Dennis has been telling me to do, and some of it I have been trying to incorporate into my warm up routine.  But it is altogether different to have someone there critiquing your technique.  I think it is safe to say that I did not do one thing well.  Not one.  I'll give myself a little leeway for being tired.  But much of it is simply coordination and hip and hamstring flexibility... and core strength... time to get back to doing yoga!

AM: Seneca Creek Trail south from Riley's Lock, out and back, rolling hills, dirt trail, 2:11:34.

NOON: Clopper 10 1:18:49.  Pretty tired.

PM: NIST 6 44:53
 

NOON: NIST 6 43:19

PM: Whitman track, 13 total, 3 warm up, 2 drills, 2 cool down

4 x 1600m with 800 rest

5:05.1 (2:34, 2:31), 5:04.6 (2:33, 2:32), 5:01.7 (2:32, 2:30), 5:00.7 (2:31, 2:30)

Ice bath. 

Well, I'm actually kinda happy with this workout given that my legs are so dead. These times are actually still within the range prescribed by McMillan for 1600 speed workout for a 15:30 5k runner (4:57-5:08). I think the fact that I sped up is a good indication that I am pretty strong right now. Just not recovered from Sat. But I want to give myself a fighting chance this weekend (mile and 3k on Sat morning), hence the Tues workout.

NOON: Clopper 10 1:18:30.  Very tired.

PM: NIST 6 44:42 

NOON: Clopper 10 1:18:01 (out in 40, back in 38) Come on legs, recover!  Light rain.  Actually quite a nice run. + weights (2 sets instead of the usual 3)

PM: Bethesda 6 41:49, starting to feel human again, all of a sudden it got super hot and humid this afternoon.

Ice bath.

NOON: NIST 4ish, 33:06. Shakeout jog.  Feeling o.k., but did not really push it to find out.

5:50 am: 2 mile shakeout jog (14:32)

9:35 am: 3 mile warm up (22:33)

1 mile speed changes

mile race: 67.5 (409m -- too fast, went out with Burt), 73.6 (fell off of Burt, now I'm in the wind by myself and my leg feel like tree trunks), 74.5 (God, I love the mile), 72.9 (thankfully I got passed so that I had someone to chase, else things could have been worse) = 4:48.4 OUCH!

2.5ish mile cool down: me, Mark, Joe, and Burt 

Well, that's what happens on 100 mile legs, for me at least.  Joe talked me into just doing the 400 and calling a day.  I hit 61.8 (by my watch), which actually I was pretty happy with; certainly my fastest lap this season.

Well, perhaps there is not enough high comedy on the blog... so, please, allow me.  This was not the most organized of events, but it was not too bad either.  The only thing that made it a little hard for me was that they ran the hurdles before the mile, so there was nowhere really to warm up in spikes.  So, now picture this, we have been called for the mile (first call) and I am trying to get some striders in around the very outside of the track, which is really not even a lane.  Luckily I am at this point near the far side of the track, but running just in front of one of the cute Pacers girls.  Now, there is a big roll of something on the track, like a carpet or something, and I think I'll just hurdle this thing as I am in mid stride, running fairly fast at this point.  As I lift my knee to go over the thing I notice that it is much more than just a roll, it is sprawled out all over on the other side, and for some reason this flusters me and (with dead legs anyway I was not picking my knees up very high) as you have probably guessed, I clipped the front side of the roll and face panted!  Well, I rolled out of it like a pro goal keeper and kept on going like nothing happened, not wanting to look back... I found a secluded spot and kept stretching, figuring I was in for a long day.  In the end, just some abrasions.  Thankfully, no video of this one (that I know of).

I bailed on the 3k, because I just keep getting slower.  I realize now that I just need to rest for 5k.  All these workouts are just making me tired.  I don't think I can handle two workouts a week on this kind of mileage.  Probably Demetrio would assign two workouts for 70 mile weeks and one for 100+ mile weeks.  So I don't know why I am going against that.  Peace...
 

Long run: 2:17:30.

This was a pretty high quality run (I'd say we at least averaged 7 min, probably under) with Kyle Smith, a former Princeton runner.  We wandered around the GT trails and then ended up on the canal. 

NOON: Clopper 10 1:15:30

NOON: NIST 4ish, 31:04, Shakeout

PM: Whitman track, 3 warm up, 2.5 drills, 2 cool down

8 x 1000m with 400m rest

3:06.5, 3:04.4, 3:05.4, 3:05.4

3:06.7, 3:06.7, 3:05.1, 3:00.8 (workout PR)

ice bath.

Pretty happy with this set.  I felt strong and in control.  Definitely an improvement over last weekend.

NOON: Clopper 10 1:18:37

NOON: NIST 6 43:15

AM: Whitman track, 3 warm up, 2.5 drills, 1 cool down on grass infield

10 x 200m w/ 200m rest

30.4, 30.1, 30.5, 30.4, 30.1,

30.1, 30.3, 30.5, 30.2, 30.5.

Well,  at least I was consistent.  Funny thing is that these did not feel all that hard, but I tried like crazy to go sub 30 on the last two and just found myself tying up rather that going faster.  So, that is the state of my speed.  This is certainly sufficient for my upcoming 5k.  I guess the inability to go sub 30 is due to mileage (still over 70 this week) and/or biomechanics.  Perhaps some downhill grass running would be a good change of pace with XC coming up.

AM: Georgetown trails with Brian Tullock, 1:28:18.

7:30 AM: 3 warm up, 1.5 (6 laps) drills, 2 cool down

1 mile (1609m) at 4:51.1, 800m jog

2 x 400m fast, then at 5k pace w/ 400m jog:  65.0, 76.2

4 x 200m fast/at pace w/200m jog:  30.0, 36.1, 30.1, 36.7

Slightly different pre-race workout, combining fast and pace efforts -- the point being to try to hit race pace by feel.  On the mile, as Demetrio would say, I was "feeling it" but not killing it.  On the  "at pace" 400 I just misjudged the first 200, but felt fine otherwise.  I think doing the workout in the morning definitely had a negative effect on the mile time.  If I were smart, I would have been doing more of these morning sessions, but it is just really hard to get a sufficient warm up in and a reasonable workout in and still get to work at a reasonable hour.  Even with this short session, I did not get into work until 10:30.  It was already getting hot by 9am.  Really ready for some cool weather to race in.

AM: 4ish miles easy + 4 striders (about 100m), 35:49

AM: Bethesda 4, 29:53.

Someone stole my U of Utah t-shirt!  Left it on a rail outside my apt before the run.  Heathens.

AM: Bethesda 4, 29:25, plus a couple of strides.  T-shirt survived.