Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Accountability Check...
WHERE ARE YOU GUYS????? Injured or not, resting or running, you guys can still post so we know what is going on. Don't make me call you both out by name !
The Corporate Challenge...
Well, my running is still sporadic. It is one of those "seasons" in the running season that seems to rear its ugly head every year. Usually, it happens to me at the beginning of the season. When I was running well and often earlier, I thought I had finally avoided the dreaded season. Well, I guess I can still beat it if I put some good days together and let them snow ball.
On Thursday evening, I am running in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge - Boston. It is 14,000 runners squeezing down one side of Commonwealth Avenue so that they can all fit coming back on the other side of Commonwealth Avenue. It is fun, though, because of the amounts of people, you see co-workers, and the company pays - dinner, too. All of that helps to minimize the effect of "cuddling" under the Massachusetts Avenue overpass (part of the route), which is approximately 20 feet wide, with 1,000 of your closest and stinkiest friends. I am most concerned about this because I am one of the stinkiest, I am sure. And as a God-fearing Christian, I must be concerned for my fellow man. So, how can I subject them to such pain and suffering? Did I mention that the company pays for the race - and dinner, too?
On Thursday evening, I am running in the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge - Boston. It is 14,000 runners squeezing down one side of Commonwealth Avenue so that they can all fit coming back on the other side of Commonwealth Avenue. It is fun, though, because of the amounts of people, you see co-workers, and the company pays - dinner, too. All of that helps to minimize the effect of "cuddling" under the Massachusetts Avenue overpass (part of the route), which is approximately 20 feet wide, with 1,000 of your closest and stinkiest friends. I am most concerned about this because I am one of the stinkiest, I am sure. And as a God-fearing Christian, I must be concerned for my fellow man. So, how can I subject them to such pain and suffering? Did I mention that the company pays for the race - and dinner, too?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
A Little Sporadic...
After my race on May 30, I ended up taking the week off - my mom was visiting and I had a lot of work. So, last week, I went back to speed work, but only got four days in:
Tuesday - 6.5 miles (2 x 1 mile, 1 x 1200, 1 x 800, 1 x 400, 6 x 100 strides)
Wednesday - 5 miles moderate
Thursday - 5.5 miles (4 x 200, 4 lactate sessions, 4 x 100 strides)
Sunday - 8 miles
I should be running tonight, but instead I am going to watch the Celtics in Game 6. Speaking of which, I should have let Cherish write this...
Tuesday - 6.5 miles (2 x 1 mile, 1 x 1200, 1 x 800, 1 x 400, 6 x 100 strides)
Wednesday - 5 miles moderate
Thursday - 5.5 miles (4 x 200, 4 lactate sessions, 4 x 100 strides)
Sunday - 8 miles
I should be running tonight, but instead I am going to watch the Celtics in Game 6. Speaking of which, I should have let Cherish write this...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Tonight's Race...
So, I ran the town 5K this evening - the Andover Days 5K. I have run this race every year since its inception and absolutely love it. It is a challenging course, with a big reward - increasing elevation for the first two miles and then a fast finish (the first part of mile 3 is down hill). My splits were off what I would need for a 19:00 race, but that was to be expected. The are as follows
Mile 1 - 6:32
Mile 2 - 6:23
Mile 3 and 0.1 - 6:33
Official finishing time - 19:29
This is a personal record and I even won my age group! I am so excited about this. Plus, I vindicated last week's poor showing. But why is it that on the same night that I set a PR, AJMac sits on his couch and gets a second better on his PR? What am I doing wrong?
Tonight, I met a gentlemen who has always wanted to beat 20:00 minutes. His official time tonight was 19:00. We should use that story as motivation.
Mile 1 - 6:32
Mile 2 - 6:23
Mile 3 and 0.1 - 6:33
Official finishing time - 19:29
This is a personal record and I even won my age group! I am so excited about this. Plus, I vindicated last week's poor showing. But why is it that on the same night that I set a PR, AJMac sits on his couch and gets a second better on his PR? What am I doing wrong?
Tonight, I met a gentlemen who has always wanted to beat 20:00 minutes. His official time tonight was 19:00. We should use that story as motivation.
A second faster without lifting a foot
I haven't raced in three weeks. I haven't even been running very much, as I have been busy grading exams, doing end-of-the-semester stuff, and getting sick. Nevertheless, without even so much as registering for a race, I managed to shave a full second off my post-high school PR. The official results for the Vaughn Forest 5k were posted (here). Apparently my official time was 19:12, a second faster than the time on my wrist watch.
This is the way to shave off seconds: sit around doing nothing and watch one's races get faster as time goes on. At this rate, I'll have run a 19-minute 5k by the end of November without running another race.
This is the way to shave off seconds: sit around doing nothing and watch one's races get faster as time goes on. At this rate, I'll have run a 19-minute 5k by the end of November without running another race.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Upcoming Race and Belated Reflection...
Tomorrow night I have the town 5K race. I am very excited for it, because I run it every year. It has a steady, but slight climb for the first mile, then a couple of quick bursts up minor hills and then a fast finish. So, in preparation, I went out this week and ran some speed intervals on Tuesday morning, and then on Wednesday morning I ran a time trial. To be honest, I do not know if this was the smartest thing to do, but after warming up for ~1.5 miles (including a few 100m strides) and some stretching, I ran the course as if it were a race. My stop watch as I crossed the "finish line" said 19:35. This reminds me that during the week leading up to my last race, when I ran 6 miles, I decided to "race" 3.1 miles of it. My watch clocked 19:37. So, I know that I can do better than 20:21. I need to do it, though, and that means starting with the right preparation leading up to the race. So, after my light and easy stretch run of 3 miles, I will wake up with a goal of a hearty carbed breakfast, a light lunch, plenty of water until about 3 or 4 PM and then timely arrival at the race. The warm up will be my key. This will be an important race because it will tell me, if I run the best race that I can, how far away I am for the elusive 19 minute 5K. I will let you know how it went...
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Not to Make Excuses...
As you know, I had a race on Tuesday, May 20, to gauge the progress of my training. I will get to that in a moment. First I want to document my stats for the week leading up to the training.
Monday: 2 x 1200, 1 x 800, 1 x 400, 1 x 200, 6 x 100 strides (total of ~7 miles including warm up and warm down)
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: 4 x 200, 4 lactate sessions, 4 x 200, 4 x 100 strides (total of about 6 miles including warm up and warm down
Thursday: 7 miles including hills (learned on that run that my employee was most likely handing in her resignation)
Friday: 3 miles easy, stretch run
Saturday: Should have run 11 miles, but did not run at all
Sunday: Should have run 6 miles, but did not run at all
Then on Monday, I should have had an easy, stretch run since I did not do any leg strengthening distance over the weekend, but I did not. So, I let three days go by with nothing. Enter Tuesday. Let me preface this by saying that I have been absolutely swamped and I do not like to make excuses. Can you see where this is going already?
I ended up working late on Tuesday. That is fine, and admittedly, I already knew at the beginning of the day that I would end up working past 5-5:30. I just needed to be gone by 6:15 so that I could show up at the 7:00 race ready and warming up by 6:45. Naturally, I did not leave work until 6:30 - did I mention that it takes 20 minutes to get to the 7:00 race? To add to the stress of the evening, I decided to change in the car as I drove. During the drive, because I had no true red lights without another car pulling up right next to mine, I was brave enough to only change my shirt.
Knowing that I was already behind schedule when I approached the race site, I pulled in front of the bar where registration was occurring and temporarily parked in the most convenient parking space. I ran in and was told to go to the far back of the building to register. As I snaked my way through the traditionally tight New England hallways, I came upon a woman working the registration table. I have registered for many races and on that night, I was expecting it to be just as fluid and efficient as before. Instead, she preceded to explain all of the process to me. Apparently, I was racing in a series and needed to know the impact to the races that followed. So, after the short conversation that took me to 6:55 (for those with time deficiencies, the race was at 7:00), I ran out to my car to move it to an appropriate parking space - oh, I forgot to tell you something special about that "convenient parking space" (or was I avoiding it?)... I parked in a handicap space. Yes, you guessed it, I was getting a ticket when I ran out to the car. The officer was nice, but lectured me (and rightly so). I did not get the $300 ticket. Thank, the Lord.
I moved the car. I pulled around to the back of the bar which was supposed to be close to the race start. At this point, I would say the time was 6:58. Several runners were performing their warm-ups past the car and I still needed to change into my shorts. At the first sign of freedom from the would-be voyeurs, I quickly pulled on my running underwear and shorts (yes, you heard correctly - I was bu**-naked in the car). I jumped out of the car to run down the street, around the corner, around the next corner, and down the street to the starting line. I was running hard to get there so it is very difficult to call it a warm-up. Also, it was probably a little less than a 1/4 mile. I got to the back of the crowd and started to pin my number on. I was in the middle of the second pin, when the gun blew and I had not stretched. So, I started to trot, finishing the second pin and doing the third. I always use four pins and it was not until after I almost tripped to decide not to try the fourth pin.
I realized at this point that everyone was out in front of me and I needed to make up time. So, I ran hard estimating that I traversed the first mile in just under 6:00. Remember that I did not have the proper warm-up. I would also like to emphasize that I had to estimate distance. There were no mile markers. After running hard for the first mile, I could feel myself starting to slow down. I felt like I had been running for close to 3 miles, though I knew that could not be right when I asked another runner "how much further?" His reply, "just 1/2 mile". Great I thought, so I pushed harder. Well, it turns out that the 1/2 mile so generously declared, was at least 3/4 mile. As I approached the finish line, my legs would not go faster and I came across in a "blistering" 20:21.
Well, I have another race this weekend, Friday night. I am hoping that it is a better gauge of my efforts. Though just incase it does not go well, I should say up front that work kept me from running at all since last Tuesday's race until this morning.
I tried so desparately not to convey any excuses. I should tell you, though, that on Tuesday, I forgot to wear shoes.
Monday: 2 x 1200, 1 x 800, 1 x 400, 1 x 200, 6 x 100 strides (total of ~7 miles including warm up and warm down)
Tuesday: 6 miles
Wednesday: 4 x 200, 4 lactate sessions, 4 x 200, 4 x 100 strides (total of about 6 miles including warm up and warm down
Thursday: 7 miles including hills (learned on that run that my employee was most likely handing in her resignation)
Friday: 3 miles easy, stretch run
Saturday: Should have run 11 miles, but did not run at all
Sunday: Should have run 6 miles, but did not run at all
Then on Monday, I should have had an easy, stretch run since I did not do any leg strengthening distance over the weekend, but I did not. So, I let three days go by with nothing. Enter Tuesday. Let me preface this by saying that I have been absolutely swamped and I do not like to make excuses. Can you see where this is going already?
I ended up working late on Tuesday. That is fine, and admittedly, I already knew at the beginning of the day that I would end up working past 5-5:30. I just needed to be gone by 6:15 so that I could show up at the 7:00 race ready and warming up by 6:45. Naturally, I did not leave work until 6:30 - did I mention that it takes 20 minutes to get to the 7:00 race? To add to the stress of the evening, I decided to change in the car as I drove. During the drive, because I had no true red lights without another car pulling up right next to mine, I was brave enough to only change my shirt.
Knowing that I was already behind schedule when I approached the race site, I pulled in front of the bar where registration was occurring and temporarily parked in the most convenient parking space. I ran in and was told to go to the far back of the building to register. As I snaked my way through the traditionally tight New England hallways, I came upon a woman working the registration table. I have registered for many races and on that night, I was expecting it to be just as fluid and efficient as before. Instead, she preceded to explain all of the process to me. Apparently, I was racing in a series and needed to know the impact to the races that followed. So, after the short conversation that took me to 6:55 (for those with time deficiencies, the race was at 7:00), I ran out to my car to move it to an appropriate parking space - oh, I forgot to tell you something special about that "convenient parking space" (or was I avoiding it?)... I parked in a handicap space. Yes, you guessed it, I was getting a ticket when I ran out to the car. The officer was nice, but lectured me (and rightly so). I did not get the $300 ticket. Thank, the Lord.
I moved the car. I pulled around to the back of the bar which was supposed to be close to the race start. At this point, I would say the time was 6:58. Several runners were performing their warm-ups past the car and I still needed to change into my shorts. At the first sign of freedom from the would-be voyeurs, I quickly pulled on my running underwear and shorts (yes, you heard correctly - I was bu**-naked in the car). I jumped out of the car to run down the street, around the corner, around the next corner, and down the street to the starting line. I was running hard to get there so it is very difficult to call it a warm-up. Also, it was probably a little less than a 1/4 mile. I got to the back of the crowd and started to pin my number on. I was in the middle of the second pin, when the gun blew and I had not stretched. So, I started to trot, finishing the second pin and doing the third. I always use four pins and it was not until after I almost tripped to decide not to try the fourth pin.
I realized at this point that everyone was out in front of me and I needed to make up time. So, I ran hard estimating that I traversed the first mile in just under 6:00. Remember that I did not have the proper warm-up. I would also like to emphasize that I had to estimate distance. There were no mile markers. After running hard for the first mile, I could feel myself starting to slow down. I felt like I had been running for close to 3 miles, though I knew that could not be right when I asked another runner "how much further?" His reply, "just 1/2 mile". Great I thought, so I pushed harder. Well, it turns out that the 1/2 mile so generously declared, was at least 3/4 mile. As I approached the finish line, my legs would not go faster and I came across in a "blistering" 20:21.
Well, I have another race this weekend, Friday night. I am hoping that it is a better gauge of my efforts. Though just incase it does not go well, I should say up front that work kept me from running at all since last Tuesday's race until this morning.
I tried so desparately not to convey any excuses. I should tell you, though, that on Tuesday, I forgot to wear shoes.
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