Monday, May 09, 2011 – AM: I ran at school on the normal soft c-loop/lakes run. It felt pretty good and I wore a bunch of layers again. Not much else remarkable.
The total run was 4M++ in 32:23.
PM: After spending most of the day studying, I headed down to practice around 3:00pm to run a nice easy run. I headed out in a big group which widdled down quickly to just Nick, Brunnq, and me. We ran ex-cemetery, which was a pretty nice route. It was a bit quicker than I usually run on Mondays, but I felt pretty comfortable. We started out at about 7:30 pace and then after that first mile were at or under 7:00 pace according to Nick’s beeping garmin.
It was a good run. I don’t usually feel that good on Mondays, so I was glad to be able to stick with Nick and Brunnq and keep up conversation most of the time. We ran back to the track and tacked on to get it up to 7M. I was thinking about strides but I was already over for the day so I decided against it.
The total run was 7M++ in 51:07 (under 7:00 pace average)
PM2: Core – 100s, 50s, 30x squiggle, 2:00 side plank (each), 30x toes to sky, 30x side dip, 120x flutter kick, 50x leg lift.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 – AM: 4.5M in 34:21
PM: I got started feeling really exhausted today after lunch. I’d been studying pretty intensely and I think my brain was just shot. I ended up taking a nap until about 2:15pm. At this point, I got up and got ready for practice. I had 4 chocolate espresso beans before heading out, to give me a bit more energy since I was still feeling a bit groggy.
I got to practice and our dwindling crew assembled for a warm up. I ran powder-teele which was only like a mile and a half, so I tacked on some random loops around campus. It ended up being about 3M back to the track. I was feeling better by the time I finished warming up.
Murner was finally there by the time we got back, so I figured out what our workout was: 3x800m @5k w/ 3:00 rest, 2x400m @mile-5k with 2:00 rest. A nice short n sweet workout before the race on Friday.
I did full foot drills and then 4x100m strides. It was a bit cool – only in the low 50s – and pretty windy, so I kept two long sleeves on until right before we headed off.
I was hoping to run 2:24s for the 5k paced stuff, but given how terribly things went last week, I didn’t have too many expectations. Bellet was planning to run around 2:28s and Nick said he wanted to run 2:20s, which sounded way too fast. I figured I may end up running a good deal of the workout by myself.
We headed off in a big pack for the first one because the steeple/5k guys were with us as well. I was in the back of the pack, which was fine with me as the pace felt very comfortable. I was surprised to see us go through in 72.x, especially since Bellet was still in front of me and he’d wanted to run 2:28. I stayed behind him through 600m since there was a good strong headwind on the back straightaway and then came off the turn ahead and finished feeling pretty good. The second lap was a 70.5.
As soon as I saw the time, I was so happy. I felt better than I have felt in probably a month. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was struggling. I just felt relaxed and the pace was there. I really hope that the new inhaler is starting to kick in and that’s been the reason I’ve felt so bogged down the last few weeks.
Anyways, the 3:00 rest felt very long, especially after all of the short rest VO2 work we’ve been doing. The four of us started the second one together and again, Nick and Matt were off the front. I stayed behind Bellet for about 300m and then passed him and ran the last 500m solo. Again, I felt very comfortable coming through 400m and negative split (71/70) for a 2:21.7. Another 3:00 jog and we were off again. I went out a bit harder (70.8) and was by myself from the beginning. The wind had started to pick up a bit, as well, which made the back straight a bit tougher. I felt it a lot on the back straight the second time. This was the only positive split interval of the workout, but still well under pace.
Finally, a couple of 400s would round out the workout. I ran the first one a bit hard, with the first 200m just a bit more focused than what we’d been doing and the last 200m kicking in. I split something like 34.x, 30.x for a 65.5. As we jogged around before the last quarter, it started to rain a bit. I took the last quarter a bit easier on purpose. I didn’t want to leave the race on the track. I always like to end these workouts feeling like I could do another set of what I just did. I also almost got blown over by the wind on this last rep, but still managed a 67.4.
I changed back into my trainers and cooled down with Connor, Bellet, and Marvel on short glam. Having run this morning, I was fine with a shorter than usual cool-down.
Overall, this was a really, really good day. It is probably the best I have felt since Princeton. I think that part of it was not going out too hard on all of my intervals by trying to run with Nick and Matt, but I am guessing that this new inhaler is starting to really kick in. Hopefully, come Friday, I will see some good results. I’m feeling much more optimistic now.
3M+ warm up
Drills, 4x100m strides
2:22.9 (72.4, 70.5)
3:00 jog
2:21.7 (71.3, 70.4)
3:00 jog
2:22.6 (70.8, 71.8** Very windy, solo)
3:00 jog
65.5 (34.x, 31.x)
2:00 jog
67.4 (33.9, 33.5)
2M+ Cool down 18:53
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 – AM: I slept pretty well last night and woke up late around 9am naturally. I headed out quickly to get my morning run in before my last minute studying for thermo which was at 3:30pm. I ran over to the fields and then ran a couple big laps and then headed back. It was very easy and just a good shakeout. I felt pretty good by the end. I wore a lot of layers again, so I was pretty gross and sweaty by the end. I was thinking of core when I got back but I had to get to studying, so not today.
The total run was 4M- EZ in 28:21.
PM: The thermo exam went pretty well – he actually gave us an extra half hour since he fucked up on one problem, which was great. After that, I headed back to Lewis and then ran by myself. I ran a kind of random loop around through Davis and then down to Harvard and back on Oxford street. From there, I ran to the track and did full-full barefoot drills on the grass. I felt pretty good after the very easy run this morning. No strides after the fast running yesterday.
The total run was 6M EZ in 43:13 with Full-full barefoot drills.
Thursday, May 12, 2011: AM: I slept really terribly last night. I had really bad allergy problems during the night and just had a lot of problems staying asleep. I finally fell back asleep around 6am and slept until a bit after 9am. At that point, I got myself up and got dressed in my sweats and headed out for an easy shake out.
I ran a 4M s/o around the hood at a very easy pace. I didn’t time it because I didn’t care about time at all. I felt pretty good and just kept it easy and comfortable. I was a bit groggy from the poor night’s sleep but felt okay by the end.
The total was 4M shakeout, NT.
AM2: After the run, I did Core (light) 100s, 50s, 20x side dip, 30x reach up, 30x cherry picker, 30x leg lift.
PM: I got a good power nap in during the afternoon and then got my new driver’s license before driving myself into Tufts for a shakeout run and team meeting. I ran around 3:45pm with Nick. We ran easy on Glamorville. I didn’t time it again – just wanted to run by feel.
It was a good run. I felt pretty solid and it was nice to have company. After the run, I did full foot drills on the track in my spikes and then did 2x 100m strides on the track, the last one with Nick. Both felt very good!
The total was 4M+ EZ, NT with full foot drills in spikes, 2x100m strides on track.
Friday, May 13, 2011 – AM: I slept much better last night – really well actually. I fell asleep naturally between 10 and 10:30pm and I slept continuously until after 5am. I almost never sleep that long without waking up at least to roll over or pee. Anyways, I got up naturally around 7:30am and went outside to do some drills and shake out.
I jogged up and down HPC and then did foot drills on the grass in my trainers. I felt pretty good and stopped before the really explosive stuff. I wanted to save it for tonight.
After that, I had a nice big breakfast. I drove into town with Mrs. V around 10am and picked up the last of my stuff from my room and got some food before heading over to Gantcher leave for Opens.
PM: We got to the meet around 2:00pm and got the lay of the land before settling down. I headed into the indoor track to avoid being outside as much as I could before the race. Luckily, the indoor track was open and not many people were in there, so it was nice and quiet. I had a nice little spot where I could just sit and watch some TV on my laptop and read and such.
I had had lunch in the van around 12:00-12:30pm – a bagel with jam, some gnocchi left-over from last night, half a cookie, and a pear. After that, I didn’t eat much before the race. I had an orange when we got to the meet around 2pm and then I had a chewy bar at about 4:30pm. I was continuously sipping on Gatorade and water, though, and had had a big breakfast and lunch, so I felt pretty good.
I took a little power nap around 4:30 or so and headed out around 5pm to watch Kyle in the 5k. Nick wanted to start warming up then, but I figured we would be way too early since the women’s 5k was right before us and that was going to take like 45 minutes. We jogged a bit during the end of the 5k and then I went inside to do the rest of my warm up by myself. I had to put my contacts in and I figured I’d warm up inside anyways.
I ended up doing a pretty long warm up that was split up a good bit since I kept forgetting things (like putting in my contacts or getting my spikes). I did some foot drills in my socks on the gymnastics mats inside (ignoring the signs that said to stay off them) and then put my spikes on to do a couple strides. I did 2x shorter strides (still inside) and then a 200m. This was a pretty stupid idea actually, because I didn’t split my watch; I just tried to start right at a certain time and then felt good but the time looked like it was really slow (like 40 seconds). I’m not sure if it actually was that slow or if I just didn’t start at the right time. It kind of freaked me out, but I tried my best to keep positive and not panic.
After this, I finally headed out as there were only 5 or 8 minutes left in the girls 10k. You-know-who was running the 10k and she looked pretty miserable. I did a couple more strides on the turf and then I really had to pee. I was looking around for a good place to pee, but there was nothing and I didn’t have time to get off the infield. I ran behind a little John Deere tractor to try to take a knee and pee, but right as I look around before whipping it out, I look up and see Anna Hager staring at me. I lost all desire to pee.
The weather was pretty much perfect: about 65F, cloudy, no rain, and little wind. It was a good day to try to run fast.
All of a sudden, we were being lined up on the start. I was seeded 12th and hip numbers were done by seeds, so I was pretty far to the right. Nick was 9th, so he was a few spots to my left. My race plan was basically to follow Nick for as long as I could. I figured he would run somewhere in the 31:10-31:30 range, so I figured if I could stick with him for as long as I could that would tow me through to a nice PR. Time wise, I really had no idea what to expect. In the email I wrote to Jon last week after my disastrous Friday workout, I really didn’t feel like the same runner I had been when I ran 31:46. At that point, I figured I would be lucky to break 32 minutes and a PR would be a stretch. After Tuesday’s workout, I was feeling more confident, but still had no real idea of where I would be. My real goal was just to try to go out with the lead pack and see how long I could hold it together.
As the gun went off, there was a bit of jostling on the first turn before things started to calm down. Nick had gotten out well and was at the front of the pack, while I had gotten stuck in the back. I stayed calm and just relaxed for the first 300m or so. On the home straight-away, I moved out to lane 2 or 3 and started to work my way up towards Nick. We came through in 76.x and by the time we got around the turn again, I had moved up to Nick’s shoulder.
The two of us hung onto the back of the lead pack, which consisted of about 12 other runners. It felt good and comfortable and we were running 75-76s. It was nice to have a big pack like that to just tuck into. I decided then that I would try to stick with this pack for as long as I could, even if they started to speed up or slow down. Having a big wall of people is really helpful, even if it’s not that windy. I didn’t want to pass Nick, since I felt that my passing him so early at Princeton had been a poor move, but by the time we came up to the mile, I could feel him start to slip off the pack. I really didn’t want to lose contact with that group, so I know that I would have to make a decision soon.
We passed the first mile in 5:00.8 and it felt fine. The group slowed a bit after that, which allowed me to sit on Nick for a little longer while we bridged the 1-2m gap. Things started to bunch up again and we passed 2M in 10:04 (5:03.5 mile 2). I think it was after this lap that I passed Nick. I could feel that he and another runner were dropping off the pack and that I would have to make a move to get around them if I wanted to hang on. So, coming around the back turn into the home straight, I passed him and tucked into the back of the lead pack, which was now down to about 10.
We continued pretty consistently at 75-76 pace through 5k in 15:43 (5:02.0 3rd mile). From there, things started to break up a bit. The UML kid started to push the pace at the front and suddenly our nice little wall of people was strung out into a line. As things started to lose cohesion, I ended up in a mini-pack with Pipp and Macknight from Keene and a SCSU kid. At that time, though, I didn’t realize I was running with Macknight and Pipp – I thought that they were also SCSU kids for some reason.
The 4th mile was good and actually the second fastest of the race (5:01.1 for 20:07 through 4M). I had a cool moment during the race when the announcer was calling out race positions and he said “and then it’s Macknight and Pipp of Keene along with Andrews of Tufts.” All of a sudden, I thought “oh holy shit, I’m racing Macknight right now…” It was a bit of a freak-out moment but also a really cool realization that I was up with some of the bigger dogs.
Around 6k or 4M, things started to get pretty hard, though. Macknight and Pipp began to break away, which was really just me and the SCSU kid slowing down. We stuck together but we were both slowing down and it was getting pretty tough to just maintain. At that point in the race, I had counted that him and I were dooking it out for 8th and 9th place, which meant we were fighting over the last All-New-England spot. I really wanted that spot, so I tried to stick with him as long as I could. We came through 8k in 25:15 (5:07.5 for the 5th mile) and neither of us was willing to give up an inch. I would surge past him and think I had finally dropped him, but then he would creep back up on me and pass me right back.
It was really tough that last 2000m, but I had a ton of support on the sidelines from teammates and Ethan. At some point, I saw Nick on the other side of the track, so I figured something must be wrong. I felt bad for him, but I also knew that I was running a pretty good race and was on pace to PR. I just had to hold it together for a few more laps and kick it in.
With about 600m to go, I tried to pass this kid for the last time, since I knew if it came down to the last 200m, I would be less likely to be able to out-kick him. I tried to establish a gap but within a couple hundred meters he was ahead of me again. With 400m, we were neck and neck. I got amped up passing the team on the first turn and just threw down with everything I have left with 300m to go. I pulled away one more time and thought that I might have him this time. I heard his coach behind me shouting “That kid is 8th! We need those points! Go get him!” and then I felt him fly by me. I was going as hard as I could at that point and just didn’t have another gear. I watched him sprint away from me and he must have been really cruising as he beat me by like 4 seconds and it was all over the last 200-300m. I still finished with a last lap of 72.x, which is slow, but not bad for me. I think I closed Princeton in like a 75. I saw 31:39 on the clock as I passed, so I figured my FAT would be 31:40. Not a huge PR, but a PR none-the-less.
I was pretty spend after I crossed the line. I lay on the ground for a minute or so and then saw Nick crossing in 32:xx. Brunnq had a rough day as well, finishing in like 32:40. Bellet dropped out at 8km.
I walked over to Ethan and the guys who told me that I had actually finished in 8th. As much as I was bummed about losing to that kid, I felt a bit better knowing that I had still eeked out that last all NE spot. I walked around in a daze for a bit, got some fluid and half a cliff bar, and then headed out for a short cooldown. I ran for about 8 minutes with Nick and Brunnq and then jogged on the infield turf for another mile or so. I talked to Jon for a bit – he was pretty pleased. Always good to talk to him.
Overall, this was a pretty solid performance. I was a bit disappointed in my last 2000m, but I can’t complain too much. I did get All-NE, a PR, and finished first for Tufts – all were things I thought would be really hard to do. It’s interesting that my 2nd 5k was almost the same as at Princeton. It makes me think that if I just go out in 15:00 than I’ll still run 15:55 for the second 5k… haha (just kidding). Still, this is a huge step in the right direction from the Tufts 5k, from NESCACs, and from the shitty workouts I was having in April. I’ll race at least one more time before I call it a season. Hopefully I’ll make it a good one!
Splits:
5:00.8
5:03.5 (10:04.3)
5:02.0 (15:06.4)
37.2 (15:43.6 @5000m) +4:23.9=5:01.1 (20:07.5)
5:07.5 (25:14.9)
5:11.3 (30:27.2)
72.2 (31:39.4)
Saturday, May 14, 2011 – AM: I didn’t get to sleep until pretty late last night. I think the caffeine before the race at 6:30pm must have still been in my system. I didn’t sleep that well either, since I had to share a bed in the hotel room with Bellet. I didn’t have too much space. I still woke up around 8am and headed out to get some breakfast with Ethan, Jerzy, and Bellet. We ended up just going to Dunkin Donuts, so I just got a smoothie.
Once back, I figured I had time before we left, so I ran a VERY easy shakeout from the hotel. I was a bit paranoid about running around New Haven, so I tried to stick to the Yale campus. I ran around a bunch of grassy court-yard areas and then a few laps around a big park which had a gravel path encircling it. There were lots of homeless people, but nothing too sketchy in this part of town. I got back and got cleaned up before heading over to the meet with the rest of the team.
The total run was 4M shakeout in 31:00.
PM: I hung around all day at the meet and had a good time watching the races and even got some work done. After Ben’s steeple (where he PR’d and hit provo with a 9:23.x!), I headed out for another shake out run with Jerzy. We mostly ran laps around the track so that we could continue watching the meet. At some point we snuck onto the track and ran around the turf infield for a while, which felt really nice. Jerzy stopped after about 20 minutes, so I ran around the SCSU campus for a while before coming back to the grand-stands.
The total run was 5M EZ in 37min
Sunday, May 15, 2011 – AM: I slept well and woke up naturally this morning around 8am. I had a breakfast of a pear and a chewy bar and then drove over to Minuteman to meet up with Jon and the gang. These guys are a great resource. It’s nice to be able to get a longer (time wise) run in without having it feel hard or leave any ware on my body. They also force me to run slow, which is exactly what I need right now. Going out and running 20M with the TUXC gang is not a good idea 36 hours after a hard 10k…
Anyways, we ran the usual 20km loop out battle road to great meadows and around the small loop. It was a really nice run. Kevin and Jonathan Wyner were also there, so it was good to catch up with them as well. I felt pretty pooped the first couple miles, but once we got going I felt much better. By the time we got to great meadows, I could feel myself wanting to accelerate, so I was glad to have these guys to keep me in line.
There were a few goose families out on the path in great meadows, but other than that, nothing too exciting. We made it back in about 1:35 – about 12-15 minutes slower than I would run this loop last summer…
Afterwards, Jon and I stuck around and chatted for a while about the next two weeks of training and then about the more long-term plan for the summer. It was really helpful and I think I have a pretty good plan now. I will race twice more before leaving: a 5k tune-up on Saturday – probably at the Bedford 12k race, and then the half the next Sunday. This gives me 8 days between each race, which is a nice cushion.
I got picked up by the rents and we headed into the city to have our belated mother’s day brunch. We went to the MFA to see the Chihuly exhibit and eat there, but the restaurant looked whack, so we just went to Betty’s Noodle Bar, which was delicious and probably 1/3 of the price.
12M++ EZ in 1:34:35 (~7:35 pace)
PM: Off. I had planned to at least do core this evening, but was busy studying for my stupid ES9 final that I have to take tomorrow. I was also just really exhausted and felt it’d be better to get a good night’s sleep than to try to force some more exercise and end up staying up later. Probably a wise decision.
Total for the week: 75 Miles in 11 runs.
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