April 30

AM: 9 miles easy and slow

My legs still felt crummy. A total day off may be in order this week. I have just one small race left, so it might be worth it. I have all summer to jack my mileage back up again...and I'm already looking forward to that. Some people can get by off of low mileage, and because I chose the parents and geneology that I did, experience that includes this spring has shown I need miles and lots of them to run well. My concern is that mileage is starting to make me like a drug addict, needing more and more to get the "high" (work with me here...keep reading...).

Will I need more and more miles to reap the benefits of training? Has my body adapted to the workload, so that 70 miles or even 80 miles/week just isn't enough? And why the F*** do I need to run more than everyone else to run well?? Arrrrrrrgggh...

Alas, I really have no idea, and bitching about it in my training log sure isn't going to give me any more answers. But, it's good to get some things off my chest.

Actually, I may have some idea. It could very well be that I overraced early on, f***ed up my knee for a couple of weeks during a critical period of training as a result, and crumbled when my actual peak races came around. Whoops.

I'm leaning toward accepting the latter theory, though I think the first series of questions have some merit to them. I will probably learn a few things from my mistakes (or I'd better, anyway).

I do know this: right now, my legs feel like they're going through nicotine withdrawl. Fortunately, it's almost time to regroup and rebuild my mileage base, and I can probably squeeze out a mile PR or decent 5k next week and end the season on a high note. If I were a struggling baseball team, all the work I've put in would give me a strong farm system, so my long-term optimism is high, even if I'm seemingly skeptical of my fitness in the short term. I may be struggling right now, but I swear I'm not on the ledge, even if it may sound like it reading my race reports and godmylegsfeelsobadboohoo every other day on here. Let's all remember: it's just running.




And now I'm going to take this post in a totally unrelated direction, unless the inner shoulder of a cow somehow relates to . The NY Times had an article yesterday about obscure cuts of meat in the grocery store, and how it's easy to get cheap meat right now simply because cuts like these aren't used very often, can be tough if you don't cook them correctly, and generally aren't as pretty as ribeyes and tenderloins. I've been cooking a lot of cuts of meat that I've never heard of lately, simply because I see it, it's cheap and abundant. Last week was a veal blade chop (I think). Generally, cooking the hell out of it over low heat over several hours has done the trick, which the article points out.

April 29

AM: 5 miles easy

PM: 1600 (400 recovery jog), 1200 (400), 800 (300), 800 (300), 400 (200), 400; 10 miles

Following a morning shake-out, I met PMurphy and Jake at B-CC for a quick workout. Everything but the 400s was supposed to be at 5k pace. Given that I'm likely to race a 5k next week, I brought the spikes out. My calves are pretty sore as I type this.

My legs feel like a Coke that's been left out too long: it looks the same, but the pop is gone. Once again, I felt flat the entire time, but I hit my splits pretty evenly nonetheless. Splits:

4:53 (went out in :71 and then ran even :74s), 3:40 (even), 2:26 (even), 2:24 (even), :68 (bad positive split), :65 (good negative split)

April 28

AM: 9 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

Just an easy double today: the first in Rock Creek Park, and the second on the Capital Crescent. One of the worst R.I.C.'s I've had in a while doomed my evening run, forcing me to walk/jog the last mile...a pretty horrible feeling overall.

April 27

AM: 14 miles easy/moderate

I was aching for an honest long run this morning, so I got up a little earlier and ran an extended version of the south stables loop in Rock Creek Park.

One of the issues I've been battling with and stressing lately is how I'm going to juggle grad school and running (I don't even know what my schedule will be yet, so this is sad). Right about the time I was contemplating it all this morning, I see DC Mayor Adrian Fenty running in front of a group, and he's absolutely hammering down the trail and in the process of dropping his training partners. 

When I make the move to Durham, grad school will definitely need to be priority number one for me, but it doesn't mean I won't fit in some hard training on the side to keep myself balanced. I mean, if Fenty can do it...

April 26 - Pike's Peek 10k (76 miles/week)

AM: 10k road race, 32:30, 14th place, 11 miles

OK...time to back off and regroup. Something I've been doing over the last couple of months hasn't worked. I was able to hit 5k and 10k PRs while running more than 100 miles per week, but when I taper down, my aerobic capacity turns to shit. I am 0-3 in April. In all three races, I've gone out and suffered late in the game. Today was no different. I was exactly where I wanted to be at 5k, and then I fell off precipitously and was dropped by the two guys I'd been racing with. I had a real shot at 4 miles in here to hit my goal comfortably, but the heat coupled with a lack of strength (which I feel weird even typing, because that's usually my strong suit) made for an absolutely horribly off-pace last two miles.

I need to examine perhaps not what I've been doing over the last few months, but even over the last year. I've seemed to have plateaued, and that's no good. Moreover, my best two races this year came in time trials: the track 5k and the "No Rail on the Trail" 10k, which makes me feel like a chump who can't race. I'm feeling burned out, so it's more or less the perfect time to back of for 1-2 weeks. My competitive spirit is more ember than spark right now, and I want to get back to the ravenous hunger I've had before. My best period of running (12/07 - 4/08) immediately proceeded four weeks of ZERO running, albeit intense cross training.

But, at least as evidenced by Boston in 2008, I know I can race well if I'm 1.) well prepared and 2.) have my head on straight. Given my disappointing month of April, I'm beginning to question whether I had either. 

I've got one more race this season on the track in a week and a half (either a 5k or a mile). After that, I'm going to take a few days cross training or totally off, and then I'm going to regroup. In June and July, my plan is to stay off the track as much as possible, save for the occasional "pure speed" workouts. This season, I've moved away from my core areas as a runner: high mileage, tempo runs, and fartleks. I retrospect, while all of the track work probably helped my 5k PR, I think it hurt my performances in longer races.

Most importantly, I want to get back to a point where running is less of a chore. I think that taking a higher volume, but less stressful approach to it is going to help my sanity a lot in the long term. That's probably where the real 1-2 week break is going to come into play. I'm ready for it, and afterward, I hope to have a nice summer farewell tour for DC and Maryland running before prepping for a fall marathon.

April 25

AM: 7 miles easy, strides

Out-and-back on the Capital Crescent. Weather was already in the 80s by 10:30 when I ran.

April 24

AM: 7+ miles easy/moderate

PM: 6 miles easy

Rock Creek Park for both runs with a good stretching session in the afternoon. I'm officially antsy and feeling ready to race.

Today provided classic "DC in the spring" weather: in the morning, I wore gloves and tights because of cold in the upper 30s, and by the late afternoon I ran shirtless with temperatures in the 80s. It's kind of like skiing and surfing in the same day in California, except that you don't actually have to go anywhere.

April 23

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 2k @ 10k pace, 400 jog, 1k @ 5k pace, 400 jog, 4 x 400 w/ 300 jog recovery; 10 miles

I met Murphy a little later than usual on account of busy work weeks for both of us. Once at B-CC, I felt a surprisingly loose and upbeat. 

This was strictly a tune-up workout to get ready to rip a fast time on Sunday. My stride felt a little weird on the 2k, yet I still hit 75-second laps evenly and relaxed. On the 1k, we went out too slowly, but I was able to pick up the pace on the second half to hit pace. I hit the times I wanted on these to reps exactly, so I was happy.

As for the 400s, I said I'd be happy with anything at :70 or under, given that I'm not super speedy, so I was surprised to see that I was running considerably faster than that, all while even splitting at the 200m mark, which suggests that I was running pretty relaxed. This is a good thing, especially since I might be racing a mile or 5k on the track in two weeks to wrap up the spring season.

Splits: 6:19, 3:03, :65, :65, :65, :63

April 22

AM: 10 miles easy, 6 x :10 hill sprints

Easy through Rock Creek Park, where there was plenty of downed trees and mud to contend with.

April 21

AM: 9 miles moderate

PM: 4 miles easy

I felt surprisingly strong today, whereas I expected to be sore as hell from Sunday. That's good news.

I ran about 20 minutes of the afternoon shake-out with Klim as well, meeting up with him during his afternoon run.

April 20

AM: 8 miles easy recovery

Super slow through the mud and rain.

April 19 - Penn Relays Distance Classic

AM: 20k road race, 1:07:56, 2nd place, 17+ miles

This was one of the races I'd been gearing up for all season. I'd never raced the storied Penn Relays, and this event was probably the closest I was going to get. The team winners win a Penn Relays "wheel," and the individual winners get the coveted Penn Relays watch. And, damn it, I wanted to leave Philly with a wheel and a watch.

After staying with Samy and his folks the night before, Valerie and I drove to Franklin Field, one of the most historic stadiums this country has, with the race finishing with the last 300m on the track. As a side note, though I've visited Philadelphia a few times now, Ben Franklin is to Philadelphia like Robert E. Lee is to Virginia, and Peachtrees are in Atlanta...he's a popular guy who's likeness and name is practically everywhere.

At the starting line, I looked down and saw that my number was pinned successfully to my singlet, which was a small victory right there given my last race. Patrick Murphy and Patrick Hughes lined up with me and guaged the competition on the line. One runner was a apparently an old nemesis/rival of Murphy at PSU.

The course was out-and-back along much of the same course as the Philadelphia Distance Run.

As the gun went off, one guy, LaSalle grad Joe, shot out like a rocket. Murphy, Murphy's old rival, and I took our time over the first gradual uphill mile to get back up to him. This race was followed by a 5k over the same course, so when we got to the turnaround point for that race at 1.5 miles, a possibly stoned Penn student erroneously told us to turn around at the cone. After a few seconds of confusion and running the wrong direction, Murphy, a grizzled veteran of this race, told us we were running the wrong way. 

By mile 2, I was only running with the LaSalle grad Joe, and we were well under my planned 5:20-5:25 pace, and we would continue to be until we reached the bridge. Little did I know that I'd probably raced Joe before at Maryland in cross country, because we raced LaSalle a lot, but I probably didn't recognize him because, following some post-race research, he would have spent the majority of the time in said races nowhere near me (and not in a good way). This guy was strong, and obviously not going anywhere, but beating him was also my only shot at winning this thing, even if on paper he was probably better than me.

Around mile 5, it became more of a struggle to hold pace, and I figured that one of us was going to break soon. Unfortunately, that meant it was me. I lost most of my ground in in the next couple of miles going back and forth across the same bridge that we cross during the Philly Distance Run. I tried to close the gap and reel him back in, but the distance wasn't decreasing.

Because of a fast first few miles, the last 5k hurt like hell and included mile 11, which was the only real section of the course that could be labeled "slow" with a sort of uphill switchback going back toward Penn's campus. I deliberately didn't look at this mile split, put my head down, and tried to fight through what was now a sea of lactic acid in my legs.

The cool part of the race was that it finished in Franklin Field with 300m around the track to the finish line, which is about 300m more than I've ever raced there. I still barely hit my goal of 1:06-1:07, but I can definitely say I gave it my best effort out there today, only to come up a little more than 100 meters short of a win.

Much like my last race in Philadelphia in September, I went out too quickly and struggled in the final miles. But unlike that day, I actually had a reason to go out quickly. I was trying to win. I feel like I could have definitely run faster out there today had I gone for even splits, but this was a race, not a time trial. This race was also unquestionably better for me than that last race.

The highlight of the day was that Murphy, Hughes and I still won the team title and the coveted Penn Relays wheel. This part made the trip worth it, so I at least got to go home from Philly with one of two goals accomplished. 

Splits: 5:12, 5:16 (long mile with wrong turn), 5:15, 5:22, 5:27, 5:32, 5:31, 5:26, 5:35, 5:36, 5:49, 9:43 (1.4+ miles)

April 18

AM: 8 miles easy, strides

An easy out-and-back on the Capital Crescent before driving to Philadelphia. Everyone and their brother's mothers were out on the trail today on one of the warmest days we've had all year.

April 17

AM: 10 miles easy

Nice and relaxed run through Rock Creek Park. Feeling a bit better but took it really easy.

April 16

AM: 8 x 2'on/2' off, 10 miles

I felt stale today, much like Tuesday's workout; both efforts were on the Meadowbrook loop. I'm not sure what's going on right now, but it's frustrating. My legs have felt heavy and dead on my workouts this week. That being said, I thought these reps were around 10k pace, but I closed my last quarter mile of the last rep comfortably in :71, so maybe I'm just rusty? The cold, wet weather hasn't been helping much.

For some reason I've felt good on my easy days over the last week or so, and like crap during my workouts. I'm not sure what the perscription is, but I've just felt off since Cherry Blossom. Tapering always seems to make me feel like hell, which is why I try to avoid it like the plague. In the mean time, I'm stuck deciding whether the remedy is more running or less running in the days leading up to the Penn 20k and Pike's Peek. Maybe feeling like crap means I'm ready to be unleashed and race my ass off? Or that I'm overtrained and fatgiued and pushed the envelope too far...again?

One of the things I don't like about tapering is that I too often play head games and second-guess myself, as you can probably infer from my hopelessly insecure ramblings. I'm going to do my best over the next few days to remind myself that "the hay's in the barn," or as much hay that's going to be in there at this point, anyhow.

Strangely, I feel more speedy than aerobically fit right now. One of the things we've really lacked training as a group this last cycle has been tempo runs. After this racing cycle is done in May and I take a few days off, I'm going to change that for summer racing and definitely getting ready for a fall marathon. I'd rather feel like I can run for days on the cusp of red lining and worry I'll be outkicked than vice versa. But hey, this is all an experiment of one, and I'm grateful to know that this is something I definitely plan to adjust this summer.

April 15

AM: 9 miles easy, 7 x :10 hill sprints

PM: 5 miles easy

We had a casualty today. After taking a nasty fall on a wet sidewalk, Valerie is officially on the DL with a broken elbow. Rather than going to work, I spent most of the day with her seeing various doctors. See the photo above; we'll see about how this affects her running, but needless to say she won't be pitching off of the mound for a few weeks.

Enough baseball metaphors: let's just hope she starts feeling better ASAP and wish her a speedy recovery. She can't lift her arm over her head, so I'm literally having to do her hair for her. As you can probably suspect, this is not a good thing. Female hairstyling just is not my forte (and maybe that is a good thing? I'm not sure...).

April 14

AM: 4 x mile @ 10k pace w/ 1:30 jog recovery, 10 miles

PM: 4 miles easy

Rainy and cold. I ran this workout solo on the Meadowbrook bike path first thing in the morning, splashing through puddles all of the way. I had a little trouble finding a rhythm and getting into a groove, but I still hit sub-32:00 pace (barely) nonetheless. This was literally a quick and dirty workout, given the mud and rain. It didn't get too uncomfortable until the last half mile of the fourth rep, which is about where it hits me when racing a 10k, ~3.5 miles into the race. Not the greatest effort, but I wanted to fit in a 10k-specific workout this week at some point.

Splits: 5:09, 5:08, 5:09, 5:08

April 13

AM: 9 miles easy

Unfortunately, we still have some cold weather lingering. I ran in tights and gloves this morning. I'm still feeling excellent compared to the last few weeks, especially during the 2+ weeks my knee was giving me hell. I'm planning a 10k-type workout tomorrow and then a light fartlek on Thursday before rolling in this weekend feeling fresh.

April 12 (91 miles/week)

AM: 10+ miles easy/moderate

Ran on Beach Drive before driving to Calvert County to spend Easter with Valerie's parents and their family friends. I really had to pull back on my reins today. I'm feeling on the up-and-up and am looking forward to trying to do some damage at the 20k in Philly next week.

My plan is to back off the volume over the next two weeks in an attempt to nail PRs at Penn and Pike's Peek. I don't like to taper very much (I hate it, actually), so it won't be a crazy reduction in mileage, but rather the closest thing I'll have to a taper this spring. After that, I'll probably ramp the mileage back up again with a few days totally off in there somewhere, probably in May.
Also, Peter put together another solid video from Cherry Blossom for the team...so check it out:

April 11

AM: 65 minutes easy into 4-mile tempo, plus cooldown, 15 miles

PM: gym

Murphy, Jake and I ran with the group from the store during the Saturday morning run, covering a muddy Ernst loop before jumping down on the Capital Crescent for a 2-mile out, 2-mile back tempo. Given it was cold and rainy, I felt controlled and was happy with the splits, which were at or near what I'm shooting for at Penn next week.

I snuck in a trip to the gym with Valerie in the afternoon. We came in to find the guy at the front desk in a coat and tie with classical music playing in place of the usual "80s favorites." We left scratching our heads.

Splits: 5:26, 5:27, 5:26, 5:22

April 10

AM: 8 miles moderate

PM: 7 miles easy

I finally felt back to normal today. I actually had some spring in my step in the morning. I wasn't sure if I wanted to run again, but the weather was absolutely beautiful (~70 degrees). I kept the pace easy on the Capital Crescent.

April 9

AM: 11+ miles easy

PM: 4 miles easy

Dickson and I ran the "Chandra Levy" loop (too soon?) through Rock Creek Park, running into Patricks Murphy and Hughes for a few minutes as well.

After work, I ran easy with Valerie before successfully cooking my first fried chicken, which turned out surprisingly well but stunk up our kitchen something awful.

April 8

AM: 5 miles easy

PM: 3 x 2k @ 10k pace with 2:00 jog recovery, 5 x 200m strides, 10+ miles

I met PMurphy and Bain at B-CC for this workout, and we quickly realized that none of us had recovered from Sunday's race. We all seemed to feel trashed and could barely find our strides. This, with the wind, didn't make for a positive workout environment, to say the least.

Never have I seen such mutual feeling of futility. Consequently, we decided to back off the original workout (4 x 2k plus 1k hard), and instead saved ourselves. This seemed like a wise decision almost immediately; the strides felt great, and I wasn't completely dead on the cooldown. There's another workout planned for Saturday, so I'll check my running vital signs again then. My guess is that backing off today is going to pay dividends later.

My plan for this week is to keep the mileage up to near 90 and then back down to the 70s to give my legs a little bit of a break and light taper (my preferred method) for the Penn Relays 20k and Pike's Peek 10k.

Splits: 6:21, 6:23, 6:22.

April 7

AM: 10 miles easy, 6 x :10 hill sprints

PM: 4 miles easy

Thanks to the DOMS, I was more sore today than yesterday, but this is fairly typical for me after a longer race.

April 6

AM: 7+ miles easy recovery

Easy 50:00 recovery run following yesterday's race. I've tried to do too much after long races before, and I've since learned that lesson. A project at work left me at the office late and thus not much time for another run today, anyway.

April 5 - Cherry Blossom 10-Mile (84 miles/week)

AM: Cherry Blossom 10-Mile, 53:07 (?), ??th place, 17 miles

The reason I have the question marks is because for the first time in my running life, I went to the starting line while forgetting to pin on my damn number. I've bitched enough about this already, but needless to say I'm not in the race's official results and I feel like an absolute moron. I still wore my timing "d-tag," so I sent an email to the race directors yesterday asking for mercy and/or a time on paper, since this would have been a modest PR by ~10 seconds.

Looking at the race now, it mirrors my race here last year pretty closely. I aside from a first mile that was too fast (close to 5:00 even, though it didn't feel like it at the time). I came through 5 miles in 26:08, which was only slightly faster than last year (26:13). I then crumbled in the second half at about the same rate, completely suffered from miles 5-8 until I got into another pack of runners, and then fought tooth-and-nail through the end. Miles 4-8 today were alone and felt miserable, really testing me. 

Alas, one of the mile markers for this race was horribly off and came exactly during the right time. At mile 7, right when I was feeling my absolute worst, the mile marker was long. So when I was out there hurting and saw a mile split 20-30 seconds slower than what I'd been seeing, I thought, "Jesus, the wheels must really be falling off," but because was only looking at runners 100 yards in front of me, I had no point of reference to say "hey stupid...this mile's long." When I saw the slow split, I immediately went on the defensive, and that's not good.

Coming around Hains Point, a group of four runners caught me, and though I was "totally dying" (or so I thought). Rather than let them go (seeing as my wheels were apparently coming off), I tucked in behind them to do a little drafting, since I'd basically been alone the entire race. To my surprise, I stayed with the pack. We then came through mile 8 in ~4:50, which was obviously rather short. I then realized that physically, I was still in the race, and perhaps I was only hurting as much as I should be 8 miles into a 10-mile race. At 9 miles, I started to push to break up the pace. Two runners broke away, and I chased them frantically with the two other runners right with me. Going up the race's last incline with 500 meters to go, I drifted back, leaving all four runners ahead of me, before I shot the gap between the last two and actually had a kick! The race ended with 200 meters of a slight rise before a slight downhill to the finish. I powered up the uphill and ran until I felt like vomiting on the own slope.

I was disappointed to see the clock read "53:xx" but happy to end on a high note, seeing as last year at this race, I was outkicked by an ultrarunner (albeit a really good ultrarunner), who aren't exactly known for their big Bernard Lagat-like finishing kicks.

So, while short of what I wanted to run (52:30), this race wasn't all that bad. But between forgetting my number and getting caught running solo, I was a total head case today during the race.

Lots of PRs today, including Patrick Murphy who damn near clipped my heels at the finish line with Diego; Klim who ran a monster race; and Valerie, who made her return to racing and seemed pretty pleased doing so. 

Just about all of GRC set PRs or ran strong races, and we had what seemed like an army of guys between 53 and 56 minutes. I'm sure video and photos will come also (thanks to Robert and Peter in advance--you guys always to a great job with our GRC multimedia).

Post-race after a nap and an ice bath, we all spent the afternoon grillin' and chillin' at Dwyer's and just soaked in what was basically a perfect spring day.

April 4

AM: 7 miles easy, strides

Light pre-race run. The Cherry Blossom 10-Mile is tomorrow, and this excites me. I had to hold myself back on the run today because I was chomping at the bit the entire time.

I think I'm in decent shape, and not only has there been no pain in a week or more, but all tightness in my knee is 100% gone. I'm happy to be racing and am ready to roll.

April 3

AM: 11 miles easy

Relaxed run in Rock Creek Park. No second workout this week with Cherry Blossom on Sunday. I had to work late after work, but I still got in some core work.

April 2

AM: 10 miles easy, 6 x :10 hill sprints

PM: 5 miles easy

Met Dickson for a run in Rock Creek Park before work, and then went out with Valerie for a shake-out run at dusk. Almost race time...sweet.

April 1

AM: 11 miles moderate

I started my run heading south on the Rock Creek Park trails. Shortly after crossing Military Rd., I crossed paths with Patrick Murray, so I did an about-face and ran with him for ~20 minutes, which included some eclectic conversation that ranged from NPR podcasting to why he calls one of his runs "Battlestar Galactica." Good stuff. 

I planned to run again tonight, but I got stuck at the office writing a proposal. Instead, I did some core work when I got home before putting my neglected wok to good use, making some decent stir fry with Valerie that was spicy enough to water our eyes and make our noses run like a faucet. I got a little heavy-handed with the red pepper. 

March 31

AM: 5 miles easy

PM: 2 miles hard, 0.5-mile jog, 1-mile hard, 0.5-mile jog, 8 x :30 on/1:00 off, 9 miles

Shake our run in Rock Creek Park in the morning. I hope this is the last time I have to wear tights or pants on a run for a while.

After work, I met P. Murphy, Bain, and Jake for a workout on the Capital Crescent trail. The goal was to run both the 2-mile and mile at goal Cherry Blossom pace perhaps just under. We basically evenly split the 2-mile, hitting 10:18 comfortably together. For the mile, Murphy, Bain, and I turned around for the mile, which was a gradual uphill (whereas the 2-mile was a gradual downhill).

I had a little G.I. discomfort, but it wasn't anything that couldn't wait until we got back to the school. We had the added bonus of the blooming cherry blossoms, which are hitting their peak right now. There's on intersection on the trail where we could look down the cross street and see a seemingly endless floral array of pink and white from the canopy of trees that covers the road. The cherry blossoms are pretty unique to DC in the spring: undoubtedly the best time to be in the area.

The Cherry Blossom 10-Mile, MLB Opening Day, the Master's, and the Final Four.

Hmmm...actually, thinking about it all now, this could very well be the best two weeks of the year both as a runner and as a fan and spectator (outside of the summer Olympic years). I'm struggling to come up with a better answer. Throw in the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Penn Relays, and April is the hands-down winner of best month for sports.