AM: 4 miles easy, 8-lap East Campus tempo (13.2 miles) @ goal marathon pace, 4 miles easy - 21 miles
After pushing this workout to this morning after yesterday, I tried to get in bed early last night to make sure that I was up to snuff. It's getting to be crunch time for marathon-specific work, and I wanted to hit a solid long run this weekend. I chose East Campus because it's both easy to find a rhythm and because it has constant, small rolling hills that get "bigger" with every lap, which is great preparation for Boston.
Reed joined me for the first four laps before splitting off to finish his long run for the day. My goal was to keep the pace under 9:20/lap for the 1.65-mile loops, and I hit that by a fairly comfortable margin. I was definitely working by the end, and I felt a little low of fuel despite popping a gel midway through the tempo. That being said, the I finished with my last lap as the fastest, which is always a positive sign, and I'm pretty happy with more than 13 miles at 5:34 pace at the end of a 109-mile week.
Splits: 9:12, 9:09, 9:10, 9:13, 9:16, 9:16, 9:16, 9:04 (9:12 average)
2.26.2012
February 25
AM: 12 miles easy
Reed and I planned to do a long workout this morning, but we decided to defer it on account of feeling sub-par and 20-30 mph winds today. We instead ran the usual run through campus plus a full WaDuke loop. This turned out to be a good call, and I got in a good stretch and core session when I got home as well.
Reed and I planned to do a long workout this morning, but we decided to defer it on account of feeling sub-par and 20-30 mph winds today. We instead ran the usual run through campus plus a full WaDuke loop. This turned out to be a good call, and I got in a good stretch and core session when I got home as well.
February 25
AM: 12 miles easy
Reed and I planned to do a long workout this morning, but we decided to defer it on account of feeling sub-par and 20-30 mph winds today. We instead ran the usual run through campus plus a full WaDuke loop. This turned out to be a good call.
Reed and I planned to do a long workout this morning, but we decided to defer it on account of feeling sub-par and 20-30 mph winds today. We instead ran the usual run through campus plus a full WaDuke loop. This turned out to be a good call.
February 24
AM: 10 miles easy
PM: 6 miles easy
I ran solo in the morning on the ATT, and again on the ATT and Forest Hills Park earlier in the mid-afternoon to beat a coming thunderstorm.
PM: 6 miles easy
I ran solo in the morning on the ATT, and again on the ATT and Forest Hills Park earlier in the mid-afternoon to beat a coming thunderstorm.
2.23.2012
February 23
AM: 15 miles easy
I met Dan earlier in the morning through Duke Forest before dropping him off at campus and adding a full WaDuke loop.
I met Dan earlier in the morning through Duke Forest before dropping him off at campus and adding a full WaDuke loop.
February 22
AM: 2 x 10 x 400m @ 3k pace with 1:00 jog recoveries and 3:00 jog between sets - 12 miles
PM: 5 miles easy
With Adam on the shelf this week, Reed and I hit the track early in the morning for a long workout of 400s. We were absurdly consistent, hitting almost all of them exactly in :70, with a couple of :71s and :69s. I closed the last one faster in :64, just behind Reed. I was looking to right the ship after last weekend's lackluster effort, so this was a welcomed turnaround.
PM: 5 miles easy
With Adam on the shelf this week, Reed and I hit the track early in the morning for a long workout of 400s. We were absurdly consistent, hitting almost all of them exactly in :70, with a couple of :71s and :69s. I closed the last one faster in :64, just behind Reed. I was looking to right the ship after last weekend's lackluster effort, so this was a welcomed turnaround.
2.22.2012
February 21
AM: 6 miles easy
PM: 11 miles easy
I ran a short run on my own in the morning before hitting campus and the fitness loop with Reed in the late afternoon, finishing at sunset and wearing short-sleeves. My legs felt good for the first time in a few days.
PM: 11 miles easy
I ran a short run on my own in the morning before hitting campus and the fitness loop with Reed in the late afternoon, finishing at sunset and wearing short-sleeves. My legs felt good for the first time in a few days.
February 20
AM: 11 miles easy
I got in just one run today on my own through the Forest Hills Park-WaDuke loop with some core work afterward. I felt pretty pooped from the weekend, so when I got back from class at 7:00, I bagged a shake-out run in favor of trying to get to bed earlier.
I got in just one run today on my own through the Forest Hills Park-WaDuke loop with some core work afterward. I felt pretty pooped from the weekend, so when I got back from class at 7:00, I bagged a shake-out run in favor of trying to get to bed earlier.
2.19.2012
February 19 (110 miles/week)
AM: 22 miles easy
I started on my own in cold but light rain through downtown and campus before I picked up Reed at the law school. We set off for the big loop through Duke Forest as the temperature slowly crept down and the rain gradually picked up. This loop provides plenty of hills and soft footing, so I was plenty tired by the time I dropped Reed back off flooding a loop around the WaDuke trail. My groin tightened up a little bit on the way home, but I managed to get in good stretch, an ice bath, and a 90-minute nap where I woke up not knowing what day it was, in an effort to soften the effects from the miles I put in this weekend.
Today capped off my highest week of mileage since July 2010, and I'm going to try to get in more longer, sustained efforts in the next few weeks. I'd be lying if I said I felt awesome every step of the way, but that's part of the deal. I'm not concerned about feeling great now, and experience tells me that this is part of the deal. I'd rather feel great on April 16.
I started on my own in cold but light rain through downtown and campus before I picked up Reed at the law school. We set off for the big loop through Duke Forest as the temperature slowly crept down and the rain gradually picked up. This loop provides plenty of hills and soft footing, so I was plenty tired by the time I dropped Reed back off flooding a loop around the WaDuke trail. My groin tightened up a little bit on the way home, but I managed to get in good stretch, an ice bath, and a 90-minute nap where I woke up not knowing what day it was, in an effort to soften the effects from the miles I put in this weekend.
Today capped off my highest week of mileage since July 2010, and I'm going to try to get in more longer, sustained efforts in the next few weeks. I'd be lying if I said I felt awesome every step of the way, but that's part of the deal. I'm not concerned about feeling great now, and experience tells me that this is part of the deal. I'd rather feel great on April 16.
 |
| Ice bath time. |
February 18
PM: JDL Fast Track 3,000m plus 35:00 @ marathon pace - 12 miles
Today was a painful reminder that in marathon training, it's tough to have your cake and eat it too. I traveled with the Bull City Track Club for an indoor meet in the brand new JDL Fast Track indoor track center in Winston-Salem. Because it was a short race distance, my plan beforehand was to slip on flats immediately after the race and jump into a marathon-pace tempo in the neighborhood of a half hour.
I'll call the 3k a disaster of a race (I literally limped in, as I'll explain, for a 9:13). I'll quickly break the event down, first by whiny excuses, and then by positive takeaways.
Whiny Excuses
Today was a painful reminder that in marathon training, it's tough to have your cake and eat it too. I traveled with the Bull City Track Club for an indoor meet in the brand new JDL Fast Track indoor track center in Winston-Salem. Because it was a short race distance, my plan beforehand was to slip on flats immediately after the race and jump into a marathon-pace tempo in the neighborhood of a half hour.
I'll call the 3k a disaster of a race (I literally limped in, as I'll explain, for a 9:13). I'll quickly break the event down, first by whiny excuses, and then by positive takeaways.
Whiny Excuses
- We were rushed to the line. The starters called us 15 minutes early, leaving most of us to scramble to put on our spikes immediately after we finished warming up. So that meant no stretching, strides, or pre-race poops of any kind.
- I was going into this race dog-tired. I wanted to see if I could run under 9:00 again on tired legs, coming in on my highest-mileage week since July 2010. It wasn't meant to be today.
- My left foot again turned to hamburger. I tried to remedy the problem that I had at Liberty (and really every non-banked indoor track I've ever run on) by wearing thicker socks. That clearly didn't work. I felt like a hot knife was stabbing the outside of my left foot around every turn. I sat down off the track, took my spikes off in frustration, and saw that the still-healing callous from Liberty had a new, golfball-sized bloody blister. The straightaways were fine, but every tight turn put me in a ton of pain.
Positive Takeaways
- I stuck to the plan afterward. Instead of sitting and sulking at my misfortune and my foot, I slipped on my flats, jogged for a half mile to test out my foot. It felt not-great-but-OK, so I commenced into what felt like marathon pace down the road to a junior high that had a dirt track. I recorded two miles on there in 5:34--right on target--and then hammered back home to the track for a solid 35 minutes at marathon pace. In a sense, I took what could have been a crappy day and made up for it on the second half of the workout.
- My inner common sense is usually right. The real reason that I wanted to race today is because I knew that there would be competition and I wanted to support the BCTC team. This alone does not mean that I should be racing. I felt tired all week, including during the workout on Wednesday, and I should have listened to my own intuition. Coming off of Uhwarrie, I probably got a little greedy here.
- The team ran well. Alex and Monk put up some big times. It's hard to be upset with that
When I got home, my stomach was a wreck, which took some Pepto and time in the bathroom to shake it. I drained and cleaned up my mangled foot, and applied some moleskin that I bought on the way home.
Overall, I'm fine with calling this a blip on the radar and part of the ups and downs of trying to get ready for a fast marathon: "Sometimes you eat the bear, and, well, sometimes he eats you."
2.18.2012
February 17
AM: 9 miles easy
I got in just over an hour on my own this morning, running an truncated version of the Forest Hills Park-WaDuke loop. I'd be lying if I said I felt awesome, but it sure feels nice to get in a single-digit mileage day in the middle of a high-volume week like this week.
Because I had to take an unexpected down week last week, I'm shifting my schedule around a little bit. Instead of doing my customary two up, one down weekly mileage cycle, I'm going to shift it to two blocks of three up, one down, since I have eight pre-taper weeks to work with now instead of nine. This just means that I'll have to make the recovery week count.
I'm racing another indoor 3k tomorrow in Winston-Salem. Honestly, if I can run around the same time as at Liberty a month ago, I'll be pretty happy with that given my uptick in mileage. I'm going to follow it immediately with 3-5 miles at marathon pace. 3k is a little short for me right now, but at the same time I want to focus my quality efforts on where the competition will be since it's spotty; that's the biggest drawback to racing in North Carolina versus the DC-Baltimore areas. I have plenty of time to run time trials on my own.
I got in just over an hour on my own this morning, running an truncated version of the Forest Hills Park-WaDuke loop. I'd be lying if I said I felt awesome, but it sure feels nice to get in a single-digit mileage day in the middle of a high-volume week like this week.
Because I had to take an unexpected down week last week, I'm shifting my schedule around a little bit. Instead of doing my customary two up, one down weekly mileage cycle, I'm going to shift it to two blocks of three up, one down, since I have eight pre-taper weeks to work with now instead of nine. This just means that I'll have to make the recovery week count.
I'm racing another indoor 3k tomorrow in Winston-Salem. Honestly, if I can run around the same time as at Liberty a month ago, I'll be pretty happy with that given my uptick in mileage. I'm going to follow it immediately with 3-5 miles at marathon pace. 3k is a little short for me right now, but at the same time I want to focus my quality efforts on where the competition will be since it's spotty; that's the biggest drawback to racing in North Carolina versus the DC-Baltimore areas. I have plenty of time to run time trials on my own.
February 16
AM: 14 miles easy
PM: 4 miles easy
I met Dan early in the morning for an out-and-back of the full ATT from my place. Mild weather and a relaxed pace made for a nice run. 6:30 seemed early, but then I remembered that's when I ran every day last summer, or whenever I'm working full-time. The shake-out run in the evening was rainy but otherwise uneventful.
PM: 4 miles easy
I met Dan early in the morning for an out-and-back of the full ATT from my place. Mild weather and a relaxed pace made for a nice run. 6:30 seemed early, but then I remembered that's when I ran every day last summer, or whenever I'm working full-time. The shake-out run in the evening was rainy but otherwise uneventful.
2.16.2012
February 15
AM: 2400m-2000m-1600m-1200m-800m-400m with 3:00 (400m) jog recoveries - 12 miles
PM: 6 miles easy
Adam, Reed and I got to the track in the morning for a repeat of the workout that we ran a few weeks ago. I could feel the miles under me today: the first few reps were faster than last time, and the last few reps were marginally slower. We'll call it a toss-up and a quality track session nonetheless.
Splits: 7:40, 6:16, 4:55, 3:38, 2:24, :66
I made it out to the ATT and Forest Hills Park a little later for a shake-out run, which was slow.
PM: 6 miles easy
Adam, Reed and I got to the track in the morning for a repeat of the workout that we ran a few weeks ago. I could feel the miles under me today: the first few reps were faster than last time, and the last few reps were marginally slower. We'll call it a toss-up and a quality track session nonetheless.
Splits: 7:40, 6:16, 4:55, 3:38, 2:24, :66
I made it out to the ATT and Forest Hills Park a little later for a shake-out run, which was slow.
February 14
AM: 10 miles easy
PM: 5 miles easy
Both runs were solo today: the first as an out-and-back on the ATT, and the other a loop around East Campus from home.
PM: 5 miles easy
Both runs were solo today: the first as an out-and-back on the ATT, and the other a loop around East Campus from home.
February 13
AM: 12 miles easy
PM: 4 miles easy
Morning run with Reed through campus, with an add-on at the ATT from home to make it 12, and then a slow shake-out in the dark in the evening.
PM: 4 miles easy
Morning run with Reed through campus, with an add-on at the ATT from home to make it 12, and then a slow shake-out in the dark in the evening.
2.12.2012
February 12 (89 miles/week)
AM: 22 miles easy
Reed and I met at the spot and then headed to the long loop through Duke Forest on the first really cold run of the winter, at least by North Carolina standards. I dropped him off at the law school after the forest finished the last 35 minutes on my own to come in at 2:30. That's my longest run since fall 2010, and I felt more or less fine. I braved the tub for a much-needed ice bath afterward.
Reed and I met at the spot and then headed to the long loop through Duke Forest on the first really cold run of the winter, at least by North Carolina standards. I dropped him off at the law school after the forest finished the last 35 minutes on my own to come in at 2:30. That's my longest run since fall 2010, and I felt more or less fine. I braved the tub for a much-needed ice bath afterward.
February 11
AM: 6'/5'/4'/3'/2'/1' fartlek with half-time recoveries - 13 miles
I met Reed to return to some semblance of normalcy with a workout around East Campus. I felt good enough to proceed on schedule next week.
I met Reed to return to some semblance of normalcy with a workout around East Campus. I felt good enough to proceed on schedule next week.
2.10.2012
February 10
AM: 11 miles easy/moderate
I banged out 11 miles on my own through the Forest Hills-WaDuke loop. My legs continue to feel progressively better--enough so that I'm going to proceed with a lighter workout tomorrow and long run Sunday before gearing back up next week.
I banged out 11 miles on my own through the Forest Hills-WaDuke loop. My legs continue to feel progressively better--enough so that I'm going to proceed with a lighter workout tomorrow and long run Sunday before gearing back up next week.
2.09.2012
February 9
AM: 11 miles easy
I met Reed for a run through campus and the fitness loop. I'm feeling increasingly better as the week goes on, so ideally I'll be able to at least get in a light workout and a long run this weekend.
I met Reed for a run through campus and the fitness loop. I'm feeling increasingly better as the week goes on, so ideally I'll be able to at least get in a light workout and a long run this weekend.
2.08.2012
February 8
AM: 2 x 2k with 400m jog recovery - 10 miles
I hopped in with Adam for half of his workout this morning on account of my legs still feeling a little battered from the weekend. That was a good call because I certainly wasn't ready to run that fast. I hit two reps in 6:28 and 6:36; I felt fine aerobically but had zero pop whatsoever in my legs.
Advil, the foam roller, and I have become great friends over the last few days. The soreness from Saturday is abating gradually, but I don't want to rush back too quickly and dig myself into a hole two months before Boston.
I hopped in with Adam for half of his workout this morning on account of my legs still feeling a little battered from the weekend. That was a good call because I certainly wasn't ready to run that fast. I hit two reps in 6:28 and 6:36; I felt fine aerobically but had zero pop whatsoever in my legs.
Advil, the foam roller, and I have become great friends over the last few days. The soreness from Saturday is abating gradually, but I don't want to rush back too quickly and dig myself into a hole two months before Boston.
February 7
AM: 4 miles easy
PM: 10 miles easy
I'm gradually recovering from the race on Saturday, but it's definitely coming along slower than I wanted. The soreness from the fall is gone in my shoulders and back, but my left glut is still sore, as are my ankles from the roughly 367 times I rolled them on Saturday. I have strong ankles, but that was a bit much.
PM: 10 miles easy
I'm gradually recovering from the race on Saturday, but it's definitely coming along slower than I wanted. The soreness from the fall is gone in my shoulders and back, but my left glut is still sore, as are my ankles from the roughly 367 times I rolled them on Saturday. I have strong ankles, but that was a bit much.
February 6
AM: 8 miles easy
Slow out-and-back on the ATT in the late morning. My legs felt pretty horrible. It's looking like this is going to be an unplanned recovery week to get back from Saturday's trail race.
Slow out-and-back on the ATT in the late morning. My legs felt pretty horrible. It's looking like this is going to be an unplanned recovery week to get back from Saturday's trail race.
2.05.2012
February 5 (101 miles/week)
PM: 6 miles easy
I crawled out for an easy recovery run around noon. I'm by far the most sore today in my butt (from the hills) and my back (from the fall and twisting and turning). I was surprised when I felt good from the beginning during the run; in fact, running may have been the only activity today where I wasn't sore.
February 4 (Uwharrie Mountain 20-Mile)
AM: Uwharrie Mountain 20-Mile, 2nd place, 2:26:30 - 20+ miles
Today was my first long marathon workout during this Boston training cycle. Bull City Running puts on the Uwharrie Trail Race every year: a day of 40-, 20-, and 8-mile single-track trail races in the southern mountains of North Carolina. This was by far my longest trail race, but the rugged and soft terrain served as an ideal place to run a long effort with a lot of changing speeds. I'm also far out enough from Boston at this point that I'm less concerned about pace-specific work (that will come) and more focused on hard efforts and high volume. Overall, I'm happy with the way it went. Your Uwharrie time is supposed to be about equal to your marathon time when factoring in the trail, and 2:26 at Boston would unquestionably leave me a happy camper if that's the way it shakes out come April 16.
Coming from someone who doesn't race a ton on trails, I'll say that this was definitely a fun experience. Managing the course and it's elements adds a new an interesting twist to racing where splits (but not necessarily finishing times) are thrown out the window. Kim and Jason did an outstanding job of putting an event of this size and scale on so professionally; a lot of work went into this race and it clearly showed.
To recap, I ended up at the starting line with no warmup because I didn't read the race instructions completely and had to scramble to get my race number, which was 10 minutes away through a bus ride. The front revealed some brutal competition who I knew had better trail credentials than me: Duke and BCTC colleague David Roche, last year's winner Ryan Woods, and BCTC's Duncan Hodge. I had my work cut out for me today with both the competition and the undulating, brutal course itself that included all of trail running's romances of tight turns, steep climbs and ascents, fallen trees, and stream crossings.
As he promised before we got started, David shot out of the start like a cannon up the 1200m, 375-foot climb in the first mile, leaving the rest of us in the dust. I motored along into second place, trying in vain to keep David in sight for the first 4 miles before Ryan Woods passed me. For the next 10 miles, I stayed no more than a couple of steps behind him, losing him on the technical downhills, catching back up on the flats, and staying with him on the uphills. By mile 8, we heard that David had built nearly a five-minute lead on us. "That's insane," I muttered. Ryan quipped back, "That's 2:10 pace," which is made all the more remarkable when factoring in the aforementioned marathon-time equivalency. David's pretty quick, so I assumed at this point we were racing for second place unless something went awry. When I saw Valerie at 11 miles, I was feeling good and felt that I had a decent chance in finishing high in the race.
I continued following Ryan's lines, hot-footing on rocks across streams, hurdling fallen trees, and dancing around the 40-mile runners that had started 40 minutes before we did. Around mile 14, I plunged awkwardly into a stream. That allowed Ryan to build up a five-second lead on the hill that immediately followed. Then, literally coming out of nowhere, was David, who explained that he'd gotten lost and subsequently seen his five-minute lead evaporate. Dave jumped in with us and surged for the front, but Ryan clearly smelled blood in the water and dropped the hammer. Dave was clearly and justifiably frustrated with the way the race was unfolding, and I tried to snap him out of his funk by offering some words of encouragement.
"See this butt?" I said slapping my spandex-clad posterior. "Hang onto this for a little while and let's work back up." After about a half-mile, David said he was going to shut it down, and I didn't see him again until the finish (read David Roche's consistently-entertaining race recap here).
Woods had become a white blip through the trees at this point, but over the course of two miles, I slowly reeled him back to to where I was only 10 or 15 seconds behind him. But, then came the hill. I'd been warned about a nasty climb around mile 16. Ryan peeked around a switchback and saw me approaching, and he immediately threw in a race-winning surge up the mile-long, 300-foot climb. Once I got to the peak of the climb, I was frustrated that all of the work I'd put in to get back to him before the climb was undone, but I pressed onward. I really wanted to crack 2:30 today, and I knew that David, Duncan, or any unknown runner could come surging past me if I let me guard down, so I focused on keeping my tempo up and staying upright.
The latter strategy failed. Heading down a descent with a scant two miles to go, fatigue caught up with me, and I tripped and fell across a batch of rocks jutting out from the trail. I have been known to take some dives during cross country races, so unfortunately I've grown accustom to shaking off the sting, but this one truly hurt like hell. When I left my feet, I tried to roll out of it and slid shoulder-first across a big rock. I stared at the grey sky and open canopy above me for a moment before picking myself up and assessing the damage. With only a little blood and nothing broken, I took a deep breath and proceeded cautiously onward down the hill, trying to forget that my entire body, not just my legs, now ached all over. While it seemed like an eternity at the time, I'm guessing the entire ordeal cost me about 15 seconds.
Shortly thereafter, I started seeing 40-mile runners running toward me (their course was an out-and-back over the 20-mile course). That and the swoosh of cars on the road tipped me off that I was getting close. When I crossed the line, as I said, I was happy with the time of 2:26 and change and thrilled to be finished. I tipped my cap to Ryan Woods, who'd beaten his own course record with a 2:23. Additional research revealed that he has All-American, 13:50 5k, and 3:43 1500m credentials to his name in addition to his obvious prowess on the trails. With that, I was humbled to have hung with him for as long as I did, but also encouraged as the prep for Boston continues to unfold.
The theme of the next few days is going to be recovery. My entire body aches as I write this, but damn if yesterday wasn't fun and rewarding.
Today was my first long marathon workout during this Boston training cycle. Bull City Running puts on the Uwharrie Trail Race every year: a day of 40-, 20-, and 8-mile single-track trail races in the southern mountains of North Carolina. This was by far my longest trail race, but the rugged and soft terrain served as an ideal place to run a long effort with a lot of changing speeds. I'm also far out enough from Boston at this point that I'm less concerned about pace-specific work (that will come) and more focused on hard efforts and high volume. Overall, I'm happy with the way it went. Your Uwharrie time is supposed to be about equal to your marathon time when factoring in the trail, and 2:26 at Boston would unquestionably leave me a happy camper if that's the way it shakes out come April 16.
Coming from someone who doesn't race a ton on trails, I'll say that this was definitely a fun experience. Managing the course and it's elements adds a new an interesting twist to racing where splits (but not necessarily finishing times) are thrown out the window. Kim and Jason did an outstanding job of putting an event of this size and scale on so professionally; a lot of work went into this race and it clearly showed.
To recap, I ended up at the starting line with no warmup because I didn't read the race instructions completely and had to scramble to get my race number, which was 10 minutes away through a bus ride. The front revealed some brutal competition who I knew had better trail credentials than me: Duke and BCTC colleague David Roche, last year's winner Ryan Woods, and BCTC's Duncan Hodge. I had my work cut out for me today with both the competition and the undulating, brutal course itself that included all of trail running's romances of tight turns, steep climbs and ascents, fallen trees, and stream crossings.
As he promised before we got started, David shot out of the start like a cannon up the 1200m, 375-foot climb in the first mile, leaving the rest of us in the dust. I motored along into second place, trying in vain to keep David in sight for the first 4 miles before Ryan Woods passed me. For the next 10 miles, I stayed no more than a couple of steps behind him, losing him on the technical downhills, catching back up on the flats, and staying with him on the uphills. By mile 8, we heard that David had built nearly a five-minute lead on us. "That's insane," I muttered. Ryan quipped back, "That's 2:10 pace," which is made all the more remarkable when factoring in the aforementioned marathon-time equivalency. David's pretty quick, so I assumed at this point we were racing for second place unless something went awry. When I saw Valerie at 11 miles, I was feeling good and felt that I had a decent chance in finishing high in the race.
 |
| Chasing Woods through the woods... |
 |
| ...and generally feeling good about life. For now. |
"See this butt?" I said slapping my spandex-clad posterior. "Hang onto this for a little while and let's work back up." After about a half-mile, David said he was going to shut it down, and I didn't see him again until the finish (read David Roche's consistently-entertaining race recap here).
Woods had become a white blip through the trees at this point, but over the course of two miles, I slowly reeled him back to to where I was only 10 or 15 seconds behind him. But, then came the hill. I'd been warned about a nasty climb around mile 16. Ryan peeked around a switchback and saw me approaching, and he immediately threw in a race-winning surge up the mile-long, 300-foot climb. Once I got to the peak of the climb, I was frustrated that all of the work I'd put in to get back to him before the climb was undone, but I pressed onward. I really wanted to crack 2:30 today, and I knew that David, Duncan, or any unknown runner could come surging past me if I let me guard down, so I focused on keeping my tempo up and staying upright.
The latter strategy failed. Heading down a descent with a scant two miles to go, fatigue caught up with me, and I tripped and fell across a batch of rocks jutting out from the trail. I have been known to take some dives during cross country races, so unfortunately I've grown accustom to shaking off the sting, but this one truly hurt like hell. When I left my feet, I tried to roll out of it and slid shoulder-first across a big rock. I stared at the grey sky and open canopy above me for a moment before picking myself up and assessing the damage. With only a little blood and nothing broken, I took a deep breath and proceeded cautiously onward down the hill, trying to forget that my entire body, not just my legs, now ached all over. While it seemed like an eternity at the time, I'm guessing the entire ordeal cost me about 15 seconds.
 |
| Rubbing's racing. |
The theme of the next few days is going to be recovery. My entire body aches as I write this, but damn if yesterday wasn't fun and rewarding.
2.02.2012
February 2
AM: 15 miles easy
I met Dan early in the morning for a run to the end of the ATT and back. My stomach was feeling off, so I had to make a pit stop at Kroger near the turnaround. One of the virtues of being a full-time grad student is the flexible schedule; I came home after this and promptly passed out on the couch for an hour-long nap.
I met Dan early in the morning for a run to the end of the ATT and back. My stomach was feeling off, so I had to make a pit stop at Kroger near the turnaround. One of the virtues of being a full-time grad student is the flexible schedule; I came home after this and promptly passed out on the couch for an hour-long nap.
2.01.2012
February 1
AM: 2400m-2000m-1600m-1200m-800m-400m with 400m/3:00 jog recoveries - 12 miles
PM: 6 miles easy
Lacking much creativity this week, I lifted a GRC workout to offer something of decent volume and mixed paces for me, Adam, and Reed around 7:30 this morning. We traded the lead on each of the reps, dodging the men's soccer team on the second half of the workout. I hit the times I wanted to for the most part, save for the 800m where we had to run out into lane 6 around a cluster of soccer players jogging on the inside of the track. Mild weather in the low 50s almost made cranking out lap after lap pleasant, but it was rewarding nonetheless. When I think back to all of the miles I ran alone last summer, working out in a group can't be beat. There's no way I would have hit these times on my own today, especially the fast quarter at the end.
Splits: 7:43, 6:20, 4:54, 3:36, 2:21, :63
Later on at dusk, I went out for another six miles on the ATT and Forest Hills Park, yet I still felt a world better than my battered legs yesterday. That, with walking 18 holes of golf in the rare 70-degree February weather, meant a lot of time on my feet today, but I'm still feeling strong overall.
PM: 6 miles easy
Lacking much creativity this week, I lifted a GRC workout to offer something of decent volume and mixed paces for me, Adam, and Reed around 7:30 this morning. We traded the lead on each of the reps, dodging the men's soccer team on the second half of the workout. I hit the times I wanted to for the most part, save for the 800m where we had to run out into lane 6 around a cluster of soccer players jogging on the inside of the track. Mild weather in the low 50s almost made cranking out lap after lap pleasant, but it was rewarding nonetheless. When I think back to all of the miles I ran alone last summer, working out in a group can't be beat. There's no way I would have hit these times on my own today, especially the fast quarter at the end.
Splits: 7:43, 6:20, 4:54, 3:36, 2:21, :63
Later on at dusk, I went out for another six miles on the ATT and Forest Hills Park, yet I still felt a world better than my battered legs yesterday. That, with walking 18 holes of golf in the rare 70-degree February weather, meant a lot of time on my feet today, but I'm still feeling strong overall.
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