Thursday, December 15, 2011

Test the Waters

I'm signed up for the 3000 at the January 6th Cornell meet. What are the chances you guys (Gordon, more likely) would be up for a race there?

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Training


So, I am putting sub-1:50 out there as a goal, but not necessarily the goal. At this stage, I want to see what I am still capable of. That being said I have certainly had that number on my mind for a long time, and I can empathize with Steve(Sam)'s sub-15 blog (in fact, I think about it every time I open that website).

As for the video from the Nittany Half, I will be posting that after finals week has ended (this week) when I can load the video and figure out how to edit it/post it.

So, I won't go into great detail about the past few months. My first month I was consistent in running 60 minutes every day and 90 minutes on Sundays, but I had to scale that back after I started doing workouts because I was getting really bad tightness in my knees. I put a post on Letsrun to see if there was anyone to workout with here, and I got a response from the PSU Track Club and recent PSU graduate Ryan Foster. I ended up not having the time slot for the track club available, but I have run a few long runs with Foster, which has worked out much more to my advantage since I am much slower/older and less driven than him (he's in the process of qualifying for the Australian Olympic team).

Anyway, so skip ahead a few months of workouts. After trying to think of things to do to make myself fast I went ahead and got Will Seidel to put together a workout calendar for me, and thus far, things to seem to be going smoothly.

Last week:
S: 90 minutes
M: 60 Minutes
T: 45 minutes + 10 short hill sprints
W: 2 x 8 x 200 (36/35 for the first set and 34 for the second set) with 100 meter jog in between and 4 minutes between sets) --> The first set should have been faster but I had to run it on an outdoor track in the snow and the track got pretty slippery. So, I went based on effort.
R: 60 minutes
F: 45 minutes
S: 600 meter TT - 1:26 (200 splits: 28, 28, 30) again solo on outdoor track with some wind - I think I could have gone faster if but for the wind, but I'm happy with the time.

So, that's last week. As for things to look forward to, right now it looks like I'll either be running at Bucknell on January 7 or at Cornell on January 5. Either way, I'll be running a 500/3000 double.

Monday, December 12, 2011

le Trois - Sam

About a week ago Ross and I ran the Nittany Valley Half as a tuneup. For Ross, this would be a tuneup for the Boston marathon this coming April, and for me, this would be a tempo run of sorts as I train for some kind of track season this spring.

I am no longer a teacher, and this means that I have a lot more time on my hands. I would say that I am still busy, but my time is not as structured as it was, and I am nowhere near the level of busy-ness that I kept while I was living in NYC. Over the summer I ran a bit (40-50 mile weeks), but I wasn't sure what I was training for. Sometime around August I started thinking about running another marathon or trying something new like a triathlon or tough mudder. So, I got in touch with Ross and Sam, but, unbeknownst to me, Ross and Sam had both decided to take advantage of their Boston qualifying times and race another marathon this April (as they, admittedly, should).
I am sad to say that I was disappointed to hear this. I should have been happy for my friends, but, owing to the fact that I flamed out at the Pittsburgh marathon like a communist rocket, I would not be racing in Boston alongside them. So, come April, I will head up to Boston to watch, but not to run. Maybe another year.
Now, I had a decision to make - what was I going to be training for. I suddenly had time to train, but I wasn't sure what the goal should be. I had always said that I wanted to run sub 1:50 for the 800, but I had not done so in college. So, I decided that I'd see what I could do on the track as a 27-28 year old, and that's the plan right now.

Anyway, this is a long explanation of why I was calling the Nittany Valley Half a tempo while Ross was tuning up for Boston. We were both hoping to improve on our times from last March's Race For Life Half where Ross ran (I think) 1:25 flat and I ran about 1:26:30. We were both hoping for about 1:22.

We ended up with Ross at 1:23:22 and myself at 1:25:00 placing 18th and 28th respectively. I think our initial reaction was to feel disappointed, but, after having given it some thought, it was a pretty good showing. The course was very hilly, there were few stretches that were not on some sort of incline/decline, and the inclines and declines were very steep.
Ross and I got through the first 2-3 miles in 6:30 pace before we began dropping it down to 6:15ish. We had heard that the there was a big downhill around mile 8 and that the last 1.5 miles of the course were all uphill. Our plan was to use the big downhill to relax and save up for the last 1.5 miles, but the downhill (which seemed like it was 1.5 miles straight downhill, like we were descending into the Earth) ended up being more taxing than we anticipated. The next hill at around mile 9.5 was straight up for about 400 meters, and I had to say goodbye to Ross or risk not finishing. So, I slowed. From there the rest of the run was all about maintaining dignity while trying to catch my breath. I was by myself - there was no one else behind me or ahead of me, and I think this aided in me slowing down because there was little to gauge myself on. The last uphill was horrendous, but satisfying when I finished.

I think my effort on a flat course would have been worth about 1:23:30, and I'll bet Ross's would have been 1:22. The last 3 miles of the course made all the difference.