Week 16 Recap

Bruce Jenner: I can barely remember this week. Talk about going through the motions. Let's see, it was something like ... S(12), M(6), T(3, supposed to be a double), W(9, hills), R(off), F(6), S(9, race). Total=45 miles. I just got back from the Tipp Hill 4 Mile Shamrock Run, which was a disappointment. I ran 22:07 for fourth, which doesn't sound awful, but I really blew up the second half, running splits somewhere in the range of 5:00, 5:20, 5:55, 5:50. Granted, the course was largely downhill through two miles and uphill for most of the second half. It didn't help that around 3.5 miles in a volunteer told me to go the wrong way. Fifty meters after that I got to a fork where there was no one around. I had to call back to the guy behind me who didn't know which way to go either. Someone further back yelled left, and on we went. So, in summary, while 22:07 isn't bad, I think I could have been under 22 minutes even if I wasn't going to catch third place (William Hoyne). Next week is the half marathon. I'm going to see how 6 minute pace feels and if I blow up, so be it.

Fred Samara: S(10), M(9), T(9), W(8), R(7), F(0), S(14). 57 miles total. Not a bad week. Only three miles below my high since the inception of the blog, but when I hit 60 I ran for seven days. I was actually building toward bigger things, but I felt awful Thursday night and cut my run short, and then it was raining when I got home Friday. No way in hell was I dragging myself through a run in the rain at the end of a work week. (Just so I don't seem like a baby, it was raining throughout my entire run today.) My plan for the half is almost the exact opposite of Bruce's. My primary aim is to make sure I don't blow up under any circumstances. I'm going to start out at 7 minute pace, go about that fast (maybe a little faster if I feel good) for eight miles, and then see what happens. No way could I make it four miles at 6 minute pace right now.

Gordon: S(10) M(5) T(5) W(5) R(3) F(3) S(4) 35 Total. I would feel bad, but it was hard getting back to work. My plan is to put in a normal week and run through the half marathon regardless of time. Ross, I'll probably stick with you since you know what you're doing over longer distances and I don't.

Super Couch Potato 5k

The race took place at Onondaga Lake Park. With the paved footpath set about 100 meters back from the lake, this out and back was as flat as a course gets. The only thing slowing things down today was the hideous buildup of ice and slush that covered 90% of the path. It was not a fast day traction-wise.

I felt fine and probably put in a big negative split after going into a headwind for the first half. However, today, it was not to be. I took second with a 16:42 as first place finisher Greg Stowell pulled away slightly around two miles, and I couldn't get the grip to cover at the end. So it goes.

Natalie didn't race, instead taking a third day off for a nagging case of plantar fasciitis.

Results here.

Chilly Chili 5k

Yesterday's running of the Chilly Chili 5k was not as cold as running today will be (if I'm stupid enough to try going outside; most likely I'll hit the treadmill tonight). Temperatures are currently around -13 degrees pre-windchill, the coldest I can remember in Upstate, NY.

Usually when I'm feeling down about the weather, I compare Syracuse to the North Pole with a temperature app on my phone, but this morning we "beat" Santa and his elves by a solid ten degrees. Thankfully, it appears that there's somewhere in Maine that's a touch colder than here. {11am edit: It appears that the Weather Channel is changing the map below to reflect current temperatures. At the time of initial writing, Syracuse was -13 and northern Maine was -15 degrees.}


As far as yesterday's race is concerned, the gun went off with the thermometer sitting around 6. The roads were covered with about a half inch of snow, but it was cold enough to keep it tacky and not too slippery. You can kind of get a feel for the conditions in the picture below.


It was a nice course, though: basically flat for the first 1000 meters followed by an uphill next half mile and another shorter, steeper hill right before the 2-mile mark. The final 1.1 was a steady downhill and flat, which is a nice way to end a race. My splits were roughly 5:22, 10:52, 16:52.

I got a pretty sweet watch and free entry to next year's race for winning, but the best part was the chili tasting afterward. About 20 restaurants came out for the event with Crock-pots of chili in tow.





Finally, congratulations to Ross and the Steelers for their third Superbowl berth in six years. Surprisingly, I've discovered that I can root for Pittsburgh and simultaneously hope that Ben fractures his pelvis on every play.

Painful #$&%* 3k

So yesterday I set a Barton Hall record for being a big out of shape piece of shit. There really isn't much to recap other than a few personal highlights.

Getting the 3rd lane assignment, I was pretty slow off the line, just wanting a position on the rail so I could go to sleep and not worry about all the pushing BS. There was plenty of that anyway for the first 800, which saw several Mackenzie-style inside passes to keep punks off my biz. Though slower than I wanted, the mile went by fairly well in 4:52.

Robert was on the phone with Oliver at this point, who had called Robert to check in on the fate of a fake 4x800 Cornell relay named "Team Oliver Tassinari." Robert told Oliver that my next quarter was 76, which brought Oliver to tears (of laughter). He will pay for his insolence.

A few 76's later, my day was essentially done. I did manage to close in 34 to outkick some kid I vaguely recognized from Aim High. This tells me what I suspected all along -- namely I could have run faster, but was burdened by how hard running that fast felt after not working out. I subsequently got frustrated and apathetic and slow.

There are plans in the works to get more comfortable with 35's and maybe take another shot in January.

Final time: 9:23.

Week 3 Recap

Add your recap of the week's running.

CHOSEN1: 1:32 long run Sunday with Steve (13), 6M, 8T, 25 minute tempo W (7), 5R, 3F. Today I'm racing a 3k at Barton Hall, predicting disaster now that I've calculated the pace required to run 9 minutes (my self-imposed seed time). Let's call it a modest 6 miles today since we'll be pressed to get back to Syracuse. Will follow up with a race recap tomorrow. 48 miles total.

G $: Even 31 miloes for the week - S (5) M (5) with lifting T (5) W off with knee trouble R (off with more knee trouble) F(5 followed by long time spent at the bar) S (11 with Mongeon). 50 miles of biking thrown in and a field trip to go ice skating where I smashed knee, hence, the knee trouble

BO$H: Big week for me. S(0), M(0), T(0), W(8), R(0), F(0), S(8). No biking. I'm going to be doing a lot of dancing tonight, though, so that should burn off some calories.