Monday, March 30th

6.5 miles, easy
55 degrees, dusk, windy

Stopped at the boathouse on my way home from work and ran around the Potomac/Tidal Basin. It took a few miles to loosen up, but by the end I felt great. The cherry blossoms are blooming... it's race time!

Sunday, March 29th

14.5 miles, easy
50 degrees, sunny

Ran the Zoo Loop with Reaves, Murray, Klim, Diego, and Dixon. I held back when the group pressed up Ross Drive hill, but caught up on the downhill and lived to run another day. Felt pretty good.

Saturday, March 28th

10 miles, easy-moderate
50 degrees, cloudy, wet

Ran from the store with Max and Mike on the usual Archibold-Glover/Nebraska Ave/towpath route. By the time we hit the towpath our pace had quickened, and I used it as a chance to focus on my running form at a somewhat uptempo pace. Good run.

Friday, March 27th

8 miles, easy
45 degrees, sunrise

Ran in RCP before work, since Syracuse was playing in the Sweet 16 after work. Just an easy run on the sloppy trails after last night's rainfall.

Thursday, March 26th

0 miles.

Just didn't run. No reason... starting my taper (?)

Wednesday, March 25th

12 miles, hard
45 degrees, cloudy, dusk

Met with Reaves for a track workout at BCCHS. I ran the majority of his workout, and finished 2x2 mile, 2x800, and 2x400. This was just an average workout, but an important and last (hard) workout before Cherry Blossom.

Splits: 10:48; 10:40; 2:29; 2:28; 69; 68.

Tuesday, March 24th

AM: 2 miles + Gym

PM: 4 miles, easy

Went to the gym at lunch to lift... much better time of day to go.

After work I ran an easy 4 miles to Georgetown before President Obama's press conference.

Monday, March 23rd

AM: 3 miles, easy
35 degrees, sunny

PM: 8 miles, easy-moderate
50 degrees, sunset

Ran an easy 3 in RCP before work... legs felt pretty fatigued.

After work I met with Matias and one of his Bucknell teammates for a run around the Potomac and National Mall. My legs felt much better.

Sunday, March 22nd

16 miles, moderate
45-50 degrees, sunny

Long run from Riley's Lock with Reaves, Bain, Murray, and (a somewhat inebriated?) Jake. It was a great day for a long run and I felt much better compared to the past two days. We ran a quick pace (6:20-6:30?) through the first 13 miles, then backed off when Reaves, Bain, and I added on the Violet's Lock loop. Took a frigid ice bath afterward at the boat slip.

Saturday, March 21st

8 miles, hard
35 degrees, sunny

Met with Reaves to run a workout in RCP. My stomach still felt "off" from yesterday, oddly. It also didn't react well to the OJ I had earlier in the morning. Ran a fartlek of 6x 3min/1min, but didn't catch a rythm until the 4th interval. Also noticed a small pain in my lower right tibia... going to pay attention to that the next few days and see if it gets any worse. What a week of ups and downs..

Friday, March 20th - Vernal Equinox!

0 miles

Woke up super early to go work at the SFMP Chapel jobsite, which threw me off the whole day. When I left work I felt sick/exhausted, so I ended up taking a nap instead of running. Oh well. I've run enough this week to not feel too bad about it.

Thursday, March 19th

9 miles, easy
50 degrees, sunset

Ran in RCP on the usual loop and added on through Adam's Morgan. It probably wasn't a good idea to run in RCP after sunset...

Wednesday, March 18th

12 miles, hard
55 degrees, sunset/cloudy

Met a surprisingly large group of GRCers at the track for our weekly workout. I ran with a bunch of guys for 3mi-2mi-1mi, including Reaves, Timm, Chris, Bain, Sam, Jarrin, and visitor Kit Wells. I added an 800m interval to the end with Timm and Sam. It's amazing what a chip on one's shoulder can do... I felt determined and fast tonight.

Splits: 16:15 (5:23; 5:20; 5:32); 10:42 (5:21; 5:21); 5:02; 2:27

Tuesday, March 17th - St. Patrick's Day

12 miles, easy
40 degrees, cloudy

Woke up for a long-ish run before work in RCP. Went as far as The Line on the Western Ridge Trail and back along the normal route. Loved having the Public Radio app on the iPhone so I could listen to Morning Edition.

Monday, March 16th

AM: 6 miles, easy
40 degrees, cloudy

PM: 4 miles, easy + GYM

Ran at lunch along the Mt. Vernon Trail, then again at the gym after work. Did core work and light lifting afterward.

Sunday, March 15th - St. Patrick's 8K

10 miles, hard
40 degrees, wet

Today the GRC split forces for the dueling St. Patrick's races in DC and Baltimore. I joined Diego, Billy, Alex, Dylan, Pat HUGE, and Sheena for the St. Patrick's Day 8K in the morning on Pennsylvania Ave. Afterwards, I drove up with Dylan and Diego to watch Jake, Reaves, Sam, Bain, and Melissa race a 5K in Baltimore. It was a full day of racing with success across the board for GRC.

As for my 8K race: I planned to use this race to simulate the first half of the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler - start at 5:15/mile, settle into 5:20s, finish in 5:15 for a total time of 26:30. If my experience today is anything like CB, I'm in trouble.

Our pack of GRC guys crossed the mile mark in 5:10 and I felt like I was exerting myself just too much. Perhaps my reaction was only from hearing the split rather than an accurate assessment of the situation. I tried to settle back to 5:20 as planned, but must have slowed even more. Even as Patrick and Dylan started to pull away I never snapped back into a competitive mode. A lack of noticeable mile markers didn't help either and I didn't realize how slow I was until I crossed the 5K in 16:40. By then I didn't feel like I had any ability to go faster, and I cruised in to finish in 26:50. I'll have to spend the next few days evaluating what went wrong and trying to come up with a quick fix; Cherry Blossom is three weeks from today.

Congrats, though, to my teammates for great races and PRs. Here are the 8K results.

The race in Baltimore was a pleasant surprise as the other half of the GRC team dominated and swept the top awards. Congrats to Klim for a big PR and breaking 15 minutes, and Melissa for a PR as well. Here are the results and pictures from the 5K.

We followed up with a St. Patrick's celebration at The Powerhouse and a party with our Falls Road friends.

Saturday, March 14th

8 miles, easy
45 degrees, cloudy

Met with the GRC guys at the store for a pre-meet run. Jake led us on a somewhat experimental route towards the Palisades and back along the canal, with an add-on at TR Island.

Friday, March 13th

7.5 miles, easy
40 degrees, dark

Ran to the Lincoln Memorial and back via RCP. Easy day.

Thursday, March 12th

14 miles, easy
45 degrees, dark

Ran a mid-week long run with Reaves since we won't be able to this weekend. After two days of running with Tyler we made this easy day actually easy.

Wednesday, March 11th

10.5 miles, hard
55 degrees, windy

Met with the GRC crowd for a workout at the BCCHS track. Everyone did their own thing, but finally I got someone to run a tempo workout with me :) I ran 3 x 2-mile with Reaves at goal Cherry Blossom pace. The workout felt hard (especially that last interval), but I reminded myself that race day will feel much better. Calves really hurt tonight...

Splits: 10:36 (5:15, 5:21); 10:38 (5:16, 5:22); 10:37 (5:16: 5:21)

Tuesday, March 10th

10 miles, moderate
45 degrees, dark

Former teammate Tyler McCandless was in town staying with Reaves, so I met up with them for a run after work. We ran what felt like a moderate run on the Capital Crescent Trail. My calves still felt tight tonight, unfortunately.

Monday, March 9th

6 miles, moderate
55 degrees, sunny and windy

Ran along the Mt. Vernon Trail after work. It was another nice day, thankfully, AND now that the clocks have changed for Daylight Savings Time it is light out after work. I intended to run a short, easy run, but the confluence of my iPhone Pandora Radio playing The Killers and running by a Pacer spurred me to run nearly 6 min/mile. Silly Patrick.

Sunday, March 8th

15 miles, easy
65 miles, sunny

Drove back to DC in the morning so I could run with Reaves *ahem.* I was still sore today so I ended up running the Zoo Loop pretty slowly. Alone. At least the weather was great!

Saturday, March 7th - Parade Day

10 miles, moderate
50 degrees, sunny

Ran two full laps of Otsinengo Park in a progression run. I started with soreness in my calves (residual from the workout Thursday, I presume), but eventually warmed up. By the end I was running sub-6:00/miles.

In the afternoon I helped my father with the annual Binghamton St. Patrick's Parade. My part for the last 6 years has been to help organize the Shamrock Run, a one-mile run down the parade route immediately before the parade. This year I delegated the registration and start, while I waited at the finish to help with timing, results, and distributing awards. Note for next year: have a runner start the race instead of a volunteer. I wrapped up an exhausting day cleaning up Seton HS after the Post-Parade Party and taking my father to the AOH for a few drinks.

Friday, March 6th

9.5 miles, easy
40 degrees

Ran with Max and P.Hiddy before I hit the road to go home for the weekend. I added on at the end since I felt surprisingly fresh.

Thursday, March 5th

10.5 miles, hard
45 degrees, dark

Met with Jake, Reaves, and Melissa for a workout at BCCHS. We waited until tonight so the snow from Monday would have time to melt off the track. Jake and Patrick ran 800 repeats together, but I was looking to do something a little longer. I set out to run 2xmile followed by 2x800, but ammended it to run 3 800s with shorter rest. Tonight was a solid effort.

Splits: 5:12; 5:07; 2:26; 2:26; 2:27

Wednesday, March 4th

4.5 miles, easy
32 degrees, dark

Went for a run when I got home around Woodley Park/Cleaveland Park. Easy day.

Tuesday, March 3rd

9 miles, easy/moderate
30 degrees, dark

Went for a run after work to see the highlights of DC. Dupont-Georgetown-Watergate-Kennedy Center-Lincoln Memorial-Washington Monument-White House. I picked it up from the Kennedy Center to the Washington Monument to make it a respectable run. I was slowed a bit where there was ice from yesterday's snowstorm.

Monday, March 2nd

AM: 9 miles, easy
20 degrees, SNOW!

PM: 2 miles, easy + Gym

I awoke to see several inches of powder on the streets of DC this morning. Sure it was cold and early, but a run in fresh snow is an opportunity not to be missed. John, a born-and-bred Suthna, questioned my sanity (I questioned his fortitude) before I left.

When I got to the Ward One Warriors (new name, same crew) meeting spot I realized I was late and Hughes had already left. I knew I couldn't be far behind, so I decided to try to catch up. I tracked a set of footprints in the snow that were just too far apart to be anyone's other than a fellow GRC runner. Finally, at the switchback on Ross Drive in RCP I caught up to P. Hiddy. We ran the next few miles along Ross Drive and trails on fresh, virgin snow. The park was beautiful, quiet, and still. Great run.

Went to the gym after work to take advantage of the light attendance. Parking was easy too. DC needs to have more snow days.

Sunday, March 1st

16 miles, moderate
35 degrees, wet

Ran from the Chevy Chase Store down the Capital Crescent Trail, Towpath, RCP, and up Connecticut. Added on with Jake, Billy, and Patrick. Got new shoes too! Woo! I've run over 550 miles on this pair, so it's definitely time to replace them.

Congratulations to the Penn State Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field Teams for finishing 3rd and 2nd, respectively, at the Big Ten Conference Championships! WE ARE... PENN STATE!!

Saturday, February 28th

9 miles, easy
35 degrees, windy, cloudy

Went to UMD to photograph/time the 5K time trial. I warmed up and cooled down with everyone, and followed up with bagels in College Park. Congrats to Bert, Jake, and Patrick for setting PRs.


Today I'm hitting the reset button on my training. As frustrating as the last two days were, and as much as they screwed up my weekly mileage, they're just a hiccup in an otherwise respectable training season.

Friday, February 27th

3 miles, easy + Gym
45 degrees, dark

Bailed on the morning run since I worked late last night, so I tried to run after work. I was generally tired/frustrated so I didn't run far. Did stretching and core work at the gym afterward, but left quickly so I wouldn't have to hear the obnoxious spinning instructor howl and sing.

Thursday, February 26th

0 miles.

Got caught up at work until 10:30PM, and not too happy about it. Didn't run today.

Wednesday, February 25th

12 miles, hard
35 degrees, dark

Met with Reaves, Jake, Diego, and Timm for another weekly workout at BCCHS. We ran the tried-and-true 2K/1K workout with 400m (3 min) rest. I made a concerted effort to stay relaxed during this workout and focus on my breathing, which worked well for the first half of the workout. The second half I just had to grind it out, but finished faster than I started. I went through the mile at about 5:15 on each of the 2Ks, just faster than I want to run at Cherry Blossom. Good effort tonight.

Splits: 6:37/3:12; 6:37/3:12; 6:28/3:09.

Tuesday, February 24th

AM: 4 miles, easy
25 degrees, dark

PM: 8 miles, easy
35 degrees, dark

I started the morning with good intentions and met P.Hiddy for a morning run. I woke up feeling "off," and it only got worse when we started running. I hit the bathroom at Pierce Mill and rather than commit to running further into the park, I headed back home and got back into bed.

After work I met with Reaves for a light run before Obama's not-a-State-of-the-Union State of the Union. Patrick promptly fell asleep during the speech, and didn't even make it to see Bobby Jindal's creepy entrance or crappy response.