November 6 - November 16: 50 Miles

What an intense week.  From the Sandusky scandal grand jury report published over the weekend to my boss suddenly quitting on Friday, running has been my outlet to get away from the drama.  I only got in 50 miles this week, but had a solid workout with the team on Wednesday:

2 x mile:  5:10; 5:05
2 x 800m:  2:26; 2:24
4 x 400m: 67; 67; 65; 64

October 30-November 5: 61 miles

Sunday:  Joined the team at the store to watch the Marine Corps Marathon, and hopped in the race for the final seven miles to help pace Brian Young.  11 miles.

Monday: Snuck out of the office for a 10 mile lunch running south on Mt. Vernon Trail.

Tuesday: Ran solo after work down 14th to the Mall, around Capitol Hill, to the Lincoln Memorial, and back via Dupont.  11 miles.

Wednesday:  Another tough workout with the team, but I'm encouraged by my progress.  Jerry had us run 6x800m + 6x400m with 3 minutes rest between every interval.  The additional rest helped me finish strong and hit the splits I haven't run in months.  Splits: 2:29; 2:29; 2:26; 2:26; 2:21; 2:21; 67; 67; 66; 66; 65; 64.  13 miles total.

Thursday: Ran an easy 6 miles on the Mt. Vernon Trail during lunch.  My legs were still pretty sore from last night's workout.

Friday: Ran 10 miles on rolling hills in the rain from John's home in southern VA and into NC.

Saturday:  Off.  With John in Asheville, visited the Biltmore.

October 23-29, 2011 - 65.5 miles

Sunday: I met with Ki, Karl, Jimmy, Outlaw, and Wiggy at Riley's Lock on a perfect fall morning.  Added on at the end with Jimmy for 15 miles.

Monday: Ran with Outlaw and TexPaul on the Mt. Vernon Trail to the airport and back.  10 miles.

Tuesday: Snuck in a quick run in RCP after work and before the High Heel Race.  7 miles.

Wednesday:  Track workout at BCC with the team.  This was the first workout I have completed in months.  2x2K + 4x1K.  Splits: 6:33 (79s); 6:23 (77s); 3:06 (75s); 3:06; 3:05; 3:03.  10.5 miles.

Thursday: Morning run with Hughes on an amended Georgetown-Mall loop.  10 miles.

Friday: Morning run with Dickson around the Mall.  10 miles.

Saturday:  I planned to run at the store with the team, but the freezing rain sapped my motivation.  I went to the gym instead and lifted after a short treadmill warmup.  3 miles.

October 16-22, 2011 - 69.5 miles

Following a week with two concurrent deadlines and a hiccup in my training, I focused on getting back into a solid training rhythm.

Sunday: 14 mile Zoo Loop with Jimmy Daly. It was a beautiful fall morning following the GRC Mixer the night before. Jimmy and I ran easy as I introduced him to this GRC running route staple.

Monday: I ran in the evening with Jerry Outlaw along the Mt. Vernon Trail heading north to the airport.  10 miles.

Tuesday: Ran solo after work on a modified loop through Adams Morgan, Dupont, Georgetown, Riverfront, the Mall, and up 14th.  8 miles.

Wednesday: Ran a memorable and muddy workout on the Mall with the team and Coach Jerry. After warming up to the Lincoln Memorial and back, we ran mile repeats on an 800m circuit in front of the American History Museum. I led a group of Dickson, Bain, and Dangerous Dave for several intervals, but after four repeats began to struggle. Still, it was arguably my best workout in several weeks or months. We completed the workout covered in sand and mud. Splits: 5:20; 5:14; 5:10; 5:10; 5:10; 2:33 (800m).  12 miles.

Thursday: Instead of taking the day off, I ran a short 6 mile loop to the National Cathedral and Dupont.

Friday: I met with Dickson in the morning for about 10 miles along the Mall, into Georgetown, down the Mt. Vernon Trail, and back.

Saturday: Group run at the store. At the end of the out-and-back we ran 2 miles at marathon pace with Young Breezy. In the afternoon we had a going-away BBQ in RCP for Jake and Ella, who are headed to Vermont.  9.5 miles.

Restarting

It's been 174 days since I last posted, and even that was a catch-up post. After an incredibly positive week of running, I feel recharged to keep my blog up-to-date. I realize that the old daily-post format isn't going to work so instead I'll plan to post weekly recaps.

Spring Catch-up

It's been far too long since I've posted.  In the mean time, I've had several good workouts with the team under Coach Jerry, and raced the St. Patrick's 5K in Baltimore.   I haven't run as many miles as I hoped, but I seem to be getting into decent shape regardless because of the quality of the track workouts.  Besides, I'm only running 5Ks this spring anyway...

St. Patrick's 5K:

I felt great going into this race, and had a lot of fun with the team in baltimore.  I just wasn't too happy with the time: 15:48 for 8th place.  I wanted to take advantage of the net-downhill course to break 15:30 and set my spring 5K season off right.  I began aggressively clocking 4:45 on the first mile, settled over the second mile with Chicken Tender splitting just under 10:00 at the two mile, but fell asleep, hit a wall of wind, and lost the pace in the final mile.  This will be an important lesson for more important races later this season.  The team had a strong showing, though, led by a 1-2 finish by Sam and Dirk.

Race/workouts:

2/19: By George 10K:  This was easily the windiest race I've ever run.  The wind rivaled the worst of State College, and caused white caps on the Potomac.  Worse still, this 10K course consisted of TWO out-and backs.  Given how comically futile it was to gauge my fitness at this race, I just settled in for an 80% effort tempo.  I finished in 35:12... ha!

Track workouts:

2/16:  2 x mile, 2 x 800m, 4 x 400m.  Don't have the actual splits, but I remember feeling pretty good about this workout.  We were supposed to run 5:12; 5:08; 2:30; 2:28; 72; 72; 69; 69.

2/23:  4x1.5 mile.  I don't remember this workout except for feeling like it wouldn't end.

3/2:  Step-down ladder: 2 mile, 1.5 mile, 1 mile, 800m at 78/76/74/72 sec/lap pace respectively.

3/9: Supposed to run 4x mile at fairly aggressive paces, but I couldn't hang on the final two mile repeats.  5:04; 5:00; 5:04; 5:04.  I still averaged 3 sec/mile faster than the last time I ran this workout.

3/16: 2000m, 1600m, 1200m, 800m, 400m. Don't remember the splits, but was supposed to run 78/77/75/74/70 sec/lap respectively.

3/19: 4 mile tempo on the track with Dave W.  We started at 5:40 for the first mile, and worked down to 5:20 for the last mile.

3/23: 6xmile at AU.  I ran fairly well considering the volume, finishing 5:15; 5:15; 5:09; 5:09; 5:04; 5:00.

3/30:  Since I'm not planning to race the full 10 miles this weekend, I did the extended workout with Wiggy and Outlaw: 2xmile, followed by 2x1000m and 5x500m.  I hit 5:04; 5:09 for the first miles, and quickly fell off the group after that.  I couldn't get my legs to turn over any faster, hitting 3:12 on each of the Ks.  The 400's weren't any prettier, and I bailed after three of them.  I think this was the product of starting the workout hard and running in cold rain.

Sunday, February 13th

13 miles, easy
45 degrees, cloudy

Met with Bain for a long run at Riley's Lock.  Great to catch up with him.

Catching Up...

Running through January was relatively uneventful.  The winter wasn't too disruptive aside from Thundersnow Commutageddon, there were no races, and only a few workouts.  Here are the highlights:

1/23:  15 mile progression run with Dickson, Sam, and Matias, with splits:

7:59; 7:19; 6:57; 6:54; 6:48; 6:45; 6:42; 6:52 (turnaround); 6:37; 6:31; 6:24; 6:16; 6:10; 5:53; 5:46

2/1: Workout on my own at Hains Point, nearly attacked by a red fox.  5 min, 4, 3, 2, 1, 4, 3, 2, 1.

2/9: Track workout at BCC after several weeks of being snowed out:  5x1200m.  Splits:  3:53; 3:51; 3:49; 3:47; 3:42.  Thanks to Ban for helping me through these.

2/11: Turnover-focused workout with Dickson and Dave: 5 min, 3:00, 2:30, 2:00, 1:30; 1:00; 5x 30 sec.  I followed up by going to the gym and doing core work and squats.

Wednesday, January 5th

10 miles, hard
30 degrees, dark

We had one of our larger track workouts tonight with at least 16 guys participating.  Jerry had us run 6x1200s, but I struggled with the pace.  Dickson, Matias, and I began running at 78 sec/lap for the first two intervals, then 76 sec/lap on the next two, and had a goal of 74 sec/lap on the last two.  By the end of the first four intervals I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to go any faster, so I only ran the first 800m of their 1200s.  I did the last interval in spikes.  It wasn't a great workout, but it was still a solid workout for where I am right now, and it was the kind of thing I need to get my speed back.  It's gonna hurt.

Splits:

3:55; 3:52; 3:45; 3:50; 2:31; 2:24

Tuesday, January 4th

9 miles, easy-moderate
30 degrees, sunny

I met with Ben and Mike for the usual run through RCP, but via the Zoo.  We started at 7 so there was actually sunlight when we ran.

Monday, January 3rd

8 miles, easy
30 degrees, dark

I met with Ben for an easy run through Georgetown, the Mall, and up 14th before work. 

Sunday, January 2nd

0 miles
That was an inauspicious start to 2011... I didn't wake up in time for the group run thanks to the iPhone's Y2K11 alarm glitch, then I wussed out of running completely.

Saturday, January 1st

4 miles, easy
45 degrees, cloudy

I ran around the deserted streets of downtown DC midmorning before the PSU-Florida Outback Bowl game.  My legs didn't feel that great, and running on concrete didn't help.  I ran a new loop... down 14th, New Hampshire, 16th to the White House, up Connecticut, up 17th, New Hampshire, and 14th.

Friday, December 31st

9 miles, easy
45 degrees, cloudy

Ran with Klim, Ernst, Chuck, Dickson, Max, and Wiggy from The Line on the last run of the year.

Thursday, December 30th

6 miles, easy
40 degrees, dark

Ran recovery with Ben in the early evening.

Wednesday, December 29th

11 miles, hard
45 degrees, dark

Ran the track workout with the team at BCC.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel going into the workout since my legs were so tired yesterday, but I was pleasantly surprised how strong I ran.  We started the 5xmile with a large group at 5:21, and cut it down to 5:17 on the next two intervals.  I held onto the pace set my Dickson and Sam over the last two mile repeats, finishing in 5:05 and 4:59.  It was a great way to end the year.

Tuesday, December 28th

9 miles, easy
35 degrees, sunny

Ran the RCP-AG-Towpath-RCP loop on my own in the morning.  Legs felt very tired.

Monday, December 27th

8 miles, easy

30 degrees, sunny and windy

I ran on my own through RCP, starting at Pierce Mill to avoid the wind.

Sunday, December 26th

13.5 miles, moderate

30 degrees, cloudy and flurries

I drove back to DC early to beat the blizzard, only to arrive in DC to absolutely no snow.  I took advantage to the remaining daylight and went on a long solo run through RCP along the Western Ridge to The Line, and back.

Saturday, December 25th – Christmas

7 miles, easy

25 degrees, cloudy

I snuck out of the house after Christmas morning with the niece and nephews, and before dinner to join my buddy Patrick Matolka on our annual Christmas run.

Friday, December 24th

0 miles.


Went skiing with Meg instead of going for a run... great quad workout.

Thursday, December 23rd

10 miles, easy

25 degrees, cloudy

Ran with Dickson around The Mall and Hains Point before hitting the road to go home for Christmas.

Wednesday, December 22nd

10 miles, hard

30 degrees, dark

Met with a small group for a track workout at BCC.  Jim Daly and I made up the B group, and ran 8x800 in 2:41; 2:40; 2:37; 2:36; 2:32; 2:33; 2:26; 2:24, and felt pretty good about it.  It was especially nice to have Coach Jerry clear lane 1 of snow and ice for us.

Monday, December 20th

4.5 miles, easy

30 degrees, windy

I met with Carl Fudge on a break from work to run along the Mt. Vernon Trail.  

Sunday, December 19th

10 miles, easy

30 degrees, sunny

I met with Jarrin, Bain, and company for a run at The Line the morning after 1MT4, and another Penn State Volleyball National Championship.

Saturday, December 18th – Chemistree Run

5 miles, moderate

30 degrees, sunny

Ran the Chemistree Run in McLean, a nice community race in honor of a local high school science teacher.  There was no competition at this race, so I ran a tempo 5K in about 18 minutes flat.  Won tickets to a Wizards game, a pair of shoes, and a gift certificate for a Road ID.

Thursday, December 16th

10 miles, easy

30 degrees, cloudy

Ran easy with Dickson before work, my first run since returning from Charlotte.  Oddly, my calves felt sore today for the first time since the race.

Sunday, December 12th

7 miles, easy

45 degrees, rainy

Ran a slightly hungover 7 miles with the guys in Charlotte before heading back to DC.

Saturday , December 11th – USATF Club XC Nationals

12 miles, hard

45 degrees, partly sunny

Results

GRC Blog Recap and Analysis

Finally it was time for USATFs.  We brought a larger team to this year’s race in Charlotte, and arguably our best team for any race ever.  Arriving after dark Friday night prevented us from scouting the course, so we were relieved to se that the course was “pancake flat” when we arrived.  Also, it was primarily made up of packed gravel like the canal towpath, which presented some choices on race footwear.

After a team warmup and cheer, 13 of us toed the line against over 400 of the country’s top runners.  I was somewhat relieved that I wasn’t being relied upon this year to score for the team, so I could run my own race.  At the start, I settled in at just faster than my goal race pace.  The first lap saw me trying to find my place in the pack and settle into race pace.  I hit 5:17 for the first mile, but slowed to 5:32 for the second mile.  I tried to surge to a faster pace, but found myself averaging 5:35-5:45 for the next few miles.  I aimed to keep up with a pack just in front of me, and battled the guys around me, but still couldn’t find a way to speed up.  Finally, with about a mile to go, I was able to steadily pick off other runners and put together a kick I didn’t think was in me. 

I crossed the line in 34:28, somewhat disappointed and much more exhausted than I had anticipated.  I had hoped to run nearly a minute faster, but acknowledged that I couldn’t have run much faster that day.  The better news was that the team finished 14^th overall, an improvement of five places over last year, while competing against even more teams.  In fact, our team finished among the top “working runner” teams in the race, beating Manhattan Track Club, Central Park Track Club, Atlanta Track Club, New Balance Boston, Greater Boston Track Club, and Bull City Track Club.  We were also excited to have Coach Jerry attend the race with us, and we’re looking forward to continuing our improvement in 2011.