3.19.2012

2012.03.17 R&R National Half Marathon

21.5 miles
65 degrees, sunny, humid

I finally got the chance to race this weekend!  After two months of build-up for Boston, I finally put my fitness to the test at the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon on Saturday morning.  With the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler in 15 days, and the Boston Marathon 15 days after that, this was my chance to put it all on the line without fear, while Cherry Blossom will be a "dress rehearsal" for Boston.  I prepared in the week leading up to the race by moving my weekly track workout to Tuesday at Coach Jerry's NOVA workout rather than the usual Wendesday workout.  I ran 4xmile starting at goal HM pace (5:30) and progressing faster by 5 sec/mile.  I started feeling sluggish, but finished feeling strong.  A stressful week of work later, I found myself at the start line of the HM ready to put it all on the line. 

I started the race finding a pack running exactly my early goal-pace of 5:30 miles.  My strategy included banking time during the first four miles, running based on effort for the next 3.5 miles uphill, and then dropping the hammer the last 5-6 miles.  While I hated to let the pack go as I climbed 18th St and Connecticut Ave, I was glad to finally be out of earshot of the people cheering for the guy in the Lehigh singlet like he had something to do with his alma mater's upset of Duke in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament the night before.

I climbed from Dupont to Adams Morgan and then to Columbia Heights gradually slowing down to a pathetic 6:00/mile.  Just one runner had passed me on the climb, while another caught up to me in Adams Morgan.  As I crossed 16th St into my neighborhood, I picked the pace back up and slowly reeled in the Navy runner that had passed me.  On the downhill from Georgia Ave to the reservoir I opened up my stride and let gravity take me as I quickly closed the gap on the Navy runner.  Running down the hill by Howard University, I took my caffeinated GU and my pace noticeably quickened as we dropped down North Capitol Ave in a 5:20 mile.

When we turned onto H Street NE, I started to crash from my caffeine high, the Navy runner surpassed me, and worry about the final two miles.  Turning onto 13th Street, I was surprised by a climb that I hadn't noticed on my training runs with Capital Hill Distance Project.  My watch indicated that I still had a shot at running a PR, so I sucked it up and charged ahead.  After two months of training, I could deal with two miles of pain.  As we closed in on RFK Stadium I got closer and closer to the Navy runner and even the Lehigh runner that was crashing faster than his alma mater did against Xavier on Sunday.  As I rounded the final bend to the finish line, it was evident that I wouldn't close the gap on the other two runners, but still crossed the finish line in a PR of 1:13:29.

My previous half-marathon PR of 1:14:23 was originally set at the Nittany Valley HM in December 2005 on a very difficult course.  Since then, I have been stymied every time I tried to break 74 minutes, no matter the course difficulty nor my fitness level.  Now, finally, I broke that curse and ran my first HM PR in 6.5 years, and my first PR of any distance in nearly 3 years.  Onward to Boston.

Splits:

1:  5:32
2:  5:30 (11:03)
3:  5:32 (16:35)
4:  5:32 (22:07)
5:  5:42 (27:49) *began climb
6:  5:43 (33:32)
7:  5:59 (39:32)
8:  5:41 (45:13)
9:  5:35 (50:48) *began downhill
10: 5:20 (56:09)
11: 5:31 (1:01:40)
12: 5:46 (1:07:27)
13: 5:24 (1:12:51)

FINISH (13.1):  1:13:29

Boston Training through 3.16.2012

Since the beginning of the year, I've been on a steady progression towards the Boston Marathon.  This preparation has mostly taken the form of mildly discouraging track workouts, unusually high mileage, high-stress at work, and the occasional long run.  Still, with the omnipresent support from the team and Coach Jerry, I have consistently moved closer to my goal of out-pacing my 2008 performance in Boston.

The training cycle has so far been highlighted by a few workouts and long runs.  Our weekly track workouts have always been geared towards the masses; it was only 4 years ago that these track workouts consisted of Patrick Reaves and I running around the BCCHS track in the dark, alone.  Now our team workouts have more than two dozen runners (including women! and a coach with multiple stopwatches!).  I have found camaraderie with Chris Bain and GRC-newcommer Will Rawson at the back of the B-group, running the same distances as the rest of the team, but at more reasonable marathon-preparation pacing.

The highlight workout (and long run) came on Sunday, February 26th (the morning of my 3rd annual Oscar Bash).  Coach Jerry had assigned us to run about 4 miles to warm up, 5 miles on the track at marathon pace, 40-45 minutes at ~6:40/mile pace, a 4 mile progression on the track, and a ~3 mile cool-down.  I arrived late to the workout with Evan and cut the warmup short, but hit the track ready to run.  I ran 5:50 pace with Will, but in lane 2 to simulate 5:45 pace.  We ran south on the CCT, feeling the 6:30s on the way back up the hill to BCC.  Just before arriving back for our second track workout, I took a Rocktane Gu with caffiene.  As someone that never drinks coffee, tea, or soda, just a small dose of caffiene can turn me into Popeye The Sailorman.  While I was supposed to start the 4 mile progression at 5:35 and cut down to 5:25, I started in 5:33 and finished in 5:18 catching up to Dickson and Outlaw and caught my breath with the feeling I could conquer the world... until my body crashed 15 minutes later.  I got in 21 miles that morning.  That workout taught me that 1.) I was well on my way to my goal in Boston and 2.) performance enhancing drugs are worth it ;)


1933-Popeye the Sailor-I Eats My Spinash by iToons

The rest of my preparation included two long, slow runs.  The first was with Brian Young on February 11th, a slow run of 21 miles.  The other was a long, slightly-faster 19 mile run with Klim on March 10th.  I felt fine after both, and look forward to another long run/workout before Boston.

11.28.2011

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

11.10.2011

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.

11.02.2011

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.

10.23.2011

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.

4.02.2011

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.

2.13.2011

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.

1.07.2011

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.

1.02.2011

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.