Plan

My competitive plans are for two cross races (Westmont 9/13 and Riverside 9/27) and two half marathons (Rose Bowl Half and Huntington Beach, AKA Surf City).

I want to train with the team as much as possible, although I also recognize that I have to take tutoring work where I can get it, so some afternoons I might be forced to skip out. I don't see myself in a coaching capacity. A coach has to be confident in himself and his methods. I don't even have methods to be confident in. What I can do is offer myself as a mentor. I've done lots of both good and bad things as a Caltech student athlete. Younger athletes can benefit from my experience; older athletes from my camaraderie or example. At the very least, I can drive one of the vans. Having Ian and Ryan, and even McGrail around was a huge boon for me, especially over freshman and sophomore years. Those guys were awesome training partners and guides, and I wouldn't have developed the way I did without them. Now I'm in their role.

Personally, my strongest competitive motivation is still in track, but I want to take my fall and winter seriously. I plan to prepare for them more intelligently and more diligently than before. My goals are consistent, competent, injury-free (or minimized, at least), aerobic-focused training. I want to build from where I am now (not great shape, but not awful) into PR shape by Riverside, and then into new territory by mid-winter.

I'd like to run a couple of cross races as motivation to get good workouts in. That way I should begin advancing my fitness right away. I won't expect fantastic performances because I only have two weeks to Westmont and one month to Riverside. Nonetheless, it'll be good to get into the training-to-race and then the racing-to-compete mentality. My old cross country PR is 26:45, which I should be able to better on the Riverside course a month from now.

The Rose Bowl Half won't be a fast course, but it has a lot of things going for it. It's right here, so logistics are easy and I'll be familiar with the course. It has some trails in it and goes up around JPL. It probably won't be a very competitive field because there is no prize money, only some smaller awards. That's fine for the "tune-up" first of two halfs (would you spell it that way, or "halves", or "half's"?). The race is ten days after my 24th birthday and it's on my Dad's birthday, December 13.

Huntington Beach will be a good goal to shoot for over the next two months - it's February 1. I haven't run there, but Feldman runs it sometimes and says it's a great course. Much faster than the Rose Bowl, so I can gun for a good time there - right now I'm tentatively setting 1:10 (5:20 pace) as a goal, although I'll re-evaluate that when I have more data on how things are panning out a couple months.

As for what I'll do, I'm going to keep it simple and keep it loose. I need some long runs, some threshold, and some faster stuff. I'll do whatever the team is doing, except maybe going longer on tempo days. I've already done a 95 minutes long run. I'll keep pushing that out bit by bit as long as I don't feel truly awful doing so. And I'm going to resume counting weekly minutes, while using my meditation-built mental restraint to refrain from adding junk minutes just so that figure soars higher. A good training week would have a long, 6-15 mile tempo/steady state, a long run, and a shorter workout such as fartlek, intervals, or 3-6 mile tempo. If I'm feeling good, another medium-long run or another workout, or some light, fast reps (4 300's at mile pace for example) would be good to throw in as a bonus. If not, easy running can fill it out.

I want to be doing at least a little core work five days a week, and lifting two. I'll keep with the double days over preseason, and reevaluate that when the demands on my time change with the beginning of the school year.

I did a max set of 10 pullups the other night. That needs some fixing. And my abs coach and I have our work cut out for us. Fortunately, we'll be living together so I can get constant advice.