Tuesday, March 31, 2009 (90 minutes, strides)

second half with Kangway and Ian, all on the north field. Strides at the end were pretty fast, and my arm was chafing. Not foaming, though.

Monday, March 30, 2009 (90 minutes)

First half with Jasper. NFTC has become a pretty regular thing in recent weeks. I like that.

Weekly Summary - 2/24/09 - 3/1/09 (605 minutes, 1200 race in 3:15, tempo run)

A very fine week of training. I was sore most of the week, but just now I'm feeling fantastic - physically, mentally, emotionally. Getting out to some races is energizing, like a homecoming that's welcoming and natural even though you weren't expecting anything of it. I felt that post-race chest burning and persistent bit of coughing for the first time in a long time, too. My run today felt great, and then I cranked out 14 pull ups at the gym - more than I've done since before I injured my shoulder.

I think the thing to watch out for now is overtraining and complacency. When things start to go well, I get so wrapped up in miles and speed and running that I neglect gym work and achilles tendons and those sorts of things. So I want to enjoy whatever good things I'm feeling, without taking them for granted, and for the time being just let running be whatever it feels like being.

I'm taking a long-term general approach to training right now. My main goal before graduation is simply to feel very comfortable at ten, or if I get there eleven hours of running a week on mostly double days. I think that if I want to get to the places I want to be long-term as a distance runner, the thing to do now is not hit the track for another racing season that will probably seem some marginal improvement, but to go back to the roots and hunt bigger quarry in the future. (Did you like the mixed flora-fauna metaphor?)

Next week I want to keep the running level about the same as this one, with a single long run and a little faster stuff here and there when I'm feeling good.

Sunday, March 1, 2009 (30am, 60pm)

Cruised it on the south field. I've gotten good at taking the morning runs very easy and not worrying about them. I was more surprised to find that in the afternoon I felt really good - almost fresh, and so I kept the pace honest but not fast for most of the time.

What happened to NFTC. Got to get that back going again. It was one of the consistent highlights of my week.

Saturday, February 28, 2009 (DMR 10:41)

Led off the DMR team of Eichenlaub-C. Smith-Kiesz-Lyon. 1200 is a shockingly short distance. I hadn't run one before, but in retrospect I think I did it about right. I might have gone out harder, but that would probably only have helped if I had some more speed. After consulting a variety of sources, a quorum of onlookers conspired to agree I ran 3:15 (although estimates ranged from 3:12 to 3:18).

I used the race plan that's become pretty much typical for me: go out slowly, move up throughout the race, and have a completely unremarkable finish. (That last part isn't the plan. It's just the fact.) Since I lined up on the far outside of the curve, it seemed pretty natural not to try to fight and elbow for "position" at the start. (What do people want that position so badly for, anyway? So they can be perfectly placed to reach premature exhaustion?) I moved up steadily throughout the race, although I ran one entire curve in lane two that I probably didn't need to (I was passing Anton, but could have waited until the straight). I also put on a really nice little kick from 300 out, but blew my load a little early and had no response when the CMS runner came back past me on the homestretch.

Physically, I'd say the race felt as near to similar to the 400 at the all-comers meet as it's possible for those two distances to feel. There was not really any question of "trying hard", because the race was too short for me to notice it might be difficult. There was some incidental pain, but it's not really possible to suffer without some good full miles to do it in.

The overall pace was about the same as my best 1500/1600 races. I'm happy with that result. It's abundantly obvious to me that I don't have the same kind of speed now that I have had in the past, because when I'm fast 66 feels smooth and natural. I don't even have the same aerobic fitness I've had in the past, either. So 3/4 of a PR mile performance is not too bad.

Chris came out of retirement to run about a 56. Then Matt went somewhere from 2:00 to 2:03 depending on what I ran, retaining only a small portion of whatever food may have been in his stomach. Reed finished us off with a comfortable-looking 4:27 mile for a respectable 10:41.

Friday, February 27, 2009 (30 am, 60 pm)

Went easy all day, except when dodging the demented, vicious byproducts of Julie's womb, who assaulted me almost continuously for half an hour. What's more, I could swear they were using a team strategy, as if they were almost human...

too creepy.

Thursday, February 26, 2009 (30 am, tempo pm)

Broke the only-grass diet to go to Lacy with the team and run 2x10min tempo with a 5-minute break. When Scott explained this workout, he said he wanted 2x10 minutes at "between 3k and 5k race pace." I thought he was joking. I pointed out that Anton, Chief and I all run 3000m in less than 10 minutes, so there's no way we could possibly do 10 minutes at that pace. "Oh yeah," he said. "I guess you do. That's why it's as slow as 5k pace."

I don't think I could necessarily do a better job than Scott. Coaching in itself is hard, especially if you don't have much experience with it. You need to balance expectations and realism, specialization and cohesiveness, rapport and authority. But I do know I could avoid things that are brazenly insane.

I wound up running by myself for the two periods. The hung back on the first, running between Chief and Anton. I went ahead on the second. Laps were somewhere around 2:40 for the "short loops".

It felt tough, but I think all my workouts will continue to feel tough for a few weeks while I try to adapt to this higher volume of running. I was able to stay consistent, and reasonably smooth, and so that's enough to leave me encourage by the day.

Wednesday, February 26, 2009 (30am, 50pm)

I had a busy day, doing an fMRI from 2-3:45 and tutoring three different students at 5:30, 7, and 8:30, with all three spread across Pasadena, South Pas, and San Marino.

I just found time for 50 minutes in the afternoon during Caltech practice.

The morning runs are going well. I keep them very easy, and make no special effort to get myself up at the crack of dawn to do them. I've been almost 100% on the fields for the last few days, and my body seems to be holding up well. I've been good with the calf raises, but negligent of foam rolling and balance padding.

Tuesday, February 25, 2009 (30 am, 50 pm)

Morning run was pretty lethargic, but I felt fine in the afternoon, when I ran with Kangway for the first time in while. I also jumped in on the distance runners' bonus laps. Anton and Chief both ran 57/58, which is insane. I only ran the second half, based on where I was on the track when they came around. I don't think Matt and I ever ran that fast on the bonus, so I expect 3:54 and 15:28 out of them this year. (Well, not exactly, but I wouldn't be surprised if they both ran big PR's. I think Anton and Chief are both ready for breakthrough of varying magnitudes.) Then Perrin clicked off a 70 for her bonus. It certainly didn't feel like 3000 pace. Also, if she can run a 70 on the bonus, shouldn't she be around 2:30 for the 800 (or better)? I could barely crack 800 pace on those things.

In other news, Reed, Matt, and I are entered for the DMR at Rossi this weekend, although I haven't heard yet whether we actually have someone to run the 400m leg.
1200: Me
400: ??
800: Matt
1600: Reed

But there are ongoing negotiations to change "??" into "Ryan Martin".

Monday, February 24, 2009 (95 minutes)

My knees and legs were feeling a little beat up after the mountain run and fast descent yesterday, so I took it easy doing a long run on the south field. Also, I really had to poop with about fifteen minutes to go, but I held it in for two laps and it seemed to go away. That's generally a good policy to take towards all problems - ignore them until they leave a stinky, sticky mess all over your pants, and then lie about it afterwards.