Getting Buff

AM: 65 mins. (23 min. w/u, 20 min. uptempo, 22 min. c/d)9+ miles30 mins. strength training2 mile walkPM: 4 milesThis morning I had a non-workout workout basically consisting of three miles uptempo. Like I've done before, I intentionally chose the bike path over McAlpine so I wouldn't be concerned about mile markers and splits, and instead just based my effort on feel. I'd estimate I was running about 6:20 pace on the uptempo section, which didn't feel fantastic but wasn't painful either.After the run I met my new personal trainer Jeff in the fitness...

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Back to Work

AM: 4 miles15 mins. corePM: 59 mins. + 4x10 sec. hill sprints8 milesToday Jeff showed me my training for the next month, which looks to be pretty intense. We're introducing a few new elements, such as a new core routine, new strength routine in the gym and a group of short, intense hill sprints within my Monday run. My long runs are also ratcheting up to the 16-18 mile range, effective this weekend. When I lay it all out like that it sounds like a lot, but I'm excited to mix things up a bit and challenge my body in a few new ways.My runs today...

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Week in Review

69-70 miles25 laps at Stanford4 hours in the Phoenix airport8 ibuprofen35 bucks leftover from my per diemOverall I would consider this week a success. I'm disappointed that I missed the auto time, but the entire race experience at Stanford was fantastic and a valuable learning experience. I'm eager to get back to work at improving my fitness and can't wait to have another opportunity to prove myself, namely at the Penn Relays in less than a month....

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Windy Sunday at McAlpine

AM: 75 mins.10-10.5 milesPM: 30 mins. poolBack in Charlotte, back at McAlpine. Jeff basically gave me the green light to run as far as I felt like today, as short as six miles if I wanted, and I decided from the outset that I would shoot for 10 miles if I was feeling decent. With the exception of a stiff headwind (~20mph) the final few miles, I felt unexpectedly decent on this run. I stuck with Holly throughout, and when the wind got too real toward the end we ducked onto a back trail through the woods. This added almost half a mile to our jaunt...

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It's Like An Alarm Clock

46 mins.6 milesSo picking up where we left off, my throbbing legs gave me a rather rude awakening circa 5:30 this morning. Awesome. Since I was unable to go back to sleep, I occupied my time by blogging, talking to Jordan, walking to the drug store to procure some ibuprofen, and watching the news on KRON 4 (home of the now-famous "Whistles Go Woooo!" news story that I suggest you watch immediately if you've never had the privilege before).Around...

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Stanford Invite 10k

AM: 20 mins.2.5 milesPM: 20 min. w/u + strides (2.5 miles)Target: 10k race @35:50 (5:45 pace)Actual: 36:12 (5:48 pace: 1 mile @5:43; 5k @17:57)12 min. c/d (1.5 miles)Total: 10-10.5 milesI should still be sleeping. As I'm typing this post-dated entry, it's 5:45am on Saturday morning. Our flight isn't until 12:30 and Mike and I don't even have to go do our recovery runs until 8:30, which is, yup, almost 3 hours from now. However, because my body is...

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Do You Know the Way to San Jose

AM: 45 mins.6 milesPM: 3 miles + stridesWelcome to the longest day of my life. I mean, not literally, but it had to be up there. It all started when I woke up early to finish packing and squeeze in a run prior to meeting Scott and Mike. My run was pretty craptastic but I'm not super concerned about it. We left for the airport at 9:30, eager to get to California so we could mentally and physically prepare for tomorrow night's races.The first leg of our trip, Charlotte to Phoenix, commenced just a few minutes off schedule. We were in the air by 11:30...

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Doesn't Quite Feel Like Spring

AM: 15 mins. core25 mins. poolPM: 61 mins.8 milesSo, apparently winter is back. This was evidenced by the ~40 degree temps and cold drizzle that Tanya and I were greeted with on our way to morning practice at 7am. Seriously?? I'm so over it.Anyway, the rain abated during the afternoon, and my legs felt relatively bouncy on my jaunt through Freedom Park and the bike path. Almost overnight it seems that the cherry trees have blossomed in the park and,...

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Stanford Pre-Race Workout

AM: 4 miles15 mins. corePM: 10 mins. active stretching2 mile w/u + drills, stridesTarget: 2x1200 @10k pace (5:40-5:45); 2x400Actual: 4:15 (5:40 pace); 4:13; 71.8; 71.42 mile c/dTotal: 6 milesToday's workout was designed to be light and easy, an opportunity to get my legs accustomed to the pace I will (hopefully) be running Friday night. As I was warming up I could tell that the wind would be pretty real on the backstretch, and I silently offered up thanks that I wasn't running a "real" workout. Could've been brutal. As it was, the breeze was quite...

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Monday

AM: 4 milesPM: 58 mins.8 milesBeautiful day, enjoyable runs. That's all I have to say about th...

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Week in Review

78-79 miles2 runs with my dad5 meals at actual restaurants0 airports!!This was a thoroughly enjoyable week, both from a training standpoint and a social standpoint. I was quite pleased with my shape cutting on Tuesday, and glad to see my mileage hovering at 80 miles despite omitting a long run. As I look ahead to next week, it is both exciting and overwhelmingly terrifying that I race at Stanford in exactly five days. Eeek. Nothing much I can do between now and then except make sure I take care of the little things like rest and nutrition. The...

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Sunday at McAlpine

AM: 73 mins.10 milesPM: 25 mins. poolAnother beautiful day, another lovely run at McAlpine. I kept company with Holly during this jaunt, and our conversation passed the time quickly. My legs were fairly fatigued the last few miles but that's to be expected at the end of another relatively heavy training week. I had a good chat with Coach Simmons after the run; he's definitely optimistic about my upcoming race at Stanford and seems confident I can run the auto time. Good to know both he and Jeff think I'm ready to throw do...

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Spectating at UNCC

AM: 4 miles15 mins. corePM: 56 mins.7.5 milesWith the promise of another busy day, I was up early and out the door soon after. After my standard morning loop around the park and back, I headed out to meet up with my parents one last time before their 10am departure. We had a great visit and I was sad to see them go, but glad they got to see so much of the city and enjoy some of the nicest weather we've had since I moved here.Tanya and I spent the...

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A Walk in the Park

AM: 59 mins.8.5 milesPM: ~32 mins.4 milesJeff had originally scheduled me for 4 miles @6:10 pace today, but amended that to 4 miles reasonably uptempo. We both know there's no chance of me gaining fitness between now and Stanford, so today's effort was just meant to wake up the legs and break up the monotony of every other day's easy runs. Because of this, and because I wanted to save time so I could meet up with my parents sooner, I opted to hit...

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Busy Day With the Fam

79 mins.10 milesThis morning I was excited to have the opportunity to take my dad out to McAlpine for the first time. The beautiful weather rolled in with my parents' arrival yesterday, and this morning we were greeted with clear blue skies and warming temperatures. He was looking to put in an easy hour on the feet and I had ten miles on my schedule, so we set off from the Old Bell parking lot with the hope of getting in 5-6 miles together.Due in no small part to the weather, the park was unusually crowded this morning with cyclists, dog walkers...

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Special Guests

AM: 20 mins. core25 mins. poolPM: 62 mins.8+ milesIt's a beautiful day and my parents just arrived for their first Charlotte visit. No complaints he...

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St. Patty's Day Shape Cutting

AM: 4 milesPM: 10 mins. active stretching2 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 16x400 @80-82 cut down to 75 w/1 min. restActual: 81, 81, 81, 81, 79, 78, 78, 78, 78, 77, 77, 77, 75, 76, 75, 702 mile c/dTotal: 8 milesAfter several days of cold and dreary weather, we were treated with a gorgeous spring afternoon for today's workout. It seems like our last three or four track workouts have taken place in similar conditions, and it continues to make me happy. If I had one complaint (which, let's be honest, of course I do) it would be that the wind was quite brisk...

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New Life: Day 1

AM: 4 miles15 mins. corePM: 76 mins.10-10.5 milesThis morning Tanya and I celebrated the beginning of our new lives. Basically this consists of not eating candy all the time, not snacking late at night and eating more fruits and vegetables. Well, she already eats plenty of fruits and vegetables...that last part was for me. At any rate, we both rose early and took care of our morning workouts--I did four miles easy and she aqua jogged/swam--then we took a trip down the street to the grocery store and came home to do some core. She made us oatmeal...

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Week in Review

74-75 miles7 airports (BWI, MEM, OKC, IAH, JAX, ATL, CLT)4 destinations (DC, OKC, JAX, CLT)7 runs with Jordan5 pancakes eaten with a spoonOkay seriously, this week feels like it started a month ago. I can barely recall Blake dropping Jeff and me off at the Charlotte airport to pick up a rental car last Friday...surely that was in February sometime. Good grief. My prison cell never looked so welcoming as it did when I finally arrived home just past 5pm today. And, guess what, I will be at home for 10 WHOLE DAYS before traveling again! Woohoo! I'm...

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10 Days Later

AM: 45 mins.6 milesPM: 4 milesI woke up before sunrise this morning to bang out an easy run before departing for the airport. I was actually supposed to fly out last night, but after checking my flight status online I learned it was already 2+ hours delayed, which meant I might not make my connection and definitely would not arrive home prior to 2am. I put in a quick call to AirTran and they were surprisingly accomodating with switching me to a morning...

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Gate River Run 5k....Er, 15k

~2 mile w/u + stridesRace: 5:59, 6:04, 6:00 (5k~18:50); dropped @~3.53.5 mile jog back to startTotal: 9 milesPost-race: 2-3 mile walk back to hotelWell. I'm going to be brief with this so as not to dwell on the negative...it's not good for my chi. Anyway, the legit reason why I bailed on this race was my left hamstring. It's no state secret that it's chronically tight, but today it was bothersome to the point of seriously altering my stride. I've...

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Rolling With the VIPs in JAX

AM: 31 mins.4 miles15 mins. corePM: 45 mins.+ strides6 milesI took my time waking up this morning and spent a few hours lounging around my luxurious room at the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk before heading out for an easy wog. I've never been here before and hadn't the slightest idea where to go for my run, but I saw a bridge with a pedestrian path that looked promising so I headed off in that direction. A few minutes later I was over the bridge...

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Last Day in OK

59 mins.8 miles15 mins. coreA few seconds after Jordan went downstairs to sync his Garmin, he returned with the ominous statement, "You're not going to like this." After I stepped outside and was greeted with wind, freezing rain and frigid temps, I was inclined to agree. Definitely not ideal running weather. Unfortunately I didn't have many options, as I was scheduled to fly east in just a few hours. We both begrudging added another layer of clothing and set off in the direction of campus.About three miles into our rainy run Jordan fielded a call...

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Looks Like Winter is Back

AM: 4 milesPM: 8 milesJordan was off work today so we enjoyed a relaxing morning at Winans sipping cafe au lait and perusing the internet. Around 11am it dawned on me that I needed to put in two runs today, as my travel plans tomorrow will make doubling impossible. Oops. So we hit up the GT for our "morning" run just before noon. Sometime yesterday afternoon the wind shifted and a cold front blew in, meaning that while 24 hours ago we were wearing shorts and tees, today we were bundled up in as many layers as we could find. Sucks.To fill the few...

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OU Track Workout

AM: 2 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 5xmile @5:45 w/3 mins. restActual: 5:49, 5:45, 5:44, 5:44, 5:391.5 mile c/dTotal: 9 milesPM: 25 mins.3 milesJordan and I woke up bright and early this morning with the intention of heading over to the OU track and banging out my workout before Gus picked us up at 9:30. Otherwise we would've had to wait until after Jordan got off work at 7, which I wasn't too keen on, especially since the wind was forecasted to pick up to 20+ mph by then. As it was, the flags were already billowing in earnest (weather.com said 16mph...

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Jordan's Almost a Real Runner Again

AM: 47 mins.6+ milesPM: ~50 mins.6-7 milesToday's runs were fairly standard for me, but pretty significant for Jordy considering that he hasn't doubled since pre-injury. Fortunately I run slow enough to keep him from getting too crazy, and he didn't complain of pain at any point. I'm stoked to see him on the road to recovery (mostly because it means he won't be in a bad mood all the time) and am looking forward to enlisting his help on tomorrow morning's workout.Not a whole lot else to report. We did part of our morning run in Sutton Woods, which...

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Week in Review

~85 miles1 rental car3 airports8? boxes of wine27 miles in DCThe reason why some unnamed members of our party weren'tfeeling too chipper on Sunday morningI mean, we could talk about this week from a running perspective, but why bother? Yeah I had a great workout on Thursday and a few solid long runs, but the best part of this week was far and away the time spent with friends. Any time I have the opportunity to see all my favorites in the span of...

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Travel Day

AM: 4 milesPM: 47 mins6+ milesDespite all expectations to the contrary (including but certainly not limited to the whole "springing forward" situation with the clocks), Jilane and I were awake and chipper with plenty of time to squeeze in a short run before shipping me off to Oklahoma. We did a fairly standard out-and-back along Connecticut, across the bridge and over to Dupont Circle before flipping the script and bringing it back home.After a few hours of cross-country travel (which, incidentally, is starting to become a fairly routine part of...

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Food, Fun and Friends...And a Few Miles

AM: 120 mins.16-16.5 milesPM: ~3 hours of Mall walkingWhat can I say, today's run was awesome. It started a bit unconventionally, as Jilane and I picked up Ben and then headed to National airport to drop off the rental car I'd taken on the previous day's drive. Since there's a bike path conveniently located adjacent to the airport, we jettisoned the car and literally started the run from there. Excellent strategery if you ask me. I had 16-18 on tap...

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A Beautiful Night in the District

AM: 25 mins. poolPM: 46 mins.6+ milesAfter 6+ hours in the car with Jeffrey today, we arrived in the District and at Jilane's place of employment, the NFL Players Assocation. Jeff kicked me out at the curb so he could pursue some shenanigans, which meant I got to enjoy a glorious reunion with the better half of Team MJ. After she wrapped up a few things at work, we changed into our running costumes and headed downstairs to meet the rest of our crew:...

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Great Workout, Crappy Title

AM: 4 milesPM: 10 mins. active stretching2 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 12x800 @2:50-2:52 w/2 min.rest (hammer #11)Actual: 2:50, 2:48, 2:50, 2:48, 2:47, 2:47, 2:46, 2:46, 2:45, 2:45, 2:38, 2:401.5 mile c/dTotal: 9.5 milesBefore I get into the details, the basic take-home message is that this was unequivocally my best track workout since coming to Queens. Looking back at my most recent 800 workout, which took place almost eight weeks ago in Atlanta, my progression both in endurance and speed is apparent. One could argue that says more about those previous...

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Nothing But Blue Skies

AM: 4 milesPM: 62 mins. + 6x30m strides8+ milesToday was an absolutely gorgeous day, with a hint of spring on the horizon. I must admit, it was a little strange to watch the weather forecast and see mid-70s on tap for the weekend while we still have traces of snow on the ground outside, but I'm all for it. Just a few more days of studying and homework before kicking off what promises to be a fantastic spring break...I would be lying if I claimed...

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Mid-Week Recovery

AM: 15 mins. core25 mins. poolPM: 60 mins.8 milesThere's not much to say about today except that it was much less eventful than yesterday. Which, given the way yesterday's events played out, is probably for the best. The only occurrence of note is that Blake finally talked his way onto a flight, which meant I had the pleasure of picking him up from the airport and enjoying a delicious dining hall lunch with him and Jeffrey (and a late-night "Tool Academy" bonding session). It's always great to see this goofy kid and I'm happy to have him in town...

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"We Gotta Get Outta Here. I Think I Just Broke That Kid's Nose."

2 mile w/uTarget: 4 miles @6:50, 800m jog; 3 miles @6:40, 800m jog; 2 miles @6:30, 800m jog; 1 mile @6:20Actual: Pretty much the above1.5 mile c/dTotal: 15 milesA snowy view of Queens Road West from my balconyWow. I don't even know where to start with today's post. Trust me, my run was the least interesting part. Basically I did 15 miles hard at McAlpine. The end.Now here's what really went down. Names have been changed to protect the innocent (and...

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Week in Review

80 miles25 400s5 dining hall meals3 rainy days1 midterm examEven though this morning's long run didn't materialize, I still concluded the week with positive feelings about what I've accomplished. Tuesday's workout was definitely the highlight (while Friday's could arguably be considered the lowlight), and it was great to bump my mileage up to a respectable amount while still maintaining all the "extras" like massage, pool, core, etc. If I can string...

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The Best Laid Plans

AM: 15 mins. core63 mins.8.5 milesPM: 31 mins.4 milesI woke up this morning to the dismal sight of pouring rain. While this wasn't entirely different than what I've been dealing with since, oh, Friday, this was significant because 1. it was hovering around 32 degrees, and 2. a quick check of the weather showed that we were supposed to receive 4-6 inches of snow by nightfall. Naturally, my first thought was about how this was going to impact my running. Pretty much everyone on the team had a long run of sorts on tap for the morning, and Jess and...

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