Palo Alto Down Time

AM: 5 milesPM: 3 miles incl. 2x60 secs., 2x30 secs.2 laps jog the curves, stride the straightsTypically when we travel to meets we arrive the day before, particularly when traveling out west. Since Payton Jordan is a Saturday only meet, our Thursday arrival meant we had an entire day--almost two, since our race isn't until late Saturday night--of down time before racing. Today was that day.I started things off with a relaxed AM run from the motel with Pezz. Yes, I said motel. To call it a hotel would be doing a disservice to fine establishments...

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An Interesting Flight

AM: 6 milesPM: 4 milesToday's waking hours were largely dominated by coast-to-coast travel. Seems like just yesterday Tanya and I were headed out west for the Stanford Invite...now, five weeks later, we're making a return trip with Pezz and Mike in tow (Simmons and Futsum to join us tomorrow). Everything was progressing as usual until our layover at Dulles airport in DC, which is when things took an unexpected turn for the better (and more coincidental). I'll excerpt from Jilane's blog to share the story:Also of "running world" note... Dan [Jilane's...

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When Common Sense Wins

AM: 46 mins.6+ milesPM: GreenappleAccording to Jordan, I'm forbidden to double today. He cited my upcoming race, my tweaked calf and my need to finish up my last (!!!) paper and pack today as reasoning. I agreed with all his logic but it sure was hard to skip out on an afternoon run in this gorgeous weather. Luckily, I'd already pre-scheduled an appointment with Dr. Duffy--strictly preventative at the time, though it ended up being fortuitous in light of my calf--and, since I don't like to run after treatment, I reluctantly agreed to sack the evening...

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Payton Jordan Pre-Race Workout

AM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 2x200m; mile, 800, 400 @race pace (~5:25-5:30); 2x200m fastActual: 2x200, 5:22, 2:41, 71, 31-high, 31-low2 mile c/dTotal: 8 milesAs far as pre-race workouts go, this one was pretty standard. By that, I mean I came away from it thinking, "Oh crap, I have to run that pace for 5 more miles?!" Don't get me wrong, it's not that I was straining for the pace today, but to say that it felt like a jog would ring false. I'm attributing it to the wind, to the hard long run Sunday, to the workout being at 10am, yadda yadda yadda....

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Boyce Monday

AM: 58 mins.8 milesPM: 3 miles15 mins. coreThis was a perfectly pleasant, if unremarkable, Monday. Since I had the rare luxury of being off work, Jordan and I met Jenna for a morning run at Boyce. My legs are a little tired from yesterday's long run but nothing significant. Hopefully they'll feel light and snappy by Saturd...

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Week in Review

72 miles20 hours in the van12.5 laps at Penn18 hours of Team MJ togethernessAnother crazy, exhausting, roller coaster of a week is officially in the books. I think it's pretty obvious that I view this week as a mixed bag; on the one hand, I screwed up the 5k at Penn and didn't get in any hard workouts, but on the other hand I qualified for Nationals, felt strong on my hard long run and of course enjoyed a much-needed Team MJ reunion.Looking ahead,...

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Another Sunday, Another McAlpine Long Run

1 hour 23 mins. (12 miles)My original plan for the long run today was to get after it pretty hard. But after a lethal combination of homemade margaritas and homemade ice cream (both prepared with the help of a little liquid nitrogen) at Matt's going away party last night, I wasn't so sure how I would feel today. The thick, damp, muggy air certainly didn't contribute positively either. The past few days have been a sobering harbinger of the summer weather to come, and I'm certainly dreading it. I decided to revise my plan and run based on feel.Jordan...

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CPCC Skyline "Non-Race" Race

AM: 3 mile w/u5k "race" @23:402 mile c/dTotal: 8 milesPM: 3 milesAfter a long and inexplicably exhausting day on the road (how can sitting make you so tired??), we arrived home at 10pm last night. I wasn't looking forward to getting up early today, but unfortunately it was mandatory. I was scheduled to work at RFYL the entire day and also needed to run the CPCC Skyline Run. I'm not sure if I told you before, but I signed up for the RFYL Grand Prix...

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Team MJ Philly Run

AM: ~5 miles + Rocky stepsPM: Road tripI wasn't super excited when my alarm went off at 8 this morning. Normally that hour would be considered late, but after a 1am return from the track last night I was left feeling less than well rested. Unfortunately, with a 10-hour return trip to Charlotte looming, hitting the snooze button wasn't an option.The Schuylkill River Trail in downtown PhillyThe silver lining? For one, it was a gorgeous morning; sunny,...

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Penn Relays 5k

16:44: Not a total disaster, but certainly not what I was hoping for! Will update more later...Update: Well, later is now. Here we go.AM: 3 milesPM: 2 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 5k race @16:30 or fasterActual: 16:4420 min. c/d (2.5 miles)Total: 7.5-8 milesAfter a leisurely morning on the Harrisburg waterfront, we arrived in Philly just after 2pm. This would afford us a full five hours to lounge around our Chinatown hotel before departing for the track in the evening. Normally this amount of down time would drift by in a painfully slow manner. Not...

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Harrisburg Riverfront

AM: 6 milesPM: 29 mins. + strides (4 miles)I was supposed to meet Caitlin at the Dowd to run at 6am. I didn't. I suck at life. Instead, Jenna came over at 6:30 and we got in a quick six before hitting the road.Aaaaand nine hours later, we arrived at our interim destination: Harrisburg, PA. To my pleasant surprise, the city had a lovely riverfront area and downtown. Fortunately our hotel was located adjacent to both, which meant we had some viable...

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Quickie

Tuesday, 4/20AM: 5.5 milesPM: 5.5 miles15 mins. coreMonday, 4/19AM: 8.5 milesPM: 3.5 miles incl. 2x60 secs., 2x30 secs. pickupsI gotta make this quick. It's 8:00am on Wednesday morning and we're about to shove off for Penn. Yes, we're driving. No, I'm not looking forward to it. So in the interest of catching up, I'm postdating this blog for yesterday. As you can see it's been lots of easy running, nothing fancy, just trying to get the legs fresh for tomorrow night. I'll update more when we reach the Liberty be...

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Week in Review

73 miles20 mins. pool4 AFDs1 DQAfter such a spectacular showing last week, I suppose I should've been expecting a letdown. The only notable effort this week was my mile repeat workout on Tuesday; everything else was pretty lackluster (minus the general entertainment factor of Friday night's debacle). My legs don't feel bad per se, but they don't have quite as much pop to them as in weeks past either. Hopefully after a few more easy days I'll be ready to roll at Penn Relays. It's time to earn a respectable 5k ...

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Starting the Mini-Taper

66 mins.9 milesToday's planned 12-miler was dropped down to 9 once I got to McAlpine this morning. I guess Simmons wants me to be extra fresh for the 5k at Penn Relays on Thursday. Part of me was looking forward to a solid long run, but the rest of me enjoyed bagging the last few miles and cruising in at just over an hour. Tanya, Jenna, and I ran with Jordan--who, naturally, was only scheduled for 5--and kept the pace slow and relaxed. All in all this run was perfectly pleasant and unremarkab...

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Freedom Park Saturday

AM: 51 mins. (7 miles)15 mins. coreI was a little wary about how my stomach would feel after last night's misadventures, but luckily everything seemed kosher today. Jordan and I slept in to the indulgent hour of 9am, then lounged around reading the newspaper until almost 11 before heading out for a relaxed run around Freedom Park. His brand new training schedule from Coach Jeff dictated that he take the day off, so naturally he did just the opposite. Off to a great start.Normally Freedom Park is jam packed on nice weekend days like this one, but...

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My First Ever 10k DQ

AM: 3 milesPM: 2.5 miles w/u + stridesTarget: 10k predator run starting @6:00Actual: 5:58, 5:54, 5:52...it's a long storyTotal: ~9 milesI can't decide if this is my most embarrassing running story or my proudest one. Maybe you can be the judge. At any rate, suffice it to say I'm glad this, er, "incident" happened at our conference meet rather than anywhere else. Let me start from the beginning...So basically our conference meet is a joke. The level of competition is nonexistent and, as a result, so is the quality of the meet. We generally use this...

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Standard Recovery

Thursday, 4/15AM: 8.5 milesPM: 3 milesWednesday, 4/14AM: 9 milesPM: 2-2.5 milesLots of easy recovery running the past two days. Highlights include accompanying Jenna out to McAlpine on Wednesday morning so that she could tackle her own mile repeat workout (unfortunately she had a staff meeting on Tuesday and couldn't work out with Tanya, Pezz and me). She averaged mid-5:40's for the first three and brought the last one home in 5:36, which made for one of her best workouts of the spring.I feel guilty even counting my mileage for Tuesday afternoon,...

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(Short) Mile Repeats

3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 6xmile w/3:30 rest; hammer 2nd half of #5Actual: 5:24, 5:21, 5:18, 5:20, 5:15, 5:192 mile c/dTotal: 11 milesTanya and I had just finished our warmup and I was stretching near the Footlocker stage when it happened. You know what I'm talking about. One of those situations where you're sitting (or standing) there, minding your own business, and some 70-year-old guy shuffles up to and decides that you look like you want to have a conversation. Not a real conversation, mind you, but a scenario where you stand motionless save...

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Recovery Monday

AM: 20 mins. pool45 mins. (6 miles)PM: 5+ milesI enjoyed a rare Monday off from work by waking up early to go to pool. Yay. Fortunately that lackluster experience was followed by a jaunt with Jenna around Freedom Park and the Booty Loop, so I suppose the morning wasn't an entire loss. I took it nice and easy on a standard SFPL (Short Freedom Park Loop) in the afternoon. I ran into Jordan's Let Me Run kiddos on the bike path and it looked like they were having a great time despite one of their fearless leaders being out of town. Other than that,...

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Week in Review

75 miles20 mins. pool4 AFDs3 trips to JCSUI'm starting to feel like a broken record, but I really feel as though this week has been my best week yet for training. By "yet" I mean this year, and since I've been at Queens, and quite possibly my entire life. Tuesday's track workout was the speediest I could've hoped for, and Friday's predator run was solid if unspectacular. But to me what really stood out was the quality of my long run given all the intensity I'd sustained earlier in the week. For me to run as fast, and feel as fresh, as I did yesterday...

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Best Long Run. Ever.

1 hour 29 mins.13 milesYou know those runs where everything just clicks? The pace feels comfortable, your legs are fresh, and perhaps you even have good conversation as a bonus? Against all odds, this turned out to be one of those runs. I say "against all odds" because the volume and intensity of this week logically suggested that today's long run would be a slow slog-fest. Instead, it was simultaneously uptempo and relaxed without involving any additional effort.The best part, and yet another element that makes runs like this so rare, is that...

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JCSU Invitational

AM: 5.5 milesPM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 1500m race @don't drop outActual: 4:4810 min. c/d (1+ miles)Total: 5 milesSo this afternoon was the Johnson C. Smith Invitational, a meet held more or less on our home track. Since this was one of the two "everyone must participate for NCAA reasons" meets on our schedule, it meant that, well, everyone had to participate. Including those of us who'd just done 6-mile predator runs the day before. The nice...

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Successful Predator Run

AM: 20 mins. core + strengthPM: 3 mile w/uTarget: 6 mile predator run starting @6:00Actual: 5:55, 6:00, 5:45, 5:53, 5:45, 5:42 (35:00 total)1 mile c/dTotal: 10 milesI was a bit bummed at the prospect of doing this workout solo, as work prevented me from going with Tanya and the rest of the team. However, Jordan gamely offered to tag along (despite two races looming within the next 48 hours), and I knew I would appreciate the company even if we ran no more than my warmup together. As it turned out, he agreed to run the second half of my workout...

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Jenna Does the MFPL

AM: 63 mins. (8.5 miles)PM: Thesis presentationJordan and I were fortunate to have Jenna tag along for a run this morning. Since she's never experienced the MFPL in its entirety, we decided to take her on a spin today. The air was thick with humidity and the promise of (thank goodness!) an impending rainstorm, and we all worked up a sweat pretty easily. Good times and good conversation were had by all.I didn't run after work this afternoon because I wanted to prepare for my thesis presentation tonight. I'm pleased to report it went well (I think)...

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Weezy McSneezy

AM: 20 mins. pool3 milesPM: 5 miles + stridesSo, here's the funny thing about taking caffeine pills at 5:30pm: they wake you up. Like, for a long time. Here is essentially a breakdown of last night:9:30pm: Return home from workout; shower, eat dinner, etc.11:00pm: Get in bed.12:00am: Still awake.1:00am: Still awake. Cat vomits. (Oh, have I not told you we now have a cat? More on that in a second.)2:00am: Finally fall asleep.7:00am: Wake up for pool....

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Twelve By Twilight

AM: 3 milesPM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 12x800 w/2 mins. rest @2:35-2:40; hammer #11Actual: 2:38, 2:38, 2:38, 2:38, 2:37, 2:36, 2:36, 2:37, 2:37, 2:36, 2:34, 2:35(Average: 2:36.7)1 mile c/dTotal: 10 milesTanya and I along with Jenna and Sean headed up to the track to meet Coach Simmons just before 7pm. With the current heat wave, working out mid-afternoon wasn't an option, and neither of us were relishing the prospect of running this hard early morning. So, with my class being canceled and Tanya having never missed a Tuesday class, we elected...

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Some Like it Hot

AM: 8.5 miles61 mins.PM: 3 miles + stridesThe heat wave continues unabated. Ran early-ish this morning with Jordan on the MFPL (Medium Freedom Park Loop) and was quite toasty. The legs felt pretty good despite yesterday's long-ish run, and we clicked off the miles at a respectable pace.In the afternoon I had the good fortune of running into Tanya and Sean up at the school. They had a short run planned on the Booty Loop so I was more than happy to join. Did a few strides afterward--something I need to do more of, by the way--and called it a day....

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Week in Review

71 miles20 laps on the AG track3 days above 80 degrees4 AFDsOverall I'd rate this week a solid "B" or maybe even "B+" in terms of training. I nailed the 400 workout on Wednesday and had a good long run Sunday, but Saturday's aborted predator run prevents me from rating the week any higher. Oh well. At least I have the opportunity to string together a few really solid weeks of training before my next important race; in my mind, that diminishes the emphasis put on each particular workout and makes everything less stressful. Just gotta keep rolli...

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Easter Sunday Long Run

1 hour 34 mins.13 milesFor those of you who don't live in the area, we're experiencing some record high temperatures here in Charlotte. As I'm typing this entry, we're forecasted for a 90-degree high tomorrow, which would quite literally be an all-time high for this day in history (and a 17-degree increase from the norm). What this means is that although our long run started just past 9am today, we were all shirtless and sweating profusely just a few miles in.Mercifully, however, I felt none of the breathing problems I experienced yesterday. The...

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McAlpine Dropout

AM: 15 mins. core3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 5 mile predator starting @6:00Actual: 5:56, 5:48, 5:51, 5:522+ mile c/dTotal: 9+ milesThose of you who are math majors may have noticed that while my "target" for the workout was five miles, the "actual" only came out to four. Um yeah. I'm consoling myself by saying that I haven't had a sucky workout in a while, so I suppose I was due. I further consoled myself after talking to Caitlin and Jay later in the day and discovering that they also cut their scheduled tempo runs short. All of us felt terrible...

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Recovery

Friday, 4/2AM: 6 milesThursday, 4/1AM: 5.5 milesPM: ~5 milesSlowly but surely I'm regaining breathing capabilities through both nostrils. Can't ask for much more than that. These two days were kept busy with work, school, preparing for my thesis presentation next week, and a few fun times with friends. I'm looking forward to the rare weekend at home AND off work for the next few days. Hopefully it will give me a chance to rest up and fully heal from this nagging co...

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