Week in Review

57 miles15k on the track27 points scored by Tanya and me6th place team6 AFDsWow, I didn't realize my mileage for the week was so low until I just added it up. Guess that's what happens when you only run 20 minutes one day and five miles another. Oh well. Obviously mileage wasn't the goal of the week; performance was, and for the most part I came through when it counted. I would've liked to place top 5 in the 5k and I may or may not be reliving the final 400 meters of the 10k on continuous repeat in my mind, but I realize objectively that I did...

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Post-Nationals Recovery

AM: 5-5.5 milesLast night was a late one due to the meet, and this morning was an early one due to taking my parents to the airport. As a result of that (and probably, you know, the 15k worth of racing I completed within the past 48 hours), I was tired and heavy-legged on my short recovery run late this morning. I could tell Jordan wanted to put in a medium loop, but by the time we ran up Kings toward Selwyn I knew I was toasted. Instead, we looped back down Westfield to the bike path and trotted home at a leisurely clip. I plan on nothing else...

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5k Results

6th place and 16:35 for All-American and a PR. Tanya 2nd in 16:20. With our powers combined, Queens women placed 6th overall as a team! Resu...

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D2 Nationals 5k Race Recap

AM: 3 milesPM: 2 miles w/u + strides5k race @16:35; 6th place2.5 mile c/dTotal: 7.5-8 milesAfter yesterday's weather fiasco and endless delays, I was feeling pretty recovered from the 10k and antsy to get back on the track tonight. That's not to say I actually was recovered--I knew that no matter how fervently I tried to convince myself otherwise, racing only 48 hours after a physically and mentally draining 10k would prove difficult. But I was looking forward to the challenge nonetheless. Fortunately the day passed quickly and before I knew it,...

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The Waiting is the Hardest Part

AM: 20 mins. (2.5 miles)PM: Rain...thunder...lightningWow, what a stressful day. Tonight was supposed to be our 5k prelim, but Mother Nature had other plans. Despite a morning and early afternoon of sunny skies, by 5pm the clouds had begun to gather. By 5:30 the rain was steadily falling and we heard the first whispers of a rain delay. Actually, the rain in itself isn't necessarily a huge deal, but lightning is an entirely different story. If meet officials see lightning, they must halt the meet for 30 lightning-free minutes before resuming. At...

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NCAA Nationals 10k: Tanya 1st, Meagan 3rd!

ResultsArticle and sweet photoDetailed recap to follow. It's late and I've got to rest up for the 5k prelim tomorr...

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NCAA National 10k Recap

AM: 3 milesPM: 2 mile w/u + strides10k race @34:501 mile c/dTotal: 9 miles10k start lineWe headed over to the track at 6:30, just in time to catch the opening rounds of the steeple. Temperatures were above 85 degrees but it felt surprisingly nice in the shade due to the low humidity--44% according to weather.com. I knew the heat would take its toll on some of the distance runners, just as surely as I knew I wouldn't be one of them. I've lived in...

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Filler

AM: ~6.5 miles + stridesGuess I better fill this in before I forget what I actually did. As I recall, we met at McAlpine this morning with the teams from Grand Valley State and Southern Indiana--both of their coaches are friends with Coach Simmons--and had a group run of sorts. This evening was the pre-meet banquet at the Charlotte Convention Center. Pics to follow if I ever have a chance to upload th...

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Easy Mileage

AM: 48 mins. (6.5 miles)PM: 3.5 milesNothing to see here. Just easy mileage. Of note, the heat sheets are up for this weekend. Looks like Tanya and I are both in the first section of the 5000 on Friday. Traditionally this is a disadvantage, but with so many people pulling the 10/5 double I think (hope) neither heat will be too quick. Top four from each heat advance, then the next four fastest on time. Obviously we don't want to leave anything to chance, so Tanya and I are aiming to snag two of those top four spo...

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Nationals Pre-Race Workout

AM: 3 milesPM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: mile @10k pace, 800m faster, 2x400 faster (all w/full recovery)Actual: 5:26, 2:36, 70, 692 mile c/dTotal: 7-7.5 milesTonight was Tanya's and my final pre-race workout before Nationals. It almost felt surreal to stand on the track where we've been dozens of times before, feeling the familiarity yet knowing that in a few days the energy there would be unlike anything we've previously experienced.The workout itself was uneventful. Neither of us felt spectacular, but I rarely do on pre-race workouts. I'd almost...

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Week in Review

70 miles25 mins. pool6 AFDs14 cookies from Great Harvest4 days until NationalsAt long last, the countdown to Nationals is almost over. In some ways this season passed in the blink of an eye, but in hindsight the amount of work I've put into the past few months has been staggering. I nailed some crazy workouts and far exceeded my own expectations--my recent 12x800 and 25x300 workouts stand out most in my mind, as well as my 17-mile long run earlier this month--and I've also royally bombed some that should've been freebies (4xmile, anyone?). All...

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Easy Like Sunday Morning

AM: 75 mins. (10 miles)15 mins. coreJordan and I met Jenna and the rest of the Queens national qualifiers, along with Pezz and her friend Amanda, at Boyce for a nice run this morning. With no good reason to push the pace, we kept things very relaxed. Tanya and I have our final pre-race workout tomorrow night so we want to be fresh for that. Fortunately it doesn't appear as though my legs are experiencing any soreness from yesterday, but I wouldn't rule out DOMS setting in later tod...

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Great Harvest Bread Co. 5k

2.5 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 5k race "uptempo"Actual: 17:37 (5:45, 5:40, 6:12 for 1.1)2.5 mile c/dTotal: 8 milesResultsI woke up surprisingly easily at 5:30 this morning--possibly because I was already awakened at 4:30 by Weezy and again at 5:00 by Jordan--and hurriedly dressed for the morning's race. A quick glance at the weather forecast showed that the thunderstorms should hold off until at least 9am, which would be plenty of time for us to clear...

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More Recovery

Friday, 5/21AM: 8.5 milesPM: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with CaitlinThursday, 5/20AM: 4 milesDr. DuffyPM: 8 milesI'm surprisingly not sore from Wednesday's unusually speedy (for me) workout, though I have to admit my legs feel a bit drained. It didn't take much convincing for me to scrap my planned Friday double and meet Caitlin for a movie instead (in subtitles, no less--how smart are we?!). After the movie we talked strategy for tomorrow's Great Harvest Bread Co. 5k down in Ballantyne, as we plan to run it together. I'm using the race as...

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25x300

AM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 25x300m w/1 min. rest; hammer #15, 20, 25Actual: #1-14: 55s; #15: 52; #16-19: 54, 55, 54, 54; #20: 52; #21-24: 53, 54, 53, 53; #25: 501 mile c/dTotal: 10 milesPM: 25 mins. poolI came into this workout knowing that it would be my last hard track session before Nationals. Although short intervals are not typically my forte, I really wanted to nail this. I wouldn't have Tanya to help me with pacing (she worked out last night, but I couldn't due to my summer class starting), but Maraya was planning to do 12x300 at the...

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Early Week Recovery

Tuesday, 5/18AM: 59 mins. (8 miles)PM: 3 milesMonday, 5/17AM: 4.5 milesPM: 5.5 milesLots of easy, slow running to start out the week. On Monday I accompanied Jordan on a work field trip to the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area. We were hoping to get in our afternoon run at a new venue, but it was absolutely pouring cats and dogs at our desired go time. We made a game time decision to drive back to Charlotte in hopes that the weather would abate by our return. (This also meant we would be starting our run well after 8pm, but I suppose this can't hurt...

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Week in Review

74 miles4 AFDs18 hours with Coach G-Unit599 pages of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest11 days until NationalsWell, the countdown has commenced. We are t-minus 11 days until the NCAA Division II National Meet kicks off here in Charlotte, and I have to admit I'm pretty excited. Both of my workouts this week gave me a much-needed boost of confidence; now all that's left is putting on the finishing touches and then recovering like crazy until the races. Next weekend could turn into one of the longest and most exhausting weekends of my life, but...

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Return of Coach G-Unit

AM: 59 mins. (8 miles)PM: Wii tennisAfter a fun night out with friends, we were all dragging a bit this morning. ("We," of course, includes me and Jordan and also our special houseguest Jeffrey.) But none of us wanted to deal with the already warm temperatures any longer than necessary, so we departed for Boyce in time to meet the usual suspects for an easy recovery run. Of course, this run was extra special because Jeff was tagging along. My last run with him was over a year ago, which has been far too long. Together with Tanya, Sean, Jess and...

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Nationals Dress Rehearsal

PM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 3 miles uptempo, then 3xmile "faster" w/4 mins. restActual: 17:30 (5:55, 5:49, 5:46), 5:27, 5:26, 5:231 mile c/dTotal: 10 milesAt long last, our Friday predator run turned Saturday predator run turned Saturday "modified workout" had arrived. To be honest, I've felt so fatigued the past few days that I wouldn't have even attempted this before Saturday night anyway. Fortunately Tanya felt the same, so I agreed to meet her and Sean at JCSU at 6:30pm. We'd debated doing this at McAlpine instead but in the end opted for...

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Tired

Friday, May 14AM: 45 mins. (6 miles)PM: 3 miles1 mile jogging the curves, striding the straights2 mile c/dTotal: 6 milesThursday, May 13AM: 5.5 milesPM: 4.5-5 milesWednesday, May 12AM: 5.5 miles15 mins. coreChiroPM: 3 milesThere's really no need to post a separate entry for each of these days when I'm just going to be saying the same things: "Legs tired, felt crappy, ran slow." Seriously, that sums it up. Tuesday's workout, while probably the best of my entire life, clearly took a lot out of me for the remainder of the week. Fortunately Simmons...

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Post-Bedtime Workout

AM: 3 milesPM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 12x800 w/2:30 rest faster than last time; hammer #9 and #12Actual: 2:35, 2:35, 2:34, 2:34, 2:34, 2:33, 2:35, 2:34, 2:30, 2:33, 2:33, 2:30(Average: 2:33.3)1 mile c/dTotal: 10 milesFor a workout that was almost over before it started, this ended up turning into arguably my best track session of the year. I say it almost didn't happen because when we arrived at JCSU around 7:30pm, we discovered that a youth track meet was in full swing. It's not uncommon for the Charlotte Flights youth track program to be...

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Tigger

AM: 4 milesPM: 58 mins. (8 miles) + 4x150m stridesThe cooler weather means the Queens team decided to practice at 5pm today, so Jordan and I met them at Boyce for a nice romp. I was feeling unexpectedly frisky for a Monday late afternoon--so much so that I extended my planned six miles to eight after Jenna said she was going a bit farther. I even added on an extended set of strides with Tanya; again, something I don't do often (definitely not often enough). Hopefully I can maintain this spring in my step until tomorrow night, because we have a...

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Week in Review

73 miles20 mins. pool4.0 GPA4 AFDsAlthough this week was as busy and chaotic and jam-packed as the weeks when I'm traveling and racing, I thoroughly enjoyed my graduation and all the surrounding festivities. It was great to visit with the Nedlo parentals, if for only a short time, and I'm excited to see them again in a few weekends when they swing back to the Queen City for D2 Nationals. I ate more meals out this week and probably consumed more "bad" foods than I have in all of 2010 combined, and I have to say that it felt awesome. As far as running...

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Beautiful Sunday

5.5 miles15 mins. coreFirst things first: today was absolutely beautiful. For some reason the temps dropped dramatically overnight, which meant the mercury was barely topping 50 when we drove Uptown to meet my parents for a farewell breakfast. A light breeze and abundant sunshine evoked a feeling of autumn, not summer, which I can't say I mind after a week of sweltering heat and humidity. Of course, I would've given a large sum of money for the conditions to have been like this on my long run yesterday, but I suppose we can't have everything.After...

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Super Duper Extra Long Run

2 hours 2 mins.~17.25 milesSaturday promised to be everything I could hope for in a weekend: brunch at Flying Biscuit, a relaxing afternoon with Jordan and my parents and a graduation party with all my OCOMM cohorts in the evening. Unfortunately there was a teeny tiny detail standing in the way of all that: my long run. Not just any long run, but a super duper extra long run. I'd have to consult the blog archives to say for sure, but I'm pretty sure...

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Skirts! Graduation! Craziness!

AM: 59 mins. (8 miles)PM: GraduationA couple things of note for today: Tanya and I wore skirts on our run, and I graduated. Why skirts, you ask? I say ask not why, but why not. I'm expecting a call from Brooks any day now to model in their next catalog. Will keep you posted.My parents arrived on a jet plane near 2 in the PM, so Jordan and I picked them up and grabbed a quick lunch before the graduation festivities began. The ceremony was held on...

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Mile Repeat Disaster

AM: 3 milesPM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 4xmile w/4 mins. restActual: 5:21, 5:19, fail, 5:192 mile c/dTotal: 8.5 milesUgh. I just didn't have it tonight. Maybe it was a combination of working all morning and cleaning the apartment all afternoon, or the fact that we didn't leave for JCSU until 7pm, or the lingering heat and humidity. Maybe I'm still not quite recovered from Stanford despite having raced a full five days ago. Or maybe it was just an off day with no underlying cause or meaning. Whatever the case, I felt terrible from the start on...

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Cheating

Wednesday, 5/5AM: 58 mins. (8 miles)PM: 3 milesTuesday, 5/4AM: 5.5 milesPM: 20 mins. pool15 mins. core3 milesI can already hear Jordan telling me that lumping two days into one post is cheating, and I respect his opinion on that. But it's been a busy week and I'm trying to get the apartment all nice and spiffed up before the parentals arrive for my graduation, so cut me some slack. Besides, there's not much to report. I've felt slow and sluggish this entire week, no doubt due to a combination of the race, the weekend travel and the swamplike humidity...

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Rainy MFPL

AM: 59 mins. (8.5 miles)PM: 3 milesBack to Charlotte, back to hot and humid weather. I wouldn't mind hopping the next flight back to Cali, but alas, I suppose I better get used to it. I'd planned to run with Pezz at McAlpine after a work meeting this morning, which naturally meant that it was pouring rain at go time. Instead I opted to go home, wait for the downpour to abate, and hit up a MFPL with Jordan. My legs felt absolutely trashed--and my calves are still wretchedly sore--and it seemed like we were crawling on this run. Instead, I was surprised...

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Week in Review

65 miles25 laps at Stanford4 airports7 AFDsSince the race I've had a chance to put things in perspective and I feel much better. In hindsight, it might have been a bit unrealistic to expect another large jump in performance after an already large jump just a month ago. I think sometimes I get so caught up in the mindset of always wanting to improve and to see instantaneous results that I forget how far I've come in such a short time. As Jordan pointed out, this year I'm running the 10k faster than the pace I could run for an open 5k last year....

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Attack of the Killer Gnats

AM: 58 mins.8 milesPM: TravelToday is a new day. When I woke up I resolved to shut down my pity party and change my attitude for the rest of the trip. A bad race is simply that, a bad race. Life goes on.Though Sunday is traditionally a long run day, Coach Simmons wanted us to keep this jaunt extremely easy and short. Recovery was more important than gaining fitness from a longer run, and we needed to get showered and packed up in order to head to the airport on time. We set out for the same place we did our Sunday run last time we were here, a...

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Payton Jordan Invitational 10k

AM: 3 milesPM: 2 mile w/u + strides10k race @34:38 (17:10, 17:28 5k splits)2 mile c/dTotal: 10 milesI went out hard from the gun. Maybe a little too hard, but I wanted to try to latch onto a group if at all possible. I went through the first mile in 5:22 and was just off the back of a group of half a dozen. I kept telling myself they would relax and come back to me before the end of the second mile, but they never did. At the time I thought it was because they were speeding up, but in reality I was probably slowing down. There was no one for me...

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34:38

Yup, you're reading that correctly. I ran virtually the exact same time I ran five weeks ago. The irony is, last time I was beside myself with excitement and today I'm just frustrated and disappointed.I'll recap the race in all its gory details when I get home. Or not. To be determin...

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