Week in Review

59-60 miles1 day off1 gimp foot5 AFDsI'll spare you another emotional rant when summarizing this week, but I think you all get the point. Tomorrow I'll pay Dr. Greenapple a visit in hopes of getting this thing diagnosed, which is the first step on the road to recovery. Regardless of what he says, I'm pretty sure I have a few weeks of runners' delight, aka pool jogging, in my very near future. Swe...

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Silver Lining

Day OffHave you ever seen the video of the world's largest man dancing? The man who remains confined to his bed for all hours of the day, whose only exercise is when someone turns on the radio and he is able to slowly wiggle his upper body around? I bring this up not to belittle him, nor to make any direct comparisons between my situation and his, but at the same time I can honestly say that I've gotten a glimpse of what he must feel like (minus about 1000 pounds) in the past 24 hours. During that time I have been largely confined to my bed--we...

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Greek Fest 5k and Other Misadventures

AM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 5k race @17:00 or fasterActual: 17:04 (5:16, 5:37, 5:30)Total: 6+ milesThe morning started as most race mornings do, with an early wakeup, a cup of coffee and some last-minute preparations. Jordan and I headed over to the Greek Orthodox Church around 6:30 with plenty of time to score a good parking spot, snag our race chips and wait around for our friends to arrive. I warmed up nice and easy with Paul, Billy, Brian...

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Quick Update

Friday, 8/27AM: 8.5 milesPM: 15 mins. + strides (2 miles)Thursday, 8/26AM: 89 mins. (12 miles)15 mins. pool jog15 mins. core/stretchingThis post is just a quick catch up before I delve into the weekend's drama. And by "drama," I, of course, mean injury. I mean, come on? Do you know me at all? If so then you realize it's virtually impossible for me to go an entire year without getting injured. In frustratingly predictable fashion, 2010 is turning out to be no exception.But I'm getting ahead of myself. On these easy and relaxed Thursday and Friday...

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Worst Idea Ever

AM: 3 mile w/uTarget: 2xmile @5:20; 2x400 @fasterActual: 5:21, 1200 @4:00; 800 @2:38; 2x400 @73, 722.5 mile c/dTotal: 9-9.5 milesInitially my schedule had dictated mile repeats for today, but since I want to be somewhat rested for Greek Fest I decided to craft a pre-race workout instead. A nice, easy, confidence-boosting pre-race workout. I'd entertained the idea of meeting Pezz, who was running a similar workout, at McAlpine in the morning, but opted instead to jog from home over to the AG track. Since I irritated my foot doing some harder running...

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Jogger Wars, Part Deux

Tuesday, 8/24AM: 11 milesMonday, 8/23AM: 10 milesPM: GreenappleBoth of these runs were solo jaunts along the familiar Freedom Park/Myers Park/Booty Loop roads. Tuesday I did venture out on a bit of an exploratory route that found me taking the newly completed bike path all the way past Super Target, then heading back toward Queens on some pleasantly shaded side streets. I also ran into Coach Simmons trotting up the median on Queens Road so we jogged along together for a few minutes and caught up on life, running and his search for an assistant...

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Week in Review

60 miles3 workouts1 day off700 kids at McAlpine1 visit to Dr. GreenappleAs I said in Sunday's entry, this week represented both an increase and a decrease; a decrease in the number of miles run, but an increase in the pace and quality of those miles. As I gain strength and fitness I would like to see an increase in both. For now, however, I need to work on sufficiently rehabbing this foot and making sure nothing else crops up. I certainly owe a big shout-out to the folks at Greenapple Sports & Wellness for everything they've done over the past...

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Tired Long Run

AM: 12 miles incl. 3 uptempo (~6 min. pace)I'm beginning to think it's physically impossible for me to have a good Sunday long run. There was no reason why today shouldn't have gone well; I'd arranged to have Caitlin with me on the easy miles and Jordan and Nick to pull me along through the uptempo section. In between there were plenty of familiar faces dotting the trails to keep things interesting. Yet despite all this, I ended up feeling like crap and cutting the scheduled 14-miler a few miles short.In part, this was due to my foot. After experiencing...

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Kickin' Grass XC Challenge

Day OffEvery once in a while a forced day off is just what you need. This was certainly true for me today. Logistically it would've been virtually impossible for me to run, and I'm pretty sure my foot thanked me for it.The morning started when my alarm went off at 5 on the dot. Begrudgingly I acknowledged that hitting snooze was not an option. I needed to be at the main entrance of McAlpine in just over an hour to begin setting up for what I hoped would be the greatest cross-country event of all time. (By that, I mean that my goals were: no broken...

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Sleepyhead

AM: 74 mins. (10 miles)Let me preface this entry by saying I am not opposed to getting up early. As the past few months have indicated, rising before the sun and hitting the pavement by 6am is becoming routine. So when Jordan said he planned to get up and meet Paul et al. at the Providence Day track for an early workout, I thought it sounded like a great opportunity for me to join them and then head down to the trail.Then Jordan set his alarm. For 4am. And just like that, I was out.Instead, I slept until the indulgent hour of 7am and ran 10 miles...

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Keeping Up With the Boys

AM: 61 mins. (8.6 miles)This morning I knew I was in need of a nice, easy recovery run. So when Jordan and I jogged over to Freedom Park so he could meet Nick, I opted to continue running along the bike path instead of hanging out and waiting for Nick by the lake. This way, I reasoned, I could continue along at my pedestrian pace and not worry about trying to keep up with the two speedsters.That line of reasoning worked out great for the next mile or so as I exited the park and turned right to head up Queens on the Booty Loop. Before long, however,...

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Another Workout? Why Not.

AM: 3 mile w/uTarget: Caitlin's workout of 10 mins., 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 w/half restActual: 10 (5:54 through mile); 8 (5:49); 6 (5:33)2+ mile c/dTotal: 10 miles"Wait a minute," you're telling yourself. "Didn't she just work out yesterday?" Why yes, loyal readers, yes I did. But I couldn't very well leave Caitlin and Pezz to their lonesome for this morning's pre-dawn interval session at McAlpine, now could I? So Jordan and I woke up at 5ish and were soon watching Felix's (his Jetta's) headlights illuminate our path toward Old Bell. My legs, quads in particular,...

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Training Camp

AM: 3+ mile w/u12x1 min. uphill, jog down2.5-3 mile c/dTotal: 10 miles10 mins. pool jog15 mins. core/stretchingMy schedule for this week called for 16x1 minute hard, which seemed fairly doable. It just so happened that Jordan and his new buddy, former professional triathlete Nick Frank, would be doing a similar workout today with one small catch: their "minutes" would be straight uphill. Warily I agreed to join, as it meant I would be afforded the opportunity to sleep in as late as I wanted on my day off and still make their 10am workout time.As...

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Starting Off on the Wrong Foot

AM: 9 milesI. Felt. Horrible. Jordan and I did a standard medium loop plus a few quick detours this morning, but for whatever reason I just didn't have it. The humidity is high even by our standards, so I'm hoping that has something to do with it. Plus my foot isn't getting any better, which is starting to concern me a bit. Today it was a bit creaky for the first few miles but then loosened up just fine, but I'm certainly not seeing any progress. Time to go on an ice/ibuprofen binge for the next few days and see if that clears it up. Fingers c...

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Week in Review

79 miles1 double4 AFDs0 classes leftThis week may have finished with a whimper courtesy of Sunday's sluggish long run, but overall I'd say I achieved a good balance of quality and quantity. Any time I can hit just about 80 miles with only double and two solid workouts I know things are on the right track. Though I'm not feeling particularly sharp, I am feeling quite strong and confident with the direction my training is heading. I'll need to add in a few quicker workouts in the coming weeks to prepare for the CVS 5k, but after that I'm shifting...

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Ugh

AM: 1 hour 40 mins. (14 miles)This long run was disgusting. There's just no other way to describe it. The humidity and dew point were through the roof and I struggled mightily after the first half hour. I suppose it's true that misery loves company because Pezz and I seemed to be hurting in equal measure. Then again, the last time I had an abysmal long run was with her a few weeks ago so perhaps she's just a bad influence. Whatever the case, I shuffled on home up the final hill to the Boyce parking lot as though I'd just finished a marathon. Then...

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Socializing

Saturday, 8/14AM: 1 hour 26 mins. (11.5-12 miles)Friday, 8/13AM: 63 mins. (8 miles)Normally I wouldn't take the time to go to McAlpine two days in a row (and, in fact, after tomorrow's long run it will be three in a row), but I've had a bit of a niggle in my right foot the past few days and I want to keep confined to soft surfaces as much as possible. I don't think it's anything serious, either tendinitis or perhaps some irritation from slogging...

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Booty Loop Domination

AM: 3 mile w/uTarget: 3x2 miles w/3 mins. rest @faster than Caitlin's MP (6:19)Actual: 12:07 (6:00, 6:07); 11:38 (5:50, 5:48); 11:24 (5:43, 5:41)2.5 mile c/dTotal: 11.5-12 milesThis workout was very, very tough. It was also a lot of fun and quite possibly Caitlin's and my best workout of the entire summer. Have I mentioned before that she's in badass shape? She is absolutely destroying all her "marathon pace" workouts, and this one was no exception. Of course, it didn't hurt that we once again had a studly male entourage consisting of Mike, Justin,...

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The Scientific Method

AM: 64 mins. (8.5 miles)PM: 30 mins. (3.5 miles)After yesterday's 800 session I was in the mood for a super slow medium loop today. Luckily Jenna, Caitlin, Danielle and our male bodyguard Jordan were happy to comply. In the evening I headed over to the Queens sports complex on Tyvola to help Coach Simmons out with a body temperature study he's doing. I don't want to reveal all his secrets, but basically he is exploring the cooling effects of a substance similar to dry ice, specifically when being held in hand. For my part I had to jog around the...

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Spinning Our Wheels

AM: 3 mile w/u + stridesTarget: 8x800 w/2 mins. restActual: 2:43, 2:43, 2:42, 2:42, 2:40, 2:41, 2:40, 2:392.5 mile c/dTotal: 9.5-10 milesThe only thing that makes me happier than working out with Caitlin is coming home from working out with Caitlin and discovering that she's already done a stellar job recapping the workout on her blog. Though one could argue that it's cheating, this development means that I get to be lazy and defer to her description of today's efforts. The one thing I will say, which she touched on briefly, is how much more difficult...

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Accidental Long Run

AM: 90 mins.12 milesWell, that got out of hand. What started out as an intended 9- or 10-mile loop gradually morphed into an outing just 10 minutes shy of yesterday's long run. It started when I ran into Jay en route to meeting Caitlin in Freedom Park, where we found that she had brought Matt and John along for the ride. Apparently we'd just missed Matt face planting on Morehead, which was unfortunate (that we missed it, not that he fell). So, as a larger-than-expected group, we embarked along the familiar loop of booty.About 45 minutes into the...

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Week in Review

73 miles2 loops of the Blue Points course3 $5 footlongs (and I don't even like Subway)4 AFDsThis week was one of the busiest in quite some time. Combine 70+ miles with a race with a project for class with planning an XC meet and tax-free shopping weekend at Run For Your Life and you've got a recipe for exhaustion. Luckily I managed to be moderately successful on all fronts, which is all I could hope for under the circumstances. As is becoming the norm, I enjoyed quite a few of my runs and workouts with friends this week, which always makes things...

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CRC Long Run

AM: 1 hour 41 mins. (14 miles)This morning's long run was very much a group effort, as most of the best ones are. With a 7:30 start time, Jordan, Jenna and I comprised the "late" group, but fortunately the "early" group was amenable to swinging by Boyce and picking us up. And what a group it was! Jay, Caitlin, Megan, Ben, Mike, Alana, Brian, Alana's dad (on the bike) and several more crested the hill to the parking lot seeming very chipper and cheery and much too energetic for halfway through their long run. This meant that it took me several miles...

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Blue Points 5k

AM: 2 mile w/u + strides5k race @17:23 (5:23, 5:37, 5:49, :33)~10 min. break5k tempo @18:551 mile c/dTotal: 9 milesYou know it's been a brutal summer when you wake up on race morning and are absolutely elated to see that temperatures are in the 70s and humidity is in the 80s. Such was the case today, and I couldn't have been happier. I'd heard plenty of warnings about the difficulty of the course from Paul and Jay, so at the very least it was reassuring to have the weather on our side.Jordan and I left home just past 6 and headed Uptown. We parked...

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No Boys Allowed

Friday, 8/6AM: 8.5 milesPM: 20 mins. (2.5 miles)Thursday, 8/5AM: 80 mins. (10 miles)Caitlin and I and special guest Danielle enjoyed a very early, very slow run on Thursday morning. It was for girls only so we talked a lot about feminine topics such as boys, clothes, hair and makeup. Also if this run was a step over 10 miles I'd be surprised, but I couldn't have been more pleased to keep the pace relax...

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Trials of Miles

AM: 3+ mile w/u + stridesTarget: 4xmile w/4 mins. restActual: 5:23, 5:24, 5:23, 5:242 mile c/dTotal: 9.5-10 milesSometimes I have the unhealthy tendency to compare a workout to the best time I did the same workout. So, for example, if I'm having a solid session of 800s on the track, in the back of my mind I'm thinking about the time I ran 800s even faster. As you can imagine, this line of thinking can quickly become problematic. So this morning, knowing that it is one of the hottest days of the summer, that's it's six in the morning and that I'm...

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Early Week Runs

Tuesday, 8/3AM: 66 mins. (9 miles)15 mins. coreMonday, 8/2AM: 10.5 milesPM: 4 milesApologies to all my loyal readers (i.e., my dad) for falling behind this week in blogging. I've recently started doing marketing full time at Run For Your Life so I've been working what most people would consider to be normal hours. In addition to running and trying to finish up this summer class my time has been pretty well occupied! (Sorry, Dad, I know that's no excuse. You raised me better than this.)So, as far as I can remember as I'm typing this six days later,...

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Week in Review

75 miles5 AFDs6 loops of Booty8 runs with friendsI mean, what can I say? I'm just trying to make it through this sweltering Southern heat and humidity one week at a time. The way I see it, every week of the summer that I'm able to put in some quality mileage with friends while staying uninjured is a gift, plain and simple. This week I was lucky enough to run with company every single day. Sometimes you don't realize how much better it is to run with people until you're forced to do without, but in this weather I'm aware of and grateful for the...

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Terrible, Horrible, Not Good, Very Bad Run

1 hour 41 mins. (14 miles)Wow. I felt absolutely terrible this morning. The worst part is that I have no idea why. I got plenty of sleep last night and ate a sensible dinner, not to mention the heat and humidity were much lower today than they have been in recent memory. But for whatever reason, my stomach was rocked and my legs were weak and I spent most of the run feeling dizzy/shaky/woozy. I was very poor company for Pezz, whom I met up with for the first time in several weeks, but fortunately she is rebounding from a down week and didn't complain...

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