I woke up at 6am. I was out the door for a 1 and 1/2 mile shake out run at 6:20. I came back, got showered, brewed some coffee, ate a bagel w/ peanut butter and took a banana for the road. I treked over to Terrapin beach (I didn't want to say Terrapin Country because the Terrapin is a sea reptile-if i correctly recall). Anyway, I warmed up at 8:40 w/ Chicken Tender Andy and Billy Askey. We toed the line at 9:20. Nerves were there as this was the first time I got to go at a 5k on the track since 2003. The gun was off and I immediately tucked in. First 400... very very slow (77). I was angry that a guy who is seeded at 14:50 would take it out that slow. I came up to the mile at 4:55 (as we picked it up on lap 2...) I stormed to the lead and dropped a 69-70. Again... the UMD guy came up... took the lead... and slowed it down again... I should have just put in that effort for a full 800 to see what he had... but I am in no business in the shape/strength level to be fooling around with a heroic effort. I ran through 2 miles in 9:50 14 seconds slower that goal pace. I knew that i could not make that up... as with the fartlek type race we were having, my legs did not have the juice i thought they would have w/ 1 mile to go (esp at the overall leisure pace up front). Adam Condit from Potomac River Running stated his intentions for the lead and stormed up... He broke a way w/ 12oo to go but myself and the UMD guy were able to pull him back in w/ 2 to go.... That is when I made a move... I went for it... new i didn't have the fresh legs for a lethal kick that I was hoping... so, i went for it for 200... I figured if i die, i have only 600 to go. It apparently was not much of a move as it was countered by a big surge by the UMD guy. I was racing for second (even though in my mind I was itching to catch the UMD guy). He was too strong on this day (and for the race that he totally dictated..)
Finished 2nd place with a 15:16.5 (official). I am happy to get out and race a 5k on the track... I will leave it at that...
Next Race TBA (originally scheduled to be Firebirds Mile Track race) but I may squeeze something in before hand. NO PENN RELAYS 5K! after today, i have no business being there.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Monkey!!! Get off my back already!
So... the monkey on my back since my soph year of college has been the 5,000meter on the track. I have run 2 fresh and competitive 5ks on the track and 2 that were second events of the day that were just simply for place points in the team scoring. Lets just say that my PR on the track is not able to be compared in any way, shape or form to that of my road and XC performances. I have 4:10 mile speed and 1:08 half marathon strength... but my PR for 5,000meters is 14:58. I don't care if I am just getting back into the swing of things or not... There is no reason that my time tomorrow is not 14:57 or quicker.
With this being said.... Patience and racing smart must be a key ingredient in tomorrows effort. I need to start out easy and work into the race. When i go out hard... i don't do well with holding up after trying to bank time (on the road and in XC i can do this)... but not in the long, tough and mental 5k on the track. I am confident that my closing laps can make up ground. I know there will be other runners ahead of me coming into this race. Lets see how myself and the other GRC harriers hold up against the young bucks tomorrow at the University of Maryland Invitational!!!
results developing....
With this being said.... Patience and racing smart must be a key ingredient in tomorrows effort. I need to start out easy and work into the race. When i go out hard... i don't do well with holding up after trying to bank time (on the road and in XC i can do this)... but not in the long, tough and mental 5k on the track. I am confident that my closing laps can make up ground. I know there will be other runners ahead of me coming into this race. Lets see how myself and the other GRC harriers hold up against the young bucks tomorrow at the University of Maryland Invitational!!!
results developing....
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The last few days
So, i have been a bit busy so i have not been on here in the past 3 days. I have been feeling surprisingly well since race weekend. The cold is still lingering with congestion but I feel just fine overall.
Sunday: 13 miles (stop and go style). I went on course to cheer Reeves and Sloane during the 1/2 marathon and the marathon. I basically ran 35 minutes... I stopped a bit... I ran 25 (a good portion of this with Reeves on his cooldown, I went into sloane's hotel lobby and ate free food at the continental breakfast with Beth (after chris past the half marathon mark), I went back out on course and finished up an additional 35 minutes. I will call it 13 as I was not running slow when i was running... the problem was the stopping... but i think i needed it... I got the 1hr and half + in for running... it was just broken up
Monday: 8 miles: I discovered the short but enjoyable trails behind Tilden park on my run. I felt sore in the first 10 minutes but loosened up and felt great at the finish of the run.
Tuesday: 9 miles (workout). So, i got lost going to American U to meet Murphy, Ban, Jake Marren for a workout. When I called Karl to plead for better direction than my Garmin was giving me, he mentioned that he was going to run over to Tilden middle with Jake while jake ran his repeat 200's... I jumped on it as I know where Tilden is! I warmed up 2 miles on the track... I went into a workout that involved 2 x 1600 and 2 x 800 (all 400 rest). This is the workout i stole from Patrick Murphy's proposal for the workout that took place at American. I felt like a pirate out there...
I was out in a hurry and went after the first interval.... Not real hard but harder than I have been going. I didn't expect to see a 4:43 on my watch when i completed interval 1 though!
Interval 2 felt equal in effort but i got off pace on lap 2-3 and ran 4:46.
I went into the first 800 just simply trying to run 2:20. I did just that. 2:20.01. I was a bit winded as I was having trouble breathing but my legs felt good still. I felt like I had bounce in my stride. I pushed the last 200 of the first 800 interval (as I was a bit slow through 400).
I had the plan for the last 1 that I would go through just a hair under 1:10 and try to put it down at 90% in the last 250. I did just that. I hit 400 in 68. and came back in 65 (2:13) for interval 800 #2.
I cooled down 3 miles total and called it a night. I felt good getting through this workout. The goal is still to get a PR on my very weak 5k PR (compared of course to my other PR's)... i am in no way saying that they are poor times... i just feel they do not compare to some of my other PR's in shorter and longer events. Sub 14:50 would be nice... I will be happy with sub 14:58 however.
Sunday: 13 miles (stop and go style). I went on course to cheer Reeves and Sloane during the 1/2 marathon and the marathon. I basically ran 35 minutes... I stopped a bit... I ran 25 (a good portion of this with Reeves on his cooldown, I went into sloane's hotel lobby and ate free food at the continental breakfast with Beth (after chris past the half marathon mark), I went back out on course and finished up an additional 35 minutes. I will call it 13 as I was not running slow when i was running... the problem was the stopping... but i think i needed it... I got the 1hr and half + in for running... it was just broken up
Monday: 8 miles: I discovered the short but enjoyable trails behind Tilden park on my run. I felt sore in the first 10 minutes but loosened up and felt great at the finish of the run.
Tuesday: 9 miles (workout). So, i got lost going to American U to meet Murphy, Ban, Jake Marren for a workout. When I called Karl to plead for better direction than my Garmin was giving me, he mentioned that he was going to run over to Tilden middle with Jake while jake ran his repeat 200's... I jumped on it as I know where Tilden is! I warmed up 2 miles on the track... I went into a workout that involved 2 x 1600 and 2 x 800 (all 400 rest). This is the workout i stole from Patrick Murphy's proposal for the workout that took place at American. I felt like a pirate out there...
I was out in a hurry and went after the first interval.... Not real hard but harder than I have been going. I didn't expect to see a 4:43 on my watch when i completed interval 1 though!
Interval 2 felt equal in effort but i got off pace on lap 2-3 and ran 4:46.
I went into the first 800 just simply trying to run 2:20. I did just that. 2:20.01. I was a bit winded as I was having trouble breathing but my legs felt good still. I felt like I had bounce in my stride. I pushed the last 200 of the first 800 interval (as I was a bit slow through 400).
I had the plan for the last 1 that I would go through just a hair under 1:10 and try to put it down at 90% in the last 250. I did just that. I hit 400 in 68. and came back in 65 (2:13) for interval 800 #2.
I cooled down 3 miles total and called it a night. I felt good getting through this workout. The goal is still to get a PR on my very weak 5k PR (compared of course to my other PR's)... i am in no way saying that they are poor times... i just feel they do not compare to some of my other PR's in shorter and longer events. Sub 14:50 would be nice... I will be happy with sub 14:58 however.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Towne Bank Shamrock 8k Race Story
I hitched a ride with Sloane and his girlfriend Beth down to VA Beach. We got down to Virginia beach around 5 or so. Once we checked in to our respected hotels, Sloane and I got in a nice shake out run of around 4.5 miles (chris went a bit further). We went out to dinner at PI zzeria... Sloane and I opted for the Chicken Parm and pasta while Beth ate the spaghetti and meatballs... At dinner, i started getting nervous for my first race... I usually get nervous but at the end of dinner I started feeling anxious for the race to start in the morning...
I went to bed at 10:15 feeling a bit stuffy from allergies (due to the nice weather) but nothing out of the ordinary for me this time of the year... I woke up at 1am and coughed and my chest burned and had that sick taste in my mouth... I went to the bathroom and coughed again... only to spit some awful congestion... I had the chills... could it be... the night before another race... i was getting sick??? I went back to bed... only to wake up at 3am for the same thing to happen... I said screw this and I layed/rolled around in bed until my alarm finally went off at 5am... I was angry at this point... so I strapped the shoes on and ran out the door at 5:15 for a 10 minute shake out run... It felt terrible... but i still didn't care... nothing was going to take this race from me... If I was throwing up something violent, i still would have been out there ready to put down my first race in over 4 months. I got back from the shake out... put the coffee maker on and turned the shower to its hottest setting... I stood in the steam (outside of the shower of course) and breathed in the hot moisture... It was soothing for my chest and cleared my head up quite well... I went into the shower, got out and started putting the armour on!(singlet and short with warm ups over top)... I had only 1 slice of tart of pop... as I didn't have much of an appetite compared to usual. at 7:15 I went out for my warm up... I came back took my warm ups off... 7:40 I was out the hotel and to the corral!!! I started really taking in the race scene... the people, the st. pattys day green and orange everywhere!!! the banners, the crazy bells they give to the wrong people... I soaked it all in... The GUN went off at 8:00am... I tucked in well into a third pack through mile 1... the first mile was 4:53 for me. I felt good... but not great. I dropped the pack i was working with and made the bridge to pack two... i came through two miles in 9:56 (5:03)... I was running faster than I predicted! I ran 5:13 for mile 3 (15:10)... i kind of zoned out but at the same time I am glad I did as when i saw this split... i left pack two and went after the line of stragglers that were coming off the front end (there was at least 25 people in front of me at this point). I hit 4 miles at 20:23 (5:13)... I caught David Cheromei and Joseph Ekuom, two kenyans. As I caught them I told myself that I would just go right by... I had 1 mile to go... if the wheels fall off... i have a slight tail wind for the last 800 home stretch... and its flat!!! I went by... Cheromei responded and put a surge back on me... I was then confined to sitting on his shoulder. We then heading towards the final turn that would leave us to the finall 800 meter straight... I have leg speed for being someone that considers himself now a pure distance runner. I went all in for the straight... I had some juice still in the tank... a little bit too much... I ran hard through the line and came in at an official 25:20 (4:56), good enough for 16th... I smiled as I went across the line... saying thank you to my body for letting me have this break through....
Some may think... why is wiggy excited... he is 30 seconds off his PR.... (that is just slightly faster than the average pace he ran for half marathon in 2008...)
My teammates, family and close friends know how important this race was to me... I lost running due to an achilles injury... at a time when I lost most of my life due to the start of a divorce with my ex.... Running became the fuel behind my recovery from this life changing event... When I got hurt... i felt that even more of me died... I had no method that could channel my anger, frustration, sadness, and confusion... like running for me did. I want to literally "run with it"... meaning... take this race as the start of what could be my best spring season ever in my career. I want this to be the best time of my life as well! Its a new life for me after all! I have been getting out more... I feel rejuvenated to do so and meet new people (which i have been and loving it!)...
Next on tap: University of MD Terrapin Invitational 5,000m (Sat 3/27/10)
I went to bed at 10:15 feeling a bit stuffy from allergies (due to the nice weather) but nothing out of the ordinary for me this time of the year... I woke up at 1am and coughed and my chest burned and had that sick taste in my mouth... I went to the bathroom and coughed again... only to spit some awful congestion... I had the chills... could it be... the night before another race... i was getting sick??? I went back to bed... only to wake up at 3am for the same thing to happen... I said screw this and I layed/rolled around in bed until my alarm finally went off at 5am... I was angry at this point... so I strapped the shoes on and ran out the door at 5:15 for a 10 minute shake out run... It felt terrible... but i still didn't care... nothing was going to take this race from me... If I was throwing up something violent, i still would have been out there ready to put down my first race in over 4 months. I got back from the shake out... put the coffee maker on and turned the shower to its hottest setting... I stood in the steam (outside of the shower of course) and breathed in the hot moisture... It was soothing for my chest and cleared my head up quite well... I went into the shower, got out and started putting the armour on!(singlet and short with warm ups over top)... I had only 1 slice of tart of pop... as I didn't have much of an appetite compared to usual. at 7:15 I went out for my warm up... I came back took my warm ups off... 7:40 I was out the hotel and to the corral!!! I started really taking in the race scene... the people, the st. pattys day green and orange everywhere!!! the banners, the crazy bells they give to the wrong people... I soaked it all in... The GUN went off at 8:00am... I tucked in well into a third pack through mile 1... the first mile was 4:53 for me. I felt good... but not great. I dropped the pack i was working with and made the bridge to pack two... i came through two miles in 9:56 (5:03)... I was running faster than I predicted! I ran 5:13 for mile 3 (15:10)... i kind of zoned out but at the same time I am glad I did as when i saw this split... i left pack two and went after the line of stragglers that were coming off the front end (there was at least 25 people in front of me at this point). I hit 4 miles at 20:23 (5:13)... I caught David Cheromei and Joseph Ekuom, two kenyans. As I caught them I told myself that I would just go right by... I had 1 mile to go... if the wheels fall off... i have a slight tail wind for the last 800 home stretch... and its flat!!! I went by... Cheromei responded and put a surge back on me... I was then confined to sitting on his shoulder. We then heading towards the final turn that would leave us to the finall 800 meter straight... I have leg speed for being someone that considers himself now a pure distance runner. I went all in for the straight... I had some juice still in the tank... a little bit too much... I ran hard through the line and came in at an official 25:20 (4:56), good enough for 16th... I smiled as I went across the line... saying thank you to my body for letting me have this break through....
Some may think... why is wiggy excited... he is 30 seconds off his PR.... (that is just slightly faster than the average pace he ran for half marathon in 2008...)
My teammates, family and close friends know how important this race was to me... I lost running due to an achilles injury... at a time when I lost most of my life due to the start of a divorce with my ex.... Running became the fuel behind my recovery from this life changing event... When I got hurt... i felt that even more of me died... I had no method that could channel my anger, frustration, sadness, and confusion... like running for me did. I want to literally "run with it"... meaning... take this race as the start of what could be my best spring season ever in my career. I want this to be the best time of my life as well! Its a new life for me after all! I have been getting out more... I feel rejuvenated to do so and meet new people (which i have been and loving it!)...
Next on tap: University of MD Terrapin Invitational 5,000m (Sat 3/27/10)
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Getting the itch!
Noooo... not the itch i teach about in Health class.... I am getting the ITCH TO RACE! i can't believe where I am at right now in respect to Early December... Everything was going great with my training in December... and it was the backbone of me (literally)... holding me through and making everything tolerable (which running never was like that for me)... when it was taken away from me due to an achilles injury... i had a lot of time to think and reflect on how I deglected my running.... I would get fit and not race... or I would get fit, race once... have a great first race in the phase and get injured or sick (due to too much progression in miles/intensity at once). I feel I turned the corner in listening to my body and taking it more cautiously with my training. I know that when race time comes, I am going to be competitive and throw it all down at the competition. The first step to this is my first race of the 2010 year Virginia Beach Shamrock 8k. Last years race winner ran 23:10. It is a stud field of africans as well as several quick american runners. I raced here in 2007 and ran 25:03 (off minimal training). I came into last week thinking 25:30 was the goal... I still will be satisfied if I run under that... But I think too that i could surprise myself... we will know by 8:45am on saturday morning the result.
The workout:
2 + warm up
1600: 4:53
-400 jog
3200: 10:19 (tempo effort)
-400 jog
1600: 4:51
I began the workout with Dirk, Patrick Murphy and Jimmy Daly. Dirk is in sick freak shape so he ran the first mile with me (exchanging pacing duties at the 800 mark) but after that he lit up his own version of this workout i proposed (I believe 4:53, 9:36, 4:43... were Dirks splits..."I felt very smooth" was quoted by Mr. de Heer post-workout!).
After interval 1 was over, Patrick and I decided to run the 3200 together. We began the 3200 interval with a 75 opening quarter (my pacing has been muy horrible since my return). Charlie Ban was also present for the workout (as he was coming up with some very creative gestures of confidence to the 4 of us working out)... Patrick was quoted saying, "Charlie keeps saying the same line to us every time we run by." "yeah, this is the 3200 meter tempo from hell." i replied... Haha we were just messing around with ol' Chaz... it actually helped a lot with Charlie there and Jake joining him at the end of the workout (just like in a race when people cheer you on...) you get a sense of rejuv! Patrick and I ran 10:19 for the 3200 (5:07/5:13... as I as all over the place but still got the time we were using as a guideline).
I went into the final mile looking at another 4:55. I ended up running this solo but felt like I was even for the most part and at equal comfort as the first mile (I felt more smooth on the mile intervals than I did for the 3200 at tempo...) weird.
2.5 cool down... 10 for the day
The workout:
2 + warm up
1600: 4:53
-400 jog
3200: 10:19 (tempo effort)
-400 jog
1600: 4:51
I began the workout with Dirk, Patrick Murphy and Jimmy Daly. Dirk is in sick freak shape so he ran the first mile with me (exchanging pacing duties at the 800 mark) but after that he lit up his own version of this workout i proposed (I believe 4:53, 9:36, 4:43... were Dirks splits..."I felt very smooth" was quoted by Mr. de Heer post-workout!).
After interval 1 was over, Patrick and I decided to run the 3200 together. We began the 3200 interval with a 75 opening quarter (my pacing has been muy horrible since my return). Charlie Ban was also present for the workout (as he was coming up with some very creative gestures of confidence to the 4 of us working out)... Patrick was quoted saying, "Charlie keeps saying the same line to us every time we run by." "yeah, this is the 3200 meter tempo from hell." i replied... Haha we were just messing around with ol' Chaz... it actually helped a lot with Charlie there and Jake joining him at the end of the workout (just like in a race when people cheer you on...) you get a sense of rejuv! Patrick and I ran 10:19 for the 3200 (5:07/5:13... as I as all over the place but still got the time we were using as a guideline).
I went into the final mile looking at another 4:55. I ended up running this solo but felt like I was even for the most part and at equal comfort as the first mile (I felt more smooth on the mile intervals than I did for the 3200 at tempo...) weird.
2.5 cool down... 10 for the day
Getting there
Sunday: 13 miles... Hilly (Tyler Park, PA).
I had the company of Mike Gross and Sean Keefe (one of my ex-runners i coached at CR South). We ran a nice hilly 13 miles through Tyler (if you know tyler... i don't even have to note the hills... there is about an 800 meter stretch of no hills in the entire 8 mile loop that we ran.
Monday: 8 miles... Feeling a bit tired.
I returned home to Rockville... I had trouble with the daylight savings time and falling asleep... I got home, ate a small meal and headed out... it was very motivating to be running in light for a change after work!!! I could actually explore my new territory now! I ran down to to the Bethesda Trolley trail and took that out for 30 minutes. I turned around and came back for just under an hour and easily 8 miles plus... I didn't push the run as I would consider it an easy run (recovery running is what I have been doing much of). I have a workout tomorrow... nothing taxing... but at the same time the fastest workout i have done thus far in respect to the distances I am covering, in respect to the paces I am looking to try and get.
I had the company of Mike Gross and Sean Keefe (one of my ex-runners i coached at CR South). We ran a nice hilly 13 miles through Tyler (if you know tyler... i don't even have to note the hills... there is about an 800 meter stretch of no hills in the entire 8 mile loop that we ran.
Monday: 8 miles... Feeling a bit tired.
I returned home to Rockville... I had trouble with the daylight savings time and falling asleep... I got home, ate a small meal and headed out... it was very motivating to be running in light for a change after work!!! I could actually explore my new territory now! I ran down to to the Bethesda Trolley trail and took that out for 30 minutes. I turned around and came back for just under an hour and easily 8 miles plus... I didn't push the run as I would consider it an easy run (recovery running is what I have been doing much of). I have a workout tomorrow... nothing taxing... but at the same time the fastest workout i have done thus far in respect to the distances I am covering, in respect to the paces I am looking to try and get.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
2/28-3/6 50 miles!
Sunday: 10 miles (medium) in Gaithersburg... Last run as a resident of G-Burg
Monday: 9 miles... Trails of Cabin John (first run as a Rockville/N.Bethesda Resident! Ran with Karl and Ben Stern... Felt great
Tuesday: 6 miles with Karl around N.Bethesda... Felt good
Wednesday: (10 miles total)... 3 up... 2 down...5 mile tempo at AU. started off at 5:23 and lowered it slightly from there... came home in 5:05 feeling great!!! can't believe it!
Thursday: Ran 8 miles with Karl around N.Bethesda... felt a bit sore in the hip flexor area... but no achilles ache at all!!!
Friday: OFF... I had to take a detour on my way to Lock Haven/Penn State and the detour was 65 miles out of the way... so, i was unable to get my run in as planned once arriving (due to dinner reservation).
Saturday: Ran 7 miles with Blood and Zondlo. Felt great running around the Penn State campus.
50 miles total for week!
Monday: 9 miles... Trails of Cabin John (first run as a Rockville/N.Bethesda Resident! Ran with Karl and Ben Stern... Felt great
Tuesday: 6 miles with Karl around N.Bethesda... Felt good
Wednesday: (10 miles total)... 3 up... 2 down...5 mile tempo at AU. started off at 5:23 and lowered it slightly from there... came home in 5:05 feeling great!!! can't believe it!
Thursday: Ran 8 miles with Karl around N.Bethesda... felt a bit sore in the hip flexor area... but no achilles ache at all!!!
Friday: OFF... I had to take a detour on my way to Lock Haven/Penn State and the detour was 65 miles out of the way... so, i was unable to get my run in as planned once arriving (due to dinner reservation).
Saturday: Ran 7 miles with Blood and Zondlo. Felt great running around the Penn State campus.
50 miles total for week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)