Wednesday, November 29, 2006

I've sucked the milk out of a thousand cows...

November 29

5mi, 34:17 (6:whatever/mi): Default w/Nick. Darker than a black steer's tuckus on a moonless prairie night.

November 28

Day Off.

November 27

Day Off.

November 26

Day Off. Happy Birthday, Schrades.

Week: 28.5mi. I'd be taking a week or more off if it weren't for Club Nats on 12/9. Instead it'll be a few days and then some maintainin' before collecting myself for '07.

November 25

9mi, Conard HS Alumni Race (5k): 16:41 (aprx), 1st. Decent run over a tough course. Led the first mile in 5:15 to test legs. Legs failed test, so I tucked in behind Schuyler Schuster (Alumni Race Champ '04) and Ryan Rodd (Alumni Race Champ '05) and we ran the soggy, rocky, hilly second mile in 5:35. Sky moved to the front with a mile to go and started throwing surges, but I sat on his shoulder while we dropped Ryan. Moved past Sky with 150 or 200 to go to nab my first victory after a pair of runner-up finishes and several third-place showings. Course PR.

November 24

4mi, 25:52 (6:28/mi): Salt Block. Easy recovery. Nice weather, a day late.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Shovels, Rakes, Implements of Destruction...

November 23

Manchester Road Race: 4.748mi, 25:01 (5:17/mi, 30th Overall): Well, OK. Not what I wanted, but a boatload of silver linings. Course PR by 29s, best place at Manchester by 9 and converts to an 8K PR. And, of course, The Church Bros swept Neal Hannan. Also, congrats to Chaypaw for his 2+ minute Manchester PR! This was the first time I'd ever focused on racing at Manchester. It's tough. The only normal mile is the first mile, the second is entirely uphill (not just half as I'd remembered) and the third is an almost-too-steep downhill so regaining any sense of rythym or pace is a huge mental effort over the final 1.748mi. Add cold wind and rain and the resulting leg-lock and...yeah. It's amazing anyone ever races well at Manchester. Splits: 4:53, 5:53, 5:08, 5:18, 3:49. Seeing 5:53 on my watch was very jarring mentally and I never really recovered. Next year...

November 22

4mi, 27:28, (6:52/mi): Salt Block. Ok pre-meet but legs felt pretty heavy, hopefully just from the flight. 4xaccel after.

November 21

Day Off.

Monday, November 20, 2006

Take Lyndale to the horizon/Take Nicollet out to the ocean

November 20

4mi, 27:07 (6:47/mi): Shortcut. Rushed run, squeezed between a late exit from the office and a swapped teaching night, but this will let me take tomorrow off as planned. Legs felt great, not sore at all. Only had time for a few short accells before class, but felt decent on those as well. Now, to travel roughly from Nicollet out to the ocean...

When they kiss they spit white noise

November 19

8mi, Wkout. Turkey Run (5k) around Como Lake. 1.5up, 5k@T, 3+ down. 16:42 (5:15, 5:35, 5:52 for the last 1.1). Felt very easy, controlled and smooth. Legs were colder than I expected, probably because it was low 30s, not low 40s as I'd thought. Was trying to run 5:20s-5:25s so I backed off the leaders (Amy Lyons and some HS kid) after a mile, forgetting that their next mile would probably be right on for my goal pace. And it was. Caught them with a short accel (<60m) during the third mile and pressed a little to 5:20 pace so I wouldn't have to decide whether or not to kick against Amy to the finish. Overall effort was definately threshold or easier and, per Hooley's design, felt better at the finish than I did at the start. Good final prep for Manchester, where hopefully the temperature will be slightly warmer.

Week: 31mi. And a grand total of 10mi left before the gun goes off on Thanksgiving Day!

November 18

4mi, 29:32 (7:22/mi): Shortcut. Easy, a little chilly, legs lively. A couple accells after.

November 17

Day Off. Only sort of planned, but it's the taper taper.

November 16

5mi, 38:55 (who knows?): Abbreviated Lake St. w/LSCC. Could tell that the 400s were lingering in the legs a little bit, but run was slow, easy and unaffected.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

I hear them all, I hear them all, I hear them all...

November 15

7mi, Wkout. 2.5up, 8x400m w/2:00R, 2.5down. Timed selectively: #1 - 73, #5 - 68. Guessing most were 67-70. Good workout in flats aiming for the ambiguous 85% mark perscribed by a post-positive real consumer of all the food. Legs were heavy on the last two, but none of that hardcore lactic acid stuff. Recovered well on the cool down and finished the workout feeling like I had a few more in me. Also completed the first full set of sprint drills that I can remember in a long time...almost fell over.

November 14

7mi, 48:08 (6:53/mi): Default + xtra w/Nick. Legs felt surprisingly good on one of those crispairmornings.

November 13

Day Off.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Did they bang the drum slowly, did they play the fife lowly?

November 12

9mi, 1:02:59 (7:00/mi): Ford-Franklin. Good easy run working the hills and the spectating out of my legs. In the taper and figure out the last couple of honing workouts. And rest.

Week: 50mi. Fine. Hadn't realized until Thursday that the race was only two weeks away. Made me feel better about not getting in mileage...

November 11

8mi, Wkout. 4xCemetary Miles, 3min R. Actually more like 4x5min segment, since this was all unmeasured. 5:10, 4:53, 4:57, 4:57. Pretty close, I suspect. Biz was also there doing some kind of downhill 400s workout (approximate splits: 65/85 down and up). But it give me someone to chase on the ups. Felt ok and fairly strong on the uphills. Downhills were tough and definately where each interval hurt the most.

November 10

7mi, 49:48 (7:07/mi): LS8. Eh, ok. 200s took more out of the legs than I'd thought, but good stretching after.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Hey, Hey There You Go Now, Baby, Dancing All Alone In Your Room

November 9

10mi, wkout. 16x400m @ T, 45s R. 4x200m, 200m walk/jog R. 72, 73, 77, 74, 78, 76, 76, 75, 75, 76, 75, 74, 73, 73, 75, 74, 30-hi, 31-lo, 31-lo, 31-hi. Well, OK. Had been aiming for 78s on the 400s, averaged around 75-hi/76-lo, but obviously things were kind of all over the place. Wind contributed I'm sure. None of it felt harder than threshold, and 45s was plenty of recovery. The 200s were into the wind but I'm still pretty frustrated that I wasn't under 30 for any of them given how hard (I thought) I was running for those.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

You Were Light Revelation

November 8

11mi, 1:12:10 (6:34/mi): Ford-Franklin+xtra. Felt great running shirtless in, um, November. Fantastic, and legs felt nice and rested after these last couple of days.

November 7

5mi, 33:24 (6:41/mi): Shortcut+xtra. Rushed. Sacrificed something like 2 or 3 miles for representative democracy. It's an investment, though, since I'm sure those wacky left-wingers will socialize enough stuff to give me time for an extra 2-3mi every day. I mean, unless Michele Bachmann and God have other plans.

November 6

Day Off.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Sometimes when I run alone, I hum and pray and/sometimes. I close my eyes/to see what happens.

November 5

13mi, 1:27:51 (6:45/mi): NE and back + xtra. First half with Phil, which was Phantastic. Felt great in absolutely beautiful weather, and it was nice to have some time to consider my racing record against Biz since Grandma's: 4-3 in races where both of us have been registered. Just interesting is all...

Week: 70.5. Decent. Also, congrats to Jill and Schrades on their MARS domination. Pending...

November 4

9mi, Wkout. 4x1600m (3@T, 1@Race Pace, 60s R) 5:21, 5:20, 5:19, 4:58. Ugh. Was hoping to do two more sub-5 but legs just didn't have it today. Even Threshold felt easy aerobically but legs were tightening. Add intestinal requirements during #4 and you get a shorter workout. Oh well.

November 3

8mi, 55:18 (6:55/mi): LS8+xtra. Nice run. Overdressed. Legs a little heavy. Typical.

What?

Drop off run from Tom's house. I should probably contact Scholi about some new shoes.

Friday, November 03, 2006

Everybody's Your Best Friend When You're Doing Well, I Mean Good

November 2

9mi, 1:04:57 (7:13/mi): LSCC etc. Good easy run. Need to locate winter apparel. Right hammy tight after yesterday. I think I'll be alright but I don't know for sure/like every other unindicted co-conspirator.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Out Of The Sidehatch

November 1

10.5mi, UMN Track. 3up, 20x200m w/200m jog rec, 2.5down. Good workout on a cold, windy day. Timed selectively. #1 - 35mid, #5 - 32mid, #16 - 33low, #20 - 30high. Guessing I averaged around 33s. Felt decent running faster, but need to start doing some drills and strides so that I stop falling back on my heels.