May 25 - June 5
Some biking, including an impromptu race around Lake Harriet against a much faster individual. Some hiking up north. Some occasional sprinting across streets in downtown Minneapolis. Starting to think it's getting better all the time. But I don't expect to be racing at GB.
Taking the time for a number of things that weren't important yesterday:
1) Some front page congratulations to SCRC for their second consecutive Woods to Water victory. Congratulations also to the SCRC members who ensured that we had a team at Lake Nokomis on Memorial Day - one outright PR (Merchant), 3 post-collegiate PRs (BD, Sherm, Giggles), one season best (Mad Dog).
2) Sgt. Pepper was released three years after Congress passed Title VII. Forty years later, if you used to be cruel to your woman, it turns out she can't complain.
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June 4
7 (50:59)--really nice and slow around Alton Baker park. Nice to be running and not have traffic trying to mow you down and acutal trails to run on. Felt ridiculously out of shape, but that's somethng that can be fixed.
June 5
6.5 (41:58)--significantly quicker than yesterday. Legs still feel a little awkward to be running, but not the uncoordinated feel that I often get after having taken weeks off. Maybe that means that things will come back a bit more quickly.
On another note: Does anyone have Coach T's email address? If I remember correctly, he will be out in Eugene this weekend and I would like to get a hold of him. Thanks.
June 6
13 (1:24ish) Franklin Hills Wkt.
It's about a 4.5 mile run over to the hill, so most of the miles today were in warm-up/cool-down running. But I was aiming for a harder, but controlled wkt today- nothing too strenuous. Ended up with 4 hills (stopped before they started getting too fast) in 2:38, 2:36, 2:36 and 2:34. The third one felt great, and I thought about doing 5 or 6, but then when I sped up again it started feeling less good, so I cut it off. I did feel pretty strong, and recovered quickly. An encouraging workout- I haven't run Franklin Hills in a long time.
Wednesday PM: 4.5 miles, did 15+ minutes of threshold in the middle, same workout I did last week, but about 30 seconds faster for the same portion of threshold. I knew I was running faster the whole way, but felt good until the last few minutes. It was definitely the best I've felt in at least a couple weeks, nice to not feel like ass after only 2 steps down the block. I guess doing a normal run on Sunday instead of a long run was a good idea after all.
Seriously excited about running with Alison and Jessica on Saturday!
June 5: A & W Ext, 43:13. Felt pretty sprightly, did the ol' holdback thing, but am starting to feel pretty good. The turnover is coming around and even though I feel terrible most of the day and have trouble staying awake, I have tons of energy. It's odd.
June 6: AM WF 20, untimed. Felt great. Slept in on purpose on account of not enough shut-eye lately. Just a quick jaunt to start the day.
PM LSCC + Ran over to Sherm's condo, then a magical mystery tour of Bryn Mawr and points unknown. 1:14:21 total, so not too bad. Ran pretty quick to get to Sherm's and didn't feel super easy but there were indications of capability to run fast. The timing of the rebirth of my legs appears to be pretty good thus far. Bedar.
June 6
8--3 mile warm up, then I helped pace Mike through the first 200 of his 400 workout. Wound up doing 8x200 in 33-35 with 300 jog rest. 3 mile cool down. Sort of fun to run a bit faster, especially when it doesn't hurt or anything. Definitely could not have completed the corresponding 400 workout though.
June 7
7.5 (48:51)--Nice run in the morning. The weather here has just been fantastic for running recently, not getting much above 60--makes it just really darn nice to be back running again. This will all change of course, but at least I am getting to enjoy while it lasts.
2nd try:
this is shit we could probably all do better (from an interview with scott simmons, cabada's coach):
MR: I recently read an interview with Fasil Bizuneh. In it, he talked about what you had him doing that led to his success. It sounded as though you’re not a big fan of the taper.
SS: It depends what you mean by “the taper.” Again, when we go back to the specific demands of distance running, and we realize how large a component the aerobic capacity is, why in the world would we want to get away from that at any point in the training? I think when people taper, they’re hoping for some magic bullet; they’re hoping to make something out of nothing in essence; they’re hoping for some great physiological change to come about by doing less than what they were doing before, and that’s not how the body adapts. [People] think, “Well. I’ve trained so hard for so long, now the body needs this recovery and this regeneration.” But that recovery and that regeneration need to go hand in hand with progression and hard work—whether it’s volume or pace or whatever. If they’re not recovering as they’re training through the training period, then adaptation is not happening, and to think that all of a sudden when they can take two weeks easy it’s going to occur is kind of foolish.
June 7
6 (41:07) Lake St. Maze.
Eh. Felt the hills from yesterday, but nothing more than muscle soreness. Haven't done real hills in a long time.
June 8
8.5 (57:38) Franklin-Lake.
Felt good. It was cooler this morning, and I think it helped. Two miles, courtesy of Pat Russell, in 6:44 and 6:40. I'm guessing the pace might have gotten down to around 6:30 by the end, but I made an effort to keep it easy.
After all, I need to taper more. Ha.
Crap it's been a while since I posted.
June 7: Right of Way less-than-8 47:13. Officially started thinking about the marathon. Promptly freaked out. Coffee did not help that. Luckily I got a lot of sleep. I think I'm gonna need it.
June 8: MTPO 1:07:44. Felt good, started out pretty slow and then was rolling along pretty well by the end.
June 9: 3ish miles to track, 18:36, 4 x 400 @ mp, 82, 80, 82, 80. I swear I was close to feelin' it. Was lookin' for 81's. Then 2 x 200, building into them. 34, 32. That may sound slow, 'cause it is, but, did the accelerating thing, so, like, each step was faster than the last, and, like, that meant I had to start awful slow 'cause my fast ain't that fast. Anyway, was gonna do a couple more but got a few twinges of stupid stuff and figgered it was enough. 3 miles home from track, 18:35. Negative split. Booyah.
June 10: Right-of-Way +, 8-9ish, 57:41. Felt great, real good mechanically, heat wasn't too much of a bother despite being 86 degrees by 10am. Also, slept in again, as evidenced by the time at which I noted the temperature. Bedar.
let's see...
tuesday: 3.5, pretty slow.
wednesday: 8ish, with lscc crew.
thursday and friday: not a thing.
saturday: 10.5, ford street loop. a portion of it with gehring, who I met on the ford street bridge. hung over, and my body was not happy with my decision to run.
sunday: 8, franklin loop plus some add on along the river. humid as hell, but a nice breeze and running at 7 pm helped out. had some dude in baggy, bright orange shorts and a backwards hat smoke me going down the hill by the U art museum.
week: 41.5 in 5, one workout, long of 10.5. felt tired the last couple days, and lots of little kinks running, but I think that has to do with my social decisions this weekend rather than any running-related fatigue.
June 8
6.5 (39:19)--nice and easy around the Amazon trail. Got absolutely nothing accomplished at work all day, so at least the run was productive.
June 9
Steep Hill 5k--Figured that it would be fun to go out and "race" despite being woefully out of shape. Confirmed that I am in fact out of shape, but had fun running a trail 5k in 16:54. Momentarily thought about going out with the leaders and seeing how long I could hold on, but found out after 50 meters that that I was how long I could hold on for, so then dropped back with the 40 year olds and tried to not to embarass myself. Fun times. 8 miles total for the day.
June 10
7.5 (43:57)--after watching the Pre Classic (see below) I was just really pumped to go out for a run, so I couldn't help but run a bit uptempo. Legs were thankfully not sore for the activities of Saturday.
So yeah I want to the Pre Classic and it was just awesome. Nick Symmonds' race was phenomenal. That Russian guy was so pissed when he got passed at the line. It was obvious that he expected to have the last word on kicking down the straightaway. And Mottram looked so smooth running 8:03 for the 2 mile. It looked like he was just finishing up a normal workout--in like 54 seconds for the last quarter. Tegenkamp also ran a hell of a smart race; Webb and Goucher, not so much. Anyway....
Weekly total=50 miles. A great first week back. Hopefully running stays this fun for the duration of the summer
monday: 5, would have been 6 but nick is a wuss. mighty hot out, but otherwise a pleasant run.
June 11: Short-Line with a pause for 6 x 18-20 second stride. 33 mins plus the quick-quick, I'll call it all 5ish. Felt alright, the strides were a good idea, but stopped after six as the right calf got a little anxious. With all of this marathon talk and then moving at that faster pace I think it was getting nervous.
June 12: Threat-Level 8 45:54. Did the middle 14 minutes at mp, it felt pretty good. Was pleasantly surprised that the run turned out so well. It started out quite slar and more uncomfortable, but eventually got into a rhythm. It's hot out. Flipped the AC on last night, but alas, did so late enough in the evening that the poor lil' sucker just couldn't catch up last night. By tonight I look forward to some cooler sleeping temperature, but yeah. Not so much last night. Oh well, my bad. Bedar.
June 9
7.5 (48:00) Wkt.
Ran a couple miles WU, ending at Macalester, where I did a light 2x mile workout. Wanted to get the feel for half-marathon pace, which is (hopefuly) 5:30s. Ran 5:31, 5:28 with a 400 jog in between. Felt just slightly faster than comfortable, which I guess is a good sign. We'll see on Saturday...
June 10
12ish (1:25ish) You Don't Want To Go This Way.
Planned to explore the trail along the river all the way down to Ford, which I've never done. Aside from a few scampers in the river, all was good for a while. Except it was a million degrees because I slept in. But at least it was shady. Then, the trail ended. Up the really steep almost-cliff to my right, I could see a fence, presumably where the trail was I needed to be on. Rather than run back a mile or so to where I last saw trails going that direction, I opted to scale the almost-cliff. It was actually steep enough that I fell down it a couple times, and resorted to kicking toeholds into the dirt for purchase. Eventually, I made it up to the fence, hopped it and finished the run. I bruised some part of my quad somewhere in the cliffhanger-style struggle, but mostly this run sucked because of the heat. I should've gotten up earlier.
June 11
6 (39:57) No Name.
Felt ok, nothing special. Planned to run more like 8 today, but after feeling so beat yesterday, I thought I'd take it a little easier today. Pat Russell says I ran non-consecutive miles in 6:49 and 6:41.
June 12
6 (41:30) No Name.
Same as yesterday. Except Pat now says 7:02 and 7:00. Tried to run really easy, and felt like I succeeded. Legs already feeling much better than the weekend.
50mi. last week and today I completed my 8 hours of trail work on a Forest Service crew -- which is also a requirement for entry into Wasatch. Some good experience underbucking with a cross-cut saw on a few 40 inch logs that were suspended 6 feet above the trail. No chainsaws allowed on the in the National Forest. It's amazing what gets done this way.\
Run fast at Grandman's and the GB 1/2 this weekend!
June 13
6ish (42ish) Wkt.
Don't call it a comeback. WU over to Macalester track, plus some. 800 at threshold, 4x 200 with a 200 jog, 800 at threshold. All untimed, though I had to resist the urge to start timing them just to know the times. I think the threshold parts especially were pretty slow, but I don't really care. The 200s were basically glorified strides for a little longer than usual. Tried to focus on getting my knees up and driving my arms. Consequenty my quads are fatigued. Not tired, though.
I swam like a freakin' Maori pearler this morning. No joke. 2500 yards with blessedly infrequent pauses. Then I aquajogged a little, but it kind of felt like eating a fat-free Fig Newton after a slice of chocolate mousse cake: not bad on its own merit, but inferior to the point of uselessness in regards to that which came before.
June 11
10 (1:05:52)--In-laws. A great run in the morning. Still great weather.
June 12
am: 4 with Kate. Calf was not feeling good, so I cut short and decided to wait until the evening to finish everything
pm: 6.5 (41:30)--Calf felt much better and it was a gorgeous evening to boot.
June 13
10 (1:04:54)--Felt pretty good again. Last run with Mike before his move to Omaha. Had to keep him from freaking out about his last final too much. Ah, school...what's the big deal (I suppose I'll remember in a couple of months)?
In other news...had a great lunch with Coach T. He seemed to be doing very well and happy that Trent was 1) graduating with an MBA and 2) getting married at the end of the summer. Also seemed psyched about coaching at Eden Prairie just for kicks. so very good to see him
Now it's off to Alaska for 3 weeks. Putting satellite transmitters on godwits, which should be awesome.
June 13: LSCC, for whatever amount of time. A lovely, lovely evening. Checked out the new park at St. Anthony Falls--whoever thought that was a good idea was sooo right. Following the run Betsy spoiled us with some fantastical lasagna. She even made enough to send us away with leftovers, so guess what's for dinner tonight!!! :) Came home to find Rueben there. All around, fabulous evening!
June 14: Short Line "5" 32:53. So it's short. But I'm not exactly tall, so I don't hold that against the run. In fact, I kind of like it. Got in a couple strides along the rr track portion. Legs felt like lead. Absolutely terrible. I take this as a good sign. At this time last year, I felt better than I ever have before in my life. Look where that got me on Saturday . . . bedar.
June 14
am:4 with Kate in Eugene
pm: 8.25 (51:07) in Anchorage on the Coastal Trail. Gorgeous afternoon in Anchorage. Nice to be back home for a little bit.
Good luck on Saturday fellahs! CC Slab!
tues-friday: 0, 5, 4, 2.
saturday: 26.2. 3:05:50 on the chip. pleased with the race.
plan was to pace for 3 flat. went out in the 6:50-7:00 range for the first 8, and stayed in that range through 19 with some high 6:30s and low 6:40s thrown in. went out very relaxed and had a very nice rhythm from about mile 5 to 14. I knew I might be going a bit too fast for my own good but it was well in control and still nice and easy. started to fight it a bit at 16, held pace through 19, and then started to slow down as the pace and heat got to me. did some math at 21 and knew breaking 3 was not in the cards, so I stopped to take a needed leak and focused on keeping things steady for the last 5 to make sure I got under 3:10.
all in all, a positive result for me. no hip/achilles problems or other injury issues in the aftermath, which is good. aside from lots of quad soreness and a wicked sunburn that itches like hell today, I feel okay.
plan is now to take a couple weeks off/easy, and then hop back on the training horse for TC this fall. continued training will generate faster times for me because I still have some rust to work off, but obvious areas of improvement training-wise include bumping my mileage up (hovering in the mid-50s to low 60s seems realistic) and getting more long runs in (only one of any significance before g'mas).
nice racing by other folks as well, and a fun weekend.
Nice job Mr. Treehorn. A fine race for your marathon debut (Ce n'est pas ?) and great to hear that you are already geared up for Twin Cities in the fall. I am getting some tentative early-days commitments from a local runner friend and Sarah as well to come back and run TC's again in 2008. it would be fun to do especially if a similar number of Slab City athletes are partaking. In any case...
June 11-17
45mi. Hoping for about 10 more this week, but so it goes. I was really tired at the end of the week when additional running might have happened. Still, a solid 3.5+ hr/20+mi trail run with 3400 feet of elevation gain WAS accomplished. 4 hours and beyond begins this week.
June 15: 26 mins of running 'round up at Spirit Mountain above Duluth. Had the same weird light-headed woozy shitastic feeling as I had during the marathon last year. Good to know it seems intent on becoming an annual thing. Beautiful view, some bittersweet thoughts, but I gotta say I felt good about spending a little time up there.
June 16: Uff-dah. Goal: run 5:25's until my head blew off. Goal: achieved, sorta. First mile in 5:27, then my head blew off. Was about 20 secs slower on the next one, and for the next bunch of miles it was all I could do to keep it under 6 mins. Then it got slower than that. And slower than that.
Realization # 1: There's no reason not to experiment with a different taper plan, 'cause this sure as shit doesn't seem to be working out for me.
Realization # 2: Preparing to race a marathon all-out is more than a full-time job. Therefore it's either gonna take some more advanced time management skills or a reduction in other obligations in order to run the sort of race I want to.
Realization # 3: Grandma lost that lovin' feelin'. I mean, I hate it when she does that, but I think it's time to start seeing other races for a while, then perhaps come back when we're both a little older and a little wiser.
C'est la vie.
On a less exciting note, most if not all of you that read the blog here have met my best friend Daws. He's probably licked you, gotten fur in your clothes, and rubbed his big noggin against your legs.
Daws turned 14 back on June 7th which is gettin' to be pretty far along for a big dog like him. He's been in pretty rough shape for a while now and this weekend he took a turn for the worse. He couldn't stand up by himself all weekend and he ate his last meal while we were running the marathon. On Sunday evening we called the vet and scheduled her to come out to the house tonight.
True to form, my obstinate blockheaded buddy to the end had a fantastic day today. He still wouldn't eat, but he was walking under his own power, tried to chase some rabbits and squirrels, and generally spent the day showing off. I got to my parents house after work and he was outside trying to climb up the back steps rather than use his ramp. He hasn't been able to use stairs for over a year.
When I got there, he looked fabulous, strong, proud, and so happy. We walked around the yard and he started getting a slightly frenzied look in his eye. He asked to go to the front yard so I opened the gate for him and we strolled around for a while. The whole time his back legs were getting weaker and weaker and his back was getting lower and lower.
Our neighbor from across the street brought his lil' dog out for a walk and Daws wanted to run across the street and say hello. When stumbled over towards the curb he figured out that he wasn't going to be able to make it all the way over there. Ken came over with his dog Charlie to see how Daws was doing these days. I kinda mumbled a little bit and luckily my dad came out and they started talking about it so I didn't have to. Instead I kept strolling along with my compadre as he used up the last of his strength. He started walking on the tops of his rear paws rather than on the bottoms and then right out under the Ginko tree he collapsed. We stayed there petting him, holding him, and talking to him in the cool grass with the loveliest sunshine filtering down through the leaves.
We were all out there when the vet arrived, telling Daws all of our favorite things he'd ever done. His ears perked up and he lifted his head and just watched as she walked towards us, but he never tried to move. She sat and joined in petting him and talked with us for a while to be sure we were all comfortable with what was about to happen.
Once it was time, she gave him a sedative to calm him even further. Even when it took effect, since it was Daws, well, you could hardly tell he'd gotten more laid back. Once he was nearly asleep we said our last goodbyes and he was given another shot. Right as he was taking his last breaths, the sun broke through the leaves with a brilliant flash, and then was covered with a cloud.
Anyway, my apologies for all of that, but I thought some of you might like to know and it certainly feels at least a little better to be able to share that.
Bedar.
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