September 3-5
4mi, Off (yoga), Off.
People are always coming up to me on the street and saying, "Tom, we love your work on the blog. It's just, well, sometimes we want to read a heartrending description of the General Difficulties you face each day as an unassailably attractive 25 year old white male in the midwest blessed with social grace and the genius of soul-defining wisdom." It happens all the time.
September 2
Day Off. It's worth remembering that weeks are artificial units of trainaj and that one does not automatically recover because it is Monday.
Week: Weak. 48mi/5days.
September 1
21mi, 2:20ish. 12-13up, 5@MP, The Rest down. All on the TCM course w/Dan & Nick. Sherman made the more reasonable decision to sleep until 3 or 4pm. Picked it up with Dan when we hit the river: 6:11, 6:08, 6:03, 5:59, 5:58. It got hot and we packed it in. Dan was chipper enough to bound on the cool down. I was not.
August 31
10mi, easy. Run Rabbit w/Gehring. Felt decent.
August 30
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. My cup runneth over.
August 29
9mi, wkout. 4mi WU, 2x1600m @T, 3mi CD. The stands at the U's track were about 1/4 full for my planned 6x1600m effort. Such is the blessing of greatness. Alas, the blessing failed to extend to my physical prowess, and my fans turned on me. So fickle, the commoner. Quickly uninterested in my Human Struggle, they chose instead to watch the glittering marching band in the parking lot behind the track. I writhed to 5:37, 5:36, 83s and looked, gasping, to the vacant heavens. Faintly, masked by the horns and drums and stomping to my right, a child applauded. It was not hopeful, but it was a good thing. I think it is maybe the best of things.
August 28
Day Off. Litigating.
August 27
4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
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Let's see...Last week was 91 miles again to complete my cycle of 4 hard weeks (to be followed by an easy week). The week ended with a good long run of 2:06 (19+ miles).
More recently:
September 5
11.5--6x1000 with 400 rest (3:11, 3:08, 3:09, 3:08, 3:09, 3:07) plus 3 up and down. Felt pretty good and kept things right at threshold. Would have added two more but we needed to get to class.
September 6
10.5--Cayuga Trails in 1:14:01--A great run. I am finally learning the trails well enough so that I don't have to stop every couple of minutes to make sure that I am going the right way and not about to run off a cliff.
On a different note, Hooley, you might appreciate that Kate had a kid who missed class the first week, then missed class the second week, then finally sent an email asking why the class wasn't meeting in room 210. Well the class was meeting in room 115 and had always been scheduled to meet in room 115. Apparently the kid had gone to room 210 two weeks in a row and sat there waiting for people to show up. And, only after two weeks, did he consider finally asking someone where the class was meeting. Brilliant. Not quite as bad as not being able to figure out how to use the elevator, or whatever it was, but getting there.
Okay, so. . .
Last week, ended up with 100 miles. Did some running, including a nice jog up towards the Continental Divide between MT and ID, another jog up the Alaska Basin trail in south Teton Canyon. Just missed a pack of bears--according to cute witnesses, the yearling scattered up one side of the canyon while the momma took three young cubs up the other side.
Then there was the "marathon" Was running fairly well, keeping the effort more conservative than last year but was actually ahead of pace at the bottom of the canyon. At about 15 the world exploded and I trudged to the aid station at 16. After refueling and accepting the onset of a pretty intense bout of altitude sickness, I decided to carry on. Walked the next uphill, then pretty soon was also needing to walk the flats, then the downhills. Got in a solid 10 mile hike to close out the race. Walking sucks. 5:23:06 or something for the "race." Still a blast though, and such a fantastic group of people to be around. My homeboy Z won the thing, overtaking this big-ass dude named Ray in the last mile. Z and his wife are fantastic which made it super nice to see him win it. I was just heading out for the last 5 miles when he was coming to the end. He did note as he ran towards me with a high five that my course record was still alive and well.
Monday: off. Was driving, but would have stopped to run if my right hip were not yelling at me not to. I listened.
Tuesday: Water Fountain 20, 20:44. Just to check on the hip, and, well, it was sore. Didn't get worse but I could feel the pounding in it so I figured that was far enough.
Wednesday: A & W 6, 41 mins. Felt better during the run, was taking it pretty easy on the ups and the downs, hence the "forever" it took to run that loop. Definitely tightened up over the course of the day.
Thursday: mile or so warmup with Rube, then 10 x stride on the street at the south end of Beltrami Park, then a mile or so cooldown. Was antsy for a run but didn't want a lot of pounding. Was hoping some strides would stretch things out, which was the case. Still tight, but at least for a while it felt a bit better.
Friday: AM A & W 40 min. Same deal, easy on the hills, and the flats felt much better today. Some fatigue left throughout the legs and all of that, but outside of the hip/pelvis area my body feels pretty good right now. Gonna be a crappy training week all around, but oh well. The hip isn't really all that bad, it's just that the tightness is in the spot where bad things happen--ie, this is what got me broken last year about this time, and I don't want that. Anyway, we'll see how the day goes. Bedar.
September 6
8.5 (1:00:53) River.
Recovery.
September 7
8.5 (59:00) River.
Nice, easy. Before work.
September 8
8.5 (59:01) River.
I'm not making this up. Remarkably similar to yesterday's run.
Sept 8: Right-of-Way 12k. 53:00. Aborted Threat Level on account of warnings from the intestinal frontier. Got a massage yesterday that seems to have reduced the tightness in the body to a manageable level. Felt sluggish this morning, but that is to be expected post-massage. After a mile I could feel the right hip again, but it never got too bad. We'll see what tomorrow holds after a day hunched over in front of the computer screen. Perhaps Collegeville was watching the 9th inning of the Twins game last night and getting some pointers on how to engage in an epic collapse.
Sept 9: City of Lakes 25k. 1:33ish, so I think that ends up around 6 min pace. Had about a mile of warmup and about 2 miles of cooldown. We'll call it 18.
It certainly could have been much worse. The back and hip are currently screaming at volumes that I thought only Sherman could achieve, but they held up well during the race. Was excommunicated on the slight uphill before the 7 mile mark. Things didn't get too nasty until 14, when whatever reserves I was burning went up in smoke. Moved as hard as I could in the last half mile but couldn't catch Pat Billig. Part of the issue today might be attributable to yesterday's study break which entailed tearing five layers of roof off the porch. That sorta undid a lot of the good that had come from the massage. Oh well.
I think the week comes out to around 42-44. Not quite ideal. It's a mere 8 weeks until I have to be ready to spectate my ass off so in light of this past week the schedule is changing a bit. I'm just going to go week-to-week and try to do whatever I can to prepare. Some recovery this week, perhaps a bit of volume if the legs heal up quick, then we'll see where the body takes things over the next month. Word. Bedar.
Big slabbaj shout-out to Tom Church, who is older (as is Reuben Woodruff), Chapel who ran like a demon, Sherman who threw down, Giggles who may have negative split for the first time in his life, and the race director that saved our derelict asses.
Sept 10: MTPO 1:03:45. With Reuben. Hence the, 'too fast for a recovery day' pace. Oh well. Felt quite good, no real issues with the hip, which was good.
Spet 11: AM Main Douzaine 1:21:05. Easy run with 20 min @ tempo in from 25-45 mins. Tempo was a little tough, legs were just a bit tight from last evening's run and the hips were included in the tightness. Nevertheless, was able to move at a pretty reasonable rate for the tempo section, and just took it real easy for the rest. Wore a shirt 'cause it was cold. Which is nice. Bedar.
September 9
18ish (1:47ish) City Of Lakes.
Short WU, 25k wkt/race, less than 2 CD. Was feeling less than confident before this race, so I decided to do a workout rather than race all out. Since the plan was to practice eating and drinking for the marathon anyway, I decided to try a short WU and then running MP for 5 miles. The plan was to then run a little quicker for miles 5-10, and a little quicker than that for 10-15.5.
After a 6:03 first mile, I was in a good pack with Tom and Biz, and we ticked off the miles. Around 4, I mistimed the waterstop and took a gel nowhere near water. Turned out fine, though, which is good to know. At five miles (29:40), after a brief detour to a garbage can, I surged a little, and stayed in the 5:40's through ten miles. Around seven Tom and I lost Biz, which was kind of a bummer. At ten I lost Tom, which was also a bummer, but when I saw the splits, I knew why he declined to join me. Around 13, though, the roasted garlic pizza from the night before became an intestinal issue, which made for a frustrating last 2.5 miles. I had been breathing pretty heavy, but sustainably, and my legs felt fresh and strong. After slowing down a little, my breathing was relaxed and the legs still felt great. The intestines did not, however. So I continued to slow down, despite knowing I could have closed pretty close to 5:30s for the last 2.5 miles. Still happy with the effort, as it was relaxed and reasonably easy the whole way.
So: final time- 1:29:27.
6:03, 5:55, 5:53, 11:47, (29:40)
5:45, 5:48, 5:42, 5:47, 5:50 (28:55, 58:35)
5:32, 5:26, 5:29, 5:39, 5:37 (27:45, 1:26:20)
3:07 (1:29:27)
Week:
75 miles, 2 wkts, 18 LR.
Shorter LR than expected, but solid miles nonetheless. Also very pleased with both workouts this week. Month to go.
September 10
8.5 (1:01:41) River.
Very slow, very early. Before work, on account of class later. Some distinct soreness in the quads, but nothing to worry about. Pleased with how good I feel recovering from yesterday's workout/race.
Sept 11: PM LSCC 35:29. Again, with a shirt. Gorgeous weather, just fantastic. Still waiting for Tom Church to end his preseason holdout. Tried to hijack him from Yoga but the door was barred. Apparently he then gave us the slip by ducking out the back or something. Still waiting though. And still waiting for the fries we ordered at Annie's. A very nice waitress, but I wouldn't describe her as 'meticulous.' Oh well, we got fed. Now, for sleep. . .bedar :)
Sept 12 AM: Main Douzaine 1:24:36
Nice and slar. It was chilly--started with pants and long sleeves. Rolled the sleeves up after about halfway and was not cold by the end, but also wasn't overheating. It was fantastic. Generally speaking the body is a bit tight, but not too bad. A little short on sleep last night, but slept really well, so it probably evens out. Been eating well this week which seems to help everything else out.
Big slabbaj shout-out goes to Erik Brooks, perfect as always. He had a rough day in the Wasatch but managed to make a rational decision during a most irrational undertaking. Booyah to body-pushaj!
September 11
11.5 (1:17:54) LSCC+
Ran over to LSCC, then a bit with the team. Except Tom, who apparently found a secret exit from Yoga, and managed to escape us. Then Annie's.
September 12
10.5 (1:04:20) River Wkt.
6x Mile @ Threshold, 60s rest.
Ran on mile 21 of the marathon course, such that 1, 3, and 5 were backwards (downhill, tailwind) and 2, 4, 6 were forwards, uphill and into the wind. Felt pretty solid through 5, but the last one was getting out of threshold range on the uphill at the end. Glad I had only planned 6, because I wasn't doing any more. Also the downhills caused some pacing problems, mainly on #5, with my legs wanting to experiment with "faster than threshold" rather than keeping the pace steady.
5:24, 5:29, 5:21, 5:25, 5:16, 5:24.
Good workout- glad to have a little faster pace stuff under the belt. Also happy to have recovered from Sunday so well.
September 9
15--Tour de Ithaca extended, extended (1:45)--a down week long run in the rain. Felt nice and easy and just about what I needed
Ended the week with 67.5 miles in 6 days for my down week. Hopefully will have me feeling fresh by next weekend
Sept 10
12--South Hill + Beebe Lake + 10x100 (1:22). The south hill loop never is as easy as hoped, likely because of all of the damn hills on the loop. But a decent easy day nonetheless.
Sept 11
12--Game Farm + Beebe Lake (1:24)
A much easier day than yesterday, especially now that the temps are finally cooling. Only going to do one workout this week on account of the race on Sunday. Hopefully it will pay off.
Sept 12
14--Tour de Ithaca extended (1:38)--Likely made this one 15 or more because I was cruising at what I estimate to be 5:40 pace for much of the run. So that was a little faster than I planned on going, but the new shoes felt so good that I couldn't help myself.
Tomorrow a good old 2x2x2 workout. Should be a blast.
Sept. 8th: The Wasatch...61.7 mile
As Chris has already mentioned, I DID have a rough go in my debut 100mi effort this past weekend. What started out as an excellent effort through 40 miles was quickly reduced to rubble when my stomach cramped up and I could no longer fuel the fires.
Somewhere between 43 and 47 miles I started walking -- A LOT. Was it the heat of the day (90+) during this lower elevation section, nine hours of previous running, minor altitude issues from earlier climbs? ...really hard to say. I was eating the same type of grub from a summer's worth of training, but for whatever reason I was having issues.
Despite some brief rallies from 47 - 61.7, I also threw up thrice and had some associated shivers that were hard to reign in. My bothers both wisely counseled me to "eat what I could", but nothing really took, and I had also lost a lot of fluid via aforementioned regurgitations.
After sitting at the Upper Big Water aid station from 9:40-11:20 something PM, I decided to pull the plug. The nearly 15 miles enroute over 9000ft to the next big aid station at Brighton ski area gave me just a little too much pause for thought.
Alas, this end result was NOT what I was hoping for, but so it goes for some in this type of event. 140 out of 240+ starters DID cross the finish line on Sunday morning/afternoon, and a tip o'the hat on a job well done to all.
My friend Dan finished in 28:05 after spending nearly 2 hours to assist his pacer (a brother from Florida) who was vomiting heavily and having a very hard time after they crossed over 10,000 ft -- just the other side of Brighton. He looked strong throughout and represented the Methow well.
DNF result and all, it was a pretty amazing event. Awesome scenery and tremendous volunteer efforts at all of the aid stations. I'm not champing at the bit to sign up again just yet, but there is indeed some unfinished business...
Thanks to all for the various inquiries into post-race well being. The solidarity has been much appreciated along the way!
Sept 13 Scrubs, MD v. Weightmen Scrubs
am (pre-dawn, 53°, streets)
Blazed my morning commute in 6:05/mi. Rested and chipper. Half-hour; quick shower; into scrubs at 6am.
workday (lowlight, 72°, NICU)
2x saving babies. For now named "Twin A", aka Thing 1, and the half as big brother "Twin B", aka Thing 2.
pm (glorious sunlight, 75°, UVA track)
20x400. Arrived to find the whole track is littered with walkers and joggers primarily in lane one, and some odd-shaped people throwing non-thrower implements on the infield and loitering down at the end of turn 2. This resembled a sort of community of "exercisers" and a kind of goofy practice. Scrubs?
On #3 fully realized that a pair of these athletes were pushing a cart of hurdles in a large loop on the back-stretch (think linemen hitting the sled). This drill incorporated blindly swerving in and out of lane three. (Whoa! The Fellahs run in lane three.) I inquired whether a parked cart of hurdles could be moved out of three. "Yes," if I move it. On #5 all was quiet on the backstretch and I rolled it outside of lane 9. Immediate reaction is a woman yelling across the track to move it back. After some long-distance jawing she plays her trump. "We're The Track Team." Damn! Could have fooled me. These scrubs don't look like they could place 4th in the MIAC, let alone the ACC. "Oh in that case, I'd expect you might show more courtesy to other athletes."
#6 slowed abruptly when the woman steps into lane three and asks who I am. "Schroeder," on the trot. Her reply, "Schroeder who?" Turning, "Schroeder, M.D."–"Which makes me Dr. Schroeder to you, mam." Her jaw wags a bit more. Tom is a jackass. I remark that I had thought the rugby team was out here goofing around, not The Team. I am invited to have my privileges revoked and leave the track.
Having blown my load on the apparent woman assistant throwing coach, I finished the rest without flare.
Otherwise, a good week so far.
which makes me
a more sicker emcee my momma would claim
at 10 pounds when i was born i didn't give her no pain
although through the years i gave her her fair share
i gave her her first real scare
i made it from birth and i got here
she knows my purpose wasn't purpose
i ain't perfect i care
September 13
12 (2x2x2)--A really fun workout on a paved 2 mile loop with the quarters marked out. First two miles were in 10:04, then after two miles down, second set were at 10:18. The first set was a little quick, so our goal on the second set was to keep the effort even, but not run as fast. I think that we succeeded. Also 3 wu and cd.
September 14
10.5 (1:12:17)--Cayuga trails. Was a bit tired and hungry coming off of yesterday. But a good easy run nonetheless.
Sept 13: AM Mark Twain Feeftain 1:40:21. 40 min warmup, then intended 40 mins at tempo. Got in 15 before a lower-right abdominal cramp got wicked painful. Eased off and hit a pair of water fountains in the next 11 mins before trying it again. Felt good for the next 20 mins then jogged it in for the last 2 miles. Overall, pretty decent workout.
PM: Received word from the Court of Appeals. Salty. Very, very salty.
Sept 14: MTPO 1:15:55. Easy "pre-meet." Thank god I have the excuse of a long run being conducted under the auspices of a race tomorrow. After running a few minutes at an estimated 6:15-6:30 pace yesterday, leaving me with a horrendous sideache, it was all I could muster to drag my body along at 7:30's today. My god am I an inferior specimen of human being. . .
September 13
Day off. Semi-planned. Long day at work and class led to a feeling that whatever few miles I got in at ten pm were going to be less helpful than going to bed. So I skipped the run.
September 14
8.5 (53:40) River.
Pissed. Off. Same HR problem at work as this summer.
September 15
21.5 (2:16:20) River, Lakes, Greenway.
Nice, easy run down to Minnehaha parkway, then over to the lakes, and up to the greenway. Same run I did with Biz at the end of July, except for a couple small changes that made today slightly shorter. Also, despite sleeping in, it was chilly out, and so I started out fairly quick, in order to stay warm. I never really slowed down, but didn't speed up either. Also ran almost entirely on the asphalt, rather than the dirt paths, and the increased beating my quads took was significant. Last LR down.
September 16
8.5 (59:10) River.
Lots of people out this morning. Yesterday, too. I guess people have decided it's time to check out the course for this marathon thing. Good idea. Felt pretty good, some quad soreness aside.
Week:
69 miles, 1 wkt, 21.5 LR.
Good mileage for 6 days, a very solid wkt, and a nice long run. I'm not sure what's coming in the next couple weeks, but I'm pretty sure we don't talk about it.
September 16: Skylands Triathlon (.5 mile swim, 15 mile bike, 5K run). Out of 350ish competitors, swim rank 267, bike rank 213, run rank 68. Or something of that ilk.
Keep in mind that absolutely no speed work, or really running at all, has happened for the past four months. Hot diggity dog, I need to work on my swimming.
Sept 15: Bear Water 20 miler, 1:56:39, 1st. Run in conjunction with a 10 miler, 'cause the lake is a certified 10 miles around. Plan was to ease in and run about an hour for the first lap and then work the pace down as far as possible.
Went out in 5:58, started chatting with a few folks in the 10 miler and the nect three miles were 5:45s. Backed off as the dude I was running with started gettin' antsy and got back in the 5:50's. Kelly Mortenson and Mike Little were doing 2 x 5 mile during the 10 mile race, so I passed them at the 5 mile as Little was chillin' and Kelly was in the woods. When Kelly came by a while later I tagged along for a little while to chat and stretch the legs a little bit since we were on a downhill section, hit 5:37 there. 10th mile was slow as butt, the only one over 6:00. I missed the exact split, but I think it was a reaction to realizing that I was about to go around the same loop again. Got back on track and hung between high 5:40's and low 5:50's the rest of the way. Hip got sore around 14, I told it to shut up and it did. That was nice. Anyway, overall, a good workout. Need to get more comfortable in the 5:30 range, but this was significantly better than the 25k last weekend. First 10 approx 58:30something, last 10 approx 58:00. Negative split's a negative split, right?
Slabbaj shout-outs of the race go to Digger Carlson throwin' down the 10 miler and Betsy with her first long run since Grandmas and having mono hangin' in with a 2:45.
Sept 16: Fly-by 10 1:07:22. Grunted at Chapel's window until he came outside. So, that was nice. Now that the Twins are doing there thing it's about time to start rootin' for the Bo Sox in the postseason. Gotta hold off a little though since they close the season playing each other.
Sept 17: AM River Ramble 1:09:15. This run goes along the river, but it's different than all of the other runs on the river so I'm adding a word to its name to distinguish that. Last night and this morning got some soreness, right hip and quad in particular, though some right hamstring stuff too. Little on the left side, but not as much. Legs not feeling super peppy, but nothing terrible either. Hands, arms, and shoulders probably hurt more than anything else right now, so I can't complain about the running. Harbedar :)
Sept 18: Buttdance.
20 min warmup to U track, 2 x mile 5:32, 5:29, 90 sec rest, followed by 4 x 200 w/200 jog, 32, ?, 31, 32, 20 min cooldown.
Good crap. Really feelin' out of it, I suspect that some of those things that are restricting Tom's breathing may be making my head feel swollen and leading to a general feeling of lethargy. Walking up the stairs, slowly, is exhausting. We'll see what this ends up meaning for the rest of the week, but yowser. Uff-to-the-dah.
Sept 19: AM MTFT 1:43:21. Not to be confused with FTF time, despite their similarities. Felt pretty good. After about an hour the right hip and quad got sore, but never too bad. There's some stretching to do there, but generally, the body has felt alright so far today. Despite how yesterday's workout felt, I think that it served the purpose for which it was intended. Today's run felt smoother and easier, hopefully the races continue to improve over the next few weeks. Bedar.
September 17
Day off. Not really planned. Need to work out a better plan than either 5:30am or 10pm for running. Not sure there's another option.
September 18
11 (1:12:22) River.
Rainy. Good.
September 19
11 (1:10ish) MP Tempo.
2+ WU, 6+ tempo, 2+CD.
Nice, easy workout. Felt very good, and (except for the second mile) hit the times I wanted. Felt strong going up the hills through mile 21 on the course, and continued all the way up to Summit, where I was obliged to wait for a stop light, and called an end to the tempo. Ended up with almost 40 minutes at pace.
5:58, 6:07 (I really think Pat cuts the corners going around the Franklin bridge...) 5:46, 5:50, 5:47, 5:51, 3:56.
I did not speed up over 20 seconds from mile 2-3. So I think that mile two is a bit long.
Sept 19: PM LSCC Lake St. 51:07. I still don't know how far that run is. Quite pleasant with a relatively small group. Just before the run I learned that John Matthews is a first year law student at the U of M. Like, holy shit-balls! So, LSCC appears to have a new recruit :) Bedar.
Sept 20: Stupid. 59:23. Was looking to do some tempo mixed with hills but just felt like butt. I haven't gotten clarification on the specific attributes of CSED, but I think that this qualifies. Not that CSED is stupid, rather that my body's demand for an easy day to recover from an easy day is stupid. Whatever. Much stretching, a couple of random bathroom stops, and a bit of a mystery tour. Did some strides on a grassy mound with a slight uphill and downhill over the course of 100 meters. Some inner leg/groin stuff on the left side tightened up on the 3rd one, so I did one more to spite myself and jogged home. Being out of shape stinks.
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