I was running!: February 2018

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

2/5/2018 to 2/11/2018: Training & 2018 BU Valentine 1-Mile Race Report

The BU Valentine Invitational is pretty dang hectic. Same as every year, I showed up early in order to wait around 2+ hours for my heat. Not a huge deal except my ~4m run to the track serves as a probably-a-little-early warm up. But, at least I was rewarded with watching an entertaining heat 1, where Craig Engels ran 3:53.

After watching heat after heat after heat of the mile, I started to feel the adrenaline pumping and decided to do an hour+ warm up. I bumped into Andrew Holmes, an old HFC rival, and we did some outdoor miles in the unusually nice outdoor temps. With time to spare, I was able to get inside, spike up, and do some strides in the outside lanes. Once on the line, I was hoping for a fast opening lap...

I struggled to find room on the rail, and didn't feel that bounce in my legs that said, "lead it!"...so I impatiently looked for an opening, which wouldn't reveal itself until just after 600 meters. Once on the rail, I didn't feel very comfortable. I wasn't gassed, which is encouraging, but I felt tight. After re-watching some of the race I can tell I'm not running relaxed - especially through the shoulders.

The lead runner was leaving a small gap along the rail, and I was tempted to squeeze through but it was early and that could lead to some unnecessary carnage. Coming around the turn at the half mile mark, a BU runner looked to squeeze in, but I wasn't about to give up my spot on the rail and gave him a friendly "no-room" forearm. He actually responded right away by staying on the outside and not forcing himself in...so instead he hammered it to the front and dropped the field!

I stayed the course and tried to press just a bit with 400 to go, and again at the bell. There was not much pop though. In the end I finished 5th in my heat in a time of 4:40.59. A PR by something like 4 seconds, but not quite satisfying...

Splits, roughly:

35.92

33.99

34.85

35.54

35.59

35.47

1:08.76 (didn't catch the 7th lap split)

Training Data:

5-Feb	MLR Moderate	1:12:52	10.11	AM: 10m commute at 7:13/mile.
5-Feb	Easy	1:03:21	8.22	PM: 8+ home at 7:42/mile. Ran most of it in the low 7s before meeting up with Eli and Raleigh for the final 2m.
6-Feb	Harvard Track	1:24:52	10.53	AM: Harvard Track. 200x2/(400x4)x2/200x2. 1min rest between reps, 2min between sets. 400s alternating a little slower and a little faster than mile pace. Workout didn't go great.
6-Feb	Easy	0:48:35	6.44	PM: 6+ at 7:33/mile. Tried to nap, but couldn't. Pretty tired for this one.
7-Feb	Easy	1:03:18	8.17	AM: 8m commute at 7:45/mile. A bit sluggish.
7-Feb	Easy	0:55:28	6.31	PM: 6+ commute home in freezing rain & slush, no traction, bonked. Generally no fun. Went to LYMBR in Newton at 7pm for a free stretch session though, that was good.
8-Feb	Easy	1:04:52	8.05	AM: 8+ at around 8 flat. Felt alright, just all ice and slow going even with the yaktrax.
8-Feb	BU Track	1:00:00	10.16	PM: Commute home then BU. 200/600x3/200x2. Felt pretty dang solid.
9-Feb	Easy	1:03:36	8.17	AM: 8+ at 7:47/mile.
9-Feb	Easy	0:46:48	6.16	PM: 6+ at 7:36/mile.
10-Feb	Valentine Invite	1:00:00	8	AM: Ran to BU, checked in, waited, warmed up. Then ran to TJs after the race.
10-Feb	Valentine Invite	0:04:40	1	PM: 4:40.59
11-Feb	CSU Long Run	2:34:21	20.18	AM: 20+ at 7:39/mile with the CSU crew followed up by awesome breakfast made by me.
11-Feb	Off	0:00:00	0	PM: Worked on the hallway.

2/6 Splits:

200-35.0

200-35.2

400-1:13.6

400-1:10.4

400-1:11.7

400-1:10.6

400-1:11.2

400-1:09.0

400-1:12.4

400-1:09.6

200-32.3

200-31.2

2/8 Splits:

200-33.7

600-1:45.3

600-1:45.2

600-1:43.2

200-33.4

Total: 111.5

Friday, February 9, 2018

1/29/2018 to 2/4/2018: Training & Bamboozled IPA 5k Race Report

Lucky number 13. That's where the streak of a weekly 20 miler has ended. It started way back on November 5th with the TRED weekend with Neil, and ended this week with the Bamboozled IPA 5k falling on a Sunday.

The race was fun, and I'm glad that they held it prior to it being a Pub Series race in June. When the gun went off, we took a left on a relatively busy road. I was following the lead cop car closely, and they ended up having me cross the road, then cross once more when we took a left into the neighborhood section of the course. I hope they put cones down or simply have the cop car stay in the breakdown lane for that short section.

Anyways, I was running solo for the entirety of the race, and I'm happy with how it went. The first mile was a little slow in 5:32, but part of that can be attributed to the cold and confusingly crossing the street. There's also a small hill during that first mile, but that wasn't too bad. Mile two I was able to dial it in just a bit and run 5:16, and the final mile was the fastest split in 5:10. Since this was the inaugural race, I'm now the course record holder in 16:35!! They had some good beer and good food afterward, so I'll be looking forward to this one come June.

Training wise...t'was a good week.

STuff:

29-Jan	Moderate	0:58:47	8.06	AM: 8m at 7:18/mile. Oddly quick.
29-Jan	Easy	1:00:00	8.1	PM: Flippin Garmin. 8m at around 7:30/mile.
30-Jan	Harvard Track	1:17:45	9	AM: (600/300/200)x3 at Harvard wAmory. 1min rest between reps, full rest between sets. All at mile pace. I was slow and this was tough.
30-Jan	Easy	0:51:42	6.3	PM: 6+ at 8:12/mile. Slow in the snow.
31-Jan	Easy	1:09:12	9.06	AM: 9m commute at 7:39/mile. Left calf non-issue. Right Achilles had a moment, but not really.
31-Jan	Easy	0:49:46	6.29	PM: Commute home and met up with Eli and Raleigh.
1-Feb	Easy	1:09:05	9.02	AM: 9m commute at 7:40/mile.
1-Feb	BU Track	0:48:42	13	PM: Commute home then BU. 800/1200/200/1000/200/800/200/600/200/400. If not for acid reflux this would've been great. Splits were still pretty damn great.
2-Feb	Easy	1:06:15	8.17	AM: 8m at 8+.
2-Feb	Easy	1:03:32	8.05	PM: 8m at 7:53/mile.
3-Feb	MLR Moderate	1:14:53	10.16	AM: 10m at 7:22/mile. Felt tougher than it should have. A bit windy.
3-Feb	Off	0:00:00	0	PM: Off.
4-Feb	Bamboozled 5k	1:00:00	9.01	AM: Bamboozled IPA Pre-Game 5k. 1st place in 16:35. Running solo most of the way, and happy with the splits.
4-Feb	Off	0:00:00	0	PM: Off. Patriots lost.

1/30 Splits:

600-1:48.7

300-53.2

200-34.3

600-1:48.1

300-52.8

200-34.3

600-1:46.1

300-52.8

200-31.9

2/1 Splits:

800-2:40.2

1200-4:00.3

200-35.5

1000-3:14.5

200-35.6

800-2:35.6

200-35.9

600-1:49.1

200-34.6

400-1:05.4

Total: 104.22

Thursday, February 1, 2018

1/22/2018 to 1/28/2018: Time Trial & Training

I'm still not sure how I feel about this whole Mon-Sun schedule, but I started it so I can't stop now.

I'm missing some of these mid-week 10+ milers, but with two track sessions a week I'm erring on the side of caution. I suppose I'm sort of getting it with a 10m tot run on Saturdays, but that's due to the warm up and cool down after my tempos. It works for now. Only one week to go before the Valentine meet at BU, and my final (and only) attempt at the mile this season.

The tempo is worth mentioning briefly...this is the third week in a row I've done an 8m tempo, and each one has been a little bit better than the last. I haven't quite decided yet how I want these to evolve, but I'd like to attempt to extend this to 14m. Whether that remains part of a Saturday workout, or is integrated into a long run remains to be seen. It's also a tall order for a workout.

The workout on Tuesday morning was fairly terrible, but I reached a certain level of discomfort and that was the primary goal. I'd love to smash every workout with perfect paces, but sometimes getting familiar with the feeling of racing a mile is enough.

Thursday night was particularly interesting. I haven't had the chance to enter a mile race, and so I decided that I'd do a time trial so that the Valentine meet isn't my first and only attempt at the mile. So Danny and Kevin were kind enough to join me, and I'd say it went well. I had one lap where Stephen gave me my split at 37s, but I look at that as a learning opportunity. It's easy to think, "stay smooth, stay comfortable" for a race - but sometimes that's not quite what needs to happen in a mile race. With a goal time in mind, I need to burn it into my brain that at some point I'm going to be extremely uncomfortable and when I turn the screws - it may simply result in maintaining the same pace. On this night, I heard the 37s and immediately adjusted, getting back into the 35-36s range. From 600 out, I made the effort to start accelerating, and I could sense Danny falling back a little bit. With 200 to go, I also heard him ask, "how many laps are left!!!" How can you talk in a mile race!? In any case, I started to move a bit quicker before putting in my kick with only about 30 meters left. I finished in 4:47 and change and was very satisfied. I felt like I had a lot left in the tank, and whether that means I have 7s remains to be seen, but it was a great time trial and Danny ended up PRing by about 6 seconds!

We also lined up for a 200 meter time trial, in which Danny smoked me in 25 seconds and change to my 27 seconds and change. I'll take it though. That's the fastest recorded 200 meters I've ever run, so I've knocked off my first PR of 2018.

Ok, that was long winded. Here it is!

22-Jan	Easyish	1:01:05	8.09	AM: 8m commute at 7:30ish.
22-Jan	Easyish	1:01:40	8.19	PM: 8m commute at 7:30ish.
23-Jan	Harvard Track	1:16:00	9.19	AM: 200/400/600/200/800/600/400/200. Mildly disappointing, but a crowded track and finished well on the 800. Cutting some slack due to the previous few days volume and quality.
23-Jan	Easy	1:03:13	8.11	PM: 8+ at 7:48/mile.
24-Jan	Easy	1:05:29	8.17	AM: 8+ at 8:01/mile.
24-Jan	Easy	1:05:45	8.06	PM: Commute plus some with Raleigh for 8m tot at 8:09/mile.
25-Jan	Easy	1:01:55	8.08	AM: 8m commute at 7:40/mile.
25-Jan	BU Track	1:35:00	12.13	PM: Commute home the BU. 1m time trial, 200 meter time trial, 1000x4. Solid mile, and PR in the 200. Ks were pretty solid too!
26-Jan	Easy	1:01:10	8.09	AM: What's that like 7:30 something?
26-Jan	Easy	0:38:22	5.03	PM: 7:37/mile.
27-Jan	Long Tempo	1:02:49	10.06	AM: 8m tempo averaging just under 6/mile. 10tot.
27-Jan	Off	0:00:00	0	PM: Off.
28-Jan	CSU Long Run	2:35:41	20.03	AM: ANOTHER 20 miler. Averaged 7:40ish. Slow middle miles on the trails then opened it up a tad for the last stretch. Need to monitor my right Achilles.
28-Jan	Off	0:00:00	0	PM: Off.

Tuesday Splits w/Rest:

200-35.69