10/13 to 10/19: Managed Well

In my efforts to keep the left leg issues at bay (some sort of tendinitis), I took it easy-ish last week.

This week I was aiming to do the same thing, and it started off well. I skipped the Sunday long run since I was travelling and didn't feel like squeezing it in, opting instead for an easy run enjoying the fall weather. Then Monday was the Tufts 10k, and I could not do too much after standing around for so long...

Track Tuesday continues to go very well, and this week was no different...and with the help of a double on Wednesday and Friday, I was able to hit 60+ for the week. So yeah, I'm managing the injury well!

Stuff:

Sunday		13-Oct		Long Run		0:08:14		6.01		Easy run. Started w/Eli and Raleigh, then a few more on my own. Left shin was tender, so I chose not to try for a longer run.
Monday		14-Oct		Tufts 10k Volunteering		0:08:00		6.30		Great weather. Then ran a sucky 6+ home - standing for hours really sucked the life out of my legs.
Tuesday		15-Oct		Intervals		0:08:19		12.01		1000/600/400/800x4 - Felt flat for the first two 800's, then the legs woke up. Very happy with the splits all around though. Especially while feeling 'flat'.
Wednesday		16-Oct		Easy/Moderate		0:07:30		10.12		Easy afternoon run, then 6 after work that went much faster than planned - the legs just felt good.
Thursday		17-Oct		Moderate		0:07:48		10.01		AM massage. PM - first 4 at 8+, next 6 at a quick pace. Left leg felt a little 'meh' at times, but really not too bad.
Friday		18-Oct		Easy/Moderate		0:08:11		10.26		Ran to work, then ran in the evening at a solid clip.
Saturday		19-Oct		Easy		0:08:15		6.09		Fantastic weather. Handled clip board duties at Fresh Pond, then a nice run with Eli along the Charles.

Splits: 

1000 - 3:34.34

600 - 2:03.50

400 - 1:21.50

800 - 2:45.15

800 - 2:46.15

800 - 2:44.28

800 - 2:36.70

Total: 60.80

10/6 to 10/12: Managing + Race Report

My left shin continues to be mildly troublesome. A day off here or there is therefore necessary. It must be managed.

Data!

Sunday		6-Oct		Long Run		0:07:44		14.80		Battle Road. Felt a little bit achy in the lower left leg - more so in the tendons around the ankle and not the shin - but overall just a solid long run.
Monday		7-Oct		Easy/Moderate		0:07:30		8.14		Easy lunch run with Raleigh, then ~6 in the PM at moderate pace.
Tuesday		8-Oct		Intervals				11.60		800/1000/1200/(600x4) - Another speed session that went really well.
Wednesday		9-Oct		Easy		0:08:26		4.10		Left shin tender, just took it easy.
Thursday		10-Oct		Rest				0.00		Rest and travel day.
Friday		11-Oct		Hill Repeats		0:08:25		4.16		Run in NH, 8 hill repeats.
Saturday		12-Oct		Warner 5-Miler				9.13		4th place, but that workout yesterday was a bad idea the day before a HILLY race.

Splits:

800-2:44.8

1000-3:32.0

1200-4:13.1

600-2:00.2

600-2:03.7

600-2:01.8

600-1:54.1

The shin may be hurting, but those splits are a great thing to see. If I can kick this mild injury and start doing some specific work, I would love to take another crack at the mile this winter.

The race on Saturday sucked, but I didn't really set myself up to run well. Hill repeats the day before a hilly race is a dumb idea. And drinking and playing poker the night before isn't really much of a help either...oh well, it was a big family weekend, so I'm perfectly ok with the results. I had a slow 2nd mile, and I would have expected to be around 11:40 at that point, but instead I was around 12:20. There is a massive hill right in the middle of the race and a massive downhill shortly thereafter, so I have a ~7:30 mile that is likely caused by not just the hill, but the fatigue in the legs thanks to Friday's run. I finished the final hill strong before cruising to the finish without anyone in front or behind me. Felt pretty good though and probably would've been able to hold a quick pace if the race were longer. Oh well, fun times.

9/29 to 10/5: Reluctantly Easing Up

The Nahant 30k did not go especially well, but I had trained through it and handled the knots in my stomach well enough (it's good to occasionally have a race not go well). So I was hoping to build off of that race into this week and pile on some miles, but unfortunately the familiar bruised feeling on my shin returned...this time on my left tibia. I do not want another stress fracture.

I had a solid streak of 24 days of running in a row, and an even better streak of five 50+ mile weeks in a row...two reluctant days off seems to have helped though, and a tough lesson learned to start the year will lead me to continue making the smart decisions so that I miss two days at the sign of injury instead of two months.

Sunday		29-Sep		Nahant 30k		0:07:17		19.75		Nahant 30k in 2:17:03. Meh.
Monday		30-Sep		Easy		0:08:14		6.00		Three hill route at lunch. Oof.
Tuesday		1-Oct		Intervals		0:07:51		10.17		800x3/1000x3: 800's at 5k pace, 1000 at 8k/3k/8k pace - the 3k is a 200 meter surge in the middle. Left shin felt fine, but still feels like a bruise when I press on it.
Wednesday		2-Oct		Easy + Strides		0:08:32		3.03		Easy lap around Fresh Pond w/Eli and Raleigh then 10 barefoot strides. Left shin still in monitor mode.
Thursday		3-Oct		Moderate		0:07:23		4.18		Started easy around the Charles then inadvertently picked it up. Left shin didn’t bother me until the last quarter mile. Iced it up afterward.
Friday		4-Oct		Rest				0.00		Shin was sore enough that I reluctantly took a stupid pointless day off. Days off suck.
Saturday		5-Oct		Rest		0:09:07		1.20		Very easy with Raleigh. Shin was OK, so I didn't go back out. Basically a day off.

Tuesday Splits:

800-2:50.7

800-2:48.4

800-2:45.9

1000-3:38.9

1000-3:35.5

1000-3:27.5

The track workout was probably my strongest workout ever. The normal folks that usually lead the intervals were either recovering from the 30k (or a 50-miler), or an injury - so I led each rep, which is something I'm not sure I have ever done. Apparently this works for me?

Total Miles: 44.33 

Nahant 30k Race Report

Photo Courtesy of TFXC

it was really tough
and I had to stop at about mile 12 to take a dump
I averaged about a 7:20/mile with the dump
and a 7:12/mile if I subtract the time I was giving it a squeeze
so it wasn't a total disaster
but I felt like it was a shit race (pun intended)

Photo Courtesy of TFXC

Photo Courtesy of TFXC

Splits:

1	07:00.8
2	06:57.5
3	06:54.8
4	07:02.5
5	06:46.1
6	07:10.5
7	07:15.6
8	07:04.4
9	07:16.4
10	07:09.0
11	07:25.8
12	10:22.3
13	07:22.7
14	07:06.4
15	07:12.7
16	07:14.8
17	07:38.0
18	06:49.9
0.82	05:13.4

9/22 to 9/28: Seven for Eight

Another 50 mile week, and this one leading up to the Nahant 30k. This makes 400+ miles over the past 8 weeks, with 7 of those weeks at 50+. This has been a great block of mileage recently, and I imagine I could handle more since I've been racing a lot during this time as well. Hopefully this is just the foundation to more mileage as the fall weather really sets in.

Here it is:

Sunday		22-Sep		Tavern tt 5k				12.11		Short course, 17:17, but would probably add 30 more seconds for an accurate course. Still - I ran well.  PR w/the 30 seconds.
Monday		23-Sep		Double/Tempo		0:07:24		10.02		2 in the afternoon then an 8 mile tempo in the evening (~7:05/mile)
Tuesday		24-Sep		Intervals				10.39		1200/400/1000/400/800/400/600/400 - really solid workout. Felt strong the whole time.
Wednesday		25-Sep		Easy		0:08:24		6.04		Easy around the Charles, then grabbed the dog to finish up.
Thursday		26-Sep		Moderate		0:07:31		5.10		Pretty quick 3.7 along the Charles, then grabbed Raleighdog to finish up.
Friday		27-Sep		Easy		0:08:29		3.12		Just a casual night run.
Saturday		28-Sep		Easy		0:07:57		4.07		Around the Charles at noon. Warmer than expected.

Thursday Splits:

1200-4:13.98

400-1:22.73

1000-3:40.46

400-1:26.02

800-2:53.45

400-1:23.14

600-2:10.75

400-1:09.40

Total for the week: 50.85

9/15 - 9/21: Good Weather Good Running

The week started off right with a PR at Lone Gull, then I had a great interval workout, then another PR at Fresh Pond...I guess running hard during the heat of the summer is starting to pay off during the cool fall weather.

Stuff:

Sunday		15-Sep		Lone Gull 10k				10.10		Welcome to PR City, population: ME...Lone Gull 10k in 37:59.
Monday		16-Sep		Recovery/Double		0:07:51		7.00		~2 at lunch w/Raleigh then out in the PM.
Tuesday		17-Sep		Intervals				11.58		800, 1600, 1200, 1000, 600, 400 - workout went really well.
Wednesday		18-Sep		Easy + Strides				6.20		Easy miles with Raleigh, then around the Charles, then 6 barefoot strides. Ran into Chris from GBTC who had a good race against Kevin at Lone Gull. Good company on the run.
Thursday		19-Sep		Fresh Pond				7.63		Quick 2 w/Raleigh in the afternoon then a Fresh Pond PR in the evening - 14:04.
Friday		20-Sep		Moderate		0:07:51		7.00		Lunch run. Very warm, uncomfortable.
Saturday		21-Sep		Easy		0:08:16		6.06		Easy miles that were split up a little bit via errand running.

Tuesday Splits:

800-2:56.32

1600-5:43

1200-4:13.64

1000-3:24

600-2:01.18

400-1:06.25

Total Miles: 55.57

Lone Gull 10k Race Report

Back on May 18th I ran my first ever 10k, and labeled it as "shit race, good effort." It was just under three weeks after I had run Big Sur, and in retrospect it was a predictable outcome. The Lone Gull 10k had higher expectations. Intervals had been going well, Fresh Pond results had shown a steady improvement, all while running good mileage and staying healthy. So while this wasn't exactly a goal race, I still had goals for it.

Photo Courtesy of Tom Cole

I was relatively close to the front of the pack waiting for the gun to go off, and I didn't have any nerves. My warm up went well, and the weather was perfect. The first mile went by in a bit of a blur, but my split was roughly 6:04 - a little fast, but the effort wasn't concerning. I came through the 5k in just under 19 minutes, and felt good. There wasn't any wind along the course at this point, nor were there any hills of note.

I started to over think things just a tad towards the end of mile 3...wondering if my legs were getting tired or if my breathing was labored, but I took inventory and realized I felt really good and should maintain pace and increase effort. There was a slight hill toward the end of mile 4, but I was running strong and passing runners.

With about a mile and a half left I picked up the pace and really started to pass runners. I knew that there was a short steep hill at the end of mile 6, followed a short downhill before the finish and I picked out some runners to try and catch up to them at that point. Mile 6 ended up around 5:57, and I put my head down and handled the short hill well. For the final straightaway, I was able to open it up and pass a big handful of runners. I saw the clock approaching 38 minutes and kept the effort, but after I passed a big group of guys there was only one female runner that I would've passed just a few meters before the finish - so I let up just a tad to finish even...for some reason I felt like it would be a meat-head move to pass her at the last second, but now I'm not entirely sure.

In any case, I finished with a chip time of 37:59, averaging a 6:08 mile, and I didn't have to second guess letting up. That time is 2 minutes and 38 seconds faster than the 10k in May. Now my PR isn't so soft.