9/8 - 9/14: Steady

Sunday		8-Sep		Long Run		0:07:45		17.05		With the 30k coming up, I decided to skip the Call to Honor triathlon and go for a long run instead. Not an easy choice, but probably the right one. The run felt pretty tough at the end and my left glut was barking pretty loud.
Monday		9-Sep		Rest				0.00		First total day off in a while.
Tuesday		10-Sep		Intervals		0:07:56		10.08		800/(1000/600)x3 - 1 minute rest between each 1k and 600, 2min rest otherwise. A very tough workout due to the short rest. I felt very stiff prior to the workout, but loosened up and it went well.
Wednesday		11-Sep		Recovery		0:08:06		6.06		Easy start w/Raleigh then continued at an easy pace. Still a tough run due to 90+ heat.
Thursday		12-Sep		Fresh Pond				4.89		Fresh Pond in 14:45. Took it out fast for the first mile to try and build a lead. Second mile was 13 seconds slower, but I was focused on holding the lead and throwing in some surges. It felt like a real race. It was fun.
Friday		13-Sep		Easy		0:08:30		7.08		Ran home and back during lunch. Just took it easy.
Saturday		14-Sep		Easy		0:08:00		5.00		Easy miles - some w/Raleigh.

Thursday Splits:

800-2:50.17

1000-3:37.35

600-2:05.80

1000-3:31.30

600-2:08.85

1000-3:33.38

600-1:58.47

Total Mileage: 50.16

9/1 - 9/7: Consistency

The Big Sur Marathon was on April 28th. After that, I took two days off and got right back to it. Some interesting stats since that point:

- 133 days have passed

- 833 miles ran

- 18 days off from running

- 19 interval sessions

- 14 Fresh Pond races

- 19 games of Ultimate

- 2 triathlons

- 1 10k

- 1 5-mile race

- 1 1-mile race

More importantly, I was able to stay injury free. After missing a significant chunk of time leading up to Boston, my ultimate goal for the summer was to run consistently. That remains the goal for the foreseeable future.

Sunday		1-Sep		Long Run		0:07:48		16.24		Battle Road. Extremely humid, and then finished the last few miles in a complete downpour. Tough run, fun run.
Monday		2-Sep		Recovery/Bike		0:08:11		7.21		Just easy running, then 9m on the bike too.
Tuesday		3-Sep		Intervals				11.33		400x4/1200x2/400x4 - 400's were supposed to be at 3k pace and 1200's at 5k-8k pace. Ended up doing things mostly too fast, but hopefully I can take a stab at a fast mile soon.
Wednesday		4-Sep		Recovery		0:08:26		7.04		Started w/Raleigh then just kept it easy.
Thursday		5-Sep		Fresh Pond		0:06:37		3.06		Took it as a fairly easy tempo, and didn't have much time for a warm up or a cool down.
Friday		6-Sep		Tempo		0:07:15		6.09		First 2m w/Raleigh were a warmup to a solid 4m at ~6:35 pace.
Saturday		7-Sep		Recovery		0:07:32		5.16		Finished this a bit faster than I thought I would. Felt comfortable though.

Tuesday Splits:

400 - 1:16.22

400 - 1:22.23

400 - 1:20.28

400 - 1:22.03

1200 - 4:23.15

1200 - 4:27.37

400 - 1:22.05

400 - 1:20.20

400 - 1:16.86

400 - 1:11.38

I started off a little hot on that first 400, but it was my responsibility to lead the interval, and so I'm ok going a little fast on that one. The final 400 was ok - I was trying to open it up and practice feeling that burn for the final quarter, and I didn't have a lot of juice in my legs as I started to turn into the final 200. I opted to hold form instead of trying to get on my toes. I've been feeling pretty strong to finish these workouts lately though...I'm going to need to find a good time to improve my mile time.

Total Miles: 56.13

8/25 - 8/31: Back to the 50's

Ran every day and no less than 4m, plus I matched my Fresh Pond PR - which is actually a big boost mentally for me. I wasn't sure if the 14:08 was somehow an outlier that would take me awhile to replicate, but that obviously wasn't the case. After that run I feel like I could dip under 14 minutes if I have a proper warm up and don't have so many hard miles in the days beforehand. I won't do that of course, but still.

Let's get to it...

Sunday		25-Aug		Long Run		0:07:41		15.75		Battle Road miles.
Monday		26-Aug		Recovery		0:08:07		4.02		Easy jog home during lunch.
Tuesday		27-Aug		Intervals				11.52		800/1000/1600/1000/800/600 - first two intervals felt stiff…after the 1600 I felt pretty good though. It's nice to feel stronger as the workout goes on.
Wednesday		28-Aug		Recovery				5.04		Easy.
Thursday		29-Aug		Fresh Pond				7.00		Fresh Pond, 1st place in 14:08 (matched my PR). 11:43 split at 2m. Followed up by a long cool down.
Friday		30-Aug		Recovery				6.05		Easy pace w/Raleigh. Finished with 6 barefoot strides.
Saturday		31-Aug		Fresh Pond				4.39		14:3x for Fresh Pond, followed that up with 6 barefoot strides uphill at Kingsley Park.

Thursday splits:

800-2:46.29

1000-3:37.90

1600-5:51

1000-3:40.70

800-2:52.86

600-1:57.70

Total Miles: 53.77

8/18 to 8/24 - Rest Week?

After two 50+ weeks in a row, this week was supposed to be easy to allow my body to recover before getting back into another cycle of 2 weeks hard/1 week easy...I don't think this week qualified as easy though. The final day of the Ultimate Tournament (3 games), an interval workout, and two Fresh Pond races is a lot of hard running. I took three days off though, which is the first time I've done that in quite some time.

In any case, less mileage more quality...

Sunday		18-Aug		BUDA				7.50		Three games today, we won Div 4. FUN.
Monday		19-Aug		Rest				0.00		Day off.
Tuesday		20-Aug		Intervals				11.03		(600/1000/600)x2, 400x3
Wednesday		21-Aug		Rest				0		Work dinner. Easy run turned into a day off.
Thursday		22-Aug		Fresh Pond				8.09		Fresh Pond. 2.74m in 16:04. Legs felt like crap warming up, so I'm really happy about this run.
Friday		23-Aug		Rest				0.00		Rest.
Saturday		24-Aug		Fresh Pond				5.75		14:23 for fresh pond

Intervals: 

600 - 2:05.69

1000 - 3:32.13

600 - 2:06.70

600 - 2:07.70

1000 - 3:37.62

600 - 2:07.60

400 - 1:16.84

400 - 1:16.27

400 - 1:08.42

A fairly up and down workout on Tuesday, but that is a very respectable 68 second quarter to finish things off. I had some very tired legs after the tournament, but I was able to maintain a quality effort without losing form.

Conclusion...not an easy week, but my legs didn't have the cumulative pounding so it counts as restish.

Total Miles: 32.37

8/11 to 8/17 - Another 50+

Another solid week. Starting out with a long run at Battle Road helps ensure I am getting sufficient aerobic work, and I have not had the opportunity to do that nearly as much as I would like to this summer. Finishing the week up with the Ultimate tournament helps as well.

I may have mentioned this before...Ultimate games look a little strange in the running log, but I consider them a form of cross training that is quantifiable. Most games the Garmin will show ~2.5 miles...and I can't NOT include that...

Anyways, onto the data:

Sunday		11-Aug		Long Run		0:07:41		15.03		Battle Road trail w/CSU. Left side felt tight towards the end, but considering the previous night's margaritas, I was very happy with the run.
Monday		12-Aug		Recovery		0:08:04		4.03		Sports Massage in the afternoon, then ran home from work - pretty warm out. Right shin has some tenderness in the past few days.
Tuesday		13-Aug		Intervals				11.19		800/1000/1200/1000/4x300 - my legs took a while to feel loose, but this workout went well. The 300's, specifically, were great - I could feel my stride really open up.
Wednesday		14-Aug		Recovery		0:08:06		4.03		Recovery
Thursday		15-Aug		Fresh Pond				7.56		Easy lunch run, then additional mileage after playing race director for the Fresh Pond race.
Friday		16-Aug		Easy		0:08:00		4.03		Easy jog to work to pick up the Jeep.
Saturday		17-Aug		BUDA				10.00		Garmin died during the last game, but the mileage for the day was ~10 minimum. Four games total.

Thursday Splits:

800-2:52.04

1000-3:35.54

1200-4:24.40

1000-3:37.05

300-53.46

300-52.58

300-52.52

300-49.92

Some additional thoughts: Man, 1200's are hard after a summer of mostly mile-focused speedwork! But they really loosened me up, because my legs were feeling great on the 300's. I can't keep contact with the lead group of CSUers for the longer stuff at 5k pace, but when we do 400's or less I always feel great. I don't think there is any quick way to improve that though - continued running over the course of yearz will eventually get me to that point.

Also - after the games on Saturday, I was getting some crazy muscle cramps - calf/hipflexor/hamstring/groin...This would've been a wise week to ease off on the mileage. I felt more sore after those games than I did after the Big Sur Marathon.

Total Mileage: ~55.87

8/4 to 8/10 - Back Over 50

This was a solid week considering I had a lot of other things going on - it's not always easy to find time, but where there is a will there is a way. Let's keep it simple - here is the data:

Sunday		4-Aug		Long Island		0:07:28		6.30		Started off easy (~8:30/mile) for the first ~2 miles then picked it up comfortably for the remainder of the run. Legs felt fresh after two days off.
Monday		5-Aug		Double		0:07:35		14.08		8.03m during lunch at 7:33/mile and 6.05 in the PM at 7:42/mile. Solid efforts.
Tuesday		6-Aug		Killer Bee's				10.73		4m to and from the game, and kept the Garmin on for the game. Good workout, I was pooped.
Wednesday		7-Aug		Intervals				10.25		(1000/800/400/400)x2 - legs are feeling really tired, but I was able to push through. Had to take a shitbreak before the final two 400's though…thanks bertucci's!
Thursday		8-Aug		Killer Bee's				2.46		Not much time or energy so I skipped the run to and from. Just the mileage from ultimate.
Friday		9-Aug		Recovery		0:07:46		4.05		A little bit quick for a recovery run.
Saturday		10-Aug		Fresh Pond				5.07		Fresh Pond in 14:21 - good for only 7th, but a solid effort.

Thursday Splits:

1000-3:40.28

800-2:53.49

400-1:15.47

400-1:14.95

1000-3:39.19

800-2:56.10

400-1:14.92

400-1:15.48

Not quite where I want to be with the times, but Monday and Tuesday were not easy - so I would expect tired legs. Running solo for these intervals is also challenging - I think both tired legs + solo is good for me though. It takes focus to maintain a hard effort solo, and there is such a thing as practicing focus too much.

Total Miles: 52.94

Carver 5-Miler Race Report

Me, Corven and Eli enjoyed some food at Jose's the night before the Carver 5-miler, but we didn't overdo it, and were able to wake up with plenty of time for the drive down. Corven was feeling sick, but there is nothing like the atmosphere before a Grand Prix race to get you feeling pumped up and ready to roll. The forecast was for cooler weather, but it was hot as the dickens in the sun...

I didn't have a great warm up, but was able to hit the john, which is half the battle.

Splits:
Mile 1 - 5:58.82
Mile 2 - 6:08.56
Mile 3 - 6:17.03
Mile 4 - 6:20.25
Mile 5 - 5:56.81
Garmin .05- 12.00
Total: 30:57

It's tough to gauge the middle miles of this race. I felt very comfortable with the first mile, and I don't think it was too fast. But...I obviously slowed considerably for miles 3 & 4. I don't think I really lost focus, as has been the case for past races - I was still passing a lot of people - and my effort wasn't poor. I heard quite a bit from other runners that the sun really sapped their energy, so I think that was likely the case here. For the final mile+ the course gets back in the shade, and that final mile was very strong. I ended up passing a lot of runners who I thought were way too far ahead, but as others continued to wilt, I was feeling really strong.

With about ~35 meters to go, there was one final runner who was ~10m ahead of me that I tried to catch. He looked over his shoulder, and started to cruise in - and just as he turned back towards the line I was up on my toes for the final sprint. He turned again, just a second later and noticed me closing and did the same thing. I crossed the line just as I was getting on his heels, but it made for an exciting finish.

I especially like the photo to the right - some good expressions can be seen on the onlookers.

Overall this was a very good race for me. The weather was deceptively warm, but I was able to run well and PR by ~41 seconds, and finish up the day hanging by the pool in Plympton.