8/17 to 8/23: Another Hundo!

Well, I'm not sure where this came from...but I'll take it! After a few unexpectedly longer runs, I saw the mileage quickly adding up, but I certainly wasn't aiming for 100 miles.  On Thursday, I probably wouldn't have come close to 17+ for the day, but I had a scheduled tempo and I met up with Terry for that - so I wasn't going to back off.

Then on Friday, I ended up making time for my second run of the day at lunchtime - Elizabeth and I were driving down to the Cape, and I was certain I wouldn't be running after sitting in the car for 2+ hours. Once on the Cape, I only needed a little over 7 miles to hit 100 for the week, so what the hell, why not? Right?

Anyways, there it is. And here it is:

17-Aug		Long Run		0:07:42		17.66		Battle Road with Jon and Terry.
18-Aug		4-HillRoute/Easy		0:07:30		13.50		AM: Late morning on the 4-hill route PM: Commute home from the Back Bay.
19-Aug		Easy/Intervals		0:08:00		19.59		AM: Commute to work PM: Commute home + 1000/600x4/400x4/200x2. 5k/3k/mile/<mile paces. Workout went well, my hamstrings were pretty sore.
20-Aug		Easy/Easy		0:07:48		14.54		AM: ~4m at noon, some with Raleigh. PM: ~10m home from work and then some.
21-Aug		Easy/Tempo		0:07:18		17.31		AM: Commute to work. PM: Commute home + 5m tempo in 30:17
22-Aug		Easy/Moderate		0:07:30		10.37		AM: Commute to work PM: More like 1pm, but whatever. 6m around the Charles
23-Aug		Easy		0:08:00		7.59		Easy run down on the Cape.

1000-3:30.75

600-1:59.10

600-1:59.03

600-1:58.93

600-1:57.49

400-1:13.65

400-1:14.17

400-1:13.62

400-1:12.59

200-32.36

200-31.85

Total: 100.56

8/10 to 8/16: "Rest" Week

I hate days off, but this week required a few of them. With the ultimate tourney over the weekend (7 games in total), I had no time to run on Sunday, and on Monday I was really really sore.  Maybe I could have gone out for an easy 4 to 6 miles, but I didn't see the benefit when I was essentially limping. Note: running full speed and diving all day long leaves the body just a little bit shell shocked. Then on Friday, I spent a lot of time in the car driving, and I decided not to force a run and allow myself a down week in terms of total mileage.

So, even with three days "off" - I was incredibly happy with this week. Tuesday marked my return to the track after a ~2 month break, and my legs felt pretty dang good considering how I was feeling on Monday. Then on Thursday I met up with Terry for a tempo around Fresh Pond, and while I'm not entirely sure of the pace, I'm just glad to have a bit of a routine for...I don't know...one week...

Also, I haven't had enough coffee this morning:

10-Aug		Ultimate Tourney		0:08:00		0.50		I did some warm up jogging and probably could put more in here for mileage, but primarily I was busting my ass on the field all day. Three Ultimate games.
11-Aug		Rest		0:00:00		0.00		Really really sore. Too much diving yesterday. Body needs to recover.
12-Aug		Intervals				15.09		AM: Sleepy time PM: 800/(400/600/1200)x2 - felt pretty good!
13-Aug		Moderate		0:07:56		8.67		I don't even know.
14-Aug		Easy/Tempo		0:07:15		15.76		AM: Commute to work PM: Commute home + a tempo with Terry
15-Aug		Easy		0:07:24		4.03		Noon: Easy 4m
16-Aug		Rest		0:00:00		0.00		Lots of driving, rest.

Splits:

800-2:49.82

400-1:14.83

600-2:00.25

1200-4:15.08

400-1:12.34

600-1:59.99

1200-4:01.66 

Total: 44.05

8/3 to 8/9: After this, Recovery

I have to admit, I'm pretty surprised and happy with myself for getting in the miles this week. As I've been mentioning recently - the summer can be a difficult time for me to get in the miles. But this past week I was travelling back from Long Island, playing ultimate on Tuesday, and then the Ultimate Tournament over the weekend. It would've been a reasonable week to not hit the mileage.

I ended up at over 70 miles for the week, as has been my goal - but Monday through Thursday...well, that's one of the more solid four days in a row of running that I can ever recall running. And with a total of 5 ultimate games not counting towards the mileage, well, next week will most definitely be a down week. I hate them, but they are necessary. The body must recover.

Da' Stuff!

3-Aug		Long Island		0:06:54		5.09		Just went out along the Charles after getting back from Long Island.
4-Aug		4-Hill Route/Easy		0:07:45		15.47		AM: Late morning run of 8.5 on the four hill route at ~7:30 pace. First 2m with Raleigh. PM: Met up with Eli and ended up running 7+ at around 8min per.
5-Aug		Easy/Moderate/Ultimate		0:07:40		14.30		AM: Commute to work. Easy. PM: 10m+ on my way to Ultimate. Ended up semi-bonking about a mile from the fields. Good thing I had a GU. Then I played almost the whole game...
6-Aug		Easy/Moderate		0:07:50		14.50		AM: Late morning ~4m run around the Charles. PM: 10m with a mix of Raleigh, Elizabeth, and Jean Dany. Great meeting up with my neighbor Jean Dany - otherwise I would've been done at probably less than 6m for my second run.
7-Aug		Easy/Moderate		0:07:30		14.87		AM: Commute to work. PM: Met up with Jean Dany again and did what ended up being kind of a Fartlek around Fresh Pond.
8-Aug		Easy		0:07:48		6.08		PM: Met up with Eli and then continued on my own for a bit. Pretty easy run.
9-Aug		Ultimate Tourney		0:07:40		1.60		This was basically my warm up and jogging around with Raleigh, but then I played 4 ultimate games, which aren't included in the mileage.

Total: 71.91

7/27 to 8/2: Morning Run to Work, The Routine

So the other day I was trying to work up a deal in a fantasy football league I play in. Good Ole' Ruggs lives in Colorado now, and while we couldn't work out a deal - he did mention that he caught one of my recent blog posts. And here I thought I knew my readers!!! I thought I could count them all on one hand, but as it turns out, I need to use two hands. TWO!?!?!  I'm as surprised as you, but  I'm moving on up in the world, so watch out you top bloggers whoever you are!

Anyways, Ruggsy Bogues thought it was pretty cool that I could get in my mileage by running to and from work, and was curious about the logistics...so, here it is:

• I wake up and drink some water and maybe eat a gummy or nothing at all, and then hop in the shower.
• I pack fresh underwear, socks, a small washcloth, and a banana into my backpack.
• the backpack is a lightweight EMS backpack likely meant for day hiking or cycling and it has straps that keep it from bouncing and a camel-back component that I have removed to reduce weight.
• I'll head out the door and the first mile is usually quite slow and sucks. By the end of that mile I'll throw my t-shirt into the backpack as well, which helps keep me cool throughout the run.
• After an easy 4 miles I arrive at work and step behind a corner to cool off, and use the washcloth to continuously wipe away sweat. Once I'm mostly cooled off, I put the t-shirt back on and head into work.
• I usually use the bathroom sink to quickly wash my face and splash water on my head to cool down a little bit more. However, I keep this quick and clean. I don't want to be the guy who leaves a mess of water around the sink and wet paper towels on the floor. That's not me!
• There is a storage room where I keep two pairs of pants, two pairs of shoes, another towel, a crisp white dress shirt, and a handful of ties in an empty drawer in the back of the room. I change in the storage room, then head to the kitchen for water and an icepack before sitting at my desk.
• I put the icepack along the inside of my forearm usually, just to speed up the cooling down process if necessary.

That's right, I don't shower!!!! Don't you judge me!!

I have the routine down to an effectively inexact science, and in all honesty - I don't smell. It's true. I also leave my Jeep in the garage at work and drive home during lunch to let out Raleigh and have a bite to eat.  If I didn't have to go home for Raleigh, I would buy a few days worth of salad and a bag of almonds (or something easy like that) and leave it in the work fridge. Though, if I didn't head home at lunch, I would have some trouble with the crisp white shirt since I normally exchange that out during lunch so each shirt is effectively worn for 1 full day. I'm sure that'd be easy to figure out a solution to though.

That's it. Here's the numberz:

27-Jul		Long Run/Easy		0:07:47		20.52		AM: 19.15 long run at Battle Road. PM: 15 minute shake out
28-Jul		Easy/		0:08:00		11.34		AM: 4m commute, easy. PM: ~7.5m commute home and whatever.
29-Jul		Intervals or Ultimate		0:07:50		10.04		AM: 4m commute easy. PM: 6m commute easy, then ultimate (savage).
30-Jul		Progression/Moderate		0:06:47		10.35		AM: Progession run from 7:30 to 6:12, unexpected but I needed to get the run done quickly. PM: 6+ after dropping the car off with Eli averaging 6:58/mile.
31-Jul		Easy/Moderate/Long Island		0:07:30		10.12		AM: 4m commute, easy. PM: 6m, just getting in the miles.
1-Aug		Long Island		0:07:35		5.32		A little bit with Raleigh, then out easy on the  roads of Orient Point.
2-Aug		Long Island		0:06:58		4.00		Ran 3 half mile pickups, with the third in 2:30 - a good sign.

I didn't realize it, but this was a really solid week. I started off with the 19 miler, then ran a lot of my weekly runs at a sub 7 pace, ran 5 doubles, and finished the week off with a workout of a few half mile pickups. Running the third and final pickup in 2:30 was a pleasant surprise. I was intending to run it hard, and when I glanced at the quarter mile split I just held form and didn't try and force the issue. Once I'm able to get back to the track, I'm curious to see where I'm at.

Total: 71.69

7/13 to 7/26: Finding the Time vs Making the Time

"Finding the time" and "making the time" are two different things...I think. Finding the time, for me, is usually commuting to work by foot. It's an efficient way to get in 4 miles in the morning, and allows me to still get a good nights sleep. Sometimes I have an early morning meeting and I don't run to work; I am unable to find the time. Consequently, if wake up earlier, I sacrifice sleep and I am "making the time" for a run. During the summertime, "making the time" usually involves avoiding some sort of fun social activity. With no big race on the schedule, I've leaned towards "finding the time."

From 7/13 to 7/19, I couldn't find the time to run. I was on vacation and driving around, golfing (when do I do that? Answer: once every two years), helping celebrate my brother's 40th birthday, and in general - visiting family. All fun things, and all priorities. So I ended up with two days off completely from running. Primarily due to an inability to find time, and I wasn't willing to make time at the expense of family. I did other things that got the heart rate up too, so I didn't get worked up on missing the 70mpw.

From 7/20 to 7/26, I found the time to run. It was still a very busy week with two ultimate games (no mileage for either game, but that's hard running and great cross training), and another night out with friends on Wednesday. Still, I was able to run five doubles, and the week was sandwiched with the East End Pub 5 Miler and a Fresh Pond 1-lapper. Getting to 70+ miles for the week was a challenge without a long run, but that's where the doubles come in, and my social life and sleep didn't suffer for it.

Anyways, I don't know what the point of that was, so here's the good stuff. The numbers. The miles:

13-Jul		Long Run		0:07:56		11.54		Just did my best to get in a longer run. I was pretty tired though as yesterday's effort + the heat left me worn out.
14-Jul		Easy/Easy		0:07:35		9.12		AM: 5+ pretty quick, then did some clamming. PM: 4+
15-Jul		Ultimate		0:07:30		13.46		AM: 5+ in the afternoon with Elizabeth and Raleigh. PM: 8+ total to and from Ultimate. Played a lot and felt good.
16-Jul		Easy		0:08:00		4.01		I don't even know.
17-Jul		Moderate/Moderate		0:07:20		10.18		AM: 4+ PM: 6+
18-Jul		Rest				0.00		Drove down to Plympton. Hit the house playing wiffleball homerun dirby. First person to EVER do so. A nice consolation for the zero miles.
19-Jul		Golf/Pahtay/Rest				0.00		Played golf in the AM and family party from noon on.
20-Jul		East End Pub 5-Miler		0:05:46		8.82		The race went ok. It felt like too much of a struggle though. Still only 36 seconds off my PR though on a tougher course.
21-Jul		Easy/Moderate		0:07:27		14.15		AM: 4.12 in 30:18 PM: 10.03 in 1:14:44
22-Jul		Easy/Moderate/Ultimate		0:07:50		12.29		AM: ~4 in ~32 PM: 8.29 in 1:03:40
23-Jul		Rest/Easy		0:07:39		5.09		AM: Rest PM: Quick around the Charles before a nice dinner out.
24-Jul		Easy/Moderate/Ultimate		0:07:25		14.39		AM: 4+ at about a 7:40 clip PM: 10+ at about a 7:20 clip with some quicker miles in there.
25-Jul		Easy/Easy		0:07:45		10.08		AM: Easy commute to work. PM: Easy commute home.
26-Jul		Fresh Pond				5.77		Fresh Pond in 13:57, and 1-lapper PR. My second mile sucked, but I'll take it.

7/13 to 7/19: 48.31 miles

7/20 to 7/26: 70.59 miles

Still no speedwork...oh how I miss it.

East End 5 Miler Race Report

This was a solid day all around. Terry, Kevin, Phil, Gordon and me all piled into the Subaru - which was actually pretty comfy (at least for the driver!!). And the pre-race talk heading up to Lowell got me pretty pumped to hit the starting line.

The previous two days were busy and fun for me, visiting the family in Plympton for my brother's 40th birthday extravaganza. Lots of fun, and no running - which is the first time I've taken two days off in a row in quite a while.

Anyways, after a couple miles warming up, we hit the starting line. After a pleasant rendition of the national anthem from a trumpeter, the runners packed together tightly at the starting line. The gun went off and there was a little bit of jostling due to the narrow starting line and quick turn, but once we rounded the corner everyone had enough space to get into a comfortable rhythm.

I quickly found Terry and I tried to settle in, but I felt I needed to push the pace a little bit early. Terry had grabbed a large lead after the first two miles at the Ribfest 5 Miler, and I wanted to try and dictate the pace a little bit more if I could.

We ran a quick 5:33 first mile, and Terry was right on my heals. Not too long after the first mile marker, or thereabouts, Terry and a few other guys passed me. I hung onto that pack for a bit, but I started to hurt pretty early on. During that second mile, I ended up getting gapped a little bit and was yo-yoing back and forth from ~3 meters back to ~15 meters back. Around the halfway mark after trying to hold steady through a hilly section I found myself hitting a rough patch and I ended up on the wrong end of that gap. Thankfully, we were hitting the 'other side' of the hills. I was still in a rough spot, but I knew I could gut out a hard push to catch up to the back of the pack so I made a hard surge and was right back in the mix. I was pretty gassed, but I was back on Terry's heals.

During that 4th mile I saw that we were catching up to Paul Hammond and Chris Lotsbom, two guys who are sandwiching me in the Pub Series standings. I passed Terry and the other runners in that pack as started an attempt to close the gap. Terry was right there with me in the chase, and he passed me any time that I let off the gas at all, and somewhere between 3.5 and 4.25 Terry took control and dropped me.

I ended up letting a gap develop with two other guys in the group at that spot as well, but Terry had dropped all of us and I found myself adjusting my sites on the two other guys as Terry was just about reaching Hammond and Lotsbom.

I kept my eyes out for the quarter mile mark, which I had measured out during my warm up. And once I was within site, I looked down at my watch to get a quick time (27:36) then started my hard kick. I closed the gap on the two guys ahead of me very quickly then kept the pedal down to finish in 28:48. A very strong final quarter mile, if I do say so myself.

Splits:
5:33
5:48
5:56
5:58
5:33

Dang, miles 3 and 4 sucked.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/14/ma/Jul20_29thAn_7_set1.shtml

Looking at the results, Phil had a very solid finish before moving off to San Jose. And Kevin is on his way back from what is apparently his typical post-marathon lull. He hammered the Doyle's 5 miler then ran very well at Boston, only to have a dip in performance (by his standards!) during the last few races. I have a feeling that come the fall he'll be hit some PRs though. With that being the case, I need to get my ass in gear and start hitting my summer mileage goals again!

7/6 to 7/12: I Miss the Track

The hamstring still lingers ever so slightly, but I'm sure I could handle track workouts and I miss the faster paced running. With the next installment of the Pub Series coming up, the East End Pub 5 Miler in Lowell, I would have liked to have the confidence that goes along with hitting 1k repeats at 5k pace (or whatever mix that Terry chooses for Track Tuesdays).

Even while missing those workouts, I think I'm still heading in the right direction. It really sucked having to reduce my mileage last week, but I'm back feeling healthier and that's more important. I've still had some good tempos recently as well, so hopefully those translate to the 5 miler.

6-Jul		Long Run		0:07:39		18.08		Battle Road with the gang. I've been meeting with Albert too much on these long runs. Need to eat better the night before.
7-Jul		Easy/Easy		0:07:35		10.20		AM: 4+ in 30:43 PM: 6+ in whatever
8-Jul		Easy/Easy/Ultimate		0:07:40		10.00		AM: 4m in ~31+ PM: 6m in ~45
9-Jul		Easy		0:07:34		6.25		PM: Around the Charles
10-Jul		Easy/Tempo				13.92		AM: 4m commute PM: Commute home, + 5 mile tempo in 31:27
11-Jul		Easy		0:07:21		4.04		AM: 4m commute to work
12-Jul		Longer Tempo		0:06:44		8.01		Was thinking something like a 6 mile tempo, with a 2 mile cool down, but since I could cool down in the ocean water…why not?

One other thing to add - getting in an 18 miler felt great.

No splits!?!?!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!