By Morse | January 28, 2010
Up to 27.5 miles off the first three days this week. If I could get another 2.5 weeks of this pace I think I’ll feel pretty strong. I tried dipping into speed work - but it really seemed to wreck my legs a little too much. I don’t think my base is strong enough yet. But I’ll dip my toe back in the speed pool after another 2.5-3 weeks or so. I agree with you Shaw, I think threshold and tempo work is mostly all you need.
Since I’ve torn my ACL I’ve done a lot of work on making my form better. The biggest thing I’ve focused on is leg turnover. Jack Daniels talks about how 180 steps per minute is pretty much the minimum frequency it takes to be a solid runner. The big thing that caught my eye was the reduction in injuries. As you hit the ground more often you hit the ground with less force. Makes sense. I think my stride was fairly…how shall we say…not quick…in college. I remember trying to test my frequency and I think I was at like 160 or some shit. But I’m pleased to report I’m hovering in the range of 184-196 depending on how peppy my legs feel. I don’t know if this has had impacts on my overall running speed - but so far I feel like I’m handling the mileage much more easily than before. I can’t remember the last time I ran 9 miles three days in a row at ~7 pace without feeling like my legs were about to fall off.
Also, I’d talk trash about this whole alumni 5k…but I honestly wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face. 17:35. Seriously, that’s my PR. It’s going to fall sometime this year…but I think I have a long ways to go before I enter into “motivating John Shaw” mode. Shaw, you could take the next 5 months off and still kick my ass in anything over 1200 meters. I’m sure of this.
By Pike | January 25, 2010
Last week was pretty typical: mostly alternating days of running on the treadmill and biking on my rollers.
Friday I picked up Conor in Ann Arbor and headed down to Oberlin to meet up with Everett and everyone else in the world who’s there for winter term. Saturday morning we jaunted through DB4 (~26 min). It was just like old times. No one from the current team was with us because they had the Baldwin Wallace meet, so it really could have been a run from my sophomore-senior year: just Conor, Everett, and me. Not much has changed on that run, which is comforting. Oberlin still looks good. We went to the meet and watched people tear it up (like Clara destroying everyone in the 800 in a way that makes me jealous). I still get jittery at meets, even two years later. Sunday morning we were supposed to run alpaca, but it was cold and rainy so Conor and Everett didn’t want to go. Instead I biked and lifted when I got home.
I realized when I was down there that I didn’t die when running outside. Granted it was like 40 and pretty nice, plus I had Conor and Everett, but still, I survived. So today when I got home from work and watching a movie, I decided to go running. It was like 10:30 and dark out, but I donned all my winter clothes (it was like 29, still warmer than during my marathon, yet at that point I was wearing only my Oberlin singlet) which are all black and headed out for an easy 5 miles. I don’t have a watch right now, so I don’t time runs, but it was pretty quick. I did almost sprain my ankle slipping on ice when I jumped off of curbs I had mounted to avoid cars, but it didn’t happen. Reflective vests are for wimps. Did my pilates when I got back too, got to maintain my figure after all.
John, excellent job. Not sure about the cheese grits. I have been talking a lot of smack about the commencement 5k (Graham put money on you to win, but we’ll see if Ryan or I, or Conor or Everett if they show up, can put the hurt on you). Maybe I should back off though, given that your half marathon was 5 minutes faster than my pr. I was standing right next to Clara when you called, if I had known it was you I would likely have let out a whoop of delight, but she didn’t inform us that it was you, or your time, until after she hung up.
Time to grab some zzzs
An update has been long overdue. I think it’s because I didn’t want to be jinxed. It seems like every time I get something going I post on here then get derailed. (fingers crossed)
A big perk in my training occurred about two months ago when I was finally able to start running to and from work. I have a computer I keep at home, a computer I keep at work, a sweet 4 miles of road between my lair and place of work, and a shower at the office. This is pretty much all you need to guarantee yourself a regimented training schedule. So for the past couple of months I’ve been running 4 miles into work and 4-6 miles home about 4.5 days a week. When I’m in LA I try to do it in singles (7-10 a day). The past couple of weeks have seen some small layoffs from being sick and introducing speed workouts in (whew) - but all in all I still am hovering around 40 per week. So far my race schedule looks like:
April 11th - Cherry Blossom Ten Miler
Sep (??) - Miracle Mile Grand Prix
Nov - TBD Turkey Trot
The ten miler is for work. A bunch of people are doing it. I’m still debating how diligently to train specifically for that race. I was originally just going to do a bunch of mileage with a couple of semi-speed workouts littered throughout…see if maybe I could break 65. But one of the dudes I work with has been talking trash so I’m still debating focusing on some more speedwork. I just don’t know if my legs are ready to handle it.
I had a big realization earlier this year that I really didn’t want the best running shape I’ve been in to be my college career. So - we’ll see what 2010-2011 brings. I’d like to see some PRs drop.
By Shaw | January 24, 2010
Hi all. 1:15:41. That’s what I had today. Matt Kempton ran a 1:13. I just found this out and it is still sinking in. Sounds a little like a missed opportunity. Shame. still. I’m happy. You take what you’re given, and I was given a lot.
It looks as if I ran the second 11.1k 10 mins slower than the first 10k. Rookie mistake, but I believe it. I had a side ache in miles 6-11. The course is wonderfully downward sloping through those miles, but I couldn’t fully flow because the jarring hurt the cramp. I welcomed the uphills when they came.
As for the cramp, I suspect that it had something with my pre-race diet, which consisted of oatmeal, rice, cheese grits, oranges and grapefruits for the 2 preceding days. I would like some advice on nutrition, because I clearly suck at it. Recall my 100 mile canoe race last fall: I thought the best thing was to eat one bar every hour on the hour. I did that for 15 hours (of 24 on the river). Disgusting.
I think it might be because I become a recluse pre-race. No teammates to jaw with. I watched Sugar (fantastic baseball movie, maybe the best baseball movie I have ever seen), and ate rice, garbonzos, and a mushroom. I usually vary my diet day to day, and cook nice things for myself. Something about racing makes me go spartan though.
So I’m happy. I hear trash is being talked about this alumni 5k. You fuckers better not motivate me. That’s all I can say.
By Shaw | January 22, 2010
Matt Kempton (OWU ‘07) is running this race. From what I can tell from Facebook, he has been training ever since. He kicked me down in the ‘07 All-Ohio 10k, but I buried him with pace at conference several weeks later.
I hope I see him with 3 miles to go.
By King | January 19, 2010
It happened. We all knew it would. I miss seeing my ribcage, I miss having random leg twitches, I miss short shorts, and boy do I miss foam rollers. Starting out conservatively, but in a few weeks I will be back to 50 miles/week. It’s amazing how appetite rises exponentially with every 10 miles/week. I eat like a horse. Again. And boy do I love it.
Race schedule for me looks like:
April 30th - OTC and Team XO Relays (1500m - Unattached)
May 8th - Oregon Twilight Meet (1500m - Unattached)
May 26th (??) - Oberlin 5K with John and Pike
Low mileage but good quality. Time Trial 800 in the beginning of April to see if I’m ready. Here we go!
What’s up? I find that I can vouch only for summer and fall; spring is in limbo for me. summer will be at least the Covered Bridges Half Marathon with T-Oman. Should be sweet. Fall I will do Central Vermont Runners’ October 3-race 5k series. I might try to fit something in around Labor Day as well, if I’m not too busy, and I might even plan a DC-visit trip and run the Kensington 8k like I did last year.
The problem with spring is that a few prospective jobs would have me working Saturdays, and I can take some Saturdays off, but I might not take a spring Saturday off, in case I need other Saturdays for other reasons. So I’m hoping to run something, but hopefully plans can be successfully made after a job is procured. I’m glad people enjoy the challenge. I know Ben and Morse said he’d be posting soon. Think of all the fun race reports we’ll get to read.
What do we think about making MFS join the blog? Because you know we can’t just invite him–MFS needs to be firmly told what to do.
By Shaw | January 18, 2010
Aren’t you all just Planny McPlannersons? I have been hearing that road races fill up ridiculously early these days - the big sur half filled up 9 months early - so maybe its a good thing.
I have my spring race in 6 days. The 3M half marathon in ATX. Yes it is spring in Texas. The course drops about 250 feet from start to finish, so I think it is conducive to a fast time. I’m going to aim for 1:18.
I had several races scheduled over the next 4 months, but it looks like field work might scuttle them all. Am I really going to throw the fuck down with Pike on Morgan St? Really? The idea fills me with many emotions. Call me weak, but I’ve taken a lot of joy in owning on the faceless weekend warrior over the past few years. We’ll see. Insulting my kick might change things.
I’ve had a nice 3 weeks in NYC visiting Kim. She lives near Prospect Park, which has a nice 3.3 mile loop. I also took to runs through the hasidic jewish neighborhoods to Coney Island. Nice running, but it is so weird to be told were not to run. It is very central to my being to be able to run on any street I see on a map. Oh well.
I will post of my doings next Sunday.
Okay, so I haven’t posted in a while either. Sorry to say guys, but we may not be the most motivated group of people ever.
Lately I’ve been just kind of treading water as far as fitness is concerned. I pretty much alternate between running 4-6 miles and biking 18-25, with pilates and weights thrown in basically at random. I’m certainly not fast, but I don’t get out of breath going up stairs or anything either. I plan to run 2010 miles this year. We’ll see how that goes considering I’m doing ~20/week which would only be 1040. I’ll have to kick it up a notch. I haven’t done anything fun or interesting on runs lately; they’ve been on the inside (biking too) and just easy runs for the most part. But they’re happening. As the weather starts getting better I’ll start kicking my own ass more. Mostly because it’s way easier to do that out on trails or a track than in my basement.
I want to step up to Dan’s challenge too. The spring is easy: at minimum I’ll be doing the Dexter-Ann Arbor half marathon again (the one I did last year to get a time for Chicago, I want to be in the top 25 this time, if not better). I also plan on doing the 5k on Sunday morning during Oberlin’s commencement (John, I’m looking at you). After that, things get dicey. I’ll definitely do a summer and a fall race, don’t worry about that, but I’m not sure what races. Mostly because I’m not sure where I’ll be living. At this point, it’ll either be Baltimore or Lansing, I think, but I have my interview at Hopkins in a few weeks and haven’t heard anything from Yale at all, so it’s still pretty up in the air. Makes it hard to make hard plans. But don’t worry, I’ll be racing.
How’s it going, boys? My local college pool opened up again and I’ve started swimming. Some highlights of the holiday weeks: lots of snowshoeing, a nordic ski field trip with April Gentile-Miserandino in 4′ weather (minus 10′ with windchill) and a lot of overeating. I’m doing ab work before bedtime now pretty regularly, though, and with some skiing and swimming mixed in, I am going to try to fit in some runs.