That’s a Will Ferrell quote from “A Night at the Roxbury”, when he experiences a ‘hottie overload’ in a nightclub. He proceeds to take his brother Doug’s advice and pace himself. For example, “what’s up?…2…3…4….what’s up?…2…3…4…what’s up? etc.” This anecdote teaches us the value of pace.
February was the usual, and as such a bit of a letdown. I did run roughly half the days of the month, and that includes an empty first week. So I was basically running 5 days a week, but the mileage didn’t exactly jump up. Probably because I focused on pace and turnover (good thoughts on this, Adam) and went on micro-runs of 1-2 miles. I think it’s paying off here in March though–the three-milers are coming pretty smoothly now and we should surpass 20 miles next week. Hope all’s well with everyone. You ladies should come up to Vermont. You think running in snow sucks, try roads covered in 3 inches of mud. sucks.
Hi all. I am not going to whine about the half inch of snow that Austin received last week, but I will lament that it has reduced visits with Kim by about 24 hours in February due to canceled flights.
February has seen many things for me, although it only saw running 5 times. This whole graduated business gets to me sometimes, because as soon as I run a race and see some potential, have a list of things to work on for a month to take it to the next level, I basically quit running cold turkey. My alumni 5k confidence is severely tempered. That said, got a nice run in this morning, and if you start running on a Monday, you have a better chance of running 4-5 days in a week than if you start running on a Thursday.
Much love,
JS
By Morse | February 15, 2010
Man. DC is a tough place to run sometimes. Like last week. When we got 40 inches of snow. It wasn’t very safe to walk around let alone run. So needless to say I missed a solid week + of running. I think I’m going to be a little more aggressive during my LA trips as I wouldn’t be surprised if I missed a couple of more days in DC due to weather. My legs feel pretty fresh though. I had a nice four mile shake out run this morning and I’m looking forward to a nice 8-9 miles this evening.
It’s a million times different running out here in terms of how my legs feel. They do not like running fast in the cold.
And the miles continue.
What’s up bros? I’m back from Mexico, where I swam every day, and ate a lot too. February begins my running mileage ramp-up. January was somewhere around…say, 20 miles for the month. Let’s aim for 20 miles per week by the end of Feb. Hope life’s good for all. It’s cold as balls in Vermont, compared to southern Mexico.
Peace.
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!