8th Post-Collegiate2009-07-122010-01-17164Week 26week262010-01-102010-01-17Disappointing week. Felt pretty bad early in the week but after the Wednesday workout my legs started coming around. I was confident going into the race on Sunday but I simply didn't execute. Far too conservative at the start of the race and then just wasn't able to push myself the rest of the way. I think I need to take some time away and think about what's next for me.SUNHouston Half Marathon, 69:07. Woke up around 3:45am and went for a short walk around the hotel to wake up. After eating breakfast I went downstairs to take the shuttle to the convention center and had about 15 minutes of sitting around before heading to the start line. Warmed up out along the course and my legs were feeling pretty good. Looking back I can see that there wasn't a lot of adrenaline flowing, I think I was too calm going into the start of the race. Got out okay at the gun but never got up in the pack where Paul was running and hit 5:10ish at the mile. Figured I didn't have much chance to hit 65:00 after that and started to lose motivation. Wasn't able to bridge the gap to the group ahead and wound up running alone for a few miles. Will caught me around 4.5M and we ran together until 10k or so then he slowly pulled away. I gradually slowed over the second half of the race and finished up around 5:25s. Pretty dejected about how this one went, I didn't have a firm B goal and just wasn't able to push myself. I ran hard but I never got out of a comfort zone today. Seems like a waste of 10 weeks of good training. 68/7015HARDBADBADSATOut and back in Houston. Slept in this morning and headed out for an easy shakeout around noon. Mid 40s and windy but a nice change from running Boston. Ran out along the Parkway then turned around and followed the course to the finish then made my way back to the hotel. Pretty basic run, my legs were feeling good and I'm getting excited about the race tomorrow. 67/694EASYAVGAVGFRIRun to Remember loop. 66/687EASYAVGAVGTHUCharlestown Loop. 65/674EASYAVGAVGWED4xMile in 5:02, 5:00, 4:55, 4:56. Headed over to Reggie tonight for the final workout before Houston, warmed up on the usual route with Matt Ely. I felt pretty good on the warmup and was looking for a good rhythm with a little bit of turnover at the end. The plan originally was 5:05-5:01-4:59-4:55 but we wound up running a bit too fast as the workout wore on. For the most part I felt good but wasn't able to change gears very well. I led the first half of the final mile, coming through in 2:26 or so and then was quickly gapped as the other guys threw down. I cooled down a long 3M with Matt Carter, would have been a bit shorter but I got lost for a bit after leaving Carter. 64/669HARDAVGAVGTUEBack Bay. A little less tired when my alarm sounded this morning, and I didn't have any problem getting started. My plan was to run BU but as I was running down Comm Ave I started having occasional pain my right knee (the bad knee.) It wasn't so bad that I couldn't have kept going but I didn't want to push anything unnecessarily at this point. It didn't get any worse and I did a good job on the foam roller when I got home, so I'm not too worried. I'm trying to avoid cutting back too much too soon, but staying healthy is the first priority. 63/656EASYAVGAVGMONInman Square. Really tired when my alarm went off and took my time getting up and at 'em today. I knew I was going short so I wasn't in a rush to start. Ran pretty slow and without a watch, still feeling tired but not nearly as sore as I was yesterday. After thinking about it for awhile I decided it's better to be feeling bad than good at this point. My thinking is, I have 6 days to turn it around and start feeling better, but if I was feeling good I'd have to try and maintain that for 6 more days. 62/645EASYBADBADSUNDocks-Old Ollie-Ocean. Terry cautioned me to cut back on the long run today since I've been feeling so tired recently and I'm glad that I did. From the first step to the last step my legs were shot, I did get loosened up and the run wasn't unbearable, but the first 10 minutes or so I was thinking about walking home. I ran Docks to Summer Street then ran into Southie and up G Street along the old Ollie route then came back into the South End along Broadway and home through the Common. I've run this loop before and called it 10M, it took 75 minutes so hopefully it's a bit longer than 10. 61/6310EASYBADBADWeek 25week252010-01-032010-01-09This week wasn't the greatest way to finish up training for Houston. I aborted the long run on Sunday and followed that up by not running at all on Monday. The last serious workout was Tuesday and I fell off pace during the second 2.5M interval then couldn't hold 72s for a kilometer and had to cut back to 800s. I felt pretty worn out and run down the rest of the week, my legs were really tired though running 200s on Thursday seemed to help. Not a great job of racing on Saturday, screwed up the mile pretty well and then just hung around in the 5k and dealt with feeling really tired. At least now I've got nothing to do but rest up.SATMIT Alumni Meet. Mile in 4:32.38 for 5th, 5k in 15:28.00 for first. Terrible start for the mile, was in dead last at 100m and we were going slow. I went to the front and led from 200-900 but didn't move when everyone else did and ran the last 3 laps alone in 5th. Was a little lazy between events and felt pretty tired during the 5k. Sat behind Hemu and Dan Harper, expecting those guys to tire and fall off eventually but they kept running 74-76 and I didn't have it in my legs to make any moves. Managed to stay close then moved hard with 550m left and won by a few seconds. Pretty cowardly tactics, but I'm old and they're young, they should be leading. Cooled down about 3M afterwards, mostly with Terry McNatt around the track. Really tired when I got home, was falling asleep on the couch during the Cowboys-Eagles game. Happy that I hung in there during the 5k but a little nervous about having to do that 4 times in a row next weekend. 60/622010 MIT Alumni Indoor9HARDAVGAVGFRIRun to Remember course. Got going around 6am this morning as usual, nothing special about today's run. Felt fine throughout, though a bit scared about racing a mile tomorrow. 59/617EASYAVGAVGTHUFake Fresh, plus 5x200 at Harvard in 34-5-4-3-3. I was still pretty tired when I woke up this morning and didn't feel that great early on during the run. By the time I got to Harvard I was still pretty tired and wasn't expecting much from the 200s. Took off my hat, gloves and long sleeve shirt and got right on the line (the 200m line, not the 220y line.) Felt good on the first one and had to hold back over the final 50m to hit 34. Took about 45 seconds of jogging around before getting right back onto the line. Kept it a little easier on the second and felt really good running a 35. Picked it up from there, the third one was still comfortable in 34 and only had to work a little bit harder to hit 33s on the final 2. This was a pretty quick detour, I put everything back on and headed right back to the river to finish up. I felt so much better over the rest of the run, those 200s really helped loosen up my legs. I still didn't run very fast, but at least my legs weren't sore any longer. Taking out the 10 minute detour to the track I finished up in about 75 minutes, a couple minutes slower than normal. 58/6011AVGAVGAVGWEDDocks. When I cut Sunday's run short I had originally thought about going 13 or 14M today to compensate, but changed my mind before I got out the door this morning. I was immediately thankful I did that as the first 2 or 3 minutes were really bad. I never really got loosened up and though the footing was pretty good I must have been running pretty slow as it was 71 minutes total. Very glad when this run finished up, my legs were just sore every step of the way. 57/599EASYBADBADTUE2x2.5M-2x1000-2x800 in 12:46, 12:46; 3:01, 2:59; 2:25, 2:24. Met the usual guys at Harvard for the final hard workout before Houston. Warmed up 2M through the parking lots with Brendan, H and Terry then headed inside to stretch out. Only ran two strides so I wasn't feeling incredibly quick but Terry divided the 40 laps of the 5M into quarters and had me lead the first 10 laps. It took me a few laps to get into it, we were shooting for 5:04 pace and I took us out in 80 but eventually started hitting 38s. Came through in 5:08 and drifted to the back after Will took the lead. Held on perfectly fine the rest of the way and felt pretty comfortable. After 2 minutes rest Brendan led off the second interval and found a pace a bit quicker than the prescribed 5:00. I couldn't decide what to do and settled on running 5:00 instead, which resulted in me leading Will through 2M. We hit 5:00 on the first mile but started slowing and ran 5:08 for the second. Will went around me and I struggled to finish up, running just 2:38. We had 5:00 rest which I really needed and then got into what was supposed to be 4x1k. I led the first one and had to really work to run 3:01 I had Paul on my hip almost the whole way and was working hard to stay in front of him. Wasn't able to stick with Paul on the second one and slowed over the final 400m to run 2:59. I led the third one, planning on running an 800, and after getting out in 36 was quickly passed by Paul and Will. Struggled to get through that third one but closed strongly and stayed focused on the final one. Led Will through one lap with Paul giving us a headstart and chasing us down. Could only stay ahead of Will for one lap and really labored to make it around the track in 2:24. Not too pleased that I really got my butt kicked today, but I think I'm getting better at fighting through when my legs get tired. At this point, I'm really looking forward to the race and need to make sure I don't slack off over the next 10 days. Cooled down for 24+ minutes around the track with Terry and a guy from CSU. 56/5812HARDAVGAVGMONDay off. This was a pretty disappointing day, I had everything on and about to leave when I decided to wait for the sun to come up and run later in the day. But work got pretty crazy and I worked straight through the afternoon. This is the kind of thing that happened over the summer and through the fall, I need to nip it in the bud. 55/570NONENONENONESUN4 loops of the Common. It's been snowing pretty much all weekend and I wasn't too excited about going out for this run. The footing was kind of rough getting to the Common, especially going through Paul Revere where I had to trudge through 6 inch drifts. The Common was cleared, not down to the pavement, but at least I didn't have to wade through any drifts. The wind was pretty rough along Tremont and I was slipping pretty consistently and running 8:20-8:40 per lap (7:30-7:45 pace) but it felt like I was working much harder. I wasn't too invested in the run and had plans for waffles afterwards so I started thinking about ways to cut it short. After 4 laps I figured I'd put in enough, I was loosened up after yesterday's tempo and didn't want to screw things up this close to Houston so I just headed back home. 55/568EASYAVGBADWeek 24week242009-12-272010-01-02This was a better week, though the mileage was a bit low due to no long run. Wednesday's workout at Reggie didn't go perfectly but at least I managed to finish it up on tired legs. I felt much better on Saturday and that was a good confidence booster. I was dealing with a lingering cold the whole time I was in Milwaukee and maybe that left me a bit worn out on Wednesday. Pretty boring week, not great mileage and a couple average workouts.SAT4M Tempo 5:13-5:07-5:10-4:59. The plan was a 6M tempo, getting faster every 2M, but we woke up to a lot of snow on the ground and were forced to run this on the track at Harvard. Terry cautioned us to shorten the tempo a bit as we'd likely wind up running faster, but really wanted us to keep it under control early on. We were shooting for 5:15 at the start, Liam took us through in 2:38 then Will took the lead and ran a 2:35 to get us to the mile. I was sitting in the back and everything felt really comfortable. Brendan and Paul teamed up to get us through the second mile and I was still sitting in the back, so I put in a surge to take the lead at the start of the third mile and help out. I struggled a bit, we were supposed to run 5:05 and I couldn't find 38s, but kept us pretty close. I slowed too much over the final 100m as Liam and I traded the lead and we were 2:34 at the half. I stayed up near the front but didn't lead again. I managed to switch gears well as we dropped to 5:00 pace but couldn't stick with Paul and Brendan over the final 3 laps. After a 2:31 first half I managed to hold pace and finished with a 4:59, but Paul and Brendan poured it on and ran about 2:25 to finish up. Cooled down about 20 minutes inside with the guys and watched a bit of Brett's tempo run. Pleased with how this went today, it was meant to be easy and complement what we did on Wednesday and that's how it felt. The first 2.5M passed very quickly and though I really had to work to close it out I managed to hit 5:00 pace at the end. 54/559EASYAVGAVGFRIBU. Pretty much the same as yesterday, didn't run when I woke up, waited until later in the day and ran while waiting for a coat of paint to dry. I felt okay, it was tough to run along the river due to the snow, so I crossed over and ran on the sidewalks by MIT which were clear and salted. Another workout planned for tomorrow. 53/548EASYAVGAVGTHUBack Bay. I really don't remember this run, I think I went Back Bay. Slept in after last night's workout and then started painting the spare bedroom. Ran while waiting for the first coat to dry, it was snowing and a bit slippery outside. 52/536EASYAVGAVGWED2xMile, 2M, 2x1.5M in 5:05, 4:56; 10:16; 7:45, 7:33. Worked out at Reggie this evening but got to the track about 10 mintues before the start of the workout. Only had time to run about half a mile and a few strides as a warm up, so my plan was to use the first 2 intervals to get loosened up. Paul and Will took off at the start but Matt, Bernie and myself held back and came through in 2:30. I backed off even more as I wasn't feeling that great and cruised through the second half mile. I missed the start of the second interval and jumped in after 20m, but I felt a whole lot better. I think I was finally loosened up and the whole interval came very easily. The good feeling continued through the first mile of the 2M, coming through in 5:00 before I started to slow. I was trying to cruise too much and wasn't expecting 5:00 pace to feel as hard as it did, so I wasn't ready to really hammer when I needed to. Decided on the fly to finish with 2x1.5M so that I could stay focused and run aggressively, and that worked to a certain extent. Wasn't able to stay in touch with the leaders for very long and after coming through in about 5:05 I slowed even more over the final 4 laps. Did a much better job on the final interval, I got out hard and stuck right on Paul and was able to hold 5:00 pace. I started thinking maybe I should extend out to 2M but eventually decided to finish the workout on a good note instead of trying to get a little extra and having it possibly blow up on me. Cooled down with Bernie, Matt and Brett. Not a great workout but I was really pleased with how it finished up, hopefully I can find that mindset when things get tough in Houston. 51/5210HARDAVGBADTUECastle-Bunker Hill. Back on my usual schedule and ran early this morning before working. My wife, however, is still on vacation so when my alarm went off at 5:30am she said "That sucks" and went back to sleep. Pretty basic, boring run, nothing special. 50/519EASYAVGAVGMONParkway solo. Got up early this morning and headed out alone for my last run in Milwaukee. Kept it simple and stuck to the Parkway, had to deal with more snow falling and wet sidewalks. Got to Rochelle in 45 minutes and turned there, but made it back a bit quicker so I had to run up to Lake Drive and back to put me over 90 minutes. Probably still a short 13 miles, though. 49/5013EASYAVGAVGSUNBender with Nick. Got going a bit earlier so Nick could catch his flight, we just put in the standard Bender loop. Nothing special, finished up around 6:40 pace at the end, still a bit slick on the sidewalks. 48/499EASYAVGAVGWeek 23week232009-12-202009-12-26Had a rough start to this week but managed to get back on track by the end. Felt a little worn down and was lacking in enthusiasm after last week's rough workout and bad raes, but another solid effort with Paul and some vacation time back home helped get me excited again. Houston is getting pretty close and I feel like I'm in pretty good shape right now, so hopefully I can put it all together.SATArt Museum-Bike Path-Silver Spring with Nick. Nick is flying out early tomorrow so it was easier to put in our long run today. He came over in the morning and we headed up along the Lake to the Art Museum. It was a bit icy out which wouldn't have been a problem but it started snowing right as we left and that made it nearly impossible to tell where the ice was. We were running in the road along Lincoln Memorial and had seen maybe 5 cars all morning when a cop yelled at us for running in the street, so we had to get back on the sidewalk. The worst part was along the bike path there were a couple big puddles that had frozen over, but once we got back to the suburbs everything was pretty much fine. Put in about 2:02 this morning, a pretty good run, though Nick and I are running out of stuff to talk about. 47/4818AVGAVGAVGFRISilver Spring with Nick. My plan was to run from my parents house at 8 and put in close to 10M, but I forgot my shoes and had to go back to the Schulte's so I didn't start until 8:30. Kept it easy with Nick and just put in what I could. 46/477EASYAVGAVGTHUParkway with Nick. The plan was 90-100 minutes with some harder running in the middle if I felt good, but the roads in Milwaukee were too slick and slippery to run fast. Nick and I took the Parkway past Goodhope and turned back just before 50 minutes. Made it back a bit quicker and I finished up right around 98 minutes. 45/4614EASYAVGAVGWEDBack Bay. A little tired and a little lazy this morning, plus trying to get the run over with since I had to get ready to leave for WI later in the day. Hamstring wasn't an issue after it got tight yesterday, so that's good. 44/456EASYGOODGOODTUE4M tempo, 4x800 at Harvard with Paul in 20:28 (5:05-09-06-08), 2:24-22-21-21. Met Paul at Harvard early this morning to get our workout in before travelling. I had to run over to 7-11 to break a twenty so I could plug the meter, but I finished up the rest of the warmup inside as it was freezing cold this morning. Paul took the odd miles and I took the evens and we got right into it without much waiting around. Paul did a good job of getting right on pace and it took me a few laps to get into the rhythm of things. I was thinking too much about last Wednesday, but after 1000m or so I was able to relax and felt much better from there. Struggled to hit pace when I was leading, I was trying to cruise a little too much, and Paul pulled away from me by a little bit over the final half mile. We had 4:00 rest and then it was into the halves, this time I took the odds and Paul had the evens. After getting out a bit too fast on the first one we found a good pace and the intervals went by pretty easily. My left hamstring started to get tight on the third, I had felt it a bit warming up but not at all during the workout, so I held back on the final one as Paul blasted away. Cooled down just 2M as my hamstring was still tight and I was trying to be smart. Good workout, nice to get back on track after a string of 5 or 6 rough days. 43/4410HARDGOODGOODMONDay off. Slept right through my alarm and had no motivation throughout the day. I can feel myself getting a bit worndown/burnt out. First day off in 6 weeks though, so that's good. 42/430NONENONENONESUN3xCommon-Freedom Trail. The plan was to meet up with a group along the river but it snowed overnight and I didn't want to deal with running through the snow. I just headed over to the Common and ran a couple loops there. The plows were out but I guess this was a tough type of snow to clear as there was a thin layer everywhere and it was pretty slippery. I got frustrated after 3 laps, I was running 8:40 per lap which is nearly 8:00 pace, and took the Freedom Trail home to add on a little extra distance. Today's run wound up being 64 minutes total. 42/428EASYAVGBADWeek 22week222009-12-132009-12-19This was the first bad week of the build up to Houston. Thought I was going to put in a great long run on Sunday but really ran out of gas near the end and didn't have anything when we tried to pick it up around the Reservoir. Things got worse from there as I couldn't finish the workout at Reggie on Wednesday and then tried to rest up before the BU Mini Meet. Ran 2 slow races and didn't run competitively on Saturday. I knew that slow times were a possibility since I've been doing a lot of work but nothing that would translate directly to a fast 3k or mile. However, the disappointing part was that when I got tired I just gave up and didn't try to beat anybody. I will need to have a much more aggressive mindset once the real racing starts.SATBU Mini Meet, 3k in 8:52.60, Mile in 4:34.46. Neither race went particularly well, though the 3k was remarkably bad. I felt awesome on the warmup, which I guess is never a good sign. At 8:40 I was the fastest seed in the first heat and resolved to set the pace and run fast from the gun. There wasn't a clock at the line, so I didn't catch the first split but we were 66 at 400m after a too fast second lap. Found a more reasonable pace after that and was feeling okay in the lead. I must not have done a good job of hydrating, though, as by 800m I had terrible cottonmouth and was almost more concerned about my tongue sticking to my cheek and the roof of my mouth than I was about the race. Matt Ely passed me just after 1k and I tried to hang on for a bit but most of the rest of the race was just me slowing down and getting passed by a lot of guys. Disappointing finish but I resolved to run the mile much better. Didn't put in many strides as I was unsure of when the race would start, but I felt okay coming off the line in the fast heat. I was expecting the race to go out hard but it didn't and I think we were close to 70 for the first 400. I just coasted along for 800m before finally starting to race and I spent the last half of the race running hard and catching guys. Neither race was very pretty and there certainly was a lot of rust to bust. Cooled down just 2M solo afterwards. 41/418HARDAVGAVGFRIMass Ave loop, with JMark. Met Jared on the river at 6:15 this morning after nearly sleeping right through the run. Kept it short, though, to rest up a bit for tomorrow's races. Feeling a bit fresher and looking forward to being back on the track running some shorter races. 40/406EASYAVGAVGTHUShortened Run to Remember course. Not feeling too excited about running right now, I kept this one short and easy. It's always tough to get going early in the morning after a late workout the night before. Didn't feel sore or tired from last night, which isn't that surprising given that I only ran a quasi-workout. 39/396EASYBADBADWED2x2M, 600 in 10:12-10:09-1:59. Warmed up solo at Reggie as the high school meet was ending and met Bernie, JMark, Will and Paul when I got back. The plan was 4x2M, starting at 5:04s and working down to just under 5:00. I led the first mile and felt pretty comfortable though we were a bit slow at the start. When Paul took the lead for the second mile he sped up to 75s laps and I dropped back off the pack to keep running 76s on my own. I slowed a little at the very end but was feeling pretty confident about being able to run the workout at the right pace on my own. I didn't lead any of the second interval but after staying in contact through the first mile I started falling off the back of the pack and slowing down. I felt very sluggish and my legs weren't responding at all, just like over the summer I wasn't able to push myself beyond a certain point. I hung in for the first 3 laps of the third interval but wasn't feeling it and the thought of running 2 miles was really daunting, so I just called it a day. Not a very good workout for me, breaking the string of great training that I've been enjoying. Cooled down a long 2M, partly with Bernie and JMark, then headed home. Disappointing workout, just a week after being able to run 8x1M I could barely run 2x2M. Trying not to get too down on myself, though, it's not as though I've fallen out of shape. It would be nice to run well on the track for once, though. 38/388HARDBADBADTUESummit Ave. I wasn't as tired when I woke up this morning and I felt pretty good throughout the run, I guess the big plate of spaghetti for dinner last night was a good idea. My legs were still tired when I finished, but I felt better on the run and was more excited about running than I was yesterday. Happy to get into the double digits for mileage today, that's a good boost for the weekly total. Nothing special about today, just putting in miles ahead of tomorrow's workout. 37/3712EASYAVGAVGMONBack Bay. I was out the door a little before 6am and enjoying the 36 degree temperature until I realized the sidewalks were a bit icy. There were occasional patches of thin, slippery ice seemingly at random and a couple times I resorted to shuffling/walking to avoid falling down. I was feeling pretty worn down when I woke up this morning and it took me a bit to get out of bed, but my legs felt alright during the run. Happy to get home without falling and hopefully I start feeling a little fresher soon. 36/366EASYAVGAVGSUNBAA Long Run. Drove out to Cleveland Circle with Bernie this morning for the first long run of the winter. I didn't eat much of a dinner last night and woke up around 5am starving, so I ate a bit and went back to bed, hoping that was enough to get me through the run. The plan for Paul and myself was roughly 2 hours with the last 2M at half marathon pace. Started out relaxed and ran with John Friedman, the NardDog, Paul and Ryan. We did the usual route to the marathon course and ran back to Route 9 before turning around. I had been feeling a bit ragged early on but once we got to the course my legs started feeling better and by the time we turned I was feeling fine, back to normal. Started slowly speeding up after the turn and were cruising along pretty well through the hills. Paul, Ryan and myself broke away around BC, got back to Cleveland Circle at 1:40 and then got on the Reservoir for a planned 2 laps. Paul built a decent gap halfway through the first lap and I dropped behind Ryan for a bit. I managed to get back with Ryan and we tried to close the gap to Paul but he was running too well. I made it around the Reservoir in 8:06 and called it a day, I was really wiped out. Finished up at 1:49 overall, which I'm calling a long 16. At roughly 2.5k, I averaged 5:11s around the Reservoir, though my pace was far from even. 35/3516AVGAVGAVGWeek 21week212009-12-062009-12-12No true long run this week, so the mileage suffered a little, but I did manage to get in 2 very solid workouts. The repeat miles on Tuesday went about as well as I could have asked for, managed to get through 8 of them and ran the last 2 on my own. Friday's tempo was just a secondary workout but I felt smooth and relaxed almost the whole way and it was a great confidence booster. The weather has finally worsened after a long string of mild days, but it was really only a problem on Wednesday when it wound up being worse out than I was anticipating and I had to cut the run short. Things continue to fall into place, I'm a bit shocked at how much progress I've made in just 5 weeks.SATDavis-Bike Path. For some reason I found myself wide awake at 5:30 this morning, so even though I had planned on sleeping in I found myself out the door before 6:30 on a Saturday. Another pretty cold day, and my first day running in pants, but I bundled up enough to be decently warm from the start. My legs felt fine the whole way, I couldn't feel any effects from yesterday's workout, which was nice. Ran easy the whole way, about 6:50-7:00 along the river at the end, honestly a pretty boring run. 34/3414EASYAVGAVGFRI5M tempo in 5:36-5:29-2:42-2:34-5:06-5:00. The plan originally was to run 5:25-20-15-10-05, but with expectations of a strong wind the times were less of a concern and the plan was to run hard on the first 2.5 into the wind and faster with the wind at my back over the final 2.5 miles. Paul decided to run on a treadmill and Will flew out to Club Nats, so I was all on my own this morning. I warmed up from home to the 4.5 and was pretty cold. Temps were in the mid 20s but the wind wasn't too bad, thankfully. I didn't feel that great on the warmup and wasn't too excited about working out on my own, but it only took a few strides to get my legs loosened up and I started feeling better. Not much standing around before starting the workout, I didn't even bother to stretch just ran strides and did some plyos. I felt really good at the start and felt like I was off to a fast start, came through the half in 2:45 but then slowed over the next half mile. Picked up the effort after the first mile and came through in 2:42 and tried to stay focused on running hard into the wind. The wind wasn't bad enough where it was standing me up, but the effort I was exerting didn't match the splits I was seeing. Surprised to see the split at the second mile and had to pick it up again over the next half mile into the wind. Took a couple seconds to pull a uturn at the 7mm and did my best to keep the effort the same on the way back. Surprised to see a 2:34 and decided to just keep hammering and see what I could manage. Hit the next half mile in 2:33 and kept that pace going through the end of the fourth mile. Everything had gone very smoothly up until that point and I hadn't felt like I was working too hard, but the next half mile was pretty tough. It seemed to take a long time to get to the Hatch Shell, but once I did I saw a 2:30 and knew I could finish up at 5:00. The final half mile was much easier than the previous half and after finishing I didn't even feel terribly exhausted. Got right into the cooldown as I was cold and wanted to get home. Instead of going the usual way because the bridge was absolutely frigid, I crossed over Storrow on the Blossom Street footbridge and took Blossom to Charles then ran up to Staniford and back into Charlestown over the locks. This was a good confidence builder in that I was able to run those splits on my own and finish up at 5:00 feeling good, but it was a much easier workout than some of the other ones we've been running recently. 33/339HARDGOODGOODTHUCastle-Bunker Hill with 4x200-ish efforts at MIT. Not too bad this morning, a little bit cold but still manageable and the streets weren't too bad. I felt decent at the start and stopped off at MIT for more work on my efficiency with 200s. Surprised to find that the track was very icy, my guess is that Mondo doesn't retain heat as well as pavement so while the streets were damp, the track was icy. I got on the infield and ran 4 hard efforts of roughly 200m, starting at the goal line, running down the sideline, across the other goal line and back down the sideline to the 50. These weren't timed and probably not too fast, but it was enough for me to feel them over the next mile or so once I resumed my run. The rest of the run went smoothly without any excitement. 32/3210EASYAVGAVGWEDDocks. Really crummy weather this weather, it wasn't terrible when I started but after 10-15 minutes there was a mix of rain and snow coming down. I had originally planned on running Ollie, but the stretch along the water by the Courthouse was bad enough to make me change routes so I wouldn't have to run out along the beach. Running through the city wasn't as bad, but finishing up along the river was pretty rough. Very wet and cold by the time I got home, jumped right in the shower and even still it took me awhile to warm up. 31/319EASYAVGBADTUE8x1M in 5:02-09-00-07-00-08-03-12. Met Paul, Will, H and Brendan at the 7mm this morning for cruise mile intervals. The plan was to run as many intervals as possible at 5:00-5:06 with 60s, up to 10. It was pretty cold this morning but I decided to go with a baseball cap instead of my winter hat and my ears were freezing on the warmup. It took awhile for my legs to get loose and I made sure to run plenty of strides before we started so that I'd be ready for the fast pace right away. Got out well next to Paul but after 400m or so things didn't feel as comfortable and I was a little worried about being able to make it through just 5 intervals. Thankfully we were just running too fast and came through the half in 2:25. I relaxed a lot, dropped to the back of the pack and coasted through the next half mile. Sixty seconds of rest goes by very quickly and we were right back at it, running up river and into the wind on the second one. The wind didn't feel too strong but it was enough to make things noticeably harder and after a 2:34 first half Brendan and I tried to pick up the pace on the second half but weren't able to. The third mile was much easier, we got out comfortably in 2:28 and kept it under control the rest of the way. Brendan and H called it a day there and left Paul, Will and myself to finish up. I led the fourth one and felt like I was running alone through the first half. We were out in 2:31 then Will came up next to me and that helped get me through the rest of the mile. Paul had dropped a few seconds back but was right up front on the fifth and we ran together through the half in 2:27 then I backed off slightly around the Storrow overpass and he and Will put a second gap on me. Paul ended his workout there but Will wanted to do one more and I felt like I could do a couple more. I took us through the first half in about 2:34 and then Will came up next to me over the final 400m or so which really helped get me to the line. Felt pretty good running the seventh on my own, I got out in 2:30 and pretty much kept it right there the rest of the way. That was probably the quickest minute rest of the entire workout and I got into the 8th without giving myself a chance to think about it. I was out in 2:35 and tried really hard to keep it together but slowed a little too much over the final half mile. It would have been nice to tack on a 9th, especially since it was so much easier going down river, but the deal was once you couldn't hit the pace you were done. Had I been 5:10 I think I could have finished up with a ninth, but I wasn't too upset about being done after 8. Cooled down back to my car by the Sailing Pavillion, with a quick stop to discuss the workout with Terry who was standing by the 6mm. Really, really pleased with how things went today. Adding on a ninth would have been very sweet but putting in 8 and pretty much running the final 3 on my own was great. My calves were pretty sore on the cooldown, but other than that I was feeling fine. I was really soaked in sweat by the end, almost the entire hat, including the brim, was wet. One benefit to the cold temperature, though, is that the Gatorade I had in the car was perfectly chilled. 30/3012HARDGOODGOODMONDocks-Greenway. Had planned on going a bit further this morning but was really tired this morning when I woke up and decided to go a bit shorter. The ice wasn't nearly as bad on the sidewalks and that made it easier to run at a constant pace without worrying about footing. My legs felt okay though I did feel a bit tired throughout the run. Another cold one, about 33 degrees out there though by the time I got to the Greenway I had warmed up a bit and was comfortable without my hat on. A pretty boring morning, just trying to rest up ahead of tomorrow's workout. 29/296EASYAVGAVGSUNDavis-Bike Path. Got going shortly after waking up this morning, unfortunately the frozen sidewalks hadn't quite melted at 7:30. It rained a bit last night and then snowed so there were some tricky patches that I had to shuffle over, but by and large the footing was decent. I was able to run in the street a good portion of the way, the worst part really was running along the river. I was staring right into the sun and couldn't tell what was ice and what wasn't on the blacktop, so I wound up running through the snow covered grass where I could. My legs felt fine this morning, I wasn't stiff or sore at all when I started. As the run wore on I started to feel fatigued, but nothing terrible and I'm sure dealing with the snow and ice was fatiguing my legs more than usual, too. 104 minutes for a loop that's usually 100, so not too much slower this morning. 28/2814EASYAVGAVGWeek 20week202009-11-292009-12-05Another week with 2 long runs skewing the total mileage, but I was really happy with how things went. I managed to finish off my big 6 day stretch with an 18 miler on Sunday and then had a couple easy days to let my mind and body recover. By the time we started the workout on Wednesday I was hungry for more and Paul and I ran a really good one, almost surprised at how comfortable the pace felt the whole time. We were working hard but we weren't turning ourselves inside out to hit 5:00 at the very end. Kept the mileage up the next two days and then finished off with a really solid hard long run on Saturday. My workouts continue to go well and I'm still consistent with mileage and I'm getting really excited for Houston.SATLong run with 12M progression at the end in 6:03-5:58-50-51-54-41-41-23-23-13-25-16. The plan was an easy 6M then immediately into a 12M progression of 6:10-2x6:00-2x5:50...2x5:20-5:10. Met Paul Ryan and Brendan Prindiville at 8am this morning and headed over to the Fens for an extended warmup/easy run. We did 2 laps and then headed back over the BU Bridge and met Will, Voce, Carly and Emily Kroshus and Emily's friend Tristan at the 2.5 and got right into the progression. Carly did the early pacing and I was content to just sit back and wait. Felt very comfortable as the pace speed up and was actually getting a little bored. After the 4th mile it was down to just Brendan, Will, Paul, Tristan and myself and I finally did some leading. I led the fifth and sixth miles and aside from a slow half from 7 to 7.5 the pace was pretty much right on. Tristan stopped after 6M and the 4 remaining guys u-turned and headed back. I had 2:54 at the half mile and went to the front to work with Paul and brought us through in 5:41. Sped up a little to what felt like 5:30 pace but Paul kept on speeding up and before we got to the BU Bridge I decided that I'd sit back instead of pushing the pace. I was confident that I could finish the workout on pace on my own but as the other 3 kept pulling away I was worried about overcompensating and slowing down too much so I ran almost as fast, only 5-10m behind. Brendan stopped at Mass Ave and after coming through the 9th mile I started working to close the gap to Will and Paul. I worked a little too hard and caught them too quickly and didn't have much left for the final 2M. Will stopped at 10M so it was just Paul and I the rest of the way. Ran a really slow half to start the 11th mile, 2:44 at the museum and I found myself a few meters behind Paul. I never got back with him as he finished very strong. After a 2:41 to finish the 11th mile I ran back to back 2:38s on the 12th mile, I was working pretty hard but couldn't get my legs to turn over any faster. Looking back I think I made the wrong decision and should have just stuck with Paul when the pace started to pick up instead of trying to stick on the prescribed pace. I wound up working nearly as hard on my own and then wore myself out closing the gap back to those guys. Still, this was a really good run and gives me more confidence in my fitness. 27/2718HARDGOODGOODFRICastle-Bunker Hill with 5x200 in 34-34-34-34-33 at MIT. Took my time getting out the door this morning and it was nearly 6:30 by the time I left. Still pretty warm, though not as nice as yesterday, and I felt pretty good throughout the run. My hip was sore for the first few minutes but loosened up and felt much better the rest of the way. The massage from Carly yesterday really made a difference. TPS wanted me to stop mid run and do some 200s to loosen up before tomorrow, I guess, so I stopped at MIT and they all felt pretty good. The plan was 35-35-34-34-33 but I wasn't quite able to find 35. Was comfortable and relaxed on all of them, other than the 3rd where I got out a bit slow I was able to cruise the final 50m without worry. The rest of the run passed pretty quickly after that, finished up in just over 70 minutes this morning. 26/26 (*CORRECTION* Terry tells me that the purpose of the 200s is to "make sure [I] begin to re-gain (or maintain, whichever appropriate) the mechanical efficiency at that pace during this strength-focus training.")10EASYGOODGOODTHUSummit Ave. Got out the door just a bit before 6am into a fairly decent rainstorm, but was thankful the temps were hovering around 55. Being able to run shirtless in December is a rare treat. I wasn't too beat up from yesterday's workout, which surprised me, but my right hip was tight and somewhat painful the whole way. Kept it slow and easy the whole way and didn't check any splits. Finished up along the river with Voce, after randomly running into him. Wasn't doing a good job of paying attention this morning and nearly got hit by cars 2 different times. 25/2512EASYAVGAVGWED4-3-2-1 on the river with Paul in 21:26 (5:19-18-27-21,) 15:39 (5:14-17-08,) 10:20 (5:11-09,) 4:59. Drove over to the river, parked by the Sailing Pavillion and warmed up down to the Royal Sonesta and back. Took a quick pit stop at MIT and met Paul for some strides, stretching and drills before starting the workout. We jogged down to the 3mm and got started right at 7am. The first half was a bit quick, we were out in 2:37 but adjusted and started clipping off 2:40s. We decided to switch off leading and I tucked in behind Paul by the Sonesta. I took the lead at the 5mm and kept it going with a 2:41 half, but somehow lost focus over the next 800 and we were just 5:27 at the mile. It didn't feel like we had slowed at all, I think I just tried to cruise a little too much. Got back on pace without overcompensating and worked together with Paul to finish off the 4M stretch. Really glad to put that big chunk behind us, we jogged a half mile to the 7.5 in 3:30+ and got into the 3M stretch. Paul took the first mile and we got out pretty quickly, 2:35 then 2:39 and I took over after the 5:14 first mile. Trying to run 5:15s was difficult, trying to run faster than the 5:20s without getting out of control. We were a little slow, 2:39/2:38 then Paul took over and really put the hammer down. We were 2:33 at the half and it didn't feel like we backed off much the next half mile, I was just trying to stay right on Paul's hip. Took the half mile from 4.5 to 5 in 3:30+ again, even though we were trying to run it faster, and jumped right into the 2M. I told Paul that I'd like to just work together to finish up, I was worried that if I sat behind him I'd start to lose touch. We ran stride for stride through the first mile and everything felt pretty comfortable. I lost a couple steps as we ran under Storrow but was able to close the gap quickly once we hit the long straight. Really had to work over the final half mile though, lost focus for a second at the fork in the path and wound up a second or so behind Paul. I was worried about being able to break 5:10 on the final mile and Paul offered to let me just sit on him. Our rest was about 2:30 this time, just jogging around, and I felt pretty good when we got started. Put in about a minute before my legs started to get tired and I was still feeling good when we hit the half in 2:30. I slowly slipped off of Paul over the next half mile, I started by just dropping back into his slipstream but by the time we hit the Storrow overpass he had a couple steps on me. I didn't completely fall apart and even managed to close the gap slightly, quite happy to see that I came through in 4:59. Cooled down with Paul about 3M total, which capped off a pretty long morning. I tried putting in a couple strides at the very end of the cooldown but my legs were just too tired. Couldn't be more excited about how this workout went, I was a little daunted coming into it, felt really confident during the 4M and 3M stretches and then fought through the fatigue to run pretty quick at the end. The miles really added up and the 4:59 was pretty hard, but all in all this workout was very manageable. Quite excited about my fitness, and Paul's. The string of great workout continues. 24/2416HARDGOODGOODTUERun to Remember course. I had wanted to go double digits this morning, but stayed up late watching the Patriots lose and kept hitting snooze this morning. Once I got out the door I felt fine, except it was 33 degrees this morning. Only fitting that the first time I wear a long sleeve shirt for a whole run is December first. I felt pretty good throughout the run and would have liked to have gone further. I think the 2 easy/shorter days were a needed break, mentally and physically, but I'm ready to get back at it. Big workout on tap for tomorrow. 23/237EASYAVGAVGMONInman Square. I was expecting to wake up tired and not feel like running this morning, and that's what happened. Didn't have too much trouble getting out the door though, since I had planned all along on going 5M. Kept it nice and easy and though I felt bad at the beginning I finished up feeling halfway decent. Pretty boring run today, but it did get me through November without missing a day, which is great. 22/225EASYAVGAVGSUNRiver-JP-River. Met Liam, Will, Harvey and John Friedman at BU and headed down river to pick up Lou and the NardDog. I felt surprisingly okay, after yesterday's run at Lapham and then flying back to Boston I was expecting my legs to feel a bit rundown. We started out at 7:00 pace and sped up a bit around JP (I would guess) but my legs never felt tired or sore. I was quite happy to be able to use the foam roller before the run, my right hip had been bothering me off and on after Lapham but I made it through this run without any issue. We split up after coming back from JP, Liam and Will called it a day, Lou ran down to his car at Mass Ave and Harvey and I went up river. We were a bit short of 18M so we went all the way up to Elliot then I ran up Harvard Street to Western and we split up there. I felt a little worse when I started running on my own, but I think I was partially just bored and wanted to get home. Split a 3:23 from the x to BU, which was surprising as it felt like I was running slower than 7:00 pace. Got back to my car at 2:06 on the nose, another solid long run in the books and the rolling week pushed to 86M. 21/2118EASYGOODGOODWeek 19week192009-11-222009-11-28What a great week. Even without a true long run I managed to crack 80M for the first time in I don't know how long. A lot of that is thanks to running 42M in 3 days with Nick back in Milwaukee. Felt good on Sunday following the hard 17 miler and then put in a great workout on Tuesday with Paul, Liam and Will. I was surprised at how comfortable I felt running 5:00 pace. Followed that up with another good workout on Friday where I was able to finish the second 3M interval with a 5:03. To get out to Lapham on Saturday was the perfect way to finish off the week. I'm very surprised at how quickly I've gotten into better shape, and a little consistency is all it took. I was really expecting to feel wrecked the whole time I was in Milwaukee, but other than Friday afternoon I felt fine. Maybe I need to eat unhealthy amounts of turkey more regularly.SAT2 black loops at Lapham. Picked Nick up at 7:30 this morning and drove out to Lapham, my first time there since the summer of 2006. In a surprising development, we were actually able to keep the pace under control here, running 48:00 for the first loop and 47:45 for the second. In the past we would normally be 45-46 and under 44 if we were really getting after it. We ran hard up almost all the hills, but with leaves on the trails it was too dangerous to really go bombing downhill and the key to running fast here is to run the downhills hard. The first time up Gutbuster I was afraid that I might not be able to make it 14M, this was a lot more climbing than I'm used to. Throughout the first loop Nick and I were commenting on how much of the loop we'd forgotten, but there was a period in time where we probably knew the loop better than anybody. It was great to get out here again, this is really one of the best places I've ever run. We took a quick break after the first loop and I went to just a tshirt and gloves as all the climbing was making we sweat a lot. More of the same on the second loop, conversational pace and a lot of climbing. We sped up a little bit around the field at the end, but I don't think either of us wanted one of our epic sprints down the final straight. Stretched out a bit then drove home, packed up and flew back to Boston. 20/2014AVGGOODGOODFRI3x3M in 16:18 (5:29-19-30); 15:39 (5:25-11-03); 16:20 (5:26-26-28) with Nick. Picked Nick up from his place a little after 9 this morning and drove over to Kenwood. We warmed up through Lake Park and stretched out by the car, after just two strides we decided to get into it and hopefully loosen up as the workout went along. Got out perfectly, 2:41 through the first half but slowed a bit on the second half and had to pick it up over the second mile. Ran 2:39-2:40 for the second mile and then hit 2:41 at the half and it didn't feel like we had slowed at all over the final half. I remain convinced the real mark is the crosswalk, not the hydrant, but we ran through the hydrant to be safe (5:21 at the crosswalk.) Maybe next year I'll invite TPS to Thanksgiving, provided he wheels out marks for us. Took about 4:30 rest and was feeling very recovered when we got started on the second interval. Got out a bit hard but Nick caught that early and slowed us down, we were 2:41 at the half and then 2:44 from Big Bay to 4676, which is always a slow half mile in that direction. I surged right away and gapped Nick immediately, I don't think he was expecting such a quick change of pace. Hit 2:35 at the half and tried to stay relaxed on the next half so that I'd feel good when the pace dropped again. Hit 5:11 at the mile and immediately started working but couldn't get anything going and was just 2:35 at the half. Managed to put it together on the final half mile though, running a 2:28 to hit 5:03 for the final mile. I'm not sure about the accuracy of that half mile mark anymore, though. It took probably 3:00 to get myself composed again, but by the time 4:30 was up and we were on the line again I felt back to normal. I took off my long sleeve shirt during the rest as well, as the sun had come out and I had started sweating. Was much more comfortable over the final 3M stretch in just tshirt and gloves. My right hip started to get tight however, I think I'm really missing the foam roller. It was hurting every step for the first mile or so of the final interval, but eventually loosened up and I didn't feel it again until after the cooldown. Nick and I ran together through the half in 2:38 which felt really comfortable and controlled, but either that mark is short or we slowed over the next half mile as we hit 2:48 to bring us through the mile in 5:26. It felt like we kept working but I saw 2:44 at the half and put in a small surge to try and get back on pace. Nick's watch said 2:42 as we use slightly different mile marks and he wasn't expecting me to change the pace and I immediately gapped him. I built a small lead over the next 400m or so, but then we stayed the same distance apart the rest of the way, so I probably shouldn't have overreacted the way I did and we would have been able to work together for the final 1.5M. Ran a 2:42 to finish off the second mile and then was 2:41 at the next half and 5:22 at the crosswalk, but 5:28 at the hydrant, just like on the first interval. Pretty spent after that, we jogged the 3M back to the car very slowly and stretched out a bit before heading home. We did drive the course to check the mile marks and the odometer said the hydrant was the mark, but the path through the Palisades swerves away from the road for a bit and measuring online shows the mark is the crosswalk, so who knows. Not a big issue, I was working hard and felt great today, came away from the workout very happy with how it went. It's only been a few weeks of consistent training, but I feel like I've gotten into much better shape pretty quickly. With the way my recent workouts have been going, I feel like the biggest piece of training for Houston is going to be getting in high enough mileage, which means aiming for double digits every day. I'm four days into this six day stretch, everything is going great and the two workouts are now behind me, so it's just long runs that I have left. Luckily today is a holiday and I'll be able to take a nap. 19/19.14HARDGOODGOODTHUHampton-Lake-Bike Path with Nick. Ran over to Nick's house at 8 this morning, temps were in the low 40s with a light drizzle, but I managed to keep my tshirt running streak going. The rain thankfully stopped after 20 minutes or so and the weather warmed up a bit and it turned into a great day to run. We broke with tradition and didn't head out to the Parkway, instead we took Wilson to Hampton then up to Lake and out to the Art Museum. Once we got to the Art Museum we spent some time looking for a bathroom for Nick but both Port-A-Johns we found were inexplicably locked. Picked up the bike path and followed that back to River Park, then headed home through the streets of Shorewood. We were 7:00 pace at the start and there are new mile markers on the bike path which said we were running 7:00 pace at the end, as well. Put in 100 minutes, so probably just a tad over 14M. Felt great and built up a good appetite for today's 2 Thanksgiving dinners. 18/18.14EASYGOODGOODWEDCastle-Bunker Hill. I slept about 9 hours last night, so I had no problems getting out of bed and out the door before 6am. I felt okay early on but kept the pace nice and relaxed, today is really the only easy day in the big 6 day stretch that started yesterday. About 3-4M into the run I started feeling worse and by the time I got home I was pretty tired and my legs felt really fatigued. Glad I was able to get in the run I had planned and get it done with early, we're flying back to Milwaukee later this afternoon. 17/17.9EASYBADAVGTUE4x1.5M with fast last half mile in 5:31-2:29; 5:04-2:30; 5:14-2:32; 5:04-2:25. We took 800m rest between each interval to make it a continuous 8M, supposed to be 3:00 rest but was around 3:30 for each rest 800. I drove over to the river, parked at the Sailing Pavilion and warmed up over the 7M mark where I met Paul, Will and Liam. We got right into the workout at 7am, though the first mile wound up a bit slower than planned. We were 2:47/2:44 before dropping down to 2:30 for the final half mile. Felt very smooth on the 800 and felt pretty confident about being able to nail the rest of the workout. It was hard to judge the pace on the rest 800 and hard to get out of "recovery jog" mode. THere was a bit of a headwind on the first one, which wasn't really noticeable but running with the wind at our back was considerably easier. I took the lead alone on the second one and was a little too fired up as I took us through in 2:26. I backed off on the next 800 and dropped back behind Liam and Will then closed well on the final 800. I did a lot of sitting behind Liam on the third one as we were back into the wind and I was starting to feel it. We split the mile 2:37/2:37, I put in a big surge at the start of the 800 but lost some steam going uphill after the Mass Ave bridge. I sat behind Liam for a bit to get out of the wind then got up on his shoulder for the final 100m or so. Wanted to keep the next mile consistent, knowing that we wouldn't be running into the wind, but Liam had other ideas and took the pace out. We were almost immediately strung out, I was 2:30 at the half and 5m behind Liam but 5m ahead of Paul. I backed off for the next 800 and hit the mile even with Paul. We really started driving and it felt like we were closing on Liam for a bit, but I lost touch with Paul right after the Storrow overpass. For a few seconds it felt like I was going to fall apart, but I managed to get everything under control and got back onto Paul's shoulder. Barely managed to hold on through the line and was happy to see 2:25, then realized the guys were running the final 800m section and had to get my hands off my knees. Cooled down 2M back to my car and was feeling pretty ragged by the time I stopped. Great workout, really happy with how I felt this morning. Would have been nice to have paced it a bit better, but the 2:30s didn't feel nearly as fast as I was expecting. 16/1612HARDGOODGOODMONInman Square. Pretty tired when I woke up this morning and want to be rested up for the big 6 days of training that starts tomorrow, so I opted for a shorter route. Was out the door a little after 6am and my legs felt decent. Kathryn and I took Midge to the Fells yesterday and wound up hiking for 2+ hours, but that didn't seem to affect me today. Another great morning for running, temps in the mid 40s. I can't believe I'm still running in a tshirt this late in November. 15/155EASYAVGAVGSUNDavis-Bike Path. I went to bed insanely early yesterday, so I was able to sleep 9+ hours and still get out the door at 7:45 this morning. Felt a whole lot better than anticipated, I kept the pace slow as I had no interest in working hard but my legs felt great. No soreness at all after yesterday. Pretty boring run, didn't have much to think about and was just passing the time. Ran about 7:00 pace down the river at the end, had to cross over and use the bathroom at MIT though, so I added on around the Galleria Lagoon to compensate, since the Boston side of the river is longer. Only started to feel tired over the final 5-10 minutes, but it came on quickly and I was glad to have only gone 14M this morning. Two weeks straight now, 14/14.14EASYAVGAVGWeek 18week182009-11-152009-11-21This was a good week, though having 2 long runs bumped up the mileage total artificially. Had a great long run on Sunday to start off the week, I'm glad that I've been getting out for 2+ hour runs recently. The workout on Wednesday went well, but I feel like it could have been better and I don't have a lot of time to waste right now. Don't have any complaints about Saturday though, that was a very solid effort that has be excited about my current fitness and where I'll be able to go from here. It's been great to be able to workout with Paul, too, I couldn't have done either of those workouts without him there setting the pace.SATOlmsted, then 10M on the river in 6:02-5:45-44-36-32-34-28-27-36-32. Met Paul and Lou at the 2.5M mark at 8am this morning and put in an easy 7+M along the Riverway. We came back down Commonwealth and took a quick pit stop at BU, then met Will at the 2.5 and got into the tempo. I was pretty worried about being able to make it through this one and resultingly kept the run along the Riverway pretty easy, it felt like an extended warm up, actually. The plan for the tempo was to start around 6:00 pace and then work our way down to 5:45s. We picked up David Bedoya after half a mile, Paul and I were out front and everything felt relaxed and comfortable. After a couple miles I dropped back, David worked with Paul to set the pace, we kept speeding up and things still felt manageable. David left us when we turned at the 7.5 and it was just Paul, Will and myself on the way back. Nobody had any desire to run any faster and things felt pretty good in the 5:30 range. We had a slow half mile from the 4.5 to the 4 and started pushing to get back to 2:45 for the second half of that mile, and that's where my legs started to feel it. Everybody else agreed it got much tougher right there, once we started heading up river and into the headwind. Kept it steady back through the line, aside from a 50m sprint near the end when Paul and I decided to break Will. Didn't have any interest in cooling down, my legs were pretty well shot. Very pleased with how today went, especially considering how I felt at the end of an easy 18M on Sunday. Maybe waking up early to have a single piece of toast was worth it. 13/13.17HARDGOODGOODFRICharlestown loop. I was pretty tired this morning and did not want to get up, much less run but managed to put on my shoes and get out the door. I justified going short since tomorrow is a big run and I wanted to be rested. I felt pretty crummy the whole way, very tired and never really got into the run, just wanted it to be over with. I sat in the chair for about a minute after lacing up my shoes convincing myself that I had to go run and couldn't go back to bed. I'm sure there will be more battles like this between now and Houston and I might not win them all, but I wasn't going to lose the first one. 12/12.4EASYBADBADTHUBack Bay loop. I correctly predicted that I would have a hard time getting going this morning and that proved to be true. I did manage to get out the door at 6:10, largely because I knew I was going short today. I was tired and didn't want to get out of bed, but once I started running I didn't feel too bad. Slow, easy pace the whole way and no watch this morning. After a few miles probably could have talked myself into going longer, but I had promised Kathryn I'd be home by 7am. Not only am I eleven for eleven now, but I've run every day for 3 straight weeks.6EASYAVGAVGWED2x4M with Paul in 23:00 (5:45-55-41-39) 21:05 (5:20-17-16-12.) A little cold this morning so I drove over to MIT so that I'd be able to warm up in a long sleeve, put it in the car and then workout in a tshirt. Warmed up about 3M with Stants and Ox and had plenty of time to run strides and get loose. Met Will and Paul and got right into it, meeting Stants and Ox a half mile into the workout. The plan was to run the first 4M at 5:20-25, but do that just by feel without looking at the watch. Paul and I ran together up front but we clearly kept it far too relaxed. I finished up feeling like I could have done 8M straight, which was not a good sign. Took 2:00 rest then got into the second interval, meeting Ox and Stants a half mile in again. Came through the half in 2:40 which felt so much harder that I knew the first 4M was pretty slow. A guy had apparently jumped into the Charles just before we got there, so by the time we got to the first mile there were 4 state cruisers driving down the Esplanade with their sirens going. Came through the mile feeling alright and kept the same effort on the second mile, which started feeling a bit harder. Got myself motivated to really run the final 2M well, though, and managed to hang on. Having Paul there helped a lot, we were 2:40 to start the third mile then really started rolling once we got past the Science Museum. Paul seemed pretty relaxed over the final mile and a half, but I kept dropping a step behind, then focusing and pulling a step ahead. I finally got things figured out and we ran the final 500m or so side by side. Cooled down with 2M on the river, didn't feel too bad. I was happy with how things finished up today but feel like we didn't get all that we could have out of the workout because of the easy first four miles. Of course, that's nobody's fault but my own as I was up front setting the pace the whole way. (Ten for ten.)13HARDGOODAVGTUEFake Fresh backwards, 4x150m finishes in 22-22-21-21. Got started a little later this morning, out the door around 6:10, but was feeling great. I was really having to hold back from running too fast early, as I've got a big workout scheduled for tomorrow morning. My legs felt great, though I did get a little tired as the run wore on. Got on the MIT track for 4x150 and felt faster than I did last week. Felt more comfortable running fast and blazed a 21.27 to finish up. Ran into JMark and Harvey and Mass Ave and ran down river with them, then solo into Charlestown. Good morning, solid run. 9/9.11EASYGOODAVGMONDocks. I didn't get to take a nap after yesterday's long run and was expecting to feel fairly tired today, but got up without much hassle and was out the door before 6am. I didn't feel great but it was much better than I had been expecting. Was pretty slow the whole way, though, about 7:15 along the river and 67 minutes for the whole loop. My right hip/IT was decently tight the whole way, hopefully I remember to ice it throughout the day. Eight for eight.9EASYAVGAVGSUNJP-River with Paul, Harvey, APHill, JMark and Nard Dog. Met everyone at BU this morning, we all converged within 10 seconds of each other, which was kind of cool. Another great day for running, at least temperature wise. Solidly over 50 degrees with a light rain so I went shirtless, fully prepared for being heckled all run long. We first headed out to JP and ran around the pond then headed back, jumped on the river at BU, ran down to Science, dropped off Bernie and APHill then all the way up river to Harvey's place, then back to the river where Paul headed off to his car and Jared and I ran back to BU. Even though I had hoped to get to 2:06 today, I was completely spent when I got to my car in 2:03 and wasn't motivated to tack on any extra. We kept things nice and relaxed the whole way and my legs felt good through the first 90 minutes. I was pretty tired over the last half hour but got through it unscathed, and this is the type of run I need to do more often. The couple splits I took on the river were between 3:25 and 3:30, which I'd say is fairly representative of the entire run. Six BAA guys running together, imagine that! (7/7.)18AVGGOODGOODWeek 17week172009-11-082009-11-14Another week without missing a day, hopefully this is the start of something. Had a very disappointing race on Sunday which really highlighted how far I've let myself go. I had little to no focus over the final 2M and let far too many people beat me. Decided soon after crossing the line that it was time to get serious again and Monday marked the beginning of my training for Houston. Managed to get in a pseudo-long run and Thursday was a great first workout on the river with Harvey. I'm hoping that a little bit of consistency goes a long way, I'm not too far out of shape so hopefully a couple more 7 day weeks like this and I'm back in good enough shape to stick with guys during workouts. That would be great and lead to even more improvement, I think.SATRun to Remember course. Woke up at 5:20am this morning and was ready to go by 5:45. It was raining but at least it was 50 degrees so I was able to go shirtless and not have to deal with a wet, heavy shirt the whole time. Didn't have a lot of time for the run and since I was going short I decided to run it a bit quicker than a normal easy run. Sped up when I got to Charles and kept it probably 6:00-6:15 the majority of the way. Got home and took a shower which felt great then headed up to Maine to watch the MIT teams run at Regionals, where the woman's team tied for first. (Six for six.)7AVGAVGAVGFRIBack Bay. Had wanted to go 12M this morning but woke up absolutely exhausted and took my time getting out of bed. Nearly convinced myself to wait until later, but everyone knows how those days turn out, so I got out the door around 6:15. I felt pretty terrible at the start and only marginally better the rest of the way. It would have been nice to go longer, but the way I felt out there I wasn't upset about only going 6M. Once I get back in the habit of running regularly, the next step is going to be bumping up the mileage on these short days. 5/5.6EASYAVGAVGTHU4x2M in 10:41-10:21-10:23-10:14. Parked in front of the MIT Boathouse and warmed up over to the 7 mile mark at 7am this morning. I had about 20 minutes to stretch out and run strides while waiting for Harvey. The weather is starting to cool off but I was decently comfortable in shorts and a tshirt and was really sweating during the workout. The plan was to start at 5:20 pace and run each interval 5 sec per mile faster. Felt comfortable off the line and was happy to see us come through in 2:39, I didn't have a good feel for the pace and at different times thought we were running 2:20 and 3:20 pace. We were pretty much on target from there, 5:20-8:03-10:41 but they were doing a big leaf collection before the Hatch Shell which forced us off the path and through a big dust cloud. Felt really good at the end of the first and the 2:00 rest seemed plenty long enough. We got out a bit too aggressively to start the next one, plus we probably surged to get past the leaf collection and were no longer running into the wind, so we hit 2:31 at the first half. Tried to rein it in from there, were 5:05 at the mile and then settled down to run 2:37/2:39 to finish up. My legs were still feeling good but the rest went by a lot quicker and I knew things were going to start to get tough. We wound up right behind a state police cruiser and construction truck at the start of the third mile and wound up putting in what felt like a surge to get past after 600m or so. Hit the half in 2:34 and was running a step behind Harvey but kept fighting to close the gap back to him. We were 5:08 or 5:09 at the mile and I was really working to hang onto Harvey at this point. We got hit by a big gust of wind by the playground and I tried to tuck in but that didn't help and I started losing ground. I wound up running the final kilometer or so a few steps behind Harvey but never really lost touch. The 2:00 rest flew by this time and we were back on the line very quickly. Wanted to get off to a good start and was running well initially, then we took a circuitous route around the leaf collection and I never got back up with Harvey. I hung 3-5m behind him and tried to close the gap a couple times but couldn't make up much ground. Split 2:31/5:03 and then as we came out from under the Storrow overpass Brian started putting real distance between us. I found a good rhythm for maybe 100m but couldn't maintain it and just fought against my tiring legs the rest of the way. Came through the half in 2:35 and struggled to the finish with a 2:36 last half. Really tired at the end and couldn't form sentences for a minute when trying to talk with Harvey. We ran together down to Mass Ave and crossed over and ran together back to my car. It was a little longer than 2M but I couldn't make it much further. Really tired from this workout but very satisfied with it. I was unsure of what pace I'd be able to maintain but the 5:05s felt relatively comfortable. I did a good job of running aggressively even as my legs tired and we certainly increased the effort as the workout progressed. The wind made a big difference and running 10:21 on the second one was considerably easier than 10:23 on the third. All around good start to the morning. 4/412HARDGOODGOODWEDFake Fresh backwards plus 4x150m finishes. Was out the door a little before 6am, it's getting really easy to run with this great weather, nearly 50 degrees again this morning. I felt a lot better than yesterday, and not that tired despite sleeping only 6 hours. I kept the pace nice and relaxed the whole way, and ran down Vassar to the MIT track. I did 4 150m finishes down the homestretch, with an easy jog the rest of each lap. Ran 23-22high-22high-21-high with about 1:30 for the 250m rest. I felt better as they went on and was really pleased with how I felt on the fourth one. I think I've gotten too far away from running strides regularly and my legs have lost some pop. I'd like to stay diligent about doing fast twitch recruitment for the next few months. Finished up easy down Mem Drive and back home, was 80:00 total this morning. 3 for 3.11AVGAVGAVGTUEInman Square. Didn't sleep very well last night and was really tired when my alarm went off. Tried to come up with a way to get out of running but stayed motivated enough to get out the door at 6:20 this morning. More amazing weather, it was almost 60 degrees and I probably shouldn't have bothered with the shirt today. I felt absolutely terrible for the first 10 minutes or so and a little better by the end but a pretty rough run. Had I given myself more time I would have gone a bit further, I think. At this point the important thing is to run every day, and I'm two for two thus far (in the build up to Houston that began yesterday.)5EASYBADBADMONDavis-Bike Path. Woke up pretty motivated this morning and was out the door by 6am. Didn't feel too bad, aside from blisters on my feet bothering me a bit at the start. Got loosened up and the miles went past fairly easily, kept it easy early on and only barely sped up towards the end of the run. The string of great weather days continues, I was comfortable the whole way in just a tshirt, no gloves. Was 3:29 from 7.5 to 7, which was maybe slightly faster than I had been for the majority of the run, then went 6:53-6:48-6:46 down to Science. Felt good at the end and wasn't trying to force myself to speed up. I think it's pretty clear that I didn't do what I needed to do in August and September to run well in October November and I won't make the same mistake going into Houston.14EASYAVGAVGSUNUSATF-NE XC Champs, 33:18 for 36th. Felt okay on the warm up, though it was pretty warm out and I was hot by the end of the 2M jog. Had plenty of time to stretch out and run strides beforehand, my legs were feeling heavy but I thought the strides had loosened them up. Felt good off the line and worked to stay relaxed early on. Got to 3.5M in good shape with guys strung out ahead of me but didn't have the pop in my legs to move up. Fell back a lot on the way to Bearcage and even further in the last Wilderness. At least managed to run hard around the field and didn't get passed by anyone there. Cooled down around the golf course and a little extra with LaRosa. Pretty disappointing race and caps off a pretty terrible year. I don't think I could point to a single race that went really well this year. New Bedford was the only good one, and even that finished with a rough last 2-3 miles.112009 USATF New England XC ChampsHARDBADBADWeek 16week162009-11-012009-11-07I was happy with how this week went. Put in a very good long run on Sunday to get the week started, that's the kind of run I need to do with greater regularity. Had a good enough workout on Wednesday, it left me feeling confident about Sunday which is the best thing it could have accomplished. Finished off the week with a few short runs to rest up, but otherwise I would have certainly been over 70M this week.SATCharlestown Loop, with Midge. Waited until about noon today before taking off, I took Midge with me and she was doing a good job of keeping up so I thought I'd see how far she could make it. We took a short break and walked a block by the Nautica after seeing one of our neighbors with his dog, but other than that it was a pretty normal run. There were one or two points on Main Street out by Eden Park that Midge wanted to stop and she was trailing behind me for awhile until I lured her with a stick, but once she figured out we had turned back towards home she picked up the pace. Ran a little harder up Sackville to see how she'd handle the hill, and she easily pulled away on the stride at the end. Good run today, feeling excited about tomorrow's race.4EASYAVGAVGFRIRun to Remember course. Got going at 6am this morning and felt pretty decent. The step up in mileage recently hasn't affected me too much, from what I can tell. Easy, relaxed run the whole way as I'm backing off a little to give myself a chance on Sunday.7EASYAVGAVGTHURiver St. Met TPS at noon at the usual spot on the river, and saw Mark and Amy G. on the way over. Amy turned off at Mass Ave, Terry, Mark and I ran up to the Hyatt then turned back and met Voce at Mass Ave. The four of us then headed up to River Street, crossed over and ran back down to Science, where I left the group and headed home. The couple splits I checked were all around 7:30, so even though I was out there for 83+ minutes I'm only calling this 11. 11EASYAVGAVGWED4x(600-1000) in 1:54-3:10; 1:51-3:09; 1:50-3:08; 1:52-3:06. The usual suspects were at Harvard for tonight's workout, and we got some really great late fall weather, too. I wanted to keep everything smooth and comfortable today and leave plenty in the tank for Sunday, so my plan was straight 75s the whole way. Everything felt very comfortable, I occasionally got pulled out quicker than planned on the 6s but managed to sit in the back and not get caught up in anything. We had plenty of rest, 2:00 after the 600s and 1 lap after the 1ks, which was almost too much. I felt completely recovered at the start of every interval. Cooled down on the river, solo, just as slowly as we always do.9HARDAVGAVGTUECastle-Bunker Hill. My legs were still pretty tired when I woke up this morning, though I felt pretty good on the run. Put in 60 minutes on the nose, though I kept things relaxed the whole way. Glad to have a little bounce back in my stride after shuffling along yesterday morning. Hope I feel good for the workout tomorrow.9AVGAVGAVGMONBack Bay. I slept about 9.5 hours last night and felt absolutely horrible every step of this morning's run. If I understood Terry correctly yesterday, he suggested that I not run until Wednesday, but I thought sneaking out for a 6 miler would be okay. I didn't bring a watch, which was probably for the best. Very glad when I got home and was able to sit down.6EASYBADBADSUNArboretum-Brookline Res with TPS and Harvey. Met at the BU Bridge and headed out to Arboretum like we've been doing recently. Harvey objected to looping around in the Arboretum and Terry was expounding on the gloriousness of the Brookline Reservoir, so after a climb up the Big Green Hill we ran back to JP and then wound our way through the hills of Brookline until we stumbled upon the Reservoir. We ran 2 laps there and then took Route 9 back to North Harvard and North Harvard all the way to Harvey's place in Allston. Terry and I continued on to the river and then downriver towards our respective cars. Terry turned off at River Street and I ran the half mile to the BU Bridge solo in 3:19, which felt about the same speed as the majority of the run, though it's always hard to tell. Finished up at my car on Vassar in 2:06, which I can easily call 18M. Struggled to stay focused on the drive home and spent the rest of the day very tired.18AVGAVGAVGWeek 15week152009-10-252009-10-31This week was a overall pretty good, aside from missing the run on Thursday. Not a great race on Sunday, but got right back into things with a fourteen miler on Monday morning and then twelve the next day. Had two alright workouts and the mileage total was closer to where I'd like it to be. There's still a lot more to do, but I feel like this week will help me get in better shape.SATFranklin Park, Mile 1-Mile 2-4xWilderness-Mile 5 in 4:58-5:16-2:39-2:40-2:39-2:40-4:56. Drove out to Franklin Park for a workout before watching the MIT teams win NEWMACs. My legs felt tired from step one of the warm up, but I did enough before I started the workout to feel decent on the line. Wanted to really get out hard and run something close to 4:50 on the first mile, to give myself experience running hard on tired legs the rest of the way. The field was still really soggy and it was hard to get out fast, but I compensated on the way to the stadium. I had a slow stretch from the stadium back to the start but picked it up for the final 400m or so. Took 2:00 rest and then got back into it, didn't feel great climbing Bearcage but ran hard after coming down the hill. After another 2:00 rest I started the Wilderness loops, where the footing was pretty good but I wasn't running as fast as I had hoped. I wasn't able to get out fast and after climbing the short hill I wasn't able to run the "backstretch" as hard as I normally would. I put in a good effort and was certainly working hard, but the speed wasn't there. I started out taking 1:00 rest, but that grew to 1:30 by the end. After number four I jogged over to the four mile mark and finished the workout on the final mile of the course. Again, the field was really soggy and it was hard to get off to a fast start and this time I didn't compensate once the footing firmed up. I didn't feel great climbing Bearcage but psyched myself up for a hard finish and closed with decent speed. This whole workout wasn't as fast as last year when I ran 4:51-5:11-2:34-32-34-35-4:40, but the footing was much faster then and I was taking a bit more rest. Satisified with how things went today, would have liked to run faster but this was a good workout.10HARDAVGAVGFRIEliot w/ TPS. Met Terry at noon on the river and we headed up to Eliot together. As usual we kept the run pretty easy, though I didn't bother checking any splits. Beautiful weather and felt good to get out from behind the desk for a bit today. Had some stomach problems at the end and finished pretty slowly, I think this one was a little over 90 minutes.12EASYAVGAVGTHUDay off. Should have run right away and never had a chance to get out the door the rest of the day. Maybe I should claim to be sick...0NONENONENONEWED1600-3200-1600 in 5:00-10:16-4:57. Cold and wet at Harvard tonight, but was decently comfortable during the workout. Warmed up along the river with everybody and got right into the workout after running a few strides. The plan was to run 5:00 for the 16 and 32 and then try to get close to 4:50 on the last 16. Harvey and I took us out in 77 and quickly adjusted to hit 2:31 at the half. As Harvey pulled away I settled in behind Andrew Hill and followed him to a 5:00 first mile, feeling pretty relaxed the entire way. I got out right behind Lou and Harvey to start the 3200 and felt good early, coming through the first mile in 5:01. I pulled back a bit, however, as Brendan passed me around the curve and the pace slowed from there. Andrew Hill passed me with 800 left and I watched him slowly pull away, also. Regrouped before the last mile and felt really good at the start. Got out a bit behind Harvey and picked it up at 200m when Andrew came up next to me. Came through in 70 for the first 400 and hearing that affecting me negatively. I reflexively pulled back and let Harvey, Andrew and Brendan all pull away. Started fighting myself and struggled to hold 75-76 for the final 3 laps. Should have just gone with it as my legs were feeling good at 400. Didn't waste much time afterwards, got right to the cooldown and headed home to a warm shower shortly after that.9HARDAVGAVGTUESummit Ave. Just like yesterday I was up and out the door by 6am, but I only got in about 7 hours of sleep. Very relaxed the whole way, just covering ground and letting my mind wander. Ran the last mile on the river in 7:01, which was a fair estimate of my average pace, I'd guess. Had a long, rambling conversation with myself about why I've been running so poorly for such a long time (I think my last good race was Club Nats, and that wasn't very spectacular.) I won't go into everything here, but I concluded that I had been in good shape for so long that I'd deluded myself into thinking I possess some intrinsic talent or ability that compensates for sub-par training. In reality, I possess no such trait and have only run well when I've worked hard and been mentally tough. I find it somewhat amusing that I've come full circle, as that was my mindset when I was running in college. There's no substitute for training hard and being mentally tough, and I need a lot of work in both areas right now.12EASYAVGAVGMONDavis-Bike Path. Got up early and was out the door by 6am. I felt much better than I should have for the day after a race, which really shows how poorly I raced yesterday. At the same time, I did sleep 9 hours last night, so that probably helped some, too. Kept it relaxed over the first 10M or so, got to the river in 57 and was 3:28 from 7.5 to 7. I let myself pick up the pace over the last 3M on the river and ran 6:40-6:26-6:17. I didn't push the pace at all, I just let my legs gradually speed up. Over those final 3M I did start to feel like I had raced the day before. Finished up with a more relaxed jog back home. Very glad to get out for a pseudo-long run this morning, racing on Sunday always makes that difficult.14AVGGOODGOODSUNMayor's Cup, 26:26 for 56th. I felt good on the warmup but wasn't very focused throughout the race and did a horrible job of running competitively. Got out somewhat conservatively in 4:55 and was around Lou and Matt Ely. By the time we got to 2M, though, my legs were dead and I wasn't able to run the Wilderness loops as hard as I had planned. I made up a little ground near the end of the fourth mile, but gave it all away over the final mile. Didn't run hard to the base of Bearcage, held my position up the hill and then couldn't pass anybody on the way to the finish. Cooled down 20 minutes solo, pretty dejected about how things went today.10HARDBADBADWeek 14week142009-10-182009-10-24This was a decent, but not great, week. Got off to a great start with a solid long run and fast finish in the rain on Sunday with Harvey and JMark. I'm happy that I've been able to get in decent long runs recently, which is one of many things that had been missing. Wednesday's workout went pretty well, certainly better than recent workouts but there's still progress to be made. That left me sore and rundown on Thursday but I felt much better on Friday and Saturday and am looking forward to Mayor's Cup on Sunday.SATCharlestown Loop. Didn't have anything to do today and took my time getting started this morning, finally heading out around noon. It had been raining off and on and I thought I had it timed right, but on my way out of the Navy Yard it started raining again. It was warm enough that the rain wasn't an issue, it was just a bit annoying. I felt pretty good the whole way, glad I decided to keep it short and rest up for tomorrow.4EASYAVGAVGFRIWestern Ave with TPS. Met Terry at Longfellow around 10:30 this morning and headed up river. We kept it very easy the whole way, though I didn't bother to check any splits. Felt a whole lot better than yesterday, my legs weren't too sore and I had plenty of energy. We crossed over at MIT and Terry ran back down to Longfellow with me before turning off. All in all I was gone 72 minutes, so this was a long 9M but I don't see how I can call it 10.9EASYAVGAVGTHUInman. Pretty tired this morning and slept through my alarm, so I didn't get going until 6:30 and had to keep it short. Really didn't mind going short though, as I felt awful and was tight and sore the whole run. Probably should have had a better dinner than chicken nuggets and skittles after last night's workout. I've still got 2 more days before Mayor's Cup, I'm not too worried about my legs recovering. Glad I at least got my legs stretched out this morning and this way Carly won't berate me again, hopefully.5EASYBADBADWED3x1200, 8x400, 4x200 in 3:36-35-36; 70-67-67-66-68-68-x-66; 30-30-29-29. Warmed up on the river with Lou, Harvey, LaRosa and Brendan, felt okay but the warmup seemed a bit long. The weather was really nice, probably upper 50s which was a nice change from the past few weeks. I led the first one with a plan of running 72-73s but took us through in 74 before Harvey got on my shoulder and jump started things. Finished with 72-70 and felt really comfortable as we sped up. Sat behind Lou and Harvey through the whole second interval, more or less even 72s getting faster towards the end. Ran the final 1200 in the back next to Brendan, but it was hard to get in a rhythm as we were weaving around trying to find room. Eventually, I just dropped back and ran behind Brendan, but lost touch over the final lap as the guys started picking up the pace. Had to take a quick pit stop and got back to the line just as the guys were starting the 4s. Tucked into the back and just followed guys around the track for the first one. After that I started getting out behind Harvey and watching him pull away as I came through in 32-34. More stomach issues came out of nowhere right after finishing the sixth interval and I spent the seventh in the Port-A-John. Felt fine finishing the 400s and the 200s were pretty relaxed and the speed came somewhat easily. Got going on the last 2 trying to hold off Harvey down the stretch. Cooled down slowly along the river and then headed home. Quite tired at the end of the day but was very happy with how today went.10HARDGOODGOODTUESummit Ave. Got out the door at 6am this morning, though it was still dark it was great weather for running. After about 10 minutes I was feeling really good and things stayed that way throughout the rest of the run. Finished up with a 6:50 along the river, very happy to get out for double digits this morning.12EASYGOODGOODMONDay off. Had every intention to run this afternoon but was being productive at work and just kept at it.0NONENONENONESUNArboretum with JMark and Harvey, 1:59:30 total. Met the guys at the BU Bridge at 9am this morning in a cold rain. Glad I was able to meet them to run instead of having to motivate myself to get out the door. We ran out to the Arboretum again and did largely the same route, though we skipped Mount WuShu. Harvey and I started picking the pace up on our way out of the Arboretum and all 3 of us worked to keep it quicker than normal on the way back. We headed up the river with Brian when we got back to BU and hit the half from BU to River in 3:06. Crossed the river at Western and ran into Allston, JMark and I turned back at Harvard Street and headed back to BU the way we came. We slowed once we left Harvey and hit 3:20 for the same half mile on the way back. Really good run, very happy to be out on my feet for that long. Probably longer than 17 but I could use the karma.17AVGGOODGOODWeek 13week132009-10-112009-10-17Pretty bad week. The days I actually ran went okay, I got in two average workouts but missed three days entirely. That can't continue. Had a good long run to start things off but couldn't put anything together after that.SAT8x800; 400 in 2:25, 22, 24, 22, 23, 24, 25, 24; 64. Met Jared at MIT at 8am to warm up for the workout, I joked with him that I was thinking of trying a new training philosophy of just long runs and workouts. It was decently cold this morning, and though I worked out in a tshirt and gloves I did the warm up in a long sleeve shirt. I didn't run any strides before we started the workout and I could feel it on the first one. I led the odds and took us out in 35-72 and couldn't get going on the second lap. We did a good job of sharing the work, but after the first one we were always 70-71 and unable to speed up on the second lap. We were taking 200m rest, which was about 2:00, and I felt well rested at the start of each interval. Jared got us out in 69 on the final one and ran his second lap well while I faded badly. I told him that if I couldn't get one lap in under 70 I was going to retire, and luckily (or unluckily) ran a 64 high, pretty evenly split. We put in a long cooldown, BU-Science to at least get in some good mileage for the day. Not that happy with the times on this one, I just felt limited in what I could do. I was working hard but unable to find a faster gear. Two off days probably didn't help things.12HARDAVGAVGFRIAnother day off, this is embarassing.0NONENONENONETHUNo running.0NONENONENONEWED5xMile-ish in 5:14, 5:09, 5:06, 5:11, 5:11. Warmed up on the river with Terry and we ran into Andrew Hill, though just JMark and myself were running the workout tonight. We ran a new route, two laps around the perimeter of the track area then onto the track for 300m to make it roughly a mile, with 2:00 rest between intervals. Hard to get going very fast, not much light, shaky footing and a lot of turns. Jared did the majorit of the leading, though we went back and forth on a couple. Nearly got dropped on the third after getting off to a very slow start. Felt like I was running as fast as the course would let, but I didn't feel like I was working that hard. Cooled down along the river with Jared to finish off the day.10HARDAVGAVGTUEDay off.0NONENONENONEMONBack Bay. Really tired this morning despite 8.5 hours of sleep, probably shouldn't have walked all the way back from Fenway yesterday. I managed to make it out the door, though I didn't get to put in the amount of mileage I was hoping. I felt really slow this morning and was just glad to get the run over with. Had my watch but didn't check any splits, which was probably for the best. Going to have to be an early night tonight, hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.6EASYBADBADSUNJamaica, plus extra on the Riverway. Got out the door a little after 7:30am and was sure that I'd miss the start of the BAA Half. They must have waited for me, as I was able to get to the mile mark with plenty of time to see all the guys go past. I headed out to Jamaica and did a single lap before heading back. I was planning on 2 laps but had to head back to find a Port A John. Wound up running back and forth on the Riverway until the guys came back, I ran into Pat Callahan and we ran together back to the finish and he came with me to the TD Garden before turning off. Felt good to be out there running this morning, put in 1:56 in total. Unfortunately, I spent the afternoon at Fenway watching the Sox get swept by the Angels.16EASYAVGAVGWeek 12week122009-10-042009-10-10Happy with how this week went despite the two off days. Had a good long run on Sunday to start the week off well. I felt the best I have in a long time on Wednesday through the entire workout, though it would be nice had I gotten going a bit quicker over the second 5k. Had a decent race on Saturday on a rolling course, at the very least it was a good workout.SATGrace Race 5M, 26:09 for second. Felt decent during the warm up and was confident about the race today, but saw Casey Moulton a few minutes before the start and knew it was going to be tough. I didn't run as many strides as I probably should have, we got out hard and my legs were feeling flat by the end of the first mile. No clocks out on the course but Casey said we were 4:55ish. I backed off as Casey started surging during the second mile and that was that. Tried to keep an honest pace the rest of the way but I'm fairly sure I slowed as the race went on. Cooled down by running the course again with Casey (after hearing that Pat won Hartford again) and the longer cooldown made today a bit better. Took a good nap after getting home.12HARDAVGAVGFRIDay off.0NONENONENONETHURiver with TPS. Met Terry on the river by MIT at noon and headed up to JFK Street. Kept it easy the whole way, I didn't check any splits but I doubt we ever got under 7:00 pace. Felt good to get my legs stretched out after last night. Good run.11EASYGOODGOODWED2x5k in 16:34, 16:13. Warmed up with LaRosa and Harvey at 6pm and none of us could decide on what we felt like doing for the workout. Eventually settled on all doing the 5k at 5:15-5:20 pace, then Harvey was going to run 300s, LaRosa was going to do another 5k and I was going to play it by ear. If the 5k went well, I'd run another one with Mark, otherwise I'd run some shorter stuff. It was pretty windy on the warmup and we were worried about how that would affect the pace, but it didn't really slow us down at all. We split up the 5k by 800s, I took the first one, Jared the second, Harvey the third and Mark the fourth. I took us out a little slow, coming through in 82 but got us on track with an 80. Jared took over and put in a 78 and an 80, getting us to the mile at 5:20. Lou jumped in at that point, Harvey took the lead and picked up the pace a bit. We hit a 76 and I was falling off a bit, but the guys slowed down and I caught up to the back of the pack. Stayed at 78-80 while Mark led, then I took led the whole last mile. It was dark on the track and the Indiglo on my 10 year old watch isn't working and I didn't think to take splits on my own, so I don't have the actual mile times. Mark and I took 600m rest then got into another 5k. My plan was to go 5:15-5:10-5:05 and Mark volunteered to lead the first mile. We got out in 80 and then worked our way down to 78s and hit 5:13 at the mile. I overreacted a bit at the start of the second mile and ran a 76.5 before slowing back down to a 78.5. I wasn't able to quite get on pace from there, I did run a 77.5 on the third lap but then slowed back to 78 and was 5:11 for the second mile. I tried to pick up the pace again for the final mile but didn't get any faster than 77-low. Put together a 5:12 on the final mile and closed with a 37. Looking back, I overestimated what I could do on the last 5k and should have worked together with Mark instead. The last 2M were harder than they should have been because I was pushing the whole way, trying to drop the pace. I feel like Mark and I could have at least traded off 800s for the first 2M and still run 5:13-5:11 and I would have felt a lot better going into the last mile. Still, I was happy with how things went tonight, I finally felt good on the track and wasn't struggling to just keep up. Cooled down on the normal river loop with everybody to finish off the night.11HARDGOODGOODTUEDay off. Stayed up watching Brett Favre beat the Packers and was way too tired when my alarm went off. Slept until about 7:30, I think Brett took my will to live.0NONENONENONEMONBack Bay. Very tired this morning when my alarm went off but remembered that Kathryn would be home late and I could run in the middle of the day. Took off around 11:30 this morning for an easy run through the city. I wasn't too sore on this one, but I could definitely feel the past few days. Didn't take a watch with me, but I'm sure I wasn't running very fast. Glad I was able to stretch out my legs though, I felt much better once I got home.6EASYAVGAVGSUNArboretum with Harvey, JMark and Hemu. Met up with the guys at the BU Bridge at 9am this morning, after staying out a bit too late the night before. I felt fine throughout the run though, and the pace was kept easy the whole way. Headed out to the Arboretum along the Emerald Necklace and then followed Jared around, climbing a bunch of hills in the Arb. Felt bad for a little bit around the hour mark, but for the most part didn't have any problems. Got back to BU at 1:34 and ran upriver a bit to tack on. Jared and Harvey started moving, but Hemu and I were content to keep it easy. Harvey turned off to head home and we ran back to MIT to finish up. Nice and exhausted when everything was over, ate a big breakfast and fell asleep watching football.16EASYAVGAVGWeek 11week112009-09-272009-10-03This was a decent week and a step in the right direction, I think. Felt good to finally get in a respectable long run and I felt decent enough at the end of those 16 miles. The workout on Tuesday morning didn't go quite as well as I would have liked, but I put in 7M worth of hard work and that will pay off in the long run. Managed to get out the door the rest of the week and then finished things off with my best workout in a long time at Lincoln on Saturday. Could not be more pleased with how that one turned out.SAT3-2-2-1-1-1 at the Mt Misery Loop. 10:21 (3:31, 3:27, 3:23), 6:34 (3:17/3:17), 6:27 (3:12/3:15), 3:05, 3:03, 3:01. I slept well past my alarm this morning and nearly missed the workout. Woke up at 6:35, left to pick up JMark and Harvey at 6:55 and got to Lincoln a little after 7:30. Met TPS, Lou and LaRosa there and warmed up over to the Mt Misery loop. It had been raining pretty hard when I left Charlestown, and though the ground was certainly wet, it wasn't raining as badly in the woods. Did some token stretching and plyos to get loosened up, but more or less just jumped into it. I started out behind Terry and Harvey, but was having a hard time seeing the ground to avoid roots, so at the top of the hill I surged and got out front where it was much easier to see what was coming up. Worked well with Harvey to steadily increase the pace over all three laps and my legs were feeling great. Sat back on the next one and let Lou and Terry lead us through in even splits. Harvey and I hooked up on the next one and after getting out a bit hard settled down for the second lap. I was feeling really good at this point and wanted to make sure I finished the workout well. Got off the line and into the lead on the first of the 1 lap intervals and made sure to press the whole way. Didn't feel that great up the hill but stayed out front and drove all the way through the finish. Things nearly fell apart on the second 1 lapper, though, as I lagged behind up the hill and Lou started building a gap. Managed to hang in, though, and moved past Harvey going into the sharp right, then slowly reeled in Lou as we headed back to the line. It seemed like a situation where he was cruising to the line and I was killing myself to close the gap, he looked very smooth and I was working really hard. Decided to really get after it on the last lap and hopefully I wouldn't blow up halfway through. Started out just behind Terry, and every puddle he hit was splashing all over me. I attacked the hill and topped it really well, building a small gap there. Gave it all back by the time we hit the turn, though, then Lou, Terry, Harvey and I all ran together to the line. Cooled down back to the lot with everyone, then along Lincoln Rd with everyone but Terry. Put in enough to reasonably call it a 4M cooldown. Couldn't be more pleased with how this workout went today. I haven't been able to hang with these guys on workouts recently but this morning I was right in there and even leading at the end. I think no small part of it was that the footing got progressively worse as the workout wore on, so that slowed those guys down enough for me to be competitive. Felt good to get in a cross country style workout and to run without worrying about pace or splits.13HARDGOODGOODFRIRun to Remember. Got out the door early this morning and headed out for an easy yog. Kept things slow, trying to keep my legs fresh for the workout at Lincoln tomorrow. Felt good to be out running early.7EASYAVGAVGTHUEliot with TPS, and Dan Smith at the end. Had every intention of going this morning, but slept until 7am instead. I met Terry on the river at noon for what was supposed to be a 4-5M run for him and headed up river. The weather was really nice and Terry decided instead to do a longer run, so we went all the way up to Eliot on the Cambridge side and came back on the Boston side. We kept the pace very relaxed and I felt fine the whole time, the run passed pretty quickly in fact. Ran into Dan just after Fairfield and ran back to Science with him before I split off to head home. Was just over 90 minutes at the end, but the mileage chart says Science-Eliot is just 10M, so I'm calling this a long 12. Getting this run in was great, though I'll have to work late to compensate.12EASYGOODAVGWEDBack Bay loop. Slept well past my alarm after staying up a bit too late last night. Got up at 6:30 and was running by 6:45, though had to go shorter than planned. This was one of those times where just getting out the door is what mattered, 6M is better than 0M. I felt fine early on, which was really surprising as I felt like a zombie most of yesterday. After crossing over the river and heading home my legs really started to leave me. I felt much worse over the second half of the run, but am just glad I got out the door.6EASYAVGAVGTUE4M-2M-1M in 21:01 (5:16-5:10-5:15-5:20,) 10:27 (5:08-5:19,) 5:13. I warmed up from home over to the 3M mark at 6:30 this morning and was feeling pretty good. I had plenty of time to stretch out and run strides while waiting for Terry, Scott, Paul and Will to show up. The plan was 2x4M, with the first one going from 5:15->5:05 and the second one at 5:05, but my plan was to hang on for as long as I could. We got out a little slow, 2:41 at the half, but adjusted well and found a steady pace pretty easily. I hung in the back at the start, but after the slow first half I went up front to help Terry get us back on track. After a 5:16 and 5:10 I dropped back behind Terry, Paul and Will, running next to Scott. At the start of the third mile we went single file to avoid some traffic and Terry dropped it down to 5:04 almost simultaneously. I lost contact there and the guys pulled away from there. I was 5:15 at the next mile and actual even with Paul, because he had stopped to tie his shoe and was just catching me. I did what I could to help him out but after about a minute he started pulling away and I really slowed. I was 2:38 at the half but continued to lose focus and slowed a bit more on the second half. We took a little over 4:00 to jog a half mile to the 7.5, then turned around and got right into the second one. The plan changed to 5:10s and I was looking to go 2M, then I'd finish up with a mile on my own. We got out quick, though the first half is probably a bit short, and were 2:33 at the half. I was already starting to drop off but was able to surge enough to stay close. I came through the mile in 5:08 and that was the last time I was close to the guys, I ran 2:38-2:41 on the next mile (though the actual mark has been paved over.) As soon as I lost contact I lost the ability to really push, and just wound up running hard but within myself. I took 4:00 to get to the 5 and went straight into a hard mile that I hoped would be 5:05ish. I felt good early, but by the time I hit Longfellow I was fighting myself and it wasn't coming. I was 2:36 at the half and did manage to finish strong, though the last half is probably the slowest one on the river. Finishing with a 2:37 is probably equivalent to a 2:33 on the previous half. I shuffled back towards the Sonesta, far enough to justify calling the cooldown 2M, then turned around and headed home. Pretty tired at the end of this one, but not completely wiped out. I wish I had run a bit more aggressively during the 2M section, I think I could have run another 5:08 there. I'm having problems doing what I need to do when I get dropped and/or am running alone. I'm not able to really dig down and push myself past what's comfortable (for some definition of comfortable.) I've been here before though, and the only way out of this is to keep running and get in better shape.12HARDAVGAVGMONDay off. Dead tired when my alarm went off and talked myself into running short after work, but I didn't get out the door when I got home.0NONENONENONESUNMarathon course with JMark and Harvey. Out to the 14, back to the 22 in 52:30, last 4M in 6:20, 6:50, 11:46. Picked up Jared at 8am and met Harvey at the Reservoir at 8:30 for a long run this morning. Took the standard route out to the course, then ran backwards to the 14M mark and then followed the course back to the Reservoir. I was feeling good early, a clear indication that yesterday wasn't much of a workout, and was really enjoying running with people. It was lightly raining, but still warm enough that it was great weather for a long run. I felt like I was fading as we hit the turnaround, it was right around an hour into the run, which seems to be where I start feeling tired nowadays. Surprisingly, though, after the climb up to the I-95 overpass I felt a lot better and was able to hang in there the rest of the way without much effort. We ran more or less by feel, and the splits really showed which miles had hills. We were 6:20 from 18 to 19 and then 6:50 from 19 to 20. We were running on the carriage road alongside Commonwealth, which must be short at some point, because we finished up with 11:46 from 20-22, which cannot be right. JMark and I stopped when we got back to the cars, but Harvey added on a little bit extra. Altogether, we were out there for 1:52, turning around at 58:00 and running from 14 to 22 in 52:30 (probably a little short.)16AVGGOODGOODWeek 10week102009-09-202009-09-26After a solid stretch of training last week this was a definite step backwards. I started off with a sub-par race on Sunday, I was thinking aggressively but couldn't get my body to do what my mind wanted. Then I had a terrible workout on Wednesday and not such a great one on Saturday, plus I took 3 days completely off. I'm not quite sure where I'm going right now, but I'm clearly not in the shape I thought I was.SATThreshold run at MIT. 3M in 15:30 (5:08-5:09-5:13), 1M in 4:59. Warmed up over to MIT around 8:30 this morning and had to wait about 15 minutes for ROTC to finish their stretching on the track. Thought about yelling something at them, but didn't want to get fired up and run my first mile in 4:30. I was able to stretch out well and took my time running strides before getting into the workout. I felt good early and even got out too quickly, running 74 on the first 400. I pulled back too much and was 2:33 at the half before settling into 77s. I wasn't able to break out of that pace, though, and never got close to 5:00 pace the rest of the way. At the end of 2 miles I decided I'd go another mile at 5:08 and then hammer the fourth mile to try and hit 5:00 and call it a day. However, I really started falling apart on the third mile, losing focus and not running aggressively. I stopped after the 5:13 and even though I felt like quitting I jogged a very slow 400 (about 4:00) and then managed to find the right gears for a 4:59 finish. I was out in 74 and then hit 75s from there like clockwork. I was pretty spent when I finished and didn't even think of trying to extend the workout in any way. Ran into Jeff Paterno and talked for a few minutes then shuffled home slowly. Even though I managed to finish well I was not at all happy with how this morning went. I thought running 5:00-5:05 would be possible at least for the first few miles, but I never came close to that pace.10HARDAVGBADFRINo running.0NONENONENONETHUNo running.0NONENONENONEWEDWorkout at Harvard. 1M loop, 4x200, 6x800, 4x200 in 5:10; 33, 2, 2, 1; 2:26, 25, 25, 26, 30, 26; 31, 30, 30, 29. I got to Harvard on the early side today and had some time to stand around talking before warming up with the usual guys. Ely decided to take an easy day and not work out, so the rest of us didn't have to worry about getting destroyed by him. We started out on the mile loop around the fields and I felt great, was leading and had a good rhythm going. Unfortunately, the gate was locked by the soccer fields and we had to stop and squeeze through a hole on one side. The group got a little broken up after that, I still managed to run a 5:10 which I'm guessing was 4:50-4:55 when taking out the time spent getting past the fence. We then hit the track for the rest of the workout, and despite my plans to stay smooth and relaxed on the 200s, I dug myself into a bit of a hole by working too hard. Even though the times weren't blazing fast, I didn't feel comfortable and was pushing too much. The plan was 72-73s for the 800s, and after hitting those splits on the first two I had to take a quick break at the Port-A-John. I surprisingly made it back for the start of the third, though the break left my legs feeling a bit off. I struggled to stay focused the rest of the way, drifting to the back almost immediately and losing contact as the guys up front started hammering. The fifth was by far the worst interval, the splits were 73-77. Managed to rally a bit on the final 800 though I was still far off the guys up front. Ran the last set of 200s out in lane two and found a little bit of speed. LaRosa picked it up on the final two intervals, I tried to chase him down but didn't have it in my legs. Pretty dejected after the workout, I'm not used to dropping off the pace so drastically and really wasn't running aggressively at all out there. Cooled down about 10 minutes on my own and ran a couple of strides on the infield before calling it a night.10HARDBADBADTUENo running. Slept in and was going to run in the middle of the day, but wound up having to take Midge to the hospital after she found a bottle of Ibuprofen.0NONENONENONEMONDavis-Bike Path. Got out the door early this morning for a long run to compensate, since I raced on Sunday. Felt a little rundown early and kept the pace easy but felt better once I hit the river and slowly started picking it up. Got down to 6:15ish before running into Bernie by the Hatch shell. Slowed down to run with him, he came all the way into Charlestown before turning off. Probably a good decision to back off instead of running a couple more hard miles.14EASYAVGAVGSUNLone Gull 10k, 31:58 for 15th. Another mediocre race, dropped off the pack in the first mile and stayed in more or less the same position the rest of the way, despite pushing the whole time. Cooled down in a big group, but Kathryn sprained her ankle early on and the rest of the cooldown was running back and forth to the parking lot to get ice and then the car.11HARDAVGBADWeek 09week092009-09-132009-09-19I finally managed to put together a good week. My mediocre performance at Ollie got me motivated and I got out the door every day this week and cracekd 70M for the first time in a while. I do wish I had gone a bit longer on Sunday, but otherwise I'm happy with how things went. I stayed aggressive and hung in there during the workout on Wednesday and feel like it's starting to come back around. I don't think I'll look back and remember any specific run from this week, but hopefully this is the week I drew a line in the sand and things started turning around.SATFresh Pond with Carlos and Joe. Those guys were back in town for the career fair and we met at 8:30 this morning. Great run, I felt good and you could have convinced me it was 2004 again. Finished up with stretching and strides on the track.7EASYAVGAVGFRIOllie in 30:20-ish. Felt pretty tired and worn down on the 3M over to the start of the Ollie course, but I had it in my head to do some faster running this morning and stuck to the plan. I ran the real Ollie course, not the one from last week, and was 6:00-6:10 the whole way. It felt good to turn my legs over, but I was happy when it finished. Kept it easy for the final 3M back home.11HARDAVGAVGTHULincoln with Ted. Met Ted at 5:30 and got right into the run. I felt surprisingly good given yesterday's workout and the run went by fairly quickly. Always a lot of fun talking and running with Ted. Pretty dark by the end though, looks like the Lincoln runs are over for this year.13EASYAVGAVGWED2.5M River Loop then 400-800-1200-1600 in 12:55 (5:13-10:19); 71-2:35-3:37-4:50. Did the standard warm up loop with Matt, Brendan, Brian and Mark, then stretched out a bit by the cars before jogging over to the river. Met Lou at the start and got right into, Matt built a lead early but Lou, Brendan and myself worked together. Hit the half in 2:39 and then got serious, running a 2:34 for the next half. We were running 3 wide but just before Arsenal I had to slip behind to avoid some bikers and never completely regained contact. I yo-yo'd a little over the next mile though I managed to stay more or less in contact, but right around the 2M mark I lost touch for good. Fought myself too much over the last half mile, Brendan and Lou ran 2:30 to my 2:36. Headed back to the track where we settled on 72-73 pace for all the intervals. Brendan led the 400 which felt very comfortable, even getting out in 34.5 wasn't a problem. I took the 800, running up front with Lou, and put together back to back 72-mids. Was still feeling good and started out in front for the 1200 as well. A little slow at the start, 73-2:26, but right as Brendan and Matt moved to go past me at 800 I managed to dig down and hold them off the entire last lap. I was pretty spent after that one and unsure of how the mile would go, but stayed positive and aggressive at the start. Lou took us through in 72-2:24 and was building a slight gap on me. On the backstretch Matt caught and passed me, I tried to go with him but could only manage 50m or so before backing off. Finished up with back to back 73s and was very tired when it was all over. Cooled down with the standard river loop then ran a couple of strides on the track before heading home. This was easily the best workout I've run in awhile, I didn't limit myself and it paid off. I was able to put myself up front and hang in when things got rough, instead of backing off to a maintainable pace.10HARDGOODGOODTUECastle-Bunker Hill. Despite staying out late watching the Patriots improbable comeback last night I was out the door not much past 6am. The weather is starting to cool off now that summer is definitely over, but it's actually great temperatures for running right now. Kept it easy the whole way, just putting in miles and enjoying being out early doing work. Much better first three days than last week.9EASYAVGAVGMONFake Fresh backwards. Stayed up late watching the Packers sneak past the Bears and couldn't drag myself out of bed when my alarm went off. Instead, I started working early and took a break around 11am for my run. Felt great, waiting a couple hours let my body wake up and let the temperature warm up, everything worked out perfectly. Easy start like yesterday, but started gradually speeding up heading home along the river. Without working too hard I managed to finish up with a 6:15 before backing off a bit for the stretch from Science back home. Happy I was able to put in double digits despite being lazy this morning.10AVGAVGAVGSUNDavis-Bike Path. Managed to get up early and was out the door by 7:30 this morning, which was great. Everytime I get out early on Sunday I wonder why I can't do it every week, it's so much better than sitting around with the run hanging over my head. Kept things very easy and relaxed at the beginning, got to the river in 58 minutes. My legs weren't very sore from yesterday so I decided to pick it up over the final few miles. Managed to work my way from 7:00 pace at Bu down to 6:30 by Science. Took it easy from Science back home. Great run, 98 minutes on the nose, spent some time thinking about what happened at Ollie and how to improve.14AVGAVGAVGWeek 08week082009-09-062009-09-12Another week of moderate mileage with an short day and a day completely off. Finally had a good workout, I managed to run pace when I needed to run pace and to run hard when I needed to run hard. But this whole week built up to Ollie and I didn't come through there. I let the pack get too far away too early and then spent too much energy running into a headwind. Had I held back along the water I think I would have finished a few places higher, but still would have been pretty far back. I think I've finally used up all of my residual fitness or whatever you want to call it from Houston, too many 50-65M weeks are catching up with me and I can't hide it anymore. There's no way I should be finishing 23rd at Ollie. This stuff isn't enough fun to justify doing it halfway.SATOllie, 25:07 for 23rd (course was approx. 150m short.) Not the smoothest pre-race morning, as Kathryn and I started driving to the race we discovered I had a flat tire. Managed to get back home and park and thankfully were able to take Kathryn's car. Pouring down rain all morning, we sat in the car for a bit when we got to the Seaport then made our way to the Pavilion and sat under the tent for a bit. I warmed up with Kathryn, Mark Miller, JMark and Harvey along the course, despite the rain I wasn't about to run laps under the tent. The rain let up just before the start, which made things a little easier. There was a new start and finish and another course change I didn't know about, which threw me off a little. I held back on the hill and started rolling on the downhill, slowly making up ground. There was a big pack ahead of me and even though I knew better I kept on hammering along the ocean, right into the wind. Lost focus from the 3M mark to the 4M mark (which were both probably incorrectly placed) but managed to rally enough to hold guys off in the final mile. Results have me at 5:07 pace, which is right where I was hoping to be. However, I got beat by too many people to be pleased with this race. Cooled down about 12 minutes with Kathryn then headed home to a long, hot shower.9HARDAVGBADFRIRun to Remember course. Very easy this morning, kept the run short and the pace easy and just went over the race plan a final time. Looking forward to finally racing again, it's been a long time since the Bunker Hill 8k.7EASYGOODGOODTHULincoln with Ryan, Justin and Ted. Very low key run, the pace was easy the whole way and I learned a lot about Raytheon's weapons. Not at all sore or tired from the workout, I did a good job of keeping the effort in check yesterday.13EASYGOODGOODWED2x(2k-1k-600-400) in 6:14, 3:03, 1:44, 68; 6:18, 3:03, 1:43, 65. Put in the standard warm up loop and got in some brief stretching and a few strides before getting started. My goal was to keep the 1k and 2k under control and work harder on the shorter stuff if I was feeling good. My thinking was that it didn't make a lot of sense to put myself in a huge hole this close to Ollie. Got out in 76-2:31 to start the 2k and it didn't take long for Harvey and Lou to be on my shoulder pushing the pace. We hit the kilometer in 3:08 and those guys took over. I drifted back in the pack a bit but still wound up running quicker than planned, though it felt smooth and somewhat comfortable. A little aggressive at the start of the 1k and went something along the lines of 72-2:26 but had settled in after the first 400 and felt like cruised the rest of the way. Matt took us out in 33 to start the 600 and I backed off after that, but was still running hard. Started in the very back for the 400 and worked my way up the whole way, so the 68 was harder than the split looks. I was set on keeping the 2k comfortable and after opening up with 74-2:30 I let Harvey, JMark and Lou build a gap as I tried to settle into 76s. Pretty much managed to hit those, was 3:08 at halfway and only had to close with a 75 to hit 6:18. Started getting more aggressive over the final intervals, went 73-2:26 on the 1k and was in the mix up front during the 600, we got out in 68ish. I took the lead on the final interval and really worked the first 200, running stride for stride with Lou. Was 31-mid and slowed without thinking about it, ran hard through the line but got outkicked by JMark. I managed to get in a good workout today without going too far over the edge, which is really what I was looking for. Cooled down on the usual loop but cut stretching short as the mosquitos were eating me alive. Feeling much more confident about this weekend thanks to this workout.10HARDGOODGOODTUEInman Square. Pretty tired this morning and decided to cut the run short to get an extra 30 minutes of sleep. Once I got out there I felt great and wished I had more time to run. Pretty standard five miler, though.5EASYAVGAVGMONDay off. I was lazy and hungry when I woke up and made plans to run in the middle of the day. Then Kathryn's changed he flight and got home at 2pm and my schedule got messed up.0NONENONENONESUNOut and back along the Susquehanna River. Felt much better than I expected to this morning and made the 8:45 departure from the Red Roof. Started out on a path that followed the Susquehanna and put in some time on miscellaneous trails, too. There wasn't a lot of distance out there, so we wound around and ran some parts twice, but managed to put in a solid hour. I felt pretty bad at the start but got into the run by the end and was feeling decent. Glad I managed to get this in before the 5 hour trip home. Big group this morning: LaRosa, Callahan, Bernie, Voce, Ben Rosario, Eric Hartmark and 1 other guy.9EASYAVGAVGWeek 07week072009-08-302009-09-05This was an okay week. Got in the best long run I've had in a while on Sunday and managed to recover from that by the workout on Wednesday. I'm still holding back when the pace starts picking up and I'm reluctant to leave my comfort zone and the plan I had going into the workout. I think I'm a few weeks away from feeling confident that I can hang when guys start hammering. Didn't get much in the rest of the week, though, and completely skipped Saturday. Now that we're into September there's no time left for screwing around and I need to start getting more serious about getting in shape.SATDay off. Had set my alarm to get up, but when it went off I decided that I'd rather not run and be rested for the drive down to PA and tonight's festivities. Had a great time at the Sheatock wedding and didn't regret sleeping in.0NONENONENONEFRIFake Fresh with JMark. Met Jared at 6:15 this morning and headed out on the usual loop. My legs are starting to come around and I felt great the whole way, but my stomach started acting up and I had to stop at MIT. Pretty uneventful this morning.10EASYAVGAVGTHULincoln with Ted. Got to Lincoln late and was convinced that everybody would have started without me. Luckily, Ted was the only guy who showed up and since he doesn't know the trails he was waiting around. We stuck to the 10M loop because of the late start, the sun's going down earlier and it's really hard to run those trails in the dark. Going short turned out to be a great decision since my stomach started bothering me over the final few miles. My legs were sore at the start from yesterday's workout but I loosened up as the run went on, and we kept it easy the whole time.10EASYAVGAVGWED6xMile in 5:08, 5:07, 5:03, 5:03, 4:57, 4:58. Huge group at the workout this week, about 8 guys at the start. I felt pretty good on the warm up and my strides went alright, too. The plan was roughly 2 at 5:10, 2 at 5:05 and 2 at 5:00. We started out on pace with a 78 but then slowed down further and hit 2:38 at 800m. Matt Ely had started 5 seconds after us and caught us by the half, which got everybody rolling and carried us to a much quicker second 800. Pretty much the same story on the second one, except that the pacing was more even over the first half mile. Got out faster on the third interval, around 2:32, and picked it up a little more on the second half. At this point the uneven pacing was starting to affect me and I could feel my legs getting tired. I hung in the back for the final 3 miles, trying to not get caught up in the hammering that some guys were doing. Were I in a little better shape this would have been a great situation for me to really turn myself inside out, but I made the decision that I would be better off keeping things under control on this one. A couple guys ran 8 repeats, so Brian Harvey, Andrew Hill and I ran over to the turf fields and put in a barefoot cooldown mile while the other guys were finishing up. Finished the day off with a the usual cooldown loop. Very happy with how today turned out, it's always disheartening to watch guys pull away in workouts, but for myself this was a great workout.12HARDGOODGOODTUECharlestown Loop. I woke up still feeling sore and tired and couldn't get myself motivated to get out the door for a long run. Still managed to run, but kept it really short. Felt fine and am glad I managed to get something in.4EASYAVGAVGMONBU with JMark. Actually managed to get up and out the door this morning even though I was still feeling yesterday's long run. Jared claimed he was also sore, so we kept it really short and easy. Glad that I got this one in, but I really didn't feel great.8EASYBADAVGSUNOcean with JMark and Harvey. Met the guys at the BU Boathouse at 10am and then headed down to Mass Ave to run Ocean. I wasn't very sore at all, which surprised me after yesterday's workout. We eased into the run, but by the time we were coming down Broadway the pace had picked up and I struggled to stay in touch from the Broadway T stop back to MIT. The route with those guys measured out to 9.25 miles, and we covered it in just under 62, averaging 6:40s. We were certainly low 6s at the end, I slowed down considerably after turning off and ran 3:25 from 2.5 to 3. I was happy to have split up and progressively slowed the rest of the way home, and actually called it at day at Green and High, walking home the last few blocks. In the future, I should probably try to eat something in the morning when I'm running at 10am. For the most part I felt good today, and am steadily incresasing the distance of my long runs. Need to be responsible now and refuel well, so that I don't dig myself into another hole.15AVGAVGGOODWeek 06week062009-08-232009-08-29Even though the mileage was pretty low this week, I was happy with how it went. I ended the previous week feeling absolutely drained during every run and dealing with dead legs. The three days off was more than I originally planned, but I was sleeping so much that it was probably helpful. Jumped right back into things with a workout on Wednesday that thankfully was short and I felt good the whole way through. Kept the mileage up the rest of the week and ran another good workout on Saturday with Terry. I had thought that I'd be faster than 5:30s on the second loop, but was fighting myself too much. Managed to stay aggressive though, instead of throwing in the towel, and felt good about how things went when I finished.SATTempo with TPS. Woke up just after 7am and was out running on the 4.2M loop with Terry by 7:50. I felt good early, we parked at the 1M mark and ran the rest of the loop easy as a warmup. Started out at 6:00 pace and worked down by feel, though I topped out at 5:30 pace on the second hard loop. Terry was kind enough to stick with me instead of dropping me, as he easily could have. He helped pull me through and talked me into going straight into a hard half mile to finish the day. He stuck around for a minute before easily pulling away. The first four miles were almost effortless and the progression was very natural. That said, at the start of the second loop my legs were already getting tired and the thought of having to put in another 4M was pretty daunting. I was really working on the second loop, although it was more of a mental block than physical. Once I started relaxing near the end I felt better and was able to get back on Terry's shoulder instead of running a step behind. Great weather, mid 60s with a light rain, and it really helped to have Terry to work with. Splits were: 6:04-5:54-5:46-5:40-(67)-5:29-5:30-5:30-5:34-(68)-2:35. We cooled down very slowly, but far enough to make this a 14M day. Really good workout, just wish I had a little bit more at the end.14HARDAVGGOODFRIOlmsted, via river with JMark, TPS, Kevin and Brian. Met at BU at 8am, I ran from home along the river, we headed out along the Riverway and turned back at Olmsted. TPS and Brian turned off back at Memorial, while Kevin, JMark and I headed downriver. Things were pretty easy the whole way, 84 minutes total. My legs continue to feel good, somewhat saving this week after taking the first 3 days off.12EASYAVGAVGTHULincoln with a decent sized group. Wasn't too sore from yesterday's workout, spent most of the run up front today. Legs weren't too tired and felt good as the pace picked up at the end, when we were racing daylight. The only detractor was that my stomach started getting upset, but thankfully I made it back to the parking lot without incident. Almost lost my watch afterwards when I started driving away with it still on my roof.13AVGGOODGOODWED4x(400-1000) in 72, 3:05; 71, 3:01; 71, 3:01; 68, 3:02. Warmed up on the usual river loop with Ely and a bunch of new guys, felt pretty good and was happy that the humidity was gone. The group working out today was myself, Ely, JMark, LaRosa and two new guys Mark and John. I led the first 400, getting out in 36 and keeping it right there to finish in 72. Matt led the 1000 and took us out in 74, right on schedule, then we started rolling a little and hit 2:25-26. I backed off a little from Matt and Jared and finished a second or two behind them. I took the 400 out in 34 high but then backed off a little too much to finish in 71. Jared took the 1000 out in 72, we came through in 2:24 and held it steady through the finish. I took the 400 again and ran pretty much the same splits as the second one, slowing up a little too much at the end again. Matt took the 1000 out hard, taking us through in 70 for the first lap. I backed off thinking he and Jared would keep on hammering, but should have just hung onto them. I wound up slowing way too much, hitting 2:25 at the half and had to pick it up to salvage a 3:01. Got refocused for the final set, took the 400 out in 34 and finished well, hitting 68 with Ely right on my shoulder. Got out hard again on the 1000, about 71 but then started losing focus and fell off the pace, running halfway between Ely-Jared up front and LaRosa behind me. Hit 2:25 again and tried to find some speed but only managed a 37 to finish just ahead of a hard charging LaRosa. Took a few minutes to compose myself then cooled down on the river loop again. Shorter workout tonight and did a much better job of staying focused. I wimped out a little when the pace was hard on the kilometers and backed off, instead of trying to hang in there with Matt and Jared. Still, today was much, much better than anything last week, I think the rest days have paid off. Today left me encouraged about things.9HARDGOODGOODTUEDay off. Gave myself the option of running today, but was completely wiped out and turned off the alarm in the morning. I think resting up was the right decision, but we'll see how it goes tomorrow.0NONENONENONEMONDay off. I was leaning towards taking today off anyways, but I went to the Sox-Yankees game last night and didn't get to bed until 1am. Then got up around 5:30 when Kathryn's dad left for the airport and got up for good at 6:30 to start working. Spent most of the morning in a stupor, still really tired.0NONENONENONESUNDay off. Completely wiped out and slept from 10:30pm to 10:30am.0NONENONENONEWeek 05week052009-08-162009-08-22A terrible week, just felt absolutely drained the whole time. I probably screwed things up on Sunday by running in the middle of the day and forcing myself to go 14M the day after a workout. I thought I did a decent job of rehydrating, but my diet wasn't all that great and probably left me a little depleted. The hot and humid weather stuck around I think that never really let me recover. Got off to a good start mileage wise, though, meeting Jared on Monday and Tuesday, but completely laid an egg at Wednesday's workout. I had zero energy and felt like I was running underwater. Didn't feel any better the rest of the week and am now thinking I could use a day (or two) off.SATOlmsted. Up early to get the run out of the way, but I slept through my alarm and had about 10 minutes to get out the door after I woke up. I met Scott Munro and Mike DeCoste at Mass and Boylston and we hit the Fens and Riverway for a faster than usual run. Didn't push too hard on the way out, made the turn in about 18:30 which hopefully was a little under 6:00 pace. Starting picking it up on the way back but I really wasn't feeling good. DeCoste dropped off by Landmark Center, then Scott and I managed to drag ourselves back to the firehouse where we called it a day. I probably would have backed off sooner but was trying to keep up with Scott and went back and forth between feeling decent and feeling wiped out a few times over the final mile. Shuffled down Comm Ave slowly with Scott, we went our separate ways at the Public Garden. Another humid morning and I was beat by the time I made it home. My legs were dead the whole run and if I hadn't made plans I probably wouldn't have run hard today.12HARDBADBADFRIBack Bay. I scrapped any thoughts of doing a full speed quarter and just tried to get through this run. Despite running before 7am it was hot and humid and by four miles my legs were dead and I just wanted to be done running. Not sure where this sudden bout of fatigue and ennui came from, but it sucks.6EASYBADBADTHULincoln. Wanted to keep it easy today, especially after yesterday's debacle and only went 10M. Hung in the back the whole way and turned off with Justin Lutz and Dan Lounsbury. Another hot, humid day and by the end my shoes were soaked with sweat. Legs were dead the whole way, not a fun run.10EASYAVGAVGWED2xRoad mile, 800 in 5:01, 5:11, 2:31. This was just an all around ugly attempt at a workout. I warmed up 2M on the road loop around Harvard with Lou and Matt and felt decent, despite the hot weather. Stretched out and ran a few strides, but when we started the workout I was immediately off the back. My legs were just heavy and dead, it wasn't like last week where I couldn't focus when I was tired, I was just unable to run hard tonight. Dropped out after the first 800 on the track and cooled down just a little bit. I think I may have dug myself into a bit of a hole on Sunday and my diet has been the greatest recently. Need to focus on hydrating, eating well, stretching and sleeping for the next few days.6AVGBADBADTUEBU along the River with JMark. Met Jared again, though this morning I was really dragging ass and wasn't too excited about putting in a long run. Jared was okay with going shorter, we headed up the Cambridge side of the river to BU, crossed over and came back along the Boston side. Nice and relaxed run and by the end I was feeling a lot better.8EASYAVGAVGMONFake Fresh with JMark. Met Jared at the usual spot at 6:30 this morning, having to get out the door to meet him helped and definitely made sure I ran double digits today. Pretty big three days for me, with Saturday's workout, Sunday's long run and now an eleven mile "easy" day. I didn't check any mile splits, but we were certainly under 7:00 pace for most of the way. This was a good start to the day.11AVGAVGAVGSUNJP. Woke up early enough but got caught up in small things around the house and didn't get out for my run until almost 1pm. Another bad move by me, as running in the middle of the day in August isn't a lot of fun. I felt fine early and didn't let myself rationalize cutting the run short, but the final few miles through Back Bay and Beacon Hill weren't that fun. 44 minutes to Olmsted, another 15:50 around the Pond and then just under 44:00 on the way back home. Really wiped out when I finished, I weighed 176 when I woke up and was 167 when I got back from this one. Drank a bunch of water and Gatorade and just lied down for a little bit. Glad I managed to get in a "long" run, and my legs held up well enough, though I really wish I had done this at 8am.14EASYAVGBADWeek 04week042009-08-092009-08-15A good week in that I managed to get out the door all seven days, though it was really an up and down week, mileagewise. Sunday's long run wasn't all that long and Wednesday's workout didn't go that well, but I finished things on a high note with a really good workout on Saturday. Managed to push myself the whole way and stayed focused through the end. Running hard on the trails was a lot of fun and it got me excited about the upcoming cross season, hopefully I can get in decent enough shape to race well.SAT4 sets of 3xMt Misery Loop in 10:51-10:27-10:05-9:50 with Terry and Lou. Met the guys at 7:30 this morning and warmed up over to Mt Misery. Terry had a loop picked out, about 1000m long, and the plan was 3-4 sets of 3 laps, with no set pace. It was good to run without as much feedback, we were able to just build into the workout and then hammer. Terry and I led the first one, trying to figure out pace, the first lap was 3:40ish and the next two were 3:35. I felt very under control the entire way and finally felt comfortable running hard. The next interval was Lou and myself up front and felt just as great. There was a slight hill just before halfway and I felt really strong on each climb, Lou and I worked well together the whole way. Got out in 3:30 and followed that up with a 3:23-3:24 on the next two laps. Lou and Terry took the third one, but Terry dropped back on the climb and after waiting a bit for him to catch up I got up and ran with Lou. We were 2:20 on the first lap but then backed off a bit on the next two and Terry caught back up to us. Terry and I took the final one and were hammering right out of the gate. We pulled away from Lou a little with a 3:18 on the first lap. As we hit the climb I decided to really push and try to stay out front the rest of the way. After maybe 30 seconds out front I decided that was reaching too much and backed off slightly. Terry took the opportunity to put the screws to me and built a small gap at the end of the second lap. I was struggling to stay in contact and wasn't able to make up much ground on the climb. I eventually caught him, though, and with just over 400m left I started pulling away. Terry rallied and we flew down "the final straight" together, finishing up with a 3:14. Really wiped out after that, had a bit longer cooldown than planned when we missed a turn, but I somehow made it back to the parking lot without collapsing. Took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and spent most of the day laying around aching.13HARDGOODGOODFRICharlestown Loop. Absolutely wiped out this morning, just happy I didn't put up a zero.4EASYAVGAVGTHULincoln. Wanted to keep things easy today, but wound up out front with some GBTC guys who were new, so I had to stay up there to point out the route. We weren't running that fast, but yesterday's workout was still in my legs.13AVGAVGAVGWED3xMile, River loop in 4:58, 4:57, 5:03, 13:16 (2:31-5:10-10:32). Got to Harvard early enough for a longer warm up, wound up getting eaten by mosquitos as I stretched out though. The road mile at Harvard was unavailable, so we ran half mile out along the river, did a u-turn and came back. Matt, Lou and I got out really fast on the first one, hitting halfway in maybe 2:25. It felt almost too easy and made me question the accuracy of the half mile mark. Got out just as fast on the next one, but really botched the turn and wound up 5m behind the guys. Struggled to stay focused and that was really the beginning of the end. Matt and Lou started hammering from there and I was just trying to finish. Was never in it on the third mile, started out in the back and dropped even further back. Tried to run the river loop more aggressively, got out in 2:31 with Matt before slowing and losing touch. Came through the mile in 5:10 and things got worse from there. Lou eventually caught me around 1.5M and I managed to hang onto him through the 2M mark. Hit two miles in 10:32 and then really fell apart on the final half mile. My legs felt okay throughout the workout but I just wasn't focused and didn't fight when the workout started to get hard. Pretty disappointing.10HARDBADBADTUERun to Remember course. The plan originally was to go 10M this morning, but I somehow slept past my alarm, even though I went to sleep at 9:30 last night. I think I had it set to "Radio" and not "Buzzer." I got out the door by 6:30, but didn't have enough time to put in double digits. I felt okay throughout this run, but kept it pretty easy the whole way. The humidity is coming back, which made things a little less comfortable. I felt decently quick on the stride at the end, though I still feel like I'm a little bit off-kilter. On the whole, I think running those with more frequency is starting to pay off.7EASYAVGAVGMONInman Square loop. Was out late last night playing bags at Bleacher Bar (lost in the finals) but managed to get up at 6:20 and out the door by 6:40. Took a little while to get into it and never felt great, but at least got loosened up and sweated out the last of the High Life (how does a bar run out of High Life?) Think I have a decent shot at getting to 70M this week. That'd be nice.5EASYAVGAVGSUNOlmsted. Did a good job of getting out the door shortly after I woke up, though I did sleep in quite a bit. I felt decent throughout this run, never great but never too bad, either. I was expecting to feel tight and sore thanks to yesterday's workout, but I guess I didn't run hard enough. Probably should have gone a little farther, but I could still feel myself getting tired around the hour mark. Ran 44:02 out and 44:00 back, totalling 1:28, which I think is a pretty good time.12EASYAVGAVGWeek 03week032009-08-022009-08-08Another 5 day week, those have to end. Dealt with the tight hamstring well enough and don't think that'll be an issue going forward. Built back up to regular mileage by the end of the week, though I completel bombed during Saturday's tempo run. I really should have been able to run that workout without any problems, I just wasn't aggressive enough when the gap started to develop. It's better to run a little quicker if that means you have a group to work with. I felt good enough that I could have hung in a group, I'm just not strong enough to push myself on my own right now. Can't get discouraged, just have to keep working at it and pushing and things will come around.SAT6M tempo along the river, 5:34-32-23-27-10:44. Things did not quite go as planned today and I ran much worse than I was expecting. The plan was 5:35-35-25-25-15-15, which clearly didn't happen for me. Met Terry, LaRosa and Brendan Callahan at 8am for a warmup, put in an easy 2 miles and then stretched out a little before getting right into it. The first two miles were comfortable and felt easy enough, I didn't do any leading though. We ran from the 2.5 to the 3.5 and back, where we met Paul and Will and then headed down the river again. The back and forth threw me off a little, but I felt fine when we started out on the third mile. We were a bit quick at the half, 2:38, and I backed off more than most, it seemed. By the time we got to the mile I was a second or two off the back and convinced myself that I should stay there instead of working to bridge the gap. Told myself I didn't want to run too hard that early and would rather just stay on pace, which was fine at the time. Came through the next mile having lost a few more seconds and then was unable to drop down to 5:15s as planned. Mark had dropped off but wound up staying a few seconds behind me and I wasn't able to keep the effort up on my own. I think I hit the first half mile in 2:34, then about 5:11 at the mile, but there's no mark there. I know for sure I was 8:01-2:43, so either I checked the mile at the wrong spot or I slowed significantly on the second mile. I'm inclined to think I slowed a lot, as I started out really aggressive and then gradually lost my ability to focus and maintain a hard pace. I'd have bursts of good effort but just wasn't able to keep it redlined. Dropping back off the pack was a really bad move and I should have fought more to close the gap early. I think that if all I had to do was hang on, instead of setting the pace on my own, I could have run around 10:30 for the last two miles. Of course, those guys ran 10:23 so maybe I would have been running on my own anyways. Cooled down in a bunch of random directions with Terry and later on with Will and Paul (they had put in another 2M of tempo) before running a few strides on the old turf at MIT. It felt like it was long enough to call 4M. At this point any type of hard effort is helpful, but I clearly am unable to push myself well enough to run a good workout on my own.12HARDAVGBADFRIDocks-Greenway. Did not feel that great this morning, sore, stiff and achy. My body doesn't realize that it's only 26 years old, I feel much older.6EASYBADBADTHULincoln. Awesome weather when I woke up this morning and wished I could have run then. It was still nice this evening, but traffic was ridiculously backed up on 128 and I got to the lot late. Took off right away, hammered from the lot and took the old route through the woods, which let me make up 5:00 on the guys and catch them by the school. Consciously slowed down after that and let the adrenaline of chasing them through the forest ebb away. The rest of the run was uneventful and at a much more relaxed pace.13AVGAVGAVGWEDRun to Remember loop. Actually felt okay on this one, no hamstring problems, even on a stride at the end. May have been a little too quick to rule out the workout, but I can afford to be cautious right now.7EASYAVGAVGTUECharlestown Loop. Finally managed to get out the door again, even though it was only for four miles. My left hamstring was fairly tight on Sunday and that lingered into Monday. I felt fine during the run today but I tried a stride at the end and it was clearly still tight. Don't think working out tomorrow is the best idea.4EASYAVGAVGMONDay off, still tired from all the travel. Plus, I'm lazy.0NONENONENONESUNDay off. Up late at the wedding reception, too tired in the morning and then spent the rest of the day travelling back to Boston.0NONENONENONEWeek 02week022009-07-262009-08-01Slight step back this week as I missed Sunday and Monday and ran a horrendous workout on Wednesday. Did not do well in the heat and humidity on Wednesday, but was smart and took it easy the next two days. At first I was just happy to have gotten out the door in Illinois instead of sleeping in, but it turned into a solid run and I felt pretty good at the finish. Still trying to get in a routine and hopefully be able to run fast at some point.SATHoffman Estates, IL. Woke up decently early this morning, which surprised me, and I headed out to find a park that Google Maps said was 3M away. Headed north on Old Sutton Road and then east on Penny Road. The park turned out to be a nature preserve which was closed, so I just stayed on Penny and turned back at 27:30. Picked it up a bit on the way back, especially over the last 2.5M or so, and made it back in 24:40. Thought there was no way this would be 8, but measuring it out says it's 7.8 or 7.9. Early enough that the roads were more or less empty, which was good since there was no sidewalk and minimal shoulder, but not much to look at. Just a lot of disgusting McMansions. Got back to the hotel and there wasn't much to do, so I went to the gym and did sit ups, bench press with dumbbells and single leg squats, then jumped in the pool to cool off.8AVGGOODGOODFRICharlestown Loop. Didn't have much time this morning, given the amount of chores to take care of before the flight to Chicago, but I managed to put in an easy four miles. Still a little run down from Wednesday, I think.4EASYAVGAVGTHULincoln. Huge, massive group today. Decided yesterday that I wanted to keep it easy today and wound up dropping back by myself after 25-30 minutes. Ran the 10M loop and added on around Mt Misery. Pretty low key run, which is what I was looking for.13EASYAVGAVGWED3x1600, 2x800 in 5:03, 5:03, 5:11; 2:28, 2:30. Decided to jump in with both feet and try a workout today. The weather didn't cooperate, so I was running alone in 80+ degree temps with terribly humidity, which at least gave me a good excuse when I fell apart. The plan was 4-6x1600, hopefully able to run under 5:00 for the majority, but the pace goal was pushed back to 5:05 given the weather. Got out way too fast on the first one, 71, just trying to find the right gear, but settled into pace and did a decent job on the first two. I was really starting to get hot though, and stopping at the water pit to dowse myself didn't help much. Slow off the line on the third mile and had to really work to come back from a 2:37ish first half. Decided that I didn't have much left and the only way to stay on pace was to split the mile up into 8s. Even 74s on the first but had to go roughly 77-73 on the second. Pretty wiped at the end, both from the heat and from running hard. Clearly have some work left to do. Cooled down 2M around the Harvard loop and then ran a handful of strides on the infield. Felt halfway quick on one or two.11EASYGOODGOODTUEDocks-Greenway. Managed to get going this morning, regretted taking 2 days off for the first 10 minutes or so, but eventually got into it and felt decent by the end. Still like running down the Greenway, especially in the mornings.6EASYAVGAVGMONDay off. Just lazy this morning, didn't get out of bed.0NONENONENONESUNDay off. Enjoyed myself a little too much last night, and decided I could use a day off after the massive 63M week.0NONENONENONEWeek 02week022009-07-192009-07-25Things are coming together again, running no longer feels unnatural and running fast is getting a little easier. Had a decent tempo Tuesday morning and then felt awesome at Lincoln on Thursday and really hauled at the end. Got up over 60 miles this week, a solid 50+% jump without too much complaint from my body. Time to get in shape.SATLincoln with a group of guys. I think it was Terry, Voce, Callahan, LaRosa, Ely, Granger, Todd Malligan and Jesse Graytock this morning, a nice 11 miler through mostly the same trails, but in reverse and up a massive hill for the fun of it. Feel like I'm getting into a little bit of a rhythm.11EASYGOODGOODFRIInman Square. Probably pushed a little too much last night, plus going from evening run to morning run is never easy. Stiff and sore most of the way, but something about this route makes for an enjoyable morning.5EASYGOODGOODTHULincoln. Pretty large group today, I felt great and started pushing the pace around Walden Pond and kept it steady all the way back. Dan Smith, Terry and I finished hard on the road back from the farm, it was a little longer than a mile and we covered it in 5:33. Certainly my best run since I started up and probably the best run in a few months.13HARDGOODGOODWEDBack Bay. Got out the door around 6:20 this morning, I wasn't too excited about this run but at least I managed to get it in. Once I was into it my legs felt decent, I could tell I had worked out yesterday but I wasn't crawling. Basic run, easy mileage this morning.6EASYAVGGOODTUE6M Progression run with TPS, Scott, Liam and Will in 6:06-5:48-5:31-5:30-5:25-5:15. Warmed up from home over to the 5 mile mark and then headed up river, meeting the guys at the 6.5, then headed back to the 3.5, uturned and finished back at the 5. Was warming up at 7:00 pace and a little concerned about the drop down to 6:00 pace, thinking maybe I'd need to ladder down to 6:00 pace, but hit 3:00 right on the nose for the first half. Came through the mile in 6:06 and then the next half in 2:59. Met the guys, turned around and was back at the 6.5 in 1:23, they were going a bit faster so I sat in the back to let my legs figure out what was going on. That half mile was 2:49, then I worked my way up to the lead and the pace dropped down to 5:30, where it stayed for 2M. We made the turn at 3.5 after a 2:41-42 half, and were about the same back to the 4. I was in the back at this point, barely hanging on, and it felt like the guys were really putting the hammer down. I managed to work my way back to the front right as we hit 4.5 and then took off, as it was my last half mile and the other guys were going a few miles more. I felt good for the first 45 seconds or so, moving somewhat smoothly, but felt like I lost focus around Longfellow. Managed to get things turned around and finished with a nice drive to the Hatch Shell, splitting 2:33 for the last half. Given how hard it was to run one mile at 5:30 on Saturday, I'm pretty happy about putting two of them back to back and finishing up at almost 5:00 pace this morning. Much more comfortable weather, upper 60s with a light rain, which definitely helped. Cooled down with 2M back home, didn't feel too bad when it was all done. Today was a good step in the right direction, I feel like things are starting to turn.10HARDAVGGOODMONDocks-Greenway. Didn't feel like running when I got up, so I got right to work and managed to get out the door around 5:30pm. A little cooler than yesterday, which I appreciated, but I didn't feel that great early on. Things came around a little bit when I got to the Greenway and I felt better by the end. Broke the diet last night since Kathryn brought the wedding cake top back from Wisconsin last night. It's already a year old, so we're trying to finish it quickly.6EASYAVGAVGSUNOlmsted. Didn't time the day very well and headed out around 1:30, just after watching Tom Watson bogey 18. Pretty hot and muggy again today, but felt alright early on. Didn't feel too bad, yesterday's workout didn't seem to affect me too much. Around the hour mark, though, the heat started getting to me and I spent the rest of the run searching the landscape for a bubbler that I knew I wasn't going to find. Thankfully remembered there was one in the Public Garden, which helped me get through the final two miles. Sucked down a lot of water and Gatorade when I got home, felt a lot better. Rough day.12EASYBADBADWeek 01week012009-07-122009-07-18Got back on the horse to some degree this week, put in 6 runs and lifted twice. Things are progressing about as I expected them to, running feels normal again but running hard is going to take some work. Had two short "workouts," Tuesday was just about getting used to running quicker and I kind of blew up on Saturday. Running 5:45s was more of a grind than I was expecting, I've certainly got a lot of work to do. I think 60M is a good goal for next week; a 50% jump is never a bad thing, right?SATTempo run with TPS, Paul, Liam and Alex. I drove over to Harvard at 7:30 and looped around the athletic fields for a 2M warm up before meeting the guys at JFK and Storrow. The plan was 8-10M at 5:45 pace, but that clearly did not happen. I felt fine at the start, the pace was obviously faster than I'm used to but I didn't feel like I was working that hard and did a couple turns up front. Started out with a 5:48 and followed that up with a 5:43. We came through the next half mile in 2:48-ish with Paul and myself in the lead, I decided to back off slightly and dropped to the back with TPS. We hit 5:41 just before the American Legion, then had to splash through the flooded underpass and dodge construction in the boathouse's parking lot. When we finally got back on the path it was all torn up and I went from feeling decent to barely hanging on. Don't know if the first 3M caught up to me at once or if the uneven ground was the cause, but it happened quick, I started having negative thoughts and that was the end of the workout. I managed to stick with the guys to the 4M mark (5:42,) covered the 0.2M back to the start in 68 and then decided to try and finish with a harder mile. Liam was finishing too, so we gradually pulled away and though it was a real struggle I managed to finish things off with a 5:30. I was pretty much beat but forced myself through a 2M cool down and felt a little better after that. It was pretty hot and muggy this morning, really the first time we've had to deal with that kind of weather, and I'm sure that didn't help things. Not a great day, but you just keep working at it and one day everything clicks.9HARDBADBADFRIInman Square. Didn't have any trouble getting up this morning and was out the door a little before 6. Kept it short and stuck to a loop I really like, my legs felt good the whole way. My back had been killing me at the end of the day yesterday, around my right shoulder blade, and by about 4M it started tightening up again. Managed to finish up without it getting too bad, but it wasn't very comfortable.5EASYAVGAVGTHUBack Bay loop. Out the door at 6:00am, didn't have too much trouble getting out of bed. Disappointed to see the scale still at 181 before I left, I thought this diet would be working quicker. I felt more natural than I have recently, almost back to normal. Stopped at the MIT track after crossing the river and ran a Full Speed 400 in 61, getting out in 31. Slow off the line with a terrible drive phase, stood up way too soon but ran the second 200 pretty hard. This was probably a long 6M, but who's counting.6AVGAVGAVGWEDNo running. I was really tired when my alarm went off and wasn't able to get out of bed this morning. I shouldn't have stayed up watching coverage of the 2008 WSOP, especially since I'd already seen it. I did go down to Mini Club O after work for a full lifting session.0NONENONENONETUEProgression run along the river, second half with Terry and Scott (?). The plan was to meet somewhere around BU a little after 7am, so I got to take my time this morning and was out the door at 6:30. Ran easy over to the Museum of Science then gradually ran from the 4 to the 7.5 in 6:52-6:35-6:21-3:05. Got there a little sooner than planned so I continued up to River and waited 10-20s before the guys got there. Headed back down the river at 6:00 pace, I didn't have a good plan for splits so I got some half mile splits, some mile splits and I missed the 5 so a 1.5M split crept in there. Not coherent data, but it was: 2:56-2:51-2:48-8:14-2:46. We just worked our way down according to feel, and though I was struggling to feel comfortable I never felt like the pace was too fast or I was working too hard. Dropped off at the MoS as the turned around and felt decent on the jog home. This run didn't leave me wiped out, but also didn't instill a lot of confidence that I can jump right back into things. It's going to be a process to get back into things, hopefully it doesn't take too long.10HARDAVGGOODMONCharlestown Loop. Managed to get up and get going somewhat early today and felt much better than I did yesterday. Still working on getting my body accustomed to running again.4EASYAVGAVGSUNCharlestown Loop solo, then to and from Planet Fitness with my lovely wife. Felt absolutely terrible almost the whole time this morning, I don't know what it was but I had zero energy and did not want to run at all. When I finished the 4M loop I was dead and only kept going because I promised Kathryn. Didn't lift much at the gym, just enough to feel even worse on the way home. Strange day, might have been the heat, might have been going at noon after having just a bagel for breakfast, might have been related to feeling sick last night, who knows. Spent a good long while laying on the floor when I got home, didn't make me feel much better, but didn't hurt as much as standing up did.6EASYBADBADWeek 00week002009-06-212009-07-11The time off wound up being a little longer and a little more "off" than I had originally planned. It was a good rest though, and I feel like I'm more focused on getting back to really good shape. The big downside though, is that I came back from Canada tipping the scales at 181 pounds, thanks to those fried fish and french fries shore lunches. Going forward the diet is: no soda, no dessert, no fries at lunch, and one beer per night. This is not up for review until I'm 175.SATDocks-Riverway. Wanted to run past the Tall Ships but didn't want to deal with the crowds, so I went around 8am, almost as soon as I woke up. Could tell that I hadn't run in quite awhile, legs felt unstable and clearly had no idea what was going on. Swung out behind the courthouse to see the ships in the harbor. Might make that the regular route, much more scenic than the parking lots and Fan Pier construction.6EASYBADBADFRIDay off, starting up this weekend.0NONENONENONETHUDay off, back home but exhausted.0NONENONENONEWEDDay off, flying home from Canada.0NONENONENONETUEDay off, last day of fishing.0NONENONENONEMONDay off, more fishing.0NONENONENONESUNEarly run, out and back on the only road around. Picked it up on the way home, felt decent enough.4AVGAVGGOODSATSome light lifting after another long day, more travelling and 8 hours of fishing.0NONENONENONEFRIDay off, long day of travelling to Winnipeg.0NONENONENONETHUDay off.0NONENONENONEWEDBack Bay with a Full Speed 400 in 62 (30/32).6EASYAVGAVGTUEDay off, but I lifted at Mini Club O. The lifting routine Coach Taylor sent out (which I'm going to try and follow) is: 3x6-8 bench, 3x8 pull ups, 2x15 single leg squats (per leg,) 4x15 hamstring curls, 3x15 calf raises (per leg,) core/sit-ups.0NONENONENONEMONDay off.0NONENONENONESUNDay off.0NONENONENONESATDay off.0NONENONENONEFRIDay off.0NONENONENONETHUInman Square.5EASYAVGAVGWEDDay off.0NONENONENONETUEDay off.0NONENONENONEMONDay off.0NONENONENONESUNDay off.0NONENONENONE