| Week 13 | Week 12 | Week 11 | Week 10 | Week 09 | Week 08 | Week 07 | Week 06 | Week 05 | Week 04 | Week 03 | Week 02 | Week 01 | Home |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 13 11/17-11/23 |
Week was alright. Obviously no concrete work done, week won't benefit me physically at all, cut the mileage way back. Mentally though, it helped out a lot. Put my nose up there with National caliber competition and managed to stay calm for the most part. If I can get to where I'm completely calm, great things will happen. Good season, put in a lot of work, didn't get out everything I wanted, but I'll get that eventually. November Miles : 215 | 51 |
| Saturday: | NCAA Division III National Meet at St. Olaf's. Ran to a 32nd place finish, a little disappointing, but I put it on the line and it wasn't quite there today. Nolan had a bad finish, breaks my heart, that kid. Good 2M cooldown, time to think and reflect on a good season. Surely there'll be more to come, going to take a short break before ass-kicking season (indoor) starts. | 9 |
| Friday: | Meet warm up over the last 3M of the course. Course is muddy at one spot at about 3.5M, right on a turn, almost went down. Otherwise things are looking good out there. Weather is cold, but nothing horrible. Out in shorts and a long sleeve, gloves and a baseball cap, much to Dowthitt's amazement. That kid doesn't like the cold too much. Legs feel much, much better compared to yesterday. Strides were quick and relaxed, legs real fresh. Got our free stuff today: backpack, blanket, ear band and a bowl of cereal. (??? I don't know about these Minnesotans.) The important stuff is given out tomorrow though. | 3 |
| Thursday: | First 4M of the St. Olaf course with Sean. Northwest Airlines does not offer copious leg room, much to my dissatisfaction. Legs pretty tight, sore, unhappy etc. Couldn't even loosen them up during strides afterwards. Course looks to be in pretty good shape. Couple spots are wet but for the most part the grass is short and dead and the ground is dry and hard. Hopefully the weather will cooperate now. | 4 |
| Wednesday PM: | Grass Loops. Feeling fresh still, but Nolan was trucking and I didn't want to throw down, so we went at different paces. Looks like his EPO is really kicking in, hopefully he's got the dosages right this time. Really just logging miles, don't even notice it anymore, 6M doesn't register, too short. Thinking about Nationals, race scenarios, leave for MN tomorrow AM. | 6 |
| Wednesday AM: | No run this morning, too tired when I woke up. I got 7 hours, so I went back to sleep for another 20 minutes. | 0 |
| Tuesday PM: | 2x8 2:18, 19 (window 2:16-18,) 3x4 66, 67, 64 (65-66,) 3x2 31s (31-32.) Workout wasn't hard at all, wasn't supposed to be, we're way past that point. Meant to be fast and get the legs stinging, accomplished that today. Extended rest too, 200m between all the intervals, and 400m jog between distances. I'm always a little cautious during taper time, don't want to blow out the legs and ruin them. Got a little racy at the end of the 4s, but we put a lid on it during the deuces, just cruising. Legs feeling good all day, but then I got to the lockerroom and the quads got tight and tired, but didn't have any effect on me during the workout, legs felt really, really good. Basically running fast with no effort, even strides beforehand were effortless and fast. 2M warmup, 2M cooldown.Sean had to run home before the workout to "mail a letter" (read: pop some EPO.) He ran a good workout today too, maybe I should get back on the juice.... | 6 |
| Tuesday AM: | Same as yesterday. Legs feeling good, feel confident about Saturday. Looking forward to the workout this afternoon, going to be a fast one. Slept about 7.5 hours last night, work's tailing off, feel rested. | 3 |
| Monday PM: | Fresh Pond Loop. Stomach really upset, not an enjoyable run. Had to grab a pit stop at the Hospital about 20 minutes in, then shuffled in the last five minutes. Felt really bad, not sure why. Got over it eventually though, feel normal now. Ran in tights for the first, and hopefully last, time. Don't like the way they feel, they're too small around the quads. Otherwise legs were good today, nice and relaxed. | 7 |
| Monday AM: | Ran 10 mins out on the Esplanade, then came back. Only 2 more AM runs to go. Legs feeling really good, then I started paying attention to them and the quads got a little sore, nothing horrible though. Slept about 6.5 hours last night, letting the work slide for the most part. | 3 |
| Sunday: | Fresh Pond Loop from PKT. Legs feeling OK, today was pretty much just a maintenance run. Nothing more can be done, except prepare mentally. A little more work to get done, then it's all focused on Saturday. Weather wasn't too bad today, except the rain has continued, been overcast all weekend. Gotta take care of myself for the next 6 days, if school work has to slide, so be it. Cut the mileage back to 55M this week, really just sharpening. All the work's been done. | 10 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 12 11/10-11/16 |
Good week that soured at the end. Speed work was awesome, great workout by Nolan and I, left my legs a little sore for the week though. By the end of the week I was convinced that we were a top 4 team, only wound up being 7th though. I didn't race as well as I could have either, so that dampens my excitement. Need to get this all straigtened out by next weekend. November Miles : 164 | 66 |
| Saturday: | Div3s at Westfield State. Finished 10th, going to Nationals next week. Team was 7th though, a real let down. Hard to get real excited right now, I'm disappointed that the team's not going. Needed a great race from everybody to go on, only got a good race from everybody. My race was alright, nothing amazing though. Still need to work on focusing/hammering on the middle couple miles. 2M warmup and 2M cooldown. Weather was cold with some snow, not real bad though, only problem was my hands got a little cold. | 9 |
| Friday PM: | 3M on the course at Westfield. Thought I was running late this morning, but actually, I just can't read clocks, and it was an hour earlier than I thought. Slept for 9, not 10 hours last night, no big deal. Legs feeling alright on the course, quads still a little sore, but nothing horrible, strides really loosened them up, ready to go. | 3 |
| Friday AM: | Along Esplanade. Running late, slept in a little too longs. Legs feeling good though, leaving for Westfield in a few hours. Ready to roll this weekend. | 3 |
| Thursday PM: | Grass Loops with Sean "The Hearbreak Kid" Nolan. Team dinner afterwards, supposed to be getting shirts today, but that fell through, hopefully we can get them tomorrow though. Feeling good, quads not sore any longer. Focused on stretching them afterwards anyways. Leaving for Div3s tomorrow, it's crazy since I can still remember training through the summer, focused on this meet, and it felt so far away then. Gotta stay comfortable and stay relaxed, keep it easy and fast. | 6 |
| Thursday AM: | Same as yesterday. Quads still tight and sore, will have to focus on loosening them up today. Surprised they were still sore since I got 7.5 good hours of sleep last night. Mentally ready to go, running over the scenarios in my mind. | 3 |
| Wednesday PM: | BC Loop without the Reservoir. That run is significantly shorter without the Reservoir. In any event, legs still real sore, been sore all day, especially up and down stairs. Thankfully tonight will be the last night of work (theoretically) and then it's sleeping until Saturday. Hip was sore occasionally, still loosening up from 24 laps inside yesterday. It'll be fine. Fighting the urge to start trucking and kill the run, gotta remember it's taper time and conserve the energy and save the legs. Things are starting to come together well. Coach scrapped the FSQ today, no big deal, the work's been done and the speed is there. | 8 |
| Wednesday AM: | 10 minutes along the Esplanade, came back. Cool day, overcast with some rain, nice for running, except when you get splashed by a car hitting a puddle. Legs really sore, tired from the workout. Slept 6 hours last night, aiming to get all the work done early tonight and start sleeping. | 3 |
| Tuesday PM: | Track workout in the cold rain. 4x8 2:24, 23, 23, 21 (window 2:20-22,) 3x4 68, 67, 67 (66-68,) 2x2 30, 30 (31-32.) It took a little while to acclimate to the cold and wet weather, but by the time it intervals started it was nothing but a thing. Feeling really good, don't know exactly why we were a little off the window. We were a little cautious I guess, we'd get out fast but then back off, not really from fatigue though. Didn't really ever get fatigued except the last hundred of the 4th 800, but managed to hold it together there. Speed is definitely in the legs. At coach's orders we logged the cool down mileage on the indoor track, marking the first (and hopefully last) time I logged straight miles on an indoor track. Hip a little sore after the 3M of turning sharp left every 100m, but it loosened up. Time to get on top of things. | 8 |
| Tuesday AM: | Ran east for 10 minutes. Or at least that was the plan, wound up running a couple small loops in the Common to add on time, but whatever. Felt a little sore from yesterday and the late night. Tonight'll be bad again, but then it's clear through Regionals. And even if it isn't, I'll make it clear. | 3 |
| Monday PM: | Ran Docks with Nolan. We were really booking it today. Haven't had a good run like that in a long time, just flying really. Held back somewhat, since it's championship time and all, but it feels good to open it up like that every once in a while. Weather was beautiful too, perfect for running fast. Ate some Ethiopian food at Addis Red Sea afterwards, that was enjoyable. The only bad news is that Nolan spent $97 on a cab ride that took him half a block. | 8 |
| Monday AM: | Ran along the Esplanade to Longfellow, then turned onto Beacon Hill and came back through the Common and Public Garden. Didn't take a watch, but I'm guessing it was about 3M, since I essentially just flipped the Longfellow->Harvard Loop about the Esplanade. Anyways, there's some good areas over there to explore for an expanded AM run repetoire. Really warm, mid60s. | 3 |
| Sunday: | Ran at Walden Pond with the guys. Feeling good, legs not really tired, but didn't get a lot of sleep last night, had to get up early to catch the van out to Walden. Ran the Steeple Trail twice, and found another one too. Ran for maybe 15 minutes with Dino at the start, that was unusual. Coach backed the mileage down to 70M for this week, hence the short Sunday run. Nice weather again, took an "ice bath" of sorts in Walden Pond, that always makes the legs feel real good. | 9 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 11 11/03-11/09 |
Good week of preparation. Pretty tired at the start of the week, was doing a lot of work, etc. But then near the end the legs came back and turned in a good workout on Friday. Honestly, I was getting concerned, hadn't really run a good workout in a week or two, but Friday was good for the confidence. Know the base is there, now it's all about sharpening. November Miles : 98 | 80 |
| Saturday: | Fresh Pond starting from PKT, then a little part of a Grass Loop to bump the mileage up a little bit. Stopped on the Grass Loops to watch the IM football game. Legs felt really good, nice and fresh. Moving pretty well too. Weather was beautiful, nearly 60 degrees. Season's winding down now, last 2 weeks coming up. Felt no after effects from the workout, a little surprising given the speed at the end, but still good. | 9 |
| Friday PM: | 4x800 2:19, 18, 19, 19 (window 2:18-20) 4x400 66, 67, 67, 67 (66-67) 4x200 30, 29, 28, 31 (30-31.) 100m rest between everything. Felt great for this workout, swapping off the lead with Nolan, just trucking the whole time. Legs got roughed up a bit during the 8s, due mainly to the lack of recovery, but managed to fight through. Got a little side ache, but worked that out with no adverse affect on the workout. 4s were beautiful, just coasting basically. And the 2s, damn! Didn't realize we were getting a little racy, but Coach pointed it out and slowed us down for the last one. Great confidence boost right there. Good speed workout that probably won't hit the legs for Div3s, but the speed is there. Not really a tough workout in my mind, got the legs tingling, nothing worse. Not a workout that leaves me gasping for air or crawling on the track. Nolan talked me into going on a BU Loop cooldown, which bumped the mileage up a little bit, but just means shorter tomorrow. Glad I went with him, it turned out to be an extra normal cooldown, which is always a good thing. | 8 |
| Friday AM: | Science Museum Loop. They took the tarp off today. Roach's brethren has been uncovered. The weather wants to be cold, but the sky was blue and the sun was out, so it wasn't bad at all. Got about 8.5 hours last night, including an hour nap. Legs felt good. Glad it's Friday. | 4 |
| Thursday PM: | Grass Loops. Running pretty well, hitting low 5:30s consistently, no effort basically, just trucking with Nolan. Legs feel really good, think I need to use The Stick though, that can't hurt. Getting a little rundown, at least I feel like I should be rundown and thinking about it makes me tired. Coming up on a big 3 day weekend, that'll help out a lot. Running a track workout tomorrow, 8s and 4s. Feeling really good again, hopefully catching a nice 3 week upswing. It somehow got cold, nothing horrible, but colder than I'd like it to be. | 7 |
| Thursday AM: | Science Museum Loop. Started hailing on me when I got out the door, but after 7 minutes or so it stopped and the sun came out. Very weird weather. Legs a little tired halfway into it, but not as bad as I would have expected them to be. | 4 |
| Wednesday PM: | Castle alone, Nolan had some work to take care of, ran on his own. Felt pretty good, no ill effects from the workout or the lack of sleep. Got in some good hill work during the run. Nothing remarkable, just a relatively easy run in a light mist, cool temps but nothing cold. Got rolling at times, which is prone to happen when running by myself. Finished up with the FSQ alone on the track, timed myself. Quotient was 59, nothing blazing but I felt really fast, just needed somebody to push me at around 150m to go. | 7 |
| Wednesday AM: | Science Museum Loop in the cold rain. One of those mornings where nobody else is outside. I like that part of it, makes you feel like you're working harder than everybody else. No ill effects from yesterday, as far as I could tell. Didn't sleep a whole lot last night, lots of work to do today. | 4 |
| Tuesday PM: | 2M warm-up then 4xGrass Loop (1042m) and 4x800, then 2M cool down. GLs were 2:51, 53, 50, 55 (window 2:48-50). 8s were 2:24, 21, 19, 19 (2:19-21.) Nolan pretty much pulled me through the majority of this workout. Was feeling pretty good, legs a little tired but nothing I couldn't run with, but then I had to take a pit stop after GL #4 (hence the slow time.) After that, my head wasn't into as it should have been, but I was able to latch on to Nolan, he led the last 3 800s. Don't know exactly why this workout went wrong, imagine it's because I've been working a lot, but I also wasn't prepared for it. Need to get my head on straight quickly. | 9 |
| Tuesday AM: | Science Museum Loop. Not as exciting today, dino is still covered by tarp. Calves are ridiculously sore/tired. Don't even want to think about all my work. | 4 |
| Monday PM: | BC Loop. Nice to be able to run short every once in a while. Went with Nolan, feeling good, relaxed and rested. Kind of cold and rainy, not the best of weather but definitely not horrible, it was actually pretty enjoyable to run in. Going to have a lot of work in front of me for awhile, hopefully the legs will stay under me. The more I think about it, the more awesome the fish dropping out of the sky becomes. That's something I may never see again. | 8 |
| Monday AM: | Science Museum Loop. Feeling pretty good, overslept a tad this morning, nothing horrible though. I figure this week will be pretty tiring. Science Museum has a big dinosaur under a tarp outside. Almost stepped on a pigeon. A fish fell out of the sky while I was crossing the bridge. Roach is running again. Believe it or not, all those things are true. Wild. | 4 |
| Sunday: | Fresh Pond plus a BU Loop. Feeling alright, nothing amazing though. Got a lot of time to think, good run. Went a little late though, was getting dark. Had to take a pitstop at MIT at about 64 minutes into the run. Nothing really astonishing to report. Did a fair amount of work but could have done more. Figure I've got a little over a week to take care of a bunch of work, then it's go time. The long runs are gone for a little while, mileage cut down to 80 for this week. | 12 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 10 10/27-11/02 |
Disappointing week, to say the least. Ran a good workout on Tuesday though, that'll be helpful when it gets in the legs. However, it also left me wasted for a considerable portion of the week, not to mention that goddamn GUI I was working on. The end result was that I was feeling less than perfect at NEWMACs but we went out hard and Bartonicek managed to hold on. Just didn't bring it. Now I've got 2 weeks, gotta stay focused and get the work out of the way, or just say to hell with the work if need be. November Miles : 18 | 83 |
| Saturday: | NEWMACs at Wellesley. Disappointing race, got away from me in the 3rd mile, never could recover. Need to figure that out quickly. But the team won, which was huge and I can't be disappointed with that. Cooled down 3M. Have 2 weeks now to figure this out. | 10 |
| Friday PM: | Science Museum with Nolan and Monty. Feeling pretty good, strides felt great, focused on blowing them out, cleaning out the legs a bit. Got a race plan figured out with Nolan, wasn't too happy with it though, hopefully it'll suffice. Really focused on this meet, I'm ready to go, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out tomorrow. Roach wussed out tonight, laid down the gauntlet by bringing a gallon to dinner, then reneged by claiming he wasn't going to attempt the feat. I think he just wanted the attention. In any event, he remains 0-for-everything. | 4 |
| Friday AM: | Nice easy Science Museum Loop. Saw one of Roach's relatives there. Slept 12 hours last night, which was awesome, and have nothing to do today, since I slept through my only class. Legs not quite perfect, but they're good enough to keep me confident about Saturday. | 4 |
| Thursday PM: | Fresh Pond. Taking it easy still, finished up the PSet, turned that in at 2, I'm all done for the week. That's a very good thing, because my legs are far, far from being recovered or in any way fresh, so hopefully a lot of sleep tonight, combined with another easy day tomorrow will get me ready. It's strange, I have all this free time right now and don't know what to do with myself. Guess sleep is as good an option as anything. Basically today's theme was get to 2PM, then get to bed. Run wasn't amazing, wasn't horrible. Legs still ache from Tuesday, I'll blow the junk out my system during strides tomorrow. Should have taken an ice bath today, oh wait...October Miles : 393 | 7 |
| Thursday AM: | Science Museum. Felt alright, pretty tired though, hard to get out the door, but you got to. Finished up the program last night, for better or worse it's done. I'm gonna sleep a lot tonight. | 4 |
| Wednesday PM: | Grass Loops. Felt horrible, flat and slow from the gun. Nolan and I both. Legs weren't really all that tired, but just weren't moving me quickly. Not really excited about the practice today, had spent the entire day coding, ran the AM run kind of late, not really keyed up today. Threw down a 60 second FSQ, hardly FS. I'm gonna blame that on the workout yesterday and not worry about it too much. As long as I bring the noise on Saturday, I could haul a quotient of 70 and not care. | 8 |
| Wednesday AM: | Science Museum. Slept about 6 hours last night, pretty good. Decided that the entirety of today is going to be dedicated to finishing up the 170 PSet. Maybe that's why I was thinking about coding for the whole run this morning. What's happening to me? Felt surprisingly good after yesterday's workout, think I was moving pretty quick. | 4 |
| Tuesday PM: | Tough workout on the track today. Ran the Pizza Relay (4x1600m winning team gets a pizza,) led off with a 4:26, second only to Nolan's 4:24, but Carlos was on my ass the whole way, like some sort of freakin' remora fish. Then watched my relay team get royally stomped. Workout followed, 4x800 2:26, 23, 23, 22 (window 2:22-4) 4x400 all 68s (68-9.) Took awhile to get the legs back during the workout, didn't start evenly splitting them till the 3rd 800. The 400s were pretty good, right on pace, but didn't feel that amazing. Really got my ass kicked today, which is good. I had been looking forward to indoors, but now I remember how painful these workouts are. Feel good about it though, able to crank out a 4:26 with _NO_ speedwork in the legs, just weeks and months of mileage. Once I start sharpening near the end of this season, that'll be fun. Really tired, beat, but I've gotta get this PSet done. 2M warm-up, 2M cool-down. | 8 |
| Tuesday AM: | Science Museum Loop. Scaling the AM runs down to 4M since the season's wrapping up. Feel pretty good. Got really tired last night so I just went to bed, slept 8 hours. | 4 |
| Monday PM: | Reservoir with Nolan (with Summit Ave add on.) Feeling good still, moving pretty quick and strides felt fast. The Summit Ave add on has pretty much become standard, and I'm glad we started doing that. First run after Daylight Savings ended, meaning we started in the dark. Not used to that, but not a big deal. Beautiful running weather, nice and cool. The indoor guys started conditioning today. | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Normal Loop. Made a pretty stupid moving crossing Mem Drive, almost got hit by a car, due in large part to the driver's failure to stop. He eventually braked though, but I had pretty much accepted the reality of getting hit and probably breaking my leg. Other than that, nothing much to report. Legs still feel good, was flying out there today. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Fresh Pond around the Pond from PKT, then tacked on a Science Museum Loop. The good feeling from yesterday continued on through today, very good, very quick run. Nice and warm, almost 60 degrees, don't think we've got too many of those days remaining. Coach backed the mileage down to 85M for this week. I can see the taper approaching, but it won't be here for real for another week or two. Felt kinda dizzy when I got done, didn't feel like I was working that hard though. | 15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 09 10/20-10/26 |
Solid week of training, feel really good right now, excited and confident. Only real bad part was missing the AM run on Friday. Would have liked to race on Saturday the way I was feeling, but the week off was a good thing. Workout on Tuesday was rocking too, managed to pull it out although the legs were less than stellar. That was the theme of this week, less than stellar legs. Got a little more school work, but things are looking up for NEWMACs. October Miles : 328 | 88 |
| Saturday: | Rode out to Wellesley to preview the NEWMAC course. Ran a fartlek of 3x800 (2:30), 3x600 (1:45), 3x400 (70), 2x200 (35) with Nolan. Felt great out there today, best I've felt all week. Got a good look at the course too, actually had some company in the shape of the USCGA men's team. Didn't blow it out, not by a long shot, but the workout was definitely tough, breathing hard by the end and legs tired. Pouring down rain, quite desirable running conditions actually. Not hardly cold at all, running shirtless. | 10 |
| Friday PM: | Castle, crossed over at Science Museum, ran home on the Boston side of the Esplanade to add on a mile. Feeling alright, nothing amazing though. Just another resting up day, running easy with Nolan. Another one of those days which reminds me how much I love running, comes as close to "playing track" as I get. Nolan and I took off sprinting across the bridge, chased down two bikers, screaming at each other along the way. Pretty fun. Sat around shooting the bull with Nolan and Yuval afterwards, Dirty joined us near the end. Too bad that he ain't running track, we need him. Confirmed what I had always suspected, no felines allowed in the Rat King's abode! | 8 |
| Friday AM: | Accidentally overslept. No run. I hate it when that happens. | 0 |
| Thursday PM: | Fresh Pond (no Pond.) Been a long time since I skipped the pond, makes the run go by a lot quicker. Wasn't moving fast at all today, taking it easy and resting. Legs got tired at about 40 minutes, not too bad. Hamstring really tight during strides. If I get a chance I'll use The Stick again tonight. Had my American History midterm, feel pretty good about that. 1 test down, 2 more to go. Got some extra time for the GUI, that should hopefully prevent any ridiculously late and workfilled nights. Hopefully. | 7 |
| Thursday AM: | Normal Loop. Weather.com claimed it was about 36 degrees outside, so I went with the long sleeve again. Probably could have gotten by without it though, but now's not the time to get cocky and then catch pneumonia. Well, I guess there's never really a good time to catch pneumonia. Hamstrings were tight at the start, quads were sore all along the Cambridge side of the river. | 5 |
| Wednesday PM: | 9 Grass Loops. Started out with Nolan on the first 4, then went off alone, Nolan came flying by with 2 to go. We were just each feeling different I guess. Legs pretty tired, just getting started on a 6 day stretch of work though, going to be tough. Thankfully stopped snowing and warmed up, which is good since I didn't have time to dig up the gloves. Nolan showed up in pants, don't think he appreciated my intimating that he changed out of his skirt before coming to practice. Dropped a 58 for the FSQ. Everybody was about a second slower in the cold weather, but I tied up bad with 150m to go and Taku blew past me. Looks like Maltas will be back running soon, which is very necessary. | 8 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal Loop. Woke up to find it snowing and in the mid-30s. Not a pleasant run, the snow seemed to always be blowing into my face, whichever direction I was running. Legs didn't feel that bad, but wasn't really paying attention to them. Need to dig up the gloves before this afternoon's workout, otherwise I was fine in a longsleeve TShirt. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | BU Bridge Loop as a warm up, then 8xGrass Loop (w/o Turf Field ~1000m) then finished off with 2M cooldown. Coach must have misjudged how long the loop was, because our window was 2:40-44, and we never even came close, yet we were hauling the whole time. Ran 2:51, 52, 52, 52, 52, 52, 53, 52. Nolan was right with me, usually a second back. Feeling pretty good, legs got sore around #6. Not feeling amazing and really flying, but still a sold effort. My left calf was kind of sore on the cooldown, it keeps cramping up in the AM just before I get up, don't think its a big deal. Probably hit it up with The Stick tonight. Figured out that I've got a lot of work for the next 7 days, but then I get a nice string of 6 days with minimal work, which just happen to be the days leading up to NEWMACs. | 10 |
| Tuesday AM: | Normal Loop. Forgot to find a new one. It didn't suck as much today because I just ran on the west sidewalk, even though it was closed. Not a big deal. Legs pretty tired, was up late finishing off the 170 PSet, but it works now and is pretty sweet. | 5 |
| Monday PM: | Reservoir with a Summit Ave addition. Coach was with Nolan and I for awhile on his bike, and then he just rode off, it was pretty strange. I'm pretty sure the weather's going to stay cool from here on out, but you never know. Feeling OK, not really tired, not really amazing. Spent all day working, didn't wind up getting to class at all. Need to pound out this 170 PSet tonight, and I've got a bunch to read too. | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Normal Loop. Had to take a detour because of restoration work on the Longfellow Bridge. The loop now sucks, am going to try to find a replacement. Calve sore and tired when I woke up, felt fine on the run though. Not too tired, but could use more sleep, as always. Lots of work, lots of work. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Ran Jamaica backwards then BC backwards. Really flying today, feeling great. Run only took 90 minutes, which makes me question the length, but it took 100 last week, and I was moving pretty well, so I'll call it 15. Stopped at a Port-A-John at Jamaica Pond, feeling good the rest of the way. BC is a lot easier backwards, but it takes a long time to get to the Reservoir. Want to get ahead on work today, have a wide open afternoon to do it. | 15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 08 10/13-10/19 |
Pretty uneventful, unexciting week. Workout wasn't too hot, feeling flat and tired most of the week. Hopefully things will turn around soon. Not a terrible week academically, only 3 days worth of classes. Race was underwhelming as well. Didn't perform like I could have, got a few more weeks to improve still. I'm still confident. October Miles : 240 | 90 |
| Saturday: | Ran James Earley Invite at Westfield State. Legs didn't feel so hot before the race, didn't sleep very well last night. Took awhile to fall asleep and then kept waking up during the night. Wasn't too confident at the start, but was feeling good until I made one mistake and it all fell apart. Finished up with a 2M cool down. Not as many teams showed up as I expected, race was pretty disappointing. | 9 |
| Friday PM: | Ran Fake Fresh Pond. Did part of it with Nolan, he ran early but Coach didn't want him to add on like that, so he cut it a little short. Legs feeling pretty good, nothing spectactular, but they got loosened up during strides pretty well. Looking forward to tomorrow, should be a big race, should be fast. Weather's pretty mild. | 5 |
| Friday AM: | Normal Loop. Got 8 hours last night, could've slept for more had I had the time. In any event, feeling good, legs fresh. Looking forward to a light day. Only 1 lecture, why does it have to be at 10? | 5 |
| Thursday PM: | Ran 9 Grass Loops with Nolan and Verbal. Verbal's been deserted since Maltas got injured, he's always a good guy to run with. Tried to get some race planning done with Nolan, he wasn't in the mood though. Legs feeling pretty good, run was nothing remarkable, held 5:35-8. Pretty standard. Burned a 56 for the FSQ quotient afterwards. That was good. Feel like I can get faster there. Everything seems to be coming together at the right time. | 8 |
| Thursday AM: | Normal Loop. Feeling pretty good this morning, another 6.5 hours of sleep. Saw the British guys who are in town for Head of the Charles during my run. That was about as exciting as it got. | 5 |
| Wednesday PM: | Docks Loop with Nolan. Raining out, not very warm either. The kind of weather you don't look forward to going out into but in reality isn't that bad. Hardly deserving of the title of tempest, and certainly not of biblical proportions. Legs felt fine, wanted to go a little quicker than we did but Nolan didn't, so we pretty much just chilled most of the way. Not very many people about. Felt fast on strides though, that was good. Got a bit of work to tackle tonight, we'll see how that goes. My grandpa's being inducted into the Bemidji State University Hall of Fame this weekend, read about why. | 8 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal Loop. Cold and rainy, not the most enjoyable time for running but pretty good weather nonetheless. Legs feeling alright, nothing amazing. Pretty tired when I woke up today, after 6.5 hours sleep. Tonight's going to be hectic. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | 2x 8k Course at Franklin. Ran 2x800 (2:25,) 3x600 (1:45,) 3x400 (65,) 3x200 (33) fartleks. Went by time, not distance, with time recovery. Did course regular way then backwards. Legs felt like absolute shit today. Completely flat, no speed. Felt horrible at the end, but not exhausted and wasted, just horrible. Really sucked. Nolan wasn't feeling good either, so neither one of us could pull the other. Maltas was out with some injury, which sucks too. Not a very good day. Maybe it was the bad karma from violating all my principles and dropping U$65 on a Nike long sleeve to replace the one that got stolen yesterday. That's way too much money to spend on a running shirt, but I needed it. Almost wish I had today to do over again. | 10 |
| Tuesday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs didn't feel tired like yesterday, which is good. Barely 50 degrees, pretty good running weather. Have to try to get some work done today, I've relaxed too much this long weekend, or so it feels. | 5 |
| Monday PM: | Fresh Pond around the Pond. Ran nice and relaxed and slow with Nolan. Legs felt pretty tired, they seem to do that whenever I artifically slow the pace down. I was feeling good to go faster but decided to keep it easy and had to force the slower pace on the legs and they got tired, at least that's how it always feels. Weather's getting colder, but nothing horrible yet. Had to wear my nice long sleeve running shirt across the bridge on the walk to practice, but left it at the track during the run and now it's gone, which really sucks. Gotta go buy a new one now. | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Normal Loop. Didn't really want to get up, but had to get the miles in. Maybe a nap midday. Once I got going no problems, no fatigue or anything, which is good since I was pretty fatigued at the end of yesterday's run. Had a relaxing day of football watching yesterday, that's about it. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Started at PKT, ran BC Loop, then went to Jamaica. Pretty good run, it's still drizzling, but nearly 60 degrees, so enjoyable weather for running. Went right after I woke up, got pretty hungry at about 50 minutes and had to stop to use a Port-A-John at Jamaica, luckily there was one by the side of the road for some reason. Legs pretty tired at 80 minutes, don't really know why. Figure I'll nap today and get a lot of sleep tonight, luckily it's a 4 day weekend. Now it's time for Packers v. Patriots. | 15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 07 10/06-10/12 |
Great week! Ran a pretty good workout early in the week, it got too dark to really be flying at the end, and Nolan was hurting so I basically went it alone, but it got the job done, got the legs fatigued by the end. Solid runs in the middle of the week too. Not nearly as much sleep as I would have liked, but that's mainly my fault and I managed to save myself at the end of the week, when it mattered the most. And what a race on Friday, that was awesome. Dropped approx 1:00 off my PR, don't guess I'll ever be doing that again. I really ran like I knew I was capable of, went in confident and raced. I'm excited about the rest of the season. October Miles : 150 | 90 |
| Saturday: | Ran at Walden Pond. Went out with Yuval, Dino and Carlos. Yuval and France jumped in the Pond to water run while Carlos and I hit the trails. Essentially ran alone today, it was pretty good. Logged a hard 75 minutes, moving pretty quick. I was looking for the steeple trail and couldn't find it for the longest time, eventually got it right near the end, so I ran through it then ran it backwards. It's much tougher going backwards. Cool and raining, nice running weather. Yuval could only stand the cold water for about 22, 23 minutes, but the animal that is Roach managed to run in the Pond for nearly 100 minutes. Of course, he suffered horrible chafing and couldn't feel his toes for awhile, but it's still impressive. | 12 |
| Friday: | 2M warmup then All New Englands. 15th place, 24:44. Read all about it in the Races section. Cooled down 5M afterwards. Feeling really good, confident during the race, not devastated afterwards, ready to get rolling again, got a lot of work to still do. Today was a very good day, and some OCB tonight promises to make better. | 12 |
| Thursday PM: | Fake Fresh Pond with a Grass Loop. Started out slowly, took Nolan a bit to warm up, not a big deal. Got moving well though, legs feel pretty good. A little tired during the strides though, that wasn't too exciting. But I got a lot of sleep last night, and tonight I will too, so I'm not worried about tomorrow. Nolan and I planned it out, we'll be ready to go. It's kinda crazy to look back at the summer and think how quickly it's become championship time... | 6 |
| Thursday AM: | Normal Loop. Slightly warmer today, which was nice. Hopefully it'll be like this tomorrow too. A little tired at the start, not sore or anything, just tired and sleepy, which was disappointing since I got 8.5 hours last night. I'll be ready to go tomorrow though, and we've got a 4 day weekend coming up, which will be great. | 5 |
| Wednesday PM: | Grass Loops. Ran alone since Nolan was visiting the trainers about a sore hammie. Pretty consistent today, good pacing. 6:04, 5:43, 5:35, 35, 35, 35, 33, 35, 37. Legs felt really good, got a little sore at the end, but nothing terrible. FSQ was horrendous. Went with Verbal, got blown out. Started slow, never really actually got to full speed. 59. Glad I wasn't slower than 60, I would have forced myself to do a penalty 400. | 8 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal Loop. Temp down in the 40s, a little shocking but nothing terrible. Comfortable in my TShirt again. I guess I have to be since the cold weather gear is still in the attic. Wasn't quite as extra normal as yesterday's run, but pleasingly extra normal nonetheless. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | Went Harvard->Longfellow Loop before practice, Nolan was in the lockerroom at the same time, so we went together, both missed our AM runs. Then went Reservoir with a Summit Ave add-on to bump it up to 10+. What a run. It was an extra-normal day, which always makes the runs enjoyable. Weather was perfect, it's getting cooler, but felt comfortable in T-Shirt. Started out slow, wasn't sure how Nolan felt, but we got rolling by the middle of it, quality miles logged today. Today really turned around after this morning's sleeping-in debacle caused me to miss the AM run. Back on pace for the week's mileage, starting to get ready for All New Englands, should shape up to be a good race. | 13 |
| Tuesday AM: | No run. Overslept. Not that terrible, because I needed the rest, but it always sucks to miss a morning run. Up late watching the Packers demolish the Bears, then had some more work to finish up. | 0 |
| Monday PM: | 8xWilderness. 2:35, 33, 30, 30, 30, 31, 30, 30 (window 2:29-31) with 2:00 rest. Feeling pretty good, but Nolan's getting a little sick I think. Ran the first two with Nolan, then took off on my own. The first half were pretty easy, I think the rest was a little too long. By number 6 or so I started tying up near the downhill, lactic acid was catching up to me. Would have been easier with somebody to run with. I'm getting pretty good at shifting gears on the hill at the beginning of the loop, feel like I really start flying right there. Got pretty dark by #7, felt like the Pinball Wizard, playing by sense of smell, especially on the downhill, just have to trust your instincts a little more in that situation. Cooled down for 3M with Nolan afterwards. Workout wasn't that devastating, feeling strong throughout and fresh on the cool down. | 9 |
| Monday AM: | Normal Loop. It's starting to get a bit colder, but is still really nice running weather, going without a shirt. Legs felt good, nothing amazing really, but nothing horrible. Legs never really feel amazing on AM runs anyway. Only slept about 5 hours last night, pretty tired when I woke up, but not so bad anymore. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Ran Fresh Pond around the Pond from PKT, then added on a Harvard->Longfellow Bridge Loop to bump up the total mileage. Got going pretty well, legs felt fresh, even though I didn't sleep a whole lot last night. Stopped at 77 for a pre-emptive pit stop just before the bridge loop, right at about 70 minutes. Got moving pretty quick in the middle and near the end, but never cut loose and hammered. I'm essentially over this cold, just some lingering coughing and sneezing, but that's all. I'm getting ahead on the work too. | 15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 06 9/29-10/05 |
A wholly disappointing week. The run on Sunday was not that outstanding, especially since we were virtually rock climbing for the first 20 minutes. Then Monday night kicked my ass royally, and I was sick for the rest of the week. Skipped Tues. and Thurs. AM runs because of a high fever. Tuesday's workout was absolutely horrendous, feeling less than amazing at the start and merely deteriorated from there. Managed to get it back by the end of the week, but even then Friday's workout wasn't devastating and nothing memorable. And I finished up 5M behind where I should have been. Wish I had this week over. October Miles: 60 | 90 |
| Saturday: | Science Museum -> Eliot Street Bridge. Pretty humid and muggy out; it rained early then heated up. Feeling pretty good, a little tired though. Didn't sleep a whole lot last night, woke up excited about Pledge Day, but that's been underwhelming so far. Probably take a nap sometime today. A good run though, averaged slightly under 6:30s, a little slower than I had hoped for, but I'll take it. Haven't been out chasing down people on my Esplanade in awhile. The nice thing about not having a meet on Saturday is the ability to get some work done. What's happening to me? I gotta get out more. Whatever. | 10 |
| Friday PM: | 2x2M, 5xWilderness (~800+m) at Franklin. Ran 5:11, 5:10 (window 5:05-8); 2:32, 32, 32, 35, 30 (2:30-2). Grass was wet and slippery, Nolan thought that slowed us down some. Was working hard on the miles but not killing it. Coach warned against starting the workout too hard and getting in a hole, I always seem to take that too far and back off too much. Went into the Wilderness repeats with a mindset of "saving the workout" and getting back into the windows. Ran really well, I can move up the hill right at the beginning pretty well and get a jump on Nolan and Maltas. Maltas lead the 4th one, I could feel him tying up but waited a little while to start pulling him. He'll be up with us the whole way pretty soon though. Took the last one and started hammering. About half way through I was tying up, managed to keep it together though, ran a pretty good interval. Cooled down over the last 3M of the 8k course. Workout wasn't that terrible, recovered pretty quickly, feeling pretty fresh. Bids went out today, which means the craziness starts tomorrow. | 10 |
| Friday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs feeling really good, HR was down at 42 when I woke up. Sleep was a little sporadic last night, kept waking up and having problems falling back asleep. Maybe I've been sleeping too much recently. Feel like I'm almost over this cold, it just refuses to go away completely though. | 5 |
| Thursday PM: | Ocean. A little surprised Coach let me run today, but it's good. Just didn't push it, getting ready for the workout tomorrow. Haven't done this loop in a long time, don't understand why Nolan thinks it's so dangerous. I enjoy it. Had to stop at PKT for an urgent pit stop, but otherwise the run was pretty good. Legs starting to feel better. Nolan got his shorts ripped by a gropu of girls in a car. Poor guy. | 9 |
| Thursday AM: | HR was up at 50BPM this morning. I think it's time to be smart. No running this morning. | 0 |
| Wednesday PM: | Grass Loops with Nolan. Feeling pretty tired still, the run was not very enjoyable. Legs aching and just couldn't get moving. Had to take a pit stop after 7 laps. Was running 5:35s before then, came back and finished up with 4 laps at 5:45. I don't know exactly what's going on here, but hopefully I'll start feeling better soon. Ran FSQ alone in 58. | 10 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal Loop. Feeling better, I guess. Slept 10pm til 8am last night, and could've kept on sleeping. Headache's all gone, stomach doesn't hurt anymore, and I feel less tired. Hopefully a few more nights of good sleep are coming up. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | 2x4:00 temp run then 4x600m (1:30) fartleks. Ran to Arsenal Street Bridge with Nolan and Maltas. Horrible day made worse by this shitty workout. Added on an Infinite Loop after a pit stop when we got back to MIT. Was feeling pretty good during the tempo part, then the stomach started to not feel as good and I completely lost focus. Legs got pretty tired, I just didn't feel like running fast by the end. Pretty much blew up on the 3rd 600 then the 4th was virtually non-existent. My focus coming in was pretty horrible too, given the poor condition my body was in today. Headache and stuffy nose the whole time, just dead tired, no energy. This was probably the single worst day I've spent at MIT. Work for this week is almost over though, just a bio test tomorrow, so I should be able to catch up with the sleep. I'm just plain worn down. This cannot continue. | 11 |
| Tuesday AM: | No Run. Didn't sleep too much last night and have the beginnings of a cold, decided sleep was going to be better for me than running would be. My head is all stuffed up, got a headache too. This is not fun. | 0 |
| Monday PM: | Ran Fresh Pond around the Pond. Nolan was taking the GREs so it was just me, but Coach biked alongside me. Probably a good thing he came because I was feeling pretty good at the start, remembering what it's like to run alone and almost got to hammering. Realized that I haven't really run alone for a long time. Legs felt really good, surprising given the lack of sleep and amount of stress, but I'll take it. Kind of feel a cold coming on, got some junk in the back of my throat. Guess maybe it's time to start recognizing that summer has ended and cooler temps are coming. Either way, it's nothing more than a light cold, I'll be over it in no time, and it's not affecting running at all. Tempo-fartlek combo tomorrow. September Miles : 380 | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Normal Loop. Woke up at 8 to run, but started working on 6.170 PSet and didn't run til 10:30. Tonight's going to be rough. Pretty tired, nothing really sore, just fatigue. Good thing it's an off week, I'm going to try to get ahead on a lot of stuff. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Ran at the Blue Hills Reservation with the guys. Real rocky and not too good for running at first, it took about 25 minutes to find some good trails, but after the rock climbing was over the trails were pretty good. Think we figured out where to start at next time. Ran most of the way with Ethan Crain, that was pretty cool. Watch read 105min, but it's hard to tell exactly since we kept stopping and starting at the beginning. Legs were feeling really, really good and whenever we got on some open trails I started flying. Still haven't found anything capable of rivaling the Lapham Peak Unit. | 15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 05 9/22-9/28 |
Week was alright, not quite as good as I had wanted it to be. Got in a good workout, but the effects of last week lasted a little too long. Managed to stay ahead of the curve academically though. The workout was pretty good, but nothing devastating. Aren't racing this coming weekend, so we'll have 2 good workouts next week, looking forward to that. Race didn't go quite like I had hoped it would. Looking for a higher finish, fresher legs. But still, can't be disappointed with the way the team stepped up. Things looking good and we're about to really get down to work. This team could surprise some people, but it won't surprise me. September Miles : 350 | 95 |
| Saturday: | 2M warmup, Codfish Bowl, 3rd place, PR, 2M cooldown. Not overly satisfied with how I raced or how my legs felt. A little too tired in my opinion. Nonetheless, the team ran well, pulled out the win, maybe people will start recognizing us. Everyday the quote from Once A Runner becomes more and more true to me, "Sometimes it is possible, despite your best efforts and a hundred godamn miles a week, not to even exist." Full rundown in the Races section. | 9 |
| Friday PM: | Docks with Nolan. Ran the first 35 minutes with a shirt on, that's the longest I've gone with a shirt on since May I believe. But on to stuff that matters. Legs really, really tired and sore for the first few minutes, but they eventually loosened up and by the end I was rocking, strides felt great. Nothing big to report, I guess. Feeling good, focused and ready to roll tomorrow. Finalized the plan with Nolan today, should work well, be a good race tomorrow. Check out France's updated mileage chart, pretty sweet! | 8 |
| Friday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs feeling pretty good, not much to complain about. They got a little tired by the end but nothing horrible. Got almost 8 hours last night, will get 8 hours tonight, feeling ready to go. | 5 |
| Thursday PM: | Grass Loops. Feeling good, but unable to find the right pace for awhile. Supposed to be turning 5:35s. Ran the first as a warmup in about 6:05, then jumped down to 5:25ish for 2, then 5:45ish for 2 more, then another 5:25 and finally got the last 3 in 5:35 per. Legs actually feeling great, which I hope is a good sign. I think maybe the FSQ yesterday blew a lot of the junk out of the legs. Not hardly nothing to do tonight = lots of sleep. Got the barebones of a plan laid out, going to flesh it out tomorrow then go into Codfish and execute. Did some light hurdle work in conjunction with sprint drills today, think I'll start gradually incorporating those back into my life. They suck but if I'm going to do what I know I can do this year with the steeple, the hurdling has to come around. | 8 |
| Thursday AM: | Normal Loop. Didn't feel as tired this morning, which is a little unusual, given the lack of sleep last night (about 5 hours.) Luckily legs feel like they're still right on that edge, a little effort and they'll feel awesome. | 5 |
| Wednesday PM: | BC plus Reservoir. Went up Summit Ave to add on an extra mile. Stopped over by BC to use the Port-A-Johns, took me a while to jump the fence though, that was pretty embarassing. Legs really tired at the start, but over the last half an hour or so they loosened up and felt pretty good. Unfortunately, tonight is going to be a late one and sleep won't be too prevalent. It's disappointing, because I feel like I'm right on the edge and just a little more would whip them into shape. Looks like tomorrow night should be wide open though, which is perfect since it's 2 nights before Codfish. The FSQ Quotient was 57 today. West Wing Season Premier tonight. | 10 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs still really tired. Felt like I was running pretty damn slow all the way. Started out in my quads again, but pretty much spread to everywhere by the end. Slept for 7 hours last night, that should have been enough. Guess I'm still making that transition from being totally rested all the time to being able to go on 6-7 hours of sleep a night. It'll come. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | 2x around the 8k Franklin Park course. Went 2x4:00 tempo (just barely faster than race pace) then 3M of 600m accelerations, faster than race pace. Hard workout. Nolan and I joined for the first time by Steve "But they're going to be seeing things" Maltas, looks like that will become a regular occurance. Good news, since it's an unwritten rule that you need 3 people to have true Super Tuesdays. Felt pretty tired at the start, the first tempo woke me up though. It's nice that when I get into hard workouts I don't really feel how tired I've been throughout the day. Ran the 2nd tempo really, really well. Then started the 600s on our 2nd time 'round the course. Ran one right after the start, another just before the 1M mark, Maltas started one at the base of Bearcage and ran a fourth, which Nolan wasn't expecting, just after 2M. Going up Bearcage was rough, Maltas got a really good jump on us and I went hard to catch him up the hill, so I was approximately 54.3% lactic acid after a minute and started tying up over the last 30 seconds. Maltas and I got to flying at the end of the last acceleration. The only negative about today was that I had to make 2 stops at the Port-A-John, one before and one after the workout. Luckily my stomach didn't give me any problems during the workout. It's on to an easy night of watching 18.06 lectures... | 10 |
| Tuesday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs dead tired at the start, loosened up and didn't feel as bad by the end. It's basically my quads which feel pretty sore, but my whole body is tired. Workload seems pretty light for tonight, hopefully I'll be able to get in some good sleep. | 5 |
| Monday PM: | Arboretum. Day off today, so ran at 3pm and went to Arboretum. Legs felt horrible for the first 20 minutes or so, then they loosened up til about 40 minutes in. Tightened up a little bit I was able to keep them feeling pretty good. Gonna kick the feet up tonight so I'm ready to go for the workout at Franklin tomorrow. Avoided the Big Green Hill all day, ran up Wushu backwards, did a couple Nolan Loops, I was all over the place today. Need to start planning for Codfish. Got a lot of work between now and then though, hopefully I can knock it off by Wednesday night. | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Normal Loop. Pretty tired, Rush just started so I've managed to stay fairly busy this weekend. Luckily today is a suicide prevention day, so I've got a chance to catch up. Need some sleep, still don't feel wholly recovered yet, which sucks hard. Still working on getting myself out of this hole I've dug myself into. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Arboretum. Feeling really, really tired. Worked really hard in the race yesterday and then spent all night travelling, without a real dinner to boot. Need to get a lot of H2O and vegetable consumption going on. Ran for 100 minutes, felt like I was dragging at times, other times it wasn't so bad. Pretty fatigued at 25 minutes or so, which is a little early. Ran a Mount Wushu early, about 12 minutes in, that might have been too early. Stayed away from the Big Green Hill for the first half of the run, but then went up it 3 times in a 35 minute timespan, which wasn't incredibly smart. Really tired by the end, need to get myself out of this hole rather quickly. Coach bumped the milage up to 95M for this week. | 15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 04 9/15-9/21 |
Great week. Hard workout, nothing obliterating, but solid training that will pay off come next week. Capped off the week with what I consider my best collegiate cross country race ever, placing fifth at St. Olaf's. Hard to not be upbeat after that. Looking back, I think I had a chance to win, but nonetheless, it was great confidence boost. Things are looking good, Codfish in one week. Didn't run too well there last year. September Miles: 255 | 90 |
| Saturday: | 2M warmup then St. Olaf Invite then 3M cool down. Great race, really excited about it. Read the full rundown. Got to see my relatives from MN too, that was fun. After the race my hamstrings felt like steel cables, really, really tight. Cool down did a good job of loosening them up though. I was ON today, ran really well. Flight home was a little annoying, took a long time to get back, but that's part of the job I guess. Won a nice shirt today, too. | 10 |
| Friday PM: | Ran on the St. Olaf XC course. Did miles 1 and 3-5, then the last mile backwards. Feeling really good, I like this course. I guess there've been a few changes because it really isn't all that hilly. 2 big hills in a row after 3.5M, which looks like a good place to move. Last mile is virtually downhill the whole way, which is awesome and I predict will lead to a blazingly fast last mile. Putting myself in position to win tomorrow. | 5 |
| Friday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs feeling really good at the start, nice and fresh. Got a little more tired at the end, but still running well. Slept 9:45-4:55. Leaving to MN this morning, probably won't update log until Sun. | 5 |
| Thursday PM: | Fresh Pond with Nolan. Felt really tired, legs sore and not fresh at all. No speed during strides, hopefully they'll fix themselves by Saturday. Legs just really heavy, I think it's because I'm starting not to sleep as much anymore. Need to stay on top of the diet, H2O etc. Rumor is that North Central will be there this weekend, should make for a fast race. Have to be at the airport at 6:30AM tomorrow, which means getting up ass early to get the AM run in, which means going to sleep around 9PM tonight. | 7 |
| Thursday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs got pretty tired at the end, but I felt good for most of the way. Getting accustomed to this distacne still, not yet automatic. Starting to get psyched for the race this weekend. | 5 |
| Wednesday PM: | 5x1M over the Franklin Park 8k Course. 4:58 (window 4:50[low end]), 5:05 (5:10), 4:56 (5:00), 5:01 (5:10), 4:48 (4:50). 3:00 rest between miles. The first one felt really, really fast, but actually wound up being fairly slow. After that one, I remembered what it's like to be in the middle of a hard workout, and then the workout got pretty tough. Felt in control for most of them, hard to stay with Nolan through the Wilderness though, that's his expertise. Me, I prefer Bearcage and wound up opening up a gap over him on miles 2 and 5. Sum of miles 1-5: 24:48. Now the task is to realize I can string those miles together in a race. | 9 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal. Legs felt really, really good at first, running fast and effortlessly, weren't as good at the end. A little tired and heavy. Grabbed 6 hours last night, getting back into the range of acceptable sleep. BIG workout this afternoon, should be a good one. Nolan can't take a joke. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | Grass Loops with Nolan. Going about 5:30-40 per loop, pretty much right on pace. Feeling good given the hectic conditions of today, spent 3 hours in Athena trying to finish up a 6.170 PSet. Got some more work tonight, but going to try to grab as much sleep as I can. Starting to plan out the race plan for this weekend, should be a sweet race. When I'm functioning on so little sleep I go back and forth between periods of high energy and periods where I feel like I could fall asleep standing up. FSQ quotient of 57 today, slow, slow, slow. Need to lower that number down to 55. Managed to convince everybody today that France runs like a dinosaur, earning him the distingushed moniker of "BRONTOSAURUS." | 9 |
| Tuesday AM: | Normal Loop. Felt surprisingly good this morning after but 3.5 hours of sleep. Left calf cramped when I was sleeping, and it was sore and tight at the start, just took some time before it loosened up. Still more work to go..... | 5 |
| Monday PM: | Docks then 2 Grass Loops. Feeling good, nice cool weather to run in. Got a bunch of work for tonight, looks to be a long one. Need to get it all done before Thursday night though, gotta be at Logan at 6:30AM on Friday to fly out to MN. | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Normal Loop. Feeling really good, didn't get as much sleep as I wanted last night, a lot of meetings got in the way, but I ate a hell of a lot of complex carbs, including a pound of carrots, so I'm feeling pretty good. The next few days are going to be hectic and work filled, gotta get it done early. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Ran at Walden Pond for 100min, went with a bunch of guys from the team but pretty much took off on my own. Hammies were really tight all morning and at times during the run. Legs tired throughout, but it would come and go. Found plenty of hills, lots of wooded trails, including one with a stacks of logs set up, presumably for horses to jump over, that I have named "Steeple Trail." Ran that twice, my favorite part of the area. Coach has dropped my mileage down to 90M for this week, a good idea I think. I had no delusions of being able to hold 100M weeks AND do well in classes, and this will help keep the legs fresh for meets. | 15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 03 9/08-9/14 |
Week started out slowly and frustratingly on the Angry Zach, logging 3:15 and nearly going crazy to boot. Feet healed up quickly though, got in two good workouts. The fartlek on Tuesday wasn't anything killer, got in some good hills, but the tempo run on Thursday was killer, crazy fast. That'll help out a lot when it hits the legs, however it led to severly fatigued legs on Saturday and I wasn't up to the task of running throught that. Definitely need more work on focus, concentration and racing. Gotta get it soon too, Pre-Nats in just a week. September Miles : 165 | 69 |
| Saturday: | Ran to second place in the Engineer's Cup. 2M warm up, 4M cool down. Didn't run very well though, 26:21. Full round up in the Races section. No real problems from the blisters, feet got a little hot though, I had them wrapped up pretty well in tape and pre-wrap. Legs tired when I woke up, never got really, really good. Need to make sure I'm keeping enough water and vegetables in the diet. | 11 |
| Friday PM: | Ran Docks with Nolan. Feeling pretty good, had to stop at a Port-A-John about halfway through (thank God for construction sites.) Figured out the plan for tomorrow, should be a good, fast race. Legs feeling alright, a little tired but I think the strides did a good job of blowing all the junk out the pipes. Think maybe I should pop some Pepto Bismol tomorrow too. Legs feel strong but not sharp. I know the speed work is still a ways off, but I want it now. At dinner tonight France's shorts started falling apart, strange, strange stuff. Got racing shorts that are a little longer which is good, and gave my old, smaller ones to Maltas so he didn't have to wear the diaper shorts anymore. | 8 |
| Friday AM: | Normal Loop. Weather was cool at the start but got warmer. Played some DDR last night, don't think that had a negative effect though. Didn't sleep quite as well as I had wanted to, but it'll be alright. Feet feeling fine. | 5 |
| Thursday PM: | Tempo run with Nolan. Ran to Arsenal then an Infinite Loop. Went with 4x5:00 at race pace, moderate in between the workbouts. Really trucking, feeling really good. Coach rode his bike behind us, didn't really affect much though. The first two were no problem, third one was tough and the fourth one really bad. Nolan almost broke me on the fourth, but I came back and we finished pretty much side by side. Training with him is helping me out so much, we were trading off the lead today, pushing each other. Now if I could only manage to stay next to him in a race instead of tearing up my feet. Starting to plan out Saturday's race. It should be a quick one. | 10 |
| Thursday AM: | Normal Loop. Legs a little tired, quads and hammies sore @ start. Loosened up and felt pretty good by the end. Cool weather, barely 60 degrees at the start. The new kicks are working well. | 5 |
| Wednesday PM: | Ran from PKT to MIT for 8M on Grass Loops, then lifted and ran home. Pretty easy run, feeling good. Holding about 5:35-5:40 for most of the loops. Windy as hell out there, I don't know what happened but the wind was whipping. Ran with Nolan for part of the way, he was pretty tired though and running a little slower. Had to take a break halfway in for a pitstop. Guess I'm not completely over this stomach junk, and just didn't feel it during cross training. Weather cooler, which is nice. Haven't looked at a forecast for Saturday yet, need to start planning out that race. Should be pretty quick though. | 10 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal Loop. Feeling pretty good, hungry though. HR around 44, legs feel good still. A little tired though. I realized today that people remember tragedy in different ways. Some people like to gather together and draw their strength from the group. Other people prefer to remain alone with their thoughts and draw their strength from within. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | Hill Fartlek @ the Arboretum. Great to be running again, still no pain. I feel like I'm out of the woods now, the feet are going to be good to go. Running with Nolan, same set up as last week. 2 minutes from the base of a hill at race pace, 6:00-6:15 between fartleks. Feeling good, thanks to the 2 days off, legs feeling really good all the way through and not very fatigued at the end. Nolan closed with a 4:42 5th mile on Saturday, so I need my hill running ability to help me hang with that blistering pace the last time up Bearcage. No time for Epsom Salt last night, gonna give it a shot tonight though. Work isn't all that bad yet, still sleeping 7-9 hours a night. | 10 |
| Tuesday AM: | Normal AM Loop. Back at it again, totally sweet. Rarely am I so happy to do AM runs. A little nervous to start, hoping for no pain, went the whole way with no problems though. Really, really hot out, sweating like a pig. Hydration is key between now and the fartlek this afternoon. | 5 |
| Monday PM: | 60 minutes on the cross trainer (also known as the Hell Machine) with Yuval and France. The banter made it less insufferable, but in the end, it was mind-numbing. I feel like a caged animal on that thing. In the Good News Dep't, I ran along Vassar and across the first floor of Johnson and down the hall, and 50m on the indoor track before x-training. Trainers Ok'd running tomorrow, as long as I stop if the foot starts hurting, so that the area doesn't open up or re-blister. If I have time, I might try an epsom salt bath again tonight. Gonna be really glad to get back to running. | 0 |
| Monday AM: | Cross Trained 30 minutes with France. Flying today, on the nice cross trainers in DuPont, turning 180-190 strides per minute. Feet feeling better, still waiting on the big toe of my right foot. Walking without any problems now, hoping I can run tomorrow. Guess I'll have to cross train this afternoon though. | 0 |
| Sunday: | Cross trained for 105min with Roach. XTraining for that long is mind-numbing, I was seriously freaking out near the end. Broke it up into manageable sections, did 30min then 100 situps, 30min then 200 situps, 20min then 300 situps, then finished off with 25 painful minutes. I don't know how Roach has done that for almost 6 weeks now. Feet feeling better, no pain during cross training, walked to and from Johnson, everything but the big toe on my right foot felt fine. The problem is that the skin is removed really high up on that toe, so whenever I go to push off it hurts. I can deal with the other parts though, so once that toe is ready, I'm running again. I can't take all this cross training. | 0 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 02 9/01-9/06 |
A really disappointing week. Started off with a good 16 miler at the Arboretum, but then it started going downhill. The workout was satisfactory, nothing amazing though. Then I started feeling sick halfway through the week, got that sorted out then tore up the bottom of my feet. Now I can't run for a few days. Wish I had this week to do over again. On the plus side, running through Downtown Crossing doing Docks with Nolan on Friday, there was an entertaining moment when a woman screamed out "Oh baby, DAMN!" as we passed her. One of the few redeeming parts to this week. September Miles : 96 | 96 |
| Saturday: | Alumni Meet. Ran pretty well, full run down in the Races section. Afterwards though, my feet were too trashed to cool down. This'll probably result in a few days off of running, which is really killing me. I'm never racing cross country without socks again. This is such pain. Had planned of finishing off with a 4M cool down, that got scrapped. Check out pictures and video of my foot. | 7 |
| Friday PM: | Docks Loop with Nolan. Feeling alright, better than this morning. On a suggestion from Yuval I took some Pepto-Bismol before the run and it turned out a lot better. Almost threw up by Boston Harbor though, don't know what that was all about. Bottom line though, stomach was not nearly as queasy during the run as it was yesterday and this morning. Planning on taking some before the race tomorrow too. Strides felt really good, really strong, which is promising. It might come down to a sprint tomorrow, which would not be a wholly undesirable ending. I've been so caught up with this stomach junk that I haven't been thinking too much about my legs, but they're holding up alright. Gonna put them up on a wall tonight, stay off them tomorrow, think I'll be ready to go. Have a little soreness or something in my left quad but it ain't nothing but a thing. Forecast for tomorrow: 90s and humid. Which means nearly constant hydration between now and the race (5pm tomorrow) and massively wetting down beforehand. Don't expect it to interfere too much, my light skin and blonde hair are a big help in that area. I've decided that the policy of this log, given it's accessibility, will be to not reveal race plans and strategy until AFTER the race. Kind of hard to believe the races are starting up again, this is what the 100M weeks have been for. | 8 |
| Friday AM: | Normal AM Loop. Feeling sick to my stomach by the Harvard Bridge, not what I had hoped would happen. Feeling pretty bad but still able to run well when I got back to PKT. I've pretty much decided that I'm not going to be feeling 100% by tomorrow, so the question is how well can I race with this junk in my stomach? | 5 |
| Thursday PM: | Fresh Pond around the Pond. Feeling really good most of the way. Nolan and I got to moving pretty quick, legs feeling fresh, really glad I slept a lot last night. About 8M in though I started to feel sick again, which is kind of frustrating. Bowels started cramping or something near the end, rather uncomfortable, made it hard to run with Nolan. Since then I've been feeling less that wonderful, wish I had some explanation for where this junk came from. Hoping I get over it by Saturday, or that it will not crop up until after the race. During the run today, at the height of nerddom, Nolan stopped running to look up at a plane flying overhead. | 10 |
| Thursday AM: | Normal Loop. Feeling really good this morning, slept almost 9.5 hours last night, which I needed desperately. Was feeling really sick yesterday but that went away, so far as I can tell. Nice weather out too. Legs felt really, really good. Starting to plan out Saturday's race. | 5 |
| Wednesday PM: | Hill Fartlek, 2x on 8k Course at Franklin. 2:00 fartleks on Bearcage and in Wilderness Loop at race pace, moderate pace between fartleks. 6th mile (with no fartleks) was 6:00. 2M warm-up, 2M cool down. Felt really tired and a little sick to my stomach, but legs were moving well and no real problems. Hit lactic acid hard on 2nd Bearcage but got through it. Looking forward to this weekend, hopefully will turn in a quick 8k. Classes started today, for some reason that really takes it out of me. Not too much work yet, should be able to get enough sleep for awhile still. | 10 |
| Wednesday AM: | Normal morning loop. This distance has yet to become automatic for me, but it's getting closer, which makes me happy. Legs a little sore, body tired at first, hungry in the middle but feeling good and ready to start classes by the end. First up, Bio. | 5 |
| Tuesday PM: | Grass Loops. Ran with Nolan for awhile, then behind him as he picked it up and I maintained pace. Coach wanted us running 5:47 per loop, averaged about 5:44. Ran a few 5:50+s then dropped to 5:36-8 for the majority of the run. Cloudy and misting, pretty nice running weather. Afterwards had the ol' Full Speed Quarter, turned in my first FSQ at 57, Nolan was 59.97. My last delusions of being a running bum died today as I registered for my classes which begin tomorrow. On a non-running note, France (I guess everything about him is on a "non-running note" ate AN ENTIRE pepperoni pizza from Yona's for lunch today. Sometimes that kid just disgusts me. Braveheart tonight. | 10 |
| Tuesday AM: | Longfellow->BU. Nice day out, overcast but warm. Really crowded down by BU, a little hard to navigate but nothing impossible. Calf a little sore walking around after using The Stick last night, but can't feel it during the run. I figure once this loop and this distance becomes commonplace and normal, I'll be good to go. | 5 |
| Monday PM: | BC Reservoir Loop and 1 Grass Loop with Nolan. Feeling good, rolling the whole way. Mandated pace is 6:30-ish and it felt like we were holding that all the way. Sped up momentarily trying to catch some guys, but they turned off too quickly. A little cool out and muddy but really good running weather. One more day of freedom. Planning on reading Once A Runner and calling it an early night tonight. Need to get ahead of the curve before the term starts up. | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Longfellow->BU Bridge Loop. Coach has ordered 5M AM runs so it appears that this loop will become my "Normal Loop." Raining out, but I'm feeling pretty good. Today and tomorrow I've got nothing going on, going to be a bit of a running bum, which is sweet. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Arboretum. Went out with Yuval, Nolan, Wildman, Hanson, Driver, Maltas, Fivos, David Gray, and France tagged along. Sweet running out there, lots of hills that I was eating up. Made an effort to run up just about every uphill I passed. There's a big, green hill in the Arboretum II (as I call it, the part across the road) that I went up 4x. That things about a quarter mile and pretty steep. Still nothing like running in Lapham, but nevertheless, a good hill workout. Ran pretty much alone though, Wildman and I took different routes about 20 minutes in and by then we had already separated from the group. Feeling really, really good, but need a lot of work on climbing hills. Regret not getting out to Lapham more near the end of the summer. Went 108 minutes, moving pretty quick but not flying. Right now, about an hour and a half after I stopped running my left hamstring is pretty sore, a little tight. Need to work it over with The Stick tonight. Coach prescribed 100M week again, Nolan and I training together. Alumni at the end of the week, classes start on Wednesday, which might interfere with planning/preparation, but it looks like it will just be Nolan and I on Saturday, unless Feldman shows up. We're now in September, "the month of promises." (From Once A Runner.) | 16 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 01 8/25-8/31 |
Great week to open up the cross season. Work week was taking it out of me at first, but near the end I started eating right and sleeping more, so that helped out a lot. The stand out event of this week would have to be the 5k time trial on Saturday. That came off just about perfectly, great pacing, legs feeling great, great finish. And not just for me either, Nolan, Verbal and Maltas were all under 16 too. The workout on Thursday was a good one too, I think I got moving a little too quick during it, but it was still effective and always good to get back to workouts and the burning sensation of lactic acid in the legs. Grass loops on Tuesday were smoking too. Things are looking good. August Miles : 445 | 100 |
| Saturday: | 5k time trial then Fresh Pond around the pond with Nolan for a cool down. Time trial was outstanding, went almost perfectly to plan. Nolan and I traded off half miles going 5 minute pace for the first 2M (4:59, 9:59.) Then I sped up a bit when I took the lead after 2M and Nolan hung with me. He took the lead after 2.5M then I took it back with 600m to go. Hit 3M in 14:51 (4:52) then brought it in with a 34 second deuce. Ran 15:25, would have been a 15 second PR (outdoors) if it were in a meet. Nolan was 15:29. Verbal hung with us for 2M then turned in a 5:10 third mile en route to a 15:42 or so. Took a nice long cool down with Nolan afterwards. We're both really excited about the upcoming year, looks to be a good one. | 15 |
| Friday PM: | Jamaica with Nolan and Fivos. Went a little late because Nolan was talking with some physical therapists. Legs really dead during the run, I was really, really dragging. They felt a lot better after a few strides though, so that's encouraging. The last thing I need is to show up tomorrow with dead legs. Not too worried though, still eating vegetables and drinking a lot of water, I'm feeling ready to rock. Beautiful day, sun out and it was getting pretty hot, much better than the spitting rain and cloudy skies we've been having recently. | 8 |
| Friday AM: | BU Loop plus 1 Grass Loop with Nolan. Things looking, feeling good. Nine hours sleep last night. Hopefully able to bust out a 9-10 hour night tonight, then rock the hell out of the time trial. | 4 |
| Thursday PM: | Fartlek in Franklin Park. 8k Course 2x going 1:00 at race pace starting halfway up a hill and moderate pace in between fartleks. Fartlek'd up Bearcage, the hill in the Wilderness Loop and the hill right before the 4M mark. Feeling really good today. First mile at 7:03, then fartlek'd up Bearcage en route to at 6:30 second mile, then took off. Not a single complaint about this workout. Fartleking fast enough to get the legs burning, basically right at anaerobic then going pretty quick between hills. I think I got a little too excited during the workout, the sixth mile (without any fartleks) was 5:40, but moderate pace was defined to be 1:00 slower than race pace, and I don't intend to be racing at 4:40s quite yet. But still, I was rolling well. 58:45 for the 10M, 27:53 for the second 8k. Cooled down with some downhill strides. Hope I feel this good on Saturday. | 10 |
| Thursday AM: | BU Loop then 1 Grass Loop. Ran with the majority of the team, that was cool. Really glad we took it easy yesterday and that I got about 9 hours of sleep, the legs feel much better. Drizzling overcast and cool, depressing weather. Lifted afterwards, going to Franklin for a fartlek this afternoon. | 4 |
| Wednesday PM: | Docks and 2 Grass Loops with Nolan. Docks has changed a bit is still runnable, but nothing terrible. Running pretty slow, recovery day. OVercast and cool, nice weather for running. Nothing beyond fatigue bothering the legs though, feel strong even when running at a slower pace. Fartlek tomorrow afternoon at Franklin Park, need to recover by then. Tomorrow is a day off from Work Week, so that will be good. Probably kick the feet up tonight and break out The Stick as well. Figured out a mileage plan to hit upper 90s, nearly 100M this week. | 10 |
| Wednesday AM: | Science Museum Loop. Didn't feel like smashing this morning, could still feel the effects of running fast on the grass loops yesterday. Legs pretty tired, didn't sleep as much as I had hoped to last night. | 4 |
| Tuesday PM: | Grass Loops. I'd forgotten how unexciting those things are. Started out with Nolan, Albert, Verbal and a few others, after two laps took off and Nolan came along. Turned a bunch of 5:20s then some 5:10s. Feeling pretty good, got the legs nice and tired but not to the point of collapse. Running at midday in bright sunlight but the heat was managable. Gonna try to get in a good dinner then make up some of my missed Work Week hours and get to sleep early tonight. | 9 |
| Tuesday AM: | BU->Longfellow. Legs feeling really good, would like to get some more sleep however. Work Week is certainly preventing the type of training I'd like, but I can deal. Didn't mean to go 5M this morning, but it happened. | 5 |
| Monday PM: | Fresh Pond around the Pond with Nolan. We kind of took off at the start, quasi-Feldman but nothing approaching Feldman-esque. Verbal came with us til the Pond, but he didn't go around. Nolan and I are pretty much even, as far as I can tell, going off feeling him out during the runs. Talked a little about mileage for the week, we're both aiming for high 90s. Probably back off to 10 or 11M on Friday, prime up for the 5k. Lots of 4&10 and 5&10 days this week though. Fartlek got moved to Thursday in Franklin Park. Coach said he would be "surprised" to see anybody run 75s (15:38) for the time trial. We'll see. Nolan and I have plans. | 10 |
| Monday AM: | Science Museum plus some grass. Nothing like organized AM runs to get me excited. First Science Museum Loop since May, always good to dredge those up. Feeling good, a little tired from work week, but ready to roll. Things look good. | 5 |
| Sunday: | Watertown then Grass Loops with Nolan and Albert. Started with a big group, but it got pared down after Eliot. Legs a little tired after 30 minutes or so, but nothing horrible. Good to be out with the guys, just about everybody was there for this one, except of course France because he still can't run very much. Saw Yuval today, he's doing pretty well. Pretty cool temperature wise, nothing hot, direct sun though. First offical practice tomorrow. | 16 |
