Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 13
11/14-11/20 |
It was tough to switch gears this week. For the first 12 weeks I was running with all the guys and running for the team, but this week I knew I had to just focus on myself. I didn't want to line up on Saturday and try to run for the six guys who didn't make it, as selfish as that sounds. I was proud to represent MIT, but I knew that I couldn't have that extra pressure of trying to win one for the team. I was feeling good all week though, really felt like I was setting it up for a win on Saturday, the legs were feeling great and it felt like all the pieces were finally in place. On Saturday I did as well I could with what I had. My legs were probably at 90-95%, can't complain about that. Given how Moen ran I would have needed one of those amazing days when everything feels great and running feels effortless, and you can never control that. Still, I put myself up there, took my shot and things just didn't work out. I guess I'll have to live with eighth, and I'm alright with that. November Miles : 192 |
55 |
| Saturday: |
NCAA Nationals, 24:49.7 for 8th. Feeling good on the warmup, about 35 degrees, had the Atomic Balm on the legs and I was ready to roll at 11AM. Got out well, Moen took off after a mile and I was in third most of the way. About six guys all bunched up with a mile to go, didn't have as much turnover as I would have liked, wound up eighth. Cooled down 2M on the roads, to finish off the season. Tried to reflect back on the end of my cross country season, it's been 9 seasons now. Feels like I'm still too close to really put it in focus yet. Great the see all the guys who came out to Eau Claire to support me, Yuval, Nolan, Hoying, Beezer, Dom, Jesse Darley, End's family and especially my family. Can't say I ever expected it all to end in a gym at Eau Claire with an All America award in my hands, but I did my best to take it all in and I don't think I'll be able to forget it. |
9 |
| Friday: |
Got to the course about 10:30, it was raining and a little cold, but nothing too devastating really. Was debating between 3M and 4M, wound up running a little over 3M, just enough to see all parts of the course. It seems to be holding water well. Legs feeling good again today, still not spectacular but nothing to cause me any concern. Felt really good during strides, I'm sure they'll be there for me tomorrow. |
3 |
| Thursday: |
Nationals Course. Met Coach at Logan at 6AM, got to the course a little before 3PM. Feeling pretty good out there, the course is looking pretty good. Supposed to rain Friday but should be great weather for racing on Saturday. Ran the whole course, climbing the hills pretty well, holding about 6:40s. Felt really good on strides afterwards. Only thing bothering me was my right hip at the very start, have to use The Stick some more this weekend and start in on the Vitamin I, but I'm not worried about it. It loosened up quickly and didn't bother me at all when I was running fast. |
5 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Grass Loops. Headed out to Briggs about 4PM after talking to Coach about the race one more time. Legs were pretty unremarkable. Wasn't hurting and they weren't feeling bad, but they weren't feeling great either. Put in seven laps all alone, weather's starting to get cooler, down in the 40s and spitting rain occasionally. Leaving early tomorrow morning, time to take care of business. |
6 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. Last AM run of the season. Legs still feeling good, no after effects from yesterday. Starting to get a bit antsy. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
4x800 2:20, 21, 20, 20; 4x400 65, 66, 66, 66; 4x200 30, 30, 31, 31. Typical rest. Got started a bit later than I thought because the 857 test ran a little long. Felt decent on the track today, legs were turning over pretty well and Coach said I was looking good, but didn't get moving that fast I don't think. At the start Coach said he didn't want me to think about the windows at all, just run what was fast/comfortable. I maybe erred a bit on the easy side, but I was covering ground decently well. Got out in 69 on the first 800, 70s for all the rest. Felt pretty good on the 400s, relaxed the whole way, but the legs were getting tired by the last one. Deuces were decent, not trying to blow the doors off today, hard to really get rolling when you're running by yourself though. Cooled down on Briggs afterwards, then strides in Johnson. All in all I was satisified with the workout, introduced some speed and didn't wear me out too much. Got a little over 24 hours to take care of stuff here then we're heading to WI. |
7 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. Slept about 6 hours last night, HR was up at 42BPM but the legs were feeling pretty good this morning. Not too cold out any more, not even wearing gloves. Had pretty decent turnover, not really focused on this afternoon's workout because of a test this afternoon. |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
Fresh Pond. It's been awhile since I headed west along the river, remembered why this is one of my favorites. Spent 10 minutes discussing Nationals with Coach before I took off, thought about the race for a bit, put the brain on stand-by for a bit too. Legs were feeling good, the running was pretty easy but I was going slow it turned out. Picked up a little down Mass Ave but it's so crowded through Central Square that it's hard to really get rolling. Hopefully tomorrow's workout will mess the legs up enough so that all the runs from now until Saturday aren't this easy. Whenever the legs are feeling this good I'm waiting for the downswing to come, when my legs are a little sore, I know the adrenaline will kick in and I'll be ready to roll. Sidewalks are still a bit slippery in places, but nothing that's hindering the pace. Nice weather, up in the 40s still, just a TShirt today. |
7 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. Headed out at 8AM today, weather wasn't too bad. Almost 40, I was fine in a TShirt and gloves. Legs felt decently well, slept 7+ hours last night, HR was down at 36BPM. Just gotta keep them feeling good for a few more days. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Jamaica. While we were up in Maine a couple inches of snow fell in Boston and the sidewalks aren't entirely clear. Took a couple minutes to get readjusted to running on the snow/ice/slush. Legs felt surprisingly good today, given how much they were aching when I went to sleep last night. Headed down Comm Ave to the BU Bridge and picked up the route there. Just staying relaxed at the start, letting the legs dictate the pace. Finalizing the plan in my head, kinda started rolling on the way back. Nothing extreme, just running at a good clip. Workout on Tuesday this week, everything else is just easy miles, trying to keep the legs ready to go. |
9 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 12
11/07-11/13 |
Really solid week. Put in a good workout on Monday, not as smooth as I would have liked but got the job done. Able to relax the rest of the week, didn't get freaked when the legs were a bit off the rest of the week. Managed to put it all together when it mattered. Still, it's going to be tough this coming week without the guys around. But the legs are still there, definitely didn't have it all together on Saturday, time to gear up for Nationals. November Miles : 137 |
70 |
| Saturday: |
NCAA Regionals at USM. 25:37 for the win. Felt decent during the warmup, not really keyed up at all. Wasn't that aware that we were running Regionals, felt like just another day. By the time we were running strides I was there though, and the legs were off just enough for me to know it was going to be a good race. Got out a bit conservative through the first 800m, moved up to top ten at the mile, took over the race after 2M and it came down to Neal and myself. I was blasting away at him and he didn't give an inch, got a gap on me with half a mile left. I didn't come back on him until inside the last 100m. Shoulder to shoulder until he finally caved with 10m left. Cooled down 3M around the course, 2M with the guys and then a final mile with Carlos. Hard to get very excited about today. |
10 |
| Friday PM: |
USM course. Got up to Maine about 3PM, checked into the hotel and headed over to Twin Brook. Ran the majority of the course, skipped the second mile though. The course is looking fast, ground is hard pretty much all over, not really soggy anywhere. Legs were feeling awesome, the best they have this week. Had to tell myself to stay calm a few times, Brewer was really moving at times and things were close to getting out of control. Felt pretty quick on the strides as well, wish we could be racing today. |
4 |
| Friday AM: |
Orange Line. Only slept 7 hours last night, HR up at 42BPM, but the legs were feeling better this morning. First AM run this week when they were feeling loose and turning over well. Heading up to Maine at 12:30. |
3 |
| Thursday PM: |
Franklin Park. No school today, so we headed out to Franklin at 2. Brewer had a review session so I was all alone today. Legs weren't feeling that good, kinda tired and run down, but when I opened the stride up a little and put in some speed they were feeling great, so I'm not worried. Ran the course and then added on a Wilderness and some extra. Finished up with some downhill strides and light lifting back at MIT. Just need Saturday to get here already. |
6 |
| Thursday AM: |
Orange Line. HR's back to normal, 38BPM last night, and I put in a solid 7 hours of sleep. Weather was perfect this morning, legs were decent. Still not quite sharp, but it's hard to be certain when you're running slow like me. |
3 |
| Wednesday PM: |
BC. Finally dug the gloves out of the attic, probably didn't actually need them today though. Brewer and I couldn't come up with anything to talk about, felt like Brewer was getting bored and kept picking the pace up. I tried to regulate it as much as I could and we found a good pace by the end of the run. Skipped Summit and didn't go around the Reservoir. I could get used to this low mileage stuff. Legs still not right, wasn't feeling that smooth or fast on strides. They'll be there when I need them. |
8 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. HR getting back to normal, it was at 41BPM last night. Legs still haven't started clicking completely yet though. Not worried about it too much though, they feel like they're coming around. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Castle Bunker Hill. Cut it short by coming back past the FleetCenter and over Longfellow. Temps are starting to creep down, the hands and forearms were getting pretty cold by the end. Brewer was feeling pretty good today, but my legs weren't all there so we kept the pace in check. Not much important going on, just covering ground. Got back and did sprint drills before heading home. |
8 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. Sub 40 temps, still headed out in shorts and a TShirt, but it's about time to dig the hat and gloves out of the attic. Legs felt pretty good today, paid more attention to the weather than to how I was feeling though. Slept 7+ hours, but the HR was up at 43BPM, hope I'm not getting sick. I feel alright, will have to pay attention to that though. |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
5x800 2:19, 19, 18, 19, 19 (window 2:17-19); 5x400 65, 5, 5, 5, 5 (65-6). Had 200m between 8s, 100m between 4s and 200m between sets. Felt decent out there today, not nearly as smooth as Friday, but was hitting the windows without working too hard, think I accomplished what I needed to. Came through in 71 on the first 800, then hit 69s for all the rest. Stopped looking at the watch after the second 800, worked on getting the heels up through the workout, had some decent speed at times. Again, took the shirt off before the 4s, gotta drop that weight to increase speed. Kept it relaxed and smooth through the quarters, the final two took some effort, quads were getting tired for some reason today. Cooled down with just the 2M warmup loop, then did some light lifting. Calves had been killing me earlier in the day so I stood in the cold whirlpool afterwards, hopefully they'll be feeling better tomorrow. |
8 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. Yesterday's nice weather's gone, unfortunately. Got about 6 hours sleep and the HR was at 37BPM. Legs felt decent this morning. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Out and back along Comm Ave. Waited awhile today for no good reason. Took off about 4PM, weather was still gorgeous though. Up in the 60s, just a handful of nice days left now, where'd they all go? Headed out thinking about Reservoir, but that didn't get me excited, so I just stuck on Comm Ave up to BC and almost to the hills of Newton. Hit Manet Street at 35:45 and turned back. Hit pretty much the same pace on the way home, 35:42. Really low-key today, didn't feel like hammering and wasn't about to get crazy. This is the nice time of the year when we taper and I only have to run 70M this week, just wish the season wasn't ending. Legs felt decent, didn't test them at all, we'll find out what they're like tomorrow I guess, then put them back in the drawer for a few days. It's almost time... |
11 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 11
10/31-11/06 |
Pretty decent week, but in a good workout on Friday and was able to keep it under control the rest of the time. Tuesday's fartlek wasn't the greatest, but managed to get the legs turned over decently well. Friday's track workout was a really good effort, felt decently fast and ran well without checking the watch. Could have used some more days on grass, but I don't think my legs were adversely affected. The pieces are falling into place. November Miles : 67 |
80 |
| Saturday: |
Walden Pond. It was just Bruce, Fivos and I. Felt pretty good today, wasn't running that fast, kept it pretty relaxed and easy. The ground was pretty well covered with leaves, probably thanks to yesterday's big winds. The leaves were slippery at times, but I didn't have any problems. Pretty low-key day, we all needed just 10M so we stuck together. Covered a fair amount of territory, hit just about every part of the trails. Good day, good for the legs. |
10 |
| Friday PM: |
4x800 2:22, 25, 23, 21 (window 2:17-19); 4x400 65, 4, 5, 5 (window 66-7). Had 200m rest between 8s and 100m between 4s, 200m between the two sets. It was ridiculously windy today, so Coach said just put the effort in the window, if the times don't come. He also made us all run without watches and didn't give splits, so I had no idea where the times were. Thought I was a little faster on the 8s than I turned out to be, but the 4s I felt like I was moving pretty well on. Came through the first 400 of each 8 feeling good, relaxed too much on the second one though, and then dealt with the wind on the backstretch and turned the legs over well coming to the line. In a homage to Nolan I took the shirt off for the fours, needed some help with the get-down speed, despite the 40 degree temps. The wind was blowing a bit worse on the fours, focused on not forcing it while running into the wind, and then once I hit the turn starting to turn the legs over, like I was running downhill. Did a really good job of getting the heels up today, Coach said that I've never looked this fast at the end of a cross season. Cooled down with a BU Loop and then did strides up on the indoor track. Pretty good day, legs pretty much wasted at the end of everything. All this speed really takes it out of me. |
8 |
| Friday AM: |
Orange Line into the Common. Couldn't decide on 3 or 4M this morning, but once I got out the door and rolling, it wasn't a hard decision. Felt pretty good the whole way, legs not that tired. Pretty nice morning, should be ready to roll this afternoon. |
4 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. Brewer and I started out about 6:00 a lap and held it right there, varying between 5:55 and 6:05 the whole time. This is the point in the season where hammering these out won't help anything, so I was content to just run easy and we didn't push anything. On the third one or so a light rain started falling which, coupled with the cool temps, made things a bit colder. Not so bad for running, but we moved the strides inside. Did lunges and lifting afterwards. Feeling really good, we'll see what kind of speed I have tomorrow. |
7 |
| Thursday AM: |
Orange Line. Put in a solid 8 hours last night, legs were really sore last night, feeling a lot better in the morning though. It's been taking awhile to get loosened up in the mornings, but by the end I'm feeling pretty good. |
3 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Freedom Trail to Bunker Hill, back past Bunker Hill Community College. Brewer and I were out of ideas for routes to run, so we headed down Comm Ave to the Common, then picked up the Freedom Trail, ran past the cameras at Fanueil Hall then into the North End, past Old North Church then across the bridge to Bunker Hill. We were at 30 minutes then, so we headed back along the short Castle/Bunker Hill Loop. Decent run, trying not to get too crazy, but the legs are feeling a lot better than they have in the past and running is getting a lot easier, have to be careful not to fly off the handle. Sprint drills afterwards. |
8 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. Feeling alright this morning, HR was at 39BPM last night, slept about 7 hours, gave up on waiting til the end of the election and just went to bed. Regular old morning run. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Fartlek along BC w/o Reservoir. Headed out with Brewer down Comm Ave with the legs feeling pretty solid. 400-500m accelerations, so we hit 70 seconds on and 70 seconds off. Started with the first one just before the dealership, didn't get rolling that quick but kept it moving on the recovery. Brewer was hanging tough through the first half, he started fading when we headed down Beacon though and the rest became slightly slower. Wasn't really looking for a hard workout today, though, so I was happy to relax and work the hills a bit more. Fivos and Carlos wound up making up about 15 seconds on us and catching us a bit before Summit. We started the last one together heading towards the Holiday Inn and things got rolling pretty well. Cooled down back to MIT and did a few strides on the turf. Felt decent today, wound up taking it easy though and wasn't wiped out at all by the end. |
8 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Science. Slept only about 6 hours, but woke up early and was feeling pretty rested. HR was up at 41BPM though, guess I didn't sleep that well. Felt fine on the run though, legs were decently awake, mind was working. Weather's back to normal. |
4 |
| Monday PM: |
Castle Bunker Hill, back through Government Center and down Commonwealth. Feeling alright today, could have really gotten rolling but it's getting to the point of the season where you have to be smarter than that. Workout tomorrow anyways. Ran side by side with Brewer the whole run, putting in some more miles. Lunges and lifting afterwards. |
9 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. Slept a little over seven hours last night, felt pretty good in the morning, HR was at 38BPM overnight. Didn't feel like going down to Science Museum this morning, legs felt pretty good when I was running though. Still a little warm, but yesterday's balmy temps are clearly gone. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Comm Ave, up Summit, twice around the Reservoir, down Beacon, up the long side of Summit, Kenmore Square. This has somehow become my standard Sunday run, I like putting in the miles on that gravel path around the Reservoir. Weather was goregous today, temps pushing 70 at noon when I was running with the sun shining in a clear sky. Legs were a little sore at the start but not as tired as they normally are after a race. I guess that should be encouraging, I must have been pretty recovered from yesterday's race. Was pretty tired climbing up the long side of Summit, but outside of those three minutes I was moving pretyt well the whole way. Didn't hammer at all, but put in a solid day to start off another 80M week. October Miles : 362 |
13 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 10
10/24-10/30 |
Pretty good week, got in a very solid effort at Pizza Relays, the speed is definitely in the legs and I'm feeling stronger than I have in the past. Outside of Wednesday it was just putting in easy, relaxing miles. Everything's coming together pretty well, put together a good enough race at NEWMACs, I'm sure all the pieces will be there when I need them. October Miles : 349 |
80 |
| Saturday: |
NEWMACs, 25:07 for the win. Slept about 7 hours last night, got up and ate breakfast then took a short walk through the parking lot to check out the weather. About 55 degrees with a light mist/rain in the air, very fast weather. Got to the course and warmed up almost immediately. Didn't feel that good on the strides, couldn't get the legs going very fast, but I knew it would be there. Got out behind Pyle and rode him the the 2M mark, then opened up a gap and kept growing it. Satisified with the run, there are some more things I need to work on though, close but not quite there. Cooled down 5M around the course and did a couple strides. Right hip was sore this morning and on the warmup, but it loosened up and didn't give me any problems. |
12 |
| Friday PM: |
Ran the majority of the NEWMAC course. Drove up at 1PM and got to the course by 3:30. Figured the course out decently well, it should be pretty fast, it's basically flat, only a few small bumps here and there. Supposed to be raining tomorrow though, so the ground might be a bit soft. Legs were feeling decently good today, not blazing fast on the strides but it'll be there when I need it. |
4 |
| Friday AM: |
Science Museum. Out the door a bit after 8AM, slept for nearly 8 hours, slept pretty well and woke up feeling a lot better. |
4 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. Brewer and I hit the grass pretty hard at the start and then eased off over the rest of the run. Legs were sore and tired from the start, really dragging ass today, struggling to keep up with John on this one. Calves really sore despite taping the arches yesterday, legs not used to the blazing speed aparently. Finished up with lunges and lifting, then hit the cold whirlpool in an attempt to get the legs cleaned out. |
7 |
| Thursday AM: |
Sciene Museum. HR up to 39BPM, not as much sleep as I would have liked last night, went down to Kenmore for a bit, then stayed up watching it on TV. Still, got pretty well loosened up and the run went pretty well. Calves were killing me when I woke up, but felt alright during the run, not that sore. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Pizza Relay then 5x800m. 4:23; 2:21, 20, 19, 20, 20 (window 2:20-22). Warmed up 2M with my team of Brulois and Rocco, we were pretty confident that we'd be in it at the end. Felt decent on the warm up, I was running the last leg so I had some time during the race to loosen up, got caught up in the race and my leg kind of snuck up on me. Got the baton 100m behind Fivos and Bruce, took off with a 65 feeling pretty good. Slowed to 67 over the next two laps and then rallied to close in 64. Still not able to really get out and hammer out a mile, I'm always trying to settle in. Took off the spikes and jogged 400m before hitting the workout. Was getting out in 34-35, coming through in 69-71 and closing with a strong last lap. The first one went by quickly, didn't even notice the mile in my legs until the last 200m. The second and third ones went pretty well too. Took 200m between intervals, started catching up to other groups, had a chance to chase them down on numbers three and four. Felt really strong through the whole thing, this workout really helped the confidence. Got some good speed work in the legs, definitely the best Pizza Relays I've ever run. Cooled down with a BU Loop and then some on the grass. Drove the winning team out to Arlington to eat at Coach's house, then came home to catch the Bo SOx win the World Championship. |
9 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Science Museum. Sat down and figured out I was going to come up a bit short this week, so it's back to 4-bombs the rest of the week. Pretty uneventful, HR was 38BPM last night. Legs turning over well, didn't notice the extra mile. |
4 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Docks. Brewer and I headed out a little after 5PM. Feeling pretty good, we were moving at a decent clip and talking the whole way. Got into a pretty decent debate and the miles kind of slipped away. Got back to MIT and ran some decent strides. Looking forward to the Pizza Relays tomorrow. |
8 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. Feeling pretty decent, HR was at 37BPM last night, slept about 6 hours. Started wearing a shirt regularly, weather's below 50 in the mornings now. |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
Arboretum. Brewer and I headed out around the perimeter. Kept the pace honest, worked the tops of the hills, but didn't really get rolling. Good run overall, got in some miles on the soft surfaces, legs weren't really tired from the weekend. Weather was nice and cool, low 50s. Lunges and lifting afterwards. |
9 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. Right knee was hurting through the first mile, kind of felt like it did my sophomore year when I got injured during indoors. Thankfully it loosened up, but I've been slacking on the foam roller recently, that will change. Otherwise things are going good, HR averaged 37BPM last night, was able to get it down around 33BPM before I fell asleep. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Down Comm Ave, up Summit then 2x around the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, back along Beacon, up Summit and into Kenmore. Moving pretty well today, took my legs awhile to get moving today, but once I got loosened up the pace started dropping. That basically happened while going around the Reservoir. I'm starting to really like going around that gravel path. As soon as I started today a mist/drizzle started, so it was 50 degrees and a little wet, great weather to be running in. Taking it easy at the start of the run, almost just jogging through the miles, but when it clicked at the Reservoir I opened the legs up a bit more for the rest of the way. Kept it all under control though, didn't blow the doors off of it today. Felt pretty decent going up the long side of Summit, then just kept the pace fast but steady through Kenmore. Wound up hitting 85 minutes round trip. |
13 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 09
10/17-10/23 |
October Miles : 269 |
85 |
| Saturday: |
Walden. Drove out about 10AM today, it was Brewer, Fivos, Carlos, Bruce, Driver and myself. Legs were pretty sore at the start, took some time to get them loosened up. We lost Brewer somewhere, but the rest of us stuck together through 10M and then I added on 2M around Thoreau's cabin. Nice weather this morning, right about 50 degrees. Ran the steeple trails and then over to the Mount Misery area and back around the Pond. Once the legs got loosened up the miles were clipping away and I felt pretty good in general today. Felt like I did a good job of getting yesterday's workout out of the legs. |
12 |
| Friday PM: |
8xWilderness. 2:25, :25, :23, :24, :24, :25, :24, :22 (window 2:26-28). Warmed up 2M with Brewer who was my partner today. Coach paired the team up and we ran the workout as a relay, so my rest was while John was running, and vice versa. We had a handicap of 4:00, so we were the last pair to start. Weren't able to make up as much ground as I thought we would, but I was chasing guys on a couple of the intervals which lead to the slightly faster times. The race was through 6 loops and only the top guys did two more. I was able to catch up to and pass Carlos on #7 and made up about 8 seconds on Khatch on the last one, we finished right together. Very good workout, I was finally able to find some speed during a workout. After the first one I was afraid I'd maybe started out too quick and I was never feeling that smooth, felt like I was jerking around a lot, but the legs came to me and the pace wasn't that devastating. Cooled down just 2M, I'll have to make up that last mile at Walden tomorrow. |
8 |
| Friday AM: |
Orange Line. Legs pretty sore today, good to get them loosened up. |
3 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. |
9 |
| Thursday AM: |
Orange Line. |
3 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Jamaica |
8 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Fartlek at Arboretum. 400-600m intervals, so I did 1:20 hard and took 30-50 seconds break in between. Not moving that fast, or at least it didn't feel that fast. Started out with 2M warm up and then ran 13 intervals and cooled down another 2-3M. Mixed up the terrain today, some hills, some flats, really tried to work on accelerating around the turns. Weather's starting to get a bit colder, very nice for running. |
9 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
Fresh Pond, around the Pond. |
10 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Arboretum. Headed down Comm Ave and picked up the Jamaica Pond loop by the BU bridge.
Followed that around the Pond and headed down the Fens to the Arboretum. Ran around the perimeter a bit, headed down the gravel path to the Forest Hills T stop and back, then looped to the back part of the Arboretum and ran around the perimeter there. Cut through the Bonsai house and back out onto the Fens. Backtracked to Jamaica and finished up the loop, mostly. Ran around the rest of the Pond and back along the regular route, but cut over to run along the Parkway, there's paths in the grass there, and ran on the otherside of the stream back to the T stop. Instead of crossing over there I stuck on the gravel path to Landmark Center, then cut down to Beacon and took that into Kenmore and back home along Comm Ave. All in all a good run, got going a bit before 5PM and the weather was nice and cool, perfect temps for running. The legs kind of came and went, I'd run quickly for a bit and then the pace would slacken, then the legs would catch again and I'd speed up. Not too concerned about forcing a fast pace today though, just letting the miles get run. Need to toss these shoes out and start in on the new ones, they're pretty much worthless now. |
14 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 08
10/10-10/16 |
A solid week with three good workouts. Put in good mileage on Sunday and Monday's workout was fast, could have been harder but accomplished what it was supposed to. Wednesday I was just on, it was one of those workouts where everything just comes together and things feel great. Dragging a bit the next two days, but recovered well enough for another solid workout on Saturday. All the pieces are coming together, the legs are there, are going to be there, I just need to get right between the ears. October Miles : 184 |
85 |
| Saturday: |
Fartlek at USM. Got going a bit before 1PM, which gave me over an hour before the women's race started. Ran the first and last miles of the course as a warmup, the double checked with the Bates coach that I was running the right route. Jogged over to the start and started the watch and the first interval. Went 2:00 hard and 1:00 rest over the 5M course. Feeling good through the first 2M, got a bit more tired after that, and going through the woods was a bit muddy and I was just in trainers so I was slipping a bit. Kept the pace solid though, got in a really good workout and the legs were pretty tired at the end. I thought I ran the course in 27:10, but I checked out part of the course on my cooldown and I cut out about 400m of the course, so I'd say it was closer to 28:20. After the workout I cooled down 2M alone and then ran with the team on their 2M warmup. Good workout, I was feeling really good out there. |
11 |
| Friday PM: |
Fresh Pond. Started practice at 4PM today, everybody else was going short so I headed off alone. Feeling pretty good, the run slipped by pretty quickly. Starting to think a lot more about Regionals and Nationals, it's coming along slowly but I feel like I'm making good progress. Legs feeling fine today, a pretty uneventful run overall. |
7 |
| Friday AM: |
Orange Line. Only slept about 5 hours last night, but the HR was down at 39BPM. Cool and raining a bit this morning, felt pretty good on the run. Hopefully there'll be a break in all this work and I'll be able to sleep a bit sometime. |
3 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. It was myself and Fivos at the start, but Brewer met us before the end of the first lap. After three laps I picked the pace up slightly and took off alone, the other guys were holding back because of their race I think. Feeling decent out there, legs a bit fatigued from yesterday but I was moving pretty well. Got to the 7th lap and had to use the Port-A-John, from there my legs started to get pretty heavy. Ran the rest of the laps with Brewer and Fivos, the fatigue kind of came on me out of nowhere, the last lap was really a struggle, compared to the first 8. Wound up on the indoor track for lunges and lifting. Need to get some sleep. |
8 |
| Thursday AM: |
Grass Loops. The early morning meetings for the Athletics Department have started up again, so I was at the ZCenter at 7:30 and able to run about 9:30AM today. Beautiful morning, sunny and warm enough. Legs were feeling alright, despite the lack of the sleep the past couple days. Got myself into a really good mindset and didn't want to stop when I got to 4M. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Workout at Franklin Park. Mile 1 4:45 (window 4:46), Mile 2 5:05 (window 5:06); 4xWilderness 2:29, 28, 32, 29 (window 2:26-28). Warmed up 2M and my legs felt like absolute crap. Couldn't get the legs turned over at all and I was preparing for a rough go of it. Got off the line well and the legs were moving so I kept it rolling. Started putting the hammer down around the stadium, and again up the little rise by the field. Came through dead on pace and feeling pretty good still. Didn't get out that well on the next one though, not focused until I hit Bearcage. Climbed it decently well but was still a bit behind pace. Had to really hammer from the backstop through the mile mark to make the window. Recovered pretty well by the start of the Wilderness, got out well but the long straight in the woods got to me and I couldn't hit the pace, had to pick it up a lot through the line. Got out a bit better on the second one and came through barely in the window. Just not focused on the third one, thought I was moving well but wound up slow. Ran decently well on the final loop though, happy with how they went on the whole. Could feel flashes of speed in the legs finally, but it's still not right there, going to have to dig it out a bit. Cooled down with the first 3M of the course backwards, then a couple strides. Pretty tired at the end of this one, the rest was sufficient but the fast pace got to me and took it out of my legs. Think I should be alright though, didn't go to the well too much today, but still a very solid workout. |
9 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. HR at 39BPM last night, slept 7+ hours. I slept about 20 minutes longer than I should have though, so I was pretty rushed this morning. Legs were very tired and clunky at the start this morning, but loosened up quickly and by the time I turned off Mass Ave I was moving along well. Nice weather this morning, got the miles in at a fast clip. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Ocean. On the easy days it's Brewer, Fivos and myself, so we headed down Mass Ave at a decent clip but nothing too hard. Brewer was concerned about being able to run this route without hammering, but Fivos and I did a decnet job of keeping the pace under control. Legs were feeling alright and we probably could have gotten rolling decently but we all wanted to be fresh for the workout tomorrow, so we kept it right around 6:20s I'd guess. Brewer turned off somewhere along Newbury, and got to Mass Ave a bit ahead of us. Fivos and I dropped it down to 6:00s across the bridge to get a bit ahead of him, we all wound up back at the track about the same time. Felt pretty good on the strides, able to get the legs turned over relatively well, hopefully I'll have some more speed in the Wilderness tomorrow. The Internet connection at the house is still down, some problem with Verizon and our T1, so updating isn't the easiest thing in the world right now. |
9 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. HR at 41BPM last night, but didn't get all that much sleep, not even 6 hours. Felt decent on the run, it was cold and raining a bit and I was in a hurry so it went by pretty quickly. |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
Tempo Run at Franklin Park. Didn't have classes today so we took off at 3PM. The group is just down to myself, but Coach wanted Brewer to run the workout with me. We put in a 2M warmup and wound up at the starting line for the first 3:00 section. Since John's legs weren't feeling too good we wound up taking nearly 3:00 rest after each interval, but I was ready to get rolling after 1:00 or 1:30, so I was feeling really good during each interval. After the first 3 intervals I could feel that Brewer was more or less on the ropes, and after that I started pulling away from him after 1:30 on the last 3 intervals. Cut the rest down to 1:30 before the last one, hit the finish line at 28:17 and continued on into the Wilderness. Wound up moving pretty well through the last one, Brewer came with me on short rest so he was out the back door pretty quickly. Cooled down another 2.5M or so afterwards, then headed back to MIT to lift. Wound up being a pretty long day. |
10 |
| Monday AM: |
Longfellow Loop. Headed out a bit after 9AM and put in some easy miles with Kathryn. Nice morning and we just relaxed along the river, legs were feeling pretty good finally. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Watertown-Harvard Bridge Loop. Kathryn decided to ride my bike alongside me today, so we chose the easy route. Nice to have some company for a change. Took off a little after noon, took my time getting up to speed, still a bit sore but I got the legs rolling eventually. By the time I made the turn at Watertown we had been rolling for awhile. Picked the pace up slightly on the other side of the river as we started picking people off. Saw Brewer down by Harvard, but he was his usual anti-social self and went past without much acknowledgement. Wound up being a bit longer than I though it was going to be, hit 100 minutes total, so I'm pretty sure it was up at 15M. |
15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 07
10/03-10/09 |
Week of lower mileage, but put in a couple of good workouts, so I think it'll work out well. Didn't race as well as I wanted too though, legs were heavy and I couldn't get rolling. Looking forward to bumping the mileage back up though. Going to take a few weeks off of racing now, just planning on putting in some solid workouts and biding my time. October Miles : 99 |
75 |
| Saturday: |
Kathryn's in town, so I decided not to run at all this weekend. Wait, that's a different guy. Headed out down Commonwealth to the Reservoir, did two laps around the top of the levee and then headed back down Beacon, with a trip up the long side of Summit. Legs were pretty wasted today, couldn't get rolling really. Going pretty slow most of the time, hit 80+ minutes at Mass Ave so I finished up with some strides back to the house. Not too worried about it though, figure it's just left over from the race, even though I slept a whole bunch last night. |
12 |
| Friday: |
NEIAAA at Franklin Park. Wound up in 17th place after running 25:17. The legs were pretty heavy this morning, but I was ready to roll by the time we got to the line. Got out well but after 2M couldn't move up at all, held on until the fifth mile and then started rolling with Brigham and Lacey. Cooled down 3M afterwards with Los during the subvarsity race, then did lunges and headed back home to lift. Long day, not as successful as I would have hoped for though. |
10 |
| Thursday: |
Grass Loops. Kathryn's flight got here late, so I had to rush to make it to practice. Met the rest of the group on the Grass Loops, which meant I had to run an extra one alone. Taking it easy today, legs were really sore and really heavy. A little concerned about tomorrow, but I was feeling decent on the strides, so I wasn't that concerned. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
3x1M 4:53 (window 4:50), 5:06 (5:10), 4:59 (5:00); 2xWilderness 2:30, 2:32 (2:26-28). Brewer was still sick so it was just Khatch and I today. Got out decently but was dropping Khatch so I was concerned that I was getting out too fast, but came through a bit slow. From there I pretty much just went out on my own and didn't worry about Eric at all. Came through the second mile well and the third just came to me. Didn't have enough speed in the Wilderness Loops though, missed the window pretty horribly though. Cooled down a couple miles with Brewer and Khatch afterwards, the legs weren't too junked up though.
| 10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. Legs incredibly junked up. Sore. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Docks with Fivos and sometimes with Brewer. John kept running away and then stopping and waiting for us. Fivos and I just kept it slow and steady though, didn't really pay him much mind. Got the legs loosened up a lot though, feeling better at the end of the run. |
8 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. HR at 42BPM. Legs pretty sore after yesterday, took awhile to get the legs turned over. What else is new? |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
Fartlek at Arboretum. 8x1:45. Running with Khatch and Los. Carlos and I were leading the majority of them and I was pulling away near the end of most. Made an effort to get up the hills and I was taking the polka dot jersey from Los today. He hung tough on number 6 climbing up the winding hill, but outside of that one I was in control most of the time. Recovering really quickly but didn't cut the rest too short. |
9 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. HR at 40BPM. Legs pretty sore, unable to get things moving this morning. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Walden. Drove out to Walden Pond with a couple guys, wound up just running with Fivos for 9M before he stopped and I added on a few miles. We found some new trails and ran some of them for most of the run, rolled my ankle once. When Fivos stopped I went off and found the steeple trail, that helped get the legs turned over. Wasn't running all that fast today, Fivos and I were just covering ground, glad to get it in on soft surfaces today, and to get it over with early in the day. |
13 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 06
9/26-10/02 |
Good week, glad to be racing again. Got in some good workouts, a nice fartlek on Monday with Brewer on my shoulder and then another good one on Friday doing Wilderness Loops and leading the group by a few seconds. I think I managed the week pretty well, took the mileage days relatively easy and didn't trash my legs during the workouts. The week was really frontloaded to deal with only running 4M on Thursday, the week would have been closer to 90 were it not for that day. Things are coming together just as I hoped they would. October Miles : 24 |
80 |
| Saturday: |
Out and back along the Chippewa River Trail. We were leaving for the airport at 7AM so Fivos, Carlos, Brewer and I headed out at 5AM to get the miles in before travelling. It was roughly 35 degrees at the start of the run, but after 5 minutes or so I got warmed up. Glad I brought the long sleeve Nike shirt with me. We were lucky to get clear skies and were able to run by the moonlight, really no problems at all and a good run overall. Brewer pulled away a couple times but came back to us and after Fivos turned back Carlos John and I pretty much hung together the rest of the way. Turned around at 39:00 and picked up the pace a bit. Legs were still a bit fatigued and I didn't feel like trying to blow it open. I'd guess we were clipping of 6:15s or so on the way home. Got back in just over 35 minutes, so it was probably a little short, but nothing too drastic. A very enjoyable time this morning, nothing's quite as satisfying as being done with your run for the day at 6:30 in the morning. Time for a long day of travelling. |
12 |
| Friday: |
PreNationals, 25:49 for 3rd place. Woke up at 8AM and the sun was still out, but by 10 it was raining. Left for the course at 1:30 and got there at 2PM for our 3PM race. Headed down the road for the warmup instead of running on the wet course. The legs were tired about halfway through the workout and I was worried about a repeat of Alumni, but I blew it open pretty well at the end of the warmup and I was feeling good during strides. The rain made it a bit cold standing around but it was fine during the race. Got out well, was in the top 10 after 400m and top 5 at the 1k. At the mile it was Winder and his teammate, the kid from Emory and myself. Winder pulled away and the kind from Emory, the kid from Bethel and I duked it out over the last 2M. Ran alright, I was feeling really good through the first mile but by the 3M mark I was pretty tired, don't know exactly what happened. Ran my legs off over the last mile and held onto third place. Cooled down for 5M around the course during the subvarsity race and then ran a couple strides. Picked up my TShirt at the awards ceremony and then headed home for lunges and a warm shower. Really happy with how this day went. |
12 |
| Thursday: |
Whitetail Golf Course. Walked the first 1k and then started jogging. Had a long trip out to Eau Claire, after not much sleep last night. Had 4 hours of sleep, got to the airport at 7:15 and got to the hotel at 3:30. Managed to grab another hour of sleep on the plane but the legs were heavy from the start. Loosened up a bit but wasn't ever feeling good. Got a good view of the course though, it's rolling but should be pretty quick tomorrow. Got the legs moving a bit on the strides afterwards, but my left hamstring was still a bit tight so I didn't get them turned over fully. Still, I feel like I'm ready for a good one tomorrow. Planning on getting a bit more sleep tonight than I normally would the night before, but we're racing at 3PM so I should be ok. Weather forecast shows thunderstorms and rain tomorrow, could be pretty messy out there. September Miles : 372 |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
6xWilderness at Franklin Park. 2:34, 33, 30, 34, 28, 29 (window 2:26-28) with 1:45 rest. Headed out to the park at 4PM, it stopped raining sometime around noon but the ground was still pretty soggy. The Wilderness Loop wasn't that bad though, a couple standing puddles but no problems with the footing. When we got to Franklin the clouds finally parted and we had sunlight for a bit. Everybody not going to PreNationals had a hard mile before the Wilderness, so the 9 guys going to WI tomorrow waited in the van for 10 minutes or so, in order to start the Wilderness loops at the same time. Felt alright during the 2M warmup but never really got the legs turned over during strides. I finally found a Port-A-John and jumped in that, but by the time I got out all the other groups had started the workout, so A was the last to get rolling. Khatch jumped out to the lead on the first one and Coach had cautioned against going too hard today so I was cautious and wound up finishing a second behind Eric. After that one I took the lead on all the rest and pretty much ran this workout alone. By number three we were catching some of the other groups and that got my legs moving a bit more. On number four my foot slipped at the start and I started feeling my left hamstring and was a bit too cautious. Number five we started right behind Group B and I worked my way past them. On the last one I just got the legs moving and tried to keep it rolling without extending myself. Legs were feeling really good today, I think the warmup was lacking though, because I didn't get rolling until a couple were under my belt, but I hadn't started running any harder. The rest was plenty, I was feeling fresh at the start of each interval and wasn't very tired at the end. Cooled down for half an hour to bump the mileage up a bit. Hamstring was a bit tight on the downhill strides, but I made a point of stretching it out and foam rolling it, so I should be ok. |
10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line into the Common. The rain hasn't left us yet, not quite as cold this morning though. Felt decent this morning, trying to figure out all the things I need to take care of before the flight tomorrow morning. Not much more to say, I guess, I'm just wanting to race. |
4 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Castle Bunker Hill. It rained all day today and Group A hit the roads about 5:30, after talking about PreNats a bit with Coach. Once we got moving the weather wasn't a problem, it wasn't raining all that hard anyways. Brewer broke away early and then it was Fivos and me at the front, with Carlos, Brulois and Eric right on our heels. Brewer waited for us at Bunker Hill and we took the Freedom Trail back to the Fleet Center then up Beacon Hill, past the State House and through the Common, Public Garden and Comm Ave Mall. Carlos added on a BU Loop but the rest of us headed across the Mass Ave bridge then did strides and stretching up on the indoor track. Pretty good day, we kept the pace reasonable and my legs were feeling good. On the strides afterwards my left hamstring was a little tight, it had been this morning too. Probably just from doing faster than normal stuff yesterday but I'll keep an eye on it. |
9 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Science Museum. Woke up and it was raining, wasted some time before heading out the door, but felt pretty good on the run. Only slept 6+ hours and the HR was at 42, but I like running in the rain and it felt good today. Really starting to get ready for Friday. |
4 |
| Monday PM: |
Fartlek along the River. Went 9x1:45 and ran down to Arsenal. Feeling really good today, working with Brewer by my side for pretty much the entire time. Coach wanted us to hold back a bit because the race is coming up on Friday already, so I didn't blow the doors off, but the legs were moving so smoothly today I just felt very powerful. Had enough speed to pick it up right at the start and enough strength to hold the pace the entire interval. It was mainly John and I with Khatch and Carlos a couple strides behind. Felt good on strides and lunges, and then went up and lifted. Pretty long day today, but a good one. |
10 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. Only slept about 6 hours last night, surprised the HR was down around 40. Pretty tired when I woke up and it took awhile for that to go away. Not the greatest of morning runs but no problems during it either. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Comm Ave to the Reservoir, 2 laps around the levee, home down Beacon with a detour up the long side of Summit. Legs still feeling pretty tired today, especially on the way up Summit 60 minutes into the run. Heading down Comm Ave I was pretty relaxed and just focusing on covering ground and thinking about Friday's race. Saw Farrell on his bike by Uno's. Going around the Reservoir was pretty nice, warm and sunny today. Not that good of a run really, just putting in miles and trying not to work too hard since the legs were still pretty sore, lots of lactic acid built up that yesterday didn't take care of, for whatever reason. Hit 79:00 at Mass Ave so I shut it down and finished with some strides down Commonwealth. |
12 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 05
9/19-9/25 |
Good solid week. Cut the mileage a bit this week, didn't really affect the way I ran though. I'm sure that over the next few weeks it'll pay off and I'll be ready to roll. Happy with how the workout went at the Arboretum, would have liked to have taken shorter rests but I didn't want to blow Brulois away the whole workout. Rest of the weeks was pretty unexciting until Friday. That may have been my best workout at MIT. Able to control the rest and really push the envelope with that one, my legs are feeling great and I know I'm ready to lace 'em up again. September Miles : 316 |
85 |
| Saturday: |
Fresh Pond around the Pond. Waited a long time to get out the door today, didn't leave until almost 6. Legs were pretty sore today and never got loosened up. Moving at a pretty good clip though, thinking about the upcoming races. Really nice weather though, had a good time and got the legs turning over a bit. Surprised that the legs never came to me at all today, really thought I'd find a groove and be able to roll. Able to deal with it though, the run didn't seem to last that long. |
12 |
| Friday PM: |
Build your own 8k. 2M 9:49, rest 3:48, 1M 4:51, rest 2:20, 1M 4:50, rest 2:42, 800m 2:18, 2:10, 800m 2:18. Wound up covering 5M in 24:06, total time was 35:15. Going into this I was shooting for 24:00 in 40:00, but after I watched Brewer run 24:17 in 40:53 I started thinking I could run faster. Coach told us to cut down the cumulative time instead of blowing the window away. I strapped on the HR monitor and decided to cut the rest down to where the HR was down around 130BPM. I came with the following plan: 2M in 9:50, 2x1M in 4:52, 4:50, 2x800m in 2:16, 2:15. Feeling really poor on the warmup, couldn't get my legs turned over on the strides at all, but I was confident on the line. Started at the same time as Khatch, Carlos and Brulois and took the lead off the line. The three of them planned on working together and I was going to run a bit faster so I was on my own. Came through 800m in 2:30 and then started dropping the pace down to 73s. Hit halfway in 4:55 with the rest of the group not too far behind. Took a bit to get moving after the first 800m but I was able to run down Driver and Fivos who had started before us, so that got the legs moving. Fivos came back on me over the last 200m, which kept me moving through the line. Took 400m rest and I was feeling good enough to get started again. Expected to be feeling a little sore so I wound up running the first lap in 71 because that's what it took to get my legs sore. From there I bounced the pace around some but pulled it together on the last lap. After the first 3M I was 2 seconds below pace and feeling good. Took about 200m rest and got back on the line. I was running behind Group C and didn't get rolling enough on the first lap, came through in 74-75. From there I got moving and passed the group and kept moving, but had to drop a 70 on the last lap to hit 4:50 and wasn't able to. So I entered the 800s right back on pace for 24:03 but was lacking speed over 2 laps. Got out decently but relaxed on the 2nd 200 and came through in 70, able to hammer down on the final lap and bring it through in 2:18. Took another 200m rest, maybe a bit too much but I wanted to be able to get rolling on the final half. Got away well and brought it through in 68 but faded a bit on the penultimate lap and wasn't able to hold pace. Pretty happy with how the workout went, given where we are in the season. I expected to have a bit more speed in my legs but wasn't able to put it together in the 8s. Coming in I was expecting that I'd be able to really cut the rest down, I've been recovering really well in the previous workouts, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get out there on my own and put together a 9:50 and then a couple of 4:50s but it came together well today. Great confidence booster, ready to get rolling next week, finally get to lace up the spikes again. Cooled down 3M on the grass with Carlos and Khatch. Hamstrings pretty tight on strides, but I got them in and was actually moving pretty quick. Jumped into the cold whirlpool and eventually got the courage to sit down for about 12 minutes. Hopefully I'll be feeling good tomorrow. Great workout for the whole team really, just about everybody put it together today. |
10 |
| Friday AM: |
Orange Line into the Common. Only slept 6 hours last night, woke up with the HR at 42 and feeling pretty rundown. Worked for a bit before heading out the door for this one. Felt pretty clunky this morning, never got smoothed out, almost just brute forcing this one. |
4 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. The group was together for this one, but Fivos and Carlos stopped after just 6M and Brulois stopped a lap later. That left just Khatch and myslef, but I stopped pretty shortly after that and he kept on. Legs feeling alright today, not doing anything more than covering ground though. Sped up throughout the entire run but didn't really feel like getting rolling. Felt decently quick on the strides then did lunges and watched Brewer finish demolishing his workout. Middle of a long day, had to skimp on the lifting in order to get to Fenway for the Sox game. |
8 |
| Thursday AM: |
Orange Line. What's there to say? Same old. Another 7 hours, a bit harder to fall asleep last night, not really sure why. Took awhile to get the legs going, but feeling pretty good by the end. Looking forward to tomorrow. |
3 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Ocean. Pretty warm out today, got in some good miles with the group. Fivos was with us for a few miles and that got the pace rolling along pretty well. Once he turned back we eased off a bit and Brewer was gone. From KFC on it was Carlos and Brulois and I, keeping the pace relaxed and talking. Stopped for a couple minutes as Brulois ran into a Shell station then headed through Back Bay to MIT. Felt pretty good on the strides, no ill effects of yesterday. Nice, easy day. |
9 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. Slept about 7 and the HR was at 39. Feeling alright this morning, pretty typical run. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Hill Fartlek at Arboretum. 2:00 hard, :50-2:20 rest. Just Brulois and I today, everybody else was running later on their own. Feeling pretty decent today, didn't feel like I got rolling that much, and wasn't nearly wiped out at the end of the workout. Warmed up 2M over to the back half of the Arboretum and got started with a quality effor that was pretty tired. Aimed at incorporating a hill into each effort and trying to keep the rest short. Got in a couple fast ones in the regular part of the Arboretum and Kevin was hanging tough through #4. Over the next 4 he started dropping off the back, but never more than 50m. Did #6 counterclockwise around the back half of the Arboretum, which wound up being nearly entirely uphill and was much more tiring that I anticipated. Wanted to cut the rest down to under a minute but didn't feel like putting Kevin through that would have been entirely fair. Did 8 efforts with Brulois and then added on 2 more alone, with rest of 1:00 and :50 on those. That put me right about 8M so I only cooled down a meager mile and got in some strides. This was a solid workout and made me feel like I'm ready for a good one on Friday. |
9 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. Slept about 7 hours and the HR was at 40BPM overnight. Was pretty tired when I woke up, really didn't want to get out of bed. Felt good on the run though, probably because I did about an hour of work or so before getting out the door. Felt looser and more awake than normal. |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
Jamaica. The group has gotten pretty big, it was Khatch, Carlos, Brulois and Fivos on this one. Didn't get started until 5:30 or so, but I was feeling good once we got going. We were running pretty relaxed all the way around the Pond, didn't push the pace until we got to that hill coming off the Pond where I opened it up a bit. Didn't get too crazy, which is good, but just about everybody took a turn leading the group after that. Rolled into MIT for some strides and lifting. |
8 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line. Pretty tired in general this morning, only slept 6 hours but the HR was down at 39BPM so I should be OK. Legs felt fine, no reason to expect them to be tired since yesterday wasn't that tough. Cutting the mileage back to 85 for this week. |
3 |
| Sunday: |
Modified Reservoir. Slept about 9 hours then got up and wasted some time before heading out the door about noon. Wound up missing the first quarter of the Packers game because of my procrastination. Feeling pretty good today, weather was beautiful, low 60s and sunny. Headed down Commonwealth and then the usual detour up Summit Ave. Got to the Reservoir and went around once, then noticed that they've opened up a gravel path along the top of the levee that circles the Reservoir, so I did my second loop on that path. Pretty nice running there, feel a bit secluded and the ground is soft. Headed back home down Beacon and went up the long side of Summit then headed home. Wound up being a long 13M, did a couple strides down Comm Ave and was feeling good. Legs felt pretty fresh today, despite yesterday's workout. Things have been coming along nicely. |
13 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 04
9/12-9/18 |
Pretty happy with how this week went. Got in good volume and two solid workouts, and a fast long run on Sunday. I felt like both workouts were not as devastating as they could be, probably taking too much rest on both of them. Really feeling a lot better this week as compared to last week. I've got 2 more weeks to put in some solid work without having to worry about racing. Feel like I'm making good progress, getting into shape. September Miles : 231 |
90 |
| Saturday: |
Fartlek at UMass-Dartmouth. Got to the course about 9AM and the Sub-Varsity race didn't start until 10:30, so I had plenty of time for the workout. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan were pummeling us with a bunch of rain. The course was pretty nice when I was running on it though, but I'm sure once guys ran through in spikes it'd get ripped up. Almost bailed a couple times, but if I'd had spikes on I don't think it would have been a problem at all. Started with a 2M warmup by running out and back on the first mile. Went to the starting line and started the workout, 2:00 hard, with decreasing rest. Gave myself 2:00 rest on the first two, then cut it down to 1:30 for a couple and over the final 2M cut it down again to 1:00. The way I was feeling today though I was all recovered after a minute and ready to roll again. Probably should have started with less rest right away, but I was concerned that I'd dig myself into a hole like last week Tuesday's fartlek with Khatch. The only bad hard one I had was right before the 3M mark when it felt like my heart was about to explode. Not sure exactly what it was, some kind of cramp or something. But the legs were feeling great the whole time, and the cramp went away after that bad one. Covered the course (a little shorter than 5M this year because of construction) in 28:17 and then ran another 3M to get the legs stretched out. Watched Fivos "More Uzo" Constantinou dominate the last mile and then ran around with them checking out the Varsity race to add on another mile. Very glad to get in the shower after all that time in the rain. Good workout, good day, but today's meet showed we've got some more work to do as a team if we're going to do everything we want to this season. |
11 |
| Friday PM: |
Docks. Everybody was doing their meet warmup so I headed out on my own. Didn't get rolling too much today, legs a little tired so I just put the miles in. Was afraid I'd need a pit stop so I wore my shirt, but that got heavy and I was sweating too much, so 30 minutes in I wrapped it on my head, a la P-Rock. Nothing much of anything happening during the run, but I was feeling really good on the strides. |
8 |
| Friday AM: |
Orange Line. Slept about 7 hours and the HR was at 42BPM, but I was pretty tired in the morning. Spent some time finishing some things before heading out the door, got through the run alright though. Pretty boring run. |
3 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. Just Carlos and I today, Khatch was in the pool again and Brewer gapped up pretty quick. The first half of the run passed pretty quickly as Los and I talked about upcoming races, then it the run started getting long. Hitting 5:50-6:00 a lap the whole time, just running easy and recouperating from yesterday. Legs pretty fatigued by the end, but that may have been just from the boring route. Felt OK on the strides, but the hamstrings were a bit sore. Lunges and lifting afterwards. Then 12 minutes in the cold whirlpool. |
9 |
| Thursday AM: |
Orange Line into the Common. Slept another 8 hours last night, HR at 39BPM. Suprised that I didn't feel yesterday's workout this morning, legs were pretty fresh from the start. Never got fully loosened up, but probably just because it's the morning. Things are going pretty well right now. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
5xmile over the Franklin Park course, with 4:00 between miles. 4:55 (target 4:55), 5:06 (5:15), 5:02 (5:05), 5:07 (5:15), 4:48 (4:50). Pretty relaxed workout, actually. Running with Brewer and Carlos, no Khatch because of his Achilles. The first one felt a bit fast at times, but after that I was clipping through the miles and getting good turnover and just feeling great. Could have been a lot tougher had the rest not been so long, I was pretty much recovered by the time we lined up again. The three of us threw ourselves at Bearcage the first time up, resulting in the quick time. We didn't get quite so crazy the rest of the workout, but I could feel a bunch more speed in my legs that I wasn't using. We stayed pretty tightly packed through mile 3, Brewer got a bit of a lead on #4 because Carlos and I took a longer route around an obstruction, but we closed that gap in the middle of the Wilderness. Carlos and I finished 2 seconds ahead of Brewer on the final mile, but in all we were pretty closely matched today. Cooled down 3M backwards on the course, I guess a week can make a pretty big difference. |
10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. Need to work on getting out the door sooner after I wake up. Felt decent this morning, legs were going from the start, didn't have to wait for them to come to me this morning. Slept about 8 with the HR down at 37BPM overnight. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Ocean. Feeling decent today, wanted to go Fresh, but Brewer suggested Ocean and I couldn't argue with that. Of course, John was long gone after 10 minutes so it was just Khatch and myself, and Eric wasn't in much of a talking mood. Stayed relaxed and didn't really ever push the pace. Just past Tremont Street Eric and I split up, I was unaware that he takes a different route and looked back and he was gone. Got back for some strides and headed home. Feeling really quick on the strides, legs had good turnover, looking for good things from tomorrow's workout. |
9 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Science Museum. Nothing special today, don't have class until 2:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I have a lot of free time and didn't get out the door until 10AM, have to stop wasting all this time. HR down at 39 today, slept about 8 hours. |
4 |
| Monday PM: |
Arboretum. Pretty large group today, Ethan and Craig joined myself, Carlos and Khatch, and Brewer would fall back and run with us a bit too. Nothing momentous happening today, just a solid 10 miler on soft surfaces at a decent pace. Not hammering, not even close, but managed to work in a couple of good hills, so the run took it out of me a bit. Strides felt pretty good then did lunges and lifted back at MIT. Fivos said to take Iron and Vitamin C (to aid the iron uptake,) so I started that tonight. |
10 |
| Monday AM: |
Orange Line into the Common. Feeling pretty stiff this morning, but got loosened up as the run progressed. Typical AM effort, never really got into it, but it felt short at the end. Found out that everything came up normal on the blood test, but my hematocrit was at 38% and the normal range is 40-50% so I'm starting on EPO this afternoon. I wish. Just going to add some iron supplements for a while and focus on eating more meat. |
4 |
| Sunday: |
Comm Ave to the Johnny Kelly statue. Took off a bit before 11 and met Khatch at the BU Bridge. We were moving solidly on the way out, not hammering at all but clipping off some good miles, averaged about 6:30s. The way back things got rolling a whole lot more, but I'm not sure who's fault that was. Either way, we picked the pace up a bit as soon as we turned around, and really worked it on the way up Heartbreak Hill. Then we hit BC right as a train was pulling away, and Eric wanted to race it back to Kenmore, so he started sprinting away. That lead to a faster pace for the rest of the run. Needless to say, we were moving pretty well the rest of the way back, with Eric a couple strides ahead until BU when he started dropping back a bit. According to his SDM we were clipping off 5:30s for most of the run, which I pretty much agree with. Maybe not quite so fast, but there were some sustained downhills, so who knows. Hit 47 on the way out and 41:30 on the way back. Maybe a bit short of 15M but I didn't bother adding on. |
15 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 03
9/05-9/11 |
This week was good and bad. Started out with a good run on Sunday that had me feeling confident about what was coming up, but then I totally tanked the workout on Tuesday. Took the rest of the week pretty easy, just trying to recover and managed to hit a good workout on Friday. I think I was just in a rut from being tired and running some pretty high mileage, but I have no way of proving that. We'll see what the blood tests show on Monday, but I doubt it'll be anything worse than slight deficiencies, at the worst. September Miles : 141 |
92 |
| Saturday: |
RPI's course. The bus didn't show up so the men's team had to ride vans out to RPI, not a fun trip and I was pretty stiff when we got there. Showed up a bit late, too, so I didn't have as much time to get the run in as I wanted. Wound up putting in a good 8M by just running different parts of the course, then watched the guys race and put in another 2+M with them on their cooldown. Just trying to get some mileage in, although only running 10M today feels like I'm slacking. |
10 |
| Friday PM: |
8x1000y Grass Loops. 2:51, 57, 53, 53, 53, 56, 55, 51 (window 2:45.) Most of the guys were doing meet warmups and getting ready for the race, but Fivos and I hit the standard 2M loop and did a couple strides before hitting this workout. It was a bit windy out so I was nowhere near the windows, which I think were a bit fast anyways. Ran the first one in 2:51 and Coach said I shouldn't be killing myself to hit the window, especially if it's too windy. Relaxed too much on the second one though, thought I was running fast because I was feeling good. After that I started hammering down at the start and kept it steady throughout. Was a bit afraid to run the first ones too fast and then die, a la Tuesday. But I felt good the whole time, don't know what changed, but I didn't have any problems maintaining the fast pace. Cooled down for 3M on the grass, running pieces of it with Maltas and Fivos. |
10 |
| Friday AM: |
Orange Line. Running a bit behind today, but able to get in a decent run in the morning. Like most mornings I was pretty stiff until 10 minutes in or so when I eventually loosened up. Headed over to MIT Medical where they gave me a quick physical and then took some blood to run tests, I'll find out Monday if anything's up. |
3 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. Khatch and I started out a bit slow on the first loop then dropped it down to 5:50s, give or take, until the last two or three when the pace dropped again down to 5:40s. Eric stopped after 8M so I added on an extra loop by myself to get the mileage up. Not feeling too bad today, we'll see how things turn out tomorrow. |
9 |
| Thursday AM: |
Orange Line into the Common. Still pretty tired when I woke up this morning, got out the door about 10AM and the legs loosened up pretty nicely. Tom is setting up an appointment with MIT Medical so we can make sure I'm not anemic. I really think the problem is largely in my head, but if I'm deficient in anything it's smart to catch it soon. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Reservoir plus Summit with Khatch. Brewer started with us but quickly took off on a faster pace. Just plugging through this run today, wanting to get the miles in and recover from yesterday. Didn't feel too bad, stopped at the Holiday Inn to use the facilities before finishing off the run. Khatch was with me stride for stride today, we hit the track and headed over for our FSQ. He got out hauling in 26 or something, I was eating him up down the homestretch but he held me off, :57 to :58. Need to develop some get down speed. |
10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Orange Line. First day of class and I slept 45 minutes longer than I wanted to, so I had to go short this morning. Legs really tired at the start, but by the time I got to the Mass Ave stop they had loosened up. It was raining off and on so I was pretty soaked by the end of the run but it actually felt pretty good and woke me up a bit. Slept 6+ hours and the HR was at 41BPM. |
3 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Fartlek with Khatch. Showed up late because of a meetin on Reg Day, so everybody was gone by the time we took off. Headed out to Arsenal along the Esplanade. Workout was 2:30 hard with up to 2:30 rest. Apparently we got rolling pretty quick on the first couple, so we made a point of backing off on #3 and 4. The past couple races haven't been a fluke, it would seem, because Khatch was handing my ass to me today. Don't know why I was dragging but after just a minute at pace I'd start falling off and couldn't catch up. He got away on #5 and nothing changed on the rest of them. He was able to accelerate a lot better than I was and was beating me at the start of each one, and then just kept pulling away. Don't know why this workout went so poorly for me, I was getting fatigued easily and then wasn't able to hold the pace on tired legs, even though I should be have been able to. Can't figure out if the problem is mental or physical, but it needs to be resolved soon. Felt pretty good on strides afterwards though, once the legs got loosened up again I was able to move pretty easily. |
10 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Orange Line. Headed out with a bunch of freshman today, Chris Bruce, Lucas, Stafl, Grant and Rocco. Was feeling pretty good and kept it relaxed the whole way. Legs not too tired, put in another 6 hours last night, HR at 39BPM. |
3 |
| Monday PM: |
Arboretum. Took a lot of effort to get to the park, but once I got there everything went swimmingly. Hooked up with Khatch and Brewer in the second part of the Arboretum and put in the rest of the miles with them. Legs pretty tired today, didn't sleep that much last night although the HR was down at 40BPM. Worked on topping the hills and only climbed the Big Green Hill once, but I didn't have anything in them today. Not a big deal though because the emphasis is on tomorrow's fartlek, need to make sure I'm prepped for that one. |
9 |
| Monday AM: |
Longfellow plus some extra around the Back Bay. Started this run with Brewer a bit before midnight, he was putting in his Sunday miles and I wanted to avoid getting up early on Monday. Feeling alright, but he was feeling a bit better than me, it appeared. I was keeping up fine though and kept the pace respectable when I turned off down Mass Ave. Not much happening, really. |
4 |
| Sunday: |
Met Nolan at 8:30 for some miles. Headed out on Ocean and then hooked up with Docks to the Fleet Center, then to Bunker Hill and wound through Cambridge back to MIT. My first time connecting Ocean with Docks so we ran along the beach a bit longer than necessary and wound up at Fort Independence with nowhere to go, so we back tracked and made it to the World Trade Center eventually. The Boston Triathlon was going on, so we ran along the course and saw some bikers. Feeling pretty good the whole time, pace was decent but not aggressive. Ran up to Bunker Hill and then Nolan showed me a new way to hook up with the Castle route by turning right at Bunker Hill Community College. It was becoming apparent that this would be a bit longer, but I wasn't too concerned. Legs were feeling good and I slept a good amount last night. Wound up running 1:48 or so, so I feel confident calling it 17M. Talking with Coach about skipping a couple races and just training, introducing some workouts this week and focusing on bigger meets and getting psyched up for racing. I'm really looking forward to anaerobic work, all this base work is piling up but I don't feel like I'm getting any fitter. |
17 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 02
8/29-9/04 |
Wasn't very happy with this week. Accepted lower, slower mileage thinking I'd be feeling fresh come Saturday and then I ran a worthless race. Need to get my head on straight and get things rolling. Don't know what more to say, something isn't there that used to be. Got to find it. September Miles : 49 |
90 |
| Saturday: |
Alumni Meet, 26:21 for 4th place. Nolan won going away, I dropped off the leaders before 2M and just cruised the rest of the way. Couldn't get the legs turning over despite a couple tries. Had some flashes of feeling good and finding a rhythm, but I had nothing. Wanted to really get rolling the last 3M, maybe not the best strategy for my current situation. Never got things together today, wound up getting passed by Brewer before 2M and never caught him, did manage to pass Carlos though. Cooled down 5M largely by myself, trying to figure things out. |
12 |
| Friday PM: |
Fake Fresh. Nolan's back for the race tomorrow so he joined Group A for the pre-race run. Running pretty easily through the city, talking about the race and just catching up in general. Legs felt pretty good, had thought of going 6M but was pretty tired after 5 and didn't see the point in adding on another one. Pretty stiff/sore/slow on the pickup down Vassar Street though, that's not encouraging. Stretched for a bit and got loose during strides, have a decent amount of pop in my legs, this week has been a pretty big step down from the past month and a half of training. Looking for good things tomorrow. |
5 |
| Friday AM: |
Science Museum. Legs were really tired today, couldn't get moving at all on the run. One of those days where you just think "There's no way I'm every going to be able to run fast." Near the end of the run the legs had loosened up a bit, but I don't like how they were so tight/tired earlier. Slept a solid 8 hours and the HR hit 38BPM so I should be ready to roll. Just have to trust the miles I've put in. |
4 |
| Thursday PM: |
Franklin Park. Ran the course forwards with Khatch and then turned around and ran it backwards. Stopped to take a quick leak and Brewer waited for me, so I ran the next few miles with him. He stopped at 8M so I picked it up to catch Khatch and Berberian before coasting in the final mile and a half or so. Felt pretty good out there, once my legs got loosened up. Started out slow but picked up the pace and was eventually hitting 6:20-6:30 per. Ran 32:00 forwards and a bit quicker backwards. Not too fast during strides though, but lunges and lifting went alright. |
10 |
| Thursday AM: |
Science Museum. Out the door at 9:30AM this morning, the right knee and left Achilles took about a mile to warm up, felt like I was hobbling a bit at the start. Was already planning on hopping in the cold whirlpool tonight, now I just have another reason. Felt good for the rest of the run though, legs were a little tired before the start but loosened up during the run. Slept almost 8 hours last night, HR at 40BPM. |
4 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Docks with Brewer and Khatch because C-Los was on the grass. Hit a pretty decent pace from the start and kept it pretty quick for most of the run. Still not accustomed to letting Brewer get away, but hopefully that will end soon. Didn't really run as a good group today, we were all over the place in relation to each other, both in location and in pace. Heading down the Commonwealth Mall I realized I needed a pit stop so I stopped at MIT before tacking on 2 grass loops. Hit 67 minutes so I'm sure it was far enough today, then got to the line for an FSQ. Despite a slow start (I had me at 30) I closed well to hit 58 seconds. Maybe things are picking up. |
10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
Science Museum. Headed out a bit before 10AM today, it's still pretty humid here, I was sweating a bit when I got home. Felt good this morning, once I got rolling. Typical AM run. Slept 7+ hours last night, HR down at 39BPM so things are going in the right direction. |
4 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Orange Line into the Common. Had to wait until 10PM because of meetings I didn't realize I had, but I felt pretty good once I got out the door. Pretty low-key, just putting in the miles and not running very fast. Had to wait awhile since we ran around noon today. |
4 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Arboretum. Met at 11:30 and rode over to the Arboretum for miles on grass working on topping the hills. Another humid day and everybody was sweating pretty early in the run. Legs not feeling that fresh, but I was climbing pretty well. Ran over to the Big Green Hill but only ran the perimeter before heading back to the main Arboretum for another loop. Brewer caught up to Group A and ran with us for a good portion of the run. Climbed the Big Green Hill about 45 minutes into the run, then headed for another perimeter before Brewer turned off and Carlos, Khatch and I headed back up the Big Green Hill. Carlos just won the Polka Dot jersey today, he was bit stronger on all the hills. Put in a solid 67 minutes of work, although Khatch and his SDM dispute the distance we ran. HR was down at 40BPM last night. |
10 |
| Monday PM: |
BU-Longfellow and a Science Museum Loop. It was raining and threatening to lightning, so Khatch wanted to stay close to MIT. Rain felt pretty good, hopefully the weather will cool off with it. Had planned on hitting 10M but Khatch and Carlos were both going 9M and when we got back to MIT I used the bathroom and decided adding on a single mile would be pointless. Felt good on lunges, lifted a little bit too. |
9 |
| Monday AM: |
Science Museum. Once again on the AM runs alone, had to get out the door before 8:30AM to accomodate another day of work week. Thankfully that ends today. Typical morning run, it's still hot and I was sweating pretty good after just 4M along the river. Only slept about 5 hours last night and the HR was up at 44BPM, but I'll be fine. |
4 |
| Sunday: |
To MIT then Reservoir then into Boston Common. Got started about 7:30PM tonight because of a long day during work week. Ran to the lockerroom so Brewer could pick up his shoes, then we headed out towards BC. Climbing the hills pretty well today, Summit was steep but not too bad. Got into a rhythm with Brewer and we were clipping the miles off, but on the far side of the Reservoir I could feel my stomach starting to get upset and knew it could get ugly. The 7-11 wouldn't let me use the bathroom, but I thought I could make it to the hotel. Struggled a lot past Cleveland Circle and barely made it to the Courtyard by Marriott in time. From there everything went well. Brewer picked it up back home because he was going 12M. Convinced him to back off a bit, but we were still moving pretty well. I headed down Comm Ave alone and went searching for a bubbler in the Common, but could only find a couple water fountains. Stopped after adding on 14 minutes and did a few strides to get home. Not too hot without the sun, but it was humid as anything and I had sweated my ass off and drank a bunch of water when I got home. |
14 |
Day |
Round Up |
Miles |
| Week 01
8/22-8/28 |
Decent first week, good volume but I had nothing in my legs on Saturday. Can't explain that at all, but I definitely should have run faster, despite the heat and being a little tired. I imagine that I'll drop from the 100M range down to 90M or so, put in a solid 6 weeks between 98 and 103M though. Just have to stay aggressive and know that eventually the mileage will kick in and the legs will come to me. August Miles : 403 |
99 |
| Saturday: |
5k time trial in 16:11. Woke up about 7AM and headed over to the track before 8. Slept about 6 hours last night and was looking for a good time today, wanted to run 73s and shoot for low 15s. Felt pretty sluggish on the warm-up, wasn't able to get moving on the closing stride either. Felt good on the strides before the start though, but couldn't get it going during the race. Got out in 74 and then started hitting 75s. Came through the mile in 5:00, Khatch passed me soon after that and eventually pulled away. Carlos came past with 800m to go and I couldn't keep up, so I wound up in third. Bad way to start off the season, it was pretty hot and humid out, that didn't help things at all. Ran Fresh Pond around the Pond afterwards to try and get something out of the day, but that wasn't even very successful, I don't know why but I was just dragging ass in general today. Hope things get turned around soon. |
15 |
| Friday PM: |
Fresh Pond. Headed out towards the Pond feeling alright, but the legs got tired pretty quick and the run seemed pretty long. Spencer, Brulois and Driver were going Fake Fresh so I ran alone from where they turned off. Spent awhile stretching out, was pretty tight during strides and didn't feel all that fast. |
7 |
| Friday AM: |
BU Loop plus a Grass Loop. The team pretty much split in two, with a couple guys hitting a quick pace and most guys hanging back, and I was caught in between again. Didn't feel like I was running that quick, added on alone but was able to do some strides with Khatch. Nearly 8 hours last night, HR was a bit high when I woke up but it had averaged to 40 so I'm not too concerned. Don't really think I can sleep much more, honestly, I keep waking up early. |
4 |
| Thursday PM: |
Grass Loops. Couldn't get on the turf because of a field hockey scrimmage, so we were relegated to the 1000m loops around Briggs. Ran a long and lonely 15k, opened a gap after just a few laps and was pretty much on my own from there. Hitting 3:47 pretty consistently through the first half, pace slowed to about 3:53s for most of the second half, but picked up near the end. It was pretty tough to stay focused on anything because today was just repetitve and really boring. |
9 |
| Thursday AM: |
Longfellow plus 2.5 Grass Loops. Kept it really easy this morning, pace was dawdling at times but I got in the miles and my legs felt a lot better on strides and lunges, so hopefully things are starting to come around. Brewer took off with Brulois within the first 1200m and I dropped off the main pack when we hit the Esplanade because I took a bit longer route. Kept them the same distance away though, so it's not like I completely bailed on the run. Lifted afterwards, everything's still sore. Got another solid 8 hours last night, with the HR down at 39BPM again. |
6 |
| Wednesday PM: |
Fresh Pond, around the Pond. Used the facilities before I left and everybody took off without me so I was running alone today. Dragging ass from the start, legs were dead and I couldn't get them started. Had hoped that I could pick it up around the Pond a bit and that they'd come back to me, but just had a horrible case of dead legs this afternoon. Wasn't really struggling though, it wasn't that my body was tired, I just had no power or speed in my legs. Somehow managed to get through the run and make it back to the track for an FSQ. Got out slow as usual, hit the 200m in 30 and closed in 29 for a 59.77 hand-time. Was hoping for a better performance, but didn't have it today. Stretched out well afterwards. |
10 |
| Wednesday AM: |
BU plus 2 Grass Loops. The group got pretty strung out today and I wound up pretty much running alone in between two groups. I was by myself on the grass today too, pretty lonely morning for me. Starting work week today, that's never a fun period for me. Slept a solid 8 hours after watching El G win the 1500m last night, HR was down at 39BPM. |
5 |
| Tuesday PM: |
Docks plus two Grass Loops. Headed out with Khatch, Driver and Brian Jacokes on the route. We kept it relaxed for the first half or so, enjoying my first run through downtown Boston but around the JFK Federal Building Khatch told me we were hitting 6:30s so we dropped the pace down a little bit. I thought Driver and Jacokes might not come with us because they both seemed to be hurting a bit, but they were there step for step as the pace dropped to 6:00. When we got to Downtown Crossing we put the brakes on though and coasted most of the way back to MIT, and then Khatch and I really let the pace slow when we were on the grass. Pretty good day, felt easy although the hamstrings are still sore. In pretty good control of the pace the whole way, never felt like I was exerting or running as fast as I could. |
10 |
| Tuesday AM: |
Longfellow plus a Grass Loop. Carlos was the only guy to join me on the grass today. Legs were pretty sore, especially the hamstrings. I figure the combination of strides and lunges are what got them, hopefully they'll loosen up soon. Pretty low key run, I'm glad Brewer wasn't feeling good or he would have dropped all of us in a hurry. |
4 |
| Monday PM: |
Reservoir with Summit Ave. Was feeling pretty tired at the start of the run, didn't have any speed in the legs. But things eventually got loosened up and I was running pretty well. Felt pretty good climbing up Summit, but I'll need a bit more hill work I think. Driver came with me today but we kept the pace pretty easy, right at 6:30s if I had to guess. Felt alright on the strides too, not quite as fast as the morning though. Lifted afterwards, then got in the cold whirlpool but that was only at 60 degrees and didn't feel all that beneficial. Going to need a cold one soon. |
10 |
| Monday AM: |
BU and a Grass Loop. Met at 9AM, finally got going at 10AM after some paperwork. Felt decent, legs not too tired from travelling and yesterday, but kept it relaxed and had a low-key run. Did some barefoot strides, actually had some decent pop in the legs, which was surprising. Did lunges and some situps after stretching then headed home. Feels good to have the season underway. |
4 |
| Sunday: |
Jamaica then BU-Longfellow. Got back to Boston around 2PM today, headed out for a run at 5PM. Headed over to MIT with Brewer and met up with some of the guys for a run. Took it pretty easy around the pond, clipping off maybe 6:30s for most of the way. Dropped off some of the guys at MIT and took a quick pitstop, then headed out to tack on mileage with Brewer and Carlos. Brewer only did a BU Loop so it was just Carlos and I for the last few miles. Never really got rolling today, kept it all low key but the legs were still aching a bit. Not as tired as yesterday but I could use some more rest. For the first few stps my right knee was pretty sore, wasn't a problem for the rest of the run but I'll have to keep an eye on it, hit the I-Squared treatment for a few days. Things get started tomorrow, including my first chance to get into the trainers. That cold whirlpool is going to feel good. |
15 |