Tuesday, January 31, 2012

January 29th to February 4th

Sunday
I completed the long run today which I originally intended for yesterday. It was unbelievably windy out and I definitely did not feel top notch. I was able to make it through it, but was glad to be done. The route was out South 3rd, Nash, Triple Tree, Canary, around the hospital plus a little add on. (16/16)

Monday
Did the workout with MSU in the morning. The workout was 1000s with 1 to 1 work to rest. Then 3 * 300 cut downs with 1 minute rest. I ran my 1Ks in 2:52, 2:54, 2:51, 2:50, 2:45, 2:43, 2:44. The 300s were about 48, 44, 44. I was definitively feeling sluggish today and I gave this workout about all I had today. If I wasn't still frustrated from the race, I don't think I would have run this workout so hard today. The last 1K was pretty tough, but the 300s were so brutal. Usually the 300s feel great to me, but I was absolutely out of gas. (9/25)

You know altitude impacts people differently. All of my PRs were set at sea level and are all significantly faster than my fastest times with the NCAA altitude adjustments. I have run 1Ks way faster at sea level, but today's workout felt way harder.

Here are my PRs at sea level compared to my best altitude adjusted times (I have run alot of races in the 1500, 3000, and steeple at altitude):
1500      3:42/3:45
3000      7:54/8:03 or 8:04
Steeple   8:33/8:37 or 8:38
5000      13:38/14:10 (Haven't run many fast 5Ks at altitude)

Tuesday
Did a quick workout on my own on the MSU outdoor track. There has not been a winter here yet! The workout was 2 sets of two * one mile at tempo and then 4 * 200 at mile pace with 1 minute rest between everything. I ran 5:07, 4:57, 31, 30, 30, 31, 4:52, 4:53, 31. The last three 200s I did as 30 second segments on the way home because I was running late. They would have been 30 or 31s on the track. Pretty good relatively light workout which included 4 miles of tempo and 1 mile at mile pace. In the evening, I ran an easy 4 miles. This three day stretch of long run, workout, workout definitely has taken my energy level down a bit. Was tired in the evening. (13/38)

Wednesday
Easy run in the morning of about 6.5 miles. Easy run 7.5 miles in the afternoon. Hurdle skill after run (14/52)

Thursday
Easy run 8.5 miles with a 3 strides at end. In the evening, I rode on the bus to Pocatello for the Mountain State Games with the MSU team. (8.5/60.5)

Friday
Shake out and strides in the morning at Holt Arena. In the evening, I ran in the 5K which also included MSU athletes Seth, Carl (pronounced kar), and Dan. Dan and I decided to switch off leading every 1K. I led the first and third K and Dan led the 2nd and 4th K. I was surprised even at 5K pace the turns felt tight on the track (it has longer straights and tighter turns than our home track). Anyway, I started out and felt pretty good with the first 1600 in 4:36. At about two miles, I was starting to feel it a bit and we came through 3200 in 9:14 about two seconds slower than we wanted to be. Dan really started to push the pace a bit and we started running low 68s. The last 1000 to 800 meters I started to struggle and Dan opened up a bit of a lead on me. With about 400 to go I started to pick up the pace a little bit, but with 200 meters to go I was still down as much as 3 seconds. With 200 to go I picked it up again and with 150 meters to go I really went hard and caught Dan on the last turn and ended up winning the race. Dan did a great job pushing the pace and made the race faster much faster. This was the fastest 5K I have ever run at altitude. Dan really went after it in this race and I was proud of him.Carl and Seth also ran solid 5Ks. Dan and I ended up running 14:18 and 14:19, I believe. Dan's time was a new school record breaking the old record set by Shannon Butler. It altitude adjusts to a 13:59 which ranks him 6th in the NCAA, at least for the time being. (10/70.5)

Saturday
I decided to try and double back so I ran the mile at the Mountain State Games. Before the race I felt pretty good, until I started to warm up where I was feeling sore and tired from last night's 5K. Even though I was a bit tired and sore, I intended to try and get out pretty fast. But, I got a really bad start and got stuck in the pack for the the first bit of the race. So, I just ran with the pack through the 800 and then picked it up. I ended up winning the race in 4:13. I went through halfway in 2:09, so I ran a negative split. I didn't get in another run today because of everything going on with the meet as well as the 4.5 hour trip home. (5.5/76)

Weekly Summary
76 miles in pretty much 9 runs. This was a pretty wild week. It started with an incredibly difficult workout for me on Monday which shook my confidence a bit, especially after the race last Friday. Tuesday's workout was ok, but it was difficult to gauge anything from it. The 5K race ended up being a pretty good race for me, not only because of the time, but also because it was a tough race where I had to stay relaxed and not panic like I seemed to last week.

Weezytales
My junior year of college I had a breakthrough race in the 3000. It ended up being the 6th fastest time by an American (college or pro) that indoor season. At the end of the indoor season, Coach Kennedy told me I would be on a full scholarship the next year. I told him I would prefer for the additional scholarship to go toward getting additional high quality distance runners onto our team. The next fall a couple new additions contributed to our cross country team's Big Sky Conference Championship and 11th place finish at NCAAs. This wasn't just my attitude, but just about everyone's on the team which is why we accomplished so much together. This team is getting inducted into the MSU Hall of Fame this coming fall.



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