Monday, February 27, 2012

February 26th to March 3rd & March Training

*I added a recap of the MSU distance runners BSC races on the previous week's blog.

Sunday
Easy Run in Phoenix in the early morning before our flight back home. (7/7)

Monday
Easy run in the morning of 5.5 miles. 8 mile easy run in the afternoon with MSU team. (13.5/20.5)

Tuesday
Was going to do some plyos and sprints in the morning, but it was snowy and windy. I tried to get into the Fieldhouse to do the plyos, but it hadn't been broken down after the basketball game. So, I just did an easy run of about 7 miles. In the afternoon, I did two sets of the Cruz Circuit and my tempo miles were 5:00 and 4:55 with the MSU team. After this, I did added some plyos (single leg jumps - forward and backward, double leg jumps - forward and back, and bounds) and sprints. (16.5/37)

Wednesday
Easy runs of 8.5 miles in the morning and 6 miles in the afternoon. About halfway through the afternoon run, a huge storm blew in. The temperature immediately dropped about 20 degrees, with a big wind, and sandblasting snow into our face. Good times! (14.5/51.5)

Thursday
Messed up my schedule today. Had a meeting in the morning and then got to be busy with stuff in the afternoon. Ended up not heading out for a run until late in the evening and just did an easy 7 miles instead of a tempo workout. (7/58.5)

Friday
Did yesterday's workout today. 2 times 3 mile tempos. It was windy and the course has some inclines, so my pace was about 5:10 to 5:20 per mile. Felt pretty good about the tempo because I wasn't worried about the pace for this one. In the afternoon, I ran an easy 5 miles. (15/73.5)

Saturday
Snowed a little bit at night and I couldn't really do the hill workout before MSU practice, so I just went ahead and ran with MSU team at 10. The snow had melted by that time. I did 20 times 2 minutes on, 1 minute off. The workout went pretty well. The last 4 or so got to be pretty tough. The pace varied from 4:20s on the decline to 5 flat or so on some inclines. Overall, I would estimate my pace at about 4:40 or maybe a bit faster. (13.5/87)

Weekly Summary:
87 miles in 10 runs. Pretty good week of training. The workouts ended up being a little more challenging than I had on the schedule. Haven't done a long run in two weeks so I will need to get back to the long run train.

Here are a couple useful links:


Here is the camp brochure for the 2012 Bobcat Distance Camp:

http://msubobcats.com/documents/2012/2/23/2012_Distance_Camp.pdf


Training Paces on your phone - VDot Android App:


https://market.android.com/details?id=com.korbonix.vdot


A new website dedicated to Montana running interviews Casey Jermyn about his new running club, Run Bozeman:

http://406running.com/2012/02/406-running-club-spotlight-run-bozeman/



Here is a rough outline of my training plan for March:

March
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wdnsdy
Thursday
Friday
Saturday




1
2
3

ECR
ECR, plyos, and hill sprints or flat sprints
ECR
Plyos & 2 times 3 mile tempo
ECR
Hill reps sets of (3*100, 2*200, 1*300)
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Long Run & 8 * 100 meter strides
ECR
ECR, plyos, and hill sprints or flat sprints
ECR
Plyos & 2 times 4 mile tempo
ECR
Hill reps - sets of (2*200, 1*400)
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Long Run
ECR
15 * 500 at (i) with 60 seconds rest
ECR
Tempo 3, 2, 2, 1 mile with 3, 2, 2 minute rest
ECR
6 sets of 200, 200, 400 at rep with 1 and 2 min rest
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Long Run
ECR
5 * 1200 at (i) 3 min rest & 3 * 300 w/ 1 min rest
ECR
6 mile tempo & 6 * 200 at rep with 60 sec rest
ECR
5*1000 at 3k pace with 3 min rest
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Long Run
ECR
13 * 600 at (i) w/ 70-75 sec rest & 6 * 200 at rep w/ 1 min rest
ECR
Tempo (3 * 2 mile w/ 2 min rest)
ECR
1600, 1200, 800, 600, 400, 400 at rep with 2 to 1 rest work ratio (1600 time trial basically)




February 19th to 25th & MSU BSC Recap

This week I am going to take off of workouts to get rid of my cough, because I am not racing for a while, and to relax for a week or so before getting ready for the outdoor season.

Sunday
Easy run 8 miles

Monday
Easy run 7 miles

Tuesday
Easy Run 7 miles

Wednesday
Easy run 4 miles

Thursday
No run, traveled to Flagstaff for Big Sky Indoor Champs

Friday
Ran late at night after the first day of competition, 9 miles.

Saturday
Easy run in the morning of about 9 miles. Ran on a nice trail in Flagstaff.

Weekly Summary
44 miles in 6 runs. I didn't really intend this week to be this easy, but I just took it really easy and ran when I wanted for as long as I wanted to run. I think it really helped to take this week easy because I am really motivated to get back to training now and my cough is mostly gone.

MSU BSC Recap

Women's Distance Medley - Heather Demorest ran a great 1200 and built a couple second lead on the field. Chelsea ran a solid 400 meter leg and maintained the lead. Maddy ran the 800 and also ran well. Becca Sorenson ran a really good 1600 leg, but was up against a couple really solid milers. The team ended up finishing 3rd overall, which is higher than most would have thought going into the meet.

Men's Distance Medley - Forrest Jarvi ran the 1200 and was feeling sick, but still gave it all he had. Mike ran the 400 and ran well. Matt Tex started out a little fast and had a bit of a tough time the last 200 meters. Jacob Kirk got the stick in 3rd place way behind Portland State and Northern Arizona. Jacob went out very fast at 61 for his first 400. Jacob moved the team into 2nd place and even made a run at first place and ended up running 4:16 or so for 1600 meters at 7,000 feet. Forrest, Matt, and Kirk were all sick either the day of the race of the day after. I think with better health this team could run much faster.

Men's 5000 - Dan Jackson ran a great race and placed 2nd. Jake Turner ran his first 5K and ended up placing 8th. Carl, Seth, and Trevor also ran the 5K, but didn't quite break the top 8. I was worried about Dan going into this race because he had been out of workouts for a couple of weeks because of a muscle strain. Dan ran with composure and great confidence.

Women's Mile - Heather Demorest ran a solid race in the mile and placed 6th. She has really improved since last year and is becoming increasingly more consistent. Heather Haug redshirted this indoor season, but ran at the USATF meet. She won the slower of the two heats and finished 9th overall in 4:26 (4:21aa).

Men's Mile - Jacob Kirk was very congested and feeling pretty sick going into this race. However, he gave it all he had and placed 6th. After this race, Jacob sounded really sick and was feeling awful. Seth Grossman and Forrest Jarvi also ran the mile.

Women's 800 - Lierin ran in the trials of the 800, but was trying to overcome a cold and didn't make the final.


Men's 800 - Super freshman and Teddy Graham lover, Grant Grosvenor worked hard all weekend to not fall behind society. Also, he won the 800. The race went out pretty slow. He took the lead with 250 meters to go and went really hard with 200 meters to go. Chipengama tried to pass with just under 100 meters to go, but after a couple strides, Grant found another gear and won pretty easily. Grant's splits were 58 - 54. Grant looks to be in sub 1:50 shape in the right race. Grant is gonna have a big outdoor season.

Women's 3000 - Becca Sorenson ran a solid 3K after a hard 1600 leg of the DMR on Friday night.

Men's 3000 - Before the race, Dan Jackson didn't think he was going to be able to run because of his muscle strain. So, I really didn't think he was going to be able to finish the race. Dan Jackson started the race and just kept going and ended up collecting another 2nd place finish! Jake Turner also ran a great 3K and finished 3rd overall. I thought Jake would run about this well in the 5K the night before, but was a little nervous about where he would place after the 5K. Turner did a great job at the critical point of this race and made the move which propelled him to a 3rd place finish.

Here is a link to complete BSC results: http://www.directathletics.com/results/track/23563.html

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

February 12th to 18th

A couple more things from last week:

Thanks to Miles, Blake, Kari, Kevin, and the Murphs for coming to watch the race!

Forgot to mention the best part of weekend, which was getting back home to a smiling Rowan and Sierra!

Here is a video of Mile Race at UW:
Watch more video of 2012 Flotrack Husky Classic on flotrack.org

Sunday
Long Run 15 miles. I felt good at the start of the run, but started to feel pretty sluggish about 45 minutes into it. (15/15)

Monday
Was a little busy with things in the morning, so I didn't run in the morning. Right before afternoon practice, I went for a baby stroller run with Baby Rowan. This was the first baby stroller run of my life. After practice, I ran about 8 miles. (12/27)

Tuesday
Mix workout in the morning, 4 times tempo miles, 2 * 1200, and 3 * 300 cut downs. Rest was 1 minute after tempo, 3 minutes after 1200s, and 1 minute rest after 300s. I ran the tempos outside and the 1200s and 300s were inside Fieldhouse. The tempos were between 5:00 and 5:07, the 1200s were both 3:24, and the 300s were 45, 43, 42. Felt pretty good and relaxed throughout this workout. In the afternoon, I threw in another baby Rowan stroller run. This time Newton went on the run with us, too! (14/41)

Wednesday
Easy run in the morning of 6.5 miles and about 6 miles in the afternoon. (12.5/53.5)

Thursday
Has been a while since I updated my blog, so I can't quite remember what I did for a run on this day. I would guess I ran about 6 miles. (6/59.5)

Friday
Ran the mile and the 800 at the Bobcat Open, well at least I tried to run the 800. My plan in the mile was to go out pretty hard and see how I felt. I went through the 800 at 2:01, but then my laps started to slow down. With 400 to go, I knew I wasn't going to run real fast so I didn't push the last 400 real hard and ran 4:12. After the mile, I had a horrible cough. I coughed all the way to the start of the 800 and even the first 400 meters of the 800, I was still coughing. All and all I was pretty disappointed with both races. I am going to take some time off of workouts in order to get over this cough next week. (6.5/60)

Saturday
Took the day off today

Weekly Summary
60 miles in 9 runs.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

February 5th to 11th

Sunday
Long run 16.5 miles. I did almost the exact same route as last week, except a little extra loop. My calves were a little sore after two races in spikes on the ISU track. (16.5/16.5)

Monday
Easy run in the morning of 6.5 miles. In the evening, I ran with the MSU team about 8 miles. (14.5/31)

Tuesday
Mile pace or rep workout of 2 sets of 200-400-400-600-800 by myself on the 200 meter flat track. The rest was 2 to 2.5 times the rep time. The workout was a bit of a struggle and I didn't do quite as well as I would have liked. My times were 30, 61, 61, 1:33, 2:03, 30, 61, 61, 1:33, 2:06. The last 800 was the most disappointing part of the workout. This workout shook my confidence a bit for the mile I am going to run this Saturday in Seattle at the Husky Classic. However, I will get over it! (8/39)

Wednesday
I decided to throw in a relatively easy workout since I don't race until Saturday. The workout was a mix workout of 2 tempo miles, 2 1200s at 'i' pace, and a set of 3 times 300 cut downs. I felt sluggish from the start of this workout so I decided after the second 1200 not to do the 300 cut downs. My tempo miles were both 5:07 and the 1200s were 3:27 and 3:29. I did this workout on the outdoor track and it was pretty cold (about 18 to 20 degrees), which may have been some of it. Also, I have a cough from running indoors in the dry aired arenas, so I am kind of paranoid about getting sick right now. Once I get the indoor cough, I seem to be really susceptible to getting sick. Yesterday and today's workouts weren't good, but I am still confident with a couple of easy days that I will be ready to roll on Saturday. Easy Run in the afternoon of 4 miles. (12/51)

Thursday
Easy runs of 5 miles in the morning alone and 6 miles in the afternoon with the MSU team. (11/61)

Friday
Took me forever to fall asleep which tends to happen when I have to wake up early. Fell asleep after 1am and was up at 5am to head to the airport with Dan Jackson. The flight to Seattle was pretty smooth and we arrived into Seattle at about 8am. It was good getting in early, but we really were stuck in some thick traffic. Dan and I stopped in downtown Seattle and had a little breakfast. Afterward we walked around downtown Seattle a bit, then went over to UW so Dan could check out the track. After a track preview, we went to check into our motel. The GPS on my phone took us to the competely wrong place. It was a pretty big pain. We finally called the motel and they said everyone's GPS takes them to the wrong area for the motel for some reason. After finally making it to the motel, Dan and I had some Thai food for lunch and then I went for a short run with Chris Baldus who came by the motel. Dan napped while we ran and then we all went to the track meet arriving at about 5:45 or so. Dan ended up running at about 8:35pm that night. He raced pretty darn well and ran 14:07 for the 5K. It wasn't quite the time he was looking for, but I thought he represented himself well and put in a great effort. After the meet, we went back to the motel and then walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. By the time we had settled back into the motel, it was about midnight. It had been a really long day. About 19-20 hours of moving and shaking before the day was finally over. It seemed like it had been about 2-3 days just because we had done so much. (5/66)

Saturday
After getting a good night's sleep, I woke up feeling pretty good and much more relaxed. I had a solid breakfast, a lot of coffee, and we then checked out out of the motel and arrived at the track meet at about 12:30. I was pretty nervous before the race because I didn't know what to expect. I definitely had some fears of completely blowing up and embarrassing myself. However, I just decided I was doing to go after it and see what happened. Felt a little sluggish at the start of the warmup, but started to feel better as the warmup progressed. Finally it was race time. My intention was to get off the line well and get right up toward the front of the pack. The gun went off and my first two steps were good, but then I am pretty sure someone in an Oregon jersey hooked me with his elbow and just like that I didn't have much of a choice but to go toward the back of the pack. Once in the back, it was best for me to stay there unless the pack started to break up. The pace was pretty fast with the leaders through the 400 at about 58 and I came through in 59.7.  I just hung out at the back of the pack and was surprised how well I was feeling. With 2 laps to go on the 307 meter track I had thoughts of picking up the pace, but stayed with my race plan which was to go for it as I came onto the home straight for the penultimate (can't believe I just used the word penultimate) time. I started to pick it up as per my race plan with just under 400 meters to go. The second to last turn I was really on the outside of a large pack. I decided I had to get around the pack so I went about as hard as I could with about 250 meters to go. I moved all the way up to 3rd place, but then the big move caught up to me a bit. The last 40 meters of the race it felt like my legs were going to buckle. I ended up finishing 4th in my heat in 4:01.61. Looking at the splits, I may have had a chance for a sub 4 with a faster 3rd 400. Dan had my splits at 59.7, 60.9, 62.6, 58.0. I am pretty sure the last split included the extra 9 meters making my last true 400 56 high or so if that was indeed the case. Before the race I was thinking, why am I even racing this is so stressful and no fun. After the race, I was thinking of how fun it was to be racing again, especially in a good meet with a solid field. After the race, I did a long warm down, then we went out to eat with Kevin and Kari Murphy, before scurrying to the airport to catch our 8:20pm flight back home. We arrived back at our homes just before midnight and Dan and I had a hard time believing we had only been gone one night! (6.5/72.5)

Invite Mile Race Results:  http://www.directathletics.com/results/track/22376_1465661.html

Weekly Summary
72.5 miles in 10 runs. It has been hard to get much mileage in the last couple weeks because of traveling to the meets. Mileage isn't too important though and it has been nice to race three weeks in a row and get comfortable racing again.