Ready for Cherry Blossom

The last few months have a been a roller coaster for my running. Although I've had periods of time where I've lost motivation, the last month or so has been pretty good (with the exception of the week of St. Patrick's Day). My long run today shows me that I'm definitely ready for Cherry Blossom and I attribute a few key workouts along the way that have gotten me to where I need to be.

1) On the last day of February I worked out with Andrew Utas. We did 2 x 1000, 800, 4 x 400 with a few sets of 4 x 150 splitting it all up. I was ready to hit 78-79 second laps but came through in 3.05, 3.06, 2.25, 69, 68, 67, 64. This workout reminded me that I can run fast--and having someone running the same workout way faster than me gave me the motivation to run faster in my workouts.

2) March 19th: Speedwork. I've always felt that if I'm in a bit of a rut a good speed workout will snap my legs back into action. After a lackluster several days I got out on the track late on a Saturday night and went to work. 24 reps of 200s, 250s, and 150s. My last 150, although untimed, was likely sub-20 seconds, and in flats to top it off. Since this workout I've been on the up and up.

3) Last Wednesday evening I ran from work to the Turkey Branch loop along the Matthew Henson Trail. I started off with 5 x 1k with 60 seconds rest @ a relaxed pace and it felt phenomenal. I timed only the fifth and ran about 3.25 slightly uphill. 5.30 pace was feeling easier than it had in months. I then jogged 1k and went into a 5k trying to hit goal CB pace, or 5.40s. Right as I started the wind picked up, blowing hard right into my face. I powered through only for a heavy downpour to begin. Already in the 40s, it got cold but I clenched my teeth and went. All in all I ran 17.29 with a final mile of 5.26 and a last 1k of 3.20--I couldn't have been more pleased.

4) And the final piece of the puzzle--putting it all together for a sustained effort. I went to the Canal today for a 12 miler...not a long run by any means but a chance to just run fast for a while without interruption. I think because I've spent so much time on the track doing fast stuff in the last month, my legs decided to go a bit faster than they should have for an hour plus run. I stopped @ 5.5 to use the bathroom and again @ 9 because I was just plain tired, but other than these unplanned pit stops I was extremely satisfied with the run. The total time was 71:34 and the middle ten miles, which is where I went hard, were 58.23--I'll take it! Miles 4-11 were all @ 5.50 or under, with the last hard mile in 5.36 (albeit downhill).

I'll do a tuneup workout likely on Thursday morning...but other than that I'm ready.

Back to Training

I'm getting back up to speed quickly. I tested the waters with a bit of speedwork last week, then a 12 miler on Monday finishing up @ sub-6.00 pace, then 2k, 6 x 1k tonight on a road loop. Took one minute break and timed only the last one (3.15). Very happy with my progress after being pretty inactive for almost two weeks.

I'll get up way too early on Sunday morning and hike up to Olney for the Country Road 5M, but probably use it as a tempo effort. Still looking for the St. Patrick's Day 8k to be my first race after missing the LTRYW 5k due to being sick. Excited to see what I can do Sunday!

Highs and Lows

The last month has been a roller coaster. On January 12th I did a monster workout on a three mile road loop. I did two loops with six sets of 2 min on, 1 min off, 1 min on, 30 sec off, 1 min on, 30 sec off. The first loop was 18.29, second was 17.20. I felt phenomenal with the last mile in the 5.30s.

That Saturday I raced the Shooting Starr 6k, a race I was prepared for and planned to nail. Sections of the course were covered in snow and ice and my shins tightened up in the first half mile. The race was over for me pretty quickly...I had nothing.

The next week I ran a phenomenal 16 miler. In slush and mud I ran 9 miles on the Old Anglers trails at a high effort before heading out on the Canal for 7 miles @ 6.14 pace on a very soft and slushy towpath. I wasn't trying to make this a tempo effort, just to get in a hard long run. This was my best long run in a long, long time.

Only a few days later I came down with a bad cough and cold and its limited my running for the last 10 days or so. I haven't been able to do a workout in over a week and my only goal at this point is to get healthy and running consistently again. I'm on the rebound so by the end of the week I hope to be back to a more normal schedule.

Workouts Workouts Workouts

I've been hitting the workouts hard this week. My mileage has been relatively low...but I haven't done a long run since Christmas (I plan to do 16 on Monday) and I've been making sure to recover properly from my workouts.

Monday was long intervals @ Towers...3 x 2k and 2 x 1k around the loop (so full loops and half loops) and it went very well. I was a bit worried about keeping pace for intervals this long since I've been doing so much shorter stuff but I felt great. I like working out on grass so much better than road or track. Didn't time anything.

Wednesday I ran 8 in just under 50 minutes with 5 @ 28.41 in the middle. I was please with the splits on this run but there was a lot of stopping for various reasons (stoplights, etc. going toward Silver Spring on the CCT). I'll take a 5.32 in the middle of an 8 miler at this point though, so no complaints.

Friday I headed over to Georgetown Prep after work and did 4 x 200, 4 x 300, 8 x 250, 2 x 150, 4 x 200 with short rest. I felt great, felt smooth and strong at a reasonable pace on most and went 60%+ with an extended leg lift on 250s # 3 and 6. Finished feeling very fit. Didn't time anything here, either.

Once I start to nail the long run consistently, I'll be well on my way.

2011

2010: 2,913.5 miles

2010 was a good year for me. I ran several PRs and had success in my training for the most part (the summer was my one hiccup). I explored new training techniques and learned a lot about what I need to do to get faster. I'm confident that in 2011 I'll reach a new level in my racing as well.

I've been somewhat lazy recently--not in terms of actual running but in terms of workouts. Its been a busy time so I've been doing workouts much less frequently. That being said I feel as if the workouts I have done were done well. Once my schedule gets a little less hectic in the next few weeks I'll probably get back to doing three quality days per week instead of the 1-2 I've been doing the last month or so.

I took New Year's Day off completely and spent it just relaxing. I didn't necessarily need a day off but I'm always told thats the best time to take one. I got right back on the horse today with 11 miles split into two runs. I'll be at Towers tomorrow for a long interval workout. Six weeks until my first big race!

The Long Run

Fast long run--first attempt in about a month. I ran from Bethesda down the Crescent Trail to Beach Drive and back. Set out for 14 miles cutting down to 8 fast miles in the middle of the run. The fast 8 were 47.45 and the 10 miles from 2-11 were 60.28 so this was definitely a productive day. In addition the overall pace of this run was only one second per mile slower than my half marathon in September and this was a mile longer--very happy about that. Splits: 7.11, 6.22, 6.21, 5.56, 5.57, 5.58, 5.53, 6.01, 6.00, 6.08, 5.52, 6.41, 6.30, 6.25.

Jingle Bell Jog 8k

I ran the Jingle Bell Jog 8k on Sunday morning. I decided to run this race at the last minute and I intended for it to act as a hard 5 mile tempo run to work on strength. I settled into the pack from the start and tried to stay within reach of the leaders the entire race which worked well. I wasn't intending to kick in this race but with 800 to go I was still with the lead pack so I decided to try and win the race. I took off right before the last turn and went full speed up the steep hill to the finish. It was such a dramatic change in speed that no one was able to react fast enough. I won the race by four seconds.

I ended up running 28:42 for 5:47 pace. On this course I'm pretty happy with the time and how it felt--I felt very relaxed through 3.5 miles and still in control past that point. It was also good practice to run in a tight pack for five miles--and a lot of fun to say the least since I do almost all of my workouts and long runs alone.

This will probably be my last "race" for a while (unless I decide to do a New Years Day race) so for now it will be back to training hard. I found out on Sunday night that I got into the Cherry Blossom 10 miler so that will be my focus (along with Pike's Peek) for the next several months.

Speedwork. Finally.

I finally did some speedwork on Thursday morning and it was fantastic. I went to Aspen Hill Park in Rockville (?) to do the workout on a 684 meter grass loop I'd measured out on Tuesday. The 1.5 mile out and back section of the Rock Creek trail that starts at the park is great for warmups/cooldowns and the loop is pretty runnable with good (but not perfect) footing. Cross country at its finest.

I did 4 x 200 (100j) @ 40%, 8 x 150 (100j) @ 60%, 4 x 200 (100j) @ 40%. It felt awesome and I really got moving on the 150s despite it being about 25 degrees outside with considerable wind. I put on my new cross country spikes for the 150s which really helped accelerate the workout as I've been doing basically all of my running in full weight trainers for the last several months.

I also began lifting again this week which will be a huge positive I think. I'm a bit sore but once I get in the rhythm I think I'm gonna start feeling a lot stronger on my runs.

Phase 2

Today markes the last day of my initial training phase. This consisted of almost exclusively longer runs with pickups in the middle ranging from 0.5 miles to 2 miles as well as a fast long run. After a disappointing long run today I know I still need to work on strength and will continue to do so...but its time to incorporate some faster stuff as well.

This coming week I will replace one of my interval/fartlek/pickup workouts with a shorter, faster track-style workout. This will serve as leg prep for faster interval workouts I'll likely begin in February. This should also give me a little zip to help improve my pacing on longer workouts--so I'm very anxious to get started.

Turkey Chase 10k

I ran the Turkey Chase 10k this morning in Bethesda. After trying to take the race pretty seriously last year (and failing to run well) I decided to run it as a workout this year and just try to have fun. I set out to run 5:45s but more importantly get in a good, hard 6 miler staying relaxed throughout. I ended up running about 36:24 (5:52 pace) which I'm pretty happy with as I felt strong from start to finish.

This race is always a blast with all of the familiar faces around and this year did not disappoint. I ended up running the first four miles with Sam which was really fun, and also very helpful as he kept me focused and on pace.