Overdue late-cycle update

I've been meaning to put my current thoughts and feelings down on how my preparation for Jacksonville is going for a while and have given it enough time to turn over in my head. Quite honestly I am confident but still not sure if I have what it takes to get the OTQ in just under 3 weeks. I am confident because I've been training as hard as I ever have in my life since Philly, but still, 60 seconds over 13.1 is a lot to gain in terms of fitness in 9 weeks. I hope that I will get a little bit better pacing this time around and not go out too hard - I'll be right on the edge, so this might be all the difference I need.

Anyway, the training: all summer and fall I was running 90-100 a week with typically 2-3 workouts per week of varying intensity, all focusing on different facets of the goal race. My philosophy is no different now, but I am running about 15 mpw more than I was before (higher frequency of runs + better weather than summer/early fall), and the workouts themselves are of at least the same quality if not better. I had a rough period of adjustment to the higher workload and was feeling a lot of muscular fatigue, but I've been in a good patch for the last week and have run two of the best workouts of my life. With 3 weeks to go, I will keep training hard for another 1-1.5 weeks, with a race this weekend (5 miles) that I will run hard but train through, and then it's taper time.

This race looks like a once in a lifetime opportunity. The director has put together a huge field full of guys like me on the bubble, a good pacing group and has a fast course at the right time of year, both for weather and relative to the OT marathon. I think the most important thing about this race, and what makes it unique for a road race, is that it is a big group of fast guys all coming in with the same goal. It's the Stanford Invitational of the roads. Hopefully the weather cooperates and the pacing is good, because if I can get to 10 miles in something between 49:30 and 50 flat and not dying I give myself a good shot at running the OTQ.

Philly RnR 2015 recap

Obviously this run was not exactly what I was hoping for given that I ran exactly 60 seconds slower than the OTQ. After Army 10 miler a couple weeks back where I ran about a minute slower than I knew I needed to run to have a realistic shot at the OT, I knew right then it would take a miracle. But as the saying goes, there are no miracles in running. And I know there are especially no miracles with my running – I’ve always been the most consistent person I know since about 2005. I am also a little miffed that I didn’t even get  PR out of it – I ran 18 seconds faster 2 years ago. Comparing my training then, I was running slightly less fast in workouts but about 15 mpw more. I also ran that race in a style that suited me perfectly, rather than going out hard and minimizing blowing up like today.

I do want to say that, while I am disappointed with not getting the mark I wanted, I am NOT upset with the race. The effort was truly 100% all out. I am writing this two days later and I’ve been in a mental and emotional fog with the tank since the race, and physically quite sore in places I’ve never been sore in after a half (quads? shins? weird stuff).

Where to go from here? I have not finalized everything but my plan is to go to Houston and try for 1:05 again on 1/17. That will give me enough training time to make a difference and a race on what I think is the only faster half in the US than the one I just ran. As far as the training goes from here – I’ve been doing a lot of specific pace work and I know if I just keep hammering away at that under January I will get stale and in a rut, so I have to change something. Right now I plan to go longer and slower on the tempos and faster with a little more rest on the intervals – things like 60-90 minute tempos at 5:20-5:40 and 6 x mile @ 4:40-4:45 w/ 3:00 rest come to mind. This will be refined as I resume hard training, but this week will be very easy to recharge and then I’ll get back into it. I also want to start working out in the morning, both because of the time change and because I need to get better at hard efforts in the morning when all the races are.

About the race itself: Started off well and exactly where I wanted to be in the field - towards the back of the first big pack. Actually, next to Darryl Brown from PA, who I would run with for about half the race. I chose not to wear a watch, since in years past there were clocks at every mile and I don't like the additional mental strain that comes during a race from checking the watch and worrying about splits. This was a mistake. There was a clock at the mile mark that was about 25 seconds fast (went through that in 4:25 and I asked, aloud, whether that was right. Somebody laughed and said we were about 4:50) and no other clocks on the course, despite the miles being marked, timing mats out every 5k and even the mounting brackets for the clocks were set up. It wouldn't have made any difference to me even if there were clocks on course since I couldn't have run any faster, but it still would have been nice. 

After about 4 miles I began to fall off of the big OTQ pack. Darryl, two other guys and myself would form our own unit and work together until later. Around the spot where we went past the art museum and upriver, I hit a bad patch that lasted for about 10 minutes. I think this was where the too-fast pace of the early miles hit me and forced me to back off and regroup. The guys I was with were leading the pack now and I was just hanging on trying to get back under control. Around 7 miles I recovered enough to get back in my own rhythm and push the pace myself. Doing so dropped Darryl and the other guys started to slip off. Once we got to the turnaround bridge just before 9 miles I was dropping the last of my new friends and apart from catching maybe 2 guys who had blown up off the leader pack I would be alone to the finish. The last 4 miles was simply running as fast as possible. At 20k a pace car came by with a running clock on the back that said 1:03 something, so that's when I definitely knew it wasn't an OTQ day for me.  

Splits, as best as I can get them:

1 mile – about 4:50

10k – 30:58

10 mile – 50:14

13.1 miles – 1:05:59

Army 10 miler recap - 3 weeks to go until Philly

Yesterday I ran the Army 10 miler in DC. This is a fairly competitive race, about on par with the field I ran against in Broad Street two years ago. It was a perfect day and from what I knew about the race a fast, flat course. I was hoping for a new PR beating my (downhill) Broad Street time of 49:56 and my real goal was to run 49:30, the average mile pace I want to run in 3 weeks in Philly. I ended up not running nearly that well and came in at 50:25 for 8th overall.

Thing about the race I am happy with: It was a great training stimulus for Philly on 10/31, which is the real race that matters in the end. Even if I had run 45 minutes for this race if I can't put it together for the half it doesn't matter much. I was happy with my effort on the day and I think I put forth a good honest race effort. I was on the edge after about 5 miles and did a good job sitting right on the red line.

Things about the race I'm not happy with: I wanted to be running 5 seconds a mile faster with the same effort. Much of this was because I was alone for a lot of the race. I went out conservatively because I knew the top group was going out under 4:50s and I did not want to get caught up in that. Unfortunately for me there was a big gap between the top group and the rest of the field. I was pretty much the only guy in between the lead group and guys who finished 2+ minutes back. The only exceptions were the guys who tried to hang with the front pack and blew up, which happened to a few guys that I passed and one that I didn't. The effect this had on my race was that I went out slow in an attempt to run with a group (15:15 or so through 3 miles) and then struck out alone and started running ~5:00 pace after that. There was definitely some mental deflation that occurred after the first mile in 5:05 when I realized I wasn't going to have an amazing race. Perhaps that ended up slowing down by subconsciously not letting me push 100% in the tough, lonely middle stages of the race.

Overall I am not super happy with this, but I'm confident I can improve markedly on this in 3 week's time. I am assuming that there will be some guys shooting for the 1:05 mark just like I am and I'll have company for much of the race. I'll also see if I can fit in any last-minute speedwork to try and make 5:00 pace feel a little slower in the beginning stages - I know I'm strong, but I need to work on being a little smoother and confident in the beginning of the race.

Fitness checkpoint - Parks half marathon and training update

Yesterday (Sunday 9/13) was the first race in a while. I thought that with top 5 money and a sizable East African population nearby this race would be really competitive up front. Not this year. I came pretty ready to go but ended up having no competition and ran a controlled 1:08 to win. The weather was good but not perfect - much better than it has been for most of the summer. The course was net downhill by about 90 feet, judging by the course profile, but the first 11 miles (and very much the first 2 miles) are downhill and all of it is made up in the last 2 miles. Thus, I positive-split but my effort remained pretty level, maybe I ran a little harder in the last 5k but very controlled. 

This was a good hard workout that should not knock me out of normal training. I expect to be mostly recovered by Wednesday and I'll try to resume normal workouts then. Coupled with the good weather over the next week, I think this is a good time to really start getting after the workouts before 10/31. These last 6 weeks before Philly are when the specific work counts and I need to focus on maintaining the workouts that I've been doing lately and doing what I can to do my very best and see if I can get under 1:05. 

2015 Late Summer Update

This training cycle, my big goal (and I would say the biggest goal of my career so far) is to qualify for the 2016 OT marathon. Doing that requires one of two things: a half marathon under 1:05:00 or a marathon under 2:18 (B) or 2:15 (A). For me, deciding which is easier is a no-brainer. Also a no-brainer was the choice of what half to tackle - it's always Philly Rock n' Roll.

I've been training harder than I ever have during the summer in hopes of reaching this goal, despite the race being 5-6 weeks later this year. I've done my best to blend going by feel and smart planning together to strike balance of hard yet sustainable training.

As always in my running, I emphasize long aerobic endurance to go with race specific work. Maybe that's why I like the half - at this distance, those are synonymous. Lots of long tempos, lots of 5:00 pace work, with a little track and hill work sprinkled in to make the pace feel a little easier. Typical tried and true formula, on this year the mileage is a little higher because I can get in some doubles.

I've also got a few other races planned between now and Halloween (RnR).

8/29: Dread Druid Hills 10k - this is a race that my local running store puts on and for the first time it has money. $100 for the win, and while it's supposed to be a very hard course, I'll do anything for $100.

9/13: Parks half marathon - another race with money, and always draws in a few decent Kenyans. I hear it's not a super fast course, and never has gotten great people because of the races usually scheduled around it, but I think I'm in good shape and want to see what I can do for a half sooner rather than later.

10/11: Army 10 miler - Very very high quality race. 16 guys broke 50:00 last year, so this is the one I'm most excited about doing before Philly. This should be a great race.

I might get another one in between Parks and Army, but maybe not. Those are two big races that will take some time to recover from and I don't want to have to really sacrifice a lot of training time to constantly be ready to race before Philly.

On a completely different note: I figured out how to export my running logs since May 2010 on Athleticore into excel. I compiled a summary of 2010-2014 and deleted all the extra comments, leaving only the details of workouts and comments on races:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B34nWN0zJyCZLUJMeEI0MG9iakU/view?usp=sharing

2015 Spring season recap

2015 Spring Races
Date		Race		Result
3/15/2015		Road mile		4:19
3/21/2015		Road 5k		14:34
3/28/2015		track 1500		3:57
4/3/2015		track 10k		30:14:00
4/17/2015		track 5k		14:05
4/25/2015		road 5k		15:16
5/1/2015		track 1500		3:52
5/11/2015		track 1500		3:50
5/23/2015		track 3k		8:12
5/30/2015		track 1500		3:55
6/2/2015		track 1500		3:56
6/6/2015		road 8k		25:38:00

There's the season. Excluding the two races I ran as controlled efforts (road 5k on 4/25 and road 8k on 6/6) I think it paints a pretty good picture of a well-run season. Good training over the winter lead to a solid start and getting into racing quickly built up to a peak lasting from Larry Ellis on 4/17 to the 3k on 5/23. In the moment I was disappointed in the last two 1500s of the season but looking back I'm not too discouraged. 

The Pros: I had arguably my best track season ever while working full time and training once a day for the vast majority of the time. Especially while training during a very tough winter I was very happy to be able to achieve the fitness I did and execute some great races. A couple good races stand out:

1. Adrenaline 5k. First really serious race of the year, after a long winter and not racing since December 2014. Thanks to having 3 other guys in the race who were all very similar to me in fitness, I was able to really find my limits on the day and race well. I ended up losing by 4 seconds to Owen Dawson and beating the other two guys. This was a much faster race than the year before on perhaps a slower day. 
2. Larry Ellis 5k. Not much more needs to be said other than I PR'd after 3 years. I do believe I could have run 14:00 had the field been half the size, but in the circumstances of the race I thought I ran very well. I got 2nd and the winner had broken away with the lead rabbit early on, so I effectively lead the chase group through the last mile and still had enough to hold them off. The splits also suggest that a faster time could have been run. 
3. Swarthmore 1500. Ran my 2nd fastest 1500 ever here, 3:50.0. It was a much better race than the previous 1500- I felt much sharper and more in control of my body running at race pace. 

The 3k, while a PR, was a time trial with Deej and Feeney pacing me the entire way. I was able to really gut myself on that, but after that effort it was downhill for the rest of the season, 

I come away from this spring quite happy with the way it turned out. I would have been a lot happier if I had PR'd in the 1500, but having a PR season in the 5k/10k and a near-PR in the 1500 is something of a banner season. I think I trained smarter than ever for 1500-5k and was rewarded with excellent times for me off of less total work than in college. 

Spring season early update

It's finally spring and we are out of another long winter. The track season is almost here and I have a pretty full schedule lined up. Here's the list of races for this spring, some of which are already run:

3/15/15 - Encinitas Mile (Encinitas, CA)
3/21/15 - Adrenaline 5k (Haddonfield, NJ)
3/23/15 - Widener 1500m (Danny Curran)
4/3/15 - Princeton 10k (Sam Howell)
4/11/15 - Bucknell?? Maybe, depending on how I come off the 10k.
4/17/15 - Princeton 5k (Larry Ellis)
4/23/15 - Penn Relays??? Probably not.
5/1/15 - Princeton Open, not sure what distance.
5/11/15 - Swarthmore 1500 (last chance)
6/6/15 - Moorestown 8k (for money/USATF road points, should be an easy win)

A pretty varied racing schedule - pretty evenly spread across the three distances I care about outdoors. The 10k makes me nervous but I know I'm due for a big PR in that race, sub 30 should be quite doable.

The first two races have already been run as of this posting. The mile was a road race that was somewhat on a whim, done while visiting friends in CA. I got 4th, just out of the money, running 4:19 on an out-and-back course. The winner ran 4:14 and was a 3:59 guy at Minnesota, so I know I'm good for quite a bit faster on the track. The 5k was also a road race that went pretty well - I ran 18 seconds faster than I did last year on a slightly slower day (the course was a bit slushy) and I got flat out beat in the last mile. Quite a good race though - if I can run 18 seconds faster than last year on the track, I'll run 14:03. I don't expect that to happen but that does highlight the fact that I'm set up well for the upcoming races.

I never like trying to train for 1500-10k simultaneously. It's basically impossible to dedicate time correctly to such a wide range of training, but I've been gearing more towards 5k/10k in the hopes that the strength work will pay off for the 1500. I know from experience it's much easier to train long and race short than the other way around.

As far as expectations go for the coming races: I fully expect to smash my 10k pr (track pr is 30:50, XC is 30:46). I think I can get close to the 1500 and 5k marks as well - how close depends solely on how the races play out. I have run well at Princeton before and hope to be able to run well there again, but I do need to find another 5k to race in case that doesn't go well for whatever reason. The 1500 I am not so worried about because Swarthmore is always a lock for fast times.

Winter update

So far through this winter, training has gone fairly well. In the last month I have been training very well coming off of a forced break that lasted through the beginning of 2014. After taking a planned week off after USA club XC in December, I began running again with the intention of building back up relatively quickly and getting back into workouts. My body saw things differently and I felt pretty terrible for about 3 weeks after resuming running. I was initially worried that this episode was a repeat of last year, but decided that no matter what I might as well keep running at whatever level I could just to maintain routine and keep in touch with my body and feedback. After the new year, I started feeling better and began workouts successfully soon after.

Now that I can see the end of winter in the distance, it's time to start planning races for the spring season. Ever since I ran Chicago in the fall, I've wanted to get back on the track and see if I can run well over the 1500-5k, maybe even a 10k if the opportunity comes easily. With that in mind, I'm looking at a racing schedule that allows minimal travel with the best competition. The Princeton meets, Bucknell, Colonial Relays and Swarthmore are all within 4 hours and, for my level, have great races. I hope to be able to challenge my old UD marks and acquit myself well in these races.

More immediately, I may end up running an indoor meet coming up at Penn State. I originally was not planning on doing any indoor races, since I didn't really think I was in good shape and didn't want to waste a Saturday on a mediocre race. When I saw Chris Slate raced a mile at Boston last weekend, it kicked my ass into gear and got me thinking about racing something soon. I would run a 3k and hopefully get down near 8:20, but that is a pretty big guess and I haven't got a good gauge on my fitness for those distances now.

In the meantime I continue to train well with Digennaro and Feeney, getting in a good blend of tempo runs, long intervals and shorter intervals. I've found a good balance in my training and a good balance in my everyday life between work and running. If I can maintain the good patterns I've been riding for the last month I think I'll be in a good position to run well in the March thru May seasons.