To give anything less than your best

A quick 6.4 miles & Bruce Denton teaches a lesson

markrunsfar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:14:30 GMT

This run was taught me a lesson, Bruce Denton style. The lesson being most runs are to be kept easy (don’t be a workout hero and all that) which should feel fine enough on a day to day basis, more of a mental challenge than a physical one. But if you start picking it up, the pace has to stay there for the remainder of the run. No picking it up, realizing you’re going too fast and backing off. You have to suffer with what you brought upon yourself. Today was one of those days, sorta. The weather was beautiful, a little wind, low-70s, a few fluffy clouds. I felt good after yesterday’s light recovery day, even though I’m less than 48 hours removed from my 21+ miler.

The plan was to do four 1.35 mile Tours, followed by a barefoot mile on the track. I started off at a pace that I could tell was a little faster than usual, but I didn’t think it was TOO much faster. After I finished the first Tour and saw it was sub-10:00 I realized I may have gone out a bit too quick. But I decided to drive home the above lesson. I held my pace for the second Tour. My legs felt good, my breathing was still pretty relaxed, I wasn’t even close to a race pace. The third Tour the effort didn’t increase that much but I found a nice rhythm. As for the last Tour, I dunno. I thought I was going about as fast as the third but apparently I wasn’t. When I got on the track and started running barefoot, my legs felt refreshed. There was no feeling of lactic acid build-up at all. I was smooth and relaxed and kind of astonished at how easy a 6:40 mile felt. All of this and my legs have had 80+ miles on them per 7 days for the past week or so. Every day I continue to be impressed by the level of fitness I’ve managed to get to this summer and really excited by where I’m possibly headed in the next few months.

6.4 miles in 45:44 (7:09 pace)

Tours (1.35 miles each)

1.35 mi - 9:58
2.70 mi - 19:55 (9:57)
4.05 mi - 29:30 (9:35)
5.40 mi - 38:43 (9:13)

21 seconds to take off shoes

Barefoot on track (1 miles total)

6.40 mi - 45:44 (6:40)

INCREDIBLE LONG RUN!

markrunsfar — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 06:10:05 GMT

I had one of the best long runs I’ve ever had this afternoon. I had been kinda sorta dreading this run all week. I planned on running 21+ and figured if it got really bad I could cut it off at 19 or 20. Well everything went even BETTER than I had planned. I got my 17.5 miles on the grassy and kinda wet fields of the high school and then did the last 4 miles barefoot on the track. I had been worried the weather wouldn’t be very nice, as there were reports all week about the tropical storm/hurricane Danny hitting LI. Turned out to be nothing, by 2pm the skies were clear and I didn’t feel a drop of rain for my entire run (although I did have to dodge sprinklers on the lower field).

The run started well. I wanted to take a conservative pace for the first few Tours, evaluate and adjust my pace if need be for the latter few. I thought I did a good job of going out sorta slowly… until I got done with the first one and saw it was a good 30 seconds faster than I had anticipated. I worried a bit that I had accidentally cut some of the route and when I was sure I hadn’t I was worried I’d gone out too fast without realizing it. Then I calmed down and realized that the weather was much cooler and not very humid and my "easy" pace was probably a bit faster than I’ve been used to because of that (and somewhat improved fitness too!). After the second Tour this was confirmed as I knew my pace had been easy still, I wasn’t straining at all and I clocked the same exact time.

I had brought two GUs, two 16oz. bottles of 50/50 OJ & water, and one bottle of water to drink with the GUs. The way it worked was: OJ/water after basically every other Tour. Some Tours I brought it with me and then skipped it the next time around. I took a GU after the 6th (8.1 miles) and 12th (16.2 miles) along with a big few gulps of water. By the end of my run I still had about half an OJ/water bottle left.

For much of the first half of the run, I was holding myself back some. I knew I had a little more I could push, but I didn’t want to push too soon or too hard. After the 7th Tour I let myself start increasing the effort a little bit. I wanted, at the least, to make each Tour as fast or faster than the previous one. This worked out perfectly. Then I got to the track, quickly took off my shoes and started running the last four miles barefoot on it. I was surprised how fresh and strong my legs felt, despite already gone 17.5 miles. I did the first two miles one way, then turned around and finished the last two in the opposite direction, using lanes 1-4 on various laps. I did the last lap on the infield which felt so nice, cool & wet under my feet. When I finished I realized that I had just run my longest training run ever (21.5 miles) in basically the same overall pace as my first marathon (~8:00)!! WOW! This is astouding. AND I felt great! I rewarded myself with an ice bath and some bbq wings. Woo-freaking-hoo!

21.5 miles in 2:51:57.00 (8:00 pace)

Tours (1.35 miles for first twelve, last one 1.30 miles)

1.35 miles - 11:15
2.70 miles - 22:30 (11:15)
4.05 miles - 33:39 (11:09)
5.40 miles - 44:47 (11:08)
6.75 miles - 55:52 (11:05)
8.10 miles - 1:07:01 (11:09)
9.45 miles - 1:18:09 (11:08)
10.80 miles - 1:29:05 (10:56)
12.15 miles - 1:39:52 (10:47)
13.50 miles - 1:50:36 (10:44)
14.85 miles - 2:01:16 (10:40)
16.20 miles - 2:11:44 (10:28)
17.50 miles - 2:21:54 (10:10 1.30 miles)

27 seconds to take off shoes

Barefoot on track (4 miles total)

21.50 miles - 2:51:57 (29:36)

21.5 miles in 2:51:57.00 (8:00 pace)

CrossFit WOD: 5x5 deadlifts

markrunsfar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:47:56 GMT

Made up Saturday’s WOD: 5×5 deadlifts. I did them sumo style tonight, I dunno why but I like this way better and I can generally get up more weight. I put as much weight on the bar as I could, it came to 240 lbs. This was actually a pretty good weight to use, although I could’ve managed ~275. Ah well, it’s not like I pay anything for my basement gym so I won’t complain. I felt good and strong, I think the form was pretty solid too. This is one of my favorite WODs.

Some warm-ups (1×12x120, 1×8x170)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM9kp81u2aM

Weekly long run

markrunsfar — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 02:09:29 GMT

Today I got closer to running a weekly long run that was actually long enough for me to consider it a true long run. 12 miles is on the shorter end of counting, but as I build up my mileage again slowly, it counts for now. You have to go all the way back to May 6th for the last time I did a run as long as today’s (that day I ran 14 hilly miles in Newark). That’s almost 3 months! This is cause for celebration!

Ok, back to business… Today finally cracked 80 degrees here which excited me to do a long run in the heat and all. No heat training gear today, actually almost exactly the opposite. My nipples have been irritated the past few days and because I was too lazy for band-aids, I ran sans shirt today.

So I headed up to the high school around 4pm. The only real mistake was that I brought just one 16oz bottle of Gatorade and totally underestimated the heat-refueling requirements. The run itself did not feel the greatest. It was definitely not one of those feel like you’re coasting but are really going sub-8 pace sorta runs. I WAS running at a comfortable effort, and my pace was even — around 8:15-8:20 throughout– but it was not effortless. From the second (of seven) Tours on, mentally I had to be really engaged and focused on moving forward. It didn’t get any easier when I got my shoes off and ran the last 3 miles barefoot on the track. My legs didn’t feel tired really, and my breathing was alright, but the heat was definitely a factor. I was sweating a lot and I went through my bottle of Gatorade pretty quickly, despite trying to ration it to a few swigs every other Tour. The barefoot running on the track felt great and I am definitely getting more and more used to that. Overall, I’m real happy with today. I pushed through some obstacles I don’t encounter on every run, I ran longer than I have in almost 3 months, I passed the 1,000 mile mark for the year and the 100 mile mark for this month.

Tours (1.3 miles each)

1.3 miles - 10:43.25
2.6 miles - 21:16.06 (10:32.81)
3.9 miles - 31:58.85 (10:42.79)
5.2 miles - 42:36.68 (10:37.83)
6.5 miles - 53:26.75 (10:50.07)
7.8 miles - 1:04:05 (10:39.00)
9.1 miles - 1:14:45 (10:40.14)

27 seconds to take off shoes

Barefoot on the track/infield (3 miles)

12.1 miles - 1:39:59 (24:46.04)

Workout:
* Type: Run
* Date: 07/25/2009
* Time: 16:00:00
* Total Time: 1:39:59.00
* Calories: 1509
* Distance: 12.1 miles
* Average Pace: 8:15.87/mile

Workout porn (or... Attempted suicide by CrossFit, again)

markrunsfar — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:36:36 GMT

Did Thursday's WOD on Friday afternoon. The WOD was called 'DT' In honor of USAF SSgt Timothy P. Davis, 28, who was killed on Feburary, 20 2009 supporting operations in OEF when his vehicle was struck by an IED. Timothy is survived by his wife Megan and one-year old son T.J.

It consisted of the following:
Five rounds for time of:
155 pound Deadlift, 12 reps
155 pound Hang power clean, 9 reps
155 pound Push jerk, 6 reps

I had to scale to 140 pounds because 155 is close to my ONE rep max for push jerks, and up there for hang power cleans too! It was still brutal.

I did it in 30:44 (breakdown: 2:26/4:27/8:16/7:50/7:45). But instead of talking about it, just watch these:

Round 1/Round 2/DLs for Round 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuPYOfGURmY

Hang power cleans & push jerks for Round 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6xIwrebnz8&feature=channel

Round 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVMrdSnjig&feature=channel

Round 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5543jsKrL_k&feature=channel

I know at times the form is abominable and at times it's worse. I also know at times I look like a little bitch just sucking wind. I dare any of you to try this and then we can talk :)

See Mark deadlift

markrunsfar — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:51:44 GMT

Thought someone might be interested in a video of me deadlifting, if anyone still reads this journal. Feel free to critique my form. Objectively, I think it's much better than the last video I shot of me deadlifting, albeit I'm only deadlifting 261 lbs this time. In fact, I think this would be a pretty good video to show a beginner what good deadlifting form is.

That's all of the weights I have here in the basement. The bar is little too low to the ground because the biggest plates are dense 25 lb-ers and that explains some of the initial rounding of my back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9NnTL_cAxs

lovely long run

markrunsfar — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 04:00:45 GMT

It's been a while since I posted here, I have a lot of catching up to do! When I have some more free time I will go back and fill in the blanks, and probably just copy/paste my race report. Yes I did run a 3:09:04 marathon and BQ. Woot.

Today was my first long run since the race. I've been feeling pretty much fully recovered since Thursday, so I'm back to the mindset that it's business as usual here. So I set off, with the weather a little bit hotter than it has been, and much more humid, for a good 14 mile run. It went long. Here's the damage:

15.56 miles in 2:05:14 (8:02 pace)

including:
Campus loops
5.5 mi- 45:48.23
9.0 mi- 1:14:16 (28:28.64 3.5 miles)

Newark Reservoir
9.55 mi- 1:18:49 (4:32.61 0.55 mile)
9.90 mi- 1:21:55 (3:06.04 0.35 mile)
11.0 mi- 1:30:32 (8:37.16 1.1 miles)
12.1 mi- 1:38:59 (8:26.97 1.1 miles)
13.2 mi- 1:47:27 (8:27.86 1.1 miles)
14.3 mi- 1:55:48 (8:21.24 1.1 miles)
14.65 mi- 1:58:22 (2:34.14 0.35 mile)
15.20 mi- 2:02:36 (4:13.14 0.55 mile)
15.56 mi- 2:05:14 (2:38.50 0.36 mile)

I wanted very badly to take my shirt off around mile 5, but I decided to play a little game with myself and keep it on for as long as possible. Then it stopped being so damn hot around mile 9, and I headed for the reservoir where I knew I'd get a little breeze. Well, it was more than a little breeze. It was a freakin gale! As I headed over there I had made up my mind that I was gonna do more than 14, but not much more. Then around mile 12 I saw lightning off in the distance. This caused me to pick up my pace to get the hell out of there and home to safety.

I ran up the hill to my house and as I neared it I decided to tack on a little extra so I ran up to the church parking lot and went in. The wind had picked up considerably at this point. Like CRAZY wind. Felt like I was on the top of Mt. Washington, and the trees were just aching to break. I turned to head out of the parking lot and I noticed drops beginning to rain down. By the time I turned back towards my house it was all-out POURING. Torrentially! It was awesome. I finished the last ~200m, got to the porch, stripped down to my underwear and spent the next 5 minutes splashing around, getting soaked by the wonderful cool rain. It was something like a scripted end to a wonderful, hard run, and a good recovery week where I ran just about 30 miles.

This coming week and beyond...back to business as usual. Ramping the mileage up to 100/week by summertime. And in two weeks I will be reclaiming the 10k PR crown from hbfs. Happy running indeed.

Nighttime Newark 7.75 miler

markrunsfar — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 04:23:17 GMT

Today, the ankle felt even better than yesterday when I wound up having a very good run on the track in the early afternoon. The weather was nicer today but I was busy for most of it with organizing the apt and whatnot. I got out for my run well after dark, but the weather was PERFECT- probably mid to low 50s, no wind, no humidity.
My plan originally was to do a 10k, with the first 5k real easy and then the second 5k a little quicker. This plan kinda got scrapped. Here's the damage:

7.75 miles in 1:00:11 (7:46 pace)

including:
5k- 26:30.83 (8:33 pace)
6.60 mi- 52:28.40 (25:57.57 3.5 miles, 7:25 pace)
7.75 mi- 1:00:11 (7:43.12 1.15 miles, 6:42 pace)

So I started off well enough. The first 5k felt like I was in slow motion honestly. I taped up the left ankle again, and the left shoe felt a little loose, but it wasn't much of an issue. The lateral side of my left arch kinda cramped up, I suspect from the tape, which was kind of annoying at first but I stopped a few times to stretch it out and it went away after 5k.

I was very careful at first, going easy because while my ankle felt very good, I didn't want to aggravate it. It didn't get worse, in fact, everything got better as I went along (which gives me hope that this was/is NOT a stress fracture, bc the exact opposite of that is supposed to happen). The middle 3.5 miles were hilly, and I just focused on running steady. The pace got progressively faster but I felt pretty comfortable- good news! The last 1.15 miles was impromptu. I decided to run back down to Happy Harry's where my bike was locked up and bike home as my cool down. At first I thought I'd run there slow as a cool down. This clearly did not happen. Felt good, very good.

Not sure what I'm doing tomorrow, I really wanna do a longish run before the race, something like 15 miles with 10 at goal pace, just to ease my mind mostly. Maybe tomorrow I'll go actually easy, then Tuesday long run and figure it out from there. But for tonight, good run!

Also picked up some whey protein finally. I'm gonna start taking a scoop after every workout, not because I'm trying to put on mass, but I think this'll help with recovery, especially from some of the WODs and long and/or hard runs

I'M BACK!

markrunsfar — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:56:38 GMT

So after my AWESOME 20 miler last week, I took 8 days off from running. EIGHT DAYS! Jeez, that was horrible. But my ankle was feeling pretty bad and I didn't wanna push it and furher injure myself. So all I've done in the past eight days is two CrossFit WODs and feel sorry for myself. That changed today. As luck would have it the CrossFit WOD was run 5k. I thought this was a perfect distance to test out the ankle. Got to the track and Curt had a few laps to go. Taped up the ankle, put my new shoes on for just the second time ever, and got onto the track. It felt pretty good, just eversoslightly uncomfortable, but I chalked most of that up to the fact that it was taped up and all. I decided I'd do the 3.25 instead and do it in about 7:16 pace. Well, here's the damage:

3.265 miles in 21:39.41 (6:40 pace)

including:
Mile 1- 6:57.29
Mile 2- 13:46.90 (6:49.61 mile)
MIle 3- 20:10.34 (6:23.34 mile)
Mile 3.25- 21:39.41 (1:29.07 quarter mile)

So yeah, wound up going much faster than I had planned on. But it felt SOOOO GOOD! And my ankle actually hurt less as I went along, which I take to be a good sign. I'm gonna see how I feel tomorrow but I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm almost back to 100% and all systems are go for the marathon (which is 14 days away!!!)

One other cool thing about today. With this run, I am now over 500 miles for 2009 so far. I was stuck on 499 for the past week+ and now I'm over it. I'm pretty sure I only managed 600 miles for all of 2007 and about 1,300 for 2008. My goal for this year was 2,500 miles, but I think I may have to readjust this. Awesome!

HOORAY RUNNING!

awesome 20 miler (or, how I broke my workout's face!)

markrunsfar — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:09:52 GMT

So tonight I finally managed to get my 20 miler in that I had wanted to do last week but kept getting derailed by Achilles issues. Now that I had my brand new shoes and was feeling 100% I was ready to roll. I decided to do it on the James F. Hall trail because it's marked and this way I could record the mile splits for the last 5. This was different then the other 20 milers I've done during this training cycle because the last 5 were to be done at marathon goal pace (7:16). I was slightly nervous going into this, more because last year during marathon training this was one of my worst runs ever.
Tonight though I was MUCH better prepared. Here's the damage:

20 miles in 2:48:57 (8:25 pace)

including
First 15 miles- 2:14:01 (8:56 pace)
Last 5 miles- 34:56 (6:59 pace)!!

splits
Mile 3- 26:44.73
Mile 5- 45:37.30 (18:52.57 2 miles)
Mile 8- 1:11:48 (26:10.70 3 miles)
Mile 10- 1:29:12 (17:24.30 2 miles)
Mile 13- 1:55:09 (25:57.63 3 miles)
Mile 15- 2:14:01 (18:51.68 2 miles)
Mile 16- 2:21:23 (7:22.00 mile)
Mile 17- 2:28:28 (7:05.10 mile)
Mile 18- 2:35:23 (6:54.29 mile)
Mile 19- 2:42:14 (6:51.08 mile)
Mile 20- 2:48:57 (6:43.72 mile)

So yeah, I'd say I broke its face alright! I think I freaked out when I saw the first mile in 7:22 and overcompensated a bit, then just kept going. I felt great at that point though, leg and lungs wise, so I went with it.

A few things about the run though. My right shoe felt great as soon as I laced it up, but I could not for the life of me get comfortable with the left one. It just kept feeling like it was loose and slipping. I stopped a number of times to try to adjust and by the end it was way too tight but my hands were so cold that I couldn't move them to re-do the laces. Thus I wound up running most of this run with it too tight and I'm paying for it after, my ankle is sore and a bit swollen. ugh. I'll monitor the situation but tomorrow looks like just lifting and no running, I'm gonna be real careful so close to race day. My legs and lungs can probably get me across in 3:10 as long as everything is working properly.

For most of the run I was cruising along easily with no issues, although I had to stop and pee a number of times, but it didn't matter because I wasn't trying to set any records. However, right around mile 13-14, the GI issues came up again. Motherfuck. It was VERY uncomfortable and I knew as soon as I started running harder it would get worse. It did. A number of times over the last 5 miles I felt just awful and considered stopping. Towards the very end I was almost sure I was going to crap my pants...I didn't thank God but UGH x infinity :-/ I really hope this doesn't become an issue on race day, although it didn't stop me from running fast overall. Of course, dealing with 26.2 miles of this would be a different story.

Fuel wise, I stuck with Sport Beans through mile 13 (and I wonder if they were the culprit for the GI issues) downing them with water every 30-40 minutes. At mile 13 I started sucking down some Gatorade, and also had half a banana along the way.

Aside from those two things, everything went remarkably well. Sort of the exact opposite of last year, so another confidence boost. Woot. After getting home, and dealing with a bout of shakes from the cold and being wet and dehydrated, I got some food and drink in me, and massaged out my legs. Hooray for good 20 milers.

Dammit! (or, how my Achilles tendon ruined a perfectly good run)

markrunsfar — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:11:22 GMT

So I took off Friday because by the end of my run on Thursday my left Achilles tendon was really sore and I could barely walk without limping. It was frustrating. So I figured a day off, some ibuprofen, some ice and I'd be ok for at least an easy run today. Well I figured wrong. Here's the damage:

6.92 miles in 55:32 (8:01 pace)

I know that looks pretty good. But looks can be deceiving. It started off wonderfull. It was a beautiful day for a run when I set out around 2 pm, and everything was just fine. I actually noticed my pace, while feeling extremely comfortable, was a bit quick. I passed mile 1 in about 7:40, but honestly I felt like I was going about 8:20 pace.

Then I got to around mile 2-2.5 and things fell apart quickly. My left achilles tendon tightened up again. I tried stopping to stretch it and it helped marginally for a bit, but it came back. It slowed me down considerably. Intermittently for the rest of the run I kept stopping and stretching and cursing circumstance. I felt like I was going really slowly. When I finished my calf was pretty sore again, and I was hella pissed. I doubled check the time/distance because the pace just didn't seem right. Heh.

I know the problem is 95% definitely that I'm running in shoes that have about 150-200 miles more than they should. And the other pair I use has even more, so alternating doesn't help. I need new shoes, sometimes I hate being a poor grad student. However I think I'm going to damn my finances and go get a new pair of 903's and some Superfeet this weekend because I NEED to be at 100% to get a BQ in DC.

grumble grumble grumble

easy 9. 5 miler

markrunsfar — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:10:48 GMT

Tonight I essentially did the same run as Tuesday night, just a bit shorter and a lot slower. I was feeling pretty good after yesterday's speedwork but pretty much as soon as I started the run, my calves felt really tight. Probably had something to do with the long since overdue for a change shoes I was wearing. The 768's are long past their prime :-/ So there was a number of times on the run I stopped to stretch out my calves and also my ITB which was grumbly. For pretty much the whole run, I was having bad GI issues too, which is always annoying. Here's the damage:

9.5 miles in 1:24:19 (8:52 pace)

Definitely took it slow, stopped to pee at one point, just a meh run really, but I guess what I needed.

Awesome long speedwork!

markrunsfar — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:22:58 GMT

So today I got up early in the hopes of getting the speedwork out of the way early in the day, seeing as how dodgeball was at 6 tonight. Well I puttered around and didn't get to the track til almost 4, and I was feeling ok, not GREAT, but not awful. I was a trifle bit apprehensive about this workout, because it was a similar one to the disaster that was Sunday's treadmill workout. Also because as I looked outside from the moment I woke up I saw either snow or a mix of snow and rain and this looked miserable to run in. But I always run better outside. And by the time I got down to the track it was just drizzling slightly. When I got there, I saw a track guy running 5:20 miles by himself. I got on the track to do my mile warm-up and two more track guys came on and I was worried I was gonna be in the middle of another track team workout. I'd much rather do my track workouts in the company of no one. Fortunately they left shortly after I started, two more came a little after them but left quickly as well.

I did my warm-up, put the clothes in the car, got myself mentally ready and I was off. It went MUCH better than I could have expected. Here's the damage:

45 minutes @ half marathon pace (~6:40) w/ last 10 min @ 10k race pace (~6:20)

7 miles in 45:14.57 (6:28 pace)

including:
Mile 1- 6:31.12
Mile 2- 13:04.79 (6:33.67 mile)
Mile 3- 19:36.03 (6:31.24 mile)
Mile 4- 26:07.00 (6:30.97 mile)
Mile 5- 32:40.30 (6:33.30 mile)
Mile 6- 39:02.49 (6:22.19 mile)
Mile 7- 45:14.57 (6:12.08 mile)

So yeah, The first 5 miles were pretty evenly paced, just about 7-10 seconds faster than what I figure would be my half pace. I'm SURE I can sustain 6:40s for 13.1 miles. Maaaaaaybe I can do a little better, but I haven't raced a half in almost 2 years now. I was a little worried that because of the fast-ish pace and the weather and whatnot that I would struggle/not be able to drop the pace, but once I hit 5.75 miles, I turned it up and I could feel my legs start turning over a little faster, I could feel myself moving quicker, it was great. And not only was I able to sustain it over 7 laps, I got FASTER over them. That last mile is better than 5 mile race pace. Oh well. My feet were soaked when I was finished but nothing was bothering me. I let out a few whoops, seeing as how this is the fastest I've ever covered 7 miles, almost 45 seconds faster than just a few weeks ago. Nice! 1 mile cool down and I was out. 9 miles total

Then there was dodgeball tonight, where we won 9-5. Afterwards we went to our usual bar, Catherine Rooneys. I had planned on just stopping for a quick bite, maybe a drink, then to the gym for the Crossfit WOD, Death by pull-up. However, I wound up staying for 2 or so hours, having a burger and at least 4 beers. We played some games, had a lot of laughs and it was hella fun. So I got to the gym, caught up a bit with Tony, then finally started the WOD:

"With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed."

I managed 13 rounds + 8 pull-ups in round 14 (94 total pull-ups)

Yikes, it started so easy, but right around round 10 things went to shit, and fast. But compared to what I could do in November (maybe 7-8 pull-ups max, then maybe 5 or so in the next set if I was given enough rest) I'm super happy. Overall, a great workout day and a hard-earned easy run tomorrow.

track workout and some humble pie

markrunsfar — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 00:25:59 GMT

This morning I met Lee in the gym to do the WOD. Today was a heavy day, just 7x1 deadlifts. I LOOOOOVE deadlifts! They are my absolute favorite lift to do, something so raw about just picking a heavy object off the floor. RAWR! Anyway, Curt said I may need to work with Lee on his form a bit, and I was looking forward to helping him out. Got there a little early and warmed up on the bike and then with some low weights. Lee got there and we formulated a plan for him (his elbow tendons are a bit iffy right now so we decided against 1rm) and set his bar up. I decided not to go to my 1rm either, seeing as how I had a pretty tough looking track workout ahead of me. Here's what I did:
7x1 deadlifts (in lbs):
275, 295, 295, 305, 315 (sumo), 315, 315 (sumo)

I focused on doing most of these conventional style (feet close together) as opposed to sumo (feet wide apart) because I normally do them sumo and I wanted to work on my form for conventional. Here's a video of me doing the third set, at 295 lbs. My hips come up a bit early but overall I'm happy with it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlph4t81tbQ

Then I went to look at a really nice apartment with Michface. We're thinking of rooming from July-December to save some cash. I'm undecided but it WOULD be nice to not spend as much money on rent.

Biked down to the track about 2 miles and who was there? The Asian guy I saw last week, running in khakis instead of jeans this time. Good for him getting out there, but I will NEVER understand the workout attire of the many Asian and Indian students here. Anyway, let's get to the nuts and bolts. The workout was thus:

7x1000 @ 5 mile race pace (3:53), 3:00 jogging recovery, 1 mile warm up, 1.5 mile cool down Here's the damage:

1000m splits
3:47.95
3:50.78
3:50.06
3:50.77
3:53.59
3:52.20
3:49.88

Most of those were done at 5k pace instead. Oops. No wonder my legs were really feeling it on those last 2-3. ~9 miles total.

Now for the humble pie part! You see, as I was finishing my warm up, I noticed people starting to jog there way onto the track. Before long the UD track team was in various stages of their own warm ups around the track. I had unknowingly just stumbled into track practice. Yikes! Fortunately no one told me to get off or anything, I did get some curious looks but that was it. After the initial "oh shit" I got comfortable and focused on what I had to do, however slow it would seem to the other people there. Clearly I didn't run that slowly during in any of my splits, in fact I did BETTER than I had anticipated! But the men's team, well they are a completely different class of runner than I. They would lope by me with effortless looks on their faces, cranking out 74 sec 400s like they were jogs. I have to say, I was faster than all of the females, and actually wasn't BLOWN AWAY by ALL of the guys, but they were definitely all faster than me. Definitely reminded me that there is ALWAYS room for improvement. A LOT of improvement!

Finished up my cool down and biked home. I was too drained to go to dodgeball so I didn't. But overall a GREAT day today, workout-wise!

an "easy" day

markrunsfar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:14:16 GMT

After yesterday's very rough long run, today was to be an easy day to rest and recuperate before the speedwork tomorrow.

I hadn't planned on doing the WOD today, it was Cindy, a truly brutal workout: as many rounds in 20 minutes of- 5 pull ups, 10 pushups, 15 squats. I did this back on December 21st, in the basement of my parents' house after driving home for Christmas break and got 21 rounds even, but I was struggling at the end and doing fingertip pull ups on the I-beam (and some of those pull ups were probably questionable). Curt and I discussed the possibility of me doing an alternate WOD that didn't involve so many squats, something like 100 reps bench press @ 135# for time. But when I got there this morning (yes we went at 9:30 to avoid the masses of returning students) I decided to man up and just do it. I wound up with 21 rounds + 5 pull-ups , so I beat last time. I know I only marginally beat it, but I have a TON of miles on my legs and these were all legit pull-ups. I was shot afterwards, but it felt so damn good! I like WODs like these because there is zero advantage to people being bigger, it's all about proportional strength and stamina.

Then I spent a good chunk of the day massaging out my legs and refueling. This evening I had a scheduled 7 miler, an EASY 7 miler. I made sure to continuously remind myself all day that it was a RECOVERY run, meant to help FRESHEN the legs for tomorrow, not leave them dead. I think a contributing factor to yesterday's misery was the waaaay too quick 15k Saturday evening. Anyway, I set out in a sweatshirt and nylon pants (I find that when I wear clothes like this I tend to settle into an easier pace) and it worked! Here's the damage:

5.5 miles in 49:08.93 (8:56 pace)

including:
1st half- 25:01.88
2nd half- 24:07.05

I started out really slow. From Paper Mill to Main St was just barely faster than a walk. Once I got on campus I picked up a bit and gradually sped up but only a little bit. I said I wanted to do it NO FASTER than 8:45 and this was perfect. There was a bunch of other runners out around campus, every single other one of them female. It's amazing how quickly this town transforms when school is back in session. Not a whole lot else to say about the run, I was back to autopilot mostly. I decided to cut it from 7 to 5.5 because I came to thinking this was supposed to just be an easy recovery run, tomorrow's workout is more important and I don't wanna be spent for it. I think some more massage and then bed in a bit. Tomorrow is DLs in the morning with Lee, I'll probably take those pretty easy to save my legs for the 7x1000 @ 3:53 tomorrow on the track. Hope your race went well tonight hbfs!

And to all a goodnight

Happy half-birthday to me (or...how not to run 18 miles)

markrunsfar — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:59:25 GMT

I'm officially 23 and a half today :) And grandpa is 91! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!

Earlier this week, Curt and I decided to tailgate some athletic event this weekend. With football season over and our weekly Sunday Kildare's going with it, we need something to get us over that loss. So this seemed like a logical idea. The UD women's basketball team was playing VCU at 2, so we decided to get to the parking lot and tailgate at 12:30. Stopped at Pathmark/the liquor store to get burgers, hot dogs, buns, ketchup, and of course beer, delicious Dogfish Head beer. We got to the parking lot around 12:15. That's when we realized we didn't have a spatula OR a bottle opener. DURR! Quick run to Acme and we were back with both right around 12:30. We decided this was going to be a good practice run to help us get all the kinks out so that when other people start tailgating with us, we'll look like pros. Then the grill wouldn't light. We were using Ben's after some failed larceny, and it was propane. The gas was coming but it wouldn't light. So we FINALLY got a regular lighter and got the grill started. Oh. My. God. These burgers...WOW. It may have been that we were starving, but the burgers were PERFECT! So we had a couple burgers, some hot dogs, a handful of beer (high abv beer), then we won a free pizza at the game, which we ate after.

Why did I just talk about all that. Well, because I had a loooong run to do today. If I were writing a book about how to run like an idiot, today would get a chapter. I was pretty drunk when we went into the game, and while I sobered up by the end, getting home I knew I was dehydrated and still pretty out of it. Regardless, I did it to myself and I knew it wouldn't kill me so I put on the running gear (shorts and a t-shirt! YES!) and got out the door. Here's the damage:

18.3 miles in 2:34:39 (8:27 pace)

including:
5.5 miles- 45:48.12
9.0 miles- 1:15:52 (30:04.29 3.5 miles)
14.5 miles- 2:01:50 (45:58.25 5.5 miles)
18.0 miles- 2:32:07 (30:17.21 3.5 miles)
18.3 miles- 2:34:39 (2:32.06 0.3 mile)

1st 9 mi- 1:15:52
2nd 9 mi- 1:16:15

I know the times look pretty good. The splits were all pretty consistent, the overall pace was right around what I was aiming for. But MOTHER FUCK DID THAT HURT! Normally when I'm running after about a mile or two I settle into a rhythm and my legs go on autopilot. I stop thinking about moving them, they just move, just like my heart beats, my lungs breath, it's automatic. I'm able to focus on pace and doing mental math and enjoying my surroundings. None of that happened tonight. For 18.3 miles I felt every step, and most of them were struggles. Even worse, the 3.5 mile route was the hilly one. I sucked down a PowerBar powergel after 5.5 and then again around 12. They didn't help, except maybe to stave off the eventual bonk some. At mile 15 I really felt it. My legs felt like they were lead and running in sand. I really focused on maintaining a relaxed face and arms, and maintaining something resembling proper form. I could feel myself wanting to bend forward and shuffle. The last few hills felt endless. Not once did stopping cross my mind though, this was a good mental workout as much as it was a physical one. I'm honestly not sure how I managed to keep the pace from trailing off considerably and given how I was feeling and how stupid I was going into it, this actually gives me a lot of confidence that under much better conditions I can run a very solid time.

My calves, especially the right one, were tight from the get go and got progressively worse. After I finished, walking looked much more like hobbling. I felt and probably looked about as old as grandpa. Got home and iced up my right achilles. It was sore and a bit tender to touch but I gently massaged both legs and went to bed with them feeling marginally better.

Tomorrow is an easy day. I'll be doing 7 miles at somewhere between easy and recovery pace. I'm thinking NO FASTER than 8:45. I'm also thinking no more alcohol til the race. Or at least no more heavy drinking and stuffing myself full of delicious meats hours before a run :)

total weekly mileage: ~68 miles

2 easy runs today

markrunsfar — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 06:48:14 GMT

Today the schedule called for two easy runs to let my body recuperate from the speed work and to put in some miles for the week. I was really happy to give my legs a break from running so hard and so fast (TWSS?). I would have liked to do today's WOD too,but there simply wasn't any time, what with me being in Staten Island all day. Of course, on the day where it was supposed to be so nice, weather-wise, I have to get up to run at 7:30 when it's still 20F outside! At least for the second run this evening, the temp was warm, relative to what it's been for so long (40ish). no tights this evening! Here's the damage:

AM- 5.5 miles in 44:39 (8:07 pace)

including:
Paper Mill to Campus
0.75- 6:07.67
campus loop
1.75- 14:13.05 (8:05.38 mile)
2.75- 22:28.42 (8:15.37 mile)
3.75- 30:27.66 (7:59.24 mile)
4.75- 39:05.42 (8:37.76 mile)*
Campus to Paper Mill
5.50- 44:39.05 (5:33.63 3/4th mile)

*In the middle of this mile I was stopped on Delaware Ave by a mom and her son looking for the music building. I wound up stopping to give them directions and then gave a lost woman directions to Purnell. I eventually stopped my watch but all told it probably took an additional 3-4 minutes.

This run was pretty good overall. I ran it nice and relaxed, and didn't push myself. I love that this is an easy pace now, this is close to last year's goal marathon pace. It was a nice morning, just a bit of a chill in the air. I'm not used to running so early but it woke me up well. THEN....

PM- 15k (9.33 miles) in 1:12:42 (7:48 pace)

including:
5k- 24:18.99
10k- 48:30.12 (24:11.13 5k)
15k- 1:12:42 (24:12.23 5k)

This was such an interesting run. I'm a little mad at myself about the pacing. I would have been happier with 8:00 pace, or even 8:05, but this is what happens when I run around lots of people. I get a bit carried away. Plus the weather was just so nice and I kinda got lost in that. This week spring semester starts at UD. That means all this weekend students are coming back to Newark, and, as expected, tonight most of them seemed to be out and about (and drunk, of course). I started counting the number of people I ran by who shouted something to the effect of "WHY ARE YOU RUNNING!?" at me. I lost count around 4 or 5. At a few people I yelled back, "BECAUSE IT'S SO DAMN NICE OUTSIDE!" which actually was met with good responses, ha! I also was almost hugged/raped by a very inebriated girl just off Main Street. The only downside tonight? Having to hold my breath past the couple smokers I passed, but nothing horrible. The only thing missing tonight was a drunk girl chasing me in her 4 inch heels. Oh well, there's a few months to go still, it's just a matter of time :-P

Overall I'm feeling good tonight. Tomorrow Curt and I are tailgating the women's basketball game at 12:30. This presents an interesting conundrum...I think I'm gonna have to do my 18+ miler in the afternoon after the game. Which means I can't go too crazy on the booze. Not the end of the world. I AM going to enjoy myself a burger or two. Then bang out that long run, in more gorgeous weather! YES! I also want to do the WOD I missed today...rounds of 250m rowing, 21 95lb sumo dl high pulls, 15 pull-ups, as many rounds in 20 min. Let's hope everyone coming back decides to wait til Monday to invade the gym and ruin it for me. Good night everyone!

long speed session and a heavy WOD

markrunsfar — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:25:08 GMT

I woke up this morning and before I moved I was worried that when I tried everything would be sore from yesterday's speed work and brutal WOD. Turns out my abs were the only thing that felt a bit painful. I was pleasantly surprised. As the day wore on my calves started tightening up but I kept massaging and rolling them out. Also, I'm now consistently around 161-162, which I think will be a good weight to run the marathon at. This is almost 10 pounds lighter than last year's marathon, and now I'm stronger and faster- all good things.

I was sorta dreading this run too, a long, fast run, because my legs haven't dealt with that in a while, and they have a lot more miles on them. At least the weather was balmy in comparison to yesterday (30ish and not much wind!). Headed to the track feeling pretty good and happy I was gonna run in just shorts and a long sleeve shirt.

The training plan called for 45 minutes @ half marathon pace w/ last 5 minutes @ 10k race pace. Here's the damage:

7 miles in 45:56.93 (6:34 pace)

including:
Mile 1- 6:38.13
Mile 2- 13:22.67 (6:44.54 mile)
Mile 3- 20:01.07 (6:38.40 mile)
Mile 4- 26:36.71 (6:35.64 mile)
Mile 5- 33:09.40 (6:32.69 mile)
Mile 6- 39:40.47 (6:31.07 mile)
Mile 7- 45:56.93 (6:16.46 mile)

I didn't really know what pace to run, I just knew that it should be faster than my only half's race pace. I was thinking around 6:50-7:00, but the pace calculators said it should be around 6:40, which just seemed so fast to me. But then I went out and did the first 400 too fast, like 1:33, instead of the 1:42s I was aiming for, and I never saw anything close to 6:50. I felt surprisingly good and my legs didn't feel too heavy throughout. Had a swig of Powerade at mile 2. Around mile 4 I was stricken with some HORRIBLE GI pains, like REAAAAAALLY bad. At a few points over the next 3 miles I was worried I'd have to cut the run short or risk something pretty terrible and embarrassing happening. For some reason I think this made me go faster, as if running faster would get it done quicker (I remember a similar thing happening last year during the same workout when it started thunderstorming). Fortunately I made it through (setting a 10k PR in the process) but I had to abridge the cool down to a brisk jog to the ice rink for a bathroom and then a slow jog back to my car, probably about a mile or so. I'll credit myself for 9 miles today.

It was already 1645 when I finished and I was lifting with the guys at 1730, so I just went up to the gym early and rode the recumbent bike for about 15 minutes before Ben got there. Today's WOD was all about presses:
shoulder press 5x1 rep
push press 5x3 reps
push jerk 5x5 reps

SP- 125, 120, 120, 120, 120
PP- 135, 135, 135, 145, 145
PJ- 145, 145, 145, 150(fail on 5th), 150

A good, heavy WOD today, everyone's shoulders were fried, I'm really happy I managed to get that 5x150 up the 5th set after failing before. I enjoyed it and will very much enjoy my easy day tomorrow, probably 5.5 early and 7 later, or something like that)

How am I still standing?

markrunsfar — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:50:44 GMT

Today was a "fun" day. Nah, you know what it was a legit fun day, given that fun to me is pushing myself to the point of collapse. Oh boy. In the early afternoon I had a track session of DOOM followed later by one of the hardest CrossFit WOD's we've ever done.

First the running. I woke up and it was clear and sunny and I got my hopes up that it would be a nice day outside. I was wrong. I checked the weather...18 degrees with a windchill of 4! 25-30 mph winds! WTF! I was kinda sorta dreading this. But I sucked it up and got down there.

The schedule called for 20 minutes @ 5 mile race pace (6:13 for me), 1 mi warm up, 2 mile cool down. Here's the damage:

3.25 miles in 20:15 (6:14 pace)

including mile splits:
Mile 1- 6:17.10
Mile 2- 6:14.86
Mile 3- 6:11.96
last 400- 1:31.15

including wu/cd: 6.25 miles total

So yeah, I hit my pace right on really. Running down the backstretch into that wind was just MISERABLE! But after getting through that first mile, I settled into a nice rhythm and just kept telling myself to suffer a little bit longer. By the end I was feeling pretty alright. It was such a cool feeling right around the 5k mark when I look down at my watch and it reads 19:28 and I'm think to myself that just a few months ago, that time seemed unfathomable, and now it's on a TRAINING run! AWESOME.

Went home and ate something, 5:30 rolled around and I met Curt, Ben, and Lee at the gym for the WOD. Today's WOD looked (and was) brutal:

Today's WOD

5 rounds for time of:
25 2pood kettlebell swings (we subbed 70lb dumbbell swings)
25 sit-ups
25 back extensions
25 knees-to-elbows

Originally I decided I'd only do 3 rounds because I had a hard run earlier and tomorrow is a long speedwork session. Well, about halfway through round 3 the masochistic part of my brain started thinking, "what the Hell is two more rounds, c'mon!" And if you know me you know two things- I tend to make rash, spontaneous decisions and I enjoy physical exertion bordering on torture. So I did it, all 5 rounds. I was hurting but I pushed through. It felt so great finishing up, but all I could think of at the time was how much I wanted to lay on the floor and die :) Here's the result:

5 rounds in 44:56

I had planned 5 easy miles this evening but I'm totally scrapping that in favor of The Office and the Element K @ Kildare's with Michfest. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow evening instead. It's no biggie really, I feel GREAT and I know I'm getting pretty strong and fast and I can't wait to see if it all pays off in 6 and a half weeks.

A quick easy run

markrunsfar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:45:44 GMT

So surprisingly, the thing that hurts the most today are my abs. I'm assuming this is because of the muscle-ups. My hand is torn up but it'll heal. My legs feel surprisingly fresh considering the run AND the squats. Today on the schedule was an easy 15k, I went to the bike trail and made it a bit longer. Also, I apparently got carried away at the end. Here's the damage:

10.56 miles in 1:21:25 (7:42 pace)

including:
3.52 mi- 27:45.85 (7:53 pace)
7.04 mi- 55:14.69 (27:28.84 3.52 mi, 7:48 pace)
10.56 mi- 1:21:25 (26:10.93 3.52 mi, 7:26 pace)

I felt so good from the very start. I remember going through the first mile and seeing I was under 8:00 and thinking that was interesting. I didn't feel like I was running sub-8 pace, I was actually thinking I'd do the run in 8:10-8:20 pace. I realized this may be out of the question. I didn't really notice that I was getting faster and then on the third lap, I just opened up a bit. It didn't feel much faster or harder than the first lap, and it's only 9 seconds slower than gmp, so I'm pretty stoked. I finished and walked a bit, passed two women that I had passed a few times on my run and one commented, "Geez you run fast!" which made me chuckle. If only they had been at the track yesterday...or tomorrow. Really dreading/looking forward to tomorrow's workout. Stay tuned!

Start of sharpening and some WODs

markrunsfar — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 00:47:10 GMT

Yesterday we drove back to Delaware from Lake Luzerne in upstate NY. What a weekend! I decided to take yesterday off as well because I was feeling all cramped and sore from the weekend/drive home. Went to bed relatively early, got a good night's sleep, and then today was to be my first speedwork session of the sharpening phase. I'll admit I was a bit nervous but it turned out to go better than I expected. Here's the damage:

5x1 mile @ 10k race pace, 4:30 rest, 1 mile warm up, 2 mile cool down

Mile 1- 6:23.60
Mile 2- 6:25.34
Mile 3- 6:24.89
Mile 4- 6:22.89
Mile 5- 6:12.90

WOW! My legs felt a bit heavy, but that is to be expected. I'm really REALLY pleased with this effort though. And that last mile was obviously a bit fast, but I felt good and I'm happy to see that at the end of a good hard effort like that I had that much left in the tank. Awesome. Did I mention I was running in a snow storm? With some fairly windy conditions? Because I was. It was fun though. All told I covered 9 miles today.

Then I went to the gym with Curt, Ben, and Lee at 5:30. We did the CrossFit WOD:
5x5 squats: 185 lbs

I could have gone heavier, but after the running workout I did, and the weekend I had, I didn't feel like killing myself. I was really happy with this effort too. Strength training, I believe, has been a HUGE part of what's made me a much better runner lately.

After we finished, Lee left, but I felt like trying the WOD we didn't do yesterday.
30 muscle-ups for time

Curt decided to try it with me, we did it on a straight pull-up bar because we don't have rings. This was tough, but I managed to get through it. I wasn't really keeping track of time but I think it took something like 17 minutes. And Curt cut his elbow wide open when he hit it on the bar. With about 2 muscle-ups to go Curt noticed that I tore open a callous on my right hand. It was bleeding all over. Those last two stung but I got through them. Pictures will follow. Gross, bloody pictures that is :)

Cue gross, bloody picture of my hand after 30 muscle-ups:

treadmill 20 miler and musings

markrunsfar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 06:37:23 GMT

Tonight I did something I didn't even think was possible. Like wow. It was too icy to run outside anywhere without risking some variety of contusion or sprain, so I went to the gym. I was supposed to do a 20 miler today, but having to run on a treadmill, I figured I'd do a 20k easy and hope I can wake up early to get the 20 miler in before we leave for upstate NY. Well I got on the treadmill, with one 16 oz Gatorade, and spontaneously decided to grow a pair and just do it. Here's the damage:

20 miles in 2:54:26 (8:43 pace)

Now granted, I've done 20 milers before. Heck I've done two 21+ milers this month already. Including quite possibly one of the most boring runs EVER (21 one-mile laps around my block in the Tagh). Well, tonight I hit a new low. Running on the dreadmill is bad enough. Running long distances on a dreadmill is worse. But a 20 miler, with ONLY ONE GATORADE to drink, is MISERABLE. Granted, the hydration issue was my fault, but still, OH. MY. GOD! I am seriously more proud of myself about this run than most of the ones I've done. I'm feeling really good going into the sharpening phase of marathon training. And I earned myself a much-needed day off.

So what do I have to muse about? Here's the thing. I had a great run. A great, hard run that battered me quite a bit, but I'll recover quickly. As I go to leave the gym, there's a group getting in a public safety van, there's a guy picking up his girlfriend, there's a girl picking up her boyfriend and his friend, everyone's leaving with someone. And I have to traipse across the iced over parking lot (more like hobble like an old man) to the far lot to get in my car and drive here. I'm ok being alone for the most part. But then there's time's like this. All I want is someone to come home to and take care of me tonight. 95% of my runs, I'm ok taking care of myself afterwards, but runs like this, that break me down a bit, mentally and physically...I just want to come home and lay down with some ice on whatever aches, and have someone here who gives a shit, who will listen to me talk ad naseum about the whole thing, who will cook me pasta and understand that some days are rough. It's been almost exactly a year since that last 20 miler of January 08, I did it on the Jones Beach bike path and got back JUST in time to pick up Laur as she got off the train in Wantagh. Then she listened to me babble on about it and gave a shit and we went to The Cup and it felt wonderful. Tonight I came home and made myself pasta and self-medicated and will watch Burn Notice in a little bit and pass out and that's that. I know there ARE people who care, who WOULD take care of me. But the fact is, I'm here alone 20 miles worse for the wear and I'm wondering if I'll ever have that again.

You can't run away from your demons
But you can sure as Hell try

Newark Turkey Trot 5k

markrunsfar — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:38:58 GMT

I'll edit this with more info later but I wanted to put it down because I'm still on clouds and I want everyone to share in that joy...

I RAN A 19:05 5k THIS MORNING!!!!

Update:
I'm so elated and I just have to share my happiness with all of you! This morning I ran in the Newark Turkey Trot 5k. Until the middle of last week I was unsure whether or not I was actually going to run this race, but decided to go for it and try to fulfill my goal for 2008 of running a sub 20 minute 5k. My last 5k was September 28th and I felt pretty good going into it, it was a flat course and I ran a 20:08, my current official PR. Since then I have put in 4 50+ mile weeks including a few days where my 7-day total was 70+ miles. Over that time I've seen the pace of my easy runs drop somewhat considerably. The little bit of fast running I've done has been fast and relatively comfortable still. So I was really confident going in to this race that if I ran well I would get my goal.

Then last night I jogged the course as an easy run because I wouldn't be able to sit still all day, and I wanted to see what I was up against. Turns out the course is pretty hilly, well rolling really, not terribly steep. The first mile or so is gradually uphill (and into serious wind this morning!) There's some dips and one real short, steep uphill right before mile 2. Fortunately the last half mile or so is downhill-ish. I was a little nervous though because I didn't know how much the hills would affect my pacing/time.

The race start was scheduled for 10:15 (started closer to 10:30) and I got there around 9 to get my bib and t-shirt, and warm-up. I got in a good warm-up finally (and fortunately wasn't feeling the effects of 7 beers and dancing til 1:30am last night, I know, I know!) and got to the line ready and focused. I made sure to get behind someone going about my pace up the early incline to break the wind and passed through the first mile in 6:21 (I needed to pace about 6:26 to reach my goal). I was feeling surprisingly good still after mile 1 and allowed my self to settle into a comfortable, fast pace. The rolling hills didn't bother me so much, I let myself open up and relax on the downhill and just focused on the guy in front of me and pushing off my toes on the uphills. On the real steep incline before mile 2 I accelerated to get up it and felt real good so I let my surge continue for a while. Hit 2 miles in 12:37, which some quick mental math told me gave me a great shot at 20 minutes. I felt some slight stomach discomfort, which is par for the course on 5ks for me, but my legs felt good and my breathing was far from labored. So I decided to try to hold the quicker pace, knowing the last bit was somewhat downhill. I wound up reeling in about 2-3 guys towards the end who didn't look nearly as good as I felt. Once I got to a half mile out, I let it go and kept saying to myself, "This to shall pass, this too shall pass..." About a quarter mile to go, I passed another guy and I must have looked pretty good because he said, "Good stuff man" which gave me a boost. At this point I finally allowed my mind to let the adrenaline surge that was aching to burst forth from the start go and I stopped thinking and let my legs take over. Now I was hurting a bit but I honestly don't remember most of it, just the feeling of rapidly covering asphalt, passing the 3 mile mark and turning the corner to see the finish line quickly approaching, hearing my friend cheering for me, focusing on the guy a few meters in front of me, "this too shall pass, this too shall pass", pumping my arms and finally, hitting the line completely spent and hitting my watch.

Someone ripped the tag from my bib and I walked through the corral. It was only then that I looked down at my watch. Here's what I saw: 19:05!

Yeah, not only did I break 20 minutes, I almost broke 19! I set a PR by 1:02! About a second or two after this, it quickly hit me what had just happened, and everything hit me at once, physically, mentally, and emotionally and I totally lost it. For a good 30 seconds I just allowed myself to be spent and it felt amazing. Then I got a grip, put on my sweats, and cooled down some.

Turns out I came in 2nd in my age group (19-24) and 9th overall. I got a sweat trophy for my troubles, with a cute turkey on top. But more than that, I got the satisfaction of knowing that this training I've been doing is working, and it paid off in a HUGE way this morning. And it made me believe what Kevin Garnett so eloquently said after the Celtic's won the NBA title last June: Anything is possible!

Happy running everyone!

x-posted to runners

easy morning run

markrunsfar — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:39:30 GMT

I've decided to do two runs today- an short, easy morning run to clear out my legs and something around 15k later. I've heard that this set-up allows you to feel fresher with your main run in the evening so we'll see. This early run felt real good, I took it nice and easy (which means sweatpants and sweatshirt...that's always helped me slow down lol). Here's the damage:

4.05 miles in 34:41 (8:32 pace)

Man, I really thought I was going slower than that. It felt slow, honestly, and relaxed. I finished and definitely felt a little more alert and my legs felt stronger. We'll see how it goes later.

Oh yea...GO VOTE!!!

bike path 10 miler

markrunsfar — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:35:54 GMT

Starting off a brand new week, I was thinking about doing 9 or so, and I was wondering if I was going to get through that, I felt pretty listless initially. But when I got on the bike path, after a little bit I started feeling pretty good and decided to make it an even 10. Here's the damage:

10 miles in 1:19:04 (7:54 pace)

including:
Paper Mill to Bike path
1.5- 11:41.51

Bike trail
5.0- 40:01.54 (28:20.03 3.5 miles, 8:06 pace)
8.5- 1:07:45 (27:44.25 3.5 miles, 7:55 pace)

Bike trail to Paper Mill
10- 1:19:04 (11:18.76 1.5 miles)

1st half- 40:01.54 (8:00 pace)
2nd half- 39:03 (7:49 pace)

Nice negative split, nice run. Hopefully the start of another good week :)