Great dane miles

First day of september but it still feels very much like August/ July, horribly humid.  Didn't get much sleep last night from this heat and waking up early for morning lift.  Intense Core session prior to run, so run itself felt very tiresome.  Did 35 + 10 warmup with Tyler, Matt, Jordan, Liam.

Workout day, 6 x Liberty Terrace Hills (600 Meters).  No stopping rest, just about a minutes worth of jogging back down to the start.  The workout was persribed as first 2 "Easy", second 2 "Medium", last 2, "Hard".  Right from the start Kyle, Cook, Cal and I took off from the rest and hit something in the neighborhood of 1:50-55, felt alright the heat was really rough.  2nd one Kyle took off a little, me and Cal hit about the same time as the first.  3rd one I began to fall off Cal the first 300, but then caught back up to him and finnished with him at the end around 1:45.  4th one I was alone as Cal dropped off, but I started to really feel solid in my legs despite the heat, I think I hit about 1:43, I caught up to Kyle, and did the 5th with him, really threw a lot into this one, we just went under 1:40.  Last one I really focused much of my effort on, I was able to hang with Kyle until about 300 when the "Hill" gets flat.  Kyle was about 3-4 seconds in front of me with 100 to go, but I felt that the last bit I kept the same pace as him, and that difforence was more like 2-3 seconds, he hit 1:37, I must have been 39 or 40.  I did this workout in my flats mainly because the Asyms are now clearly over 400 miles, and its just extra dead weight that i'm carrying at this point, hopefully these new shoes will arive tomorrow.

Easy run in the rain, felt really great in my legs, Last day with the summer shoes! To be replaced with....the exact same Asym 5's, as well as the Brooks Pure Cadance, I'm going to begin a long 6 month process of transitioning to lighterweight shoes, that process starts tomorrow.

First run recorded in lihtweights!  At first it felt slightly uncomfortble, and wierd.  But after about 15 minutes I was really feeling great, I tried to keep the run almost entirely on soft surface.  Race tomorrow, excited and ready to go.  

Strides

1st off day in awhile, I took advantage of it to say the least.

First run solo since arriving here.  Did some exploring in the trails right off campus, got lost for awhile, but I was digging it, was unaware of the vast amount of narrow but weel kept trails thaqt existed in the area.  Pure Cadance felt fine, but I will be holding off on wearing them for the next couple of days.

Workout Interval day:  8 X 800's around the pond, relitively flat, soft surface loop.  Goal was to start of at XC Race pace and move down of of feel. This would have techically been 2:42/3 for me.  Went into the first couple reps letting Cook and Ranke take control.  We were fast to start at 2:35, and then 36.  I was very out of breath, especially at the start of these reps.  However, on third one I began to feel myself getting into the groove of things despite the heat that was in the mid 90's.  The 4th one was slightly slow at 2:39.  I took control on the 5th to bring the pace back down to 2:36.  The 6th and 7th I was solo for the second half of the reps hitting 2:36 again and again.  For these reps I was going out my first 400 in 1:15-16 and closing much slower around 1:20.  The last one I took out fast, Z cook passed me with 200 to go, I hung onto his back and finnished in 2:35.  Overall very great workout for me, really worked on just staying mentally focused, especially the first part of each rep where the heat was direct.  

Had to cut the run short today. I have a headache, and feel very sick in general, I'll make up the lost 3-4 miles later in the week.

Interesting run...first off let me state that I woke up this morning for weight room at 6:50 with a slightly swelled throat, a completely congested head and a very clear fever.  I stayed very cautius with what I did throughout the day when it came to eating (I had just about no appatite).  In Acting class right before practice I was falling asleep and had the chills.  However, I did my best to shake this off me, and came to practice ready to work.  The goal for the day was 90 minutes, and the route was the same out and back that I did last week.  The first 30-40 minutes I was having lots of random stomach issues:  Stitch cramps here and there, lots of gas, and the feeling that my stomach was jumping up and down frequently.  Cal, Kyle and I started to move a bit on the way back, and oddly enough I felt good...really good.  Compared to last weeks alomost identical run I was really keeping up well despite some soreness towards the end in my lower back.  We averaged a sweet 6:40, and closed the last few miles around 6 minutes.  However, after makiung the 10 minute drag to state immediatly after we finnished, I entered the dorm I was burning up and my back was in desperate need of rest.  I gave myself a nice 30 minute nap, forced some food down my throat and was good to go, sorta.  Really hoping I wake up tomorrow with this gone.

Felt awful, kept a fast pace with Herold and Cal, but I felt like complete garbage.  Legs were so heavy, still getting over this sicknes, also have not been eating as much as I should be.  Iced down afterword, looking toward a good workout tomorrow morning.

Today was a complete bust of a workout, my worst in a long time. This is a result of still getting over this sickness that I have, as well as having gone way too hard on the run yesterday.  The workout was 1 Mile on the track + 2 x 2 mile (campus loop) + Another mile on the track.  My pace was placed at 5:28.  First mile I felt OK I hit 5:26.  We had a minute rest, I went into the 2mile very aggressively, but I cou;dn't fight the shit in my legs and at a mile the pack caught me and passed me, everyone ran slow for the rep, I just ran particularly slow (11:15 and change).  After 2 minutes rest the boys sprung out hard for the next 2 mile.  I was feling so horrible, mostly my legs just really being dead.  I hit a mile at 5:55 and stopped woth Jordan to avoid whatver ugly mess would have happned had I continued without stopping.  I tooka minute with him, and sprang into the next mile.  I really faught hard the first half to stay with Jordan, but I completely fell apart and crossed in somewhere between 5:50 - 6 minutes.  as important as getting the volume in is, it would not have been worth it for me to get in that last mile on the track.  I would label this workout as a "failure" on my part.  First "Failure"  since probably the spring or even earlier.  Lessons learned:  TAKE THE EASY DAYS EASY, especially when sick.

Swim Day, Mile swim 2 x 30 laps, 1 x 12 laps hard with Andrew.

Recovery run loop with the group, felt really good for the first time since early last week.  Tried to keep it soft, going into tomorrows workout very cautius.  

Workout put me back on my feet.  5 x 1200's on the lake loop.  The goal was just to stay up with the guys (Cook, Cal, Tyler), and hit a simmiler pace to the 800's from last week (2:35 800 Pace --> 3:50-55 1200 pace).  However there were two massive hills en route.  

Hit the first one solo in 3:59, I let Cook take off with Kyle, but the group remained 5 seconds behind me, this was a mistake, I should of just went with Cook, the rep was very easy.  2nd rep I went off with Cook, first 4 taken out in 70, then I relaxed a bit, me and Cook went back and forth with each other and hit 3:49.  3rd was followed in a simmiler fashion, we both hit 3:50.  4th I took it out the first 600, then Cook pulled away slightly on the hill, but I caught back up to him on the down hill from 900 meters and we both clocked in again at 3:50.  Last one we went in intentionally with me taking the first half, Cook the second half.  I started to die up the first hill and Cook ran away, really pulled it into gear the last 300 meters and clocked in 3:48 a few seconds back from Cook.  

Overall, great workout.  Felt really good in the Pure Cadence, I kinda wish Jones had let me run at a 6th, I could have deffinitly pulled out a sub 3:54, but he wanted to be cautius coming off my sickness this week, so understadable.  Gearing up for Thursday and Saturdays sessions, to really get Boston prepped.

Easy run same as two days ago.  Pace kept solid (7 minutes ish).  Loop went very smoothely, last couple of miles I started to push things, but nothing too bad.  I've been on the Iron last couple of days, its probably not taking effect yet, but I am feeling really good this week, probably just a plecibo so far.

I'm Back at it!!!!  Super quality workout today :  2 x 2 mile on the campus loop, then 2 x 1 mile also on the campus loop.  Felt decent on warmup, made decision that I was just going to stick with my trainers rather than lightweights just because of the volume and the amount of workouts we've had recently.  First 2 mile Cook took us out very fast.  Jones set the Pace at 5:28, we went out in 5:16 or so.  We then slowed down way too much the next half mile (2:50), Yung Jordan Johnson came through to pick us up the last half to hit 10:50, about 6 seconds fast.  We took an even two minutes rest and went right into the next one.  I took the first half mile out aggressively, Jordan came up on my shoulder and by the mile we were alone.  Jordan was feeling very good at this point and began to pick up our already fast pace.  I held on for dear life, not all out, but I was using my upper body for a substantial amount of that second mile.  At certian points I felt as if I was falling off, but I kept my mind in the zone and stayed up.  We crossed through in a filthy 10:36!  Jordan went to the track to do his last two miles, I waited for Cook, Cal, and Tyler and then took the rest with them.  I must have taken around 3 minutes, so a little longer than I should have.  Tyler set the pace for the mile non-aggressively and I just held on, I was feeling a little rubbery in my legs but every time I felt like I was going to fall off, I just re-asserted my focus and stayed on.  We crossed in at 5:24.  Tyler and Cal were done, but I knew I had another in me.  I coaxed Cook into taking down one last one with me.  The rest was around 2:30.  The first half of this mile was rough mentally:  We climbed the slight incline across Empire and hit the half in 2:35.  I wasn't intending to be a warrier the last half mile, but I just so good.  I dropped Cook with about 600 to go and I let my legs loose.  i was not pushing super hard, I crossed in at 5:09.  Easy 10 minute cool down on the grass to top it off.

This was my best tempo workout since arriving here.  It was very mentally tough especially on that second two mile, and it was even more tough considering the last time I was in this setting I completely bombed it.  I was afraid going in that I would give in to that mental weakness that consumed me last time, but I didn't.  Going sub 26 minutes for the 8k this season is deffinitly in my range at this point.  Never been better

Easy run around the campus with the freshmen crew, feeling decent considering yesterdays workout.  Tomorrow is repeat quarters, I'm feeling pretty ready to go.

Decent workout: 12 x 400's on state loop with equal rest, 5 minutes rest in between 6th and 7th rep.  First couple reps felt mentaly tough, simply because I had little to eat/drink beforehand.  I hit 75, 71, 70, 70, 70, and then 69 for the first 6.  I ran these mostly solo, Kyle and Cook were 1-2 seconds ahead of me, everyone else 1-2 seconds behind.  I still felt like complete crap going into the second set.  I had a delayed start the first rep so I didn't get the time but I think it was 71-72.  Brought the pace back down to 70 for the next couple of reps.  Tyler, Yung Jordan, Harold, and even for one rep Matt was ahead of me by a second or two this set.  The second to last rep I sucked my bad feeling up and I ran with the front, to hit 69.  The last rep the guys really took hard hitting 62-63.  I was in no mans land at 67, Cal Liam and Kieth were a few seconds behind me.  Overall this workout was tougher than I expected, I certianly need to eat next time before I do something like this, but I did hit my splits and average 70ish on XC terrain (Which is good for 67 on the track), back in the sunmer I would do this but only with 10, and slightly slower.  

Solo Long run down to Colonie and back.  Felt very good aerobically, however my hip area was sore the second half of the run so I was a little cautius the second half, This gives me a total mileage of for the week (Monday - Sunday ) a little of 65 which is right around where I'd like to be.  

Easy Mileage day, 40 minute run to Pine Bush and back, hip feeling sore, went to ice it afterword.  

Pre-Boston Workout today on state quad (Same location as repeat 400's and 1k's).  Workout went:  Mile + 1k + 600 times two sets with about 400 meters jogging rest between each rep.  Goal times of 5:28, 3:08, and 1:43.  I decided to wear the Brooks Purecadence for this, which was a bit of a mistake, I should have worn the T7's which are bettwer for the high grass terrain on state quad.  First mile was taken out fast, but settled in by the 800, hit the mile in around 5:20 with Cook and the rest no more than a few seconds behind me.  We went right into the 1k, I struggled, but stayed with Jordan the whole rep to cross through in 3:08 perfectly, however it felt alot harder than it should have.  The first 600 I got dropped vvery quickly, crossing through 4 in 71-72, and then the 6 in 1:50.  Next mile I kept ahead of pace like the first one in 5:22.  I went into the next 1k with Jordan, but by 300 meters I was already falling off.  I might have been 8 seconds behind by 600 meters, however I refocused myself and cut that gap down to about 4-5 seconds.  I hit 3:13.  On the rest before the last 6 I tried refocuing myself to stay with Jordan the whole way on the 6, but I lost him 100 meters in.  I once again hit about 1:50.  Overall not a terrible workout, but certainly not super great for me, especially on the second 1k, and 600's.  This was in part to a few reasons.

-  The rest for this workout was particulary short, as I'm very spoiled when it comes to taking rest, back in high school I would take standing rest of a couple minutes when it came to workouts like these.

- I could feel a big sense of water swishing around in me througb pretty much the entire thing.  This was due to me not hydrating enough during the day and then consuming a ton of water right before we went for progressive.

- I ran 13-14 miles 2 days ago.....Perhaps that was a little much despite how good I was feeling then.

-  I made a poor choice in shoes for this.  The Pure Cadance are meant more for a lightweight trainer rather than a workout shoe, especially on uneven surface, the T7's would have been a lot more appropriate.

- Ont the plus side:  My hip is feeling alot better, going to take it easy the next couple of days, ready to go for Boston. 

30 Minute run round campus in the eve.  Feeling pretty good, adding an extra mile for all frisbee I played prior to the run.  

Easy running around campus, ate some good food afterword, feeling good, ready to go for tomorrow.

First 8k in the books.  I went into this race with a goal of averaging faster per mile than Colgate, and to be consistent throughout it.  I felt really great warming up, no sickness, no soreness, a little tired from lack of sleep last night, but overall felt powerful.  Right off the line the race was taken out incredibly fast for me.  The first 800 meters my legs were going all over the place as I maintained a few meters behind some of the rest of the team.  The goal was to go through the mile no faster than 5:10, we went through in 4:56.  I don't race very well when I go out stupid fast, and this unfortunately was one of those times.  I started to really feel the intensity of the first mile and began to settle in, I crossed through 2 mile in 10:25 and a gap began to grow between myself and the rest of the team (Jordan, Cal, Kieth).  I was running alone by 4k and felt completely dead.  I was really starting to lose my focus as I feared that my pace was falling back to almost 6 minutes at some points.  With about 1k to go I heard Liam on my tail, that was a Huge wake up call for me to get back in this, so I made a few surges up the last hill and closed in on Kieth.  I really went into gear as we flew into the last 200 meter stretch.  I caught Kieth, but then he threw in a kick and we crossed the line side by side both just breaking 27 minutes.  Overall this was a disappointing race for me, I really was too aggressive that fisrt mile and it took a huge toll on me those middle 3 miles.  I was however proud that I could kick like I did at the end to go under 27, if I kept at the pace I was going for mile 4, I likely would have been 15-20 seconds back.  My place in the race was an embarrassing 169th out of 186, which would explain why there was several points where I was alone.

Looking beyond today the goal is to relax in my training over the coming week, and really throw down a good time at Paul Short.  Also of course to have a great weekend seeing David and Justin in Boston this weekend, which I am really looking forward to.

In terms of people / scenery, this run will go down as the best of the month.  Justin and David took me on a 6 mile loop through BU / Cambridge followed by a series of runni g back and forth between David and Justins dorms searching for David who was presumed missing after he dropped off from us.  Running along the Charles was absolutely beautiful, Justin and I kept a decent 7 minute pace the whole way through.  The Boston skyline at night is awesome, and I hope to do this run again sometime this year with these guys.  Great company, feeling great, great run.

1 and a half campus loops, felt horrible in my stomach from food recently consumed.  Legs felt ok, 5 days until Lehigh.

Easy run through Pine Bush on the trails with Kyle and the freshmen crew, felt alright, ready to go for tomorrows work.

Many, many laps on the track today.  1 x 5 mile progression with 6 200's at mile race pace afterword.  The pace was set at 5:36 for the first mile, and set to drop 4 seconds every lap so that the last mile would be at 5:20 pace to finnish around 27:20.  I laced up the T7's for this one as they were most appropriate.  The weather was rainy, and I made the stupid decision of wearing long cotton socks, but I had to place that in the back of my head for 27 minutes.  I went out with Jordan and Kyle for the first mile hitting a little fast in the lower 5:30's.  I seperated off and ran on my own the 2nd mile with the rest of the pack about 3 seconds behind me.  I felt very good going through 2 mile in around 11:10.  It was around the 10th lap (Halfway) where my legs began to feel a little sore, but I alternated between running on  my toes, and settling back so I wasn't struggling too hard.  Cook passed me around 3 miles in, but I was still on pace.  The 4th mile I began to really feel the lactic acid in my legs, Kieth passed me about 14 laps in, but I remained no farther than 20 meters behind him for the remainder of the duration.  The last 1200 meters I really began to feel myself slowing down a little.  It wasn't as dramatic as last week, but I was certianly feeling it.  Liam came up on my shoulder with 600 to go, I stayed right in front of him for the remainder of it and closed in 27:24, pretty mush the desired pace.  The 2's afterword I did in the T7's as well, and we hit them in 31-33 for the most part, so they were a little tougher than mile pace.  

Overall solid workout, I'm glad I didn't push it too hard at the end, really looking forward to Lehigh, I can certianly run a time far faster than Bostonl, I just have to relax myself the next couple of days.

Easy Freshmen run around campus, couldn't have been faster than 7:15 pace at any point.  Felt better as the run went on.