Great dane miles

Workout day:  4 x 200's, 4 x 400's, 4 x 200's all with equal jog rest.  workout itself was only 4 miles, but we added lots of extra miles in continues running before and afterword.  first few 2's were mostly at 32-33 which was nice and consistantly easy.  We moved onto the 4's, hit 71, then 70 for first 2.  On the third Cal began to really push it we dropped down to 67.  Last one was rough in 66.  The wind on the home stretch was rough, I couldn't breathe for a few seconds on the last 4.  Going back to the 2's, I consistantly hit 31 which felt super fast after all the work beforehand.  I'm coming off of slight sickness, but looking forward to 3k time trial on Friday, should aim to go sub 9, granted good conditions.

Easy 50 down Western Avenue with Matt, Cal and Liam.  Left leg a bit sore, but overall not bad of a run at a swift pace. 

Magic Tree Loop with Pickup towards the end, legs felt really good, looking forward towards tomorows time trial.

3K Time trial day.  I was feeling a little sick earlier in the day, but went in feeling alright.  Wind was a big factor on the back stretch especially last few laps where I had no one to block in front of me.  We opened the first lap in a desireable 72.  Over the next 800 meters however the pace slowed down, I think we hit a 75 for the 2nd or 3rd lap. At around 1200 meters, Jordan, Tyler and Kieth all took off and put a 40 meter gap on me by the time I reached the mile.  Those 5th and 6th laps were tough, I was running alone and strugling to gain ground with the wind.  With 600 to go Matt easily passed me, although I don't think i significently slowed down.  I could hear a few of the guys behind me catching, but I was able to sustain my place and cross through 5th about 5 seconds behind Matt.  The time was not great at all, somewhere in the lower 9:20's, by comparison Jordan and Tyler ran around 9 minutes, so breaking 9 today with the conditions would have been very tough for me.  This more than likely solidifys my spot on the team for Indoor, I have a lot of high mileage weeks coming up, and I plan to incoorperate doubles soon to get myself into the 70's for at least a few weeks between now and the first meet about 6 weeks from now.  Cool down was long, and I felt very lightheaded.  Ate A LOT of food afterwords.  

Solo Long run down Pine Bush to Colonie Road and back, felt really great in my legs and moved a bit on the way back probbaly averaging around 6:45 for the whole way.  Felt much much better than the LR last Sunday.  Did some core and Hip afterwords.

Easy mileage two campus loops, saw Kyle halfway through the second so I finnished off with him to end it off.

AM:  Starting to do Morning runs 3 days a week to bump up milage to a goal of 70 for the next couple of weeks, The morning runs will be no more than a campus loop: 3 Miles.

PM:  Big workout with Cal 4 x 200's, 4 x Mile, 4 x 200's, all on the track, 2's had 200 jog rest, while Mile's had 1 minute rest.  First few 2's were controlled at 32ish pace, we went right into the first mile in a clean 5:30.  Then again at 5:27, and 5:24.  These first 3 miles felt very smooth and easy.  The last one we picked up a bit down to 5:17 so that one felt slightly tough.  The last 4 200's I pushed myself hitting 31, 31, 30, 30.  Cal sprung ahead of me for all of these so I really could push myself to try to keep with him.  I believe these 2's will really benfit my speed that needs a lot of developing.  The workout itself was 6 miles of work / rest.  The warmup plus 15 minute progressive plus strides made for another 4 miles, and the cool down was roughly another 2 so it was an afternoon of about 12.  

MTL Loop, felt easy, a little tired.

AM:  Morning run, did not feel as good as Monday, but I rolled with it and got through it.

PM:  Ladder workout:   3 200's, 2 400's, an 800 and then back down.  I really didn't feel well going into this, but I grinded and went in as positive as I could.  First few 2's were easy around 33, Cal pushed I stayed with him.. first 2 400's were a bit quick in 71, then 70, but I remained within myself.  The 800 is where I really started to feel fatigued, I hit 2:25 which wasn't that bad but it hurt a lot more than it should have.  Next 2 400's felt just awful at 68, 67 .  last few 2's were in 32, 31, and then I blew up at the end to hit 33.  Afterwords I felt very sick with a fever and slept/ remained immobile most of the rest of the day.  

I had to take today off, i felt absoltely terrible this morning, I could barely move my body until noon, this is a mixed result of the morning runs this week, less sleep, two workouts in three days, and just a lot of final stress that accumilated to make me suseptable to some stomach virus that took me over for the day.  The goal for now is to rest as much as needed, catch up a little on my eating, and feel decent tomorrow in prep for Saturday.

Easy run into Bethlehem, felt really terrible, lots of nausia, and just weak in general, trying to feel better for tomorrow.

Workout day:  2 x 3 Mile Campus loops, with 6 x 200's to follow.  Felt better than yesterday, but still not completely myself.  The first 3 Mile I went out quick with the guys for the first mile in 5:20, then slowed down to cross through the 2 mile at 10:55, and then 3 miles in around 16:30.  The 2nd 2 mile I felt terrible from the start and had to break the rep into two stopping halfway, I ran super slow and began to feel sicker. I attempted the 2's but I couldn't hit anything faster than 35, so I decided that it was in my healths best interest to stop after 4.  Really trying end this little hiccup in my training by Tuesdays workout.

Long run to Far Pine Bush with a few guys from the running club, the pace was a bit slower than I would've liked, but I still am not feeling that great either so I didn't mind.  Towards the end I picked it up to what my normal LR pace is around 7 minutes.

Quick 2 campus loops, feeling much better than past few days.

Solo Workout day on Liberty Hill, 9 x 600's progressing slow to fast, with jog rest on the back (About 400 meters).  Did it in trainers, just didn't feel that flats were neccisary on the concrete.  First 3 were 1:54, 55, 54.  Pace then dropped down to 1:50, 1:48, 1:48.  7th one I focused on going out hard, but I slowed up a bit coming up the second half 1:48.  8th one I started out slightly slower, but pushed more towards the top to hit 1:47.  Last one I just pressed to hit 1:46.  Overall first good day coming off last weeks illness.  In comparison I did  this workout with 6 reps the first week of September where I was able to get down to 1:40, However that was with people, in lightweights and only 6 reps so I'm not worrying about that too much.  

Easy two loops in the dark, feeling sore from WR, no more finals so I'm just relaxing these next couple of days.  

Rainy run down to Cook park with Liam, fast paced felt really good.  Lots of nothing going on rn as finals have been over since Tuesday.

Solo workout for my last day of the year here in Albs:  1 x 3Mile campus loop, 1 x 2Mile on the track, 1 x Mile on the track.  I've previosly done my tempo / threshold work around 5:30 pace so the goal was to make that a little quicker.  Conditions were brutally windy, especially on the track.  Campus loop went out in about 5:25, I was feeling really good that second mile to hit 10:44 through 2 miles.  The last mile was straight up through harsh wind I finnished up in 16:15, roughly 5:25 pace.  The 2 mile was really mentally tough I went out on 5:25 pace but that didn't last too long with the wind, I ran 11:10 (5:35 Pace), but with the wind I'd give myself 10 seconds a mile.  I closed out the last mile in 5:28.  Next time, assuming good conditions I'd like this to be closer to 5:20 pace.

Easy run with the high school guys back in Danbury, Mileage this week ended up being about 60, I held off on mornning runs following last weeks sickness, but I'm going to re-instate them for next week for hopeful mileage of 65.

Long run with Rob and company to the classic New Milly.  The boys went for a workout so I only ran with them for 15 minutes.  I continued on to get to an all time far going over a mile passed Gaylordseville, passed the dam about 6.5 miles out.  It took me 45 to get there and just under 40 minutes to get back totalling for 13 miles in 85 mins, about an average of 6:30 pace for the whole thing, afterwords went down to the armory to watch the little ones run, and then a good night out, successful Sunday in Dbury.

Easy running over down State Line into NY with David, he was feeling some pain on the way back so we chilled, but I felt really good.

Evening solo workout on the track in the dark:  12 x 300.  First Half I kept the trainers on starting at an easy 53 (70 second quarter pace).  I brought that down to 52, 52, 51, 51, 50.  I took roughly 60 seconds rest between each.  I took about a 3-4 minute break after the sixth to lace up the Matumbo's for the first time.  Right off the bat I hit 49 ( 65 second quarter pace).  I then went another 49, for the 9th I hit 47.  10th was back to 48, 11th was 47, and the final one 48.  I would have liked to get down to 45, but I'm not in peak speed shape, so I'll accept that I wasn't far off, I was going through the 2's in 32 which is a pace I would hit for my hard 2's back in Albs.  Weighed myself afterwords to find that I'm now down to 146, a month ago I was around 153 so assuming I keep focused over Israel, by my first race on the 16th of Jan in 3 weeks I should be near 142.  

Decent paced run with the Alumni guys down through Saint Gregs and Kick the can from the high school.

Speedy fast last run in the States.  Boyce loop easy 5 miles and then hammered a Birch loop to finnish the strong run.  Looking forward to a good trip in Israel, It'll be tough getting runs in, but I'll do whatever I have to.

Off - Travel day, I'm also going to be keeping track of the trip itself on here below:

Day 1: Air - ride to Ben Gurian, drive over to Hotel, met a ton of the people on the trip and got to know them, kept my eating habits straight, had a great dinner, and am pumped for what's to come.

Day 2: Started off with a really great 50 minute run exploring the coast on the beach in the morning, sand was rough and easy to run on along the shore. 

The food at the small motel like place we are staying at is so great, it is Shabbos so the day's activities were limited to a few group things, going to the beach, we've got 3 Ryan's in the group which I found interesting.

Day 3:  Really busy day, Woke up at 4:45 to do a run along the beach again (12 Miles with a tempo to average 7 minute pace the whole way).

Ate a great early morning breakfast then we got on our way to Cerascia to see some ancient roman ruins which were amazing. WE then travelled to Tzfat to see the old city, it was an amazing sight to see all the old buildings and how mystical the town was, It was my so mystical when I was ripped off and ended up paying nearly $100 in Sheckles for gifts probably worth far less. However, the Yemen bread was excellent, and I enjoyed listening to the music of the old men.  Went on a short hike which I was exhausted for afterwords, then went back to the hotel to in a Kibbutz to hang out do some small activities and sleep.

Day 4:  woke up at 6:30 to get my easy run in, I did 6 easy miles in the Kibbutz on the small roads and farmland which was beautiful and peaceful.

Had a solid breakfast then went to pick up the soldiers, they were awesome off the bat and we all got to know each other pretty well in some activities at another Kibbutz, then we went to a City on the Sea (Tiberius) I had my first Shwarma which was massive and tasted great (Much cheaper than Tzfat) Explored a few streets of the city and then headed over to another Mountain which we weren't able to climb because we arrived late, but it was still an amazing view of such a large area of land, absolutely beautiful. Got back to the Kibbutz to play some political games where things got slightly heated In debating, followed by some dinner, and then more activities with the Israelis.  Had a nice down to earth Convo with a couple people afterwords just hanging out outside . Went to bed early.

Day 5: Workout day, woke at 5:15 to get it in. Easy 15 minutes felt like crap mapped out a 600 meter segment of a mostly flat road in the Kibbutz.  I was off and on the grind only 40 minutes after waking up running 1:57 for the first slightly downhill one.  Came back in 1:55 for the second slightly up hill one.  As I was taking my 90 second rest a dog came out of nowhere and chased me down.  I cut my rest in half and didn't even time this one although it was fast because i was running from sed dog. I decided to run on the back end of the Kibbutz which was more of a downhill / Uphill climb.  I hit 1:53, 1:50, and 1:45 for the more downhill rep and 2:01 and 2:00 for the 2 uphill reps. Saw another dog on the cool down so I was cautious, but finished up with about 8 miles today.

Actual days activities:  We ate breakfast quick and drove over to an Arab village where I had a very unique experience like nothing I have ever been to before, the two young girls walked us around the village that seemed very intimidating at first, but then it really began to feel safe, the outskirts were covered in trash and the people clearly were struggling, they welcomed us into their Mosque and we enjoyed some Hummus afterwords.  Afterwords we had a graffiti tour which was amazing, seeing all the interesting art and unique stories, then we went to the square where I ate some good stuff from a bakery, and bought a few items, went to the hotel quickly and then back out to the downtown city.  Aaron and I explored the whole street to see some really packed bars and fruit stands, we then settled on a nice Cafe, I had a little Gold star and apple pie with iced cream, can't say I didn't love it, came back to The Q went to bed around 12:30.

Day 6: Woke up nice and early at 5:45 after a nice 5 hours of sleep.  Easy day of 6 miles I initially wanted to go to down the beach and back, but there was thunder  / lightning over the sea and me being a lifeguard instinctually avoided the beach (Although our tour guide later informed me that it would have been alright to run on the beach anyways) well I did the 6 back and forth in the parking lot area defending from 8 minutes to 6:30 pace.

Got back for a nice breakfast and then off to Independence hall for a short tour, It was historically insightful.  Did a small scavenger hunt around the BLVD followed by Rabin square which was even more historically significant.  We then had a great big lunch at this tech convention, then we listened to an interesting convention that I fell asleep for.  We then went on a ride into the desert to the bedowins where we had another great big meal middle eastern style. At night we all talked with each other reflecting on how things are going so far, followed by my falling asleep at 10ish.

Day 7: Long awaited desert run:  8 miles down to a valley that was beautiful , it was awfully windy so my "Progressive run" didn't get much faster than 7 minute pace.  Afterwords my shoes were stolen when I left them near the tent.  For the remainder of the trip it looks like I'm using my old Brooks Pure Cadence...

  Had an eh breakfast followed by a dope camel ride which I took several sick pics for.   Then we drove to Masada where we climbed up the mountain which was relatively short going up, but going down was a bitch and long.  The history was incredible learning about the mountain and how it played a role in Jewish history.  We went over to a Dead Sea resort where I had some falafel and swam around the sea, skin was so smooth.  Long bus ride to nice hotel where I had a hearty dinner followed by a comedians presentation that killed it tonight.  Afterwords had a low key  New Years celebration with a few of the Guys, was asleep by 12:45.