Great dane miles

30 Minutes easy continues run with David Alvarez.  Stomach uneasiness for most of run, legs feel fine, upper hamstrings feel slightly sore.  Run was kept mostly soft in the park, with a finishing half of a West Side loop.  Supplementary:  Easy Core

42 Minutes starting easy with Pat and Rohit, amped up for last 30 minutes with the team, felt fast.  Stomach still feeling some uneasiness.  Hard, “Stempel Core Session.  Back to Back core sessions = sore core.  

New Shoes!  same as previous pair )New Balance Asym 860 v5).  Looking to invest in lightweight  training shoe (Brooks Pure Candace 4) very soon. Slightly longer than intended, Trespass Terry wile route with team.  Took middle ten minutes hard up tempo, at least for my current shape. Afterword’s:  light stretching, weight room at rec with James:  3 x squats, 2x Free Weight routine, 2 x Lat Pulldown.  Kept it very light as it’s the first routine since coming back, also Hamstring felt sore towards end, Iced down upon getting home.

Lone Wedgewood Club Run.  Kept things very easy, Killian extended loop, felt awesome in my legs, no more pains, slight stomach uneasiness, largely accredited to the muffin I ate prior.  Iced down for precaution afterword. 

Very solid Run down State Line, legs feeling very fresh, kept the pace nice and fast, last shorter distance run before training becomes amped up.  Ready for Workout/Race tomorrow in Bethel, Race plan is to run first two miles anywhere between 11:20 and 12:00, then build into 10k race pace third mile, and close last 3 miles in 15:45. (16:30 5k at slowest).  Total time should be around 34:30.

Finnished off with 4 fast strides  

Today was the Bethel 10k, however, I will not enter this in as a race for the reason that I ran an extra two miles and my time of 47:01 does not represent anything I am right now.  The race plan was executed nicely for the time before I missed the turn just after mile 4.  I hit 5:42 first mile, 11:20ish going through mile 2, and then crossed through 3 miles at 16:35.  At this point I realized I was going slightly too fast for comfort, and that closing the the last three miles all in 5:15 was a little unrealistic.  I went through a rough fourth mile at 22:30 although I think the mile markers were very off so that could be wrong.  It was around 32 minutes that I realized that I had run far off the course, along with the next 15 people behind me and the one guy ahead of me who should have technically got third.  I debated dropping at this point I had probably just about hit 10k, but I figured that the time would be so horrible that no one can look at my result as anything realistic.  I used the last two miles as an upbeat cool down, and grimly crossed through in 27th place.  But assuming I get a refund, I won't complain too much for getting a free toothbrush, T-shirt, and Long run/ workout opportunity.  Feelin overall good, ready for a solid week of training.   

Relaxed Boyce Loop at solid pace, legs feel alright.

Met with James downtown ridgefield 50 minute run, very flat and fast paced (sub 7 miles).  Legs feelin ripe, harsh core and hip routine to follow, with weight routine (Light benching, 2 x free weights). 

The initial plan was to do the mile repeats today, but the weather was just too humid, and I chose to run mid-day, not the best idea. Therefore I decided to run a Gage- Miltown Loop that took 56 minutes.  Legs felt ok, body felt awful, very very humid.

Very Solid Mile Repeats workout.  15 Warm up, a few strides, and I was ready to tak advnatge of a beautiful quiet evening back at my home track.  First two were in trainers.  Pace was aimed at 5:16-5:18 (10k Race Pace) so 79 second laps.  I was a bit eager the first mile as I went out for the first 12 in 3:50, so I slowed up a bit the last lap to hit 5:12.  Second Mile was kept a little better paced at 5:14.  I laced up the Brooks T7 Racers and hit 5:15 for the third, and then 5:16 for the fourth.  for both of them I still went out slightly fast at 2:36 (5:12 Pace), so I really have to learn how to keep consistant 79's if I want to be alive the 5th and 6th miles for next weeks race.  Bringing the pace up to 76's, or even 77's for just a lap or two after the 3rd mile could kill me for later in the race.  However it will be expected that the first mile will probably be taken out in something around 5:10, but that will save me for my 5th and 6th miles where holding 5:20 will be a huge challenge.  Feelin amped, 9 days away! 

60 Minutes NF High School and back, used GPS watch, 8 Miles on the dot, 7:13 Pace, legs felt a litte sore on the back, somewhat comfort pace, very hilly on the way out.  Felt a little runners high Miles 6-7.

Fast Terrywile run with Jack in the afternoon, morning swim with James (Core/Hip/ Lifting in the morning routine).  Dropped Pace down to 5:20ish last 10 minutes with Jack flying down the rolling hills of Brushy Hill.  Total 42 minutes

Awful run, felt absolute crap, body very weak.  Started first two miles at 7:30 pace, then hit a massive wall.  Last two miles literaly at 9 minute pace, body is very weak, thinking about taking tomorow, and doing a hard session Monday, light tempo Wednesday, ready for race Friday.  

Post Day, legs feeling alright but taking off and relaxing to be safe, It has been a full two weeks since last off day, so it is appropriate to take off.  Week Plan:

- Monday:  2 x 2 Mile @ Race Pace., 1 x 1k @ 5 minute Mile pace  (10:30).  In Brooks Flats.  20 Warm, 20 Cool.  10 Mile day

-Tuesday:  50 Minute run (7 Miles about). 

-Wedneday:  45 Minute Run, 15 minute tempo from 20-35 Mins. 6 Mile day

-Thursday:  30 minute Run easy (4 Mile day)

-Friday:  Race Day ( 10 Mile day)

Saturday:  50 Minute easy run (7 Miles)

Sunday:  Long Run:  80 Minutes (11 Miles)  

55 Mile Week 

Very solid first day to what will hopefully be an excellent week.  Easy wight session in the monring with a core/ hip routine, went to work, then came to the track to get the job done.  Just short of a 20 minute warm up, Walking dynamic, and a few strides to get revved up.  First 2 mile was mainly on pace the whole way, a few laps on the slow side here and there, 10:35.  Took about 5 minutes rest, changed into the T7's, and went right into the next one.  First lap was slightly slow (80ish).  So I went into gear for the next 1200 meters and ended up going through the mile in 5:14 high.  I rested up a bit, and hit 5:16/17for the second mile for a total of 10:32, exactly the desired pace.  I took another 5 minutes rest and laced up the XC victories (shoes I'll be using for the race).  1k was kept very solid went through 4 in 73, 8 in 2:28, and finnished with 3:04.  Took another couple minutes and ran 2 x300's in 47, then 45.  Feeling more than ready for Friday.  Overall very good workout, first 2 mile could have been slightly faster, but I'm happy, excited, and amped, Sub 32:56 Lets get it!

Post Cliff Exploration run, Lone Boyce run, feelin weak, but as expected coming off of yesterday.

State Line run, Tempo 3x Westview trails loop (About 10 mins).  feling slightly tired, alot going on in life rn, trying to stay poisitive.

30 Minute run, Killian, Legs feeling very ripe, ready to make histiry tomorrow, a few strides, I'm good to go.

Unfortuntaley things did not go as planned, and I was very unprepared for what I was getting myself into.  I went in with as positive an attitude as I could.  I had the announcer cheering me on the first half as, "the only high schooler in the field chasing after his high school record", my brother yelling out my splits, and my family and a couple of their friends rooting for me.  I didn't eat much today either out of fear of nausia during the race, which I had in the back of my mind the whole time beforehand.  I got an excellent start as the entire first two miles I was on pace, but knew that I was not feeling the way I should have been feeling, I could not hold that pace for 4 more miles.  I also was running alone literaly the entire race.  I crossed through 5k at 16:34, slightly off pace.  After this I gradually dropped pace going from 80 to 83 to 87 and then tanked at 89 for the last two miles.  I broke down physically simply because I wasn't prepared and my feet were on fire with blisters due to wearing XC victories without socks, spiritually:  I was being lapped over and over by the leaders and was running around the same damn track 25 times, and emotionally:  I'm going through a lot right now in my personal life which certainly took a toll on my mental state.  I crossed through in 34:44 almost two minutes slower than the desired pace.  I learned alot from this experience, and I certianly don't regret trying, and knowing that I tired and that's alot of what really matters to me. Anyways the WMDP did an excellent job setting up a dream type of meet, beautiful evening set up for a magical night, that unfortunatley wasn't so magical for me. 

Off, I need Rest, time to think.

Beautiful Long Run to myself in New Milford.  I had to use Brads shoes as I forgot one of mine at home.  Very Peaceful evening, felt tired in the legs for the middle few miles, last mile or two were fast.  Got very dirty, ran on the tracks just because I can.

Easy Killian run, still feeling the 10k in my legs, ouch, still feeling a little off in other emotional ways as well from whats been going on in this past week. 

AM: 20 mins easy Birch run and wedgewood drive.

PM:  40 Mins Boyce, felt really good run in the rain, i think I'll do some speed work and lifting tomorrow I've taken a week or two off from that stuff, I'm getting fat. 

Speed / Interval Workout:  20 Minutes warm up down East gate at a modest pace, feeling good.  5 x 200's @32, very consistant with 200 rest in 60 seconds.  Moved onto Wynwood Hills X 8 for 30 seconds.  Felt fast, moving legs as fast as possible last 10 seconds.  15 minutes cool down.  Overall very solid workout, same thing next week except with more duration, and the addition of 400's.  

Orientation today so I woke up at 5:20 to get this South King loop in.  Felt kinda crappy, but it was expected as I was very tired from lack of sleep.  50 minutes, Very excited to drive up to Albany today for Oreintation!

Arrived home late from Orientation, which was excellent and makes me very excited for what has yet to come!  Ran 40 minutes State line and Birch loop combo, hips are still sore, but cardiovascularly felt excellent.  Tempo workout tomorrow, feeling amped.

AM:  Hip/Core/Lifting session, feeling sort of sore.

First Multi effort loop of the season in terrywile.  15 minutes warm up, did some strides, walking dynamic ect and I was ready to go wearing the T7's.  First one I went into with a little less effort just to get myself into the grrove hitting 5:25, not terrible but certainly not very solid.  Took 4 minutes rest and then really amped it up to 5:15 for the second.  I felt I started the first 400 a good 4 seconds faster than the previous, which set the tone for an aggressive attack on the downhills and a consistant pace up the hills.  My last one was a little weaker at 5:21, but much of those seconds lost came in the early parts of the rep, as I hammered the last 300 meters.  Overall not bad, last year I think I could go as low as 5:12 for this loop, but that was with people alongside me, its very hard to do a workout like this solo.  Next time I'd like to add a 4th loop, and try to average 5:16-5:18 for all of them with the fastest breaking my apperent PR of 5:12 on this loop.   

Drove 40 minutes, got a little lost along the way but eventually found the Monroe trail I used to run all the time with the team.  I wanted to keep this flat, and the Monroe trail is perfect.  Opened up the first few miles fast, 7:00 for the first mile, then down the high 6:40's for the next 2.  I was then getting tired and afraid that the remainder of the run would suffer a gradual slow down, but I was wrong.  I did slow down, but onloy until about mile 6, then I amped up the pace downb to 6:30, then 6:20, and by mile 9 I was hitting 6:00, which I would also hit for mile 10.  The last 2 miles were slowed up a bit down to 6:15, I finnished at the car at 12 miles exactly in a total time of 77 minutes, averaged at 6:33 pace.  Certainly my fastest overall Long run average pace ever, feeling very good, not sore, not even too tired.  Ready to go for the week hopefully will hit 55 miles.

AM:  Easy 2 miles legs feel dead.

PM:  Easy 4 miles, legs still feel pretty dead

60 Minutes with the alumni guys in terrywile.  Very fast paced run lead by Pat, I held for the whole ride but I was certainly straining to a degree at several parts.  Speed workout planned for tomorrow, Then another 60 or so run Thursday, followed by an off day Friday.

Rohit State Line run, felt kind of tired, this would have been a speed day, but the heat has really been getting to me, I decided to take it easy, but we still put in the work.

Speed workout on Immaculate track with Jack and Tim.  20 x 2's split up by putting them into 4 sets of 5.  First set all hit at 35ish.  Second set dropped to about 33's most of the way.  3rd set was 32's-33s.  Last five were interesting.  I went out alone on the first to hit 31.  Second one I was also alone hitting 30.  Third One I was also alone at 29ish.  4th one Jack came up on my right and outleaned me as we both hit 28 high.  Last one I was weak and caved in from the start hitting something very slow far behind Jack and Tim.  First very aggresiv speed workout overall well, would have been nice to end on a good note but oh well.  Off to the rapids tomorrow, then possibly Long Run with the guys Saturday.

Amazing day rafting with James in PA. We went for a very scenic run on the roads of weatherly PA afterword and it was absolutely beautiful, took a lot of great pics, run itself was kind of tiring, feeling a little stale, lots of stops along the way.

Met up with Alumni gang (Ro, Pat, James) and Will, a grad from Weston to meet in ridgefield at a trail I had never heard of for a long run.  First couple miles felt terrible, and a majority of this trail was in direct sunlight so that made things rough. However the trail ended after 3 miles and then we set forth on a long road loop. We stopped at 40 mins, and I made a decision to do the whole long run with Pat and will rather than turning back with James and Ro, this turned to be a great decision. I started to really get into a rythem with my breathing and felt my stride was very even as we neared 8,9,10, and 11 miles.  We stopped for water about 75 mins in, and then within 10 minutes were back on the trail. The next two miles I started to Rev up the pace and Will went with me, we dropped the pace down nearly a minute down to around 5:40. I looked down at my watch and realized that this was he longest I'd ever gone. There was about a mile between the end of the trail and where we parked so the last mile we settled back down. At this point my back was in extreme soreness, and upon finishing I downed an entire Gatorade. Overall I hit 15.5 miles in just under 1:45. Super proud of myself, especially since I did a long run earlier this week, or certainly earned myself tomorrow off. 

Much Needed off day

AM:  20 Mins feel like crap.

PM: Couldn't get enough of the Ridgfeild trail so I went back.  Went down to Ballard and back, cruising back the last couple miles around 6 minutes.  8 miles total Felt excellent.  Did a Lift routine at the rec, threw in core and hip.

Low Mileage day, Did a King street Chambers loop to switch things up a bit.  Arms feel very sore from lift, tomorrow I should be doing speed work with Jack.

Speed workout with Jack, 10 x 4's @73-75 (Only stuck to that for first half).  Hit 73 on the button for the first 5 and felt excellent.  Still a little sore in my arms from lifting two days ago.  Brought the pace down for the next few: 72, 70, 68, 68, and then I put the hammer down for my last one hitting high 60.  Felt awesome, kind wish I threw in a morning run today as my milage is going to suffer from the 7 mile day, should certainly do one tomorrow and Friday to tack on 5 more miles to the week.  Tomorrow more supplimatary after I work at Barlow.

Did not have my watch so mileage may be slightly off, did the warmup with team than ran the "Dirty Mexican" trail solo.  This run generally takes about 55-60 inlcuding the warmup so I assumed 8 miles to be accurate. Also did some lifting at the rec prior, worked on my lower back, an area of weakness that I have.  Felt alright

Threshold workout:  Terrywile Multi Effort Loops. X 4.

Warm up was quick with the alumni guys, got into the T7's and begun very quickly.  First loop hit in 5:29 BUT an elderly man walking his two dogs had to take up the entire path at the tp of the first hill so I had to come to a complete stop, holding me back a solid 5 seconds at least so I'm going to say this first one was more accuratly 5:24ish.  Second one was hit right on pace at 5:20.  Third I began to feel lots of weakness but I really threw down the hammer up the last hill, probably lost a few seconds going down the last hill and on the gradual hill about 800 meters in so I hit 5:23.  Last one I went into with a good mental attitude so the first 400 was very solid )around 76-77).  I began to weaken up down the hill and back up again, however I threw it all in towards the top of the last hill and managed to hit 5:25, still in my pace range of 5:20-25.  Overall very solid workout considering several factors that were not present when I did this last time:  1.) I jumped for 30 mins at Skyzone earlier which may or may not have taken something out of me. 2.) The grass was noticably high in some areas. 3.) The people were noticiably high as the smell of weed was very present in the small medow. 4.) The presence of people in general caused my tangents to be a little unefficent (especially that old man with his dog).  Considering all those factors, I am satisfied with averaging 5:23 instead of 5:20. 

Easy running on the Ridgefield trail after work.  Feeling VERY sore and beaten down, mostly in my legs.  Still kept a solid pace, likely due to the hard session yesterday.  Resting easy tonight to be ready to go for New Milford 90 with Jamezz.

Long run in New Milford with Stemp and James, legs felt very tired, James tried to throw the hammer down on the way back and I followed through until about 15 minutes back, then I threw the chill pill down, solid run overall.

27 Mile bike ride in Carmel with same group as yesterday, felt solid 2 hours, last 20 minutes very hard, felt awesome.

Terrywile trail run with the alumni guys, at first I felt like crap, but as we moved along I pushed the pace, feeling a good workout coming on either tomorrow or Thursday, probably tomorrow.

Made a last minute workout plan because I haven't done one in a bit, decided on Mile repeats at 5 minute pace. The first was in trainers, and felt awful, hit 5:04 keeping that pace most the way through, took 5 minutes rest between each rep. Put on the T7's for the next 3. I followed the same pattern for all 3, I was slightly ahead of pace at 200, then slowed up to be on pace at 800, but then by 1200 I would be a little slow (3:47 or so) Id kick it in the last lap to hit on pace (5:00-5:01) for all 3. Overall great workout considering I decided on t last minute, should have probably cut the rest down to 3 minutes, as I want 5 minute pace to eventually be threshold for me, rather than interval. Did some core with the alums afterword. Speed workout Friday, and then LR Saturday. 

50 Minute easy run with Rohit down to Rogers park, feeling alright tomorrow should be a hill day.

60 minute run at solid pace with Waterman, felt a bit sore in my hamstrings, overall pace stayed even the whole way through. 

Long run at the Monroe trail with the alumni guys and team. kept the first few miles at gradually fast pace (6:40-7). Missed be turn off, so we went down a few roads and did a lake loop.  Started the tempo at 55 minutes in.  Being alone, I went too hard too fast. I did not have a GPS watch on but I must have been going 5:20-30 pace for 15 minutes. I then felt myself breaking down a bit and slowed up rapidly to slower than 6 minute pace from 15-23 minutes. I decided to end the tempo a few minutes early just because I was so blown out.  My last 10-15 minutes were kept easy with Will and Rohit, 90 minutes on the button, exactly 14 miles, solid effort, good mileage for the week.

Big bike day....Like really big.  75 Miles to NYC with the Hat city bike club.  One of the funnest experiences of the summer, went down the typical putnam trailway, onto the north county trail, through a bit of Yonkers, onto the south county trail, stopped at a deli, and eventually went through the Bronx where I almost died a bunch of times ( I suck at unclipping out of my bike that's seat is far too high).  But I made it onto the next bike trail in the south Bronx which took us along the water all the way down to a great restaurant in Battery park, then went back up to parallel to Grand central, and biked the 10 or so blocks to GC which was beyond a nightmar, but it all got done, happy to have gotten in one last super bike before ended.

Night running with Jimmy, kept it very easy on the golf course, great to catch up and relax. 

Another easy night run with Jimmy and Zach, at one point I felt the pace was too weak, so I took it upon myself to amp up the pace in Rogers Park (which was amazing at night) while the guys did some barefoot running on the turf.  Had a good discussion with Zach about Nutrition afterword at my house....really need to start getting into the habbit of keeping a good diet at Albany.

AM:  One last easy run with my mom, down Birch, and then out to State Line, pace was VERY slow, but it was mostly for mom, so I allowed it and was cool about it, totalled 5.5 miles.

PM: 5.5 Miles Starting to get back to buisness with a Speed Interval workout of 10 X 4's taking a 1 minute rest between each rest.  Goal pace for the first 5 was 70, i hit all of them on pace, or a second fast.  After the 5th, I took a lap to jog around and put on my shoes and get some water (About 6 minutes).  Goal pace for the next 5 was 67.  I hit the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th all at exactly 67, and I dictated the rest very well between them all I never took more than 1:10 for rest.  However, before the last one I took a whole 3 minutes, as I really wanted to lay the hammer down here.  The rep startted a bit slow at 34ish, but then I picked it up at the end to hit 65, not exacly laying the hammer down, but pretty acceptable considering I was running on a black track in direct sunlight in 82 Degrees.  

Very busy packing day, almost was going to take the day off, but manaaged to suck it up anf get in 4 miles around 11:30, at solid pace after a tearful goodbye to most of my friends.

60 minute run with Alvarez one last time, mostly trails so on the slow side and hilly. 

well today was supposed to be a workout early in the morning, but due to my moving into Albany that did not happen,  I was up way too late saying a few emotional goodbye to a few people and simply did not have the energy to get it done while also finishing packing hand everything.   Therefor this was my first day running in Albany with Liam and Calvin, the only two other pure distance freshmen. We did a few boring loops around campus and bathed in the fountain afterwords.   Looking back on the week:  It was low in milage, but that is a good thing considering what I have coming for me next week with the team and the time trial which I intend on really running fast at.  

liam took me and Calvin down Washington to a park downtown.  For the first 40 I felt awful mentally and just generally tired, this could be due to several factors, most likely that I spent a considerable time yesterday walking to Chipotle as all the dining halls were closed.  Anyways at 40 minutes we did 10 minutes of barefoot in the park, and then headed back.  I really began to feel good and starting picking up the pace from 7ish to 6ish around 55-60 minutes in.  Calvin went with me, but around 72 minutes we decided to take it easy and wait up for Liam who had fallen back, the last 10-15 minutes me and Calvin started to pick it up again and finished at the fountain in 85, roughly 13 miles. 

Easy mileage with the freshmen XC crew, nice relaxed pace, felt a little stale.

Workout day with the team: 8 X 1K's with a minute rest in the grassy area in front of state quad.  First 4 most of the team (only about 10 or so guys) kept together at a pace bouncing from 3:25-3:30, Zach and Kyle mainly tool charge. I decided to lead around the 5th and 6th as the pace dropped to 3:20, by this point the only ones left hanging were me and Kyle. I felt very solid, it felt good to hit the turns hard, really prepping for XC terrain. 7th one was around 3:17, it was becoming a struggle to hang with Kule but I was able to. Last one Kyle took out around 37 for the 2 and I was done, stayed strong through the rep hitting about 3:22, Cal remained several seconds behind me, and everyone else who finished was a bit behind him. Overall great workout, really excited for Friday and Saturdays efforts, but I am watching so that I don't burn out later in the season.

Did some drills again, form work, and then off on a 50 (We did 10 to start the day).  The run felt very tiring although the pace was certainly not terrible, I was just tired, I also obvoisly don't know these roads yet so blindley following Z Cook and company also made this run feel long.  

Aerobically felt fine today, however, my feet are really starting to feel sore and with random pains here and there.  I feel that this is largely due to my shoes rapidly approaching their retirement date.  Shoes like the asyms should typically have a lifsepan of about 400 miles, according to this blogs tracker, these shoes are a little over 370, however, due to varoius walking i have done over the past summer I'm sure I've tacked on as much as 20 to them in addition to my regular miles.  These shoes were excellent for me, From my return after Nationals at the start of July, to my few weeks training for my failed 10k, to the long hot runs of late July, the brutal speed workouts of August, and the arrival into Albany, the shoes are worthy of a propper goodbye.

Felt Alright going into this time trial, Nutrition, and sleep were on point, but idk wasn't feeling totally strong, mainly.just not in the mental state to race, not that this was a real race.  Pace was supposed to be taken out for the first mile in 75's but we took it out very slow (77-78) for the first two laps.  Therefor the second half of the first mile was very fast as I crossed through the mile in 5:01, but certainly not in the fassion that was desireable.  Calvin and Kyle had a sizeable gap on me at this point, and a few others passed me as I had to refocus myself.  I remained 10-15 meters behind Zach and Tyler through the next 1200 meters.  I tried focusing on my heal strike and staying focused.  With around 400 to go, Zach took off, I was slightly gaining ground on Tyler when I crossed through in 9:12.  Overall it was an alright effort, I could have asserted my pace early on and run better tactically, but 5th isn't bad, I'm overall happy with it.

Workout day, 5 x Mile repeats with one minute rest at at goal pace of 5:36 on very flat ground at a trail 30 minutes from campus.  I was grouped to go with Tyler and Harold, I stayed honest with the pace for the first one which I hit about 5:34, just a second or two off Calvin and Zach who were set to hit 5:32.  I ran the second one entirely with Zach and Calvin we hit about 5:30, I felt so great, maybe yesterdays time trial hasn't hit my legs yet, but I was really ready to roll.  The third one I officially switched over to running with Zach and Calvin, and we hit 5:25.  Fourth one was also hit in 5:25, for both the third and the fourth I carried the pace fast to the 800 in 2:40, and then relaxed myself the second half.  The last one followed a similer dynamic the first half, but then Zach pushed a bit on the second half and we hit an even 5:19/20.  I liked that this threshold workout was actually run like a threshold is suppossed to feel (Comfortably hard).  Back in high school the times may have been slightly faster but it would be a mean race to the finnish, everyone trying to drop each other.  Jones mentioned that he believes in Volume > Intensity, which is something that wasn't neccisarily the same back in Danbury, I like it. 

40 minute run with Calzone.  Pace was slightly quick for an off day.  felt fine muscularly, felt fine aerobically, felt TERRIBLE in my stomach, this could have been a result of either my poor nutritional choices today, or some other factors from last night, regardless I was able to get the job done, 2 loops around campus.  

Very Solid Long Run with Kyle, Calvin, Harold, and Matt.  After our little "10 Minute Warmup", we began at a relitively quick pace around 7:15 as we headed off campus down the rail trail to a set of roads that took us onto a major road in Colonie, a suburb of Albany.  First 20-25 mins I tried to keep myself composed, focusing on my form and staying tall.  The heat was really starting to get to me around 50 minutes when we stopped for water at Mcdonalds.  I felt really good after our little break and relly started to roll with Kyle and Calvin as we turned into a park around mile 9.  The next few miles we progressed down from 6:40, to 6:20 and around mile 13 we were hitting an even 6 minute pace.  The last 2 miles or so I really began to feel fatigue, mainly from the hot summer heat.  We averaged 6:34, the fastest overall average LR I've ever done.  Unfortunatley most of this run was on hard surface (Sidewalk / Road), but afterwords I took a nice 8 minute ice bath, got a nice dinner in me, and continued to stay hydrated through the rest of the day.  Going to need to recover relitively quickly from this, with the hill workout coming in 2 days.

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. 

Easy Pre-Meet, very solid pre meet according to the guys, toured the course, looks fast, ready to run fast.  Not feeling particularly sore, or stiff, or congested ect.

I went into todays run with as much of a positive mental attitude as I could give myself.  I got an excellent nights sleep, I wasn't sore, tight or hurting anywhere.  I had a plan of taking the first mile much easier than Bostons first mile, which I executed well.  Immediatley off the line I let Kieth, Jordan, Cook and Cal run away from me.  I hung tight comfortably the first mile crossing through in 5:06, about 3-4 seconds behind the other guys.  Naturally I felt really good after that, so I began to slightly move up the 2nd and 3rd miles.  I moved around several Williams and St. Josephs kids while slowly gaining ground on Kieth not too far ahead of me.  The ground was wet, and at some points muddy, so my cautuius nature showed itself on those parts.  About 5k, I began to lose focus and just get generally vcrossed ery tired.  I worked as best I could through it, at first only a couple kids were passing me, but once I hit 6k those numbers grew.  Every time a Williams kid would pass me (Purple and Gold uniforms), I would think it was either Liam or Herold, but that never happnned.  With about 1200 to go, my old teamates Eric Waterman passed me, at that point I knew that this race was a bust for me, however that's not to say I didn't continue fighting all the way through the finnish line.  I did end up passing a couple kids over the last 400 meters, and crossed through in a dissapointing 26:52.  This was about 50 seconds slow of what I would have considered a "great race", and 20 seconds slow from what I would have considered a "satisfactory race."  

Overall, not a great day, I'm hitting the dullness that has come with every cross season i've ever had.  I think this is laregly a result of how I've always approached summer training: Lots of workouts that will keep me sharp for the first month of cross, then burn me out by October.  Next year I'm going to make a change and keep the mileage, but scratch the intensity, alot of my teamates that did either little summer training, or no workouts are now doing much better than I.  But since I can't go back in time and change what I did over the summer, I will gladly work with the fitness that I currently do have.  Over the next 2 weeks I'm going to work on relaxing myself during easy runs, so I can do what I need to do in workouts, whithout feeling like I'm killing myself in them.  I can still make this season a great one,I  have 3 races to do it.

Easy long with Matt, Austin, and Cal through Pine Bush.  Cal and I broke off after 45 minutes and began to pick up the very slow pace after that.  Last 3 miles or so were under 6:30 but certianly in my comort zone, nothing too crazy, Overall felt fine afterword, going to try to relax again tomorrow.

Easy continues run, felt really tired in my legs, but I just ran through it.  Tried to stay calm for the majority of it.  Tommorrow should be slightly more agressive, but still calm.

Trully easy running in the neighborhoods of Albany with Kieth and the freshmen.  Felt very good overall as the run went on.  

Workout day:  3 x mile + 3 x 1K around Indian Pond, 4 minuts active rest between the miles, 2 minutes active between the K's.  I went into this with the goal of keeping the Miles under control, and feel still feel less of a racing feeling for the K's.  First mile was very comfortbale despite going out in 72 but under control with Tyler, Cal, Liam, and Matt at 5:14.  Went into the 2nd one also overall comfortable, we went out slightly slower in 74 yet we ended up running 5:12 so the pace was picked up a bit that second half.  Last mile Jones encouraged us to stick with Cook + Yung Jordan who had been a good 5-8 seconds in front of us for the previous 2.  I stayed with them for the first 600, but the hill hit me hard, and by 800 in I was losing ground.  I mantained a quick pace down the hill and crossed in 5:07 alone:  Hard, but not killer.  Cook and Jordan flew off quickly in the 1st K, I mainly stayed with Tyler as we went through 400 in 70, I slowed down significiently in between the hills, and hit 3:15.  2nd one I was off, I fell behind Liam and Kieth about 400 in, but managed to stay within 2 seconds.  Last one I went into very agressively for the first 600, I died a bit last 4, but I kept myself together overall as I brought my time back down to 3:16.  Overall solid workout, at no point did I feel I was over extending myself.  Going to relax a bit for the next couple days.

Long Continues run to Colonie Central High, felt tired in my legs, last half with Matt and Liam kept it very easy.  Lots of drills made me a bit tired, but alright day overall.

Another very long Continues run.  This was almost a mini long run , the core part of it was 9 miles done in around 55 minutes.  Went through Pine Bush, and to the major intersection a little over 4 miles in at 7 minute pace, then took the pace down to 6:34, then 6:10ish for the 6th, then 5:56 for the 7th, 5:43 for the 8th, and the last mile was in the low 5:20's.  I made sure that I wasn't out of my control zone at any point, to be ready for tomorrow.  Focusing on really trying to avoid burning out tomorrow.  

Workout day: 2 sets of 400, 600, Mile, 1k, 600 with 400 job in 2 minutes rest after each rep.   (It's been a few days ago so I'll try my best to recall all the splits).  I was in a group with Liam, Kieth, Matt, and for the first set Austin too.  Our 400 pace was 71 (To sinulate the dynamic of a race), we were right on.  The 600 was at 77 pace, we hit 1:56 or so.  We were right on the button for the mile in 5:32.  1k was where the workout began to feel a little tough, we hit 3:12, Last six Austin and Matt took it out slow, but we still managed to run a decent 1:48 (71 pace was the goal.)

Second Set:  400 was right on at 71.  600 I pushed it a little we hit 1:53 so slightly fast.  The mile we all worked together feeling good and hitting 5:23, fast but it felt great.  1k Liam and I really worked well together going through fast (74) but keeping it to hit 3:07.  Last 600 I threw myself against the wall from the start and pulled away from the other guys to hit 1:43.  I can safely say at no point was it super straining, I really went to work, The T7's held up well (I don't have them as a shoe on my shoe tracker, but they took in a big 7-8 miles today).

Supposed to be my real long run day, but I was really feeling tired in my legs, so although I went 90 minutes, it was at slower pace and probably a mile short of what my feeling good 90 minutes would hav e been.  Ran from Terrywile around the mall and through downtown and Rogers park, starting and finnishing with the 2 mile loop in the park.  It felt really great to run back home again, Loved it.

Nice easy Longer run with Ansel on the Bridle Trail,  Legs felt great, ran even out and back on very soft terrain, Beautiful CT run in the fall.

Workout day: 10 X 600 repeats on the Indian Pond loop with 150 meter active rest.  Pace was designed to start at race pace, so idealy 5:15 miles pace so 78-79 4's, and 1:57ish.  We started the first few together I hit 1:55, 1:56, and 57, 57, and 55 for the first 5, at that point the workout seemed not too bad.  However, the very short rest began to catch up with me the second half.  The rest was literally anywhere from as low as 35 seconds to no more than 50.  I hit 57 consistantly from 6th through 9th.  At this point Z Cook and Liam were working with me.  The first 200 would always seem the toughest, but after that it wasn't too bad, within the rep we were pretty even (77's at the quarter.)  The last one I went after hitting a clean 1:54.  This was harder than Fridays effort mainly due to the rest.  Overall:  Successful workout, going to relax tomorrow and Thursday for Saturdays race.

Easy running on the home course, which seems to be pretty flat, yet there are some sharp turns that may make it slow, overall looking forward to racing it.  However, towards the end of the run my hip was bothering me, upon stopping I was in some pain, I went to go Ice / roll it out, felt better afterwords.

Workout day:  Progressive 5 mile tempo pace dropping 4 seconds a mile starting the firt mile at 5:32, last mile goal at 5:16 to give a goal total of 27:00 (20 seconds faster than when this was done 2 weeks ago). I went in much more controlled than I did the last time this workout was done. first mile was right about 5:30.  the wind was rough, and I remained sheltered by the other guys from being direcly hit by it.  I went through 2 miles at 10:53, so it was a quick 2nd mile, yet I still felt in myself.  About halfway through (10 laps), the group began to disperse with Kyle, Jordan, and Cook pulling away from me, I hit 3 miles in the 16:20's.  The 4th mile was rough with the now harsher wind.  I must have dropped pace down to as slow as 5:40 crossing through 4 in just under 22 minutes.  I stayed mentally in tact, as Austin came to block my wind for the 3rd and 2nd to last laps.  I picked it up the last 400 closing in around 77 hitting 27:17.  We then had 2 sets of 2-2-4 with equal job rest.  2's were at 33 for the most of them.  Both 4's I hit in 66 even.  

Overall this was a much better workout comparable to the one 2 weeks ago.  Although my time for the tempo was 8 seconds fastr than last time, and I was technically 15 seconds slow of the desired total pace, I felt much more compfortable that last mile and on the mini workout that followed.  Goal is to get plently of sleep and rest over the next couple of days.  

Ran the course, took it easy with Jordan, Matt and Liam, starting to think about how I want to approach this race,  It's certainly slower than Paul Short, so a sub 27 minute race would be satisfactory.  I'm really feeling good, so we'll see how things go.

Pre- Meet, easy running around campus, went slightly fast mid run with Zach and Justin, then relaxed a bit on my own, ready to go for tomorrow.

The course today was very windy, and slightly chilly, overall conditions were not terrible.  Warmup was successful, felt ready to go.  The race went out the first 800 meters slower than usual.  I got out to a strong start, but by 600 in I had already lost a few meters on Cal and Cook.  I felt very comfortable that first 2k, I focused on running the tangents, and keeping with the people around me.  Kieth and Tyler passed by me as we moved out of the field, but I didn't let myself lose focus so early on.  at 3k I was passed by a few Marist and Binghamton kids, but I caaught back some of them as we progressed on the outer loop through 4K.  I was about 8-10 seconds behind Kieth and Calvin at 3 miles crossing through in just under 16:10.  i really began to pass kids on the lake loop, although I think they were slowing down rather than me speeding up.  I hit 4 miles in the high 21:40's.  With around 1k to go I felt myself weaken up and a few of the kids i had passed in that 4th mile took me.  When I entered the field with 600 to go I kicked it into a gear a bit, and re-picked off a couple, I crossed through in 26:56.

My time is certainly nothing to be too proud about, BUT, this was a big step in the right direction for me in terms of racing right, in regards to this season.  I would place my satisfaction of this race above Beantown and Paul Short, but still below colgate.  Time was only 4 seconds slower than PS, which is a noteably faster course.  Realender from Ridgefield was just a couple seconds behind me, Matt only 10 seconds back.  A great race at conference is setting up for myself, I just need to keep my focus over the next 2 weeks, hip bothered me on the cool down, I'm staying cautius with it for tomorrows shorter than normal LR.

Shorter Long Run through Pine Bush, I figured i would cut the run down about 10 minutes just to easen up with championship season approaching.

Easy run with the guys through Guilderland area with the guys, legs feeling good to go for tomorrow's interval workout.

Workout day:  8 X 1K with 200 jog rest (60-80 seconds), on the Indian pond loop.  The T7's took me through one of my most successful workouts in a while.  Goal was to keep it at race pace to start (3:22 technically for me).  I hit 3:21, 3:23, 3:21, 3:21, 3:21 for the first 5 which actually felt decently easy.  I had a systematic way of breaking the loop down.  I would go out very hard in about 76 for the first 4, settle until the hill at 600, attack the hill, I would lose some ground after the hill as I naturally don't have long legs to run downhills well, then at 800 I'd attack the 2nd hill, and just push it through the last 150 which was flat/downhill.  I ran these with Cook, I'd lead him through 6, then he's take me on that downhill I couldn't run so well down. For the 6th one, I decided to start pciking the pace up, Cook still caught me at the 6, but we finnished the rep up together in 3:18.  I was slightly worries I wouldn't be able to move the pace any faster at that point, but Liam jumped in and helped me really hammer that first 400 on the 7th in 74.  I tried to mantain pace and finnished alone in 3:16.  The last one I was solo practially the whole way.  Went through the 4 in 74 again, but I chose not to settle afterword, I really moved my legs up and down the hill, and let the legs loose the last 150 to hit 3:13.  Overall I averaged around 3:18 for the whole thing. 

This was a very great workout for me, I need to learn to translate this into the race, I clearly am capable of having the fitness to run a 26 minute 8K, its just I can't seem to mentally execute it on race day.  That will change next Saturday at conference.

Pine Bush and back with Kyle, Calvin, and Kieth.  Pace was kept a little quick starting low 7's, wrapping up the last couple miles around 6:40, it felt nice and smooth though.

Easy run through Pine bush with pick up towards the end with the Freshmen crew.  

3:12, and 1:46 with 400 jog rest.  I used the T7's for the whole thing.  First mile was horribly paced I went out stupid fast, then settled it down a bit to hit 5:30.  1K was slightly fast at 3:10, 600 was a bit rough solo, I managed to hit 1:45 regardless.  2nd set mile was 5:26 but still compfortable, 1K I started out slow, so I had to pick it up which was effort, I hit 3:10.  Last 600 the wind was very strong on the back strecth so I went out really fast (32 seconds), so that when I hit the back stretch it wouldn't infringe on the time too much.  I hit 1:44 low.  This workout wasn't that bad at all, but it would have been better with people, next time I'll try to plan ahead when I'm missing practice on a quality day to potentially get a workout partner, but I hit all my times and faster, so success regardless.

Well I'm in Monsey NY home of many orthodox Jews and it happens to be the Sabbath, which means I had to do this run sort of secretly over on the Rockland County Community College campus down the road.  The first couple miles felt terrible, I've eaten a lot of food and feeling very fat this weekend.  But I felt much better as the run progressed.

Easy soft running on the course, left hip bothing me afterword, but after some ice and rolling it wasn't too much of a problem.

Workout day, 5 x mile at threshold on the first mile of the home course, (Grass field), with 2 minutes rest, followed by 2 x 4's and 4 x 2's for a total of 6 quality miles.  It went very smoothly, I ran the miles all between 5:32 and 5:35.  The field was very easy mentally, and felt just as threshold should feel.  The 4's were a bit tougher I hit 71, then 72.  The 2's were all 33-35.  Great Pre-race maintence workout, focusing on relaxing myself over the next couple of days.

Easy frosh run around campus, nice and relaxed pace.

Easy run again around campus, legs feeling sore still, rolled out a bit.

Pre- Meet at Stony Brook, course seems very repetitive yet fast.  Terrain is very ideal, My left leg feels very sore, but otherwise feeling very great mentally for tomorrow, I plan to hang with Kieth and Cal and help the team come in top 6. 

I went into todays race with a really positive attitude, legs are feeling great, course does not seem to be too difficult, and the field is small with only 90 guys, so not a very stressful atmosphere.  I got off the line just fine, but things got very bunched up very quickly, I was running tight with Kieth, Cal, Cook, and Tyler through the first kilometer.  Things began to open up at this point, I was feeling excellent and in a groove, I went through the mile around 5:05 which was perfect.  The second mile felt very long, but I mantained myself and was comfotable, I caught up to Cook and ran with him for a bit while Kieth was another 15 meters in front of us.  I remember crossing through the 4K and hearing I was in the high 40's for place.  Over the next kilometer I beagn to feel things start to slowly, gradually slow down.  I wasn't passed as badly as Paul Short or Beantown, but I fell back into the high 50's by the 6K.  Also the gap between myself and Tyler / Kieth grew from just 5 seconds to at least 15.  I worked around several Stony Brook kids on the 2nd long loop, and tried to remain mentally focused, Cook started to slightly pull in front of me and I worked hard to stay with him.  At 4 miles, a UMBC guy came from  behind me and literally shoved me, I was very weak so I took a tumble to the ground.  This killed my momentum, at first I tried sprinting back up to Cook and the pack around him but my legs just couldn't do it.  I must have ran 6 minutes for the last mile.  I fell back a few places, and in the last stretch Harold passed me.  

We placed 8th as a team, which was not desrieable, but we're a very young team and I personally thought we did alright as a whole.  The course was actually about 125 meters long, so I figure subtract 25 seconds, I ran roughly 26:50 for the 8K, if not for the fall that could have been at least 15 seconds faster, so I wasn't too dissapointed.  Looking forward to regionals, and getting soemk rest.

First off day in about 7 weeks, I need it, I need it bad.

Long run with Kyle, Cal, Cook, Harold, and Kieth through the back areas of Pinebush, very soft running, lots of trails I didn't know existed, pace was fast from the start (6:40's), we slowed it up slightly in the trails but to no slower than 7:05 pace, last few miles we really picked it up dropping the pace down below 6 minutes for the last 3 miles.  Kyle and I closed off in 5:30 for the last mile.  Felt really good, definitely one of the most quality runs I've had since getting here.  

Easy run with fast accelerations for the warmup, felt really sore, but ran through it, nice Ice bath afterword

Workout Wednesday:  3 sets of 1200, 800, 400 all at a goal of 77 seconds per lap for every lap of every rep.  400 meters jog rest I averaged in about 1:50.  I was feeling really sore in the calves and shins going into this, but once I did progressive and a few strides in the T7's I was feeling better.  First 12 was taken out fast, I relaxed a bit and hit 3:50.  800 was nice and even at 2:33, 400 was slightly fast at 75.  2nd set I began to feel it on the 1200, I hit 3:50 again.  800 was 2:32, and 400 was 75 again.  I went into the last 12 on the slow side, but picked it up to hit 3:48.  Cook wanted me to run with him for the last 800, he took it out very fast but I held on, we hit 2:25 which was work for me.  Last 4 I hit hard in 68.  Overall strong workout, Saturday will likely be very tough.

Pinebush run, easy Post workout run.  Legs felt pretty bad, but I just ran through the garbage feeling.

Very light easy run with the freshmen (No practice).  My legs really didn't feel great but the run was short and slow enough that I didn't strain too much, big workout tomorrow.

Workout day:  4 x 2K's with 400 meters jog rest.  Pace was set at 82 seconds a lap for the entire way giving a goal of 6:50 for each rep.  The group was the 6 of of us racing Friday that aren't Kyle.  It went very smoothly 6:50, 6:45, 6:44, 6:43.  The 2nd rep ended up feeling the toughest since I went out a little too quick.  Tyler blocked a good amount of my wind.  Cool down I kept it barefoot to avoid tacking more mileage on my shoes.  The Asyms now have nearly 385 recorded miles on them and are slowly starting to wear down.  By regionals that number will be over 420.  I should be able to last until the next pair comes in December potentially.  

Easy short, "Long run", of the week solo over to cook park and back.  Legs felt terrible over the last 15 minutes largely because I've spent the last couple days very immobile and lazy.  I rolled out afterword and did some core.

Workout day:  2 mile tempo on the track, followed by 4 X 8's at a goal pace of 2:34 on the lake loop.  I felt really tired today, but I was able to get it done successfuly.  2 mile was hit 10:40 on the button.  The 8's went out in 2:36, then dropped to 2:30, 2:30, 2:29.  The rest was equal so this wasn't very rough at all with regionals this Friday.  I'm feeling overall well going into the week, eating better, sleeping could be better, soreness not too bad.

Easy 40 to magic tree loop in pinebush, right calve was giving me intense pain last half but I was able to finish, rolled out with an Iced bathed afterwod, still feeling tight, will try to take it easy next 24 hours with it.  

Easy mileage while watching the time trials, a majority done on the track to keep it soft for my calves which are still slightly irritating me.

Arrived in Boston at Franklin Park for pre - meet.  Got re-familier with the course since Beantown.  Feeling ready to go for tomorrow.  Going to attempt to make the first 5 miles feel like tempo pace (5:20). And then really hammer the last 2K as it will be my last XC race of the season.  I've been on a steady upward climb since Lehigh, it would great to finnish off strong.

Today's performance will go in the top few if not the poorest overall performance I have ever executed myself into on a cross country course. I went in with a positive attitude, I felt strong at the line, I had been eating relatively ok for the last 2 weeks, and my sleep couldn't have been much better.  I got off the line strong and moved well with Liam the first 2 miles, we worked really well together, I had a good mentality and wanted it badly.  But About 2K in , my breathing became very labored , I felt weak all of a sudden, Liam slipped away the first time up the hill, and he remained distant the rest of the way. I started to get passed, and passed, and passed some more.  I kept trying to re-assert my focus, and work with the people around me.  But as they passed me it was hard to stick to their pace. I gained some motivation when I realized Cal was next to me with 2K to go.  I started to rev myself up again and stick with him , last lasted for all of 30 seconds, then I died again.  Cal manage to pull over 30 seconds on me over that last mile, My pace dropped significantly, that's at least what it felt like,I couldn't move my legs any faster.  When I finished, It was in a slow 35:30 minutes.  I felt very weak all of a sudden and had trouble breathing normally as I had really surged hard the last 400 meters.  I felt like I was going to throw up, but I didn't and kept myself together for a cool down. This marks the end of a cross country season that was overall disappointing, but none the less, a huge learning experience for what works and what doesn't when it comes to making myself a better runner.  Im so happy I had the opportunity to run it without any injuries or major illnesses. I'm heading off to Vermont to watch my High school team at New England's tomorrow, I'll shake myself out with a couple miles there , and then Probably going to take a week off which I need desperately, I haven't taken more than a day off in a row from running since June.  After that, indoor will be around the corner, which I know will bring greater success to me than this past season did. 

Easy Mileage at Thetford academy watching the boys run at NE's.  Suprised the guys last night in the hotel, caught up with Old man Murray for a while about training theories, running stuff ect.   Area was beautiful, guys ran well, just missing the podium by 2 points to Staples.  I did the cool down with them, and ran a few miles beforehand.  These are my last miles for a week.  Couldn't have spent them any better.  

First run back, 30 minutes out and back with Kyle and Justin, felt pretty crappy, but that's expected after practically not running anything these last 4 days.  

Workout 2nd day back:  12 x 400's every 2 minutes.  First couple felt easy and smooth as I ran down from 75 on the first, down to 67 on the 6th.  The short rest caught up to me on the 7th and those that followed I dropped the pace back down to 68-69.  Last 200 on the final 3 were a grind.  I slowed up on the 11th to 71, but then the last one I hammered it out with Cal to hit 66.  Weekend I'm going to aim to take on the easy side, also looking to lose some weight over the next week.    

60 Minute morning run out and back down Pine Bush, felt awful, but that's expected after yesterdays workout and this only being my 3rd day back.  Considering doing a Turkey Trot this Thursday, that decision is pending until Wednesday.

Easy 30 minute with Liam around campus, felt a lot better.

Long workout today, 6 Miles of quality effort all at 5:30 pace.  Started with a 5:32 on the track to get used to pace.  Then went out onto the campus loop 2 miles straight to hit 11:00 exactly with Liam and Cal.  Then went back off 2 minutes rest (More uphill) to hit 10:59.  I closed it off with one last mile on the track at 5:29.  Workout was more mentally tough than anything, but I'm feeling better, losing some weight.

Easier run with Freshmen crew around campus, kept it very light, shoes are now nearly 450 miles trying to keep caution with how much I put into my shoes.

Fast paced run with alumni guys Ro, Pat, and James down Main Street and back, picked up a lot towards the end, felt really great.

Easy Easy Easy 30ish minute run with Group 1A down to St. Gregs, had some quality Elmers afterword, decided no to Turkey Trot based on my need for sleep, and need to keep it easy over next couple days.

Alumni Race day, good to see the old team and teamates again, actually went moderatley hard on this 2.84 mile course, obviosly not racing, but still fast, and it felt terrible.  I did several easy miles afterword with Alvarez and James, totaled 6ish, short day.

Decided last night to get new shoes at woodbridge, while I am technically getting a new pair from the school in 3 weeks, I can't afford to wait that long for my trainings sake, I'm already at 470 on the V5's, by the time the new shoes arrive I'd have reached almost 600.  I got the 860 V6 wich is .7 oz lighter than my previous pair.  After watching a good day for the team at Bowdoin, Alvarez and I did some running around the King Street area, we started out very slowly, and then did 10 x 30 seconds farlick every 2 minutes.  I felt a lot better than I have been in the last few days.  

Rough Long run on the hilly roads of NF, left leg cramping up a lot, probably due to new shoes, overall very successful weekend home, saw everyone I wanted to see, got everything I wanted to get, and got the training I needed in, onto two weeks back at Albs.

Magic tree loop with Jordan and freshmen, up tempo last 10 minutes pace down to around 5:20,l felt rough, big workout tomorrow.

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.