I love running

Opening day MTT All Black Team.

Goal for the day was to run between 7:45 to 8:00 minute miles.  Oops just a bit quick.

7.22 miles @ 7:33 pace (7:51, 7:39, 7:32, 7:33, 7:21, 7:32, 7:21)

Perfect weather.  I attempted to run with some of the new people.  I was talking to one guy and noticed he was wearing vibriam 5 fingers shoes.  I asked him how well they hold up during the longer mileage runs.  His response was "I don't know.. ive never run further than 8 miles".  Me and couple others in the pack were speechless.  This will be very interesting to see how his program pans out.

 I was very happy with my performance.. I ran well within myself, met some new people, caught up with some friends I hadn't seen in awhile.  A perfect start to NYC training.

 Crash

Sunday's are always super slow recovery days for me.  Sunday's goal was to run as slow as possible and maintain proper form  My legs felt great, the weather was awesome!! It took total discipline to hit my splits.

6 miles @ 9:22 pace (9:24, 9:17, 9:28, 9:24, 9:15, 9:20)

This weeks schedule calls for this :

Mon 5 @ recovery

Tues 7 @ time on feet

Wed 5 @ recovery

Thurs 8 (2 recovery / 4 tempo / 2 recovery)

Fri Off

Sat - 10 @ time on feet

Sun - 6 @ recovery

Mileage for the week = 41

5.22 @ recovery 9:25 average pace (9:05, 9:20, 9:36, 9:27, 9:32)

My pace zone breakdown is :

recovery : 9:21 - 9:51

TOF : 8:21 -9:21

Tempo : 7:08 - 7:26

Cruise Interval 1 mile : 6:59 - 7:08

Pace zones will change as my fitness improves.  Right now we set the pacing so it should feel rather easy.

Felt super super fresh during tonights run.  Once again.. it was hard to run that slow.  Rome wasnt built in a day.  To quote Brad on opening day : "Todd,  our goal this year is to get you the start line prepared and healthy"

Crash 

Bad news Good news

Bad news is WAY too fast.  Time on feet runs need to be 8:21 - 8:51 paced

7.17 @ 7:53 pace (7:59, 7:55, 8:06, 8:02, 7:50, 7:54, 7:23)

Good news is my Sunday / Monday runs did their job and refreshed me for today.  Poor self control.  Cannot let this happen very often.  Especially important to hit 9:21 or greater on tomorrows run gearing for Thursday's tempo section.

Garmin officially crapped out and would not stay on.  Used my Garmin Iphone app.

5.12 @ 9:17 pace (8:57, 9:08, 9:16, 9:25, 9:30)

First 2 miles were a bit fast but was able to adjust accordingly and get close enough to my target recovery pace of 9:21.

Finally starting to feel like the old Crash again.  Tempo range is 7:08 - 7:23'ish.  Was too quick again with tonights workout. I think I may be in better shape than I realize and may have to readjust pace zones in the future.  Going to stick with current zones for a bit more while I accumulate more base mileage.

2.20 Miles Warmup @ 9:04 pace

4 Miles Tempo @ 6:49 pace (6:55, 6:56, 6:41, 6:42)

2.16 Miles Cooldown @ 9:34 pace 

Nutrition has never been better.. honestly thats been the hardest part of this entire thing.  I miss my beer, candy bars and chips but im eating healthy and drinking a ton of water.  Im making smart choices, working hard, having fun and enjoying the sport once again.  Not sure it gets any better than that.

Crash 

All Black Team - TOF

9.84 miles @ 7:44 pace (8:03, 7:45, 7:30, 7:45, 7:49, 7:29, 7:48, 7:34, 7:51, 7:42)

Despite my brain totally telling me to do it.. I didnt want to be "that guy" that ran around the Sports Backers parking lot for the Garmin to read a perfect 10. 

A hair fast on some of the mile splits.  Ruthie toured us down towards the state Capital to give us some hills.  Not exactly the easiest section of town.  Need to work on some leg strength in order to better handle the hills.  Tuckered out just a bit on the final miles but nothing to be worried about.  Probably remnants of Thursdays tempo run, the Capital grounds hills and the complete lack of water for a 10 miler.  All in all a solid workout.  Onwards to recovery day Sunday.

We got to laughing at Starbucks... due to our bad reputation as a team.  Our new racing singlets will simply say "f@ck you".  We were just kidding.. but it gained a laugh out of all of us.

Crash 

6 @ recovery (9:32, 9:06, 9:14, 8:56, 9:02, 8:51)

Humidity seemed to be higher than normal.  Non eventful recovery run. 

5 @ recovery

Here is tonights scenario :

Lane 1 = High School field hockey chick doing 8:00 minute miles flailing her arms like Pheobe from Friends.

Lane 5 = Myself trying to maintain proper form while as running as slow as possible.

Lane 6 = High School soccer dude doing 3x 400 repeats with what seemed to be 15 minute recoveries.

I aint gonna lie.  I took every fiber of my being to not put the hammer down.  Seriously soccer dude??  Maybe im getting ornery in my old age but did he really have to do all 3 of his repeats in lane 6?  Anyways.. I stuck to plan and performed workout as planned.

5.41 miles @ 9:52 pace (9:39, 9:47, 9:57, 9:57, 9:56)

This weeks schedule looks like this :

Mon - 5 @ recovery

Tues - 7 miles (start at the slow end of easy and drop it down every mile till the last mile is at the faster end of easy)

Wed - 5 @ recovery

Thur - 8 miles (2 miles slow easy - then 5 miles at the fast end of easy - then 1 mile recovery  (For me this workout will be replaced by coaching of the HMT hills 5x Sorrento prob with some added mileage afterwards

Fri - Off

Sat - 12 TOF

Sun - 6

Miles for week = 41-43'ish depending on how many I do on Thursday 

Tonights workout was to start at the slow end of easy and work downwards towards the fast end of easy.

My pace zones need to be adjusted down faster.  I ran this workout based on feel.. excluding the last mile (which was too fast) this workout was pretty spot on for the goal at hand. The 7:47 mile 6 split actually felt very comfortable.

My Sunday / Monday recoveries are doing their jobs and allowing me to be fresh on my legs for Tuesday.  Ive felt totally awesome both times.

7.16 miles @ 7:55 pace (8:19, 8:16, 8:05, 7:59, 7:49, 7:47, 7:17)

Very humid run.  Dew point of 64.  Felt great.  Wish they would all come this easy.

Im watching my weight very closely.  Since MTT and my healthy eating have started.. Ive lost between 3 to 5 pounds.  Im now starting to consume extra calories during the day.  Its too early to be dropping pounds. 

Very late start due to Kari's PTA meeting

5 @ recovery (9:16, 8:55, 9:06, 8:59, 9:12)

67 degrees / 52 dew point.  Almost too cold to run.  Just kidding.  However I do prefer it to be at least a few degrees warmer.  I am the new Matt :-)

Crash 

HMT Hill Session # 1

Matt arrived head of schedule and decided to do his repeats ahead of the team.  I was dropping water at Sorrento and decided to join Matt for his final repeat.  55 seconds.  Prob not the smartest thing to hop out the car and do one that fast.  oh well.

Matt and I then ran back over to Deep Run park for our speech.  Lots of newbies.

2.10 warmup with Matt / couple of loops around the lake with the team.

repeat 1 - 1:03 (8:15 pace)

repeat 2 - 1:00 (7:48 pace)

repeat 3 -  :57 (7:31 pace)

repeat 4 - :59 (7:32 pace)

repeat 5 - :43 (5:54 pace) 

.62 cooldown with team

1.69 extra loop back to car 

5.71 miles total - Solid workout.  Hills are surely needed. 

All sorts of challenges on today's run.

I hit the start on the Garmin as we pulled off.. but it seems the watch has a "power save" mode.. so I when I hit start all I did was wake it up from its nice little nappy.  About a half mile later I hit start again.  Oh well.

I purposely was going to hang with the back of the pack on today's run.  I think the others are speeding along way too quickly this early in the season.  Lots of newbies will sadly find out the hard way.

Also my splits are all jacked up due to this Garmin not set for "auto pause" so some of my mile splits are skewed because of the stops.  We managed to hit the same stop 3 different times.  That was nice.

About the 4.5 mile mark we turn left on Tredegar following Greg.  Greg started the run with us so I thought it was safe to assume he was going the full 12 miles.  About a mile later.. something seemed off because I couldn't see any other Black team members even in sight so I asked Greg if he was running 12 miles.  He said "I don't know.. im just following the pack."  For me this was "bizarro world" because Im so used to him knowing exactly when and where the special team turns are.  At this point.. I knew we were way off course.  Greg continues onward and runs the 8 with the rest of the normal teams.  Me, Yob & Moreland decide to loop back and do a lap on Browns Island and then just wing the rest.  We get over the bridges and onto the island and Steve says.. I have to take a piss.  Yall go right,..  he will go left and we will meet back up in the middle.  Only problem is Chris and myself never see Steve again.  We hang around for a bit and then finally decide to just head back to the stadium with just 2 of us.  We somehow lost poor Steve.

Back at the stadium as we are about to send Peter out to look for Steve.. Steve comes running.  He somehow managed to sprain his ankle and was probably lying on the ground as Chris and I chit chatted right on by him.  oops.  Luckily Steve was able to stretch out the ankle and finish the run.

Splits (8:09, 8:13, 8:06, 9:24, 7:57, 9:45, 9:03, 9:57, 8:46, 8:02, 7:54, 8:01)  So the splits were all over the place but that was due to me not stopping the watch at the various stoppages on the route.  Oh well.  A new device comes with a learning curve.

I felt solid and ran well within myself over the entire duration of the run.  Need to do this type of run more often.

Group lunch at Kitchen 64 afterwards.  Party of 19 with 19 individual checks.  Oh boy!!  I totally felt sorry for the waitress.  A great run and a great bunch.  An awesome start to my weekend.

 Crash 

6 @ recovery (9:02, 8:33, 8:40, 8:47, 8:48, 8:35)

humid but cool.  legs felt great.  too fast on the pacing.  The upcoming weekdays should be interesting to see how they pan out with Kari in Florida.  Will prob end up with all time on feet runs. 

5 @ recovery (8:53, 8:47, 8:51, 8:25, 7:53)

5x strides 100M (5:27, 4:40, 4:19, 4:56, 4:18) pace  all too fast

This weeks schedule :

Mon 5 recovery

Tues - 1 slow end of easy / 5 @ MP / 1 recovery

Wed - 5 recovery

Thur - 8 miles (6 miles at the fast end of easy and then 1 mile of 200M in and outs & 1 recovery)

Fri - Off

Sat - 12

Sun - 5 recovery

Total for week = 42 

Today was one of those days where I felt busier than a cat covering up 5 pounds of sh#t

7 on the treadmill (1 @ slow easy 8:20 pace, 5 at MP 7:30, 1 @ recovery 9:00) 

7:30 pace actually felt pretty comfortable.  Pleased with fitness level development 

Sometimes life gets in the way.  Its how you rise up and conquer the challenges that matters.

Unexpected boss arrival in from Philadelphia, Kari in Orlando and Emma's swim meet at the Colonies left me with zero chance to get my recovery run in.

I pulled down the recumbent bike from the attic and got in 30 minutes easy. 

Tonight was one of the nights where I truly wanted to stay and hang out with my good friends.  Watching Dave drink the Miller Lite was tougher than tough.  I continue to stand beside my training theory that smart choices add up and lead to successful miles 20-26.2 on race day.

Temperature 83 degrees with obscene dew point of 71 :(

6 @ fast end of easy (7:42, 7:31, 7:37, 7:44, 7:40, 7:37)

1 @ 200 in and out (in paces = 5:50, 5:42, 5:33, 5:03) (out paces = 9:56, 10:24, 10:35, 9:31)

1 @ recovery 9:31

Legs felt fresh from the first few steps on the track.

Crash 

All Black - Time on feet

Stayed with the back the pack and kept it under control.  High dew point made running somewhat stinky.  Forgot to pause Garmin at sag stops.  Wish this model Garmin had auto pause but oh well.

11.14 @ 7:57 pace (8:22, 7:44, 8:04, 7:30, 8:26, 7:36, 7:42, 7:44, 7:51, 8:11, 8:00)

MTT industrial route was really boring for the first 5 to 6 miles or so.  Wish we could have had more than 2 sag stops.  May have to start bringing supplemental water in the near future.

A solid under control run in tough conditions. 

8 @ recovery (9:56, 9:25, 9:24, 9:16, 9:22, 9:05, 9:05, 9:17)

84 sunny and humid at 9:00 am.  Still prefer this weather over winter every day of the year though.

This week out of necessity was a (5 run days and 1 cross train day) week but still managed to get in 40 miles.  

3 complete All Black Team training weeks are in the books and so far so good.  I have for the most part hit my pace zones rather well.  Some of the quicker workouts needs to be a tad slower but all in all its going well.  Im starting to feel fit again.

Owen and his son Ian passed me Ridgefield riding a double decker bike today.  I asked for a ride.. but Ian denied my request :0(  Maybe next time.

Crash 

The program is starting to get specialized.  This week looks like this :

Monday - recovery pace - 5 miles (recovery pace) with Drills and Strides

Tuesday - easy pace - 8 miles – glycogen depletion run…start at the slow end of your easy pace and after 4 miles go to the faster end of your easy pace… Glycogen depletion and training your body to become more efficient burning fat. Start running your longer Tuesday, Thursday runs without taking on carbs during the run – energy gels or carb loaded sport drinks. Take on the water you want/need or electrolyte supplements if you want to use them. We want to train the body to burn fat. It is also important that we go negative splits on these runs. By going slower on the first half we don’t deplete our glycogen and then start burning thru protein, which is counterproductive to what we are training our body to do. By taking it easy on the first half of your run you will be able to run much faster on the second half w/o a lot of effort.

Wednesday - recovery pace - 5 miles

Thursday - 8 miles –2 miles slow easy…then do 4x6x90 – simply this 6 mins at your threshold pace with a 90 second recovery and do it 4 times…so 6 minutes at threshold 90 second active recovery and repeat…final miles at recovery pace….why are we doing this…first it is a bit of speed training on the road – again we don’t run the marathon on the track so this helps you get used to going faster on the road – the road is un-even, road has turns which force you to run the tangents correctly, the road puts stress on the stabilization muscles in your legs because it is un-even, and the road helps build physiological memory in your muscles…the 90 second recovery is a starting point…as time goes on we will drop the recovery period…this helps teach our bodies to become more efficient users of oxygen which allows us to recover faster – active recovery allows us to flush the lactic acid .

Friday - off

Saturday - 14 miles

Sunday - 6 miles recovery

Total for the week :  46 miles

Tonights workout was :

5 @ recovery (8:51, 8:37, 8:58, 9:07, 9:09)

4x 20 meters skips

4x 20 meters high knees

4x 50 meters carioca

4x 20 meters butt kicks

6x 100 strides (paces = 5:08, 5:00, 5:21, 5:02, 4:55, 4:48)

Felt great overall.  Lots of spring in the step doing the drills and strides.  Im going to concentrate on doing a better job of these this year.  They truly give you that pep in your step.  The drills and stride add about 25 minutes worth of time to my workouts but the runners that do things correctly are the the lawn mowers and not the grass at mile 23 :-)

8 Glycogen Depletion Run (8:18, 8:16, 8:06, 8:06, 6:38, 7:43, 7:34, 6:57)

Supposed to start at the slow end of easy and negative split my way down to the fast end of easy.  Low humidity and fresh legs equal too fast.  The rear four was quicker than the opening 4 tho.

and yes the 6:38 came about because some doofus thought he was racing me during my 8:06's.  Sometimes you just have to drop the hammer... Im pretty sure it hurt his foot.

Tuesdays continue to be my best feeling day.  Loving the Sunday / Monday combo of super slow recovery miles. 

Crash 

 Today was slightly busy.

 Worked 9 hours straight no lunch and then drove straight to Emma's swim meet.  Watched her kick some ass and take some names!!  Ribbons in all 4 races!!  She teamed up with Levengood again in the relay and brought home the bacon.  Who knew TI would have a aqua division? Then it was my night to work the proofreading desk at the meet.  I left the meet around 11 p.m. and then headed straight to Godwin for my recovery run.  Finished up right around midnight.  Commitment to excellence means making the time.

5 @ recovery (9:22, 9:27, 9:34, 9:39, 9:42) 

Decided to do HMT hills instead of threshold workout.

Warmup with team 1.34 miles

Repeat 1 = 7:57 pace

Repeat 2 = 7:56 pace

Repeat 3 = 8:37 pace

Repeat 4 = 7:35 pace

Repeat 5 = 7:18 pace

Repeat 6 = 7:11 pace

Repeat 7 = 7:06 pace

Cooldown with team .58 miles

5 @ recovery (9:09, 9:33, 9:08, 8:54, 9:21)

8.56 total miles.  94 degrees and sunny.  Great workout!! 

Due to traveling to the Outer Banks bright and early.. my plans were to run the recovery run on Saturday and then do the long run on Sunday.  However we managed to stay busy all day long and into the night.  Even with company over at the beach house.. I had to say.. ok im headed out for my run.  This was like 9:45 at night or so.  Earlier in the evening I had made plans with Greg and Blair to run on Sunday morning starting at 6 am.  I wasnt real sure how my body would react towards two runs scrunched so closely together.  The only way was to do it and find out.

It was still 85 degrees and humid as all get out.  I ran as slowly as I possibly could.

6 (10:10, 9:55, 10:19, 10:28, 10:21, 10:38)

and 6 hours later.. I had to awake to run long.