Boston Long Run

Time: 107:57
Distance: 26.40k
Pace: 4:05
Map

After a late night arrival back to Marblehead, it was an somewhat early departure to meet up with friends in Boston. Did you know that Buffalo is basically in Canada? And that it's close to 500 miles from Marblehead? That was a looonng solo drive.

I'm almost embarrassed by the fact that our trip into Boston was our first official trip into the city together since moving to MA. We'll have to do more of it as today's run was pretty ideal. We ended up parking and getting ready at Betsy Burke's house and then were off to meet some of her training partners who compete for the BAA (Boston Athletic Association). It was a short jog to the Charles where Betsy and Meagan met up with 5 or 6 other very fit looking women. Introductions were brief as we all started running soon after arriving. I only got to run about 100m with everyone as I had to meet Jeff Gaudette of Runners Connect.

Once Jeff and I linked up we turned and were off to try and find another guy who runs for the BAA. The only description I had was that he was tall, skinny and finishing up his PhD at Harvard. As we approached the pedestrian bridge several minutes late I saw a tall, skinny dude who looked pretty fit to be starting his run. We figured that it had to be Will and the pace immediately dropped in hopes of catching him. It took us about a mile to run him down with an awkward question of, "are you Will?"

The three of us ran over to Jamaica Pond before Jeff headed home and Will and I returned to the Charles for some additional distance near Cambridge. The pace clipped along at points and felt fast at times, but that's mostly because my runs are with Meagan. Not to knock her training, but my easy days are really easy. It was good to get out and run with Will who is getting ready for Club Cross in Seattle sometime in December.

CVS 5k Race Recap

Time: 61:13
Distance: 8.46 miles
Race: 15:01, 21st place

W/u: 20:16 for 2.42 miles
C/d: 25:56 for 2.93 miles

The morning activities at Kim's house consisted of drinking coffee, eating toast and watching the horrible feed of the Philadelphia Half Marathon. It was a good attempt to view, but the coverage sucked for the most part. A former runner at Providence College, Richie Yeates, and his girlfriend, Corrinne, also stayed at Kim's last night. The four of us departed for the race about 90 minutes from gun time.

Meagan and I prior to racing in Providence. She didn't even mind that I had just warmed up and was sweaty.

I settled in at the elite athlete's tent and felt a little out of place. Other athletes there included Kyle Alcorn, Molly Huddle, Sara Hall and more. It was fun to catch up with some of the guys from the Ivy League who are looking to qualify for the Izumo Ekiden in the middle of October. About an hour out from the race, Richie and I started our warm up around downtown. We ran into Leo Kormanik who is married to one of Meagan's good friends from Atlanta. My legs were feeling pretty good, but still a little tired from all the travels.

Jeff talking to me about a race plan. Go out hard, eyes up, don't die.

About a half hour from the start, I ran into my coach Jeff Gaudette who was hanging out with Meagan. Before the race I also got to catch up with my old college coach John Gregorek. I did some light stretching, a few long strides and prepared myself for the hurt and burn of the race. The two other times racing here I was through the mile around 4:42-4:45 pace and just off the tail end of the lead packs. My goal today was to be positioned a little closer to the mix and hang on for dear life.

I started the race in the second row behind a couple munyans (a pair of Kenyans who had a particular ill odor). We sprinted down the opening hill and I tried to run as comfortably as possible, never settling for the first 1k. I kept inching my way closer to the main field and was in good contact through the mile in about 4:35. It was quite brisk but I was where I needed to be with people around to chase. I moved up a few slots the next couple of minutes and came up on Richie Yeates just as we turned onto South Main St. I gave him a little slap on the ass and some words of encouragement. The field was stringing out a bit and I tried to keep Andrew Fuller from Rome, GA in my sights.

Through two miles I was running on the right side of the road using the tangents to my advantage. I believe I hit the second mile mark in 9:30-9:35 which means I slowed significantly, but was still feeling decent. I rallied as best I could for the uphill finish and continued to catch runners with about 1k to go. At the bottom of the hill I was a few strides back from a group of three guys. My legs weren't responsive enough and they ran away from me a bit. Also, another Ivy Leaguer, Sam Luff, rolled by me at the three mile mark that we hit in about 14:25. I ran strong to the finish, but felt like I was walking up the hill and I just missed cracking 15:00 minutes by a second (last year I finished in about the same time).

Me trying to minimize the damage just after the 2 mile mark.

JSK, Johnny G and Jeff G catching up post race.

I am pleased with the race and how I handled the quick early pace. Given my travels and lack of any real workout in the last few weeks, this is exactly what I needed. It was fun having people around to chase and a group of runners to work with. I cooled down with a group of guys including Frank Tinney (14:22, 8th), Andy Biladeau (14:06, 5th), Mike Maag (14:42, 12th), Zac Hine (14:43, 13th), MacKlin Chaffee (14:48, 16th), Sam Luff (15:00, 20th) and Richie Yeates (15:34, 31st). We were all in pretty good spirits and had a chance to run through Brown's campus.

MRN and Jeff G posing on the Main Green at Brown.

JSK with Bruno or as the Finns would say Karhu.

Track groupie.

The rest of the morning was spent up on College Hill with Jeff and Meagan. We enjoyed a family breakfast at Louie's Diner, walked around Brown's campus, took in Thayer Street and checked out the bookstore. We eventually made our way back over to Kim's house where football was watched and some work was completed. It was great catching up with Jeff and seeing some of our old stomping grounds.

Later in the evening Molly Huddle, fresh off her 5k American record on the track and title on the roads, came over with two bottles of wine. We waited for Kim to arrive with Roisin McGettigan and Ryan Graddy. It was a great low key evening with three incredibly talented world class runners who make Meagan and I look like chumps. I hope some of their talent rubbed off on the two of us.

Worst Run in Ages

Time: 38:21
Distance: 5.30 miles
Pace: 7:14
Map

So this was officially the worst run I've had in ages. I felt terrible from the start and felt terrible at the end. The legs were sluggish and the body felt a general sense of fatigue. Not the thing you want less than two weeks from a fast 5k. When I got home I sent a quick email to Coach Jeffrey G explaining how I felt, my concerns and all the travel/work that I'll be doing in the next couple of weeks. He came through in the clutch and shifted somethings around for the lead up to the CVS 5k.

This happened to me last year and I ignored it and just soldiered on with my workouts eventually leaving me tapped by the end of October and early November. I need to learn from my past mistakes and get the body turned around so I can attack the roads later on this year.

Mission Beach Long Run

Time: 96:50
Distance: 14.16 miles
Pace: 6:50
Map

Meagan and I were out the door relatively early and off to find a parking spot at Mission Beach. I figured we would beat the beach crowd and take a run straight north along the bike path. I took a peak at Google Maps and found a general route that seemed to be good for a long run. Once the boardwalk, Meagan and I found ourselves in some pretty sweet neighborhoods with some legit houses. The houses right on the water were nice, but mostly rentals. These were on hills overlooking the water and much more classy.

My training schedule called for some pickups over the last half. I needed to do 5 x 90 sec hard with 5 min recovery. My coach Jeff recently wrote a pretty good article explaining the benefits of pickups/surges during a long run. I was impressed with the article for a couple of reasons. First, Jeff's writing style is much better than it's been in the past. I'm not knocking his prose of former blog posts or articles (you'd have to ask Prof. Raaflaub about that), but this post just stuck out.

Second, and more importantly, I found the article to actually add something different to one's training routine. Magazine training/running articles are on a 36 month (re)cycle which gets old when you've been in the sport for longer than 3 years. It's also my belief that coaches have run out of ways to create new stimuli. Essentially, new training philosophies are becoming less frequent. Training philosophies are becoming exhausted and I suppose one could argue that after Jack Daniels, there is little a coach can add to the breadth of knowledge. All of a sudden it becomes more of how well a coach can manage his athletes individually rather than coming up with new ways to train the body's systems. I'm trying to point out that Jeff might be finding his differentiating training principle. I just made that term up, but I think it applies to what coaches are most well known for. Scott Simmons - hammer intervals; Jack Daniels - vDot and threshold training; Alberto Salazar - being secretive; Terrance Mahon - getting the best athletes available; Jeff Gaudette - long run surges?

I don't know if Jeff would agree with me and I realize he still borrows ideas from many of the coaches I've just mentioned. Further, one coach that also incorporates surges into long run is Renato Canova who is known for training elite Kenyan athletes who are predominantly marathoners (his athletes just did extremely well at the Kenyan Championships). It also comes back to putting trust in whoever is designing your training and knowing that it's individually tailored to making you the best possible runner. Point being, read the post.

Splits:
7:50, 7:20, 7:17, 6:59, 7:02, 6:55, 6:56, 2:42 for .39 miles
92 sec @ 4:58 pace (5:00 @ 7:11)
92 sec @ 4:50 pace (5:00 @ 7:12)
92 sec @ 4:22 pace (5:00 @ 7:18)
91 sec @ 4:40 pace (5:00 @ 7:02)
92 sec @ 4:31 pace (5:00 @ 7:12)
6:49, 2:02 for .33 miles

My surges were hard. Luckily, it just so happened that the 90 seconds started on or near a downhill section. Today my focus wasn't to tax the cardio system. Instead I wanted to train the legs to wake up in the middle of a long effort with a touch of speed. I pushed hard because I knew it was only 90 seconds of speed and 5:00 of rest. The 4:22 pace split occurred on a section that flew down a hill and I was trying to catch a pair of cyclists. No such luck. I was pretty thrashed afterward, but maintained on the final two.

The final 10 minutes of the run was rough. Meagan wasn't feeling great either, but we managed. It was a good way to start the end of the weekend.

The Return of Jeffrey

Time: 97:05
Distance: 14.21 miles
Pace: 6:49
Map

Last night Jeff Gaudette made his return to Charlotte in order to collect some of his belongings out of our apartment. We had a fun time at Mac's with a good group of friends. In the morning a bunch of us met at the Boyce entrance to McAlpine and started our long run. I didn't feel great most of the way, but I was still able to manage 5 x 90 sec. pickups.

Splits:
1:31.77 for .31 miles @ 4:53 pace, (4:01 rest)
1:31.98 for .32 @ 4:50, (4:03)
1:31.42 for .33 @ 4:41, (4:01)
1:32.30 for .31 @ 4:55, (4:01)
1:31.52 for .33 @ 4:37.

I didn't feel great, but could definitely tell which intervals I ran faster than others. The pickups are a good way of breaking up the long run.

Sore Quads & HR Training

Time: 36:28
Distance: 5.26 miles
Pace: 6:55
Map

I want to say that my legs are thrashed, but it would be a bit misleading. They aren't and they shouldn't be, but they sure are sore. The workout didn't do much to increase the level of fatigue which is a good sign a little over a week out from TRM. I have to get the quads used to pounding again while taking the time to properly recover.

The Jordan of old would have run longer than 5 miles or doubled on the day because the achilles is better. However, I decided that after running 17 miles yesterday, I better continue to be smart and allow the body to recover some more. I felt stiff on the run this morning and stretching doesn't seem to help at all. I continue to use a massager after runs.

My coach Jeff Gaudette aka Jailhouse Jeff (that is a story for him to tell you) recently has been updating his online coaching website. I'll give him a lot of respect for the website's clean and efficient experience. Jeff was a classics concentrator at Brown so I have no idea where he learned his website creating skills (perhaps he aced CS2, an intro computer science class you took to boost the GPA). Most recently, Jeff posted an article about heart rate training that I think is particularly interesting. I don't do much, or any, of my training based on heart rate, but the article is informative. Also, it links to a pretty cool heart rate calculator that is simple to use and provides a description of different training zones.

I would encourage my readers to take a took at what Jeff has put together as I think it can apply to most peoples' training programs. Also, feel free to use Jeff as a resource. I know Allen Strickland received a bit of guidance in his lead up to the Shamrock Marathon.

Sleepy Head Long Run

Time: 105:23
Distance: 16.01 miles
Pace: 6:34
Map

After a very uneventful Fourth of July here in Norman (the fireworks show was canceled due to rain), Meagan and I were able to get lots of sleep. I had been up early the last three mornings and my body was ready for some recovery. We didn't leave the apartment until well after 10:00 am which isn't ideal but the weather allowed for it. The rain cooled off the morning air to a cool 73 degrees.

Our first destination was Sutton Woods where we ran 3 laps around the dirt trail. The pace was casual and my legs were feeling well recovered from the race. The pace dropped just slightly from 7 to 9 miles which brought Meagan back near the apartment. The first 9 mile splits were: &:53, 7:22, 7:12, 7:14, 6:58, 7:03, 6:54, 6:51, 6:38.

I still had 7 miles to run so I continued south through campus and ran found myself down by Hwy 9. The pace continued to drop and soon I was clicking off sub-6 minute efforts. I felt comfortable running a bit quicker today as the weather permitted an increased pace. The splits for the remainder of the run were: 6:10, 5:56, 5:41, 5:48, 5:46, 5:37, 6:14.

Now what I find peculiar is that Jailhouse ran 1:42:00 for 16 miles while it took me 3 minutes longer. He, too, was running with his girlfriend for ~10 miles before running the remaining 6 miles solo. So, it would have taken him about 70-75 minutes to run 10 miles and then he added on another 33 minutes which he says was 6 miles. Given the fact that he ran 34:04 for 10k (5:28 pace) on Saturday and finished his last 6 miles at 5:30 pace today either means Jailhouse is on the juice or needs a refresher arithmetic lesson. Zing!

Sorry, my apologies up front.

I'm pretty sure Keith Kelly posted about Passion Pit a few weeks back, but the Sleepyhead song and post title can't be passed up.

Meagan's McAlpine Tempo

Time: 52:03
Distance: 7.5 miles
W/u: 19:06 for 2.5 miles
W/o: 72:91 rof 0.3 selim
C/d: 13:29 for 2 miles

So this morning Meagan forced me to get up way to early again so that she and Tanya could run their workouts at McAlpine before it got too hot and humid. I hobbled down to the street where Jailhouse picked us all up and drove us to the park. DarTanyan was running 16 x 400 and Meagan had a 3 mile tempo. I was going to help out on the tempo and see if I could get the junk out of my legs.

I promised not to tell Meagan our splits so the total time of the workout is written in code above. See if you can crack it. If you can't, then uoy era gnikcuf diputs. She ran tough on the course used for Footlocker South and my legs finally were a bit responsive, but as soon I stopped they locked up again. I shuffled the cooldown and was glad to be done for the day.

Post 'Thon Pain

Time: 24:42 and 7:38
Distance: 3 miles and 1 mile

This morning I surprised Meagan by agreeing to go on a run with her. She was going to run down to Freedom Park and I decided to tag along. The legs were not in a good place but I thought it would be wise to procure some bloodflow. Running up from the park wasn't a pleasant experience and walking down the stairs to the fitness center was also miserable. Meagan spent some time on the elliptical while I attempted to stretch but it proved useless. I spent more time watching Jailhouse trying to get huge on the weights.

A Morning of Fitness and Recovery

Time: 41:14
Distance: ~5 miles
Core
Pool

This morning Meagan dragged me out of bed to go to Queens University's morning practice. It was thrilling. The party started at 7 am in Ovens with some light core work and stabilization exercises. It felt good to get the legs and body moving at such an early hour. After the core we went to the pool and on the way I accidentally walked a few steps into the girls locker room. I didn't see any boobs or anything but that would have been sweet. I think we spent 20 minutes in the pool doing some harder efforts to shake out the legs. I hated the pool in college, but it's not nearly as bad when you're using it as recovery. My legs were feeling good when I left so I laced up the boots for a short jog.

I ran from the Queens campus to Freedom Park where we had our Easter Party and then I looped around the Meyers Park 'hood. It's really not much of a "hood" at all because the average home price is somewhere in the million dollar or more range. I saw one lot that was for sale priced at $1,040,000. That's just the lot, not the home. There was no home. I thought about buying it and pitching a tent and then I could brag about my million dollar tent. Eventually, I wound up a bit lost and had to use the trusty iPhone to find the quickest way back to campus. I kept the pace really slow on the run and was listening to music while counting the number of homes that were for sale. I'll let it be known that Bank of America tanking probably has something to do with the number of houses for sale in MP.

Update on Achilles

I apologize to all for not posting frequently lately, but I haven't been running much. I think the marathon countdown sits at 10 days and things aren't looking great. I'm trying to stay positive and get my achilles in working order in the next week. I just got back from a short trip to Charlotte to have Jailhouse Jeff work on my achilles. Meagan thinks I went to visit her, but the main purpose was to have some massage treatment on the lower right leg. The inflammation is still present, but the level of pain is very low during casual everyday activities. When I try to run I can feel a little bit of tightness in the achilles and then I stop so as to not aggravate the area further. It is my hope to go for a little jog this afternoon and see where things are at. I would like to put in between 20 and 30 minutes of light running, followed by a decent stretch session. I will also update the past week of missed posts from memory over the next couple of days. Promise.

Traveling Back to Norman

Time: none
Distance: none

After a good stay in Charlotte it was time to travel back to Norman. Before leaving North Carolina I had to move a few more of Meagan's items that were in the pod to prison. The achilles didn't bother me today and I had Jeff massage it one last time before hopping on the plane to Oklahoma. I hope to start running lightly the next few days, not to gain fitness but to improve my mood. I've been in a shitty state physically and emotionally because I know I'm fit and ready to roll and I have this little niggle that is keeping me from putting in work.

Another Day Off

Time: none
Distance: none

I took another day off in hopes of easing the pain in my right achilles and lessen the bit of inflammation I feel. I had Jeffrey work on my lower leg today which hopefully helps break up whatever is plaguing me. Meagan went out for a couple runs today while I sat at her prison apartment in a foul mood. Actually I slept for a decent portion of the afternoon figuring that the extra few hours would cure all my ails. I don't think it worked.

McAlpine Park

Time I: ~14 mins
Distance I: ~2 miles
Time II: ~14 mins
Distance II: ~2 miles

Today was my first full day in Charlotte and it was started off at McAlpine Park which is where Footlocker South is usually hosted. I wasn't sure if I was going to run since my leg feels better later in the day and the early morning meeting didn't coincide with the natural warming up process. Meagan and her teammates set out for their long run while the guys headed out too. I would have loved to have joined either group if I were healthy, but that's not the case. Instead Jeff and I went to Harris Teeter (a local grocer, not nearly as cool as Food Lion. I'm actually a little upset that I never got to a Food Lion while I was in North Carolina. **A short flashback to sophomore year when the team trained at Duke and wasn't given much in the way of a per diem, the distance crew hit up Food Lion for cheap eats. I remember eating a vat of Food Lion brand mac-n-cheese that was like $.33 a box. We created a song for the product that was pretty catchy which included the line "you could feed the army and the navy... something... something... something." Anyway, mama's in the big bed! End flashback**) to pick up some juice for the athletes post run. When we returned to the parking lot I did a little backwards running to warm the leg up and then I stretched a bit more before setting out for a short 2 mile jog.

I ran until I saw Scott Simmons, the head coach at Queens, and then ran back with him. We chatted about the Lunartrainers and the Coaching Distance Summit that was recently hosted at Queens in the fall. The achilles felt pretty solid, and after a quick email to some dude's pregnant wife telling her to leave a key on the front left tire because homeboy locked his keys in the car, I set out for run part du. The second portion felt good until the last 5 mins when I could tell things were slowly tightening up. Overall, I was pleased to put in a bit of running, but still disappointed that I couldn't explore more of the park.

Izumo Ekiden Review

Last night I had the opportunity to chat with Jeff Gaudette and Owen Washburn about their time in Izumo, Japan. Both are on hand to compete in the Izumo Ekiden race that I raced in last year. The guys were excited to get out there and see what it was all about. I went to bed before the race concluded, but managed to find results.

It looks like the Ivy League team placed 17th overall and was won by Nihon University. There is a lot going on in the results but I will try to explain using the Ivy League team as an example. Sage Canaday started things off and ran 24:47 which placed the team in 19th, Emory Mort took the sash and ran 17:26 for his leg which was the 16th fastest split on that leg and moved the team up to 18th place, Owen Washburn ran 27:09 for the third leg which was the 17th fast split and moved the team to 17th place... Ari ran the 4th leg which is the one I ran last year. He covered the 6.5k distance in 19:47 which is solid considering I ran 19:44.

Owen and Jeff should have a good recap about the race in the coming days.

Dead Presidents

Time: 65:13
Distance: 10 miles

Felt pretty good after a day off yesterday. Got out there and ran the standard loop that I have come to enjoy. Body isn't achy anymore and I think I'm good to go for a workout tomorrow. Hopefully, the weather will be decent.

In other running news, several former Brown University athletes competed over the weekend. Owen Washburn, Jeff Gaudette and Patrick Tarpy raced in sunny San Diego, CA at the USATF XC Champs. You can find more about the race in Oburn's blog post. The results can be found here at the USATF site.

1  641 Dathan Ritzenhein        Nike                    Eugene OR           25        35:03
2  671 Jorge Torres                  Reebok               Boulder CO          27        35:29
3  643 Josh Rohatinsky            Nike                     Beaverton OR        25      35:41
4  616 Edward Moran              Nike                     Williamsburg VA     26    35:43
5  563 Ryan Hall                       Asics                    Mammoth Lakes CA  25 35:50

39  554 Jeffrey Gaudette          unattached          Charlotte NC        25      38:01
49  680 Owen Washburn         unattached          Austin TX           24         38:29
54  665 Patrick Tarpy               Reebok                 Providence RI       25      38:33

Draper Long Run

Time: 124:24
Distance: 19-20 miles

Drove out to Lake Draper with Jilane and Jeff. Started out on the dirt road at a leisurely clip. Hit the road that loops the lake and did just that. It wasn't too hot or humid out. Both of us were dehydrated from the race, the football game and the beer. Had some good chats about the Hanson's program, marathon training and the good ol' days at Brown. Jeff was getting pretty thirsty by the time we hit the police station where we found a spigot. Loaded up on water and added on to get over 2 hours. Pace was never blazing but I felt solid throughout.

Brookhaven Run

Time: 82:38
Distance: 11-12 miles

W/u with Jeff in 23:33 on the course. Ran a few light strides before making my way over to the start line for introductions. The race featured Mathew Chesang (Kansas State), Mindaguas Pukstas (SMU and OSU), Joe Gray (OSU), Jeff Gaudette (Brown), Sean McCabe (OSU), and a few others. Tom planned on me running an even paced race with potential splits of 2:55-2:57 for the K's.

The shotgun was blasted and we were off. My left ear was ringing for the first 800m b/c I was only a few meters away from the starter and that shotty was deafening. I ran in the chase group of Joe, Jeff and Mike Brashears (OSU). I was roughly 2:58, 5:55, 8:56, 12:56, 14:54. Jeff, Joe and I were trading leads from about 2k on. Whoever felt good at the moment moved to the front of the group and kept the pace honest. Joe made a solid move with 600 to go and finished hard down the stretch. Results here.

C/d with Scotty D., John Mulholland, Jerry Faulkner and Jack Tracy for 26:31 on the course. Later ran 17:40 more with Jeff after he finished his workout.

Ended up with a pay day of $150 or about 70 quid.