Not too many of the regular Keenyans have been making it to the Wednesday workouts. It was good to see Erin again, so I would have someone to run with. It was a beautiful day, but I was still a little sore from Sunday's Pisgah race. I must have done a little tear or something in my ribcage on one of my tumbles on the trail. It has been quite painful to get up and in some positions, but running hasn't bothered it too much. I wanted to do something fairly easy, so Erin and I decided to do 6X400, and then we added on a few 200s at the end. Andy and Clint were doing 800s. Clint looked great after his 50K, and Andy won his race this weekend. So no matter who shows up, there are always good running stories to trade. It was a little windy, and the back stretch was into the headwind. There was probably a 2 second difference depending on which side of the track you were on. Erin and I were going to try to keep it easy, about 1:30 with a 200 jog rest interval. I felt pretty good in spite of my sore rib, and was able to go a little faster with each rep. Erin was super consistent, keeping each one at about 1:28. I am looking forward to some good early training, and possibly some racing before I start looking ahead to Boston in the spring.
Here are the results
6X400
1:29 / 1:25 / 1:25 / 1:24 / 1:22 / 1:24
2X200
38 / 39
God said to Abraham, Kill me a son. Abe said Man, you must be puttin me on. God said No. Abe said What? God said You can do what you want Abe, but, next time you see me coming, YOU'D BETTER RUN!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Ugghh. Glad Pisgah is Done
That is one tough course. I thought Mt. Washington was relentless, but after 10 miles of the trails, I was beat. My favorite sign was "Trails Merge/ Gate Ahead". I don't know how to get my head around 18 more miles of that. Two years to think about it.
I felt pretty good the first few miles. Two miles or so on the road/trail before the real stuff begins. I went out at what felt like a fairly moderate pace. I felt good on the first major hill of the trail, and passed 3 or 4 runners. My stomach felt a little queasy at about mile 4, and it came back a couple times later, but it faded quickly each time. I kept a good pace all the way thru to the top of Pisgah ridge, I passed a few and only a couple people passed me. After that it was just hold on as best I could. And there was still a lot to go. It's hard to remember how I was feeling at each mile, but from then on it wasn't too good. I took a couple of spills and several more stumbles. Each one was a jolt that I felt for a while, and am feeling now. My hips and core feel like they took a beating. Miles 8-11 or so were a tough struggle to say the least. I saw Glen on the Kilburn road, I think, and I was feeling fairly good on that road. Then the Davis hill came. That was tough, but the downhill afterwards, and the next 2 miles were just as hard. I felt quite a relief when I made that left turn onto the dirt road. For the last 1 1/2 miles or so I ran pretty well, and gapped the person who was right behind me at the turn by over a minute. It felt really good to get a stride going, even thru the last hills on the road. I finished in 2:12 flat. A 4 minute course PR for me, so I am happy with that. Next year I am going to have to get out on the trails a lot more, and Erin says she wants to as well. Lots of time between now and then.
It was good to see the other finishers, Jeff, Newt, Justin etc. I waited around for the top 50k runners, and like I said, it's hard to think about being out there for another 18 miles. George looked super strong at the finish, so did Greg. I was surprised to see Chris Hayhurst so close behind Greg. He had a very disappointing DNF last year, so he must be doing some good training at the farm.
All in all, a great day.
I felt pretty good the first few miles. Two miles or so on the road/trail before the real stuff begins. I went out at what felt like a fairly moderate pace. I felt good on the first major hill of the trail, and passed 3 or 4 runners. My stomach felt a little queasy at about mile 4, and it came back a couple times later, but it faded quickly each time. I kept a good pace all the way thru to the top of Pisgah ridge, I passed a few and only a couple people passed me. After that it was just hold on as best I could. And there was still a lot to go. It's hard to remember how I was feeling at each mile, but from then on it wasn't too good. I took a couple of spills and several more stumbles. Each one was a jolt that I felt for a while, and am feeling now. My hips and core feel like they took a beating. Miles 8-11 or so were a tough struggle to say the least. I saw Glen on the Kilburn road, I think, and I was feeling fairly good on that road. Then the Davis hill came. That was tough, but the downhill afterwards, and the next 2 miles were just as hard. I felt quite a relief when I made that left turn onto the dirt road. For the last 1 1/2 miles or so I ran pretty well, and gapped the person who was right behind me at the turn by over a minute. It felt really good to get a stride going, even thru the last hills on the road. I finished in 2:12 flat. A 4 minute course PR for me, so I am happy with that. Next year I am going to have to get out on the trails a lot more, and Erin says she wants to as well. Lots of time between now and then.
It was good to see the other finishers, Jeff, Newt, Justin etc. I waited around for the top 50k runners, and like I said, it's hard to think about being out there for another 18 miles. George looked super strong at the finish, so did Greg. I was surprised to see Chris Hayhurst so close behind Greg. He had a very disappointing DNF last year, so he must be doing some good training at the farm.
All in all, a great day.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Looking forward to Pisgah
I've had a couple of fairly good runs the last few weeks. The Wednesday Keenyan workout was one of them. Justin had the plan to do 3 X 600/400/300/200. It sounded ok to me, so while he and Andy were finishing their warm up, I got started so as not to get lapped too often. I kept all my recovery periods to about a minute, usually walking a hundred yards or so. The 600's were definitely the hardest. It was hard to hold pace for the last 1/2 lap. But I felt good about my 400's. 9 months ago or so when I began running with this group, I was just trying to keep my 400 time under 1:35, and I could usually hit 1:30. Now I feel comfortable at 1:23. If I can get them to 80 sec, and my 800's at about 2:50 +, I will be very happy.
As for other runs, I did the rail trail to the dump a couple of times this week. Always a good run, and an ego booster. Sunday I ran with the Brewbakers crew. Jeff and I did 'Death Hill'. That is a well named run. I think I may have to go back and try to do a couple of repeats on it before the winter sets in.
I've been trying to be a little more consistent with the running, even though I don't feel like I am in training mode. But I feel stronger than I did this time last year when I was training for the DeMar. I am really looking forward to Pisgah, and if all goes well, try to break 2 hours. That's about a 8:25 pace overall. But in Pisgah anything can happen. We'll see.
My track results were:
2:04/1:23/1:02/:38
2:10/1:23/1:01/:37
2:11/1:21/:59/:37
As for other runs, I did the rail trail to the dump a couple of times this week. Always a good run, and an ego booster. Sunday I ran with the Brewbakers crew. Jeff and I did 'Death Hill'. That is a well named run. I think I may have to go back and try to do a couple of repeats on it before the winter sets in.
I've been trying to be a little more consistent with the running, even though I don't feel like I am in training mode. But I feel stronger than I did this time last year when I was training for the DeMar. I am really looking forward to Pisgah, and if all goes well, try to break 2 hours. That's about a 8:25 pace overall. But in Pisgah anything can happen. We'll see.
My track results were:
2:04/1:23/1:02/:38
2:10/1:23/1:01/:37
2:11/1:21/:59/:37
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A couple decent Wednesday Workouts
It is a slow road, but I am feeling better and better about the efforts I have been putting in the last few weeks. Last week at the track I had to go early, so I did my workout and ran the warmup with the other Keenyans as my cool down. I did a 6 X 400/800, with 200/400 jogs in between. I felt good about it, and kept fairly consistent times. This week I did 6 X 200/400 with 200 jogs recovery. It was very hot, and even though I felt like puking on the last 400, the times were good. My midweek running has not been as consistent as it was the few weeks prior, but I feel like the relative speed is coming back. And I have really enjoyed the running. Nice slow jogs with Roma in Greenfield. To the dump and back a few times. A decent 5 mile tempo run in the evening. I am really looking forward to some cooler weather. And while my times in the upcoming races (Covered Bridges and Pisgah) might not be my best, I think my fitness level is still good. Maybe I will get serious and look for a late fall/ early winter race to shoot for. Then there is Boston in only about 7 months. Under 3:15? It could happen.
2 weeks track results:
6 X 400/800
1:27 / 2:57 1:32 /3:00 1:29 / 3:02
1:30 / 2:58 1:31 /3:01 1:30 / 2:57
6 X 200/400
37 / 1:27 39 / 1:30 39 / 1:31
38 / 1:29 38 / 1:30 37 / 1:27
2 weeks track results:
6 X 400/800
1:27 / 2:57 1:32 /3:00 1:29 / 3:02
1:30 / 2:58 1:31 /3:01 1:30 / 2:57
6 X 200/400
37 / 1:27 39 / 1:30 39 / 1:31
38 / 1:29 38 / 1:30 37 / 1:27
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