Tuesday, October 31, 2006

 

W/E 10/29-- I TAKE THE URINE BUS TO GARBAGE TOWN

This week was a real humbler. My powers of psychological recovery greatly outpace my powers of physical recovery. Hope springs eternal; strength does not. Damn you, Prometheus. This week took me from a faithfull and happy adherence to an unorthodox and challenging--but clear and specific--program to a flailing wildly about in abstract, haphazard pursuit of unorthodoxy and challenge for the sake of unorthodoxy and challenge. This morning, though, I felt great on a 20 minute run with some pickups toward the end. Lifestyle exigencies dictate that I likely wont be able to run productively again until the weekend. It's time to get back to basics--paying better attention to recovery and the programmatic rigors of THE STRONGENING.

Monday, October 30, 2006

 

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

This morning was 30 minutes with Train. I pretty much just chilled on his shoulder as we left the driveway and proceded to run 'his way' -- northwest on the roads from the house -- a direction I never go except with him. In many ways I think this is good, the biggest pro being that I don't really know many markers along the way and I don't have any history on these routes that cause me to worry about my time/pace. Just as familiarity is beneficial so, I think, is uncertainty at other times.

I thought it was dick-ass cold out there at 6:20 and I was right as there was some sort of dew formed on the ground. I was sure to be wearing my cap on this trip. Train had some sort of dri-fit material, long-sleeve top.

As we took off I felt like this would be a good run. I knew that the tightness from last night's effort was just hiding so I was going to be sure to not be the one pushing the pace this morning. Also, I know Train did some sort of hilly run yesterday afternoon so I thought he might also be using today to just fill in some mileage.

When we reached Bum Park on 4th Ave (not to be confused with Bum Park Sur on South 4th Ave or Stone Avenue Bum Park) Train headed over to the restroom. I kinda stretched in the grass while I waited. This is when I saw, as soon as Train entered the restroom, some dude come out from around the building and moving towards the door. It seemed, at least to me, that this guy might be looking for 'an encounter'.

I thought about Dumb and Dumber where Lloyd (Jim Carrey) is in the bathroom when Sea Bass comes in 'for a good time'. He is forcing Lloyd to the ground when Harry busts in the bathroom with his pants on fire and kicks in the stall door in order to put out his flaming leg in the toilet water.

I looked around for someplace I could set my leg on fire should I need to save the day. No luck. It's all for the best as this guy, perhaps because of me, weaved away from the building and slurked over to his truck before driving off.

Train came out moments later, none the wiser I am sure, and we continued our 15 minutes out before heading home. I was glad we kept a collected pace for the run because I could feel the tiredness come on full force in the final mile or so. Straining it out, my watch said the return was only 20 seconds faster. Good pacing I suppose -- especially given that definite downhillness of the 'back' route.

I didn't put in an evening run but I don't think it's the end of the world. The legs were feeling pretty disgusting and I felt, in the long, it's better for me to just get my evening shit done and get in bed in hopes of a more productive day tomorrow. I am considering the 6:15 WOG session if my program is done in time. Anyone else going to be there?


WOG -- Dragons on Buzznet -- Dragons on Facebook

 

Who is This Guy?

I'm the old guy on Dragons. While Omniscient is breaking 25 minutes and chasing down the number 5 guy on his team, I'm often found wiping baby bottoms and comparing the nitrogen content of fertilizers at Home Depot.

Regardless, I do run, and I try to do so in the mold of Arthur Lydiard's training. While it may look like I'm training for the California International Marathon in December, that's just an excuse to throw the other teams off of my real goal. Yes, it's all about the Turkey Trot and representing for the Dragons. I was called in as a sub last year for Dragons after a mild flesh-eating virus knocked out some members of the "A" team, and I had so much fun that I've succumbed to begging to be made a permanent member of the team this season.

Anyway, I figured I'd try to give a quick weekly rundown of where I'm at with the training; just enough to make my presence known without stepping on any toes or distracting anyone too much. Unless something goes seriously wrong you can count on me running every day, and I've just started what is supposed to be my "fast" three week phase of training. Here's how it went down.

Monday: 8 easy, broken down from the 10 mile race the day before
Tuesday: 14 moderate
Wednesday: 10 miles in the morning, with 8x600 (first time on the track since May), did most at 1:52-1:53, then 6 miles easy in the evening
Thursday: 8 miles moderate in the morning, 4 easy in the evening
Friday: 12 miles pretty easy
Saturday: 10 miles with 7 at 6:08 pace
Sunday: 21 miles with 10 at 6:43 pace and 8 at 6:00 pace. Tough run.
Total: 83 in 9 sessions

Maybe next week will be faster. Later.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

 

WCC Recap

I was looking forward to the conference meet because I was coming off of a substantial PR and I figured I would have momentum going into the race. I was very wrong. Although all was not lost and I improved my time for the course by a good 30 seconds. My time ended minutes off of my high goal of 28:30, I ran 30:36 for a solid 6:10 pace. There is now a high mental hurdle in the way of me performing in the manner that I would like to. Physically, I know that I need to put more miles and hills in, that answer is easy.

Portland again handled the competition easily winning their 27th consecutive conference title with a crop of runners that had no experience at Crystal Springs. Their heac coach, Rob Conner, is a really nice guy.

Thats about all I have to say about that.

 

Championship Weekend

So my left toenail is gone. Totally gone. Like, the dead one popped off and now I have nothing but flesh there. It's all very creepy for me and I don't really like to look at it or think about it. I only hope the nail will start growing back so I can at least know that my toe won't be bare forever.

Anyways, with all the championship races going on, it was easy for people to miss two important(?) events going on in Tucson last Saturday. While Dragons was representing at both the West Coast Conference championships and the Pacific 10 Conference championships, in the greater Tucson area, many runners took shots at either the Oracle Run 10k or the Run Down Crime 5k.

I had considered both of these races about a month out. I liked the idea of running a 10k but by the time this week rolled around, I knew my training would leave me vulnerable to being beat by last year's overall runner-up, Paula Morrison. I got this thing about unnecessarily losing to girls so I gave secondary considerations to the Run Down Crime 5k.

I thought the Run Down 5k would be cool because then I'd have shirt to wear when I'm not in my 8k for 88 Crime shirt. However, when I found out that it was to benefit the Tucson Police Foundation, I had to pull any support I might ever have for this race. Not being a fan of cops (especially the TPD), I felt it was morally wrong for me to support this race in any way. It would be like Joseph McCarthy running the 1958 Berlin Marathon or Rosa Parks competing in the Spring Cross Country Classic to Keep Segregation.

For those of you wondering, I do support the 88-Crime program. I also, generally, support police departments. My issue is that there are too many cops on the streets and not enough good cops. We need more detectives, not more cops. Cops didn't bring in the Baseline Killer in a year. They didn't do a great job and caught him in the act. An investigation caught him. Cops give speeding tickets. Why do I need more cops on the steets?

So, with that clear, I feel the need to mention Bill Cuculic who won the Oracle 10k. Bill was about 20 seconds behind me in the 8k last February and so, for me, it was nice to see a familiar name at the top of those results. Yeah, I know absolutely nothing else about him (though he seemed like a good guy when I spoke to him) but I'm still happy for him.

As for me, running is holding pretty standard. I don't have any totals for you but last week was nothing impressive. No runs over an hour, no WOG sessions. I had a rough test on Friday that kinda kept my focus elsewhere.

Tonight I did some mile cutdowns on the ODC and was pleased to break my 6:17 from last Tuesday with a final 6:13 that felt like I was holding a lot back.

I'll consider my week starting tomorrow and, in it, I should be in the 40-50 range with at least one WOG session, one run over an hour, and another hard workout-type effort (maybe Train will let me join him on Tumamoc some day).

I wrote Greg an email asking his thoughts on the upcoming TMC half-marathon and Saguaro Physicians 5k Run and Walk. I helped Greg work this race last year and I thought it'd be good for me to get in a race before the Turkey Trot (the Beer Mile don't count). Unfortunately, I think our Dragons vs Legends rivalry is beginning to surface as he has not written me back.


Oracle 10k Summary -- Run Down Crime 5k results -- Dragon Mike Salkowski is 2nd in Grand Prix

 

Now, walk it out.

Pac 10's, Baby! Lets have fun with this.
-Coach

Yesterday, the team was up in Palo Alto, Ca on the Farm to run the Pac 10 Championships hosted by Stanford. I have always enjoyed running in Palo Alto and have had moderate success on the Stanford golf course (my team won the Stanford Invite my junior year of HS). I can see why Palo Alto is a training hotbed as, every time I have visited, the weather has been absolutely perfect. Yesterday was no exception with sunny skies and temps in the mid 60's at the start of the race.

Seeing as this was my first Pac 10 cross country race, I was pretty excited to get out and compete. Coming into the race, I wanted to be more aggressive than Pre Nats were I went out very conservatively and more than likely paid for it, place wise at least. So, my strategy for Pac 10s was to just go out hard and hang on.

The first mile passed in about 4:38 and, surprisingly, I felt quite comfortable. However, I knew that today was business when, on the gradual downhills on the course, I was basically sprinting to keep pace with the pack. Although, despite the variable paces during the race, I was able to keep focused and hang on for the ride.

At 4k, I realized that today was going to be a good one for me when I felt great and when I realized I was running with our number 5. Eric usually wastes me at races so running with him really boosted my confidence.

I passed 5k in 15:24 or so and still felt strong. However, at 6.5k, I started to waver a little and slow down. For some reason, I always lose focus at this point in the race. I think, for next time, I am just going to surge as, taking advice from the great Jack Daniels, when you are uncomfortable in a race, just run harder and good things usually happen.

As I passed the 7k, I was feeling it pretty good and knew that if I ran at least a 3:17, I would break 25:00 for 8k. Subconsciously, this was great motivation to really hit it hard the last segment of the race. But, in reality, I really wanted to run down the Stanford and Oregon guy in front of me.

When I approached the last 400 meters of the race, I knew that I could gun down those guys and I succeeded while crossing the finish line in 24:48.


I need to work on my arm drive and getting my head up

The team finished 3rd after an unfortunate mishap on the final straight of the race. Our number 3 apparently walked across the finish line in exhaustion and had to be treated after the race by medical personnel. Overall, I was happy with how the team ran. Kenny really stepped it up and ran a huge PR but we are still lacking in a few areas. Although, we have 2 weeks to straighten things out before Regionals in Portland.

On a note unrelated to running, if you wish to make it to your sisters wedding on time and are leaving from the San Jose area, DO NOT fly Delta airlines. They will make you miss your flight and force you to stay in SLC for no reason at all.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

 

Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Cracked

On a somewhat related but a very seperate issue, my teammates have been participating in some good old internet shit-talking with a team that, (1) is going to have many fans on the course, (2) is going to whip the shit out of us in the race, (3) whose fans have historically shown extrememly poor behavior on the course, I believe their spectators were banned one year. My guy was first called out by a girl, then talked shit about a teammate of ours, that teammate entered the fracas and was called out about a lying bio on our athletics website.

Needless to say this is very shameful. Our guys did not even take the "at least we party harder" line. No, no, our guys are responding to:
"hey villegas...can u tell me what the sympathy clap sounds like?"
with
"dnt know man ask ur girlfriend i gave her one when i was about to finish on her". That was soundly answered by:
"crossing the line...something hopefully u can do under 34 minutes saturday."

the intersquad stuff went like this:
"eric will you be holding down 56th place again?"
"no no that will be taken by our other runner michael truxton...hahah"
"eric... u bitch... ur lucky i let you beat me this year... imma beat you on this course... didn't you walk it last year?"
"yeah i walked on it cause i was too busy with one of the SAnta Clara girls...right before the race...u know them girls...so easy..."
Our number 6's feeble attempt of:
"Besides... i'm not last on our team... but seriously... these girls on this on this wall... why are they talking shit? i hope their not the SCU XC profligates... poor guys... they may be faster... but we get laid by better"
is getting clapped back by:
"hey stop ripping on the santa clara girls...if they were in our race that would bring the total # of teams to 9...and they would be 8th"

I have since tried to calm shit down with a good old Jason Rexing reference so we shall see if there's a letsrunner out there.

We are armed with knives in a gunfight. I hope I don't get spat on or shanked while trying to finally run a respectable time on a difficult course.

 

Ante Up

Well, as the Conference Meet draws closer, there are a few things on my mind. Firstly my legs are sore and tired and have been since the success at the Bronco Invite. I am going to ice them today to see if I can't dull little pain. Our workouts this week have been odd, Monday was 16x200m in 33 seconds, Tuesday was a hill run and yesterday was 5x2 minutes equal rest fartlek. I did not do the hilly run and I half-assed the fartlek. Wow, that last sentence was awkward. I do not understand how hills and intervals are going to reap benefits a mere 4 days before the big one.

I have not had a successful go at Crystal Springs yet in my short career. However, 2 weeks after smashing my PR by a minute, I have to think that I am in the best shape I have ever been in my life. I embarrassingly admit that I have yet to dip below 30 at this race. In 04 i ran 30:56 and 05 a dismal 31:04. My goal this year is to significantly drop that time. I am putting my goal time in the 28:10-28:30 range. This is a pretty ludicrous goal. Should I man up and run under 28:30, I will be overjoyed and the early trouble this season will be forgotten.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

 

Nothing's ever been an issue of anything

On tonight's run -- my first since last Thursday -- I felt pretty decent so I thought I'd throw in little final mile time trial.

It sounds fun because of the illiteration. In reality, it sucks.

When I crossed the mile mark (the beginning point on ODC) I will admit that I honestly hurt. I was out of breath. The collarbone cramp thingie was creeping up. My legs were -- tested. Knowing that resting on my knees wouldn't offer me any relief, it didn't add any satisfaction to the pain of walking around and waiting for my shocked-as-possible system to bring my heart rate back down and my breathing back to some kind of non-gasp. For as much as I wanted to look at my watch and see the results, I could only think of how secondary the clock was right now. I was a living example of an individual's regression back to the basic needs of man. With survival at the front of my lobes, I knew these results would be there waiting for me. And they would not be anything mind-blowing. I had already planned to look down and see 6:30 so, at least I can say, there was no drastic shock when I did finally look at the split.

You see, Rudy, when I got out of the 821 this evening I had no plans other than to get out and do over 20 minutes. A raised bar, I know, but I knew if I set my aim too high I would, at best, meet whatever standard I had set and would likely be burnt out for tomorrow. With the Trot lingering under a month away, I have to accept that this will be only a stepping stone race.

I took an easy trip down ODC and thought about the race. I thought about my training and what I should do in the coming weeks. I did all this at about a 7:30 crawl. Feeling good about my pacing, I decided to draw my run out to an out-and-back with my turnaround at the light before the Palo Verde Overpass. It's great to see that I can do perfect 50km training when I am supposed to be focusing on a specific 5k -- but when I'm supposed to be kicking up my mileage, I can't help but attend every WOG session possible with a Saturday am tempo run.

I did this all to the sounds of the iBlax (which is on its final throws after last week's chucking). I wasn't the coolest guy on ODC tonight and I was definitely not the guy with the least amount of boxer-briefs riding up his legs -- but I felt like a million slow bucks.

So, for no reason, I hit the last mile hard. It was really more like the last 2K -- but I only took it seriously when I hit the mile mark. I tried to just stretch it out and run a reasonable pace that would allow myself to still be running when I reached the end but when I hit 800 meters remaining, it turned into running. Straight-up arm driving, form-focused, heavy-breathing running. It was like hooking up with an ex for the night: familiar and it made me sweaty and, later on, sore -- but I can easily remember why I kicked her to the curb in the first place.

I ended an otherwise slow and eventless 7 miler with a 6:17 mile -- and a sub-3 final 8. If that ain't hauling shit, I don't know what is.

Now it's a matter of getting out tomorrow....

Monday, October 23, 2006

 
These diuretics are killin' me...

but also keepin' me alive

Sunday, October 22, 2006

 

W/E 10/22

I closed out the week today by driving out to Snyder Hill to dispense with a little elbow grease. Now, the splendorous public incline that is Tumamoc Hill is certainly nearer to the 821, but anyone who really knows me is aware that I have somewhat of a psychological addiction to driving, so I didn't mind the trip. After a number of sessions on the 'Moc, I've come to the conclusion that I still need Snyder in my life. Bad. The thing is, Tumamoc plays games with you-- starts out like any other road, then gets sorta steep but not really, then a little steeper, and by then you've wasted so much of yourself wondering whether or not you should be running faster that by the time you get to the real hard part you're just a cipher. This wouldn't be so for a runner equiped with a more capacious aerobic base, but I am not he, and since frontloading the zygotic phases of my training with power work is a central tenet of my new method, I had to go to Snyder. Where the 'Moc could be compared to one of the opaque concoctions served up at the venerable local lounge by the name of the Kon Tiki--starting out sweet and mild, then upping the ante once the patron's defenses are weakened, providing for the possibility of certain Dragons satellite affiliates barfing under their tables-- Snyder Hill is more like a Maker's Mark on the rocks served up with cold professional precision in a hotel bar by a man whose bow tie doesn't connote class so much as classiness. Far from the warm din of the Kon Tiki, where fellowship is foisted upon strangers by the silliness and seventies-ness of the environs, this hotel bar, which is most emphatically not located in a strip mall at Broadway and Craycroft, is inhabited only by yourself, the barkeep, and ESPN. Here, a man can take advantage of the bourgeois mobility that allowed him to get to such a distant and foreign place, and really be knocked flat on his ass by such a classy looking thing as a glass of bourbon or a really steep hill that boasts its proverbial houses, feeling at once naked for being so profligately bowled over in such pristine and lonely surroundings and anonymous thanks to the far reach of the geography. It is a magical situation, though not without its terrible ramifications. That said, I had entertained thoughts of finally breaking the stalemate that has me only up to doing 4 x 30 seconds. I entertain a lot of thoughts in a given moment, and it turns out that, were they to be rated according to possibility, this last would have fallen somewhere below my dream of touring as the opening act for the Brazilian post-punk dance pop art school sensation Cansei de ser Sexy.
Four reps was it today, but on the week I logged about 15 miles.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

 

A loving touch

Today after our hour long jaunt of some pretty severe hills 10 days before the conference meet, I was forced to utilize our athletic trainer for some massage action. It was a far, far cry from sensual or even deep tissue. Our guy's fingers were scraping the back-upper-inside of my femur. I could say I didn't cry, but that would be a lie.

As for this upcoming conference meet, I really am at a loss. My coach seems to think that I should be able to run about a 29 minute race there. In 04 I ran 30:54 and in 05 i ran 31:05. The point I am getting at is that this course is really hard. As I told Blax, there is not a 300 meter flat stretch of running on this course. We have a snowball's chance in hell to get out of the gutter even if everyone on the squad runs the race of their life.

In all honesty, running Conference has been a bit embarassing for me for a few reason: First, I personally have had a pretty foul history on the Crystal Springs Course that we run. Second, running in the last 6th/7th of a race is embarassing. The courtesy clap is really the worst. I think it is because I am a very passively competative person. I HATE getting clapped in and I find it demeaning.

So with all that in mind it has been difficult to plan out a conference race, like I know I need to, with the Turkey Trot shortly after the collegiate cross country season. Regardless, here is the plan: 5:30, 5:40, 5:50, 5:50, 5:35 for a rousing 28:25.

My best races, as I stated in the post about the highly successful Bronco Invite, I run my best when I am chasing people down in the final 3 miles of the race. I probably won't have anyone but my teammates in my sights as they usually go out hard and try to hang on, but hopefully there will be a few wounded gazzelles out there for a lion like me to pick off (terrible imagery). I think I have just about the right amount of time for this race to stew in my head, we shall see if I lay an egg, or come back around again for the people of the sun.

¡Vaya los dragones!

 

Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift

Writing earlier today was no real ventilation. In fact, it really was more of a reminder to me that I only have 5 weeks until the Turkey Trot and that will also serve as a tune-up-less reflection of my practices of 6 miles in the past 4 days.

Honestly, I thought I had scored my way out of even having to run today when I found out that this evening at 9 would be the season finale of Project Runway.

Yo -- I'm just being honest with you all.

I was supposed to get out of class at 8:30, giving me time to get home and plant the old ass right on the couch where I could enjoy Bravo for the next 2+ hours. However, we ended up getting a take-home test and being sent on our way, allowing me to be back over an hour early. I called Megan to make sure we were still on to watch the show and she said yes -- but she'd be over at 9. I told her I would just go ahead and have some dinner while I waited for her then.

And this is how I ended up going for a run.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a compulsive liar. You know Clinton addressing America about not having relations? How about "not inhaling"? That's all nothing.

I'm Hassert not knowing about the IMs with Pages. I'm Iraq having a direct link to 9/11. I'm Rumsfeld being able to draw a map of exactly where Iraq was keeping WMDs. I'm Fox News. I'm Bonds being clean. I'm the fence securing the border. I'm Ken Lay telling you to hold on to your Enron stock. I'm the insurgency being on their last throws. I'm "not a crook." I'm Kurt Cobain's suicide. I'm that guy who wrote the Oprah's Book Club book about hitting rock bottom and ending up in the slammer before fixing myself. I'm not trading weapons for hostages. I'm Keystone Light claiming to not taste bitter and Snoop no longer smoking weed.

I'm all this shit rolled into one....on crack!!

Oftentimes, I find myself telling the truth with all good intentions just to later do the opposite simply for the sake of being able to go back on my word. I consider it a quirk. My ex considers it adultery.

On that note, I've decided to start making more jokes about my ex. I don't have an ex to make jokes about -- but they seem pretty universal and I think it's a fun/funny way to bond. For example, tonight I spoke to Petie about his Conference Course.

Blaxar 2: so why is this such ahard course
petestarr2: its very hilly and normally cold as shit
petestarr2: there isnt 300 meters of flat anywhere
Blaxar 2: sounds like my ex!
Blaxar 2: insert Bush chuckle here

So, anyways, only by saying "I will not run" was I able to lace up the old Asics and get out the door. Fortunately, I had just downloaded some new music and, 2 minutes in, was motivated to trot all damn night if the iBlax battery would stay on.

Then, for an unknown reason, the fucking thing just stopped and wouldn't play. The screen was on display but it was just -- stuck. Angered, I chucked it at the UofA sign on the corner of 6th and Campbell and continued the rest of my run in silence. Fuck iPod and their bullshit products.

5 miles, 34:30.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

 
Yesterday almost felt like a step back and I'm afraid that, along with a weak Monday effort, this week is destined to be a battle to even 30 miles.

I spent the entire day kind of in a slump and was fortunate enough that, since it was a WOG night, I would have no other choice than to simply suck it up and run at least some sort of minutes. At 10 til, I threw on the iBlax and cap and rode down to Reid Park where I arrived just in time for the stretching.

The bike ride over had started to entice the endorphins and I began to consider the pros of a hard effort that evening. Honestly, I'm no fan of hard work because it is hard. Being the vicious Cath-22 that it is, I'd say it's easy to tell why a guy of few motivations like myself hasn't ran a speedy step since around eight months ago.

Then Abdi went by as he was leaving. I'm not even sure where he is competing next (Chicago?) but his presence alone was enough to suck any drive that I had developed on the bike over, right out of me. And this was the real feeling of running insignificance that only someone THAT good can do to you.

I can accept that my days of being ahead of J are over. I can accept that my best odds against ChampionsEverywhere Mike is to hope that the reaper notices he's a decade older than me and, thus, hands me a victory by default in somewhere around the year 2060. Watching high school kids come out and lay the wood down all over me is something that I can live with these days. I can say, with all honesty, that I do not go to races or look at results and, in an attempt to stroke my ego that didn't have the balls to be in this competition, try to figure where I 'would have' or 'could have' placed.

Still, I'd much rather like to at least be able to act like I think I could even fool myself into thinking I'm not slipping (slipped?) into something other than a recreational, weekend warrior-type runner. A jogger. Slowing times happen -- I'd just like to be able to regain the mindset to put in more efforts.

Honest efforts = workouts causing prolonged and often extreme discomfort and focus to complete that afterwards, you can just walk away from and know that it's all in a day's work.

I haven't done a Fartlek in about 4 years. The last time I ran up anything I would consider a hill was before finals in the Spring.

I'm missing that humility -- or I am overcome by it, I don't know.

So anyways, I ended up just doing a run around the bike path at some comfortable pace before biking my sorry ass home. At this point, my week's mileage total is 6. I'm hoping my grump is little more than the results of me being unable to escape this newfound coldweather now that the window in my car is stuck in the down position and my house won't have heating until next Wednesday.

It'll be alright. Sucking just sucks.

Monday, October 16, 2006

 

W/E 10/15

Hold on cousins, this one's a monster.
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY: 25 minutes
SATURDAY: Some repeats on Tumamoc. Got a little more into the upper reaches.
SUNDAY
6.5 miles on the week. And, apparently, I inspired Dave to dream about hanging on me.

 

Thin Ice

It's getting cold again. This does not pump me up.

Last week we had 'unseasonably warm weather' and I very much enjoyed being able to run comfortably between the hours of 6am and 9pm.

I didn't run this weekend because my soccer cleats are too small and some old dude steped on my toe and I basically spent all Saturday and Sunday in a hobble. Instead, I day-dreamed about being alongside J at Pre-Nats or Petie in his race against Santa Clara. I even lied in bed thinking about hanging on Train's shoulder as he cut through the corn maze at the Children of the Corn 5k.

I'm pretty excited to get new cleats. I think I'm gonna try to find some Mitres.

Anyways, last night I spoke with Train and we agreed to head out together at 6:30 this morning. Like I said before, it was cold -- so I was pretty much quiet and hating life as I just fell in on his shoulder as we ran down past the Kino statue, looped around the UA track/womens' soccer stadium at the Rincon Vista Athletic Complex and tore home to get back into the heat that is an adobe house in sub 74 degree weather.

I thought about making a move at Broadway, but I thought it might have been kinda dick since I don't know what he did last week.

So that was 25 minutes for the morning. The toe is feeling alright to run on for now. I'm going to try to get in a few more miles in another easy run this evening. Tomorrow, I think I will put my run off til after class, do something moderate, then try to hit WOG in the evening. I'm very much enjoying this 'socializing' with members of both genders at WOG...and yes, my leg speed is nothing right now.

 

I led a thug life, heartless hustler

This weekend, the team travelled to wonderful Terre Haute, Indiana for Pre Nationals. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to experience running in a very large race with some of the best competition in the country. In addition, the race was held at a cross country specific park (or farm) which consisted of a wide, mowed grass path with permanent kilometer and mile markers. Basically, it is a professional cross country course.

Because the weather in Indiana is much colder than Tucson, before the race, I got in a solid 40 minute warmup which, at the least, kept me warm. After a long warmup and much anticipation, I was ready to toe the line and get the race started.

The first mile of the course consists of about 500 meters of gradual uphill and then 300 meters of steep downhill followed by some false flats and rolling hills. So, it is usually pretty fast based on the downhill section. I ran my first mile in 4:46 and it felt like I was jogging. Having an easy first mile can be a plus in 8k cross country as you will be able to attack in the latter parts of the race. However, in a large race on a course where moving up is quite difficult, you need to establish yourself in the pack and get out there an compete with your competitors. Thus, I think next time around I will be a little more urgent in getting to where I need to be (place wise).

Next, I crossed mile 2 in 9:49 or so which means I was slowing and easing into my actual race pace (5:04 or so). I think I hit 5k at 15:47 and was still feeling pretty strong. Although, the last loop is basically 2k of gradual uphill running following by 600 meters of rolling hills and then the finish. So, I still had alot of work to do.

The finish is very difficult in my opinion as the final stretch consists of a straight 450 meters "fairway" to the line. So, I had to keep restarting my kick during the stretch which is very frustrating. However, when I crossed the line in 25:19, I wasn't too upset with my effort. Although, I think I am able to bust a 25:05-10 on this course. Oh well, a PR is a PR.

I also finished in 164th. I need to get faster.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

 

Bronco Invite Recap

Saturday I managed to accomplish a goal that I was fairly proud of. For 2 weeks I had been planning and thinking about the Bronco Invitational. I had spent probably a good 15 minutes a day, everyday thinking about this race after my disasterous effort at the SFSU Gator Invite at Golden Gate Park. Since the Bronco Invite is far and away the fastest course we run all year, I had figured that I could probably run anywhere from 28:10 (a minute and five seconds faster than my previous PR) and 29:10. I had figured my splits to be around 5:40, 5:40, 5:50, 5:50, 5:40 for a solid 28:40ish. Realistically, I didn't want any over-6 minute miles as I had been consistantly breaching that mark during the 4th mile of the race. Here is how everything panned out:

5:24 for as quick as this mile was for me personally, I was very, very deep into the back of the pack at the start of the race.

5:43 I fell off pace a lot harder than I usually do probably due the expeditious first mile

5:46 ...hanging on
note: I had never broken 17 minutes for a 3 mile race prior (16:53 3 mile split)

5:47 I just battled for mile 4. I kept picking people off and it was energizing to do so

5:33 I ran the last mile with our squad's number one guy something that I have never done.

All for a solid 28:15 and a minute drop in my PR. And after that, I went to watch UA trounce Stanford 20-7 in the most uneventful football game I have ever seen.

Friday, October 13, 2006

 

Need for Speed

For yesterday's evening run, I went ahead and biked over to Reid Park for some WOG action. I hadn't been to Workout Group since last spring when they BBQ'd and took the group photo. The first one was a nice group photo and then, for the second one, the camera guy told us to all do something crazy.
Let's invade Iraq!
My answer got some laughs and some silent disagreements. But boy is my face red now that they've pretty much got that thing all wrapped up over there...

Not my point.

Really, I was going to WOG because, other than a 15 minute portion of some occasional runs with Train, I hadn't ran with another person for about 4 months.

I'm sure that has a direct collation to my on and off motivations.

I could also use the speedwork.

I showed up late and kinda fell in on the outside of Randy's stretching circle. Looking around, I didn't see any of the like 2 familiar faces I know from WOG. With neither Mike or Dan in attendace (and a bunch of girls in workout shorts and sports bras) I was freaking out.

Then Randy called me to the middle -- pointing me out as the new guy -- and let everyone know that I couldn't count in other languages. It was a real self-esteem boost.

I ended up getting to run with some chick and two other guys for some 800 and 200's action. It was nice not being expected to set the pace so I just sorta floated off their shoulders and zoned out. It was alright and actually felt nice to get the legs moving a bit around 6 min pace after all the clunking along at sur-7 pace I've been doing. I figured the day's mileage (with the morning three) to be about 7.

Plus I'm getting to know people!!! I hear networking is important.

Damn being a shut in.

Anyways, I don't have class till 10 on Fridays so I was excited to get a couple extra hours of sleep before this mornings 3 miles on ODC. I was definitely feeling last night's session though. I didn't see Oved because he's in Indiana (with Jason) for pre-nats tomorrow.

I won't be running tonight as we have a soccer game and I feel like seeing what it's like to play high. Afterwards, our goalkeeper (and his midfielder wife) has Newcastle on tap at his place. It's gonna be hot.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

 

How To Put It In Words...

Dear Diary,

This morning I woke up at 6 to give myself a little time to mill around before heading out for my run. My room was dark so that didn't help. After last week's hot spell, we are definitely approaching autumn temperatures. I had slept in my 'Who is Sebastian Blax?' tee so all I had to do was slip on some shorts, lace of the kicks and head out the door.

This whole process took me almost 40 minutes as I was just not in the mood.

I decided on 3 miles to see how everything felt. Boy! Talk about white people -- I couldn't get any rythm for the first half-mile! When I reached ODC I didn't even bother to stretch at the usual spot and, instead, headed in the direction of the mile mark. It wasn't a surprise that I was fresh (after some 5 days off) but I didn't have a hint of discomfort in my knees and this pleased me.

I passed under Campbell at 10:56 -- just under 7 min pace -- and decided to ease off. No reason to go crazy on a 3 miler. I thought about my recent interview with Cathy from SAR and how my answer to her question about my favorite place to run had been ODC (Aviation) parkway. One of the best things (for me anyways) about running where no one is around is that you can raise and drop your pace without getting stares.

I remember Train once wrote a piece about how he was doing a fartlek around his neighborhood and when he came off the hard portion and back to his jog, some bitch out watering her lawn made some comment like, "Slowing down now, huh?" -- As if he was just out there at 5:30 am to appease his conscience about his blood pressure so he could go back to doing the stupid shit that he had convinced his self was the height of the good life, and as if it's a fucking triumph for humanity that he can slow to a crawl of a jog just because he feels like it and it makes him happy.

I make scenes when people say shit like that me -- but this all isn't my point. My point is that, while I ever see anyone on ODC at all, I've never seen anyone running (unless they were boxing in the air while jogging) on it -- much less anyone I would recognize there. That is to say, I don't think Abdi spends as much time on ODC as I wish he did (given that I marked the 400s with spray paint just for him).

But today, as I continued out, I saw a runner in all red coming at me. Red shorts, red longsleeve shirt, red-black skin -- just cruising (as I felt I was). We were on opposite shoulders of the trail so I got to avoid that akwardness but as we got close and made I contact, I noticed the runner was wearing an Arizona Cross Country shirt.

It was none other than the one and only, Oved Mutanya (or it might have been Moses Mpanga -- I don't know, I've never met either one up close)!

It was definitely the highlight of my day.

I ended the run in 22 minutes and hope to head out this afternoon for a little more (or at least a bike ride).

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

 

This One Goes Out To The One I Love

Hi.

How are you?

Alright then -- here is the update.

I didn't feel a thing all day in the knee. Not up stairs. Not running to the front door. Not getting off the bike.

We're gonna give it a shot tomorrow. Hopefully I haven't lost the little I have to lose.

Also, if you are a SAR member (or website reader), they are doing a little bio-piece thingie on me in the next issue of the Roadrunner -- so keep your eyes open for that. I did my best to drop props for Greg Wennenborg in it.

Hopefully we'll be able to chat later.

xoxoxoxox

Blax

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

 

Blood on the track

Todays workout was 5x1600 with a goal pace of 5:20. The planned recovery was a 400 jog however, this turned to 100 walk, 200 jog, 100 walk from the first one. For the first four, I hit 5:25-5:27. The last one, the bear jumped on my back for a 5:36 with what felt like a 10 minute last half mile.

I really am at a loss for trying to figure out what i should be able to run for a 8k race. I can run fast on the track, historically, interval work on trails gives me a problems. My goal for this Saturday is still to throw down a 28. The season so far has been one of disappointment due to injury and sickness, and accomplishing a goal would really feel pretty sweet.

My feet were bleeding at a pretty fair rate for the last two as I was running sockless in my spikes. I am trying to build up a nice callous but it is not working as planned.

 

I said I minded distance, but distance owned us from the start.

Its very humbling to get your shit wrecked in a workout two days after having the best..err...fastest race of your career. The intervals, completed on the riverpath, were as follows: 3x2K (6:10) and 3x500.

For the first 2k, not everyone was completely warmed up yet we still managed to bust a 6:08 after going through the mile in 4:54. Then, for the second 2k, the team ran brilliantly hitting 6:04. It kind of felt like we were tripping over each other and almost holding back. For #3, the story changed slightly, for me at least, as the top 6 guys slipped away from me at 1200 meters to finish in 6:02 to my 6:12. However, the effort was certainly there so I wasn't too upset.

For the 500's, running controlled was out of the picture. At this point in the workout, I was quite exhausted and just tried to hold on. For the most part, I achieved this goal until the last interval where I got my socks blown off. I just couldn't run any faster as my all out isn't the same as some of the 4:00 milers on the team. Oh well, I just need to continue my scrappiness and keep running within myself.

After the workout, I came to the realization that it is a Colavito trait to race slightly better than workout. My bro, Kyle, has told me countless stories of training rides were he got dropped by guys he beat consistently in races. However, I think as I build more strength and confidence, I will be able to progress my training to the point where I am fearless and able to hammer with the best.

Anyways...

Monday, October 09, 2006

 

Everything that we survived, it's gonna be alright, just lucky we're alive

So we've finalized the Dragons logo we will be using for the uniforms and have narrowed the actually uniforms down to a couple styles colors. After a busy week of school that I have planned, I hope to open Tucson's finest screenprinting shops for bids on the Dragons uniforms project.

They will look good.

I'm also proud to announce that Mike "ChampionsEverywhere" Salkowski has agreed to run under the Dragon banner for the Turkey Trot. I'd like to start syndicating his blog once a week or so -- maybe when he does his weekly recaps (he's be like a high-mileage Train) and perhaps, he would like to come on as official member?

As far as my personal training goes -- I've not progressed since my last post. Some sort of tweak in the knee has had me walking funny since Friday night and I've elected to just chill until this evening, in hopes of giving it another go. I wasn't especially concerned about this on Saturday because I already met my previous week's mileage and had only planned some recovery running for 'junk miles' (though I think there is no such thing when you are as far under 40 miles a week as I am). I'm a bit perturbed about missing Sunday (the standard long-day in the world of running) as I really feel long jaunts can do nothing but help me now.

So, in order to salvage what I can here (and assuming tonight's run won't put me on the 90 day DL) I am going to just go ahead and start this on Monday instead Sunday. I normally like beginning with a Sunday because it allows me to set a tone for the week but, more importantly, it allows me to not put off work until the end of the week and then go -- oh, I'll just do 19 on Sunday.

I can't do 19 in two days right now. Even if I could, my next week would start off so bad that it'd turn into a vicious cycle.

Like how being a Congressman leads to corruption, which leads to trying to fuck children, which leads to coverups, which leads to uncoverings, which leads to lies about who knew, which leads to claims of alcoholism, priest molestation, and the potential that we may not be able to stay the course for many more decades, as planned.

So I've set this week (the one starting today)'s goals back at two hour-long efforts, get in at least one run in some sort of hilliness, and to clear 35 miles for the weeks total. At a 5 mpd average, this may require a two-a-day at some point. However, I just got a bicycle and I may incorporate some AM riding if I still feel that the legs are not recovering from the pounding in a reasonable manner. I just don't what the equivalent of riding to running kind of is.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

 

I nominate Beth Ditto and Karen O for positions on the Dragons coaching staff

"Explosions which create relationships are sporadic and terminating, but if you avoid the explosions you perdurably avoid intercourse."
CARL VAN VECHTEN

I open this entry with a quote from a man I know nothing about, which I read in a magazine I knew nothing about before I coughed up thirty bucks for a subscription. For those of you rubes who aren't aware, that's how charlatan intellectuals get things done.

Clearly I've fallen off the wagon of neatly encasing my training in consistent weekly blog entries. The past two weeks or whatever have been dominated by the demands of attending concerts and then successfully carrying off the following work day-- there was The Gossip on that one Tuesday, and then the Yeah Yeah Yeahs last Wednesday up in Tempe. Both shows made a happy customer out of me, and for both I stuck to my established training principle of solitude. Much as I prize the ideal of losing oneself in rock raptures at night and getting up the next morning, valiant and bleary-eyed, for a quality training session, it typically just isn't practical. So my progression of numbers and totals has been temporarily razed to dust, but what's important is that on Thursday night I saw the other side of thirty minutes of steady running for the first time in recent memory, and that on Saturday at dusk I had my best session on Tumamoc yet. The Hold Steady is rolling into town this Thursday, and although they'll be pissed about the Twins being out of the MLB playoffs, I still expect them to aquit themselves admirably on stage. Running remains in the back seat to a few other things for this week, but we'll see what happens.

Also, congrats to J on climbing another rung on the ladder of badassitude.

 

Nose Over Tail

Over the past 4 years, I have always made it out to Kiwanis Park in Tempe to run an 8K cross country race. Needless to say, I am not a fan of the course based on my past (horrible) performances in Tempe.

My freshman year, in the midst of a comeback from a stress fracture, I ran an unimpressive 27:40 or so. I remember it being a straight up suffer fest which is never fun on a hot, somewhat difficult course.

The next year, as an Aztec, I ran the ACCAC Championship race finishing in 11th place and running 26:40. I remember this race distinctly and it was just upsetting. I went backwards the whole time and ran horribly.

Last year, the ASU Invitational was my first race with a U of A jersey and I again had a loathesome race. This time around, I struggled to a 26:55. I think this was one of my worst races ever based on how I just couldn't turn over the legs or respond to anything at all.

Yesterday morning, after a quick drive to Tempe, I approached the race in a much different manner. I just wanted to stay relaxed, have fun (as lame as that sounds), and run hard the last 2k of the race. So, after a very easy first mile in 5:07, I knew I was well on my way. For most of the race, I ran with my teammate and roommate, Dylan, until about 5.5K where he started to pull away. For some reason, the middle of my races have been absolutely horrenduous. I am pretty sure that between 6K and 7K I was running 3:25 pace (for the K) which is not good.

So, after being a pussy, I decided to try and lay down the hammer the last K and catch Dylan and the small group he was running with. With the help of Fasil Bizuneh (who came by me with 600 to go), I started reeling in that group while running stride for stride with the former ASU All American. With 200 to go, I opened it up and kicked past Dylan and about 3 other guys to finish in 25:27 (5:07 pace).



After the race, I was pretty happy about my performance but pretty estactic that I didn't get intimidated by the semi difficult Kiwanis Park course. I now feel ready to roll next weekend in Indiana as we run Pre Nats up in Terre Haute.

Have a great weekend.

Friday, October 06, 2006

 

Supermarket Bound

I have a test in 4 hours. Naturally, I find this as prime motivation for me to post on this site...

So when we left off, I had just gotten through Wednesday. Even now, I can still say that I feel 'it' in my legs throughout the day -- but I've had enough comebacks (I'd count 3 this year, at least) that this is just how it goes. Still, it's difficult to ignore the effects that it has on my daily runs as well as my scheduling.

Yesterday, after a short and productive meeting with Senor Pistola, I went home and met Train for a 6:15pm jaunt. It was dark when we got out the door and as we ran our warmup mile towards the statue of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, we agreed that it was kinda nice when it was overcast in the early evening because the clouds offer reflective light from around the city onto our otherwise dark and uneven paths.

Then it rained on us pretty hard. Nothing you can do about that but I think it was a good reminder to me that this wasn't going to be a short run and that comfort might have to take a back seat at some point.

We both had long runs in mind but his didn't include the path around Reid Park. We split about a block past the UA track. I didn't see him again until I got home.

I felt good and noticed we had been holding back for those opening couples miles so I held the pace to the park where I dropped in on WOG. I really wanted to get back to my run but I would feel like I dick if I didn't at least say hi. Mike and Randy (really, the only two people I know at WOG) were doing something on the track and didn't notice me as they ran by. I sure as hell wasn't going to interrupt so I chatted a bit with Lucas and got back on my way. I was less than a third done and this was supposed to be one long effort.

I never really fell back into a groove from this point and that made for a long and annoying run. I stopped for some water at Alvernon and Broadway and immediately felt like the wall got some tires, an engine, and any other necessary parts and just came and hit the shit out of me. It came as quite a surprise until I realized that I only had eaten two sausage mcmuffins and a xoom juice all day. Luckly, I had picked a loop route (and I was now at the furthest point) so there was no way out of it. As I took off, I decided to just try to continue my pace, rather than try to reason with the inevitable bonk that was sure to come.

Fellow Dragon runner, J, stopped me on my second pass through Reid. We discussed rosters and uniforms for bit -- which I appreciated because it gave me some rest -- but then he mentioned he was going to Rocco's pizza and that just reminded me that I had a couple more miles to go. The hunger kicked in so just I had to get out of there.

I made it back to Kino's statue before I really bonked. I ended the run in 61:30 (90 seconds over last weeks effort on the same route), stretched, and persuaded Train to join me at Bumsteads for a sandwich and drink. I had their special -- which was like a fishbowl full of liquored-up fruit. He had an MGD Light.

When I awoke this morning, I saw that it was finishing up raining (probably the storm that ChampionsEverywhere got caught in) so I headed out the door for a recovery day. I knocked out less than 30 minutes of morning storm-fresh trotting in hopes of preparing myself for an effective weekend.

Right now, I am optimistic because I've reached last week's mileage on 5 runs and I still have tomorrow (and this afternoon as an option) to get in more miles. My goals for the week of 10/8 are to increase my mileage to over 35 for the week, have two legit efforts over 1 hour, and to get off the flat ground -- and into some sort of hillness -- for at least one run.

Alright, now I can study.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

 

Progress

I'm not especially proud of my running right not but I'll go ahead and share latest since I got another 40 minutes until the new South Park comes on.

So, as of my last update on Saturday, I was planning on hitting a pm run to end my week. I had set goals for this week (which started Sunday) to do two solid efforts over 50 minutes and at least one WOG session.

Well, first, I closed last week with a Saturday evening run of five miles. I ended the week one mile short of the 30 mile mark but was pleased with simply getting out the door six days.

The five from Saturday night was still having its way with my legs as I headed out Sunday morning to begin this week's mileage. It was early so I headed through downtown to the Santa Cruz river. Unfortunatley, that path abruptly ends after a couple miles so I then treked past some Adult Correction Center (prison), hit a stoplight, and ran home. The 63 minutes offered my longest effort in some time. I definitely felt that fatigue 12 hours later at our soccer game.

We won 4-3.

Monday morning did not offer me motivation so I put my run off until the late evening. I felt as unrecovered as I had that morning but got in 28 minutes around the Univeristy campus anyways.

For the second week straight, I missed Tuesday -- due to lack of motivation, exhaustion, and school. This lead to tonight where I still was not feeling up to it (and we all know how missing one day makes it easier to miss a second) but when I got back from class at 7, I saw that it had rained and that smell just called me.

I told myself I would trudge out exactly 15 minutes then get back inside. However, once on ODC parkway, my mind began to wander and I remembered that I also wanted to get close to 35 miles this week and that wasn't going to happen with an 8 miler followed by alternating 3.6 milers/days off. I ended up putting in 40 minutes and I am more pleased with this effort, though I still feel like my legs are tired (as they have felt all week).

Because of a 6:15 meeting with Petey's dad, Senor Pistola, I don't suspect I will be making WOG tomorrow. This is probably for the best as I, still, need miles -- not speedwork. I think I will use tomorrow to log my second 50+ minute run for the week (allowing me a couple days to chill before next Sunday's long run).

***On an administrative note, we hope to have uniform designs and a preliminary roster for the Thanksgiving Day Race finished this weekend.

 

No Use For a Name

I don't have much time to update so here is a recap of the week thus far.

On Monday, after a 5 mile morning run, the legs felt prepared to run a 6 mile tempo but my body didn't feel to great at all. Before I really knew what was going on (you will find out later), I assumed that my allergies were just acting up causing me to feel somewhat sick. Basically, I was having flu like symptons (sore muscles, ect.) and blamed them on allergies.

Anyways, the tempo run went good but not great. I ran a hair under 33:00 for the six miles and felt like I wasn't straining too much at all which is a good sign. However, once I finished the workout and was in the middle of my cooldown, I was stricken with some stomach pains that led to a little diarrhea which I imagined was the result of a hard effort in the heat.

So, after losing a sock at the riverpath, we drove back to McKale where I had to use the bathroom at least 5 more times in 30 minutes. At this point, I knew something was a amiss but still believed my woes were created by a hard effort.

After I was home and still had to make many trips to the bathroom, I finally realized that I was sick with some type of stomach bug. That night (monday), I think I got up six times to use the bathroom leading to basically no sleep at all and, more than likely, some major dehydration not to mention loss of trace minerals and the such.

On Tuesday morning, I felt worse than the night before so I decided that school was not in the books for the day. So, I just slept, shit, and watched TV until around 3:00 when I forced myself to go to the one class I have that takes attendance. I also threw in my running gear just in case I felt so inclined to get in a few miles.

I survived the class without a trip to the bathroom so I decided to make an attempt at a run. One trip to bathroom at Reid Park and 50 minutes later, I battled and knocked out a recovery run.

On Wednesday morning, we met at the warning track to do some "short intervals" which actually totalled 7K. During the workout, I was setting pace for the group until the last one where I just tanked hardcore. It was quite pathetic but I think it had something to do with my prior few days (at least thats what I told coach).

Today, the schedule called for an easy 7 to 9 mile jog which I completed in an hour which, thinking back, probably was a little too fast. Anyways, I gotta take off for class.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

 

right on track

Such a pathetic pun. Anyways, today's workout was scheduled to be a 1600, 1200, 800, 400, 400, 800, 1200, 1600 ladder workout. We ended up running 2x 16, 12, 8, 4. The reasoning behind this was my coach wanted to see better times on the 2nd full mile. Pace-wise, the timing went as follows: 5:15-5:23, 4:00-4:08, 2:30-2:36, 75-76. I was happy with my effort. The second effort at each distance hurt very badly as the wind became quite strong around the back stretch of the HS track we were using. Having the lanky, waifish figure that I do, I was struggling even to keep a line in the curves which was distracting, tiring and frustrating.

I have been very pleased with my performance over the past few days. I am finally feeiling the "in shape" feeling that I was supposed to be feeling weeks ago. I feel like my times are going to lose a fairly hefty chunk both this weekend and next.

Mood really can make all the difference. I am stoked especially for the race next weekend at Santa Clara, and after that for the Turkey Trot under the Dragons banner. It has made a world of difference.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

 

Willamette Valley Invite

Improved my last years time by around 10 seconds for a 29:48. I was well off of my goal time by a minute. My finishing kick was quite dismal and pathetic. The race finishes by curling around the outside of a football/track facility, then enters a chain link gate for about 250 meters on the track. About 50 meters before the gate I charged through a group of about 7 runners and led them onto the track, however, they were having none of my weak attempt to lead them in.

I suppose that I was still feeling our Thursday's workout of 8x600 repeats on a trail loop with goal times of 1:55-1:58 ish. My improvements this year have been surprising considering how poor my luck has been this year through being sick then hurt at some pretty crucial times. This was supposed to be one of my shots at getting under 29. It looks like I am going to have to wait until the Bronco Invite at Santa Clara week after next.

Teamwise, we finally have lifted out of the literal gutter at a meet with an 18 of 19 finish, squeaking past Bellvue Community College.

Today's run was a quickly paced 45 minutes to shake the legs out.

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