Dragons

Run and tell the angels that everything's alright

2008-05-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

So I did beat the month mark in getting up an update. Exciting for me since I am sure most of the 8two1 readership did not transfer over to this site once they realized it wasn't as interesting as hearing me rant about how, no matter which Presidential candidate wins, it doesn't matter what their platform is because there is no money for the shit any of them want to do.

But, like I said, this isn't where I rant about this topic. Instead, it's where I actually do update (though be rarely) about my training. In fact, tonight you are in luck because, while I never really planned on updating, I took a nap earlier and this led to a late dinner so I am waiting another 20 minutes for my stomach to settle before I hit the asphalt trails tonight. So, for this update, I offer you a little good news and little bad news. I'll alternate in hopes of making my business seem in balance.

Good: I still haven't quit. Making it through an entire semester is a pretty big accomplishment. Granted, my runs are still hovering around the 30 minute mark but that's something.

Bad: I did miss quite a few runs the last couple weeks. I am currently in the midst of finals season (my last exam is Thursday afternoon) and things have just been hectic. Also, the project I am on at work is about rapping up so I find myself leaving for work at 5:30 some mornings -- and the dys I don't go to the site, I might en up getting 5:45 am phone calls from foremen asking me if we were getting concrete that morning. My reply is usually that I am young so their best bet would be to check their email because I emailed them the day before about these kinds of issues.

Good: I've started doing more (because ANY>Zero) cross-training. I didn't used to do any but I went to my first drill a few weeks ago and realized that my new unit is just foaming to give me a fitness test. I guess it's reasonable to expect drill sergeants to do like 40 pushups in two-minutes without rest. I think my old record was like 49 back when I was in basic training. Kinda sad, I know, but I always ace out the run and sit-ups. Besides this, it looks like I am going to have to go to a two-week course this summer which would also require me to pass a fitness test.

Bad: I think I am still a fat ass. I don't have a scale but I sure don't feel any less fat. I guess this could go either way because chicks really claim to "like my personality the most." Regardless, my current push-up count is a struggling 31.

Good: Schedule -- I feel good about opening up and getting in more miles this summer. I have gone against past training-by-fire principles and instead chosen to play a conservative build-up this time. While I can't compete in shit right now, I feel healthy and am not concerned about upping the mileage/dropping the pace/laying the pipe.

Bad: As I mentioned above, work starts at 6 so fitting in a daily run as the temperatures soar is going to become a little more difficult. I'd say my work schedule is what killed my running last summer and I am looking to keep that from happening again.

Good: After this project wraps up in the next few weeks, I've received word that I may not be moved to the Silverbell project. This suggests that I might get a cush office position working in the bid room. I am optimistic that I may get this gig as it could lead to a 7am start time, an A/C office that is less than 10 minutes from home, and access to a treadmill (we have a gay little 'gym' at the office).

So, that gives you a little update of what is going. I still have no races planned but in many sense I kinda feel like Arizona Phil -- mons expecting to ever get a social security check.

When I look to leave her, I always stagger back again

2008-04-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

That title is probably a bit much. As you would recall when we left-off in March (maybe early April? -- I'm too lazy to go back and fact check against my own blog), I was a little roughed up from our final rugby match of the season against Scottsdale. And though I took a couple weeks off (and subsequently missed out on a chance to race the Run for Your Life 5K), this actually doesn't count as one of my bouts with quitting.

In order for me to quit, I like to think there are a couple of criteria. First, I need to be running consistently. I think when I got hurt I wasn't even up to 30 miles a week on more than 5 days per week of running. Second, I need to be showing improvement. Granted, I was showing improvement -- pulling my average morning pace from a staggering 8:45 pace down to a mind-boggling 8:29 for my 3 milers. But normally I like to aim to be quitting more around the tangent of a decaying exponential curve begins to approach zero.

Allow me to illustrate with some graph I found on Google images.

Hmmm....ok. It's like this. If you consider the number of days I have been actually 'training' is the X-axis, and then my progress (on a scale of 0 to 100 here) is the Y-axis, I'd say I am most likely to quit around the (90,85) point. Obviously this scale is a little off because I never do get as good as Y=85 on this chart, but I'd say the slope at this point is about right for when I quit.

That being said, I am currently sitting at about (12,25) -- so yeah, plenty of time to get the hopes up before just stopping.

Maybe I'll come back and reference this graph in the future. I like that idea.

BTW does anyone else think Eddie Vedder looks like The Dude from Big Lebowski these days?

Anyways, this morning was my return. I did 3.9 miles around the housal area here around the 8 minute pace. It was probably so fast just because I am still fresh. My shoulder is still pretty tight and it does still hurt to sneeze or shift in my chair, but maybe I just knew I had to get out there this morning after being motivated by this article about Paula Morrison.

Not really. The Star is a rag and if anyone else carried this article I wouldn't link it to the Star. Still -- good for Paula.

Oh -- I also saw Ben Eid last night at Zinburger (I secret shop under a different name sometimes). He had a candle in his shake and I thought it was his birthday. It turns out he made law review here as he finished his first year at UA Law School. Good for Ben.

Come join in the last hurrah with open sores and open jaw

2008-04-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

I've tried to make it pretty clear in the past that it is ingrained in my person to have problems in executing a sensible running program (or even the most insensible ones). I've also tried to make it clear that more often than not, I have no one to blame for my shortcomings than myself. Once again, this may be the case -- but I would at least like to think of myself as only conspiratorially responsible -- rather than straight-up responsible. So with that said, allow me to explain why I suspect I will not be hitting the Run for your life 5k this April.

Long-story made short (and that will have to be the case because my shoulder gets tired if I leave my arm in the bent, typing position for too long) my leftal shoulderal backal upper-armal.lower-neckal region is pretty tight and sore from our season finale match against Scottsdale. To put it simply, these guys are a bunch of pricks and I have no qualms publicly pointing out that, not only are they second-to-last in our league, they severely lack sportsmanship and common maturity. If I do end up moving to the Valley of the Sun after I graduate this December and even if I lived in Scottsdale town hall there is no way I would ever demean myself to a point where I would wear a Scottsdale rugby jersey.

See -- I could have lived with my aches, scratches, bloody nose, and huge bruise on my hip came from activities during the match -- but after about the 6th late/cheap shot from some dude who has 70 pounds on me, the shit gets a little old. So yeah, if you take anything from this post, it is that Scottsdale's rugby team is a bunch of bitches. I'm glad I scored on their asses and I am glad we beat them. I hope they die in a team-wide drowning.

As for me, with rugby over, my plans to start honing in on a more solid schedule once rugby is over has now been pushed back, probably, a multitude of weeks as I likely have bruised cartilage in rib cage. I am surprisingly upset about my lame jogging schedule being thrown off more than I am that it hurts like the dickens for me to cough, sneeze, or roll over in my sleep since Saturday. But I am trying to not let it get me down too much. Train had this same issue some months ago and he made it through. I will as well.

Don't let it be wrong, don't let it be right

2008-03-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

It's funny how things turn out. You see, I might not have done a very good job of it but last time I was trying to point out the difficulty of beginning a structured running (jogging?) program. I feel I have distinct advantage & disadvantage that comes from being a runner multiple times and on far different levels (personal, not so much competitive).

On the plus side, there is experience. Notably, enough comebacks under this size 42 belt to know that things won't stay as bad as they seem the first few days. Likewise, I understand just what a bitch pain in the ass I have ahead of me just to get to the 18-flat mark.

Plus, my experience makes me anxious to get back to a level at which I am not completely embarrassed to be seen running.

So while I do not know much about what is 'right' in terms of training -- especially coming down to specifics like workouts and goal times etc -- I generally know what is considered wrong. I know you shouldn't do three workouts, back-to-back-to-back each week. I know you shouldn't brush off the long run. I know of the 15% rule (which Train says is the 10% rule but I don't have that kind of time). I know about shoes, surfaces, and basic effort levels. And all that I do not know, I can look up in any running book from the 1970's and comprehend what the author is saying.

But still, I guess you could call cramming for races my vice. I know I shouldn't do it. I know it's probably not exactly productive -- but it's just something I try to do to make up for my habit of getting hurt/slacking off as races come near.

I crammed for the Turkey Trot a couple years ago. It didn't help.

Shoot -- now that I look back on my history of running, I think my first ever sub-2:00 800m (it was in a relay but I am confident it was legit) came after skipping the last day of practice because I was trying to flirt it up with the dark lady.

But I've never been one to listen to reason. After all, some things may seem moronic but are absolutely correct. This is why, as I know I should be running for consistency and time right now (and I have been) -- I plan on cramming for an April 5,000m run & walk that is coming here in a couple weeks. Now, I will make it clear right now that I don't plan on winning this race. Heck, I don't even know if I can get under 21. But it seems like a good time so I'm going to give it the ol' college try.

But this will all start Monday as our final rugby match of the season (2 pm at Chapparal Park against Scottsdale, if you are in the area) is Saturday, Renfair on Sunday, and then it's on to my hybrid "base-building con 5k taper" phase.

Long Road to Ruin

2008-03-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Things weren't going too shabby for me running-wise. You see, I have sorta gone with a plan of running 30 mins a day for a week, then kicking it up to 35 the following week, and so on. Starting a plan from scratch, I have found (numerous times), is probably the hardest part. Obviously I'm not going to follow one of those programs in Runner's World or the inside of my Nike Free shoe box. But I am really nowhere near good enough shape to act like I am in much better shape than any old fatty who just decides to take up running for the first time.

Actually, I am probably in no better shape -- I just have experience to understand (even if I don't listen to myself) how training doesn't have to start and stay at 6 minute pace everyday -- starting from day one.

When I was in the army we had to do a 2 mile run as part of our fitness test. 13 minutes would gather the maximum points for my (and any) age group. I had a buddy, Barker, who was kinda one of those guys who was always shooting to excel at things that he really should have just been happy to be decent at. He was in a different age group than me and so he only needed to run a 13:30 or something to max his score. Barker was one of those dudes who was kinda overweight and entered the military being pretty into weightlifting but not at all into running. Still, by the time I knew him, he had been to something like 9 weeks of basic training and maybe 7 weeks of training in Ft Huachuca and he was in the 13:15 range.

Every year (must be in the late fall or early winter) there is some sort of 10K race that the MI battalion puts on down at the base. There are various competitions and our 1SG was dead set on beating those bastards from Delta Company so he volunteered the best runners in the company for the team and then told anyone else that they could join if they wanted. I was fine about being volunteered because it meant that, for about three weeks I could run six days a week instead of three -- and skip those three days of the push-ups and sit-ups workouts (which I wasn't as good at).

Barker volunteered for the team and, in all honesty, it was basically a classic Blax pre-race cram session. One morning we would go run some steep-ass hill. The next would be some rolling hills. The next would be the course. And every run ended with the final mile or so being "all out". Obviously it was sort of retarded to be training everyone to run a 2 mile time trial all the time and then expect them to field up a 10k team -- but this is the army we are talking about.

"We're bogged down in the middle of an urban/guerrilla war? Hey -- I know a good thing! How about we get new uniforms that make us harder to see in the desert but easier to see in the jungle."

WTF?

So anyways, I was the fastest guy on our team and that's when Barker came to me and asked for advice on getting under 13:00 for his two-mile, I told him that he should simply not take the approach that running is juts prolonged sprinting. Every fitness test, we would start the two-mile and Barker would go out with all the other scrubs who figured that going out and hard and hanging on was the best strategy (this was before the army started using strategery as a form of preparation). I told him that if he'd just not be a punk and go through a mile in 6-flat, he'd be fine.

Long story made short, the day of our final fitness test he went out next to me and said he was just going to try to hang with me for as long as he could. It wasn't probably more than half a mile and he ran almost 14 minutes. I called him a punk. Barker ended up going crazy somehow and got a discharge because he was all stressed-out or something.

But yeah, as this relates to my current training regimen, I got back from my fishing trip on Friday, played a rugby match on Saturday, and plan on getting back to the old running train this week.

I think this week will be 35 minuters. I am feeling a little tight/sore today but I am confident I will be alright as the week goes by.

Happy Easter.

Back in the lab

2008-03-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

If you’ve been reading Mike’s ChampionsEverywhere blog, then you have likely seen my comments there. And what you read is true. Not only do I golf the less expensive executive-style courses in the winter months, but also I am back to jogging. Call it a return. Call it a phase. Call it pathetic. Whatever you do, call it healthy.

Yessir – I’m 176 right now. I don’t expect that to change much, but I do want to be able to make the empty argument that, “oh no, it’s all fat that has been converted to muscle.”

Just so not even how it works…

So I thought I would throw out that tidbit because, currently, zero people read this and I am going fishing in Mexico for like 5 days next week (Spring Break, WOOOOO!!!!) so that will give me a nice bout of not running.

I look forward to it.

THINGS WORTH BLOGGING ABOUT

2007-06-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

* So, I bought a new pair of Supernova Classics the other day because my old pair were hella worn down, but when I ran this morning I put on the WRONG PAIR. Wowzers!!!

* Although it's not running-related, I don't yet have my own blog to prop stuff that I think is cool (mostly because Mike's wife told me she thinks all bloggers are losers), and just when I was starting to think that everyone, everywhere, should stop writing about sports, this guy comes through with perhaps the greates thing I've ever read about sports. Top to bottom, it's my jam.

* Plans now are to pull the greatest DNF in the history of the Mud Run. Although I'm totally down with running again thanks to the Uplift Mofo Mud Run Training Plan, Blax recently informed me that the event is indeed a 10K, not an 8K, which puts it at nearly twice my standard "long run." I'm not hitting on all teleological cylinders right now. "Right now," of course, refers to 2005-???. I'm going to DNF so hard it might somehow nullify everyone else's finish.

THIS JUST IN: I SHOWED UP TOO LATE FOR RACE DAY REGISTRATION AT THE TUCSON 5K

2007-05-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

I just got back to the house--note the time of the post. It's hard to be really on the ball when it comes to paying 25 dollars for surefire embarrassment, disapointment and discomfort. Plus, parking was a challenge for a guy rolling up right at 6:30 and trying to slip into the Bank of America to get some cash. There were all these cones because apparently there was some sort of...race...or something. Surely Urbanski reads Dragons regularly, so at least he'll know I tried.

Sorry I haven't posted, I was waiting in line for the new Linkin Park album

2007-05-14T07:15:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a streak since I last wrote anything on here. I actually didn't think I'd be getting around to it until maybe later this week but I got some time before I have to leave for the first day of my internship here. The last few weeks have been a bitch, to say the least, and I'll be honest in saying that I don't think I made any progress recently. Quite a few missed days -- coupled with short, slow runs when I have gotten out -- represent the opposite of my January hopes of having a decent schedule down come this, the start of summer. I don't have very good time management to start with so adding in the stress of finals etc pretty much makes a watch completely useless for a couple weeks. I'm more and more impressed when I read about Mike getting slammed at work and still popping out 13 milers (no long runs for me for a couple weeks).

Anyways, I missed the Cinco Race and am now 'focusing' on the Tucson 5000 this Sunday, May 20th. Obviously I am a little short on time to be fixing whatever I've lost since the Spring XC Classic but I am still hoping to be under 18 minutes (let's be reasonable) which almost seems like a reasonable effort considering how sub-par my racing went when I was training well.

Perhaps this summer will have to include some all-comers track meets and Parks and Rec road races so I can, at least, have a little fun out there.

Summer Races -- If we get this, we win in Iraq -- T5K

W/E 5/13: Consolidate your neuroses for maximum charm!

2007-05-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well, my grand old tripartite training plan has officially gotten fuzzy. This week I ran, like, a few times. I'm feeling pretty good about my running as it is, but I do nonetheless count on my Mud Run performance being in the range of ugly to fugly. This week a number of persons more sensible than myself joined the bachelor's degree-holding community--congratulations are due--and I was on hand briefly as an auxilliary celebrant. I'm afraid the highlight of the weekend, though, came just a couple of hours ago, when my dad gave me a Dixieland jazz mix tape. I tell you, nowhere else have I heard music so ebulliently affirmative of capitalism without sounding bowdlerized or unintentionally foreboding. I could happily devote my life to investment banking if only I could work for a company that piped a constant stream of Dixieland through the building.

What can I do?

2007-05-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Today, I will be a college graduate and will be quickly thrust into the Corporate world. While graduation usually leads to the beginning of "real" life, it marks the end of the a time where running can be done without much interference. In college, you can train at any time and easily get in mileage and workouts. Plus, if you are afforded the opportunity to compete for your school, traveling to and entering races is not contingent upon the availability of money and, most important, time. Now, the days of doing runs at 10 AM because you slept in till 9:45 on a weekday are gone by the wayside and replaced by the unfortunate training times of before 6 AM and after 6 PM. Oh well, I am still going to continue training.

In regards to my training, I am on a crash schedule to get in shape for the Tucson 5000, Accetta's downtown race, and the Camp Pendleton Mud Run. So, my weekly mileage has increased steadily over the course of the past 3 weeks to the tune of 35, 45, and 55 for this week. I have also managed to fit in a few workouts including two tempo runs and two track workouts. What has been lacking in my program is a long run but I will correct that come next week where I will try and fit in a 15 miler sometime before the 5K.

Hopefully, come next Sunday, I will manage a 5k under 15:40.

Bear Down

Aches and Pains

2007-05-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

This morning I tried, for the third day in a row, to get out and do a run. This morning, for the third day in a row, I was turned back by my foot. I don't know what it is -- but the left foot hurts. It had been sorta noticeable during runs last week but it never seemed like something that was getting worse or required special attention. That is to say, I don't think I was stubborn to try and run through this.

After Monday's being stopped before even being out the door, I tried again last night. Over 48 hours of rest (and worry) for the foot, I thought, would have given it time to work out whatever kink was in it (it doesn't feel like a bone thing -- it feels like an odd cramp thing). I was incorrect and I'm glad I didn't force myself through anything last night.

So, yeah, this is a drag.

Now, apparently, that mouse I caught a couple weeks ago, is back (or there was just more than the one). I've decided to move on from trying to catch it to just straight up poisoning it. What? Mice don't have souls. I'll add it to the list of things going wrong that I plan to make right...with poisoning.

Anyways, I'm sort of pissed that this means I won't be running the 10k race on Sunday. But then again, it also means I won't have to drop $30 I don't have to run a rough ass course that takes a up a chunk of my long run route. I may still go watch though. I'd like to see how people approach this race -- maybe for next year.

So that's the update. We'll let you know how things are coming in a couple days.

J is going to India -- Sidewinders win in bottom of 10th -- 5 de May Race on the 6th

W/E 4/28

2007-04-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

This week was a wild one. In addition to having my feminist porn jones thwarted and having to substitute Jon Heder and Billy Bob Thornton on Monday, the intended sanctity of my Monday morning-Thursday evening-Saturday morning plan was dismantled. The good news is that this is owing to more training rather than quitting. You see, I made a genuine discovery about running this week--it goes that as one begins to train, one's body adjusts to the stress and can handle more of it. For this process, I've coined the term adaptation. As the body adapts, one needs to accelerate one's training to continue gaining fitness. Talking to Blax in the 821 kitchen, he suggested that there are a handful of well-respected coaches around the country who already incorporate some variation on this idea in their programs. I'm taking his word for it.

Anyhow, I advanced my Monday "long" run to Sunday afternoon. It went well, but I only managed 20 minutes.

This meant that my rolling hills action on Speedway came on Wednesday morning instead of Thursday afternoon. I think I splayed out all of 25 minutes for that one, but can't remember exactly.

Friday morning I hit the Santa Cruz wash for some sand action. I ran five minutes each of warmup and warmdown and 15 minutes in the sand.

I thought about running today but I wont. I'll run tomorrow morning, and by God, I really need to hit 30 minutes here. If Dan Maher is reading this, I thought about making you a birthday card using a funny picture from an old magazine and a speech bubble saying something to the effect of "happy birthday Dan," but it turns out that my old magazines have no funny pictures. At all.

We can make it if we take it slow

2007-04-27T09:07:00.000-07:00

Looking at the calendar last Sunday, the running schedule looked something like, "55-60 miles, 2 workouts on the track, long run Sunday of 11-14." The rest of calendar was filled with scribbles and crossed out/moved due dates for assignments, exams, take home tests, reviews, lab reports, and -- now -- Wednesday night softball games at Sportspark.

We lost our inaugural game 35 - 6 in six innings. I went 0 - 2 with a fielder's choice and a fly out to shallow right field. I also scored a run.

Next week is looking surprisingly empty as I have a single Statics assignment due Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, the plan was for me to get in a solid week this week because next week is the Cinco 10k. However, as I'm sure you could guess, there were conflicting issues and I just knocked out workout #1 this morning at Tucson High. It was quite similar to last week's 2x1000, 2x800, 4x400 with half-distance recovery -- but a pinch faster. I don't have my watch with me right now but it ended up looking something like this:

2x1000 (goal: 3:22) -- 3:22, 3:20
2x800 (goal: 2:40) -- 2:39, 2:39
4x400 (goal: <80) style="font-size:85%;"> I think PA is great -- This is actually pretty accurate given that it's from an active military officer -- In-N-Out still the biggest thing in Tucson

We were dead before the ship even sank

2007-04-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a once-again joyful Modest Mouse album which I bought at Replay Entertainment in the Bookstore today, I have decided that today I wil make my return to running. I think I have 20-25 minutes of easy running planned on the soft grass of the mall.

I will let you know how it goes.

Training for the Mud Run and the complete and utter domination of the Indian road racing scene begins today.

Case of the Mondays

2007-04-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

I usually keep comments closed because, frankly, no one ever seems to comment on my blogs. However, since my last few posts I have been told by people that they wanted to comment -- but simply could not. Fine -- I'll bite and start opening comments. But don't blame me when a bunch of goose eggs sit at the bottom of these posts in the comments section.

So on to running: As expected, Saturday's yardwork pretty much laid me to waste (I think this is it for digging holes and filling them with concrete though) and so my long run ended up being the race + warm up/down efforts. Today I had 8 - 10 easy scheduled but, due to the way my tests are falling this week, I've decided to go ahead and move workouts to Wednesday afternoon (before my softball double-header) and Friday. This means I won't make Group Run this week. It also means that I kinda felt like I was cheating if I did today as just an easy run, considering tomorrow was going to be the same thing.

I headed off down ODC this evening planning a progression run. How much progression didn't matter as much -- I just wanted to feel like I wasn't struggling and still going slower in the final miles (read: I didn't want to relive every race I've run this year). After the half-mile to the pavement I started the watch and eased to Country Club in 7:30 and 7:25 miles. I definitely wasn't in any sort of groove but soon things came together because my mind started to wander.

As I thought about my poor racing but, what I feel is, good training I couldn't help but to think of my backyard as the perfect analogy. It was ugly. It filled up four dumpsters of garbage -- including the absolute base that was jackhammered by mexicans. But now it's better. It's got a solid base. It's actually usable -- but there is still a ways to go and that's just gonna take weeks and hard work. It's taking shape though. And that's the important thing -- moving forward. Eventually it's going to be a finalized project -- but much of that is based on the bs that I hate doing. Pipework? No one ever notices that unless it's broken. Straight posts with solid footers? That's the kind of thing that doesn't just happen on it's own. And while it will likely not be finished this summer, it does need to become luau-acceptable in the next few months because it's already on the schedule (Jeff Dodge is invited).

I need to make myself luau-ready because, come Tucson 5000, I'm gonna be burying a whole pig with some hot coals weather I like it or not.

So while I have a hard time feeling like I am making noticeable progress in the running realm sometimes (I mean, anyone can do a solid workout -- racing is where it counts), I'm comforted to know that it can be related to similar situations where I do see markable improvement.

Anyways, once I got off this topic, I began to try to figure out how I would get in all my mileage for the week. I was feeling good so I decided to extend the run to Craycroft to give myself a head-start on the week. Things ended up feeling good for the entire run and I was able to close with a 6:30 mile (so maybe it was like my race -- LOLerskates) to finish 12 in 1h26m and a final pace in the 7:09 range (7:23 out, 6:45 back) on a very fast/smooth out-and-back.

I'm hoping to get in a really solid week of training here with Cinco just a couple weeks away. So far so good, I'd say.

Cinco is next -- What I'm getting everyone for their birthday's this year-- In-N-Out opens April 24, Bitch

2007-04-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

HEY!!! I just tried to go to a lecture and film screening about feminist pornography, but I was late and then I couldn't find a parking space, and I was so worked up about it that I went home, got soaked in Seagram's and updated my myspace profile!!!! oh yeah...i have one of those now...I'M STOOPING TO YOUR LEVEL RUPERT MURDOCH!!! YOU HEAR ME??? IT'S ON NOW, FUCKER!!! now I'm watching School for Scoundrels with a real ambivalent lean. Anything involving Jon Heder should involve ambivalence. WEDNESDAY'S RUN IS GONNA RIP, KIDS!!! YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST. YEEEEAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

note: i will only update my myspace profile in times of desperation.

W/E 4/21

2007-04-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

You know, blogging about my training encourages my impulse to congratulate myself. Being able to congraulate oneself is healthy, but considering the status of my fitness, encouraging it is a distortion of priority. I will announce, nonetheless, that I executed week one of the Uplift Mofo Mud Run Training Plan to a tee.

Monday I set out in the morning fully intending to run 30 minutes. I ran 15 minutes out, but on the way back, my "engine" just shut off after 25 minutes. I shouldn't think of myself as too much of a sage when it comes to "listening to my body," but there was a certain feeling that told me that calling it right there was the best move.

Thursday I advanced my Speedway run from afternoon to morning. I think I was hungry. I've had some great runs and workouts when I was a little hungry, but this wasn't one. It wasn't bad--it was just nothing triumphant.

Saturday I woke up, thought about Tumamoc, and was scared all the way to the far northeast side. This, of course, meant Snyder. My low ebb workout for Snyder had always been 4x30 seconds, but I lowered it to three on Saturday. To top it off, I had extra recovery because I shed a layer after each rep and at one point stopped to give directions to a hippy. I'm not one for pigeonholes, but this guy was straight crunchy. I pointed him toward River and Sabino Canyon Roads, where I assume the Yonder Mountain String Band was performing.

Saturday was also the Spring Cross Country Classic, which I'm sure I declared my steadfast intentions to enter some time ago. Then I forgot about it because forgetting about things like that is cool. But I'd like to make clear that the idea of an open cross country race and the idea of an open cross country race with a keg both have my admiration. I heard that a certain Ol' Dirty "called me out" for the Tucson 5000. When the man speaks, one listens--I'll be there.

Speaking of calling people out, I would like to "call out" Omniscient as to whether or not he owns My Life by Bill Clinton, and if so, whether or not he would lend it to me. Get at me about that.

Spring XC Classic 2007

2007-04-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

My official stance on the 2007 Spring XC Classic was that I had fun. I didn't look for a PR -- I just ran to appreciate what the sport has to offer.

Or whatever.

Either way, in your face, Phil!

And I actually did kinda have fun at it until I saw the results this morning.

Waking up at 5:30 yesterday, I could hear the rain coming down. I had a very outdoorsy day planned and rain could definitely put a.....wait for it....damper on my plans. About 7 I texted J, who was working the race, to ask if it was still on. He replied that it was and almost immediately I could hear the rain stopping.

I drove down to the course in time to catch the start of the womens race. The course did look a lot less threatening this year as the rain appeared to pack the areas that were normally full of soft sand. I asked J about this but he explained that there would be 'a lot of fucking heel-strikers' in the first race who would surely break up the packed areas. With that in mind,I warmed up and headed to the line. The usual faces filled the start and I decided that I would go ahead and just try to go out in about 5:50 then move around from there.

Before the start, Levario pointed out that next to 'sex' on my bib, Dan had written, "M-ish". I thought it was pretty funny and that sort of put the whole day into perspective. It was all supposed to be about having fun. You know, getting some cocktails. starting a fire in someone's kitchen. So Dan yelled "Go!" (It is Tucson's budget XC race) and everyone was off. For being a course that's won in high 16's some years, I thought the lead guys were taking it out pretty hard and I wanted to no part in that. Hanging back, I ended up running the first mile with Levario. We came through the first mile in about 5:44. I felt pretty relaxed still but realized that we were pretty much alone for quite a ways.

We started to move up and picking off the straglers who had fallen off the lead pack, only managed a 6:00 for the second mile. This honestly surprised me as I thought I was keeping a pretty constant effort. I think it may have been the rolling stuff at the start of the second mile that really slowed me down. It was just past the second mile marker -- and the next time up the hill -- that I was passed by two dudes. I tried to hang on with them but pretty much realized that they had been chilling behind me for the last couple K and had let me do the work with just this situation in mind.

Anyways, through the third mile I found myself amongst some kid and some old guy. By the hair, I recognized the old dude as the character who had sat on Paula Morrison's shoulder at the Sun Run and outkicked her (thus beating me handily). The kid -- just some like 18 year old. I don't remember much about the third mile except that I got sweat in my eye and it burnt like hell. I couldn't believe it. I also remember trying to move early so that old guy wouldn't be able to throw down on me in he last 60m. It worked on him but not on the kid as he left my kickless ass in the dust. I finished in 19:04, good for 10th and 11 seconds better than last year -- but I was still pretty disappointed as I thought I should have been able to run under 19 there. I guess it's just a reminder that I have a lot of work to do -- especially on the strength side of the house as , come about mile 2, I was really not enjoying being out there.

I did a short cooldown with Shane -- this year's champion -- and, unable to stay for Tecate and other social funness, headed home to work on the fence until 6 last night. It was a pretty full day and I'm finding myself pretty sore tonight. Fortunately I'm doing alright on miles so I'll do my run this afternoon.

I don't really have any pictures from the race. Sorry.

Hall, 2:08:24 -- Having attained perfect test scores and an excess budget, schools now focusing on decor -- Race Results

Time to Respond

2007-04-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

Great attitude Mike. It's those courses that are so tough that you don't fret about hitting a PR that you re-discover why you enjoy this sport. Folks that will only run on pancake flat / fast coursed just don't know what they're missing.

You'll do great this weekend. Can't wait for the race report.

-"Punxsutaney" Phil commenting on Mike's blog about Saturday's Spring XC Classic.

It does seems pretty harmless, no? Of course. And Phil is one of my favorite commenters on Running With Lydiard. But this was an obvious call out in my direction. I mean, an hour after I commented that I hated this course (possibly even more than I hate oatmeal) he chimed in with his two cents. And his two cents, if you can't read between the lines, were that I'm a complainer.

While he couldn't be more right, I stand firm that I don't like old people calling me out. It's the principle of it all. You give these people an inch, they'll take a mile. No sir -- not this time.

Tomorrow, I run for spite.

Take that, I Run for Hope (If she ever comments I'll have to bust out my rant about how I don't take lip from no womens)!

Actually, Phil's comments may be a blessing in disguise. As I've mentioned before, my races have been very non-competitive recently. Where has the fire been? I'll tell you where -- misguided. Now, finally, I have a reason to perform! I shall run for spite in order to run for fun in order to show Phil what's up!

Why? Cuz that's how I roll!

Now, after last year's meltdown at this race (the knee injury was well in place at this point), I'm no doubt looking to top my 19:++ performance. But more than that, I'm looking to have fun. Maybe I'll go out off-pace and see if I can't pick some people off. That's fun. Maybe I'll wear just a pair of BOA shots and no shirt -- guys like that always seem to be enjoying their race experiences. Perhaps just running with a smile is key.

And if all else fails, I'll just get hammered at the beer garden afterwards.

Just kidding. I have to head right home after the race and to start working on the fence we're putting up next to the patio. Hmmm....now I'm thinking I should go ahead and shoot for a long (and fun) cool down and make tomorrow my long day as I will likely be spent on Sunday morning.

We'll see.

Phil's Running in the Sun Blog -- Last Year's Results -- Spring XC Classic

OUTRAGE IN THE HEARTLAND

2007-04-19T17:19:00.000-07:00

I read today that Chicago Bears linebacker and presumptive Nobel Prize winner Brian Urlacher is being fined $100,000 dollars by the NFL for drinking vitamin water and wearing a hat. This is no way to treat the man who invented modern linebacking, the internet, the four post bed, and who picked up the slack on the 9/11 commission while Lee Hamilton took four prostitutes on his boat for a week. In light of this, I am collecting donations to help Brian offset the fine. I will pocket these donations and then concentrate on sending Brian good vibes. I hope you will contribute.

RE: Addendum

2007-04-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Dog, I borrowed an egg. I was gonna replace it on Thursday, because I figured you wouldn't go through a dozen eggs that fast. So it's not Hickman's, it's Compass "Band of Thieves" Bank that caused this.

So far, so good

2007-04-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

About halfway into yesterday's workout I was applauding myself for cutting Monday from 8 down to 6 miles. 12 hours from a workout, I was finally wise enough to open my eyes and realize that another couple miles could only make things worse at this point. Levario was good enough to give me a ride home on Monday and now it's up to me to find out where I can fit 2 more miles into my week (oh, whatever will I do?).

So yesterday I woke up, had some tea and clicked around Fark, and then headed out the door. I brought my new racers just to give them a little break in period. I'm a firm believer in training in flats before trying them out in a race situation. Not necessarily for everyone, but it eases my mind from worrying about a pair of shoes during my races -- because I sure don't need the extra stress. My destination was Tucson High School (less than half a mile from my house). Arriving at the back entrance, I found that this gate -- which is even left open in the summer -- was locked. After a verbal WTF? I ran around to the main entrance and, through the Badgers' ghetto-ass courtyard, I was able to reach the track.

This was my first time on the track since I tried to cram a couple workouts in before the Turkey Trot last November (where I went on to run 18:43 and not even score for Dragons). THS had their track redone a couple years ago and it's much nicer than I remember. Though I only ran there once in high school (Apr 21, 1998 -- I anchored our 4 x 800 to an 8:38 victory -- L4WL) , I remember that at about 80 meters down the first turn there was a spot where sprinkler would always water down the track. So in that one 15 meter section, their track had a definite bounce. I applaud the school's decision to install new water-free facilities (they also have that fake grass stuff in the infield. It's kinda slippery but definitely beats any grass outside of Arizona Stadium).

Apart from the quality track and convenient location (you know what -- I also ran an all-comers meet there once and lost to a couple old black guys in the 100m) THS's track is kinda cool because it sits down in their stadium. Obviously, this is their old architecture as no one these days would execute such a simple and classy idea -- but it still adds a little to the atmosphere.

Anyways, after finishing about 10 minutes of warmup (I was just anxious to Git-R-Done) I began my workout. 2x1000, 2x800, 4x400 with half-distance jog recovery. The 1000s were do be done in 3:25 and, 800 into the first one, I realized I had jacked my math and brought in a 37 to make the first one on time. I hit the second in 3:22 and was glad that this part was over. I'm not especially fond of 1000's (I am so picky -- no wonder I suck) but I did enjoy 500m recoveries.

Onto the 800's. With 2:42 goal times, this was only a second per lap faster pace. These definitely required some focus though and, my form and all, I brought in a 2:42 and a 2:41. With only the 400's left, I was getting anxious to get home. With a goal time of 80, I was definitely noticing the shorter recoveries, but still managed 78's before changing my shoes and heading back home. I began thinking and was surprisingly glad that the school hadn't applied any new security measures that would prevent me from working out on their track before 7 in the morning.

Exiting back out the gate, I was greeted by the droves of greasy-haired, cologne-soaked teens talking about the hip hop music as well as the latest talking picture playing at the cinema. I had gotten out of there just in time.

This evening in the Running Shop group run at 6:15.

Dr. Phil Blames VaTech on Video Games -- Apparently, Iraqi leaders fail to understand the physics of explosions -- Some 2A Track Coverage

......Addendum!

I wrote this before breakfast this morning. But, now, as I sit down with my breakfast burrito, I feel the need to make it public that Hickman Farms eggs suck. I bought a dozen eggs yesterday and this morning I opened the carton to find only 11 eggs sitting in the carton. Now, yes, I understand that it isn't that hard to open a carton of eggs at the store and check for missing/cracked eggs. And every other time I've ever bought eggs (Fry's brand, notably -- but this week Hickman's was on sale and I thought I'd go ahead and support local eggeries), I have knocked out this ritual. Yesterday, however, I thought that my lifetime perfect odds would be good enough to carry me. I guess I was wrong.

Yes, I am taking this especially hard. As you all know, I am not a morning person so I don't like to wake up on Wednesday's finding out that I just got screwed by The [Hick]Man. Still, I got a 11 cent score to settle -- and those 11 cents belong to me! Never again will I purchase local anything. From here on out, it's Wal-Mart, big oil, GM, Disney, and anything else to stick it to the Ma and Pop Hickmans of the world!

Seacrest out!

Another start

2007-04-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

Last week finished out and I didn't feel too tired. Getting that second workout pulled from the agenda might have been just what the body needed. For the third straight weekend, I spent a day doing yard work and that left the legs pretty much blasted. Still, I'm pleased with the progress and after the concrete is poured tomorrow, I'll be relieved that it won't be possible for me to do anymore work on the driveway. Naturally there will be other stuff -- but putting up a fence seems like a much less daunting task than things involving shovels, picks, and wheelbarrows.

Upon getting offered an elite, comped entry to this weekend's Spring XC Classic, I've decided that I will be taking part. This means that this week will be 'scaled back' to about 50 miles. It also means that I need to figure out what dish I will be providing for the post-race potluck. I'll go ahead and leave open the comments in case anyone has suggestions.

Anyways, so this is my update. Tomorrow morning is my first workout on the track so I'm going to get up and pound out some repeats over at the THS track. It should be fast as I only have about 3 miles of work so I took tonight easy and went for a run with Levario. We discussed Mud Run plans and it looks like Tucson will, again, have a legit showing at the June race.

In other Dragons news, Mike ran a couple 5k races this weekend and Lucas won his 5 mile trail race in Oro Valley on Saturday. I'm assuming they will be showing at Spring XC as well.

Anyways, this was just a quickie.

Mike's updates -- Lucas wins Everybody Runs -- Boston Results

Everybody's workin' for the weekend

2007-04-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

This afternoon marks the Sidewinders' home opener. With a 6:30 start time against Colorado Springs, if Fireworks Friday isn't enough to bring you to the game, let it be known that Randy Johnson will be our starting pitcher. He's supposed to throw around 90 pitches so it should be a pretty standard night.

Perhaps he'll off another bird.

Anyways, this is all much more exciting than any running update I could offer about myself. So just to catch you up on some Dragons knowledge:

Mike and Lucas will both be in the 5,000m this evening at Sabino High School. Lucas will then be running some sort of Everybody Runs race out in Catalina State Park (perhaps as a pacer) on Saturday.

Sunday will be the Race for the Cure. I actually don't know who is taking part in that race this year.

I think that's about it. I hope to pick up my new racers (first pair in MANY years) this afternoon.

Sidewinders -- Race for the Cure -- Everyone Runs Catalina State Park

...but the riot inside moves on

2007-04-10T15:13:00.000-07:00

After this week it looks like I'll be moving to the Tucson High track for my workouts. While I, frankly, don't consider this to even be my decision -- it definitely isn't one I'm going to fight. After the tempos at Reid, the hill at Sabino, and the recent Farleks on ODC -- I'll be glad to get to get back to my first true love -- a quality track.

Well, relative to everything else, I guess...

There is also going to be some sprints in the grass. These have to be mid run so I'll probably go ahead and knock them bitches out at Himmel Park (assuming there still is grass there).

Anyways, as you can guess, this marks a further phase (of sorts) into my training. Honestly, recent weeks have had definite pros and cons. On the plus side, I feel like I've been able to progress and perfect the workouts assigned, which is always encouraging. I've also stayed (until my knee started aching this morning) injury free to date. The cons, however, have been that I've been unable to get my mileage past 55 or my long run past 13. It just seems that, by the end of the week, I just need a break somewhere and that usually results in a slow and unwanted 5 on Saturdays just to be able to give Sundays a go. Also, of course, have been some pretty disappointing race performances. Definitely because of the time, but more because of my lack of competitiveness in these races.

Still though, I'm very pleased with my training. Because of this (and because there appears to be no team competition this year) I'd been playing with idea of skipping the Spring XC Classic in a couple weeks (Grand Prix points and all). At this point, I'm just not very excited about taking a cycle-down week and missing a workout just so I can race on some slow course in the heat (though I do think the beer garden is pretty good). Last year I 19:something'd that race as my knee injury was flaring all the way up and I just didn't have a very good experience.

I know that everyone else -- well, at least Mike and Lucas (who is running 2 races this weekend) -- is racing quite a bit, but I don't know if that's what I need right now. No doubt, I need more races -- but I need more smart races. So I don't know -- we'll see, but at this point, I'm thinking I might just go ahead and wait until the Cinco 10k to ease off for a week.

Anyways, thats' my update.

Phoneline may be open by the end of summer -- Jeff Dodge edged out by Dan Beaver at the Tillman Run -- Friday Night Kristen Yoder 5000m at Sabino

4/4

2007-04-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

Your blues ain't like my blues.
And why should they be?
-Tunde Adebimpe

I ran 20 minutes this morning [ed. note--this was started on April 4th], and frankly, that is big news in my life right now--downright anomolous. Note that the title of my post has changed from my typical "W/E" format to only include a single day. I wasn't planning on this run, but sometimes I am gifted with an adamant corporeal resistance to sleep. I can honestly say that one of the changes brought thus far by 2007 is that I've been able to receive this less as a pain in the ass and more as a blessing. As I started my run I was pleasantly surprised to see Dragon Lucas and "Ranger Pride" Shane running on 10th St. past the stylish muted brown brick condos. Past that, I felt good. It felt good. After I came back from my Texas trip and a considerable break from running, my first run was on the hilly part of Speedway west of Silverbell. This basically tore my calves in half. I could still feel traces of it today, but this was the first run since where I haven't as thought I was running on styrofoam peg legs. Good shit.

Now, when it comes to elaborating high-spirited training plans and then making them look like anything more substantial than the penis-envy chest pounding of a born loser, I definitely have what you might call a checkered past. But. BUT! Given that I have already coughed up the entry fee for Mud Run 2007, and given that a DNF seems for some reason less acceptable in that event than in any other, I am using this post to unfurl what I've decided to call The Uplift Mofo Mud Run Training Plan. It's basically a three-pronged, three day-a-week approach that I've integrated into the rest of my schedule as follows:
Monday mornings: steady runs starting at 20 minutes and working up to 50 by the beginning of June.
Thursday evenings: runs on Speedway going west from El Rio starting at 20 minutes.
Saturday mornings: Mud Run-specific workout of either hills or running in the sand.

I only announce this so publicly because I want anyone reading this to understand that if you see me, it is your duty as my friend, acquaintance, associate or reader to check up on my progress and be prepared to use unsparing language if it appears that I'm getting flaky. If you live with me and find me not getting up to get it done on a Monday or Saturday morning, some shaving cream on the hand and a feather to the nose would be appropriate. I no longer give a rat's ass about my once-fancied 14 minute 5K dreams, but this Mud Run thing stirs a much more sensitive existential resource.

Hump Day

2007-04-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to do a better job of updating here.

Monday evening was 7 miles along the Santa Cruz. This time I headed south and realized that there is actually quite a bit of trail along the river so I enjoyed my run in the darkness. I was all alone out there -- except for some old guy on a squeaky Huffy who was smoking a cigarette. I passed him while I was on the trail off the path but when they merged, he pedaled up behind me and we chatted for a bit. He told me how he used to run distance.

I almost quite right there.

But then we hit a downhill and I had no choice other than to drop him and that was that.

Yesterday was going to be my second edition of my fartlek. I went out and did four in the morning just to make sure I was loosened up or whatever. Then the night rolled around and the next thing I knew, it was damn 10:30 and I wasn't about to go do a workout then. I pushed back my alarm for this morning then. Surprisingly, I was up and ready to go when it sounded and those good feelings lasted through the entire run. In fact, I'm debating whether to make this workout more difficult next week because today just seemed to go too well.

So that brings us to this moment. I'm sitting at 19 miles for the week with the 10k group run this evening. I understand that they set some sort of record last week, cruising at around 6:40 pace -- so I am hoping that doesn't become the case this week because I use that run as a recovery. Period.

Since the fartlek got pushed to this morning, I do hills on Friday and the long run on Sunday.

Top Tucson TF Marks -- Fellow Salpointe 2001 grad, Karen O'Hagan won her Sabino Sunset Run age group -- 4/21: DMRun148 Presents the Spring XC Classic

Like Dan Maher body-gloving Jeff's back -- there's gonna be blood

2007-04-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Last week was basically uneventful. Last night I got out for about 50 minutes along the Santa Cruz River before dinner. I was sore from about 9 hours of intense yard labor on Saturday and the legs just were not feeling it. Because of this, I was glad to get on a path with which I was not familiar with the markers because I think it gave me the opportunity to relax. Bringing it in I was loosening up some, but I'm not yet sure if they'll be worse or better before today's run.

I'm a little bummed because I was planning on running the Pat Tillman run in Tempe with former ASU 800m star, Jeff Dodge, this Saturday but my lack of backyard progress from this weekend requires that I stay here and work on it some more this weekend. Oh well -- it would have been nice to run a race just for fun.

Anyways, this week is pretty much gonna look like last week. About 50 miles, a fartlek, a hill workout, and a weekend long run (should probably think about knocking that out Saturday instead of waiting till Sunday in case I'm worn out again).

Just some terrible blog.

4/13: Open 5k on the track at Sabino -- CTF Jeff Dodge interview -- 4/7: Pat's giving up millions of dollars just to be shot by your own people and then having your cause of death lied about to your parents and America so that you could be used as a poster boy for a war you found morally questionable 4.2 miler

Find the antidote underneath the dose

2007-03-26T11:30:00.001-07:00

So I ended up racing the 88-Crime race on Sunday. I hadn't planned on it but it was determined that perhaps this would be an early indicator of how I am hanging (since my next race won't be until late April). I still wasn't super stoked about racing, but I'm in no position to argue.

So Saturday morning I headed on up to Oro Valley. The day was off to a wonderful start when I saw Greg and our conversation went something to the effect of, "What did you run last year?" "About 27:30" "You ran 27:30 on a short course."

And it went downhill from there. In what was, apparently, a slow course (quite a few sharp turns and some constant elevation changes), I was aiming to hit 29 to 30 minutes. As has been my luck this season, I was the only person within 30 seconds of me, either way, shooting for my time, so it wasn't long before my race consisted of only myself and some kid (prolly a teenager) who I could not shake nor would take over the pace.

At exactly 15 minutes I just hear, "Ah shit," and the kid basically pulls up and was gone. Don't get me wrong, I hated his Ligori weazing in my ear and his refusal to do any work -- but he did keep me focused on working hard. After I lost him, I must have drifted and ended up coming in 10th in 30:33. I'm not especially pleased with this but I did promise to be patient here so I'm just going to go ahead and get back on the training schedule this week.

After the race, I congratulated Greg on his win (a $100 value) and jogged a cooldown with Mike (who pulled second) and Shane from the Group Run while he told me about how much the Tech Trek 10k sucked this year. Shane also told me that I appear to run on my toes on my left foot. I don't know if that means I need to do something with my left foot or if I'm just supposed to get up on my right toes too. Regardless, I'm just going to assume that my life is like Zelda and, therefore, I should just hold on to his knowledge as I might find it useful in the future.

Also, I am going to get some new racing flats this week as I am tired of running in old shit. Perhaps I should start a LetsRun thread about this so I can be sure to get the 'proper' 5 to 10k shoe.

Anyways, I am really sore in the calves today and tomorrow will be Edition I of some Fartlek workout. I'll probably go knock it out over at Reid Park in the morning after my class.

First Man to Run Around the World. Suck it Karno, Ostriches -- Mike's Race Recap -- Results (~95 Runners Beat Percentage)

I'm a hard ass and I don't have feelings

2007-03-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

It seems that everything this week is probably going to be feeling a little too good. As I mentioned in my last post, this week was going to be a bit of a cycle down week and that would have worked out well with a solid 8k on Saturday. However, with last week being the easy one, I'm in the midst of wrapping up last week's efforts. This means knocking out my third edition of the 20 minute tempo and the second of my hills repeats. Now it may be the rather fresh feelings in my legs or my new Speedstars, but I'm optimistic about the way things are going.

Right about now, I am due to be bitching about how damn hot it is outside. With temperatures soaring into the 70's, it's no surprise a bike to school in the 15 mph winds feels more like a ride through my oven during an intense holiday baking session. But, as you can see, this isn't what I'm talking about. THAT is how excited I am.

I opened this week with an easy 7 on ODC parkway. I've decided that my off-day runs are simply going to start at 7:30 or so and just come down. It's actually noticeably more comfortable for me and leads to better runs that leave me feeling like I had more to give. And what do I care if that's how anyone else rolls? I run alone damn 98.33 (repeating of course)% of the time.

Then today was scheduled that third (and final) shot at the 20 minute tempo at 6:20. This was the first workout of my new training attempt and after performances of [6:15, :29, :31] and [6:24, :19, :21], I was ready for the cornerstone of the Rule of 3 -- Perfection. I had originally planned to knock it out this morning but, being me, I didn't get out of bed in time and so I headed over to Reid Park about 5 this afternoon. Honestly, I didn't even want to go then, but I had just finished reading Mike's post about his day 2 of his 7 miles at 6 minute pace and I was insprred. No, not because he was back-to-backing a further distance at a faster speed than I would be attempting -- but because the man is working hard. I've never been (and will never claim to be) a man who works hard for myself (My summer internship allows me to wear jeans, come on!). Simply put, that is the easiest way to explain how I've gotten this bad at running (also weight gain). But Mike's post reminded me of a few things -- I have a team, we have a race coming up, and my teammates are running hard.

I might as well be running hard as well.

Anyways, the wind had picked up and as I yogged to Reid, I thought about switching it up and running counter-clockwise today. In my statics class, counter-clockwise is considered positive and my crazy-ass professor seems to be on the ball. Yeah, it's still the same loop -- but if I started by going south, I could have the wind to my back for the second mile (usually where I really feel the struggling) and that was really my concern for the day. Unable to decide for the 20 minutes it took for me to get there, I made up my mind at the last second (kinda like I do at restaurants) and just headed out the same way as always.

My focus for the start of the run was simply to take it easy so that I could roll into the second mile with some momentum. Still, I couldn't shake my memory of last session's 6:24 opener and after turning into the headwind along Alvernon, I clicked my watch at a 6:16 opening mile. Without time to worry about 4 seconds (really less, it was 6:16 and change), I was ready to approach the real obstacle. My weakest link -- this second mile -- in the wind, after going out too fast.

The two previous times, I tried to use this portion of the run to 'fall into pace' but found that I failed both times as I tend to ease off -- and then settle in. This time, with the gusts of wind coming, I decided to lay off the cruise control and just handle this one myself. Coming through at 6:13, I got my second wind and knew it would be smooth sailing from here. I would have liked to have been able to be mature about this one and just relax back to around 6:18 or so but I was enjoying this work out (something that hasn't been the case for months -- and has never happened on doing a workout alone) and turning back along the Reid Park parking lot, I began thinking about how pleased I was that I wouldn't have to throw up a post of shame on this one. In fact, it was right about where I passed that starting point that I thought about using that Leeroy Jenkins gem about a decimal "repeating, of course." Anyways, mile 3 was 6:12 and I finished up the 20 minutes significantly further than I had the previous two times. Then, on the run home, I had a legit cooldown instead of the ultramarathon pace I was throwing up before.

As you can see from just how much I wrote about this, I'm pleased with this effort. Not only do I feel my general running is improving, I am getting comfortable running alone. This was something I struggled with for some time but being able to running a solid effort consistently on my own is encouraging from my position.

So coming up will be session II of the hill workout at Sabino. I'll probably do this on Friday afternoon. Last time it was 15 minutes of 90 second efforts. I still need to get direction on how to 'improve' on it this time.

Other than that, I'm just chasing miles.

Subp0wned -- 8k for 88Crime -- This guy's recruiting my little bro

Monday

2007-03-19T11:32:00.000-07:00

I made it back from SF. After the decent few days I posted about last week, traveling took over and I ended the week as a wasted 20-some miles in like 3 runs. This week I we had talked about me backing off a little and maybe racing the 88-Crime 8k this weekend but, at this point, I'd like to just do last week's schedule this week and not race. I haven't gotten the okay to do this just yet -- but I think it's the best option.

Otherwise, I guess I don't really have any running updates. Last weekend was the AZ Distance Classic Valley of Gold Half and you can check out the results below.

Half Results -- 5K Drug/War-Fueled Results -- Valley of the Sun Half (3/11)

News From San Francisco

2007-03-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

We managed to hack into a neighbor's wireless so I thought I'd go ahead and bring y'all up to date. I have this week off so I've taken the opportunity to drag my ass out to SF for a few days. So far I've yelled at some beatniks, talked to some gays, and ridden a bus crammed full of Chinese people (Stop the Invasion!).

Also, I had some jerk chicken. I believe I will start just jerking everything I cook at the 821 from now on.

Runningwise -- I closed out last week with the unfortunateness of having to do my hill workout (10 x 90 secs) and long run (12 miles) on back to back days. After Sunday's easy run, where I tried to pull down some recovery, I totaled out the week at 49 miles (the Schedule called for 45 to 50). Because I left on Monday night, I was supposed to do my final session of the 20 minute tempo before taking off but after my internship interview turned into an all-day affair, I got in zero runs.

Then I also missed Tuesday. None of this was planned, I had just arrived late and we were doing stuff from the crack of dawn until late that first night. Plus, I wanted to get aquainted with the city. I found that this really did not matter as I went out yesterday morning, turned the wrong way, and ended up at the intersection of Cesar Chavez Blvd and Guerro Street. I knew that this was not where I should have been -- and I still hadn't found water -- so I ran back to where I started for 50 directionless minutes. Today ended up being a lot better as I ran the 'correct way' and found the Embarcadaro in about 10 minutes and pulled it out for an 80 minute run along the bay.

I'm enjoying running here but along with the sightseeing, my legs are feeling quite trashed at this point. I had considered trying to fit in the hill repeat session (or the tempo session if I could find a marked path somewhere) while I was here but now I'm thinking that this isn't such good idea. Really, I only have tomorrow left so I'll probably just do another 45+ minuter and then get the hell out of dodge and back on track next week.

Ya know, in case you were wondering.

Also, Mike will be racing the 5000 at Willie Williams this weekend. If you are there, definitely cheer our representing Dragon on.

Inexorable Marches Always Have Breaks

2007-03-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

Okay look alright so yeah seriously anyway honestly,

Thus far 2007 is cracking up to be the year of my insanity being brought into relief. First my Bears fanaticism exploded into a pathetic fallout visible in the form of a nonsensical gang of asterisks. Then my rigorous self-imposed apprenticeship to bad attitude French bistro cooking imploded under the weight of its phantasmagoric impracticality. And my nearness to being 24 years old keeps gnawing away at my mind so that I'm actually telling people that I am 24 and starting to be depressed about being 24 and almost 25 already and wiling my days away as a feckless office cow. And outright public failure has a very special place in my heart. It is, frankly, awesome. One of the reasons why it's awesome is that it most often leads to a change of course and a sturdy solution. This is one of the crappier reasons.
Nonetheless, as I have drawn up dozens of nifty "training plans" in the last couple of years, all of them have been guided by the principle that being the best means being, above all, not like everyone else. What follows from this is the realization that wildly underachieving is just as valuable as overachieving when it comes to counter-normative teleologies. But maybe sometimes the needle that keeps slamming from underacheive to overachieve and back again evens out into a happy acceptance of your place in the great scheme of creation. Empirically, I can only say that this is what happens when you put it together that:

Totino's pizzas are food. They cost about a dollar each. They take about 20 minutes to prepare. Sustenance achieved at a minimum of cost and time is virtuous.Frankly, I've been blogging about the Bears and eating so much because my running is that poor, and also because, in the abscence of some miraculous social networking web domain that allows users to explicate their personal interests and fascinations in obsessively self-deprecating yet alarmingly self-ingratiating fashion, this is my outlet. Having said that, I'm skipping town in the morning for a trip that has me giddy like those nights in August 1995-1997 before I would leave for the Coeur d'Alene Summer School of Piping and Drumming. There shall be no running (I need a new inhaler prescription), and probably a good deal of Totino's. Of course I'll be ready to really take control when I come back.

"Time waits for no man" - Young Jeezy

2007-03-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

After finishing out last week on a high (but bit fatigued) note, I got out Monday evening for 7. The schedule called for six to eight so I figured this was the healthiest of mediums. Not having a 7-mile loop, I took this as an opportunity to get creative so, naturally, I just chalked two more miles onto my five mile loop that takes me to Country Club and 3rd. Yeah, well now it takes me to Alvernon and 3rd when I need seven. That run went fine and was none too eventful.

Yesterday at noon I went out for take two of the 20 minute tempo run at 6:20. After last week's introduction where I went out five seconds fast and fell to being ten seconds slow on miles two and three, I'd been instructed to not take it out too fast and just focus on going out in 6:20. Once done, I had to then focus on simply not falling off (sounds pretty easy).

The weather this week was warm and though I still felt a little fatigued, I was very optimistic about this workout. Checking my watch at the 0.5 mark, I saw that I was right on pace. Continuing down Broadway, I misjudged where the mile mark was and ended up going too easy as I hit a 6:24. After a punishing 2nd mile in 6:19, I found myself more concerned about my parched mouth than my heavy breathing or sore core section. A series of surges and an old guy trying to move on me after I passed him (with authority, as is Sebastian Blax's #1 rule of running) highlighted a 3rd mile in 6:21. Close enough for me, I continued to the 20 min point and stopped.

Trudging back to the start to get my shirt, I couldn't help but feel disappointed in my workout. Running most of it, essentially, on pace I was still hounded by that first mile. I understand that this was my chance to improve the workout -- and I did -- but I had high hopes of hitting 'perfecting it' a week early. So I trudged home and drank like an entire blender of smoothie just to cool down. I don't want to jump the gun here, but I'd say we're quickly approaching that time of the year where I stop bitching about the cold and start bitching about how it's too damn hot to run.

This evening should be a nice 6 with the Running Shop group before take one of my Sabino hill workout.

In other news: uniforms are in the works. Unfortunately they can't screen print over seams so the Brooks Running Shop jerseys can't be done. I'm going to have my yellow top from the Sun Run done up and, I think, my white long-sleeve dri-fit shirt. I just think it'll look tight. Supposing we supply our own jerseys/shirts/etc, it's going to sit at under $10 per piece. Also, we have to get a dozen pieces done (or it shoots to like $25 per item) so, like all good financiers, I'm using this opportunity to expand Dragons apparel to interested candidates in womens, masters, and recreational joggers with money to blow on gear divisions. Also, I'll probably just get a few tees done up as well. They are gonna be fashionable all with dragon off on the shoulder and shit.

So anyways, if you want one done up or whatever, let me know and I'll get on it.

Heroes and Thieves -- I Luv It -- UA is getting new jerseys too

I'm gonna see 300 at the IMAX

2007-03-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

After Friday's 10 alone, I was pretty thrilled to get the invitation to knock out 8 around Starr Pass with WOG/Slayers Mike and Randy. While training with the enemy is generally looked down upon, I'm just so damn tired of running by myself that I would have ran with damn near anyone at this point. So Mike picked me up Saturday morning and the three of us went for an hour on the west side trails. About halfway into the run, I could tell that I wasn't completely recovered and that made the last couple miles much less enjoyable. However, listening to Randy's stories coupled with my satisfaction of being back on mileage pace (with a single run left for the week) when it was all over made the effort worthwhile. The schedule called for "45+" for the week -- but with next week's "45 to 50", I saw no reason to get crazy and just decided to go out for an easy 10 yesterday.

Unfortunately, yesterday started off cooler and windier than I would have liked so I decided to wait until the afternoon to do my run. The previous two days were starting to build and I decided that I just didn't feel like fighting wind as well as fatigue. Come 4 o'clock it pretty much looked like the wind just wasn't going to die so I laced up for 10 miles on my Greasewood loop. Heading west through downtown and to Greasewood (Pima's west campus) in 30 mins, I wasn't too bother by the wind. This run is a nice change of scenery for me because I can't really do it during the week without being consumed by traffic pollution -- something that can pretty easily be avoided in Tucson. However, turning south on Greasewood, I got pretty much pounded by the wind and this continued until I got home 40 minutes later, thus, making my run nearly unbearable.

Still, being finished right around the 7:30 pace I had gone out to hit, I was a little surprised that my breathing had been hardly labored during this run. Probably because the legs were really dictating the pace for that run. Anyways, that rounded out the week at 46 in six runs with one workout and a long run (actually 2 -- but only one was really scheduled). This week will look like 45 to 50 with my second effort at that tempo run from last Tuesday and then a hill effort on Thursday and a longer Sunday run. I'll have to be sure to run my easy days easy here or I could see this one getting ugly.

Tech Trek 10k -- Sabino Canyon Sunset Run is back -- 300 in theaters/IMAX on March 9

Cold Day in the Sun

2007-03-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

Check it, Hannitys.

To clear up a point from Train's post (like his writings ever need clarification), here is the deal with this Sirleaf bitch. You see, Theo, the other day I was walking through the living room and Train was sitting there watching his standard CSPAN2 and this chick was sitting there at some UN conference (or some other boring CSPAN event) reading some poem. And not a poem that seemed fit for the UN, no, it was some kind of Where the Sidewalk Ends bullshit. And, of course, she was reading it all dramatically and, along with her headgear and dark skin, I thought it was Maya Angelou. Then it popped up on the screen that she was some sort of state leader. Hence, the quote.

So trainingwise, here is the deal....

Wednesday's run went surprisingly well as I expected to be still pretty roughed up from Tuesday's "First Workout in Ages!". Unfortunately though, scheduling issues prevented me from getting out and doing my 7 that was prescribed for yesterday. This has proven to be rather disappointing from my point of view as one of our agreements was that I could benefit from simply getting out the more than two to five days a week I had been running. Still, there was no reason to dwell so I decided to split those miles between today and tomorrow's runs so that I might still hit the 45 planned for the week.

So this evening, I fought the cold (about 65 degrees) and the wind (about 4 MPH SW) and dragged myself down to ODC. I wanted to go to the River but didn't feel like fighting 5 o'clock university traffic to make the 6 mile drive in half an hour. The schedule had me down for 6-8 easy miles. About a mile and a half into the run, I was already contemplating how I could get these necessary miles without having to put in all this running. No answers came to mind and a little internal coaxing turned 6 into 7, and 7 into 10 -- finishing out with a few relaxed sub-7's really turned the table on the groggy start of the run. I swear, sometimes it feels like need half an hour just to warm up. I think I'm starting to understand why many good runners start out around 8 mins and drop down as the run progresses.

Anyways, with only the weekend left, I'm still a little in mileage debt but with the Sunday block of the schedule simply reading, "10+". I'm using this for some leniency to catch-up and end the week on a positive note.

Sketching in Stereo -- Stanford BBall = Food Poisoning -- Spam = Meat

W/E 3/3: Please do call it a comeback

2007-03-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

I was going to simply point out that Omniscient's confusion of the word "confounds" for "confines" comes as a shocking affront to this blog's august standards, but then I realized that, in light of his recent injury woes, this would be more constructive for everyone involved.

In other news, I'm currently in another upswing after my most recent bout of sedentary indulgence. I've actually been enjoying running quite a lot, emphasizing a sensible three session per week objective, and even adding a fourth if I'm feeling spry and unimaginative. Most recently I ran 25 minutes on Speedway going west from El Rio golf course. This route probably comes closest of all to fulfilling the nonsensical amalgam of things I look for in a place to run. Other than that, I've hit Tumamoc a couple of times and broken off a few steady 30 minute jobs in the midtown area.

On the culinary front, I am in official retreat from my apprenticeship to Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook due to budget constraints and also because it was wholly absurd. Tony Bourdain's still my dog, it's just that, of all my thinly veiled attempts to make my life seem more like it took place in New York City, this was first on the chopping block. I will be looking to adopt a more classic young-single-adult-pragmatic-sustenance-on-the-cheap-approach. At the very least, Bourdain taught me how to make more creditable French fries.

Finally, because it's priceless, I would like to share Blaxabbath's assessment of Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf-- "Worst Maya Angelou impression EVER."

Happy running, hardy healing...

My Sweet Fracture

2007-03-01T09:20:00.000-08:00

Presumably, Jason Colavito could not make it an entire year without injuring himself to the point he is unable to run.

Like past years, I have once again gone down with an injury and this time to the tune of a stress fractured fibula. What is weird about this injury stress fracture is that the pain came on suddenly unlike most stress related injuries where a gradual increase in pain is expected.

Looking at the week before my injury, it is no real surprise I succumbed to a stress fracture. The week consisted of about 87 or so miles in 6 days of running with three workouts: 6x400 all under or at 60; a 6 mile tempo run at 5:17ish pace; and a workout on the track consisting of a 2K, 1200, 2x800, 2x400. I think this was my best week of training ever, and, after finishing my workout on Saturday, I knew I was ready to run a sub 8:20 3K.

When Monday rolled around, I knew something was up with the outside of my lower leg but I decided it was merely a muscle/tendon thing that could be improved with ice and foam rolling. After dealing with the slight pain/tenderness of the injury all week, I knew I could handle a race but would probably need to take a few days off afterwards.

So, I raced on Saturday, managed to PR and then struggled through a 15 minute cool down jog. At this point, my leg was in incredible pain and I knew something was seriously wrong with it.

After no activity Monday and a doctor's appointment on Tuesday, I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in the Fibula and was told not to run on it for 2 weeks. Now, I am confined to the muggy confounds of the weight room to cross train.

For the next two weeks, my training will consist of 40 minutes on the bike every morning and then another 20 minutes of the bike in the PM plus an hour on the underwater treadmill. I know this volume will help maintain my fitness to a point but cross training is just unbearable.

Anyways, I hope to report back in 2 weeks with positive news about my leg.

Until then...Bear Down.

Room for Improvement...and Squares...and Jello

2007-02-28T10:01:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was the big first workout. After Monday's easy 6 (and the previous weeks of easy other amounts of miles), I was pretty excited but very much worried. I knew I had no speed but doing a workout alone -- nothing points to how little speed one has like that.

So anyways, the schedule called for a 15 min warm up, 20 at 6:20, and a 15 min cool down. I decided to do this around the bike path at Reid. Jogging over from my house, I met up with U of A's Obed Mutanya as we waited to cross Broadway near my house. We chatted for a minute about his race in Seattle last weekend and then parted ways. He was knocking out 80 min and was heading to ODC. I already knew my warm up was going to be closer to 20 minutes so I had to cut over past the track.

As I continued to Reid, I couldn't help but think about how seriously some of those guys take their warmth. I mean, it was 3 pm and I was even contemplating going out without a shirt. Obed, on the other hand, was in full-on Arizona warm ups. Nice guy though. Every time I've passed him on runs, he's given a wave or something.

So anyways, I got to the zero mark in about 20 minutes. There I dropped my shirt, did a couple stretches and was off. While there were plenty of people on the path, I was glad I didn't have to do too much weaving. The wind was noticeable but nothing no concerning as the gusts seemed far-between. I went through half in 3:05 and and mile 1 in 6:15. At this point, I could definitely tell my breathing was hard but, worse than that, my form must have been really funky. Along Alvernon I felt like I popped into a groove and this made the workout more tolerable.

Near the driving range I passed Obed again. We exchanged little waves and, like a true competitor, he sucked the life out of me right there. Yes, this guy is such a badass that he will break you, in warm ups, jogging a different direction, and not even notice.

Brutal.

Not knowing where the two-mile mark was, I began worrying as I turned west. I ended up coming through in 12:44 (for a hearty 6:29). My legs were feeling crummy, my form was definitely jacked (I believe arm drive may have been minimal), and I was barely half-way done. I tried to hold it together and came through 3 miles in 19:15 (6:31) before finishing it out by reaching the end of the railing.

As I went back and got my shirt, I was very disappointed with my showing. The times were obviously bothersome as I was well off pace, but worse than that, I felt that my effort was lacking. This sentiment, however, went away as I discovered I basically had to drop it down to ultra-marathon pace for the cool down back to my house. The legs were definitely tired and, reconsidering, there probably wasn't a whole lot more I could have done out there yesterday. I just need to work on keeping on pace and keeping an eye on my body instead of letting is fall off pace and settle in.

Since this is my first program week, I have no workout tomorrow (which is exciting for me) so the rest of this week should be some easy runs until Sunday's 10 or so.

Obed -- Daily Star's 'Choices Tucson Makes' Survey -- Lighthouse 5k Race Report

Impossible is nothing

2007-02-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

Day 1 of my new structured program called for 6 easy miles. I'd like to think that I nailed it (cuz if I couldn't, I might as well have been dragged out back and shot) and this has me all pumped up.

Ok, not really. To be honest, only this video can pump me up.

Ok, not really. But you gotta watch it and then read about the dude. I mean, the link was an attachment to an 11 page resume! L4WL!

Tomorrow will be my first workout. I'm pretty stoked.

Wiki-Aleksey Vayner -- IvyGate's Articles about him (also funny) -- Wiki-Alexi Laiho

All Right, Quit with the Guilt Blax

2007-02-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am a bad, bad Dragon. Between work, child-rearing and the other blog, my contributions over here have been quite slim. Here's what I've been up to-

This is the spring of speed for me. I've bagged any attempt at a late-spring marathon to instead focus on building up my cruising and racing speed through the early races on the SAR calendar. I'm telling you right now, I've blown the Grand Prix. I'm also going to tell you that sometimes Dragon Lucas will win the Grand Prix. Dark Horse? Hardly. Lucas will consistently finish in the top four for SAR members, and he isn't being distracted by a marathon like Dan, Shane and myself. The only question that remains is what will he do with the grand prize?

So me and racing, where to start? I crapped out somewhere around mile 4 of the Sun Run, but my own "son" made it to the webpage with his stellar performance during the kids' race. Who else falls down twice and keeps going? Not me. Next was the YMCA Lighthouse 5K, which Blax described enough two posts down. I was ecstatic to win this, and all it took was making Shane's car inoperable so he couldn't make it to the race that morning.

Something about coming off a victory, or the fact that the Lighthouse race boosted my fitness made me feel absolutely great last week, and I honestly could not wait to do the Dave's Run 5K the following Sunday (yesterday). My daily runs seemed to find me running faster with less effort, and a short set of 800's on Wednesday showed me that I was due for a good one. When Greg Wenneborg started asking at the start line what people were going to run I told him I would do 15:58, even though I've never gone under 16:07 for the distance. I just knew it was going to be a good day. Things ended up going my way and I beat my prediction by two seconds on what seems to be a short course. I'll take it though, and coming in third within sight of Greg made me feel that maybe focusing on speed for awhile was a good decision.

I'm still trying to figure out the next step, hopefully I can keep it together over the next few months of training. The grand plan involves going into marathon base training around the time of the Tucson 5000, and hopefully carrying any speed I've gained with me when the mileage starts again.

Darlin', Tramps Like Us....

2007-02-25T22:17:00.000-08:00

Damn, it's been like a week since Dragons has been updated. Given that we got four "contributers" to this site and I know at least one of us did something running-esque (even if it was just THINKING about it) during the past 7 days -- in my case, listening to Springsteen's Born To Run -- you'd think we'd be a little more on the ball.

But hey, what can you really ask for? We don't even have uniforms yet.

My bad.

So anyways, since the last update my running week was nothing too exciting. After last Sunday's race, I was honestly pretty disgusted with my recent running efforts. The Sun Run was the last race I'd actually been feeling alright about and I knew that my training was generally directionless and, for that matter, useless.

I would have sat around and dwelled on this matter and likely quit again, but last week I was pretty busy with statistics tests, engineering fairs, and internship interviews. Then I spent this weekend drinking with the Koury boys and chowing on massive turkey legs at the Renaissance Fair. It was cool too. At the joust to the death, our knight was a total dick (he was French) and he was taking all kinds of cheap shots all stabbing people and then he threatened to kill the king.

Naturally those bastards at the fair wouldn't let that happen so the English knight whipped out some dagger and strategically thrusted that bitch into my knights heart or whatever. I was pissed -- but I guess they wouldn't make much money by having an 'Overthrow the corrupt-ass ruling body Fair'.

So the whole point of me telling you that was to explain why I wasn't in attendance for the Dave's ALS 5k at the Foothills Mall this morning. To pretty much get an idea of what did happen, read Mike's account of it. His wife, Kiera took a bunch of photos and put 'em on an online album. I was gonna steal 'em for our sidebar but that just seems like some sort of blatant copyright something or other -- so I didn't.

But back to me...

Hey -- if you wanna read about Mike, go visit Mike's blog, alright? I ain't his damn press secretary.

...so as I was saying, I've got a new training program that I am putting a lot of faith in and I'm excited to see where it takes me. It definitely requires patience, but given that runners supposedly don't peak until their late 20's, I'd say I got the time. After a weekend of a couple jogs around Kiwanis park in Tempe, my 'first day' is tomorrow. I hope it goes well.

YMCA Results -- New Chad Vader Episode -- Dave's ALS Results

Gonna be some changes, changes made

2007-02-18T17:53:00.001-08:00

Last week I somehow got left out of the race results. This didn't much bother me but I was concerned because I needed to get my Grand Prix points from the event. When I ran into Jason on campus, I mentioned the situation to him. He said he would use his SAR powers to right these wrongs. I thought it really wasn't a big deal and I would just never again mention the situation.

Then Saturday as I was getting some Brooklyn pizza with Train and my little brother, my phone rang. It was Coach Borg, the official timer.

"Blax, I got an issue!"

"Good! I got an issue with you too -- so go ahead."

Turns out his issue was my not bringing my issue up with him. I explained that I understand he's a busy guy and I never meant to 'go behind his back' -- I just thought it wasn't a big deal. All I wanted were the points. He seemed to understand and we began chatting about the 5k on Sunday (yesterday). He asked what I was planning on doing about it. I told him I'd like to try and break 17.

"Just go out really hard."

Works for me. Apparently, they've done studies and 60 percent of the time, it works every time.

Arriving yesterday morning, I warmed up with Mike and Lucas. Recollecting last year's course, I was pretty excited. I knew the areas I would likely try to slow down so I could counter this. The competition seemed rather lean as well.

Naturally, on the warm up I had to realize that, to my luck, the course had been changed. It still opened on a northern route on Columbus -- but now it veered none and took us to the river path where we ran through some soft-ass dirt, made a sharp U-turn, and ran back.

So what do I have to say? I went out hard. I slowed pretty predictably and finished in fifth (same place as last year). I was reminded after the race (as I am after every effort that isn't 5 miles at 7:15 pace) that I need to do more core work, speed work, focusing, miles, and weights.

More important than anything else, fellow Dragon Mike Salkowski came up with a win today. Standing at the starting line, he would have been my easy pick for 2007 Lighthouse Champion, but you should definitely read his race recap. The dude knows how to be a winner. Good sportsmanship is a cornerstone of Dragons and Mike exemplifies it with his post here.

I should have been pretty disgusted with an 18:30-something but I honestly wasn't even phased. I had quite a bit of fun and was dog tired at the end. I got to eat some Chuys at 9am, listen to some BOB-FM, and politely decline a massage. There was a rock-climbing wall and some drum group. I walked away with an age group victory and the pair of socks that came with it.

During the cool down though, I was reminded of why I was running 18:30-somethings. At this time last year, I was a minute faster and improving. Right now, I sort of feel like I'm in a rut. Still, the only difference in my training is that last year I was hitting WOG twice a week. I think I am really starting to realize the benefits of workouts.

I've never claimed to be a student of the sport (triple-A baseball is more my bag), but my inability to coach myself has become almost completely apparent in the recent weeks. It might be an underestimate, overestimate, or something in-between of myself. It might be a simply lack of training knowledge and an even greater lack of focus for reading books about training. If you don't believe me, I have a couple books I checked out from the library like last summer sitting in my room. Every few weeks I get an email telling me they are due so I just renew 'em online. It's finally reached a point where I've renewed them too much and now I actually have to take them back. I can't tell you one thing either of those books taught me.

So with a couple months until the Spring Cross Country Classic, I am going to be going the way of the Arizona Cardinals and looking for new coaching direction. It's bad enough that I've been running like Denny Green -- I don't need to be coaching like him too.

That being said, I do look forward to being away from races for a little while. I was definitely happy to get in a couple competitions after the build-up I put in over winter but now I'll be happy to get in another bulk training period. Especially one with more direction/structure.

I haven't gotten this week planned out yet (an attribute of a truly bunk coach) but I suspect it'll be a push back towards mileage with maybe some mile repeats somewhere along the way.

Mike's Recap -- Dave's Run next Sat -- Spring XC Classic

it's funny b/c it's true

2007-02-16T06:26:00.000-08:00

I hear through the grapevine that the Dragon known as Omniscient recently ran the same distance on the same track in Seattle where, a short time earlier, he delivered his performance that qualifies him as a sub-9:00 2 miler (converted), but came through just a smidge slower this go 'round. Now, obviously the race wasn't a notable setback or anything, and the trifle of seconds gained is owed to nothing other than the vicissitudes of indoor track, but I still felt that the following reminder was in order.

I ain't got no love for da hoes

2007-02-14T11:27:00.000-08:00

I don't feel like I'm in sub-17 shape. I think that I may be, considering 16:59 isn't "that fast" -- yet I haven't done it in a long time.

Since midway through last Sunday's 5 miler, in fact, I've felt kind of removed from my running. That doesn't sound very clear. It's like, the Sun Run, I was very focused and very in-tune to how I was feeling throughout the race and that seems to be how races should be run. But Sunday, I just sorta drifted out, said 'screw it' and just finished it without slowing down too damn much.

But I still slowed down quite a bit. I hate that course more and more as each day passes. So with Sunday's YMCA 5k on tap, I'm glad this week is more about working on speed and pushing it, rather than staying under control and endurance.

This is the first time in a long while that I've looked at a 5k as a shorter race. Don't get me wrong, I still pretty much don't like stuff that takes over 10 minutes, but after races of 5 and 6 miles in the past few weeks, I'm looking forward to getting out on a familiar course and trying something different.

I used to see 5000's as a race where I would try to keep it quick and conservative for the first mile and then open up a little for the second mile, and then try to have enough saved to continue strong through 3 miles. I remember reading somewhere (no doubt in Runners' World or some other expert performance magazine) that you should save half your energy for the last third of the race. Having never been a runner who was good at conserving (for those of you who wonder why I'll never do a marathon), this probably has lead to my 3.1mile demise.

Thanksgiving was a perfect example of this. I actively held myself back for the first mile and still came through pretty quick. Frankly, if I would have just let myself go at a pace I wanted, I would likely have been only 5 to 10 seconds faster -- but I would have been a lot more comfortable. Instead, what did end up happening was that I had to play catch-up during the second mile and when I hit the 2 mile mark, I found that I was both tired and still out of position.

I am easily crushed mentally. It is something I need to work on -- but I think the first step in this is to gain confidence in myself. And I feel that, comparatively, I am better at hanging on for a last mile rather than catching someone else who is suffering for a last mile. So that is what I am going to shoot for at Saturday's race. Unlike the Sun Run and Vday races where I went out, basically got stranded because I was running my own pace and subsequently fell off before being picked off in the final K or so.

This is all very choppy, sorry, I am listening to some BODOM Razzy gave me and he keeps IMing me telling me to listen to different parts of different tracks.

Anyways, point is that last year I ran this race and 17:20ish'd. I basically went out well off the pack, got stranded, and brought it home. Nothing special. This year, I'm much more excited about the race. For starters, fellow Dragon, Mike (and possibly Lucas) will be running the race so I'll at least know the capabilities of the leaders (unlike Vday where half the lead pack stopped at halfway). J will also be in attendance as the race runs through his backyard. Also, I like the course. The downhill grade of the first mile is great for taking off a few seconds -- but isn't so steep that you really have to battle it on the return trip.

So that's the plan for Sunday. This race is notorious for good food, a rock climbing wall, and a reasonable course. Be there.

2006 Race Recap -- They need to fix my Grand Prix Points -- Gangs infiltrating the military -- Felons can now join Army

Really -- I did finish: A Fine Valentines Race Report

2007-02-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

I've linked up the results here below but you won't find me in there. Somehow I was omitted from the race results and, honestly, when I saw it I wasn't even surprised.

Yesterday I was nobody and I spend the better part of the morning waiting for Haley Joel Osment to walk up and explain to me that he only saw me because he saw dead people and, well sorry Blaxy, but you just aren't in the system.

I didn't post Friday because I was tired as hell (I think it was Tuesday that pretty much did it to me) and ended up going to Championship Dining and just getting all drunk. Gay name, gay male patrons, hot ass bitches inside. Train came and picked me up so I didn't get a DUI in the one mile it was from there to my house. In all this, I didn't run. Not because of my other activities, just because I was smashed from the week's training. I was rolling towards 60 for the week but after never recovering from Tuesday, I had to take 50.

For as great as Tuesday was, I don't know if it was really worth the total slowness of the rest of my week there. It ended up serving as both my long run of the week as well as my only workout (after leaving me worthless for any sort of Thurs or Fri workout) and, in fact, it may have served as my demise yesterday as I might have been overconfident in attacking the ramps on the course the first time around.

So, as far as the week goes, I'm not especially thrilled with how it went but I'll take it nonetheless. If nothing else, it's given me a better idea of my current fitness level and I can go from there.

So on to the race...

I jogged the mile to Main Gate at 7:15 this morning. There wasn't a bib waiting for me so I had to go get re-signed up. Not a big deal to some, but bibs 1 through 100 got a free sandwich from Sinbad's and I am sure that my preregistration would have scored me one of these delicacies.

I warmed up with Mike where I learned that the course would include racing down University, around Old Main, down the Mall, and over to Arizona Stadium where competitors would have to go all the way up the ramps, across to the south side of the stadium, and back down all the ramps where a hairpin turn was waiting at the bottom, surrounded by chalk arrows directing you back up the ramps, across the concourse, and down the first set of ramps. Then a loop near Campbell and back to Old Main.

People who were lucky enough to be loved could then stop running and have their partner pick up the slack for a second lap. Apparently gays, widowers, and tragically awkward dancers (my category) have to get used to being alone on Valentine's Day though, so it was here that I just took a deep breath and headed out to do it all again.

4 trips to the top of Arizona Stadium was enough to fire up many of the recreational runners that had come out for this, Tucson's cheapest, race. Personally, while I kinda enjoyed a course that just laid my ass to waste (and it did -- you can figure me in the results in 13th, running a 34:14), I do believe that the markers were notably off and I think that could have only been made up for by adding a drum circle (like the one in front of Old Main) to the top of the stadium. Also, my ankles were kind of sore from the braking at each of the ramp 'switchbacks'. Of course, this may have just been a personal problem as I am freakish downhill runner (one more reason I run couples' relays alone).

Frankly, my race performance was a combination of coming in tired, not having a suitable approach, and simply going out too hard (which lead to basically giving up before unleashing a vicious kick in the final 60 meters). It was rough and I wasn't up to the challenge. That's all there is to it and I hope to do better next time.

This is all in retrospect though. As I ran home with a Dunkin' Donut in each hand, munching away while waiting for Chipotle to open so I could get my free burrito and drink, I can only say that I really did enjoy myself at the Valentine's Day run and got a kick out of the whole thing. Between the emotionless teammate forming, getting to see Mike's kids (they seriously melt this cold, cold heart), a bunch of old recreational runners getting all pissed that they wouldn't be setting a 5 mile PR on a 4.2 mile course like last year, and, of course, Shane's first Tucson win (I believe) -- it really was a notable experience.

The quads are pretty blasted today so I am just going to try to get out in the evening and log in some decent miles. I haven't figured this week yet but I think I'm going to hang around or drop down a bit from 50 in order to get in two very much speed-based workouts. The following week I'll probably go ahead and try to get in the 55 - 60 range.

Race results -- Ike Turner wins Grammy -- Being a Batch

Click to view clearly

2007-02-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

I've been dreading planning this week's schedule. With an all-but-useless last week, I'm eager to get back at it this week. However, with the Hilly Valentines 5 Miler on Sunday, I was reluctant to put in anything too hard on Thursday for fear it may leave me still kinda unfresh for the race.

This is leading to a real toss up for me because I feel like my fitness is still very much in a limboesque state. While I feel like my workouts, as unfocused as they are, are doing a lot of good for me right now (as is the case when you start them back up), I also realize the damage they lay on me. And it is this unpredictable recovery time that has me reconsidering this week.

On the other hand, I can't ignore what a benefit feeling good on race morning does for me. Well, I should rephrase that -- in my delicate position, I can't tell you have fucked I am if I show up fatigued. I do not have the fitness required to (a) show up tired, (b) show up sore, (c) go out too fast, or (d) race off the roads.

A Catch-22 that I am sure I'm not the first to face.

With a terribly sluggish (and brutally hot) 5 on ODC being my only miles on Monday, my week was already in the red. This adds in a new dimension -- with a race on Sunday, I am already chasing mileage for the week. Still though, on Lucas' warning that Saturday will have "quite the elevation change" I made yesterday's workout into A Mountain mile repeats. This was a staple workout for me last Spring and I think it delivered for the period I was including it in my training. Also it may have been solely responsible for my injury -- who knows. And while I would have preferred to hit the V, the A Mountain workout is just far more convenient and that carries a lot of weight around here.

A Mountain did quite a little number on me and so I used yesterday afternoon as well as this morning as recovery efforts. This evening's Group Run should get me geared up for another effort tomorrow. I had originally planned to go out the V after my classes but reconsidered for fear that it might have an outside shot at leaving me sore at the line on Sunday. This sounds like a real conservative standpoint to take, but remember that when I did the V about a month ago, it left me doing 5 mile hobbles for the next two days -- and each was worse than the run before it. Also, I still have the issue of chasing miles. So I've scheduled an AM visit to Tumamoc in hopes of getting in a longer run with a difficult middle portion that pretty much completely spoils the return trip home.

Friday is still up in the air but I'd like to use it to get in a couple miles at race pace to get comfortable. I did this with some 800m sections on ODC before the Sun Run and I found it beneficial. However, with ODC being worked on (and blocked off), I may have to find somewhere else to work on the old speed'n'turnover. Saturday will then be an easy 5 at Reid to stretch 'em out before racing on Sunday. I hope to end the week in the 60 range and have a moderate-at-worst Sunday performance.

Still time to sign up for the Mud Run -- Valentine's Day 5 Miler -- Sentinel Peak

Amber Alert -- Mud Run

2007-02-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

Train told me that the June 9th Mud Run was sold out. No shit -- these events sell out like fucking pronto. I spoke to J about this issue and since I was the only Dragon registerred at this point, I wrote the RD and had her move my registration to the June 16th edition.

Mr Blax -- as one of our top finishers last year, we are happy to grant your request. We also look forward to receiving the registrations of Mr Levario and the rest of your party. The Mud Run is pleased to have such strong runners showing to our event.

The RD didn't mention some kid whose pal was talking mad shit to J after the womping he laid on the field last year. I don't know the story -- maybe he can elaborate.

The other night I was talking to Mike Levario and he suggested we form some sort of team for the Mud Run team competition. The team competition, for those of you who are not familiar with the race, requires all five of your team members finish at the same time. I guess it's one of those leave no man behind and keep fighting till you can say no man died in vain things. Frankly, I think we'll all be up top in results and any team we put together would just be devastating to the competiton. I didn't really agree with forming a team for the race on these grounds. Then I thought about the fact that J -- who might be shooting at another CR for the Mud Run -- would have to wait for us and wouldn't really be allowed to run his race. I continued to object to the idea but told Mike that, if we could get the necessary people to agree, I would do a team competition.

Then I got to thinking that we simply might not have 5 people. J, Mike, and myself are only 3. I know Lucas knew of this event but I forgot to ask him the other day if he was interested in coming. Still -- we'd be a man short and I think we'd need to get the team registration handled within the next week. I had all but written off the idea of a tem this year until about 45 seconds ago.

You see, this post was supposed to be a lot shorter but as I searched Ask Jeeves for photos of the race, I came across the page of Drunk Running Club (DRC) talking about how they want to take the team division again (after getting second last year). I didn't have to read far into these guys' blog to see that I think they are a bunch of jackasses. For those of you who think I hate for no good reasons -- they say a 5k is 3.2 miles. Now I am fully in support of putting together a team that can stomp these guys' gay-ass 59:14 as well as their rival's 53 and change.

Anyways, all YOU need to take away from this is that if you plan on being part of Dragons Presents: Mud Run Trip 2007, get your registration done (you can do it through Active.com off the race page) because the June 16th registration will surely be filling up soon.

I'll go ahead and leave comments open in case you want to let us know if you got registered/want to do a team.

Mud Run -- Active Registration -- DRC (Assholes)

.

2007-02-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most tragic days of my life. Nonetheless I thank you Bears for the transcendence.

Just bought a Cadillac....

2007-02-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday concluded my highest volume week in recent memory and, more than likely, my highest mileage ever. The total mileage was 114 miles in seven days and six of which were two-a-days. During my last run yesterday evening, I was extremely surprised how fresh I felt considering I had already run about 110 miles and had completed a 15 miler run at about 6:00 pace a mere five hours before. I think this speaks "volumes" to the value of a high volume program as, in my opinion, the best way to gain strength is to put in the mileage.

Granted, I do not take a super technical approach to my training but I am sure I worked all levels of muscle fibers this week specifically on Monday and Wednesday (our two workout days).

On Monday, the higher mileage guys (me included) hit the riverpath for a 12 mile run at, per Coach's instruction, "sub 6:00 pace". Usually, during these runs, we manage to ease into a comfortable 6:00 pace meaning the first few miles are at 7:00-6:45. Monday was different. We hit the first mile in 6:03 and just dropped it from there. On the way out, we hit six miles in 35:07 and then finished 12 in 1:08:50 with the last five miles at about 5:35 pace or so. This is by far the easiest 12 mile run I have completed on that course and is more than likely a PR at that distance.

On Wednesday, fueled by two of Kiera's chocolate chip cookies, we hit the track for 12x400 with a 100 meter jog recovery (about 35-40 seconds). The first 3 were at 70. The next 7 were at 68. Number 11 was 66 and the final interval was 62 which felt incredibly easy. Overall, the workout was cake as my heart rate would plummet during the jog recoveries which is an excellent indicator of fitness.

What does all this training mean for my racing? Well, in the short run, my preparation for indoor has been devoid of intervals conducive to "fast" running. However, I seem to respond to straight up mileage/threshold work better than true intervals so I think I am ready to roll. In addition, the strange thing about the indoor season is that you sometimes just pop out fast races. This sentiment is seemingly shared by the world's best. In fact, during the post Wanamaker Mile interview with Mottram and Kip (Bernard Lagat), Mottram discussed his training and indicated that he has not really done anything specific for the track yet which, in his opinion, did not affect his race. Also, Coach has indicated that Kip's training has been on the light side and he still managed to run 3:54. I hope the same rings true for me in Seattle next weekend.

...But I Won't Do That

2007-01-31T20:49:00.000-08:00

As I am now the seemingly the unofficial MWF poster while Train appears to be bringing up the TTH line-up (I guess we just keep Mike, J, and Lucas around so we have fast runners on Dragons), I guess I should put something up here. It's Wednesday evening and I am getting ready to hit the hay.

Nothing to really report in the running news because it isn't Mike's 14 mile runs or Lucas' 14 x 1 mile at 5k race pace with 18 second recovery workouts. The knee is still hanging around and I am trying to go easy on it. The nagging is most notable around the house, which I find strange because I would think that just walking around couldn't hurt the joint. Oh well, I was so thrilled that it held up through Sunday's race that I'll go ahead and spot it through tonight -- but tomorrow, it's back to business, pal.

To answer a couple comments: I wasn't in the matching Dragons attire on Sunday and this was because my Running Shop jersey was in a Dragons layout over the weekend and I didn't want to mess with my project. I know it sounds gay but, sadly, working on getting the logo figured and put on the uniform isn't one of my highest priorities these days so I never want to be taking steps back in my progress. Besides, at the Trot I got some underarm chaffing from my jersey and while it might have been an isolated incident, I didn't want to take that risk at a 10k.

As far as the Grand Prix goes, opening rankings have been released and I am sitting in a comfortable 3rd place in the 20-29 groupings. However, this ranking should really be asterisked. On Sunday, I was the 7th finisher in this age bracket (without the racing efforts of Dan Maher (25 or so) or last year's AG Champ and fellow Dragon, J). Also, while the official ranking has me in third, this is because Lucas is holding in the top 3 (along with Mike). So really, we're probably talking, potentially, an optimistic 10th in the Southern Arizona area.

Not that a 38:22 deserves an AG top 5 anyways.

Maybe if I were over 70.

Anyways, while I can work with this 10k starting point for 2007, I am a little concerned that this Valentine's Day (Give or Take) 5 miler is only a week and a half away. Like all real men, I thought it was way off in the distance, but instead, the 'holiday' has come up and blindsided me, kicked me in the crotch, and ruined an otherwise good month.

That being said, I think I will pretty much just 'train through' this upcoming race. While it also is for SAR points, I was much more concerned about having a non-Chernobyl performance at the Sun Run since I hadn't really had a decent showing since last March or so. This lead me to do a little taper (and knee checking) prior to race day. For Vday, I'm not going to worry too much about it. More important things are coming up and I need to focus on putting together and hitting worthwhile workout sessions at this point. I'm still going to race hard, but I will probably just tweak my 10k strategy and take it out in 5:50 and then reevaluate at 3 miles.

So that's the deal for now.

Grand Prix Standings -- Fine Vday 5 Miler -- Fine 2006 Results

Sun Run Postfactum

2007-01-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

Michael Wollar of Vernon Hills, Illinois--a dear ex-teammate and denizen of the LFC
theater community (which I think just might be the best thing the joint has going for it)--once consoled me after the worst race of my life with these words:

"Sometimes you have to set a new low."

Yes, after I bombed the shit out of the something-or-other invite in Anytown, Wisconsin with its grueling patch of goose crap, Mike dropped that pearl of wisdom on me, and then LFCXC team manager Brady Lowdermilk came up to me on the bus and quoted the main character of some forgotten coming-of-age-via-an-epic-worrisome-party movie to the effect that "sometimes, you just gotta say 'fuck it.'"

Both maxims operated in full flourish on Sunday in the aftermath of what I mark as my slowest 5K ever with the possible exception of my first XC race at Mehl Park (during which I probably decided I'd quit running). This time I had a lot less to lose because I knew I was in sorry shape, and, in fact, was kinda proud of it. I'm going to milk this middle finger to fitness fascism for as long as it seems advantageous.

But before you pooh pooh the performance of Jerwillickers McSwizzlesticks, it should be noted that he handily put down BOTH ACETTA AND WENNEBORG. Check the results--it's plain as day. Defeating both Acetta and Wenneborg in the same race is quite a feat for a Tucson road runner--especially for one who is a 23 year old male who has not recently given birth.

Also, unlike Abe Froman in 2006, he did not get outkicked by a guy with a name straight out of Laguna Beach. Obviously, names are crucial. All in all, it was a fine day, and I slept easier knowing that I tossed 20 bucks into the tip jar of Pima CC XC and even got a very wearable t-shirt for it.

Sunshine and Clouds

2007-01-29T05:26:00.000-08:00

If last year's theme for 2006's race was Rage's 'People of the Sun', then this year's was no doubt Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's 'Sunshine and Clouds (and everything proud)'.

You gotta stick with the Sun theme.

While last year's 5k was all about aggressive tactics and representing something bigger than myself --this year was just a friendly and lyricless instrumental interlude between two of the more recognizable tracks.

This morning, Train and I left the 821 at about quarter to 8. Arriving at Reid Park, we picked up our race numbers and event tee-shirts (if you want to be sure you won't be getting some gay shirt design, run the Sun Run) before running in to Lucas. Train had to go back to the house to grab an inhaler or something so Lucas and I did a lap together.

Even with the brisk January air, I was still very tired. I got a memory-foam dealie for my birthday and last night was it's premier. Honestly, I didn't even want to get out of bed this morning.

We then met up with Mike and WOG Randy and did a longer warmup. I was confident that the knee had been rested enough that it wouldn't likely cause me much trouble today. Still, my worry of how to approach this race was far from settled. Knowing that Mike and Lucas were probably going to head out in the 5:25 range, I figured sticking with my plan to hit 6's for the first 3 miles and then re-evaluate the situation was as good as this all was going to get.

When the RD called everyone to the line, I jogged over and took my spot in the 3rd row. I figured there was no need to be in the front -- but I learned an important lesson on Thanksgiving about being too modest when lining up. Looking around, I saw Lucas and Mike lining up near Running Shop Group Run regulars Shane and Paula. Near them was Vince Valenzuela and some Pima/Sunnyside guys. Also in the 10k race would be Mike Urbanski and 2006 Oracle 10k champion, (and seemingly nice guy), Bill Cuculic. In the 5k would be Train, Pima's Emily Edgar, and Benito Gonzales.

The gun went off and as we turned on to Country Club, I felt like I was comfortably on pace -- but looking ahead, it really seemed like I was further back from the lead group than I should have been. Regardless, I held where I was and was pleased with my decision when I came through the first mile in 5:55. About a quarter mile later, the packs began splitting onto the 5k and 10k routes and I must say that, to me, there was a frightening number of runners staying on the 10k course.

After getting on the bike path, I passed some dude in front of me and thought I was closing on some chick in front of me. I wasn't far back from her as I hit the second mile in 12:02. I spent most of Alvernon trying to move up (to at least have someone to run with/wink at) but was really beginning to feel the pace when I came through 3 miles in 18:21. I had fallen off to a 6:19 and I could tell my breathing was labored. I was losing the two people in front of me and even got passed by some dude. I tried to respond by going with him but, even though I was matching his turnover, my stride must have been shortened as he slowly drifted further from me. The 4th mile was 6:06 (I was done fiddling with the clock at this point) and just tried to focus on not totally breaking down.

I hit the 5 mile mark on Broadway in a life-hating 6:21. I didn't mean to drop off that badly but when you are by yourself, your legs have been pounding, and you had no real strategery in the first place -- these things'll happen. Heading on the last street before the final stretch, I could hear whomever had been hanging out behind me making his move. About half a mile left and this guy probably figured it was time to real this fish in. I, on the other hand, had other plans. Deriving all my power from the Sun Run 1 Bib I had been assigned, I was able to at least finish without completely falling apart (and marking my 6th mile as 6:20).

I finished in 21st place with a 38:22 (6:10 pace), over five minutes behind the winner, Pima's Carlos Rybeck -- who was no doubt using the race to send a message to Dragon spectator, Jason Colavito.

_____________________________

In other news, Dan Maher's 3M half-marathon performance placed him in 36th with a 1:10 performance. Word on the street is that he was shooting for a time right in there so it's good to see him performing.

Also, Dragon Jason Colavito finished 3rd in his indoor 3000m heat in Seattle, Washington on Saturday. J's 8:25 marked his indoor debut and has given the Wildcat trackster a decent start to the 2007 racing year.

Maher 1:10's 3M -- 2006 Sun Run Recap -- Sun Run 10K Results -- Mike's Race Coverage -- Sun Run 5k Results

A Break From Playing Hero

2007-01-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

I meant to write this up earlier but I picked up my copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess today and before I knew it I had been playing for 5 straight hours, I really had to piss, and I had 3 voicemails.

My eyes kinda sting.

Anyways, today's jaunt went fine and the knee seems to be back in check. I hope it stays that way through Sunday afternoon.

As so little has happened the past couple days (and so much will happen in the next couple days) coupled with today being my birthday -- it's true, look on facebook -- I'm just gonna make a couple notes for today's prose.

First, as you all saw yesterday, Train has officially thrown his hat into the Sun Run. After reading his thread, I went ahead and got verbal confirmation that he will be competing for podium rights in the 5000 meter race. Later in the evening, I saw a confirmation on LetsRun that Train was registered.

Second, to build on our news of other Tucson runners racing this weekend [off the reservation], 2006 SAR Grand Prix Champion (but not one of Greg Hansen's Top 103 Tucson sports figures of '06), Dan Maher will be racing the 3M Half-Marathon in Austin this Sunday. I knew this (because I had heard he would be visiting his sister out there this weekend and that is why he'd not be in the Sun Run) but when I Googled 'Austin Marathon', I kept getting results for the AT&T Austin Marathon etc -- which takes place 2/18. This is why I failed to hit y'all with this news on Wednesday.

Regardless, we wish him and Jason the best of luck with their races this weekend (J on Saturday, Dan on Sunday). The rest of you, I'll see either at the bars tonight/tomorrow night or at the Sun Run on Sunday.

Libertarian Response to POTUSSOTU -- Dan's 3M Half -- Zelda Review -- Sun Run LetsRun Thread -- Keg Registration Legislation (I oppose it)

crash sights keep me up at night

2007-01-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

Apologies for Sunday's outburst of ham-handed treacle. Really, after that NFC Championship Game, I could have stepped out the door and seen a hurricane coming and thought "Wow, a hurricane!!! I wonder if we'll lose the roof off of the house!!! Now, that would be something!!!" And all those asterisks spelled "BEARS" before the spacing got all messed up between the draft and the publication. Really broke my heart. I'm dumb. But yes, I will run the Sun Run 5K. I am planning on circumventing my annual Gallowalking demonstration by running the first two miles at 7:00 pace. Nothing less than God will keep me from this. I ran this morning for 20 minutes and found it really difficult. My calves are sore despite extreme inactivity. After the run I figured that might be because I stayed up most of last night eating bacon and drinking wine, leaving me dehydrated. Since resting seems to make me more sore, I figure that entering a race brutally out of shape will logically set me up for the win.

Rock Your Body

2007-01-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

It hasn't snowed since Sunday night when everyone freaked out and covered the blogosphere with news about snow in Arizona. I took the recent dry weather as a good sign until Train explained to me that there is such a thing as it being too cold to snow. Now, I saw March of the Penguins last week, so I feel I am pretty much an expert on cold shit. Needless to say, when Train said that it was possibly too cold to snow, I was afraid.

All of Tucson would surely die.

I'm hoping the cold weather has been the reason for my 10 hours of sleep per day this week. I can't explain why, but even after a full night's sleep here, I'm still passing out for a couple hours every afternoon. I don't think I am getting sick becaues I haven't been achey or had a dry throat or anything -- so I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see.

The knee, however, I can not figure out. I mean, I had no problems Monday. Minor pangs yesterday -- and today, it has been just sore all day. I don't know but have elected to take today off in hopes of just being able to have a showing on Sunday.

So with my running being pretty uneventful, I'd like to mention other races that will be going down this weekend. Long-time Dragon, Jason Colavito, will be racing at the University of Washington Invitational. After battling the flu last weekend, J has been pushing to clean up the old health here this week and will be going out with the leaders on Saturday. In which race, I am not sure, but I suspect I may have heard the 3,000m (But don't quote me on that -- I'll leave the comments open so J can correct me if I am wrong).

In other Dragons news, I heard on campus today that Train might be competing in one of the Sun Run races. Now, I only mention this rumor enough to say that I can neither confirm nor deny it's truthfulness (another reason comments will be enabled here). At this point, however, the official Dragon line-up for Sunday will be:

10k: Lucas, Mike, Blax
5k: No Dragons representation

Still though -- the focus this week is simply the Sun Run 5/10k.

Cats in Seattle -- Too cold to snow -- Sun Run

No Fun For Anybody

2007-01-22T08:48:00.000-08:00

With my knee giving me some trouble this week, I'm kinda glad that I kept the intesity up during some shorter runs. My mileage is well off from what I would have wanted as this point -- but at least I feel like the miles I am putting in do count.

The deal with the knee is that it's really just been lingering for about 3 weeks now. Usually about 3 or 4 miles into a run I'll start being able to feel something -- not pain, but a warning that it may be coming on. I've been trying to not push it too much so most of my runs have been under 6 miles.

I've been filling the extra time by continuing my work on tearing down the shed. Wednesday I got it to the ground and now it's just a matter of piecing apart the roof and then it's dumpster time. Anyways, before the shed almost collapsed on me earlier this week, I found an old box hidden back there from when I moved back to Tucson. I brought it inside and discovered some old personal artifacts. Nothing notable but I did come across a photo of me in my first ever beer mile outfit (which I'll get up as soon as I find a scanner) as well as my old running log from June through December of 01. It was the golden age of my running.

Thumbing through the log, I can honestly say I wasn't doing anything impressive -- nor was my handwriting any good. For some reason, I just wasn't very eloquent at the ripe old age of 18.

With such memorable entries as, "Airport with Derek. Rainy and shit but run went ok. Coach told me not to wear warm-ups again. I said ok. Strides." Who woulda thought I wasn't the next Hemmingway?

So anyays, for whatever reason, I decided to go run the V for my run on Friday afternoon. It had been raining all day but it stopped at about 3:30 and off I went. It really seemed like the premier run for me given that getting in an hour around my normal routes was going to be pretty unlikey without feeling the knee again.

As I see things, there are two ways to fix any problem in the world: good and evil. And since I had already tried menudo without effect, I figured it was time to hit the evilest damn 3.6 miles in Tucson. For some reason the building wasn't open for me to buy an 07 pass, so I just parked, got out of my car, and headed into the clouds.

38 and a half minutes (plus a few stops -- I ain't gonna lie) I was on top of this...this...this....Aggro crag (GUTS!) with the clouds beneath me, when a wind started to push them through the canyon. I gawked and headed back down. By the end I was moving 'not fast at all' (my Garmon is busted) and that night I slept like a damn baby.

A baby not wearing warm-ups.

I hadn't done the V since last spring when J and I knocked it out one day before school. I remember this occasion because so stupid cop told me to slow down when I was dropping J back off at like 7:30. He was probably just pissed we were eating bacon for breakfast.

So, while most everything about the V sucks, you could be damn sure that Coach Greg 'Borg has positive thoughts on the route. Most likely is probably this fact that, so long as you don't put on a neckerchief and ascend the mountain using a walking stick, you'll be within a few minutes of your best time on that route. Besides this, with such a steep downhill, it's not unreasonable to take a few minutes off your return trip. I could have used that stat-padding personally on Friday, however, the rocks were wet and my shoes were not getting much in the grip department so I only went semi-wrecklessly down the trail.

Naturally, I was wrecked on Saturday and choked out 5 on ODC with teary-eyes. Sunday was even worse, but again, only 5. Definitely not numbers that I like to have to face down now, but it's a little late. Next time I'll just have to do better.

With the Sun Run on Sunday, this week's focus will be: (1) Keeping the knee healthy, (2) Figuring some sort of race plan to not totally erupt and go 40+ on this "pancake-flat course", (3) I just got ASU and UNC tickets online (I wrote this post while waiting for the slow-ass, flooded-ass server to process my tickets), and (4) Birthday celebrations.

It snowed last night and Train just went out for a run. I think he may have said that someone in his last post -- just not in english. He will surely die out there.

Snow = National Headlines -- GUTS -- The V makes the AZ Night Buzz

ECSTASIS

2007-01-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

* ** ***** * *** ****
* * * * * * * *
* * * *** **** * * ***
* * * * * * * *
*** ***** * * * * ****

Five years of my faith, my suspension of disbelief regarding the idiocy of professional football functioning as a nurturing metaphor for my suspension of disbelief regarding the idiocy of my existence, five years of friendships forged in savage derision of the church league team from Wisconsin, bear enraptured witness to the singleminded seizing of momentum toward the indelibility of championship.

What could be better?

Why, only the arrival of proper running weather in my beloved desert burg. I stepped out the door to pick up a burrito and greeted the element which both hides and reveals with an immediacy unmatched for gratification. I cherish the unlikely, and right now, it is the snow-coated cars parked outside the Carousel apartments and the lighted eyes of the snake bridge being made to sneak through a white flurry. Also, my running--the cultuvation of uninhibited excellence through the inhibition of habit--once blossomed under and over the hazy slate of snowflakes before crumbling into a cold clear day of dodgy hamstrings and manic psychology. After being broken in part by the swarming consciousness facilitated by it being so goddamned temperate here, this can only be a good thing.

The only way to close this is by acknowledging that it will probably melt by morning, never to be seen again in '07. And that I'm a sentimental mess. And that I don't know how to upload images to Blogger.

W/E 1/20

2007-01-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

My running got way out of control this week--I knew I had been overtaken by a wild undiscipline on Monday when I realized that it was my third straight day of running. Anyhow:
SUNDAY--I ran 25 minutes in the morning. Doing something like running at Tumamoc, which I had the day before, tends to tilt my momentum and make me want to run the next day. I took the 5th Ave. route at a serene time of the week, which is best.
MONDAY--Clearly, it was time for a workout of sorts. Equally clearly, my capacity is not too capacious, so I did a four and a half minute warmup down to the mouth of the ODC, then engaged in a fartlek of two minutes on:three minutes off. Three times. Then I ran the four and a half minutes home. Dave and I joked that I should post it on letsrun.com and ask people what I can run a 10K in based on that workout. I think I'll do that, and then show you the results later.
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY--I ran 30 minutes after work, but I took my 5th Ave route, which I have conclusively determined is inappropriate for that time of day. While I dislike running on the Rillito, I also dislike lots of interruptions. Afternoon runs shall be kept in the relatively uncluttered direction of Drachman Stadium from now on.
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY--I got up around 8:30, replenished some fluids, then went to Tumamoc and got completely pWn3d!!!1!! (sic). Tumamoc mocked me. I took it as a sign of my depleted fitness last Saturday that I could only managed the first part of the road, then a breather, then the second part, and that was it. But this time, I Gallowalked once on the first part, then didn't even make it to the switchback without stopping and staggering. Then I stopped and staggered up to the No Smoking sign that marks the end of the next part. Then I basically prostrated myself and rolled back down to my car. I wont count this as any mileage because it was basically like going to the gym, warming up on a stationary bike and doing a few squats. I realized I need to get back to Snyder because it is a lot easier. I also realized that if you don't like Patsy Cline, I would like to fight you. I got some grocery shopping done on the way home. I'm gonna try to make coq au vin some time this weekend.

Semper Fit

2007-01-19T18:22:00.000-08:00

So it looks like I'm going to have to stick with this running thing, at least, through June. You see, today I mailed off my registration for the June 9th showing of the Mud Run in San Diego, California.

An event I missed last year because of a Eurotrip.

Eurotrip. Like the movie?

Anyways....

This year I was considering running in the Boots and BDU division but with registration filling up very fast and me not being familiar with the course, I opted for the conservative regular 10k route. Last year Omni and Mike went out and Omni set a course record and Mike was 6th or something I think.

I know they got trophies.

So we're gonna make a weekend out of it. If you're interested in getting involved or putting us up for the weekend, we'll leave the comments open. Space is limited and the damn thing sells out pretty quick.

Sun Run -- Mud Run -- Mud Run Registration

I Wish I Had A River

2007-01-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

Right now, I'm worrying about the Sun Run for Pima Community College Track & Field and Cross Country 10k coming up on the 28th.

I do believe the last 10k I ran was the Tombstone Vigilante Days 10k in 2001 (I can't find results anywhere for that event). I remember this race vividly because Train, Dan, my little brother, and I all drove down to Tombstone the night before and it started to rain on us. The windshield wipers were out in Blue Thunder so I remember just stepping on the gas in order to get to Tombstone faster, thus taking us out of harm's way.

When we arrived in Tombstone the town was black. Apparently the storm had knocked out the local generator or something so we just drove around through this dead-ass looking town. Then, when we did find a hotel, we were informed that no rooms were available in town do to fact that all the people who would be playing cowboy for the weekend, had already booked all the rooms a year ago.

We got back in Blue Thunder, drove out of town to Benson (or Bisbee or something) and were able to find a room. It was about midnight. We were wet and the four of us were sharing some room that looked like it hadn't been updated since the fall of typhoid.

About 5 hours later, we woke up, checked out, and drove our asses back to Tombstone. Dan wasn't competing so he offered to pace me. And pace me he did...to a 2-mile PR in the opening 10 minutes of the race as we chased down some dudes that likely finished in around an hour.

After going out so hard in this, my first ever 10k, I settled in and suffered for the next 4 miles behind some mexican dude while almost a quarter-mile separated myself and third place. It hurt but I was pleased as we came back in the town. This was, of course, until my watch said I shoulda been done a couple minutes ago and, after following the leader, I found myself coming in through the back of the chute as the "winner" came in the front.

Apparently the last turn wasn't marked and the guy who was supposed to be directing the racers just wasn't there until a few minutes after we passed. First through third places were essentially disqualified and, to appease us, the race director gave us age-group sized trophies.

The theme for the weekend became 'Fuck Tombstone'.

Needless to say, I've had a sour taste in my mouth about 10k's ever since.

The longest race I've ran in recent memory was last spring's 88Crime 8k in Oro Valley. The Sun Run will be all that -- plus over another mile. I was definitely beginning to tire near the end of the 8k so to think of adding another mile and a quarter to that -- and actually be 'racing' for over half an hour, well, honestly that makes me uncomfortable.

I headed out today to work on the ol' leg speed a little bit. While the past month or so has been focused on trying to establish some sort of respectable base, I figured February would be time to start incorporating faster running. But with the Sun Run coming up, I figured I'd better try to earn that elite entry Greg covered for me. So for today, I had planned to do some 6:15 pace running at the rec center today after a test review I have. Frankly, its just too damn cold out there lately and I ain't about to rip open my wang/balls just to get in 4 on the roads.

That's the other thing. I needed to get in some miles, and while I'm willing to tempo a few miles on a treadmill in order to avoid the cold (and guarantee that I am running a pace), there is no way I am putting in 7 on the rec center treadmill at 6:30 in the evening. With my luck, I'd get some prick student-employee making me get off the machine after 35 minutes because his butterface girlfriend likes the machine that I'm on because her usual elliptical trainer is broken. I'd probably argue with him, which would lead to me getting a sidestich, thus, ruining my run.

So today at about 3:30 when it was 'nice enough' out, I headed out the door. I was anxious to get to the fast portion of the day -- and it showed as I blew out the gates in 6:35. I reeled myself in for the next 4.5 miles and, after just missing brushing past the UA guys on ODC (they were turning onto Country Club and I was still coming from the east), I did a few short pick-ups and at the 2mile mark I took off.

Originally, I had planned on 3 miles at 6:30. However, since my pace for the run had been relatively brisk already (and ODC being marked for only 3400 meters), I decided to shoot for closer to 6:15 or so and take a minute recovery. I'd do two and gauge from there.

I passed under 22nd St and the uphill seemed forever. 5:59 and I was pretty tired. Not so much in legs, but this was quite a shock to the breathing. The minute went by and I was able to fix myself from the shallow breaths and I was off again.

This time I would take it much easier and just concentrate on form. With a 6:15 expected, I came through 800 easily in 2:45 and let way off. Basically jogging it in, I 6:14'd the mile. My review session was coming up, so I used that as the excuse for going back home (instead of that my abs were barking) where I was able to mark up 7 miles plus a dash of workout onto the calendar.

So while I am still very unsure on how to strategically approach this race -- and while I very much understand that I am in no sort of 'peak' shape -- I am optimistic that I will at least be able to possibly contend with the top women racers at this event.

I'll leave up the comments in case, I don't know, anyone else wants to talk about the Sun Run.

Sun Run -- Tombstone Race -- 1.2 Trillion

Sunday Half Results UPDATE

2007-01-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

Train is in the living room watching the Bears game. I took a break because they were down by three before the end of the third quarter and Seattle jumped before the snap, thus giving Chicago the first down and ending the quarter.

Somehow Grossman threw a pick right after that blessed penalty and now Train is doing quite a bit of yelling/swearing (none of the big three though). Though it sounds like the recent cry for Gould means that the Bears have hit a game-tying field goal.

Anyways, during my break here, I decided to poke in and see if Shane and Lucas' marathon results were up yet. I went to LetsRun and first surfed for the PF Changs Phoenix results.

Nothing.

So I traveled to the USA Half-Marathon Championships results. There I saw a couple amazing points. First, Ryan Hall won the race with a 59:43. Second, Fasil "Bizzy-B" Bizuneh beat Meb for second place honors. Both of these performances impressed me.

Until I realized Hall celebrates the same way as Glass Joe from NES's Mike Tyson's Punch-Out.

Anyways, Lucas finished in 1:15:12 -- good for a 61st place in the Men's division and a runners beat percentage in the high 99-points. I'm not exactly sure what goal time he was shooting for but I am still pretty impressed with Lucas and hope he was pleased with his performance.

Still no word on Shane's race ...

1/15/07 Update

So official Phoenix results are in and Shane threw down a perfect 100% of women beat. An often overlooked accomplishment, Shane's 14th in his gender category was also good for 14th overall with a time of 1:14:21. In other news, Shane is 33! Just thought you should know.

Phoenix Results -- Houston Results -- Hall's Performance

W/E 1/13

2007-01-13T16:34:00.000-08:00

I have been all over my New Year's resolution to run less. My time not spent on running has skyrocketed. The devil of it is, though, that I have lost fitness. I wanted to enter the Sun Run 10K, cruise for five miles, then see if I could manage a substantial gear change for one mile, then another for the last 200m. Frankly, I don't think I can run 10 kilometers right now. I might try a similar agenda for the 5K, since everything is on a smaller scale for me. I think I ran 20 minutes one day this week, and it was hard. Just today, I went out to Tumamoc (because hill work is still essential to those with no fitness, or more accurately, those who want to burn a lot of calories in not much time because that's what's most important). I only made it to the end of the first switchback, then ran back down and did 10 minutes at the base. These days, if I get up early it'll be to play the piano. I will still post, though, if only to etch a record of my demise as a competitive runner and provide an example to current and future Dragons. An example, that is, of how awesome not running can be.

Week:6 miles

Update! No one gives a damn about bigfoot!

2007-01-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated for y'all in a while. I was going to the other day but then I watched that 'I Thought This Was America' clip and I've been laughing since. Here are the major points though:

Late last week was bad, mmmkay. The knee issue that I was not worrying about became bad enough that I felt I needed to give it some attention. I shortened a couple days (including missing Sunday's brutal long run) as well as took one off. My mileage goals of resting about 50 for a few weeks quickly burnt out and I would have to guess that I ended up chalking up about 40 the week.
With Petie gone and J back to running with his NCAA team, I am finding my running parter selection drying back up again. This will get old quite fast.
Classes have started back up so I have taken the liberty of figuring what my running schedule might look like this semester (at least until it gets butt-ass hot in a couple months).

Monday will be a two-run shakeout from Sunday (At least for the next month or so).
Tuesday and Thursday will be morning workout days. No word yet on what workouts or how I'm going to figure out goal times for them. I figure step one is just to blow my legs out. I can build from that solid foundation.
Wednesday will be a two run affair with the always luxurious Running Shop group run in the afternoons.
Friday and Saturday will just be regular old running days. My top priority at this point is to make sure my legs have enough juice to go after Sunday's long run but I'd like to be able to start doing a better effort on Friday afternoons and just using Saturday as a way to loosen up before Sunday.
Sunday, of course, is the long run.

This all, of course, is subject to change based on school, injuries, weather, and quitting.

In other Dragons news, Lucas will be running in the Chevron Houston Half-Marathon this Sunday. We wish him luck and hope that he sticks it to those bastards and then renounced Chevron for getting Americans addicted to foreign oil! If you happen to be getting a pair of shoes from him before this weekend, be sure to wish him luck and then tell him to update the race-board in his store.

In Dragons admin news, thanks to Bloggers recent upgrades, Blogger will serve site to other addresses. What does that mean for us? Well, a couple things. First, we will likely be moving to a URL that isn't .blogspot.com (with no extra work for the authors). Second, as Dragons.com is taken, I believe it will be time for us to nail down exactly what our official name will be. Dragons track club? running club? track and field? something else? I will actually open comments on this post so that folks may offer feedback on this topic.

Finally, in pseudo-Dragons news, contract Dragon Slayer, Shane from CPS, will be running the Phoenix Rock'n'Roll...uhh....I think full marathon. I haven't talked extensively with Shane, but he seems like a very nice guy. And though he did run for the WOG portion of Dragon Slayers (who we beat) at the Turkey Trot, we still wish him great luck. Perhaps we should think about signing his ass permanently......

So there is my update. I'll try to get into more of a groove here -- just give it time.

Lucas' Marathon -- US troops out -- Rock'n'Roll Phoenix -- Last year's Rock'n'Roll Phoenix Review

I thought this was America!

2007-01-07T11:36:00.001-08:00

Put Your Stunna Shades On

2007-01-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

I have always been an advocate of high mileage and truly believe the only way to develop as a distance runner is to get out there and run over 80 miles a week. However, I often neglect the fact that a build up to high mileage is not as easy as it appears on paper. In fact, I always fail to take into account how your body will react to a calculated increase of mileage.

For the most part, I adapt to mileage quite well and can handle 80 mile weeks with ease. Although, it seems that I always notice the effects of higher mileage right around the third week, and, as I expected, I became extremely wore out at the beginning of this week. Granted, my well being may have been affected by New Years Eve where I missed 3EB and Jumper but drank my fair share of beer.

Anyways, after three 13 mile plus days behind me, I not so eagerly anticipated the tempo run I had on my schedule for the evening especially after the 4 mile jog I completed in the morning. At work, I had some anxiety about the looming workout and almost pulled the plug on any type of run but once six o'clock rolled around, I knew I was at least going to run.

My run began at McKale and headed to Reid Park where I planned to do at least 4 miles of comfortable tempo on the bike path. As soon as I got to the "start line" of the path I actually felt ready to roll and just let myself glide along the path. I hit my first mile in 5:26 and then mile two in 5:26, mile 3 in 5:27 and then completed my run off of the bike path where 400 meter marks are non existent so I had no idea of the pace I was running. When I got home, I gmap'ed my run and discovered I ran 4.7 miles in 25:37 good for a cumulative pace of 5:27.

Once I was done, I was quite surprised as I felt awesome. I really held back the pace and concentrated on staying relaxed. In fact, when I ended the run, I recovered in about 30 seconds which is quite encouraging and indicative of higher volume training.

The plan for the rest of the week is to hit 80 miles in 6 days which means a long run from Mike's on Sunday and two recovery runs on Saturday.

Have a good weekend.

In your face!

2007-01-01T23:06:00.000-08:00

No. Not run related, of course. After posting on Saturday, I churned out an easy five that evening on the shoulder of ODC Parkway. I thought this was a good move but it may have been rather detrimental as, come an hour into Sunday's run, I fell off like really bad. My final run of 2006 ended with me losing about 5 minutes from the group in the final half hour.

Yeah. But on the plus side, I got my first resolution for '07: No more Frees on long runs. I brought it in with blisters-a-plenty and, though I haven't given closure inspection, am sure I have at least four from Sunday's long run. Thank goodness for chocolate chip-based baked goods, I guess.

So last week closed at 52 miles in 7 days/sessions. I was again wasted from the long run but, with Vanessa Carlton playing at the Block Party in Tempe, Train and I piled into his car for the Valley of the Sun on Sunday afternoon. And, it is from this point, that I tell you all, "In your face!"

I saw Vanessa Carlton LIVE!!!! where she played recent hits like 'White Houses' and 'Half a Week Before the Winter' (a ballad about Vampires and Unicorns at war) -- but not 'Afterglow' -- as well as old hits like 'Ordinary Day' and 'A Thousand Miles'. But what was BEST was how she played FUTURE HITS from her next album, Heroes and Villains. The songs were AWESOME (maybe even better than Huey Lewis) and one of them (I regretfully don't remember what she said it was called), New Years Eve was the first time she played it publicly!! I was one of the first people to hear the song and NO ONE will believe me when it's all on the radios in '07 -- but that's why we keep the blog.

So yeah, New Years was alright. After the fireworks display. Third Eye Blind began playing the first song I heard in 2007, 'Jumper' -- no joke.

TEB fucking sucks.

Upon returning to the Old Pueblo this afternoon, I decided to drag my exhausted ass out the door for an easy siz. Fortunately, my legs didn't feel as decimated as they did last Monday, so I am optimistic that I am getting some sort of reasonable return on my training.

I haven't completely written out this week's schedule yet, but Thursday will probably be an effort so I'd like to do something solid tomorrow as well. I don't know -- I'll figure it out later.

A College Football Playoff System -- Vanessa Carlton -- What a Fiesta Bowl

W/E 12/31: FUBAR STEEZ

2006-12-31T07:41:00.000-08:00

Really, my workout on Christmas Day was the only productive or heartening thing that happened this running week. During the family-wide disperese-and-chill session, I wasn't originally plannin on running but just got the urge. I decided I'd do two 800s at 3:00 and two 400s at :80, with 2:00 rest after each 800 and :60 rest in between the 400s. My first 800 was right at 3:00 and then I ran the second in 2:50 without even trying to pick it up, which made me feel rad. I hit the 400s in :80 without a problem.

Throughout the rest of the week, though, the retardedness of my approach to training rendered my training, well, retarded. It was just full of crap runs and not enough sleep, and now my Achilles problems are starting to flair up a little because my shoes were way too old. I'm pleased as punch to be back in the Supernova Classics, though. The new Supernova Controls were alright, but what happens between me and the Classics is straight love. Other than that, I'm sore in ways that don't make sense, and committed to a little time off going into the New Year. Thursday evening, however, did see the longest run of this latest era of my career: 43 minutes.

Be safe out there, Dragons.

Afterglow

2006-12-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

The work week has ended successfully and put me back on pace to run an acceptible mileage for the week. Between rock'n'roll shows at Plush, UA basketball games at Mchale, and a midterm on Friday, I was pleased at my ability to maintain focus here late in the week. Still though, it ain't over -- and besides, there is another just around the corner.

I've noted before that I am a stellar Monday through Wednesday runner. I've tried other days, but I really feel most comfortable with Monday being day 1 of my week. Obviously one thing allowing me to stay on course is not having an abundance of classwork to worry about. Still, I am pleased to be salvaging what looked like a pretty dismal week as of Tuesday evening. This week, after Wednesdays road session, I was ready to tend to some of my aches and pains. Nothing big -- but nothing I was going to attempt to drive right through.

Thursday was a real butthole of a weather day and I waited until the afternoon in hopes of some sort of improvement in conditions. They were so nasty in the morning that, even if the Bush administration had brought a tornado down that afternoon, I think things still would have been better than the sleet and shit I would have had to take on at daybreak. I called Petie to see if he cared to join me for 50 on the Rillito but he was watching Spiderman 2. Running alone, it was nice to have complete control over the pace. On out and back runs for time, I usually try to hit it a little hard on the way out to make sure I cover sufficient ground. With a solid 25 out, I decided to keep a solid pace for another 15 minutes on the way back. The legs held up surprisingly well (given that the mud was a bit slippery and I had done 10 on the roads the night before) so I dropped it down a little more when I closed the run. Breathing hard at the end of this 'recovery effort' I declared right then that I would have to relax on Friday's run.

Yesterday Omni, Train, and myself headed out in evening to grab 8 or so. It was a nice, quick, recovery and I enjoyed listening to Omni's stories about the africans he runs with. I then proceeded to watch Batman Begins and head to bed -- really feeling my legs calling for more recovery.

Today was going to be a two run day but I think I'll just do a single, easy run this afternoon at Reid. It might cost me a few overall miles but I think the legs will appreciate it as they haven't gotten a true recovery day since Tuesday. Then tomorrow will be Dragons Long Run Sunday and I will be off to Tempe for New Years festivities. Vanessa Carlton and Third Eye Blind (JUMPER!!!) will be playing at the Tostitos Mill Avenue Tempe Fiesta Bowl New Years Celebration & BCS Championship Block Party brought to you by Alltell. I'm stoked.

Have a good New Years and make sure you really have a good time celebrating with those cool new ice cubes that have all the party light in them.

2006: End of Year Post -- Drenth was wise to not fuck with Mike -- Jumper Song Facts

Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk, it's still rock'n'roll to me

2006-12-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, I went ahead and picked up Omni and got my first taste of The Sunday Long Run From Mike's. The previous morning, I had posted about desires to top Tumamoc (to date, my 'long run') but I reconsidered after realizing that, for as high as my spirits were this holiday season, it wasn't reasonable to expect me to do Tumamoc and then go 90 minutes. So, I ended up doing about 7 with Omni that evening. On this run, he informed me that the hills on Sunday would be 'gradual'. His reassurring statements fell on deaf ears as I was going out for this experience the next moring, come hell or high water.

Arriving 5 minutes late (I don't drive as fast when I'm listening to AA meetings on KFMA on Sunday mornings), J and and I met up with the group and we were off. The cold air was not my cup of tea but I felt that, regardless of the temperature, my best bet was just to find a shoulder to hang out on and then zone out for the next hour and a half. Unfortunately, constant pack restructuring during the run did not allow me such behavior and after about 25 minutes, Mike commented that my breathing was sounding a little labored. I wanted to, but could not, deny this. My legs remained numb through about 10 miles of loops around various roads. Listening to everyone's stories, I spoke little and tried to not think about (a) being able to see everyone's breath; (b) the gradual inclines everywhere around us; (c) the idea that 45 minutes was only the half-way point.

I began falling off at around 70 minutes as we headed onto a trail. Somewhere along that section, the pack really spread out and, upon coming out, I saw that Omni had moved to finish his run with a little speed. Behind him at equal distances were Shane followed by the pair of Mike and Lucas talking about...I don't even remember now. They held back and allowed me to catch up with about 2.5 miles left. Hearing my first words of encouragement in quite a few years, I felt quite shitty about falling off those guys again with about a mile left. I was feeling pretty nasty but when the Sun warmed my legs to a point that I could finally feel the damage caused by the previous 82 minutes, there was just no pleasing the leg gods and I had to hobble through the final turns of Mike's neighborhood.

While I was not surprised by my eventual tanking (I was actually kinda pleased that I didn't fall off sooner/harder), I was even more concerned by the necessary recovery this run set me up for. With my legs just feeling tired more than anything else, I held off Monday's run until the evening. This turned out to be little help as I hobbled through well under four miles in 28 minutes. Yesterday morning, I woke up and, after getting on the shoes and walking around the house a bit, I could feel that any run that morning would just hurt. I put off my run, again, to the evening hours. That afternoon I met Omni at his place for a run on the river along with one of his roommates. What seemed like a pretty quick clip probably actually wasn't but it didn't matter and we were in and out of that run in under half an hour.

Today, I woke up to the realization that I was on track to hit 28 miles for this week. Yes, something would have to be changed. So this evening I went ahead and extended my group run session to 10 miles and I feel a lot better for it. Keeping the pace under control (plus temperatures above 40) was key and I think it will allow me to get in moderate mileage tomorrow before something a little more intense on Friday. I have little tweak in my right knee that has been coming late in runs but I'm not too worried about it.

New Years Run -- Tempe Block Party

We fly high. No Lie. You know this...BALLIN!

2006-12-26T12:07:00.000-08:00

Base training is now consuming the life of this Dragon. Last week, I hit 81 miles after weeks of 50 and 65. Granted, my mileage ramp up appears to be at a pitch equal to Snyder Hill, but, in all actuality, 50 and even 65 mile weeks feel like nothing. So, the natural progression for me, at least, was to hit mileage in which I feel I will gain fitness and not wear myself out. Eighty miles a week appears to be the golden ticket as I am both healthy and not incredibly tired.

Anyways, the rest of break appears to be straight up mileage with a few strides mixed in. I plan on hitting at least 85 miles this week with a minimum of 90 miles to finish off break and bring in the first week of 2007.

As far as track goes, my goals are to run sub 14:35 in the 5K, break 3:57 in the 1500, and try and score points at Pac 10's in the 10K. Such an effort will require about a 30:30 to 31:00 10K so the season is going to be geared toward such an effort. I think I am ready to run well this upcoming season and the mileage in the winter only will help ensure that I achieve my goals.

On an unrelated note, when I was running with fellow Dragon, Lucas, on Christmas morning, I commented that last Christmas we only jogged 20 minutes and, yesterday, we ran a little over 9 miles at 6:15 pace. Strangely, I think that alone reveals my development as a runner in the past year and leaves me feeling incredibly optimistic about my future. Staying healthy is always the goal, and, for the most part, I balanced both health and fitness well allowing me to finally excel as a runner and perform to my ability. Anyways, I guess you just need to keep positive, work hard, and your dreams will become reality.

Merry Christmas!

W/E 12/24

2006-12-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

MONDAY:
TUESDAY: 40 minutes in the a.m. from the 821 up to 3rd Street and east to Country Club, then north to Speedway and back.
WEDNESDAY: 40 minutes in the p.m. from the 821 north on 5th Ave. then over to 6th Ave. and up the park just south of Grant, around it, and back. 12 miles in two days=CRAZY DENSE!
THURSDAY: rest
FRIDAY: I went out to Snyder and did basically the same thing, but it wasn't as good because I had to strain to pull my watch out from under my sleeve and hit the light button. On Snyder, every second counts. Also, after work I think I finalized my New Year's resolutions. Added to my long standing resolution to save some money are the following:
1.Eat more fruit
2. Have fewer imaginary conversations
3. Run less
4. Keep my bathroom cleaner
SATURDAY: Saturday morning, aftedr sleeping in, I went out into the fog and deceptive cold and ran 20 minutes with four 30 second striders at the end. I decided I'd do this after last week's Snyder workout made me so tight. I ran on 5th Ave. and saw Papa Ranger
riding his bike into the shop.
SUNDAY: Mostly moodiness and myopic ecstasy.

17.5 miles, but way too much pussy-footed "base-building" stuff.

Still Slightly Lame

2006-12-23T12:42:00.000-08:00

I'm officially Blogger-Betalicious so I'm allowed to post again. I enjoyed the Dragons victory feast along with Blax, Lucas and Omni on Wednesday night, which followed an evening run of 10K that finished a trio of Very Bad Runs for me. I don't know if the marathon just kicked my ass harder than I realized, but after running well for a few days things just started to go wrong for me. Here's how the week looks so far-
Mo: 10 miles w/9 at 6:30 pace
Tu: 9 miles around 6:42 pace
Tu: 4 horrible miles in the evening (things started to go bad here)
We: 9 tough miles in Sabino Canyon
We: 6 miles in the evening, felt crappy
Th: off
Fr: 4 easy miles to test the waters
Sa: 6 miles, feeling a bit better

I had originally hoped to be back to harder efforts and some intervals this week, but for some reason I seemed to backpedal after good runs on Monday and Tuesday. What a drag it is getting old. For the last two days I've just been running easy, in an effort to keep the body out of trouble and ready for the long run tomorrow.

Hopefully I'll be back in the pink next week, as my thoughts are shifting away from the marathon and towards the beacon of light that is the Sun Run 10K at the end of January and I need to get ready for the pain.

Deck Halls

2006-12-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

It seems that, after taking finals off from positing, everyone has pretty much gotten used to the comfort of not posting and this has lead to quite the absence of posts in recent days. While I cannot speak for everyone, here my update:

Vegas was good. I ran approximately zero steps for the duration of the trip but did drink daquiris by the yard and ate prime rib 4 times a day, every day. Of everyone on Dragons, I think it is obvious that I deserved this break. My following days were pretty clumsy with runs that just felt tired and slow. I don't know if this is due to the weather, my getting used to some Nike Frees, the prime rib withdrawls, or the general mileage build-up I'll be in the middle of for the next couple weeks.

Last Wednesday was a Running Shop Group Run and afterwards we finally got to blow the Old Chicago gift card we won at the Turkey Trot. It's amazing how far $50 will go at Old Chicago and I walked out pleased after we had beer, nachos, and pizza with money left over.

Tomorrow my little brother will be officially placed on the AZ Daily Star all-city football team.

This afternoon, I am expecting to take another trip up Tumamoc Hill before tomorrow's long run with Omni, Lucas, and Mike out on the east side.

Also, we're looking in to the date we will attend the 2007 Mud Run.

Merry Christmas.

Last Minute Gifts -- Greg Hansen is the Worst Columnist Ever -- Kris Kringle = Car Thief

W/E 12/17

2006-12-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

I'm back, so let's get down to business:
MONDAY--Monday was the official reinstatement of my Dragons blogging privileges via a 40 minute run. Dave and I headed out from the 821 in the AM and went through that beige dirt desert interstice that's on the other side of Padre Kino's horse's ass, then crossed Kino Parkway (ever wonder why you drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?!?!?! ME TOO!!!), went behind the Drachman track complex, crossed Tucson Blvd., passed my pops's elementary school, and made it about exactly to the Sun Run starting line before turning around for the "back" program of our out-and-back. I dropped Dave's ass through the desert patch on the way back and then remembered that he had taken all of Tumamoc the day before.
TUESDAY--rest
WEDNESDAY--My Snyder Hill zeal is such that I got up at 6 Wednesday morning and drove out there so I could get a session in before work. I think I actually took advantage of the fact that the sun hits the eastside a few moments earlier than the west. I would call this my best Snydedr session yet. I ran two reps of 45 seconds and a third of 30. On the first one I nearly made it to the end of the guardrail, which is uncharted territory. I achieved a deep anaerobic stumulus.
THURSDAY--I launched an ill-fated attempt at a barefoot session after work. The playgroung I'd been using was getting to seem a little small, so I ran over to the park by the snake bridge to see if it had grass, and it didn't, and some sort of "soccer practice" was happening on Tucson High's practice field, so I ran back to the old playgroung intending to do 20 minutes. The grass was dead and full of stiff dead stems, and after 10 minutes and two stickers in my foot I just gave it up.
FRIDAY-- I got high with my friend Smokey after he finished shitting in some bushes.
SATURDAY--Saturday morning I worked out on the ODC. I did about a 12 minute warmup, then intended to run a mile in 6:00, but killed it after I hit 1200m in 4:30. After a two minute walk/jog, I ran 2:00 that started off at 5:20 pace for 400m and then lagged just a little, another two minute walk/jog, and then :60 at 4:40 pace. Then I headed home. My hamstrings still felt tight from the hills.

**************************CHEESE SAUCE INTERREGNUM**************************
Since I thought my workout Saturday morning was special, I was obligated to prepare a special recovery breakfast. I was in the kitchen loathing my typical practice of grating cheese onto my eggs after they're cooked--the cheese doesn't quite melt, and it isn't such great cheese that it helps a dish on its own, unmelted--when I was struck dumb by the unceasing genius of the butter-cream-cheese sauce. I don't know why I hadn't thought of this before, but I just used my trusty Alfredo sauce routine and substituted my breakfast cheddar for my dinner Parmesan and suddenly had not just a solution but a straight up revelation that will launch my training into 2007 on a soaring gastronomic high.
************************************************************************************

SUNDAY--rest.
Weekly total: 16.5 miles

That Does It

2006-12-13T22:23:00.000-08:00

How you doin', y'all? My name is Mike. I'm fooling with the new shit. I'm doing it all like, I like what I do, I do what I like. I could quit and get it back like I'm riding a bike. Like stop...bring it back, bring it back.

Alright, I can't do it. Anyways, it seems that Mike can't get past Blogger's [now stupid] Beta sign in, so we won't be able to hear from him (outside his personal site) for an unknown amount of time.

Me, however, you will not hear from until sometime next week. Tomorrow I leave for Vegas and I am uber-excited. I might get out for a few miles in the morning -- I might not. It's not really a concern of mine right now. Should be. Isn't.

Today was my first Running Shop Group Run and it was an enjoyable one. I look forward to being able to make these weekly 10k jaunts. Tonight, I was proud to tell J that, having pulled 4th in the overall standings, he would be crowned 20-29 age group SAR Grand Prix champion. With 200 points in 5 races (he places atop the age group in each race he ran), this age group victory is probably more of an afterthought for the UA 5/10K man and Beer Mile Champion. If you attend the Winterhaven Run Through Some Lights Dinner (this Sunday, 12/17) you can see him receive his prize.

You may wonder why I never mentioned this situation before. Well, to be frank, there are conflicting messages on the SAR pages. One description says that Top 3 overall are removed from AG standing and given overall awards. Meanwhile, a second page says that top 5 overall are removed from AG races. Having read this, I simply did not want to say something prematurely and on poor information ("Mission Accomplished" "I will fire anyone in my administration who leaked Valerie Plumm's identity" "BNL is the GREATEST BAND EVER"). I'm only a recent SAR enlistie and I, frankly, just was hoping that we n00bz wouldn't be pnw3d by SAR's H4WTN3SS.

Sorry, I just had to fit that in.

HAD TO.

(It reads as 'hotness')

So, anyways, as predicted -- the SAR Grand Prix Season will end with the following.

Overall Champion -- Dan Maher, followed by Dragons Mike Salkowski and Lucas Tyler.

Masters Champion: Dave Hill (AKA Agent Smith)

Sub-20 Champion: Thomas Walsh. 20-29 Champion: Jason Colavito. 30-39 Champion: Todd Hansberry. 40-49: Daren Sandbank. 50-59: Dick Senti. 60-69: Don Branaman. 70+: Clifford Click.

The womens champion was Jessica Munson. I don't really care and was not going to mention this but then I saw that she was 26 so, just in case I can use it later, I thought I'd mention her in here.

Winterhave Run Through Lights -- Final Grand Prix Standings -- Mike

Petie's Back!

2006-12-12T10:16:00.001-08:00

Pistol Petie is back in town so I met him this morning for some miles and conversation along the River. Having this study day before my Chem-E final tomorrow, it was nice to wake up and not have to run before 9. These 6:30 runs are just too damn cold, I'm afraid, and the more I talk about them, the happier I will be when they are gone.

Still, according to the Sebring, it was only 41 out when I pulled up to the elementary school at the end of Mountain. I jogged around a bit and was stretching when Petie pulled up in the 4 Runner. My favorite thing about Petie's family is that they aren't letting this whole gas-price/environmentalism nonsense get to them. Sweet lookin' 4 Runners are just that -- sweet lookin' -- and meant to be shown off by driving them around with only the driver and no passengers or cargo.

So we ran down the River and discussed training -- both new and old -- and talked about our old Salpointe days. Recently, the Star named Malisa Carino (SCHS '00) coach of the year and, apparently, they won a state XC title or something. I don't really know as I don't keep up on high school action too much. Then we got to talking about how this mornings paper is reporting that Salpointe will begin mandatory drug testing of all its students. I'd read the article and, while I didn't think much of it, I figured it would really get a bunch of people who were not graduates/parents at the school all worked up.

Frankly, I think if Mike Urbanski supports the policy -- then it's golden. The man has never steered my wrong once and, besides, I can't think of an arguement against it if the parents dont fucking care.

Then we headed back and now I have to get back to studying.

Reminder: tomorrow, Running Shop Group Run at 6:15 (someone correct that in the comments if I am wrong) followed by Dragons at Old Chicago. I will be drinking.

Salpointe to Drug Test -- Carino is Coach of the Year -- Carino's Girls Win State XC

T-Moc

2006-12-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

So Blogger has gone to some Beta version and it requires we log in with our Gmail addresses. Not a big deal -- unless you hate Gmail -- which Train does. Well, he'd probably say hate is the wrong word -- but when your devotion to Hotmail is so extreme that you don't even want to consider the highly dominant Gmail...well, I'd say you either hate one or love the other.

Rather, are in love with the other.

His last post he said he would not be writing again until he knocked out a 40 minute run. If it were not for this little Gmail hurdle, Train would probably be posting today. You see, Rudy, this morning I was witness to Train's 40 minute feat. Down to Reid Park, around a bit, and back to the 821 -- I held on until about the last half mile.

While my being dropped by Train on his longest run of 2006 was at least partially due to the endorphins that were, no doubt, kicking in on his 'Runners High' -- I'd have attribute most of my general draggyness to yesterday's route. Now listen, Theo, yesterday while others were up in Oro Valley shooting for marathon and half-marathon PRs en route to final place jockeying for the Grand Prix, I was headed out my door to discover a new route.

Tumamoc hill (a common obstacle to hear about in Train's training log) was the destination for my Sunday long run. I've been eager to get back to training in the hills so heading West from my downtown-adjacent abode made the most sense. I had thought about running up through Star Pass and back down St Mary's -- but it just didn't seem like enough for how I was feeling. Instead, I thought this was prime time to see what this Tumamoc is all about.

Now, I had heard that this run was no fucking joke...but I'll tell ya, this thing is no fucking joke. By the time I was approaching the top, I was drenched with sweat as my legs were just plodding, completely unable to go faster or slower for fear of intense pain. The one good thing I can say about this hill is that it's wide enough that you can always pass the groups of four chicks in spandex pants or 2 fat dudes in sleeveless tees, walking up the road.

Gaining about 730 feet in a mile and half, Tumamoc isn't the V (which gains 2000 feet in just under 2.5 miles) -- but it ain't no tempo route like ODC. And while the steepness is a beast on the trek up, it's especially noticable on the road down when you are trying to throw on the brakes on some of the steepest sections. According to my watch, this is an obstacle that takes about 14 minutes to get up -- but only about 11 to get down.

By the time I was reaching the house, I was feeling it in my legs. This morning, upon waking up, I did not want to run. However, I made it out for Train's run. There would be no afternoon follow-up.

I'm still pretty sore this evening. Since I leave in a couple days I think I will just go ahead and take tomorrow pretty chill -- maybe throw in some strides or something like that -- and then prep for one more hard session before leaving for Vegas. Still, the aim for the week will be Wednesday's Running Shop Group Run with post-run Dragons Gift-Card Spending Ceremony.

Watch the Camera atop Tumamoc -- Tucson Marathon Results -- Winterhaven Run This Sunday

Dragons doesn't do giving money to Pam Reed

2006-12-10T13:54:00.000-08:00

So no Dragons were up in Oro Valley today to cover the Tucson Marathon/Half-Marathon. Mike, as you read yesterday, passed on the race after setting a 26.2 PR one week ago in California. I honestly can't say I blame him either. But without any other Dragons competing in the event, I had no reason to show and so now there is no official race recap. Yeah, this is kinda a shortcoming on our part, as one of our goals was to bring y'all some race recaps -- but cut us some slack, we're new at this. We'll get a link up to the event as soon as the results are available.

This will, however, end the Grand Prix season with Dragons in 2nd through 4th places in the overall standings. They are a modest bunch, but I'd like to send my congrats to Omni, Mike, and Lucas for quality performances through the year. In fact, 2006 hasn't been a bad rookie year for our new little team. Just a few of the accomplishments:

Most recently, obviously, Mike set a new marathon PR of 2h37m. Really -- all his shorter accomplishments (Turkey Trot, Run'n'Roll, Cinco De Mayo, and Spring XC Classic age group victories, for example) are just kinda icing on the cake, I think. Jason -- who secured 4th in the GP standing in only five events -- along with setting PRs up and down his first complete NCAA cross country season at Arizona, won this year's Fine Valentine 5-miler along with top 3 finishes at the Sun Run 5k, Spring XC Classic, Cinco de Mayo run, and Turkey Trot. And because I only know Lucas had quality finishes up around Mike and Jason this year (and because I am too lazy to search through all the race results again), I will point out Lucas' Tech Trek 10k domination last March where he took top spot by 100 seconds. I remember this well because this was around the same time that I won my age group at the 8K for 88-Crime.

Then, of course, was our team victories at the Spring XC Classic as well as the Turkey Trot.

So, as 2006 winds down here, I'd have to say it was a decent inaugural year for Dragons.

Also, we're going to be at Old Chicago next Wednesday to blow our Turkey Trot victory gift card (in case, I dont know, you wanna come take photos or something).

Finally, I think that if we are in this kind of position next year (with no one Dragon looking to race the marathon or half) then we should field a Dragons relay team.

Turkey Trot Recap -- My 88 Crime Recap -- Mike's Most Recent Marathon Recap

Out With a Whimper

2006-12-08T18:18:00.000-08:00

Don't write a check with your mouth that your body can't cash, or so goes the old saying. There will be no Tucson half marathon for me on Sunday, the body simply cannot deliver and the brain is afraid that the attempt would do far more harm than good. Dan will win a well-earned victory in the SAR Grand Prix and I will have to actually pay for races again. Dan beat me all but one time when we raced head to head this year, and I honestly hope he gets the time he's shooting for on Sunday. . .even if it's a minute faster than I've ever run for the distance.

I finished 36th at the California International Marathon. I was first Dragon and placed just ahead of the second woman, who drafted behind me and another runner for most of the race. I was hoping to break 2:35, but I ended with a 2:37:32 after running the first half in 1:17:09 or so. If this positive split indicates suffering during the last three miles it should, as it took all I had to keep running 6:20, 6:40 and finally 7 minute pace for those miles.

While racing shorter distances does provide a thrill, the marathon is just such a cruel and difficult race that I can't let it go.

Best of luck to everyone this weekend, sorry I won't be in the parade.

WIP

2006-12-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

I still haven't finished up planning this week. Between weather, school, and other misc's -- yeah, I just haven't gotten around to it. I'd say my current position is best summed up by last night's conversation with my soccer teammate, Alex Coomer:

magelin56: hey
magelin56: whats up?
blaXar 2: I'd like to hear about you getting in a fight at a Prodigy concert in germany
magelin56: it was in the czech republic
magelin56: in brno...the city i was in for the whole time
magelin56: it was in this old communist community center area
magelin56: i was late getting into it bc i got drunk and lost on the way...so, i showed up on my own and had a little bit of hash which i had bought from african drug dealers in milan the weekend earlier
magelin56: bc i walked in late, didn't respond to the cops and shit when they asked me questions in czech, they searched me but didn't get me in trouble about the hash which was weird
magelin56: anyhow, i go in...feeling awfully lucky and go to stand in line to buy beer
magelin56: some random guy hands me money, says something in czech which i understood as to buy him beer...i buy him beer, he gives me a little baggy of weed...that made me happy
magelin56: then, as prodigy finally starts im pretty drunk/drugged up and it is prodigy in the some po-dunk ex-soviet community center so it was getting pretty rough
magelin56: randomly a big bald fucker hits me in the back of the head...i assume it was part of the danceing/jumping/what not but i hit him back...
magelin56: he clearly noticed it was me and came after me jumping through the crowd flailing at me
magelin56: he falls, stands up and tries to head butt me but misses...swings and barely catches me jaw...then we get seperated by some random polish friend i knew
magelin56: from that point on it was pretty peaceful bc i proceeded to smoke all the drugs i had acquired
magelin56: it was way east europe i thought...i dont even like prodigy
magelin56: it is really hazy bc of all the alcohol and stuff though

RE: Blax's training

2006-12-03T22:15:00.000-08:00

50 MILES IN ONE WEEK??? HERE'S AN IDEA--TRY FOR 50 PUSHUPS IN ONE WEEK. YOU COULD NEVER DO IT HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!! AND YOU LITTLE WASTRELS WONDERS WHY NO FEMALE WILL EVER COME NEAR YOU HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!! GO EAT SOME NUTS AND BERRIES HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!

MR. CHEST

To Summarize

2006-12-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

This week ended with 38 miles in 5 days -- well off my goal of the 50 range. I'd attribute it, at least in part, to running the first few days too hard and feeling just tired here at the end of the week. For example, I went out last night with Train and, about 3 miles in, I had to just lay off and bring it in at a relaxed pace.

Second, I need to get off the hard surfaces. Unfortunately, this pretty much requires planning and travel -- so routes are something I am taking into account while I write up this week's schedule. Also, I am going to do a better job of having paces/efforts as well as specifics (for workouts) penciled in ahead of time. Minus the missing an extra day, I actually followed (or exceeded) the daily mileage totals I had put together for this week. I now need to hone in on the details of each day. One of those details will be increasing my average single-run mileage. This will, of course, lead to higher overall mileage -- but more than anything else, I want to prevent myself from slipping into a two-a-day rut of something like a four miler in the morning and a 5 miler in the evening.

Finally, I need to just get through this last time-consuming, gut-wrenching week of classes. Also, our heat went dead this weekend. They are supposed to come out tomorrow and, as I've mentioned before, the climate in my room when I wake up is a major factor in how I approach all facets of my day.

This week should be much better (especially in the long run department if Mike will be hobbling through the half at a pace he'd like some company with) because I'll be able to plan it out with better vision.

Somewhere in Sacramento

2006-12-02T17:14:00.000-08:00

there's a runner in a cheap hotel room waiting...
Tomorrow is the marathon, and free internet and basic cable are passing the time. Hopefully the Turkey Trot worked as a last tune up, and the rest of the training has done the job. 7am the gun sounds and I'll do my best not to get too carried away. I've worked hard for this. That's all for now, time to put my feet up.

Suspension for quality control

2006-12-02T08:15:00.000-08:00

Alright, folks--there's a mission here at the Train depot, and that is to carry off a sustained run of 40 minutes. I shall not post again until I do so. We here at Dragons are committed to quality.
Till then,
Train

And Some Dude Says The CIF Weather May Be Nasty

2006-11-30T08:23:00.000-08:00

I've never been a person who has been able to just wake up every morning and go for a run. Even in the afternoons, I need coaxing to get my body moving. Normally a series of lies (we'll go easy, we'll just go for 20 minutes...) is enough to push me on my way. Once out, usually, the story changes.

The miracle isn't that I finished...it's that I had the courage to start.

Yesterday, admittedly, I woke up, turned off my alarm, and rolled back over for another hour of sleep. That's right, so not only did I not go for the run -- but I actually ended up sleeping later than I would if I had just woken up on a non-AM run day. I'm sure glad I didn't go though. It was miserable out (by my sunny Tucson standards) all day. The wind was blowing, the chill was icy, and the sky just had that look that is totally dreary but shows no signs of actually doing anything -- as if it could just stay there and contain you in this windy little icebox town forever. Sometimes I think it is just best to write a morning like that off every now and again.

But today was different. Pissed as all hell about my decision to get out of bed (and even more irritated that the only people I could blame were myself and Logan -- who had been ripping on me for not getting out yesterday morning), I slipped on my only long-sleeve shirt (which I bought about two weeks ago) and walked to the porch to get my shoes. Stepping back in and lacing up, I had to double-check to make sure I hadn't just stepped into the freezer a moment ago because it was cold as shit out there. I went back to my room, grabbed my Pima warm-ups, hat, and gloves and lickity-split, I was out the door.

My neighbor has some sort of leak or something that runs out of her planter and all along the road. I watched the steam rising as I headed out for my run. The whole way, all I could think was, how do people do this? If I lived in a cold climate, I'd be a billiards champion or something -- but never a runner. Not even a treadmill marathon world record runner. Then on the way back, I stopped to grab a drink at the water fountain on the west end of ODC.

FROZEN!

Like, I could see the ice in the spout.

It'd really better warm-up (or at least not be windy) because I still haven't come up with this afternoon's workout but it'd really help me if it's not balls cold out when I am trying to run.

On that note, I found this picture on the SAR website (which, I think, should have a gallery where SAR members can upload/access photos from different races/events around town). The kid in the red Foot Locker shirt is, obviously, running with an iPod. Anyways, I just wanted to point out that I came up by him about half a mile into the race and I could totally hear his music from a good ways away. When I got close, I could totally tell it was just some raging speed metal. I asked him if it was Bodom but he was just all focused on the race ahead. I asked a couple more times, with no responses, before moving on. I'd have to say that wasted energy was the difference between an 18:43 and a 17:05. I won't make that mistake again.....

Cold Front

2006-11-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

Training has been coming right along since last week's 27 total miles that seemed like it was half pre-race tapering and half actual 5k racing. So far we're up to 13 miles this week and I feel good heading into my first workout of sorts since the race.

I've done my last couple runs around noon because winter has finally come and I like to avoid the cold as much as possible. The midday run has also worked out well because I don't have to worry about when I can fit in a run in the evening (along with dinner and a reasonable bedtime). While I am limited to runs that generally stay off campus or don't pass through downtown (I don't like running where there are a lot of people), I never really go these routes much anyways so I don't consider it a loss.

Unfortunately, tomorrow through Friday are two run days (nothing crazy, just a few extra miles in the morning) so I will have to face the cold at least a few times this week. Train went out this morning to do a workout on ODC so I'll have to ask him if there are any polar bears out on the ODC these days. For me, today was a longer run so tomorrow will be broken into 2 sessions with the hopes of giving me a little break before Thursday's workout. I'm not entirely sure what my workout is going to entail but I am thinking some sort of long repeats or a fartlek might be in order. I'll get with Petie or Omni about this and see if we can't come up with something. Friday and Saturday will then be pretty standard days before a long Sunday. Should end up sitting somewhere around 50 for the week.

Meanwhile, Dragon Mike Salkowski is in his final days before his shot at the California International Marathon. The following week he will be running in the Tucson Marathon to round out the 2006 SAR Grand Prix Series.

The Wager

2006-11-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

While I lost to Dan at the Trot, I must say I'm happy with the team victory. For most of the run-up to this race I had assumed Omni wouldn't be there, so I was feeling the pressure of having to take out Dragonslayers #1 man. Luckily for me Jason showed up and took care of business, though when Dan slipped by me somewhere around mile two I have to admit I felt a bit dejected. As Blax explained this leaves me in a distant second place for the SAR Grand Prix, though I can take solace in the fact that I get to force the leader to take the line at the half marathon by dragging my creaky bones to the start a week after my marathon.

Hey, that gives me an idea. What's really missing from the Grand Prix is the true essence of sport. What we need is a good old fashioned bet. First SAR member across the line at the half takes all. What do you say Dan? All you need to do is beat an old, grey 35-year-old father of two who will be running on legs damaged by a marathon the week prior. How about it?

Grand Prix Standings: Update

2006-11-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

Personally, after Thursday's less-than-acceptable-but-what-are-ya-gonna-do? performance, I wasn't especially eager to think about training some more. Friday was a short and relaxed run that I needed only to work out a couple kinks from Thursday's race. Noticing how unsore I was on Friday only reaffirmed my assumption that I ran Thursday less like a race and more like a poor thresh-hold run. Thank goodness for the heart of Kyle Colavito sometimes.

I can say that after a couple days though I am actually feeling quite optimistic about training. I don't have another race until January's Sun Run for Pima Community College Cross Country and Track & Field 5k/10k and this is good because I really need some straight up training time (I'd like to improve on my 17:34 from last time). Also, I look forward to the Sun Run because it gives me an excuse to think about Rage's hit People of the Sun.

So in all honesty, I hadn't adequately prepared myself to run any sort of respectable time at the Turkey Trot (I can't imagine many factors on Thursday that would have allowed me to run more than maybe like 20 seconds faster than I did) but now I feel like I can hit a decent training period in which I, frankly, won't have to worry about racing or, my bigger stress, being a limiting factor in Dragons' team performances. As far as Dragons issues go, I really only feel the need to worry about uniform shit and what size tees we're all gonna need.

Oh -- and what to order for free at Old Chicago. That's right Grinders!! I was never on your side!!

That was cold -- I'm sure Grinders is some nice dudes. They have that masters guy who wears those glasses and looks like Agent Smith from the Matrix movies -- and that is badass.

Maybe we should try to pick him up and start a Dragons Masters team for 40+ competitors.

I know J will be glad to be finished racing until January as well.

Alright, this all isn't even the point of this post. What I originally sat down to write about was the updated Grand Prix Standings. With only one event remaining (December's Tucson Marathon/Half-Marathon), Dragons Mike Salkowski, Lucas Tyler, and Jason Colavito are holding second through fourth place (I think fifth is the Agent Smith guy from Grinders) standings in the overall GP point totals (behind former Running Shop employee and Arizona Daily Star running clothing model, Dan Maher). Given Maher's 279 point total is 31 points ahead of Salkowski, the individual crown seems Maher's to win so long as he shows for the Tucson Marathon or half-marathon. If he does not, however, it is possible that Salkowski could hobble to an overall victory if he runs the half-marathon only 1 short week after completing the California International Marathon.

Alright, that's all I really wanted to get out there. Solid Dragon representation, if you ask me.

Sun Run -- Grand Prix Standings -- Sun Run 2006 Race Recap

Turkey Trot Recap: As seen though Blax's eyes

2006-11-24T12:25:00.000-08:00

As I sat down to write this up, I pulled up all necessary links -- including the official race results -- on my computer. It was in the official team results that I found out I had been placed on Team Grinders (as their #1 finisher, might I add) in the official race results. It was really the perfect ending to such a race.

Having not ran a race since my total meltown at the Spring Cross Country Classic, I felt surprisingly calm as I rode my bike to Reid Park yesterday morning. Unfortunately, the iBlax was again acting up so I could only access my Wesley Willis collection. Listening to Willis hits, "Taste a Panda's Ass", "Rock'n'Roll McDonalds", and "Fuck you" I began visualizing my race. Once to the course, I met up with Omni, Mike, Lucas, and Petie. It was here that I learned a few interesting points.

1. The Workout Group team (with whom we had teammed up with last year to win the Turkey Trot over Legends TC) had chosen the name WOGDragonSlayers. Obviously, a message was being sent. Later in the morning, WOG Mike would verbalize that message to me in a statement that sounded very much like, "You are an asshole."

1a. WOGDragonSlayers had recruited Olympian Abdi Abdirahman to ringer their squad. Given that race results would be based on accumulated time (as opposed to points), we were looking pretty foolish for not pushing harder to recruit one Bernard Lagat (or even a Robert Cheseret) for this race.

2. In response to WOG's addition, Dragons added Omni's older brother, Kyle Colavito, to the Dragons roster.

3. Abdirahman would not be showing for the race.

It was during warmups that I made my biggest mistake of the day -- changing my race strategy. I decided that a conservative start would be best in what looked like a deep field. You see, the first half-mile or so offers little open passing area and I thought it was best for me to not get caught up in the wave of high schoolers that would be going out in 5:10 before settling in to their 7:25 race pace. I was honestly fearful that I might end up over 19-minutes for this race if I went out too hard and failed to hold on.

I figured my best bet would be to go out and just try to keep WOG's #4 guy in sight. After the first half mile of the race, I could see that I was sitting in around 65th place but was not far behind WOG 4-man Randy Acceta. I just hoped our front three were pushing to give me a decent cushion. I spent the remainder of the first mile picking off wheezing high schoolers and underperforming guys from Mexico. Petie and I came through 1 mile in 5:40.

By the end of the first lap, I knew that I was damned if I did and I was damned if I didn't. I was stuck in a pace and, worse than that, I was alone. Petie was already making a respectable team move by at least going after Acceta. I just floated along as a couple dudes passed me somewhere around the 2 mile mark. I could not answer.

As I crossed the water again, I could hear everyone cheering for the winners coming through and I hoped that too much wouldn't be resting on my shoulders. I ended up finishing with Petie and worried that my 18:43 (over ten seconds slower than last year's race) would be Dragons' nail in the coffin.

After catching my breath I headed over to the scorers area and found my old teammate Manny Thomas. Understanding my worry, Manny told me that he'd let me know as soon as the team results were figured. I walked back towards the finish where I was blindsided by Kyle Colavito who told me that he had finished ahead of me by some 2 places, thus making my time irrelevant in team judging. Boy was I relieved to find out that if we lost it would all be Kyle's fault!

Just kidding, I was still pretty disappointed with my race but no one wants to see you sulking around or making excuses or being a little bitch after any race. You ran, you got a place and a time -- now it was time to chill, so I did and it was nice.

Manny then came over and told me that, even without Kyle's time being yet figured in, we had taken the team championship. It made me feel all warm inside. I am currently holding on to the gift-card we won (as I am, apparently, Dragons' player-manager) and look forward to chowing down with my teammates.

Dragon Mike Salkowski's Race Recap -- Official Results (Men) (Team) -- Omni's Race Report -- Another Race Recap -- Last Year's Race Recap

Victory

2006-11-24T07:37:00.000-08:00

After completing the last step of the 66,000 meters of cross country running I raced this season on Monday, I was more than happy to shut it down for a bit. However, with the Thanksgiving Cross Country Classic looming just 3 days later, I knew I had to find an external motivator to finish the season. After running through a catalog of reasons to run, I settled on just one:

A Dragon never abandons another Dragon. We are a team, goddammit!

So, yesterday morning, I tried valiantly to win the race for the team but failed. Although, our collective team performance led to complete dominance of WOG Dragonslayers and an all expenses paid dinner to a local pizza franchise.

For me, the race did not go as planned as I felt absolutely horrible while struggling to a 15:51 5K. The rest of the guys helped cement the victory with a times of 16:38, 17:21, and 18:39 for a cumulative team time of 68:30:00.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

If life's not beautiful without the pain, well I'd just rather never ever even see beauty again.

2006-11-22T07:06:00.000-08:00

I usually write race recaps on this thing but, needless to say, my performance at Nationals does not require too much explanation. I guess I am just burnt out or something because, after Pac 10's, I was sick often and quality training was sporadic contributing to my poor race performances at Regionals and Nationals. Although, at Nationals, I straight up wasn't ready for the mud on the course.

Looking at our performance as a team, it appeared that we collectively needed to do more strength training (i.e. longer intervals on the golf course and more long runs). The volume was there for the most part as I averaged right around 70 miles for the season but must of that mileage was achieved through two-a-days which, in my opinion, are absolutely necessary for success as a distance runner but should not be an aid to boost your mileage. Many coaches and athletes are proponents of a 12 mile day consisting of 6 and 6 or 8 and 4 but I believe it should be something like 10-12 and 4 in the afternoon. In this respect, I think we missed out on a lot of aerobic opportunities which may have been key for the 10k's at the end of the season.

Anyways, despite the minimal low moments in the season, I am quite happy how I personally did throughout the long cross season. Coach Ryan told me after the race that he was worried that I was going to be out for the season after the Dave Murray Invite (the second race of the season) as I couldn't even walk after the race and could hardly run the day after.

"This shit is tenuous, sometimes" he told me.

I can only agree.

I really have no idea how I went from being unable to put pressure on my right foot to running 24:48. I guess ibuprofen really is a miracle drug. Also, I slipped Spenco Arch Cushion insoles in the Marathoners and taped my foot every run which may have also helped. Looking back, though, I think I was just determined to finish the season and really didn't give a shit that I could barely walk as I could run with a great real of pain and that is all that mattered. The strategy paid off as I am healthy once again and can walk and run pain free. Also, despite the setback, I managed to PR every 8K I ran this season. Here is the progression:

George Kyte Invitational, Flagstaff, AZ: 26:31 (previous course PR: 27:15)
Roy Griak Invitational, Minneapolis, MN: 26:30
ASU Invitational, Tempe, AZ: 25:27 (previous course PR: 26:40)
Pre-Nationals, Terre Haute, IN: 25:19
Pac 10 Championships, Palo Alto, CA: 24:48

My breakthrough came at both the ASU Invite and Pac 10's where I didn't let up once the whole race and felt confident the whole time.

Hopefully, I can exhume some of the magic I found up in Tempe and Palo Alto for the Trot. The Dragons will really need to execute to take down Dragon Slayers.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

The Final Countdown!!! DEE DEE DOO DOO!! DEE DEE DOO DOO DOOOOOOO!!!

2006-11-22T07:02:00.000-08:00

Check it.

Dragons will be on display tomorrow at the Thanksgiving Cross Country Classic. Race time is 9:15 at Reid Park. Obviously it won't be 78 degrees or above -- so it'll still be cold, but at least it shouldn't be 'ball-freezing cold' (I'll share that story some other time). You can track the changes in the phases of ice as the race goes on with the phase diagram provided in this post.

Goodness, I really hope there are no major changes in the Tucson's atmospheric pressure during our 5k or I may end up DNFing because I will be a frozen man a la James Taylor.

So if you come -- might wanna wear a jacket. And maybe some mittens.

My cat's name is Mittens.

Alright, sorry, I'm waiting for Omni to call me. Apparently, I forgot to register for the race so I'm gonna roll with him to the Running Shop so I can get my shit squared away.

So anyways, I'm excited for the race here. Petie got in last night so our whole squad is now in town. That's always a start. We're meeting this afternoon for a little 'team run' at Reid Park. Just a little stretching, handing out the interim uniforms (Nike sucks -- I think we should be an RBK squad), and whatnot. I feel like I have a winning (not in the literal sense of the word) strategy with my 'Go out hard and hang on for dear life' approach and I am especially relieved to have a reliable group of guys leading us in the race (literally).

However, this just brings back bad memories my Pima days when I finished as our 5 guy and we lost the conference championship by 3 points. Trust me -- it was on me. Our top guys were like way up front...and then there was me -- couldn't even pick off two guys -- couldn't even knock 30 seconds off a dismal 29 min 8k performance. Not this time though! No siree...cuz we also got Petie and they only score the top 4!

Dude -- I have a video from a high school track race where our team took 1st, 3rd, and 4th places and then some dude from another school (probably cheering for the 2nd place guy) is heard saying, "Yeah! Top 4 baby!" I mean, what the hell is that?

The many phases of water -- Mike took a day off!! -- Turkey Trot

Reinstating the draft ain't got me worried!

2006-11-20T08:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a half-time trot down to Reid Park during the Cardinals half-time show. I ended up missing part of the third quarter because of this but when I got back I was glad to see CardsQBMattyL got his first win as a starter and I'm glad to see James rushing for 96 yards (he coulda gone over 100 but Arizona kneeled the clock away on their last posession) -- but Denny Green has got to go.

I suggest we bring in Jim Mora.

And on non-Sundays, he can coach Dragons.

Marathon? MARATHON!!?? Don't talk about a marathon. I just hope we can win a 5k!!

Then I didn't get out this morning because I found a website late last night that has all the episodes of The Office on it so I got all caught up but opted to sleep in 'til class this morning. I'll do some miles this afternoon. Frankly, my legs are still pretty tired and now I am just focusing on tuning them up as best as possible before Thursday's race.

Also, Omni is running at NCAA XC Nationals right about now. We'll see how that goes.

John 11:23

2006-11-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

Well, Friday pm's workout didn't go as well as hoped. I'm not sure if it was most affected by Tuesday's lingering effort, my Friday morning mileage that may have been ran harder than I suspected, or just my general lack of conditioning. A combination of all three seems most logical. Regardless, it has helped bring me to some conclusions. With Friday's embarrassment still on my brain, I started my run yesterday morning with a goal to figure out some sort of strategy for the Turkey Trot. The whole process alone has committed me to staying on top of my training just so I don't end up doing this 'cram session' ever again.

I don't think it has been very efficient.

As I cruised to Silverlake park, I really tried to tune in on what my body had been saying these past couple weeks. Aside of the cries of agony and screams of 'No!', I see now that Thursday is going to be little more than an exhibition -- a low-standard setter, if you will, so that in a year I can say, "Wow. I dropped nine minutes off my 5k in only one year!"

Last year I ran 18:31, one second behind 16 year old John Leavitt. It means little outside of this story, but I coulda outkicked him. It just doesn't seem right to have that much left that late in a race though. Well, John, I don't suspect that will a problem this year. If there is one thing I can be sure of right here, right now -- it's that I will not have a kick on Thursday.

That's right, from the man who produced what could only be described as, "a rocket-like kick", there will be no propelling myself from last to first this year. Thursday's strategy sounds more like something that Petie's coach would have come up with.

Get out there and try to hang on.

It worked pretty well at the 88-Crime 8k last March, but that course was quite flat and asphaulty. Now we're talking the Turkey Trot course. Now we're talking a field that consists of probably 60 people who go out under 6-flat for the first mile and don't finish under 20 minutes. Now we're talking hay bales, water pits, and a 17 year old John Leavitt who probably had a growth spurt and is really out to stick to Old Man Blax.

I don't like it, but there is nothing I can do about it at this point. This won't be like last year, John, as I slowly reeled you in over the final section of the course after the river crossing. No, this year, it will have to be I who is leading as we take it to the final hill and the subsequent hay bail jumps. And this year. on 11/23/06 John Leavitt, should you be the one coming for me as I am totally falling apart in the final 80 or so meters, I only hope that you will return the compassion that I showed you last year, and not blow past this humbled, accepting, and broken old man.

On the other hand, John, if you've got me by even an inch when we hit the 2.5 mile mark, you can just rest easy because I will surely be done moving up at that point.

2005 Results -- 2006 Sign Up

Go Obed!

2006-11-17T08:36:00.000-08:00

The calves still aren't recovered from Tuesday's little track session. I blame it more on the spikes than on the workout -- but, regardless, the results are the same. Yesterday's run was an am hobble down ODC parkway that never really got started. Yeah it was cold. Yeah I was sore. But mainly, I just couldn't stay focused after seeing UA harrier and All-West Region Team member, Obed Mutanya, running on our blessed ODC for the second time this fall!

Obed looked pretty relaxed with his long-sleeves and Arizona beanie as he headed west on the parkway. I figured his run must have started some time around 6am. As we came up on each other, we exchanged headnods and continued. I wanted to tell him nice job at Regionals (where he was the top Wildcat finisher, I believe). I wanted to wish him luck at Nationals -- both for his own psyche as well as letting him know that I wasn't just some dude out running who didn't appreciate Tucson's running representatives and was only out doing 8:15 miles on ODC because I had a rough flag-football game the night before and I needed to 'get loose' for tonight's match. Unfortunately, I had my music on pretty loud and I didn't want to be getting all Ron Burgundy on him at 6:45 in the morning, out on ODC parkway where there isn't another running sould for miles...

GOOD LUCK AT NATIONALS!! MAYBE WE CAN GET DRINKS AND MAYBE I COULD SHOW YOU AROUND TOWN!!!

That'd probably scare him.

YOU CAN USE MY OFFICE 'TIL YOUR DESK WILL BE READY!!!

And so I said nothing. A giddy fan, I let my heart get to my head and I blew the moment, yet again. Which brings us to this mornings run (Friday's are great because I don't have my 8am class so I can sleep in a little). A casual 5 miler, it took a bit for the blood to get to my legs butI was happy by the end. The calves are still pretty sore but there is no more time to be babying them. I have tapering-workout II this afternoon after my chemical engineering test and I already know that the spikes will be staying in the closet for this one. This time, more and shorter reps at a bit faster pace are the prescription.

I'm hoping to get in a couple mile warm-up, the workout, a cool-down and be at Bumsteads, pounding my Guiness before the thirst even sets in.

Obed -- Cats are off to Nationals

Track Talk

2006-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

We're a little over a week out from the Turkey Trot and our team still isn't registered. After Sunday's run on ODC (where I saw the lil' taggers) I caught Omni on IM and expressed my concern about our registration information. He assured me that there were no worries (I trust him when he says to relax) and we moved on to more important topics, one of which is that Nike likely won't have us our uniforms on time so, just for the Trot, we may be looking more like the District 5 ducks with the come-and-go coaches and ragtag outfits than the sleek, Gordon Bombay coached Mighty Ducks who got all their shit from Hans' store before the old bastard croaked.

Perhaps, in due time, we will make it on to be representatives of the United States in the Junior World Hockey Championships (defeating Iceland in penalty shots) and subsequently move on to some college where we will be the JV team that has all kinds of issues with the varsity team -- but I never saw the ending of D3: The Mighty Ducks, so I can't tell you how it all ends for Dragons.

After covering uniforms, the shitty conditions of his regional championship race, and talk of how much more I like Kyle Colavito than Jon Colavito (though both are Facebook friends with me), Omni asked some more about my training. I expressed to him, in the most honest terms I know how, that I felt like I was improving but I defintely wasn't where I wanted to be. Especially in terms of speed. I (like most people, I think) don't like the opening phases of speedwork. It hurts, your times are unimpressive, and, especially when you are alone, it's hard on the psyche. Add to it that 5k training requires long-interval sets -- something I hate -- and it's easy to see why I've managed to neglect this part of my training in recent weeks.

Okay...months.

Alright, look, I haven't stepped on a track without the intention of drinking before, during, and after the run in about 3 years.

This reminds me -- apparently Beer Mile '06 is in the works. J'll probably cover that more though.

Now, all of you in SAR will tell me, that's why there is WOG. And I'm gonna say, Bro, I'm not gonna argue with you, alright? And that'll be that.

Anyways, after a bit of whining on my part, Omni was helpful and laid it all out:

Man, you gotta go all anerobic 'til the race.

Ain't that the truth. But what workout could I actually be able to complete, benefit from, and not be wrecked until race day from doing? He sent me a complete workout -- distances, paces, and recoveries (because that is what I need, to be frank) -- and told me to get back to him.

So yesterday I looked at my little notecard that I had scribbled his suggestions onto. I knew damn well that I couldn't be trusted to not make up excuses to cut this one short, extend my recovery, and allow substantially slower splits. So when I wasn't looking, I knocked on Train's door and asked that he come out to the brand new track at Tucson High School in about 15 minutes to time me. He agreed and I took off.

The paces, as I went over them in my head, sounded blazing compared to the base-training-style runs I had been doing. To date, my fastest mile came at the end of a run on ODC where I dropped it down and kicked it in...and was still well-over 6 minutes.

I met Train at the track where I switched over to my spikes -- not because I thought they would offer any substantial help, but because my shoes just felt akward and tight so I hoped this would offer me some relief. The Tucson High marching band was practicing on the field so I was glad that I had worn my Pima Cross Country shirt for street cred. After a couple strides, Train offered me some words of encouragement and I was off.

Running to the new sounds of the THS band playing Radiohead combined with the fresh new track under my feet and my speedless condition really made me feel new to the sport all over again. I would have liked it if my junk woulda stayed inside my shorts better (I don't know what the deal with my shorts are lately but I'm gonna be sure to put a sticker on my blue adidas ones so I never wear them to a workout around minors again, less I end up on Dateline with all those child predators) and, honestly, I did end up having to do the last repeat in two parts but I would chalk it up as a worthwhile workout and a worthwhile day.

We went and got sushi afterwards and it was really good.

Today the calves are quite sore so I'll try to make it out to the track again either tomorrow or Friday; and probably on Monday should everything hold up alright.

We'll just call this the shortest, worst, most unneccessary taper ever.

So far this week (starting Monday): 8 miles with one track session.

Don't Screw it Up

2006-11-14T04:39:00.000-08:00

Last week of real work before the taper is done, here's how it went down-
M: 14 easy
Tu: 10 w/3x1 mile in 5:16, 5:15, 5:11 (2-2:30 recovery, 2x800 in 2:30, 2:27
We: 12, moderate progression run
We: 5 very slow
Th: 10 miles w/6x1 minute hill charges
F: 8 miles easy
Sa: 6 miles easy
Su: 18 miles w/15 at 5:54 pace
Total: 83

This whole week was about two things: keeping our two kids alive while my wife was on vacation and surviving the 15 mile marathon pace time trial. I did a better job with the latter. As for the marathon pace run, it's given me the confidence to proclaim I can hold at least 5:54 pace for the Turkey Trot next week.

Three weeks of tapering has begun, and since I'm easing off more than usual I expect all the people who complain I don't taper enough to cry foul and say I'm now taking it too easy. The coach who has been helping me along really seems to know what he's doing though, so I have quite a bit of faith in his system. Going easy now fits in well with my job, as I'm working extra hours these days for an art show and will be without any weekend to speak of.

Sadly, it's time for me to start my fad diet in order to lose what baggage I can around the hips before the big day. Here it is-
No fried food
No soda
Easy on the cheese big boy
No beer

That's it. I can usually drop two pounds a week for thee weeks or so with this. I can't forego the wife's baked goods as they make life worth living.

Running = Exciting

2006-11-13T11:35:00.000-08:00

I don't really feel like I have much to say about my recent runs. They've been very uninspiring and, naturally, this hasn't inspired me to write anything. Make sense? I thought so. Still, I wish I was Mike -- that is, I wish I had scones, kids, or art to go off on tangents about because that would allow me more to write about than the fact that most of training is just boring-ass miles at boring-ass paces. This all, of course, is in addition to running broing-ass routes boring-ass alone in the midst of cold-ass bordom.

Last night on my return trip down ODC I came across a strong smell of spray paint. This was as I was just past that park at about the 2k mark (where there are always guys playing basketball), heading West. I didn't really think about the smell because, with Aviation Parkway and the trains both right there, industrial smells aren't unusal. However, as I came up to a point where there was a break in the wall next to the running path (and the place where this smell was most definitely coming from), two teenagers casually stepped out from the side and began walking. One even had his cell phone to his ear.

How could these two young men be responsible for this late-night, still wet, tagging when they are just talking on their cell phones and walking like their dicks are about 40 pounds and stuck in their right pant legs? Needless to say, there is a ghost on ODC somewhere. And it's a criminal!

10 on ODC in 70.