Just Another Weekend

This was a great weekend with lots of good miles. I have finally kicked my cold and feel like my old (not that old) self again. Saturday, I raced Andy's 4.5 mile Fast Friends Race in Swanzey. It was a wicked challenging course, but fun. I was very impressed with Andy's race directing. You can tell when an experienced racer puts on their own event. There were plenty of restrooms, d.j., professional timing, and cool prizes (I got a gift card to Agway). I ran the race in 22:44 (avg 5:04) which I am pleased with (results). On Sunday, I met some of the crew at Greg's house in Chesterfield. We were going out for our first Pisgah outing of the year. We got in 20 miles of just about every surface imaginable and had an amazing time. Just another Keene weekend. I took some pictures and a video to show just how awesome the scenery is and juvenile the runners are.

Mar 22 - Mar 28

Mon - PM 14 miles on Keene Rail Trail 3 miles w/KHS
Tue - PM 12 miles Rail Trail
Wed - AM 3 miles PM 9 miles w/ track
Thu - PM 8 miles Solo 4 miles w/Mark 5 miles w/ KHS
Fri - PM 14 miles
Sat - AM 14 miles w/ 4.5 mile Road Race (22:44)
Sun - PM 20 miles in Pisgah with Greg, Boj, and Mark (epic)
Total -106 miles

New Bedford Half Marathon (USATF NE Champs)

I have been in denial since a mediocre workout Wednesday, that I have been fighting a cold. I took as much time off as I could all week, and thought I could just tough it out Sunday. Not true. I am hopelessly mortal and can't be 100% all of the time. I headed out at my goal pace and felt pretty good through 3 miles. It was the climb at mile three that seemed to be a game changer for me. I couldn't maintain my effort up the hill and lost contact with the lead pack. I just could not turn my dogs over. I couldn't break 5:10 pace thereafter either. I knew very early on that I was in big trouble. My splits just kept on creeping closer and closer to 6 minute pace. I got caught by a viscous pack of CMSers at around mile 10 or 11 and tried to root them on, salvage a scoring race for myself, and help as much as I can. Jim Johnson had a huge race and closed very well. I could see him put the burners on and kill the last three miles. Greg and Bob pulled each other along with Bob just edging out Greg in the final mile. Greg looked good and PR'ed through 10 miles but faded just a bit in the final stretch. An awesome effort and a huge PR. It was another fun day, despite the disappointing race, with a great team and great weather. I look forward to licking my wounds, regrouping, and coming back stronger and faster.

10 x 400

Objective : 12 x 400

Recovery : full 400 jog recovery

Keenyans : Me, Greg, Mark, Boj, Goupil, Clint Joslyn, Dave Cairns

Result :

66 / 61 / 64 / 63 / 62 / 63 / 62 / 62 / 61 / 61

Overview : I think the most exciting thing about this Wednesday was seeing Clint, and hearing about how good his wife Angela is doing. He hopes to become a regular on Work Out Wednesdays. Other than that, the workout seemed flat. Usually one of us has some motivating words to get things going. Today, everyone succumbed to their demons. Mark and I wanted to do 12 of these efforts but just felt miserable from the first one. In fact, we set out to do 3 x mile and changed it to 400's after the first lap of the first "mile". So in the end we had 10 x 400. It is hard for me to get excited about a full recovery workout. I know it has it's benefits but it just doesn't seem as tiring. I am getting pumped for this weekend and can't wait to run a fast half marathon. I am making a bold prediction by stating, "CMS will have at least 5 scoring team members under 1:10 this Sunday!" Let's do it.

Mar 15 - Mar 21

Mon - 0
Tue - 10 miles with Greg (1:06:23)
Wed - 12 miles w/ track workout
Thu - 0
Fri - 0
Sat - 0
Sun - 17 miles (Half Marathon 1:11)
Total - 35 miles

Mar 8 - Mar 14

Mon - PM 17 miles (1:43:20)
Tue - PM 14 miles (1:34:23) w/ Greg and Josh Ferenc
Wed - PM 15 miles w/track workout
Thu - PM 17 miles (1:48:27)
Fri - AM 17 miles (1:43:48)
Sat - AM 17 miles (No Watch) w/ the boys
Sun- 0
Total - 97 miles

The Pyramid

Objective: 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400 @ 69 secs per quarter
Recovery: half of effort time to recover
Keenyans: Me, Greg, Pete, Boj, James, Dan
Result:
400 - 69
800 - 2:18
1200 - 3:27
1600 - 4:33
1200 - 3:25
800 - 2:14
400 - 60 (it was almost 61)

Overview: Before we started we were second guessing our recovery goal. It seemed pretty ambitious and overwhelming. In the end we figured we would give it a go and if we got in over our heads we would go back to the normal half distance jog recovery. I am extremely pleased with this work out, due to the fact that we hit half time recovery. I think it adds another element to the session. No matter what, you have to run faster than you want to when you are tired. And training with these guys is awesome. We all seem to have certain strengths that we can draw off of. Chasing a 1:50 half miler in a workout will make you faster on any day. I love it. Also, this was our first Wednesday as a group on a real track all year. Another plus. Well, back to solo miles for a couple of days.