Its been about two weeks since my last post and two weeks since my much obsessed over 10k race. The recent two weeks is full of good news and bad news. The good news is that I did what I had to do at the local 10k. Much to my annoyance, the guy from last year who had crushed my spirit and beat me last year was a no show. The only other runner of any conceivable fitness was a buddy of mine who is currently training for the Chicago Marathon in October and actually made it into their "Elite Development Program" which means he starts with the other professionals and gets his entry fee paid for. He had done a decent sized workout the day before and really didn't feel like moving too fast that particular day, so he was running the 5k. He did however, help pace me out the first mile or so. We went out at an extremely controlled pace of 5:18. As the course continued up hill, I started to feel good, REAL good. Soon I left my pacer behind and set on what would be a very bland 5 miles that basically turned into a glorified tempo, culminating in a 33:12 win, along with it a course record. I felt if I had someone there for the majority of it, even the first 5 or 6k I feel I could have pulled along to somewhere in the 32:40 region. Still it was a 50+ second pr, and shows how much fitter I am this summer than last year. First of all, I RACED last year to a 34 flat. This year was a lot more relaxed and was significantly faster. Plus I hit the goals I set for myself which is always good. Hoping to go sub 33 next year.
Now fast forward 10 days. Clark County, WA (where I live) has a wonderful running club that meets every wednesday during the summer for 3 mile races/runs. A lot of people from up and coming High Schoolers to old farts still living the dream come and socialize and run. Not everybody does it hard every week, but if you do decide to strap on your flats and race, you are usually going to get your moneys worth ($2 or the $10 membership fee). This last week was at the Washington State University-Vancouver campus. The only word to describe this course is HILLY. And thats an understatement. The first 1k of the course is completely down hill. Which is fine because you are running fast, until you realize the next mile and a half are completely UPHILL, which is not fine because you are running really slow. It then rolls in gently the last half mile for a 3 mile course that has never had anyone break 16:13 until this last week. I was hoping to run right around 16 flat or maybe be the first person to run under 16 for that course. And its not like talented runners havent run this course before. My buddy Shane Geiger, who finished 40th at Division 1 XC West Regionals running for the University of Portland had only run 16:28 on it last year. It's a damn tough course.
It's even tougher when certain people show up. And by certain people I mean Alan Webb's workout partner. These runs have been dominated by the Baumann brothers, two guys in their upper thirties who can still throw down a sub 25 8k and aren't too shabby on the track either. One of the brothers paces workouts for a lot of the Nike Portland athletes such as Ritz, Rupp and Kara Goucher. And when either of these guys show up, "they don't come to these to jog" (an exact quote from our warm up together).
The run starts. Oscar and Arhlin, the two brothers start out in front with me on their shoulder. Oscar had the old course record of 16:13 and is always tough and Arhlin is a beast, even more so than Oscar. Arhlin then takes the lead. And me being the dumbass that I am, follow him. Hell, I get side by side with him and try to show him that I can take what ever you throw at me. The first 1k down hill is brutal. Then the uphill begins. And it doesn't end. We are both breathing hard, looking at our watches, then at each other, wondering will someone quit? He doesn't make quitting an option. He steps up the pace even more as he passes through the mile in 4:35, with me in 4:39, in absolute sticker shock over how stupid that first mile was. I still have a whole mile and change of continuous up hill in front of me and I did THAT????? Oscar is playing it cool coming through in what he calls a "routine" 4:51.
I'm dying. I can feel my legs start to shut down, over riding my brain. What's worse is that while one runner is slowly leaving me behind, another runner is coming for me. He smells blood. I will my way through the 2nd mile, a dismal 6 min split. Arhlin, way out in front hits 2miles in 10:05, I'm back fighting off Oscar in 10:40. Now a lot of you might be thinking, "10:40 for 2 miles??? A 6 min mile in the middle of a 3 mile race? That's Pathetic!" All I can say to that is, unless you have run this course for yourself, you have no idea what type of sick and twisted things can and will happen to you physically and mentally trying to give it all you got uphill for 5,280 feet. Especially when you try to butt heads the first mile with Alan Webb's pack mule. The third mile is sloppy. The race for first is already lost, but the race for second continues. I have never beaten Oscar in my life, at least head to head. We both look and feel like shit. You can see it in how we race. One of us would surge, trying to leave the other one behind, only to tire too quickly or slow down too much and let the other runner surge by, only to perpetuate the cycle. There must have been 8 lead changes that last mile, only until the last 300 or so meters was the race for second up in the air. I crossed the line in 16:02, Oscar in 16:04. Arhlin took this run to a whole other level with a 15:23 course record that will take some insane summer fitness to break.
So that has been my running life thus far. I think i could've sneaked in a 15:45-15:50ish mark had I not tried to hot dog it the first mile and instead ran with an ounce of common sense, but i'll take the pr considering the circumstances. I don't think I will have any more summer races/fitness checks until actual cross country season, but I am excited to really start upping my miles the next couple weeks. I'm going to hit 80 this week, and then increase each week there after, all in singles until I reach 110-120 when team camp starts, which will begin doubles for the remainder of the season.
Hope summer running is going well for everyone and as always DO WORK!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
28 days later...
So what have I exactly been doing during my 4 week absence from this blog? Well running of course. I'm hitting around 70 mpw for the third straight week in a row. Rather than doing what I did last year, which was hit 100 mpw by the first of July and holding it all the way through September I used the collective wisdom of both my coach and former Eastern runner Paul Limpf to come to the realization that November is a LONG LONG ways away. A lot can happen between then and now. A lot of horrible things could happen, but a lot of really good things could happen too. Hopefully tomorrow is the start of the good things that will start now and continue well into the winter and spring months.
My home town of Ridgefield every year holds a small town celebration for the 4th of July. There is a parade, food, dancing, games. Just an overall good time. This year its on the 3rd because the 4th falls on a Sunday and Ridgefield is all about the Sabbath apparently. What they also have at the celebration is a 10k/5k run. The 10k is something of a tradition for me. This will be the 4th year in a row I have done it and I feel with that type of consistency, this is a really good fitness bench mark for me. Its a race early in the year. There really aren't any expectations. And most of all, its a time/place to strut my stuff in front of the homecrowd. The bitch of it is, I have yet to win it. The two years I did it in H.S. I ran 36 mid, which was usually good for top 5, but some 40+ year old would always squeak by me the last mile or two. Last year, I got second in 34:06. This year I'm going to win it. 'Nuff said. I lost last year to a former professional duathelete. (biking and running). I remember going into that race feeling supremely confident. "I'm a D-1 runner at a small town race, there isn't going to be anyone within 2 minutes of me." The gun goes off after some fan fare by the local running junkies who put on the race. They are actually legit endurance athletes themselves. The wife and husband are both triathletes, and the husband has qualified for the Kona Ironman in the past, so they have a slight idea of what we go through as runners.
As the race starts, the same thing happens that happens at every smaller race: People go out WAYYYYYYYY too fast. I must have weaved and ducked my way through 40 people that first 600 meters. A lot of them were either too young to know better or too old to care. But I stayed smooth. I finally get out in front and settle in. But just as I begin to feel my race, a smaller bulkier shadow latches on to my shoulder.The flat road that is Main St. suddenly leaves the city limits and heads out to the wildlife refuge and beyond. It drops and twists and turns down into a lush green gulley only to spiral back up the trees on the other side. The mile marker is at the mid way point of the hill. I dont get the split because as soon as the marker is about to be hit the shadow disappears and becomes a man. And he is sprinting. Before I can even realize whats going on, this short stocky figure with long hair and thighs from hell burns it up the remaining 200 meters of the hill and creates a vortex of 15 yards on the spot. It slowly inches further and further away from me. And then I think to myself, "Oh Not Uh!" and start actually racing rather than running. It takes me untill a little past the 2 mile marker to make it up to his shoulder. His eyes, they gave away his surprise. It was my turn now to push the envelope and make a move. So I relaxed my shoulders and lengthened my stride covering as much ground as my legs would let me each time they left the ground. The figure soon became a shadow, but a tight shadow indeed. And then it happened. We reached the 5k turn around stride for stride, a solid pace to be sure (I want to say the split was 1630ish) especially for how hilly the course is and how the race consisted of two people. And then he took off, AGAIN. And this time I went with him, at first. But it seemed like every second longer I hung on his shoulder, the faster and more grueling the pace got. Finally, the legs were run right off of me and he broke away blah blah blah he wins in 33:30 blah blah blah, I hobble in 30+ seconds after him even though we had been shoulder to shoulder 4 miles into the race blah blah blah.
I remember talking to my competitor after the race along with Kona Ironman guy and them asking me how my training was. "Well," I said, "You caught me at the end of a 100 mile week (the first of many that summer). So I really didn't have it in me that last couple of miles." Kona nodded in sympathy, He had been down that road before. "Well," said the victor. "You just caught me at the end of a 100 beer week." We talked about his tactics with all of the surging and pace changing. "I was trying to use cycling tactics on you to break you off me. I thought I had you the first time but after you were pushing it on me in the middle I figured I'd go for broke and see if you had the gas or not." I didn't.
This year, my friends, will be different. Not only am I stronger than last year, much more so I am a year wiser. I am also pissed off I haven't won this damn race yet. So tomorrow at 8am PT, I will be doing battle. Not only with what ever runners decide to come out of the woodwork (and there always are a few) but with myself. Because you can believe me, there will be only one person winning that race tomorrow and looking fine while doing it. And thats me.
Hope training is going well for everyone and like always...DO WORK.
Goals for tomorrows race:
1st place
sub 33:30 (I'll be really REALLY happy if its closer to 33 flat.)
My home town of Ridgefield every year holds a small town celebration for the 4th of July. There is a parade, food, dancing, games. Just an overall good time. This year its on the 3rd because the 4th falls on a Sunday and Ridgefield is all about the Sabbath apparently. What they also have at the celebration is a 10k/5k run. The 10k is something of a tradition for me. This will be the 4th year in a row I have done it and I feel with that type of consistency, this is a really good fitness bench mark for me. Its a race early in the year. There really aren't any expectations. And most of all, its a time/place to strut my stuff in front of the homecrowd. The bitch of it is, I have yet to win it. The two years I did it in H.S. I ran 36 mid, which was usually good for top 5, but some 40+ year old would always squeak by me the last mile or two. Last year, I got second in 34:06. This year I'm going to win it. 'Nuff said. I lost last year to a former professional duathelete. (biking and running). I remember going into that race feeling supremely confident. "I'm a D-1 runner at a small town race, there isn't going to be anyone within 2 minutes of me." The gun goes off after some fan fare by the local running junkies who put on the race. They are actually legit endurance athletes themselves. The wife and husband are both triathletes, and the husband has qualified for the Kona Ironman in the past, so they have a slight idea of what we go through as runners.
As the race starts, the same thing happens that happens at every smaller race: People go out WAYYYYYYYY too fast. I must have weaved and ducked my way through 40 people that first 600 meters. A lot of them were either too young to know better or too old to care. But I stayed smooth. I finally get out in front and settle in. But just as I begin to feel my race, a smaller bulkier shadow latches on to my shoulder.The flat road that is Main St. suddenly leaves the city limits and heads out to the wildlife refuge and beyond. It drops and twists and turns down into a lush green gulley only to spiral back up the trees on the other side. The mile marker is at the mid way point of the hill. I dont get the split because as soon as the marker is about to be hit the shadow disappears and becomes a man. And he is sprinting. Before I can even realize whats going on, this short stocky figure with long hair and thighs from hell burns it up the remaining 200 meters of the hill and creates a vortex of 15 yards on the spot. It slowly inches further and further away from me. And then I think to myself, "Oh Not Uh!" and start actually racing rather than running. It takes me untill a little past the 2 mile marker to make it up to his shoulder. His eyes, they gave away his surprise. It was my turn now to push the envelope and make a move. So I relaxed my shoulders and lengthened my stride covering as much ground as my legs would let me each time they left the ground. The figure soon became a shadow, but a tight shadow indeed. And then it happened. We reached the 5k turn around stride for stride, a solid pace to be sure (I want to say the split was 1630ish) especially for how hilly the course is and how the race consisted of two people. And then he took off, AGAIN. And this time I went with him, at first. But it seemed like every second longer I hung on his shoulder, the faster and more grueling the pace got. Finally, the legs were run right off of me and he broke away blah blah blah he wins in 33:30 blah blah blah, I hobble in 30+ seconds after him even though we had been shoulder to shoulder 4 miles into the race blah blah blah.
I remember talking to my competitor after the race along with Kona Ironman guy and them asking me how my training was. "Well," I said, "You caught me at the end of a 100 mile week (the first of many that summer). So I really didn't have it in me that last couple of miles." Kona nodded in sympathy, He had been down that road before. "Well," said the victor. "You just caught me at the end of a 100 beer week." We talked about his tactics with all of the surging and pace changing. "I was trying to use cycling tactics on you to break you off me. I thought I had you the first time but after you were pushing it on me in the middle I figured I'd go for broke and see if you had the gas or not." I didn't.
This year, my friends, will be different. Not only am I stronger than last year, much more so I am a year wiser. I am also pissed off I haven't won this damn race yet. So tomorrow at 8am PT, I will be doing battle. Not only with what ever runners decide to come out of the woodwork (and there always are a few) but with myself. Because you can believe me, there will be only one person winning that race tomorrow and looking fine while doing it. And thats me.
Hope training is going well for everyone and like always...DO WORK.
Goals for tomorrows race:
1st place
sub 33:30 (I'll be really REALLY happy if its closer to 33 flat.)
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