Diary Of A Madman

They say if you are really angry about something you shoild write it down to get it out out of your system........I've been keeping a diary for over 20 years now and let me tell ya I'm still as angry as when I first wrote the shit down!!!!!

To say the entire week last week had been a quote unquote "Shit show" would be the understatement of the century....more of a Diarrhea Expo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
and frankly that's why I keep a diary to get all that stuff out of my system...in theory anyway cos even after taking up  5 pages in my blank journal{an average day gets 3 pages} and running a 10 miler I was still seething.

The 10 miler was unique in the respect that I finally got to see the Schuylkill River again as it's been frozen over for the past two,three weeks and also despite the sun trying awfully hard to peer out from behind the clouds there were snow flurries....not something you see everyday.....the sun I mean not the snow .....we've seen ENOUGH of that shit thank you very much!

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway*

*Ok The Armory is actually at 168th & Fort Washington but when I get off the A train at the subway it's 168th & Broadway and then I walk a block..........work w/ me here people please!!!!

There was alot riding on last nites 800m at The Armory, a chance to put some distance{800m???} between my last race the sub par 4.57.1 mile at Hartshorne Masters Mile,and also post a seed time for the up coming Indoor Nationals since there wouldn't be another chance to run the 800m b4 the deadline for entries on Feb 21st,there is however another 800m here at The Armory on Feb28th so it wasn't a "last chance saloon" issue.......However given this was my first indoor 800m in almost THREE years one could be forgiven for being somewhat aprehensive.

It's always a bugbear having to work the day of an Armory race,evidently the entire planet...ney solar system seems hellbent on fuckin my day up and not being overly concerned about my need to catch a 2.30pm Megabus from Philly to Midtown Manhattan and I'm reasonably confident I burnt through a TON of energy just trying to get to The Armory by 6.30pm last nite......at least I had the good sense to schedule off Feb 27th/28th for my final pre Nationals races both here at The Armory over the mile on the 27th and 800m the following nite,those two races are a pivitol piece of the jigsaw re Boston and Indoor Nationals in five weeks time.
So yeah about this three year hiatus from indoor 800s,it's been my unfortunate experience over 800m at The Armory to suffer from runners who don't know how to run the 800m or a was the case on March 18th 2011 sitting around for  five hours waiting to race{this is why when I take my curtain call on the Indoor Season on March 21st at the Front runners meet at The Armory I'll be running the 1,500m as it's the first race....get in and get out and go home!}

Drawn in heat #6 w/ a seed time of 2.15 I ws hoping to try and run faster,I wasn't sure how realistic or unrealistic 2.12 is right now.....one way to find out,toe the line and race!
Seeded 7th of 13 in a field where 2.12 had the #1 seed time I thought I had a shot at competitive race......I thought wrong!!
I'll own not getting a good reaction to the gun but not being jostled by the runners either side of me on the line which saw me in 13th coming off the line,and here's where I made  my fatal flaw,instead of getting onto the outside of lane 1 or at least lane 2 I went straight to the rail......HUGE COCK UP ON MY PART!!!
I'll blame it on a lack of racing,outside of the 3 races I've ran in the past 6 weeks I'm still coming back from a 17 month period of inactivity on the track and while this was a rookie error on my part which I'll hold my hand up and own I will  say IF it happens again this season I'll take myself out back and put a bullet between my eyeballs!!!

I didn't look up at the clock at 200m to check my split,I was too busy trying to reattach myself to the field which thankfully I had.....sadly on each of the final 3 laps I was forced to slow when runners infront of me began to slow down,while incredabily frustrating HAD I not gotten myself stuck on the rail this would not have been an issue so I feel it fair to portion the blame to everyone.
On three seperate occasions I was not only forced to slow down but then swing wide to reexcellerate,I was beginning to feel like Seb Coe in the Moscow 80 800m final.....maybe I should've been more like Steve Ovett and been a little "free" w/ my elbows and arms,and while I don't want that reputation it might not have been the worst thing last nite.
The final dagger in my heart was coming off the top turn w/ 250m to go the guys in lane 1 and 2 were practically holding hands as I swung wide into lane 3 to overtake them b4 cutting back into lane 1......WTF!!!!!

7th in 2.16.78 roughly 34 seconds per lap.....not the 2.12 33 seconds per lap I was looking for,for shits and giggles 2.16.78 would have only gotten me 7th at Indoor Nationals last year and while I at least have a legit seed time for Boston I've got to do better over the coming 5 weeks.
Also for a heat that had it's #1 seed time of 2.12 the top 5 ran:2.08,2.09,2.10,2.11,2.11 which begs the question why weren't they in the previous heat or faster??
I'm getting shit sick of these arseholes who lie about their seed times and or don't know how to run an 800m indoor race,next season I may bypass the 800m at Thursday Nite At The Races and just use my fastest time indoors this season if I need a seed time for Indoor Nationals

If You Like To Gamble.....

After two days of riding the pine....ok my recliner same difference I was at last able to get out and run.
Following a nite of rain/sleet/freezing rain I wasn't sure how conditions underfoot might be and in the back of my mind was the issue of potentially slipping and or falling but just like the single digit temps on my post Hartshorne Masters Mile if I kept thinking about it that would make matters worse so I focused on just getting the run in.

An easy 4 miler pre race since tomorrow is "officially"  Thursday Nite @ The Races,technically I'm still on tap for a 5 day 40mpw but that's long and convoluted and frankly my focus is on the 800m at The Armory post race I'll work out if I want to "go against the grain" and run on Friday like I said that's post race for now all my energies and focus have to be on the 4 lapper at The Armory and once that's taken care of then I can worry about the rest of the week and schedule etc

You Fool No One

The saying goes"the devil is in the details" so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to discover that last nites "Thursday  Nite @ The Races" series at The Armory was resecheduled from Tuesday Feb 4th to Thursday Feb 6th.............

When the schedule first came out I had it penciled in as Feb 6th but was somewhat taken aback to see it as Tue Feb 4th.......I figured maybe they wanted to bump back the meet  2 days so that anyone running next Saturdays Millrose Games could  do both and never gave it a second thought....
I prepared for Tuesday,scheduling only an easy 4 miler Monday which got scuppered by the snow,ate a  large pre race pasta meal and packed my bag for race day on Tuesday after booking a bus to New York from Philly.......
SOOOOOOOOOOOOO imagine how I felt first thing yesterday morning when checking my emails,Sean Smith mentioned he had planned to go to The Armory last nite untill it was "rescheduled" for Thursday....upon checking  The Armory website I discovered the "Please Note The NYRR Nite @ The Races scheduled for Tuesday Feb 4th has been rescheduled for Thursday Feb 6th,we apologize for any inconvieience" hastily added on the schedule page......

It's not the $15 bus ticket I had to eat nor the $7 I now had to purchase for Thursday that rubs me the wrong way,nor is it the fact I ate a huge bowl of Linguine & Clams for nowth on Monday or the fact I need to rescheule my meals for the week to reacomodate the change in schedule but having set my week up to run Tuesday only to discover in the morning it's now on Thursday I've potentially screwed myself for a 40 mpw not to mention having to "come down" from pre race mode on Tuesday only to have rebuild that mindset again Thursday morning.......
"Thursday Nite @ The Races" should be just that  THURSDAY NITE!!!!!!,I often say I run my best when I'm angry or w/ a chip on my shoulder well I should be seething come gun time for my 800m on Thursday evening.....

By-Tor & The Snow Dog

Just what we need....more fuckin' snow.......we need that like we need a hole in the head!
Aside from sticking a fork in last nites  scheduled 4 miler there's the issue of fallout over the rest of the week,another 3'' of snow period but also on the track at Temple makes me wonder if it's even worth attempting mile repeats on Saturday but lets not get ahead of ourselves maybe conditons will clear up between now and then and the track will be doable.....but w/ talk of a "winter mix" of snow,sleet,rain ice due to hit us Tuesday nite/Wednesday morning who knows what to expect.....six more weeks of winter eh???

But Ours Go To Eleven....

So for the first time since weekending October 12th a 10 miler to round out a 40mpw,it's about time don't we all agree??
Thankfully mild conditions at 10.45am when I set out for once I was able to not only ditch the ski hat and gloves but also leave the running tights and half zip fleece indoors,w/ six more weeks of winter still on tap I dare say they'll be back on again maybe by Wednesday if the current 7 day forcast is anything to go by but like I say "we'll cross,burn,paint,jump from that bridge when the time comes"

Clearly the unseasonable warmer temps brough people out of their homes even at an early hour and frankly I was happy to see not only fellow runners but walkers out along the Skuylkill Banks and Kelly Drive.
Having laid down three 8 milers during the week I didn't see stepping up to a 10 miler as any issue and frankly I was more than capable of adding an additional 2 miles to my run.
While I may not have finished this run w/ the strength I finished Thursdays 8 miler the important thing ws it was a 10 miler and a 40 mile week.

It remains to be seen if I've left it too late to get myself in"podium shape" for Indoor Nationals in just under 6 weeks time but if that is the case then at least I've given myself a jump start on the Outdoor season and Outdoor Nationals on North Carolina in mid July.
As I type this it's snowing.....again!!!! so who knows how that will effect my prospects of an easy 4 miler tonite muchless my ride upto New York City tomorrow nite and the 800m at The Armory.....

Fire And Ice

Nobody likes a know it all but I was correct not to attempt repeats on Temple's track till Saturday.....but even then it was hard work!!
When I first arrived at the track by 1.05pm I thought I was in good shape......till I hit the bottom turn which was still covered in snow and ice,sadly that corner of the track is obscured by a 5 storey car park on the corner of Sydenham St and Montgomery Ave and the new building on Broad St that backs on to 15th St so the sun has a hard time getting to it hence the 100m section of snow around the bend.....glass half full at least the other 300m of the track was snow free!!!
Just my luck that today was 5x1,000m and I'd have to negotiate that turn twice at 200m and 600m....could have been worse I could have had 4x1 mile repeats on tap!!!

Following my 6 lap warm up where I tried to work out the best "lie of the land" around the turn I prepared myself for my first 5x1,000m since October 12th.....here goes nothin'!!
#1 1,000m
1.19-1.28-36=3.23.4
I knew not to go out "all guns blazin" but frankly that second 400m of 1.28 told me what lay in store for the session.
#2 1,000m
1.23-1.31-38=3.32.1
Again a semi decent openeing lap undone by a slower second lap,maybe I needed to change up my  route thro the snow?
#3 1,000m
1.27-1.30-42=3.39.1
By now I fear the damage was done,all that going through the snow had sapped my strength and switching to the outside of lane 2 where the foot prints had left a path was probably too little too late,not to hen mention having to cut back into lane one at 300m and 700m
#4 1,000m
1.28-1.31-41=3.40.6
At this stage all I could do was "grin and bare it" and at least see it through to the end.....the very bitter end!
#5 1,000m
1.29-1.31-36=3.36.2
At least the closing 200m would be "highlight reel worthy" but other than that a sub par overall performance.

Obviously the snow on the bottom bend fucked up the whole repeat but I had to deal w/ what was on offer and all I can hope is come next Saturday when I next return for 4x1 mile repeats the track is a snow free zone