An easy 5 miler this morning to "lay the table"so to speak for tomorrows race.
After Thursdays shot of adrenaline that was my mile repeats"possibly you,re best ever"said Charlie Dibble I,m hopeful that tomorrow I can bring down either the club record for xc 8k,27.51 or at the very least the club course record 28.01,"Mr XC"Chuck owns both records,interestingly set in 04 and 06,who am I to tamper w/ recent history...........
Based on recent mile repeats and my 6k xc pr/club record of 20.12 I have to like my chances,granted Osprey was pancake flat,I,ve no idea what to expect of Deer Path Park tomorrow,I will naturally get a "lie of the land" pre race manana,rembering the old running adage"the will to win means nothing w/out the will to prepare"
8K is a little out of my comfort zone,but the 6k told me I,m capable of running further than I,m used to faster than prehaps even I expect............and I have high expectations to begin w/ let me tell ya!!
I have a target time in mind,tomorrow will see if I nail it,hit it out of the park,fall short or miss it compleatly,since I don,t do pre race boasts I,ll keep that number to myself,I will as ever be 100% brutally honest post race.
W/ Monday being my late father Kevin,s anniversary I need no more motivation to perform"the ould fella" was a xc runner back home in Cork in his youth,he will expect nothing less of me than to perform to my best and to give 100%,so here,s to a pr/club/course record,top three age group award and three vital points for my beloved Spurs at home to Bolton,the latter I have no control over,the former.....oh it,s on.........
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
What Lies Ahead
Following hard on the heals of my mile repeats last nite,the time honoured recovery run this evening,which as I,ve often stated is as important as any race/repeat workout I conduct,getting any residual gunk out of my legs b4 the next day is important and although tomorrow yields another easy 5 miler b4 Sundays NJ C,ship 8K XC I still knew that tonite I had to get that recovery run under my belt.
GP praised me today saying last nites mile repeats were possibly my best ever,and who am I to disagree?there was a satisfaction last nite of not only doing what I did but also doing it two days after one of my worst ever repeat sessions,and scaling heights normally reserved for a weekend workout.
GP praised me today saying last nites mile repeats were possibly my best ever,and who am I to disagree?there was a satisfaction last nite of not only doing what I did but also doing it two days after one of my worst ever repeat sessions,and scaling heights normally reserved for a weekend workout.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Frequently Miling,Usually Smiling,Recently Beguiling
An old adage goes,when you get thrown from a horse,the best thing you can do is get back up there and try again,hence yours truly back at a not so cold and blustery Franklin Field this evening for my mile repeats.
After a knee jerk reaction post repeat on Tuesday I was ready,willing and able to take a crack at my 4x1 repeats,"Dibble"advised me to factor in the conditions tonite,mercifully they weren,t as brisk as Tuesday and following my stretches and mile warm up it was showtime.
#1 72,80,80,67-4.59.43.rule of thumb any mile repeat that kicks off w/ a 72 second opening lap tends to come up trumps for me,tonite was no different.
#2 74,76,77,72-4.59.78.stung into action by an opening lap of 74 I cranked out brisk back to back laps b4 easing up slightly over the final lap,while I could,ve been down on myself for not pushing harder on the final lap it wouldn,t take long to realize the benefit of not going full tilt.
#3 75,77,75,69-4.56.18.again a slightly slower opening lap that galvinized me into action over the next three,not only was I on for another4/4 sub 5 but also another in desending order.....all this on a week nite to boot,it,s one thing to pull that off on a weekend but on a week nite after a 9 hour work day?
#4 72,79,77,62-4.50.91.yeah baby!!!w/ that 72 second opener I,d set myself up nicely and I just felt a blistering final lap was on the cards,having ran economical pace all session I had the chops to crank a 62 second final lap and suddenly that 72 second final lap/4.59.78 #2 mile didn,t feel so bad afterall.
Confidence is a major inabler,had tonite gone tits up again it would,ve been hard to go into Sundays race w/ confidence to begin w/ but factor in it,s an 8k xc not a 5k xc and you could see where this might not bode well,but following tonites repeats,I,m ready to have at it.
After a knee jerk reaction post repeat on Tuesday I was ready,willing and able to take a crack at my 4x1 repeats,"Dibble"advised me to factor in the conditions tonite,mercifully they weren,t as brisk as Tuesday and following my stretches and mile warm up it was showtime.
#1 72,80,80,67-4.59.43.rule of thumb any mile repeat that kicks off w/ a 72 second opening lap tends to come up trumps for me,tonite was no different.
#2 74,76,77,72-4.59.78.stung into action by an opening lap of 74 I cranked out brisk back to back laps b4 easing up slightly over the final lap,while I could,ve been down on myself for not pushing harder on the final lap it wouldn,t take long to realize the benefit of not going full tilt.
#3 75,77,75,69-4.56.18.again a slightly slower opening lap that galvinized me into action over the next three,not only was I on for another4/4 sub 5 but also another in desending order.....all this on a week nite to boot,it,s one thing to pull that off on a weekend but on a week nite after a 9 hour work day?
#4 72,79,77,62-4.50.91.yeah baby!!!w/ that 72 second opener I,d set myself up nicely and I just felt a blistering final lap was on the cards,having ran economical pace all session I had the chops to crank a 62 second final lap and suddenly that 72 second final lap/4.59.78 #2 mile didn,t feel so bad afterall.
Confidence is a major inabler,had tonite gone tits up again it would,ve been hard to go into Sundays race w/ confidence to begin w/ but factor in it,s an 8k xc not a 5k xc and you could see where this might not bode well,but following tonites repeats,I,m ready to have at it.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Share The Wealth
After the physical and mental schlacking I took last nite it was nice to have an easy/recovery 5 mile run on tap this evening.
After reading my blog GP was quick to add his comments,basically in weather like last nite{of which there,ll be much more in the months to come}I need to make adjustments to counter act what the conditions are doing.
It was a fair comment,as "Dibble" prefaced his comments"it wasn,t a bollocking,just the benefits of 30 years of running experience"
Any time two runners can lend the benefit/benefits of their experience to a fellow runner it,s a good thing,last nite I ran into a good friend of mine from my road running days Rob Ferente,obviously since I turned my back on road running two years ago I don,t get to see the guys I used to duke it out w/ and hang out w/ on the road Grand Prix circuit.
Anyways we got chatting and Rob,s running his first ever New York Marathon in 10 days time,having ran it twice myself I was happy to pass on my experiences from my 90 and 03 New York Marathon to Rob and wished him luck.
I,m back on schedule for mile repeats again tomorrow,GP advised me to ease my way into them tomorrow,I,ll treat last nite as a learning curve and like any defeat I always look to learn something from them and do better next time out
After reading my blog GP was quick to add his comments,basically in weather like last nite{of which there,ll be much more in the months to come}I need to make adjustments to counter act what the conditions are doing.
It was a fair comment,as "Dibble" prefaced his comments"it wasn,t a bollocking,just the benefits of 30 years of running experience"
Any time two runners can lend the benefit/benefits of their experience to a fellow runner it,s a good thing,last nite I ran into a good friend of mine from my road running days Rob Ferente,obviously since I turned my back on road running two years ago I don,t get to see the guys I used to duke it out w/ and hang out w/ on the road Grand Prix circuit.
Anyways we got chatting and Rob,s running his first ever New York Marathon in 10 days time,having ran it twice myself I was happy to pass on my experiences from my 90 and 03 New York Marathon to Rob and wished him luck.
I,m back on schedule for mile repeats again tomorrow,GP advised me to ease my way into them tomorrow,I,ll treat last nite as a learning curve and like any defeat I always look to learn something from them and do better next time out
When The A Train Gets Derailed
It,s been a while since I,ve come to my blog w/ tales of woe from a workout but last nite was one of those nites,I can,t quite put my finger on why I could only register a meger 1/6 on my 6x600m at1.42,you,d have thought off of back to back rest days I,d be lit up like Manhatten but I wasn,t,maybe fatigue from a long season is creepin in?prehaps last weeks exploits are taking their toil??maybe it was just"one of those nites"???or maybe the chill wind that blew through Franklin Field last nite caught me off guard????
While reasons 1 thro 3 are all valid I can,t help but feel #4 had a great deal to do w/ it,it,s been a while since I,ve ran in conditions that brisk,I,d forgotten how cold and blustrey Franklin Field can be,and the wind coming off the turn at 300m was enough to stand you up in your tracks.
Things began well enough,67/33-1.40.68.I hoped I could maintain that pace,alas I couldn,t.
#2 72/33-1.45.35.that old chestnut of not being 100% focused from 200m thro 300m bit me in the arse again tonite,I,m hoping from tonite I,ll have 10 uninterupted weeks this year of 6x600m or 400m repeats to sharpen my speed heading into the indoor season I need that automatic focus to be inplace instead of having to remind myself to"focus,focus,focus"
#3 71/32=1.43.35,close,but close only counts in horseshoes,my focus left me at the 250m mark and dispite a valiant effort over the final 300m I came up a tad short.
#4 72/33-1.45.28.mentally the effort was there this time....however physically I felt I came up short,the "running against the wind"was taking it,s toil.....oh for an Easypass to avoid paying the Toils!!!!
#5 75/33-1.48.63.....CLUNK the sound of the wheels falling off,the fatigue issue was now foremost in my mind,that coupled w/ the wind.
#6 72/34-1.46.07.agh!!!the time honoured expression"arse,plate,served"struck me as appropriate...........and maybe the title of this entry,hey shit happens,in terms of peaks and troughs I,ve ridden far more peaks of late,I,ll take the standing eight count on this sucker and get "back in the ring to take another swing"Thursday,though I,m considering dropping down to 2x1,000m instead of 4x1 mile repeats.
While reasons 1 thro 3 are all valid I can,t help but feel #4 had a great deal to do w/ it,it,s been a while since I,ve ran in conditions that brisk,I,d forgotten how cold and blustrey Franklin Field can be,and the wind coming off the turn at 300m was enough to stand you up in your tracks.
Things began well enough,67/33-1.40.68.I hoped I could maintain that pace,alas I couldn,t.
#2 72/33-1.45.35.that old chestnut of not being 100% focused from 200m thro 300m bit me in the arse again tonite,I,m hoping from tonite I,ll have 10 uninterupted weeks this year of 6x600m or 400m repeats to sharpen my speed heading into the indoor season I need that automatic focus to be inplace instead of having to remind myself to"focus,focus,focus"
#3 71/32=1.43.35,close,but close only counts in horseshoes,my focus left me at the 250m mark and dispite a valiant effort over the final 300m I came up a tad short.
#4 72/33-1.45.28.mentally the effort was there this time....however physically I felt I came up short,the "running against the wind"was taking it,s toil.....oh for an Easypass to avoid paying the Toils!!!!
#5 75/33-1.48.63.....CLUNK the sound of the wheels falling off,the fatigue issue was now foremost in my mind,that coupled w/ the wind.
#6 72/34-1.46.07.agh!!!the time honoured expression"arse,plate,served"struck me as appropriate...........and maybe the title of this entry,hey shit happens,in terms of peaks and troughs I,ve ridden far more peaks of late,I,ll take the standing eight count on this sucker and get "back in the ring to take another swing"Thursday,though I,m considering dropping down to 2x1,000m instead of 4x1 mile repeats.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Getting By,W/ The Help Of My Friends.
When I switched up my rotation yesterday I didn,t think about running into my team mate Neil who was preposing the second of his"Michigan Workouts" a series of xc/trail and track repeats at Haverford this morning,I am actually interested about doing one of those but it wasn,t orignally going to be today due to yesterday being my planned 4x1 mile repeats,nor would it now be today given the switch in rotation,that said it was good to see Neil,Chuck and Ted when I arrived at Haverford by 9.30am.
BER!dispite the sun it was a tad brisk this morning,soon the old long sleeve dri fits will be getting pulled out,I was also cognisent of the leaves on the ground,we are afterall into the second half of October.
Stretches and mile warm up taken care of it was time to attack my fav repeats and dare I say my easiest repeat,mile repeats are my bread and butter,the 6x600m and 2x1,000m take me a little out of my comfort zone but the mile repeats,bring da noize!!!
#1,74,77,77,64-4.52.12,got a tad trigger happy on my final lap and surprized myself w/ a 4.52.12. repeat,the trick would be how I,d respond to that mile........................
#2,71,77,70,68-4.46.97,JAYSUS!!!,somewhere in Detroit right now GP is probably calling me every name in the book for that one,this was NOT premediated I swear,I feel I got "in the zone" and w/ Neil and Chuck lending encouragement on each mile as they ended their track repeats I was getting swept along at a brisk pace,could I maintain it?
#3,71,76,78,66-4.51.87.I was on pace to record the fastest set of mile repeats ever in my life,the June 28th series of 4.42.73,4.58.18,5.06.87,4.59.49and the following weeks first ever 4/4 sub 5-4.53.65,4.51.84,4.55.43,4.56.85,the old Cinderella classic"The Last Mile" played on the ipod in my mind as I got ready to have it.
#4,72,78,79,68-4.57.85.HUGE props to Neil and Chuck,dispite a 6 & a 1/2 repeat of their own they not only encouraged me from the finish line but on lap 3 Neil jumped in ahead of me to pull me along,I needed it believe,running mile repeats at the pace I,d set comes w/ a price and mile 4 was calling to collect!!!
Yet again I was forced to swing wide of the golf cart in lane 1,a small price to pay to use the Haverford track.
W/just over 400m to go Chuck replaced Neil and pulled me along,on miles#1,#2 and #3 Chuck had been cheerleader now he was pace maker,rounding the top bend he encouraged me to keep my form and go to my arms.......for a nano second I thought about dropping out,that happens once in a blue moon on repeats,I never cave to it,just dig a little deeper.
Going into the bottom bend I knew I was less than 200m from the finish,it could hurt all it wanted now,dregging up every last ounce of energy I had I drove up the home straight and fought the head wind that wanted to deny me a 4/4....................NOT TODAY!
No shame in my game to collapse onto the track at the finish,I usually reserve that for a brutal 6x600m repeat,todays 4/4 sub 5 4x1 mile repeats earnt such a distinction.
I couldn,t thank Neil and Chuck enough for their role on that final mile,they were colossal in getting me to a 4.57.85. repeat,and somewhere in the background Dionne Warwick,s classic "That,s What Friends Are For"should be playing................
A well earnt rest day tomorrow,next weekend see the begining of a three week xc race schedule so it,s off to enjoy{???} a weekend at home!
BER!dispite the sun it was a tad brisk this morning,soon the old long sleeve dri fits will be getting pulled out,I was also cognisent of the leaves on the ground,we are afterall into the second half of October.
Stretches and mile warm up taken care of it was time to attack my fav repeats and dare I say my easiest repeat,mile repeats are my bread and butter,the 6x600m and 2x1,000m take me a little out of my comfort zone but the mile repeats,bring da noize!!!
#1,74,77,77,64-4.52.12,got a tad trigger happy on my final lap and surprized myself w/ a 4.52.12. repeat,the trick would be how I,d respond to that mile........................
#2,71,77,70,68-4.46.97,JAYSUS!!!,somewhere in Detroit right now GP is probably calling me every name in the book for that one,this was NOT premediated I swear,I feel I got "in the zone" and w/ Neil and Chuck lending encouragement on each mile as they ended their track repeats I was getting swept along at a brisk pace,could I maintain it?
#3,71,76,78,66-4.51.87.I was on pace to record the fastest set of mile repeats ever in my life,the June 28th series of 4.42.73,4.58.18,5.06.87,4.59.49and the following weeks first ever 4/4 sub 5-4.53.65,4.51.84,4.55.43,4.56.85,the old Cinderella classic"The Last Mile" played on the ipod in my mind as I got ready to have it.
#4,72,78,79,68-4.57.85.HUGE props to Neil and Chuck,dispite a 6 & a 1/2 repeat of their own they not only encouraged me from the finish line but on lap 3 Neil jumped in ahead of me to pull me along,I needed it believe,running mile repeats at the pace I,d set comes w/ a price and mile 4 was calling to collect!!!
Yet again I was forced to swing wide of the golf cart in lane 1,a small price to pay to use the Haverford track.
W/just over 400m to go Chuck replaced Neil and pulled me along,on miles#1,#2 and #3 Chuck had been cheerleader now he was pace maker,rounding the top bend he encouraged me to keep my form and go to my arms.......for a nano second I thought about dropping out,that happens once in a blue moon on repeats,I never cave to it,just dig a little deeper.
Going into the bottom bend I knew I was less than 200m from the finish,it could hurt all it wanted now,dregging up every last ounce of energy I had I drove up the home straight and fought the head wind that wanted to deny me a 4/4....................NOT TODAY!
No shame in my game to collapse onto the track at the finish,I usually reserve that for a brutal 6x600m repeat,todays 4/4 sub 5 4x1 mile repeats earnt such a distinction.
I couldn,t thank Neil and Chuck enough for their role on that final mile,they were colossal in getting me to a 4.57.85. repeat,and somewhere in the background Dionne Warwick,s classic "That,s What Friends Are For"should be playing................
A well earnt rest day tomorrow,next weekend see the begining of a three week xc race schedule so it,s off to enjoy{???} a weekend at home!
Friday, October 17, 2008
I,d Rather Switch Than Bitch
A last minute change of plans this evening,I wasn,t 100% sure if Franklin Field would be available for the 6pm-8pm recreational use given the Penn Quakers have a home game tomorrow vs Columbia so rather than wait around till 6pm only to be possibly told"sorry,track,s closed"I elected to loop Clark Park 6 times today and tomorrow morning I,ll hit Haverford bright and early to take care of my 4x1 mile repeats.
Chosing to wait an extra day not only allows me another day to recoup from the two races in four days schedule but also means the whole 3x 1 mile repeats/4x 1 mile repeats issue becomes an non issue,GP never did get back to me on that one and now it,s null and void but it does throw up an interesting situation,when does a coached athlete actually make up his/her own mind re workouts?
No coached athlete should ever reach the starting line of a race and think"how does coach want me to run this?"why should a workout be any different?I need a coach to guide me sometimes when the glearingly obvious isn,t quite so obvious,but I don,t need each and every move to be mapped out for me,sometimes it,s too easy to let our coaches do all the thinking for us,we as athletes need to not only do all the running but some of the thinking also,and b4 the cynics say well you would say that cos GP reads your blog no,I pride myself on being honest,I hate lying,blame it on being raised Irish Catholic if you will but it,s always been my aim to be 100% honest in my blog,when I run a bad race or have a bad workout I try not to sugar coat it,honesty is the best policy,in running as is in life.
Chosing to wait an extra day not only allows me another day to recoup from the two races in four days schedule but also means the whole 3x 1 mile repeats/4x 1 mile repeats issue becomes an non issue,GP never did get back to me on that one and now it,s null and void but it does throw up an interesting situation,when does a coached athlete actually make up his/her own mind re workouts?
No coached athlete should ever reach the starting line of a race and think"how does coach want me to run this?"why should a workout be any different?I need a coach to guide me sometimes when the glearingly obvious isn,t quite so obvious,but I don,t need each and every move to be mapped out for me,sometimes it,s too easy to let our coaches do all the thinking for us,we as athletes need to not only do all the running but some of the thinking also,and b4 the cynics say well you would say that cos GP reads your blog no,I pride myself on being honest,I hate lying,blame it on being raised Irish Catholic if you will but it,s always been my aim to be 100% honest in my blog,when I run a bad race or have a bad workout I try not to sugar coat it,honesty is the best policy,in running as is in life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
