Order Of The Black

Ah Pay Day,how do I love thee?let me count the ways!!!
Yes folks that most sacred of days has arrived and w/ it the knowledge that not only can I pay the rent to keep a roof over my head for another month but also afford groceries to provide substanence over the new fortnite till Pay Day swings around again,not sure about it's good to be the king"  but not being destitute sure feels pretty darn good!!!
Right on time I hit trusty Eastbay's Outlet section for a new pair of running shoes as I'm close to 400 miles on my present pair so it was omni important to get a new pair.
As is my won't I ordered some new music to keep the "savage beast" at peace,the first Black Label Society dvd "Boozed,Broozed & Broken Boned" and a Black Sabbath cd "Reunion",what can I say I like my tunes to have a bit of edge and bite to them!!!

Having exercised my option to take a rest day on Wednesday it was back at it yesterday w/ another 8 miler,in almost tropical conditions at 27 degrees compared to the balmy 17 degrees of Tuesday I was out the door around 4.20pm,......just what was the orange ball in the sky???the sun you say!....WOW!!!
In a short space of time I've felt the difference in returning to 8 milers,at first I thought I was imagining it when I ran on Tuesday but the fact I took 4 mins off of Mondays time did point to that and again yesterday I felt stronger and on top of shaving another minute off my time I haven't felt as strong at the end of a run for a while......lets hope this transfers its self to fast times on the track when the final three pre Indoor Nationals races arrive,i have an 800m at The Armory on Tuesday nite b4 the deadline for entries on Feb 21st and then back to back races over the mile and 800m on Feb 27th and 28th also at The Armory,I'd like to think the 4.57.1 I ran last Saturday will be a distant memory even though it looks like I may have to use it as my seed time as it's my most recent mile time,my only other time is from Bloomington two years ago at Indoor Nationals at 4.42.4 and frankly thats as misleading as the 4.57.1 so I fear I'm "damned if Ido,damned if I don't"

One final footnote{not a play on words re my new shoes.....honest!}I wanted to mention this two weeks ago in a blog entry but due to "Gremlins" I lost my original draft and it didn't make my rewrite but the evenings are starting to get lighter,case in point even at 8 miles last nite I began at 4.19pm and by the time I finished it was still daylight albeit only just but the fact is we're half way through winter{you wouldn't know it from the recent Arctic Vortex but take my word for it!} so hopefully w/ the shortest month on the calender about to begin we're moving ever so closely to Spring......has a beautiful ring to it don't you agree??

Wind Of Change

17 degrees.....I laugh at you!!! having ran three weeks ago in 13 degrees I said anything warmer than that would mean I had no excuse not to run and frankly having ran in single digit temps on Sunday morning I didn't see any reason not to get out there yestereday evening for a second eight miler even if I looked like something out of the "Ted Kazinski Unibomber 10k Run" all that was missing was a back pack!!!
Having taken care of business on Monday lunchtime over 8 miles I didn't forsee any issues going back to back w/ 8 miles,as much as I want to hit the track for speed work I figured w/ 15 inches of snow last week the track at Temple wasn't an option right now,w/ the track and field program no more at Temple I can't imagine a groundsman muchless groundscrew out there shoveling and sweeping the snow off the track and I'm buggered if I'm going to Home Depot to buy a stiff broom to sweep it.....I'll take my chances that come Saturday if it's not clear its at least usable for 5x1,000m repeats.

Having slowly been working my way back upto  8 milers w/ 6.5 and 7 mile runs of late the extra mile hasn't proven an issue,I won't lie I felt a little leg weary over the closing mile on Monday but last nite I felt much stronger,graned in 17 degree temps you don't want to be hanging around but the fact I shaved 4 minutes off of Mondays time does indicate feeling stronger.....granted it was Shakespeare who famously said"one swallow does not a summers make" but hopefully whenever I next tackle the mile either next Friday at Penn State or more likely at The Armory on Feb 27th I won't fade away over the second half of the race.....and just the mention of Summer gives me warm fuzzies all over!!!!!!!

You've Got Another Thing Coming

W/ the ink still wet no doubt on the latest version of my running obituary I was out the door at 12.15pm yesterday afternoon to log the first of three 8 milers this week on route to a 40 mile week and hopefully better results over the mile in my upcoming races.
Ever the track historian I couldn't help think back to Moscow 80 where Eamonn Coghlan finished 4th at his second Olympics and Seb Coe ran one of the worst races of his career in the 800m final to finish 2nd b4 rebounding six days later to win gold in the 1,500m final.

Unlike Lord Coe I don't have 6 days to rebound,I have 6 weeks which is probably just as well as I'm going to need each and everyone of those thirty runs/races/intervals to get me in podium shape for Boston and Indoor Nationals.
Following Saturdays race and my "walk of shame" from Barton Hall back to the hotel I took a long soak in tub and rewrote my training schedule thinking it was just longer repeats that were needed,adding the time honoured 4x1 mile and 5x1,000m repeats to my 6x600m and 4x300x200x300m repeats.....however after returning home on Sunday curiosity got the better of me and I pulled out my 2010 running log......

The paralles from 2010 to now are quite frightning almost "Twilight Zoneish" coming off an achilles injury,not doing the work that I should have early on in the Indoor season,getting humbled in a mile race and then getting my act together,upping my milage to 40mpw and winning a silver and two bronze medals at Indoor Nationals....in Boston.......you can't make this stuff up I'm telling you!
Having rewritten my training schedule,I then re rewrote it still looking to up my repeats to the longer sessions  BUT making sure I now have 40 mile weeks on the schedule,it explains why I fell apart over the second half of Saturdays race.

Having identified the problem i hope the next six weeks will allow me to right the ship so that upon my arrival in Boston in March I am in a position to challenge for the podium......you know how I love to prove my critics wrong and play the role of Lazarus......to borrow Delvin Dinkins blog title  I need to "Up My Game" and it's VERY much game on!!!

Hitting An All Time Low....

Normally a three mile run period wouldn't be anything to blog....muchless write home about and the fact it was a ten times around the Best Western University Inn parking lot at  roughly three minutes a loop run even less......however!!!!
At roughly after 7.30am I made my way outside from the warm and friendly confinds of my room to the parking lot,I knew it would be cold and made sure to double layer w/ everything except my gloves....my first error in judgement.
By the time I hit the second loop my finger tips were cold,not numb but cold,rather than fixate on it I clenched my fists and swore to see it through,having gotten out of bed and dressed to run I 'd done the hard part now to see it through!!!
At least w/ three minute loops they were over rather quickly and b4 long I was on #10 and promptly back inside the hotel,I had to run my hands under the hot water faucet in my bathroom to get the feeling back in my finger tips b4 heading down the hallway for a much needed cup of tea and a well earnt breakfast.....

It wasn't till leaving the hotel some 90 minutes later I discovered the temprature was NINE degrees!!!!!!!! not only  four degrees colder than my previous record low for running in BUT single digits.........so I've got that on my running resume I guess???

The Show Must Go On

If it's late January in Ithaca then it must be the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile!
Lets face it the way I ever get on Ivy League campus grounds is through my running,back in the day my track repeats were all at Franklin Field at UPenn and now for the 5th time since 2007 I was back at Cornell......it's beginning to feel like home!!
Another plus of becomming a semi frequent visitor to Ithaca in January is getting used to the cold,I don't notice it as much now but dear God that first visit in 07......I remember running from the car into Barton Hall to escape the chill winds that blew around me......now I just take it in stride!!

I arrived at Barton Hall around 11am after a comfortable walk from the nearby hotel which allowed me half an hours worth of volume 2 of Queen's Greatest Hits to get the blood pumping and the juices flowing,after check in I "decamped" at the end of the 100m finish and began to ready myself for my 12.15pm race.
Following a mile warm up out on the Cornell campus I stripped down to my race clothes and took my place on the starting line,my first M50 race......lets hope things improve on this less than auspicious debut!!

I knew not to go w/ the rabbit and 2013 M50 5th Avenue Mile champ Alan Wells but taking full advantage of my #2 seeding I got onto the rail going into the opening bend and claimed 2nd despite the best efforts of Sean Smith who tried to claim 2nd after 100m......as we all know hindsight is a wonderful thing but if I'd been more aware of Seans credentials maybe I'd have let him have second and tucked in behind him....
36 seconds at 200m followed by a series of 33,36,37 laps for a 2.20 at 800m,things were ticking along nicely and when I clocked 3.00 at 1,000m I felt I was on schedule and for a brief second it looked like Alan was coming back to me......how quickly things can change w/ a lap!
At 1,100m Sean went by me,he had hung tough behind me for 1,000m b4 making his move and now I was third.......till 1,300 when Casey Carlstrom went by me,unlike Sean I was able to keep close to Casey as we went through the bell in 4.19 but I just couldn't reel him in over the closing 200m and had to settle for 4th in 4.57.1..............................

Nobody like to lose especially me but I give Sean and Casey all the credit in the world for their races,Alan was simply too good for me today.
Watching a video of the race{a Hartshorne tradition at the post race awards banquet} I was impressed at Caseys race he came from 5th to reel me in w/ a lap and a half to go and will be a favourite in Boston in the M55 mile.....I'm just glad I don't have to race him there!!
As I told Pete Taylor after the race when he asked me my comments on my race "National Championships are NOT won or lost in late January" and the old adage that" you learn nothing from a defeat" is looking at it all wrong.
I learnt alot from this loss,namely "know your opponent" I didn't do any research on Sean or Alan prior to the race which cost me and is one of the downsides of not being "on the circuit" for the last 18 months.
I also learnt the hard way that 30 miles a week is NOT cutting it,I fell away badly over the second half of the race as my 2.22/2.35 splits indicate so clearly upping my weekly total back to 40 miles per week will I hope serve me better over the 6 weeks of training I have between now and Boston and Indoor Nationals,as for my Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile aspirations they will have to wait another 12 months....maybe sixth time will be a charm?

Saints & Sinners

Well another day I was grounded,or at least chose the option not to run,I did strongly condsider an easy 6 miler but thought better of it,as is typical in the residential section of my run along both Cedar and Baltimore Aves there are sections of sidewalks that have been cleared and also sections that haven't been,for the sake of a few unscheduled rest days not to mention saving my legs for Saturdays race I thought it wise to sit this one out,and ditto for Thursday.

My biggest concern is the roads between Philadelphia and Ithaca for travelling on Friday and Sunday,fingers crossed I'll make my connections and arrive in Ithaca by 6pm tomorrow evening,my St Christopher will be getting packed tonite as I get my bag ready for the weekend.....I feel I may need it!!

Blizzard......

It's been said b4 and will no doubt be repeated again"when you argue w/ Mother Nature she always gets the last word"......
As is my won't all year round I keep an eye on the seven day forecast to see what the weather is doing and see if I need to tweak things to accomadate the weather,a week ago all the weather people were predicting for Tuesday was extreme cold.....no big we went through that two weeks ago,and while I did tweak my repeats to Saturday/Monday to deal w/ that I thought I was golden.....I thought wrong!!
Somewhere over the weekend a major snow storm developed and yesterday everyone in its path felt it's fury!!!

Still no official word on how much snow fell here in Philly,last I heard at 10pm we had 11 inches and it was still falling,so it's safe to say a foot at least.....GREAT!!!!
Needless to say yesterday fell by the wayside,I did prehaps foolishly think I could get out there and run however in the 10 block radius of 40th St to 50th St where the #34 trolley runs above ground on the rare times I could see out the windows I could barely see the sidwalk and thought better of it once I arrived home,one slip and not only could Hartshorne be in jepordy but maybe my whole season so I conceeded defeat and curled up on the recliner upon arriving home.
Frankly having missed one day of training on a race week where my mileage was built around that event I can now kiss goodbye any thoughts of a 30 mile week,the snow has now turned to ice and I'm not about to play "fast and loose" w/ my health or well being just  to say I logged x ammount of miles for the week.

I recall a previous trip up to Ithaca in 09 if memory serves me correctly where I had very little in the way of mileage that week due to the weather so it's nothing new to go into the Hrtshorne Memorial Masters Mile w/ low miles on the clock for the week,my bigger concern now is the bus ride to New York on Friday and then the bus ride from New York to Itacha at lunch time,remind me to pack my St Christopher medal w/ me as he is the patron saint of travellers....