Happy NCAA XC Monday

So I probably should have posted this yesterday but I didn't. Great times yesterday watching the NCAA Championships while talking on the phone with various other fans and following it up with another great run (10.5mi) with JLew out in Rancho Santa Fe. So without further adu a few thoughts of mine that came from the NCAA's:

• Galen Rupp is the real deal. I know there are tons of haters out there but the fact of the matter is that he is our guy and we need to get enthusiastic about it. If he didn't go to UofO he would have gone pro but the fact of the matter is Nike is able to skirt around NCAA rules and allow Rupp to train like a pro but still get to experience the fun and excitement of the NCAA. Hell, that's the way it is in all the other NCAA sports, why not ours?


• The University of Washington, I guess now referred to simply as UDub, is the perfect example of how amazing recruiting can turn a program in to a national champion. There was no reason for those girls to chose UW except that were told that if they went they would be national champions. I think other programs are starting to take that same outlook, OK State for men for example, and prove that all you need is some great recruiting and you can build a championship caliber team.


• CBS needs to do a little research on how to broadcast a running event. I thought it was GREAT that they decided to not only stream it live on the Internet but also show it live on TV on their CBS College Sports. However, they did a poor job following anything but the leaders in the two races. If they could just throw a few cameras on the ATVs that are following the lead packs we could have had some great/easy shots of the other runners and the team competition, which they make a big deal of but don't follow visually while it is unfolding. Maybe they should hire the FloTrack guys as consultants or something because, although their production/editing/presentation are not CBS quality, they certainly understand the way to cover a race better than anyone else out there.

Well that's all I have for now. Now I need to get a run in and get some work done.

Training Summary: November 17 - 23

Monday 11/17 - 9mi, 62:30, easy solo on the bay.

Tuesday 11/18 - 9 mi, 62:00, easy solo through La Jolla.

Wednesday 11/19 - 11.3 mi, 1:19:22, with JLew through Rancho Santa Fe. Started out slow but picked it up mid-run, all on really soft woodchips which were good for the legs but not for the pace.

Thursday 11/20 - off

Friday 11/21 -10mi, 1:10:35, fairly easy with George, JLew and Mark through La Jolla.

Saturday 11/22 - 8mi, 57:00, easy with JLew on the bay.

Sunday 11/23 - 13.5 mi, 1:27:25, felt amazing, started out the first half super easy around 6:40's and worked it down to 6:00 with the last two uphill miles clocking in at 5:50 and 5:36. The early miles felt like a walk and even the faster final miles just felt like an easy pickup, good stuff!

Summary - 61mi, 6 days. Felt really good all week but I did miss a day mid-week with life/work getting the best of the day's effort. Solid "long" run on Sunday and I am feeling really good. Looks like moving back up into 75-85mpw should be easy.

I have a little travel to LA early next week and then hopefully a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving "weekend". I should be able to get into the mid 70's next week and back around 80 by December. Really looking forward to catching the NCAA Championships tomorrow. I think both the men's and women's races should be really exciting, especially on the team side. It's great to see coverage of all the NCAA divisions online now and increased exposure for the sport. Stonehill men and women ran on Saturday and came in 19th and 21st respectively. Definitely not what we thought they would do this year but with a decent showing from some underclassman hopefully we'll finally see a top 8 place in the next few years and an individual finally crack the top 20.

Updates Galore

I just put up the race report from the Dirt Dog Final, so be sure to check that out. Here is a quick look at my last two weeks:

Nov 3-9:
Monday- Friday: 8mi easy each day, 6X100 strides on Friday.
Saturday: SD USATF Championship, 14th overall (9th SD), 21:44, 10mi total.
Sunday: Travel to Dallas for The Running Event, no running
Total: 6 days, 50mi
Summary: Good week but really just kept the days easy so that I could be ready for the race on Saturday. The race was good, not great. Missed Sunday when I was traveling all day, but it was a decent week overall.

Nov 10-16 (In Dallas Mon-Thur):
Monday: ~9mi with the Reebok crew but ran the second half at a nice clip with Keith
Tuesday: ~8mi with the entire conference over to Luke's Locker and back
Wednesday: ~8mi, over to the "Indie 5k" ran the "race" (16:28) and ran back. Felt really crappy, probably a mix of lack of sleep, residual jet lag, slight hangover and wussing out all mixed together. I did run the last mile in around 5min which was good, but overall, in the words of Mr. Keith Kelly, an embarassing effort and result.
Thursday: No run. Slept about 3.5hrs, went to work and then to the airport, that was my entire day.
Friday: 7mi easy on the bay.
Saturday: 9 miles easy on the hilly La Jolla loop.
Sunday: 10mi on the bay. Did a little progression run, with the last 3mi all at or under 6min.
Total: ~51mi, 6 days.
Summary: Not a bad week considering I had planned on making it an off week. It was great getting out to run with the other Reebok guys for once, considering I hadn't seen any of them since April.

Here is the plan for the next few months:
I am going to build up the mileage over the next month so that I am back up around 80-90 a week. I am tentatively planning on getting up around 100mi for a week around the beginning of January if possible, but if it doesn't happen I'm not worried. I am going to shoot to run the Carlsbad Half-Marathon in late January. The goal there will be: 1) Run a PR, which shouldn't be hard because I have never actually trained for one specifically; 2) Specifically run somewhere between 70-71min; 3) Stay healthy while training and set myself up for a potential marathon in the fall.

Well that's all I got for now. Hopefully I can write about something besides my running over the next few weeks, but for now I'll stick to running because that's all I have time for.

Delayed Race Report: SD USATF Championship 4-Mile

I apologize for the delay, I am probably the worst blogger right now...

Results: 21:44, 14th place

Overall it was a pretty decent end to the season. It was fairly warm and extremely dry out. I had a few minor injury things over the weeks before the race so I am glad I was able to shut that out of my mind and just run. I went out "slow" and sat back a little. I tried to make a move around 2 miles and shake off a group of guys, but I was only slightly successful, as 2 of the guys ended up putting in a huge surge around 2.5mi and left me behind. In the end I think I ran fairly well, as the course does run up and over a really tough hill twice.

I ended 9th of the San Diego finishers which was pretty much spot on for how I was all season. I also finished 9th in the final Dirt Dog Series standings. At the start of the "season" I thought I had a good chance for top 5 but everyone really came out this year ready to run. Considering I really trained through the races and had my eyes set on just getting back to normal mileage I think it was pretty successful.

The team ended up folding in the finals, as only 5 guys could make it. We missed 3 of our top 5 guys which really hurt us. We finished 3 of 3 overall and in the final. Hopefully next year we can pick up a few more guys and get more consistent participation from the guys. It was fun to have a team and in the end it didn't really matter because we had fun.

Final Standings:
Individual Standings
Team Standings

Where the hell have I been?

Ok, well yesterday I got mocked about my blog by a work mate on the phone and it has made me make an update to this blog. Here are my quick excuses for the lack of posting: 2 of the past 4 weeks included minor injuries that killed my great streak of good weeks of running, I have been busy with work, I am lazy, I am easily distracted and generally apathetic about my blog. That is about to change! I am back on track here and I will either keep up with this thing or just delete it. I am giving myself until the end of the year to keep it going, which I know I can.

So here is a very small snippet of what I have been up to:

Weeks over 80mi: 1
Weeks under 60mi: 3
Number of injuries from running: 1
Number of injuries from pool running: 1 (who does that?!)
Days missed from said injuries: 6
Races Run: 1 (CSUSM Cougar Challenge 8k - 25:58 - 16th overall)

I am going to compile the actual weeks and post them up when I am flying this weekend. The reason I can't now is that I have lots of work to get done before the weekend and we have Dianna's parents here so I am pretty much busy 24/7.

This week will be around 60mi but I am healthy. Just keeping the miles low so I don't shock my legs before the SD USATF XC Champs this weekend. I am currently sitting in 11th place for the season and top 10 get $$$ so I need to run my ass off and beat a few guys that I really shouldn't be losing to anyways.

I hope I have made every one's week so wonderful by updating my blog, even though it is a sad update. I promise a full race recap this weekend, updated logs and other such things that I will have time to do on my flight to Dallas on Sunday.

Until then best of luck to the both men's and women's Stonehill Cross Country teams at regionals this weekend. Both teams are going to be fighting hard to make nationals, especially the women who I believe are ranked out of the top 2 going in to regionals for the first time since something like 2000. The men look good after their 2nd place finish at conference but will have a real battle with U-Lowell and Southern CT for those two spots. Keep your eye on U-Lowell standout Ruben Sanca, this kid is something special and is going to make some noise on the national level.

Best of luck to all!