Training Summary: January 19 - 25

Monday 1/19 - ~9mi, 60:11, easy with JLew and Aubie the dog, around Carlsbad.

Tuesday 1/20 - 10+mi, 63:30, felt easy but solid little effort solo on the bay.

Wednesday 1/21 - ~9mi, 60:40, easy with JLew in Del Mar.

Thursday 1/22 - 10+mi, 66:30, easy solo on the bay.

Friday 1/23 - ~6mi, 44:45, w/JLew, Matt Baum (Mizuno rep from Chicago) and Aubie the dog, in San Marcos.

Saturday 1/24 - 6mi, no watch solo on the bay, 4X100 easy strides on grass.

Sunday 1/25 - ~15mi total, Race Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon 1:11:29, ~2mi warmup/cooldown.

Total: 65mi, 7 runs. Very happy with the week. This was my first "full" week of running in about a month and a half. I had a good effort at the Carlsbad 1/2 which I am happy with. I am really excited about this week because it gave me a little bench mark to start from for the year. The goal is going to continue the trend of PR's as the year rolls on. I'm not sure what the next race is or the plan but I will figure that out in the next few weeks. For now I expect to just get back around 70-80mi over the next few weeks and get my long run back on track. Thanks to everyone for the congrats on the race, but there is far more to come!

Race Report: Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon

Result: 1:11:29, 13th place

I came in to this race not really sure of what type of shape I was in. I had this whole plan figured out for workouts, high mileage, etc. etc., but that didn't work out (see blog entries for Dec-Jan as reference). I thought on my best day I was in shape to run 1:12 or there about. I thought 5:30 pace would be tough but if I ran really well I could pull it off. Well, it was amazing weather, I felt great and I pulled a 2min PR our of my rear-end and finished 30+sec ahead of my goal. Here's how it played out.

The race is kind of odd in that I am fairly positive that the first 2 miles are WAY off. I have run this race 3 times and each year my first mile is slower than I think and second mile is almost laughable when you look down at the watch. I will post the splits below but I pretty much went out sub-5:30 pace from the gun and never looked back. I made my way from pack to pack and eventually wound up running most of the race with the eventual women's winner and a guy named Dima that is from Europe somewhere but lives in San Diego. Once we shook the other people off we ran some solid miles around 5:20 and nothing slower than 5:31. Keeping in mind that the miles are very different as the course rolls up and down mile to mile. Finally with about 3/4 of a mile to go my legs just had nothing left and Dima and a guy from Nike RunLA, that we caught at 11 1/2, pulled away from me and left me to pasture. Even still, I averaged 5:20 pace for the final 5k (16:34) which I am pumped about.

What makes me happy about this race is two fold: 1) I ran a PR which, although I am still not content with this as my PR, you can never take for granted. 2) I RACED the entire 13.1mi and never gave up. No matter how many time a pack would surge I surged harder, which really gives me confidence for the future.

I know I am capable of a sub 1:10 half, but that will have to wait for another day. The PR was great to get and I know all the miles last fall are paying off. Now it is time to get building back the miles and decide what 2009 will mean to me as far as races.

Splits:
5:50
4:58 (10:48)
5:37 (16:25)
5:21 (21:47)
5:36 (27:23)
5:25 (32:48)
5:33 (38:22)
5:29 (43:51)
5:30 (49:22)
5:31 (54:54)
5:24 (60:18)
5:21 (65:40)
5:49=5:17/mi for last 1.1
FINAL- 1:11:29 - 5:28/mi

Also, one of my best friends Matt Mills ran a great race today in the full Marathon at Carlsbad and ran a PR of 3:23:16! Great times had by all, including good ole' James Campbell, who got up at 4am to drive up and watch us run and proceeded to fall asleep in my car and missed my finish! CLASSIC!

New Beginnings...

Wow...so much as happened since the last time I posted I'm not sure where to start. Let's start with running, mainly because it is not great but more positive than other news, and who wants to start a post off in a depressing mood...especially when the posts don't come that often!

Running has been ok. After three weeks what a great summation! But truly, that is all it has been, just ok. I've still been taking a day or two off a week with life/work/non-work getting in the way a bit. As usual I'm not going to sit here and make excuses for my laziness on the running front. I am still in decent aerobic shape but I am a bit worried about anything else. The race on Sunday should be interesting.

Here is what the past 3 weeks have looked like as far as my pathetic attempt at training:

December 29 - January 4
Mon: 9 easy in Millbury.
Tues: 10 easy in Millbury.
Wed: off, stupid snow, but sad to be leaving home...
Thu: 10mi, easy on the Bay, back in SD.
Fri: 9mi, easy on the Bay.
Sat: 9mi, easy on the Bay.
Sun: 10mi, decent effort on the Bay.
Total: 57mi, 6 days.

January 5 - 11
Mon: off, traveling with Kevin all day.
Tues: ~10mi, about 25min with Kevin then the remainder solo in SLO.
Wed: ~9mi, easy with JLew and Mike Kail in Solana Beach.
Thu: 9mi, easy on the Bay.
Fri: 10mi, easy on the Bay.
Sat: off, too many beverages on Friday night with Mikey in town...
Sun: 9, easy on the bay.
Total - 47mi, 5 days.

January 12 - 18
Mon: 10, easy on the Bay.
Tues: 9, easy on the Bay.
Wed: off, getting laid off sucks.
Thu: off, still kinda out of it from the whole job thing, not even in the mood to run...
Fri: 9mi, solid pace through La Jolla.
Sat: 10mi, 63:30, fairly quick but felt amazing, getting mad when running makes it fun!
Sun: 9mi, 59:10, attempted to go slow but it was still faster than usual.
Total - 47mi, 5 days.

So, on to other news. If you are actually reading this you must be a good friend because I think I have lost all random onlookers with my lack of posts. In addition you are probably also, then, aware of the fact that I had a abrupt, shocking end to my employment with Reebok. Last Wednesday all of the Running reps were told that we were going to be let go. Therefore, after 3 year, 5 months and 14 days of employment with Reebok I was cast aside. To call it simply employment is an understatement. As my other fellow reps ate, slept and lived Reebok each day. I challenge you to find a more dedicated group of men, but alas the dream is over. It is very odd and hard to grasp such an quick end to our tenure together. The only thing I could compare it to was when I left college and said to myself, "I will never find a group of friends like my teammates." Well, I am going to say again that, I will never find a group of colleagues like my fellow Running reps at Reebok. We were like a family and I will always remember the good, and bad, times we had together at Reebok. To Kevin, Ted, Lee, Keith, Chris, Mark, Andy and Keith, thanks guys (sorry Kevin and Lee, I really tried to find something for you guys but I failed!).

Well here I go, on to bigger and better things. I could sit here and discuss my feelings on my situation but I won't. Obviously I am upset and have plenty to say, but if you want to hear my opinions I'd be happy to do it off the record on the phone or in person, so, as Forrest says, that's all I have to say about that.

For the time being I am just going to focus on getting some solid training in and finding a new place of employment. I can only hope wherever I end up will be just as rewarding and fun as where I have been. I have my first pair on non-Reebok running shoes in 3 1/2 years, and I am ready to put plenty of miles on them. I'm not sure where Di and I will end up in the next few months, but no doubt it will be another chapter in the already amazing adventure we are on. There's a chance we stay in San Diego for some time but there's also a chance we end up packing up and heading the 3000+ miles back to good ole' Massachusetts. I will be sure to keep you all updated and I thank you all for your kind sentiments in a tough time.

Keep on keepin on and I hope with all the extra time on my hands I can keep this thing updated!