Worst Blog EVER/Merry Christmas

I would like to begin by apologizing to anyone who, and I don't know why you do, still looks for updates on this blog. It has been 3 weeks since I updated and I am very pathetic for not having done this for so long. As a matter of respect to my fantastic manager Kevin Adams I have come home from a quick visit to the Rbk HQ and decided to throw an update out there!

So, the question is, what have I been doing the past 3 weeks that is so important I can't do my pathetic little training log that I do? Well 3 weeks ago I got a little injured which always delays my training log entries because the are embarrassing. 2 weeks ago I split between San Diego and Millbury, slowing progress of running and again sending my log into a low mileage state. The fact that I had no bag for the first 2 days really hurt as well because I had to spend all day waiting for them to deliver my bag as I was the only home to sign for it. Lastly I spent last week catching up with old friends and seeing the family and put running on the back burner. So, although I will throw down some numbers below, the hope of hitting in the 90's while I was home was a far cry from what I actually did. With excuses abound I plead for forgiveness.

The training for the Carlsbad 1/2 has definitely not gone quite the way I had anticipated and I have definitely had to begin adjusting my goals accordingly. Having sort of bagged the training for this event I may look to another spring event, yet to be decided (Boston?), to train for. This is probably a better idea as I have put in some decent mileage the second half of 2008 and a long race sometime in the spring may work well. I still plan on running hard at Calrsbad, but I think something in the 71:30-72:30 time range looks more realistic.

So here is a quick look at the past 3 weeks and I am making a New Year's resolution to keep up with the blog and try and post my training every Sunday night and at least one entry mid week to keep you all frothing at the mouth wanting more...

DECEMBER 8-14:
M - 9mi
Tu - 10mi, right foot hurt bad after run, couldn't walk on it at night
W - off, right foot hurts fairly bad still
Th - 80min pool workout w/Di, 3X10min hard, 10min of 1 on/1 off
F - 6mi, foot feels a bit better
Sa - 9mi, foot better
Su - 10mi
Total - 44mi, 5 runs, one solid pool workout

DECEMBER 15-21:
M - 10mi
Tu - 9mi
W - 9mi
Th - 8mi, left for the motherland to an awaiting snow storm
F - 8mi, barely made it through that much during a big snow storm
Sa - off, snow bound and waiting for lost luggage
Su - off, same as previous day...
Total - 44mi, 5 days

DECEMBER 22-28:
M - 9mi, w/Mario
Tu - 10mi
W - off
Th - 9mi, Annual Worcester Christmas Morning Run through Worcester, this years participants included Mario, Katie Gwyther and Mark Discroll. Usual participant Erin Dromgoole was dealing with a slight injury but we did stop by and pull her out into the cold wind so she gets a shout out for that.
F - 10mi, did an old school Millbury High-esque hill workout at the Shaw School, did 30min of non-stop running up the hill, around the school and down (~1mi per loop) using the downhill has active recovery
Sa - off
Su - 8mi, solo on the streets of Hamilton and Ipswich while visiting at Di's house
Total - 46mi, 5 days

That's all I have for now. Poor month of December training, but it has really motivated me to get off my ass and training in January. I'll probably make a decision in the next few weeks on what I will do as far as a big Spring race, truthfully I'm thinking anything from a 10k on the track to a Marathon, so we'll see what gets spit out the other end when I am done coming up with the plan.

Happy Holiday's to everyone out there and best of luck in 2009!

Training Summary: Dec 1 - 7

Note: I forgot my Garmin on my trip and therefore have just guesses as far as distance for most of the runs early in the week, not a big deal because anything prior to about 3 years ago were all guesses so it was nice to go "old school" for once, haha.

Mon 1/1 - 7+mi, 54:30, easy with Millsy in Beverly Hills (how fancy!)

Tue 12/2 - off, long travel day, 2 appointments, poor excuses...

Wed 12/3 - AM 8.5(?)mi, 59:30, solo, hilly, windy run in SLO.
PM - 4.5(?)mi, no watch, easy with Millsy in Beverly Hills (fancy again!)

Thu 12/4 - 9mi, 63:25, easy solo run in the dark on the bay.

Fri 12/5 - 10mi, 62:20, hard up and over Mt. Soledad, getting a bit run down and caught I cold on my trip...boooo.

Sat 12/6 - 9mi, 64:00, solo on the bay, felt terrible.

Sun 12/7 - ~15mi (same loop as last week), 1:35:22, easy/moderate pace for about 5.5mi then tempo run on the big Fiesta Island loop, ~4.3mi, then easy/moderate for the remainder of the run. The "tempo" was more like a bunch of surges for 4+mi because the wind was just crazy on Fiesta Island. I did the loop in 24:17 which is something in the mid 5:30's but I would say there were points I was under 5:00 and others where I was probably over 6:00 because of the winds. It was a good run though, and I averaged 6:20 or so for the entire run so I'm happy with that.

Summary: 63mi, 7 runs, 6 days. Pretty easy beginning of the week and finished it up with a solid long run on Sunday. I got a little run down on my sales trip early in the week and also caught a cold which made a few days feel hard that weren't. With a full week next week I should be in the high 70's for sure. I will try and put together at least one work out next week and another hard long run. I'd say things are looking decent so far and the plan is getting finalized as to key workout over the next 4-5 weeks before I need to start to rest up for the Half.

Training Summary: Nov 24 - 30

Monday 11/24 - 10.5mi, 1:15:39, easy with JLew in Rancho Santa Fe.

Tuesday 11/25 - 10mi, 67:20, solo through La Jolla.

Wednesday 11/26 - 10mi, 69:20, solo run up and over Mt. Soldedad.

Thursday 11/27 - 9 mi, 62:20 solo through La Jolla.

Friday 11/28 - 9mi, 59:45, easy with JLew around Del Mar.

Saturday 11/29 - 10mi, 68:40, easy solo on the bay.

Sunday 11/30 - ~15mi, 1:39:30, solo on the bay, easy to start and slowly picked it up, felt great.

Summary - 73mi, 7 runs. Great full week of running and on one-a-days which is great. No workouts specifically but Soledad runs are always hard and the long run was harder near the end. The plan is one more week of fairly easy days except for the long run, which I tend make a progression run. Possibly a day off next week with all the travel for work I have planned but that will likely be my last day off until 2009. I still think getting in the 80's is only two weeks off and I definitely want a week in the 90's when I am home for Christmas.

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!

Super Happy Fun Long Awaited Update

Is coming later today...I SWEAR!

Editors Note:  I clearly lied here and appologize for my terrible job at blogging over the last month.  I have been very busy with work and other things, but should have updated by now.  I will do my best to get something put together that recaps my last 4 weeks.  Sorry to all my loyal readers...although I don't really there are any left!

Race Report: Ursula Rains Balboa Boogie 5k

Results:  8th place, 15:46.

I really didn't know what to think about this race so I went in to it attempting to run a fast time for once.  I didn't wear a watch and didn't hear any splits but ended up hitting a decent time by simply racing.  From all accounts my splits looked something like 4:52, 10:15.  That is probably the fastest mile I have run in about 2-3 years and the same goes for the 2 mile time, so I have to be happy that I was able to handle it and still finish well.  That also means I was sub 5min for the final mile as well, which is great.  

As far as the race itself I was happy and disappointed at the same time.   I ran about where I should have, however I only came in 8th which means that it was a fairly stacked race.  Unfortunately at least a couple of the top guys weren't even there, meaning that the championship race in November should be a tough battle for the top 10.  

The team was 2nd, which gives us 2 first places and a second place.  That ties us for first currently, meaning no matter what really happens the winner of the series will be the winner of the championship race.

In other news Dianna won, although her foot is still bothering her.  Hopefully she can get that fixed because she has a perfect 300 points (3 wins) and leads the series.  It was also excited this week because Jeff and Matt came down and ran, although Jeff only ran it as a workout, and on top Mario was here to cheer and take pictures!

The series is actually fairly deep this year.  Here are the updated Dirt Dog Series Standings:

Individual Standings

Team Standings