Preseason Starts

PRESEASON!!!!!

8/29/07- Huntington. Medium, pushed up the hill. Hot and humid, felt tingly Goosebumps at times but things seemed to be working well, in order. Foot felt okay during the day but during the run, the acheiness started to go away! Some of the foot muscles were sore from not being used while in the insoles, but it felt good the whole way. I think I can carry on as planned so long as I keep a very watchful eye on everything.

Miles: 6

8/30/07 ( Morning) – Full arroyo, medium-hard. Hot and Humid. Took it out a bit fast, worked hard in the canyon. The last few miles the dehydration and overheating really got to me. Other than that foot felt decent, passable, and legs felt good. Foot sore but okay later.

Miles: 10

Time to Run Hard (Losing follows shortly)

8/26/07- Foot slight better again today. Went swimming and aqua jogging, about 1000 yards total.

Miles:0

Weekely Miles: 32

8/27/07- Foot again better. Preseason okay? We’ll have to see. Rode Chantry again today. Cycling legs felt much stronger already. Rocketed to the top.

Miles (bike) : 25

8/28/07- Foot about same, during the day it ached a bit when walking. Decided to try running a bit considering preseason is tomorrow. Jogged down to the track, but it still hurt. Shit. Decided to take off the shoes, run a bit barefoot to isolate the problem. This however, felt much better. The Insoles! Those were what killed me! Ran without insoles on the inside of the grass, foot pain almost went away. Good sign. 2.5 miles, did some aqua jogging and lap swimming too. The rest of the night the foot felt fine, a good sign I suppose. Ice, and later did some Achilles’ exercises.

Miles: 3 ish

Familiar Territory-Foot injuries

Something in my right foot is sprained. Its not that same as my big injury from the Spring, and I think it is certainly less serious, but I am going to be really conservative. My legs honestly need the rest anyways. With any luck, Ill be back in action on day 1 of preseason. If it takes a bit longer, I'm not going to complain, so long as I have a healthy season.

8/22/07- Was going to do Lower Arroyo but foot felt kinda weird so I aborted. Not the old injury, just general funkiness. Went down El Molino left on Monterey, to Lacy and back up to tech. Did 3 miles on the grass with Matt and Ian, who were way too fast for me. Foot felt okay towards the end.

Miles: 8

8/23/07- Woah foot not okay. Can’t tell what exactly hurts, but it’s the very outside right two digits, closer towards the ankle than the forefoot. Walking around today was a painful at times. Swam 1000 yards.

8/24/07- Foot felt much better during the day. Ran Lacy park long way, but it still was bothering me. I have decided to take off as much time as I need until preseason until it gets better.

Miles: 4.5

8/25/07- Biked to Chantry flats. Left mid-day, it was hot as hell, sweated dripping off. My cycling muscles are out of shape, it was quite tough. Foot hurt a bit at first when out of the saddle but by the end of the ride it was pain free. Perhaps (and hopefully) it is a sprain or ligamental, as opposed to a stress fracture or something serious. I guess my foot was in a kind of fine balance. Once something failed, everything went to hell.

Miles (bike): 25

Also I found this really cool video about Matt Withrow's Senior year of HS XC. It is pretty ridiculous.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPT9qTbaGH0&mode=related&search=

If you haven't watched the video of his win at 2003 Foot Locker you should see that first.

Preseason Approaches! - last hard base training before the season starts

8/19/07- 35 min easy around campus+ N. field, a bit with Ian. Legs tired.

Miles: 4

Weekly miles: 58

8/20/07- How do you spell FUN? P-A-T-R-I-C-I-A-N! Went with Dave, moderate out- a controlled warm up, hard up the climb (need to work on climbing form), hard back through Pas, as low as 7:30 pace the last 2 miles. Felt quite good! Lots of energy, a little dehydrated at the end. Much stronger than last year, and it's not even preseason.

Miles: 11.5

8/21/07- Huntingson from Lloyd+ 2 laps at Lacy. Tiiiiired. Trudged through it in fairly painful and slow 65-70 minutes. On the plus side, no sign of injury, just tiredness. Saw Dave and Matt. Side note: Matt is a beast, I wouldn't be surprised if he runs consistently in the 25s, or possibly less.

Miles: 7.5-8

More solid training

I wonder if I'll ever be fast...

8/17/07- Another awesome run. Matt, Mark, Ian, and I drove up to the chantry flats ranger station at about 6 p.m perhaps. Ran up to the helipad, where they dropped me and then up the gravel fire road for 34 minutes, 26 back. Made it up to a really good overlook. Legs felt quite good the whole way, and I kept a reasonable, medium pace. Achilles’ sore at first, went away soon. Beautiful run, felt like a real runner.

Miles: 7

8/18/07- California to the arroyo easy warm up. 3x Ian’s tempo loop: 11:50, 10:40, 11:20 with 30-60 sec active recovery. Pushed hard on 2^nd and last. Exhausted by the time I got home.

Miles: 10

8/19/07- 35 min easy around campus+ N. field with Ian. Legs tired.

Miles: 4

Weekly miles: 58

Possibly my best run ever

Sometimes, you just have a run that feels amazing, is amazingly quick, and represents something wonderful to you. My twilight full Arroyo run today was quite possibly my best run ever, and at least in the top three, which already includes an upper arroyo from the winter off-season. Everything about this run was almost surreal and aesthetically amazing. Last night I had met Mark, Ian, and Matt cooling down after running a blazing full arroyo (Matt casually stated that they were down around 5:15 pace for the last stretch through old Pas). I was inspired. At some point in the 105 degree heat of the afternoon, I decided I would leave at 7 p.m., hoping to make it out of the arroyo just after it became too dark to discern the rocks and bumps on trail, and I would run it hard. I remember after reading Running with the Buffaloes, the Colorado guys do a hard 10 mile run at altitude. Combining hearing about Mark, Matt, and Ian's run last night and this story had an impressionable me ready for some work. I got really hydrated during the day, ate a 6 inch subway sandwich at 2 p.m., some pudding at 5:30, and some tortilla strips at 6:20, watched a youtube video of Haile G setting the 10k world record, and was ready to go. I rolled out of Lloyd at 6:57pm, and cruised out to the Brown gym.

Already by the time I got there, I could tell my legs were surprisingly fresh and filled with energy. No whining, no bitching, just a sudden full tank of gas. The temperature was already comfortably below 90 degrees, as I cruised over to El Molino. I held steady at my medium-easy base pace, maybe 8:30, at times 8:15 when descending the fault. I had also noticed, or failed to notice per say, my Achilles's tendinitis, which had been mildly bothering me the last 2 or so weeks. It just wasn't really there today, at all. I effortlessly made my to Garfield park, thinking about Alan Webb and Worlds, and Haile G. I stopped only for 1 or 2 minutes to stretch out the Achilles' and was on my Merry way. By the time I reached the Arroyo, the sun had already set, and it was at that nice and lazy summer dusk that just never seems to quite fade into night. As I ran by the horse stables, my legs brimming energy, I decided I would step it up to an easy tempo pace, about 7:30-7:15. Remembering Multi-duals, that fateful race where I was moderately sick, threw up between 7 and 10 times, filled my shoe with blood, and ran as slow as 7:30 pace at times, I figured tempo-ing at this pace was fine. As I accelerated into the twilight of a redder and redder arroyo canyon, I passed into a state of blissful runner's reveire. Everything about the arroyo seemed like that idyllic red rock desert river canyon, from somewhere in a picture when I was very little. All you could here were the birds, bugs, and the slight trickle of water. As I ran north of the casting pond, now at least more than a mile into my tempo pace, I noticed a dog up ahead with no owner. Then I realized it was no dog but a Coyote. I moved to the far side of the trail to give it way and it trotted right by me, no more than 10 feet away.

I emerged from the canyon just south of the Rose Bowl Aquatic center, just where you can see directly up into the mountains. The sky was a pastel smear of red, violet, and blue, and the lights of altadena dotted the hills. Perfect twilight. I stopped for a minute to get a drink at the aquatic center and take a leak. Feeling just amazing at this point; tired but not too tired, completely high on endorphins, I headed up the hill at a steady pace, and begin a series of sprints through old pas. I did my best to Jay-walk (Mexican style as we called it in High School), make as many lights, but at times I was limited to as little as 200m of running with little breaks in between. As I flew along Green Street, I pushed a controlled race feeling pace of 6:45 to 6:15. Now almost completely dark, the gentle white lights and deep green trees of old pas made a continually beautiful backdrop for the run. Pulling onto the Lake I flew at top speed through throngs of Thursday night Pasadena town-goers, now feeling the toll of more than 5 miles of fast pace. Finally arriving at the Brown Gym an hour and 1:45 min later, I was fairly exhausted. The North Field, dark and empty, seemed a bit anti-climatic to my rugged desert/urban promenade adventure, but I jogged 4 contented laps and jogged back to Lloyd.

I lost 6 pounds over the run, including a water break at the aquatic center and hearty gulping at the Brown Gym. This run has really shown me how I actually have progressed alot since August 16th of last year. Coming off of 7 months of basically not running, at this point last year I basically trying to be able to run 9 or 10 miles. And while I didn't run for 3 1/2 months this spring, I could tell today that a good season lies in store for. Everything just felt like it was falling together, working properly. No injuries, no pain, no sucking, just a very satisfying run. UCI invite is 3 weeks and 1 day from now. I ran 34:04 there last year for my first 8k. I think I can break 33 at least there barring any injury. We'll see where I go from there. Maybe Ian's inebriated but honest prediction of 30 minutes this year isn't quite as hopeless as I once thought (although I still don't think I'll hit it).

Miles: 12

2 weeks to go

8/13/07- Easy Lacy long way with 2 laps at lacy and 1 mile cool down with Mark.

Miles: 7

8/14/07- Easy Eichenlaub grassy special out, tempo back to lacy, 5-4-3-2-1 at Lacy, easy back + cool down. Legs okay, Achilles’ a bit sore, felt good to run fast once again.

Miles: 10

8/15/07- Moderate Huntingson backwards with l mile a Lacy. Legs okay, Achilles’ decent, felt much better once the sun went down and the temp got below 95 degrees. Saw Mark, Ian, and Matt at cool down from their blazing full arroyo.

Miles: 8

Managing things

This weekend ended on a somewhat lackluster note. While my Achilles is faring decently, my legs were still feeling pretty dead after about a 40 mile week. Two off days on the weekend will hopefully mean some refreshed legs, a much more resilient Achilles. Already after one day off, the Achilles feels much better, good deal. So what, I may not be as fast as I hoped this season, I may still be running off the back of the pack all by myself once more. Get some consistent training, be patient, and take it easy in school- get sleep. Who knows, maybe as soon as track this year, i might see some quick times.

8/8/07- Huntingson + lap at Lacy and 1.5 mile cool down. Felt great, quick pace, Achilles’s sore at times but otherwise okay. I think the faster pace is a result of 5 weeks solid training plus good rest last 4 days Achilles’ stiff/sore during barefoot cooldown.

Miles: 8.5

8/9/07- Achilles’ a bit more sore today, probably from yesterday. Still not terribly painful but being very careful. Easy Lacy long with 2 laps in Lacy. Lots of stretching. Legs kind of tired.

Miles: 5.5

8/10/07- Achilles’ pretty good today. Legs however, quite dead. Lower Arroyo. Legs weight over 300 pounds until climbing out of the Arroyo. Sleep not good?

Miles: 8.5

8/11/07- Went to El Pescador Beach 5 miles north of Malibu. Did some nice body surfing. Then celebrated the evening with some BEvERage. Achilles’ pretty sore, but not really painful.

Miles: 0

8/12/07- Achilles’ completely painless. Swam ~1 mile. 500 free warmup + butterfly drills and buttefly.

Miles: 0

Weekly miles: ~36

Easy does it

8/5/07- Feels much better but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Miles: 0

8/6/07- No noticeable pain when walking, standing or sitting. Dave was is in town, so we ran Huntington to Lacy, did some laps there, and back. Felt a bit sore at times but didn’t really hurt. Iced. Note: Dave is fast.

Miles: 6.5

8/7/07- Achilles’ felt good today, ran out Lombardy and back plus barefoot cool down on track, again with dave, again pretty quick. Still sore but never hurt hurt. Iced a ton.

Miles: 6

Some unplanned down time

So right now my Achilles' is bothering me a tiny bit. Nothing serious, but after seeing Kangway, Mark, and hearing about Ian struggle with it more severe Achilles' injuries, I am doing some cross training and hopefully taking no more than 3 days off.

8/2/07- Eichenlaub grassy especial, 74 minutes. Ran at 4 so it was hot as hell. Was late for SURF dinner so pushed hard. Getting below 8 min was harder than I thought, and the extra effort just made the heat problem worse. On the plus side, legs were feeling great and pretty good pace for soft grass.

Miles: 9

8/3/07- Eichenlaub grassy special medium to Oak Knoll with Ian. Good convo, showed me the lab afterwards. After shower and dinner, Achilles’ tendon feeling worse than in days past. Iced, probably will take tomorrow off to be careful.

Miles: 8.5

8/4/07- Day off. Achilles’ better but decided not to run on it. Heated, stretched, massaged, stretched, iced, swam 1000 yards of various strokes at the pool, and iced. Tomorrow probably off again just to be careful.

Miles: 0.

Back in West Side

Even with 3 rest days last week, my legs are still tired and complain a lot the first 60% of my runs. I think I will begin "ascending to full volume" very gradually. I'll try to finish off the week in 55-60 ( right now at 26 so I need a long run later this week), take a slightly down week 2nd week of august, 65-70 3rd week, 45-50 last week of preseason, 3 rest days before the start.

I now kind of have two different, competing views of what the season should be like. One is the old Mark Wetmore season. Ascend to a high full volume, plateau out, and then speed up towards the very end. This would involve sitting out of some of the early speed workouts Scott has us do for longer steady state runs, i.e, doing a hard 7 mile run instead of those 400m Hills at the end of the first week. I mean, whats the point!?

The other viewpoint is the Ian Shapiro type summer. Lots of rest, pretty big flucations, relatively moderate mileage: 20-40-25-45-30-50-25-55-30-45...etc. This would leave me less tired and probably less injured. However, seeing as how I am coming off 4 months out, I think I need to do a good job of reestablishing my base, and then maybe in the fall/winter get my base pace down to mid-high 7s. Anyways heres the last 3 days.

7/30/07- Achilles sore from walking and standing in NYC, legs still kinda tired but much better. Last run in MD. On and off thundershowers, bright white clouds on a deep blue sky, reminded me of Hawaii. CJ trail from River road up to old high school XC course. Took it out medium, pretty quick on the way back.

Miles: 8-8.5

7/31/07- Huntington. Medium. Felt okay, was hoping for more. 51 min-2 min for stops=49 min.

Miles: 6.5

8/1/07- Full Arroyo from Lloyd. Still took a while to get into it, as usual. In the words of Dave, legs being whiny bitches. Finally started dropping under 8 min pace after casting pond with last 2.5-3 being excellent. Didn’t even feel that tired at the end. Hopefully I can get my base pace below 8 by the end of this month.

Miles: 10.5