I 'recover' 13 hours a day

7/17/07- Ran 7 miles from school, down to Bradley on CJ trail. Nice and chill. Mid 8s.

Miles: 7

7/18/07- Decided I would break out the ice bucket to help with the foot. Iced before I ran, felt much better. Did my first 10 miler since I don’t even know when, maybe a full arroyo around the beginning of track season, at least 6 months. Basically did yesterday’s run but when all the way down to river road, for 9.5 miles and then ½ mile cool down at school.

Total time: 1:22 for the 9.5. ß so pretty slow, exacerbated by steepness/technical nature of the trail. Felt gooooooood, relaxed the whole way, not too tired by the end, although on the cool down felt pretty drained. What can you expect from your first 10 miler in 6 months.

Avg HR 160

Max HR: 180 (final hill)

Avg temp 88

Max temp 92 ß this was a hot and sticky one

Calories: 1452 ß oh yeah

Miles: 10.5

7/19/07- I was planning for a easy run but Tarik called, and thus said idea promptly flew out the window. Ran extension of big jungle including lap at the campgrounds for a total of 8 miles at between about 7:20-7:45 pace. Started out fairly easy, surprisingly, and slowly picked it up. Was able to hold a good conversation for the first 4 miles, which, knowing Tarik, started out running related and ended up science related. After that, started pushing real hard on the climbs back up to the school. Every time I run with Tarik, I get a good workout. Unfortunately, I tend to be somewhat of a burden to him I feel, so I have to make sure I do it on his recovery days.

Miles: 8

7/20/07- Thanks to a cold front, the weather was very tolerable. I ran in the early afternoon with Ryan, nice and easy, big rectangle variation. Easy, but I didn’t feel too great… Mid 8s

Miles: 5.5

7/21/07- Ran extended big rectangle + small square. Very cool, dark. Good run. It took several miles to get into it, but after 6 or so, it settled in nicely. Some bad chaffing though hmmm. 7:50-8:00 pace

Miles: 8.5

I am a runner again, I think

7/9/07: Huntington Jr. (girl’s team way) with Ali. Pretty mellow, legs tired, stomach ached a bit, cramped. Foot sore in beginning but basically went away. Didn’t wear watch or HR monitor. Prob just less than 9 minute pace.

Miles: 5

7/10/07- Plane trip home. Traveled all day.

7/11/07- Ran at midnight around the field of the Glen Hills. ½ mile loops about, 10 laps. Lights cut out with 1 mile to go so ran under the glow of the DC summer night sky. Good pace, ~ 8 mins.

Total time: 40:43

Avg. HR: 173

Max HR: 186

Kcals: 649

F. Avg. : 82

Total miles: 5

7/12/07- Morning: Swam 1000 yards at the local pool.

Afternoon:

Ran on Power lines 22 minutes out down Gainsborough, got as far as uncrossable stream. Old school XC running: 3 stream crossings total. Turned around, ran back to Tuckerman, finished hard, maybe 8 min pace including fence jumping, stream crossings, and knee high grass. 7:40-7:30 pace equivalent on good roads. Medium hard- hard. Maybe 5 ½ miles + mile of warm up/cool down

Time: 46:19

Avg. HR: 173

Max: 195 (not even all out, but I didn’t feel like I had a whole lot of energy left)

Kcals: 750

Ascent 300 feet (going down into the streams)

F. Avg: 85 degrees

Total miles: 6.5-7

7/13/07- Morning: Ran 4.5 mile loop around Clopper Lake with Shof. Pretty easy (8:30). Very humid, ran with shirt on, mistake.

Afternoon: Ran 4.5 mile on pavement with Tim, matched him step for step, then did 1 mile cool down on grass , 4 barefoot grass striders and 2 on track. Tired from running 5 hours earlier, foot felt great on pavement.

Total miles: 10

7/14/07- Pretty tired today. Ran on river road trail 2.6 out and back. Took it pretty slow, controlled. Over 9 min pace, but considering the difficulty of the run, not a bad recovery run. 48 minutes total. Foot a bit sore at times, nothing serious.

Miles: 5.2

7/15/07- Ran a fairly slow base pace 7 miles on the river road trails again. At times I would like at the HR monitor and it would show 154 or 156 and I would have to get myself to pick it up. Maybe I will stay around 160 for the next week as I up mileage

Miles: 7

Weekly milage: 39 <---hmm maybe that was a bit quick. This week more chill, all mileage in 1 run.

7/16/07- Foot a bit sore from the increase in mileage. Manageable, but decided for a day off.

Miles: 0

First Run in Forever

I really had forgotten what running was like. Everything about it. Just going out and running, being alone with nothing but your body and mind for an hour, as Belle and Sebastian would say "wear terry underwear, feel the city air against your body." I listened to that song so much towards what would be the end of my track season. I first heard it on Ian's CD that he always has in his car, coming back from the UCLA road race in Palmdale. We were all wiped out and Kangway really wanted to drive, so we all fell right asleep. I remember, waking up for a brief moment in a sleepy haze, Ian and Matt completely passed out, Kangway hunched over the wheel, Stars of Track and Field playing as we came through Verdugo hills on the 210. A clear winter day, the sun shone bright in the very deep blue sky as we passed under the emerald green hills and I feel back asleep. I'll remember that for a long time. That moment sort of signified my becoming a true athlete for me, and I don't know why. Sure my 1500 time was just passing below 5 minutes, not that quick, sure I just finish in the middle of the pack of the Men's C race, but for some reason, this was the first time I felt like a true runner. From them on, Belle and Sebastian also meant running for me. Every time I listened to that song, their words really struck home. Something about the music and lyrics and my powerful new outlook on running really hit the spot.
Lately though, I couldn't really listen to that song. I know it seems corny to judge my running based on how I listen to a song, but songs in general become a million times better for me when their words and chords resonate with my state of mind. Today, I that song still doesn't quite mesh, but it has come a long way back. On my run today, I did wear my terry underwear and I did feel the city air against my body. It did feel like running once again. Maybe it will never be quite the same. Kangway is gone, Ian is probably leaving soon (I hope not), Matt will graduate. That car ride will of course never happen again, but soon I think, I will feel like a runner again. And who knows, maybe my times will reflect that. I mean, it sure would be nice to run against other people. Anyways here is my entry for this afternoon's run:

Afternoon: Huntington ! Awesome 6 miles. First real run in 4 months. Kept it controlled the whole way. Foot a bit sore the last bit after 2 miles on pavement but it went right away.

Total time: 48:22 (doesn’t include 2 stop lights)

Avg. HR: 165

Max HR: 183 ( I wonder where???)

Kcals: 766

Avg. Temp: 86 on wrist. (very dry and pleasant)

Pace: ~8:00

Felt amazing, like I never really got out of shape. The only stopping me was my foot.

Miles : 6

Weekely Milage: 20.5 running

40 biking

Some Biking

7/6/07- Ran 8 slightly extended laps around the inside of the Lacy park, reversing direction after 4. Used HR monitor for first time. Felt controlled, moderate. Here are the stats:

Total time: 34:05

Avg. HR: 169

Max HR: 181 (quick finish)

Avg. Temp: 82 F on wrist

Kcals: 540

Miles: 4.1

Avg. Pace: 8:20

This is so cool.

7/707- Biked Chantry flats harder than normal. Total ride time: 1:52 minutes

Miles 22.2

Elevation gain: 2280 ft

Avg. HR 142

Max HR 179

KCals: 1433

Avg Temp 84 F

Max Temp 93 F

Avg Speed: 15.9 mph

Max Speed 41 mph

Felt pretty good, quads sore from first ride in 6 days.

7/8/07- Morning: Rode to Rose Bowl with Tim and Max and did 2 laps easy.

Ride time: 1:25

Miles: 15

Polar HR monitor + VO2 max test

So I finnnnalllllly got my Polar S725X cycling computer/HR monitor in the mail today. Turns out pay pal refused to put MSCs on the packages, making them take ages to arrive here. So i put on speed sensor and got everything set up. I also noticed that the S725X model comes with a test for your " ownIndex ", apparently their best guess at your VO2 max based on only HR stuff. So I decided I would take the ownIndex test right now just to see what it was. I took at at about 4:30 pm, middle of the day, nothing special. My resting HR is 53 and my VO2 max is 67. Ill keep testing occasionally and see where it goes.

Getting Back Into It

I woke up this morning and for about 10 whole minutes I completely forgot any part of me was ever injured. Maybe I'll try 4 miles today, sobre el asped, por su puesto. I think I spelled asped wrong. Yeah so good news. This is quite similiar to the start I had last year. Last year, I began running June 28th, every other day, with 3-4 milers. Of course last year, I had basically taken 4 months off without exercising at all, not to mention I didn't have two pretty solid seasons of long distance running behind. So, maybe I can't make good on Ian's prediction of getting down to the 30s or under, but I definitely think I can be faster than last year, especially with smart and efficient training. In the spirit of Ians drunken predictions, I want to make some predictions too, just for fun:

Matt K 25s-26s-- yea I think he can break 26 minutes if he gets his mileage up w.o injury
Dave R 26-27s-- He just needs to put in the milage, but I think a return to his frosh year 26:43 is completely plausible
A new Kid (anton or sacith) <29. Not sure which, but both new kids are quite strong.
Steve +Chris 29s The are certainly working hard now that its their last year and were getting pretty fast last year. I think its reasonable for both of them
Ben F- 30s If he trains, which is a big ? He might hold off the inevitable decline
Other new kid -30s
Jon T 30s- Seems to be working pretty hard. Althought injury ruined both his last seasons, he is pretty talented
Me- 30s-32s- A big ? considering the unpredictability of my performance in races and the yet again late start in my training. I think I can get into the 32s for sure. I think last year if I didn't oversleep Riverside I could have broke 33 there.
Ben + Paul+ Tommy?: 33s- Paul is pretty talented but his work level is pretty low and Ben seems to be try pretty hard. So same time for Paul, improvement for Ben

There are other people I am sure I am forgetting (including girls but ill steer clear of that one), including potential other frosh like me. From what I gather looking back, Kangway was the big recruit of our year, having run 16s for 5k along with, Ben Flora, with Jon, Paul, and Me being ?s. So one of the frosh could be a flake, although I would say Sachith, who I talk to a good deal, seems to be really working hard. Hopefully he won't get injured. Oh yeah here is my training:

7/4/07- Ran 3 miles around Lacy. Over a mile on pavement due to 4^th of july celebration. Felt alright.

Miles: 3

7/5/07- Ran 5 laps around the interior field of Lacy. Foot painless.

Miles: 2

More Training and Such

6/26/07- Attempted Rose Bowl Ride. Got there 5 minutes late and missed the neutral 1^st lap. Got dropped 3 times, spent at most 3 consecutive laps with the pack. Pushed really hard in places.

Miles :40

6/27/07- Jogged 5 laps around the inside of the track. Foot felt a bit stiff and sore, seemed to be okay afterwards.

Miles: 1.25

6/28/07- Did Big Tujunga canyon again. Felt much better this time, had a lot more power this time. Still hot and low on water.

Miles: 50+

6/29/07- Morning: jogged 6 laps around inside of the track. Felt okay. Got a bit irritated afterwards, iced 3 times that day.

Afternoon: Bike to Rose Bowl + 3 Laps. Nice and easy

Miles 1.5 + 20

6/30/07- Was going to do Baldy, didn’t feel like It. Ran 6 Laps around the N field with Russell. Foot felt much better than yesterday.

Miles : 2

7/1/07- Mt. Baldy Village from GMR. Ride from Hell. Really bad heat exhaustion. Ran out of water, over 100 degrees. Made it but it sucked.

Miles: 80, 4500 v. feet

7/2/07- Ran 2.5 miles combined N field + inside of track. Felt completely pain free.

Miles: 2.5

7/3/07- Ran 3 miles inside of track. Felt some soreness between miles 1 and 2, but kind of went away. Felt fine afterwards.

Miles: 3