Picking Up Speed

Monday, April 27: 6:30 PM - 12 Miles, 84 min
Tuesday, April 28: 2:00 PM - 7 Miles, 46 min
Drills and Strides at the track
Wednesday, April 29: 6:00 PM - Track WO w/ Ari
25 min w/u
8 x 600m w/ 2minR - 1:46, 1:45, 1:44, 1:44, 1:43, 1:44, 1:42, 1:42
24 min c/d
Thursday, April 30: 7:30 PM - 6 Miles, 40 min
Friday, May 1: 8:30 PM - 7 Miles, 47 min
Saturday, May 2: 9:00 AM - Track WO w/ Ari, Pat, & Tony
25 min w/u
6 x Mile w/ 1minR - 4:59, 4:56, 4:57, 4:58, 4:52, 4:48
26 min c/d
Sunday, May 3: 7:30 PM - 12 Miles, 86 min

Week Total = 68 Miles, 7 Sessions

Monday, May 4: 12:30 PM - 10 Miles, 71 min
Tuesday, May 5: 6:00 PM - Track WO w/ Ari, Mario, JP, & Tony
26 min w/u
4 x [1000m (3minR) 600m (2.5minR]
[3:00, 1:45], [2:57, 1:41], [2:58, 1:42], [2:57, 1:39]
25 min c/d
Wednesday, May 6: 10:30 PM - 7 Miles, 47 min
Thursday, May 7: 8:00 AM - 6 Miles, 42 min
Friday, May 8: 0 Miles
Saturday, May 9: 0 Miles
Sunday, May 10: 8:00 AM - Long Interval WO
25 min w/u
2 Miles (road) - 10:18 (3.5minR)
2 Miles (road) - 10:09 (5minR)
1 Mile (track) - 4:58
15 min c/d on the grass

Week Total = 47 Miles, 5 Sessions

Two weeks have passed since I last posted on here and in that time, I've had some waves of good and bad training along with fluctuations in my motivation. Immediately following the James Joyce Ramble, I was on a mental high for a few days and had that mindset that anything was possible... something that's been missing for a while. Even though the race wasn't super competitive and the time wasn't super fast, it was a big enough boost to give me that "high" that I've been lacking. I had a really great training week which was concluded by one of my best workouts of the year on that Saturday. I was definitely starting to feel my legs under me again and feeling like I was making progress towards my goals.

I had another solid workout this past Tuesday followed by a great outing with the team at John Brewers afterward. We've had something like 9 birthdays on the team in the last month and some great performances so far this season, so with the addition of Cinco de Mayo, we figured we were due for a team get together. I really enjoyed the night and remember leaving dinner feeling very good about where things were going with the team and for me as an individual.

So it was a good start, but after that, the latter part of my training week started to unravel as I was bombarded with all sorts of things. Work was obviously a factor, but in addition to that, I also purchased a new car this week. I finally decided to retire the DSTNCE-Mobile ...or the Blue Beast as some would call it. I came to a point where I either had to invest a large amount of money into getting it to pass inspection or invest that money into a new car. After lots of consideration, I bit the bullet and chose the latter option. This little car has been good to me and it's certainly seen it's share of travel in the last few years, but after 160,000 miles of getting me from point A to point B, it was time to move on.

After a little searching around, I decided on a 2009 Hyundai Elantra as my new ride. My family has had pretty good luck with Hyundai so far, so I figured I'd keep with tradition. I also decided to purchase it in Maine since that's where we've gotten all our other cars, so I had to travel back and forth between MA and ME a couple of times over the course of the week. This process also included a lot of leg work that needed to be done to get all the paperwork taken care of. Maine and Massachusetts don't seem to work well together on that stuff, so I spent a good amount of time at the always exciting Registry of Motor Vehicles. This all certainly affected my training as I did some 10:30 PM runs and had some more zeros in the log, but I'm finally done with all the paperwork and my new car is now sitting happily in the driveway of 39 Stearns. I'm definitely liking it so far and think it'll be a good fit for me over the next several years.

Finally, after a crazy few days, I squeezed in another workout early Sunday morning, but was struggling with the motivation to really get after it. I was dreading doing it solo and just didn't have the time or energy to get mentally prepared for it so all I wanted to do was get it done and over with. I was supposed to hit 3 x 2 mile at 10:20, 10:10, and 10:00, but after the second 2 Mile, I was struggling and had a feeling the last one would be brutal. Therefore, I changed it up and just did a mile on the track at that pace. It ended up being an ok workout, but certainly not as comfortable as my last couple have been.

Moving on, I will still be working a lot in the next few weeks (especially now that I have an extra monthly payment to make), but I plan on having more consistency in my training and making a conscious effort to get in more of the little things between training sessions. I've been a lot better with icing lately as I've added a large storage bucket to the living room strictly for that purpose. CVC has been using it with me as well, now that he's training more regularly. I've also been doing a lot more foam rolling as instructed by Dr. V and might look into getting a wobble disc and/or baps board to help with my on going lower leg and foot issues. The ART, icing, stretching, etc. is helping, but I need to do more to strengthen those stabilizing muscles and increase that ankle mobility. Furthermore, I've scheduled a much needed massage with a recently certified Carly Graytock who was kind enough to log some free time with me earlier in the year while she was going to school. On top of all that, I'd like to (need to!) get in more drills and core work again to help reduce my risk of riding the bench through another season. I'm starting to see my fitness improve now and I need to be serious about everything I'm doing in that process. Otherwise, why am I doing it at all?

As for racing, I still don't know what my exact schedule will look like, but I'm pretty sure you'll see my name on one of the start lists at the Twilight Meets. I won't make the first one because I'll be in the Sipe-Eddy wedding up in Boothbay Harbor, but the second and third meets are probably fair game. Then depending on how things go there, I may shop around for other races on the track or switch to the roads. I'm still in the planning stages of my "racing season" while most people are in the middle or end of their season. But I'm ok with that. Definitely let me know if you'll be joining us in the Twilight Series this year or if you have any other suggestions I should consider.

Have a good week and I'll see you at the races.