Albuquerque, New Mexico

After a great visit in Flagstaff, I continued my travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico, "The Land of Enchantment". It was a pretty easy drive from Flag to A-town so I arrived with plenty of time to round up the troops and head over to the local hang out. Lucky for me, Tuesday meant 15 cent wings and $2.50 drafts!

I was staying with Robby, Tristan, and Brad so we all made our way over but were soon joined by Lynn, Shannon, Dillan, and a few other UNM trackies. It was quite the crew for a Tuesday night and I think a good time was had by all. Before the night was over, they wouldn't let me go through Albuquerque without trying some true New Mexican cuisine, so we went over to "The Frontier"" to get all sorts of deliciousness (as seen in the photo below).

We were up early the next morning and made it up to the foothills before the sun was up to start a nice group run overlooking the city limits. The group started with myself, Robby, Jeremy, Jesse, Ian, and Lauren (as seen in the picture), but also included 2008 Olympic Steeplechaser, Mardrea Hyman. It was a challenging run through the hills and with the altitude, I noticed myself taking a few extra breaths between conversations, but I really enjoyed the varying terrain and got in a solid 9 Miles for the morning.

After the run, we had some of NM's famous breakfast burritos at "Dos", we drove through town and saw the campus a little, and finally went over to "Heart and Sole", the running store where Robby, Tristan, and Jesse all work.

I really wanted to stay another night in A-town with these guys, but I had plans further down the road (11 hours of road actually) so I had to be on my way. I have to say it was an awesome visit and I hope to share some more adventures with these characters soon.

Next stop: Fayetteville, Arkansas

Pictures


Wing Night: Left to Right - Tristan, Brad, Lynn, Me, Dillan, Shannon, Robby, Sasha
The Frontier: Clockwise - Tristan w/ the hash browns, Shannon w/ a sweet bun, Dillan w/ chili cheese fries, Robby w/ a sweet bun, and my green chili burrito in the center.
Morning Run: Left to Right - Me, Ian, Jeremy, Jesse, Loren, Robby

Flagstaff, Arizona

The journey across the country has begun (again!). This time I decided to take a different route and hit some other parts of the country that I have yet to see. My first stop was Flagstaff, Arizona, also known for being one of the premier training spots in the US for endurance athletes, runners in particular. I've heard so many great things about this small mountain town and I have to say it didn't disappoint.

I was fortunate enough to stay with Ian Burrell and his wife Courtney as they provided me with great hospitality. I was only in Flagstaff for two nights but I certainly had a chance to experience many of the great aspects this area has to offer. I spent most of my time with the McMillan Elite group, founded by Greg McMillan. I have to say that he's done a really great job with this team. In only two years, they have become one of the top training groups in the country and seem to have a great setup for their athletes.

I met with the group Monday morning for a run with some moderate speed and agility work at the NAU track. I was feeling pretty good, but after a few sets of the faster paced stuff, I was feeling my hamstring and decided to back off on the rest of the workout. Later in the day, I was able to get an appointment at the world famous Wharton Experience and was worked on by Austin Baillie who did an excellent job and helped me a lot with some of the injury problems I've been having.

Later that evening, we all went to Alicia Shay's house for a huge Mexican themed potluck dinner. The majority of the elite running community was there including the McMillan athletes, the Wharton Health group that I met earlier and many others that I had only admired from afar. I met some really cool people there and had some unbelievable food as well!

Before leaving the next morning, we had a running group of about 15 guys (including Olympians Martin Fagan and Andrew Lemoncello) and went on a great 11 Mile tour of the beautiful Flagstaff trails.

I left Flagstaff feeling really good about my experience there and will definitely make an effort to return for a longer visit in the future. I took some pictures of the area, including the famous Buffalo Park and have included a few of them here for your viewing pleasure.

Next up: Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Move Along

When all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through

Monday, October 13: 5:00 PM - 10 Miles, 68 min
Tuesday, October 14: 4:00 PM - Attempted fartlek WO
15 min w/u, 1 min @ ~ 4:40 pace, pulled up and walked back 2.5 miles
Wednesday, October 15: 0 Miles
Thursday, October 16: 0 Miles
Friday, October 17: 0 Miles
Saturday, October 18: 4:00 PM - 5 Miles, 34 min
Sunday, October 19: 0 Miles

Week Total = 18 Miles, 2 1/4 runs

Monday, October 20: 9:00 AM - 5 Miles, 32 min
3:00 PM - 5 Miles, 36 min
Tuesday, October 21: 8:00 AM - 10 Miles, 62 min
Wednesday, October 22: 9:00 AM - 5 Miles, 34 min
5:00 PM - Moderate Tempo WO
6 Miles at 5:30-5:15 effort (5:26, 5:28 (downhill), 5:22, 5:16, 5:47 (uphill), 5:15
16 min w/u, 18 min c/d
Thursday, October 23: 10:00 AM - 10 Miles, 73 min (Santa Barbara)
Friday, October 24: 7:00 AM - 6 Miles, 41 min (Santa Barbara)
3:30 PM - 9 Miles, 70 min (Santa Barbara - Mountain Run)
Saturday, October 25: 6:00 PM - 7 Miles, 44 min
Sunday, October 26: 7:00 AM - 14 Miles, 96 min

Week Total = 82 Miles, 10 Runs

I know it's been a while since I've posted as I've been pretty busy. Actually, I can't believe it's only been two weeks because it seems like so much has happened in that time. Last time I updated this thing, I was having trouble with my left hamstring but seemed to be on the upswing. Well, I was a little too optimistic about it and decided I was ready to attempt a workout on last Tuesday. I had felt ok on easy runs and thought I was fine to try a hard effort, so I started a fartlek with Steve and realized very quickly that it was too soon. Less than 60 seconds into the first interval, I felt a twinge in the lower hamstring and then within a few steps, it completely locked up and I was halted to a stop. I knew I was done for the day and told Steve to go on without me. It was similar to the feeling I felt in the workout the week before, except it was much more painful. I tried to walk it off for a little bit and was hoping to just jog back to the car. However, a very slow walk was all I could muster up for the 2 1/2 Mile trip back. It was so slow that I got back to the car only 5 minutes before Steve made it back, cool down and all.

I was pretty upset because I was making progress and then ended up worse off than I was a week ago. This time, I decided to be more cautious and make sure I let it heal properly. I took 3 days off completely, ran 5 miles on the 4th day but didn't feel good so I took Sunday off as well. Finally on Monday it was feeling better. It was still pretty tight, but there wasn't a lot of pain running at an easy pace. I had another good run on Tuesday and then decided to try a harder effort on Wednesday since I had gone a week with no workouts. Since the hamstring issue seemed to be sensitive to speed, I decided I'd start with a moderate tempo and see how that felt. I put in 6 miles, averaging about 5:25 pace, starting at 5:30 effort and working down to 5:15s. It was slower than tempo effort so cardiovascularly, I didn't have any trouble. My legs felt ok, but they just felt weak and I could feel the hamstring grabbing at certain points in the last few miles.

So I'm definitely feeling better and I'll still be cautious over the next week or so in order to get back into solid training without aggravating it again. I decided not to run Mayor's Cup this past weekend for a few reasons and will wait for another opportunity to race when I feel stronger. I was really looking forward to the trip out there, but I know I'm doing the right thing by avoiding it.

In other happenings, I went to Santa Monica last weekend to watch the 5000 and 10000 races while also visiting with friends and enjoying the nice weather at the beach. Later in the week, I drove up to Santa Barbara to stay with friends Rusty and June. I had some nice runs while I was there, enjoyed some great scenery, and had the great company of the Snow family to make it interesting.

I returned from Santa Barbara on Friday night and spent all of Saturday at the Mt. SAC invite helping out a little with the Flotrack and Reebok crew. It was a lot of fun and we ended it with an interesting evening as well. After a few hours of sleep, I did a long run with Jorge Torres, Fenton, and Sean, then went back to the house to start packing.

What am I packing for? Let me explain. As most of you know, I've been living in Southern California for the last 4 months and training with the Pacers Elite Team. It is a very new program and has not been established as a premier training program. With the hope of having something similar to a Zap, McMillan, Hansons, Team MN, or TIE, I took a chance and moved out here to pursue my running career at a higher level.

Fast forward four months and I am now packing up my stuff again and moving back to New England. Unfortunately, the program just wasn't working out for us and didn't show signs of developing into one of those groups I mentioned above. I've had thoughts of leaving for a while now, but because of the steps I took to get out here and the personal investment I put into it, I wanted to wait to see if it would get better. Without going into too much detail, I'll just say I wasn't happy there and I knew that there were other places around the country that I could be better off at. I am glad that I took a chance on this opportunity and I believe I learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way. Since I know I have a good support group back in Boston, my plan is to settle back into that community and once again train under the New Balance Boston elite group. It's an organization that I strongly believe in and because of my experiences with them, I know I can continue to be successful with their guidance.

I have already started my journey back to the right coast and am actually writing this entry from Flagstaff, AZ. There are a lot of places in the country that I've wanted to visit and this is one of them. I am staying with the McMillan Elite group for a couple days and enjoying the beautiful training here before I move along to the next stop on my list. I have a pretty good plan of where I'll be staying along the way, but I'm taking more of a laid back approach to this trip than when I rushed across country before in only five days. I will try to update this blog frequently and fill you in on all the great places and experiences along the way.

Hammy troubles

Monday, October 6: 1:30 PM - Short Interval WO (Lappers)
12 x 550m @ ~5K pace w/ 45-60 sec rest, 4 x 275m w/ 45-60 sec rest
1:39, 1:37, 1:37, 1:37, 1:38, 1:38
1:39, 1:38, 1:40, 1:40, 1:38, 1:37 (Avg = 1:38)
51, 47, 44, 47 (Avg = 47)
19 min w/u, 20 min c/d
Tuesday, October 7: 7:00 AM - 10 Miles, 67 min
5:00 PM - 5 Miles, 34 min
Wednesday, October 8: 1:30 PM - Mile Repeat WO
6 x Mile @ 88 % w/ 3 min rest
4:46, 4:49, DNF
17 min w/u, no c/d
Thursday, October 9: 0 Miles (rest)
Friday, October 10: 5:00 PM - 3 Miles, 22 min (testing)
Saturday, October 11: 9:00 AM - 5 Miles, 36 min
Sunday, October 12: 10:00 AM - 10 Miles, 67 min
6:30 PM - 5 Miles, 35 min

Week Total = 54 Miles, 8 Runs

Well, I said I was going to aim for higher mileage this week, but that didn't happen. Instead, there was a slight hickup in my training that forced me to drop it down much lower. Looking back in my training log, I can see that I first noted trouble with my left hamstring on Sept 11, the day after a 3 x 2 mile workout. Over the last few weeks, both of my hamstrings have been pretty tight but the left one has been giving me the most trouble. After Monday's workout this week, it was extra tender. It seemed ok on Tuesday, but when I was doing strides before Wednesday's workout, I knew it was going to give me some trouble. I just could not get it to loosen up. I got through the first couple mile intervals (backing off at the end of the 2nd one), but after about 200m of the 3rd interval, my hammy had reached its limit and the pain extended down the full length of the muscle from my glutes down to the gastroc. I immediately stepped off the path and stopped running for fear that a pull was about to happen. It was a similar feeling that I had last indoor season when I strained my right hamstring at Reggie. I didn't finish the workout, I didn't cool down, and I figured it would take at least a couple days of rest to get back.

The tightness and discomfort that I had been feeling prior to this week has been mostly in the center "belly" of the muscle. I've been trying to take care of it between runs but without a good massage therapist to work on it, it never seemed to improve. I had been able to deal with this slight discomfort for a while, but on Wednesday, that discomfort extended further down the leg towards the lateral back side of the knee. It also changed from a slight discomfort to a sharp pain. It now seemed to be more of a tendon issue. From my own diagnosis, I believe the problem area is the Biceps Femoris (the largest hamstring muscle) which continues into the lateral hamstring tendons (as highlighted in the picture on the right).

In response to this, I took Thursday completely off and just worked on it a lot with the stick and foam roller. I just ran an easy 3 miles on Friday to test it out, but it wasn't ready. On Saturday, there was still some discomfort during the easy 5 miles I did, but the overall mobility was better. Sunday showed more progress as I was able to run with the other guys again with relative comfort. I can still feel the tightness in the hamstring and there is quite a bit of tenderness in the tendon area, but it's definitely better than it was. Humberto volunteered to work on it for a little while on Friday, which helped, but I need to find someone that can pinpoint the problem a bit more and really work out those knots. I haven't had any real work done on my legs in about 6 months and I can definitely feel it. When we were in Providence for the 5K, I was lucky to have a guy work on me a little before the race, but he didn't want to do too much within 24 hours of the race. During the massage, I remember his saying, "wow, you actually run with this hamstring?"

So I know I need some massage work done. When I was in Boston, I found a guy that I liked and was able to see him about once a month. Now, I need to find someone else, someone that knows what they're doing and isn't too expensive. I'm working again now so I might be able to afford this luxury (or in my current situation, this necessity).

We're two weeks away from Mayor's Cup now and as much as I'd like to be hammering my training right now, I'd like more so to be healthy for the race. I've had a lot of nagging injuries throughout my training, many of which I now know I can run through. For instance, my plantar still gives me trouble on an almost daily basis, but I'm so used to it now that I think I've built up a tolerance for that pain. I'm able to put out the little fires with maintenance and pain threshold, and I generally know my limits with the veteran injuries, but whenever something new comes into play, red flags pop up and I have to evaluate whether or not its one of those that I can just run through. I know this current one needs some attention since it definitely inhibited my running. I realize that I may have forced the mileage at times in the last couple months and may have tolerated a little more discomfort than I should have, but in a sport that requires you to push through the limits, it's sometimes hard to determine which limits we shouldn't go beyond. This is why I'm willing to drop the mileage down this week as necessary in order to get healthy and get back to work.

Quote:

"Brian does get hurt, he just doesn't know it. I swear he just runs through it."
- Coach Kevin Hanson speaking about Brian Sell during his preparation for Beijing

How far will you go?

Thursday, September 25: 7:30 AM - 10 Miles, 68 min
6:30 PM - 5 Miles, 35 min
Friday, September 26: 12:30 PM - 10 Miles, 66 min (middle 3Mi @ 15:50)
6:00 PM - 5 Miles, 35 min
Saturday, September 27: 7:30 AM - 15 Miles, 101 min
Sunday, September 28: 8:30 AM - 10 Miles, 67 min

Week Total = 82 Miles, 9 Runs

Monday, September 29: 1:30 PM - Interval WO (Lappers)
12 x 550m (Avg = 1:37) w/ 1 min jog; 4 x 275m (Avg = 46) w/ 1 min jog
1:38, 1:37, 1:37, 1:38, 1:38, 1:39
1:38, 1:38, 1:39, 1:37, 1:37, 1:37
50, 46, 44, 46
18 min w/u, 19 min c/d
Tuesday, September 30: 5:00 PM - 12 Miles, 79 min
Wednesday, October 1: 1:30 PM - Interval WO
6 x Mile @ 88% w/ 5 min rest
4:50, 4:50, 4:50, 4:50, 4:49, 4:47
15 min w/u, 16 min c/d
Thursday, October 2: 7:30 AM - 10 Miles, 67 min
6:30 PM - 5 Miles, 32 min
Friday, October 3: 7:30 AM - 10 Miles, 68 min
5:30 PM - 4 Miles, 35 min (Mission Bay)
Saturday, October 4: 7:00 AM - 15 min w/u, 5K tempo (16:18), 30 min c/d (Balboa Park)
Sunday, October 5: 9:00 AM - 14 Miles, 92 min

Week Total = 87 Miles, 9 Runs

September = 361 Miles

A pretty good week overall. After the CVS 5K, my legs took a little while to recover from the long weekend and all the traveling but by the end of the week, I was feeling better. Christian Hesch joined Steve and I for a run that Friday and despite running at the hottest time in the day, we still ran the middle 3 Miles at about 5:15 pace. This week was much better as both workouts went pretty well and definitely showed progress from the last couple sessions. Wednesday's workout was tough and the heat was really bad that day, so Marco gave us 5 min between repeats instead of the 3 min we had last time. I didn't feel great, but I was happy with the consistency of the workout. I pretty much ran right on 4:50 and just dropped it down a bit on the last two. Since, I averaged 4:53 per mile in the 5K, I was happy to average sub 4:50 for 6 x mile and show that I am more fit than that 15:09 showed. If things are feeling good this next week, I'd like to get the mileage back up in the 90's and maybe close to 100, but we'll take it one day at a time.

Finally at the end of the week, I was able to take a mini trip to San Diego and visit with a few of my close friends. Mario was on the west coast for a few days visiting Sean and Dianna, so I took advantage of the opportunity and shot down to visit with all three of them (with the addition of their friend Matt, who I just met but is also from New England). Even though it was just a short visit, it was really a great getaway from the normal grind and the company of these four was just what I needed. We had a huge meal at Lots O' Pasta, caught the Red Sox game, saw Mission Bay and Balboa Park, and ventured up to Mt. Laguna to catch the scenery from about 5000 ft.

Back to running, we now have another race on our schedule. We've been talking about it for a while, but just finalized it last week. Steve, Carlos, and I are all going to Boston for the Mayor's Cup 8K on Oct. 26. It's a great race, it has a lot of competition, and it will be good preparation on our way to Club Nats. Also, since I'm a New England guy at heart, I love having the opportunity to go back to familiar ground, race some familiar names, and see a bunch of family and friends in the process. I'm also anxious to have another shot at getting a good race under my belt and see how I compare to this point last year. I feel like I'm finally catching up to my former fitness, but it's hard to judge. So Mayor's Cup might be able to give me an indicator of where I'm at.

In other news, I am now holding a part time job out here in Chino Hills. I had gone about 5 months without working a regular job and I must say it was easy to get used to. I was hoping to spend the majority of that time getting super fast, but instead, I spent about 2 months healing and the last 3 months just trying to build back to where I was. So unfortunately, I wasn't able to utilize that time as well as I would have liked. However, I did do a lot over those 5 months. I traveled all over the place, I went to the Olympic Trials, I helped a lot with the Run to Remember Race in Boston, I moved across the country, and I spent a lot of time with friends and family and tried to keep close contact with as many people as I could. I would certainly like to stay with the lifestyle of just run, eat and sleep, but the funds have run out and I need to start having an income again. I applied to several jobs in the area and considered a few different offers, but made the decision to accept a position at Starbucks. That's right, I am now a barista. At this time last year, I didn't even drink coffee and now I'm representing the biggest coffee chain in the world. I'll give Tony the credit for getting me hooked on the stuff. Anyway, it's not a bad gig... the benefits are pretty good and it's easy work that's flexible around my schedule. Also, I get as much coffee as I want and get to take home a pound every week. I'm averaging about 20 hours a week, which certainly cuts into my free time and many of my afternoon naps, but it's not so much that it cuts into my training time.

I know this is already getting long, but since I last posted, a very big thing happened in the running world, and I need to talk about it a little. As most of you know, it was the breaking of the Marathon World Best and the breaking of the 2:04 barrier. In Berlin last week, Haile Gebrselassie ran 2:03:59 to break his own world best by 27 seconds. I watched the entire race online and it was really amazing. Over the last few years, I've watched a lot more marathon races and have gained so much more respect and interest for the event. I currently consider myself a 5K-10K guy, but as many people have told me, and I have come to realize, I will probably need to move up in distance in the next few years to have a chance at the success I'm looking for. The question on the table is: How far do I go?

I plan to use this year as an opportunity to test the waters in some longer races. In 2009, I'm looking to run the 12K US Cross Country Championships in February and hopefully get into the 15K Championships in March, which will lead into Outdoor Track where I plan to debut in the 10K and see if it offers a better chance of qualifying for Nationals and ultimately the 2012 trials. I am gradually bringing my mileage up higher this year and am hoping to have an uninterrupted stretch of training that will prepare me well for these races. I've even thought about a competitive Half Marathon in December of next year, but I'll first wait and see how the other planned races go. I still feel like I have a lot of ground left to cover in events like the 3K and 5K so I don't plan to stop running those, but I want to open up my range a little more and see what comes of it. I've let my mind wander even further up in distance as I look toward the 2012 Trials, but nothing that I'll put in writing yet. It's become quite the trend it seems for these 5K and 10K guys to start jumping up in distance as the 10K has turned into an all out sprint and the marathon is now being run more like a middle distance event. I am curious as to where my strengths will be on this spectrum, but I'm going to make sure I find out gradually. It's a tough game to play and the clock is always ticking.

So how far will you go?