(Photo courtesy of Krissy Kozlosky)
Monday, October 26: PM - 7 Miles, 47 min
Pedestal and Myrtl Routine
Tuesday, October 27: PM - 6 Miles, 41 min
Wednesday, October 28: 0 Miles
Thursday, October 29: AM - 10 Miles, 64 min
(4 x 4min on/1min off in the middle)
Friday, October 30: 0 Miles
75 min core/strength/balance
Saturday, October 31: AM - WO @ Lincoln, 22 min w/u + c/d
9K Tempo - 30:35 - alt efforts on 1K loops w/ Ryan
3:12, 3:34, 3:15, 3:35, 3:12, 3:36, 3:10, 3:44, 3:11
Sunday, November 1: PM - 7 Miles, 48 min w/ CVC + Teddy
Week Total = 42 Miles, 5 Sessions
Monday, November 2: PM - 8 Miles, 56 min
90 min core: Pedestal, Back, Myrtl Routines x 2
Tuesday, November 3: PM - Hill WO @ Heartbreak, 22 min w/u + 16 min c/d
6 to the top (~540m) + 6 x 1 min up
1:39, 1:40, 1:41, 1:37, 1:37, 1:37
Wednesday, November 4: 0 Miles
45 min core/strength/balance, 2 x Pedestal Routine
Thursday, November 5: PM - 10 Miles, 66 min
Friday, November 6: 0 Miles
Saturday, November 7: PM - 5 Miles, 36 min + Strides
Sunday, November 8: USATF NE XC Championships - Results - Photos
7th Place - 31:38 - 4:47, 9:57, 15:46 (5K), 20:23, 25:20 (8K)
20 min w/u + c/d
Week Total = 47 Miles, 5 Sessions
A few months ago, I was challenged by my two roommates to take part in a push up challenge. 100 push ups in as little time as possible. Karina set the bar pretty high with her 2 minutes and 47 seconds, CVC leveled out the playing field with a DNF after about 15 minutes of trying, and I went 3rd thinking I would be closer to the 2:47 than to the DNF. It had been several months since I'd done a significant number of push ups, but I was not threatened by the task at hand. After all, I am a competitive athlete and maintain a relatively active lifestyle. I got through 50 in about 2 minutes, but soon found out that I had taken on more than I could handle. By 70, I was doing them in 3-5 set increments and by 90, I had lost all feeling from the shoulders down. Needless to say, I didn't match Karina's high standard. Rather, I had to settle for 16 minutes and 10 seconds. I was shocked by the rather pathetic showing and couldn't believe how much of a difference there was in my muscle ability from when I was doing push ups more regularly. After just a few weeks of doing push ups 1-2 times a week, I was able to shave over 10 minutes off that time.
By doing this, I realized how just a little bit of extra strength work could make a big difference over that extended activity. My ability to pump out 30 push ups wasn't much different, but the delayed muscle fatigue over 100 push-ups was a huge difference. This is not surprising, nor is it a new revelation within exercise science, but nontheless, it did make me think more about how much strength I really had. Since I've been dealing with this ongoing Plantar Fasciitis issue, the volume of my training has stayed pretty low, which is obviously not ideal when I'm trying to reach a higher level in racing. I have trouble recovering from hard workouts and races, therefore those recovery runs are shorter and/or happen less frequently. The regular workouts have definitely been beneficial as they've jump started my fitness and have given me moments of feeling pretty fit, which adds confidence when approaching a race. In an effort to maintain that strength and not cause other injuries along the way, I've also been trying my best to incorporate more core work, especially in my hips and glutes. This combined with a few quality workouts are what I believe have given me the ability to delay that fatigue and sustain a reasonable pace over a longer distance.
Going into Mayor's Cup two weeks ago, I had no idea how I would hold up over 5 miles. The plan was to just get out there and make it hurt. I was pretty aggressive in the early stages which may have been a big risk, but I was there to race and I wanted to test my limits. After being satisfied with the way I competed there, I wanted to build off of that little bit of confidence for the New England Championships. Again, the plan was still the same - Be aggressive and hang on as long as you can. I'll admit that I was more excited for New Englands and therefore was a little greedy in the start of this race. I found myself running with the lead pack right away and told myself that since that's where the race was, that's where I needed to be. Again, this was a big risk. At 2 Miles, I was still side by side with the guys that had beaten me by a full minute two weeks ago. I tried to stay as calm as possible and felt like I raced really well through 4+ Miles of that race. By 5 Miles though, my "hang on and gut it out" mentality had turned into pure survival. The leaders were long gone and I was sitting in 5th place still trying to close the gap on 4th that had stayed the same for over a mile. In that last wilderness loop, I felt my strength slip away a bit. It may have only been for a minute or even 30 seconds, but it was enough to allow the guy behind me to catch up. It may have been mostly physical fatigue, but I know there was some mental weakness there as well. I was telling myself the whole race that I was running well and could produce a great result as long as I didn't screw it up. In the last 800 meters, not only did I NOT catch the guy in front of me, I also gave up two spots that I had worked so hard for in the early stages of that race, leaving me unsatisfied as I crossed the line. Despite the initial disappointment and the fact that our team fell to 3rd by just one point, I still considered it a successful day of racing for me. However, if given the opportunity, I would certainly like to go back and race that last mile over again. The time difference of a few seconds means nothing to me, but giving up those few spots made what could have been a great race, just a good race.
I know that with a little more strength, I can produce a much better result out on that battlefield. My training continues to be less than ideal, but I hope to continue building that strength over the next 5 weeks a little bit at a time. I'm optimistic about my abilities to race well at Club Nats and I hope it will catapult me into a much stronger and more successful year of running.
November is here and time continues to fly by. There's so much more to do, but I, we have to stay patient and just do what we can, when we can. Keep moving forward, keep believing, and things will come around. Stay tuned.
Pedestal and Myrtl Routine
Tuesday, October 27: PM - 6 Miles, 41 min
Wednesday, October 28: 0 Miles
Thursday, October 29: AM - 10 Miles, 64 min
(4 x 4min on/1min off in the middle)
Friday, October 30: 0 Miles
75 min core/strength/balance
Saturday, October 31: AM - WO @ Lincoln, 22 min w/u + c/d
9K Tempo - 30:35 - alt efforts on 1K loops w/ Ryan
3:12, 3:34, 3:15, 3:35, 3:12, 3:36, 3:10, 3:44, 3:11
Sunday, November 1: PM - 7 Miles, 48 min w/ CVC + Teddy
Week Total = 42 Miles, 5 Sessions
Monday, November 2: PM - 8 Miles, 56 min
90 min core: Pedestal, Back, Myrtl Routines x 2
Tuesday, November 3: PM - Hill WO @ Heartbreak, 22 min w/u + 16 min c/d
6 to the top (~540m) + 6 x 1 min up
1:39, 1:40, 1:41, 1:37, 1:37, 1:37
Wednesday, November 4: 0 Miles
45 min core/strength/balance, 2 x Pedestal Routine
Thursday, November 5: PM - 10 Miles, 66 min
Friday, November 6: 0 Miles
Saturday, November 7: PM - 5 Miles, 36 min + Strides
Sunday, November 8: USATF NE XC Championships - Results - Photos
7th Place - 31:38 - 4:47, 9:57, 15:46 (5K), 20:23, 25:20 (8K)
20 min w/u + c/d
Week Total = 47 Miles, 5 Sessions
A few months ago, I was challenged by my two roommates to take part in a push up challenge. 100 push ups in as little time as possible. Karina set the bar pretty high with her 2 minutes and 47 seconds, CVC leveled out the playing field with a DNF after about 15 minutes of trying, and I went 3rd thinking I would be closer to the 2:47 than to the DNF. It had been several months since I'd done a significant number of push ups, but I was not threatened by the task at hand. After all, I am a competitive athlete and maintain a relatively active lifestyle. I got through 50 in about 2 minutes, but soon found out that I had taken on more than I could handle. By 70, I was doing them in 3-5 set increments and by 90, I had lost all feeling from the shoulders down. Needless to say, I didn't match Karina's high standard. Rather, I had to settle for 16 minutes and 10 seconds. I was shocked by the rather pathetic showing and couldn't believe how much of a difference there was in my muscle ability from when I was doing push ups more regularly. After just a few weeks of doing push ups 1-2 times a week, I was able to shave over 10 minutes off that time.
By doing this, I realized how just a little bit of extra strength work could make a big difference over that extended activity. My ability to pump out 30 push ups wasn't much different, but the delayed muscle fatigue over 100 push-ups was a huge difference. This is not surprising, nor is it a new revelation within exercise science, but nontheless, it did make me think more about how much strength I really had. Since I've been dealing with this ongoing Plantar Fasciitis issue, the volume of my training has stayed pretty low, which is obviously not ideal when I'm trying to reach a higher level in racing. I have trouble recovering from hard workouts and races, therefore those recovery runs are shorter and/or happen less frequently. The regular workouts have definitely been beneficial as they've jump started my fitness and have given me moments of feeling pretty fit, which adds confidence when approaching a race. In an effort to maintain that strength and not cause other injuries along the way, I've also been trying my best to incorporate more core work, especially in my hips and glutes. This combined with a few quality workouts are what I believe have given me the ability to delay that fatigue and sustain a reasonable pace over a longer distance.
Going into Mayor's Cup two weeks ago, I had no idea how I would hold up over 5 miles. The plan was to just get out there and make it hurt. I was pretty aggressive in the early stages which may have been a big risk, but I was there to race and I wanted to test my limits. After being satisfied with the way I competed there, I wanted to build off of that little bit of confidence for the New England Championships. Again, the plan was still the same - Be aggressive and hang on as long as you can. I'll admit that I was more excited for New Englands and therefore was a little greedy in the start of this race. I found myself running with the lead pack right away and told myself that since that's where the race was, that's where I needed to be. Again, this was a big risk. At 2 Miles, I was still side by side with the guys that had beaten me by a full minute two weeks ago. I tried to stay as calm as possible and felt like I raced really well through 4+ Miles of that race. By 5 Miles though, my "hang on and gut it out" mentality had turned into pure survival. The leaders were long gone and I was sitting in 5th place still trying to close the gap on 4th that had stayed the same for over a mile. In that last wilderness loop, I felt my strength slip away a bit. It may have only been for a minute or even 30 seconds, but it was enough to allow the guy behind me to catch up. It may have been mostly physical fatigue, but I know there was some mental weakness there as well. I was telling myself the whole race that I was running well and could produce a great result as long as I didn't screw it up. In the last 800 meters, not only did I NOT catch the guy in front of me, I also gave up two spots that I had worked so hard for in the early stages of that race, leaving me unsatisfied as I crossed the line. Despite the initial disappointment and the fact that our team fell to 3rd by just one point, I still considered it a successful day of racing for me. However, if given the opportunity, I would certainly like to go back and race that last mile over again. The time difference of a few seconds means nothing to me, but giving up those few spots made what could have been a great race, just a good race.
I know that with a little more strength, I can produce a much better result out on that battlefield. My training continues to be less than ideal, but I hope to continue building that strength over the next 5 weeks a little bit at a time. I'm optimistic about my abilities to race well at Club Nats and I hope it will catapult me into a much stronger and more successful year of running.
November is here and time continues to fly by. There's so much more to do, but I, we have to stay patient and just do what we can, when we can. Keep moving forward, keep believing, and things will come around. Stay tuned.
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