Mid-fall Update on Training, Racing, and staying Inspired

At the midway point in the USATF-NJ 5k XC Open Championship at Deer Path Park in Readington, NJ. There are 6 runners pictured here, look closely, and you will see an extra foot/lower leg.. From L to R: Mike Dixon, Will Griffin, Eric Dubois(piece of his leg and head anyway), Mike Anis, Steve Mennitt, Ken Goglas

So, it's October 23rd.  The Club National 10k XC Championship is now less than 8 weeks away.  I ran the Paul Short XC Invitational on a hot day in 26:36. This is slower than what I produced on a chilly day in 2009 by 9seconds. Two huge factors here, heat and density of field. It was about 78 and rising when I started, probably 80 when I finished. This Open race had 516 runners in it, the majority of which were Collegiate guys, and they always start fast. It's only natural at a huge race of this sort that people start out hard. Well, I didn't exactly. My opening mile was 5:18, probably slowed by taking the turns wide to avoid getting tripped and pushed and others runners who were already redlining and settling after 1000m.  The results page has mile splits, a very cool thing to have in a race like this.  So, apparently, I was in roughly 350th position. I finished 87th. Take a look at this excerpt from the results below:  full results from Open race here

67        Peter Drews, Sr                 5:14    26:27    5:20  Williams College     
68        Matt Hassett                    4:57    26:27    5:20  Georgetown R C       
69        Elias Howard, So                5:11    26:29    5:20  Dickinson College    
70        George Oliver, So               4:54    26:29    5:20  Cornell              
71        Ryan Lee, Sr                    5:12    26:29    5:20  University of Richmon 
72        Sean Leighton, Sr               5:00    26:30    5:20  University of New Ham 
73        Pat McLaughlin                  4:59    26:30    5:20  Unattached           
74        Andreas Kellas, Jr              5:15    26:31    5:21  Army                 
75        Connor Strynkowski, So          5:06    26:31    5:21  Cornell              
76        Stephen Keith, Jr               5:01    26:32    5:21  Lehigh University    
77        Ryan Cooney, Fr                 5:02    26:32    5:21  Lehigh University    
78        Joe Beveridge, Sr               5:11    26:33    5:21  La Salle University  
79        Ryan Chiesa, Fr                 4:55    26:33    5:21  University of New Ham 
80        James Beacham                   4:55    26:33    5:21  Unattached           
81        Daniel Salas, Fr                5:01    26:33    5:21  Dartmouth College    
82        Michael Lederhouse, Fr          4:48    26:34    5:21  Georgetown University 
83        Tucker Hamilton, Fr             5:06    26:35    5:21  Brown University     
84        Kirk Webb, So                   5:06    26:35    5:21  University of Pennsyl 
85        Tyler Erhard, Sr                5:08    26:35    5:21  Bucknell             
86        Louis Saviano, Sr               5:00    26:35    5:22  University of New Ham 
87        Michael Anis                    5:18    26:36    5:22  Garden State Tc      
88        Alec Brand, Fr                  5:05    26:38    5:22  Shippensburg         
89        Jason Hartman                   5:28    26:38    5:22  Unattached           
90        Robert Biro, Fr                 4:55    26:38    5:22  University of New Ham 
91        Ed Sheridan                     5:09    26:39    5:22  Unattached           
92        Zachary Simmons, So             5:12    26:39    5:22  Dickinson College    
93        John Corona, Sr                 5:06    26:40    5:22  University of New Ham 
94        Dan Swain                       5:12    26:40    5:22  Una                  
95        Matthew Lutcza                  5:08    26:42    5:23  Unattached           
96        Victor Allen, Jr                5:12    26:42    5:23  University of Pennsyl 
97        Michael Kurvach                 5:03    26:43    5:23  Unattached           
98        Connor Clark, Fr                5:01    26:43    5:23  Dartmouth College    
99        Stephen Schelander              5:04    26:44    5:23  Sstc                 
100       Noah Williams, Fr               5:17    26:44    5:23  Williams College     
101       Tyler Scheving, Fr              5:09    26:45    5:23  University at Buffalo 
102       Mike Garrity                    5:08    26:45    5:24  Unattached           
103       Austin McGinley, So             5:06    26:46    5:24  Shippensburg 

67th was 11 seconds ahead of me, 103rd 10 seconds behind. This is the sort of competition that you dream of as a post-collegiate athlete.  Having done some more runner-nerd math, I calculated that I passed a runner on avg every three seconds from the 1mile mark to the end of the race!  Yep...I think that is cool.
 

More recently, was the USATF-NJ 5k XC Open Team Championship. GSTC, ran the show, we took the first 5 spots on the Men's side!  Individually, I finished 4th in 15:35! I beat some guys who whipped my ass at the Liberty HM, really it was just the sort of thing that I would never expect.  I've been traning and racing with some of these guys for years. When you keep getting beat by the same people again, and again, you might start to believe, "Well, he's just better than me." It is hard, but we have to remind ourselves that this is just a defeatist rationalization for a lack of hard work and patience.  Every dog has its day. So when you finish a race with someone in your sights that historically has left you in the dust, it gives you renewed strength!

Anyway, I figured I was fit enough to run at least 16:05, 15:55 if I ran a smart race.  This was a huge breakthrough race for me. My previous best XC 5k race was 16:22(RVRR summer series July 21, 09'), and my best on the Deer Path course was 16:23(2012)! More runner-nerd math: 16:22-15:35=47seconds.  At age 32, after competing for 18yrs.  I know a lot of runners that have run for many yrs; none of them ever told me about the time that they ran a 47second 5k XC pr when they were 32.  I can go, faster I'm sure of it. Sidenote: Yes, I heard the course is a bit short, but I'm comparing times on this same course, so it's a solid case for analysis.

Workouts and general aerobic runs: have suddenly gone off the charts, 8k worth of intervals are often totalling somewhere around 25:00-25:20. In previous yrs, this sort of workout I would perhaps at best have totaled 26:00 and with longer recovery times between each interval.  I go out of my way a bit to run with Chris Croff, Jacob Edwards and Chris Johnson in Summit or the Watchung Reservation, a lot of days I feel like somone is pulling me along a touch faster than I'd like, but those are the days you get a little better. Also, I never felt good enough to go and run doubles the day after workouts.  This bodes well for the upcoming USATF-NJ 8k XC championship on Sunday. 

Inspiration: I love running, watching African's win marathons is cool.  But I also enjoy watching boxing.  Welterweights and Middleweights most of all (140-147lbs and 151-160lbs) currently seem to be where the best guys are to watch.  Recently, I have watched Ruslan Provodnikov fight Timothy Bradley(a fight he very narrowly lost by majority decision) and Mike Alvarado. Alvarado was in two brutal fights against Brandon Rios(who is now slated to fight Manny Pacquiao on 11/23).  Provodnikov is the type of fighter that "takes two shots to give one". I identify with this sentiment. Early on, Alvarado was throwing more punches and landing at a better rate. But as the rounds wore on Provodnikov's heavy shots took their toll on Alvarado, who went down twice in the 8th and was nearly down again the 10th. He did not come out to answer the bell for the start of round 11.  

Provodnikov beating the tar out of Alvarado. photo courtesy of usatoday.com

As a runner, I don't fancy myself to be too slick.  I just grind it out, like Provodnikov. I train hard, and I stay focused on hitting the target, even if it means I take a pile of punishment in the process.  I'll keep coming at you, hurt and tired, that's the only way I know.

This is what it looks like when you've won a fight against Mike Alvarado, no one said it would tickle. Photo from boxingnews24.com

Past 30 and looking to go sub 4:30

I've been running for a long time, more than 1/2 my life, if you count the soccer I used to play, then near 90%.  Something incredible about it all is that as you reach you physical peak, you learn that PR's are less frequent, and when they come, they are by much smaller margins(and thus, a greater reward).  But one thing that increases, is your knowledge of training method's and your own body's reactions to them.  Hopefully, if you're smart, you'll pay attention to nutrition/diet and rest/recovery to get the most out of yourself.
And for the sake of tossing about metaphors; Running isn't fast food, you can't just order some crap off the dollar menu and get er' done.  It's a meal! You have to be a farmer for it. You need it to nourish and sustain you, not poison and kill you.
You have to sow the soil and plant the seeds; tend to it and grow it, reap it, then prepare it, and finally you can sit down to eat and enjoy it.  You work to live, and so you live and work to keep living.  Running is the same way, it needs constant attention, you need to plant the seeds yourself, and you need to get out in the fields and do the work.   I think I like this idea better than the idea of "building the foundation" or "base" as so many runner's refer to the early stages in training cycles.  There will be times for the fields to lay fallow when you take a break after a series of hard races.  As cyclical as life is, so is running.

This is my mental image of my 1 mile PR growing

Running needs to be kept in balance.  Or else, things break down, failure is just around the corner.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking the pessimist's perspective here. I'm saying, you have to respect what your current ability is, and what your needs are.  Equally, success is just around the corner.  Another thing I've learned in all this trotting about, is that you can never count yourself out, if you do, then you may as well not get out of bed tomorrow morning.
Perhaps it's a blessing to be not the fastest or #1 from the early days of your competitive running.  I mean, if you just win, win and win some more, nothing feels like a challenge or worth striving for.  I like knowing that my training counts because there is always a next step towards something, I like it either way, but it's a bonus for it to have a high ceiling.
So, I keep this all in perspective, I try not to let this all wander too far from my conscious state.
I'm preparing the soil and looking forward to the planting time, and carrying through the whole process in 2013.  To achieve some long sought after goals, it's going to take prioritizing, sacrifice, and a new volume of pain that I've never known.
I'm on the wrong side of 30, and I have yet to run a mile under 4:30.  There are a lot of times I've never hit, and meets I've never been fast enough to enter.   Can I now? Go ahead, just tell me I can't, see if that stops me from trying!  You probably just don't want to be reminded of how you packed it in and let your dream die on the vine.  I'll be on the roads, track, and trails; tending to mine.

Six Mile Run and The Misfits

This summer has mostly been good running.  With good training partners, nice destinations, and with generally few problems of any sort. For the first time in yrs, I have really taken it back a step and stuck to the traditional idea of building a base.  Granted I've had a few days here and there were my back hurt, and I just didn't run.  But largely, I've been consistently getting out the door for solid 60-75min runs on weekdays.  For long runs on weekends, I've been conservative.  I want to maintain a steady energy level through the rest of the week.  It's nice to run 8-10miles on Monday knowing  you need to recover from a run that went 18-24miles.  I'll probably cap the LR's to 2hrs for the rest of this yr, just for this reason.
This Tuesday I'm going to have to jump into the cold ocean of pace specific intervals, I've got the USATF-NJ 5k XC championship coming up on Sept 8th.  For this one, I'd like to have a 5k XC pr.  I haven't run one in about 3yrs.  I'm better than the 16:22 I ran at the 4th race in the RVRR Summer Series of 09'.  Granted, Deer Path Park is a slow course, I ran16:27 there, but I'm a stronger runner now.  I'm pretty excited to see what I can do this go around.
The London Olympics were inspiring. Meanwhile, my 2nd metatarsal in my left foot is a failure to my aspirations, but my heart and lungs don't know that.  Just now, I got back in from a run at Six Mile Run Park/preserve(whatever they call it).  The 75mins went by quickly as we chatted about...politics, various political theories, their merits and potential flaws, and why we both loathe to vote in elections.  Rich told me more about what speech pathology is used for and some stories about his former profession as a pastry chef, and on the ride home, we talked about music a bit.  And wouldn't you know it, Glenn Danzig and The Misfits came up, so enjoy this tune and shake a leg to the horror!

Other noteable recent runs: Dropping under 5:20 pace late into a couple of 10 mile runs on midweek runs on the towpath with Rich Angelillo, Chris Heibell, Jeff Perrella, and Steve Mennitt.  Sunday's run at River Rd Park which took us to the an avg of 6:08per mile for the last 5 of 15 with Jeff, Ken Goglas, Tony Harris, Tom Poland, and John(I suck for not knowing John's last name right now).

Mileage total past 5 weeks: 51, 72, 52, 61, 58.
Time for a push, doubles, core, and a bit of weights.