Entries from April, 2010

Remember when I blogged earlier in the week that I was “psyched” about this week’s workouts.  Be careful what you wish for folks.  Tuesday brought the joy of 3 x 1 mile intervals.  Thursday brought THE PAIN!  Hill repeats, CPTC style.  Even after running with the team for 3  months, the “firsts” for me continue.  I wouldn’t say there had been grumbling among the group for more practice on the hills given that’s all we encounter in races, but folks wouldn’t have been upset if we had a dedicated workout or two.  Last night was the night. Continue Reading

After a few early Spring races, we’ve definitely hit the building block phase of CPTC training. From May thru August our focus is almost exclusively quick stuff / shorter distance racing. As the weather (eventually) warms up, 5k, 4 & 5-milers and 10ks will be on the docket for NYRR for the next few months. To prepare these races, we spend a lot of our training on the basics. Building endurance / strength with weekend LRs and longer interval and tempo sessions during the week. We’ve been emphasizing the basics: lactate threshold runs, maintaining steady pace and generally grinding. If you’re looking for sexy, you need to click elsewhere. Continue Reading

I’m on the losing end of a fight with a head cold.  It’s been awhile since I had the sniffles or anything like that … since mid-January to be exact … when I was stressing about the Manhattan HM.  This one came fairly suddenly.  I felt fine on Thursday and even most of Friday.  I figured the 16-miler on Saturday would work out whatever was lurking within.  I figured wrong. All the classic symptoms bubbled up Saturday night … chills, sinuses tightening up, cough, etc.  Despite being a planned rest day, Sunday was miserable.  The combo of being sick and the cold, wet, raw, rain … although my message was terrific.  Consistent with my head colds, from the neck down I am good to go.  Therefore, a quick run this morning was never in serious jeopardy. Continue Reading

By just the title alone, you know I had a stellar long run today.  I don’t take credit for the title entirely.  Inspiration came from a likely source … Running Down Dreams, a Brooklyn-based runner who frequents Twitter.  She is an amazing and uplifting person and her blog reflects those characteristics.  I highly recommend you peep it.  Anyway, yesterday I mentioned that I had a good long run planned and she asked whether it would involve Love & Happiness … a reminder to Run Happy.  Not coincidentally, her question sparked the memories of possibly my favorite R&B artist of all time. Continue Reading

We are heading into the tail end of my mileage reduction period – I think .  Including last night, since April 12^th, I’ve run 37 miles.  Normally, that is a light week.  Since the race on Sunday, I’ve only run on Tuesday for 5+ miles at the CPTC interval session.  I’m attempting to rest and also baby the hip a tad.  Again, no discomfort since the initial approach on Cat Hill during the race.  I’ve been stretching a lot, which has improved range of motion.  Thursday would bring a healthy test.  Yes, people, Thursday night tempo with the team!  Honestly, it’s felt like forever since I’ve run done a real Thursday night … last week I did a little progression instead of the planned workout to prepare for the race.  I missed the week before and while I attempted the 2 x 4 miles on my own … it didn’t happen according to plan.  Therefore, I looked forward to last night’s 2 x 3 miler at HMP w/ 1 mile jogging recovery after each interval. My goal was to focus on execution … try to run a negative split and keep the pace at 7:30 min/mi. Continue Reading

After a couple of races in April, it’s time to review the 2010 running goals. Continue Reading

This morning I was exchanging emails with a teammate about my impressions of the last night 4x1200s (5k pace w/ 400m jogging recovery).  He rightly thought it might be a challenging follow-up to racing last Sunday, but noted how important they were in terms of fundamental development.  Other than my flats dying on me, I really enjoyed the workout.  I would attribute much of the good vibes to being outside on a 400m track vs. indoors on a 200m.  Also, reducing the mileage over the last 10 days has left me fresher and able to focus on gearing up for the Tuesday/Thursday team workouts.  That said, I was still mindful of the hip.  No discomfort (massage planned for Sunday), but I definitely babied it with a reduced stride length and no surging.  To the point of another teammate suggested that I need to lengthen out my stride to take advantage of my height.  She said “you are too fast to be running at your current pace” … she said it with encouragement in mind. Continue Reading

Congrats to all the 2010 Boston Finishers especially Marathon Maiden who fought thru a tough last month and posted an impressive 3:35. Awesome work! Also to my CPTC teammates who all killed it! Great stuff. Continue Reading

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Continue Reading

I’m in the midst of a bunch of running related stuff:

-   Recharging by scaling back on miles/intensity while I have the chance (understanding that my peak period will be in November) Continue Reading