Wednesday we were scheduled for a 30 minute tempo which we decided to start at six a.m.  I woke up around 4:30 to the sound of thunder.  It was weird that I didn’t hear any rain.  I thought that it was maybe some heat lightning and thunder and that it wouldn’t really matter much.  On my way to the workout it started raining and lightning pretty heavily.  My first thought was whether we would be able to go ahead with the workout.  Of course, I have run in the rain before, both easy and hard runs, so it wasn’t going to throw me off too much.  The only things that come into play are if the rain will be strong and if the lightning would be to close.  When I got to the lake the rain was still coming down but it was definitely possible to run in. It would make the workout a bit harder but not impossible.  When Jay got there we talked to Rick and we all decided to go in the evening instead. It just seemed to make more sense to try and do it in better conditions, plus we had the evening free so there was no scheduling conflict.  Jay and I went ahead and did an easy run in the rain. It was funny because if we would have done the workout it probably would have rained the whole time but since we didn’t the rain stopped about 20 minutes after we started.

On Friday we went to the county t.v. station headquarters to do an interview.  The county does a sports and health show on what I believe is a weekly basis and they wanted to do a segment with the three of us on what the Hansons South team is about and distance running and coaching in general.  We thought that it was a neat opportunity to really let the locals know about the program and how they too can be aspiring runners.  What we didn’t realize was that the show was being aired live at the time of the interview.  This didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things but I guess it puts a little more pressure on the hosts and us to make sure things go right the first time.  In all, the interview went of without any major mess-ups and was successful.  The hosts were great people and everyone that worked at the station was very nice and easy to work with.  We haven’t been able to see it yet but they said they would be sending a copy of the show and that it would be playing on a normal interval for two weeks (I don’t think we get the channel that it airs on). When I get a copy, I will try and post it since it is only shown in Polk County.

Training in the Florida heat can make an easy run feel like a hard workout. Besides the few winter months where training in Florida can be decent, the weather here will almost always be hot and humid.  It’s not as if the heat is enough to deal with but the humidity makes it even worse.  The roughest part of the year (Summer) for training in Florida can seem like forever, and even longer if you don’t prepare for what the heat and humidity can do to you.  The last few days have been a little out of the norm because we have been getting a decent amount of rain and cloud cover.  This has caused the temperature to not be as high as normal but the humidity levels have still been pretty bad.  I try to stay hydrated constantly throughout the day and even in the middle of the night if I happen to wake up.  On workouts I try to always have water available so that I am continuing to hydrate and keep my body cooler during the toughest part of training.  On easy days I still prepare as well as I can but don’t usually have water unless there is a spot for me to stop.  This can be a little miserable if its a long run and it is really hot out.  I have recently been trying to wear a hat and sunglasses if I haven’t started my run before the sun comes up or after it goes down so that I am shading my face and eyes.  I find that running with glasses while it is sunny out can make me not feel as tense and helps me to relax since I am not trying to squint the entire time.  It also helps to try and run on a surface where the heat isn’t radiating as much as it would if it you were on an asphalt or concrete path.  Running in shady neighborhoods and trails can make the run much more pleasant.  When you add humidity to heat it causes your body to have to work harder to cool off.  I recently had a workout on the track that I started at around 7:15 p.m.  The sun was starting to go down but it was still very warm and it had just finished raining so the humidity felt even worse.  By the time I finished my first rep, I was already feeling the effects of the weather.  It felt as if I was wearing football pads and the entire uniform to go with it.  Well, the workout didn’t go as planned and I ended up running slower than I wanted to.  This can be expected though. A recent runners world article suggests that for high humidity levels you should decrease your pace depending on the distance you are going.  This isn’t the easiest thing for runners to do because we always want to hit the targeted times and usually don’t care what we have to do to get there.  I guess it’s not a bad thing to want to hit the times in tough conditions but if you end up not doing so, you shouldn’t be too bummed out and be hard on yourself.  Since you cant really control the weather, you need to adapt to it in some way, whether its pace, distance, hydration, time of day, or dealing with it mentally.  This will leave you less frustrated and hopefully just as prepared as you would be if you had perfect conditions to train in.

The Peachtree 10k is coming up on Monday morning, July 4th.  I had my last hard workout yesterday and it was a big reminder of how the workout before the NYC Half went.  I didn’t make it through the entire thing on either days. Yesterday, I did 3 out of the 4 schedules 1.5 mile repeats.  I was off target time by one second on my first and then 9 and 10 seconds on the second and third efforts. It didn’t make sense to do the third one since I was going backwards with my time and wasn’t hitting the correct pace.  It just seemed like my legs didn’t have it on this day. As runners, we want to be able to be perfect on our times in every single workout and run but there are going to be times where the body just says NO. The effort on this workout was a lot faster than the one I did before NYC and that race turned out to be okay.  I will just put the workout behind me and start looking forward to racing on the 4th since there is nothing that I can do the change anything of how it went.

Training has been going very well since New York. I had an easy week following the race and then bumped up to 58 miles the following week. The legs didn’t feel too bad after the race but I think the short time off left me feeling a little worse than I thought I would when I started running again.  This has happened before and after another week or so, everything seemed to be back to normal.  By the third week I was back to doing some easy workouts and getting my mileage back up towards where I had it before. By the end of April I had a couple of weeks of 80 miles.  Starting in May we decided to do a series of local 5k races to be able to get in some harder efforts. It turns out that the first one (May Classic-Tampa) would be the toughest. Not only was it my first hard effort since the race but it was my first 5k since the previous May. I knew going into the race that the pace was going to be a shock. I hadn’t run anything even close to the pace I was trying to run but I knew what was coming,  so I was prepared….sort of.  I took the race out hard and was pretty much alone at the mile (4:35). I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold this pace but was still trying to run hard the entire way.  By about the halfway point I was caught by Andrew Letherby (same Australian 2:11 marathoner from Gasparilla) and we exchanged leads from that point all the way to the finish.  There were points where I thought he was going to fall off of the pace and at times I felt like I was going to also.  It finally came down to the last 50 meters, I thought I was finished but I was somehow able to find another gear and sprinted to the finish to win by 1 second (14:33).  Overall, I was happy with the way the race went. The time wasn’t anything spectacular but that wasn’t expected.  Since the race I have had 6 weeks at 100 miles or higher with 5 of them being at 108 to 110 miles.  I have also been hitting some solid workouts. Not all of them have gone as planned, some have been horrible and some have been better than great, but the main thing is I have been consistent.  I also did two more 5k’s in Lakeland.  At these there has been nobody to run with and has pretty much been me trying to go out hard and maintain for as long as I can while running solo.  Again, nothing outstanding, but exciting to say the least.  I even had a football experience at the latest one.  Someone decided to run in the opposite direction on the narrow path where the race is held.  Of course, I thought that the person would be able to move out of the way since they were jogging and I was in the end of a hard effort, but somehow we both moved the same way at the same time and ended up running right into each other.  After a collision, spin move, and at least 5 seconds later I was on my way to cover the last 40 meters of the course to finish the race.  Luckily is wasn’t a major race and someone was right next to me, as they would have definitely come out with the win.

Well, it has been what seems like forever since I last updated this blog.  I have either been busy with work, running, or some other activity that has 1) left me with no time to update or 2) left me feeling unmotivated to update. With those two reasons combined with a little bit of laziness you get about 4 months of cyber blog neglect.  During the blog doldrums, a lot has actually happened in the world of running.  At the time of the last update I was getting into a solid period of training after coming off of an injury that lasted until mid November.  I started a slow (although not as slow as when I came off of an injury in August) build up of mileage with no workouts until about the second week of January.  At that point I was just trying to get back into shape and didn’t think I would be anywhere near being ready to race at Gasparilla.

Gasparilla

As the race grew closer I could feel that my body was starting to get back into the groove of things.  I had built my mileage up to the mid nineties and workouts were going well even though they were nothing that indicated I could race. This was partly because we were trying to be conservative and wanted to focus mainly on the NYC Half Marathon in March.  Coach and I decided that I would run Gasparilla as a “rust buster” and to see where I was at heading into March.  The plan was to keep my training going as if I were not going to do the race and to see how I ran without a taper.  I ran 104 miles the week before and really only changed my pre race day run to 7 miles.  I went into the race with an open mind about what could happen in the race.  I didn’t really have a race strategy because we wanted to gauge off of other people and see how I felt.  After all, this was my first race since May, 2010 and I hadn’t felt race pace since then or even knew what I was capable of.  I treated race day like any other race day and did my usual routine to get ready.  I put on my new pair of Green Silence flats (pretty much the only flat that Brooks makes in a 14) for the first time and did a few strides.  They felt fine and I knew that they would not be the cause of anything negative other than a couple of bruised toes that would come after the race due to this being the first time wearing any type of racing shoe in a while.  I went to the starting line and talked with a couple of other runners before the gun.  There was no set pace that anyone was shooting for.   I think everyone wanted to see what the next person was going to do and whether or not the wind was going to be a factor at all (the race is an out and back course that goes along Tampa Bay’s Bayshore Dr. and the wind can sometimes get pretty crazy).  The gun went off and I immediately found myself at the front of the pack along with A.J.  We would be the ones that set the pace for the next few miles until people started to spread out.  I didn’t mind being at the front because I felt comfortable and the wind weren’t really blowing at all.  It was a little warm but anytime you are running or racing in Florida you have to expect there to be a chance of warmth no matter what time of the year it is.  I had no clue what pace we were running and it seemed like the first mile took forever.  We passed the mile mark at what I can now recall as being around 4:55-57 (I guess I am losing my memory at a young age….).  The next mile was run at about the same pace and with A.J. and I still leading.  The pack was still attached but nobody was really making any moves.  A little after three miles is when I think things started to change up a little and when we got to the turn-around point it was myself and Andrew Letherby (2:11 marathon guy from Australia) running together.  The pace was still honest as we started to make our way along Bayshore to the finish which seems like it took about twice as long as it took on the way out.  By the seven mile mark I had opened up a little bit of a gap and was now on my own.  It was nice to hear all of the people cheering because I think it really helped me since I was definitely starting to feel the pace take its toll on my body.  Between mile seven and the finish I could hear people saying that I had a lead on second place but I had no clue as to how big it was.  Andrew may have been 5 seconds back or 30 seconds back, I had no clue.  I just tried to run hard all the way to the finish without looking back because I knew that if I faltered just a little that I could lose the race.  I came into the finish feeling spent and crossed the line in 46:22 (4:58) pace.  The result made me excited because I didn’t know what to expect and to run under 5 minute pace for 15k made me think that the next race would be even better.  I knew the time wasn’t anything special but it was a good start and especially for how warm it was.  After talking to a few people I went for a cool-down and then Bess and I made our way to the awards ceremony.

NEW YORK

After Gasparilla we were able to see where my fitness was at and could try and better prepare for the NYC Half.  The goal of this race was strictly to run under 1:05 in order to hit the qualifying standard for the Trials.  The race was scheduled for March 20^th which meant only about three weeks between Gasparilla and the half.  The workouts started to get more specific, with the intensity increasing a little and the distances changing from before.  In the weeks between races I hit 95 and 93 miles with race week totaling 81 miles.  The workouts all went as planned leading into the race and I knew that I was ready to run under the time. Now all I had to do was put it together on race day.

We arrived to NY on Wednesday and once we got settled into the hotel we went out in search of a bike for coach to use while I did my last workout that was scheduled before the race.  It was nice to be in a little cooler weather from what we were getting in Florida.  Once we got a bike we headed over to Central Park. I am originally from NY but had never run in the park before. I knew it was hilly but didn’t think that it was going to be that bad.  Well I was wrong about it not being that bad. I think the combination of a long day of travel, going right into the workout, and running on the hills all made for a pretty miserable experience.  I was scheduled for 5 x 1.5 miles but only managed to do 4.  We decided to cut the last one and did 4×400 instead.  I didn’t hit any of the time for the 1.5 miles and the 400’s even felt like garbage.  I didn’t let this discourage me because I know that one poor workout is not going to take all of the other good ones away.  I have had bad workouts before and have been able to bounce back and run well days later. I just tried to forget about the entire thing and started looking toward having a couple of easy days and preparing to run fast on Sunday.

Bess and I were able to visit a couple friends in the city and also took the train to where I was born and stayed with some family for a night.  They would be coming to the race on Sunday so we headed back to the city for a pre race meeting on Friday.  It was my first race technical meeting since graduating college and I thought it was really neat to be there sitting next to Olympians, record holders and world-class athletes.  Not to mention being able to see and hear about how the NYRR operates.

I was to be at the host hotel a couple of hours before the race on Sunday so that we could be shuttled over to the NYRR headquarters which is across the street from the start line. That way we would be able to start warming up and could leave our stuff to be taken to the finish line once we were ready.  The day before the race it was a warm 70 degrees but race morning was the complete opposite; starting temperature was 37 degrees!!!  I didn’t get any more nervous than usual. There were a lot of runners that were far better than me but it wasn’t really anything that I didn’t experience in college.  I was just excited that the race started so that I could warm up after freezing while we stood there for the gun to go off.  Once it did get started I settled in towards that back of a large front pack.  The pace seemed easy and when we reached the end of the mostly flat first mile I could tell why. I hit the mile mark at about 5:05 but didn’t panic because it is a long race and there was plenty of time to make up time.  The pace did increase during the second mile and things started to spread out.  I reached the second mile at 9:50 and after that is when things really started to open up.  The front pack shot off like crazy but I knew that I was pretty much right on pace for what I needed to run and going crazy at that point would not have been beneficial for the hillier parts of the park.  There were only a small number of people around after the 5k point, which I hit in about 15:17.  The next 5k I was running with some NYAC athletes and a couple others over the hilliest part of the park.  The second 5k was run in about 15:26, a little over pace but after this point the hills were pretty much over and it was time to start taking some time off.  As I exited the park and headed toward time square I felt like an ant.  There were not a lot of spectators or even civilians near this part of the course which made the building seem even bigger.  I had been running with a WSX guy for a while and we seemed to be switching positions every so often.  The next 5k was covered in about 15:19 which put me right at 46:00 for 15k (22 seconds faster that what I raced for 15k 3 weeks prior).  Shortly after the 15k mark we made a right turn and then after about 200 meters we made a U-Turn which marked the last turning point of the course.  After that it was pretty much a straight shot to the finish.  I was still running with the WSX runner and we were starting to gain on a runner that had fallen off of the lead pack.  We caught him but those two were able to find another gear and left me to finish alone three seconds behind them.  My final 5k was covered in 15:13 which gave me a total finish time of 1:04:28 and 24^th place overall (6^th American).  It was a very exciting moment and by the time I realized that my stuff was right near the finish line at the elite athlete area I was frozen and at the point where it would have been useless to start a cool down.  Shortly after the race, we said goodbye to family and headed back to the hotel to get packed up to go to the airport for an afternoon flight home.

I doubled again today since my workout in the afternoon was short.  After work, I met coach at a little park near the school that he teaches at.  It was in a neighborhood where a bunch of the students live so every child that went by was yelling “hi” to him.  We even had a little fan crew that was watching the workout.  It was kinda funny and cool at the same time.  The town that we were in was very small and there probably isn’t a whole lot of exciting things happening there.  Just what they need to make their day……a little distance running…lol.  There were a few of the normal comments that runners get from non runners but I am used to that and it didn’t bother me.  The only way that people can know what it is like to be a distance runner is to try it for themselves.  Until then, they have a biased opinion that is definitely negative.  At least they didn’t do or say some of the things like the college students did in Gainesville.  I think experiencing those things has given me thicker skin when it comes to this part of running. However, I sometimes still get irritated when things are yelled but it usually takes something annoying or if I am having a bad run………………………………..

Today was the first day for 3a and 4a high schools to be able to run a track meet. Even though Bess is only helping a little with the school she is at, we both decided to help with their practice home meet. It was very informal, no field events, and consisted of 5 teams. This was more of a way for coaches to see where their athletes are at fitness wise and have them something to break up the monotony of practice. It was cool because the meet had a couple of traditional relay events that consisted of some not so traditional distances. For instance, the dmr has 1200, 400, 800, and 1600 meter legs on it. At this meet it was 800, 1600, 800, and 1600 meter legs. So it ended up being a total of 12 laps instead of 10. It was a good thing that they ran both genders together because that one event could have been 40 minutes long instead of the 20 that it was. There were some good things and some bad things that happened for the teams as far as times go, but let’s just say that its a good thing this wasn’t the state meet because there would have been some pretty disappointed coaches and athletes. One funny thing that happened was one runner ended up running double the distance that they were supposed to. Stinks for that person and that is why you need to always be aware of what lap you are on in your race. A few years ago at an indoor meet in Boston, the world 5 and 10k record holder took off sprinting on the second to last lap, thinking it was his final, and got to the line and realized that he still had one more. At that point his kick was already gone and he ended up loosing the race. I know sometimes it can get confusing but if you only have an 800 to run, you should not have a really hard time counting how many laps you have left.

We changed up workout days this week, so my Sunday got switched to Monday.  We had a four mile planned out at a road by the Lakeland Airport.  It was a hard road with four lanes and a pretty big shoulder.  There wasn’t really anything around but I saw a couple mile and 5k markers on the side walk.  Apparently they have done a race out here or someone else has done a workout.  I can’t think of any races that have gone on that were in that area, but it is possible.  I started at one end of the road and headed straight to the other.  The first 1.6 miles on the way out were not too bad, but once I turned around I was hit by a very stiff head wind.  I felt as if I was walking and for some reason I didn’t feel like I had another gear to switch to. Maybe it was just that the wind was blowing so hard.  I made it back to the start and headed back towards the other end to finish up the fourth mile. I didn’t look at any splits during the workout because Coach just wanted me to run by feel. I would say that the workout was average and I felt okay during it.  I think having a race setting, other runners, and some racing flats, instead of trainers with orthotics in them, will make me feel a lot better.

In the evening, after spending a long time trying to get Bessie’s Ipod updated, we went to the lake for my second run and her workout.  I did 6.5 miles to give me a total of 15 for the day.  I’m really glad that my mileage has been staying consistent and things are going well.

I was a little tired and sore when I woke up this morning so I tried to sleep about 30 mins extra to help with the tiredness. The soreness however, is something that I have just gotten used to over the years. Week after week of 90+ miles has built up a pretty good soreness threshold.  I did 6 miles in the a.m. and did 12 in the evening with some strides at the end.  I tried to take it easy since I just had a workout the day before. One thing I hardly ever do is run with music on. Well, today I did that and actually enjoyed it. I don’t not run with music because I don’t enjoy it, I don’t do it because I can never get the ear buds to stay in my ear. I guess having an Ipod that only takes one type of ear buds isn’t the best thing because they do actually make some that fit really well in your ear. I have been working for Coach lately on a project that he has going on. So I have been able to get out of the classroom and stay off of my feet for the most part.  Once everything is ready to go with this project I will try and explain what it is, but it should be pretty interesting and useful.