61miles on 7 runs in 6 days:
M: Off (planned)
T: 50minutes/ 40minutes with 8x40seconds fast
W: 90minutes (hilly)
T: 50minutes plus Hill Burst(5) and Fast Finish Mile (4:36)
F: 55minutes last 15minutes over hills.
S: Track Workout 2x2400(5min jog rec), 3x200
@Spring Valley Track 20up/15down
Splits: 4:50/2:24(7:15), 4:51/2:23(7:15), 29, 29, 28
S: 70minutes over the 5k Course
Recap: Good week!
Huntington 5K: The 5K State Championships in Huntington next weekend is getting big! By that I mean there is already 260 registered runners, that number could jump to well over 500 this week alone with all the late entries that will take place Friday night and Saturday morning. Pat has done so much hard work for this race and it will show next weekend with something special. Some of the things he has planned well be exciting: Clocks at each mile, announcing the meet back at the finish line for spectators, finish line banner to finish under, post race party, the list goes on and on! The race winners will be fast and this could be one of the faster WV 5K races depth wise other then Debbie Green(which is mostly African runners). I'm pumped and I think everyone around here is getting pumped! Here is a pre-race article on this race and some of the runners. MANY great runners aren't even mentioned because they haven't officially registered so this race could have the entire top 10 well under 16minutes.
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/x1364042838/Huntington-prepares-for-West-Virginia-5K-Championship
Old Race Articles/Links
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
The Magical Mile (The start of my life as a runner)
**A look back at the event that made me start to love running and how I decided that running was what I wanted to continue to do for a long time!
Back in Middle/High School all I cared about was the MILE(actually 1600m)! I would be entered into 3-4 different events and I could win them all except the Mile and I would be very upset! In middle school without much competition it was actually pretty easy to win the 800, 1600, 3200, and 4x400 each meet. I think I lost a total of 1 time between all three(800,1600,3200) my 8th grade year. But the time I lost it was in the 1600 to Larry Atkins who would win the state meet 1600 state title our jr year of high school(I was third in that state meet 1600). I revenged that middle school lost in the 1600 to Larry at our last meet that season with my middle school PR of 5:03! It was the revenge factor that carried me to what was a 2 second best time because I couldn't lose in what my mind thought was "my event"! My best times that year were 2:15, 5:03 and around 10:40's if I remember correctly and what was cool about it was the only training done to prepare for races were 100m sprints at practice!(Training of Champions we figured..lol)
On to high school I felt the same all I wanted to run was the Mile(1600), I even have some funny stories of winning the mile at meets then fighting(all in fun) with the coach to get out of the 3200 when we ran at single session meets. In two session meets the 3200 was before the 1600 so he was always in agreement that there was no need to get tired for "my event". My progression was strong and smooth until my Senior year. I went 4:45 as a freshman(broke my ankle the day before regional playing basketball so missed a good chance to run faster), I ran 4:34 as a sophomore to finish 5th in the region where top 4 got to go to states, 2nd-4th were also 4:34 in that race as we had a blanket finish. The worse thing was my time was faster then the other 3 regions winner, so I had to stay home during the state meet although it was the 5th fastest time of the year at that point. I was heart broken but determined that it wouldn't happen again the next spring.
My junior year started out like every track season for me in high school. I didn't run a single step of training until the first day of practice. I did however play year around basketball which for as much as we played I think it kept me in pretty good shape speed wise. During the junior season I had an early season setback when I rolled my ankle playing basketball(during the AAU State 17-u tournament, where I had back to back 55point games against Beckley and Parkersburg and was on top of the world I thought for playing big time college basketball) but my ankle healed and before you knew it, my time was dropping faster then ever 4:40(last regular season meet)..4:35(conference champ)...4:32(regional champ)...and then bam 4:25 at the state meet to finish third in one of the faster years of the 90's. It was a race I led in usual fashion out in 60, 2:06 at 800, then hang on(passed with around 600m to go) and hanging on always hurt so bad I told myself every single race I'm going to stop, which I never did.
So my senior year starts after the ending of our regional basketball tournament lose. That year unlike other's we decided to train differently in order to get that State Title Mile Crown, I was very naive when it came to running. In the past 3 year's all we had done was 300m repeats almost every day. I ran probably a total of 10miles a week and most of those came from meets. It wasn't easy training though, we ran the 300s as many as 15 all-out. So basically our training was fast running, all the time. So the senior year we decide I need to run mileage, which we had read is the way to go. Only problem was I tried doing 6mile runs right off the bat. Being that over the years a 3200 race was the longest I had ever ran, so this wasn't a good approach to reaching the goal of being the state champ. What happened was a ache in my shin from the first week that got so bad I would limp around all day then try running at practice and meets. It never happened for me that year due to what was later found out to be a stress fx. I ran the entire year on it not knowing and only got down to 4:44, 1 second faster then what I had ran as a freshman.
Most would think that would be the perfect way to say I'm done with this running stuff and sign to play basketball(had offers from Winthrop, Liberty, Old Dominion(Va), Coastal Carolina, and many D2 or smaller schools and even a walk-on invite to Iowa) Most of my basketball recruitment was being helped by Donnie Jones(Florida assistant at the time and current Marshall head coach) that had contacts at most of those bigger schools and was always helping me out.
But all I could think of was running. The turning point that it was the way I wanted to go was when Casey Batey put his arm around me at the state meet and said "we still want you to join us man" after I think I limped to a 5minute 1600 and dead last place finish at the state meet. With tears in my eyes that meant a lot to me and it was the main reason I decided to try and become a runner. Along the way it didn't hurt that Marshall University Basketball Head Coach offered me an invited walk-on to play basketball while I ran at MU. I knew going in though that I would play(sit the bench) for one year and then devote myself sporting wise to running 100%.
Some might wonder what made me think about sharing my Magical Mile past well one it was the event that made me like running and I was reminded of that this past Thursday when I did a fast finish mile at the end of my 55minute run. I ran 4:36 which at the end of a run isn't to bad but it felt really good to being pushing a mile again.
It makes me think I wish I had the chance to run the mile more when in college. I ran a total of 1 year of track due to playing basketball my first year, being hurt the next few seasons(indoor and outdoor) and then the program getting dropped while I stile had two years left of eligibility. My best college time was 4:26 which I ran a total of 4 times that indoor season along with a 4:27 and 4:28 DMR split. I always thought I would run between 4:15-18 if I had those last 2 years and would have stayed healthy. But of course I will never know that for sure. I have ran 2 hard miles since college both being more for fun and while training for longer races, they were 4:26 and 4:32(solo time trial).
My time to run fast for short stuff probably has past, but with the chance to attend many indoor/outdoor meets with our University of Charleston women over the next few year's I won't be surprised if I give the Mile one more go and see if I can do something that would be Magical for my ability and bring a smile to my face knowing it was the reason all my running ever started in the first place!
Back in Middle/High School all I cared about was the MILE(actually 1600m)! I would be entered into 3-4 different events and I could win them all except the Mile and I would be very upset! In middle school without much competition it was actually pretty easy to win the 800, 1600, 3200, and 4x400 each meet. I think I lost a total of 1 time between all three(800,1600,3200) my 8th grade year. But the time I lost it was in the 1600 to Larry Atkins who would win the state meet 1600 state title our jr year of high school(I was third in that state meet 1600). I revenged that middle school lost in the 1600 to Larry at our last meet that season with my middle school PR of 5:03! It was the revenge factor that carried me to what was a 2 second best time because I couldn't lose in what my mind thought was "my event"! My best times that year were 2:15, 5:03 and around 10:40's if I remember correctly and what was cool about it was the only training done to prepare for races were 100m sprints at practice!(Training of Champions we figured..lol)
On to high school I felt the same all I wanted to run was the Mile(1600), I even have some funny stories of winning the mile at meets then fighting(all in fun) with the coach to get out of the 3200 when we ran at single session meets. In two session meets the 3200 was before the 1600 so he was always in agreement that there was no need to get tired for "my event". My progression was strong and smooth until my Senior year. I went 4:45 as a freshman(broke my ankle the day before regional playing basketball so missed a good chance to run faster), I ran 4:34 as a sophomore to finish 5th in the region where top 4 got to go to states, 2nd-4th were also 4:34 in that race as we had a blanket finish. The worse thing was my time was faster then the other 3 regions winner, so I had to stay home during the state meet although it was the 5th fastest time of the year at that point. I was heart broken but determined that it wouldn't happen again the next spring.
My junior year started out like every track season for me in high school. I didn't run a single step of training until the first day of practice. I did however play year around basketball which for as much as we played I think it kept me in pretty good shape speed wise. During the junior season I had an early season setback when I rolled my ankle playing basketball(during the AAU State 17-u tournament, where I had back to back 55point games against Beckley and Parkersburg and was on top of the world I thought for playing big time college basketball) but my ankle healed and before you knew it, my time was dropping faster then ever 4:40(last regular season meet)..4:35(conference champ)...4:32(regional champ)...and then bam 4:25 at the state meet to finish third in one of the faster years of the 90's. It was a race I led in usual fashion out in 60, 2:06 at 800, then hang on(passed with around 600m to go) and hanging on always hurt so bad I told myself every single race I'm going to stop, which I never did.
So my senior year starts after the ending of our regional basketball tournament lose. That year unlike other's we decided to train differently in order to get that State Title Mile Crown, I was very naive when it came to running. In the past 3 year's all we had done was 300m repeats almost every day. I ran probably a total of 10miles a week and most of those came from meets. It wasn't easy training though, we ran the 300s as many as 15 all-out. So basically our training was fast running, all the time. So the senior year we decide I need to run mileage, which we had read is the way to go. Only problem was I tried doing 6mile runs right off the bat. Being that over the years a 3200 race was the longest I had ever ran, so this wasn't a good approach to reaching the goal of being the state champ. What happened was a ache in my shin from the first week that got so bad I would limp around all day then try running at practice and meets. It never happened for me that year due to what was later found out to be a stress fx. I ran the entire year on it not knowing and only got down to 4:44, 1 second faster then what I had ran as a freshman.
Most would think that would be the perfect way to say I'm done with this running stuff and sign to play basketball(had offers from Winthrop, Liberty, Old Dominion(Va), Coastal Carolina, and many D2 or smaller schools and even a walk-on invite to Iowa) Most of my basketball recruitment was being helped by Donnie Jones(Florida assistant at the time and current Marshall head coach) that had contacts at most of those bigger schools and was always helping me out.
But all I could think of was running. The turning point that it was the way I wanted to go was when Casey Batey put his arm around me at the state meet and said "we still want you to join us man" after I think I limped to a 5minute 1600 and dead last place finish at the state meet. With tears in my eyes that meant a lot to me and it was the main reason I decided to try and become a runner. Along the way it didn't hurt that Marshall University Basketball Head Coach offered me an invited walk-on to play basketball while I ran at MU. I knew going in though that I would play(sit the bench) for one year and then devote myself sporting wise to running 100%.
Some might wonder what made me think about sharing my Magical Mile past well one it was the event that made me like running and I was reminded of that this past Thursday when I did a fast finish mile at the end of my 55minute run. I ran 4:36 which at the end of a run isn't to bad but it felt really good to being pushing a mile again.
It makes me think I wish I had the chance to run the mile more when in college. I ran a total of 1 year of track due to playing basketball my first year, being hurt the next few seasons(indoor and outdoor) and then the program getting dropped while I stile had two years left of eligibility. My best college time was 4:26 which I ran a total of 4 times that indoor season along with a 4:27 and 4:28 DMR split. I always thought I would run between 4:15-18 if I had those last 2 years and would have stayed healthy. But of course I will never know that for sure. I have ran 2 hard miles since college both being more for fun and while training for longer races, they were 4:26 and 4:32(solo time trial).
My time to run fast for short stuff probably has past, but with the chance to attend many indoor/outdoor meets with our University of Charleston women over the next few year's I won't be surprised if I give the Mile one more go and see if I can do something that would be Magical for my ability and bring a smile to my face knowing it was the reason all my running ever started in the first place!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Training Log 5/18-5/24 2009
75miles on 9 runs in 7 days
M: 42minutes plus Hill Burst(5)/42minutes plus Hill Burst(5)
T: 55minutes
W: 10miles with 4mile Tempo(20:45/5:11avg)
@ Ritter, felt more controlled then the past harder workouts!
Splits: 5:12, 5:09, 5:12, 5:11
T: 45minutes in Gallipolis Ferry on dirt farm roads!
F: 40minutes/45minutes plus Hill Burst(5)
S: 70minutes plus 4 laps on Track
Track: 100m easy/ 100m stride (5:36)
S: 1:45 on James River Road
Recap: Solid week, laid off doing the 2nd workout of the week and just logged weekend mileage. Busy week, about to sign a contract to become a college xc/track head coach and Marian is being hired as my assistant coach. More on that this week after it becomes official but very happy with the opportunity and the pay offer for the both of us. The school is very interested in building the program and it will be a great step up in the coaching world for us. We will be able to train just as much as always if not more now that our only job will be running the program and coaching(no more sub-teaching!!). This will be the start of our dream come true to be in full control of a college program together, looking around the country it is hard enough to get a college coaching job but to be able to have a husband-wife coaching situation is even less common.
M: 42minutes plus Hill Burst(5)/42minutes plus Hill Burst(5)
T: 55minutes
W: 10miles with 4mile Tempo(20:45/5:11avg)
@ Ritter, felt more controlled then the past harder workouts!
Splits: 5:12, 5:09, 5:12, 5:11
T: 45minutes in Gallipolis Ferry on dirt farm roads!
F: 40minutes/45minutes plus Hill Burst(5)
S: 70minutes plus 4 laps on Track
Track: 100m easy/ 100m stride (5:36)
S: 1:45 on James River Road
Recap: Solid week, laid off doing the 2nd workout of the week and just logged weekend mileage. Busy week, about to sign a contract to become a college xc/track head coach and Marian is being hired as my assistant coach. More on that this week after it becomes official but very happy with the opportunity and the pay offer for the both of us. The school is very interested in building the program and it will be a great step up in the coaching world for us. We will be able to train just as much as always if not more now that our only job will be running the program and coaching(no more sub-teaching!!). This will be the start of our dream come true to be in full control of a college program together, looking around the country it is hard enough to get a college coaching job but to be able to have a husband-wife coaching situation is even less common.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Training Log 5/11-17 2009
75miles on 8runs in 7days:
M: 42minutes+Hill Burst(5)/ 10up-12x200(200rec)--12dwn
T: 55minutes(last15minutes hilly)
W: 10miles w/8x800 Cruise Intervals
@Ritter Park (55-60sec recovery)
Splits: 2:25-26 average
T: 65minutes over Mt Piggy Hills
F: 65minutes
S: 20up-1x2miles(3:30rec), 2x1mile(2:00rec)-20dwn
@Spring Valley Track Complex
Splits: 10:05(5:02/5:03), 4:58, 4:54
S: 2HR LR on James River Road into Airport Hills
Recap: This was a solid week, kept the mileage lower put tried putting more quality into each run. Even the slow/easy runs would have hills. Sunday it was cool out and decided to take advantage of that with a good LR to build back some strength. The Wednesday 800s were tougher then usual CI workouts and then Saturdays run was a battle due to the rain then sauna conditions. The plan was 4mile Hard Track Tempo but after the rain the sky opened up and it was almost unbearable hard running conditions so we both cut down our workout and I think it was a very smart decision since I felt stronger then I have in a long time on Sunday's LR. It's been a long year and I'm constantly tired but this week of training was fun, and I have accepted mentally whatever I run right now is the best I can do until I get solid length break here in 3-4 weeks!
M: 42minutes+Hill Burst(5)/ 10up-12x200(200rec)--12dwn
T: 55minutes(last15minutes hilly)
W: 10miles w/8x800 Cruise Intervals
@Ritter Park (55-60sec recovery)
Splits: 2:25-26 average
T: 65minutes over Mt Piggy Hills
F: 65minutes
S: 20up-1x2miles(3:30rec), 2x1mile(2:00rec)-20dwn
@Spring Valley Track Complex
Splits: 10:05(5:02/5:03), 4:58, 4:54
S: 2HR LR on James River Road into Airport Hills
Recap: This was a solid week, kept the mileage lower put tried putting more quality into each run. Even the slow/easy runs would have hills. Sunday it was cool out and decided to take advantage of that with a good LR to build back some strength. The Wednesday 800s were tougher then usual CI workouts and then Saturdays run was a battle due to the rain then sauna conditions. The plan was 4mile Hard Track Tempo but after the rain the sky opened up and it was almost unbearable hard running conditions so we both cut down our workout and I think it was a very smart decision since I felt stronger then I have in a long time on Sunday's LR. It's been a long year and I'm constantly tired but this week of training was fun, and I have accepted mentally whatever I run right now is the best I can do until I get solid length break here in 3-4 weeks!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Training Log 5/4-10 2009
34miles on 4 runs in 4 days:
M-W: Planned Off
T: 30minutes
F: 65minutes in the rain(some with Marian)
S: 70minutes (Hilly + Fast Finish Last Mile)
S: 75minutes before heading to Parents for Cookout
Recap: Was up in the air on starting my 1-2 week break. The only thing holding me back is I would like to try and run decent at the WV 5K Championships in Huntington June 6th. I have always wanted to see a bigger and faster road race come to Huntington so it would be hard to pass on this one plus Pat is working his butt off getting things ready for this race and I just want to be a part of it in a running way.
HerdRacing: I wanted to give huge Congrats to Cameron Davis. Cam has been dedicated to his training since January and has been putting in some good miles and workouts. The pay off to his hard work came in Mullens, WV last weekend when he ran a HUGE PR of 18:20 to finish Third overall. His previous best 5K was from the same race a year earlier when he ran 20:58, so a huge improvement he is making and it is all because of the hard work he puts in every week...oh and BTW Cam is only in the 8th Grade! Keep up the great work Cam!!!
M-W: Planned Off
T: 30minutes
F: 65minutes in the rain(some with Marian)
S: 70minutes (Hilly + Fast Finish Last Mile)
S: 75minutes before heading to Parents for Cookout
Recap: Was up in the air on starting my 1-2 week break. The only thing holding me back is I would like to try and run decent at the WV 5K Championships in Huntington June 6th. I have always wanted to see a bigger and faster road race come to Huntington so it would be hard to pass on this one plus Pat is working his butt off getting things ready for this race and I just want to be a part of it in a running way.
HerdRacing: I wanted to give huge Congrats to Cameron Davis. Cam has been dedicated to his training since January and has been putting in some good miles and workouts. The pay off to his hard work came in Mullens, WV last weekend when he ran a HUGE PR of 18:20 to finish Third overall. His previous best 5K was from the same race a year earlier when he ran 20:58, so a huge improvement he is making and it is all because of the hard work he puts in every week...oh and BTW Cam is only in the 8th Grade! Keep up the great work Cam!!!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Training Log 4/27-5/3 2009
60miles on 8 runs in 7 days:
M: 75minutes
T: 42minutes plus Hill Burst
W: 8miles with 3xMille(800 jog rec)/ 30minutes
T: 50minutes
F: 35minutes in Eugene on river trail from Hotel
S: 25minutes from Hotel with 5x20seconds
S: Eugene Half Marathon--1:11.48--2nd overall
Race Recap: Really struggled the entire time in Eugene. Started to stress out that I wasn't 100% and it seemed to make things worse. Didn't sleep but a few hours a night which has been the trend lately. As for the race, rainy morning that cleared before the start and pretty much stopped 5K into the race. I gave it a go and after 5:20 first mile I went into the lead to see if I could do anything. I ran 5:03 and 5:07 for the next 2 miles and instantly I just couldn't go. The rest of the run was just a battle putting one foot in front of the other. The harder I tried at this point the slower I ran. Weird thing was I wasn't upset, but I think that is just due to being worn out and sick feeling for too long now. Basically came 5minutes short of my goal time I had set for myself this spring, I think I got fit enough to run in that 1:06 range just some bad planning on a recovery break and staying sick from February on just made it too tough to accomplish. I ran 1:07's in Janurary off basically base miles so I know 1:06...:05 is more then in reach! Maybe next fall?
Marian: Even though I struggled the running side of the trip was still not a failure due to Marian running extremely strong! It is easy to forget she ran a Marathon only 5 weeks ago and now in a short turn around ran her best post-collegiate race to date. She was the third overall female (Two Nike Sponsored Bowerman Athletic Club runners from Portland were 1-2). Her time was 1:21.57 which is a strong 6:15 per mile pace. I quickly looked up that this time would have been top 50 at the USA Championships back in January in Houston. So it was a very solid run for her and something she did very well was she hit her fastest 3 splits miles 5-7 when she hit a stretch of sub 6 miles. She gave back some time during the last 2 miles but she is still learning in these long races. I think next fall with as motivated as she is getting again with running she will run under 1:20 for the half and make a big jump in the full and break 2:50. This time converts to 2:52 Marathon based off McMillan Charts, that is a Marathon time we thought she was closer to this spring when she ran 3:00. Just shows the training is there for her, and that learning curve she got in the Marathon in March will pay off big time next fall.
Links:
Results
Highlight Video
M: 75minutes
T: 42minutes plus Hill Burst
W: 8miles with 3xMille(800 jog rec)/ 30minutes
T: 50minutes
F: 35minutes in Eugene on river trail from Hotel
S: 25minutes from Hotel with 5x20seconds
S: Eugene Half Marathon--1:11.48--2nd overall
Race Recap: Really struggled the entire time in Eugene. Started to stress out that I wasn't 100% and it seemed to make things worse. Didn't sleep but a few hours a night which has been the trend lately. As for the race, rainy morning that cleared before the start and pretty much stopped 5K into the race. I gave it a go and after 5:20 first mile I went into the lead to see if I could do anything. I ran 5:03 and 5:07 for the next 2 miles and instantly I just couldn't go. The rest of the run was just a battle putting one foot in front of the other. The harder I tried at this point the slower I ran. Weird thing was I wasn't upset, but I think that is just due to being worn out and sick feeling for too long now. Basically came 5minutes short of my goal time I had set for myself this spring, I think I got fit enough to run in that 1:06 range just some bad planning on a recovery break and staying sick from February on just made it too tough to accomplish. I ran 1:07's in Janurary off basically base miles so I know 1:06...:05 is more then in reach! Maybe next fall?
Marian: Even though I struggled the running side of the trip was still not a failure due to Marian running extremely strong! It is easy to forget she ran a Marathon only 5 weeks ago and now in a short turn around ran her best post-collegiate race to date. She was the third overall female (Two Nike Sponsored Bowerman Athletic Club runners from Portland were 1-2). Her time was 1:21.57 which is a strong 6:15 per mile pace. I quickly looked up that this time would have been top 50 at the USA Championships back in January in Houston. So it was a very solid run for her and something she did very well was she hit her fastest 3 splits miles 5-7 when she hit a stretch of sub 6 miles. She gave back some time during the last 2 miles but she is still learning in these long races. I think next fall with as motivated as she is getting again with running she will run under 1:20 for the half and make a big jump in the full and break 2:50. This time converts to 2:52 Marathon based off McMillan Charts, that is a Marathon time we thought she was closer to this spring when she ran 3:00. Just shows the training is there for her, and that learning curve she got in the Marathon in March will pay off big time next fall.
Links:
Results
Highlight Video
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