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4 Miles 24:44

State Farm, Boone NC

Happy New Year!  I'm getting an online training blog and a new year started right by struggling through a modest 4mile run in the 8pm blackness of night with punishing winds and bitter coldness.  God bless Boone NC and the wide open fields of State Farm.  I am also quite hungover and can probably count the hours of sleep from the previous 2 nights one hand.  Well maybe it takes two hands but it's still not enough.  It's enough to resolve for the new year to drink no more than 26 times. 

10 miles 60:02

Bass Lake, Boone NC

Ran my typical Boone run.  10 miles at Bass Lake doing the Manor, Blackbottom, Maze, and an extra mile around the lake.  Even though I do this run for 90% of my 10 milers in Boone it never gets old.  Here's a loop description:  The first 2.5 miles are a gradual uphill to the manor house (which is the retirement home in the Stephen King movie "The Green Mile").  Those miles tend to get hammered out for some reason.  Then you follow it up with about 3 miles of gradual downhill which allows one to get their "legs" back under them.  Just in time for a steep uphill coming out of blackbottom road and up onto the maze.  Once on the Maze it's another gradual mile of uphill then a gradual mile down to Bass Lake.  The loop around the lake is 1500m.  Just back to the parking lot is 9 miles (some of my other splits don't add up but it's real) so a full mile around the lake is required for the 10 mile run.  Which is nice because you can get a final pace of your run.  It's easy to run this everyday though because the entire run is on a fine packed gravel which resembles a cinder track that runs through constant Appalachia forestry.  It's also the friendliest place on earth to run.  Everyone you see always greets you with a "howdy" or sometimes a "my horse isn't even that fast."  Solid ego boost.

Bass Lake

Workout Day.  The big plan was to tempo the normal 10 mile loop at Bass Lake but I got way too ambitious early in the run and opted to make it a 4X8min fartlek run with 2 min recovery.  Even with the 2 min recovery jog I hit the manor house in 14:00 which told me I did indeed start my tempo too hard as my fastest ever to the manor is 12:40 and that was an all out attack.  On normal runs I range from 16-17:30 at the house.  The 4X8min ws good though as it got in a longer interval workout with minimal recovery.  I was pretty spent at the end. 

13 miles 78:50

Bass Lake

Another favorite run from Bass Lake is "The Firetower."  If life were a movie then every time someone said "The Firetower" a bolt of lightning would strike in the background or at least scary theme music would be cued.  Firetower also starts at Bass Lake and goes to the manor house but from there it continues to go up hill for another 3 miles getting steeper and steeper as the air gets thinner and thinner.  It's about 5.7 miles of constant uphill from the lake to the top step of the tower but the view makes it more than a rewarding journey.  I get to the top today in 34 min and climb up the tower steps to the top passing a friendly cowboy couple halfway up who tell me that I "just burned more calories than their horses."  The way down is a huge negative split of course and I add on the maze to get my 13 miles in.

10 miles 59:13

Bass Lake

Normal 10 mile loop.  I went out and had a few drinks the night before making it time 1 out of 26 (1/26).  I almost didn't want to count it because I had so little but I'm being strict on myself. 

10 miles 61:56

State Farm

I dogged a 10 miler at state farm.  At state farm it's completely flat which was just what i needed.  Why?  Well I went out drinking for time 2/26 last night.  Definately earned the right to count this one too.  When I arrived home at my parents house the mom was already awake and doing laundry.  That was a short and incoherent conversation.  I'm ready to go awhile without adding any to the 26.

15 miles 89:39

Bass Lake

Last run in Boone.  Got up early(ish) to get in a long run before riving back to Daytona.  9 isn't bad, it's just hard to call that early.  Did the last option at bass lake for the week which is going up to the manor house and then heading down to trout lake and up to Rich Mountain.  I turned around a little before the peak of the mountain because I don't ever feel good running in the mornings and 15 seemed like enough.  Especially since I was about to spend 9 hours in my car. 

5 miles 30:02

Daytona Sidewalks

After being in class from 7:30 to 4:20 with a just 2 hours of break we were informed at 1:00pm that after we got out of class at 4:20 we'd have to go straight over to the clinic for student clinician orientation.  A close to 3 hour process.  I managed to get in a 5mile out and back run from my apartment.  Every step of it, as well as every other run I do in Daytona is on sidewalks.  ie, in a day I've transitioned from running heaven to running hell.  At least this time of year the weather is incredible.  I feel obligated to say that but I'd give anything right now to go for a 10 mile run in 8 inches of fresh snow.  I miss winter and as luck would have it while at home over my break the only snow I saw was a flurry the day after Christmas.  Oh well...maybe next year

10 miles 58:47

Daytona Sidewalks

And as I have a run I do everyday in Boone so too do I have a run I do every day in Daytona beach.  I just leave from my apartment and do the same sidewalks weaving in and out of neighborhoods over and over again seeing the same people who either will give me a friendly wave or give me a harrassing heckle.  I don't have a name for this loop so from now on I'll call it....wait for it....oh the suspense...."Daytona Sidewalks."  Wow.  If that isn't the most creative thing ever created then I know nothing.  I've mappedmyrun.com'ed and it's a pretty accurate 10 miler and I've run it enough to get pretty dead on splits at all the mile markers.  My 10 mile runs range from 58-63 minutes everytime and I could give you my time within a minute of what I ran without a watch.  I'm my own clock.  The clock got in some pull ups today as well.

Daytona Sidewalks

Workout day.  Did 8X3min with 1 min recovery back and forth down the sidewalks along Big Tree Rd with a couple around the little league baseball field for some hot soft surface action.  Fartlek's are a mainstay in the Daytona training regime.  They're good because I've got limited access to tracks, especially during the week, and they give me a good effort without beating myself up.  For example...on a track you're got times to hit and I'll easily overdo it to hit those times.  Fartlek's offer a solid workout without pushing it too hard.  That's the positive way of looking at it.  In reality to make any break through you need that redlining experience.  The fartlek is a nice thing to mix in but as a main stay it's not going to get me anywhere. 

10 miles 60:13

Daytona Sidewalks

Yet another run on the same loop on the same sidewalks of Daytona.  Today I only had 2 hours of classes but I went over and spent about 6 hours in the clinic.  The net outcome was my first ever legitimate legal chiropractic adjustment.  woo woo. 

10 miles 59:30

Daytona Sidewalks

Just because the weekend is about to begin it doesn't mean there's something good to look foward to.  This weekend will be jammed packed with board reviews.  Tons of information crammed at you for about 8 hours a day.  But after a long day of classes it's nice to pretend like it's the weekend and enjoy a run on a sunny day.  PS.  I need sleep and bad.

Atlantic High School track

Workout.  It's Saturday which means it's Woods' day to sneak on to the track.  Since I was in board review all day I've got limited daylight remaining and am quite exhausted already I want to get a cheap workout in with a little bit of quality.  So I decide to do 400m repeats with limited recovery.  4 sets of 4X400 with 30 seconds rest and 400m after each sets going 68,66,64,62.  Workout went well hitting 68, 67, 67, 67; 66, 66, 67, 66; 63, 64, 65, 64; 63, 62, 63, 62.  I took 45 seconds recovery on the last set.  Not a bad showing overall.  I kept the rest short and pretty much hit my times.  The last set was tough but it's the fastest work I've done in over 6 months so for my first taste of any speed it went well. 

15 miles 92:37

Daytona Sidewalks

After getting up at 7am and going to Part 2 board review from 8am-4pm I get home and quickly change to get out the door in time for a long run in the daylight.  What a fun day.  It's days like these that make you want to quit school, quit running, and move into my parents basement and mooch off of them for another decade.  The run was fine, a little tight from the workout but nothing inhibiting my running.

5 miles 31:06

Daytona Sidewalks

Recovery day.  All recovery days are an easy 5 mile run.  This is an especially easy day for me since we don't have classes in order to honor MLK jr.  It's a much needed break after the long hours of class last week and the full weekend of part 2 Board review all day saturday and sunday.  Recovery day indeed

AM 10 miles 60:59

Daytona Sidewalks

I've got a 2 hour break in classes on Tuesday so I race home to cram in a 10 mile run and lunch before racing back to school.  I do my normal sidewalk loop without much exciting happening.

PM 5 miles 30:11

Daytona Sidewalks

After getting in an adjustment for Price I come home and do a 5 mile out and back.  When done I do 3 sets of 15 pullups, sit ups with medicine ball, and "pedestal" leg drills.  Wow, what an ambitious day.  2 runs and upper and lower body strengthening.  WOW.  What's gotten into me?

Daytona Sidewalks

Workout.  I wanted to do a little more this workout since I don't feel the need to back away too much for this weekends race.  Unfortunately I was running out of daylight by the time I got out of the clinic.  I still managed to get in a 3 mile warmup and 3X5min with 1 min recovery on the sidewalks going down Big Tree Rd.  From my estimates of normal runs and workouts I was getting in slightly more than a mile each time and each 5 min interval I made it a little bit further than the previous.  Solid pre race workout.  I guess.

10 miles 60:40

Daytona Sidewalk

Another 10 miler on the sidewalks.  I was pretty lazy afterwards...no pullups or drills or anything.  It's especially lazy since there's no class today or tomorrow.  You'd think I could at least get in a little extra since the big event of my day was winning the 2010 national championship with NC State on NCAA 07 and then recruiting the greatest class of all time (12 5* and 10 4* I even had a 4 *walk on).  I also watched NBC's must see tv.  Big day for me!

5 miles 30:07

Daytona Sidewalks

Pre race 5 mile run.  Since I already got in a double run this week and I'm planning on a shorter workout after this race I can take two recovery runs this week and not have it kill my mileage.

AM Seasons 52 Park Avenue 5k, Orlando FL

Trackshack Grand Prix Race #5 of  7 (8 miles)

Won in 15:20.  Second Place was 15:50.  Splits were 5:01 and 9:51.  Last year I ran 14:59 and won by 1 min.  Last year I was 6 seconds faster at the mile and was 9:45 at 2 miles.  Thus this year's last mile was significantly slower ~15 seconds.  Kind of disappointing to be that much slower than last year.  I suspect that I was in better race shape last year because the first weekend in January I raced a 10k in Charlotte in 30:40 with solid competition and this year the race was postponed and this race was my opener and I was solo by the mile. 

PM Atlantic High School track (7 miles)

I had originally intended on doing 3 or 4 sets of 3X300 but with the poor showing at the morning race I wanted to test myself more anaerobicly.  I decided to do a mile in 4:20 (~64, 65, 66, 65) 500m recovery, then 2 sets of 3X300 with 1 min recover and 500 meters after each set in (47, 45, 43; 47, 46, 43).  I felt good about this workout.  The 4:20 started stiff but I settled in and got through it well.  I was worried about hitting the 43's for 300 but I fought my way down to it.  I have not done speed work that fast hardly at all since living in Florida so I'm happy to have gotten down there even if it wasn't the smoothest feeling 300meters ever run.

15 miles 90:12

Daytona Sidewalks

Went out and weaved my way through some of the nicest neighborhoods near my apartment and before the river.  My legs are a little beat up from the race and workout but it isn't slowing me down.  I take a couple of breaks to stretch out my calves especially on the left leg because my plantar is aching.  Other than that the soreness is mild and easily run through.  It's a nice day for a run though.  Fairly warm, about 70 and sunny.  Enough to get some sun, develop a few more sunspots to get lectured on, and have a mild sweat going but not enough to soak your shorts.  I give the day 5 stars for running long.  Also there's NFL conference championship games waiting for me at the conclusion of my run to add to my pleasure.  That addition is just enough to cancel out the pain in the legs and left plantar.

5 miles 30:56

Daytona Sidewalks

It's sunny and nice out almost all day but with 15 min left in my last class the sky opens up.  But it was fairly warm out and today was a recovery run day so it made for quite the nice rain run.  At first it seemed like it'd just be a drizzle the whole time but i got the full on down pour after about a mile and a half and it stayed with my until the last mile.  Rain runs are quite nice though.  My plantar and shin were hurting pretty good early but loosened up after a mile.  I may have failed to have mention that but i've had minor shin splits for a few weeks.  The plantar has been off and on achey for about a week...since the 400m workout 9 days ago. 

10 miles 58:22

Daytona Sidewalks

I felt quite good today.  I didn't notice the plantar at all during the run and the shin pain made a late appearance and was sporadic.  The weather was perfect for running...65 degrees.  I got an adjustment in the morning which really loosened me up.  I even saw a bald eagle on my run.  There's one that lives in a tree on the 11th hole of the golf course so it was probably that one since I was within a mile of the course.  Still cool to see though.  I also was ambitious today and did some pullups and situps.  Way to go me.

Silversands Middle School Track

I did one of my two prerace workouts on the paved track at Silversands Middle school.  I did a 3200 in 9:49 (4:59, 4:50) then did 1 mile of straights and curves (sprint the straightaways jog the curves).  It's supposed to be a threshold 2 mile. I was a little quick but it felt very comfortable so i just ran with it.  I'm guessing threshold pace for me right now is somewhere slightly under 5 min.  There wasn't any other sorts of aching in the shin or plantar today so I'm thinking I'm in the clear on those issues.  The strides didn't exactly make me feel fast but they were alright.  I should be good to go for this Saturdays Mantanza's 5k.  Hopefully it'll be a good race and my first test of the year.

8 miles 48:46

Daytona Sidewalks

Ran pretty much a condensed version of my usual 10 mile run.  I'm backing off a little for this weekends race.  It's been very cool these last two days with highs around 60.  It's been great for running though.  There's an otter that moved into the lake across from my apartment apparently.  I saw it 3 times today as I did 3 loops around the lake. 

4 miles 25:42

Daytona Sidewalks

PreRace day.  I took an easy 4 mile run after school on the coldest day of the year in Daytona.  On the news last night they were interviewing people asking how they were dealing with the cold.  The low was 45.  The funny thing was one of the people they interviewed was having dinner outside.  She said she wasn't that cold and then toasted the camera with her wine and laughed.  It was a special interview.  Anyway, I've got Mantazas 5k tomorrow which should be the first race with some competition since the first weekend in November and back then I was still trying to build up my mileage to the 70's.  It'll be good to see where I'm at in my training.  I expect that I'll be a little rusty but hopefully I can still get the cash.  I won the race last year in 14:43 beating a recent FSU grad Ian Hornabrook by a few seconds.  Last year I pulled away from him with 1000m to go but he closed the gap back down with 200-300m to go before I opened up a kick and won by a few seconds.  Hopefully there will be some good competition this year and we can run a fast time.  We'll see how it goes though...

On a side note, I made a sweet Veal Parmisan tonight.  I really impressed myself with this one.

Mantanzas 5k

2nd 14:39

Took second place today at the Mantanzas 5k.  The time was good though and I ran faster than last year but lost to Irish runner Gareth Turnbull ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/5078012.stm ) as he put 13 seconds on my in the last 800-1000m.  I felt pretty good but was understandably rusty and in the late stages of the race I just didn't have the "go" needed to finish fast.  Splits were consistent at 4:40 and 9:21.  From 800m on it was just me, Gareth, and a Russian runner who spoke no english other than the word "marathon" in our post race conversation.  I interpreted his lone english word to mean that he's training for a marathon and that's why he fell of the pace half way into the race.  The excuses are the same from language to language.  Mine?  Well I was just plain outrun today.  Gareth controlled the race and I never made him hurt.  At least this year they decided to pay 2nd place as last year 2nd went home with nothing but sore legs and an empty tank of gas.  Hopefully after I get a few more races under my belt I'll get that finish down.  I haven't had a serious race since the first weekend in November and I had just started to do regular runs at that point.  For a starting race, even though I lost, I think it points to good things in the future.  To good things!

PM 5 miles 31:17

Daytona Sidewalks

Did an afternoon shakeout run.  I was pretty tight.  The plantar was extremely tight and the shins ached too.  It took a coulpe of miles for me to loosen up and feel kinda decent.  Got a good stretch in afterwards which should help in the recovery process.

17 miles 104:29

Daytona Sidewalks

It was sunny and warm which made for a nice day to run.  I felt really good considering I raced yesterday and felt absolutely horrible on my second run.  Then I spent about 6 hours on my feet at Daytona Speedway watching the rolex 24 hours of racing.  Nothing was really aching at all and I cruised through a fairly easy 17 miler.  Even by the end of the run my form hadn't broken down at all and I was running comfortable.  Well, mostly comfortable...the cool warm day was a chaffing waiting to happen.  But it was a good run and it was nice to shake of yesterday's disappointment.  I've got a 10k coming up next Saturday so luckily I won't have time to dwell on this race too much.  I'm hoping to get a solid workout in on Tuesday but we'll have to see how I'm feeling tomorrow and what my options are for track access. 

10 miles 62:00

Daytona Sidewalks

After a long day of classes I went out and struggled through a 10 miler. I am feeling the last two days of race/pm run and long run today. With that in mind though I'm still looking to front load this weeks work and get in a workout tomorrow so that I can get a good weeks training in and still back off a little for Saturday's Run for Kids 10k in St Pete. The pay structure for the race is 600-500-400-300-200 so even if I don't win I can still get paid well with such a small drop off per place. But today's run was uncomfortable and stiff.

Daytona Sidewalks

Did 8 X 3 min with 1 min recovery.  Was moving a little quicker than 5 min pace from the few sections that I run that are measured out.  Felt really good early considering the previous 3 day's efforts but eveventually around the 4th interval it seemed to catch up with me as my form fell apart a little and I felt flat.  It was the coldest day in Florida in 4 years but it was upper 40's when I ran which wasn't so bad for a workout.  It was good to get a legit workout in the week and beneficial to do it early so I've got time to recover and be ready to go for Saturday's 10k. 

AM 10 miles 61:06

Daytona Sidewalks

Another day, another 10 miler.  With morning classes then a 5 hour break until my next class I finished my sluggish feeling/never too comfortable run before noon leaving me an option of a second run today.  It's the 31st day of the month and I've as of right now run 311 miles for the  month which is almost exactly 10 miles a day/70 miles a week.  Seems pretty decent mileage but I really should have been up averaging in the upper 70's with only one race this month that I backed away for.  Over the next few months I won't be able to get the mileage up there so I'm hoping I've built a good enough base.  SICK!  Fuse channel is playing the Social Distortion video for 'Ball and Chain,' one of my favorite songs ever!  I've never seen this on tv before.  I love the Fuse channel.  One of my favorite lines from the song is 'you can run all your life, but not go anywhere.'  Right now I feel school is my ball and chain and I gotta get away.  I'm rambling. 

PM 5 miles 30:37

Daytona Sidewalks

Got in a double run after classes.  Felt ok not terribly great but still managed a decent clip.  The right achilles seemed a little sore which I guess could be expected.  The achilles is always the indicator for overtraining and by my count in the last 5 days I've logged 66 miles (>13 a day) while for the past month I've been averaging exactly 10 a day.  Throw in a race and a workout in those 5 days and the achilles is destined to get set off.  But I front loaded the week on purpose and now can take two big time down days heading into Saturdays 10k. 

8 miles 48:55

Daytona Sidewalks

Sat around all day doing nothing because I had no classes today and the clinic was closed.  The weather was nice all day until about 3:00 when it started to pour.  I paniced.  I feared that it'd pour until darkness and I wouldn't run so I just took off and run.  It stopped raining 5 min into my run but well after I had gotten soaked.  So I continued on for 7 plus miles wet and hot in the humid upper 70 degree weather over dressed from the hat to the shirt and long socks and shorts and overheated.  But it kept me slow and should help me recover for Saturday's race.  The right achilles was still a little tight but should be fine by Saturday.

4 miles 25:23

Daytona Sidewalks

Did an easy prerace 4 miler.  Felt a little flat.  The achilles is still a bit tight which is a little troublesome but hopefully with a good night sleep it'll be better.  I could use a good night sleep too as I'm pretty tired.  Of course having to wake up early enough to get to a race that starts at 8am 160 miles away isn't going to help the sleep cause.  We'll see though.

Suncoast Run for Kids 10k - 1st 30:23.8

I set a new record for both bedtime and wake up time.  Usually any attempt at going to bed early leads to a night where I never fall asleep, but yesterday I was exhausted and passed out at 7:30pm.  Incredible.  Of course I had to get up at 4:30am to drive across the state to make the 8am race start time so a good nights rest wasn't what I got.  It was a nice day for racing though, about 60 degrees and overcast at start time.  Eric Walker set the pace pretty much for the first 5 miles with Tyrone Bell and I running right with him running consistent 4:55 pace.  With about 800m-1000m to go Tyrone made a move and got some seperation on me.  He opened up about 10-15 meters on me with Eric Walker about the same distance back.  We turned a corner and had about 300m left and I opened up a furious kick.  It was incredible.  Arms flailing, legs flapping, and the head bouncing.  It was the type of kick that'd make one observer say "that guy once ran 3:43 for 1500m" while another says "that guy once ran 3:43 for 1500m?"  It was sloppy but it was effective as I closed the gap and quickly went past Tyrone about halfway down the final straight away.  From there I did a lot of looking over my shoulder to make sure I used as little energy as possible because energy was running short.  I was really impressed though by both Tyrone and Eric.  They ran tough and have a ton of potential as they're both young.  They talked afterwards about hoping to join a professional group and I hope they do so because they've got a ton of potential.  The race was good though as I got the win and found I've still got the finishing speed but this is the second race in a row were I've fallen off with about 1k to go.  Obviously it's something I need to work on in the future. 

PM 5 miles 30:05

Daytona Sidewalks

Since last weeks post race evening run really helped in the recovery process I went out for a second run today.  For the first half mile my plantar was extremely tight but it loosened up and I felt pretty good on the run.  Plus NC State beat UNC-CH tarholes in BBall.  All in all a good day.  I'm tired.  Peace.

17 miles 104:36

Daytona Sidewalks

Superbowl Sunday.  I'm taking the Bears 31-13 over the Colts.  Defense wins championships and up until the second half against the Patriots Manning was playing horribly.  If the Colts win I will of course delete this.  Long run day today and I got in a solid 17 miler.  I wasn't sore at all today which was nice but early on I was tight in the plantar and the shin was as well.  They loosened up eventually but I never seemed to.  I just felt tight, espceially in the upper body all run.  Good week of mileage this week (80 from Mon-Sun) with a race involved.  I've got a weekend off from racing next weekend (but not off from learning as I've got the CE9 clinical entrance exam and Part 2 board review all day Sat and Sunday).  I'm going to try and get in a serious week of training this next week, but we'll see how that goes with school. 

It turns out the kid I lost to last week ran a 3:58 mile yesterday.  I don't feel so bad now that he ran away from me.

10 miles 60:33

Daytona Sidewalks

I was way off on the superbowl.  Oh well.  I also spent the day eating like crap.  Oh well.  Ran the usual 10 miles today.  Oh well.  Nothing else worth mentioning.  Oh well.

10 miles 59:47

Daytona Sidewalks

After morning classes I had a 2 hour break so I snuck in a quick little 10 miler in hopes of getting in a double day.  I've been doing great lately on getting in double runs.  It was like Dec 12th when I went for a double run and realized I hadn't done one in awhile.  So I checked my logs to see just how long it had been since I had a normal double day and it had been 1 year and 364 days exactly.  Since then though I've been getting them in often and they're going well. 

PM 5 miles 30:05

Daytona Sidewalks

Got in a double run and some pullups.  Felt pretty good.  I noticed a bump on my foot on what I think is the tibialis anterior tendon.  It's kinda big but it doesn't hurt.  I'm going to wait it out and see what happens.  It's on the same leg that has the achy achilles but not the leg that has shin aches and plantar problems.  God, listen to that list of aches and pains.  Gotta love running.

Daytona Sidewalks

Did a fartlek workout of 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 min on with 1/2 recovery.  It's one of my staple sidewalk running workouts even though today I did almost all of it looping around the Big Tree baseball field to keep on soft surfaces.  I felt pretty crappy and run down on the warm up but as I got into the hard running stuff I felt pretty decent.  I was going around 5 min pace or a tad under for the slowest interval (the 5 min one) and was really running the shorter ones.  It was a warm day which isn't unusual for Florida but it was very dry out so all my sweat dried up on me and left me with a solid salty layer which later led to some wonderful chauffing.  But it was still a very nice day and I had no classes and have non tomorrow so I'll try and keep the complaining to a minimum.

12 miles 72:35

Daytona Sidewalks

It's a nice sunny warm day with little humidity.  I wound my way through the neighborhoods of Daytona beach for about 12 miles feeling pretty good in the process.  My mileage this week is going to end up being really high, possibly record highs depending on if I double up tomorrow and how long I workout for on Saturday.  That's good though.  I'll take next week down and that should suffice for freshening up my legs for my 5k on the 17th.  Clinical Entrance Exam is tomorrow and I feel like I'm waaaaay behind in my studies.  It could be a late night...

10 miles 60:44

Daytona Sidewalks

The morning began with 4 hours of exams for CE9 (clinical entrance exams for 9th quarter students).  It was pretty exhausting and after a big lunch it was nap time.  No double run today.  It's fine though because my mileage is 93 for the last 7 days which might be an all time 7 day high.  My alltime set week high is 92 but I think I hit like 94 in a 7 day stretch when I spent a week in Boulder because my car broke down moving from California to Florida.  That was a lot of typing to say I didn't feel it necessary nor did I have to time to do a double run.  I'm going to get on the track tomorrow so hopefully the easy day will freshen me up a bit.  I've got board part 2 review though from 8-5 Sat and Sun so we'll see what I can get done on the track. 

10 miles

Atlantic High School Track

After being in Board review all day I made it over to the track at dusk half awake and still full from an enormous late lunch.  Not exactly ideal.  The plan was to get in some speed work since the previous Saturday I raced a 10k and then Wednesday got in a long workout giving me a couple of longer stuff but little turnover.  I decided to do 5 X 1000m with the last 3 broken down to 600-400; 500-300-200; and 500-300-200.  2 min recover after the full 1000's and the next interval distance recovery after the breakdowns.  Times were 2:46; 2:46; 94, 62; 78, 45, 29; 78, 45, 29.  The 1000's felt much better than the breakdowns.  I was hoping to go fast for the breakdowns overall and really had to work to do what I did.  It was a long week and I wasn't in the best situation for running so maybe that explains the lack of speed.  We'll see.

15 miles 93:03

Daytona Sidewalks

Wow, I felt like crap on this one.  It took about 10 miles for my shins and plantar to stop hurting.  I was really stiff and It was a miserable run.  I'm in need of tomorrow's recovery run and bad.

5 miles 30:52

Daytona Sidewalks

Got my run over with early.  I didn't feel too hot and then after a long day of classes made an even longer drive to Boone for a short period of time.  Fun stuff.

10 miles 58:59

Bass Lake

Hey, look at that, a run not titled "daytona sidewalks."  With all the little nagging aches and pains coming into this run, a long day prior, and a little altitude mixed with hills you'd think this would be an awful run for this Floridian but I had a little bounce to my step early and felt none of my nags.  It was a mid 30's and misting type of day so I can't blame my good run on the weather.  I was considering a double run day but was wanting to back of for Saturday's Edison Festival of Lights 5k so in the evening when it was pouring rain my desicion on not doing a double run was a lot easier.  A lot easier.

7 miles 41:24

Bass Lake

I was planning on doing two measured miles around bass lake which is my typical pre race workout but those plans changed quickly once I stepped out of my car on the 23 degree day with winds absolutely howling over the exposed lake.  So instead of destroying myself trying to run 5 min pace around the like while giving a 4:30 pace effort I just ran the mostly covered trails and did an unmeasured 10 min tempo.  It was solid.  Well, I'm sure the pace was significantly slow but the effort was appropriate and that's all that matters in a threshold type effort.  Then Ryan drives all the way back to Florida.

10 miles 60:13

Daytona Sidewalks

It's amazing how 2 runs on the trails in Boone can freshen one up.  I felt like a had a bounce in my step today and all my aches were gone.  Not too shabby.

4 miles 25:27

Daytona Sidewalks

Did the normal pre race 4 miler.  Didn't feel as good today as I had the previous couple of days.  Edison should be a fast race with good competition so hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow.  It's an evening race which I prefer to early morning ones especially when the weather is nice and cool which it is today.  Lets hope it lasts.

Edison Festival of Lights.  It was a cool 60 degree evening in Fort Myers but it wasn't ideal for racing because the winds were howling.  This is a pretty fun meet because it's the start of a big parade.  On the 5k course, which is an out and back, there's a constant wall of people preparing for the parade and cheering on the runners.  The race was pretty uneventful though.  Last year this was the most competitive 5k I ran and the fastest on the roads in 14:22 so I backed off this year to be prepared for a similar race.  That didn't happen.  The first 800m or so was led by a crew of high school kids going out way too hard just to be seen.  Then after that I was setting the pace early.  If was a comfortable pace for me but I sensed that the two guys going with me, Jason Bodnar and Paul Mwangi, weren't going to be able to keep it.  I was right.  Right before the mile marker Mwangi came surging up beside in a move that said "I'm here to race" which I responded with a move of my own which said "you're here to race for second."  And then the race was over.  A 4:42 opening mile was too much for the competition to handle.  Hitting the 2 mile in 9:25 I had a big gap and was running comfortably.  I pretty much just ran an even paced run all by myself in this race as I ended up winning by 30 seconds even with my opting against kicking the last 600m in favor of hamming it up to the crowd and waving my way in.  Lazy of me.  I wish there had been better competition since I tapered for this event.  Had I known it would have been such an easy victory I would have trained through it because I've got a lot of races coming up.  Good run though.  I was really comfortable and it's a fun event.  Probably my favorite road 5k I run.

15 miles 92:37

Daytona Sidewalks

Did my usual 15 mile sidewalk run in Daytona with a thunderous backdrop of cars driving 180mph in a circle.  I felt pretty good despite having drank the night before and staying up all night.  (3/26 for the yearly count).  It was a fun night and I didn't mind paying for it this morning and I actually didn't suffer much on the run.  Since the race wasn't an all out effort I wasn't sore at all.  I'm thinking I'm going to try and get in a solid track session on Tuesday. 

10 miles 60:34

Daytona Sidewalks

Just the normal 10 mile run.  I felt pretty good.  Nothing worth mentioning.  I was still a little upset over backing off and not running too fast this weekend until I saw the prerace article with a picture of me in last years race http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070217/SPORTS/702170462 and then compared it to the post race article with a picture of me at the end of this years race http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/SS07/702180408 .  Clearly for this years race i was a little more comfortable.  I'm guessing the difference came in the first mile where we went out 20 seconds faster last year than this year.  I remember really digging into the well early last year and this year I didn't at all so that's kind of nice.  Maybe I'm just lazy. 

Embry Riddle Track

Wanted to get in some speed work with the mile track race coming up this weekend so I went over to Embry Riddle and did 800 (800rec); 4X400 (200rec); 4X200(200 rec) in 1:58; 61,61,60, 61; 29, 29, 28, 28.  I was just hoping to hit 2:00-2:03 on the 800 so when I cruised to a relatively easy 1:58 I was pretty pleased.  It's a fast mondo track and I'm looking foward to running what I think can be a fast mile time this weekend on it.  Today's workout has me thinking I can run a lot faster in the mile than what I thought a few days ago.  Hopefully the early pacing is good and I can finish strong.  That type of speed for a full mile is something I haven't attempted since 2004.  Literally, I haven't raced anything shorter than a 5k since 2004.  But at least now I've got some confidence in what I can do.

10 miles 62:29

Daytona Sidewalks

My plantar was killing me today.  I felt like I was running with a limp early and even when it loosened up after a few miles there was still a good deal of pain in every step.  This was my slowest 10 miler of the year by 30 seconds.  I had intended on doing a double day but decided to scratch the second run and instead I dumped a couple of bags of ice in the bath tub and had a little cold tank time. 

0 miles 00:00

Living Room

The plantar was a little looser today but apparently from my altered form on the previous day's run i was getting pain in the 3rd metatarsal bone area which is immediate cause for concern.  As the day went along everything started to feel better but there was still a slight pain in that area so I decided not to push things and to take the day off completely.  I iced it up real well and took some anti inflammatories and will reacess tomorrow.  If it's feeling better tomorrow then I'll assume it's not bone, which it probably isn't anyway, and I'll go ahead and race on Saturday.  If it's hurting on tomorrow's run attempt then I might be taking a few weeks off.  Lets hope it's the former.

4 miles 25:12

Daytona Sidewalks

The foot felt a lot better today so I took it for a run.  I noticed there was slight pain when I focused on it but it felt good.  It's still the type of pain that worries me but since it got significantly better in a day I'm going to go ahead and race on it tomorrow.  I figure either it's just a mild strain that will be fine or it's mild bone that will take a month to heal.  At this rate though I'd be training on it anyway going halfassed so I might as well put pressure on it and if it's hurt after the race I'll be forced to take the time off.  That might not make too much sense or it might be briliant.  Especially with my schedule and not having a big money race for 5 weeks and the late spring track season.  We'll see how the mile goes tomorrow.

ERAU Invitiational Mile 4:06.49

Daytona Beach

This is the shortest distance I've ever traveled to run a race.  I got in the car and drove to the track and the same song was still playing on the radio.  Quite a nice change from my normal commute to the far corners of Florida.  I only got in the race because Tyrone Bell was coming over to run it and he was bring his buddy Scott to rabbit us.  So why not.  The track is a super fast mondo and I could really use the speed work since the last time I raced anything shorter than a 5k was in July of 2004.  The foot had been hurting but it felt good warming up and there was only moderate plantar pain which was easy to run through.  Race time weather was pretty hot, mid 70's, with the track temperature feeling much hotter.  The race was supposed to go off at 11:25 but I didn't get the memo that it was a running schedule and we actually started at 11:10.  I was literaly on my 3rd stride when they made the anouncement "all mile runners need to be on the line."  The early start wasn't too bad though as it just felt a lot like the timing that my workouts start out with.  I think I'm rambling on about prerace nothings because there's not too much to say about a 4 minute race.  Or is there?  Scott did a great job of rabbiting.  We were out a little quick the first 209 meters (30) but settled in nicely from there.  We went throught the 409m in 59-60 with Scott leading the way followed by Tyrone then me then, well, it was quite some time before the next guy.  We kept moving well but between 600-700 meters the pace slowed a little.  It wasn't a big drop but it was enough to take us over 60 second 400 pace.  We went though the 809 in 2:00-01 with the rabbit dropping out and Tyrone taking over.  Tyone led till about the backstretch when I could feel him falling off pace a little more and I could tell I still had a quicker pace in me so I made my move around him on the back stretch.  A move which I immediately regreted as soon as I did.  Why?  Because I just made a move right into the head wind.  I fought through it well on the back stretch going through the 1009 meter mark in 2:32 then continued through to the 1209 meter mark in 3:03.  I was pushing pretty hard the last lap but the upper body was really locking down and my lungs were burning.  The back stretch was a battle but after I got through it the last 200 went by quick.  I could hear Tyrone a few steps behind me the whole way but he didn't close the gap that I opened up at the 1k mark down any.  4:06.49 for the mile.  Not too bad.  The last time I ran a mile was in 2004 and I ended that season with a 4:08.8 performance in Portland.  That was a pretty uninspired effort though.  I opened that season in Seattle on the track in an even less inspired 4:14 which I followed up 2 weeks later with an 8:02 3k.  So hopefully this 4:06 is the start to some good races on the track.  We'll see how Friday's 5k at FSU goes.  Hopefully the plantar and foot holds up, afterwards the plantar was very sore but the metatarsals were good which I think is much more important. 

13 miles 79:35

Daytona Sidewalks

I spent all day in Board review (yesterday after the race I spent the rest of the day at an AK seminaras well) which was mentally exhausting but may have helped loosen the plantar up since I had the entire day on it before I got out for my run at dusk.  The plantar was hurting bad all day so the thought of taking the day off was constantly in the back of my mind but since I haven't had any of the metatarsal pain I decided to give it a shot.  It hurt bad early but not bad enough for me to call the run and after a few miles it loosened up considerably to the point were I barely felt it.  Perfect.  And other than the plantar I wasn't even remotely sore from the race yesterday.  Amazingly not even my calves were sore.  I cruised through the run on the dreary 80 degree Florida evening with relative comfort considering how I had anticipated feeling.  This week should be real easy up until my track 5k on friday with just a 2 mile threshold workout on Tuesday and the rest being easy miles.  This should really heal the plantar.  Hopefully.

10 miles 59:57

Daytona Sidewalks

I never really felt all that great on my run today but I started out a little quicker than on my average run and kind of kept that up even though I felt flat.  It was also mid 80's and humid which also explains the flatness of the run as that type of day is quite oppressive.  Also I didn't have a weekend and haven't slept in in a while.  The plantar also was still tight and noticable with every step but it didn't ever hurt in a limiting manor.  I got in 3 sets of pullups today after the run as well.  All in all a solid day which resmebles pretty much every other day. 

8 miles

ERAU Track

Did the normal pre-race 2 mile threshold in 9:49 (4:59, 4:50) with some strides before and after and a few drills afterwards.  I felt a little flat just running but that was fine.  What was troublesome was the plantar which is still giving me a lot of troubles.  It's at a point where I don't really notice it during the day pre run but I can feel it hurting every step of the run and it aches afterwards.  I'll keep taking care of it and hopefully I'll see improvement.

6 miles 37:48

Daytona Sidewalks

The plantar ached pretty bad with every step making this run quite miserable.  To top it off I had a code brown in the middle of the run which cost me my oldest article of clothing still seeing use.  It was just a pair of Fila socks but I have been running in them since I was a Junior in high school which is also the first time I ran cross country.  It's kind of sad to think about the loss of these socks which have held up for over a decade.  Most socks last a year then they develop holes.  These...a decade.  But I will get to see them on every run as they're lying on my daily bathroom stop 2 3/4ths of a mile into my run.  RIP Fila socks.

4 miles 25:40

Daytona Sidewalks

Did the usual pre race 4 with the Snowbird invite 5k coming up tomorrow.  I was quite disappointed that the plantar is still hurting as much as it is.  I'm thinking I'll fight through the race tomorrow then day a few days off to get it better.  Hopefully with 3 or so days off it'll feel better and I'll just turn Gate River run into a glorified tempo run.  Technically my finishing time the past two years has been at or slower than tempo pace mostly because I've gone out with the leaders then rigged.  Last year my 5k splits went 15 min, 16 min, 17 min.  But anyway, no need to focus on that just yet when I'll be on the track tomorrow night.  Aaron Lanzel, a 3:40 1500m runner, is going to rabbit through 2 miles in 67 pace.  Hopefully that will feel comfortable and I can finish off a good race.  Tyrone Bell will be racing too so maybe there will be someone around for the last mile.  We'll see how the plantar holds up. 

Snowbird Invite 5k

With the plantar aching I had nothing but bad feelings coming into this race, but it was all set up and I wasn't planning on not doing it.  I really wanted to get the feel of going out faster in a 5k which I haven't done since 2004 and haven't done with even the slightest bit of success since 2003.  Aaron Lanzel came over from Jacksonville to rabbit me going 67's through 2 miles.  Unfortunately, things didn't go exactly to plan.  We went out faster than what I would have liked, 4:25.  I felt good though as long as I was sticking right behind Aaron even though after 1000m there wasn't the slightest sound of anyone near me from behind.  But over the next 2 laps I realized that as soon as Aaron stepped off that my pace would be slowing down.  Unfortunately following that realization Aaron stepped off the track at 1 1/2 miles leaving me with over half the race to keep this blistering pace all by myself.  Not going to happen.  I tried to settle in to a comfortable pace but that was probably around 70-71 pace over the next two laps so at 2 miles I called it a day hitting the 3200 in 9:05.  The foot actually felt good during the race (afterwards not so much).  I didn't have any sort of a racing mindset and I wasn't going to be able to time trial a time I wanted.  It was good though to get the feel of going out hard and with someone in front of me I was quite comfortable.  Overall it was a good experience even though I didn't like dnf'ing.  I also decided, even before the race, to take at least 3 days off, maybe more, to get this plantar problem resolved.  Ideally it'll be better with that much time off and I can use gate river run as a first workout back doing it as a long tempo run.  In a perfect world that's how it's going to workout.

Well, I ran for about a half mile today.  The plantar isn't too bad though as some of my steps were pain free  Even though I felt I could have made it through a full run I decided to call it early and give the plantar at least another day.  I tried heel running and running on my toes and both felt ok but when making the transition is when the plantar felt the most pain.  It was hard not running today though because the weather was a perfect 70 degrees and I feel like I've been coped up for months even though it's only been a few days.  I think by tomorrow it'll be well enough to run on it without aggravating the plantar and I'll be able to start training again.  Saturday I'm still planning on doing Gate River Run but now it's just going to be a glorified tempo run as a first workout back.  Right now I'm thinking 5:05-5:10 pace but I'll probably drop that down 5 seconds for each additional day I have to take off.  I'm also thinking I'll keep the workouts longer and slower over the next couple of weeks just to make sure I don't get a flare up.  It sucks not running now though.

10 miles 61:03

Daytona Sidewalks

I'm back baby!  I started my run just wanting to test out the plantar then did oh so much more.  The first few steps yeilded absolutely no pain so I decided to continue on with a run with intentions of testing it out for a few miles.  Early on, from 1/4 mile to 2 miles I could notice the plantar but there's no way I'd describe it as pain.  After that even the slight noticing went away until around mile 6 or 7 and then even after that it was still only a slight notice.  I'd say the plantar was 95% today which was much more than I was hoping for.  Now the big thing is going to be how it responds to today's run.  I ran very relaxed and comfortable the whole way so I didn't push it by going fast which is what would previously make it worse.  In the previous couple of weeks on regular runs it'd improve from day to day so hopefully we'll see that trend continue.  I think at worst I might see slight regression but even now 2 hours after the run it feels very loose and I have yet to ice it.  I'm going to wait and put off any thing fast and on the track for a few weeks to make sure it's all better.  Right now though I'm very pleased with the progress from the past 4 days of not running.

10 mile 62 min

Daytona Sidewalks

The plantar ached a little more today than it did yesterday.  Frustrating.  I'm just going to have to get through the pain.  I'll continue to do all I can to rehab and will avoid speed workout until significant improvement is made.  Gate should be a blast!

5 miles 30:10

Daytona Sidewalks

The plantar was a little better today as I really worked it over hard with the golf ball before the run.  It kept it very loose for about 4 of the 5 miles.  Hopefully I'll be able to gradually push back the point of pain in the run.  I get the feeling I'll be putting myself in a situation shortly that'll require a major chunk of time off.  I just hope I can delay that for as many weeks as I can.

Gate River Disaster

Of course the race went about as poorly as the previous 3 weeks would indicate.  I did a good job of going out easy (15:55 first 5k) but even that wasn't enough to save the foot from falling apart.  It broke down and I fell of even the slow pace as the 10k was 32:19 before finishing in 49:16.  My plantar wasn't going to let me feel good and neither was the humidity.  So I'm going to take a week off of running now to get this thing better.  I think now the game plan will be to just be able to get healthy and do something late spring early summer depending on how much time is required to get better and how I feel once that distant day arrives.  Till then.

4 miles 25:33

Daytona Sidewalks

First run since March 10th.  I've lost a lot of fitness but the foot feels pretty good.  Unfortunately I can't say that it's 100% so we'll see how this all plays out.  The pace felt comfortable though and my lungs seemed to fair better than I thought they would.  It was only 4 miles though.

6 miles 37:31

Daytona Sidewalks

The foot responded well to yesterday's run which is promising.  Again today I felt comfortable on the run but could tell that I lost all the fitness I had built up.  The plantar isn't hurting at all but there's something there which tells me that it's not gone. 

6 miles 36:37

Daytona Sidewalks

I felt a little more like a runner today than the past 2 days but still felt that 6 miles felt a little long.  That's kind of pathetic.  Foot is still pretty good.  I'm sick of icing it.  I hate icing.

6 miles 37:08

Daytona Sidewalks

The 6 miles felt a little more comfortable today.  The plantar facsiitis still feels good but I know it's just in there hiding, waiting for me to draw it out.  Probably going to happen tomorrow since I have to race a 10k.  Should be interesting.  It's the last race in the Orlando Track Shack Grand Prix series and I have to run it to get paid.  I usually win by quite a large margin so hopefully I can hang on and still win the race with a minimal effort. 

Winterpark 10k

1st 33:11

This race went just as I had hoped.  Basically, since I won all the other races the guy who usually gets 2nd didn't even bother trying to run with me.  I went out in 5:08 for the first mile and that was enough for Austin Mercadante to say no thanks, to take it east, and run for second.  I know this because he told me this after the race.  Then I told him about how I had not been running the previous 10 days and how I was really worried he'd beat me.  His face sank a little as he realized his lack of effort early cost him $700.  Way to go.  If you don't try to win you'll never win.  The easier effort also prevented the plantar facsiitis from flaring up.  It was a little worse than previous runs after the race but it was much better than I had hoped.  I'm headed up to Boone for a week and I'm hoping the soft surfaces and the training runs without speed help to continue to improve the plantar.

9 miles 52:59

Bass Lake

It felt good to be running at Bass.  Low 70's, shade, soft surfaces, and renewed energy made it for a good run.  The plantar was feeling good too which is great.  The run though felt kind of long and my upper body was tight the whole time though.  The lungs also burned a little which was inevitable considering the lack of fitness and the 3500 feet of altitude.  It will be a struggle to get back to regular runs of 10 miles and right now the thought of long runs of 15 or more are overwhelming.  So I'm not going ot think about that.  Taking it day by day this week.  Pretty good first day in Boone.

Drank for the 5th time this year last night. (5/26)

9 miles 51:36

Bass Lake

Today's run makes me think that the well isn't completely dry.  I felt like I was giving a good effort but thought it was more of an out of shape effort that would put me around 6:00 pace even though it felt faster.  Instead it was the opposite.  I taped up the foot a little too tight today which made it achey early on but after 2.5 miles I stopped and took off the tape and the foot felt good the rest of the way.  I'm thinking I'll take Tuesday or Wednesday real short and easy then do that again on Sunday to make sure I'm not over doing it this week.  If I continue to feel stronger and stronger though I might push off an easy day. 

5 miles 30:03

Bass Lake

Foot foot foot blah blah blah foot foot plantar plantar blah blah blah.  Clearly it's still lingering but it's not painful going for regular runs.  I've gotten lazy on my icing since my arrival in Boone.  The soft surfaces are nice though and I got some new insoles today from my dad's podiatrist friend while awaiting the arrival of my orthodics.

10 miles 57:48

Bass Lake

Another fairly comfortable run that ended up being pretty quick.  My last mile around the lake was 5:30 and felt relaxed.  Oh, the plantar, that thing.  Same.  Feeling pretty good but it's just waiting for a workout to come along to strain it.  Luckily it won't get that opportunity for a week and even then coach Hopfe and I discussed doing something slower to get back into things.  The longer I put off anything that is track fast the longer it will be doing ok.  I also got in some pull ups today.  It had been about a week since I last did some so it was good to get motivated enough to give the upper body some love.

10 miles 58:48

Bass Lake

I had planned on taking today a lot easier than previous days but it was in the low 40's and there was a constant mist which made it a miserable run.  This all translates to me wanting to get the run over with as quick as possible therefore my easy day didn't turn out as planned.  The foot though still feels pretty good, but is still not 100%. 

9 miles 55:04

Bass Lake

I finally slowed it down for a run.  I felt good today again though and the weather was back to being incredible.  All and all today was a good day.  The foot felt good and the run felt easy.  I'm surprised how easily I've gotten back to continuous runs at 9-10 miles at a good pace.  Especially up here in Blowing rock where the runs start at 3500 feet and then go up. 

13 miles 77:39

Bass Lake

This was my first attempt at a continuous run of over 10 miles since Feb 25th so I was worried about how I'd hold up.  13 miles isn't very far for a "long run" but considering where I've been over the past month it seems like a very good starting point.  I tried to slow it down early but ended up hitting the manor house (~2.5miles) in pretty much the same time as all my other runs thusfar this week.  But I didn't pay for it in the end and handled the extra miles well.  The foot didn't seem to break down on me or fall apart which is good.  Hopefully it'll respond well to the extra miles.  Back to FL now which also means back to every run being on pavement.

4 miles 25:16

Daytona Sidewalks

The foot seemed to be feeling well but it ached a little on the run.  At first I thought it was just the transition back to hard surfaces but upon further review it was probably that combined with the "long" run Saturday.  Ached, not hurt though.  It should be fine for now.

10 miles 60:02

Daytona Sidewalks

Early in the run the foot was aching again like yesterday but after about 10 min all that loosened up and went away leaving me feeling great.  Well, not at all actually.  I had a late lunch at Brickyard (best burgers in america according to www.wheregregeats.com and me) which even hours after the run hadn't fully digested.  Nausea, stomach cramping, and bloatiness.  It was worth it.  Starting doing pool work tomorrow.

AM Aqua jogging for 45 min.  I'm not much of a swimmer so this was quite a good workout.  Apparently my form wasn't so good but it's the first time I've aqua jogged since 2001.

PM 6 miles 35:48

Daytona Sidewalks

Felt a little tired early but once I got going I felt really good.  The foot ached over the first mile or so then loosened up and I didn't notice it again.  That's a good sign.  It's was blazing hot out and I have the feeling it won't be cooling down for the next 8 months.

8 miles

ERAU Track

Set out to do 3X1600 in 4:40-4:45ish with 3 min recovery on the ERAU track but cut the 3rd one 400m short due to lack of fitness and a general feeling of not goodness.  I had many excuses though for the feeling of not goodness including the lack of fitness from my time off due to mr plantar, the extremely hot day, the windy day, doing the workout in my clunky trainer to take it easy on mr plantar, and that's it.  Times were 4:41, 4:45, 3:35.  eww.  But the plantar felt fine and didn't get destroyed.  I even hardly noticed it on the cool down.  We'll see how it respondes over the next couple of days.

Did 45 min of aquajogging half of which I used the floaty belt and half of which I was fighting with all my strength to stay afloat.  The foot feels fine.

10 miles 59:30

Daytona Sidewalks

For the most part I felt pretty good today.  The foot hurt a little more than it has in the past few weeks but it was still very minimal.  It's the type of response that I had hoped to see after a workout.  I may do more of just pool work immediately following speed work to keep the plantar fresh.  It seemed to work pretty well.

10 miles 60:26

Daytona Sidewalks

I wanted to go for a long run of 12-14 but the foot was aching a little and I was sore from golfing yesterday and felt that the 10 miles I made it was enough of a struggle.  The mileage for this week is pretty crappy but I did get in 2 45 min pool workouts so it's not as bad as it looks. 

8 miles 48:38

Daytona Sidewalks

Again I had hoped to go longer but the foot ached again today so I cut it short.  I'm going to plan on backing off of the running this week and get on the exercise bike I purchased tomorrow (what great use of tense) and hit the pool more than a few times.

30 min on the exercise bike I purchased today from play it again sports.  It's pretty sweet.  It gives distance traveled (estimate of course), calories burned (estimate of course), MPH (estimate of course), and pulse.  I'm not used to taking pulse on runs but I wish I had to keep it on par with what I was doing on the bike.  I have the feeling though on regular runs my heart rate is lower than it was while I was on the bike today.  30:00 on the bike for 11.19 miles and 753 calories burned.  My pulse was between 130-150. 

AM Pool

Did 45 min of aqua jogging this morning with the first 10 minutes using the aqua belt. 

PM Bike

Rode for 30 min on the exercise bike.  I went, according to it, 11.72 miles and burned 802 calories.  I kept my heart rate even a little higher than yesterday as it was between 140-160 the whole time.  At 22.5 min I took the level from 5/8 to 6/8 for 1.5 min, then increased to 7/8 for 2 min then back to 6/8 for 1.5 min then back to 5/8 again.  I also did this yesterday but forgot to mention it.

AM Pool

I did 45 min of aqua jogging again with the first 10 min with the belt.  Tomorrow for my aqua jogging I'm going to simulate miles repeats.  Exciting!

PM Bike

Did 30 min on the bike doing the same thing as yesterday with most of it being at 5/8 level with an increase for 5 min to 6/8 and 7/8.  I went 12.21 miles and burned 838 calories according to the bike and kept my heart rate up around 140-160.  I'm really digging all the data the bike gives me as it is making me really push harder.  I'm going to start doing longer stuff on the bike and more interval type work on that as well.   Also the cross training is helping the foot a lot without me loosing much running fitness.  I think I've got a good system going now.  Starting next week I'll take my normal workout week schedule with long runs but I will replace the normal continuous runs with bike/swim.  Hopefully after a few weeks of only running 3 days or so a week I can start adding in more run days.  I think this will also put me on schedule to race again the weekend of May 12.  But we'll see how things go.

I did 4 X 5 min in the pool with 2 min recovery.  I got my heart rate up to over 160 on those intervals.  The total pool aquajogging was a little over 55 min.  I was going to do a bike workout in the afternoon but my legs were pretty tired so I called it a day.

6 miles 36:15

Daytona Sidewalks

Did 6 miles from my apartment on the sidewalks of Daytona.  The aquajogging really gave the foot a good rest.

PM Bike

30 min going 12.11 miles and burning 793 calories.  Usual pickup at 22.5 min for 5 min of 6/8 and 7/8.

10 miles 58:54

Daytona Sidewalks

Felt real good today.  I hardly noticed the foot at all and cruised through the run.  I'm really happy with the recovery the foot gets in the pool and on the bike and the level of fitness I'm able to maintain while doing so.

6 miles 35:25

Daytona Sidewalks

Foot feels good today.  A little achey but nothing worth noting.  I felt pretty fast today.  Again I'm liking the results of the cross training.

PM Bike

35 min going 14.42 miles and burning 983 calories.  I did the normal pickup at 22.5 min for 5 min.

10 miles

ERAU Fields

I did a workout of 15 min on 2 off 10 min on.  I ran around the grass fields nearby the track at ERAU and even hit the one hill in Daytona up on the edge of those fields on every loop.  I did my very first of the workout on the track running a 73 first lap then did the very end of my workout on the track running the last 200 in 36.  I didn't change the effort level from the track to the pavement to the grass but the speeds varied as the surfaces got slower.  The foot felt good for this workout.

AM - Pool

45 min of aqua jogging

PM - Bike

30 min going 12.21 miles and burning 836 caloris.

Aqua Jog

I did 45 min of aqua jogging and enjoyed every second of it.  Really.

10 miles 55:09

State Farm

I did my usual 10 mile run at the fields of State Farm but did 5X5min with 1 min recovery during the run for my workout.  I have no idea about pace but the overall time of the run averaged 5:30 so I must have been keeping it a little real.  The foot felt good and I am very happy with the recovery I'm able to give the foot through corss training without taking a mjor hit in my fitness.  This is a program that makes Ryan happy while his foot isn't 100%.

I did nothing today and it was everything I dreamed it would be

6 miles 37:25

Daytona Sidewalks

Did an easy 6 mile run.  The foot felt good but I didn't feel the need to push it too much.  I just went for a run today and with no other cross training.  Kinda nice not sucking up chlorine or assaulting my rump with a bicycle seat.

10 miles 59:48

Daytona Sidewalks

I did the normal 10 mile loop on the sidewalks of Daytona Beach Florida.  It was a nice warm but not overly hot April day in Daytona which made for the pleasantest of runs.  Birds were chirping and the sun was shining and I was a tad bit hung over and very tired.  (8/26).

10 miles

ERAU Track

Did 4X1600 with 3min recovery.  The plan coach Hopfe and I talked about was 4:40 but I was feeling rather spicy and everything was quick despite the warm sunny windy day.  My splits were 4:39, 4:35, 4:32, 4:33.  The foot seemed to ache a little towards the end of the 3rd mile but seemed to feel better on the 4th which boggles the mind.  It was a good workout though which will assuredly build some positive momentum.

AM Aquajog

Did 45 min of aqua jogging.  Best time of my life!

PM Bike

Road the bike in my apartment for 40min.  It's a new all time long.  Went 16.63 miles and burned 1168 calories.  That's a big burrito I don't have to worry about going to my hips.

AM Aqua jogging

Another 45 minutes of aqua jogging.  Fantastic.

PM Bike

Yay, new gear day.  Rick Patterson, the Florida Mizuno rep, was in town today and he gave me a back pack stuffed full of gear.  Even though I didn't get to run today in any of the nice new Mizuno apparel it was nice to have and made a hot April day feel like christmas.  I did get to use some of it though.  I was provided this time with half tights which I immediately dismissed in the "never going to wear" category.  Then as I though about it I realized it'd really make me look professional, while riding my stationary bike in the living room, to sport the tights while riding.  It did and I used them before everything else.  Fantastic.  Rode for 30 min burning 849 calories and traveling 11.99 miles.  I did the normal 22.5min increase but also this time I started the first 5 min of the ride on level 6/8. 

11 miles

ERAU fields and Track

I did a 6 mile tempo run today.  Well, it was a 30 min tempo that wasn't measured out.  I did the first mile on the track though in 5:03.  Then I ran over to the fields which I'm sure was much slower cause of the grassy surface and GIANT hill on the side of the 2 fields I made sure to run up every time.  From there it was back to the track were I did a little over 3 laps before the 30 min was up.  The 3 laps were done in 3:49 which is about 5:05 pace.  I then clocked my pulse at 180.  It's the first time I've ever checked pulse following a workout so I have no idea what to make of that at this point in time.  I felt pretty good though today.  It was blazing hot and humid which made the workout much harder than it should have been.  The foot felt good the whole way and I never really noticed it, even on the cool down.  The last few days have been great getting in a few workouts, getting new mizuno gear, and just feeling like a runner again.

AM Aqua jogging

Did 45 min of aqua jogging.  45 minutes of back and forth over about 40 feet in 11.5 feet of water kicking my legs, pretending to run, in clorine water. 

PM Exercise Bike

Did 30 min on the exercise bike with my favorite little 5 min pickup as always.  I went 12.54 miles, burned 860 calories, and tortured my bony butt. 

13 miles 79:05

McAlpine Park

I went for a long run at McAlpine Park.  McAlpine is one of those "holy" places for me to run as it was the site for every major race I cared about in high school.  I won a team state title there as a senior and lost a state title my junior year in a tie breaker situation.  That loss was in my first season running ever and it really lit a fire in me that I still can't seem to shake.  Also at McAlpine I had my first good college xc race coming in 4th at the NC intercollegiate meet as a RS Sophomore in 25:04.  And McAlpine also served for one of the biggest running disasters I was involved with the following season at Great American when I superman dove into a tree.  They held the race at night and under lights which not too suprisingly turned out to be a bad idea.  A bad idea was made even worse when a rain storm blew in knocking out some of the lights on the course.  Then came the two duke guys I was a little behind who fell into a ditch and upon rising took my legs out from under me sending me hurling shoulder first into a tree.  As I layed in the ditch I kept thinking "I hope I'm hurt enough to not have to finish."  But I wasn't and after a little laying around in a daze I got back up and jogged pathetically in to the finish over the last half of the race.  Good ole McAlpine.  Anyway, I went for a long run, the first in a while, and felt pretty good.  The foot held up very well during the run and felt fine afterwards as well.  I ran the 8k course, added on 3 miles on an out and back, then ran the 8k course again.  The problem with McAlpine for me is that it gives you markers for every 200 meters.  And of course I always check my splits.  The first 8k I did a good job of keeping things under control with the fear of the remaining 8 miles lingering in my head.  I ran 31:30 for that bit.  But things were getting progressively faster and with the last 8k to go I got moving pretty good and ended up running 28:41.  It felt good though. 

3 miles 18:34

Sidewalks

I went for a shorter recovery run.  The plantar ached slightly but nothing that was bad.  I took it easy on it today going for a run with Ricky and Stroupe who are shells of their former runner selves. 

ERAU Track

Breakdown 1000's

I was back on the track today to do a serious workout.  Breakdown 1000's (x's 6) were on the agenda with a 1500m race looming 2 weeks out.  I did 2 regular 1000's 3 breakdowns of 500-300-200 and one final regular 1000 with splits of 2:49, 2:48; 75, 45, 30; 74, 45, 30; 75, 46, 29; 2:47.  The first 1000's I felt a little flat on but got through them pretty easily.  For the breakdowns I felt like I was pushing good but couldn't seem to break through any of them on sub 60 pace.  The last 1000m I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it through but once I got going the 67-68 pace felt pretty easy and even felt like I was going pretty slow.  It was a good workout though...exactly what I was wanting to see in my progression towards getting back in race shape.

Bike

I rode the stationary bike (Bruno from now on) for 45 min going 19.00 miles and burning 1324 calories.  This is the longest I've rode Bruno so I incorporated 2 5 min pickups in it.  I find that after the pickups on Bruno the regular pace gets a lot easier and by the end of my time on Bruno I'm really cranking out the miles. 

Aqua Jog

I aquajogged for 45 minutes.  I was a little beat up so I decided against the eveing ride on Bruno.

8 miles

Frostproof High School

Traveled well southwest of Orlando to the middle of nowhere to help rabbit Stu, an Embry Riddle runner, To a 5:05 paced 10k.  It was an impossible day to do it though as there was smoke in the air from the forests burning in Georgia and it was 96 degrees out.  The track was also black which didn't help to cool things either.  I planned on running the full 10k at that pace but only went 4 miles in 20:38 (5:08, 5:08, 5:09, 5:11) before calling it.  I actually was doing ok with the heat and smoke, but my right hamstring and both calves were a little jacked up from the previous workout on Monday and I didn't want to tear into them with a race in 9 days and 1 more hard workout coming this weekend.  Also after 5k Stu fell off of pace so I didn't feel the obligation to continue to battle through the misery.

10 miles 59:07

Daytona Sidewalks

This was the first run I've been on this year where the humidity was out of control.  It just cranked up and it did so without it having rained in quite some time.  By about 3 miles I was drenched in sweat.  It wasn't ridiculous hot out though...mid to upper 80's...and I was running at dusk so even at times there was a cool breeze.  I've got to get used to this though because it's going to be about 5 months before I see a run that doesn't require squiging my shorts afterwords.  On a positive note the foot's feeling really well. 

10 miles 58:38

Daytona Sidewalks

Another sweatfest.  Other than the oppressive humidity I felt pretty good again today.  The foot feels as good as it's felt since early February.  It's a cruel twist though that it is feeling good as the weather is getting nasty.  God must hate me.

Atlantic High School Track

I had intended doing 12X400 with short recovery (45 sec) at 60 with 400m recovery after sets of 4.  I wanted to get in a workout to simulate the burn from a race which I accomplished but unfortunately the burn came pretty early.  I only made it through 7 1/2 doing them in 60, 61, 61, 61; 61, 61, 63.  I wanted to get in some more speed though so I did 2x200 in 27 and then called it a day.  It was a tough day and I felt like I was fighting very early. 

10 miles 59:58

Daytona Sidewalks

Did a solid 10 miler today.  The weather was incredible, the smoke was gone, and I felt pretty good.  I had intended on taking today as a recovery day either in the pool or on the bike but the foot feels great and the weather was too perfect to not get outside.  I also got in some pullups and even a couple of pushups.  This is my 5th day of running in a row logging 46 miles and 2 workouts and the foot feels great.  It's a good sign.

AM Aqua Jog

I did 45 minutes of aquajogging this morning.  It was glorious.

PM Bike

Rode on the bike for 30 min doing the usual 5 min pickup.  I kept my heart rate above 140 the whole time and hovered around 160 the last 10 min.  I traveled 12.90 miles and burned 884 calories.  Or so it says.

Aqua Jog

I was going to do my usual pre race workout of a 2 mile threshold run and strides but the smoke was really bad today so I went to the pool for more aqua jogging instead.  I did an aquajog workout of 12X1min with 1 min recovery.  At that time span I could really get after it.  After 6 of them my pulse was 156 and after the 12th it was 200.  A very solid workout.

8 miles

Daytona Sidewalks

Ran 6 miles in 37:11 then went to the track and did a mile of staights and curves then a mile cool down.  I felt kind of flat today and definately didn't feel fast doing the strides.  At least the air was clear today and it was quite nice out for a run with the overcast sky and strong breeze.  Very unDaytona in Mayish.

4 miles 25:11

Pre-Race 4 miles

I did my normal pre race out and back from my apartment.  I still didn't feel all that fresh but it was a long day.  Friday's are my only day of classes so I had to get up early for those, cram in a run, then drive up to Jacksonville to fly to Nashville.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  But it's so much better traveling the day before an evening race because you can sit and relax all day on race day.  I'm think this race can go well for me.

Nashville High Performance Twilight Meet II

1500m - 3:47.44 10th place

This was my first legit shot at racing since I raced a mile back in February in Daytona.  It was a really good 1500m field on a really fast track on a warm night which was a nice temperature for the distance.  The race went out quick over the first 100 meters with the rabbit fighting to get in the lead.  I was coming from an outside position as I was the highest seed in the race.  It set me up well to get in good position early, around 5th, but it also set me up to run the first curve in lane 2.  Coming off the turn though I quickly settled in against the rail in 5th position and settled into a groove.  We went through the first 400m in 59.  It seemed brisk early but I settled in well.  No one was fighting for position over the next bit of the race and we settled into 60 second pace going through the 800m in 1:59.  Coming around with 500m to go I was still tucked in the same spot but I was feeling ambitious and started to make a move to go around the pack of 4 I was tightly riding.  I got around 1 guy, pulled up on the shoulder of another, but was held off and tucked back into 4th position going through with a lap to go in 2:44.  I spent that last of my reserves on that silly little move with 1.3rd of the race remaining and began to fall off of the lead pack of 3.  I felt like I was running really tight and could tell I had slowed up significantly.  I kept waiting for someone else to pass me.  This gradual falling off of the pace continued with no one passing me until there was 100m to go in the race.  Then everyone passed me.  Literally everyone.  I went from 4th to 10th and could do nothing to stop it.  I ran a 63 last lap which isn't too bad considering it was a "rig" situation.  Also it's encouraging for future races as the last lap will get drastically better from race to race.  The winning time was 3:41 with 3rd place being 3:42.  The second pack which ate me up with 100m to go was from 3:45 to 3:47 (I was within .1 from 9th and the back of that pack).  It was overall a good race back and show's a lot of room for simple improvements.  I think had I relaxed and tried to tuck in behind the lead 3 I could have stolen maybe another 100m with the leaders which could have had a big impact on my finish.  I need to be more patient in future races.  I think my next race will be back in Nashville in 3 weeks for thier next meet.  It's got prize money in the 5k so I'm in. 

10 miles 61:34

Nashville Sidewalks

I had a late flight out of Nashville (4pm) so I took my time getting up in the morning, having breakfast, some starbucks, and then eventually going for a run.  I went straight out, through Vanderbilt's campus, through Belmont's campus, and eventually past the Tennessee State Fair.  It was a pleasant run.  I went out 31 min then headed back the way I came.  I got lost for a bit by the state fair which could have been a disaster but I figured it out quickly.  I had a layover in DC and missed my connection leaving my on my college roomate's couch which incidentally is the same couch I purchased used from Heleig Meyers in Boone in 1999 for $200.  It was disgusting then, got worse through college, and now was unbearable.  I miss that couch.

10 miles 59:32

Daytona Sidewalks

Long day of travel. Ran 10 miles and am ready for bed.  Felt pretty good, I haven't been sore from the race.  The plantar feels great but my 4th metatarsal aches a little.  Nothing though really worth mentioning. 

9 miles

Embry-Riddle Track

The plan was to go 4X1600 but it was quite clear early that I wasn't on it today.  The 2nd 1600 was slow and after that I was forced to shorten the workout up to 1200m and then 800m.  Times were 4:32, 4:40, 3:32, 2:13.  the 2:13 at the end was fast and encouraging but it was also just about all I had in me.  I think the lack of long runs and base work over the past couple of months due to the plantar fasciitis is showing up in my struggles in longer workouts.  I had intended on racing a 5k on June 2nd but I think it's pretty clear that that lack of strength would be magnified in a 5k thus I'm now going to be entering myself in the 1 mile that weekend. 

AM Aqua Jog 45 min

After 6 days in a row of running the foot still felt good but the aching in it was increasing slightly so it was good to get a day off of it.

PM Exercise Bike

I rode for 30 minutes goind 12.82 miles and burning 878 calories

10 miles 59:44

Daytona Sidewalks

I went for my normal 10 mile run on the sidewalks of Daytona Beach, Florida.  I'm writing this a week and a half after I did this run and I can't remember anything about this run. 

11 miles

Embry Riddle

Today was a lactic threshold workout of 2X3 miles with there to be a slight increase in the middle mile (~10sec).  It was a pretty hot out which probably, definately, pushed me over the lactic threshold.  I did the first 3 miles completely on the track in 15:11 (5:06, 4:58, 5:07) but it got really old quick and by the end I was feeling like I crossed lactic trhreshold.  I took 2 min recovery then decided to do the next interval going around the fields.  I ran 15 min looping around the fields and up the hill.  It was just an estimate and was, I'm sure, short of 3 miles but I was glad I got off the track and did the lactic work based on feel and not a track time.  I felt ok today, considering the heat, and felt pretty good once I was off the track.

13 miles 79:20

Daytona Sidewalks

After making note of my lack of long runs early in the week, coach Hopfe and I decided that it would be good to get in a longer effort.  I typically would not consider 13 miles a long run but it felt long today and my lack of endurance strength was again made evident reaffirming my notions to axe the 5k and stick with the mile.  Also, in order to keep the foot feeling good I did about half of my run looping around a ~1/2 loop around a baseball field on a cinder type surface.  That got old before I even completed a loop but for soft surfaces it was the only option. 

10 miles 60:25

Daytona Sidewalks

Again, I'm writing this a week later and I can't recall anything at all about this run.  Apparently though this is when I changed out my shoes for a new pair.  Love the Mizunos.

9 miles

Embry-Riddle Track

Today's workout was 400's.  Specifically 9x400m with 2:30 recovery.  It did not go well.  Actually, it was ok, but I was slow on a lot of it and even early on I felt bad.  The whole thing felt like a struggle.  It didn't help that it was really hot and windy out.  Pace was supposed to be 58 but the workout ended up going 57.8, 58.7, 59.3, 58.6, 60.0, 60.1, 61.0, 60.2, 60.6.  I added the decimals because too many of them were pointlow which drove me nuts. 

Aguajog

I did 45 minutes of aquajogging today.  I was going to do the bike as well but it seems as though I've been sluggish lately so I opted against the bike.

10 miles 60:16

Daytona Sidewalks

I went out for another 10 miler along the sidewalks of Daytona.  It was a pretty nice day out for late May in Florida.  High's were in the low to mid 80's for the second day in a row (and what will be for the next 4 or 5 days).  All in all it was quite nice out.

12 miles

Daytona Sidewalks

I did my good ole reliable fartlek run on 1-2-3-4-5-5-4-3-2-1 min with 1/2 of the previous interval for recovery.  I spent the majority of it looping around the baseball field on the softer cinder surface.  It was long for me but I felt pretty good.  The weather was pretty cool for around here but I still was drenched in sweat afterwards. 

13 miles 78:16

Daytona Sidewalks

I got in another semi-long run going 13 miles on my normal 13 loop.  There's no way I could have handled looping around the baseball field again and the foot is feeling really good.  My stomach got all jacked up in this run so with the fatigue and dehydration I was left lying motionless on my living room floor for close to 30 minutes after completion of the run. 

10 miles 61:13

Gainesville Trails

I went up to UF to watch the East Track and Field Regional Championships and joing the NC State guys for a Saturday morning run.  I went 10 miles in a really nice forest which gave constant shade on a cool Saturday morning.  It was nice running with people as Chris Seaton, Wes Smith, John Crews, and Chris Kollar provided what might be my first running companions of 2007.