W19d1

Easy 30 min shake out. Woke this morning to quads that were quite sore.
So I decided to stay on grass and other soft surfaces.

Cross country pics

Division results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/ma/Aug29_7thAnn_1_set1.shtml
Overall Results: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/ma/Aug29_7thAnn_set1.shtml

Week 18 is history

Total miles for the week 69. It was certainly a training week like none I've ever done before. It consisted of what I would call 3 days of quality running with Tuesday's track workout, Saturday's cross country experiment, and today's unplanned 20. The most important part is that I don't feel too beat up. Well, kinda beat up. Still got in 69 miles.

d7

I met the 2hr run GBTC group this morning. Things went much better since I knew what to expect this time and I hadn't gone 17 the day before. I ran 2 miles to the boat house where we were going to start from. As usual the run started out at the casual 745-730 pace for the first 4 miles then I guess the group was warmed up things picked up. Mile 5 was 715 then from 6-14 we had one 730 mile but the rest ranged from 645-710 with the majority of them under 7's. This became quite challenging around mile 14.5 where I pulled off and finished the run with 3.5 miles back to the house. At the end of the run I had an avg. of 717 for the 18 miles.

with the 2 mile warmup total miles 20.

Race schwag.

Not bad for a $20 race entry.

6k results

Time 21:05. We ran the course for a warmup. The course was a solid XC course with about a mile thru open field before narrowing down into technical single track for another mile. It then opened back up for the last few of the course. I finished 31 overall. This was a small race but the competition was very respectable.

I thought it was pretty funny that the schwag shirts for the race were the 2009 Boston marathon long sleeve yellow shirts. Picture to come soon.

More on race to come later.

KENNEDY funeral..

So, I am a member of the Community Alliance of Mission Hill and I received this email today. Since, I live across the street from the church where the funeral will be held we can't stand or stop on our side walk, anywhere in the neighborhood. I agree that it is sad that the guy passed but Koda and Cooper don't really care and they will have their walk. We walk by that church every day and they love to pee on that bush in front of the church. Since the weather calls for rain I guess we won't spend a lot of time standing around anyway.
I don't have a car so I'm not worried about the parking restrictions. But as school is now in session I doubt that those lots will have a neighborhood's worth of spots available.
Maybe you will see me on the news walking the weenies!!!!! Or I can run by in my trash bag / racing top.
This is a picture of the steeple of the Church taken from the local park.


I wonder if they are going to support the local bars and stop for a scotch afterwards or if that will take place back on the Cape.


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Community Alliance of Mission Hill



Save The Date !!

September 12, 2009

CAMH hosts a Neighbor-Hill Celebration at Sheehy Park !

PARKING RESTRICTIONS FOR KENNEDY FUNERAL ANNOUNCED

No Stopping or Standing will be allowed at the following locations on Saturday, August 29, 2009, beginning at 12:01 AM. The temporary parking restrictions will be in effect for the funeral of Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy. To accommodate the public safety plan, if necessary, law enforcement agencies may add further restrictions as late as Saturday morning. Please park accordingly as it will be necessary to ticket and tow vehicles parked in violation.

Burney Street, both sides, from Tremont Street to Delle Avenue
Carmel Street, both sides, from Tremont Street to Delle Avenue
Cornelia Court, both sides, from Smith Street to Horadan Way
Pontiac Street, both sides, from Tremont Street to Alleghany Street
Saint Alphonsus Street, both sides, from Calumet Street to Ward Street
Sewall Street, both sides, from Tremont Street to Delle Avenue
Smith Street, both sides, from Saint Alphonsus Street to Parker Street
Turquoise Way, both sides, from Smith Street to Horadan Way
Tremont Street, both sides, from Columbus Avenue to Huntington Avenue
Vehicles bearing Mission Hill Resident Parking Permits will be allowed to park free of charge at the following private off-street parking facilities.
Stanhope Parking, #690 Huntington Avenue (near Wigglesworth Street) - Vehicles may be parked anytime after 6 PM on Friday, August 28 and may stay for as long as necessary on Saturday
Wentworth Institute, two lots located on Halleck Street and Mindoro Street, both between Prentiss Street and Station Street - Vehicles may be parked anytime after 7 PM on Friday, August 28 and may stay through Saturday, August 29 until 9 PM
Massachusetts College of Art, parking lot on Ward Street - Vehicles may be parked anytime after 7 PM on Friday, August 28 and may stay through Saturday, August 29 until 9 PM


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d4

Woke this morning planning to get in an easy 10. I ran 1.75 miles and decided to turn around and go home. My quads were still quite jello. So I sat/laid around most of the day waiting for my body to tell me it was time to go for a run. After a day's worth of cleaning, laundry, and dog walking ( pups got 2 walks today ) I headed out around 530p. It was beautiful all day. The high was about 73 deg. Got in 8.5 miles this evening. Not going to count the 3.5 this morning.

Total miles 8.6...1 hr 4 min.

Tomorrow's weather is going to be even more glorious. Too bad it is supposed to be a rest day, I may skip the rest and get in an easy 6-8 miles.

Saturday is a race day. Their is a 6k cross country race about 30 miles north/west of Boston. The weather for Saturday calls for high of 65 degrees and rain. This is considered good weather to cross country runners, at least that is what they keep saying. Initially I planned to opt out of this cross country race due to fear of injury, but I think it will be a great race and lots of fun so I am going for it. I'll get in my long run next week.

D3

One hour run 8 mph.


So on Monday I decided to do a leg workout in the morning after work. I haven't done a leg workout in about 2 months. I did 1 set of 20 squats, bar plus 20 lbs. Then did 2 sets of lunges. As a result, the past two days my legs have felt ten pounds heavier. What have we learned from this? If you are going to do leg workouts do them regularly or not at all.

W18d2

Today's track workout was 2 mile repeats. Some did 4 some did 2 I did 2.5. The first one was on the road 1220. Socond on the track1205. The last one was pretty painful so I finished after 1 mile 606.
Had a 3 mile cool down.
Total miles, 11.

Some people just get it....

Dear US government,

You have proven incompetence in managing social retirement services, welfare programs, federal space programs, and many other government run programs. I'm just saying that when it comes to improving efficiency and cost cutting, your track record doesn't bode well.

When someone applies for a job they must submit a resume, CV, with letters of reference. When I compare your resume with that of other applicants you don't meet the skills and experience I am looking for but thank you for your interest.




http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

w18d1

12.5 miles. That's pretty much it.

W17d7

6.5 miles. 47 min.

About 55 miles for the week.

W17d6

8 hot and humid miles. 1 hr 3 min

W17d5

So looks like I got my days mixed up on the previous post. Today is day 5. Let me say that summer is here and I wish it would leave. Today was hot and humid. I made it 7.2 miles before nearly melting. Run took 1 hr 2min

Benchmarks

It is pretty obvious that their aren't any fat or even good distance runners. This is because it requires less energy to move something light around then something heavy. When I ran my past 3 marathons I was 180, 185 and 175. I was in considerably better shape during the last which is why I was 175 lbs. I don't have a real "goal" weight but I do have an ideal weight I should be if I am ready for Bay State around 165. I know my fitness is close to where it needs to be for the marathon I am in a fine tuning and maintaining stage now.
So, I have been observing my daily weights to see where I am. I was around 170 about 2 weeks ago. Then this week after about 4 days of responsible eating I noticed that my mid day and morning weight is 167lbs. This just shows the importance of diet when it comes to the details of training. Now, I don't follow a strict eating habit, but here forward I am going to make an effort to avoid excesses of crap food. Because the day is near and I don't want any excuses.

New additions to the plant family

You can go to your local store and buy fresh basil or rosemary for about $2.50 each if you are lucky. You can get dry herbs for about $4-5 for a can of dry herbs.

If you have cooked with both fresh and dried herbs, you know their is no comparison. The fresher the better. However, every time I buy fresh basil for $2.50 cents I think of how I am going to use 1/4 of the herbs and the rest is going to go bad on the counter.

I think I have found the solution. At the local Farmers Market today I located the herbs and got some Basil and Rosemary. They didn't have flat leaf parsley or cilantro, but plan to have some next week.

I hope they can live in the window during the winter.

w17d3 part2

Doubles. I clearly didn't succeed in running doubles last week. I wasn't sure how to work it out with my schedule. Now that I have figured out my schedule I think I can manage at least one or two doubles per week.
Today I got in a good 13.5 miles and felt good during the entire run. This evening I ran 1.5 miles to a local track and ran 3 2000's with 400m recovery I hoped to get in 4 2000's but it wasn't there. I had it in me, but the field and track became really crowded all of the sudden so I called it quits. Then ran home. Total miles for run 2 = 7

Miles for the day = 20.5.

Tomorrow is a single day.

w17d3

Went for the morning run today. Got in 13.5 miles. Thinking about doing another 10 this evening.

I got my new shoes on..

Well the nikes are gone.
These are the new racing flats. Good thing fashion isn't important in
my running world.

W17d2

After consecutive good track workouts I figured I was bound for a bad one. Sure enough here it was. I think it was due in part to the lack of organization more than anything else.
The workout. While the coach walked the track we aere to run at whatever pace we wished (10k-5k) until we lapped him twice( about 850m) then recover however we wished an do it again. Their were various groups doing different variations. I did this for about 30 minutes and I was done. This lack of structure combines with my dead legs resulted in me calling it a day early. I do feel rested today with only the half workout.
Time for a run.

The Great Shoe Conundrum

I clearly have an inability to throw away/donate or simply get rid of running shoes. The nike's on the right were worn in the Austin Marathon 2009 and I recently wore them for the Newbury port 10 miler.
So why do I keep these shoes? Well, the orange wave riders are my bad weather neutral shoe, the nike's are my bad weather support shoe. The matching pairs of wave riders were bought together simply because I got a sweet deal and scored each for $60. They are my main trainers but don't really like them. Now, I am planning to get a pair of racing flats but I refuse to get another pair until I can part with one of these pair first. I can't decide whether to get rid of the Nike's or the older of the two blue wave riders.

Mr. Cactus is enjoying the heatwave.

W17, d1.New England heatwave

Well, we have had 3 days in a row of temps above 90 degrees and the weatherman said he thinks our "heatwave" will likely come to an end on Thursday when a front comes through.

So this is a heat wave huh?


Yesterday I went our for an easy run at 3pm. It was pretty toasty but I stayed in the shade for most of the run making conditions quite nice.

Today's track workout will be 7-10 * 1000m

W16 report.

Ended the week with 69.5 miles. Not quite 70 but close. It didn't really feel like a long week because I have 60 mile weeks that felt much worse than this week did. I'm feeling well coming off of the 23 miler yesterday. So I am expecting to get in 10 today. The marathon is now two months out. I plan on having no more that 3 more hard/long weeks. I will have a 20+ run on sat or sun this week but after that one I am not planning to go over 20 until the marathon.
I hope the get in some really good quality steady state and tempo runs in the next 3 weeks. This will include a local 5 mile road race on September 12, Ollie 5 mile road race.

W16d7

23 miles. Avg pace 722. Ran the last 8 miles between 715 and 7 min pace.
Did 4 200m strides at the end.

W16d6

Woke this morning and decided to sleep for 3 more hours. Got in an easy 7. Now getting ready for tomorrow.

W16d4d5

D4
11miles.. No big hilights.
D5
rest for tomorrow's fun.

W16d3

Hard 7.5 in 1 hr 5 min.
This run SUCKED. Legs were dead. I guess the track workout took more put of me than I thought. This is a good thing though. Gotta run on tired legs to get ready for the big day. With a good taper I think I would be ready.

W16d2

W16 really, has it been 16 weeks. I keep losing track and forget which week I am on and have to revert back to ensure I put the right week #.
Today was the Tuesday meeting at the track. I considered running there but I wasn't sure how the 25 400's would go so I rode instead.
I love riding around this city. It is by far the most efficient mode of transportation and at 630 when the cars are stacked up I just fly by. It is very liberating. I am waiting for the day some jerk opens his/her door as I am riding by.
Back to the work out. Started with a 3 mile warm up. Was more like 3 miles at mgp though. The warm up over in 21 minutes then we were back on the rubber. The plan was to do 400m recover while someone else ran a 400 and continue when they finished. I'll just call it 400's with even recovery. This was to go on for an hour. My plan was to run 80-85 sec 400 for the first 15 then begin to speed up. All we t acording to plan. The majority of them were 83- 84, which was pretty easy. This was one of those workouts that you can make as hard as you wish. Looking back I should have been trying to run 80's. The last five were under 78 with the second to last one a 68 and the last one 72.
We ended the workout with a 7 min mile.
After running like that on the track it is hard to tell how fast you are going on the warm down.
I kind of wish I would have run to and home from the track to make he total miles higher.

Total 10.

w16d1

I started the day hoping to do a week of doubles. Something like 5 miles in the morning and 10 or so on days, but only that are not quality days. So this would be Monday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I got in my 5 this morning at 715 pace. This evening Jess came with me on her bike so this kind of caused me to run faster that normal so I ended up doing 6 miles at 7 min pace.

So to day Got in 11 miles.

We'll see how the doubles go with the work schedule and all.
====================================================================================
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Tomorrow's track workout should be fun......................................................................

The Great" 20 kilometer" relay.

or 50x400.

A team comprises four runners of about the same ability. You know 'em
you pick 'em.

Match pairs of similar fitness because they will always run together.

Two runners start together and run all the way together and tag off
together, then wait, jog, stretch, while the next pair run their 400.

All teams do this for exactly one hour. Always running in pairs.

This way each runner always has someone to run with and can plan the
pace.

It will be like 25x 400 w/ 1 to 2 minutes rest. (the time it takes the
other pair to complete a lap.

You can vary the pace of the 400s.

This is not a race but a way to not have to deal with overheating.

I am guessing that your pace would be your current fitness 5 km speed.
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W15d7

9 miles.

That makes 66 for the week.

w15d6

For the past few weeks I have been settling for LR's around 17-18 miles if not less. Well I left the house determined to do nothing less than 20 miles. The weather was great low humidity and lower temps than the past few weeks. I certainly could tell that I haven't been in the 20 mile range in a while. I recognized the old familiar feeling that occurs around the 18 20 mile mark. Today it was a pretty uncomfortable feeling but that is where I was hoping to get during the run. Notice how I feel and tell myself to relax and keep moving.
At 19.5 miles I was at an intersection where I could have either gone straight home and called it a day at 20 but I decided to head on and make it a 22 mile run. What's 2 miles right? It was great to be at the 20 mile run mark again and get used to what things are going to be like on race day. Hopefully I can have another good long run next weekend.

22 miles, 735 avg pace.

W15d3d4

Got in 7 miles on Wednesday and an easy 5.5 on Thursday.

w15d2

Tuesday workouts make me hurt and I like that. 3mi warmup at 734 pace. Then we ran 2.5mi to the Harvard track at 719 pace and ran a mile there 545 pace. then we ran , 3.7 miles the Tufts track did a mile there at 535 pace. Then we ran 2 miles back to Danehy track for the final mile at 517 pace. I would like to note that I was at the back of the slow pack for the first two track miles but I was at the front of the slow pack for the last mile. I may have been going too easy during the first two mile intervals but wasn't going to push it.
These workouts are dangerous because if you waste your self during the track intervals the run from one track the other can kill you. Because even though they are supposed to be recovery running if you can't recover during 630-720 pace you are screwed.

Total miles 13.

w15d1

10 miles 74 minutes. Decided to take off Sunday. I have been quite sore and tired, from the 10 mile race I think. I guess racing like that can take much more effort that a hard workout. As a result I ended with week with 57 miles.
Today is a Tuesday track workout. Should be fun.

W14d6

Met some GBTCers for a "2 hr run". I knew this could be a really brutal 2 hours but I figured what the hell. I was right. Itay not had been so bad if I had not gone 17 on d5. We started easy then settled into 730ish pace regardless of grade. Which just killed me. By mile 11 I was done, having had no water or fuel did me in and broke off the pack. We lost one other guy at mile 5, which is where I should have cut off also. Either way I got in a good 13 miles today.