Training Summary
This was a great week of running though I once again skimped on working out. I ran with Eric on Monday and he showed me a really quick way to get to UMass Boston that avoids Dorchester Ave. and cuts through some side streets. I used the shortcut on Tuesday and created a longer run that goes to Castle Island and through South Boston that I think is a keeper. On Wednesday, I had an early afternoon flight to Houston so I got in a very slow and groggy run before packing and heading to the airport.
Running in Houston the next few days was a much needed change of pace from winter in Boston. It was warm enough that I was even able to ditch my t-shirt on a few runs. The plan was to do a 5 mile tempo run on Thursday but Kevy convinced me to just go for a run. It didn't take much work on his part as I didn't really feel like working out, especially not enough to listen to Kevin complain about it for more than 30 seconds. Instead, we ran on a bike path that is close to where Kevy lives. It was a very nice run, as we also hit some trails and did a loop around a country club. On Friday, we ran in Herman Park and also looped around the Rice campus. It was a great area for running and the Rice campus was impressive from what I saw. The long run on Saturday was mostly done on the bike path from Thursday. Kevin kept complaining about the pace and refused to go 100 minutes with me so he turned around at 45 minutes. I picked up the pace a bit and hit a few sub-six-minute miles from what I could gather using the spray painted mile markers on the ground. Kevy met back up with me around 70 minutes into the run after taking a potty break and we cruised back to his place. I added on 25 minutes by myself to get to an even two hours. It was awesome to return and find that Maryland was up by three on UNC and watch the final seconds of the overtime period.
Sunday was back to reality with a cold, rainy/snowy/wintery mixy, boring run in Boston. The plan for the upcoming week is to hit about the same number of minutes while doing two workouts and a long run. For real this time.
Monday
60 minutes
Tuesday
100 minutes
Wednesday
80 minutes
Thursday
100 minutes
Friday
80 minutes
Saturday
120 minutes
Sunday
30 minutes
Total
570 minutes
Holler of the Week
While running with Kevin on Thursday, a woman yelled "woo hoo" at us from her car. It was a pretty standard holler that was notable because the man driving the car appeared to be her husband. That alone wouldn't be too weird, but there were also two kids in the back seat.
Epiphany Story of the Week
No school.
Song of the Week
In light of my vacation and the fact that I am going to see Tapes 'n Tapes play this week, my song is In Houston. The link it to a YouTube video but it just shows the album cover for four minutes.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Down But Not Out
Training Summary
This week started out strong and then fizzled a bit, though I think it will be a good thing in the long run. My workout on Tuesday went very well. I warmed up over to Franklin Park and then ran a fartlek on the road loop around the golf course, alternating segments of 5 minutes hard and 3 minutes easy. My effort felt harder than the Stew Chase but was still controlled. I was working hard on the last two hard segment and it didn't help that I caught the uphill portion of the loop on both. After the workout, I did a bit of an extended cool down before heading home. I was pleased with the run and thought that it showed some solid progress, even from my last fartlek session.
Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, I was totally wiped out and my calves were incredibly tight. It felt like I had run a hard track workout in spikes. I struggled through a 10 miler on Wednesday and felt so fatigued at the end that I decided to take a few easy days to get my legs back under me. In looking at my training log, I had four straight weeks of 80 to 85 miles and I figured I was due for a down week. After two days of short 30 minute runs, I went 90 minutes on Saturday and felt decent. Then, on Sunday, I went for a long run with a large group of GBTC folks. We left from Coolidge Corner and cut through the Chestnut Hill neighborhoods before hopping on to the marathon course. For much of the run, it was me and Andrew alone, but Tomoaki and Ryan A. caught up to us for much of the run back to Coolidge Corner. We picked up the pace quite a bit in the Newton hills and I felt excellent. Hopefully, taking the easy days in the middle of the week was the right call and I will be back to my regular training in the upcoming week.
I have off of school this week and my focus will be to take care of my left shin, which has been very sore lately, and begin to run strides two or three times per week. I head down to Houston on Wednesday for vacation, so I should have an excellent opportunity to get in some runs in nice weather. The plan is to get in one workout and a long run while putting in around 90 miles.
Monday
60 minutes
Tuesday
30 minute WU, 5 x 5 minutes hard/3 minutes easy, 35 minute CD
Wednesday
70 minutes
Thursday
30 minutes
Friday
30 minutes
Saturday
90 minutes
Sunday
120 minutes
Total
500 minutes (just over 70 miles)
Holler of the Week
Nothing. So boring. Even the nice weather couldn't help me. I'm desperate! I'll even take a "run Forrest, run." To quote Giannis, "come on!"
Epiphany Story of the Week
In math class on Friday, one of my kids asked me what I was doing for Valentine's Day. Before I could reply to say I didn't have any plans, one of the boys blurted out "He's going to eat a container of ice cream alone in his bathroom!" Sounds great...except for the bathroom part.
Song of the Week
I was looking around on Last.fm trying to check out some new bands. The program allows you to pick bands that you like and then gives you lists of similar bands. Each band has their own page and many of the bands have songs that you can stream. In checking out bands that are similar to Wolf Parade, I found that the lead singer has a band called Sunset Rubdown that started as his solo project and is now a second band that he fronts. Below is a video for the song The Mending of the Gown off of Random Spirit Lover. It is a live version and the video isn't very interesting, but the song is excellent.
This week started out strong and then fizzled a bit, though I think it will be a good thing in the long run. My workout on Tuesday went very well. I warmed up over to Franklin Park and then ran a fartlek on the road loop around the golf course, alternating segments of 5 minutes hard and 3 minutes easy. My effort felt harder than the Stew Chase but was still controlled. I was working hard on the last two hard segment and it didn't help that I caught the uphill portion of the loop on both. After the workout, I did a bit of an extended cool down before heading home. I was pleased with the run and thought that it showed some solid progress, even from my last fartlek session.
Tuesday night and all day Wednesday, I was totally wiped out and my calves were incredibly tight. It felt like I had run a hard track workout in spikes. I struggled through a 10 miler on Wednesday and felt so fatigued at the end that I decided to take a few easy days to get my legs back under me. In looking at my training log, I had four straight weeks of 80 to 85 miles and I figured I was due for a down week. After two days of short 30 minute runs, I went 90 minutes on Saturday and felt decent. Then, on Sunday, I went for a long run with a large group of GBTC folks. We left from Coolidge Corner and cut through the Chestnut Hill neighborhoods before hopping on to the marathon course. For much of the run, it was me and Andrew alone, but Tomoaki and Ryan A. caught up to us for much of the run back to Coolidge Corner. We picked up the pace quite a bit in the Newton hills and I felt excellent. Hopefully, taking the easy days in the middle of the week was the right call and I will be back to my regular training in the upcoming week.
I have off of school this week and my focus will be to take care of my left shin, which has been very sore lately, and begin to run strides two or three times per week. I head down to Houston on Wednesday for vacation, so I should have an excellent opportunity to get in some runs in nice weather. The plan is to get in one workout and a long run while putting in around 90 miles.
Monday
60 minutes
Tuesday
30 minute WU, 5 x 5 minutes hard/3 minutes easy, 35 minute CD
Wednesday
70 minutes
Thursday
30 minutes
Friday
30 minutes
Saturday
90 minutes
Sunday
120 minutes
Total
500 minutes (just over 70 miles)
Holler of the Week
Nothing. So boring. Even the nice weather couldn't help me. I'm desperate! I'll even take a "run Forrest, run." To quote Giannis, "come on!"
Epiphany Story of the Week
In math class on Friday, one of my kids asked me what I was doing for Valentine's Day. Before I could reply to say I didn't have any plans, one of the boys blurted out "He's going to eat a container of ice cream alone in his bathroom!" Sounds great...except for the bathroom part.
Song of the Week
I was looking around on Last.fm trying to check out some new bands. The program allows you to pick bands that you like and then gives you lists of similar bands. Each band has their own page and many of the bands have songs that you can stream. In checking out bands that are similar to Wolf Parade, I found that the lead singer has a band called Sunset Rubdown that started as his solo project and is now a second band that he fronts. Below is a video for the song The Mending of the Gown off of Random Spirit Lover. It is a live version and the video isn't very interesting, but the song is excellent.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A Few Mid-Week Links
This article from the New York Times details the path Canadian cyclist Svein Tuft took in becoming an elite rider. It is sort of like Tour de France meets Into the Wild.
Add Ian Nurse to the list of famous people I know. He recently moved to Portland, OR and he already is making a name for himself on the road racing scene. He recently got interviewed on Run Oregon about his training and racing.
Finally, a bit of clairvoyance from my man Calvin. The cartoon is 15 years old but reads like it was written about the current financial crisis.
Add Ian Nurse to the list of famous people I know. He recently moved to Portland, OR and he already is making a name for himself on the road racing scene. He recently got interviewed on Run Oregon about his training and racing.
Finally, a bit of clairvoyance from my man Calvin. The cartoon is 15 years old but reads like it was written about the current financial crisis.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Back on the Course
Training Summary
The race last weekend wore me out a lot more than I had expected and I ended up not doing any workouts this week as a result. Despite not running anything particularly fast, I still managed to get in some enjoyable runs. On Tuesday, I got to duck out from school in the early afternoon between lunch and swimming to get my run in. I did a loop through Milton that cuts through Blue Hills Reservation. We caught quite a bit of snow on Tuesday into Wednesday and it was coming down pretty hard on the run but it was great to run through the woods in the snow while having the solid footing of asphalt. I was initially planning to workout on Wednesday or Thursday but I felt tired and sluggish on both days and decided to bag my workout for the week. The long run on Saturday was probably my best run of the week. I met up with a big GBTC group at the BC T station and did an out and back on the marathon course. Fortunately, I felt much better than I had earlier in the week. We kept the pace easy on the way out and then picked it up a bit after turning around. Terry hopped in with the group for about 9 miles in the middle after he wrapped up a tempo workout and it was great to run at a quick but conversational pace. I had forgotten how much fun it is being able to clip of miles at a fast pace and still be able to comfortably talk with other people in the group. It was fun to be back out on the marathon course and there were tons of people out enjoying the nice weather. My guess is that it will only get more and more crowded over the next two and a half months. The drivers out there must hate this time of year.
My plan for the upcoming week is to keep the mileage about the same, maybe bumping it up a bit to around 90. I'll try to workout on Tuesday and Thursday, with one session being a fartlek and the other being hill repeats, and get in a 17 to 20 mile long run over the weekend.
Monday
50 minutes
Tuesday
90 minutes
Wednesday
100 minutes
Thursday
80 minutes
Friday
50 minutes
Saturday
140 minutes
Sunday
70 minutes
Total
580 minutes (between 80 and 85 miles)
Holler of the Week
I met up with Eric on Sunday for an easy 10 mile run through Milton. I woke up worried about what I would wear since my tights were in the wash and was pleasantly surprised to see that the temperature was 45 degrees. It was awesome to run in shorts and a t-shirt. Towards the end of the run, we were on Talbot heading towards Codman Square when we passed two guys waiting at a bus stop. One of the guys starts clapping and shouts "Congratulations guys. That's good work. There's no way I would ever run that f#*king far!" I don't know how long he thought we had been running, but the interaction only confirmed my suspicion that good hollers are largely dependent on good weather.
Epiphany Story of the Week
My principal has graciously allowed me to leave during my free time in the afternoon to go run on days when I have class. Her flexibility about my schedule has been a huge help and I really wouldn't be able to fit in anything more than a quick 30 minute run otherwise. Things got a bit thrown off on Thursday, but I made arrangements so I could meet the 5th and 6th graders at the Dorchester YMCA instead of taking the bus there. I was running behind the bus for the last 5 minutes of my run and lots of the kids were waving at me or just pointing and laughing at me. I got a lot of funny questions and comments when I met up with the kids, almost all of them about my tights.
"I didn't know they made leggings for boys. Where do you buy leggings for boys as tall as you?"
"You look like a superhero."
"Why are you wearing those things?"
"Are you going to wear those tights swimming?"
"You wear those in public?"
Song of the Week
The halftime show of the Super Bowl was a bit of a disappointment for me. I knew Bruce only had 12 minutes and I knew the plan was to cut out verses from songs to squeeze a few songs into that time, but I couldn't help but hope that he would pull a musical filibuster and give the folks at Raymond James Stadium a real rock n' roll baptism. In all honesty, the show was a bit depressing. It was the ultimate sell out and the condensed versions of Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Born to Run, Working on a Dream, and Glory Days were far from satisfying. Even Bruce shoving his crotch in the face of a nation of viewers couldn't redeem the show (and apparently some folks in Arizona had two experiences with male crotches showing up on their TV screens. Still, the show was just enough of a taste to get me itching for an authentic E Street concert experience.
Monday provided me with the perfect opportunity to rectify the situation with tickets going on sale for two Bruce shows at the TD BankNorth "Don't just call it 'The Garden,' because there is only one of those and it's in New York" Garden. I went to the Live Nation website when the tickets first went on sale at 10 AM and was continually unable to purchase tickets. I gave up after 15 minutes, frustrated and disappointed. To make matters worse, there were already tickets for the shows on Craigslist for over twice face value. Ugh. Anyhow, below is a video of Thunder Road from the legendary Passaic show from 1978. I guess this the closest I am going to get to a Bruce show for now.
The race last weekend wore me out a lot more than I had expected and I ended up not doing any workouts this week as a result. Despite not running anything particularly fast, I still managed to get in some enjoyable runs. On Tuesday, I got to duck out from school in the early afternoon between lunch and swimming to get my run in. I did a loop through Milton that cuts through Blue Hills Reservation. We caught quite a bit of snow on Tuesday into Wednesday and it was coming down pretty hard on the run but it was great to run through the woods in the snow while having the solid footing of asphalt. I was initially planning to workout on Wednesday or Thursday but I felt tired and sluggish on both days and decided to bag my workout for the week. The long run on Saturday was probably my best run of the week. I met up with a big GBTC group at the BC T station and did an out and back on the marathon course. Fortunately, I felt much better than I had earlier in the week. We kept the pace easy on the way out and then picked it up a bit after turning around. Terry hopped in with the group for about 9 miles in the middle after he wrapped up a tempo workout and it was great to run at a quick but conversational pace. I had forgotten how much fun it is being able to clip of miles at a fast pace and still be able to comfortably talk with other people in the group. It was fun to be back out on the marathon course and there were tons of people out enjoying the nice weather. My guess is that it will only get more and more crowded over the next two and a half months. The drivers out there must hate this time of year.
My plan for the upcoming week is to keep the mileage about the same, maybe bumping it up a bit to around 90. I'll try to workout on Tuesday and Thursday, with one session being a fartlek and the other being hill repeats, and get in a 17 to 20 mile long run over the weekend.
Monday
50 minutes
Tuesday
90 minutes
Wednesday
100 minutes
Thursday
80 minutes
Friday
50 minutes
Saturday
140 minutes
Sunday
70 minutes
Total
580 minutes (between 80 and 85 miles)
Holler of the Week
I met up with Eric on Sunday for an easy 10 mile run through Milton. I woke up worried about what I would wear since my tights were in the wash and was pleasantly surprised to see that the temperature was 45 degrees. It was awesome to run in shorts and a t-shirt. Towards the end of the run, we were on Talbot heading towards Codman Square when we passed two guys waiting at a bus stop. One of the guys starts clapping and shouts "Congratulations guys. That's good work. There's no way I would ever run that f#*king far!" I don't know how long he thought we had been running, but the interaction only confirmed my suspicion that good hollers are largely dependent on good weather.
Epiphany Story of the Week
My principal has graciously allowed me to leave during my free time in the afternoon to go run on days when I have class. Her flexibility about my schedule has been a huge help and I really wouldn't be able to fit in anything more than a quick 30 minute run otherwise. Things got a bit thrown off on Thursday, but I made arrangements so I could meet the 5th and 6th graders at the Dorchester YMCA instead of taking the bus there. I was running behind the bus for the last 5 minutes of my run and lots of the kids were waving at me or just pointing and laughing at me. I got a lot of funny questions and comments when I met up with the kids, almost all of them about my tights.
"I didn't know they made leggings for boys. Where do you buy leggings for boys as tall as you?"
"You look like a superhero."
"Why are you wearing those things?"
"Are you going to wear those tights swimming?"
"You wear those in public?"
Song of the Week
The halftime show of the Super Bowl was a bit of a disappointment for me. I knew Bruce only had 12 minutes and I knew the plan was to cut out verses from songs to squeeze a few songs into that time, but I couldn't help but hope that he would pull a musical filibuster and give the folks at Raymond James Stadium a real rock n' roll baptism. In all honesty, the show was a bit depressing. It was the ultimate sell out and the condensed versions of Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, Born to Run, Working on a Dream, and Glory Days were far from satisfying. Even Bruce shoving his crotch in the face of a nation of viewers couldn't redeem the show (and apparently some folks in Arizona had two experiences with male crotches showing up on their TV screens. Still, the show was just enough of a taste to get me itching for an authentic E Street concert experience.
Monday provided me with the perfect opportunity to rectify the situation with tickets going on sale for two Bruce shows at the TD BankNorth "Don't just call it 'The Garden,' because there is only one of those and it's in New York" Garden. I went to the Live Nation website when the tickets first went on sale at 10 AM and was continually unable to purchase tickets. I gave up after 15 minutes, frustrated and disappointed. To make matters worse, there were already tickets for the shows on Craigslist for over twice face value. Ugh. Anyhow, below is a video of Thunder Road from the legendary Passaic show from 1978. I guess this the closest I am going to get to a Bruce show for now.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Stew Chasin'
Training Summary
This was probably my best week of training since June. I got in a solid workout on Tuesday, a crumby workout on Thursday, and a strong race on Sunday. The Tuesday hill workout is the type of session that will help me start to get some of my speed back without having to do anaerobic track sessions. As Frank Shorter said, "Hills are speedwork in disguise." I am banking on the fact that regular hill workouts will be sufficient until I hit the track in May. On Thursday, I was able to go to Reggie for a workout since I did not have evening study. I met up with Ted and Matt B. for a fartlek-type session that was supposed to consist of 2 x 4K with alternating segments of 300 in 54 seconds and 100 in 25 seconds. I was never able to settle into a rhythm and was pushing the rest too much. I managed to get through the first 4K but ended my second interval at 2k.
On Sunday, I returned to racing for the first time since my Rhody disaster at the beginning of June. Leading up to the race, it seemed like things were conspiring to keep me from getting to the starting line. I missed my alarm for the first time since college, my shin was hurting on my morning shake out, and I was very late for my ride to the race. Thankfully, Chris Smith kindly switched up the travel plans a bit and we got on the road to Lynn with plenty of time to spare. Even on my warm-up before the race, I didn't feel very good and my left shin was bothering me enough that I considered not racing. Luckily, it didn't bother me in the least during the race.
The race was not too crowded up front and I was able to get out smoothly, running in fourth place early on. After the mile, the three people ahead of me began to distance themselves from the rest of the racers and a few guys passed me. At that point, I was thinking I was in for a long day. The only split from the race that I heard was 11:09 for 2 miles and I couldn't help but think that things would only get slower from there. At around 2.5 miles, I began to feel much better and started to pick up the pace, working my way up to fifth place by 4 miles. I put in a strong move (all things considered) at 4 miles, dropped the guy I was running with and turned my focus to the runner in third. Over the next 3 miles, I went through a few spells of feeling great and feeling seriously out of shape. I was able to hang tough and stay focused, eventually moving into third place at around the 7 mile mark. I was able to see Andrew in first and the second place runner about 100 meters behind him but I could not close the gap at all. There were a few times when I thought I was gaining ground and really tried to bear down to catch up but I was a bit out of it mentally, as I eased off a bit when it seemed to me that they were out of reach. Overall, I am pleased with the race and how I competed. Going into it, I was thinking that anywhere between 5:30 and 5:40 pace would be a decent opener. This result is a good confirmation that I am rounding into some semblance of decent shape and that I just might be able to run something competitive at the New Bedford Half Marathon in March. After the race, my right hamstring and the ball of my left foot were pretty sore. The plan is to take Monday easy and only do one workout next week (probably on Wednesday) with a long run on Saturday. I'd like to keep it at around 85 to 90 miles, but that will be dictated by how I recover from the race.
Monday
50 minutes
Tuesday
55 minute WU, 6 x Franklin Park hill in 1:42 to 1:46, 20 minute CD
Wednesday
90 minutes
Thursday
90 minutes total, 4k and 2k in the middle alternating 300 in 55 and 100 in 25
Friday
50 minutes
Saturday
AM: 30 minutes
PM: 50 minutes
Sunday
AM: 20 minutes
AM: 15 minute WU, Great Stew Chase 15K in 51:10 (5:30/mile), 35 minute CD
Total
580 minutes on 9 runs (about 85 miles)
Holler of the Week
Nothing too interesting again this week. I am sort of getting bummed out. I guess there just aren't enough people outside when the weather is as cold as it's been. Hopefully by March it will start warming up and I will get more funny things yelled at me. The best I got this week was during my run on Wednesday in the rain. As I ran through a particularly cold and deep puddle, a woman waiting at a bus stop shook her head at me and muttered to herself, just loud enough so I could hear it "get the f#@% out of town." Also, on Monday, I accidentally bumped into a girls bag as I ran by her. She was walking side by side with a friend and the sidewalks were narrow from snow. I said excuse me as I approached them and apologized for bumping her after I passed. Her only response was "Uuuuuuuuuugh! I HATE white people!" My bad.
Epiphany Story of the Week
The 7th graders learn about European history in social studies. They are currently studying the Renaissance. Below is a question and from their latest exam and an actual student response.
List an adult you know who is a Renaissance Person. What makes them a Renaissance Person?
An adult I know who is a Renaissance person is Mr. Bonner. I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person because he's got legs of steel. I think this because Mr. Bonner runs the annual marathon. I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person because he is great at electronics, which is part of science. The last reason why I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person is because he is kind of great at football, not as great as Mr. Jones, but not as wack as Mr. Forrest. He's in the middle. That is why I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person.
Now there's a response that deserves extra credit if I've ever seen one. Stroking my ego while getting in an insult on Forrest? It doesn't get any better than that.
Song of the Week
The only time I ever listen to the radio is when I drive. Living without a car in Boston has significantly cut into my driving time. Consequently, I rarely listen to the radio. I got to borrow my headmaster's car on Friday to run an errand and heard the song below on WERS. The artist is Peter Bradley Adams and the name of the song is The Longer I Run. It is pretty mellow and folksy and has been stuck in my head for a solid three days now, including a large portion of the Stew Chase.
This was probably my best week of training since June. I got in a solid workout on Tuesday, a crumby workout on Thursday, and a strong race on Sunday. The Tuesday hill workout is the type of session that will help me start to get some of my speed back without having to do anaerobic track sessions. As Frank Shorter said, "Hills are speedwork in disguise." I am banking on the fact that regular hill workouts will be sufficient until I hit the track in May. On Thursday, I was able to go to Reggie for a workout since I did not have evening study. I met up with Ted and Matt B. for a fartlek-type session that was supposed to consist of 2 x 4K with alternating segments of 300 in 54 seconds and 100 in 25 seconds. I was never able to settle into a rhythm and was pushing the rest too much. I managed to get through the first 4K but ended my second interval at 2k.
On Sunday, I returned to racing for the first time since my Rhody disaster at the beginning of June. Leading up to the race, it seemed like things were conspiring to keep me from getting to the starting line. I missed my alarm for the first time since college, my shin was hurting on my morning shake out, and I was very late for my ride to the race. Thankfully, Chris Smith kindly switched up the travel plans a bit and we got on the road to Lynn with plenty of time to spare. Even on my warm-up before the race, I didn't feel very good and my left shin was bothering me enough that I considered not racing. Luckily, it didn't bother me in the least during the race.
The race was not too crowded up front and I was able to get out smoothly, running in fourth place early on. After the mile, the three people ahead of me began to distance themselves from the rest of the racers and a few guys passed me. At that point, I was thinking I was in for a long day. The only split from the race that I heard was 11:09 for 2 miles and I couldn't help but think that things would only get slower from there. At around 2.5 miles, I began to feel much better and started to pick up the pace, working my way up to fifth place by 4 miles. I put in a strong move (all things considered) at 4 miles, dropped the guy I was running with and turned my focus to the runner in third. Over the next 3 miles, I went through a few spells of feeling great and feeling seriously out of shape. I was able to hang tough and stay focused, eventually moving into third place at around the 7 mile mark. I was able to see Andrew in first and the second place runner about 100 meters behind him but I could not close the gap at all. There were a few times when I thought I was gaining ground and really tried to bear down to catch up but I was a bit out of it mentally, as I eased off a bit when it seemed to me that they were out of reach. Overall, I am pleased with the race and how I competed. Going into it, I was thinking that anywhere between 5:30 and 5:40 pace would be a decent opener. This result is a good confirmation that I am rounding into some semblance of decent shape and that I just might be able to run something competitive at the New Bedford Half Marathon in March. After the race, my right hamstring and the ball of my left foot were pretty sore. The plan is to take Monday easy and only do one workout next week (probably on Wednesday) with a long run on Saturday. I'd like to keep it at around 85 to 90 miles, but that will be dictated by how I recover from the race.
Monday
50 minutes
Tuesday
55 minute WU, 6 x Franklin Park hill in 1:42 to 1:46, 20 minute CD
Wednesday
90 minutes
Thursday
90 minutes total, 4k and 2k in the middle alternating 300 in 55 and 100 in 25
Friday
50 minutes
Saturday
AM: 30 minutes
PM: 50 minutes
Sunday
AM: 20 minutes
AM: 15 minute WU, Great Stew Chase 15K in 51:10 (5:30/mile), 35 minute CD
Total
580 minutes on 9 runs (about 85 miles)
Holler of the Week
Nothing too interesting again this week. I am sort of getting bummed out. I guess there just aren't enough people outside when the weather is as cold as it's been. Hopefully by March it will start warming up and I will get more funny things yelled at me. The best I got this week was during my run on Wednesday in the rain. As I ran through a particularly cold and deep puddle, a woman waiting at a bus stop shook her head at me and muttered to herself, just loud enough so I could hear it "get the f#@% out of town." Also, on Monday, I accidentally bumped into a girls bag as I ran by her. She was walking side by side with a friend and the sidewalks were narrow from snow. I said excuse me as I approached them and apologized for bumping her after I passed. Her only response was "Uuuuuuuuuugh! I HATE white people!" My bad.
Epiphany Story of the Week
The 7th graders learn about European history in social studies. They are currently studying the Renaissance. Below is a question and from their latest exam and an actual student response.
List an adult you know who is a Renaissance Person. What makes them a Renaissance Person?
An adult I know who is a Renaissance person is Mr. Bonner. I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person because he's got legs of steel. I think this because Mr. Bonner runs the annual marathon. I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person because he is great at electronics, which is part of science. The last reason why I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person is because he is kind of great at football, not as great as Mr. Jones, but not as wack as Mr. Forrest. He's in the middle. That is why I think Mr. Bonner is a Renaissance person.
Now there's a response that deserves extra credit if I've ever seen one. Stroking my ego while getting in an insult on Forrest? It doesn't get any better than that.
Song of the Week
The only time I ever listen to the radio is when I drive. Living without a car in Boston has significantly cut into my driving time. Consequently, I rarely listen to the radio. I got to borrow my headmaster's car on Friday to run an errand and heard the song below on WERS. The artist is Peter Bradley Adams and the name of the song is The Longer I Run. It is pretty mellow and folksy and has been stuck in my head for a solid three days now, including a large portion of the Stew Chase.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
