New Year and New Things to Talk About

It's a new year and like many people around this time I have made a few resolutions. Well, they aren't really resolutions as much as they are recommitments. I really enjoy writing and keeping a blog but for some reason I just keep losing pace during parts of the year. This time around I believe I've found a great way to keep a steady stream of my thoughts out in cyberspace.

The goal I set for myself was to blog about something at least once a week. Now, I know my track record shows I haven't been able to keep that kind of writing activity up but I have a plan! If I can't find the time or get myself to write Something of Substance (or as the Hanson's Marathon Training lingo goes "SOS") then I will just post that week's training log entry. Since last year I finally went an entire year of posting in my training log every week I'm confident I will always have ready to go material. Plus, I'm always interested in viewing others training logs and I assume others are too! If you are like me you should probably check out what Nick Symmonds has available on his new site.

I haven't decided if I'll just write a synopsis of my training, post a photo of my log entries, or go really in-depth to what I was thinking. We will just have to see. I look forward to this new literary challenge and I hope that I can stay on course!

TRAINING LOG ENTRY
WEEK 4
DECEMBER 30 - JANUARY 6

Monday: AM- 60 min run at University City (high school) through canyons with Riess and Chuck. Ended up on the track at 6:20/mi pace. HR (heart rate) = 150. Core (5 exercises) and pushups (35). Walking stretches to end.

Tuesday: AM- Started the new year off with a solid 10 mile (or thereabouts) run. TT (total time) = 66:13. Good effort for a Strong AC (aerobic conditioning) day. HR = 150. Rope stretch following.

PM- 20 minutes of Founders

Wednesday: AM- 10 mile loop (69 minutes). HR = 162-168. Strong AC.

PM- Strength Training at 24 HR Fitness. First time in a while so I went pretty conservative. Aimed to complete routine in just under 30 minutes.

Sleep: 10pm-6:30am

Thursday: 6 mile LT (tempo) run (Bay Loop). 1) 5:52, 2) 5:48, 3) 5:31, 4) 5:35, 5) 5:32, 6) 5:36. TT = 33:55 (5:40/mi). HR = 170-180. Went in with a goal pace of 5:40-50/mi.

PM- 25 minute Founders

mHR (morning heart rate) = 48-49

Friday: AM- Early morning before heading to Riverside with Tash. Only a 20 minute jog and quick stretch.

PM- Returned home and ran with Tash for 45 minutes easy in Balboa Park. Pushed strides to tomorrow. Core (5 exercises).

mHR = 48-49

Saturday: AM- Slept in. 15 minute w/u, Cruz drills, 10 x strides (4x100, 2x80, 2x60, 2x40) on grass in flats. Flying! Huge improvement from 2 weeks ago. 15 min c/d. Rope stretch.

mHR = 47

Sunday: AM- Rohr Park LR (long run). 1 hour 42 minutes (about 14 miles). Enjoyed the loop I ran. Legs feeling yesterdays strides. Really heavy around 1:20. Recorded a pace of 6:45/mi late in run. HR = 162-168. Walking stretches + hip girdle routine

PM- 2 hour nap.

mHR = 47, Sleep: 11pm-6am.

Cuyamaca 6k, Update

Here are some recent race results:

10/20/12 Cougar Challenge 8k - 26:24/22nd

11/3/12 Cuyamaca 6k - 18:59/3rd

I had planned on competing at the San Diego Association meet this past weekend but was forced to pull out at 2k because of an issue I've been having with a minor rib injury. Who knew you could aggravate a rib by sitting in one position too long?

If you think you can, you will! 

Disregarding this past weekend's DNF this fall's training progression has been going very well. I have continued to improve my strength and flexibility and been able to alleviate a lot of the pain I had once felt down my leg. In turn my running has been able to improve. I'm still a long way off of where I would like to be but I'm ever optimistic.

I have two more races planned (Dana Point Turkey Trot and US Club XC) however both of those now depend on how my mysterious rib injury heals and available funds ($$$).

To end I'll comment on the picture to the right. It's pretty self-explanatory and it's message is clear. The power of positive thinking (one of my Ps I try to practice- Patience, Perseverance, and Positivity) goes a long way in making dreams and plans a reality. Plus, no one wants to be around a Debbie Downer!

Happy Running!

Santa Monica 5000

My second race of the fall was last week (October 7th) at the Santa Monica 5000. I was looking forward to getting onto the roads after a pretty challenging cross country course a few weeks earlier. I had been dissatisfied with the way I had competed in my first race out and so I had a concrete goal to stay engaged during this race.

My training indicated I was probably good for something in the mid 15s for the 5k and that is just about where I fell in (15:46). Excluding a sleepy mile two, where I ran a bit slow, I managed to run strongly throughout the entire race and caught 4-5 competitors the last mile or so. The course was simple and scenic. Starting out just south of the Santa Monica Pier looping back around to Ocean Ave before making a quick u-turn to finish at the Pier.

Somewhere the last mile. 

The lead group went out quickly but that wasn't where my race was going to be. I had no choice but to let them go and concentrate on staying positive and running within myself. I floated around 15th-20th place through most of the first half of the race before I could notice runners ahead of me tiring a bit. I knew the last 1200 or so of the course was going to be on a slight decline and I wanted to make sure my momentum was really picking up the last mile.
I counted 4-5 runners lined up ahead of me and set out to catch them one by one. I probably missed one or two but I came away with a solid effort and great weekend experience.

Steve Murdock and I had driven up from San Diego together and roomed the night before. We had some time to kill before check-out so we took our stuff down to the beach and cooled off in the waves. The ocean was a refreshing reminder that everything can start anew. As quickly as you can build something you can also wash it away, but, you can always rebuild it again. Just like my fitness slowly but surely continues to improve. I should always value my ability to train hard and race well, and I will.

A big thanks to the organizers of the Santa Monica 5000. They put on a great event in a great city. Hospitality was amazing and I definitely look forward to racing there again! Another shout out should go to Forest Braden and the UCLA Men's AND Women's cross country squads for both achieving top 25 rankings at the same time for the first time in school history. "Witness the Fitness" indeed! Great job crew!

Next up are two cross country races (at Cal State San Marcos and another locally in SD) before Thanksgiving festivities! Hope to see you out there!