Training Update 6/12/11

Another week has gone by and I am glad that it is behind me. The week started off with a bang, as I woke up Monday morning and did a 6 mile workout on my own in the howling winds of Flagstaff. It wasn’t too difficult though, just a fartlek. Then Wednesday I had some 300s, which I did with the rest of the guys who were heading out to the US 8k with me, and I got destroyed. I ran what I thought was fast, but those guys put the hurt on me.

Then Thursday I left for Carmel, Indiana for the US 8k Championships and once there I went to the Tom Wood Jaguar Volvo Landrover showroom for the Carmel Marathon Championship Weekend State of the Event Address Cocktail Hour. There I met with Race Management, City of Carmel Officials, Event Sponsors and Partners, and other elites; Steven Haas, Josef Ghebray and Laura Farley. It was a nice social gathering, one of the first I have been to, and it was a pleasure to talk with the people behind the scenes and event sponsors, without which, we would not have a race to run.

            Saturday was race day, and that went nothing like I had hoped. My legs and body felt bad from the first strides of the race. I only was able to stay with the lead group through a mile and a half, before slowly fading back to 18^th place by the finish. I ran a 24:36, which was a minute and a half behind winner, Bobby Mack, who ran a very impressive race to get his first US championship. I was also glad to see teammates Aaron Braun (2^nd), Scott Smith (9^th), and Jordan Horn(12^th) run well. As for myself, it was disappointing, but I’m still building toward bigger goals, so I just need to brush it off and train for the next one.

Training Log:

Monday:            AM: Workout, Fartlek, 15 x 1 min on, 2 min off; 3 mile w/u, 3 mile c/d. 12 miles total.

                        PM: Easy run after core from YMCA. 4.5 miles in 30:06.

Tuesday:           AM: Easy run with guys from Greg’s House, 8.5 miles in 59:52.

Wednesday:       AM: Workout: 6 x 300 at 85-100%, 4 minutes between each. Times = 45.82, 45.31, 43.25, 43.13, 42.43, 45.68. 3 mile w/u, 3 mile c/d. 9 miles total.

                        PM: Easy run from home. 4.5 miles in 30:16.

Thursday:          AM: Easy run before flight to Indiana. 4.5 miles in 30:36

Friday:              AM: Easy run, prerace in Indiana with the guys. 5 miles in 35:41

Saturday:           AM: Race Morning – 10 minute shakeout at 5:30am. 3 mile w/u, Race at 8:30 am – 8k in 24:36 for 18^th place, 3 mile c/d. 12 miles total.

Sunday:             AM: Distance run, Lowell Mesa by myself. 12 miles in 1:16:05.

Week Total: 72 miles

Questions Answered:

In my last blog Maru asked: Hi nick,
very good training blog.

Questions: typical daily routine?

My typical routine, is pretty simple: wake up, eat, run, eat, sleep, eat, run, eat, sleep. On a given day those are the major points. But here is a more detailed breakdown of how things go:

6:45am – wake up, make light pre-run breakfast

8:00am – Drive to meet the team for practice

8:30am – Run (MW - workout, TuThF - distance run, Sa - Workout or Long run, Su - on own)

10:30am – Return home, make breakfast

11:30am – Relax and/or Nap

1:00pm – Lunch

3:00pm – Monday and Thursdays only core work at the YMCA

4:00pm – 2^nd run

6:00pm – Dinner

8:00pm – Dessert

10:00pm – Get to bed.

That is the general breakdown of the main tasks that I find important each day. Throughout the week I will spend a lot of time relaxing and recovering. I also will get out each day and run whatever errands I have and will clean up around the house. I just moved in to my new place, so there are still quite a few things that need to be done and straightened up. I do not have a job outside of running, so I have a lot of free time, which has been very nice.

I hope that answers your question. Let me know if there is anything else you would like me to share.

Nick