Another decent week of training has gone by, with a lot of exciting races and event this weekend. The week started with a solid workout on Trina’s Loop in Flagstaff, then an early run on Tuesday before traveling out to Eugene for the US Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Wednesday was a pretty light day, prerace routine and packet pickup, then Thursday I raced in my first Outdoor Championship, the 10,000m. The race turned out to be very much like a fartlek run for me as our lap splits varied from 67 to 73 seconds every other lap. I was in great position with 1200m to go, however, I ran that 1200m in about 3:17, and that was only good enough for 14th place.
Looking back I kind of wish I had gone all out with 800m to go. It would have been unlikely that I would have finished in a podium spot, but I mostly likely could have finished higher in the field. That is something that I will hold onto and remember for future championships. Brauny and Scott had similar results as myself, they were 7th and 10th, respectively, neither was a spectacular result, but they weren’t terribly disappointed either.
The rest of the week has been very exciting. I got a lot of nice runs in and have been able to watch the championship races. Being a part of this Championship weekend has been something that I’ve dreamed about since I was in college. I finally made it eight years later.
Monday: AM: Workout at Trinas on my own. 1.5 miles in 7:33, 1 mile in 4:47, 1/2 mile in 2:15, 1/2 mile jog after each, 3 mile w/u, 3 mile c/d. 10.5 miles total.
PM: Easy run on my own from home. 4.5 miles in 29:55.
Tuesday: AM: Easy run from Home before traveling to Eugene. 8.5 miles in 57:03.
Wednesday: AM: Easy run (pre-race) with Scott and Brauny. 6 miles in 41:13
Thursday: AM: Shakeout Run. 3 miles in 20:21
PM: USA 10,000m race. Finished 14th in 28:57. 3 mile w/u, 3 mile c/d. 12 miles total.
Friday: AM: Ran with Adidas/Flotrack High School Group Run, South Eugene High School showed up. 5 miles in 32:58.
Saturday: AM: Ran with Adidas/Flotrack Girls Run (Run For Grete), 5 miles with them, then added on 7 miles with Danny Mercado. 11.5 miles in 1:20:35.
PM: Ran on my own after the races on Amazon trail. 6.5 miles in 41:43.
Sunday: AM: Ran on my own on Amazon trail, then out to Pre’s Trail. Ran in to Ryan Hall mid run. 12.5 miles in 1:20:35.
PM: Ran with Reneau, Shamus, and Megan out and back on Amazon Trails again. 7.5 miles in 47:25.
Week Total: 87 Miles with 4 doubles.
USATF Daegu Summit:
This past Friday morning, after my run Greg and I met with Team USA Officials, Team Coaches, Medical Staff, and Dr. Randy Wilber. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss travel to Daegu, altitude training, heat and humidity training, and strategies for running the marathon course in Daegu. Other athletes and coaches there were Mike Morgan, Kevin Hanson, Keith Hanson, Zoila Gomez, and Pete Rea.
One of the main topics covered was travel to Daegu. Most of us will arrive in Daegu, after 15+ hours of travel about 10 days before our event. We need to know how to avoid jet lag and how to make sure that we get on a regular schedule once we arrive at the World Championships. The most important thing that we can do during our flight is stay up the entire time. If we can do that, then we should be all set to sleep the night away once we arrive.
The Altitude studies that were being discussed and that were recommended for us to take into consideration, didn’t apply to me. The studies were mainly done on participants who live and train mostly at sea level and then go up to altitude periodically to get the training effect. I was told that there have not been any studies done on people who live and train year round at altitude. With so many Elite athletes training up here I would think they would try to get some studies going for that.
Next we talked about the course, which you can see from this map. It is a 3-loop course (2 x 15k, 1 x 12.195k) and has some rolling hills which are not very major. The highest point on the course compared to the lowest point is on 150ft. difference. It should be pretty nice for viewing as well as racing, with fluid stations every 5k, and mist stations 3 times each loop.
Lastly, we discussed in depth the importance of acclimatizing to the hot humid weather in South Korea. Typically during the time period in which the World Championship will be held it is between 82-98 degrees and 80-90% humidity, which gives it a heat index of over 110 degrees. That is hot, much hotter than I am typically going to train in. Since I view being at altitude more important than being in a hot and humid climate, I will be wearing multiple layers of clothing over the next 2 months to try to simulate what I will feel like in Daegu. I also will need to make sure I am sweating as much as possible and refueling all of that sweat I lost. Sounds like fun, yes?
Thanks for reading, see you next time!
Well now Snick,
ReplyDeleteLets talk Mario Cart. If you could choose only 1 character to compete as, and.... and Luigi was already taken, who would you choose? And before you ask, it would definitely be Mario Cart 64.
Well, Bowser is an obvious choice, where as he might not have the the start up speed, he carries great momentum, can bump and squash competitors very well. HOWever, I have always been partial to Yoshi, he's got the looks, he's got the speed, and he has a wicked long tongue. Either way, I would never want to play with any character against Mike Reneau in Mario Kart 64, since to my knowledge he is currently undefeated. Stupid Bouncing on the Turns trick. I hate Mike Reneau.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds ungodly hot -- will you all like slow down or run slower? Is that factored into your race planning?
ReplyDeleteHey nick - how do you replace carbs during long runs/the marathon? Do you use a customized drink? Gels?
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note, I was surprised during a track workout tonight when Dave Fier told me that the guy running repeat 400s at the OCC track was your brother, Mike. Small world!
Sounds like it was a crazy week for Team USA Arizona/ McMillan Elite. A lot of athletes departing. Wishing you the best, Nick... hopefully you can continue to find success under Greg.
ReplyDeleteMeggie, Good question topic, I'll cover that in my next blog.
ReplyDeleteSamblackbones, another good questions, I'll link that in with Meggie's in the next blog. And yes, my younger Brother went to OCC, and we have done out there a few times to run workouts. Easy track for us to get in and out of, and the coaches there are very accommodating. Tell Fier I say Hi.
Anonymous, yes it has been a big transition week for the team out here. Sad to see them all leave, but that is a big part of the a running career, I have done it myself. Athletes and Coaches need to find the best scenario for themselves. I wish them all luck in pursuing their dreams. And thank you for your well wishes.