This Week in Training (2 weeks)

Monday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
2x450 15 min rec; 4x200 3 min rec
78, 84; 34.6, 33.6, 33.4, 33.1

Tuesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
4x300 5 min rec
56-57s

Wednesday:
.5 mile at kids track meet

Thursday:
2 miles
4x45sec pickup

Friday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
3x150 2 min rec
26-27s
2x300

Saturday:
Meet
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
400m - 62.
200m - 28.
Yuck

Sunday:
Off

Monday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
2x[40-60-80-60-40] 3 min rec
4.6, 7.4, 10.6, 7.7, 4.8; 4.7, 7.5, 10.6, 7.7, 4.8

Tuesday:
2 mile run
5x hills repeats

Wednesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
3x[6x50] 20 sec rec

Thursday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
100-150-150-100-4x50
14.2, 21.1, 21.6, 14.7, 6.9, 6.8, 6.8, 6.7

Friday:
3x150 3 min rec; 6x40m starts
27.6, 27.4, 26.7

Saturday:
3 mile run
10x30s pickups 30 sec rec

Sunday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
5x100 5 min rec
14.2, 14.5, 14.4, 14.7, 14.5

I am definitely slow! I can't believe how slow my 100's and 150's are! I have got to get into the weightroom starting this week and I have to work on my speed. I used to do those 100's nearly a second faster! Aargh.

Holiday Cheer

Yesterday I celebrated Christmas with my extended family out in western MA, so the Christmas season is officially over. I hate to put my Christmas presents away b/c that means that Christmas is over, but I have to do it eventually. Before I put it away, I took a picture of all the awesome stuff that I got. Some highlights:
Rachel Hale Kitten and Paris calendars
Rocky, Rudolph and Aladdin DVD's
Christmas ornaments and quilt
Lots of Bath and Body stuff- mostly sweet pea and some apple
French books
Slippers
Yoga mat
And of course, many various giftcards!

I was very pleased with all of my presents and hope that everyone else liked theirs too!

This Week in Training

Monday:
2 miles
Core

Tuesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
1x300 12 min; 4x200 3 min
48.4; 33.9,33.7, 33.9, 33.7

Wednesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
4x300 5 min; 6x50 walk back
57.5, 57.5, 56.2, 58.0

Thursday:
Off

Friday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
3x150 3 min; 3x30
25.6, 26.1, 25.77

Saturday:
.5 mile wamrup, drills & strides
400m race - 62.57
200m race - 28.62

Sunday:
Snow day

The races didn't go quite as I had hoped, but it was my first race in 2 years, so rust is expected. Hopefully next week will go better. I also noticed in my races that I don't have that top gear, so I have to hit the weightroom more and do more top end speed work.

First Meet

Well, tomorrow is my first meet of the season, a BU mini meet. For anyone who hasn't done one of these or for anyone not from New England, these meets are awesome. They are totally low-key and lots of fun. There is a limited schedule of events, so the meet only takes a few hours and the BU track is awesome. I will go out on a limb and say that it is the best indoor track in the Northeast, and I've run on them all.

Since this is my first sprint race in two years or so, I'm very nervous. This whole week I've had that horrible nervous feeling in my stomach and it's not going away. I'm sure that it will be awful tomorrow. I'm sure that after I get a couple of meets under my belt I will feel better about it, but boy does it suck now. At any rate, my training has been going well, it's just a matter of getting race sharp and continuing the hard work.

Wish me luck!

The beautiful BU indoor track (from their website)

This week in Training

Monday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & stides
8x200 3 min; 4x150 2 min
(34.7, 35.1, 35.1, 35.6, 36.0, 34.2, 35.1, 34.5; 26.3, 26.0, 26.1, 26.5)
Core

Tuesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
1x300 20 min; 4x200 3 min
(45,9; 34.9, 34.4, 34.7, 34.5)
The 300 was a time trial for the team, so I went with the first group and then watched the rest of the team. It took a while, so the rest was a little longer than it should have been. But since it was basically all-out (on a tight 150m track) and not just fast, I figure that the extra 5 minutes were justified.

Wednesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
Extensive drill and flexibility work
4x100 strides, under control

Thursday:
Grad school

Friday:
3 mile run in the snow!
6 x 30sec pick-ups

Saturday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
2x3x50m walk back recovery
Plyo: Tuck, rocket, lunge, gerbocki and hurdle jumps

Sunday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
8x200 2 min; 4x150 90 sec (freezing outside!)
(37.7, 37.4, 36.2, 36.9, 36.6, 37.2,36.2, 37.4; 150's were at about 17sec/100)
.75 mile cooldown

This Week in Training

Monday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
6x200m 3 minute recovery
(34.06, 35.3, 35.0, 34.7, 34.7, 34.6)
Core

Tuesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
1x300 15 min rec; 4x200 3 min rec
(47.61; 35.2, 34.5, 33.8, 33.9)

Wednesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
4x300 5 min rec; 3x200 3 min rec
(57.8, 59.2, 56.4, 57.9; 37.1, 37.1, 36.1)
Body weight exercises

Thursday:
Grad school

Friday:
1 mile warmup
6 hill repeats
1 mile cooldown

Saturday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
8x50m walk back rec
Plyo: Tuck, rocket, lunge and gerbocki jumps

Sunday:
10 minute warmup
Weightlifting- continuing transition to MxS
Core

This week was the first week of indoor track, so I'm lucky to be inside now. It's starting to get really cold here. Yesterday I ran outside and it was freezing! About 18 degrees. So, it's nice to be inside, but it's a bit crazy. I ran for a small team in high school and post-college, so I'm not quite used to having 100 people running on the track all at once. There are so many girls in the sprint group that by the time I get around the track, the last group has just barely started! Then factor in the distance girls, plus all the boys and boy do you get some traffic jams. But hey, at least I'm inside.

This Week in Training

Monday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
6x200 3 min rec
(36.1, 37.1, 35.3, 37.0, 35.7, 36.3)

Tuesday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
1x300 15 min rec; 4x200 5 min rec
(51.17; 32.0, 33.6, 32.0, 33.5)

Wednesday:
.5 mile warmup, drills & strides
4x300 5 min rec; 3x200 3 min rec
(59.7, 57.9, 56.7, 56.8; 36.1, 36.2, 35.2)

Thursday (Thanksgiving!):
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
4x100 fast strides
.75 mile cooldown

Friday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
2x4x200 2 min rec, 5 min btw sets
(34.6, 34.7, 34.2, 35.2; 35.0, 35.7, 35.6, 35.7)
.75 mile cooldown

Saturday:
1o minute warmup on rowing machine
Weightlifting
Drills & Strides
6x50m with walk back rec

Sunday:
Off

Training was pretty hard this week. Every day except Thursday was cold (no higher than 45) and super windy! I was layered up like you wouldn't believe and never once was I too warm. I can't wait for Monday when I get to start training inside! No more 35 degree workouts, no more wind aided and wind retarded workouts, and no more layering! I'll be training with the high school team that I coach, or more likely I'll be training while I coach them, which can be tricky, but at least I'll be inside.

Looking Forward: 2007-2008 Season

I've been in track training mode since the middle of October, but my racing season officially begins in 3 weeks at the first BU Mini meet. I had been considering doing the first 2 meets of the season in New England, which are the next 2 weeks, but I'd like to get a little more training in before I jump into a meet. This season I'm going to be focusing on the 400, with a lot of 200 races in there to help me keep up with my speed.

My current PR's are 200 : 26.75 and 400 : 60.05 (AARGH!). Both of those were set in Indoor track, the 200 in 2004 and the 400 in 2005. Indoor track tends to be better for me because I usually take 2 graduate courses in the spring. I can usually make it through indoor training well before things go crazy in the spring. Luckily I'm almost done with my degree and I'll only be taking 1 course this spring.

My goals for this season are:
1. Train consistently all the way through July, when the last outdoor meets happen. I used to be able to do this no problem, but now with teaching, coaching and grad school, it can often be difficult to hit the track and the weightroom.

2. Run a PR or close to it in the 200. I'm not focusing that much of my training specifically on the 200, as I've done in the past, but you still have to be wicked fast in the 200 to run a good 400.

3. Break 59 in the 400. As I just said, in the past I focused my training on the 200 and just ran a few 400's, but this year I have my sights set on the 400. By the end of the season, I'd like to have a PR well under 59 seconds. Just how far below I can get really will depend on the quality of training that I can put in. I'm also trying a Clyde Hart inspired strength focus in my training, while still keeping some of my trademark speed work. Hopefully it will be enough!

To be honest, if I can reach these goals, that might be the end of my sprinting career. I've been doing it for 5 years post-college and I'm ready to move up. I've also got some goals for the 800, mile, 3K, and 5k that I'd like to take a shot at soon. So, this may be my last hurrah for the short events. I guess that it all depends on how the year goes. If I reach my goals, I may want to try for more, or maybe I'll just be ready to move on; we'll see!

This Week in Training

Monday:
3 miles easy

Tuesday:
Off

Wednesday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
1x300 (15 min recovery); 4x200 (5 min recovery)
(51.2; 33.4, 33.3, 34.4, 33.9)

Thursday:
Grad school

Friday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
2x500 (10 min recovery); 3x200 (3 min recovery)
1:35, 1:34; 36, 36, 36

Saturday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
3x3x30m

Sunday:
3 miles easy
core

Getting there. I'll definitely be ready on December 15 for my first meet. A few more weeks of consistency (which will be easy once I start coaching indoor track, since I'll have a guaranteed place to workout just about every day) and I'll be ready.

Ironman 70.3 World Championships

This weekend Janda and I traveled to Clearwater Beach, Florida for his last race of the season: 70.3 World Championships. As the defending 30-34 Age Group World Champion and after he season that he has had, there were a lot of expectations on Janda's shoulders and he came through beautifully. Not only did he repeat as 30-34 Age Group World Champion, he is now the overall Amateur World Champion! We figured that it would come down to him and a few other guys for the title, but you never know how the race is going to turn out until you cross that finish line.

We flew in early on Friday morning and after a false start to the east, we made it to Clearwater and Janda picked up his athlete packet. We then headed to our hotel, the Clearwater Beach Hilton, which was (no exaggeration) 200m from the transition area. When we checked in we found that not only was the hotel right next to transition, but we also had an awesome room. It was definitely one of the nicest hotels that we've stayed in.

Our hotel overlooking the transition

After a slight problem with a rear brake cable, Janda got all of his gear packed up and safely into transition. He finished his shake-out workouts and then we headed down to a local pizza place for dinner. Let's just say that it wasn't Gloucester pizza. After that we headed back to the room, relaxed and massaged until bed. I woke up a bunch of times due to the street noise, but thanks to a pair of hotel-provided earplugs, Janda slept the whole night through.

Clearwater Beach in the morning

At 4:55 I woke up with a nervous pit in my stomach. I swear that Janda's races make me more nervous than my own! 5 minutes later I woke him up and the day began. Janda got his bike stuff ready then we went to transition to double check his bike and gear. After that, because our hotel was so close, we headed back up to the room, checked the swim gear and then Janda suited up. We headed down to the start at about 6:45 so that Janda could warm-up and wait for his wave to go off at 7:45, 35 minutes after the pro men. After a warm-up swim, Janda headed into the corral to wait for his wave to begin. I watched the start and then headed across the beach to wait for him to come out of the water. 29 minutes later, Janda hit the beach with plenty of guys in front of him to catch.

Janda heading out on the bike

I watched him head out on the bike and as I was cheering him on I heard someone else yelling "Go Janda." Since he may be the only Janda in the world, I figured that it must be Liam, one of Janda's top young athletes and a fellow Gloucester native who has relocated to Texas. Sure enough, it was. So Liam and I grabbed a drink and headed out to the bridge to watch the bike and run. We had a while to wait for the pro men to start coming by, so we amused ourselves for about 45 minutes on the side of the road. Then the pro men started coming by; we could already tell that it was going to be quite a race. We watched them come by heading into transition and then running out over the bridge to Clearwater. A few pro women started to come by, so we knew that Janda would be in soon. As I'm leaning into the road looking for age group numbers on the back of cyclists legs, I feel a bike coming up on me. It was Janda and he was riding the curb so tight that I thought that he would take my head off. Liam and I were both unprepared and all that I managed to get a picture of was the pavement.

There were only a couple of 30-34 guys in front of Janda, and since the run is his best segment, I was confident that he'd overtake them soon. Liam and I crossed the median to watch the run more closely now and almost got knocked over by the wind and mirrors of the huge buses and trucks that were going by. You'd think that they would go slow because of the race, but apparently not. After Janda passed us, looking like a man with a mission, we headed up towards the 6 mile mark. As he came by the 6 mile mark, Janda had already taken the lead for his age group and we knew that he'd be fighting for the overall title. Janda headed toward the turn-around and Liam and I walked up to the 7 mile mark. Given his pace, we knew that he had a chance to set a PR and maybe break 3:56, so we shouted mad encouragement to him and then raced to the finish line to get a good spot.

On the run

We were also cheering on Liam's friend Kelly, who was in the women's 30-34 age group wave. She was on the cusp of a big breakthrough time too, so it was pretty exciting and nerve-wracking for us spectators. As we were watching those two running, we also got to see the top two men go by, neck and neck with a half-mile to go! What a race!

We got to the finish line, got a prime position and then the waiting began. After what seemed like hours, Janda finally came around the turn, sprinting for home. Official time : 3:58:01! We had to wait about an hour for the other age groups to finish to get his official place, but it was worth it. 1st amateur, 19th overall!

World Champion!

A few hours later, we all met up again at the banquet out on the beach at Sand Key Park. We certainly can't do that at home in New England in November! We hung out with Liam and Kelly as well as one of Janda's other up-and-comers Amanda Russell and her husband Matt. While I didn't love the food, the banquet was a lot of fun. We had some good company and Janda got to go up on stage again as World Champion! After the banquet ended, we all walked back down the beach to the hotel that Liam and Kelly were staying at and hung out as long as we could all stay awake: 10pm! Hey, it was a long day. Especially for Janda, Amanda and Kelly.

Amanda and Matt . ........................Kelly and Liam

Me and Janda

The whole day was great. Liam and I had a great time spectating, although I know that he would have rather been racing! We got to see all of the usual New England triathlon scene guys and girls and the weather ended up beautiful and warm.

Beautiful Clearwater Beach

For once, we didn't have to fly out ASAP, so we really got to relax on Sunday. We had breakfast at an awesome little diner, chilled on the beach and played mini-golf. Although Janda in the World Champion, I won at mini-golf at least! It was a close game, but I pulled it out in the end. We grabbed some dinner at the airport and then headed home. All in all, I'd say that it was one successful weekend.

This Week in Training

Monday :
.75 mile warmup and drills
6x100m strides
.75 mile cooldown

Tuesday:
1 mile warmup, drills & strides
2x500 (10 min recovery)
3x200 (3 min recovery)
(supposed to hit: 1:35-1:37; 38, 37, 36)
(actually hit: 1:37, 1:39; 35, 36, 37)

Wednesday:
1 mile warmup, drills & strides
4x300 (5 min recovery)
2x200 (3 min recovery)
(supposed to hit: 56; 37, 36)
(actually hit: 56, 56, 55, 57; 35, 37)

Thursday:
2 mile jog

Friday:
1 mile warmup, drills & strides
8x30-50m sprints
1 mile cooldown

Saturday & Sunday:
Watching Janda's race and relaxing with him after the race

Not quite a full week of training b/c of the trip to FL, but pretty good. I've started Clyde Hart's training. There are specific times to hit in each workout, so I"m doing my best. I think that it will get easier after a couple of weeks when I get used to pacing myself again. So far so good though.

This Week in Training

Monday:
3 mile easy run
12 minutes of Yoga (It made me nauseous!)

Tuesday:
1 mile warmup, drills & strides
Strides
1 hour Yoga video (no nausea this time)

Wednesday:
3 mile run
8x 30s hard/30s easy

Thursday:
Grad school

Friday:
3 mile easy run
1 hour Yoga video

Saturday:
Weightlifting

Sunday:
1 mile warmup
4x400 2 min recovery
(84.7, 81.4, 85.7, 84.3)
I would've done a couple more, but a little kids' soccer tournament arrived.

Next week I'm starting my 4 week Pre-Competitive cycle. I'm trying Clyde Hart's training plan/advice this year. The one thing that was lacking in my 400m fitness before was finishing strength and Hart's plan seems heavy on that, so I'm going to give it a shot. We'll see in December.

I'm also very inflexible nowadays, so I thought that I'd give yoga a shot. The first dvd that I got from the library is a little too out there for me, but I've ordered a couple more that are supposed to be more athlete oriented, focusing on the activity and not the philosophy.

This Week in Training

Monday:
3 mile run
Medicine Ball Core Work

Tuesday:
1 mile warmup, drills and strides
6x100m Ins&outs

Wednesday:
30 minute run

Thursday:
Grad School

Friday:
.75 mile warmup
6x200 (30s recovery)
37.6, 40.4, 40.8, 40.9, 42.3, 41.2

Saturday:
1 mile warmup, drills and strides
3x3x30m
Weightlifting

Sunday:
At Janda's race

One more week of pre-season training and then it's on!

A beautiful autumn day

This morning Janda and I headed out to Lowell this morning for one last training race before Clearwater. The Monster Dash Duathlon was a 5k run, 15 mile bike, 5k run; a lot shorter than Janda is used to! He looked great this morning, opening his system up and winning by five minutes.

It was a little bit windy and chilly this morning, but it was a beautiful fall day. Because this was a low-key tune-up race, I was able to relax and get in some of my homework done while he was racing. We hung around for a little while after the race, enjoying the weather and having a snack before heading home.

All's looking good for Clearwater. I can't wait for our trip! It's going to be an awesome end of the season celebration, hopefully capped with a great performance out on the roads!

This Week in Training

Monday:
3 mile easy run

Tuesday:
.75 mile warm-up, drills
3x3x30m
.75 mile cooldown

Wednesday:
.75 mile warm-up, drills
6x200 (30s rec)
(41.0, 41.7, 42.3, 42.1, 42.5, 40.1)
.75 mile cooldown

Thursday:
Grad School

Friday:
3 mile easy run
Medicine ball core work

Saturday:
1 mile warmup, drills
6x100m Ins&outs
Weightlifting

Sunday:
.75 mile warmup, drills
4x400 ( 2 min rec)
(81.8, 83.5,85.2, 82.9)
.75 mile cooldown

A real week of training! Things are on the right track.

This Week in Training

This week was so long and so busy that I don't even remember what I did at the beginning of the week! I haven't been keeping my usual log lately, since I'm in transition mode, so I have no idea what I did on Monday and Tuesday! At least one of those days was a 3 mile run.

Wednesday was Parent/Teacher Night, so I was at school from 7:15 til 9pm. I spent that day preparing for the speeches that I had to give to the parents and doing my homework for grad school.

Then on Thursday I had grad school, so I was at school from 7:15 til 3:45pm, then I drove to Cambridge and got that at 5:15, with just enough time to grab a snack, then I was in class from 5:30 to 7:30, after which I drove home, hit lots of traffic again and didn't get home until 8:30.

Each night last week I got a maximum of 6 hours of sleep, and on Thursday night about 4.5, so on Friday I was completely exhausted and didn't train, just took a nap. I did, however, do normal runs this weekend, although I was still tired.

Saturday:
1 mile warmup, drills & strides
3x3xflying 30's
Weightlifting

Sunday:
.75 mile warmup, drills & strides
4x400 (60 sec recovery)
.75 mile cooldown

While I was at the track on Saturday wishing that I was taking a nap, I decided that I need to be a lot more strict about my bedtime. It's all fine and good to get 6 hours of sleep, but I can't do that if I want to train. This year is all about PR's, so I need to focus on my training, which means that I need to focus on sleeping enough so that I can actually train without yawning myself to death.

This next week, I will be on my regular schedule, the schedule that I will follow all through the winter:

Monday: easy run
Tuesday : Hard MaxV
Wednesday: easy tempo/weight training
Thursday: off-Grad school
Friday: easy run
Saturday: Hard speed/weight training
Sunday: Easy tempo

The focus of the workouts will change, but that will be my format. It will work especially well in the fall when it is harder to find track time.

This Week in Training

Monday:
25 minute run

Tuesday:
Weightlifting - 3 sets of 10, moderate weight
Bench press, military press, upright row, lat pulldown
Squat, leg press, hamstring curl, stiff-leg deadlift

Wednesday:
1 mile warmup, drills & strides
6x100m ins&outs
1 mile cooldown

Thursday:
Grad school

Friday:
Off

Saturday:
1 mile warmup, drills & strides
3x3xflying 30's
1 mile cooldown

Sunday:
3 mile run

Getting back into the routine. This next week I should settle into my basic routine for the rest of pre-season. About four more weeks til my first pre-competitive phase.

True Sportsmen

For those of you who don't follow running, the world record in the men's marathon was set today in Berlin by the incomparable Haile Gebreselassie. He ran an unbelievable 2:04:26 to shave nearly 30 seconds off of Paul Tergat's record, set in Berlin in 2003.

Those two men are role models for all young athletes. Not only do they have amazing dedication and discipline in their training, they are also humble sportsmen. Check out the phone conversation between these two rivals after the race:

"Tergat was one of the first to congratulate him, calling from his native Kenya shortly after the race.

"Sorry Paul," Gebrselassie told him over the phone. "I think I had better conditions than when you ran the record. After 20 kilometers, I knew I could break the record, because I felt so good."

Tergat was happy that he lost his record to a good friend.

"That's sport, records are made to be broken," he said."

To read the whole article on MSN Fox Sports, click here.

This Week in Training

Well, school is in full swing, grad school has begun (2 courses: 1 French, 1 dumb- mandatory through my high school) and boy am I busy. I can't get enough sleep!

I felt great this week: got in some sprinting and weightlifting, plus I ran PR's on a couple of my training courses. Next week will be back full-time! Indoor track build-up consists of 3 track workouts, 2 tempo workouts and 2 easy runs, plus 2 days of weightlifting and medicine ball work on the other days. I can't wait!

Congratulations Janda

Up at 4:30 AM! But it was all worth it:

Janda won his first half Ironman of the season, down in CT at the Nutmeg State 1/2 Ironman. He had a good day all around, improving on his swim and running a stellar 1:17 1/2 marathon off the hilliest bike course that I have ever seen.

All in all it was a fun day and the weather was beautiful. Sabra (Para-Olympic sprinter headed to Beijing next summer!) and her dad came down to watch, so it was nice to have some company, especially since the bike was extra long and I had even more time on my hands than usual. The weather was so nice that after the race we hung out, chatted and had some food in the picnic area while lounging in the sun.

This Week in Training

More of the same.

No real workouts this week, just some tempo running to test out the legs. I've determined that the knee problem has little to do with how much I'm running and everything to do with how I moved my knee last, so it's back on. I'm going to do extra strength training and core work to try to correct this and any other muscular imbalances that I have.

So, about 3-4 miles most days this week. Next week: workouts and weights. Should be fun. T-minus 2 months til I start racing again. Come hell or high water I will make it through this season!

A New Bag

I saw this corduroy paisley fabric last month when I went shopping with my sister. I went back to the fabric store this past long weekend and got it and some satin to make a bag. I'm pretty sick of the bag that I normally carry to school, so I thought that I would try to make a new one. It came out pretty well, but I think that if I did it again i could definitely make it better and more easily.

This week in Training

More of the same.

I've been easing back into running, so as to not re-injure myself. I ran 3-4 miles most days, actually running my usual loops faster than I was before my short respite from running. This week will again be easy, but I'm going to start following my new indoor track build-up, so I'll be more structured and back on the track again. Hopefully this will be my last week of half-hearted training.

I've been quite busy with my free time though, and have almost finished a couple of projects, so in the next couple of days I should have finished products ready to be photographed and proudly displayed on the blog!

This Week in Training

All better!

Well, I hope so anyway.

I used the elliptical machine on Tuesday and it irritated my knee, so I said, if the elliptical machine hurts, I might as well run. Then something funny happened. I ran and my knee didn't hurt! It's official, I hate elliptical machines!

It seems like the down time, a week and a half, and maybe (but I doubt it) the elliptical machine helps because I ran 3 times this week and felt great each time. Next week I'm going to ease back into my normal weekly schedule and determine how much fitness I lost to decide if I should race another mile or just head into indoor track base training.

Janda's famous!

As a nice perk at the end of a long work week, Janda's interview came out on Ironmanlive.com today. He was interviewed last week by telephone and we have been waiting on the edge of our seat for it to be published!

Congratulations Janda!

Here's a link to the article.

Back to School

Well, the time has come. Tomorrow the kids come back to school and we begin another year. It seems like just yesterday that I was saying good-bye for the summer! It's very sad to see another summer come to an end, but it is always exciting to begin a new year. Hopefully it will be a good year!

This Week in Training

A recovery from injury week!

I didn't run at all and did use the elliptical 4 times. My knee pain didn't get any worse, but I want to make sure that it gets better ASAP. I've been icing twice a day, minimum and it seems to be working. I'm still not 100% sure what happened, but I've had similar pain before, so I basically know what to do.

I can use the elliptical with no pain, so I'm going to try to phase running back in next week and continue to elliptical every other day. I'm also going to start going the usual strengthening exercises to help make sure that the pain stays away once it's completely gone. I've also started doing a heck of a lot more core work, just for fun, and I'm enjoying working out with the medicine ball.

Hopefully next week I'll have more interesting workouts to report.

Who made the front page of the Salem News?

I did!

On the front page of Saturday's Salem News, there was a picture of me from the mile race on Friday night! It was a pretty good running picture, as far as running pictures go. I wasn't making a weird face or anything. I tried to post a link to the paper, but the website is confusing and I don't think that you can look at issues from last week. (If you can look at them, I couldn't figure it out anyway.) So, here's a picture of the picture of me on the front page- I'm on the right.

This Week in Training

Finally, a Race Week

Monday:
3 mile easy run

Tuesday:
1.5 mile warmup, drills
6x200m
1.5 mile cooldown
(Anticipating football season, I tried a different track today. It didn't work out. There were 4 finish lines, none of which seemed right to me. I'll just have to look for odd time to work out during football season.)

Wednesday:
3 mile easy run

Thursday:
2.x mile warmup, drills
4x100m strides, nice and easy
.75 mile cooldown

Friday:
1 mile warmup, drills
1 mile race: 5:49- 2nd place
(Very race rusty- went out way too easy! Picked it up at 800m mark and made sure that no one passed me! Next time, balls to the wall!)
1 mile cooldown

Saturday & Sunday:
(I tweaked my knee after the race, so took the weekend off. My knee felt fine during and after the race, but then I started to have a sharp pain that lasted from Friday night until Saturday night. Sat night I was eating a cookie at the table with my legs crossed and when I turned to look at the TV, my knee cracked. When I stood up a few minutes later, the pain was gone! I guess that my knee wasn't tracking properly and got popped back into place. My knee doesn't feel awesome, but I think that it will be better. It's time to start icing regularly and using the elliptical in place of a couple of runs.)

Timberman

This weekend Janda and I went to NH for one of his biggest races of the summer, Timberman 70.3. [For those reading this who don't follow triathlon, 70.3 is the distance of a Half-Ironman triathlon: 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of cycling and 13.1 miles of running.] We went to this race last summer, so it was really nice to go back to a race site that we had already been to before. It makes it a lot easier to get around and find everything.

When we got there early Saturday afternoon, it was extremely windy and cloudy, which made it very cool. Lake Winnipesaukee had white caps! We were staying at a friend's family's place right on the lake, so we were able to get settled in pretty well. After we got everything done that needs to be done the day before (picking up the registration packet, listening to the pre-race meeting, putting together and racking the bike in transition for its overnight stay and getting the race bag ready for the next day), we went to dinner with Janda's brother Corey and his girlfriend Cameran. We went to a pizza place called Giuseppe's in Meredith for a little carbo-loading. The wait was 1.5 hours! To avoid the wait, we decided to brave the cold out on the patio. The patio was somewhat protected by the buildings surrounding it, but it was quite a chilly meal. After dinner we chilled out back at the camper and then hit the sack at about 10, since we would be getting up at 4:30 the next morning.

When we woke up the next morning, it was obvious that the weather was better than the previous day- a lot less clouds and wind. We got to the race site at about 5:15 and got a great parking spot and then Janda started to get ready to race. It was great to have Corey and Cameran there at Timberman because usually at this point I'm by myself until the race is over. After janda was all settled in transition, we met him on the beach with his wetsuit and swim gear. By this time the sun was starting to peak out over the trees and it was getting a smidge warmer. We took some early morning pictures of the lake, wished Janda "Good luck!" and waited for his wave to go. Here we met up with Andy and Pilar, friends from Clearwater last year, who we hung out with on and off all day.

This year Janda was in the Elite Amateur wave, which took off only 2 minutes after the pros, so we didn't have to wait long. After we saw him get going, the three of us headed over to the swim finish to get splits and pictures when he came out of the water. For the first time in the swim portion of a race, I could tell which black-suited, swim-capped, goggled guy Janda was- he stood up way before everyone in his pack, still waist-deep and ran past them onto the sand. Only a true runner would do that, so I knew it was him!

We headed over to the transition to yell a few words of encouragement to him (it was hard with all the cow-bells clanging) and to let him know that he was right where he wanted to be in the race- not too far back, in a great position to start passing guys (and girls- the pro women started 2 minutes ahead of him). Now was the hardest part of the race for the spectators- the two hour wait for the guys to start arriving back from their 56 mile bike. Since it was still really chilly, Corey, Cameran and I found a nice spot of warm pavement and sat down to wait in the sun. Andy and Pilar joined us again and we began trying to figure out what Janda and the top guys would ride. I had two watches running, one with the pros time and one with Janda's, so we were trying to figure out when they'd be coming in again. Andy was pretty good, he guessed the top rider's time, Bjorn Andersson, down to the minute. Andersson is an awesome cyclist (at Timberman last year he beat everyone on the bike by a whopping 13 minutes!) so after him it was just a matter of waiting. Next came Simon Lessing, a top international level triathlete. After these 2, 6 more pros came into T2. Then we saw Janda coming in, hot on the tail of the 9th pro.

That meant that Janda was leading all the amateurs, and even better that he had passed all the pros (who had a 2 minute head start) but those 9! We were so excited for him. Corey, Andy and I all crossed the road to get a good position to cheer him on when he ran by coming out of T2. By the time he hit the road running, he had passed the 9th pro, so only 8 guys were on the road in front of him. The run was a double loop course, meaning that Janda and everyone else runs one 6.55 mile course twice. When they come in to make their second loop, the competitors run by transition again, so this time we waited less than 40 minutes to see him again. When he came by on his way out for the second loop, he had moved into a tie for 7th. Again, we lined the road to cheer him on and to let him know how he was doing. (This is especially important when you are in a triathlon with wave starts and competing against athletes who had a headstart and who you might never actually see on the race course.)

Now we headed down to the finish line to get good spots. As usual, since I'm pretty small and short, I have an easy time squeezing in and I got a spot about 20 ft from the finish. Again, another 40 minute wait! Finally guys started coming down the finishing chute. Despite an enormous lead off the bike, Andersson succumbed to Lessing's superior run. After 6 guys crossed the line, I finally saw Janda battling a pro down the finishing chute. Even though Janda didn't win the sprint this time, he did win the war (that 2 minute headstart again.) In fact, Janda also was fast enough to beat the 6th guy across the line, making him the 6th place overall finisher and the only amateur to crack the top 10!

We ran around the finish area to congratulate Janda. by this time the weather had picked up again, so I gathered up his stuff, gave his some warm clothes and he did what he does best- shooting the shit. He was chatting with the other pros for a while after the race, congratulating everybody (the people that beat him and the people that he beat) and just having a great time. Janda and I were at the race site until nearly 4:30, relaxing in the sun, which finally came back out, having some food, talking to other athletes and friends and attending the awards ceremony. Because Janda had the top time in his age-group, he qualified for 70.3 Worlds in Clearwater in November again. So, it looks like another trip to Florida for us!

JRM - 1st Amateur!

After the awards, we picked up the camper, took the long drive home and stopped at a friend's for a little barbeque action before finally heading home. It was a long weekend, but it definitely was fun.

This Week in Training

Monday:
30 minute run

Tuesday:
2.x mile warmup, drills
6x800, 3 minute recovery
(3:04.8, 3:06.2, 3:05.5, 3:07.8, 3:06.1, 3:10.8)
.75 mile cooldown

Wednesday:
3 mile recovery run

Thursday:
4 mile run

Friday:
2.x mile warmup, drills
1x800, 3 min rec; 6x400, 1 min rec; 4x100, walk back
(3:01.2; 85.6, 86.7, 87.6, 88.1, 89.3, 88.7; 15.8, 15.9, 15.5, 15.0)
.75 mile cooldown
Woke up tight, went to the track tight and ran tight! Some days you just don't have it.

Saturday:
6 mile run

Sunday:
Off

Next Friday is my first race, so next week will be a taper week and hopefully the race will go well!

The bookcase is done!

I made a bookcase to sit on top of Janda's desk, because his desk has no drawers, thus no storage. My dad and I have been working on it for a couple of weeks now and it's very exciting to be finished.

It was hard to get a good picture because the office isn't exactly huge, but it looks pretty good on top of his desk. It has definitely added some space to the top of his desk and that was the goal, so I guess that we can say mission accomplished!

Taco Night

Tonight we had one of my favorite meals: tacos! I'm not sure why, but I just love tacos.

This Week in Training

Monday:
3 mile recovery run
Core training

Tuesday:
2.x mile warmup, drills
4x800 3 min recovery
(3:00.3, 3:05.0, 3:19.6 (???), 3:05.5)
.75 mile cooldown

Wednesday:
4 mile recovery run

Thursday:
3 mile run
Core training

Friday:
2.x mile warmup, drills
1x800, 3 min rec; 4x400, 1 min rec; 4x100, walk back
(3:08.4; 81.1, 85.3, 82.6,83.6; 15.8, 15.7, 14.7, 15.1)
.75 mile cooldown

Saturday:
6 mile run

Sunday:
17 minute warmup
6x100 strides on grass
5 minute cooldown
(Ran in Lowell at Janda's triathlon)

This week I mixed up the order of my usual schedule b/c of my commitments on the weekend. This upcoming week will be the same.

Another week gone by!

Well, this week has flown by! I've kept myself busy working on a little carpentry project. Janda's desk is a little cluttered, so I'm making him a bookcase for the desktop to give him more room to store stuff. It's a bit of a surprise- he's knows that I'm making it, but no other details, so no pictures 'til he sees it. It should be ready sometime next week.

I went outlet shopping with the Pink Pirate today and got a few items to add to my catalog of running clothes. I added one red and purple Nike crop top and one pair of black and red Nike Tempo shorts (old style!) to my collection. If I had known how few other things I would find throughout the day, I probably would have bought some purple capri tights, but I guess I can live without them. I also got some work attire, a dress from Banana Republic and some shoes from Easy Spirit. It was a pretty successful day.

One last note: I ordered some sprint spikes from Eastbay a few weeks ago. These spikeswere too big, even though they were a half-size smaller than I usually wear, so I ordered a second pair that were another half-size smaller to see if they would fit. I was skeptical, so I kept the first pair in case and figured I would send back whichever pair fit the least. A customer service rep from Eastbay found out what happened through a customer feedback survey and I received an email from her today that the company is going to refund my shipping costs on the second pair! It's only $6.99, but I was very impressed by the customer service. I didn't ask for the money back, I certainly never expected it, but it was very nice to get that email.

Bottom line: this is another example of great customer service that I've gotten from Eastbay.

This Week in Training

A Recovery Week!!

Monday:
3 mile recovery run

Tuesday:
2 mile warmup, drills
6x400m @ normal 800m workout pace, 1 min rec (in racing flats)
(86.2, 91.3, 92.3, 91.6, 90.8, 93.9)
.75 mile cooldown

Wednesday:
4 mile recovery run

Thursday:
2 mile warmup, drills
6x100m strides
(15.7-15.9)
.75 mile cooldown

Friday:
4 mile recovery run

Saturday:
2 mile warmup, drills
8x200m @ normal 400m workout pace, 1 min rec (in racing flats)
(40.2, 41.7, 41.7, 41.1, 41.6, 41.9, 40.7)
.75 mile cooldown

Sunday:
5 mile run

My Obsession

I was at the track the other day with another sprinter, Sabra (a paraolympic national team member and national record holder in the 100 and 200!) and we had a long conversation about buying running clothes and shoes. There is nothing in the world I like to buy more than running clothes and shoes. Sabra also likes to buy running stuff, but she seems to have it under control. This conversation lead me to look at my running clothes collection. First of all, let me say that I prefer Nike and adidas apparel above all. Say what you want about the companies, they design the best-fitting and best-looking stuff on the whole. I've also been a Nike shoe girl, but recently I stockpiled some awesome Asics that were on mega-sale.

In my inventory, I have 10 pairs of running shorts, 5 pairs of capri tights, 5 pairs of full-length tights, 5 pairs of running pants, 3 crop tops, 14 tank tops, 6 short-sleeved shirts, 10 long-sleeved shirts, 5 half-zip pullovers and 3 fleece vests. Of course, as with all other clothing, I have favorites that get worn more than the others, but in general, I'd say that almost everything is worn regularly during its season. Here are a couple of my favorites from the current season:

A Nike top and shorts- cute and comfortable.


And of course, can't go anywhere without my Asics!

Even though I know that I have enough running stuff, I'm sure that I'll find some more stuff on sale that I just have to buy! So that's my obsession, what's yours?

August

Well, it's the time of summer when I realize that I have to go back to work in less than a month so now I want to cram every last thing that I can into these next few weeks. Now that Janda is back in full-tilt training and racing, the late spring, summer and fall are very busy. After a hard month of training in July, he is getting ready for some important races, so we will be traveling a few times in August and then the fall. So, not only am I trying to cram all of my stuff in, I'm also going to be going to races with Janda.


One thing that I really want to get done is a vest that I have been working on since June. It's taking a while because I am much shorter than the average person and I had to rip out a lot of the vest after it became clear that it was way too big. But, I did finish the front last week and have started on the back. It looks weird right now, more like a halter top than a vest, but I'm sure that the finished product will be great. (fingers crossed!)

Hopefully I will get most of the things that I want to do done before I have to go back to school. Either way, I have a feeling that it will be an exciting month.

This week in training

Monday
Off

Tuesday
2.x mile warmup, drills
4x800, 3 min rec (in racing flats)
(3:07.5, 3:07.6, 3:09.3, 3:04.2)
.75 mile cooldown
Weightlifting (general)

Wednesday
4 mile recovery run

Thursday
2.x mile warmup, drills
4x100, 3 min rec (in sprint spikes)
(14.9, 14.9, 14.6, 14.2)
.75 mile cooldown

Friday
3 mile recovery run

Saturday
2.x mile warmup, drills
1x800, 3 min rec; 5x400, 1 min rec; 4x100, 3 min rec (in racing flats)
(2:59.6; 82.6, 87.5, 85.3 87.4, 89.0; 16.0, 15.2, 15.0, 14.9)
[very HUMID- legs felt good, lungs felt bad]
.75 mile cooldown
Weightlifting (general)

Sunday
5.5 mile run

Taste of Cambridge

Last night Janda and I went to the Taste of Cambridge at Technology Park in Cambridge. With a lot of beach traffic leaving Gloucester and slightly confusing roads in Cambridge, it took us a while to get there, but it was worth the wait. The event was planned for last Thursday, but was postponed due to rain. Janda and I were both happy to see sun on the forecast for yesterday and we weren't disappointed as the evening turned out to be gorgeous. The park itself was very nice, with a lot of shade-giving trees and an open common in the middle.

When we got to the park, we were amazed to see how many stations were set up. It was almost overwhelming. There was an abundance of food and drink in every variety imaginable. You could get several types of ethnic foods, as well as many desserts and appetizers. There were also local flavored waters, sodas, beer and wine available. Our ticket allowed us one stop at each vendor, but only about 1/3 of the vendors were keeping track, so we could have gone back for seconds or thirds- not that we had room for that!

The food was all very good and also very pleasing to the eye. Here are a few of the dishes that we sampled:

A taquito with nachos and guacamole from Jose's. A lemon tart with blueberries from Trader Joe's.

A chicken/vegetable nacho from Ole. Asparagus gazpacho and a mango/prosciutto bite from the Grafton Street Pub.

My favorites:

A free-range marinated chicken leg from Redline. A blueberry shortcake from Henrietta's Table.

Janda's favorites:

.

A braised scallop with a mango salad from Lingo (?). A rich chocolate mousse from Finale.

.

All in all, I thought that it was a great event. How can you go wrong with so much food? There was a live jazz band playing in the background, plus a bunch of tables set up and plenty of grass to lounge on. I was worried that with Janda's appetite, he wouldn't have enough food, but the portions were generous and there were many places that you could go back to for seconds. As a final seal of approval, Janda and I both agreed that we would go back and do it again.

Dinner at the beach

Today I ran early, at 8am, because I was meeting a teacher friend of mine in Salem at 10. Even though it was rather early, it was already hot hot hot! After a week of lackluster weather, summer is returning- and should stick around until the weekend at least.

So at the end a long, hot day (and a very long, hard day of training for Janda), Janda and I decided to pick up some dinner and bring some snacks to the beach. It was still very warm out and the beach was beautiful when we got there. There were still tons of people there enjoying the evening. We ate dinner and relaxed until the sun began to set.

Birthday presents

Here are my birthday presents:

From Janda's mom, I got a Harry Potter journal and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor beans. The box contains the following flavors: Earwax, Booger, Sausage, Black Pepper, Vomit, Dirt, Soap, Rotten Egg, Pickle and Earthworm. We were all curious to taste them, so I started handing them out. I was nice and everyone got not-entirely-revolting flavors to start. Then it got serious. Earwax and Booger actually weren't that bad, more salty. Next came vomit. After a couple of tentative chews, you really get the full effect. I'm not sure that it tasted exactly like vomit, but it was pretty darn gross and we all spit them out. The last flavor was Rotten Egg. After one bite my mouth was filled with the most disgusting flavor imaginable. Again, I'm not sure that it was exactly like rotten eggs, since I have avoided tasting them until now, but it was at least 5 times more gross than the vomit jelly bean. So, if you ever buy Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, give Rotten Egg to your least favorite friend.

Then yesterday I (finally!!) got Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. My parents held out on me until the end of the day, so I was up until 1am reading it, but it was worth it. The book was wonderful and sad; I really thought it was a very good ending to the series. I also got movie tickets to go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and an Eiffel Tower statue for my desk.

All in all I got some great presents and two great cakes, one from my parents and a personal sized cake from my friend Sarah at the cookout the other night. There was a definite Harry Potter theme to my birthday, but that's not surprising since a) I love Harry Potter and b) both the movie and the book came out right around my birthday. Actually the books alwyas seemed to come out around my birthday. I'm just lucky I guess.

This week in training

Monday:

4 mile easy recovery run

Tuesday:

2.x mile warmup, drills & strides
4x800m, 3 min rec (in racing flats)
3:08.3, 3:10.4, 3:11.6, 3:17.5
.75 mile cooldown
Weightlifting (General)

Wednesday:

3 mile easy recovery run

Thursday:

2.x mile warmup, drills & strides
4x100m strides (in trainers)
15.8, 15.8, 15.9, 15.8
.75 mile cooldown

Friday:

4 mile easy recovery run

Saturday:

2.x mile warmup, drills & strides
1x800m, 3 min rec, 4x400m 1 min, 4x100m walk-back (in racing flats)
2:58; 84.5, 84.7, 84.8, 84.3; 16.5, 16.0, 16.1, 15.3
.75 mile cooldown

Weightlifting (General)

.

Sunday:

5.5 mile run

***

.

Since I plan to sprint next winter, I'm trying to keep my mileage pretty low, even though I'm training for the mile. I'm going to stay below 35 miles per week this summer. I just started doing interval work the past 3 weeks, so eventually my interval workouts will be about 3 miles total rather than the 2 I'm getting in now.

It's my birthday!

Another year has gone by and I'm 28. Hard to believe, but it's true.

My birthday is pretty busy this year, mostly with things unrelated to my birthday. I have an interval session planned for the track this morning. Hopefully the football players are done with the stadium for the week, since they seem to be completely unwilling to share- even the parts that they're not using! Later this afternoon I have to do a little GPP lifting. Janda and I are attending a cookout (not in honor of me) late this afternoon, so I have to prepare a couple of quick dishes for that.

The most important thing that I am doing today, however, is this: diligently avoiding any Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows spoilers that may be lurking on the internet until I get a chance to read it myself. Of course, people have been posting their speculations over what would happen and who will die ever since the last book came out, but I have been avoiding speculating so that I won't have any hopes or pre-conceived notions when I read the book. So, if you know what happens- don't tell me! ;)

Well, I'm off to enjoy my birthday.

Good Harbor Beach

After my run this morning, I settled in to do some work around the apartment. Around 3 Janda and I headed down to the beach where he was going to do an ocean swim. He met up with several fellow swimmers (the usual suspects- Richie, Juile and Beth and also another swimmer Mari) and headed out for a long distance swim. Since I'm not a very good swimmer, I hang out at the beach and chill while they swim.

Good Harbor Beach- The Island

It wasn't a super-sunny day, but it still was nice to hang out at the beach.

Presents

Ok, so I didn't really get any presents today, but since I ordered some things online on Monday and received them today it felt like I got some presents.



I ordered some Debbie Bliss Pure Silk yarn from Loop, a yarn store in Philadelphia(Loopyarn.com). I saw the yarn in Boston last week with my mom and found it on sale at this store. I can't say enough about the service that Loop provided. I ordered my yarn on Monday and received notice that same day that they had shipped it. It came today, wrapped in blue tissue paper (inside the package) with a hand-written note. I was so pleased with the service that I'm probably going to order some more for a couple other little projects.

I also ordered a couple of pairs of shorts on Monday, from Altrec.com. They also arrived today, all the way from Oregon. The best part is that they have a free shipping deal going on right now, so I just paid for the shorts, which were both on sale. I loved them both- they actually fit, so I'm very pleased.

Now I just have to wait for the aforementioned shoes to come. I ordered the second pair, on the advice of Michelle, so I guess that I'll have to make some room in the closet!