Training Log 2008 10-12

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Wednesday (12-31) 74 min. - Ran to work in the morning in 4 inches of snow or more where it drifted or was plowed up along the side of the roads. I got a good workout slogging through. The bad part is rarely expected because if it was expected, it could be mitigated. The temperature was no problem. The stinging sand-like ice being blown into my eyes was the problem. I had my face mask on, but my eyes were uncovered. And then I had a problem with my facemask: the condensation from my breath froze the bottom of the facemask. It froze the bottom portion in a semi-constricted position such that I couldn't pull it up over my head! A little thawing and a lot of yanking got it off.

Tuesday (12-30) 63 min. - Ran home from work. Felt pretty good. The weather forecast calls for lots of snow tonight, but now I'm committed. I have to get back to work (and to my car) tomorrow.

Monday (12-29) 62 min. - Ran down Beecher-Gamble in Ohio. It was warm for a windswept plain next to a highway. Stretched afterwards.

Sunday (12-28-2008) 0 min. - Trip to Ohio back from Chicago.

Saturday (12-27) 66 min. - Ran fast along the lakeshore in Chicago. Intense wind in the windy city.

Friday (12-26) 0 min. - Trip to Chicago.

Thursday (12-25) 42 min. - Ran in backyard and down Beecher-Gamble. Moderately fast run.

Wednesday (12-24) 0 min. - Trip to Ohio from Rochester.

Tuesday (12-23) 0 min. - No excuse.

Monday (12-22) 60 min. - Elliptical with weights, then core and stretching, then a high-rep workout on the exercise bike. Little cool down at the end.

Sunday (12-21-2008) 0 min. - Sledding at Cobbs Hill (hill climbing workout?). Awesome.

Saturday (12-20) 64 min. - Ran down a snow covered greenway with End, Hine, and Pauling. Turned on to the road in the middle to give our legs a break from the snow. Turns out the road has some monster hills on it. It would make a good workout route.

Friday (12-19) 0 min. - Yoga.

Thursday (12-18) 30 min. - I meant to run longer, felt good, until the monster got me. I did a very decent session of yoga afterwards.

Wednesday (12-17) 0 min. - Writer's meeting.

Tuesday (12-16) 45 min. - Ran along U of R campus. It was very cold, but I bundled up with face mask and all. It was actually a much faster run than I intended, because I was angry, at work. I didn't feel very sore after Saturday's race until I ran hard today. Turns out I'm pretty damn sore.

Monday (12-15) 0 min. - Some yoga, maybe 10 min of it.

Sunday (12-14-2008) 0 min. - Flights back to Rochester.

Saturday (12-13) 55 min. - XC Club Nationals in Spokane, WA. Estimated total running time including "warm" up and cool down: 55 min.

Friday (12-12) 45 min. - Preview run on the course in Spokane. I also iced my knee though it felt fine.

Thursday (12-11) 0 min. - Flight to Spokane, WA for XC Club Nats.

Wednesday (12-10) 46 min. - Ran along U of R with one long stretch break in the middle. Ran fairly fast, but easy.

Tuesday (12-09) 49 min. - Ran along U of R campus. warm up and cooldown, between which, most of the open men headed to Nationals did 8 x 30 sec fast with 60 sec recovery. Idiotically most of us wore all black and ran in the roads. Nick End encouraged us to flap our arms to "look big" for oncoming cars. We survived, but I am not conceding that our lives are owed to Nick's tactics.
My knee felt surprisingly good. It didn't feel healthy, but it didn't hurt badly at all. Good signs. Good sings.

Monday (12-08) 0 min. - Long Yoga session and I iced my knee. I meant to do elliptical today, but when I arrived at the gym I realized I had forgotten my workout clothes. Oh well, I should be tapering anyway. The knee felt bad today. Lots of lingering pain. Hopefully I didn't blow it up again yesterday.

Sunday (12-07-08) 62 min. - Yoga in the morning, then around noon I ran on the greenway. Hard steady state. Strong wind that started in my face then moved to the side to push me off balance for the rest of the run. I was completely covered today, even my eyes. Cold. Knee pain peaked after 20 min and then would alternate between feeling better and worse. Disturbingly the pain lingered after the run.

Saturday (12-06) 56 min. - Ran on the Genessee Greenway. Put in a 15 min uptempo portion, then a 9 minute uptempo portion after about 10 minutes of rest. I feel sluggish, but the knee didn't hurt as much as I had feared it would today, even on the modestly uneven trail.

Friday (12-05) 76 min. - 61 min of fartlek with arm weights on the elliptical. Then 12 minutes at a modest pace on the treadmill. 3 min cool down. The knee felt OK.

Thursday (12-04) 55 min. - I ran again. The knee still hurts, but it's not so bad. After about 20 min of warm up I did 3 x 1000 on the track. Everything feels sluggish and effortful and I was sore afterwards even though I didn't work out so hard. The good news is after I stopped running the knee felt better relatively quickly. Also, it seems that clockwise turns hurt less than counterclockwise turns. After the 1000's I did two 100m striders and a cooldown.

Wednesday (12-03) 40 min. - Did a test run. Started slow, sped up after about 10 min. The knee hurts still. It's not un-runnable, but it hurts pretty bad.

Tuesday (12-02) 0 min. - Dr. Reinhardt worked on my knee.

Monday (12-01) 71 min. - 60 min on the elliptical at varying speeds, resistances, and inclines, with arm weights. I meant to only use the elliptical as a warm up and then try running, but the treadmills were jam packed with Turkey-eaters worried about gaining a pound. I finally got on a treadmill and ran at 7 mph pace. The knee felt "sensitive". It didn't hurt, but it also didn't feel natural, almost like it wasn't tracking properly and could burst into pain at any moment. Actually, both knees felt this way. Maybe they just felt weird from being on the elliptical too long. Hopefully so.

Sunday (11-30-2008) 0 min. - Drove to Rochester from Ohio.

Saturday (11-29) 42 min. - 42 min on a recumbent bike with arm weights. Also vigorous pushups, crunches, and core afterwards.

Friday (11-28) 60 min. - 15 min warmup going pretty hard on the worst elliptical I have ever experienced. I also used hand weights. Then 45 min aqua running. I don't think my knee liked the aqua running, but, perhaps stupidly, I went ahead and finished the workout.

Thursday (11-27) 66 min. - True to my word I did not run the Turkey Trot, since it was deemed "not worth the risk on my knee". I did, however, walk it, which was relaxing, but a little frustrating to be around the slowest of the slow. Quote of the day from a power-walker moving past me, "Just think, after this we'll really be prepared to get those bargains fast tomorrow!" Anyway, this 4 mile walk is not the 66 minutes, though it did take about that long. Afterwards I got on an upright stationary bike and worked pretty hard aerobically. My knee did not seem to like this, but it also didn't protest too much. Having no other option but to do absolutely nothing, I plowed ahead and finished the workout.

Wednesday (11-26) 0 min. - Drove home to Ohio.

Tuesday (11-25) 75 min. - Workout at the gym. No running.

Monday (11-24) 75 min. - Workout at the gym. No running .

Sunday (11-23-2008) 75 min. - 15 min vigorous warm up on the recumbent bike, stretching, then 60 minutes on the elliptical. Sort of a fartlek workout with long (usually 6 minute) intervals of either increased resistance, climb, or both. No arms today, they are hurting.

Saturday (11-22) 77 min. - 15 min vigorous warm up on the elliptical with arm weights, then stretching, crunches, pillar, pushups, supermans, and pullups. Lastly 60 minutes on the recumbent bike with quick turnover and mind numbing television.

Friday (11-21) 75 min. - 15 min elliptical, stretches, pushups, crunches, pillar, supermans. Then 15 bike, 30 elliptical, 15 bike.

Thursday (11-20) 70 min. - Back to alternative training after the knee flare up. It's a good thing I won this five month membership to PHA. 15 min vigorous warm up on elliptical with 2 x 3 lb hand weights. Crunches, pillar, pushups, and "quick" yoga. 15 min exercise bike. 20 min elliptical with the weights. 20 minutes hard on exercise bike the last 5 min of which were a cool down.

Wednesday (11-19) 31 min. - Bad news about my knee. I ran a 15 minute out and back and it would have been shorter if I'd known my knee was going to hurt so much. It almost felt psychosomatic, like my foul mood was locked in my knee. It's dark and cold outside. I don't see the sun all day long. I did situps and push ups after the run.

Tuesday (11-18) 60 min. - Visited Dr. Reinhardt about my knee pain. He said it's my infrapatellar tendon. It's minor, should get better soon. After that I went to PHA since winter has come suddenly with its darkness and snow. 15 min exercise bike, crunches, pillar, lunges with weights, push ups, 45 min on the elliptical with 3 lb arm weights while watching Walker Texas Ranger. That show is mind-numbingly stupid.

Monday (11-17) 0 min. - Had to work late. Grrrr.

Sunday (11-16-2008) 70 min. - 5th and final GVH Upstate XC Series race at FLCC.

Saturday (11-15) 51 min. - Ran on the greenway. Moderate run with a few striders thrown in.

Friday (11-14) 0 min. - 2 hours at a Barnes & Noble with a nice girl, then beer and pizze while losing at Poker, then Gears of War 2 until well past my bedtime. How's that for the life of a runner?

Thursday (11-13) 70 min. - I have no recollection of what I did this day, but I can reason that it was at U of R with Fontana and Pauling. Now it begins to come back to me. Something like 3 x 800. A good tune up for Sunday.

Wednesday (11-12) 0 min. - Writing class.

Tuesday (11-11) 136 min. - Ran to work in the am, not too fast. Good steady run. 62 min. Then in the evening I ran a track workout with GVH at U of R. After a warm up we ran a modest 800, then the workout, which consisted of 2 sets of 4 x 400 near mile pace with 200 jog inbetween and 400 jog between the sets. I started off at 70 seconds for the first two. Pressed down to 69, 68. Then in the second set: 68, 68, 67, 66. A rather good cut down. We finished up with 3 min, 2 min, 1 min at an increasing pace. My legs felt heavy towards the end and mentally I was struggling to keep pushing the pace. Also, my left knee was really hurting on the turns. I'm not sure what I did to it, but I iced it afterwards. 74 min for the pm workout.

Monday (11-10) 61 min. - Ran home from work. Did karaokes and other drills and form running. Ran quickly to warm up. It was very cold. Did hip stretch, and some lunges, sit ups, pushups after.

Sunday (11-9-2008) 50 min. - 4th GVH Upstate XC Series race. A 6K race on a nice rolling, twisting, all-terrain XC course. I won fairly easily.

Saturday (11-8) 28 min. - Easy brisk run on the greenway. Hip stretch, push ups, and situps after.

Friday (11-7) 61 min. - Ran to work in the morning. Kept it slow and careful. I felt micro tears in my calves, but nothing too bad, nothing like the torture of last night.

Thursday (11-6) 136 min. - Yes, no mistake, I ran for 2 hours and 16 minutes on a Thursday... and it was awful. First I ran from work to the U of R track. I ran a little faster than normal because I didn't want to be too late to GVH practice. I arrived at the track in 40 minutes having already stopped twice to crap in the bushes. That's a bad sign already, but my bowels didn't feel too bad and I thought I could make it through. The workout was 2 x 20 min at tempo pace, which we decided was more of less 80 second quarters. Nick and Fontana and I rolled around the track with exlax-smooth movements. I started to feel pain towards the end of the first 20 that had nothing to do with my legs or lungs. After that set I hit the bathroom. Barely 6 min into the second set I had to cut out and run to the bathroom. I came back to the track and got right back into the run. I barely finished then ran straight back to the bathroom.

It was one of the worst feelings in the world: immediate compelling diarrhea while running, instant constipation as soon as I stopped running. I then had to run home from the track, which seemed to take forever. Foresightfully, I had packed plenty of tissue paper into one of the gloves I was wearing. I felt sick and awful the rest of the night. I didn't even want to eat, but I had just run over 2 hours and I had to run to work the next morning because that's where I had left my car. I just wanted the pain to end.

Wednesday (11-5) 0 min. - Writing class.

Tuesday (11-4) 118 min. - Ran to work in the am with a brief detour to vote. Slowish run. Time: 62 min. Ran a workout in the evening at the U of R track with Pauling and Fontana. After the warm up we ran a 2400 in 7:45. That was practically a warm up compared to the second 2400 we did 2 min later in 7:21 (sub 5 min mile pace). That wasn't terrible, but next we ran 1 min on, 30 sec jog, 2 min on, 1 min jog, 3 min on, at 5k pace. That was brutal and the monster jumped me. I managed to do another 30 seconds then one minute at a fast pace before I had to call it a day. Time on the second workout: 56 min.

Monday (11-3) 61 min. - Ran home from work at a steady, but relatively fast pace. Hip stretch, core, and pushups.

Sunday (11-2-2008) 120 min. - Ran in Mendon Ponds by myself. A very long run and I wasn't feeling too fresh, but I ran relatively slow so it felt alright. I stretched afterwards, but my hips are still sore.

Saturday (11-1) 60 min. - Ran on the Greenway. 4 x 7 min at tempo, with 1 min jog inbetween. The "tempo" pace slowed over the course of this run. After I stretched and did pushups, crunches, and core.

Friday (10-31) 59 min. - Ran steady pace on the Greenway. I felt like crap. Pushups and crunches afterwards.

Thursday (10-30) 70 min. - Workout at Genesee Valley Park with Fontana. Warm up, 2 x 18 min tempo (90 sec jog between), then 6 x 1 min fast with 90 sec recovery, and a short cool down. It's a miracle I didn't twist an ankle or run into a tree it got so dark. Afterwards I did some hip stretches, pushups, and crunches. p.s. Is "afterwards" not a word? Spell check keeps underlining it in red. That's really annoying.

Wednesday (10-29) 0 min. - Writing class.

Tuesday (10-28) 61 min. - Ran to work in the morning.

Monday (10-27) 62 min. - Ran home from work. Nice and casual. Did hip stretches afterwards, and crunches, pushups.

Sunday (10-26-2008) 70 min. - Warm up, cool down, and Mayor's Cup 8k in Franklin Park.

Saturday (10-25) 38 min. - Ran the race course at Franklin Park.

Friday (10-24) 61 min. - Smooth run down the Greenway. Smooth as ice, or butter, or whatever. Started slow. Picked up into it. Made it back just before I couldn't see my feet. Felt like it was downhill both ways.

Thursday (10-23) 65 min. - Moderate workout at Genesee valley park. warm up. one easy 800. 4 x tempo 800's with 30 sec rest. then 6 x 1 min at 5k with 2 min rest. An fairly easy run, but Fontana, Nick, and I found a way to make it challenging (going too fast).

Wednesday (10-22) 0 min. - writing class.

Tuesday (10-21) 70 min. - Fricking freezing cold run with GVH at Cobb's hill. Cold rain, the kind that thinks it's snow, and me with pants ready to soak it up. At least I wasn't Pauling in a sweatshirt. What was he thinking? workout was 4 x 1200 at whatever pace. It was supposed to be fast, but my legs were wrecked from last the race saturday.

Monday (10-20) 0 min. - Yoga with Rainbeau.

Sunday (10-19-2008) 70 min. - Ran Ingraham with the team. It was painful. Every muscle in my legs is protesting yesterday's race.

Saturday (10-18) 75 min. - Raced the 8k at the Plansky Invite at Williams. Took second by four seconds. Ran 25:29. Brutal. I don't deserve to run that fast based on the training I've been doing and my body told me so afterwards.

Friday (10-17) 30 min. - A totally random, probably useless run. 5 min running to the track. 20 min jogging around with a prefrosh. 5 min of striders with Will Palmer and Dan-I-didn't-catch-your-lastname.

Thursday (10-16) 45 min. - Ran a sorta light fartlek with GVH. Still a lot of hacking and it sometimes sounds like I have rusty gears in my chest.

Wednesday (10-15) 0 min. - Writing class. I hacked up a lung in front of everyone. I hope I didn't get them sick.

Tuesday (10-14) 45 min. - Bike to work in the morning. Still kinda sick. I'm draining like crazy. Hopefully that means I'm getting it out.

Monday (10-13) 45 min. - Bike home from work. I woke up rather ill. Luckily it is all in my throat and not at all in my head or chest. Tonight I'm going to go on an anti germ crusade: orange juice, spahgetti with garlic and onions, airing out my room, washing my bedclothes and shower towels, and sleeping.

Sunday (10-12-2008) 105 min. - Long run in Mendon with Fontana and Pauling. An excellent workout. Legs still feel beat up. We didn't push the pace too fast, but we went plenty long on Mendon's hills.

Saturday (10-11) 61 min. - Pretty hard workout on the Greenway. long warm up, then 5 x 5 min hard intervals. The intervals were broken down into 3 min fast, 1:30 faster, last 30 sec fastest. Each had 2 min recovery afterwards. The workout went well, but again my legs felt abused. My hips felt tense and knotted.

Friday (10-10) 48 min. - Ran a steady medium run on the greenway. then 2 x 160 jump rope. then about 30 min of yoga.

Thursday (10-09) 85 min. - Workout at Genesee Valley Park with Hine and Fontana. 2 x 10 minute tempo sandwiching 2 cutbacks (90 sec at mile pace, then 75 sec, all the way down to zero with equal time recovery). I changed into spikes for one of the cutbacks and generally felt good but tired and beat up. An excellent workout.

Wednesday (10-08) 0 min. - Day off. Writing class.

Tuesday (10-07) 128 min. - 61 min run to work in the morning, then practice with GVH at Cobbs hill in the evening. The evening workout was 1000m at threshhold, 2 x 2000m with first 1000 at interval, second 1000 at threshhold, with 3 min recovery inbetween. It was a very tough workout. Felt like we were simulating dying half way through a 5k. Afterwards we did 6 x 200 meters at mile pace, starting a new 200 every minute fifteen.

Monday (10-06) 62 min. - Ran home from work. Felt good.

Sunday (10-05-2008) 55 min. - Warm up and cooldown for the Syracuse Festival of Races 5k. I placed 4th in 14:51.

Saturday (10-04) 40 min. - 20 min run in the morning then yoga. 20 min run in the evening. Just trying to remind my legs how to run smoothly.

Friday (10-03) 64 min. - Ran down the greenway. Easy run except for a short fast portion: 90 seconds fast, 75 jog, 75 fast, 60 recovery, and so on. It got very dark towards the end of this run.

Thursday (10-02) 79 min. - After warm up, 3 x 14 min at tempo pace in the Genesee Valley Park. I ran with Ryan Pauling and my legs were having a pretty hard time. I only ran 2 and a half sets as I had to take a bathroom break in the last one. Another good workout. I felt sore afterwards. Sunday is really bearing down on me fast.

Wednesday (10-01) 0 min. - writing class