I wanted a low-key 5K to kick off my summer race season and I got it with the Race for a Home 5K in Veteran's Park, which is one of my training grounds and just 15 minutes away from home. It turned out to be even more low-key than I expected. It was organized by a Baptist church and most of the participants were members who had never run before. I paid a steep $45 registration fee, which would be spent to support missionaries in Tanzania. That's a cause that I am happy to support.
Pre-race:
It had been a great week of training but I did not feel well staring from the previous evening. I woke up feeling decent but I had some stiffness that I could not shake. I would not pop any pills and would not do anything different than during this good week of training. Registration was a smooth process and I got started on my warm up still feeling decent. I looked around and saw very few runners who looked even semi-serious. I spotted a teenager with a Mercedes half finisher shirt and asked him what kind of time he expected to run. He said that he hoped for a sub-20. I said "Cool. I'll be running with you then." In the end, we would be 2 of the only 3 finishers under 25 minutes. I decided that this would be a glorified tempo run. If I broke 20, great, if not so what. I thought about the possibility of winning overall. That would be great but that would probably depend on the level of competition, not my performance.
Course:
This is my training ground so I knew what to expect. It was a very scenic course around a lake and then through the woods. The negatives were that it was run almost entirely on a gravel path and the surface was a bit soft in spots. Consider the difference between a cinder track and an all weather surface and that's about what you've got. Also, the hills were placed almost all from the end of Mile 2 up until about 2.6 including a very steep but not long hill around 2.5. The race would not start until 8:15 and the temp was already over 75 with sun and moderate humidity. In short, it was not the best course or environment for a fast time.
Race:
The race was started by a former Miss Alabama who had a bit of trouble with the starting gun. We were finally off on the third try. I and the teenager took off and broke away from the pack. It would be a 2 man race to finish. I just stayed in 2nd place and tried to maintain a comfortable pace. I was under 1:30 for the first quarter mile and 3:08 for the half after a slight uphill. By this point, I knew that I didn't have PR stuff but how ugly would it get at the end? Again, this was a glorified tempo but I still wanted a decent time. I was content to stay in 2nd and stayed within about 5-10 yards of the leader for most of the first half. I hit the first mile in 6:17 and got through the first 1.55 around 9:53. With the hills coming up, I pretty much knew that I would be over 20 but still felt that I had a chance of winning. We turned into the woods and headed down a steep hill, too steep to simply let gravity take you. The leader appeared to be fading a bit but I was still content to follow for I knew what was ahead. Just before the 2 Mile mark, we hit our first significant hill and I was told to go ahead, which I did. I had won races in Gym class, had been a part of winning relay teams and had a couple of age group victories to my credit. I had never crossed the finish line first overall in any competitive race. The closest that I had come was in a dual meet my senior year of high school in which I led the first 3 laps of a Mile before getting beat early in last lap and hanging on for a close third. I passed the 2 Mile just over 13 so my pace was slowing. I had hoped to drop my pursuer but was unable to do so. He was hanging right with me. At this time, I made the decision to forget about the time and simply run for the win. My strategy would be to back off a hair now then try to drop him on the steep hill. If it came down to a final sprint, I am very difficult to beat in the last tenth of a mile. Finally, we got to the steep hill and I charged up it and opened up a gap of a few yards but it was not as much as I had hoped. The course went back down and with a half mile to go, I was still in the lead but didn't feel well at all. Okay, just hang on for a little more than a quarter mile and you've got it won. This is now the latest into any race that I have ever held the lead. Now, we were through the woods and back into the sun and I was dead. My legs were stiff and sore and my stomach was cramping. I got passed with about 600 to go and could not hang on. I knew that I didn't have a kick left so I had pretty much resigned myself to 2nd place and I would have to push just to finish under 21. With 200 to go, I was about 15 yards behind with nothing left but what was happening now? I was starting to gain some ground again. The leader was in obvious pain and as I trudged by, I saw him bent over and throwing up. The race was mine now. I had stomach cramps myself but it was the other end that was the concern so I just cruised to victory in a new personal worst time of 21:06.
Final thoughts:
I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I was clearly way off form but I can't be disappointed because I won. I got a nice gold medal out of it and supported a great cause. I began feeling worse a few hours after the race so I obviously need to adjust my formula... again. ARGH! There will be other chances for a 5K PR. Maybe next weekend depending on how I feel. So, what's it like to cross the finish line first in a race? To be honest, there's really nothing magical about it. This was one of my goals growing up and it's accomplished.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
training 5/10-5/16 (race week cutback)
5/10- When I am balanced, my workout capacity is seemingly limitless. Why can't I feel like this all the time? After yesterday's double workout, I ran an "easy" 7.5 miler on Lakeshore and this easy effort yielded an average pace of 7:19, just off BQ pace and I wasn't even trying. Let's see if it catches up with me tomorrow. If I am in the groove like I was in the Fall, it will not. Also, amazingly even splits. My fastest mile was 7:15 and my slowest was 7:25.
Grade:A+/1 credit/distance=7.5
5/11- Same long interval workout as last week (400-800-1200-1200-800-400). This one was Johnny's version. That means recovery jogs between intervals, longer rests and thus faster times. I was shooting for 80-2:45-4:15 and came up a little short. Stats: 80-2:47-4:17-4:22-2:47-74. I could have broken 70 again in the final quarter but Johnny didn't want me to run it all out. Instead, I sneaked in a 200 after a full recovery and turned in a solid 30.04. Felt good despite some soreness. Can I go hard tomorrow? If I feel good, WHY NOT?
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=5.0
5/12- I did feel strong so WHY NOT? In the past 7 days, I've done 8 runs (total of 46 miles), 7 of the 8 runs were at 7:28 pace or under. Once again, they call me Crazy Justin for a reason. Trak Shak 5 in 33:44 (6:45 pace) plus cool down. Best time of the year. Only 20 seconds down on my course PR and I was anything but fresh. Also set a 2010 best in the 5K with a 20:44 but that one won't last long. Got off to a flying start but faded a bit towards the end. I think the 85 degree heat may have had something to do with that. This was my warmest run of the year.
Splits were 6:27-6:39-6:54-6:59(yes)-6:44= 33:44 #4 all time.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=6.5
5/13- Scheduled rest day. If I wasn't racing this weekend, I could have run an easy 6-8 today. I feel good enough. Even if it's just a fun run on Saturday, I want at least a decent showing and at least a new best time of the year (20:44). Edit: The tough workouts caught up with me this evening. My legs don't feel too sore but man, I am conked out. Good call on the rest day. Not surprising that it hit me 24 hours later so good call on the rest day. I predict some crazy dreams tonight and I'll post whatever I can remember tomorrow.
5/14- 3 dreams that I can remember. One involved high school acquaintances that I have not seen and have barely thought of in more than 10 years. The other 2 had to do with wearing special clothes to protect against severe body odor. Ha Ha Ha! Not the weirdest I've had but still pretty funny. I just jogged 2 miles on the 'mill at 8:00 pace. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped and maybe I should have rested altogether. I still should be fine tomorrow. Again, I'm not placing much importance on this race.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=2.0
5/15- AM-Race for Home 5K in 21:06 PW but good enough for my first ever win. This is a D+ according to my grading scale but I get 10 bonus points for the win.
Grade:C+/3 credits/distance=4.0
PM- Conked out early in the afternoon and woke up at 6 feeling awful. I correctly concluded that it was a GABA issue. GABA supplements do not cross the blood brain barrier without taurine or glutamine so I went to Organic harvest, picked it up and headed to Lakeshore. I took glutamine alone which left me only slightly better but when I added the GABA, I was much better within minutes. Trava Cor does contain a small amount of taurine and I was hoping that it would be enough but apparently, it is not. The workout was a Lakeshore tempo 5 miler with a time of 34:56 (6:59 pace). A sub-35 just like I wanted. I would not have made it without a water stop but who cares? I didn't have top form but I am clearly back on the right track.
2 times in a row, I had great workouts prior to the race but could not deliver on race day.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=5.0
5/16- Rest day. I want to be fresh for a time trial tomorrow. I'm leaning towards the 400 because my best time of the year at 67.9 stands out as soft.
Weekly summary:
These ups and downs are wearing me out emotionally. Maybe I've got it solved for now. Still, a pretty decent week overall. Too bad that my worst day was race day but then again, it was good enough to win.
Distance=30.0/ GPA= 32.9/11= 2.99
Grade:A+/1 credit/distance=7.5
5/11- Same long interval workout as last week (400-800-1200-1200-800-400). This one was Johnny's version. That means recovery jogs between intervals, longer rests and thus faster times. I was shooting for 80-2:45-4:15 and came up a little short. Stats: 80-2:47-4:17-4:22-2:47-74. I could have broken 70 again in the final quarter but Johnny didn't want me to run it all out. Instead, I sneaked in a 200 after a full recovery and turned in a solid 30.04. Felt good despite some soreness. Can I go hard tomorrow? If I feel good, WHY NOT?
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=5.0
5/12- I did feel strong so WHY NOT? In the past 7 days, I've done 8 runs (total of 46 miles), 7 of the 8 runs were at 7:28 pace or under. Once again, they call me Crazy Justin for a reason. Trak Shak 5 in 33:44 (6:45 pace) plus cool down. Best time of the year. Only 20 seconds down on my course PR and I was anything but fresh. Also set a 2010 best in the 5K with a 20:44 but that one won't last long. Got off to a flying start but faded a bit towards the end. I think the 85 degree heat may have had something to do with that. This was my warmest run of the year.
Splits were 6:27-6:39-6:54-6:59(yes)-6:44= 33:44 #4 all time.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=6.5
5/13- Scheduled rest day. If I wasn't racing this weekend, I could have run an easy 6-8 today. I feel good enough. Even if it's just a fun run on Saturday, I want at least a decent showing and at least a new best time of the year (20:44). Edit: The tough workouts caught up with me this evening. My legs don't feel too sore but man, I am conked out. Good call on the rest day. Not surprising that it hit me 24 hours later so good call on the rest day. I predict some crazy dreams tonight and I'll post whatever I can remember tomorrow.
5/14- 3 dreams that I can remember. One involved high school acquaintances that I have not seen and have barely thought of in more than 10 years. The other 2 had to do with wearing special clothes to protect against severe body odor. Ha Ha Ha! Not the weirdest I've had but still pretty funny. I just jogged 2 miles on the 'mill at 8:00 pace. It wasn't as easy as I had hoped and maybe I should have rested altogether. I still should be fine tomorrow. Again, I'm not placing much importance on this race.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=2.0
5/15- AM-Race for Home 5K in 21:06 PW but good enough for my first ever win. This is a D+ according to my grading scale but I get 10 bonus points for the win.
Grade:C+/3 credits/distance=4.0
PM- Conked out early in the afternoon and woke up at 6 feeling awful. I correctly concluded that it was a GABA issue. GABA supplements do not cross the blood brain barrier without taurine or glutamine so I went to Organic harvest, picked it up and headed to Lakeshore. I took glutamine alone which left me only slightly better but when I added the GABA, I was much better within minutes. Trava Cor does contain a small amount of taurine and I was hoping that it would be enough but apparently, it is not. The workout was a Lakeshore tempo 5 miler with a time of 34:56 (6:59 pace). A sub-35 just like I wanted. I would not have made it without a water stop but who cares? I didn't have top form but I am clearly back on the right track.
2 times in a row, I had great workouts prior to the race but could not deliver on race day.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=5.0
5/16- Rest day. I want to be fresh for a time trial tomorrow. I'm leaning towards the 400 because my best time of the year at 67.9 stands out as soft.
Weekly summary:
These ups and downs are wearing me out emotionally. Maybe I've got it solved for now. Still, a pretty decent week overall. Too bad that my worst day was race day but then again, it was good enough to win.
Distance=30.0/ GPA= 32.9/11= 2.99
Monday, May 3, 2010
training 5/3-5/9
5/3- Vestavia speed session. Pyramid intervals. That's one of my favorite workouts.
400- 89, 800- 2:58, 1200- 4:30, 1200- 4:31, 800- 3:00, 400- 68.0 R was 1:00 per lap of previous interval. Pace per mile was 5:52.
I've done this workout many times and this one was one of my best. I was hoping to get the 1200s under 4:30 but made up for it by dipping under 70 in the last quarter. Narrowly missed my best 400 of the year. I have no doubt that I would have been MUCH better than my 5:53 mile last Saturday. I think I would have been low 5:30s today. I bumped up my TravaCor dosage to 2 (supplement that boosts serotonin) and I didn't need taurine today. YEEESSSSS!
Grade:B+/2 credit/distance=4.0
5/4- 3 miles on the 'mill set to 8:00 pace. Easy run under a time crunch. Felt a bit sluggish during the day but felt okay during the run. Unsure of how I would have responded to a hard day. 2 Trava Cor may be too much. Will 1 be enough? Can I tweak the threonine to make it work? Maybe I need to cut it in half. I want this sorted out now!
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=3.0
5/5- Took only 1 Trava Cor and still woke up feeling sluggish. I'll try cutting out the threonine. Despite the sluggish feeling, I ran quite well today. Trak Shak run in a course PR of 58:41. The course was measured at 8.06 not the 8.2 earlier. Perhaps it was because the trees were in full bloom. Garmin pace was a solid 7:17 and remained pretty even despite the hills. Preston got held up at work. Too bad. I would have been even faster running with him.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=9.0
5/6- I only took 1 Trava Cor and no threonine. I woke up feeling good for the first time in a LONG TIME. However, by the end of the day, I was feeling a bit overstimulated. My workout today was a 1 Mile time trial at Vestavia with a time of 5:32.4 (best time of the year). Splits were 80-85-88-79 (2:45 1st half, 2:47 2nd half). That's 10 down on last year's best and 17 down on my lifetime goal. Still, I am somewhat encouraged by this workout. This is the 4th time in 5 days that I have pushed myself in a workout. If fresh, I don't think I'm under 5:20 but certainly under 5:30 and only a week into the summer speed season. 17 off my goal, 83% grade. Finished with a long cool down at a steady 8:00 pace.
Grade:B/3 credits/distance=4.0
5/7- Took 1 Trava Cor and 1 threonine and it worked out perfectly. Lakeshore 5 in 37:21 (7:28 pace) and it was nearly effortless. That's awfully fast for an easy day but I felt fine and at 40 MPW, my easy runs should be faster than if I was running 60. I hope this will be the last adjustment in a long time. I hope my readers understand how much I hate having to make these adjustments!
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=5.0
5/8- Tough day today. I took a taurine and it left me a little sluggish plus it was humid outside plus I've pushed myself hard this week. Workout was 12 with Scott. I was fine up until Mile 10 then I struggled in Mile 11 and had didn't have much left at the end. My overall pace was an acceptable 7:52. Average performance. I would have been thrilled with this last week but a bit let down now.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=12.0
5/9- Split decision today. I took all the pills that I needed and none of the ones that I didn't.
AM- Hard core speed before church. 6x200 averaging 30.5 (29.4-31.6). On the plus side, I managed 6 reps instead of 4 but on the minus, I was more than 1 second slower per rep or roughly 10 per mile and was only 1 for 6 on the sub-30 challenge (#3 in 29.4). I felt good warming up but a tad sluggish during the workout and beat up afterward although I did recover quickly. 400 time today would have been about 63. Yesterday's run surely took something out of me this morning.
Grade: B-/2 credits/distance=1.5
PM- Veteran's Park 4 in 29:08 (7:17 pace). Not effortless but not uncomfortable in the least. Pretty even pace but did slow just a tad in the 2nd half. Felt much better than the Mountain Brook 4 last Sunday, which was also after hard 200s. Also scouted the 5K course and it's not conducive to a PR. There's a tough stretch near the end of Mile 2 and a nasty steep hill around 2.5. That takes some pressure off. It'll be just a fun run and since it'll be small, I expect to be among the top finishers.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=4.5
Weekly summary:
Good week overall. Nothing less than a B- and I like that. I set a course PR then came back with a 2010 best in the Mile. Maybe a bit too intense even for 5K/10K training. I ran all 7 days, which is a rarity for me. That's why it's a good time for a cut back and a 5K race (fun run).
Distance=43.0/GPA=44.2/14= 3.16
400- 89, 800- 2:58, 1200- 4:30, 1200- 4:31, 800- 3:00, 400- 68.0 R was 1:00 per lap of previous interval. Pace per mile was 5:52.
I've done this workout many times and this one was one of my best. I was hoping to get the 1200s under 4:30 but made up for it by dipping under 70 in the last quarter. Narrowly missed my best 400 of the year. I have no doubt that I would have been MUCH better than my 5:53 mile last Saturday. I think I would have been low 5:30s today. I bumped up my TravaCor dosage to 2 (supplement that boosts serotonin) and I didn't need taurine today. YEEESSSSS!
Grade:B+/2 credit/distance=4.0
5/4- 3 miles on the 'mill set to 8:00 pace. Easy run under a time crunch. Felt a bit sluggish during the day but felt okay during the run. Unsure of how I would have responded to a hard day. 2 Trava Cor may be too much. Will 1 be enough? Can I tweak the threonine to make it work? Maybe I need to cut it in half. I want this sorted out now!
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=3.0
5/5- Took only 1 Trava Cor and still woke up feeling sluggish. I'll try cutting out the threonine. Despite the sluggish feeling, I ran quite well today. Trak Shak run in a course PR of 58:41. The course was measured at 8.06 not the 8.2 earlier. Perhaps it was because the trees were in full bloom. Garmin pace was a solid 7:17 and remained pretty even despite the hills. Preston got held up at work. Too bad. I would have been even faster running with him.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=9.0
5/6- I only took 1 Trava Cor and no threonine. I woke up feeling good for the first time in a LONG TIME. However, by the end of the day, I was feeling a bit overstimulated. My workout today was a 1 Mile time trial at Vestavia with a time of 5:32.4 (best time of the year). Splits were 80-85-88-79 (2:45 1st half, 2:47 2nd half). That's 10 down on last year's best and 17 down on my lifetime goal. Still, I am somewhat encouraged by this workout. This is the 4th time in 5 days that I have pushed myself in a workout. If fresh, I don't think I'm under 5:20 but certainly under 5:30 and only a week into the summer speed season. 17 off my goal, 83% grade. Finished with a long cool down at a steady 8:00 pace.
Grade:B/3 credits/distance=4.0
5/7- Took 1 Trava Cor and 1 threonine and it worked out perfectly. Lakeshore 5 in 37:21 (7:28 pace) and it was nearly effortless. That's awfully fast for an easy day but I felt fine and at 40 MPW, my easy runs should be faster than if I was running 60. I hope this will be the last adjustment in a long time. I hope my readers understand how much I hate having to make these adjustments!
Grade:A/1 credit/distance=5.0
5/8- Tough day today. I took a taurine and it left me a little sluggish plus it was humid outside plus I've pushed myself hard this week. Workout was 12 with Scott. I was fine up until Mile 10 then I struggled in Mile 11 and had didn't have much left at the end. My overall pace was an acceptable 7:52. Average performance. I would have been thrilled with this last week but a bit let down now.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=12.0
5/9- Split decision today. I took all the pills that I needed and none of the ones that I didn't.
AM- Hard core speed before church. 6x200 averaging 30.5 (29.4-31.6). On the plus side, I managed 6 reps instead of 4 but on the minus, I was more than 1 second slower per rep or roughly 10 per mile and was only 1 for 6 on the sub-30 challenge (#3 in 29.4). I felt good warming up but a tad sluggish during the workout and beat up afterward although I did recover quickly. 400 time today would have been about 63. Yesterday's run surely took something out of me this morning.
Grade: B-/2 credits/distance=1.5
PM- Veteran's Park 4 in 29:08 (7:17 pace). Not effortless but not uncomfortable in the least. Pretty even pace but did slow just a tad in the 2nd half. Felt much better than the Mountain Brook 4 last Sunday, which was also after hard 200s. Also scouted the 5K course and it's not conducive to a PR. There's a tough stretch near the end of Mile 2 and a nasty steep hill around 2.5. That takes some pressure off. It'll be just a fun run and since it'll be small, I expect to be among the top finishers.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=4.5
Weekly summary:
Good week overall. Nothing less than a B- and I like that. I set a course PR then came back with a 2010 best in the Mile. Maybe a bit too intense even for 5K/10K training. I ran all 7 days, which is a rarity for me. That's why it's a good time for a cut back and a 5K race (fun run).
Distance=43.0/GPA=44.2/14= 3.16
Thursday, April 29, 2010
NFL draft
I watched part of the NFL draft in anticipation of where the following players would go:
Sam Bradford- St. Louis
C.J. Spiller- Buffalo
Jacoby Ford- Oakland
Tim Tebow- Denver
Jimmy Clausen- Carolina
Colt McCoy- Cleveland
Which of the 4 QBs taken will have the best pro career? That’s very difficult to predict. One trend that I do not favor is throwing rookie quarterbacks to the wolves in the season opener. I say, let them sit and learn for at least 10 games then maybe give them some playing time late in games that are already decided. What does it take to make it as an NFL quarterback? First, you’ve got to be more than 6 feet tall, preferably over 6’3” and weigh more than 215. Count me out there. You’ve got to run a 40 in the high 4s or better and have a rocket for an arm with pinpoint accuracy. For example, Drew Brees can hit a bulls eye target with the tip of the football from a 30 yard distance. Then, there are the equally important intangibles such as leadership skills, instincts and ability to make decisions in a split second. If that’s not hard enough, you need an offensive system best suited to your strengths and perhaps most importantly, strong talent surrounding you in the huddle. The latter is the number one reason why I favor sitting most high first round picks especially early in their rookie seasons. The team got to pick you number one for a reason. The team sucks. It is true that players like Matt Ryan can come along and have immediate success with a team that struggled the previous year but those cases are the exception rather than the rule. Former top overall picks such as Bradshaw, Elway and Manning played as rookies and all 3 of them were awful. True, they later turned out to be Hall of Famers but there’s also players such as David Carr and Tim Couch who started for some pretty bad teams and never did live up to expectations. If the line can’t block for you and your receivers can’t get open, you won’t complete many passes no matter how good of a player you are. In a more recent example, Matt Cassel went 11-5 for a New England team that was coming off a perfect regular season. The next year, when Brady was healthy, Cassel was traded to an untalented Kansas City team and went 4-12 with much poorer stats. I doubt very much that his skills eroded that much in one year. Now, suppose Tim Couch and David Carr happened to be surrounded by Super Bowl caliber talent. Could they have been winners there? We’ll never know but I tend to think the answer is yes.
High first round quarterbacks were drafted where they were for a reason. They were outstanding college players. What are the chances that it translates to the next level? I’d say that when you consider all the factors discussed above, your chances are about 50/50. If you have the number one pick, you could end up with Peyton Manning or Phillip Rivers. On the other hand, you are just as likely to get Tim Couch, David Carr or worse Ryan Leaf/JaMarcus Russell. I think there are a lot of third string quarterbacks who were drafted in rounds 3 or later that may not have been head and shoulders above the college competition but have the skills necessary to be pretty good in the NFL. Unfortunately, they usually never get a chance to play. Brady never would have gotten a shot if Bledsoe didn’t get hurt and the team was at least moderately successful.
As for Tim Tebow, a lot of reporters, and even some players have already written him off as a failure before he’s even played a down. I say give him a chance. He’s got just as much chance of success as any other recent first round QB. I’m really rooting for him too. Now that Kurt Warner has retired, we need another vocal Christian ambassador in the NFL. I commend commissioner Goodell for taking a strong stand against idiots like Roethlisberger and Michael Vick. Whether you like Tebow or not, I think you can safely say that there’s not much chance he’ll violate the personal conduct policy. True, his arm strength and delivery have been questioned which is why I would not have taken him as a blue chip choice. A late first rounder sounds about right and may work out for the best since he won’t be pressed into a starting role as a rookie for a team that sucks. In addition to unimpeachable moral character, Tebow has amazing leadership qualities and has proven to be a winner in the SEC, usually considered to be the highest level of competition at the college level. You can’t ask for much more.
Lastly, I want to address the possibility of a lockout for the next NFL season. That would really be a bad call. In my opinion, the economics of pro football are fine the way they are now. The only thing in which I have a problem is handing tens of millions to rookies who have yet to play a down. Outside of that, I see no problems at all. There is a salary cap but it’s not so burdensome that it prevents a team from being successful for many years and even the hapless Detroit Lions may only be a year or two away from being contenders if management drafts wisely. Unlike baseball, only a small amount of these large contracts are guaranteed. A-Rod got a ten year $252 million deal and if he got hurt or his production fell off a cliff, too bad. He's still paid even if he's released. Not so in football. You can cut your busts and only be on the hook for the signing bonus. I oppose expanding the schedule to 18 games. When you consider playoffs and the preseason, you are talking about a 26 week season or half of the entire calendar year. That's overkill and will lead to short careers and more serious injuires. The only major rule that I would change would be overtime. Sudden death was fine in the ‘70s when kickers were less accurate and offenses turned the ball over much more so than today. Now, I favor some form of the college system in which each team is guaranteed at least one possession with no ties.
Sam Bradford- St. Louis
C.J. Spiller- Buffalo
Jacoby Ford- Oakland
Tim Tebow- Denver
Jimmy Clausen- Carolina
Colt McCoy- Cleveland
Which of the 4 QBs taken will have the best pro career? That’s very difficult to predict. One trend that I do not favor is throwing rookie quarterbacks to the wolves in the season opener. I say, let them sit and learn for at least 10 games then maybe give them some playing time late in games that are already decided. What does it take to make it as an NFL quarterback? First, you’ve got to be more than 6 feet tall, preferably over 6’3” and weigh more than 215. Count me out there. You’ve got to run a 40 in the high 4s or better and have a rocket for an arm with pinpoint accuracy. For example, Drew Brees can hit a bulls eye target with the tip of the football from a 30 yard distance. Then, there are the equally important intangibles such as leadership skills, instincts and ability to make decisions in a split second. If that’s not hard enough, you need an offensive system best suited to your strengths and perhaps most importantly, strong talent surrounding you in the huddle. The latter is the number one reason why I favor sitting most high first round picks especially early in their rookie seasons. The team got to pick you number one for a reason. The team sucks. It is true that players like Matt Ryan can come along and have immediate success with a team that struggled the previous year but those cases are the exception rather than the rule. Former top overall picks such as Bradshaw, Elway and Manning played as rookies and all 3 of them were awful. True, they later turned out to be Hall of Famers but there’s also players such as David Carr and Tim Couch who started for some pretty bad teams and never did live up to expectations. If the line can’t block for you and your receivers can’t get open, you won’t complete many passes no matter how good of a player you are. In a more recent example, Matt Cassel went 11-5 for a New England team that was coming off a perfect regular season. The next year, when Brady was healthy, Cassel was traded to an untalented Kansas City team and went 4-12 with much poorer stats. I doubt very much that his skills eroded that much in one year. Now, suppose Tim Couch and David Carr happened to be surrounded by Super Bowl caliber talent. Could they have been winners there? We’ll never know but I tend to think the answer is yes.
High first round quarterbacks were drafted where they were for a reason. They were outstanding college players. What are the chances that it translates to the next level? I’d say that when you consider all the factors discussed above, your chances are about 50/50. If you have the number one pick, you could end up with Peyton Manning or Phillip Rivers. On the other hand, you are just as likely to get Tim Couch, David Carr or worse Ryan Leaf/JaMarcus Russell. I think there are a lot of third string quarterbacks who were drafted in rounds 3 or later that may not have been head and shoulders above the college competition but have the skills necessary to be pretty good in the NFL. Unfortunately, they usually never get a chance to play. Brady never would have gotten a shot if Bledsoe didn’t get hurt and the team was at least moderately successful.
As for Tim Tebow, a lot of reporters, and even some players have already written him off as a failure before he’s even played a down. I say give him a chance. He’s got just as much chance of success as any other recent first round QB. I’m really rooting for him too. Now that Kurt Warner has retired, we need another vocal Christian ambassador in the NFL. I commend commissioner Goodell for taking a strong stand against idiots like Roethlisberger and Michael Vick. Whether you like Tebow or not, I think you can safely say that there’s not much chance he’ll violate the personal conduct policy. True, his arm strength and delivery have been questioned which is why I would not have taken him as a blue chip choice. A late first rounder sounds about right and may work out for the best since he won’t be pressed into a starting role as a rookie for a team that sucks. In addition to unimpeachable moral character, Tebow has amazing leadership qualities and has proven to be a winner in the SEC, usually considered to be the highest level of competition at the college level. You can’t ask for much more.
Lastly, I want to address the possibility of a lockout for the next NFL season. That would really be a bad call. In my opinion, the economics of pro football are fine the way they are now. The only thing in which I have a problem is handing tens of millions to rookies who have yet to play a down. Outside of that, I see no problems at all. There is a salary cap but it’s not so burdensome that it prevents a team from being successful for many years and even the hapless Detroit Lions may only be a year or two away from being contenders if management drafts wisely. Unlike baseball, only a small amount of these large contracts are guaranteed. A-Rod got a ten year $252 million deal and if he got hurt or his production fell off a cliff, too bad. He's still paid even if he's released. Not so in football. You can cut your busts and only be on the hook for the signing bonus. I oppose expanding the schedule to 18 games. When you consider playoffs and the preseason, you are talking about a 26 week season or half of the entire calendar year. That's overkill and will lead to short careers and more serious injuires. The only major rule that I would change would be overtime. Sudden death was fine in the ‘70s when kickers were less accurate and offenses turned the ball over much more so than today. Now, I favor some form of the college system in which each team is guaranteed at least one possession with no ties.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
training 4/26-5/2
4/26- left Nashville, toured the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg. Got back to B'ham around 6, took a nap and some SBF and hit the 'mill for 3 @ 7:30 then bumped up the pace to 11.0 mph for the last .1 mile. Felt much better.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=3.0
4/27- Lakeshore run. 4 @ 7:40. Short rest then ran the last mile in an even 6:00. Still did not have top form. Well behind where I was 2 weeks ago. Took some extra taurine and it got worse. Must get better soon or I am out of the UAB 10K
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=5.0
4/28- Trak Shak 3 @ 6:46. Fairly steady pace and no finishing kick. Nearly all out effort and managed only weak tempo pace. I have not felt good in a hard workout in more than a week. I am starting to get angry. SBF is not the answer and I have stopped it.
Grade:C-/2 credit/distance=3.0
4/29- Again, woke up feeling lousy. I ended up doing a warm up today on Lakeshore. The chromium and manganese made little difference so I had to go to the desperation route of raw bovine adrenal glandular. It's raw, man! 1/2 mile warm up in 3:36, 1/2 mile fast and controlled in 2:47. Calf stiffness won't go way but the heaviness in my legs did diminish. I will leave work as if I'm racing tomorrow, head to the start line at least 2 hours early then warm up and make a game time decision. If the race had been today, my decision would have been "no go" but that can change in 24 hours. PR is 41:43, PW is 43:42.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=1.0
4/30- No go decision and it proved to be a good call. Vestavia Mile in a pathetic 6:52 while going all out. Took some taurine and felt somewhat better immediately. 10 minutes later, I was down to 6:28. I think that the reverse osmosis water that I have been drinking is the cause of this slump. Hopefully, this is where the healing begins. I felt a difference after drinking some acidic water early in the afternoon. P.S. The race course was flat and fast so it's a shame I missed it. I will be going to Mobile in November for my 10K PR attempt.
Grade:D/2 credits/distance=2.5
5/1- Improvement over yesterday but still had to cut the long run short. Ended up running 7 in 54:57 (7:51 pace). First 5 were at a solid 7:35 then hit the wall and slipped to 8:30s on the final 2. That's still baaaaauhhd.
Grade:C-/2 credits/distance=7.0
P.M. Finally an encouraging workout. Vestavia Mile in 5:53.9 with a 79 last lap. Best time of the year for the Mile but still 31 seconds down on last year's time and 38 away from my goal. The important number is 59 seconds better than yesterday's first attempt. This run was only 4 hours after hitting the wall in my AM 7 miler. Yes, I took some pills before this run and they worked. My summer racing season will be good.
Grade:C+/2 credits/distance=2.0
5/2- AM- 4x200 all out with full recoveries. That's the plan to get under 60 in the 400. Times were 29.6, 28.9, 29.4, 29.4 in breezy conditions. That's a 3:55 pace per mile or 29.3 per 200. Hey, I ran faster than my age. LOL. I want to build to 6 reps at around 29-flat with a best of 28.5. If I can do that, the 59.9 is as good as mine. Right now, I'd guess that I'd run 62 or 63. Only downside was that my ankle was a bit sore. I may need some prolotherapy.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=1.0
PM- Mountain Brook 4 is very humid conditions. Had to run at noon to beat the storm. Time was 29:54 (7:29 pace). That sounds pretty fast for an easy run but it wasn't that good. I wanted to run 5 but I was fading in the 2nd half and felt overstimulated.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=4.0
Weekly summary:
The only positive is that I've reached the end of a disastrous Spring racing season. At least the first 2 days of May look more promising.
Distance= 28.5/ GPA= 30.1/14= 2.15
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=3.0
4/27- Lakeshore run. 4 @ 7:40. Short rest then ran the last mile in an even 6:00. Still did not have top form. Well behind where I was 2 weeks ago. Took some extra taurine and it got worse. Must get better soon or I am out of the UAB 10K
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=5.0
4/28- Trak Shak 3 @ 6:46. Fairly steady pace and no finishing kick. Nearly all out effort and managed only weak tempo pace. I have not felt good in a hard workout in more than a week. I am starting to get angry. SBF is not the answer and I have stopped it.
Grade:C-/2 credit/distance=3.0
4/29- Again, woke up feeling lousy. I ended up doing a warm up today on Lakeshore. The chromium and manganese made little difference so I had to go to the desperation route of raw bovine adrenal glandular. It's raw, man! 1/2 mile warm up in 3:36, 1/2 mile fast and controlled in 2:47. Calf stiffness won't go way but the heaviness in my legs did diminish. I will leave work as if I'm racing tomorrow, head to the start line at least 2 hours early then warm up and make a game time decision. If the race had been today, my decision would have been "no go" but that can change in 24 hours. PR is 41:43, PW is 43:42.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=1.0
4/30- No go decision and it proved to be a good call. Vestavia Mile in a pathetic 6:52 while going all out. Took some taurine and felt somewhat better immediately. 10 minutes later, I was down to 6:28. I think that the reverse osmosis water that I have been drinking is the cause of this slump. Hopefully, this is where the healing begins. I felt a difference after drinking some acidic water early in the afternoon. P.S. The race course was flat and fast so it's a shame I missed it. I will be going to Mobile in November for my 10K PR attempt.
Grade:D/2 credits/distance=2.5
5/1- Improvement over yesterday but still had to cut the long run short. Ended up running 7 in 54:57 (7:51 pace). First 5 were at a solid 7:35 then hit the wall and slipped to 8:30s on the final 2. That's still baaaaauhhd.
Grade:C-/2 credits/distance=7.0
P.M. Finally an encouraging workout. Vestavia Mile in 5:53.9 with a 79 last lap. Best time of the year for the Mile but still 31 seconds down on last year's time and 38 away from my goal. The important number is 59 seconds better than yesterday's first attempt. This run was only 4 hours after hitting the wall in my AM 7 miler. Yes, I took some pills before this run and they worked. My summer racing season will be good.
Grade:C+/2 credits/distance=2.0
5/2- AM- 4x200 all out with full recoveries. That's the plan to get under 60 in the 400. Times were 29.6, 28.9, 29.4, 29.4 in breezy conditions. That's a 3:55 pace per mile or 29.3 per 200. Hey, I ran faster than my age. LOL. I want to build to 6 reps at around 29-flat with a best of 28.5. If I can do that, the 59.9 is as good as mine. Right now, I'd guess that I'd run 62 or 63. Only downside was that my ankle was a bit sore. I may need some prolotherapy.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=1.0
PM- Mountain Brook 4 is very humid conditions. Had to run at noon to beat the storm. Time was 29:54 (7:29 pace). That sounds pretty fast for an easy run but it wasn't that good. I wanted to run 5 but I was fading in the 2nd half and felt overstimulated.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=4.0
Weekly summary:
The only positive is that I've reached the end of a disastrous Spring racing season. At least the first 2 days of May look more promising.
Distance= 28.5/ GPA= 30.1/14= 2.15
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Country Music half RR
Signs were ominous even a few weeks out. I nearly sprined my ankle in a training run, which would have put me out the race if it had been much worse. Fortunately, I was able to run through mild pain and really felt like I was in great shape especially after an unofficial 10 mile PR of 69:54. Then there was the weather forecast. For a time, I doubted that the event would even take place because of potential for severe storms and even tornados near the start time of the race. I spent much of Thursday and Friday stalking the hourly forecast. In the end, it took a turn for the better. There would be a round of storms at night then a break in the weather near the start time followed by a nasty afternoon. Perfect. Well, not really. The roads were wet and the sun was out with temps near 70. Yes, the humidity was rough.
As many of my readers know, the greatest determinant to my performance is whether or not I take all the right pills and the magic formula does not stay constant. I have been very lucky in the regard in my past races. One time, I woke up feeling awful then simply popped 2 pills and turned in a 19:37 5K. I knew that the luck would run out eventually. For the record, my bad days happen less often than 2 years ago and the symptoms are not as severe nowadays. Today, my luck was all bad. I wasn't feeling the best on Thursday and Friday but part of me thought it was just taper paranoia. Probably not so. I knew inside that I was a little out of balance and would try to make an adjustment. Two key amino acids that are crucial for my energy level are taurine and threonine. I know that I packed the threonine but could not find it. I eventually realized that it fell out of my bag when I was digging for something the previous day. I would take it race morning instead of the normal night before. Bad call. Also, I probably took a bit too much taurine. Still, I felt decent warming up, maybe a little lightheaded with some stiffness in my calf, but nothing too serious. I decided that my PR attempt was on and I lined up in corral #1 as assigned.
Course: I'd rate this one as a 6 in terms of difficulty and it was definitely harder than expected. Miles 3-5 were the hardest and 8 looked to be tough as well. The remaining 5 would be mostly flat or downhill. The plan was to go out a little conservative but I knew that I needed to pass Mile 8 near PR pace to have a shot at it. If it was a good day, I could run sub-7 pace over the final 5. My pipe dream was a sub-1:30 (6:52 pace) but I would have been thrilled with a sub-7 pace and very happy with 7:05 (PR).
The gun went off and I was out well. I stayed near 7:00 pace through most of the first mile then we hit a quarter mile hill and I passed through in 7:12 though Garmin measured it long. Mile 2 had a nice downhill at the end and I expected to make up some time there and was right on back on pace by the end of it. By Mile 3, I was already working hard and I knew that this would not be my day. No sub-7 but maybe I can still squeeze out a PR. I kept the pace respectable over the next 2 miles considering the terrain but my Mile 5, I was slipping. Okay, just get through this mile and you'll have a nice break from the hills. Mile 6 was mostly downhill and I only managed a 7:20. At this point, I knew that I was in trouble. Also, I saw the elite runners heading up the same hill. Oh no! That means that I'm going to have to run up that hill too. I passed 10K slightly behind my ING pace but expected to make up the time on the downhill. I know that I would be over 1:35 but a 1:36-1:37 would have been acceptable under the conditions. I actually ran the uphill fairly well (7:38) even though I wanted to walk the whole time but after that point, I was toast. It was hard to imagine another 5 miles like this. My 8 Mile split was right around 59 minutes and I was fading fast. By this time, I just wanted to keep the pace under 8 and avoid a ghastly fade and salvage at least a sub-1:40. There was a slight uphill in Mile 9 but most of the next 2 miles would be downhill. At the 10 mile mark, I was still under 75 minutes and on pace to beat my ING time. The race provided an unfamiliar sports drink called Cytomax an the plan was to avoid it as long as possible. Finally, in the 11th mile, I was slowing with every step and thought it might help to take a drink. Bad call. As I feared, I had a negative reaction. It felt like my legs were shutting down. I never quit on races unless I really feel like I could be in danger. This time, I didn't have much of a choice. I would have to punt in the last 2 miles and just slow jog to the finish. In the end, I could not even manage that. I had to take 2 walk breaks and turned in 2 straight miles over 9. Fortunately, we crossed the bridge and headed downhill towards the finish at LP field, home of the Titans. I made a half-hearted attempt to pick up the pace and got it back below 8 for the final .1. Unofficial time: 1:42:28, my worst time since Sept. '08. PRs expire after 2 years and so do PWs (personal worsts). I can take some solace in the fact that I managed to avoid a PW on a day that everything went wrong. I know I'm better than this and will race again soon.
Splits:
7:12 (7:12) feeling okay
6:53 (14:05) good
7:18 (21:23) starting to hurt
7:18 (28:41) respectable pace uphill
7:44 (36:25) ooh, not good
7:21 (43:46) downhill, if I can't get close to 7 here, I'm in trouble
7:37 (51:23) backed off intentionally because hill was coming
7:39 (59:02) want to quit but still fighting hard
7:41 (66:43) end of the hills, can I make up some time?
7:51 (74:34) 5K to go but I know I'm toast, that was downhill too.
8:14 (82:48) water cytomax
9:21 (92:09) major meltdown, had to walk.
9:24 (1:41:33) who cares about time? just finish safely.
:55 (1:42:28)- 7:48 pace for last .12
Official result: 1:42:28 -worst time since Sept. '08.
Pace per mile: 7:48
Division place: 141/1608- 91st percentile. I was pleased with that.
Final thoughts:
Actually, I don't feel all that bad about this. Part of me would rather finish so far off my goal than miss it by 5-6 minutes. This way, I can simply write it off as an unusually bad day. If I had run a 1:36 or so, I may have questioned my training and fitness level. Absolutely nothing went right and I still finished in a time that would have been a PR just 2 years ago. If I had passed on the Cytomax, I could have avoided the meltdown and finished in a painful 1:40. If I was completely symptom free, I still don't think I would have PR'd on a day like this but I may have come close. Suppose that I had tried to run a half when the medical issues flared up even last year, I know that I would never have finished. The body simply was not prepared to take on this battle. There will be better races ahead. Maybe the UAB 10K on Friday. One positive is that I took a shuttle back to the hotel, which dropped us off across the street. I made it inside just before the storm hit. The day certainly could have been worse and I am thankful that I stayed safe through it all.
As many of my readers know, the greatest determinant to my performance is whether or not I take all the right pills and the magic formula does not stay constant. I have been very lucky in the regard in my past races. One time, I woke up feeling awful then simply popped 2 pills and turned in a 19:37 5K. I knew that the luck would run out eventually. For the record, my bad days happen less often than 2 years ago and the symptoms are not as severe nowadays. Today, my luck was all bad. I wasn't feeling the best on Thursday and Friday but part of me thought it was just taper paranoia. Probably not so. I knew inside that I was a little out of balance and would try to make an adjustment. Two key amino acids that are crucial for my energy level are taurine and threonine. I know that I packed the threonine but could not find it. I eventually realized that it fell out of my bag when I was digging for something the previous day. I would take it race morning instead of the normal night before. Bad call. Also, I probably took a bit too much taurine. Still, I felt decent warming up, maybe a little lightheaded with some stiffness in my calf, but nothing too serious. I decided that my PR attempt was on and I lined up in corral #1 as assigned.
Course: I'd rate this one as a 6 in terms of difficulty and it was definitely harder than expected. Miles 3-5 were the hardest and 8 looked to be tough as well. The remaining 5 would be mostly flat or downhill. The plan was to go out a little conservative but I knew that I needed to pass Mile 8 near PR pace to have a shot at it. If it was a good day, I could run sub-7 pace over the final 5. My pipe dream was a sub-1:30 (6:52 pace) but I would have been thrilled with a sub-7 pace and very happy with 7:05 (PR).
The gun went off and I was out well. I stayed near 7:00 pace through most of the first mile then we hit a quarter mile hill and I passed through in 7:12 though Garmin measured it long. Mile 2 had a nice downhill at the end and I expected to make up some time there and was right on back on pace by the end of it. By Mile 3, I was already working hard and I knew that this would not be my day. No sub-7 but maybe I can still squeeze out a PR. I kept the pace respectable over the next 2 miles considering the terrain but my Mile 5, I was slipping. Okay, just get through this mile and you'll have a nice break from the hills. Mile 6 was mostly downhill and I only managed a 7:20. At this point, I knew that I was in trouble. Also, I saw the elite runners heading up the same hill. Oh no! That means that I'm going to have to run up that hill too. I passed 10K slightly behind my ING pace but expected to make up the time on the downhill. I know that I would be over 1:35 but a 1:36-1:37 would have been acceptable under the conditions. I actually ran the uphill fairly well (7:38) even though I wanted to walk the whole time but after that point, I was toast. It was hard to imagine another 5 miles like this. My 8 Mile split was right around 59 minutes and I was fading fast. By this time, I just wanted to keep the pace under 8 and avoid a ghastly fade and salvage at least a sub-1:40. There was a slight uphill in Mile 9 but most of the next 2 miles would be downhill. At the 10 mile mark, I was still under 75 minutes and on pace to beat my ING time. The race provided an unfamiliar sports drink called Cytomax an the plan was to avoid it as long as possible. Finally, in the 11th mile, I was slowing with every step and thought it might help to take a drink. Bad call. As I feared, I had a negative reaction. It felt like my legs were shutting down. I never quit on races unless I really feel like I could be in danger. This time, I didn't have much of a choice. I would have to punt in the last 2 miles and just slow jog to the finish. In the end, I could not even manage that. I had to take 2 walk breaks and turned in 2 straight miles over 9. Fortunately, we crossed the bridge and headed downhill towards the finish at LP field, home of the Titans. I made a half-hearted attempt to pick up the pace and got it back below 8 for the final .1. Unofficial time: 1:42:28, my worst time since Sept. '08. PRs expire after 2 years and so do PWs (personal worsts). I can take some solace in the fact that I managed to avoid a PW on a day that everything went wrong. I know I'm better than this and will race again soon.
Splits:
7:12 (7:12) feeling okay
6:53 (14:05) good
7:18 (21:23) starting to hurt
7:18 (28:41) respectable pace uphill
7:44 (36:25) ooh, not good
7:21 (43:46) downhill, if I can't get close to 7 here, I'm in trouble
7:37 (51:23) backed off intentionally because hill was coming
7:39 (59:02) want to quit but still fighting hard
7:41 (66:43) end of the hills, can I make up some time?
7:51 (74:34) 5K to go but I know I'm toast, that was downhill too.
8:14 (82:48) water cytomax
9:21 (92:09) major meltdown, had to walk.
9:24 (1:41:33) who cares about time? just finish safely.
:55 (1:42:28)- 7:48 pace for last .12
Official result: 1:42:28 -worst time since Sept. '08.
Pace per mile: 7:48
Division place: 141/1608- 91st percentile. I was pleased with that.
Final thoughts:
Actually, I don't feel all that bad about this. Part of me would rather finish so far off my goal than miss it by 5-6 minutes. This way, I can simply write it off as an unusually bad day. If I had run a 1:36 or so, I may have questioned my training and fitness level. Absolutely nothing went right and I still finished in a time that would have been a PR just 2 years ago. If I had passed on the Cytomax, I could have avoided the meltdown and finished in a painful 1:40. If I was completely symptom free, I still don't think I would have PR'd on a day like this but I may have come close. Suppose that I had tried to run a half when the medical issues flared up even last year, I know that I would never have finished. The body simply was not prepared to take on this battle. There will be better races ahead. Maybe the UAB 10K on Friday. One positive is that I took a shuttle back to the hotel, which dropped us off across the street. I made it inside just before the storm hit. The day certainly could have been worse and I am thankful that I stayed safe through it all.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Road trips-part 1- Northeast
I'm planning a trip to Colorado in August in which I will also go into New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska. That will bring me up to 46 out of 50 states visited. Here's part 1:
Delaware- small state but 2 clearly distinct regions. The northern most county is heavily populated and the location of its largest city of Wilmington and some areas could be considered suburban Philadelphia. If you go south of Dover, it becomes more rural and even has a bit of a southern feel. I have only been in the southernmost county, just up the road from Ocean City, Maryland and did venture up to Bethany Beach a few times just for a change.
Maryland- another small state but this one has 3 distinct regions and I have spent a fair amount of time in all 3. The westernmost counties have more in common with West Virginia in both culture and landscape. I have been to Backbone Mountain, the highest point in the state at 3360 ft., located in the far southwest corner. Once you get past Frederick, you’re in the heavily populated Baltimore/DC area, which dominates the political landscape of the state and has more in common with the northeast corridor than the rest of Maryland. The eastern shore is largely rural and semi-southern. I spent a summer in Salisbury, just 30 minutes outside of Ocean City and landed a job at K-Mart, which was an interesting experience. I may return to Ocean City for a race.
Pennsylvania- lived here and ran some local 5Ks. It has been described as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in between. Central PA may be rural but it is not culturally similar to AL. Highlights include an attractive skyline, amusement parks and sports stadiums in Pittsburgh. I’ve been to Philly as well as a few small towns in central PA. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both have a half marathon that is on my list to do. I’ve been to the high point, Mt. Davis at the edge of the Blue Ridge mountains, over 3000 ft elevation.
New York- I’ve never been to NYC except the area near JFK airport in Queens. I have been to the baseball HOF in Cooperstown, the state capitol in Albany and Buffalo where I set a PR in the 1500 at the Junior Olympics. Ran the NYC half in 2017 and it was a great trip that included the Freedom Tower, Top of the Rock, Coney Island and the Brooklyn Bridge.
New Jersey- Been to the Trenton area. The southern half seems to be a decent place to live but as you get close to the NYC suburbs, beware. I did run the steeplechase at Rutgers in 103 degree heat. Needless to say, it wasn’t a very good race.
Connecticut- rode through here on my way to Cape Cod with my parents but I was only 3-4 years old so I have no memory of it. I may return to the area for a big race such as the ING Hartford half or full, which takes place when the leaves turn. Real visit came in 2018. Spent a night in New Haven and drove along Beach Road. Took Metro North into NYC.
Rhode Island- Same 2018 road trip. Did not race or spend a night but did stop in Newport for the Cliff Walk so that qualifies.
Massachusetts- 2018 road trip. Saw Boston, Cape Cod and completed a half marathon at Horseneck Beach. Highlights included Boylston Street, Freedom Trail and the JFK library.
Vermont- checked off this state as well as NH and ME on a 2005 road trip. Dinner in Rutland, drive through Green Mountains. Returned to Springfield in 2018 for the Maple Leaf half marathon.
New Hampshire- drive through White Mountains, stopped in Concord, toured State capitol.
Maine- has some remote areas in the northern half. I only saw Kennebunkport and Portland and walked on the beach for a bit. Returned in 2014 on my way to Nova Scotia. Flew into Bangor and stopped in Houlton. Did a junk run on the Univ. of Maine track.
Delaware- small state but 2 clearly distinct regions. The northern most county is heavily populated and the location of its largest city of Wilmington and some areas could be considered suburban Philadelphia. If you go south of Dover, it becomes more rural and even has a bit of a southern feel. I have only been in the southernmost county, just up the road from Ocean City, Maryland and did venture up to Bethany Beach a few times just for a change.
Maryland- another small state but this one has 3 distinct regions and I have spent a fair amount of time in all 3. The westernmost counties have more in common with West Virginia in both culture and landscape. I have been to Backbone Mountain, the highest point in the state at 3360 ft., located in the far southwest corner. Once you get past Frederick, you’re in the heavily populated Baltimore/DC area, which dominates the political landscape of the state and has more in common with the northeast corridor than the rest of Maryland. The eastern shore is largely rural and semi-southern. I spent a summer in Salisbury, just 30 minutes outside of Ocean City and landed a job at K-Mart, which was an interesting experience. I may return to Ocean City for a race.
Pennsylvania- lived here and ran some local 5Ks. It has been described as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in between. Central PA may be rural but it is not culturally similar to AL. Highlights include an attractive skyline, amusement parks and sports stadiums in Pittsburgh. I’ve been to Philly as well as a few small towns in central PA. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia both have a half marathon that is on my list to do. I’ve been to the high point, Mt. Davis at the edge of the Blue Ridge mountains, over 3000 ft elevation.
New York- I’ve never been to NYC except the area near JFK airport in Queens. I have been to the baseball HOF in Cooperstown, the state capitol in Albany and Buffalo where I set a PR in the 1500 at the Junior Olympics. Ran the NYC half in 2017 and it was a great trip that included the Freedom Tower, Top of the Rock, Coney Island and the Brooklyn Bridge.
New Jersey- Been to the Trenton area. The southern half seems to be a decent place to live but as you get close to the NYC suburbs, beware. I did run the steeplechase at Rutgers in 103 degree heat. Needless to say, it wasn’t a very good race.
Connecticut- rode through here on my way to Cape Cod with my parents but I was only 3-4 years old so I have no memory of it. I may return to the area for a big race such as the ING Hartford half or full, which takes place when the leaves turn. Real visit came in 2018. Spent a night in New Haven and drove along Beach Road. Took Metro North into NYC.
Rhode Island- Same 2018 road trip. Did not race or spend a night but did stop in Newport for the Cliff Walk so that qualifies.
Massachusetts- 2018 road trip. Saw Boston, Cape Cod and completed a half marathon at Horseneck Beach. Highlights included Boylston Street, Freedom Trail and the JFK library.
Vermont- checked off this state as well as NH and ME on a 2005 road trip. Dinner in Rutland, drive through Green Mountains. Returned to Springfield in 2018 for the Maple Leaf half marathon.
New Hampshire- drive through White Mountains, stopped in Concord, toured State capitol.
Maine- has some remote areas in the northern half. I only saw Kennebunkport and Portland and walked on the beach for a bit. Returned in 2014 on my way to Nova Scotia. Flew into Bangor and stopped in Houlton. Did a junk run on the Univ. of Maine track.
Monday, April 19, 2010
training 4/19-4/25 race week
4/19- Veteran's Park 4 in an even 30 (7:30 pace overall). Just over 6 laps around the lake. Ran the first 5 smooth and relaxed at a even pace (5:14-5:05-5:08-5:08-5:09). 7:45 pace for the first 3.33 then hit the gas on the last lap and turned in a 4:14 (6:18 pace via Garmin). That's close to 5K goal pace and was not a killer effort. The first 5 laps were smooth but not effortless. Took chromium and manganese today and I don't think it had much of an impact. I will still go easy on that stuff. Solid. Finished with a .5 warm down.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=4.5
4/20- Johnny's workout at Vestavia. Felt good. 2 800s in 2:46 and 6 400s in about 75 with a best of 70, which felt comfortable. This workout was intended to be fast and controlled, not an all out killer effort, and it went as planned, maybe a little faster. I think I can run a 64 now. Rain chance is 70% on race day. Ouch! Let's hope that it changes or at least stays dry from 7-8:30.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=4.0
4/21- planned rest day. Weight:154, only 1 pound away!
4/22- 3 miles on the 'mill in 24:30. Weak performance but I've made it through the taper without injury. Now, will the weather hold up? It may be delayed but I am confident that the race will go off eventually.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=3.0
4/23-Essentially a rest day. Just a few strides in the hotel.
Grade:None/0 credit/distance=0.5
4/24- Country Music half. 1:42:28, worst time in nearly 2 years. Just missed a PW
Grade:D+/4 credits/distance=14.0
4/25- 4 mile recovery jog in Centennial Park near the Parthenon. Stopped many times to stretch. Pace was pretty decent but still not feeling right. Toured Nashville in the afternoon and ate lunch at the famed Wild Horse Saloon.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=4.0
Weekly summary: Inopportune time for a mini-slump. My Dad said that I was "overdue" for a bad race and I agree. I am switching back to the SBF.
Distance=30.0/ GPA= 18.8/9= 2.09
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=4.5
4/20- Johnny's workout at Vestavia. Felt good. 2 800s in 2:46 and 6 400s in about 75 with a best of 70, which felt comfortable. This workout was intended to be fast and controlled, not an all out killer effort, and it went as planned, maybe a little faster. I think I can run a 64 now. Rain chance is 70% on race day. Ouch! Let's hope that it changes or at least stays dry from 7-8:30.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=4.0
4/21- planned rest day. Weight:154, only 1 pound away!
4/22- 3 miles on the 'mill in 24:30. Weak performance but I've made it through the taper without injury. Now, will the weather hold up? It may be delayed but I am confident that the race will go off eventually.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=3.0
4/23-Essentially a rest day. Just a few strides in the hotel.
Grade:None/0 credit/distance=0.5
4/24- Country Music half. 1:42:28, worst time in nearly 2 years. Just missed a PW
Grade:D+/4 credits/distance=14.0
4/25- 4 mile recovery jog in Centennial Park near the Parthenon. Stopped many times to stretch. Pace was pretty decent but still not feeling right. Toured Nashville in the afternoon and ate lunch at the famed Wild Horse Saloon.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=4.0
Weekly summary: Inopportune time for a mini-slump. My Dad said that I was "overdue" for a bad race and I agree. I am switching back to the SBF.
Distance=30.0/ GPA= 18.8/9= 2.09
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
training 4/12-4/18
4/12- Rest day. Not feeling well at all.
4/13- Still didn't have top form. It was great to see Johnny again though. We got chased off the track due to a soccer game after initially being told that we could run. UGH! It was difficult to hide my displeasure. Our only other option was hill sprints of about 80 yards then back down. We did 8 of them and called it a day. Pretty sorry excuse for a workout. I wasn't done however. I waited for the game to end and sneaked in a 400 in 67.9 (best time of the year) then ran off. That's a full 8 seconds away from my goal, which is light years in a 400. I did do a 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down so my distance was on target for the day.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=5.5
4/14- Back on track now. Trak Shak 10 with a moving time of an awesome 69:54 (6:59 pace). That's an unofficial PR with an asterisk. I did have to stop for traffic, water and at one point had to wait for stomach cramps to pass. That's a bit of a concern again. I'll go back on probiotics and really avoid sugar like it's poison. Outside of the cramps, it was an awesome run. My worst mile was a 7:08. If I can hold this pace for another 5K, my time would be 1:31.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=10.0
4/15- 4.5 at Mountain Brook at 7:31 pace. Tried to slow down but could not. Walked a lap then ran 8 200s in an average time of 33 (4:25-4:30 pace). Slowest was 34, last one was the fastest in a self-timed 30.07. I wasn't exactly fresh but if I can't run a 200 in 28, I can't run a 59.9. Still a very good run. No stomach issues.
Grade:A-/2 credit/distance=6.0
4/16- Trak Shak 5.5 run @ 7:40 average pace. Pretty even splits. (7:32-7:45). Hit 5 miles at 38:05 then purposely slowed down in the last .5. Felt strong. Weight: 153. I wouldn't think that 5 extra pounds make much difference in my appearance but my parents say that it does and it is an improvement. I am now just 2 pounds short of my goal range of 155-160. The thyroid/adrenals must be getting better even though the medical report shows only modest progress.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=5.5
4/17- Easy 10 with John and Steve just over 80 then hammered a 6:30 (8K pace) 11th mile which was largely downhill. Finished with a glacial .5 cool down. Groin is just a tad sore but no concern. I may need one more prolotherapy visit. It's 80-90% better than it was but I don't settle for less than 100%. Solid but not outstanding effort today.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=11.5
4/18- Loafed through a 6.5 mile Lakeshore run. Pace was 8:01 which was about what I had planned. Felt easy but not effortless. Groin still a bit sore.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=6.5
Weekly summary:
Good week overall. I could have hit 50 easily but this was a cutback. I am now in full blown taper mode. I think I am in PR shape. A good race would be a plus on a down training cycle overall. Next up is summer speed.
Distance=45.0/ GPA= 30.4/9= 3.38
4/13- Still didn't have top form. It was great to see Johnny again though. We got chased off the track due to a soccer game after initially being told that we could run. UGH! It was difficult to hide my displeasure. Our only other option was hill sprints of about 80 yards then back down. We did 8 of them and called it a day. Pretty sorry excuse for a workout. I wasn't done however. I waited for the game to end and sneaked in a 400 in 67.9 (best time of the year) then ran off. That's a full 8 seconds away from my goal, which is light years in a 400. I did do a 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down so my distance was on target for the day.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=5.5
4/14- Back on track now. Trak Shak 10 with a moving time of an awesome 69:54 (6:59 pace). That's an unofficial PR with an asterisk. I did have to stop for traffic, water and at one point had to wait for stomach cramps to pass. That's a bit of a concern again. I'll go back on probiotics and really avoid sugar like it's poison. Outside of the cramps, it was an awesome run. My worst mile was a 7:08. If I can hold this pace for another 5K, my time would be 1:31.
Grade:A-/2 credits/distance=10.0
4/15- 4.5 at Mountain Brook at 7:31 pace. Tried to slow down but could not. Walked a lap then ran 8 200s in an average time of 33 (4:25-4:30 pace). Slowest was 34, last one was the fastest in a self-timed 30.07. I wasn't exactly fresh but if I can't run a 200 in 28, I can't run a 59.9. Still a very good run. No stomach issues.
Grade:A-/2 credit/distance=6.0
4/16- Trak Shak 5.5 run @ 7:40 average pace. Pretty even splits. (7:32-7:45). Hit 5 miles at 38:05 then purposely slowed down in the last .5. Felt strong. Weight: 153. I wouldn't think that 5 extra pounds make much difference in my appearance but my parents say that it does and it is an improvement. I am now just 2 pounds short of my goal range of 155-160. The thyroid/adrenals must be getting better even though the medical report shows only modest progress.
Grade:A-/1 credit/distance=5.5
4/17- Easy 10 with John and Steve just over 80 then hammered a 6:30 (8K pace) 11th mile which was largely downhill. Finished with a glacial .5 cool down. Groin is just a tad sore but no concern. I may need one more prolotherapy visit. It's 80-90% better than it was but I don't settle for less than 100%. Solid but not outstanding effort today.
Grade:B+/2 credits/distance=11.5
4/18- Loafed through a 6.5 mile Lakeshore run. Pace was 8:01 which was about what I had planned. Felt easy but not effortless. Groin still a bit sore.
Grade:B/1 credit/distance=6.5
Weekly summary:
Good week overall. I could have hit 50 easily but this was a cutback. I am now in full blown taper mode. I think I am in PR shape. A good race would be a plus on a down training cycle overall. Next up is summer speed.
Distance=45.0/ GPA= 30.4/9= 3.38
Monday, April 5, 2010
training 4/5-4/11
4/5- Lakeshore 10 in 79:20 (7:56 pace). It was one of those go figure type of days. I struggled through much of the workout but whenever I tried to pick up the pace, it actually felt easier. Final .12 was at 5:33 pace so I had plenty left. Average overall. I will probably rest tomorrow.
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=10.0
4/6- Completely wiped out. I'll be back tomorrow. I dreamed that I was going to some mysterious luxury resort on the GA/FL border and I had to fly even though it was only 5 hours away. I ended up in the Miami area where the weather was snow flurries. LOL!
4/7- Trak Shak run with Preston. Interesting conversation. Ran the first 5 easy (about 8:30 pace) then hit the accelerator and managed a sub-7 pace for the final 3. Overall time was 63:35 (7:57 pace). Two very scary instances: Tweaked my ankle just I was starting my pick up and later had a car pull out right in front of me. I had to stop suddenly and was very angry but the important thing was that I wasn't hit. Fortunately, the ankle appears to be all right. Thank God. I finished the 3 at tempo pace without incident then sat down for several minutes and ran a 1.5 cool down without a problem. It is tender but it not bruised or swollen. I can probably run through this but will stay on the track until further notice. Average performance.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=9.5
4/8- Survived the workout and that's about all that I was hoping for. The ankle was stiff all through the day but once I got warmed up, I barely noticed it. Vestavia 4 in 31:28 (7:52 pace). Slowed down a bit in the 2nd half but that was by design. Walked a lap then ran 8x200. Struggled early but improved by the end. Averaged about 35 with a final 200 in 31.1. Pace per mile was 4:45-4:50 so that's about 30 seconds faster than goal race pace. 1/2 mile cool down. Ankle stiffened again after the workout but no worse than before it. Probably a good call to run through it. Should be over 50 on the week.
Grade:B/2 credit/distance=5.5
4/9- Vestavia 5 in 41:11 (8:14 pace). Funny thing. I felt pretty well during the day but my legs were crap from the start of the run. Oh well. This was a planned easy day and my pace was within the range... barely. I don't think I am quite in the shape I was in for Baton Rouge but I can turn the corner in the next 2 weeks.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=5.0
4/10- Needed extra sleep and dreamed about a car wreck and hiding from the cops to avoid a possible DUI charge. LOL. Woke up feeling awful, took some taurine, which made it worse. I popped a manganese and chromium pill and was a lot better within an hour. Vestavia 13 in 1:43:57 (7:59 pace). Amazingly even splits: 7:56-8:02. Took a short rest then ran 3 more in 21:58 (7:19 pace). I was hoping for a half marathon race pace on the final 3, which would have been good training for the real thing but came up short and really struggled in the 2nd mile. Splits were 7:15-7:33-7:10 with 94 last go round. Still a decent run. I know now that I need to take the manganese more than once a week.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=16.0
4/11- Lakeshore 6.5 in 51:xx (7:53 pace). I needed chromium and manganese again. WTH? Strong start, weak finish. Tried to pick up the pace in the last mile and had very little left in the tank. I did run after noon with sunny skies and temps in the 70s so that may have sapped my strength. I feel wiped out and will rest tomorrow.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=6.5
Weekly summary:
A step backward in terms of quality from last week. I am switching back to the Lithium and avoiding anything with zinc because it depletes chromium. Highest mileage since January and I am pleased with that. I may try some choline/inositiol but don't want to alter my formula too much with race day so close. Next week will be the start of a longer taper.
Distance=52.5/GPA= 24.4/9= 2.71
Grade:B-/2 credits/distance=10.0
4/6- Completely wiped out. I'll be back tomorrow. I dreamed that I was going to some mysterious luxury resort on the GA/FL border and I had to fly even though it was only 5 hours away. I ended up in the Miami area where the weather was snow flurries. LOL!
4/7- Trak Shak run with Preston. Interesting conversation. Ran the first 5 easy (about 8:30 pace) then hit the accelerator and managed a sub-7 pace for the final 3. Overall time was 63:35 (7:57 pace). Two very scary instances: Tweaked my ankle just I was starting my pick up and later had a car pull out right in front of me. I had to stop suddenly and was very angry but the important thing was that I wasn't hit. Fortunately, the ankle appears to be all right. Thank God. I finished the 3 at tempo pace without incident then sat down for several minutes and ran a 1.5 cool down without a problem. It is tender but it not bruised or swollen. I can probably run through this but will stay on the track until further notice. Average performance.
Grade:B-/1 credit/distance=9.5
4/8- Survived the workout and that's about all that I was hoping for. The ankle was stiff all through the day but once I got warmed up, I barely noticed it. Vestavia 4 in 31:28 (7:52 pace). Slowed down a bit in the 2nd half but that was by design. Walked a lap then ran 8x200. Struggled early but improved by the end. Averaged about 35 with a final 200 in 31.1. Pace per mile was 4:45-4:50 so that's about 30 seconds faster than goal race pace. 1/2 mile cool down. Ankle stiffened again after the workout but no worse than before it. Probably a good call to run through it. Should be over 50 on the week.
Grade:B/2 credit/distance=5.5
4/9- Vestavia 5 in 41:11 (8:14 pace). Funny thing. I felt pretty well during the day but my legs were crap from the start of the run. Oh well. This was a planned easy day and my pace was within the range... barely. I don't think I am quite in the shape I was in for Baton Rouge but I can turn the corner in the next 2 weeks.
Grade:C/1 credit/distance=5.0
4/10- Needed extra sleep and dreamed about a car wreck and hiding from the cops to avoid a possible DUI charge. LOL. Woke up feeling awful, took some taurine, which made it worse. I popped a manganese and chromium pill and was a lot better within an hour. Vestavia 13 in 1:43:57 (7:59 pace). Amazingly even splits: 7:56-8:02. Took a short rest then ran 3 more in 21:58 (7:19 pace). I was hoping for a half marathon race pace on the final 3, which would have been good training for the real thing but came up short and really struggled in the 2nd mile. Splits were 7:15-7:33-7:10 with 94 last go round. Still a decent run. I know now that I need to take the manganese more than once a week.
Grade:B/2 credits/distance=16.0
4/11- Lakeshore 6.5 in 51:xx (7:53 pace). I needed chromium and manganese again. WTH? Strong start, weak finish. Tried to pick up the pace in the last mile and had very little left in the tank. I did run after noon with sunny skies and temps in the 70s so that may have sapped my strength. I feel wiped out and will rest tomorrow.
Grade:C+/1 credit/distance=6.5
Weekly summary:
A step backward in terms of quality from last week. I am switching back to the Lithium and avoiding anything with zinc because it depletes chromium. Highest mileage since January and I am pleased with that. I may try some choline/inositiol but don't want to alter my formula too much with race day so close. Next week will be the start of a longer taper.
Distance=52.5/GPA= 24.4/9= 2.71
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
