Mile Attempt - #4

Hello Runners!,
We're nearing the end of the month and I still haven't done a timed mile attempt for the month of June.  Sure I ran a 1500 on Sunday, but not quite a mile.  A combination of some hard weeks of training and some unfavorable weather caused me to keep pushing the mile attempt further in the month.  I ran a nice 10 miles on Monday so I can't really say that I took it easy or even rested leading up to this attempt.


Today was a good day for running.  The temperature was around 75 with around a 10mph wind into the home-stretch.  As usual, I arrived at the track about 15 minutes before everyone else shows up.  I did a nice and easy warm-up of 1 mile around the track.  As I was stretching out, a few people slowly showed up for practice.  Jay wasn't one of them, which I thought was a bit odd because he's usually one of the first to show.  When Jill arrived she told me Jay couldn't make practice today because he had to work late.  Damn, looks like I'd be doing this timed mile on my own.  I had been sitting around for a little while so I decided to do another mile to warm-up for a 2nd time.  When I arrived back at the track Jill said Jay had just called and that he would be here in around 10-15 minutes and if I wanted I should just do the timed mile on my own.  It was a bit of a dilemma for me.  I would much rather do the timed mile with a running partner than on my own, but if I waited for Jay that means I would probably have to do a 3rd warm-up before the attempt.  Since a few other people were going to run the timed mile immediately, I decided to run with them and not wait for Jay.


I lined up on the track and did a short sprint just to get my legs a little loose and to get the heart-rate up a bit.  I stepped to the line.  Scott (our official timer on Tuesday) gave the shout of "go" and we were off.  I knew the others doing the timed mile wouldn't be anywhere near my pace so it was on my own.  My plan coming into the race was to try and run even splits, right around 80 sec per lap.  I looked at my watch at the 200m mark and noticed I was at 40 sec, right on an 80 sec lap pace.  I came through the first 400m in 82 seconds.  My next two laps were even splits at 79 seconds.  By the time I finished my third lap, my feet were BURNING.  I was gasping for air and my legs were feeling drained.  I pushed on.  With about 150 meters to go my legs felt like giving out but I focused on getting my knees up, running on my toes and "sprinting" to the finish.  My final lap was 78 seconds, for a final mile time of 5:19.  I was SUPER happy with this time.  I was confident I could go under 5:20 and I did.  It was a 12 second improvement over my last timed mile.  Nonetheless, I still need to drop 5 seconds per lap to run under 5 minutes. 
Final Splits:
Lap 1: 82 sec
Lap 2: 79 sec
Lap 3: 79 sec
Lap 4: 78 sec
TOTAL: 5:19 


Jay showed up to the track right as I was running my final lap.  After the finish and a few minutes for me to recover, I asked Jay if he was still planning on running his timed mile today.  His answer was kind of non-committal so I offered to pace him for 2 laps.  After a short warm-up (for Jay), it was back to the track.  Still somewhat exhausted from my mile, I wasn't sure how well I would be able to pace him.  I took off like a bat-out-of-hell, with Jay right on my heels.  We flew through the first 200m in 36 seconds, the first 400m in 74 seconds.  We slowed down a little on the 2nd lap, running a 79 sec lap for a 2:34 half mile.  I dropped off after the half mile point, completely spent.  Jay gave it for the next two laps, running around 80 sec per lap.  He ended up finishing in 5:15, a season best for him.


What a huge day of running today.  Jay and I both dropped our previous mile times by 12-15 seconds.  I am confident that had we run the mile together we could have even run a couple of seconds quicker.  It's always a bit easier to run when you have someone to pace off of or someone right on your heels to push you.  


We finished the workout by running 2x400 with about 2 minutes of rest between the two.  I ran even splits, 73 seconds each.  Overall, I'm very happy with the workout.  I'm starting to feel stronger and I can tell that my stride is getting longer the more we do speed workouts.  The plan for the rest of the week is to run around 7 miles tomorrow and then hit up the track again on Thursday.  Thursday is supposed to be in the mid-90's, so it's going to be a short work-out.  I'll take Friday as a rest day, do something easy on Saturday and then try to get in a 9-10 miles on Sunday.  It was a great day of running and I'm really starting to see results from all the training I've been doing.  Good night and good luck... running that is!

Badger State Games - Results

Hello Runners!,

I am in a good mood today!  To start with, my uncle from Texas is visiting so I've been able to hang out with him.  Second of all, I ran the Badger State Games this morning and the results were good.  I made the drive from Neenah to Wausau early this morning, arriving at the D.C. Everest High School Stadium around 9am.  I drove through some beautiful morning rain on the way to the meet which immediately put me in a good mood.  


When I arrived there weren't too many people there, which surprised me a bit.  The running events started at 9:30am with the 3000m run.  Since the 1500m was scheduled about mid-way through the meet, I figured I had a lot of time before my race.  When the 3000 started I went out for a nice little warm-up run, 2 miles.  I finished the warm-up and camped right by the track to watch a few events and stretch.  Literally, as soon as sat down I heard "Second call 1500m run, second call 1500m run".  WHAT!?  They just finished the 3000m 5 minutes ago!  How is the 1500m run already?  I ran back to my car, put on my jersey and number and ran to the track.  I didn't even have time to put on my racing flats.  Yikes!  I checked into the start area and made my way to the start.  I didn't have any time to stretch or even grab a last second swallow of water.  I looked at the start line and noticed only 6 other participants.  Turns out it would be a small race.  I knew one of the other runners, a former Neenah High School runner who is about 6 years younger than me.  After talking to a few runners just before the start it sounded like two other guys wanted to run right around 5 minutes so I knew I would have competition, or at least people to help me pace.  I drew lane 1, but it didn't do me any good to grab the lead off the start.  No problem, I tucked into 4th place and ran my race.  I came through the first 300m in 60 sec, right on my 5 minute pace.  I then passed a guy on the back stretch of lap #2.  I stayed behind the leaders for the next lap.  They were running right at my goal pace - AWESOME.  With two laps to go I passed the 2nd place guy and tucked in behind the leader, but not for long.  After less than half a lap I decided to take the lead and go with about 600m left in the race.  I took the lead and never looked back.  My final lap was around 74 sec and I finished the race in 4:58.6.  I won the race and I accomplished my time goal of running under 5 minutes.  My time would be around a 5:17-5:18 mile.  


Next up was the 800m.  We only had about 20 minutes between races.  I stayed down on the infield of the track and jogged a few laps to loosen up.  I did make one run out to my car to grab my water bottle and race flats.  For the 800m i wore my Kennedy race flats - probably 5-6 years old.  They're still light and fast and great for short distance races.  I drew lane 5 for the race.  With such short rest I wasn't sure what kind of time I would run but i still had hopes to go under 2:30.  I also started thinking that I may be able to win this race too.  I lead the race around the first turn.  I came through the first lap in 71 sec, leading the race.  As soon as we hit the back stretch on the 2nd lap Kyle (the Neenah guy) passed me.  I tucked in behind and held pace.  My plan was to stay behind him until the home stretch and then see if I could out sprint him.  Well, he had too much left in the tank and I wasn't able to chase him down in the finish.  He ran 2:22 and I finished two seconds back in 2:24, six seconds faster than my goal time.  Man was I happy.  Two races, two great results.

Me with my Badger State Games hardware.

Immediately after the 800 and final race of the track meet was the 4x400 relay.  There were four of us who were really close in the 800 so I jokingly said "so who's ready to run a 4x400?"  One of the other athletes said "let me see if we can still register" and immediately ran to the scorer's booth.  When he came back with a big grin and two thumbs up we knew we were running.  Four guys who just finished the 800 and are still out of breath are now going to run the 4x400 relay.  Crap.  Fortunately I drew the 3rd leg so I had a little time to recover.  By the time I received the baton, our team was way ahead of the field. Nonetheless I gave it all I had and ended up running a 67 sec split.  Our team won the 4x400 relay and I walked home with three medals from the meet.  I really had a great time at the meet and I'd be more than happy to run it again next year.  

A rainbow from the early morning rain showers on the early morning drive to Wausau.

  

In case anyone gets too upset when the mustard is empty.

Back on the Track

Hello Runners!,
Well, after a few days off and an easy day yesterday, it was back to the track today.  The workout for today on the track were 800's.  Jay and I decided we wanted to run the 800's at flat or negative splits.  For those who don't know, negative splits means your second lap is faster than your first.  For example, if my first lap was 80 sec, and my second lap was 78 sec, that means I ran negative splits.  The plan was to do 3x800 with our first lap around 80 sec.  We would have about 3 min. rest between each 800.


The workout went well.  My pacing was a little off, but I managed to run negative splits for all three 800's.  The times were:
1st - 2:42 (5:24 mile pace)
2nd - 2:36 (5:12 mile pace)
3rd - 2:44 (5:28 mile pace)
I was a little disappointed with my third 800 time as I thought I could run a very similar time to my 2nd 800.  I don't think I was quite recovered (even after 3 min) for my final 800 which hurt my time a bit.  After we finished the 800's, we finished the workout with 3x200's.  I ran perfectly even splits for all three, 35 sec each.  I feel very confident that I'm starting to get the speed I'll need to run a sub-5 mile.  What I need to work on now is maintaining that speed over 4 laps.  


I would have liked today's workout to have been a bit longer and perhaps more difficult but I'm running in the Badger State Games on Sunday so I didn't want to push too hard.  Also, I'm just two days removed from a knee/IT ailment so I didn't want to push too hard too soon.  At the Badger State Games I'm registered to run the 1500m and the 800m run.  It's nearly a 2 hour drive from Neenah to Wausau (where the meet is located).  My plan is to get up early on Sunday, drive to the meet and put forth a good effort in the races.  I don't have any goals in regards to placing as I don't know how many people are running (or WHO is running for that matter).  Instead, I have some time goals.  I would like to run under 5 minutes for the 1500m and under 2:30 for the 800m.  My next blog will be the results of the Badger State Games.  Wish me luck everyone!

A Weekend without Running

Hello Runners!,
Well, this past weekend was by no means successful when it comes to training for a fast mile.  84 miles on the bike will do that to a person.  With the ride on Saturday, I had a planned rest day on Sunday; I then had an unplanned rest day Monday, as well as Tuesday.  


I woke up Sunday tired.  I could feel a deep fatigue in my legs.  The outsides of my knees were a little sore too.  I managed to make it though a day of family activities, it was after all, Father's Day.  I just felt that everything I did on Sunday was slow... walking, eating, talking, even thinking.  Ugh.  I knew I needed more rest.  An early night on Sunday and I woke up Monday morning with terrible pain on the outside of my right knee.  My left knee, fine.  My right knee, not so much.  I could barely bend my leg.  I knew right away that I would not be running.  I also had a pretty good idea of what was causing my leg pain... ITBS.  ITBS is Iliotibial Band Syndrome.  The IT band runs down along the outside of your leg, from hip to knee.  Often times a tight IT band can cause knee or hip pain.  Monday became a pretty useless day.  I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible and massaged the heck out of my IT band every couple of hours.  Tuesday was better.  I could still feel a bit of tightness but I had much more mobility.  I decided to take Tuesday off as well.  Hey - it's better safe than sorry.  I didn't want to severely injure myself.  I just had to remind myself that it's OK to sacrifice short-term/daily goals to keep the long-term goal in mind.  


Today I felt good when I awoke.  I quick little massage of the IT Band and I was confident I could get in a run.  It was ridiculously hot (no surprise there) but I managed to do a nice easy 4 mile run.  With a little post-run massage I'm quite confident that I managed to curb my IT band tightness.  That being said, I've had IT Band issues in the past (almost a year ago exactly) and I know this can be a re-occurring problem.  My plans is to "keep an eye on" my IT Band.  By that I'll be doing an easy warm-up, cool-down and massage after each run for the next few weeks.  I'm also going to incorporate some IT-Band strengthening exercises in the future.  Tomorrow I'm planning on hitting up the track again with a moderate speed workout.  Keeping my fingers crossed that all stays well.  That's all for tonight, good night and good luck... running that is!  

Tour de Bago

Hello Runners!,

Today's blog entry is not about running.  I'm sorry to disappoint.  It is instead, about and awesome biking event that I was able to participate in.  After a week of hard training on the track, I decided to cap my week off by doing an 84 mile bike ride around Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin's largest inland lake.  My friend Shawn has organized a ride, the Tour de Bago, for 3 years now.  This year, saw a record number of participants, as the field ballooned to more than 30 riders.

Pre Ride Participant Photo

An early start saw the riders line up for 5+ hours of what was sure to filled with fun, laughter, pain, pain, and sore butts.  We navigated through the streets of downtown Neenah and Menasha, taking up an entire lane in the road.  Cars passed us by, slowing down to get a good look at all the crazy's in lycra.  I volunteered to be DJ and photographer extraordinaire (self given title) for the ride.  With my iPod and small speaker, I blasted inspirational and awesome tunes for 2+ hours until the speaker battery died :(  

I rode the first 15+ miles with Jay, Andy Dobbins, and Zeke when all of a sudden a huge dump truck passed us and Jay tucked in behind.  A veteran distance biker, Jay used the truck as a draft, helping him close the gap to the leading riders.  Andy, Zeke and I... well, we took our time and we took pictures.  You'll see a few below!

Zeke leading the pack in his "Trekked" out gear.

 The ride south was difficult to say the least.  We rode into a 20+mph head wind.  Although we rode using drafting techniques, by this point in the ride most people were down to groups of 4-5 riders.  Our route on the east side of Lake Winnebago took us along part of the High Cliff Triathlon route.  Some of the racers didn't realize we weren't part of the race and yelled at us "no drafting" or "you're riding too close to each other".  At one point, race organizers even drove up beside us and tried to get our group to break apart.  We had to tell them that we weren't part of the race.  After some initial confusion, the race organizers finally seemed to believe we were being truthful and left us alone.  This slight altercation, er... miss-communication made me laugh a bit!  I loved it!

It's Wisconsin, of course we rode past cows!

Riding by the east-side Windmills.

One of my favorite parts of the ride (besides finishing) was riding by the windmills.  There is something majestic yet eerie about riding by these giant power producing machines.  Seeing them littered amongst the rolling farm fields of Wisconsin, touring above all other structures is near jaw-dropping.  

Zeke and Andy tearing up the road!

Jay, Zeke, Shawn, Andy, Andy (me!) at Lake Park in Fond du Lac

 After more than 50 miles on the road, we finally made it to the southern most part of the Lake, Fond du Lac.  We had a short rest stop at Lake Park to rendezvous with other riders, refill water bottles, take in some nutrients, and rest the ol' bottom.  By this point the early morning sun had vanished behind overcast skies.  A few rain showers rolled in, flirting with the notion that we may get drenched on the remainder of the ride.  Fortunately, other than a few sprinkles, we manages to stay rain free.  

Riding along Lake Winnebago along County A in Neenah.

The ride north along the west side of the lake was fast and furious.  Led by our fearless leader, Shawn, a blistering pace was set for the final 35 miles.  Aided by the wind at our backs, we cruised at an average of more than 20mph on the way back, having only averaged 14.1 heading south.  Shawn, Zeke, Jay and I decided to make a quick pit-stop at the Dairy Queen in Oshkosh for a small ice cream, you know, a little treat.  Well as it would happen, my hunger got the best of me and I also ordered a chili-cheese hot dog!  Although I managed to eat the hot dog while riding, I would NOT recommend doing it.  Ever.  Ok, that's not true.  I would recommend it.  It was DELICIOUS!  By this point we had clocked nearly 70 miles and I was needing more calories than just Clif Bars and Gu.

Me with my preferred post-race refreshment, Miller 64.

The final few miles were a breeze... but that's only because we had the wind at our backs.  Riding into the finish line gave me a sense of relief.  Although the ride was enjoyable overall, my legs were tired and my ass was sore.  I should also probably let you know that my longest training ride leading up to the tour was 25 miles.  Riding more than triple the distance was probably not the wisest choice, but a great experience nonetheless.  Of course, having a nice cold beer at the finish line makes it all worth it.  The overall course was about 83 miles and it took around 5 hrs 30 minutes to complete it.  Although my GPS watch battery died at mile 79 so I don't know the exacts.  If you'd like to see the ride route and splits, check out my Garmin Connect site!  Finally, I would like to thank my good friend Zeke for putting together some home-brew, the soon to be world famous Saddle Sore Stout from Ezekiel Brewery.  The ride on Saturday put me at 13 consecutive days of either running or biking, so I've decided that Sunday will be a much needed day of rest before I get back into mile training on Monday.  That's all for tonight, good night and good luck... running that is!