Today I had to miss the Parkside meet to go rock climbing. The experience was pretty fun, although I would have rather been with my team. I dominated the first couple of walls and then started to falter as my forearms and wrists got tired. Eventually I found myself stuck on a certain wall that nobody else seemed to be having problems with, and they refused to let me quit. My rock climbing "teammates" kept saying they wouldn't leave or let me come down until I made it up, but my hands just didn't have the grip left and after quite a while I had to bail.
After getting back to CUW I set out to do my 4 mile "tempo" workout, which actually turned out to be just a fast easy run (which is ironically an oxymoron). My fastest mile was 6:23. It was just a bit too cold (took me halfway just to get warmed up) and my hip flexors were too tired from the rock wall. I even had to stop halfway through the cooldown and stretch them out before I could make it the last mile back to campus.
While I was failing to conquer the repelling course and sucking at my tempo run, the rest of the team was tearing up the hills and woods at UW Parkside. From what I heard most of them seemed to do fairly well. Some big season bests and a couple of good packs out there. Pfeuffer came close to finally breaking 29 minutes (with Jon O not far behind) and supposedly said he could have done it if I'd been there. Next week, then, it'll happen for sure. I'll WILL them both under 29 minutes. I've got a special plan for that race. Hopefully it'll work.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Not Dead Yet
Yesterday was another great test of my body's durability. The team warmed up on the bluff and then headed over to the "north path" behind the soccer field for the workout. We did a total of 12 600's in 3 sets of 4, each set progressively faster than the previous one. It didn't seem terribly difficult on paper, but the competitive nature of my teammates made it a little bit insane. I was being chased all the way through by the group behind me, nearly on the verge of panic due to the fact that I was being caught by people who were supposed to be running slower than I was. As I hurdled the mud puddle and climbed the small hill east to the lake I could hear the relentless breathing and pounding of footsteps from behind, see the shadow of Jon coming to eat me. It was just the extra motivation I needed to run that little bit faster, and I know it helped them as well having some bait to chase after. On the last set of four we were supposed to run normal pace to the corner at the top of the path, then sprint full speed down the back stretch to the finish. When Jon and I reached the orange cone marking 400 meters we were greeted by Russ, who promptly screamed "Monster all the way down! How much pain can you handle?!"
It was the perfect thing to hear at that point and gave us the inspiration to turn on the jets and fly down that hill. I more or less ran out of energy on the last couple of loops but was still able to blast it at the end. Afterwards my legs were so sore that the cool down felt like finishing a marathon.
This morning I (barely) got to sleep in, since I didn't have to run in the morning. Instead I spent my time finishing an essay and rushing to class at the last minute. Actually I was five minutes late due to the parking debacle. This afternoon Russ only had my group run 4 miles, which felt like a warm up but was probably just what my body needed. I was quite sore throughout the day and am actually pretty impressed that my knees and achilles held up the last three days. I'm at 42 miles so far this week, on pace for about 70 total. Unfortunately I'll have to miss the Parkside meet on Saturday because I have a 1-credit rock climbing class, and will probably have to do a workout by myself early that morning.
It was the perfect thing to hear at that point and gave us the inspiration to turn on the jets and fly down that hill. I more or less ran out of energy on the last couple of loops but was still able to blast it at the end. Afterwards my legs were so sore that the cool down felt like finishing a marathon.
This morning I (barely) got to sleep in, since I didn't have to run in the morning. Instead I spent my time finishing an essay and rushing to class at the last minute. Actually I was five minutes late due to the parking debacle. This afternoon Russ only had my group run 4 miles, which felt like a warm up but was probably just what my body needed. I was quite sore throughout the day and am actually pretty impressed that my knees and achilles held up the last three days. I'm at 42 miles so far this week, on pace for about 70 total. Unfortunately I'll have to miss the Parkside meet on Saturday because I have a 1-credit rock climbing class, and will probably have to do a workout by myself early that morning.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Hang in There Everyone
I awoke to grey skies and soem light rain at 7:25 this morning. Half sighing, half moaning, I rolled over and turned off my alarm clock. 5 miles did not seem half as appealing as my warm bed, but laziness was not an option. Valiantly fighting what has now become a sort of permanent fatigue, I managed to crawl out of bed and lace up my running shoes. Outside the conditions were not terrible; in fact I got a bit warm under my retro Grafton Track jacket. I felt pretty crappy overall due to low energy, but before long I was back home and getting ready for class.
This afternoon I did another 6 miles. The rain had stopped by then and the sun even came out for about 10 minutes, but the clouds soon returned. Along with them came the wind, which created plenty of leaf-catching opportunities. I failed to actually grab any though.
After returning to the field house, Sarabia and I did 5 strides on the grass and parking lot. Those actually felt great, which is usually the case then the run itself goes terrible.
Have I mentioned yet that my knees are slowly dying? It's the same thing that plagued me all summer, only this time it's both knees. I've been putting them on ice to try and slow down the pain but I can only hope that I don't end up on the bike again in a few days. It seems like a lot of other people on the team are also experiencing problems lately. Kelby has apparently stubbed his toes and gotten stitches, which will take him out for most of the remainder of the season (according to facebook at least). Holly was recently witnessed limping around the library with some type of busted hip, Emily's been on the bike all week, Nicole still hasn't returned from her stress fracture in the beginning of the season, and Danny continues to have issues with his knee. We're dropping like flies.
I just hope the team can hold together physically for a few more weeks. We can't afford to lose people now.
This afternoon I did another 6 miles. The rain had stopped by then and the sun even came out for about 10 minutes, but the clouds soon returned. Along with them came the wind, which created plenty of leaf-catching opportunities. I failed to actually grab any though.
After returning to the field house, Sarabia and I did 5 strides on the grass and parking lot. Those actually felt great, which is usually the case then the run itself goes terrible.
Have I mentioned yet that my knees are slowly dying? It's the same thing that plagued me all summer, only this time it's both knees. I've been putting them on ice to try and slow down the pain but I can only hope that I don't end up on the bike again in a few days. It seems like a lot of other people on the team are also experiencing problems lately. Kelby has apparently stubbed his toes and gotten stitches, which will take him out for most of the remainder of the season (according to facebook at least). Holly was recently witnessed limping around the library with some type of busted hip, Emily's been on the bike all week, Nicole still hasn't returned from her stress fracture in the beginning of the season, and Danny continues to have issues with his knee. We're dropping like flies.
I just hope the team can hold together physically for a few more weeks. We can't afford to lose people now.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Need Energy
Last night I felt horrible, so I called it a day early and went to bed around 9:30. Despite sleeping close to 10 hours I was still exhausted when I woke up this morning at 7:30. Running 5 miles made me feel a lot better though. I overdressed a bit, expected some chilly morning air but instead being surprised by a pleasant 50 degrees. The tiredness returned throughout the day as I struggled to remain awake during Latin class. I took a 40 minute nap at 1 o'clock but was still sleepy by practice time.
Practice itself was fine. I woke up enough to stay near my times and didn't encounter any problems. We did a triple bluff warmup followed by 2x1 mile and 4x800. I ran near (0r faster than) my target times for every rep but was still barely able to keep up with Pfeuffer, who was supposed to be running 10 seconds slower than me. He keeps complaining about being tired and unable to run well but I'm convinced that he just hasn't had a good race yet. The guy kicks my butt in practice every day but I've beaten him in every race. Next time I bet he'll come out on top with a 28:30 or something around there.
It was about 13 miles for the day total. If my knees and shins survive (as I always speculate) I will be going places I've never been before.
Forecast calls for rain tomorrow. Wednesday is another monster. Let's do this.
Practice itself was fine. I woke up enough to stay near my times and didn't encounter any problems. We did a triple bluff warmup followed by 2x1 mile and 4x800. I ran near (0r faster than) my target times for every rep but was still barely able to keep up with Pfeuffer, who was supposed to be running 10 seconds slower than me. He keeps complaining about being tired and unable to run well but I'm convinced that he just hasn't had a good race yet. The guy kicks my butt in practice every day but I've beaten him in every race. Next time I bet he'll come out on top with a 28:30 or something around there.
It was about 13 miles for the day total. If my knees and shins survive (as I always speculate) I will be going places I've never been before.
Forecast calls for rain tomorrow. Wednesday is another monster. Let's do this.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Lakefront
This morning several of us volunteered at the CUW water station for the Lakefront Marathon. We handed out hundreds of paper cups filled with water and gatorade, cheered on the seemingly endless horde of runners, and then cleaned up. It's something I've done four or five times in the past (my high school runs a water stop a few miles earlier in the race) and still enjoy. I also got to see Dr. Paavola and a former teammate run by on their way to personal glory.
Around 1:30 Ben, Ash, Danny and I set out to do our long run. Danny made it about 100 meters before having to quit due to knee problems. He first noticed the pain yesterday while we were helping out at a high school meet at Lake Country Lutheran. Russ has him biking until it stops hurting, which hopefully should be very soon.
For the other three of us the run went fairly well. Ben complained about feeling sick for the first half and Andy seemed to have an urge to use the facilities, but I felt great and we all managed to survive the thing without any major problems. We averaged under 7-minute pace overall, partly due to a certain runner in a red shirt that we felt obligated to chase down around miles 8-10. The guy was first visible from far out when we were approaching 2 miles from campus (we ran 5 miles out and back to the south and then finished on the grass), but it wasn't until a little later that we kicked it in. We had been commenting for several minutes about how this fellow fitness junkie apparently wasn't willing to be caught when Andy pointed at him and said something about "getting" him. The man turned around to look at us just at that moment. I could almost feel a sense of fear pulsating through his veins as he saw us tearing down from behind. We decided to charge up the last hill in an attempt to finally close the gap, but ultimately ran out of room and were unable to catch him. We arrived back at CUW and had to turn off the road just short of victory.
One quick bathroom break and a couple of miles later, we were jogging out north to the half mile mark and ran into the same guy on his way back. Both parties waved.
I hit a wall the last mile and a half or so but was easily able to finish my 14 miles, putting myself around a bit over 70 for the week. That breaks my previous record of 60 by a solid margin. Next week...80? 85? The more the merrier, as long as my knees and shins hold out.
Around 1:30 Ben, Ash, Danny and I set out to do our long run. Danny made it about 100 meters before having to quit due to knee problems. He first noticed the pain yesterday while we were helping out at a high school meet at Lake Country Lutheran. Russ has him biking until it stops hurting, which hopefully should be very soon.
For the other three of us the run went fairly well. Ben complained about feeling sick for the first half and Andy seemed to have an urge to use the facilities, but I felt great and we all managed to survive the thing without any major problems. We averaged under 7-minute pace overall, partly due to a certain runner in a red shirt that we felt obligated to chase down around miles 8-10. The guy was first visible from far out when we were approaching 2 miles from campus (we ran 5 miles out and back to the south and then finished on the grass), but it wasn't until a little later that we kicked it in. We had been commenting for several minutes about how this fellow fitness junkie apparently wasn't willing to be caught when Andy pointed at him and said something about "getting" him. The man turned around to look at us just at that moment. I could almost feel a sense of fear pulsating through his veins as he saw us tearing down from behind. We decided to charge up the last hill in an attempt to finally close the gap, but ultimately ran out of room and were unable to catch him. We arrived back at CUW and had to turn off the road just short of victory.
One quick bathroom break and a couple of miles later, we were jogging out north to the half mile mark and ran into the same guy on his way back. Both parties waved.
I hit a wall the last mile and a half or so but was easily able to finish my 14 miles, putting myself around a bit over 70 for the week. That breaks my previous record of 60 by a solid margin. Next week...80? 85? The more the merrier, as long as my knees and shins hold out.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Forces of Nature
The team met for practice at 6 am this morning, and surprisingly almost everyone showed up. It was still dark out for about the first half of the workout and rain was blowing down in sheets from the black skies. As we warmed up on the bluff I could barely see Jon directly in front of me. The wind was coming into our faces off the lake as we jogged down the steps. As we were climbing back up the stairs for the second or third time I noticed a dark shape dash past in the opposite direction, and then heard the voice of Russ shouting "Yeah Baby!" This morning may have confirmed our suspicions that the man is actually insane. Luckily nobody tripped and got hurt on the slippery steps.
Following the bluff we went out south on the road for fartleks. This was the first time I've run that direction since the construction started 3 weeks ago. Flying through puddles and mud on the side of the road, dodging dump trucks and caution signs, we managed to grind out several miles and returned to campus just as the skies were lighting up. After finishing the fartleks on campus I took a bathroom break with Danny flying wingman, then headed over to do two more bluff hills. These were fairly brutal but it always feels good to punish the legs over there. A short cool down wrapped up the day for a total of about 8 or 9 miles. It was definitely a practice to go down in the record books.
Following the bluff we went out south on the road for fartleks. This was the first time I've run that direction since the construction started 3 weeks ago. Flying through puddles and mud on the side of the road, dodging dump trucks and caution signs, we managed to grind out several miles and returned to campus just as the skies were lighting up. After finishing the fartleks on campus I took a bathroom break with Danny flying wingman, then headed over to do two more bluff hills. These were fairly brutal but it always feels good to punish the legs over there. A short cool down wrapped up the day for a total of about 8 or 9 miles. It was definitely a practice to go down in the record books.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Moving Up
I showed up to practice after class today and found Danny and Ben waiting for me. We weren't sure how far to run since we'd missed the rest of the group, and a quick search for Russ proved futile because he'd already gone out to run. We ended up just heading north and ran into Russ around 1/2 mile anyway. He told us that group A was supposed to run 8 miles, while group B was 4 and group C was 7. Danny and I talked him into letting us do 8 miles with Ben, however, and also moving us both up to group A next week (woot woot!). The run actually turned out to be 6 miles plus the 2 mile "triple bluff warmup," which in this case was more of a cooldown. The wind was really blowing off the lake and Danny got a little chilled in his cut-off sleeves. We did an extra bluff hill too just for good measure (actually we were supposed to do it, but it still felt like over achieving). So far I'm at 40 miles this week. By the end of the weekend I should be at 69. Never run that much before.
I managed to catch one leaf today, bringing my season tally up to 4 points. I'm pretty sure Danny is somewhere around 15, and Pfeuffer must have at least 12. I really need to step up my game.
I managed to catch one leaf today, bringing my season tally up to 4 points. I'm pretty sure Danny is somewhere around 15, and Pfeuffer must have at least 12. I really need to step up my game.
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