French Lick 10K

ChornyRuns! - One word summaries!

Life: Scattered
Coaching: Exciting
Training: Conservative
Racing: Overdue
Nutrition: Vitamin-D

Life

A Blog entry... there's an idea. So, what have I been doing since the 8tuff miles in February? That's a good question. I've loved. I've lost. I'm loving some more. I've worked hard. I've been lazy. I've traveled a lot with the track team and enjoyed some great performances from my steeplers this past outdoor track season. I didn't race because of an Achilles tendon injury, took some time off from running, traveled a bit on my own to Salt Lake City, Park City (my favorite) and even zipped through Teton and Yellowstone National parks. Training is back on and ready for some more intensity. I feel like I've been all over the place for the last 2 months, so I'm looking forward to getting into a groove with life again.

Coaching

Just to recap. The outdoor season was fantastic. DeSean Turner and Andrew Poore went 1,2 at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships and gave us an amazing performance in front of a home crowd. They both ran fast enough to qualify for the U.S. Championships in June where they got a taste of their first big time championship race. Their season and personal bests (8:43.44 and 8:44.10) were the 22nd and 26th fastest by an American in 2010 and climbed to 5th and 6th on Indiana University's All-Time Records list.

On the Women's side, Sarah Pease was the Big Ten Runner-up and went on to place 4th in the Steeple Chase at both the NCAA Championships and the U.S. Championships. Her season and personal best 9:56.91 was the 6th fastest by an American this year and is the New IU School Record. Sarah's fellow steeplers also had a very successful year with 5 others running times that now populate the All-time IU top ten performance list. 4). Caitlin Engel 10:31.27 5.) Breanne Ehrman 10:40.46 6.) Erica Ridderman 10:45.40 7.) Samantha Ginther 10:46.53 and 8.) Kelsey Duerksen 10:46.98.

BUTTTT, now it's Cross Country Season and the Hoosiers are Amazing. Last week was our first big competition of the year at the Adidas Wisconsin Invitational. On the men's side, we have a very impressive top 5 followed by a solid 6, 7, 8, and 9. Going into the meet they were ranked 26th in the NCAA and there were about 7 teams in the race that were ranked in front of them, including #6 Wisconsin. Well, well, well... Patience was the key, and in the end, the Hoosiers won the meet and beat Wisconsin by over 30 points (for those of you who don't know... in cross country, your top 5 runners are scored based on their finishing place, therefore the low score wins. i.e. 1,2,3,4,5=15 points and a perfect score.) Here are the results... The next week, the men were ranked #7 in the NCAA.

For the Hoosier Women, going in the the race, they were not ranked in the top 30, but were very close. With a solid 5th place team finish, the young team, led by Sarah Pease's 7th place individual finish, managed to bump a couple of ranked teams, and are now ranked 24th in the NCAA. Results

Next up, Chili Pepper invite this Saturday at Arkansas.

Training

I've dealt with many small and not so small injuries over the past decade and I'm trying to be nice to my body. I've only climbed up to 60 miles a week at the most, but have primarily stayed between 50 and 60. I'll admit, I've become afraid of the pain that I used to simply deal with and I might need to readjust my feelings about that as I increase my intensity. I've been running workouts and some have been pretty solid, but no stand out workouts that have been overly impressive. This past Saturday I ran my first race since the spring and going into it, I had no idea what to expect...

Racing

French Lick 10K. Very pleased with my performance and fitness, but not with the outcome. I didn't know the course very well, but was told that the first 2 miles climbed up hill and then the last half was 'rolling'. I found out that 'rolling' means something completely different to people from Indianapolis than it does to people from Bloomington. I was planning to hang back for the first 2 miles and then race hard and wear people out on the 'rolling' hills. We were out at a very conservative pace, 5:27 for the first mile, 5:46 for the second, on a steady and solid incline. I let a few guys get a lead, about 80-100m and then started to slowly close the gap. The problem was... the rolling hills never showed up to help me. I spent the last few miles catching back to within about 40m of the top three, only to watch them start kicking in to the finish. I have to say, I was very pleased with my last 4 mile splits. 4:52, 4:42, 4:45, 4:53 and I think I'm ready to start training more. :)

Nutrition

Vitamin D has been studied more than anything this past year. "Vit D affects virtually all aspects of our health." Watch this video

ChornyRuns! the 8 Tuff Miles on St. John

Most photos courtesy of Don Hebert Photography and my half naked body.

What an amazing time it is down in the Virgin Islands. The sun shines, the Islands float and the water's not frozen. Last year I was in the Islands for 3 weeks and learned about a race on St. John called the 8Tuff miles. I heard that it was a very tough course that climbed 1400ft and ended with a couple downhill miles. I also heard that there was a $3000 cash prize for the first person to break a 5:45 per mile average; 48:02. The course record was 49:20 and was run by Jeremy Zuber who had won for something like 5 or 6 years in a row. What a great challenge! I did not know the exact course, but I had driven some of the roads when I was there last year, so I had seen some of the hills. My impression was that I would have a good shot at that time-bonus, but it is so hard to tell on those hills... especially in a car.

Going into this years race, I knew that it would be suicide to skip the hill training, but I have to say, I was not in great 'hill' shape. I added about 3 hill workouts in the 4 weeks leading up to the race, and I think that helped me to get in hill climbing mode. The hills here in Indiana aren't as long as those hills on St. John, but it did the trick.

Strategy for the race was based completely on speculation... I had no idea how fast I could expect to run downhill, so I didn't really know what pace I would have to hold going up. My thoughts were to aim for about 6:15 avg up the hill (first 5 miles), and that would leave a 4:55 avg down (last 3 miles).

Before the race, I had heard about a couple of other contenders that were showing up to go after the big prize, so I was a little nervous. One guy was a supposed 2:20 marathoner, and then a 1:06 half marathoner. At top shape, both would have been great competitors. The marathoner thought it would be a good idea to run the last 4 miles of the course 4 days before the race, and I think his legs were still shot on race day. The other was dealing with a hip issue that was not sure to be a hindrance or not. With his hip vs. my Achilles Tendon, it was a toss up.

My Achilles somehow felt great for the race. The gun sounded and off we went. The first hill starts about 600m into the race and lasts through mile 2. First split, 5:51. Felt good about that, but then we ran 6:29. At this point, I wasn't sure if we were going to run fast enough. The 3rd mile was quite flat, and we actually ran 5:21, and here I knew that one of us was going to get the time. The marathoner had fallen off the pace early, and Chris (half marathoner) and I were leading the pack up the hill. Miles 4 and 5 have a few hills that are steeper than the first long hill, and slowed us down to a 6:41 mile. Mile 5-6=11:02 and this brought me into the down hill. As we crested the highest point, Chris was leading me by about 40-50 meters, and I was thinking that if he was fast on the downhill, I might have trouble catching him. I started to open up and ran 4:42 for the first mile downhill and caught Chris pretty quickly. I was hoping I hadn't gone too hard too soon, because this was a solid constant downhill, and I didn't want to blow out my Quads. But, I threw in a 4:19 8th mile and cruised in to the victory.
Final time was 46:26 and I was quite happy with that. I got the time bonus and the $300 in Beer Money from the Tap Room, a local bar. I tried to spend all the Beer money, but I still have over half of it left. I guess I'll have to take another trip to the Islands soon. I hope to make it back next year to defend my title, but we'll have to see what the calender looks like. I was so sore for the next 4 days...everywhere. Next time I'll do a lot more hills before the race.

The race was very well run, and it looked like a lot of people had a great time. My cousin Kendall ran the race and was still on her feet at the end, and I think my Uncle may have been motivated to run next year. It was very much a party atmosphere after the race and I think some people started to celebrate right after the race, at 8:30 in the morning.

ChornyRuns! into a Cactus and goes on a helicopter

So, while I was in Phoenix, I ran into a cactus and pieces of it broke off and stuck into my hip and my arm. I immediately felt a quick numbness in the pricked areas and I was a little scared because I didn't know if they were poisonous or if it was something to worry about.

It hurt so much, but I was standing there laughing at myself because I had pieces of cactus stuck to me. I can only imagine what the people driving by were thinking. Well, they were so prickly that I couldn't use my fingers to pull the barbed needles out, so I had to use a stick to pry it off. In my wrist alone, I had about 60 different prick marks. That was 5 days ago, and some of the needles went really deep, so have bruises.

HELICOPTER!!!!

I love going in helicopters, and lucky me got to go up today over St. Thomas and St. John, thanks to Don Hebert Photography. (That's my uncle.) He had a photo shoot taking pictures of different rental properties and a happy parasail. Some pics and videos.

ChornyRuns! in St. Thomas V.I.

ST. THOMAS V.I.

As I write, I'm sitting on a balcony in 85 degree weather, looking out over the Caribbean. Just arrived in St. Thomas V.I. Tuesday. Here for the 8Tuff miles which is on St. John on Saturday. It's an 8.38 mile race that climbs 1400ft. 5 miles up, 3 miles down. There are iguanas in the trees, lizards all over the house, humming birds, and a black lab. Spent some time in the water today, it was excellent.

TRAINING

Lately I've been running between 50 and 60 miles per week. I've backed off from the 70s I was running back in November to allow my Achilles to heal. Unfortunately, healing hasn't completely taken place, although it has been more manageable lately, which means less pain, but still annoying. When I look at my overall mileage this past year, it ironically has been one of my more consistent years. I've been running every week, and 32 of the last 43 weeks have been at 50 or above. 50 miles a week...big deal right? Well, if it gets me to 60 next year and 70 the next, then I'll be just fine. And, fitness is definitely coming along. A couple key workouts lately: 6 mile LT in 30:53, and 8x1000m (60sec rest) cut down from 2:57 to 2:51, avg. 2:54.5.

I just spent 5 days in Phoenix, and climbed up Camleback. The last time I climbed camelback was in 1998 when I was running for IU. We always came to ASU or our first outdoor track meet of the year.

RACING

I tried racing another mile at one of our home meets at IU. I was thinking I could run 4:10 or better, so I figured 2:06 at the half would be ideal and then close in 2:03 or so, but I was pretty tired from some hill work that week, and ended up running 4:19. In every race I have run I've gotten to a point where I can feel the exact moment that I reach my lactate tolerance level. It's a flush of lactic acid that flows right up my thighs and at that point, I know there's nothing else I can do. So, I just smile and try to finish, hoping that next time I can go a little further.

I'm getting fit, so I'm not worried. Threshold is coming along, speed is there, VO2Max is a work in progress. I added some hill work to prepare for a race that I have coming up this Saturday.

COACHING

You'll hear me say this over and over again. I'm impressed with the guys and girls at IU. They work hard and consistent and I can't wait to see how they perform at BIG TEN's this weekend, Saturday and Sunday. The guys travel to Minnesota and the girls to Penn State. Results might be here. Sad I won't be there, and I wish them all the best.

NUTRITION

Let's keep this simple. All Nutritionals are not created equal. Neither are cars, or cameras, or restaurants. You may make the argument that 'all I need is a car to get me there, or a camera that takes pictures, or food to fill my stomach.' That's great, but if a car has no steering wheel, and a camera has no lens, or if a restaurant gives you a plate full of cardboard and glass, then you aren't getting what you pay for. When it comes to Nutritional products, there is ONLY ONE WAY to know for sure that what's on the label is in the bottle, nothing less, nothing more. The product must meet USP (Pharmaceutical) GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices) when they are produced. That's it. 'Satisfaction' guarantees are not good enough.

This video talks about USANA, one of the few Supplement manufactures that are pharmaceutical grade.

...and this is why I only recommend USANA to everyone I meet. Remember, nutritional supplements are not created equal. Don't sell your health to the lowest bidder.

Indiana University Track and Field School Records... and my new haircut.

The current IU athletes are starting to populate the lists. Check them out here.
Also, this just in, I cut my hair... I wanted to be like Andrew Poore and Jeff Coover.

ChornyRuns! like a rabbit!

This past weekend turned into a great and historical meet for IU. Complete Results here.

IU Men:
Andy Bayer, a redshirt Freshman ran sub 4 in the mile, clocking in at 3:58.89. DeSean Turner, although he was last (9th) in the race, clocked in at 4:02.68... as a season opener in the mile, not too bad. Look for some great results in the future from Turner. (Yoshi Shimizu 4:21, Dan Kinn 4:21)

On Saturday, Andy Bayer and DeSean Turner were gracious enough to pace Andrew Poore in the 5K. Clocking 4:28 at the mile and 8:57 at two miles, Poore closed with a 4:17 and finished in a 13:48.88, only 1.88 seconds away from an Automatic qualifier to the NCAA finals. Tim McLeod 14:18, Zach Mayhew 14:20.

The 3K was pretty solid too. Cole Hardacher 8:16, Andy Weatherford 8:16, Jacob Laird 8:19, Nate Morrow 8:21 (Andrew Ramos 8:40)

Danny Stockberger won the men's 800m in 1:51.96, while Freshman Joe Holohan was 2nd in 1:52.16.

IU Women:
The women's mile didn't disappoint. The IU women had the top three spots and all were an NCAA Provisional time. Molly Beckwith 4:43.44 , Chelsea Blanchard 4:45.87, and Wendi Robinson 4:45.88.

Sarah Pease won the women's 3K clocking 9:32.44 only a couple seconds away from a provisional mark.

And Helene Delone won the 5K in 17:41, and Jenny Kulow was 3rd in 17:51

Lindsay Hartman won the 800m in 2:10.68 with Ashley Baker 4th in 2:11.81
THE BEST
Perhaps the highlight of the meet was ME rabbiting the 3K, and you can watch that here: Video
It is interesting for me to watch this because it seems like I'm running a lot different than I have in the past. ( Anybody else think it looks different?) I've really focused on shortening my stride and increasing my stride rate this past 6 months and it seems to have taken. In theory, this should help me be more efficient... we'll see what the outdoor season brings.

Indiana Relays Mile

VIDEO HERE

Are Limits Real or Self Imposed?

An anonymous person posted a comment on my last link and it brings up a question on which I would love some discussion. Are Limits real, or self-imposed?

ChornyRuns! Races! Training! Coaching! Nutrition! Jan. 26th, 2010

ChornyRuns! - One word summaries!

Life: Promising
Racing: Next
Training: Appropriate
Coaching: Impressed
Nutrition: Essential

LIFE

I like what I have going on right now. I see the great potential that the future may hold. It is up to me to be a co-creator, to shape it how I would like. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve" (Napolean Hill) The future is already there waiting, you just have to start shaping it.

RACING

Ran my first double in a long time at the Gladstein Invitational here at Indiana University. Mile Friday night, and the 800m on Saturday. I've only run one other open 800m in my life and that was in 1999.

Back on 1/9/2010, I raced my first mile in a few years and, if you read my earlier post, you'll see that I was satisfied with my 4:14.60. It was a conservative opener and so I figured with a couple more weeks of training, I could expect a good shot at sub 4:10 and possibly a PR of 4:07 (listed to the right). I figured that I could go out in about 2:04 for the first half, and then hope to close strong, so I was 2:04-2:05 at the half, but at that point I knew it was going to be an uphill battle to the finish. My legs were already burning at 600m.

When something like this happens in a race, and you KNOW that you're not going to be able to finish strong, dropping out of the race always seems to present itself as a possibility. It's amazing what ideas your mind will try to feed you when you are in pain. Sometimes, that's where the real battle takes place. I think it's hard-wired into your brain to think thoughts that might lead to actions that will protect yourself from feeling the burn or even from feeling the potential embarrassment or disappointment. It must be a natural reaction to oxygen deprivation. If you can only decide before hand that IT IS NOT an option, it makes it easier to have those ideas, and just let them pass.

So, I smiled inwardly, and said "this is going to hurt a little bit". I held my form together as best as I could, and finished far behind the others in 4:23.02. I cooled down and started to prepare for the 800m which I would run the next day.

Feeling tired and a little nervous on Saturday, I warmed up for the race by running 3 miles, stretching and doing a few solid pickups around Assembly Hall. I knew that this race would only hurt for about a minute and I knew I could handle that. After what happened in the mile, I just didn't want to blow up and risk running slower than 2min. I was so tired and sore from a great week of workouts (see below) that I didn't know what was going to happen. With luck, I was thinking I could run close to my PR, 1:55. Again, didn't happen. I think I was 58sec at the quarter, and thought that I might have a chance to run a 1:56. I actually started to move (from the very back) but with about 300m to go, some guys got mixed up and someone might have gone down. I managed to zig zag through the mess and break through to the other side. It killed my momentum, but I got going again and finished 4th in my heat, running 1:58.04.

Although I didn't run the times I wanted, I did run two of the fastest 800s I've run in a long time, so I know it was good for training. Onward!

This Friday 1/29/2010, I am running the 3K at the Indiana Relays. Actually, it is my job to pace some of my IU guys at 8:10 pace. This means that I will be coming through the mile at 4:20-4:22 and if I feel good I'll keep going. I know what you're thinking... if you only ran 4:23, how can you expect to be the pace maker at 4:20? Stay tuned... I'll let you know how it goes.

TRAINING

Since I wrote last, my Achilles Tendon is still inflamed. I'm changing shoes, so let's hope this will help. Going to try the Mizuno Inspire.

Weekly mileage since July: (*signifies a day off.)

-----------------------------------

July: 53, 50, 50, 60
August: 62, 61, 50, 52, 60
Sept: 60, 60, 63, 60
Oct: 70, 55*, 67, 70, 72
Nov: 70, 53*, 70, 60*
Dec: 45*, 30***, 48*, 50*, 51*
Jan: 56, 60, 61
-----------------------------------

WORKOUTS

Three great workouts during the last couple weeks.

1) Tuesday's (1/12) 2x3200m on the indoor track... alternating each quarter in 65/75.

66.5/72.8/64.9/76.4/66.3/78.7/66.8/81.6 = 9:34 (full rest)
68.0/77.4/66.5/76.9/66.8/77.9/66.8/75.9 = 9:36

As you can see, the last couple '75s' were a little tough and not '75'. Coach Helmer bumped me down to the next group who were trying to run 67.5/77.5. The splits were not that much different, but this second rep was quite easy. Overall, I only ran 2 seconds slower, but I had no difficulty staying on this pace.

2) Friday 1/15 Road run, 12min LT, 10min tempo, 2x5min faster than tempo, 6x30/30. 4min rest between each. Very solid, ~5:16 LT, ~5:00 Tempo, ~4:52 interval, felt great on the 30/30.

3) Tuesday (1/19) 5xmile on indoor track, (4min) cutdowns 4:56 to 4:40
Ran: 4:51, 4:52, 4:46, 4:44, 4:29 The last one felt great, but I was pretty tired from this workout which is probably why I didn't do too well in the mile this weekend.

COACHING

IU currently has 8 guys that have run 4:10 or faster in the mile. I don't know if there's another college in the country that has that potential. There might be, I just don't know. Our fastest guy has run 4:03. Two IU runners just ran 7:55.25 and 7:57 for the 3K this weekend. They are getting fast.

My steeplers are impressive. I am going to try to find a camera to video tape one of our steeple sessions. Maybe I can put a video together and start some Steeple Clinics.

NUTRITION

It is important to get antioxidant protection from a multi-Vitamin. Vitamin C is great, so is Vitamin E, but don't forget about the B vitamins, CoEnzyme Q10, alpha Lipoic Acid and many, many more. A 'Potency-Guaranteed' multi should be your first choice when supplementing your diet. I recommend Usana's 'Essentials' for many reasons. e-mail to ask what makes them different, or watch this video.

Video of the Indiana Open Mile, 1/9/2010

I didn't realize that Flotrack was there to record, but I'm in this race. It was my first one in a while, so I'm not out to win it, just getting one under my belt. I'm in the all black uniform. VIDEO

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ChornyRuns! the mile in 4:14.60

Well, that's out of the way. This was my first race on the track since May 31st, 2008, before the Olympic Trials. After many nagging pains and a couple injuries, I've gotten myself back to a point where I feel like I'm ready to start training again.

Here's what I was thinking going into the race. If I run faster than 4:12 I'll be pleasantly surprised, but if I run slower than 4:16, I'll be disappointed and maybe a little worried that things are coming around. I know that's a small window, but I just needed to make sure I didn't blow up and run stupid.

200m Indoor Banked Track at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse, Indiana University.

I wanted to be 2:06-2:08 at the half way point, so after a 62 second split, I needed to let up a bit, and that pace felt pretty decent. I think I came through right at 2:08 high, and was about 3:12 at 1200m; right where I wanted to be. I started to push the pace thining that a 58 could get me 4:10, but going into the last lap, I really started to feel the booty-lock (Chapman's official term). I smiled the whole last 100m because I knew I couldn't go any faster but I was going to be just fine. I haven't felt that pain for a long time. I love it!

So, this race basically says... 'OK Thomas, time to get out there and train.' My PR is 4:07, and I think I have a good shot at taking that down this season. Still taking care of my Achilles Tendon, but I should be back out on the track in two weeks, and again in 3 weeks.

ChornyRuns! this Saturday

RACING

IT'S OFFICIAL! I'm racing the Mile this weekend at Indiana's first Indoor Track Meet of the season. I am so nervous. I have no idea what to expect. It's one thing to go into a race knowing that you're ready, and quite another to go in blind. I plan to race 4-5 times during the indoor season, so look for more updates.

TRAINING

Since I wrote last, I've been dealing with some Achilles Tendon inflammation. This has actually been nagging me since October, and I'd really like to be done with it.

Here's my weekly mileage since July: (*signifies a day off.)

-----------------------------------

July: 53, 50, 50, 60
August: 62, 61, 50, 52, 60
Sept: 60, 60, 63, 60
Oct: 70, 55*, 67, 70, 72
Nov: 70, 53*, 70, 60*
Dec: 45*, 30***, 48*, 51*, 50
Jan:
-----------------------------------

So, as you can see, I've trailed off a bit in December, trying to get my Achilles better. Some days it feels better, but then others it's still pretty bad. I've already started to introduce steeple drills and those feel great, very smooth. My speed is decent, Lactate Threshold is coming close to solid, not as good as it's been before. VO2Max is where I haven't done a ton of work yet, and that's why I don't know what to expect on the track tomorrow.


WORKOUTS

Best workouts lately:

1) 6mile cut down tempo 5:31/5:12/5:14/5:08/5:04/5:05 = 31:19 it was cold.
2) 16x200m goal 30 with (30sec) rest. I averaged 30.5 and (32.7) After the first couple, I thought there was no way that I could finish 16 straight on that rest, but half way through, I found the resolve to challenge myself, and I made it through. just fine. It hurt, but I was fine.
3) 8x800m (60) = 2:21(55) 2:20(55) 2:20(55)2:20(55) 2:20(60) 2:21(60) 2:19(60) 2:18

COACHING

The steeplers and I have started to do steeple sessions, and I think there is a lot of potential for our group. I am working with 5 guys and 8 girls. I have 3 guys who are looking great and they are great examples for the others to follow. My top girl was 7th at the NCAA champs last year and is getting faster and faster. 2 other girls have experience but still need some work, and the rest of them are rookies who will benefit by watching the veterans.

Right now we are doing 'side drills' and won't be over the top until Feb. March will be here before we know it, so Steeple season is on the horizon.

Nutrition

Many of you know that I'm quite passionate about nutrition so I'll add some tips and hints and advice that may improve the quality of your life, because if you don't have your health, what do you have?


Vitamins D: From Oregon State University, "vitamin D is now seen as one of the most critical nutrients for overall health." Read the article HERE.

USANA has always recognized Vitamin D as an important nutrient; consider our Vitamin D for your seasonal health during these winter months.




Thanks for Reading. -Tom-
Independent Usana Distributor
chorny@usana.com
231-578-8888

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