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.)

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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
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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.