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

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.