Final Lab report

Wed. Nov. 28, 2007

10:30am - 3 miles
5pm - 7 miles with Libby

Yeah pretty much all day I just worked on my final Lab report for school, Thermoregulation. It was a short 14 page paper. Then I had a practical exam which covered all the stuff we did in lab, which I screwed up one of the easiest parts. Before I went to class, Libby and I went for an easy run around the area.

I am happy to be done with the Lab work, but I am getting a little nervous that I put in all this shitty work all year, and I might not get the grade that I need. But we'll see.

10 miles today

SORRY FOR THE DELAY

Tues. Nov. 27, 2007

11am - 3 miles
6pm - 8 miles around the regional park

Mon. Nov. 26, 2007

7am - 3 miles
5pm - 3 mile warmup, 36x100 meter deep sand running, 3 mile cooldown

The deep sand running was kinda cool, annoying and hard at the same time. You could never really get a good step in, but the workout was hard enough.

Sun. Nov. 25, 2007

8am - 14 miles


Sat. Nov. 24, 2007

9am - 2.5 mile warmup, 4 x (2x300 w/ 1 min rest) 800 jog between sets, 2.5 mile cooldown. avg. 44

Fri. Nov. 23, 2007

6 mile run

Thurs. Nov. 21, 2007
DANA POINT TURKEY TROT 10K

Ok so here is the story about my Turkey Trot. First off the race was at 7am. Second, I did not sleep an ounce last night, I laid in bed for about 4 hrs not sleeping, just because I couldn't. I wasn't nervous or anything like that, I just couldn't fall asleep, and its the worst when your roommated does fall asleep then makes sleeping noises. So I hung out trying to sleep from 10:30pm - 3:15am, and once 3:15 came along I decided to go make breakfast. I ate my normal breakfast then came back upstairs and actually dozed off for about 45 min. WHICH WAS A BAD THING.
I was supposed to be out of the house at 4:50, and we didn't get up until 5:20, and by the time we were actually out of the house was 5:35. The drive was about an hour down south, and we were making fine time, we actually got off the exit for the race at 6:30, so I thought we were gonna be good. WRONG, WRONG. From there it took 15 min to go a quarter mile. So at 6:45am, Libby was driving, I told him I had to go, so I hopped out of the car and ran with my crap to the starting line. I got there and Skip was yelling at me, but I really didn't listen cause I had to try and salvage my race. However, it he had not gotten there when he did, real early, we all would have missed our race. I again want to say how great of a coach he is. Anyways, so I took a big dump and then did 3 strides and off we went. The race did not unfold the way I wanted it to. We went out real fast, since I really didn't warmup and was real tired, I had no idea what pace we were running. It was right around 4:40 for the first mile, after that I just backed right off and the lead pack just took off from me. There were probably like 4 times in the race that I just pulled over to the side and started jogging cause of how shitty I felt, but I reaffirmed myself and then got back into it. I passed 5k in about 15:35, and that was after jogging at a point to. I was by myself for the rest of the race, and jogging happened a few more times but I was still able to salvage a 32:30 out of it. Not too bad considering. The went home and slept for 3 hours, cooked dinner, and ate.

Wed. Nov. 20, 2007

OFF - Rest Day

Tues. Nov. 20, 2007

5pm - 7 miles

Mon. Nov. 19, 20077am - 3 miles
5pm - 2.5 mile warmup, 4x1000 3:00, w/ 2 min in between, 2.5 mile cooldown

The workout was the first one that we did on the track, but only in flats. It was more of ab easy workout because we have a Thanksgiving Day turkey trot. 3:02, 2:58, 2:58, 2:55.

Sun. Nov. 18, 2007

8am - 45 min run

Skip wanted us to take it easy today, and I am very happy that I did, cause I was exhausted.

HILLS

Sat. Nov. 17, 2007

9am - 1.5 mile warmup, 12x 400 meter hills with jog down rest in 75, 2 mile cooldown

Did our warmup and drills then headed to the hill to kick ass. The hill is a nice incline that is tough. We averaged 74 for all 12, never going over 75 or under 73. My breathing was good and my legs felt strong. Good workout. Then I headed to work, which took 2 hrs to get to. Yeah it must be 20 miles, AT MOST. Gotta love Cali.

10 miles today

Easy Day

Fri. Nov. 16, 2007

7am - 3 miles
6pm - 8 miles

After work ran down to the woodchip trail then came back....that was pretty much my day.

11 miles today

This time I will workout

Thurs. Nov. 15, 2007

7 am - 3 miles
6 pm - 3 mile warmup, 4x(3x1 min hard, 30 sec easy with 800 meters jog in between set) 3 mile cooldown

Ok, so after school I headed out to workout on the track down the street at Mira Costa High School. Warmed up 2 miles to the track to workout....what do you know....the pep band and marching band had control of the track. I was flabergasted. I mean pep band??? So I ran down to teh beach and did the workout on the Strand.

13 miles today

Black Widow

Wed. Nov. 14, 2007

5:30 am - 3 miles
11 pm - 7 miles

I ran so early this morning cause I had to drive Libby to the airport, he went home for a week.

I went to USC early to do my workout, because Skip can no longer workout with me on Wednesdays due to a new commitment.....YAY...back to myself again. Whatever. The only problem was that when I got there the USC track team took over the track. This was there first week of team practice, so no practice for this guy there. I went to lab and planned on working out afterwards. Yeah that didn't happen either. By the time lab was over and I got home, it was real late, so I was just gonna bag it and workout tomorrow. I wasn't even gonna run, so I just began eating. However, later that day I went to walk my cousins dog, but I couldn't find her and then I saw the gate was open, so I took off sprinting. After about 10 min of panicing, one of the roommates had the dog. CRAP. So by that point I just started thinking, well now would be a good time to run. So I did.

When I was leaving USC I was talking to Jeff and as we were talking I saw this HUGE ASS spider and was amazed. I then realized that it was a Black Widow. So I took a picture....and this is it.

10 miles today

SORE

Tues. Nov. 13, 2007

9am - 3 miles
5:30pm - 8 miles

Ran by myself in the morning, a little later than normal because of how my legs were feeling like crap. I had a very sore morning run. Went to school for about 20 min, found out that I no longer have to go there for that boring ass research class, now I have a new project that I can do at home. Hopefully I do it.

Today was also Libby's first day at his new job. Not sure really what he does, but now he is making money and out of the house.

We ran at that regional park 2.5 miles away. I made sure that we went real easy today. I felt pretty good compared to my morning run, so I just relaxed for an easy 8. Afterwards we made homemade pizzas. Libby made a pesto pizza with tomato and spicy sausage, and I made one with tomato and spinach. They kicked ass.

11 miles today

Long Surges

Mon. Nov. 12, 2007

7 am - 3 miles with Libby
5 pm - 2 mile warmup, 30 min of Fartlek, 2 mile cool down

We went running after I got out of work at around 4ish. We ran about 1.5 miles down the street to Mira Costa HS where they have a pretty sweet track that we just found. I did 30 min of Fartlek surging and Libby did 100 meters on 100 meters off for 20 min. I was still feeling sore from the race and could really feel it in my quads towards the latter stages of the fartlek. It was good though. We cooled down easily back home and then ate some stir-fry.

12 miles today

Sunday

Sun. Nov. 11, 2007

8am - 13-14 miles

Libby and I ran with a couple of guys who I work with at the shoe store out in Palos Verdes. It was a nice easy run, probably anywhere from 6:30-8 min pace throughout the run; faster when I was by myself at the end. Felt a bit sore from the race yesterday, and I was glad to take it easy today. Afterwards Libby and I grabbed brunch at the Koffee Kafe in Manhattan Beach, and it was pretty friggin sweet. I got the oatmeal and a spinach omelette and it was awesome. Libby rolled with the Spicy Sausage omelette, cause we all know how he loves spicy sausage, and pancakes. It was pretty kick ass and cheaper than we are used to.

Worked afterwards from 1-6pm and then we made chicken Bruschetta and garlic bread....another kick ass meal....Then Seinfeld and bed

Southern California XC Championships

Sat. Nov. 10, 2007

K. Hahn Park, West LA
8k Championships

The race for me today was at 9am and 11am for Libby, so I had an early morning by myself. I woke up at 5:15, had my 3 egg omelette with cheese, 2 pieces of our homemade bread with peanut butter, banana and honey....and a handful of granola. Afterwards I hit the bed again for one more go at a nap for 45 min. I left the house at about 7:15 to make sure I got there with enough time to get some spikes in my shoes. The course was an all grass course that we looped around 4 times, quick math makes that 2k loops. It was only Matt and I today in the morning, because Ozzie quit the team yesterday. It would have been cool if he finished the last meet with us.....or ran with us the past 7 weeks, but what can you do. We warmed up and did our drills, which was then followed by a nice sized dump to get me ready for action.

The race had some pretty good guys in the field, even though there were like 50 people. There were 4 guys who have gone under 14 minutes for 5k, a 2:17 marathon guy, a 29 min 10k guy and then myself and Matt, not to sell ourselves short. The course was a little sloppy in parts but overall a good day for racing, about 70 degrees, sunny and no wind.

So we started off pretty comfortably, not too fast and probably in a pack of like 10 for the first loop. After the first loop, I felt that it would be wise for me to back off a little bit to make sure I didn't kill myself too early. So for the rest of the race, I was mostly alone. Matt was a few spots ahead of me, not too far, but far enough where I couldn't get him. Long story short, I got 9th, holding off 2 guys right at the end, and Matt was 8th. I had a nice PR, 24:52.1, and I can't complain. I finally had a XC race where I felt confident and didn't quit. Matt was 10 seconds ahead of me.

Eric led his 4k race for the first 1000 meters or so, and then a guy hammered past him and pushed for the rest of the race. Eric ended up second in the race, but a strong performance, especially for his first XC race ever.

Went to work after, and then jogged for like 2 miles to loosen the legs.

12 miles today

The day before

Fri. Nov. 9, 2007

6pm - 3 miles + strides

Had an easy day today, just had to work and run. Ran the 3 mile loop around Artesia, then did some strides. Tomorrow is the Southern California XC Championships.

Rest Day

Thurs. Nov. 8, 2007

I love training hard, but there is nothing like an off day. Sometimes you don't realize how tired you are until you take a day off, it puts all the training in perspective. I didn't do too much today either. I went up to Dr. Paul's office to have him adjust my orthotics and make the arch a little higher. Then Libby and I made bread and granola.....which is awesome. Then we ate blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes for dinner. I also screwed up the first couple, so I think there is a possibility of Salmonella creepin in here, but we'll see what happens.

PS....this is what Libby looks like cooking.

USC day

Wed. Nov. 7, 2007

7:30am - 3 miles with Libby
3:30pm - 2 mile warmup, 5x800 w/ 2min recovery, 3 mile cooldown

Today Skip wasn't able to meet with me in the afternoon, so he told me to get onto the USC track before my lab tonight and do 5x800 between 2:24-2:28 w/ 2 min recov. Libby also decided that he would rather work out with me today then with the team, so we piled into the C-dub, or Camry, and headed to USC. We warmed up around the school, cause that time of day would be terrible to run throughout campus. Got back, did our drills and strides and took off. We started together, but the pace was not something that Libby was used to, so after the first one he backed off and did his own thing. My reps went ( 2:26, 2:21, 2:18, 2:18, 2:15 ). It was a little faster than I was supposed to be doing these reps, but they felts comfortable, so I just rolled with them. Libby averaged right about 2:31. After, we cooled down and stretched quickly because I was gonna be lab for lab, which was the next building over.

Lab today was working with thermoregulation. So roughly how the body heats up during exercise. It was kinda cool, and pretty funny. The Lab TA had 3 volunteers, I was not one of them for a reason. They were to perform 30 min of exercise on a bike at a speed of their choice, with others checking their temp, BP and perceived effort of exertion. But the funny part about it was these three volunteers had to do the lab with a rectal thermomter up their bums for the test. This is why it was VOLUNTARY. I chose to sit this one out. Good lab though.

Libby hung around USC and we ate dinner afterwards at Whole Foods.

10.5 miles today

Tuesday

Tues. Nov. 6, 2007

10am - 3 miles
5pm - 9 miles

Pretty much just took care of my school work today and then ran with Eric at 5pm for 9 miles. It was a good comfortable run and felt good. Thats it, then we ate pasta....not much happened today

12 miles today

Monday

Mon. Nov. 5, 2007

7am - 3 miles with Libby
5pm - 6.75 miles with the middle 2.1 miles at tempo pace

Did the whole morning thing, then headed to work for a few hours.

Libby and I drove to practice at the normal meeting spot on Monday at San Vicente and Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica. The team met and started the conversation with a nice joke on Damian. Then we started our easy part of the run for 2 miles then did the 2.1 mile tempo in 10:35, which is about 4:58-4:59 per mile, and it felt pretty comfortable. Matt and I finished together and Libby finished at 11:35 by himself. Afterwards we cruised back down to the start to do our drills, strides and stretching. We also got free adjustments from the team chiropractor, Dr. Paul, who is the team chiropractor for the USA Olympic Trials. Great chiropractor.

The big thing came afterwards when Damian wanted to talk to Eric and I about finding an apartment for us. Damian had promised Eric a job and an apartment and both fell through, and this has led to some sore spots about living in Southern California. So we really didn't want to hear about the apts. because we already have the idea about leaving to go run somewhere else. Today was the day that we told Skip what we were thinking about the upcoming months. I was kind of hesitant because I wasn't sure how he was gonna take it, but it went much better than anticipated. Skip is a great guy and a great coach. He is very understanding and knows what we are going through and recommended that we find what we need to make ourselves happy and run our fastest. I really appreciate everything he has done and is still doing for us.
So now we just have to plan on what we are gonna do for after Decemeber. Time to ponder....

10 miles today

Very Busy Week

Sun. Nov. 4, 2007
8am - 13-14 miles in Palos Verdes with Libby

Sat. Nov. 3, 2007
9pm - 12x300 meter hills with Libby down in Hermosa Beach

Fri. Nov. 2, 2007
7am - 3 miles
6pm - 10 min warmup, 20 min of 30sec. on 30 sec off, 20 min cool down

Thurs. Nov. 1, 2007
6pm - 12.5 miles

Wed. Oct. 31, 2007
7am - 3 miles
5pm - I was supposed to do a VO2 max test, but halfway through the mouthpiece broke and air stopped coming in and I was forced to stop. When I stopped, my heart rate was at 175 and through calculations at that point my VO2 was at 63.

Tues. Oct. 30, 2007
7am - 3 miles
5pm - 7.8 miles

Mon. Oct. 29, 2007
5pm - 10 miles