The Fill in - 3 months later

It has been a while since I last updated the blog, so I thought I would give it a whirl. I was most disappointed with this whole year of training/racing/everything else related to running. I really did not have one good performance throughout the year and from what I can see looking back, my training was never really leading up to anything and the intensity was just not there. When I look back on the workouts that I thought were good or did something, really were not specific to the event I was running and did not have an end goal. Any workout you run can make you feel tired or get you thinking that you worked hard, but this past year was just a joke...truthfully a joke as far as my training toward goals went. That being said, I have decided to change things around these upcoming years as far as training and everything that coincides with it. My fellow Westchester Track teammate John Byrne felt the same way about his training for the past 2 years so we decided to do something about it and work together. We will now be our own training duo. Every morning we will be meeting in Sleepy Hollow at 7am to do our runs and workouts. I have never really been that much of a morning person, but it will be a great benefit getting things done early and consistently.

This upcoming Fall I plan on doing a lot of strength related workouts but not getting too far away from the speed aspect. Long slow runs, make long slow runners. Very good quote from Tim Kaijala. They also say that the things you hate doing the most are the things you should do the most of. So there will be alot of tempos, long hill workouts and pretty much painful long workouts. I suck at the longer stuff, so it is time to work on it. Another great quote came from my friend Jon when we were out one night. He said, "S*** or get off the pot". Coming from him that did make a big impact on me. So I will really try to step it up this year with everything I am doing.

For the past month and a half I have been building back up to the higher mileage and just started workouts about 2 weeks ago. We have started out conservative, and plan on building up over the Fall to pretty solid workouts. I am creating the workouts for both of us and plan on tracking them from the physiology point of view, with heart rate monitoring and other good stuff. It will be interesting to actually be keeping track of alot of different variables in training. So I will update more consistently from now on.

I will also update from what I did over the past few weeks:

- Gabe Rivards Bachelor party
- Gabe Rivards wedding
- Beach to Beacon and Jeff's Jeffapolooza and then went to Jackman, ME



- Yonkers trip to Ocean City




- I now coach at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY
- I built my own Cornhole set...pretty dam sweet
- had a Homebrew BBQ at my place which turned out to be awesome

June 15 - 21

Mon - 33 min easy and some strides at Rockies w/ Ryan Schinnerer

Tues - Tuesday Night Speed Series @ Icahn Stadium - 1500 meters - DNF
- 800 meters - DNF
2 mile warmup, drills/strides, 20 min cool down
I felt okay all day and when I finished my warmup and got ready to race my body felt terrible. We went through the first quarter in 59 then right at 1:59 at the half and that was it for me, so I stopped. I felt HORRIBLE. Then I decided to come back like 15-20 min later and run the 800. Yep I DNF'd that too. 55 through the quarter and then 1:24 through the 600 meters. SO then my legs locked up on me so I just stopped.

Wed - Easy jogging

Thurs - 1 hour at Twin Lakes Trail - Legs feel terrible

Fri - 50 minutes easy at BXR path - not feeling very good lately

Sat - 30 min + strides

Sun - MAC Championships @ White Plains HS - 3k steeple - 9:28
My race was supposed to start at 9 am. I got there at 8 and my race, which was the first, did not start till 10:30am. Worst run meet I have ever seen. I went out a little too fast in the race, 68 first then 2:20 then 4:46 at the half. I just felt very tired and was really the only one in the race. Then I actually fell on the last water jump. When I landed my foot slipped on the incline and came to a skid on the floor. That did not help anything. I am getting very frustrated.

June 8 - 14

Mon - 22 min - Traveled back to NY from LAX at 7:30am and landed in NY at 4:30pm. Wasn't that bad of a trip but I was still tired from the steeple. So later on in the evening I went for an easy jog at a very very easy pace.

Tues - Tuesday Night Speed Series @ Icahn Stadium - 1500 meters - 3:52.7
2 mile warmup, drills/strides, 20 min cooldown.
I truthfully felt very tight and a little tired all day just from traveling yesterday and was very surprised how I ran. It did not feel very good but not that bad either. Just went out in 60, 2:02, 3:05, and 3:52. I was happy with that race.

Wed - 50 min easy

Thurs - 1 hour easy

Fri - 1 hour easy

Sat - Greg's Wedding - no running

Sun - Greg's Wedding - no running

June 1 - 7

Mon - 1 hour and 5 min w/ Beau at Rockies

Tues - PM - 3 mile warmup, drill/strides, 3 mile cooldown
1 mile 4:53, 4 x 35 sec strides @ Rockies. Mike wanted me to do an easy workout before I traveled out to Cali.

Wed - Travel to Los Angeles....no run today

Thurs - 55 min at the Redondo Beach woodchip trail. Ok pace...not too slow, not too fast. Probably around 6:30-6:45 avg

Fri - PM - 30 min easy + 4 strides

Sat - Jim Bush Invitational @ Mt. SAC - 3k Steeplechase - 4:35pm
- 15 min warmup, drills/strides, 20 min cooldown
Going into this race I did not know what to expect. I felt that I could run 9 minutes or better but really had not had any REAL indicators. So my goal was to be tough and hang with the front group as long as I could. I truthfully wanted to run around 9:05 pace for the first mile or so......bbuuuuuutttt that did not happen. I was right about 4:42 for the first mile, which actually felt pretty good and I thought I was going to be able to keep that pace up. I was right behind the lead pace at 2k and I was in 4th place. 3rd place was falling off the lead and I thought I would be able to move up to him and just sit behind him. Also during the race I heard the announcer say there were 5 laps left and I was like ohhhhhh shit...cause I thought I had miscounted or something, but when we came back around there were 3. With 800 to go, i realized that I was no longer gaining ground on 3rd place and with 600 to go realized that I was pretty much slowing down. I was at 7:50, roughly, with a lap to go and closed in almost 85 seconds for the last lap. I was not breathing heavy but my legs were just shot and would not go faster. I think it was just because I was not used to the jumping and crap like that. I am not happy with the race but I am not disappointed. It was a descent attempt at my first steeplechase. I ended up running 9:14.45. The link at the top is the start and finish of the steeple. Pretty weak that it is the only race that does not have a full video.



After the race I drove up to Lake Arrowhead, by Big Bear, and hung out with my cousin and some of his friends. This place is at 6,000ft and is pretty awesome.

Sun - AM - 45 min EASY run. This run was actually not that great feeling. I ran fairly slow and I still felt like crap. The place is all rolling hills, at 6,000 ft and I am tired from yesterday

May 25 - 31

Mon - Drove down in the morning with Abiyot, Deresse and Joseph to Ridgewood, NJ for a day of races. They had a 10k, 5k and mile. I did not race but just hung out and watched all these guys kill each other...it was fun. I did run about 25 min w/ Abiyot and do some strides, but that was about the extent of it. Deresse and Joseph went 1 and 2 in the 10k, Stephen and Abiyot went 1 and 2 in the 5k and Abiyot was 2nd in the mile. All and all it was a good day. Then I went home and slept for a bit and had a nice Memorial Day BBQ with the Brosnahan's.
Also, tonight Jon and I initiated phase 2 of the homebrewing and we siphoned the wort (or unfermented beer) from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter. This gets rid of all the junk that is in the bottom of the 1st jug. I wish I had taken

Tues - PM - 1 hour 4 min @ Rockies after work, descent pace. It was a pretty good run, felt relaxed and smooth and really haven't felt this good for a few weeks. I have also been taking iron supplements for the past week and hope that the little boost of iron has a role in feeling better.

Wed - AM - 30 min w/ Abiyot @ Vanny, pretty descent pace.
- PM - 20 min warmup, drills/strides, 18 min cooldown
(2 x 2k - 72,72,72,70,70) w/ Abiyot
(71,70,69,69,68 - 5:47) (71,71,70,70,68 - 5:50)
5 x 200 - 30 w/ 100m jog
This was a good workout, I felt alot better than I did last time I did this workout. We went through the first mile of the first 2k in 4:39 and it felt pretty easy and relaxed. So I believe taking it easy those past couple of days helped and I will continue to recover the next week.

Thurs - AM - 1 hour and 9 min w/ Abiyot. I ran down to Vanny and met him and then we ran the OCA and a few loops at Tibbets Brook Park and then finished at my house. I do like running in the morning because it just gets it done and then you can relax for the rest of the day. I am just so friggin lazy in the morning.

Fri - Today we left for Greg's bachelor party up in Petersburg, NY (photos to come). We are staying at a lake house in the middle of nowhere with 10 dudes....NICE.
- PM - 1 hour 4 min easy around lake loop (2.2 mile rolling loop on dirt road)

Sat - PM - 20 min warmup, drills/strides, 15 min cooldown
(4.4 mile tempo run - 22:32 - (11:14 1st loop, 11:17 second loop) (avg 5:08 pace)
Very nice tempo. Ryan drove either behind me or next to me for the whole thing playing some sweet techno music....it was pretty funny.
- Also, we played alot of volleyball and other activities throughout the day. It was a pretty fun trip.

Sun - PM - 1 hour 15 min run back @ Vanny
- Played alot of volleyball again before we left to come home. My shoulder is a little sore from dominating the other car.

May 18 - 24

Mon - 30 min easy w/ Nuge at Hartbrook Nature Preserve and 5 x strides. My legs feel very junky.

Tues - 7 pm 1500 meters @ Icahn
I sat around all day and just rested. I felt tired all day, but just tried not to think of the race. I thought there might be some competition but there really wasn't.
I got there around 5:15 and hung out and warmed up at 6:15. I was the better person in the field by almost 15 seconds. So I just tried to run an even pace through the whole thing. It was about 70 degrees and pretty windy. 62 point and 62 point which rounded to 2:05 at the 800, then followed by a 64, so 3:09 and then I just finished up and ran OFFICIALLY 4:02. It was probably the slowest race that I have run in about 6 years. I did not feel very good, and yes I did win by about 12 seconds but that is irrelevant. I expected to run at least 3:55 even with no competition. I just felt very sluggish and tired and it is beginning to get frustrating because this is the second race in a row this has happened. Mike just assured me that I am probably still fatigued from a few previous weeks of good running and I must accept it. Jen Metz is also going through a similar tough stretch of racing where she knows she is in good shape and has been doing great workouts but it is just not clicking. We have both tried to figure it out together but to no avail yet. "It will happen" is all that we can say to each other and "keep plugging away". We just have to beleive it. Afterwards, Mike, Beau, Kelly and myself went to Arthur Ave. and had some kickass Italian food.

Wed - PM - very easy 45 min at Twin Lakes trail. My goal is to take it very easy this week and recover. I have a steeple that I am trying to get ready for in like 2 weeks and want to do well.

Thurs - PM - 48 min w/ Beau and Stephen @ Rockies. We started nice and easy and worked into a comfortable pace for the whole run. Talking and joking most of the run. Afterwards, I did 200's on the track w/ Steve. I did 10 200's w/ a 200 jog. I would run a 200 at 30-31, a 200 jog, a 200 at 33-34 over 2 hurdles and then a 200 jog. We did 5 sets of these and it was pretty comfortable.

Fri - PM - 50 min at a comfortable pace at Twin Lakes.

Sat - AM - 3 mile warmup, drills, 3 mile cooldown
(10 min tempo w/ Steve and then 8 x 60 seconds at a hard but comfortable pace w/ a jog back rest). This was a good workout. No real distance but a pretty good effort.

Sun - AM - 1 hour and 30 min w/ Beau @ Rockies.

May 11 - 17

Mon - OFF - very very very hungover...had a depressing weekend and partied too hard

Tues - PM - ran a very fast 7.5 miles in the evening on BXR path. Normally this run is somewhere around 48 min, but today it was 43 something.

Wed - AM - 5 miles easy in Vanny woods
- PM - 20 min warmup, drills and strides, 20 min cooldown
7 x 400 between 58 - 60 w/ jog lap rest w/ Abiyot
(59, 59, 60, 59, 58, 58, 57) This was a great workout, probably one of the better quarter workouts I have done, and I felt fairly smooth the entire way. The only problem was that we started pretty late, and the track gets extremely crowded on Wed night, so we were dodging and weaving.

Thurs - PM - Ran 1 hour and 5 min, probably quite a bit faster than I should have. I really should have taken this as a recovery day and I didn't.

Fri - AM - 30 min in the Vanny woods. Started very easy and finished fast. I can feel that my legs are tired and really should have gone easier.
- PM - 45 min easy from the woods to Vanny and back. I can feel that I might have been overdoing it the past couple of days.

Sat - AM - 20 min warmup, drills and strides, 20 min cooldown
2 x 2k (72,72,72,70,70) w/ 6 min rest
(72,72,69,70,70 - 5:54) I felt TOASTED during and after this.
(72,72) (70,73) DONE
SO i modified the workout and did 2 x 800 afterwards at 2:24 pace....which should have been easy....BUTTTTTT NOPE. I really struggled during the workout and realize that I should have taken it easier through the week.

Sun - 60 min at Twin Lakes train along the Hutchinson River Parkway...Mike wants me to race on Tuesday night @ Icahn for the Tuesday night series.