Easy 10 with Rachie

Less than 12 hours after my track workout, I pried myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning for an easy 10 miles. Before leaving, I shook my sister awake and invited her along on the bike. She was sooooo honored to be in my compnay for an hour she jumped out of bed and danced circles around the house in excitement. Ok not really, but it's my blog and I'll write what I want.

Rachel and I headed south on PCH to Bruegers, then took the Goldenrod Bridge over to Big Corona, headed down Ocean to Little C, then cut down on Hazel past the Wiseman house, picked up PCH again and took it all the way to the end of the Crystal Cove bike path near the entrance of El Morro, where we flipped and headed straight back down PCH to our house. I brough the Garmin out for fun but kept the pace pretty slow. The first several miles were in the mid-to-low 7 minute race, then dropped to 6:55's for a bit, and the last couple miles picked it up to 6:30's.

Great run. I'm a little sore but feeling good. Rachie was fantastic company.

The Interval Workout

This afternoon I headed to the track for the first time in over a month. Today's workout: 12 x 400 meters with 1 minute recovery (3 sets of 4, jog lap in between each set). I ran a junk 30 minutes/4+ miles this morning since I've been feeling good and am traveling this weekend so I'm unlikely to get much running in. I wasn't feeling the effects of my A.M. jog as I warmed up 2 miles around CdMHS. Heather ran some laps to keep me company during the warm-up and drills. My goal for the day was to keep the first set around 68-70s then drop down to 64-66 for the rest, maybe quicker at the end if I felt good. I cranked out the following splits:

69.8, 68.2, 67.7, 68.2, 65.5, 65.8, 65.2, 66.2, 65.6, 64.7, 65.4, 66.6

I got tired on the last couple repeats and lost my form on the last 100 meters, but otherwise I was quite happy with the workout. I felt strong most of the way and didn't lose my form as intervals progressed. I hit a groove from #'s 5-10 where I felt like I was floating. It would have been nice if that last interval was somewhere below 65 seconds, but oh well, it was my first 400 workout in quite some time. I cooled down 3 miles without too much discomfort, giving me 8 miles for the workout and 12 for the day. Definitely a success since I did not get injured and kept a respectable pace.

Nothing to complain about

For the first time since I can remember, I really don't have any nagging injuries or soreness to complain about. It's actually amazing considering that when browsing over this blog the last several months, I always seem to be writing about some body part bothering me. Well not today, you won't get a negative peep from me out of today's run.

But you will get something from my Saturday run! I went long an easy on Saturday morning. My glutes were still a little tight so I decided to forgo the speed work and get some mileage in. I had a very uneventful 11 mile run which took about 75 minutes. I spent most of the time cruising at around 6:45 miles and making sure nothing flared up. Dropped it down to 6:30 for the last couple miles, but overall it was a very mellow long run day. That run ended a stretch of five consecutive days of running and 45 miles for the week. I'm very happy with this total considering I took two days off.

After a Sunday off for some golf and pool time in Palm Desert, I logged another 9 miles this morning. The first five were between 6:45 - 7:00 pace, and on my way home I ran into Karen and slowed down to 7:30's the last several miles. Total time was 65 minutes of jogging. As I told Karen on the run, I had absolutely no body parts to complain about today. I'm excited to get back on the track tomorrow for the first of several speed workouts before the Allianz games.

The foam roller may be the greatest exercise invention ever. I'm definitely buying one when I move to Chicago. I have been sitting on that thing on and off for the last two days and my butt is definitely less sore than it was yesterday.

I woke up early again at 5:30 this morning and decided my body wasn't quite up to a track workout so I went long and easy down the Back Bay again. Sound redundant yet? I think I've seen at least five of the same people in the same workout clothes the past few days. I came up alongside Karen and Damien about four miles into my run and jogged a few miles with them. The timing couldn't have been better because I had been trotting along just above 7-minute mile pace, and just before I met them, I inadvertently dropped down to 6:30, which was quite unnecessary. So it was nice to have someone to run with and keep me under control. I added on a junk mile around Irvine Terrace park and settled for 9 miles (65 minutes) on the day.

Nice little Saturday planned. I'm either doing my long run or a track workout early tomorrow morning depening on how I feel. I haven't decided yet, just depends on how my body feels. Maybe I'll do both, I just don't know if I'll have enough time.

Butt-hurt

My right glute feels like someone took a baseball bat and beat it repeatedly. I guess my race and up-tempo long run last weekend finally caught up with me. Oh well, it happens. Instead of hitting the track this morning, I decided to run an easy 60 minutes through the Back Bay. Midway through the run I randomly ran into Karen, which was a pleasant suprise. She was also taking an easy day, so we had went a comfortable 30 minutes together, and then I went home. It's probably the first time we've run together where I've actually gone longer. Kept the pace between 7:15-7:45 for most of the run, and logged 8 miles for the day.

I'm happy to be getting in longer "easy" runs. When I wasn't training as much my short run was 4-5 miles, and now short is 7-9 miles, so I've got that going for me. I also have chafing issues going against me. The longer mileage and time on the road is causing all sorts of fun problems on my legs. I'll keep it PG on the blog but let's just say I have a few things I need to figure out before the marathon.

USA USA USA

I pushed my morning run to after work so I could watch the U.S.A. soccer game and was not disappointed. Great game. Inspiring effort. So inspiring I decided to go run 9 miles after work. After a mellow but up-tempo run yesterday (8 miles in 55 minutes at Shady Canyon, with a few miles around 6 minute pace), I decided to finally change my route. I think every run I've done from my house in the last month has been a Back Bay loop.

On the 3rd longest day of the year, I headed south on PCH and turned in towards Big Corona, down Ocean, past the Wiseman house on Hazel, then picked up the Crystal Cove bike path and took it all the way to Beachcomber. Pace fluctuated between 6:30-6:45 for most of the run, and I tried not to push it too much. I noticed some tightness in my right glut and hip flexor, probably the result of a basketball game last night, so I probably won't be balling for a while. Pretty easy run overall, and its nice that my base/easy runs around now in the 50-60 minute range (7-9 miles) as opposed to the 5 mile runs I was doing when I wasn't in training. Definitely feeling fit and ready to get some faster workouts in. I was debating hitting the track tomorrow morning, but with a small hip flare-up, I want to keep my runs mellow for a couple days to make sure I don't aggravate anything.

Long Sunday

I was pleasantly surprised to awaken not so sore this morning from the previous days events. I had planned on an easy 10-12 miles at whatever pace was comfortable, but just felt so good this morning that I decided to have some fun with the run. I strapped on the Garmin and headed out for 12 miles around the Back Bay and then some. By the time I left the house it was already 10 a.m. and 70+/sunny and I probably wasn't hydrated.

Usually my "warm-up" mile on runs is around around 7:30, but today I went right into sub 7 pace and kept going down. By mile 3 I had settled in near my target pace for the run. Sorry to bore with splits but I'm going to write them anyways. 6:54, 6:33, 6:18, 6:08, 6:11, 6:07, 6:10, 6:11, 6:05, 5:58, 6:24 (uphill), 6:12. Good for 12 miles in 75 minutes, 6:15 pace. Though I was spraying sweat when I got home and was completely dehydrated, I was again pleasantly surprised to be not very sore. I took a long stretch, foam roll, and ice down during the Brazil game, and it's been a nice little Father's Day since then.

Great week of training! As good things usually come in three, here's mine for the week: my IT band pain is 100% gone, I won the Camp Pendleton Mud Run, and I ran 51 miles this week (6 days), my first week over 50 in over a year!

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 10k - 3 in a row!!!

3-Peat!!! Well, I can't actually say it's a true 3-peat, since there are four Camp Pendleton Mud Runs on consecutive weekends, but I have entered this event the last three years, and remain undefeated on this course. Enough bragging, on to the race.

(pre-race: I left early to warm up, but copied a pic of me pinning my photo on by butt. Photos courtesy of Heather Martin)



I decided to use road racing flats this year, hoping they would help me go faster than the P.O.S Avias I wore the last two years. The light weight helped, but the flats didn't provide enough support for the trails. The sun came out early so I ditched my gear early and warmed up two miles in the racing shoes. The most annoying thing about the start of this race, is they make everyone go around behind the start, so while I was warming up, about 2500 people were cramming in the starting shute, and I had to spend about 10 minutes squeezing through them before the race started, and only got up to the third row.

When the gun went off, I had to barrel over a few people to get to the front, but after 400 meters, I was clear in the lead, and cruised through the first mile in what I think was 5:10 (course not clearly marked). We hit the marshes sometime before the 2 mile mark and by the sound of cheers behind me, I think I had about 20-25 seconds on the pack at this point. Right after the marshes, the course marches uphill about 350 feet over the next 1.5 miles. Climbing with water-logged shoes makes things a little more challenging. I wasn't sure how my hill strength would be, since my only hilly run in the last couple months was last weekend, but I was very strong up the hills, and came through the 3-mile mark in 16:15. At the top of the hill you can look back and see the other runners, and I estimated at this point I had gapped the field by over a minute. While, the climb is dragged out over miles 3-4, the half mile descent is dramatic and fast. I was a little nervous for my knees and hips, but I made it down the hills unscathed.

Now the fun started. I proceeded on to the first of two wall-crossings through muddy water. This time, I slipped when stepping into the water and nearly fell on my face. I made it over the wall without trouble and headed to the lake crossing. From some reason I once again slipped heading into the lake and fell in. I started swimming, but for some reason I was more tired than usual at this point and was making little progress. After making it a third of the way across I moved over to the ropes on the side and began pulling myself across. While this was efficient, the rope was covered with some weird algae and 2/3's of the way across I went back to swimming. At this point I looked back and noticed that there were three people in the water behind me. When I exited the lake, the guy in second place was probably 1/3 of the way across, or what seemed like 90 seconds. I struggled for about 30 seconds to get my pace back, and fell into a slow tempo. I was a little worried here, because with a mile to go, I was near spent, with a few obstacles to go.

I slipped after crossing over the second barrier, and once again fell on my face. When I got up my arms were caked in mud. After this, I crawled through the steel tubes (30" x 30"), which were lined with little pebbles so they completely cut up my hands and knees. I made sure to pause for a second at the next water station take in fluids and re-energize. The last real running obstacle was slippery hill, which wasn't extremely slippery except at the top, and the lack of traction on my shoes compounded the difficulty. I cruised the rest of the way to the final mud pit, and took my time crawling through. Finally, I jogged home bloodied on the hands and knees with a winning time of 42:40 (7 seconds slower than last year).

I was initially bummed not to have broken 40 minutes, but it was much hotter than last year, and my shoes and early pace didn't help. I was also surprised to see the second place finisher three minutes behind me. Evidently the elements took a greater toll on him. I showered off and pick the pieces of rock out of my hands and knees, then went back to watch my friends finish.

(crew post-race, awards stand, and medal)


After we were somewhat cleaned up the crew had a round of beers and headed to the awards stand for my trophy presentation. As I made my way on stage the crew and some marines chanted "3-peat" and "speech", so I tried to grab the microphone and speak. All I got out was "I'd like to thank my psychiatrist..." before they pulled the mic away from me. Oh well, I tried. Go Lakers!!!

I'm Back Baby!!

Training can be funny sometimes. I used to take a week or two off after a cross country or track season and it would usually take me a week or two of running to feel like I was fit, and back in my comfort zone. The further out of college I get, the longer it takes to get into that zone. My training binge has lasted since the Surf City Half Marathon in February, over four months, and in that time I've felt good, but always had nagging soreness or pain regardless of my effort. I've been dealing with these IT band issues for over three months, and haven't had a 100% comfortable run, until this week.

Karen and I met the past three days for a challenging series of runs. On Wednesday evening, we hit Back Bay and Eastbluff for an easy 9 miles (11 for her), at around 7:30 pace. It wasn't an overly difficult run except my stomach was churning butter for the first five miles. Additionally, I went shirtless for the run, and it turned into a warm evening so I was sweating a bit more than usual, causing some chafing in some uncomfortable places.

She had a six-mile tempo run scheduled for the folowing morning, which I was somewhat reluctant to join, given the short 12-hour recovery from the night before, but I figure I might as well go for it, plus the Lakers played last night and there was no way I was missing that. We also joined by John Loftus, who trains marathoners in the area. We met at CdM High School and headed down the bike path for a two-mile warm-up. My IT band was exceptionally tight from the night before so I was not feeling overly optimistic about the 6:00 "tempo" and indicated I might quit if my knee got too painful. I spent the first two miles hobbling along-side Karen and John on the dirt shoulder, and the pain was actually increasing to the point where I thought about stopping. Then, I decided to hop on the asphalt, which surprisingly made the pain completely disappear. I gradually escalated the pace over the last four miles, and we ended up splitting: 5:56, 6:00, 5:52, 5:51, 5:53, 5:54. It was Karen's workout so I stayed alongside her to motivate her over the last couple miles (she did great!). The best part: it was SOOOO easy; it was college-easy. Part of me felt so great I could have run the last two in sub-10 minutes. My heart rate during this run was probably below 120, and I was barely breathing. I didn't feel a thing for the two-mile warm-down back to the track. Drove home real quick to stretch out, foam roll, and ice down. My legs felt great all day at work, even though I just ran 19 miles within a 12 hour time-frame.

I went out a little last night to celebrate the Laker win, so debated skipping my morning run. I re-programmed my alarm clock, but awoke at 6:15 by an email from Karen indicating she'd meet me in 15 minutes at Back Bay. I wanted to be back by 7 to watch U.S.A. soccer so I roll out of bed and within 10 minutes was out the door running. My legs felt AWESOME. No pain whatsoever, not even during the first few minutes warming up! I ran an easy 37 minutes/5 miles and felt great. I don't know how, but for some reason all the work and maintenance I've been doing just clicked, and I can really run again. I'm back!

Tomorrow is the Camp Pendleton Mud Run and I'm finally in great shape. Time to open up the legs and set a course PR.

I lag

Man, I have been lazy this week. No blog posts since Tuesday! This week was a bit frustrating as after my Tuesday morning run, I tried a 36 hour recovery and I went for a tempo run on Wednesday night to test out my Garmin. It was a pathetic effort and made worse by my nagging IT band, which on this day, decided to shoot pain up into my quad. I managed to make it about 4 miles at 5:45 pace before stomach issues forced me to jog home. I logged 8 miles for the day, but pushed through my injury too much, which forced me to take Thursday off.

The goal for this week was to race the Magic Shoe 5000, a.k.a the Corona del Mar High School Alumni Race. I was hobbling around the office all day on Thursday and Friday morning, so I decided the deciding factor to rate was I had to run on Friday. I headed over to the high school on Friday to attempt 5 miles on grass, hoping the soft surface would help me. Although I struggled to get going, by the end of my run, I had loosened up enough that I was jogging comfortably. I also made sure to stretch about 20 minutes before and after, and when I got home I sat on the foam roller and iced my IT band. So about 12 hours before the race start, I decided Magic Shoe was a "go".

Mom drove me over to the high school on Saturday morning since she was the honorary starter. We had worked on a gimmick before hand where she would say "on your mark, set, Josh do you need to use the bathroom?, GO!", but she chickened out. It would have been GOLD! Anyways, the course was mostly flat circling my alma mater, which a quick out and back turnaround down Eastbluff Drive, all on asphalt, all territory in my wheelhouse. I also wore my Garmin during a race for the first time, just to see how close it came to measuring my pace. (Very close!)

Cush and I cruised through the first mile in 4:51, which was surprisingly easy. We made the left turn onto Eastbluff Drive and still had about 3-4 guys right on us, but based on some comments I overheard they were not up for the pace. After the turn we picked up a bit of a tailwind, and picked up the pace to get some space, and in turn dropped all but one person, Coach's sophomore, Blake Myers. At the U-turn back toward school, Cush pulled ahead and Blake was still on me, but started fading a bit so I picked up the pace just enough to drop him right before the 2-mile marker (9:45). I had about 3 strides over the course of the race that made my IT band twitch a bit, but with a quick form correction, I was able to make the discomfort subside. With 1200 meters to go, I was 10 seconds behind Cush and had enough of a cushion to cruise mile 3 in about 5:16, but had a nice pickup on the track, and finished in 15:29, good enough for 2nd place (and 1st alumni). I am pretty satisfied with that time given my recent injuries and current fitness level. After a 3-mile cool down I stopped by the iCool tent and hopped in the ice bath for 10 minutes, which worked wonders on my IT band.

With only four runs for the week I was at 29 miles and really wanted to hit 40 again, so I drove up to El Morro this morning and set out for a nice 11 mile run, hoping my body would cooperate. Again, I took the Garmin to play with the pace calculator and altimeter. I officially love using the Garmin. When I figure out how to export this workout from the "training center" on my PC to this blog I'll post the splits, but for now, I averaged 6:42 for 11 miles with 1500 feet of climbing and descending. With the exception of the first mile, I really didn't notice my knee. Before the run I took about 15 minutes to loosen up and go through my stretching routine, and afterward, I spent another 20 minutes stretching out on the grass (while dodging a swarm of bees). I was pleased to hit 40 miles, and even more pleased that as I write this blog I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Back to back 40 miles weeks, knee is on the mend, and Camp Pendleton Mud Run title to defend this weekend. Things are looking up on the running front.

Lakers Win!!!

I had an awesome 7 mile run this morning along Back Bay Road. 6:35 average, very little discomfort, June gloom morning dew cooled me off quite nicely. Debating a 6-mile tempo run tomorrow morning to test out my Garmin, but we'll see how my knee feels.

I would write more but I'm spent from watching that awesome Lakers game. 2 more!!!

Running Yale

Last weekend, I headed back to New Haven for my 5-year college reunion. Crazy how time flies. It's amazing how quickly I can slip back into the college routine. I'm not talking about the late nights out, although that did happen. I'm talking about forcing myself out of bed for some hungover early morning running. Good times!!!

Last weekend I fit in a trio of runs I used to frequent in the ole' college days. I slept soundly on my red-eye Thursday night so I was not too exhausted the next day, but my legs were tighter than rubber bands, so I was a little worried about my IT bands before I headed out. I was greeted by the first real "New England Summer" weekend, 80+ degrees with 90%+ humidity. Friday morning I ran an easy 40 minutes (6 miles) out to the Yale IM fields so get some mileage in on grass. It's about a 10 minute jog out there from campus through a shady area of New Haven. I took a slight detour to jog 800 meters around the Yale track, then hit the grass for a few miles before heading home. After the run I cooled down in our air-conditioned hotel room, where I set the thermostat at 64 degrees, then headed to Yorkside pizza for the first of three Moosetracks Milkshakes and chicken parm grinders during the weekend, which didn't agree with my stomach any of the three times, but I kept coming back (so good)!

After open bar #1 on Friday night, I woke myself up at 9 a.m. and headed to East Rock for an easy 7, another staple run of Yale XC. East Rock was perfect, the trees had full coverage and trails were perfectly clear. It's an awesome scenic run, mostly asphalt, but still great. I always finish that run by jogging right down the center divider of Hillhouse Avenue, past Dickie Levin's place, on what has been described as one of the most picturesque streets at any college. I capped the run with an extended loop around campus, for an easy 7 miles, 46 minutes.

Reunion night 2 went a little later, and a little harder, but I still managed to drag myself out of bed at 8:30 and meet Luke at Payne Whitney gym for a run around Maltby Lakes. This is the best run at Yale that nobody except the cross country teams knows about. Qué lástima! We headed out past the Yale Bowl and into the woods, only doing one loop today. This is a true double track dirt trail, at times complete shaded under trees, looping by multiple lakes and reservoirs. There's easily 10-15 miles of run-able terrain there. We decided on only one loop since I wasn't sure how my IT band would hold up, but I ended up feeling so good we decided to add on back at campus, and ended with about 8.5 miles, or 57 minutes. Great run with Luke. Total mileage for the week was 42! Great to be back above 40 again. Hopefully I can hold it here for a while.

I didn't get home until 11:30 last night but to my surprise my Garmin shipped quickly and was waiting for me at the front door! Looking forward to testing this thing out this week.

Last Day of PT

Woke up early this morning and instead of my tempo run, I headed to my last PT session at 7 a.m. I've recovered so much in the past four weeks and would put myself somewhere around 90% right, and they are mostly to thank for that. My quads and IT bands are significantly looser than a month ago, and I'm feeling some spring in my stride this week.

Later, I headed out for a quick run around Back Bay, picking up the pace a little over the last few days. It was a mostly flat, 50% dirt run, averaging around 6:30 minutes per mile. Total distance for the day was 6+ miles, 41 minutes. I'm taking a red-eye to New Haven tonight for my 5th year college reunion, and definitely looking forward to a run in Maltby Lakes.

Short Week

Just as I've gotten my energy back from a long weekend, I realized I'm taking a redeye to Hartford tomorrow night for my 5th years college reunion. 3-day work week! While there, I'll be happily missing the CdM Scenic 5k for the first time in a while where I have the course record, 15:01, set in 2005, 2 weeks after graduation.

I met Karen at her house this morning for a 70 minute easy run up the bike path and back on the trails along the Back Bay. Despite a healthy dinner consisting on salmon, corn, and green beans, and even bypassing fro-yo, my stomach was going crazy this morning, probably residual effects from last weekend. Anyways, that seems to have resolved itself and I'm feeling very cleansed now. We kept it really easy, jogging along at 7:45 pace for most of the run, good for 9 miles total. I was comfortable and smooth the entire run except for one downhill where I felt a small twitch in my knee. I made sure to foam roll it out and stretch and ice afterwards, and it seems to be fine now.

Lastly, I just bought the Garmin Forerunner 405cx, and am very excited to start using that when it arrives next week. Official review to follow.

River Running

Happy June! I spent last my Memorial Day weekend in Blythe, CA at the Wiseman's Colorado River House. Aside from the river shenanigans, I did manage to squeeze in two runs before the sun completely baked the desert. Saturday morning I woke up at 8 after a 4 a.m. bedtime (we arrived late and were up for a bit). Somehow, I managed to hydrate myself to the point that I thought it would be a good idea to go for an out-and-back up some hills. The River run has become somewhat of a tradition for me the last three years. It gives me a chance to sweat out whatever I put in my body the previous night and it's usually some scenic running. Lastly, running in 100 degree heat takes some testicular fortitude that I usually don't get to exercise in Newport Beach, where it's constantly 70 and sunny with an ocean breeze. You really have to listen to your body in a dry heat, and pay extra attention to your internal water supply, heart rate, breathing, and core temperature.

I left the house around 9 a.m. (about 75 degrees) and ran up the Blythe Intaglios dirt path. It rolls up about 300 feet over 3.5 miles out, and fortunately for my legs, it's all dirt. By the time I hit my turnaround point, the weather had jumped into the 80's, I had stopped sweating (never a good sign), and the sweat that was coming out smelt like Coors Light. Fortunately the second half of the run was all downhill, and I managed to make it back to the house without too much difficulty, and before most of our group was up. Unfortunately, I didn't have any ice or foam roller to take care of my IT bands, but made an effort to get some extra stretching in, and took a nice cold swim in the river to cap it off, followed by a heart eggs and bacon breakfast to cap it off. 7 miles, 47 minutes.

After more river shenanigans on Saturday (failed attempts at wakeboarding, swimming, a drink or two) I passed out really early, since I was running on 4 hours of sleep and decided to forgo a nap after my run. I stayed up long enough to watch the Lakers win, then passed out at 9, with the goal to get one more run in during the weekend.

Blake joined me on Sunday for the first part of my run. I took him up toward the Intaglios on the dirt trail, but the weather was already in the 90's by the time we left, and he wasn't doing so great with the heat and climb. We cut the out-and-back to 4 miles round trip, and I dropped him at the house before adding on a couple more miles. I ran my last couple miles of the run on the side of a 2-lane highway (with minimal traffic). The mile 16 marker is right near the house so I ran down up to mile 17 and flipped back, picking up the pace from the 7-8 minute race to 6:10s for the last two. I love running on the high way because you can see miles in each direction with no end in sight, kind of like the "Against the Wind" montage in Forest Gump. Despite two consecutive nights of imbibing, I somehow managed to hydrate myself sufficiently to cruise through two runs, with minimal discomfort to my IT bands. I ended up logging just over 40 minutes for the day, 6 miles, and repeated the food and warm-down routine from the previous day. Total for the week: 36 miles

I took Monday off to recouperate and also because Sunday ended up being a pretty late night (and my body was pretty beat up from water-related activities). My IT bands stiffened up a bit on a cramped car ride home, but fortunately I hit PT at 7 a.m. this morning and most issues were worked out (I was actually surprisingly loose). I took the night off from Cal Coast so as to make sure I kept the tempo down, and ran another easy 6 after work, 41 minutes (no pain or discomfort!). Looking forward to pushing the mileage a bit this week, and getting in a few runs at Yale this weekend!