March 30th

7 miles with a 3 mile tempo @ 5:55 pace on the treadmill.

Not sure why I ran on the treadmill, really. Just sort of felt like being inside.

Black Hole of Record Keeping

Training has been spotty for the last couple weeks, and I haven't been keeping good track of what I have been running. I figure I've been averaging 35 or so a week (weak). I did have a decent race at St. Patty's in DC where I ran 26:38 on a flat course on 3/15/09. I'll try to do a better job of posting my workouts. Maybe I'll make my blog my home page so I can't ignore it.

St. Patty's 8k Quick Recap
Mile: 5:10
5k: 16:32
8k: 26:38
Place: 18th
Weather: perfect - cool and mistyish

March 6th

9 miles on the normal loop with the WOW. a little muddy at parts, but not bad. soooo warm. ran in shorts.

March 5th

6 miles with a fartlek (5 x 2 minutes with equal rest) in rcp. dark, but we get an extra hour on the 8th.

March 4th

day off. my track buddy from naz was in town so we went to the hawk n dove after work.

March 3rd

10 mile g-town loop. sidewalks a little icy

Banana Milk

my friend came to visit this weekend and reminded me of this story from high school. so my friend john-henry and i thought we were pretty ballin' and wanted to make sure the rest of the team knew what epic all-stars we were. to do this, we decided that we needed to work ourselves to the breaking point in a workout and keep going. but who really cares if you're really, really tired? there had to be a very overt and public way to show everyone that we were working ourselves close to death. so one day before a killer workout (12x400m, 10x300m, 8x200m, 6x100m (another story entirely)) there was a 15 minute window before practice where school was over, but we didn't have to be in the locker room yet, so we ran to the express mart to find the thing most likely to induce a spasmodic gastric contraction. banana milk was the answer. we bought 4 bottles and ran back to the track. there was a blind spot around the back of the equipment shed where jh and i pulled off during the warmup to pound two bottles of milk each. i won't say it was entirely unpleasant, but it was definitely not my typical warm-up routine. anyway, we hopped back in on the next lap and started the workout. the 400s were always the worst, but we didn't want to yack too soon, so we took it easy for a while. ideally it would happen during the 100s, but that's unlikely because they are just too short. we aimed for the 200s. it never happened. unfortunately, the banana milk stayed put and just made us feel really, really sick and like pussies for running so slowly. it was an epic failure, but since then i've been on a quest to yack during a workout, and to this day i have never achieved my goal. races, yes, but never a workout. maybe one of these wednesday's my dream will come true.

March 2nd

morning run with pmurph. i waiting at the spot for a while, but left at 6:42a. i decided to impose a personal rule that i'm not going to wait at that cold ass corner past 6:40a. luckily, pmurph was not far behind and he caught up to me at the start of the road that winds through rock creek park. good run in the snow. the road was closed and we were the first ones to run on that sweet, sweet powder. had i been back home there's no way i'd be at work today, i'd be out on the mountain. 9 miles, total.

Feb. 14th - March 1st

Yikes, I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping this updated. Now I'm in the precarious situation of not knowing exactly what I've run. Here's my best guess:

March 1 - 10 miles easy (had a friend in town, so no long run)
Feb. 28 - 0 miles
Feb. 27 - no morning run, 4 easy after work/before boozing
Feb. 26 - 6 miles in the AM
Feb. 25 - 10 miles with a 3 miles tempo (uphill on Tilden)
Feb. 24 - ran with PMurph for a little in the morning. 10 total
Feb. 23 - ran after work, 6 miles past the buffalo (see pimped-out pic below) to wisco and back
Feb. 22 - sunday funday! 15 mile ms sharon loop
Feb. 21 - no workout, just an easy 10 miler
Feb. 20 - Ward One Warriors - 10 miles (should probably google earth this to get the actual distance)
Feb. 19 - can't remember. off maybe?
Feb. 18 - easy run 6 miles
Feb. 17 - morning run with max and pmurph. 9 miles
Feb. 16 - off
Feb. 15 - georgetown loop, 10 miles
Feb. 14 - quick georgetown loop, 10 miles

Buffalo

Glitter Graphics

Feb. 13th

8.5 miles or so in the morning with Patrick M. We just did the normal RCP morning loop and cut down Mt. Pleasant St. to 16th to Euclid to finish it up.

Two awesome things not running-related:

1) USB Rocket Launcher



2) Wonkette just launched a new site, Wonkabout, where you can find out what the cool kids are up to.

Feb. 12th

I had lunch with Sens. Kerry and Lugar and a few other notables on avoided deforestation the other day (along with 100 other people or so). Kerry didn't actually say anything about deforestation, but he gave a compelling speech nonetheless. Plus it was sort of cool to be there with a former presidential candidate. I still get a little starstruck whenever I'm on the Hill.

Day off. Hammies are still tight.

Feb. 11th

Workout at B-CC with the GRC crew. 3 x mile.

2.5 mile warmup
5:02 mile
400m jog
5:08 mile
600m jog to bathroom and back
5:07 mile
200m jog, 200m light strider
2.5 mile cooldown (?)

Total: 9 miles

Hamstrings are still tight from Saturday, but I only felt them in between the miles and on the cooldown. Iced when I got home with bags of broccoli and mixed berries (two separate bags, not a mixture of broccoli and berries).

Feb. 10th

GRC Races at the 2009 USATF XC Championship from Tow Path on Vimeo

10 miles in the AM with Max and PM. Through RCP to Connecticut then down Wisco to Q.

Feb. 9th

10 mile Georgetown loop. Amazing weather. It's still novel to be running in shorts.

Feb. 8th

4 miles in RCP. Took it easy, as it's still quite painful to move today. Once I got going I loosened up, though.

Feb. 7th USATF XC Nationals

GRC - Team Champs!

USATF XC National Championships at Derwood, MD. I got to the course just before noon and walked around to check it out a little bit. The course looked pristine, up until the point where I actually ran a loop. Being in the last race of the day was nice, since it warmed up close to 60 by race time, but it had the disadvantage of having to run over the same soft ground that had been ripped up all day long.

It didn't hit me that I was running in a race with the elite of US distance running until I almost ran into Ed Torres while doing a strider. From my spot on the line I could see Meb just a few spots over to the right. The open 12k was definitely the biggest race of the day with 168 runners, so the line was packed.

The race got off to a quick start, and I went through 1k around 3:10, and I was towards the back of the pack. Just after the 1k mark there was a downhill, right-hand turn that I almost went down on. There was a guy to my right that fell, and I heard that Max King went down twice on that turn. The second kilometer of the 2k loop was definitely the muddier half, so it slowed a bit, but I still hit 2k under 6:30. I definitely slowed from there, since I knew I couldn't hold that pace. I hit 3k in 10:00 flat. 5k was just under 17:10. 8k was 28:20. It was one I hit the 8k that I realized how long a 12k actually is. There were so many hills, and the fact that we just kept hitting them over and over killed my legs. None of the hills were huge, but there wasn't really a flat section of the course. Add on top of that the mud and it equaled some serious pain. The last 4k was way slower, and in retrospect I probably went out too fast. I can't remember my 10k split, and I wasn't wearing a watch, but I think it was somewhere around 35:50. Last 2k was my slowest, I'm sure, but I could take solace in the fact that Meb didn't lap me. The finish was yet another long, gradual uphill, and I have rarely been so happy to finish a race. 12k is just too long for a cross country race, especially since I'm still used to the 8k. I ended up 109th place in a time of 43:36.

GRC won the team title, which was an amazing surprise. We got a trophy for the store and individual medals. After a post-race beer, we went to Uncle Julio's for the after party. Meb and Fam were both there hanging out, and each runner got one (1) free drink and all the tortilla chips you could eat. I lasted until 6pm, but then I had to go. My legs were killing me and I just needed to sit/lay down.

Jan. 30th - Feb. 6th

Feb. 6th - 5 miles, one mile at 12k race pace effort on the track (5:12). i went to "my" track over my the 5 guys on georgia avenue, near the howard u dorms, because it's a dirt and cinder track - ideal for imitating xc conditions. however, to my surprise, the track had been completely redone, complete with a new scoreboard and football field. so now instead of a roughly 400m dirt "track" with ruts and holes there's a 3-lane (4-lane straight) brand new track just down the way from my house. awesome.
Feb. 5th - 4 miles at the gym on the 'mill
Feb. 4th - 8 miles easy with a few striders
Feb. 3rd - none
Feb. 2nd - Groundhog's Day. 6 miles, 6 more weeks of winter. meant to run more in the pm, but pussied out.
Feb. 1st - easy 18 miler
Jan. 31st - 10 (or close to it) in rcp
Jan. 30th - 10 miles in am

Jan. 20-29th

Jan. 29th - icy 10 in the am with max. icy 4 in the pm to the buffalo and back.
Jan. 28th - very icy 6 in the am. woke up late, and ended up being late for work, too. at least i could blame it on the ice.
Jan. 27th - 11 in the am with max and PM
Jan. 26th - off
Jan. 25th - slow 20. ms. sharon loop with extra up in tenley town
Jan. 24th - 10 on trails with the crew
Jan. 23rd - 10 with max
Jan. 22nd - 6 miles to wisco and back after work.
Jan. 21st - g-town loop with a tempo in the middle, not sure how long but probably 3 miles
Jan. 20th - Inauguration Day! 0 miles, many beers.

Jan. 19th

11 miles at "The Line." Felt much better than yesterday.

Jan. 18th

13 miles at Riley's lock. felt pretty awful.

Jan. 17th

easy 5 and then went to the gym to lift

Jan. 16th

Day off

Jan. 15th

Workout at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

2k/1k x 3 with 400m rest at 10k/5k pace

This was my first legitimate workout since ECACs in May, so it was pretty rough. I didn't think it would be as bad as it was, but it happens. I didn't have my watch on me, so I only know that my first 2k was about a 6:30, and the rest were most definitely slower. All I can say is that it hurt, and that I have a long way to go to get in shape for Cherry Blossom in 82 days.

Jan. 14th

AM run with Patrick M. and Max. Ran into RCP, but turned around early because I had to go to work early. Just shy of an hour, so 8 miles total. 'Cuse v. Georgetown tonight.

Jan. 13th

Met up with Max in the AM. Ended up running a Georgetown loop from 16th and Newton. It was 10 miles overall (1:14), because I just ran back to my place instead of going up to 16th and back.

We ran through the Mall, which is already full of port-a-loos. Apparently they are going to have 5,000 of them on hand, which will service 1.5 million people. Hopefully the crowd doesn't reach 4 million, as some have said.

Jan. 5th - 12th

Sorry for the dearth of updates. Here's what I've been up to:

Jan. 5th - 8 miles easy (First day at United Nations Foundation)
Jan. 6th - 10 mile Georgetown loop
Jan. 7th - 3 miles am; 8 miles pm
Jan. 8th - 10 mile Georgetown loop
Jan. 9th - off
Jan. 10th - easy 4 miles in RCP
Jan. 11th - 16 at Difficult Run with Jake, Patrick M., and Chris. Muddy and quick (1:47)
Jan. 12th - First Columbia Heights AM Crew run: 9.5 miles (1:11) in RCP with Max and Patrick M.

Jan. 4th

10 mile Georgetown loop. Quads are pretty sore from yesterday's run. I might have run a tad too quickly yesterday. No matter, though. It's good for me.

Jan. 3rd

16 miler. Ms. Sharon loop. It's amazing outside today. 40 and sunny. Ran in shorts and got on some trails. Ran it pretty quickly, too. Probably averaged sub-7, but I didn't clock it.

Jan. 2nd

7 miles easy. Had a bit of a headache when I started, but that cleared up. I've been sleeping a lot. I slept 7 hours NYE night, then slept from 1p-8p yesterday, then from 12a to 11a last night. Still sleepy, too, for some reason.

Jan. 1st

2 miles slow. pretty hungover from last night.