About to Leave For Daegu!

Another Couple of weeks are done, and we are now 3 days until the start of the World Championships, and 11 days until my race. I am starting to get pretty excited, nervous, and mostly anxious to be over in Korea for the big day. I have started to taper my mileage a little bit, hitting ‘only’ 122 and 115 miles over the past two weeks. Training is going very well and I have been feeling pretty sharp on my workouts and fresh on my regular runs. It is a pretty exciting feeling to have a marathon coming up with pretty much everything leading up to it going in the right direction.

            Two weeks ago I continued to taper down my mileage from 131 to 122 miles, which included an easier fartlek on Wednesday at Buffalo Park, and a Fast Finish Steady State run on Saturday. Wednesday was long, but simple, 25 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off, just running loops around Buffalo Park. Even with the unsteady pace I was averaging 5:50-5:55 per mile and feeling pretty comfortable. It was nice to touch on a little bit of speed and turnover. Saturday was meant to be more of a race simulation, which assumes the race will go out in a slower pace due to the heat and humidity. I started the 14 mile workout at a moderate pace, with the intention of running faster each mile, and running the last 4 miles close to an all out effort. The workout went exactly as expected until the last 4 miles, where I actually surprised myself with how good I felt, and ran faster than I thought I would. My splits were: 5:46, 5:40, 5:40, 5:40, 5:33, 5:28, 5:27, 5:22, 5:19, 5:15, 5:03, 5:01, 5:01, 4:47 (1:15:08).

            This past week, I dropped my overall training again down to 115 per week, just a slight taper, still hitting some good distance runs throughout the week. I didn’t have any big workouts; generally at this point in my training I always feel that I am as fit as I can be, so I worry about overdoing it with a big workout that might have a drastic effect. So I kept things simple, had a solid long run on Tuesday, out at A1 Mountain again. Martin and I ran the loop out there in 2:12:06, easier than the last couple of times, but felt much more comfortable the whole way.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with me!

Nick

Week Ending 8/14/11 – 122 miles

Monday             AM: Easy Run from Sinagua Middle school with guys, recovery run from yesterdays workout. 8 miles in 1:00:03.

                        PM: Easy Run with Scott and Brauny after core. 4 miles in 29:14.

Tuesday            AM: Distance Run with guys from Trina House. 13 miles in 1:30:13.

                        PM: Easy run with Tim. 6 miles in 41:07.

Wednesday        AM: Workout at Buffalo Park, ran 3 mile w/u, then 25 x 1 min on, 1 min off Fartlek (8.5 miles), then 3 mile c/d. 14.5 miles in 1:29:48.

                        PM: Easy run from home. 4.5 miles in 30:00.

Thursday           AM: Distance Run with guys at Bagel Run. 11 miles in 1:14:30.

                        PM: Easy Run with Brauny after Core. 5 miles in 34:50.

Friday               AM: Distance Run with guys at Campbell Mesa. 13 miles in 1:28:54.

                        PM: Easy Run from home. 8 miles in 56:52.

Saturday            AM: Workout at Lake Mary Road. 10 min w/u, then 14 mile fast finish run in 1:15:08. Splits = 5:46, 5:40, 5:40, 5:40, 5:33, 5:28, 5:27, 5:22, 5:19, 5:15, 5:03, 5:01, 5:01, 4:47. 10 min c/d. 17 miles in 1:45:08.

Sunday              AM: Distance Run from home by myself. 10 miles in 1:09:57.

                        PM: Easy run with NAU guys in Bellmont. 8 miles in 55:32.

Week Ending 8/21/11 – 115 miles.

Monday             AM: Distance Run with guys at Buffalo Park. 11 miles in 1:10:51.

                        PM: Easy run with Jordan after core. 6 miles in 39:28.

Tuesday            AM: Long Run with Martin at A1 Mountain. 21 miles in 2:12:06.

Wednesday        AM: Distance Run with guys from Gregs. 10 miles in 1:09:24.

                        PM: Easy run with Tim from home. 4.5 miles in 29:50.

Thursday           AM: Distance Run with Tim at Buffalo Park. 10 miles in 1:08:42.

                        PM: Easy Run with Brauny after core. 4 miles in 29:36.

Friday               AM: Distance Run with Martin from Gregs house. 12 Miles in 1:18:46.

                        PM: Easy run with Tim from Lake Mary Road. 4.5 Miles in 30:31.

Saturday            AM: Distance Run from home by myself out to Kachina Wetlands. 13 miles in 1:25:59.

                        PM: Easy run with Jordan and Danny from Cooper. 5.5 miles in 39:37.

Sunday              AM: Distance Run with Martin, Danny and Brauny at A1 Mountain. 14 miles in 1:31:53.

Training Update 8/9/11

            I have fallen behind on my training updates, as the past two weeks have been very busy for the team and myself in Flagstaff. Last week we hosted our inaugural Adidas/McMillan Elite High School Training Camp. The numbers were a little small this year, but I personally feel like it was very successful. Each of us on the team were counselors for the High School kids, leading and following them on runs, giving talks about training, racing, colleges, etc. I had a lot of fun, even though it took up quite a bit of my normal resting and relaxing schedule. I feel like we made a good connection with all of the High Schoolers.

            Other than helping out with the camp for most of the week, I was still able to do my normal training and get a couple really good workouts in. Since I am two weeks behind I’ll just talk about the highlights of my training. Two weeks ago I ran 140 miles with a 4 mile tempo on Wednesday and fast long run on Saturday. I ran 19:48 on the 4 mile tempo, got out a little hard and felt the lactic acid build up pretty quickly, and eventually settled into marathon pace. Saturdays long run was much better; I ran 24 miles in 2:28:20, and was much faster throughout the run than I was the last time we ran 21 on the same loop. We ran each 7 miles in 46:21, 43:55, 39:50 and 17:46 for our last 3 miles.

            This past week I only ran 131 miles, which was still good considering I was juggling counselor responsibilities as well as my training. It was also a good start to my taper since I have only 24 days left until my race. My workouts last week included 8 x 200m strides during my run on Monday, 4 x 2 mile repeats on Thursday, and a Pace Change Long Run on Sunday. Thursday was a tough one since I moved the workout to the afternoon to accommodate the camp run in the morning. I managed a decent workout while staying relaxed, Running 10:12(5:03,5:08), 10:11(5:03,5:08), 10:10(5:06,5:04), 10:08(5:05,5:03) for each of my 2 miles with 3 minutes rest between.

            Sunday’s long run was probably my best workout yet. Which is pretty exciting since I am just starting to taper and feel pretty good on my every day runs as well. The workouts starts by running 5 miles easy, and then starting to throw in 1 mile – 2 mile long surges during the run, while still running a medium pace on the easy sections. I ran 20 miles in 1:52:35, with my first 5 miles in 31:37 and last 15 in 1:20:58. My splits looked a little something like this: 31:37, 5:22, 5:32, 5:07, 5:45, 5:10, 5:55, 5:13, 5:04, 5:59, 5:48, 5:01, 5:01, 5:53, 4:58, 5:03. I started off a little conservative and ended with my last couple surges being faster then my 2 mile repeats were on Thursday. A great workout with a lot of positive feedback going into my last few weeks of training.

Week Ending 7/31/11 – 140 miles (100 on singles)

Monday             AM: Distance run with team from my house. 14 miles in 1:32:38

                        PM: Easy run after core from YMCA. 8 miles in 55:59.

Tuesday            AM: Distance run with team from Gregs. 12 miles in 1:20:36

                        PM: Easy run on own from home. 6 miles in 40:31.

Wednesday        AM: Workout at Lake Mary Rd. 4 Mile tempo in 19:48 (4:44, 4:56, 5:05, 5:02). 3 mile w/u, 4 mile c/d. 11 miles in 1:05:58.

                        PM: Ran on own from downtown before team meeting. 6 miles in 41:01.

Thursday           AM: Distance run with team at Buffalo Park. 12 miles in 1:24:50.

                        PM: Easy run after core with Scott. 6 miles in 41:30.

Friday               AM: Distance run with team at Campbell Mesa. 13 miles in 1:30:04.

                        PM: Easy run with Tim from home. 6 miles in 41:47.

Saturday            AM: Long run at A1 mountain with Lemon, ran much faster then last time on progressive Long Run. 24 miles in 2:28:20.

Sunday              AM: Distance run with Tim at Observatory Mesa. 14 miles in 1:33:06.

                        PM: Easy run from NAU dorms. 8 miles in 53:38.

Week Ending 8/7/11 – 131 miles (96 on singles)

Monday             AM: Easy run with Campers from NAU on FUTS. 8.5 miles in 1:01:06.

PM: Distance run with Campers at Buffalo Park, added 6 miles on my own with 200m strides. 10.5 miles in 1:06:19.

Tuesday            AM: Distance run with Campers at Aspen Corners. 13 miles in 1:26:56.

                        PM: Easy run on own from NAU. 6 miles in 40:52.

Wednesday        AM: Distance run with Campers at Grand Canyon, added 4 on my own. 14 miles in 1:33:09.

                        PM: Easy run with Jordan and Tim from NAU. 4 miles in 29:30.

Thursday           AM: Easy run with campers at A1 Mountain. 6 miles in 42:04.

                        PM: Workout from Gregs House on my own. 4 x 2 miles in 10:12, 10:11, 10:10, and 10:08 w/ 3 mins rest. 3 mile w/u, 3 c/d. 15 miles total in 1:31:30.

Friday               AM: Easy run with Campers from NAU. 6 miles in 41:25.

                        PM: Distance run with Tim from Shultz Creek. 10 miles in 1:13:46.

Saturday            AM: Distance run with team at A1. 14 miles in 1:36:10.

                        PM: Easy run with Tim from home. 4.5 miles in 31:43.

Sunday              AM: Pace Change Long Run at Lake Mary on my own. First 5 miles easy in 31:37, then 15 pace change in 1:20:58. 20 miles in 1:52:35.