Week of 03/04/2007 - 03/10/2007 (Revised Base Phase Week 1)

Everybody else is training, and I'm not.

I'd been dawdling on getting started with my first run back, pursing my lips and puffing out my cheeks, slowly letting out a raspy exhale. Maybe I'm still too sick. Its awfully hot out. I'm already dehydrated. My chest hurts from all of the coughing. This sucks.

Then I saw an e-mail from Markimarkonnen, more SCIAC results. Idly browsing through numbers, realizing that everyone else is getting faster. Oh, God, I can't keep up with the kids anymore... this is not acceptable, can't let this happen. A familiar fiery warm feeling started to build deep within me--no, not heartburn--lets call it motivation. Furiously pulled on some shoes and made a beeline for the door. Everyone else is training, and I'm not. Gotta get to it.

Sunday 03/04: 9 miles, 1:23:11 in the Arroyo at ~150 bpm heartrate. Felt pretty awful for 30 minutes, then got slightly easier. Legs feel creaky and heavy, L arch hurts a little bit on and off, throat still raw, hard to take deep breaths. Took detour back to Garfield Park to do 4 striders on grass. Too many people, had to avoid running over small children. Legs still felt heavy and tired, but everything felt better after the striders. Jogged back home. Just glad to complete a run, its been so long.

Monday 03/05: 3.5 miles, 37 minutes around North Fields in the dark in Nike Frees. 4 x striders with Mark on the South Fields. Core strengthening exercises in the gym, then home. Vaguely unproductive. Strange man was flying a home made contraption in the North Fields that seemed to upset the heart rate monitor, kept reading 180-225... eeeeeee. Was supposed to be ~140 bpm. Not sure what it really was, *sigh*. Coughing mostly subsided, but still feel a bit short of breath....didn't feel as good as I had hoped.

Tuesday 03/06: 5 miles, 22 minutes warm up around South Fields, 20 minutes of drills on grass, 10 x 100m striders, 22 minutes cool down around North Fields in Nike Frees. So exhausted, good grief the coordination drills are hard. Felt really out of breath, can't seem to maintain form through all of it, very clumsy, but at least didn't fall on my face. Striders were really painful after that, glad for 20 minutes of jogging at the end. L arch hurt a bit towards the end, maybe need a few days off from the Frees.

Wednesday 03/07: 6.25 miles, Huntington up Oak Knoll, felt really tired. Intended 50 minutes at 160 bpm, actual probably closer to 165 bpm, still took 55 minutes, what a disaster. Went too hard in the beginning, and spiked the heartrate, everything felt really crappy after that. 4 x 100m striders and core strengthening at the gym afterwards. Legs feel heavy and sore. Running doesn't feel good yet. Still some coughing.

Thursday 03/08: 6.5 miles, slowly around the South fields 1:01:30 at ~155 bpm. Really peeved that the North fields were locked today, I'm not sure entirely why but the fact that its just 1 minute larger of a loop makes such a big difference in terms of reducing the ennui of going around constantly in circles. Good relaxed easy run nonetheless. HR much more under control than yesterday. Really, really sore this morning, still had to do the deathly coordination drills again... its seriously only a matter of time before I'm observed by someone I know, flailing and falling all over the place, good grief. Definitely looking forward to a rest (jogging) day tomorrow.

Friday 03/09: 3 miles, 32:30 slow jogging around South fields at 140 bpm, core strengthening at gym. Relatively uneventful. Legs are sore, thank goodness for no drills today.

Saturday 03/10: 7 miles, finally, some fast running! 20 minutes warm up jogging (as if I needed further warming, as it was already like 80 degrees out...) then HR test at gym with Kangway and Ian. 0.3 mph increase every 400m on treadmill starting at 10:00 min/mile until I couldn't make it through the next segment. Painful in the last few segments, would have liked to make it through the 5:40 one, but wasn't going to happen, not today. 20 minutes cool down jogging. Legs definitely not used to the higher speeds... felt exhausted.

Max HR = 212, threshold is somewhere in the 190 range, but not entirely clear from the graph (x-axis is kmph, raw data available upon request). Probably should have tried to push a little harder at the end, but since I did not have the cushion of pillows like in the Bannister test, I elected not to risk getting shot out the back.



Target Mileage: 30-40 Miles
Week Actual: 40.25 Miles
Last Week: Miles? hah.

Trying not to stress out about mileage, just have time quotas and heart rates for each day. No workouts, just base miles and recovery.

Week of 02/25/2007 - 03/03/2007 (oh, so very sick...)

I've contracted the plague...!

Unfortunately this is just about the last nail in the coffin for me running at Ben Brown in two weeks. Prognosis is also uncertain for Oxy Distance Carnival. Time passes both so slowly and so quickly, since November I've just been trying to hold it together for these races, just trying to remain healthy and log some base miles so I could open the season with a solid 5K, and it seemed like forever, so many weeks to NOT screw up, so many weeks to put it all together, but now I'm here, flat on my back with an icepack on my forehead and a cup of tea under my nose, and these races are about to pass me by. When it all crashes, it crashes so fast.

Goals for the week: cure the plague, re-work the training plan, optimistically get some light jogging in if health permits. I'll hopefully also be armed with new allergy medication and test results from all of the doctor appointments. The battle may be lost, but the war can still be won--I will conquer this.

Sunday - Tuesday 02/25 - 02/27: off. Feel like crap. Headache and fever are main symptoms, developed cough on Monday, basically bedridden with chills and feeling progressively worse on Tuesday. I don't like this...

Wednesday 02/28: Couldn't make it through the day without some Tylenol Cold. Still dying... oh, please won't somebody save me....

Thursday 03/01: Finally feeling better, headache gone, but still a lot of coughing. Whole chest area is sore from coughing. Hurts to swallow, but managed some solid foods today.

Also, calamity of the world! Stepped on the scale today, and to my horror, I've gained 4 pounds! Apparently ice cream for 3 meals a day is not a good idea. What a disaster...

Friday 03/02: Went to the doctor, the plague is NOT strep, thank goodness. Also, no major diseases, so apparently I'm still stuck with the allergies. Still a prohibitive degree of coughing, taking one last day off.

Revised training plan (with Peter, only moderate arguing :)) for new target race: Oxy invite on 5/12. Should be far enough away, barring any more catastrophes in the interim. FYI, biting off more than I can chew: I may need to start getting over my distaste for being last, starting now... the slowest person last year was 19:34, and she was last by like almost 30 seconds. meh.

Saturday 03/03: 23 miles, biking with Peter, around Rose Bowl with one loop in the hills by Art Center. Ran into Sladek and Ruby. Nice roads, but felt like drowning, better after first 45 minutes. Wish I didn't have this cough, and that I remembered how to drink while riding... but felt good to get out there, fun.

I want to be healthy so, so, much.

Week of 02/18/2007 - 02/24/2007 (Base Phase, training block 2, Week A, take two)

Here we go now.

I still don't know exactly what to make of all of my persistent running and non running related illnesses, but somehow I've got to get back on the ball before everything falls apart. The important races are less than a month away now, and I gotta do everything I can to be prepared. Honestly though, I'm just scared and frustrated. I don't understand what's wrong with my body and I think that's worse than knowing what something is and that it's fixable, even if that process takes a long time.

Sunday 02/18: off. Making the long drive back from AZ. It just all hurts, everything from my face to my arch. Forgot to wear the sock. Arghhhh.

Monday 02/19: ~9 miles, 1:30-ish total adventure run in the mountains with the Brain. Intended: Mt. Lukens to the summit, Actual: got lost immediately, descended pleasantly for 30 minutes before realizing we missed our turn off.

Detoured up a steep little trail and explored along the ridge. Rugged and beautiful, but also steep and narrow with harrowing drop-offs, almost peed my pants. Dying hazard = Extremely High. Hardest climb I've ever done, was maybe 18 minutes at most, but thought I would go into cardiac arrest. 35 minute climb back UP to the starting point was miserable. Legs felt okay, but the running system felt bad. Breathing out of control, heartrate probably also out of control, kind of felt like drowning. I just need consistent training... arrrrrghhhhhhhhh......

Tuesday 02/20: 6.25 miles, 56 minutes, slowest I've ever done this run, but heartrate spiked anyways. I've always had this intuitive sense that I have an above averagely weak cardiovascular system, but its sort of discouraging to see an actual number quantifying that... like it stresses my heart so much to do a slow run, I can't imagine how I'm ever going to run any faster.

Wednesday 02/21: ~5 miles, 47 minutes at enforced heart rate of 145-155 around South Fields in Nike Frees. I guess 5 miles might actually be generous on this one, sooooo slow. Exercise in patience, may have achieved a state of zen by the end. Saw Mark and Ian doing miles, so jealous.

Thursday 02/21: ~7 miles, 1 hour random Pasadena, started with team, tried to do 6 x 3 on, 2 off but felt like crap, then right quad started cramping, had to jog back home. Total disaster. There's just something really wrong with my body, and I can feel it, but its not entirely clear what the issue is. Going to the doctor tomorrow.

Friday 02/22: off. Spent all day at the doctor, felt pretty crappy. Lets hope I'll find out what's wrong with me next week. meh.

Saturday 02/23: 6 miles, 62 minutes around North Fields in Nike Frees at enforced heartrate of 140, felt like 10 minute miles, then 4 striders, felt great. Arches are starting to feel a lot stronger, no pain since Monday, good to do jogging in Frees on grass. Now if I can just fix the rest of my body... I could be headed for some training sometime soon :).

Target Mileage: 40 Miles
Week to date: 33.25 Miles
Last Week: 29.8 Miles

I don't know if I can even do any real workouts this week. I just want to be un-sick and un-broken :'(

Week of 02/11/2007 - 02/17/2007 (Base Phase block 2 Week A)

Don't be a pussy.

Advice given to me prior to a XC race last fall. Advice that needs to be given to me now. After weekend of debacles, now is the time to keep my head in the game and get it together. Just focus and do what you need to do to get better. Except, I'm not entirely sure WHAT that is. How do you you fix something you don't understand--for example, WHY I am suddenly allergic to the entire world? I have eye drops, nose spray, antihistamine cream, tablets, antibiotics... I'm basically a freaking walking pharmacy and still I feel like crap at least half of every day lately. Everybody just keeps throwing drugs at me, but no one can tell me what the root of the problem is!

I feel like at this point my life could just be declared a success if I could just NOT live in fear of what part of my body will inexplicably become inflamed and infected and swollen on THIS day. How am I supposed to train and be an athlete, if I can't manage to be a healthy human being? What the hell did I do to deserve this!?

Sunday 02/11: off. Eyes swollen shut, miserable.

Monday 02/12: ~8.8 miles, 1:17:32 easy Huntington medians followed by 5 laps of the North Field. Therapeutic easy run, goal was to run for 75 minutes, not stressed about pacing, mostly on grass. Distance uncertain, don't really care. Totally calm today, felt good, liked the gradual hill on Los Robles, just needed a day to cleanse all of the angst and want to run again.

Tuesday 02/13: more medical problems... this week is turning into a disaster, and its only tuesday!

Wednesday 02/14: ~8.5 miles, oh holy crap... disaster! Aborted 3 x arroyo tempo loops. Became 1.5 x arroyo tempo loops. L arch hurts intensely... heart rate alarmingly high, aborted on second loop after cramping, limping, and heartrate pushing 190... just not worth it. There's something seriously, seriously wrong with my whole body, even after some slow shuffling, my heartrate still wouldn't go under 167 the entire way home. Oh, dear...

Thursday 02/15: off. plantar fasciitis has reared its ugly head again.. what to do, what to do... starting wearing the magic sock again.

Friday 02/16: ~12.5 miles, 1:44:33 fantastic uncharted, uncertain distance run in the Arizona desert. Dirt roads all the way into the hills, until I heard some gunfire... apparently thats what people do out in the middle of nowhere--shoot things. Perfect, packed but soft sand for miles and miles, strong breeze offset the sunny and hot. Kind of like Hesperia but less hilly. This is the perfect surface for my embattled arches, feet didn't hurt at all on this run, miraculously.

Saturday 02/17: off. Non plantar fasciitis related medical problems. Eyes swollen shut again. This seriously, seriously needs to go away IMMEDIATELY.

Target Mileage: 40 Miles
Week Actual: 29.8 Miles
Last Week: 33.45 Miles

One year I was fast running 30 miles a week. If I can just average 40 miles a week until May, there's just got to be one non-embarassing 5K in there for me this season... there just HAS to be...

...or I could spend the rest of my life being riddled with disease and never be fast again. We'll see which it will be.

Week of 02/04/2007 - 02/10/2007 (Base Phase - Rest Cycle Week)

This saturday marks the 2 year anniversary of the only race I am somewhat proud of.

I was reflecting on this the other day and realized that this is incredibly sad. I had my only good race after about 1 year of running, and then have just been going through repeated cycles of injury, overtraining, stupid training, and disappointed expectations for 2 years. Looking back, this race changed my life... this was the turning point, when I stopped thinking of myself as a hopeless case, and started thinking of myself as someone with a mild degree of potential.

Prior to then, I thought of myself as someone who would be lucky, in her lifetime ever to break 20 minutes for a 5K. I imagined that one day, I would once run 19:59.9 and then move happily and directly into retirement. Then one day in February I ran 5:46 for a mile (a PR by 18 seconds) and 11:26 for a 3K (a PR by 1 minute and 5 seconds) at a tiny pre-season meet at Caltech. I closed the last lap in 86 seconds, drawing even with the leader coming into the last straightaway, and lost a sprint finish in a moment of weakness in the last 20 meters or so. This must have been the only race in my life where my last lap was my fastest, and I felt strangely fine--fine despite losing a sprint finish and having run a hard mile an hour or two before, fine enough to be chided that one should not be smiling when one crosses the finish line... but it was absurd to me at the time that I should even BE a participant in a sprint finish, and absurd to me that I was on pace for a 19:04 5K with ease through 7.5 laps... it as absurd enough to be completely hilarious.

But that race forever altered my perception of "fast" and "slow" and where I fell in that spectrum. This was my first race of my second track season ever as a distance runner... and surely 2 more months of training, some intervals, some long runs and minus a mile race prior to my event, surely a 19:15 - 19:30 5K was easily within the limits of what I could do. If this was me in my second year of running, I saw myself eventually running 19:00, 18:45, 18:30. A tiny flicker of potential had opened up a Pandora's box of expectations.

I don't think I ever really recovered from the disappointment that followed in that season. I trained myself into the ground, and could barely race my first and only 5K that year. Now the demons born of the disparity between perceived potential and actual achievements follow me every step of every run, the weight of disappointment and the pressure of redemption pound in my head every time I take the starting line.

I want this to be the year to leave that all behind. I realize that its less about needing a big PR to exorcize the demons, and more that I need a paradigm shift in terms of how I view running and racing and myself.

Sunday 02/04: ~10 miles, 1:26:21 in Hesperia with CMS girls team. Sunny but windy, fantastic dirt trails on rolling hills going on almost indefinitely. 4100 feet of elevation, felt somewhat worn out, but probably less to do with altitude and more to do with legs being tired. Easy 46 minutes out, 40 minutes back, refrained from pushing the pace. Stomach hurt last few miles. Goldhammer wouldn't let us run the 4 extra minutes, so doesn't meet the > 90 minutes criteria for a long run. *Consternation*

Monday 02/05: Off day today. 9 hours of sleep, so good! Throat felt scratchy in the morning, but mostly gone now. Slightly concerned.

Tuesday 02/06: 8 miles, 26 minutes warm up with Mark and Ian, 11 x 200m @ 5K goal pace with 200m jog rest, 4 x 100m striders on grass, 24 minutes cooldown with Ian. Core strengthening, bench at gym after. More talking than training today, great to see everyone.

41, 46, 44, 44, 43, 45, 45, 44, (mystery), 42, 39. Forgot to run the watch on the 9th one, had to do an extra. Presumably this is a neuromuscular workout, so really tried to focus on form and turnover. Felt crappy on warm up, 200's were comfortable, then felt better on the cooldown.

Generally feel tired and flat, despite day off. I'm about 4 weeks back from injury now, so by my calculations i *ought* to be starting to feel better right about now. Still feel like I'm behind where I was the week before Christmas, which is really discouraging.

Wednesday 02/07: 6.25 miles, 51:08 easy on Huntington. Running at night, kind of distracted, took a nasty spill on concrete about 1.5 miles in, not exactly sure what caused it, but fell on my face--literally. Skinned R knee, R elbow, nose. Really sad. Ran a little bit faster after that because bleeding and wanted to get home quicker.

Thursday 02/08: R knee swelled up and painful to bend. No running... arrrrghhhh....

Friday 02/09: 5.2 miles, 45:08 up and down Orange Grove also at night. Felt really really crappy for about 2 miles, then slightly better after that. L arch is tight, R knee is sore, breathing is choppy. Eyes are really really infected, hard to see...

Saturday 02/10: 4 miles total, 2 miles warm up, 3K race (11:57, on pace for ~800m then complete and total implosion... gave up on the last 2 laps, got passed by like 5 people in that span), 200m sprint to undisclosed location, 20 minutes of crying, 1 hour of staring blankly into space, then straight home without cooling down.

People think I'm like this crazy, insanely driven and motivated person, but there are some days where even I think that no matter what I do, apparently it doesn't make a difference anyways, so why bother. Apparently my career peak was the first race of my second track season ever and I will spend all of eternity not even coming within 30 seconds of that. In the words of Steve Slattery, "fuck this shit". Seriously.

Target Mileage: 30-35 Miles
Week Actual: 33.45 Miles
Last Week: 46.35 Miles

Adopting the training block system where every few weeks there is a recovery week. This is my first "recovery" week... we'll see how it goes.

Week of 01/28/2007 - 02/03/2007 (Base Phase)

I'm having a rare public moment of self-doubt.

Just putting that out there.

1) I doubt what I am as a runner. Most people find some race that they love more than the other ones, mostly that coincides with the distance that they are fastest at, though its indeterminate whether there is a causal effect. After 3 years, I still don't know. I'd LIKE to be a miler, but there's no way. And since I'm not willing to put in the effort to do the shorter intensity workouts and really, really try to see if I can improve at that distance, clearly its not that important to me. I have the most goals for the 5K, but I think that's driven more by my inherent competitive nature, and the 5K is the common denominator for most distance track runners. I currently consider myself a 10K runner, but a lot of days lately I doubt that too. If I can't run a solid 5K, obviously I won't run a solid 10K. I'm too uncoordinated and injury prone for the steeplechase. I'm probably most suited to a half marathon, but my legs can only take so much road running and we're back to injury prone. I also can't get over my unrequited love affair with the track, so I'd really really like it, if whatever I am... was a track distance.

2) Related to not knowing what I am, is that since I don't know what I am, my training lacks focus and direction. I just had this pang of doubt, what if The Master Plan, the one I spent all summer researching and tweaking and obsessing over... what if it's completely wrong? Why am I doing so much tempo work at the 6:30-6:50 pace range, when that's basically too fast for half marathon pace and too slow for 10K pace? If I want to run a 5K, why bother with this crap? Shouldn't I be doing more of the 7:00 - 7:30 steady state runs and then shorter faster cruise intervals at like closer to 5K goal pace (6:10-6:20) miles and 1000m repeats? gah. I realized that I really just end up doing tons and tons of the types of workouts that I'm good at, which are, hill climbs and threshold tempo work--and when those tire me out... I get upset when there's a bad result. I realized that I have a lot of trouble executing on the theories... I make plans but then I just kind of change them around based on emotional responses and whims. I haven't DONE a steady state tempo in months, I still mostly do my base work too fast, and I do my trackwork in a very disordered and undisciplined way. Sometimes it feels like I don't know what I'm doing at all.

Sunday 01/28: 12.1 miles, 1:37:44 Palomar long loop, fantastic long run. Warm and sunny despite the forecast of rain. Felt really good and relaxed, averaging ~8:15's for the first 5 miles, then ~7:50 after that. Pushed a little bit in the last mile cuz I felt impatient... I still face the same problem that I feel like my legs are capable of so much more than my cardiovascular can support. Was kind of surpised at the overall time, faster than I should have been running, I suppose, but its hard to hold back on a day you feel good.

Monday 01/29: off. Mondays are my rest day now. I guess this is more logical given that I've got more time flexibility on the weekend, so I should make use of both weekend days.

Tuesday 01/30: 9.5 miles, tempo work at the track. Was supposed to do some pacework for the race on Saturday, but instead got sucked in by curiosity about the 3-2-1 ladder workout courtesy of Crosby Freeman via KB.

Intended: 3 miles (6:40, 6:40, 6:40), 5 minutes of rest, 2 miles (6:30, 6:30), 5 minutes of rest, 1 mile (6:10 - 6:20).

Actual: 5K (6:42, 6:44, 6:42, 0:45, total = 20:53), 2 miles (6:47, 6:51, total = 13:38), crushing realization that I'm in HORRIBLE shape and my body has failed me, 10 x 100m striders on grass. 20 minutes of warm up and 20 minutes of cool down. Arches felt sore, so didn't use the Nike Frees.

*Public Service Announcement--Please put earmuffs on small children*

AAAAARRRGHHHHHH... fuck, fuck, fuck! I was running 13:05's last week for 2 miles and that felt GOOD. I don't know what happened, but my body just failed me today. I felt good on the warmup, good, relaxed and breathing through my nose through the first mile, and then it just all fell apart. I want to just say, a bad day is a bad day--but I also have this overwhelming feeling that its not just that... the greater problem is my refusal to accept that I'm not as fast as I think I am. My threshold pacing is too aggressive, and only on my best days does it actually click and everything feels good and easy and sustainable. Then on all of the other days it feels like I'm desperately chasing the clock around the track, beating myself over the head as to why I can't do it this week, this day, this one time. Why can't it just always be like that day where I felt like I could run 6:40's forever. What is different about today?

I need to swallow my pride and take a step back. It's like this--people seem to think I'm just being obstinate about not accepting the training theory where you don't do your trackwork as fast as possible... but it's not that... it's that I'm being obstinate about the fact that I refuse to accept that "as fast as possible" isn't so different from what I'm doing. I haven't raced a 10K on the track in about 3 years, but I have this unfailing belief in myself that if I were to, the next one I do, I'll be running 39:30. The truth is, I'm not there yet. If I had to race a 10K tomorrow, the truth is that I would be lucky to be sub-41:00. Given that, maybe I shouldn't expect to do tempo work and consistently run in the 6:30-40 range. 42:03 felt so amazingly easy that one day, but it was 1.5 months ago, and things are different now ... I need to learn to be able to train without constant injury, I need to learn to let go when things are breaking, I need to learn to be more humble and more patient.

The reality is that letting go is scary. I believe that I got as far as I've come today by having the audacity to set my goals high, to believe that I could do more than people (including myself) thought. Logically I know that this cycle of pride and expectation and failure is actually preventing my progress as an athlete, but there's a part of me that thinks I'm losing part of my competitive edge, eroding mental toughness by admitting: I'm not as good as I think I ought to be.

Wednesday 01/31: 6.25 miles, 51:59 Huntington easy on grass median. I can't believe Ian and Mark run hundreds of miles of medians... those obnoxious little round seed pod thingies from all of the trees make it impossible not to twist your ankles! Felt fine, physically... frustrated psychologically...

Thursday 02/01: ~7 miles, Susan's magical mix of tempo intervals. No watch, no clue about pacing or even overall time. 5 minutes (tempo), 5 minutes jogging, 15 minutes (tempo), 5 minutes jogging, 5 minutes (tempo), 2 x 400m (tempo pace).

So much fun, I miss the team... and running in the morning! Everything goes by so much faster when you have people to talk to and run with. Felt easy and relaxed, not stressed out about pacing. There's something about Susan that inspires confidence. 400m pacework felt strangely comfortable today, 98 seconds (~6:35 pace), then 85 seconds (~5:43 pace). Breathing felt totally under control. Decided to go for the 2 mile on Saturday, this will be my first one ever. Should be interesting.

Friday 02/02: ~4.5 miles, 37 minutes of light jogging around the south field, then 6 x 100m striders. Everything feels good, definitely on the fat side, but running in general is starting to feel a bit more natural in the past two days. The race tomorrow is going to be a total crapshoot. If I feel like Tuesday, then I will probably embarass myself for all of eternity with some sort of 12:30-12:40 type result. If I feel like Thursday, then I have a good shot at 12:00 -12:15, which is ideal pacing for a 5K later in the season. Anyways, off to bed!

Saturday 02/03: ~7 miles, CMS Alumni race with Ryan, Chris, JRo, Dr. Rossi. 26 minutes warm up (ran hard for 5 minutes), 2 miles in 12:32 (6:14, 6:18), incredibly embarassing 200m relay leg, 22 minutes cool down. Ate kumquats. Delicious.

Disappointed with race time, but felt I did the best I could, already felt pretty worn out and tired on the warm up, kind of like Tuesday... blah, but ran intelligently for the most part, fell apart in the last 100m, got passed... couldn't catch Mouzakis. Maybe next week.

Target Mileage: 45 Miles
Week Actual: 46.35 Miles
Last Week: 40.95 Miles

Glad I did the 2 mile, and Lindsay kicks butt! I'll have a 5K PR for sure this year if I can stick with her. Great to see everyone again, got a lot of ribbing from Goldhammer, but managed to make it through a whole day without a snide comment from KBeck.

Week of 01/21/2007 - 01/27/2007 (Base Phase)

I'm boycotting the Superbowl. I'm also boycotting ESPN and all major news agencies, because I do NOT want to read about what happened.

It's almost 10 pm and I've barely moved from my "face down in pillow" mourning state, save for the consume some ice cream for comfort. This was the year, that our patchwork team had made it so far, despite the odds... despite being matched against stronger teams, what MY team had was heart and determination. Why, oh why... *sobs into pillow*

Sunday 01/21: ~13 miles in the Arroyo turning back at Devil's Gate, distance uncertain. 1:54:04 first long run in a very long time. Pleasantly warm, rather strong breeze (headwind both ways!?) and not even a twinge of ankle pain. Felt great to be out on the trails again, low intensity, relaxed capillary growing! Biking yesterday helped ease the soreness in quads, but still feeling a little "flat" in Ian terminology.

Monday 01/22: off. Too much work and too many distractions--swapping my Saturday off day for Monday off day. Hope this doesn't come back to haunt me next week.

Tuesday 01/23: 9 miles, 20 minutes warm up, 2 x 2 mile at threshold pace, 1 x 1 mile acceleration, 20 minutes cool down in Nike Frees. Moderately acceptable but confusing tempo workout. 13:06 (6:31,6:35), 2 min. rest, 13:05 (6:32,6:33), short chat with nice Econ consulting man, 6:10.86.

2 miles felt really good. Legs were totally relaxed, pace felt easy and smooth... *however* something is still really off with my breathing, have been coughing all day unrelated to exercise, felt sort of short of breath. Frustrating, not sure if this is an allergy/asthma type thing or a bacterial thing, so have been dragging my feet on starting antibiotics.

Tried a mile @ 5K race pace to test my speed... totally pathetic. Basically it all comes back to this breathing problem. It's really a deeply disturbing and bizarre feeling, my legs did not burn, I consciously had to hold back the pace and shorten my stride, because of this feeling that my throat was constricting and I felt like I was drowning. I keep having this recurring vision of horror, that one day I will wake up and my legs will have walked away, and the following note will be taped to my collar bone:

"Dear Heart and Lungs,

Its been a great 24 years, but we are really sorry, this relationship just isn't working for us anymore. It's not you, its us--we're not ready to settle down, we want to see other cardiovascular systems, we want to be part of a body that could win races, that will support us up to our full potential. The last year has been very hard for us, we've always been there for you, but you've always let us down when we needed you the most. There have been one too many illnesses and infections and problems that we do not understand. We are bored, and we want to run fast. We hope that you will understand, and there will be no hard feelings if we meet again in a race. We wish you the very best, goodbye.

Sincerely,
Right Leg and Left Leg"

Wednesday 01/24: 6.25 miles, 52:21, Huntington very slowly. Nice easy run, not too cold. Felt a little soreness in my ankle but went away after a few miles. 4 x 100m striders on the South Fields. Feel really out of shape. Striders used to feel like flying... now they feel like my throat is constricting. Seriously... what is wrong with my lungs?!?! Lots of coughing today at work.

Thursday 01/25: 2.5 miles, 21:36, South field laps. More distractions, so little time! Just wanted to get the heartrate up.

Friday 01/26: 5 miles, 51:24, Bailey until fallen tree... mehhhhhhh. My favorite trail is now completely obstructed by a very large tree having fallen lengthwise about 29 minutes up. I guess this means my Bailey to signpost PR will forever remain 2 seconds short at 45:02. This is really an incredibly sad turn of events. This run is what made me the runner that I am... its also the most beautiful, wonderful, perfect run ever. The gradient gets progressively steeper past the camp, until you get to the switchbacks, but that's not the worst part... the worst part is the uninterrupted steep climb up to the saddle and then that last scramble where you can see the sign post up above. It's almost like a progression run that way, like the first 3/5 are manageable, and then the intensity goes up but the scenery becomes so breathtakingly amazing that its worth it to just be up there. Anyways, goodbye favorite run....

Saturday 01/27: 5.2 miles, 44:21 easy run up and down Orange Grove at night. Waited until it stopped raining, I'm such a pansy ass about the rain. Felt okay, I guess I'm not very tired because the hill climb got cut short, but tried to run slow anyways. My body is still not really used to training again... I desperately want to get to the point where running 40 mpw just feels easy and natural.

Target Mileage: 40-45 Miles
Week Actual: 40.95 Miles
Last Week: 33.25 Miles

Trying to be flexible this week, depending on how well the running system is recovering. The signals are confusing, but circumstances conspired to keep the mileage on the low end. Next week will be interesting...