Help a brotha out

Well, the Excel file doesn't transfer very nicely over to Blogger, so until my technologically-challenged ass learns to fool around with HTML, have fun sorting through the mess of numbers below.

I recall Ryan had a similar problem a few months back, but it doesn't seem he's found the answer either. Any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment.

Back to work.

Quote of the day:

Take a primitive organism, say a freshman. Make it lift, or jump or run. Let it rest. What happens? A little miracle. It gets a little better. It gets a little stronger or faster or more enduring. That’s all training is. Stress. Recover. Improve. You’d think any damn fool could do it. But you don’t. You work too hard and rest too little and get hurt.
- Bill Bowerman in Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, explaining something this damn fool came to find out the hard way.

Weekly Mileage Report (9/10/06 - 2/24/07)

Summary of my last 25 weeks of training since returning from the stress fracture.

Week Miles Long Run # of Runs Avg. Run Training Pace
9/10/2006 - 9/16/2006 6.0 2.0 3 2.0 7:30.00
9/17/2006 - 9/23/2006 12.0 3.5 4 3.0 7:57.92
9/24/2006 - 9/30/2006 12.0 4.0 3 4.0 7:24.17
10/1/2006 - 10/7/2006 20.0 5.0 4 5.0 2:02:23.75
10/8/2006 - 10/14/2006 26.0 6.0 5 5.2 7:13.27
10/15/2006 - 10/21/2006 30.0 8.0 5 6.0 7:14.50
10/22/2006 - 10/28/2006 35.0 9.0 5 7.0 7:16.86
10/29/2006 - 11/4/2006 42.0 8.5 6 7.0 7:14.88
11/5/2006 - 11/11/2006 50.0 9.0 7 7.1 7:20.59
11/12/2006 - 11/18/2006 55.0 10.0 8 6.9 7:14.25
11/19/2006 - 11/25/2006 56.0 10.0 7 8.0 7:21.35
11/26/2006 - 12/2/2006 55.0 13.0 7 7.9 7:18.75
12/3/2006 - 12/9/2006 43.0 8.0 6 7.2 7:05.00
12/10/2006 - 12/16/2006 60.0 12.0 7 8.6 7:04.29
12/17/2006 - 12/23/2006 60.0 12.0 7 8.6 7:10.23
12/24/2006 - 12/30/2006 65.0 13.0 8 8.1 7:06.15
12/31/2006 - 1/6/2007 55.0 13.0 7 7.9 7:21.00
1/7/2007 - 1/13/2007 70.0 13.0 7 10.0 6:59.12
1/7/2007 - 1/13/2007 70.0 16.0 8 8.8 7:05.17
1/14/2007 - 1/20/2007 75.0 14.0 7 10.7 7:03.60
1/21/2007 - 1/27/2007 65.0 16.0 7 9.3 7:41.11
1/28/2007 - 2/3/2007 75.0 16.0 8 9.4 6:59.70
2/4/2007 - 2/10/2007 75.0 15.0 9 8.3 7:23.79
2/11/2007 - 2/17/2007 70.0 19.0 7 10.0 7:01.14
2/18/2007 - 2/24/2007 80.0 18.0 7 11.4 7:17.12
Averages: 1,262.0 (50.5) 10.9 6.4 7.5

Testing, 1, 2

After taking some time to play around with Athleticore, an online training log I've been using since September '05, I've recently discovered some nifty filters which provide a nice breakdown of my daily, weekly and monthly training numbers. As a little experiment, I'm going to try and copy-paste some of this data on here and see how it comes out. Lemme know what you think.

Break from boredom, or not

Hey there, hello, it's been a while - almost a week to be exact. Same old story, not worth repeating, so I'll spare you from the boring stuff and get right down to the nitty gritty, which in all likelihood is just as boring. Here goes.

My recovery from last weekend's little jaunt around Foxboro was anything but quick, as I had some calf soreness through Wednesday and heavy quads both Thursday and Friday. The only hard efforts to speak of since then were a hilly 18 miles this past Thursday and a 14 x 1 minute fartlek with one minute recovery the following day. The week totaled a nice, round 80 miles, which if all goes according to plan, will be the case again this week before dropping it down the heading into New Bedford on March 18.

Yesterday was a productive semi-long run of 15 miles, including a 1-2-3-4-4-1-2-2-1 fartlek in the middle (all with 2-minutes recovery) and a 5:28 last mile to finish things up. If it weren't for an iced-over bike path in Millbury, the aformentioned fartlek would have resembled a perfectly symmetrical Egyptian pyramid, but the unplanned-for crappy conditions lead to a necessary alteration in said pyramid's construction.

As of this entry, my legs have seemed to bounce back from last week's Foxboro-induced funk and should be good to go for tomorrow night's hill session in Newton with the crew. Speaking of said crew, congrats to NB Boston teammates Rebecca Donaghue and Jess Minty, as well as the women's DMR on a few sterling performances this weekend at the USATF Indoor Championships.

That'll do it for now. Take it easy.

Quote of the day

Very hilly. At 3.5 miles wanted to jump in police car but it got better after that.
- Casey Moulton's log entry on his win at the Amherst 10-Miler this past weekend

Quote of the day

That's right, no longwinded mumbo-jumbo to sift through this evening, just a hilarious e-mail excerpt from a track dork listserv I happen to be a part of. Digest it well.

Yes my Gordon kids could learn from that. My 4:40 miler ran the first 100 in 14 and 200 in 29 and predictably spent the rest of the race dying. This despite that fact I have been telling him for 6 months now to not go out too fast. He has a 3.8 GPA in biology, once again proving my point that there is often no correlation between intelligence and being a smart runner.

Terrible 10

OK, not so much terrible as disappointing, but it was just one of those days this morning at Foxboro's Old Fashioned 10-Miler.

An ideal first five miles, followed by rough patch from 6 through 8 and a slightly encouraging rebound during 9 and 10 earned me a 53:46, seventh-place finish behind a group of studs who are priming themselves for some good stuff at a little marathon in Hopkinton some eight weeks from now. Also, a congrats to former Stonehill teammates Greg Saia, Kim Nolan and Emily Flowers, who all ran spectacular races today. Always nice to see familar faces and catch up with old pals on a leisurely cooldown.

Anyway, for you number nerds, here's the actual data from my trusty Timex, which unfortunately did not correlate with the not-so-trusty mile markers. You'll see what I mean.

5:24, 5:18, 5:19, 5:33, 5:05, 5:24, 5:35, 6:03, 4:53, 5:08.

As you may have surmised, mile markers 4, 5, 8 and 9 were a wee bit off. A double check of Ryan's, Terry's and Bernie's logs confirms this course calamity.

So, as old Kcoach B would say, it is what it is. What is was turned out to be a long, hard effort which will bode well in the grand scheme of things. Far from a complete disaster, I'm a bit disappointed, but not worried in the least. I'm well on my way to getting where I want to be.

Lastly, I just found out we have a shower here at the T&G, a luxury which was never previously revealed to me in the 2-1/2 years I've been working here. Looks like my commute just got a whole lot more environmentally friendly.

That's it for tonight. Take it easy.

Quote of the day

You look like you're ready for bed.
- Jorge commenting on my sleepy state tonight at work

Warming up to winter

So in the last 24 hours we've been slammed with snow, pelted with ice and been thrown into a tizzy over this most recent weather anomaly. Last time I checked, however, it was indeed February -- which is still a winter month in this hemisphere -- and Rand McNally hasn't deviated from referring to this area of the country New England as far as I know, so round these parts we needn't be surprised that the ground (gasp!) isn't clear. So here's to laying off the panic button, hitting the slow-mo, leaving a little earlier than usual and continuing to put one foot in front of the other. It's not the end of the world -- it's winter. The snow will melt, perhaps quicker than it ever has before. Hell, Al Gore guarantees it.

OK, onto other things worth wasting my breath about. The Foxboro Old Fashioned 10-miler is on tap for Sunday, and as always a solid field is shaping up. Last year I finished 5th in 53:17 and I'd like to improve upon both those numbers this weekend. Training has been about as consistent as death and taxes, so I do believe I'm ready to pop a good race.

Speaking of races, some good stuff went down in Boulder this past weekend, and more locally at BU. Alan Culpepper and Deena Kastor showed everyone that they still have it over hill and dale, and round these parts, 1. The studs from Stonehill continued to impress, with the DMR popping a 9:53 to win it all at the Valentine Invite. They're now # 3 in the country, I believe. 2. NB Boston teammates Jeff Caron (3K), Jess Minty (mile) and Christy Carrara (5K) all ran some big-ass PR's at the same meet, with times of 8:16, 4:47 and 17:23, respectively.

And as far as respect goes, this guy doesn't get enough of it. He placed seventh in the 12K this past weekend -- qualifying for World XC -- and last month ran 62:20 for the 1/2 marathon, beating an Olympic silver medalist in the process. I suggest to start noticing if you haven't already.

OK, time for bed. Take it easy.

Quote of the day:

I'm not sure what it is, but I know they have it. And I know you can't buy it at Wal-Mart.
- Scott Winston on the drive of a champion

Kickin' it Old School...

Hodgie-San hooked me up with a new t-shirt the other day -- actually it's rather old -- but it's pretty cool nonetheless. On the front is an old warrior donning an Athletics West singlet with "Old School Track Club" emblazoned across the chest above him. On the back are the following practical pearls of wisdom....

OLD SCHOOL COMMANDMENTS

1. Avoid distractions.
2. Have good role models.
3. Be part of a good team.
4. Be serious about fitness.
5. Run on (for) giving surfaces.
6. Train on hills.
7. Incorporate race-speed training.
8. Take chances.
9. Listen to your body.
10. Reward outstanding performances.

Now whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be forever stuck in the slow heat. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will eventually have their place on the winner's podium.

The running gods have spoken. Now go forth my friends, and run fast.

Quote of the day:

For the majority of us, the marathon is a process that you just have to fine tune and you have to learn from each one. If you run enough of them, you understand it. I wish I would have known that 10 years ago.
-Pete Julian

Bippity bop

Scatterbrained as usual, here's a small smattering of what happens to be bopping around my train of thought at the moment....

* Le Supre Bowle. Nice job Peyton, you finally won the big one. You're still up on Tom Brady in horrendous TV commercials (by 634,456) and empty ring fingers (your 9 to his 7). Nice work.

*Work is still kicking my ass, but I was able to finagle a Friday switch in order to attend Reino's 25th birthday extravaganza at the Big City in Allston. Two Blue Moons, five games of pool and 15 of my good buds made for a fun night.

* The return of winter. Snot froze in my nose over the last few miles of my run today, which made relaxed breathing difficult, not to mention painful. Overall, however, it's been a solid season for running, so consider this the end of my weather-related bitching.

* Rage Against the Machine is rumored to be getting back together. Sorry Chris Cornell, but your incessant whining is no match for Zack de la Rocha's unadulterated, well, rage.

* Running miles topped work hours this past week, 75 to 62. If all goes according to plan, the gap between this A:B ratio should lengthen considerably over the next month or two, with A (hopefully) holding steady and B taking a 33% reduction.

* Two weeks till the Foxboro 10-miler and another six till the New Bedford 1/2 Marathon, two races which I am very much looking forward to. I'm feeling good about the progress of my fitness and do believe I'm ready to rip a couple good ones. Races, that is.

*Vermont City Marathon, May 27th. As the aforementioned Reino would say: Note it.

And that'll do it for tonight. A long-overdue eight hours of sleep is in order. Take it easy.

Quote of the day:

So it’s kind of just a curiosity. I don’t have any crazy goals. I am just curious to see what eventually I can get out of myself. I have no idea how I will do at the marathon.
- Ryan Hall

Stupid is as stupid does

Anyone else think Forrest Gump resembles/sounds like Peyton Manning?

Sorry, that's insulting to Mr. Gump.

Go Pats, I mean Bears!

Quote of the day:

I'd like to get it. I like to get all the records.
- Craig Mottram