Build up to 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials

This is my training from July 23 to the 2008 Olympic  Marathon Trials held in November 2007, this was all originally on trackshark, but that sight went down so I pieced it back together for this site.
My training from March to July 22 is posted on this blog in its original dates.
 I couldn’t find the original blogs from July 23 to August 26 or from October 1 to 7 so I just copied them out of my hand written logs so you get no comments or summaries or quotes for those weeks.

July 23 to 29
Monday PM road 20-1:56:28, first Methuen road 10 loop with Garcia, then lake road 1
loop solo- hamstring bad! From an 1:15 on. Tot.20
AM ART and chiro adjustment

Tuesday AM 9 solo at mines falls, easy, 59:11 tot. 9
PM 8 shakeout with Shannon at mines falls, 1:01:03,
springing/bounding/straight leg bounding after tot. 8

Wednesday AM 3 warm up, 22:36, 20k on Tewksbury track, warm 85 degrees, 1:07:38
(major splits 5k-17:08, 8k-27:15, 10k-34:00, 15k-50:52, 16K-54:15) 1 ½
mile cool down tot. 17
2PM 18:56 warm up, 12x15 second hills, very tired, HOT!, 18:23 cool down,
tot. 8
6PM 42:33 shakeout with Shannon on Tewks trails- tot.5

Thursday AM rd. and trail 9 in tewks solo, 1:01:02, tot.9
PM Duffy 5 with Gary 36:22, bounding and stuff, then duffy 5 solo, 34:45
tot.10
XT 2x70y springing, 2x70y bounding, 5x70y straight leg bounds, 2x short hill
Springing, 2x short hill bounding

Friday AM rd. and trail 9 in tewks solo, 1:01:02 tot. 9
PM trail 10 in tewks, 1:20;54, first 5 with Shannon, tot. 10

Saturday AM in Keene, NH on track, 3 warm up, strides 200m in 35, 10k on track first 3k
with Josh Ference, first 8k with mark Miller, 30:05.8 (splits 3:00.3, 6:00.3,
8:59.4, 12:01.8, 15:01.9, 18:03.4, 21:02.8, 24:03.2, 27:06.2) 27:28 c/down
tot. 12++
PM 3 w/up, 15x13 second hills, 3 cool down, tot. 8

Sunday AM rd. and trail 27+ in tewks, 3:03:05, warm but I took water, tot. 27
PM rd. 5+ shakeout, first 3 with Shannon, 43:47 tot. 5+

Summary 157 miles for week.


July 30 to August 5

Monday AM 2+ jogging at camp, some light drills
2PM 9+ easy on road, 1:02:09, tot.9
PM 5+ shakeout with Shannon, 40:22 tot. 5

Tuesday AM 6ish at camp, including 1 mile with Keith Kelly in 5:20/30 range, tot.6-
3:30PM 3 warm up, strides, 10k at 95% goal mp- 32:45, on track, supposed to
go 15K but had bathroom issues 3 cool down, tot. 12+
PM 6+ shakeout with Shannon in Tewks, tot. 6+

Wednesday AM rd. and trail 9 in tewks, 59:19 tot.9
PM 10 shakout in tewks, 1:18;08, 2x100m bounding, 4x100m straight leg
bounding after tot. 10

Thursday AM 3+ warm up, 18K on tewks track at 90% mp, F-ing Hot 90+ and humid,
1:01:56, (10k in 34:32) mile cool down 7:41 tot. 15++
PM at mines falls, 26min warm up 20x9 second hills, 19min cool down tot. 8

Friday AM rd. and trail 9 in tewks, 59:34 tot.9
1PM duffy 5 with gary, 36:39, 2x110y springing, 2x110y bounding, 4x110y str.
leg bounding, 3 cool down tot. 8
6PM trail 5+ in tewks, 41:53 tot. 5+

Saturday AM 3 warm up 22:30, 12x400m with 200 jog rest, fastest 65.2 slowest 68.0
average about 66 mid, 3 cool down, 21:26 tot. 11
PM 3 warm up, 10k on track at 95% mp, breezy and hot 90+ but low humidity,
32:26(5k-16:21, 8K-26:02) 2 cool down tot. 11+

Sunday AM 30 easy on roads in Lowell, 3:16:26, first 16 with Rex, tot. 30

Summary 156 miles for week


August 6 to 12

Monday AM ART and chiro, then 9 miles at Maudsley st. park, 1:03:25 tot.9
PM trail 10 shakeout in tewks, very tired, 1:19:24 tot. 10

Tuesday AM tewks rd. and trail 9, 59:08, tot. 9
PM duffy 5, then 3xhill springing, 3xhill bounding, 5x100m str. leg bound on
flat, then duffy 5 again tot. 10

Wednesday AM Super humid, windy, on tewks track.3.5 warm up strides, 200 in 35,
3200m in 9:28.4(72, 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 5:55, 7:06, 8:17), 3 cool down,
felt pretty easy, was tempted to push to 5k but decided to play it safe.
Tot. 9
PM 8 shakeout with Shannon at Mines falls, super humid tot.8

Thursday AM jogging and short hills and some hill bounding at camp, tot. 5+
2PM 6++ solo and easy on rds in Lowell, 41:02 tot. 6++
6PM rd. 5+ shakeout, 39:26 tot. 5

Friday AM 6+ rd. and trail in tewks, 40:03 tot. 6
PM 6 shakeout with Shannon in Falmouth, 48:31 tot. 6

Saturday PM 6 plus solo in Falmouth, drills after run. Tot.6+

Sunday 6:45AM 2 mile shakeout, 15:40 tot. 2
9AM 20min warm up, strides, drills, Race Falmouth Road race, dropped out3.5
mile with Achilles issue, jogged to 6.5 mile mark slowly to get ride home.
Tot.9+

Summary 100 miles, was running great! at Falmouth until Achilles went.


August 13 to 19
Got ART every other day
Monday pool workout 10x3mins
Tuesday pool workout 16x2mins
Wednesday pool workout
Thursday jog 4 and ½ minutes
Friday jog ½ mile on track 3:56
Saturday Jog mile 8:14
Sunday nothing
Summary 2 miles for week

August 20 to 26
Monday AM 2 miles on track 14:30
PM pool workout 30x1min

Tuesday Noon 3 miles solo, 21mins
PM massage

Wednesday AM ART
PM rd. 5 solo in tewks, 32:28 tot. 5

Thursday PM 7 easy 48:14 tot. 7

Friday Pm 7 at mines falls, 50:21 tot. 7

Saturday rd. and trail 11+ in Tewksbury, 1:16:53 tot. 11+

Sunday rd. and trail 12, 1:20:43 tot.12

Summary- 47 miles for week



Training August 27 to September 2

Monday AM rd. 7 in tewks w/ Sean, 46:37 tot. 7
PM rd. and trail 9 solo, 58:34 tot. 9

Tuesday AM 3 w/up strides, 2800m on tewks track (3:14, 3:15 (2:35 last 800) had hoped
to go 10k at this pace, roughly 95% goal mp but Achilles started to tighten
so I stopped. 1 lap cool down tot. 5
PM 9 miles at mines falls, first 44 mins w/ Sean, Achilles tired but ok, 58:27
tot.9

Wednesday AM got ART and chiropractic adjustment
PM 1:12:22 at Walden Pond, first 63 mins w/ Sean tot. 10

Thursday AM drove up to camp Foss in Barnstead Nh, to join uml’s xc camp in progress
PM road (mostly dirt) 12, first 9.5 w/ Ruben Sanca (who is very fit), 1:11:47,
we ran the normal Foss 9 loop (for anyone who has gone to camp there) in
54:54 then went out camp road which Gary had marked every 400m the
day before for there 5 mile tempo run, Ruben turned at the half to get 10 I
turned at the 1 and a half. This stretch was flatter, but not flat, I ran about
5:35 pace for the last 3 but it was the same effort we had been running.
Tot. 12

Friday 6:50am 6 w/ gary easy, 47:32 tot. 6
10am 10 w/ uml guys, well a couple of them, 1:03:33, used the same loop as
Thursday and hit 9 in 57:33 then ran 6 flat again the same effort just flatter
for the last mile tot. 10
PM drive home from Foss

Saturday AM Got ART and Chiropractic adjustment spectacular appointment left feeling like
Achilles was 99% healed
Noon at battle road trail in Lexington and Lincoln 10 miles in 1:04:50, wanted
to do a tempo run and had heard this thing was marked but after it took
over 5 minutes to reach cover the first marked “800” and then 54 seconds
to cover the next marked “400” I should have realized there was no way
this was going to work and slowed down but I really liked the trail so I
ran the whole thing and ascertained that the markers were put out by
someone just guessing at location who had no sense of distance what so
ever. Great trail though. But long story short I ran harder then I should
have because now I had to move my tempo to the pm tot. 10
4PM 3+ w/up 2x5k on tewks track, little windy but not bad, 15:38.0 and 15:42.0
with 800 meters in 2:56.6 for rest felt controlled and Achilles was good but
I opted to stop at 2 repeats I’ll revisit this workout once or twice before the
trials and do 4 or 5 repeats and try to change the rest to 1k in about 3:30,
3+ cool down, my right abductor was very tight after the run probably from
favoring the Achilles over the past few weeks tot. 13

Sunday AM woods 10 easy w/ uml guys, 1:13:12, was going to go long but abductor was
very tight and didn’t loosen up. I have spent the rest of the day iceing it and
trying to roll it out with a tennis ball I may take tomorrow off I have had this
in the past and it is rarely bothersome for more than a day or two tot. 10

Summary 101 miles for the week. The Achilles (my computer insists on capitalizing this every time I type it) is much better. I’m very happy with the comeback so far and being able to do some mp work on Saturday was great news. I’m a little worried about the abductor thing but am hoping its just from coming back so quickly, the hills at foss, and favoring the Achilles over the last couple of weeks and that a little rest, a lot of ice and a bit of tennis ball will get it squared away. I’m starting my specific phase for the marathon this week which means that my focus will move away from getting good efforts and move to hitting a specific pace. I will do 4 types of workouts,
1. marathon pace work which will make up the lions share 90% or more of my workouts, this includes repeats like Saturday’s 5k’s and possibly runs of 20 tot 25 kilo meters, varying pace runs of 30 to 40 kilometers that involve running mp off of faster and slower paces when I’m tired, easy long runs of greater then 2 hours, at 7min pace or so, that are finished with running at mp to teach the body to run this pace after severely depleting my glycogen stores, I’ll probably do one super compensation workout which will be designed to do the same thing only in a different way. In that workout I’ll run 10k quickly followed by 10 or 12k at mp then repeat the same workout in the afternoon.
2. Long runs of race time (ie between 2:10 and 2:20) at 90% race pace. These are basically to get the body used to pushing for the amount of time they will have to in the marathon. These are very very tough. If mp is 3:08 a kilo (5:04 a mile) then 90% is 3:27 a kilo (5:34 mile pace).
3. Alternate pace runs, these are 20 kilometer( 12 and a half mile) runs where I run one kilo at half marathon goal pace, roughly 3:00 and then one kilo slower hopefully by the end of the phase roughly 3:18. The idea is that my avg. pace should be marathon pace. This workout teaches the body to handle the extra strain of faster running (surges) and to relax and recover at a pace very close to mp.
4. Progression runs, I do 1 to 1 and a half hour progression runs a few times just to try and maintain my aerobic threshold. These are solid efforts but should not be the focus of what I’m doing.
Most everything else that remains is light running, I’ll do some short hill repeats and bounding, drills ect… but nothing that will take much out of me. My miles will be slightly, 5 to 10 miles a week, lower then during my base phase and I’ll be doing a bit more easy running between hard efforts.



Training September 3 to 9


Monday off for sore abductor, iced it about 12 times, basically 20 minutes out of every
hour for the vast majority of the day

Tuesday AM rd. and trail 9 easy in tewks, 1:05:28
PM get ART and chiro adjustment

Wednesday AM rd. and trail 9 in tewks solo, 55:45, ice abductor after tot. 9


Thursday AM rd. and trail 9 in tewks solo, 55:55, tot. 9
3pm light ART work
6PM 8 shakeout in tewks w/ Shannon, 104:57 tot. 8

Friday Noon, hot!! 95 degrees, 2+ w/up, 6.3 miles medium pace (roughly 80% mp)
36:01, into 5k alt. 1 min hard 1 min medium (16:13) 3.2 miles medium
(19:01 (passed 5k in 18:24), 1 mile in 5:18 was supposed to be 5k at mp but
the heat had gotten to me and I stopped, 13.6 miles in 1:16:35, passed half
marathon in 1:13 so all and all a good run with the heat, 11 minute c/down
tot. 17++ Ice bath after

Saturday AM 6 mile easy shakeout w/ Shannon, 50:01 tot. 6
PM 6 mile easy shakeout solo, 48:23 tot. 6

Sunday AM rd and trail 9 easy solo in tewks, 58:01, tot. 9
PM 8 shakeout w/ Shannon at mines falls, 1:04:31 tot. 8

Summary 81 miles for the week, 1 ok workout. I’m healthy and got in one of two planned workouts this week. It was hot so I’ll take it for what it was. Hot or not I really struggled with the 1min hard 1 min medium stretch basically I am still really struggling with anything that involves shifting paces, but I have a few more workouts that will target this. Ok this week was not what I hoped for but it was successful, hopefully this coming week will be better.

Quote of the week “We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it.”
Sir Winston Churchill, speech in the House of Commons, July 14, 1940



Training September 10 to 16

Monday Noon woods 24 easy in Lowell into 3200m on track in 10:11. Hamstring
bothersome everything else (adductor, Achilles) good tot. 26, 2:50:10,
tot.26

Tuesday AM rd. and trail 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 1:01:23 tot. 8
PM rd. and trail 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 1:01:50 tot. 8

Wednesday AM got Chiro adjustment and ART
Noon 9 easy, solo in tewks, 56:17 tot. 9
8PM rd. 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 1:04:16 tot. 8

Thursday 1PM at mines falls, 4 w/up 1 hour progression run around factory loop, 5 laps
(13:24, 13:00(26:25), 12:36(39:01), 12:08(51:10), 11:48(1:02:59) 11
minute cool down. Honestly I would have liked to do another loop and
really open it up but my hamstring started to get a little funny and where
this isn’t really an important workout for me I decided to leave it. Tot. 17

Friday AM rd. and trail 9 easy in tewks, 56:55 tot. 9
PM 8+ shakeout at mines falls, first couple with Shannon, 1:03:35 tot. 8

Saturday off- sick Shannon has had a cold all week and I caught it had a workout scheduled and decided to try and kick the cold with a day off

Sunday 1Pm 9 at mines falls easy, 57:19, felt ok but ended up feeling crumby after tot. 9

Summary 102 miles for the week. Ok week I’m worried about the hamstring which has been an off and on problem for a year now. I think I have it figured out though. My working theory is that the problem isn’t the hamstring itself( I’ve had it worked on by a few different people and they all say basically the same thing that it doesn’t seem to be in very bad shape) I believe the problem is that my quads are way to tight and that when I run faster the hamstrings have to fight the quads more( because my heel comes up higher ect.) and that when I run quicker for long periods of time this exhausts the hamstring and causes it to fatigue out. So I have started doing some active stretching for the quad and it seems to be working, though I haven’t had a chance to really test it yet with the cold. Which is pretty much finishing up now(Wednesday).

Quote of the week “I've had a few setbacks in my life, but I never gave up” Harry
Truman

Training September 17 to 23

Monday Off sick

Tuesday Noon rd. and trail 9 in tewks solo easy, 56:28 tot. 9
PM rd. and trail 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 58:47 tot. 8

Wednesday Noon rd. and trail 10 solo in tewks, 1:01:27 easy, congestion starting to clear
up tot. 10
PM 8 shakeout solo in tewks, 1:02:06 tot. 8

Thursday Noon at mines falls, 3 w/up (23:30) Progression run around factory loop, lap 1-
12:49, lap 2-12:30(25:19), lap 3-12:09(37:29), lap 4-11:47(49:17)
straight only-4:08(on last lap I went 4:18 to this point) 53:25, 2 min rest
2 c/down tot. 15+
PM 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 1:00:16, tot. 8

Friday AM rd. and trail 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 59:40 tot. 8
PM trail 8+ shakeout at mines falls w/ Shannon, 1:04:30 tot. 8

Saturday 9:30AM 3+ w/up, 24:30, 2x10k on Tewks 2.1 mile loop(lightly rolling), first
10k 35:15, 1:28 rest w/ 1/10th a mile jog, a bit of water and a quick
stretch, 10k in 31:19 (splits 5:06, 5:01, 5:01(15:39 5k), 4:53, 5:03,
5:11) bad side stitch the last two miles hence the slow down on the
plus side other then the stitch running 5:11 felt like a walk if you’d
asked me what pace I was running I would have guessed 6 mins. 1-
c/down 7:48, it was warm 75 or so tot. 16.5
4:10PM 3 w/up, 22:30, warm again 80, 2x10k on same tewks 2.1 loop, 1st 10k
34:46, 1:58 rest, little water, light stretch 1/10th mile jog, 2nd 10k 31:28
(splits 5:06, 5:06, 5:03 (15:47 5k) 5:00, 5:05, 5:04), 51 second rest, 1
mile c/down, 8:01 tot. 16.5

Sunday AM rd. and trail 6 solo shakeout, 45:52, tot.6
PM rd. and trail 6 solo shakeout, 47:43, tot. 6

Summary 122 miles, two real good workouts. I measured the factory loop and the progression run was a little over 10 miles and I averaged about 5:09 a mile so that is a real solid effort and the super compensation workout on Saturday went great. I figure mp must be about 5:05 over the rolling hills, though they aren’t as tough as the ones in central park but then it won’t be 80 at 7am on November 3rd there either, at least I hope it won’t. It was nice to finally get over that cold and hopefully that will be the last unplanned hurdle for this training phase.

Quote of the week “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson


Training for September 24 to 30

Monday AM rd. and trail 10 in tewks solo, 1:01:36 tot. 10
Noon ART and chiro adjustment
PM rd. and trail 8 shakeout w/ Shannon in tewks, 1:04:55 tot. 8

Tuesday AM rd. and trail 9 solo in tewks, easy 55:17 tot. 9
PM rd. 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 1:04:06 tot. 8

Wednesday AM at mines falls, 3 w/up 22:40, factory loop progression run, 14.25 miles
(6 loops), splits 13:32, 13:15(26:47), 12:50(39:38), 12:32(52:10 ten
second stop on that lap to tie shoe included in that time), 11:54(1:04:04)
11:35(1:15:40), 2 mins rest then 12:09 c/down, very hot, 80 degrees
despite early start tot.19
PM woods 8 shakeout w/ the umass Lowell girls, 1:05:10 hot 90 degrees
plus tot. 8

Thursday AM rd. and trail 10 solo in tewks, 59:57 tot. 10
PM rd. and trail 8 solo shakeout in tewks, 1:04:10 tot. 8

Friday AM in tewks on 2.1 loop, very warm again 75plus w/ humidity, 3 w/up 24:30,
3x4.1 miles at goal mp w/ half mile jog rest, 20:47(5:12, 10:11(4:59), 5K
15:46(5:02), 5:01. half mile in 2:45 rest, 4.1 in 20:39(5:00, 10:03(5:03), 5K
15:37 (5:01), 5:02, half rest in 2:41, 4.1 in 20:40 (5:00, 10:04(5:04), 5k
15:37(5:01), 5:03, 2 mins standing rest then ¾ mile w/down. This loop is
lightly rolling tot. 16
PM at mines falls 3 ¾ w/up 10 x 9 second hills jog down rest, nice to get back to
these, I’ve been worried about adding them in before the achilles was strong
enough but it was fine, 3 ½ c/down tot. 8

Saturday AM 8+ solo shakeout in Keene, NH on rail road tracks, 1:03:09 tot. 8
PM woods 8 solo shakeout in Lowell, 1:00:16 tot. 8

Sunday Noon just over 1 mile w/up at 8 min pace then just over 40 km (40.11) at
between 90% and 95% of marathon pace on a very very hilly loop
(2:16:56), ran four 9.25 km loop and finished w/ a loop that was just over
3km loop splits (32:09, 31:18, 31:08, 31:37,(3.11k in 10:41) my average
pace was 5:29.65 a mile (3:24.8 a kilometer) oh ya, I almost forgot 40.11
km is 24.92 miles tot. 26

Summary 146 miles for the week with three very good workouts/hard efforts. This was as good a week training as I have ever had. After this I feel I’m certainly fit enough for the trails. Now it will come down to staying healthy, racing intelligently, and being ready for the course. The long run at the end of the week was particularly gratifying. Frankly the course was much tougher then I thought it would be but I had little problem with it, at least aerobically, (I’m still finding my weakness is muscular). Still to run just a shade shy of 25 miles at under 5:30 mile pace over a course that was much tougher then anything I’ll ever have to race a marathon on and to do it at the end of a 146 mile week with two good workouts in the previous four days was a real good effort. It was a week with a lot of distractions so to still train this well was very nice. This coming week I’ll be mostly resting up for the BAA half marathon on Sunday. I’m not real sure who is going to be there, I know Samuel Ndereba and Linus Maiyo are in but other than that I’m not sure. I’m fit and ready to run well. Hopefully there won’t be a repeat of Falmouth and I haven’t left my race in the last few days of training. Really though I’m very confidant that I’m ready to run well. The course is a little tough but it fits my style of racing well.

Quotes of the week “By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.” Christopher Columbus

“Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.” Adam Hochschild


October 1 to 7
Monday AM ART and chiro
Noon 6 miles solo in Maudsley tot. 6
3PM 6 with Gary, 44:54 tot. 6

Tuesday AM woods 10 solo, MD, 59:35 tot. 10
3PM ART and chiro,
5PM woods 8 solo, 59:48 tot. 8

Wednesday 3+ warm up, 5k on track, 15:08, bad workout VERY tired/heavy. 3 plus cool
down tot. 10

Thursday AM 6 with gary and Amanda- 49:05 tot. 6
PM woods 6 with UML girls, 47:16 tot. 6

Friday Noon- woods 7 with Nikki, 55:45, 6 strides, tot.8

Saturday Noon- trail 5 easy at Franklin park, 34:36, drills after tot. 5

Sunday AM 20min warm up with Nikki, some jogging and strides, Race BAA Half Marathon, 7th 1:06:16, Hammy went after 8 miles stuggled after that. 20min cool down tot. 19

Summary 84 miles for week


Trackshark blog October 8 to 14

Monday AM ART and Chiro work with Brian McCracken (my normal guy and yes he is
a chiropractor with McCracken as his real last name.)
PM woods 6+ solo shakeout, 47:10 tot. 6

Tuesday AM woods 9 easy solo 1:03:32 tot. 9
Noon ART and Chiro w/ dr. Pete, the point is he is a different guy then usual.
Better then my regular guy. Yes he has a last name and no I don’t
remember it.
PM woods 7 shakeout w/ Jenna and Nikki, 55:20 tot. 7

Wednesday AM woods 9 easy solo easy 1:02:01, tot. 9
PM 1:00:32 shakeout on Hickory Hill Golf course well watching uml guys
workout tot. 8

Thursday AM woods 10 solo medium, 1:02:01 tot. 10
PM woods 8 shakeout w/ Ray Drewitz, 58:32 tot. 8

Friday AM On very hilly loop in Dracut, 3 w/up, strides, 7 miles at goal mp(36:00), 1
mile rest (6:02 but that is including a 29 second) 5 miles at goal mp (25:46) 1
cool down tot. 17
PM 2.5 w/up 10x14 second hills jog down rest 2.5 c/down 50:01 total runnig time
tot. 6

Saturday AM woods 7 solo shakeout, 52:56, tot. 7
PM woods 7 solo shakeout, 49:53 tot. 7

Sunday AM woods 9 solo, 59:24, tot. 9
PM woods 9 solo shakeout, 1:08:09 tot. 9

Summary 112 miles for the week w/ 1 workout. A good week. I bounced back from the
race well. The only thing that bothered me was that during the workout my legs did the same going dead thing well I was still feeling good as they did at the BAA so I’m a bit more worried about that. I don’t know if it is that my aerobic system is just ahead of my muscles or that I screwed up my training or it could be that I’ve been eating poorly and that I’m running out of glycogen very very quickly. Frankly I’m not sure and grasping at straws a bit but really there isn’t much I can do at this point so I’ll do my last few workouts, try to eat better and hope that tapering and racing smart will help me avoid it when it matters. I don’t need to avoid it completely I can honestly run pretty well with it for 5 or 6 miles.

Quote of the week “Ask yourself “Can I give more?” The answer is usually “Yes’.” -Paul Tergat


The last hard week October 15 to 21


Monday AM ART and Chiropractic adjustment with Cracken (regular guy)
Noon woods 8 shakeout, 1:00:48, first 3 w/ Gary tot. 8
PM woods 10 solo(started at same time as uml guys but none wanted to go,
1:00:01 tot. 10

Tuesday AM on very hilly Dracut loop 2+ w/up (15:08) 9 at bit faster then 80%mp
(53:08) 3 miles alt. 1 min fast one at roughly 80% mp (16:15) 4 miles at
what was supposed to be mp, first mile I just screwed the pace but as soon
as I picked it up my legs went and I gutted it out for a while but stopped
after 4 in 21:10 (5:19, 10:35, 15:47, 21:10). This was an extremely
disappointing workout I felt great the whole way except the legs just stopped
working. Very frustrating! Tot.18

PM woods 5 shakeout with some uml guys(36:50) ran straight into 4 miles on
the track at mp (20:03) splits (5:00, 10:02, 15:01) now the track is perfectly
flat and those are only 1600’s hence why they are much faster then any
other mp work I’ve done. My legs went a little on this but only when I was
feeling tired which is much less unsettling tot. 9

Wednesday AM woods 9 solo/ easy, 1:00:39 tot. 9
PM woods 8 solo shakeout, 58:32 tot. 8

Thursday AM woods 10 solo/md, 59:53 tot. 10
PM woods 8 solo shakeout, 59:22 tot. 8

Friday 1PM on tough hilly Dracut loop, 19:56 w/up strides, 3x4 miles at mp w/ 1 mile
at roughly 80% mp for rest and a bonus. 20:49 rest 5:49(26:39)
20:26(47:09) rest 5:49(52:54), 20:37(1:13:31) rest 5:52(1:19:24 for 15
miles) 1 mile in 5:18(1:24:42 for 16 miles) 3 minute cool down. I’ll put
the exact splits below the summary tot. 19++
5PM 3 ½ w/up 10x9 second hills at mines falls jog down rest 18:45 cool
down, 57:14 total running time tot. 7-

Saturday 10:30AM ART and Chiropractic adjustment w/ Cracken
11:30AM 8 shakeout at Maudsley State Park in Newburyport, 1::01:53 tot. 8+
PM woods 9 solo/easy, 1:02:19 tot. 9

Sunday 8:30AM at Stonehill College on there xc course, 10 miles(59:22) first 5 easy,
33:35, second 5 at roughly mp (25:56) honestly I was a bit tired so I
really didn’t push. Splits 5:12.1, 5:11.1, 5:14.9, 5:07.3, 5:10.9) course
was very flat but had a lot of turns and the ground was uneven in short it
was nice tot. 10
10AM jogging and running around xc course getting splits for the uml men and
women. At the end of this week you better believe I’m counting it, plus
I had to hustle a couple of times tot. 2
Noon 8 shakeout on stonehill xc course, 54:44, a little quick for a shakeout but I
wanted it over with and I was trying to get back in time for the post race
banquet. I’m nothing if not a hound for free food. Tot. 8

Summary 143 miles for the week, 1 good workout, 1 shitty workout, 4 good medium
efforts. Overall I’m happy with this as a solid last week of prep. I’m not in the shape I had dreamed of but man have I come a long way from where I was on the uml spring break trip in march(my first week back from mono). I’ll post more often over the next couple of weeks about specific tune up workouts and the work I have done in general. But overall I’d give my prep for this race a B+. I did suffer one, sort of one and a half small injuries and think I should have done some more progression runs in the spring and summer. But at the end of march I raced 5 miles on a fast course and ran 25:07. So I’ve come a long way. I’m fit and ready to run. Now I need to not get sick or hurt the last couple of weeks, do enough to not feel flat, and back off enough to not be tired. Honestly the next two weeks are a bit of an experiment still. The race will be a double test, one of my fitness but then also one of my ability to honestly gauge my effort on the terrain. I’m looking forward to it.
And as promised the splits from Fridays workout first 4 20:49(5:16, 10:30(5:14), 15:39(5:09), 20:49(5:10), second 4 20:26 (4:58, 10:10(5:12), 15:18(5:08), 20:26(5:08), third 4 20:37 (5:08, 10:20(5:12), 15:28(5:08), 20:37(5:09).
Sorry no quote this week I’m being lazy.


Training October 22 to 28 2007 blog

Monday Noon 22 miles on roads starting and finishing at top of Mnt. Watchusett.
Medium pace(just under 6 mins per mile avg.) for first 19 miles then hard
on the climb (3 miles 1070 feet) for just over a 7min a mile avg. (21:38),
2:16:52 total time, heart rate a bit over 250bpm at finish. Tot. 22

Tuesday AM woods 5 easy w/ gary, 37:11 tot. 5
PM woods 5 easy w/ uml guys, 36:23 tot. 5
Between runs got ART/chiro adjustment from Dr. Pete

Wednesday AM woods 7 solo and easy, 46:34 tot. 7
PM 7+ solo easy at Maudsley state park, 49:48 tot. 7
Got ART/Chiro adjustment from Dr. Cracken between runs

Thursday 11:30AM at mines falls 19:56 w/up, couple strides, 7 1/8 mile progression run
in 34:57, (3 loops of factory loop) 12:03.8(5:04.8 pace),
11:39.3(4:54.5pace) 23:43.1 at 4.5 miles, 11:14.1(4:43.8pace)
34:57.2(4:54.4 pace) 12 minute flat cool down tot. 11-
3:15PM 18 min w/up w/ tim and ruben, solo 7k on track at about mp, 21:50,
felt easy as hell, splits (3:06.3, 6:15.0(3:08.7), 9:21.9(3:07.0),
12:30.3(3:08.4), 15:36.7(3:06.4), 18:42.6(3:06.0), 21:50.3(3:07.7))
17:56 cool down w/ ruben and tim. Tot. 10+

Friday AM woods 6 solo, easy, 44:09 tot. 6


Saturday 7AM woods 13++, 1:26:14, honestly felt a little flat after staying up too late the
night before tot. 13

Sunday Noon woods 5 solo, easy, 35:07 tot. 5
5PM woods 5 solo, easy 34:51 tot. 5

Summary 96 miles for the week, 1 workout, 1 real long run, 1 pretend long run. I had to slip out for the second run just before half time of the Pats game, and miss a field goal and a touchdown because I slept so late after staying up to watch to sox last night. I’m typing this after staying up to watch them win again tonight. I’m glad they won it tonight so I have all week to get on a better sleeping schedule for a 7:30am race. It’s a wonderful year to be a Boston sports fan.


Training October 29 to November 4

Monday AM woods 7 solo, easy, 46:57 tot. 7
4PM ART and Chiropractic adjustment
5PM 5+ easy, solo at Maudsley 37:27, tot. 5

Tuesday PM 2 w/up with Tim Guerin (uml guy), 16:28, couple of strides, 5k on the track
with tim at my mp goal pace, I led until 600m to go when he kicked in
nicely. I ran 15:42.4, Tim went 15:34.1. splits (3:09.2, 6:17.9(3:08.7),
9:26.0(3:08.1), 12:34.2(3:08.3) 15:42.4(3:08.2), this was super easy, 2
c/down with 15:52 tot. 7++

Wednesday AM woods 6 solo, easy 41:53 tot. 6
PM woods 6 w/ uml guys, easy, 43:52 tot. 6

Thursday AM travel to New York City
PM 31:53 out and back from hotel along bike pace on the east river tot. 5-

Friday AM 29:34 out and back from the hotel mostly in central park, also stopped for 4
easy strides with jog back rest in the park, not included in time, tot. 5-

Saturday AM 12 min w/up, few strides, Race Olympic trials marathon, 7th place 2:14:56,
the biggest 32 second pr of my life. Great race on a super flat fast course 4
years ago sell ran 2:17:10 for 7th, on this hilly course I was 2 mins ahead of
that on a tough course and 20 men cracked 2:18, 39 cracked 2:20. Frankly
a huge statement about the quality of American marathoning.

Sunday 9AM 24:34 out and back along the east river, I’m calling it 3 because it hurt so
damn much but in all honesty I’d be willing to be it was less then 2.5 tot. 2

Summary 65 miles for the week, well ok so that was the best race of my life so far. I’ll leave it at that. RIP Ryan Shay.

Race 5k splits
5k- 16:54
10k-32:27 15:33
15k-48:03 15:36
20k-1:03:33 15:30
25k-1:19:04 15:31
30k-1:34:55 15:51
35k-1:51:17 16:22
40k-2:07:44 16:27
Finish 2:14:56
Last 2.195k in 7:12