Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Weekly Training Blog December


 Alligator from an awesome boat tour in Wakulla State Park during which we saw a bunch of these guys and a few Manatees.


 Monday AM 4 miles with Uta, 30:15, tot. 4
                3:30PM cross training and massage with Anna, mostly did handstands and variations of jerks
                6:30PM raliegh tavern 10 mile, total ice skating shit show, 1:10:38, dead lifts after 6x6 start at 95lbs up to 155lbs tot. 10.2

Tuesday AM out and back on Dale with Uta and Melissa, 33:45, it was icy again but not nearly as bad as last night but Melissa HATES ice so we went pretty slow tot. 4
                PM 3+ warm up, drills, strides, half Mona fartlek on Glendale loop, not as icy as last few runs but there were a couple spots, averaged 5:12 pace for the 10mins and felt much better. 3+ cool down
I thought this would get a Steve Moneghetti "Atta Boy" rating but…
Instead I actually got a "what the hell are you talking about?" because it is only the 2nd Mona of the cycle and it was still only a half mona.

Wednesday AM road 4 with Uta in mix of snow, freezing rain and rain. 30:37 tot. 4
                     PM raliegh tavern 10 mile, 1:08:38, box jumps after 3x10 at 20in, 24in, 30in tot. 10.2

Thursday AM road 4 with Melissa and Uta, 31:57
                  PM off I had a very long day at work, it was getting late and I knew I had to be up at 2:30am the next morning for our flight so I had dinner and went to bed.

Friday AM off for travel to Tallahassee 
            PM 41mins of jogging around the course and drills, tot. 5++

Saturday AM 10min warm up with Melissa before her race.  Then 18min warm up after she started the race, drills, 4min jog to start, wait in check in line then forced in 5 strides in the 5mins before the start.  Race USATF club xc championships.  I finished 119th and ran 32:10.  Splits 5:02, 10:11, 15:15, 20:43(long), 25:36(short), 30:55.   I finished about 15 seconds and 17 places in Front of John Schilkowsky who beat me by about 15 or 20 seconds last weekend so I felt good about that.  I followed my race plan pretty much perfectly and I competed well over the last couple miles.  I'm super unfit so this was about as good as I could hope for.  In 2005 I was really fit and ran club cross but raced like an idiot and though I had a shot at the top 10 I ended up 85th or so.  The field is much deeper now and I got 119th in awful shape so I feel pretty good about how I approached things.

  Now the story….  So let me be clear.  I started it.  I was moving up through the field and after 2 miles I was cutting across on the tangent and I cut a guy off.  Not on purpose but I was cutting across the field and there was contact and we both got a good stumble in.  A few seconds later the other guy rushes up next to me and gives me a good elbow. Ok fair enough.  Then he keeps leaning into me and elbow pushing me over to the edge of the course, which at this spot was some heavy bushes.  I probably should have said something but I didn't.  I have a temper when I race, and yes I know I was in the middle of the pack with no shot at doing anything but that doesn't have any impact on my competitiveness.  Anyway I sort of used my right arm and threw the guy to the ground.  That wasn't really my intent.  I just wanted to give him a good enough jolt that he would cut the shit and we'd move on but down he went.  Now his teammates around him were none too happy, for obvious reasons and were shouting and stuff.  I was moving faster so I was out of range fairly quickly but when someone tells you I'm an a-hole, keep in mind sometimes I'm an a-hole.   I actually sort of figured I'd be dq'd but either they never ended up complaining to the officials or the officials were like Umm you all finished a 100 and what? and blew them off.

Sunday AM 14 miles solo out and back on St. Marks rail trail, 1:30:22. Awesome place to run would love to do tempo's on this.  We do have the Chelmsford rail trail now which is very similar, though has more road crossings and obviously living up here it is out of commission for fast running for the next 4 or 5 months. tot. 14

Summary 75 miles, one decent workout, one decent race. I'm happy with this.  The race is poorly placed in the overall scheme of things, So I end up not increasing to the 90's this week and with a travel nightmare that ended up in Melissa and I getting back to our house Monday morning at 5:20AM and me at work at 7:20AM after that I didn't run yesterday or this morning so this week will not be an increase week either.

  That said it was a nice trip and I was very happy with the race for the shape I am in.  I executed my race plan perfectly.  I really would have loved to be sub 32 and top 100 but honestly I thought those goals going in were wildly unrealistic so to come as close as I did I'm very happy.

  Generally speaking I am feeling strong and moving freely.  I am still having coordination issues but I could see those being wiped out in the coming year if I continue to make the muscular progress I have been making.  Additionally I feel that the improved muscular power, and more importantly range of motion, have made me MUCH more efficient at speed and so I am noticing very fast improvement with little work and I think I could end up running quite well in the coming months with some good training.

  That said I have some concerns about moving training forward in the winter. I have to lay out a training schedule that will be balanced and effective but can be accomplished without access to a track or much in the way of extended flat ground.  Where footing will be to varying degrees a problem on nearly every run.  That will work with 10 out of 13 runs being completed in darkness each week.  All of these issues can be overcome but it means that planning becomes very important.  I have my schedule to a point that I'm pretty happy with it and I should have it pretty well squared away by the end of this week.  There are some small things about running in the dark and on the ice that annoy the hell out of me that I'll simply need to such it up and deal with but other than that the biggest hurdles were making a plan that would accomplish my goals within the constraints of a New England winter, my schedule, and my current training resources.


Lastly, and I think this is pretty obvious, Mona is not judging my workouts, I don't know him, He certainly doesn't know me.  I'm just a fan, of him and his fartlek.  I don't own the pics.  I just stole them offline.  I don't have ads on the blog.  I don't make any money for this as such I don't feel guilty doing that.  If you own one of the pictures and don't want me to use it just post a comment or message me.  If you are Steve Moneghetti, first thank you for checking out my blog!  I'm honored!  Loved your book by the way.  Second I'm guessing you know it is all in good fun but if for whatever reason you don't want me to continue just message me or comment.  Getting a cease and desist note from one of my running hero's will rate right up there with my other odd life accomplishments like taking an ice bath with Teg and Solinsky and Frank Shorter saying "Hi, Nate." to me.







9 comments:

Colin said...

Hi Nate,
I know who you threw down on the clubs course. He's messed up pretty bad. You really shouldn't joke about things like that. You should also reach out and apologize.
-Colin

Anonymous said...

He admitted his guilt at the outset and none of his account makes light of the incident in my opinion.

Colin said...

He runs for The Georgetown Running Club, which is affiliated with the running store The Georgetown Running Company, not with the school, even though it sounds like it’s affiliated with the school.
-Colin

Unknown said...

Wonder what would be that mid-race encounter recap from the guy who went down—was he pushing on purpose? was he aware of his action? So far we heard one side's story, which sounded like a typical cross country race to me.

Glad to hear you're making progress with strength. After reading all 3 "I fix you" and your recent improvements, I'm guessing soon should be time for part number 4—just trying to say that those blog posts by Melissa were very inspirational across many levels of life and spot.

Greetings!

nateruns@hotmail.com said...

Colin,
If you actually know the guy, and you're not just trolling, you are one up on me. I don't even know what club he ran for. I am assuming that you are either kidding about him being messed up or you have a very different definition of messed up then I do. Given the amount of force I used and that it was one elbow shove if I caused any damage I'm in the wrong sport I should be in MMA. In terms of apologizing. I do feel bad I caused our legs to tangle by trying to run the tangent. As for the rest of it what am I supposed to say, I'm sorry, next time I'll happily let you push me off the course? I'm sorry I pushed back? Though I don't know this guy my point of view is we are both adults, it wasn't anybodies finest moment. I'm not looking for an apology, nor would I be if he had successfully dumped me in the bushes. I also am not planning on giving one.

Colin said...

Nate,
I do know the guy. Ryan, by the way. Friend of mine. He is a member of the Georgetown Running Club. And I was busting balls a little that he is actually messed up, and I wasn't at the race, but, as a member of the team (once a member, always a member), and, like you, a native of New England (CT for life), I thought I should reach out about the effect of your scuffle.

He texted me after the race about what happened. I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was kind of funny. Then I read your blog every week, and when I read your account of what happened, I quickly put two and two together. That changed things.

A LOT of runners read your blog, including many members of the Georgetown Running Club. You’re a role model to many runners, including the members of the team. You were 7th at the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials, right? I only know that by reading this blog. Witnesses to the incident included members both on and off the team, and they probably know who you are on sight. If you were truly not at fault, or, as you maintain, share no more blame than Ryan, just know that other runners saw what happened, and they know you were involved.

The incident was recounted in this blog entry written by the coach, Jerry, who showed restraint by not publicly publishing your name even though he knows you are. You can read it here:

http://blog.grcrunning.com/2016/12/clubs-analysis-historic-womens-team_14.html

As quoted by Jerry, the injuries Ryan sustained weren't anything that a couple of beers couldn't cure, but it was bad enough that he could not complete the race. So you may not have caused any long term damage, but it was enough for him to have to stop the race, which, as you know, takes time and money to travel to, and commitment to prepare for.

Think about that. Not only with respect to who you are, and what you represent, but your culpability in the incident. If you “started it” by cutting him off, and ended it by pushing him down, then an apology is in order, if only to fulfill your role as an ambassador of the sport. And you are one, given your age, experience, and accomplishments.

No, I never ran as fast as you, and I never will. But that’s not what this about. It doesn’t matter if you got 119th in a race, or 1st, that doesn’t change your responsibilities with respect to other competitors in the field, some of whom run for sponsorships, most of whom don’t, all of whom demand your respect, the same respect that you deserve.

-Colin

nateruns@hotmail.com said...

Tomek- I actually would be interested in his point of view as well. We all have our own truth to a degree, particularly on something we were an actor in and often those perspectives can be very different.
Colin- I didn't post your second comment just because it gave a lot info that could help someone figure out who this guy is and I'm not sure he would want that. To the point about people knowing me that is the nature of where I once was as a runner and so 'outing' me on this is fine I realize anything I do is out there and I'll be judged. So I appreciate their discretion but it isn't necessary. I think you have some very good points. I do feel bad that it impacted his race so greatly and by extension his teams. I don't want it to sound like I'm proud of the whole thing or anything like that. My perspective is two competitive guys getting a bit too competitive. No question it started with me. I don't have his perspective obviously but if he wants to hate me for life that is fine. If not I'm happy to by him a beer, or six, the next time we race.

rwitters said...

Nate, beer is the international language for peace, so I'll take you up on the six pack! Thanks for the apology man. Things got out of control, and it's clear that you understand you went too far. I'm not 100% inculpable either. I don't see the need to get into the details, unless you really wanted me to. Even then I'd prefer we exchange emails, it's nobody's business. If you make it out to clubs next year, I'll be sure to put on some extra muscle...

nateruns@hotmail.com said...

rwitters- deal. I owe you a six pack of your choice.