Rock 'n' Roll Runner

Cross country and other stuff

2009-11-09T09:37:00.002-05:00

I've been pretty busy at work lately and definitely not blogging as much as I had been, but things have been going pretty well. I brought out the spikes a few weeks ago for a cross country race in Ann Arbor (photo above) and did ok in less than ideal conditions (cold, very windy, half inch of rain the night before). I finished 4th overall and thought I ran as well as I could for the day (don't even ask me what my time was!), but man does XC hurt. Normally, I don't get the dry heaving feeling until about a half-mile to go, but in that race it was more like a mile to go! But then, cross country is the most challenging when it's run on a tough course. The race was a good reminder that cross country really is a different sport than track or road racing. Sure, you need to do pretty similar training to be good at both, but you definitely need to get in the practice racing off road before your peak race. Club Nationals is on December 12 so I have a few more tune ups before that. This Saturday, I will be running in the Twinsburg Turkey Trot, which is half on roads and half on metro park gravel trails. On Nov. 21 the guys on my team, Second Sole Rocky River, will be doing a 4 mile cross country time trial. Trainingwise, my workouts have been faster over the last few weeks than any time of the year, so I'm a little bummed that I don't have a flat, fast road 5K coming up, but I'm happy to be in really good shape for cross country nationals.

Training Update

2009-10-24T18:37:00.002-04:00

Had a really good week of mostly easy running with two key workouts: a 10 miler with 2 x 15:00 @ Tempo effort on Monday and a hilly 12 miler today, which included five upper and lower loops of Edgewater Park where I hit the uphills hard (alternating between high knees, bounding and just plain hard running) and hitting the downhills at race effort. A good Lydiard-type effort. I'm getting excited about my final racing phase of 2009, which I just updated on my entry below. I'll be doing a 5K cross country race in Ann Arbor next Saturday, followed by a 5 mile road/trail race on Nov. 14, our masters and open team 4 mile cross country time trial on Nov. 21 and then Club Nationals XC on December 12. Really excited that I'm on a masters team for this. Right now we have 6 guys lined up (all of us are ex-Team Good River runners) for the masters race and I believe we have enough for two teams in the open race.

The final countdown

2009-10-19T13:23:00.003-04:00

I've mapped out my final races of 2009 as I prepare for the USATF Club Nationals cross country meet in Lexington, KY on December 12.

October 31 - Ann Arbor Track Club Invitational 5K cross country: Really looking forward to this as the last time I ran on this course was in the fall of 1980!

November 14 - Twinsburg Turkey Trot 5 miles: My buddy Jim Chaney who is managing this race describes it as a mix of road, paved bike paths and gravel trails. This should be a good XC simulation. This will be my first race as a 45-year-old.

November 21: Cross country team time trial - 4 miles. The masters guys will be running a time trial with our two open teams as we get ready for club nationals in Lexington.

December 12: Club Nationals 10K cross country: I need to research the course, but typically nationals are on flat courses but Kentucky in December will likely be rainy/snowy, so I'm preparing for a messy course.

Long overdue update!

2009-10-17T14:53:00.006-04:00

It's been a few weeks since I've done an update, but things are going pretty well with my running. Two weeks ago I raced in the USATF Masters 5K National Championships in Syracuse where, in one of my last races as a 44 year old, I was 26th in the 40-44 division with a time of 17:08, which is an age-graded score of 82.11 (anything above 80.0 is considered National Class). The photo sequence above is from the finish of that race. Pretty ideal conditions, other than the roads being pretty wet from a lot of rain the day before, on a beautiful course with a couple of small hills. I was really impressed with the way this event was organized. Each kilometer was marked on the scenic out and back course and the organizers did a great job of keeping traffic away!

Today I got my first taste of cold weather racing for the fall season when I ran in the Race for The Rainbow in Lakewood this morning. About 40 degrees and felt much colder with the winds, and the roads were even slicker than in Syracuse. While my time of 17:39 was slower than I normally run I felt like the race was very "on". I got into a really good rhythm and finished very strong though the wind was really rough throughout (never seemed to get a tailwind!). I was third overall and the top master and even managed to score $15 in prize money! The first two guys finished in 16:02 and 16:04 and both of them have been under 15:10 this year, so that gives an idea of the racing conditions today. While I love the feeling of running a really good race, I'm frustrated that I haven't caught the right weather to take a shot at my masters PR of 16:54. My workouts indicate that I'm in shape to run about 16:45 on the right day so we'll see. Next up is a 5K cross country race in Ann Arbor, Michigan on October 31. Looking forward to bringing out the spikes for that!

Training Update

2009-09-29T10:41:00.002-04:00

Everything's going well as I get ready for the USATF Masters 5K Nationals in Syracuse this coming Sunday. Ran 62 miles last week with a few key workouts, including 8 x 200 @ 34 w/200 jogs on Tuesday and a 10 miler with 2 x 10 minutes tempo w/2:00 rest on Friday. Yesterday I did 6 x 3:00 @ 5K effort in my racing flats and that felt really good, so I'm optimistic that I should have a good race on Sunday. The level of competition is going to be about as tough as any race I've ever run, so I need to watch myself early on and not get pulled into a pace that I can't handle. If all goes well, this should be one of those races where I pick off a lot of people who go out too fast early on. Fall is definitely here! Getting ready to head out the door for an easy run and it's cold, windy and rainy.

The Cult - Love reissue

2009-09-23T09:44:00.002-04:00

Originally released in 1985, Love was one of the best rock 'n' roll albums of the '80s and still sounds great today. The Cult began their career as The Southern Death Cult, but by the time of their 1984 debut Dreamtime they began to shed a lot of their early goth influences and were much more in tune with the likes of Led Zeppelin, who would become an even more obvious influence on Love. Like Jim Morrison, Vocalist Ian Astbury was a tad overly fascinated with Native American lyrical themes (no mistake that he was invited to sing for the reformed Doors a few years ago!), but The Cult rock much harder than the Doors ever did. Love (and Dreamtime) remain The Cult's finest moment. The singles "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain" sound as thunderous today as when I first heard them as a youngster and the re-mastering here gives them even more punch. Other highlights are the Stooges-like "Phoenix" and, of course, the anthemic opener "Nirvana." The expanded addition is well worth it for a bonus disc that includes all of the original 12" mixes of the singles, plus the B-sides, while the accompanying booklet has quite extensive liner notes and interviews.

Rolling along

2009-09-21T10:47:00.003-04:00

Had another really good training week, which culminated with my second overall win in a road race this year at the Lorain Aids Task Force 10K. The race ended up being a good amount longer than 10K -- a quick survey of three people who wore GPS devices had it at more like 6.54 miles. This made much more sense as my finish time was 37:50, which would have been my 'tempo' pace for an actual 10K. At 6.5 and change my pace was 5:47 per mile, which converts to a 35:48 10K according to the always handy Team Oregon Pace Wizard. Despite the long course, I was very happy with my effort. I ran the same overall pace as I did for 5 miles two weeks ago on Labor Day Weekend, so the strength is definitely building. Also, as I won the race by about 4 minutes, I didn't have anyone pushing me in the crucial middle miles. Other workouts this past week included a tough session of 8 x 1000 meters on the track with 400m jogs for recovery and 8 x 150 on Wednesday for a little turnover. Next race will be the USATF Masters 5K championships in Syracuse on October 4. Really looking forward to that one. I'll be doing a couple of 5K specific workouts before that race to sharpen up.

Training Update

2009-09-12T19:48:00.002-04:00

Had a very good post-race week, hitting 68 miles without any issues. Mainly just easy stuff, other than hill repeats on Thursday and a 14 mile trail run today. Next week I'll be racing a 10K in Lorain on Saturday. Originally I was going to do the Cleveland Heroes 5 miler on Sunday, but Bella and I will be in Pittsburgh for the opening reception of a solo gallery show she is having there, so it will be a pretty late night. I'm looking forward to doing a 10K anyway as it's a bit of a rare race these days and I'd like to lower my masters personal best of 36:06, which I ran back in April. I don't know anything about the course next Saturday, but assuming it's reasonably flat and the weather is decent I think a sub-36 is in the cards. I won't really be tapering this week as I'll be doing 8 x 1000 meters with 400 jogs on Monday and some 150s for leg turnover on Wednesday, but Thursday and Friday will be short and easy so I should have some spring in my step on race day. The focus continues to be the masters 5K National Championships in Syracuse on October 4 and then the plan is to do some higher mileage for a month or so before coming back down and getting reading for the masters cross country National Championships in Louisville in December.

Season Opener

2009-09-07T15:32:00.003-04:00

Ran my first race on Saturday after a nine-week base training hiatus and finished as the fourth master at the always competitive Northcoast Challenge in Westlake with a time of 28:50. I was really happy with the race for several reasons: (1) I was a little rusty from no racing in a while; (2) I had just kicked a pretty pesky cold; and (3) I was coming off my highest mileage block as a masters runner. Last week I ran 72 miles, which was the first time I had gone over 70 as an old guy. As for the race, the plan was to go out conservatively for the first two miles and take it from there, so after hitting 2 miles in 11:46 (5:54, 5:52), I went to work and ran 5:45, 5:45, and kicked it in with a very strong 5:34. I was really happy with the last two miles as mile four is pretty much all on a grass and dirt trail and to be able to roll off of that on to pavement and crush the last mile was a great feeling. This week it's back to my now usual 65-70 range and I plan on racing again on the weekend of Sept. 19/20 as final prep for the masters 5K national championship race in Syracuse on October 4 where I hope to lower my masters PR of 16:54.

Training Update

2009-08-31T09:56:00.002-04:00

Had a really good week of running, managing to hit 72 miles, the most I've run in a week since college. Nice mix of tough workouts, including 20 x 400 with 100 meter jogs on Tuesday, hill reps on Friday and a 14 mile long run on Saturday. I felt pretty good every day, as well, other than fighting a mild cold the past few days. I seem to actually feel better when I run, so hopefully I can get this cold fully out of my system by the time of my race on Labor Day Weekend. I've done the Northcoast Challenge 5 mile race three times over the past four years. It's a flat and fast course with lots of competition due to large amount of prize money given to the top finishers, who usually tend to be Kenyan professionals! Though I haven't raced since July 4, I feel pretty confident that I can get in a good race since my training has gone really well.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

2009-08-30T21:40:00.005-04:00

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are from Brooklyn, but man do they have that late 80's/early '90s UK indie pop sound down pat. Their self-titled debut album on Slumberland Records brings to mind the likes of The Field Mice, early My Bloody Valentine (think "Ecstasy and Wine" era), and The Shop Assistants, as well as like-minded Americans from that era such as Black Tambourine and The Ropers. Vocalist Alex reminds me a little of Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch, but his band has a bit more punch. The highlights are plentiful on this 10-song 35-minute disc, including "Yong Adult Friction" (see video above), "Contender," the shoegazy "Everything With You," and "This Love is Fucking Right!"

Zurich Weltklasse 5000 meters -- Ritzenhein American Record

2009-08-30T14:34:00.001-04:00

Bekele wins in 12:52 -- no surprise there -- but the real story is Dathan Ritzenhein who finishes third in 12:56 and breaks Bob Kennedy's 13-year old American Record by 2 seconds. For much of the race Ritz is in last place, but he moves up really well and has an insane kick over the last 2 laps.

Some Lessons I've Learned as a Masters Runner

2009-08-28T18:01:00.001-04:00

I've been at this for about five years after a 20-year hiatus, so I've definitely learned what has worked and what has not worked so well as a 40+ runner.

1. Build That Base: Until this year, I have never periodized. I've pretty much trained the same every week all year round: Long run, tempo type workout, intervals or a race with easy days mixed in. This Spring I hired a coach and I am in the process of completing a 9-week summer base, which has been my most productive period of running since the summer before I started college. I haven't raced in this period, but it hasn't all been slow distance. I've done hill workouts, tempos, progression runs, technique drills, adding up to a lot of mileage. I like the idea of having 2 seasons: A Spring/Summer season from around St. Patrick's Day to July 4 and a Fall season from Labor Day to XC nationals in early December. The cold, dreary months of winer and the hot 'n humid Ohio summer days are perfect for building that foundation for cool weather PR races.

2. Less is Not Always More: I got in shape real fast on a low mileage, high intensity program and I've progressed pretty well over the past few years. This year I felt like I hit a plateau and needed something a little different so I hired a coach. I like the way my training has transformed. It feels more natural to divide my racing into seasons and I've been doing a wider variety of workouts that concentrate on more aspects of my game. I always thought I was a low mileage guy, but once I learned to do my easy days real easy everything has started to fall into place. There is a place for lower high-intensity mileage, especially if you do a lot of cross training or are injury prone, but I'm a runner who can't do anything else very well, so right now it's best for me to run as much as I can handle, which is more than I initially thought I could. Basically, if something is working for you, keep at it, but if you feel like you've hit a plateau change things up. We're all experiments of one!

3. Stay Lean: For most of my masters running 'career' I've weighed about ten pounds more than I did in college even though I'm the same height. After a pretty intense training block this summer, I'm only a few more pounds of my college weight now and much more toned. My abs have never been this strong. I'm right where I need to be now to run my best as a masters runner this fall.

Crocodiles - Summer of Hate

2009-08-26T10:49:00.006-04:00

Crocodiles may hail from San Diego, but Summer of Hate is no Beach Boys theramin-heavy sunshine trip. The duo, consisting of Charles Rowell and Brandon Welchez, owe much more to the dark, druggy sounds of icons such as Suicide, Spacemen 3, and the Jesus and Mary Chain. Songs like the title track, “I Wanna Kill,” and “Refuse Angels” are full of elements like spooky tremelo, brutal beats, and nasty feedback, and most importantly, they are catchy as hell. When Crocodiles slow down the tempo on the blissful “Sleeping With The Lord” and the epic closer “Young Drugs,” they are equally effective. Summer of Hate is a seriously infectious noise pop gem, one of the best debuts I’ve heard in quite some time.

Training Update

2009-08-22T20:38:00.001-04:00

Brought it up to 68 miles after last week's scheduled down week and felt great with no issues other than some crazy heat earlier in the week. I already mentioned the progression run on Monday, but the other workouts went well later in the week, including a really good 93 minute hill run today where I did loops in Edgewater Park and hit the hill hard five times alternating high knees, bounding and just plain hard running. I also hit the downhill hard five times at the effort I would hit in the race. As for racing my early season plan is to do the Northcoast Challenge 5 miler on Sept. 5, something on the weekend of the 19th/20th (coach Pete wants me to try to find an XC race if possible) and the masters 5K road race championship in Syracuse on October 4. These will be some of my last races as a 44 year old so it will be nice to rock out some good races before I move into the new age group. I think it's a good sign that 65-70 a week feels about as normal as 45-50 did last year (and this Spring before working with Pete), so I'm excited to start incorporating some faster work into my program. Next Tuesday will be 20 x 400 with 100 meter jogs, so that's a nice start!

Hipsters have Obama Envy?

2009-08-19T10:02:00.003-04:00

In an interesting NY Times article entitled It's Hip To Be Round, Guy Trebay notes that there has been a rise in number of chubby hipsters hanging around in Brooklyn. Uh, you only just noticed this? Haven't you seen pictures of bands like Death Cab For Cutie or The Decemberists?! Those guys look their main tour vices are Krispy Kreme and Bob Evans. Anyway, the writer goes on to quote Details magazine scribe Dan Peres, who surmises that this new breed of chubby hipster might be envious of Barack Obama!!!! Great, men have body issues now?

Hipsters, by nature contrarian, according to Dan Peres, the editor of Details, may be reacting in opposition to a president who is not only, as the press relentlessly reminds us, So Darn Smart, but also hits the gym every morning, has a conspicuously flat belly and, when not rescuing the economy or sparring with Kim Jong-il, shoots hoops.

“If we had a slob in the White House, all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar,” Mr. Peres said. Instead, the streets of Williamsburg are crowded with men who are, as he noted, “proudly rocking a gut.” Mr. Peres’s magazine has a term for these people: the new “poor-geoisie.” But the people lining up for $13 lobster rolls at the Brooklyn Flea last weekend hardly looked as if they were worried about making the rent.

Frankly I'm getting tired of this Barack Obama is athletic crap. Sure the guy is skinny, but he's a chain smoker and have you seen footage of him throwing out the first pitch at the All Star game and bowling on the campaign trail? About as athletic as the fat hipsters the article writes about! I voted for the guy, but definitely not for his athletic prowess. Say what you want about the last guy, but if nothing else, Dubya could reach the plate when he threw the first pitch and ran a pretty decent marathon while governor of Texas.

The article concludes:

...What once seemed young and hot, for gay and straight men alike, now seems passé. Like manscaping, spray-on tans and other metrosexual affectations, having a belly one can bounce quarters off suggests that you may have too much time on your hands.

“It’s not cool to be seen spending so much time fussing around about your body,” Mr. Hicklin said.

And so guys can happily and guiltlessly go to seed.

So hipsters don't have time to work out any more? Too busy playing with their vinyl toys and drinking PBR to shed a few pounds. Hey, I like rock 'n' roll as much as the last guy but I'll continue to shred my abs while the hipster dufuses shred some extra cheese on their oversized Chipotle burritos.

Surviving the heat

2009-08-17T12:38:00.002-04:00

This past week was a scheduled 'down' week where I cut my volume to 47.5 miles, but I still got in some good workouts despite the 80-90 degree heat, plus humidity. Last Tuesday I had a good session of 3 x 10 minutes at tempo effort in the metro park and on Thursday I did some long hill repeats. This week will be a bump up again with me back in the 65-70 range. Today was an especially nasty day with temps pushing 90 when I ran a 7 mile progression. The goal was to start at 'normal' effort and work down 10-15 seconds per mile. On paper not that hard at all, but just being out in the heat that long today was a workout in itself. Anyway, I started at 7:24 and then went 7:08, 6:56, 6:44, 6:29, 6:20, 6:10. The pace didn't feel difficult at all, but it felt hard to really accelerate on the last 2 miles without feeling like I would pass out from the heat. On cooler days I've done similar workouts like this MUCH faster, so today was one of those days where I had to just adjust to the conditions and roll with it. Looks like my next race will be a 5 miler on Labor Day weekend.

Rolling along ...

2009-08-08T18:02:00.001-04:00

Had my fourth straight week over 60 and am feeling really, really strong. Total for this week was 69, another all-time masters high. Mostly easy mileage but I had a really good interval workout of 5 x 4:00 on Monday and today I ended the week with a really nice 14 mile trail run. I feel like I have a lot in the tank. The legs were a little heavy on Monday because I had run over 12 miles on each of the two days beforehand, but the effort still felt really smooth and I felt completely recovered after each 3:00 rest break. Next week is a planned down week. Pete is bringing the volume down to 50, but I have a couple of quality workouts planned. 3 x 10:00 @ Tempo on Tuesday and hill reps on Thursday.

Another great week

2009-08-03T09:35:00.002-04:00

The last 4 weeks has probably been my best block of high volume training since the summer before I started college. Hit 67.5 miles this week, giving me a 4-week total of 58, 63, 66, and 67.5. This week will be about the same and then I'll take a down week of about 50 miles or so to refuel, before getting back up to 70+. I have been feeling really good pretty much every day. It's weird but I feel better on 60+ than I did in the 45-60 range. I've learned how to do my easy days really easy and make sure I'm recovered for my harder workouts. Nothing definite on the race calendar yet though I'm pretty certain that I'll be running the Northcoast Challenge 5 miler on Labor Day weekend.

Getting in the miles

2009-07-26T14:47:00.002-04:00

Had my highest training week thus far as a masters runner, hitting 66 miles. No real issues either. Mainly just easy distance with two quality workouts. Wednesday I did hill repeats and Saturday I had a really good tempo workout of 2 x 20 minutes with a 5:00 easy jog recovery. I also ran doubles on two days last week and I've been feeling really good doing that lately. I'm definitely noticing some changes as I bump up my volume. On days that I feel good, everything feels really smooth and I feel like I have tons of gear changes. The hill repeats felt easier than ever. One down side I guess on higher mileage is that on some days you just feel lackluster (luckily usually on recovery days) so you need to just keep the pace real easy or else you'll pay for it on the days that count (hard workouts and races). The plan is to hit about 70 a week for the next two week and then I have a 'down' week scheduled, before bumping back up again.

Weekly Training Update

2009-07-18T16:04:00.008-04:00

Another good week. Hit 63 for the week with no real issues other than the usual aches and pains that go with volume increases. I've made it a point to do post-workout leg exercises and my cat seems to like them too, though he's more of a sprinter type. A few dashes down the hall and Milkshake is ready for a nap. Anyway, my training week consisted of really easy mileage though I did some technique drills again on Wednesday and today's long run consisted of 6 hard hill surges (2 x sprints, 2 x bounds, 2 x high knees) and 6 hard downhills (i.e. race effort). Definite Lydiard flavor to that workout. Next week should bring me to around 65 miles give or take, with the key workouts being hill reps on Wednesday and a 2 x 20 minutes tempo session on Saturday.

Good week

2009-07-12T11:23:00.002-04:00

My first week of base building for the fall went great, without any hitches. Managed to hit 58 miles from last Sunday through yesterday. It was mainly easy distance work, but Coach Pete also had me do some technique drills on Wednesday (followed by an extra long cool down) and I did some hill repeats on Friday. This next week will be pretty similar with me hitting about 62 miles. The goal is to build up to 65-70 and then maintain it for awhile. I think I've finally adjusted to being comfortable at 60 miles a week because I honestly felt good every day this week. Looking forward to adding on more miles this summer!

Some essential summer reading

2009-07-06T12:26:00.002-04:00

Well, summer reading if you're a runner I should say. I've read this article by Lets Run founder Weldon Johnson before and I came across it again the other day. Titled Why I Sucked In College, the piece is an in-depth analysis of Weldon's training and how he came to realize that he was training much too hard on his easy days and thus not running the kind of times he should have been running in races. In a very short time span, Weldon went from not being able to break 30 in the 10K to running 28:06! I'm lucky that I run by myself 99% of the time so I'm not racing my easy runs with a group, but even then I have to constantly remind myself to slow down on the recovery days. I had one of those lightbulb moments on my easy run today. I wanted to run especially easy to make sure I was fully recovered from my race as I have a longer run scheduled tomorrow and a few doubles scheduled for later in the week and then it dawned on me, that my easy days should always feel this easy. Save the hard efforts for the races and hard workouts!

Back to Basics

2009-07-05T23:07:00.003-04:00

With the summer heat kicking in, I'm going to take a little break from racing and try to pump up the volume so to speak and get ready to rumble in the fall. The plan over the next 3 weeks is build up to 65 a week and to then try to maintain 65-70 for about a month after that, before adjusting the schedule for fall racing. I'm looking forward to a period of increasing my mileage without worrying about race performances for awhile. The past 2 months have been good and I have run more my mileage than I have had since high school/college, but this Spring I've been a little up and down with my races as I've adjusted to the workload. Saturday I was really flat in the Bay Days 5 miler, running 28:59 when I felt like I was in shape to run 5:40 pace (28:20) or a bit faster. I'm chalking it down to running a hard race the weekend before (17:00 5K at Run For The Young) and not recovering as much as I thought I had. Can't remember the last time I raced on back to back weekends. I'm looking forward to getting to a place where I can be consistent in the 70-75 a week range. I don't think I really need to go beyond that unless my racing goals change from my current 5K-8K-10K and cross country focus, but it will be nice to test my limits this summer and fall. I know I can be a pretty solid runner on 40-50 a week, but as I approach 45 in November, I really want to know that I've done all that I could to run my best as a masters competitor.

Black Nite Crash - Array

2009-07-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

Named after the best track on Ride’s last album Tarantula, Seattle’s Black Nite Crash dazzle with their heavy melodic sound, which blends together an ‘array’ of influences ranging from 1960s psych rock to classic UK post-punk and shoegaze. The seven-minute opener “Revelator” instantly draws you in with its soulful Stooges vibe, building up to an extended Ron Asheton-like guitar wigout at the end. “Falling Down” follows with its menacing Black Rebel Motorcycle Club-like groove (think “Whatever Happened To My Rock ‘n’ Roll?”) . “Soft Focus” is the most shoegaze influenced track on the album bringing to mind Ride’s infectious Going Blank Again gem “Twisteralla.” Also great is “I Want You,” which sounds a lot like The Jesus and Mary Chain’s “Just Like Honey” before building to a wild Spacemen 3-like finale. Perhaps the best song of all though is the lush closer “Perfect Blue,” which recalls the majesty of The Church with its trance-inducing layered guitar sounds and Jim Biggs’ seductive vocals. Array is actually only available on vinyl, but if you do not have a turntable, don’t fret (each copy also includes a free CD!).