My goal of sub 4:00 1500-I will not stop until I reach my goal.

Thought I'd check in as I finally have something to report. IT band problems seem finally cleared up...almost hard to believe that it has been a problem since mid-June. If you had told me I would be injured for that long I probably would have ripped out your spleen and beat you to death with it. (Not running is muy distressing)

For August my weekly totals were something like: 15, 15, 20, 15, 30. I'm not counting any cross training because it throws off my count of how much actual running I'm doing...which is what gets me hurt, not any of the biking or elliptical or anything else. But I tried to keep it to about 6-7 hours of aerobic work a week. Also, almost every day I've run, I've been doing strides - a lot more frequently than ever before, and in greater volume. 4 if I'm feeling especially lazy, but mostly 8 and sometimes up to 12.

That week of 30 did my first workout, just because things finally started coming around to the point where I wasn't worried about starting a tempo run and then having my IT act up while I was 4 miles away from my car. Did 4 miles in 22:53...later that week I ran an alum race at my school, 3k in 9:35. Just kind of cruised it in for a win.

I talked to my college coach a little bit while I was annoying people at my school and came up with a couple of good ideas, I think. One - I've never run more than 60 miles in a week, and that's not exactly something I hit normally, either. So he and I thought I should just take my time, slowly and patiently, and finally work my way up past that barrier while keeping the strides in place, doing tempo runs, and not too much else workout wise. I'm not in a big hurry. Secondly..not to race until April. I'm likely to be moving soon so I'm not sure where I'd open up but a big candidate is the Penn Relays 5k. I know my endurance drops off horrifically past 1500m so if I can get my 5 down significantly I think I will see my 15 drop drastically.

Nice job with the 5 miler, 10k, and the 5x1k jonesy. 1000's are painful, especially doing them solo. 17:18 is impressive Ron...

Hope it's going well for everyone.

Hey Boingo! Glad to see you're back at it! Awesome to learn your knee is better and that you're getting back in the saddle. Very impressive on your 4 mile run and 3k race. This tells me you haven't lost much of your fitness. In getting back to things, slow and sure is a good motto to have. Don't stay away so long! Keep us updated on your progress.

This past Sat I raced my first xc race in some time. A 6K. It was awesome. I ran on the

www.mst.edu

alumni team. Based on my level of fitness, my goal was to run somewhere between 20 and 21 min. I managed a 21:00 and was real happy. My mile splits were 5:27.96, 5:31.60, 6:30.81, and 3:30.40. Not real sure what happened on mile 3. Pretty sure course was 6k though. Didn't go out with the lead group as I was concerned I wouldn't be able to hold pace, however, stayed with the second pack and managed to hang on and compete but I was hurting. It was great to race xc again. Having a ball!

http://sports.mst.edu/men/track/gamestats/MinerMen08.html

Hope all is well and look forward to reading progress reports! Thanks for everyone's encouragement.

again, nice race, ron. those xc races are tough.

glad to hear that you're on the comeback trail, boingo--you're in good early september shape for someone looking to run fast next spring. any fall race goals?

M 13.1

a.m. 2.5M w/stroller;

p.m. 10.6M-1:17:28 (11:17-1.3,8:24,7:37,7:09,6:32,24:11 (4M),10:22-1.1). last 5M measured-30:43 (last 2M-5:53,5:33). felt o.k., picked up pace in dark.

T 13.5

a.m. 3M w/stroller;

p.m. 10.5M-t/f BHS track-solo-3x200 (100j)-37,35,35; 5x800 (200j)-2:30x4,2:28; 3x300 (100j)-53,52,53. 80+ deg. lake swim.

W 15

a.m. 5.5M w/stroller-57:43; p.m. 9.5M-1:24:16-dipped under 8 once and bonked. heavy legs.

Th 13.1

a.m. 2.7M w/stroller;

p.m. 10.4M-1:20:40-9:33,7:45, then 7:20s-7:30s (plus 6:58,7:03). strides, ahead of 5M race Saturday. felt better.

F 0

much needed rest day, in advance of tomorrow's local five miler.

Sa 12.6

5M race-27:26-3rd place. 5:17,5:20,5:25,5:45 (21:47 at 4M),5:40. windy but cool. stomach problems all week and in race. on track through fast 3M, fell way off on hills.

Su 17 2:20:00

14-1:58 slow w/GMAA, cut short to make it an easy week, then added 3 w/stroller later. need to start picking up the long runs.

Totals 84.3

pretty good closing 5M Monday in an easy run, decent 5x800 workout on Tuesday, 2:30s and a 2:28, solo, and my second-best 5M time, disappointing, but was on pace for sub-27 until I hit the hills in mile four. Trying to figure out why I ran slower, I decided that I've been running too many slow miles per week and so I've picked it up so far this week. I ran a stroller 5.5M course record yesterday and then 9.5 in the evening at 6:11 pace for the middle 7, closing that in 23:11 (5:59,5:54,5:43,5:40) for 4M, just because it felt easy and unpushed until near the end. Today I was holding back but still doing easy 6:20s and 6:30s for a 7M stretch of a 12 miler (14 for the day), so I think that I am back on track.

Jonesy, it's tough to hold pace sometimes. You've been pushing hard for the last couple of months and have made lots of progress. Keep at it and you'll bust through to the 26's real soon! Great job so far!

I'll be running another 5k road race on Sat. I'm planning on running another xc race the following week. It'll be an 8k. In gearing up for these longer races, I'm increasing the duration of my tempo runs. For starters this past tue I ran 16 laps in 25 mins. I was struggling on the last four laps. 6:07,6:11,6:27,6:40.

Today I did a 4x1200m with active recovery between 3-4 min on a washed out cinder track. Main track at HS was busy due to soccer game. My goal pace was 4:07. Did pretty good until last one. 4:07,4:06,4:08,4:18. Last two laps of last one killed me.

Regarding the 8k coming up, I'm planning on holding back so I'll have something left on mile 4 and 5. This will be hard to do.

good workouts! not a bad idea at all to focus on cross in the fall. you're ahead of schedule, no doubt.

In 1991 I had a pretty good xc season where I managed to hit some mid 26's during 8ks. From that xc season my fitness allowed for me to springboard into running good times for the 800m and mile indoor. From then on I had a pretty good outdoor track season where I sub-4'd the 1500. So.. I guess I'm trying to replicate that strategy. All this aerobic work will pay off at some point!!

Eddylee, what have you been doing? You should have a couple of xc races under your belt about now. What's the good word?

Be cool.

you'll get back there now that you can see the progress.

if I remember correctly, eddylee's school doesn't have a xc team and he was pointing to a half marathon in october?

did an 8M tempo tonight in 45:59 (5:45/M). 1st half was supposed to be marathon pace, second half half marathon pace. split 23:29 and 22:30. 15 for the day.

Wow. That's a disgusting tempo, kind of puts mine today to shame.

My week has been rather sparse due to a pair of 10-hour drives.

Sun: Drivin'.

Mon: Interviewin'.

Tue: Drivin'.

Wed: AM 5 mi 33 mins elliptical

PM 6 mi 38 mins trail run

Thurs: AM 3 mi 21 mins elliptical

PM 15 mi 60 mins bike

3x10 clean (65 lbs)

4x15 squat (75 lbs)

Fri: AM 5.5 mi 36 mins elliptical

PM 2 mi wu cd 4 mi tempo (23:50) 4x150(19.5, 19.3, 19.5, 19.5)

I had some difficulty with the tempo today - I didn't start out all THAT fast (5:50) but was just slogging after that point. Maybe the lifting the day before hurt, maybe the weather, who knows. Ah well, at least I got it in and it's done and will hopefully be faster next time.

Not really planning on racing this fall for a variety of reasons. a) just got a job ten hours away, have to move and get accommodated and all that nonsense. it'll probably be fairly busy initially and it's going to be enough of a challenge to keep a routine while finding new places and people to train with, as well as all the fun learning experiences of living by yourself for the first time. b) i'm in okay shape but not great - i feel like racing would, for one, kind of be a disappointment as i doubt i'd PR. i also might get content with my mediocre fitness if i did well place-wise. If I hold back from racing (which I really want to do) the drive to train and do really well my first time out is huge. That was probably more long-winded than you were looking for.

you're running quick paces for non-workout runs and the tempo's sub-6, which is what you want at this point when you're not targeting a race until next spring--months of running by feel and building an aerobic base while staying healthy, that's all you want. i'm at my peak shape possibly in my life and running in perfect cool conditions on a mostly flat course.

Latest Wild-man report:

Road Race: 17:51 this morning. Rainy, 72 degrees, humid, and all kinds of long hills. Felt real good. Was real happy with results based on conditions and previous week of hard training. I think I came in 5th or 6th. I'd post mile splits but the folks who put down the mile markers must have been drunk or stoned when they did the job because they were all screwed up.

Next Stop: The Missouri Southern Stampede 8K in Joplin, MO. Huge meet.

Jonesy, this 8k xc in Joplin... my goal is to be somewhere betweeen 28-29. You think I can hit it? If I recall, this course is relatively flat. They're going to go out really fast... Any advice?

usually you're going to have more success if you hold back a bit the first mile and don't go lactic too early. you ran 17:18 5k a while back. Several years back, I ran just under 30 for 5M in CP about a month before running 17:24 5k, and I had another month of club workouts before the 5k. So, I think that breaking 29 is a good possibility for you, especially if you are continuing to improve in workouts.

M 15

a.m. 5.5M w/stroller-48:38-stroller course record

p.m. 9.5M-(9.4M timed-1:03:57=6:48/M)-10:27 (1.3),7:03,6:30,6:25,5:59,5:54,5:43,5:40,10:10-1.1. (7M-43:20-6:11/M,6M-36:17,5M-29:47,4M-23:11)

almost effortless sub-6 by accident and then held it there. felt incredibly easy until the last half mile.

T 14.2

p.m.-1.8M reco w/stroller; eve.-12.4M (12.25-1:28:16)-9:58-1.1,8:19,7:11,6:57,6:27,3:16,7:18-1.05+,3:19 (6:35),6:29,6:27,6:22,6:33,9:40-1.1. felt an excess of strength, the mid-6's were very easy.

W 15.6

aft.: 5.5M w/stroller-rev.-49:49; eve.: 10.1M-in dark-rev.-solo-3x200 (100j)-38, ?, 36; 400-72, 200j, 800-2:29 (76/73), 200j, 2x1200 (400j)-3:53,3:51; 800-2:25 (74/71), 400-68. pleased with the second 800, which is probably faster than any in my workouts in comeback.

Th 15.6

15.4M in 1:56:26 (7:33/M). t/f 1M Colchester Causeway. @7 flat for 5 miles, 4 on return. sluggish, dehydrated.

F 14.8

p.m. 3M w/stroller-tired.

eve.: 11.8M-1:24

w/solo tempo 8M-45:59 (23:29/22:30)-5:54,5:52,5:44,5:59 (2nd half 3:08??),5:38,5:45,5:37,5:30. mostly flat. very easy to 3.5M, pushed dark last mile.

Sa 10.5

p.m. 2.2M w/stroller; eve. 8.3M-1:19:40. glacial recovery runs. very tired from yesterday's tempo. had trouble even pushing stroller.

Su 16.9

a.m. 5.5M w/stroller-67:40; p.m. 11.4M-1:36:21-mostly at 8 min. pace. scrapped planned 20M but legs recovering from tempo. thick as pea soup tonight.

Totals 102.6

very encouraging week in response to bad race. paid for it on weekend, but should be strong again tomorrow.

Nice running everyone, just thought I'd check in though without much results-wise to update:

Just to show how great of a sport we're involved in, I got a coaching job through my comeback. I ran once, maybe twice a week on a nearby high school track where my brothers went to school. Their coach and I would chat if he was around while I stretched and he could tell I knew some basics about the sport (I have to say I have developed a lot more knowledge about the sports in the last 2 years) and offered me the freshman XC job which is great b/c at that level, it's more about developing enthusiasm for a new sport and hopefully getting them to come back for sophomore year. Nothing overcomplicated, we do hills and some cruise intervals and I feel confident in what we're doing. Plus, I now have training partners for 3-4 days a week (graduate school keeps me from practice on most Mondays).

Mileage has dipped a little but I'm getting hills in now, learning new routes in the area (soft surfaces Jonesy) and some other runs are faster than I would be able to do by myself so I'll take the tradeoff for now until my class schedule improves.

I'll let you know if I throw myself into any races last minute just to have a time.

hey nice job, sweeney. that'll help, no doubt, and you can give them good advice on running (at least) four years ahead of schedule.

What is Eddylee's most recent 1500m time?

4:08-9 in spring. remember, he is not stopping until he gets it, and that's not until next spring.

jonesy. wrote:

4:08-9 in spring. remember, he is not stopping until he gets it, and that's not until next spring.

Ah, thank you Jonesy.

Hadn't check in on his progress lately

700th post!

........

keep on keeping on. dont stop till you reach your goal!

This thread will not cease until he reaches his goal or until I make him reach it.