Chasing the DIII Dream

Their list of meets will be on the team website, and in regards to signing up for the open race, I'm not sure if you go to direct athletics and do it, or email the coordinator of the meet directly, someone will have to check me on that.

FormerSub5Hopeful wrote:

That is good advice. Thank you.

How would I sign up for these meets? Do you have links you could provide?

Here are links to some of the meet entry info pages for meets Washington & Lee are entered. I would reach out to each meet director and ask them about unattached athletes.

Hopefully, if you approach him, the coach would let you know some meets nearby that do allow unattached runners.

These are college meets nearby that have open divisions that you could run in.

Liberty is hosting a meet on Aug. 30th in Lynchburg, might be worth an email to their XC office to see if they are allowing unattached athletes.

THESE THREE MEETS AT VT SPECIFICALLY SAY WHERE TO EMAIL UNATTACHED ENTRIES:

Thanks for the links. I'll look into them and see if any of these meets are a possibility.

Here's this week's training. I'm targeting 1:18 for the half in November

8/12/19-8/18/19

Monday

Run #1

2 W/U, 8x3:00 Hard (~5:30/mi) w/ 2:00 walk between reps, 1 C/D

Run #2

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 32:19 (8:05/mi)

Tuesday

Run #1

8 Very Easy (Hilly) in 1:06:56 (8:21/mi)

Run #2

4 Easy to Steady Progression (Treadmill) in 30:12 (7:33/mi)

Splits: 8:20, 7:54, 7:09, 6:49

Wednesday

Run #1

8.3 Easy in 1:05:31 (7:53/mi)

Run #2

3.4 Easy + 6x110y Strides in 29:17 (7:52/mi)

Thursday

Run #1

2 W/U, 5x1600m Threshold (5:57 avg.) w/ 1:00 rest, 1 C/D

Splits: 5:56, 5:59, 5:58, 5:56, 5:59

Run #2

3.5 Easy + 8x110y Strides in 30:31 (7:36/mi)

Friday

Run #1

8 Easy in 1:01:24 (7:40/mi)

Run #2

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:15 (7:49/mi)

Saturday

14 Long/Easy in 1:47:24 (7:40/mi)

Sunday

5.6 Easy + 6x110y Strides in 48:48 (8:10/mi)

Total of 80 mi

Based on your 8k time, you should be close to being able to run 78 minutes right now. For what it's worth, I jumped into a HM winter of freshman year and broke 78 on a fairly hard course.

Training looks good. One suggestion I would offer is to replace some of those 14 mile easy runs with some slightly shorter runs -- say 75 minutes, with the last 30 maybe 6:30s or a little faster, as long as the effort is right.

Well done!

Stay healthy- stay healthy- stay healthy- long-term view.

Keep improving a little bit for a long time- you can really do this!

Solid week, it'll all come together soon

8/19/19-8/25/19

Monday

2 W/U, 8K Moderate in 30:46 (6:11/mi), 1 C/D

Tuesday

Run #1

7.5 Easy + 8x110y Strides (last one in 13.75!) in 1:01:33 (7:44/mi)

Description:

Pretty fast for the slog fest that has comprised the bulk of my training. Glad to see I’ve retained the modicum of speed I had going into the summer.

Run #2

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:17 (7:45/mi)

Wednesday

Run #1

2 W/U, 5x1K Hard (3:28 avg.) w/ 200m walk (~2:30) between reps, 0.9 C/D

Description:

Worst workout I’ve had in a while. Not only was I 3 seconds slower per rep than I wanted, I also stopped after 5 instead of 6 as originally planned. The hot and heavy air really got to me today. Here’s hoping I do better next time.

Run #2

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:24 (7:51/mi)

Thursday

Run #1

7 Easy in 52:09 (7:26/mi)

Run #2

5 Easy in 38:32 (7:43/mi)

Friday

Run #1

7 Easy in 54:26 (7:46/mi)

Run #2

5 Easy in 39:44 (7:56/mi)

Saturday

Run #1

9 Easy in 1:09:34 (7:43)

Run #2

2 W/U, 5K Moderate to Threshold Progression in 18:45 (6:10, 6:00, 5:50) + 6x110y Strides, 0.5 C/D

Sunday

6 Easy + 6x110y Strides in 49:21 (7:45/mi)

Total of 75.4 mi

FormerSub5Hopeful wrote:

8/19/19-8/25/19

Wednesday

Run #1

2 W/U, 5x1K Hard (3:28 avg.) w/ 200m walk (~2:30) between reps, 0.9 C/D

Description:

Worst workout I’ve had in a while. Not only was I 3 seconds slower per rep than I wanted, I also stopped after 5 instead of 6 as originally planned. The hot and heavy air really got to me today. Here’s hoping I do better next time.

Run #2

4 Easy (Treadmill) in 31:24 (7:51/mi)

Total of 75.4 mi

6 x 1000m in 3:28 should be moderate effort for you with a 200m jog. That it was not may have been due to the weather, or perhaps you were tired, or a quart low on water, or whatever. 3:25 might have been a little fast as a target.

Long-term, remember that your body doesn't really know about splits, only about effort. You can't always predict in advance how workouts will go, so consider starting at, say, 3:30, and speeding up from there as you feel.

If you're not feeling it, then you decide whether to back off enough to get in six repeats, or do fewer repeats. Generally, the first is the better option. In this case, if you were crapping out in the heat, cutting it short was probably the right call.

For me, moderate is around the marathon pace that online calculators give me (6:10-6:15/mi) and hard can be anything between 3K and 8K pace (5:10-5:30/mi), depending on the workout. I had originally planned on 6x1K @ 3:25 w/ a 3:00 400m jog between reps, but I changed that to a slow 200m walk because of how terrible I felt. This workout came from my Daniels book, which I used to make the HM program I'm currently following.

Excellent work, don’t worry about the workout. It probably was the weather, but don’t worry- just keep putting in consistent work like this and you’ll continue to improve.

Lower mileage week; no time to run on Saturday because I drove to an moved in at W&L.

8/19/19-8/25/19

Monday

2 W/U, 5x1200m H (4:04 avg.) w/ 3:00 rest + 3x200m R (36 avg.) w/ 200m jog, 1 C/D

Tuesday

Run #1

7 E in 55:22 (7:54/mi)

Description:

Not only did I feel like crap, I also needed to crap.

Run #2

5 E in 39:03 (7:48/mi)

Wednesday

Run #1

7 E in 54:31 (7:47/mi)

Description:

5 more + some strides later tonight. Got a nasty workout planned for tomorrow: 3x3200m T w/ 2:00 rest.

Run #2

5 E + 6x110 ST in 39:52 (7:26/mi)

Thursday

Run #1

2 W/U, 2x3200m T (11:56, 11:51) w/ 2:00 rest + 1600m T (5:56) + 4x200m R (36 avg.) w/ 200m jog, 1 C/D

Description:

Altered my original plan slightly because I felt like doing some faster running. Total mileage for the workout remained unchanged, though.

Friday

5 E in 37:37 (7:31/mi)

Description:

Last run in Knoxville for a while. Heading to Virginia tomorrow. It’s been a great summer.

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

Run #1

7.4 E in 59:00 (7:58/mi)

Description:

Tagged along with a group of triathletes today. Had to scale back the pace, as I was pulling far ahead trying to run even sub-8 minute miles, but it was good to find some new routes. There’s a crushed gravel trail not 3 miles from campus with some solid rolling hills. They could see I was sandbagging a bit trying to stay back with them, so they encouraged me to run faster up the hills and then come back and join up with them. Lots of starting and stopping on this one. I'm going to but in a good moderate effort later; probably a progression on the treadmill, another 7 miles or so.

Run #1

4.6 E-T in 30:30 (6:38/mi)

Description:

Started at 7:24 pace; progressed down to 5:53 pace.

Total of 57.9 mi

if you are feeling like s hit, bag the workout, or dial it back at least.

also, stop timing your strides, no need for that

The Woods Creek trail can get you to nice residential areas and then it connects through VMI on to the Chessie Trail, which goes probably 6 or 7 miles to Buena Vista. Have fun!

I made a mistake; last week's post should have 8/26/10-9/1/19.

9/2/19-9/8/19

Monday

2 E + 5 M (Hilly) in 31:59 (6:24/mi) + 1 E

Tuesday

8 E in 1:01:00 (7:37/mi)

Wednesday

2 W/U, 6x600m H (1:55 avg.) w/ 1:00 rest + 3x200m R (35 avg.) w/ 200m jog, 1 C/D

Description:

First workout on W&L’s track. Would have gone earlier, but I had a mandatory for all first year’s swim test this morning. I passed. The original plan was to do 10x600m @ 2:00 but I had to speed it up and slash the volume to get to my registration meeting on time. First day of classes is tomorrow.

Thursday

10 E in 1:15:24 (7:32/mi)

Friday

2 W/U, 5K T in 18:27 (5:56/mi) + 3x200m R (37 avg.) w/ 200m jog, C/D to 7

Description:

Heart rate was nice and low, but the heat still made it tough mentally. Planned on 6 200’s but stopped at 3 due to hip pain. Hope it’s minor. Lord willing, I’ll do a long run tomorrow.

Saturday

14 L (First 10 E, Last 4 M in 26:07)

Description:

One of those days where I felt I could roll over these country roads forever.

Sunday

7 E in 54:10 (7:43/mi)

Total of 60 mi

So are you intending to do any of the meets unattached?

I would like to, but I'm not sure if it will work out for me to because none of them are home meets, and traveling several hours alone on the weekends is daunting. The only race I know I'm doing for sure is the Marshall University Half Marathon on November 3rd. It's flat and fast, and I'd be stoked if I could pull off something in the 1:17 range.

I hope you can continue running and improving. I’m a firm believer that having a training goal is a great way to keep your academics in line. You’ve obviously got a passion for running, and it’s a bit surprising that you’d go through all this and be ok with W&L giving you the cold shoulder. When I was at Haverford we had a couple of guys who transferred in and ran, so changing schools is not unheard of. Lots of D3 schools with great science programs would be happy to have you and have a place for you on their teams. I know you said academics is tops for you but people that mean that aren’t making threads on LRC. If you are really sold on W&L at least try to get to one of the meets they go to and line up against some of their guys, so you can show the coach exactly who you are able to compete with. Have a good fall and keep posting for us old guys. Reminds me of the good old days.

Yes keep up the training. This post is awesome and is what running should be all about. putting in consistent effort and working towards something that feels almost unattainable but as you progress you realize more and more that you can attain it.

Im in a similar mode right now. Though not as far along as you. In the process of upping my mileage and commiting myself to the beautiful sport of running.

9/9/19 – 9/15/19

9/9 – A.M. 6 E in 44:49 (7:27/mi) ; P.M. 4 E in 31:59 (7:59/mi)

9/10 – A.M. 0.4 W/U, 3200 H in 10:55 (5:29/mi), 1 C/D ; P.M. 3.6 E in 27:16 (7:37/mi)

9/11 – 10 on treadmill w/ first 5 E and last 5 T (5:59/mi) in 1:07:25

9/12 – A.M. 2.8 E in 21:51 (7:48/mi) ; P.M. 6.2 E on treadmill in 46:30 (7:30/mi)

9/13 – 3.5 W/U, 8x800 H (2:40 avg. last one in 2:34) w/ 2:00 rest, 1.5 C/D

9/14 – 11 L on treadmill w/ first 4 E and last 7 M (6:15/mi) in 1:13:41

9/15 - 5.5 E in 43:26 (7:54/mi)

Total of 61.5 mi