Luke Watson/Tom McArdle training diaries

Here's a summary for McArdle:

WK1

M:AM 12 PM 10

T:AM 12 PM 6

W:18

T:AM 10 PM 10

F:14

S:26

S:AM 10 PM 8

Total: 136

WK2

M:AM 12 - Torn achilles

T:0

W:0

T:0

F:0

S:0

S:AM 26 - Tested achilles. Felt good.

Total: 38

I jest. Tom's a great guy (the handful of times we met) and was a tough as nails runner. I'm sure those logs are still out there somewhere...

I mean I know I have a lot of free time just now cause off work cause of vacation.

But what is your excuse for having so much time on your hands that you posted that. SEriously.

Hey, I thought it was funny! (And pretty accurate, for that matter.)

For the guy who was asking for the six-year-old training logs of a pair of national-class runners so he could peruse them and reminisce about the good old days: don't worry too much about whether other people spend 45 seconds typing in pointless posts on a message board. If people didn't spend those 45 seconds, how would I procrastinate?

Not sure how these will come out by copying and pasting, but I'll give it a try. Here is Luke's 2000-01 log.....

The Pluck of the Irish

For the week of : 07/31/2000

August 1: pm 11 mi @ 6:10-5:30 pace in St. Paul, MN. felt great, ran withRun N Fun (running store) group.

Aug 2: travel to Boulder, pm solo trail run in Boulder, 9 mi. 58 mins.hilly!

Aug 3: am solo trail run 11 mi. 74 mins; situps, dips

Aug 4: fartlek w/ CU team on Boulder Creek Trail 6*(2min on, 3 off).pounded. 58 mins 10 mi.

Aug 5: south Boulder, trail run w/ J. Torres. Hot! 10.5 mi 63 mins; pushups,dips

Aug 6: Magnolia Road, 14 mi, 96 mins. Hurting. Tough. 8000'. Hilly!Week Total: 75 miles, 7 runs.

For the week of : 08/07/2000

Aug 7: Boulder Creek Trails w/ Jorge, Ed. pretty fast pace, but felt good.12 mi, 67 mins.

Aug 8: Encenitas? route. hilly. pounded first 8 mi, then chilled. 12.5 mi,75 mins; pushups, abs

Aug 9: South Boulder Creek w/ Ed. easier (needed it!) 10 mi, 65 mins.

Aug 10: S. Boulder Crk. again w. CU team. legs feeling tired. 11 mi, 67mins.

Aug 11: warmup, 8000m AT: 26:22 on track with CU team, cool down. feltreally good, in control. 11.5 miles total

Aug 12: off

Aug 13: Kenosha Pass long run 16 mi 112 mins. at 10,000' - felt all right,besides stomach problems at 98 mins. slow pace due to altitude and hills.Week Total: 73 miles, 6 runs.

For the week of : 08/14/2000

Aug 14: Old Tale w/ E. Torres and S. Slattery. felt good, added on. 11 mi,66 mins.

Aug 15: Lower Mesa. Pounded! w/ S. Smith, J. Torres. added on, felt great.12.5 mi, 74 mins; pushups, abs.

Aug 16: Sugarloaf Road, solo, straight up on the way out, then back down. 7mi, 49 mins; travel back to MN

Aug 17: off

Aug 18: pounded 7 mi solo.

Aug 19: off, travel to Notre Dame (Indiana)

Aug 20: trail run 8 mi, 50 mins. felt great. one of my favorite runs.

Week Total: 46 miles, 5 runs

(Ed. Watson writes - Boulder was not only great altitude training but also the perfect release Ineeded between work and school. Everything is progressing according toschedule at this point. I took it easy this past week to ensure that I amhungry coming into the long season.)

For the week of : 08/21/2000

Aug 21: am: Riverside w/ the team. first official practice. nice day. 61mins plus strides; 10 mi. pm: Hi-C loop, 4.5 mi, 28 mins. w/ Conway,Zanderson. felt good after first 10 mins.

Aug 22: warmup, workout: 2 mi, 3*1 mi @ 10:22, 5:04, 5:04, 4:57 at BoehmPark; cool down. felt fine, controlling. hot and humid. 12 miles

Aug 23: am: Holy Cross/St. Mary's College loop w/ Conway, Z. 4.5 mi, 27mins. pm: SMC trails to Clay Park, 74 mins, plus strides, 12.5 mi; UBweights

Aug 24: long warmup, 3 mile FCR (fast continuous run): 14:35 (5:00, 4:55,4:40), cool down. very hot out. 10 mi.

Aug 25: am: Lakes, Stepan field w/ Z. 3.5 mi, 23 mins. pm: Sun Loop pluscampus loop. pounded moderately. 70 mins. plus strides, 12.5 mi; UB weights

Aug 26: warmup, Hi-C Relays (3*2100m) hot, humid. felt good, in control.wore spikes for the first time this year.

Aug 27: Renke's loop w/ R. Shay. comfortably fast. 13.5 mi, 76 mins.Week Total: 94 miles, 10 runs.

(Ed. Watson writes - The first week went well. We started classes on the 22nd. It looks like alot of guys put in very solid summers of running. I am excited to see howthe season progresses...)

For the week of : 08/28/2000

Mon 8/28: am 4 mi 28 mins. pm West Side, started easy, finished harder. Thru 10 mi @ 59:20. 72 minsplus strides, total 12.5 mi. UB weights.

Tues 8/29: warmup, 4*1 mile at Wilson Park (steep hills), 5:04, 5:15, 5:06,5:02; cool down. Recovered well in between intervals. 11 miles.

Wed 8/30: am run to pool, swim, run back; 30 mins total. pm Holy Cross, SMC trails w/ Marc, easy. 64:00 plus strides, 10.5 mitotal. plus strides.

Thu 8/31: warmup, 4 mile tempo (20:46), cool down. Felt easy, comfortable.10 miles.

Fri 9/01: am 4.5 mi 29 mins. felt good. pm Hi-C Loop, plus add-on, 72:00, plus strides, 11.5 miles. UB weights.

Sat 9/02: Pounded HC, SMC trails. 57:00, 9.5 miles.

Sun 9/03: Bertrand Loop. Ran with group for first 5mi, then pounded solo.17+ miles.

Weekly totals: 91 miles, 9 runs.

For the week of : 09/04/2000

(Ed. Watson writes - Objectives for the week: Increase mileage slightly. Increase workoutintensity. Train through the first race, a small invitational at ValparaisoUniversity.)

Mon. 9/04:

am lakes, Stepan fields, 4.5 mi, 27:00.

pm West Side w/ Marc, Shay, hit 10 mi @ 58:20, tired thru 20 mins then feltbetter. Fast at end. 71:00, plus strides, 12.5 mi; UB weights.

Tue. 9/05: warmup, workout: 2mi, 3*1mi: 9:17, 4:36, 4:33, 4:27, cooldown.

felt very good, strong. windy conditions, on the track. total 12 mi.

Wed. 9/06:

am Howard St., St. Joe Loop. 4 mi, 26:00.

pm SMC trails to Clay Pk. not great, not bad. 75:00 plus strides, 12.5 mi.

UB weights.

Thu. 9/07:

Riverside, Downtown Run. felt good. 39:00 plus strides (feltfast), 6.5 mi.

Fri. 9/08:

am solo Hi-C Loop, 31:00, 5 mi. felt fresh.

pm warmup, Valpo Invite, cooldown. Stuck with frosh until 2.5-3 mi, thenwent after the leaders. Controlled but decent effort. Went out way slow.

(5:08, 10:24, 15:15, 20:20), 25:08.

Sat. 9/09: SMC trails to Clay Pk to Clay HS, Lakes. Pounded w/ Shay.

Feltsurprisingly good. 70:00, 12 mi.

Sun. 9/10: Clay Pk, St. Pat's, and back to campus. Pounded w/ Shay. 118:00(1h57min), 20 mi. Pretty tough.

Weekly Total: 100 miles, 10 runs.

For the week of : 09/11/2000

(Ed. Watson writes - Weekly Objectives: Continue building base, tough workout Tuesday, adjusttoincreasingly tough academics.)

Mon. 9/11

am Lakes, Stepan w/ Zee. 28:00, 4.5 mi

pm West Side w/ Keane, Mobley. 10mi @ 60:45. felt awful, slow. pouringrain.

75:00, 12 mi.

Tues. 9/12

warmup, workout, cooldown. workout = 1200, 4mi FCR, 1200 continuous, then rest, then 1600. went 3:30, 20:45, 3:28, 4:28. Total 12 mi. plus UBweights

Wed. 9/13

am HC, SMC loop w/ Z. 27:00, 4 mi. felt pretty decent.

pm SMC trails to Clay Park, plus lake w/ Marc, Conway, Lennon, 75:00, plus strides, 12.5 mi. felt good.

Thu. 9/14

pm Downtown - River - Northshore run w/ Shay. Nice run, perfect weather,felt good. 74:00 plus strides, 12.5 mi, plus UB weights.

pm Night run HC Drive. 27:00, 4 mi.

Fri. 9/15

warmup, 2mi, 2*1mi at Wilson Park. 10:01, 4:54, 4:55. cooldown. total 10.5 mi.

Sat. 9/16

Deep trails from Dome. easy, nice. 65:00, 10 mi.

Sun. 9/17

Clay Park to St. Pat's, back to campus w/ Shay. Pounded, felt great. 1h55min. 20 mi.

Weekly total: 102 miles, 10 runs

For the week of : 09/18/2000

(Ed. Watson writes - Objectives: Train through this week's meet again, maintain consistency.)

Mon. 9-18

am HC-SMC run solo, 21:00 3.5 mi.

pm West Side w/Marc, pounded at end. 10mi @ 57:40, felt great. 71:00 plus strides, 12.5 mi. UB weights.

Tue. 9-19

warmup, 5*1mile on golf course, 4:52, 4:45, 4:45, 4:40, 4:46, cooldown. felt sluggish on first one. hot, humid. total 12.5mi.

Wed. 9-20

am HC, SMC solo 30:00 5 mi.

pm Portage solo to Clay Pk. stomping. 67:00 10.5 mi.

Thu. 9-21

course jog, 47:00 plus strides, 7.5mi.

Fri. 9-22

am Hi-C loop, hammered in middle of run w/ Z. 38:00 6 mi.

pm warmup, National Catholic meet at home, cooldown. 24:56 held a lot back, ran with teammates. total 12 mi.

Sat. 9-23

Portage to Clay Pk, Clay HS, lake. pretty quick. 12 mi.

Sun. 9-24

Bertrand, Riverside w/ Marc, Shay. Fast, tough the whole way. 1h47min, 18.5mi.

Weekly totals: 100 miles, 10 runs.

For the week of : 09/25/2000

(Ed. Watson writes - Wanted to get in a big week this week becasue the next 2 weeks are race weeks, but came down with a slight calf strain and took a day off. Pretty consistent otherwise. Ran two of the best workouts of my life.)

Mon. 9-25

am SMC run 27:00, 4.5 mi.

pm West Side easy, 10 mi @ 62:40, calves tight, 76:00 plus strides. 12.5 mi. UB weights.

Tue. 9-26

warmup, workout, cooldown. workout = continuous 1600, 4mi, 1600; rest, 1000, rest, 800 @ 4:37, 20:49, 4:28, 2:43, 2:04. Very well done. Felt great. total 13 mi.

Wed. 9-27

am Northshore solo, 29:00, 4.5 mi.

pm SMC trails to Clay Pk, Juniper w/ Avenius. felt good, nice day. 75:00, plus strides, 12.5 mi. UB weights.

Thu. 9-28

Riverside to Portage backwards, SMC lower loop. 76:00 plus strides, total 12.5 mi.

Fri. 9-29

am Lakes, Stepan, lake kind of fast at end. 27:00 4 mi.

pm warmup, 5*1 mile, cooldown at Wilson Park. 4:55, 4:50, 4:51, 4:54, 4:51. Awesome!

Sat. 9-30

off - easy biking

Sun. 10-01

am Clay, St. Pat's w/ Keane. Moderate 90:00, plus Maxwell strides, 15.5 mi.

pm pounded w/ Pat 22:00 4 mi

Weekly total 95 miles, 10 runs

For the week of : 10/02/2000

Mon. 10-02

am HC, SMC loop 26:00, 4 mi.

pm West Side, plus laps on track. 10mi @ 59:45. felt good. 74:00 plus strides, 13 mi. UB weights.

Tue. 10-03

workout = 3*(mile, 800): 4:43, 2:18, 4:44, 2:20, 4:43, 2:17 on golf course. did not feel good. total 11.5 mi.

Wed. 10-04

am solo lake, SMC, HC easy 25:00, 4 mi.

pm SMC trails to Clay park, 72:00 plus strides, total 11.5 mi. UB weights.

Thu. 10-05

course jog, 34:00, plus strides, 5.5 mi.

Fri. 10-06

am Lakes 16:00, 2 mi.

pm Notre Dame Invitational, 5mi, 23:56, 1st. felt great.

Sat. 10-07

solo trails to FCR loop, red bridge, trails. cold. 12.5 mi.

Sun. 10-08

am track to St. Pat's, loop, and back. 90:00, 15 mi.

pm solo deep trails 8.5 mi.

Weekly totals: 100 miles, 11 runs.

For the week of : 10/09/2000

Mon. 10-09

am HC, SMC w/ Zee. pretty quick. 27:00, 4.5 mi.

pm West Side w/ Shay. Hammered! Found out that the 10 mi mark is actually 10.1. Hit it in 52:34 today. Tough. 66:00, plus strides, total 13 mi. UB weights.

Tue. 10-10

workout = mile, mile, half, half: 4:42, 4:40, 2:15, 2:12. on golf course. legs tired. total 10.5 mi.

Wed. 10-11

am Northshore. nice. 29:00, 4.5 mi.

pm SMC trails to Clay Park, plus laps on track. 75:00, plus strides, 12.5 mi. UB weights.

Thu. 10-12

deep trails 60:00, plus 6*200m. total 11 mi.

Fri. 10-13

Ames course jog, 43:00 plus strides, 6.5 mi.

Sat. 10-14

am shake-out

am Pre-Nationals 10k, 30:52, 4th. not bad.

Sun. 10-15

Clay Park- St. Pat's- campus w/ Shay. 1h56min, 20 mi.

Weekly totals: 96 miles, 9 runs.

For the week of : 10/16/2000

(Ed. Watson writes - This week is fall break, so with reduced pressure from school, we crank it up at our camp in rural Michigan. Had a great week in both volume and intensity, had a slight bout of tendinitis in the ankle, but nothing major. )

Mon. 10-16

am Roadrunner Open at Southwestern Michigan College 21:00, 3.5 mi

pm Cannon's Trails 75:00 plus strides, 11.5 mi

Tue. 10-17

am 25:00 on dirt road, 4 mi.

pm Big Bertha to Ox Tail, 75:00 plus strides, 12.5 mi.

Wed. 10-18

am Workout (on rolling dirt road): 3mi, 4*half: 14:01, 2:12, 2:05, 2:12, 2:06. Nice. Legs a bit tired as expected. total 12 mi.

pm easy run Cabin 3 25:00, 4 mi.

Thu. 10-19

am Bertha to Ox Tail, at dawn. 71:00, 12 mi.

Fri. 10-20

am HC, SMC loop, 27:00, 4 mi.

pm Sun Loop plus campus and track loop. pounded w/ Sean, Pat, Marc. 74:00 plus strides, 13 mi. UB weights.

Sat. 10-21

am Workout: 1600, 4*800, 1600 (on track): 4:32, 2:18, 2:21, 2:18, 2:17, 4:21. Holding back. Felt great.

pm NorthShore solo 28:00, 4.5 mi.

Sun. 10-22

Clay Park- St. Pat's 92:00 pretty quick, plus Maxwell strides, total 16 mi.

Weekly totals: 109 miles, 12 runs.

For the week of : 10/23/2000

(Ed. Watson writes - This week we back off a bit to recover from the camp for the Big East Championships. Academics are tough this week, adding some stress. )

Mon. 10-23

am HC, SMC loop 4 mi 27:00

pm West Side w/ Marc, Shay, Mishka, 10mi @ 59:50, felt good, 73:00 plus strides, 12.5 mi. UB weights

Tue. 10-24

workout = 1600, 1200, 1000, 800: 4:46, 3:28, 2:47, 1:58. did not feel good but still held a lot back. humid day. total 10 mi.

Wed. 10-25

SMC solo trails 55:00, 9 mi.

Thu. 10-26

course jog at Franklin Park, Boston. 33:00, plus strides, 5.5 mi.

Fri. 10-27

Big East Championships. felt flat. no energy. 23:44, 7th place. total 12 mi.

Sat. 10-28

SMC solo 60:00, 9.5 mi.

Sun. 10-29

St. Pat's Park- pounded solo. 76:00 plus Maxwell strides, total 13 mi.

Weekly total 76 miles, 8 runs.

For the week of : 10/30/2000

Mon. 10-30

am easy 4 mi, 27:00

pm West Side w/ Pat, Marc, Shay felt great, nice day. 10mi @ 55:35. 68:00 plus strides, total 13 mi. UB weights.

Tues. 10-31

workout = 2*Mile, half, 2*Mile, half on golf course. 4:48, 4:48, 2:18, 4:40, 4:47, 2:17. felt pretty good. short recovery.

Wed. 11-01

am SMC, HC backwards loop. 27:00, 4.5 mi

pm easy SMC trails to Clay Pk., plus laps on track. 75:00, plus strides, 12.5 mi. UB weights.

Thu. 11-02

trails to Red Bridge w/ Shay. 62:00 plus strides, 10.5 mi

Fri. 11-03

am HC, SMC solo 26:00, 4 mi.

pm workout - 3000m, 1000m: 8:11.2, 2:28-mid

Sat. 11-04

"Brix Hwy" from Michigan state meet w/ Shay. hilly, windy, cold. 62:00, 10.5 mi

Sun. 11-05

Portage to Clay Pk, add-on. 75:00, 12 mi.

Weekly totals: 90 miles, 10 runs.

For the week of : 11/06/2000

Mon. 11-06

am solo 27:00, 4.5 mi

pm West Side, awful, windy, raining. 69:00 plus strides, 11.5 mi. UB weights.

Tue. 11-07

workout: 5*1000m: 2:54, 2:54, 2:53, 2:53, 2:53. felt great.

Wed. 11-08

am solo loop fast, 25:00, 4 mi.

pm trails to Clay Park, 69:00, nice pace, felt good. plus strides, 12 mi, plus UB weights.

Thu. 11-09

Riverside - SMC solo, windy, raining- yuck. 49:00, 7.5 mi.

Fri. 11-10

easy course jog at Ypsilanti, 43:00, plus strides, 6.5 mi.

Sat. 11-11

am shake-out

am Great Lakes Region 10k

Sun. 11-12

HC, SMC trails 55:00, 9 mi.

Weekly total: 78 miles, 9 runs.

For the week of : 11/13/2000

Mon. 11-13

am Lakes w/ Zee. 16:00, 2.5 mi

pm Portage to Clay Park, dark, cold, windy, solo. 64:00, 10 mi.

Tue. 11-14

workout: 2*mile on golf course: 4:40, 4:59

Wed. 11-15

am HC drive to ND Ave. 17:00, 2.5 mi.

pm Downtown- IUSB- Northshore run w/ Shay. 70:00, 12 mi.

Thu. 11-16

SMC lower, deep trails 52:00, plus strides 8.5 mi.

Fri. 11-17

am HC drive, 15:00, 2 mi.

pm workout: 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400: 3:30, 2:53, 2:15, 1:36, 55.4

Sat. 11-18

course jog at Ames 43:00, plus strides, 6.5 mi

Sun. 11-19

windy, cold, slow run in Ames, 30:00 plus strides total 5 mi.

Weekly total 67 miles, 10 runs

For the week of : 11/20/2000

Mon. 11-20

am shake-out

am NCAA Championships 10k

(Editors Note - Luke completed an exceptional season with a seventh place finish at the NCAA championships. Many thanks to Luke for sharing his season with us. He has affirmed that he is one of America's bright hopes for the future...)

Luke Watson Track 2003.....

Luke Watson of Notre Dame

I don’t really know what this journal will consist of. For now, I’m going to start with mostly running-related ramblings. I’ve basically been running high volume, moderate intensity all fall and winter so far. The more intense speed work is starting now. The background for this training is 13+ weeks at 90+ miles with hill work and threshold work, as well as VO2 intervals when I was able to run with the cross country team.

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

Slept in today as I normally do on Wednesdays, since I have no class. Ran to the indoor track (“Loftus”) and did plyos and hurdle drills there.

The team meets at 3:30 every afternoon. Wednesdays are almost always just a distance day, since our hardest workouts are on Tuesdays. Yesterday was one of the best workouts of my life (16x400 @ 60 with 90s rest) and I ran pretty easy today. It would have been tough to run much faster, since it was so snowy. I ran 76:00 on the trails at St. Mary’s College (SMC), much of it with [freshman Vinny] Ambrico. Also did strides.

Thursday, January 23

I felt atrocious today. Legs were tired and sore and my stomach would not settle during the run. Add in some pounding snow and this run was awful. Pieced together a few different parts of runs, then came in and finished on the track with [senior and girlfriend Jen] Handley, which was the only good part of the run. Then did 3*(300, 200) 3k and mile pace with 50s rest.

Friday, January 24

Again, it was snowy out so I jogged 30:00 in Loftus after a group meeting for one of my classes. My inner hamstring/ calf has been hurting, but I think it’s just from slipping in the snow. [It] Doesn’t really hurt when I run.

At night, we ran a dual meet with Ball State. I ran the mile, and since my next 4 weekends are going to be filled with some tough racing, coach [Joe] Piane and I decided to take it pretty easy tonight. I came through the half in 2:08, just sitting in about 4th place, then hit the next splits in 3:08 and 4:08.31 for the win. Felt pretty good about this, because I didn’t feel like I was straining at all despite running on very tired legs. My arms seemed to be doing a lot of the work tonight. ND guys went 1-4 in this race, which was fun to see, along with some good early-season performances in other events. I then cooled down for 30:00 in Loftus.

Saturday, January 25

Ran 87:00 Portage to FCR loop solo in the morning. I was going to go shorter and do a morning run* later, but I felt good, so I just went a little longer now. The roads weren’t too snowy and I was probably running 5:40 pace for most of it.

* Morning runs aren’t necessarily done in the morning, and they aren’t necessarily a run. The term just means a second bout of activity for the day. Generally, I’ll do plyos twice a week, and a third or fourth actual run as my morning runs.

Sunday, January 26

Well, what do you know—it snowed again. This has been the coldest, snowiest winter I have seen in my 5 years in South Bend. [Sophomore Sean] O’Donnell and I ran 90:00 Portage to FCR loop, because we figured the roads would be least snowy on this loop. I finished the last 7:00 in Loftus. I was a little mad at myself for not sleeping well last night and eating terribly today (Super Bowl), but that sort of thing is rare for me and I intend to keep it that way.

Weekly total: 101 miles.

I’m looking forward to the Adidas Boston Indoor Games this Saturday. I’ll be racing a 3000m against some of the nation’s and world’s best. I feel like I’m in excellent shape and ready to bust out a great one. This weekend will set off a demanding string of races: Feb. 1 Adidas - 3000m; Feb. 8 - Meyo Mile; Feb. 15 - USA 4k cross; Feb. 22-23 - Big East Indoor. I have a huge base under me, and I’m really looking forward to doing what I enjoy most about the sport: racing.

Wednesday, January 29

Took the morning off since I have been feeling like I’m about to catch a cold. Slept in and then pounded the Vitamin C, zinc, Echinacea, and chicken soup. I think laying off the plyos will also help me get my legs back for a good effort on Saturday.

Afternoon: Pounded IUSB loop with [junior Todd] Mobley, [fifth-year senior Marc] Striowski, O’Donnell, and [sophomore Ryan] Johnson. 71:00. It was a nice sunny day, and Mobley was just hammering along the river; this was fairly tough. I then finished with strides.

Thursday, January 30

Ran easy SMC loop, 37:00. Felt like junk. Finished with 3*(300, 200) and felt no better. Rest was 50s and pace was relaxed, like 46 and 29. My throat was really sore today, especially at night. I continued on the anti-cold protocol.

Friday, January 31

Flew into Providence, RI this morning. Coach Piane stayed behind with the rest of the team, since they have a dual meet tonight. Running from the hotel, it was misty, foggy, windy, and damp, with nowhere to run. The hotel was on your standard 4-lane highway of fast-food joints and other bastions of consumerism, complemented by some of the worst traffic I’ve seen at all times of the day. So I would just get onto a side road somewhere and be fine, right? Nope. The side streets all ended about 3 blocks past the highway, making for an awful run. Thankfully, it was only 31:00 and I was just glad to get it over with.

Saturday, February 1

Race day. Took a shake-out jog after watching the ND basketball team defeat Georgetown in double-overtime. All I’ve done on this trip is watch TV and read a book (Sports in America, by James Michener, an outdated but worthwhile read on professional sports). That’s fairly typical of racing trips. Met up with coach and drove to Boston, where I chilled and watched a few races. Took a warm-up jog with Dan Wilson. The last few minutes pre-race were pretty crazy; the organizers were really pressing the athletes to get on the track a couple minutes early, probably because we were the last event. This frenzied rush was just the beginning… once the gun went off, it was a fury of elbows, spikes, and fighting for position. I started about where I wanted, running consistent 63’s in plenty of traffic. After the mile, though, I suddenly found myself fairly alone, and I relaxed after hitting the split that I wanted. This was the critical mistake. I should have attacked and tried to throw down a couple 61’s or 62’s; instead, I fell asleep and put in two 65’s. Splits: 63, 63, 63, 63, 65, 65, 63, 30 for 7:55.7 and 10th in the race.

My cool down was a 10 minute jog with Wilson and another 10 minutes of hammering solo, as I sometimes do after a dissatisfying performance.

Sunday, February 2

Flew back to South Bend and ran 71:00, Riverside to Red Bridge solo. My calves were fairly sore, mainly because I ran the race in mid-distance spikes. Running after traveling is awful; it was good just to get this run out of the way.

Weekly total: 75 miles. A little lower than I expected due to getting a cold mid-week, having only 1 morning run, and having no long run.

Monday, February 3

Plyos and hurdle drills in Loftus at 11am. West Side with [freshman Tim] Moore in the afternoon. The weather was 50 degrees, raining, and very foggy. The snowmelt kept my feet soaked and heavy the whole way, but I felt pretty good. The warm weather made for a rather pleasant run. Tim was pressing the pace a little bit, but I managed to remain pretty comfortable throughout. After a slow first 12 minutes, I hit 10.1mi @ 56:15. Total of 69:00 plus strides.

Tuesday, February 4

Coach gave us another fairly easy workout today—he doesn’t want us to be tired out for the weekend’s races. 1000, 2*600 (4:00 rest), 4*200 (50s rest). 2:33.2, 1:28.8, 1:26.2, 28.0, 27.7, 27.5, 27.5. This was not hard. I’m looking forward to doing some longer interval sessions, but the focus for the next week and a half is racing.

After the workout, some track guys, including myself, were roped into doing a video shoot for some kind of NCAA compliance video. Honestly, this was one of the dumbest things ever. They kept us sitting around for 20 minutes to shoot a video about “extra benefits.” Like I’ve ever even been offered an extra benefit. If you’re making this video to send to alumni so they don’t give the football players any “extra benefits,” make the football players do the video shoot. NCAA rules simply do not apply to (most) track athletes. Further, a rules-based system is always going to have problems, whether it pertains to extra benefits, Title IX, income taxes, financial accounting, etc, etc. Every situation is different, and for every rule there is a loophole. Rules will never achieve sustainable desired results in any of the above fields. What do they achieve? For one, I end up wasting my time shooting videos, sitting through “Rules Education” days, and hearing the same contrived rules that have never applied to me, and never will apply to me, so that a University can cover its ass and a cartel (the NCAA) can survive by disallowing athletes any personal profit while simultaneously exploiting the athletes for the financial gain of both the university and the NCAA. Understand that I’m grateful for every penny of scholarship money that I’ve received, and every experience I’ve gained, but the NCAA is sometimes inefficient, unnecessary, and wasteful.

The real reason I did the video shoot was that the Associate AD who roped us into doing it also happens to be a T.A. of sorts for my Sports Business class, so I wanted get on his good side. Could a good grade in that class be an “extra benefit”?

Wednesday, February 5

Plyos and hurdle drills at Loftus in the morning. Afternoon: IUSB with Striowski, Mobley, [freshman Tom] Longo, and [graduate student Mike Rusnell] “Tech”, finishing in Loftus 72:00 plus strides. Hammered for about 1.5 miles in the middle after getting a strange cramp in my foot which caused me to have to stop and adjust my shoe, then run 5-minute pace to catch the group. After dinner, spent about 2 hours at the dining hall, just carrying on with the guys as usual. Our dining hall conversations are completely irreverent to everything and everyone… and that’s why they can be so much fun. Tonight’s topics: Mobley’s bitterness, why old men get angrier and old women get happier, and much more.

Thursday, February 6

Ran part of East Race with the milers, then returned to campus and did lakes solo. 52:00, then did 6x200 at 28 with 50s rest. I was not really trying to run that fast on the 200’s, it just happened. I was a little sore from hitting plyos hard yesterday.

Friday, February 7

Did a 15:00 morning shake-out just to loosen things up. I wasn’t more than a minute into it, going down a very gradual downhill and making a right turn on pavement with a dusting of snow over it, when all of a sudden WHAM! The pavement just took me out. I stepped on a patch of sheer ice, frozen from Monday’s rain, and my feet just slipped out from under me. For a few seconds I thought I had broken my hip. It could have been worse… an icy snow bank prevented my head from slamming into the pavement. After a few moments of seeing stars, I shook it off and continued, but my hip is still sore. Thankfully, the bone hurts, not the muscle. Again, this winter is the worst.

Ran 32:00 in the afternoon at St. Mary’s. Finished with some strides in Loftus. I’m still a little tight from the plyos and the fall. After practice, Jen came over and I cooked up some chicken and pasta, then we headed over to watch our teammates in the 5000 and DMR. On the men’s side, we had several PR’s, and everyone who ran qualified for Big East. Things are off to a good start.

Saturday, February 8

Awoke at 9:45am and went for a 12:00 shakeout. My hip was sore all night. At one point I woke up because it was painful to sleep on. Today it’s still sore, but again, the hip flexors and everything feel all right, just the bone is really sore. My upper abs are the only muscles that are sore- I must have tightened them when I fell. All this is annoying, and about the last thing I need on race day, but it feels decent when I’m jogging.

Picked up my parents at the airport. They were able to fly in for the day, since my mother works for Northwest Airlines and we get free travel.

Arrived at the meet to watch the 3000’s, then warmed up with my teammates [freshman Eric] Morrison and [junior Kevin] Somok. I was pretty anxious for the race to start. Four minutes is just such an objective standard that it seemed like there were only two possible outcomes: one, I break 4 and succeed; and two, I don’t break 4 and fail. Compare the outcome of running 3:59.99 to 4:00.00. When else does .01 make all the difference in the world?

Finally, it was race time. The gun sounded and I got out perfectly in 29 thru 200m and ¼ mile in about 58-59. The leaders had some distance on me, and would have it for the first 1200m. I didn’t think about anything, just got in a groove and competed, letting the group tow me along while moving up a position every couple hundred meters. Passed ½ mile in 1:59-2:00 and picked it up, hitting ¾ in 2:58-59. At that point, only the lead pack of [Boaz] Cheboiywo, [Nick] Willis, [Nate] Brannen, and [Ian] Connor were ahead of me. I used the penultimate homestretch to move on them, and sat right behind them. At this point, the crowd was forming a roaring tunnel on both sides of the track – awesome. With a half-lap (161m) remaining, I began a sprint to the line. I moved past the whole group, just inching by Brannen in a stride-for-stride stretch battle. Crossing the line, I knew I’d broken 4:00. The timer told me my time and I took a victory lap; the field house was going berserk.

The first hour or two post-race was exuberant. Congratulations from everyone, autographs, etc. It really blew me away. I’ve had some good performances in the past, but nothing has been NEARLY this well-received. That’s the general public for you. Suppose I had run 3:35 for 1500 or 13:15 for 5000: it would have been like ‘yeah, nice race Luke’, but few people would understand the significance of such a performance. Today, I break the 4:00 mile, and it’s somehow earth-shattering.

One of the best things about this weekend was how great the entire team competed. Our mile group had PR’s across the board (6 guys out of 6) to join a host of others. Sophomore Eric Morrison’s 4:01 was outstanding, and would have won the vast majority of races this season. Junior Kevin Somok continues to improve and impress. A huge thank-you goes to those guys, as well as freshman Vinny Ambrico, for pushing me in practice, and finally, Todd Mobley, who did an outstanding job making the early pace.

I managed a 40 minute cooldown, feeling great. Got home and geared up to attend the night’s festivities, but kept it pretty low-key.

Sunday, February 9

Back to the office. Consistency is the key to successful distance running. My high school coach (who really is much more than just a high school coach, and will coach the USA Junior National Team at the World Cross meet in March), Scott Christensen, always told me (and I paraphrase), “you can’t let your highs get too high, nor your lows too low. Keep the race on your mind for one night, then get up the next day and get back to training.” To that end, I woke up with a 14-miler, Riverside to FCR loop solo from Campus View. Afterwards, sat courtside for half of the hoops game in which ND took down Pitt. There was a cool announcement about my mile race during one of the TV timeouts.

Weekly total: 87 miles. Looking forward to USA Cross on Saturday in Houston.

Monday, February 10

Plyos and hurdle drills in the morning at Loftus. Checked my e-mail in the afternoon, and my inbox is blowing up. The response to the mile is insane.

It was snowing really hard today, so I ended up running 3x St. Mary’s loop with Striowski, Ambrico, and [sophomore Ryan} Johnson. Finished on campus and in Loftus, 73:00, plus strides.

Went to my Sports Business class at night and began to feel somewhat disenchanted with track as it would relate to one of the “Big Four” professional sports. Our speaker tonight, the president of the Indianapolis Colts, was telling us that the minimum salary for an NFL player is $250 large. That means Alan Webb, the highest-paid American I know of, is making about the same amount of cash as some no-name NFL player who rides the pine all season. Unbelievable. Track and field has just failed to capitalize on the public in this country. Compare golf and running. I attended the PGA Championships this summer as a perk from my internship firm, who incidentally paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to share a hospitality tent with another firm. That’s right, about $1M per tent, and there was an entire village of these tents. There are millions of casual golfers out there, and it’s safe to imagine that there’s a casual runner or two for every casual golfer. The PGA has captured the casual-golfing public, and with them, corporate America’s FAT pocketbook. Yet elite track has gone largely unnoticed by the running public, and has thus failed to attract the money from corporate America. USATF should model itself more like the PGA.

Tuesday, February 11

Had a good workout today. Mile, 1500, ¾ mile, 1000, 800, 2x200 with 3:30-4:00 rest on all but the 200’s (55s rest). Went 4:26, 4:07, 3:14, 2:39, 2:02, 27.7, 27.6. It was good to get back to some strength work and I felt pretty good doing it, although my throat has been congested since Saturday. Everyone on the team is a little sick. These things happen because we all live in such close quarters. Speaking of close quarters, the University is doing some major construction in our locker room, and the contractors had set up scaffolding and all kinds of building materials in front of the entrance to the showers. So we had to weave our way through this obstacle course to get to the showers. Then, showering, we realize that there is an open door directly across the room from the showers (normally there would be a wall there, but they knocked the wall down and it’s just open space now). Anyone who walked past the hallway could have just glanced through the open door and seen about a dozen skinny, naked men showering. After a workout, though, we’re all pretty tired and don’t care enough to go back through the obstacle course and close that door. So we showered with the door open.

Wednesday, February 12

The usual plyos and hurdle drills at Loftus in the morning.

This afternoon’s run was done solo, a little early, because I have a live TV interview later in the afternoon. Ran Riverside to Red Bridge from CV, 71:00, plus strides at Loftus. The interview was pretty cool; it’s amazing how well the anchors work in the live environment, timing everything perfectly. I guess that’s what they’re paid to do, so they’d better be capable. I think I did a decent job, but haven’t yet seen the tape.

Thursday, February 13

Ran IUSB (incidentally, that stands for Indiana University at South Bend, but it’s the name of our run that goes past there) with a big group. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, with temps in the mid 20’s, and our pace was relaxed, making this run pleasant. Another thing that was pleasant was that we were running up Ironwood, a busy street, when a car with a couple of high-school-looking girls was driving past us. The girl in the passenger seat liked us so much that she whipped out her left boob to show us her appreciation for our hard work. Good times. 65:00 plus strides. Did an ESPN radio interview live from the local Chili’s, then got take-out and hung out at Jen’s place. Seeing as I leave tomorrow, this is the closest we’ll get to a Valentine’s dinner.

Friday, February 14

Figure-8 campus lakes solo from CV. 32:00, solo and pretty easy. Ran a bunch of errands and flew to Houston. Was a little dismayed that I didn’t get to see the course, because I hear it’s a bear. I’ll find out tomorrow.

Saturday, February 15

Up at 8:30 and took a shakeout jog, ate my standard oatmeal and a banana. The weather is drizzly and warm (maybe 60-65 degrees). Got to the course, and it’s every bit as muddy as people have made it out to be. The mud is a thin, slippery, wet mud, and there’s standing water all around. The hills are impassible without spikes.

All this makes for great cross country. From everything I’d heard, the key to running 4km cross is to get out hard and stay there. That’s precisely what I did, running in the top 6 the whole way and kicking for 3rd. The race didn’t hurt a bit until I had 1000m to go, at which point it was almost over anyway. Strange. Given that it was my first cross race at 4km, I think I executed well, but I probably should have focused more on my actual place than on just qualifying.

Sunday, February 16

Tim [Moore] awoke at 5:45 to get going for his 10:00 race. I was in bed, not really sleeping but not really awake, from then until 8:00. I then joined a huge group (15 or 20 of us) of 4km men for a long run. We ran out on the Buffalo Bayou to some trails that Brad Hauser knew of, called Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh. I was really glad that Hauser was there to show us the way, or this run could really have been awful.

Weekly total: 85 miles. Next up: Big East Indoor in Syracuse, Saturday and Sunday.

Monday, February 17

Slept so well last night, a quality 10.5 hours. I needed it after yesterday’s early wake-up. Plyos and hurdle drills in the morning.

Monday, February 17

Slept so well last night, a quality 10.5 hours. I needed it after yesterday’s early wake-up. Plyos and hurdle drills in the morning. Ran West Side with Tim. Today, I was the one dragging him along (he just raced yesterday). Hit 10.1 @ 54:55 after a slow first 12 mins. Total 67:00, plus strides.

Tuesday, February 18

After the usual hectic Tuesday/ Thursday class routine, I got in a solid workout. ¾ mile, 5:00, 1000m, 5:00, 800m, 2:45, 4x200m (50s). The times: 3:13.5, 2:33.9, 1:58.4, 27-mids. This workout felt great. I led all of it.

Wednesday, February 19

Plyos and hurdle drills at Loftus in the morning. Took on a new route in the afternoon, called Sunnyside. Not a bad run, only problem was that it turned out to be really short… did a bunch of add-ons to arrive at 74:00. Strides.

Thursday, February 20

Woke up with Riverside to Red Bridge 68:00 solo. Scrambled over to campus and left for the Big East Championships in Syracuse.

Friday, February 21

Found out today that there are no mile trials tomorrow, so I ran 62:00, the last 15:00 being pretty feisty, and did some strides on that bumpy, hard, short, beat-out surface that Syracuse calls a track.

Saturday, February 22

Ran 32:00 with O’Donnell in the pouring rain, and did some strides outside. Mostly just vegged out in the hotel as usual. If you’re a high school runner reading this and looking forward to meets all over the country, you’ll quickly find out that the travel is mostly just a lot of time in hotels. Some trips, though, can be really cool, especially if the racing is done with a day or two to spare. It’s always fun just hanging out with the team, even if we do nothing special. Trips are like our ridiculous dining hall conversations, but they last for days on end.

Sunday, February 23

Ran the mile at 12:30. It was your typical Big East race, going out ridiculously slow and coming down to a kick in the last 600m. There was a lot of shoving, and unfortunately one of the better runners in the field, Dylan Welsh, fell. Some people, mostly ND haters, are making it out to sound like I “tripped” him. That’s simply not the case. As it was, I got boxed in horribly, and when things started to move with 650 to go, I was trying to get to the front. Stuck behind a teammate of mine and Welsh, I called to my teammate to give me some room. He moved inside a bit and I surged to pass (between the two), giving Welsh a forearm to let him know I was there. Welsh responded with an elbow and a shoulder, cutting me off. This all took place on the homestretch. Entering the turn, I had passed my teammate but Welsh had held me off. We were clear from each other; I was now running behind him. All of a sudden, he goes down. Our contact did not cause his fall, and I tried to tell him that after the race, but he wasn’t hearing it. These things happen in races like that; it could have been anyone that fell.

In between the mile and 3000, I jogged a short (7:00) cooldown, drank a little Gatorade, elevated, and stretched out, then jogged a short warmup and did some strides.

The 3000m went off at 2:00. My teammates and I just wanted to score as many points as possible, and we did a good job with that. Blincoe took the first 1000 out in about 2:37 and had no followers. I was content to let him go. He was fresh for the day and in search of an NCAA qualifying mark. I was coming off the mile and just looking to score some points. I tried to help pull Moore along, and the field strung out rather quickly. Keane materialized with about 1000m to go, and just like Tuesday’s workout we rolled over the last 600 to finish 2-3-4 and seal the team victory.

Big East is more for the coaches than anyone. That’s why the focus is on places. Times are pretty much out the window due to the slow track and all the doubling and tripling that goes on. The coaches love the Big East meet and I’m pretty sure they get a decent bonus for doing well there. As an athlete, yeah it’s kind of nice to win a Big East title, but it’s mainly just another race. I was glad to double, since it would be a better workout.

Weekly total 85 miles. Next week will be a big week of training.

Monday, February 24

The bus rolled in to South Bend at 2:00am. I slept until 10, then did figure-8 lakes from CV, 30:00.

Had a test in the afternoon, then ran Portage to Red Bridge in the snow and wind with [junior] Bucky [Schafer], 72:00 plus strides.

Monday, February 24

The bus rolled in to South Bend at 2:00am. I slept until 10, then did figure-8 lakes from CV, 30:00.

Had a test in the afternoon, then ran Portage to Red Bridge in the snow and wind with [junior] Bucky [Schafer], 72:00 plus strides.

Tuesday, February 25

This week is sort of a strange week, since we raced on Sunday. We’ll be on the track on Thursday. I ran 70:00 Hi-C Trails and campus with Moore, [senior John] Keane, and [junior Brian] Kerwin. My stomach was giving me a lot of trouble and the last 30 minutes were awful.

Wednesday, February 26

Plyos and hurdle drills in the morning.

IUSB with group, 75:00, sunny and nice. Did strides really fast today, just because I felt quick. Spent most of the night studying for yet another test.

Thursday, February 27

Had a couple classes in the morning, then met with Piane and saw that I was in Sports Illustrated Faces in the Crowd. Kind of cool, although I hope to one day be more than a face in the crowd. We talked about the workout, then I went to another class and did a Chicago ESPN Radio interview before rushing over to practice. I had already missed part of the warm-up, but the milers waited a few extra minutes while I warmed up. We proceeded to tear through 5x (500, 300) with 2:15-3:00 rest, averaging 74 and 41. I felt really good about this workout, and it was good to do some fast stuff. The whole group ran well today. My legs are already pretty sore as I write this, 4 hours after the workout. That’s good, though; they haven’t been sore in a while. Went to Chili’s with Jen, which is always a good time despite not getting Sean the server, who has become her best friend because she is there so often.

Friday, February 28

Was up a little early today, getting in plyos before running off to a group meeting for my corporation’s tax class. After the meeting, just basically wasted a whole lot of time on campus and did a little more school work. Afternoon practice was really nice, mainly because we finally had a warmer day (like 38 and sunny). Ran 2x SMC deep trails with Moore, 72:00 plus strides. At dinner, we started a food fight with Huddle and a couple of the frosh girls who were sitting about 5 tables away. Unfortunately, most of the food we threw at them ended up hitting some angry-looking kid who was seated at the table behind them. I’d be pissed off too if, unprovoked, I got hit with rice krispy bars, cereal, hard-boiled egg yolks, and half a pear. Later, I saw Old School with Keane, Jen, and her friend Sarah. Funny movie, might have been even funnier if they didn’t try to make a story out of it. Not an all-time great, but definitely worth seeing.

Saturday, March 1

Moore and I hammered out a new run. Super Portage to Bertrand Rd., then across the river and back past St. Pat’s Park, 97:00. We were moving pretty well the whole time, despite both having tired legs. It was good to get back to a long, hard run and a week without racing. After the run, our team had breakfast at the dining hall, laughing over stories about cocky runners and making fun of some dirtball meathead who was wearing a wife-beater in the DH. At night, went out for a little Mardi Gras fun with a big group of friends.

Sunday, March 2

Ran deep trails with Keane, 74:00. Watched some skiing on TV and then did a fair amount of school work. A typical boring Sunday.

Weekly total: 101 miles. Next weekend is a stacked-up DMR at our home last chance meet (Wilson Invite). I will run the mile leg.

Monday, March 3

Plyos and hurdle drills in the morning.

West Side in the afternoon. Moore and I alternated leading when we felt good, so it worked out pretty well. Hit 10.1 @ 54:30 after a slow first 10 minutes. This was a really fast time considering the gale-force winds blasting us from the north, south, and west. That’s right, the winds can blow in 2, 3, or even 4 directions in this city… usually it’s just out of whatever direction you are running, so that there is a perpetual headwind. Wind chills were about zero.

Tuesday, March 4

I could feel my legs tightening up throughout the day. Saturday and Monday were pretty hard, and I’m feeling it today. My workout was pretty awful just because my legs were so tired. 3x (600, 400) with 2:00 rest at 1:32, 57, 1:30, 57, 1:29, 56. Crappy.

Wednesday, March 5

Plyos and hurdle drills as per usual.

Sunnyside with the group. 57:00 fairly easy, plus strides. Went to a cool Ash Wednesday mass with Conway and Moore at one of the dorms tonight. The dorm masses are unlike any other mass; they are more energetic, more fun, and more inspirational. It had been over a year since I had been to a dorm mass, and I enjoyed going.

Thursday, March 6

Feeling like I am on the brink of getting a slight cold, I skipped my first class and slept in today. I’m back on the protocol of sleep, zinc, and vitamin C. What is more interesting about today is that I found out that my 3000m time from the adidas Boston Indoor Games would not count as an NCAA qualifying mark. Apparently there must be at least 10 events per gender in a meet to enable NCAA qualifying. A rule is a rule, but at the same time, a rule is only a rule. Given that:

a) The intent of the rule is to prevent last-chance “meets” that are really just time trials for one or a few athletes;

b) Athletes were accepted into last year’s NCAA meet using their adidas Boston marks, with the same number of events in the ’02 meet as in the ‘03 meet;

c) Athletes are being accepted into this year’s NCAA meet using their Reno PV Summit marks, with just one event in that meet;

All the marks set at the adidas meet have been reinstated. If anyone needed another example (which, owing to the already preposterous number of examples, no one would), of the NCAA’s inefficiency in governing track and field, this is prime material. By the time I showed up for practice, which is late as usual due to my overzealous Taxes and Business Strategy prof who lets class out 5-10 minutes late everyday, everything was resolved.

Ran an easy 29:00 at St. Mary’s College, then did strides and tried to teach our 400 guy to take a DMR handoff. It might not be pretty…

Friday, March 7

Did errands and some reading to make the day go by. Took a shake-out jog and had some oatmeal, killed a couple more hours and headed to the track. The DMR started out a little weird—it was slow and everyone was bunched up. Morrison (hi 2:57 or low 2:58) did a great job getting to the front and giving [freshman Ryan] Postel a clean handoff. Postel ran better than we expected, turning in a 47-mid split for 440y. He gave [freshman Thomas Chamney] Chammers the stick in the lead and he also did a great job, even though several teams passed him in the last 100-200m. His split was like a 1:51- high. I took the baton in 5th or 6th place probably about 15m behind Boaz. He took off and I was never in contact. As for the rest of the pack, we were all duking it out. I went 59, 2:00, 3:02, and came through in 3:32 with 200 to go so I must have kicked a 27-point last 200, which I feel good about. My split was 4:00.8. My legs felt really flat in this race, probably as a result of the 100 mile week last week and a couple hard days Saturday and Monday. I was expecting the flatness, and plan to take it easy in the next week to be rolling at NCAA’s. Last week’s training will pay off for World Cross.

Saturday, March 8

Ran 59:00 on SMC deep trails. It was a nice day; in fact we exceeded the average temp for this time of year (42 degrees). Whenever it’s nice out I feel pretty good running, and today was no exception. I took it fairly easy, though. Went over to watch day 2 of the meet, and when I came outside it had turned from a nice warm day into a pouring rain. By dinnertime, the rain had stopped and the temps had dropped at least 20 or 30 degrees, forming ice everywhere. I grabbed a burger with the boys at CJ’s (Home of the Super Pub Burger), then attended some festivities. Some of our Wildcat boys made an appearance as well. There was plenty of air-thrusting, DJ Sammy, pong, spading, and BigTymerz, so it was a good time.

Sunday, March 9

Slept in late, then ran Sunnyside solo 60:00 from CV. It was sunny, but the wind chills were below zero, making it one of those runs that you just want to get through. The long-term forecast is calling for 50’s and even 60’s, so I can’t wait until that gets here, especially since we’re now on spring break and most normal people are getting their waste on in sunny Cancun. That’s the price of seeking greatness, and I’m happy to pay it…

Weekly total 74 miles. NCAA’s is next week, holla!

Monday, March 11

Plyos and hurdle drills in the morning at Loftus. Took it a little bit easy.

Ran an easy 55:00 Riverside to Cleveland with Morrison. This run was easy and we followed it up with strides. A group of us went to Jaime Volkmer’s (a Pole Vaulter) for dinner and “The Ring.” It was my second time seeing that movie, and it freaked me out, again.

Tuesday, March 12

Took a shakeout in the morning. Our workout today is short and fast. I started off with a 1000 by myself, going through in 2:05 and then running a 28. Then I took 4:00 rest and the rest of the guys jumped in for a 600 in 1:28, then 3:00 and a 400 in 53.3, then 2:30 and 4x200 in 27-28 with 50s rest. I was pretty pumped about the 400, because it’s fun to run that fast. After the workout we hit up Olive Garden and saw “The Recruit.”

Wednesday, March 13

Travel day to Fayetteville. We did our 35:00 run from their outdoor track, and it was nice because it was 70 degrees and sunny, but the run was more hilly than I wanted for two days before NCAA’s.

Thursday, March 14

Ran 26:00 and did strides at the Tyson Center. Feeling pretty sharp and ready to go. Other than that, this day consisted of wasting time at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Chammers and I spent an hour playing Bond on Xbox in Best Buy.

Friday, March 15

Prelim day. Did the normal routine of a shakeout and lots of time-wasting. The prelim was pretty easy for me. I put myself in the pack and then put on a bit of a kick over the last 250m to qualify easily.

Saturday, March 16

Feeling pretty good after yesterday. Again, the worst part of today is just killing time until the race. Thankfully, about 10 team members came down from school, so they are helping keep me entertained. Once the race started, I wanted to run it in a way similar to the prelim if it was slow. I was prepared for a fast race, too, but that just did not materialize. I felt like I was executing well, but made a couple dramatic errors in the last 300m. First, I was caught in about 4th or 5th place when [Arkansas junior Chris] Mulvaney made his move, and was paying attention to the guys directly ahead of me. They did not really cover the move, and all of a sudden Mulvaney had 10m on us. It all happened within a couple seconds, but it cost the entire race. It was late enough that I should have realized such a scenario was developing and been up front ready to either initiate the surge, or at least cover it. There is a significant first-mover’s advantage in a slow mile race on a 200m track. My second error came at the finish line. The crowd was deafening and I did not hear [Indiana sophomore John] Jefferson creeping up, and was too relaxed in the last 50m. He beat me by 0.02. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being out-kicked, and the closer it is to the finish line, the worse it is. I was livid with myself for letting that one slip.

In the 3000, my legs were pretty flat and the lead pack dropped me, but I maintained and ran even splits to 10th or 11th place, I don’t even know which. I kicked down a couple guys in the last 100m, but when you’re that far back it doesn’t really matter.

After the meet, I went out to dinner with my parents, my brothers Quinn and Jake, and my girlfriend Jen. It was good to see them all and catch up a bit, however briefly. Jen and I returned to meet up with the team. We all went out to a place called 620, where most of the athletes were socializing. After some scoops and some grindstyle, we proceeded to catch a ride to a house party, which started out slow but picked up when more people we know (Big East people and some people I know from home) showed up. Without implicating anyone, here are some funny moments: Cartoons of a “wee kanga” and a Canuck, American Idol, Pole Vault Girl, Arkansas Girl, hopping into a random Xterra, and Mingers.

Sunday, March 16

This was one of the least productive days of my life. We left the hotel at 9:30am, drove to the NW Arkansas Regional Airport, were delayed until 1:00pm, flew to St. Louis, found out our South Bend flight had left and there were no later flights with any available seats, waited until 7pm for an O’Hare flight, got to O’Hare, boarded a bus at 9:30 CST, and arrived in South Bend about 1am EST

Monday, March 17

It was a gorgeous day, 70 and sunny, so I did plyos and hurdle drills at the outdoor track.

Moore and I went West Side in the afternoon, hitting 10.1 @ 54:55. This 68:00 run felt easier than it should have, because the weather was so nice. Finished with strides. Every Monday night, I have a Sports Business class that is 2 hours and 45 minutes long. Tonight, it was stretched to 3 hours 40 minutes. Ouch. That’s a lot of class.

Tuesday, March 18

After a rough day of classes I ran 2x (mile, ¾ mile, 1000m) and 4x200 with the distance guys. Recovery was 2:45, except on the 200’s where I took 50s. Times: 4:28, 3:18, 2:40, 4:32, 3:18, 2:38, 28, 28, 27, 27. I felt like I got a lot done today, and I was leading and/or alone for the entire workout.

Wednesday, March 19

Plyos and hurdle drills on the outdoor track. It wasn’t really nice out, but there was a football scouting function going on inside.

The afternoon run was 2x deep trails, 72:00 in the pouring rain. I spent the night working on a case for my Taxes and Business Strategy class. It’s a fun one, let me tell you.

Thursday, March 20

A gorgeous 65 degree afternoon with lots of sun. Moore, Keane and I ran 2x deep trails again; it’s now my favorite run.

Friday, March 21

Ran 33:00 figure-8 lakes in the morning.

The afternoon workout is one of the hardest workouts we do, in my opinion anyway. 3*1.25miles on the indoor track, 4:30-5:00 rest. I did them in 5:29, 5:28, 5:34, then did 4x200 in 27-28 with 50s rest. I fell apart a little bit on the last 800 of the last repeat, but my legs were feeling ok. It’s just a gut-buster of a workout and my stomach was feeling really awful at that point. The feeling continues as I write this. This workout gave me a fair amount of confidence as I train for 5000m.

Saturday, March 22

Ran SMC deep trails, 60:00, plus strides. Trying to get my legs back underneath me with a week to go until World Cross. After practice, I joined a group of guys from the team and went thriftin’ (thrift store shopping). I like thriftin’, but I’m not quite the die-hard thrifter that R (Geoff Rudziewicz) is. I found three cool shirts and, randomly, stumbled upon a French-English dictionary that may come in handy when I’m in Lausanne. Between HS and college, I’ve taken 5 years of French and can speak it with some proficiency [Lausanne is in the western, French region of Switzerland]. I’m getting stoked for the trip.

Sunday, March 23

Ran 69:00 Clay Park to St. Pat’s Park with [junior Tom] Weiler and Ambrico. This was a nice run – great weather and great trails. I Spent the afternoon working on some assignments. I’m trying to get a lot done before I leave for Europe, since I’m not intending to do any school work during the trip.

Weekly total: 96 miles. I feel like I got a lot accomplished this week, especially in terms of 5000m strength. Now I just have to rest for Worlds.

Monday, March 24

Jogged an easy 15:00 in the morning just to get the blood flowing. Ran errands most of the day.

Worked out in the afternoon. Coach told us to do a ¾ mile and a 1000 and 4x200. He actually meant for us to do 2x (3/4 mile, 1000), 4x200, but we were already into the workout and it was too late by the time it was sorted out. I went 3:11 and 2:33 and 26-27 for the 200’s. It was brisk, but pretty easy workout.

Tuesday, March 25 / Wednesday, March 26

This is like one day because I was up for about 30 consecutive hours. Ran 63:00 SMC trails, then departed. Flew from South Bend on an afternoon flight to Detroit to Amsterdam to Geneva, then took a van to Lausanne, where our hotel was located downtown in a very cool area. I was not able to sleep on the flight. Tim and I arrived in Lausanne about 2pm local time Wednesday and went for a run. After the run we had dinner at the hotel and I stayed up until about 9:30pm, then crashed hard. Unfortunately, I woke up later that night and couldn’t get back to sleep. This pattern would continue Thursday night. The time change is awful.

Thursday, March 26

Ran 35:00 and 5x300m with 90s rest at 47, 46, 45, 44, 43 with the other members of the 4k team (Dan Wilson, Karl Savage, Sandu Rebenciuc, Dan Browne, and Ian Connor). In the afternoon we took a boat 35 minutes across the lake to Evian, France (yes, evian, as in evian water). Evian was a cool little town with a lot to see, many unique little shops, and plenty of European personality. It was very much like Lausanne, but on a smaller scale and even more relaxed.

Friday, March 27

Saw the Olympic Museum with the junior team and my HS coach, now the junior team coach, Scott Christensen. Traveled to the course, 45 minutes away in Avenches, and ran it then put in some strides. The course is winding and flat, with uneven footing, lots of small ditches, and a couple of fabricated ramps that could prove interesting come tomorrow.

Saturday, March 28

The race was craziness. I wanted to get out hard, and I executed that to perfection. Unfortunately, at 300m it was me and a bunch of Africans, sprinting hard, and I was about to pay the price. They just did not settle in like an NCAA race would. I was too aggressive, but at least I put it on the line. Next time I will need to be a touch more conservative and find a group to run with, rather than getting out really hard and being passed. Sandu and Browne ran the best races of the American team. I remember them passing me like I was standing still. I ended up racing the last 2k with the other USA guys and coming in right ahead of them. I closed fairly well in the last 500m to salvage 57th place. I was disappointed with our 10th place team finish; it’s discouraging to let one’s country down. The fact is that I gave all I had, but my strategy was ill-fated and all I had was not enough. I learned more from this race than from any race I’ve run in the past year. Watching the senior women race was exciting, with Deena’s 2nd place finish helping them earn a podium spot. At night, some of us got together with some Brits and Kiwis for a beer at the local bar and some good times.

Sunday, March 29

Woke up at 8:30am to get a 90:00 run in before heading to the course for the day. The run was great; it was just good to be out on a beautiful morning in a beautiful country. Wilson and I cranked the last mile, which happened to be straight up a steep hill the whole way. Went to the course and watched the races. I was impressed with Meb’s race, and I thought our junior guys ran well too. The junior men’s race seemed particularly competitive. I traded gear with some Spaniards and Irish. I am inspired by the Spaniards, who come from a tiny country with a culture not dissimilar to our own, yet produce great runners at an astounding rate. There was a banquet after the meet, which we attended, but I was pretty tired by the end of the day and went home with the rest of the 4k guys who felt the same way.

Monday, March 30

Left Lausanne at 8 a.m. on a bus to the Geneva airport, then Amsterdam-Detroit-South Bend. Our flight was a little late getting to Detroit and Tim and I had to get off the plane (easier said than done when you’re in row 58), breeze through US Customs, get our baggage off the conveyor, re-check it, screen it (Tim got a random check), go through security (Tim got the full search), and sprint to the gate in order to catch our South Bend flight which got us home at 6:30pm. Our luggage couldn’t keep up with our fervid pace and it didn’t arrive until 10pm, but I didn’t care at this point. Short on time and daylight, I ran my 5-mile course. I don’t have miles marked out, but my first mile was easy, about 6:00 to 6:20 pace. Then I hammered. I finished the run in 25:37, but it felt really good. Finally, I got together with my girlfriend Jen. Being away from her for a week can seem like a long time, even if I’m in a place as amazing as Lausanne.

Tuesday, April 1

Back to school… back to school. Ugh.

Ran a workout in the afternoon: 2000, 1600, 1200, 800, (3:30 rest), 4x200 (50s rest) on the outdoor track. It was windy and warmer than we are used to, and everyone else pulled out before the 800, but it was okay. I went 5:39, 4:28, 3:19, 2:07, and 27-28.

Wednesday, April 2

Hit the plyos and hurdle drills hard in the morning. This would make me sore for days to come. It was another great day with temps in the 70’s.

Ran 2x deep trails 72:00 plus strides in the afternoon with Moore and Somok. It was half-price night at the dollar theater (that’s right, 50 cent movies), so a group of us went there and saw 25th Hour. Not a bad flick; I’m a huge Ed Norton fan, and he was great, but the movie was just a little slower than I expected.

Thursday, April 3

Ran deep trails 61:00 and then did 6x200 with 70s rest: 29.0, 29.0, 27.9, 27.4, 27.2, 26.5. Felt pretty sore and sluggish on the first few, then started to loosen up. At team dinner, we concocted an elaborate scheme to cause mass chaos on campus…

Friday, April 4

Feeling really sore, I got adjusted by my chiropractor before the workout. It would be nice if the athletic department would have a team chiro, but the current administration is not into any methods of healing besides ice and stretch, or if you’re really in the gutter some ultrasound. Achilles tendonitis? Ice and stretch. IT band friction syndrome? Ice and stretch. Broken leg? Ice and stretch. Got the flu? Ice and stretch. Anyway, I proceeded to the workout and was still feeling awful on the warmup, but I came around. Moore and I did a 5k tempo, 6 mins rest, 2*mile (3:00 rest): 14:57, 4:25, 4:21. I caught some grub and then attended the Marc Striowski Invitational 10,000m. Our guys ran well, 3 of them going sub-31 to qualify for the Big East meet. Afterwards I went to a great Everclear concert on campus with some friends.

Saturday, April 5

There was supposed to be a meet today, but it was cancelled due to the inclement weather which included rain, snow, high winds, and freezing temps. Yeah, it was 78 degrees on Tuesday, and now it’s snowing. I ran 65:00 CV to deep trails solo, then worked on some projects for most of the day. At night I hit up Don Pablo’s with Jen and some friends, watched some Final Four action, and visited a “Cowboys and Indians” theme party. Cowboys and Indians is a nice break from the usual themes of “pimps and hos” or “80’s”.

Sunday, April 6

Keane and I met Tim to do a run; for the first 40 minutes, Tim proceeded to 5-step us the whole way (and Keane and I were not running slow!). He would have been pretty far ahead, but we kept catching him at stoplights. Halfway through, we got him talking, and the 3 of us ran the rest of the way together. The run was Campus View to St. Pat’s Park, half a loop, and back, 90:00.

Monday, April 7

The “wintry mix” just won’t go away. It snowed, rained, etc and I did my plyos and hurdle drills indoors.

Ran 72:00 deep trails to Clay Park in the afternoon with Striowski, Keane, [junior Tom] Weiler, Mobley, Moore, et al then did strides. Got together with a group of friends to watch the Syracuse/Kansas game… the Orange may have won the game, but they lose in the end, because they have to return to Syracuse. I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone. I’m not a fan of the place; 4 Big East Indoor meets there is enough to last me a lifetime. [Insert slam on South Bend here]

Tuesday, April 8

I was in the college of business for 9 hours today, including 7 hours of class. That’s like a full day of work, which is why I’m not planning to work (besides running) next year. I felt like I’d been hit by a bus. Deep trails to Clay Park 74:00 plus strides.

Wednesday, April 9

Went in to my chiropractor for an adjustment and a massage this morning. The massage therapist was new, a recent graduate of the Boulder School of Massage, and had worked on the Torres bros and Sara Gorton while in Boulder. The massage itself was really quite excruciating as she worked my quads, hamstrings and IT bands pretty thoroughly. I was feeling a little sore afterwards so I went for a 16:00 shakeout.

The workout was 1200h, 800h, 400h, 1200, 800, 400 with plenty of rest, 3:00. I did something like 3:26, 2:15, 64, 3:16, 2:07, 55. Conditions were somewhat windy and chilly (45-50 degrees). It felt pretty easy and hurdling was not a problem.

Thursday, April 10

Squeezed a 61:00 run in between classes, then left for Missouri, where we are running at the Tom Botts Invitational. I just need a Big East (9:30) and NCAA regional (9:12) qualifying time in the steeple. We arrived at Columbia, Missouri at 2:30am. Yuck.

Friday, April 11

Woke around 10:30 and chilled out, took a jog and killed time. The race was all right. I wanted to lead since I haven’t done much hurdle work this year, and there was a guy from Illinois who was running right on top of me, so we went out a little faster than I expected, 67, 2:17, 3:27, 4:38, but I felt terrific doing that. When he dropped off, I set it on cruise control and finished in 8:53. I amazed myself with how easy the first mile felt, and halfway through I was actually considering running hard, since I knew I could PR (8:37), but reminded myself that the real race is next Thursday at Mt. SAC. After the meet I played cards with the other distance folks.

Saturday, April 12

Ran on Missouri’s flat, gravel trail for 73:00 with the other steeplers. The trail had half-mile markers, so it would have been tempting to crank, but not the day after our first steeple of the year. My left hamstring and right IT band are tight, probably a result of hurdling more with my right lead than my left. Our pace started in the low 6:00 range and ended up in the 5:40’s. This is pretty typical of our runs. Returning to the track, we watched the rest of the meet and got some sun. [Freshman] Chammers (Thomas Chamney) had the race of the day, running 1:49.55- pretty quick for a true frosh. [Sophomore] Terry Lennon also ran great, going 3:54 in his first ever 1500m.

Sunday, April 13

After getting in to South Bend at 2:30am last night, I slept in until 11 today. Ran 61:00 deep trails solo. I’m still sore from Friday, which is why I took it fairly easy today and did not do a double workout. Hopefully I will be up for plyos and a workout tomorrow. Spent the rest of the day catching up on school work.

Monday, April 14

Plyos and hurdle drills as per usual. Felt good to get back into this routine. Spent the afternoon working on some projects (school is cracking down!!) and making some business calls. Ran a light workout of 8x400 with 40s rest at 62.9, 63.5, 62.3, 62.6, 63.2, 61.9, 62.8, 59.7. This would normally be really easy, but it ended up being more difficult than I intended because there were 20mph winds and I was doing it solo.

Mt. SAC

I went into this race intending to run consistent 65’s for a substantial PR. The race actually went out slower than I expected and there was a fair amount of surging as the pack jostled for position. I felt like my first 2000m was pretty inefficient, but I felt good through about 3000m. From there, it started to hurt really bad, and I was racing as hard as I have ever raced from there on in. It’s good to be able to race really hard; this race felt reminiscent of some of my cross country races from 2001 (when I finished 5th at NCAA’s). My splits were something like 4:23, 8:13/8:46, final time 13:38.73. My kick over the last 500m was pretty solid. I just have to work on staying at the front so that the kick really matters.

Overall the Mt. SAC trip was awesome as usual. I was able to spend some time with former teammate Ryan Shay, and ND track alumni Sean Zanderson and Antonio Arce live in SoCal and showed our team a good time.

We arrived back in South Bend on Easter Sunday night. I spent that night, Monday, and Tuesday being a real geeker and getting some work done for once in my college career. Tuesday I did a workout with the milers consisting of 4x (500, 300) in 74 and 40 with 2 mins rest. Wednesday, 8 of us left for Drake. Drake is always a great trip because it’s such an incredible meet. The atmosphere at Drake Relays is comparable to the atmosphere at ND on a football Saturday, which is amazing for track & field. The race was unremarkable. Our last 3 legs ran somewhat alone on a moderately windy day and I don’t think we were really well-prepared for that. None of us were satisfied, even though the teams that beat us were very good.

To cap off a fun weekend, our team spent today (Sunday, April 27) playing some baseball and grilling out at a local park. If I could do this every weekend, I would. The 75 and sunny weather really made the day.

Next weekend looms the Big East Championships. The coaches are all pumped up for it. If I too got paid for doing well there, I’d be more excited. The rivalries and friendships within the conference are fun and exciting, but no one really enjoys the doubling or tripling to eke out a couple extra points so the coaches can get their bonuses. I don’t really care; it will be a good workout.

Hopefully I will be able to get back on a normal schedule with this journal. I will give another update on Tuesday, May 6, if not before.

Monday, April 28

Hit up plyos and hurdle drills in the morning.

Switched things up a bit in the afternoon, since I was feeling good. I ran 28:00 to warm up, getting down to about 5:30 pace, then went immediately into a 4 mile tempo. The course, part of “Hi-C loop”, is a loop of approximately one mile on cinders, might be a little long, and contains some gentle hills. I went 5:15, 4:55, 4:53, 4:52. Moore ran part of it with me. Felt great. Cooled down about 25 minutes.

Gave a presentation and turned in a research paper in my Sports Business class. School is going to beat my skinny butt this week.

Tuesday, April 29

Today is the last class day of the foreseeable future for me. Big time. In my Taxation of Corporations and Shareholders class, we took our final exam. Not so big time. It went really well though, better than any of the other exams in that class.

Ran a mild workout in the afternoon, 3x4x400m, 60s between reps, 2:30 between sets. My times averaged 64, 62, 60, 58 (the times descended within the set). I led the whole workout but it wasn’t too hard.

Wednesday, April 30

Took the final for my Investments class. It was the type of exam where you start circling questions to come back to at the end because they are too hard to start working on right away, and before you know it you realize that you’ve just circled 6 questions in a row. Ouch. The good news is that by this point, the light at the end of my proverbial tunnel has become a brilliantly radiant orb that blinds me to all else. In other words, I’m pretty much done with school and just looking to get by with decent scores.

Doubled up on runs today, going 31:00 after the exam and 75:00 plus strides in the afternoon. Also made it to my chiropractor, who helped alleviate the tension built up from days of studying and taking exams.

Thursday, May 1

Woke up early and met the bus to O’Hare. From there we sat in the airport (flight was delayed), then flew to Hartford for the Big East Championships. Upon arrival, the distance guys went for a run. Keane, Moore and I ended up finding a great park in which to run; it had grass fields, trails through forests, and some stunning vistas of the majestic Hartford skyline.

Friday, May 2

Day before jog 31:00 plus strides. Today I met 7 high school girls. First, I went to the movies with Chammers, Striowski, and [freshman Kolbe] Van Ort. It was pouring rain when we left, so we told Chammers to run up to some HS girls and ask them for a ride… it was clutch! They drove us back to our hotel. Then, we went to the mall to get something to eat, and 2 more HS chicks drove alongside us in a car, chatting it up and telling us we looked “cute” in our jackets (since it was raining, we all ended up wearing our warmup jackets). Finally, we get to the mall and are waiting for a table at Ruby Tuesdays. The restaurant has little windows that open up to the mall, and some HS girl (and 2 of her friends) pokes her head out and starts spinning game on us. The best thing about HS girls is, I keep getting older and they stay the same age… [name that movie]

Saturday, May 3

Happy Birthday to my girlfriend, Jen Handley!!! She celebrated her birthday by running the first and last 10k of her career, and doing quite well (2nd at Big East). Big East Championships Steeplechase today. I took it out from the gun, since I didn’t want any trouble over the hurdles. No one went with me and I set it on cruise control after 1200m for an easy victory. Our team ran well, going 1st and 4th in the steeple and 3-5-7 in the 10000. The West Virginia guys also ran well, coming 2-3-6 in the steeple, and it’s a shame their program will be cut after this season. They aren’t sure what they are doing next year, but if you’re an NCAA coach with a scholarship open, these guys (Sabatino, DeVault, and R. Watson) are good, young (all frosh eligibility) talent.

Sunday, May 4

Big East 5000m today. This was a great team race just like the indoor Big East 3000m. We sat for 6 slow laps (4:44 at 1600), then I could tell that Moore and Keane were getting a little antsy so I went to the lead and threw in 3 laps between 65 and 67. Those two came along and the pack broke up. From there, I settled in for a couple laps behind [Villanova senior Jonathan] Fasulo, then kicked home for the win. ND guys went 1-4-5-7 to score 21 points and take the lead in the team competition with 3 events remaining. This made for an exciting team battle, as UConn took the lead back with only the Triple Jump left. Our Triple Jumper [junior Godwin Mbagwu] was sitting about 6th, without enough points to win the meet for us, until on his final jump he busted a PR to win the event and the meet!!! It’s pretty cool to see a field event guy get the spotlight for once.

Weekly total: 83 miles.

Monday, May 5

Ran 2x deep trails, 76:00 in the morning. Took my Sports Business final, the last final of my academic career here, and then did plyos in the afternoon.

Tuesday, May 6

Figure-8 lakes from Campus View in the morning. It was a nice day and there were lots of joggers out. Ryan Shay showed up for our afternoon run and I went 2x deep trails, 72:00, plus strides. Shay is running a 25k in Grand Rapids, MI (2-2.5 hours north of here) on Saturday.

Wednesday, May 7

Plyos and hurdle drills in the morning. Did 4+miles of tempo in the afternoon on Hi-C loop. My hamstring has been bothering me this week, and the tempo work didn’t feel too good.

Thursday, May 8

Ran 32:00 at the Lakes in the morning and 75:00 Riverside to Clay Park in the afternoon.

Friday, May 9

Worked out on a humid, breezy 80 degree afternoon. It went awful. I was set to do a 3200 and 2x 1600 but ended up failing on that and changed it to 3200, 1600, 800, 4x200. Took 4:30 rest except on the 200’s, where it was 1:10. Ran 9:13, 4:30, 2:06, 28, 28, 26, 26. I did this all alone and my hamstring was feeling about 85%. Considering that the conditions were all working against me, it wasn’t a terrible workout, but I was still disappointed with it. At night, I got together with a bunch of friends; it was the last night that most people (non-seniors who haven’t qualified for regionals) will be at school, and it was a good time.

Saturday, May 10

Wanting to get my hamstring healed up, I took today off from running. Didn’t do a whole lot, really, just hung out with friends. Everyone is done with finals now, so we pretty much have nothing to do and all day to do it.

Sunday, May 11

Ran 77:00 2x deep trails in the morning (I will never get sick of that run!) and then drove a friend to Midway airport. If you’ve never been to Midway, it’s in the middle of Chicago. I had some Internet directions that were all but worthless… combine that with terrible traffic, and the drive was really frustrating. Thankfully, Jen came along, and we were able to salvage the day by heading over to Michigan Ave. for a walk and dinner.

Monday, May 12

Got a massage and an adjustment this morning. It seemed to help my hamstring a lot, though I still didn’t feel 100% on the run (75:00 on deep trails).

Tuesday, May 13

Had a tough one this morning: 2000, 1600, 1200, 2000, 1600 with 2 mins rest: 5:45, 4:35, 3:17, 5:48, 4:38. Was going to do another 1200, but was dying at a slow pace on the mile so I cut myself. After the workout I golfed 9 holes. I’m not a good golfer, but can manage to hit one nice shot per hole, and that keeps me going. It was a beautiful day for it. Proceeded to a cookout and some card playing with the team.

McArdle XC 2001.....

Unfortunately I did not keep a day to day log of my cross country season. However I do know week to week mileage totals, along with long runs and workouts. Took 3 weeks off in June after track season. Did two short runs a week and lots of other activities.

July 2- 8: 68 Miles, 7 runs, on vacation in Ireland, just doing easy runs on my first week back, Longest run 13 miles.

July 9-15: 82 Miles, 8 Runs, back in Brookline, easy running, got wisdom teeth out, Long run 14 miles.

July 16-22: 91 Miles, 8 Runs, In Brookline, easy running, long run 15 miles.

July 23-29: 95 miles, 9 runs, In Brookline, Did an easy fartlek workout, Long run 16 miles at Walden.

July 30-Aug 5: 103 miles, 11 runs, working as a conselour at Dartmouth Running camp so had some definite junk miles, did one easy workout on hill with kids, ran hard at end of the long run 16 miles.

Aug 6-Aug 12: 102 miles, 9 runs, long run of 16 miles, got hammered in a 35 minute tempo run due to bad infection I contracted on trip, also only did 6 miles on Saturday due to traveling, in Edmonton for the World Championships, best running city ever, beautiful trails along the river which is really close to the youth hostel that we (Parker Pruett, Dave Chalmers, Peter Duyan, Jarrod Shoemaker, Peter Bromka, and McArdle Contingent) are staying at. Great trip, cheap, and managed to sneak into best seats in the stadium. Except Parker who kept his seat 11D.

Aug 13-Aug 19: 104 miles, 11 runs, Worked as a conselour at New England Prep XC for five days so had a number of easy miles with kids, did a hill workout with Mark Miller 6x hill and a 10 mile tempo run gradually getting faster from 6 min- 5:20 pace, Great 16 mile Long run with Keith Kelley and Hamish Thorpe and Parker out at Walden pond area, funny guys, Keith now lives down the street from me which is cool.

Aug 20-Aug 26: 101, 8 Runs, In Northern NH with family, Did 35 minute tempo run with heart rate monitor 5:15 pace average, did fartlek with brother and one by myself, Long run 18 miles with Keith running the last 6 miles hard, took thurday off to go hiking on Mount Washington, most beautiful day of the year on Huntington Ravine.

Aug 27- Sept 2: 120 miles, 11 runs, In Brookline, Did a 2x2-2-4 Fartlek with Chalmers, 7 mile tempo at Franklin park average 5:17 miles with Parker, Did a 18 mile Long run with Peter running the last 5 miles hard 6-5:40 pace.

Sept 3-9: 110 miles, 11 runs, At Cabin with Team at College Grant for training, Did 8.9 mile tempo run at Hellgate 44:06 best in run's history (7ish years), did Fartlek workout uphill with Bryce, Long run 18 miles first run ever with Freshman Kevin Arnold, went hard for last 5 miles but found it tough due to hilly terrain not as good as Walden.

Sept 10- Sept 16: 102 miles, Did Grass Road 5xmile uphill really tough, did 4:54, 5:03, 5:02, 5:00, 5:01, achilles really sore after and took sept. 11 off, Did Oak hill workout 1400, 1400, 2800, 1400, 1400, short rest, decent times, Raced inter squad meet 25:20 over really tough 5 mile course won race, Long run next day 18 miles hard at Walden (drove down) ran last 5 miles hard 5:50ish pace. Hard week.

Sept 17- Sept 23: 107 miles, 10 runs Skinripper Workout( 600ish flat, 300ish steep hill, 200ish flat) 4:24 4:26 4:26 4:27 4:23, great workout, 35 minute tempo run with Jarrod and Kevin, 18 mile long run.

Sept 24- Sept 30: 99 miles, 9 runs, 4xmile(long loop due to renovation 7 second slow) on golf course 4:53 4:46 4:47 4:47, Easy fartlek on wednsday, Iona Invite 5 mile race 1st place 24:42 had to run from front, alright race, Did 20 miler with Mark on Sunday.

Oct 1- Oct 7: 101 miles, Freshman Hill repeat 2000 repeat with big hill in it and then 600 rest, 5:54, 5:56, 5:58, 5:57, 5:56, Great workout, 35 minute tempo run with Mark and Kevin, Long run 18 miles with Mark and Joe.

Oct 8-Oct 14: 60 miles, Strained my Soleus muscle hurt bad for two days, did 800-1200, mile, 1200, 800 in 2:24 3:32, 4:40, 3:23, 2:15, took two days off, raced Pre-NCAA 6th 24:42, hot but not bad considering terrible week of training.

Oct 15-Oct 21: 101 miles, Michigan workout 2mile in 9:08, 6 minute mile, 4:24, 6 minute mile, 2:07. Windy and had to do the two mile entirely on my own, died on the 800 61 opener, overall good workout, 16

mile long run on saturday, on sunday 5x800 on golf course 2:23, 2:19, 2:18, 2:14, 2:20.

Oct 22-28: 70 miles, Easy Fartlek on Tuesday, Heps 8k 24:45 1st place, Team 1st, SCORE!!!!!! Nice win, awesome party, Long Run 16 miles on Sunday.

Oct 29-Nov 4: 85 miles, 5 x mile on golf course decending rest (3, 2.5, 2, 1.5min) 4:43, 4:43, 4:43, 4:41, 4:36, good workout, Friday did 800,1200, 800, mile, 800 2k, terrible workout 2:20, 3:27, 2:22, *,

2:23, 6:00, tired from hammering 11 miles between two workouts. Long run 15 miles.

Nov 5-Nov 11: 62 miles, 1200-1000-1000-800-800 on track, lost splits, not very hard effort, easy fartlek wedensday, District race 10k 29:50 3rd. Fun race, tempoed the race with Hamish and Dan, was able to have

conversation during race, saving it for NCAAs, those two sprinted at the end, I couldn't keep up.

Nov. 12-18: 57 miles, Did 100 sprint, minute jog, then cruise 800 on golf course, average 2:23 for 800s. Rest for NCAAs.

November19-25: 37 miles, NCAAs 16th place, good race, felt terrible in begginning due to fast pace, then after 2.5 miles started to move up until got to 13th place and then large gap to front pack, backed it

off then which cost me, got outkicked in end by pack of Louie, Silverus, and Ed, Dan Wilson also caught me from behind. Overall good race but felt like could have done better, Next year. Ran local 5k on Sunday, fun.

Overall: Good Cross season, Had a lot of nagging injuries that held me back a little bit from getting my mileage 110s. NCAA were alright but next year I hope to finish much closer to the front. Team will hopefully do better, good freshman and sophmores. Looking foward to Indoor and a couple fast 5ks at Terrier and NCAAs. Planning on running a mile at Dartmouth relays, and a 3k at either Valentines or the National Collegiate invite.

McArdle Indoor 2002......

Indoor Track Log (Did not start a day to day log until the 24th of Decemeber)

Overall: I was pleased with the way that my indoor season went as a whole. Obviously Terrier was the highlight of the season, a race I will not soon forget. Glad to have run a decent 3k time and enjoyed accomplishing my first ever double at Heps. However, still getting over the dissapointment of nationals. Thinking about it makes me realize that the race does not really matter as it the outdoor season that really counts. So looking at Indoors from that perspective think I am coming out the season ready to go after getting my ass handed to me in March, come June I hope to make it a very different story. Did manage to keep my mileage going a bit throughout the indoor season. Had my first season free of any little nagging injuries since Sophomore cross season. However, had a tough winter as far as illness went but do not think that was a factor I can control. Objectives for indoors are to toughen up my running. I need to approach workouts as a challenge to push myself rather than be so worried about times. Need to be not dependent upon conditions to run well, that is the lesson I took away from nationals. Going to try to run a good 10k at Mount Sac then may go out the second stanford meet for a 5k. From there NCAA 10k in the heat of Lousiana training will geared for being a tough bastard here and winning one in the heat. After that USATF in the 5k or 10k depending on what I am feeling like at that point. Have finals to contend with at the moment then off to Arizona for a hard spring training trip want to get miles back up. Think a week of training away from the track will help me get back to my roots of running. Really enjoyed doing this website this season, enjoy hearing from the outside world. Think runners often confine themselves to much to interaction with just their team. But it is cool to hear about what other people are doing and sometimes inspires you to do something different. Was going out to spend part of my Spring break with the Johnson brothers in Flagstaff but they sold me out to go to Ireland instead oh well. If anyone is in the phoenix area in the next two weeks and want to run or show some Dartmouth guys a good time drop me a line. So guess the beat goes on season done.

P.S. Independent George ended his season running a 15:17 5k at high school nationals to beat my place at NCAAs by one and accomplish his goal of beating Joe Shaw’s and Neal Grave’s time from Heps (in there defense both had terrible days). So congrats to George on managing a succesful season while under heavy pressure from the webviewing public.

Week of Mar 4. -Mar. 10:

Overall: 7 runs, 44 Miles: Took the week real easy to taper for NCAAs and to take a little break between seasons to let my body rest. Overall a poor weak but what can you do. Back to big mileage.

Mar. 10 P.M. 5

Did anoter shake out taking a couple days easy before start training again hard for Outdoors

Mar. 9 A.M. 5

Spent 13 hours traveling home after a million delays. Got in an easy 5 at the Charolette Airport. Really nice trails right next to the airport. Really sore.

Mar. 8 P.M. 9

Warmed up 3 miles, had a terrible race which I describe in the race summaries section. Warmed down 2.5 miles.

Mar. 7 P.M. 5

Ran at Arkansas on some terrible roads. Could not find anywhere nice to run.

Mar. 6 P.M. 5

Ran safe six alone, had some stomach problems due to eating too many chashews the night before

Mar. 5 P.M. 7

Warmed up 2.5, ran 400-800-400-800-400 with my rabbit Ross, ran 64, 2:11.9, 63, 2:11, 61. Warmed down 2.5. Got a massage today and my muscles were really tight and sore, not quite sure from what. Seemed to fix the IT band problem that was bothering me. Leaving tommorow

Mar. 4 P.M. 8

Ran Spank backwards in 52 with JT, Sean, Joe, and Jarrod. Felt really good to run that short, legs feel fresh. One last workout tommorow.

Week of Feb. 25- Mar. 3

Overall: 81 miles, 7 runs: A solid week of training right before nationals. Got in two good track sessions this week and a respectable mileage total following a long weekend of racing. Last year I was absolutely burned by this time in the season and manged to run within a second of my PR at nationals. Think I will be ready to run my best race of the season in five days. Going to taper down these last few days. Have finals in a week which will be tough.

Mar. 3 A.M. 10

Ran boogie with Kevin in 1:07. Went quickly up the hills but ran into some snow and ice on the way down. Feeling alright, lots of work.

Mar. 2 P.M. 14

Ran Pinneo hill coming back on Partriage road and Grasse, 1:36, beautiful day had an enjoyable run with Pete. Feeling confident for nationals. Sean and Joe did most of the Grasse road workout, props to them, toughest hill to climb.

Mar. 1 P.M. 10

Did 2.5 warmup. Ran 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400 with 2:30 rest. I ran 3:20, 2:45, 2:10, 1:36, 61.5. Pleased to get through last real workout before nationals feeling good, should be ready to go. Special thanks to Ross Tucker who helped pace me through the workout and Colin Ingram who did the times. Warmed down 4 miles. Got a formal tonight.

Feb. 28 P.M. 10

Did Etna in 62 minutes. Ran with a bunch of freshman. Decided to take an easy day as I will be on the track again tommorow. Starting to taper for nationals, always questioning whether to taper for indoor.

Feb. 27 P.M. 12

Warmed up 4 miles. Did 2 set of 2 by 800 with 90 seconds and 3 min rest, then a mile then 4 min rest, then 3x400 with 60 seconds rest. Ran 2:11, 2:11, 2:11, 2:11, 4:25, 62, 63, 63.9. Had excellent rabbits in Brian and Jarrod who pulled me through most of the workout. Glad to get in one last good long session before NCAA. Warmed down 3.5 miles, then did strength work. Tired and lots of work so my race summaries will probably not be updated until the weekend.

Feb. 26 P.M. 12

Did Boogie plus some add-ons with Brian and Pat. Legs still tired from race this weekend. Have a tight IT band. Important workout tommorow.

Feb. 25 P.M. 13

Ran Sound of Music with Brian and Ross in 1:27. Felt really good, beautiful day outside. Will have one last tough workout on wednesday before tapering for NCAA

Week of Feb. 18 - 24

Overall: 7 runs, 57 miles: Worst week of training in a long time. Had this viral infection most of the week and felt miserable. However, on the plus side back it off and got over my illness in time for Heps. Won two important races for the team. Ready to get in one more good week of training before NCAAs. Lots and Lots of homework to do.

Feb. 24 P.M. 10

Warmed up 3 miles. Won the Heps 5k in 14:18. Made a big move at 1000 to go to win the race quite comfortably. Glad to have completed the double without much difficulty. The team got 2nd which is good. Warmed down 3 miles.

Feb. 23 P.M. 9

Warmed up 3 miles. Won the Heps 3k and won in 8:19. Lead most of the race since the pace went out really slow. Will describe the race later in the race summaries section. Warmed down 4 miles and felt fine for the 5k the next day.

Feb. 22 P.M. 5

Ran at Cornell on trails which was a nice change from snowy Hanover. Ran with Bruce Hyde from Cornell and Kevin, and Neal. First good day running in almost a week. Finally over the viral infection just in time for Heps

Feb. 21 P.M. 7

Had my first decent day running in 6 days. Had really bad stomach cramps at first but felt better at the end. Got blood tests back today and said had a low white count which they said indicated a viral infection. Also had a low pottasium count so that may be causing the stomach cramps. But feel good for the first time in a long while so pleased.

Feb. 20 P.M. 6

Went to see a doctor today who said that the reason I have been suffering for the past 5 days was a viral infection. Took some blood samples for testing just in case will get results tommorow. Ran safe six and felt quite a bit better. Have contracted a case of pink eye as well. So guess my problem was due to illness rather than straight up overtraining.

Feb 19 P.M. 9

Ran lots of worthless loops around campus for 63 minutes, still feel tired. Been talking with the trainer and we have agreed that I have managed to work myself into my first case of overtraining. Started after valentines with trying to get back to full speed quickly while still getting over a illness. Had too many tough session and worked myself into exhaustion. Been sleeping 10-12 hours for four days and been an absolute blob. Have had a lot of muscle achiness. May get some tests tommorow probably will not workout. More sleep and rest before heps. Should be over it by thursday I hope.

Feb 18 P.M 11

Warmed up to workout 3.5 miles. Still not feeling 100% so prudently decided against working out. Ran Wolverine instead in 48:40. Felt alright until the end when started to drag. Not sure what is afflicting me right now but hope it will go away. Could be illness not sure. Frustrating. Hopefully gone tommorow.

Week of Feb. 11- Feb. 17

Overall: 91 Miles, 8 runs: Another up and down week. I think it is illness again to blame for the bad saturday and the exhaustion on friday and sunday. Really hard at school to stay healthy with diease so rampant. Treat myself well, lots of sleep and healthy food, but still get minor setbacks. My two workout session this week went well. Would like to believe I can get in even better shape for NCAAs, hopefully it will all start to come toghether in the next few weeks as I begin my taper. Going to take this week easy to prepare for a tough Heps weekend. Just need to stay healthy.

Feb 17 A.M. 10

Ran Late Night Snack, with Ross and Mark in 68. Was snowing really hard so miserable conditions. Felt better today, still feel a bit achy from the small illness I had. Plan on working out tommorow so hopefully will be back to 100%

Feb 16 A.M. 7

Ran Wolverine in 50:48. Was planning on a long run today but felt terrible. Think I am bit sick again, felt a little bit feverish last night. Absolutely exhausted so will take it easy again tommorow. It has been a tough winter with illness up here.

Feb 15 P.M. 14

Ran 4.5 warm up. Did 800-1200-mile-1200-800 with rest 2:30,3,3:30,3. Ran 2:12, 3:19, 4:23, 3:21, 2:10. Once again elisted the duty of freshman rabbits, Ross Tucker and Pat Ward to do parts of intervals. Felt tired begginning the workout, rolled through a workout PR mile with the 4:23, but could not recover in time for the 1200. Warmed down 5.5 miles. Absolutely exhausted have not been feeling great all day and can hardly move now. Going to sleep 10 hours.

Feb. 14 P.M. 13

Ran gunshop plus Spank and michigan mile. Ran with Ross and Pete. Felt tired starting the run and my IT band is getting quite tight. However kept going and things felt better by the end. Tiredness probably due to yestarday.

Feb. 13 P.M. 15

Ran by myself as Kevin and Neal are a bunch of sellouts. Ran Sound of Music and occum. Felt good, enjoy running by myself some times. Running just distance is really easy so just keep going when by myself. Did strength work afterwords.

Feb. 12 P.M.14

Warmed up 3.5, did 4x1000, 1x2000, with rest of 3:00, 4:00 before the 2k. I am now the proud owner of two freshman, Ross Tucker and Brian Hanely, whose job is to pace me. Really cool makes working out easier. Ran 2:46, 2:45, 2:47, 2:46, 5:33. Felt really good, happy with the 2k time. Warmed down 5.5 and did not feel bad overly tired.

Feb. 11 A.M. 5 P.M. 13

Ran safe six in the morning. Then ran Pinneo hill down east wheelock with Bryce in the afternoon in 1:28. It was a cold day windchill was probably about 20 degrees. Felt really good. Hoping for a good workout tommorow.

Week of Feb. 4- Feb. 10:

Overall: 90 Miles, 8 runs: A up and down week of training. Overall quite happy with how it went. The week was kind of bookended with mileage but that is just due to racing and getting sick. Had a good workout on Monday and race Saturday. Glad the cold passed so quickly. Think my fitness is still improving. Going back for another high week of mileage this week with some tough workouts and then Heps the next week think our team can do well. Sad that did not give it a go in Vancouver.

Feb. 10 A.M. 19

I did sweet sixteen then added on toymaker and occum. Ran with Kevin for 2:05. Had never done sweet sixteen and it was a really awesome run. Quiet dirt roads for 6 miles. Felt really good.

Feb. 9 A.M. 10

One final run at the Armory. I have raced at the BU armory for 7 years now, starting with duel meets my freshman year in high school (moved to reggie lewis next year). That track has done very well by me. However, going into this meet I had never won a race in the aromry (not even a heat or duel meet). Worried about how my cold would effect me but by racetime felt much better. Had two great rabbits, Richardo Santos and former teammate Geoff Nickerson. They did a great job pulling me through a mile in 4:19, thanks a lot to both of them volunterring to do so. Will write about it in more detail in the race summaries. Ran 8:03 which is a PR and a solid effort. Warmed down 5 miles with Mark and Independent George.

Feb. 8 A.M. 8

Feeling better after 9.5 hours of sleep. Ran wolverine reasonably quickly with Mark and Bryce. However, still fell quite tired from my cold. Hopefully will manage a decent race tommorow. Hate to run sub-par in my last race at BU.

Feb. 7 P.M. 10

Felt quite a bit better today. Ran quite hard with steven, 1:03 for late night snack. Still not a 100% but my cold is improving. Took some Nyquil to help me sleep last night. Finished all my school work but it was a really tough week. Had a massage today which loosened me up well. We will see how this race goes.

Feb. 6 P.M. 10

Terrible day, have come down with a nasty head cold. Really frustrating tried to workout but felt terrible and bagged the workout. Warmed up 3.5 miles, then ran a 2:49 1000 and a 1:39 600 and decided to stop. Warmed down 5 miles felt really tired. Not looking forward to the race, stil have lots of work.

Feb. 5 P.M. 13

Nobody would go longer than 10 with me so ran etna and then added on safe six, 1:27, think I have a very mild cold, my roomate is always giving me illnesses. Have tons of work to do.

Feb 4. A.M. 5 P.M. 15

Easy five in the morning. Then warmed up 4.5 miles, did 2 sets of 4x800 with 1:30 between intervals and 3:30 between sets. Did 600 with other guys and then added on 200 each interval. Ran 2:13, 2:13, 2:13, 2:12, 2:12, 2:12, 2:12, 2:09. Ran them at an even pace and felt really easy. First workout in a while felt like I could have done more. Warmed down 5.5 miles. Quite a solid day, lots of homework.

Week of Jan. 28- Feb. 3

Overall: 9 Runs, 109 Miles

Solid week of mileage. Without Cross nationals putting everything toward a good NCAA race, so keeping to the high mileage and longer workouts. Only being on the track once this week was odd and really front loaded the week with workouts. Was very happy with my tempo run. Terrible week of weather so I was happy to get in 109 miles. Going to run the 3k at Valentines but plan on training quite hard next week. Hopefully will still run a good time, after all it will be the last hurrah for the BU track and myself. Been through a lot together, ran my first ever track race there as a Freshman in high school a 12:20 two mile. On a totally unrelated note the younger McArdle dropped a nice 9:33 PR after three hard races in 9 days. Independent George a Leader for a New Revolution.

Feb 3 A.M. 10

I tried to run Blood hill and Spank but part of Blood hill was very snowy and had to walk a half mile through snow. Very relaxing run, ran with Zach and a recruit Andy. Quite cold out. Have tons of work but had to put it off for the Super Bowl, Pats won fire it up!

Feb 2 A.M. 18

It was so cold running into the driving wind out Sound of Silence. However once I got out to there it was fine. Ted Fitzpatrick a distinguished alumni showed for the run. Ran for 1:58. Feeling alright but a bit tired. Roomate is sick which worries me.

Feb 1. A.M. 5 P.M. 13

Tough five in the morning as it sleeted hard and my jacket literally froze. Had to stop and shield myself at one point it got so bad. In the afternoon ran Sound of Music which was sloppy but runable. Went reasonably quick 1:29. Lots of school work to do. Still have to find a new web design program, need one for a Mac.

Jan 31- P.M. 13

It was snowing hard today. First day all winter when snow really comprimised training. Did 9 miles outside in driving snow and then ran 4 miles on the indoor track. Legs felt dead from indoor track. Got some good strength work, definitly improving. Need to find a new website editor program as my dreamweaver trial is running out. If anyone has a good web design program would appreciate any help.

Jan 30- P.M. 15

Warmed up 3 miles, ran an 8 mile tempo run, only planning on my normal 7 tempo but Barry suggested 8 and do not like to back downn. Ran splits of 10:06, 9:51, 9:50 10:07. It was quite windy and did last 6 miles alone. Warmed down 4 miles. Feeling recovered from the race and not working out again until monday. Barry put his foot down today on world cross trials, really dissapointed.

Jan 29- P.M. 15

Ran Big Etna with Kevin and Neal felt much better. Ran it in 1:39. Got held up by an angry dog. Had a long talk with Coach about Cross Trials, he is adement against it but I still want to go at a bit of an impass. Did strength routine.

Jan. 28- A.M. 5 P.M. 15

Did an easy five in the morning. Then warmed up 4.5 miles, did 2 sets of 3x1200. With 2 min rest and 3.5 min rest between sets, everyone else doing 1000s with more rest. Ran 3:22, 3:23, 3:22, 3:21, 3:21, 3:21. Felt really tired from the race and a tough weekend of training. Warmed down 5.5 and hit the wall really bad at 3 miles, thought I was going to collaspe since had not eaten enough. Feel much better now. Decent workout.

Week of Jan. 21-27

Week: 84 miles, 7 runs: Great, great week. The Race was obviously the high point of the whole week. I expect a lot of myself so suprising myself is often quite difficult, but I can honestly say that even I did not expect to run that fast. However, I try not to worry about goal times, so when the opportunity presented itself I went after it rather than staying conservative and trying to running a certain goal. My workout went well on tuesday and had an excellent long run on Saturday. Feeling ready to keep on ripping. I want to run the World X-C trials but Coach not sure it is a good idea for me. We will see, keep the site posted if decide to go and give it a whirl. Thanks to anyone at BU on friday, the crowd really got behind me and I appreciate that.

Jan 27. A.M.13

Ran with Dad and Bro on the golf courses which were beautiful, another really warm day. George(bro) always complains that I say every run with him I describe as an "easy run." So I will describe this as a hard run though I felt very comfortable. Hope Independent George is happy. Feeling good again. Watch a great Addidas meet. Broe got the AR, and fellow Brookline alum John Riley PRed.

Jan 26. A.M. 20

Ran with Chalmers out at the Walden woods. Great weather really warm. Unfortunately trails too icy, we ran the first 10 miles really slowly on the trials as we were both suffering from dead legs, since raced 16 hours earlier. But last 10 we really cranked it down running most miles around 6 minute pace. Good long run.

Jan 25 P.M. 11

Warmed 3 miles, Ran a 13:46 5k for second place at Terrier Classic. Awesome race, I am really pyched with a big pr and good race effort. Almost won but did not have it at the end. Crowd was rocking, Terrier is always my favorite meet of the year. Will write about it in my Race Summary section really soon. Warmed down 3 miles then ran home for another 2.

Jan 24. P.M. 8

Ran Wolverine with Bryce, we were trucking along at 6:30 pace meant to run slower. Will be glad to get my racing season underway, hopefully score a good enough time to assure me a spot at nationals, should be able to. It is going to be an awesome weekend in Boston so think I may stay down to watch the Addidas Indoor games after the race. So site might not be updated again until Sunday night.

Jan 23 P.M. 10

Ran Blood hill and down Spank the wrong way. A really nice day about 45 degrees, some guys where wearing shorts. Got a massage today, first one of the indoor season feeling loose. Ready to race just wish my sore throat would go away.

Jan 22 P .M. 12

Warmed up 4.5 miles, did 800-600-400-600-800 with 2:30 rest between each one, ran 2:10, 1:36, 62, 1:33, 2:06. Felt great, probably due to the huge amount of rest between intervals, however still felt really good and have my confidence back going into the race. Warmed down 5.5 miles quickly. Ready to roll

Jan. 21 A.M. 10

Ran Gunshop with Kevin, Quinn, Zach. Did not feel that great not quite sure why. I think nerves are starting to get to me.

Week of Jan. 14-20

Week: 106 miles, 9 Runs: This week turned out to be a mixed bag. Had some really good training except for that one terrible workout day. Would not worry about the workout if it had not of happen so close to the terrier meet where I will be trying to drop a fast time. But still healthy so far and did manage some good training this week that will serve me well in the long run.

Jan 20 A.M. 15

Felt much better today. Slept fine and no longer think I am getting sick. I was going to take a really easy day but I was really enjoying my run with Chalmers and decided that the real reason I run is because I enjoy it so just kept on trucking. Did wolverine, out lyme to an old folks home, and back home on Rip. Going to start to taper now.

Jan 19 A.M. 11

Today was a terrible day. Warmed up 4.5 miles then tried to do quite an abitious workout of 800, 1200, 800, mile, 800, 2k, 2 min and 4 min rest. However from the first interval I felt terrible and flat. I managed a 2:15, 3:22, 2:14, 4:35 and then had to stop. The mile was terrible just felt like there was nothing there. Really worried I am getting sick with Terrier in 6 days. Roomate and lots of teamates are sick. Nobody managed to do the whole workout as everyone was so off on the mile. So we will see. Warmdowned 3.5 miles, took a sauna in the afternoon to try to flush out any virusus. Hope I am just run down from going a little overboard in training and not sick.

Jan 18 P.M. 10

Did Etna, went by quickly as engaged in conversation with Joe most of the way. Ran it in 61:30 so a bit short, dropped a 5:40 last mile. Decided to take it easy today since want to be a bit fresh for Terrier, some entries are posted at the BU website and looks to be a fast field building. Just have to stay healthy, roomate seems a bit sick.

Jan 17 P.M. 15

Did Big Etna, new run going up Pineo hill and back along Trescott and down Grasse road. Felt really good, considering the past few high mileage days. Had only planned on running 13 miles. Ran with Kevin and Neal, cruising at 6:30 pace, did strides

Jan 16 - A.M. 5 P.M. 14

Did an easy 5 in the morning. In the afternoon did 4.5 warmup, 3 sets of 6x400, 45 second rest between 400s and two minutes between sets. Averaged 67, 65, 62 for the sets. Felt much easier since ran even splits and had people to run with for most repeats, other guys did 15 400s, with longer set breaks. Warmed down 5.5 miles. Feel good, except for sore foot. Another big mileage week before Terrier, I think I run better off of high mileage anyways.

Jan 15- A.M. 5 P.M. 13.5

Had a nice day of doing a couple easier runs, 6:40 pace, I did safe six in the morning by myself and Sound of Music with Kevin and Neal in the afternoon. Felt a bit sore and bruised the top of my foot yestarday. Good run conversation.

Jan. 14- P.M. 18

I ran hard with Quinn and Joe for 16 out sound of silence, then added on occum and michigan mile. Last 7 miles were really fast sub-6 pace though much of it was downhill. Overall time 1:55. Felt really good, did pushups and sit ups.

Week of Jan. 7-13

Week: 107 miles, 10 runs, Solid week of training. Felt better doing doubles so think I will continue doing three doubles a week, enjoy running alone in the morning as a start to my day. Have to work on running my track intervals at an even pace and stop going out too hard. Cruising a 4:13 mile gave me confidence that I am rounding into good shape, one more hundred mile week before bringing it down for Terrier. Have a bit of a sore patella, should be fine. Really happy about putting my Log online, have got lots of positive feedback from the running community, enjoy hearing from people, get lots of good ideas.

Jan 13 A.M. 12

Warmed up 3 miles, 4:13 mile 1st place, splits of 61, 2:08, ?,?. Weird race, was not overly confident in my miling ability so decided to hang back and wait to kick. Race went out hard, then slowed to an easy pace, at 600 I decided to get going and broke the race open with a 31, did not manage a great last 400 since on my own. Race felt very easy, which is a good sign, the time was alright just glad to win. I ran reasonably hard on an 8 mile cool down. Fine day

Jan 12 A.M. 10

Took it easy today since I have to race tommorow. Ran with Kevin and Pat, used distance monitor (that I have permantely borrowed from its rightful owner) was clocked at 6:30 pace. We will see how it goes tommorow.

Jan 11 A.M. 12 P.M. 6

Ran early since wanted to watch Barry race (he lost). Felt very good, really starting to enjoy just doing easy distance runs, easy mileage does not to wear me down much anymore. Did some fast strides in preperation for my mile on Sunday, hope I still have some wheels in legs.

Jan. 10 A.M. 14

4 miles warmup, 1200, 1000, 1000, 800, 800 with 3 minute rest. 3:21, 2:46, 2:48, 2:13, 2:08. Felt terrible, tired from all the miles and ran myself into exhaustion today. Do most intervals by myself and always go out too hard at first, 31 first 200 in every repeat, need to work to displine myself and run even splits. Mark helped me by pacing last 800, which was a good interval. Did a 6 mile cooldown with Kevin.

Jan 9- A.M. 5.1 P.M. 13.3

Stilll using the Distance monitor and enjoying it. Easy morning run at 6:50 pace. Did hilly Sound of Music run at 6:30 pace with 210, Kevin and Neal. Still snowy but cool sunlight. I have been noticing a high number hits have been coming from the Princeton University campus, enjoy boys, feedback appreciated.

Jan 8- P.M. 16.5

Got in a long run today with Kevin, Neal and Quinn, Used the Nike Distance monitor and found out that run much faster than thought, I average 6:30 miles rather than the 7:00 average I use to calculate my mileage. Will use again tommorow

Jan. 7- A.M. 5, P.M. 13

Easy 5 in the morning, warmup 4 miles 2 sets of 800-800-mile, rest 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, Ran 2:14, 2:15, 4:28, 2:15, 2:13, 4:28, 4 mile Cooldown, Ran last mile too slow lots of snow and miserable outside

Week of Dec. 31- Jan. 6

Dec. 31- A.M. 18

Ran hard for the last hour, total time 1:52, great workout

Jan. 1- A.M. 15

Ran at Walden with Bro great way to start the New Year, Beautiful place to run

Jan. 2- P.M. 15

4.5 Warmup, 2 sets 4x800 2min 4min rest, 2:17,17,15,18 - 2:12,12,12,08, 5.5 mile warmdown

Jan. 3- P.M. 15

Sound of Music and Occum, ran with Nichol, Arnold, Graves, cruised 1:36

Jan. 4- P.M. 15

3 mile warmup, 35 min tempo, 2mile splits, 10:03, 9:47, 9:54, 5 Mile cooldown

Jan 5- A.M. 18

Did Sound of Silence with Neal, Felt tired

Jan 6- A.M. 10

Did reverse Etna with Kevin, Quinn, Eric, felt tired again, sore calf from basketball, no more ball

Week:105, 7 runs, Really good first 5 days and then started to feel really tired, decided that singles are not the way to go. Back at school now and getting my speed back.

Week of Dec. 24-30(Family Vacation in England)

Dec. 24th- A.M. 7 P.M. 16

Took advantage of an quiet day, two easy runs

Dec. 25th- A.M. 15

Ran in Beautiful London Parks, Time difference difficult

Dec. 26th- A.M. 7 P.M. 12

Did easy workout on Sheep hill sprinted up 300 meter hill 6 times, short and steep, 6 reps

Dec. 27th- A.M. 13

Terribly wet run in Durham. Feeling tired

Dec. 28th- A.M. 10

Easy run with my Bro in Newcastle

Dec. 29th- P.M. Great North Cross-Country Race

9k 28:40, Muddy, enjoyed the race and ran hard though I was not fresh. Met some cool British runners.

Dec. 30th- A.M. 14

Sunny day, nice run, sore achilles, easy pace, ran with Bro

Week: 103 Miles, 10 runs. Medicore Week of training due to travel Limitations. No long run and some soft mileage day. But Enjoyed vacation and race.

Dec 17-23- 99 Miles, 8 Runs, Easy Track workout, 10k Tempo run in 32:40, flew to England on Sunday no time for a run.

Dec 3- Dec. 9- 95 miles, 7 Runs, Tempo run 6 miles 5:05 pace, Still building base

Nov. 26- Dec. 2- 90 miles, 7 Runs, Trying to build back base with longer runs

Thanks a lot.

McArdle Outdoor 2002....

Season Summary: Overall I would say the outdoor season went far better than I had hoped. I think that much of the success of the outdoor season was founded in the work done in the previous two seasons. I ran my best races early in the season when I was still close to my base period. For next year I need to figure out how to more effectively hit a peak. I wonder how much those two weeks hampered by nagging injuries after Mount Sac hurt the end of my season. I was very pleased with the integration of long strides at the end of many runs. I will continue to add more form and speed work at the end of my maintenance runs. I think it will help me becoming a quicker and more efficient runner. As far as mileage goes I think it went quite well. I kept it high for about the right time and avoided injury. For next year I would like to push my season back a bit so I am running more of my fast races closer to the time of NCAAs and USATFs. Right now ready to get back to summer training. Cross country is definitely the most challenging season for me and would like to go out with a strong NCAA cross country performance.

June 17- June 23: 58 Miles 6 Runs Not sure I hit the best possible taper and had a bug bothering me for the first half of the week. Glad

June 23 NO RUNNING. Beginning time off. Important part of the training cycle. Resting.

June 22 P.M. 7

Warmed 3 miles. Raced the USATF nationals 5k. Finished 9th in 13:46 for the last race of my season. Warmed down 1 mile.

June 21 A.M. 8

Ran with Barry on the Oak Creek loop. Watched the 10k which I was glad not to be in. The front group was moving and after that seemed like it was too strung out for anyone else to run a PR, don't think it would have been a good race for me. Meet high school star Scott Fuqua, going to be a good runner for Stanford

June 20 A.M. 8

Ran around Stanford and the Oak Creek loop with Mike. Finished with some strides.

June 19 A.M. 10 P.M. 6

Ran in the morning around Stanford and the dish. Finished with 4x200 meter hard strides on the track. Felt a bit sick in my stomach still. Ran in the afternoon with Parker and Mike since really wanted to run along the nice trail. Probably not a great idea but figured did not really matter.

June 18 P.M. 10

Ran in the arboretum with Nicole on bike. I am off to Stanford today and not sure when I will next be able to update the site since going straight to England from Stanford. So will try from the road. Taking time off after the race but will try to update with race and season summary.

June 17 A.M. 9

Warmed up 3 miles and felt dizzy and not good. Did 3 sets of 2x600 with 1:30, 3:30 rest. Ran 1:37, 1:34, 1:37, 1:37, 1:39 and bailed on the last one. Felt really tired and was not running smoothly. Workout meant to feel easy. Not sure why I was having such a bad run, have a bit of a sore throat. Warmed down 3 miles. Rough day, bad timing.

Week of June 10- June 16: 83 Miles, 9 Runs Good final week of training in build up to USATFs. Had two decent track sessions and beside that just enjoyed some runs with varying company. Decided that I run better off a milder taper so kept mileage at a moderate level this week. I will take next week easy and finish my season on Saturday with the 5k. After that going to take some time off. Leaving on Tuesday. Ready to go.

June 16 A.M. 10

Ran at Lincoln with Ted, nice run always love running at Walden. The parking lot always full of people to talk with after the run.

June 15 A.M. 10

Went out to stonehill college to run with Mario Friolio. Ran on some local trails for 1:08. Nice change of pace to have some company and new trails.

June 14 A.M. 9 P.M. 7

Warmed up 3 miles, ran 600-800-1000-800-600 with 1:30, 2:30, 3 min rest. Ran 1:37-2:10-2:42-2:08-1:36. Had some help from Dave Counts again. Felt quite good and held a bit back. Warmed down 3 miles. Did an afternoon run with Ted Fitzpatrick on the fenway. Feeling good

June 13 P.M. 10

Ran the arboretum loop by myself in 1:09. Felt good. Road biked in the afternoon for the first time, a bit sore.

June 12 P.M. 10

Ran at weston with Nicole for half the run, 1:09. Check out mensracing for an interview with yours truly.

June 11 A.M. 10 P.M. 7

Warmed up 3 miles. Ran 4 sets of 2x800 with 1:30, 3:30 rest. Ran 2:10, 2:11, 2:11, 2:11, 2:12, 2:11, 2:13, 2:14. Got some needed help pacing from high school coach Dave counts. It was really hot outside and found the workout tough, really dead for the last set. Had to take an extended break after third set due to severe side pain. Warmed down 3 miles. Did an afternoon shakeout with my father along the Charles River.

June 10 A.M. 10

Ran in Weston on some really nice trails that I had not been on before. Nice day and thought about an afternoon run but played tennis instead. I have a workout tomorrow so will double then.

Week of June 3- June 9: 80 miles, 8 runs: A mixed week of training. I was pleased with my workout but not with the 1500. Had a lot going on this week with the transition from school and home. Not quite sure what to do for training at the moment anyway since season is winding down. Think I will try to hit 80 again and get in two quality workout sessions this upcoming week.

June 9 P.M. 12

Went down to Groton, Conn. to Joe Shaw's house. Did a run on trails around his house with him on a bike. Fine run decided to bail on the long run, since got up at 5:30 am

June 8 P.M. 9

Warmed up 3 miles, ran the 1500 in the high performance meet, ran an embarrassing 3:55, can't believe it, read more in the race summary section. Oh well got USATFs to worry about Warmed down 5 miles.

June 7 P.M. 10

Ran in the arboretum by myself. My Achilles is a bit sore since I took out my heel lifts a couple weeks ago. Had them in due to the problems I had in cross country but need to stop using them so I do not permentely shorten my Achilles. Were only small lifts.

June 6 A.M. 13

Ran in the Lincoln woods with Brian. Great to be back on my favorite trails, Brian was impressed with them. We hammered the last 4 miles about 5:30 pace. Not going to taper much for the 1500 this weekend. Feeling good despite the bad weather.

June 5 A.M. 10 P.M. 6

Ran in Boston lot in the morning really humid. Spent the rest of the day packing and driving back to Brookline. Ran late with Colin for 6. Glad to be back home was feeling flat training at Dartmouth.

June 4 P.M. 10

Warmed up 2.5, ran 3 sets 400-400-800 with 1 minute and 2 minute rest. Ran 63, 63, 208, 63, 63, 208, 63, 64, 207. Marked paced part of each 800. On the warmdown I totally boinked. Don't know what happened think dehydration but staggered home. Besides that pleased with the workout.

June 3: P.M. 10

I ran oak hill again with Steve and Brian. Did some hard strides with Brian. Finally done with school.

Week of May 27 - June 2: 63 miles, 7 runs: Not much of a week of training. Really was more focused on tapering for NCAAs. Planning on running a 1500 next week in Boston. So need to work on my speed a bit and raise my mileage back a bit to get ready for USATFs.

June 2 P.M. 11

Ran on oak hill by myself, felt much better after some sleep. I was going to sell out and go shorter because felt tired and feeling sorry for myself, but realized that I was enjoying the run. So did what I had planned on doing. Finished with strides

June 1 P.M. 13

I ran sound of music with Neal and Nicole (on bike). I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the run. Going on the roads did not do my legs any favor. Been doing a lot of school work since final are going on

May 31 A.M. 6

Ran with the resurgent Adam Teneforde around the hotel. Just a shakeout don't want to fall into the same trap I did after Mount Sac of coming back to quick. Legs felt reasonably good considering yesterdays race. Adam had a good 10k yesterday and provided good company.

May 30 P.M. 13

Warmed up 3 miles, ran NCAA 10k 3rd place 29:10, see race summary section. Warmed down quickly 4 miles

May 29 A.M. 5

Ran around LSU with Barry. Really hot outside did some strides. Spent the rest of the day working.

May 28 A.M. 6

I ran pumpkin patch by myself. Flew out to Louisiana.

May 27 P.M. 9

Warmed up 2.5 miles, I ran 400-800-400-800-400 with 2, 3 min rest. I ran 63.5, 2:12, 63.9, 2:12, 63.0. Felt reasonably easy, never feel great on really easy workouts. Warmed down 4 miles. Leaving tomorrow. So we will see....

May 20-26: 79 Miles, 7 runs: A fine week of training to build up the NCAAs. Feeling like I should run quite well. My speed is coming around and still feel good doing distance. Just hope I have timed my taper correctly. Lots of school work with finals next week.

May 26 A.M. 8

I ran rollercoaster by myself. Went to my sisters graduation in Amherst, congrats to Hannah McArdle on graduating. Lots of school work

May 25 P.M. 11

I ran Oak hill with Joe in 1:10 and then did 6x100 strides on the track. Did the strides really quickly. Feeling like my speed is coming back with the taper.

May 24 P.M. 10

Warmed up 2.5, ran 1200-100-800-400, with 3 min rest, 3:17, 2:45, 2:10, 59.8. Glad to break 60 for the first time this year. Felt good in the workout not supposed to be very hard. Warmed down 3.5 miles

May 23 P.M. 10

Ran Boston lot+ with Steve , John, and Neal. Ran really easy, 1:08. Got a lot of work done. Trying not to get worn down by all that is going on around here.

May 22 P.M. 13

Ran sound of music with Joe and Nicole (on bike). Really nice day and enjoyable run. It was weird running on the roads during the spring. Lots of work.

May 21 P.M. 11

Warmed up with 2.5 miles. Ran 6x1000 with 2:30 rest, I ran 2:47, 2:47, 2:47, 2:47, 2:47, 2:46. Had an excellent rabbit in Joe Shaw who paced the first 600 of each interval. Really good workout, I felt fantastic. Training seems to coming around nicely for NCAAs. Warmed down 3.5.

May 20 P.M. 16

I did a long run in big country and oak hill with Nicole who accompanied me on a mountain bike. Nice to have company for a long run. Time passes easily with conversation. Last long run before NCAAs.

May 13-19: 101 Miles, 9 Runs: A solid week of training. I had a good workout on Tuesday. I wish Saturday had gone better. Satisfied with my mileage total but did not get in a true long run. Hopefully next week I will have a couple good track sessions.

May 19 A.M. 12

Ran Big country with Pat in 1:07 which is quick, then did 4x200 strides on the track. Feeling refreshed after a lot of sleep and a good sauna last night.

May 18 P.M. 12

Warmed up 2.5 miles. I was planning one 30 minute tempo run but had to stop at 27 minutes due to impending bathroom need. Felt all right on the tempo. Warmed down 3.5. Lousy day, actually snowed in the morning, stayed up too late the night before.

May 17 P.M. 14

Ran con. River loop with John 1:30. Did some barefoot strides. Feeling good.

May 16 A.M. 6 P.M. 12

Did an easy run in the morning. Ran the first half of the reservoir with Steve and john and finished with 4x200 strides on the track, 1:21. Felt good in the morning and tired in the afternoon.

May 15 P.M. 13

Warmed up 3.5, did 800, 1200, mile, 2k, 3x400. With 2, 3, 4, 4 and 1 minute rest. I ran 2:13, 3:19, 4:29, 5:43, 61, 63, 63. It was really windy on the track so really pleased with the times considering. My coach was out of town so was doing them without any splits just on feel. Had some guys help take a bit of the pace in each interval but lead quite a bit myself. Warmed down 4 miles. Feeling good.

May 14 A.M. 6 P.M. 11

Did an easy 6 in the morning by myself. Ran Oak hill with Pohlmeyer in the afternoon going relatively easy again. Felt a bit fatigued from two hard days in a row. Getting back to a high mileage week before NCAA taper.

May 13: P.M. 15

I ran Big Country and Rollercoaster in 1:29. Then did 4x200 strides in Leverone. It was a miserable day outside, freezing rain. My pants were so wet by the end they would not stay up. Ran the last part of the run at a fast pace.

May 6- May 12: 86 Miles, 8 Runs: A decent week of training. My mileage was all right considering I did have to race. Got in a quality session on the track on Wednesday and then a reasonable session in the race. I am going to try a hard long session on Wednesday and another week of good mileage. I think I should be able to improve my fitness for NCAAs. I am very glad to have no injuries bothering me.

May 12 A.M. 10

Warmed up 3 miles. It was incredibly hot outside. 80s and high humidity, terrible weather for distance running. Won the 5k in 14:23, I was trying to pace my teammate to 2nd place. But plan failed and after running some slow laps to keep him with me, I picked up the pace again. Ran a couple quick laps then shut it down and cruised home. I felt terrible due to the heat but was still running easy. Nice to have an easy race after a couple tough weekends of racing. Warmed down 4 miles. Swam in the Chesapeake.

May 11 A.M. 8

Ran with my Dad from the hotel out to the golf course. Feeling good. Was exhausted after watching the first day of the meet. On my feet all day.

May 10 P.M. 11

Ran at the naval academy. Found some trails and ran into a skeevy neighborhood. Beautiful area

May 9 A.M. 6 P.M. 10

I went easy in the morning by myself. Ran rollercoaster+ and 4x200 meter strides on the track. We were moving well. Trying to keep my mileage up this week. Flying to Navy tomorrow morning.

May 8 P.M. 12

Warmed up 3.5, ran 3 sets of 8-6-4, with 2 min rest between intervals and 3 between sets. Ran 2:12, 1:38, 62, 2:10, 1:36, 61, 2:10, 1:36, 62. Had Ross and Mark do parts of the workout with me. First serious track session since before Mount Sac. Scary thought. My speed is a bit lacking but will be ready come NCAAs. Warmed down 4 miles.

May 7 P.M. 15

Ran Oak hill quickly with Ross, then did 4x200 strides on the track, then ran out to the mud run and back. Glad to be back training a bit harder again, slept 10.5 hours last night.

May 6. P.M. 14

Ran the Conn. river loop with Steven. It was a bit too hot out and felt a bit dehydrated.

April 29- May 5: 70 Miles, 7 runs: Not a great week of training but got in a really solid race. Unfortunately have to race again next week at Heps so probably will not get a good week of mileage again next week. Overall I am really glad to get in a nice 5K pr.

May 5. A.M. 13

Ran in the arboretum near my house with George, Colin, and high school couch Dave Counts. I decided to lay off the long run to make sure my calves healed all right.

May 4. A.M. 11

Ran the Oak Creek loop plus 2 miles with Parker and my dad. Can't believe it is one of the nicest loops around the Stanford campus. My calves felt really good considering.

May 3 P.M. 10

Warmed up 3 miles, ran 5K in 13:37 for 7th place, warmed down 3 miles, got a massage. Good race. Read about it in the race summary section.

May 2 A.M. 8

I ran around the Stanford campus and up the satellite dish with my dad, feeling better. Did strides on the Stanford track

May 1 A.M. 8

Ran Rollercoaster by myself. Felt miserable due to lack of sleep and have a lot of snot. However, the run made me feel better. Spent all day getting to Stanford

April 30 P.M. 10

Warmed up 4 miles, did 4x600 at 64 pace with Ross. My calf felt all right. but still a bit tight so decided to do only 4 instead of 5. Warmed down 4 miles felt really sore but no pain which is good. Ready to race I think.

April 29 P.M. 11

Ran Oak hill with Mark and my calf finally feels good for the first time since the 10k. Was running quite quickly the whole way. Hope for a good workout tomorrow.

April 22 - April 28: 8 runs, 90 Miles First bad week in this outdoor season. Had lots of problems as a residual effect of the 10k. However, feel a bit better today and hopefully will be healthy and ready for Stanford next week. Can not have lost my fitness in one week of lackluster training. Still need to be smarter in training after races when I am beat up.

April 28 A.M. 8

So decided that I really need to tackle this problem in my calf. Got a massage and sauned yesterday and felt better. But still feels tight in that one spot on my calf, so started my long run and then decided to just bag it and try to beat this problem. It was miserable day for running anyway. Has not been a good week. Really want to be ready for Stanford in 5 days.

April 27 A.M. 13

Warmed up 4 miles, could feel my tight left calf the whole way. Did a 30 minute tempo run. Ran the first mile on the track in 4:53 then kept around that pace for most of the run. Felt idly hindered as it felt as if there was a knot in my calf. Finished feeling tired but was moving quite well. Warming down was painful as the calf had tightened up and could only manage 3 miles at a slow pace hobbling a bit. Will get another massage, need to fix this problem.

April 26 P.M. 14

Feeling better today, still have a tight left calf. But think I will be able to work out at 100% tomorrow. Ran big country, oak hill, pine park. Did strides and calves not bothering me. Hope for a good one tomorrow.

April 25 P.M. 13

Almost died on the massage table today. Felt much better after sauning last night and then massage in the morning. Calves actually were not sore for the first time in days. Felt good running Oak hill and rollercoaster.

April 24 P.M. 8

Warmed up 4 miles. Calves felt really tight from the start of the run. Hoped they would loosen up. Tried to do 800, 1200, 800, mile, 800, 2k, with 2/4 min rest. Felt really flat and my calves were terribly sore, ran 2:12, 3:20, 2:10, 4:35 then stopped. My calves were so sore that I could not warm down went right to the trainer who said I am having really bad delayed onset muscle soreness. Feel like I just finished the 10k just walking around. Probably explains the terrible workout, need to take it easy, seem to go overboard with my training often after a good race need to be smarter and give myself a chance to recover. Will get a massage tomorrow and it will hopefully help.

April 23 A.M. 6 P.M. 14

Felt tired in the morning still making for lost sleep after the race. Ran reservoir down McDonald in 1:34. Feel a bit tired but legs are much less sore.

April 22 P.M. 14

Ran Oak hill, rollercoaster, Michigan mile with Pat Ward in 1:30. I felt a bit tired and my calves are still really sore. Will hopefully feel better tomorrow.

April 15- April 21: 77 miles, 7 runs: Debating what to do after a breakthrough 10K. Thinking about going to Stanford but really difficult to miss a lot of classes again and to go through all the pains of traveling across the country. My focus is definitely on running as well as possible at NCAAs. Not on the track again until Wednesday.

April 21 P.M. 18

I ran big country, oak hill+, pine park, ran for 2:01 so may have been a bit shorter since had to start slow due to continuing calf soreness. Glad to get in the long run. Feeling better hopefully will sleep well tonight

April 20 A.M. 7

Could hardly move at the beginning of the run, my calves were really sore. By the end of the run felt a bit better but still can't run quickly downhill. Long day flying back to Dartmouth. Haven't been able to sleep only managed 5 hours after only 7 hours the night after the race. Frustrating as I really like sleeping.

April 19 P.M. 11

Warmed up 3 miles, ran 10k, finished second in 28:18, great great race, 52 second PR, more description in the race summary section. Barely managed 2 miles

April 18 A.M. 8

Ran at Mount Sac on the cross country course which is surprisingly tough then added on around the campus. Feeling loose from quick massage the day before.

April 17 P.M. 8

Ran rollercoaster in the morning by myself. Had a long day of traveling out to California after taking a test

April 16 P.M. 12

Warmed up 4 miles. Did 1200, 1000, 800, 600 with lots of rest (3 min average), ran 3:23, 2:48, 2:12, 1:36. Not a tough workout but felt a bit flat when the pace should have been easy. Probably due to going hard yesterday. Leaving for Mount Sac tomorrow.

April 15 P.M. 13

Ran Boston Lot with add-ons with Mark, hammered the first 6 miles then went easy for a while, picked it up again at the end, finished with 4x200 strides on the track. Achilles fealing a bit awkward.

Week of April 8- April 14: 107 Miles, 9 Runs: Decent week of training. Had a good tempo run for most of it. The track intervals were thrown off by the bad wind on the track, difficult to gauge how good the times where. Fifth week of high mileage should be ready for a good run at Mount Sac.

April 14 A.M. 11

Did Big Country and Baulch with Hanley. Needed an easier day beginning to taper for mount sac.

April 13 A.M. 16

Did Reservoir, Big Country, and Mink Brook in 1:46 by myself. Really humid and was a bit tired. Watched the races in the afternoon which went well for the other guys.

April 12 P.M. 13

Warmed up 3.5 ran 3 sets of 6x400 with 45 sec between repeats and 2 min rest between sets rest. Averaged 65s for first two sets then 64s for the last. Was really windy on the track which slowed us down a lot. Really hard effort despite the slow times. Warmed down 5 miles.

April 11 A.M. 6 P.M. 11

I felt tired all day, probably from the past few days being tough. Ran oak hill which was muddy. Not a great day.

April 10 P.M. 15

Ran new trail along the river with Mark, awesome day outside. Felt really good, finished with 4x200 meter strides and my lifting routine (pushups, situps, hamstring curls). Feeling good.

April 9 A.M. 6 P.M. 14

Ran an easy shakeout in the morning. 39:30. Did a 35 tempo run along the railbed in Lebanon. Felt really good for the first 25 minutes was moving really well. Started to struggle in the last 3 minutes got a bad stomach pain most likely due to mild dehyradation. Need to drink more. Legs feel good.

April 8 A.M. 14

Ran Big Country and reservoir with Mark finished doing 4x200 meter strides. Felt tired initially but loosened up during the run. Did lifting routine. Our team budget has run out for traveling so looks as though will not be able to make the second Stanford meet. Will continue to look.

April 1- April 7: 106 Miles, 9 runs: Good 10k buildup week. Did some solid track session and managed a decent race at the end of the week. Confident that I am ready to run a big 10k PR at Mount Sac. Need to tune-up with a couple more workouts and another high mileage week. Things are going well.

April 7 A.M. 19

Ran new trails along the Connecticut and then ran mink brook water treatment with Mark. Moved quickly over the last couple of miles. Good long run.

April 6 P.M. 13

Warmed up 3 miles, ran the 1500 at the Harvard-Brown meet and won in 3:55. Windy and cold outside and a slow opening pace. I traded the lead with teammate Jason Taylor. My splits were 49, 61, 64, 59. Took the lead in the last 150 and held everybody off. Glad to know I still have some wheels, it was a good tune-up for mount sac, competitive race. Did a 4 mile cooldown and was going to pace 5k guys. Then was not needed so I ran 5 more with Ross and my dad.

April 5 P.M. 10

Ran the Montshire trails by myself. Felt a bit tired from training and getting barely 8 hours of sleep.

April 4 A.M. 6 P.M. 12.5

Did a shakeout morning run feeling a bit tight. Got a massage in the middle of the day. Ran oak hill with Mark and Brian. It was still very icy then got back onto the track and did 4x200 meter strides.

April 3 P.M. 13.5

Warmed up 4.5 miles, ran 4 sets of 2x800 with 1:30 and 3:30 rest. Ran 2:13, 2:12, 2:11, 2:12, 2:09, 2:10, 2:09, 2:10, it was raining hard again so had to do the workout indoors again. Warmed down 4 miles. Quite pleased with the workout considering the short rest since my last tough workout. Achilles felt better.

April 2 A.M. 7 P.M. 11

Ran longer in the morning checking out newly opened trails for my afternoon run. Ran Boston Lot and water treatment, first day back on the trails since early December. Felt really tired from longer morning run and yesterday. Bailed on strides. Achilles still a bit sore.

April 1 P.M. 14

Warmed up 4 miles, raining too much to run on the outdoor track. Did 5xmile on the indoor track with rest 3, 2:30, 2, 1:30 min. Ran 4:32, 4:35, 4:35, 4:33, 4:29. Felt really good was just cruising. The other guys were moving well which helped. Ran a 4 mile warmdown. Good day, Achilles really sore.

Week of Mar. 25- Mar. 31: 117 Miles, 11 runs: Good week of strength work as far as mileage went. Got in a lot of doubles which helped boost my mileage. Need to start to do some track work again to get ready for Mount Sac which is only 3 weeks away. Racing next week.

Mar. 31 A.M. 17

Ran in Hopkinton with Chalmers, Ryan Carrera, Brian ?, and George. Really rough trails which I did not like. George turned his ankle a couple times which is too bad. However, had a good group to run with so worked out just fine.

Mar. 30 A.M. 13 P.M. 6

Did a tempo run with the Reebox Boston club in boston. Ran 4.7 miles in 22:40ish. Splits were 4:52, 5:02, 4:50, 4:45. Felt easy was nice having someone to run the intervals with. Ran 6 in the afternoon with Chalmers, we cruised the fens at 6 flat pace.

Mar. 29 A.M. 14

Woke up early and ran sound of music from Davis in 1:23, then ran 4x200 strides on the track again. Was going to work out alone but coach and I decided it was best just to do a tempo run on Saturday in Boston with some club guys rather than do the workout alone. Glad to just do the distance. Will be in Boston for Easter weekend. Doing a long run at Walden on Sunday.

Mar. 28 P.M. 15

Did Pinneo hill with Ross and Mark, then ran 4x200 meter strides on the track, think it will improve my speed, got the idea from Mark. Always trying to add to my program. Going down to Boston for the weekend and will get to run on the trails for a nice break. Will have to workout alone tomorrow. which will suck.

Mar. 27 A.M. 5 P.M 13

Did safe six in the morning. Warmed up 3 miles, then did a 35 minute tempo run on a new loop without splits. Went out really hard and died towards the end which was stupid of me. Thought I would be able to hold it but ran out of juice. Warmed down 3 miles and almost collapsed by the end, tough day.

Mar. 26 A.M. 5 P.M. 12

Ran a quick safe six with Mark in the morning. Felt really tired all day, first day of school and lots of slushy snow. Ran Etna plus partridge road by myself and was moving, ran the 11 mile loop in 1:07, then did a mile on the track doing 4 200 meter strides. Like doing long strides and want to do some speed work so think I will add it to my routine. Hamstrings are really tight.

Mar 25. A.M. 5 P.M. 13

Did 8-Ball with Mark and Joe in the morning. Had a busy day tying up loose ends before classes start tomorrow. Ran Sound of Music with Brian, Ross, Kevin, and Mark. We really moved quickly up the hills and finished in 1:25 which is a really good time for the run. Exhausted from another long day.

Week of Mar. 18- Mar. 24: 110 Miles, 10 runs: Had a decent week of training. The sore leg kept me down a bit but got in some valuable mileage. It is really nice to get the trip to Arizona paid for by the college, only have to buy our own food. Spend most of the day lying around between runs eating. Quite nice places to run out here and enjoyable weather. Only problem is that can't update my log. Think I should be ready for some weeks of higher intensity training in preparation for Mount Sac. Need at least 3 more weeks of high mileage and a couple solid workouts. Definitely want to delay my peak toward the end of the season, which I think can be achieved with lots of miles and fewer workouts early in the season. Was impressed by Jorge and Dathan finish at World Cross. Fires me up to train.

Mar. 24 P.M. 7

Spent all day traveling from Arizona and did not get back to Dartmouth until 8 P.M. Ran long safe six with an extra occum loop by myself. For some reason the darkness makes me want to hammer and I cruised at 6 minute pace for the whole thing. Exhausted from a long day, got up at 4:30 A.M. Leg getting much better

Mar. 23 A.M. 18

Ran out and back on the desert classic trail at south mountain for a total of 1:54. Ran with Kevin until he fell off due to dehydration. Was quite hot and felt drained myself. Not as good of a long run as last week but all right. Just could not drop the pace down under 6 minutes at the end due to tiredness and dehydration. Leg still quite sore

Mar. 22 A.M. 13

Leg still really sore but did a tempo run by myself anyway for only 30 minutes as it was really hot. Ran with a heart rate monitor after a 4:58 mile on the track, ran between 160-175 the whole time. Was really tired and sore leg bothered me but did not expect a great one. Did a shakeout in the afternoon and had more stomach problems. Still eating a weird diet. Watched the other Dartmouth guys race at ASU.

Mar. 21 A.M. 13

Was playing volleyball yesterday. and collided with high jumper and got a hard knee to my IT band and got a huge bruise. Managed to run on it though it was really really sore. Ran along the canal and in the park for 1:30. Worried that sore leg changing stride

Mar. 20 A.M. 13 P.M. 5.5

Ran at dreamy draw again mostly by myself on a poor trail for 1:29. Then ran in the afternoon reasonably hard but had bad stomach pains and had to slow down again. Real pain in the ass.

Mar. 19 A.M. 14 P.M. 5.5

Warmed up 4 miles, Ran 5x1200 with 3 min rest, ran 3:19. 3:23. 3:22, 3:23, 3:22, felt tired before I even started from an assortment of things; however, struggle in this workout every year. Warmed down a long 5 miles. Did a 5.5 mile shakeout in the afternoon

Mar. 18 A.M. 11 P.M. 6

Ran at Papago in the morning for 11 miles mostly by myself. Had terrible stomach problems again, cannot find my daily rhythm and the changed diet has been a real problem for me. Hammered in the afternoon with Mark for 6 miles went from 6 flat pace to 5:20 pace for the last couple miles. Feeling better in the afternoon

Week of Mar. 11- Mar. 17: 109 Miles, 9 runs Solid week of training out in Arizona, feeling much better getting back to hard training. Built back the mileage quickly but going to lay off tough workouts for a bit to make the volume more manageable. Want to time my peak well for the NCAAS and USATF 10Ks

Mar. 17 A.M. 13

Ran at Dreamy Draw with Mark, 1:29, had some more stomach problems, was a bit sore from yesterday. Felt good after a half an hour.

Mar. 16 A.M. 20

Did a great long run out at South Mountain, really hilly for the first 11 and then hammered the last 9 miles, ran with Kevin, 2:07 for the run. Feeling strong

Mar. 15 A.M. 13

Ran at Papago with Kevin, was moving quite well probably in the low 6s per a mile, 1:23 for the run. Great place to run lots of really nice trails. Weather is actually quite cool in the 60s out here. Achilles is a bit sore, will try to be careful.

Mar. 14 A.M. 10 P.M. 6

Did a fartlek on the dirty coyote canal, did 2 sets of 2-2-4 with half time rest. Had stomach problems for the second set and had to go in search of a bathroom. Felt all right. but Achilles bothered me on the last 4 minute interval. In the afternoon hammered 6 miles along the local canal, think I was going close to 5:20 pace, finished with a mile on the track to judge pace and it was a 5:07, so was really moving.

Mar. 13 A.M. 6 P.M. 12

Got up at 4:30 in the morning to get a really early plane flight. Ran at the charlotte airport with Neal, was raining and the trails made of clay were incredibly muddy. We got stopped by a police officer who stopped us from running into a 3 foot rotweiler on the loose. Arrived at Arizona and ran 12 miles, moving along thc canal quickly then added on in the park. Glad to be in the warm weather

Mar. 12 P.M. 16

Ran sweet sixteen with Kevin and Ross. Finally finished school, really really glad to be done. Had a tough finals period. I am off to Arizona tomorrow. Need to get back to some good distance training.

Mar. 11 P.M. 13

Ran sound of music in 1:25 from Davis with pete. Glad to back training hard again. Have tons of work but it will be all done tomorrow. Sounds like I missed quite a party out in Arkansas after the race, too bad. Will be heading to Phoenix in two days for a spring training trip

paul wrote:

Back when I was in college I remember reading the diaries of these guys online.

Does anyone know if they are still available online or if there embedded in an ancient thread on an MB somewhere!

Cheers

i once ran into Tom at Walden and he pushed me into the pond! Seven years later, I am still plotting my revenge.

McArdle XC 2002....

2002 Cross Country Log

November 25- Decmber 1: 19 Miles, 3 Runs

A good week to rest. I will be training pretty much right through to the summer. I needed the break to rest my hamstring and get the fire back. I am ready to start training again.

December 1 A.M. 6

I ran a long 5k race, Robert's run that is put on in Brookline by my coaches and parents. It is honor of my former captain and I do it every year. I won the race in 18:10. The course had icy bits on it. A good time.

November 30 No running

Still Resting

November 29 No running

Spent all day indoors. I hate not running.

November 28 P.M. 4

I ran slow with George and Colin around Jamaica pond. My hamstring is still sore in the wrong way. Decided to take a couple more days of rest.

November 27 No Running

Still catching up on school work. Back at home for thanksgiving.

November 26 No Running

I am taking some time off. I will not break again from my training until the summer so taking time now. I have so much school work to catch up on.

November 25 A.M. 9

I warmed up 3 miles. I ran the NCAA championships and finished 8th in 29:46. I ran hard. Got run down a bit at the end but pleased with the effort. I did not warm down.

Week of November 18-November 24: 57 Miles, 7 runs:

I survived my taper week without going crazy. I feel quite fresh and should be ready to go for the NCAA championships. My track speed was not bad but hopefully will improve a lot by indoors.

November 24 A.M. 6

I ran the NCAA course with Hanely, Noah, Nark, and Steve who all drove out to support. I am feeling quite good, my hamstring is improving. I got a massage in the afternoon, which was excellent.

November 23 A.M. 6

I ran the NCAA course with Jarrod, George, and Barry. I have good support out here. Bunch of guys are driving out.

November 22 P.M. 6

I ran long pine park and finished on the track with 4x200 meter strides hard. My hamstring is still really tight, I did not feel like I could sprint completely. I warmed down a mile on the track. Flew to nationals.

November 21 P.M. 11

I ran Blood hill down spank with Hanely, Nark, and Liam. Went a bit futher than I had planned but made for an enjoyable run.

November 20 P.M. 10

I warmed up 3.5 miles. The snow made it impossible do a workout on the golf course or outdoor track. I decided to run the workout on the indoor track. I did 4x1000 with 2:30 rest. I had Brian Hanely pace me through the intervals. I ran 2:45, 2:46, 2:43, 2:44. For the last two intervals I wore my new Adistar LD to break them in for NCAAs. The workout felt alright, not as easy as I had hoped. I cooled

down 2.5 miles.

November 19: P.M. 10

I ran Etna with Nark, Steve, and Noah. I felt a bit tired and eat too close to running. The roads are kind of depressing. I have lots of work this week which sucks. My hamstring is still tight. In a bit of a negative mood but doing alright.

November 18: P.M. 8

I ran Spank with the guys and Dartmouth Alum Tom Coogan. Tom kept us entertained with some good stories, nice to have some new company. I hate tapering I always get really insecure about dropping my miles. I need to just enjoy it. My hamstring is still quite sore up near my butt. There is a ton of snow so I am running on the roads this week.

Week of November 11- November 17: 79 Miles, 7 runs

A solid final week before NCAAs. I got in some decent leg turnover work early in the week and then had a decent showing at regionals. I am feeling quite fit but hard to tell how I stack up against my opposition at NCAAs. I will taper quite a bit this week espically considering my lingering hamstring problem. Everyone is really bummed out about

the team here.

November 17 A.M. 13

My upper hamstring is really sore. I ran sound of Silence with Nark and Chris, my hamstring bothered me the whole way but not enough to cut it short. Hopefully will improve.

November 16: A.M. 13

I warmed up 3 miles. I ran the regional race and won in 30:03. A solid race for me but dissapointed with team result. Have more to say in race summary. I warmed down 4 miles.

November 15: A.M. 8

I ran rollercoaster by myself. I was moving quite quickly since I was late for class. My upperhamstring is still quite tight. Drove down to NYC in the afternoon.

November 14: P.M. 11

I ran Burnt Mountain with Nark and Liam quite easily. Trails are a bit rough which kept the pace down.

November 13: P.M. 11

I warmed up 3 miles. I ran 2 sets of 1-1-2 minute surges with equal rest. I ran the surges quite hard to try and get some leg turnover. I was reasonably tired by the end. I warmed down 5 miles.

November 12: P.M. 12

I ran Oak hill with Nark and Liam, we motored along and did it in 1:07. We finished with 4x200 meter strides on the track for an extra mile. First time my hamstrings have felt up for strides in a long time. They are a bit more sore than yestarday but hopefully will be a 100% by the weekend. I am feeling really good at the moment,more confident in my fitness.

November 11: P.M. 11

I warmed up 3 miles. I ran 1200-1200-800-800 on the golf course with 3:00 rest. I ran 3:26, 3:23, 2:14, 2:13. The 800 times were good since it is a really long 800 meter loop. I felt quite good in the workout. My speed is still lacking a bit but coming around. I warmed down 5 miles by myself. My hamstring improved again today. It feels like it is almost gone.

Week of November 4- November 10: 86 Miles, 7 runs:

I made the best of bad week. I had multiple injury problems this week but I think I have just about beaten both of them. I got in a quality workout on tuesday and two hard efforts at the end of the week. The volume has been lower than I had planned the last few weeks but my body was not agreeing. I guess most of the work for NCAAs is now done. I know I am fit just not sure how fit. We will see.

November 10 A.M. 15

I ran the short sound of music trails plus pine park plus with Mark B in 1:36. I was going to go a bit further but I was feeling tired. My hamstring has improved so much over the past few days. I hardly felt it today. I am worried about not getting enough Iron so I am raising my red meat intake.

November 9 A.M. 15

I ran double big country with Nichol in record time of 1:19 for 14 miles. We were hammering the whole way. Some rough patches of trails slowed us down a bit. I finished with an easy mile on the track. I figured if my hamstring is going to hurt no matter what pace I run, I might as well run hard. Strangely enough the hamstring is feeling a bit better. Needed that run.

November 8 P.M. 11

I went to see a Chiropractor Doctor Glass, he did some adjustments which seemed to help a bit. My hamstring was still quite sore to begin but I think it is improving. I warmed up 3 miles. I did 800-1200-800-mile-800-2k. I ran 2:19-3:26, 2:18, 4:37, 2:18, then on the 2K I had to stop early due to stomach problems. I got within 200 meters of the line but could not hold back any longer. I came through the mile in 4:40. I had stomach problems earlier in the workout as well. Not a very good session. I warmed down 3 miles. My hamstring is feeling better but still sore.

November 7 P.M. 11

I got eletric stim and ultasound on my hamstrings before I ran. They were still sore to begin. I ran short loops around the campus because I did not want to run up any big hills. My hamstring definitly improved. It is still quite bad, it is forcing me to start my taper early. I am hopefully seeing Dr. Glass tommorow, I hope he can help.

November 6 P.M. 10

My hamstring was really sore. I tried to run on the rail trail but it was snowed in. Ended up doing a road run in Leb in the freezing rain. My hamstring hurt a lot to start and then loosened up a bit. It was a miserable day for running and I am very worried about this hamstring. On a more positive note, a chiropractor who just moved into the area stopped by and showed us some stretching stuff. He is very knowledgable about runners and worked with many elite athletes. I am going to see him tommorow.

November 5 P.M. 13

My achilles felt better again today and after some ultrasound I warmed up 3 miles. I did 5xmile with decending rest 3, 2:30, 2, 1:30. I ran 4:49, 4:41, 4:37, 4:40, 4:37 on the golf course. It was a solid workout. My achilles did not hurt at all. My hamstring was really tight before and after the workout. I warmed down 4 miles. I was relieved to be able to get this workout in.

November 4 P.M. 11

I got a really good massage in the afternoon and my leg felt a bit better. Then saw the trainer and got some heel lifts and some ultrasound done. My achilles felt good after all the work and I ran big country (flatest run) by myself in 1:08. It felt a bit tender but that could be my head. My hamstring is still really tight. Glad to have a decent run, big workout tommorow

Week of October 28- November 3: 79 miles, 8 Runs:

A good start to the week with a terrible end. I know my fitness is very good right now. I know I could have really ripped on Van Cortland if I had needed to. It seems like injuries are catching up with me. This achilles problem worries me a lot. I know I am one more good week of high intesity training away from amazing shape. I hope my legs allow me that one more week.

November 3 P.M. 13

I went to see the trainer who did not think I had done anything terrible. He thought I just hyperextended a bit by running when I was a bit too tired. He gave me the go ahead to run. After warming it up the achilles felt alright. But at around mile 11 it started to really hurt a lot again. It is now really tight. I am icing a lot.

November 2 NO RUNNING

I tried to run in the afternoon but my achilles still really hurt. It is fine walking around except down stairs. It hurt to push off my toes. It did not help that I did not sleep much last night. I really wanted to get my long run in today. I got a massage in the evening which helped.

November 1 A.M. 11

I warmed up 3 miles. I ran the Heptagonal championships and paced teammate Jarrod. We ran 24:36 for the course. I warmed down 3 miles. I was planning on going much longer. I foolishly wore spikes in the race. My calves were quite sore from the race. While I was warming down I was climbing a hill and I felt my achilles pop a bit. It was a sharp pain and I could only lightely run after that. I am very concerned about the problem and tried to ice after the race a lot. I am in good shape no time for injuries.

October 31 P.M. 6

I drove down to Van Cortland park in the morning. When I started running my hamstring was incredibly tight. I ran in pain for parts of the run. I decided to take an easy day. I loosened it up stretching a bit.

October 30 A.M. 10 P.M. 4

I ran with new roomate Mike O'Neil in the morning. Kept the pace reasonable I have been running hard too often recently. In the afternoon, I hammered to get away from the Freshman who tried to throw me into occum pond which is freezing. Then did some light jogging.

October 29 A.M. 6 P.M. 12

I ran my morning loop faster than ever, 38:50 which is still not very fast. In the afternoon I warmed up 3 miles then did 3 sets of 1 minute 2 minute fartlek with a minute rest. I was feeling a bit tired, hard to tell what from though. I warmed down 6 miles.

October 28 P.M. 17

I ran in Deliverance with Hanely and Quinn. I was feeling terrible at first but got going at about 30 minutes and felt great. We motored the whole run and the last couple miles were very quick. Hanely and I finished with a 4:51 mile on the track. Solid training.

Week of October 21- October 27: 108 Miles, 8 runs:

A solid week of training. I was pleased with my Michigan workout. I think the poor second workout was due to some problems with adjusting to a new regime. The big decision is that I have decided to rent a friend's altitude tent. It is a Colorado Altitude tent and I do believe in the science behind it so I thought I would give it a try. I know

it is late in the season to introduce something but I am too interested in the experiment to pass up the opportunity. Now need a couple more weeks of solid training

October 27 P.M. 14

I warmed up 3.5 miles. I did 800-1200-mile-mile-mile on the golf course. I felt absolutely flat. I was just struggling to move easily. I ran 2:21, 3:27, 4:39, 4:41, 4:42. I guess that I am a bit worn down. I warmed down 5 miles.

October 26 P.M. 14

We were supposed to workout today but conditions were terrible with freezing rain. I ran big country with Jarrod and Eric and added on water treatment. The run was alright considering the adverse conditions. Interested to see how the workout goes tommorow

October 25 P.M. 15

I ran oak hill with Mark and Bryce and then did 4x200 strides on the track and then did pine park. My hamstring is still really sore and could not push it on the strides. I am going to get a massage tommorow. I cannot afford to be injuried at this point.

October 24 P.M. 15

I have decided to use my friends altitude tent and I slept last night at 6000 feet of elevation. I am exicited to see what the tent will do. I ran with Neal and Dave in the resevoir and felt quite good. My hamstrings are really tight so did some stretching and lifting for them.

October 23 A.M. 6 P.M. 13

I ran in the morning by myself in the cemetary. In the afternoon I warmed up 3.5 miles. Then I did the michigan workout on the track which is a 2 mile - 6 minute mile on the roads- 6 minute mile- 800. I ran 8:59-4:25-2:08. I had to run the workout mostly solo and it was a bit windy. It was my first workout of the year where I beat last years times. I pleased to have broken 9 for the 2 mile. I think my fitness is starting to come around.

October 22 P.M. 15

I ran Oak hill with Hanely and then added on pine park and 4x200 meter strides. I felt quite good today after another long night of sleep. I have a tough workout tommorow. The big news today is that a friend has offered me to sleep in an altitude tent he just got. It means traveling every night to the house and sleeping there. An amazing opportunity. I think I am going to do it but have not decided.

October 21 P.M. 15

I ran the Conn. River loop with Bryce, Mark and Eric. My legs felt fine but the head cold is taking it out of me. I slept 10 hours last night. We were hammering for parts of the run and just did not feel sharp at all.

Week of October 14- October 20: 105 Miles, 9 Runs

A good week of running. I was glad to keep my mileage up and still race alright at Pre-Nats. I think I have a bit of a cold now but should not be too bad. Everything is still going well towards peaking at Nationals. I have five weeks now to train hard and get in the best shape possible. I think I need to raise my workout level intensity in the ensuing weeks. Pre-NCAAs made me realize that I have a way to go before NCAAs. So lots of sleep for me and hopefully some solid training.

October 20 P.M. 20

I ran with Zach and Dave. We did Oak hill/ Pinneo/ Resevoir/ Big country. Almost the whole run on trails until the last 4 miles. I quite good after the race. I think I got a bit of a cold bug that I am fighting. It did not effect my run. We hammered the last 4 miles around 5:20 pace. I finished on the track with a mile in 5:15.

October 19 P.M. 15

I warmed up 3 miles. I ran the Pre-NCAA meet and finished 4th in 23:55. Race summary coming on this one. Not a great effort. I warmed down 7 miles. My shin was really bugging me in the other leg but in the same spot I was injuried in septemeber. I was really worried about it and icied a lot. I definitly cannot afford any setbacks from here on in.

October 18 A.M. 8

I ran out at the course at Indiana State. The wind was blowing really hard. The couse is quite flat and bit uneven underfoot. It suits me reasonably well. I felt a bit flat again but probably due to traveling.

October 17 A.M. 11

I ran with Joe in the morning on Oak hill and finished on the track with some strides. I felt a bit off. Spent the rest of the day flying to Indiana.

October 16 P.M. 12

I warmed up 3 miles, then did 3 sets of 1 minute- two minute fartlek with a minute rest. It was a really easy and light workout. The weather outside was terrible but I felt quite good running. I warmed down 6 miles by myself. I am still feeling quite good. I am off to Pre-NCAAs tommorow. I think should run reasonably well. I have not been training quite as well as I would like to but think I am in decent shape.

October 15 A.M. 6 P.M. 13

I ran in the Cemetary by myself in the morning. I ran Burnt mountain/ Water treatment with Bryce in the afternoon. I finished with 4x200 meter strides on the track. I felt quick today on the track, probably from all the speed work I have been doing. I have been feeling good the past few days.

October 14 A.M. 6 P.M. 14

I ran pumpkin patch by myself in the morning and had some stomach problems. In the afternoon I ran oak hill/Rollercoaster/chase field with Mark. I finished the run doing 4x200 meter strides on the track. We hammered the last 4 miles of the run, I was feeling good. My weight seems a bit low at the moment, I weighed in at 143. Scale might have been off.

Week of October 7- October 13: 116 Miles, 9 Runs:

A decent week of training. I feel good and got in some good miles. None of my workouts I thought were really fantastic but all of them solid. I think I am shape to run reasonably well at Pre-NCAAs. I do not want to bring my mileage down to much but I know Barry wants me to. I still think I need to raise my training intensity a bit to get where I want to go.

October 13 P.M. 14

I warmed up 4 miles. I did 6x1200 on the golf course. We did a new loop and it was definitely short and had too many bends in it. Mark and I ran 3:22, 3:11, 3:10, 3:10, 3:07, 3:13. I ran the last one solo since the other guys were only doing 5 so ran a bit slower. Again I am bit worried about doing too much fast stuff but I felt quite good during the workout. I warmed down 5 miles with Mark and Joe.

October 12 A.M. 10

I ran Boston Lot by myself for my easy day. I stayed up way too late the night before. I felt good considering the day before. I finished with 6 strides on the soccer field.

October 11 P.M. 20

I went down to Boston to watch the New Englands. Our guys did quite well. I ran a long run in the rain with Joe Shaw on the Brookline golf courses. We ran for 2:10 and were moving reasonably well the whole time on a smooth surface. The traffic was too bad to go to Walden which broke my heart.

October 10 A.M. 6 P.M. 14

I ran with Zach in the morning felt good. I warmed up 4 miles in the afternoon. I ran 4 sets of 2x800 with 1:30, 3:00 minute rest. I ran 2:18, 2:16, 2:16, 2:16, 2:13, 2:13, 2:11, 2:07. Mark and I ran together. I started out slow on purpose since I wanted to practice running comfortably at race pace. I am a bit nervous about doing all this speed work and wished it was a bit of a longer workout. However,

I do not want to over do it with my first track session and destroy my calves. I warmed down 5 miles with Mark.

October 9 P.M. 15

I ran reservoir with Mark and Joe in 1:40. I felt a bit off for most of the run. Long day yesterday. I have lots of school work. I am on the track tomorrow.

October 8 A.M. 6 P.M. 15

I ran with Barry and Mark in the morning easy. Then I ran with Bryce up the sound of music trail in the afternoon. The trail a bit to tough to go quick on. I finished with some strides

October 7 P.M. 16

I warmed up 3.5 miles. I did 4 minutes-3-2-3-4 ontop of Oak hill with 2 minutes rest. It went quite well. I set a new PR of 3:46 for the Oak hill loop on my last repeat. I was not a very tough workout. I am bit worried about how much speed my coach is incorporating at this point in the year. I warmed down for 7 miles.

Week of September 30- October 6: 112 Miles, 9 runs

A great week of training. I need many more of these types of quality weeks to be ready for NCAAs. Same thing next week.

October 6 A.M. 10

I took an easy day and ran Boston lot with Brian and Mark. We finished with 4x200 strides on the track. I was tired from going out last night but my legs felt all right. I really ripped into the strides. Needed the easy day.

October 5 P.M. 20

I watched the JV team race at Keene State. Then returned and did a long run with Neal. We ran the deliverance trails and then I added on in Pine Park. I felt quite good and got moving for the last few miles. It was probably a long 20 since I ran for 2:14. Good long run

October 4 P.M. 14

I warmed up 3 miles on the rail trail in Leb. I did a 35 minute tempo run. I was moving well and the guys started to hammer when I caught them which helped. I made it further than I ever have before on a tempo run on the rail trail. Which is a good sign since I did one right before mount sac last spring. My fitness seems to be coming around. I warmed down at a brisk pace for 4 miles.

October 3 A.M. 6 P.M. 13

I ran with Dave and Bart in the morning and felt much better. I ran oak hill/rollercoaster and 4x200 strides on the track. I felt much better. I guess I need a day for recovery.

October 2 P.M. 14

I ran double big country with Dave, Joe and Pat. It was the most miserable run. I was exhausted from the beginning and could barely move by the end. I guess that workout took a lot out of me yesterday.

October 1 A.M. 6 P.M. 14

I ran in the morning by myself reasonably easy. In the afternoon I warmed up 2.5 miles. I did the Freshman hill workout which is a 2k interval with a big hill at the end of the interval. I ran 5:57, 5:59, 5:59, 6:01, 6:15. The last one was slow since I was doing it alone. Everyone seemed a bit tired today. My workout was all right but not as good as last year. However, that was my best workout last year and this year I am feeling very fresh after doing it. Overall a solid session. >

September 30 P.M. 15

I ran with Bryce along the Conn. River Loop and found some new trails coming back through Boston Lot. I finished on the track with some 100 meter strides. 1:41 on the run. I got a massage today to flush out the race and I am feeling good.

Week of September 23- September 29: 110 Miles, 9 runs:

A solid week of training. I am pleased that I got the first race over with even though I was disappointed to lose. I felt strong while racing and I am now confident that I should be ready to race by the Championship part of the year. The only hitch in the week was the

workout on Monday. I have plenty of more workouts to come so probably will not be important in the long run. The most important thing is that I got a race in and my volume did not suffer. Will write race summary tomorrow.

September 29 A.M. 20

Mark and I ran on the recently named "Deliverance" trails. Then came down sound of music trail. It was a beautiful day for a long run not too hot. I felt great the entire run. Best long run in a month.

September 28 A.M. 15

I warmed up 3.5 miles. I raced the Iona meet of Champions and finished 2nd in 24:34. A fine opening race, felt quite good. Will write more in the race summary. Mark and I warmed down 6.5 miles. My legs felt good afterwards. My calves only idly sore.

September 27 P.M. 9

I ran the course at Van Cortland with the team then added on with John. My legs feel all right to race on.

September 26 P.M. 14

Mark, David, and I ran on some new sound of music trails. Mark and I added on and finished with 4x200 meter strides on the track. I felt great. Probably due to the massage I got today. I had a mild lower leg pain this morning but it has just about vanished. I am leaving for New York tomorrow.

September 25 A.M. 6 P.M. 13I ran easy by myself in the morning. In the afternoon I warmed up 3 miles, then did 6x2 minutes with 1 minute rest. It was a good leg turnover workout and finished not too tired. I did a long and hilly cooldown with Mark for 7 miles. Quite tired but feeling stronger.

September 24 A.M. 6 P.M. 14

Ran at a brisk pace in the morning with Mark. I ran Oak Hill Pinneo with Mark, we were moving along until we got lost and had to bush wack on a new trail. Finished with 4x200 meter strides on the track.

September 23 P.M. 14

Warmed up 3.5 miles. We did 4xmile on the golf course with 3 minutes rest in between. I ran 4:41, 4:44, 4:40, 4:57. It was a terrible workout. I got hammered by Mark. I felt fine beginning and then got a terrible stomach cramp after three and felt exhausted. I am definitely struggling to get back into racing form. It is going to take a while. This is not supposed to be such a tough workout. The rest of team ran really fast, which is good. I warmed down 6.5 miles. I feel all right

afterwards. I just need to be patient.

Week of September 16- September 22: 105 Miles, 8 runs: A mediocre week of training. My stupid illness hurt the intensity of the second half of the week. I definitely still have a long way to go with my fitness. But it may pay off since I can hopefully time my peak better this year for late November. I am opening my season in New York next weekend, I have low expectation for the race. I am not going to back off training.

September 22 A.M. 18

I ran my long run by myself, 2:01. I ran easy since I have repeat miles tomorrow. I think I am still a bit down from the illness I had should have more energy tomorrow. Glad to get the long run. Need many more before Terre Haute.

September 21 A.M. 13

I did the tempo run at Rails to trails with Neal. I tempoed for 30 minutes and felt all right. I was not pushing it since I have a hard workout on Monday. But a solid effort and feeling better.

September 20 A.M. 11

I ran big country with Neal. I bailed on the tempo run today since still did not feel a 100% from the fever. I will do it tomorrow. The run was fine but felt a big fatigued. I have been sleeping a lot. When I went to bed I ran a bit of a fever again of 99.2 nothing serious.

September 19 A.M. 13

I ran oak hill and rollercoaster by myself. Finished with strides on the track. I was wiped all afternoon and turns out I am running a bit of a fever, 99.6 degrees. I have been having terrible cold sores for two weeks now and one got infected just yesterday so probably why I am bit sick now. I have been having a terrible run of luck. Hopefully will be fine by tomorrow. I have been taking antibiotics for the past two days for the cold sores which should speed up the recovery process.

September 18 A.M. 15

I ran a short 15 in the reservoir with Nichol, Joe, Steve and Neal. We went quite quickly as Nichol was pushing the uphill. Finished in 1:34. My IT band was definitely sore but got a massage in the afternoon and feeling much better now.

September 17 A.M. 14 P .M. 7

I warmed up 3.5 miles. Then did the Skinripper workout which is about 800 flat then a tough climb for 300 meters then a 200 flat. I ran with Mark and ran 4:25, 4:30, 4:33, 4:33, 4:34. The average was about 6 second slower for a repeat then last year which was disappointing. However, I did feel like I ran hard and just trying to get back to shape. Last year I was in ripping shape by this point of the season. Just need to keep thinking about just improving fitness and not worry

about the times. I cooled down 4.5 and was exhausted. My IT band is still really tight. I ran in the afternoon very slowly and had a bit of a break at mile 5 for a swim in the river. Tempo run on Friday. Fitness will come.

September 16: A.M. 15

I ran oak hill to pinneo to reservoir today with Bryce and Joe. A very hilly run that turned out much shorter than I thought it would be. I finished with a mile on the track doing some light strides. My IT band is quite tight. My first workout back with the team tomorrow.

Week of September 9- September 15: 95 Miles, 7 runs

A great comeback week. I think this injury is finally gone for good and I can get back to hard training. I still have plenty of time to get in the best shape of my life for NCAAs. I have a tough workout on Tuesday. The team also had a great week so things really looking up again.

September 15: A.M. 18

I ran on some nice new trails with mark up past sound of music and boogie. Then finished with some short loops around campus. I was worried about my leg since last time I injured it was on a long run. But it felt fine and finished the run in 1:56. It was humid and I was definitely spent by the end of the run.

September 14: A.M. 15

I warmed up 2.5 miles. I did 1 loop, 1, 2, 1, 1 at Sachem field. The loop times were 4:09, 4:05, 8:20, 4:07, 4:06. It was not bad considering it was all on my own. I did a long warmdown running back to campus and then running out the course with the guys and running around at the race. Long day. The guys ran well. I going to do a long run tomorrow., still no signs of soreness. Today was my first day with ultrasound and anti-inflammatories.

September 13: A.M. 15

I ran with the guys around the Dartmouth cross country course. They are racing the Dartmouth invite. The team is looking quite good. After that I ran with Bryce and Joe for a bit before adding on by myself. I finished with some light strides on the track.

September 12: A.M. 14

I ran two loops in big country with Nichol. It was great to finally run with someone. I am really enjoying being back cunning.

September 11: A.M. 13

I ran on Oak hill while the team worked out there. I ran at a normal pace and had a great run. I definitely have this injury beat. I am pumped to get back to training. I will continue to build back to full bore. I got a massage in the afternoon from Tom Sweeny which was incredibly painful but hopefully kept the injury at bay. Finally back online after many days without Internet access.

September 10: A.M. 10

I started out running hard again on trails around campus. It was hot and after a half an hour of hard running I was cooked and ended up just slowing to normal training pace. I ran short loops and at the end my leg felt fine. I can now get back to normal training and normal pace. Swam a half hour in the afternoon for rehab again.

September 9: A.M. 10

I biked a half hour out to the trail bed again. This time I just ran a up-pace effort since tired of tempo running. I still ran hard and covered 10 miles in 56:50 on the trail bed. Biked back to campus for a cooldown. In the afternoon I swam for half an hour to try and rehab the injury. It was a bit sore after swimming but did not act up at while running. Still good.

Week of September 2 - September 8: 31 Miles 5 Runs:

Another terrible week but there is finally light at the end of the week. I think I have just about licked this injury. I have had a lot of help and lots of people have emailed me with advice. All the support has definitely made me glad that I have undertaken this website project. Next week it is time to build back to training.

September 7 A.M. 7

I biked a half an hour out to a flat converted rail bed to run on. I warmed up a mile then ran close to 5:00 pace for 5 miles and then cooled down a mile and biked back a half an hour. I saw Jeff Johnson out there while I was running. Another tough day and glad to be back running a bit. The injury has not really bothered me for two days it is definitely improving a lot. I think I will be able to train next week fine.

September 6 A.M. 7

I talked to a Podiatrist Rob Renaldi who is living in Vermont. He assured me the injury is not in the anterior tib but the extensor digitorium Longus, which is what some other people have told me. He said that was good news and that I should begin running. He also said that running quicker will stress the muscle less. I liked the idea of running hard if I am going short so I ran short loops around campus really hard. I was running around 5:20 after a mile warm-up and got down to a 5:00 mile on the track at the end. Warmed down a mile and then went and elliptical cycled for an hour. In the afternoon I aqua jogged in the river for 35 minutes with no belt until my calf cramped which was incredibly painful. A tough day. I had no pain and glad to be back running. The other good news is my clicking leg problem was solved, as my father discovered that I had a tack in my shoe and

it was not my leg clicking. I am an idiot.

September 5 No running

I saw Rusty, a really good massage therapist in Boston. The massage definitely helped with the injury and he convinced me to take the day off. I am hoping tomorrow. I will be able to do a bit of a longer run and feel good. I cross trained an hour aqua jogging in walden pond and then did an hour on the elliptical cycle and got my heart rate up to the 160 range by the end of it. Tomorrow. should be a good day and hopefully will start my comeback to training.

September 5 P.M. 6

Drove down from the Grant to Dartmouth and moved into the house I am renting this year which is sweet. I got some ultrasound and microcurrent done by the trainers. My anterior tib was definitely still sore so decided not to push it. I ran along a converted rail track which is now a trail. I could feel it during the run but was not painful. It was sore again after I ran. It was clicking a lot walking

around today. I am now back in Boston to get some expert massage work done and hopefully see this expert foot doctor Tom Michaud if I can squeeze out an appointment. Need health.

September 4 P.M. 7

Today was the big hellgate workout for the rest of the team. It is a 9 mile tempo run/race. I was sad to watch them while I sat on the sidelines. I ran 7 miles along the course which is a bit downhill. So ended up running 6 flat pace running easy just because the dirt road is quick and downhill, I was trying to run easy. I had a great run and my leg did not bother me at all until I stopped. After stopping

my anterior tib was definitely sore. My coach and I decided that it was time for me to return and get some more treatment at both Dartmouth and Boston. This thing will just not go away.

September 3: P.M. 4

I decided at the last minute to with my team on the training trip to the Grant just to be with the team. I do not think hanging around and getting ultrasound and Microcurrent at the training room will fix my problem. At the Grant I ran for 4 miles and felt good doing it. It did not hurt to run and felt fine afterwards.

September 2: No running

Drove up to Dartmouth and saw the trainers there. They gave me a lot of undivided attention which I appreciated. However, I do not have complete faith in their rehabilitation plan, I need something more aggressive. I decided not to go with my team on its training trip in favor of staying at Dartmouth and working with the trainer on a day to day basis. I am really sad to miss the yearly training trip. I biked for an hour and half.

Week August 26- September 1: 25 Miles 3 runs The first week of training I have lost to injury in 3 years. I suppose I should be grateful that I have had such a long stretch injury free but hard to be grateful at the moment. I need to get back to training before the workouts start to begin. I am still not sure quite what the injury problem is and it is difficult to get a opinion that I really trust 100%.

September 1 A.M. No Running

Decided that I need to rest until I beat this injury. I hate training at only 50%. I spent the day going to the beach with some friends to keep my mind off running.

August 31 A.M. NO running

Dammit dammit dammit. I tried to run at Walden but only made it a mile before I realized that things in my interior tibalus were not right. I do not want to do anymore damage so just took the day off. This injury is much more serious than I thought and I am really frustrated since it has now been a week without training. I am not going to run until I have this thing beat. It is still swollen. I cannot face to lose next week as well.

August 30 A.M. 10

Ran at Walden by myself. My leg was definitely sore while running but did not really hurt. Then when I finished it was really noticeably sore. I was really bummed out and may need to take some more time to rest. I think I will run tomorrow to see how it is since felt much better by the afternoon. I did an hour on the elliptical machine keeping my heart rate at an average of 155 so tough workout.

Need to get back to training at full strength.

August 29 A.M. 9

Ran at Walden by myself. I ran without much pain for the entire run. Really pleased that the injury is subsiding and I can begin to build back into serious training. It has been a trying couple days and have been in a lousy mood. Going to raise my mileage 2 miles a day through this week and then begin a solid week of training again next week at full speed hopefully. Just got to hope it continues in this direction.

August 28 A.M. 6

Saw my P.T. again who said it has improved a lot over the past few days and gave the go ahead to begin some light running. I ran 6 miles around the brookline reservoir which did not go very well. It is definitely still sore and did not have a good run. It felt fine afterwards so hopefully will be much improved again tomorrow. I am just frustrated not being able to train. I did the elliptic machine for an hour which was a tough workout. I had my heart rate around 160 for quite a bit.

Glad to get in some kind of a workout.

August 27 NO RUNNING

Another day waiting for this injury to get better. Went to a friends house at a beach in Maine to keep my mind off the injury. It is definitely improving but I am still in a lousy mood about the whole thing.

August 26 NO RUNNING

Still experiencing pain in my shin. I got a massage in the morning with Rusty but the pain was still there. I went to see a PT in the afternoon who said that he thinks I have a micro-tear in my anterior tibalus. Recovery time depends on how fast it heals but right now it is day to day. I did 45 minutes on an elliptical machine at night just to get some excise. Hopefully will be much better tomorrow.

Week of August 19- August 25: 94 Miles, 7 runs

A terrible week of training. The poison ivy was bad, this injury is worse. I am hoping by some miracle I can turn everything around for next week but we will see. It is now time to be patient and let my body mend. I know I have a good base down so far so missing a couple days will not kill me. I just need to make sure that I am ready to run in the next couple weeks as I head back to school and the workouts begin.

August 25 NO RUNNING

I am still hurting from the day before. I think that this problem is reasonably serious and I am going to have to rest it a bit. It is still quite sore today. I have a massage lined up tomorrow. morning and hoping to see someone else in Boston. I hate days off.

August 24 A.M. 20

Ran at Walden by myself. I started at a reasonable pace and picked it up throughout the run. Ran my last 13 miles at least at 6:00 pace maybe quicker, hard to tell on your own. I felt really good except for my shin was really hurting by the end of the run. The last mile it started to ache and then was really sore when I finished. Sev, who has lots of experience with athletes and injuries, thinks it is the muscle coming up from my toes. I think he may be right. I also just got a new pair of

othodics which hopefully will help quite a bit. For right now I am icing a lot and thinking about taking tomorrow. off. Not a good week for training.

August 23 A.M. 12 P.M. 5

Ran at Walden with Pete. Still a bit nervous about my shin and definitely still felt sore but I think it is improving which is a good sign. We clipped along at a good pace on a great day for running. I got a massage from Jan Diereckson in the afternoon, who is very good. He was a 3:57 miler in the 1980s. Definitely nice of him to get me in with short notice. I ran easy in the arboretum with Colin and peter and took a bit of a tough fall. Shin still felt awkward but hopefully will be much improved tomorrow. for the long run.

August 22 P.M. 13

Ran at Walden by myself. I spent all day debating whether to run since my shin was still quite sore. In the end got out there and ran. I could definitely feel it on the run and started to hurt just a little bit after about 10 miles. But it was definitely improved today which is a good sign. Still a bit nervous but glad I got out there and ran.

August 21 A.M. 13

Ran at Walden by myself. I was having a fine run and then after about an hour the muscle right next to my shin really started to hurt. I am really worried about the problem, I think it is my anterior tibelus, need to get some work done on it. It has been a bad past 5 days. Bad timing, today is my 21st birthday not in much a festive mood.

August 20 A.M. 16

Ran with Mark along the Boston marathon course on the median strip and then around the Brookline Reservoir Not to bad for running and went a bit easier. But my legs felt really burnt by the end. My calves are really sore need to go easy for a couple days. If they continue like this I will end up injured. Had a massage schedule tomorrow. but cannot go to it since the Poison Ivy is all over my body still.

August 19 P.M. 15

Spent the morning in the ER getting treated for poison ivy which sealed up one of my eye. 7 hours just to get prescription medicine ridiculous. Doctors gave the go ahead to run so I ran with Mark around the arboretum and the fens. We really hammered the second half. When we hit the track we were running 5:15 pace, so my guess is averaged about 5:40 pace for the last 8. My calves are really sore probably should not have run so hard. The poison ivy was uncomfortable especially in the eye but I survived and glad not miss the training. I am one ugly dude at the moment.

Week of August 12- August 18 105 Miles, 8 Runs:

A decent week of training. I am really glad that I got that massage been feeling much healthier. This poison ivy was a tough way to end the week. Hopefully is does not effect my training for next week. Maybe the rest will help me over the long-term.

August 18 NO Running

I have a really bad case of poison ivy. I am totally covered in rashs. Decided to skip my easy day in favor of complete rest. Really uncomfortable.

August 17 A.M. 22

I had a monster day of running with Rusty out at Walden. We ran 7.5 miles in the woods then stopped to meet guys and grab water. Then ran 4 miles to the start of the tempo run loop. Rusty, Roland, and I did a 6.7 mile tempo run at 5:12 pace. hen cooled down running 4 miles back. It was a really hot day so suffered a bit on the tempo run. Overall a really long day. The bad news is that I have a really bad case of poison ivy. It really sucks.

August 16 P.M. 13

I ran with Ted out at Walden after getting an incredibly painful massage in the morning. Rusty Snow worked on me and fixed all that ailed me. My calves were really tight so got a lot of work done on that area. The run was fine. Ted showed me some nice trails near concord center.

August 15 A.M. 13 P.M. 6

Ran in the Aborteum going through Allandale farm. I had a terrible run since my hip was really sore in the same spot as last weak. I am getting a massage tomorrow. so hopefully will fix my little niggles. I ran with Ted in the afternoon at the Reebox facility in Canton. I felt a lot better in the afternoon but still feel the niggles.

August 14 A.M. 16 P.M. 6

Ran in the morning at Walden, it was still really hot anyway. I was fine until about the last two miles at which point my form started to deteriorate and started to fatigue badly. Don't think running myself into that state is productive but really the fault is in the terrible heat today. Ran in the evening at Walden again with Chalmers and Colin. Decided that I feel better after an afternoon run. Achilles still a bit sore but improving.

August 13 A.M. 13

Ran early in the morning to beat the heat. Tried the Public golf course but too many golfer to make it an enjoyable run. Found some new trails in a local organic farm. After the run I could definitely feel my Achilles. I have done a lot of icing. I ran three miles in the afternoon. I was going to go further but Achilles still a bit sore and really do not want to push it at all.

August 12 A.M. 16

I ran at Walden in the tough heat. I tried some new trails near Concord Carlise high school. I did not like them as much as the other Walden trails I run. Felt a bit refreshed after easy day but my Achilles is still a bit sore.

August 5- August 11 111 Miles 9 Runs:

An excellent week of training. I ran 100 miles in main runs which is something I want to try to do every week. I had a good long run and then two supplementary longer run days. The only concern I have is that my legs definitely were feeling the hard training by the end of the week. I definitely think I should try to schedule in an easy day each week through August. I thinking of delaying starting workouts another week. I have to plan this season around peaking in Terre Haute.

August 11 A.M. 10

I decided to take a recovery day and probably a very good idea. My calves were really tight once I got going and my achilles was quite sore. Definitely two problem areas from the past. Ran in Boston Lot and a new trail. I ran slow, 1:10 for the run.

August 10 A.M. 16

I ran the reservoir and big country for 1:42. I really hammered the last 3 miles probably 5:10s. A beautiful day and a really good training session.

August 9 A.M. 13

I ran on Oak hill with an extra loop and then finished with 4x200 meter strides on the track. After running the strides had a sharp pain up near my hip. I think it was from running the bends hard. Accede it and felt better.

August 8 A.M. 5 P.M. 11

Traveled down to Providence to hang out with the Providence boys. I ran with Keith in the morning on the fabled Providence roads. In the evening Keith, Paul and I ran with a group of BAA runners. Another road run in classic Providence fashion. I have never met a team more in love with roads then those guys. A fun day of hanging out.

August 7 A.M. 19

I ran at Walden with Mark, George and Vinny Mulvey. It was nice to have some new company. Ran the first 9 at a honest clip around 6:30 pace, after that Mark and I hammered the last 10 miles probably averaging around 5:45 pace maybe faster. It was a really tough run, I was definitely struggling by the end. Mark is in ripping shape. Great run. Need lots of these through cross country.

August 6 A.M. 15 P.M. 6

Ran the 8k course at Franklin park and then ran home through the arboretum Ran quite hard and was noticeably tired after the run. I ran with Mark in the afternoon along the fenways, we ran the loop in 34 minutes which is cruising about 5:40 pace.

August 5 P.M. 16

Had to do jury service in the morning. Ran with Chalmers late at Walden for 1:45. I have got a bit of a light cold.

July 29- August 4 118 Miles, 10 Runs:

A decent week of training. I definitely went on average slower this week due to running with Campers and others. I had a good long run with Mark and I am happy with the volume. Next week I think I will lower the mileage just a bit and increase the intensity.

August 4 A.M. 6 P.M. 13

Ran short in the morning with John Welsh in Groton. Drove back to Brookline and kept Independent Georges company through his long run. I went a bit slower than normal. Ran for 1:30 in Franklin Park and the Aborteum.

August 3 A.M. 13

I went down to my friends house in Groton, Conn and got roped into a local road race which I did as a training run. I ran the 11.6 mile run in 1:07 which translate to around 5:40ish pace. So actually ended up running a bit faster than normal. Did a light warmdown just to loosen up and then swam in the ocean.

August 2 P.M. 18

Ran on some awesome new trails found by the womens team coach at Dartmouth with Mark. Really excellent long run. Camp ended in the morning, a really fun week with the campers.

August 1 A.M. 16

I took the campers for their 14 mile long run in Big country. They all really rallied and impressed me. After that I ran to the track and did 4x200 meter hard strides at the track with Mark and then ran to the river. Took afternoon off.

July 31 A.M. 11

I ran in the cemetery with Bryce and Mark before running most of Boston Lot with the kids. A couple campers got attacked by wasps and when I went to assist I was attacked as well. The stings hurt but also made for a good story. Took the afternoon off to see a orthodics expert who was visting the camp.

July 30 A.M. 12 P.M. 5

I ran a hill workout in the morning with the campers and then added on water treatment with Steve. In the afternoon I ran Pine Park and the unmainted trail with the campers. Lots of easy running today.

July 29 A.M. 14 P.M. 10

I did a fartlek workout with the campers through rollercoaster and then added on an extra 4 with Mark through Mink Brook and Water Treatment. In the afternoon I ran with the camps guest speaker John Mortimer in Boston Lot. It was nice to run at a quicker pace.

July 22-July 28: 102 Miles, 8 Runs:

My first excellent week of training this summer. Every run in Colorado challenged me in some way and really enjoyed my time spent running out there. I think I am going to keep needing to train at this level for the next 3 months to be in there with a chance at Terre Haute.

July 27 P.M. 13

Spending the week working at Gold Medal running camp at Dartmouth. Ran Oak Hill with campers for ten miles at a slow pace then added on Pine Park with Geoff Nickerson and Mark. We hammered through Pine Park.

July 26 A.M. 13

I ran on the Mesa trail right near the Chataqua where I was staying. Some decent trails but a lot of tough uphill once again and I think the altitude is starting to wear me down since I felt really tired. Final run in Boulder. Definitly thinking about coming back for post collegiate training. It is a great area to be a runner. The alititude makes most runs a good aerobic workout which I think will benefit

a long distance runner such as myself. Lots of people around as well to run with. Overall a good trip and great training.

July 25 A.M. 17

I was supposed to run with the CU guys again but got lost and missed them. Instead went to fabled Magonlia Road and did my long run. Really tough to run up the many hills there since it is at 8000 feet. Really enjoyed the run and felt good at the end. Ran for 1:47.

July 24 A.M. 13

Ran with Dartmouth alumni Sam Wilbur and the army group near Boulder. I went easier with them and added on since they were all going short. I was not overly impressed by the group since did not seem to talk much. Did not feel much like a team, but might have been just the day. There are definitly some good runners in the group. Spent the evening at the Pearl Street Mile race in Boulder. Had a good time hanging out with the CU team and many other Boulder runners. Definitly seems like a fun

place to be if you run.

July 24 A.M. 15

I meet up with the CU guys and ran with Dathan and Jorge along the switzland trail up at 8000 feet. We started out hard on an incline for the first 6 miles. I was really tired by the end of that since the altitude makes it really hard to climb. Enjoyed the run home and the good company. The Torres have a really nice house with a creek right next to it for icing. Probably the best set-up for distance running I have seen in my travels.

July 23 A.M. 12

Ran on the Santa Fe trail again with Colin and George. I went easy since my calf still bothering me and really don't want to get injuried during the easy base period. Felt better at the end of the day. Traveled to Boulder.

July 22 A.M. 13 P.M. 6

Ran on the Santa Fe from the Air force academy. Nice smooth flat trail and got rolling on the way home. I ran my last 6 miles between 6-5:40 on measured miles. I felt really good until calf cramped a bit at the end. Ran in the Garden of the Gods in the afternoon. Not a nice run felt tired and calf started to cramp badly really worried me.

Week of July 15- July 21 99 Miles 8 runs

A good week of training. After last weeks debacle I was glad to get in a good week. Actually ran more than I was planning on but felt good and decided not to hold back.

July 21 A.M. 16

Ran at the Air Force Academy. Huge Campus. Started on the falcon trail but turned out to be far too rough for running. Ended up on the golf course and the side of the road. Really exhausted by the end of the run. Uphills tough.

July 20 P.M. 13

Ran at Garden of Gods up a huge hill for most of the run. One defintly feels the effect of altitude running uphill. Kind of tired from spending the whole day exploring the area.

July 19 A.M. 13

Ran with Paul Ryan in the aborteum and along the muddy river. Good to beat the heat. I am off to Colorado Springs/Boulder today and will not be updating the site for a little over a week. Should be a good training trip.

July 18 A.M. 13

Ran in the heat of the day out at Walden. Ran for 1:24 and was exhausted the rest of the day. I am off to Colorado Springs/Boulder tommorow. Will not be able to update site for a bit.

July 17 P.M. 12

Ran with Joe Hyland in Wells, Maine. Went up to visit him for the day, nice trails and cooler weather.

July 16 A.M. 12 P.M. 7

Ran with Jon Litchfield in the arborteum and then came back along the fens. Good run, nice to have some fresh company. Ran with Chalmers in the afternoon after losing to him in tennis. Long day. Started studying for the LSATs.

July15 P.M. 13

Stopped off at Walden on the way back from Dartmouth and ran by myself for 1:22. I was moving along well and finally feel healthy. Hope it lasts

July 8-14 63 miles 6 runs

A terrible week of training due to Illness. Really suprised me running another fever again after two days I thought I was getting better. I guess it is just about the best possible week of the year to get sick

but it still pissed me off. When I was running I felt really good. I do not think I lost too much fitness from my spring campaign. Hope I am now over the illness and ready to train hard this upcoming week.

July 14 A.M. 11

Ran at Dartmouth with Mark. Did big country plus an add-on. Felt alright but not great while running. Ran a 101 fever in the afternoon. Dammit, thought I was over the fever.

July 13 P.M. 6

Ran the 10k course at Franklin Park with George and Colin. Still not feeling great and decided to continue to rest and take it easy.

July 12 P.M. 6

Ran on the Fenway with Colin in the afternoon after running a fever in the morning. Felt fine running and was glad to get out of the house. Feeling better

July 11 Sick

I woke up with a fever which climbed to about 102 during the middle of day. Feeling miserable.

July 10 A.M. 12

Hammered the begginning of the run lead by Sarah Cassilli. Parker and I slowed down after she turned back and ran in the aboretum. Finished with 4x200 meter strides on the track. They felt tough. Another hot day outside. Finally back up to speed with the website.

July 9 A.M. 14

Ran in the Walden woods with Parker and George. Really humid and George got lost and dehydrated. Tough run. Glad to be back training. Not doing much here in Boston.

July 8 A.M. 14

Visited Dartmouth for the day. Ran with Parker and Mark along the conneticut river trails. It was really hot but had a nice swim in the conneticut at the end. Legs feel good after the break

July 1- July 7: 26 miles, 4 runs

Another rest week. I did a couple of easy runs to make the transition back to training easier.

July 1- July 3 Still resting and traveling in Slovenia.

July 4 P.M. 6

Decided to go for a light shake out with father and brother around my grandmother house in england. Calves are still sore from race but besides that fine

July 5 P.M. 7

Back in Boston after a long flight home. Felt terrible and ran to shake out my legs after the flight. Heading to Maine for the distance festival tommorow. Will resume training on Monday.

July 6 P.M. 7

Ran with Joe and John up at Bowdoin. Did some hard 100 meter strides at the end of the run. Really enjoyed the Maine Distance Festival.

July 7 P.M. 6

Ran with Colin, George and Parker in the aboretum. Felt really good and anxious to start training tommorow. >

June 24- June 30

Rest for the entire week. Spent the time in England and Slovenia with my family. Good time. I think it is really important to let your body rest for a little while each year. I wish I had a little more time to rest but really want to start cross base work as well.

Thanks for posting those.

Anything about the buffalo, d. chalmers? Last I heard he was a deuce, deuce and a half.

I remember someone recently started a thread looking for old McArdle blogs and I was searching for something else in the archives and stumbled upon this. Hope it brings back good memories for others; I remember reading McArdle's blog real-time. And bonus Luke Watson logs!