Chasing the DIII Dream

Baby Nats Baby!

A solid week of training accompanied the resumption of classes. I also reverted to running for distance (rather than time), as that is the preference of the newly-formed club running team.

9/5/22-9/11/22 (90mi tot.): 4 doubles, 3 singles, 2 workouts

Monday (14mi tot.): AM Easy 10mi; PM Easy 4mi

Tuesday (13.5mi tot.):

3x(2K T + 2x400 I) on Chessie Trail w/ 90" after 2K's and 75" after 400's

Splits: 6:44, 76, 75; 6:49, 75, 76 (2K uphill); 6:44, 78, 77 (400's uphill)

Wednesday (13.5mi tot.): AM Easy 9.5mi; PM Easy 4mi (13.5mi tot.)

Thursday: Easy 11mi

Friday (13.5mi tot.):

AM 10x(60" <T, 75" M) on Chessie Trail

Pace Avg.'s: <T - 5:17, M - 5:54 = 4mi in 22:30 (5:37/mi)

(9.5mi tot. w/ WU & CD)

PM Easy 4mi

Saturday: Easy 9.5mi

Sunday: Easy 15mi

Really looking forward to our first race at UVA this weekend!

So you want 3 D's at once? Not my thing but go for it I guess.

I’m also on my school’s club team (not W&L though) and was definitely a 3200-5k guy since I could only run a ~56 400 but a 9:40 3200.

What lifts would you do? For a 5’11” runner weighing 125 pounds

9/12/22-9/18/22 (78.5mi tot.): 6 singles, 1 double, 1 workout, 1 race

Monday: Easy 10.5mi + 6x100 strides

Tuesday (15mi tot.):

AM 4x1600 on track w/ 75" b/w reps

Splits: 5:25, 5:18, 5:12, 5:05

(10mi tot. w/ WU & CD)

PM Easy 5mi

Wednesday: Easy 10.5mi

Thursday: Easy 9mi + 6x100 strides

Friday: Easy 6.5mi + 6x100 strides in spikes

Saturday (11mi tot.): Cavalier Invite

XC 8K in 27:20, 8th out of 111

Sunday: Easy 16mi

We had our first NIRCA race Saturday on the Panorama Farms course. It was rather hot and more than a little hilly. It was also my first time completing a race on grass in 4 years! Overall, I'm very happy with how I performed. I ran a smart race by opening conservatively and consistently passing people throughout the middle miles of the race. Unfortunately, my kick wasn't there, and the three guys I was with going into the home stretch dropped me decisively. Talking with some people after the race, it sounds like the Panorama course is a about a minute slower than the faster courses in VA. With that in mind, I hope to run under 26 minutes at JMU in 3 weeks. Having accomplished that personal time goal, it will be easy to focus purely on place as Regionals and Nationals come into view.

Are you running for W&L?

No, I am not on the team. I am competing on the NIRCA circuit this fall with some fellow undergrads and law students who have formed a club team.

9/25/22-10/1/22: 91mi off 3 singles and 4 doubles with 2 workouts

Sunday: Easy-paced long run (16mi)

Monday: AM Easy 10mi + 4x100 strides PM Easy 4mi (14mi tot.)

Tuesday: AM 2mi-2mi-1mi + 4x200 on the track; 2.5’ jog after 2mi’s, 90” jog after 1mi, 200 jog between 200’s; 10:39-10:28-5:05 + 33, 33, 33, 33 PM Easy 4.5mi (15.5mi tot.)

Wednesday: Easy 10mi + 4x100 strides

Thursday: AM Easy 10mi + 4x100 strides PM Easy 4mi (14mi tot.)

Friday: AM 2mi + 8x400 off 60” jog + 2mi on the track, 2’ rest between 2mi’s and 400’s, 10:39 + 74, 75, 73, 73, 73, 73, 73, 73 + 10:29 PM Easy 4mi (15.5mi tot.)

Saturday: Easy 6mi

Feel fitter than I ever have before, like I could hold 5:20 pace for a flat 10 miler! If the JMU course if fast as they say, I will smash 26 minutes next Saturday.

Been some radio silence on my part lately. Haven’t had a lot of free time due to life outside of running being pretty busy. Through it all, though, I have put together my best XC season ever, and it’s not even over yet! Here’s a summary:

9/11 - 27:20 for 8th @ Cavalier Invite (very hilly course, warm conditions)
10/8 - 26:13 for 8th @ Dashing Dukes Invite (flat course but spotty footing, possibly short)
10/15 - 26:47 for 4th @ Hokie Invite (very hilly course)
10/29 - 26:12 for 13th @ NIRCA Mid-Atlantic Regional (few hills)
xemptyzPlacing in the top-25 at the regional secured my spot at the national meet at November 12th, so I’ll have one more opportunity to give it my all, lay down a sub-26 and earn all All-American club honors.
Not going to lie: XC is difficult for me; I am very much a rhythm runner and find it hard to find a groove with short, steep hills and spotty footing chopping up my stride. Nevertheless, I find that each meet sees me more willing to engage the field as a competitor and keep climbing in position as things become more difficult in the third and fourth miles. I’m surely in the best shape, I’ve ever been in and am excited not only for what this season’s ultimate meet will bring but also what I can do to capitalize on it moving forward into track season.

Had my last hard workout before nationals today:

1600m in 4:57

90” jog

14x400m w/ 100m jog b/w reps:

77, 75, 76, 75, 75, 75, 75, 74, 74, 72, 72, 72, 71, 69

Never felt out of control and wasn’t working too hard until the last couple 400’s. With a flat course, I am very confident in my ability to break 26. Wondering what I could run for 5K right now…

I performed extremely poorly at Nationals: 27:48 for a 73rd place finish. It was my worst performance of the season by far and also my only race to feature a massive positive split.

The weather was definitely a factor, as we have been working out at 6:30 AM when the temperature is usually below 40 degrees. The race yesterday was at noon, with a temperature soaring into the high 70’s outside the shade. The humidity reading was around 75%. Mindful of the conditions, I started at what I thought was a conservative 2 mile split of 10:34. I wanted to maintain but was already feeling weak, yet even as I slowed, I was still managing to pass droves of fading competitors. That dynamic shifted in the fourth mile, however, as I rigged up badly and found myself struggling to keep running at even mid-5:30’s pace. I basically limped to the finish and lost all the progress I had made on the field, as person after person kicked me down in the finishing chute.

I was exhausted and light-headed for some time afterward but woke up this morning feeling a lot better. As disappointed as I am to close out the season with a whimper, I’m still grateful for the all the good races I ran and the fact that I was able to qualify for the national meet individually

I’m running a 3200m time trial on Friday and my home town turkey trot on Thanksgiving before taking a few days off running. After that, it will be time to start the build for track season; you better bet I’ll be splitting sub-26 on route to 10K this spring!

Just an option for you. Would you like me to coach you live here in your thread.? I think it would be interesting to see you improve magically. The Swedish summer of training you refered to is my SOJS ( Summer of J.S) . 🇸🇪🧙‍♂️👍

I was there as well and ran slower than you by about 20 seconds. For one, the heat was insane (75 degrees), and the course was also about 200 meters long. I ran (barely) under 26 before, and only managed low 28s.

Know that your fitness is there and it’ll be a great base for track. Also, use this as motivation

Thank you; it’s good to know I’m not the only one who struggled badly that day (I also suspected that course was a tad long, but I thought I might have just done an awful job running tangents), and I’m certainly all the more driven to perform well this track season!

Fortunately, I was able to put together two really solid performances in these past two weeks to cap off the fall season of racing.

The first was a 3200 time trial on the track in 9:46. I conservatively selected 9:50 as a target and had a couple teammates help pace me. We came through 1600 in 4:55, and I still felt very strong; I closed in 4:51 and was left happy with the PR but also confident I could have threatened 9:40 with a quicker opener.

The second was my home town Turkey Trot today. I ran a road 5K PR of 15:50 with negative splits of 5:09, 5:04, 5:04 and 33 seconds for the last 0.11 miles. I sat with the leaders from the gun and was only dropped in the home stretch (1st and 2nd closed in ~30 seconds to run 15:47 and 15:48) Although I wound up third, I am very happy with the performance. The course definitely had some roll to it, and I again finished feeling like I could have opened a few seconds faster. All in all a great confidence builder moving forward. Time to rest and reboot for the winter/spring!

Solid week of training to cap off 2022 and lead into 2023!

12/26/22-1/1/23 (80.6mi)

Monday (12.8mi) - AM 9.1mi + 4x100 strides; PM 3.4mi

Tuesday (14.2mi) - AM 3.1mi

- PM Track WKT: Broken Tempo

3mi-2mi-1mi w/ 3' IR after 3mi & 2' IR after 2mi

15:56-10:38-5:10

Wednesday - 8mi

Thursday - 14.6mi over rolling hills w/ middle 12.4 steady @ 6:07 avg.

Friday (12.8mi) - AM 8.5mi; PM 4.3mi

Saturday (7.9mi) - 7mi + 3x200 accel's

Sunday (10.6mi) - 5K road race in 15:56, 1st OA

Ran solo from the gun during today's race. Not the greatest course. The first 2K of the race is on the roads, but then it turns onto a poorly maintained section of one of Knoxville's greenways that is bumpy with tree roots and frequently slick following rainfall (as was the case today). I hit the mile in 5:03 with a comfortable lead that I worked to extend the remainder of the race, even as my pace inevitably slowed due to the sporadic hills and tricky footing. Make no mistake, however: sub-16 on this course is an excellent indicator of my current fitness. Last season, I ran 16:40 on this course before going onto a 32:49 10K PR in mid-March. Having run 15:56 with no taper and couple hard efforts lingering in my legs makes me all the more confident I can take a crack at 31:30 this season.

Whats the track goals? Run unattached indoor and outdoor?

January and March will be focused on building strength through high volume and plenty of threshold work, such as that which I did this past week. 80-90 mpw with two workouts and a long run. On January 19th, I'm going to run a 3K unattached at Liberty with the goal of breaking 9:00. In February, I would like to run a second 3K (possibly at the JDL facility in Winston-Salem) with the goal of dipping under 8:50. Indoor really isn't the focus, but I feel achieving those marks will provide a solid launching pad for outdoor as we move into spring. I am also toying with the idea of running the Charlottesville 10 Miler during this period, as it is a pretty historic race in the region that would provide an excellent opportunity to test my threshold. Would feel pretty great to enter outdoor with a low-53 or possibly even sub-53 PR for the distance.

Throughout March and April, the focus will be on the 5K and 10K. I have ambitious (but I feel achievable) goals of sub-15:10 and sub-31:40. Lynchburg usually puts on several open meets with deep 5K's, so I have no worries about finding competition there.

Washington and Lee puts on a track carnival in March that usually features a competitive 10K. I'm concerned that me and my training partner will not be allowed entry, however, as unattached participation is ultimately up to the discretion of the meet director. There are alternatives to be found, such as the Colonial Relays at Williamsburg the first weekend in April.

Overall, I'm just really excited for what's to come. I'm in uncharted territory with regards to my fitness, and I feel like shooting for the stars. Should I fall short, I'll still have accomplished that which my high school self would have found unfathomable. Still is crazy to think back on how excited I was to run 18:44 my senior XC season...

Thought I'd update.

I ran a few indoor races in January and managed some PR's (though nothing to write home about). In the process, however, it dawned on me that I do not really enjoy racing track 3K's/5K's (particularly indoor). That, combined with converging stresses of finishing my course work for graduation and planning my wedding to take place in April, forced me to rethink my running trajectory this winter/spring.

Ultimately, I made the decision to temporarily put my track goals on hold. I realized I don't need to prove anything to anybody by chasing formidable (for me) times like 15:10 and 31:40 this outdoor season. Certainly, with everything else going on in my life at this time, the pressure to perform at that level is not something I need to add on top! Rather, I plan to make myself happier my temporarily focusing on that which I enjoy more: longer races on the roads.

The biggest road race on horizon is the Charlottesville 10 Miler on March 25th, but I also plan on doing a 1 hour run event in early March and a half marathon in early April.

After I graduate and settle into married/work life, perhaps I can give the shorter distances another shot, but for now, I think focusing on what I love most will keep me more passionate and engaged with the sport.

Two weeks, two good road race results.

On March 25th, I ran the Charlottesville 10 Miler. I thought this course would be flat (judging by the scattering of 50:xx times run by locals in past years), but it was anything but!

I went out ambitiously with the leaders and split 26:09 at the 5-mile mat before being eaten up a series of climbs on the back-half and limping home in 54:10. Despite the blow-up and missing my primary goal of sub-54, I was happy to have only slowed to 5:35 pace alone over the hills following 6 miles at 5:15 average (and an unofficial 10K PR of 32:38). Ended up placing 5th after 1-4 crossed the line with times between 51:59 and 53:07.

This past weekend I travelled back to home Knoxville to race the Covenant Health Knoxville Half Marathon on April 2nd. Although it was my first time running this race, I was familiar with the course and knew it would be a grind featuring steep climbs at miles 4, 8 and 11 with a steady roll throughout the other 10.

From the gun, I and one other guy separated ourselves from the pack and held a 5:25-30/mi rhythm, but he pulled away from me shortly after we hit 8 miles by dropping a succession of 5:15’s that I could not match in my fatigued state. Ended up taking 2nd in 1:12:29, which was good for over a minute PR and my first time taking home substantial prize money!

Overall, I’m very happy with these two results, particularly since my training volume has been lower than usual this winter/spring.

The next time I toe the line will be a track 10K on April 14th. I feel like sub-32 is within reach, and it would be particularly cool to achieve it on the 2-year anniversary of breaking 16:00 for the first time!