Well, the weather has certainly changed. It was downright chilly this morning - our coolest morning yet for training so far this season. Forecast is for more of the same the rest of this week. Perfect for training.
After looking over our results from the Twilight Meet I saw some encouraging signs. The gap between our # 1 and # 5 runners was 82". Ideally, we would like to shave that down to 45"-60" so we are definitely headed in the right direction.
The gap between our # 2 and # 5 was only 41" and we think we can get that down to around 30" by season's end. Even better, the gap between # 2 and # 6 was only 59". Our usual # 6 didn't finish the race due to a cramp but if we put him into the mix we will have a gap of less than a minute between our # 2 and # 7 runners. That is the kind of depth we were hoping to build before the season started and it looks like we are making definite progress.
Our training over the next two weeks will be focused primarily on strength - the ability to hold a fast pace over longer and longer periods of time. In spite of the really good times we recorded in the Twilight Meet, our pace still dropped off a bit too much in mile # 2 and, snd, subsequently, the later miles. We will focus on long intervals (1600's and 2000's) as well as tempo runs to try and build the kind of strength that we are looking for.
Today's 2000m repeat session went well - better than I thought it might. Most runners were able to hold their pace during the 4 repetitions of the 2000m loop. With only 2' rest it was a very tough workout and they took on the challenge quite well.
The women ran a 4.8 mile tempo run and had good success. We are close to getting some of our injured runners back - maybe in a couple of days - and that is something we badly need. We have only raced 5 the past couple of meets and our missing runners badly need to get some training and racing in before we get to the championship meets at the end of the season.
It's such a beautiful day - I think we'll spend some time in the pool this afternoon for some relaxation and a light aerobic workout to help our recovery process from the intervals this morning.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
We LOVE Memphis!!
Just got back from our trip to Memphis to run in the Brooks' Twilight Meet last night. It was a beautiful night - just a hint of coolness after an afternoon rain shower. The course was in great shape - the rain helped keep the dust down and the grass was short and people were running fast! Even if we weren't running, what a treat to watch Ben Cheruiyot from Auburn win a wire to wire battle with Soufiane Bouchiki from Eastern Kentucky. They were neck and neck the whole way with Cheruiyot managing a 2" win - 23;15 to 23:17. Cheruiyot averaged 4:39 per mile for this run which is CRAZY!
Our men had a great run - the best overall race since I came to UWA in 2006. It was great to see all of their hard work pay off. Here are our times:
Austin 25:43
Craig 26:25
Jonathan 26:38
David 26:45
Peter 27:07
Brandon 27:27
Josh 28:02
Cody 28:08
Miles 28:38
Evan 29:10
Adam 29:30
Cam DNF - he got a severe side stitch and had to drop out of the race.
Austin's run was remarkable. He hadn't done any real training for at least 10 days - we have been working him out hard in the pool each afternoon. He seemed strong and did not appear to miss a beat.
Craig is having a great season. This is his 3rd PR in 3 races this year. He spent the summer training at altitude and it has helped him early in our season. As a 5th year senior who missed last cc season with mono, it is great to see all of his hard work for the past 4 1/2 years starting to pay off.
Jonathan had a bit of an off race for him but still turned in his 2nd fastest 5 mile race ever. He has been on a higher milage program since the summer and I am sure his legs are a bit dead right now - I look for him to rebound when we start dropping some mileage.
David had the race of the night for us - he set a UWA freshman record for 5 miles at
26:45.10 - breaking Austin's freshman record of 26:45.94 set on the same course in 2007. He is poised to have a breakout season in this, his first year of collegiate running.
Peter set a goal of 27:00 for this race and came very close - 27:07. He rebounded well after a disappointing race at Alabama last weekend. He is rounding into good shape and could be a major factor for us at the GSC meet in November.
Brandon had a great race as well. He set a big time PR for himself in this his initial collegiate season. He finished in 27:27, which beat his goal time of 27:30 for the season. We'll have to see how far he can take it in the remaining races.
Josh ran a strong race - finishing in 28:02. He was so close and was left wondering where he could have made up those 2 seconds. I look for him to break 28:00 in either or both of our next 2 races. The weather seems to be cooling and both courses are pretty quick, although not like the soccer fields at Mike Rose Soccer Complex where we ran last night.
Cody had a PR finishing in 28:08. He also rebounded well from a disappointing race at Alabama last week. Once he can even out his miles he'll be a much more formidable runner and be able to help us at conference.
Miles had a wonderful race - he followed his race plan almost to a "T". It was good to see him thinking out there and executing his plan. He also needs to even out his miles and he'll be right up where he can help us.
Evan ran a great race - a PR for him as well. H ran a smart race and evened out his miles. This enabled him to pass 29 runners after the first mile, including 5 different runners in the last 800m.
Adam struggled a bit in this race - he didn't seem as "peppy" as the other guys, but he still met his goal of 29:30. I told him that any time you can meet your goal you should take some satisfaction away from the race. He wanted to run even faster but it didn't happen....this time. I look for him to train hard the next couple of weeks and run well at Jax St. on Oct 9th.
The women's race wasn't quite as filled with PR's but we had several solid performances.
Carolyn ran 19:10, just 2" off of her PR. She struggled a bit in mile # 2 and that is what ultimately cost her a new PR as she picked the pace up again in the last 1.1 miles. She is definitely looking for a new PR and to break 19 in her next race or two.
Polina had a "bad" race....for her. She ran 19:32 - 12" slower than last week at Alabama. She was hoping the fast course and cool evening weather would lead to a new PR but it didn't happen. Knowing her, she'll train like a maniac the next 2 weeks and go after the new PR at Jax State.
Kirstie raced a solid race. She hadn't trained in almost 2 weeks until this past week when we got some basic distance runs and one tempo run completed in training. She seems healthy now and with a couple of weeks of additional training should be able to get below 20:00 which she has done on several previous occasions. She ran 20:56 last night.
Amy ran a strong race...finishing in 21:08 and closing in on sub 21 territory. She worked hard to keep her pace from falling off in mile # 2 and had some success. We'll look to keep that process going even further in the next 2 weeks before we return to JSU for our meet on 10-9
Anne ran a PR last night - 20:54 - and seems to have developed some consistency around this pace, having run a PR of 22:01 last week at Alabama.
I'll post some additional analysis tomorrow once I get a bit of rest. All in all a very nice trip to Memphis.
Our men had a great run - the best overall race since I came to UWA in 2006. It was great to see all of their hard work pay off. Here are our times:
Austin 25:43
Craig 26:25
Jonathan 26:38
David 26:45
Peter 27:07
Brandon 27:27
Josh 28:02
Cody 28:08
Miles 28:38
Evan 29:10
Adam 29:30
Cam DNF - he got a severe side stitch and had to drop out of the race.
Austin's run was remarkable. He hadn't done any real training for at least 10 days - we have been working him out hard in the pool each afternoon. He seemed strong and did not appear to miss a beat.
Craig is having a great season. This is his 3rd PR in 3 races this year. He spent the summer training at altitude and it has helped him early in our season. As a 5th year senior who missed last cc season with mono, it is great to see all of his hard work for the past 4 1/2 years starting to pay off.
Jonathan had a bit of an off race for him but still turned in his 2nd fastest 5 mile race ever. He has been on a higher milage program since the summer and I am sure his legs are a bit dead right now - I look for him to rebound when we start dropping some mileage.
David had the race of the night for us - he set a UWA freshman record for 5 miles at
26:45.10 - breaking Austin's freshman record of 26:45.94 set on the same course in 2007. He is poised to have a breakout season in this, his first year of collegiate running.
Peter set a goal of 27:00 for this race and came very close - 27:07. He rebounded well after a disappointing race at Alabama last weekend. He is rounding into good shape and could be a major factor for us at the GSC meet in November.
Brandon had a great race as well. He set a big time PR for himself in this his initial collegiate season. He finished in 27:27, which beat his goal time of 27:30 for the season. We'll have to see how far he can take it in the remaining races.
Josh ran a strong race - finishing in 28:02. He was so close and was left wondering where he could have made up those 2 seconds. I look for him to break 28:00 in either or both of our next 2 races. The weather seems to be cooling and both courses are pretty quick, although not like the soccer fields at Mike Rose Soccer Complex where we ran last night.
Cody had a PR finishing in 28:08. He also rebounded well from a disappointing race at Alabama last week. Once he can even out his miles he'll be a much more formidable runner and be able to help us at conference.
Miles had a wonderful race - he followed his race plan almost to a "T". It was good to see him thinking out there and executing his plan. He also needs to even out his miles and he'll be right up where he can help us.
Evan ran a great race - a PR for him as well. H ran a smart race and evened out his miles. This enabled him to pass 29 runners after the first mile, including 5 different runners in the last 800m.
Adam struggled a bit in this race - he didn't seem as "peppy" as the other guys, but he still met his goal of 29:30. I told him that any time you can meet your goal you should take some satisfaction away from the race. He wanted to run even faster but it didn't happen....this time. I look for him to train hard the next couple of weeks and run well at Jax St. on Oct 9th.
The women's race wasn't quite as filled with PR's but we had several solid performances.
Carolyn ran 19:10, just 2" off of her PR. She struggled a bit in mile # 2 and that is what ultimately cost her a new PR as she picked the pace up again in the last 1.1 miles. She is definitely looking for a new PR and to break 19 in her next race or two.
Polina had a "bad" race....for her. She ran 19:32 - 12" slower than last week at Alabama. She was hoping the fast course and cool evening weather would lead to a new PR but it didn't happen. Knowing her, she'll train like a maniac the next 2 weeks and go after the new PR at Jax State.
Kirstie raced a solid race. She hadn't trained in almost 2 weeks until this past week when we got some basic distance runs and one tempo run completed in training. She seems healthy now and with a couple of weeks of additional training should be able to get below 20:00 which she has done on several previous occasions. She ran 20:56 last night.
Amy ran a strong race...finishing in 21:08 and closing in on sub 21 territory. She worked hard to keep her pace from falling off in mile # 2 and had some success. We'll look to keep that process going even further in the next 2 weeks before we return to JSU for our meet on 10-9
Anne ran a PR last night - 20:54 - and seems to have developed some consistency around this pace, having run a PR of 22:01 last week at Alabama.
I'll post some additional analysis tomorrow once I get a bit of rest. All in all a very nice trip to Memphis.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
2 days until the Twilight Meet
We are about 60 hours away from our races at the Memphis Twilight Meet on Saturday.
We have had a good training week since our race at the U of Alabama on Sat, 9-18. We had a great long run on Sunday, the 19th. The freshmen guys really pushed themselves on that run and got a lot out of it.
Our only real "workout" was yesterday. The guys did 6 x 1000m with 2' recovery at their current 5K pace and the ladies did a 4.8 mi tempo run. Most of the guys were able to hit their assigned paces pretty well - a couple fell off the pace midway through the workout. The ladies' tempo run went well.
We have had several of our women's team missing from practice this week due to various nagging injuries. We are fortunate to have an excellent swimming pool in which we can do deep water running as well as various swimming type conditioning activities. Also, our # 1 guy runner, Austin, has been doing just deep water running and swimming this week - he is trying to rest his sprained ankle and it looks like he may be able to run on Saturday.
The race looks to be a huge one - a very, very large field with lots of DI schools and several schools from our conference. I have been telling our young runners that it is always a good thing to beat other teams/runners from our conference whenever we happen to be in the same meet. You like to set a precedent and put some doubt in their minds about their ability to beat us.
The race is held at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memhis. It is almost perfectly flat and the race is held at night. It's a fast course and the competition is stiff. If the weather is cool times should be great.
We have started putting together our race plans and final copies are due today. In fact, we "practiced" our race mentally today - even though it was a relatively easy distance run, we "mentally practiced - talked to ourselves - our race plans during the run. We started out slower than usual - under control - and then picked up the pace at places in the workout where we would pick up the paces in our upcoming race. This helps get the plan locked into the bodies as well as the minds of our runners.
We'll practie it again this way tomorrow morning. We like to let the team sleep later on the morning before the race - we know they won't sleep as well the night before the race because of excitement. So we'll get up later and "practice" the race during our easy run.
Confidence seems high and if we can get a weather break, I think we'll run fast. Regardless of the weather, I think we are ready to run well.
I'll post our results on Sunday when we get back home from the race.
coach M
We have had a good training week since our race at the U of Alabama on Sat, 9-18. We had a great long run on Sunday, the 19th. The freshmen guys really pushed themselves on that run and got a lot out of it.
Our only real "workout" was yesterday. The guys did 6 x 1000m with 2' recovery at their current 5K pace and the ladies did a 4.8 mi tempo run. Most of the guys were able to hit their assigned paces pretty well - a couple fell off the pace midway through the workout. The ladies' tempo run went well.
We have had several of our women's team missing from practice this week due to various nagging injuries. We are fortunate to have an excellent swimming pool in which we can do deep water running as well as various swimming type conditioning activities. Also, our # 1 guy runner, Austin, has been doing just deep water running and swimming this week - he is trying to rest his sprained ankle and it looks like he may be able to run on Saturday.
The race looks to be a huge one - a very, very large field with lots of DI schools and several schools from our conference. I have been telling our young runners that it is always a good thing to beat other teams/runners from our conference whenever we happen to be in the same meet. You like to set a precedent and put some doubt in their minds about their ability to beat us.
The race is held at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex in Memhis. It is almost perfectly flat and the race is held at night. It's a fast course and the competition is stiff. If the weather is cool times should be great.
We have started putting together our race plans and final copies are due today. In fact, we "practiced" our race mentally today - even though it was a relatively easy distance run, we "mentally practiced - talked to ourselves - our race plans during the run. We started out slower than usual - under control - and then picked up the pace at places in the workout where we would pick up the paces in our upcoming race. This helps get the plan locked into the bodies as well as the minds of our runners.
We'll practie it again this way tomorrow morning. We like to let the team sleep later on the morning before the race - we know they won't sleep as well the night before the race because of excitement. So we'll get up later and "practice" the race during our easy run.
Confidence seems high and if we can get a weather break, I think we'll run fast. Regardless of the weather, I think we are ready to run well.
I'll post our results on Sunday when we get back home from the race.
coach M
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Notes on the Crimson Classic and other "stuff"
We ran in the Crimson Classic yesterday at the U of Alabama's home course, which is one of the nicest courses I have seen in my 20+ years of coaching. The course was in great shape - grass cut low, no wet spots at all and clearly marked. You couldn't ask for anything more. Well, we could have asked for a bit cooler weather but it's the same for everyone in the race so why complain.
One of our main goals for this race was to try and develop more consistency between our first and second miles - both for the men and women's squads. We were very successful in this phase of the race. Every runner cut his/her "gap" in at least half and a few runners actually went faster in the 2nd mile than they did in the first. We will continue to work on this in an attempt to have everyone's mile # 1 vs mile # 2 difference down to 10" or less. We are going to work on that again in practice this week and then really focus on it once our race this coming weekend is over.
We had 3 male runners surpass the goals we had set for them in this race. For the most part, the other men ran about 20"-25" slower this race than the goals that had been set for them. I attribute a good deal of this to the weather - it was in lower 80's at the end of the men's race and in the upper 80's by the end of the women's race. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the guys' performance - for 7 of our runners this was their first ever 8K and they all said it was much more difficult than they had imagined it would be.
Our # 1 and # 2 women had good races, with our usual # 2, Polina Babkina, beating our usual # 1, Carolyn Mancuso, for the first time ever. Our #3, #4, and #5 runners were all held out of the race due to illness and/or injury. Our # 6, #7 and #8 ladies tried to pick up the slack and had some success. Our usual # 8, Anne Enoch, ran a PR in this race and almost caught our # 5 girl in the process. That was an encouraging sign. Once we get our group back in action, we should be in good position to continue working toward our season's goals.
We race in Memphis, TN this ocming weekend at the Brooks' Twilight Meet. Race time is at 8:45 PM so we are hoping it will be a bit cooler. Early forecast is for a heat wave around Memphis so we may not get that cool weather we all want. The Twilight Meet is a lot of fun - huge field with some great competition. It finishes on the track inside the main soccer stadium so there is always a large crowd cheering at the end of the race. The course is essentially flat as a pancake, except for the little 1 step eleveation between adjacent soccer fields. We should be able to record some good times in this meet. We have a traditional post-race meel at IHOP each year and everyone looks forward to that. It makes the long run the next morning a bit tougher, but no one ever mentions giving up the IHOP part of the weekend, so we'll do it again.
Right now our main focus is on getting our injured/sick women runners back into action and keeping our guys healthy - our # 1 guy sat out this race due to an ankle sprain and we are hoping it won't be a long lasting injury for him.
One of our main goals for this race was to try and develop more consistency between our first and second miles - both for the men and women's squads. We were very successful in this phase of the race. Every runner cut his/her "gap" in at least half and a few runners actually went faster in the 2nd mile than they did in the first. We will continue to work on this in an attempt to have everyone's mile # 1 vs mile # 2 difference down to 10" or less. We are going to work on that again in practice this week and then really focus on it once our race this coming weekend is over.
We had 3 male runners surpass the goals we had set for them in this race. For the most part, the other men ran about 20"-25" slower this race than the goals that had been set for them. I attribute a good deal of this to the weather - it was in lower 80's at the end of the men's race and in the upper 80's by the end of the women's race. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the guys' performance - for 7 of our runners this was their first ever 8K and they all said it was much more difficult than they had imagined it would be.
Our # 1 and # 2 women had good races, with our usual # 2, Polina Babkina, beating our usual # 1, Carolyn Mancuso, for the first time ever. Our #3, #4, and #5 runners were all held out of the race due to illness and/or injury. Our # 6, #7 and #8 ladies tried to pick up the slack and had some success. Our usual # 8, Anne Enoch, ran a PR in this race and almost caught our # 5 girl in the process. That was an encouraging sign. Once we get our group back in action, we should be in good position to continue working toward our season's goals.
We race in Memphis, TN this ocming weekend at the Brooks' Twilight Meet. Race time is at 8:45 PM so we are hoping it will be a bit cooler. Early forecast is for a heat wave around Memphis so we may not get that cool weather we all want. The Twilight Meet is a lot of fun - huge field with some great competition. It finishes on the track inside the main soccer stadium so there is always a large crowd cheering at the end of the race. The course is essentially flat as a pancake, except for the little 1 step eleveation between adjacent soccer fields. We should be able to record some good times in this meet. We have a traditional post-race meel at IHOP each year and everyone looks forward to that. It makes the long run the next morning a bit tougher, but no one ever mentions giving up the IHOP part of the weekend, so we'll do it again.
Right now our main focus is on getting our injured/sick women runners back into action and keeping our guys healthy - our # 1 guy sat out this race due to an ankle sprain and we are hoping it won't be a long lasting injury for him.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
2 days and counting
The Crimson Classic, held at the U of Alabama is only 2 days away now. Just looked at the entry list and it is...awesome. 173 runners in the women's 5K and 193 runners in the men's 8K. Some very strong teams, including Alabama, Auburn, Kennesaw State, Ole Miss, Samford, Texas A&M, Tulane and DII regional powerhouse, Columbus State University.
This is a great opportunity for our runners to knock heads with some very talented opponents. Hopefully, the competition will motivate us to run at our very best. The course for the Crimson Classic is a good bit tougher than we saw at the season opener at Jax State. There are some hills on this course that need to be respected.
One of our goals for this race is to really focus on our second mile. In the opener at JSU, our pace in the 2nd mile dropped off dramatically - too dramatically to be perfectly honest. We have done some training to help remedy that situation and we'll see how effective it is. We have done some long intervals with short recoveries to help us be able to hold our opening paces for a longer period of time.
In addition, we have talked a good deal about pace - our runners, as often happens in season opening races, went out much faster than they were ready to handle and got in over their heads in mile # 2. We are going to try to go in a much more controlled fashion this race and see if we can't run it more evenly paced with a very strong last 1200m to 1600m.
Kealth wise we are a little banged up. Our men's # 1, Austin Enriquez, has been having some plantar fascitis problems and is questionable for this race. Our # 3, # 4 and # 5 girls are all out for this this race - one with a severe case of shin splints, one with a calf problem and one with a case of the flu.
Still, in all, it is a great opportunity for us to see where we are at, conditioning wise, at this early point in the season.
The weather promises to be dry and, perhaps, even a bit cool in the morning with a cold front expected to pass on through the area over the weekend.
Our hard workouts this week included some 300m hill repeats this morning and an intervas session on Tuesday - the runners used the distance they covered in an all out 5:00 run at the start of the season and ran 4-5 repeats of that same distance in 5:30 with only 75" rest. A tough workout but they handled it well, as they did with the hills today, so we have some confidence that we can run well.
The runners will hand in their race plans tonight and I'll go over them and make suggestions where appropriate. I'll get them back the runners tomorrow morning and they'll have the day to start "absorbing" the race plan.
I love these large meets! It seems the amount of adrenaline the runners produce is directly proportional to the # of runners in the race. With 173 and 193 in the women's and men's races, respetively, there should be ample adrenaline flowing on Saturday.
Will post the results on Saturday. Hold a good thought for us.
M
This is a great opportunity for our runners to knock heads with some very talented opponents. Hopefully, the competition will motivate us to run at our very best. The course for the Crimson Classic is a good bit tougher than we saw at the season opener at Jax State. There are some hills on this course that need to be respected.
One of our goals for this race is to really focus on our second mile. In the opener at JSU, our pace in the 2nd mile dropped off dramatically - too dramatically to be perfectly honest. We have done some training to help remedy that situation and we'll see how effective it is. We have done some long intervals with short recoveries to help us be able to hold our opening paces for a longer period of time.
In addition, we have talked a good deal about pace - our runners, as often happens in season opening races, went out much faster than they were ready to handle and got in over their heads in mile # 2. We are going to try to go in a much more controlled fashion this race and see if we can't run it more evenly paced with a very strong last 1200m to 1600m.
Kealth wise we are a little banged up. Our men's # 1, Austin Enriquez, has been having some plantar fascitis problems and is questionable for this race. Our # 3, # 4 and # 5 girls are all out for this this race - one with a severe case of shin splints, one with a calf problem and one with a case of the flu.
Still, in all, it is a great opportunity for us to see where we are at, conditioning wise, at this early point in the season.
The weather promises to be dry and, perhaps, even a bit cool in the morning with a cold front expected to pass on through the area over the weekend.
Our hard workouts this week included some 300m hill repeats this morning and an intervas session on Tuesday - the runners used the distance they covered in an all out 5:00 run at the start of the season and ran 4-5 repeats of that same distance in 5:30 with only 75" rest. A tough workout but they handled it well, as they did with the hills today, so we have some confidence that we can run well.
The runners will hand in their race plans tonight and I'll go over them and make suggestions where appropriate. I'll get them back the runners tomorrow morning and they'll have the day to start "absorbing" the race plan.
I love these large meets! It seems the amount of adrenaline the runners produce is directly proportional to the # of runners in the race. With 173 and 193 in the women's and men's races, respetively, there should be ample adrenaline flowing on Saturday.
Will post the results on Saturday. Hold a good thought for us.
M
Friday, September 10, 2010
2 difficult training days for the Tiger runners
Yesterday (Thursday the 9th)we did a challenging workout that we call 3/4 3's. Simply put, the runners do a 1200m run with the pace starting out at what we call "going out" pace and then slowing a bit (about 10"/mi)during each of the next two 400's. Then they went out and ran 2.25 mi at tempo pace and then back for another 1200 at fast, steady pace (close to goal race pace for the season) and then into another 2.25mi at tempo pace and finishing with another 1200, starting at slightly slower than tempo paace and increasing every 400 until the runners are at "going out"pace again.
This workout always challenges freshmen to the max. It is a great race simulation and really provides a mental as well as a physical challenge.
The women ran 800's instead of 1200's and their tempo runs were about 1.25 miles long. The logic of the workout remained the same.
Overall, the workout went well. Our most experienced runners managed to come close to their assigned paces. The same was true for our top female runners. The freshmen really struggled about mid-way through the workout. The ability to finish with a strong 1200 was really tested and it showed us that our freshmen need more work on strength type workouts.
We are going to repeat this workout in 3-4 weeks and I think we'll see a good bit of imporovement in our performances. The weather will be cooler and we'll be more fit and we'll have a couple of 8K races under our belts.
We went easy today - a 35' recoovery run with the last 1200m on one of our grass loops run at race pace. We did a pretty good job on the 1200's today. My hope is that this translates into stronger finishing kicks in our races. We will be in the pool this afternoon - no real workout - just moving around and having some fun.
Tomorrow is another very challenging workout - a 10 mile steady state run for the guys and an 8.6 mi steady state run for the girls. The run will be over what we call "Rough Road" - in deference to a road sign with that printed on it. The road is pretty "rough" out of the 8.6 miles, about 6.5 to 7 or so are uphill to some degree with a very steep hill at the end of the road. We are giving the runners times they may not be able to quite hit on this workout but hope they can run at the end of the season. We always end this run with chocolate milk to replace carbs and provide protein to repair the micro-trauma occurring as a result of the run.
So...Thursday and Saturday are two very challenging sessions that I think will help us a lot at the end of the season. They both take a lot of mental energy - staying focusedf during the run - as well as physical endergy.
Sunday will be a long run - 15 miles for veteran guys, 11 miles for freshman guys, and 10 miles for women.
Monday will be an off day - the 11th day of our training cycle which iw quite often an off day.
This workout always challenges freshmen to the max. It is a great race simulation and really provides a mental as well as a physical challenge.
The women ran 800's instead of 1200's and their tempo runs were about 1.25 miles long. The logic of the workout remained the same.
Overall, the workout went well. Our most experienced runners managed to come close to their assigned paces. The same was true for our top female runners. The freshmen really struggled about mid-way through the workout. The ability to finish with a strong 1200 was really tested and it showed us that our freshmen need more work on strength type workouts.
We are going to repeat this workout in 3-4 weeks and I think we'll see a good bit of imporovement in our performances. The weather will be cooler and we'll be more fit and we'll have a couple of 8K races under our belts.
We went easy today - a 35' recoovery run with the last 1200m on one of our grass loops run at race pace. We did a pretty good job on the 1200's today. My hope is that this translates into stronger finishing kicks in our races. We will be in the pool this afternoon - no real workout - just moving around and having some fun.
Tomorrow is another very challenging workout - a 10 mile steady state run for the guys and an 8.6 mi steady state run for the girls. The run will be over what we call "Rough Road" - in deference to a road sign with that printed on it. The road is pretty "rough" out of the 8.6 miles, about 6.5 to 7 or so are uphill to some degree with a very steep hill at the end of the road. We are giving the runners times they may not be able to quite hit on this workout but hope they can run at the end of the season. We always end this run with chocolate milk to replace carbs and provide protein to repair the micro-trauma occurring as a result of the run.
So...Thursday and Saturday are two very challenging sessions that I think will help us a lot at the end of the season. They both take a lot of mental energy - staying focusedf during the run - as well as physical endergy.
Sunday will be a long run - 15 miles for veteran guys, 11 miles for freshman guys, and 10 miles for women.
Monday will be an off day - the 11th day of our training cycle which iw quite often an off day.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Results from season opener at Jax State
Here are the finishing times for our runners from the season opening race at Jacksonville State University.
WOMEN 4000 meters
Carolyn Mancuso 14:31
Polina Babkina 14:31
Jessica Gonzalez 15:25
Kirstie Lusignan 15:48
Kelli Hartley 15:48
Hannah Sharrow 16:16
Amy Benoit 16:41
Anne Enoch 16:56
MEN 5000 meters
Austin Enriquez 15:25
Craig Warlick 15:54
Jonathan Sellers 16:07
Peter Kazery 16:09
Cody Lee 16:15
Brandon Nelson 16:34
Cam Holmes 16:43
Josh Griffin 17:09
Adam Pierce 17:13
Miles Bowman 17:20
Evan Lemons 17:36
WOMEN 4000 meters
Carolyn Mancuso 14:31
Polina Babkina 14:31
Jessica Gonzalez 15:25
Kirstie Lusignan 15:48
Kelli Hartley 15:48
Hannah Sharrow 16:16
Amy Benoit 16:41
Anne Enoch 16:56
MEN 5000 meters
Austin Enriquez 15:25
Craig Warlick 15:54
Jonathan Sellers 16:07
Peter Kazery 16:09
Cody Lee 16:15
Brandon Nelson 16:34
Cam Holmes 16:43
Josh Griffin 17:09
Adam Pierce 17:13
Miles Bowman 17:20
Evan Lemons 17:36
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Good day at the opening race of the season
Well, it was almost a perfect day for our opening race at Jacksonville State University. The course was in great shape so hats off to coach Steve Ray for getting it ready for the race. The grass was cut short and the ground was quite dry - couldn't ask for much more. It was a bit warmer than we had hoped - the temperature didn't get down into the 50's like MSN had predicted, but it was still quite pleasant.
The women ran first at 9 AM and we had two runners finish in the top 6 - Carolyn Mancuso, our all-conference runner from a year ago just edged Polina Babkina, with both girls covering the 4000m course in 14:31. This is a new school record for 4000m and since we don't run that distance again this season, the new record should last at least a year. We also had 3 other girls finish under 16:00 in the race, with Jessica Gonzalez finishing in an excellent 15:25. Kirstie Lusignan (15:48) and Kelli Hartley (15:40) were the other sub 16:00 finishers. Hannah Sharrow ran a 16:16 which was not bad at all since she was nursing a sore quad muscle and didn't really look comfortable out there.
We finished 2nd to a very strong Divison I Georgia State team. All in all, it was a good beginning for us. We showed we are in good shape and we know what we need to work on. Our biggest "negative" from the race was that we slowed down too much in the 2nd mile. Our goal is always to try and keep the drop off in the 2nd mile down to about 10"-12" and our drop-offs were much larger than that. The good news is that we can fix that in our training. I am glad the girls were able to have some success today as it shows them that their summer training paid off.
The men's race also went well. We finished 2nd to Georgia State University and had some very nice head to head battles with their runners - passing them, getting re-passed by them and passing or trying to pass them at the end of the race. Good stuff.
Austin Enriquez was our top finisher, coming in 5th and covering the 5K distance in 15:25. He went out with the leaders from the very beginning and stubbornly held on before finishing in 5th spot. Fellow seniors Craig Warlick (15:54) and Jonathan Sellers (16:07)also had strong races with Warlick posting his first ever sub 16:00 finish in a cross country meet.
One of the highlights of the men's race was the performance of our pack. We had a gap (45") of less than a minute between our # 1 and our # 6 runners. Ideally, we will be able to get it down to 30" by season's end. It is something we definitely plan to work on.
Sophomore Peter Kazery (16:09) and freshman Cody Lee (16:15) also had very strong races today. Several other freshmen also had PR's in the race so it was a really good day for the guys' squad.
We gave the runners the rest of the Labor Day weekend off. They have a long run scheduled tomorrow (on their own) and an easy run on Monday. We get back to work on Tuesday, Sep 7th and will try to work on reducing the loss of speed in mile # 2 - a problem for more than a few of our runners.
The women ran first at 9 AM and we had two runners finish in the top 6 - Carolyn Mancuso, our all-conference runner from a year ago just edged Polina Babkina, with both girls covering the 4000m course in 14:31. This is a new school record for 4000m and since we don't run that distance again this season, the new record should last at least a year. We also had 3 other girls finish under 16:00 in the race, with Jessica Gonzalez finishing in an excellent 15:25. Kirstie Lusignan (15:48) and Kelli Hartley (15:40) were the other sub 16:00 finishers. Hannah Sharrow ran a 16:16 which was not bad at all since she was nursing a sore quad muscle and didn't really look comfortable out there.
We finished 2nd to a very strong Divison I Georgia State team. All in all, it was a good beginning for us. We showed we are in good shape and we know what we need to work on. Our biggest "negative" from the race was that we slowed down too much in the 2nd mile. Our goal is always to try and keep the drop off in the 2nd mile down to about 10"-12" and our drop-offs were much larger than that. The good news is that we can fix that in our training. I am glad the girls were able to have some success today as it shows them that their summer training paid off.
The men's race also went well. We finished 2nd to Georgia State University and had some very nice head to head battles with their runners - passing them, getting re-passed by them and passing or trying to pass them at the end of the race. Good stuff.
Austin Enriquez was our top finisher, coming in 5th and covering the 5K distance in 15:25. He went out with the leaders from the very beginning and stubbornly held on before finishing in 5th spot. Fellow seniors Craig Warlick (15:54) and Jonathan Sellers (16:07)also had strong races with Warlick posting his first ever sub 16:00 finish in a cross country meet.
One of the highlights of the men's race was the performance of our pack. We had a gap (45") of less than a minute between our # 1 and our # 6 runners. Ideally, we will be able to get it down to 30" by season's end. It is something we definitely plan to work on.
Sophomore Peter Kazery (16:09) and freshman Cody Lee (16:15) also had very strong races today. Several other freshmen also had PR's in the race so it was a really good day for the guys' squad.
We gave the runners the rest of the Labor Day weekend off. They have a long run scheduled tomorrow (on their own) and an easy run on Monday. We get back to work on Tuesday, Sep 7th and will try to work on reducing the loss of speed in mile # 2 - a problem for more than a few of our runners.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
It's the night before the night before....
Well, it's just about here now. Tonight is Thursday night and I know all of the runners are really getting excited for the race on Saturday. I just checked the weather forecast and the high is only supposed to reach 83F and, more importantly, the low Saturday morning is supposed to be around 57F. The women race at 9 AM and the men race at 9:30 AM so the conditions should be ideal. Anniston has had some clear, warm weather the past 4 days so the course should be pretty dry as well. Just about everything a runner could hope for.
We had a very successful hill workout on Tuesday morning. The guys did 15 repeats of a 300m hill and the womend did 12 repeats of the same hill. Their times were significantly faster than the first time we did that workout 2 weeks previously so that helped their confidence a good bit. We spent a couple of short evening meetings going over race plans and the runners got their final plans to me this morning for my comments. We should have a couple of interesting "intra-team" battles going on - a little bit of a "race within a race" kind of situation.
Yesterday was a typical recovery day with some plyometrics and core work in the afternoon - nothing too much but continuing the work we started at the beginning of the semester. Several of the runners have noticed that the feel "stronger" in the core and believe it has helped their running. This also builds their confidence.
Today was an off day - we try to take every 11th day off - train for 10 days and take the 11th day off. Sometimes we have to adjust that but that is the general formula.
Tomorrow we will do an easy shake-out run in the morning with some light strides and then leave at 12:30 for Anniston, AL, where the race is being held. We'll walk the course and then do a comfortable run over it with some strides at the finish line for good measure. We'll also mark some distances for the runners so they can have an idea of where they are on the course and when they might make a surge or start a kick.
Hopefully I will have some good results to report on Saturday when we get back home.
Fingers crossed.
We had a very successful hill workout on Tuesday morning. The guys did 15 repeats of a 300m hill and the womend did 12 repeats of the same hill. Their times were significantly faster than the first time we did that workout 2 weeks previously so that helped their confidence a good bit. We spent a couple of short evening meetings going over race plans and the runners got their final plans to me this morning for my comments. We should have a couple of interesting "intra-team" battles going on - a little bit of a "race within a race" kind of situation.
Yesterday was a typical recovery day with some plyometrics and core work in the afternoon - nothing too much but continuing the work we started at the beginning of the semester. Several of the runners have noticed that the feel "stronger" in the core and believe it has helped their running. This also builds their confidence.
Today was an off day - we try to take every 11th day off - train for 10 days and take the 11th day off. Sometimes we have to adjust that but that is the general formula.
Tomorrow we will do an easy shake-out run in the morning with some light strides and then leave at 12:30 for Anniston, AL, where the race is being held. We'll walk the course and then do a comfortable run over it with some strides at the finish line for good measure. We'll also mark some distances for the runners so they can have an idea of where they are on the course and when they might make a surge or start a kick.
Hopefully I will have some good results to report on Saturday when we get back home.
Fingers crossed.
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