these treadmill runs help me?

Thurs, 1/27/11--Schools closed. Took vacation day. Drove to Penn Oaks at 1:15. 6 x 2:00 on treadmill like last week: covered .37 (~600m), .38 (~615m), .39 (~630m) and .40 (~640m) distances. Set pace to approximately the following mile paces: 5:00, 4:56, 4:52, 4:48, 4:44, 4:39, 4:35, 4:31. The good thing is that my pace was faster than these set paces since I had to press "Quick Start" on the treadmill and keep my finger on the pace setter until it reached the desired pace, which took several seconds--maybe 20 or so. So...by the time I set the pace to 4:31, for instance, 20 seconds had elapsed but not much distance had been covered. 4:31 is legitimately 2:15 800 pace. That would amount to, let's say, 70 for the first quarter and 65 for the second. Let's assume that I ran 640 meters, knowing that the first 20 seconds were a different pace than the remaining 1:40. Given the lag that occurred from pressing the button to establish the pace, I'd say then that the first 200 of the 600 was probably 43, the second and third 200s were about 35, and the last 40 was 7.

Took exactly 3 min in-between
felt strong
mile cool down

I am hoping that these treadmill runs help me with my 800. (Counting my strides helped keep my mind off the fact that I was tired!) I'd like to do the entire workout set at 4:31. If only I had the Hydro machine Nick Berra uses!

Wed, 1/26/11--Schools delayed 2 hours. 5 miles around neighborhood and Rustin lots. Lots of snow on ground. 5 miles

Tues, 1/25/11--hills. Got there late. less than a minute to stretch. This made for a tough final 2 hills...when I fell off the pace. Range: 55-60 seconds.

Monday, 1/24/11--Drove to Penn Oaks. Ran 2 miles, lifted, then 2 miles again.

Not much running this past week

Sun, 1/23/11--took off. not much running this past week

Sat, 1/22/11--drove to Penn Oaks.
mile warm up on treadmill
stretched
6 x 2:00 on treadmill--.37 and .38 and .39 distances. set pace to approximately to the following mile paces: 5:05, 5:00, 4:55, 4:50, and 4:45, and 4:40. took exactly 3 min in-between.
felt strong
mile cool down

Fri, 1/21/11--20 minutes

Thurs, 1/20/11--7.9 in Borough. got there late. reached crew at 3.5 mile mark. they were running at 8 min pace, but i decided to take it easy with them. reached the 4 mile mark in 28:00 anyway, which means i was running well under 7 min pace before I reached this group. Several of them peeled off prematurely. i continued on the regular route and Betsy asked to accompany me...as long as i did not mind the slower pace. i obliged. completed the route in 61:00.

Wed, 1/19/11--20 min run

Tues, 1/18/11--did not run, icy; hills cancelled

Mon, 1/17/11--did not run

Bad wind (no, not that kind)

1/16/10

1/15/11--1 mile warm up, stretched, striders behind Rustin stadium (28s, 23s, 18s, 13s), 1 mile cool down. (snow covered streets/paths)

1/14/11--4 miles around neighborhood (snow covered streets/paths)

1/13/11--overslept. No 8 milers in Borough. 3 miles around neighborhood. (snow covered streets/paths)

1/12/11--did not run(snow covered streets/paths after 4-6 in of snow).

1/11/11--hills in Borough. Felt strong. Thought the 7th hill was the 8th (honestly). Pushed it hard, stopped, only to have Kevin et al. head back down the hill. Ouch. Took a breath and then did the same myself.

1/10/11--4 miles

1/9/11--direct run to Penn Oaks and back. 7:30 pace en route there; 7:00 pace en route back (first mile 6:50). Bad wind during last 1/2 mile that stood me straight up and zapped my energy. 6.6 miles

A long day.

Saturday, 1/8/11--competition. A long day. Snowing steadily.

got at U of Delaware at 11:20; they were still very much on the sprints events
warmed up and stretched
saw that there were many, many heats remaining and many heats of the next event
hung out with my teammates
saw that the day would drag, as I was getting the indication that I probably would not compete until 2-ish
I was wrong.
2-ish came and went but the heats of the mile did not; there must've been at least 15heats, along with an equal number of called back starts
the same was true of the 400
the gun, timing system, starter and runners were all malfunctioning
i wound up running at 5:20, having sat around all afternoon.
i was in "lane 8" of 10 the third heat of the open/masters division
there were some high school runners in in my heat, as out-of-state high school students were made to run in the open division with us older guys
the gun went off
the youngsters shot out and i found myself near the rear of the pack almost immediately and definitely as we broke the cones at the 150 mark
i am sure the front runner reached the 200 in 27/28 sec; i hit 30/31
on the second lap we were all strung out over a 30 meter stretch, but everyone seemed to settle down a bit
i felt myself cutting into the distance between me and the 6-7 runners in front of me
i reached the 400 in 62
i told myself that i needed to begin to surge a little
so i tried on the back stretch and could not pass the guy in front of me before the turn
i hit the 600 mark in 1:34/35
felt teammate Dave Brown pull even with me on the back stretch
i responded and started to move with him
but could not pass a guy and got boxed in as i tried to take thw inside
came to a near stop, as the guy slowed up terribly
i was forced to take the outside after recovering
then made a dash for the finish in 2:09
last lap was set to be in :32, but it would be :34 instead
feel i could have gone 2:07
i am ready
if only this weather would cooperate


Friday, 1/7/11--off

Thursday, 1/6/11--Borough run in reverse. 7.9. 55:30

Wed, 1/5/11--2.2 easy

makes me want to vomit

Tuesday, 1/4/10--couldn't sleep for the second night in a row. Woke up and puked my guts out! Must've been that super sweet coconut cake from last night's meeting. The thought of the cake makes me want to vomit! Despite vomiting more than I have in years (I'm talking multiple heaves here), I still make it over to the Borough for the first in a series of hill workouts. I ran somewhat tenderly for the first one. I skipped the second one. I banged the last one. In all, I did 7 of the 8 and ran with the top group. I timed the first, a pedestrian 62. I had some trouble timing the rest, but I'd estimate that they got progressively faster...from 60-55.

Monday, 1/3/10--ran 4.4--two Rustin loops. 16:40/15:40.

Sunday, 1/2/10--went to the track to do some 200s. The initial plan was to do 15 (1 set of 5 35s, 1 of 5 33s, and 1 of 5 31s) with a 200 jog recovery. Running late for my Steelers game, I decided to do 12 (1 set of 4 33s, 1 set of 4 31s, and 1 set of 4 29s) with a 100 walk/100 jog recovery. The idea here was to simulate various 800 meter race pacing. By season's end, I'd like go out in 29 for the first 200, hit 31s for the second and third 200s, and hang on for the fourth one in 33. This would get me 2:04.

Happy New Year

Sat, 1/1/11--Happy New Year.

Penn Oaks run: out-lift-and-back. 9 miles. about 7:30 out; 7:10 back. Good weather--40s.

The new year is always a time for reflection and looking ahead. My 2010 was disappointing. After a great relay run on 12/28 in 2009, I just couldn't get going or stay healthy in 2010. Between my hanstrings, feet and calves, I was done. I could only manage 2:08 in the 800 and :55 in the 400. While these past couple of weeks of training have not been spectacular, I'd like to start my campaign to run 2:00 and :53. There's a lot of work ahead of me, not the least of which is speedwork. Better yet, I'd like to remain healthy. What a concept!