Having worked very closely with Courtney over the past year, I can truly say I know how much dedication and hard work it takes to achieve such an honor and privilege. It was a great honor to be a part of that day as well as being included in the discussions she had last Fall when trying to reach her decision.
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| First Hawkeye shirt I've owned in almost 20 years. |
Someday, “what it takes” may have to be its’ own topic for my blog. Until then, though, the single best advice I have is to spend less time talking/thinking about running and more time actually running.
Courtney may have even inspired a new runner. That night, my daughter Natalie took her first steps of running. And, thanks to the experiences in working with Courtney, I know that if someday Natalie wants to pursue collegiate running, I will have an intense off-season framework in place.
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| Future D-I runner? Time will tell. |
Here is my training for the past week.
Sunday was my long run for the week. I did three loops of 8 miles each and practicing taking goo and fluids in between. It’s amazing how a little 110 calorie shot of liquid sugar can reinvigorate a runner, but it works. On the third loop, Courtney joined me because she needed a partner to help with her tempo run. During that segment, miles 18-22 for me, we ran four miles in 24:25 (6:06 pace) with the last two each under 6:00. It was nearly a 40-second PR for her and the first time for me that I had ran a sub-6 mile that deep into a run. Total: 24 miles – 2:40:08 (6:40 pace)
The next day was an easy 7-miler with 10x100m strides. I ran out 13th and up the gravel of Stagecoach Road in order to run on some softer surfaces and to get some hills. Today, I realized that I am not invincible. On yesterday’s long run, my knee started to feel some pain directly in the kneecap area. On this run, especially when climbing hills, it was so painful I nearly lost my lunch. Normally, a pain a may appear in the first 10 minutes and then subside. This got worse over the course of the run until I started doing the strides at the end. The faster turnover changed my gait enough that the knee was no longer being aggravated. This is pretty scary to me with just 7 weeks before the Boston Marathon. Total: 7 miles – 52:04 (7:26 pace)
Tuesday’s run felt better, but it was a track workout, so the turnover was much quicker. I was supposed to do a set of five 600m repeats, but accidentally programmed my watch with 6 reps, so I went ahead and did the extra. There was a pretty rough wind blowing directly down the backstretch, so every other repeat I battled it twice. Compared to last week, though, I felt much smoother running repeats. My training program had a target time of 1:55 per 600m. I ran them in 1:54, 1:51, 1:52, 1:48, 1:54, and 1:50. Total: 8 miles – 53:26 (6:41 pace)
The next day my knee was even better feeling, but we received a rough winter storm that included 55 mph wind gusts, so I ran my 15-mile run on the indoor track at ISU. The 82 laps are normally bad enough, but this time I was solo for all of them and I also knew that it was not going to help my knee’s recovery. Overall, it went well, but I was glad when it was over. Total: 15 miles – 1:38:57 (6:36 pace)
Thursday, I was scheduled for a two-a-day. The morning run brought me back to ISU and it really hurt my knee initially. I’m now fighting an inner struggle of should I rest it or hammer through with more attention on rehab? Unfortunately, if I rest and end up fine I’ll wonder what may have been if I hadn’t missed those workouts. Yet, if I focus on rehab things may go fine for a few more weeks and then blow-up too late to give me a chance to heal. Anyhow, running at 8:00 recovery pace was horrible, yet the pain went away when I began running around 7:25 pace. That pace is technically faster than my prescribed recovery runs, but if it is pain-free, I think I should continue at the faster pace.
I ran the second run down through Brookside Park, which is a little flatter run. I felt that would help my knee out some. I ended up throwing an extra mile onto this recovery run because I felt pretty good and because a 30-minute run hardly felt worth getting dressed for. Total: 11 miles – 1:22:54 (7:32 pace)
Friday was another recovery run, which was very nice to have. The consecutive days of recovery were planned for Saturday’s tune-up race, but they also came at just the right time for my sore legs. I ran a pretty routine 6-miler through some of the hilly sections of Bloomington Heights and around the gravel loop at Ada Hayden. Afterwards, I helped pace a couple girls with some of their track workout which bumped my total a little bit. Total: 6 miles – 45:49 (7:38 pace) + 1.5 miles (not timed)
Saturday was my program’s first tune-up race. I was very excited to “race” although it would only be a time trial. My excitement wavered a little bit when I saw the weather conditions: Air temp of 30, Wind speed of 23mph WNW/with gusts of 31mph, and Wind Chill of 18 degrees. I did a 4-mile warm-up running North to Gilbert across gravel roads, then I began an 8km time trial. I did benefit from the wind, but mostly fought a crosswind. The 2.5-mile section of gravel includes one hill, which I handled very well. Near the end, I looped to Ada Hayden and ran the last quarter mile directly into the wind, which was tough. In the end, I set a 43-second record for 8km. I also had a 42-second record at my 4-mile split. Overall, I ran the 8k in 26:41 (5:22 pace). I won’t count it as a PR because of the wind aid, but I do feel I could have raced faster and overall I felt very good. Total: 10.5 miles – 1:07:33 (6:26 pace)
For the week (Sun-Sat), I hit 83 miles. I ran the 81.5 timed miles in 9:20:51 or 6:53/mile.
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