There is a lot of great track and field heading to Oregon over the next few weeks starting with the Prefontaine Classic in a couple of days, followed by the NCAA Championships, and then the Portland Track Festival. I'm pumped to watch the first two and compete in the third.
Last week we decided to test the waters a little bit with a 3 mile + 3 x 1 mile workout on the track. My coach, Dave Smith, and I wanted to see how my body would do with a few miles at 10km pace, and I was pleased with how smooth it felt. 4:15 isn't flying at the end of that particular workout, but I felt tremendous doing it. I'm ready for a couple of monster workouts which will be perfect timing heading into the USA Track Championships next month in Sacramento. I had one already this week that I'm excited to share on next week's blog.
Dave will be in Sacramento with a couple of guys from the Oklahoma State team, so it will be a great opportunity to catch up and see him in person. Coaching and being coached remotely certainly has its difficulties, so I take any chance I can to see him throughout the year. I get many questions about the logistics of our coaching relationship. It would much more difficult, if not impossible, if we had not spent 5 and a half successful years together in Stillwater. During that time he learned what type of a runner I was, the intensity and frequency of workouts my body could handle, my racing strengths and weaknesses, and what type of motivation I responded to. At the same time I learned what his expectations were and what type of effort he was looking for in each of our various workouts. I believe all of this would be outstandingly difficult to achieve in a remote setting and without the help of older guys on the team. I don't mean to say that now I've got it all figured out and wouldn't benefit from having a coach and training group here, but I'm saying that having that initial base together makes the relationship work. The training I do today is essentially the same that I did in college with increasing intensity and volume, so I know what Dave expects from me every time I step out the door. He writes a calendar for me, we talk after every hard workout, and I've continued to run personal bests under him since I left Stillwater. This year marked the 10th consecutive year with a PR. While I haven't made any huge single jump, I wouldn't trade a decade of consistency for anything. Here's to another decade.
Below is my training from last week, and continue to post my track workouts throughout my short season before beginning a fall marathon build-up. Thanks again for reading, and feel free to follow me here on twitter for more updates.
Last week we decided to test the waters a little bit with a 3 mile + 3 x 1 mile workout on the track. My coach, Dave Smith, and I wanted to see how my body would do with a few miles at 10km pace, and I was pleased with how smooth it felt. 4:15 isn't flying at the end of that particular workout, but I felt tremendous doing it. I'm ready for a couple of monster workouts which will be perfect timing heading into the USA Track Championships next month in Sacramento. I had one already this week that I'm excited to share on next week's blog.
Dave will be in Sacramento with a couple of guys from the Oklahoma State team, so it will be a great opportunity to catch up and see him in person. Coaching and being coached remotely certainly has its difficulties, so I take any chance I can to see him throughout the year. I get many questions about the logistics of our coaching relationship. It would much more difficult, if not impossible, if we had not spent 5 and a half successful years together in Stillwater. During that time he learned what type of a runner I was, the intensity and frequency of workouts my body could handle, my racing strengths and weaknesses, and what type of motivation I responded to. At the same time I learned what his expectations were and what type of effort he was looking for in each of our various workouts. I believe all of this would be outstandingly difficult to achieve in a remote setting and without the help of older guys on the team. I don't mean to say that now I've got it all figured out and wouldn't benefit from having a coach and training group here, but I'm saying that having that initial base together makes the relationship work. The training I do today is essentially the same that I did in college with increasing intensity and volume, so I know what Dave expects from me every time I step out the door. He writes a calendar for me, we talk after every hard workout, and I've continued to run personal bests under him since I left Stillwater. This year marked the 10th consecutive year with a PR. While I haven't made any huge single jump, I wouldn't trade a decade of consistency for anything. Here's to another decade.
Below is my training from last week, and continue to post my track workouts throughout my short season before beginning a fall marathon build-up. Thanks again for reading, and feel free to follow me here on twitter for more updates.
| Week 6 | AM | PM | Strength/Drills | Mileage |
| Monday | 12.5 | 5.5 + 6 x 150 in spikes | 40 minutes | 18 |
| Tuesday | 5 | 3 mile (4:46) + 3 x 1 mile (4:28, 4:24, 4:15) | 17 | |
| Wednesday | 14 | off | 40 minutes | 14 |
| Thursday | 12 miles + drills and grass strides | 6 | 18 | |
| Friday | 15 x 200 @ 28-30 w/200 meter jog recovery | 7 | 17 | |
| Saturday | 11.5 | 5.5 | 40 minutes | 17 |
| Sunday | 19 | 19 | ||
| TOTAL | 120 |
