We're under a week now to the US Cross Country Championships in
Boulder, CO. Be sure to tune in to usatf.tv at 1:00 PM Mountain Time to catch all the
action from start to finish. The men's 12km will kick off at 1:00 PM as the
last race of the day. While the race is on a well-manicured golf course, the
several races preceding the senior men's race could leave it somewhat sloppy
as the snow from this week melts. It looks like Boulder has had a decent amount
of snow this week, but race day looks to be around 60 degrees and sunny, very
close to the weather the Brooks Beasts and I have been dealing with in Albuquerque.
With another week of altitude under my belt, I'm feeling better
every day. Friday I was presented with my first more challenging workout with 8
sets of (800 meters, 300 meters) with 1 minute jog rest between reps and 3
minutes between sets. Albuquerque got some snow the night before and morning
of, so the grass loop at the University of New Mexico was slippery and slow. I
had the company of Garrett Heath and Matt Hillenbrand for the workout, which
was very helpful. Intending to start in the 72 second per quarter range, we
struggled in 2:31, 2:27, and 2:26 on the grass before deciding to move to the
track. There we all felt immediately better and ran the last 5 sets in
2:17-2:19 and 45-47. Without the two Brooks Beasts there, the segment on the
grass would have been pretty demoralizing, but fortunately they were struggling
as badly as I was. Overall, the effort was just right; 8 days from the
race is too close to really hammer something of this volume.
The strong and deep field for Saturday’s race is set, and I am as
prepared as I can be. My fitness is as good as it’s ever been before a US XC Championship,
but the altitude still poses an unknown challenge as I have little experience
racing that high. I hope that I came to Albuquerque early enough to dampen the
altitude factor, let my full fitness come through on race day, and make my 5th
US World Cross Country Team.
Later this week I will be announcing another Twitter contest, so
stay tuned. Feel free to check out last week’s training below. Thanks again for
reading, and follow me here on Twitter for more updates.
| Week 11 | AM | PM | Strength/Drills | Mileage |
| Monday | 9.5 + drills and strides | 4 | 20 minutes | 13.5 |
| Tuesday | Fartlek (1 min, 2, 3)(1, 2, 3, 4)(1, 2, 3) | Off | 30 minutes | 14 |
| Wednesday | 9 | 5 | 14 | |
| Thursday | 11 | 5.5 | 40 minutes | 16.5 |
| Friday | 8 x (800 meters, 300 meters) rest = 1 min and 3 min | Off | 14 | |
| Saturday | 7 | 5 | 30 minutes | 12 |
| Sunday | 14 | Off | 14 | |
| TOTAL | 98 |
Big thing is not going out too hard. Once you're in oxygen debt at altitude it's almost impossible to recover
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