Portland Track Fest recap and Looking ahead to the USATF Champs: Last Week's Training

Sunday at the Portland Track Festival was my first race back since the London Marathon, and it was quite a drop in distance. I haven't run a 1500 in a couple of years, so I knew it was going to be painful. I ran evenly, but I didn't have the wheels to close on the last lap and ended up with a 3:43. My PR is only 3:42.8, so I can't be too disappointed with the result given that it was my season debut. Deep down, I would have liked to get a new PR, but looking back, it just wasn't realistic. While my track training has been going very well, I needed hard effort like this to shake the rust off. It was excellent preparation heading into the 10,000 meters at the USATF Outdoor Championships. Following the 1500 I paced the 5000 meters for 5 laps at 65 seconds per quarter, which ended up making it a well-rounded training day. The meet overall was a huge success; all events went off on time, pace-makers were in place for the Sunday events, and the crowd turnout was great. All you have to do is take a look at the starlists/results to see that the Portland Track Festival is turning into one of the country's premier distance events. 

The entries are settled for the USATF Outdoor Championships, and the 10,000 meters looks strong for an off-year. By off-year I mean that there is no World Championship or Olympic Team to qualify for. You can check out the startlist on the USATF website; you'll see plenty of familiar names. It will be interesting to see how the pace plays out, but no matter what the pace is, I think fans will be in for an exciting finish. I haven't had the opportunity to race in Sacramento since my sophomore year at Oklahoma State for the NCAA Track Championships, and I'm excited to return. I have fond memories from the Golden West Invitational in high school, and two NCAA Championships as a college athlete. The weather is suitable in the later evening, the stands are big enough for an excellent crowd and atmosphere, and the warm-up facilities are the best I've encountered at a track meet. 

Airfare cost and hotel availability are also a bonus when compared to previous locations. The athletes who will benefit the most from this are those just out of school or those just on the cusp of making the championships. Since the USATF only funds the top 4 athletes in each event for travel, it is very expensive for a young athlete without support to travel to a meet like this. It's also important to note that the top 4 ranked athletes in an event usually already have some kind of travel support from a sponsor or club, so they typically aren't the athletes in the greatest need of the funding. After plane tickets, hotel, entry fee, and meals, an athlete can easily be looking at well over $1000 in travel expenses. While it is still expensive, having the meet in Sacramento will help mitigate these costs and help those younger athletes who will be vying to make US teams in the near future. 

Feel free to check out my training from last week at the bottom of the page. The workouts have continued to progress, and I've been enjoying the lower volume training. This week was a 90 mile week and is dropping all the way to the outdoor championships. 90 miles is a far cry from the 150 I was hitting just months ago, but the higher intensity of the track workouts still has me plenty exhausted. Thanks again for reading and don't forget to go see the Brooks PR Invitational at Renton Memorial Stadium this coming weekend. It will feature the fastest high school athletes in the country in a rare opportunity to see them in the same place at the same time. Also, if you'd like, follow me here on twitter for more updates. 

Where                                  Renton Memorial Stadium

When                                    June 21^st, 1:30pm-4:30pm (doors open at noon)

Why                                       Come watch the fastest and deepest high school meet of the year in our backyard!!

                                                1000 technical PR Invite t-shirts to the first spectators arriving

                                                Come Meet the Brooks Beasts

Cost                                       $10 per person, kids 6 and under will be FREE (all proceeds go to the Renton School District)

Reply on Facebook                                          Meet Entries                                      Blog

Week 9	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	10 + drills and strides	5	40 minutes	15
Tuesday	3 mile tempo @ 71.0, 4 min rest, 3 x mile (4:17, 4:15, 4:13)	4		16
Wednesday	12 easy	off	30 minutes	12
Thursday	30 minutes easy, 6 x 200 (29-30), 25 minutes easy	5		14
Friday	8	5		13
Saturday	off	8+drills and strides	40 minutes	8
Sunday	2 mile shake-out	Race 1500, pace 2km @ 65 for 5000 meter race		12
TOTAL				90

NCAA Champs, PTF, Brooks PR Invite, and USATF Champs: Last Week's Training

I mentioned it last week, but there are some great meets in the Pacific Northwest over the next few weeks. The NCAA Track and Field Championships kick off this week in Eugene, the Portland Track Festival (PTF) is approaching this next weekend (June 14th and 15th), and the Brooks PR Invitational is going outdoor this year and is set for June 21st at Renton Memorial Stadium. High school athletes are running much faster than when I was in high school (already 10 years ago now!). Running PRs of 8:30 for 3000 meters and 3:53 for 1500 meters left me a wide range of full-ride scholarship opportunities, but these times are now commonplace. It was also not as common for the best high school athletes to get together at the national level at the same venue. The Brooks PR Invite is truly going to be a treat for track and field fans. I'm sad that I won't be making the trip to Seattle because I'll be departing soon after for Sacramento for the US Outdoor Champs, but I'll definitely be watching it on tv. The information for the race is below.

Where                                  Renton Memorial Stadium

When                                   June 21^st, 1:30pm-4:30pm (doors open at noon)

Why                                     Come watch the fastest and deepest high school meet of the year in our backyard!!

                                            1000 technical PR Invite t-shirts to the first spectators arriving

                                            Come Meet the Brooks Beasts

Cost                                      $10 per person, kids 6 and under will be FREE (all proceeds go to the Renton       School District)

Reply on Facebook                                          Meet Entries                                      Blog

I'm also excited to head down to Eugene for a couple of days and cheer on the Cowboys where they are looking for a historically high team finish at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. It will also be an opportunity for me to see my coach, Dave Smith, for the first time since the fall.

My track work in preparation for the Portland Track Festival (mile) and USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships (10,000 meters) has continued to progress on a weekly basis, and I'm excited to test out my fitness over the next 5 to 6 weeks of racing. I don't get to race often in Portland, so the mile next weekend will be a rare opportunity for me to enjoy the local atmosphere and have the support of family and friends. The Portland Track Fest has become bigger, deeper, and faster every year. This year will be no different.

Feel free to check out last week's training below. I'm particularly happy with my ability to close the Tuesday workout with a 4:13 on my 7th mile of the workout. I'm ready for a solid 10km. The miles are easing down with the aim of a light week heading into the USA Track and Field Champs on June 26th. It had been 6 weeks since my last day off, so I decided Monday was the right time for a rest day. My plantar was a little sore from all the spike work lately, so it was a good excuse to lay back. My daily volume for the week was still quite high, but the day off pulled my weekly mileage down to a more reasonable level on my way into racing season. Each week will get lighter in terms of volume for the rest of June. I'll check back in next week after the mile at the Portland Track Festival. For more updates, follow me here on twitter.

Week 8	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	off
Tuesday	3 mile tempo @ 70.5, 3 min rest, 4 x 1 mile (4:25, 4:22, 4:18, 4:13)	5		18
Wednesday	14	off	40 minutes	14
Thursday	11.5 + drills and grass strides	6		17.5
Friday	8	5 x (200, 200, 400) in 29-30 and 59-60 w/equal jog recovery		17
Saturday	11.5	4.5	40 minutes	16
Sunday	16	off		16
TOTAL				98.5

Less than 4 weeks to the USA Outdoor Track and Field Champs: Last Week's Training

Another solid week of training in the books, and we're one week closer to the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The clock is ticking, and I still feel like it hasn't been long since the London Marathon, but the track workouts are really coming into form now. It should end up being perfect timing heading into the short track season. I think all distance runners would like more time to prepare for their events and have enough time to put in as many high quality workouts as possible, but often times there are benefits to a shorter training season. Many times in the past during the middle of a training block I have found myself wishing for more time, and then, out of nowhere, the workouts start clicking exactly as you had hoped they would. When this happens, and there are still 4+ weeks until the event, you run the risk of overtraining and getting stale. Even though I need a couple more great workouts to have my full confidence heading into the 10,000 meters in Sacramento, I also know that if I can hit them in the short amount of time I have left that I will be heading into the championships feeling fresh and ready to take on several races without much recovery time in between them. The Portland Track Festival is also less than 2 weeks away where I will run the mile in a deep field, and reintroduce myself to that desperate, lactic feeling of a short track race. I'm confident that I will be competitive in Sacramento, and I'm confident my 5,000 meter personal best is going to take a big drop in July. That is all I can ask for during a short track season in between marathon training blocks. It has been a welcomed mental relief to get back on the track and increase the intensity while decreasing the volume before I start building back up into marathon training again in the late summer. Feel free to check out last week's training below. I had one of the better track workouts of my career yesterday which I will share in next week's blog. Thanks again for reading and follow me here on twitter for more updates.

Monday	11.5	5.5 + 6 x 150 in spikes	40 minutes	17
Tuesday	6	10 x 500 w/100 meter jog recovery (80 down to 76)		18
Wednesday	14	off	40 minutes	14
Thursday	11.5	5.5		17
Friday	11.5	5.5 + 6 x 150 in spikes	40 minutes	17
Saturday	3 mile, 2 mile, 1 mile (70, 67, 65)	5		18
Sunday	19			19
TOTAL				120

A month from the USA Track and Field Championships: Last week's training

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.

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

5 Weeks until the USA Track Champs

Each workout is feeling better as I start to round into track form. After putting together 500 meter repeats at goal 5km pace, I'm becoming confident that I'll be competitive at the USA 10,000 meter Championships in Sacramento in 5 weeks, and I'll be ready for a big 5,000 meter PR in Heusden come the middle of July. My 5km PR is one of my weakest at 13:32, and I know it's ready for a big drop this year. This short track season is exactly what my mind and body needed in between marathon build-ups.

It's amazing how quickly the body can adjust from marathon fitness to track fitness. During the height of my marathon training I struggled to run 32 seconds for 200 meters on the track, and just yesterday I was doing my last mile repeat at a quicker pace. The first few weeks felt incredibly rusty, but the legs are now catching up to my brain. Dropping the volume by 15% makes all the difference. It's hard to believe I'll be hammering out a mile at the Portland Track Festival in just 3 and a half weeks. The great performances at Payton Jordan, Oxy, and the NCAA conference meets have me jacked up. The next two weeks will have some higher intensity workouts, and I'll throw them up on the blog as I get through them.

I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I have managed to avoid jury duty once again. After deferring it due to London, they sent me another summons while I was away in Europe for today, May 21st. A letter from myself, and Jesse Williams at Brooks, will hopefully have them off my back until after the 2016 Olympics. The training can continue uninterrupted. Thanks again for reading, and feel free to follow me here on twitter for more updates.

Week 4	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	12.5	5.5 + 6x150 in spikes	40 minutes	18
Tuesday	7	10 x 500 w/100 meter jog recovery (78-80)		18
Wednesday	travel from Prague to Portland	14	40 minutes	14
Thursday	11.5+drills and 6 x 150 in spikes	5.5		17
Friday	10 mile tempo @ 4:59	off		17
Saturday	8	9		17
Sunday	19 easy		40 minutes	19
TOTAL				120

Back to the track: Post-marathon training

I'll be heading back to Portland tomorrow after a great European trip, and time well spent with Eva's family. Fortunately we will be back in Europe in July, so the farewells were not too difficult. I now have 3 races set for the summer starting with mile at the Portland Track Festival in mid-June, followed by the 10km at the USA Track Championships in late June, and then a 5km in Heusden, Belgium in mid-July. I'll try to squeeze in one more race in Europe before starting a fall marathon build-up, but I'm still working on exactly which race that will be.

After taking one week completely away from running, I have been ramping back up over the last 3 weeks. After putting my body through the marathon, and then taking a week off, it takes some time to get the legs feeling back to normal again. It has taken more than two weeks, but I'm now ready to start bringing the intensity up to track season levels. This afternoon will be the first test with 10 x 500 meters on the track with a 30 to 40 100 meter jog recovery. I will try to start in 80 and work down from there, but the weather is not looking ideal. I'll let you know next week how it turns out, but for now, feel free to look over my first 3 weeks of training since the London Marathon. With a huge base under me I'm anxious to start cranking some track sessions as we are only one month from the Portland Track Festival! Thanks again for reading, and for more updates follow me here on twitter.

Week 1	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday				0
Tuesday				0
Wednesday				0
Thursday				0
Friday			Lawn mowing 5 hours	0
Saturday			Lawn mowing 3 hours	0
Sunday				0
TOTAL				0
Week 2	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	5	off		5
Tuesday	8	off	30 minutes	8
Wednesday	9	off		9
Thursday	10 + drills and strides	off	30 minutes	10
Friday	10	off		10
Saturday	11	5		16
Sunday	off	off
TOTAL				58
Week 3	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	9 + drills and strides	5		14
Tuesday	9	5	40 minutes	14
Wednesday	15 x 200 meter hills	5		15
Thursday	14	off		14
Friday	10	5	30 minutes	15
Saturday	14	off		14
Sunday	Long run with fartlek (5 min,4,3 / 4,3,2 / 3,2,1) with equal rest	off		18
TOTAL				104
Week 4	AM	PM	Strength/Drills	Mileage
Monday	11.5	5.5	40 minutes	17
Tuesday	15 x 200 on track @ 28-30	5		17
Wednesday	14	5	40 minutes	19
Thursday	4 mile tempo @ 19:05 + 6 x 200 @ 28-30	5		17.5
Friday	11	off		11
Saturday	off	18		18
Sunday	12	5.5+drills and strides	40 minutes	17.5
TOTAL				117

Traveling and Training

A little over 3 weeks has passed since the London Marathon, but it feels much longer. I spent about 10 days in Prague before the race, and after relaxing for a few days in London, I made it back to Prague. My old teammate from Oklahoma State, Dan Watts, now works for the London Marathon, and we were able to spend some quality time catching up. It truly is a small world. 

The in-laws in London

My wife, Eva, couldn't make it to Europe until about a week after the marathon, but her parents made the trip to come support me in London. For those unfamiliar with Central Europe (like I was before meeting my wife), Prague is very close to Western Europe; it's only an hour and a half flight to London. I spent the day after the race in the hotel room bed ordering rooms service (fish and chips!), but the next day meant a sightseeing excursion with Eva's parents. This was as painful as expected, climbing up and down stairs and enduring the general agony that comes from walking after a marathon. It was a wonderful experience, but I was ready to leave and meet my wife at the Prague airport.

Future Sunday Lunch

Eva and I always try to take advantage of my down time at the end of the season, and this year was no different. Unlike after my past marathons, we didn't quite have the time for a long backpacking trip, but we did manage a short road trip through Central Europe. From Prague we made our way to Eva's parents' village, about an hour and a half south, near the Austrian border. The village consists of about 200 people, and the running is fantastic. There are many old dirt roads connecting villages which used to be the only option of transit before wider paved roads were available. There is a village or town every few kilometers, so each run feels like an adventure as you explore unique places during every training run. Every village and town has at least a small chapel and often a full square, hopefully including a castle. The area is rural, but not rural in the US definition. In the US, rural brings to mind vast expanses of vacant land dotted with farms. While the Czech rural areas feel underpopulated, another small cluster of agricultural homes is not far away. The relatively new push for locally sourced meats and vegetables in US towns and cities has been a way of life for centuries in the Czech countryside. It is expected rather than trendy. Variety is not available, but the quality of local foods is excellent. Speaking of local food, the featured picture will soon become a meal when we return in the later summer. Eva's parents raise rabbits and use the meat for a variety of dishes, including rabbit sausage.

Weinersnitchel in Vienna

From Rodinov we made the short 2 hour drive to Vienna. When traveling I usually end up judging a city on it's "runability" since that will make or break my experience there. No matter how beautiful the architecture or how impressive the museums, if I can't go for a run, the experience is lessened significantly. Fortunately Vienna has a great park (Prater) sitting right alongside the expansive city center. Vienna is very flat, and this park is no different, but it offers a wide variety of soft and paved paths. Some are even marked each 100 meters, and a track sits just outside the park. It gets busy during peak morning and evening hours, but it's nice to see so many people taking advantage of the area.

Next stop, Budapest. After another 2 and a half hours of driving, we arrived at our small AirBnB flat in the city center. Budapest is also a "runable" city. Two large parks in the city limits offer great running opportunities, although there is no track open to the public without a paid membership. There is also a river path along the Danube which connects Vienna, Budapest, and Bratislava. The park I spent most my time in was called Margaret Island which actually has a lane of track circling the island that is 5km long! This park would certainly get boring after a bit, but for our short time in Budapest it was perfect. We also managed to make it to a traditional bath house which the city is famous for. Since this was aiding in my recovery, do I get to count it as a tax write off?

Budapest Riverfront

The biggest surprise for us was the quality of Hungarian wine. I'm certainly no wine expert, but Hungary does not come to mind when considering European wine. I don't think it's terribly easy to find in the US, so we will be bringing some home. Their heavy Cuvee was great alongside a plate of traditional Hungarian Goulash, or any of their other famous paprika laden dishes.

After a quick stop in Bratislava, we were back in Prague. While I do have some bias, I still feel Prague is the most beautiful and most runable of the Central European capitals. The network of hilly parks overlooking the city is tough to beat. Once such park, Ladronka, has a paved and packed gravel path running parallel and marked each 100 meters. The top loop just so happens to be exactly 1600, surely by accident; it's the best mile repeat surface I have ever been on. This park also happens to be within a few minutes of a track, and near one of the biggest parks in city limits in Europe (Divoká Šárka). All of this is within a 7 minute bus/tram ride to the city center. I love this city and can't wait to come back and use it as a hub for some summer European racing.

Prague Castle

We squeezed a lot of sightseeing in over the last couple weeks, but I've also squeezed quite a lot of running in. After taking one week completely off (not counting an acre of lawn mowing in Rodinov) I started with a slow 30 minute run and built up over the next 10 days. Last week I already managed to get over 100 miles, and I'm starting to feel back to normal. It normally takes about 2 to 3 weeks for me to feel like myself again after a marathon. I'm getting excited for a short track season, but I feel like I have a ways to go to feel comfortable at the quicker pace that will be required to be competitive at the USA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento on the 26th of June. As of right now I plan on tuning up at the Portland Track Festival in a one mile race 10 days before the USA champs to really shake the rust off the legs. This would be a great opportunity to try to break the 4 minute barrier for the first time in my career. I'm not sure, but I don't too many people have broken 2:11 in the marathon and 4:00 in the mile in consecutive races! We'll see if I can get the legs rolling again over the next month and a half. I was really fired up after watching the races from Payton Jordan. How tough is the 5k and 10k team going to be to make next year for the World Championships? Wow.

This post is already starting to drag on, so at the beginning of next week I will post my first 3 weeks of training coming off of the marathon, and I will hopefully have the summer racing plans mapped out. I'm also finalizing details on a block of altitude training in Flagstaff before a fall marathon. Nick Arciniaga has been generous enough to rent out a room in his house for the duration of my stay, which will likely be one month. This will be my first serious attempt at altitude training, so it will be extremely beneficial to be around other marathoners who have been doing it for a long time. More details to come. Thanks again for reading!