i remember it well...

Spent last week doing nothing.

Sunday -- 50 minutes arm cycling + upper body strength/core work

Monday -- 2:35 running. Limped back to my office. Going to arm cycle again for 50 minutes this afternoon and then do some core work.

Tuesday -- ART w/ Dr. Kelly Ryder. Figured out the problem is most likely in my back. 50 minutes arm cycling.

Wednesday -- ART w/ Dr. Kelly Ryder. 35 minutes a.m. arm cycling + 42 minutes p.m. arm cycling.

Thursday -- core workout a.m. + 35 minutes elliptical with no pain p.m.

Friday -- ART w/ Dr. Kelly Ryder a.m. 50 minutes biking while watching 101st Millrose Games. Added in 4 x 1' arms only.

Saturday -- 35 minutes elliptical p.m.

don't panic

The previously used title, "don't panic", is in reference to the state that I am currently in. Do I continue training or do I shut it down? It's hard to discuss with my coach because I know that he's invested so much time and energy into my running with very little return...no return actually. It's just frustrating because I'm in very good shape, I'm just not very smart about what I personally should do. I know what I would have one of my athletes do, but that's different...

Sunday -- 10 miles very easy...felt pain as the run ended. Horrible pain.

Monday through Saturday -- Off

re--cover--y

So had a bummer of a week last week, starting with Monday and going all the way through to Saturday. Monday wasn't able to commit to the time to run the 14 mile workout, so split the day into a double and thought I had a good workout...but ran too hard on my second run of the day, thus throwing my hamstrings and IT Bands into whack, forcing Tuesday into a run that suffered horribly...each step caught, but I pressed on and hit my 14 miles in a terrible day...passed on a Wednesday morning run because of IT Band tightness, but opted for my 10 miler Wednesday p.m. and had a decent run, but caused more tightness...Thursday, warmed up but wasn't able to run...so took the next two days off, only to jog 4 miles on Saturday....

Sunday -- Houston Marathon 5k "Fun Run"...I do this race mainly as a formality to the sponsorship I have...Ameriprise Financial...really wanted to get out and race and at least prove to myself that I can do that...ran 15:02 officially...and won by 70 seconds...was extremely windy in my opinion and had a lot of turns, but really enjoyed the course to be honest with you...finally felt strong throughout and though I only managed 4:50 pace, it was a good solid effort in which I feel like I ran smart...I never let up...I jogged a ton before the race just because of a few mix ups and then a ton afterwards because of the same mix ups...about 7 miles total...

Monday -- So, got really tight on Sunday night and did some icing, stretching and med taking, and felt better on Monday, but decided to let the leg have the morning off...but ran 9 miles in 56 high in the afternoon and felt okay. did more icing and med taking afterwards.

Tuesday -- 2 miles warm up + 1 x 3000m, 2 x 1500m with 6' and 3' rest...ran 8:46.22, 4:20, 4:19 for the workout...felt great...cooled down for 1.5 miles...nice and fit...just worried about volume. set a pr in the 3k.

Wednesday -- 5 miles a.m. pretty easy...stomach hurt...9 miles p.m. on merrifield, partly with matt hansen, partly without...

Thursday -- 5 miles a.m. again stomach hurt...9 miles p.m. felt okay...got a little tight. stretched at 5 miles...

Friday -- Travel to Texas Tech; no running.

Saturday -- 1M race -- Indoor PR of 4:21.97 + 3k race -- 9:00.xx...3rd and 2nd respectively. Thought I raced the mile well...the 3k I was toast for and just ended up settling. I have to get healed.

Start it off right...

What a start to the new year. 100 mile week the first week of 2008...nice. Feeling okay right now. Really concerned about the changing weather, but there's nothing I can do about that. Have a tough week and a race on Sunday. It's the race I opened up 2007 with, so it's nice to start a little tradition. This will actually be the 4th year in a row I'm making the trek to Houston for the Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5k. Should be exciting.

Sunday -- 10 miles a.m. in 69:00 nice and relaxed around the lake, aside from the ridiculous wind. + 5 miles p.m. in 32:50...started slow but picked it up on the way back. Wish the wind would let up before tomorrow's workout. Geez.

Monday -- 9 miles w/ 4 x 2',2' + 4 x 1',1' + 8 x 100m strides a.m. + 6 miles p.m. in 36ish...too fast again. Need to slow these down.

Tuesday -- 14 miles easy around the lake in 1:31.11 and felt every second of it...horrible run in a horrendous wind.

Wednesday -- 10 miles on Merrifield Road w/ Matt Hansen. Really good run, just had a little IT Band soreness in both legs.

Thursday -- 2 miles warm up + stretching...IT Bands really hurt and did not want to chance it with a workout. Took rest of day off and am planning on taking off until Saturday.

Friday -- Travel to Houston Texas.

Saturday -- 4 miles w/ Katie Noss in Hull Texas. Nice and easy.

The year in review...

Wow. What a year? I've done a lot of thinking the past few days about where I've been and where I am and where I plan to go, running related. It's tough, because I was raised to believe that I could achieve anything, as long as I committed myself to the end goal and worked as hard as possible to get there. I was also taught balance and structure and a ton of other things that I've sort of lost a hold on. I just wonder at 24 if I'm doing what it is that I'm suppose to be doing and I wonder if I'm doing it the right way, or if I'm just wasting my time chasing something that I really want, but chasing after it the wrong way. Not sure if that made sense, but I want to reiterate that this is completely about my own personal running life.

I guess I should start with the beginning of 2007. I ran a race in Houston, the 5k that runs in conjunction with the Houston Marathon and Houston Half Marathon. It was also my debut run with Ameriprise Financial who has kept me in shoes and uniform all year. I won the race in 15:19 and felt really strong and confident afterwards as it had been my first hard run back after an injury. I think at the time I had only been running for 3 weeks. So it was a great step; at least I thought.

I then, after advice from my coach and from my girlfriend at the time jumped into a mile race at the Texas Tech Indoor Opener in which I ran 4:23 and was one of only two Americans in the field. It was a good race considering it was only my fourth week back and I had put in a higher mileage day the day before and had done no speedwork at all. It was a PR.

Unfortunately, not 3 or so days after the mile at Tech I ran into some IT Band problems and missed valuable training. I held myself together for a win at the UH All-Comer's Meet for 3k in a subpar time and then took 3-4 weeks downtime of just biking and hoping to salvage a track season.

Upon coming back after a 3.5 week down period, I was going to alternate 6 mile easy and 6 mile tempo runs. On the second week back I ran a 7 mile tempo in 5:12-14 pace and immediately called my mentor Gabriel Rodriguez to tell him of the exciting run. At that point in time he became my full-time coach and he put together a plan for me for the 2007 track season. With the ultimate goal of qualifying for the US Championships sometime between 2008-2012 we focused on improving my raw speed and my 800/mile times...

I ran a track season in which I set PR's in the following events:
400m - 54.xx
800m - 1:57.13
1500m - 3:57.70
Mile - 4:12.51
3000m - 8:46.xx

Entering the fall I set my focus on the USATF Club XC Championships. Along the way I ran PR's for the following distances:
8000m XC - 25:20
5M Road - 24:51
Half Marathon - 1:09.35

But even with those huge PR's for me, I couldn't run well when it counted. The two goal races I had set for myself, the Arkansas Chile Pepper 10k and the USATF Championships were complete failures. I didn't finish the Chile Pepper after a mental breakdown at the 3M marker and the Championships were just as bad where I didn't break 36 minutes for 10k...

But looking back on all of that, it was great learning experiences. I had thought I was tough and I had really thought that I was out-training most of the country, but I've got 241 people in front of me to prove that I am not. At least not yet. And as far as tough is concerned, it's not something you can fake. It's something you have to callous yourself to....

So, the two most important lessons learned in 2007...
1. You can't claim to be tough, you have to prove it, over and over again. Ala Salazar.
2. You can be fit as a whistle but not prepared to race.

So, what to look forward to in 2008...
1. Consistent training.
2. High goals.
3. More volume.
4. More intensity.
5. Reality.

I need to thank a few people for their contributions to a great 2007...
THANKS SO MUCH...Gabriel Rodriguez, Katie Noss, Ameriprise Financial, DBU Patriot XC/Track, Mike Hummel, Terry Jessup, and anyone else I passed or was passed by along the way...