Tuesday, February 18, 2014

8 weeks until the Boston Marathon

After a great adventure to Boulder, Colorado for the USA Cross Country Championships, my weekly training has slowly come around.  It's still not anywhere where it should be, but it's improving from last week's sickness.

The race itself went a little better than I thought.  I finished 26th in a decent field, but I know I could do better if I was more motivated.  I have too many excuses at the moment, and all I really need to do is put my head down and continue to pound the pavement!  This week was okay, as far as training goes, so I'm going to get back on track and put all distractions aside.  The Boston Marathon is only 8 weeks away, which means, it's just around the corner.  I'll be posting my training until race week.

Official Results from USA Cross Country:
http://www.usatf.org/Events---Calendar/2014/USA-Cross-Country-Championships/Results.aspx

Training:

Mon - pm. 8 miles
Tue - am. 4 miles / pm. 12 miles
Wed - am. 8x1000m (3:11, 3:08, 3:09, 3:08, 3:09, 3:11, 3:13, 3:06) 10 miles total / pm. 8 miles
Thur - pm. 8 miles
Fri - am 6 miles
Sat - am. 2 mile shake out, 12k USA XC Race 38:48, 4 mile cool down. 15 total
Sun - am. 17 miles @ 8400' - 9000' feet in Rollins, CO

Total: 88 miles

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

USA Half Marathon Championships review


With more than 2 weeks after the race, I have finally got some time to write a little bit about my 1:05:38 performance.  I guess I don't have a whole lot to say about this, as I didn't achieve my goal of a sub 1:05:00. The coincidence of this race, was that I ran the same exact time I did back at this championship in 2009.  Looking at that, it's kind of nice to know I can still fade to the same result.  Ideally, I would like to be faster and stronger, so perhaps I am stronger as most of my training has been geared towards the marathon.

Here's a few quick thoughts of my race; I went out a little more conservative than in 2009, meaning I was on pace for the majority of the race.  When I got caught by a group of guys running the pace (4:57/mile), I decided to stick with them and run in the back of the pack, as opposed to race the leader of the group.  This seemed to help me, and I stuck to the pace better than I have in the past.  When I finally faded off pace, I just kept hammering away and trying to stay focus - not that I didn't do this in the past.  At this race, there was always someone around in front of me, so that I could gauge where I should be.  In the past, most races I've run don't have that motivation, which can be hard.

So, all and all, it was a good effort and a pretty good indicator as to where I am at for Boston.  Running a 65 min half with about 10 weeks before a marathon is a good sign.  I'll be ready to roll in Beantown.  And compared to 2009, where I was 24th place; I was way down the list at 39th place.  American distance running is truly improving.

Finishing hard.
photo by Stephanie Ward



Half Marathon Results:

PlaceAthlete Name5k10k15k20kFinish
1Meb Keflezighi
San Diego, CA
14:3929:1043:3458:121:01:23
2Aaron Braun
Englewood, CO
14:3829:1043:3858:251:01:38
3Josphat Boit
Mammoth Lakes, CA
14:3929:1043:3758:251:01:41
4Tyler Pennel
Blowing Rock, NC
14:3929:1043:3758:311:01:44
5Matthew Llano
Flagstaff, AZ
14:4029:1143:4058:331:01:47
6Luke Puskedra
Beaverton, OR
14:3929:1143:3958:331:01:48
7Shadrack Biwott
Folsom, CA
14:3929:1043:3858:361:01:56
8Fernando Cabada
Boulder, CO
14:3929:1043:3858:461:02:00
9Tim Ritchie
Brighton, MA
14:3829:1043:4158:461:02:00
10Gabriel Proctor
Mammoth Lakes, CA
14:4029:1143:4359:041:02:22
11Sean Quigley
Lafayette, CO
14:3929:1344:1859:351:02:46
12Jonathan Grey
Minneapolis, MN
14:3929:1144:0359:291:02:51
13Ben Bruce
Flagstaff, AZ
14:4329:3744:3359:441:02:53
14Scott Macpherson
Columbia, MO
14:4729:3744:2959:391:02:56
15Ahmed Osman
Flagstaff, AZ
14:4029:1044:0759:401:03:02
16Elliot Krause
Madison, WI
15:0030:0545:041:00:061:03:15
17Tyler Mccandless
Boulder, CO
14:4729:5545:041:00:101:03:25
18Craig Curley
Tucson, AZ
14:4129:4945:041:00:151:03:27
19Joe Moore
Manhattan, KS
15:0030:0545:041:00:151:03:33
20Joseph Gray
Colorado Springs, CO
15:0130:0745:041:00:231:03:42
21Jeremy Freed
Longmont, CO
15:0030:0645:041:00:301:03:51
22Enoch Nadler
Richardson, TX
15:0130:0645:041:00:311:03:55
23Sergio Reyes
Palmdale, CA
14:5630:0645:041:00:401:04:06
24Brandon Birdsong
Manitou Springs, CO
15:0030:0545:041:00:581:04:21
25Dan Kremske
Woodstock, IL
15:0430:1845:321:01:061:04:27
26Daniel Tapia
Castroville, CA
15:0030:0645:321:01:161:04:32
27Craig Leon
Eugene, OR
15:0030:0645:251:01:111:04:34
28Anthony Solis
Sacramento, CA
15:0030:0645:301:01:181:04:35
29Cole Atkins
Blowing Rock, NC
15:1430:1645:311:01:111:04:37
30Thomas Dialynas
Denver, CO
15:2130:4746:091:01:341:04:49
31Benjamin Sathre
Chaska, MN
15:0030:1846:021:01:341:04:51
32Michael Reneau
Minneapolis, MN
15:0930:4246:091:01:421:04:59
33Eric Ashe
Boston, MA
15:2130:4746:091:01:441:05:01
34Gregory Leak
Steilacoom, WA
15:2730:4946:091:01:431:05:02
35Ryan Kienzle
Canton, OH
15:2730:5046:091:01:431:05:02
36Matthew Williams
San Antonio, TX
15:2130:4746:091:01:471:05:06
37Sean Brown
Aurora, CO
15:2730:5046:221:02:001:05:22
38Connor Kamm
Nashville, TN
15:2730:4946:091:01:461:05:29
39Jesse Armijo
Albuquerque, NM
15:0930:4446:151:02:181:05:38
40Josh Whitehead
Madison, AL
15:1730:4746:221:02:141:05:42
41Jonathan Mott
Babson Park, FL
15:3731:1546:481:02:251:05:47
42Jeremy Criscione
Gainesville, FL
15:0230:3846:211:02:271:05:49
43Kieran O'Connor
Arlington, VA
15:2731:0046:391:02:361:05:59
44Dan Greeno
Minneapolis, MN
15:2731:0046:521:03:021:06:26
45Rory Tunningley
Austin, TX
15:2130:4846:451:03:061:06:29
46David Fuentes
Austin, TX
15:2731:0046:521:03:211:06:50
47John Dewitt
Oshkosh, WI
15:2931:2447:201:03:301:06:54
48Jason Holt
Kaysville, UT
15:3031:2147:211:03:361:07:01
49Jared Carson
Austin, TX
15:4031:3547:231:03:361:07:07
50Brandon Dworak
Memphis, TN
15:4831:4547:431:03:521:07:15
51Daniel Kerr
Winston-Salem, NC
15:4031:3547:281:03:531:07:21
52Logan Sherman
Plano, TX
15:4831:4447:431:03:571:07:24
53Rio Reina
Austin, TX
15:3831:1947:291:03:561:07:25
54Jake Marotz
Saint Paul, MN
15:4831:4447:441:03:591:07:25
55Jake Krong
Salt Lake City, UT
16:0131:5647:541:04:021:07:26
56Christopher Sloane
Gaithersburg, MD
15:4831:4447:431:04:011:07:29
57Matt Barrett
Madison, WI
15:3531:4447:451:04:031:07:30
58Luka Thor
Gretna, NE
15:2931:2947:291:04:081:07:42
59Tibor Vegh
Raleigh, NC
15:2831:1947:201:04:161:07:58
60Jose Munoz
San Antonio, TX
15:2831:2547:221:04:291:08:04
61Riley Cook
South Weber, UT
15:2931:3848:111:05:091:08:42
62Chass Armstrong
Greenville, SC
15:3831:5248:241:05:161:08:45
63Ryan Cosens
Costa Mesa, CA
15:3132:1548:361:05:161:08:50
64Aaron Davidson
Lenexa, KS
15:5032:1948:531:05:351:09:08
65Brian Finnel
Madison, WI
16:0632:2748:531:05:371:09:13
66Matthew Grey
Minneapolis, MN
16:0132:2449:011:05:591:09:35
67Brent Martin
Gambier, OH
15:4332:0749:281:06:261:10:02
68John Coyle
Logan, UT
16:0132:2850:021:06:551:10:30
69Tim Jeffreys
Brooklyn, NY
16:1232:5149:561:07:071:10:44
70Daniel Kahn
Houston, TX
16:4134:1151:541:10:141:14:09