I have decided to move my blog from this website to Blogspot.

All entries here have been posted to the new location, and all new posts will be submitted to the new location, which is;

jasonsapunka.blogspot.com

M/18     0 legs hurt from weekend

T/19     7mi 52:47 (7:32) webster loop

W/20     8mi 60:16 (7:32) west main.

T/21     7mi 52:37 (7:31) webster loop clockwise. hot. 39:42/12:54 last two.

F/22     11mi 1:26:14 (7:55) church st. loop. easy, felt good.

S/23     7mi 55:39 (7:57) webster loop. easy

S/24     11mi 1:21:31 (7:30) church st. loop. pushed a little. felt good.

Week Total= 51 miles in 6:29:04 (7:37)

Without the team, I'm unable to hear "Sputnick! @%&*! You!" or "Sputnick, I'm gonna kill you", and I also find it more difficult to go fast on my runs. My goal for this summer is to increase my mileage, and since I cannot hammer with the guys every day this summer, I've used my first week alone to simply start building up my mileage.

My longest runs before this week were a 13.5mi run, a couple 10 mile runs, and I think one other 11 mile run. This week I did two 11's and I got over 50 miles for the first time since before I started practicing with the team, back in early April.

Until Gary sends me a schedule I'll be doing something like an easy 7 or 8 alternating with a hard 11+. Until I get that schedule I just want to increase my distance. I feel this week was a good step in that direction.

M/11    7    7.1 49:23 (6:57). Rex went beserk and we went with him for a mile until we realized it wouldn't be pretty if we tried it for another 6 miles. I had stomach pains, probably too much shitty lettuce at lunch.

T/12    8    61:34 (7:41) woods solo, relaxed. 1:16 lap finish.

W/13    8    61:33 (~7:40) woods solo, found Carlos, ran back with him.

T/14    4    29:04 (7:16) riverpath solo. Had plans for the day, didn't know when they would start, so I got in what I could.

F/15    0    busy in morning, got a bad headache in the afternoon.

S/16    8    57:59 (7:15) solo from dorm, woods+lap. 1:20 finish. Felt good the whole way.

S/17    5    40:00 (8:00) solo on riverpath.

    Week Total= 40 miles


Not really a good week, I feel like I'm still recovering from the breakdown last week. I didn't have much to put in the whole week.

M/4    8    8mi 55:52 (6:59) 7.3woods+0.75track. w/guys Joey and Rex argued a bit then the pace picked up. I tried picking up the pace a little on the last 400. I'd like to make it a habit to finish with a hard 400. I don't really have anything to work on my speed right now, and I do like finishing hard. This last 400, in 1:29, reminded me that I do not have any speed.

T/5    8    8mi 54:38 (6:52) treadmill. It was raining and cold, We bitched out.
Progression; 7:35, 7:20, 7:10, 7:00, 6:50, 6:30, 6:20, 6:10/6:00. I do like this progression though; 7:16 first half, 6:26 second half.

W/6    8    8mi 1:02:41 (7:50) 7.3woods+0.75 track. had my last lab exam, didn't get to practice at 3, so this run was solo. I went easy, and the last 400 was in 1:19.

T/7    8    7.3 50:16 (6:53) woods w/guys. I think I ate some bad lettuce at lunch.. let's leave it at that. I jogged 0.75mi after the run.

F/8    6    6 woods w/Carlos 44:33 (7:25). Had nothing the whole way. After the run I didn't even feel like walking back to East campus for dinner. Really tired. Ate 5 plates of food at dinner, didn't even get full. Had a coffee but still fell asleep when I went back to my dorm after dinner. I slept for an hour and half, then slept nine and half hours at night. This means my body is breaking down, something that I am excited about, because it means that improvements will come after the recovery.

S/9    0    off for recovery.

S/10    3    ~3 28:55 riverwalk+. Tried doing a 5 but I'm still dead from the breakdown.

    Week Total= 41 miles in 4:56:54 (7:14)

This was my fastest 30+ mile week ever, at the 7:14 pace. Last week I did 40 at 7:40 pace, and a couple weeks ago I did 44 at 8:39. So I've been improving just over the last few weeks, and hopefully this breakdown allows me to go even faster in the future.

I have just two weeks left here in Lowell, then I'm off to summer training. For these last two weeks I just want to enjoy being with the team, and hammer as much as possible.

After having to take unexpected days off the last couple weeks, this week I aimed to get through this week without taking a day off between Mon-Sat. I only got to 40 miles, I would've liked to get more, but I am pleased to get through the training.

M/27    7    7.3 50:34 (6:55) woods w/Carlos. lower left hamstring felt tight from yesterday, hurt a little after.

T/28    7    7.3 1:08:55 (9:26) woods solo. went easy.

W/29    7    7+. 57:57 (~8) woods w/Larry. feeling good now.

T/30    8    8.35mi 56:35 (6:46) woods. w/guys. Was going my own pace, the other guys going easy from the workout, so I ended up leading the pack until Carlos went up to me. I told him to kick my ass and he did.

F/1    7    7.3mi 52:56 (7:15) woods w/team (big group at first), then it came down to four of us. left lateral shin muscle had a slight pain. Late PM 4 mile walk through the streets of Lowell with some friends helped the muscle loosen. We were bored.

S/2    3    ~3 19:46 riverwalk. found out I had to be at the track a lot earlier than I originally planned, and only went 3. Walking around, standing up, helping move stuff, etc. at NE10 meet at UML.

S/3    0    off, decided to rest for the upcoming week.

Week Total= 40 miles

M/20 8 miles
7.88mi 1:06:19 (8:24) webster loop rt12/oldwebsterrd/mainst. meant to go 7 but missed a turn. shins hurt a little the whole way.

T/21 10 miles
1:15:04 (7:30) woods w/guys. Was a tempo run for 35 minutes, then (as rain began to absolutely pour) I had to hammer just to stay with the guys. I hit a wall with 2 miles left, and forcing the pace, was able only to jog in the run. I got owned.

W/22 5 miles
56:10 woods. exhausted. i had nothing to put in. my legs weren't tired, nothing hurt, but my body just wouldn't go.

T/23 off; rested hoping to get something back.

F/24 8 miles
1:13:44 (9?) webster loop+sarahtrails. Not sure of the exact distance since I went in the woods. It seemed faster than the pace listed for 8 miles, so it was probably a little more than 8.

S/25 11 miles
1:29:07 (8:06) to oxford church st woods loop. probably started too fast. was very hot the whole way and i was really craving water the last 7 miles. it was HOT, and I put in a hard effort.

S/26 2 miles
15:30 (7:45) slater st. planned on taking the day off earlier in the day but once the evening came I thought I could get in an easy run. after yesterday's run, I couldn't do much and decided to just do an easy 2 miles. left lower hamstrings felt really tight after this.

Week Total= 44 miles

1 day off, 4 easy days, 2 ass-kickings.

44 isn't the type of mileage I want to be doing but at this point I feel that the workouts I'm doing are more important than the mileage. Sure, I could go 8:00 pace and log 60, 70 miles. However, I'm trying to do the runs with the team, well, WITH THE TEAM. So if I go all out on Tuesday and can only manage 5 miles over the next 2 days, so be it, I'm getting a hell of a workout.

I hope to get at least 50 miles this upcoming week, as well as 2 good runs in, and hopefully just 1 day off, if that's even necessary.

I woke up Monday morning and did a 4 mile jog. Then, I did my first run under the discretion of Coach Gary Gardner. My rather impersonal schedule (Gary what am I doing today; "Whatever the team's doing") called for 10 miles. Had I not gone 13 the day before and had I given one shit as to how difficult this training would be, I might have been worried when he said that. However, when one approaches a destination for an extended time, the arduous feelings of the difficult journey tend to subside upon arrival; I didn't care if Gary killed me.

Later in the week I asked Gary if I should continue doing my morning runs, and he told me I shouldn't do them for now, especially if I was exceeding my normal weekly mileage (which, going 50 miles over 4 days, compared to my usual 60 over 6 days, I significantly was.) Now those 4 days were the bulk of a span of 80 miles over 7 days, the highest mileage week of my life, going from last Wednesday to this Tuesday.

M/13    14   
AM 4mi 42:51 (10:43) shakeout on riverpath       
PM 10.2mi 1:21:20 (8:08) woods w/Carlos

T/14    11   
AM 3mi 36:42 (12:14) shahakeout on riverpath. slow; tired from last several days.   
PM 8mi 1:03:15 (7:55) rourke+path

W/15    6   
PM 6mi 62:03 (10:20) easy in woods. solo. shins hurt. decided to cut short run and save the legs for the rest of the week.

T/16    8   
PM 8mi 52:16 (6:32) medium in woods w/Carlos. shins hurt a little. biofreeze after. Posted a blog about this day earlier.

F/17    0    shins dead.

S/18    0 ^

S/19    5       PM 5mi 42:48 (8:33) easy on Webster Main St.

Week Total= 44 miles.

That week total looks quite pathetic and usually I'd be disgusted with it but in reality, as I mentioned in my post prior to this one, I have made a major breakthrough and losing mileage in order to keep my shins working is a sacrifice I will readily make right now. I do not want the chronic problem I had in high school to return. Hopefully I can get a good M-S mileage for the upcoming week and continue to get in quality runs like the one I did on Thursday, without doing harm to my shins. Good luck Ryan and Kara!

The fastest training run pace I've ever done at any distance, 2 miles or more, was done today, on an 8 mile run. 52:16, 6:32 pace. My fastest pace had been 6:34 for a 3 mile run. I ran faster today, on a run that was more than twice as far. Now either this woods 8 is not a full 8, or my body just told me that all the work I've been doing for the past several months has finally come around to something.

Looking at my running log, I see a 12 mile September, an October spent trying to get some fitness back after spending a summer dealing with the worst injury of my life. This leads into a November in which I got to running consistently throughout the week. December and January were the coldest months of my life. I remember each and every run being a battle not only to adjust to running twice a day, and get past the 30-40mpw stage, but a battle against freezing temperatures, asshole-wind, and snow. I ran 48 times in January. I continued my double schedule all the way through February, feeling the weather warm a little while I reached 60 miles in a week for the first time in my life. In March I ran the best race of my life, which proved that I was in better shape than I'd ever been yet still not in the shape I want to be.

Last Friday was one of the greatest days in my life to this point. It was the day Coach Gary Gardner told me I could start coming to track practice with the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks, something I've been aiming towards for much more than a year. One part of my dream has come true; I am here with the team. The next step is getting the White and Red uniform, and finally, racing in it. That part I aim at doing in the fall cross country season.

Over the past week I've done some of the best training of my life. There have been relatively fast regular runs, but I've also done a 24x200 workout, a 12.5mi long run, and 14 miles in one day. I had done 80 miles from last Wednesday to this past Tuesday. Yesterday I was humbled to a 6 mile jog, hoping that I might just be able to continue until Sunday, when I can take a day off for the first time in 12 days.

Coach Gary told me it would be best for me to stop doing morning runs for now. This was good news to me, as I am now able to get sleep and also space my runs, allowing me to put more into each, and likely, lower injury risk.

Today I went for 8 miles with Carlos. Throughout the run I felt that the pace was nice. Fast, but not hard. I felt comfortable. When we got out of the woods, we picked it up to come back home with a good mile and a half. I knew we were going pretty good, and I felt absolutely amazing. When I glanced at my watch after the finish, I knew we had got some good time in. Then when I started to calculate it, I determined that 52 minutes meant 6-something pace. Shortly after I thanked the good Lord for giving me the ability to come as far as I have to this point. I am proud of this breakthrough but I am much more eager to cause another one.

M/6 0 PM floor hockey 40mins. complete bullshit.

T/7 6  PM 5mi 37:59 (7:36) tempo on riverpath. +[0.5/0.5 wu/cd]

W/8 10 total
AM 4mi 31:57 (7:59) aerobic on riverpath +[0.5/0.5 wu/cd]
PM 4mi 28:34 (7:08) aerobic on emery. +[0.5/0.5 wu/cd] good

T/9 11 total
AM 3mi 35:35 (11:51) shakeout on riverpath. wow.
PM 8t; 24x200{200} w/[1/1 wu/cd] more comfortable from 8th to 18th, hurt towards end. very tired after. 40, 38, 37, 38, 38, 38, 38, 36, 37, 36, 38, 38, 37, 37, 37, 36, 37, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 39, 36.
I did a blog entry on this run earlier in the week.

F/10 10 total
AM 3mi 23:55 (7:59) aerobic on riverpath +[0.5/0.5 wu/cd]
PM 5mi 37:30 (7:50) aerobic on emery. +[0.5wu]

S/11 11 total
AM 4mi 44:25 (11:06) shakeout Webster Rt12.
PM 5mi progression +[1/1 wu/cd] Oxford Rt12.
38:24 (7:41 overall)= 17:23 (8:42), 14:51 (7:25), 6:09. cold driving rain, strong headwind out.
I did a blog entry on this run earlier in the week.

S/12 13.5 total
AM +[0.5/0.5 wu/cd] 12.5mi 1:46:01 (8:28).
I went into Oxford, into the woods, misjudged where I was supposed to exit, and added on a mile and a half to my long run. This was my highest single day total and longest single run.

Week Total= 62 miles, my highest total ever. This was a great week; started with 3 good runs, included the most intervals I've ever done, another couple good runs, a progression run in a rainstorm, and my longest run ever. In addition, on Friday Coach Gary Gardner told me I could start practicing with the team this upcoming week, so I'll see how that goes.

So I did my easy morning 4 in cloudy, somewhat cold weather. When I went out for my PM progression run, it was raining. I did my 1 mile warmup, stretched, and went back outside to do the run. It was raining harder. About 250m into the run I felt that I should've gone back and got a hat, but I figured (like I--unfortunately--often do), "what the hell, I don't need it". I was wrong.

A strong headwind challenged me to a battle the first 2.5 miles. It was 38 degrees when I walked out the door, but I had cold heavy rain falling down, and being blown into my face. I was doing alright except for my head. My ears were quite cold, and my eyes were freezing. I was keeping them close to shut as well, for the cold rain kept hitting me in the face.

The plan for the workout was to give a pretty good effort for 2 miles, then pick that up to tempo for the next 2 miles, then come in hard the last mile. My splits were 17:23 (8:42), 14:51 (7:25), 6:09. The 8:42 pace was NOT 8:42 effort. This was done head on against wind and rain. Now this also means that I had a good tailwind on the way back, which definitely helped out the paces I ran. I was also soaked in a sweater that is heavy when it's dry. My sock also slipped down, causing the back of my foot to bleed and got a blister.

I'm not greatly satisfied with the times, but I am happy to have run in this rain storm because of the conditions.

Moxie isn't doing much for me right now. I'm tired. I did 24 (twenty-four) 200m repeats today with 200 rest jog in between. I am lacking speed, so this workout is a high priority for me right now. I didn't start feeling comfortable until maybe the 5th or 6th rep. I ran 38's quite consistently, with a few dropping below. At halfway through I started to drop to 37's as I got comfortable, but once I hit the last 6 reps I was slowing down. Pushed real hard on the last one and did not have much left after it.

Here are the splits.
40, 38, 37, 38, 38, 38, 38, 36, 37, 36, 38, 38, 37, 37, 37, 36, 37, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 39, 36.

That's 24 200's (3 miles worth of running), at 5:01 pace. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I do know that it was a good workout and I'm happy with how it went. This is the type of effort I need to be putting into workouts in order to keep moving forward, which is why I am satisfied with today.

M/30    0                                Late PM floor hockey 40 minutes; took the day off to rest for floor hockey playoff game, which was a beautiful 1-0 win. Now about this, I do not believe the floor hockey makes up for the day off, but I do believe this is my last floor hockey season ever, so I am willing to take some rest to see if it can end well.

T/31    10    AM 5mi 53:21 (10:40) shakeout on riverpath        PM 5mi 47:30 (9:30) shakeout on riverpath
everything felt fine except for my shins, which were feeling strange. not hurting or anything of the like, they just didn't feel right.

W/1    6    AM 4mi 35:57 (8:59) easy on riverpath            PM 2mi shin splints.
shins were definitely hurting on the AM run, and I didn't feel good going out for the 2nd. I decided to take rest time for the shins, because I know how bad they can get. Rest is what works for them, and I believe I'm better off taking a few days (or an entire week) off to heal the shins, than to keep running through them and create another chronic problem like I had in high school.

T/2    0    off for shins
F/3    0  
S/4    0
S/5    0                                PM hockey shootaround 60mins; gave our goalie some practice.

Week Total; a whopping 16 miles. 5 days off, I got back to it the following week.

M/23    5                             
PM 5mi 52:51 (10:34) shakeout on riverpath.

T/24    11 total   
AM 3mi 30:59 (10:20) shakeout on riverpath.       
PM 3xMi{Mi rest} medium Tempo intervals [1mi warmup, 1mi cooldown]. On the riverpath. Last one was a far better effort than the first two but I went in the opposite direction and had a strong headwind.
       [8:54 1mi warmup]. {10:28} 6:17, {10:30} 6:13, {9:58} 6:22. [9:40 cooldown]

W/25    10 total
AM 3mi 23:34 (7:51) aeroobic run on riverpath. [0.5/0.5 warmup and cooldown]   
PM 5mi 37:50 (7:34) aerobic run on Emery. [0.5/0.5 warmup and cooldown]   
XT 90mins street hockey after dinner

T/26    11 total
AM 3mi 34:09 (11:03) shakeout on riverpath. legs really sore from the two runs + hockey   
PM 8total 12x400{400} [1 mile warmup, half mile cooldown, half mile jog to the bathroom and back in the middle of the workout]
  1:26 {2:38}, 1:34 {2:43}, 1:33 {2:44}, 1:27 {2:37}, 1:29 {2:43}, 1:37 {2:28}. pee. avgeraged 1:31
  1:34 {2:25}, 1:28 {2:37}, 1:25 {2:24}, 1:22 {2:08}, 1:17 {2:08}, 1:21 {2:27}. averaged 1:24
This was an easy workout. I was hurting from the hockey game. I was hurting a ton after this though.

F/27    10 total   
AM 4mi 39:33 (9:53) run on riverpath [0.5/0.5 warmup and cooldown]. was supposed to be aerobic but legs were dead.
PM 4mi 30:19 (7:35) aerobic run on Emery. [0.5/0.5 warmup and cooldown]. legs recovered a lot since the morning.

S/28    11 total
AM 4mi 41:34 (10:23) shakeout on riverpath       
PM 5mi 38:47 (7:30) slow tempo run on Rourke Loop [1/1 warmup and cooldown] Was supposed to be a tempo run but I didn't have much for it. Knee started hurting towards the end. Really hurt once I got up after sitting down at dinner. Hurt to take a long walking stride or a short jogging stride, running wasn't possible.

S/29    0    I hoped the knee would heal and allow me to finish off the week, which was scheduled to end with an 11 mile run, but the knee wasn't good enough.

Week Total= 58 miles

The week went exactly according to schedule (plus a long hockey game added into it), until Saturday evening when I felt the knee pain. I'm still happy with the week, I was able to go from running a 60mi week that was basically just mileage runs and whatnot without specific paces outlined, to this schedule, that has various components to it; long intervals, short intervals, aerobic runs, shakeouts, tempo runs, long runs. In addition, once my body gets used to this type of training and I can do it week after week, I will be changing the lengths of the intervals, adding in hills, doing progressions and kenyans alternating with the tempo, all of which will help attack every aspect of my fitness as a runner.

M/16    4 total   
PM 4mi 39:28 (9:52). One mile out, one mile back, stretching, one mile out, one mile back, stretching. Calves still very sore from race.

T/17    10 total   
AM 4mi 38:46 (9:41) w/0.5mi wu.     on Rt20   
PM 5mi 47:24 (9:29) w/0.5u. on Rt16.
Calves sore, not working too well.

W/18    6 total   
AM 5mi 43:37 (8:43) w/0.5mi wu/cd. on Rt20 w/Dad. Calves not making much improvement.

T/19 to S/22    Decided to take the rest of the week completely off for rest.

Week Totals= 20 miles [18 timed in 169:15 (9:24)]

Okay my calves had never hurt so bad. Every morning when I got out of bed, I had to yell out in pain along with it. My calves were so tight and easy to cramp following the race, I knew it would be best to just take the rest of the week off, and let my body recover some before I go back into base training.

M/9    6 total
PM 5mi on treadmill 43:33 (8:43). 0.5 wu/cd. felt real easy, good.

T/10    10 total
AM 3mi 29:11 (9:44). on riverpath easy.       
PM 7t/65:37; 2mi/18:37 warmup, 5x800 (800).
      splits= 3:20 (5:54), 3:34 (5:45), 3:32 (6:02), 3:20 (6:05), 3:22 (6:01).
My first intervals since the injury. My first time landing on my midfoot since the injury. This was also done on a snow-covered track. I thought the track would've cleared up a bit after I did my warmup on it, but it did not get much better at all. Splits were really slow and this workout was tough. Did not feel confident after this at all.

W/11    0    Lower leg hurt, stomach hurt, had a headache. Didn't think I'd be able to do a workout the next day if I had gone through with running this day.

T/12    3.5 total
PM 1mi warmup (7:57), 4x400(400). 75 (2:34), 85 (2:50), 83 (2:51), 79 (2:42). 4:42 cooldown.
Planned on doing something a lot less pathetic than this but I knew my body would not feel well on Saturday if I went any harder than this.

F/13      3 total
PM 2mi easy 14:48 (7:24) Webster-Slater st. + 4x~180 strides.
Spring break started, this was my first run from my Dad's new apartment. Surprisingly, this easy 2mi was really easy and relatively fast. Those two weak interval workouts I did were huge. I felt a load more confident for the race following this easy two and strides.

S/14    8.5 total
1PM. Oxford 4mi Road Race 23:43 (5:55)  1st. PR. Perfect Weather, good race, great day. 1mi wu, 0.5mi drills, 0.5mi strides. 0.5 cd. Details in blog.
5PM 2mi easy 17:20 (8:25) w/Neil

S/15    0    off/Sunday. Got out of bed and fell right back down! Calves were wrecked after racing on my midfoot. Poor gastrocnemious had not undergone any level of stress whatsoever close to what I put it through in the race.

    Weeks Totals= 31 miles

I was really nervous and not confident at all with the workouts going into the race, but Friday's stuff turned that around completely. I had a wonderful experience in my first race in 11 months.

Link to Results

My first race in 11 months ended a few hours ago. I must say, I am not at all disappointed. I was very worried with how the race would go after how my workouts went this previous week. Although yesterday, when I did an easy two miles and strides, there was a huge change. I felt great, went fast, and it was easy. I felt much more confident going into the race because of this.

I did a mile warmup followed by another mile of drills and strides, stretched, did a half mile more strides, and then toed the starting line.

With my third place finish last year, I knew I would be a contender this year. I had no idea what time to go for or expect. I started out leading the pack, not quite knowing who was around me or how fast they were. One older guy and a younger guy came with me and we separated ourselves from everyone else. As we approached the turnaround point on this road I learned neither of them had run the race before, as they did not turn around. I told them to turn and we awkwardly crossed around the cone.

On the way down the hill I made sure I didn't go hard, keeping short strides and just staying with the pack. I stayed right behind the two, who were running side by side, through the flat section of the course. Around the halfway point/2mi, I wanted to increase the pace a bit. Strangely enough I also hit a fast downhill and this little kick was huge! I put enough space between use that I couldn't hear them.

I followed the police car for the first time in my life, a wonderful feeling. I remember last year I said after that I would have been done good going faster in this section, so I did. I started to hear footsteps with 1.25 left, picked it up. but the older guy passed me as we turned on the final road with less than a mile to go.

Knowing from the turnaround thing earlier in the race, I knew that this guy had never run the course before and had no idea what the hill was going to do to him. I did. I pushed to keep him close all the way up this badass hill. I'm not going to lie though, there were thoughts going through my head such as "You ran well, 2nd is better than the 3rd you did last year..." but as I approached the crest of the hill, the other side of me started saying "Show God why you run, grow a pair, and kick." I did as we neared the top of the hill, with everything. I passed him before the road started going downhill for the last quarter mile, and at this point I gave every single piece of energy I had left to the race. If I was going to lose, this guy was going to beat me at my best.

With about 150m left I was completely anaerobic, everything hurting, embarrasing grunting noises coming out, getting gradually louder and more frightening as I neared the line, but I kept pushing. I think seeing a video of this finish would be quite entertaining as I probably looked horrible. I'm at my ugliest when I'm doing the most beautiful thing in the world.

As I crossed the finish line, the relief poured out. I had not blown the race. I had not hurt myself. I had not let myself down. I had won, took a minute off my time from last year, and made myself quite happy.

23:43 for 4 miles. The course is indeed a complete four miles, so the pace of 5:55 is accurate. Might I add, the pace, is also a great sight to see. When I think about this pace compared to where I should be at if I want to be a member of my University's teams, it is quite slow. However, when I simply look at what I have done in the last year, a period including a stress fracture and 10 months of recovering to get back to where I had been at the time of injury, I feel I have a significant accomplishment under me. I took 15 seconds/mile off my pace in 12 months, 10 of which were a detour due to injury (see Year 2008 review for explanation).

I'm well satisfied with this race. I will race the Central Mass. Striders 5km next Saturday.

M/2 11 total
AM 5mi 54:53 (10:58) emery. snowstorm; bad footing.
PM 6mi 57:33 (9:35) emery. still snowing, footing a lot better.

T/3 0
AM got up to run, stretched out, was ready to head out door but had a really bad feeling regarding the pain in my lower shins.
PM Pool 400m swimming, 400m kicking w/ torso on a floating board.

W/4 10 total
AM 5mi 48:29 (9:42) emery.
PM 5mi 44:23 (8:53) emery. both done easy

T/5 3 total
AM 3mi 30:33 (10:11) emery. Was going 3 so I could get a good workout and play well in the floor hockey game, but my legs felt dead anyway.
Late PM floor hockey. played all but about 5 minutes of the 45 minute game, hard. we finished the season 0-3, but I broke a stick and got a bloody head in the process, so I'd say it wasn't a bad season.

F/6 6 total
PM 6t; 5mi 44:37 (8:55) emery. w/0.5mi warmup+cooldown. felt okay.

S/7 11 total
PM 11t; 10mi 1:28:02 (8:48) emery+riverpath routes combined. w/wu+cd. Amazing weather, wore shorts! Tired towards the end of this one.

This was a great day altogether; The best weather I've had in a while, the longest run I've ever done, saw our hockey team win 6-0 in their last home game this season, won a raffle to get my friend's stick, who is a player. (OK I bought 5 tickets and put them in the bucket that had 2 other tickets but it was still a raffle. I could've lost). Anyway, my buddy was wondering who the hell would want his stick, but it was obviously going to be a fellow Philadelphia Flyers fan. After that I skated for the first time, and may I say (contrary to Dan), that I did quite well (ask Sarah!), despite my right skate being horrible. (There are marks on my right ankle from skin coming off and my left ankle is fine, there was definitely something wrong with the skates). Really.

S/8 0 Off, Sunday

Week Totals= 41 miles [40 timed in 6:08:30 (9:12)]

With a race coming on Saturday the 14th, I decided it would be fine to go easy this week. I was tired in the beginning of the week (very likely due to the 60mi I ran last week), but I got better later in the week and feel good now. This week will have a couple workouts to try to get some level of speed into my legs for the 4 mile I'm racing, seeing as I've done absolutely nothing but base work for months.

M/23 11 total
AM 5mi 47:16 (9:27) on riverpath. slow + icy on the path. fell once.
PM 6mi 51:59 (8:40) new rourke bridge loop. easy effort. got beeped at 5 times and almost got hit once or twice, but otherwise i love the new route.

T/24 12 total
AM 6mi 53:38 (8:56) on riverpath
PM 6mi 49:10 (8:11) emery. felt easy.

W/25 9 total
AM 4mi 29:13 (7:18) on riverpath. Fire alarm went off at 12:40 the night before because some dumbass lit a trash can on fire. We got back into the building at 3. I chose to sleep as late as I could and got in the 4 between my first two classes, still had to hurry a lot w/everything.
PM 5mi 50:54 (10:11) emery. Tired; hurrying the first run hurt this one.

T/26 8 total
AM 4mi 40:29 (10:07) on riverpath. took it easy; tired+ hockey game later.
PM 4 total; 3mi 29:13 (9:44) on treadmill with 0.5wu/cd on track. easy, did for stretching and whatnot.
Late PM: floor hockey 20mins. took an elbow to the head and a few BS penalty calls in the 1-goal loss. The battle wound is pretty good looking though.

F/27 10 total
AM 4mi 33:14 (8:18) on riverpath. did between my two classes. would've gone more had I known I was going the pace I was. It felt real easy, not the way that pace has felt lately. But it was warm and I was able to wear just a long sleeve shirt and shorts, beautiful.
PM 6mi 54:51 (9:08) emery. I went right back out after my 2nd class, which means I gave myself only 3 hours between runs. Not smart, but the weather was irresistable.

S/28 10 total
AM 6mi 51:47 (8:18) rourke loop. Felt great.
PM 4mi 28:19 (7:05) on riverpath. Did not wear enough clothing. Got a lot colder than it was earlier in the day, and I hurried the run to warm myself and also get back inside my dorm.

S/29 0; Sunday, off.

Week Totals= 60 miles. The 59 miles that were timed were done in 8:40:03 (8:48 pace).

Overall I am very satisfied with this week. Most of the runs went faster and easier than I had expected. I recovered a lot better from the floor hockey game than I did last time (; when it made me sick). Weather has been better lately, and I really like this new route I'm using. It's a 6 mile loop, which I enjoy much better than the out and back courses I've been running. I feel I run better when I'm actually going somewhere than when I'm running out somewhere just so I can run back once I get there.

As for the 60 miles, it was the most I've ever run. The previous high was 55, which was the last week of March 2008. That was done in 7 days of running, with 8 runs. This week was 6 days of running, 12 runs. And of those 55 miles, 23 were either warmup, cooldown, or shakeout miles. Of this 60, one mile is from warmup and cooldown. Also, these 23 miles were done at much slower paces than I have run this week. So this is undoubtedly the best week of training I've ever had. Not only does the amount of quality miles exceed anything I had done up to this point, my average pace for the week was 8:48, which is faster than the overall pace any week that was not a recovery week, since I started this build-up in December. Needless to say, things are really looking up.

The best part for me is that I don't feel that I'm very worn out from this. I feel that I could go out for another 10 miles tommorow and I wouldn't be any more tired than I am right now, which isn't all that tired anyway. The only effect of the week I feel is the soreness in my leg muscles and a little bit of overall tiredness, but not quite what I'd expect from a week such as the one I just ran (highest volume, fastest overall pace).

This was an excellent week, and I hope to build onto this next week with more miles, hopefully without slowing down or getting tired. Then the following week I will probably not add miles, but rather prepare me for the Oxford 4 mile race on March 14th. Yes, I am taking a small detour from my main goal in order to race again, to 1). Do my favorite thing, and 2). See what condition my body is in. I feel that I am improving very much, but I cannot accurately evaluate myself based on mileage totals and paces; I need to race.

M/16 off; sick
T/17 off; sick
W/18 one run; PM 5mi 47:34 (9:35) riverpath. felt slow, hard and awkward.
T/19 9 total
AM 4mi 38:14 (9:33) on riverpath; easy.
PM 5mi 41:24 (8:17) emery. felt good. stopped and waited 15 seconds for a set of lights to change so I could cross the highway. +Calves workouts after.
F/20 11 total
AM 5mi 44:51 (8:58) on riverpath. not bad.
PM 6mi; 5mi 44:30 (8:54) on treadmill 0.5 warm up, 0.5 cooldown +Ab isometrics after.
S/21 10 total
AM 5mi 41:43 (8:21) on riverpath. felt good; fastest morning 5mi ever. +Back workouts after.
PM 5mi 36:53 (7:25) on emery/skyline route; felt grand! fastest training 5mi ever.
S/22 0, off for Sunday

Week Totals= 35 miles altogether. Timed: 34mi, 4:55:09 (8:40 pace).

This week started off on a down note due to picking up a sickness last week and a lot of fatigue. Felt good getting back to running, and those two Saturday 5 milers were great! They aren't quite spectacular times, but compared to the paces I usually run my training runs at, they're pretty good. More importantly, on those two runs, I felt great. I didn't feel that I was pushing all that much, I felt that it just got easier to run at that pace. Hopefully I will be able to continue feeling this ease as I aim towards the highest mileage weeks I've ever run in my life.

M/9. 11 total
AM 3mi 26:03 (8:41)
PM 8mi 70:55 (8:51). Ran into Carlos and picked up an extra 4 miles. +Calf exercises after.
T/10. 8 total
AM 3mi 27:43 (9:14)
PM 5mi 41:36 (8:19) +Back exercises
W/11. 9 total
AM 3mi 27:15 (9:05)
PM 6mi 50:32 (8:25) really nice at start, wore shorts and tshirt got cold toward end+Ab exercises.
T/12. 6 total
AM 3mi 27:18 (9:06)
PM 3mi 28:33 (9:31) on treadmill
Late PM floor hockey 40mins. A lot of work and a lot of making fun of the other team, scored a goal but lost.
F/13. 9 total
AM 4mi 38:53 (9:43) on riverpath
PM 5mi 57:55 (11:35) on riverpath. really tired.
S/14. 11 total
AM 6mi 76:45 (12:47) on riverpath
PM 5mi 52:50 (10:35) on riverpath. really sick.
S/15. 0 day off. sick, laying down all day
Week Total: 54 miles 8:46:17 (9:44)

Week started out good with the 8mi with Carlos and doing exercises after the runs M-W. It got a lot colder over the time it took me to run the 6mi on wednesday and I was cold toward the end. That, along with working really hard thursday got me sick/tired. Felt awful on last 2 days, but got the mileage done. Only problem is I'm clearly not in good shape for getting back to training tommorow, and I don't know what I'm going to do. However, the good news is that 54 miles is the 2nd most I've ever done in a week, since I ran 55 last March, which was over 7 days and less runs, and slower. I feel this is the hardest week of training I've done in my life. Hopefully my body recovers and allows me to keep training.

M/26 6 total
AM 2.5mi 24:58 (10:00). Had some when the route I planned on taking was covered in snow.  
PM 3.5mi 31:31 (9:00).
T/27 9 total
AM 4mi 37:25 (9:36)   PM 5mi 42:12 (8:26)
W/28 9.5 total 
AM 5mi 53:29 (10:42) snowstorm. bad footing + getting hit in the face with snow.
PM 4.5mi warmup, treadmill 2mi 16:02 (8:01), had to pee, 2mi 13:22 (6:46). total 4mi 29:24 (7:21) skipped cooldown so I would have enough time to get over to the dining hall before it closed.
T/29 7.5 total 
AM 3.5mi 36:00 (~10:20) lots of waiting PM 4mi 33:44 (8:26)
F/30 8 total 
AM 4mi 32:15 (8:04)   PM 4mi 31:53 (7:58) treadmill
S/31 11 total 
AM 5mi 43:05 (8:31)   
PM 6mi 51:59 (8:40) late, dark. Was being careful with footing, could've gone faster otherwise.
S/1 0, day off.

Week Totals 51 miles in 7:27:55 (8:52 overall pace)

M/2 6 total 
AM 2.06mi 18:48 (9:07) easy  
PM 4mi gym track real easy. no time, legs felt awful
T/3 off for legs
W/4 5 total. PM gym track.4mi 25/26mins {used wall clock} 6:15-6:30 pace. 0.5mi wu/cd
Hoped to run on treadmill but gym was busy. Didn't bring a watch because of plans for treadmill, so I looked at the clock on the wall of the track area and started at exactly 5:17. I finished the 4mi at 5:42:??, which makes the run between 25 to 26 minutes, 6:15 to 6:30 pace. Probably way too fast but it was pleasant to know that I can now do a tempo run at my race pace from last March.
T/5 6mi treadmill 51:25 (8:34). Noticed in mirror that my stride was awkward at pushoff for my left foot, tried fixing that.
F/6 2mi 15:54 (7:57). Leg wasn't good, stride felt awkward.
S/7 off
S/8 off

Week Total  19 miles.

My first week back was likely too fast. I couldn't do the mileage I wanted for my easy week (19 of 34 miles). My problem is with the awkward way my left foot pushes off. It goes towards the side.. Don't know what's causing it but I do know it isn't right. This upcoming week I'll be sure to go slower and focus on my form. I also have to get back to doing ab workouts and preventive stuff. All this should help to stop the problem from getting worse.

Recap

I have made somewhat significant progress in my training since the last post. Five weeks have passed and the mileage increases are going as scheduled. I will post the log but will not comment on every day. I will note, however, that the last week of year was split running at Lowell, then South Grafton, and the rest of the runs take place in Milford. Also, a few days I found notable;

12/22/08. 7 miles at the gym; Half mile warmup and cooldown, 6 miles on the treadmill in 41:37, 6:57 pace. Last mile I increased the pace 1mph every 0.1mi, finishing at 5:58 pace or so (I must've looked pretty scary there, I didn't realize how much I was sweating). This was a tough run and I honestly was having thoughts of stopping less than 2mi in... 4mi in I was really wanting to stop, but I kept focused and reminding myself that in order to reach the goal I am chasing I cannot allow myself to become the type of person who quits when it gets hard.

12/31/08. Last run of the year in pretty good snowstorm. Couldn't keep my eyes open. Heavy snow and consistent wind had me blinking through the whole run; my visual memories of the run aren't too vivid.

1/1/08. First and second runs of the year. Sure, got to bed sometime around 2 and woke up in no condition to run but went right out the door without question. I had two runs on the schedule, I had to do them both.

1/2/08. Longest run since Spring '07. About 8.25mi in 74:22.

1/17/08. Last day of the week, slow morning run, out at Guitar Center/Kelly's Roast Beef/Natick Mall from 3 to 8:30. No choice but to run in the dark at 9PM. I felt great the whole way and finished with an overall 8:01 pace, not spectacular, but good to me since it was the last run of the week, the point at which I should be my most tired, and 8:01 was the 2nd fastest pace for any run that week.

Other than that the runs were pretty average, the usual oddities to each but nothing too far out of the ordinary daily runs.

Day by Day Log

M/22 7 6mi 41:37 (6:56) treadmill +0.5wu'cd +Seagull
T/23 9 AM 3mi gym  PM 6mi 57:10 (9:32e) emery snowroads/slow. +Back.
W/24 4 40:31 grafton!
T/25 7 AM 42:24 4mi.  PM 3mi 27:09 +Seagull.
F/26 7 59:49 (31:45out/28:04back)
S/27 5 AM 3mi 33:55 slow PM 2mi 18:41
S/28 0
 =WT= 39mi

M/29 8 71:28 (8:56) last run at Grafton
T/30 9 AM 48:04 ~5mi  PM 30:06 <4mi
W/31 4 38:53 (~10) snowstorm
T/1 7 AM 4mi 42:11 (10:33) PM 3mi 26:42 (8:54)
F/2 8 >8mi 74:22
S/3 6 AM 3mi 31:53 (10:38) PM 3mi 22:29 (7:30)
S/4 0
 =WT= 42mi 6:26:08 (9:11)

M/5 3 24:39 (8:13)
T/6 7 AM 4mi 35:25 (8:51) PM 3mi 25:16 (8:25) +Back
W/7 3 25:56 (8:35) cold rain
T/8 5 45:28 (9:06) into hopedale +Seagull
F/9 5 AM 20:24 2mi +Back PM 3mi 19:56 (6:39)
S/10 5 AM 21:47 3mi (7:16) PM 2mi 15:10 (7:35)
S/11 0 
 =WT= 28mi  3:54:01 (8:21)

M/12 7 63:09 ~7.15mi (8:49) +Seagull
T/13 8 AM 30:21 <3mi no energy PM 5mi 45:26 (9:05) felt good
W/14 4 37:13 (9:18)
T/15 8 AM 4mi 33:12 (8:18)  PM 4mi 31:14 (7:49)
F/16 8 AM 4mi 34:03 (8:30)  PM 4mi 35:50 (8:58)
S/17 10 AM 5mi 46:39 (9:20)  9PM 5mi 40:05 (8:01)
S/18 0
 =WT= 45mi 6:37:12 (8:49)

M/19 6 AM 3mi 33:23 (11:07)  PM 3mi 28:09 (9:23)
T/20 8 AM 4mi 41:16 (10:09)  PM 4mi 31:28 (7:52)
W/21 10 AM 5mi 53:30 (10:42)  PM 5mi 49:13 (9:51)
T/22 6 AM 3.3mi 34:50 (10:33)  PM 2.75mi 27:39 (10:03)
F/23 8 AM 4mi 46:42 (11:40)  PM 4mi 42:22 (10:35)
S/24 10 AM 5mi 52:04 (10:25)  PM 5mi 43:48 (8:42)
S/25 0
 =WT= 48mi 8:04:24 (10:05)

When I began writing this log in January 2008, I had also begun my efforts towards becoming a member of the UMass-Lowell Cross Country team. A year has passed, and I am still working towards this goal. With this year review post, I hope to gain an overall feeling towards the year. Before I look back, I can recall simply that I was building my mileage, got a fracture, took horrible care of my leg, continued to make stupid decisions until finally getting back to the type of training that will move me forward.

January
I began by adding on mileage while also doing interval workouts as my indoor season came towards an end. My body came around for racing in this month as I PR'd in every meet, the times being a 5:33 mile, 3:18 1k, 12:11 2 mile, another 3:18 1k (along with another 5:33 mi, which was 0.3 seconds slower than my PR), and then in the league meet, I pr'd by 4 seconds in the mile (5:29) and 800 (2:32 split).

February
Training calmed down as districts on 2/9 marked my last HS indoor season. I PR'd in the 1000 by 4 seconds (3:14.52). One week off, then I began my heavy mileage increases by starting my first week back with 32 miles, 7 more than my previous high. The next week I went to 36mi, finishing off the month.

March
Started the month by going too hard on a tempo run and having to take an unscheduled day off. The next week included some intervals, and finished with a 4mi race in Oxford. I finished 3rd in 24:45 (6:12). However, I do believe the course is short, 3.9mi, meaning this was 6:20 pace. The next week was a beast for mileage, 50, followed by 55mi the next week. I found a nice set of trails behind my house during these weeks, which I continued to use throughout the summer.

April
My body began to break down at the beginning of the month. Not a surprise since I was running every day, running the highest mileage of my life, and then had to spend hours of energy at musical rehearsals, lose sleep for those, and also ride my bike in cold weather to and from rehearsals and performances. I was working my body hard, and my body took it, but not for long. I was sick the second week, and very tired. I had to take my first day off in a month. I believe I did my first two-a-day in April. I think where I really brought my body down was a Sunday in which I ran twice and rode a bike once. Three workouts, then my first meet a few days later (2mi and 1mi). I PR'd in the 2 and missed a mile PR by 2 seconds, which I felt was tremendous. Weird feeling in lower leg, I decreased my training, same events the next week, became unable to walk, and finally ended my season with a 1 mile race in which I heavily taped my leg and limped the last 600m, running a 5:38.

May
As I headed toward my 18th birthday, I also headed toward an awful summer. From 4/19 to 5/18 I ran three times; two meets, and then on 5/18, 30 easy minutes. The following week I ran 9 miles. Leg kept hurting every few days as the month ended.

June
Took a week and a half off before seeing a doctor. Started wearing a boot in the middle of the month.

July
Was cleared to take off my boot in the middle of the month, began running July 21st. Trained aggressively coming back, but the running felt good.

August
First half of the month were weeks of light mileage 10-15mi, getting faster and pushed too hard. Did a hard tempo with Neil, my track buddy, at 6:34 pace, and that finished me for the next week. Fibula didn't feel good for the rest of the month.

September
Got in 10 miles the first week, thought I was back to running, but the leg wasn't ready. I then got sick for more than a week.

October
During this month I was doing light mileage and letting my legs adjust back to running after that month of sitting down midsummer, followed by pushing it way too hard toward the end of the summer. Got sick again towards the end of the month.

November
Kept doing my light mileage (10mi/week), kept becoming more used to running. Then I did one of the most important runs of this intermediate stage; the one with Nate Jenkins. After this 5mi run, which was basically half the mileage total of my weeks until this day, I became more confident in my ability in increase my mileage and speed. That week I ran 20 miles, the most since my injury. Averaged 20mpw the rest of the month, which was regular running and a big step towards the type of training I am doing now.

December
Started off with a 33 mile week, was tired the following week, only went 15 miles and had tired lower legs (didn't risk it this time). Got in 36 miles the following week, and finished the year with a 39 mile week heading into the new year.

I finished the year with a four mile run in a heavy snowstorm, that can be viewed as a microcosm of that entire year. I set out with a goal, was given an intense inhibitor to accomplishing that goal, but worked hard throughout all the difficulties. While in this run it was simply being cold, wet, and hit in the eye repetetively with snow, for this year it was being given the most serious injury of my life.

The year can be broken down into these phases;

1. Indoor Ends: January
Doing a few extra miles, lots of intervals, and dropping many PR's as the racing season came to a close.

2. Outdoor Preseason: February and March
Started off training with a 33 mile week, got up to 55 miles.

3. Breakdown: April
Body got sick, I kept working it hard, it didn't take it, fractured my leg.

4. Time Off: April, June, and July.
I had to take time off from mid-April to mid-May. Got in a week of low mileage, but that was all from April 19th to July 21st.

5. Sprinting back into it: August.
I was cleared to run and went for a few weeks, but went too hard, took me out for the remainder of August.

6. Easing back into it: September to November
Doing 10-15mpw, backing off when necessary for leg to recover and become strong enough for the next level of training.

7. Intermediate Stage: November
Following the 5 with Nate, I did a few weeks that averaged 20mpw, serving as a bridge to the 30+mpw.

8. Beginning to Build, Pt. 2: December.
Same thing I started doing in February, except 10 months and a lot of frustration later.

2008 was the year where I lost 10 months to a stress fracture. While I only had to take off 3 months, which is a very long time to me, it actually took me 10 months to get back to where I had been before the injury, and that is why I consider this a 10 month injury. On the bright side (yes, there is one to a 10 month setback), is that I'll never forget to take care of myself. It's not so bad to take a day off if I'm feeling on the verge of an injury. It's not even that bad if I have to take two weeks off for myself to feel better. Whatever decision I make, it's not going to set me back 10 months like fracturing my leg did.

M/15 6mi
AM 6mi 60:36 (10:06) emery route. Really slow had to go to the bathroom, felt better after I stopped in one of the school's buildings.
PM Seagull exercises

T/16 8mi total
AM 4mi 31:57 (7:59) riverpath +Back exercises
PM 4mi 28:40 (7:10) loop.
Good day for running, details in blog.

W/17 3mi easy 23:13 (7:44)=(8:31/7:46/6:56) gym track +Preventive exercises.

T/18 7mi total
AM 4mi 45:33 (11:23) Snowed the night before and I took the hard way of seeing if I could still run on my routes. Honestly I was going pretty slow but I probably couldn't have gone much faster than 8:30 pace going all out. Route in horrible condition.
PM 3mi progression. 20:32 (6:50)=[7:41/6:56/5:55] gym track + Seagull exercises +bike 5 minutes after for a cooldown.

F/19 7mi 59:09 (8:27) emery. Cold, not very focused. Something doesn't feel right; probably just tired legs. +Back exercises.

S/20 5 total= 3mi gym track 28:00 (9:20), then went in the weight room for some light leg lifting, then back upstairs and did 2mi on the treadmill 15:15 (7:37).

S/21 0=day off.

Week Total 36 miles.

9 runs; 5 good, 4 not good. Hit my mileage goal. I liked the way I ran on the treadmill. I think this will be utilized more. I never really thought I'd like using a treadmill (other than PT for a couple minutes this is the first time I've really used one). All my routes suck right now because of the snow, so I'll be using the treadmill and the track more now. Anything long or slow I'll use the treadmill, it takes a lot of impact off the legs. If I do intervals or feel like going fast then I'll go on the track. So mostly the treadmill.

I think what's been making me slow the past couple of days is the impact. I haven't done cross training in a while. The lifting felt great today, and the treadmill's low-impact is very helpful. Only bad thing is next week I go back home and have to do everything outside no matter how bad the snow is. No impact relief or cross training for a month.

Can't complain about the break from school though. I can relax, sleep, and eat better (don't f- around with campus dining. Everything on their menu has to have at least 25%DRV sodium in order for them to be allowed to serve it. (Well not really but someone could make a case for it by looking at the nutrition facts.)

Woke up around 9:30, did my back routine, got ready, headed out for the first run. Felt pretty good; much better than yesterday's 6. Surprised that the time was as "fast" as it was; 31:57 (7:59). So got back, showered, ate lunch, studied a little for anatomy final, gave my friend money to buy a game for me (he was going to the Martial of Walls. (Wal-Mart). ) Then I went to my anatomy final, completed it in 1 hour (given 3 hours to do so). It was much easier than I thought it was going to be, so on the way home I'm in a great mood because the rest of my finals are pretty easy compared to what I've done so far. Then when I got back my friend had successfully retrieved the game for me (NHL 09 is about to be played when this writing is done.)

Now back to why I'm posting this in my running blog. I did the second of my 4 milers when I got back. Went out feeling damn good. Hit the first mile in 6:40. Probably way too fast but once I saw that I tried keeping it because that'd be a great run at this early stage of training. I didn't get much tired throughout the run and kept pushing all the way. I was hoping for something faster than the 28:40 I ran, which was 7:10 pace but I'm not at all disappointed with today. Total 1 hour, 36 seconds of running 8 miles, which is overall 7:34 pace for the day. Two weeks ago I did a 5 at that pace.

Well I was very happy with the running today.. after my PM I drank this soymilk that had 11g of protein! WOW! Thats incredible, plus it had a lot of calcium and not too shabby on the potassium (element K for you chemists).

NHL 09 is calling me but I just thought this great day with good running deserved a post. An easy three miles is all that calls me tommorow so it's a bit of a break for relaxation midweek of finals.