31/12/2009

Afternoon:

Didn't run yesterday because my mom wanted me to help her at the lab :( I think I'll be okay but the streak has been broken. Anyways today I felt pretty good (recovered?) and blew through today's run; if I wasn't going 6:20-6:30 min/mile by the end I'd be surprised.

Took 52:00 (!)

29/12/2009

Marginally better than yesterday since the sun came out partway through the run. Felt pretty good towards the end, so I extended it a little.

Took 74:55

28/12/2009

Kinda a crappy day, it was cloudy and cold. Just wandered around pretty slowly (I couldn't have been going much faster than 8 min/mile), but that's okay.

Took 59:31

27/12/2009

Afternoon:

Did a nice easy short run today, I'll consider it my "day off." I realized that I keep going the same loop (or about the same loop) with only slight variations. This is actually okay with me in terms of not getting bored, but I noticed that I started comparing times to previous runs. Like the corner of Wilmot and Speedway -- I usually get there in about 28:05. So naturally I feel great when I get there in 26:10 and horrible if I get there in 31:20. But this is exactly what I wanted to avoid by not measuring miles -- I want to make an effort this season to avoid the mentality that I have to hit time goals.

So today I just explored instead. I went a completely different direction than normal, and don't really know where I went.

Took 30:38

26/12/2009

Afternoon:

Epic. 6 days of running, and I finally feel like I'm used to AZ air and everything again. Too bad it's almost time to go back to school.

Took 54:27

25/12/2009

A longer-than-normal run to make up for yesterday. It was actually pretty nice today, mostly because there are very few cars on the street. However, I did LMFAO when I saw this douche-mobile Acura Integra rear end a police cruiser. It wasn't so much the actual car, but the fact that he:

a) had a huge muffler that did NOTHING
b) was going at least 75 in an 40 zone
c) blew through several red light lights
d) flipped a U and did the same thing
e) did this ALL RIGHT NEXT TO A POLICE STATION

The best part was that you could totally see the "OH SHIT" moment where he frantically slammed on the brakes and tried to turn. It was more of a love tap than a collision, but still if you hit a police car you get +1 Star (I know this from GTA), so he was pretty screwed at that point. I didn't hang around to see what happened though.

Took 68:08

24/12/2009

A short run before a ton of things to do... I got my mom a digital camera for Christmas, hopefully my sister will help my mom figure out how to use it.

Took 43:57

23/12/2009

Afternoon:

It was cold outside. I even thought about not running, but somehow I found myself out the door and doing the same run as a few days ago. Good thing I kinda have a routine now.

Took 57:34

22/12/2009

Afternoon:

The foot still felt bad, but I would say ever so slightly better than yesterday. Did a somewhat shorter run so I wouldn't run into the problem I had yesterday. Also, it was windy as hell today.

Took 59:53

21/12/2009

Afternoon:

Actually felt much better than yesterday and went slowly to test things out; started noticing pain again with about 2 miles left in the run, but I just had to tough it out. And I can (tough it out, I mean) for now, but that's not the point... I'd really hate to lose another season.

Took 69:47

20/12/2009

I'm a little worried, since my left foot feels EXACTLY like my right foot did before I got injured. I can't describe it too well, but it's a combination of arch pain and heel pain. Honestly if this was a year ago I would just think I'm sore and out of shape, but this worries me a little. I'll take today off and run tomorrow to see if it gets any better.

19/12/2009

Afternoon:

Ran 54:12 for the same run as 2 days ago. Tried to hurry through those miles since friends had something at 1:00pm, but as usual they all showed up 20 minutes late.

18/12/2009

Afternoon:

Another easy run, this time started slower and picked it up as I went along -- I started feeling better after 35 minutes or so. Took 58:31.

17/12/2009

Afternoon:

An easy 57:20 at home. I've decided to follow Mark's advice and not worry about average page that much on these runs.

15/12/2009

I finally did a non-Rosemead run that I actually enjoy a lot: top of Lake (10.7 miles). I know what you're thinking, but don't worry, I totally got this. It's my longest run timewise by far, but I think it'll be okay -- took 83:57.

Map:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3368841

14/12/2009

A minor disaster occurred yesterday when my laptop hard drive failed. Well not completely; a few sectors were unreadable. However, some of these were pretty clutch in that they held data concerning my home directory structure. So to make a long story short, I spent yesterday buying a new drive and reinstalling.

Night:
Good old Rosemead (6.99 miles) in 52:14. Felt really hungry the entire way.

Map:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3368837

13/12/2009

Night:

I really can't go for too long without running. I start feeling weak after two or three days even when I know nothing has changed. Anyways my longest and most AWESOME run since I got injured, Walnut-Rosemead+ (8.92 miles) in 61:42. I can almost run a reasonable training distance now!

Map:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3366143

10/12/2009

Afternoon:

It was really nice to actually go running at normal practice time rather than at midnight like I've been doing. Did Huntington-Rosemead with the big D in 61:19 (8.0 miles). This has been my longest run so far, both timewise and distance-wise, and I felt pretty good about it.

Thanks to big D for mapping it:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3362296

09/12/2009

Night:

Pullled off an epic 3000 word essay and over 70 pages of reading in ~5 short hours, then ran. Did Walnut-Rosemead (7.5 miles) in 49:57. Just one final left! But it's for the class I'm most on the edge for, better make it count...

Map:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3361299

08/12/2009

Afternoon:

Did Rosemead with Andy in 50:03 (6.66 miles). Sounds like his first term is going pretty well. Map in case you don't know Rosemead: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3359762

07/12/2009

Afternoon:

Ran a solid 7.5 in 56:14. Not quite as awesome as saturday, but that's okay. It was still at an acceptable pace, and made me feel a lot better after my final (1 of 4).

Map:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3358370

05/12/2009

Night:

I almost didn't run today. I was thinking about going to the XC party at Claremont, but then I was like what's the point. Instead I did Rosemead-- (not quite as good, but almost): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3355379

Runningwise, I felt better than I have for a while, completing it in 47:52 (pretty decent for 7.07 miles).

During the run I kept wondering why I have such a hard time getting a girl interested in me. I used to think there was just that "one thing" wrong with me. Like I was too ugly, not strong enough, not fast enough, not smart enough -- and if I fixed that then it would automagically help. I'm gradually realizing though that's it's just me in total, not really any one thing -- although not being able to interact comfortably with other people doesn't really help. After all, I did miss out on the party because I know I am always anxious and don't really have fun. Instead I did one more day of training on the off chance that one day I will be decent at this sport.

04/12/2009

Night:

Planned on doing 50 minutes today with Anton, but actually ended up doing a wacky Huntington in 60. Awesome.

I didn't run Wednesday or Thrusday because I fell off my bike for the first time Tuesday night. I was lucky I didn't land on my face, but I landed (on concrete) almost entirely on my left knee. It felt pretty bad Wednesday even just walking around, so I just lifted instead. It started feeling better Thrusday, but I didn't want to chance it, and right now it feels good.

01/12/2009

Met D-Chun and Andy as they were getting ready to go on a run to garfield, so I joined them and then led them astray to explore. Took 53 minutes total.

30/11/2009

Evening:

Went for a 40 minute run with Anton. He still kept up fine even though he hasn't run much at all since XC. Gonna try to get him back for track, even if all he does is the 400.

28/11/2009

Afternoon:

Probably the best run I've done so far while at home. 43 minutes easy with no pain, just went exploring around the new neighborhoods by my house. Wasn't going too fast, but not too slow either. Overall felt great.

27/11/2009

Afternoon:

Ran 35 minutes around the same places as yesterday; I started feeling something in my right ankle around mile 2 (seems just like soreness/weakness) but just to be cautious I stopped this run a little short.

26/11/2009

Afternoon:

I would have done the turkey trot, but:

1) I'm really out of shape

2) I doubt Ian and Scott would approve

Also, I woke up at 7:00 (race starts at 8) and decided I didn't want to go. It was nice sleeping at home.

Anyways ran for 35 minutes around Udall park and at the elementary school; I didn't want to spend too much time on the concrete, because that is all I have out here.

25/11/2009

Morning:

Either no one showed up (expected), or I left too early. Either way it wasn't so bad, did an extended pre-race and went to class. I was absolutely disgusting since I didn't get a chance to shower but it doesn't matter at all. Going home today!

24/11/2009

Morning:

Pre-race easy with Dennis followed by 15 minutes on the track for a total of 41 minutes. My legs feel tired from yesterday (but not sore...).

23/11/2009

Afternoon:

5.75 miles in 45 minutes followed by 6x300 with the track class. Jason is super fast, and my arms hurt now.

22/11/2009

Morning:

Ah, a morning run, the first in a while. It was great, big D and I talked about video games, computers and racing for a good 40-45 minutes (I forgot to time the barefoot part, but I know it falls into that range). I'm starting to get into actual shape.

20/11/2009

An easy run with the big D for 35 minutes. Discussed plans for getting fast.

19/11/2009

Easy 3 miles on the track followed by a bit of the "track class" workout followed by an easy mile. Took about 35 minutes not including breaks. My legs felt surprisingly fine during it, but we'll see tomorrow.

18/11/2009

Ran for 35 minutes today; 18ish in shoes and 17ish barefoot. Then lifted for nearly an hour, however I feel kinda out of it. I wake up really early now, but also go to sleep really early (like yesterday I went to sleep at 8, woke up at 3). I don't like it.

17/11/2009

2 mile warmup and then did another mile warmup with Nina. She then wanted to run a 7:00 mile (I have no idea why, but it seemed like someone told her to do it as a workout), so I paced her for that. She did surprisingly well, running 1:45, 1:45, 1:45, 1:35 for a 6:50. Now I know that pacing definitely helps (and I actually did pretty well in judging the 7 min pace), but seriously a negative split like that is amazing, especially since she is relatively new to running. If she works on her breathing rhythm a little and keeps with it she'll be a great distance runner. Cooled down for 5 or 6 laps, all told about 41 minutes of running.

16/11/2009

Ran 31 minutes on the track, 15ish in shoes and 15ish without. Felt surprisingly strong today in terms of running, but lifting was another story.

12/11/2009

Afternoon:

Distracted. Only did 5-4-3-2-1 on the bike and lifted.

11/11/2009

Afternoon:

20 minutes on the track (7 of which were barefoot). Felt pretty good, but I was tired when lifting. Should have eaten lunch.

10/11/2009

Afternoon:

20 minutes on the North Field, followed by some quality lifting.

09/11/2009

Afternoon:

Did 30 minutes on the North Field. It actually almost feels like I'm a legitimate runner now. Afterwards lifted and did 125 medicine ball throws with the 6kg ball (50 followed by 75). A pretty good day overall.

08/11/2009

Afternoon:

Lifted for a good hour and a half or so. I can bench 3 reps of 115 after 4 sets of 6 reps of 95. Awesome.

07/11/2009

Morning:

Did 25 minutes easy on the North Field; 17.5 with shoes and 7.5 barefoot. Felt alright, but when I went to lift I realized I hadn't recovered since the night before. Will do exercises tomorrow.

06/11/2009

Afternoon:

Did 25 minutes on the North Field. I'm actually doing long enough runs now that I feel like I'm getting back in shape. I want to run a 4:40 mile in track this year (so 4:22ish 1500?), so I better get on this. Did 100m of lunges + core. Increased weights for most exercises by 5lbs/arm.

05/11/2009

Afternoon:

Ran around the track for ~17:30, then ran barefoot on the inside of the track for ~7:30. Felt good today, but tomorrow is the real metric for how it went...

04/11/2009

Afternoon:

Did some laps down at Rosemead for 7x(3 on, 2 off). Was rather difficult, especially with tires that clearly need air.

03/11/2009

Afternoon:

Ran for 20 minutes on the track. I don't know if I'll ever feel "good" about running again. I swear I always feel something in my foot; it's one thing to be cautious but the constant worrying is depressing.

02/11/2009

Afternoon:

Did an easy 15 minutes (w/ shoes) + 5 minutes (w/o shoes) on the north field with Mark. Tried to figure out why I suck so much; nothing conclusive determined.

01/11/2009

Night:

Ran down California to San Marino and back. I wanted to do more, but I decided it could be bad news later. Also I was really tired from midterms and everything...

30/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did a short run with Mark on the South Field. I don't feel too bad but sadly that is faster than I've gone in a while.

29/10/2009

Afternoon:

I am so tired today... I only got 6 hours of sleep total in the last 2 nights, and no more than 2 hours per block (1 nap and 2 actual "nights" of sleeping). Anyways I lent my watch out to G today, so I just did 8-10 laps on the track (should be 15 minutes or so). I actually lost count because I was really out of it. Afterwards I lifted. It was hard to get started, but once I did my muscles were actually okay. Did deadlift today, will do 100m of lunges tomorrow.

28/10/2009

Afternoon:

I was on the bike today. I was supposed to do 7x(3 on, 2 off), but on the 6th one my right foot started feeling... just different. I didn't want to ruin my recovery, so I bailed at that point. Hopefully it's nothing but me being paranoid.

27/10/2009

Afternoon:

It was pretty crappy outside today, and I have a ton of work over the next two days. Did a nice 15 minute run with Jess, then rushed home to finish homework. Didn't feel anything with the feet yet, hopefully it stays that way...

26/10/2009

Afternoon:

So Facebook keeps telling me to write on Alyssa Deaver's wall. I don't know what kind of algorithm consistently tells me that (it has happened about 75% of the time if you include reloads, and a whopping 4/4 if you just count initial log ins), but I feel like it's missing some input data.

Anyways, did the 15 minute 3600 today; I felt like I had better form that I did even last Friday. Hopefully nothing crops up with the achilles, and I can continue training for Track. I think I can actually do best in the 1500, but I really didn't have any base last year so the 5000 times may be off by a good deal. Time will tell.

Also, I've noticed that I've gotten a lot better at the medicine ball exercises; 2 sets of 50 each with the 5kg ball! Although I was pretty tired on the last 7 or so.

24/10/2009

Morning:

Woke up and went to practice. The kids are going to Prado today, and the gym doesn't open till later, but I thought I'd at least drop by.

Afternoon:

Did 3 x Rosemead to do the bike workout (10 x (2 on, 1 off)). It's really nice over there at night; even though it's dark there are so few cars it doesn't matter. I was slightly cold but that was my own fault. I think the squats/deadlift must be helping; the bike felt significantly easier than last time despite me not using it for a while. Or it could just be the fact that I am in the slightly higher gear.

23/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did the 10:00 minute 2200 (sorry Ian!). Again I swear I felt something different in the foot, but no severe negative effects noted yet. I'm going to be on the bike tomorrow so that should help at least. Also lifted again; I can tell my arms are getting tired from bench press, but I can do at least one rep at 115lbs (almost precisely 101% of my body weight)!

22/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did the 10:00 2k. I thought I felt something slightly different than yesterday, but it may just be me being paranoid. Then I did awesome things in the weight room.

21/10/2009

Afternoon:

Ran the 7:30 mile on the track today. Hopefully this won't turn out to be a bad idea. Then lifted and did awesome things.

20/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did squats today and then the other set of exercises. I feel like a sprinter now; don't run too much, just lift and be kinda lazy most of the time.

19/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did a bunch of things in the weight room; Ian showed me a new variant on the deadlift that I like better. Also did 2 sets of 40 with the 5kg medball, so that was awesome. Will be sore tomorrow.

16/10/2009

Afternoon:

Learned dead lift. It's little weird and I'm worried about breaking my knees. Other than that did awesome things in the weight room, and then some medicine ball.

15/10/2009

I've completely wasted this season.

14/10/2009

Afternoon:

Ian showed me to to do squats. It's been about 4 years since I last did them, but I mostly remember now. What I didn't expect was how much they would make my quads/hamstrings sore. I forgot about that part. Anyways did 45 minutes easy on the bike. It was pretty uneventful, kept the HR at about 145-150.

13/10/2009

Afternoon:

35 minutes easy on the south field. Felt kinda miserable. Went fast for the first 20 minutes, then slowed considerably to avoid long term damage. I guess I have track to "look foward" to. But I hate track.

Lifted weights afterwards.

12/10/2009

Morning:

Woke up today, felt pretty crappy. We'll see if I go to practice.

Afternoon:

Felt a lot better in the afternoon than the morning physically, but I still have serious doubts about the point of this season. Ian brought up an excellent point, one that I had actually considered, and that is that even if I "quit", I will end up doing mostly the same things EXCEPT going to races. That's really not too big of a difference. Also, I hate quitting.

Did 45 minutes easy on the bike. It was boring.

10/10/2009

Morning:

Did a bike workout. Was supposed to do 4x(Rose Bowl loop), but after 10 or so minutes was still cold and decided I would be miserable, so I did the stationary bike instead:

15 warmup

10 on, 2 off
8 on, 2 off
6 on, 2 off
4 on, 2 off
2 on, 2 off

10 cooldown

The HR monitor in the bike is surprisingly accurate.

09/10/2009

Morning:

Went for a short-ish run to Madre and back. The achilles seemed to do a lot worse than before, but only on the toe-off motion. I've decided this season is over; I honestly feel like I should quit, wait for my achilles to get better, and wait for track to roll around. But I don't like track nearly as much, so I don't know if I should even do that. Taking a year off seems excessive; continuing to train seems pointless.

08/10/2009

Afternoon:

Messed up the workout. I was supposed to do Lacey 5x800 with 1 min rest at 2:50 on the 800 part, but I ended up doing 2:42, 2:40, 2:39, 2:37, 2:30. I always felt like I was getting tired across the halfway point so I tried to pick it up... and ended up going a lot faster. Then I continually got faster because I thought that "okay, this is the one you'll ACTUALLY be tired on, so better go hard for the last half". Still, I didn't feel great about it; I think I still have a lot of speed left but I need to build up endurance before I'll feel comfortable racing.

07/10/2009

Afternoon:

Essentially wandered around Pasadena/Alhambra for an hour on the bike. On the way back, I saw Dennis hobbling along so we went to Nathan's house. Unfortunately I had SRS BSNS (dinner) to attend to, so I couldn't stay to catch up with Nathan, although I would have liked to.

06/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did some sort of modifed Huntington today where I started at lacy, went to San Marino/Sierra Madre, then did normal Huntington back on Los Robles up to Oak Grove, then going back down to lacy and meeting the team again and running back. Took about 55 minutes (a little longer than I expected, but oh well), which according to this works out to a little over 7:30 pace. My achilles feels a lot better than it had before, but there's a little bit of swelling. I'll be on the bike tomorrow so hopefully it won't get any worse.

I don't like this season at all. I realized a short while ago that I don't do XC for the running part. Yes, I train, and I race, but I am nowhere near good enough to do it just for the winning (and by extension, the running). I like XC because it gives me time to not worry about school, to be with friends, and to push myself hard when I know I have to. Being injured for so long has completely destroyed most of those. I still don't really worry about school when I'm in the trainers or on the bike or hobbling along the north field, but my school worries are replaced by injury worries. Also, except for a few of my injured teammates (I'm looking at you, G), I don't really get a chance to be with the rest of the team. I don't even have to explain the 3rd one (who tries to go hard when they're injured? Certainly not me...). I know I'll have to work on breaking out of this line of thinking as much as if not more than I have to get back in shape.

05/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did a "hard"ish workout with Ian. Could really tell I was out of shape, but oh well. At least it doesn't feel like I'm injured anymore (knock on wood). Here is approximately what happened:

15 min warmup

4 x (1 lap on, 1 lap off @ North Field)

4 lap cooldown.

Took about 40 minutes; Ian had the HR monitor going so I should be getting some interesting stats soon.

04/10/2009

Afternoon:

Felt a lot better today. Got a full 9 hrs of sleep last night, and I just feel a lot better in general. Did 30ish minutes on the North Field with Ian, Jasper, and Julian, then did 4 strides and lifted in the gym. Achilles does not hurt at all! However I am terribly out of shape and that is what I'm going to devote the next 2 weeks to. At least it's La Mirada so I don't care too much if I get a slow time...

03/10/2009

Morning (Pomona Regional Preview Meet):

Did Not Run... I thought the freshmen did pretty well for us in this meet, but when Travis is not sick and I'm not injured/out of shape this course should be fun... if I can make it.

Afternoon:

Didn't want to do stationary bike so I rode the actual bike around. It was weird not having access to statistics like HR and RPM. I actually prefer high resistance low RPM on the real bike more than low resistance high RPM as I do on the stationary. I guess I like to feel like I'm going fast. Anyways, despite the change of scenery, I still was mentally and physically drained today. I'd hoped to avoid at least the mental part of it by not using the stationary but to be honest I still felt like crap. I can't really say how fast I was going but on a per-effort basis I think it was about right (I felt like my heart was going nuts on the hard parts just like with running).

~15 min warmup down San Pasqual

10 on, 2 off
8 on, 2 off
6 on, 2 off
4 on, 2 off
2 on, 2 off

~15 minute cooldown down Del Mar

There's actually a pretty fun place to do "laps" although they'd be a little long if running; Madre->San Pasqual->Rosemead->California.

02/10/2009

Afternoon:

Ran pre race with the guys today. Felt okay on the run but still out of shape... However the gym was a different story. I felt sapped so I didn't do as many lifts and things as I would have liked. Hopefully I'll just need a good day of recovery (Saturday or Sunday).

01/10/2009

Afternoon:

Did some biking. I think my body is actually starting to adapt to the bike as I couldn't get my HR past 180 or so. Did a hard workout:

15 minute warmup -> 3 x (3 on, 3 medium, 3 on, 2 off) -> 10 minute cooldown

Averaged around 115 RPM, 160 HR for easy/off, 125 RPM, 170 HR for the first hard section, 120 RPM, 170 HR for the medium section, and 130 RPM, 180 HR for the second hard section. On the last 3 minute thing I gunned it at 150 RPM but surprising my HR held approximately constant at 185ish. Increasing resistance only made me go slower and actually drop heartrate so I put it back to normal. Went 21.02 pseudomiles.

30/09/2009

Afternoon:

Ran for 30 minutes! Felt ridiculously out of shape :-/ But I think I can get back to a reasonable level in a few weeks and hopefully by regionals I can run 27:59.99. Did drills with Ian afterwards and lifted.

29/09/2009

Afternoon:

First day of class. Exhausting, but I know it's only going to get worse. Did a hard workout on the bike:

20 minute warmup with 1 minute surge at 15 min and 17 min -> 3 x (6 on, 3 off), 3 x (3 on, 2 off), 1:30 ON -> 6:30 cooldown

One of the fastest workouts I've done in terms of "mileage", but surprisingly could not get my HR up even on the 1:30 ON. In the first set I averaged 130 RPM, 180 HR for hard, 120 RPM, 160 HR for easy. The second was slightly faster, about 135 RPM, 185 HR for hard, 125 RPM, 170 HR for easy. The 1:30 was difficult at 145-150 RPM, but I could only get up to about 190 HR. I don't really trust the bike for accuracy but usually its good about the general trend. Went 27.19 psuedomiles.

28/09/2009

Morning:

Going to see the orthopedist today; just biked for an hour in addition to the normal foot exercises. Some good news though; I didn't feel any discomfort even after 15-20 minutes on the bike. I kept waiting for it until about 35 minutes in when I decided it wouldn't happen at all. Maybe I'll be able to run soon?

Afternoon:

Ran for 20 minutes! Felt... different. I may have just forgotten how to run. But the feet definitely feel different from each other. I'll just have to be careful; I really don't want to have to go back to stationary bike. After that I just worked out to get awesome.

26/09/2009

Morning:

Ian had me do a hard bike workout instead of the tempo loop. It was difficult but it was nice Laura was there (not doing the same thing, but having another person on the bike next to you still helps). I was pushing quite hard on the 4 minute one (I checked every 20 seconds or so to see how long I had left).

15 min warmup: 115 RPM, 170 HR
12 on: 125 RPM, 180 HR
4 off: 115 RPM, 180 HR
10 on: 130 RPM, 185 HR
3 off: 115 RPM, 185 HR
8 on: 135 RPM, 190 HR
2 off: 120 RPM, 185 HR
4 ON: 145 RPM, 200 HR
10 min cooldown: 120 RPM, 170 HR

Went 25.59 pseudomiles.

25/09/2009

Morning:

Nothing much to report today; a lot of the soreness has gone away so I did the full complement of exercises in the weight room. Will do an easy 45 minuntes on the bike in the afternoon.

Afternoon:

Did the bike workout (45 minutes), but it was more medium than easy. Averaged about 120 RPM, 170 HR. Went 16.50 pseudomiles. The tendon pain appeared at around 20 minutes but went away by 22 minutes.

24/09/2009

Morning:

Didn't want to work out on the bike in the morning since it's a hard workout, so I lifted today. Or I tried to. I am so sore from yesterday (from muscles I didn't even know I had) that I only did about 70% of what I would normally do. Specifically, I skipped military press, inclined bench, back extensions, and pullups. Strangely enough I didn't feel that bad with certain exercises like bench press and runners even though initially I thought they would be bad news.

Afternoon:

It was nice to use a different bike, and I noticed this time that the resistance was significantly less than what I had done on the other one. This was good for the hard workout:

15 min warmup -> 10 on, 2 off, 8 on, 2 off, 6 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 2 on, 2 off -> 10 minute cooldown

Felt better than the last time I did it (Saturday); went about 115 RPM, 165 HR for the easy parts and 135 RPM, 195 HR for the hard parts. Toward the end of the workout (the 6, 4, and 2 on) I was going about 137-140 RPM at 200 HR but I felt pretty good. The achilles discomfort started at about 15 minutes in but it was already a distant memory by 18:30 or so. I wasn't sure what was going on with that. Went 24.41 pseudomiles.

23/09/2009

Morning:

Since my achilles tends to feel better in the afternoon, I opted instead to lift. Ian showed me some good exercises; I can tell I will be sore tomorrow if not later tonight. I will try to do the 50 minute bike ride in the afternoon. In other news, my car had some sort of nervous breakdown but it seems to be all better. The "Safety Neutral Switch" had latched into an unfavorable position so the engine decided something was wrong this morning but it seems to have corrected itself. I'll have to keep an eye out for that though to make sure my gearbox isn't actually in trouble.

Afternoon:

Did the bike for 49:37. I wasn't trying to be lazy but I think I broke the machine; the resistance seemed to exponentially increase for the last few rounds until finally I heard crazy squeaking and my RPMs had dropped to low 80s. Could not get a readout on the number of psuedomiles. :(

22/09/2009

Morning:

I feel like it is bad news when your fallback plan needs a fallback plan, but that's what's happened now that even biking seems to induce some (mild) pain. I could totally blow through it but I have no idea how much long term damage it would do. I would like to be healthy at least for track if not for the next race or the rest of cross country season.

Afternoon:

Awesome things happened in the 8 or so hours between practices; I could at least bike so I did the workout I was supposed to do in the morning. Some mild discomfort at 10-15 minutes but easily blew past it. Did:

15 warmup -> (3 on, 1 off) x 10 -> 10 minute cooldown

The 1 off wasn't really enough for my heart rate to calm down, so while I started at about 105 RPM, 130 HR I finished at about 115 RPM, 180 HR for the easy part. Hard was about 125 RPM, 180 HR at first while at the end it climbed to 140 RPM, 200 HR. Overall I liked the workout though as I never had to think about the entire 65 minutes; the most I worried about was the next 3. Went 23.74 pseudomiles.

21/09/2009

Morning:

Tried to run a short workout (45 min), but ended up calling it quits after about 10-15 since my achilles started acting up and it was getting worse over time instead of better. Finished up with 70 minutes of biking; didn't keep track of how many psuedomiles I went but it felt longer than the hard workouts. I like having hard time goals instead of "just bike until X minutes have passed" -- I notice I tend to relax too much on those.

Afternoon:

Didn't want to anger the XC gods so just did 30 minutes of biking and a ton of crunches (I did 6 sets of 30 normal, 30 left, and 30 right while the kids were running, then 6 sets of 12 pushups, as well as what I could do of their ab workout). Also lifted afterwards.

19/09/2009

Riverside (Morning):

Unfortunately I did not run Riverside this year, but I got (almost) everyone's 1-mile and 3-mile splits. Sorry Andy about your 1-Mile time.

However, I did do a hard bike workout today, made even more difficult by the fact that I had to do it alone.
15 min warmup -> 10 on, 2 off, 8 on, 2 off, 6 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 2 on, 2 off -> 10 min cooldown

Averaged about 130 RPM, 190 HR on the hard parts, 110 RPM, 150 HR on the "easy" parts. Did 21.80 pseudomiles total.

18/09/2009

Morning:

Easy bike workout for 45 minutes. Didn't even get my HR above 110, but I was using the recumbent bike and my achilles felt funny if I went above 105-110 RPM; cruised along at 80-90 RPM.

17/09/2009

Morning:

Did a hard bike workout with Alan; 15 min warmup -> 2 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 6 on, 2 off, 8 on, 2 off, 6 on, 2 off, 4 on, 2 off, 2 on, 2 off -> 10 min cooldown.
Hard was approximately 130 RPM, 180 HR average; easy started off at 100 RPM, 135 HR, but ended at about 110 RPM, 150 HR. Did 24.07 pseudomiles.

Afternoon:

Ditched the pool workout in favor of 30 minutes of biking. Awesome. Did 8.36 pseudomiles.

16/09/2009

Morning:

Couldn't even do an easy run on the North Field; tendon pain didn't go away even after 10 minutes so I called it quits and did 50 minutes on the bike instead. Went 17.16 pseudomiles.

Afternoon:

Did 30 minutes on the bike; went 9.03 pseudomiles. Then did a circuit thing on the North Field, where I did heel walks, 1.5 laps, crunches, 1.5 laps, leg exercises, 2 laps. Felt better than in the morning. In fact I dare say the swelling has gone down.

15/09/2009

Morning:

Couldn't finish tempo workout; I think I actually may have undone the past few days of recovery. No more hard runs for me until Riverside (hopefully I'll be able to race). Sad.

Afternoon:

Easy barefoot run along north field for 20 minutes. Felt no worse than in the morning.

14/09/2009

Morning:

Easy run with Alan along Huntington. Took about 60 minutes. I found a very unripe pineapple about 15 minutes in and carried it the rest of the way back. In other news, I wore the new flats/trainers and they seem pretty good. The achilles seemed no more agitated than it would have been had I been running barefoot.

Afternoon:

Easy run along north field for 20ish minutes. Achilles felt fine; even did drills except for crossovers (pushing backwards on the toes agitates things). Went to the weight room a little bit; Ian likes the inclined bench and a free weight exercise.

12/09/2009

Redlands Invite (Morning):

Results:
http://www.goredlands.com/sports/xc/2009-10/results/Redlands_Invite/Results_men_09XC_Invite.htm

A little bit of a disappointing race. Achilles felt okay for 2-3 miles before becoming a notable problem (even while running barefoot). It was clearly agitated after the race but has since calmed down to pre-race levels. However, what made it disappointing was the way the race was split.

Mile 1: 5:28
Mile 2: 11:18
Mile 3: 17:17
Finish (6k): 21:33

Clearly I need to stop going out in 5:30 until I can actually do a 27:30 8k. I was supposed to try to do 5:50 miles, but I just got caught up in the moment. But more importantly I felt like I was just afraid to go fast during that third mile. I know I'm in shape enough to be able to do it but for some reason I just barely held on to Cameron. I think it boils down to the confidence issue I expressed yesterday; one thing know I need to work on is I have to know I can run hard and not worry about dying later or anything silly like that. I like having a good kick at the end but as Ian said that's not the most important thing when racing. I need to be able to run my own race and not worry about other people, especially my own teammates.

The team looks good this year. If we can avoid injuries I think we will move up a few places in SCIAC.

11/09/2009

Morning:

Easy pre-race type thing to Garfield and back (not long way). Ran barefoot, but still some nagging discomfort. Ran one or two striders in the Nike Frees and decided they were not going to cut it for Saturday, so the plan is to run the race shoeless. Besides that though, I really have no idea what this race is going to be like, or what my goals should be. Should I try to run 21:32? Am I even in shape enough to do that? Will ALL of the freshmen run faster than me? Am I going to make varsity this year at all? I've never been that confident of a racer but I have more doubts about myself than I ever did before. I started getting this feeling last year, like I had built a house of cards and it was just a fluke that it had even been up that long. It's a bad metaphor but I'm sure some of you sometimes wonder where your talents come from.

10/09/2009

Morning:
Achilles felt pretty good today; however, still skipped the San Marino Hill Circuit as I feel like that would have been bad news. Did this instead:

20 min warmup + 6 x (2 on, 1 off) + 10 min cooldown

Felt pretty good, was doing 1 NFTC lap about every 94-97 seconds during the 'on' period.

Afternoon:
Swimming in the pool :( Compared to others, I spend far too much energy trying not to drown. At least I got chicken.

09/09/2009

Morning:
Easy run to Madre... I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't injured but it was nice hanging in the back and talking to Gus. Nike Frees work a lot better than normal shoes in terms of agitating the achilles, but still is not as good as barefoot running.

Afternoon:
Heated achilles instead of icing before practice. Felt MUCH better after heating, did an easy 25 min barefoot. Skipped drills as I was worried they would agitate the achilles.

08/09/2009

Morning:
Couldn't even finish the morning workout:

800 - 2:48
1600 - 5:36
2400 - 8:38
1600 - xxx
800 - 2:39

Saw Katherine today! Too bad things weren't going well in terms of the actual running. My achilles really hurts now, in fact I think it's getting worse. It's going to be a long season...

Afternoon:
30 mintues on bike, actually more like 2 + 25 + 10, since the bike I started on applied really uneven resistance and the 2nd one was a recumbent bike and I didn't like it too much...

Also, got new shoes that are ridiculously light and, more importantly, have a lower heel to hopefully decrease agitation.

07/09/2009

Morning: Ran an easy 72 minutes with Alan. Did the route from the horse stables in the arroyo to around the rose bowl and back. Right achilles still hurts, looks more swollen than before but goes away quickly into a run.

Afternoon: 15 min barefoot + drills. Agitated the achilles a lot.

Saturday 05/09/09

Easy run, Huntington up Los Robles. Mostly stayed together with everyone. Right Achilles still hurts but remains unnoticeable after initial 3-5 minutes of run.

Friday 04/09/09

Camping at big bear. No watch so ran with Riley/Garrett/Slawski/DChun; 15 warmup + 15 warmup + 10 hard + 5 easy + 10 hard (dubious, more like 15-20 hard) + 5 easy (dubious).

Ian drove by and picked me up on the downhill. Right Achilles is not very happy.

19/05/2009

Running with the big K-Way on the North Field. Actually feel better than yesterday. Awesome.

50 minutes, Kangway, North Field

18/05/2009

I think my leg muscles have died. I haven't run since that awful race.

25 minutes, alone, North Field
+
15 minutes, Dennis, North Field
+
40 minutes, Dennis + Anton, truncated huntington

fuck

Oxy Distance Carnival

A little disappointed with my times despite running a PR 1500 and my 2nd fastest 5k; I know I can do better.

1500: 71, 2:22, 3:39 (better than last week's 1200!), 4:31.87 (3rd in heat 6 of 6)
5000: 5:24, 10:56, 16:28, 17:03.43 (22nd in heat 2 of 2)

Need to work that 3rd quarter (77) and the last mile of the 5k (5:32). I probably should have been able to kick that last 200 in 32 for the epic sub 17 but I wasn't feeling it today...

worst. race. ever.

DMR (1200 leg) - 3:40

I've run faster for 3 laps when doing the mile. :(

Rossi Relays

DMR (1200 leg): 3:33 (68, 2:20, 3:33) (17th)
3000: 9:52.30 (44th)

oh god school work

Not gonna lie, school is kicking my ass this time 'round. Just thought I should post at least races so I don't forget for Track 2010.

Interhouse (12.02.2009):
1500: 4:46 1st
3000: 10:21 1st
4x400: ~60? 2nd

Caltech All Comers (14.02.2009):
4x1600: 4:56 4th
3000: 10:06.6 5th
4x400: ~57? 2nd