My journey as a marathoner...

Monday Aug 24 PM 10 miles, 65min, out in 34, back in 31 Tue Aug 25 AM 5 miles, 35min PM 11 miles, workout:10k progression in 32:41. 2k splits: 6:44, 6:36, 6:34,6:25,6:17 5k splits: 16:42, 15:59 Wed Aug 26 AM 5 miles, 31min PM 12 miles, 1:19min Thu Aug 27 AM 5 miles, 34min PM 10 miles, 66min Fri Aug 28 Off Sat Aug 29 17 miles on treadmill, 1:52min First 7 miles slow: 7:41, 7:36,7:30, 7:15,7:05,7:03,6:56 Next 10 Miles on and off: 6:00, 6:52, 5:51, 6:41, 5:42, 6:30, 5:36, 6:18, 5:27, 6:14 Sun Aug 20 15 miles, 1:31. First 5 in 34, next 5 in 29, next 5 in 27:21, last mile in 5:00 = 90miles, 1 day off. Good week. Got in some good strength work.

Mon Aug 17 AM 5 miles, 35min PM off Tue Aug 18 AM 5 miles, 34min PM 12 miles, workout: 10x3min on, 2 min off on the road Wed Aug 19 AM 5 miles, 34min PM 10 miles, 64min Thu Aug 20 AM 5 miles, 34min PM 10 miles, 68min, treadmill Fri Aug 21 PM 12 miles, workout: 2 sets of 4x1k at 3:01 average w/ 200m rest in 61sec, 800m rest between set in 3:49 Sat Aug 22 AM 13 miles, 1:32min, hot & humid, struggled, only solution was to slow down the pace Sun Aug PM 17miles, 1:56min, felt good, prob a little over 17, last mile uphil 5:41 =94 miles This was another challenging week. The workout Tuesday was great. On the other hand, the 2x4x1ks on Friday didn't go so well. Lets just say I was simply "happy" to be able to hang in there mentally. Anyway, this week was a struggling one for me. I can't quite figure out why I am struggling with training so much (even though racing is not going too bad). I don't think I am overtraining since I am doing about 25miles less than last summ...

Mon Aug 10 AM 5miles, 34min PM 5miles, 34min, felt horrible today, no good eating pattern threw me off Tue Aug 11 AM 8 miles, 55min PM 9 miles, Workout: 10x300 w/ 200rest, avrg. 48sec Wed Aug 12 AM 5 miles, 34min, roarke br PM 10 miles, 69 min Thu Aug 13 10miles, Race Cigna Road 5k, 14:34, 5th, legs tired/heavy during warm up Fri Aug 14 AM 5 miles, 34 min PM 10 miles, 64min, out in 34, back in 30, route 113, strong run, Sat Aug 15 AM Pool PM 10 miles, 63min, last mile uphill 5:22, at home (wish I felt this good on race day) Sun Aug 16 17miles, 1:54 min, reallly hot and humid =94 miles This week might not look hard on paper, but it was not easy. I knew the race Thursday would make me feel tired, but I didnt want ot rest up for it because thats not the purpose right now, so I ran 15miles the day before the race and this could have explained why I had no bounce at the starting line. In addition, I think I might be running most of the runs at low 6min pace and counting them at 6:45 pace. N...

Finished 5th today in 14:34 Results here . Before this race, I said my goal was to get used to going out hard with no pressure. I did that by out out in 4:34, except the leader was way ahead of me. I stuck in the second chase pack with two other runners next to me. I kind of lost my rhythm the last 1k of the race which I think cost me at least 10 seconds. When I finished, I was catching up people but ran out of real estate. However, I still think this was a good progress . With fresher legs, I'd expect to run at least 10 seconds faster considering I ran 59 miles the last 4 days leading up to the race. Photos provided by Union Leader. I'm on the far right wearing red.

I will be racing the Cigna 5k on Thursday at 6:20pm starting from the Veterans Park on Elm St., Manchester,NH. The goal of this race is to give me an opportunity to get in a fast paced race with no pressure. In addition, this will provide me with a good sense of where my fitness is in the shorter distances. I will be aiming to keep up with the NY Kenyans as far as possible no matter the pace. The turnout could be good or bad, but I feel very confident in my training right now that I can handle both outcomes.

Mon Aug 3 AM 5 miles, 34min, pretty tired PM 5 miles, 31min, Roarke br. to apt in 12:43, short and sweet Tue Aug 4 14 miles, 1:36min at Nashua, felt great at the end Wed Aug 5 AM 5 miles, 34min, felt tired, not enough sleep PM Workout: Road Fartlek 10x3min hard, 2 min easy (10 miles total), good rhythm Thu Aug 6 13 miles, 1:31min, at Newburyport trails, tired took it easy Fri Aug 7 AM 5 miles, 34min PM 10miles, 67min, Belvadaire, hilly but good rhythm, legs felt fresh Sat Aug 8 Workout: 4x2k w/ 400m jog rest: 5:57, 6:02, 6:00, 5:56 (11 miles total), felt comfortable Total workout including the recovery 400s came out to be 30:01 for 9200meters (5:15pace) Sun Aug 9 17 miles, 1:47min, felt good but not tired =95 miles Today marks ~Lucky Week 13~ since the devastating fall that ended my track season last year. I am very excited though because today also marks my first of 5 intense weeks of training I will be having before the US5k champs. This was an ideal week with 2 workouts, doubles eve...

One of my high school mentors, Tony DaRocha, told me that goals have to be written down, otherwise, they are just wishful thinking. Believe it or not, I have always written my goals since freshman year in HS. I group them as short term goals and long term goals. They help me stay focused and give me motivation to train harder. I find it easy to set up my goals before the training gets tough. These goals are set to be specific, challenging and realistic at the same time. I am about to embark on a new training block that will hopefully get me in the best shape of my life. I feel very motivated and think this is the best time to start thinking about what I want to accmomplish over the next few months. If I can stay injury free, these are my goals: Short term: 1 to 6 months -get top 10 at the US 5k Championships on Sep 20 -run under 24min in the 8k at Franklin Park -get top 2 at the USATFNE XC 10k championships Long term: 6 months to 1 year -run under 8 min in the 3k indoors -win an NCAA t...