Chicken Chimi....

Earlier today I was in my hometown and I had a late lunch...noon. The thing was, that the lunch was a pretty big meal. It was a HUGE chicken burrito smothered in green chilly with beans and rice. I had a workout on the track. I ended up running 4x4 480's, with 65 sec. rest for each one then 3 min. in between sets. I ran around 3 p.m which i sn't enought time to digest the huge meal!
The first few sets were a battle to keep the meal in my stomach! After the second set I felt great! I ended up averaging 77 for the 16 480's. (64 through the quarters). Felt really relaxed and smooth. Now lets see what the new year has to offer! Happy early new years to ALL!!! I'll probably be in Denver tom. night so if anybody wants to celebrate with myself and friends, contact me!

Eastern Montana

I spent all of last week on holiday vacation slipping around the frozen tundra that is Eastern Montana and Northern Wyoming this time of year. I managed about 70 miles of singles with a long run of 17. No workouts. I'm back running on solid ground in Colorado, but still not in any hurry to get back to real training. Pushed the baby jogger for an hour yesterday and ran a crisp 10 miles tonight.

Back to the Track

Hello everyone! Since this is my first post, I'll start off with a little background information. I am originally from Georgetown, Tx which is just outside of Austin in Central Texas. I attended Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado where I was a part of the Cross Country and Track Teams. I finished my college eligibility in the spring of 2009 but completed my degree in Elementary Education this December, after doing a semester of student teaching at Palmer Lake Elementary. During this fall, I trained for my first marathon held in Minnesota on October 4th. This marathon was the Women's Marathon Championships and was the first opportunity to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Trails. I completed the course in 2:45:08 meeting the "B" standard qualifying time for the Trials. I was SO excited! After taking a long break off (a month) to let some nagging injuries heal, I started training again.

Today I ran at the Air Force Academy and did a track workout with some of the UCCS track girls. We did 1k repeats and this afternoon I'll run 35 minutes easy.

Back in the Trenches!

I like the call my big time training phases the "Trenches" because like in the real trenches nothing but hard, nasty, and tiring work is done in the trenches. I took a tw0 days off after Club Cross to re-amp my self for a big marathon build up phase this spring.

Last 2 weeks I've put in like 38 and 78 i believe, but i'm truly not really counting them up. this week i'm jumping back in where i left off before Clubs and going to hit 110 or 120 miles this week. I don't think i'm going to stay go up to 130 until after I race at USATF Cross Championships. I don't have a ton of time to try and adapt to 130 mile weeks and hard workouts. kind of funny because it's only 10 less miles but i know that 120 i can still get quality workouts in(for whatever reason)...

Also, i'm no Art Siemers, but I almost got in a fight with a homeless man tonight running. Apparently, I should not be running on the trail at night while homeless people walk and yell at each other... It was scary for him... if he only had a gun...

Track Work...

Since I last posted, I have put in a couple of easy runs. Today, I was able to jump on the indoor track. I was going to run with Nick today, but he had a car accident on La Veta pass. He's car got totalled from the back end. Fortunately, he and his mother are doing fine. Although he does feel really sore from his back and neck from the impact. So I went ahead and did the workout solo.
I warmed up for 14 min. then I did 4x5 200's with 55 sec. in between each and 3 min. in between sets. After cooled down for 14 min. Usually I run them on lane 3, but today I had to run in lane 1 due to some high jump pits and other stuff on lane 3. Felt good to be on the track, although I almost got some blisters... ouch! Until next time.... Peace OUT!

long run on the shortest day of the year

...well sort of a long run--approximately 12 miles from my house around the Boulder reservoir, Coot Lake, and the Twin Lakes. All of the trails were pretty much clear thanks to the warmish weather and sun. This is usually the "gut-check" time of the year when it's cold, windy, icy, and dark outside, but this last week has been very nice for running. I'm coming off of a little time off and building my miles slowly, so as to avoid over-training like I did this summer. I'll probably start racing again in the early spring. I'm looking forward to doing some cross country skiing and showshoe running for cross training when I visit my family in Upper Michigan this next week. Happy holidays everyone.

Pete

Work in progress...

I just got back from the PT office in Boulder to work, yet again, on a hamstring/tendon issue that has plagued me since June. As I sat down to write this, I wasn't sure what to put down but I think that the lessons I have learned in this past year are important to remember in any stage of training.

2009 proved to be a much more challenging year than I had anticipated. I moved up to Denver in 2008 to start grad school to begin what has been a long anticipated career. I had been in Colorado Springs my entire life and was spoiled with trails out my back door, great running partners and friends, and a job at a running store. What more could a runner ask for? My lifestyle and running terrain have changed immensely since then and I find that my body and mind are having a hard time catching up. Pavement was completely foreign to me back at home, but here, there's no avoiding the unforgiving surface. Because of the new changes, I got hurt in November of last year, healed up enough to run marginally in track and then injured my hamstring in June of this year. It's hard not to let the frustration seep in constantly, but luckily school has a way of distracting my mind on most days.

I only write this because as I was driving home today, I had a revelation. If this year of frustration, pain and numerous trips to the PT has taught me anything at all, it's this: running is so much more who I am than what I do. When my leg is especially stubborn, all I want is to run out the door for a pain-free jaunt around the park to melt my stress and clear my lungs. I think back to when training would get especially difficult and how much I would complain about workouts and long runs. What I wouldn't give to be in the middle of a long cycle of training, heading out to the track for 400's. I find that I am much happier person when I am running, so being hurt can make it difficult to live with me (sorry Jay) but I'm learning how to cope and to practice patience. I hope that I can carry this feeling into the future to when I feel too tired, hungry or stressed to run and remember what it was like to not even have the option.

The leg gets better everyday, with only an occasional set-back here and there. I have made great friend and running partner in Denver who has been a great support especially when I am feeling low and who has shown me trails (yay!) in Denver that remind me of home. On the upside, this injury has unearthed a flaw in my form that may have been the culprit of numerous past injuries (thanks to Mark for helping me with the new form and for all the work on the hamstring he has done over the past couple months). Now that I have switched things around, my efficiency and speed has increased tremendously and I can't wait to start track season with a new stride and a new mindset. Here's to 2010!!!

I'm 29!

and I still get excited about my bday! To celebrate this year I decided to run an indoor mile. It may seem like a weird choice since I've been focusing on the marathon. I also almost NEVER run or race on a track anymore. Just not really my thing. But there weren't any road races in Chicago this weekend and I really wanted to do something running-ish for my bday (yes im a huge geek but really I couldnt handle another night out after club cross anyways). So I found a track meet at University of Chicago and decided to give it a go. My coach just told me not to destroy myself and not to get hurt since im not used to doing short stuff. He talked me out of the 800 and I didnt have the guts to ask if I could triple jump (I seriously love tj and used to do it in high school....indoor conference champ one year!)
I registered at 5:05 which I felt was realistic for where I'm at and my big training week. That ranked me 3rd in a field of 10 girls with the fastest girl listed at 4:49. I wasn't sure I would remember how to run the mile and when I was warming up running on turns felt really awkward. But once I got racing it came around. I went out in 4th and felt pretty comfortable. I took the lead just before halfway and came through in 231. I felt really good and it went by really fast. I ended up at 456 and when I finished I couldn't help but smile. It was so much fun to do something different and I felt way better and ran faster than I expected. My parents and this cute english guy I know all came to watch and it was a great day.

I Hope This Thing Works...

I've always believed that a person has reached the pinnacle of Runner Dorkdom once they start blogging about their running. However, at long last I have decided to quit living in denial, stop fighting the feeling, embrace it, and join the ranks. I've never done this before and am a little bit technologically impaired, so we'll see what happens. I might end up writing this whole thing over again.

Speaking of joining the ranks, Cody was generous enough to give me a spot on the BRC team just a couple of days ago. I am pretty stoked to say the least, and it's quite the honor to be able to be part of a team with such tremendous talent and so many accomplishments to boast and I am very thankful for it. It gives you a lot more "umph" when you're working to make something else better in addition to yourself.

Getting up to speed with the training stuff...hmmm...where to start? Well, I just wrapped up my collegiate eligibility after five years of competing for UCCS at the beginning of last March. After a somewhat lengthy layoff for injury post-indoor season, I got things going again around the end of June. It was a bit stop and go until I actually started getting back to doing some pretty solid workouts and mileage at the end of August, and things are going very well now and I feel pretty fantastic. I have run a couple of races during that span of time; one being the RMAC Open 6k in Washington Park towards the end of last October, which went very well. I went there with the intention of it being a rust-buster of sorts, but really didn't feel rusty at all. I initially was worried that I might have forgotten how to race, which seems to happen whenever I'm away from it for a while, but that was not the case and I walked away very pleased with it considering there were some very good runners in that field to keep things honest. Got in some good training for about another month, and ran the Mile Hi Turkey Trot 4 miler (also in Washington Park) on Thanksgiving day. It was another good day and I finished 20-some-odd seconds behind Cass Slade. And I've just been training since then with my sights set on the U.S. Cross Country Championships on February 13th and the hopes of making a world cross team. It'd be sweet to race wearing the U.S.A. and that's pretty much my life's mission at the moment. Obviously it won't be a cake-walk though, so just need to keep grinding away. Training mostly consists of weekly fartlek runs of varying duration and design, hill workouts about every other week, "medium" long runs, and long runs. Plus the little details; drills, strides, core work, and the like.

That's just a brief summary and I'll go into a little more detail down the road, but needless to say, 2009 was a little bit of a (and I hate to say this because I just think it sounds so cliche'...but I'll say it anyway) "re-building year" with not too many races and mostly just getting back on track to where I was back last February, and gaining some more. One of the up-sides to post-college running I have figured out is that you have a little more time on your side to do stuff right and really listen to yourself, rather than having to be hasty and rush things from one race to the next. But I am very pleased to say that I feel like training has been going better than it has in a very long time and I feel better than I have in an even longer time....I feel like a spring chicken again! Hooray! So I am very excited for 2010 and what's to come, and I'm pretty sure that the best is yet to come.

I did 4x200, 1k, 25 min. Tempo,1k, 4x200 with 3 min rest between sets. 55 sec. For between the 200s. Ran 30s for the 2s. 2:42 average for the ks. & 5:14 tempo.

Its way too hard to focus on those things!

Now I know why I haven't been on a treadmill as of late!

I broke a treadmill.

Hello everyone,

Congrats to everyone at Nationals, again. It makes me so happy to be part of a team again and racing for team titles. It adds so much to the racing experience after college, and it was something that was definitely missing before I joined the BRC. To kick it with all of my awesome teammates for a few days really is an amazing experience.

So I had my best cross country season ever, which isn't saying much. :) I never have been particularly strong over 10K. But I feel that I am finally getting the hang of it - and I can't wait to see this newfound strength translate into faster track times!

So it is getting cold here in Gunnison. It is usually between -10 and 5 degrees every morning. Which means that I have been running on my parents' treadmill quite a bit. I can listen to music as loud as I want and run shirtless, so it is a nice setup. Or...it WAS a nice setup. Because yesterday my fat *ss cracked their treadmill. I literally cracked the thing in half. I mean, I have been letting loose a little bit after Nationals, but I didn't think it had come to this. I was at about 4.5 miles of a 6 mile run, and I heard a loud crack. I was still able to run, but I could feel the center of the treadmill was giving way too much, so I knew something wasn't right. So I finished the final mile and a half toward the very front of the treadmill, nervous that the whole thing was going to completely break, the belt coming unattached and whipping my legs from under me, throwing me back against the wall directly behind the treadmill, rendering me from gaining my footing as the treamdill continued to run...spewing my blood and guts all over my parents' study. It seemed like a good scene for Final Destination 7...or whatever number they're on.

Luckily, I just finished the run and turned the thing over to find that it was indeed cracked right down the middle. The price of being a 170 pound distance runner, I guess.

Anyhow, crisis averted. I will figure out a new place to do my morning runs and I will see you all tearing up the track/road-racing scene this Spring!

Paul

It works?

OMG!!!!!!

Hey guys and gals! hope everyone is doing well! First off, Congrats to everyone at Club Nats again! Just wanted to let everyone know that I truly enjoy being a part of Boulder Running Company/Adidas. Makes me feel like part of a family!
Anyways... since then, I took a couple days off. Started running back on Tuesday. Didn't want to come back too strong, being that those days off was my transition for a long time. Today will be my first hard workout since last Saturday. The reason behind the Title of my blog tonight is due to Plachy Hall @ Adams State College. Me and Nick Lara were about to do a workout on the indoor track today around 2:30 p.m. today. I waited for him for a minute at the track, when a janitor that is employed at Adams told me that the whole facility was closed due to graduation tomorrow.
Myself and Nick decided to jump on the Alter-G treadmill and do the workout there. Once again, another janitor told us that nobody should be in there due to the cleaning and getting ready for graduation ceremony. Nick spoke with the Athletic Cordinator @ Adams, and even with his help... we had no luck doing the workout!
So here I am waiting for later hours to go back when nobody is around and get to that Alter-G!!!
I don't know exactly what i'm doing... but I will come back and write about it when I finish(hopefully I can jump on it first off)!
Stay tuned!!!!!

Good weekend of work.

Boulder Running Co./adidas defends women's team title; men of ZAP Fitness win third team crown at USATF National Club Cross Country Championships.

LEXINGTON - The women of Boulder Running Company/adidas successfully defended their title and the Zap Fitness men won their third team championship in four years Saturday at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships at Masterson Station Park in Lexington, Ky.

The 12th annual USATF National Club Cross Country Championships featured mare than 1,000 athletes representing America's top post-collegiate club teams from across the United States. Athletes competed for a total prize purse of $30,000, as well as team and individual titles at 10-kilometer for men and 6-kilometer for women.

In the open women's race, Serena Burla (Ellisville, Mo.), used the final one-kilometer uphill to pull away for the individual title, running 20:23 for the 6 km course. Kim Conley (West Sacramento, Calif.) took the runner-up spot, finishing in 20:36 as Alissa McKaig (Blowing Rock, N.C.) finished third in 20:38.

In the team race the Boulder Running Company/adidas had more of a fight on their hands as they dueled with McMillan Elite through mid-race before pulling away for a 15 point win. The Asics Aggies took third with 109 points.

In the men's open race, David Jankowski (Blowing Rock, N.C.) made a decisive move at 4.5 miles to pull away from Josh Simpson (Morgantown, W.V.) for the individual win, running 29:18 for a nine second win over Simpson. Jankowski's teammate David Nightingale (Blowing Rock, N.C.) took third in 29:40 to help solidify ZAP's 32 point team victory over Boulder Running Company/adidas. International City Racing Track Club finished third in the team standings with 96 points.

Hey Guys and Gals,
I just talked to my coach Andy Downin and it looks like my spring racing plan is USA Cross Country Championships feb., Gate River Run 15k march, and Nashville Marathon April 24th!