Ocean to Sound

Ocean to Sound

Men and Women Open Champions

Men Four Peat Champions!

Women Back 2 Back!

Beach to Beacon 10k & Training

Beach to Beacon has to be hands down the coolest race that I was at that I did not participate in. For starters we drive up the Friday before and meet with a host family when we arrive. At this race instead of putting elite runners in a hotel they have them stay with a local family for the weekend. That was really neat. The family we got paired up with was an Italian family that comes from Long Island, small world. Anyway the family pretty much acted like our slaves for the weekend. We didn't ask them to but they were always asking what can they do to help Leo with her race.

Race morning comes the alarm sounds at 5 AM, the race gun goes off at 8 AM. Leo likes to be up at least 3 hours prior to her race so she can eat a nice meal and relax a little bit. The elite athletes were asked to be at the Elite tent near the starting line around 7AM for final instructions and all that good stuff.

We dropped Leo of at that tent at 6:55 AM and then headed to the finish line area. Since Leo was an elite runner we had VIP passes that gave us parking near the finish, our own bleachers to watch the finish and our own breakfast buffet of bagels, rolls, doughnuts and refreshments.

While waiting at the finish area for Leo to come running down the final stretch was killing me, I was also very anxious. I knew that she was in very good shape and could run a fast time. Here is a video of all the finishers from the Male winner down to about 34:30. Leo ran 33:25 (5:23 per mile pace)



Once the race was over there was a sense of relief. Leo finished 5th overall winning $1,000 and beating Catherine Ndereba. There was an awards ceremony then a big party for all the elite runners and the volunteers. The Beach to Beacon 10k was such a cool experience I would recommend it to anyone.

Beach to Beacon Results
Beach to Beacon Photos
Beach2beacon.org

Training the Last 2 Weeks

Camp Week

Monday August 2nd - 10 miles on a grass loop.
Tuesday - AM 40 minutes PM 8 miles with a fartlek of 2:30 on 60 off 60 on 2 min off 5x.
Wednesday - AM 3 PM 7
Thursday - 8 miles on the hilly roads PM 7 miles with cut down hill repeats.
Friday - AM 6 miles PM 4 miles
Saturday - AM watch B2B PM 9 miles
Sunday - 17 miles over the B2B course 2x with add ons.

Week Total - 85 YTD Miles -2291

Back Home

Monday August 9th - AM 5 PM 9 miles, nice shakeout runs.
Tuesday - 10 mile cut down - 1st 3 @7min Middle 4 @6:17 Last 3 @5:45, solid work.
Wednesday - easy 12 miles run
Thursday - AM 5 PM 9 miles with the Saucony Group Run @ SRC
Friday - WO w/ Leo 10 miles with 8 x 2 minute (90 sec) fartlek, another solid work load.
Saturday - AM & PM 5 mile recovery plods.
Sunday - 2 hour run at Connetquot closing the few fast, about 17 miles.

Week Total - 87 YTD Miles - 2378

My legs are getting used to the heavy miles and I am really enjoying it, WEIRDO! I am looking to hope in some races here and there. I will keep you guys posted.

N.P.R. - Day 3 & 4 - SQ

Each day of the week was set up the same. The only thing that was changed was the different talks that were given.

On Wednesday the first talk of the day was a Nutrition talk from the camp nurse. It sounds as fun as it was. It was very informative but it was just like every other health class nutrition talks, boring. They had a handout that went along with the talk so hopefully some of the kids will have a read over the information and use it in their daily routine.

From the nutrition talk the kids moved to a mass yoga session in the gym. I didn't attend because I was getting ready for the trip to the beach. At the beach I went for a run that went out to a National Bird Sanctuary. It was a crushed cement trail much like the trail at VCP in the bronx. We hung out at the beach for a while. After the run the ocean water was very refreshing to jump in and cool off.

Ok I am not going to lie, these blogs are getting pretty boring. Sorry about that, we learned all the really cool stuff the first two days at camp and then status quo for the rest of the week. I am currently up in Maine and much rather be talking about the Beach to Beacon 10k that Leo raced in today. I will post all that in my next blog.

I loved that camp and look forward to heading back next summer and getting in some more solid training just as I did this past week.

NPR - Day 2 - F.T.D.

Pat Tyson getting the morning groups ready to run. Look at that studs in the background.

Day two started with a firm knock on my door at 6:30 AM. I awoke went to the bathroom splashed some water on my face to wake me a little more. I returned back to the room, got dressed for a morning shake out run. I grabbed a bite out of a clif bar and took some swigs from my water bottle before heading down to the track to meet with the campers.Once at the track we regrouped into our training groups. The groups then head off for a 20, 30, or 40 minute run. We ran for 40 minutes which was a little over 5 miles, the pace was brisk but not too fast as we have a workout in the afternoon.

After the run the kids are free to stretch, stride and do some drills. Then they are to shower and get ready for breakfast at 8:15 AM. The food for breakfast is the basics, cereal, milk, yogurt, and some fruit. They also have some stations for pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausage, and some egg sandwiches.

Breakfast ends at 9:15 and the kids move to the lecture hall for a seminar. This morning the lecture is from Pat Tyson, Steve McChesney and Bill Dellinger. They are talking to the camp about the 5 Principles of Oregon. Those guys were kind enough to let us in on the secret training that has been working at the University of Oregon since the early 1950's.

Moderation

Injury and burnout are the two biggest problems that any runner experiences. The most common cause is over training. It is better to under train than over train as a runner. "Less is more!"

Progression

This is when you make gradual changes in your training. This is where runners learn to increase mileage early in their training and gradually work toward interval training as the program progresses along.

Adaptability

Is learning to change in situations that are not ideal, but definitely common amongst training programs. Any circumstances that may affect your training like weather or your personal health for example.

Variation

Always change your training. At times you made need to concentrate on speed, endurance, hills and location of your training. By varying your workouts you can stay mentally fresher and strengthen your body.

Callusing

Doing things in your training that will make you mentally and physically tougher. You must be prepared to race in whatever condition you may encounter.

Pat Tyson continued the seminar by walking everyone outside to the nearest field. Here he showed the campers a quick yoga routine and core routine. It was one of the toughest things I have ever done. I felt like I was going to vomit, it was so freaking intense.

Here I am trying out one of the posses during the yoga session.

After the yoga and core, Steve McCee got on the mic and gave a quick speech about all this leads to what he likes to call FTD - Fight the Demons. Basically the demons represent the negative that you may encounter in your life for your training and schoolwork. These come in all forms, from friends wanting to go to the mall instead of running or your mental demons of 'do the core or don't do the core', just to name a few examples.

Then we were dismissed to lunch. If you thought the last two meals sounded good then this lunch wont disappoint either. I cant even remember everything that was on the menu but it started with a loaded salad bar, then moved to appetizers, entrees and desserts as the line progressed. So much food to try and not enough stomach space to try it all!

Lunch had some relaxation time and then some team wiffle ball. The wiffle lasted over the course of 2 days and since I am typing to you a day after day 2 I will let you in on the spoiler. My team finished 2nd in the tournament losing a sudden death bat off in the championship game. It came down to who could hit it the ball the furthest on one pitch. Sad to say that we lost that.

The Boys waiting for the afternoon workout to start.

Wiffle ball merged into the afternoon workout. The workout that the Men of Oregon laid out for the campers was a staple that they used in the 70's. It was a 2:30/1:00 fartlek session. It went 2 minutes 30 seconds hard, then 1 minute of jogging, then 1 minute harder and finished with 2 minutes jogging. We were to repeat the workout over the 5k course, most groups got in 4-6 sets of the workout. They also threw in a 10 minute warm up and however long of a cool down.

After the workout was finished we had an hour of downtime before dinner would start. Most went back to the room to shower and relax. From dinner, which was delicious again, we went to a seminar where there was more talk of FTD and that lead into a chat on Steve Prefontaine and his legacy. The evening wound down with a viewing of Fire on the Track, a documentary on the life of Pre. It was great because many of the speakers in the video are the men that are running this camp.

My head hit the pillow at 10:30 PM to get my body rested and ready for the next day.

Newport Running Camp - Day 1

I am heading up with the Boys and Girls of St. John the Baptist Cross Country for Running Camp 2010. I will give you readers insight on the day to day workings of the camp. I will share my experience with you.

Monday started early, 6:00 AM, had to make the bus at SJB. I arrived at SJB at 7:30 and the bus rolled out of the parking lot at 8:00. We had a long 4 and a half hour drive up to Newport Running Camp, in Newport RI.

The camp is put on by the Men of Oregon, Pat Tyson (Pre's Roommate in College), Matt Cetnrowitz (Previous American 5000 meter Record Holder) and many others that I will name drop throughout the week of camp.

The bus ride was surprisingly smooth sailing through New York, into Connecticut and into Rhode Island. According to the driver, David Wood, we made it in record time for a Monday morning departure. We stopped briefly at the last rest stop in Connecticut grabbed a snack and potty breaks.

We arrived at the camp at 12:30, just as camp registration was starting. By One O'clock I have been introduced to Matt Sr, Matt Jr, Pat Tyson and Steve McChesney (Teammate of Pre). While meeting these fine men they are trying to get a bed for me to sleep on. I am hanging out by the registration area and I meet some more running legends, Bill Dellinger (Bronze Medal 64, and Pre's Coach) and Nick Rogers (2000 Olympian 5000 meters). All the guys are very friendly out going people.

Finally at 3:30 I have a room and a bed? well not exactly someone stole the bed in my room so they can use it in a friends room. I quickly found the bed and got my room set up. We were meeting for a run at 4.

All the kids and counselors gather, Pat Tyson welcomes everyone to camp and we get grouped up and head out for a run. I get grouped with Group 1, kids that have run sub 17 minutes for a 5k XC. There is only about 10 of them so it is a nice small group. The kids want to run for 45 minutes, so that's what I do. After running with them for 45 minutes I added on to make it a full 10 mile run.

We are running around the grounds of a boarding school that has acres and acres of fields. So much land that they are able to make an all grass 5k XC course no problem. The loop turns around the fields, up and down hillside and through some wooded trail. Over all it is a very challenging fun loop.

After the run the kids are free to stretch and do strides if they feel up to it. They are also encouraged to mingle with the other campers and get to know one another. I so happen to be sitting next to Lauren Centrowitz, a post collegiate professional runner. I introduce myself, we get to talking about racing and other things. Extremely nice and friendly atmosphere, just like the others.

The evening wound down with a catered BBQ out by the basketball courts. They had biscuits, cornbread, salad, potato salad, Cole slaw, baked beans, corn, ribs, chicken, steak and ice cream. The meal was so good, I would have to argue that the baked beans were the best beans that I have ever eaten.

That led into a meeting with Intros of the staff, counselors and coaches that were with them this week. They even made myself and Coach Wood introduce ourselves. Then Nick Rogers spoke about his running experiences and other things. That prompted them to a video of the 1964 Olympic 5000 meter final were Bill Dellinger finished in 3rd. After the video there was a quick Q&A for Pat Tyson and he described how the next day would work.

Pat then broke all the campers into 12 teams, I was made Captain of team 11. There is 9 Campers and 2 counselors on the team. We tried to break the ice by coming up with a team name. That was very unsuccessful, one kid googled a bunch of names on his cell phone and came back with Buccaneers, Steelers, and Mighty Ducks. One kids spoke up and said Speedy Soles, I came up with We Are Here for the Food. In the end we voted on the name Speedy Soles.

The teams were dismissed to hangout till lights out at 10:15 PM. Woody arranged a SJB meeting at 9:45, it was meant to be "10 minutes". Anyone that knows Woody knows that's not the case. The meeting went more like 20 minutes, we were dismissed from that and I escaped back to my room to fall asleep and type this blog. Tomorrow looks to be a fun day.

**I have photos to add to this blog but have not uploaded them yet. Once I do that I will add them.**

Run to Cure CF 2010

July - A New Beginning

Last 2 Weeks of Training

June 28th - AM 3 PM 8

June 29th - 9 miles

June 30th - AM 3 PM Workout, 8x400 meter hills @ 5:40 pace jog down recovery 10 total

July 1st - AM 3 PM 5

July 2nd - Easy 7

July 3rd - AM 5 PM 5

July 4th - 16 miles in the trails of Connetqout Park

Week 74 miles YTD 1890 miles

Near the Start of Bellport Clipper Classic

July 5th - AM 3 PM 8

July 6th - 10 miles in crazy heat

July 7th - AM 3 PM 7x60 seconds with 60 seconds rest, 9 total.

July 8th - AM 4 PM 6

July 9th - 7 miles

July 10th - 8 miles

July 11th - AM 5 miles PM Bellport Clipper Classic 5k 9 total

Week Total 72 miles YTD - 1962 miles

Clipper Classic Race Report

At the start of the race a ton of High School and College runners jetted out in an all out sprint. I decided before the race that I would hold back and go through the mile in around 5:10. That is exactly what I did, I hit the 1st mile at 5:12. At that point I had over taken all but two of the HS and College runners that went out too hard.

After the 1st mile I put a surge in to break up the group that I was running with, it worked. I could see the other two guys start coming back to me as well. I spent all of t he 2nd mile gaining ground on the first 2 places. I went through 2 miles in 10:34, a 5:22 mile. I continued to push in the last mile, at this point the 1st place guy pulled away from 2nd place and left him in no mans land. I continued to reel 2nd place in.

As we approached the 3rd mile marker I pulled up on the 2nd place guy and momentarily passed him. We battled for 100 meters and with 100 meters left he found another gear that I didn't have. At that point I threw up the white flag and cruised in for 3rd place at 16:24.

This race I was way more satisfied with then the last one. I kept my shit together the whole time. I will be back in action at the SRC 5k Time Trial next Wednesday and after that who knows.

Weekend Ahead

In the weekend ahead Leonora Joy-Petrina will be running at the Long Island Women's 5k Road Champs in Farmingdale on Saturday. Also participating from SRC will be Katie Rees and a few other women.

On the following day Brendan and a few other SRC guys will be heading over to the Thunder Run 5k at Hidden Pond Park. I look for Brendan to take down my course record of 16:20 through the hills of Hauppauge.

June Update(s)

Sorry for being so slack with the updates, I have been caught up in the World Cup. However now that the USofA has been eliminated I am good to resume my blogging.

My training has been going, not well but not terrible either. Today I tested to see where my fitness is at the Run Around the Lake 4 Miler in Lake Ronkonkoma, NY. Talk about a tough course, for a South Shore Long Islander. I wanted to go out and run conservative at first and then try and work the back half of the course.

So I did the complete opposite of that. I went out in 5:15 and progressively got slower each mile after that. The hills hit me hard in that last mile. What I am taking from this is that it was a good rust busting workout.

I have a few more weeks till my next race and I hope to get in some solid mileage and workouts in to help with the leg turnover. Keep checking for updates on the blog.

On June 19th the 2nd race in the Sayville Summer Series took place, the Diamond Dash Race for a Cure 5k. Here are a few links to race video, results and much more, well not really much more.

Sayville Running Company

Race Video on SRC YouTube

Sayville Summer Series 2010

I know there is not much here to go on, I promise I will update with my actually training during the week, when I have a free moment. Till then Hit The Crete...

June 12th 2010 Recap

So this past weekend was a big one for the Sayville Running Company. The Keith Nintzel 5k, the 1st race in the Sayville Summer Series, came and went. SRC also had a staff member up in Boston running the New Balance Twilight Meet. Overall the weekend was a great success for the crew at Sayville Running Company.

Keith Nintzel 5k

Top honors of the race went to SRC team member Shawn Pollard, clocking in with a time of 15:50. Shawn took the race from the gun and led wire to wire. Check out the race video here:

Here are the results from the rest of the crew from SRC:

1-POLLARD, Shawn 24 PORT JEFF STATION ... Overall Male 15:50.676

4-GREEN, Christopher 24 STONY BROOK NY USA M20-24 16:10.155

5-BARRETT, Casey 20 SAYVILLE NY USA M20-24 16:30.229

7-SIEPIELA, Adam 30 LONG BEACH NY USA M30-34 16:38.713

9-MCCRISTALL, Mike 22 HAUPPAUGE NY USA M20-24 17:00.780

10-SOLTAN, Ryan 26 SAYVILLE NY USA M25-29 17:08.867

12-BARRETT, Brendan 26 SAYVILLE NY USA M25-29 17:15.374

13-MURPHY, Paul 46 SAYVILLE NY USA M45-49 17:16.087

14-GRABOSKY, Jeffrey 27 ALEXANDRIA VA USA M25-29 17:34.000

17-CONNORS, Matt 35 BRIGHTWATERS NY U... M35-39 18:13.173

23-HENDERSON, Tim 40 SAYVILLE NY USA M40-44 19:29.793

28-NOLAN, Michael 47 SAYVILLE NY USA M45-49 19:47.11

36-MULLANEY, Bill 45 SAYVILLE NY USA M45-49 20:04.047

65-CARVER, Eric 44 PATCHOGUE NY USA M40-44 21:13.967

...if I missed anyone I am sorry. Full Results Here

Also a big Thank you and Job well done needs to go out to Brendan Barrett, the guy bends over backwards for the race. I got to see him behind the scenes and he is as dedicated as they come. Great Job!

We also got some other sweet footage from the Race. Check out the finish line camera:

Finishers 15:50 - 26:10 Here

Finishers 26:10 - 36:00 Here

Finishers 36:00 - 45:10 Here

There will be more videos to come from the Keith Nintzel 5k 2010, you can find them on the SRC YouTube Channel. Here is a link to all photos taken at the race from Discover Sayville. Thank you for all the support and we look forward to 2011.

Keep a look out as I will be at the Diamond Dash 5k which is the 2nd race in the Sayville Summer Series on June 19th 2010.

New Balance Boston Twilight Meet 4

Also on Saturday June 12th was the NB Twilight Meet 4 where we had fellow staff member and my wife Leonora Joy-Petrina run in the Featured Women's 5000 meter race. Leo ran a 35 second personal best of 15:50 to win the event by 43 seconds. Check out the Results Here.

Interview with Leo from Flotrack.org

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

You can also check out my previous blog where Leonora ran a very fast workout the Tuesday before this race. Keep checking back to see what Leo decides to do with the rest of her season.

As for me my running is coming along, I will be sure to blog about it shortly. Until the next post Keep On Running!

Workout Tuesday

Workout Tuesday with Leonora Joy-Petrina. Saucony Hurricane and staff member at Sayville Running Company.

In this workout Leonora ran 4x800 in 2:30 with 3 minutes rest and then finished it off with 2x400 in 1:10 with 2 minutes rest. Her actual splits from the workout were 800's - 2:27, 2:29, 2:30, 2:29 and 400's - 1:10, 1:09. Leonora did this workout after she got back from Boston where she raced in the New Balance Invitational Women's Steeplechase on June 5th.

Here are the results:

1 Shayla Houlihan Women Talk S 10:03.73

2 Roisin McGettigan New Balance 10:07.36

3 Leonora Joy-Petrina Saucony/Sayv 10:11.16

4 Jacqueline Wentz MIT 10:13.28

5 Stephanie Reilly NB Boston 10:20.55

6 Andrea Parker Women Talk S 10:26.19

7 Dana Buchanan New Balance 10:55.66

8 Lesley Higgins New York AC 11:02.58

9 Lydia Willemse Canada 11:13.21

10 Stephanie Perleberg Women Talk S 11:44.38

The workout is getting Leonora ready to race at the final New Balance Twilight Meet running in the Invitational 5000 meter race on June 12th. Wish Leonora luck as she heads to Boston for the weekend race.

Moving Forward

Now that the training for the Half Marathon has come and gone it is time for me to refocus and head in a new direction. Only for the time being.

I know in my heart that I want to run hard half marathons and marathons, but the build ups are just killing me. I went into long island half marathon slightly over trained and with a bit of heaviness in the legs. I need to learn from this and twist a few things in my training before I get out there again.

In the short term I am going to work on my overall base. I am going to log miles with some long hard efforts twice a week. Get my body used to running long and hard. During this time I will jump into a few road races here and there, with nothing specific coming to mind at the moment. These will be to just test my overall fitness.

Since the half I have been doing a good job of letting my body recover. They say that when you race it takes the body the same number of days to recover for the miles you raced. Thirteen days is a long time, especially when you are itching to get back after it. I know I have to be patient because I have made the mistake before and I don't want to be a repeat offender.

The recovery has looked like this:
Week 1 - 5/3 - 5/9
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday - 25 minutes of easy jogging
Sunday - 6 miles running

Week 2 - 5/10 - 5/16
Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday - 40 minutes easy running
Tuesday - 8 miles running
and the rest of the week is yet to happen but the plan is Friday and Saturday 40 minutes running, then Sunday 10 miles.

I will check back with the audience(Is there even an audience for this blog?) as the weeks go by with updates in training and plans. Till the next time!

Taper Week One

April 19th - Easy 8 miles in the PM.
April 20th - AM 4 miles PM 8 miles w/strides
April 21st - WO Fartlek 6,5,4,3,2,1, w/ half rest. Avg. 5:18 5:14 5:15 5:03 4:50 4:20, felt good legs got going halfway through the workout.
April 22nd - Cruisey 8 miles
April 23rd - AM 5 miles PM 3 miles with 6x100 meter strides.
April 24th - 6 miles with Pollard and Jacobs @SRC Prediction run, a little faster then would of liked.
April 25th - WO 20WU/CD 27 min hard effort 7 minute float 11 min hard effort. Rain and wind, tough to judge pace but averaged 6:15 pace for the whole 14 mile run.

67 miles for the week and YTD 1350 miles.

We are exactly one week out from the half marathon. It has been my lowest weekly mileage since November 2009 and the legs are coming around. The workout on Wednesday went according to plan which was nice. Got this last week to put the finishing touches on my fitness and then look out LI Half Marathon.

Two Weeks Out

Okay so it has been awhile since you last heard from me. I am two weeks out from my goal race at the Long Island Marathon. Training has been up and down for me over the past three weeks. I am starting to taper and get a little more intensity into my running schedule before I really cut the mileage next week for the big race.

Here is how it has been going ...

Race Simulation Week

March 29th - AM Easy 4 PM Cruisey 8 mile run
March 30th - 10 miles averaging 6:40's @SRC group run.
March 31st - Fartlek WO 25 min WU and 20 min CD, 6x 2:15 w/ 2 min rest and 5x45sec w/ 60 rest. Averaged 6:30 for the whole fartlek, went well in my opinion got stronger and faster with each rep.
April 1st - 10 mile plod.
April 2nd - 6 miles with 6 strides.
April 3rd - Race Simulation Run - 7 miles at 5:23 pace, 5:17 last mile...went well but not great. Got a few more weeks to sort my shit out.
April 4th - Easter Sunday - Run from Bayport to West Babylon - 20 miles at 6:35 pace.

81 miles for the week and YTD 1129 miles.

Regrouping the Troops

April 5th - 10 miles with Soltan, B and Leo.
April 6th - AM Easy 4 PM WO 3wu/cd 10x65 seconds, felt good , smooth and strong.
April 7th - AM 4 PM 8 after being at a track meet with the kids, legs are a little heavy.
April 8th - 13 miles, started out shitty and finished well.
April 9th - WU 3 CD 2, 1 mile 514, 2 mile 10:23, 2 mile 1030, 1 mile 4:58 with 3 minutes rest. Felt good and got stronger as the WO went on.
April 10th - 9 w/ soltan and b after work.
April 11th - 14 miles at 7AM at a 715 overall pace, got faster as we moved along.

83 miles for the week and YTD 1211 miles.

Princeton Week

April 12th - 10 miles at a decent clip.
April 13th - 20 min WU 30 min CD - WO 800 1k 1200 1k 800 w/ 2 min rest - 224 300 335 259 221, felt good, got the pace in my legs for the race Friday night. 72's...
April 14th - AM 4 PM 8 done as recovery runs, legs were heavy.
April 15th - 40 min running with strides.
April 16th - Race at Princeton 15:20-15:25, do not have an official time was not in the results for some reason.
April 17th - easy 6 miles recovery.
April 18th - 16 miles with 30 second surges every 3 miles, 6:45 pace for the run.

72 miles for the week and YTD 1283 miles.

Had good workouts during the last span of training, just the race didn't go as planned. I have a few more days to get the rust out of my system and get ready to rock n roll at the LI Half Marathon.

I will see you in a week with an update before the LI Half.

Back Half of March

March 15th - AM Easy 8 Wind & Rain PM Windy 4

March 16th - 14 miles twice over the SRC loop followed by 5x50's, 650 pace for the last 7.

March 17th - AM WO 4 x (2min-90sec-60sec) with 60 sec rest in between each rep. Still heavy from race, but good to get the efforts in. PM Easy 5 with the SJB kids.

March 18th - Easy 10

March 19th - Villanova distance clinic, 40 minute run during lunch. 5 miles

March 20th - AM Cruisey 8 PM Easy 4

March 21st - 20 miles with 1 minute bursts every 2-3 miles (8 total) 645 pace, felt real smooth.

89 miles for the week and YTD 966 miles.

Video of Me Heading towards the Finish ASPIRE 10K

March 22nd - AM Easy 3 PM 8 in some rain with B and Soltan.

March 23rd - 13 miles 7 min pace, 2 x the SRC loop.

March 24th - WO 3WU/CD 3xmile (513 510 513) 2x5min fartlek 2 minute rest. Windy heavy run on trails near SJB, legs a bit heavy will get through it.

March 25th - easy relaxed 12 mile run, 715 pace.

March 26th - easy 5 miles.

March 27th - ASPIRE 10k 32:40, 3rd Overall 1st Age Group - Fast start (450 mile) hills and wind, little bit of a chill. After the fast start I settled in nicely over some hills and inclines 1610 at 5k, continued to push to 4 miles (21:00) mile 5 was 90% downhill (455) up and down over the last mile for a final 5k of 16:30 and a 32:40 total time. It is a personal record and I will take it. Wasn't feeling that great heading in but very positive coming out of the race.

March 28th - Relaxed 16 miles with Leo.

82 miles for the week and 1048 YTD.

I am 5 weeks out from the Long Island Half Marathon and really looking forward to it. It will be another solid 2 weeks of training. 3 weeks from now I am looking at getting on the track and running a fast 5k. We are getting down to the nitty gritty and I am dropping my head and grinding ahead!

GLIRC News

Email from the Greater Long Island Running Club March 17th 2010

March March March

March 4th Week

March 1st - AM Easy 3 PM 8 at a cruise pace with strides afterward.
March 2nd - 14 mile run with the SRC group, 6:53 pace.
March 3rd - WO 4WU/CD 2 sets of 10x30 seconds with 30 seconds off, 4 minutes between sets. Tough weather and a tough workout make for a solid day.
March 4th - Easy 10 miler
March 5th - AM 7 in a snowy sloppy mess PM 6 in shorts and a long sleeve.
March 6th - AM 8 in really nice weather for the first time in a long time PM 4 miles with B&Leo.
March 7th - Baller Workout - 18 mile cut down starting the 1st 6 miles at 6:38 pace, the next 6 miles at 6:13 pace and the final 6 miles at 5:51 pace. 6:14 average pace for the whole 18 miles, until mile 16 I was running smooth and effortless it felt like, the last two miles I felt like I was starting to work. All in all a very solid workout if I must say.

90 miles for the week and YTD 797 miles.

KINGS PARK
15 KILOMETER RUN
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Kings Park, New York

    TOT DIV                                                                FIRST 10K          LAST 5K          TOTAL
  PLC PLC    NAME                    CITY                 ST AGE S   plc   time  pace  plc    time  pace    TIME  PACE
  === ====   ======================= ==================== == === =  ================= ================== =============
   1   1/12   Michael Petrina         Bayport              NY  24 M    1   34:12  5:31    1   17:21  5:35   51:33  5:32
  2   2/12   James Barracca          Center Moriches      NY  23 M    2   34:13  5:31    4   17:41  5:42   51:54  5:34
  3   1/12   Brendan Barrett         Sayville             NY  26 M    3   34:53  5:37    2   17:31  5:38   52:23  5:38
  4   3/12   Christopher Green       Stony Brook          NY  24 M    6   35:02  5:39    5   17:46  5:43   52:48  5:40
  5   4/12   Billy Holl              North Babylon        NY  23 M    4   34:57  5:38    7   18:29  5:57   53:26  5:44
  6   5/12   Brian Mongeon           Long Island City     NY  24 M    7   36:28  5:53    3   17:36  5:40   54:03  5:48
  7   2/12   Felipe Garcia           Brooklyn             NY  27 M    5   34:58  5:38   15   19:15  6:12   54:13  5:49
  8   1/17   Shaun McGrath           Lynbrook             NY  31 M    9   36:34  5:53    8   18:36  6:00   55:10  5:56
  9   2/17   Doug Boyer              Coram                NY  30 M   10   37:18  6:01    6   18:24  5:56   55:42  5:59
 10   6/12   Angel Confesor          Brooklyn             NY  24 M    8   36:34  5:53   22   19:55  6:25   56:28  6:04
 11   3/12   Chris Koegel            Malverne             NY  26 M   11   37:47  6:05    9   18:49  6:04   56:35  6:05
 12   4/12   Michael Marrone         Hauppauge            NY  25 M   12   37:53  6:06   11   19:00  6:07   56:52  6:06
 13   7/12   Matthew Eble            Ridge                NY  20 M   14   38:06  6:08   10   18:57  6:06   57:02  6:08
 14   1/19   Mark Carbone            Bellerose            NY  38 M   13   37:56  6:07   16   19:25  6:15   57:20  6:10
 15   1/7    Michael Brannigan       E.Northport          NY  13 M   16   38:42  6:14   12   19:04  6:09   57:45  6:12

KP 15K Week

March 8th - Easy 10 miles
March 9th - 14 miles at 6:55 pace
March 10th - AM WO 3WU/CD Fartlek 4x6:15(3 min rest) then 5x50's. Really Nice out, got faster as the efforts went on. Felt real smooth! PM Easy 3
March 11th - Easy 8 miles
March 12th - 5 miles during the start of what would become the shittiest rain storm so far.

March 13th - Kings Park 15k, what a glorious morning, 2 reasons why. 1) For the result above and 2) the weather was so nice, Rain, Wind and Cold! 2WU 3CD 1st overall after a nice battle with JB for 7 miles. The race went out quickly and then settled into a pace and myself and JB found ourselves shoulder to shoulder til around mile 7 with no one breaking a stride. Around mile 7 I put in a surge and I felt a gap grow and I just continued that surge all the way to the finish. It was definitely one of the best races I have been involved in so far in my running career. Congratulations to the other SRC guys as well!

March 14th - Easy EAsy EASy EASY 14 at River Road.

80 miles for the week and 877 YTD miles.

The next two weeks is lining up to be another solid block of training and racing. The Aspire 10k is March 27th, be there or be square! A train through race but definitely going to be a good one. Til next time...

End of February Recap

Photo from the Alumni Mile on February 13th 2010.

Back to Work Week

February 15th - AM Easy 3 PM 8 at a nice solid pace
February 16th -12 mile run in a crazy shitty snow storm, averaged 7 minute pace through that crap.
February 17th - AM Easy 3 PM WO 3 WU/CD 7 x 3 min with 2 min rest Windy and Cold but the WO went well in my opinion.
February 18th - 10 miles at a relaxed pace
February 19th - AM 4 Easy PM 7 at a cruisey pace, had a bathroom issue so cut that run a little short.
February 20th - WO 3.25 WU/CD 5 mile Tempo at 522 per mile pace then 6x50 meter strides.
February 21st - RiverRoad 20 miles with Henderson and Nettuno, rolled the last 5 miles at a 640 pace.

89 miles for the week and YTD 625 miles.

Track 5000 Meters Week

February 22nd - 8 miles w/ Soltan & B with 6 x strides
February 23rd - AM 4 easy PM WO 20 min WU/CD 5 x 220 with 2 min rest and then 5 x 50 with 1 min rest. Another crappy weather workout, but it felt solid to me.
February 24th - 14 mile mid week long run in the rain and wind. Solid 651 pace for the whole run.
February 25th - Crap day, easy 10 miler.
February 26th - Snow Day from Hell. AM easy 3 miles in snow and slush.

- PM travel to the armory in NYC for 2 hours, sit there for 6 hours and then run my first indoor track 5k in over two years. Ran 15:28, not too sure of the splits but I got out there and raced. Kept an even pace throughout and picked people off one by one. Really happy with the race considering the long day I had. Oh Yeah, the race went off at 10 to 10pm, I am almost always in bed at that time. Then long travel back home.

February 27th - 7 miles easy peasy.
February 28th - 16 miles over the Kings Park 15k course, several different ways.

82 miles for the week, 331 miles for the month of February (11.9 miles per day average) and 707 YTD miles. 2010 is shaping up to be a solid year of training. Lets see what March has to offer.


Next up on my plate is the Kings Park 15k, it is over a challenging 9.3 mile course through the hilly roads of Kings Park. Here is a look at a Course Map. I am really looking forward to this race, it will be a good indication of where my fitness is as I head towards the Long Island Half Marathon at the beginning of May. I have no goals for the race other then to run hard and get out there and compete.

I will check back after the Kings Park 15k which is Saturday March 13th. Check here on the day for the Results.

February Mid Month Report

So far so good, everything seems to be ticking on all cylinders. No major complaints. Base building is a boring, repetitive process that must be done. Here is what February has looked like so far.

February 1st - AM Easy 4 PM Easy 4
February 2nd - 10 miles at 645 pace with the guys of SRC.
February 3rd - AM 3 miles through some snow. PM - WO 3 mile warm up and cool down 1 mile in 4:52 and then 10 x 200 @ 32
February 4th - 13 mile, mid week long run @ a nice cruisey pace.
February 5th - 10 miles in cold nasty weather.
February 6th - AM - Easy 3 miles PM - WO 15 minute WU 3 mile CD, 5 mile tempo in shitty crap wind. First 3 miles in 17 minutes, crushed the last 2 miles in 10:30.
February 7th - 19 miles @ 6AM, heavy winds and very cold. 655 pace for the run.

86 Miles for the week and YTD 462.

Freshen Up Week,
February 8th - AM 3 PM 5 both at an easy pace to help recover from the 19 miler.
February 9th - 13 miles with the SRC boys, 655 total average pace but 630's for the last 5 miles.
February 10th - AM 3 on the treadmill PM Treadmill workout 10 x 90 seconds (90 sec.) at 5% grade on 10 mph.
February 11th - AM 7 miles on some icy shitty roads, PM was not much better 3 miles on that same icy shit.
February 12th - 6 miles in the AM feeling pretty shitty!
February 13th - Race 3 mile WU 5 mile CD - 1 mile race at the Armory. Time trail effort all alone won by 22 seconds ran 217 then 215 and with a quick last 200.
February 14th - 16 at River Road with the Rats?!?! Averaged 7 minute pace for the run but over the last 6 miles along River averaged 645's.

74 miles for the week and YTD 536 miles.

This coming week I will be bringing that number up to 90 weekly miles. I am racing a 5k at the Armory the 26th @ the NYU Fast Track Invite. Should be a solid last 2 weeks of the month. I will keep you posted on how it all goes.

- See Ya in 2 Weeks!

2010 Running Mission

My running mission for 2010 is to run more miles then anyone I personally know. Cough Cough Tommy "TwoTone" Nettuno Cough Cough As well as any of the pains in the arses over at Sayville Running Company. I would also like to run fast, but I believe putting in the miles will help that and that is why my mission is what it is.

My 2009 finished with me running 3628 miles over the course of 353 out of 365 days of the year. Yes I missed 12 days of running, I don't know how I can sleep at night but I do. This year I plan on blowing that figure out of the water.

I guess you can say that this "Running Mission" is my "New Year's Resolution". I will take you along on this journey and recap as much of it as possible for you all here on a monthly(?) maybe more frequent basis. What you can expect to see is an overview of every run, a highlighted workout from the month and some other neat stuff. Basically if you are non runner you will most likely find this to be boring and an eye gouging experience. So Enjoy!

January 1st - AM - Midnight run in Central Park that kicked off the New Year. 4 Miles in 21:30, 519 518 535 518, Hilly from mile 2-3 a nice hard tempo effort and lending a hand to Leo. - PM - 6 miles with B, Leo, Mango & Soltan, nice solid run.

January 2nd - AM - Shakeout 7 Miles quads a little sore from the race. - PM - Another shakeout run just 3 miles.

January 3rd - 16 miles in the wind and cold, legs loosened up as the run went on.

80 miles for the week, but 38 for the Year to Date(YTD) miles.

January 4th - cruised an 8 mile run, had a bit of slop on the road.

January 5th - AM - WO 6x1k 314 315 316 313 311 312, done on the roads, a little windy for my liking, but there are no excuses in running, just inhibiting factors. - PM - Shakeout 6 with the SRC crew.

January 6th - 12 mile run, heavy heavy heavy legs!

January 7th - 10 miles with 5 x 300 at the end.

January 8th - Easy Peasy 8

January 9th - AM - 5 miles - PM - 5 miles.

January 10th

This is my Highlight Work Out of the Month (HWOM)

WO 15 mile cutdown run, a cutdown run meant to get progressively faster as you continue your run. This run is going to be a 15 mile run so I have elected to break it down into 3 5 mile chunks. After each 5 miles passes I will pickup the pace. The pace targets I have set for this particular WO are 7:00 minutes per mile, 6:30 mpm, and 6:00 mpm.

The run started at a comfortable 7 minute pace a gradually worked its way down. I averaged 6:55 mpm for the first chunk of 5 miles. Then I moved the pace to 6:30 mpm, and gradually increased the speed. For the second 5 miles I averaged 6:25 mpm. Then onto the last chunk of 5 miles. At this point in the run my legs are burning and screaming at me to slow the pace, but I push forward. Running the last 5 miles in 29:22 a 5:53 mpm, feeling very satisfied.

The conditions for the workout were decent, just some wind a bitter cold nip in the air. I managed to keep the transitions pretty even and fluent. No drastic change in pace. All in all I am happy!

81 miles for the week and 119 YTD miles

January 11th - AM - Shakeout 4 - PM - 8 miles with the Boys and Leo.

January 12th - Cruised 8 miles

January 13th - AM WO 15x 1 minute effort with 1 minute rest. - PM - Easy 4

January 14th - 12 miles

January 15th - AM - 8 miles PM 4 miles with strides at the end.

January 16th - AM - WO 4 mile tempo 21:20, then did 50 meter accelerations.

January 17th - 17 miles at River Road (RR) with Pollard and we rolled that, 1:53:04 which works out to 6:39 mpm. Felt really strong, will need to take the next day or two easy to help recover from the hard weekend.

87 miles for the week and 206 YTD miles.

January 18th - AM 4 with 150 strides on the St A's indoor sports complex. - PM - 8 with B and Soltan

January 19th - SRC loop for 10 miles.

January 20th - AM WO 6 x 800 with 90 seconds rest, followed by quick 50's. 230 232 226 228 230 235, done on the roads lots of wind and coldness that was not nice on the fast. The fast 50's felt good. PM Shakeout 3 miles.

January 21st - Mid week long run, 13 miles.

January 22nd - Easy Peasy 10 miles.

January 23rd - AM 8 miles and then strides with racing Flats on. -PM- loosening up 4 mile run.

January 24th - AM Race - 5k at Caumsett State Park. Some rolling hills, no competition but a lot of fun. Good fitness indicator, 15:59; 5:03 5:13 5:13 and :29 PM shakeout 3 miles.

84 miles for the week and 290 YTD miles

January 25th - 14 miles of cruiseyness (6:50 mpm)

January 26th - AM easy 3 PM 8 miles with 8x200 in 32-33. Felt really smooth on the 200's!

January 27th - 12 miles

January 28th - WO at 8 in the morning, Snow and Wind (kid you not) 3x2 mile with three minutes rest, 10:45 10:45 10:45.

January 29th - 8 miles in the ice cold weather. Millrose in the PM! It was awesome.

January 30th - AM 4 late night from Millrose PM 8 miles with B in the ICE COLDNESS!

January 31st - WO 15 mile cut down, 34:35 32:11 29:10 Overall time was better, the effort was a little tougher with the tougher weather conditions but I love doing this type of workout. Last mile was in 5:30! PUMPED!!!

86 miles for the week and 376 YTD miles.

I didn't realize how much this would actually take up. I might do weekly or fortnightly blogs. It will depend on my mood! As of right now I am averaging 12.13 miles per day, which would bring me out to 4,427 miles for the year. Now I know that I wont keep that pace but if I can finish up around 4k miles for the year that will be a good improvement.

Till the next one!