SEC madness!

With four really high quality workouts behind us and one more to go the team looks poised as ever to provide what we have been missing for two years, an SEC cross country championship.  We have come off chile pepper really well in regards to recovering physically as well as mentally.  We will be leaving this Saturday morning for the University of South Carolina, where we will be dueling over 8k to see who has put in the base work and times their fine tuning just right.  We have come up empty handed the last two years at this same meet but this year something just feels different.  The attitude around the team is one of confidence yet humility, and eagerness yet patience.  Keep your eyes peeled for results next week.  We are racing Monday morning, so make sure you are wearing your red and calling those hogs!  Woo Pig Sooie!

Chile Pepper recap

After a great workout and some easy recovery runs early last week the team felt poised to have another great performance, this time at 10k.  With the exception of one runner coming up with a side cramp and being forced to step off the course nearly every runner in the race set a new pr, my 4 second pr being the smallest margin.  After somewhat of a non reflective third place team finish we look on to the SEC championships which are only two weeks away.  The workouts and mileage will return to slightly normal levels this week and taper off again next week to insure another SEC cross country championship (my first as a razorback hopefully!!)  I will post an update after the workout tomorrow to let you all know how it goes.  

falling leaves....smells like championship season

With Chile pepper rapidly approaching and the championship season right around the corner training has really been picking up, often leaving the legs feeling heavy and the lungs burning but nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment.  Although we the team is still over two weeks from conference and 6 weeks to nationals the workouts have been amazing.  Last week we ran repeat miles at the cross country course and quarters at the golf course.  The miles were the sticking point to the midway point of the cross season.  Many of us felt tired but all of us finished the workout right on pace, the miles went as follows (4:35, 4:30, 4:29, 4:26, 4:28).  Later in the week came the quarters, one of the most grueling workouts imaginable.  The workout consists of 17x400m, half up a hill and half down.  Down the hill we averaged right around 63 seconds for each quarter while averaging 68 seconds up the hill.  After the week from hell we gathered one last time for a beautiful 95 minute long run on the cross course.  We managed to drag ourselves out of bed early enough to catch some lingering fog on the cross course and temperatures in the 50's.  With chile pepper this weekend we ran our only workout for the week yesterday, but I am going to keep this one a secret (maybe I will leak the workout after SEC's).  If you are in the northwest Arkansas area this saturday make sure to come catch the nationally ranked (#6) Arkansas Razorback cross country team.  The gun goes off at 9:45 for the mens race.  Woo Pig Soooie!!!

repeat pain

This past tuesday the razorback cross country team ventured off the beaten path and out to the cross country course.  The call was for 5 miles with 4 minutes rest, each mile was to be at 4:30.  As many of you know we are in our heavy training cycle (workouts, mileage, intensity of everyday runs) and the ability to workout at 100% is somewhat of a luxury, if possible at all.  The first mile went off without many problems running 4:35, the second mile was nearly perfect as we hit 4:29-4:30, cue the pain, only 300m into the third mile I was about 90% positive that I would not finish the workout, maybe not even the current mile, but luckily my inner coach Bucknam told me to "nut up" and shut off my brain.  Finishing the third one in 4:30 was a great mental weight lifted off my shoulders.  Our fourth mile felt a little easier even though the pace quickened as we hit a 4:26.  Closing out the workout with a near effortless 4:28 was a great way to end they day.  With this workout behind us but still with a grueling 400's workout at the golf course looming we had two days to recover, logging between 12-14 miles a day on wed, and thurs.  In just a few hours we will be meeting for our workout and I will be sure to post an update letting you know how the workout and saturday morning long run goes.  

Great end to a great week

This past Saturday started as most usually do, a wake up call at 6 am, out the door by 6:30, treatment on my knee till 7 then out to the dirt road for a 14 mile long run.  What made this saturday different than any I can remember was the fact that our entire team ran together as we forced the pace faster and faster over the rolling 14 mile course.  The average pace of the run dipped under 6 minutes as we finished the long run in 1 hour 23 minutes and some odd seconds.  At about 3 miles to go we meet our first real challenge of our run, this challenge comes in the form of a monstrous man eating hill.  We had been hitting our last few miles in about 5:40-5:45 pace, but covering the uphill mile in 5:47 set the tone for the last two.  The 13th mile was run in 5:12 with the 14th mile not to be outdone, run in 5:09.  Needless to say, this team is special, unlike anything I have ever seen before and maybe something I will never see again.  

Our next race is the chile pepper cross country festival right here in Fayetteville, Ar, on Saturday, October 16.  Come out and support the hogs!  Wooo Pig Sooie!

on a roll

Well as many of you know we had our workout this past Wednesday, and not just any workout either, a workout that was the benchmark measured by athletes like Alistair Cragg and Josphat Boit, but this all changed on Wednesday.  The mandate was 3x mile and a half in 6:55.  The workout got off to a good start with  7 flat, next came a 6:43, and the workout was capped off by a 6:48 after being told to ease off!  The hog's are on a roll after our successful trip to Stanford.  We have our long run tomorrow morning to cap off a great week of training.  The month of October will surely be the most important of any month of training this season.  I will post an update as to how the long run goes come Saturday morning.