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.

I'm Back!

This meaning can be taken two ways: 1.) I am back from a much too long hiatus from updating the blog, and 2.) I am back in shape and it feels great!  Many things have happened since my last post,  mainly a ton of training, and a trip out to Palo Alto, Ca.  The Razorbacks started the cross country season ranked a mighty underdog 13th in the country, this all changed last weekend as we put our scoring five runners in front of the scoring five of the number one team in the country!  The workout have been stellar but at this point the most important thing has been keeping the team together for our everyday runs and making each moment count.  This team is destined for great things and nothing will stand in the way of us achieving our goals (SEC conference title, and a top five nationals performance).  On a personal note, I managed to run 23:38 for 8k, setting a personal best by a minute in only my first race and fourth week of training!  So needless to say things are going quite well and way ahead of schedule.  We compete next Oct. 16th at the Agri park in Fayetteville, Ar, at the chile pepper festival.   I just want to end by apologizing to the handful of people left reading this blog after my two week break from the blog.  The time consuming nature of two, sometimes three workouts a day, a full schedule of class, and juggling a personal life have kept me quite busy.  I will do a much better job of updating the blog now that things have settled down a bit.  So check in again soon!  We have a killer workout today so I will be updating the blog with all the juicy info!

Bringing out the rescue clubs.

As the leaves begin to fall and the temperatures begin to cool (I wish) cross country season rears its ugly face.  For much of the last two weeks the Razorback cross country team has been getting in great quality aerobic work while rounding into better and better shape.  The team competed in their opening meet last weekend right here in Fayetteville, Ar.  The Arkansas men swept spots 1-10 while gliding along the course seemingly effortlessly.  While not everybody raced we did get our chance to attack the cross country course bright and early the next morning for the team long run.  Usually these runs can last anywhere from as little as an hour to as much as 1:45.  This run fit into the category of the long run only in distance but not in time.  As it became evident quite early in the run this would be no normal long run.  The pace quickened with each step all the way until the last.  Bryan and I finished our 11 mile run in 59 minutes, for those of you who don't make mental math a habit that is roughly 5:15 pace.  Enter the rescue clubs:  After much of this week followed suit with the long run last weekend Coach Bucknam issued an executive order, an easy weekend of running with a day off on Sunday.  This came as a huge relief to much of the team.  The long run this weekend was an easy 80 minutes which felt like jogging in place.  As Stanford draws closer the workouts will begin to pick up, at this point we have only done 1 real workout.  We have been promised a grueling set of quarters at the golf course this week so I will post after the workout to let you know how everything goes!

Wooo Pig Soooie!

Well I am back in the mix with the hogs and it is safe to say that this team is as poised a team as any other out there. The team is looking incredible with the additions of some great new recruits many returning guys, and a desire to win! I have been running with the team everyday since arriving back on camous in late August. It has been a great change of pace literally. After running most of the summer by myself at my own pace I am finally back in the mix with a team and the dynamics are completely different. We have our first meet of the season tomorrow! It is hard to believe that my last cross season is already starting but luckily not just yet as I will be sitting out the first couple meets as I round into better shape. I will keep you posted on how the meet goes on friday and the long run on saturday!