Thursday Track Report: Old School Tune-Up
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
October 22, 2015
Though the temperature was in the mid-70s, the winter wind was blowing over the top of the MSF and down the backstretch at the track. In just a couple of months, that wind will carry 40 degree cooler air and we’ll be glad to be inside the building that it blows over. But for today, we had a nice, warm day and a cool, Fall weekend to look forward to. And the mOUnTaiNBACK! Most of the runners who came to the track were there for a pre-race tune-up for Sunday’s race. John Domico, Bob Cornwall, Judd and Davis Michael, Lance Bland, Ken Davis, Costas Maranas, Mike Casper, Meira Minard, Torrie Raisch, CJ Wagner, Andy Maguire, Mike Zimmerman, Bob Shafer, Mike Martin, Alex Wouden, Mike Renz, Ryan Burke, Tony Kwasnica, Rich Harter, David Lloyd, John Sheakoski, newcomer Tari Helmers, and Marty Mazur all headed to the track to tune their engines.
Bwana obliged with a slightly toned-down version of an old school tune-up workout given to us years ago by Therese Brown (who in the Crew remembers Therese?). You remember the days when cars had carburetors and were tuned up with timing lights, or “by ear”. Well, some of you do. Therese isn’t that old, but her Big Girl Competitor Tune-up is definitely old-school: 9X400 in sets of 3, the first set at an easy pick-up pace. The second, a set of 3 HARD 400s. The last set, a bit faster than the first, but dialed down from the second. Bwana suggested 3 sets of 2X400, with a 200 meter easy jog between each 400, except between the two HARD ones, where a full 400 was given. This workout won’t wipe you out for a coming race, since you’re only doing a third of it hard, but it’s just enough to get the carburetor blown out.
Good luck to all running the mOUnTaiNBACK this weekend! Bwana will be with you in spirit!
Thursday Track Workout: El Niño
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
October 15, 2015
I guess today counts as an Indian Summer Day by Bwana’s reckoning: there was a bit of frost on the grass today before it turned into another splendid, late Fall day. Weather pundits are calling for a big El Niño, which will hopefully bring California some much-needed rain. But who knows that will mean around here this Winter? Certainly not Ken Davis. He’s not THAT kinds of meteorologist.. But he did come to stir up a breeze at the track, along with Jim Myers, Judd and Davis Michael, Tom Cali, Costas Maranas, Dana Todd, Michael Goldfine, CJ Wagner, Esther Prins, John Wilcock, Mark Lee, Torrie Raish, Mike Renz, Carole Dudukovich, Mike Zimmerman, Tony Kwaznica, Seth Senior, newcomer Kenny Dacumos, Alex Wouden, Adam Ilgen, Rich Harter, David Lloyd, and Marty Mazur. Bob Cornwall and Mike Weyandt also get credit for making a showing.
Hopefully, we won’t need as much fortitude to get through the coming Winter as we’ve needed the last two. But just in case, Bwana didn’t want to baby the Crew, so he gave a plus-up version of the Fortitude Workout: NX400-200, where N is usually 4 but today was 5. Do a 400 at about 5K+ to mile race pace. Take a short, 100m rest, then run a 200 at mile race pace. Take a 300 meter rest, then start another rep. If you do this well, you’ll sleep like a baby!
Next weekend is the long-awaited mOUnTaiNBACK Relay, so the track workout will be light for those running it. If you’re not running as an ultra, Tom Cali recommends a speed tune-up the day before: The Run, Walk, and Roll 1 Mile Race from Rec Hall to the IM Building on campus. The race benefits the Penn State Ability Athletics Program. It’s been a long time since the Campus road mile was run. It should be fun!
Thursday Track Report: Fall Into Fall
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
October 1, 2015
Fall is really here. The leaves are turning and it was on the border of “cold” at the track today. Jim Myers, Tom Cali. Judd and Davis Michael, Lance Bland, Costas Maranas, Michael Goldfine, Joel Niemann, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, CJ Wagner, Mike Renz, Seth Senior, Andy Maguire, Bob Shafer, Alex Wouden, Ryan Burke, Rich Harter, Adam Ilgen, David Lloyd, and Marty Mazur headed for the track under autumnal skies.
Several of the Track Crew were wearing long-sleeved shirts, but Jim Myers, as usual, was the true barometer of the conditions. Anyone with as little body fat as Jim is usually shivering and eager to get things rolling if Bwana dawdles too long with the pre-workout jaw-wagging. So Bwana gave out the workout, a combination of volume, and speeds, the downward ladder: 1K-800-600-400-200, at 5K+ pace (increasing to mile kick pace as you go down the ladder) with 400 meter rests after the 1K and 800 and 200 meter rests after the other reps. It’s a gratifying workout. Pace is supposed to get faster with each rep, and it seems to naturally flow out of you as you go down the steps, unlike the case with an upward ladder or even a workout of all the same reps. It’s a good way to step down into higher volume of Fall workouts.
It was a good turnout, but no female Crew members. What are all the gals up to? Too cold for shorts and too warm for leggings would be my guess.
Thursday Track Report: Twiddling The Knobs
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
October 8, 2015
Bwana won’t call it Indian Summer, not for fear of being politically incorrect, but because it really hasn’t gotten cold enough for the revival of warm weather to count as such by his reckoning. It’s gotta get down in the 30s at least, or at least have a frosty morning, before Indian Summer can be said to come with a warm spell. But warm and sunny it was as Tom Cali, Judd and Davis Michael, Lance Bland, Ken Davis, Meira Minard, CJ Wagner, Melissa Davies, Andy Maguire, Mike Renz, Mike Martin, Mike Zimmerman, Alex Wouden, Bob Shafer, Seth Senior, Lucas Harris, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, Rich Harter, David Lloyd, and Marty Mazur headed for the track.
A good part of the Crew (a dozen!) will be going to Scranton this weekend for the Steamtown Marathon. And Alex Wouden will be going to Chicago to run that city’s marathon. The rest of us need to step up the volume of the workouts to get ready for later marathons, Tussey, and the Nittany Half. Bwana will turn up the knob slowly. This week, a little increase in volume and an extension of the longest rep: 400-800-1200-800-400 with 400 m rest between reps. Start slow, but keep the same pace up the ladder and then increase it going down. Not as easy as it looks. We’ll be turning the knob up in coming weeks, with (optional) extensions to the workouts for those who want to ramp up their late Fall training.
It won’t be long and the only knobs we’ll feel like turning up are those on the thermostat. But until then, this is the best time of year to run! Good luck and safe travels to all the runners heading out of town to marathons, including those going off next week to the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington.
Thursday Track Report: Fall Forward
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
September 24, 2015
The weather for the first Thursday Track workout of Fall was gorgeous: blue skies, light breezes, and temperatures around 70. Bob Cornwall, Tom Cali, Judd and Davis Michael, Lance Bland, Mark Fedkin, CJ Wagner, Andy Maguire, Mike Renz, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, Esther Prins, Alex Wouden, Mike Zimmerman, Seth Senior, Bob Shafer, Ryan Burke, Rich Harter, David Lloyd, and Marty Mazur were ready to fall into the first workout of the best season for running.
But, you remember what your momma told you about running with scissors: if you’re going to do something that crazy, grab them by the pointy end to keep them closed. Likewise, Bwana won’t deny anyone the fun of Fall without exercising a little caution: we won’t start out with 8X800. That’ll be for a little later, near the end of Fall and our final workouts before the Nittany Half. For now, start with NX600, with the number of sets N at least 4 and a luxurious whole lap or rest between sets. Run each at about 5K+ to mile race pace. All the Trackers fell into it, with some runners throwing caution to the wind and doing N=5!
As we head into October, our Fall workouts will tend to have longer reps and, if you can stay awhile, more volume. No matter if you’re running 2 Legs of the mOUnTaiNBACK, a Fall Marathon, or the Nittany Half, if you keep up with Thursday Track, you won’t Fall on your face!