Thursday Track Report: ¡Echando Chispas!
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
April 18, 2013
The ski hung sodden and heavy like a beached right whale as Lance Bland, Randy Jepson, John Wilcock, Mike Casper, Ken Davis, Andy Arndt, Ron Cunfer, Lee Culver, David Lloyd, Frank Rodenbaugh, Charlie Vassey, John Iceland, Dana Todd, Sara Noss, and Marty Mazur headed for the track. Though we expected a downpour at any moment, none was being forecast until the next day.
If the weather wasn't going to provide any sparks, maybe the Crew could do it. Bwana gave the 6X1 lap progressive workout. Start in lane 2 and run a lap at about your 5K race speed, taking note of your time. Rest 200 meters. Move out a lane and run another lap. You have to match the first time, though you've run a bit farther. But don't go TOO fast: the object is to match or beat your time for 6 laps, with each lap getting longer! By time we got to the 6th lap, we were throwing off cyclotron radiation at dangerous levels! My laps went from a 7:36 to a 5:59 mile pace. Somewhere in the middle of that is my goal 5K race pace, though probably close to the former than the latter!
The Crew is starting to draw back some of the regulars. Frank Rodenbaugh is back from a long-term Achilles injury. Randy Jepson is obviously trying to blow off some stress before the gymnastics tournament. Hopefully, by mid-May we'll setting off spark detectors, and even Geiger counters!
Thursday Track Report: The Good Weather Keeps Skipping Thursday!
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
April 11, 2013
As it was in winter, so shall it be all year? We had a couple of warm days this past winter, but maybe you forgot them. They seem never to have happened on Thursday, so we ran indoors until April. And now that Spring is here, we go from 80 degrees on Wednesday to 45 on Thursday. All the same, a small but stalwart crew of Michael Goldfine, Lee Culver, Ron Cunfer, Andy Maguire, Mike Renz, Jon Thurley, Charlie Vassey, Esther Prins, David Lloyd, Randy Jepson, Mark Fedkin, Dana Todd, Jake Clements, and Marty Mazur headed for the track.
It was nice seeing a couple of people who pretty much skipped track all winter. As the weather warms up for real, I'm sure we'll see more. As a "warm-up", we did an upward ladder, 200-400-600-800-1000, with short (200 m) rests. The reps were all to be done at the same pace. The trick was, not starting too fast. That 200 seems slow, but with the short rests, the 1000 can be tough if you've started too fast. Keep up a nice 5K race pace!
And keep up the pace all Spring! There's a big buffet of Spring races, including more 5Ks on and off Campus, Rothrock races, and, of course, Spring marathons. Wishing our CVIM teams well at Boston next Monday!
Thursday Track Report: Winter Burnout
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
March 28, 2013
Spring is not ready for prime time. Lance Bland, Michael Goldfine, Dana Todd, Mike Casper, Kevin Becker, Jeff Welsh, newcomer Robbie, John Iceland, Rich Harter, David Lloyd, Sara Noss, Amy Blake, and Marty Mazur could have run outside, but we’ve been inside so long that we all ran on autopilot to the Multi-Sport Facility.
Almost half the runners at the track had run last weekend’s Egg Hill 10 Miler, and were complaining of a little burnout. But Spring 5K season is starting to pick up (two this weekend), so no let-up. Bwana gave a 5K-appropriate workout: 2-person 6X2 lap relays. The ideal pace for these is almost mile race pace. The thing about relays is that even though we’re not strictly competing (too big a pace spread among our regulars), we each tend to get sucked in to a little competitiveness. Maybe there’s another team right at your pace that you don’t want to drop behind. Maybe you want to try to lap a slower team (or not get lapped by a faster one!). So we all tend to run a little faster than if we were running repeat 2 lappers. And kicking it up a notch helps us all get faster!
The long-term forecast for next week is: warm! Finally! Even if that should change, Bwana is right now dictating that next week’s workout will be outside!
Thursday Track Report: Spring Memories
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
April 4, 2013
Thursday Track Report: No Easy Day
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
March 21, 2013
With a price on Punxsutawney Phil's head, Bwana Team 6 headed to the MSF Indoor Track under blustery, sub-freezing conditions. Bwana counted Tom Cali, Ken Davis, Judd Michael, Lance Bland, Michael Goldfine, Marty Klanchar, Kevin Becker, Jeff Welsh, Garren Katz, Matthew DeMichele, Dana Todd, Sara Noss, Amy Blake, and Marty Mazur as those who signed up for the brutal weed-out session.
Bwana called for 6X400 at 5K+ pace with about a 240 meter rest between each rep. Unfortunately, Drill Instructor Bwana mislaid his Resco Bwana2 tactical training watch. But years of intense drills have left him with a super accurate internal clock. Bwana's pace per rep varied within milliseconds. Most of the Crew did only slightly worse. Unfortunately, all passed the weed-out and will be going to Outdoor Hell Week, TBA.
No matter what it feels like, Spring is here! Time for the rest of you pukes to start cross-training and that does not mean mixing beer and margaritas. Those who are having a hard time getting motivated, well, let's just say there's a recipe for groundhog in the L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook I've been dying to try. On you.