Thursday Track Report: Putting A Dent In Our Training
- Details
- Written by Bwana Bwana
June 28, 2012
It was hot but not as humid as it's going to get soon as Judd Michael, George Lesieutre, Mike Casper, Randy Jepson, Andrew Webb, Costas Maranas, Rob Shaver, Andy Cunningham, newcomer Mark Dent, Dana Todd, Mark Lee, Jeremy Zerbe, and Marty Mazur headed to the track. Arts Fest weather is coming, and the Thursday Crew was there to get a little Arts Fest race training in. Only a little more time for that, what with the 4th Fest 4K coming up. Well, fold that little sprint into your training…
Bwana welcomed Mark Dent, a reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newly relocated to State College and assigned to cover Penn State sports. Well, goody for Mark, the track was loaded with Penn State sportsmen. None other than multi-time national champion gymnastics coach Randy Jepson was huffing and wheezing through one of his bimonthly workouts. And international sports were not left out as Andrew Webb, visiting from the Netherlands, was similarly wheezing as he recovered from altitude sickness. Andrew spends 11 months of the year at or below sea level in Holland and the other month in a few short visits to nosebleed elevation, scaling the hills he used to devour every weekend when he was a local. And Mark himself hails from foreign lands: the Republic of Texas! Bwana had the Crew run NX3X300, with the 300s run at sub-5K pace with 100m rests and N=whatever you can do without keeling over in the heat.
Luckily, the dew point was as low as it was. Bwana never lost his senses. His "N" was 2, though he was sure others had more "N" in them. They'll do well at the summer races, never Bwana's forte. As it is, we're all on "low boil" for mOUnTaiNBACK. And the heat will be turning up!
Thursday Track Report: Art History
- Details
- Written by Bwana Bwana
June 21, 2012
A light zephyr blew as John Domico, Judd Michael, Costas Maranas, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, Rich Harter, Michael Goldfine, and Marty Mazur headed to the track for the first workout of the Summer season. Bwana spied Sam Thompson doing the sensible thing, heading to do a few laps on the indoor track, out of the sun in air-conditioned environs. Sam is getting in shape for spending the weekend in New York City with his 5 year-old. Bwana hopes he did a few extra laps!
The Crew consisted of the chronologically endowed. All but Costas, Dana, and Jim were over 50, prone to lecherous musings between trips to the shaded oxygen tent. Also at the track were three members of the Penn State Women's sprint team, all at most half the age of the Thursday Crew. These ladies were solid athletes, in every way, and in some ways more than others, particularly in the musculature involved in sprinting and hurdling. Our Thursday resident philosopher, Michael Goldfine, was moved to muse on the intersection of "art appreciation" and "lust". Bwana lent his experience in there matters to the discussion. His wife, an Art History major, long ago taught him that such an intersection goes back to ancient times. The Callipygian Venus, sculpted in the 3rd Century BC, resides at that intersection. "Callipygian" comes from the Greek, meaning "nice butt". This discussion kept the Crew's minds off the heat as they did 2X(4X200), where each 200 was done in "blast off" mode: Run the first 150 meters at mile pace, and the last 50 meters at a sprint. The 8 rep workout was broken in two to accommodate the heat.
The summer heat, along with vacations, usually keep runners away from the track. Bwana will be there all the summer and will conduct the workout according to the day's conditions. All are welcome, especially those most in need of remediation!
Thursday Track Report: Special Assignment
- Details
- Written by Bwana Bwana
June 7, 2012
It was finally warm and at least partly sunny as late Spring weather returned to Happy Valley. Jim Myers, Judd Michael, Michael Goldfine, Andy Maguire, Mike Casper, Ken Davis, George Lesieutre, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, and Marty Mazur showed up for a special workout. Special because we got to see the crowds of athletes and spectators starting to arrive for the Special Olympics, which take place every year at this time at the Penn State athletic facilities.
Bwana had the Crew do 3X1200 at sub-5K pace with 600 meter rest. Dave Eggler, NVRC volunteer extraordinaire, “announced” our workout over the track PA system. Dave was there getting ready to officiate Special Olympics events, as were Indoor Track starter Bill Dixon and track mom of the year Julie Grubb. As the Crew finished their workout, athletes started arriving en masse and the track became abuzz with activity.
Lance Bland, wishing to avoid the buzz, had gone to the State High track for his workout. There, he met up with Mark Dent, who is the new PSU sports beat reporter for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the two of them ran it into the ground, old school. Mark will probably show up at some of our workouts. How about the rest of you?
Thursday Track Report: Passing The Baton
- Details
- Written by Bwana Bwana
June 14, 2012
It was mild and sunny for the last Thursday Track workout of Spring as Jim Myers, Lance Bland, George Lesieutre, Michael Goldfine, Costas Maranas, Adam Smith, Blake Cohen, Rich Harter, Kevin Becker, Rob Peterson, and Marty Mazur headed for the track. If Spring passes her baton to Summer, we can expect crazy weather, hot and dry one day, tornados the next, and snow by late August.
Bwana, at the urging of Vice-Bwana Jim Myers, called out 6X400 two-person relays. Bwana tried to make it clear that runners should pair up with others of roughly the same speed. But when all were paired up, the two left standing were the fastest and the slowest: Blake and Bwana, the hare and the tortoise, on the same team. Blake made Herculean efforts each time he had the baton, and kept reeling in runners, only to have Bwana lose them back. In the end, Blake handed to Bwana for his last lap, with a good shot at 3rd out of 5 pairs. But Bwana fell to George at about 200 meters, at which point Bwana feigned a fainting fit, dropping his team to last.
It was good to see Costas at the track. He was playing "odd man out" in the outside lane, doing some laps. Though it was not a "Costas Pace" yet, he was definitely getting his game on. Meanwhile, Meira was corrupting the youth, passing her trackophobia to youngster Tatum Del Bosco, late of State High, who'll be starting at Penn State in the Fall. They did a "fly-by" along with another guy who has suffered a recent bout of "Old-Guy-itis", Tom Cali. Tom is drowning his Low-T tears by choosing to run with talkative youngsters rather than coaxing his mojo back at the track.
Thursday Track Report: The Geritol Set
- Details
- Written by Bwana Bwana
May 31, 2012
The heat and humidity of the last week finally abated. Jim Myers, Rob Shaver, Michael Goldfine, Lance Bland, George Lesieutre, Rich Harter, Blake Cohen, and Marty Mazur headed for the track under mostly sunny skies, mild temperatures, and a light breeze. Tom Cali popped in to say hello, and complain about his hard bout of geezerdom. His streak of wins at Black Mo in the 50+ age group was broken this year. But despite the fact that he said he *needs* a track workout, the Siren Song of the young females he'd run down with (Meira, Martha, and company hailng from beyond the fence) pulled him away.
Bwana actually got there about 45 minutes before everyone else and "road tested" the workout he gave: 6X500 with 100m rest. This has the usual volume, but the low rest means the workout is over before you're really tired as long as you don't overdo the reps. The 500s are supposed to be done at 5K goal pace. If you do them too fast, like you're trying to attack some hard 400s, you'll really pay for it and won't get the intended benefit. Since 500 meters is a tenth of a 5K, you divide your 5K goal time by 10 to get your pacing. So, for someone whose goal is a 20 minute 5K, do them at 2 minutes per 500 or slightly faster. Everyone at the track today, except Blake, was over 50. Blake was doing his own thing (repeat miles), but the Geritol set did the 6X500 in a tight pack with consistent times. The problem is that since Jim Myers was leading the way, they were all killing themselves, turning in consistent 1:54s. That's a 19 minute 5K pace, and no one in that group has run a 19 minute 5K in a while!
Ideally, with enough time, the workout should be 10X500 at goal pace. When you can do that comfortably, transition to 5X1K at the same pace with just slightly longer rests. This strategy moves you toward the goal of 1X5K at pace.