Thursday Track Report: Breathe Deep!
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
May 24, 2012
As Bwana is composing this report, his upper teeth are hurting from the sinus pressure above them, his nose is running faster than he was today, and he's struggling to suppress a cough every time he breathes. Hopefully, a pint and a half of Belgian-styel quadrupel ale will soon fuze his head to the pillow. Dang summer cold….It didn't help that it was swampy again as Jim Myers, Judd Nelson, Esther Prins, Michael Goldfine, Dana Todd, Kirk Rager, Jim Laudermilch, Blake Cohen, Mike Casper, Rob Peterson, Ron Cunfer, Lee Culver, Rich Harter, Steve Ketcham, and Marty Mazur headed for the track.
At Ron Cunfer's suggestion, Bwana gave the NX3X300 workout. That's sets of 3X300 with short (100m) rest between each 300 run at 5K race pace or better. It didn't matter much to Bwana what he gave, since the man himself was just going to slog and jog in the outside lane. Most runners offered up N=3 to their favorite unholy intention. This is a nice 5K tune-up workout, and considering there are three 5K or better races this weekend, it's what the doctor ordered. Now, Bwana needs the doctor to find a cure for the common cold!
Many of you will be running either the Black Moshannon 5K or 10K and/or the Boalsburg Memorial Day race ("4 miles"). And there's bunches and lots of races of many varieties coming fast and furious in the next few weeks. Tussey Teaser #4, the 10.6 mile Treaster Kettle Test-Your-Mettle; the Rothrock Challenge (30K on the grueling trails of Rothrock); the Crack O' Dawn 5K (hilly!); and much more. Keep your training up to snuff by sniffing some of the humid air at the track!
Thursday Track Report: The "Eh" Team
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- Written by Jim Myers, Bwana Wanna B Jim Myers, Bwana Wanna B
May 17, 2012
It was an absolutely beautiful day for a track workout. Sunny, very light breeze, upper 50’s approaching a perfect 60 degrees. Interesting that one could feel the breeze on the front stretch today vs. the normal back stretch wind in the face. The “A” team showed up today. Esther Prins, Rob “I’m back from the Canadian north country” Shaver, Judd Michael, Ken-knee Davis, George Lesieutre and Jim Myers. All the wanna-Bees were out doing something else. The call out was pretty standard, 4X800 at 2:45 pace (+/- :30). The “A” team of course made the time standard within the required range. Rob said, “Pretty good, eh?”. I guess the “A” team scared everyone else away.
Thursday Track Report: There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
May 3, 2012
Summer-like weather was back, with temperatures in the high 70s under a partly cloudy sky as Jim Myers, Mike Renz, Judd Michael, Ron Cunfer, Lee Culver, Michael Goldfine, Rich Harter, Kirk Rager, Jim Laudermilch, John Ake, Kevin Becker, Amy Blake, and Marty Mazur headed for the track. It was one of the better turnouts in recent weeks, and Jim Myers added to that by bringing guests Mark Austin and Ty Wagner from the Department of Military Affairs at Ft. Indiantown Gap, to do the workout with us.
Bwana gave one of his low-recovery specials: NX3X300, where N was recommended to be 2 or 3. In each set of 300, there is a 100 m slow jogging rest between the 300s. The 300s should be run hard, a good bit faster than 5K race pace, but not sprinted. There’s a longer (500 m) rest between sets. It’s a good workout for a warm day: each time around the track, you take the kettle off the stove just before it boils.
The hot weather workout was good prep for short races like one of the many 5Ks that are coming up. This weekend on Saturday, there’ll be a hot time on Branch Road as Rich Olsen will be directing the 2nd Annual Firefighter 5K, this time under much better weather conditions than last year. And on Sunday, things get toasty in Linden Hall as the Linden Loop 5 Miler will be run for the 5th time. And next weekend, take your choice between two hot potatoes, the Beidleheimer Sidewinder 10K in Rothrock, or a Mother’s Day 5K in Boalsburg, both on Saturday.
Thursday Track Report: Sprinting Into Summer
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
May 10, 2012
The water table is finally being replenished after a very dry early Spring. It rained most of the early part of the week, and clouds and cool breezes greeted Judd Michael, Michael Goldfine, Blake Cohen, Rich Harter, Rob Shaver, Heather, Kevin Becker, Lee Culver, Ron Cunfer, Esther Prins, and Marty Mazur as they headed to the track. Less than a dozen today. When will the Thursday Track water table be replenished? Meira and her posse of Track Deniers are fracking with my aquifer!
Bwana gave a new workout this week. One of those "Seems Easy When You Describe It, But It Sure Catches Up With You" workouts, courtesy of Runner's World. This one has us using our *sprint* muscles, something we almost never do at the track. It's the 30-20-10 workout. The basic unit is a minute of running: 30 seconds jogging, 20 seconds at our usual 5K-race-pace-or-better workout speed, and 10 seconds at an all-out sprint. Do that for 5 minutes. Rest for about 3 minutes. Repeat. Most of the Crew did 3 sets. Esther added a bit more. This is one of those workout ideas that you can play with. Double the length of each segment. Play with the ratios. The main thing is to get that short burst of sprinting in. It's going to wake up some muscles that we don't always test. I was sore after this one!
The Spring 5K season is just about over. The students are gone. It's time to start into the crazy season for local running. A 30K trail run. A bunch of triathlons. A 10K in the summer heat. And then the sweltering late-summer build-up to the mOUnTaiNBACK. Are you ready? Fold some track into that, and you will be!
Thursday Track Report: Saving It For Later
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
April 26, 2012
It was breezy and mild as Jim Myers, Mike Casper, Andy Maguire, Ken Davis, Mike Renz, Jim Laudermilch, Blake Cohen, Judd Michael, Rich Harter, Kevin Becker, and Marty Mazur headed for the track. Meira's Rec Hall crew ran. Randy Jepson must have been saving it up, because by the time he left the Port-A-John, they'd left him at the track!
It was a light turnout again, and Bwana was saving himself for 3 Legs of a 77 mile relay on Saturday. So he just had the Crew do whatever they wanted, and they chose a mix of stuff.
There are still some Spring 5Ks and marathons on the horizon. Mike Renz is topping off his Pocono training. Blake is running Gettysburg this weekend, and has the Tussey 50 on the long-term plan. And don't forget Rich Olsen's Firemen 5K next weekend!