Thursday Track Report: In Vino Veritas
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
October 6, 2011
It was a beautiful Fall day with crystal clear skies, cool temperatures, low humidity, and no breeze as and John Domico, Jim Moore, Lance Bland, Judd Michael, Meira Minard, Ken Davis, Tom Hilands, Jon Thurley, (Mike Renz)^2, Andy Maguire, Dana Todd, Adam Smith, Manish Kumar, and Marty Mazur headed to the track. A pretty light turnout, considering last week we had over 20 runners and the conditions were pretty crappy. Several post-Wineglass runners were at the track nursing their hangovers, or worse, but not as many as there were there for the pre-race wine tasting. Meira Minard, third woman, jogged a few laps in the outside lane with Jon "Hernia" Thurley, claiming trashed calves. But most of the wine-sotted crew were still trying to dry out (and warm up) after last weekend's icebox wine.
Bwana gave 6X400 at sub-5K race pace with short (200m) rest. Those few who weren't whining about their marathons (or engaging in some mOUnTaiNBACK sandbagging) quick-stepped through the workout.
So who will be wined and dined as the new DCR champs after the mOUnTaiNBACK, barely two weeks away? Who is "most deserving bridesmaid-but-never-a-bride" this year? Could Cali finally score? Well, that's another question altogether. You've heard the proverb "In Vino Veritas"? Maybe the truth will be borne out in a couple of weeks that the people who whined the least at Wineglass will have the best day at mOUnTaiNBACK.
Thursday Track Report: Cleanup On Aisle 6!
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
September 29, 2011
It was cloudy and breezy with intermittent sprays of showers as John Domico, Tom Cali, Bob Cornwall, Judd Michael, Jim Moore, Ken Davis, Costas Maranas, Mark Fedkin, George Lesieutre, Marv Hall, Jon Thurley, Mike Weyandt, Jim Laudermilch, Dana Todd, Mike Renz, Meira Minard, Esther Prins, Jane Tarzana, Paula Jech, Ann Skulas-Ray, Mark Lee, Rich Harter, Rob Peterson, Manish Kumar, and Marty Mazur. A good turnout. And more gals than usual. I guess they all wanted to show off their "We Don't Need No Reebok Reetoned" butts. All of our gals, from Her Hynerness on down the line have no need of false marketing promises, putting in as many miles and hours in the gym as they do. And there was high-fiving and butt-slapping all around, at least among the large part of the crew headed to Wineglass this weekend.
Bwana made the marathoners all do their single, perfunctory lap so they could be "counted". But they refused to leave after that. They chatted away, clogging the lanes near the start line and generally maintaining the situational awareness of your grandmother in the aisles of Weis Market on coupon day. And the rest of us (a small minority) had work to do! Bwana gave the indoor favorite, 3X3X300 with short (100m) rests between each 300 and longer (500m) rests between each set. Good for fast-twitch quick recovery. I think the fast twitch got a better workout DEcelerating, braking for all the grandmas clogging the aisles.
Bwana got some more exercise running on the mOUnTaiNBACK course in the evening. Precious few of the Crew (Luna, Myers) were there, but most, as we know, are tapering. Good luck to the Wineglassers!
Thursday Track Report: Falling Into Place
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
September 15, 2011
The big front moved in, officially ending, if not summer, then summer's weather. Jim Myers, John Domico, Lance Bland, Ken Davis, George Lesieutre, Mark Fedkin, Esther Prins, Natalie Merchant, Sara Noss, Pedro Andia, Ashley Hill, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, Kirk Rager, Rob Peterson and Marty Mazur under gray clouds with some drizzle still falling and temperatures in the mid 50s.
Today we had a surprise visit from Pedro, AKA "Pablo", "Paco", "Pedrito" and "Speedy Pete" Andia. Many of you who have been with us a while remember Pedro from the old Avocados mOUnTaiNBACK. Pedro also ran with the Rec Hall Regulars and was frequently seen at Thursday Track. Pedro was passing through, having left a high-stress job in the Boston area and now heading to find new opportunities in California. Good luck to Pedro!
Bwana had the Crew do 6 X 1 Lap progressive. That means, first moving the hurdles out of lanes 2-7. Then, starting in lane 2, run a lap, rest a half-lap, move out to the next lane, run a lap as fast or faster than previous lap, repeat. It's a killer to get that last one done if you ramp up quickly!
It was a low turnout today. Some may have been anticipating better weather for the evening's Discovery Run in Rothrock. Well, despite beautiful "fall" weather, attendance was unexpectedly light there, too. Some teams really need to get cracking!
Thursday Track Report: First Fall Workout
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
September 22, 2011
The threatened rain never materialized, but a bit of summer lingered with the humidity in the air. It was warmer than last week's Fall conditions as John Domico, Tom Cali, Lance Bland, Mike Weyandt, Jon Thurley, George Lesieutre, Ken Davis, Costas Maranas, Miles Smith, Randy Jepson, Rob Shaver, Esther Prins, Meira Minard, Michael Goldfine, Andy Maguire, newcomer Manish Kumar, and Marty Mazur headed for the track for the first workout of the Fall..
Several of the Track Crew were there just to get their clocks punched. At least a few are heading to the Wine Glass Marathon this weekend. Several others did some distance repeats in the outer lane. Fireman Domico hosed off the inner lanes as he did some maniacal and no longer necessary (for him) workout. Hopefully, John will find some later Fall race, like the NV Half, to take out his mOUnTaiNBACK training on. Bwana took the remaining few on a tour of the downward ladder: 1000-800-600-400-200. The point is to do each rep at a faster pace as the distance grows shorter.
The showing was light today. Maybe it's the Discovery runs that are taking away the Thursday crowd? Actually, no. Bwana was at that run and precious few other regular Trackers who were not there this noon showed up for the evening trainer. Ah, well. To those who did neither: It's YOUR teams that will suffer!
Thursday Track Report: Gushing With Enthusiasm
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- Written by Bwana Bwana
September 8, 2011
Runners must have been bailing their basements, because they weren't exactly flooding the track. But we did have a few 2-a-Dayers. Jim Myers, Tom Cali, John Domico, Lance Bland, Judd Michael, Randy Jepson, Mark Fedkin, Andrew Webb, George Lesieutre, Dana Todd, Esther Prins, Jon Thurley, Andy Maguire, Tony Huang, Rob Peterson, and Marty Mazur headed to the track under drab skies. Among them, Myers, Cali, Webb, Huang, and Mazur showed up for the evening Discovery Run.
Bwana had the Crew do a "stealth" Tuesday workout. That's from the Tuesday Evening group that Jayson and Bree run at the High School Track. Bwana's given these workouts on Thursday's before to mixed reviews, though most people took to today's with gusto. The workout was 1600-1000-2X400 with 400m rest between each rep. Each successive rep was to be done at 5 seconds faster per lap than the previous (even the second 400, if you could handle it!) The Tuesday Crew had started with a 2K, but otherwise did the same workout.
Well, here's the mop-up paragraph where Bwana berates the slackers and excuse-finders who didn't show up today. Special DIS-kudos goes to Bwana's teammates Bob Cornwall, Blake Cohen, and Jessica McNutt who managed to do NEITHER workout. Oy, we don't even have a team name yet and I'm starting to worry about this group! The rest of you, I hope you can find the switch to your sump pump and dry out in time to show up for next week!