Thursday Track Report: Pre-Pre-Arts Fest Weather

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Written by Bwana Bwana

July 7, 2011

We seem to oscillate between pleasant and almost hot this summer, but we haven't really been battered by any kind of heat wave yet. It was in the mid-80s, but bearable, not really "Arts Fest Weather" (there's still 10 days for that to develop) as John Domico, Ken Davis, Meira Minard, Meghan Mason, Lance Bland, Judd Michael, George Lesieutre, Mark Lee, Frank Zaffino, Mike Weyandt, Mike Renz, Rich Harter, Kirk Rager, Jim Laudermilch, Kevin Becker, Rob Shaver, and Marty Mazur headed for the track.

Bwana has been battering the small brains of his Crew with infinitely complex track workouts lately. Well, at least infinitely complex for them. They're based on the workouts Bree Studenka and Jayson Jackson throw at the Tuesday evening group and are built around sustained running at varying paces around your 5K-10K race time. The pace is slower than we usually do workouts, but the rest is also generally less and the volume more. Today's workout was 1600-1200-800 with but a quarter jogging rest between each rep. The 1600 started at around 10K race pace, but each rep also included a 5 sec/lap increase in pace, so the 800 was being run at the equivalent of 20 seconds per mile faster than the 1600. That's a tough order on a hot day! (BTW, Bwana did this workout on Tuesday, but it started at 2000 m and worked down to 800.)

It was nice to see Meghan Mason at the track. She and Meira were the only gals, and both are SC natives and products of the State High girls running programs, Meira a star of the early 90s and Meghan of the mid aughts. Meg's in Minnesota doing some braino PhD work in Golden Gopherland and was just in town for a visit.

Bwana will be on vacation next week. Do a good workout for him, and he'll see you at the Arts Fest race!

Thursday Track Report: Keeping Pace

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Written by Bwana Bwana

June 23, 2011

It was the first Thursday Track workout of the summer, and the weather was mild, but humid as Jim Myers, John Domico, Bob Cornwall, Jim Moore, Meira Minard, Lance Bland, Greg Luna, Andrew Webb, Mike Casper, Dana Todd, Kirk Rager, Andy Maguire, Frank Zaffino, Michael Goldfine, Rich Harter, Kevin Becker, Ron Cunfer, Rob Peterson, and Marty Mazur headed for the track. Bwana must be missing someone, since there are usually at least 20 people at ALL of his summer track workouts!

Attendance was "lite", weather was "Summer Lite", so Bwana gave a "lite" version of the workout that the Tuesday evening track group did when he dropped in on them the other night. Theirs had centered on 9X500 in three sets of successively faster paced 3X500s (no break between sets and jogging 200m rests between 500s). But the Tuesday group has time for stretches, stride-outs and all the rest. Even on a long lunch hour, Bwana's Crew had to cut it to 3 successively faster paced sets of 2X500. It's a hard workout at the pace the Thursday Trackers attack everything: too fast. Some of the runners were reduced to walking the 200m rests on their last couple of 500s! This workout is one we'll fold into the rotation. It's a nice change from 400s. We'll get the pacing right.

Some of the Crew are obviously trying to get their pacing right for summer activities: playing outfield at softball games with a can of beer next to your "station"; timing the ordering of your next umbrella drink so you are never dry; staying internally and externally basted as you baste your slow-cooked pork shoulder; and for some, keeping the number of funnel cakes and corn dogs just below the puking threshold for the next roller coaster ride. Pacing is everything! But remember to get back on pace for mOUnTaiNBACK training, starting in two months!

Thursday Track Report: Smooth Shifting

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Written by Bwana Bwana

June 30, 2011

It was a dry, mild and sunny day as Jim Myers, John Domico, Bob Cornwall, Lance Bland, Judd Michael, Greg Luna, Ken Davis, Tom Hilands, John Sheakoski, Andy Maguire, Jon Thurley, Frank Zaffino, Meira Minard, Esther Prins, Rich Harter, Rob Shaver, Matt Soccio, Dana Todd, Kevin Becker, Ron Cunfer, Rob Peterson, and Marty Mazur were in high gear and headed for the track. Bwana made the rare run from Rec Hall rather than driving in from Science Park, just to soak up the rays.

Bwana's been going to the Tuesday evening workouts lately to get some new ideas for track workouts for the Thurdsday Crew. Yes, we have our favorites (and many least-favorites), but we've done them all a hundred times. The Tuesday Crew's workouts are similar to some of ours, but they generally do a little more volume, and at a bit slower pace (relative to their ability) than we do. But this Tuesday's workout involved a lot of gear shifting. So Bwana stole a cue from them again this week and gave out NX1200. Each 1200 was to be run with successively faster quarters, with the middle quarter of each 1200 at your 5K race pace. The first quarter seems very slow. And for a 22 minute 5K runner (for example), it IS slow: the pace being 40 seconds per mile slower than your 5K pace. That's a 1:55 quarter. But then you kick it up a notch on the next quarter so you're running at your 5K pace (1:45). Then the final quarter, you move to 40 seconds a mile faster (1:35). That's a pretty big span of speeds. As Jayson Jackson said about the workout, it gets you used to the pace you want and to knowing how to transition through speeds. Most of the runners did N=2 or 3. Some did N=4.

Some of the Crew seem to have busted clutches. We've always known that Marty Klanchar only has one speed, and his transmission only works in the morning during the hot summer months. But Tom Cali should be able to get his go-kart going more often than he has lately. George Lesieutre was grinding the wheels at work. Joel Niemann used a jake break to slow his big rig down and now he can't get going again. Now that he's on the mend, Dave DeGroote needs to get on the stick. And Michael Goldfine wants to find a new gear, but somebody should tell him that you don't find that at a tranny bar!

Thursday Track Report: A New Twist

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Written by Bwana Bwana

June 16, 2011

Late Spring weather returned to State College after last week's taste of Summer. Jim Myers, John Domico, Meira Minard, Jim Moore, Judd Michael, Lance Bland, Costas Maranas, Jon Thurley, Andrew Webb, Greg Luna, George Lesieutre, Jon Oatley, Nick Downs, Rob Shaver, Esther Prins, Dean Capone, Michael Goldfine, Dana Todd, Jim Laudermilch, Rich Harter, Rob Peterson, and Marty Mazur headed to the track in cool temperatures under cloudy skies.

Andrew Webb is visiting us again from Holland for the next few weeks. No doubt I'll be posting some mountain goat runs for him on the Group Run Calendar. Andrew had to bail out on us early. Meanwhile, Judd's kids Davis and Eva, fresh out of school, hung out and watched their elders perambulate around the track while they waited around for mother Martha.

Bwana's workout, suggested by John Domico, is a Jayson Jackson workout. Jayson, local trainer and athlete extraordinaire, also coaches the Nittany Track and Field Youth Group. The workout consists of sets of 500-300-200, run hard, but with a long recovery between each run: 400 after the 500 and 300 after the 300. Then you recover again and do another set. Some of us did 2 sets, some 3. This workout doesn't seem that different from some of our others, but there's enough of a twist (mixes of odd distances, short and medium, and the longer rests and harder running) that it definitely FEELS different. Two sets seems appropriate for a pre-race tune-up. Three or more sets makes a nice hard track session.

Jon Oatley is leaving us to take a new position in Idaho, closer to where he's from. He'll visit us again occasionally as his research takes him back to Penn State. We wish Jon and his family well on their relocation.

Bwana's not getting on anyone's case today, even though Steve Olson, among others, deserves it. I think there are so many races coming up that some people are tapering or resting. There are two 5Ks on Saturday alone!