Commitment



Right, I guess I should write something... Well, I seriously have issues with these ultra-long runs. Like I've said in the past, I thought I was a distance runner, but these 2.5-3h long runs give me crazy nerves and nightmares the night before. It's almost as I feel the run has to be perfect, that I have to feel good before I start, or else the run will be extra worse... which is true. Any soreness is amplified over 20+ miles on hilly-@ss trails. These runs are very, very tough and very, very demanding. I am sure they will get much more difficult as it gets hotter and hotter in the greater ATL, but as of right now, just surviving the time on my feet on these tremendous courses is a challenge enough.

So, in order to stay healthy between running and working (driving), I have a great team around me, including massage therapist Robin Rogers, and more recently, Chiropractor, Dr. Josh Glass (he works with David Krummenacker). He X-Rayed my hips, found a weakness, and we are working on correcting it at the moment to get me rolling. Otherwise, all is well.

Very pleased with how quickly I recovered from my 2h45' long run on Tuesday. It probably helped that I immediately jumped in the pool with my daughter and swam around a bit to loosen up and cool-down. The hour today, I got stronger with every step, finishing up with close to 10' doing a hill circuit. I will continue to recover and hopefully improve this weekend over 4 miles.

Full of running this morning. Hammered out from the gun in my Racer ST's and attacked my course nicely. Only had some tightness in my right glute/hip the final 2K or so. Very strong run with great sensations. This is the type of training it is going to take to make the Trials.

... watch out, I'm getting racing fit... down to 126.5 pounds... eat that Jake! And, so, after a week of Police harrassment (seriously, I may end up in jail soon from these power-trippin' fools) and a couple of stressful runs, I managed to have a very strong race this morning. Weather was warm and the course was once again challenging. This time, I was lining up against 2:31 marathoner and young up-and-comer, Josh Myers, and Master's local Michael Strickland.

Myers was talking course record since the day before, feeling we had a good shot at taking down Andy Bishop's 20:47 from two year's earlier. I was not too optimistic based on last week's result and the fact that I had run for 2h45' this week and had a pretty hard week of training. Regardless, I thought I could run the CR, averaging 5:10's per mile, if I was smart and if the heat, humidity, and hills did not completely wipe me out. Josh took it out well, at "5:02" at the Mile. I figured this was fast enough, so I made no moves and just ran strongly up and down the hills. By 1.5 miles, I was already gapping Josh, and was on my own. I felt I was running fluidly, but I just did not feel fast. Just strong. Like 5:00 pace is my governor. Anyhow, I came through 2M still at CR pace and knew I had to buckle-down. However, a rough 3rd Mile brought me back into the mall parking lot with Atlanta Track Club (ATC) Captain Eric Heintz, waking me up, yelling, "Gabriel, you need a 5:05 last mile to get the course record!" Man, that completely woke me up and more importantly, gave me a goal. I started rolling. 5:05 was going to be tough, but I knew there was one slight downhill in the final half mile, even though the course finished on a 200m uphill to the finish. I had to work. Breaking this record was not going to be automatic.

I thought back to a workout I had a couple of weeks ago when I had to run a "hard" mile on the track after a run in 4:50 and managed to run 4:55. So, I gathered those same sensations of working hard, bit my lip, and went for it, feeling quite strong. I closed well in 4:52. Perhaps could have gone sub-4:48 if pressed, and came in at 20:32 to establish a new course record. Strickland closed in sub-5 as well to catch Myers (5:09 last mile) and they ran about 20:59 and 21:05, respectively. A very nice effort and a definite confidence booster heading into Peachtree. However, I still feel I have a lot of work to do if I am going to be able to race hard over 10-kilometers against the world's best competition, a legendary hilly course, and legendary heat and humidity in the world's largest 10K (55,000+ runners). Looking forward to it...

Monday, 6-18-2007
8 Miles Steady around Pigeon Hill and Hedgwood in 49:37

Tuesday, 6-19-2007
AM: 24 Miles Aerobic around Kennesaw Mountain in 2:45:03
PM: 4 Miles of Recovery Out & Back in 30:53

Wednesday, 6-20-2007
9 Miles Recovery around Kennesaw Mountain in 59:51

Thursday, 6-21-2007
AM: 10 Miles Steady around Kennesaw Mountain in 59:37
PM: 5 Miles Recovery through The Reserve in 33:04

Friday, 6-22-2007
7 Miles Recovery down Old Mtn. Rd. and The Reserve in 44:57

Saturday, 6-23-2007
AM: Magnolia Run 4M in 20:32 (Course Record, 1st Overall)
10:22 15:38 (5:15), 4:52
PM: 9 Miles Recovery around Pigeon Hill in 1:00:01

Sunday, 6-24-2007
9 Miles Recovery into Cheatham Hill in 1:01:54

Total
94 Miles


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