Beautiful Run through the Village

Got in a nice seven miles today. My new roommate, Paul, who is also an avid runner, joined me for four of them. Feeling good. Looking forward to the workout on Friday.

First Workout

Met up with Mark in Germantown for a surprise light morning workout. Felt like a beautiful Florida day. Very nice. 2 miles easy and then 6 x 1 minute on/1 minute off @ 5K pace or so on the Germantown version of Lake Needwood. We headed home for a mile cooldown as Mark is recovering from National and I'm starting workouts. I'll probably hop in hte Germantown Five Miler in May. My goal is to run 50-60 miles a week for the next 8 weeks with two workouts per week. Probably been running 40 or so for the last month, but no workouts. So, this is be a nice transition into training over just running. Looking forward to it.

Back to the Blogging World

I just can't get two statements out of head the last ten runs. A few years ago, my former assistant coach told me, "Nathan, sometimes you have to be selfish. Not in life, but with running." I'll be honest that for about two years I didn't think twice about that statement. I just went about my business. Living life, working the jobs I love ( actually two or three depends on who you ask), running daily, and pouring time into my runnners at Magruder. I haven't devouted more time to my own training plan in sometime. I'm in shape for most people, but for a former DI alum who still competes - I would call it weak. Only a few of my former college teammates still run (one really, really, really fast). The rest don't know I still run. But, you see the last few months. I don't miss running. I'm always running. I miss training. I miss races of my own. Trust me, I wouldn't have traded the last six years of coaching for anything. It's about balance. For a while, I didn't have it. Balancing faith, family, work, a social life, relationships, running, and everything is never easy.

So, back to these two statements. The first, I told you. The second one hit me even hard a few months ago. A standout runner in the area lives near Magruder and subs on occasion at Magruder. He asked about my top runner, life, etc. Then, he asked me a shocking question, "How about your running? I'd like to see you crank a good race this summer. Give your eight weeks and I bet you'll surprise yourself. Don't go crazy with mileage. Just get in two workouts in a week with a nice long run." I thought about his comment for a while and decided to cut out a few things I like to do to be able to train (not just run) again. So, yes, I'm going to give myself eight weeks for my first race back. A 5K in Bethesda in June.

So, Monday morning is coming and the week begins. And, for the two people who might read my blog - I'll keep it updated. Eight weeks. We'll see. Here it goes. As Jake says and I haven't said in a long time, "I'm all in."

Houston

I arrived in Houston on F riday evening and I was instantly at home. I love Maryland, but I love the South. I schedule this trip about six months ago and wasn't going to miss it for anything despite the last week being a little crazy with a surprise trip to St. Louis for my Grandmother's funeral. It was sudden, but reminded me of Psalm 90 and how we should number our days. I'll publish my note on her soon. So, I ran into Caroline White, who used to train in the DC area. My former teammate, Hannah, picked me up from the Airport. It was raining, but it was nice to be on vacation. I've read a lot about Houston, but this is the start of a journey. I've learned a lot over the last few years, and I'm finally ready to train at a high level and do my job well. Sunday is one step in that direction, Here's to taking 2010 - one step, one mile, one day, one race, and one chance at a time. I haven't been this exited about my own running since college. I feel like the main character in the movie, The Rookie. There will be growing pains, but I'm ready to face them this time around. Time for bed. The big show is on deck in the morning.

2009 - Part 1

2009 was a very strange year. Most of this won't be about running, but there will be some running related stuff for my two followers of my blog that I haven't updated since September. And, on paper it might not be seem to be too successful. I just turned 29 this month and I've had a lot of maturing to do. This year started off with a hard lesson in relationships, but this situation taught me so much about myself and people. I'm thankful I learned the hard way and moved on.More on this may be covered in my book I'll be working on this spring. I stepped down from head outdoor track coach at Magruder to bring more balance into my personal life. I love teaching and coaching, but after many years of considering this and the past six months of re-considering - I still stand by my decision. I had more fun coaching my cross country team than ever before. We didn't steal any headlines, but this team really taught me more than I could ever imagine teaching them. Here are two big lessons these kids taught me.

1. Relationships matter more than any accomplishment. (GIRLS TEAM) While everyone in the world believes in human accomplishment. These accomplishments are merely fleeting. My girls' team dramatically improved this fall, but two injuries crushed our state dreams. The relationships between these girls are so caring and generous - it makes taking the spring off very difficult. While elite coaches would say that I have no pure talent or national level runners in the girls distance - these girls inspire me by how hard they work. They are so healthy, fun, full of life, and even made me a cake for my birthday. Several seniors will graduate and my sophomore class will no be leaned upon to lead the team. I've never cried so much at an event as I did at our banquet this year. This team is such a special groups of kids. While I'm looking forward to next fall - I know it will be a huge adjustment for me. They taught me that relationships and quality time matter than any victory, record, or title.

2. Boys need guidance in dealing with adversity and it's not your fault when life isn't going so smoothly for kids you coach. (BOYS TEAM) In August, my top runner came down with an injury and all I was getting asked at my invitational, practice, school, and friends. When is Nick going to run? While this might not seem like a big deal to most people and even runners. I've been coaching Nick since his freshman year and I was so excited about his senior year. But, sometimes life takes a turn, but in the end we learn a lot from failure. When I talked about Nick at the banquet - I could have listed accomplishments or times, but his story of returning from injury and dealing with the pressure of being our top runner was what I focused on. The conversations, texts, discussions, tears, and joys with Nick are things I'll remember the most. And, his anchoring victory of the distance medley relay at the FIT Invitational. :) We all need help when life takes a turn and I'm hoping I have more of these interactions with kids in 2010. They taught me that coaching is more like really mentoring and being a father-figure and role model - then making someone fast.

For these two lessons, I'm very thankful.

Part 2 coming soon - my own running in 2009 and looking forward to 2010.




Interview with Nick Escobar on mocorunning.com:
http://www.mocorunning.com/article.php?article_id=569

VA Beach - Marathon Prep Workout

This weekend, I took a nice road trip with some friends to run the Virginia Beach Half Marathon and relax at the beach. The plan was to run the race controlled at my goal pace for the Marine Corps Marathon(2:40-2:44). Mission was accomplished (1:20) and I felt relaxed. Ran an easy 12 with Mark today. I'm trying to keep my mileage up while I prepare for my 32-team Cross Country Invite this Friday afternoon.

The Simple Plan

Here's the general training plan for the next six weeks.

Monday - AM 6 PM 8
Tuesday - PM 10 including workout with xc team
Wednesday - AM 6 PM 8
Thursday - PM 6
Friday - AM - 10 Mile tempo PM - 6
Saturday - 10
Sunday - 20 Long Run
Total ~80 miles

Long Run

Mark and I headed out to the canal this morning for our long run. We didn't know till our arrival that everyone in Montgomery County was planning on doing the same thing. The parking lot at Riley's Lock was packed!!!!! We saw well over 100 people on the canal. It was pretty sweet and made for a lot of support on the long run. I felt great and relaxed for the entire 18 miles. Best long run of the summer. Mark desperately needs new shoes and his knee was hurting - so we stopped early. Looking forward to another great week of training. I'm looking to average 80 miles for the next 6 - 8 weeks. Marine Corps is coming soon.

75 this week

Another solid week of training in the books with a lot of medium long runs of 10-12 miles. Looking forward to a nice 21+ on Sunday.

Transition

It's been a busy last couple of weeks and I've been mia on the blog scene. Don't worry, my running is fine, but I just had to ease down the running for almost two weeks due to a mild case of strep and a minor injury. I'm almost 100% and ready to kick the training back up into the 70s again. (I'll post mileage totals from the summer on the side in the next few weeks. )

I'm excited that I'll be cutting my hours at the second job down to almost zero by the end of August. Practice for xc starts on Saturday and I can't wait. It's finally here. Then Virginia Beach is right around the corner and I want to smash my pr for the half. Till then I'll be training with Mark (he returns from Mexico soon) and running with my high school team. I'll run Kentlands for kicks as long as I can handle some speed.

Transitions are always memorable. I love the summer, but fall is the best time of the year. :)

Good News and Epic Run in Ohio

I've been behind on updating this blog after a weekend out of town. I'll fill in more of the details later. After a humbling race on Saturday where I basically crawled after about 8 minutes into the race following some severe pain below my abs, I took Sunday off completely and spoke with an expert on my recurring problem.His advice surprised me. No abs for a few weeks and run easy. Okay, very easy.

So, I took an easy 5 on Monday with my friend Mark and 4 former Eastern Illinois runners, and a Valpo alum in Ohio. No pain. One of them recently went sub 4 in the mile and another went 2:19 in the marathon. Then, on Tuesday morning, Mark, JJ, Adam, and I ventured out to a road alongside Lake Erie. Talk about sweet. I had flashbacks to Florida and felt relaxed on the entire run. Then in the final 3 miles the pace quickened and I held back and let them go. After the results from the garmin poured in for our ten mile run - I was glad I let them go the last 2 miles. They ran 5:20 on the final mile. No pain again on the run, but it's going to be tough to not do abs for at least a week.

Twilighter Weekend Wrap Up

On a picture perfect evening on Saturday night at the Twilighter - I had a big agenda. You see, the Twilighter, has been home to two of my worst racing experiences ever a few years ago. I honestly had tried to stay positive and focus on how much fun this race would be. As I arrived in Rockville, everyone was out in full force. Kids, families, and I saw plenty of familiar faces and the buzz of the racing scene returned and adrenaline was definitely pumping.

It was a busy day at work and my legs felt it on the warm-up. I hadn't been this tight all summer. I'm not sure what it was, but as I warmed up with the GRC crew I tried to relax. In the invited runner's room - I took plenty of time to stretch, hydrate, and tried to loosen up. I was still tight and felt it throughout the whole race. I felt strong physically and was focused mentally. I just couldn't move up throughout the race and finished in 29:02. (it didn't take me 30 seconds to get to the starting line, so I'm not sure what's up with my time on the net)

While I didn't have a the performance I was looking for - my GRC teammates killed it on the course. Everyone was flying and I was really pleased with the efforts of my high school kids who ran in the 8k. Despite my disappointing run, I now love this race. A great high school coach in Southern Illinois once told me something that I'll never forget after a tough race I had - "Nathan, there will always be another race." So, on Sunday - I slept 10 hours and took my first day off in a while. I heard a great message at church that evening that I resonated well with and kept my focus on what really matters. This morning, I slept in once again and ran 14 + with Mark on the canal. My legs and back felt strong again. Amazing what a day off can do.

Looking forward to the my first experience at the Crystal City Twilighter 5K on Saturday night. I'll need some speed for this one for sure:)

The Day Before

Thursday - Ran just under 10 miles from my house with Mark on a newly created and quite random route through Montgomery Village and Germantown. It was quite the hilly run once again and we ran at a solid clip. It was nice to get in a strong run before a full day of work.

Friday - Ran 6 miles with Eric at Needwood. We caught up on the high school coaching world and ran at a relaxed and controlled clip down the path. Bumped into a parent of one of my former top runners who now competes for Elon following the run. It's always nice to bump into familiar faces. I'm looking forward to the Twilighter. Just looking to be patient for the first two miles and get tough racing during the second half of the course. And, of course, I want gun down some runners on the final mile on 355. Should be fun. This event is one of the summer racing highlights of any serious runner in the Metro area. The usual suspects and maybe some ringers from the Va area will come of out of the woodwork for the evening festivities in Dowtown Rockville.

Tired Legs and the walking legend.....

Early week report:
Monday - Ran quite the hilly loop through the streets of Germantown with Mark. 10 miles. Solid run.
Tuesday - Split up two runs of 7.5 and 4.5 with Mark at Needwood and the Kentlands. 12 miles total.
Wednesday - Ran 7 miles with Chris at Needwood. Chris caught me up on his weekend in New Jersey as we ran down the path. My legs felt dead today, but a nice ice bath should do the trick! On another note, I always see interesting characters on the Needwood path, but apparently this guy we saw on the path this morning could be a walking legend. Chris claims he's seen the same dude in Needwood in the morning and Silver Spring later in the evening passing by his work!! That's one heck of a hike or Chris is just full of it. I'm not sure which side I'm leaning towards just yet.

Looking Ahead to Twilighter

Week in Review:
Monday (8)
Tuesday (6)
Wednesday (8)
Thursday (8)
Friday (12)
Saturday ( 5)
Sunday (16)

63 Miles for the week.

Workouts:
Wednesday - 8 mile tempo/marathon pace. Averaged around 6 minute pace, but didn't feel strong at all.
Friday- I ran segments with Mark. Solid workout and gaining confidence. 1,2,3,4,5,5,4,3,2,1. Workout was 48 minutes with jog recoveries. 3 miles warm-up and cooldown.
Sunday - Long run at the Line with GRC. Had a strong pain where I had my hernia in high school for like 50 minutes of the run. Not a great day, but still got in the miles.

On another note, the Twilighter is almost here.

Recovery

I had a relaxing 6 miler at Needwood this evening. Looking forward to a tempo run before I've got to take my car in on Wednesday.

Update

More info on the last few days later. 66 miles last week and I start workouts on Wednesday. A bee sting on my long run on Saturday and a virus on my laptop have slowed my ability to update the blog. (Don't worry I'm not using the laptop to update this) Training continues to go well. Going to keep the mileage between 60- 75 through the summer despite urges to crank up the volume.

Don't look back

My dad has always been involved in my running since my first days of high school practice. I asked him early in my career the following question: Should I look back in a race? He needed no time to respond when he said, "No, there is a never a a need to look back in competition. The race to win is in front of you." So, that's one area of racing that I always remembered despite seeing kids, elite athletes, and olympians doing it on a regular basis.

In racing, I've followed his advice, but in moving on from past disappointments in running - I haven't grasped that concept as well. Whether it's not making the top 7 in college or getting the chance to run cross country in my senior year following a stress fracture in my femur just weeks into the season. Now, I'm thankful for these moments and cherished my time in Tallahassee. I've learned from each of them. My second college coach, Bob Braman, always reminded me to train and not strain. Now, several years after college it's sinking in.

So, the point of this rambling post is that I'm loving every run and not taking it too seriously. This is such a fun sport, but so many runners burn out because it becomes a chore. I met up with GRC teammate Peter Silverman for a nice 7 miler in Rock Creek Park. I ran some trails I've never experienced before and found out that Beach Drive is actually open during the week. We caught up on life and just took in an epic day for running. It was nice and cool beneath the shaded trails. Just amazing.

Now, that it's July I'm planning on keeping the mileage in the 70s throughout this month, August, September, and October with two quality workouts( one track and one tempo) and a long run. For someone who used to be obsessed with mileage in college- this is an adjustment.

Patience

"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride."

Ecclesiastes 7:8

"How are you so patient with kids?" - is such a familar question I get asked on a regular basis. In a lot of my life, I'm a patient person, but when it comes to my running - I've been far from patient from the beginning. As a high schooler, I would make impatient race decisions only to lose the race. In college, I trained so hard in the summer and early in the season that I just ran out of gas. Again, again, and again. And I became frustrated when I never reached my goals. So as a coach, it's easy for me to be patient because I've lived the opposite. But, as a much more experienced runner - I know better now.

That's why this marathon is so special to me and for the kids of Jill's House. I want to use my gifts for much more than just running a marathon. So, today I ran my first of many marathon pace (6:00 minutes) workouts on the track. Just three miles (18:00) and a few light 200s. Yes, it wasn't too hard. It's still June and I'm being patient. My IT band was a little tight today, but I spent a lot of time stretching before and after the workout.

9 or so miles on the day. On pace for 70. :)

Crystal Rock Path

Woke up late this morning to a text from Mark. Run? Perfect. We hit up the Crystal Rock Path across the street from his house. It reminds me so much of Needwood, but it was so nice to run around a lake on a gorgeous morning. We took it easy for the first few miles and loosened up. 9 miles and a lot of stretching.