This past week has been a little bit rough for me training-wise. It began last Saturday at the Arizona State invitational where I ran the 400m and anchored the 4x400m relay. I guess actually it started earlier than that. In the 3 weeks leading up to that meet my training has been very base heavy. I was basically training like a 1500m runner, doing lots of tempo and aerobic based workouts. So going into the meet I was better prepared for a 1200 than an 800m. But, it was a good opportunity to get a great speed workout in.

In the 400m I got every bit of speed I could handle in running a 47.06. My hamstrings were toast after that. I had over an hour until the 4x400 so I did what I could to make sure my muscles would be ok. I got a massage from Frank, an ASU trainer (who did a great job, thanks!), and did the heating pad routine before warming up agian for the relay. Our relay's goal was to stay competitive and not get blown out of the water. The other 3 guys did a great job and I got the baton in 4th about 10m behind Illinois and 15m behind Arizona State. I am like a kid with candy when I get the baton in a 4x400. I went out and caught up to both of those teams at the halfway mark and on the curve I moved around ASU. The last 100m was pretty uneventful except ASU came back on me in the last 20m. I split 45.7 which I was completely surprised with. Evidently all I need is a little adrenaline and somebody to chase and I can still run a decent relay leg. We ran 3:08.6 as a team which is a club record by 2 seconds. 3:08 is a really good time for a college time this early in the season, so for 4 800m guys who have been doing mostly strength work, that is an excellent time.

Ok, so back to what I was originally writing about. After the meet I was dead. I slept like a baby that night and the next night, and really ever since then. Each day I had to drag myself out of bed in the morning. Workouts have gradually gotten better throughout the week but I have definitely had a rough time getting my body recovered from the races. Aerobic workouts haven't been much of a problem but my muscles weren't lasting long in anaerobic work. It wasn't until Friday when I finally felt 100% again. Then I came back strong Satturday with very solid double day of workouts.

Looking back, I know I ran faster than my body was ready for but I definitely don't regret it. I go out in every race with the intention of leaving it all on the track. I mean, why go out there if you are going to coast in and jog across the line? That's not me anyway. The good news is that I got some amazing speed work in for early in the season. With all the improvements I'm making in strength over the past year, all I'll need is a little bit of speed work to draw on that 45.1 speed I used to have to have a breakout year and do some special things. If I were to run that hard again this weekend it would only take a couple days to recover. By the time the season comes into full swing I'll be doing a workout after running 1:46's. So even though I ran faster than my body was ready for this past weekend, I can say that I'm right on schedule in my training and am on pace to have a great year.

This Thursday I'll be leaving the beautiful weather of Tucson, AZ and heading back to the hopefully dry Eugene, OR. Then a couple more weeks of training before heading to the Penn Relays to run an 800m leg on the USA Distance Medley Relay Team. Check out the Competitions section of my site for my full outdoor schedule. I am updating it as soon as I get confirmations from meets.

Arizona State university Videos:

400m

4x400m Relay