Windy @ MindSay 
cold
I'll recap last week (not in the typical fashion though as I'm pressed for time). Last week's training was overall a good one. Lorraine wanted to experiment with my peak or rather finding when I'd peak in a mini 4 day cycle. So last week's mileage was VERY low for what I'm used to.
Last week = Week # 42, March 23rd - 29th
I woke up on Sunday and felt very sore from the previous day's workout (really the 6 x 150m fast sprints). So my Sunday long run was rather short @ 11.50 miles or so. Monday was an easy hilly run of 11.50 miles or so as well. Tuesday (while still sore) we headed to the track and did a light workout of 3 x k. The pace wasn't supposed to be fast and thus I avg about 2:51. Lorraine asked me to take Wed off and I did. I felt way to full of energy on that day though, but I knew that we were experimenting with a day off in the middle of the week to see the results. I like that Lorraine can think that far ahead and experiment now for things that we'd like to have completely nailed down later on in the summer/year.
Thursday itself consisted of an easy 7 miler and 6 x 100m strides on the grass. I was far too sore (STILL!!!!) to do anything too quick w/ them and just ran them at about 15 sec or so. Friday I was allowed to run more of my typical daily avg and ran an easy 12 miler @ South Boulder Creek Trail. After that I ran 3 x 200m on the track where I was told to FLOAT the 1st 100m and then pick up the last 100m. I ran 27,26 & 26 seconds.
Finally on Saturday we had planned a quick workout. Just 1 x 2 mile in a time trial type situation. The goal was 9 mins. I felt pretty confident that I'd be able to run around 9 mins and if all went well -without killing myself for the effort- be able to run anywhere between 8:50 - 9:00. Well that was not to be the case. We (we as in BOULDER) had unreal winds. Lorraine and Harlan would later go on to tell me that they thought I'd call it quits somewhere before (or maybe after) the 1st mile, when I was already behind the pace and visibly struggling against the wind. The thought never crossed my mind, instead I kept thinking, "Well I'll have to run the next mile in xyz to get this time." Later with 1/2 mile to go when I saw I'd need to run a 1:56 or at least sub 2 mins I thought, "Well why not I haven't gone this fast yet but let's give it a go..."
Needless to say I came home in a 9:30 and it was the toughest 2 miler I had ever run. We found out later that we had 46 mph wind gust, and I felt every single mile per hour of it. I was very upset by the time (not effort) and thus Lorraine decided that we better try another one, since the time didn't reflect my true fitness. I didn't really think I could do another because (A) I was tired from battling the wind (both physically and more importantly MENTALLY) & (B) I just flat out felt frustrated by the effort and wanted to call it quits for the day.
Lorraine drove me up up and a ways out of town (between Lyons, Boulder & Longmont) to do the next repetition, where I'd follow her car and stop when she stopped along a looong stretch of dirt road. I got pretty stiff in the car while driving with her and could barely keep up with her at first when we got out and were warming up. I kept trying to push the negative thoughts out of my head. She sent me off and told me to just stride out the 1st mile or so and see how I felt. To be honest if it hadn't bee for Lorraine I would've def called it quits. Eitherway it went much better than the first. I ran a 9:15 for that 2 mile and the effort didn't feel anywhere near as tough as the 9:30 fist effort. I also ran it rather evenly through 1 mile. The splits were 2:20, 2:20, 2:23 (I stopped because I thought Lorraine said I was done, and didn't realize I had 1/2 mile to go) and 2:12 last 800m. So there you have it that's basically the training from last week. I hit 65 miles and felt rather sore for the 1st part of the week. Now I'm in California and looking forward to getting in some training down here as well as lacing up the spikes and starting my 2008 Olympic Journey.
I'll try and do another update soon. My good friend: Steve Sherer (who I'm training and staying with) can't remember the password for his wireless internet, so I have to use his lap top. Meaning that for the time being I've brought a lap top that's essentially a giant paperweight in my bag pack. The guys are still sleeping now but when they wake up (hopefully soon) we'll go for a nice run in the Redwood Forest in Santa Cruz. I'll definitely take my picture as it's truly a beautiful place. I was there once in 2001 when my then college team and I came this way for the Stanford Invitational.
Well I must get going. Thanks for stopping by and having a (hopefully) quick read of things.
Peace & Love
-Rob
Walking to Savannah's school today was difficult. It was especially blustery which sends chills to my marrow!
Out my bedroom window you can see how my big maple has a lot of leaves still. The exact opposite is said about our trees in front of the house.
It looks so pretty you can hardly tell it's cold and windy.
Aww they are both smiling.
severe lack of sleep.
my dads mad at me for hitting his truck. id be pissed at me too. my mom wants to make things better between us. probably wont happen. but it will for a week or so until my dad gets over the truck thing.
my lip piercing is back to NORMAL. no more swelling. which makes me happy. considering this is the first time of seven that it turned out the way i wanted to.
im talking to kids from columbia. i love my school. and i love chicago. and i love that im moving the hell out of here in like...a month.
in the beginning of august im taking a train to detroit and then to toledo to see nick. he found a german shepard puppy on his deck this morning. he said medusa wanted to kill it at first butnow its okay. im pretty sure hes going to keep it.
i needed to start journaling again.
nick wants me to go to counseling. but its not for me. and im happy. for the first time in a looong time. no more retarted teenage bullshit. time for college :D.
sunday.
im
getting
fucking
trashed <3
adios strangers
The same day as my granny's birthday the family decieded to all go shopping and then meet to go out for dinner. My parents, brother, and my family decieded to go to the mall where the sporting store and Barnes and Nobles is at. On our way to the Mall, Randy and I drove past an accident with a rig carrying rolls of paper. It was really windy out that day. The rig was manavering a curve and took it to fast and the wind blew him right over. This again happened in April of this year.
Here is a clip of a truck that shows what happens when 35mph winds and 50 mph gusts shove the back end of an 18-wheeler. Though the front of the tractor also gets shoved around, with the weight of the engine and the use of the steering tires, it is much easier to manage control of the front of the rig than it is the back.
My Truck : about 75' long total, 13 1/2' tall. It's like carrying an umbrella in high winds. Except a LOT worse. This went on for about 12 hours of driving over two days, about 720 miles across Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado. I watched my fuel mileage drop drastically from 6.5 to 5.3 over the span of one tank of gas. Enough struggling with both hands on the wheel (which is why the video is so short and shaky) to cause back aches, shoulder and neck pain, and tired arms.
Car drivers : I know it buffets you too. But please, DON'T ride in the quiet spot alongside a truck where you are protected from the cross winds!! I had a clown with his wife and infant baby in a pickup pulling a trailer do that for 20 miles - every inch of the way I was terrified my trailer was going to sidewipe him (he was going slowly in the wind, I was passing him, he realized the wind disappeared with me next to him, and he sped up and matched my speed - 50mph up hills, 70 mph down hills, til I finally put on my blinker at a split in the highway and made him think I needed to exit. Once I was back in front of him, he slowed down and faded out of site behind me struggling with the wind on his own.
OK, wind, rain, did someone say June? Yes, snow. The high winds across the mid-west plagued me all the way to Denver when I finally slipped behind the cold front causing it. One problem, along with high profile vehicles maintaining control, is visibility. One problem is when the winds coming south so hard across the high plains of eastern Colorado decide to relocate Farmer John's top 4" of field into some other county.
Though I didn't have time to stop and take up barryk ' s offer of a PB&J sammich, I did get to toot the horn in her general direction (just look for the big water tower next to the two blue water tanks high on the hill and wave)- Hi Barry!! HEY! I just noticed I was so busy watching traffic in front of me I didn't see I was passing the Crete yard right there next to the highway! Hi Guys!!
So thru Denver and up thru the Eisenhower Tunnel, location of that "Hazard Pay" tv special on Discovery I told you about last week. So in life immitating art, I came out the west slope and was met by freezing temps and snow!
This is my first real wifi connection in a week and I have plenty of googling, story telling, and planning to do - so much that I'll probably sit here at the north Las Vegas truck stop all afternoon and not bother trying to find a casino with truck parking close enough to the strip for an affordable cabride. Also, the national Truck Expo is here this weekend, and I'd love to go and see if I could look up a friend I met 4 years ago, but the afternoon is already late and the opportunity lost.
I know anti-biotics are different, some used for bacteria and some for viruses, but I couldn't bear this any longer. Halfway thru the night I woke with a painful earache so I took an a/b meant for my cellulitus. I feel better today than I have in more than a week. Go figure.
More vids to come in next week - I'll have to join Youtube and become a famous truckin' videographer, LOL!
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