Sub 15:00

Darn You, Aukland Sub15 Clothing Store

2012-02-29T14:13:00.007-05:00

When I was young I had a poster in my room that said, "A goal is a dream with a deadline". If I still had that poster I might hang it back up on my wall as motivation for this Sub-15:00 project. Nevermind that my wife doesn't let me hang posters up in my bedroom anymore, or that the poster had a basketball hoop on it. The phrase is particularly salient given the current circumstances.

The goal is a sub-15:00 5k. If this is news to you then I'm guessing you just stumbled across our blog while looking for children's clothes in Aukland (an Aukland clothing store is the #1 hit that comes up in a google-search for Sub15; our blog is #2). The deadline for me is the start of residency. I'm fairly certain that when I start residency training in pediatrics this July, 70mile weeks and 2hr track workouts will be unsustainable. This means I have until July to break the 15 minute barrier. There is no doubt that all of your submitted workouts have moved us closer to a 15:00 5k. But, as the deadline looms nearer I've decided its time to start adding the little things that will put me over the hump.

For the past several months I've been doing crunches and planks in an effort to improve my core strength (and get the perfect beach body for this summer when I never leave the hospital). In talking with several running friends I've also decided to add weekly strides to the routine. This supposedly activates fast twitch muscles and gives you an excuse to run barefoot. Another thing I've recently added is stretching. I've never been a big fan of stretching, but I figure its like praying - it can only help right? Since Sam and I have crowd sourced everything else about this process I figured I would once again turn to the sub-15 viewers out there and ask for your suggestions in this matter.

What other "little things" do you add to make yourself a faster runner? Give up drinking? Eat only black jelly beans? Sleep in an oxygen tent? Sleep in a regular tent and hold your breath? No suggestion is too outlandish for Sub15. If we get enough responses we may do an episode on the topic. If we get no responses we may just stop making the blog entirely. Just kidding. But not really.

-Steve

Lake Effect Half Marathon

2012-02-27T14:10:00.008-05:00

Due to inclimate weather and me being a wuss, I decided to make the Lake Effect Half Marathon a steady state workout. I ran 1:19:15, which is about 6:03 pace. It doesn't sound like much, but I was pretty pleased with the effort considering the headwind we had running northeast.

A more complete synopsis of the run along with a video can be found on my second running blog. (Yes, I have two running blogs. I'm not proud of it.)

Congrats to Andrew for the impressive 1:10 win. It was a tough day to run fast.

Episode 28: Who let the dogs out?

2012-02-24T13:04:00.004-05:00

Episode 27: The Horseshoe

2012-02-22T19:12:00.010-05:00

Editor's note: Sorry for the crazy music mashup at the end. I had to clip and distort the songs in order to have YouTube include the sound at all.

Episode 26: Trowty-tree Quarters

2012-02-18T13:26:00.002-05:00

Episode 25: Bringing Tempos Back

2012-02-14T21:31:00.004-05:00

Workouts

2012-02-13T11:34:00.002-05:00

Apologies for the workout submission form being out of commission. I'm not sure when that happened, but it was unintentional. We're still very interested in getting workouts, particularly strength stuff (hills) and long intervals. We're going to progress into more pace stuff in about a month and a half, I think.

Episode 24: "Dread"

2012-02-10T00:55:00.001-05:00

Episode 23: The "Schanzinator"

2012-02-08T22:44:00.001-05:00

The Long Hallway

2012-02-07T13:56:00.002-05:00

As we continue the long process of getting back into race-ready fitness, I thought I'd share a recent blog post by Dathan Ritzenhein on his decision to not run U.S. XC Nationals. There were so many fit guys that could have been in the mix at XC but instead went after it in the marathon Trials. I'm curious to see who bothers to show, as I deal with my own dilemma of how to rebound from Boston.

"Lessons in life and running can be very hard to comprehend. We were at Mass this past weekend and Father Dave, our local priest, was digging into the “drudgery” that sometimes accompanies life. He wasn’t saying that drudgery is bad, but more so that can be a grind. He was speaking in purely religious terms, but it can similarly be applied to the labor of everyday training and racing. The majority of the training and season is a grind. Those special moments of pure joy and bliss; such as after a great race are often dwarfed by the hours of endless exercise. If I look at the top moments I’ve had from running they are surrounded by a sea of grinding detail.

I think the point of the sermon was not so much about enjoying those brilliant moments but finding peace in the long stretches in between the peaks. Father Dave used the analogy; when one door closes-another one opens, but sometimes it leads to a hallway. In short, it can be a long way from one success to another. Without being able to enjoy the “drudgery” between the good races, you could spend most of your time being unhappy with what you are doing.

The other part of the sermon was knowing what door to open next. You may have a lot of choices and making the right one can be hard to do. I look at the the long hallway as being the journey to London 2012. I thought that after the Olympic Trials Marathon I would be walking into the next room, instead I have found myself heading back into the hallway.

For this very reason, I have decided I am not going to run the US XC Championships this weekend. Training and recovery have gone well, but after flirting with the idea of running we decided to move on to the next opportunity. All along we said let’s get back out and race, but make sure I am completely recovered. I feel good, but still think I need a few more weeks to get the marathon completely out of my legs before lacing up again.

So we head back down the hallway to the next door, it’s all part of the journey…"

Episode 22: The Couch Potato 5k

2012-02-05T15:58:00.004-05:00

Time Machine: May 13, 2006

2012-02-03T15:58:00.007-05:00

Editor's Note: This running (b)log entry is from May 13, 2006, back in the day when I was rocking a MySpace. Note that I did not use MySpace to pick up girls. I just posted my running stuff on there. I thought it would be fun to repost this in conjunction with my 12-week recap of the Sub-15 project. I'll warn you that this is one deep cup of tea that you're about to read.

I'm pretty sure that this is going to be my last running (b)log entry. This may come as a shock to some of my more faithful readers (I've been getting about ten reads per day even during these last few meager weeks and who cares if at least half of them come from Will Seidel?), but I feel that it's time to put the chronicles to rest. Aside from the fact that I never felt like I meshed well with the Myspace format, I don't know that I'm going to have another competitive race for a while. How long is a while? At this point, I can't answer that with any high degree of certainty. There's a chance I'll race a few meets with Central Park later in the summer, though I'm not sure about the details or if I'll have the desire to do so when the time comes. That said, I see training as a vector to racing, so I'm not going to waste my time (or yours) writing about a casual morning jog or a half an hour of laps put in at the pool.

To tell you the truth though, I consider this--that is, the proclamation of being done with the (b)log--a feat in itself. Most running logs that I've come across--or even written myself--end with a day that reads like a hundred others: "Today I ran 5 with Ross in the morning. Did a workout in the afternoon: Three sets of 600, 200, 200...Pushed it on the last set...felt smooth..." Felt smooth, indeed. And there you have the transition into the black. The following day was probably a medium paced 10-miler, but we'll never know for sure, and maybe that's a good thing: The mystery ingredients to running fast, a secret recipe that only the runner and his coach can recall. Still, as a man who appreciates closure, I want to have my end written down in script.

So here it is: Today was the last race of my collegiate career. I ended it in the first heat of the IC4A 1500 with a 3:51.11. It was a mediocre race, fittingly capping off a mediocre season--one with initial promise but mediocre nonetheless by the time all was said and done. That was apparently the career theme picked out for me by God--if he follows track at all. Still, in some ways, I feel as though I'm more fortunate than most runners in the NCAA. Even if it did come at the hands of a freshman year injury, I got the chance to run for five years instead of the usual four. I saw two very different programs in the process and gained the perspectives of three widely disparate coaching programs. I took fourteen seconds off my best high school mile time. Our 4x8 team won IC4A's. I won one individual conference title, which to this day I consider to be the race that I'm the most proud of (even if it was indoors and even if it was a diluted event and even if the first place guy was DQ'd for cutting the curve). I was a part of five team conference titles. I'm fortunate because I remember my good races more than my bad ones.

I have to thank track for a lot more, though. Not doing so would be selling the experience short. Most importantly, all of my best friends are my college teammates. I know we may take circumstances for granted, but I can be such an asshole sometimes, I really think my options would be far narrower in some other constructed social pool. I can thank track for weeks worth of inappropriate laughter and countless stimulating conversations. Running also brought me to the girl I love. I love her more than running so how could I possibly not see the entire experience as worthwhile?

Still, track and field is a sport for the masochistic. I don't mean this in cliche terms that distance runners thrive on pain but rather that they thrive on frustration. Most of the time, you will not get what you want in this sport. Once in a season (if you're lucky), you'll have the performance that you're truly happy with. Once in a couple of years (again--if you're lucky), you'll have the performance that changes who you are. After today's race I told Brad, my UD teammate, about the race in which I ran my PR 1500. It was at Heps my junior year--day one in the trials. I was first heat matched up with Gerry Groothius, Ben Stern, and a few other names from around the Ivy League. We went out at a moderate clip: 60-point then 2:02 at two laps. With a lap to go, Groothius, the class of the field, took off as I had expected. Really, I had just been waiting for it. Since the top two advanced to finals, though, and I was feeling good, I hung back. At the 200 mark I was on Stern's shoulder and feeling relaxed. Groothius, barring total meltdown would win the heat. (He eventually did.) In the last stretch of curve before the homestraight, I moved into second place. Fifty meters from the line, I turned my head to check position and shut down my body ever so slightly at my coach's beckoning, conserving energy for the final ahead of me. The time was 3:50.20. I had no inkling that would be my collegiate best. While I tend to view that sort of ignorance as cruel, I can't imagine how disappointed I would have been had I known that I would never run faster in the two years to follow.

I've seen the same thing in many of my friends' running. Oliver's 3:46 as a sophomore remains his PR to this day if I'm not mistaken. I don't mean that in a negative way since I doubt he loses sleep over it (he was far more consistent later--especially senior year), but it does support my case. Ross ran a 1:52 800 when Taylor botched up the entries and accidentally put in him there instead of the 1500. Despite working harder than most guys on the Cornell team to the point where it frustrated others to watch, he never improved. Why is this the case? Becuase running is cruel...

Did Oliver or Ross or I or countless others ever see that coming? Hell no! We're driven by expectation! A promise that we make to ourselves at some point (no one can remember when) that we're going to be better the next time around, that we're going to scorch the track with the same feet that took us over a thousand miles of trails during the summertime. Why? Because that's the way it works. At least that's the way it should work in a fair world.

I know the world isn't fair. I have more running talent than the majority of people out there. The better I get, though, the more I race against people who are more talented than me.

Still, even armed with that seemingly defeatist knowledge, I cannot leave this crazy, frustrating sport behind me just yet. Even though I didn't come close to realizing my dream this year, the dream is still nibbling at me inside. I named this (b)log "primefixation" because, even though it's a cheesy name that Will gives me ridicule for, that's what running was to me from this past fall onward. That's still true. Running still encompasses the biggest goals I have in my life because those goals are so simple and concrete and worthy of being fixations. In terms of the future, I probably won't achieve those goals, looking at this thing objectively (which one is allowed to do during retrospective end-of-the-year moments like this one), but I'm going to try my damnedest to allow myself to not to be objective but instead run within the construct of the dream. Maybe it's a religious thing, who knows? Running is the only time I feel God--a sort of internal prompting to follow along with what I unknowingly started as a fourteen-year-old. If I fail, it will be frustrating, but if I fail, I'll know that I listened.

Sub four,

Sam Mackenzie

Holy Hell, We're 12 Weeks In

2012-02-03T14:58:00.003-05:00

When Steve came up with the idea for this blog back in November, I thought it was a great idea. Since starting medical school, running had become a source of guilt, and making videos of workouts seemed like a good way to instill a little punch back into the training plan.

I should clarify that when I say "guilt," I mean it in the sense that it's been a long time since I've been in good shape, and not being in shape made me feel all low self-esteemy. I was doing enough to keep myself from gaining weight, and most summers, I could throw down a 4:20-something mile when needed. By and large, though, I just didn't put in the work necessary to do be anywhere close to PR'ing in something. On the other side of the coin, I would also feel guilty if I occasionally let running get in the way of school. School really kicked my ass sometimes.

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

It was this weird schizophrenic sort of thing going on, probably as a result of me saying I was OK with my pre-med school PR's being my lifetime bests, but in the back of my head thinking, "No wait, idiot, you can run faster."

In my first year at Delaware (2005-2006) after graduating from Cornell, I ran 4:08.84, which gave me a fun--if not moderately--delusional sense of having a shot at being a sub-4 miler one day. I recently went back to my training log from the end of that outdoor season and found my end of the season recap, which I'll post in another entry. I think it represents an attitude that I maintained into the outdoor season of 2007 when I was getting workouts from Paul McMullen. After that outdoor season, the goal of which was to run 14:35 and 1:50 (neither of which I did), I was pretty frustrated. That frustration was easy to lump into the perfectly logical decision of leaving track behind and pursue more career-oriented stuff (i.e. MD-PhD program).

Was it the right decision? I'm pretty sure it was. I sincerely don't envy the guys my age that are working in shoe stores and making $20k, trying to scratch out a trip to the Olympic Trials. But that's not to say walking away from competitive running at 23 didn't have its drawbacks. There are a whole lot of what-ifs that still irk me. I'm starting to look at breaking 15 as sort of a baby step toward addressing some of those.

So here we are, 12 weeks into Steve's brain-child, and I have to say I'm pleased with the results. At the outset, I thought there was a 50% chance that we'd actually run 14-something for 5000. Now, I'm willing to say that chance is as high as 80%.

"So you're telling me there's a chance."

The downside: Videotaping workouts is an ever-increasing pain in the ass. Ditto for making the videos. What gets us through both of these activities is the promise of people watching them and digging the fact that we're doing this thing. It may not seem like much when you "like" the site or leave a comment, but that sort of thing really psyches us up.

It's also been cool to see the positive enthusiasm from followers. Steve and I are both well-aware that there are at least a few thousand people in the country that can break 15 minutes any day of the week, and that the time is not super impressive in and of itself. That said, getting there after such a long layoff takes work.

I guess I just expected more grumbly naysayers. Nay, there have been nary a one.

Episode 21: Groundhog Day

2012-02-02T23:51:00.002-05:00

Episode 20: No Probalo, Cantwell

2012-02-01T23:50:00.000-05:00

Crap Runners Don't Need

2012-01-31T22:50:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite things about running is its simplicity. I love that I can throw on a pair of sneakers head out my door and be running down a solitary country road or wooded trail in just a few minutes. So you can imagine my apprehension when I scrolled through Fox sports yesterday and saw this:

This is cryotherapy, a new trend that is beginning to replace ice baths in upper level athletic facilities. For a "cool" $190,000 (pun intended) you can purchase one of these tubs and have your aching muscles soothed by jets of liquid nitrogen. The catch? There's no real scientific proof that the therapy actually speeds recovery. In addition, the treatment can actually be dangerous. Sprinter Justin Gatlin found this out the hard way when he got frost-bite following cryotherapy and was forced to sit out the 100m finals at the World Championships.

All this new technology marketed to athletes got me thinking: for such a simple sport there sure seems to be a lot of stuff you "need" to be a runner these days. In such confusing times I've decided to wade through the BS and simplify things for all you sub-15 readers out there. Here's my list of CRAP RUNNERS DON'T NEED:

#1. Vibrams: anything worth doing is worth doing right. Ergot, if you are going to run barefoot, run barefoot. You don't need a $90 shoe to do it. Your metatarsals will thank me later.

#2. Orthotics: remember when these were trendy? I'm pretty sure most people have stopped wearing them or at least stopped announcing it (to avoid being bludgeoned to death by a group of vibram wearing hippies). But, if you've still got a pair throw them out. There's some data to suggest they may actually lead to injury.

#3. Hydration belts: nothing looks goofier then a guy wearing a hydration belt in a 5k race. If you sweat that much in 3 miles you don't need a camelback, you need to see a doctor. Perhaps the only time this accessory is necessary is during a 20+ mile long run. Even then, it makes more sense to me to run a 10 mile loop twice and leave the water bottle at home.

#4. GPS watches: What do you get when you divide the amount of time you spent running by the mile pace you just ran? You get $200 in your pocket by not buying a useless GPS watch. If you really want to know if your run was 9.98miles instead of 10.02 then try mapmyrun.com - its probably just as accurate as a GPS.

#5. Head lamps: my wife bought one of these in December. Big mistake. They go through batteries faster then a 1997 disc-man. Even if the batteries are working the light bounces around enough to cause epilepsy. I've decided that night runs are for treadmills and roads with streetlights.

I'm sure there's much more CRAP RUNNER'S DON'T NEED, but who has the time to list all of it? I recommend this rule of thumb: if your number of running accessories exceeds your 5k PR (in minutes), its time to scale back. And now I'm off to stretch my arch with my Pro-tech foam roller....I just thought of another one.

Mileage and Workouts

2012-01-30T13:44:00.006-05:00

A few people have expressed interest in seeing a graph of our recent mileage with our heads placed in the graph's key so that you can tell which color corresponds to which one of us. Well, for those of you with this specific request, I have obliged. ~~I am missing a few data points for Steve, but rest assured he did not zero out for those weeks. He probably ran eleventy.~~

Also, we're down to only 20 or so options for workouts. That is insufficient. Please keep them coming or else.

Race Pics Courtesy of Fleet Feet Part 3

2012-01-30T10:44:00.004-05:00

FTW.

Race Pics Courtesy of Fleet Feet Part 2

2012-01-30T10:42:00.010-05:00

Beast mode initiated.

Part three here.

Race Pics Courtesy of Fleet Feet Part 1

2012-01-30T10:30:00.008-05:00

A mildly disinterested Mackenzie on the starting line.

Part two here.

Sub-16 at the Chilly Chili 5k

2012-01-29T19:38:00.010-05:00

It was a good day for the Mackenzie household, as Natalie and I both took home the gold at the Chilly Chili 5k this morning. I ran 15:57, almost a full minute faster than last year's 16:52.

Race conditions were considerably better than last year, with the temperature around 37 degrees and the wind blowing at a tolerable level. (Last year, temperatures were reportedly negative, and who can forget my famous quote: "Today was probably a mittens day"?)

I successfully dipped below the 16-minute barrier for the first time in...well...as long as I can remember for a legitimate 5k. Natalie, who was initially uncertain about whether she even wanted to run, somehow turned her sandbagging attitude into a win margin of over a minute. We'll be using our Fleet Feet gift cards on some new shoes in the next few weeks.

As far as a race recap is concerned, there's not much to report splits-wise, because I purposely went sans-watch. The first mile felt a bit quick, as Kevin Collins pushed the pace from the front, about twenty feet ahead of the chase pack. I caught Kevin at about 1.25 miles after cresting the main hill in the race. From that point, I was in the lead, but the constant pattering of footsteps behind me had me running scared for the rest of the run.

A public shout-out to the organizers and sponsors of this great event. My only complaint was that there was only one vegetarian chili at the post-race cook-off. (It rightfully won the People's Choice Award.)

See pics of the race here.

Episode 19: Attack of the Falcon

2012-01-28T14:59:00.002-05:00

Episode 18: This guy ran 15:02!?

2012-01-26T22:05:00.002-05:00

Splits From Yesterday's Workout

2012-01-25T18:11:00.004-05:00

Steve's doing his OB-GYN rotation but promised to get the workout video up by Friday. I'm guessing we'll do a double episode this week, or rather a two-in-one.

The workout at OCC yesterday went well. Splits and rest were as follows:

4:48 mile, 400 jog,
2:17 800, 400 jog,
2:18 800, 400 jog,
65 400, 200 jog,
64 400, 200 jog,
64 400, 200 jog,
61 400

You'll note, based on your knowledge of my extreme speed, that we neglected instructions to go "all out" on the last 400. Truth be told, 61 felt fast but not nearly maximal effort, which is a good thing if not a bit surprising. We really haven't done any true speed work whatsoever.

On the mileage front, things are progressing well for Boston. Last week was 80; this week should be slightly higher. Tomorrow is a progression run and some economy work in the afternoon. I'll be racing on Sunday at the Chilly Chili 5k, looking for the win and a time in the neighborhood of 16-low.

Giddyup.

Episode 17: You Down with OCC?

2012-01-20T16:13:00.001-05:00

First OCC Workout

2012-01-19T15:36:00.002-05:00

Repeat quarters in lane 5. 45 seconds between reps, lap jog between sets. Video will be up tonight.

Splits:

74.9, 73.3, 73.2, 72.5 ///
72.9, 72.2, 72.7, 71.7 ///
71.9, 71.2, 71.9, 70.2 ///
70.6, 70.2, 69.6, 69.8

Episode 16: The Dog Days are Over

2012-01-18T19:04:00.002-05:00

Switcheroo

2012-01-18T17:16:00.004-05:00

Last night we did the 3 x 2 mile workout rather than the 400's. My computer has been marooned at work as I've been running back and forth recently, but I'll try to get the video together and up tomorrow morning if I can get in early.

The workout went very well, I think. Splits were 10:24, 10:24, and 11:09 if memory serves. We did an out and back course with a tail wind / head wind that probably subtracted / added 10 seconds per mile.

Tomorrow evening, we'll be on the new OCC track. Pinky swear.

6:44 pm update: Disregard sentence above regarding the video. I stayed late just for you.

Episode 15: Rick's ukulele workout

2012-01-13T23:06:00.004-05:00

Solo Track Tempo

2012-01-09T19:53:00.004-05:00

With Sam out of town I was forced to do my tempo workout alone tonight. I ran 20:00 at Nottingham Track. It was dark and windy, but amazingly there was no snow on the ground (a rarity for Syracuse this time of year). I cruised through 14.5 laps in 20:00, which is 5:28 pace. I wish I had felt that great for our 3k on Friday, but it was reassuring to run so effortlessly. I'm pretty sure I could not have done this workout 2 months ago. Sam and I plan to complete and video-tape one of the workout submissions on Thursday. See you then.
By the way 60 miles last week.

Going to the well...and coming up dry

2012-01-06T23:04:00.013-05:00

I'll preface this post by noting it has been 6 years since I ran a 3k and 6 years since I ran on an indoor track at all. I've forgotten 3 things: 1) how you get that annoying indoor track cough after the race, 2) how much non-banked tracks suck, 3) how to go to the well. I'll explain...

It was a disappointing night for the Sub15 duo at Cornell's Southern Tier Collegiate Invitational. A 3k time trial which we expected to land us firmly under 9:00 paid off no such dividends. Sam set a good pace through 1200meters (splitting 35's and 36's), but the wheels began to come off from there and we proceeded to drop to 37s and 38s. The mile was 4:52 and I realized just before 2k we needed to shift gears to have a shot at 9:00. I took over the pace-setting from Sam and was able to bring the splits back to 35's and 36's, but the damage was already done. I rolled in at 9:04, and Sam clocked a 9:15.

I will let Sam recount his feelings about the results in his own post, but I do believe both of us are feeling frustrated. There was some grumbling on the cool down about re-learning how to race. Sam referred to it as "Going to the well". I like this metaphor. I think it describes what we have to do in the coming weeks. Its time to relearn how to dig down when things start to hurt and muster a gutsy last 1,000meters. This is something I tried to do tonight actually, but when your middle 1k sucks it doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot what you do for the last 5 laps. On a positive note, I felt that I had the stamina to hold this pace for another 1k. What is lacking is the extra gear to go 8:50. Hopefully we'll develop it in the next month.

If anyone has some good workouts they think we could use after this dismal performance we'd love to hear 'em.

1/10/11 Edits (Sam's Notes): After the race, Natalie and I drove down to New York City for a rejuvenating weekend of seeing friends and, for me, doing some AMA and work-related activities. After the dismal 3k, I appreciated the change of scenery, particularly where running was concerned. Saturday I did a short run over the Brooklyn Bridge, and Sunday I did 16 miles--mostly loops around Prospect Park.

As for the race, there's not much good to say about it besides the fact that I don't feel like I'm that out of shape. I was expecting to run about 8:50-8:55, and obviously that didn't happen, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was more a result of not being used to the whole indoor track environment (I've run zero laps on an indoor track) and being way too focused on the number of laps we had left. Compounding the latter issue, I didn't have contacts in, so every time we came around the finish line, I was squinting at the clock. This is not the best way to run a race. Basically, I've moved on rather than looking at this race as an indictment of our lack of progress. Looking forward to doing something hard on Thursday.

71 miles last week for me.

A Word on Workouts

2012-01-04T09:57:00.005-05:00

We're a couple months into the project, and I have to say things are going pretty well. In the span of just eight weeks, Steve and I have transformed ourselves from race-off-of-practically-nothing 5k wannabes into hardened winter warriors. I'd put our current fitness around 16 minutes--maybe a tad under for Steve and a tad over for me. More importantly, 4:48 pace seems more doable with each passing week, as steady improvement is the key.

We currently have just over twenty workouts left to choose from that have been submitted by our loyal readership. Steve and I appreciate your patience as we slowly work through them. If we haven't done your workout, it's not necessarily because we didn't like it. Rather, we're striving for some degree of periodization with what we're doing, and certain workouts make sense at certain times considering the weather, whether or not we're racing that week, our mileage, how much work we have to do outside of running, etc. A few workouts were submitted from people who did them X number of weeks before running 14:XX. That's fine, but we're obviously not going to try them on a snowy track in January.

What I'm trying to say is bear with us. Thanks to the last few days' worth of weather, we're now firmly in the indoor season. Steve and I have talked about it, and we may cut back to filming one workout per week some weeks. For example, if we are doing intervals indoors, we may opt to run a tempo run of some sort sans video and then film the indoor workout for your viewing pleasure. Making videos is fun, but it's super time-consuming, and capturing footage is a pain in the ass.

In closing, thanks to everyone who has submitted workouts to this point. It's been a lot of fun, and we're going to do our best to get through all of them. If you have an idea for a workout you'd like us to do, please don't hesitate to submit it. As I said above, it's really nice to have a bunch of options to choose from.

Episode 14 - We Forgot to Eat Pancakes

2012-01-03T10:39:00.002-05:00

Episode 13: Ryan O'Dell's Ultra Hill Run

2011-12-29T21:36:00.001-05:00

Episode 12 - The Christmas Carol Pole Run

2011-12-26T00:01:00.002-05:00

Episode 11: Mike G's 8x1000m

2011-12-20T21:50:00.002-05:00

Episode 10: Imagine Running Five of These in a Row

2011-12-18T17:29:00.002-05:00

Episode 9: Pete's 30 minute tempo

2011-12-14T22:19:00.001-05:00

Double Episode Coming This Week

2011-12-13T12:24:00.006-05:00

During this morning's workout, my iPhone ran out of juice, so we had pretty limited footage.

In other bad news, the nice camcorder that Natalie and I bought last year has been on the fritz. (I will be accepting donations to get it repaired.) Steve's is still operational, but apologies in advance if the video quality isn't up to our normal standards as a result of having to rely on the iPhone more than usual.

Last week's mileage was an even 50 for me with no long run (we went Sunday/Saturday the week before) and a day off on Thursday. This is certainly on the low side, by I'm willing to forgive myself given these circumstances and the fact that we had a race. I think Steve ran a few miles more as a result of not taking Thursday off.

In closing, keep an eye out for Episode 9 later this week. We'll be featuring workouts from Steve's college coach and a 1:49 800 guy from Dubai that we've never met. What more can you ask for? Until then, happy trails (er...cold, windy roads).

Episode 8: Its a wonderful run 5k

2011-12-11T14:40:00.002-05:00

It's a Wonderful Run Results

2011-12-11T13:10:00.002-05:00

So, Steve and I did a 5k last night in Seneca Falls. It went pretty well: 16:12 for Steve and 16:24 for me. The course was pretty fast, flat for the first mile, a slight uphill on the second, and a downhill finish.

You can see the results here. Note that we got beaten by a 48-year-old, but we're not too ashamed. (Ask us again in a few months.) The race put together a video, where we got some face time, albeit mislabeled at the finish (I was Steve and the guy behind me was me). Steve will have our version up soon.

Episode 7: Geoff Decker's Fartlek

2011-12-08T11:08:00.004-05:00

Episode 6: The Slowest 1500 in Heps History

2011-12-07T14:12:00.002-05:00

Episode 5: 844-844-2222 x22

2011-12-02T21:18:00.001-05:00

Episode 4: Green Lakes Long Run & Hopkins' 4mi Tempo

2011-11-29T20:46:00.003-05:00

A Homemade Turkey Trot

2011-11-27T21:57:00.001-05:00

Episode 3: Thirty-Eight Strides

2011-11-22T23:16:00.003-05:00

MIleage and Races

2011-11-22T09:22:00.005-05:00

We're two weeks in at this point, and a lot of people seem concerned that we're just doing workouts without any base. To allay your concerns, I wanted to let you know that I've gone 46 & 33 mpw for the past two weeks including a six-day trip to New Orleans. I know, I know...this mileage is dangerously high. Sam, how can you possibly stay injury-free when you're pounding out 33 mile weeks?

This week I'll probably be just shy of 60 and am planning on going up consistently from there. Steve hit 51 and 41 for the past few weeks according to my records.

Since I'm running Boston, my next 19 weeks will hopefully look something like this: 60, 60, 65, 70, 75, 70, 75, 80, 85, 70, 75, 85, 90, 85, 95, 90, 100, 50, 30. The original plan was to find a race in June, July, and August. If I take May easy with some sharpening toward the end, it may be more prudent to do two June races to hit a fast one in July.

Potential races (these don't have official dates yet):

June 10, Boston: NB Twilight #4
June 23-24, Rochester: USATF Niagara Champs
July 7-8, ?: USATF Club Champs
Late July, Syracuse: Time Trial
Early August, Syracuse: Time Trial

My B, Yo

2011-11-21T15:55:00.003-05:00

So, when I made the workout submission form, I forgot to have a field for the submitter's name. I caught it pretty soon after posting the form, but right now, there are two orphan workouts that need to be claimed.

If you posted the 3200-800-1600 workout or the 5k pace fartlek, please comment below so we can give you your due credit.

Episode 2: Upstate NY XC Championships

2011-11-21T12:14:00.002-05:00

Submit a Workout

2011-11-21T10:22:00.005-05:00

Episode 1: Jerry's Ladder

2011-11-18T10:43:00.004-05:00

The Quest for Sub-15:00 Pilot Episode

2011-11-11T14:31:00.004-05:00

Thanks for visiting our video blog and following our quest to break the 15:00 barrier. All you have to do is:
1) Watch the Sub 15:00 Pilot Episode Above
2) Propose a workout for us to complete in the comments section below (be sure to include pace, recovery time between reps, and location; i.e. roads/track/hills).
3) Check back each week to watch our video of your workout being completed and evaluated.