PR’s

1 1/2 PT Test- 9:33

Half Marathon- 1:34:59 Ventura Half 2019

Marathon- 3:45:50 California International Marathon 2017

Anya is an extremely hard working athlete that will conquer any workout you throw at her. She includes swimming and strength training in her workout program to make her a strong all around athlete. The key factor that has gotten Anya to where she is at is her consistent hard work, she hates to miss a workout or any reason. It has been exciting to see Anya earn a PR in the half marathon this fall, and continue to gain fitness as she goes after the base record in the 1 1/2 for her PT test in a few weeks. Learn about how Anya got in to running below:

How long have you been running?

Running has been a part of my growing up and living. No competitive running. No racing. Just moving.

I have a very clear image of myself running with my dad on our way home from kindergarten. I think I was 5 or 6. You walk to the bus stop, a few stops on a bus, and then walk with him. The Russian winter evenings — dark, magical, and cold — etched into my memory. I remember wanting to run on the snowy path and daring my dad to race me. He let me win, as we raced away in snow and under the starriest of nights. I think I knew he let me win. Still, I loved it.

Then later, I have an image of myself outrunning everyone in the 1st grade. Maybe I didn’t actually outrun anyone. But I remember feeling breathless and being powerful and fast. It was during our PE class. The memory betrays on the details but I know that, after that time, somehow, I knew I possessed a super power of running. It gave me new confidence.

Then running with my dog in the woods when I am 14. My shoes were unfitting and would not stay on my feet. I would take them off and run shoeless. Just for fun.

Then 60 meters in the middle school. Running faster than the boys. One of them said in frustration: “You run like a DOG.” Well. He actually said: “you run like a B$#tch.” It was a confusing feeling of hurt and pride all at once.

Like I said, running has been a part of my life for as long as I remember.

2. Why do you run?

To feel alive. To let go and dissolve in breathing. To remind myself to practice gratitude. To connect with others. To feel powerful. To be a badass. To remind myself that discipline can be boring. To feel lightness and grace. To give everything I’ve got. To find my footing. To run away from the day. To run into my calm.

3. Favorite distance? Best race or location of race?

13.1. I truly believe I have not ran my best race yet. One day I would like to run Antarctica. Maybe that will be my best race.

4. Children? Pets? How many? Ages?

A sweet kitty Zaya. Zaya likes to knock things off the tables. She is very social and lovable. She fetches and does tricks. She insists on having an instagram and likes to post a couple times a month. #zayathekitty.

5. Favorite pre and post race food?

I make special power balls prior to each race. I use dried fruit, various nuts, seeds, banana, almond butter, oats, honey, and protein powder. Post race, I always crave cold sparking water!

7. Non running related hobbies or activities you enjoy doing?

I love my job — almost as much as I like hobbies. I love my kitty Zaya. I love gardening and growing plants, I enjoy good coffee, wine, reading, swimming, yoga, barre, having people over, watching stand up comedy, podcasting (I have a podcast) and so much more (and definitely not enough time).

Big congrats to @rmccray on his 2:48:17 run at #NYCMarathon today. He went in to the race not planning to race, but just enjoy the day and he still ran fast. Checkout the link in my bio to learn about how Rick got in to running and how he’s gotten to where he is today.

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A year ago Rick had a pr in the marathon of 2:56 and he was running 50 miles a week. He asked me what it would take for him to run a 2:40 marathon and I told him that he would need to get up to a 70 mile week. He told me that with a full time job and kids he did not have time to run a 70 mile week. I said that’s fine, I’m just telling you the level of training it takes to reach that time, it doesn’t mean you can’t still Pr.

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Fast forward a year and Rick has gotten up to 121 miles in a week and his PR’s are below:

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PR’s at age 40 and up.

1 mile 4:47

5k 16:25

8k 30:35

HM 1:16:35

FM 2:38:57

As a kid growing up, I remember my mom taking me with her to Harbor College. Where she would run around the track. Every now and then I would run a lap here and there. But I wasn’t a fan of running at the time.

It wasn’t till my sophomore year in high school, where I decided to run. So I joined the cross country team, from there I developed a love for running. So I ran cross country and track, all three years in high school. I also ran a year and half in college.

In 1996 I began working full time and found myself working double shifts. Which didn’t leave much time to run. In May of 2006 I got married with a son and had two boys of my own after that. Then I was sure I was done with running after that. But in October of 2015, I got separated and the divorce process began.

So in January 2016, I started running again to clear my head. So I found myself running often and decided to run my first half marathon (Long Beach Half). That went pretty good, so I signed up for the 2017 L.A. Marathon. I’ve ran 5 half marathons and 6 marathons total.

How I started with SBRC. In late January 2017, a friend at work tagged me in a Facebook post with Paul Gonzalez. Who was a member of SBRC. Paul immediately direct messaged me. Inviting me to come out to SBRC track night. Prior to coming out, I had my doubts about running with a club. But everyone was so welcoming and I fell in love with the club instantly. I’ve been a part of SBRC ever since.

My toughest workout was with Sean Goodsell. During my training for CIM 2018. It was 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 cut down with 2 min recovery in between.

What motivates me? For me its wanting to know just how fast can I run. I’ve already ran faster than I ever thought was possible for me. So that drives me to keep pressing forward.

PRs are:

5k: 19:57- LA Kings 5k 2019- First Overall

1/2 marathon: 1:32:40- Thrive Half Marathon 2018

Marathon: 3:12:18- Mountains 2 Beach Marathon 2019

Sarah is an amazing athlete that I have had the pleasure of coaching for only about 6 months, but her work ethic and ability to execute designated paces is what has made her successful. She recently won the LA Kings 5k with a time of 19:57, but her main goal is in the marathon at the California International Marathon in December.

@s_m_rohr :

I ran in high school but we didn't have track or cross country teams (in Australia), I just used to just run around my block so that I would be more fit for horse riding. I have always enjoyed running but mainly used it as a way to keep fit and never followed any training program. When we moved from Downtown LA to the Southbay I started running more along the strand and enjoying the beach views. After a few months of running consistently I did the Kaiser 1/2 Marathon in San Diego and suprised myself with a time of 1:32 - it was then I decided to join a running club (SBRC) and take running a bit more seriously. I contacted Cheyne after my first marathon (LA) didn't quite go to plan and he has helped tremendously with my training and also setting and achieving goals. I really enjoy racing but love the training process and getting the miles in. Looking forward to Ventura 1/2, CIM, and many more races to come!

Last 9 weeks before Sarah’s marathon PR:

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Ryan Patterson- Torrance, Ca

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PR’s:

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5k-20:09- Torrance Armed Forces Race

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Half Marathon- 1:41:17- 2017 Avengers Half Marathon

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Marathon- 3:29:57- 2018 LA Marathon

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Like most runners, Ryan has a busy schedule, but somehow manages to always fit in his training. His consistent training got him to over a minute PR in the 5k this year.

It is important to always improve your times in shorter distances because it makes your pace feel more manageable for the longer distances. Now that Ryan has improved his 5k by such a large amount, he has his eyes set on a marathon PR this fall. Read his story below, and follow along his journey as he goes for a PR at the California International Marathon this December.

I started running in 2013 when a friend convinced me to run the Disneyland Half Marathon with him. It sounded crazy at the time. Even though I finished that race in over 3 hours, I kept running Disneyland half marathons until they ended in 2017. These races pushed me to stay in shape.

Keep in mind, I was training without a coach, so I didn’t know about all the things I was doing wrong. Because of this, it was no surprise that my first marathon at Walt Disney World in 2016 went miserably. I finished in 4:40.

Cheyne’s coaching has made running much more enjoyable. By staying consistent with his plan, I see myself getting faster and more fit. This has made qualifying for Boston a very possible thing in 2020, something I would not have imagined just two years ago!

Ross Chun- Los Angeles, CA

PR’s

1 Mile- 5:17- Manhattan Beach Mile 2019

5k- 18:29

Marathon- 2:56:17- Mountains 2 Beach Marathon 2019

Ross’s work ethic and positive attitude are the keys to his success. I started working with Ross this March after unsuccessful attempts at breaking 3 hours in the marathon. Ross went in to the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon with a 99 mile week and a string of great workouts under his belt, the result was a big PR. I am excited to see how Ross progresses in his upcoming races, checkout his story and last couple weeks of training before Mountains 2 Beach below.

“I started running in high school because my friends were on the cross-country team. I was not naturally talented, so I really learned the importance of hard work early in my running career. After high school, I pretty much stopped running altogether other than the occasional 5K. Fast-forward 12 years, a friend asked one day if I wanted to join him in running the San Francisco marathon. I said sure and I have not looked back since. The consistency in training was a gradual build up over the last five years. Now that I am back into it, I really do not know why I ever stopped. Running is such a metaphor for life. The ups and downs in running go hand in hand with the ups and downs in life. You must set goals to help you achieve your dreams. There is no perfection, just improvement. What you do with setbacks is key to getting stronger both mentally and physically. Setting goals is very important but closely behind the importance of goal setting is the persistence, consistency, discipline, and determination. Running is very much part of my life again and I am so grateful.” -Ross Chun

It’s important to listen to your body during a training cycle, and as you can see Ross sometimes ran more or less than was planned for the day based on how his body felt, and his last 4 weeks of training set him up for a big pr.

Canyons 100k Trail training

Training Week 8.18.19-8.24.19

3/18/19

0 miles- Absolutely exhausted from the weekend long runs. Not sore just needed sleep

3/19/19

Afternoon: 7 miles easy- 7:40 pace at West, finally feel recovered. PM: 7 miles easy- 9:14 pace with Ross

3/20/19

PM: 13 miles Hills Reps- 8:50 pace with Bill. Tough workout really tough to push my legs to go faster

3/21/19

Afternoon: 9 miles easy- 8:33 pace at West PM: 7 miles easy- 8:35 pace easy at SBRC

3/22/19

Afternoon: 13 miles easy- 7:50 pace at West foot hurt PM: 2 miles easy- 7:56 pace, added two miles to beat Rick in weekly mileage.

3/23/19

Afternoon: 15 miles- 8:22 pace, ran during a break at the high school meet. Tried to climb in to the San Gabriels from Azusa Pacific College, but had a tough time finding a trail head. Still got in a good run with about 2,500ft of climbing.

3/24/19

AM: Long Run 21 miles- 6:08 pace with 1,500 ft elevation. Tough run with Rick and James, we really pushed in some sections running multiple miles in the 5:30-5:40 range and then got in some hard climbs as well.

Weekly Miles: 94

Training Week 8.11.19-8.17.19

3/11/19

1 mile- Shooting pain on outside top of right ankle.

3/12/19

PM: 6 miles easy- 8:37 pace at Village Runner Brooks demo run. Ankle felt a little better.

3/13/19

Afternoon: 6 miles easy- 8:07 pace at West practice. Ankle hurt first half, but not second. PM: 10.5 mile uptempo- 7:05 pace with Bill and Humberto during their 2x2 mile workout. Ran some 150m reps after.

3/14/19

AM: 7 miles easy- 8:14 pace ankle hurt at the start, but got better. Didn’t run at night after the hs meet.

3/15/19

AM: 7 miles easy- 8:29 pace PM: 7 miles easy- 7:56 pace, ankle was barely noticable

3/16/19

PM: Double Long Run 30 miles- 7:49 pace, at the high school track meet all day and felt pretty drained right from the start of the run. Pace felt easy, but legs felt terrible from 18 miles on. Finished the run at 11pm feeling destroyed. Drank 48 ounces of Liquid IV and had 6 Honey Stinger gels.

3/17/19

AM: Long Run Part 2- 25 miles- 9:37 pace with 3,000 ft elevation and heated up after starting at 9am with Sean. Really struggled the second half. We got stopped by a rattle snake on the trail and had to turn around early. Drank 64 ounces of Liquid IV and had 6 Honey Stinger gels, and then had a quart of gatorade and 1.5 liters of water and still struggled with dehydration.

Weekly Miles: 100

Training week 3.4.19-3.10.19

3/4/19

Afternoon: 5 miles easy- 7:55 mile pace not as beat up as I expected. PM: 10 miles easy- 8:39 pace with SBRC

3/5/19

PM: 13 miles easy- 8:42 pace at Wicked Run Club. Didn’t wake up early, so I had to run longer at night.

3/6/19

Afternoon: 6 miles easy- 8:14 pace, hip, back and whole body aches. PM: 8 miles easy- 8:20 pace with Ismael, Pacer, and Jose

3/7/19

Afternoon: 5 miles w/ 5x200 sprint- 6:45 pace, got the new Skechers Speed Elites in the mail, so I just felt like running fast. PM: 8.5 miles easy- 8:26 pace with SBRC

3/8/19

AM: 8 miles easy- 8:47 pace, really tired and tough to get moving. PM: HS Track Meet at Redondo- jogged warm up and cool down with the kids- 4.5 miles easy- Jake ran a big 3200 pr of 9:17 which was pretty motivating to watch.

3/9/19

AM: 2.5 miles- jogged warm up with the milers, lots of PR’s throughout the day. PM: 6.5 miles- 8:06 pace, planned on going further but had a pain on the top of my foot.

3/10/19

AM: 24.4 miles- Mt Wilson Lollipop Loop: 8,619 Ft elevation gain, 12:07 average pace. This run really beat me up, lots of climbing and it was really cold at the top of Mt Wilson. Ran with Rick, Gavin, and Matt, but Matt turned back at the top of Mt Wilson. The first 6.6 miles up Mt Wilson took 1:24, but when I reached the top I felt like I had just finished 20 miles. By the time I actually hit 20 miles coming back up Mt Wilson from Chantry I was struggling pretty bad. My watch was fully charged at the start of my run and by the end the battery was dying. Good thing my new Suunto 9 is coming in th mail this week.

Weeks Total: 101.4 miles

The goal for the first half of this year is to expand my distances on training and racing, and the end the goal is to run a 100 mile trail race. The training for this is drastically different from any training I have been doing, so each week I will be updating the blog with training details.

The 100 mile race goals will be:

Plan A: Western States 100 miler in June, if I can plays top 2 overall at the Canyons 100k in April

Plan B: Angeles Crest 100 miler in August, if I do not qualify for Western and I can place top 2 at the Angeles Forest 60k in June.

Plan C: Kodiak 100 miler in August if i do not qualify for the other two.

Training week 2.25.19-3.3.19

2/25/19

AM: 4 miles easy- 8:54 per mile pace PM: 10.5 miles easy- 8:26 per mile pace, adductor still tight

2/26/19

AM: Track progression run with West. 2 mile warm up, 4 mile progression, 1 cool down split 5:40, 5:38, 5:30, 5:22. Was not motivated to start, but felt pretty relaxed PM: 8.5 miles easy with Bill at 8:43 per mile pace. Feeling the fatigue

2/27/19

AM: 5 miles easy- 9:01 per mile pace PM: 7 miles easy- 8:26 per mile pace

2/28/19

AM: 6 miles easy- 8:53 mile pace, felt pretty exhausted. PM: 8.5 miles easy- 8:51 per mile pace with SBRC

3/1/19

AM: 5 miles easy- 9:33 per mile pace felt pretty terrible. PM: 8 miles easy- 7:33 per mile pace with Stewart, felt surprisingly easy

3/2/19

AM: 6 miles easy- 8:32 per mile pace with West. Went out and watched Sean Race Griffith Park 50k after and it was a muddy disaster. Driving up runners looked lost and confused and covered in mud. Even the runners who finished did not seem happy as all of the courses measured drastically short.

3/3/19

Last 25 miles of Angeles Crest 100- Great group run with the runners training for the Angeles Crest 100 miler. The run went great, I felt really relaxed the whole run. Took the mile 11-14 section hard to get the Strava KOM segment and was able to improve on my time for that segment by 4 minutes from last time. I did not know the course, so I had to stop many times to find out where to go next, but overall the run felt great.

Nutrition: 3x 16 ounce water bottles with Liquid IV in each bottle, 6x 100 calorie chocolate Honey Stinger gels.

Gear: Brooks Caldera shoes, Wunjo Sports X5 Ultra vest and back bladder

Weeks Total: 100 Miles

2019 New sponsors, new products, and new adventures.

For the last 20+ years I have entered most races with built up pressure on myself to perform well. Many times that pressure lead to a feeling of defeat after my race, but occasionally that pressure led to a new accomplishment.

Over the years I have logged up to as much as 160 miles in a week and performed workouts that left me mentally and physically destroyed. The other side of that is that when you have put in those huge efforts and they have led to your successes, you start to wonder if you can put yourself through those demands again to reach the level you were at.

After qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Trials in the marathon, I found myself being asked over and over, “what’s next?” For me, qualifying for the Olympic Trials was a huge accomplishment in itself, and I have to be grateful for that. As a few realistic people have mentioned, the athletes who have barely qualified for the trials are not going to be competing for a spot on the Olympic Team, and I am okay with that. I still plan to work hard and do my best on the day at the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta on February 29th2020.

For the time being, I am happy to have the monkey off my back and be able to run races because I want to, not because I need to hit a certain time. In that same frame of mind, I have decided to try some new training techniques and races to see if I can grow and enjoy new levels of competition. I have been spending more and more time running in the mountains and for the first half of this year I plan to race as many long mountain trail races as possible. I am registered for the Canyons 100k trail race in April, and the top 2 athletes at that race qualify for the Western States, 100 miler in June. I have always been afraid to try these races because I did not know how they would affect my shorter distance races, but with already accomplishing everything I had set out for myself on the roads in 2018, I feel like this is a great time to try out the ultra trail races.

I am hoping that these long races will build up a great endurance base for the first half of the year, and I can spend the second half of the year focusing on running my best in Atlanta in 2020. Before CIM I had 10 weeks over 100 miles a week and the long workouts of 2x8 miles at 5:30 mile pace, and cut down 20 milers averaging under 6 minute pace were tough to handle mentally and physically. I am really enjoying waking up on a Sunday morning and adventuring out in the mountains for 4+ hours and knowing that I am getting in a good workout without dreading having to hit a specific pace.

I always say that people who enjoy running aren’t doing it enough, but running can be fun, you just have to take the pressure off and go enjoy new things.

New training and racing environments are not the only things new for me in 2019. I am happy to announce that I will be partnering with some great brands in 2019 to fuel my training. I worked in the sports marketing industry for many years, so I know there is not much monetary value in promoting a brand and I am really enjoying trying out new products to review with RoadTrailRun.com. This has made me very picky in the products that I am using and I am happy to announce that I will be partnering with Honey Stinger nutrition products, Liquid IV electrolyte fueling, Wunjo Sports hydration packs, and a few other brands that I will announce later. I will be periodically putting out reviews on their products, feel free to ask me any questions you might have about their current products.

2018 California International Marathon

What else can I say except that the 2018 California Marathon was a dream come true. I felt like I prepared for it the best I could in every way possible and it resulted in a 7 minute pr of 2:18:29 and an Olympic Trials qualification in the marathon. Rather than boring you with a full race description, I will list the pieces that I think came together to make the perfect race for me.

Mileage- 10 weeks over 100 miles with a highest week of 150 miles and majority of the runs were done at 3+ minutes per mile slower than marathon race pace.

Long marathon pace workouts- This was the first marathon cycle where I was able to do multiple long workouts specific to marathon pace. I did not hit goal pace on the majority of the workouts, but they taught my body how to run hard on tired legs.

Fueling- This was the first marathon where I used a specific fueling strategy where I took specific fuel at specific times rather than just when I felt like it. My strategy was to wear compression arm sleeves and put 5 gels in the sleeves. I took one gel(Chocolate Honey Stinger) every 5 miles and one at the start. Also ran with a 10 ounce handheld water bottle filled with Maurten liquid calories. I sipped this slowly the first 10 miles and then threw it away at about mile 10. This strategy seemed to work well as I never bonked energy wise.

Confidence- Looking at my pr’s, recent race results, and workout paces, I do not think there were many people who believed I could run the trials standard. I put in the miles and I had a plan and I stuck to it. The first 20 miles I did not look at splits I just tried to stay relaxed, run with the pack, and hold back if I felt good. I hit 20 miles and felt great, I still suffered the last 10k, but constantly reminding myself to relax and hold back gave me confidence that I wouldn't’ fall apart at 20 miles(like usual). When I told other runners and coaches my goals going in to the race many of them gave me comments and looks of judgement and it made it hard to believe that I could do it, but I am glad I believed and did not change my plan because it paid off.

Marathon training- CIM 2018

1 week left

Tapering is a tough task, and one I don’t usually try to tackle. I have had mixed experiences with tapering. Some of my worst races occurred after a major drop in weekly mileage and almost all of my best races came in the middle of a big training block while preparing for a later race. This would make it seem that the answer is to keep the volume up on race week, but so many running programs preach that you should feel fresh and rested going in to your peak race. The question is, how rested is too rested?

My plan for CIM is a mix of the two practices. This week I had planned on keep the mileage high for one more week, but after the horrible race performance and last long run effort my coach thought it would be a good idea to take a day off this week. The rest day seemed to work as I felt really smooth in my final workout two days later. To me this means that I need to rest without losing fitness or getting out of a routine. To accomplish this I plan to keep with the double runs each day next week, but make each run slightly shorter than usual. The only hard effort for this last week will be some short interval reps at about race pace and then a couple short runs the two days before he race. That’s the plan and all i can do now is hope that the work I have put in pays off on race day.

Training Week 11.19.18-11.25.19

11/19/18

Am: 7 miles easy- 8:28 mile pace Pm: 10 miles easy- 8:46 mile pace with SBRC

11/20/18

Am: 7 miles easy- 8:03 mile pace hamstring was bothering me Pm: 9 miles easy- 8:22 mile pace with Wicked Run Club

11/21/18

Am: Last Long Run 17 Miles- Fail- Started out feeling okay and tried out Maurten energy drink and gels and the drink was okay, but I didn’t like the gel. I carried a 10 ounce handheld bottle that I will use for the first half of CIM, but the gels didn’t sit well. The run was supposed to be 4 miles @6:30, 6 miles @5:45, 6 miles @5:25-30, 1 mile of 1 min hard/1 min easy, 1 mile cool down but I hit the wall and started walking at 11 miles. I got a late start after the high school practice and it got hotter than I expected and I just didn’t have it mentally after the poor race performance over the weekend. I tried to pick up the pace at 10 miles and I started feeling some blisters on my heels and knew I wouldn’t be able to complete the workout. Splits were: 6:31 6:16 6:23 6:33 5:45 5:40 5:41 5:47 5:44 5:57 5:33 6:25 7:42 7:35 7:39 8:41 7:47

11/22/18

Thanksgiving- Off. Planned on running, but Coach Nuci said that after a poor race and workout that I should take a day off.

11/23/18

Pm: 6 miles easy- 7:17 mile pace on the State course with the high school team.

11/24/18

Am: Final Workout- 3 mile warm up, 4 miles @ Race Pace, 3 min rest, 1 mile fast, 2 mile cool down Woke up feeling really good and the weather was great. Got to the State meet about 3 hours before the boys race was going to start, so I did my workout on the bike path next to Woodward park. Tried to focus on staying relaxed and at an effort that felt right for the marathon. The course was rolling hills and my pace stayed pretty consistent. After the tempo portion I focused on going hard for the mile and pictured the last mile of the race and what I need to do the last 400 to the finish. Workout splits: 5:11 5:17 5:14 5:15 then 3 min rest and 4:53. Cool down felt really easy, I am usually really sluggish on a cool down, but I floated along at 6:30 pace feeling effortless.

11/25/18

Am: 14 miles easy- 8:06 mile pace with SBRC, big group this morning.

Week Total: 80 Miles

2 Weeks to CIM

training 11.12.18-11.18.18

11/12/18

Am: 9 miles easy- 7:26 per mile pace with the team felt pretty easy. Pm: 9.5 miles easy- 8:24 mile pace with SBRC.

11/13/18

Am: 4 miles easy- 8:51 mile pace feeling unmotivated. Afternoon: 5 miles easy- 8:52 mile pace with the team. Pm: 9 miles easy- 8:29 mile pace easy with Wicked Run Club

11/14/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 8:15 mile pace with Lamperski. Pm: 3 mile warm up, drills, 3x3200 w/ 2 min rest, 2x 1600 w/ 1 min rest, 2 mile cool down. Great workout with Stewart, I felt really strong and controlled. Split: 10:00, 9:55, 10:00, 4:54, 4:54

11/15/18

Pm: 13 miles easy- 8:17 mile pace with SBRC. Didn’t run in the morning to recover from the workout, but felt pretty good.

11/16/18

Am: 9 miles easy- 8:53 mile pace feeling beat up. Pm: 9 miles easy- 7:19 mile pace with the team.

11/17/18

Am: 6 miles easy- 8:46 mile pace feeling pretty sluggish after the high school race all morning. The boys missed 1st place by one point, so that was tough to swallow.

11/18/18

Am: 3 miles warm up, 10k SoCal Xc Championships, 5.5 miles cool down

Split: 5:11, 5:17, 5:27, 5:30, 5:47, 6:03

Race did not go well. I wasn't too surprised as I haven’t raced an xc race in 5 years and although I am fit, I haven’t really done any workouts that would translate to a good cross-country race. I went with the lead pack and it didn’t feel tough, but I just couldn't handle all of the rolling hills. Once I fell off the pack I was done and just lost all motivation. I fell back to 11th place overall and ran much slower than marathon pace. Only bright side is that bad races are bound to happen, and I would rather it happen today than in two weeks.

Week Total: 110 Miles

150 mile week

Training 11.5.18-11.11.18

11/5/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 8:44 per mile pace with Bill, feeling pretty beat up. Afternoon: 8 miles easy- 7:19 pace with Griffey. Still sore, but got a massage which helped. Pm: 9.5 miles easy- 8:39 per mile pace with SBRC, drills after.

11/6/18

Am: 10 miles easy- 8:59 mile pace, still very tired. Afternoon: 5 miles easy- 8:31 pace jogging around during the high school workout. Pm: 4.5 miles easy- 8:42 pace at SBRC. Sean lost a bet with me about if he could come within 20 minutes of my time at our respective marathons, so as a result he had to wear Gavin’s size 13(Sean is a size 9) trail shoes that he wore in his 100 mile trail race(and did not wash) during a track workout.

11/7/18

Double Workout: Marathon Pace Am: 2 mile Warm up, 8x1 mile @MP with 2 min rest. Pace fluctuated a little but it felt relaxed. Split 5:22 5:18 5:17 5:22 5:22 5:23 5:17 5:21, 2 mile Cool down. Pm: 3 mile Warm up, 4x1600 @MP with 80 sec rest. Ran it with a couple guys on the track and it felt really easy running 5:17, 5:16, 5:16, 5:16, 3 mile cool down.

11/8/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 7:39 mile pace with Jordan feeling pretty beat up. Afternoon: 6 miles easy- 7:21 mile pace with the high school, felt much better than the morning. Pm: 12 miles easy- 8:28 mile pace feeling pretty tired.

11/9/18

Am: 9.5 miles easy- 7:59 mile pace feeling pretty sluggish. Pm: 6 miles easy- 8:47 mile pace, planned on going further but cut it short because of the air quality from the fires.

11/10/18

Am: 4 miles warm up, 20 miles alternating 5:40/6:40 per mile. Drove out to Long Beach to avoid the smoke and run with Nick Spector. Workout went really smooth and didn’t feel difficult until about mile 22. Split 7:11 7:01 7:02 6:55 5:39 6:36 5:39 6:52 5:40 6:38 5:42 6:41 5:40 6:37 5:43 6:39 5:41 7:02 5:40 6:39 5:37 6:54 5:40 6:47

11/11/18

Am: 7.5 miles easy- 9:35 mile pace with SBRC, smoke was really bad. Pm: 10 miles easy- 8:56 mile pace with Sean in Palos Verdes to avoid the smoke

Week Total= 150 Miles

Workout Wednesday

Just 4 weeks until the California International Marathon and training is coming along nicely. Each of the workouts I have done lately may not seem like much, but combined with the high mileage workload and pace work, they are making me feel strong.

This weeks workout was broken up in to a morning session and an evening session. The reason for this was to practice race pace(couldn’t quite hit it) and run hard on tired legs. The workout plan was: Am- 2 mile warm up, 8 miles at goal marathon pace(5:18), 1 mile cool down, Pm- 2 mile warm up, 8 miles at goal marathon pace(5:18), 1 mile cool down.

Actual Workout: Warmed up with Rick and then as I did my drills he started off on his tempo. After about 4 minutes I started my run. His goal marathon pace is about 1 minute slower than mine, so I figured I would pass him a little after the 4 mile turnaround. The first 4 miles were tough as I split 5:30, 5:32, 5:38, 5:41 and did not feel like the pace was coming easily. Moreover, Rick was ahead of pace, so I was not gaining much on him, which made me feel like I was falling off pace. I took a GU gel at the turnaround and surprisingly the pace picked up without feeling like it as I split 5:25, 5:33, 5:36, 5:27 and finally saw Rick in sight the last mile as he averaged 6:12 pace and I was a little behind pace.

After the first workout I went to the league championship race for West Torrance High School and a couple hours later Rick completed the second portion of the workout at 6:17 pace. I was feeling completely wiped out after the high school race and really did not feel up to completing the workout, but knowing Rick got through it got me out the door. I felt terrible at the start of the first workout and the splits the first few miles reflected that. After the second mile I really made a push to get on pace, but still split the first 4 miles in 5:34, 5:38, 5:29, 5:36. I took in a GU gel at the turn around and I felt like I was falling apart, but I split 5:26, 5:20, 5:26, 5:25 on the way back. The last mile could have been faster, but the strand was getting full with people taking their kids trick or treating and I had to do some weaving. I finished the workout absolutely spent and did not cool down just walked home with Delia as she happened to be down at the strand when I finished.

training week 10.29.18-11.4.18

10/29/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 8:36 pace with Bill, foot feeling better. Afternoon: 5 miles easy: 7:52 mile pace with the freshman boys. Pm: 9 miles easy- 8:40 mile pace with SBRC.

10/30/18

Am: 9.5 miles easy- 8:53 pace with Bill, feeling pretty beat up. Pm: 10 miles easy: 7:50 pace with the high school.

10/31/18

Am: 2 mile warm up, 8 miles at 5:32 per mile pace, 1 mile cool down. Pm: 2 miles warm up, 8 miles at 5:29 per mile pace

11/1/18

Am: 13 miles easy- 8:13 mile pace with SBRC. Didn’t run in the am because I thought I would be beat up from the workout, but felt surprisingly good.

11/2/18

Am: 10 miles easy- 8:34 mile pace still feeling good. Pm: 9 miles easy- 6:55 mile pace with the varsity boys, felt pretty relaxed.

11/3/18

Am: 22 miles medium long- 7:38 mile pace with Rick in Palos Verdes. Felt pretty relaxed but lethargic.

11/4/18

Am: 9.5 miles easy- 8:15 mile pace with SBRC. Quads are pretty beat up from the hills yesterday. Pm: 4 miles easy- 9:24 mile pace feeling pretty exhausted.

Week Total: 130 Miles

The Ventura Half Marathon was a great race, and I was excited to run within 10 seconds of my pr on a solo effort, but I struggled to recover from the effort and was not able to workout for a week after the race.

training week october 10.22.18-10.28.18

10/22/18

Am: 11 miles easy- 8:35 per mile pace, great run with high school teammate Bee-oh Kim visiting from Korea. We ran on the PV trails and my hip flexor was a little sore after. Pm: 9 miles easy- 8:55 pace with SBRC feeling recovered.

10/23/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 9:25 per mile pace. Felt really tired and beat up. Afternoon: 8 miles easy- 7:05 pace with the high school boys, felt really easy but top of right foot started hurting. Pm: 4 miles easy- 9:37 pace with SBRC jogging around the track.

10/24/18

Am: 13 miles easy- 7:13 per mile pace with Quinn. Got up at 5am to run with Quinn because it’s always easier to run with someone else, but it was a bit too fast of a pace for me that early and the top of my foot really started to hurt by the end. Pm: 7 miles easy- 8:31 pace didn’t feel great, but foot didn't get worse.

10/25/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 8:25 per mile pace with Bill Weber, foot still bother me a bit. Pm: 12 miles easy- 8:38 pace at SBRC. Foot felt good until after the run when I was doing my drills and the top of the foot had a shooting pain with every step.

10/26/18

Pm: 5 miles easy- 7:53 per mile pace. Ran with Griffey and planned on farther but foot hurt pretty bad.

10/27/18

Am: 4 miles easy- 8:54 per mile pace at the high school, foot hurt with every step.

10/28/18

Am: 20 miles- 6:00 per mile pace.

Week Total: 109 Miles

Marathon Workout #2- Fail

Got chiropractic treatment from Dr David Lee at Pro-Active Wellness Center, which helped, but I still woke up unsure if I would be able to start or finish the workout. I met up with Rick McCray and Quinn at the SBRC run from Valley Park in Hermosa Beach at 7:30am. My plan was to run with them the first 4 miles and then if my foot felt okay I would start the workout. I was surprised to feel that although my foot hurt it did not feel worse the further I ran. I have never been good at workouts compared to my races, so I was happy with the way this workout went despite not being able to ever hit pace. It was a good hard effort and I never really hit the wall just gradually fatigued. I took one GU when I started and one GU at mile 10.

The workout planned was, 4 miles warm up, 5 miles at 5:45 pace, 5 miles at 5:30 pace, and 5 miles at 5:18 pace(goal marathon pace), 3 mile cool down. As you can see from the below splits, I never was able to hit the goal paces, but I was able to somewhat cut down on the pace the whole way. I also did not manage a cool down after the long effort.

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training week october 10.15.18-10.21.18

10/15/18

Am: 6 miles easy- 8:03 per mile pace, adductor is still very tight. Pm: 10 miles easy- 8:40 per mile pace with SBRC. Drills after.

10/16/18

Am: 7 miles easy- 9:00 per mile pace, adductor is still very tight. Pm: 8.5 miles easy- 7:44 per mile pace with Griffey at the West Torrance practice. Drills after.

10/17/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 7:43 per mile pace with Quinn, Renee, and Mark. Pm: 3 miles w/u, 4 mile tempo, 6x400, 3 miles c/d- The tempo and 400’s were supposed to be at goal half marathon, but I just couldn't get down to it on the tempo. Split 5:21, 5:17, 5:15, 5:09, and 72-74 on the 400’s.

10/18/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 8:53 per mile pace. Achy from yesterday, but massage helped the adductor. 11 miles easy- 8:25 per mile pace with SBRC. Drills after.

10/19/18

Am: 7 miles easy- 7:37 per mile pace with Quinn. Started out tight, but loosened up. Drills after.

10/20/18

Am: 3.5 miles easy- 8:10 per mile pace, pre meet with Sean.

10/21/18

Am: 3 miles w/u, Ventura Half Marathon 1:07:08, 3 miles c/d- Got the win and happy with the time as i was alone after the first mile. Splits 5:06, 5:08, 5:00, 4:55, 5:02, 5:10, 5:05, 5:03, 5:03, 5:09, 5:06, 5:07, 5:06

Week Total: 100 Miles

Ventura Half Maratho

This year’s Ventura Half Marathon was a great event that I would definitely do again. I chose this race as the course looked fast, and it was far enough out in my CIM training cycle that it could give me a hard effort and gain some confidence without being too close to CIM to recovery. I took it easy the two days before the race, but still kept the mileage high enough to hit another 100 mile week.

The morning of the race went without a flaw. Delia and I were on the road by 4:30am and reached the starting line at 5:50am. We were able to find parking right next to the starting line as it was still dark out and not many people had arrived yet. I went out on my warm up along the course and felt good about the direction the day was headed. Before the race I met up with Rick, Charles, Casey, Anya, Ismael, Alex, and Zo and for the first time in a long time I had no injuries going in to a race and no excuses not to run well.

SBRC Team Win

Top 5 guys finished under 1:20 with lots of PR’s
Alex(not pictured)- 1:10:37, Rick- 1:16:35, Ismael Henrandez- 1:18:03, Zalmi Orimland- 1:19:19

The race went off and in the first half mile there were about 4 runners in front of me and I felt like the pace was faster than I planned on going out. By the time I hit the mile I had settled in to a pace that felt sustainable to me and I had moved in to the lead with Alex and the third place runner in the pack. From there I thought about my pre-race plan of staying conservative the first 10k and then racing the second half.

“Run with your heart instead of your mind. When you think with your mind, you think of the things you can and can’t do. But when you run with your heart you forget about what your can’t do, and you just go out and do it.”

— National Champion and Former American Record Holder, Gerry Lingren

The West Torrance Coach, Jason Druten sent out this quote to our high school runners Saturday night after their 2nd place finish at the Mt Sac D3 race, and the words resonated with me throughout the half marathon. I was all alone after mile one, but I am fit and did not feel any injuries at the moment, so I needed to take advantage of the moment. Repeating this quote over and over helped me not look at my watch and just run off feel. Surprisingly, my body never really shut down and I finished with all of my mile splits ranging from 4:55-5:10. My goal for CIM is to average 5:18 per mile, so this solo effort gave me a lot of confidence as I continue to put in work each week until Dec 2nd.

Happy to get the overall win, but missed my PR by 11 seconds to run 1:07:08.

After the race, I cooled down three miles with Ismael, Zo, and Rick and then hurried back to catch the finish of the marathon. I had been tracking the race as this was Sean Goodsell’s goal race that he had been focusing on for month with his highest week being a 120 mile week. I had been checking the race website for updates, and I was receiving text updates, but the updates were very random and did not give a pace or projected finish time, so it really wasn’t much help. We made it back in time to see him cross the line with a 6 minute PR of 2:52:06.

All in all it was a great day for the South Bay Run Club with lots of PR’s across the board.

Training week october 10.8.18-10.14.18

10/8/18

Am: 13.5 miles easy- 7:15 per mile pace with West High School. Pm: 9.5 miles easy- 8:36 per mile pace with SBRC, drills after. Left adductor is irritated.

10/9/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 7:35 per mile pace with West High School. Pm: 9 miles FAILED WORKOUT- Warm up, drills, 3x1600 on track with 1 lap recovery in between, cool down. Split: 5:08, 5:10, 5:17. Planned on running goal half marathon pace(5:05 per mile) for 5 reps, but started fall off pace so I called the workout.

10/10/18

Am: 10 miles easy- 8:17 per mile pace. Pm: 8 miles easy- 8:14 per mile pace after the high school race. Wasn’t motivated to run, but got it done.

10/11/18

Am: 6 miles easy- 8:35 per mile pace. Afternoon: 3 miles easy- 8:48 per mile pace at West High School practice. Pm: 9 miles easy- 8:21 per mile pace. Planned on going further but adductor cramped up bad and had to walk back. Need to drink more water.

10/12/18

Am: Marathon Workout #1 Success!- Great workout with Stewart. Adductor was tight, but made it through. Did 4x800 in 2:42 2:37 2:47 2:32 with 90 sec rest then 8 miles at 5:56 average then 4x1 mile in 5:20 5:08 5:15 5:06 with 2 minutes rest. The 8 mile section felt very controlled, but the 4x1 mile were a hard effort. 20.5 miles total

10/13/18

Am: 6 miles easy- 8:56 per mile pace after the high school practice. 9 miles easy- 8:52 per mile pace, adductor still tight.

Am: 18.5 Long Run- 8:46 per mile pace with SBRC. Tired but went by quicker with a group.

Week Total: 130 Miles

Marathon Workout #1- Warm up,4x800(at half marathon pace) w/90 sec rest, 8 miles(at 90% marathon pace), 4x1 mile(at goal marathon pace) w/2 min rest, cool down

This workout may not look like much on paper because of all the rest between intervals, but it had a few pieces that I need to keep touching on before CIM. The benefits of this workout is that it is a lot of volume, it practices paces changes, and it makes practicing marathon pace manageable on tired legs.

I feel that I have performed fairly well at shorter distance for my potential, but I do not think I have truly nailed a marathon personal record to my ability. The reason I believe that I can perform better at the marathon than my current pr is that I have never gone in to a marathon feeling like I have done enough key workouts at goal marathon pace. For my last marathon I felt like I got in good aerobic fitness, but I was lacking the amount of key workouts due to injury precautions (previous marathon build up). For this training block, my goal is to execute around 4 of these longer workouts and adjust the duration of reps and rest to get the most time in at marathon pace without going in to diminishing returns.

As you can see from my failed workout earlier in the week, not all workouts will go great. I need to keep putting in the work and getting through the mileage and the paces. I ran the long marathon workout with Stewart Harwell who has similar pr’s to mine in every distance, so it made a big difference to have the someone to share the workload with.

Training Week October 10.1.2018-10.7.2018

10/1/18

Am: 8 miles easy- 8:37 per mile pace. Afternoon: 3 miles easy at high school practice Pm: 10 miles easy- 8:30 mile pace, drills after.

10/2/18

Am: 10 miles easy- 8:38 per mile pace, drills after. Pm: 8 miles moderate at high school practice- 7:07 per mile pace.

10/3/18

Am: 10 miles easy- 8:38 per mile pace. Afternoon: Warm up, drills, 6x800 with high school, cool down. Split 2:25 2:21 2:25 2:20 2:20 2:18 with 2 minutes rest. Top 5 boys were ahead of me each rep. Hip flexor is still bothering me from weekend long run. 10 miles total workout

10/4/18

Am: 9 miles easy- 8:43 per mile pace Pm: 11 miles easy- SBRC group run 8:30 per mile pace, hip flexor is getting worse, drills after.

10/5/18

Afternoon: 6 miles easy- 7:44 per mile pace, planned on 10 miles, but hip flexor is in really bad shape.

10/6/18

Am: 2 miles warm up, 10k race in 32:29, 10 miles cool down at 8:40 mile pace.

10/7/18

Am: 10 miles easy- 8:39 per mile pace. Pm: 7 miles easy- at 7:54 mile pace.

Week Total: 120 Miles

Manhattan Beach 10k Race

Tough course and after struggling with a strained hip flexor and food poisoning leading up to the race I did not want to run it, but the start line is less than a mile from my house, so I figured I would give it a shot. I woke up 1.5 hours before the race to try to eat, hydrate, and go for a warm up jog.

Two days before the race I bit in to a cheeseburger I cooked, and jokingly told my fiancé Delia that I did not cook the burger all the way and if I got food poisoning I would know where it came from. The day before tthe race my stomach was in knots, and I began to realize where it came from. I managed to get the stomach pain to go away with about 8 tablets of Pepto Bismo, but this ordeal made hydrating and carbo-loading for the race very difficult.

I woke up the next morning feeling more certain that I wouldn’t be running the race, than I would, but just to be able to say I gave it a shot I left the house for a warm up jog. After about a 1/2 mile from the house I had to stop and walk, my hip flexor was not loosening up and my stomach was killing me. I sat there on the side of the path for a few minutes before seeing Sean Goodsell come jogging up as he started his warm up. I told him that I didn’t think I could race and he said that I should at least start since the race is local and only happens once a year. I went home and ate some more Pepto and headed out the door to the race.

Manhattan Beach 10k w/ Gavin Wolfe and Sean Goodsell (finished the 10k in 37:28)

When I got to the starting line I still felt very weak and still expected to drop out. The gun went off and I quickly relaxed in with Stewart Harwell(training partner and last years winner), but I immediately had an annoyance on my shoulder. I looked over and it was a local kid who had sat on my shoulder as a previous 5k race where he sprinted by me in the last 200 meters. I do not mind drafting or working with a group, but this kid takes it to another level. At the last race he was very exaggerated with his tactic as there were only the two of us and when I slowed down drastically he slowed down on my heels and when I sprinted he sprinted just enough to stay on my shoulder. Before this race this kid had told multiple people that he was going after the course record of 30 minutes flat because there was a time bonus for the effort. Stewart and I were fine with letting him go as neither of us were looking to go run sub 4:50 mile pace. Unfortunately, when the gun went off and we started out slow he did not take off on course record pace as we expected. We hit the first mile in 4:53 and the kid was not looking like he was going to do any of the work. As Stewart picked up the pace a bit at the mile I purposely slowed down and moved o the outside to see if this would get the kid to move on to Stewarts shoulder. As I ran in the complete opposite direction of the tangent, the kid followed. This bothered me as it made no sense for anyone. The frustration made me surge away from the kid and finally at two miles in 9:55 we had broken away from the kid. After this point I just felt absolutely zapped and Stewart was still feeling good as he ran his next mile in around 4:55 and I fell back to a 5:11. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get back up to Stewart, but I still wanted to finish with a good effort and not fall apart as I hit the next 3 challenging miles on the course. I kept pressing and split the last 3 miles in 5:11, 5:23, 5:07. The kid ended up fading back to 4th place and I heard from the 3rd place finisher that he did the same drafting technique to him as the 3rd place finisher passed him at the end.

I wore the new Nike Vaporfly 4% Flyknit in the race and although they did not feel faster than a normal racing flat, I felt surprisingly not sore after the race. Usually my calves are giant knots after a race and I felt pretty good after. I will only be using them one or two more times to save them for CIM. After the race I cooled down 10 miles with Sean and Mike Rossi because I am in marathon mode and I need to be putting in miles on tired legs. My hip flexor hurt but I made it through.

Mile 1 with Stewart (eventual winner in 31:54) and back draft