Strength

Strength can mean a lot of different things. You have to be physically and mentally tough in order to be a great runner. Over the years I've come to realize that running hard at a decent pace over a duration, also called tempo pace builds strength. This is something I never worked on in the past and would always think, hell I'm a middle distance guy, why do I have to do 10 mile progression runs or 4 - 8 miles at tempo / threshold pace. I would always wonder why I would feel great the first half of a race then all of the sudden somebody puts bricks on my back. For a distance runner this is what I call strength. Being able to maintain a pace that's tolerable but annoying at the same time. You have to also be mentally tough to sustain an honest effort throughout these sessions. This weekend I've decided to forgo the 8k in Va beach and open my track season with an 800 at Wake Forest. I have yet to do any fast repetitions But believe I can pr simply off strength. I've been having lots of problems over the previous two weeks, which is my reason for racing a shorter distance this weekend. In addition I would like to run around 3:45 for the 1500 in two weeks at the colonial relays, so a fast 800 is not a bad idea. Since I want this blog to concentrate on more than just running I will share some of the struggles I've had to endure over the past few weeks. I've stated this before and will say it again. Being successful in life is about making the best of bad situations and holding your head up high. I've been through a lot of shit in my 25 years of life. I'm not saying that entitles me to anything. Everyone goes through tough times. That's what makes us strong. It's not how many times you get knocked down, it's how quickly you get up and keep pushing forward. I'm still figuring things out. This brings me back to strength. I've talked about what makes a strong runner, but these are the things that make a strong person. Over the past two weeks I've had the scare of testicular cancer, IT band problems and the most hurtful has been my relationship with Laura. Letting one things bother me has caused other things to bother me even more. Laura and myself have been split up for about 2 months now. At first I though I could just run through the emotional pain like I always have in the past. It has not been that simple. I really thought she was the one which is unlike anything I've experienced or felt in the past. Although we still talk and I've tried everything to make her realize, but nothing seems to work. You can say whatever you want but when a person makes up there mind that it's over, then I guess it's over. If I knew of the perfect things to say or do, I would. In addition I was experiencing a lot of pain in my lower abdomen and testicles. Very painful at time I might add. This had me worried so on Monday I went the ER and they did some testing. I had a bacteria infection in the epiditimis causing all my pain. They gave me some pain medication along with some antibiotics and a shot in my ass. By Tuesday the pain had subsided although I have felt fatigued from going through the process and taking all the antibiotics. Lastly the pain in my left IT band and knee is still there but not too bad while running. So with all that said things are looking up. I however thought the 800 was a smarter decision based on the events that have transpired recently. Life can get crazy but it's all about staying strong. Below is a strength workout that I did at Pocohontas state park last Friday.

Time of day 3:00 PM
Distance 11.50 mi
Duration 1:06:00 @ 5:44 min/mi
Shoe Zoom Vomero 4
Route Pocohontas State park
Temperature 55°F
Wind Light
Conditions Light Rain
Intensity Hard
Overall Feeling Good
Comments I've been feeling down this week with my IT band hurting, my lower abdomen and balls have also been aching for days. I went to student health to get checked out and they want to refer my to a urologist. She didn't know much so if it keeps up or the pain gets worse I'll see someone soon.

I went out to Poco with the "dream team" to get a tempo/progression run in. I was going to do some reps on the track but figured the continuous left turns could further aggravate my leg. As soon as we got out of the van it started raining. Nobody was really sure what coach wanted them to do so after the first mile I began to turn the run into a tempo effort. With all the hills at poco this is a great workout to get strong without over doing things. There was a group of 5 or us going around beaver lake. At this point I was running just under 6:00 pace. There were some rolling hills and sharp turns making it impossible to run any faster. Once we climbed up to Old mill It was just woodchuck and myself. He is Piotrek's buddy from Poland who is visiting for the week. He seems to be in great shape from the two workouts I've done with him this week. We then hit a series of rolling hills. I was feeling tired but I know how strong my body is right now. I would have taken a lot to drop me. Towards the end of old mill I took a wrong turn. I soon realized it 90 seconds later. We turned around and got back on track. Now Tyler and Justin were a good ways in front of us. We picked up the pace for the last 20:00, which included a lot of climbing the last 10. Up the final climb to the van we finally caught Tyler and Justin. After that we settled in the last couple minutes, finishing together. I'd say the effort the last few miles was close to threshold. So the overall pace doesn't do the effort given any justice. It turned out to be a solid workout so I don't feel bad for not going to the track today.