Training Aug. 23-29

Monday - 17 (6,11)

Tuesday - 18 (11,7)

Wednesday - 18 (6,12) PM Track at BCC - 3200 (10:12 - 5:08, 5:04); 4 by 800 (2:26, 2:24, 2:24, 2:24); 3200 (10:11 - 5:08, 5:03) - rest for everything was a 400 jog

Thursday - 19 (11,8)

Friday - 14

Saturday - 12, 8 strides

Sunday - 20 - pace gradually picked up: last hour was around 6:00-6:20 pace. Cruising.

Total - 118

Training Aug. 16 - 22

Monday - 17 (10,7)

Tuesday - 17 (9,8)

Wednesday - 23 (17,6) AM Downpour. 10-minute surges every 30 minutes.

Thursday - 14 (10,4)

Friday - 13

Saturday - 13 ... On the towpath with GRC. Big group.

Sunday - 17 ... WU 4, Capital Ale House 10 Miler in Hartwood, Va. - 1st, 56:02. 2nd place was 59:01. All-hill course, very humid, treated it like a tempo/threshold effort; tried to just stay within myself. Legs were not dead but had no real pop. It's good practice for 16 on at Chicago so I'm pleased. 27:46, 28:16 - second half is tougher so it's a fairly even split. Ran an easy 3 afterward with masters ace John Piggott.

Total - 114

Training Aug 9 - 15

Photo from RUN WASHINGTON

That's me there owning No. 10 to claim second at the Leesburg 20K Aug. 7. What a clown. Oh, wait ...

As it happens, I could easily make a photo album titled "Dickson Getting Lifted In the Final Stretch."

You can see here that I have plenty of energy. In this instance, though, the problem was that my closing speed was simply less than Evan Jurkovich's of D.C.

What am I getting at? Those would be lingering questions.

Do I simply lack the wrong muscle fibers? Do I lack the kick gene? To be honest, I consider myself pretty tough in the sense that I can deal with a lot of discomfort, put myself through a lot of training. But could I be tougher (or do I lack the tough gene?)? I mean, look at Evan's eyes. Those suckers are On. The. Prize.

Lastly, the question. Can a kick be improved?

That's what I want to look into. I'll get back to you on this one. Comment with comments.

(Note: the "gene" references above go back to an article I read some months ago on "sports genes" by Sports Illustrated's David Epstein, who was formerly an 800-meter runner for Columbia University. This is the best article I've ever read on the subject, and really just one of the best articles I've ever read. Epstein has it all here: great style, facts and more facts, balance. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1169440/index.htm)

Monday - PM 13

Tuesday - 16 (11.5, 5.5)

Wednesday - 17 (5,12) PM ... track ... Yasso 800s. 10 reps. 2:28 avg. That might not sound very good, but my legs were dead, dead, dead. The heat was killing me, I was having stomach issues, really dehydrated.

Thursday - AM 10 with Dave Fontaine in the thunderstorm.

Friday - AM 14 with Murphy

Saturday - AM 12

Sunday - AM 23 ... My Dad visited me this weekend. Rather than meet the team, then, at 8 at The Line in RCP, I started early from apartment so I could have a little more time to hang out with him before he caught his 1 p.m. train. The goal for today was a steady run -- nothing too fast, just build up to a decent pace, like 6:30-7 minutes per mile, and put in some decent time on my feet -- and I think I got it done. I actually planned to go 24 and thought maybe I did, until afterward when I thought it over and looked at 11 miles worth of splits I took in the middle of the workout on CCT (didn't look at them in the moment). They ranged from 6:20-6:55, a lot of 6:30s. Blah, blah, who cares? I think it was 23 in 2:37. Weather was pretty good. I basically went out and back, down Independence to Jefferson to Rock Creek trail to CCT. Turned around at mile marker 4.

Total - 105 ... Not bad. 9 runs. I missed a couple doubles. More later ...

Training Aug. 2 - 9

This is a down week. No workouts, though I plan to race the Leesburg 20k on Sunday -- the goal there is to get in some pace work.

Monday - PM 10

Tuesday - 14 (6,8)

Wednesday - 16 ... The heat returned. Met Jake Marren near Georgetown and he took me for an epic loop through Rock Creek Park. He stopped at his place and I continued down Connecticut Ave., passing the zoo ... back through the park, took Independence Ave. rather than cut through the Mall. The heat literally smothered me, and my nutrition that day was pretty bad. This one was kind of epic. Man, I was really glad when this one was done.

Thursday - 9

Friday - AM 10

Saturday - 9

Sunday - 3 WU, 20K race (3rd, 67:38, 5:27 avg), 2.6 CD - 18 ... My goal for the Leesburg 20K was to start at marathon effort, run as comfortably as possible and finish within the top 3, for which the race offered cash prizes. I knew the race was "challenging," though I did not know to what degree. What I found out was that it was definitely rolling and that there were tough hills but that none of them were so tough as to rip you open. (The course, from what I heard, was not the same as last year's). As it turned out, we were aided by relatively cool weather -- and lots of downhills.
A 10K and 20K are run simultaneously, both out and back. I wanted to hang back early on, until 5K, and not get caught up in the wrong race. At 5K, everyone ahead of me turned back except for Michael Wardian, who had about 100 meters on me and would win this race for the third year in a row, and we kept on through a tough stretch of Dry Mill Road, the rolling, country (you might even say scenic) road that hosts the bulk of the race. Was there anyone behind me?
Around 4 miles, as we entered the W&OD Trail, an asphalt bike path, I could see there were not one but two runners within striking distance. My previous miles had been pretty slow, mostly because of the terrain, and as we hit a downhill grade, I really went with it. At the turnaround, I could see they were still close. Wardian had about 50 seconds on me. I then faux convinced myself I could catch Wardian, hoping that that effort could prevent me from getting caught. Five miles later, I thought perhaps I had broken free. Nope. At 11, I heard footsteps: Evan Jurkovich. I dug in a bit. I figured he probably has a better kick than me -- just about everyone does -- so I need try to take it away now. I wasn't tired, really, but I could also not run much faster. We turned left onto the final uphill stretch toward Market Station, and I had plenty left. But Evan had more. And he passed me. And I was kind of pissed -- at first. I would have been more pissed if I had been passed because I ran out of gas, but I got run down while running a big negative split. Also, as I found out after the race, he lives in D.C., so he should probably just join our team; that way the next time I lose to him it won't even bother me.
I ran the equivalent of a 1:11.15 half marathon effort, so, in all in all, this turned out fine.
Here are some of the splits I have: 1 (5:46), 2 (5:33), 3 (5:40), 4 (5:51), 5 (5:57) -- 28:48 -- 6 (5:21), ... something on my watch got messed up here ... 9 (5:20) 10 (5:25) ... My second 10K was 32:58 ... Run Washington article: http://www.runwashington.com/news/2814/

Total - 86