Week Starting Monday, November 29 (Week 8)

Sunday, Dec 5
Mark: We waited for Tim to get home from work and have a little nap (he needs that beauty sleep) and we went out for our run. We jogged to Pierce college and Tim and I ran about half an hour in the hills nice and easy while Matt did his hills, and then we met over by the dirt track where I did 4x200 extended strides in 31ish and then met the fellas at home....and it is pouring cats and dogs outside right now...guess we got lucky to hit a nice gap for the perfect weather on our run today. I’m starting to get anxious to race, but I also am starting to feel like I’m not gonna be in the shape I want to be in by the time indoor comes around, but we’ll see how the next couple weeks go here.

Matt: I had a really productive day today with some work stuff and what not. I guess that’s what you get when you don’t watch tv shows or movies all day. After Tim got off work we all went for a run. I kept up until we got to the hills and then I did a short hill workout on our normal hill. I did 4 of them and went 44, 43, 42, 40. The calf and foot felt great but we’ll see how it reacts tomorrow. In other news, the Ducks are officially going to the BCS National Championship game after a solid win over Oregon State yesterday. I guess with it being a rivalry game and all it always seems to be close but I definitely don’t think we played our style. Unless I was just caught up in the drama, I don’t remember us really getting into our normal face paced offense. It better have just been a one-time thing because we’ll need it against Auburn; they are going to be a tough team. As long as we do our own thing there isn’t anyone that can hang with us for a whole game. Cal came the closest but they had to cheat just to be close. It’s going to be a fun game and I’m planning on going! Jan 10, in Glendale, look out!

Tim: [They] waited for [me] to get home from work and have a little nap ([I] need that beauty sleep) and we went out for our run. We jogged to Pierce college and [Mark] and I ran about half an hour in the hills nice and easy while Matt did his hills.... and it is pouring cats and dogs outside right now...guess we got lucky to hit a nice gap for the perfect weather on our run today. I’m starting to [NOT] get anxious to race, but I also am starting to feel like I’m not gonna be in the shape I want to be in by the time indoor comes around, but we’ll see how the next couple weeks go here.

Saturday, Dec 4
Matt: Go DUCKS!!! Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0VEcDY86I8

Mark: Started the workout nice and early this morning so Tim could get to work on time. I literally got out of bed and got dressed and straight out the door. We warmed up 15 minutes and finished at the base of our hill where we do the repeats. We did 6x200 hill and went 47-47-43- 43-43-42. Then we jogged over to the track and jogged a lap which was about 10 minutes and we did a 2 mile pace run. I went 5:26-5:18. It was a good workout I thought, nothing super special or impressive but I just felt really god doing it today and I think I will be ready to start working in a little track work this next week (on a real track). Speaking of which, we just learned last night that Pierce College has decided to put in an all weather track and redo the field so it is going to be closed off until September 2011, so I’m not sure how much more we will be able to work out there :(...but no worries, we will still have plenty of dirt to be running in. I did a 3 mile shake out recovery run this evening as well.

Tim: Gosh... today was one of the worst days to get pumped up for a workout. It was early, cold, gloomy and early outside. I was tired, warm and sunny in my bed. Nonetheless, we got out there and worked out. Mark and I jogged to the college and ran 6 hills. See his blog for the times. We switched leading every other hill. It really helps having him out there. We were pretty winded after the hills, but the workout wasn’t over. We jogged down to the track and ran a lap. After 10 minutes of rest we ran a 2 mile tempo on the dirt oval. I put together a couple 5:20’s. Mark is typing in my spot so I guess I am done. Bye.

Friday, Dec 3
Matt: Calf was a little tight from Wednesday’s workout so I just did a 30 min run with Mark instead of trying to get some hills in. Let me tell you, I am pumped up for two things this weekend. First and foremost the Ducks play their season finale against Oregon State. A win puts Oregon into the BCS title game against semi-pro player Cam Newton and Auburn, as long as they win the SEC Championship game. Secondly, NXN (Nike Cross Nationals) is tomorrow. Rumor has it that the live webcast will be something never seen in the world of running. One of the cameras will be a small helicopter mounted with a camera. Can’t wait to watch it! (www.NikeCrossNationals.com)

Tim: I went into Matt and Mark’s room to find them watching a TV show of some sort. SURPRISE!!!!! They didn’t want to go running yet so I went on my own. I ran a little more today because I know I need to up my mileage a bit. So I ran 40 minutes through the hills. It felt nice, but I still feel pretty warn down from the sickness I have been battling. On a lighter note, my injury (groin) has been bothering me less and less everyday. :)


Mark: HI. I ran 30 min really easy with Matt...Tim tried to get us to run super early and we were like no way and just watched a tv show on my computer instead and we did it later. Anyway somehow I skipped blogging for this day and its currently Sunday so I dont know what else to say for today...so...BYE!

Thursday, Dec 2
Mark: Pretttty sore today, spent a good 15 minutes rolling the legs out with the ol roller stick. We waited for Tim to get off work and went for a run around 430 for 30 min at a moderate pace. Matt made some rice for dinner and Ti and I had some pasta with chicken and broccoli and went ahead and cancelled that out with a couple holliday pies and dr pepper from mcdonalds.....sooo good. The next workout is scheduled for Saturday, and we are thinking 6x200m hills and then down to the track for a 2 mile tempo run just below threshold pace, which will be 5:35 pace for me I’d say.

Matt: Last night Mark, Tim, Tim’s brother Tony, one of Tony’s friends, and myself went to Trivia night at a local pub. We thought we would be ok with 5 of us there but there was a group of 9 yuppies that showed up and kicked everyones asses. No one was particularly happy about that group being there but oh well. My shining moments were knowing answers of Mark Grace and Deborah Messing. I was practically a hero haha. As for running today, we waited for Tim to get off work before all going for a 30 min run. My calf felt really good for working out yesterday. Hopefully that will continue.

Tim: So on my 30 min run today Mark asked me, “Do you have off tomorrow?” Yeah... Matt and I decided he was stupid for defending that that question was grammatically correct. Now that I made fun of him for being stupid, I am going to stop typing so that he doesn’t find any errors in this post. Bye. I just reread that 5 times to make sure I was ok... doubtful.

Wednesday, Dec 1
Mark: I woke up very excited for the workout today. It is always alot of fun to have vlogging days, but I really felt good after taking it easy and felt like I was ready for a good workout today. The plan is to head over to the dirt track again for 6x1000 with 2.5 minutes rest, take 5 minutes and do 4-5x200 in the 28-30 range. I ended up going 3:11-3:10-3:05-3:04-3:03-2:58 for the k’s and then 29-28-29-27 for the 200’s. Workouts always go alot better for me when I start out a bit more conservative and work my way down, so I had to let Tim go on the first couple efforts. Its nice to be getting to the point in the season where we can start turning the legs over a bit and getting on the track...and although Matt is all for doing all our track workouts this year on that track, I’m gonna be looking forward to getting on a better one to start getting in the spikes. There are too many tire tracks and footprints in the dirt track, and it was even a bit difficult to get proper footing today just doing the 200’s when I was following Matt, so I dont want to hurt something.

Tim: I was very pleased with today’s workout. My times were 3:04, 3:05, 3:04, 3:03, 3:03, 2:58. I told Mark before hand that I wanted to run 30:5 and cut down under 3 minutes and I did just that. I was very happy because I have been battling this sickness and to be able to workout the way that I did was definitely satisfying. Afterwards we also ran 4x200 where I averaged 29. That was really awkward considering I havened turned the legs over in a very long time. On to the next one. If I can do some more workouts like this I will be in shape soon. :)

Matt: I finally got back onto the workout train today. My last workout was middle of last week. Still being a little cautious with my calf and foot, I decided to keep the workload on the lighter side and do 2 sets of 6 x 200m. The first set I did with 90 seconds recovery and it was alot harder than I anticipated. I took full recovery between sets and did the second set with Mark and TIm after they finished their 1000’s. Took 2 min recovery on these and they felt 10 times better. Should probably try to not be a hero for a while and be generous on the rest. We squeezed in some filming during the workout and should end up having a pretty decent Episode 4 video later today. Looking forward to maybe doing some hills later in the week.

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Tuesday, Nov 30
Mark:First day OFF in a while, had a bit of a relaxing day with Matt, whilst Tim worked so we will have food on the table.

Tim: It’s plain and simple. I felt like crap so I did not run. : /

Matt: Instead of running today I watched 13 episodes of Trueblood. So take that.

Monday, Nov 29
Mark: Easy run again with Matt, we did a 2 mile or so loop and then I continued on alone for another 3 miles or so. I again really just wanted to make sure I recover this week really well.

Tim: Today I ran on my own. Same route that Mark and I usually run, but this time I ran much faster. I wanted to kinda run the sickness outta me. I don’t think it really worked because by the end of the day I was feeling a bit sick again.

Matt: My calf has been steadily progressing through the end of last week but haven’t done a workout since last Tuesday. Today was more of the same with a 15 min run. Looking forward to doing alot more over the next couple weeks.