McMillanElite :: Trent Briney

Entry #67
Week of October 6, 2008
by Trent Briney

Hi all,

An exciting last two weeks here in the mountains. Oct. 5th weekend we had practically everyone racing somewhere in America and beyond. Then, as to not let us get a breath, we sent Paige and Brianna to Chicago on Oct. 12th for some racing and we got to follow results of some of the fast USA people who were selected for the world half-marathon team. Our teammate Ian Burrell narrowly missed being on that team and would have represented well. And, some of my old training mates finished well on the ladies side.

All this and my mind hasn't settled down from the good step forward my training has been taking over the last 6 months. Piece by piece I have shed some unfit weight, toned up my core section, and rebuilt the necessary components of my mileage and intensity of running to start to test my body out again.

Marathon Test Oct. 5th - Twin Cities Marathon

I started quite a ways back during the race and slowly moved up starting at about 4 miles into the race. I made a surge to get in with a group so that I didn't have to run alone into the wind. Then, I got tired for a couple miles. I settled in with that group and felt a little better until we started to push again. That was tough until we started to catch the line of people ahead of us and we got into a rhythm of running in our small pack of 4. And, to my amazement we could still see the leaders who were about 1 minute up on us. So, I was starting to get some positive feedback. Slowly we continued to catch people and by 15 miles I declared the chase on. I wanted to hold a small bit in reserve for the last 6 miles, 4 of which were uphill. But, I set out to start my race at that point. Slowly, but surely I would catch the next runner and be able to see another one or two up the road. As, I continued to get the positive feedback, I asked someone what place I was in. 13th they said. Ah man, 3 more people to catch to get top 10. Back to work...Okay, now I'm in 10th. Well, what happens if I get caught? Then I'm 11th and the goal is top 10. Gotta catch 9th. Okay, 8th is up there. And, now I can see 7th and 6th, my two training buddies from Flagstaff. Keep going. And, after that I was just pushing to not get caught by anyone as I didn't think I could catch 5th who was more than a minute up the road with 2 miles to go. Keep pushing, keep working, keep going. And, just then we take this downhill by this awesome looking church in downtown St. Paul, just before the finish. Oh, that downhill hurt because the legs had been cramping for half the race with the wetness sitting on cold legs being the culprit. Almost all the runners were having cramping issues. I knew then that I would have more trouble walking after this marathon than previous ones. I could finally see the clock. 2:19 something. If I could get under 2:20...Kick with 400 to go with cramping legs but a smile as I had reached my top 10 goal and had a chance to go back under 2:20:00 for the marathon. I made it 2:19:56-7 and 6th place.

Oct. 5th in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul was a good test. It was a checkmark to see how I was doing. I needed to know that I had the mental fight that it takes to last a full 26 miles of effort and I needed to know that my body could handle it. The answer was yes, I could. I ran my second fastest marathon to date in conditions that were not optimum. It was 42-48 degrees and it rained perty much the entire race including some sections of pouring rain. To add to the rain we had some wind that varied from usually mild to a moderate push. So, to get to my second fastest marathon in those conditions gave me a great checkmark on my progress. I say progress because I had a downturn in my running the previous couple years and moved out to Flagstaff to have a re-birth of my running. I knew all the progress wouldn't come at once but I needed to see some progress. I got great feedback. The body is so much better/healthier than it was before the move. The transition to a new coach with coach Greg has proven itself. And, the fitness is again improving.

That was the story of my marathon. I also wanted to say I was proud of my teammate Cele Rodriguez in his debut. He went into the race with intent to win and made the move to go after the win. He came up a little shy and slowed a bit late in the race but handled himself well all weekend, showing professionalism and heart all in one. He had been kicking my butt in training and was somewhat disappointed. But, I was most impressed by how he continued to treat everyone well and act professionally and upbeat, taking the positive and looking to the future. Good show, my man! The mark of a champion.

We also had some good performances from the rest of the team training under Coach Greg as the fall racing season began the weekend of Oct. 5th with some speedy 8k's in Tuscon, a good half marathon in Europe for Martin and now with PaigeMo's 7 minute PR in Chicago Oct. 12th.


Trent

Anyway, here is an example of some of the McMillan marathon training that I did this last week with my marathon teammates Andrew Middleton (Middle) and Celedonio Rodriguez (Cele). Cele just arrived in the last week or two and has been an energetic joke teller during some of the longer runs, in addition to being a fit and talented newcomer to the team. One of his jokes involved us listening to a really long joke where the point was that 2 out of 3 people like cheerios over pancakes. They must not have been the pancakes from Café Espress in Flagstaff. The other point was that we were ridiculous enough to listen to the whole joke. The joke was on us! Needless to say, 20 minutes of a run were completed during the telling of the joke.

The training…

130 miles (Highest for me in quite a while…1-2 years or so)

Monday AM - We’ve been meeting as a team at the track on NAU’s campus. Everyone has different workouts, but we start together. I was to do 1 min on 1min off fartleks, but I asked Greg if 400 meters on, with equivalent time rest(70-75 seconds) off would be okay. I ran for 45 minutes before getting back to the track and switched to flats and started my workout. Cele and Middle were doing different things because I have an upcoming race on the 17th and they don’t have one for a couple weeks. I started in 72’s and sped up to 68’s by the end. I mentally struggled a good bit today but toughed out 14 repeats before going for a warmdown and totaling 14-15 miles on the morning.

Monday PM - CORE workout at Greg’s house at 5:00pm. and then I ran home 5-6 miles. The body and mind were toast, so I jogged. Cele ran with me, but then sped up.

Mileage: 20

Tuesday AM - Cooper 2 to Cooper 1 to Bri’s and up Shultz to Ft. Valley Trails to FS Rd. up 5 min and back the same way. Ran by myself after starting with the others. Very easy, but legs feel tired/beatup. MUST SLEEP MORE and BE MORE MONKLIKE. J 12+ miles.

Tuesday PM - After Work - easy cheesy on Shultz Pass from 2nd parking lot-by myself. 4 miles. Monday eve. and Tuesday I was worried about Wednesday morning workout and how I needed to run faster than my 400’s on Monday. Mentally challenging 2 days.

Mileage: 16

Wednesday AM - NAU track 3w/u, 4w/d, 10 by 800 meters. YASSO 800’s Supposed to be equivalent rest at sea level but we took 3 min. rest because of the altitude. This workout is sometimes a good predictor of what you can run in the marathon. I was worried that my 71 avg. on Monday would not fare well today. But, sometime Tuesday I decided that I was going to compete with my teammates on number 1 and see what happens from there. Our first repeat was 2:20 and I felt okay so it helped me to relax into the workout from there. Middle, Cele and I took turns leading. Cele was up and ran 2:17, then me 2:19, 2:19, 2:19, 2:17, 2:17, 2:15, 2:13, 2:11. So, average was about 2:16 for the workout predicting a 2:16 marathon. Again, it’s a prediction workout and just gives an estimate. But, I was relieved that my Monday workout was just an off day after running a hard long run on the previous Saturday. I was overworried when I should have realized I was just fatigued still on Monday. So, I had more rest by Wednesday and I had 2 teammates to run with. Both had helped me feel better about todays efforts than Mondays. 15+ miles

Wednesday PM - Did some leg exercises at the Wharton Health Experience, www.whartonperformance.com and then ran home for my second run. 5.5 miles After the run the team headed to Greg’s house for our weekly Mon/Wed. core workout.

Mileage: 20.5

Thursday AM - Bagel Run w/ Niko(Suny-Cortland) and Harlen(NAU runner). Ran very easy-legs quite tired. Ft. Tuthill up the FS Rd. and back. The bagel run starts at Biff’s Bagels every week at 8:00a.m. It’s a community run where many of the locals and elites come to do a little bit of a social run. 12 miles

Thursday PM - Baderville, just toward the Grand Canyon on the way out of Flagstaff. I went elk hunting….well sorta. I hit the trails in search of elk, who frequent the area but as dusk fell I decided I no longer wanted to be running through the woods just in case a band of coyotes or a startled elk wanted to make me their play toy. I headed back to the roads and a coyote poked his head out of a culvert(those metal things the water goes through under the road). Very nice temperature tonight, peaceful run. 5+ miles

Mileage: 17

Friday AM - Moderate first 43 minutes, easy second 43 minutes. Cool trail area from Campbell Mesa out to Fisher Point. Ran mostly with Cele and Middle as the others had less mileage today. Body fatigue a bit after 75 minutes of running. One of my favorite places to run in Flagstaff as 20 minutes in there is a canyon descent and ascent of 5 minutes with good scenery. Once you are past that you run along the Walnut Canyon rim. Walnut canyon is a state historic park with Indian heritage and preserved cave dwellings.

Friday PM - 6.5 Miles exploring the forest trails below Snowbowl, elevation 9000 feet. We ran down from 9000 to 7000 with the last bit turning into a hike after we had run for 45-50 minutes. With Cele, Rob Krar, and Ben (from Edinboro, DII school).

Mileage: 19

Saturday AM - LONG RUN. Supposed to be 12 miles then 6-8 race effort, which up here is 5:20-5:40 pace on a loop near Greg’s house. Felt good until we hit the race effort stuff. Cele and Middle were doing really good and I had to make a stop for the bathroom. I ran a couple miles at 6:00 pace or so and then shut it down. I marked it up as a bad day and figured I would get in a solid effort next weekend at the Americas Finest City Half Marathon while Cele and Middle were here in Flagstaff going for a long slow run. Plus, my last couple long runs had been real solid. Just switch the workout one week. 19.5 miles

Saturday PM - not really supposed to run but wanted to get the mileage above 130 so I went for an easy 4.5 miles with 2 of the Pennsylvania 12, as the Flagstaff locals refer to them. 12 college runner kids in a house near Greg’s that came to Flagstaff for some summer training for July and August.

Mileage: 24

Sunday AM - Home to MOUNTAIN Rd. guys house to Ft. Valley trails and up rd. 11 minutes or so then back down to 180 and back to my house. Kept it easy to moderate with Cele. 75 minutes or so.

Sunday PM - with Ryan Mulcahy from Suny-Geneseo in the Cheshire neighborhood. Felt perty decent. Temperature was cool again from the rain.

Mileage:13.5

As summer is getting ready to end, and fall is coming we are polishing off the marathon training with a couple more high mileage weeks and starting to work on marathon race pace training and getting fast. I’ve been working on base and mileage for a good number of months as well as getting my core and past injury areas sured up. So, now it is time for the fun stuff, racing.

How does one solve a slump?

Last fall after racing the Olympic Marathon Trials in New York city I was considering moving into the business world and beginning my post-running life. I didn’t want to continue to perform at a non-satisfactory level and try to do it with a body that had some lingering hamstring and achilles issues. I was starting to think that a normal life of working, playing golf and hanging out with friends and family was close. Anyway, I visited the Flagstaff community in December and returned back to Detroit still considering hanging up the professional runner shoes.

In January, I was invited to view the movie “The Spirit of the Marathon” with a group of people who I knew from working with some of them the previous year while coordinating youth activities for the Detroit Marathon. So, my girlfriend and I headed to Ann Arbor because the movie was only showing in select theatres. The movie was based on 6 different levels of runners training for the Chicago marathon, from elite to first-timer and from young to old.

It was an exciting watch, in that, I was nearly as elite as the elites in the movie and I had worked with first-timers when I lived in Detroit. I worked in a running store and did some coaching of youth and adult runners/athletes on the side. So I had a lot of contact with all levels of runners. It was fun to work with people who had very different goals from me because they share the same excitement for achievement but just come from a different place.

Anyway, the movie introduced me to some novice runners and mid-range runners and 2 elite runners. Deena Kastor (who I know a bit)- (she is the top American woman marathoner) and a top level Kenyan elite athlete whose name escapes me at the moment. It brought their stories to life. It brought the excitement, triumph and commitment of running a marathon into the big screen movie theatre with great music and videography.

During the movie it showed some of the things elites do at the marathon and the places we go. I remember back to my two times to Chicago and how exciting it is to be in the press room, on the front line and running the downtown streets of a huge city with the adrenaline flowing and the body primed and ready to compete. So in the midst of thinking about hanging up my competitive running shoes this movie brought me back to the talent I have and how much fun it is to use it on some of the biggest stages in running. The Boston’s, Chicago’s and New York’s among other great big city marathons. If you’ve run a marathon or are thinking about running one I would definitely see “The Spirit of the Marathon.” I walked out of the theatre knowing I had to do that again, and decided then to go ahead and move to FLAG.

I believed a change might reinvigorate my running. I trained with a training group in Michigan for six years and prior to that lived in Colorado Springs, altitude-6000 feet, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I believed getting back to the mountains where I loved to run would help. I believed the altitude wouldn’t hurt and that it has its physiological benefits. I believed the core workouts and circuit training with the adidas guys would help. I believed the outdoor and welcoming culture of Flagstaff would help keep me in the right frame of mind. I knew I needed some of these positives to help get me back into the shape I wanted to be in and provide an enjoyable atmosphere while working to achieve that fitness level. I enjoyed Detroit, the culture there, the hard-working people, the community support and being in a different part of the country other than the west but it was definitely time for a change back to the mountains of the American west.

What is it like in Flag?

Getting to work with people like Phil Wharton who specializes in active isolated movement exercises to help stretch out the body and balance the muscles, getting to see runners and train with Team Germany and Canada training at Northern Arizona University’s High Altitude Center, Jack Daniels the famed distance coach working at the high altitude center at NAU’s track, going on a Wednesday morning community bagel run with 57 high-level runners training to be their best, seeing the achievements of the many people like Renee Metvier, Martin Fagan, Fasil Bizunah, Lopez Lomong, Alicia Shay, Peter Gilmore and many other elites training in Flag, the social gatherings like Easter Sundays’ brunch at one of the elite’s house where 50 adult runners had an easter egg hunt in the local park with prizes like massages and meals and candy of course organized by the running Mayor of Flagstaff Mike Smith who knows almost everyone in town runner or not, the visit of teams like Team Indian Elite who has been in town for a month training in the altitude here and will be missed as they left town today, the good job all the elites here do cheering each other on and trying to link up for run.

The trails and views while running around town are perty sweet. I haven’t seen many of the great trails yet as Flag had one of there biggest years of snow in recent memory but the main trails around town have “opened” as the runners say and piece by piece the sunshine is melting the trails farther and farther into the mountains. I took my first mountain journey on Sunday and really enjoyed it running through a creek made by the snowmelt at the higher elevations.

That’s probably a long enough blog. But, I did my first race in months and my first track race in quite a while on Saturday at Arizona State University in Phoenix. I ran a 3k as a test run for some pacing duties coming up at some of the track meets where Mr. Hanlon, Mr. Horn and Mr. Gotcher are going to go for “A” qualifiers for the Olympic Trials over the next month and a half. It was a good outing and I hit my goal of 8:30 by running 8:25. It is a good start after 3 months of very light mileage in November/December/January. It means that I can give it a good go of pacing for these guys as we go through the upcoming track seasons excitement.

With Coach Greg I have been working on just trying to get the body in balance and have positive days. It has been nice. I’m not really trying to be in my best possible race shape by next week, I’m just trying to build or rebuild week by week the fitness and body. Forward progress…

Have a nice Spring everyone! :-)