Mattymatt Runs

  I’m a designer and illustrator, as well as a runner. I’m currently studying graphic design at the Savannah College of Art and Design where I also run on the cross country and track team.   

[a-pure-guts-race]

Hi! I'm about to start a new (college level!!) training program for cross country and I am so so so so nervous. I'm worried I won't be able to do the workouts and it will be too much and I'll get run down. Do you have any tips or advice?

Hey pal! I’m starting soon too so I feel ya. I would just focus on all the little important things like stretching, icing, rolling, etc etc!

[mattymattruns]

I'm now entering my 4th year of collegiate running and so I figured I'd offer some advice as I was also someone who had the same fears about not being up to college training standards. Now is such an important time to learn about your body. Understand what makes you excel and embrace that, but also learn where your weaknesses lie so that you know how to work around them and strengthen them over time. 

My biggest piece of advice would be to talk with your coach as much as you can. The best decision I made was building a strong relationship with my coach early on. Ask questions, and then ask more questions. Keep them updated with how your training is going. Keep detailed logs about your training so you can look back at them and evaluate what you’ve done so you can see what’s working and what’s not working. Being able to talk with your coach about training will help them understand and see that you have potential and are willing to put in the work to progress over time. 

I left high school as a slightly above average runner, and so I was scared that I wasn’t going to have anything to show for myself. My first year of running collegiately wasn’t anything spectacular. We didn’t necessarily have an amazing team and I was only running about 5th/6th. During that season I constantly had meetings with my coach about how to improve my training. Following that season I actually had to leave college due to financial reasons, but my coach and I stayed in contact and he continued to help me train. The next year I was able to return again, and our team was better than ever and he helped position me to also be one of our front runners. My coach and I have become best friends and training partners, and he’s helped me qualify for 3 national meets as an individual. This won’t necessarily be the case for everyone, but developing a positive relationship with your coach will ensure that they’ll help give you the advice you need and provide you with the environment you enjoy and thrive in.

[mattymattruns]

3k next weekend

On Saturday I'm racing a 3k on the track, and I was thinking it'd be rad to go sub 9 minutes, but then I realized I haven't done any speed work faster than half marathon pace. 

So we'll see what happens. I'm not very worried about it because I'm doing an additional workout shortly after the race to prep for the half coming up.

[mattymattruns]

The Past Three Weeks

12/15 — 08.93 12/16 — 10.03 12/17 — 09.04 12/18 — 09.15 12/19 — 10.22 12/20 — 09.42 12/21 — 14.20  TOTAL — 70.99

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12/22 — 08.14 12/23 — 11.12 12/24 — 09.24 12/25 — 10.01 12/26 — 09.19 12/27 — 10.00 12/28 —  TOTAL — 57.70 (Relative to 73)

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12/29 — 08.50 12/30 — 10.02 12/31 — 11.05 01/01 — 07.45 01/02 — 11.89 01/03 — 10.36 01/04 — 16.00 TOTAL — 75.28

[mattymattruns]

I haven't been very satisfied with my workouts or many of my runs lately, but it seems as though I can always count on my long runs to be there for me. The Half Marathon is just around the corner so it's time to kick my ass into shape. _Here are the splits from today:

7:09

6:35

6:32

6:33

6:31

6:20

6:14

6:17

6:07

6:10

6:09

6:08

6:12

6:03

6:03

6:01

[mattymattruns]

The Past Two Weeks

12/01 — 07

12/02 —  12/03 —  12/04 — 07 12/05 — 07 12/06 —  12/07 — 10.75 TOTAL — 31.75 — 12/08 — 08 12/09 — 08 12/10 — 09 12/11 — 08 12/12 — 09 12/13 — 14 12/14 —  TOTAL — 56 (relative to 65 for 7 days)

[mattymattruns]

I'm starting to plan out my mileage for this track season based on what I ran during cross country, it's going to be a long season. I'm putting a lot more focus on the marathon this year. Both my coach and I have some big goals this track season.

[mattymattruns]

I got a GPS watch

So I decided to treat myself to a GPS watch because I'll be doing some lengthy and lonely workouts this spring as I train for the marathon. If you have a Garmin feel free to connect with me! http://connect.garmin.com/modern/profile/MattymattRuns I also got a heart rate monitor so I'll probably be nerding out on that soon.

[mattymattruns]

Today I biked to the gym to use a spin bike. What in the world.

[mattymattruns]

How did you go? Race report?

I just posted the race report from Nationals :)

[mattymattruns]

NAIA CROSS COUNTRY NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Rim Rock Farm - Lawrence, KS

11/22/14

Official Time: 26:37

114th Overall

Official Results

—

This was by far the most difficult course I've ever ran. Considering I'm in the south I don't typically get the chance to race on many hilly course; however, I tend to like them because I enjoy the challenge. After previewing this course I knew it was going to be extremely tough, but I tend to run well in tough conditions. Last year the weather was super cold, but these year we were fortunate enough to have pretty ideal conditions. Rather than it being under 20 degrees it was around 50 degrees and slightly windy when the race kicked off.

Only one of my teammates on the men's team and myself qualified for nationals along side the women's team, so leading up to the race we had discussed where we think we should be in the race. Both of us and my coach were looking for top 50 finishes which we decided would require us going through 1 mile in the top 80-90. After the gun went off all 320 of the people at the starting line took off towards the first turn. For probably 300 meters the entire field remained nearly side by side so determining your position was incredibly difficult. Going through the first 1km I wasn't even in the top 200 of the race, but it was impossible to tell where I was. For the entire first mile I couldn't even see the course because I was surrounded by so many people.

The downhills on the course were very dangerous because of how steep they were and because of the amount of people trucking down them at once. Many people hesitate as they go down hills so they slow down and try to work against the hill. I on the other hand do the opposite; instead I open up my stride and use the hill to my advantage. As we went down the first hill I was scared that I was going to be running into people or that someone would step in front of me. I knew at the bottom of the hill there was a sharp right and so before I approached the hill I positioned myself on the right side of the course. I blazed down the hill yelling "COMING DOWN ON THE RIGHT!" and quite easily passed 20 people all at once. 

Another place where many people struggled was the uphills because they too were extremely steep. Some people slowed down to a near walking pace to get up them while I used the hills as an opportunity to gain ground and so I surged up them. On the parts of the course where people struggled I found myself moving from a position in the 200s into the 100s. 

—

Am I happy with my finish?

Yes. It's not the top 50 finish I wanted, but the way I raced is the way I finished, and so I must be happy with it. 

—

How would you have raced it differently?

As I look at this race in retrospect I realize how it should have been ran. My racing tendency is to be slightly conservative so I can really race the back half of the race which is what I definitely did in this race. Although this typically works out great for me it didn't put me in the best position in a hilly championship race. If I wanted to put myself in the best position to have made top 50 then I would have had to run with the opposite tactics: get out strong, let others fall back, and try not to die. Through the first mile or two I should have been in the top 90. It definitely would have drained me, but from there I would have just been fighting to stay alive rather than trying to fight my way back up from the back. There were just too many people there to have a truly successful race by doing what I had done. 

—

What's next?

Now it's time for me to take some time off. It's been a long season and I've gotten in a lot of miles, and so it's time to give my body some rest. I'll take a week off completely with no running or physical activity, and then the next week I'll do some cross training. When I start running again it'll be very easy and less structures.

—

What are your goals?

The goal now is to recover and remain healthy. I'm now shifting my focus for track season, and while others tend to dip in distance I'm doing the opposite: I'll be preparing to run the half marathon again in February and racing the full marathon at Nationals in May. For the half I'm wanting to run as close to 1:08:30 as I can if the weather conditions permit. In regards to the full, I'm less focused on a time and more on placement at nationals. This year I plan on being prepared and putting myself in position to finish in the top 5. Other than the half and the full, I'll also get some 10ks in and try to break 31:30. Who knows maybe I'll decide to race the 10k rather than the full.

[mattymattruns]

Yesterday I Qualified for Nationals

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The Sun Conference Championship

11/08/14

Official Time: 26:17

6th Overall / 4th Individual outside of the winning team

Official Results

—

In the NAIA we don't have a Regional race; instead we have a Conference race which qualifies us for Nationals. We have 11 teams in our conference so only the winning team qualifies for Nationals, and then 4 individuals outside of the winning team also advance. Our Women's team is ranked 10th in the Nation and easily won our conference even with our number 1 girl falling 50m away from the finish line due to heat exhaustion. Unable to stand she was forced to crawl through the finish and went from 1st in the race to 11th losing over a minute of time. The men raced before the women and so the weather was slightly cooler, but considering it was on a golf course in Florida it was still very warm with a lot of direct sunlight. When I ran the course the day before I already knew how challenging of a course it was going to be. There were a lot of tight turns with rolling hills and golf bunkers; along with soft grass that made the course run pretty slow. In the men's race we were up against Embry Riddle who was previously ranked 4th in the Nation, it was expected that they would win; however, on a challenging course like this at a Championship race, running something tactical could yield some very unexpected results. Before we had started I immediately knew that most of the field was going to go out much faster than they all should. I cruised through the first mile in a huge pack of people just being pulled by everyone else, and ended up clocking 5:06 through the first mile which is very fast for this kind of course. From the very beginning though I was keeping my eyes on the individuals around me to make sure I was in a good enough position to perhaps be in a position to qualify as an individual. In our Conference 5 guys have all ran consistently and pretty remarkably faster than me, 2 of which are my teammates, and so I had let those guys do the work. Following the first mile we dropped down to a 5:26 mile, and then it got a bit quicker to about 5:21. The entire time I was just trying to hang out so that I wasn't leading the pack because two guys from Embry Riddle had already taken off. I was freaking out for a bit because most of these guys have much faster leg speed than me and I was worried that another individual was going to be with us when we reach 4 miles, but even by the time we hit 3 miles it was only 4 of us in a pack: myself, my teammates, and two other guys. We continued to push and try to real in one of the leaders who was falling back to us. No one was close enough behind me to catch up, but there was no room to relax. Every turn I threw in a surge to make sure I wasn't going to fall off of our small pack. My teammate and one of the guys were pulling away a bit, but I continually saw him looking back for me to make sure I was going to drop back—I couldn't let that happen. Every turn I continued to push myself and challenge the other guy I was with and so we kept working together until the finish.  I'm still in awe of this race because it had worked out so perfectly in my favor. The tactics and the challenging course were exactly what I needed. I was so happy to cross that line and know that I was going to Nationals. The guys team didn't get an automatic seed into Nationals, but there is still a chance that we can receive an at large bid from National voters which we won't know about until tonight. I have my fingers crossed that the rest of my team will be joining my my teammate and I along with the entire girls team.

[mattymattruns]

Sand Shark Invitational

10/25/14

Official Time: 25:35

33rd Overall 

Official Results

— The Sand Shark Invitational always sets us up to run something fast largely because of how flat the course is, but this year on top of that the race was the most competitive it has ever been. 37 teams lined up and over 300 runners crossed the finish line. The race started out very compact but soon enough opened up as each runner figured their pace. The plan for myself and two of my other teammates was to go out in 5:08 for the first mile, but the other two got out really fast and went through the first mile in 4:56. Although they went out fast the still averaged a very solid race finishing in 25:02 and 25:12. I went out right on pace going through the first mile in about 5:07 and continued to run even splits for the rest of the race just picking off people one at a time. I ran extremely well, but by the looks of this race I still wasn't in a good position to qualify for Nationals as an individual. Following this race I was happy with my performance, but I still knew I had a lot of work ahead of me if I wanted to be in position to qualify for Nationals at our Conference meet two weeks after this race.

[mattymattruns]

For those wanting to run, but feel discouraged, I offer you my advice.

Do not rely on motivation. Most who wish to start running begin with the motivation of losing weight, becoming more fit, or increasing their health, which are all beneficial, but if you’re looking to make running a part of your daily routine those motivating factors won’t suffice. Running relies on discipline, and everything else is just a bonus. When you wish to start running, instead of thinking up an image of a thinner version of yourself or whatever your motivation may be, start with the thought of “today I scheduled a run, so I must run.” When you build the routine of running based on discipline you are more likely to continue running in the future to which you’ll experience the perks and side effects of running such as increased happiness, increased fitness, weight loss, and much much more.

Additionally, running is not meant to be easy. Often times people look at runners such as myself who run competitively, and make the assumption that running just comes easy for some people, and then they claim they aren't one of those people and give up. But the reality of the situation is that running isn't easy for anyone. When you live vicariously through comparison you are robbing yourself of enjoyment. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Your run is unique and specially crafted for you; by thinking “Oh, so-and-so could do this in X minutes” you are stripping yourself of your individuality. Even for me running was extremely tough and I still continue to struggle with it. Often times people overshadow the work and difficulties that are apart of my running because of my times, but I always remind them that there are plenty of days that I stop mid run and walk. Sometimes it’s just too much for me, and you know what? That’s okay. That’s normal. Even those who you think running comes easy experience struggles. I encourage you to embrace the struggle because you’ll learn so much more about yourself during those times than you will anywhere else.

[mattymattruns]

Today's running attire. This is a cycling jersey I picked up this weekend, I couldn't resist it.

[mattymattruns]

Ready to run fast

Tomorrow is a very big meet with lots of competition and a flat course. It's late in the season and I'm eager to run fast. I've ran a rather controlled 26:17 about 4 weeks ago, but I know I'm much fitter than that. The goal is to be around 25:35. The plan to get there is to go out in 5:08 for probably the first two miles while dropping down to 5 flat or maybe sub 5 for the last mile. I'm ready to run fast, the competition is there, the course is plenty fast, all I have to do is show up and stay focused. I'll try to have a race report up tomorrow after the race.

[mattymattruns]

I'm excited for winter training just because I get to wear running tights.

[mattymattruns]

Double Race Round Up

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Charlotte Invitational

09/26/14

Official Time: 26:17

23rd Overall / 14th Non Division 1

Official Results

This Charlotte course spits out some pretty fast time, but I don't immediately attribute its quickness to the course itself. Typically these Charlotte races happen about mid season when people are getting fit, and they tend to provide great competition, but I personally am not a fan of the course. The entire course is hard compact dirt and rock as seen in the photo above and relatively flat aside from a 180 m hill that you have to climb twice in the race. I do enjoy this course though for it's set up in simple loops and is relatively tough especially since they decided to include the hill for the men. My plan for the race was to go out in 5:15, but with so many people I had anticipated I'd naturally get carried out fast so I held back which didn't work in my favor. Through the first mile I went through in 5:26 and soon after it opened up a bit and I was able to pick up my pace from there. I ran with my teammate Emmanuel pretty much the entire time except for about 1 mile or so when he fell back just a bit. He caught back up though when we had one mile to go and at this point we had been continually picked up our pace. Although I went out in 5:26 I was able to close in 4:55 so I felt super strong. I've still got to work on that closing 300 - 400 m though.

—

Queens Royal XC Challenge

10/11/14

Official Time: 26:22

37th Overall / 24th Non Division 1

Official Results

Again, this race was at the Charlotte course in McAlpine Park, but they decided to stick with the original course which doesn't include the hill. Going into the race we were of course expecting it to be much faster considering that we were racing two weeks after the last race and there was no hills in the course, but unfortunately the race was scheduled for 11:30 and the cold front had no intentions to stick around for the race week. Ever since I woke up on the morning of the race I wasn't very excited and lacked any energy which isn't typical of me, usually I am prepared and ready for races, but I was really out of it. By the time we started to warm up it was 80 degrees out with an even higher heat index and I just felt so tired during my warm up. I tried to stay focused though and not let it get to my head. Going into this race I had a similar plan as the last race, but just a little faster. I was wanting to go out in 5:10-13 and this time I challenged myself a bit and went out in 5:12, right on pace. That first mile wasn't overly challenging but it wasn't comfortable, after that mile I felt pretty good and decided to pick it up a bit. Just after two miles the heat was really getting to me and I started to feel a bit drained. Once I hit three miles I was mentally and physically exhausted. By this point I was falling off pace and I wasn't able to push myself any more. I was anticipating I was going to run a low 27 just because I felt like I was falling off the map, but to my surprise I continued to pass people and finished in a relatively decent time of 26:22. Although I was wanting to run sub 26 with my teammates I was content with the time, it wasn't ridiculously off. Reflecting on my race I can happily accept my performance, it just wasn't my day. I'm getting excited for the next break through.