Week Recap

Good luck on Sunday, Kara!!! Will be looking for you in Chi while I am up there this weekend! Sorry once again for the huge delay on the blog. Next couple weeks are sticky with crazy work and massive travel, but I promise it will get better :) A couple articles here – first one details the history of running shoes from the 1930’s to the 1990’s. Pretty crazy stuff, first known running shoes were roughly 8.5 oz. heavy, and pretty nonsupportive. Next article deals with the NYC Half Marathon coming up in August. Ryan Hall has entered the fray, as well as other star runners such as Hendrick Ramaala (previous NYC Marathon winner), Jaouad Gharib (08 Olympic Silver Medalist), and Abdi Abdirahman. Women’s side will feature Deena Kastor and Catherine Ndereba (2 time Olympic Medalist). Should be an amazing race, I hope it is televised on Universal Sports at least :)

Time for running updates. With this week being a mess due to work, Chicago this weekend for a wedding, and just ridiculous busy-ness, I have had to really mess around with my schedule to get in a good running week. Next week should be the same with a Denver trip with Barrel to see Tim and Trisha. Arghghhg!!! Monday night, went for an easy run with Crystal. She opted to do her long run on Monday, so she did the first 11 on the treadmill and I went along with her for the final 5 miles on the G.C. Trail. Weather was cool but humid, legs were tired from the 17 mile mess the day previous. First mile was slower, but ended up picking it up a little. Last 2 miles were definitely tiring, but kind of nice to get in a little quicker which really loosen up the lactic acid buildup in my legs. Can’t remember the splits off the top of my head, but will try to estimate. Total mileage: 5 miles – splits were: 8:20, 7:48, 7:30, 7:23, 7:20.

Tuesday, both of us were feeling pretty beat so it was pretty clear it was going to be a slow day. Weather was acting really weird all day – storming like crazy in STL, and windy in Glen Carbon. Temps were cooler, but still a little humid. Got home, decided to wait an hour for the weather to calm down and hopefully push away any potential rain. Hit the really flat gravel route we do at times at a pretty conservative pace. Not much to report, splits were pretty consistent, legs were tired and was nice to get it out of the way. Pushed it at the end when the rain started to fall (felt sooo good). Total mileage: 8 miles – splits were 8:26, 8:26, 8:35, 8:33, 8:37, 8:20, 7:54, 7:13.

Wednesday – 0 miles! Tired after work, was hanging out with Barrel at night, so didn’t find the time to get it in. Wasn’t happy about missing a run, but will make up the mileage so not too angry. Thursday, scheduled long run. Early morning runs don’t happen without Crystal, Saturday morning would be pushing it w/wedding later (still plan on running with New Balance group, just shorter distance), and weather was as cool as it was going to be all week so decided to go with it. Was raining slightly when I got home, so waited a little bit for the weather to clear up and cool down. Was overcast and about 80 (ugh) but kind of cool, so away I went. Legs were ok, wasn’t feeling too hot in general though and pretty tired. Ran the Troy route, which is my bread and butter and my exclusive long run route for NYC training in 07. Started out kind of fast, and was feeling it definitely so tried to slow it down a little. At Mile 4, got into a good rhythm and just stuck with it. I knew I was cruising when I started passing a few bikers! Hadn’t run past the 6 mile marker of the Troy Route in forever, so was kind of nice to traverse back there, plus it was downhill here on out till the turnaround. Turned around at about 7.5 mile marker, saw a couple people jump on the trail a little ways up so perked up and passed them and kept the steady pace going. Stopped at Troy Park for a water break, got passed by those guys, passed them up again (one of them remarked to the other, “didn’t he already pass us?!” which got a laugh from all of us), and kept going. Started feeling it a little bit at the 12^th mile, especially having run the last 4-5 miles uphill, and realized I was really going a lot faster than I should have but felt ok overall. Did a small loop off the bike trail to make up some more mileage, then got back on around mile 13. Began trying to simulate the marathon experience and how I felt, and made my mind think it was mile 23 and I couldn’t let myself slow down and just keep it up. Getting off the bike trail was fine, but the mile back to my place is very hilly with a few big hills, so really started to struggle. Last mile was overall downhill, but rolling hills. Made a turnaround close to a mile out and wanted to finish the last 0.2 uphill to simulate that last hill before turning onto Jackson Street in Chicago. UGH the pain, but finished strong! Jogged/walked it in for a cooldown. Total Mileage: ~18 miles (w/1 mile cooldown) – splits were: 7:14, 7:00 (Garmin must have gotten a little ahead), 7:09, 7:17, 7:21, 7:17, 7:19, 7:14, 7:18, 7:10, 7:14, 7:08, 7:08 (1/2 marathon split was 1:34:35), 7:12, 7:17, 7:14, 7:02 (7:13 average).

I have mixed feelings about this run. First, the negatives. Was quite honestly stupid to try to push this long of a pace run so early (the big run I want during this 12 week segment is a 16 mile pace (roughly about 4 weeks out till marathon)). The purpose of going slow in a long run is to train your body to burn carbs efficiently – by staying out longer, you are making your body work a different way. I finished this run in a little over 2 hours, when in reality it should have been closer to 2.5. Dangerous to be pushing it this hard this early, although I should be able to handle it as have done a few long runs of 15 already. And lastly, am really in danger of peaking WAY too early, as might have been my problem last year with all our fast long runs (never THIS fast though!!!). Some of those 20 milers are going to have to be done slllooowww.

Ok, now the positives. 17 mile pace?! Didn’t hit this in the marathon last year! In 08 Chi, started to fade at mile 16, officially started walking by mile 18. 80 degrees, hilly at parts, was EXTREMELY pleased to hit those splits. All very consistent, and really up to mile 15 felt very strong. Really felt great about getting into a good rhythm on a bad day and I feel good about ingraining 7:15 pace to my legs. Training right now is going amazing with this crowned jewel under my belt – two awesome long pace runs already, and over 2 months to work on a little more endurance. I can honestly say I am in the best shape of my life, and excited about things to come!

This weekend, in Chitown for a wedding. Going to try to hit up Lakeshore for a few runs, and try to see some friends and family over the weekend!!!