Slowly getting back into it...

Saw this article on the lovely Kara Goucher, thought I would pass along. Also, looks like Ryan Hall is dropping out of New Orleans, but Sammy Wanjiru will be running instead for his London prep. I read earlier this week that he is shooting for the world record in Berlin this fall, and thinks that Geb is done. Pretty interesting to see if Geb runs in Berlin also to face off. He is still the greatest runner ever to run, but I do find it kind of odd that all his marathon victories/records were with pacers and weaker competition instead of a field full of the best runners. The one year he did race with some greats (I think 2002 London?), he completely fizzled out and had to drop out during the race, where later Khalid Khonnouchi ended up setting the world record. I hope he isn't past his prime, and want to see him race with the best before he's done.

On to my running - Wednesday, was feeling a little sore from hill work the night before. Looked at some of the previous work we did in the Chi training block, and figured I went at it a little too hard on my splits, so need to scale back next time. Got home from work, was sleeting a little but wanted to get in my run asap since it was only going to get worse. Got out, did my customary trail loop, a little snow on the trails but nothing bad and wasn't slick. Went slow, caught myself going pretty fast at points so had to slow down. Thought about tacking on a couple extra, but was slipping on the roads so opted to stop. Stretching and corework afterwards. Total mileage: 4 miles - no idea the splits nor time in general since I wasn't paying attention, went sans watch.

Yesterday, felt like garbage all day - back was sore, ankle was tender, and stiff as a board. Maybe old age?! Stretched out all day, I think I slept funny which may explained the soreness of my back. Was thinking about my tempo all day, a little nervous since Sunday's race didn't really indicate my state of speed at this point. Also, I am mixing some speed work recommended by Ben, which is really aggressive so wanted to make sure I was at some sort of level to be doing these challenging workouts. So decided on trying to hit 6:30's and seeing how I feel, since next week's workout will be 4 mile tempo (20 seconds slower than race pace) and it somewhat close to what I wanted.

Weather was a little breezy and cold - low 20's. Still some slick areas on the ground, so had to be careful. Did 1 up to the trail, worked the kinks out and felt pretty good. Looked at the trail which looked ok and had my footprints from yesterday's run. Started out waaaaay too fast (first quarter was sub 1:30), plus feeling a little deadened leg feeling which is never good that early into a run. Scaled back, hit mile 1 pretty fast but felt decent. 2nd mile the same, just coasted through and finally got in a good rhythm. Turned around right into the wind, struggled a little and actually contemplating stopping but sucked it up and kept going. My Garmin was jumping all around, so difficult to know what pace I was running, but forged ahead. On the last mile, started coasting halfway through and tried to relax. Sort of got a second wind - felt pretty good finishing, could have went another mile or 2 at that pace I think. Cooldown, stretching afterwards. Total mileage: 6 miles - splits were: 6:14, 6:14, 6:21, 6:24.

So feeling pretty good about my tempo, happy to hit great splits. And happy to see that the Boulder race was probably a product of the altitude, seeing I ran over 8 minutes faster!!! 5K split was 19:20, so I'm pretty confident I'm getting to where I need to be. Off day today, then long run with Crystal on Sat. Pace run on Sunday, week 1 is going perfectly as planned!

Lastly, here is an interview (Part 1, Part 2) with the Big River Running owners, Ben Rosario and Matt Helbig. Gives great insight on their running backgrounds and what makes the store as awesome as it is! If you are ever in the STL area, please stop in and check it out!

Ben running the Rock n Roll San Antonio 1/2

Hill Repeats

Last night, had a pretty rough workout. Got home, was sooo windy and I was on the verge of exhaustion, so opted for a long nap. Eventually woke up and forced myself out the door. Decided to do hill work on Meridian, so jogged over there. At this point, was pretty dark outside and there aren't many street lights in the area I was running. The sky was pretty clear, so the moonlight was providing enough for me to see - perfect! Also, the wind speeds had dropped substantially, so was a lot more bearable. The hill is long and a decent grade, so I usually do quarter mile intervals. First one was ok - went out a little fast, sort of struggled at the end. Slowed it down, nailed a couple more repeats before I realized my stomach was starting to act up. Did my fourth repeat, which I pretty much died at the end, and realized my stomach was starting to rebel against me. To add to the fun, I was a few miles away from home. So my workout abruptly ended, and headed back as fast as I could. My planned cooldown turned into a fartlek, and my legs were pretty toast. Got home, stretched, watched a ton of college basketball/Australian Open tennis to end my night. Total mileage: ~7 miles - splits were: 1:27, 1:29, 1:30, 1:34.

Felt ok about the speed work, but legs pretty much felt like garbage towards the end. Left ankle is really sore too, so may ice it down after work. Looking forward to a very slow, relaxing run tonight!

Boston Training begins!

My road to Boston officially began yesterday, but let me first talk about my fun Denver weekend. Got in late Friday, met up with Tim and Trish, went out around town. Saturday, woke up early for a long run. Was supposed to run with Tim's group in City Park, not too far from downtown Denver, but instead did our own. Stapleton, where Tim lives, is roughly 5 miles from downtown, so we ran towards there and did a loop around downtown before heading back. Basically did this run last August when we went to get Tim's car from Trish's, so was very familiar. Sidewalks were icy, so we ran on the roads. Weather was nice - low 40's, and sort of sunny. Highlight of this run is two miles into it, when we are running with the park to the left and a golf course to the right, and running towards the city and mountains (see picture). Looped around downtown and headed back. Was net uphill-grade running going back to Tim's, legs were getting pretty tired. Last half mile, picked it up a little, finished pretty strong. Legs were tired from the distance, altitude definitely affected the lungs. Total mileage: ~10 miles - no watch, was out there around 1.5 hours?

City Park with downtown Denver/mountains in the background


Afterwards, met up with Trish to get brunch at a local place called Berkshires - absolutely amazing! Great food - there was about 10 things I wanted to try on the menu, but we all opted for the ahi club per Trish's advice, and she was absolutely right! Decided to get the bottomless mimosas, which was probably not the best idea. Hit up a few bars, made it back to Tim's for wii and sleep. Sunday morning, woke up to get ready for the race. I am usually pretty descriptive on these races details, but am going to kind of fly through this since it wasn't the most ideal race for me. Drove to Boulder, which was 30-45 minutes away. Awesome driving towards the mountains, drove through CU and saw a bit of campus town. Got to the park area where the race was being held, and was blown away by the scenary. By far the best scenary of any short race I have ever ran! Weather was pretty nasty - overcast, 25 degrees, and 25 mph winds. Went through registration, lightly stretched, then Tim and I jogged around the course to get a feel for it. Was a loop course (~2K), so we jogged a loop to get a feel for it. Wind was definitely going to be a factor, as was the ice scattered all over the course. Ground was rock hard, which was good since it was like road running, but bad since the terrain wasn't even close to flat so was going to be hellacious on the ankles. Scouted out the route and all the trouble spots, then went inside to thaw out a bit.

Watched the women start and race for a bit, went inside to stretch and get ready. Since it was so cold outside, decided to leave my pants on instead of racing in shorts. Did some strides with Tim, felt decent but slightly heavy legged, and lined up for the start. We took off - I went out pretty hard and was chasing the lead pack. We go downhill, loop around a lake, then up a few hills towards the other end of the park. Then we went up a huge hill, took a left towards a long sustained downhill. At this point, was about 10-20 meters behind the first group going at a very aggressive pace, then one we got to the downhill the wind just nailed me right in the face. I literally couldn't breathe - I think the fast pace, the altitude, cold air, hangover, and wind all finally caught up to me. Staggered around, slowed down a ton, trying to catch my breath. We loop around the park, then filter into another portion of the park going through a bottle necked trail which is surrounded by trees/bushes. Loop around there, come out and head toward a few mogul/hills back to the start/finish. At this point, was absolutely dead and had nothing in the tank, and was demoralized by the hordes of people passing me. Was completely spent 1 mile into the race, I couldn't believe it. Saw Trisha on the side, stopped by her to try to catch my breath. I knew my race was over at this point, waited for Tim to catch up and ran a loop with him. He was struggling a bit, so when we started the last loop, I took off and tried to make up a little time. Felt somewhat better, but lungs and legs were still fried. Picked off about 10 runners in the loop, kicked hard at the end and made up some ground. Tim finished a few minutes behind me, had a nice little kick at his end.

Afterwards, went to downtown Boulder to eat lunch, headed back to Tim's to be lazy and watch a ton of football! A big thanks to Trisha for her support during the race, her driving skills, her photography, and all around awesomeness :) Monday, flew back to STL and its crappy weather, got caught up with some work and laundry, then squeezed in a late run. Weather was very Boulder-like - cold and windy. Did a loop around town, trying to stay close to buildings and trees. Was getting blown around everywhere! Was supposed to be an easy run, ran a little faster than I would have liked because it was so crappy outside. Total mileage: ~4.25 miles - splits were: 7:52, 7:50, 7:45, 7:30.

Tonight, speedwork. Supposed to do track work, but it is super windy outside. Will figure out an alternative if these conditions persist.

Saturday Brunch at Berkshires

Prerace in Boulder (awesome scenary!)

Start of the race

Following the lead pack

Exhausted postrace

Denver bound!

Haile did not set the world record in Dubai this morning, but still won in 2:06:09. Geb has averaged 2:05:40 in all his marathons - just sick!!!!!!!!!! Not much to update on my end over here. Wednesday, got home late, was pretty nasty outside so didn't run. Same on Thursday, so was not feeling too good about myself. Even worse, tweaked my back again shifting positions in a chair playing freaking wii with Pat and Crystal, so did some massive stretching at night. Woke up today, felt ok, got in a quick run at lunchtime. Did an out and back over at work, kind of made it into a fartlek and worked the hills pretty hard. Was cold and windy outside, so good that it sort of simulated conditions for Sunday. Legs felt decent, did the workout faster than I wanted to, but I feel fine. Total mileage: ~3.25 miles - did entire workout in 20-25 minutes.

Flying out to Denve-gas in a few hours. Plan on a run with Tim's running group on Saturday morning which will be done S-L-O-W, lots of stretching afterwards. Then off to Boulder on Sunday morning to battle it out with all the locals. Praying for no snow and I hope it isn't as windy as the forecast indicates. Should be very painful, think good thoughts for me!

One last thing - I forgot to finish up my thought from the other day's post, and I don't know how I forgot this. I am usually not this harsh about subjects, but this was very irritating. There are two like-incidents to discuss. First was my near nasty collision with a biker during my mile repeats. Was half a mile into my 2nd rep, when I was approaching a runner and a biker to her left pretty much hogging up 80% of the trail. Was blazing along full speed ahead, saw neither was budging so yelled out "on your left" pretty loud and clear. Well, idiot biker swerves right into me, and if it wasn't for my ninja-like reflexes (yeah right) would have been schwinned pretty good. Second incident, doing my cooldown back home from the same workout, running against traffic on a pretty tight road. Saw a walker taking up pretty much the entire shoulder of the road, swerving around like a drunken idiot, so called out loudly and clearly "on your left". I jump into the grass, the dude also jumps to the left and clips me. Fortunately, wasn't going too fast so I didn't fall down, but was not a pleasant surprise. So a big thumbs down to all the morons in the city that have tried to take me out on my workouts - nice try, and learn some road/trail etiquette!!!

The calm before the storm...

Sorry for the late post! Been a pretty hectic week, and getting ready for a fun weekend in Denver as well as getting in some mileage. First of all, congrats to Deena Kastor and Shalane Flanangan for winning the P.F. Chang's and Houston 1/2 Marathons! Ryan Hall didn't fare as well with his runner up finish, but I suspect he will be rolling out next month in February. Geb runs for the World Marathon record on Friday, and is aiming for 2:03:30 which is just insane!!! Good luck to him! And really quick, for those who follow the scientific side of the sport, interesting article about burning fat.

Weekend running went fairly well, but was a rough going to maintain effort. Friday, did a quick run before dinner. Had to make up for my missing Tuesday's run. Did 4 miles, picked it up at the end for a fast finish, didn't feel so hot. Total time out was 31:26. Did stretching and corework afterwards, and totally tweaked my back. Hobbled around like a 95 year old man for the rest of the night (Pat and Crystal can attest to this), was in some pretty bad pain and felt like a pinched nerve. Stretched out before bed, and took some advil.

Saturday morning, woke up and felt better. Back was really tight, but I could walk ok. Jogged around the parking lot to make sure all systems were a go for our scheduled long run. Met up with Crystal and Tom, and set off on the trail. Did our old marathon long run loop, which we hadn't done since late September!!! First few miles were really slow, and felt ok. Hit the Meridian section, which was a slow uphill grade the entire way. Felt decent, and was loving the downhill coming back. Last few miles is coming back uphill, and was starting to struggle at this point. It wasn't my back that was hurting, but was just tired and felt it was mile 24 in the marathon. Sucked it up, got to the last mile where we traditionally pick it up, and snapped out of my funk to get into my zone for a good finish. Felt tired, and glad it was over. Had considering doing a couple extra later, but was done for the day. Highlight of the run was around the 9th mile, where we saw a big barking dog and his owner on the side of the trail waiting for us to go by, and I moved up next to Crystal to shield her from a potential "attack". Well, she shoots me this evil glare, and surges forward, thinking I was trying to pick up the pace. So much for being a nice guy! Total mileage: 12 miles - splits were: 9:32, 8:48, 8:47, 8:40, 8:39, 8:38, 8:30, 8:28, 8:21, 8:16, 7:59, 7:47.

Typing this out, we literally negative split every mile of this run, albeit we started super slow. Crystal and I discussed that one of these days, we were going to get in a very consistent, SLOW run all the way through! Sunday, woke up with a creaky back, general tiredness from a fun night out in St. Louis (Blues game, Lumiere Casino), and a developing cold. Laid in bed pretty much a ton of the day, skipped my run which I felt slightly guilty about, but not totally. Got in 33 miles, which was ok, but still very low. Slowly building up, so I can't be too hard on myself, and nursing a few injuries too.

Monday, felt a lot better, and certainly rested up. Went out on the trails after work to high 30 degree weather. Just did a quick out and back, tried not to push it too hard but wanted it to be slightly harder than a typical easy run. Felt pretty good the first couple miles, slowly pushed it coming home. Let myself go on the last mile, felt pretty crappy on the final stretch and was tired in general from the hilly last mile. Stretched and corework afterwards. Total mileage: 5 miles - splits were: 7:26, 7:33, 7:29, 6:55, 6:31. Was hoping the last mile split was faster, so a little disappointment there.

Tuesday, scheduled speedwork. Wanted to do some sort of interval work that was longer, with my race coming up, but nothing too crazy to wear myself out. Decided mile repeats would work, but only 3 miles with a long warmup/cooldown. Wanted to do trackwork, but was pretty windy and decided running on the trails would be more valuable with simulating a race environment since there is still wind to deal with, and some hills. Did 1 mile up to the trails, got geared up for the upcoming workout, and away I went! First rep felt decent, but could tell I was faltering on the last half. Running directly into the wind didn't help things either. Took a 5 minute break, a little longer than I should have, but I am really out of shape. 2nd rep felt easier, almost had a bad collision with a biker/runner tandem (will talk about this later), had to pick it up a little at the end since I was crapping around after the halfway point. Took a quick 3 minute break, then last rep. Once again, started out strong - checked my split at the half mile marker which was under 6 minute pace, at the 3/4 mile marker was well above 6 minute pace (notice the reoccuring trend here?), then had to kick to get back on track. Hit my fastest split, but had to really work for it. 2 mile cooldown home, stretching and minor corework. Total mileage: 6 miles - mile splits were: 6:03, 6:01, 5:56.

Pretty happy with the times, considering how little speedwork I have done and I am a good 10-15 lbs. over race weight, but there is a lot of work to be done. Noticed that my stamina on fast runs is almost non existant, so I foresee many, many repeats on the track and hills to get myself back into reasonable speed shape for the spring races. Rest of the week is easy running - assuming weather is ok (rain in the forecast), easier fartlek on Thursday, longer easier run on Saturday, and race on Sunday!

Good luck Ryan and Deena!

Both are running the P.F.Chang's Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon this Sunday! Should be a great race, and I hope to run that someday as well. Last night, got in a nice little run at my friend's place. This was spur of the moment, due to dinner plans with Pat, Crystal, and Stacy. Didn't have a Garmin, so opted for treadmill running instead! Actually gave me a chance to run easier (since back and left ankle were still pretty sore), and keep an honest pace without too much strain. Fortunately, my friend's place has a t.v. I can watch, so tuned into ESPN and ran away. Felt ok for the most part, ended up increasing pace every mile and never felt like I was pushing too hard. Started at low 8 minute pace, finished at high 6's. Total mileage: 6 miles - total time ran was 46:20.

Tonight, will do something very short and light, maybe a few strides afterwards if I feel up to it, then scheduled long run tomorrow morning. Sunday will be another easy mid run, then a wonderful day of football and a date with my couch :) On track for another solid running week - TGIF!!!!

Avatar 3D Review

So I went to go see the movie Avatar over at Ronnie's in South County on Tuesday night. First time I have ever been to that theater, and must say I was pretty impressed! One of the biggest theaters I have ever seen, and they sell beer there too! - not very cheap, but a cool option to have. The movie was pretty good, but I was more impressed with the visual effects. Plot line was decent, but was choppy at parts. My friend Dave best described it as a "Dances with Wolves" type movie (very accurate), and he made a point that he found it hard to become emotionally attached to the characters, which after some thought I agreed with. I'm glad I saw it, but not one of the best movies I have ever seen. Special effects were pretty amazing though, and it gets pretty intense! And if you do want to go see it to see all the hype, I emphatically recommend seeing it in 3D - pretty amazing stuff. And don't drink more than 1-2 beers, the 3D will absolutely destroy you!

Because of working late on Tuesday, and the absurd length of the movie, I got in 0 miles!!!! This is not the end of the world, since I will just switch my off day with Friday, and do something light then. Yesterday night, got home from work, finally had some good weather (sunny and 40's), so put on the shoes to get in a run. Did an out and back through Glen Carbon, since the trails still had some snow on them. Thought I felt good, so wanted to go hard. Was pushing the first mile, but was pretty demoralized when I saw the first mile split - not very fast at all. Intentionally slowed it down, but must have picked it up because my 2nd mile split wasn't too far off the first one. Tried to push through the next couple miles, but hit more crappy times and just felt that deadened leg feeling. Last mile, said "eff it" to myself and wanted to end strong. Kicked the last quarter for a faster last mile time, but overall not good given the effort. Not my day, and I realized afterwards that my lack of running in December really killed me. Kind of mad at myself, since I was doing much harder workouts not too long ago, and hopefully just a really bad day. Time to get back on the track! Did 1 mile cooldown back home, stretched, minor corework. Total mileage: 6 miles - splits were (wore my Timex instead of Garmin, so these are rough estimates): 6:52, 7:16, 7:02, 7:08, 6:26.

So I will be in Denver next weekend, and Tim and I signed up to run the Fast and Flurry-ous 4 mile race over in Boulder. I am clearly not in good speed shape, so don't know what to expect. Factor in the altitude (killed me last August when I was running out there) and I'm sure a crazy Saturday night, so most likely not going to be setting the world on fire so will treat as a good workout run. Looks like a really competitive race, so can work on race tactics while I'm there. Figured out my tentative race schedule leading up to Boston - really wanted to do a half marathon, but will not fit in but found a couple local races in March that I ran last year that will be great spring tuneups - Top of the Hibernian 5K (great local race, I believe first major 5K on the Illinois Metroeast side), and St. Patrick's Day Parade Day run (one of the top STL races, brings out the best of the best, and awesome to see the Big River Running group in full force!). I'm doing a couple week mileage buildup, then following a Hal Higdon 12 week Boston Marathon schedule, mixed in with speed work from a program that my buddy Ben from Big River sent me. So it will be intense, but I'm determined to jump to that next level as a runner in 2010!

Back at it!

Here is a quick weekend summary - Friday, scheduled day off, can't remember what I did that night but I'm sure it was relaxing! Saturday, slept in, dragged my sorry carcass outside for a long run. Weather was cold (10-15 degrees), windy, but sunny. Had no idea what type of loop I was going to do, but figured I was going to run some outside and a few on the treadmill to break it up. Trails weren't going to be easy to run with the snow, so I thought I would just improvise as I ran. Roads up to the trail were slushy, and weren't plowed all the way. Made my way onto the trail, which was pretty snow covered, so shortened my stride a bit to account for the road conditions. On certain parts of the trail, the snow had completely blown away so those were clear, and I consequently hit faster splits on those parts. Made my way over the bridge, and hit basically drifts of snow which were very uncomfortable to run through/over, so was running all around to avoid all that. Eventually, made my way out to the park around 5 miles out where I discovered clear roads headed out towards the country, so called an audible and went off the trail in that direction. Ahhhh, the bliss of clear roads! Rolling hills everywhere, but not many cars so was fine. Looped around Troy/Maryville back roads, found my way into some neighborhood and came back. Tracked through the snow on the trail - by this point, legs were really tired from all the changes of pace, so was just ready to get done. Finally got back on the main drag, labored home and hit my goal mileage so was very pleased. Total mileage: 16 miles - splits were: 7:51, 8:17, 7:39, 8:15, 8:25, 7:59, 7:58, 7:51, 7:36, 7:48, 8:18, 7:44, 8:23, 7:48, 8:40, 7:44.

Went at it too hard I think, and legs were tired and back was absolutely killing me afterwards. Went to the Big River Running end of year meeting at night with Crystal, hung out afterwards. Sunday, took the day off to rest up a bit and watch football. Was happy with the week's mileage - 36, and a good start to my 2010 running. Monday, still pretty sore, so slowly did my run. Back was still tingly, so was very careful to go slow and watch for any more signs of discomfort. First couple miles were eh, but worked out the kinks and felt better once I was warmed up. Just did a neighborhood loop, which was hilly but snow free. Temp was 22, and slightly breezy but nothing bad. Felt good at the end, solid run. Total mileage: 5 miles - time ran was 41:08.

Stretching and easy corework afterwards, rested up for the evening. Back feels better today, and going to try to get some easy mileage tonight, then doing plyo's with Dave and watching Avatar!

Crappy Weather

has not been fun for running. But I have stayed on course despite the nasty elements. Here is a quick update on my running this week. Tuesday night, had scheduled track work. The problem with the track at the middle school is it's located in the middle of a huge field, so any slight breeze feels completely amplified. Weather was pretty chilly, in the teens, and there was a stiff breeze. Got in 3 miles on the track, 800 meter repeats, started out hitting my first split where I thought I should be at, but quickly my legs tired and every rep got progressively tougher. I usually like to finish strong and attempted to but could barely keep up with my goals splits, which I intentionally did slower to account for my lack of running. The conditions didn't help any, and found myself just struggling all together, so ended the workout before it got worse - definitely wasn't my day. Total mileage: 3 miles - splits were: 2:47, 2:51, 2:52, 2:49.

Wednesday, got home pretty quick and immediately went for a run. Was supposed to snow storm that night, so wanted to get something in as quick as I could. Weather was cold, but not awful - high 20's/low 30's, and as still as could be! I think it was the calm before the storm or something? Anyways, went sans Garmin, got out on the trails and did a loop. The skies seemed lighter, so could still see even though it was dark, so stayed on the trails. Went at a comfortable pace, and never pushed it too hard. Felt good when I was done, could have kept going for a while quite frankly. Stretching, pushups and corework afterwards. Total mileage: 6 miles - total time was between 46-50 minutes.

Thursday, had snowed a few inches, and decided to suck it up through the ridiculously windy conditions. Strapped on my yax-trax I bought last year - for those not familiar, it's basically a plastic web thingy that you strap on to the bottom of your shoes. There are springs on the bottom which help with traction. Anyways, wanted to do tempo but was impossible given the snow and ice on the roads, not to mention 25 mph winds. Temperature was in the teens, so wasn't pretty. Did the trail loop, couldn't push the pace because of the snow. When I got on the trail, it was a sheet of snow and kept hitting miscellaneous drifts here and there which slowed me down. Was fine going out since it was downwind, but when the trail opens out a couple miles out it got pretty rough. Coming back, spent half the time with my eyes shut and just trying to get through it. Hills were brutal because I was still slipping a little but the yak-trax did help a ton! Was exhausted when I was done and felt like I had run 15+ miles, but certainly pleased to get in a great effort. Total mileage: 6 miles - total time out was 50-56 minutes.

Day off today, much needed after 20 rough miles. Tomorrow's long run is TBD pending weather/road conditions, and plan on a little something on Sunday. TGIF!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

Well, I suck and have basically posted nothing the last couple weeks. A lot of this has to do with my aggressive holiday plans which started off with a bang in Vegas with Shane, Tim, and Marc, went through Peoria with the family, off to Tampa for my buddy Sean's wedding, then off to Chicago to ring in the new year with my sister and Barrel. It has been a fun month, but EXHAUSTING, and I'm glad to be home and get back on to a regular schedule.

As expected, my runs have been few and far between the last couple weeks, so let me try to remember the little I did. Before Peoria, ran 6 miles at home, tried to go slow but remember running around 42-43 minutes and felt great. No runs in Peoria due to heavy rain and snow/ice conditions! In the 4 hours I was home before flying to Tampa, got in a nice run with Tim - did about 5.25, hit low 8 minute pace on a cold day, and felt decent. Pushed it at the end, was happy to nail that run. In FL, right before Sean's wedding, Sean, Josh, and I got in a couple miles at a good pace. Ran in Tampa, more in the suburbia part, but was still somewhat scenic. And finally, before it got C-O-L-D, finished my year off in style with a 7 miler on Lakeshore. Pace felt ok, really pushed the last mile in the low 6's and felt pretty damn good albeit tired.

2009 was the best running year of my life, and I hit pretty much every goal I set and more. Here are my highlights of running in 2009:

Best run: training, probably the 10 mile pace run Crystal and I did after one of the craziest days (Timtown BBQ) we had the day before. I shouldn't have been walking, let alone averaging low 7 minute miles. Fun to run on the trails at night, felt as easy of a run as I have ever had, and gave me all the confidence in the world coming into Chi. For race, probably St. Pat's miler. Went out waaaay too fast (17:59 was my 3 mile split), crashed the 4th mile, but finished sub 6 minutes on the last mile. May never beat that race time.

Favorite run: 22 miler with Shane and Crystal this summer. Nice day to run, picked it up the last couple miles and cruised in. Had some great conversation in the 3 hours and 12 minutes we were out there (this was the longest run I had this year!!!!)

Best fast long run: 1/2 in Disney - awesome PR, ran a pretty consistent race, and dropped the nastiest kick I ever have done with the help of Shane, Tim, and Sean

Favorite workout: I really enjoyed the 5X1 mile with Crystal on the track. Ran the first 4 miles in low 6's, dropped the hammer on the last mile and ran 5:56. Didn't feel too hard at all, and very controlled. Another one might have been the reverse ladder I hit in early July (after missing the Macklind Mile) - 5:37 of the first mile, followed by faster splits on the remaining legs made me realize I was in decent speed shape

Favorite training partner: come on, I wouldn't be here without Crystal :)

Favorite race: TIE - Disney, was obviously a thrill to PR and was an amazing trip with my running crew. Chicago Marathon for personal reasons with Shane, Crystal, and I BQing and having friends and family there to watch me run.

New PR's in 09: 5K - 17:57, 5 mile - 30:33, 10K - 40:34, 1/2 Marathon - 1:26:51, Marathon - 3:08:45

So my road to Boston began yesterday with a run in the freezing cold. Was 8 degrees, and even colder with the windchill. Did a loop on the trails and a little extra, nothing much to note other than every part of my skin that was exposed to the air was hurting due to the cold. In fact, my eyeballs were ridiculously sore because of the cold. Hit a decent pace, faster than I would have liked, but I just wanted to get back inside. Was tired, shouldn't have been a hard run. Total mileage: 5 miles - splits were: 7:19, 7:21, 7:21, 7:21, 7:11.

Stretching and corework afterwards. I am really going to push the corework this time around, and be consistent as this was the one area I really crapped on last year. Tonight, some speedwork to be determined!