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!
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