Long Run Redemption

Congratulations David Rudisha, you're a stud. 2 world records in a week, absolutely incredible! He is definitely the man to beat in next year's World Championships. Here's a nice touching story about a couple runner friends who have a "unique" similarity - one is 10, the other is 70, but are both amputees. Couldn't imagine having to work with that condition, but much admiration for both those two warriors to continue to live a normal life with this speedbump that has been put in front of them. Finally, a more scientific article that questions if the sub 2 hour marathon is attainable?

Well, have suffered through a pretty crappy training week, and there were many doubts to Saturday's scheduled long run workout which was hour easy, hour at marathon pace. Woke up early on Saturday and had a small breakfast of banana, yogurt, and trailmix. Weather was very cool and considerably less humid than in days past. Decided just to do and out and back on our long run route, and walk/jog in whatever we had extra. Got on the trail and started our "8 mile warmup". Felt pretty good and 100% better than I did in the last week, and we pretty much flew through the opening miles with a pretty decent pace. Got Crystal a little worked up through conversation which sped up the pace (we slowed it down), but still felt really easy. Got onto the Meridian uphill, still cruising. Was getting closer to the hour mark, so picked it up to transition to the marathon pace portion. Made our turnaround, pace still felt fine and was in total control. Hit the downhill coming back, was going a little faster than I thought and didn't want to get too out of control since the last part of the run is always the most difficult (uphill, uneven terrain, more sun) and crashing out on that would just kill the point of the workout. The trees were wreaking havoc on our GPS signals, so told Crystal we needed to lock in a pace since our watches weren't dependable for a few miles. Got locked in, kept cruising on while keeping my caged animal running partner in check since she was getting antsy and dropping surges. Saw Crystal's parents on the way back which was a nice pickmeup - in fact, we saw a ton of people on the trail that day which was pretty cool. Gave up on trying to slow down since we were hitting consistent splits, and focused on hitting right at marathon pace since we were going uphill. Well, we kept up the fast pace, and hammered it home. Last mile was a lot more tiring, but was more leg fatigue then breathing which was more tolerable than not being able to breath. Nailed the workout, pretty excited to hit that one since we had both circled this workout as the potentially most difficult one in her schedule. Crystal is looking stronger by the day, and I find I am working a lot harder to keep up with her than in training segments past. She will be ready to launch an all out assault in Indy in October. Total mileage: ~16 miles - first 7 were at 8-8:20 pace, last 9 were: 7:09, 7:04, 7:05, 7:03, 7:01, 6:57, 7:00, 7:00, 7:00.

Felt a lot more invigorated for redeeming myself after my last weekend meltdown, and I guess having an absolute perfect weather day didn't hurt things! Sunday, 0! Crapped out, no excuses other than general laziness, but it was nice to have the impromptu day off to rest my weary legs. Monday, had to go to the vet after work so missed Big River running group. Met Crystal up at the track, did miles and drills with her, and got in 25 minutes or so later on. Weather was hot and super humid, totally the opposite of Saturday. Drills felt ok, but my legs were still mushy. Did some light weights and corework at home, so got in some work. Total mileage: ~7 miles - ran anywhere from 7:20 to 9 minute pace.

Today, trackwork which hopefully won't be too bad since I am feeling pretty tired. Just officially signed up for the Lewis and Clark 1/2 Marathon which is in a little more than a month. I am curious to see what I hit there. We ran last year for Chicago Marathon prep, and hit 1:28 pretty comfortably. Starting to get into good shape, but the workouts we are doing seem harder which leads me to believe I'm stronger this time around, so I'm thinking 1:26 or 1:27 is very possible on a good day.