Loooong Update

Been derailed this week on my attempts to blog, so a long update is in order. Has been super busy, so I will try my best to remember everything. But before I get to my running, found some cool stuff in the world of running. Sammy Wanjiru is coming back to Chi to defend his title, which means he will be toeing it up with Ryan Hall in October!!! Hall is pretty psyched about the prospects and I suspect this will be an awesome race as Hall has raced well with Wanjiru in the past (2008 London Marathon P.R.). Here is a cool article on Shalane and her marathoning training - if she can reign it in and be patient, there is no reason to think she can't win in NYC. Runners World released their fall shoe guide. And finally, a awesome flotrack video of Oregon Elite stud Galen Rupp and a workout he did over in Europe.

Wow just flipped back to see where I left off, so it's been a while. Last Wednesday, got out after work and did a quick run. Weather was hot and sticky, and did this run early evening. Purposely didn't look at time, and just tried to keep an "easy" pace. Drove up to the track afterwards - did 10 minutes of drills with Crystal, and ran a few laps with Pat. Pretty solid day if I must say so. Total mileage: ~5.5 miles - ran 31:52 for 4 miles (faster than I wanted given the conditions, but felt very good), 1 mile really easy, ran a couple 400's with Pat on the track - no idea of time.

Thursday, the heat just made it too difficult to do my scheduled workout outside, so treadmilled it at Pat and Crystal's. Had really been suffering through a bad chest cold or something that was causing my breathing to be rough in general, so was hoping to get in a bit extra. Hopped on the treadmill in my attempts to hit 2 miles at race pace, then 1 mile 10-15 seconds faster. Blazed through mile 1 of the 2 mile portion, but just started to really struggle and basically suffered a horrible death on the treadmill. Seconds felt like hours, and I kept falling further and further back and would have to sprint up before almost falling off the treadmill end (this happened many times). My lungs and legs were on fire and it was just pure agony, worse than 5K race burn. Walked a very short distance to cooldown, this workout was done and I was on empty. Total mileage: ~2.1 miles - mile splits were: 6:00, 6:00.

Friday, day off! Saturday, woke up bright and early for the long run. Waited a little bit to go over to Crystal's because of storms (much to Crystal's chagrin) and it was pretty nasty on the trails. Ran through some massive puddles, thus soaking my feet immediately, and making the next few miles very uncomfortable. Took a small detour to get around the mess, but quickly got back on the trail. Trail was really stuffy (mostly from rain and sun starting to come up making it really humid), and I was having major breathing issues. Got onto the climb at Meridian where it opens up a bit, and felt a lot better. Settled into a good pace and felt really good at the turn around. My Garmin was jumping around a bit, so was difficult for me to pace since we started to accelerate a bit to ease into the last 4 at race pace, unlike what we had done in the past where we just dropped into race mode (very painful). Sun was out in full force at this point, and was definitely feeling the heat. Struggled a bit on the last 4, and had to work to hit pace. Didn't help that both our Garmins were jumping around giving us weird splits, but was most likely from the trees and bridges coming back. Really was regretting starting 15 minutes later than usual - was pretty hot when we were done, amazing how much difference it made and we were just BEAT. Regardless, nailed the workout and was nice to be done with it. Total mileage: 16 miles - don't have the splits on hand, but averaged 8:07 overall. 7:11, 7:14, 7:15, 7:08 on the last 4 I believe.

Sunday, slept in, got in my run later in the day/evening. Didn't go too hard, hit 5 easy. I think it was 42-45 minutes. Monday, did the group run over at Big River on a hot day. Crystal and I ran 3 up to the track, then did drills. Was a pretty warm day, but hammered through everything pretty well. Jogged 1 easy back to the store and headed home. Felt good, but tired. Total mileage: ~4 miles - first 3 were low 8 minute average, last mile was prob 8:30-9 I am guessing.

Tuesday - 0! Was really hurting from being sick, and consequently slept away most of the evening. Wednesday, took a monster nap after work, then dragged my sorry carcass to the track to get in my missed workout. Pat and Crystal were up there doing their respective workouts, as well as a few others, so was nice to have company. Was hot and sticky outside, and got right into my workout (2 miles at pace, 1 mile 10-15 seconds faster than pace). Zoomed through the first lap a little fast (1:24), but slowed it down and surprisingly maintained pace pretty well the rest of that segment. Felt pretty good after the first mile, and kept it up through the next mile hitting even splits. Was a lot easier than it should have been, which was an aesome feeling. Highlight was Crystal reprimanding a couple walkers that were hogging the fast lane. The looks on their faces was priceless, but it needed to be done :) Wouldn't have been that big of a deal if I literally didn't pass them on every single turn of the track, which was a slight pain. Took a 5 minute break, then jumped into the mile. Really was getting tired right from the start and had some evil thoughts of breaking it into 2-800's, but dispelled those bad notions quickly. Pushed through that mental barrier which was nice, given I have succumbed to it a little too often recently, and hit a split I was satisfied with. Contemplated another hard mile, but my legs were toast and was just pooped in general. Did a 25 minute cooldown, stretched hard and felt considerably better afterwards. Total mileage: 5-6 miles - 2 mile split was 11:52 (5:54, 5:58), 1 mile spit was 5:49.

Yesterday, took an impromptu vacation day - played golf in the late morning/early afternoon with Pat, then snuck in a quick 3 miler nice and slow. Was pretty beat down from being outside all day, legs felt like crap. Going to try to squeeze in some cheap miles today, then racing tomorrow night over in Hecker, IL for the Tiki Trot 5K! Run at night, the course is lit up by tiki torches on the sides of the road, and supposed to be a pretty fast course. Over 670 have preregistered, so should be pretty fun! Feeling pretty good about nailing my workout on Wednesday, and using this as a hard tempo run/workout so looking forward to seeing where I am at. Sunday, long run with Mike and Crystal, so should be another solid running week...