R.I.P. Sammy Wanjiru

Speechless and shocked at the news of Sammy Wanjiru. I knew that he was having domestic problems, but this has jumped to an entirely different level. Wanjiru was one of the greatest marathon runners ever, and I had the privilege of watching him (on t.v. and in person) run two of the greatest marathons ever (2008 Beijing, 2010 Chicago). Sammy had one of the most aggressive running styles ever, and never hesitated to push the pace and throw in some monster surges. He was only 24, and the world has lost one of the greatest racers ever to live, and I am deeply saddened for the loss of one of my favorite runners. May your running in God's Kingdom be swift, and I hope that you have fun dropping some of your patent surges in your training runs/races in Heaven. I am pretty sure no one can catch you. R.I.P. Sammy Wanjiru

Ryan Hall to run BolderBoulder, Paula Radcliffe to run Chi this fall?!, Geb wins in Manchester.

So after a nice, long hiatus, I return. Not much running has been done, and I have slowly undone a lot of work this year. But I have enjoyed this extended honeymoon, and have set my sights on my "comeback" to regain some speed, but most importantly have as much fun as I can while doing so. Hall's performance in Boston this year really hit home, and I am working to improve my craft as well as enjoy running as much as I can, while reaping in the benefits :) The most important thing at this point is weight - I am 15-20 lbs. heavier than I was last year, and it doesn't feel good and has not helped my running. I am working to fix that immediately.

April 11-17: 16 miles. Eek. Boston Marathon week, ran very light during the week at home, but got in very little during the weekend. Shane and I had a fun run around downtown Boston, hitting up the Boston Commons area which is pretty much a very dummed down versoin of Central Park in NYC. Very scenic though, and fun people watching in general.

April 18-24: 40 miles??? Monday - had a small 26.2 mile jog from Hopkinton to Boston, 2 small runs over the weekend when I got back. Legs were beatdown a bit from the hills, don't remember the hills being that bad but I was in better shape last year too.

April 25-May 1: 24 miles. A run here and there, nothing special. Legs still very heavy. Headed to Madison, WI for a week for work. Gorgeous trails, will post pics. Day 1 in Madison - ran around the city trying to find the trails around the lake, ran up and down many hills and tired myself before eventually finding what I wanted. Got to talk to Ken during my run on the phone - congrats on his great performance in the Illinois 1/2 marathon!!! (1:26:06, I think?)

May 2-8: 36 miles. Made it a point to run everyday during my stay in Madison. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised about the infrastructure of the city, and how gorgeous it was. The lakefront trail reminded me of a poor man's version of Chicago's lakefront, but a quieter, smaller scale. Regardless, gorgeous, and fun to see so many people out. Beautiful city skyline and going over a bridge when the UW Crew Team was practicing was super cool. Very inspiring to think of the many miles that Chris Solinsky was logging in out there, so made the most of it. 50 degree weather felt amazing. Legs felt a little better, so that was a big positive.

May 9-15: 28 miles. Eek. Rain, and oppressive heat killed motivation. Did my first track work on Tuesday or Wed. Paced Megan through some 400's, then hit 4X400 of my own to gauge my level of fitness. In a nutshell, not great, and I was huffing and puffing like a fat, old man. Splits were ok, but felt very difficult. (1:24, 1:23, 1:23, 1:15 (let it fly, not a good idea as my legs were shot)). Sunday - long run with Team Sullentrup. 10 miles on the trail on a dreary afternoon. Did GC loop on the trail, was muddy and nasty, and they are doing some work on it so the top layer on portions of the trail were literally just packed mud. Felt ok going out, but we definitely picked it up coming home. Crystal spotted a guy about a quarter mile up when we were within 4 miles of home, and we steadily gained ground until it suddenly became an impromptu Indian Run. One minute on, rotate. Ugh - hit 6:30 for the mile which did not feel very good, blazed past the guy (early brunch for Crystal) before ending that bad idea. Legs felt like garbage. 1:18:36 overall (41:06, 37:30 were the 5 mile splits)

May 16 - 7 miles, drills afterwards. 4 miles after work on an absolutely beautiful evening, 3 miles and drills after dinner. Legs felt tired from the Sunday workout, and drills felt rough. Cheated and only did the first half, but wanted to save a little for tonight's track work. A little at a time, need to be patient...

Tonight, mileage and track work. Weather is gorgeous all week, and need to take full advantage of it with this momentary cooler front in place. Off to Chi this weekend, very excited to get up there to my 2nd home. Already set up a run with the New Balance training group by my sister's place, and will be spending some quality time on Lakeshore!