Bix 7 Recap

More suffering heat in the Midwest, but have worked hard despite Mother Nature's efforts to derail all. Ran the Bix 7 this last weekend for the first (and probably not last) time, and had a great time hitting up one of the biggest road races in the nation! More Bix recap, Geoffrey Mutai continues to dominate, Emmanuel Mutai to run in England, Meb signs with Sketchers (had no idea they had a running line), Bolt, Adam Goucher, and his lovely wife.

And finally Lolo, if you read this blog, I have a friend for you that I want to hook you up with. Solid runner, smart, funny, handsome, and perfect for you. He has houses all over the nation, so we'll make sure to get Baton Rouge on the rotation :)

Lots of work travel, and Bix weekend but kept up with some good running despite the awful conditions. Here we go...

Wednesday, July 27 - 6 miles p.m. (50:32) Cleaning and packing before my trip, did this one really late on a nasty humid late night. Did G.C. road loop but ran a slight variation down a hilly road I hadn't done before. Pushed it coming home, felt like crap quite honestly. Splits were definitely more aggressive then I intended, but it was late and wanted to get home. Splits were: 7:52, 7:22, 7:30, 7:28, 7:31, 7:04.

Thursday, July 28 - 6 miles treadmill. Made it to Rockford, IL for work. Hopped on the Hampton Inn treadmill in hopes to get in a few miles before dinner. Had a few engage me in a treadmill pace competition, which made the monotonous running a lot more fun. Broke 3 people overall, while watching Man vs. Food on the television (perfect motivation!). Last guy kept picking up the pace, but I made it a point to pick it up twice as much as he did. I broke him when I started texting my sister while running, and literally threw in the towel at 2.73 miles of his run lol. Fun times, felt a lot better running inside in controlled conditions. Splits were: 7:53, 7:53, 7:30, 7:30, 7:30, 6:46.

Friday, July 29 - 2 miles. Made it to Bettendorf, IL for work and Bix. Met up with my buddy Ryan, and did an easy 2 miles (well more like 1.6) on the roads. Hot and humid like everywhere else, made it a point to run pretty slow. Felt ok, but breathing was definitely an issue with the thick air.

Saturday, July 30 - 10 miles - BIX 7 - 7 miles - 50:59. Made it downtown bright and early for the 37th running of the Quad Cities Bix 7! Weatherman predicted "hot and miserable for the runners", and he wasn't kidding. Just nasty hot and humid and sunny outside, and knew it was going to be a rough going. Walked to the start with 18,000 other runners and squeezed into the back of my corral. Tried to work my way closer up front, but pretty much couldn't and sweated away a few lbs. waiting for the start gun. Bix is a pretty hill course - you start on Brady street, and run up a HUGE hill (9 degree grade) to start the race, before weaving through a hilly neighborhood and coming back. Really reminded me of the Newton Hills of Boston - same type of scenary and tough hills. Anyways, the plan was to go out in 6:20-6:30's and see how long I could hold on, but knew it would be tough with the weather. Had many problems trying to work my way through the massive crowds, and after a 7:56 first mile I knew my competitive race was already over. Really aggravated at some of the people in my corral who clearly had no business being in there, and consequently made it much more difficult for the serious runners. Picked it up on the 2nd mile, but hit a nasty hill on the 3rd mile and just cut back on the pace and into survival mode. - legs were just done and I felt like garbage. Got hip checked into the water station volunteers who broke my fall. Battled through the next few miles which was all rolling hills, then a long steady uphill grade for a while, and hit the huge downhill on Brady street. Saw I could probably break 51 with a fast last mile, so took off. Turnover felt great, flew down the hill but very cautiously as the grade was ridiculous and I had just clipped a runner at the top of the hill (sorry!) and a wipe out would have been pretty bad. Kicked to make my mini-goal - pretty awesome finish with a big crowd. Cooldown, soaked in the misters while waiting for Ryan and Megan to finish. Really fun race and great support all around - just wish it wasn't so damn hot but it is the Midwest in July. Splits were: 7:56, 6:57, 7:30, 7:28, 7:27, 5:58. Fun night in Davenport - they had an estimated 60-100K extra people with the race and some big bike ride across Iowa finishing that day, so lots of people out and about.

Sunday, July 31 - 7 miles (56:02). Back to the Lou - intended on long run, but came back late to some miserable heat and was pretty tired from driving home. Crystal had us over for dinner and Entourage, so after a long nap jumped onto their treadmill and nailed some good mileage. Wanted to get 6, but felt good and ended up picking up the pace steadily and squeezed in an extra mile. So much more easier running in a cool basement and having a fan blow cold air on you while watching the Hangover. Started at 8:30's, ended up at 7:30 pace.

43 miles for the week (woo-hoo!), 149 for July (eek!), 1191 for 2011. Fallen off pace, need to pick it up.

Monday, August 1 - 6 miles and drills. Evening run with Crystal - had taken a week sabbatical from drills, and definitely could feel it halfway through. Legs felt tired and definitely rubbery on the way back, but picked it up pretty naturally. Ironic that our total time was 50:59, which was my Bix finishing time.

Tuesday, August 2 - 6 miles (8x800 at half marathon pace). Because of the 100+ degree temperatures, Crystal's 5k time trial was cancelled and she was given a new workout to do, which I also jumped in to as well. Nasty humid evening, had a nice group out with Pat, Crystal, Tim, Megan and I. Quick warmup, jumped into the repeat. Goal pace was to hit 3:14's for the splits (much easier than the 2:40's we had been hitting), and felt really good for the first half of the reps. Did 200 meter jog in between, and traded off the inner lane. Took a water break 4 reps into it, then started it back up. Started to feel a little queasy after starting back up, and tailed off after the 5th rep to take a 2 minute rest in between reps instead of the jog. Finished the rest of the set, then jumped on Megan's last rep. Cooled down with the group, happy to hit the workout especially in awful conditions. Felt very controlled, but legs were pretty rubbery towards the end. Splits were: 3:11, 3:10, 3:09, 3:10, 3:09, 3:06, 3:06, 3:06.

Easy run today - methinks I will find a treadmill to give my body a rest from this heat, rather than sweat it out. Not holding up as well during this heat, but definitely getting in some good outdoor mileage despite it all...