STL Rock n Roll 1/2 Marathon Recap

Kara changes coaches/groups, STL RNR, results, Michael Wardian, Matthew Kisorio makes his marathon debut in NYC (he won Philly RNR 1/2 in a blazing 58:46), Geoffrey Mutai, and Haile wins again.

Saturday, October 22nd - 2 miles easy. Out and back with Pat and Crystal for a shakeout run. Felt ok for the most part, Home Depot trail route.

Sunday, October 23rd - 15 miles (STL ROCK N ROLL 1/2 MARATHON - 1:28:10, 85/~14,500, 19th in age group). Ugh, not what I hoped, and pretty much a disaster of a race. Got downtown bright and early, and warmed up for 20 minutes or so with Crystal. Got to line up front which was awesome, so the 22,000 runners weren't too much of an issue. Started out with Crystal, and ran the first couple miles with her. Gabe jumped in to pace for a while, but I fell off a little and was trying to get settled in - very difficult with the hills and many, many turns. Had already fallen off pace slightly on the 5K (20:23 I think), and was further off at the 10K split (41:02), and basically lost complete focus and mentally shut down. Legs weren't responding, and I was getting passed left and right and was getting very demoralized, so was a very long run back in at this point. Tried to rally towards the end, but just didn't have it in me, and was very disappointed all around. Amazingly, still finished in the top 100 overall, so I guess there was one goal I hit (try to get in the top 100). Crystal smoked it with a huge PR (1:25:09), and 5th woman (48th overall), so really proud of her - she put in some great work, and ran a great race. Congrats to Megan, Stacy, Pat, Tim, and Jeff who all gave great efforts on a tough day. Demolished some PI pizza to finish out the day, which was delicious as usual.

40 miles this week. Really surprised I got this much, didn't feel like 40.

Monday, October 24th - 4 miles. Big River Monday group run with Crystal, Megan, and Tim. Legs felt a little sore, but gorgeous afternoon and did 2 loops around Francis Park. A little over 4 miles in 41:07, I believe. Afterwards, went to the Mack to watch the World Series game. I got whupped in power putt golf, and so did the Cardinals.

Easy week this week. Had a long talk with Crystal after dinner to try to work out the kinks of what went right/wrong in this block. Ready to put in some good work, and try to get to the next level again.

Rock and Roll Eve

More on marathon cheat Rob Stone, more on the 100 year old marathon runner, how quickly is water absorbed after you drink it?, Patrick Rizzo, Haile prepares for a half marathon this weekend, NYC's elite marathon field, Paula will continue on past London 2012, and Ritz prepares for the trials with a 5K tuneup.

Thursday, October 20th - ~4.5 miles. Got talked into running with Tim in Francis Park. Nice and slow. Pretty windy outside, but kept the pace pretty honest. Legs still a little tired. 41:27 overall.

Friday, October 21st - ~3.5 miles. Treadmill for 30 minutes. For some reason, just didn't want to run, and it was about the longest run ever in my mind. Pace felt ok, but just mentally not there. 8:34 pace, ugh.

Easy 20 minutes tomorrow, then the 1/2 on Sunday. Looking forward to getting this race over with, and hopefully a small break. I can feel a slight mental burnout right now...

Wrapping up this Training Block...

Run with your cat, Ryan Hall and his mind, 5 new shoes coming out in the fall to look out for, Bobby Curtis NYC blog, Caroline Rotich, Khalid Khannouchi going to India, long run double by Running Times, what does stretching really do?, Ed Whitlock is ridiculous - 3:15 marathon?!?!, NYC+Olympic Trials too much?, predicted record breaking in London 2012, fat to fit to fat.

Monday, October 17th - ~4 miles. Ran Big River group run with Tim and Megan. Kept it slow, but legs felt like crap. Chilly outside, but felt good. Got in roughly 4.25 in 41:25.

Tuesday, October 18th - 5 miles. Ran with Timmy after work in Forest Park. Freezing at first, but warmed up a mile into the run. Amazing how early it gets dark now, which is sad. Once again, legs felt sub par, but made it through ok. I think our total time was 44:25.

Wednesday, October 19th - 6 miles (2 up, 2x1 mile 1/2 marathon pace, 2 down). Early a.m. run with Crystal. Dark, drizzly, cold, and windy - not the most optimal conditions. Busted out the tights for the first time since last winter, and we ran to Ebbets in a nice whirlwind. Miles felt ok, but definitely a little more harder than it should have been. 1 minute rest in between reps, workout went by very quickly and got home pretty fast. Not sure of the warmup and cooldown splits, but I know they were fast because of the cold weather (Crystal had us at 7:38 pace coming in). Mile splits were: 6:29, 6:25.

Nothing but easy runs going in from this point. Good nutrition, good rest, and hopefully we are all feeling good for Sunday's big race!

GO! Halloween 10K Race Recap

2 hour marathon?, Paula and Nike, streaking at the Olympics could be costly, Ed Moran makes his NYC debut in a few weeks, 100 year old man runs a marathon, and Kim Smith kills it in Hartford.

Friday, October 14th - 4 miles. Ran with Pat and Crystal after work. Gorgeous day outside, and we did the G.C. loop. Felt better than in days past, but still lethargic. 33:33 total time (16:55/16:38 splits).

Saturday, October 15th - 4 miles. Early golf tournament in Eureka, and was definitely a bit pooped afterwards. Nice fall day, did out and back on the trails very slow. Ran for roughly 40 minutes.

Sunday, October 16th - 11 miles - GO! STL HALLOWEEN 10K (40:08 PR; 40/~3900 overall, 7th in age group) - Woke up bright and early to head down for the race. Plan was to run at half marathon pace and to get in a nice workout. Course has changed a bit from the first year we spectated - start on Market, head south and loop through Soulard and the brewery before heading back downtown to Soldier's Memorial. Hilly the first half, but levels out a bit going in. Weather was ok - very sunny and a little warm, and very windy. Lined up front, quick chat with my teammates, then took off. Started out way too fast, and leveled it out early. Fell into a small group, and worked with them as I tried to get locked into pace. Hills through Soulard were definitely a pain, and my splits were all over the place. Ran through the Brewery and finally caught a long downhill, and started to feel better. Last couple miles felt good, and I felt completely in control. Worked with a couple girls going in - one was struggling pretty bad and trying to catch the other, so helped her reel the other in for my good deed of the day. Went back to watch Tim finish, met up with Pat and Crystal to see Stacy, then jogged out to run Megan and Cristina in. Brunch at Hammerstones, lots of football/sleep in the afternoon, then a late run at night. Got in 4 miles (~40 minutes), legs were definitely a little tired. Very pleased overall - I split 20:23, 19:45 for the 2-5K's, so a great workout/race. 42 miles this week - I'll take it.

Race week is this week. Easy running, with the exception of Wednesday's small workout with Crystal, and trying to eat healthy and get some good rest. Easy run at group run tonight to shake out my tired, old legs.

Dragging

Next for Liliya, Olympic Trials qualifier in Denver, Paula trying to keep her record, chat with stud U.S. runner Ben True, Haile racing in the UK, Haile aims for Tokyo, Brett Gotcher, Kim Smith working hard, Japan's finest, NYC raises its standards, a disgrace of a runner, and finally the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Monday, October 10th - 7 miles. Got home late from work, and Monday Night Football was rapidly approaching so decided to get this one in as fast as possible. Meaning not blazing fast, but pick up the pace and finish a 6 mile run below 50 minutes. Well, 41:06 later, I was done and really tired. Had to jog an extra mile as a cooldown, since it became almost an impromptu tempo. Tried to slow down in the middle, but my body wouldn't listen. Really tired afterwards, still felt like poop. Splits were: 6:59, 6:48, 7:19, 7:00, 6:42, 6:16.

Tuesday, October 11th - 6 miles. Felt like garbage still. Slow 6 miler around Forest Park, and it didn't feel very good. 57 and some change for the time.

Wednesday, October 12th - 6 miles. Got home late again, had nothing in the tank and felt like crap and laid down when I got home. Managed to force myself out the door for an easy run. I still feel like my body got hit by a freight train - ugh. Didn't have a watch, but it was slow. Thanks to KMOX and the Cardinals playoff feed for getting my through that run. Skipped workout tonight - not the end of the world, as the 10K is this weekend and will use that as a workout.

Thursday, October 13th - 4 miles. No energy, starting to wonder if I'm sick. 36 minutes felt like 360 minutes, and just was dragging.

Still exhausted, run tonight is questionable. Sleep is a high priority right now.

Congrats Adam!!!

Moses Mosop sets Chicago course record, Paula training in Kenya, more Moses, Shobukhova three-peats, Hall finishes 5th, tragedy, crazy story of one of the Chi runners, great article on combo workouts, and last but certainly not least, Big River runner Adam MacDowell qualifies for the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials!!!

Thursday, October 6th - 7 miles (1 up, 4 mile tempo, 4x200, 1.5 down). Dreading this workout for days, and kept pushing it back. Met Crystal at the track on a kind of thick-aired night. Goal was to hit tempo at 6:15 pace, but I was thinking more 6:20ish. Made it through 1.5 miles or so with Crystal before falling off a little to conserve some energy. Felt really tired through 3, but found my second wind and pushed through. Legs were a bit trashed for the 200's, but made it through ok. No turnover whatsoever, and the left part of my groin was hurting bad at the end. Tempo splits were: 6:04, 6:02, 6:14, 6:02. 200 meter splits were: 37, 34, 36, 34 (can you tell which ones Crystal led?). Posted my workout on Garmin Connect, which I recently started using - pretty cool.

Friday, October 7th - 0! Travel day to Chicago for the marathon, and needed a day off anyways to recover. Legs felt like poo, even just walking around.

Saturday, October 8th - 10.5 miles. Lakeshore long run with Pat, Crystal, and Tim. Pat wanted to get in a pace run, so we ran with him on Lakeshore past Navy Pier and back. Ran ~3 more miles with Crystal to finish it out. Weather was 80's, and just uber-sunny - not good conditions whatsoever, and didn't help that my legs felt like complete crap. But still fun nonetheless, and got in a 90 minutes at roughly 8:40 min/mile pace.

Sunday, October 9th - 4 miles. Chicago Marathon day! Woke up to watch the start of the marathon on tv, then headed outside to set camp at the 15K mark. Watched the elites zoom by, saw Ben and Adam trucking along, then Gabe, Gibbs, Carter (who was pacing his friend), and my buddy Andy. Warm and very sunny morning, was intentionally standing in the shade since I was burning up. Watched most of the sub 4 hour marathoners go by, before retiring back inside to watch the elites finish and track everyone. Got to watch Adam on t.v. for a while running with Shobukhova (eventual female winner), and sat for an agonizing few minutes to see if he hit the trials qualifier, which he did!!!!!!!! Tracked everyone else's finish, then jumped out to Lakeshore for a quick run. Legs were still garbage, so opted for 4 miles with Pat and Tim instead of 6 with Crystal. Headed out at a pretty easy pace, then turned around. Saw a runner that really looked like Desiree Davila, so we all went after her to see if she was. Dropped it to high 5/low 6 pace for a couple minutes and realized we weren't making any ground, but luckily she turned around and granted us some reprieve. Confirmed it was indeed her, and all of us were pretty geeked to see arguably the top American runner out there on the trails with us. Dropped a few surges coming in for fun, then long stretching before calling it a day. Football, then a long late night train home. Exhausted. Total time of run was 35:24.

39.5 miles this week, bah

Great weekend up north! Congrats to all the runners that ran this weekend, and a big congrats to Adam for his qualifier (see you in Houston!). Awesome to see the Big River jersey so prominently displayed around Chicago :) Exhausted from too much fun over the weekend, and will opt for much sleep and slow running, other than my scheduled workouts. Running the GO! STL Halloween 10K for a workout this Sunday - this will be a good indicator for the 1/2 next weekend, so we will see how the pace feels.

Chi this weekend!

Mosop shooting for world record this weekend in Chi, Korir wants a Chicago win, Ritz working on nutrition, Kipligat out of NYC, Ryan Hall, Mo Farah is European athlete of the year, ESPN's Body Issue (with Ryan Hall), and how long to recover after hard workouts/races.

Monday, October 3rd - 6 miles + drills. Big River Monday group run - started out 3 miles with Megan, then met up with Crystal and ran to the track for drills. Felt ok, but definitely tired. No idea on time, forgot to start my watch, but 8-9 minute pace overall.

Tuesday, October 4th - 6 miles in Forest Park. Nice evening to run - felt ok, but still tired. Obama was in town for a private fundraiser, so had to wait awhile to cross over the Highway 40 overpass between Hampton and Skinker, so that was a huge pain in the butt. Less than 2 minutes from the car = 30 minute delay. Somewhere between 54-60 minutes overall.

Wednesday, October 5th - 6 miles easy with Pat and Crystal. Pat ran most of the run with us as his tempo, and looked strong. Nice evening to run, and felt a little better but still fatigued. Total time was 50:54.

Tonight - tempo run with Crystal. Headed to Chicago tomorrow morning to watch the marathon. Temps look a little nasty (70-80's), so hoping it cools down soon and fast!

Race for Lymphoma 5K Recap

Meb and Deena win RNR San Jose, Kipligat aims at the women's marathon record, Kim Smith and her NYC Marathon tactics, bio on Bernard Lagat, Haile warns British media about too much pressure, USA 10 Mile Championship results, and a Runners World Brief Chat with Chicago Marathon director Carey Pinkowski.

Forgot this last week ; 168.5 miles for September (awful), 1557.5 miles for 2011.

Saturday, October 1st - 5 miles (1 up, RACE FOR LYMPHOMA 5K (18:52 - 4th overall, 3rd male, 1st in age group), 1 down). Woke up a little tired from going to Big River's Brooks Pure Launch party the night before, but ate a quick breakfast, picked up Pat and Crystal, and headed to STL for the 5K. Chilly in the morning, but perfect for a race. Quick warmup with Crystal and Tim, Tim and I got impromptu recruited for the Team Competition, drills and strides, then lined up. Strategy was to go out in 5:50's, then run 6's in for a good time. Course was flat with a lot of turns, and basically went around the perimeter of the St. Louis Mills Mall, which is sort of scenic but basically a mall. Went out a little fast with Crystal, but slowed down to even it out. Pack had separated to the first 2 runners (way out front), Crystal, me, then a runner who was working off me. Crystal had worked a good gap about halfway through, so it was just me and the straggler who was hanging on. This race turned tactical for me, since I wasn't going to catch Crystal, so relaxed a bit and geared up for some surges on the last mile. Threw in a couple surges to open up a bigger gap, then cruised in. Lost track of time, and kicked too late and ended up with an ok time but sub 19 nonetheless. Crystal won the women's (18:11 PR, 3rd overall), then we watched Tim finish (21:04 PR), then went to catch Megan finish (27:05 PR) and caught Pat finishing (he ran the 10K - 50:12 PR). Tim and I ended up using our times in the team competition, and won that which was pretty cool. All in all, a very fun day with a lot of success for our team!!! 5K mile splits were: 5:55, 6:10 (relaxed a little too much), 6:03.

Sunday, October 2nd - 8 miles (4 miles a.m., 4 miles p.m.). Exhausted from just a long 2 weeks, so slept in and missed Crystal for the Big River group run in St. Charles. Gorgeous afternoon, got in 4 easy in the a.m. (started late because football was about to start!), and felt like complete garbage. Out and back towards Troy, slow and poopy. Evening, got out on the same route and felt 150% better. Had some stomach issues, so pushed it slightly coming in, but felt very relaxed and smooth. Crazy how much different earlier vs. later felt. A.M. run time was 36:58, P.M. 30:18. 42 miles this week - not too bad for race week.

Lots of congratulations to go around - congrats to Ben for winning the inaugural Mo Cowbell 1/2 Marathon (1:08:42 I believe), congrats to PR's for Brian and Margaret Lyons at the Twin Cities Marathon (2:19:22 - B, 2:49:58 - M). And finally, congrats to Stephen for a 14th place finish in the USA 10 Mile Championships (48:04)! Great races for all!!!