Lots to catch up on, so here we go:
Saturday, February 4th - 8 miles. Ran with Pat on a overcast and drizzly afternoon. Original plans were to do some xc work, but the heavy rain all night and morning was going to make the course unrunnable, so opted for mileage. Felt pretty good out there. Don't have the overall time, but splits were all around low 9's/high 8's.
Sunday, February 5th - 8 miles. Ran with Crystal - perfect conditions to run. Felt pretty good out there, but legs were a little tired. Home Depot route, which flew by. 66 something overall, I believe. 47 miles this week, 31 miles in February, 196.5 miles for 2012.
Monday, February 6th - 4 miles. Ran easy at home pretty late. Parents were in town, and spent all night cleaning but managed to sneak out late to do this. Don't remember time, but was pretty exhausted. 270 loop plus a little extra - sloooow.
Tuesday, February 7th - 6 miles. Forest Park run with Timmy after work. Misty conditions, and my legs felt like complete garbage. Just really tired, and felt like I could barely lift my feet up. Tim was awesome - had already run his 6 miles, and joined me for another loop. Stomach was in complete knots, so was a painful run on top of my dead legs.
Wednesday, February 8th - 0! Fell asleep into a deep coma after work, and just couldn't get myself out the door. Really disappointing, but the rest wasn't a bad thing.
Thursday, February 9th - 8 miles - ran with Candace at Forest Park. We were both running the USA National Cross Country championships on Sat., and wanted to preview the course. Pretty chilly night - jogged to the Central Fields from the visitors center, then tried to figure out where the course was. It had flags and posts to mark the trails, but had difficulty following them with the chilly conditions and darkness. Anyways, ran a few loops before Ben saw us and told us we were going the wrong way. Ran one more loop the "right way", then did a few more around FP before calling it a day. Course was in good condition - they had been working on it with all the rain, and there were a few muddy spots but very tolerable. Hilly as always, but that's Forest Park.
Friday, February 10th - 0! Immediately after work, went to a sports panel discussion at SLU High School to listen to Ryan Hall and Desi Davila speak! Lots of fun - they had a big pasta dinner sponsored by Onesto's Pizza, and we had a nice group there to listen to the speakers. Ryan Hall was really funny - told a few hilarious stories, and had some interesting insights on running. Got to meet both briefly, and got some autographs. Very cool when Hall asked me about Boston (wore my Boston 1/2 zip), and funny when Crystal called him out on the "supposed tailwinds" from 2011 Boston. She will hear that one for awhile.
Saturday, February 11th - 10 miles (USA XC CHAMPIONSHIPS 4K - 15:49, 40th place). Coldest day of the year by far - 16 degrees, 20 mile per hour winds, and just FREEZING. Drove out to FP early, and parked at the Visitor's Center since the bastards were trying to charge me for parking. Warmed up the course, and ran a little more just to get some feeling in my feet since I literally couldn't feel them. My race was pretty early - went ok, but just rough conditions to run with the cold and the wind. First quarter mile or so, you run in a flat open field before turning around and looping around the perimeter of the park, which is moderately hilly - you come back up a huge hill, then back onto the flat portion before looping back around. Anyways, started out pretty quick, but literally had the winds taken out of my sails because of the wind. Nasal passages were completely clogged, and felt like I was having an asthma attack (very reminiscent of 2010 Fast and Flurryous XC race) so slowed down a little to catch my breath. Eventually got it back, but was hurting from the wind and cold. Had a few footing issues on the back stretch, but then hit the 2nd loop and really had it in cruise control where I was working but not killing myself. Couldn't really get myself to go into the next gear, which was disappointing, but what can you do? Time was ok, nothing great, but got in a nice workout at the very least. Afterwards, cooled down, ran back to my car to change and bundle up, then proceeded to watch the next 6 races running all over Forest Park and hiding in the warm tents when I could. Ran into Desi in the Big River section and hung out with her for a bit (super cool!), then Pat and I ran into Ryan Hall out on the course, who was cheering his wife. Talked with him for a few minutes, and got a picture with him. Watched Crystal run the women's race - very proud of her performance, and she represented STL very well! Watched a thrilling ending to the women's race, then cooled down with Crystal before watching the end of the men's race. Ran a few more miles looking for my car since I forgot where I parked. All in all, a very fun day, and can't wait till next year when the USA XC Championships are back!!!
Sunday, February 12th - 10 miles. Ran with Pat (and Crystal and Candace - well sort of) on a cool afternoon on Old Faithful. The plan was an easy run, but Pat and I knew that wasn't going to happen with the Killer C's, so hung back and formed our own "chase pack". Anyways, felt pretty good out there, and helped pace Pat to a solid run. Ran back on the trails to catch Megan at the end of her long run, and ran her in. 7 mile time (with Pat) was 1:01:24, I think. 38 miles this week, 69 miles in February, 234.5 miles in 2012.
So had a really fun week with some decent running. With that said, all focus is now on gaining speed and strength for my aggressive March racing schedule.
Coming down the stretch in the USA XC Champs
Crystal tearing it up on the first loop
Desi and I
Hall and I
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment