Washington D.C., here I come!

The rest of the non-Olympic marathon team, Boston racing, Abel Kurui, Kenyan marathoners, Shalane, Khalid, and more about his retirement.

A bit bummed about the recent news of Khalid Khannouchi and his retirement. Not overly surprised given his injury situation and his age, but hard to see one of your heroes exit from the stage. When I first started getting serious about running, Khalid Khannouchi was the best marathoner in the world. I met him during the 2006 Shamrock Shuffle expo and was very impressed at how humble he was, and how sincere and caring he was. He asked me a lot of questions about my running (pretty much nonexistant) and my goals, and I was fortunate to watch him run the 2008 Olympic Trials in NYC. What an amazing career as a multiple Chicago marathon champion, former World Marathon record holder (a few times over), and a true pioneer of aggressive marathon running. Hope retirement serves him well, and the running world will miss his seemingly effortless stride and warrior spirit.

Missed this last week - 27.5 miles for last week, 119 miles for March, 470 for 2012.

Monday, March 26th - 4.5 miles. Ran with Pat and Tim in Francis Park. Nice and easy for recovery. Was a little tired, but the day was so perfect weather-wise that I made them go around for another lap. 37:26 total.

Tuesday, March 27th - 6 miles. Ran with Crystal after work. Home Depot out and back - another gorgeous day, and we negative split going back. Legs were tired, but felt pretty good. 51:58 total.

Wednesday, March 28th - 7 miles. Scheduled mile repeats, but my knee kept getting jammed and opted to do easy mileage as to not risk any issues, especially with Cherry Blossum this weekend. Did out and back on Troy route solo, then ran with Megan for 2 miles before finishing up. Split 30:18 solo, ran 2 miles easy, then last mile pretty slow. Ran for a little under an hour total.

Off to D.C. today after work. Feeling ok for the most part, and ready to get some easy running in the city. No Cherry Blossum time goals, as I'm feeling a bit beat up and worn down from my aggressive racing. Plan is to start out nice and easy, then go completely by feel. Hopefully this translates into a great PR on Sunday!

Shamrock Shuffle Recap

Watch more video of 2012 Manzano Mile on flotrack.org

My buddy Stephen Pifer at the Manzano Mile, Leo sets Texas state record!, Rave Run this weekend!, Shamrock press release, Shalane wins, time for Geb to quit?, elites in Mammoth Lakes, from Trials to track?, and Morgan Uceny.

Thursday, March 22nd - 6 miles. Ran after work solo around town. Not good - knee was really bothering me, and could feel myself altering my stride towards the end. Time to take a couple days off.

Friday, March 23rd - 0! Self imposed day off, plus travel day. Got into Chicago late, then had a late dinner at the Girl and the Goat, which my sister and I have been trying to get into for the last couple years. Stephanie Izzard, Top Chef season 4 winner, created this restaurant. Absolutely amazing! Food was served in smaller portions, but the flavors were literally bursting out. I am drooling just thinking about it.

Saturday, March 24th - 0! Contemplated an easy run on Lakeshore, but opted to lay low instead. Had a few errands around town as well as the Expo at Navy Pier, so probably walked a few miles in itself. Hadn't run Shamrock since 2007, so a little taken back by how big the expo had gotten (used to be in the Hilton on Michigan Ave., and much, much smaller - now it is the size of a typical marathon expo!). Shirts were red this year, which seemed strange for a St. Pat's day themed race, but quickly grew on me. Dinner at a new place called RPM (decent place, awesome lounge, food was good but not great), then met up with Pat and Crystal to drop off team bibs, then ended the night with Ken and his family. Great to see everyone, even though it was quickly.

Sunday, March 25th - 7 miles (1 up, SHAMROCK SHUFFLE 8K - 31:27 PR (485/34,300), 1 down). Woke up bright and early to get ready. Stretched out for a bit to loosen up, then Ryan came over to meet up before we headed to the Fairmont Hotel to meet up with Ken, Pat and Crystal, and Sunny. Excited to run the team competition, and we were entered in the open team co-ed division, which had some pretty good teams entered. The goal was to place, and I thought we had a good chance to do so if all of us ran like we should. Walked over to Millenium Park where the race started, then warmed up. Hadn't felt this nervous in a long time for a race. Got into the corrals, and tried to get focused before the race began. Started with Ryan and Ken, and worked the first mile together as a group. A bit discouraged to pass through the first mile at 6:09, since the effort felt like sub 6 min. Knee was feeling discomfort, but I knew I could make it through the race ok. From a little further on, we all separated and I fell back a bit since I was running more on effort and wanted to not completely blow up out there. Legs just had no juice, and struggled the rest of the race. Found a good pack to run with, so worked with them to make it back towards the end. Between miles 3 and 4, saw a spectator trying to sprint to the other side of the road. Well, he timed his run completely wrong, and ended up sprinting right into me! I was in a pack and didn't really have much time to react, and got knocked into a few other runners, which none of us luckily didn't fall down but came to a complete stop to regroup. We were all livid, and screamed some obscenities in his direction. I mean seriously, use some common sense if you are going to cross a road during a major race! I am getting angry just thinking about it. I am guessing this idiot cost me 15-20 seconds easily on my time. Anyways, battled up the wonderful hill on Roosevelt before turning towards the end. Met up with the others, who all ran very well, then headed to the post race party for a post race cocktail and to wait for Anne, Ben, Megan, and Barrel who were running in the 2nd wave. A fun day by all, and sad to leave Chicago later on that afternoon.

Found out on the train ride home that our team won the open co-ed team division!!!!, and was definitely very excited as the text messages started to fly. Happy to represent Big River Running, and bring home the gold. My race thoughts were a little bitter-sweet: time was ok (even with the interference), but just never felt that good. Legs had no pep at all, and battled the entire way. My 5K split was 19:32 - should have been 18:55-19:05 range, and didn't really have it. Regardless, a PR is a PR (even though my 5 mile PR is a minute faster, sadly), and the team "W" is more important in the grand scheme of things.

Starting to realize that this continuous back to back to back to back (etc.) racing every week is just beating me up. I'm racing Cherry Blossum this weekend, but throwing all time goals out the window and opting to run more conservatively so I don't completely crap out. I'm running a couple races in April, but may cut back on mileage during the week to save myself a little.

Poopy

is how I feel these days. But I digress, and continue on with a few articles. Haile is out of the Olympics, marathon record, Chris Solinsky, Paula in Athens, Alberto Salazar, Houston learnings, and the 1/2 Marathon State of the Union.

Tuesday, March 20th - 6 miles easy. Happy Spring! Gorgeous day to get in an easy run. Ran out and back on the trails towards Troy. Knee was jamming as usual, but not too much pain. I'm really paranoid about this, and spent a good 30 minutes looking in the mirror to determine if it was swollen or not. All I could figure out is I have odd shaped knees. No time to report, since I didn't have a watch.

Wednesday, March 21st - 4 miles. Track work with Mike, Crystal, and Tim. Warm day, but a bit windy. Got there a little late, and squeezed in a tiny warmup before jumping into the workout which was mile repeats and 200 meter repeats. Purposefully, did only 2 repeats for less stress on my knee so timed Mike and Crystal through their first mile (waaaay too fast). Hit the first mile feeling ok, quick one minute break, then jumped right into the second mile. Felt pretty good for the most part, but definitely sluggish since I hadn't been doing much speedwork. 4x200 meters to follow at mile pace, which definitely was hurting but made it through ok. Tough workout, but was happy. Cooldown nice and slow, then dinner and a couple pints at the Wooden Nickel! Mile splits were: 5:53, 5:53. 200 meter splits were: 35, 37, 36, 34.

So feeling ok and as ready as I'll be for Shamrock this weekend. Put together a group for the Competitive Team Competition for Big River, so looking forward to representing and hopefully placing in the top 3. I should run in the 31's, and should hit in the 30's if I'm feeling good...

St. Pat's Race Recap

NYC half, Michael Wardian continues to win.

Crappy week of running with a bum knee, which started to bother me on Monday during my run. Kept running to a minimum and felt ok for Saturday's race. But not my best showing by any means. Regardless, I owe you a recap, so here we go:

Monday, March 12th - 4.5 miles + drills and strides. Ran group run with Crystal and Matt, then went to DuBurgh for drills and strides. My left knee was feeling weird - felt like my kneecap was jammed, so I was feeling some discomfort. Tried to work it out, and didn't really feel it too much on the way back.

Tuesday, March 13th - 4 miles. I don't remember this. I remember pushing my track work back a day and getting something in, but definitely was less than 6?

Wednesday, March 14th - 3 miles. Wanted to do mile repeats, and waited to the last possible second to get this done. Jogged down to Village Circle and started my workout, but felt the knee thing again. Quit a quarter mile into it, then jogged home. Was pretty bummed.

Thursday, March 15th - 6 miles. Ran solo after work. Knee was bugging me at the beginning but seemed to run it out. No swelling, which is a good sign. Foam roller and stretching galore.

Friday, March 16th - 3 miles. Ran with Megan, Crystal, Pat, and Marc. HOT outside - poop. Not much to say, praying I could hold up for 30+ minutes tomorrow at St. Pat's.

Saturday, March 17th - 7 miles (1 up, ST. PAT'S PARADE RUN (32:07), 1 down). Drove down bright and early to the Big River tent for the annual St. Pat's run, and got set up. A hot day - race morning temps in the 70's, so unideally warmer than usual. Warmed up with Mike, and felt some knee pain and stop and stretched it out which I think it did the trick. Got hooked up with a great corral placement, and lined up with the racing team and did some strides to try to loosen up. Felt pretty good, and was ready to go to work. Started out with Crystal, Sunny, and Coach Tim, and got out pretty quickly. Felt amazing after the first mile, but went out slightly fast and tried to tone it down. However, toned it down too much, and really fell back on the Market street hill which tore me up. Couldn't really recover, and definitely got morally defeated when I saw my 5K split (19:40) which meant I was way off. On the way back down Olive, fell back into a small group and worked with them on the way in. Saw I was going to be close to 32 minutes, so kicked to break 32 minutes. Made a huge mistake of stopping at the first mat at the end (not the finishing mat), and started walking before realizing my huge mistake. Costed me close to 10 seconds, and quite honestly I should have been penalized for running such a bad race. 76th overall (out of 15K) I believe, but just not good. But the positives were my knee felt good, and got in some good hill work for next week. 27.5 miles this week (UGH), 91.5 miles for March, 442.5 miles for March.

Monday, March 19th - 4.5 miles. Group run with everybody. Nice and warm outside, but really a great day to be outside. Crystal and Tim ran with me pretty slow. Ran for 36:54 overall, felt ok. Knee was bothering me early on, but was ok towards the end.

Nice and easy today, then going to the track on Wednesday for some work. Leaving for Chi on Friday afternoon, and looking forward to a great race!

AOH 5K Race Recap

Mo Trafah - USA 15K champ, Lagat wins 3000 meter World Indoors with another devastating kick, and Ed Cheserek runs the New Balance indoor games.

Thursday, March 8th - 5.5 miles. Did a St. Pat's course preview with Pat, Crystal, Craig, John, Mike, and Candace after work. They changed the route again so it actually goes south and weaves around before getting to the wonderful hills of Market. Instead of turning onto Compton then coming back to the city on Olive, we turn on Garrison and weave through that area before coming back into the city. Basically, the course is pretty hilly throughout, more turns than before, but a decent ending which is pretty flat. Nice night to run outside, and had a great time with the group. Watched the Killer C's disappear very quickly from the beginning of the run, and we formed our own "chase pack" and ran it in. Had a delicious burger at Bailey's afterwards - yummy! Ran high 8/low 9 minute pace for the run.

Friday, March 9th - 7.5 miles (A.M. 2.5 miles up, 2x1 mile; P.M. 3 miles). Got out to the track early to a small speed session with Crystal, since I had flaked out on speedwork all week. Legs felt pretty rested and antsy, so figured a mile or 2 hard on the track at 5K pace would be an easy workout to do. Crystal had 5x1 mile repeats, so jumped in on reps 1 and 3 and worked with her before leaving to get ready for work. Felt ok, but was definitely working harder than I would have liked which made me a bit nervous. Wind was a slight factor (10-15 mph winds ugh), but not nearly as bad as the tornado-like conditions we had been experiencing as of late. Crystal was a machine, and was hitting splits pretty evenly which made it easier for me. Since I missed out on a cooldown, did 3 miles easy after work at a pedestrian pace. Hit the first mile in low 8's, then geared back big time to make sure I was jogging. Mile splits were: 5:54, 5:57.

Saturday, March 10th - 4 miles. Absolutely perfect day outside, and got in a small run later in the afternoon before trivia that night. Met with Crystal and ran to run Megan in, who was finishing her 17 miler. Sunny and 60's - just perfect! Talked with Megan about my goals for tomorrow's 5K - felt that I had done some good work, and should be in 18:40's shape, possibly 18:30's. But if I didn't break 19, it would be a huge disappointment. Anything better than last year - one of my most disappointing races ever.

Sunday, March 11th - 8 miles (1 up, AOH 5K 18:39 (6th place overall?), 2 down, 2 p.m.). Time change screwed up my system as the early morning came a bit too early. Sucks when you have to get up, and it's still dark outside! Got changed and headed over to Shiloh, IL for the 13th Annual AOH Top of the Hibernian 5K - one of my favorite races, and a rust buster. Legs felt pretty decent - Mike and I met up and warmed up very quickly before getting settled in the start. Started out decent, and was running into a slight headwind (good for later since we would be running downwind coming in) before settling into pace. Had a group sitting on me, so weaved out to the side and let a few come up front so we could all work together. Talked quickly with Rich Luers (fast local runner) to see what he was trying for today, then got into a small pack with 3 others as we worked up the long hill before the turnaround. One of the guys in our pack had joined us about 3/4 of a mile in, and kept elbowing me, presumably to work into our group. I almost shoved him over - wide road, and he didn't need to be in my lap to run with me. Anyways, first mile split was right where I wanted it to be - Harry Senaldi made a move to get up front, so followed behind him. There was a clock at the turnaround, and my heart sank when I saw 9:31 which meant I was way off pace (found out later that this clock was off). So concentrated on finishing strong, and continued to work with Harry and the kid who kept elbowing me. The downhill and downwind was pure heaven, as we flew back down and I felt pretty good at this point. Made the turn back towards the finish at about the 2.5 mile marker, and talked with Harry to see how he was feeling. He surged a little which I covered, then I surged which he covered, then waited till about a quarter mile out before kicking. Was making some ground on Rich, but too little time to catch him and coasted in for the finish - 6th overall and 2nd in my age group. Cooled down with Pat and Crystal, then went back to hang out with some friends at the post race party. Pretty happy with my time, and definitely had more in the tank which was a good sign. Splits indicated that I probably could have went out harder, but I'll take it. Lunch at some awesome Thai place in Fairview Heights, then home for a monster nap. Small 2 mile jog late at night - delayed till late because of the rain, but nice to get in regardless. 5K watch time was 18:39 (officially 18:30 - not sure that was correct) - splits were: 5:55, 6:13, 5:46. 44 miles this week, 64 miles for March, 415 miles for 2012.

So a solid race to begin my racing season (not counting my debacle at Houston). St. Pat's this week, so trying to strategize what I can do there. Group run tonight, track work tomorrow, then a whole lot of easy running until the race!

Toolen/St. Pats around the corner...

Ryan Hall has plantar fasciitis, Leo Manzano, age group record holder, Ritz racing NYC 1/2 this weekend, crazy store about the DQed marathon winner, YouTube is doing the Olympics, top 10 running cities (mad props to my 2nd home, Chitown!!!), and 193 (yes you read that correctly) guys break 1:06 in the Japan 1/2 marathon!!!

Thursday, March 1st - 8 miles. Ran Forest Park with Candace after work. Legs were poopy, and we picked it up at the end which was fun. Penn Station at lunch did not help much, as my stomach was a mess. Don't know total time, but was 8 min/mile pace.

Friday, March 2nd - 6 miles. Ran solo after work around the trails. Another dreary and windy day. 48:02 total time out.

Saturday, March 3rd - 0! My sister came into town late on Friday night, so stayed up with her for a while to catch up. Slept in, basically ran out of time with Megan's Birthday dinner and festivities. Excuses, I know.

Sunday, March 4th - 6 miles (1 up, 4 mile tempo, 1 down). Eventually peeled myself out of bed to get in a late afternoon run. Started pretty late, but was somewhat nice (breezy and overcast, but 40-50 degrees). Basically ran my tempo on the trail out and back, then a loop of Village Circle. Went out a little fast and tried to maintain, but really struggled at the end to hit pace. Crappy sleep, crappy eating, and crappy drinking contributed to all this. Had all intentions of going out for a few more miles later, but completely crapped out on that. 4 mile tempo - 24:55 (6:09, 6:09, 6:21, 6:15). 41 miles this week (ugh), 20 miles for March, 371 miles for 2012.

Monday, March 5th - 7 miles. Ran out and back on the trail, then 270 loop. Caught Megan for a couple miles in between, but ran the rest solo. WINDY. Don't remember time, but splits were all over the map.

Tuesday, March 6th - 4 miles. 20-30 mph winds equals sucks. No track work for me after last week's Wash U track workout mess. Opted for easy mileage, and the virtual day of rest was nice.

Wednesday, March 7th - 8 miles. Ran with Megan in Forest Park and paced her through this run. Another windy day, but there were a lot of people out and about. Felt ok for the most part, but my right shin was bothering me towards the end of the run. Looped around the park perimeter starting from the Visitor's Center, then tacked on a couple miles towards the end. 1:20:35 overall.

St. Patty's Day preview run with the group tonight, then TBD for Fri and Sat runs. Toolen's Top of the Morning Hibernian Run 5K on Sunday - very excited to shake off some rust and get in hopefully a solid performance!

Spring is inching closer...

Recovery in training, Olympic Trials, Leo Manzano in the US Indoor Championships, Bernard Lagat is ridiculous, Ritz, Tokyo Marathon recap, what is Haile going to do now?, Alan Culpepper, local runner Jackie Pirtle-Hall, Shalane at World's Fastest 10K, and the 2012 State of the Union in Marathoning/1/2 Marathoning.

Friday, February 24th - 0! I don't remember why exactly, but basically ran out of time and had to get up early to volunteer for the Castlewood Cup 15K Trail Race, (far, far away from home).

Saturday, February 25th - 6 miles (4 up, 10 x hills, 1 down). Got to Castlewood State Park bright and early, and got in my workout before volunteering for the race. Ran around the park for a warmup before the hill workouts - absolutely gorgeous day, nice area and I want to go back! Found a pretty nasty, steep hill and did repeats (roughly 20-21 seconds) before jogging back and doing over. Quick cooldown to finish, then met up with everyone else to get ready for the race. We volunteered by the 7.5 mile mark, basically as a course monitor/traffic duty - pretty crowded area with tons of cars coming in and out, but a lot of fun. Glad to give back to the running community, and see a lot of my friends run as well. Congrats to Matty D for the win, and the other 400 runners that competed as well!

Sunday, February 26th - 14 miles. Group run in the morning with Ken (in town), Crystal, Mike, and Pat. WINDY - tried keeping it slow, but the pace quickened and really didn't feel too good with my dead legs. Did out and back towards Home Depot, and it was dead into the wind coming home. Our pace fell to low 7 minute miles before Mike and I decided to slow it down (what happened to the slow, easy long runs?) and Ken and Crystal zoomed off. Ran 10 miles at 1:20:18 (I think), then went home to grab a small bite to eat before going back out and running Megan in from her long run. Caught up to her with roughly 4 miles to go, then ran her in. A solid morning of running, then off to the golf course for 27 holes at Sunset Hills. Shot 82 for my first round of the year, and got hot with the putter on the back nine and additional nine. Maybe need to consult Tiger and give him some tips. 45.5 miles this week, 164.5 miles for February, 330 miles for 2012.

Monday, February 27th - 4 miles + drills + strides. Big River group run with Timmy, Pat, Crystal, and Megan. Ran with Tim, then Crystal and I did drills and strides at DuBourgh. Legs were completely on fire, and felt like garbage.

Tuesday, February 28th - 8 miles. Met up with Cristina after work for a Forest Park loop. Great weather, lots of people outside, nice to have it not be dark at 5 p.m. Felt pretty tired, then went home and did 2 miles slow (270 loop). Nice and slow.

Wednesday, February 29th - 9 miles (2 up, 2 mile tempo, 1 mile tempo, 8x400, 2 down). Met Tim after work at Wash. U track to do some work. Some pretty ridiculous winds all day (25-35 mph winds, I'm guessing), so was going to be very challenging. Reworked my plan so I could do mile repeats with Crystal later this week, so decided to do tempo run instead. Legs were pretty tired, and was not looking forward to this. Haven't been to the Wash U track since 1999 (watched Ken run a college meet there), so was nice to get on the track - beautiful facilities, and an awesome infield with astroturf or whatever the NFL stadiums are using now for indoor stadiums. Wash U's track team was out there working as well, so definitely had to work with the lane situation since those skinny college athletes are faster than the wind. Anyways, my warmup pretty much told me it was going to be a tough day, so got right into the tempo after some stretching. Felt ok after the first mile, but fell apart quickly after - the wind was brutal, and it was literally like running into a wall. I was getting blown into other lanes, and was just hanging on for dear life. Quit after the 2nd mile - was just completely dead. I felt like I had run an 8 mile tempo at 6 minute pace. Took a break, decided to modify the workout and run 1 mile really fast, then 1 mile at pace. Well, fought and clawed my way towards 1 more mile, before deciding I couldn't really do too much more - just getting destroyed out there by Mother Nature and her winds of fury, so then jumped into Tim's 400 meter repeat workout. Legs were dead at this point, and made it a point to try to run at 5K pace which was tough. Had problems pacing because of the wind, but hit solid splits. 2 mile cooldown to end it - was exhausted. Went down to the Loop for dinner and a brew at a place called Market Pub House - pretty much a college sports bar, but great prices and good beer. Trivia was going on, so got sucked into that and ended up winning a couple rounds - fun times. 2 mile tempo time was: 12:17 (6:07, 6:10). Mile tempo was: 5:52 (I think Garmin may have been short though, beeped earlier than I thought, but I was running in lane 4 and 5 so maybe it was right). 400 meter splits were: 1:28, 1:28, 1:27, 1:29, 1:28, 1:30, 1:27, 1:18 (let the last 200 meter loose!). 185.5 miles for February, 351 miles for 2012.

So definitely starting to feel some fatigue from this last month of workouts. But it all ends soon as I race the next 4 weekends, so only 1 workout early in the week and easy mileage elsewise. Mile repeats sometime this weekend, then hope to get in 1 more tempo next week before Toolen's 5K next Sunday!