In the zone

Secret of running - don't do it!!!, juggling the marathon, Lance's marathon times may be erased (sigh), Mo may double in 2016 - 10K and marathon, world marathon record holder Patrick Makau running in Frankfurt this weekend, Lolo named to U.S. bobsledding team, Alan Webb, and Meb.

Wednesday, October 17th - 7 miles.  I don't remember this at all, quite honestly.

Thursday, October 18th - 7 miles (2 up, 3 mile tempo, 2 down).  Long day, as I had a road trip to Champaign, IL and Goose's wedding rehearsal.  So I literally had a 1 hour turnaround before having to head out again, which meant I needed to blaze through my tempo.  So got out for a quick warmup on an overcast afternoon with some wind.  Ran to Village Circle, then did a little on the trail before dynamic stretches.  Goal was fast but controlled, but had a lot of problems locking in as I flew through the first mile way too fast.  Successfully slowed down a bit on the 2nd, then was hanging out for dear life on the last mile.  Felt like race pace, and shouldn't have been that hard.  Some factors that didn't help were fatigue, lack of sleep, and being in a car for 6 hours and on my feet all morning.

Friday, October 19th - 8 miles.  Early with Crystal.  Both of us were tired, and went out slow on Old Faithful out and back.  She had a stomach bug on top of it, but I wasn't complaining about the slower pace.  I don't remember the exact time, but was high 8's/low 9's pace.  Started to rain at the end - lovely fall weather.  Goose's wedding at night - awesome times with some great friends!

Saturday, October 20th - 6 miles?  I am completely drawing a blank here.  I'm going to assume I did 6 miles at least (8 scheduled), but I really have no clue.  I hate getting old.

Sunday, October 21st - 12 miles late at night.  Went down to spectate Rock n Roll STL Marathon with Pat and Crystal.  Pretty chilly in the morning, but got pretty warm at the end.  Nice day to run, but I was glad not to be running given my bad experience last year.  Excited to see a lot of friends out there, and a big shoutout to Luke on his half PR (1:18), and Joe on his full marathon PR and 4th place overall finish! (2:44).  Rams/Packers game afterwards, then a huge nap.  Eventually started my long run at 9:45 p.m., and ran my 6 mile town loop twice.  I was a mess, and totally exhausted.  Probably 9 minute pace or so, but I was literally in a daze while running.  55 miles this week, 138 miles in October, 1455 in 2012.  Still slightly off pace for 2000, but another 50 mile week so making ground.

Monday, October 22nd - 7 miles.  Big River Group Run in South City.  Ran with Robbie and a couple other new guys, who I had the pleasure of showing the 7 mile route.  Legs were beat from last week, and wanted to go slower but ended up picking up the pace at some point.  Good company and conversation tends to do that.  53 minutes or so, 7:42 average pace.

Tuesday, October 23rd - 7 miles (2 up, 4 x 1 mile, 1 down).  SLU trackwork with Crystal and Coach Tim. Warmed up slow, dynamic stretching, then workout of mile repeats with 1 minute break in between reps.  Goal was 6:15-6:20, since I had issues with the 3 mile tempo last week.  Crystal had 7 repeats at 6:05 pace, so ran behind her early on.  Well, it's a lot more difficult to fall back a second here and there, and ended up going through the first two reps almost exactly with her.  Took about 30 extra seconds on the 3rd rep to get some more space, and intentionally slowed it down a bit.  Last rep, accidentally stepped on the railing on the inner lane, and slightly twisted my ankle (no injury).  Hit 1:38 on the quarter, and pretty much had to work hard on the last 3 laps to hit the split.  Cool down and stretching post workout.  Overall very pleased - effort was moderately hard, but could still maintain form ok.  The feeling of the pace feels fine - just need to build strength now.  Splits were: 6:07, 6:09, 6:17, 6:09.

Wednesday, October 24th - 8 miles.  Ran late solo around Glen Carbon.  Stomach was a mess, and actually found a port-a-potty on the side of the road I could use, with avoided an inevitable evil accident.  Legs were pretty fatigued, and maintained a good 8:30ish pace throughout.  Last few days have been in the low to mid 80's - not very happy about this recently humidity and ran shirtless while sweating like a pig the entire way - isn't late October supposed to be cold??

Thursday, October 25th - 4 miles.  Ran with Pat and Crystal after work on the trails and a neighborhood loop.  Storm was rapidly approaching, and got talked into getting outside since the weather looked just ominous and most likely unrunnable with all the incoming rain.  Did out and back on the trail, then started to rain the last half mile or so.  Talked Pat into doing another 1 mile loop around the neighborhood, then literally got pelted by heavy and heavier rain every step of the way.  Was soaking wet by the time we were done, which isn't ideal.  Not to mention it literally dropped 30 degrees in temperature within an hour in the late afternoon/early evening.  8:30-8:45 pace overall.

Friday, October 26th - 7 miles.  2 up, 4 x 30 seconds, 8 x 1 minute hard, 1 down.  Early morning run with Crystal.  41 degrees at start (felt like low 30's according to weather.com), and we warmed up on the roads before heading back to hit the fartlek in her neighborhood since it was still dark outside.  Windy, but tolerable, and we aimed for 5:45ish pace.  Hammered the workout - felt pretty easy starting out, but definitely was working the last few reps.  Slow cooldown to finish it out.  Pace was 5:30-5:50 with a few low 6's (into the wind, we think), and a quick 5:15er to end the workout.

Weather looks tremendous for the next week - highs of 50's, and cool.  Long run in Forest Park tomorrow, then whatever mileage at home to round out another 50ish mile week!