Deer suck

Welcome back Lukas, soups, the end of Paula Radcliffe?, London Games learnings, award winning commercial, best running tips, Haile running marathon this weekend, Jeffrey Eggleston, and Kelly Calway.

Thank you Bambi

So I was a little behind on updates, but for good reason - on my way home on Monday night, my car met a deer which jumped directly into my path on Glen Carbon Road by the post office.  No one was hurt (yes the deer survived and scampered off), and this accident was the best case scenario accident I could ask for considering I hit a deer, but my car is a mess and now I don't have one until it gets fixed.  When I called Enterprise, they were completely out of rentals (holiday week), so I am trying to make due sans car.  Was a complete pain in the @ss to deal with insurance/police/auto body shop/rental car/etc., and the $1000 deductible isn't much of a consolation either.  Anyways, enough with my rant - please be careful driving at night, and deer suck.

Monday, November 19th - 8 miles (3 up, 4x400, 3x800, 2x400, 2 down).  Weird workout, I know.  Met up at SLU track with Crystal, John, and Colby, and worked with almost everybody at some point to get in this tiring workout.  Another perfect night to be outside.  Forgot watch so ended up using my Iphone as my watch.  Started out with 400's, but couldn't run a slow pace for the life of me (not to mention tired of holding a damn phone) so worked with John for a few 800 reps.  Did a 400 with Colby, then one solo to finish out the workout.  Legs were pretty tired by the end of the workout - hard to change up the distances like that.  400 splits were: 1:22, 1:20, 1:21, 1:18, 1:15, 1:17? (no watch).  800 splits were: 2:55, 2:53, 2:51.

Tuesday, November 20th - 8 miles solo.  Glen Carbon run around town, and looped all around trying to keep an easy pace.  Stomach was in knots towards the end, and Culvers ended up saving the day for me (TMI, I'm sure).  I don't know what my deal is, but I need to regulate what the heck I eat before runs - worst feeling in the world when your stomach is about to explode, and you're miles away from home.  8:15ish average pace.

Wednesday, November 21st - 6 miles.  1 up to Crystal's, 4 miles with her, 1 down back home.  Nice and easy on the trail was the plan, but we (meaning Crystal and I was forced to follow) picked it up and it was painful.  Still feeling the remnants of Monday's workout, methinks.  7:45ish average sounds about right, but I know we dropped it pretty hard the last couple miles.

Thursday, November 22nd - 8 miles.  4 miles in Peoria, 4 miles at night at home.  Happy Thanksgiving!  Great to be home, albeit for one day, but got in a late morning run solo.  Eventually made it home, then hammered out an easy 4 miler late at night, but the 8 miles weren't enough to offset the damage from the day (thousands of calories from turkey, ham, stuffing, cornbread, you get the picture).  4 miles in Peoria was 31:34 (8:03, 8:17, 7:57, 7:17), 4 miles at home were slow.

Friday, November 23rd - 6.5 miles.  Glen Carbon loop on a cold, windy night.  Did 270 loop, then ran through Edwardsville and looped back.  Wasn't feeling the best, and had crapped out on hills this week, so felt somewhat motivated to push it towards the end after I saw I was dropping pace pretty quickly after the first few miles.  Picked up the pace pretty good, and ended up doing a fat negative split on this run where I dropped almost 20 seconds per mile.  Was definitely working pretty hard at the end and although the splits weren't great, the effort was there so I'll take it for an impromptu fast finish.  Slow jog/cooldown home to finish it out.  6 mile splits were: 8:04, 7:40, 7:16, 6:54, 6:39, 6:22.

At night, ended up doing some massive cleaning around my place and hung up all my running posters and plaques.  I had bought a running medal and bib holder earlier this year, so decided to finally hang them up since my lamp (previously holding the medals) was starting to bend over from the sheer weight of 7 years worth of medals.  So here is the end result - pretty cool looking might I add.  For the bibs, I have saved almost every race I have ever done, so ended up separating by year and tying to a loop, then hanging by hook.  Picture to come.  Pretty awesome to look back at the races I have done and what I've accomplished - it's been a long ride, but I definitely appreciate everything that has happened and don't regret 1 single step!

Saturday, November 24th - 8 miles.  Troy route on the trail.  Felt poopish, but forced myself outdoors for the workout.  Meant to keep it nice and slow, but failed in that endeavor.  Didn't feel like I was going very fast, but the pace was good.  On the last mile, realized I was flying so kicked the last minute to try to break 7 minutes for fun (on the last mile).  Sunny outside, and deceptively warmer than I thought despite the winds.  1:01 and change total (~7:30ish pace).

Sunday, November 25th - 12 miles.  Waited till the last possible second to do this death run late at night.  Procrastination wins, but I still managed this run around town.  On top of it all, Megan made rice krispie treats which is my kryptonite.  So after eating half the pan, I made myself hit this long run as punishment.  I am absolutely disgusted with myself.  No idea on pace, was slow.  56.5 miles this week, 184.5 miles in November, 1716.5 miles in 2012.  Very nice week, but the eating was completely out of control and offset everything!!!

Monday, November 26th - ~5.5 miles.  2 solo before group run, then 3ish miles with Crystal plus a few drills.  Nothing special to report - pretty standard run.  Pretty damn cold outside.  Low 8 minute pace average, although we threw a 7:40 in the middle.

Tuesday, November 27th - ~4.5 miles.  Lucky I even got this in, quite honestly.  GO! St. Louis Happy Hour in conjunction with Movember (growing moustaches for prostate cancer awareness).  Crashed at Tim's place afterwards because of my damn car situation, and ended up getting a late run around South City.  I am not a big fan of running around that area late at night because of the crappy uneven sidewalks, but was able to run the streets without any issues since it was late.  Nice run, nothing crazy to report.  Averaged right at 8 minute miles while dropping pace hard every mile (8:39, 8:19, 7:45, 7:19), and added on a little extra because of a wrong turn.  Cold outside, but virtually no wind which makes it sooo much better.  Hill work moved to later in the week.

We're sexy and we know it

Thanksgiving Week/Much needed catchup

Ritz, NCAA XC Champs.

Wow it's been awhile since I've updated this.  Took a couple days to remember what I have been doing but since I have slacked off on my updates, I tried to be more detailed with this blog update.

Saturday, October 27th - 13 miles - group run, park to park with a big group.  Started at Forest Park Visitor's Center, then looped over to Tower Grove Park and back.  Fun with the group, but lots of confusion on the actual route.  Ended up doing an additional 2-3 with Crystal to get in the mileage.  Lots of turns, lots of hills, not my favorite run especially with tired legs. 1:44:37 overall, 8:02/mile pace for the run.  Halloween party at Sherry and Steve's later!

Sunday, October 28th - 8 miles.  I don't remember this run.  I am pretty sure I ran with Crystal, and this is what was on my schedule.  54 miles this week, 192 miles in October, 1509 miles for 2012.  Another solid week and headed towards 200+ in October.  Been a while since I had 200 miles in a month.

Monday, October 29th - 7 miles - 53-54 minutes.   I vaguely remember this.  Group run fun, and last Monday night run before the time change.  Escorted a couple newbies on the run, and ran with Robbie as well.  Picked up the pace later on the run, and we went faster than I wanted to but made it through ok.  Got to meet the New Balance guys (in town for meetings with Big River) at dinner at the Mack - great guys, and enjoyed some stimulating running conversation with some decorated runners.



Tuesday, October 30th - 8 miles.  I don't remember this, but have written down 8.  This is what happens in my old age, and not updating my blog on a timely manner.

Wednesday, October 31st - Happy Halloween!  8 miles (2 up, 4 mile tempo, 4 down).  Workout at SLU, and did warm up with Crystal before she engaged in her last workout before her assault on Indy.  Plan was to go a little faster than half marathon pace.  4 mile tempo was tough - never felt that great, and was fighting the entire way after the 2nd mile.  Crystal commented my form looked weird on the third mile, which was where I distinctly remember struggling.  But made it through all 4 miles relatively unscathed.  Effort felt like too much, but I need to stop complaining because I did ultimately hit the workout.  Splits were: 6:22, 6:21, 6:23, 6:18.  215 miles in October, 1532 miles in 2012.  Boom

Thursday, November 1st - 8 miles.  4 a.m. with Crystal, then 4 with Megan when we got to Chicago on Lakeshore.  Awesome day to be outside in both home and Chi, and the highlight was hitting a fast mile after Megan got mad when a girl cut us off getting onto the trail.  Funny how little things that can set you off will push you to new boundaries.  Wedding weekend begins with some good mileage.  Dinner with Dad and Ben at a Korean restaurant in Wicker Park.  Awesome to watch my Dad try to get Ben drunk on soju (Korean liquor).  Initiation to the Kim family, I suppose.

Friday, November 2nd - 15.5 miles.  5 solo, then 10.5 with Megan.  Lakeshore running - my favorite!  Woke up early and headed out to get in some good mileage.  Did 5 miles going north on the trail, and felt like complete crap and struggled the last few miles.  8:15 pace shouldn't feel that bad, but maybe just getting tired from all the mileage over the last few weeks.  Met up with Megan near the zoo, then headed South on the trail (into the city through Navy Pier) and made our way to Shedd Aquarium before turning around.  I had never made it that far south on the trail before, and was cool to be in a very scenic area where I have driven by many times.  Anyways, was really windy on most of the route, but made it through ok despite some very tired legs.  Fun times, and the scenary was amazing.  Rehearsal and dinner at Cafe Babareeba, which was very, very filling.  Late night at Aaron's (groomsman) place in Buctown, but I felt I earned it after the morning workout.

Megan on Lakeshore

Spoils of war at Orange!

Saturday, November 3rd - 0!  Anne's wedding day, and could not for the life of me make it up to get the run in.  But with the heavy mileage the day before, didn't feel too bad.  Woke up and ran to the phone to catch the Indy results - AMAZING with Crystal and Ken PRing, and the rest of the group had some great results as well.  But Crystal hitting 1:18 and Ken hitting 1:20 for the half - just mind-blowing, and started this special day with a big smile on my face.  Anyways, the wedding day was truly magical, and my sister was a beautiful bride regardless of what I typically say of her.  Lots of details, but too much to put into this post.  Below are some pictures from Saturday - it was truly a perfect day!

Sunday, November 4th - 8 miles.  Did this sucker LATE after we got home from Chicago.  Spent the majority of the morning/afternoon helping the cleanup/transfer of crap from my sister's hotel suite back to her place.  Was exhausted and could barely feel my body as I was running.  No idea of time, but ran around town nice and slow.  54.5 miles this week,  31.5 miles in November, 1563.5 miles in 2012.  Pretty awesome considering I laid a big goose egg on Saturday.  

Monday, November 5th - 7 miles group run.  I don't remember this, but I'm pretty sure I did group run?

Tuesday, November 6th - 6 miles - Big River Neon Night at West County/Queeny Park.  Brooks Running brought some of their people to the store to try on some night life apparel, so tried one of their blinky hats which is really cool.  I actually own an older model of this Brooks hat, but my big complaint is you need to press the light as hard as possible to get the light to blink.  This one is a little more sensitive and easier to trigger, and you can change the light to blink or just stay continuously on.  Anyways, I ran with Tim and did a loop at Queeny Park with the rest of the runners.  Really difficult to see since it was so dark, but they had glow sticks on the ground for direction for the runners.  Got really frustrating when we ran in the woods and couldn't see anything through the woods, and I'm pretty sure we made a few wrong turns which added to our overall mileage.  But made it through with no injury, and had a great time overall.  No idea of time, but went pretty slow and easy because of the conditions.

Tim, Kyle, me, and Kim at Big River Neon Night

Wednesday, November 7th - 7 miles with Brad.  Out on the trail, then looped through town and onto Old Faithful - completely different route than I had done before, and tricky in the dark with the crappy footing.  I need to find some basic roads to run on again instead of these awful awful crap trail conditions.  7:30 pace overall, picked it up substantially at the end.  

Thursday, November 8th - 6 miles.  Really quick loop after work around town.  Not much to say - legs felt like crap.  All this mileage is starting to catch up to my old legs.  51:23 total, I believe.

Friday, November 9th - 6 miles.  I don't remember this day at all, so going by what was on my plan.  Old age strikes again.

Saturday, November 10th - 11 miles (2 up, 3 x 1000 meters, 2 x 400, 1 down).  Crystal belated birthday run with Pat, Crystal, Mike, and Joe.  Got up to 70 degrees - pretty crazy that I was running shirtless in mid November.  Joe and I hit the track for some work early - did 1000 meter repeats, and it was rough because of the 18 mph winds.  Got in 3 repeats before throwing in the towel, then finished it off with some 400's for turnover.  Got to Pat and Crystals - out and back on Old Faithful.  Nice, easy run at about 8:20 pace with the group (well Mike, Pat, and I).  Afterwards, hit Global Brew for some celebratory beverages!

Sunday, November 11th - 0!  Crapped out on the chance to go early, then it literally rained all afternoon and night.  Legs are completely dead.  The break was much needed, and my quest for 2000 miles is pretty much done, especially if I am building up for a race.  Curses to my procrastination, but what can you do?  43 miles for the week,  74.5 miles in November, 1606.5 miles in 2012.

Monday, November 12th - 6.5 miles.  Big River Monday night run with Crystal.  Improvised long loop, then headed to DuBourgh for drills and strides.  Pretty standard, but felt good with the day break.  Stopped by Three Monkeys for dinner and some delicious pizza!

Tuesday, November 13th - 6 miles (2 up, 10 x hills, 1 down).  Forest Park run/workout with Joe.  Decided to try the dreaded Art Hill workout that he has been raving about, so parked at Turtle Park and warmed up around the park before heading to the Art Museum.  Anyways, this beastly mountain (see picture below) is about 250-300 meters long, and long and steep.  No break in between reps, other than jogging down which isn't easy because of the slope (and at night) - just one long continuous run/jog until it was done.  Decided to go slower to get a good idea on how bad these hills were - very intimidating, standing at the bottom and surveying the long, steep hill.  Within 3 repeats, I was wondering if I could even get through 5 of these completed.  Gutted through 8 repeats, before taking a quick breather, then hammered home 2 more to finish the workout.  I went probably a little faster than marathon pace - it would have been impossible to do any faster.  Tough, tough, tough workout but I will do again.  Quads were on fire!  Cooldown to my car, then home for some stretching.

Mount Doom

Wednesday, November 14th - 6 miles.  A.M. run with Crystal on the trails.  Cold, and my legs were still destroyed from the hill workouts.  Out and back on Old Faithful, but went by pretty fast due to good company and good conversation.  49:40, I think?  Later that morning, got some great news that Mike and Melissa had their baby over night, so went to the hospital to go see their new one.  Welcome to the world, Ruby Claire!

Ruby Claire

Mike's daughters

Thursday, November 15th - 8 miles (2 up, 2 x 2 miles tempo, 2 down).  BREAKTHROUGH WORKOUT!!!  Had been grovelling for the lack of results from my 6 weeks of hard work, so wasn't expecting much from this.  Weather was absolutely perfect - 40's and still air, so headed out to the SLU track (mainly because I couldn't find anyone to run with in Forest Park).  Warmed up then got at it.  Really focused on form and being relaxed, and trying to get into that zen state of mind where I was focused on running and being relaxed instead of pain and how much I hate running at a fast pace.  After locking into pace, I knew this was going to be a good workout.  Literally was hitting 200 meter splits within a second of each other, and was in my zone.  Last rep - locked in again, then let it fly the last half mile.  Just a lot of fun when you're hitting a tough workout, and it feels so easy.  Cooldown with Crystal, then long stretching.  Very pleased with this workout - hopefully this is where things start to click for me as I ramp up the longer tempos.  Splits were: 12:31 (6:16, 6:15), 12:11 (6:13, 5:58).

Friday, November 16th - 6 miles.  Bright and early with Crystal on the trails.  Old Faithful out and back.  Legs were tired, but got moving ok because of the cold air.  Standard run, but good pace.  Faster than I thought we were going, but the effort harder than "easy".  Mainly because my legs were tired from the workout last night, but pleased with the pace.  46:52 total, ~7:48 pace.

Saturday, November 17th - 13 miles (~9.5 a.m., ~3.5 p.m.).  Early morning run with Crystal and Colby on the trails of Glen Carbon.  Old Faithful out and back - plan was 70 minutes easy, but I knew that "easy" would not necessarily be easy.  Colby had just gotten in a track workout before our run, so we all agreed on 8 minute pace but after an opening 7:40, it was looking like a faster run.  Legs were tired, but we got through it ok.  Negative split, and definitely went through the last couple miles pretty quick.  Should have finished the rest of mileage immediately afterwards, but was just exhausted and literally went home to nap for a few hours.  Eventually scraped myself out of my bed and got in a loop around Glen Carbon to finish out the day's mileage.  Morning pace was 7:32/mile, evening pace was 8:20's average, I believe.

Sunday, November 18th - 8 miles.  Wasted the day sleeping in until uber late, then football.  Eventually snapped out of my funk, and did a town loop for 7 miles.  I had an hour before we headed out for dinner plans, so couldn't fart around too much.  Got home and did a quick mile jog to finish out a strong week.  8:07 pace overall - beautiful night to run.  53.5 miles this week, 128 miles this week, 1660 miles in 2012 - good mileage, great workouts.  Very pleased.

Happy with the way my running is going.  Hoping Thanksgiving doesn't completely throw me off track, and  I can hang on for another solid week.  Changing plans around to do trackwork tonight, then easy mileage for the next few days.