Merry Christmas!

Top 2012 running stories, Delilah, and NYC race vs. subway!

Monday, December 17th - 5 miles.  Big River Christmas Lights Run!  Crazy amount of people there, so Tim and I took a different path and looped around the neighborhoods backwards before rejoining the pack.  Awesome to see 1000+ people out there, but the run is almost too big at this point with the crowds.  The lights looked amazing, and the families/homes outdid themselves this year.  9-10 minute pace - pretty slow.

Tuesday, December 18th - 9 miles.  I don't remember this very well, but it's in my phone at 7:58/mile pace.

Wednesday, December 19th - 9 miles.  Slow

Thursday, December 20th - 9 miles.  Slow

Friday, December 21st - 10 miles.  Happy Day off to me!  Ran out

Saturday, December 22nd - 12 miles (8 a.m., 4 p.m.).  Late morning run with Megan - out and back on the trails towards Troy.  Sunny and a bit windy, but nice to get out before our trek up north to see the family for Christmas.  Nice and easy pace (~9:55/mile), but we picked it up at the end.  Tacked on 2 extra to call it a morning before we took off.  P.M. - ran solo in Peoria neighborhood loop.  They got some snow the day before, so the sidewalks were covered in snow/ice so was a little tricky at a few spots.  Nice and easy pace, but the hills still suck.

Sunday, December 23rd - 4 miles.  Made Megan run my neighborhood loop at my parent's house - nice and snowy trails, but we were trying out her new Xmas present from me.  My quick viewpoints on the new watch is it's very small (good), and insanely fast to get a GPS signal.  The pacing doesn't jump around much at all (my Garmin can show paces anywhere from 5:10/mile to 10:10/mile when I'm doing 7:30's) and is very consistent.  The only bad thing is you can only display 2 things on the screen so between time/pace/distance, one of those aren't shown on the main screen (you can scroll on the next screen, but still a little inconvenient).  Cool watch though, and a good buy given the price.  Run was fine though - 10:10 average pace.  Didn't make it out the door again due to just fatigue and Christmas dinner, but didn't beat myself up too much over this.  We celebrated Christmas on this day, and was great to spend some quality time with my family.  58 miles this week, 185 miles in December, 1925.5 miles in 2012.  Legs are definitely getting abused with this high mileage, but the slower recovery pace on some of these runs are helping a ton.  Last week!

Monday, December 24th - 9.5 miles.  Got home from Peoria and literally forced myself to get out the door for a run.  Ran on the trails towards Troy, and headed back around town as well.  Legs were just jacked up, and my knees felt all of 33 years old.  S-L-O-W!!!

Tuesday, December 25th - 14 miles (8 a.m., 6 p.m.).  Merry Christmas!  Woke up later morning, and opened some presents and headed out for an a.m. run.  Ran loops on the roads by the track, and ran some circles on the track as well.  No idea of pace, but pretty slow.  P.M. - before dinner, headed out and did a loop around town - 270 loop and Glen Carbon.  Made myself get in a few extra miles to take advantage of the few days I have off, since it will only get harder on Thur/Fri when I work.  Legs were pretty beat up, and the last mile (fastest) was around 8:50.  Love it!

Wednesday, December 26th - 12 miles (8 miles early p.m., 4 miles evening).  Old Faithful with Crystal on a cold, winter day.  Legs felt poopish as usual, but went sans Garmin and prayed that Crystal wouldn't kill me. We got locked into a good pace, and finished with no problems albeit I was getting pretty tired at the end.  P.M. - passed out on the couch post run after eating a ton of leftovers, and woke up with about 50 minutes to run and get ready for dinner over in Webster.  Well, jumped back out into the cold night for 4 easy (270 loop plus neighborhood loop), then headed out to Milagro for a nice Mexican dinner.  Good drinks and decent food - may be back there sometime soon.  Early run was 1:01:35 (7:41/mile average pace), later run was 33 minutes and some change (8:17/mile pace).  On a less pleasant note, I weighed myself on Megan's new scale and was horrified to see 183 lbs.  So I have gained 5 lbs this last week or so, when I have been running almost 60 miles/week.  Not good.

4 more days to go.  39 miles.  This is starting to look like it may be possible.  I am going to take a big break when this is done.

Pere Marquette/Dash 4 Dan 5K Recap

Ryan Hall and his new coach, and weird running stuff/gifts that work.

Saturday, December 8th - 12 miles.  Met up early in the morning at Fast Eddie's with Craig, Dickson, and Justin, and headed out to the Pere Marquette lodge for the 24th Pere Marquette Trail Race.  First one ever for me, and had talked with a few friends of the craziness that I was about to endure.  It had rained the night before, so the trail was nice and muddy.  Justin and I were in the same wave/corral, so decided to start together.  Started roughly 6 minutes after the first group went off, so began through an easy path before we hit our first climb.  And was it a doozy!  Within 5 minutes, I was already looking at my watch and wondering when this torture would be done - the footing was uneven, stones everywhere, and the hills were unlike anything I had ever seen before - long and ridiculously steep.  Ran for what seemed like an eternity, and we hit the first mile marker.  Lovely - only 6.5 more crazy miles to go.  Separated from Justin, because the pace was already getting challenging for me with the hills, so geared back substantially and went into pure survivor mode.  Hit the second mile, and actually wondered if I was going to be able to finish this race.  The next couple miles were a bit better effort-wise (not as hilly) but even though I was intentionally going easy, it's a bit humbling to hit 42 minutes for your 4th mile split.  We had made almost the highest accent somewhere at this point, and was cool to see the scenary from the top of the bluff - amazing, but unfortunately didn't have much time to enjoy the view with this race going on.  Anyways, Justin has distanced himself quite a bit through the first couple miles, but I made up a lot of the ground back and caught up with him and passed him a little later on.  The middle/end part of the race is hilly, but not as painful as the start, and I was feeling pretty good so picked up the pace.  The downhills were rough, as it felt like I was hydroplaning since I had virtually zero grip on the surface.  My feet were killing me towards the end from the uneven surface and the pitter-patter steps I had to take going down hills, but survived.  After one more treacherous climb on some stone steps, it was off to races for me and basically flew through the rest of the course and finished with a blaze of glory.  Fun, fun times, but exhausting.  Awards afterwards, Fast Eddie's for lunch, then 4 slow cooldown miles at home.  Not sure if I ever want to do this race again, but it was quite the experience.  I felt like Frodo climbing Mount Doom - a little dramatic I know, but I'm not that far off.  But cross this off the bucket list!  Trail race time was 1:11:27 (9:32 pace), cooldown was sloooooww.

We went up and down these evil steps

Wonderful climb

FML

Torture

Pain

Climbing Mount Doom

Sunday, December 9th - 0!  Legs were exhausted, and I felt like poo-poo.  Opted for an entire day of couch potatoing and watching football.  Tough day, I know, but the rest day was well-deserved.  45 miles this week (crap), 65 miles in December, 1805.5 miles for 2012.  Making 2000 miles this year REALLY tough for myself :(

Monday, December 10th - 9 miles.  2 miles up with Robbie, 7 miles with group at Big River.  Nice, chilly evening to do group run.  Wanted to get a little extra in, so jogged a couple early around the neighborhood before jumping into the actual 7 mile loop.  Ran with John, David, and Heidi and not surprisingly picked up the pace substantially before Robbie basically told me to slow down.  So ran it in easy - much more smart to do so.  7:40's average pace.

Tuesday, December 11th - 6 miles.  Did solo at night, I don't remember this very well but it was slow.  Loop around town - nothing special here.

Wednesday, December 12th - 12 miles (6 miles a.m., 6 miles p.m.).  Happy 12-12-12!  Decided to do 12 miles in honor, so did early out and back on trail (Home Depot), then late night loop around town.  8:15 average pace in the a.m., and I honestly don't remember the p.m. pace at all.

Thursday, December 13th - 6 miles.  Another run I don't remember very well, but did at night.  I don't remember time at all.  I do remember being very aggravated that I missed speedwork due to laziness/procrastination.  My discipline is complete crap right now.

Friday, December 14th - 9 miles.  A much deserved day off work, so got in a nice run in the late morning/early afternoon after a couple hours of errands/cleaning.  6 miles early - out and back towards Troy on the trail, Village Circle loop, then a mile around the neighborhood.  Typical negative split for me, but oh well - it's my speedwork right now.  Played 9 holes of golf, then 3 slow miles later on.  Felt pretty good on my run, and cruised through it even though it was getting warmer.  I can't believe how warm our December has been - 60 degrees, and sunny!  Splits for the earlier part of the run were: 7:38, 7:29, 7:25, 7:06, 6:41, 6:29.  Pushed the last couple miles, but made it through.

Saturday, December 15th - 8 miles.  Broke this sucker up into two runs as well - 6 miles early (out and back towards Troy on the trail) at low 8 minute pace, then 2 miles right before dinner (7:57, 7:51).  Felt really good, but definitely some fatigue at the end of this long week.  Nice dinner with Pat and Crystal at Cleveland Heath, then a wii night at their place - just what the doctor ordered!

Sunday, December 16th - 12 miles (3 up, DASH 4 DAN 5K (10th place - 18:52), 3 down, 3 miles p.m.).  Benefit for a local runner in Megan's parent's town (Bethalto) so we signed up to run for fun.  Sunday afternoon races are definitely not in the norm for me, especially a warmer mid December day.  Was pleasantly surprised to see a crapton of people (kudos to Missouri Running Company for making this event very big - 500+ runners!), so got parked and headed out for a warm up.  Intended on 20 minutes easy, but saw arrows for the course markings, so ran the course to get a lay of the land.  Stretched a bit, then lined up at the start.  No GPS for me today - just my trusty Timex, and going purely by feel instead of psyching myself out with time.  No real time goals, but would have been happy with anything sub 19 minutes.  Right away, I saw that the pace car was going to be an issue (literally 20 feet from us), so had to twist my way to get around everything.  Went out with a group of 10-15 runners, but it quickly got strung out so was working with a younger high school runner for the majority of the race.  Felt ok, but knew we were going pretty fast on the first mile.  Tried to get settled in, and into a rhythm, and successfully so.  Tried to pick off the high schooler, but he outkicked me.  In hindsight, he was slowing down the last quarter to half mile, and I should have pushed then but just couldn't will myself to do so.  Frustrating that I know I left some out there, but pretty happy with the time especially considering I was at the end of my highest mileage week of the year.  I finished 10th overall (damn young-ins) but won my age group.  Bling is always cool to win.  Jogged the course backwards for cooldown, then 3 easy at home.  Legs were pooped!  Total time: 18:52 (5:46, 6:11, 6:10).  62 miles for the week, 127 miles for December, 1867.5 miles in 2012.  Very, very pleased with this week.

Alton Telegraph Cover!

Franklin playing with his new toy

1st 30-39 Men

Post race

Ryan Hall gets a new coach!

Ryan Hall gets a new coach!

About damn time.  Hall will undoubtedly benefit from one of the better coaches out there.  Excited to see what next year brings from him.  Canova coaches some pretty high Kenyans such as World Champion Abel Kirui and Chicago Marathon Champion Moses Mosop.  He has written a few articles for Running Times that detail his training philosophies - very aggressive stuff, and he pushes the hell out of his athletes.  Like I said, can't wait to see what happens in the next couple years.

Thursday, December 7th - 6 miles.  Met up with Crystal, Colby, Joe, and Justin at the Forest Park Visitor's Center for a FP loop.  Started out with the group, but wisely backed off after 2 miles - was already waaaay under pace and with this Saturday trail race coming up, didn't need to run an impromptu tempo.  Goal pace was 8-8:30, but a couple 7:20's and Justin and I broke off and ran easy the rest of the way.  Ended up hitting 7:44 average, so a little faster than I would have liked but still felt pretty good.

Friday, December 8th - 4 miles.  6 a.m. run with Crystal on the trails.  Out and back towards Home Depot, and it was pretty foggy and dark outside.  Leisurely pace, but my legs were definitely feeling the tough week.  Over dressed for this one, and was sweating pretty hard at the end.  8:40ish pace overall.

Looking forward to tomorrow's race, although all the blogs and pictures I have seen today have scared the bejesus out of me.  But the weather looks good, and running with a few friends so will enjoy it.  Because of the narrow path through Pere Marquette and the amount of people running (capped at 625), we will be going off in waves.  I looked up the wave starts/times, and saw I am starting 6 minutes back which puts me right in the middle.  The aggravating part is I am starting behind the Clydesdales (200+ lb. runners), which is very irritating and pretty much eliminates any decent chance of competing.  Not that I was running this race all out, but maybe if I felt good I would really push it.  Regardless, enough about my complaining, but plan on thoroughly enjoying my experience and getting a great hill workout while I'm at it.  Happy Friday!

Happy December!

Olympic Trails standards changed, NYC resolution - not anywhere in sight, impactful situps, Tera Moody, Lagat going for 2 Mile record.

Wednesday, November 28th - 8 miles - I don't remember this very well, but I know I did the mileage sometime in the evening around town.

Thursday, November 29th - 6 miles - late night once again.  My old 270/Glen Carbon loop.  Nice and slow.  Felt fat after eating candy all day.  I hate the holidays.

Friday, November 30th - 0!  Went to dinner in STL after work at a place called Sage (ok, nothing that special), then headed home.  Exhaustion kicked in from the long week, so crashed out by 9 p.m.  Not the way I wanted to end November, but it is what it is.  Rest is good.  208.5 miles in November - I'll take it.

Saturday, December 1st - 12 miles (8 a.m., 4 p.m.).  My long run was broken up due to a combination of sleeping in an extra hour and having to pick up my car from the autoshop (finally!).  So woke up around 8ish and got in 8 miles on the trail towards Troy, going out and back.  Hot outside - 70 degrees, and ripped off my shirt halfway through.  Can't believe I'm running shirtless in December.  Stopped quickly at home to pick up my wallet and phone, then headed to the autobody shop which is roughly 2 or so miles away.  Ran on backroads around town - legs were getting a little tired towards the end.  1:03:02 total (~7:53 mile average).  Later in the afternoon, got out and did Troy route again on the trail.  Had a bit of time constraint with some errands to do, so progressively got faster.  Was pretty overcast and windy, but felt nice outside and more importantly my legs felt ok.  Splits were: 8:26, 8:02, 7:43, 6:58.  At night, had a group of people come over for an Ugly Sweater Party!  Tons of fun - here are a few pics below:

Jenga!

Family photo

We're sexy and we know it

Sunday, December 2nd - 8 miles.  Late night around town.  Procrastination wins yet again, and suffered through another long run around town.  Legs were tired, and my body felt beat up - no idea of time at all, but pace was S-L-O-W.  44 miles this week, 20 miles in December, 1760.5 for 2012.

Monday, December 3rd - 6 miles.  Ran with Pat and Crystal, and did Crystal's 6 mile loop around town.  Ran with Pat for the first 1.5 miles, then dropped pace to try to catch Crystal which I eventually did.  Didn't feel too great after dropping pace, so was hurting the last couple miles.  I like the loop - definitely not flat, and goes by pretty quick.  45:18 total (~7:32 pace).

Tuesday, December 4th - 9.5 miles.  Hill workout with Joe.  Met at Visitor's Center after work and ran into Orrico, so did 4 mile warmup on the golf course with him and Joe.  The soft surface was awesome on the legs, and both guys had head lamps so was nice to run around the park and give the legs a break.  Ran over the Art Hill and did 10 hill repeats (~3-3.5 miles) without any breaks (jogged down and started right back up again).  Painful and tiring as usual - about 50-60% effort, and it just beats you up.  But a great workout nonetheless, and nice to see a couple people out there suffering with me.  Afterwards, ran around Forest Park and hit the soft trails in for a cooldown.  Very happy overall

Wednesday, December 5th - 7.5 miles.  Ran solo after work around town - ran to the trail, Village Circle loop, jumped on the trails, then weaved all around town.  Legs were tired, so wanted to keep it slow.  Watched my first mile split (7:52), then tried to keep effort light.  Well, good podcast + absolutely perfect running weather (high 40's, low 50's) equals happy legs.  So upon looking at my mile splits, I definitely pushed way too hard so shame on me.  ~7:25 average (7:52, 7:31, 7:22, 7:32, 7:30, 7:10, 7:15, 7:10 pace last 1/2 mile).  Part of this too was probably the hill workout - first mile, I thought I ran 9 minutes, but was way under it.

Easy run with Joe and Crystal tonight in Forest Park.  Running Pere Marquette trail race on Saturday with Craig and Justin - a race that I have always wanted to do!