Thursday, December 27th - 10 miles. I don't remember this run very well, but I did 10 miles.
Friday, December 28th - 8 miles. I don't remember this run, but I did 8 miles. Actually upon further thought, I did at lunch at Creve Couer park, and it was freezing! I think all the food/beer over the last couple weeks has eaten away at all my short term memory brain cells. Seriously. I do remember going to Global Brew to hang out with friends afterwards, and have a somewhat impromptu 15th year high school reunion!
Saturday, December 29th - 10 miles. Crapped out on a run with Crystal with Marc and Trish coming in the morning, and ended up with a pretty late afternoon start. Exhausted and the run didn't go too well but it got done. Went out and back towards Troy, then 270 loop. I think it was around 8:30 average pace, but not completely certain. Definitely running on empty right now.
Sunday, December 30th - 2 miles. Pretty much a wasted day with the Symphony and an impromptu Sunday Funday with Kyle on Wash Ave (downtown STL). Took a long nap after a heavy brunch, then got outside for 18 glorious minutes of running on just beat down legs. With all the heavy work I did at the beginning of the week, it's all caught up but I have a little bit of room to work with. Afterwards, had a ton of fun with Megan to watch the St. Louis Symphony perform Pirates of the Caribbean on the big screen! 65.5 miles this week, 249.5 miles in December, 1991 miles in 2012. Almost there...
Monday, December 31st - 9 miles. Trail run with Colby on Old Faithful. Crystal texted me in the morning to advise me to run Old Faithful since the snow was a nuisance and it was best to get out of the open area. Colby came over at about 11:30 a.m., and we got started. Ran to the trail on some lightly packed snow/slush conditions. I intentionally wore a hat, but it didn't help - the wind was pelting my face with snow. Made our way to Old Faithful, then got settled into pace and hammered it out. Snow wasn't too bothersome, but got tricky on the bridges where there was some accumulation. Last mile and a half, we decided to tack on one more mile (previous plan was to break it up into 2 runs, but the snow/slush was starting to suck), so did a Village Circle mile and looped around the neighborhood. Picked it up the last 2 miles, and worked hard for my 2000th mile! Total time - 1:09:35 so 7:28/mile average pace. Ran with Megan's new pink watch, which clashed significantly with my lime green attire, but the watch was effective and I definitely miss my Garmin - time to make a phone call and get this fixed. 258.5 miles in December (jesus, all time record BY FAR), 2000 miles in 2012!
Tuesday, January 1st - ~6 miles (44:32). Happy New Year! Forest Park New Year's Day run with the Wolfpack. Ran with Crystal and Colby before they took off (punk skateboarders who were goading them), then ran with Fenley and Julie for a mile or so before we caught up with a few others who had taken the shortcut and had gotten ahead of us. Legs were feeling really heavy, so slowed down and ran it in with Orrico the rest of the way. Fun times and a good run with some good friends. Post race champagne and Panera bagels at Sean's place - kudos to him for hosting!
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| Wolfpack New Year's Day |
Wednesday, January 2nd - 5.5 miles. Went to SLU track to try to catch Crystal for a cooldown since she was doing her track work with Coach Tim. Was originally just going to go home and not run, but guilted myself into an easy run since my legs were just destroyed and thought a few easy recovery miles couldn't hurt. Well, got up to the track, and snow had completely blanketed the track so Crystal was doing hill repeats on the road. So I ran 3.75 miles on the track, then another 1.75 with her to cooldown. Pretty chilly outside, but fine once I got warmed up. We probably went faster than I wanted to, but felt fine.
So while I'm playing catch up on my blog, here we go with 2012 in review. There were some positives and negatives, and I think I need to be overall happy since I accomplished most of what I set out to do, despite being well over race weight and not working as hard as I should have. I started out with a good spring, but could never maintain where I wanted to. There were a lot of disappointing races, but a few good ones that I'm very proud of. So what I am getting out of 2012 is I proved to myself that if I can work hard and stay disciplined, I can do some good things.
Favorite Workout:
Always a toughy, and there were a lot of workouts to look back at. Sadly, most of the work I did was before March which is why I don't remember as much. This 4 mile tempo run was a good one early in the year that gave me a lot of confidence. This workout was pretty recent, and gave me hope that I wasn't completely out of shape this fall/winter. Also enjoyed doing short track work with Crystal on this improvised workout - hitting 71-72 on quarters is pretty good for me. But I think I'll go with the 4 mile tempo - when I hit a good tempo, I feel like it's the most rewarding workout of them all.
Favorite Race:
Man, another toughy. I almost need to break this into 2 parts, because I ran a few team races that were memorable. For team purposes, I was leaning towards the Shamrock Shuffle Open Coed Winner since it is such a big race and we rolled out, but the GO! STL Relay tops the cake. We finished 2nd overall and won the co-ed division. Also involved the most entertaining prerace of all with Crystal (most responsible, punctual person I know) oversleeping, then making it downtown in about 10 minutes (25 minute trip typically) to get us our bibs/timing chip and Gabe to the starting line on time. Then blazing through our leg to set Mike up for a top finish. Just an awesome story, and one I'll always remember with great friends.
For individual purposes, I was leaning towards the Top of the Morning 5K, which was my first 5K (and sadly fastest) of the year. Nice to come back here and redeem myself after my awful 2011 race, and outkick Harry too since he had gotten me good in the last few races we had done. But I am going with Cherry Blossum - a list on my bucket list, and I had gotten an entry through the lottery. Nice overcast, cooler day in D.C., and because I had run virtually sans watch (didn't start Garmin on time), pretty much ran the entire race by feel and got in a great rhythm. Awesome scenary as we ran past many of the monuments, and got to see a few cherry blossums as well. But a good PR in one of my favorite cities, and a race I'm pretty proud of.
Favorite Long Run:
Wow, had to literally sift through all my runs this year and take a look because I don't remember much! 2012 was the first year sans marathon since 2007, so there wasn't much to write about (not to mention I crapped out all summer, the perfect time for long runs). It's hard for me to designate a "favorite" since there were so many types of long runs - easy runs, workouts, pacing, etc., and I almost have to break it down into separate areas. So a few highlights - Lakeshore long run with Megan during my sister's wedding weekend. Gorgeous day, and got in some great distance. The Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon plus a few extra on Lakeshore. Ended up being a leisurely pace through the city, and enjoy the sights and sounds without having to race. And I can't forget the Forest Park workout/long run with Crystal this summer. The one hour tempo on the 2 mile hell loop - beastly, but I'm proud of the splits on a hot day. The Fast Eddie's run was a blast, and definitely felt the easiest of any run that I had not to mention all the good company and post race food/brews at Fast Eddie's. But my favorite long run would have to go to my 13 mile cooldown in Champaign while running Megan in for her first marathon. A great workout/race in the morning with the 10K, then jumped in to run Megan in. Very cool to run around my old stomping grounds, and keep Megan company as well. Awesome to watch her cross the 50 yard line/finish and trust her fists in the air. Everyone always remembers their first...marathon. Get your mind out of the gutter!
2012 PR's:
4K: 15:49 (USA XC Championships)
8K: 31:27 (Shamrock Shuffle 8K)
10K: 39:35 (Illinois Marathon 10K)
10 Mile: 1:05:54 (Cherry Blossum 10 Miler)
Goals in 2013: PR in the half marathon, 8K, sub 18 5K again, return to the marathon???, 2000 miles in 2013. Actually try to work hard as well, the last 2 years have been mediocre/disappointing, and I can't seem to put a few good months together.
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