March Blizzard!

U.S. Men 2nd at World XC, future of XC, Paula's greatest marathon, is Paula done?,  Mo earning 1.1 million for pacing, Shalane, Marine Corps Marathon sells out in less than 2.5 hours!, Boston Marathon weather, Nike commercial obese kid loses weight, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Friday, March 22nd - 6 miles.  Ran in Creve Couer after work since I was taking a half day to hang out with friends and watch the tourney over at Lumiere Casino.  The workout was a fartlek - 10 x (20 seconds hard, 1 minute "easy").  Coach Kyle had me running the hard portions at 800 meter/mile pace, and the 1 minute at not easy pace but still somewhat hard.  Effort was really hard, and I was pretty tired by the end of it all.  Slow cooldown, stretched hard in the grass.

Saturday, March 23rd - 6 miles.  Went to Alton to watch Megan run the Alton 1/2 Marathon and help out with the Big River crew, as well as get in my mileage.  The race started at the Argosy casino parking lot/Alton Amphitheater, and weaved around the town.  Absolutely perfect day to race, and Megan did 7 miles prerace before jumping in the half marathon to get in her first 20 miler this block.  I ran out and back on the Alton bike trail and pretty much hammered it out.  Ran the last half mile with Megan's mom who was running her first half marathon, then settled back in to help out with the race.  Cooled down a mile with my buddy Jon, who won the half marathon then after helping clean up the race, went to Fast Eddie's for a well-deserved lunch!  Average pace was 7:30ish, but definitely was negative split my miles.

Franklin playing in the snow

Sunday, March 24th - 6 miles.  Blizzard today!  How crazy is it that we go from 60 degree weather and breezy to 12" of snow!  Literally snowed all day, and made it impossible to get in any outside running so went over to Pat and Crystal's to use their treadmill.  Watched the tourney games, and attempted to get in as much as possible before my mind exploded!  Ran for ~46 minutes overall.  45 miles this week, 140 miles in March, 481 miles for 2013.

Monday, March 25th - 4 miles.  Ran after work with Megan over at Village Circle.  Easy 1 up with her, 2 miles solo around VC, then 1 mile back with her.  Not sure about pace, but we were gone for around 33-34 minutes so I probably hammered the 2 miles solo too fast as usual.  Weather was cool and windy, but the snow was already melting and the roads were very clear.

Tuesday, March 26th - 9 miles (1.5 up, 2 x 3 miles, 1.5 down).  Had this workout circled on my calendar, since I knew it would be tough and wasn't sure if I was ready for it.  Perfect day to run (cool and 40's, and a  hint of a breeze), and ran down to Village Circle for my warmup.  Goal times were 18:55-19:20 with rest in between reps.  Really had to work through the first rep, and thought there was no way in the world I would even come close to to the second rep but just hung in strong.  Actually the first 2 miles of rep 2 were by far the easiest in terms of effort - just kept making myself stay relaxed, and "fast feet" (turnover) as Coach Kyle likes to call it.  At about 2.25 miles, started to hit that wall and was using my Garmin too much to check splits and gauge how much I had left to go.  Well, was falling 5-8 seconds behind on my pace so just put my head down and grinded it out.  But success, and was very pleased with the workout albeit the effort.  Slow cooldown home, and a lot of stretching.  Splits were: 18:59 (6:18, 6:22, 6:19), 18:51 (6:18, 6:19, 6:13).

Wednesday, March 27th - 4 miles + drills.  SLU work with Craig and Crystal.  Nothing crazy to report, but my first few miles were too fast.  Drills were rushed since I was late, but made it through ok.  Group cooldown, then off for a chicken sandwich and brew at O'Shays at the Grove!

Very happy with where I'm at, and just trying to stay healthy and motivated for next weekend's race!  Easy run tonight, then fartlek tomorrow.

Go away snow

Tear-jerker, Jason Hartmann returns to Boston, Kim Conley at World XC, and Rock n Roll creates a Grand Prix event.

Tuesday, March 19th - 10 miles (1.5 up, 8 x 1K, 1.5 down).  Coach Kyle talked me into doing the workout on Tuesday night, since the weather looked ominous with the heavy winds and cold weather on Wed.  So met him over at Hixon middle school over in Webster.  Nice little track that is next to the Webster Rec Plex, and relatively shaded from the wind since the track was almost in a little valley.  Warmed up through the neighboring neighborhoods, then got to work with the workout.  400 meter jog in between, and Kyle paced me through the first 2 reps.  Goal was 3:40-3:45 for the reps (5:52-6 min/mile pace), and nailed the workout.  Last 2 reps, had to dig a little deep, but made it through.  15 min cooldown afterwards, very pleased with the workout.  Splits were: 3:46, 3:42, 3:44, 3:44, 3:43, 3:42, 3:42, 3:38

Wednesday, March 20th - 5 miles.  Met up with Craig, Crystal, and Megan at the SLU track.  Ran 2 miles warmup with Crystal, then basically ran all around trying to help Craig and Megan through their respective workouts.  Did drills in the infield, then cooled down with Craig.  Very windy and very cold, but very nice to have the company.

Thursday, March 21st - 6 miles.  Ran out and back on the trail towards Home Depot with Jon after work.  Kept the pace nice and easy, and cruised through with no problems.  49:50 overall, I believe, and negative split all the miles.

Workout today, then mileage the rest of the weekend.  Supposedly we are supposed to get 6-10" of snow on Sunday.  Lovely.  Happy Spring to us!

AOH 5K and St. Pat's Parade Day Run Recap

Ryan Hall out of Boston :(, Boston brew, NYC Half, analysis from race, Ritz finishes thrid sans sleep, German Fernandez, greatest runner of all time, Chris Derrick, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Tuesday, March 5th - 6 miles

Wednesday, March 6th - 8 miles (2 up, 3 x 1 mile, 4 x 200, 2 down).  SLU track with Craig, and a nice workout for me.  Felt pretty good all around (minus bathroom breaks in between), and wasn't working too hard.  I'll take it.  Splits were: 5:55, 5:54, 5:50; 42, 40, 39, 36.  AOH 5K is looking more likely now!

Thursday, March 7th - 7 miles.  Bear with me, I don't remember a lot of these runs, but wrote down the mileage.

Friday, March 8th - 4 miles

Saturday, March 9th - 3 miles

Sunday, March 10th - 7 miles (2 up, AOH 5K, 2 down).  Garbage, waste of time for me.  Windy day, and just blew up during the race.  Legs felt pretty tired even during the warmup, and thought I could just hang in there and work with some people to bring it home with a decent time.  Went out first mile with hard effort and split 6:20.  Going up that hill, started losing ground and multiple people were passing me and was getting demoralized.  Split the halfway point in 10 something, and my race was over.  My legs were shot, and mentally was done.  So slowed down to tempo pace and in essence gave up and jogged it in.  One of the lowest points of my running career ever.  40 miles this week, 55 miles in March, 396 miles in 2013.

Mike and I postrace

Monday, March 11th - 6 miles.  BRR run with Craig, Justin, and Fenley.  Fenley and I ran the last mile hard together.  49-50 minutes total.  Had a epiphany at work during the day, and decided to ask my buddy Kyle to help me out with workouts and getting me back into decent shape for my upcoming races.  So I have a new coach now!

Tuesday, March 12th - 9 miles (2 up, Reverse Ladder workout: 2K (6:17), 1 mile (6:08), 1K (3:42), 800 (2:55), 400 (1:15), 200 (33), 2 down).  Another freaking windy day, and met up at SLU track with a big group to bust out this workout.  Kyle met me up there, and we laid out the parameters of the workout and desired splits which were modified slightly because of the wind.  Anyways, Gabe and Fenley jumped in and did the workout with me, and we took turns leading on the back stretch where there was a nasty, nasty headwind.  Felt like I was jogging during the 2K and mile, but had to dig a little deep on the last few reps - all in all, very successful, and felt great having some help out there as well as Coach Kyle calling out my splits and talking me through the workout.

Wednesday, March 13th - 4 miles.  Early morning run, then went to see Bon Jovi at night!  Hilarious to see all the 40-50 year old women busting out the skinny jeans and teasing up their hair.

Thursday, March 14th - 4 miles easy.  Talked with Coach Kyle - plan is to run St. Pat's as a cutdown tempo.  Start at 6:50, cut down 10 seconds per mile until the end.  The goal was to get a good workout, pass a ton of people for confidence, and have fun!  With my recent meltdown at AOH, wasn't sure how this would feel, but in theory this should be very doable.

Friday, March 15th - 3 miles - nice and easy.  Legs feel nice and relaxed for St. Pats!

Saturday, March 16th - 9 miles (2 up, ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE RUN, 2 down).  Chilly, windy day yet again.  Got downtown early, then warmed up with a few of the other Big River runners before walking to the start.  Fenley and Julie were along for the workout, so got out of the starting gates with them.  We started the race, and felt pretty good the first mile (went out hard to get in front of some idiots that lined up in front of us that shouldn’t have been there), but got settled into pace once we got on Tucker.  2^nd mile and 3^rd mile, felt like the effort was a lot more intense but most likely from hills and nasty headwind (and having virtually no one to work with).  Fenley and I were basically passing everyone at this point, then made the turn back towards the city, while remembering to ease back a little for that last annoying long hill that everyone seems to forget about right before we turn on Olive.  Coming down Olive, I felt better and in control and laid the hammer on the last quarter of the last mile coming up that last Market hill.  I am pretty sure 0 people passed me after the first mile – pretty good feeling.  With hard effort all the way through, could have hit at least mid 31, if not faster, but was happy to execute the times on a tough, hilly course.  Cooled down with Gabe, Craig, Julie, Nikki, and Fenley afterwards, then had a blast downtown for post race celebration!  Splits were: 6:46, 6:43, 6:34, 6:15, 6:08 (32:37 overall).

Big River Crew

Asians!

Class of 97

Sunday, March 17th - 5 miles.  Out and back on Old Faithful with Pat, Crystal, and Jon.  Crystal's return day!  Easy paced run in the sleet/snow on a nasty, chilly morning, but good to have the running wife back in full force.  Felt sluggish, but we definitely negative split every mile about 10 seconds (starting from 8:33).  Low 8 average overall.

Monday, March 18th - 6 miles.  Ran with Crystal and Craig for group run.  Did a mile easy with Craig before and after our run.  Crystal had 30 minutes easy, so we did out and back from BRR to River Des Peres.  Of course the pace was too fast, and legs were feeling a little sluggish so the "cooldown" mile with Craig was nice.  30:42 for 4 miles with Crystal, 7:55 pace overall according to Craig.

3 more weeks until Shamrock!  Coach Kyle has laid out my plan through the end of April, and very excited to hit the workouts he's laid out for me!

Massive Catchup, Rock n Roll St. Pete Recap

Ben Rosario blog, Makau aiming for world record, Ritz to run Chi, Spirit of the Marathon II, Ritz at USA XC, what it's like to be coached by Alberto Salazar, Olympic Marathon Champ against Kenyans, Sara Hall and quick recovery/turnaround for USA XC, Krispy Kreme Challange at NC State, Nick Symmonds and his running bucket list, Centro gunning for indoor mile record, top Masters performances 2012, what makes a good rabbit, great sandwiches for runners, Deena makes her Masters debut, attacking marathon record in London, and Blade Runner convicted of murder.

More articles since today is catch up day: Bernard Lagat sets US indoor 2 mile record, Shalane and Kara to run Rock n Roll New Orleans, Mary Cain shines at the Millrose Games, Edward Cheserek to go to Oregon, Mo to run first half of London Marathon, Deena wins in RNR Pasadena, more Pistorius drama, Mo Farah, Lagat targeting sub 61 at NYC 1/2, great Ritz interview/article, Rupp sets American 3K record, oldest marathoner, Ritz in NYC half, and 4 sub 59 minute finishers at the RAK 1/2 Marathon.

Has the marathon boom peaked?, Schumacker's Nike group changing their name, course record in Tokyo, Chi Marathon online crash, Rock n Roll NOLA records, 

The OscarPistorius case is pretty messed up.  It sounds like this guy, although revered in his country for his accomplishments given his condition, has a history of violence and substance abuse.  Hoping they can get this all figured out, but a sad reminder that famous athletes have as many (if not more) problems as anyone else.  

Wednesday, February 6th - 6 miles easy.  

Thursday, February 7th - 4 miles easy.

Friday, February 8th - 6 miles.  Had planned on running out to a local Publix for a competition check, but decided I wanted to see the beach instead.  So ran until I got to the beach, then found a running trail that ran alongside the water.  Bloody hot and humid outside, so shed the shirt to get my pale skin some much needed sun.  Not a big fan of running in the heat, but was nice to run in a nice, warm environment.  Felt a little tired when I was done, but pace was fine - 8:10 average.

My view - tough, I know

Inadvertently was running the second half of the RNR course - we cross this bridge both ways over the last 5K

The pier - we actually ran around this around the 8 mile mark

Saturday, February 9th - 3 miles.  Sean and I ran pretty easy to get our legs moving a bit before the race.  My legs just felt like poop, and even the 9 minute pace just didn't feel right.  We ran out to the Pier (made a huge loop around this massive pier that goes out into the bay - very, very scenic) which was part of the course, so was good to run that part of the course.  Spent some good time at the beach later in the day, hanging out and tossing the football around.  Definitely did some impromptu fartleks trying to run down some fade routes :)  

Walking to Tropicana Field (home of the Tampa Bay Rays) for the expo

Sunday, February 10th - 15 miles. Rock n Roll St. Petersburg 1/2 Marathon (1:35:51; 114/4391 overall, 16/208 age group, 88/1672 male).  Well, a half marathon gone bad, and here is the quick recap of the race.  Got to the start line to watch Tiff and Mayumi start the mini marathon (5K), then started 30 minutes later.  Found a Big River runner in the mix and ran the first mile with him at 1/2 pace, but realized soon after that this wasn't going to hold up for too long because my legs felt like concrete bricks.  So leveled off, but realized my stomach was having some major issues, so made a pit stop right before the 2 mile mark.  Rejoined the race, but a mile later realized I still had issues so made another bathroom stop.  Legs were just poo, so settled back into marathon pace and ran it in.  Pretty fun course that had a lot of scenary, and enjoyed the surroundings quite a bit.  It was very advantageous to have ran almost half the course and know where the heck I was at.  A little warm for my race temps preference (70's and sunny), but somewhat tolerable.  After I finished, got some water, stretched, then ran out to meet Sean and run him in for his 15 minute PR!  Jogged back to pick up the car later.  Fun times, and was sad to leave FL that  afternoon.  42 miles this week, 66 miles in February, 231 miles for 2013.

Hamming it up as usual

Strong finish

Sean and I

Monday, February 11th - 4 miles.  Ran group run, and did a couple loops solo.  Don't remember the last time I was the first runner to finish the run.  Legs felt like complete garbage and really sore - not very pleased.  

Tuesday, February 12th - 0!  Legs felt like crap, and was exhausted and slept a ton instead.  Shouldn't feel this sore right now, but also have a small cold which may be hampering my recovery a bit.  Sleep = awesome.  

Wednesday, February 13th - 2 miles.  Attempted a late night run, but legs were just torn up.  I started to compensate my stride, which caused more discomfort so just said screw it before it gets worse, and headed back home to stretch and relax.  Not sure why it's taking me so long to recover...

Thursday, February 14th - 6 miles.  Happy Valentine's Day!  Ran with a group after work in Forest Park.  Was very easy paced, and good to go nice and easy paced.  Picked it up the last mile, but nothing to get excited about.  50-55 minutes total for the loop around FP.

Friday, February 15th - 7 miles (2 up, 3 x 1 mile, 2 down).  Dreaded mile repeats at SLU - goal pace was 5:52-6:00 min miles..  Convinced Kyle to come out and pace me through this workout after work.  Was cold and windy, not the best conditions to hit this.  Anyways, traded off leading each lap, and took 3 minutes rest in between reps.  The workout got done, but was hurting pretty bad towards the end and had virtually 0 in the tank the last 2 laps of the last mile.  Some small miscommunication on calling out splits (Kyle's watch was broken, so was calling out quarter splits which he thought it was overall time, which caused us to surge on his laps), but made it through relatively unscathed.  Glad this was over, but a lot more effort than it should have been, sadly.  Splits were: 5:49 (my fault for leading us out in 39 sec for the first 200), 5:53, 5:57 (ugh).

Saturday, February 16th - 7 miles.  Ran Old Faithful and met up with Megan, then ran a couple miles in with her.  Nice day to be outside, and felt not too shabby considering I was coming off the mile repeat workout.  Still stuffy as hell though, and hoping this cold goes away.  7:40's pace average.

Sunday, February 17th - 12 miles.  Mixed this run up quite a bit.  Ran with Megan up to the trail, did 4 miles solo (towards Troy and back, Village Circle loop plus a little more), mile back home to meet up with Mike and did 6 miles with him out and back towards Troy again.  Head wind out there was brutal, but was nice coming home.  Solo miles were 7:30/mile pace, not sure of pace with Mike but guessing low 8's.  Legs were pretty tired afterwards.  38 miles this week, 104 miles in February, 269 miles in 2013.  

Monday, February 18th - 3 miles.  Ran late at night and skipped group run because of the rain.  Did 270 loop, and it was pretty damn windy.  Quick run, felt ok but tired.  Some heavy dude core work was done beforehand as well.

Tuesday, February 19th - 7 miles.  Quick mile solo, then Forest Park loop with Justin and Craig.  Justin and I were both suffering from small colds, so was a bit groggy but made it through fine.  Started out pretty slow, but sped up at the end.  ~8:30 pace overall.  Scary moment when we started our loop, we saw police caution tape everywhere and a crime scene complete with the white chalk outline of some person (we think biker based on the bike laying in the middle of the road) who apparently got nailed by a car.  Crazy

Wednesday, February 20th - 3 miles.  Ran very quickly after work at Parkway North track.  Had maybe 40 minutes to get in some sort of run, and it was too short of a timeframe to hit my desired tempo.  So went to the nearby track and ran laps solo, then did light drills.  Picked up my parents from the airport and had dinner with them in the area.  They were going to stay, but took off because of the threat of some awful storms.  

Thursday, February 21st - 8 miles.  Good thing the parentals made the decision to get home, because we got dumped on pretty good.  4-6" and a layer of ice to top it off.  In a nutshell, this was my man vs. nature run.  Started out with the idea of doing 270 loop, but ran into an evil snow plow that nailed me with snow and made the sidewalks almost unrunnable.  Made my way to my turnaround point, but decided to get on Old Faithful and just loop around.  Tacked on few miles here and there, and just kept battling through the elements until I eventually made it back.  85 minutes total, and that's with the last few miles at hard effort.

Friday, February 22nd - 6 miles.  I don't remember this exactly, but did 6 miles.

Saturday, February 23rd - 14 miles - I may have Sat and Sun mixed up, so forgive me.  Long run day - snow was still everywhere, so did village circle loop with Megan.  She had 12, so had her run the opposite way so we could pass each other to break up the monotony of the endless circular loop.  Plan was to have a fast finish (sub 6:30), then cool down with her.  Anyways, got locked in sub 8 min pace pretty early, and just zoned out to some podcasts.  10 miles, then did 2 miles hard which wasn't very pretty.  Too much effort to not even hit my desired splits.  Went home to change out my contacts, then caught back up with Megan for 2 miles cooldown.  Averaged ~7:30 for the 10 miles (negative split), 6:41, 6:31 for the fast miles.  Just not very strong right now, nor fast for that matter.

Sunday, February 24th - 8 miles.  Went out and back on Troy, nice and easy.  Nothing to report - legs were pooped, so recovery pace.  Don't remember time offhand, but well over an hour.  49 miles this week, 153 miles in February, 318 miles in 2013.  Decent week with a couple of ok workouts.

Monday, February 25th - 6 miles.  Ran group run with Justin and Craig.  Tailed off myself at Gravois and River Des Peres, since I was tired and just wanted to get in recovery mileage.  51 minutes and some change.

Tuesday, February 26th - 4 miles.  Another run that is escaping my memory.

Wednesday, February 27th - 7 miles (1 up, 6 x 800, 2 down).  Snowy day, and met up with Craig over at SLU track.  15-20 mph winds and snow - craziness outside.  Scrapped plans of original workout given the conditions, and did Craig's workout instead.  The winds were pretty brutal, and had a lot of problems pacing myself and never felt good at all.  Paced Craig through his last 2 (~6:30-6:40 pace), but maintained a little faster than 5K pace for myself.  Didn't feel very good, and wasn't very pleased.  Stomach was a royal mess, as I took at least 3 bathroom breaks to my recollection.  I don't remember splits exactly, but all in the 2:55-2:58 range.

Thursday, February 28th - 6 miles.  I think I did a loop at Forest Park, but can't remember.  176 miles for February, 341 miles in 2013.  Good mileage month, but struggles in getting fit.

Friday, March 1st - ~8 miles.  Got dragged out butt@ss early with Colby for a run on the trails.  He had 18, so agreed to run 8 with him starting from the Maryville YMCA.  Snow everywhere, and pretty dark at 5 a.m. so ended up running towards Glen Carbon out and back.  Snow made it tricky at some spots, but made it through ok.  Felt decent overall, and ran for 59:46.  Definitely glad to have this one over with!

Saturday, March 2nd - 7 miles.  Out and back towards Troy in the late morning, and a little extra on Village Circle.  Was pretty tired, and moved pretty slow.  Ran around an hour overall.  At night, went out with some good friends for Megan's 30th Birthday Party. Fun, fun times.

Sunday, March 3rd - 0!  Just a wreck from the night before for Megan's birthday party.  Slept most of the day, and recovered.  38 miles this week, 15 miles for March, 356 miles in 2013. - yuck

Monday, March 4th - 6 miles.  Group run with Tim.  Ran with Tim, but wanted to keep it easy overall despite my easy weekend of running.  Started out in the 8:30's, but went pretty easy coming in.  Felt nice and relaxed for once.

To run the AOH 5K, or to not run - that is the question.  Not very confident with my fitness level, but will do an indicator workout on Wednesday to see if this is even an option.  Gearing back substantially in mileage, and concentrating on quality of runs versus quantity.