Healing

Adam MacDowell in Boston, Boston, Women's race, Shalane, more Shalane, London Marathon recap, Paula and her untouchable record, and the Boston runners/spectators from the moment of the first bomb.

Woke up pretty early on Sunday morning (3 a.m.) to watch the Lonfdon Marathon.  Looked like a good day to run weatherwise, and the pacers were instructed to take the pack out in 1:01:30 in attempts of a world record.  Well, pretty much the entire pack died (including Mo Farah in my opinion, who opted out BEFORE mile 13), and Tsegaye Kebede swooped in from behind to get the kill.  Kebede is a tough runner, and very deserving champion.  Ethiopia mistakenly picked over him for their 2012 Olympic Team - he has majors titles (2 London, 1 Chicago), Olympic bling (08 bronze), and speed (2:04 in Chi).  Maybe the best out there as of right now? (he won last 2 majors)

It's been a surreal running week with all the Boston news and multiple themed runs.  On Saturday, we had our running group join us in Illinois for a group run/brunch, where we were able to talk more with Joe and Jon who had competed and ran last Monday.  In fact, Joe had missed the blasts by 7 minutes, so was even more chilling when you put that in perspective.  Nonetheless, a very fun run on a perfect day, and a great morning to spend with my running family.  Thanks Pat and Crystal for hosting!  On Monday, Big River did their Boston run - caught up with Colby and Heidi (both Boston competitors), and honored the Boston (and runners) community with a moment of silence and run.  I think everyone's hearts have been heavy, but there has been some resolution with the terrorists being caught and we can now start the healing process.

Thursday, April 18th - 4.5 miles.  Ran with Kyle in Tower Grove Park after work.  Legs were a little pooped, but the weather was cool and slightly windy which is what I prefer minus the wind.  Looped the park and a little extra (Kyle was doing packet pickup for a race, so met him about a quarter mile from the park, which we ran to).  Felt pretty good at the end, and we breezed through the run.  35 minutes overall.

Friday, April 19th - ~7 miles (2 up, 10 x 1 minute hard at mile pace, 1 minute easy).  WINDY day at home - went to track with Crystal after work to hit our respective workouts.  Plan was to hit the minute hard at mile repeat (5:05-5:15 pace), so wanted to use the track and the 100 meter split points to help aid my workout.  Well, the 25 mph winds weren't in the plan, and wreaked some havoc.  To make a long story short, my repeats were all over the map, and based on splits points I think I ran anywhere from 4:50-5:20 pace.  Helped sort of pace Crystal through a couple of her reps (1K repeats), but did a bad job because the wind was so strong.  The cooldown was ridiculous, because we were getting blown around by the wind!

Saturday, April 20th - 7 miles - Illinois run with the Wolfpack (our STL running group).  Absolutely beautiful morning to run, and glad to do so with some good friends.  Out and back on Old Faithful, and planned on only a few easy miles but got talked into a lot more.  Ran with Jon and Ryan, who had both ran Boston, and had some pretty awesome conversation about their experiences.  58:09 total.

Sunday, April 21st - 10 miles.  Solo on the roads/trails, then did fast finish with Crystal.  Plan was to hit 6:30 pace for the last 2 miles, but I'm sure you know where this is heading.  Legs were tired starting up, and initially wanted to go easy but thought it would be easier to go a little faster instead of dropping 2+ minutes per mile.  So geared down to low 7's, and actually felt pretty comfortable.  Looped around the neighborhood, then the trail.  Met up with Crystal, ran a mile in her neighborhood for her warmup, then blasted through the last 2 miles.  Wanted to keep the first mile "slower" but felt very comfortable and despite numerous efforts to slow down, we were fast and even faster on the second mile with Crystal completely taking off and me hanging back, thinking about next Tuesday's workout.  Felt very pleased with the effort, and definitely some good vibes headed into next week.  Splits for all this vary, but averaged 7:08 for the first 5.5 miles, 6:18, 6:06 for the fast finish (oops).  52.5 miles this week, 124.5 miles in April, 647.5 miles in 2013.  Solid week for once!

Monday, April 22nd - 3.5 miles.  BRR run.  Ran with Tim, Craig, Mike, Justin, and Dickson.  Nice and easy, ran around South City.  Legs were definitely a bit tired though.

One more workout to go, then Champaign relay this weekend!

Boston 2 days later

Boston, why Boston is like the Masters, Eugene to host Olympic Trials, Ryan Hall, Mo Farah pacing London this weekend, and a London Marathon preview.

Monday, April 8th - 0!  Scheduled day off

Tuesday, April 9th - 6 miles.  Got out of work late, so went to Forest Park to run with Kyle.  Easy loop around the park, and felt ok for the most part.  Was pretty warm and humid, so the shirt came off about 3 miles into the run.  Hopefully I didn't scare too many people.  50 minutes total.

Wednesday, April 10th - 7 miles (3 x (1 mile, 1K)).  Workout with Craig and Megan at the SLU track on a warm day.  Switched days because my legs were just tired, most likely from Shamrock and the hard training block.  I remember this workout, but mainly because I was so tired and beat up and ended up skipping the jogs in between in favor of standing rest.  Planned splits were: 5:50-5:58 for mile, 3:40-3:45 for 1K's.  This workout was really brutal for me for some reason.  Splits were: 5:58, 3:42, 5:59, 3:43, 6:02, 3:41

Thursday, April 11th - 6 miles.  Drawing a blank

Friday, April 12th - 4 miles (10 x 20 seconds - hills).  Forest Park Run.  Ran from Visitor's Center to Wells, which is adjacent to the Central Ball Fields.  Found a starting point, then used rep one to determine distance.  Plan was to hit the hills at mile pace (~5:00 min/mile), and pretty much nailed the workout.  Quick jog back downhill between reps, but didn't waste too much time overall.

Saturday, April 13th - 0!  Got up early to finish my taxes (yes, procrastination), then golf with Pat and Kyle. Third round of the Masters plus a ton of food and drink = no run.

Sunday, April 14th - 13 miles.  Ran 9 with Crystal in the morning - out and back on Old Faithful.  Started slow, but not surprisingly sped up.  Got locked in around 7:40-7:50 pace, and finished out at 1:11 for the 9 miles.  Did 4 solo nice and easy later on.  Legs felt like complete garbage.  36 miles this week, 72 miles in April, 595 miles in 2013.  Yikes!

Monday, April 15th - 6 miles.  Ran with Fenley, Mike, Justin, and Tim on an improvised South City run.  Went to check out a potential new house for Fenley, so looped around the area.  Legs were pretty beat up, but made it through ok.  48 minutes and some change, overall.  The Boston tragedies were on everyone's mind, so definitely a somber mood.

Tuesday, April 16th - 6 miles.  Ran 3 miles solo in Forest Park before meeting up with Sean, Justin, Amy, Aaron, Fenley, and Hammer.  This was our "Run for Boston" run, so did a quick prayer before running around the park.  Much colder than the day before, but perfect day to run.  Switched my workout till tomorrow, because my lower back was killing me.  Kicking myself for the missed opportunity of a workout on a cooler day.  Legs are still tired.

Wednesday, April 17th - 12 miles (8 miles a.m., 4 miles p.m.).  A.M. Looked at weather forecast and was supposed to be 83 degrees in the afternoon (wtf???), so a rare morning workout was scheduled.  Weather in the morning was roughly the same as the night before which was the good news, but my legs still felt like poo was the bad news.  Jogged down to the trail - Coach Kyle wanted me to do this workout on the roads, so wanted to do on the trails towards Troy which has some good quarter mile markers for me.  Anyways, instead of me trying to describe this workout again, here is the email I had written to Coach Kyle:

5 x 1 Mile @ 6:15-6:20 w/ 90 sec rest, 5 min rest, 1 mile FAST @ 5:50

6:17 – trying to get into rhythm.  Started out too fast, but got relatively locked in.  didn’t feel hard, but wasn’t comfortable yet

6:16 – much better

6:15 – felt ok.  Legs were definitely heavy at this point

6:13 – tough, tired

6:14 – better than what I thought it would be.  Had to kick into another gear

5:54 – legs burning.  Held on for about ¾ mile then let the pain get to me so was def hurting a bit at the end

Happy overall with the workout especially with dead legs, and definitely had to dig deep to hit it but got it done!  Slow cooldown back home.  P.M. 4 miles with Big River Pub Run Series.  We did this in Webster Groves at Llewelyns, and I paced Megan through her tempo which she hit.  A lot warmer in the afternoon, as it did get up in the 80's so very glad I got my workout done early.

Rain, rain, and more rain today.  Workout tomorrow, and getting ready to gear up for a nice, relaxing weekend!

Boston

My heart is very heavy today given what happened yesterday in the Boston Marathon.  Please take a moment to pray and think about all your loved ones, and all the runners/families who were affected yesterday.  Today is another day, and we run to support Boston.

Congratulations to Jon, Colby, Larry, Heidi, Ben, and Joe who all ran very well yesterday!  Given the situation, all the runners should be very proud of their achievements, and wear their jackets and medals with pride!

Shamrock Shuffle Recap

Boston, Boston, Meb pulls out of Boston :(, Shamrock results, Cherry Blossum results, and Guor Maker.

Thursday, April 4th - 4 miles.  Ran with Crystal after work - nice and smooth on Old Faithful.  Weather was gorgeous, and enjoyed a very quick run.  33:27 total.

Friday, April 5th - ~5 miles + strides.  Made it to Chicago early, and met up with Anne downtown before heading back to her place and getting settled in.  Had 4 miles on my plan with strides, and got out to Lakeshore and its crazy windy conditions.  Got lost in my own world and missed my turnaround point so ended up with an extra mile or so.  Found a small uninhabited path by the Fullerton exit on Lakeshore by the fountain, and did my strides there.  Felt nice and relaxed, overall.  Went to dinner at the Girl and Goat - absolutely delicious!!!!

Saturday, April 6th - 3 miles.  Did Lakeshore on the soft paths out and back.  The city had done some construction in the area, and had a new path which was very nice.  Another extremely windy afternoon, and got blown around.  Ran for roughly 25 minutes, and walked around the park with Anne and Ben afterwards (who had run as well).  Ate dinner at Siena Tavern, which is Fabio's (from Top Chef fame) new restaurant.  We had an early reservation (pretty much the norm if you want to get in a good place in Chi), and enjoyed a very nice dinner.  Will definitely be back here!  Watched the Final 4 games, then went to bed feeling pretty relaxed and ready to go.

Sunday, April 7th - 7 miles (1 up, SHAMROCK SHUFFLE 8K (31:15 PR - 459/33,215 overall), 1 down).  Woke up nice and early, and had a bowl of Cheerios and banana before cabbing downtown.  Had some issues with the idiot cabbie making a massive detour before eventually dropping me off, but got downtown in one piece.  Met up with Ryan and Larry, then warmed up with them on Lakeshore before checking in our gear and heading to our corral.  To make a long story short, because of the crazy traffic of people, they tried to shut the corrals and direct everyone else to Corral E (back of the line) which almost caused mass chaos and an angry mob consequently deflected the fence and charged to the gates.  Luckily, we got in but not without an almost heart attack.  Race conditions/weather was perfect, and Ryan and I went out relatively hard and tried to get settled in.  The problem on the first mile is trying to establish position, so we ended up running a lot of zig zags and almost a tenth of a mile more.  Felt controlled through the 5K point (~19:20) and exactly where I wanted to be, but choked on some Gatorade which made me slow down to regain my breath.  At this point, lost a little ground on Ryan and tried to reel him in but it seemed like he was making a move (he wasn't, I was slowing down) and relaxed a little too much here.  Got to mile 4 in position, and calculated I needed a very last mile to finish it out.  Didn't have the mental drive to push me through the wall, and just waited too long to make my move which was a tactical error on my part.  Congrats to Ryan for a solid race (30:58), and Larry for a great race as well (29:22)!  10 minute cool down, then hung out downtown for postrace celebration.  36 miles this week, 36 miles in April, 559 miles in 2013.

Was disappointed in my time, but still technically a PR and a lot of good things to take away.  I was a lot stronger than I have been, and gained some good speed.  Shouldn't have relaxed so much in a few points, and should have just pressed through since it was a short race.  Felt a lot better than I have in a while, and have come a long way in 4 weeks and will continue to press on.

Shamrock Eve

Kim Smith dominates a 5K, Desi recovering, half marathons continue to grow, and Shalane and Boston.

Monday, April 1st - ~5 miles.  Group run with Crystal.  Ran Justin's improvised 4 mile loop in South City, but didn't think we'd hit 4 miles so took Eichelberger all the way to Kingshighway and just ran another loop to Chippewa back to Macklind.  Back half of that was pretty hilly, but good company + good comversation = fast run.  Crystal told me our splits, and I don't remember but it was something like this: 8:33, 8:09, 8:09, 8:10, 8:09.

Tuesday, April 2nd - 7 miles (8 x (2 min hard, 1 min easy).  Middle School track with Crystal.  Warmed up on a cool evening, then did this workout at interval pace (5:48-6) for the hard, and easy effort for the minute off.  Made it a point to hit any 100 meter marker just for reference, and aimed at 1:28-1:30 for the 400 meter split.  Well, hit all the 400 meter splits in 1:25-1:28 so was happy about it.  Effort was hard, but controlled.  Felt pretty much the same from reps 3 to the end, which was good.  Slow cooldown and stretching afterwards.

Wednesday, April 3rd - 5 miles + drills.  Went up to SLU track with Craig, Crystal, Megan, and Courtney.  Warmed up with Crystal and Craig, then did drills and timed Craig through his mile repeat workout.  He was having problems hitting pace on his first laps (waaay too fast), so jumped in on his last rep and paced him through.  Cooldown with Craig to end the day - legs felt a bit tired at the end since my paces were everywhere (~7:40's with Crystal, ~8:40's with Craig).

Easy run tonight, then headed to Chicago tomorrow for a fun Shamrock Shuffle weekend!

Quitting

Shalane destroys at the Stanford Relays, Jordan Hasay debuts in the 10K, and Ben True,

I'm announcing that I'm quitting running forever.  Just joking.  April Fool's Day!  I have nothing witty to say, so you have to settle for this weak announcement.  And this too about Ryan Hall.

Thursday, March 28th - 0!  Had a work class to teach on Thursday night after work and didn't get home until 10 p.m.  Too tired to get in the mileage, and opted for sleep instead.

Friday, March 29th - 7 miles (3 up, 10 x 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy, 1 down).  Track work after work at the middle school track at home.  Ordered these, and wanted to give them a rest run to see if this was a viable track/short distance shoe for me.  Perfect evening to do this type of workout - cool and a hint of a breeze.  Warmed up on the roads and around the surrounding neighborhoods, then did stretched out/did drills before executing the workout.  The goal effort was mile pace, so wanted to keep it around 5:10 mile/min pace and used the track to help track my split points.  Hit all my 200 splits in 38-39, and effort was tough towards the end but was very consistent throughout all the reps which was great.  Probably got in 310-320 meters for each rep, so was very happy overall.

Saturday, March 30th - 6 miles.  Ran in the morning with Crystal, then 3 solo afterwards.  We did out and back on Old Faithful, and quite honestly wasn't feeling too hot.  Did 3 solo as soon as I got home, and slowed it down but still felt like garbage.  First 3 miler was 23:48, give or take.  2nd 3 miler was 24-25 minutes.

Sunday, March 31st - 12 miles.  Ran Home Depot-Old Faithful loop with Tim and Megan.  Legs were still like poop, so kept it easy paced.  Weather was absolutely beautiful, and there were a lot of people on the trail (very friendly people, might I add).  Good conversation and company made the run go by very quickly.  High 8's/low 9's overall, but was just spent when we were done.  A hard week comes to an end.  42 miles this week, 182 miles in March, 523 miles in 2013.

Easy mileage at group run tonight, then interval fartlek tomorrow.  It's race week, so trying to stay fresh for Sunday's race!