Hello Summer

Boston video, Jenny Simpson, tribute poster, very popular google search, and the Festival of Miles!

Monday, May 6th - 6 miles.  Ran with Crystal, and I don't really remember this one very well.  We skipped group run, and just hammered out at home.

Tuesday, May 7th - ~5 miles.  Ran with Kyle at Grant's Trail on a pretty hot day.  Out and back, starting over at Webster.  Tons of cyclists, and we were dodging them early on.  Went pretty slow, and felt lethargic.  40 minutes or so overall.

Wednesday, May 8th - 0!  Quite honestly, my late night with Kyle at Sportszone trivia turned into recovery day.  Not my finest moment :(

Thursday, May 9th - 10 miles (4 a.m., 6 p.m.).  Tried for the early morning workout and completely crapped out.  Workout was 2 x 3 miles at 5 seconds faster than goal pace, which I had hit before.  Ran over to Village Circle and got situated with dynamic stretches and strides, and started up.  Started out fast but tried to get settled in.  Well, was really struggling and was starting to hurt really bad at the end of the first mile.  Was pushing really hard on the second mile, then just crapped out and quit.  I wasn't going to hit the workout, and my pace had dropped almost 20 seconds per mile with double the effort.  Walked/jogged back with my tail in between my legs when BOOM!  To add insult to injury, it started DUMPING rain and I was drenched.  Deservedly so, too.  P.M. - ran 6 easy miles with Jon.  Considerably better weather than the morning.  Out and back towards Home Depot - 48:36 total.  Felt pretty tired, but made it through.

Friday, May 10th - 9 miles.  SLU track with Crystal to do my very delayed workout.  Windy but still warm, and warmed up a mile before hitting the first rep on the track which was tough towards the end.  3 minute break, then the kids started arriving at the track.  Not wanting to deal with the circus and kids running everywhere, I jumped on the roads and tried to hammer it out there.  Was really struggling a mile into it, and hit some really nasty hills and a nasty headwind.  It was pretty brutal, and did my best but my legs were just dead.  2 mile cooldown with Crystal, then stretched out.  Did everything I humanly could, but just never felt right.  Splits were: 18:54 (6:12, 6:22, 6:20), 19:32 (6:29, 6:39, 6:24).  Yuck.  Started to really evaluate some of the ups and downs of this block, and looking at where my opportunities to improve and have decided to really evaluate and monitor my nutrition.  So I downloaded "Myfitnesspal" app, and will start to see what is going on and if there are areas I can improve on.  There are no reasons at this point why I should feel like I'm plateued and struggling with workouts I know I can do.

Saturday, May 11th - 6 miles.  Ran with Colby and Crystal bright and early on Old Faithful.  My legs were pretty pooped, and not surprisingly those two crazies pushed the pace.  Never felt that comfortable, but was fine overall - just tired.  45:50 total, with a fat negative split going in.  Afterwards, did the 7 minute workout that I had sent to Crystal.  We hammered it out, and definitely did some work.  Drove home to Peoria to hang out with the family for Mother's Day.

Sunday, May 12th - 14 miles (10 miles, then 10 x 1 minute hills).  Drove back after an enormous brunch at Kickapoo Wineries.  Was pretty exhausted, and not wanting to run but Crystal had negotiated a run with me so knocked it out.  10 miles with her towards SIUE on an absolutely GORGEOUS day, and felt pretty nice and relaxed in the process.  Ran in to watch the end of the thrilling Players Championship, then went outside to do my hill workout which I had put off (surprise, surprise).  Anyways, the workout was 10 x 1 minute at 1-2 mile effort on hills.  Found a nice incline nearby, then executed the workout with a slow jog back.  Felt tired, but happy to get this over with.  50 miles this week, 86 miles in May, 769 miles in 2013.

Monday, May 13rd - 4 miles.  Late night run at home - 270 route and some change.  33:21 I believe, and felt pretty easy.  Nice and cool at night.

Tuesday, May 14th - 6 miles.  Holy hot!  92 degrees and sunny, an all time STL record high!  Joined Crystal, Craig, and Megan at the SLU track and warmed up in these sauna like conditions.  Crystal had already done her workout, so I jumped in and helped pace Megan through her 400 meter workout.  Cooldown at the end, and lost a few lbs. from sweat.  Definitely not used to this weather, and not really excited about this sudden change either.

Will give my scheduled workout a go later this evening.  Another scorcher out there, and will probably wait till late in the evening when it cools down.