It's a cool, cool summer...

Bix 7 results, Mo versus Bolt in 600 meters, 2012 race reports.

Wednesday, July 24th - ~11 miles.  Queeny Park run after work for my workout.  I was trying to go during lunch, but work got too busy and decided to do before Big River guy's night.  Workout was fartlek - 3:30 min on (tempo to 5K pace), 1:30 off for 35 minutes with 20 minutes warmup/cooldown.  Ran from the store to Queeny and tacked on some miles.  Kyle told me to run the perimeter trail and always take a right hand turn, but I got lost and ended up running on some really nasty hills and pretty much threw time out the window and went by effort.  It didn't seem like I was moving too fast either, sadly :(  By the 5th repeat, I was walking some of my rest because my legs were just destroyed.  I felt like I was climbing for the majority of my run, and my legs aren't strong enough to do the steep hills of Queeny.  Finished out the workout feeling slightly dejected, then to add insult to injury I got lost.  I kept circling this stupid lake, and wasn't making any progress moving in the direction towards the entrance of the park.  After consulting with numerous people, eventually made my way out and ran an extra 20-30 minutes.  Pooped!  Breakfast: banana, apple, hard boiled egg.  Lunch: not much with work being crazy!  Dinner: Grilled Cheese w/bacon and chips.

Thursday, July 25th - 5 miles.  Late recovery run for me.  Legs were complete poop.  I don't remember time, but it was super slow!  Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, banana.  Lunch: Pad Thai at Thai Kitchen (oops, but I was super hungry!!!).  Dinner: Salmon and rice.

Friday, July 26th - 10 miles.  Ran with Crystal bright and early.  Quick 1 mile to her place, then we jumped onto Old Faithful out and back for 4 more.  Talked her into 1 more neighborhood mile, since we were in midst of great conversation and great weather, then I ran home and did the 270 loop to top off my 10!  1:22:08 total, and felt pretty good in the process even picking up the pace slightly the last couple miles.  Breakfast: bagel, banana, apple.  Lunch: Footlong oven roasted chicken breast sub with spinach leaves, onion, green peppers, cucumbers, and avocado on 5 grain wheat.  Dinner: PI pizza with Joe, Maria, and Tim.  About the worst thing I can possibly eat, but was sinfully delightful!

Saturday, July 27th - 7 miles.  Ran with Megan to do her belated track workout.  Nice, sunny morning, and we ran up to the track and did 4x1000 meters at 5K pace.  She hit 5:14, 5:02, 5:12, 5:18 (goal was 5:17 which is ~8:28 min/mile pace), and we concentrated on her running by feel and using her watch which is an area we need to work on.  Legs were kind of pooped, and was getting hot by the end of our run.  Afterwards, went up to the Cyclery to pick up my new bike!  Rode 10 miles on the roads and trails towards Troy, and was definitely enjoying moving faster on the trail, but the bike seat will take a long time to get used to!  Breakfast: leftover pizza.  Lunch: cereal.  Dinner: seasoned chicken thighs, brown rice, small salad with bleu cheese and garbanzo beans.

My new toy!

Sunday, July 28th - 12 miles.  Ran late morning with Colby on a sunny morning.  Typically running at 11 a.m. in late July is a death sentence, but Mother Nature's reprieve on us has been a welcome treat.  Colby had 65 minutes easy, so we did out and back towards Home Depot.  About halfway through, I was getting really tired and started to struggle.  We turned around at 7:30's pace at that point, but at the 6th mile I had to slow down a little.  We finished, but my legs were tore up.  Went out later to finish the last 3.5 miles solo - fast finish wasn't going to happen today.  Colby and I did 8.5 in roughly 1:05, the rest was low to mid 8's pace.  Breakfast: bowl of Kashi cereal and juice.  Lunch: Pepperoni lean pocket (ugh but was on the go with impromptu golf).  Dinner: grilled hamburgers, pasta salad, and fresh tomatoes and pepper.  56 miles for the week, 180 miles for July, 1352 miles for 2013.  Great week!

Monday, July 29th - 7 miles.  Big River group run with Crystal on a cool, overcast and sort of rainy day.  To change up pace, we ran the 7 mile loop backwards which was a welcome change of scenery.  Crystal told me I could set the pace since my legs were dead, and we started low 8's and felt decent especially running down the huge hill we usually finish up.  Ran through the park, and we were definitely picking up the pace as we headed towards River Des Peres.  As we were getting closer to the end of that part of the run, saw the lead pack of the fast runners quickly approaching - looked like a pack of gazelles running towards us!  Was nice to run by everyone, and we made out way towards Francis Park and back to the store.  One guy we ran into at the stoplight at Hampton was wearing a hoodie - Crystal and I weren't going to let a dude wearing a hoodie in late July overtake us on a run.  Last 2 miles were uphill, and ran into Colby and Tim and finished with them.  53:30 overall.  Afterwards, went to Soha for Ryan's 50th birthday!  Breakfast: leftover burrito, banana.  Lunch/snack: Footlong oven roasted chicken breast sub with spinach leaves, onion, green peppers, cucumbers, and avocado on 5 grain wheat.  Dinner: BLT with sauteed zucchini and squash.

Legs are pooped.  Easy run today, then mile repeats workout on Wednesday.

Summer Days

Tyson Gay (shaking head), Jeff Eggleson rocks RNR Chi, Mo runs 3:28, NYC having problems filling charity slots, Team Hoyt wins an ESPY, 45 year running streak ends, female pooper.

A little distraught from the recent news that Tyson Gay was caught doping.  I thought he was one of the good guys of the sport, but apparently he is a cheater now.  It's difficult to know who to believe anymore, and disappointing that the athletes I look up to are taking short cuts like this.  Hoping there is some good resolution out of this, as the story is still in its infancy and many questions remain.

I also thought the NYC Marathon Charity story was interesting, given I was really close to pulling the trigger.  It's crazy to think that some of the major charities are only half full on their entries, but they are going to have to make adjustments to the fundraising requirements as the early November deadline gets closer.  I think that raising 3K requires as much time as possible, and it's sad to hear that the major charity problems are having problems.  I hope that this this isn't attributed to the Boston bombings either...

Tuesday, July 8^th – 6 miles. 

Wednesday, July 9^th – 6 miles.  Ran on the SLU track, and helped Megan with her workout.  Warmed up on Crystal’s cooldown, then did a mile with Craig before doing the rest solo.  It was HOT outside!

Thursday, July 10^th – 4 miles - having problems remembering this one, but I think Crystal and I ran 4 early before I flew to Chicago for work.  Old Faithful route nice and easy (~8:30’s pace)

Friday, July 11^th – 7 miles (2 a.m., 5 p.m.).  Ran around Naperville area bright and early before work, then headed downtown to spend the rest of the weekend with Anne and Ben and Barrel.  It was a really nice afternoon, and decided to head out for some more miles.  Well, there were a TON of people on the beach, so headed out a little more and soaked in the atmosphere.  Just an awesome afternoon to be outside, and was relishing every step of the way.  On the last mile back, some dude decided to pass me, so picked it up and worked off him headed towards the Fullerton exit on Lakeshore.  We were flying past all the bikers, and a lot of weaving was going on since there was a ton of traffic with all the people out and about.  He got me, but I made him work for it!  Little Goat diner at night for dinner – DELICIOUS!!!

Saturday, July 12^th – 8 miles.  Ran with Ben and Anne on Lakeshore headed north, then did a couple miles solo headed south.  Very sunny and a ton of people outside, so was great to have company.  My favorite trail of all time!!!  P.M. – Cubs game to celebrate Barrel’s bday.  May have celebrated a little too hard, but was still an amazing time!

Sunday, July 13^th – 8 miles at night.  Late flight back in, and was pooped.  Quite honestly a miracle I got this in with the long weekend.  I don’t remember much details from this, but looped around 270 and through Glen Carbon.  Nice and slow.  43 miles this week, 76 miles in July, 1248 miles in 2013.

Monday, July 14^th – 6 miles.  Drawing blanks on Monday and Tuesday, but I know my mileage.  One of these days I think I ran with Pat and Crystal on Old Faithful, nice and easy pace.  

Tuesday, July 15^th – 6 miles.  I believe I did 3 miles solo, then ran 3 with Megan on our 270 route.  7:30's pace for my miles, which felt fine.  Happy 3rd Birthday to Franklin!

Wednesday, July 16^th – ~8.5 miles (2 up, 10 x 2 min hard, 1 min easy, 2 down) .  Got in my scheduled workout late in the night, since the weather was disgusting during the day.  It wasn’t much better at night, but at least the sun was down.  The lack of breeze didn’t help things, and it was like I was swimming out there.  Out and back to the trail for warmup, then headed to the roads to hit this fartlek.  Goal pace/effort was 5K (5:50-6 min), and did my best to maintain.  I ran towards St. Boniface Church on the other side of town, so hit the backroads and was navigating where the traffic was least and the roads were relatively flat.  Made it a point to loop around the area so I would finish 2 miles out so I wouldn’t cheat on my cooldown.  Towards the 7^th rep or so, was getting really, really tired and worn out, and ended up walking a lot of the “easy” minutes.  Threw up on my 9^th rep, and tried to regain my bearings and make sure I wasn’t in the “I need to quit” zone (was not at all).  Made it to the end, and literally jogged home and laid in the shower for a long time to cool off.  Ran roughly 2.5 miles on the fartlek which was on the lower end, but got completed nonetheless.

Thursday, July 17^th – 0!  Didn’t make it up in the morning, and ended up playing golf in the afternoon which took a lot longer than I thought (we teed off right behind a tournament).  With all the time in the sun, I was pretty drained and ended up in bed when I got home.  Legs were trashed anyways, so the rest is not a bad thing.  On a brighter note, Kyle and I played at Far Oaks today and I shot 77 (35/42) – the cool part was I was one under at the turn – I have never been under par after 9, so pretty cool personal achievement.  Of course, it all fell apart on the back nine, but still had it going for a bit J

Friday, July 18^th – 10 miles (6 miles a.m., 4 miles p.m.).  Morning run with Crystal and Jon – Out and back on Old Faithful, and my legs were pretty pooped.  Slow starting out, but picked it up to low 8’s by the end.  51 minutes and some change, and we negative split about a minute coming back in.  Pretty pooped afterwards – I think lingering effects from Wed night’s workout.  In the evening, went out and hit my fartlek workout (10 x 30 seconds hard, 1 minute off).  Easy mile out to the trail, then did the fartlek which felt ok (5K pace for the hard), then mile down.  I got about 2 miles on the fartlek which was what I was aiming for.  Nasty humid outside as usual.

Saturday, July 19th – 8 miles (4 miles a.m., 4 miles afternoon (1 up, 10 x 30 sec hard, 1 min easy, 1 down)).  Easy run at 7 a.m. on Troy out and back, even though I was sleepwalking.  Nothing crazy to report, and ran for 32-34 minutes at easy effort.  Afternoon run was a bit more painful – 95 degrees and ridiculous sun.  My legs were pooped a half mile into the run, and basically jogged the entire way.  I seriously think I lost 5 lbs. in sweat – it was that nasty.  37 minutes or so, and the longest cold shower I have ever taken.  At night, Megan and I went to Julie and Nikki’s wedding and had a great time celebrating this momentous occasion with all our friends!

Sunday, July 21^st – 10 miles.  1:17:08 total.  Ran with Crystal, Jon, and Kyle on an Old Faithful out and back.  It was nasty humid but overcast and cooler than the last week or so (80’s).  Coach Kyle has adjusted my long run pace to be faster (7:30-8 min/mile range) versus the sloth-like pace I have grown accustomed to, so was a little nervous but figured this run wouldn’t be too tortuous.  Fortunately, I was right, and we motored through ok.  Good conversation the entire way, and we were at the turnaround before I knew it.  The group did 9 miles, and I tacked on another mile at the end to finish my workout.  Legs were tired afterwards, but happy to get it done and finish out a good week.  48 miles this week,  124 miles in July, 1296 miles in 2013.

Monday, July 22^nd – 6 miles.  Ran late at night after the sun went down.  My old 6 mile loop around town, and nice and slow.  Legs were pooped, but got done.  Pretty nasty humid still, but much more tolerable than I thought.  No watch, but somewhere between 51-55 minutes.  On a side note, we have been watching Game of Thrones lately.  There are some awful, creepy characters called the White Walkers that basically kill humans that are in their territory (a heavily wooded area).  It’s a nice thought and visual to have at night when running next to a heavily wooded area and hearing noises of some creatures closeby thinking that you are about to be attacked and killed at any moment.  Thanks a lot, Game of Thrones.

Tuesday, July 23^rd – 5 miles.  Got home late from the Cardinals game, and did 270 loop and some change.  It cooled down quite a bit and was probably in the 70’s when I ran.  Was dragging, but that may have been the result of a couple hot dogs (National Hot Dog Day!) and brews from earlier that night – oops.  40-45 minutes (no watch).

Couldn’t get up this morning to do my workout.  The weather was in the 60’s and amazing, so I missed out on a great opportunity L  But will attack this fartlek at lunch, then enjoy Big River guy’s night at the West County store!  Stepped on a scale last week, and was shocked to see the number and even more shocked that I am closer to Clydesdale division than I like!  So will be monitoring my diet heavily, and may incorporate my meals into my blog as a food log as well.

Massive Catchup

Tour de France runner, what's next for Mary Cain?, Darth Vader runs Death Valley (this sounds like a cheezy porn movie), Peachtree results, Desi to run Berlin, and Ryan Hall returns to God as his coach.

Yes I’m back.  Yes I haven’t updated in over a month.  Yes I suck, and I promise never to go this long without updating.  With all those apologies out of the way, I did keep a log on mileage but have forgotten a ton of details since it has literally been over a month since I've updated my blog.  June was a busy month of running, and did accomplish some nice things and have officially righted the ship just in time for this awful summer weather to attack.  We had some great fall-like weather for a couple weeks, but then Mother Nature unleashed her fury and we have been suffering the last week with some 100+ heat index days/nights.  Without further adieu, here is a quick summary of my running since we last left off:

June 3-9th – 48 miles.  Back on the wagon again!  Noted workout was the ladder workout at SLU: 400-800-1200-800-400 (75/2:38/3:57/2:38/75 goal splits) (73/2:36/3:58/2:37/74 actual).  Legs were pooped, but was pleased overall.  Weekend workout was 10 x 30 second hills hard, and did a long run with Colby, Jon, and Crystal this weekend on our Old Faithful to Home Depot route.  Was pretty nasty humid outside, and started kind of late so felt the wrath of the sun as we started up the Meridian Hill.  Stopped at Township Park to soak my head, but was overall hurting pretty bad since my legs were just about dead.  Wanted to keep the pace honest with all the cheetahs I was running with, but ultimately got sucked in as we were hitting high 7's through most of the run.  Cut off a little early and ended up doing a mile less than the group, but we ended up hitting a decent run albeit I was a mess.  62 miles in June, 928 miles in 2013.

June 10-16^th – 46 miles.  Noted runs were morning track workout with Jon (2 x (5 x 300) – 59 second goal, which I hit everyone within 1-2 seconds)) which was done before work and in the company of a crapload of women (while all the lazy men were sleeping!!!).  Ran a 5K for my tempo after an ok from Coach Kyle – the covered bridge 5K over in Glen Carbon, which I thought was an out and back on the trail but turned out to be up some evil hills on parts of the trail I had never been on.  Felt ok with a 6:11 opening mile, but then we hit a nasty stretch where we had to climb up this windy, steep path for a quarter of a mile or so.  Turnaround around a cone (I HATE those!!!), then navigated down the trail, which at this point had a ton of people coming up on it, so lost some time weaving through the traffic and my pacer (wicked fast 11 year old (who is a low 18 5ker!) who weaved his 50 lb. body much easier through the crowds than I did).  Cruise control coming back, and coasted in for 3^rd overall and age group winner.  19:34 was my time, and missed my goal time by about 10-15 seconds (hills+crowds accounted for most of that), but the effort was there.  108 miles in June, 974 miles in 2013.

Awesome pic of me from Pat!

Mon – Tue – 12 miles.

Wednesday, June 19^th – 6 miles (3 x 800, 3 minutes rest).  This was the workout I had circled on my schedule when I got it.  Was a bit nervous when I saw the desired splits (2:38, 2:34, 2:28), but felt relatively confident I could make it through most of this workout.  Quick warmup before hitting the track, and really had problems controlling myself over the first 400 of each rep (72-74 seconds each time).  But felt pretty controlled and tried to gear myself towards the last rep.  On the last one, completely crapped out after the first lap and I was done – absolutely 0 legs, and tried to restart a few minutes later but couldn’t do it.  The crazy pace going out too fast just killed me.  It was demoralizing, but an important lesson learned - don't go out in 4:48/mile pace when you are trying to hit 30 seconds slower.  Cooled down afterwards.  Splits were: 2:37, 2:33, 1:16/1:16.

Thur – Sat – 18 miles. 

Sunday, June 23^rd – 9 miles.  Ran the Maryville 10K course with Colby (5K course looped twice), then incorporated my 3 mile tempo workout into it.  It was nasty humid outside, and the course hit parts of the trail by Drost Park and looped around downtown Maryville and through the Villa Marie Winery.  We “warmed up” pretty quickly at low 7 minute pace (god dammit Colby), then I dropped off to grab some Gatorade and stretch out before hitting the course backwards.  I don’t know my splits other than the first mile (6:22 UGH), but it was very painful afterwards and I finished somewhere below 19 minutes.  Not happy with this, but also kind of beat up from a long week.  45 miles this week, 153 in June, 1019 in 2013.

Monday, June 24^th – 6 miles.

Tuesday, June 25^th – 6 miles.  Last Macklind Mile workout (8 x 200 at mile pace).  All over the place with pacing, but hit 33-38 seconds for all.  Stupid kids at SLU were mouthing off to me for not sharing the lane, which caused a few sub 35 second outliers and almost a temper tantrum by me.  Finished up my workout with helping Megan through her workout, then a quick cooldown.  Feeling pretty positive for the weekend - the PR should be a gimmee - just how low I can go is the question?  Goals were set for the race - "C" goal - PR; "B" goal - sub 5:15; "A" goal, sub 5:10.

Wednesday, June 26^th – 6 miles.  Going away dinner at Cunetto's with Tomi, who is moving to Michigan :(

Thursday, June 27^th – 6 miles

Friday, June 28^th – 3 miles easy.  Ran around the neighborhood nice and slow.  Race nerves starting to hit…

Saturday, June 29^th – 4 miles (1 up, MACKLIND MILE 5:06 PR, 2 down).  Perfect morning for the Macklind Mile – 70’s and sunny with a slight breeze.  Got downtown and was feeling pretty nervous, but felt pretty good.  Warmed up slowly and did some drills before lining up and starting the race!  The course had changed slightly since I had last ran, and the start was further up than it was before.  First quarter, you go down this massive incline and levels out before hitting a nice incline until the halfway point.  I was on pace through the first quarter, but started to get really tired until I finally crested the hill at Chippewa.  Legs were really beat up at that point, and wasn’t sure I was going to make it since I was tired.  Hit the downhill on the 3^rd quarter like it was nobody’s business (big recovery), then tried to maintain form and keep going as hard as I could.  The downhill was blissful joy - the burn was there, but so much different and a lot more tolerable than the usual "piano on my back" feeling.  At this point, I had almost no one to work with, so drafted to the left side of the road and soaked in as much cheers as I could from all the Big River folk that were volunteering/spectating to fuel me for the finish.  Coach Tim was biking and screaming at me to use my arms, then saw the finish approaching and pushed towards the finish for a 11 second PR!  Got my post race beverage(s), then headed back up to watch the women’s open then the elite racers.  Crystal ended up finishing 2^nd in the elite race with a 4:49 PR(!!!!), then quick cooldown with her, Pat, and Harry, and then the celebration began!  Very happy with the race – the only thing was I never felt like I red-lined, so I think I left a few seconds out there.  Next year, sub 5 minutes!  2:34/2:32 splits for the mile.

Crystal and I postrace

Ryan and I

Coach Kyle and I

Sunday, June 30^th – 4 miles.  Late run around town – 270 loop and some change.  S-L-O-W!  35 miles this week, 188 in June, 1172 in 2013.

Monday, July 1^st – 6 miles.  Group run with Craig and Mike.  Felt like complete crap, but headed out with the guys for 6 miles.  Wanted to go slow, but we hit some quick times at some parts (oops).  Pretty beat afterwards – recovery is slow at my age sadly.  48:17 overall.

Tuesday, July 2^nd – 6 miles (2.5 up, 1 mile race pace, 2.5 down).  Rainy afternoon with Kyle and Hamel over by Kyle’s place.  His terrain is a super hilly area, and we traversed slowly towards the track so I could hit my impromptu workout.  Anyways, legs were feeling pretty tired, but hit the track hoping to hit around 6:15ish.  Hit 6:04 with pretty even splits, then headed back.  Nice and easy feeling for the most part - hoping for a good day for Thursday's race.

Wednesday, July 3rd – 4 miles.

Thursday, July 4^th – 8 miles (FREEDOM 4 MILER – 26:40 – 49/1321).  A nice morning, but the sun made it a lot warmer than it could have been.  Warmed up with Julie, then realized my Garmin completely died and was lost without any speed indication other than my Timex (non GPS) and the mile markers, so decided to work off Julie who was shooting for low 6 minute pace, and I figured I could get set for the first mile before getting settled in.  Well, the course changed a lot from last year’s out and back and flat, and we had quite a few more turns, a very fast first mile and a very tricky 2^nd mile which was basically straight up hill for a quarter of it.  Anyways, breezed through the first mile and was sitting on Julie, when I realized we hit 5:40 and roughly 30 seconds ahead of where I should have been at.  Well, as soon as we hit the hills coming up from the Riverfront, I was completely toast – my legs were shot and was just struggling, and tried to work off people but didn’t have the strength.  The second mile split of 6:58 effectively ended my day, and was running pretty much solo through the last half of the race.  Not a very good effort, but did what I could.  Cooled down and watched everyone else finish before heading to Rooster for brunch with Crystal and Megan.  At night, went to the Fair for the first time in almost 15 years with Kyle and Hilary, then watched an awesome fireworks display literally under the Arch!

Final stretch of the Freedom 4 Miler

Friday, July 6^th – 0!  Day off.  Headed back to Peoria to see the family over the weekend.

Saturday, July 7^th – 3 miles.  Ran at home after playing golf with Dad and Ben early in the morning.  Was hot, humid, and pretty awful to be outside by the time Megan pulled me out into the hilly terrains of Peoria.  She only wanted to do 3, and I pushed for 4 but she wanted to stick to the original plan.  So countered by telling her we were gonna keep up the pace coming in, which it was a battle but ended up being a GREAT tempo for her!  9:13 average (splits were all within 10 seconds of each other) on super hilly, hot/humid conditions, 2 days after a race.  Quite a success!

Sunday, July 8^th – 6 miles.  Pulled Megan out for a quick run late at night.  Another awful, awful weather night (86 and humid), and there was barely any breeze which made it even more excruciating.  270 loop with her, then I did again solo at a harder clip.  Felt lethargic.  33 miles this week  33 for July, 1205 in 2013.

Monday, July 9^th – ~4 miles.  Ran with Pat and did an improvised group run route.  It was quite awful outside (~92 and humid), and felt like I was moving backwards during the run.  It was absolutely terrible, and I started getting chills and goosebumps afterwards which leads me to believe I need to hydrate more (which seems preposterous because all I do is drink water all day!!!).  34:49 overall for ~4.2 miles. 

New plan starts very soon, and am basically running easy mileage for the next week to get mentally prepared.  The focus will be Mo’ Cowbell ½ Marathon, and my long overdue assault on a sub 1:25 half marathon!!!  During this time, I will be carefully monitoring my diet and really, really, really trying to keep myself disciplined in all the little things that ultimately add up (diet, corework, stretching, sleep).  I’m on the right track with the running, but definitely missing out on some great opportunities to improve by focusing on those other areas.  Off to Chitown tomorrow for work and to spend time with Anne/Ben and my favorite running trails, Lakeshore!!!