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!!!