Boston announces its entrants...

Forest Park attack, Boston uses 1:38 cut off for 2014 field, reactions to this, and half marathon turned into marathon winner.

Some comments from the articles above - the Forest Park situation is a little scary seeing how many late night runs I've done in the area.  I am a little perplexed at people wanting to rob runners of all people.  It's not like I'm carrying all these valuables with me - generally I'm half naked with barely any clothing - not holding wads of cash and tons of jewelry.  Most runners barely carry anything - maybe a set of keys, and quite frankly a ton of people have lockers in the complex so chances are they have nothing on hand.  You aren't going to get much money seeing no one carries their wallet during running, and at best you get a set of car keys to a car parked somewhere miles away from that location, and then you have to figure out which car it is on top of it.  Of course, most robbers don't think that far ahead which is why they are idiots.  And then they mess with the wrong runner (who happens to be a cop) and get shot and killed, go figure.  Who's at fault here???

A little aggravated at the Boston situation - I had two friends who missed out on entry because they were penalized by the size of the field trying to get in.  One was a 3:03 guy, and missed by 20 seconds or so.  The other missed by a minute.  It's frustrating because they had absolutely no control of the situation other than what was dictated to them - the qualification times that were set by the BAA and what they aimed for, trained for, and ultimately achieved.  While I understand this year is a unique situation, I'm still aggravated with the whole system and maybe they need to look into changing qualification times again or balance out the times for age groups better.  While very challenging as is, we can't have these messy situations happening again - and now those runners, the Boston qualifiers, have to redo the process and spend another 4-6 months of their lives trying to hit this goal, if not 5 minutes better.  Not as easy as it looks, either.

Tuesday, September 24th - 0!  Slept in during the morning, and came home with intentions of running my mile repeats.  Well, felt like complete crap and had some awful stomach pains which led to throwing up and lying down all evening, so went to bed instead.  The long night's sleep was a God-send!

Wednesday, September 25th - 14 miles (4 miles A.M., 10 miles P.M. (8 x 1 mile at 6:25-6:30, 1 minute break).  Woke up early and couldn't sleep, so went for an easy run (270 loop and some change).  Had mile repeats at half marathon pace scheduled for my workout for the evening.  Warm and humid, so waited a little bit and headed out closer to 7 p.m.  Tim had a 5 mile tempo, so we warmed up together and both of us ran on the trails towards Troy and back.  It got dark a lot faster than I thought, and we were hauling butt to make it back to the trail entrance where I did my last 3 repeats.  Struggled through reps 2-5, and really thought I was going to not hit this workout.  But once I got out to Village Circle, I felt pretty good and was moving pretty well - maybe being out in the open and having some good air flow helped?  I am hoping so at least, because the last 3 miles felt a hell of a lot easier and smoother than the others.  Very pleased with the workout, and the victory jog home felt great.  Splits were: 6:27, 6:29, 6:29, 6:31, 6:31, 6:23, 6:23, 6:19.

Easy running for the next couple days.  Coach Kyle has instructed me to really monitor how I feel, and the 10K this weekend is not for certain.  Looking forward to a nice, recovery run later tonight!

Italian Fest 5K Recap

Marathon runner books, elites guide this fall, Kipsang's plot to take down the world record, Ryan Hall, the Kenyan, Boston Marathon director interview, the idiotic Pam Anderson, compeand sad news from the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

I was reading the Pam Anderson article, and was just shaking my head.  I wish her the best in her endeavors, but she is getting herself into something she has no idea about.  Having her long run at 10 miles only 6 weeks out of one of the most difficult marathons is just setting herself up for failure and inevitably a lot of pain.  It may be all lovely those first 5-10 miles, but definitely gets tougher.  If she breaks 7 hours, I will be impressed.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324807704579085084130007974?mg=reno64-wsj.html%3Fdsk%3Dy

Lastly, I thought this article was really interesting.  And it pretty much added to the idea of today's generation where we award everyone for participation (everyone's a winner!).  Kind of stupid if you ask me, and we wonder why this generation settles for anything and why people aren't as competitive anymore.  I think people should take pride in winning age group awards and consider that an accomplishment (isn't that why they call it awards?), but idea of getting a medal because I completed a 5K is pretty ridiculous.  I would rather have the race take $5 off my registration quite frankly.  Prize money makes races competitive which is why you see the fastest people come out when there are good pots.  

Thursday, September 19th - 6 miles.  Pat, Crystal, and I did 4 on the trails then I did 2 solo later on.  Pedestrian pace, my legs were pooped from the Wednesday workout.  We kicked to hit 35:48 on our 4 miler which shows how slow we were going.

Friday, September 20th - 4 miles - I don't remember this one.

Saturday, September 21st - 6 miles (ITALIAN FEST 5K - 19:08, 5/335 overall, 1/12 age group).  Gorgeous morning to race, and was looking forward to having a good time out at a race I haven't done since 2013.  Got up and did a quick warm up and some dynamic stretching/drills before getting started.  Legs felt like garbage, so wasn't expecting too much other than a hard effort on the roads.  Flat out and back course that runs through a neighborhood before headed back on finishing on main street, where a big festival is going on all weekend.  Was sitting in 6th place after the first mile (5:58 split) and slowly picked off a couple more.  Reached the turnaround which was set up very weird around a cul-de-sac, and had to slow down a little to regroup before heading back.  All of a sudden, this race turned very tactical as I was working in a 3 man group and I dropped pace to conserve energy (1st and 2nd place guys were gone at this point) so it was just us).  Caught up to the 3rd place guy and told him let's finish strong, so we worked together coming from the 2nd mile in.  Some older guy had caught up and was shouting encouragement to the passing runners, which really irritated me for some reason, and I couldn't shake him.  We all ran together, and with about 0.4 miles to go I surged and created a small gap.  Turned onto a side street with those two hot on my tail, and the crowd shouting at me to pick it up.  Turned onto Main Street and threw in another surge, and had about 200 meters to go to the finish.  Looked over my left shoulder and saw the older guy and thought I shook the other one and let up slightly, and he surged ahead to nip me at the finish.  Was so pissed at myself for making a tactical mistake like that, but had so much fun in that duel!  Fun, fun, times.  Slow cooldown with Megan and Colby to finish it out.  Last race as a 33 year old!

Spoils of War

Sunday, September 22nd - 0!  Happy Birthday to me!  Opted to play golf in the morning instead of running my long run.  Very pathetic I know, but I felt like crap and wasted a day for my own selfish reasons.  Blah. On a sad note, Old Faithful is closed so they can repave and fix it up through next fall.  While we have multiple running options,  35.5 miles this week, 158.5 miles in September, 1789.5 miles in 2013.

Monday, September 23rd - 6 miles.  Gorgeous afternoon after work, and did a run solo on the trails.  Out and back towards Troy, and got heckled by a group of teeny-boopers who were "admiring" my shorts.  Very annoying, and almost stopped to curse them out but held my tongue and kept going.  Legs were rusty but felt smooth once I got on the trails, and hammered it out.  7:55 average pace.  Ate a ton of ice cream at night, and feel bloated and like crap.

Looking at running the Flat as a Pancake 10K this Saturday as a pace run for next weekend.  I haven't got into much pace work, and I think it would be a good last workout to feel comfortable at race pace.

Old I.T. Bands

Ed Whitlock continues to amaze, Mo to run London?, 13 year old girl guns for OT qualifier in Indy, Mo's shoes, analyzing Mo, and Boston Marathon registration pretty much filled up.

Monday, September 16th - ~3.5 miles.  Ran the Run for the Hills course with Crystal, Pat, and Craig.  The course lived up to its name as it's not very flat and pretty tricky in most parts.  Legs were complete garbage and my IT is a mess so hobbled through the entire run.  Walked a half mile or so to the car to finish it out.  ~8:30 pace overall

Tuesday, September 17th - 4 miles.  SLU track with Crystal and Craig.  My IT was a real mess, and considered doing workout but was quickly shot down since I could barely walk.  Jogged 1 mile warmup with Crystal and Craig on an overcast, spitting rain type of evening.  Leg was killing me, so ended up doing 3 miles easy on the grass infield while everyone finished up.  No idea of pace, but somewhere in the 8:15-8:30 range I am guessing.  TONS of stretching afterwards - my right leg feels like there is a steel rod inserted to the side, as I have 0 mobility right now because of the soreness.

Wednesday, September 18th - 12 miles (1 up, 3x3 miles at half marathon pace, 2 down).  The weather has taken a slight turn for the worse, as the temperature and humidity shot back up.  Hobbled around all morning, and spent most of the day stretching and finally got out to hit this workout at 10 p.m.  The trails were too dark, so decided to do on the roads.  My workout was 3 x 3 miles (6:25-6:30 pace), and after a quick warmup got right at it.  Well, I never really loosened up, and the pace felt more like 5K effort.  I ran through Glen Carbon and finished my first rep past the covered bridge.  The downhill last half mile pretty much salvaged the first rep, as I was already pooped at that point, sadly.  Pretty soaked from the humidity, and felt a lot more comfortable on the 2nd rep, which was pretty flat and actually passed a runner on the roads who was slaving away as I was.  I felt more in rhythm, but really struggled at the end.  My last rep was pretty much a death march - ran back through town and was pretty much dying and blew up on the last mile which sadly was also a little net downhill (ended up on 159 headed towards 270 - didn't want the uphill finish towards home, as I was hurting pretty bad at this point).  I tried to cheat, but it didn't work!  I never felt comfortable, and was a little discouraged when I was done but also very glad it was over.  2 mile cool down, 2 Gatorades, and massive amounts of stretching.  Splits were: 19:18 (6:24, 6:29, 6:24), 19:30 (6:30, 6:30, 6:30), 19:40 (6:30, 6:27, 6:43).

Lots of easy running the rest of this week, then have impromptu signed up for the Italian Fest 5K this weekend for fun.  One of my favorite races, and very flat and fast.  I've missed it the last few years because of conflicting travel, but I'll be here this year and the weather looks good.  Last race as a 33 year old!

A Duel for the Ages

Rock 'n Roll Philly, Great North Run recap, and more about one of the greatest duels this year.  And the new Garmin 620/220 which is coming out later this fall.

Thursday, September 12th - 4 miles.  Ran after work with Crystal on Old Faithful on a sunny and warm evening.  Started out pretty slow, but picked it up at the end to the point where we made ourselves slow down.  Let me add that running only 4 miles is very, very nice.  31:50 or so total.

Friday, September 13th - 11 miles.  I moved back my marathon pace run to Friday, because of the amazing weather that was scheduled.  Crystal and I coordinated our workouts to do in the morning (she had 5 mile tempo) so we would see each other.  Well, I woke up with some of the worst joint/IT pain in the world, and hobbled outside to try to jog it out.  It was apparent it wasn't getting better, so opted to pace Crystal on bike for her workout to try to loosen up for later.  So rode down to Village Circle on a very brisk morning, and knocked out about 8 miles on bike with her.  It was so brisk that I wore a long sleeve shirt for the first time since March.  Crystal KILLED her workout, as her goal pace was 6:00 min/mile, and she hit 29:46 total on the trails.  And that included a repeat of her Last Chance for Marathon finish, but that can be blamed from some antibiotics that she had been taking.  Stretched all day, then made it out in the evening to knock out this workout.  10 mile marathon pace run at 6:45-6:55 pace with 2 mile cutdown at the end.  I had this workout (minus the cutdown) in an earlier block, so I knew I could hit it which is always good mentally going into a workout like this.  So because of the fading sunlight, I did the world's fastest 2 minute warm up and started for the trails from my place.  Very cool evening, and my strategy to postpone this workout was justified.  Crystal met me at about 1.5 miles (she had agreed to pace me on bike and hand over fluids if needed), and she set pace for me as we took off for Troy out and back.  Made the turn around at Drost Park, and I was feeling very smooth and could maintain conversation fairly easily.  Had a small stop at a cross walk for a car and at then turnaround, but felt fine and very controlled.  When we crossed back past the bridge headed for the trail entrance, I felt like I was starting to work a little.  The last 2 miles, we picked it up slowly and headed towards Crystal's neighborhood which was much more open and flat/fast, and she led me towards a fast finish.  Very pleased with this workout, but not pleased to find out my crappy math subtracted a mile so I actually only did 9 miles instead of 10.  I don't have my watch handy, but between Crystal's and I's garmin we had 6:48-6:50 avg. pace with last 2 miles at 6:42, 6:32.  Easy cooldown around the neighborhood to finish it out.

Saturday, September 14th - 7 miles.  Early run with Crystal on Old Faithful out and back.  Another gorgeous morning to run, with a ton of company on the trails.  It's quite amazing how many people come out to exercise when it's absolutely perfect weather.  Legs felt like jello starting out, but loosened up and we were cruising at the end.  7:52 avg. pace with a pretty slow first mile.  Supposed to be recovery, but fortunately felt fine at the end.  Hop in the City Schlafly Beer Festival in the afternoon!

Sunday, September 15th - 16 miles.  Not surprisingly, was feeling quite sluggish when I woke up.  Headed over to Crystal's, and did out and back on Old Faithful.  Crystal was in for 14 miles, and my legs felt like garbage.  It was pretty nice when we started, but it was getting noticeably warmer and very sunny.  After the second mile, felt a lot better and loosened up, and we cruised up the Meridian Hill before the turnaround and the wonderful downhill.  Started to really cramp up, and we stopped for water at Miner Park, but the water fountains were turned off.  Proceeded onwards, then had some stomach issues which warranted another impromptu stop, then gutted it out to finish.  Ran 2 miles solo at home to round out the day.  ~7:45 average overall, and very pleased with this run.  51 miles this week, 123 miles in September, 1754.5 miles in 2013.

Tonight, easy mileage at group run, which I haven't attended in awhile.  20 more days till race day!

Massive, Massive Update

Tokyo to host 2020 Olympic Games, Pam Anderson to run NYC, bigger Boston field, Delilah, Chicago Marathon updated security measures, Tegenkamp at USA 20K Championships, Ryan Vail, Mary Wittenberg, Bolt to retire after 2016 Rio Games, Coach Shalane, OK State XC, Chicago Marathon field, the race for Boston registration, Kenenisa Bekele moving up in distance, Mo is lonely, and Rock 'n Roll reducing elite athlete spending and events.

Friday, August 9^th – 0!  Is this a surprise?  By the time I was able to even consider running, it was already over 100 degrees.  Opted for a Dos Equis, and headed back to the craps tables.  Vegas

Saturday, August 10^th – 5 miles.  Tim and I made it up and did a loop around Vegas!  We have said for the last three Vegas trips that we were gonna run at some point, and we finally did!  Of course we pick a 100+ degree day, but what can you do?  Ran around our hotel (Planet Hollywood), and tried to avoid the Strip because there was just too many people, so found a road running parallel that followed the Monorail which ran in the direction of the Strip.  Turned left, and headed away from the Strip (towards the Hard Rock Hotel/Casino) and made our way eventually onto UNLV’s campus (~2 miles away) which we looped around before heading back.  0 shade and super hot, but the dry heat was much better than the humidity we encounter in the Midwest.  Fun run, scenic, and glad to get in some miles.

Sunday, August 11^th – 11 miles.  Last day in Vegas – had a lot of problems sleeping that night, and woke up and decided to get this run over with.  Already in the 90’s when I started in the morning, and ran the same route as the previous day before continuing onwards.  The roads twisted and took me through the city, and I headed out towards the Stratosphere on a basic road before turning around.  The area was getting pretty sketchy, as I continued to see more prostitutes and I’m fairly certain I saw a drug deal go down so I headed back before I got shot by some junkie.  Needless to say, those miles during that stretch were the fastest!  Soaked in the cold shower for a loooong time, and was very, very happy to get in some semblance of a long run.  Was supposed to get in 15 miles, but with 11 miles on the last morning of a long Vegas weekend is the equivalent of 20 miles.  45 miles this week, 79.5 miles in August, 1479.5 miles in 2013.

Chillin at Diablo's

Boom!

August 12^th – August 17^th – 40 miles.  I don’t remember all the details other than the mileage I logged.  My workout was 6 miles at tempo, which I did solo at night on the trails.  Ran Troy to Old Faithful, and basically ran all the way down to almost the Judy Inn.  It was getting pretty dark, so was nice to have that “adrenaline” to work through any tired feelings I had.  Felt pretty controlled initially, but I settled into 6:32-6:33’s in the middle miles which is a little unsettling because I want to be about 5 seconds faster.  The last mile and a quarter were really tough, but pushed through that wall.  Very happy with the workout.  38:59 for the 6 mile tempo.

Sunday, August 18^th – 15 miles.  Death run with Crystal and Jon.  Crystal and I were both feeling like crap, and made it out there starting around 5 p.m. or so.  Nasty humidity and sun – we did Old Faithful to Home Depot for 12, then Jon and I doubled back to get in a few extra.  I knew this was going to be a really bad run when the low 8’s early felt like low 7’s, and the pace kept slowing down more and more until we settled in the mid 8 minute/mile range.  The plan was to hit a fast finish for the last 3, but I don’t think I could have broken 8 minutes let alone run 6:30’s, so just finished the mileage instead.  It was quite a brutal run, but got done which was the main thing.  55 miles this week, 134.5 miles in August, 1534.5 miles in 2013.

Monday, August 19^th – 6 miles.  A.M. run solo around town.  I don’t remember much, but ran Home Depot route on the trail out and back.  50 minutes or so total, then headed into work to work a half day.  Picked up Sean and Mayumi who are in town visiting for the first half of this week!  Walked around a ton downtown, then went up the Arch which I haven’t done in quite a long time.  I forgot how cramped those pods get and with my wonderful fear of heights, I doubt I do this again for a long time.

My STL Tourist Moment in the Arch

Tuesday, August 20^th – 6 miles.  Ran with Sean on the trails at home.  Troy route on a hot, muggy morning.  Averaged 8:30’s overall.  Headed to the Zoo for the afternoon, went to Forest Park and the Cathedral Basilica.  Pretty pooped when I got home – amazing how much walking you can do when sight-seeing!

Sea Lion Tunnel at the STL Zoo - very cool and a must see!

Wednesday, August 21^st – 11 miles.  Actually made it up bright and early for a track workout before it got too hot.  Megan made it out there too, and we warmed up before I jumped into my 10 x 800 (2:50-2:55 goal time, 200 meter jog in between reps) workout.  A little humid outside, and got warmer as the morning went on.  Took a couple reps to wake up/shake off the rust, but got in a good rhythm before really having to push at the end.  I found that I had no problem hitting my opening quarters, but was difficult to maintain the speed towards the end which makes me worry a little about my strength.  But then again, I haven’t really done much speed stuff this block so nothing to worry about for the meantime.  Splits were: 2:57, 2:57, 2:54, 2:53, 2:54, 2:53, 2:52, 2:48, 2:57, 2:54.  Afterwards, headed out to the Pere Marquette trail to do a nice hike.  Very cool to do, as I hadn’t been back since the infamous Pere Marquette Trail Race last December.  The hike made me not want to run there again – some of the hills were pretty brutal!  Hiked an additional 7 miles, so made for quite a long day of activity.

Hiking in Pere Marquette

Thursday, August 22^nd – 6 miles.  Ran solo at home – 270 to Old Faithful route on a very sunny, hot, and humid morning.  Added on 2 more miles slow around the neighborhood, and definitely was hurting a bit towards the end.  Legs were pretty beat up with this recovery run, and was feeling every step of Wednesday’s activities.  Somewhere in the 50-60 minute range total.  Had PI Pizza for lunch (big mistake), and flew to Chicago at night for an impromptu weekend of fun!

Friday, August 23^rd – 16 miles.  The dreaded long run, but felt this would be easiest to get out of the way since Anne and Ben were both working, and I had the time to knock it out.  Slept in a little bit, and finally got out around 8:45 a.m. which was a HUGE mistake.  It was ridiculously sunny and almost 80 already.  Headed north on Lakeshore, and ran to the end of the path before heading back.  Stopped at the Fullerton water fountains at mile 10, then proceeded south towards Navy Pier but turned around slightly before because the sun was just that brutal and wanted to run away from it.  Was getting very tired towards the end, and made a few water fountain stops to soak my body and hydrate.  Very, very, very glad to have this long run over with and although I exactly hit my time goals, I figure the direct sun and heat was worth roughly 5-10 seconds/mile so I’m pleased.  2:08 total.

Saturday, August 24^th – 8 miles.  Ran with Megan on her long run in Lakeshore.  Made the mistake of sleeping in a bit (again) and starting this run at 9 a.m., so it was already really hot and sunny by the time we started.  Ran 4 out going south, and turned south of Navy Pier before turning back.  There were TONS of people out and about, and we were constantly dodging people from Castaways to Navy Pier (roughly 2 miles).  Megan almost had a monumental meltdown, but we made it through.  Ate dinner at Takashi’s restaurant in Bucktown – upscale but laid back Japanese cuisine, and quite tasty!

Sunday, August 25^th – 7 miles.  Fartlek on Lakeshore on another sunny day.  I switched this workout with the long run, and was glad to only have 7 miles instead of 16.  Headed north on Lakeshore and ran for roughly 3 miles before finding a nice, shaded, soft path near a small park close to Montrose.  Workout was 12 x (20 seconds hard, 1 minute easy), and had no issues hitting the workout.  Notable moments of this run included trying to shake the girl who was working off me during my warm up (which ended up inadvertent fast finish to my freaking warmup), and the bum who was sleeping on the bench in the park as I kept running past him in both directions.  Cooldown coming back was slow, and the sun was brutal.  Glad this was over.  Sad to leave Chicago, but I’ll be back soon enough.  60 miles this week, 194.5 miles for August, 1594.5 miles for 2013.  31 miles in Chicago, which may be an alltime high for me! (not counting marathon weekends).  Great week of running!

I ran till the end!

16 miles on Lakeshore on a hot, sunny day

Is this heaven, or is this Lakeshore?

Spoils of war at Orange!

Monday, August 26^th – 6 miles.  Ran in the evening with Crystal.  Humid outside, but we jumped on the trail towards Troy and did some miles before it got too dark.  Finished off with 2 miles in the neighborhood, and pretty much hit the negative split.  Very pleased with the run – was pretty tired, but we were rolling low 7’s by the end with little discomfort.  46:45 total (24:05/22:40 splits).  I was a little worried about this run – coming back from Chicago, my knees were sore and my right ankle felt like it could have been sprained, but most of those ailments were gone for this run.

Tuesday, August 27^th – 4 miles.  BLAZING hot after work, and this was the only time I could do any running since I crapped out waking up in the morning (you notice any reoccurring themes here???).  Hot, sunny, and humid – mid 90’s if not higher.  I don’t know how slow it was, but I was crawling.  Annual fantasy football draft with Timmy at the 5^th Quarter in Collinsville.  Another successful outing!

A typical picture on my way home from work

Wednesday, August 28^th – 0!  Fantasy draft at Gibbs' place.  Couldn’t get up early, and just crapped out since I got home almost at midnight.  Bah.  Workout postponed.

Thursday, August 29th - 7 miles.  I don't remember this - did sometime at night.

Friday, August 30th - 10 miles.  Mile repeats on the treadmill because of the evil heat.  Easy warm up before jumping right into it.  The home gym I worked out in had very little air flow, and it was getting very, very warm almost immediately.  Put the dreadmill at 10.3 mph setting with 1 degree incline and plugged away until this was done.  It was so hot at the end that I did my cooldown outside, which felt cooler than the inside if that's possible.  I thought the conversion for my pacing would be 5:46 min/mile pace, but everything I am reading says 5:53 pace so I guess that was my end result.  I don't understand the math involved (shouldn't 10 mph be 6 min/mile?  thus 0.3 mph should be more than 7 seconds per mile!!!!), but the workout got complete within the desired range (5:45-5:55).  Very, very tired at the end, as these workouts on the treadmill are very challenging. 227.5 miles in August.  Pretty solid considering all the travel.

Saturday, September 1st - 6 miles.

Sunday, September 2nd - 16 miles.  This was a trainwreck run done late afternoon, and I did not even come close to hitting the desired pace.  Out and back towards Troy, and just plain evil.  Was not happy to do this, and very glad to have done.  49 miles this week, 22 miles in September, 1643.5 miles in 2013.

September 3rd-7th - 30 miles.  I don't remember much during last week - I just have mileage written down.  Actually, just checked my phone and have unraveled a few details.  Tuesday, did Forest Park loop in 44 minutes on a gorgeous day after work.  Outside the History Museum, they are doing some music festival on Tuesday nights, so it was packed with people!  Started out conservative, but really pushed it with the Skinker Hill and sustained pace.  Wednesday, I did 7 miles in 53:39 (7:54, 7:52, 7:42, 7:48, 7:45, 7:18, 7:18).  Troy route and some change for the mileage.  Warm evening, but got in a good groove at the end.  That's all I remember for now.

Saturday, September 8th - 16 miles.  5 a.m. start at Forest Park for the Arch Loop, then a little extra in Forest Park.  Ran with Tim, and boy did I feel like crap.  It was already a little sticky outside, and navigated our way down Lindell into downtown.  Ran the Arch Grounds loop then headed back.  My lack of dinner the night before and lack of breakfast in the morning absolutely killed me, and I was bonking out towards the 7th-8th mile.  We hit almost every water stop coming in, and ran into a ton of runners running the I Love Forest Park 5K which helped inspire us to finish.  2:30 total, and felt like I was doing marathon pace effort.  Horrible run, but got done which I guess has to count for something.  Loufest (2 day music festival in Forest park) in the afternoon/evening which was great, and ended it with a great Wilco show!  Standing all day was brutal though, as my lower back/legs were killing me by the end.

Wilco - great show!

Sunday, September 9th - 4 miles.  Woke up early to some rain, and decided to knock this one out early.  Felt like crap from the Loufest concert the day before, which I was on my feet all day after a 16 mile run.  My lower back was killing me, and I hobbled through most of this run.  On a brighter note, football is back!!!  50 miles this week, 72 miles in September, 1693.5 miles in 2013.  Mileage is dropping, diet is suffering (I think I ate fast food 6 times over the weekend :( ), and I feel like crap all the time.  Need to get my act together this last month!!!  

Welcome back, NFL!

Monday, September 10th - 0!  Bad way to start the week.  Missed early wake up call, then got home late after work.  Ate a late dinner, then popped my head outside.  It was still disgusting, and I was exhausted so opted to take the rest.  Pretty disgusted with myself, as I feel like I'm letting it all slip away.  It all starts again tomorrow for me - one more hard month to get into a good groove and be ready for this race!!!

Tuesday, September 11th - 7 miles SLU track.  As punishment for missing early morning run, I met up with Crystal and Craig after work on a ridiculously hot/humid day.  I ran 1.5 miles on the track before deferring to the roads, then ran on Compton all the way to Gravois Park and back for roughly 4-5 miles.  Road conditions were crap, but at least it was shaded in a lot of parts.  Drills/strides, then 1 mile cooldown on the track to finish it out.  I felt super sluggish, and stopped sweating roughly 20 minutes into the run which is never a good thing.  The pace was S-L-O-W.  Breakfast - eggs, sausage, banana, apple.  Lunch - Salad, pizza.  Dinner - Fish Tacos

Brutally hot, but at least a nice view

Wednesday, September 12th - 6 miles early a.m. with Crystal.  Out and back on the trail towards Home Depot.  Another disgustingly humid morning, albeit it was kind of cool starting out.  Very sluggish early, but tried to keep consistent form.  Very, very, very happy to have this one over with, as it was pretty muggy later in the day.  47:30 total (24:08/23:22 splits).  Breakfast - banana, apple, hard boiled egg.  Lunch - fried swai, green beans, pineapple and cantaloupe.  Snack - banana, apple.  Dinner - chicken thigh, spaghetti,

Easy run today after work, then marathon pace run tomorrow morning.  Intentionally pushed back because of the crappy weather, and it's supposed to be in the 40's.  This next month is going to be all business for me.  I need to get locked in, and already feeling a change of culture for me.