Race week!

Chia Seeds, woman to RUN Tour de France route, Occidental High recap, young marathoner, Mo wins 5K, Spirit of the Marathon 2, and Emma Coburn.

Wednesday - 0!  Big River pub run, and had all intentions of doing my workout.  By the time we got seated at Llewelyns, it was already 8 p.m. and I had been on my feet almost all evening, so delayed my workout again.  Probably a good idea, because I didn't get back home till after 10 p.m.

Thursday, May 16th - 14 miles (1 up, 4 x 2 miles, 1 down, 4 in the evening).  A.M. - Exhausted, but got up early to do my workout.  Goal pace was 6:25-6:30 min/mile with 3 minutes rest in between reps, and was nervous about this workout.  Jogged down to Village Circle, and did my first and last reps there, and my second and third reps out and back on the trail headed towards Troy.  Anyways, got locked in pretty early and knew after the second rep that I was going to hit this.  Very pleased and felt in control.  P.M. - 4 miles easy.  Felt tired, but looped around 270 and a little extra.  No idea of time on the later run, but my splits for the workout were: 12:58 (6:28, 6:30), 12:59 (6:29, 6:30), 12:57 (6:30, 6:27), 12:51 (6:27, 6:24).

Friday, May 17th - 5 miles.  Met Crystal on the track to join her for her workout.  Ran 2 miles solo, then jumped in and paced her through 200 meters (was going too fast) just to get her started on her goal pace.  Surprisingly, didn't feel too bad at all, albeit it was a short distance.  Cooled down 2 miles with her to finish it out.

Saturday, May 18th - 9 miles (including 10 x 20 seconds at 1-2 mile pace).  Ran with Crystal to go watch Yoch and Fenley run the Triad 5K.  It was about 6 miles to the course, and ran on a pretty busy road on a very humid morning.  Legs were still tired, and was dragging big time.  Had my fartlek workout, so found a straightaway on the road and hammered it out.  Then watched Yoch and Fenley get settled in, and finish 1-2!  Cool down with everybody, then off to a golf tournament for the day!

Sunday, May 19th - 0!  Golf Tournament in Lake St. Louis (hour plus away from home) starting at 8 a.m. Got home at 9 p.m.  After a long, HOT day of playing golf, drinking enough fluids to stay hydrated (yes beer was included believe it or not), and enough crawfish to feed a small town, I was pretty exhausted.  To bed immediately when I got home.

Monday, May 20th - 4 miles.  Nice and easy after work.  270 route and some change.  Kind of sore from weekend golf but kept it slow.  Not sure of time at all.

Tuesday, May 21st - 8 miles (1 up, 4 x 1 mile, 3 down).  Last workout before Soldier Field!  Lucked out on a overcast and relatively cool day.  Warmed up with Craig and Megan, then did some strides and dynamic stretching before jumping into the workout.  Goal splits were 6:15-6:20, and I had 60-90 seconds rest in between reps.  Shouldn't be too much of a problem since I had basically hit this workout earlier in this block.  Anyways, the circus of children came swarming to the track right as I was about to begin but they were relatively well behaved, most likely since they were probably used to us yelling at them every week.  Went out too fast as usual, but found my pace quickly.  Felt a little sluggish, but had no problems whatsoever.  On the last half mile of the last rep, felt like I was in complete cruise control.  Very pleased with this workout, and felt strong.  Splits were: 6:04, 6:10, 6:08, 6:02.

Wednesday, May 22nd - 6 miles.  Nice and early with Crystal.  Out and back on Home Depot, and was nice and cool.  Started out with a couple slow miles, but cut down and negative split every mile surprise, surprise.  Glad to get this one out of the way.  52:39 total.

Easy running till Saturday race.  We are leaving Friday morning for Chitown, and looking forward to a nice Memorial Day Weekend!

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.

Down Week

Jordan Hasay, and Stephen Pifer.

Tuesday, April 30th - 0!  Not the best way to end the month, but this is a down week for me, regardless.  Went to the Blues playoff game with Craig and Tim, and watched a thrilling win in overtime.  Thanks for the hookup, Nick!  159.5 miles in April, 683 miles in 2013.

Wednesday, May 1st - 4 miles.  Did this late at night - 270 loop and some change.  Nice and slow.

Thursday, May 2nd - 8 miles.  Jon and I hit the trails after work in hopes to beat the rain.  We did out and back towards Home Depot on a rainy afternoon.  Fortunately, the rain was pretty light, and we didn't get too wet.  Felt amazing out there, and my legs are definitely enjoying the easy week.  We experienced a weird moment coming back, when we saw a homeless man sleeping in one of the tunnels on the trail.  I've run on these trails for quite awhile, and this was the first time I had ever seen that.  60:32 total with us slowing down a bit at the end.  Heavy stretching and corework afterwards.

Friday, May 3rd - 6 miles.  Crystal and I ran after work in the rain.  Did the same Home Depot route as yesterday, but had to turn around about 2.5 miles into it because the rain had formed a lake which would have been very difficult to cross.  So did a mile through the neighborhood and the rain fell harder and harder.   In hindsight, should have just kept going because we were pretty soaked at the end.  48 minutes and some change overall.

Saturday, May 4th - 12 miles (10 miles MP).  Coach Kyle had scheduled one workout this week for me, but the rain didn't really make very conducive to do such a workout.  So scheduled it for Saturday morning, which was 45 and overcast with spitting rain and slight winds.  Actually pretty darn good conditions for this workout!  So jogged a mile warmup, then did a hard minute to get my fast twitch muscles firing then some dynamic stretching before starting.  Goal pace was 6:50-7 min/miles, and picked the trails towards Troy as my path to dominate.  Anyways, hit the workout, but had a lot of trouble getting settled in.  Didn't feel like the pace was too hard (shouldn't have been), but sort of let the fatigue get to me so the last few miles were a bit rough.  Saw Colby and Jon coming back, which helped a lot.  Overall pretty happy, and was a good workout to hit.  Drove to the track to cooldown with Crystal (track workout), then stretched for awhile there.  69:08 (34:36/34:32) total.  Splits were: 6:54, 6:55, 6:55, 6:57, 6:55, 6:55, 6:55, 6:56, 6:56, 6:46.

Sunday, May 5th - 6 miles.  Another gloomy day, but had some good company with Clint and Colby joining Crystal and I.  Did out and back towards Marine on trail with Clint for the first 3 miles, then half out with Crystal and Colby before turning around and running the rest solo (was just trying for an easy 6).  Felt pretty good, and we were cruising the second half before I turned off and slowed down a little to finish.  30:30/21:50 were my splits.  40 miles this week, 36 miles in May, 719 miles in 2013.  

Officially signed up for the Soldier Field 10 Miler in Memorial Day weekend.  3 weeks of work to focus on for hopefully a PR!

Illinois Marathon Relay Recap

Janji thoughts from Boston, more Boston thoughts from another runner, Ben's thoughts on Boston, a day in the life of Galen Rupp/Mo Farah, Jenny dominates at Drake Relays, and Leo.

Tuesday, April 23rd - ~4 miles.  Workout at SLU with Craig.  Torrential downpours on a really ugly day, and just tried to suck it up and get it done.  Legs were absolutely destroyed about halfway through the first rep, and just tried to hang on.  5 minute break in between, then got back at it.  Had to stop a mile into the second rep for a 10-15 second breather because I was hurting really bad.  The rain was just pelting me, and it hurt to keep my eyes open.  Just ridiculous.  My cooldown was the jog back to the car, if that counts for anything.  Splits were: 8:58, 8:56

Wednesday, April 24th - 5 miles.  Ran out and back on the trail with Megan.  We ran the first mile together as a drill to get her locked into pace, then I ran the rest solo.  Averaged high 7 minute/low 8 minute pace, felt ok but definitely tired.

Thursday, April 25th - 6 miles.  Ran with Jon on an absolute perfect day outside.  Hit 46 and some change overall - felt very easy.

Friday, April 26th - 3 miles plus strides with Crystal.  Woke up early and headed to the track.  Ran on the roads, then did 4 strides at a little faster than 5K pace.  Drove up to Champaign, hit the expo, then went to Biaggis for a nice pasta dinner.  Drove over to Assembly Hall to watch Devin and Tim run the 5K - very cool to see them cross the 50 yard line at night, and congrats to Tim for a PR!

Saturday, April 27th - 10 miles.  Got up bright and early, then headed to Assembly Hall to get situated.  Bright and sunny, so wasn't sure how warm it might have gotten.  Colby was starting our team off, so left a little early to get to the exchange point, which was on the other side of town.  Warmed up with Crystal and Jon, and got ready to start my leg.  Colby flew through his portion, and we were in 2nd place behind some collegiate team.  Started hard out of the gates, but tried to get settled into a good pace.  Weaved through some neighborhoods, then ran through a park for awhile which had a lot of turns and was for the most part flat but a lot of climbs.  I started to get warm from the sun, and my legs were just pooped (zero in the tank) and was difficult to maintain pace but kept working.  The tough part was basically getting passed by a ton of people (Colby is a lot faster than me, so he had gotten in front of a lot of people who were faster than me so got caught by quite a few), so was trying to keep mentally strong.  Eventually made our way back to campus, where I felt a lot more comfortable with my surroundings and crossed the halfway point at 1:21:17, which was right where we wanted to be at.  Kicked hard the last mile, and handed off to Jon and onwards to our next relay point!  Watched Crystal start her leg, then we headed to the finish where we met up with her and ran the entire team in to finish at 2:41:00, and finish second overall!  Took a few pictures, then got back to the car to change and watch the other runners.  Colby and Jon went out to run Dickson in, who qualified for Boston by 28 seconds!!!  Ran out with Jon to run Craig in, then I went out to run Megan in, who was accompanied by Tim (who had already run the 10K, and the second half with Megan as I did last year).  She picked off a few runners on the way in, then finished with a 7 minute PR!!!  Headed out to campus for post race celebration, and had lots of conversation about the day and our respective races.  At night, went to Destihl and had the celebrations of celebrations.  Fun times, maybe a little too much fun!

Sunday, April 28th - 0!  Scheduled off.  Drove back from Champaign and slept the day/night away.  31 miles this week, 155.5 miles in April, 679 miles for 2013.  

Monday, April 29th - ~4 miles.  Ran easy with Pat and Tim at group run.  Ran pretty slow, but dropped the hammer the last half mile just to get it finished with.  Got really warm that day.  36:54 for 4.25 miles...

Tired from the hard weekend, and legs definitely need a little rest.  I hit the lower end of my goal pace, but really had to work to get it which makes me wonder if I was just tired from the hard week?  Regardless, I have nothing to be ashamed of, and definitely seeing progress in getting faster again.  Going to enjoy a down week, and regroup for my next race which looks to be the Soldier Field 10 Miler on Memorial Day weekend!