We want tacos!

LA gets 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials, Rupp's training, Desi in Kenya, Suzy Favors-Hamilton is back, 2/15 is the date that Rupp goes for the World Indoor Mile record betting on races, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

I LOVE this article about betting on races.  Not because I'm a degenerate gambler at heart, but mainly because of the marketing and PR potential from this.  Getting right down to the bare bones of things, how is this any different from horse racing?  Establish a small minimum, then let the people take care of the rest.  The individual runners aren't going to become instant millionaires over this, and I could see an entire new genre of viewers/spectators watching events.  Not to mention, it will just make everything a little more fun :)  Ben's idea of getting sponsors tied into the betting is absolutely brilliant.  Have you ever been to a STL Blues game?  They used to have this wonderful promotion where if the Blues scored 6 goals, you could redeem your ticket stub for a free taco at Taco Bell.  This promotion no longer exists, but you can still hear the "WE WANT TACOS" chants loud and clear anytime they are close.

One of the biggest things for our sport is to create awareness in the individual athletes - tell their stories, and let the public become enamored over the trials and tribulations of their respective journeys.  I think once you create the repeat viewer, who wants to study up on their favorite runners and reads about the absolutely fascinating journey of an athlete such as Lopez Lomong, that you'll have people hooked for awhile!

Monday, January 27th - 5 miles.  COLD and SLOW

Tuesday, January 28th - 6 miles.  Ran in Forest Park with Crystal and Kyle after work.  Another cold day, but less wind.  The goal was slow run in anticipation for the next day workout, and I instructed Crystal to tuck in behind us since she was worried that the pace would be too fast (right, I know).  So she was actually pretty obedient for the most part, and we motored along at a pretty easy pace.  Once we got out onto Skinker, the pace picked up a little then once we got onto Lindell, Crystal left her position and proceeded to try to hammer us into the ground.  So much for an easy run - for the last half mile, I was pretty close to full stride.  While it felt fine, my lungs were hurting the last 1-2 minutes as the cold air was getting to me.  We were on pace for 8:10-8:15's through 4 miles, but that got all screwed up because of the last 2 miles.  46:18 total, last mile was 6:29.

Wednesday, January 29th - ~9 miles (2 up, 12 x 400 (200 m jog in between reps (400 m jog in between sets, 3 sec cutdown), 4 x 200 (100 m cooldown), 1 down).  Track work at SLU with Crystal and Kyle.  Goal of the workout was two-fold - turnover work, and some strength training.  We started out at 10K pace, then cut down 3 sec/set with minimal rest.  Kyle did this workout with me, and it felt ok although I am still very rusty.  It's crazy to think I was doing quarters in sub 80 last summer, and struggling to hit 90's now, but then again this was a different workout.  Got slightly aggressive towards the end, and definitely was hurting on the 200's which we were trying to hit in 40-42.  Happy overall, but a long way to go.  Splits were: 1:35, 1:33, 1:34, 1:34, 1:31, 1:31, 1:32, 1:30, 1:28, 1:29, 1:26, 1:25, 42, 40, 40, 43.

Thursday, January 30th - ~6 miles.  Solo at home.  Was in Bloomington, IL for work all day on my feet, so wanted to knock this one out as soon as I got home.  So did an improvised loop on the trails, then 270.  Funny how my body wanted to push, but I held back substantially and stayed conservative.  My legs were physically tired, and my left knee was hurting but mainly old person joint pain and was able to shake out pretty quickly.  Quads are still feeling the effects of the workout, but I'm ok.  ~50 minutes total.

Hill work tonight, then easy running over the weekend.  Legs are starting to feel the fatigue of the process, but good work is being done!

Rupp Rules

Galen Rupp sets American indoor 2 mile record, 18 year old Ethiopian runs 2:04:43 marathon debut in Dubai, and Alan Webb's wife offers some insight to her husband's tri transition.

Galen Rupp is a bit insane.  The part where he does 5x1 mile starting at 4:21 going down to 4:01 post race is almost unbelievable.  I am speechless, and don't know what to think.  He has his sights set on the indoor mile record, and at this point it's a matter of how low he goes versus if he'll break the record.  My prediction is 3:48:87.  You heard it here first!

Tsegaye Mekonnen is apparently a name to know, after this Dubai win.  It's become very clear that the traditional "wait until you get older to run the marathon" is no longer, and the money is in the distance races (a shocker to Competitor, I know) and younger runners are making the jump earlier.  This dude was sporting a 62:41 half PR before this race, which he virtually split for the second half of the marathon.  Really???  He survived the 61:27 first half to make quite the debut.  He's only 18, and probably has a good 20 years ahead of him to further his running legacy.

Thursday, January 23rd - 0!  Rest day for sore foot.  Considered going outside, but it was aching pretty bad and the very cold air didn't help things.

Friday, January 24th - 7 miles (2 up, 10 x 1 minute hills, 2 down).  Recruited Kyle to do this workout with me, and we warmed up around his area in Webster.  There is a park about 400 meters away, so warmed up by running a few loops before heading back to the hill that was picked out for this workout.  The hill was a pretty generous incline, and had some street markers to provide a visual for us.  Goal was to hit 1 minute at 10K effort, with jog down.  Workout started out slow for me, and could feel my quads burning almost immediately but got it done.  Last 2 reps were the fastest, and my legs were pretty shot at the end.  Glad to have this one over with.

Saturday, January 25th - ~6 miles.  Track work with Crystal and Clint on a very windy day.  2 mile warmup on the roads, drills and strides, then did fartlek work with Clint (straightaways hard, jog the ends), then 2 mile down.  Pretty standardized, nothing crazy to report, but was pretty fatigued in general.  Crystal had the same workout I had earlier this week, and nailed it on a pretty tough day with 25 mph winds.  

Sunday, January 26th - 8 miles.  Scheduled long run, but cut short because of just general exhaustion.  Important lesson learned after today's run - I am not 25 anymore.  Staying up late the night before after going to trivia night, casinos, then watching Australian Open tennis until 6 a.m. is a sure way to have a terrible run.  Ran with Crystal and Kyle on another windy morning working on minimal sleep.  We did trail route towards Troy and back, and it was tough almost every step of the way.  Kyle yelled at me for my reckless night ("I should just drop you right now to teach you a lesson for staying up till 6 a.m. the night before a long run" - exact quote and foreshadowing), but I suffered onwards.  Stopped at Drost Park to try to get water (fountains shut off), and Kyle and Crystal started to break away once we got started.  Was getting pretty demoralized, as I just figured I was slowing down but upon analyzing the splits later it was them speeding up.  Stopped about halfway back to stretch for a minute (quads still shot), then picked it up once I had some tree cover.  Very pleased to see I negative split on the way back (was just praying to break 8 min/mile pace), but paid the price as my legs were completely garbage by the time I got back.  After quick conversation, opted out of the rest of the mileage as it would do me no good to kill my legs even further.  Instead, I went to bed for 6 hours.  1:01:33 total (31:20/30:13) for my 8 miles.  42 miles this week, 133 miles in January, 133 miles this week.

Yet another cold spell has made its way into the STL area for the first part of this week.  Easy running over the next couple days, then back to work!

Competitor

Last week race analysis, Boston Marathon field, London Marathon field, Alan Webb finishing his track career, and Competitor to reinstate their elite fees.

This Competitor news is a complete joke.  They claim they listened to the people and reversed their decision because of it, but this is just bullsh*t.  It's a greedy, money-hungry corporate organization that is trying to gain as much money for themselves as possible.  They expanded way too quickly and too much, and paying the price for running these events poorly since they are basically undermanned, and spread too far.  I remember running Rock n Roll Nashville in 2006, and the attention to detail in the event was outstanding!  The event staff made an effort to hire good bands, the workers/volunteers were gracious, communicative, and nice as could be, and the queuing areas before/after the race were efficient and well run.  The course was well marked, clean, and there were plenty of water stop areas and supporters/spectators everywhere.  I had a wonderful experience, and looked forward to coming back to run more Rock n Roll events.  It was clear that the city had embraced the race, and the Rock n Roll organizers had done a great job really pumping up the area and letting the people take ownership in the event and make it their own.  I ran RNR Virginia Beach later that year (similar experience), and came back to Nash Vegas for another go around.  This is when there were only Rock n Roll events in Scottsdale, Nashville, San Diego, and Virginia Beach.

Fast forward to today, and there are over 30 events all over the world.  I hear many complaints from my running peers about how poorly the events are run, and I think the Rock n Roll name has clearly been diluted from the over exposure.  And consequently, the events have lost more and more participation as the years go on.  For example, Rock n Roll STL lost over 40% participants from their first year to the next.  RNR Pasadena and St. Petersburg survived a whopping two years, before they pulled the plug.  Remember the fiasco of RNR Vegas (2011) with the tarnished water, then running out of water??  Clearly, in desperation to gain more money, they cut elite funding and further tarnished their reputation.

The reason RNR was so successful back in the day was because they were run by runners who knew exactly what their participants needed.  The community was more involved, and they allowed the brand to grow and become strong.  Once Competitor took over, they bastardized the brand, and lost all their attention to detail as a result, have events that are poorly run, poorly staffed, poorly spectated, and just a jumbled up mess.  This latest news of reinstating elite fees is the correct decision, but should have never been made in the first place.  Elite runners get paid virtually nothing, and their funding was cut because of greed.  It was a big slap in the face to the people who help promote races by their mere presence and the attention they can bring.  It was a bigger slap in the face to the running community who clearly know more than a bunch of idiot suit and ties who make ridiculously careless and stupid decisions to save face and cover up the plethora of mistakes they have made ever since they took over.  The Rock n Roll events are now perceived overpriced, and poorly run.  Competitor is a sinking ship, and everyone is jumping off as quickly as they can.  I will never pay another penny to run a Competitor event ever again.

Tuesday, January 21st - ~6 miles.  Ran with Crystal after work on the trail.  We had 50 minutes easy, and it was cold and breezy outside.  Because of the morning snow and temperatures, we cautiously ventured onto the trails and ran ~2 miles out and headed back because of the many ice spots.  Looped 2 Village Circle miles (roads were tolerable except for the slushy snow in the back), before looping in the neighborhood to finish out.  Not sure how neither of us didn't sprain an ankle, but made it back unscathed (or so I think).  50:04 total, ~7:45 pace.

Wednesday, January 22nd - 7 miles (1 up, 4 x (2x200, 1x400), 1 mile, 1 down).  SLU track day on a windy and cold evening with Crystal, Craig, David, Heidi, and Coach Tim.  The track was in ok condition, but the wind had blown a few snow drifts on the track and their was some ice to deal with.  My foot had really been bothering me (I think possibly from Tuesday's run and running on uneven pavement with the snow/ice), but could run once I got warmed up.  The purpose of the workout was for turnover, and a steady state mile was added to the end just for the work of having a tempoish mile after a workout and getting my body used to the feeling again.  Because of the track conditions and lack of fitness for me, aimed for 5K pace for the reps (~6:00 min/mile pace).  Everything went pretty smoothly and although the effort felt more than it should have, I felt completely in control.  Craig jumped in the last set with me, and we made it just fine.  The steady state mile goal was 6:30-6:45, but lost control on the first quarter (1:31) and did my best to even it out.  Very pleased overall.  Splits were: (41, 44, 1:28), (43, 44, 1:29), (43, 44, 1:28), (44, 44, 1:28), 6:24.

The temps have gotten worse today, as it was -11 windchill in the morning.  My foot is still sore and bruised and considering the conditions, a rest day may not be a bad thing.

Mother Nature sucks

Lolo makes the US Bobsled team, awesome interview with Meb, Meb and Serena win the U.S. Half Marathon championships, and a quick Boston field.

Meb never fails to impress me.  1:01:23 from a 38 year old?!?!  One of the more disappointing moments for me last year was Meb getting hurt right before Boston, and we was pretty fit for that race.  Now, it appears he is rounding into form, and we should see quite the battle from him down the storied streets of Beantown.

Friday, January 17th - 6 miles.  Village Circle and 270 loop, before doing my hill work.  Cold night and took all my motivation to get outside and nail this workout.  My knee was bothering me, and almost quit but ran it out and felt better once I got a mile into it.  Found a smaller but steep hill right off 159 on Edwards drive, and measured out about 30 seconds with a good effort (between mile and 5K effort).  The hill had an immediate steep grade, but leveled off towards the top and perfect for an intro hill workout.  Did 10 reps with 2 annoying dogs barking at me (or cheering me on) through a window, and cooled down to finish the workout.

Saturday, January 18th - 5 miles.  Early morning run before heading to Champaign for the Illini/MSU game for the day.  Very windy and cold, and ran towards Troy and back on the trail.  Caught Yoch, Colby, and Crystal finishing up their long run, and was happy to see others suffering along with me on a crappy weather day.  Legs felt like poop, but got it done.  ~45 minutes total - nice and slow.

Sunday, January 19th - 0!  Headed back, and ended up sleeping most of the day to recover.  While I am not happy to miss a run, I did need a recovery day as I'm not sure I should be running every day quite yet.  But all in all, a solid week.  37 miles this week, 91 miles in January, 91 miles in 2014.

Monday, January 20th - 8 miles + strides.  Ran group run with Crystal, Hilary, Brian, and Heidi.  We did the 6 mile loop I did last week, then headed to DuBourgh track for strides.  Legs were a little tired and could feel my calves tightening, which means I may need to start a new pair of shoes soon.  The strides were almost comical, watching how fast Hilary and Crystal are.  Their turnover is quite amazing to watch in person, and even with an all out effort I don't think I could get within 20 feet of them on a 100 meter stride.  Looped around the store on Macklind to finish out our run, and happy to survive with the fast people since I was severely sleep deprived and exhausted from the weekend.  ~7:30 pace overall, 58:51 on my watch...

The snow has returned, and tonight's run will be quite chilly.  Track work on Wed, Forest Park loop on Thursday, and hills on Friday - great to be in a routine again!

The Road to Berlin begins...

Chicago Marathon goes lottery, Nick Symmonds switches to Brooks, American Elites New Years resolutions, Shalane/Ritz headline US Boston squad, new Arizona elite running, Bekele to marathon debut in Paris, not so fast, Mo, we need more sleep, Galen Rupp runs 13:01 indoors, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Not surprised to see Chicago go lottery, but was happy to see they were giving guaranteed entry to men who had run 3:15 or faster, and women who had run 3:45 or faster.  You shouldn't penalize those faster runners - they should be rewarded for hitting those fast times.

Sad to see that the Bekele/Farah matchup in London fizzle, out, but I understand the economics and politics of racing.  But hoping we see good debuts by both, and somewhere down the line their paths will cross.

Thursday, January 2^nd – 6 miles

Friday, January 3^rd – 6 miles

Saturday, January 4^th – 0!  Travel day to Pasadena for the BCS National Title Game!  I had made it to the Rose Bowl in 2008 when Illinois made it, but we got slaughtered and wanted some redemption with Florida State (one of my favorite teams) in the championship game!  Early flight to LA, then off the golf course for the first round of the year, where I got in plenty of hill work walking up and down the heavily sloped fairways!

From hotel balcony

Pasadena

Sunday, January 5^th – 6 miles.  Ran to downtown Pasadena and back, then headed on some side streets towards the mountains.  Very cool to watch the city taking down all the stadium seating on the Rose Bowl parade route, and even more cooler to be running in sunny and 75 degrees while St. Louis was getting slammed with 15”+ of snow!  Enough of the bragging – was a cool area to run around, and anticipation was growing higher for the big title game on Monday night!  Got to go check out a Lakers game at night in downtown LA – very cool experience!  33 miles this week, 24 miles in January, 24 miles in 2014.

Monday, January 6^th – ~5 miles.  Ran out towards the mountains from our hotel, and looped around the area for as much as what 45 minutes could get me.  I know Pasadena isn’t at altitude, but it sure felt like it the way I was breathing!  Outside of the uphill going out, the terrain was relatively flat.  Awesome weather (70’s and sunny), and crazy nervous for the big game later on that night!  Fast forward to the end – one of the craziest games of all time, and definitely amazing to watch one of my favorite teams win a national title with a comeback for the ages and the game winning TD with 13 seconds left!!!  We partied like it was 1999! (coincidentally last time FSU won a National Title).

 

The Rose Bowl

FSU - National Champions!

Tuesday, January 7^th – 0!  Travel day back, and some much needed sleep from the crazy weekend!

Wednesday, January 8^th – 6 miles.  Ran Forest Park with Kyle and Mike.  Because of the awful trail conditions, we were forced to run the roads instead of the trails.  The roads were wet and had some slick spots, and we jumped on part of the trail on Skinker which was still lightly covered in snow/slush/ice.  Didn’t feel too hot starting out, but made it through ok.  49:17 is what I had on my watch total.

Thursday, January 9^th – ~5 miles.  Ran in Forest Park with Kyle, Hatcher (for one mile), and Matty D (for one mile).  Drills beforehand in front of the VC to loosen me up.  We kept running into people on our run, so was nice to have some company.  The trails were still covered, so we looped around the roads once again.  Nice and easy pace, and felt pretty comfortable the entire way.  42 minutes and some change.

Friday, January 10^th – 4 miles

Saturday, January 11^th – 4 miles.  Ran easy with Kyle who was in town.  Village Circle a couple times, and my legs felt like complete crap.  A little windy outside, and cold, but it got done.  30 minutes or so total. 

Sunday, January 12^th – 6 miles.  A sorry attempt at a long run turned into many Village Circle loops.  I won’t give the ghastly details, but it was ugly.  Lucky to finish under an hour.  30 miles this week, 54 miles in January, 54 miles in 2014.

Monday, January 13^th – 6 miles.  Ran Big River group run with Kyle and Tim.  We did an improvised route, since River Des Peres is still closed, and picked it up a little after Tim broke off.  49 minutes for a little over 6 miles, but felt pretty good in the process.

Tuesday, January 14^th – 6 miles.  Forest Park loop with Craig, Justin, Crystal, and Kyle.  What started out as an easy run got a little faster as we progressed forward.  Because of the high winds, I tried to tuck in, and started getting really tired as we made our way closer to the zoo.  Initial plans were to run Crystal in for her 4 miles, but she wanted to finish out the loop so we trudged onwards.  There was some separation in our group, and I picked it up to catch Kyle and Crystal and we flew in to finish the run.  Having the Skinker downhill and tail wind helped tremendously J  45:27 on my watch, low 13’s for the last 2 miles.

Wednesday, January 15^th – 8 miles.  Lovely track night at SLU with Crystal on a pretty cold evening.  20 degrees with a slight breeze, but much better after we warmed up.  Crystal had a 50 minute steady state run, and I volunteered to jump in for part of it before I did my first speed workout of the year (2 minute on, 1 minute off fartlek).  We started off at low 7 minute pace, but then the lights went off (much, much, much easier to do speedwork with light) and Crystal ran to text Coach Bradley to turn them back on so I finished up my warmup.  Did 2 miles with Crystal, before starting my workout, and aimed more for a hard effort feel for my mentality versus being so focused on time.  So did 8 repeats (didn’t want to push with the harder 2 miler, and being so early in this block), and felt relatively good in the process.  1 mile cooldown to finish it out.  2 mile splits were 6:48, 6:38, 400 meter splits on my fartlek were 92-96 seconds.

Thursday, January 16^th – ~6 miles.  Did a South City loop with Fenley after work.  We ran north (I think) on the roads and looped back, hitting a lot of areas I had run around before.  The roads in south city confuse the heck out of me, but I’m getting better at it.  Terrain was rolling hills, but was nice to do an easier pace as my legs were pretty tired.  Fenley had 6.25 miles in 53:40 or so (8:30ish pace).

Hill workout tonight, and some basic running over the weekend.  The long road back begins…

2013 in Review

Finishing up 2013...

Thursday, November 14^th – 7 miles

Friday, November 15^th – 4 miles

Saturday, November 16^th – 5 miles (GOTR 5K - 20:39).  Windy day to run a race.  Talked Craig into running with me, and we did a 2 mile warmup before jumping into the race.  Same course as the old St. Pat’s course, and we lined up on Market before taking off west towards SLU and turning on Compton and coming back towards downtown on Olive.  Wanted to treat this race as a tempo to get in some speed, since it’s been awhile since I’ve pushed myself period.  Well, started off pretty decent with the tailwind but once we hit that huge long ascent up Market, my legs started tiring pretty quickly.  0 strength whatsoever.  Turning onto Olive was even more of a rude awakening – the wind was just really strong, and was killer coming down that huge hill and feeling like you’re running with a parachute on your back.  On top of it all, I was running by myself and had no one to work with, so that portion of the race was pretty rough on the body.  Last half mile was cruise control with no one around  me and hamming it up and pumping up the crowd.  Fun times, and hung out a bit with the BRR crew and Craig before calling it a day.  2^nd in my age group, and won a ridiculous medal.

Me and the Old Man

Sunday, November 17^th – 6 miles.  76 miles in November, 2029 miles in 2013.

Monday, November 18^th – 4 miles.  Ran Big River group run with Kyle and Craig.  First time at group run in forever!  Ran the improvised 4 mile loop, and was cruising towards the end.  Felt nice and easy, and good to have Kyle out there.  31 minutes and some change.

Tuesday, November 19^th – 4 miles

Wednesday, November 20^th – 6 miles

Thursday, November 21^st – 6 miles

Friday, November 22^nd – 4 miles

Saturday, November 23^rd – 6 miles.  Ran pretty early with Mike before heading back to Peoria for Thanksgiving with the family.  It was 23 degrees and chilly as ****.  We ran Home Depot and back, and picked it up quite a bit heading back in once we got warmed up.  Most layers I have worn in a long time – maybe went a little too overboard, as I was sweating like a fat pig towards the end.  Great to have Mike back on the trails with me!  50:04 total.

Sunday, November 24^th – 0!  No excuses, just got home late from Peoria, then vegged out all day.  Cold, turkey hangover, football contributed to my running demise.  30 miles this week, 106 miles in November, 2059 miles in 2013.

Monday, November 25^th – ~4.5 miles.  Ran Big River group run with an out of town guest, Ben Rosario!  Very cool to catch up with him, as we did the Francis Park loop and headed back.  The original plan was to do drills in the dark at DuBourgh, but having good company helped sway that.  Weather was perfect, and I found myself leading the entire group through the park which is too fast for me.  Oh well, felt amazing though!  33:26 overall.

Tuesday, November 26^th – 4 miles.  Ran with Crystal after work on the trails.  20-25 mph winds and 20 degree weather = miserable.  We ran out towards Home Depot into the wind, and could barely breathe.  It was quite funny trying to talk, then have 20-30 second pauses so we could catch our breath!  Coming back, we dropped almost 20 seconds per mile with half the effort.  Always love it when we have to remind ourselves to slow down, even though it feels easy.  30:26 (15:27/14:57) overall.

Wednesday, November 27^th – 5 miles

Thursday, November 28^th – 11 miles (2 up, KIRKWOOD TURKEY TROT 3 MILER (18:57), KIRKWOOD TURKEY TROT 6 MILER (45:00)).  Warm up with Colby and Crystal on the course, then headed back to shelter because it was bloody cold outside!  15-20 degrees, but not much wind so relatively tolerable.  First time in forever I have been home, so took the opportunity to run the popular Kirkwood Turkey Trot, as well as double up for the 6 miler to cool down.  Paired up with Fenley and we talked about tempoing the 3 mile.  I was targeting 6:25-6:30 pace, so was not overly pleased to see me take us out in 6:06 first mile (it felt ridiculously easy), so we slammed on the brakes and held back on the second mile.  Once we started coming back towards the finish, we finally got locked in and worked our way back towards downtown Kirkwood with a few inclines but relatively easy course.  Fenley picked it up the last mile and I let him go, but pushed enough to slide under 19 minutes.  Great confidence booster as the effort wasn’t too hard, and I felt very controlled despite the inconsistent splits (6:06, 6:37, 6:14).  Changed clothes for the 6 miler (cooldown), and started running with Colby and Crystal before Crystal dropped the pace and took off (yes Crystal, I know you are reading this and you did drop the pace whether you didn’t think so!).  Legs weren’t feeling the best, so didn’t make too much of an effort to catch up and ran with Fenley for awhile.  Made the mistake of wearing a hoodie, as I was getting super warm out there.  Basically jogged the last 2 miles, since they back end of the 6 mile course was pretty damn hilly and my legs were super tired.  Pleased to see a 7:30 average pace on a hilly course for my cooldown with me basically walking in the last half.

 

Colby and I

Wolfpack Representation

Friday, November 29^th – 4 miles

Saturday, November 30^th – 6 miles.  140.5 miles in November, 2093.5 miles in 2013.

Sunday, December 1^st – 10 miles.  44.5 miles this week, 10 miles in December, 2103.5 miles in 2013.

December 2^nd – 8^th – 42 miles.  Long run with Colby and Jon on a ridiculously cold morning was the only run that comes to mind.  Sh*tty road conditions with a recent snow fall, and an upset stomach made for an interesting run but still got it in!  52 miles in December, 2145.5 miles in 2013.

 

Guess the runners?

December 9^th – 13^th – 29 miles.  Lots of easy runs here.

Saturday, December 14^th – 7.5 miles.  Pere Marquette trail run on a snowy morning.  Took 2 hours to drive to the race site, and Grafton got a good 6-7 inches of snow, which was going to make this race very, very interesting.  Traded bibs with Colby to give him better positioning, and started back with Marc, Gibbs, and Craig.  It was pretty evident right from the beginning that this was going to be a slow race, as the paths were covered and packed down from all the runners in front of us.  Marc would later say that he could tell his kids about the time he ran in a luge track – pretty much summed up this year’s Pere Marquette race!.  After about 5 pretty nasty falls, a few snow balls from Craig, countless mountains to climb, snow falling everywhere from the trees, and a ridiculously fun time, we finished the race.  Pretty much the trail runner’s equivalent to an IM, and what a beastly race it was!  Even though we went slow, I felt like I had ran a pretty hard tempo afterwards.  Ran with Marc pretty much the entire way, and enjoyed the experience immensely!

 

Wolfpack Runs PM

Marc and I battling through the snowy wilderness

Crazy snow

Sunday, December 15^th – 0!  Crappy conditions, exhaustion, football, and sore legs = no run.  (excuses, excuses)  Legs and back were pretty beat up from Pere Marquette – it felt like I had been in a bad car accident.  But fun weekend, and we laid low all day.  36.5 miles this week, 88.5 miles in December, 2182 miles in 2013.

Monday, December 16^th – 3 miles.  Ran Big River U City group run, since they were doing a Ugly Xmas Sweater run.  Well, I forgot my sweater, but had a red top and a green undershirt so hopefully that counts.  Had planned on running longer, but the sidewalk and road conditions in the University City area were awful.  We ran up Delmar before turning on Hanley and running through that area.  After slipping numerous times, Tim and I decided to go slower and just run the 3 mile loop.  Probably not in our best interest to slip and crack our head on the sidewalks.  No watch, but it was pretty slow. 

Big River U City Sweater Run!

Tuesday, December 17^th – 6 miles.  Gibbs arranged an impromptu Forest Park run, so Pat, Crystal, and I joined to run the FOPA loop.  Started as a group, but Crystal, Huelsmann, and Brian Lyons (STL running royalty and stud) separated and got into cruise control by the third mile.  We did reverse loop, and it was tricky because there was a ton of black ice out there.  Because I have been running so infrequently this winter, going fast wasn’t an issue like it normally is.  Typically I’m so beat up that I can barely go sub 8 on easy runs, but it’s been nice to be able to push it when needed.  Anyways, effort felt harder, but very manageable and it was a fun group to run with.  44:51 total, and our last 4 miles were low 7’s.  Schlafly Bottleworks afterwards with the group!

Wednesday, December 18^th – 7 miles (2 up, 9x200, 2 down).  SLU Track workout with Crystal.  As this was my first track workout in months (well I did do a fartlek a little bit ago, but it’s been awhile otherwise), I was a little nervous going in and definitely need to build up slowly.  Lights were out at SLU, and we were the only ones out there which was kind of nice actually.  Some snow on the track, but lane 1 was clear which is pretty much all we needed.  Quick warmup, then some form drills and dynamic lunges (a new set of drills that recently got incorporated into Crystal’s workouts).  My God, after doing a couple sets, my legs bypassed the traditional rubbery feel after a workout right into instant sore.  That’s how I’ll always remember my first attempt at these – just pure pain.  Anyways, my plan was to do 200’s, and Crystal had 3 x (2x200, 1x600), so we decided to work together and I took a small break in between the second and third rep to help time/cheer before jumping in to help.  Desired pace was 37-38, and we were pretty much dead on the entire time.  More Satanic drills using the bleachers to finish out our work, then 2 mile cooldown to complete my successful track re-debut.  Happy 2000^th mile to Crystal!  Splits were: 36, 37, 38, 37, 37, 38, 37, 37, 38.

Thursday, December 19^th – 5 miles.  Legs were destroyed and attempted to run.  270 loop, then to the trails and back.  It was difficult to walk, let alone run.  Crystal had challenged me earlier with her “swift” 8:37 average, but after a 9:45 first mile I knew her time was safe.  Contemplated walking so many times, but I just wanted to get it over with.  Almost 60 degrees at night which was nice, but very strange for December weather.  ~45 minutes or so.

Friday, December 20^th – 6 miles.

Saturday, December 21^st – 3 miles.  Forest Park run with Kyle.  Was going to do my long run, but it was raining pretty heavy all morning so got in what we could.  Nice and easy, low 8 minute pace, and looped around the Muny and Zoo area.

Sunday, December 20^th – 0!  Travel day to Mexico with the family.  Pretty tired and stressed out, and the all-inclusive resort we were staying at was pretty much screaming at me to drink a few Coronas so who was I to deny?  30 miles this week, 118.5 miles in December, 2282 miles in 2013.

Monday, December 23^rd – 4 miles.  2 miles outside the resort with Anne, then 2 miles solo in the resort.  Went from 10-20 degree weather to 80-90 degrees!  Would have liked to explore more in the area, but we were advised by the staff to stay closeby because it could be dangerous.  The “beware of crocodiles” sign was also a great deterrent to stay nearby.  Nice and slow, and enjoyed a shirtless run although not sure everyone else enjoyed the ghastly sight of my out of shape body.

Tuesday, December 24^th – 6 miles.  Dreadmill time.  Wanted to take advantage of the nice gym, but treadmills are in high demand on vacation apparently.  Gonna have to start getting up earlier, methinks.  So got on and started adjusting speeds, and noticed that what I thought was 8 mph didn’t seem too difficult.  I kept speeding up until locking into what I thought was 12.5 mph., before my idiotic self realized I was running in KM/hr.  Oh well, one can dream, yes?  

Wednesday, December 25^th – 8 miles.  ~3 miles on the beach, then the rest on the dreadmill.  Fun to run on the coast line, but was running barefoot and got all busted up from the shells/rocks on the beach.  Not to mention, I was running on a diagonal surface so cut it off before I sustained a terrible injury.  Reluctantly went to the dreadmill to finish out my mileage.  Fortunately, no one was there, so could suffer in peace.  Slow, slow, slow...

Thursday, December 26^th – 0!  Travel day home, and considered running late at night but was just too exhausted when we got home.  Gonna miss my morning omelettes and reading in the hammock all day!

Friday, December 27^th – 5 miles.  Out and back solo on the trails.  Time to catch up on some podcasts and readjust to a colder running environment!  Very sluggish, but expected after a long travel day.

Saturday, December 28^th – 5 miles.  Early afternoon 4 miler out and back on the trail, then 1 mile to Pat and Crystal’s house in the PM to watch the UFC fights and the very gruesome ending of the Silva-Weidman title fight.  Not pretty to watch a guy snap his shin in half.  Easy pace for both runs – prob in the high 8’s, low 9’s range.

Sunday, December 29^th -~11 miles.  Did Arch loop with Joe from Forest Park.  Very cold and windy outside, and as we were looping through the Central West End I started thinking of the impending doom of a head wind coming in.  Felt like poop, and the hills were really getting to me by the halfway point.  We turned on Olive and Tucker, right at the base of a long downhill, and immediately got face-blasted by a stiff wind.  Made a decision to run through SLU and on Laclede coming back, which offered a little more shelter from the wind.  At this point, my legs were pretty toast and our pace had slowed down roughly 20 seconds/mile.  Not sure why I felt like crap, but every run since Mexico has felt a lot more challenging than it should have been.  ~8:25-8:30 average pace.  39 miles this week, 157.5 miles in December, 2321 miles in 2013.

Monday, December 30^th – ~4 miles.  Ran with Joe and Justin at Monday group run.  Chilly outside, and we looped around Francis Park and the surrounding neighborhoods.  Pretty cool that the Xmas lights are still up, as the houses near Francis Park decorate like no other.  Nice and easy pace for the 36 minutes we ran.

Tuesday, December 31^st – 5 miles.  I don’t remember this run very well for some reason, but I do remember the last couple miles and being in cruise control.  Last mile was sub 7, which is cool to see when it feels like you’re cruising.  7:20-7:30 average pace, overall.  166.5 miles in December, 2330 miles in 2013!!!

Wednesday, January 1^st – HAPPY NEW YEAR!  6 miles with the elites – best way to start off a new year of running!  My buddy Stephen was in town, and he, his wife, Crystal, and I hit up the soft trails of Glen Carbon in the morning.  Started out very sluggish, and things didn’t improve much as the pace got faster and faster as we headed back in.  We finished the last few miles in low 7 minute pace, and not completely sure of the average but was low to mid 40 minutes total.  Not the easiest run, but the company was great and had a blast!

Selfie with the fast people

2013 in Review:

Favorite Workout:

Ugh, had some good ones, but a lot of not so good ones.  This is technically a race, but was the one workout that immediately comes to mind – St. Pat’s 5 miler.  Confidence was at an all time low, and I had just started working with Kyle so he had me do a cut down tempo on a tough course.  It look a lot of discipline not to come roaring out of the gates, but stayed controlled and worked with Fenley through the first few miles before I took off at the end.  It’s always nice to perfectly execute a workout, and still feel good at the end.  Honorable mention goes to marathon pace long run solo on the trails towards Troy in May.  Nothing crazy time wise (1:09), but got locked in and hammered it out. 

Favorite Race:

There weren’t too many great ones this year, but I’ll have to go with the Macklind Mile.  Shamrock was a good PR, but disappointing because I didn’t hit my time goals.  Macklind got my mile PR closer to what I think it should be, and the 4-5 weeks of hard work really paid off.  Started out feeling kind of rough, but channeled in the pain and just drove it home the last half mile.  Had a blast, and the post race celebration was a lot of fun as well!  Honorable mention goes to Champaign Marathon Relay – didn’t have the best day, but we finished 2^nd overall and just awesome to finish with our entire team in Memorial Stadium!

Favorite Long Run:

This one is a tie, for nostalgic purposes and just overall fun in both.  First long run would be my Denver trek with Marc and Megan and running through the mountains.  Just AMAZING scenary and while altitude kicked my butt, I was fortunate to run with some good company during our mini vacation out west.  Second long run was the marathon pace run I did with Crystal.  Earlier that morning, I had paced Crystal through her tempo on my bike, and she found it in her lovely heart to do the same with me for my marathon pace run.  Just got locked in immediately, and it was a good feeling for her to tell me to slow down when I was just running effortlessly. 

2013 PR’s:

1 mile: 5:05 (Macklind Mile)

8K: 31:15 (Shamrock Shuffle)

Goals in 2014: Sub 5 minute mile, sub 31 minute 8K (if I can get fit by then), decent marathon block and training, and get back to a good race weight!