Progressive Tempo

Matt Llano interview, last Boston Marathon for Dick Hoyt :( , Solinsky moving up to the marathon, Mo to run NYC Half, Amy Van Alstine interview, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Sad to hear the Hoyt news, but happy for them as well and what they were able to accomplish.  Dick Hoyt is a real inspiration, and has sacrificed everything for his son so he could experience what he did.  I had the opportunity and privilege to run by them during my Boston years, and was just amazed to see the outpouring support for them.  Dick Hoyt will be missed, but his legacy will live on forever.

Wednesday, February 26th - 10 miles (1 up, 8 mile progressive tempo, 1 down).  Waited to the last possible second to do this workout on a cold night.  At 9:30, threw on some layers and braved the 10 degree wind chill.  Goal was first 4 miles in 7:00, 7:00, 6:50, 6:50, then cut down 10 sec per mile to hit 8.  Ran this workout in Village Circle, mainly to stay away from traffic and have a relatively flat area to run in.  Anyways, success all around - hit the workout, which started out too fast but leveled off.  Got a little bit of a second wind after the 4th mile, and started to struggle at mile 6.  At 7.31, had to stop because I was cramping so bad, and the small break pretty much ruined me as the last 0.69 miles were rough.  But, very pleased with this workout overall, and my new Meb Sony mp3 player gets a HUGE assist.  Splits were: 6:46, 6:58, 6:45, 6:47, 6:39, 6:31, 6:20, 6:07.

Thursday, February 27th - 6 miles.  Forest Park run with Kyle after work.  My legs were trashed, and we did the reverse loop around FOPA.  Felt a little better towards the end, but this one was slow all around.  Another cold, but sunny day.  Ready for the temps to get above 30 again.  50 minutes on the dot.

Fartlek tonight, then easy running this weekend.  More snow headed our way.  Joy

Chocolate Race Recap, Alberto is a dick

USA Indoor Championships, controversy, Tokyo Marathon, Lagat rules, 9 year old runs 1:41, more of the mess, follow up of the controversy, Alberto Salazar is a dick,

There were a ton of things that happened last weekend, but let me state my opinion on the man that was in the center of all these storms - Alberto Salazar.  First, he submits an appeal  for Jordan Hasay, who clearly got destroyed in the 3K final - I don't fault the action as there was questionable, but hearing his behavior towards Gabe's husband and the way he bullied the USTAF officials was inexcusable.  And now, he allegedly verbally berated Lopez Lomong for no reason whatsoever - he accused Lomong of bumping his prized pupil Galen Rupp and basically tore him a new hole for being frustrated.

Salazar is a classless act and a spoiled brat, and his behavior shouldn't be condoned.  Now, as news of his actions becomes more public, I hope that people start to really take notice of how much of a bully and terrible person he really is.  He has no right to go after Lomong - Lomong is a million times more of a man that Salazar will ever be, and sorry he's faster than your boy. Rupp.  No doubt that Alberto is a legend and a brilliant coach, but he needs to learn some humility and class.  He is representing one of the biggest brands in the world (Nike), as well as some of the greatest athletes alive.  He is exposed at a higher level (t.v., media), but that being said he isn't any better than the Danny Mackay's, Mark Whitmore's, Terranec Mahon's, or Tim Bradley's of the world.  Grow up, Alberto.

Friday, February 14th - 4 miles easy.  Don't remember time, but nice and easy.

Saturday, February 15th - 11 miles (2 up, CHOCOLATE RACE, 2 down, 2x1 mile, 2x400, 2 down).  Cold morning to run this race (15 degrees), but Crystal and I ventured downtown to the Landing to run the inaugural Chocolate Run.  We found out the race course got cut down to 2.92 miles because of the previous night's snow, so a little bummed to hear I wouldn't have a chance to take out my 4 mile PR.  Warmed up with Crystal and O'Connor, then talked with Coach Kyle about our plans for the race.  He wanted me to hit hard tempo effort (6:15-6:25), then 2x1 mile and 4x400 at interval pace (6-6:10).  Ugh, this was going to hurt.  Course was out and back starting at the Landing, then climbing a big hill before making our way up to Broadway for a mile or so and turning back.  Coming back was deceptively tricky because it was a long, slow gradual hill plus some wind to deal with, and my legs could feel it big time.  Slowed down slightly at that point, but finished strong - legs were tired from the work.  Crystal and O'Connor joined me for the workout, as we pretty much ran up to Broadway and did the course again.  Legs felt very tired starting out, but amazing how easy it was to get back into gear - problem was coming back and I crapped out hard halfway through the repeat (the truck that almost hit us head-on gets some credit for this).  Crystal and I did 2-400 meter repeats before calling it a day, then cooled down a couple miles with O'Connor.  Very pleased with everything - some solid work done today.  6:18 average for race, 5:59, 6:17 mile splits, and quarters were 5:20-5:30 pace.

Prerace

Start of race, courtesy of Channel 11 news

Winning age group (I look like a smug SOB )

Cooldown with the champs

Sunday, February 16th - 6 miles?  I seriously don't remember.  50.5 miles this week, 100.5 miles in February, 257.5 miles in 2014.

Monday, February 17th - 6 miles.  Quick run at home - trail and back plus 270 loop and some change.  50 minutes or so.  Quick follow up appointment with Dr. Clint - hoping this sets me straight for awhile.

Tuesday, February 18th - 8 miles.  A combination of easy mileage with Crystal, Jon, and Colby on the track.  Ran 4 with Crystal and solo while cheering on Jon and Colby for their track workout.  A couple cooldown miles with Jon before he took off, and I got sucked into running with Colby on some of his repeats (2:50 800, 2:00 600) before cooling down with him.  It was a little startling how bad those repeats felt, but some turnover nonetheless.

Wednesday, February 19th - 0!  Back was acting up big time, and opted for rest instead of potentially aggravating something.  Bummed to miss out on a 60 degree running day.

Thursday, February 20th - 8 miles.  Work travel in Rockford, IL.  Roads were unrunnable because of the heavy winds and rain (not to mention 6' of snow on the ground), so did some dreadmill work and 2 miles outside around the business/hotel complex area.  Attempted to start the delayed workout, but it became very evident about a mile in that I wasn't going to hit this - no air circulation, and dreadmill was just terrible.  May be delayed until the weekend.  Back was sore, but better.

Friday, February 21st - 6 miles.  Day 2 of Rockford dreadmill running.  50 minutes of dreadmill and limited outdoors running.  Icy/cold/windy, and got in the majority indoors.  Not going to miss this at all.

Saturday, February 22nd - 12 miles (1 up, 5 x 1.5 miles, 1 down).  FINALLY got in this workout, and waited till later in the day which was a mistake in hindsight.  It was pretty warm and sunny during the day, but when I got out that shifted to cold and windy - not favorable tempo conditions.  Workout was 1.5 mile repeats at long tempo pace (~6:25 min/mile) with half mile jogs in between.  Started around Village Circle, and made my way on the trail but the wind was pretty strong and ended up having to run some out and backs (instead of a direct head/tail wind (2nd and 3rd reps).  A big eff you to the rotten kid who were making fun of me during my second rep - if I wasn't so winded, I would have literally kicked him and challenged him to finish out this workout with me stride by stride.  Seriously, if you are going to make fun of someone, do it from far away instead of 2 feet away.  He's lucky his friends apologized for you, otherwise my foot would have been straight up your @ss.  Sorry for that rant - anyways, tough workout, and hopefully will help build some strength - my legs were toast after the third rep, and cheated with an extra minute of rest after the rep was done.  Splits were: 9:21 (6:14 pace), 9:43 (6:29), 9:43 (6:29), 9:31 (6:20), 9:40 (6:27).

Sunday, February 23rd - 0!  Left calf was KILLING me!  Could barely walk, and I think just slightly strained.  Feels better today, but definitely still feel some soreness.  Opted for some P90X Ab Ripper, which did so because I could barely get up this morning!  40 miles this week, 140.5 miles in February, 297.5 miles in 2014.

Monday, February 24th - ~6 miles.  Big River run with Kyle and Tim.  Did the 7 mile route but Gravois shortcut.  We also ran on a gravel path going on the other side of River Des Peres, that was much, much softer than the typical route.  May opt to do that from now on once it starts getting lighter outside.  Low 8 minute pace on a chilly night.

Big progressive tempo on Wed, then mileage the rest of this week!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Protein timing of consumption in runners, the Harry Potters characters of running groups, Millrose Games this weekend, fast couples, USA XC Championships this weekend, XC in the Olympics?, 8 men break 60:00 in the RAK 1/2 Marathon, funny Jenny Simpson commercial, Mary Cain reddit summary, new Brooks headquarters, and funny gambling story.

Monday, February 10th - 8 miles.  Crystal and I ran in Forest Park after work.  We did the Wydown loop and added some extra in Forest Park to hit 8, since we were so close anyways for our 60 minute run.  It was pretty cold outside, but we got started earlier than usual (thank you traffic-less I-40!), and the sun is staying up for another 30-45 minutes which helps things.  Legs felt like poop, but we picked it up once we got back in the park.  I really enjoy the Wydown loop, probably because there are so many scenary transition points in the run and you get a little bit of everything.  Ran into Hatcher during our last couple miles, and he was hauling @ss - can't wait to see what he races this spring!  1:03 and some change, I believe.  I got a wonderful surprise when I got home - my new Garmin 620 arrived early!

Tuesday, February 11th - 6.5 miles.  New Garmin run with Crystal!  Sidewalk/road conditions were still crap with the cold and snow, so we ended up doing neighborhood loop for 50 minutes.  Very repetitious, but the good conversation and cold made everything go by fast.  A few black ice spots, but we got it done with no damage.  Crystal tested both watches to see if they were accurate (pretty much so), and was happy with my initial run with the new watch.  7:39 avg. pace according to Garmin.

Wednesday, February 12th - 10 miles (2 up, 8x800, 2 down).  Because of the snow, the track was unrunnable so we headed over to a loop that Crystal wanted to try in the city.  The loop was basically the perimeter of Lafayette Park, which is a big rectangle with some hills and a nice bike lane for runners like us to take advantage of.  The park perimeter is 0.90 miles, so each side was basically almost a quarter mile - very good for doing repeats on, and scenic with some local businesses and houses in the area.  The workout was 8x800 at a little faster than tempo, with a quarter mile jog in between, so I fiddled with the new watch and set up the parameters of the workout, since you could literally set everything up.  The nice part is I typically have to press buttons everytime I'm down and monitor my watch constantly, but this time I literally just had to press the start button to start the workout and the stop button to finish the workout - 5 second beeps at the end of each rep and rest (I LOVE this watch!).  Anyways, the goal splits were 3:04-3:10 pace, and push the last 2 if I felt ok, and it went as well as I could have asked.  Another cold day, but hit my splits.  My legs were tired going in, and was pushing at the end (was pretty much blind to my performance since I didn't have much visibility to the mileage (Garmin was totaling total distance including rest mileage)), and was very pleased to see some consistency when I saw the results.  Even more happy considering one of the sides of the park (Missouri St.) was basically straight uphill, so was really pushing to get up on that side.  2 mile cooldown with the group (Dickson and Craig showed up), and a well deserved post workout dinner at Square One Brewery afterwards.  2 mile warmup was 15:04, 800 splits were: 3:00, 3:06, 3:04, 3:05, 3:05, 3:04, 3:01, 2:58, 2 mile cooldown was 17 something.

Thursday, February 13th - 5 miles.  Ran in Forest Park with Silker and Huelsmann after work.  Traffic was killer, so got in 3 miles with those guys before having to bail and head back.  Legs felt like complete garbage.  Went and saw my buddy, Dr. Frye to get my back adjusted since it's been acting up a lot.  He definitely knows what he's doing, and got a quick adjustment and definitely felt better afterwards.  8 minute pace overall.

Easy running tonight in the snow (yes, again).  Running the Chocolate run this weekend, then basic mileage on Sunday.  Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Stan Musial Bridge Run Recap/Meb Sony Walkman Review

Boston Meet results, Tyson Gay, and the greatest interview ever (watch till the very end), and a follow up with the poor girl...

And let me make it clear that I am laughing with this running couple, as this situation has happened PLENTY of times with myself.  One of the inevitable dangers of running in the snow, which is one of my favorite times to run for all the reasons stated...

Tuesday, February 4th - 5 miles.  Mother Nature decided to take a 5" dump on us (of snow), so I decided to run 5 miles to commemorate this event.  Went right after work, and it was coming down pretty good and I looped around 270 and headed down 159 towards QT before heading back and looping around the neighborhood to finish it out.  Nice, powdery snow which slowed things down, but not too much of a hindrance.  Running into the wind was brutal though - the snow felt like little pellets, and got quite painful.  A fun run, but a toughy as well.  ~40-45 minutes total.

Brrrr!

 Wednesday, February 5th - 0!  The low temps made the roads unrunnable since most of the crap froze over.  Track was not clear, and thoughts of doing a fartlek crossed my mind, but given the conditions it was probably not a safe idea.  All my treadmill contacts weren't available, and ended up sitting at home wondering what could have been...

Thursday, February 6th - 6 miles + strides.  Change in workout, as it was getting too close to the race to do a hard workout so we did easy miles.  Forest Park run - Wydown loop with Crystal and Gibbs on a cold night.  I hadn't run Wydown in a long time, but it's a nice road through some neighborhoods with a couple long, rolling hills.  We started out slow, but Crystal picked it up for us and ended up moving quite well towards the end.  Crystal provided the 2014 Running Moment (currently) by giving this jack@ss SUV the double bird, for basically driving in the bike lane (and narrowly missing us).  46:40 overall (7:20's coming back in)

Friday, February 7th - ~4 miles.  Nice and easy run, and wanted to give my new Meb Sony Walkman a try.  Ran my Village Circle loop nice and slow, nothing crazy.  As for the Walkman, here is my quick review:

Here is the box:

Here is a zoom up:

Here are the buttons:

Equipment:  The entire unit is the pictures shown above - which is awesome because there is one cord that connects the two ear pieces (similar to Bluetooth devices), and nothing else!  Not too heavy, and the package contained a couple ear buds that I could adjust (bigger, smaller) if the fit didn't work.  Which I ended up having to do because my right ear kept slipping out throughout the run.  Thank goodness for my running headband, but wondering what it would be like in the summer?  The cord is nice because you can wrap over your ear for more stability, and it never gets in the way.  I didn't realize how nice it was to not have a dangling headphone cord to deal with - I always seem to hit it when I'm running!

Software:  Nothing difficult to install.  My computer automatically installed the drivers, and the Walkman pretty much acts like a USB which is pretty nice.  The best part about transferring files is that it's all drag and drop.  Windows Media started by default, and my music library showed up so I could literally pick the songs I wanted and drag over.  Very nice and simple.  2 Gig storage, which isn't the most in the world but you can still get quite a few songs in there.

Usage: Took about 5-10 minutes before I got used to where the buttons were at, since you really don't have a visual with the buttons being on your ears.  I loaded up on music, and set on shuffle, and away I went!  Scrolled through a couple songs and kept hitting "pause" by accident, but eventually got used to it.  The sound quality wasn't mind blowing, but I never have my music blasting since I need to have the ability to hear cars honking at me since I run the roads a lot.  It was definitely good enough, and could hear everything well.  The Walkman was pretty lightweight, and the cords held the ear pieces relatively stable.

Summary: In a nutshell, I really enjoyed this product, and look forward to continued use.  The fit was my biggest issue, but there is a solution with multiple ear buds available.  I can't stop raving about the lack of cords - it's a pain in the butt to have a dangling cord, and it's so much more nicer to basically be wireless.  I'm not very high maintenance when it comes to equipment like this, but I think the simplicity of the Sony Walkman makes it a big winner.  4/5 stars

Saturday, February 8th - 8 miles (2 up, STAN MUSIAL BRIDGE RUN 6K (24:02 PR (31/~3500)), 2 down).  Drove downtown with Megan and Crystal for the opening of the new bridge/race, after a snowfall the night before.  We parked relatively closeby, and warmed up going down Washington Avenue and back.  While it didn't snow very much, it was enough to pretty much destroy any good grip and it was annoying to run on because my feet kept slipping.  My race goal was mainly to have a good time, but push for some pace in between 6:15-6:25 average.  Because of the wind and course layout, I wanted to go out in 6:20-6:30 and really push headed back in towards the finish (out and back course).  First mile, I ran with Colby and we were trying to go out conservative, but found out we were hitting 5:30's so I backed off significantly.  The road was wet, but definitely runnable and we made our way towards the actual bridge.  The incline to the bridge was a lot more steep than I thought, and the snow was pretty slushy especially on the way back, so I shortened my stride and tried to hang on.  On the turnaround, the conditions were worse and had a couple people pass me as I kept weaving in between the 2 tracks (kind of cleared from whatever vehicle rode on it earlier) to try to get the best traction, but it was slippery nonetheless.  I lost some time on the bridge itself, but picked it up significantly coming back in.  I didn't kick very hard, and really pissed at myself for not pushing myself at the finish, thus leaving some time out there.  In retrospect, I was a little despondent on some poor splits, but should have pushed through because everyone's time was slower.  Cooled down with Crystal, Colby, Silker, Fenley, and Sunny.  11:51/12:11 3K splits (6:14, 6:25, 6:35, 6:12 last mile pace for 0.75).

Prerace during warmup

Post race right before cooldown

Congrats to Crystal for winning, and Colby for winning his age group despite a 17 mile warmup!

On the bridge

Sunday, February 9th - 11 miles.  Long run with Yoch, Colby, and Crystal.  Because the sidewalks and trails were snow covered, we ran the roads.  Ran towards the track, then looped Ebbets Field for a couple miles before doing a big loop on the backroads (past the new YMCA, past the Metro East Church, onto Governors Parkway then home).  I felt like poop, and was hoping we'd keep a slower pace.  We were hitting high 7's and feeling comfortable, but the traffic got sticky on the backroads and the pace picked up.  By about mile 7, I started to get my legs back and we all hammered the last few miles which felt a lot easier.  Glad to have this one done early, as the rest of the lazy day of sitting around and watching t.v. felt earned.  1:24 total (~7:41 average pace).  Brought my broken Garmin 610 out of retirement, and was nice to have an "old friend" track my mileage.  42 miles this week, 50 miles in February, 207 miles in 2014.

My new toy comes in on Tuesday night!  Can't wait to give it a spin!

More snow

Goals for the pros for 2014, Mo is loving the marathon training, one last hurrah for Paula?, Haile to target the Masters marathon record, and Bernard Lagat.

Friday, January 31st - 6 miles (3 up, 10 x hills, 1 down).  A fun hill workout during some sleet, after work.  Village Circle loop for 3 mile warmup, then was looking for any hill on that route to do for the workout, which was 10 x 30 seconds at hard pace (close to mile pace).  Eventually worked my way back to the small hill closeby, since all the other hills were too short.  Let me preface that at this point of the evening, the sleet was coming down and the trails/sidewalks were unrunnable, and I wanted to stay away from all traffic if possible so there weren't too many options.  Anyways, the workout went by pretty quickly, and did some good work.  Legs were pretty tired afterwards, as I made it hurt the last few reps.  1 mile cooldown around the neighborhood, in the grass.  165 miles in January, 165 for 2014.  Slow start to the year, but I'm working at it!

Saturday, February 1st - 8 miles.  Run with Crystal in the early afternoon.  Because of the downpour, we postponed till the afternoon.  Out and back on the trails towards Home Depot, and we intentionally kept it slow.  Effort felt fine, and this run went by rather quickly.  64:24 total (32:16/32:08 splits).

Sunday, February 2nd - 0!  Not my finest moment to miss a long run, and my pure laziness just trumped all.  Opted to play Madden on Playstation with Coach Kyle on Super Bowl Sunday, and we had a big FAIL for the day.  40 miles this week, 8 miles in February, 173 miles for 2014.

Monday, February 3rd - ~8 miles + strides.  I thought we had an easy 6, but turned out to be an hour that I got dragged out for.  Looped on the trail towards the track, then hit up Ebbets Field and Vicksburg to get in ~44 minutes before doing 4 hard strides on the track.  Picked it up coming back home, and was pretty much on cruise control for the most part.  The day off did wonders, for sure.  8 miles in 1:01 and some change, and ran a little extra at the end.

More snow headed our way this afternoon, which will make my track workout pretty interesting.  Easy mileage otherwise this week, then running the Bridge 6K for a workout on Saturday for the first race of the year!