Alton 5K Recap

NYC 1/2 thoughts, last week (racing), Mo's transition to marathoning, Chicago Marathon lottery opens up, Kara signs with a new company, idiot that interrupted 2004 Olympic Marathon gets kicked out of London lottery (go figure), and an interview with the lovely Miss Kara Goucher,

Monday, March 17th - 4 miles.  Monday night group run at South City, which I coordinated with Timmy, Kyle, and Crystal.  I tried to get a quick oil change beforehand nearby the store, and ended up getting a new serpentine belt along with it since mine was literally about to snap.  What should have been a 15 minute oil change and $40 charge ended up being almost 1.5 hours and ~$300, so ended up having to catch up with a very displeased group of runners.  Did a couple loops of Francis with them before hitting up some strides at DuBourgh with Crystal, before running back to my car.  Tired legs and still hurting from some NASTY chafing, but to be expected after Sunday's long run.

Tuesday, March 18th - 6 miles.  Met Crystal, Kyle, Craig, and Colby at the track.  I planned on doing scheduled workout earlier because of terrible weather conditions forecasted on Wed, but I forgot my inhaler.  The wind was pretty brutal, so opted to do easy mileage and do the workout tomorrow.  Brian Holdmeyer was at the track, so he, me, and Kyle did a loop through SLU and neighboring areas to get in our mileage. Very fun for me to sit on and listen to them recap 2011 St. Pats, when Kyle and Brian finished 1-2 and had quite the duel - both those guys remember every single detail, and I soaked it all in (unfortunately, I remember having some quad issues and having to stop and stretch on Olive and killing my race time).  Got into a nice rhythm, and cruised through to finish it out fast despite a nasty headwind coming back.  I forgot how hilly the area around SLU is - challenging with the wind, on top of it.  45 minutes and some change, overall.

Wednesday, March 19th - 6 miles.  Workout bright and early.  Plan was 6 x 1 mile at tempo, with 90 sec in between but it was just straight up ugly.  I had no legs and no energy, and tried to battle some strong morning winds but pretty much failed.  I ran back on forth on the trails towards Troy, and pretty much struggled every step of the way past the first half mile.  Splits were: 6:17, 6:31, 6:28, 6:26, then quit because I was dead.

Thursday, March 20th - 3 miles.  Ran with Yoch after work right before heading to Colby's house for the tourney games.  We started from his house and did out and back towards the trail.  I felt pretty good, as his route is pretty hilly and we picked it up a little coming back.  It got HOT on the trails - where did this 70+ degree weather come from, all of a sudden?  Splits were: 7:41, 7:38, 7:22.

Friday, March 21st - 6 miles.  Did some solo mileage around STL, then warmed up with Hilary and Crystal around SLU's campus before Crystal's first ever track meet at SLU!  She was the #1 seed, running with some fast college girls and some of the Runnababez girls, and had a mile cutdown workout for her 5K race.  Windy day, and she ended up finishing 3rd in her track debut which was very solid.  We cooled down around the area to finish out an easy mileage day for me.

Crystal blazing by in 5K

Saturday, March 22nd - 12 miles - 9 miles A.M. (ALTON 5K: 19:38, 4th overall), 3 miles P.M..  Went to go watch Yoch defend his title on a cold, windy morning in Alton, IL.  Course started at the ampitheater (right next to the casino), and went on some roads headed back away from Alton, before heading back on the bike trails on the bluff - virtually an out and back.  The initial game plan was just to straight up win the race, but that plan got expelled quickly when I found out a couple All-American college runners were running, so I settled for a good, hard effort.  Went out with another local runner and virtually had him sit on me the entire race as we headed out towards the turnaround.  Wind was technically a tailwind going out but since the road was protected by the bluff, I felt virtually nothing at that point and all the runners were protected from the elements.  Everything felt fine until the turnaround, when I hit the headwind and struggled to maintain pace which slowed down.  Right before the 2 mile split, the trail forked off and luckily Kyle and Crystal could direct me to where I needed to go since I had a choice to make.  Unfortunately, the "correct path" led me up a small, steep hill which started the beginning of the end for me.  Last mile was more difficult, as the rolling hills and wind got to me and zapped my energy as I continued to get worked off of (despite trying to get him to share the work, which was denied and never happened).  He made a move the last quarter which I couldn't react to, and cruised in for a 4th place finish.  While I'm not pleased at all with the time, I split 12:15 at the 2 mile mark with not so hard effort, and excited to be making some progress.  On a better day, I'm breaking 19, no problem.  Splits were: 6:00, 6:15, 6:40 (yikes).  Add in warmup, cooldown, cooldown with Yoch (who defended his half marathon title on a tough day - 1:19:22 PR), and an impromptu 3 mile run at night.

Finishing the 5K

Bar Crawl for the Kids

 Sunday, March 23rd - 0!  Recovery, and the NCAA Tourney.  Slept on the couch most of the day, then had some friends dropping in and out throughout the day which made it impossible to get out.  Excuses, excuses, I know, but the day off was nice and probably needed the rest day and I'll hit the long run on Monday.  37 miles this week, 142.5 miles in March, 472 miles in 2014.  While I'm not happy I missed my long run, my next week will offset it since I'll basically get in 2 long runs that week.

Tough day for Franklin

Monday, March 24th - 12 miles.  Long run with Kyle on Grant's Trail on a windy, snowy afternoon.  Because I was working nearby, we opted to do our long run in that area, and started at Grant's Farm before going back and forth to hit our mileage.  It was snowing at the start, which was a pain in the @ss because my glasses were fogging up/getting wet but got into a good rhythm after the first few miles.  FINALLY, a long run which I felt stronger as we kept going, and the time flew by very quickly which is a great indicator of a good day for me.  Literally felt like we were jogging the entire time, and was as comfortable as I have ever been.  Grant's Trail has a little bit of incline/decline on the trail than I remember, as the 1-2 mile climb going up with deceptively long but very nice coming back.  Kyle stopped at 10.35 miles, and I wanted to get in a couple more miles so opened up my stride a little and pushed to finish.  Very pleased with this run, and had a negative split that Crystal would be proud of.  1:30:38 total, splits were: 7:48, 7:54, 8:06, 8:03, 7:53, 7:53, 7:42, 7:26, 7:20, 7:13, 6:50, 6:22.

Tuesday, March 25th - 6 miles.  Ran Forest Park loop with Tim, Kyle, Craig, Gibbs, Justin, and Megan. Legs were pretty much garbage after my fast finish long run, and looked to do some easy recovery mileage.   Windy, chilly day, but sat on a couple of the guys initially before Tim and I picked it up going up Skinker.  Cruised through the loop as my legs slowly felt better (felt like complete garbage initially), and we negative split the last few miles into the wind which is always a good feeling.  Craig started a push on the last mile, and got me going so we finished with a good effort.  Checked out the new Urban Chestnut afterwards which is in the Grove - HUGE facilities, and great brew as usual.  48 minutes or so total.  3 months ago, this run would have been 9+ min/mile pace - legs are definitely feeling stronger, overall.

Easy mileage tonight with Craig and Crystal, then workout on Thursday which is looking like some tempo-ish, strength building work.

St. Pat's 2014

NYC 1/2, Gateway 15K, and Ryan Hall training in Ethiopia.

Big time racing this weekend.  Shalane sets an American record at FL by 12 seconds, and looks great leading into Boston!  Geoffrey Mutai wins over Mo at NYC - race started over very, very slow, and Mo took a tumble at mile 6 which pretty much ended the day for him.  Mutai took control, and blazed home for the W.  Mo made a very strong comeback, and I'm anxious to see how London goes for him.  I predict there will be some growing pains, and he will become very successful if he keeps with it.

Friday, March 14th - 3 miles.  Gorgeous day to end the week, and waited for my sister to come into town since she and my brother-in-law were visiting for the weekend.  We ran out and back on the trail to Home Depot - enjoyed the nice, easy pace.  Legs were tired but felt pretty good, rather than the typical soreness I had been experiencing.  32 minutes or so total.

Saturday, March 15th - ~9 miles.  St. Pat's Day Parade Run!  Pretty much the best weather I have ever seen for this race, and Megan and I headed downtown early to get situated and run some pre-race miles.  Met up with Tim, Gibbs, Huelsmann, TVR, Dickson, and Wendy to do the Riverfront Trail (first time for me), and did an out and back on the trail before heading back to spectate the race.  Caught the Big River racing team before they were heading off to the start, and then our group ran down to Market and Tucker to catch the runners before the big Market St. climb.  At this point, O'Connor and Lawder had already pretty much gapped the field, and Crystal was about 10 seconds behind Hilary looking pretty controlled.  We ran back to the finish to watch O'Connor finally get the W at St. Pat's, with a stunning 24:22 on a very tough course!  Crystal finished 2nd behind Hilary at 30:05, and set a nice PR in the process!  Lots of positive results all around, and a fun celebratory morning with some good friends.  Very cool to finally watch the elites race, as this race is pretty much the marquis event for STL.  Cooled down with Crystal and Hilary to finish out the day.

Sunday, March 16th - 12 miles.  As beautiful as it was on Saturday, it was that much rotten on Sunday.  A small winter storm moved in, as temps fell over 40 degrees and we had to deal with 25 mph winds.  Crystal and I did Home Depot trail out and back, and made it pretty far down on the trail - hadn't been that far down this particular path since 2009 training (past old high school, over the river and through the woods).  Wind was brutal and swirling, and legs were pretty tired coming back since we were running into the wind pretty much the majority of the first half.  Had some pretty ugly chafing, and quite a few curse words were uttered on this run but we made it.  1:32:36 total.  47.5 miles this week, 105.5 miles in March, 435 miles in 2014.

Group run tonight!  Considering running a 5K this weekend for a fitness test/workout, so we shall see how this week goes...

St. Pat's Weekend

Lawi Lawang goes for NCAA 3 banger, Moses Mosop, Mo Farah ready for NYC Half, World Indoor Championships analysis, be careful running in national parks, Bernard Lagat, and Alan Webb.

Monday, March 10th - ~5.5 miles.  Ran the Runwell group run with Pat and Crystal, since Pifer was in town repping his Newton kicks.  Got to wear test a pair of Newtons (I'm sad to say I don't know the exact model but they were yellow and Red - Crystal called them McDonalds shoes lol), but unfortunately Newtons don't have any wide shoes for my fat feet so it was quite a tight fit.  Regardless, Newton's claim to fame in their shoe technology is they load up the cushioning on their mid foot area, which almost feels like you're running with a little log in that area.  In my case, that's where I usually strike so I had this trampoline effect which provided some extra bounce in my step, and quite honestly a very good feeling.  Anyways, we ran from the store to the trails (on Governor's Parkway) to the high school to do strides, then headed back.  It got pretty warm on this run (up to 80!), and almost yearned for colder temps if that's possible.  Legs were sore, but felt good.  ~7:50ish average pace.

Tuesday, March 11th - ~6 miles.  Ran at the track with Colby, Crystal, and Megan.  Track work for all on a windy day, and my idea to run track was quickly vanquished with my legs feeling like poop so jogged many laps as I cheered everyone else on.  Crystal dragged me to do some 200's with her, so hit a few too fast but was fun to get some turnover.  Cooled down with Colby, then Crystal later to round up a decent mileage day.  200 repeats were: 34, 36, 33.

Wednesday, March 12th - ~6 miles (5x800).  Workout with Tim on the trails.  Ran down to Village Circle, and did some dynamic stretching to get ready for the workout I actually laid out for myself with a little help from Crystal (Coach Kyle is on work travel).  Goal was to hit half mile repeats at 5K effort or so, and I took a longer recovery just because at this point I need it.  We laid out the half mile between the trail entrance and the trail towards Troy, which has natural landmarks at splits points which makes the run a lot easier, visually.  Because of the short distance and my watch settings, it was difficult to really track time/distance (Garmin customized workouts aggregates the total distance and rest time) so I was truly going by effort.  Anyways, made it a point to start out hard but try to relax and stay controlled, and could feel the burn at the end of every repeat but powered through.  Very pleased to see my splits afterwards, and made it hurt at the end.  Everything was faster than I had anticipated, and the slight head/tail wind made no difference for my times.  Tim did quarters, and looked very strong on his workout - great to have good company!  Slow cooldown to finish out a successful workout.  Splits were: 2:45 (estimated - forgot to press "start"), 2:52, 2:52, 2:51, 2:39.

Thursday, March 13th - 6 miles.  St. Pat's course preview with Crystal, Craig, Hilary, Tim, Huelsmann, Gibbs, and Heidi.  Met downtown on a windy, chilly but nice evening and did the course route.  Because of some nasty traffic delaying some of the runners and us getting cold, we started a mini loop around Kiener Plaza which was roughly 0.33 miles.  All the race port-a-potties were lined up in that area we circled, which was an interesting sight to see.  Anyways, we eventually got started, and I was given the dubious honor of setting the pace, so we navigated through the lovely St. Pat's Course.  I had forgotten how tricky the roads of STL could be, as you need a little strategy with some of the later climbs.  Even though you slingshot downhill on Olive, there are still a couple hills towards Tucker that can tear you up, so you need to be careful on the points you surge.  Anyways, led the group through with no issues as the girls, Huelsmann, and I formed a lead pack and hammered through the course for a fun jaunt around the city.  7:30-7:40 average, overall.

Another bittersweet weekend, as I will not be racing St. Pat's this year for many reasons, but I am excited to see the elites run this year, and join my friends in arguably the funnest racing day of the year!

Marchy march...

Salazar vs. Schumaker, 2014 World Indoors, and the Alan Webb story.

Monday, March 3rd - 7 miles.  Monday night group run with Kyle and Gibbs.  Broke away by the time we hit River Des Peres, and pretty much cruised in.  Cold evening, but warmer temps are on the horizon later this week.  Ice/snow on the roads made footing pretty difficult, and my legs felt pretty trashed by the time we were done.  59 minutes or so, total.

Tuesday, March 4th - ~5.5 miles.  Ran Forest Park with Craig and Gibbs.  Craig and I started out on the roads, since the trails were virtually unrunnable because of the ice.  Cruised for awhile, and ran into Gibbs with a couple miles to go and finished up with him.  Legs were still tired and were feeling the effects of a couple snow runs.  43:41 total.

Wednesday, March 5th - ~7.5 miles (1 up, 3 x (1 mile, 1K), 1 down).  Track work with Crystal, Craig, and Kyle at SLU.  Goal pace for workout was 6:00 min/mile for 1 mile, and 5:50ish for 1K repeats (3 min break between mile and 1K, 2 min break between sets).  In a nutshell, a rough workout for me.  Definitely struggled through the splits after the first set, and the effort was a lot more than it should have been.  On the last mile, I lost concentration and blew up a little, and Kyle ran the last 1K with me with instructions not to look at my watch once which actually resulted in my fastest split.  Legs were fried at the end, pretty ugly all around.  Splits were: 5:55, 3:39, 6:00, 3:45, 6:09, 3:38.

Thursday, March 6th - 6 miles.  Creve Couer Park during lunch.  Weather got pretty nice all of a sudden, and knocked this one out during the nice part of the day.  Very slow pace, legs were pooped still.  50-52 minutes.  Schlafly Oysterfest Festival at night - they fly in over 40,000 fresh oysters from various parts of the coasts for us to enjoy.  Killed about 2 dozen oysters in the process - delicious!

Round 1

Friday, March 7th - 0!  Coach Kyle nixed the second workout this week because I was still in recovery mode, and ended up taking the day off.  Much needed, as the time on the couch was foreshadowing my weekend of laziness.

Saturday, March 8th - 6 miles.  I slept almost 11 hours at night, woke up to eat a monster breakfast, then literally slept another 3 hours.  Not sure if I'm getting sick or what, but my body felt pooped!  Finally got out in the late afternoon for my run, and literally felt like I couldn't feel my body.  Chilly and a little windy, but made it through ok.  No watch, but my first mile was around 7:50 and didn't deviate much from that effort.

Franklin's laziness is contagious

Sunday, March 9th - 12 miles.  Crystal and I did Troy route on the trails on an absolutely perfect morning to be outside!  Sunny and chilly starting out, but warmed up with a slight head wind coming back.  We picked it slightly coming back - my legs started getting tired at around 9.5 miles, but made it in ok.  1:32:48 total.  Pretty much slept the rest of the day away - I love weekends.  44 miles this week, 58 miles in March, 387.5 miles in 2014.

Thanks Megan

Very sad to have missed my first Top of the Morning 5K in probably 10 years.  Just not where I want to be, but one step at a time!  Gorgeous weather the first part of this week, before the snow returns...

Happy Birthday Megan!

Ryan Hall to run Boston, US World Half Marathon Championship roster, Danny Mackey.

Friday, February 28th - ~6 miles.  Workout was 10 x 1 minute hard (mile pace effort), 1 minute off fartlek, and I ran at night doing the 270 route and to the trail and back with some change.  Nothing crazy to report, but my legs were still feeling the effects of Wednesday's workout and by the 3rd or 4th rep I was hurting pretty bad.  Glad to have this one over with. 172.5 miles in February, 329.5 miles in 2014.

Saturday, March 1st - 6 miles.  Out and back towards Home Depot on the trail.  Another sluggish run, and was struggling to get through it pretty much from the first step.  Kept about an 8 minute pace through the first 4 miles, then picked it up to finish it out.  ~7:45ish average pace.  At night, went out to Global Brew to celebrate Megan's early birthday!

Father and Son

Sunday, March 2nd - 8 miles.  Sleet run with Kyle on the trails.  Out and back towards Home Depot, and the trails were pretty iced up and some annoying sleet pelted our face on the entire way out.  Weather.com said 16 mph winds, so very annoying and very cold, but one of those runs that was a mental battle all the way.  Once we made the turn, it was a lot more tolerable and we picked up the last 2 miles slightly to finish it out.  Considering the option of running a couple more, but my legs were seriously toast.  The footing was terrible, and we were slipping on the actual roads pretty bad.  1:03:52 for the 8 miles.  46 miles this week, 14 miles in March, 343.5 miles in 2014.

Easy run tonight and tomorrow, then back at it on my quest to get fit again!  Today is Megan's Birthday - happy birthday to her!