Kara is targeting a fall marathon - come to Chicago!
Friday, May 16th – 0! Completely crapped out on my attempt to get
up at 3:30 a.m. for a quick run, and literally woke up at the last possible
second to leave for our early flight.
Had thoughts of running outside during our layover in Miami, but opted
to hang out at the Corona restaurant and relax a bit. Eventually made it in to rainy Jamaica, and
got settled into our room and explored the island and grabbed some food and
drinks before turning in early. Long day
of travel suck, but was definitely psyched to be in paradise for a long weekend
J
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| Red Stripe! |
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| Jamaica, mon |
Saturday, May 17th – 8 miles. Dreadmill bright and early. For some reason, I woke up pretty early, and
decided to knock out my workout so headed down to the gym, which was about a 5
minute walk away from our room. Pretty
hot and sunny outside, and couldn’t really find a good/long running trail (and
was told that running on the roads outside our resort was a big no/no) so the
dreadmill was my last option. Small gym,
with 4-5 dreadmills, a couple ellipticals, and a couple bikes. No t.v., no a/c., and a window that faced the
sun – pretty much the worst case scenario.
8 miles was all I could manage, and it was absolutely brutal. Walked back to change, then had breakfast
before settling on a nice palm tree umbrella right next to the ocean to read
and take a well-deserved nap! Can
definitely get used to this…
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| Tough morning |
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| Homage to the greatest - Usain Bolt! |
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| Late morning nap |
Sunday, May 18th – 7 miles. Dreadmill bright and early. Snagged the last available machine, which
happened to be in direct sun light with the sun. Literally had to take a 2 minute break after
4 miles for mental and physical reasons – legs felt like crap, and I was getting
exhausted just running in place in the hot gym.
41 miles this week, 118 miles in May, 847.5 miles in 2014.
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| Late night entertainment |
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| My new friend, who greeted me every morning from the gym |
Monday, May 19th – 5 miles. Dreadmill bright and early. Game of Thrones podcasts save the day, as I
was first in the gym, and getting bored every step of the way. Ridiculously hot, but made it through. Had a long day on the beach and pool, before
continuing the party late into the night on our last full day in paradise. Glad to have met some nice friends on this
trip, and thanks to the amazing staff at the Royalton White Sands!
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| One last time... |
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| Back to reality :( |
Tuesday, May 20th – 0! Travel day home. Was a bit of a mess from our last night in
Jamaica, and ended up sleeping in a bit.
Loooong travel day back, as we sadly left our resort around 1 p.m.
(after one final delicious meal at the ocean-side BBQ), and got home after
midnight.
Wednesday, May 21st – ~7 miles (2.5 up, 1x800,
2x300, 2 down). Splits were: 2:38, 57,
57, 56, 58, 57, 56, 56, 56, 57, 56. Ran
with Yoch for the 800, which felt good initially but definitely felt the leg
burn on the last 300 meters or so. The
rest of the 300’s went by fine – legs were a little fried, but felt in
control.
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| Back to "paradise" |
Thursday, May 22nd – 6 miles. Bonifest course preview with Colby and
Crystal. Pretty warm and humid, and I
had some terrible stomach issues which caused me to stop not 1, not 2, but 3
times during the run! Looped once with
them, then had to hit a bathroom stop before reversing and meeting them coming
back in. Course had reversed from the
last time I had run it (2006), and definitely set up for a fast
environment. Small rolling hills early,
but the last mile is pretty flat and the last third of a mile is a long
straightaway with a slight decline. Thinking
sub 19 this weekend should be attainable as long as I don’t run stupid. 47:06 total
Friday, May 23rd – 0! Rest day – ready to rumble tomorrow.
Saturday, May 24th – 6.5 miles (1.5 up, BONIFEST
5K 18:59, 8th overall, 2 down).
Warm morning, but pretty tolerable since the race was pretty shaded and
relatively early. Drove down and parked
by Global, and warmed up with the group for a couple miles. Lined up out front, and away we went! Ran out with Kyle and tried to get locked in,
but went out too hard and hit sub 6 for the first mile (5:54). Was leading a small group, and my worst fears
were confirmed as the hard first mile pretty much zapped my legs, and my pace
definitely slowed down. Made the turn
around the hills, and hit the second mile split which was crap and demoralizing
(6:27), and made the decision to put my head down and just finish with a hard
effort without worrying about time.
Picked off a couple people, and hit the last straightaway hard since I
knew it was only a couple more minutes of pain.
Saw the clock from far away, and figured I needed a good kick to break
19, and was able to do so! Met up with
the group, and was a very successful day for our group as Jon, Colby, Crystal,
and Kyle finished 1-2-3-4, I finished 8th overall and 2nd
in my age group, and all of us were very pleased. Jon tied Colby’s course record (17:11), and Crystal
smashed the old course record en route to a great victory (17:48)!
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| Bling, bling! |
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| Champion, and course record |
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| Champion, and course record |
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| Post race fun |
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| Franklin's new toy |
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| Bonifest and winning Megan a stuffed animal! |
Sunday, May 25th – 11 miles. Long run on a rainy morning. The plan was to meet up and do some easy
mileage on the soft trails, but I opted to run to meet the group and knock out
my long run. Steady rain all morning,
and jumped out on the trail towards Home Depot, and weaved my way through town
towards Market Basket, and ended up about 5.1 miles out at a parking lot out by
Route 143, right where the soft trails begin.
The rain was a little bit of a nuisance at first, and was completely
soaked pretty much within 10 minutes but got locked in and slowly picked it up
and did out and back on the soft trails for a couple more miles before meeting
up with Crystal, Colby, and Kyle. We did
an out and back in some pretty wet conditions, but quite honestly had a blast
doing so. 7:42 pace average. 35.5 miles this week, 153.5 miles in May, 883
miles in 2014.
Monday, May 26th – 4 miles. Easy run with Crystal and Kyle. We ventured out to Old Faithful, since it was
pretty hot and humid and wanted some shade.
From the last few weeks of passing, it appeared the trail was more or
less completely paved, and our assertions were proven correct as we saw various
bikers and runners on our quick run. The
bridges were still being re-done, but the trail looked great. It was like seeing a long-lost friend, and
happy to get back on there. Legs felt
tired, and the humidity is definitely something to reckon with as summer is now
more or less underway. 33 minutes and
some change, total.
Tuesday, May 27th – 4 miles. Late, late at night, since I procrastinated
like crazy. 270 loop and some
change. No idea of time, but it was
still pretty warm and humid outside after 10 p.m.
Wednesday, May 28th - ~6 miles (5x1K, 2-2.5
minutes rest). Track work with Yoch,
Megan, and Alisha. Crystal was kind
enough to come out and time our splits and get in a few warmup/cooldown miles
with Jon and I. Warm and humid evening,
but it did cool down a bit as the time went on.
Felt very sluggish and tired from the humidity, and had to work harder
to maintain my goal times. Wanted to hit
5K pace (3:45 goal split), and made it through pretty comfortably. Definitely seeing some results from the hard
work we have put in over the last couple months. Splits were: 3:36, 3:40, 3:41, 3:40, 3:37
Thursday, May 29th – 5 miles. Death March at Forest Park with Tim after
work. Holy hot and humid, and we ended
up shortening this run substantially.
Add in a few walk breaks, a ton of cursing, and you had ~45 minutes of
pain and suffering.
Friday, May 30th – 6 miles.
Saturday, May 31st – ~6 miles. Paced Megan through a solid 5K effort in
Collinsville at the Hornet Hustle 5K on a hot and humid morning. Warmed up with Colby and Yoch, then jumped in
a little later into the course and kept Megan through a consistent, hard
pace. Mission accomplished, as she ran a
very good race under some terrible conditions, but even splits and a great
effort. Best race of the year, so
far. Yoch and Colby went 1-2, and Megan
finished 2nd in her age group!
184.5 miles in May, 914 miles in 2014.
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| Champion |
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| To the victor go the spoils |
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| Bling, bling! |
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| Postrace |
Sunday, June 1st – 0! I’m sad to report this, and I want to kick
myself for laziness. Blah. 31 miles this week, 0 in June, 914 miles in
2014.
Monday, June 2nd – 7 miles + strides. Group run with Crystal and Huelsmann on a hot
and humid day in South City. It was
straight up gross outside, and felt like complete garbage motoring in reverse
through the 7 mile South City Loop. I
whined and b*tched and moaned every step of the way, and I’m sure everyone
wanted to kill me but we got done. And
now that I think about it, I didn’t do a single stride and instead sat in the
shade while those guys finished up. Yes,
I am weak. I think it was ~7:45 pace,
overall.
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