Exhausted writing this blog post. I did an early morning workout with Crystal, and pretty much got my @ss kicked (on next blog post). Between the worst run ever at Group Run on Monday and the early morning "fun", I am pooped! Having fun with the first couple weeks of this marathon cycle, but it's going to be a tough one. Summer temps to deal with, and I have already run more morning weekday runs than all of last year!
Without further adieu, time to get completely caught up!
Monday, June 9th – 7 miles + strides. Rainy run with Crystal after work. We ran to the middle school track from her
place, and did some really hard strides before heading back. Legs felt ok starting out, but I think I may
have overdone it on the strides. I went
almost full effort trying to keep up with her, and that wasn’t the smartest
idea. Cooler temps plus some light rain
equals pure blissful heaven for me! 8:15
pace, overall.
Tuesday, June 10th – 6 miles.
Wednesday, June 11th – 8 miles. Duel pacing duties between Megan/Alisha’s
workout, and Pat’s workout. Hot day
outside, but managed to knock out a ton of mileage at the track in the
process. Road miles for my warmup – nice
and easy.
Thursday, June 12th – 4 miles. Don’t remember specifics, but kept mileage
short and easy. Legs were pooped all
week!
Friday, June 13th – 0! Rest day + travel. Got up to Bloomington to pick up my sister,
then ate a late dinner at Destihl. Got
back to Peoria after 10, and attempted to get as much sleep as I could as the
Steamboat Classic was literally right around the corner. Early races suck, when you aren’t an early
riser.
Saturday, June 14th – 7 miles. STEAMBOAT CLASSIC 4 MILER 24:48 PR. Headed out to downtown Peoria bright and
early, and got my bib/shirt before warming up.
Temps were beyond perfect –high 50’s/low 60’s, and slightly breezy. I don’t remember ever having a non-humid day
and under 80 degree temps for Steamboat – just too nice to pass up an
opportunity for a fast race. Did a 2
mile warmup, and did basic stretching by the start of the race. Ran into a few people I knew, and got settled
in before we started the race. The
course is pretty simple – you start up a hill, then weave through downtown
going north and wrap around some side roads before heading back towards the
Riverfront down a big hill. I had set my
A,B, and C goals leading into the race – C: P.R. (26:02), B: Sub 25:30, A: Sub
25. I felt pretty confident that the C
goal and most likely the B goal would be accomplished, as I had gained some
speed back and had some good runs over the last month. Wanted to get locked in right at 6:20’s, and
went out a little too hard on the first mile and tried to get settled in and
better in control. Worked with a group
for awhile, and we made the turnaround, and was well on pace at the halfway
point and trying to get as comfortable as could be. Split the 5K at 19:19, and relaxed a little since
I was getting a little tired and started playing some evil mental games with
myself (i.e. I could run a 7 minute last mile and still PR). I was still working with the same group, and
we got strung out on the last straightaway before the downhill. Once I made the turn, I left gravity take
over and coasted down the large hill and soaked in the crowd. One last turn onto the riverfront, and saw
the clock still in the 24’s and kicked it in.
Very happy with the race, and a much better official PR for me as 26:02
was pretty weak for my ability and have split sub 25 many times in training
runs. I’m shut down from racing now
according to Coach Kyle, and it’s all marathon training for the rest of summer! 5:58, 6:19, 6:14, 6:08 were my splits.
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| Post race |
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| Riverfront |
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| Beautiful I-74 |
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| Clydesdale Group Winner |
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| Brad and I |
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| Megan and I |
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| Father's Day BBQ |
Sunday, June 15th – 9 miles. Travel day back home, and spent most of the
day on the couch watching U.S. Open golf and the NBA Finals. Finally got out the door late, and ran to
Crystal’s where she joined me for roughly 4 miles on Old Faithful, before I
went home. Ran with my phone for music,
and Kyle was texting me and basically told me to go home since I felt like
crap, so cut the long run short since it wasn’t getting any better. Trying to adjust to this heat, but it’s
definitely challenging. 8:16 pace average. 41 miles this week, 91 miles in June, 1005
miles in 2014. Happy 1000th mile
to me!
Monday, June 16th – 9 miles + strides. Bright and early with Crystal, and we did
Home Depot route towards Edwardsville High School. Legs were still poop, and definitely was
working a bit the entire way but Crystal was merciful and kept the pace
honest. Strides felt hellacious, and
kept it a little more moderate. 8:15ish
average or so.
Tuesday, June 17th – 6 miles. Ran with Yoch after work on a humid
evening. We ran on the trails towards
Home Depot, and it was pretty miserable.
Legs were completely dead, and was just straight up tired. 49:48 total time.
Wednesday, June 18th – 5 miles. Ran after work with Pat at the track. Got up there early, and ran ~3 miles on the
roads with some terrible, terrible conditions.
This summer is gonna be brutal!
He had 3 x 800 at mile pace, then dropping, but it was pretty bad
outside and told him to concentrate more on effort. Timed his first rep, ran the last 2 with him,
then cooled down. 3:12, 3:12, 3:08 were
his splits, and he definitely worked for it as did I.
Thursday, June 19th – 6 miles
Friday, June 20th – 0! Self imposed off day, as I’ve been pretty
beat and need some energy. Plus, being
shut down and all, it was encouraged to get as much rest of possible now with
some hard workouts coming my way #ominousclouds
Saturday, June 21st – 14 miles. First marathon long run! With Coach Kyle finishing my plan, he
informed me I needed to be ready to run 16 miles on the 4th of July
weekend, so needed to get in some longer long runs. Started at 5 a.m., which wasn’t fun waking
up, going to the bathroom, then leaving without any food/water, but wanted to
get in as much as possible as early as possible. Recruited Mike to meet me at 6 for 8 miles,
but turned into 9 since I started a tad late.
Ran 5 miles at low 8 minute pace at my Glen Carbon road loop, but was
very concerned because I felt like crap and had a long way to go. It was super humid outside (97% when I
started!) and by the time I got back, I was sweating profusely. Gulped down 2 huge glasses of water, then
Mike and I did out and back on the trails.
Looped onto Old Faithful and made our way down a bit before turning
around. The new paved trails look good,
and the small bridges still need to be done but glad to be back on here. Legs didn’t feel any worse on the back half,
but was definitely tired once we stopped.
Very pleased to get this in, and was a relatively decent way to kick off
my official training as I hadn’t been doing very many long runs lately. 8:20 average pace.
Sunday, June 22nd – 4 miles. Slept in, and ran with Timmy at noon which
was a stupid idea. Hot and humid, and
just painful every step of the way. Not
a good idea to start a run at noon on a hot, sunny day. Out and back on the trails towards Troy, and
it couldn’t get over fast enough. 36
minutes total. 44 miles this week, 135
miles in June, 1049 miles in 2014.
Monday, June 23rd – 6 miles + strides. South City group run with Tim. Ran 2 miles solo around the store, then did the
improvised 4 mile loop with a quick detour at DuBourgh for strides. Overcast and humid, but the light sprinkling of
rain helped a lot. 8:30’s average,
overall.
Tuesday, June 24th – 4 miles. Track work bright and early with Yoch. 2 miles warmup with Yoch on the roads, then I
did drills while he knocked out mile repeats.
Jumped in during his 800 meter jogs in between reps, then also jumped in
the last quarter for his last 2 miles, which he absolutely decimated. Pretty lethargic from the humidity and early
morning, but the fast quarters felt good.
78, 79 for my 2 quarter – rest were high 7/low 8 pace.
Wednesday, June 25th – 8 miles (4 miles a.m., 4
miles p.m.) Met Megan and Alisha bright
and early at the track, and got in some miles running solo and part of their
workout. At night, ran 4 with Yoch at
the trails by his place. Warm, but the
trails were nice and cool and we ran for 31 minutes and some change. My fastest summer run yet!
Thursday, June 26th – 6.5 miles (4.5 miles a.m.,
2 miles p.m.). Track bright and early
yet again, and ran a couple solo before meeting up with Crystal and running the
rest with her on the roads. I think we
did a few strides, but I can’t remember – too early for my memory to
function. Crystal and I ran low 7:50’s,
which trumped my run with Yoch the night before. At night, ran with Megan for a couple miles
after work on her neighborhood/trail loop.
Because she didn’t get in a good workout, I pushed her to run a couple
miles at harder effort. It was quite
toasty and humid outside, and the route she picked was hilly. We took a 1 minute break in between miles, then
hammered the last one which was a long uphill finish. 8:46/8:48 – pretty good for Megan,
considering the conditions!
Friday, June 27th – 0! Self-imposed rest day. Much needed, too J
Saturday, June 28th – 16 miles. Met Timmy at Forest Park at 5 a.m. Got there a little early, and ran 2 miles
solo to Skinker and back from the Visitor’s Center. It was dark and super humid, and was
sleepwalking through my first 2 miles (7:57, 7:21). Tim and I proceeded to run the Arch loop,
which fortunately went by pretty quickly. Very scenic, and cruised through the hilly
terrain and thankfully had overcast conditions later in the run. Water breaks at SLU and by Kiener Plaza, and
saw a threesome being negotiated between 3 homeless people which is something
you don’t see every day. Made our way
back to Forest Park, and looped around the perimeter to find water before
heading back to the Visitor’s Center.
Ran the last 1.5 miles solo on the back, soft trail and picked it up,
eager to get done. Legs were pooped, but
hit 7:03 pace which didn’t feel too great, quite honestly. 8:35 pace overall. Afterwards, went down to spectate the
Macklind Mile, and saw some fun races including Crystal finishing 2nd
in the elite race!
Sunday, June 29th – 6 miles. FOPA death march with Craig. Slept in for the first time in a long time,
and met Craig at the Visitor’s Center late in the morning. 6 mile reverse loop, and it was hell pretty
much the entire way. Humid, but
thankfully overcast, and it was still a bit nasty outside. We took many water breaks, and my legs were
complete garbage. Hit the last mile
somewhat harder to break 9 min average.
53:52 total. 46.5 miles this
week, 181.5 miles in June, 1095.5 miles in 2014.
Monday, June 30th – 5 miles + strides. Death march at group run. 105 degree heat index and sunny – borderline
oven like conditions. Crystal had warned
me that it was supposed to be a hot one, but I attempted it anyways. 1 mile beforehand with Craig, and it was
straight up disgusting. Tim and I ran
our improvised 4 mile loop, and was struggling every step of the way. Stopped at DuBourgh for strides, and probably
took 3 minutes rest between each stride because it was so hot. The only part that was shaded on the track
was the back curve, so did a couple strides back there and cooled down as much
as I could. Made our way back to the
store, and got tired of being tired and picked it up the last mile just to get
the torture over with. I remember why I
do early morning runs now – this was straight up ridiculous!!! 43 minutes and some change, overall. 186.5 miles in June, 1100.5 miles in 2014.
Finally caught up! Quick workout on Thursday, then a looooong run on Saturday to kickstart my 4th of July Weekend! #murica
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