Olympic Triumph by the U.S. Women

The Olympics continue, and what a ride it’s been so far!  Michael Phelps concluded his legendary career, and Emma Coburn wins the bronze in an American Record (and PR) effort!  It’s amazing how far the American steeplechase group has gotten, as the U.S. finally medaled from both the men and women (congrats Evan Jager!).  Jenny Simpson ran a gutsy race for bronze, and the marathon women all finished in the top 10 on a nasty, sunny, and humid Brazilian day.  Shalane, Desi, and Amy all gutted out some amazing performances, and have nothing to be ashamed of – what a great accomplishment!    

Wednesday, August 10^th – 6 miles (1 up, 3 mile tempo, 2 down).  Olympic pact of running every day continues, as I barely made it out the door late at night for this one.  Original plan was to go the track, but didn’t want to lose too much time away from the Olympics, so thought a short tempo was the quickest workout to accomplish.  Very humid and sticky outside, but I had the benefit of Megan and her friend sitting outside.  I asked them to hand me water on my second mile (they did, no problem), and I had a good cheer section as did loops around the neighborhood.  Targeted goal half marathon pace (~6:45), and ended up averaging ~6:35 (6:30/6:39/6:35) splits.  Very pleased, as it was super nasty outside and I haven’t done much tempo work other than those 5K’s a month or so ago.  Slow cooldown to end the night, then back to the couch for more Olympics events!

Thursday, August 11^th - ~6 miles.  Recovery, out and back towards Drost, then 1 mile with Megan around the neighborhood.  Nice and easy, legs were a little tired from the tempo from the night before.

Friday, August 12^th - ~4 miles.  Run before work – looped around the neighborhood and on the trails.  Finally, the city decided to mow the grass on the trails, as the weeds had gotten a good 3’-4’ high!  But they decided to do this during my run, which made maneuvering around some trucks on a narrow trail pretty interesting.  10 strides afterwards to call it a day – started to get pretty warm and sunny towards the end of that run.

Saturday, August 13^th - ~5 miles.  I woke up with all intentions to do my long run.  I dressed and stretched and actually got my shoes on, all ready to go.  But Mother Nature had other intentions for me that morning as it poured and poured and poured.  It was that type of rain where you would be soaked within 5 seconds of being outside, so I deferred back to bed and decided to sleep in a little before trying again later.  Well, it did let up eventually, and I got outside late morning with the idea of doing my long run if I felt ok.  Well, the humidity from the nonstop rain made the trails feel like a sauna, so I made a U-turn at Drost Park and called it a day with 5 miles.  ~42 minutes I think, blah.

Sunday, August 14^th – 6 miles.  So much for a long run, as I got a late start with Crystal on the trails.  Watched the Olympic Marathon during the morning, and didn’t do too much later that day.  We ran a couple loops around her neighborhood before going out and back on the trail on Old Faithful.  Stomach was destroying me, and we cut the run short at 6 miles.  49 minutes and some change overall, pretty solid all in all.  At night, watched the Greatest of All Time, Usain Bolt, win his 3^rd consecutive Olympic Gold Medal in the 100m final.  Absolutely stunned to see him come back for the W, and amazing to see this human (not sure he actually is!) continue to dominate his craft.  So blessed to watch the best ever, at the twilight of his career.

Monday, August 15^th – 6 miles.  Out and back with Crystal on the trail towards Marine.  The plan was to go slower, but I’m ran with Crystal so that never goes to plan.  The weather was spitting rain, which felt incredible.  We started out slow (~8:20), but could feel us both picking up the pace.  I haven’t really ran much in the 7 minute range, so it was interesting to revisit that pace.  7:36/7:15 to close out a solid run.  47:12 overall.

Tuesday, August 16^th - ~4 miles.  Nice and slow after work while looping around the trails and neighborhood.  Legs were tired, but made it through ok for the most part.  Humidity has rejoined us, but the slow pace felt great.

Wednesday, August 17^th – 4 miles (1 up, 8x200, 1 down).  Late night track work with Crystal.  The original plan was to do a longer fartlek at tempo, but decided to tweak the plan a little bit since I am fairly certain I am doing Crystal’s steady state later this week.  Nice that I’m already re-writing the plan I’m using lol  Anyways, the evening felt ok temperature wise, but pretty still air.  The idea was to hit the 200’s around 37 seconds, and jog the recovery while we both alternated leads.  I figured this shouldn’t be too bad, as I felt pretty confident I could hit 37’s in my sleep.  Well, I led us off and realized that 37’s are a lot harder when you haven’t been doing much on the track, as I had to push on the last 100 meters to hit the split on the nose.  We alternated through 5 splits (I fell off a little towards the end of that) before I had to take a much needed bathroom break while Crystal kept going (original workout was 10 repeats).  Rejoined and led her through the last 2 reps before doing one more solo to finish the day.  36-38 for the first 5 splits, 35, 36, 36 for the last 3 repeats.  Slow cooldown to finish, and very pleased.

Easy run tonight after work, then 3 mile steady state on Friday.  Long run Saturday, then easy Sunday to conclude my Olympic running.  A few more marquis events to come, but fully expect King Usain to complete the triple, Centro to medal in the 1500, and Eliud Kipchoege to win the gold in the men’s marathon.  More to come!

Happy Olympics!

With the Olympics upon us, it is difficult not to feel motivated and work out.  This has been the best 1 month block for me since my Berlin Marathon block, and I am logging in some good mileage and building a small base to transition into half marathon training.  40 mile weeks are the norm, and I am welcoming the familiar feeling of tired/sore legs, but also trimming my spare tire and bettering my conditioning in the process!  Track and Field starts later this week, and I feel determined and motivated to keep the good running going through the Olympics.  Emma runs on Saturday for her pre-lims, and the Women’s Steeplechase 3000M Finals is next Monday.  Women’s 10K Final is on Friday, and the Men’s 10K Final is on Saturday.  And the Women’s Marathon is on Sunday morning.  Life (and running) is good!

Sunday, July 10^th - ~12 miles.  Ran to Yoch’s house, which is exactly 6 miles from house to house using trail.  The trail was very covered but trapped in all the humidity.  It was absolutely gross outside, and I was soaked within 10 minutes.  I could tell by the third mile that this was going to be rough, so started to intentionally back off on pace to conserve energy and keep my legs from the brutal punishment because I was running pretty flatfooted at this point.  I ran on 159 on the way back, but the damage was done at that point and my legs felt like concrete bricks.  The run back had a nice breeze, but 159 had a few monster hills to deal with. 

Monday, July 11^th - ~3 miles.  Waited late to knock this out, but ran out and back on the trails before coming back in.  Very tired, and was hurting from the long run on Sunday.  Very pedestrian pace, and walked a mile with Megan to call it a night.  Sweated off at least 5 lbs., so there is my silver lining. 

Tuesday, July 12^th – 5 miles.  Nice and muggy evening run with Mike over in his area in Troy.  We started out in his neighborhood, and ran local roads to Troy Park before doing some loops around there.  I hadn’t been in that park since I was a teenager, and it was cool to see that it had developed quite a bit.  The park itself was moderately flat with soft rocks on the main area, but we hit a small trail portion which was hillier.  Notable scenery included the several groups of families playing Pokemon Go, and I still don’t understand what the purpose of this game is other than to get in people’s way.  Roads to and from the park were pretty hilly, and my legs still felt pretty shot.  Nasty humid outside, and running these days is definitely a mental and physical battle.  42:30 total.

Wednesday, July 13^th – Sunday, July 17^th – 13 miles.  Had to take some time off, as I went too hard over the 4^th of July weekend.  Rest and retool.  21 miles this week

Monday, July 18^th – 5 miles

Tuesday, July 19^th – 5 miles

Wednesday, July 20^th - ~7 miles (2 up, 8 x 400 5K pace, 2 down).  Track workout with Yoch at my alma mater, EHS.  Not very good conditions, and we warmed up on the trail towards SIUE.  I jumped in and did quarters while he was doing his 5K workout at tempo pace, so we hit 87-89 on all the quarters.  That dude is a complete machine!  I felt ok after the first couple repeats, but it got very difficult towards the end.  I am not acclimating well to the hot/humid conditions.  Slow cooldown on the trail to finish it out.

Thursday, July 21^st – 5 miles

Friday, July 22^nd – 5 miles

Saturday, July 23^rd – 10 miles.  Very early in the morning – Mike met me at 5:30 a.m., and I ran a couple slow miles around the neighborhood right beforehand.  We ran out on Old Faithful, then looped through a neighborhood to get back.  My legs were pretty much dead, and was hurting bad on the last couple miles.  Ugh

Sunday, July 24^th – 4 miles  41 miles this week

Monday, July 25^th – 4 miles.  Early morning solo – out and back on the trails towards Troy.  Sleepwalked through this one.

Tuesday, July 26^th – 5 miles.  Early morning run with Crystal.  We hadn’t run in ages, so was nice to get some miles with my partner in crime.  Out and back on Old Faithful – so nice to get back to the routine again J

Wednesday, July 27^th - ~7 miles (2 up, 10 x 400 5K pace, 2 down).  Track workout with Yoch at the middle school track.  Nasty outside, and ended up pacing Yoch through his mile repeats with my quarter repeats.  Hit 86-89, and felt pretty controlled.  Should have hit a few more with him, but I was zapped from farting around after the last repeat.  Happy that the effort is feeling better than before.

Thursday, July 28^th – 5 miles.  Early morning run with Crystal.  Poopy mcpoop, my legs were tired!  But Crystal makes me run faster than I like, and we cruised through just fine.

Friday, July 29^th – ~5 miles.  Mile repeats with Crystal and Hilary in Crystal’s neighborhood.  Their workout was 3x1 mile at 6:30 pace, and I was the rabbit/pacer.  I am not an early morning fast runner, and was not looking forward to tempo like effort but it must be done.  But having people to run this with was very tolerable, and was surprised to find the effort wasn’t bad at all.  It also helps that Crystal’s neighborhood loop is lightning fast and despite the turn, it breaks up any monotony.  First mile started out quick, but we gained control quickly.  I had major stomach issues and sat out the second rep, but blasted through the last mile just fine.  Quick cooldown to finish out – pleased with the morning’s activities.  6:22, 6:12 were the mile splits.

Saturday, July 30^th – 11 miles.  Long run early with Mike.  Did 2 miles solo before he came over, and did some very slow laps around the neighborhood since it was pitch black outside.  Had a buddy that was questionable on joining so we circled the neighborhood a couple times waiting for him, before we determined he wasn’t coming.  Ran out and back on the trail towards Troy/Drost Park area.  Finally a morning that wasn’t ridiculously sticky outside, and it felt as nice outside as it’s been all summer.  We kept the pace pretty slow, but felt very good coming in.

Sunday, July 31^st – 0!  My buddy Nick called me up to help him move “a couple quick things”, which turned out to be a marathon 8 hour moving day!  Up and down the stairs, my quads/calves were as tired as they have ever been!  37 miles this week

Monday, August 1^st – 4 miles.  Dragged myself out the door to get in some late miles.  2 loops around the neighborhood, then my 2 mile loop on the trail.  Nice and slow, and super humid.

Tuesday, August 2^nd – 7 miles.  Out and back on the trail towards Drost Park.  So nasty hot outside towards the end.  Was hoping that I could run with the overcast skies, but the sun came roaring out with a vengeance about 2 miles into the run.  Last few miles were absolutely ridiculous and was hating life.  But this might be the run I will remember where things started to come together for me.  Legs were shot and the weather was hot/humid, and I slowly picked it up as I went.  Coming back in, Megan had texted me about getting in a couple miles, so I pushed it slightly coming back home.  I haven’t been pushing myself at all during these runs, but split 18:49 (20 something going out).  Nothing to really write home about, but mid 7 minute pace is a foreign concept for me right now.  2 miles with Megan afterwards to call it a day.

Wednesday, August 3^rd – ~6 miles (2 up, 10 x (30 sec hard, 1 minute easy), 2 down.  Late night start and did this fartlek around the neighborhood.  Sticky, but blasted it out.  Hit 2.13 miles for the fartlek portion (goal is 2 miles), and felt pretty controlled for the most part.  I am starting to feel better on these runs.  5K effort and a little faster for the “hard” part of the fartlek.

Thursday, August 4^th – 5 miles.  Trail out and back towards Troy. 

Friday, August 5^th - ~5 miles.  Happy Olympics Opening Ceremony!  Glad to knock out an early run, as I am determined to run good mileage every day during the Olympics!

Saturday, August 6^th – 10 miles.  Another early morning doozie with Mike.  He met me at 5:30 a.m., and we knocked out a couple miles in the neighborhood before doing out and back towards Marine.  Legs felt good, and we were cruising towards the end.  Overcast skies helped, and I felt good

Sunday, August 7^th – 6 miles.  Late night celebrating Timmy’s birthday, and dragged myself up at 7:30 a.m. for a recovery run.  Out and back on the trails towards Troy, nice and easy.  The sun was out, but not over powering, which was nice.  41 miles this week

Monday, August 8^th – 4 miles.  Tired, and made myself get outside with the Olympics being on.  Did a quick 2 mile loop solo (~16 minutes), then dragged Megan out of retirement for 2 miles (going opposite way).  Always nice to have company when knocking out easy miles!

Tuesday, August 9^th – 5 miles.  Out and back on the trails after work.  Warm, but tolerable, and I think the worst summer days are over (knock on wood).  Legs are starting to feel stronger, and I am pushing myself a little out of the comfort zone as the weather gets better and I get more acclimated to running again.  The first month was just getting the miles regardless of pace.  Now, I am going to start making myself work a little harder on the easier runs.  Felt lethargic starting out, but snapped out of it during my run and picked up the pace.  Helped to have some people on the trail to target, as I sniped a few kills coming in.  Sub 40 minutes, overall. 

Last night, got to watch the legendary Michael Phelps in action.  He avenged his 200M Butterfly loss to Chad de Clos (2012 London), and anchored the Men’s 4x200M Freestyle, both events within an hour.  One of the most impressive doubles I have ever seen.  I am just so amazed and blessed to watch this legend in action, still dominating while in the twilight of his career.  I love the Olympics!!!