Jenn-ay!

Jenny Simpson, Ryan Hall, Yohan Blake continues his mastery, U.S. strives for 30 medals in London, How money came into running, and the state of the marathon. Carbo loading rules, Bolt wins again, NYC Marathon field starting to shape up with Martin Lel and Emmanuel Mutai throwing their names in the hat, and Boston registration continues (as does the controversy).

Friday, September 9th - 10 miles (3 up, 6x1 mile tempo, 1 down). Planned workout with Crystal, and the rain made scheduling a little tricky. Wanted a 1 mile loop (as opposed to running circles all night), so settled on my trail 1 miler, since it was flat and no turns. Jogged down with Crystal from my place, and did an extended warmup thinking it would be better for later (it was - Good call C!). Planned workout was 7x1 mile at tempo pace (6:25-6:30) with 1 minute rest. Felt really good on the first few, but started to struggle afterwards. 5th rep - crashed pretty hard and had an awful split, and died a horrible death on the 6th mile. Stopped at the halfway point, ran it in with Crystal on her 7th rep at a pretty blazing pace. Legs were done, yuckity yuck. Not the best workout, but got as much out of it as I possibly could. Definitely still feeling the after-effects of Shane's wedding week(end), and it was a shock to my system to be running like this. Mile splits were: 6:23, 6:24, 6:23, 6:29, 6:34 (ouch!), 6:15 (3:20, 2:55).

Saturday, September 10th - 6 miles + drills. Late morning run with Crystal, legs were absolutely demolished. Drills felt awful. Very difficult run, amazingly done in 51 minutes or so but it was definitely rough. Sun was brutal coming in, but made it ok. Wedding over in Chesterfield - one of the coolest receptions I have ever been to at Kemp Auto Museum. Not a big car buff, but very classy and saw some awesome vintage automobiles and had a great evening.

Sunday, September 11th - 14 miles. Devin was home for the weekend, so we did an out and back on Old Faithful at 9 a.m. Legs were still mush, so made it a point to keep it slow. Weather was a little bit of a factor, as the heat moved back in. I knew this was going to be a struggle, as I still felt like crap 2 miles in. Kept a decent pace, and made it through ok but was definitely tired at the end. Kept thinking of 9/11 and the events of 10 years ago, and wasn't going to quit for one second. My watch strap broke with 1.5 miles to go, so was pretty pissed about that. Don't remember total time, but kept 8:40 min/mile pace. Spent the rest of the day welcoming back the NFL on my couch and enjoying every single second of the NFL Sunday Ticket! 47 miles this week - will definitely take it, considering travel week!

Monday, September 11th - 6 miles + drills. Delayed this one as long as possible because of the weather and crazy U.S. Open men's final (Djoko is ridic!), but eventually made it out with Crystal for our customary 6 mile run and drills. Not much to say - felt ok, a little better than the weekend for sure. 51:34 total time.

Tuesday, September 12th - 6 miles. Woke up to some painful I.T. band issues in both legs. Tried stretching, but definitely felt crippled throughout the day. Finally at 9 p.m., dragged my lazy carcass outside for some mileage. First mile was rough, but eventually settled in as I did my 4 mile Glen Carbon road loop for the flatter ground. Got chased by a dog, and ran into a dead skunk. Got home, did a very slow 2 miles (out and back to the trail) since I still felt like crap. Glad to get this in, long stretch session afterwards. 31:59 for the 4 miles - shut off the watch and jogged the final 2 miles at a really slow pace.

Legs are a mess today, and so is the rain. Planned track work is probably getting shifted back a day, as I recover from these nasty I.T. issues.

Mother Nature is no longer a hooker

Whew! Much to catch up on, so here we go! Is Bolt trying as hard as he can?, World Champion Jenny Simpson, Sarah Palin (my former employer) runs in Iowa, Hall is 4th in Virginia Beach, Geb goes for another Olympics, Mo Farah, and Boston registration opens on Monday :(

Monday, August 29th - 6 miles and drills. Had to think back about this one. Crystal, Tim, and I ran to the track on a muggy, humid evening. Kept it pretty slow, pretty tired and felt like poop. Don't remember the time.

Tuesday, August 30th - 10 miles (1 up, 4 x 1 mile tempo, 4 down). Late work dinner in St. Louis, so got ahold of Gabe and met him in Francis Park to work with him on his workout. Another warm evening in the 80's, and was battling some stomach issues from just having had dinner. He was hitting 10x1 mile at 6:00 min/mile pace, so after a small warmup I caught him halfway through. Tired, and had to work hard for the last one, especially as Gabe was taking off for a fast last mile. Long cooldown around the park a few times, nice night to be out and glad to get this workout in. Mile splits were: 5:50, 6:04, 6:00 (split), 5:58.

Wednesday, August 31st - 6 miles. I don't remember this run, but remember I was pretty militant getting in mileage before heading out to Washington D.C. for Shane's wedding.

198 miles for the month of August, 1389 for 2011.

Thursday, September 1st - 0! Planned on trying to get in some afternoon treadmill mileage, but alas work was too busy. Travel day, made it to D.C. with Megan and Tim for a fun wedding weekend!

Friday, September 2nd - 9.5 miles. Was staying at Josh's who lives in Columbia Heights (3 Northwest of the Mall). Intended on running out and back, but got sucked into the awesomeness of the Washington Monument, then decided to run the Mall towards the Capitol Building before heading back. Realized we were on Pennsylvania Ave., so ran over to the White House before heading back. Awesome morning of sightseeing, and hit up a few major points in the area. Running back was rough with the stop and go traffic, and going literally straight uphill for 2+ miles. Megan and Tim went with me, so a fun crew and we kept it at a slow pace. When we got back, probably walked at least another 3-5 miles in further sightseeing around D.C. (many, many more monuments, awesome times). Overcast day, but humid.

Saturday, September 3rd - 2 miles. Rehearsal morning, slept in too late because of a late Friday night, and did a quick 2 miles around Columbia Heights with Tim. Warm morning, felt like poop.

Sunday, September 4th - 0! Wedding day, just ran out of time from sleeping in yet again. Awesome day with all my friends, and got to stand up at the altar for one of my best friends. Congratulations Shane and Katie!!!

34 miles this week, not the best but not awful considering travel week. Scheduled off week, so not very upset.

Monday, September 5th - 0! Recovery day, the wedding and reception and bar crawl afterwards was pretty crazy.

Tuesday, September 6th - 4 miles. Long travel day back, but to some ridiculously AWESOME fall-like weather! Got out late, and jogged it slow. Felt like crap.

Wednesday, September 7th - 4 miles slow. First day back at work, felt like crap (residuals from the weekend?). Determined later that it was my allergies, and change of season. Time for a refill of Singulair! Auditioned for a Scottrade commercial (very random) in Webster Groves, then headed over a few miles to meet Timmy at Schlafly Bottleworks for dinner and drinks. Stayed late, as a result had a late night run that was very slow and very tiring.

Thursday, September 8th - 9 miles - 4 miles a.m. treadmill, 5 miles p.m. with Crystal (still need to be done). A.M. treadmill sucked - felt like complete garbage, and struggled to run. Absolutely zero energy. 30:44 total so probably a little fast, but haven't had a hard workout in almost a week and a half so shouldn't have been so bad.

Race for a Child 5K Recap

Great articles today - Top 10 reasons to own Brooks racing flats, controversy at the World's (Bolt's DQ), is Rupp fast enough to medal in London?, Ryan Hall and his new training (also running Virginia Beach this weekend), Mo Farah and a thrilling World Championship 10K final, Bekele pulls out of the Worlds, Symmonds advances to the 800 meter finals, more Bolt, and a Japanese running tribute to Steve Jobs LOL.

Saturday, August 27 - 8 miles: 2 up, RACE FOR A CHILD 5K (18:52 - 8th overall), 3 down. Ridiculously sunny and a little warm morning - headed to Soulard to go run a 5K for the heck of it, but more importantly a test to see where my level of fitness was at. Not too much expectations after a hard week and tired legs, but felt pretty strongly I was back to sub 19 5K shape after Thursday's hard workout. Top 5 male and females got cash prizes, and there were some cool attendance prizes like a 32" LCD TV. Got there early with Pat, Crystal, Megan (late addition to our group per Crystal's cajoling) to register, then warmed up on the first couple miles of the course. Many turns, very hilly, legs felt very tired and not good. C led us out in 7:59, 7:52, so felt a little better as to why I felt tired. Saw O'Connor and Gabe, and did drills and stretching before the race start. 5 minutes before, totally remembered that I forgot my inhaler so sped back to the car to get a few puffs. Shot of adrenaline, and was ready to go! First mile, ran with Crystal and Gabe and cruised through the many turns around Soulard. Felt pretty good surprisingly, and was holding on ok. Caught a nice long hill on the 2nd mile, and cruised down it as a gap opened up between Crystal, Gabe, and I. Was 5th male at this point, with a guy roughly 5-10 seconds behind. Hit the 2nd mile with a great split, and was feeling ok before we started up a long slow hill which didn't seem to end. More turns, headed towards the Brewery, and I made it a point to surge hard on these turns to try to lose the guy chasing me. Halfway through the 2nd mile, had opened up a considerable gap and realized I was closing in on Gabe. Started working towards him, but was running out of time and my legs were pretty shot from the uphill last mile. Cruised on in - a little aggravated that I didn't break 18:50, but just nitpicking at this point. 1 mile cooldown solo, then 2 miles with Gabe. 5K splits were: 6:07 (my split was called at 5:56, so my Garmin was off a little - updated firmware FINALLY at night), 5:59, 6:23 (straight uphill). Very happy with this race, definitely showing some progress in training. Crystal and I were both pretty thrilled at hitting good times with dead legs and hot and hilly conditions, so celebrated at Pi afterwards with Pat and Megan :) Big River Dominance at this race - O'Connor won overall and set a course record, Gabe 3rd male, me 4th (and $35 prize!), Crystal 3rd overall female (6th place overall in 18:35), and Megan won the t.v.! Welcome back to the sub 19 minute 5K club, me!

Sunday, August 28 - 14 miles (1:49:59). Forest Park run with Pat, Crystal, Mike, Megan, and I. Gorgeous morning for a run (60's and sunny, not humid), and had a decent showing of people out there. Had talked about doing arch run, but the group was doing the Clayton loop so tacked on some extra and joined the others. Harry joined Mike, C, and I and we looped around the park before running through Clayton. Hilly, and legs felt tired at first but never got any worse. Kept yelling to slow down, but no one listened and we just cruised through the run. Last 9 miles, definitely got faster and faster but felt exactly the same. Intended 9 minute/mile pace run became 7:51 minute/mile. Forgot how hilly STL could be, but definitely happy with this run. Splits were: 7:58, 8:01, 7:55, 8:10, 8:03, 8:05, 7:52, 7:53, 7:47, 7:42, 7:38, 7:40, 7:47, 7:27. 51 miles this week - great week!

Easier week this week with travel week (D.C. for Shane's wedding). Will do a workout tomorrow night to make up for last Tuesday, but cruising with easy mileage the rest of the time. Definitely going to enjoy it!

Tempo Thursdays

100 Days of Real Food blog (wicked cool), World Championships start tonight with the Women's Marathon!, Bolt wants to be a legend (he isn't already?), start lists for Daegu, women's 10K preview, a day in the life of Meb, and see the video above on Ryan Hall pre-Boston.

Thursday, August 25 - 6 miles (1 up, 3 mile tempo, 1 mile easy, 1 mile tempo). Important workout for me in my mind to see where I was at speedwise and to help with confidence. Met up with Pat and Crystal at the Village Circle Loop pretty late at night on a pretty nice evening. A little still for my tastes, but the temps were pretty nice. Quick warmup, dynamic stretching, then laid out strategy for the workout (3 mile tempo, 3 minutes rest, 2 miles tempo, 2 minutes rest, 1 mile tempo). Crystal wanted to hit 6:20-6:29 range pace; I was thinking more 6:25's, and secretly hoping to hit 6:15's. Started the workout, and my Garmin battery died 0.18 miles into the tempo. Dropped a few f bombs, then decided it was best to sit on Crystal and hope for the best since I had no watch and didn't want to fall too far behind. Fast first mile, but felt really good and kept going. Fast second mile, but felt really good and kept going. Last mile, had to work a little harder, but found out we killed the last mile so was pretty happy. I deviated from the workout (wanted to save a little for Saturday's 5K), ran a mile, then caught up with Crystal to hit the 2nd part of her 2 mile (much harder effort), and the first part of her hard mile so I could get to my car since I was running uber late for dinner plans. Paced her through the second half of her mile in my car, which was much more fun than running. Pretty happy with this workout, and Crystal absolutely annihilated her end as well. Props to Pat for hitting his tempo. 3 mile splits: 6:15, 6:12, 6:05. 1 mile split: 5:50. Crystal hit 5:49 before that, then 5:41 for her mile - ridiculous.

Friday, August 26 - 4 miles. Bright and early for recovery run with Crystal on Old Faithful. Recovery run, but we ended up speeding up naturally. Analyzed the heck out of yesterday night's workout, then talked small strategy on tomorrow's race. Ran through 3 disgusting spider webs, and still picking out web remains from my hair as we speak. 35:43 total (2 mile splits - 18:09, 17:34 (including complete stoppage for running face first into a huge spider web))

Legs are tired but feel ok. Hoping I have some juice for tomorrow's race, and praying for cooler weather for tomorrow morning!

Mother Nature is a hooker

Kara running at the World Championships despite injury, Martin Lel is back, Ryan Hall and the extra 1%, Hanson's Mike Morgan talking about the upcoming World Championships, David Rudisha, Asafa Powell all talk, and great 5K workouts from prominent high school coaches around the U.S.

Monday, August 22 - 6 miles and drills. Big River group run with Pat, Crystal, Stacy, Tim, and I. Did Francis Park loop, then headed to the track for drill work. 34:19 with Crystal, then finished Megan and Lara's track work to round out around 6. 8:15 pace for most of it - pace felt easy, but legs didn't respond very well.

Tuesday, August 23 - 3 miles. Track work was scheduled, but couldn't get up in the morning. Ended up treadmilling quarter mile repeats at 5:52 min/mile pace, and it wasn't very easy. Fantasy football draft with Tim killed my evening, but it was a scorcher out there. Kudos to Pat and Crystal for braving it out in that slop and hitting respective great workouts.

Wednesday, August 24 - 10 miles: 6 miles a.m. treadmill, 4 miles p.m. trail. A small heat wave has moved back to the Lou, so opted for treadmill and air conditioning. Amazing how awesome the cool air feels and having ESPN to watch. Started at 7:30 pace with all intention of slowing down, but felt so easy. Flew by this workout and some long stretching to try to activate my hop flexors which have felt jammed for a little while now. 45 minutes, 7:30's all the way. P.M. - jumped in on Pat's 3 mile run (also with C), and did the trail towards Marine and back for the first time in forever. Very humid outside, and got attacked by a swarm of these grasshopper/butterfly hybrid looking creatures. C and I looped around the neighborhood to finish out the run. 36:12 for the 4 miles, felt pretty good albeit a little tired.

Well crapped out on the a.m. tempo, so planning to get that in at some point today. Off-week next week, so will try to work the track workout in that day before heading to D.C. for Shane's wedding. Possible 5K this weekend - praying for cooler weather!!!

Is it Fall yet?

Mo Farah, Liliya for a Chicago 3-peat, Asafa Powell gunning for Usain, and RIP to John Kelley - 1957 Boston Marathon winner. Also, a cool training tip video on stretching from Big River Running's Ben Rosario and Julie Bokermann.

Wednesday, August 17 - 0! Got home late, missed the run. Going to switch with Friday off-day.

Thursday, August 18 - 8 miles (3x2 miles tempo, 3 down). Late night at work, managed to coordinate this workout with Crystal. 2 mile repeats at tempo, 2 minute break in between. Not a fun one, and a pretty warm and humid evening for it. Crystal's tempo repeats are at 6:15/mile pace, so I figured I was good for 6:20-6:25 to be safe (still developing strength at this point). We started out together, but she quickly got ahead and I was content lagging back slightly thinking we were on pace. Felt really good the first mile, but was definitely getting tired on the second mile and tried to keep it honest. Pretty tired, and the 2 minute break felt like 2 seconds. 2nd rep, just pain and tiredness. Fell way behind Crystal and was struggling all the way through the first mile. Got a quarter mile into the 2nd when I dropped off. This workout was going to be done without a break. Jogged/walked back to the rest point, then jogged back to catch Crystal and run her in. Last rep - made it a mental point to try to hit 1/2 marathon pace (6:30/mile) and call it a day. Felt much more relaxed, and zipped through the first mile. Had tired legs, but enough to make it through no problem and was very pleased with the final split. At this point, had gotten very dark and I had taken off my glasses due to the sweat (sooo humid), so at some point made a wrong turn and ended up on some street I had never been on before. I finished my rep then realized I had no idea where I was! And I am blind, so even worse. To make a long story short, jogged in circles for about 20 minutes before finding someone to give me directions. Found Crystal (who was off looking for me), then jogged 1 mile cooldown. Didn't hit the workout 100%, but pretty happy nonetheless. Splits were: 12:25 (6:08, 6:17), 6:27 (eek!), 12:31 (6:16, 6:15).

Friday, August 19 - 6 miles. Worked from home today - ran out and lunchtime with Pat and Crystal to get in a quick run. Uber sunny outside, hot and humid. Legs were pretty beat from the hard workout, and kept this one pretty conservative on the G.C. trails. Legs were officially toast on the turnaround, so had to work to get back home. Ugh. 50:07 total time, probably a little quicker than I would have liked.

Saturday, August 20 - 4 miles. Didn't have enough time to get in the 8 miles I wanted because of busy day, but managed to get out for a quick run. Out and back on the trails, sunny and hot but kept it slow.

Sunday, August 21 - 10 miles (1 up, 8 mile 1/2 marathon pace, 1 down). Big River Group Run at Grant's Trail. Early morning over in South County, and was pretty muggy at the start so knew this would be rough. First time on Grant's Trail - very nice path that is pancake flat and shaded. Crystal and I's goal pace for this run was 6:29/mile, which I thought was going to be very challenging. To make a long story short, started out pretty quick, and struggled the rest of the way. Quick water stop at the 2nd mile, mile splits were all over the place and didn't feel too hot. Coming back in, hit a few long patches that were exposed to the sun, so was dying in those areas. Another water break, traffic light stop, and kicked my butt making it back. Ugh, not the best run, and definitely worked for it. 8 miles - 52:45. Time was ok - I'll take it, but wish it wasn't that hard. Hammerstone's for brunch afterwards, then a much deserved nap! 40 miles this week - eh.

Another toughy this week - thinking about Race for a Child 5K this weekend, which will be nice to see where I am speedwise.

Back to the grind...

Stretches in the pool, Shalane interview Part 1, Shalane interview Part 2, "winning is contagious" claims Mo Farah, Falmouth recap, and the much anticipated return of Kenenisa Bekele at the World Championships.

Friday, August 12 - 4 miles treadmill. Travel day for me to Chi, so squeezed in a quickie during lunch. 35 minutes I think?

Saturday, August 13 - 0! Got in uber late on Friday night, stayed up till 4 a.m. or so having a few adult beverages and catching up with the sister. Late start to the day, missed a Lakeshore opportunity so was kicking myself.

Sunday, August 14 - 4 miles. Lakeshore , my favorite place to run. Enough said. Nice group run with Ben, Megan, and I on a pretty windy day. Headed north with a strong tailwind - on the way back, was pelted by sand and ended up detouring through the park and zoo. Fun to get out, felt pretty good albeit we were going really slow. 36:38 total time I think?

32 miles this week - not very good, but had some solid workouts so not too mad at myself considering travel weekend.

Monday, August 15 - 6 miles and drills. First run with Crystal in what seemed to be an eternity. Nice evening to run, typical track work and drills. Felt pretty good for the most part - a little concerning that 8:20 pace feels like I'm going fast, which means I'm doing my easy runs too slow. 49:35 total time, picked up the last mile a bit for fun.

Tuesday, August 16 - 6 miles? (1 up, 3 x (2 min on, 2 min off, 1 min on, 1 min off, 30 sec on, 30 sec off), 2 down). Nice group to the track (Pat, Crystal, Megan, Lara, Tim and I), as we ran with a bunch of people and the middle school football team practicing on the field. Legs felt like poo, so opted to do C's workout instead of the grueling 1200's (plus some hard workouts scheduled later this week and need some juice for the legs). Easy warmup with Tim, hit the workout pretty easily. Didn't feel too bad, and spent the majority of time chasing Crystal as she took off like a moped. Last set - started to have some massive GI issues, which are never fun. Paces for the hard portion of the fartlek were 5:30-5:50 range, so happy. Ended up leaving the track to go to the bathroom, easy 2 mile cooldown around the neighborhood with Tim to finish the workout.

Legs feel like garbage today, as does my body probably from allergies which have been severely acting up as of late. Easy tonight, Thursday 3X2 miles at tempo will be rough.