37 more days till Houston...

Team Minnesota in Vegas, Paula makes the England Olympic Team, Clint Verran qualifies for the Trials, CIM Trials qualifier, one more, Simon Bairu tries to hit the standard, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Monday, December 6th - 7 miles. Big River group run. Got roped into the 7 mile run, so ran with Crystal and Craig. Didn't feel too hot, and my left knee was bugging me. Cold outside too. Did a little faster than I would have liked, but nice to have good company. 55:29 total, had a huge group at the Mack which is always fun.

Tuesday, Decemver 7th - 6 miles (2 up, 12x400 meters, 1 down). Probably the coldest night in a while (low 30's) with a breeze. Crystal and I made our way to the track and did a quick warmup. Workout was 12x400 at mile pace (5:05-5:10) with 3 minutes rest, so aimed at 1:17 for our quarters. First rep was a rude awakening but figured it was just rustiness + the cold since we hadn't done speedwork like this in a while. Well made it to the halfway point with a good attitude, when it all started to fall apart. Really struggled coming in, but made it. 16:18 for the warmup, 400 meter splits were: 1:18, 1:15, 1:17, 1:17, 1:17, 1:17, 1:17, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17. Very pleased to hit good splits, but it was very hard.

Left knee is still hurting today despite some heavy stretching. Hoping tonight's run feels ok, then tempo tomorrow which is going to hurt.

First week of workouts complete!

California International Marathon (congrats Ryan Bak for 2nd male overall and Olympic Trials Qualifier!), RNR Vegas.

Thursday, December 1st - 7 miles (2 up, 3x1 mile tempo, 2 down). Nice cool evening for a workout, and had in a weird way been looking forward to this one since it had been awhile since we had a workout. Ran with Crystal to Ebbets, and did some quick dynamic stretching before doing the workout. Usually I start to crap out after the first rep, but felt pretty strong the entire way through. Last quarter of the last rep, worked on sprint form which sped it up a bit. Great workout, very pleased. 16:20 up, 6:14, 6:13, 6:02 mile splits, 16:08 down.

Friday, December 2nd - 6 miles. Solo in Forest Park after work. Didn't feel too hot starting out, but went at it and ran at a decent clip. Wanted to get this done as soon as possible so I could go home and start the weekend. 44:59 total.

Saturday, December 3rd - 8 miles. Ran with Pat, Crystal, and Mike. Wasn't feeling very good (too much fun playing Kinect Sports 2 the night before), and was dragging like no other. Pretty sure any pace would have been torture, quite honestly. Glad to get this one over with. 1:14:52 total.

Sunday, December 4th - 12 miles. Last 2 at Half Marathon pace, the workout that I had been dreading ever since I saw the schedule. Old faithful/Home Depot route, which eliminated any out and back and kept the last 2 miles fairly flat. Raining lightly, but decided to bite the bullet and get at it. Amazing how a good night's rest makes a difference, as we were moving pretty good starting out. Mother Nature decided to have fun with us, and kept raining harder and harder as we got further and further out. I was pretty soaked 6 miles out, and my shirt felt like a heavy towel at that point. Saw Megan about 9 miles out, sped up instinctively to catch her, and worked the pace up to half marathon pace. My Garmin was playing some evil games with me (showed 7:00 min/mile pace when it was actually 6:40's), so was about to have a meltdown thinking I had to drop another 35 seconds/mile when I was already struggling. Crystal got me through though, and we hit her neighborhood for the last mile. Her Garmin strap broke, which we stopped to pick up and cost us a few seconds, but still pretty happy all in all with the workout, despite the hard effort. 1:31 something total time: 6:45, 6:22, 6:23 were the last 3 miles. Pretty sure we almost negative split every mile. Watched/followed online the RNR Vegas Marathon at night. Had a lot of fun following Ben race the marathon. He was 2nd at mile 16 and catching the leader, but unfortunately had some awful stomach cramps which ended his race. Hell of an effort, nonetheless!!!!

49 miles this week ( almost went out to hit one more for 50 but was pretty dead all day afterwards). Very pleased with the first week of workouts.

Big River Monday run tonight - nice and easy is the plan, as my legs feel like I raced hard yesterday. The cold weather moves in, so need to break out all my winter running apparel!

Happy December!

Fall marathon insights, Bolt, Vegas, more Vegas, cool gift ideas for runners, and Mo.

Monday, November 28th - 5 miles + drills. Big River group run with Crystal. Was running late, so Megan and I ran up to the park and met everyone else. Did a few loops, then headed to DuBurgh to do drills on the track. Nasty drizzle, cold, and windy, so not the best conditions. Felt ok - ran hugh 7's, low 8's the entire way.

Tuesday, November 29th - ~5 miles (2.5 up, 10x50 meter hills, 1.5 down). Crystal and I met at Francis Park for this run. Hill repeats in the park at mile pace - worked on form. Quick drills before hand, then jumped into the workout. Glutes definitely felt the workout. Hopefully this work helps on turnover and my kick...

Wednesday, November 30th - 6 miles + drills. Did at home at the middle school track with Crystal. Broke in a new pair of shoes tonight (Brooks Adrenaline), and it felt pretty good. Cold and breezy, but made it through ok. Definitely picked it up a little on the way back, but what's new? 49:59 total.

176 miles for November, 1883 for 2011

Good month for me with some good races and good mileage. On track to hit 2000 in mid December, so need to keep up the efforts. Mile repeats with Crystal tonight - first workout of this block, so will need to be on top of my game this evening at Ebbets Field!

Trot for Tots Race Recap

Turkey Trot participation up this year, Rock N Roll Vegas growth, that's it.

Wednesday, November 23rd - 4 miles. Crystal and I did a late run. Pitch black outside, and Crystal wanted to try out her new head lamp, which made her look like coal miner. As she was adjusting it, I kept making mechanical sounds and calling her a Transformer which I'm sure didn't please her. Anyways, to avoid any traffic, suggested going on the trail since it would be open and we could truly utilize the light. Got onto Old Faithful and wanted to work our way towards Home Depot route, since that trail is paved and pretty flat. So we're running on the trail, and I was commenting on how cool that headlamp was (since it was like a damn spotlight and we could see everything), when the light went out and I heard a huge thump! Crystal tripped over some uneven pavement, and just bit the dust. Fortunately, she wasn't seriously hurt, and we laughed for the rest of the run. But when we got back and took off her gloves and coat, she was a bloody and bruised mess! Regardless, it was truly a "Warrior Princess" moment, and Crystal earned her stripes that night. 32:31 outside, which includes a good minute of non running from her fall and checking on her.

Thursday, November 24th - 5 miles. Happy Thanksgiving! Did my parent's neighborhood loop, then tacked on some more in a closeby neighborhood. Long, rolling hills - not the most fun, but nice to get in especially with dinner coming up. Felt ok, but hills definitely make you work harder. 37:59 total.

Friday, November 25th - 7 miles (1 up, TROT FOR TOTS 2 MILER (10:52 - 5th place (out of ~350)), 1 down, 3 p.m.). Drove over to the Peoria Riverplex with Anne and picked up my number and warmed up around downtown. Windy and cool, and legs felt very tight so spent a good amount of time stretching. Waited inside for a while before we all shuttled out to the start line. I've run downtown before, so had an idea of the course which proved to be correct (uphill first mile, downhill second mile). Found out that the Santa Claus parade took place immediately after this race, so we had spectators galore which is always a nice touch. Talked with a few college runners who were home for the holidays, before lining up and taking off! Those 3 college runners were immediately gone, so came out hard. Got immediately passed by an overzealous runner, so just waited and caught him within a half mile. Another guy zoomed by, and I lost him immediately so was running solo most of the way. First mile, we ran through most of downtown (uphill) and made a few turns before it flattened out. Hit a good first mile split, before making a turn down a pretty big hill. Almost crashed into an idiot woman and her children, who decided to cross the street without looking, so exchanged some unpleasantries with her before taking off. Caught up to one of the parade cars, and got a ton of encouragement from the many spectators and high-fived as many of the children as I could. Turned onto Hamilton St. (same enormous downhill as Steamboat), then shot down that hill hard before turning onto the river trail which is a slow downhill. Could sort of see the finish, so kicked hard and blasted through the finish with no one else in sight behind me. Great time/PR, and was on cloud nine! Jogged back to cooldown, then ran Anne in who ran a huge PR herself (17:10!). Garmin had 1.96, so might have been slightly short but I'm taking it nonetheless. 3 miles solo in the p.m. - legs were tired, but kept it slow for 25 minutes.

Saturday, November 26th - 4 miles. Travel day home, crappy weather, made it out for 4 slow miles. Out and back on the trail, poop. ~36 minutes, I think? Our friends Mick and Anne were in town, so had a long night celebrating Pat's birthday.

Sunday, November 27th - 12 miles. Long run with Crystal on Old Faithful. Cold, breezy, and overcast. Felt tired and wanted to keep it slow, but immediately started out pretty fast and never slowed down. First long run in a long time that felt pretty easy, and the night before certainly didn't help but oh well. 1:37 something - all our miles except one mile coming in was sub 8 minute pace.

43 miles this week - decent mileage, and a great race so I'll take it!

So a month of running with no workouts have passed, and feel pretty good. Had a few good races, and have generally felt decent on a lot of my runs. The Houston workouts start this week, so hoping we didn't lose too much half marathon fitness during this time. But it begins today, so time to get to work!

Thanksgiving Eve

Tera Moody, Haile, NCAA Championships, Brett Gotcher, Jordan Hasay, and Desi.

Monday, November 21st - 7 miles. Big River Monday group run with Matty D, Ryan, and Brad. Didn't feel too particularly good, and struggled when the group picked it up with a couple miles to go to try to catch one of the other runners. Caught up to him at the end, but felt like crap. 51:25 for the total time, definitely negative split this one.

Tuesday, November 22nd - 6 miles. Ran in Forest Park after work on a dark, windy day. Not too many people out there, except the crazies like me. Went pretty slow and felt better. Out there for 50-60 minutes, not sure exactly.

So Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I successfully found a race in Peoria that my sister and I will run on Friday. There are a billion turkey race options in STL, but almost none in Peoria - so frustrating. So hopefully I don't gain 8 lbs. on Thursday night, and hopefully I can put together a nice performance assuming a flat course. Will run at 5K pace as a workout is the plan. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Turkey Day Week

Geb wins! Racing world is pretty quiet, so I got nothing else other than Miss Goucher :)

Monday, November 14th - 7 miles. Big River Monday run with Gabe, Matt, Kyle, and Pat. Nice showing out there for the 7 mile loop, and a chase pack formed behind the others that went out blazing. Eventually, we caught them and picked it up coming in. Legs felt like garbage, and wasn't feeling the best in general but made it through ok. Total time was 50:40.

Tuesday, November 15th - 6 miles. Looped around town late at night solo, and did my Glen Carbon covered bridge route. Lots of traffic, so definitely was running faster to get back home. Felt ok for the most part - weather was ideal fall weather, so helped a lot. Ran for 43:01 (23:01, 22:29 were my splits).

Wednesday, November 16th - 5 miles. Ran around town late at night. Parents were in town, so had dinner with my mom, then ran late. Another nice evening to run - 37:57 total.

Thursday, November 17th - 5 miles. Ran with Pat after work around Boeing. Nice and hilly, and windy outside as well. Found a nice monster hill, that will be a good candidate for future hill workouts. Ran for around 40 minutes.

Friday, November 18th - 0! Travel day to Rockford, then late night trivia. Blah

Saturday, November 19th - 10 miles. This will be named the Survival Run. Big River group run at Forest Park. 20-25 mph winds made this run very difficult. Started with a big group, but whittled down to Crystal and I. Tried to keep it slower, but failed miserably. Last couple miles, we looped back up Dinosaur Hill by the Science Center - running uphill into the wind was just crazy. Negative split hard, but a great workout nonetheless. 1:20:32 overall.

Sunday, November 20th - 10 miles (5 miles a.m., 5 miles p.m.). Trail out and back in the morning - overcast and cool, felt ok going out but kept it slow. At night, wanted to make up for previous mileage I missed, so did the 270 loop and ran to the trail and back. Was flying for the first few miles (sub 21 first 3 miles), but basically jogged the last 2 coming in.

43 miles this week, will take it.

Looking for a Turkey Trot in Peoria for Thanksgiving, but can't find much. Alton 10 Miler is a possibility (pace run), so need to think about what I am going to do since I have some itchy legs and want to bust one out before the hard training begins...

Girls on the Run 5K Recap

Shalane wins!, Kim Smith, prize money issues in San Antonio, Verzbicas and his triathlon calling, funny story about a guy losing his car after the NYC Marathon.

Friday, November 11th - 0! Tried to get a run in the morning with Crystal, but failed miserably. My sister was in town over the weekend, so had to pick her up after work so that added with the morning race = unscheduled rest day. Went to a great restaurant called Farmhaus - highly recommended. Congrats to Crystal for her 2000th mile of 2011!

Saturday, November 12th - 6 miles (1.5 up, GIRLS ON THE RUN 5K (19:20, 8/~4000, 6th male, 1st age group 30-39), 1.5 down). Nice day to run in Forest Park. Got there early to warm up around the course, and stretch. There were a crapload of people participating in the event, so lined up front thinking we had to get ahead of this angry mob. Nice to have a course tour the night before, so great to know the lay of the land (not too bad 1st mile, uber hilly 2nd mile, downhill finish). Game plan was to run a hard first mile, then drop back to tempo pace the rest of the way since the course sucked and just wasn't feeling it. Got out of the blocks ok, and blazed through the first mile. First time in a while that it was feeling easy. Had a girl who was shadowing Crystal's and I's every move, so "tactically" got her off our butts because it was getting pretty annoying. Dropped pace a bit on the 2nd mile - a little too much, as I missed the desired split badly. Crystal was moving ahead, chasing the first female, and I was in my own world with the next runner a good 20 seconds behind me. Last mile, just cruised in - completely thought there was one more major hill but there wasn't so next thing I knew, I was cruising towards the finish. Totally hammed up to the crowd, and finished the race. Fun times, and felt great! Cooled down, picked up our awards (C and I won our age groups, 7th and 8th overall (C was 2nd female)), then headed home. Mile splits were: 6:01, 6:31 (jesus), 6:00. Ate at Bailey's Range at night, located downtown. Great burgers, but the wait time was a little ridiculous. Would still go back though!

Sunday, November 13th - 10 miles. Long run with Crystal and Mike on Old Faithful. 75 and windy, not the best combination. Shirt came off 20 seconds into the run, and the sun was definitely making it warm. Was pretty tired from not much sleep, and not very focused. Took awhile to get into rhythm, but eventually did. Last few miles, was dragging a lot, and we (meaning Crystal - we got strung along for the ride) definitely picked it up trying to catch Megan and Cristina on the trail, who were running ahead of us. Soooo hot, legs felt like poop and glad to get that over with. 1:20:44 overall (41:38, 39:06 were our 5 mile splits). 41 miles this week - not bad.

That might have been my last race of the year, but a lot of fun nonetheless and some pretty cool bling. Another week of basic mileage, but may throw in an impromptu workout in there if my legs are feeling good.