3 More Weeks!

Troy Aikman runs 1:48 in Dallas 1/2, Ryan Hall NYC thoughts, Sara Hall's Olympic event?, Chat with Desiree Davila, Angela Bizzarri is running for Mammoth Track Club, jogging won't kill your knees, Alberto Salazar's methods being studied worldwide, Alberto is coaching Lance?!, Stephen Shay and his great NYC run, Amy Yoder Begley is running the Shamrock Shuffle, Alan Webb is running the Drake Relays, Wanjiru OUT of London (but Martin Lel is in), Jeopardy for runners, and of course, the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Been out of the loop the last week, but the good news is still running pretty well and getting in some quality workouts. So here we go:

Wednesday, Mar 23 – 16 miles: 10 minutes, 2 X 1 mile tempo, 80 minutes easy, 2 X 1 mile tempo, 10 minutes down. Met Crystal at Forest Park for this workout. Crazy windy outside, but nice to see a ton of people around. Quick warmup, got right into the workout. Went out way too hard on the first mile, but evened it out towards the end (nice downhill, downwind towards the Science Center to end it). 2nd mile was brutal coming in because of the rolling hills, gradual uphill on the second half, and running straight into a 20-25 mph wind. Took the wind right out of my sails, and eventually recouped roughly 10 minutes into the 80 minute run. Ran all around Forest Park, mainly into the wind which was frustrating, but eventually got better when we were running downwind. Highlight was when Crystal was cursing at Tim (who was out setting cones for his workout), and ran right into a mud, creating quite the splattering mess! Got in about 9.5 miles, then started right back up with the tempo mile repeats. Felt ok on the 2nd set of miles, but just ran out of gas at the very end of the last mile, where my body pretty much shut down on the home stretch. The combination of wind and hills were absolutely brutal, but was overall very pleased at this workout. Fun dinner with Pat and Crystal afterwards and Buffalo Brewing Company, they make an amazing brown ale which I highly recommend! Mile splits were: Rep 1 (6:19, 6:26), Rep 2 (6:25, 6:35), 8:20 average on everything else.

Thursday, Mar 24 – 4 miles. Easy run, out and back on the G.C trails. Legs felt ok, but my calves were on fire. Probably from the hills, as my legs are finally starting to relearn them just in time for Boston. No idea how long I was out there, but probably went too fast judged by my heavy breathing and tired legs.

Friday, Mar 25 – 0! Scheduled Day Off

Saturday, Mar 26 – ~4 miles (4.2 miles in 33:49). Volunteering for the Go! St. Louis Marathon in a couple of weeks, and met Ben and Brian to get our assignments. Afterwards, did the group run route in a pretty crazy thundersnow/blizzard. Had a lot of fun running in the ridiculous elements, minus the snow blowing so hard that you could barely see. C and I were absolutely covered in snow - gotta love spring in St. Louis. Hit sub 8 pace, the product of Mother Nature and us just wanting to get out of her fury.

Sunday, Mar 27 – 19 miles, 2:30. Did the Big River group run with Mike, Crystal, and Candace (Coach Tim jumped in with us). Arch loop (very scenic), then mileage in Forest Park to round it out. Intended pace was easy run (8:30’s), but that got out of hand quickly as the Killer C’s (Crystal and Candace) and Tim immediately took off like a pack of wolves looking for food. Pretty much lost them after the 2nd mile, and Mike and I settled into a decent groove that was still way too fast for the intended workout. Icy spots everywhere, so ran on the roads for the majority of the run. Crystal and Candace came back towards us around the Arch, and we looped around the Arch grounds with them before they took off. Tried to slow down unsuccessfully (locked in at this point), and worked ourselves back into Forest Park before meeting up with the girls again. Looped around Forest Park/Wash U area before they surged away (note the reoccurring theme), and ran Mike back to his car (he was doing 16 miles) before chasing down the girls. Sort of trashed my legs in the process, so the last couple miles were definitely on rubbery legs. Cool to see a ton of runners out there, especially the Big River runners who were in full force. Didn’t feel too hot starting out, but hit a solid average pace regardless (7:50) which is a good sign. 51 miles for the week - not too shabby

Monday, Mar 29 – ~3 miles (3.15 miles in 30 minutes). Supposed to be a scheduled day off, but wanted to work the kinks out of my legs. Went out on the trails with Pat and Crystal, kept the pace very honest and loosened up a bit. Nice, easy run – felt really good afterwards.

Tuesday, Mar 30 – 4 miles. 270 Loop and a little more late at night. My Xbox crapped out (R.I.P. June 2006 – Feb. 2011), so ended up buying a new one plus Kinect, as well as the new Tiger Woods game. This may cause some issues for me, at least for the first couple months because of my addictiveness. Played for a long time, snuck in a run in between, played late and played this morning. Absolutely exhausted.

Forest Park run tonight. Winding down my Boston training as my last “long” run is complete. Doing a few key workouts and mostly maintenance work until the big day!