One year ago...

Bekele rules in his marathon debut, fast women's half, 70K apply for Chicago lottery, Wilson Kipsang sets London record, 2:05:00 at Rotterdam, Boston kindness, Haile pacing, how Kipsang set the world record, Mo analysis, more Mo, Deena sets Masters women record, scary story about a Boston suspect, and Shalane.

Thank you, Boston.  Very powerful.  Reflection from last year - another powerful article.

RT: This weekend you're pacing the London Marathon. What time are you planning to go through halfway?

HG: It depends on what the athletes need. They don't want to go a crazy pace, because here in London they want to win. Winning is the most important part.

Right Haile.  Then don't lead the group out in a 14:21 opening 5K (2:01:48 overall pace), then drop to 14:50's the next couple 5K's (2:05-2:06 pace), then drop out of the race well after the damage had been done.  For someone who used pace makers your entire career, you did a not-so-great job with these athletes.  More props to Kipsang for being able to adjust and drop the hammer at the end to hit the course record.  He is, as of today, the best marathoner in the world.

Thursday, April 3rd - 0!  Needed a day off with tired legs, and took one.  

Friday, April 4th - 4 miles.  Nice and easy before race day!

Saturday, April 5th - ~15 miles.  Traveled up to Springfield with Crystal, Colby, and Kyle to participate in the 50th Lincoln Presidential 1/2 Marathon!  Flat, fast course, and was pretty accurately advertised outside of a few nasty hills on the second half.  Woke up pretty groggy and a sore throat, but ready to rumble on a nice, sunny, cool day.  Goal was to go out in low 7's, then hammer the 5K.  Well, I came blazing out of the box and literally had to put the brakes on to hit 6:30 for the first mile.  Maintained high 6's for a few miles before my legs started to get pretty tired, and locked in around 7:15's.  Unfortunately, that's about all I had as I couldn't really get going faster than that, and the hills on the back half killed me.  Kicked the last half mile to finish strong, and cooled down to wrap up a fun morning.  1:33:21 was my time - at the very least, got in a nice long run at decent effort.  Crystal finished 2nd in the female, despite running a workout in the middle of the race with warmup/cooldown, and Colby finished his last 10 miles at tempo effort (right at 6 minute pace), and looking ready to rock Boston in a couple weeks.  Kyle survived and made it through at 1:32, and felt pretty good in the process in his comeback attempt.  Success, all around!

Pre-race

Down the stretch I come!

Post race

Crystal with Abe and Mary Todd

Cruise control Sunday, April 6th - 0!  Slept forever.  Played golf later that day with Kyle and Pat on a cold day, which was probably not the best idea because I wasn't feeling too well.  37 miles this week, 29 miles in April, 574 miles in 2014.

Monday, April 7th - 0!  Officially sick and stayed home from work.  Not sure what nasty disease I have, but guessing a cold which was most likely exacerbated by the Springfield 1/2.

Tuesday, April 8th - 0!  Sleep

Wednesday, April 9th - 6 miles.  Ran with Craig and Kyle, and met at the SLU track with intentions of running some easy mileage.  Well, the entire track was clogged up with SLU athletes and people, so we headed out towards Tower Grove and ended up at the Reservoir off Grand (not far from I-44), which sits on a hill and is supposedly the highest point of elevation in STL (from the ground), and home of many Ben Rosario workouts.  The loop on top of the hill is basically on grass, and a huge rectangle which is roughly half a mile in perimeter.  Very flat and we had some breeze being higher up, plus some shade which helped on a warm day.  Craig had 2x2 mile workout, so we jumped in and helped pace him through.  We hit 7:26/7:24 for the first rep, then I got him through the first mile of the second rep and 7:30 before Kyle finished up with him at pace (stomach issues for me).  Slow jog back to the track to finish out.  Definitely not feeling too hot, but made it through ok.

Thursday, April 10th - 0!  Officially a down week for me per Coach Kyle because of sickness.  Feeling better but still not right.  New goal is to run a 5K later this weekend for some work and rest up and get better.

Friday, April 11th - 4 miles.  Ran 2 solo, then cooled down around the SLU area with Crystal after her track race.  Nice evening to run outside, as the wind was breezy but the temps were comfortable - maybe a little warm for running standards, but no sun to work with.  Crystal's main goal was to run a solid race sub 18 minutes, as her first couple track races had gone not to plan.  So we set a goal lap split time of 86 seconds per lap, and I called them out as she passed.  Perfect execution, as she got locked in right at 85's, and closed to hit a solid time of 17:40, second in her heat!

Saturday, April 12th - 7 miles (2 up, MODOT 5K - 19:23 (5th overall), 2 down).  Bright, sunny, and warm day over in Chesterfield, MO where I ran the inaugural MODOT Awareness for Workers 5K.  My friend from school asked me to run, and it worked out well to do my workout for this race.  Course was pretty tricky, as it was on the outer roads off Highway 40 which is nothing but rolling hills.  The start involved coming out of the MODOT office into rolling hills, crossing an overpass, then down an exit ramp and onto a frontage road to the next exit, where you basically crossed back over an overpass and came back in the other frontage road.  Once we got off the other exit, we looped around the business park district which was pretty much rolling hills and turns.  The plan was to go out conservative, but the downhill was ridiculous coming off the first exit and I hit 5:48 by accident.  Looped around and came back the other way, but the hill on the outer road was absolutely brutal and took the wind out of my sails.  Was still on very good pace overall at the second mile split, but the last mile and the nonstop rolling hills finished me off for good, and absolutely died out there.  Sat on a younger kid for awhile and let him go at the finish.  19:23 total, not really what I wanted, but making some progress I suppose.  Cooled down and caught up with my friend and adorable daughter, then took off for home and chilled the rest of the day.

Schlafly Repeal Prohibition Festival

Rachelle, Grace, and I Sunday, April 13th - 0!  London Marathon viewing party late/early, which absolutely destroyed my day.  Met up in Crystal's basement, and watched a pretty fun race and Mo Farah's marathon debut.  Ended up staying up till about 9 a.m., sleeping, then watching the Masters while a nasty thunderstorm hit our area all night long.  Oh well, this was decreed a down week, and need to get my rest for the heavy week coming up.  17 miles this week, 46 miles in April, 591 miles in 2014.  Ugh

Monday, April 14st - 7 miles.  Ran with Silker, CJ, Timmy, and Kyle, and did an improvised run around the city.  We took the new River Des Peres route (newly paved, and looks awesome!), and cut back on Gravois towards the park, before running halfway around and heading back to the store.  So much for our summer like weather, as it was spitting rain and SNOWING!  Crazy!  Legs felt ok, and wasn't too pleased to run into the nasty wind, but made it through ok.  

Back to the grind!  Easy mileage with group tonight, then mile repeats tomorrow!

Run Abe!

Lopez Lomong, World Champion Chanelle Price, Emma Coburn, Jeopardy track category, Ryan Vail, Flo-Jo and the mystique of her 10.49, Galen tested 28 times last year, Desi at Boston, London Marathon preview, and Boston and its volunteers.

I'm pissed because I had a great write-up on my last week of running, but my draft somehow got deleted.  I'll try my best to replicate.

Tuesday, March 25th - 6 miles.  Dead legs after my long run, and we arranged a group run to do a loop at Forest Park.  Timmy, Kyle, Justin, Craig, Megan, and Gibbs all joined in the fun as we started from the Visitor's Center and went counter clockwise (up Skinker, down Dinosaur Hill).  Started out slow, but ran with Timmy as he sped up a little from the group, then Craig caught up with us and we broke away going up Skinker.  The wind was brutal, as we were running into it initially but once we turned off Skinker for the woods, we were basically running downwind for 3-4 miles and enjoyed the break.  Last mile or so was back into the wind, and we picked it up to finish out the run.  I don't remember time, but we were pretty much low 8's the entire way and finished with a 7:45 mile.  This run would have been 9 minutes plus a few months ago, so pleased.

Wednesday, March 26th - ~6 miles.  Ran with Tim, Craig, and Crystal around the SLU area/Tower Grove.  The weather was crap with the wind, so we ended up doing some mileage on the roads.  Stomach issues led me to break off from the pack, but caught up to Crystal coming back on Grand nearby Tower Grove Park. Ran through some nice neighborhoods, and saw some beautiful homes in the Tower Grove area.  Ran back to the track with her, and did some mileage on the track itself to finish out the run.  50 minutes total.

Thursday, March 27th - 9 miles.  Yoch was kind enough to pace me through my workout, and we headed to the trails by his place on a blustery, nasty day after work.  25 mph winds and some spitting rain awaited us, as we warmed up on our way to the trail (roughly 0.75 miles).  That part of the trail is relatively shaded, and we figured we could get in some work as we headed in the direction towards Drost Park (for reference, when I do the trail route towards Troy, this start point is ~7 miles away from my place and ~1 mile away from the Maryville YMCA).  The workout was 1.5 miles at tempo pace (6:25-6:30 pace (9:38-9:45)), 1 mile at 10K pace (~6:20), 1.5 miles @ tempo, 1 mile @ 10K, 1.5 miles ~ tempo with half the distance easy in between reps.  Well, I thought I was going to be in for a long day as the first rep was absolutely brutal, but felt better as we moved on.  We turned around past Drost Park, and realized that the wind had been helping us (while going uphill), so we were working pretty hard on our way back.  Because we were both dead, opted to do some strides instead of the last repeat, which we did in Jon's neighborhood.  The effort was probably too much, as we literally raced each stride like the idiots we are.  But very happy with the workout, and Yoch gets the huge assist for helping me out.  He's looking ready to wreak some Havoc in Boston in a few weeks.  Splits were: 9:41, 6:17, 9:38, 6:16.

Friday, March 28th - 3 miles.  Ran with Justin, Craig, and Kyle after work at Grant's Trail.  Stomach was a complete mess, as we started on the North End of the trail and headed south and downhill before heading back.  I've never laughed so hard on a run, as those guys almost had me in tears with some random stories.  25 minutes or so, total.  Afterwards, headed to Wash U track to watch Crystal's second track meet!  We lined up at the finish line, and watched Crystal's heat get started (about 15 runners or so, so very crowded).  They had to restart, because someone had fallen within the first 100 meters, but soon after got rolling again.  Crystal looked very strong, as she blazed through the first mile and was staying strong but by the end of the second/beginning of third began to show some signs of fatigue.  She pulled off partway through the last mile, and after a few minutes she came over and we realized very quickly that she was the one that had fallen!  And what a mighty fall it was, as she had some nasty skidmarks all over her body!  Regardless, a lot of positives to take away from this race, as her speed was solid and was well on her way to a great time.  Definitely headed in the right direction!

Saturday, March 29th - 13 miles.  Brewery run with Crystal, Huelsmann, Craig, Justin, and Gibbs.  Met at FOPA Visitor's Center, despite almost every entrance being shut down because of the UNDY's 5K, and ran out towards Tower Grove Park and beyond.  We did a long run similar to this route last year, and the scenary was nice because we ran through a few different neighborhoods, as well as the old Rock n Roll STL course.  Rolling hills most of the way, and we eventually made our way to the brewery before turning around.   On the way back, picked it up because we were literally running through the hood, and made our way back to Forest Park before Crystal and I picked up the pace for the last 1.5 miles (sub 7 pace).  Random observation on this run - we picked it up while running in the hood (after seeing some very questionable characters on the run), but immediately ran into a group of people gardening in a big lot, within a block or two of the bad areas.  Apparently, some community project, but weird how we can go through the projects and immediately hit what appeared to be a safe area.  Solid long run, and glad to get in some good mileage with some friends.  ~8:05 average pace, 1:44 and some change overall.

Sunday, March 30th - 8 miles.  Yoch and I did out and back on Home Depot, on a very sunny day.  Very tired moving, but we kept up a slow pace throughout this run so got into a nice rhythm.  Tons of bikers and runners on the trail (where have you been all winter???), and annoying headwind coming back home.  1:05 and some change, overall.  57 miles this week, 199.5 miles in March, 529 miles in 2014.  High mileage this year!

Monday, March 31st - 8 miles.  U City group run with Crystal and Kyle.  Legs were still trashed from the long week, and we ended up doing a pretty hilly loop.  We started at the store, ran down Delmar through the Loop and towards Forest Park, then turned on Skinker and headed up that long, annoying hill before turning onto Wydown and its "fun" rolling hills.  I hadn't realized how much of an overall climb Wydown was, and was definitely feeling the effects before we turned onto Big Bend and ran through Clayton before jumping onto the GO! STL Marathon course and finishing up at the store.  But noooo - Crystal made me run an additional mile plus through some more evil hills around the surrounding neighborhood, while dropping the pace, so my easy, recovery run turned into a much harder effort.  Yes, I am whining like crazy, but this run kind of sucked.  1:02 and some change, overall.  207.5 miles in March, 537 miles in 2014.  Solid!

Tuesday, April 1st - 26.2 miles.  April Fool's Day!  Actually, just a measly 2 miles.  Legs were still worn out, and felt under the weather.  Ran at the track with Craig and Kyle, and did a 1 mile warm up with the group in the rain.  Craig had 3 x 1 mile at half marathon pace (~7:15), so we called out splits as he motored through in the rain.  Kyle got antsy and jumped in with him for his second mile, and I grew impatient as well and paced Craig through the 3rd mile, despite some major stomach issues.  Great workout for Craigers, and happy I could help out a little.  6:57 for the one mile I did.

Wednesday, April 2nd - 8 miles (15 minutes up, Ladder Workout (1600, 1200, 1000, 800, 400, 1000), 14 minutes down.  Track workout at Hixon School in Webster (Elm and 44), and Kyle and I knocked out on a rainy day.  Jogged through the hilly streets of Webster, and made our way back to the track - was lucky to not have many people there with the crappy weather, and also very lucky to have a brief break from the rain.  Goal effort was 5K to tempo (6:00-6:20) with a 400 meter jog in between reps and some rest, which decreased as the reps went on.  Started out too hard on the mile and was thinking some evil thoughts on the 1200, but got into a good rhythm and started clicking them off.  Kyle wasn't too far behind me, as he is coming off being sick and went a little slower intentionally.  In retrospect, it was good mentally having him chase me.  Anyways, the last 1K was the kicker in this workout - should be mirroring how I would actually feel in a race, and I put my head down and went and hit the best rep of the workout.  Slow cooldown afterwards, and was pretty pleased with this workout.  Splits were: 6:02, 4:30, 3:42, 2:52, 1:22, 3:32.

My right knee is a little sore this morning, and may take a well deserved day off.  Easy mileage on Friday, then a few of us are driving up to Springfield to run the 50th Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon, a race I've been wanting to do for some time!