Weekend Update

Another weekend has somehow flown by, and here I am on Monday once again! Luckily, short work week with 4th of July, so should go by fast. Congratulations to Kara Goucher for winning the U.S. Track and Field 5000 meter final! Great shorter race, before she gets into intense marathon training for the World Championships in Berlin. My buddy Stephen Pifer finished 4th in the 1500 finals - slow start, and he took the lead with about 600 meters left but couldn't hold on. Lopez Lomong (08 U.S. Olympian) and Leo Manzano surged ahead at the end and finished 1-2. Awesome race, wish I could have seen it but crappy St. Louis programming didn't allow for it!

Weekend was pretty good - the highlight being my friend's golf tournament on Saturday. Friday night, passed out hardcore after work, but stumbled over to Pat and Crystal's for a night of ping pong. Wanted to get a run in, but completely failed in that endeavor due to heat and just fatigue from the long work week. Saturday morning, attemped to wake up early before golf but didn't make it. Spent most of the hot day beating balls around and after sticking around for the awards (our team finished 1 stroke behind the B Flight winner) and clean up, we stumbled over to my friend Nick's house for some post-tourney celebration (pics coming soon). Needless to say, it was a loooong night and was feeling the effects on Sunday. Another 0 mile day, not too pleased about that.

Woke up to more heat, so postponed my long run until later. Stopped by Barrel's new apartment to hang out (awesome new place!), then headed over to South City for my running team meeting/bbq. Had a fun time telling war stories of previous races with fellow teammates, ate some good food, and ordered a pair of Brooks Adrenaline (like I need more shoes) since we were getting a 40% discount due to mass order! Got home later, realized it was very cool and just gorgeous outside (heat wave temporarily gone!) so strapped on my mp3 player and away I went. Did a loop around Glen Carbon/Edwardsville - rolling hills, pretty hilly in some parts, but pretty flat in others. Decided to go out by feel and wanted to run a little harder due to missing so many runs this week. First 3 miles, was just cruising - didn't realize how fast I was going until I saw on my Garmin I had hit sub 7 the first 3, so was forced to slow down. Hit Meridian Road, the home of many grueling hill workouts, and shortened my stride to try to ease the "fun" of the hills. Got back out to a main road and got into a great rhythm. Ran through the university literally on the roads (gotta love the summer) and was feeling great - settled into BQ pace which felt very easy - the weather conditions were completely helping out - cool and breezy :) Went through the 10 mile split feeling like I had only run 5, and continued on. Last 3 miles were a gradual uphill, so started to tire a bit - started to play some mind games to pass some time. Made it back to my neighborhood, and finished the last mile and got back home in record long run time. Short cooldown, showered and stretched. Total mileage: ~14.5 miles - splits were: 6:49, 6:48, 6:57, 7:05, 7:16, 7:23, 7:11, 7:22, 7:09, 7:20, 7:24, 7:14, 7:15 (half marathon split was 1:33:58), 7:11.

Wow, where did that come from?! Perfect weather conditions = happy runner, so was ecstatic to hit those splits running by myself. Average pace was 7:11, so was pleased to have basically gotten in a long pace run like that. Wasn't thrilled that I only ran 4 days this week, but somehow got in 30 miles and obviously yesterday's long run was one of my best training runs ever so it all balances out. This week is race week, so will prob take it easy on effort. My last speed work is on Tuesday, so will push a little there but otherwise take it easier and just try to accumulate easy mileage.

Macklind Mile Prep/Weekend Plans

My blog posts are always so much more colorful with Kara :)

Awesome article I found concerning racing as prep for future races. Totally agree with the concept, as you never really push your body to the limits you would in a race. I think there is something in your brain that instinctively knows to push you in a different gear on race day as opposed to normal workouts. I have never PRed in a training run nor even close quite honestly despite putting in what I thought was maximum effort. I am just faster on race days, and working on speed by pushing your VO2 Max levels will only increase speed for you. In March, I prepped for the 5 mile race with a 5K which I PRed - the next week, my 5K split was almost 20 seconds faster, so proof that it actually works :)

Speaking of races, I have been preparing for the Macklind Mile road race that my running team sets up - it's a 1 mile road race through the streets of south St. Louis next Saturday on the 4th of July. Very fast race, great competition, and looking forward to only busting my butt for 5-6 minutes :) I haven't raced a mile since high school, so will be interesting to see how it goes. Been doing minor speed work the last couple weeks to prepare for this race, and going ok I think - would have loved to have a few more weeks, but we signed up kind of at the last second. Haven't really assessed time goals, but I'm thinking sub 5:30 should be doable. I hit 5:40's in the first mile in a couple races so as long as I don't completely burn myself out early (which I tend to do in shorter races), hopefully I'll have enough for a huge kick at the end. The 200's on Tuesday (and 400's last week) were pretty helpful in gauging the speed I want to run, and hopefully enough for me to drop a nice PR next weekend.

So a quick recap of my running activities over the last couple days. Wednesday, had a pretty rough day so decided to go burn off some frustration with a nice run immediately after work. Temperature wasn't as blazing hot as it has been (low 90's) and was overcast so thought it wouldn't be too bad. Big Mistake. Half a mile into the run, I was feeling pretty good but it all went into the crapper shortly after. Had thoughts of going out longer, but were quickly dispelled by my overheated body which was rebelling on the spot. Stumbled the last 2 miles in, was going so slow I thought I might actually be moving backwards. A 4 mile easy run should not feel like a 10 mile tempo, so I will blame this lackluster performance on the weather. Total mileage: 4 - didn't bring a watch, was 32-35 minutes I think. Went over to Jared and Nicki's house afterwards to hang out, play with their kids, and play wii.

Yesterday, scheduled tempo run. The weather was blazing hot, high 90's and HUMID, so opted for treadmill running at Pat's. Was in a rush to get the workout over with, so just jumped on the treadmill and away I went. Legs were feeling eh, so wasn't the easiest. Didn't really warmup (big mistake), and struggled through the first mile. Plan was to slowly increased the speed as I went - 2nd mile went by quicker, but was definitely watching the mileage screen on the 3rd and 4th. Put in a hard effort, felt I shouldn't have to work that hard to hit fast splits but maybe just a bad day. I'm happy I fought through it and hit my time goals. Short cooldown and stretching afterwards. Total mileage: ~4.5 - splits were: 6:46, 6:35, 6:35, 6:24.

Helped Jared move a bed into his house, then chilled for a bit playing some more wii. Kind of nice not to bring work home (although I should have) the last couple nights and actually function as a regular human being instead of a work robot! Had a few adult beverages, then got roped by Tim into a satellite game of drinking wii bowling with him and his roommate. 3 games later, I felt no pain and it had somehow turned into midnight! Tim pressed for more games, but my liver said no. My star pupil is trying to take me out - very sad, indeed. This should be a "great" day being hungover and all at work with much to do - luckily it's my running day off, although thinking about getting an easy few later to make up for short mileages this week. Long run is getting pushed back to Sunday now, so will try to get up early to do 6 tomorrow.

We are currently on our 10th consecutive heat advisory, and doesn't look like it's going to cool down much until later next week. Supposed to play in a golf tournament (again) on Saturday with a forecasted heat index of 110 degrees. Wondering how bad it's going to be next month if it's already this hot now?!?! Also this weekend, be sure to tune into the USA Outdoor Championships to see my buddy Stephen Pifer race - he qualified for the finals in the 1500. Not sure when they are televising his event, but I think on Saturday from 6:30-8:30 p.m. or on Sunday on NBC at 3-5 p.m. University of Colorado website is reporting it will be on Sunday at 3:31 p.m. (mountain time?) Good luck, Stephen!!!

One final note - was devasted to hear the news that Michael Jackson passed away yesterday. He was one of my childhood heros growing up, as most kids in my generation, and was truly one of the greatest musicians that will have ever stepped foot on this earth. His Thriller record was the first of any type of music that I owned - I remember begging my dad to buy it for me in a mall when I was young. One of my fondest childhood memories was playing that record in our family room, Anne and I singing all the songs while dancing like maniacs. You will be missed, Michael.

Article Day!

Today is article day - found quite a few articles I wanted to share with everyone:

First one deals with using sleep to improve your performance for sports. Basically, they did a study where people improved on their tennis drills (accuracy of serves, speed, etc.) after changing their sleep schedule to get 10 hours per night. I'm sure there is a huge cross over in running and being sleep deprived 95% of the time, I will use this as an excuse to sleep in more :)

Next article is an interview of one of the marathon greats and former world record holder Paul Tergat by the Running Times. They talk about him being the first man to break the 2:05 barrier in the Berlin Marathon, and what his career has become now that he in the twilight years. Exciting to hear he will be suiting up for the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon in Seattle very shortly, as well as making another run at a marathon title in the fall!

Last one talks about running strategies in training. I paid a little more attention to this article since I am in flux with my training and sort of confused as to what kind of effort I should be putting into my workouts. Currently, I have adopted the Kenneth Williams "run how you feel that day" methodology, but may wean back to putting the pedal to the metal on certain workouts since I've been experiencing a plateau of sorts lately. Regardless, there is no wrong way to train and certainly there are many solutions to get the same end result so I will just keep experimenting until I find what works best for me.

Last night, dragged Crystal out to the track for our Tuesday night speed workout. The plan was 16X200 at hard but controlled pace, breaking the reps up to 4 sets with small water break in between. Weather was hot, but cooled off a little by 9 p.m. (low 80's, high 70's) so wasn't completely uncomfortable. Did a 1 mile warmup, then we were on our way. First set was kind of a struggle - a little physically, but more to get into a rhythm. Fluctuated with times a bit, but felt a little more comfortable in the end. Second set, finally settled in and everything became really easy. Was recovering fast, and my stride felt awesome on the last straightaways. Splits were consistent and on the faster end of the range we had set for ourselves. Third set was pretty much the same - felt very smooth, and relaxing. Crystal at this point wasn't feeling well so bailed on me, so did the last set solo. Wanted to push it a little, so went out with what felt like a harder effort but was still getting the same times - didn't realize how much it helped to have someone to run with. Last 2 reps, picked it up and tried to max out on those. Succeeded, did a one mile cooldown and stretched. Got home, got in an extra couple miles to make up for missing Monday, then stretched some more. Total mileage: ~8 (everything included) - 200 splits (don't have them on hand, but making educated guesses) were: 37, 33, 36, 36, 35, 36, 35, 34, 36, 35, 37, 34, 34, 34, 32, 30.

Easy run tonight, might tack on a couple miles to completely make up for my Monday miss. Feeling pretty good this week so far :)

St. Peters Rec Plex Triathlon Recap

Ugh, another weekend has blazed by before I knew it, and here we are on Monday. Here is a recap of running and activities:

Friday night, set forth on a long run with Crystal. We left right around 8, and decided to run on the bike trail as long as there was some light in the sky - I was thinking we might get 4 miles tops, then would have to do road running. Weather was hot and humid with a slight breeze - about 85 and didn't really get much cooler as the night progressed. Started out on the trail headed out towards Troy, which has one major hill/bridge but relatively flat. First couple miles were rough - tired from the long work week, and had problems loosening up in the nasty conditions. We got about 2 miles out and I asked Crystal if she thought we should turn back, but she nixed that idea and said let's just run in the dark since there was enough external light (from houses, lightening bugs, moonlight) to see so we progressed on. Turned around a mile later, and finally started to get into a decent rhythm. Made our way back to the beginning of the trail but decided to keep going and ended up going out 1.5 miles the other way. Wasn't feeling too bad, but was stuffy in the wooded areas of the trail which made it uncomfortable. What was cool was a storm was coming our way, so could see the lightning in the distance. Headed back into the wind (absolutely refreshing!), and was definitely pretty dark at this point. Got back off the trail and finished the final 3 doing loops around her neighborhood. Was drained running the last 2 miles, but felt ok otherwise. Total mileage: 12 - splits ranged from 8:05 to 8:18 (first mile was 8:27, but statistical outlier). Glad to have a relatively consistent run on a HUMID evening.

Saturday, played in a golf tournament over in a local course in town. Not much to report - hit the ball pretty poorly, and our team underachieved in general and we walked off the course in disgust. Found out later that we somehow won the B Flight (and a nice cash prize), and my eagle putt on our second hole won all the skins (another nice cash prize), and one of our team members won the long drive contest so we ended up cleaning up a bit! Ended up playing some more golf after the tourney and melted away in the sweltering heat. Dinner and ping pong later, and I was done.

Sunday morning, woke up bright and early to go with Crystal to run the St. Peters Rec-Plex Triathlon. She and a few coworkers run this every year, and the event is a team sprint triathlon - 500 meter swim, 20.5 mile bike, 4.5 mile run. I ran last year as a rabbit for Crystal, and their team finished 7th overall, with Crystal finishing 3rd overall runner. Pretty fun event, great to see so many athletes roaming around. Course is on a narrow trail through some neighborhoods and around town, and pretty hilly. The trail is a bike/running trail, and is very narrow, windy, and hilly. The swim portion started at 6 a.m., so we warmed up about 45 minutes later doing a mile shakedown. Weather was already starting to get pretty nasty - hot and humid and very sunny. Crystal's teammate Linda started the swim and absolutely blazed through it, passing a ton of people to establish a great position. Her other teammate Tom ended up killing the bike portion, which put their team at 4th place when Crystal and I started. The original plan was to go out in 6:40 and try to hold the pace through the rolling hills of the course. Immediately passed 2 runners at the start, then we were off. Felt pretty good going out, and had to slow down to conserve energy for later. First mile has a ton of sharp turns, and runs mainly through the woods. Passed through a water stop, but the volunteer wasn't ready so was a little frustrating to miss that. Second mile, started to feel the heat, and was having trouble tracking my pace because of all the trees blocking my garmin signal. At this point in the race, Crystal and I were running side-by-side and we saw a water stop coming up - I signaled for the volunteer to splash me with a cup - well she did, and in the process Crystal missed her water and we weren't in a position to stop and come back. I felt absolutely terrible and was bad communication on my part - should have dropped back instead and let her handle the water stop. Hit a huge hill going through a neighborhood, and we had to stop for a quick walk break but were quickly on our way. 3rd mile was a lot of hills back in the woods, and finally got our water (cold, thank you!). I was trying to gauge how Crystal was running to set pace, as we weren't going to hit 6:40's on this day because of the heat. Was tough to rabbit for her because the trails were so narrow and we kept running into runners coming the other way, so was a little frustrating. Last mile, was watching an approaching runner trying to move up, so we surged at a few points to create a gap and took a walk break towards the end. Hit the home stretch hard, and held off the opposing runner by 20-30 seconds. Kind of a bittersweet run, as the time wasn't great but we did what we could given the conditions and had good effort, so I guess in that sense it was successful. Total mileage: 5.5 (1 mile warmup) - splits were: 6:42, 7:13, 7:18, 7:17, don't remember last part but 6:40 pace. Walk breaks the last 3 miles skewed our splits.

Bridge at the beginning/end - sadly, the trails weren't much wider than this!!!

Finish line of the race

Found out later that the team finished 2nd overall of 36 teams, so was extremely excited to have helped out as a rabbit! Crystal was the 4th fastest runner - very impressive on a tough running day. More hardware for the Harriss household - Congratulations Linda, Tom, and Crystal!!!

Last week's running was ok - got about 30 miles, felt good about all the workouts in general. Didn't hit great mileage so need to pump that up a bit before the true marathon cycle begins. The weather is getting hotter and hotter every day, so most of my runs will be extremely early or extremely late...

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a good article about the one and only Miss Kara Goucher I found on Universal Sports talking about her season thus far and preparation for the World Championships this fall. It sounds like the work she is putting in thus far is going great, and she will be ready to bring home a championship. Also, RW had an interview with Deena Kastor talking about the state of her running and her goals for Chicago.

Also found this concerning the Olympic Marathon Course in Chicago if Chicago is selected for the 2016 Summer Games.

A Chicago Olympic Marathon Course Would Look About 88 Percent Familiar
Bank of America Chicago Marathon Executive Director Carey Pinkowski said Wednesday that the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee's proposed marathon layout is "really using the Bank of America Chicago Marathon course, starting in Grant Park, using approximately 23 miles of the existing course.... The only difference is when we get to Michigan Avenue, which is about mile 23, instead of going north on Michigan Avenue into Grant Park, the route will go South on Michigan Avenue into Washington Park, where the Olympic Stadium will be."

How cool would that be for Chi to get the Olympics? And with a flat course like that, definitely a good opportunity for records to be broken! Summer heat might be a huge deterrant, but Sammy Wanjiru proved it can be overcome when he ran 2:06 in a sultry day in the 08 Games...

Wednesday night, got in a quick easy run on my friend's treadmill. Started pretty easy, and progressively sped up. Legs were a little tired from the heavy track workout the night before, but overall felt fine. Ran for for about 40 minutes total, stretched afterwards and did some corework. Also jumped in my buddy's pool and did a few laps, felt AWESOME to be in water again. Total mileage: ~4.5 - splits were: 8:14, 8:03, 7:52, 7:41. Took yesterday off due to the ridiculously hot weather and working so late, but talked over the weekend schedule with Crystal. Tonight, long run - try to hit 12, really depends on the weather. Saturday, something light early on, then I have a golf tournament in the morning to attend. Sunday, I will be rabbiting for Crystal in her leg of a team sprint triathlon. I actually did this last year, and had a good time. The course is hilly, and will be challenging especially if the weather is as hot as it has been but will be a great opportunity to be a race situation and get in a great speed workout.

Deena is running Chicago!!!

Deena is coming to Chicago!!! Press release is here.

"The terrible timing of my injury in last year’s Olympic Games left me with a hunger to perform well on the world stage," explains Kastor. "Chicago sets itself above other marathons in the U.S. in that it is the fastest, which is a big reason I am returning this fall.” Kastor continues. "The familiarity and comfort level I have with the course, the staff and their attention to detail certainly will allow me to concentrate on my goals while the enthusiastic Chicago crowds provide the constant support every athlete needs to perform their best."

Pretty exciting to have one of the big marathoning names come back to Chi, especially in light of the upcoming Chicago Olympic bid for 2016. She has also declared she is gunning for sub 2:18, which would lower her American record - I guess she is trying to make it harder for Kara in the future ;) She hasn't run too many races since her ill-fated Olympics injury in Beijing, and chose the Shamrock Shuffle this March as her comeback, which she won. Deena actually won the 2005 Shamrock Shuffle and 2005 Chicago Marathon (do I detect a pattern here?), so would be pretty cool if she could pull off yet another victory this fall.

And for those who aren't familiar with one of the greatest American distance runners ever, go purchase Spirit of the Marathon and watch Deena's quest for her first marathon title. Absolutely amazing documentary that truly captures the essence of marathoning - I will post a review about it later this summer. Great preview on Youtube below:



Last night, dragged Crystal out to the track for our 400 repeats. Was pretty hot outside during the day, and was in the process of cooling down when we started - sunny, in the 70's, and humid. Strategized to break up the 400's into 2 sets of 4 (several minute break in between) while alternating the inside lane, then pushing 2 more reps at the end. Did quick warmup, and we were on our way. First few reps didn't feel too hot - legs were tired, and turnover wasn't where I wanted it to be. Crystal was flying around the corners, and looking good. Was trying to stay on her heels, but she was clearly dictating the pace. Hit pretty aggressive splits for the first set, so "tried" to slow it down on set 2. Got into a much better rhythm, and seemed a lot easier. Legs were heavy, but pretty much felt that way all day so just went with it. Last 2 reps were fun, wanted to hit sub 1:20 on those. First one, I led us through a decent pace through first 200 meters, then slowly accelerated and kicked the last 100. Last rep, pretty much the same philosophy, only the last 100 I saw a couple walkers about 15 meters from the finish line and my competitive drive just took over and went flying down the straightaway to catch them and pass them right at the end - I think I hit 33 seconds on the last 200. Fun way to end a good workout - did 1/2 mile cooldown afterwards then went home to shower/stretch. Total mileage: ~3.5 miles - 400 splits were: 1:23, 1:21, 1:21, 1:20, 1:24, 1:21, 1:27, 1:21, 1:18, 1:13.

Legs feel ok today - joints are still a little sore, but will take it easy tonight with a light 3-4 easy run. One final note concerning track etiquette - if you are walking or jogging while others are running, please do not use the inside lane. Leave that lane open for the faster runners. On one of the earlier reps, had to completely run off the track into the grass to avoid two girls who were walking at snail's pace, while we were trying to execute a rep at 5:20 minute/mile pace - no need to push effort even further when already going that fast. I think people got the clue later as we didn't have any further problems, but still an unnecessary thing to encounter on a track workout.

Tuesday Ramblings/Easy Run

This is a pretty cool article I found this morning concerning NBC's relationship with the New York City Marathon. In summary, NBC signed on to exclusively broadcast the NYC marathon for three more years and will expand converage nationwide from one to two hours. I am totally excited to hear this, as I think marathoning is actually underrated as a live sport being telecasted. Last two years, I have been glued to the computer on Universal Sports watching streaming coverage of the major marathons - I just can't get enough of it! Not sure if any of you guys watched the 2008 Olympic Marathon, but was glued to the tv and the compelling story lines that were breaking out during the race. Great job by the commentators to keep up with solid analysis of the runners and the race and good segments during the race to keep everything fresh. Pretty amazing that something that seems to boring to watch (running) can actually be very entertaining. A wonderful decision by NYC, and one I hope will increase marathon awareness across the country.

Last night running was a scheduled 4 mile easy run. Kind of bummed around my place all evening doing miscellaneous errands before forcing myself outside around 8ish. Weather was sort of cool, but humid - I saw 74 on the bank clock when I passed it. Did an out and back on a somewhat flat terrain through Glen Carbon (first 1/2 mile downhill, last 1/2 mile uphill, rest pretty flat). Felt soreness in my right knee, so took a little bit to shake it out. Started off ok - just wanted to keep an easy effort and not push myself too hard. One of my buddies saw me on the roads and was honking his horn/shouting obscenities at me as he zoomed by me, so kind of woke me out of my funk. Started to pick up the pace, and felt myself holding back almost the entire time. Felt awesome and effortless throughout the run, but was a little tired at the end, prob from the uphill finish. Why can't all runs feel like this?!?! Total Mileage: ~4 miles - splits were: 7:29, 7:00 (oops), 7:09, 7:09.

I felt like this runner all week until yesterday

Was completely soaked from the humidity, soooo nasty outside. Did some good stretching, corework, and some foam roller time. Knees were sore, but they feel better this morning. Probably need to load up on some glucosomine, it's been a while since I've taken that. Tonight, scheduled track work (blah), but actually kind of looking forward to it despite the torrential downpour in the forecast this evening. Good opportunity to just hammer out a solid workout on the track - it's been a while!