Crappy Mileage

Bolt runs 19.66, US American Marathon team to all run NYC, Boston being affected by new qualifying times, Meb, and more Meb.

Tuesday, August 21st - 7 miles.  Ran out and back on Troy loop, then tacked on a slow last mile at the end to cool down a little since I had gone out a little harder than I would have liked.  Felt better - long weekend took a lot out of me!  Splits were: 7:56, 7:59, 7:54, 7:54, 7:48, 7:43 (47:15), 8 something.

Wednesday, August 22nd - 6 miles.  I don't remember this run, but wrote down this mileage..

Thursday, August 23rd - 8 miles.  Home Depot Loop with Pat and Crystal.  Pat ran the first couple miles with us, then Crystal and I finished it out.  Felt pretty good, with the exception of my stomach almost blowing up.  1:09:47 total.

Friday - Sun - 0!  Chicago Bachelor Party with Marc and a group.  My sister said it was the first time she had never seen me not run in Chicago.  Just pitiful performance on my part.  24 miles this week, 107 miles in August, 1132 in 2012.  Struggling at my 2000 mile goal.

Monday, August 27th - 6 miles.  My return to running after a long weekend.  Laid on the couch all day until finally guilt crept in and went out at 10 p.m. to get in some mileage.  Felt like complete garbage the entire way.  Looped around Village Circle, then did the 270 route.  7:56 average

Tuesday, August 28th - 4 miles.  Ran late after work.  Just felt like complete crap, and had trouble moving in general.  I'm lucky to have gotten in 4 miles quite honestly.  No watch, but it wasn't very fast.

Wednesday, August 29th - 3 miles.  Had a scheduled dinner with a former coworker, so had to get this one in fast.  Was 95, hot and humid - not exactly ideal conditions.  Plans were to get in a quick 2, but thought I could get 1 more mile in if I pushed it.  Didn't feel too great, and the effort was way too hard.  Out and back towards Troy - last mile, was red lining but I had no time to spare and needed to get back.  If I didn't have the time crunch, I would have walked.  Thought my splits would have been better, but did all I could that day.  Splits were: 7:31, 7:14, 6:49.

Thursday, August 30th - 8 miles.  Early run with Crystal - out and back towards Home Depot.  Nice morning to run, but definitely humid.  Slow start, but then she and I got locked in and ran the middle 6 miles within 3 seconds each mile.  Legs felt like poop at the 2nd mile, but never got any worse.  Picked it up slightly on the last mile, but unintentionally.  1:07:15 total.

Trying to piece together a good weekend of running this Labor Day weekend.  If I can get to 40 miles, it will be considered a success.  So sad :(

Mo-bot

Bolt and unlimited Chicken McNuggets, best Olympian?, top 10 Olympic moments, when will Mo run the marathon?, Olympic champ, David Rudisha, weakest athlete, blog of the men's marathon, top 50 Olympic moments by Sebastian Coe, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Monday, August 13th - 8 miles.  Big River group run with Crystal, Joe, Julie, and Tim.  Did the 7 mile loop, then ended up at DuBourgh for drills and strides.  Averaged 7:40's for the run, which felt pretty good actually.

Tuesday, August 14th - 7 miles.  Ran after work, I don't remember much of it but went ok because I don't have any bad memories or scars from it.

Wednesday, August 15th - 5 miles.  Again, don't remember this at all.  I really need to blog more often since my short term memory is going to sh*t.

Thursday, August 16th - 0!  Crapped out, but the rest day was nice with the upcoming workout over the weekend.

Friday, August 17th - 4 miles (31:29).  Ran nice and easy and zoomed through this one.  Out and back towards Troy in perfect weather - legs felt great.

Saturday, August 18th - 12 miles (2 up, ~7 miles tempo, 3 down).  Forest Park run with Crystal.  Perfect morning to get out, and the workout was the dreaded 2 mile loop for an hour at 7 min/mile pace.  Was a little concerned with my lack of fitness since I haven't done too much.  Warmed up, then got at it.  Felt pretty good starting out, but had troubles trying to get locked in to pace and getting into a good rhythm which is critical for these types of workouts.  The challenges of our Forest Park loop is it's rolling hills so hard to get locked in.  2nd lap - really was struggling up the initial hill, but got pretty locked in for a good 6 minutes before I really started to struggle.  The lack of hill workouts and speed for that matter were killing me.  The last stretch of the loop is a gradual incline that lasts about 1/3 of a mile - at that point, I knew I was toast, and needed to back off so I could help Crystal on the last loop.  Ran a mile pretty slow, then met her for the last loop.  Felt great at first, but had to fight through the gradual incline.  We had another 5-6 minutes to go, so went through the loop again part ways and ended close to the science center.  Cooled down, then stretched out for awhile.  Warmup/cooldown pace was all 8's, my workout splits were: 6:51, 6:50, 6:50, 6:50, 6:48, 6:45.  Will definitely take it, and the hills are a good 5-10 seconds extra effort on pace.

Sunday, August 19th - 0!  Yep, I suck.  Golfed during the day, then couldn't make it out the door.  I suck.
36 miles this week, 83 miles in August, 1108 miles in 2012.

Monday, August 20th - 3 miles.  600 METERS OF MADNESS - jogged up to DuBourgh for the first hopefully annual track meet event.  Just a blast, and ran my heat against Pat and Tim since there was nonstop trash talking all around.  We cut our race to 400 meters, and led off the festivities.  Lined up in lane 3, then took off as fast as I could since I pretty much had the disadvantage with leading the way in my lane.  Tim was hot on my tail, and kept trying to separate but really couldn't get him off.  At the 200, I was pretty tired, and tried to accelerate as much as I could on the turn.  Last 100, heard the equivalent of a sound of balloon popping (Tim exhaling and pretty much letting up), so I coasted in and Mo-botted across the finish line.  Cooled down, then watched the rest of the festivities which concluded with Gibbs beating Rich in the 600 meter showdown!

Olympics Recap

100 meter over the years, awesomeness in the 10K, more on the Dynamic Duo, marathon winner, more on Kiprotich and Meb is a stud, what a surge at mile 23, Meb, don't disrespect Meb ever again, "Sir" Mo Farah?, BOLT, and disappointment with the American women marathoners in London.

Took a brief hiatus from blogging with a crazy schedule, but this will allow me to provide my Olympic summary and personal insights.  What an amazing 17 days, and saw some mind-blowing racing and some truly "Olympic" moments.  The Olympics are one of my favorite things to watch, and definitely caught as much as possible on TV/DVR.  So without further adieu, my Olympic summary and top 10 moments:

Top 10 Olympic Moments (for me):

10: Men's Tennis Final - Andy Murray.  I'm a Federer guy, but watching Murray finally win a big tourney in his backyard was pretty cool.  He bounced back from a Wimbledon thrashing by Roger and won gold.

9: 10 Meter Men's Platform Diving Final - David Boudisha.  Comes down to 3 divers within 0.15 points.  All hit great dives, but Boudisha was the best.  Awesome that he pulled through when the stakes/pressure was the highest.

8: Dream Team - U.S. Men's Basketball.  In my opinion, still couldn't beat the Original 1992 Men's Dream Team, but still a formidable presence.  Pretty much laid waste to the rest of the world on their way to a gold medal.

7: Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh - 3 peat. Lost 1 set in 3 Olympics.  Just stunning.

6: Women's 200 Meter Final - Allyson Felix.  Gold was all she wanted in the 200 (beat in the last 2 Olympic finals), and gold she got.  She kept going too in all the sprint relays, and brought home a lot more.

5: Men's 800 Meter Final - David Rudisha.  Holy crap, what a race!  World record times, and perhaps the best race of the Olympics (result-wise).  Rudisha had the previous world record, but also had the assistance of rabbits - this time, he just took off and went for it all and got it.

4: Men's Marathon - Meb.  As in his great 4th place finish.  I posted this yesterday on Facebook, and truly meant every word.  He has been counted out so many times, yet continues to prove all doubters wrong.  A big thumbs down by the Olympic committee not to recognize Meb before the race, but he used this as fuel to help his cause.  He is a class act, and a fighter.  I respect him as much as any athlete in the world.  He should be the shining role model for any current athlete out there - he's all heart.

Peter Kim

Yesterday via mobile

Really stoked after Meb's 4th place finish in the Men's Olympic Marathon. He was completely out of the race but kept fighting and fighting and clawed his way to a great finish. Just an amazing role model and a wonderful career for one of the best American runners of all time who has taught me never to give up!

3: Michael Phelps.  Amazing to watch this dude's career, and an amazing encore by him in London.  4 golds and 2 silvers - not too shabby.  Congrats on a legendary career, Michael!

2: Usain Bolt.  Does anything else really need to be said?  He is truly a living legend, and perhaps the best of all time.  Was stunning to watch the 100 and 200 (he seriously needs to run through the finishes!!!), and the end of the 4x100 men's relay was crazy nuts when he and Bailey faced off.  Bolt is freaking amazing!

1: Men's 10,000 Meter Final - Mo and Galen.  What a race!  What heart from Mo and Galen, and an amazing final 400 meters.  I love the reactions from both guys at the end, as their friendship is genuine and they worked together for the last couple years to achieve Olympic glory.  Hairs are standing on my arm thinking of that final surge by Rupp - just absolutely amazing!

Oh yeah, I guess I need to talk about my own personal running haha.  I pieced together as much as I could remember.

Week of July 23rd - July 29th - 33 miles.  113 in July, 1007 for 2012.

Week of July 30th - August 5th - 28 miles.  126 miles in July (eek!), 15 miles in August, 1040 for 2012.

Monday, August 6th - 0!  Recovering from golf trip over the weekend.  Played golf at Cog Hill (in Lemont, IL a little south of Chi), and TPC at Deer Run.  Played like crap, but had a hell of a time.

Tuesday, August 7th - 0!  See above

Wednesday, August 8th - 4 miles.  29:39 (15:12/14:27).  Felt like poop, but made it through ok.  Weather was a lot nicer.

Thursday, August 9th - 6 miles.  I don't remember much out of this, quite honestly - just the mileage.

Friday, August 10th - 8 miles.  Ran 5 miles at Creve Couer park during lunch - weather was nice, but very sunny.  Hit first 2 miles in 6:28, 6:43 then slowed it down to finish it out (7:25, 7:10, slow).  My body doesn't remember "fast" at all, but wanted to get a little speed in this week.  Ran 3 at home when I got home before heading out to dinner.  2 easy, 1 really easy.

Saturday, August 11th - 5 miles.  Ran home from Jared's house after his daughter's birthday party.  Just an awesome night to run, albeit it was pretty dark on the trail.  Tried the runkeeper app on my phone since I didn't have a watch, and clocked it in.  It says I averaged 7:56 per mile, but this is skewed because I picked it up on the trail portion that runs through the woods (really dark and wanted to get through there fast) - in essence, I'm pretty sure I went faster because the distance seemed a bit short.  Regardless, felt great out there.

Sunday, August 12th - 9 miles.  Ran with a couple of old friends, Mike and Crystal.  Been a while since we got this crew together.  80 minutes easy was the workout, and we gabbed the entire way on Old Faithful on a nice morning.  I think we clocked 1:19:20 overall with 8:11 and 7:50 as our last 2 miles (didn't wear a watch), so was a good workout.  Had breakfast and watched the Men's Olympic Final afterwards - nice way to begin the day!  32 miles this week, 47 miles in August, 1072 for 2012.

Monday night group run tonight, as I begin to ramp my mileage back to the 40's!

Happy Olympics!

Kenyan domination, Paula is hurting, Amy Hastings and her Olympic experience, can Gharib medal in the marathon again?, the benefits of bad workouts, Mathew Kisorio tests positive for steroids, Bolt isn't worried,  more Bolt, Shalane, best Olympic moments, world marathon record will be difficult to beat, Tarmoh revisits the Trials dilemma (that she created for herself), top 100 Olympic moments, and finally the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Wednesday, July 25th - 0!  Fell into a deep sleep when I got home and slept for 14 hours.  This happens about once a month, and it's my body telling me I need rest.  And boy did I get it!

Thursday, July 26th - 4 miles.  Ran after work since it was overcast and considerably cooler (if you can call 90 degrees cool).  Pretty humid outside, but made my way for an out and back towards Troy.  I also wanted to test my new Ipod shuffle (got a heck of a deal on one, so uploaded some podcasts and gave it a whirl) since I have been running with my bulky Ipod Touch.  Much better.  Anyways, felt ok for the most part, but felt like it was harder than it should have been.  29:17 total (7:26, 7:24, 7:13, 7:04).  Saved 3 miles for Megan, but she was tired and it got too late and the couch was too comfty.  Yeah, yeah, yeah - excuses, I know.

Friday, July 27th - 6 miles.  Crystal dragged me out for an early Forest Park run.  Not much to say other than I was definitely hurting a bit towards the end, but mainly because we picked up the pace 45 seconds/mile.  48:40 on my watch.  Decent morning to run, but we were also done before 7 a.m. which helps :)  Great to see a nice crowd so early in the morning.

Olympics start today!  One of my favorite things to watch.  In honor, I plan on running every day so I don't feel like a complete slacker at some of the best athletes in the world compete for their dreams.

Rock n Roll Chicago Recap

Emmanuel Mutai, Shalane, Galen Rupp's kick, Tyson Gay says 9.7 needed to medal, Lolo, Meb, Haile coming back to Newcastle, Olympic viewer's guide, London odds, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Wednesday, July 18th - 4 miles.  Ran with Megan late at night.  Did 270 loop with her at 9:40's pace, then did 1 mile solo a little faster.  Hot outside.

Thursday, July 19th - 5 miles.  Dreadmill run at lunch, since I completely slept in and missed a morning run with Crystal.  Started at 7:30 pace and worked my way down.  Didn't feel the best, but I was on a time crunch and needed to be done fast.  4 mile split was 29:04, and I ran my last mile at 6:30 pace (ugh) so 35:34 total.

Friday, July 20th - 0!  Travel day to Chicago, and didn't get a chance to run at lunch because of many meetings.

Saturday, July 21st - 0!  Couldn't get up in the morning to save my life.  Worked the Brooks expo at McCormick Place which was super fun.  Megan and I worked the ticket booth and directed people to the games/prizes section, where Brooks was giving away many gifts.  Worked the run, then headed back for lunch.  Considered running, but it was too hot outside to do anything productive.  Went to the River North street festival, then grabbed dinner before heading to bed.  While I didn't get in any mileage, I was on my feet all day if that counts for anything.

Sunday, July 22nd - 17 miles (2 up, ROCK N ROLL CHICAGO 1/2 MARATHON, 2 down).  Woke up bright and early, and eventually made it to Millenium Park for the race.  Quick 2 mile warmup around the area, then lined up in Corral 1 to get this show on the road.  Nice to see a 1:25 pace group, so thought I would go out with them and ease off as there were no time goals today and was just treating as a long run.  Went through the first 2 miles at 6:30 pace, but pretty much died off since my legs weren't really working and settled into 8 min/mile pace.  Really enjoyed the nice pace, and traversed around the city and worked in a group for awhile.  Ran 1:41, but enjoyed the ride.  Cooled down with Ben, Anne, and Megan on Lakeshore trails when we got back to finish my workout.  Fun times.  39 miles for the week, 116 miles for July, 1111 miles for 2012.

Monday, July 23rd - 3 miles.  Ran late at night.  Legs were pretty tired, and the heat wave has really been bad around home.  106 today, so skipped out on group run.  270 loop - was still 91 at 9 p.m. and HUMID.

Tuesday, July 24th - 4 miles and drills with Crystal.  Got up and ran to the track.  Pretty standard - felt sluggish and my quads are still on fire, but glad to get in an early workout.

Need to lay out some sort of plan this summer, and working on figuring out what the heck I am doing for the fall/winter running.  For now, I am drinking a ton of water and trying to survive this brutal summer!

Summer Days

Interesting NY Times article on Ryan Hall and his faith, Centro, where are you on the global fat scale?, Ryan Hall and his religion, Olympic athletes struggle with careers post Olympics, Lolo, Allyson Felix, Bolt, Yohan Blake, Hall on CNN, world 100 and 200 meter record progressions, good letsrun interview with Hall, and help pick Hall's London shoes!

Friday, July 13th - 0!  Drove to Kansas City post work and got in really late.  Was famished and opted for a 10 p.m. dinner instead of a 10 p.m. run then dinner.

Saturday, July 14th - 6 miles.  Dreadmill since I finally got up at 9:30 a.m. and was far too hot to run around the city.  Focused on the kid playing catch with his dad in the pool, and was pretty tired.  But fortunately for me, a girl got on the treadmill next to me and I had a challenge.  Breezed through the next few miles no problem with increasing speed.  48 minutes and change

Sunday, July 15th - 4 miles.  Slept in too late, then spent most of the day driving home and napping.  Finally got out around 10 p.m. and did a quick loop around town.  Humid outside, and was rough.  34 minutes, I believe.  Happy Birthday to my little baby Franklin!!!  He turned 2 today :)  38 miles for the week, 80 miles in July, 1072 miles for 2012.

Monday, July 16th - 7 miles.  Big River group run with Tim, Pat, Kim, and Dan.  96 degrees when we ran, sunny, and humid - worst possible conditions.  Well, started out quick but fell back since I didn't want to die outside.  Settled into survival mode and tried to make it.  A couple walk breaks later and a long amount of time, we finally made it back.  Awful run - not doing the 7 mile run until it falls below 80 degrees.  Have no idea of time - we ran forever.

Tuesday, July 17th - 6 miles.  Ran with Crystal at 5:30 a.m.  Really humid outside and nasty, and we did Old Faithful out and back.  Massive stomach problems caused an impromptu break, but made it through ok.  52:30 total, I think?

Was supposed to do drills last night, but just crapped out because it was too hot outside.  Tonight - easy mileage and drills/strides planned, then easy running the rest of the week.  Rock n Roll Chicago is on Sunday, which will be a glorified long run with the hot conditions that await me up north.

K.C. Bound!

Samsung Diamond Meet this weekend, Meb and London, doping in track and field, Bolt not at 100%, Yohan trying to usurp Bolt as fastest man alive, and a RW chat with Emma Coburn.

Tuesday, July 10th Part 2 - 4 miles p.m.  Ran nice and easy.  270 loop and some change.  35-36 minutes total, I believe.

Wednesday, July 11th - 7 miles.  Out and back towards Troy, then another mile tacked on at the end.  Felt pretty lethargic and first, but then got into a better groove.  I had been struggling on runs over 4 miles, so it's nice to get a few that feel ok.  47:13 for the first 6 miles (24:18 (8:11, 8:05, 8:02), 22:54 (7:53, 7:53, 6:58)), forgot to restart my watch for the last mile but it was slow.

Thursday, July 12th - 7 miles + drills and strides.  Warm night, but not awful.  Ran to the track, did a loop around Ebbets Field, out and back to the stoplight near the track, and a couple laps to get in 6 miles.  Did drills and strides, which felt torturous.  Cooled down with Megan on the track to finish, then headed home to stretch for a very long time.  49 minutes for the 6 miles, around 9 minutes for the cooldown mile.

Off to Kansas City this weekend.  Hoping to get in a couple runs while I'm there, and hoping the weather is cooler than the bad conditions we've had here lately...