Illinois Marathon Relay Recap

Toni Reavis Boston analysis, what a week of racing!, Ryan Hall to do Flying Pig 10K, Meb to pace 1:30 group at RNR San Diego, how Meb won the Boston Marathon, running apps, Liliya is a doper!!!, and the lovely Miss Kara Goucher.

Happy Anniversary to Sir Roger Bannister for being the first man to break the 4 minute mile barrier, 60 years ago!

Saturday, April 26th - 10 miles.  Illinois Marathon relay!  Fun times for our team on a HOT, sunny day.  Colby started us out with the lead with a fast first leg (literally within 1 second of his time last year!), and Kyle nailed his leg before handing off to me.  So I was pretty pumped and took off through downtown Champaign, and was cruising alone before being diverted by a volunteer down a street.  Well, a minute into that road and almost getting smoked by a couple vehicles, it became very evident that I was led in the wrong direction, and turned around and headed back before rejoining the correct path.  Pretty pissed off at that point, and I lost a lot of the lead with this error.  Tried my best to get back into good rhythm, and worked my way through my run and got passed by a few fast marathoners and eventually the 2nd place relay team, much to my chagrin.  My run strategy completely changed to damage control, and tried my best to maintain a manageable gap for Yoch since this guy was faster than me, and I wasn't having the best day.  Handed off to Jon with a 45 second deficit, then headed to the finish area where we would meet up with him.  We found out later that he caught the team within the first mile, then cruised in with us for the victory!  2:44 (estimated my detour cost us 1.5-2 minutes) total, my leg was ~6:40 pace average.

Afterwards, we went back outside to watch Huelsmann finish up - some nervous moments for all of us, as we could track him up to the 20 mile mark where he was still barely on Boston Qualifying pace, and it had gotten significantly warmer as the day went on.  At pretty much the last possible second that we thought he would have before it was too late, we saw him heading towards the stadium before running out there to scream and cheer him on.  After he crossed the finish line at 3:15:08 (BQ for his age group was 3:14:59 or faster), we checked our phones nonstop for his final confirmation time, and finally got the good news when the 3:14:54 flashed across the screen.  BQ by 6 seconds - congrats Mike!!!  Afterwards, a great dinner at Destihl, then chilled out with everybody for a few late night beverages.  Great races by all - congrats to Megan on a solid 10K and Craig on a great half marathon!

Heading into Memorial Stadium

Big River Running Representation

Post race posing

Champs!

Sunday, April 27th - 0!  Travel day home, then spent the rest of the day pretty much recuperating.  Very tired, and legs were a little sore.  37 miles this week, 127 miles in April, 718 miles in 2014.  Ugh.  On a separate note, when looking through my log for April, I saw I missed an entire week of running on my blog (4/14-4/21) - I had 42 miles that week, with my workout being 1.5 miles around a quarter mile loop around Kyle's new place in Schaumberg.

Monday, April 28th - 7.5 miles.  U city group run with big group.  Crystal and I did 3 or so solo running on Delmar towards the Loop and back, and was sweating profusely from the heat/humidity.  Ran back out with a bigger group, and looped all around U City and its evil hills, then Crystal, me, Ryan, and some other dude broke away and finished strong.  My legs were pretty much garbage the entire time, but it was very fun to run with the group and talk about everyone's recent race experiences.  Thanks to Chad for organizing a group dinner at Three Kings on the Loop, afterwards!  We ran for about an hour, which equated to 7:50/mile average pace.

Tuesday, April 29th - 4 miles.  Ran solo out and back towards Troy on the trail.  Felt pretty comfortable, and was nice to knock out as soon as I got home.  Picked it up what I thought was slightly coming in, but definitely negative split.  29:40 total (7:37, 7:43, 7:22, 6:58)

Wednesday, April 30th - 0!  138.5 miles in April, 729.5 miles in 2014.  Not the way I wanted to end April.

Thursday, May 1st - 6 miles.  Ran with Crystal after work.  She talked me into running 40 minutes easy with her and pushing my workout till Friday, and we ended up doing more than the goal workout.  Out and back towards Home Depot, and got a little warm coming back in.  45 minutes, dropped the pace a little coming back.  So much for easy pace, but it did feel pretty good.

Friday, May 2nd - 11 miles (7 a.m., 4 p.m.).  Tempo work with Crystal and Hilary, bright and early in Tower Grove Park.  They enlisted me in helping them pace through their steady state run, and my instructions were to keep them right at 6:45 for the first mile, then work my way down.  We met on the corner of Arsenal and Kingshighway - weather was 50's and overcast, pretty much perfect.  Started out on a narrow path before working out way onto a loop on the inner roads.  Felt pretty comfortable the first 2 miles, but started to get tired and the girls broke away a little past the third mile, where I turned off and headed towards my car since I was only doing 4 miles.  For my efforts on the last mile, I was rewarded with a nasty hill, and just put my head down and kept pushing to finish it out.  26:38 was my total (6:45, 6:31, 6:39, 6:25) - cooled down about 10-15 minutes back to my car.  Not a bad effort for a morning run for me.
In the evening, I met up with Colby at the track and did a couple miles solo, while he was doing his workout.  We cooled down 2 miles together to finish out my mileage for the day.  New shoe day for me!  Caved in and bought a pair of Newton Gravity.  Initial impressions are the shoes are super light (9-10 oz.), and the support seems good.  I bought an older pair of Gravities, and the mid strike foam bump (as described in a previous post when I took them out for a spin during a Run Well clinic) wasn't as pronounced, so it felt pretty comfortable.

Saturday, May 3rd - 8 miles.  Ran with Crystal and Fenley on a warm, sunny morning.  Home Depot trail run and back, and was nice to have good company.  This run was decreed the "band" run, as between Fenley's gurgling guitar-riff stomach, Crystal's drum-like ankle clicks, and my amazing vocals, we had quite the performance!  8 miles was about my limit for the day - definitely feeling the effects of yesterday's mileage/work.  1:01:47 total (~7:43 pace)

Sunday, May 4th - 12 miles.  Troy route on a very hot morning with Crystal.  Because of the impending heat, we got up a little earlier and knocked this one out.  Both of us were tired, so made it a point to keep it right at 8 minute pace, which felt very comfortable.  1:35 total.  48.5 miles this week, 37 miles in May.  Back on track!

Monday, May 5th - 4 miles.  Ran solo at home, later in the evening.  It was pretty warm during the day, but cooled down at night.  Kept it comfortable, since I was tired, but dropped the pace as I kept going - always a good sign.  30:48 total - splits were: 8:14, 8:00, 7:30, 6:58.

Tuesday, May 6th - 5 miles.  Track workout with Megan on a breezy, wonderful evening.  The workout tonight was 5 x 1K at 5K effort (3:45 goal splits (6:00 min/mile pace)).  I haven't been sleeping well, and my legs were a little pooped so didn't feel so hot starting out, but it helped tremendously to be "distracted" with working with Megan on talking her way through her workout.  Before I knew it, I was on the home stretch, and was in a great rhythm.  Pleased with this workout, and hopefully a sign of things to come.  Splits were: 3:40, 3:41, 3:42, 3:39, 3:35.

Easy running the rest of the this week. Colby, Megan, and I are running a local 5K in O'Fallon on Saturday for fun/workout.

Meb Strong

Meb, Meb, elites react to Meb, Meb, Meb, Meb, Meb, inside Meb's win, Jeffrey Eggleston, American elite runner's sacrifices, Ryan Hall, the power of runners, Meb throws out first pitch, new beer mile record!, Shalane's valiant try, Sketchers win, Joan Benoit and family, Shalane in high school, Boston comeback, and Boston one year later.

Everybody finishes the race.  Absolutely inspirational to see.

Wow - unreal.  Not the correct way to bandit.  Now that I've had a week to let this settle, here are my thoughts.  Banditting happens - I get it.  If you decide to go this route, go by these rules:

1) Don't get in the way of other runners (take that for what it means, but don't be an impedance)
2) Don't accept water or any food
3) Don't cross the finish line
4) Don't accept a medal
5) And for God's sakes, don't photocopy a bib and run with it!!!!!!

This isn't difficult, people.

Monday, April 21st - 4 miles.  Emotional morning watching the Boston Marathon, and felt a renewed sense of motivation watching Meb win the Boston Marathon.  So went out after work and hammered out a quick 4 miler (with workout looming, wanted to go easy mileage).  Ran 270 loop and some change, and man was it humid!  Sweated completely through my shirt in minutes, and felt very lethargic throughout the run, but got it done.  Nothing is stopping me, here on out #mebstrong.  Splits were: 7:30, 7:32, 7:11, 7:09? (don't remember last one).

Tuesday, April 22nd - 6 miles.  Workout in Forest Park with Craig and Justin.  An absolutely gorgeous day to run, and very crowded for that matter with a concert going on.  Anyways, we decided on 3 x 1 mile at race pace, with 3 minutes break in between reps with a warmup and cooldown.  Warmed up towards Skinker, and looped back on the roads since the paths were crowded (not much better with a crapload of traffic).  Ran over to our Cricket loop by the Muny, and knocked out this workout while avoiding cars as best as possible.  Very pleased overall, and had to slow down on the last quarters of the first 2 reps just to get within goal pace (6:25-6:30).  Went hard on the last rep for fun, but struggled on the last quarter, going up that annoying hill.  Still need to build some strength - getting some speed back, but can't sustain it well.  Cooled down on the soft trails.  Splits were: 6:14, 6:15, 6:02.

Wednesday, April 23rd - 5 miles.  Ran after work with Crystal on the trails.  Home Depot out and back, then Village Circle loop to finish it out.  Legs were slightly tired, but felt very smooth as it was a breezy evening.  I thought it would be chilly, but ended up being quite warm towards the end.

Thursday, April 24th - ~6 miles.  Ran after work with Mike.  It was raining pretty hard, and got heavier as we kept going.  The initial thought was to go to the trail and see how things were, but we were pretty soaked by the time we got there and kept forging on.  Out and back towards Home Depot, and every bridge we crossed under had a small lake to navigate, which got annoying very fast.  Squish, squish, squish, and eventually we made it back.  You know it's been a good run when you have to wring out your shirt, shorts, socks, and even shoes!  I think our totals were 50:08 for 6.13 miles (8:42, 8:02, something, something, 7:51, 7:29)

Friday, April 25th - ~3 miles.  Ran 25 minutes out and back to the trail, and looped around the neighborhood.  Absolutely gorgeous morning and very sunny and cool.  Kept it nice and slow, and felt relatively decent.  Headed to Champaign in the morning and laid low, mainly getting ready for the race on Saturday morning.  Battled out the ordering, but eventually got it all situated (Colby, Kyle, me, then Jon).

Meb winning Boston was one of the most special moments of running ever, given what happened last year.  Very proud of him to execute his own race plan, then hang on at the end for the win.  It can't be a good feeling when getting hunted down by a very fast Kenyan, but he was able to negative split on a tough course and pull out the W.  I bet Nike's gotta be a little pissed about dropping him a few years ago!  Congrats to Shalane on a wonderful PR - not her day to win, as Jeptoo just sat on her as she did all the work, then went in for the kill later to run a ridiculous 2:18.  Top 4 women all broke the old course record, in the process, and they can all thank Shalane for pulling them out like that.  Her 2:22 would have won almost every year since 1994, and that was the number she had in mind so she should be proud that she executed her race plan.  She will win a major soon - she is making steps towards it.

And lastly, congratulations to all my friends who ran last Monday!  It was amazing getting to follow them online, and we saw some amazing performances (Jon 2:52 PR, Colby 2:55, Heidi 2:53 PR, Silker 2:41 PR, Larry 2:59, David 3:01 PR come to mind, great Boston debuts for Dickson and Joe).  Very inspirational to follow their progress, and very proud of everyone who contributed to one of the greatest races in the world!

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!

Alton 5K Recap

NYC 1/2 thoughts, last week (racing), Mo's transition to marathoning, Chicago Marathon lottery opens up, Kara signs with a new company, idiot that interrupted 2004 Olympic Marathon gets kicked out of London lottery (go figure), and an interview with the lovely Miss Kara Goucher,

Monday, March 17th - 4 miles.  Monday night group run at South City, which I coordinated with Timmy, Kyle, and Crystal.  I tried to get a quick oil change beforehand nearby the store, and ended up getting a new serpentine belt along with it since mine was literally about to snap.  What should have been a 15 minute oil change and $40 charge ended up being almost 1.5 hours and ~$300, so ended up having to catch up with a very displeased group of runners.  Did a couple loops of Francis with them before hitting up some strides at DuBourgh with Crystal, before running back to my car.  Tired legs and still hurting from some NASTY chafing, but to be expected after Sunday's long run.

Tuesday, March 18th - 6 miles.  Met Crystal, Kyle, Craig, and Colby at the track.  I planned on doing scheduled workout earlier because of terrible weather conditions forecasted on Wed, but I forgot my inhaler.  The wind was pretty brutal, so opted to do easy mileage and do the workout tomorrow.  Brian Holdmeyer was at the track, so he, me, and Kyle did a loop through SLU and neighboring areas to get in our mileage. Very fun for me to sit on and listen to them recap 2011 St. Pats, when Kyle and Brian finished 1-2 and had quite the duel - both those guys remember every single detail, and I soaked it all in (unfortunately, I remember having some quad issues and having to stop and stretch on Olive and killing my race time).  Got into a nice rhythm, and cruised through to finish it out fast despite a nasty headwind coming back.  I forgot how hilly the area around SLU is - challenging with the wind, on top of it.  45 minutes and some change, overall.

Wednesday, March 19th - 6 miles.  Workout bright and early.  Plan was 6 x 1 mile at tempo, with 90 sec in between but it was just straight up ugly.  I had no legs and no energy, and tried to battle some strong morning winds but pretty much failed.  I ran back on forth on the trails towards Troy, and pretty much struggled every step of the way past the first half mile.  Splits were: 6:17, 6:31, 6:28, 6:26, then quit because I was dead.

Thursday, March 20th - 3 miles.  Ran with Yoch after work right before heading to Colby's house for the tourney games.  We started from his house and did out and back towards the trail.  I felt pretty good, as his route is pretty hilly and we picked it up a little coming back.  It got HOT on the trails - where did this 70+ degree weather come from, all of a sudden?  Splits were: 7:41, 7:38, 7:22.

Friday, March 21st - 6 miles.  Did some solo mileage around STL, then warmed up with Hilary and Crystal around SLU's campus before Crystal's first ever track meet at SLU!  She was the #1 seed, running with some fast college girls and some of the Runnababez girls, and had a mile cutdown workout for her 5K race.  Windy day, and she ended up finishing 3rd in her track debut which was very solid.  We cooled down around the area to finish out an easy mileage day for me.

Crystal blazing by in 5K

Saturday, March 22nd - 12 miles - 9 miles A.M. (ALTON 5K: 19:38, 4th overall), 3 miles P.M..  Went to go watch Yoch defend his title on a cold, windy morning in Alton, IL.  Course started at the ampitheater (right next to the casino), and went on some roads headed back away from Alton, before heading back on the bike trails on the bluff - virtually an out and back.  The initial game plan was just to straight up win the race, but that plan got expelled quickly when I found out a couple All-American college runners were running, so I settled for a good, hard effort.  Went out with another local runner and virtually had him sit on me the entire race as we headed out towards the turnaround.  Wind was technically a tailwind going out but since the road was protected by the bluff, I felt virtually nothing at that point and all the runners were protected from the elements.  Everything felt fine until the turnaround, when I hit the headwind and struggled to maintain pace which slowed down.  Right before the 2 mile split, the trail forked off and luckily Kyle and Crystal could direct me to where I needed to go since I had a choice to make.  Unfortunately, the "correct path" led me up a small, steep hill which started the beginning of the end for me.  Last mile was more difficult, as the rolling hills and wind got to me and zapped my energy as I continued to get worked off of (despite trying to get him to share the work, which was denied and never happened).  He made a move the last quarter which I couldn't react to, and cruised in for a 4th place finish.  While I'm not pleased at all with the time, I split 12:15 at the 2 mile mark with not so hard effort, and excited to be making some progress.  On a better day, I'm breaking 19, no problem.  Splits were: 6:00, 6:15, 6:40 (yikes).  Add in warmup, cooldown, cooldown with Yoch (who defended his half marathon title on a tough day - 1:19:22 PR), and an impromptu 3 mile run at night.

Finishing the 5K

Bar Crawl for the Kids

 Sunday, March 23rd - 0!  Recovery, and the NCAA Tourney.  Slept on the couch most of the day, then had some friends dropping in and out throughout the day which made it impossible to get out.  Excuses, excuses, I know, but the day off was nice and probably needed the rest day and I'll hit the long run on Monday.  37 miles this week, 142.5 miles in March, 472 miles in 2014.  While I'm not happy I missed my long run, my next week will offset it since I'll basically get in 2 long runs that week.

Tough day for Franklin

Monday, March 24th - 12 miles.  Long run with Kyle on Grant's Trail on a windy, snowy afternoon.  Because I was working nearby, we opted to do our long run in that area, and started at Grant's Farm before going back and forth to hit our mileage.  It was snowing at the start, which was a pain in the @ss because my glasses were fogging up/getting wet but got into a good rhythm after the first few miles.  FINALLY, a long run which I felt stronger as we kept going, and the time flew by very quickly which is a great indicator of a good day for me.  Literally felt like we were jogging the entire time, and was as comfortable as I have ever been.  Grant's Trail has a little bit of incline/decline on the trail than I remember, as the 1-2 mile climb going up with deceptively long but very nice coming back.  Kyle stopped at 10.35 miles, and I wanted to get in a couple more miles so opened up my stride a little and pushed to finish.  Very pleased with this run, and had a negative split that Crystal would be proud of.  1:30:38 total, splits were: 7:48, 7:54, 8:06, 8:03, 7:53, 7:53, 7:42, 7:26, 7:20, 7:13, 6:50, 6:22.

Tuesday, March 25th - 6 miles.  Ran Forest Park loop with Tim, Kyle, Craig, Gibbs, Justin, and Megan. Legs were pretty much garbage after my fast finish long run, and looked to do some easy recovery mileage.   Windy, chilly day, but sat on a couple of the guys initially before Tim and I picked it up going up Skinker.  Cruised through the loop as my legs slowly felt better (felt like complete garbage initially), and we negative split the last few miles into the wind which is always a good feeling.  Craig started a push on the last mile, and got me going so we finished with a good effort.  Checked out the new Urban Chestnut afterwards which is in the Grove - HUGE facilities, and great brew as usual.  48 minutes or so total.  3 months ago, this run would have been 9+ min/mile pace - legs are definitely feeling stronger, overall.

Easy mileage tonight with Craig and Crystal, then workout on Thursday which is looking like some tempo-ish, strength building work.

St. Pat's 2014

NYC 1/2, Gateway 15K, and Ryan Hall training in Ethiopia.

Big time racing this weekend.  Shalane sets an American record at FL by 12 seconds, and looks great leading into Boston!  Geoffrey Mutai wins over Mo at NYC - race started over very, very slow, and Mo took a tumble at mile 6 which pretty much ended the day for him.  Mutai took control, and blazed home for the W.  Mo made a very strong comeback, and I'm anxious to see how London goes for him.  I predict there will be some growing pains, and he will become very successful if he keeps with it.

Friday, March 14th - 3 miles.  Gorgeous day to end the week, and waited for my sister to come into town since she and my brother-in-law were visiting for the weekend.  We ran out and back on the trail to Home Depot - enjoyed the nice, easy pace.  Legs were tired but felt pretty good, rather than the typical soreness I had been experiencing.  32 minutes or so total.

Saturday, March 15th - ~9 miles.  St. Pat's Day Parade Run!  Pretty much the best weather I have ever seen for this race, and Megan and I headed downtown early to get situated and run some pre-race miles.  Met up with Tim, Gibbs, Huelsmann, TVR, Dickson, and Wendy to do the Riverfront Trail (first time for me), and did an out and back on the trail before heading back to spectate the race.  Caught the Big River racing team before they were heading off to the start, and then our group ran down to Market and Tucker to catch the runners before the big Market St. climb.  At this point, O'Connor and Lawder had already pretty much gapped the field, and Crystal was about 10 seconds behind Hilary looking pretty controlled.  We ran back to the finish to watch O'Connor finally get the W at St. Pat's, with a stunning 24:22 on a very tough course!  Crystal finished 2nd behind Hilary at 30:05, and set a nice PR in the process!  Lots of positive results all around, and a fun celebratory morning with some good friends.  Very cool to finally watch the elites race, as this race is pretty much the marquis event for STL.  Cooled down with Crystal and Hilary to finish out the day.

Sunday, March 16th - 12 miles.  As beautiful as it was on Saturday, it was that much rotten on Sunday.  A small winter storm moved in, as temps fell over 40 degrees and we had to deal with 25 mph winds.  Crystal and I did Home Depot trail out and back, and made it pretty far down on the trail - hadn't been that far down this particular path since 2009 training (past old high school, over the river and through the woods).  Wind was brutal and swirling, and legs were pretty tired coming back since we were running into the wind pretty much the majority of the first half.  Had some pretty ugly chafing, and quite a few curse words were uttered on this run but we made it.  1:32:36 total.  47.5 miles this week, 105.5 miles in March, 435 miles in 2014.

Group run tonight!  Considering running a 5K this weekend for a fitness test/workout, so we shall see how this week goes...

St. Pat's Weekend

Lawi Lawang goes for NCAA 3 banger, Moses Mosop, Mo Farah ready for NYC Half, World Indoor Championships analysis, be careful running in national parks, Bernard Lagat, and Alan Webb.

Monday, March 10th - ~5.5 miles.  Ran the Runwell group run with Pat and Crystal, since Pifer was in town repping his Newton kicks.  Got to wear test a pair of Newtons (I'm sad to say I don't know the exact model but they were yellow and Red - Crystal called them McDonalds shoes lol), but unfortunately Newtons don't have any wide shoes for my fat feet so it was quite a tight fit.  Regardless, Newton's claim to fame in their shoe technology is they load up the cushioning on their mid foot area, which almost feels like you're running with a little log in that area.  In my case, that's where I usually strike so I had this trampoline effect which provided some extra bounce in my step, and quite honestly a very good feeling.  Anyways, we ran from the store to the trails (on Governor's Parkway) to the high school to do strides, then headed back.  It got pretty warm on this run (up to 80!), and almost yearned for colder temps if that's possible.  Legs were sore, but felt good.  ~7:50ish average pace.

Tuesday, March 11th - ~6 miles.  Ran at the track with Colby, Crystal, and Megan.  Track work for all on a windy day, and my idea to run track was quickly vanquished with my legs feeling like poop so jogged many laps as I cheered everyone else on.  Crystal dragged me to do some 200's with her, so hit a few too fast but was fun to get some turnover.  Cooled down with Colby, then Crystal later to round up a decent mileage day.  200 repeats were: 34, 36, 33.

Wednesday, March 12th - ~6 miles (5x800).  Workout with Tim on the trails.  Ran down to Village Circle, and did some dynamic stretching to get ready for the workout I actually laid out for myself with a little help from Crystal (Coach Kyle is on work travel).  Goal was to hit half mile repeats at 5K effort or so, and I took a longer recovery just because at this point I need it.  We laid out the half mile between the trail entrance and the trail towards Troy, which has natural landmarks at splits points which makes the run a lot easier, visually.  Because of the short distance and my watch settings, it was difficult to really track time/distance (Garmin customized workouts aggregates the total distance and rest time) so I was truly going by effort.  Anyways, made it a point to start out hard but try to relax and stay controlled, and could feel the burn at the end of every repeat but powered through.  Very pleased to see my splits afterwards, and made it hurt at the end.  Everything was faster than I had anticipated, and the slight head/tail wind made no difference for my times.  Tim did quarters, and looked very strong on his workout - great to have good company!  Slow cooldown to finish out a successful workout.  Splits were: 2:45 (estimated - forgot to press "start"), 2:52, 2:52, 2:51, 2:39.

Thursday, March 13th - 6 miles.  St. Pat's course preview with Crystal, Craig, Hilary, Tim, Huelsmann, Gibbs, and Heidi.  Met downtown on a windy, chilly but nice evening and did the course route.  Because of some nasty traffic delaying some of the runners and us getting cold, we started a mini loop around Kiener Plaza which was roughly 0.33 miles.  All the race port-a-potties were lined up in that area we circled, which was an interesting sight to see.  Anyways, we eventually got started, and I was given the dubious honor of setting the pace, so we navigated through the lovely St. Pat's Course.  I had forgotten how tricky the roads of STL could be, as you need a little strategy with some of the later climbs.  Even though you slingshot downhill on Olive, there are still a couple hills towards Tucker that can tear you up, so you need to be careful on the points you surge.  Anyways, led the group through with no issues as the girls, Huelsmann, and I formed a lead pack and hammered through the course for a fun jaunt around the city.  7:30-7:40 average, overall.

Another bittersweet weekend, as I will not be racing St. Pat's this year for many reasons, but I am excited to see the elites run this year, and join my friends in arguably the funnest racing day of the year!