Big Ten 10K Race Recap

Emma Coburn, Shalane is joining me in Berlin, Meb running NYC.

Fell behind (again), but I have remembered most of the details.  It's been a rough few weeks, but got in some really good work in July!

Friday, July 4^th – 5 miles.  I don’t remember details at all.  Happy Birthday, 'Murica!

Saturday, July 5^th – 16 miles.  Long run bright and early with Mike and Crystal with Coach Kyle biking.  Team Sullentrup Reunion!  Crystal and I did the first 5 miles or so on the trail towards Marine, before catching Mike at the trail entrance.  For old time’s sake, we did the Old Faithful/Home Depot loop with a water break at Township Park.  Legs were getting really tired towards the end, and Mike and I were getting strung out by Crystal’s pace pushing before she finally broke us and scampered away down the stretch.  But in all seriousness, I had a blast and it was hard work but a solid run for me.  2:06:59 total, 7:56 average pace.

Grill time during holiday weekend

311/Urge Concert with my homeboys

Sunday, July 6^th – 3 miles shakeout run late at night.  Legs were dead, and body was beat up from the awesome 4^th of July weekend with Coach Kyle and Schlegel.  270 loop and some change, 25:05 total.  49 miles this week, 44 miles in July, 1149.5 miles in 2014.

Monday, July 7^th – 5 miles.  Easy run with Crystal before work.  Out and back towards Home Depot on the trail, I believe.  I don’t remember this much, but looks like we were feeling decent.  38:48 total (8:02, 7:38, 7:51, 7:48, 7:24). 

Tuesday, July 8^th – 5 miles.  Too hot to do track work, pushed back a day.

Wednesday, July 9^th – 11 miles (2 up, 20x400, 1 down).  Procrastination, as I waited till the last possible second to do this workout.  Workout was 20x400, with 200 m jog in between.  Start at 10K pace (6:15 min/mile – 1:34 per rep), then cut back 2 seconds after each set (4 sets of 5) and a 400 m jog in between sets.  Warm evening, but cooled down once I got started and soon it was pretty dark outside and all the riff-raff cleared from the track.  Tough getting locked into a pace, and started out way too hard but eventually got in a better rhythm.  Last set was pretty tough, and had to suck it up a lot to get it done.  Long workout, but helps to break down the number of reps per set and concentrate on those, rather than the collective whole.  Splits were: (1:29, 1:31, 1:30, 1:32, 1:35), (1;32, 1:31, 1:32, 1:31, 1:32), (1:28, 1:29, 1:31, 1:28, 1:29), (1:27, 1:27, 1:27, 1:24, 1:18).

Thursday, July 10^th – 6 miles.  Easy run with Yoch.  Legs were pooped, that’s all I remember.  It was pretty warm outside, and we did trail loop by his place.  A warm day, and glad I had someone to push me through this slow, recovery run.  49:31 total.  Happy Birthday to my little baby Franklin!

 

Playing with his new birthday presents

Friday, July 11^th – 0!  I don’t have any miles logged, so guessing I skipped L  Actually, I do remember – was feeling beat down, and just straight up missed my scheduled fartlek. Crap

Saturday, July 12^th – 5 miles.  Death run on trails.  Punishment for skipping on Friday.  Waited to last possible second to do run, and did Troy/Old Faithful route on the trail at probably the peak hot time of the day.  90’s, sunny, and super humid, and it was as evil as you could possibly imagine.  Watch died halfway through, but was right at 8 min pace.  Probably slower overall, as I was seriously getting a little light headed at the end and chugged a gallon of water when I got back.

2 miles into my run - doesn't this look fun???

Sunday, July 13^th – 18 miles.  Death on the trails.  Set it up where I’d have the last 12 with Yoch, so started at 5 a.m. and did out and back towards Glen Carbon (turnaround at Covered Bridge).  It was nasty and sticky as soon as I stepped foot outside, and knew this would be a tough day since I was working really hard just to hit 8 minute miles.  Turned around and was soaking wet from the conditions (80 degrees and 84% humidity at my 5 a.m. start, so was getting progressively worse as I went along).  Stopped at mile 4, and texted Jon that I wasn’t sure if I could do this and gave him the green light to bail if he wanted out.  He talked me into staying with it, and met up with him at home where I chugged a bottle of Gatorade.  We set it up where we would split our 12 and come back to hydrate and use the bathroom.  Did 270 loop and Old Faithful, and hit up 8 miles before headed back for hydration.  Note there were a few rest breaks in there, as I was absolutely dead from the conditions and so was Jon since he doubled (races, that is) the day before and was feeling it.  Last 4 were on the trails to Troy and back, and Jon did an additional mile where I took a much needed standing rest break.  Absolutely brutal run, and I was really down on myself for the crappy effort out there.  Just never felt right from the first step.  2:39:55 total, 8:53 average pace, and was lucky to get under 9 min quite frankly.  50 miles this week, 94 miles in July, 1199.5 miles in 2014.

Outsider App says don't run!

Monday, July 14^th – 5 miles and strides.  Group run with Timmy.  Shakeout mile with Crystal and Craig to start it out, then we did our 4 mile loop and strides at DuBourgh.  I’ll tell you what – doing an intentionally slow shakeout really loosened me up, as I felt pretty good afterwards – may need to do that more, especially after high mileage weeks.  42:52 total (9:52, 8:16, 8:27, 8:22, 8:19).  Felt a lot better after talking to people about their weekend running – apparently, everyone died out and the conditions were that bad.  Hopefully next week’s long run feels better.

Tuesday, July 15^th – 5 miles.  Solo after work.  Legs were tired and back was really, really tight, but made it out on a nice evening.  Out and back on the trail towards Troy, with a small detour towards Marine, and picked it up a bit coming back in.  Felt awesome out there!  Dr. Clint gets credit for running a few hundred yards with me when I ran into him on the trail.  38:46 total (7:54, 7:49, 7:52, 7:40, 7:27).  At night, was putting away dishes and sneezed, and my back literally exploded.  Took about 10 minutes before I could get myself in an upright position, and hobbled to bed and prayed that this was just a tweak and that’s it. 

 

Marine Route on Troy - gorgeous night

Wednesday, July 16 – 15 miles (2 up, 6 x 1.5 at marathon pace (0.5 mile in between), 1.5 down).  Was in agony all morning with my messed up back, and Dr. Clint did some emergency work to get me fixed up.  It was a bit scary the amount of pain I was feeling – sharp, knife-like stabs around my lower back, and my back was clenched up so not comfortable at all.  Progressively got better through the day post-therapy, and realized that sitting or bending over was the most painful act for me and standing around and walking felt ok.  It was a nice day, and went out that evening with Megan and Alisha to supervise their mile repeats.  Jogged around and realized that there wasn’t any pain  when I ran so decided to hop in and do some easy pace duty for the girls.  We did a couple miles out and back with no issues, and made the split second executive decision to give the workout a go under the condition that at the sign of any discomfort, I would stop immediately.  It was so nice outside, and I was feeling pretty loose.  Goal workout was 6 x 1.5 miles at marathon pace (10:30-10:45 splits which are 7:00-7:10 min/mile pace) with half a mile jog in between.  Did a couple reps in Village Circle, and felt relatively ok and tried to get locked into pace.  Made my way onto the trail, and did out and back to Drost Park before finishing up in Village Circle.  Felt pretty good when I was done, and slow jog for a cooldown.  LOTS of stretching when I got back, and took my time laying down.  Splits were: 7:52, 8:31 (mile repeats), 10:30, 10:26, 10:28, 10:27, 10:28, 10:20, slow cooldown. 

Thursday, July 17^th – 5 miles.  Solo after work.  Legs were tired and back was creaky, but made it out on a nice evening.  Out and back on the trail towards Troy, and picked it up a bit coming back in.  Felt very smooth, which is a good thing coming of a tough workout and a creaky body.  40:08 total (8:26, 8:09, 8:02,  7:58, 7:29).

Friday, July 18^th – 0!  Supposed to switch workout to easy run, but ended up taking a rest day.  Back was pretty sore, and was on my feet all day.  With an early morning run looming, it was better to get my rest in since I basically would be doubling up. 

Saturday, July 19^th – 18 miles.  Perfect morning for a long run.  Met up with Joe at 4:45 a.m. (ugh), and we ran to Crystal’s house and did out and back on the trail towards Marine to get me halfway through my run.  Felt pretty sluggish starting out, but the pace picked up and got in a good comfort zone.  Dropped Crystal off at her house (she only had 60 minutes), and we picked up Colby who did the last 9 miles with us.  Out and back on Old Faithful, and took a small water break at the Glen Carbon fire station.  Last mile, I could feel myself picking it up, and felt incredibly smooth.  6:56 last mile, and felt very easy.  Just one of those days, but having 60 degree weather helped tremendously!  Complete opposite of last week’s meltdown, and felt very strong.  2:21:40 total (~7:50 average pace overall).  Over 18 minutes faster than last week!  Amazing what 25 degrees and 40% less humidity will do!

Sunday, July 20^th – 6 miles.  54 miles this week, 148 miles in July, 1253.5 miles in 2014.

Monday, July 21^st – 4 miles + strides.  Death march on a nasty day with Timmy at Group run.  Felt like crap, and the track at DuBourgh felt like a furnace.  Didn’t make it to group run on time because of an accident on the interstate, and was scrambling to get the mileage in once I got there.  Because it was so humid outside, we quit when we got back and didn’t finish out the mileage I was supposed to (one mile stort).  8:48 average pace.

Tuesday, July 22^nd – 5 miles.  Change in plans for the week.  Because of the nasty weather, we shifted the workout back a day, eliminated the Thursday workout, now am going to race the Big Ten 10K hard, and cut my long run down to 12 miles.  This actually makes sense on every level, as I have been building up my long run up the last 5-6 weeks, and can now come back down for a week as I should anyways.  Goal is to hit 10K in 40:25 – shouldn’t be too bad, but hoping the weather in Chi behaves for the weekend.

Wednesday, July 23^rd – 7 miles (1 up, 10 x 800 m, 1 down).  Dreadmill day at Pat and Crystal’s.  Bad day outside again, so decided to try on the dreadmill.  In summary, it was quite awful, and was really working hard the entire time. The workout was Yasso 800’s, and instead of doing a 400 m jog in between, I took a standing 1-1:30 minute break which was rough.  Had the dreadmill at 10 mph, which meant I was hitting my repeats right at 6:00 min/mile pace.  The good news was I had American Ninja Warrior on tv while I was doing the workout – very motivating and distracting, and I did fly through my run.

 

10 half mile repeats

Thursday, July 24^th – 6 miles.  Recovery run with Crystal.  Out and back bright and early on the trails towards Home Depot.  Legs felt rubbery, but we got faster as we moved along and definitely loosened up.  It’s nice to see that my recovery runs aren’t at the snail’s pace I was doing before, and relatively closer to long run pace.  This isn’t intentional – just going by feel, but getting stronger.  47:50, overall.

Friday, July 25^th – 0!  Travel day to Chi.  Because of awful traffic, got in late and scrapped the run.  Drinking on the rooftop and eating Mexican at night is probably not the best strategy before a race.

Saturday, July 26^th – 10 miles (BIG TEN 10K 41:00 168/15,136 OVERALL).  Overcast and humid morning in Chi.  Ben and I cabbed down to Soldier Field, and got settled in for our first Big Ten 10K!  A bucket list race for me, and it was a sight to see people adoring their school colors and the bands blaring the fight songs.  One of the cool things about the race were the shirts – people could sign up for whatever Big Ten school they wanted, and you got the race shirt in those colors, so there were a sea of all 14 of the Big Ten schools traversing around the area – quite the sight to see!  The Big Ten had set camp in the parking lots outside of Soldier Field, and had school tents and this NFL combine area which was all interactive to the race partipants.  People could do a football toss (NFL QB challenge-like), 40 yard dash, standing vertical jump, and even try to kick a 30 yard field goal!  There was a concert stage closeby, and all the Big Ten mascots were running around the area.  Very, very cool set up, and we agreed to check things out once we got the race over with.  Did a 15 minute warmup or so, and headed to my corral.  

The route was pretty much the same as the Soldier Field 10 miler – head south on Lakeshore, turn, then come on the bike path on the way back.  Pretty flat and fast, and our conditions were a little sticky but tolerable for late July.  Corral A and the elites started together (staggered start, which I didn’t realize until I saw the telecast later that night), and we headed under McCormick place where I tried to get settled in with the group I was running with.  Coach Kyle wanted me to go out in 6:30’s and hold for the first half, and see how I felt.  Well, I stayed to plan and hit the 5K at 20:18, pretty close to where I needed to be at.  It was getting pretty warm out there for me, and I was dumping water on my head at every water spot.   6:30’s were definitely a struggle, and I let up a little too much after the turnaround.  Hit a couple slower miles, then made our way back to the finish.  The race course looped back around the parking lot area, which got confusing because I kicked a little early and realized we had to loop back around.  Finished up, cooled down for 20 minutes, then met up with Ben and we hung out around the finish area and did all the festivities.  Met living legend and OSU alumni, Archie Griffin (only 2 time Heisman trophy winner), and mingled with the mascots.  Very, very cool event – I will definitely be back.  As for the race, it was pretty disappointing but I get what I deserve for not taking better care of myself pre-race.  In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t shocking to have a slower time with the higher volume I’ve been doing, but still should have ran better.  Splits were: 6:33, 6:33, 6:34, 6:44, 6:46; 6:33, 1:15. 

Set up of the post race festivities

Brother and I post race

Me flicking off Brutus

Wide left!

Living Legend, Archie Griffin!

Big 10 Mascots congregate on stage

Brother and Sparty!

Megan and her first Chicago hot dog

Go Cubs go!

Happy (belated) Birthday Barrel!

Sunday, July 27^th – 6.5 miles.  Lakeshore run at mid morning.  Ran to Navy Pier and back, and met up with Coach Kyle for some of it.  Very hot and sunny, and was a rough going as the humidity level was a lot higher (70%)  Lots of people out and about, but definitely had a death march feel with the sun reflecting off the Lake – still, would take this over anything as it’s my home away from home.  Could feel it in my quads, and cut through the park and Lincoln Park Zoo on the way back to get some much needed shade.  Coach Kyle told me to get in my mileage, then call it a day – with the travel back and the heat at home, it was unreasonable to push myself to get in junk miles, and rest up for the tough workouts for next week.  Happily agreed to all this.  8:17 min/mile average pace.  38.5 miles this week (ugh), 186.5 miles in July, 1292 miles in 2014.

Tough day in the office

More to come.  Should be a 200 mile month of July.  First 20 miler this weekend!

Cool Runnings

Matt Llano moves up to the marathon, and world record assault planned for Berlin.

Tuesday, July 1st - 8 miles (1 up, 6 mile fartlek (2 on, 2 down), 1 down).  Early morning with Crystal, and we warmed up and did out and back towards Troy.  Weather was much cooler, and I learned my lesson for not doing morning runs during the summer.  Goal was to hit tempo like efforts for the fartlek, which translate to roughly 6:30 pace.  First half went ok, but I am not going to lie when I say I was hurting coming back.  The bridge over 162 absolutely murdered me, and had to take a 5 second break until Crystal got me going again.  Not the best feeling, but got done nonetheless.  7:35 average overall, 7:18ish on the fartlek miles.

Wednesday, July 2nd - 5 miles.  3 up with Crystal to the track, then did the tail end of Alisha and Megan's track work (reverse ladder).  Nice morning to run, albeit humid, but did some nice, consistent miles.  Right at 8 minute pace average.

Thursday, July 3rd - 7 miles (2 up, 10 x (20 sec hard, 1 minute easy), 3 down).  Bright and early with Crystal at her neighborhood.  Another glorious morning, and glad to get outside despite trying to think of every single excuse not to.  It was literally 60 degrees and cool starting out!  We warmed up on the trails towards Marine and watched a gorgeous sunrise, before heading back and hitting up the workout.  Goal was to hit mile pace, and this workout was more or less an easy run with strides.  2 loops in the neighborhood, and we blasted through this workout.  Cooled down on Old Faithful out and back, and we were done!  We hit high 4/low 5 minute pace for the hard, and high 7's for the easy.

Team Sullentrup reunion in the works as Mike has tentatively agreed to join us on the back half of our long run on Saturday!  Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!

Catchup Part 4: Steamboat Classic 4 Miler Recap

Running soccer refs, U.S. Outdoor Championships, poopy mcpoop.

Exhausted writing this blog post.  I did an early morning workout with Crystal, and pretty much got my @ss kicked (on next blog post).  Between the worst run ever at Group Run on Monday and the early morning "fun", I am pooped!  Having fun with the first couple weeks of this marathon cycle, but it's going to be a tough one.  Summer temps to deal with, and I have already run more morning weekday runs than all of last year!

Without further adieu, time to get completely caught up!

Monday, June 9^th – 7 miles + strides.  Rainy run with Crystal after work.  We ran to the middle school track from her place, and did some really hard strides before heading back.  Legs felt ok starting out, but I think I may have overdone it on the strides.  I went almost full effort trying to keep up with her, and that wasn’t the smartest idea.  Cooler temps plus some light rain equals pure blissful heaven for me!  8:15 pace, overall.

Tuesday, June 10^th – 6 miles.

Wednesday, June 11^th – 8 miles.  Duel pacing duties between Megan/Alisha’s workout, and Pat’s workout.  Hot day outside, but managed to knock out a ton of mileage at the track in the process.  Road miles for my warmup – nice and easy.

Thursday, June 12^th – 4 miles.  Don’t remember specifics, but kept mileage short and easy.  Legs were pooped all week!

Friday, June 13^th – 0!  Rest day + travel.  Got up to Bloomington to pick up my sister, then ate a late dinner at Destihl.  Got back to Peoria after 10, and attempted to get as much sleep as I could as the Steamboat Classic was literally right around the corner.  Early races suck, when you aren’t an early riser.

Saturday, June 14^th – 7 miles.  STEAMBOAT CLASSIC 4 MILER 24:48 PR.  Headed out to downtown Peoria bright and early, and got my bib/shirt before warming up.  Temps were beyond perfect –high 50’s/low 60’s, and slightly breezy.  I don’t remember ever having a non-humid day and under 80 degree temps for Steamboat – just too nice to pass up an opportunity for a fast race.  Did a 2 mile warmup, and did basic stretching by the start of the race.  Ran into a few people I knew, and got settled in before we started the race.  The course is pretty simple – you start up a hill, then weave through downtown going north and wrap around some side roads before heading back towards the Riverfront down a big hill.  I had set my A,B, and C goals leading into the race – C: P.R. (26:02), B: Sub 25:30, A: Sub 25.  I felt pretty confident that the C goal and most likely the B goal would be accomplished, as I had gained some speed back and had some good runs over the last month.  Wanted to get locked in right at 6:20’s, and went out a little too hard on the first mile and tried to get settled in and better in control.  Worked with a group for awhile, and we made the turnaround, and was well on pace at the halfway point and trying to get as comfortable as could be.  Split the 5K at 19:19, and relaxed a little since I was getting a little tired and started playing some evil mental games with myself (i.e. I could run a 7 minute last mile and still PR).  I was still working with the same group, and we got strung out on the last straightaway before the downhill.  Once I made the turn, I left gravity take over and coasted down the large hill and soaked in the crowd.  One last turn onto the riverfront, and saw the clock still in the 24’s and kicked it in.  Very happy with the race, and a much better official PR for me as 26:02 was pretty weak for my ability and have split sub 25 many times in training runs.  I’m shut down from racing now according to Coach Kyle, and it’s all marathon training for the rest of summer!  5:58, 6:19, 6:14, 6:08 were my splits.

Post race

Riverfront

Beautiful I-74

Clydesdale Group Winner

Brad and I

Megan and I

Father's Day BBQ

Sunday, June 15^th – 9 miles.  Travel day back home, and spent most of the day on the couch watching U.S. Open golf and the NBA Finals.  Finally got out the door late, and ran to Crystal’s where she joined me for roughly 4 miles on Old Faithful, before I went home.  Ran with my phone for music, and Kyle was texting me and basically told me to go home since I felt like crap, so cut the long run short since it wasn’t getting any better.  Trying to adjust to this heat, but it’s definitely challenging.  8:16 pace average.  41 miles this week, 91 miles in June, 1005 miles in 2014.  Happy 1000^th mile to me!

Monday, June 16^th – 9 miles + strides.  Bright and early with Crystal, and we did Home Depot route towards Edwardsville High School.  Legs were still poop, and definitely was working a bit the entire way but Crystal was merciful and kept the pace honest.  Strides felt hellacious, and kept it a little more moderate.  8:15ish average or so. 

Tuesday, June 17^th – 6 miles.  Ran with Yoch after work on a humid evening.  We ran on the trails towards Home Depot, and it was pretty miserable.  Legs were completely dead, and was just straight up tired.  49:48 total time.

Wednesday, June 18^th – 5 miles.  Ran after work with Pat at the track.  Got up there early, and ran ~3 miles on the roads with some terrible, terrible conditions.  This summer is gonna be brutal!  He had 3 x 800 at mile pace, then dropping, but it was pretty bad outside and told him to concentrate more on effort.  Timed his first rep, ran the last 2 with him, then cooled down.  3:12, 3:12, 3:08 were his splits, and he definitely worked for it as did I.

Thursday, June 19^th – 6 miles

Friday, June 20^th – 0!  Self imposed off day, as I’ve been pretty beat and need some energy.  Plus, being shut down and all, it was encouraged to get as much rest of possible now with some hard workouts coming my way #ominousclouds

Saturday, June 21^st – 14 miles.  First marathon long run!  With Coach Kyle finishing my plan, he informed me I needed to be ready to run 16 miles on the 4^th of July weekend, so needed to get in some longer long runs.  Started at 5 a.m., which wasn’t fun waking up, going to the bathroom, then leaving without any food/water, but wanted to get in as much as possible as early as possible.  Recruited Mike to meet me at 6 for 8 miles, but turned into 9 since I started a tad late.  Ran 5 miles at low 8 minute pace at my Glen Carbon road loop, but was very concerned because I felt like crap and had a long way to go.  It was super humid outside (97% when I started!) and by the time I got back, I was sweating profusely.  Gulped down 2 huge glasses of water, then Mike and I did out and back on the trails.  Looped onto Old Faithful and made our way down a bit before turning around.  The new paved trails look good, and the small bridges still need to be done but glad to be back on here.  Legs didn’t feel any worse on the back half, but was definitely tired once we stopped.  Very pleased to get this in, and was a relatively decent way to kick off my official training as I hadn’t been doing very many long runs lately.  8:20 average pace.

Sunday, June 22^nd – 4 miles.  Slept in, and ran with Timmy at noon which was a stupid idea.  Hot and humid, and just painful every step of the way.  Not a good idea to start a run at noon on a hot, sunny day.  Out and back on the trails towards Troy, and it couldn’t get over fast enough.  36 minutes total.  44 miles this week, 135 miles in June, 1049 miles in 2014.

Monday, June 23^rd – 6 miles + strides.  South City group run with Tim.  Ran 2 miles solo around the store, then did the improvised 4 mile loop with a quick detour at DuBourgh for strides.  Overcast and humid, but the light sprinkling of rain helped a lot.  8:30’s average, overall.

Tuesday, June 24^th – 4 miles.  Track work bright and early with Yoch.  2 miles warmup with Yoch on the roads, then I did drills while he knocked out mile repeats.  Jumped in during his 800 meter jogs in between reps, then also jumped in the last quarter for his last 2 miles, which he absolutely decimated.  Pretty lethargic from the humidity and early morning, but the fast quarters felt good.  78, 79 for my 2 quarter – rest were high 7/low 8 pace.

Wednesday, June 25^th – 8 miles (4 miles a.m., 4 miles p.m.)  Met Megan and Alisha bright and early at the track, and got in some miles running solo and part of their workout.  At night, ran 4 with Yoch at the trails by his place.  Warm, but the trails were nice and cool and we ran for 31 minutes and some change.  My fastest summer run yet!

Thursday, June 26^th – 6.5 miles (4.5 miles a.m., 2 miles p.m.).  Track bright and early yet again, and ran a couple solo before meeting up with Crystal and running the rest with her on the roads.  I think we did a few strides, but I can’t remember – too early for my memory to function.  Crystal and I ran low 7:50’s, which trumped my run with Yoch the night before.  At night, ran with Megan for a couple miles after work on her neighborhood/trail loop.  Because she didn’t get in a good workout, I pushed her to run a couple miles at harder effort.  It was quite toasty and humid outside, and the route she picked was hilly.  We took a 1 minute break in between miles, then hammered the last one which was a long uphill finish.  8:46/8:48 – pretty good for Megan, considering the conditions!

Friday, June 27^th – 0!  Self-imposed rest day.  Much needed, too J

Saturday, June 28^th – 16 miles.  Met Timmy at Forest Park at 5 a.m.  Got there a little early, and ran 2 miles solo to Skinker and back from the Visitor’s Center.  It was dark and super humid, and was sleepwalking through my first 2 miles (7:57, 7:21).  Tim and I proceeded to run the Arch loop, which fortunately went by pretty quickly.  Very scenic, and cruised through the hilly terrain and thankfully had overcast conditions later in the run.  Water breaks at SLU and by Kiener Plaza, and saw a threesome being negotiated between 3 homeless people which is something you don’t see every day.  Made our way back to Forest Park, and looped around the perimeter to find water before heading back to the Visitor’s Center.  Ran the last 1.5 miles solo on the back, soft trail and picked it up, eager to get done.  Legs were pooped, but hit 7:03 pace which didn’t feel too great, quite honestly.  8:35 pace overall.  Afterwards, went down to spectate the Macklind Mile, and saw some fun races including Crystal finishing 2^nd in the elite race!

Sunday, June 29^th – 6 miles.  FOPA death march with Craig.  Slept in for the first time in a long time, and met Craig at the Visitor’s Center late in the morning.  6 mile reverse loop, and it was hell pretty much the entire way.  Humid, but thankfully overcast, and it was still a bit nasty outside.  We took many water breaks, and my legs were complete garbage.  Hit the last mile somewhat harder to break 9 min average.  53:52 total.  46.5 miles this week, 181.5 miles in June, 1095.5 miles in 2014.

Monday, June 30^th – 5 miles + strides.  Death march at group run.  105 degree heat index and sunny – borderline oven like conditions.  Crystal had warned me that it was supposed to be a hot one, but I attempted it anyways.  1 mile beforehand with Craig, and it was straight up disgusting.  Tim and I ran our improvised 4 mile loop, and was struggling every step of the way.  Stopped at DuBourgh for strides, and probably took 3 minutes rest between each stride because it was so hot.  The only part that was shaded on the track was the back curve, so did a couple strides back there and cooled down as much as I could.  Made our way back to the store, and got tired of being tired and picked it up the last mile just to get the torture over with.  I remember why I do early morning runs now – this was straight up ridiculous!!!  43 minutes and some change, overall.  186.5 miles in June, 1100.5 miles in 2014.

Finally caught up!  Quick workout on Thursday, then a looooong run on Saturday to kickstart my 4th of July Weekend! #murica

Catchup Part 3: Ragnar Relay Recap

Shalane to run fall marathon, Rupp rules, a fast pregnant girl, Mo Trafeh is a disgrace to running, race Usain Bolt, this is just so cool, and Daniel Komen (one of the fastest of all time).

Tuesday, June 3^rd – 8 miles. 

Wednesday, June 4^th – 6 miles

Thursday, June 5^th – 5 miles.  Early run with Crystal before work.  I don’t remember the pace – maybe high 7’s/low 8’s?  I was sleepwalking through most of it, but I do remember how nice and cool things were.  Off to Chicago for Ragnar Relay!

Friday, June 6^th - ~12 miles.  Ragnar Relay!  I got the privilege of leading off for Team “We Run This Beach” on a hot, sunny afternoon in Madison.  If you don’t know what the Ragnar is, it’s basically a 200 mile run from Madison, WI to Chicago, IL with 12 runners in 2 vans.  Van 1 (us) runs our 6 legs, then we take a break while Van 2 does their 6 legs, and we do this 3 times.  So basically, each person has about roughly 10 hours to recover between legs.  My leg started off a little south of Madison, then headed up on the trails towards Lake Monona and run around the lake for about 6 miles.  Well, I went out pretty hard and found myself leading my group, which wasn’t exactly desirable since I wasn’t 100% clear with the exact directions.  Eventually, got passed by a faster runner, and sat behind him as I clicked off a couple 6:45 miles.  We followed a couple signs, but things started to get weird as we were running in downtown up this enormous hill (elevation map for my leg was small hills, but this hill was a monster) and I was getting stopped at multiple stoplights.  The leader lost me after a couple stop lights, and I stopped by the Capital Building since I was clearly lost and called Kyle to find out where the f*** I was at.  I was directed to get back onto the trail (about a half mile away), so ran into a building parking lot and could see Ragnar runners on the trail.  There were no stairs, so had to backtrack and make my way around the side streets before I could make my way back to the correct path.  Fortunately, I was pretty familiar with the area, having spent a good week up here a couple years ago, and knew where to go.  A couple stop lights later, and I was back in the race!  Made my way through some neighborhoods and some hills, then picked off a few people before handing off the baton to Courtney.  Very irritated, but pleased with a solid leg right at marathon pace.  Not happy to have tacked on an estimated additional 2 miles, but what can you do? 

Team "We Run This Beach"

 

Here I go!

Start of the 2014 Ragnar Relay: Madison WI to Chicago, IL

Getting ready to begin

My first leg

Towards the end - weaving through neighborhoods

One mile to go before baton exchange!

Drove around for a while to finish our team’s legs before meeting Van 2 at the major exchange point, where we hung out and threw the football around before grabbing some food and heading to our next leg which would start roughly 5 hours later at night.  We eventually made our way to the exchange point, which was in a huge park where little league games were going on.  The temps dropped dramatically, as it was borderline chilly as it got darker, and I attempted to take a power nap which didn’t get too far, so got changed and ran a couple miles for a warm up.  My next leg, on paper, was set up perfectly.  Net downhill on a trail, and would have the adrenaline pumping for running in the dark (with a headlamp though).  Not to mention, the weather dropped to high 50’s/low 60’s, so was setting up for a fast one.  The actual exchange point was pretty awesome – you could see the runners’ headlamps shining from about a quarter mile out, then the race monitors would call out bibs so you knew to get ready.  Not to mention, there was about a small mob of people waiting at the exchange point, so the tension and buzz was palpable.  Eventually, our number was called, and Zach handed me the baton and I took off like a bat from hell.  Was a little concerned since my stomach was starting to act up, but immediately started picking off runners and started to get excited.  We ran up a pretty long hill, before turning on a few roads and settling on the trail.  All runners were required to wear headlamps and back blinkie lights, so I could see a trail of red blinking lights headed down the path.  Felt AMAZING and was pretty psyched, so settled into a fast/hard effort and just picked off runner after runner as I made my way down the trail.  Because it was so dark, I went completely by feel, and would find out later I ran very even splits – absolutely perfect run.  Almost wiped out on the turn heading towards the exchange point – the volunteer was there to point me in the path coming off the trail but the turn was a tight hairpin turn, and I was going pretty fast and ended up slipping and putting my hand down before regaining control and sprinting towards the finish.  ~6:18 average pace.  Very pleased, considering no sleep and somewhat tired legs.  Cooled down at the next exchange, and worked with the rest of the team to finish our exchanges before our break.

Trying to catch a few z's before my next leg

 

Queuing area before I started my second leg

Saturday, June 7^th - ~8 miles.  Last leg starts out bright and early for me!  I probably got about 1.5 hours of terrible sleep, then attempted a crappy warmup before moving on.  Zach handed off the baton at roughly 5:30 a.m., and I pretty much picked off every moving target in sight.  Locked in to marathon pace, and kept working my way towards through my leg which was relatively scenic with Lake Michigan, running through a small town, then the trails.  I was definitely dragging a bit at this point, and was playing some mind games to keep myself motivated.  Amazingly, my legs and back held up ok, and dropped the last mile in 6:30 to finish all  my running!  ~6:59 average pace on my last leg.  Very happy to finally be done, and worked to help cheer for the group in a complete stupor.  Ran a few miles cooldown, and ran Courtney in on her leg to finish it out.  We met Van 2 in downtown Chicago, and had the great opportunity to cross the finish line as a team.  Very cool experience, and glad I could be part of it!  We finished 15^th within the coed division, and 40^th overall  out of 500+ teams – not bad for not being competitive!  6:59 min/pace for my leg.

 

Running with Courtney on her leg

Posing before Kyle's leg began

Waiting for Kyle

Waiting for Van 2 to finish

Ragnar done!

Bling bling!

Last major exchange point - Van 1

Van 2 bright and early

Sunday, June 8^th – 4 miles.  Nice and easy.  50 miles this week, 50 miles in June, 964 miles in 2014.

Catchup Part 2: Bonifest 5K Recap

Kara is targeting a fall marathon - come to Chicago!

Friday, May 16^th – 0!  Completely crapped out on my attempt to get up at 3:30 a.m. for a quick run, and literally woke up at the last possible second to leave for our early flight.  Had thoughts of running outside during our layover in Miami, but opted to hang out at the Corona restaurant and relax a bit.  Eventually made it in to rainy Jamaica, and got settled into our room and explored the island and grabbed some food and drinks before turning in early.  Long day of travel suck, but was definitely psyched to be in paradise for a long weekend J

 

Red Stripe!

Jamaica, mon

Saturday, May 17^th – 8 miles.  Dreadmill bright and early.  For some reason, I woke up pretty early, and decided to knock out my workout so headed down to the gym, which was about a 5 minute walk away from our room.  Pretty hot and sunny outside, and couldn’t really find a good/long running trail (and was told that running on the roads outside our resort was a big no/no) so the dreadmill was my last option.  Small gym, with 4-5 dreadmills, a couple ellipticals, and a couple bikes.  No t.v., no a/c., and a window that faced the sun – pretty much the worst case scenario.  8 miles was all I could manage, and it was absolutely brutal.  Walked back to change, then had breakfast before settling on a nice palm tree umbrella right next to the ocean to read and take a well-deserved nap!  Can definitely get used to this…

Tough morning

Homage to the greatest - Usain Bolt!

Late morning nap

Sunday, May 18^th – 7 miles.  Dreadmill bright and early.  Snagged the last available machine, which happened to be in direct sun light with the sun.  Literally had to take a 2 minute break after 4 miles for mental and physical reasons – legs felt like crap, and I was getting exhausted just running in place in the hot gym.  41 miles this week, 118 miles in May, 847.5 miles in 2014.

Late night entertainment

My new friend, who greeted me every morning from the gym

Monday, May 19^th – 5 miles.  Dreadmill bright and early.  Game of Thrones podcasts save the day, as I was first in the gym, and getting bored every step of the way.  Ridiculously hot, but made it through.  Had a long day on the beach and pool, before continuing the party late into the night on our last full day in paradise.  Glad to have met some nice friends on this trip, and thanks to the amazing staff at the Royalton White Sands!

 

One last time...

Back to reality :(

Tuesday, May 20^th – 0!  Travel day home.  Was a bit of a mess from our last night in Jamaica, and ended up sleeping in a bit.  Loooong travel day back, as we sadly left our resort around 1 p.m. (after one final delicious meal at the ocean-side BBQ), and got home after midnight.

Wednesday, May 21^st – ~7 miles (2.5 up, 1x800, 2x300, 2 down).  Splits were: 2:38, 57, 57, 56, 58, 57, 56, 56, 56, 57, 56.  Ran with Yoch for the 800, which felt good initially but definitely felt the leg burn on the last 300 meters or so.  The rest of the 300’s went by fine – legs were a little fried, but felt in control. 

 

Back to "paradise"

Thursday, May 22^nd – 6 miles.  Bonifest course preview with Colby and Crystal.  Pretty warm and humid, and I had some terrible stomach issues which caused me to stop not 1, not 2, but 3 times during the run!  Looped once with them, then had to hit a bathroom stop before reversing and meeting them coming back in.  Course had reversed from the last time I had run it (2006), and definitely set up for a fast environment.  Small rolling hills early, but the last mile is pretty flat and the last third of a mile is a long straightaway with a slight decline.  Thinking sub 19 this weekend should be attainable as long as I don’t run stupid.  47:06 total

Friday, May 23^rd – 0!  Rest day – ready to rumble tomorrow.

Saturday, May 24^th – 6.5 miles (1.5 up, BONIFEST 5K 18:59, 8^th overall, 2 down).  Warm morning, but pretty tolerable since the race was pretty shaded and relatively early.  Drove down and parked by Global, and warmed up with the group for a couple miles.  Lined up out front, and away we went!  Ran out with Kyle and tried to get locked in, but went out too hard and hit sub 6 for the first mile (5:54).  Was leading a small group, and my worst fears were confirmed as the hard first mile pretty much zapped my legs, and my pace definitely slowed down.  Made the turn around the hills, and hit the second mile split which was crap and demoralizing (6:27), and made the decision to put my head down and just finish with a hard effort without worrying about time.  Picked off a couple people, and hit the last straightaway hard since I knew it was only a couple more minutes of pain.  Saw the clock from far away, and figured I needed a good kick to break 19, and was able to do so!  Met up with the group, and was a very successful day for our group as Jon, Colby, Crystal, and Kyle finished 1-2-3-4, I finished 8^th overall and 2^nd in my age group, and all of us were very pleased.  Jon tied Colby’s course record (17:11), and Crystal smashed the old course record en route to a great victory (17:48)!

 

Bling, bling!

Champion, and course record

Champion, and course record

Post race fun

Franklin's new toy

Bonifest and winning Megan a stuffed animal!

Sunday, May 25^th – 11 miles.  Long run on a rainy morning.  The plan was to meet up and do some easy mileage on the soft trails, but I opted to run to meet the group and knock out my long run.  Steady rain all morning, and jumped out on the trail towards Home Depot, and weaved my way through town towards Market Basket, and ended up about 5.1 miles out at a parking lot out by Route 143, right where the soft trails begin.  The rain was a little bit of a nuisance at first, and was completely soaked pretty much within 10 minutes but got locked in and slowly picked it up and did out and back on the soft trails for a couple more miles before meeting up with Crystal, Colby, and Kyle.  We did an out and back in some pretty wet conditions, but quite honestly had a blast doing so.  7:42 pace average.  35.5 miles this week, 153.5 miles in May, 883 miles in 2014.

Monday, May 26^th – 4 miles.  Easy run with Crystal and Kyle.  We ventured out to Old Faithful, since it was pretty hot and humid and wanted some shade.  From the last few weeks of passing, it appeared the trail was more or less completely paved, and our assertions were proven correct as we saw various bikers and runners on our quick run.  The bridges were still being re-done, but the trail looked great.  It was like seeing a long-lost friend, and happy to get back on there.  Legs felt tired, and the humidity is definitely something to reckon with as summer is now more or less underway.  33 minutes and some change, total.

Tuesday, May 27^th – 4 miles.  Late, late at night, since I procrastinated like crazy.  270 loop and some change.  No idea of time, but it was still pretty warm and humid outside after 10 p.m.

Wednesday, May 28^th - ~6 miles (5x1K, 2-2.5 minutes rest).  Track work with Yoch, Megan, and Alisha.  Crystal was kind enough to come out and time our splits and get in a few warmup/cooldown miles with Jon and I.  Warm and humid evening, but it did cool down a bit as the time went on.  Felt very sluggish and tired from the humidity, and had to work harder to maintain my goal times.  Wanted to hit 5K pace (3:45 goal split), and made it through pretty comfortably.  Definitely seeing some results from the hard work we have put in over the last couple months.  Splits were: 3:36, 3:40, 3:41, 3:40, 3:37

Thursday, May 29^th – 5 miles.  Death March at Forest Park with Tim after work.  Holy hot and humid, and we ended up shortening this run substantially.  Add in a few walk breaks, a ton of cursing, and you had ~45 minutes of pain and suffering.

Friday, May 30^th – 6 miles.

Saturday, May 31^st – ~6 miles.  Paced Megan through a solid 5K effort in Collinsville at the Hornet Hustle 5K on a hot and humid morning.  Warmed up with Colby and Yoch, then jumped in a little later into the course and kept Megan through a consistent, hard pace.  Mission accomplished, as she ran a very good race under some terrible conditions, but even splits and a great effort.  Best race of the year, so far.  Yoch and Colby went 1-2, and Megan finished 2^nd in her age group!  184.5 miles in May, 914 miles in 2014.

 

Champion

To the victor go the spoils

Bling, bling!

Postrace

Sunday, June 1^st – 0!  I’m sad to report this, and I want to kick myself for laziness.  Blah.  31 miles this week, 0 in June, 914 miles in 2014.

Monday, June 2^nd – 7 miles + strides.  Group run with Crystal and Huelsmann on a hot and humid day in South City.  It was straight up gross outside, and felt like complete garbage motoring in reverse through the 7 mile South City Loop.  I whined and b*tched and moaned every step of the way, and I’m sure everyone wanted to kill me but we got done.  And now that I think about it, I didn’t do a single stride and instead sat in the shade while those guys finished up.  Yes, I am weak.  I think it was ~7:45 pace, overall.