Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Back in the saddle

Enough of this triathlon stuff!!!

Well, at least until the 19th of January. I have left the "dark side" for the next 9 weeks to making another sub-3 run @ Phoenix in the RnR Marathon. Sad thing is that my fellow compatriots have been conspicuously missing at nearly EVERY run that I have done in the last three weeks. A second straight week of Weds AM LT and just me by my lonesome (and some dude that looked like Hi Guy's long lost son with tattoos) at the Leach-mobile.

I will begin stalking other blog members here shortly as I need some speed and motivation on Sundays and Wednesdays at a minimum.

Today was a 6.65 mi LT with HR @ 165 avg. Only around 645 avg/mi. Need to get that down below 630 in the next two weeks. Woods.... where are you???

Saturday, September 6, 2008

nothing to see here

just another painfree 35 minute run. Dare I move up to 40 or 45???

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

No pain here either

So on the topic of pain free..... I have actually rebounded this week in running. My idiotic attempt to run a respectable CDC (erroneously dubbed a half marathon) caused me nearly two weeks of calf spasms. I now have completed 5 runs in the last week of over 6 miles with minimal to no calf pain.
I am now absolutely officially out for the Chicago Marathon. As a result of my bike crash, I will be doing the Half Max Long Course National Championship the week following in Las Vegas. Would be ill-advised to try to even run any of Chicago (because I'd end up running the whole thing once I got started).
Course-side nutrition and hydration will be my duty for the day. Pearman, pick it up some otherwise I'll have to leave the post(s) before you get there.....

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

yet another successful pain free run

Thats 2 (two) runs this week, of 30 minutes, with no pain.... I am elated.

Friday, August 15, 2008

time to try again

well after 2 weeks of NO running I think tomorrow ill go for a little trot, to test the legs. Nothing too radical, 4 or 5 miles, hopefully the pain symptoms will be gone....

more later.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Chicago Marathon... to run or not to run???

So that may soon be "the question" for me as my running takes third seat to the other two sports of triathlon (although this week, not the case). I have begun to do an analysis of this year so far and the first reaction is that I have PILED intensity upon intensity with little time for recovery. Surprise! So, the next two weeks is about moderation for a brief time in preparation for Steelhead Half Ironman. Not looking to set the world on fire, but a sub 5 and a slot into the Halfmax Nationals in October is the ultimate goal. If successful, this will be the week following the Chicago Marathon.

Given Ed's current "condition," it is likely that if I go to Halfmax, we'll be taking a very leisurely approach to the Chicago Marathon. Don't look for us in the cheerleading section on the southbound section of Broadway, but don't look for anything approaching a fast time, that's for sure.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Slowly improving

Managed to run for 1.5 hours today, although fairly slow (around 8:30 pace). I am pretty sore now but I think there are definite signs of improvement...

We'll just see if I am in any kind of racing condition by WFG time!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Volkslaufe Stein Streak

What a great day to run in Frankenmuth on July 4. The temperature was probably on the high 50s at gun time, low humidity, no wind and partly cloudy. Perfect conditions for fast times and PRs.

A 19-year course record was broken by a Hanson Brooks athlete (something in the 1:01-1:02 range, but official results are not posted yet). The masters record was nearly broken by a 1:09 performance.

Neither Cheryl nor I had PR or even great performances, but we managed to get third in our age groups and add to our Stein collection started two years ago.

Cheryl did well to overcome her stomach flu she acquired on her last night with the Western States 100 crew in Sacremento. She looked good at the finish, but felt horrible--her normally cheerful race smile replaced by a menacing scowl.

I am OK with my time, but disappointed with my race execution. I planned to begin with a 6:05 and gradually bring that down to a 5:45 by the end of the race. Well, I got caught up with a good pack early in the race and did just the exact opposite. The Garmin has me at 1:14:46, a 6:01 pace. My first mile with that pack was 5:48. Not leaving enough in the tank for the end of the race is just silly because while the first half of the course is long, flat and straight, the second is gravel roads, rolling hills and lots of twists and turns. Although, I did manage to put together a 5:44 final mile. Hopefully, I learned my lesson--a prize that should be worth more than the stein.

We also got to use the disposable race chips. Not a bad experience other than not being a dead simple process to attach it to the shoe. It's probably easier to administer on the front end for bibs, etc. and easier on the runners and race directors to not have to collect them after the race.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Independence Day.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

BROKEN ASS

It is now official... according to the MRI I got last friday my mystery injury is a frectured pubis.... common crack whatever jokes you want. Apparently it dates back toi before the marathon (and explains why the raqce hurt so f-ing much) , early april, so it is already on the mend. I can now sustain 30-40 minutes of very easy running every other day. The comeback has begun!!!!!!


O wpnder if the high mileage was to blame? who knows...

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Follow Danni This Weekend

The Western States web site has a feature that allows you to get real time updates of runner progress. Here's Danni's page:

http://www.ws100.com/cgi-bin/runnerquery.pl?number=136

Good luck, Danni!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Welcome Back Ed...







Love, 

Mike

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Elite athletes

This is the cover I was referring to, Danni.

Chicago Athlete - June 2008 - Team Illinois - Joel Burrows.png

Danni's All Grows Up

And a race director too! Check out her new race:

Picture 1.png

Monday, June 2, 2008

Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 Registration Open

https://www.signmeup.com/site/reg/register.aspx?fid=K72VCK7

Make sure you are prepared to answer the following questions before signing up:


  • DO YOU LOVE LACTIC ACID?

  • CAN YOU TAKE THE HEAT?

  • HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED IN PAST XTREME 10 RACES?

  • IS JOHN THE BEST RACE DIRECTOR?


There's something wrong with this picture

The 2007 Chicago Marathon results book arrived in the mail this weekend--and I thought I ran the race slow. Something struck me as very odd about the cover.

Chicago Marathon 2007 Results Book Cover.jpg

Thursday, May 29, 2008

My New Nemesis

Photos from the Soldier Field 10 just came out. If I pride myself on anything as a runner, it is being able to finish with a strong kick. Well, at the SF 10, I let 2 chuckle-heads outkick me in the last 50 yards. The running equivalent of fumbling the football for a turn over at the same location. It might have been able to fade with memory, but now there is photographic proof.

I can write off the backward hat wearing dude. He's not even wearing a number and probably just jumped in at the last minute. However, Casey Piper of Naperville, you are being put on notice that there will be a rematch this summer.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Smirk

Just saw the cover of Chicago Athlete. :)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

CARA 2008 Race Calendar

I created a Google Calendar for the races listed on the CARA 2008 Race Calendar.

Grab it:
Add to iCal
Add to Google Calendar

Mamma says they was my magic shoes.

"She said day'd take me anywhaa.." ...

Here is my latest pair of kicks:

Pretty sweet, huh. Just so you don't think I'm bogarting all the magic shoes for myself, here is a link to where you can pick up a pair of these bad boys for yourself.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

GPS Watch Envy...

Looking for some good GPS/HRM advice. I decided it might be time to treat myself to some techmology and buy a GPS based watch. So what has finally spurred me on? Jessie is sporting the new Forerunner 405, and quite frankly I am very uncomfortable with my girlfriend having a geekier watch than me.

So the question to you guys. Have these watches really bettered your running lives? All anecdotes, watch recommendations, tips, or thoughts are appreciated.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

50 miles? Yes, 50.

How do you respond? Your girlfriend comes to you on Wednesday and says I want to do a 50 mile race in Wisconsin this weekend?

809C1A31-8CED-415C-8650-098F0B04375D.jpg

"Why?", I asked with prejudiced: you are somewhat injured, just raced a PR marathon in Boston three weeks ago, another near-PR half marathon and age group win last weekend, you haven't been training, blah, blah. She gave me some kind of long-winded reply about wanting to experience an ultra before going to help Danni at the Western States 100 race. I quickly backed off any kind of reasoning out of this.

The balance of the week consisted of Cheryl plugging through her final exams and diligently preparing all of her gear for the race. I noticed bags appearing in a line one by one in the guest bedroom--at least the treadmill is getting good use.

Sidenote: she had obviously been planning this for longer than what she led on to me. I noticed the race maps she printed for me had dates of 3/15. She won't know I know this until she reads this post. She'll have to do a better job of covering up next time. Bygones.

An adventurous Friday afternoon of driving with bad directions from Google Maps got us to Old World Wisconsin in the Kettle Moraine state forest only minutes before packet pickup closed on Friday night. After which we made a few wrong turns on our way to Janesville where the only decent food we could find was Olive Garden, and we capped off the day falling asleep with the dogs at the Motel 6 hostel.

Less than six hours later, we were back on the road to the 6:00 a.m. race start.

It was fairly low key atmosphere at the start, contrasted with a lot of the road races and triathlons we have been to. But the weather was perfect and there was just a general feeling that 50 miles was accomplishable--all of the people were over the top nice.

Before the race, Cheryl gave me several detailed maps in true-to-Cheryl-overplanning-detail-form of all of the aid stations and instructions that she would make a decision about whether or not to finish first at mile 30, then 37 and so on. I quietly thought, rubbish. She's going to finish this thing--she'll wake up Sunday really disappointed if she doesn't (and, further, she could've run 30 miles at home...she's gonna finish this thing).

I'll spare you the details of the race. In summary, she did great. She mentioned wanting to drop at 37. Gretchen and Gracie, corrected her, got her to down some electrolytes, shared some of their potato chips and got her back on the trail.

DSC_0065.jpg

More pictures on Flickr.


She finished! 15th woman and 2nd in her age group.

I have to say, Cheryl's performance made the entire weekend worth it. It was fun. Thanks. Happy dog mom's day!

Many thanks to Adrian and Samone. You can see Adrian in several of the photographs with Cheryl. He's from Chicago and was using this race to prepare for his 100 mile races later this year. He really helped Cheryl through the race.

Further, congratulations to the race director and crew. They did a really nice job. All the peeps were great.

What a nice weekend. Well, except for this rain back here in Chicago.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Schedule Updated w/ Ed's Suggestion...

NICE TRAINING PLAN

Rick, you should sell that training plan... its so nice and colorful... (Bill might get jealous...)

I do not see any circles for the lemonade diet on there ?!?

Friday, May 9, 2008

Going on the record...

Okay. I am ready for my comeback now. The achilles is about 90% and after a couple of slow runs, I'm longing to get back into PR shape.

It's going to be tuff, but I figured the first step was to create myself a training schedule. Step 2 is actually following it. So for anyone who cares to join me on some training runs/races this summer, I'm posting my training schedule. Looking forward to trying to keep up with you guys.



Contact me know if you want the Excel version.

Fridays at the Glen

Charming name. Tough workout. Matt and I tried the first installment of Friday hill training for 2008: a tempo run at WFG.

Today's was hopefully quite leisurely when viewed in September's rear view, but it was start.

Bosco probably had the best performance of the three.

My preliminary summer routine follows:

Sun - Long run
Mon - Tempo
Tue - Recovery
Wed - Speed / tempo
Thu - Recovery
Fri - Tempo
Sat - Recovery

Thursday, May 8, 2008

countdown

Its making me nervous to see that count down clock now that i cant run... drat!

Monday, May 5, 2008

5K PR?

I was working for Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan in January of 1997.  It was a Saturday morning when my pager went off.  When I returned the page to the Attorney General's home telephone number, I was advised that Jim and his wife Marie discovered their 12 year old daughter Annie had passed away in her sleep from an undetected brain tumor.  Annie was the youngest of their six children.  


At the time Jim Ryan himself was battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma and was deep into an intensive chemotherapy regimen that was doing its best to destroy his body.  With the loss of Annie he could have easily had his spirit destroyed as well.  He didn't though.  He survived his cancer and a second bout a few years later and he and his wife and their family have honored Annie's life every day since her passing with their tireless efforts on behalf of others.  

Earlier this year Jim and Marie lost another of their children, their youngest son Patrick. Despite the pain of another unexplained loss, they continue to move forward with their efforts to raise money for causes which honor the memory of both Annie and Patrick.

One such effort is the Annie Run.  This May 18th  will be the 9th Annual running of this 5K race. Proceeds from this event benefit the Midwest Children's Brain Tumor Center at Lutheran General Hospital.  The event is held in Elmhurst, Illinois along the Prairie Path and is flat and fast.  Good place to post a 5K PR while benefiting a great cause.   Please come run, bring friends and get a new 5K PR.

Here's the website for more info:  http://annierun.com


Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Alternative to Soldier Field 10

The Elgin Valley Fox Trot is held every Memorial Day (May 26th this year).  It's a great alternative to the Soldier Field 10.  There are a couple of challenging hills and a great homestretch for fast finishes.  It beats the hell out of trying to navigate around people on the lakefront path.  It's not a great course for a PR at this distance -- but the added benefit of this race is the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast immediately following the race.  Well worth the travel.


No online registration for this race.  They do it the old fashioned way.  Application is on the City of Elgin website:   www.cityofelgin.org


Monday, April 28, 2008

Ravenswood Run Report: 2 PRs and a PW

The Ravenswood 5K was on Sunday. I was really worried about DNF'ing, so I set a low pace bar (7 minute miles) trying to account for my 180 pounds and lack of running. Luckily, I hung on for dear life to sneak under 21 minutes. All that effort for a PW. It could have been worse though. I was just happy not to have a 5K DNF on my permanent record.

Congratulations to Josh and Matt who both ran 5K PRs!

72  11  67 Joshua Rich    18:22  5:55   18:27
98 15 86 Matthew Gibson 18:51 6:04 18:56

Friday, April 25, 2008

The Magic Pants






Ed's secret weapon on race day:  Kevin Brock's magic blue pants

Thursday, April 24, 2008

My Secret Training in Lubbock


Some of you asked what I was doing in Lubbock a month before the marathon... I decided to disclose my secret training methods...

BAD FORM


I think this photo says a lot about my lousy form on Monday... I need to work on this for the next Marathon.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Boston Reunion

It's been six marathon registrations, three DNFs and two years since I had completed a marathon. There have been many moments in the past two years where I've questioned whether I had already completed my last marathon.  Well, yesterday I actually managed to stay on the course for the full distance and though I didn't set any records (personal or otherwise) it felt good to extricate that large, burdensome monkey from my back.


Monday was a great day for racing.  Sunshine, smiles and promise filled the crisp air of Hopkinton well before Joan Benoit-Samuelson fired the starter's pistol.  Though the least important marathoner in the crowd (Lance) garnered the most attention -- the focus of the crowd remained on the anonymous travelers that came from far and wide to run this beautiful, historic course.  

As the gun fired and I stopped and started and stopped and started my way across the first chip mat I was reminded of why I love to run marathons and why I especially love to run Boston.  It washed over me and consumed me through the early miles.  

I slapped the hands of the kids, engaged the willing crowd, chatted up my fellow runners and thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this magnificent event.  

The plan was to get to the halfway point in a position to post a respectable time and hope that I had the guts in the second half to pull out a good race.  As frequently happens at Boston (or virtually any marathon for that matter), the race didn't go exactly as planned.

I did get to the half at a respectable time (1:33 - which incidentally is the fastest half-marathon I've run in the past two years!) but then little by little fell apart more and more over the second half... and it was great.  I loved every minute of it.  

It was painful.  I was passed by a guy in a boy scout uniform, a fairy (a statement on his costume not sexual preference) in a pink singlet, pink running shoes and a pink too-too carrying a magic wand as well as a dude wearing a complete Paul Pierce Celtics uniform complete with high-tops and an afro wig. (Though I did catch and pass him on Boylston -- and that's the "Truth" (Paul Pierce's nickname for those of you that don't follow the Celts) baby.) That was part of the experience.  

The rolling and unrelenting hills on the course are honest.  They are always there and they are always the same.  Same goes for the crowd support.  My success or lack of it on this course has depended solely on what version of myself I've brought to the start line in each of my 5 Bostons.

I've run Chicago well on relatively poor training... same for Vegas and RNRAZ.  Not this one.  It punishes slackers... and though I took my lumps on Monday, I loved it.  

Congrats to Ed and Chris on their well-earned PRs.  Impressive and inspiring work.

Thanks for your encouragement as I've struggled to get to the start line over the past couple years.  Monday was a great reunion. I'm glad to be back.


RECAP

Well, I did not quite get the 2:37 I wanted but I will settle for the 2:41. All in all a 2 min PR and a 5 min PR from last years Boston... although I still think I could have done much better under a different set of circumstances. I will take it for now though.

The new goal? 2:30 (or 2:29:59) for Chi-town in October...

Training starts soon, stay tuned.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

4 days left

By now I have had to skip the R-I workout given some leg pain -resulting from a combination of those fabulous 20 quarter miles and the tempo run chasing chris on saturday oh wait that was a fartlek- At any rate I went for a slow 3 mile jog. It seems like the combination ibuprofen + rest is helping, and I will be able to race next monday. The question is, how has this affected my pace (if at all) and what are the odds I will get really injured during the race?

I am calculating that the nature of the problem will allow me to run the entire race, but I suspect afterwards I will be out for some time. If I get my PR that wont matter much. If not, well, I dont really want to consider that possibility. It just is not an option.

Monday, April 14, 2008

In one week it will be over......

So I sit here one week from Boston and begin the despicable process of dissecting my prior training weeks looking for where I might have done more. Were there opportunities for better training runs, more gut-wrenching LTs, more mileage? The answer to all is "YES." But this winter was as bad as I've had in all my running years here in Chicago. We did the best we could (which meant running inside or nearly breaking our backs slipping on the icy lakefront).

I'm just looking forward to running this bear of a marathon. I heard Bill talking about "savoring the moment and enjoying" the race on Monday. Hogwash! I want to have my mind focused on nothing short of the task. I want to have unbearable pain and exhaustion as I head into Hereford St and down the long straightaway to the finish. My time will not break a world record, but I just hope to post another PR or at least something I won't be embarrassed to repeat in public in the next few months.

I'm still left with my last marathon experience of a DNF (many factors outside of my ability to finish factored into that one) in Chicago in October. I just want this one to be memorable for the right reasons.

So with this, I make a humble request to Mother Nature for Monday:

Give us no rain, a light cloud cover (or even some gentle sunlight), may there be no headwind--- rather, give us a tailwind from the west at about 12-14 mph.
Let's all make it to Monday injury-free so that we can have a good shot at making this run what we all have trained to make it.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

FAST WORKOUT

20x400 @ 77-79 sec each. 1 lap jog between each. total with warm up and cool down 13 miles

Monday, April 7, 2008

SHORT LT

11 miler today, including 5 at the track at LT pace. The total was 28:40 for the 5 miles, which is a 5:44 pace... I'm happy with that for now.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

change of strategy

I was feeling a bit burned out today, and really not in the mood to run. After speaking with chris on the phone, he had talked some sense into me. So I scrapped the sluggish 20 plus miler i had planned and replaced it with an up tempo 10 miler. I was not exactly flying, but the wind was brutal. So I did about 6:45 - 6:30's into the wind and slightly under 6 on the return. This was not really LT pace, and when I got home I was happy to see my HR never got beyond 75% of max, even when I clocked under 6.

Maybe the idea of tapering is not so bad...

Two weeks to go.....

Well, I guess the mild taper begins this week, then full-scale taper next week. Again, I hit the road for the hot spots of Philly, Dayton/Cincy, and Atlanta this week. No potential for running tomorrow with early AM and late evening flights. So.... a double today with 14 in the AM and 10.5 this evening. Per usual, the evening run was much more enjoyable and spry than the AM run. Chris was pounding out the speed, likely in the mid to low 6s, while Bosco and I trudged along in the low 7s. Just felt a bit tired this AM. This evening, the same speed was markedly easier.

So I have 25 of my 60 already in the pocket. Wooo hooo! More speed with Eduardo in town this weekend. Good for the final stretch... I'm gonna need it in Beantown.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Counting the days

For Ed, my allotment of 75 for the week would be a vacation. However, for my quads that are hurting a lot right now from the speed workouts, this is still a relatively tough week. Did 4 sets of 200s/hills this AM with Chris and then a Leach workout. Headed to St Louis this afternoon and just picked up a late night 8 miler after dinner (yes, Ed, after dinner) in Forest Park. Good hills, but more of a recovery run than anything else. It's due to rain tomorrow AM, so we'll see what it gives me.

Just a few more days and we head to Beantown. I'm ready for this to be over!!!

LAST 100

Now I know coach Leach is not a big fan of the taper... but this last 100 mile week is lasting too long.

Attempted a 10 mile LT but I was derailed by the D word. It rhymes with gonorrhea, but its much worse from a running stand point.

So after 8 miles (including a serious slow down on the last one) I headed for a public rest room, end of the line.

The first 3 miles were on a slight uphill, battling 20 mph head winds. Of course the next 5 were with a tail wind...

6:41
6:33
6:34
6:10
5:41
5:42
5:50
5:55

That 5:55 I felt pretty sick. I think I could have kept a solid 5:45 pace for a few more if disaster had not struck. oh well, I still feel pretty fit.

Friday, March 28, 2008

WINDY LUBBOCK

Lots of hot air here. This morning I presented at the conference - expectations were high, and i delivered... low.

Later, I headed to the Texas Tech outdoor track for my 90 minute LT.... (at least that was my original intention). I noticed there was a solid 20 MPH wind on one of the straight aways and suspected keeping pace was going to suck rocks. I decided for a slower pace to make my already depressed state have to endure less suffering. i could not even keep a 6 min pace though... and I did not get to 15 miles. The splits for 13. I followed up with some slow miles. Total was 20.:


6:05 6:02 6:04 6:00 5:59 6:03 6:04 6:06 6:12 6:05 6:10 6:12 6:12

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Now 4 cities, 4 days.... UGH

So now I update my travels with an additional day on the road, which screams "how can you possibly get in 90 miles with all this going on?" Answer, no sleep and running in the dark (Ed, I know you run in the dark even when it's light out). So I had the luxury this morning of running St Louis' Forest Park, where I used to run in a bi-annual Turkey Trot race as a youngster. I probably was much better and faster back then, but that's another entry altogether. I was short on time, so I didn't get in my 75 minute LT, but rather a 45 minute one instead. I had a set of splits in the mid 6's, which is consistent with prior workouts. Was windy and hilly, but much fun (if an LT can be called such). I have arrived in Minneapolis, so I will test the GI fortitude I exhibit by going up to the concierge floor and shoveling in some appetizers and then put in another 7 or so this evening.

Off to Cincinnati tomorrow evening and then Philly the following. Can't wait to get back to the lakeshore for some uninterrupted running.

Monday, March 24, 2008

blah

Lackluster 8 mile LT with little motivation this morning. That was about 45 minutes, so I still have the 90 min LT and the R-E work out to do when I get to Lubbock (Tuesday - Sun).

AM 14 miles, 8 at tempo - 6:28 6:05 6:06 5:26 (probably GPS glitch) 5:49 5:55 5:59
5:55

PM 7 easy

nothing to see here...

Saturday, March 22, 2008

The week has ended...... snow again

WTF???
50 degrees midweek.... then snow on the weekend. Blew a good oppty to get out to Barrington for some HILLS. Did 20ish with JP on the lakefront this AM. Footing south of Navy Pier was awful, but I was surprised by the quality of the plowing everywhere else. Tax dollars are actually being spent on plowing.
Finished the week just under 90 miles. I'm looking to at least equal that next week, but travels (3 cities, 3 days) will dictate whether I get some of the doubles I need to get there.
Time is ticking on Boston. I'm there for endurance, but worry about whether the speed/endurance combo will come together. Nasty set of LTs will prove that out, I believe.

Friday, March 21, 2008

29 miles to go

Thats what i need to meet the mileage goal for the week -my week ends tomorrow-. Its doable. i actually thought there was no way in hell i could make it, considering he amount of school work i had this week...

But sleep deprivation saved the day!


now im off the bed...

yay!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

JP the taskmaster

45 minutes of relatively decent LT today. Was actually passed by JP on the downwind section (girth assists when running with the wind) of the Humboldt Park loop... I will come up with my special name for this course. In the mid 6s for much of the run.

10 miles yesterday at a low 8 pace, preceded by 13 miles on Monday at a recovery pace (yes, I really did a recovery run).

Massage this afternoon and back at it tomorrow. Time's running out.... hoping to get a high 80 mile week out of this.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Small Victories @ Cary

I heard rumor of me "laying down a mattress" because of the long mileage weekend from Boston, but I was unwilling to listen to that talk. Instead, my goal was to run the hills differently, somewhat similar to the way I rode IM Wisconsin on my bike last year.... easy uphill, power and fast downhill. So with that in mind, I took the second mile of Cary at a significantly elevated pace. Each downhill was met with more speed, each uphill with a metered level of effort. You'll see in the jpg below that my HR didn't elevate up the hills significantly, so that's a win for me.



The other component of today's run was my sole victory against Tom Estka. He has edged me in everything from the Pleasant Prairie Duathlon, Galena Duathlon, to many many races here in Chicago. He pulls out just enough to get it done and it drives me NUTS. He's now got a loss in his W/L column. Kevin McCarthy took a front row seat to the battle and informed me that Estka had been "marking" me since the start (I saw him at 1/2 mile). Estka finally took a brief lead at the top of the 9.5 mile hill. However, he relaxed at the top (which was followed by a decent downhill grade into the neighborhood) which was his mistake. I retook my lead on him and then hammered as much as I had left until the finish. He didn't get too much closer from the finish.



I actually PR'd at this event for my half (something on which I hope to improve even more this year) by about 7 seconds over Cal City. I'm fairly certain, however that this distance is legitimately correct vs Cal City. God knows the hills are worth something.



Chris, you're too hard on yourself on this one. Save that pain and suffering for Boston where it REALLY matters.

New Bedford half marathon

Battling some head winds and hills I pulled off something like 1:16:30 (unofficial) for a 5:50 pace. Felt good the entire way, finished comfortably. All in all a good day and a PR by more than 1 minute...

No good explanation


I have been training harder than ever. I am lighter than ever. My tempo workouts and intervals seem to suggest I am in better shape. Yet today, just 1:20:19.

My only answer is I didn't push myself. I just didn't have the guts for the pain today. I was pretty comfortable the entire race. I couldn't keep the legs turning over quickly enough. Maybe part of it is just lack of experience on the hills. Late in the race, I turned in 5:48 mile on the flat straight away. Ugh.

Or, I'm just not in the shape that I dreamed.

On the bright side, icing the calves seems to be relieving most of the achilles symptoms.

Here are my splits for the record.

Ed, I hope you did better.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

I'm Back

Seven miles today in the 50F sunshine. It goes without saying, but I did it in shorts and no shirt. Felt awesome.

Items from the run:


  • Cricket Hill is in pretty decent shape.

  • There's a light pole with a pretty good lean to it just south of the CARA board that's gotta fall--and I will probably be under it when it does.

  • Today was the first time I have passed by the trough in months.

  • Some people still wear pants, gloves, hats, coats in weather like today--and they stare at me, but shouldn't I be the one staring?

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Back in the saddle

Ahhh, the remnants of the Caveman Weekend. Was able to sneak in a massage yesterday (Chris, many thanks for the lead) and made it out this AM for 8 miles here in Detroit. Still feeling a little bit of hamstring tightness, but fairly sure that it will loosen in the next couple of days. Don't expect much out of me at Cary, but I'll be trying to hold off Cahn as he attempts to close the gap again out there.


Finally, here's the GPS elevation from Boston. As posted last year, I think we tend to forget about that uphill in the first section of the run. Note to self......


Sunday, March 9, 2008

CAVEMAN is over!

The caveman weekend with Matt and Ed as victims / participants is complete. Unfortunately our good buddy Chris was layed out by a mercyless flu and missed the fun. Which was:

Friday PM: 15 miles, with 12 @ LT pace. Coming on the heels of a 130 mile week my pace sucked ass, starting at 6:00 and ending near 6:25, with an average of 6:10-6:15.

Saturday AM: Slow but gruelling 18 miler on hilly terrain, including part of the race course and the dreaded summit avenue hill to boot (1/2 mile long, 300 foot elevation change). We did that twice, declined the third repetition. A solid hill workout at a slow-ish pace. AVG PAce: 9:00, Elv change: 4100 feet.

Saturday PM: 200 repeats. 20x200 at an avg. 37 sec for me. In the rain, at the outdoor track. nasty and cold, slight wind in the back stretch. Including warm up and cool down a total 5 miles.

Sunday AM: The big DADDY. Marathon course plus return to ed's, total 30 miles. AVG PAce 8:30, Elevation change 3200 feet.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Sacramento... what a gift!!!

So maybe I won't come back to Chicago....... Damn, I'm building a house, so I'm going to have to come back!!!


Two wonderful runs in the last 24 hours out here in Arnold's Town. Last night was a brisk 12 miles at 730p here. Only impediment (other than my slow legs) were the stoplights along the way. Averaged 735s for the distance and had to slow myself down several times. I will keep a more "metered" approach tonight.


This morning I stepped out into a CHILLY 44 degree darkness for an 8 mile LT. Mid to high 6s with stoplights mixed in (would have been mid 6s without). I felt good throughout much except for a couple spots on the return where gusts of wind from the North hit me in the face.


So I've made up a bit of distance, and plan on a nice 8 mile RECOVERY run this evening.


One other item... for Ed.... the fancy schmancy hotels likely don't have good treadmills. In fact, the current hotel in Sacramento is anywhere but nice. Last evening, in the final mile (which would be closest to the hotel), I was quasi-propositioned by a hooker that looked somewhat like Elvira.... or maybe that was Pearman... it's tough to tell, especially with my "running vision" which is much like Ed's normal vision.


Here's what I must suffer through for the next two days.....


Tuesday, March 4, 2008

20 this morning

with some hills. I'm pooped, not so much from running but rather from averaging 5 hours a night of sleep.

Matt, have you ever heard of a treadmill? Those fancy hotels you stay at probably have one... Anyway, youll get plenty of miles saturday.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Mother Nature is a mean hearted B*tch

So at 530a this morning, it was pouring rain... I mean POURING rain, so I opted to take my travel day and hope for an opportunity for a late night run in WARM Sacramento. Low and behold, American cancels my 345p flight... so I rush to the airport so that I can get to Dallas for my connection. Job done.

It snowed in Dallas beginning around 630p tonight. Between waiting in line for de-icing (which we never got to) and refueling (because we were running out of fuel from waiting so long), the pilot's legal time for work expired. So did my chance of making it out of Dallas (and I HATE Dallas, I really do).

Long story short.... no run today, no clean clothes for tomorrow until I arrive in Sacramento. Kinda makes JP's comment posts about "taint" not seem so bad. I'm running at least 13 tomorrow night. No dinner for me then.... I'm stuck at 19.2 as I go to sleep tonight.

We deserve at least 30 days of good running leading up to Boston. That's all I ask for at this point.

Boring run

Short LT. Saving myself for Friday.

6:00
5:58
5:49
5:53
5:34


Nice job JP, you are doing awesome coming back from some bad s--t...

We will try not to get injured thios weekend... it should be FUN.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Ketchup

Tuesday: Easy run / 7 mi
Wednesday: 45 min LT / 8 mi - 6:03 avg pace
  6:03, 5:58, 6:06, 6:05, 6:03, 6:08, 6:09, 5:53
Thursday: Easy run / 11 mi
Friday: Easy run / 17 mi slow with some hills
Saturday: Speed 2 x 3 mi / 7 mi total
  1: 5:55, 5:56, 5:44
  2: 5:42, 5:51, 5:41
That's 69 miles for the week.

Sunday: Long run / 18 mi
What a day to run. Shorts and t-shirt.

70

What a difference a little warm weather makes. I topped 70 miles last week -- for the first time in the last 4 years. Hard to believe I've been dealing with nagging injury stuff this long... but I checked my training logs and my last 70+ mile week was in January of 2004.

Did a 23 mile run on Saturday in nice 80 degree sunshine... and then back here to run in icy, crappy slush today. The time in Florida was good for my training. I'm slow and still pretty achy... but the miles are coming much easier than they have in a very long time. Now the challenge is to keep this momentum going in this climate.

I feel like I've lost weight and my clothes aren't as tight as they were... but the scale says I've only dropped a couple more pounds. 156 lbs - 16.1% body fat.

I have 62 miles planned for this cutback week.

Ed - take it easy on Matt in Boston (with the mileage -- the rest of the things you do to him is your business). You guys (Ed, Chris and Matt) are poised to run a great race in April. Don't f-it up in March.

Beginning of the long week

So I made a "guestimate" and came up a few tenths short this AM. 19.2 miles for the day. Kate Reicher and Dave Rubin were responsible for the 7 minute (and sometimes sub) pace for the first 10 (they turned back and did a total of 12 and left me to my misery) and then we settled back into something more reasonable. A balmy 38 degrees out here with a strong wind from the south. Made for a nice return, but also a bit dehydrated. I will be ready for mileage this week. The down week last week charged the battery. We'll see how I feel on Friday evening and Saturday AM.......

Saturday, March 1, 2008

WIMP

My first bail out of the year. I headed out to do 25-30 this morning... It was snowing and after I did about 15 or so my feet were solid chunks of ice and I could not feel my hands. So I wimped out and went home, for a total 18... which puts me 7 miles short of the week's goal of 100. I dont feel like I have an excuse as some other guy kept going and did 25...

Oh well...



PART II:

I went out again this PM. As part of my "punishment" for slacking this AM I did a 3 mile time trial. The splits show fatigue, but were still decent: 5:42, 5:44, 5:38 (Total for the 17:06, so about a 17:30 or so 5K). Total miles were 7, so I reached my week's goal after all. Yay.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Just getting through this week

This week has been another one of those weeks! However, I have been attempting to "diversify" my workouts as my mileage is down prior to Hell Week next week. Yes, you did see Yoga in my routine on Monday and I also did a substantially difficult bike workout on Tuesday AM (see below) and an additional 7 miles in the evening.
This AM, I added 9 miles at a relatively slow pace. I felt I could have done much more, but also had time constraints... so there I am. For the week, I sit at a mere 30 miles right now. Not cause at all for concern on my side as I took Sunday off and am ready for the beating that Ed plans to deal out in Beantown next week. I'll be well rested and ready.....

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

2x3 miles CAN This be correct?

I ran this workout outdoors, and it was too dark to see my splits until I got home (so i ran by feel). I was surprised at the results enough to doubt the GPS...



Set 1 AVG heart rate 81% of MAX
5:10
5:27
4:41

(I find this last mile REALLY hard to believe. However, since I ran an extra 1/2 mile to make sure I did not cut the repeat too short, I know it was a full mile split, unless the GPS crapped out and gave me a short half)

Set 2 AVG HR 83% of MAX
5:23
5:29
5:44


Thats 2 5k PR's back to back.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Snow's back darnit!!!

Thankfully this is a down week, so tonight's sloppy and slippery snow isn't as impactful as it might be. Yoga this morning and 6.5 miles tonight was all I could muster without feeling like I was going to slip and fall. More snow coming in the next 24 hours. I guess we're not meant to have two good full weeks.

Soak up that good weather, JP.

Greetings from sunny Southwest FL!

It's paradise here. I'm not writing to rub it in... I've just been absent from the blog and thought I might explain my whereabouts... not that anyone cares.

I'm still running everyday -- sometimes two times a day -- down here. It's hot and humid and that is a welcome change from cold and icy.

I managed 58 miles last week. That may be my high mile mark for any point in the last 3 years.

I don't know what my weight is -- but I think it's down a bit. I've been lifting weights and running as much as I possibly can and I am sticking to my diet. Lots of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables to be had around here without much effort.

Glad to see you guys all put up killer weeks last week. Be careful, stay healthy -- I'll see you soon.

Short LT

This weeks LT is only 30-45 min mercifully. I was pleased with my results:

6:21
6:01
5:53
5:44
5:44
5:45
5:49
5:52

Total 47:09 avg 5:54 per mile. And yes, I did it indoors...

Sunday, February 24, 2008

A little short

I know where this could go.

This blog is chocked full of good trivia. Today's lesson: the distance from the 3.3 mile marker to the 6 on the lake side of LSD is 2.3 miles.

So, as I did an out and back from the 3.3 to the 11 for the 1.5 hour LT, I hoped it would be 15 miles. Nope, but close enough. The Garmin says 1:28:36 for 14.43 miles, 6:08/mi.

Felt good most of the way. Heart rate stayed between 80-82%. Got a big blood blister on my right big toe and a cut on my left heel, but that's all the damage.

A little wind here and there. Temps were nice in the low 30s.

Here are the splits:

Picture 1.png

BTW, I think I got in between 95 and 100 miles last week. Need to get my training log updated.

Ditto on the day off...

End of my week was a hilly 18 (average pace 7:30), putting me at 120.

A cut back week next week!!! yuhhuuuu

Saturday, February 23, 2008

End to a loooong week

Well, largest volume week I've had to date, ever .... 109 miles and we ended it in grand fashion with a 21 miler in Barrington. Chris and I took a relatively pedestrian pace for the first 10 or so, but began picking it up with just over 6 to go. The last three jumped over and under the 7 min mark for an average of 736 per mile. Elevation map and time overview below. Not bad given the previous mileage load for the week and the relentless hilly nature of the Barrington route. Taking the day off tomorrow instead of running the Cookie Half Marathon.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Tuff mutha

Big blizzard today, I squeezed out 20 in the middle of it, rough going. Take that, mother nature.

@ 82 for the week

Put in another 7 miles this AM. Still tired and hoping that I can either muster up the energy to do some hills today and then some distance tomorrow. That way, I can top that 100 mile barrier that I haven't cleared in 2 years. Looking forward to a down week next week already.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

uuuuufff

I'm at 84, I need 2 more 20 mile days here...


Todays speed workout was lame, i did 14 x 600 at an average of 41-2 seconds per lap, 2:03 - 2:04, with a 400 jog between each one.So thats only a 5:25 pace for about 5.25 miles, har5dly anything to get excited about considering the lengthy rest time...

My Week

60 miles so far:

Sunday: Long run: 25 miles
Monday: Easy Run: 9 miles + Peak
Tuesday: AM - Easy Run: 7 miles; PM - Easy Run 4 miles + Sprints
Wednesday: Easy Run 6 miles with hills
Thursday: 10 miles - Speed RB (2 X 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800)
800 - 2:39
1200 - ? (didn't hit the watch correctly)
1600 - 5:30
1200 - 4:10
800 - 2:42
800 - Looks like I skipped this one
1200 - 4:06
1600 - 5:34
1200 - 4:10
800 - 2:40

According to McMillan, for a 2:37, I am about 10-15 seconds per interval slower than I should be. I hope it's the corners on the track :) I was pretty easily recovering to 120 BPM in 90 seconds between the intervals. But my legs were pretty beat by the end. I mis-read the workout prescription. I wanted to do another set, but I was tired and I didn't think the planner called for more than two. It actually called for two, three or four. Good instincts!

Off to get four miles in for my second run today and a Tunisian circuit.

Ladder from Hell

Chris and I decided to do the 800-1200-1600-1200-1600-1200-800 ladder workout this morning at East Bank. Thankfully there was some humorously bad running going on in there to break up the pain and suffering (at least for me). I struggled through the workout, although Chris seemed to have a good bit better time of it. I clocked low 6's for the first climb and the higher 6's for the last climb.
Every part on my body is tired. 9 miles this AM in total with warmup and cooldown. I have somewhere around 5 left for this evening.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

9 more...

Thats 21 for today. this morning the pace was horrid, about 9:00 per mile. This PM I moved it up to about 8:20... Is this SLOW running helping me any? I dont really know. But its all I can do right now, given the fatigue level. Well see how tomorros track work out with the CRC goes...

3 days left and I'm at 71. I need 16.33 miles for each of the next 3 days to get my 120.

Tread-miles

Did the trusty old Central Park 10K course on my treadmill again. Nice and easy. Also did a one hour core/power/strength session with Bill. He's been stressing the plyometrics -- which are certainly helping. I never do the plyos on my own or in the gym -- the only way they get done is to pay someone to make me do them. Sad but true.

Heading to Marco Island, FL for six days. Looking forward to running in 85 degree weather and pleased to be getting a break from the treadmill. It's been a brutal winter and it's good to be getting out of here for a few days.

See you guys next week sometime... maybe.

158 lbs/17.7% body fat (stagnant!!!)

Ditto on the doubles

61 miles into the week and I'm BEAT. Tried to LT this afternoon, but after dodging ice sheets on the way out to the trail, I managed only about 5 at "near LT" pace. I need someone to chase or someone to chase me in order to make this effective. Slip and slide home. Average pace sucks when you count the tiptoe over the ice sections.
I'm beginning to wonder if Mother Nature is working against me having a good Boston this year. I need a total thaw and the streets, sidewalks and lakefront path to clear. 13.6 miles for me this afternoon. That will be my total for the day. I'll regroup tomorrow.

Tired....

These doubles are killing me. I headed out this morningh with the intention to do 20, but it was 12 and i should be thankful... it was freezing cold, I did 8 outside and 4 in the indoor track. my back is sore and I was very slow, even for my standards... tonight I'll do the other 8.

I am not enjoying this 120 mile week.

Freezin' but running

Wow, was it cold yesterday AM!!!!
Before Chris headed to the "tropics" of Dallas (low of 48ish), we endured a blast of cold in the 6a hour. Not fun, but we got a few decently quick steps in around Montrose loop. Just over 7 mi in the AM.

On to the PM. JP, I enjoyed, really enjoyed a couple slices of pizza before heading out on my PM run (Iron stomach rules!!) around 915p. 8 degrees out, but somehow it felt warmer than the same temp at 630a. Might have been my mind. Footing was better on Milwaukee Ave & Ashland Ave than the Lakeshore Trail. Mayor Daley, is there a good explanation for that?

14.2 miles in for the day. Not bad for a day that many hardly left the inside to endure. I have my sights set on a 12 mi or so LT today. We'll see what happens.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Mon./Tues

Following 4 easy miles with some hills thrown in last night on the treadmill -- I did a 30 minute LT on the treadmill. Did 4.75 miles in the 30 minutes at LT -- which is around 6:18 (?) pace or so. Felt fine. Heart rate didn't creep over 84% at any point and was closer to 80% most of that time. It started creeping up at the end -- but just because I'm in lousy aerobic shape. 9 miles for the workout counting warm-up and cooldown miles.

Fairly encouraging.

Finished with a core and strength circuit (From Core Performance for Endurance Athletes by Mark Verstegen --- great book if you don't already have it... covers diet and exercise and understands the calorie demands of endurance training).

155 lb/16.6% fat

Monday, February 18, 2008

What the F..???

The thaw better come soon. Froze my ass off this evening with Chris while dodging sheets of ice on the tail.

Double for me today along with a massage around noontime. Now I can't complain about my legs. So I'll stick to the weather and wind.... that should give me plenty to complain about.
14 and change today. Maybe a better running day tomorrow. Attitude will still be the same. Poor!

doubles

Yep. Its the name of the game now...

7 SLOW. Total today = 25. Still 89 to go by saturday.

Hold your applause, you aint seen nuthin' yet...

Todays LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG 90 min LT:

1.5 mile warm up

Mile 1 6:41
Mile 2 6:28
Mile 3 6:14
Mile 4 5:58
Mile 5 5:52
Mile 6 6:00
Mile 7 5:59
Mile 8 5:58
Mile 9 5:58
Mile 10 5:58
Mile 11 5:59
Mile 12 6:02
Mile 13 6:05
Mile 14 5:58
Mile 15 6:07

1.5 mile cool down

Tunisian circuit.

1:31 for the 15 miles at LT, 6:04 average, except if we discard the first crappy 6:42 mile the average is more like 6 flat. I'll take that to the bank....

Sunday: three hours

I don't know how many miles. My guess is at least 24, maybe 25.

Had plenty of glycogen issues early in the run, but felt great in the last hour.

Looks like great weather after Tuesday.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

6 miles

Not the way to start a 120 mile week. i got 6 in and felt the call of nature, so i had to rush home.

Tomorrow i plan on doing the 90 min LT

Round and Round.... and round

Someone kill me if I have to do another 20 miler at East Bank Club again. Wonderfully warm weather here in Chicago... but I waited too long and downpour ensued. So nothing like 80 laps or so of pure hell inside with a bunch of goofballs attempting to run 2 miles each at EBC. Chris and I managed to keep a decent pace for much of it, but was really bored on this one. Now the rain's freezing onto the pavement. Makes a decision about tomorrow AM all the more difficult. Need a double tomorrow and Tuesday. What to do????

This winter's weather sucks more than any for running that I've endured in the last 4. I can take the cold (to a point), but the footing is completely dangerous. I don't want to end up cracking my head open (wouldn't injure me if that happened) or breaking a wrist.

Thank God I've been traveling for work. Seems like the best runs have been out of town this winter. CA in the first week of March, pre-Boston Caveman.

Sat & Sun

8 miles of slow paced treadmill miles on Saturday and 2:45 of slow miles on the path today.

Puddles on the path are very deep. My feet were soaked within the first mile. Good news is that once they're wet -- they don't get wetter. It was 40 degrees -- but it still sucked.

Left leg held up for about two hours... the last 45 minutes were ugly.

156 lbs/17.1% body fat

Saturday: Ins & Outs

Great workout. In summary, it was ~6.5 miles of Ins/Outs and 12.3 miles total.

It's hard for me to understand and or explain this workout in terms of heart rate or pace. My pace was nothing fantastic, but that may be wind-related in the first half--regardless it seems like my Outs were too slow. My heart rate percentage doesn't even come close to following the workout's prescription, again likely because of the cold temperature. But I was able to rehearse that "fast" technique. And it felt good. I posted a screen shot of the Garmin workout log if you're interested.

Weather was in the mid-teens with Sun and wind out of the south, so I wore shorts. Lots of weird looks and comments, but I honestly got hot on the return trip north.


Saturday, February 16, 2008

Long Run

23 today, average pace 7:30. I was spaced out and took a spill at mile 21, so I skinned myself pretty good on a few places. First case of road rash in a while...

Friday, February 15, 2008

WILL

2:37.

HP

Wasn't sure what the footing would be on the lakefront path -- so I did 10 miles in Humboldt Park. It was completely clear -- aside from the neighborhood riff-raff. They are filming a movie of some kind in the park right now -- must be a big deal. There were 14 trailers and lots of film equipment and union thug types hanging out doing whatever it is that Teamsters do on film sets. If they are using HP as the backdrop -- must be a crime film.

No star sightings though -- too f-ing cold. I underestimated the cold due to the fact that the sun was out. It was still pretty nasty out there. I did see one suspicious looking handshake between a dude on a bike and someone in a car... other than that, no drive-bys and no fresh chalk lines.

Aside from a few taunts (that's what you get for wearing tights into an underserved neighborhood) -- it was a good route. It's a good option for you Matty now that you're temporarily "WEST SIDE". There is also a decent little sledding hill there.

Also did a strength/power/core session with Bill. Saw Sweney at Accelerated. His "downhill" training session on the Michigan slopes netted him a strained MCL. He's on the shelf for a couple of weeks.

156 lb/ 16.6% body fat

Slacked today

I'm supposed to keep it to a low mileage week (70 miles) and i already had 50, so i figured an off day was needed. Tomorrow's 22 will put me at about 72 for the week. Next few weeks will be rough, with 120, 100, 130, 70 miles per week coming up.

My foot has been bothering me slightly, but only when i run downhill, so I am staying away from hilly areas. Except for tomorrows long run.

Catching up

I had a little breakthrough the last couple of days. Nothing spectacular pace-wise or anything, but just being able to get a long LT in yesterday and follow it up without GI issues today was big. Plus the path is clear again!

Thursday - 60-75 Minute LT: 9 miles at LT, 14 total
Felt good for the first few, running in the 5:50-6:00 range. Then somewhere around mile 6 I seemed to really slow. I didn't have mile markers to help me keep pace. As soon as I got back to mile markers, I got the pace down again only to shock myself with a terribly slow 9:19 first half of the Cricket Hill Loop. How demoralizing and I was not able to recover from that, so I jogged home.

I was a little down about the workout, yes, but it is what it is. I kept the heart rate at 82-83% the entire time after the first couple of miles. I still have no idea how you are supposed to manage a workout to % of max heart rate in this cold.

I also spent a lot of the time gradually shifting in and out of gear. I would concentrate on those little changes that seem to make a big efficiency difference, mostly getting the foot to strike near the forefoot and keeping the glutes engaged (mildly contracted) through the entire gait cycle. I was able to hold that form for several minutes at a time, but would inevitably find myself falling out of that. So, I guess it was good progress. But I really hope this gets better quickly.

Friday - Mid-Long with Hills: 4.5 miles on the hill, 14.5 total
It was sunny today. What a change and actually wonderful to run in, despite the low teens temps. So, I headed down to the Chicago River bridge (I'm sure there's a name for that thing) and did the hill on the south end for 32 minutes. I had another aha moment as I ran back north. The underpass that connects the Michigan Ave & Oak St to the running path is nearly ideal for hill training.

Looking forward to the Ins & Outs tomorrow and the Cary course on Sunday!

2 Weeks in a row

Friday morning on the "Hill" again....

Icy, cold and not fun. Total of 8 miles today.... hated all of them. Hate the rest of you that are ditching me on the hill on Fridays too (you included too, Ed...... it's only a 2 hour flight). I need a massage... think my shin splints are coming back....... wooo hoo!!!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Make war, not love.

By war I mean running... not the Bush kind.

Todays speed workout with the crc:

3 mile warmp up, 2 miles (5:50, 5:37), 1 mile jog, 1 mile @ 5:30, 1/2 mile jog, 2 miles (5:52, 5:40), 3.5 mile cool down.

Not bad, not great, but good enough.

Now I got to write a paper for tomorrow... ah sleeeep... when will I get to sleeeeppp?

Central Park Simulation

Ran in Central Park again today (on my treadmill) in balmy 72 degree weather.

It's a hilly 10k course. 45 minutes of Seinfeld (the whole NYC theme and all).

158 lbs/17.3% body fat.

Time for love, not running

After an out and back to Atlanta starting at 6a today, not much time for running. So B and I did a quick 5 miles before I attempt some amorous acrobatics. I call it additional core training (Jen probably calls it a waste of time)....

Hill tomorrow, anyone.... Bueller?

(Acrobatics with wife, not dog, you sickos).

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Wednesday's Weak Showing

Woke up at 5:20 a.m. to do an LT on the lakefront... then went back to bed. So much for the 60 minute LT. Made it to Accelerated for a one hour session with Bill and came home to do 2 X 1 mile of uphill on the treadmill with a slight warm-up and cooldown for a big 4 miles -- slightly under Matt's total for the day. None of the miles were under 6 minutes, 7 minutes or 8 minutes!

8:20 overall pace. I'm awesome.

Also still obese... 160 lbs/17.1% body fat

Will attempt to get my LT tomorrow. For those that are counting... 11 consecutive days of running.

Not happy either

I did an easy 6 this morning with the idea of doing a solid ins and outs this PM.

I got to the indoor track at 9PM and the ultimate frisbee "team" was practicing in the lanes. I had to negotiate for some space for "running".

When i finally got going I was only able to do 3 miles of mediocre ins and outs before throwing in the towel, tired and depressed. The splits: 5:40, 5:54 5:56 for a lousy 17:30 3 mile effort. thats barely 18:05, not even sub 18 5k. no comment.

F this snow!!!

So there is nearly ZERO good consistent footing in town. Either there's scattered icy patches or the jackasses that own the property don't even make an effort to clean the walks (that includes Mayor Daley and his running trail crew). There was a reasonably decent stretch on the lakeshore trail if you could avoid the ice and Chris and I attempted a mid-length run this evening. Our plan, head to Montrose for a couple laps around "Sodomy Circle" or "Proposition Park" in the early evening. Other than dodging the cars backed in to parking spots, our hope was there would be no ice or snow. Just as we planned..... except Gastro-king Woods had another incident. Ed, I think he's filling in for you now that you're in Boston.

Despite Chris' problems, I had a decent middle section of the run, keeping it in the low 7's for about 6 miles. All in all, I had 16.4 today. I found my depletion point for now (assuming diet and timing) is around 15.75 miles. I slogged it in from there.

Next week the plan is for doubles on Monday, Tuesday and hopefully Friday. Big mile week!!!

In & Outs Out. Tempo In.

Tried doing the In & Outs workout: 200 at 85-89%, 200 at 80-85%, repeat for three to six miles. It just wasn't working. I couldn't get into a rhythm in the first couple of laps--my heart rate did not depart from 80%. So, I dispensed with the In & Out idea and decided to do the 60-75 minute LT.

Those first two laps helped out my first mile. Here are the splits:

5:35, 5:56, 5:58

All of this and my heart rate never crept above 81%. I think I could have held this for quite a while. So, why didn't I? Severe intestinal discomfort. I think I ate too much way too late yesterday afternoon.

I am really disappointed with myself.

Total: 5 miles, 3 at tempo pace

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

BORED

5 more mind numbing miles on the treadmill. F-ing snow/ice/crap. 7:20 pace. Core circuit.

158 lbs/16.8% body fat

Sunday & Monday Update

Ten weeks until Boston. Eight weeks until taper which probably means only about seven weeks left to really accrue any training benefits.

Sunday: 7 miles on the treadmill, lost of incline both up and down there & strength ciruit
Monday: 8 miles outside slippin and a slidin & peak

Looks to be a crappy running day here again. Will try to get about 15 miles in. Matt wants to do a tempo workout tomorrow. We'll hope for the best, but I think we are going to have to either go inside or to the Cricket Hill loop.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Leveling off...

Core strength circuit and 30 minutes on the treadmill. 4.2 miles (just under 7:30 pace).

158 lbs/17.3% body fat

Missing pizza, potatoes, pasta, Ben & Jerry's and everything else I gave up for lent.

Now that's a hill



So thinking that I had done a few hills in Lemont, I decided to climb to the highest point in downtown San Fran this morning. Ooooh, did I get my "come uppance." Note the nearly straight uphill nature of the first minute. That might be a tad exaggerated, but not too much. Needless to say, I was happy to head down to Fisherman's Wharf and run along the water once I got down from the summit. FIFTY TWO DEGREES at 6a when I went out this morning. Understanding that it's still damn cold back in Chicago, I'm going to have an evening stansa and go for another run out here by the airport. For those inquiring minds, 830s on the ascent, mid to low 7's on the remainder.

FEAST your EYES ON THIS f***ers!

I mean that nicely. Today it was pretty cold here (we finally got the chicago weather) so I headed to the indoor track for a nice, heated LT. Here are the splits:

3 mile warm up.
6:21
6:12
6:01
5:57
5:56
5:55
5:54
6:06
6;03
5:56
1 mile cool down
tunisian circuit (30 min)

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Easy Day

4 miles on the treadmill. Miles 1 and 3 uphill, 2 and 4 flat.

158 lbs/17.8% body fat

O miles

Thats right. I took a rest day. Too much work and I'm planning on a long LT tomorrow, so nothing today...

Lemont... you can keep it

Chris and I plodded through 15+ in Lemont yesterday, lured by the course that was posted on the USATF site. First, it took us about 75 minutes to get out there in the early afternoon because of pothole patching on I-55. Then the idiot who posted the course has no respect for their own life since the first portion was on a narrow, windy and slightly hill TWO lane road with NO shoulder.

We started in Lemont, looking for hills. We found them, but once again there was little shoulder for running. The course that we cobbled together was, at best 7 miles long. Three good hills, but not worth the drive. We were mid 7's through much of the run until Chris popped his Cliff Blox and then he took off with a couple low 7's to finish.

I vote for Cary or Barrington next time....

Saturday, February 9, 2008

18

Did 18 today. Ran from my house to the lakefront which totally sucked. The icy, slushy crap is treacherous as all hell. 3.5 miles to the lakefront then south along the inner drive to Navy Pier -- footing was good there and the rest of the way south on the lakefront all the way to McCormick Place. Pace was 8:19 -- but that included some walking over icy patches. Every winter I swear it is the last winter I'll spend here -- and 20 years later I'm still f-ing here. Going to be below zero tomorrow. Can't wait. Still overweight - 159 lbs/18.1% body fat. Down 6 pounds for the week.

Tough long run

Ran with the CRC today. Long run on VERY hilly course. Total ascent 1650 feet. same for descent. Net elevation change 3300 feet. 25 miles at 7:15 average pace, a solid workout. I'm beat...

102 miles for the week! yay!

Friday, February 8, 2008

4 more

Did 4 more miles today as a recovery from the ball-busting core/strength/power workout that I participated in at Vision Quest Thursday night. It's one hell of a good workout... but I am pretty f-ing sore today. I did a training session with Bill this morning -- which was also rough given the 11 hours of recovery I had from Thursday night's torture session and then went out for 4 easy miles on side streets in Bucktown.

I'm still fat. 158 pounds today (down 7 lbs since Monday!) with 18.8% body fat and my appetite is out of control. Lots of belly fat to shake.

Marathon course

17 miles on the course today, a recovery run at about 7:45-8:15 pace... there is still some hills there.

Back to Cricket on Fridays

Not the perfect day for returning for the Friday Ledesma Memorial Hill Run. The snow on Cricket is not uniformly deep nor trampled. The south access has a lot of deeper snow closest to the path with a deep section also right before the summit (if you can call it such). The west side is just a plain mess.
So, not so much fun for the circuits that I did today. Great time for B, but I have decided he enjoys runs when:
a. Snow creates poor footing for humans (or others on this blog that don't qualify for that description)
b. I'm exhausted and draggin' ass
c. He's been in the house most of the week and I've been traveling

I had all of the above this week. Maybe tomorrow and Sunday will be better. Off to San Fran for a run on Monday AM. There will be hills there... we'll see if I can manage them.

Moving forward, unless I'm out of town on Friday, the hill run is back on the schedule. Giddy up, boys.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Track workout #2 this week

5 x (1200 @ 5:30 pace, 200 jog, 400 @ 5:55 (Intended Marathon pace)). with some easy miles and a tunisian cirsuit to boot.

Tomorrow, hills.

Darned Spaniard

So after two days of running with Ed, I figured to put a few miles in around the Big Apple this morning before my flight. Sooo, up at the spry hour of 415a EST (that's 3a for real people), I went out to run some of the NYC course (end of it, mind you). I believe that my legs were transplanted onto someone else and I have been given the legs of a 82 yr old man. Wow..... that was a tough 6 miles. Thankfully, the buildings kept the Garmin from finding the satellites, so I have no laps to report. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

40+

Topped 40 miles for the week for the first time since late last August -- with two days to go. 160 pounds with 19.1% body fat. (My weight is going down and my fat % up???) Ran a 10-k course on my treadmill that simulates Central Park -- lots of ups and downs. I am grateful that my treadmill is capable of providing downhill in addition to uphill... Just under 48 minutes for the hilly 10-k.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Connect Four

162 pounds. 16.8% fat.

3 miles of hills on the treadmill and a strength/power/core session with Bill.

4 straight days of running. 35 miles for the week. No pizza.

Training Courses with Hills

Pick one for this weekend.

CourseLocationDistance Climb Elevation Change
Cary March Madness Cary13.16711341
Lemont Hill Lemont11.27881616
The Hills Palos Park8.27448897
Trial Run Lake Zurich13.135331065
Home Economist Barrington11.38499994
Barrington Ultimate 20 Barrington209891996
Barrington High School Barrington16.377201437

UGH

matt was knocking at my door at 5:45 this morning.

We headed out to the track and slugged through 10 yasso 800's. I may have been ablke to do more, but both of us concurred it was enough, given the residual fatigue from last nights 18 miles.

My splits:

10 repeats. 2:48, 2:40, 2:42, 2:41, 2:42, 2:40, 2:42, 2:41, 2:45, 2:44. We recovered to 120 BPM in between all.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Long run with Matt in Boston

Matt and I headed for a hilly run on the course. The pace was chill but my body was ravaged by bathroom needs, which even matt's perverted talk could not distract me from. After unloading at a fire station, I was aleviated for a few miles, and then the need struck again. This time I held it till I got home.

We followed up with a large meal.

All in all 18 miles at an 8 min pace. tomorrow we do yasso 800's.

The LONG road back...

3 days straight. That's right f-ers. Look out.

I will post my workout if for no other reason than to clearly demonstrate the stark difference between good training (see posts from Ed and Chris) and really poor training.

I did an LT today (before the polls opened!!!). My first LT since late August according to my training log. 35 minutes at a 7:13/mile pace which demanded an average heart rate of 84% from me. Wow is that bad.

Given that 7:13/mile is slower than my fairly recent (last year) long run pace -- I'm amazed (and amused) by how far I've fallen and fast I got here.

On the positive side -- I ran 10 total miles today -- pushing my weekly mileage to 32 with 4 days left in the week.

The negative -- 165 pounds (16.3% Body Fat).

Damn you pizza.

Lent starts tomorrow. I'm giving up everything but work and running... and maybe one or two other non-food related things.

Richard: Better send me the lemon diet directions.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Back-2-Back

Ran on consecutive days for the first time in 2008. 14 miles Sunday - 8 miles today. The mileage for the two days combined exceeds my weekly totals for every week dating back to mid-September. Good times.

I'm really fat and really slow. Will shoot for three consecutive days of running tomorrow -- which will also be a 2008 record. Gotta go eat a pizza now.

8 mile LT, so so.

As part of an 15 miler, 8 miles at LT pace...

The splits. The first half was uphill, the second down. -I think the splits reflect that fairly clearly. Hard to say what an equivalent effort on FLAT terrain may have yielded...

6:29
6:28
6:21
6:27
5:45
5:51
5:37
6:40

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Sunday: 2:10 / 16 Miles

Struggled through today, primarily because of bad footing. It was good to get the time in though. Looking forward to a good week of training.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Saturday: 9 Mile LT

The schedule said do a 45-60 minute LT. The temperature was about 25F with pretty decent wind out of the south. The path was pretty crappy, so Matt and I headed to the roads around Cricket Hill.


Decided to do three loops. I felt pretty decent. Here's the lap data:


It was a total of about 15 miles followed by a strength circuit. I'm worn out.

Doing a two hour run tomorrow.

22 miles, but not pretty.

The long run today was 22, I barely managed an 8 min average pace and I was WIPED. Very strange, either I'm coming down with something or suffereing fom some post phoenix syndrome. This is strange after a rather good speed workout Thursday (did 7x1000 with 4 min jog between each one, at 3:23 averagem that is a 5L25 mile pace).

Anyway, I hope this is just a temporary fatigue issue...

Friday, February 1, 2008

2 Miles

Nothing to see here. Please move along.

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Matt Gibson: Superstar!


I have received quite a few questions about the legitimacy of the picture I took of his life-size poster at the new Fleet Feet store. While I am honored by your confidence in my Photoshop skills; I cannot accept the praise. Some corroborating evidence arrived in my inbox today--the Fleet Feet email newsletter.

A Week Late: Mile Repeats

The schedule said 5 to 10 reps. I did 7. I started on an eighth but because I was going to try to see how using carbs would help my performance (downed two Clif Shot Blocks). Unfortunately, I let too much time lapse after the 7th and my legs would not go, the were sore and I was feeling blisters. It was time to stop.

I mostly felt pretty good, and I was glad to do these inside at East Bank--although I feel I need to get the time down about 20 seconds/mile prior to being ready for Boston*.

My laps were pretty even, ranging from 1:21 to 1:27. I kept the heart rate at 86-87% after the first lap of each mile. I was recovering to 120 pretty easily between reps. Here are the mile times:

5:34, 5:43, 5:43, 5:36, 5:38, 5:39, 5:37

I wore the Nike Zoom Jasaris. I really like the way these shoes feel, but I am having the same problem with them that I have had with some other shoes this winter. It seems that when I run more on my toes, I push the insole up the back of my heel and out of the shoe. The problem wasn't as pronounced on the Jasaris as I have found on my Adidas trail shoes, but it was still uncomfortable. The solution for my trail shoes is to use my orthotics, but I don't really want to do that for speed training or races. So, I need to find out if there is a better solution to the problem.

*How will I get that time down? I think a combination of five things:

  1. Increased economy through more training. Boston is still 81 days away according to the fancy new countdown widget on the right.
  2. Decreased weight (somewhat plays a part in increased economy). I am right about 130-131 right now. I think I can get that 125 which should translate into a few percentage points increase in aerobic capacity.
  3. Increased vVO2(max) through more training and the addition of the strength circuit.
  4. More speed training, primarily the 100m sprints done at the end of recovery runs.
  5. Timing on a track with more gentle corners or on the path without turns.


Somewhat looking forward to the 800s next week.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Where's Eduardo?

Ed's eyes were obviously good enough to spot the women's Trials pace group and camera carts at the Phoenix Marathon.








Speechless


From the new Fleet Feet store.

I even impressed myself....

So today I went out for a medium long run, planning to do 15 or so. I got early and was out the door running by 5:45 AM, doing about 8:30's or so, nothing to get excited. About 10 miles into this I felt the call, so I cut the run short and ran to the Harvard indoor track to use the "facilities". At this point I had done 12 miles, average pace 8 min according to Dr. Garmin. Not fast, not slow...

Here is where it gets good. After I unloaded the goods and felt much better, i decided to do some repeat miles for laughs and giggles. Mind you I was fairly tired and wearing my heavy training shoes, but here are my splits for a 5x1mile with 200 meter jogs between each mile:

6:15
6:11
6:04
6:00
5:57

At this point I called it quits rather than risk injury, although I think I may have been able to crank 1 or 2 more...

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Waddle On

Because the path was pretty snow-covered on Saturday, I bagged the 10 x 1 mile. The forecast for Saturday afternoon and Sunday suggested that conditions would be pretty good for the repeats. Well, I didn't feel good when I woke this morning and since I wasn't going to do the long run with everyone else, I decided that I would wait until it warmed up this afternoon. Big mistake. The combination of not feeling well and brunch with Fearghal and Suzanne at Stanley's pretty much sabotaged my effort this afternoon. I got about 12 miles total, but mostly slow plodding.


Matt and I are planning to do 15-20 in the morning.

And therefore I am a wuss... <--Ed wrote that

snow snow snow snow

15 in the snow, slip and sliding the entire way, slow, at about 8:30-8:45 pace, but difficult.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

LONG RUN

Today I did a 22 in a sup[er hilly course. We ran on a street parallel to the marathon which has EVEN more hills, then looped around and ran back via the actual marathon route, catching everyone of the NEWTON hills. As I was trying to keep up with someone that was hammering, I ended up pretty beat. I have to say I prefer my method of long SLOW runs.

The average was not all that, it was 7:30 pace, but with the hills and some wind if felt a hell of a lot tougher than that.

Anyway, a tough workout.

Lower Heart Rate in the Cold Explained

Danni, the guys at the Science of Sport blog responded to our question about lower heart rate in the cold.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Not quite so fast or far

I did 12, at about 8:30 pace, but with many hills -ran part of the course. Threww in 10 100 meter strides at the end. Not so good, but I'm sore from the track workout...

I also pigged out, and will do it again in a couple of hours.

Friday: To Evanston & Back

15 miles. 7:30 pace. Good workout by myself in the cold.


Devoured half a chicken, some veggies and heaping amount of sauerkraut afterward.

UPDATE:
I am probably not going to get the second workout in today, and so far no strength circuits this week. Tomorrow is 10 x 1 mile followed by the Tunisian protocol. Should that be TP for short? Will you know what I mean if I say 10 x 1 mile followed by some TP?

Tivo Alert: Ed's Marathon Trials Qualifying Race

From Yahoo TV:

12:30PM - 1:30PM, CSN (37)
Road Running : "Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon"
The Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. The course runs through Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe. Terefae Yee won last year's event in 2:14:13. Yee also won …

Thursday: Do What You Can Do

A combination of work, dog duty and The Spirit of the Marathon (review later) left me cramped for workout time on Thursday.


I did manage about 5.25 miles at tempo effort. I am not sure about tempo pace. I was able to get my heart rate to stay at or above 80%--something I haven't been able to do in the really cold weather lately--but the pace looks like it was about 6:12, according to Uncle Garmin.

I did not get the strength circuit done like I wanted to. I had everything set up at home to do it after the LT workout, but ran out of time.

I am planning to get a double in today for a total of about 18-20 miles and the 10 x 1 mile tomorrow with a total of 14-15 miles. That will put me in the 72-75 mile range for the week.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Track Workout

Today's CRC Indoor track workout, not too bad. I was able to keep up with one of the fast guys, but only for the first rep out of 3... and he is also injured.

Anyway, it was 3 x (2000 @ 7 min, 400 jog, 800 @ marathon pace (3:00))

The first 2000 was 7:02, the second 7:04, by the third I had dropped to 7:10, so the pace per mile ranged from 5:35 to 5:45, which is not so bad. The marathon pace 1/2 miles felt very easy.

A good, tough workout, followed by a 2 mile jog and a tunisian circuit.

the 2:37 is in sight!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

a SOFT LT for me.

Still easing back into running. My excuse? I got none. This run was after a day spent in airports, but I did run it at the inddor track so there were no weather excuses.

4 mile LT -shortest one this year-

6:13, 6:10, 6:07, 6:06

Will do better next time, I promise.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Not soft

"There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people."
Bill Bowerman

Do they have this kind of weather in Oregon?

UPDATE
Got in 11 miles this morning, including 7 at LT pace. Laps:

  1. 0.61 - 3:42
  2. 1.00 - 6:20
  3. 0.50 - 3:03
  4. 1.00 - 6:08
  5. 0.50 - 3:11
  6. 0.50 - 3.03
  7. 1.00 - 6:15
  8. 0.50 - 2:56
  9. 1.00 - 6:05
  10. 0.50 - 2:58

The clinic was reserved for physical therapy continuing eduation program, so we couldn't do the official version there, but I put a slightlty modified version together at home. It was comprised of:
  • Treadmill for recovery
  • Pushups
  • Single leg toe touches
  • Situps
  • Single leg squats
  • Side bridge, raising and lowering hips
  • Clams