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.

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!

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.

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.

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?

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......

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.

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.....