hills

Today I looked over the elevation chart for the trials course. Yes this is the first day it was released. So us "B" guys who won't get a chance to run the hills prior to the race are scrambling to learn every nook and hill, turn and downhill. Overall it is very challenging. I would assume the times will be slower. There really isn't a flat mile on the course. Not 1.

Today I ran 12 very easy. Felt ok. I have 22 tomorrow. I have a great course. Very hilly. I am going to run it easy and see how things go. This will be all for posts until monday. 3 x 2 miles and then that will be it for the most part for the week. TCM is coming quick.

Recovery?

Today I had 8 x 1 mile with 3-2-1 at 510/5/450. The weather was decent. Not sure the temp but it was a bit windy out of the Northwest. I had a decent 4+ mile warm up and felt ready to roll. Mile 1 5:10 right on 3 minute rest. Mile 2 uphill into the wind 5:04. Not bad. Mile 3 downhill with the wind 4:54. Not bad. Mile 4 4:58. Here is where I started to get pissed. Mile 5 back uphill 5:12. This one needed to be 10. Mile 6 back uphill again. 12. Needed to be 00. Mile 7 downhill needed to be 50. 00. Mile 8 was to be 00. I ran 04. After I finished I was really pissed. 5 weeks left and the workouts aren't going great. Then I looked back in my log. Last spring I did this same workout and wrote in my log great workout. Here is how they stack up with rest and all.

Last spring
1 5:08
2 5:13
3 5:04
4 5:00
5 5:09
6 5:14
7 5:03
8 4:54

Today
1 5:10
2 5:04
3 4:54
4 4:58
5 5:12
6 5:12
7 5:00
8 5:04

That is a total net of 5 seconds faster today than last spring. Rest was shorter this time as I was taking 2 and 3 min last spring on the second 4 miles instead of keeping it to the 3-2-1. On the flip side. I seemed to feel much better after only 1 min rest. I will have to keep that in mind. Total miles for the day 17+

easy 13 baby jogger

Nice day today. Of course no workout. Seems par for the course this summer. I ran 11 alone and another 2+ with Carrie and Rowan at a very easy shuffle. Felt ok. Not sure if I should take two easy days after longer workouts to ensure a full or close to full recovery. Last week was an exception to that as I was attempting to begin each workout with a little less in the legs.

Thursday is 8 x 1 mile at 5:10/5:00/4:50 with 3-2-1 rest. We will see should be interesting.

If someone is reading this. Please check out the flocast.com website. They have a great video about oly trials fellas and a workoout they did last weekend. Check it out. Good to see the little guys getting some pub.

treadmill=cheating

I woke to a 6am alarm today. Carrie and Elliot had dentist app. this am so I had to get this one in early. Seems like a few times a week we have things going on that interfere or wait that my running interferes with. I had a 10 mile tempo at 5:40 on the books today. I decided to do it at the new mayo healthy living center. Not having a tour of this great facility was the problem from the start. Once I got on the treadmill I clicked off a 55:50 something 10 miler. Everything felt ok. I am hoping the weather stays cool now so things will continue to go well. I wore my new flats again. They really felt good. I will wear them next week for the tcm. Other than that not much to say. The title today tells the story. I really don't feel right running on the treadmill. It seems it is so much easier than outside.

less than 6 weeks

This will be very short. I ended last week well with a double on sunday and 108 total miles. Not bad. Sunday was two runs of 50 min and 65 min. Everything was easy. Today I did 12 easy miles. I did do a few easy long hills. It was too humid to judge if I have recovered from last week. Looking forward to the week of training which really starts tuesday.

2 out of 3 ain't bad?

I will combine two posts in one as I didn't post yesterday.

I ran at 6:30 last night. An easy 12 miles. It was a bit warm but I felt ok.

I woke on time and ready to go this am. I got a good cup of coffee and was ready rock and roll. The weather was terrible. 73 and 76 humidity with winds of 20-30 and higher gusts. I can't do the workout sat or sun because Carrie is working so this was the only day to get it done.

Workout 8 miles and then switch into flats for the 10.67 mile trek to Pine Island on the douglas trail. Last year I did this workout in just under 57 minutes. Pretty good for the weather. About 45 with very strong winds from the west. The conditions didn't match and I also did this workout 16 days from the marathon. I am now over 40 days left.

Needless to say things didn't go well. I started off at a decent pace but I was sweating so much that I knew I would run low late. I lasted all of about 5-6 miles at low 5:20s and then just ran it in. total miles for the day 21.

In hindsight I should have planned this differently. Talking with Carrie this am. I really have to look at the bigger picture here. I am 43 days out and have a chance to do this workout again. The weather looks as though it is going to cool off again. I also have 3 rest days planned and will look over the training. I am worried about the hills so I may add some more of those workouts.

This will be my last post until monday. A few rest days should do wonders.

Waking up late, press conference?, eating

As the title states this is how my day went. I was planning on getting going at 6am in order to have everything ready to rock by 9 so we could make it to the cities by 10:30. My alarm didn't wake me and I woke in a panic at 6:30. In a panic because I really only had the early am to run today. Carrie is staying in the cities all day today and tomorrow for school. I quick got things ready and was out the door in 7 minutes. 6:37. I started my first of three x 3miles just after 7. So I was sleeping through the first one which was covered in just over 16 minutes. It was way too hard. It shouldn't be that tough. Number to was covered in just under 16 so things were getting better. Still didn't feel as though it was easy. No solid even pace. I contemplated not doing the third. Reason 1. I have a very tough workout Friday. Reason 2 I really needed to get home. I decided to do it anyway. 15:54. I did a nice cool down and headed for home. When I got home I had a bottle of endurox and a few mini bagels. I also ate a banana. We rushed to get Elliot to preschool and rushed to the state capital.

We pulled up to the finish area for the press conference. Not what I expected. Very small and 3 people were there. Carrie, Rowan, and I lingered around waiting for someone to show. As 11 approached the crew showed one by one. Lundstrom, Fellows, Carlson, and a late arriving Zac Schendel. It was very uneventful as no one really asked anyone a question and we sort of hung around and talked what else....running. It was worth the trip as I got to meet some cool people and trade some good running stories. Most of the talk was about the course. And the hills.

I hadn't eaten since the bagel,banana in the am. By now it was approaching 12 and we were a ways from where we needed to go to drop of Carrie. To make a long story short we ended up eating at 1. I cannot explain the feeling in my legs prior to devouring the applebees food. It was almost like they were starving. This is something I need to work on. I did the same thing after the workout on monday and that is I think why I didn't feel great this am in the workout. I have a big one friday so that should be interesting.

I lumped this week all together to get a good tired feeling in me for Friday. I will have a good idea of where I am with the workout friday.

Retire???

Today I ran an easy recovery run of 12 miles. In the past this would have been a very easy run with the last 4-5 miles a tough thing to get through. Although it has gotten warmer and more humid I am feeling on top or near the best I have felt in a long time. Looking forward to tomorrows workout of 3 x 3 miles with 3 min rest. Looking to do it in 5:20 pace. However my mind has wandered to other possibilities. Faster ones.

For the last 6-8 weeks I have inwardly pondered how it would feel to stop running after this season. No stopping isn't really the accurate term. I will never completely stop. I guess not running competitively anymore. I am leaning towards that decision as things have been rough scheduling wise. I look forward to the days when my run isn't the only thing I worry about. I look forward to sleeping a bit more and painting the inside of my garage. I have put every ounce I have into making the trials, what is there left to accomplish? These are things that roll in and out of my head on a daily basis. One thing I do want to do is finish Boston. That is for sure. Not sure if that will ever happen. More on this later. As I have so many other things to hash out.

2 x 4 mile hills.

Today was the first of three pretty intense workouts. I am looking forward to each one for different reasons. It was a bit warmer this am so I cut my warm up down to an easy 3 miles in order to get a few strides in with my new flats. The now older adidas yellow flats that I got from Kurt D. I really like these flats so that added to the enjoyment. I haven't done this workout yet so I wasn't sure how the hills would beat me up. I laid out a route near my house for a square with each side equalling a mile. The wind was really blowing today so I decided to switch directions on the second session.

Repeat 1
The first mile was flat for 1200 and then straight up for the last 400. 5:35 and feeling ok. The next mile is almost entirely downhill. There are a few bumps but nothing major. 5:12. Mile three is half gravel and for this one back into the wind. 5: upper 30s. The last mile has a significant hill with a long gradual downhill to finish up. 21:45. Very happy with that. This is a very tough route. I was hoping to run faster the second repeat.

Repeat 2
I chose to do this workout for the major uphills and the up and down parts it simulates. I hope the hills in Central Park are not this big.
I started this one with going backwards. 5:12 up the long gradual hill. 5:25 for the second mile, but I have the worst two left. Long gradual uphill followed by a long downhill into the very strong winds. I finished in 21:52. Not a bad workout. Looking for improvement in the weather next time. I have 3 of these to do. That will be a tough workout.

Friday,Saturday,Sunday

I have been working like a dog for the last 8 days. A few more to go. I have a little time to catch up. Friday I ran hills in downtown roch. I got a total of 10 hills in with a 5:30 effort on the flats. Saturday was an easy 13 and sunday an easy 10 as I had a 16 hour shift scheduled. Overall things are going well. Looking forward to the workout Monday and the rest of the week. This will be a very tough week. I guess I will see what I am made of.

14 windy miles

I did 14 windy miles today. I felt ok and feel that I did recover from yesterday. Looking to get a workout in Friday. 70 minutes of hills. Should be good.

No real tough workouts this week. Things were messed with because the race was sunday. With recovery and such I decided to skip a workout and get the long run in wednesday as I am putting in close to 70 hours this week. The weekend will be a busy one. May or may not post.

On a side note there is a good Thread on letsrun.com about "B" marathon qualifiers and how we are being treated at the trials. Examples no water bottles, no assistance. I agree with the majority that we should atleast get a table for bottles. How many are there? Not too many. Also many of the A qualifiers wouldn't have to pay for anything anyway. Do you think Asics is going to make Ryan Hall pay his way to the race as well as lodging and transportation?

Another reason I have a hard time writing a check out every year to USATF. Masback should get his shit together.

21+

What a great day to run long. I was hoping to get a few of these to really judge my fitness over 20 miles. It was perfect today. I ran a very hilly route today to get in just shy of 22 miles in 2:20. I felt great the whole run. One of the better long runs I can remember. It was just cold enough to not zap me. Another step in the right direction.

On a side note. I was contacted by the media director from the twin cities marathon to participate in a press conference next week. I asked the women why she wanted me. The others are Donnie Fellows, Chris Lundstrom and Andrew Carlson. All a bunch faster than me. She said I would have some insight they may not. Stay tuned on that one. To be honest I don't really think I should be there.

Windy

Today I ran easy. I figured I should let things settle from the effort on sunday. I was less sore than I expected. I took it very easy as it was windy and I have a long run Wednesday am. This is another long work week without a day off. I also have 16 hours sunday so that cuts into my running options. 14 miles.

Rain days and Mondays

Carpenters. I was pretty pumped to run in the cold and rain today. Understanding that I have a lot of work to do and not a day off for almost two weeks I was on top of the mental game today. I was not as sore as I should have been good sign number one. I was not as satisfied as I thought I would, sign number 2. I am ready to PR this nov. I honestly think things are setting up to really crank the second half of that race and catch a bunch of people. The rest of this week will be a bit down but things really get cranking next week with three tough workouts and that will continue until the week before trial week. I will stay with the 10 taper and keeping the intensity up but dropping the mileage down. 12 miles for the day.

City of Lakes 25k

Today was the big race or so it should have been. I woke feeling like any other day. Normally I have a very energetic feeling running through my legs and am looking forward to the race. Today was nothing like that at all. The rain outside may have been the reason. No not really I checked the weather and it was not raining in Minneapolis.

As I warmed up with Kurt I thought about how the race would go. I had an inner confidence which I usually do on longer races. They suit me well. There was a good field. Donavan Fellows, Chris Lundstrom, Jeremy Polson, Patrick Russell, Eric Pierce. This didn't concern me as I had a few goals. Number one was run at least marathon qualifier pace. Number 2 was be competitive. Number three progress.

As the gun went off I realized a few things. Nobody really wanted to run into the wind. Nobody was too anxious to set a fast pace. The pack of the 5 above and teammate Jeremy Essler went through the first mile in 5:27. The second mile shed Russell, Pierce and Essler as we picked it up a bit 5:20 ish. Mile 3 was back into the wind and by now Fellows and Lundstrom had gapped us. I was content on maintaining this pace as we were running 5:20, 5:16, 5:19, 5:15, and 5:22. By the time we got around to the west side of the lake Polson had 10 seconds on me. He would widen the gap on me until I started to push the second lap.

Once I decided to go after him I really dropped my pace. A few 5:16s did the trick and I caught him on a hill. This is the same sort of move I had last year but the miles were a touch faster. I caught Polson on one of the last hills. As I caught him he did the old turn your head and take off trick. I had no answer and settled on running it in the last mile or so.

I acheived all of my goals and still have 8 weeks of training to keep getting better. Overall a good race and I can only be happy with the way things turned out.

On side note I think we won the team battle and finished up the season on a good note.

Pre race

Today I ran an easy 8. Felt way out of rythym. Was hoping to get through and feel rested for the race tomorrow. I was out for 55 minutes and got nothing positive about the run. On the good side it was very cool and nice. Looking for the same Sunday.

2 runs

Today I got out for two runs as Elliot wanted to get out of the house for a while. The first run was around 10 miles very easy. The weather was nice. Well it was windy but I could breath so that is all good.

The second run was a fartlek. Unplanned. I pushed Elliot in the jogging stroller. He is way too big and the tires are a bit flat. He also likes to pick up sticks and shoot other exercisers on the trail. It actually was a nice run. We had a great day hanging out and I got my first nap in a long time. Preparing for the race sunday.

200s

Today I did 200s. Nothing fancy 8 x 200 with 200 easy jog. I do this a few times a year to get a little speed. I think I have one more planned and then that is it. Strides are sufficient to do the job. Job? I think I am doing them for turnover, form and aerobic capacity? I did 8 of them in 32-34. Nothing great but I am coming off a good workout tuesday and things are progressing. Onward I march. Sunday will be the real test. Weather is going to be good. Good field. Looking forward to a good race.

heat

Today I ran very easy. It was way humid. I went an easy 11 and then pushed Rowan in the stroller with Carrie for a few extras. I felt good to have some bonding time with the two of them. I felt as though I was recovered from the previous days work. 200s tomorrow and then downtime until the race sunday. I have done a good job this time around with focus leading up to this race. Hoping conditions are good and we get a fast race.

2 steps forward

Today was a 2 mile workout. Actually 3 x 2 miles with 3 min rest. I was hoping for 10:30 10:20 10:10, but in my mind I was sure I wanted more. I have not really been able to judge where I am fitness wise so this would tell me a bunch more. I warmed up short as it was a bit warm at 8:30 am here. 3 miles with a few strides. I really didn't feel great. #1 first mile back up the hill with the wind was a very easy feeling 5:07. The second mile goes up a long very gradual rise that I took at a very relaxed pace. 10:17. #2. I did this repeat back down the gradual hill against the wind which was picking up as I went. The first mile was 04 and I felt very in control. I almost thought I should back off which I did. 10:04. Now I was contemplating on running all the way back up the gradual hill or doing an out and turn around a cone type of thing. I decided on the later and was a bit pissed as I ran 03 for the first mile. I figured I could come back fast but not enough to go under 10. 4:59 for a total of 10:02. A very good step in the right direction. Makes me feel better about the race sunday. Looking forward to running in weather that isn't so hot and humid.

I am hoping in about 4 weeks or just after tcm that I can do this workout again at sub 10 for all three. Much to get to prior to that. Some more pace workouts as well as some faster 1000s with active recovery. Oh yeah and 15.5 miles this weekend. Looking forward to it.

easy

Today was going to be an easy 12 as I have a workout scheduled for tuesday am. I felt ok for the first few miles but it was very humid and cool so I decided to really take it easy. Days like today make it difficult to get anything done. I was dripping wet and I only ran 12 miles easy.

I just need to keep plugging away. Judge my workouts more by effort and less by the watch and keep going. I know in the back of my mind that things will get better. Looking forward to the cold weather at this point. This has been a very difficult buildup.

Saturday night I batended at my second job in Mantorville. A woman approached the bar and asked if I was going to the olympics. Olympics? I have been asked this by way too many people over the past 10 months. It is funny to hear someone so far out of the loop say something like that and then argue with you about something they have absolutely no knowledge of. It has been very draining to explain that I will have no shot of making the top three at the trials and that just qualifing is really what I was looking for. Once again this is very draining and I can't wait for it to stop.

US 5k

Today prior to my run as my wife was sleeping, I was able to watch the last day of the world champs. I held off on looking up the results in order to really enjoy the surprise of the events. Wow was I on my feet with the goose bumps on the last 200 of the mens 5k. Great stuff. Just wish Teg could have had another few meters. He could have had a bronze to go with Lagats gold.

Felt better today. I had 10 strides on the schedule so I did those and also carried a water bottle. It once again was a bit warm so I thought I could use the extra fluids. I did the strides at a moderately quick pace as my legs are still a bit "tight" from the workout Friday. Does that mean I am doing something? Hope to see results tuesday as it is really my first big workout with 3 x 2 miles with 3 min rest. I will have had three easy days leading up to it so I am hoping to be fresh and feeling to bust one. My focus now turns to city of lakes a week from today. I have a easier week at home and school starts so the stress level should be better for this week.

Tired/Sore/Stressed

Today was an easy 12 that felt like a tough 12. I have been seriously stressed the last few weeks with lifes up and downs. It makes running on days like today tough. I got through the run and analyzed it this way. The workout friday eve was tough. Not only on my body as far as being tired but also on my quads. All of the downhill running tore me up a bit more than normal. I was pretty dehydrated as well. I left for the run at about 2:30 so it was warm. Oh well have to take the good with the bad and move on. Looking forward to the next week and the change in phases as my training will tell me where I am fitness wise.