Practice To Suffer So Racing Becomes Easy

AM:  XT on bike for 30 min + Core

Lunch:  Coach J workouts

PM:  5.91 miles easy w/1x8 sec. hill sprint

Lunch:  3 miles easy

PM:  7.88 miles w/6x30 sec. 10K down to 3K effort

AM:  2 hours of cross training, core, and stretching

Lunch:  Coach J's workouts

 PM:  7.02 easy miles with a progression down to MP for last mile

Lunch:  3 miles easy, nice temps.  I haven't had to run in snow once this winter.  Last year I ran in snow or ice all winter.  It's also a pleasure not to be running the snowblower all the time to clear the driveway.

PM:  5.20 miles easy + 2x8sec hill sprints on a nice 43 degree clear night.

Lunch:  3 miles easy on a nice 50 degree afternoon.  Normally, I'd expect 20 to -30 for this time of year!

PM:  7 miles easy then 10 minutes progression from MP + 10sec. to 10K pace then to the basement for lifts and core.  The body is really sore and tight for the first couple miles of my runs probably due to the adjustment back to running miles again, but I can tell fitness is just below the surface.  I also have a lot more aches to contend with than I had last year.  I turn the ripe age of 32 in Feb, but I wouldn't consider this the age to be having aches.  Hopefully, I'm not aging at too fast of a pace!

Afternoon:  12.08 easy miles around Cambridge WI.  Very nice weather for my first run over 9 miles since early November.  I must admit my legs were a little confused after 9 miles why I wasn't stopping.  My aerobic endurance will need some work.  The achillies was getting really tight on the long run; no pain, but makes me nervous. 

PM:  9.80 miles w/ last 10minutes @ mp down hp pace over hilly route

Lunch:  3 miles easy on 50 degree day - best temps I can remember for a Jan. in my lifetime.

PM:  5.5 miles easy + 3x8sec. hill sprints + Lifts

AM:  Core and Lifts

Lunch:  Coach J exercises

PM:  1 helped a friend learn some of coach j's exercises along with some lifts

PM: 2 8.34 easy miles w/5:44 last mile - felt great on the run

Lunch:  3.1 miles in the snow (first snow run of the year), nice soft blanket with reasonable footing

PM:  6.8 miles easy, no speedwork due to snow storm, very slow going

Lunch:  12.74 easy miles w/last 2 @ marathon pace effort.  Battling the wind, extra clothes for the 10 degree day, and slippery footing I managed 6:14 and 6:16 for those last 2 miles.  + Core

PM:  5.32 miles easy pace

AM:  Core, 5 miles easy with treadmill grades ranging from 2.5-6.0 to simulate grades in Boston + Lifts

Lunch:  Coach J exercises (Myrtl, Grant Green, Core work, Lunge matrix, Theraband walks)

PM:  8.27 miles easy  + 4 hard hill sprints

Lunch:  3.1 easy miles through the fresh 3 inches of snow.  Very windy

PM:  My first LT workout in about 3 months, just trying to ease into these with a shorter version of things to come.  Slippery dark roads and strong cold winds kept this workout at bay, but my goal was to get a high octane workout without feeling completely wiped. 

11.1 miles w/4x3:00w/60sec. jogging recoveries @ lactate threshold effort.

[6:06 uphill, slippery, 5:39 flat, had to slow down on slippery roads for a few sharp turns, 6:00 uphill, slippery, 5:24 flat, some clear some slippery] - Felt very good during workout.

AM:  Core lifts (hanging tucks, decline situp, cable crunch, hyper extension, plate twist, side bends) 5.32 easy miles -2 degrees this morning - very chilly, icy roads.  Then finished up with a few lifts (single leg heavy squat, medial leg ext., pull-ups, hip thrusts w/boce ball, star squats, calf raises on boce ball)

Lunch:  Coach J workouts + Core, theraband walks

PM:  7.98 miles easy

Lunch 3.1 easy miles in -16 degree temps, very icy footing, not moving too fast today

PM:  8.76 miles w/last mile at 6:04 on a nice clear path.  Finished with 4 all out 8sec. hill sprints.  Finished with a few lifts in the basement. 

Lunch:  Coach J exercises

PM:  5.96 miles at a ridiculously slow pace through 4 fresh inches of snow on a -5 degree evening.

.

Noon:  Goal today was to get used to running long again.  Managed 18.52 miles over some slippery roads.  I decided to throw in some marathon pace running for the last 3.5 miles to get a feel for where my real marathon fitness is.  My 1st mile went 6:18 with 30% slippery footing, 6:07 on mostly dry footing, 6:42 through a snow bank, 180 degree turn, and a 100m stretch of 6 inches of snow, oh and a slippery hill - nonetheless my marathon pace effort was there!  The last .46 was over flat slippery roads at a 6:30 effort.  I was really pleased with how I finished, mainly due to the fact I'm not feeling to wiped from this one and I did manage a 6:07 on the dry surface feeling very relaxed.  Finished with some core and lifts. 

PM:  3.92 very slippery miles.  Quite possibly the iciest conditions I've ever experienced.  I did a lot of ice skating today.

AM:  Core + 5 miles on treadmill due to very bad ice, ran on grades similiar to Newton Hills.  I wish I could do some downhill grades, but the treadmill just doesn't have a decline capabililty.

Afternoon:  Coach J workouts

PM:  8.66 miles w/5x8sec hard hill sprints + lifts

Lunch:  3.1 miles easy, feeling lousy today, head cold aches, etc...  Taking evening and next morning off to ensure it doesn't get worse.  It's my first cold since Feb. of last year, so I can't complain too much.  Last week was big increase from 50 to 80 miles per week, I'm sure less mileage this week will be a good idea in terms of keeping my achillies and knee problems of the past few months from re-occurring. 

Sitting in the hospital right now, Jen is having surgery for a deviated septum.  The blockage has reduced her oxygen intake an estimated 30%, which has led to increased lactic acid buildup from exercise, issues with sleep and recovery, and a sinus infection that never goes away.  Many people have blockage and they never really know for sure until examined.  Jen's had one for over 3 years, which we now believe is one of the reasons she probably had problems with both knees.  Her muscles weren't recovering thus putting more stress on tendons in and around her knees, which eventually changed her stride and led to increased impact and damage to cartilage and meniscus.  Of course this all hypothetical, but strong reason to believe since she was a healthy triathelete for many years prior the deviated septum.

PM:  5 miles on the treadmill + core + lifts

 Feeling a little better today, hopefully I'm getting past the cold.  Missing workouts right now is something I can't afford with Boston only 12 weeks away, but I don't want to make things worse by pushing through this sickness.

Lunch 3 miles on Glacial River bike trail and around school.  Still felt a little weak from the cold, but getting better.

PM:  12.95 hard miles in 93% humidity.  Did 5x3:00 @ LT w/60sec float, same workout as last week + 1 extra 3:00 min interval and more total mileage.  Workout started out great with the following

5:30 pace all up hill

5:28 flat, but had to stop for traffic

5:37 all up hill

5:27 on flat (starting to fall apart on this one, my breathing was very labored)

5:50 3/4 up hill, some steep, 1/4 steep down hill, completely hit the wall on this one

Very fast paces for me,  much faster than last fall.  I guess a few days rest probably helped me run a little quicker, but the humidity made me work hard for the paces tonight.  I felt like I had a desk on my chest the air was so thick!

Lunch:  Coach J workouts

PM:  7 miles easy, achillies was giving me some trouble tonight.  I changed up my stride and it loosend up nicely.

Lunch: 20 tough miles against a nasty cold wind for much of it, snow drifts and 15 degree wind chill turned what I thought would be an average run into a hard run effort.  No energy to run any of it at marathon pace.  Achillies gave me trouble from 13 miles in, had to stop 6 times to stretch it out.  It seems to be okay on shorter runs, but long runs may be too much for it.  Nonetheless, I'm happy with the effort today off the short rest from Thursdays workout and fighting a nasty cold all week.  Glad this one is done and over with!

Lunch:  Coach J workouts + Core

PM:  1 - 8 miles easy starting out slow, but picked up the pace for the last couple of miles. 

PM: 2 Lifts

No double run today in an effort to see if singles makes a difference on the achillies.  Plus I'm keeping it loose with light stretching 3-4 times a day.

Also, today was another 40+ temp.  That means WI had more 40+ days than -0 days, which is pretty much unheard of.  I probably picked what looks to be one of the best years to run Boston while training in WI! 

PM:  13 miles on bike trail w/6x3:00 min @ LT pace w/60sec float rest.  Perfect weather for this run with 50's and little to no wind.  The run felt a little flat today.  I think it's because I cut out my doubles this week to see if that alleviates some of the achillies tightness I've been experiencing.  It might be working because I had zero achillies pain today.  My mile paces weren't as fast as last week, but I tried to stay more within letting the pace come to my legs vs. run myself to a death march today.  Paces:  5:44,5:43,5:53,5:35,5:39,5:44

Lunch:  Coach J routine

PM 1    8.31 miles easy recovery running

PM 2    Lifts

Lunch 3.1 miles around school neighborhoods at a leisurely pace.

PM:  8.08 miles at a moderate pace + 6x8 sec. all-out hill sprints.  Reasonable temps in the 30's today, with little to no wind.

The achilles seemed to do well with the double run today, so thats promising.  I'll be sticking to the 10% mileage increase rule going forward.  I'm way too close to a setback to be hero with my training volume.  Hopefully, I'll have enough volume to get another marathon PR at Boston.

Evening:  9 miles easy to moderate pace, temps around 35 and light wind out of the North.  + core and light lifts

Afternoon: 20.53 mile run w/4 miles at marathon pace. Awesome weather, sunny, 43, light wind out of the North. Marathon pace miles slower than I wanted, but to my credit I was fighting some GI issues. Last 4 miles were 6:24 w/big up hill and major gut rot, 6:09 flat bike trail w/mental block of gut rot, 6:06 flat bike trail w/numb legs (weird - don't know why that happened) & gut rot, 6:17 w/2 good size hills and painful gut rot that at this point I was unable to mentally block out. A successful run in terms of how I managed my achilles problems this week. To finish a hard long run with no pain is a major step in the right direction! Although, I've got to get my nutrition for the long run figured out, I definitely loss some time with the gut pain!

Evening:  4.69 easy miles 7:01 pace in my new fire engine red Lunarlons.

Afternoon:  Core & Lifts

Evening:  8.66 miles easy pace + 4x10sec. all out hill sprints + some more lifts

Afternoon:  Coach J workout

Night:  15.28 miles w/7x3:00 min @ LT pace w/60 sec. rest.  Did these at night on random in town route where I could find some street lights.  Went 5:54 uphill, 5:50 uphill, 5:54 uphill, 5:44 flat, 5:40 flat, 5:32 flat, 5:50 uphill.  Paces were about the same average as last week, but with tougher terrain, so I'm happy with the effort.  Wind was swirling around town making much of these also against the wind.  Much colder than its been, but dry footing. Temp 21

Morning:  Core + Lifts

Evening:  8 miles easy

Afternoon:  3 miles easy.  Here's an interesting study.  I like the part that says if it ain't broke don't fix it!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/why-runners-get-injured/?ref=health

Evening:  7.5 miles easy (more easy than I wanted - the achilles gave me a little trouble on the run)  It seems like it acts up for a few days after I do my medium long run with intervals.  I thought I was past it since my 20 mile with mp on Sat. went well with no pain.  I may have to go to 1 quality day a week if I can get it back on track doing singles.  Its limiting my buildup, but my overall fitness feels good so I'm not really too woried about it at this point.   

Evening:  5 miles on the treadmill, trying not to aggrevate achilles by running in the slippery snow.

 Not a great day for a race with -15 degree windchill and winds topping 30 mph.  Roads were slippery with slush and snow, but traction was good enough for a 28:40.  This is technically a race distance PR by 35 sec.  I never really felt like I went into the red for more than a 1/4 mile in this race.  I didn't try to hold back, but it just kind of worked out where I had A LOT left in the tank.

I did a 2 miles warm-up, which never really did warm me up.  I couldn't feel my toes until about the 2 mile marker in the race.  The race starts on a hill, which then heads out with the wind for about 3/4 of a mile and then turns up a .1/2 mile long hill into the wind with a 180 degree turn at the top to go back down the hill.  I got out to a slow start off the line to ensure I didn't loose my footing down the steep start hill and I also wanted to make sure I felt out the achilles that has been causing me some pain the past couple of days.  Everything checked out to be good to put in a solid effort up the hill.  I worked myself into 5th place and drafted up the hill into the wind.  The mile split was a 5:36, which felt very comfortable. 

As I approached the 180 degree turn I slowed down quite a bit to make sure I didn't slip.  As I came down the hill Nick in 4th put a surge to try and catch the other 3 guys.  I went with him and stayed on his shoulder down the hill and back up another small hill for a 2 mile split of 5:31. 

The course took a 90 degree turn, which made for a little ice skating around the turn, but I managed to stay upright and accelerate out of the turn to stay with Nick.  At this point Nick and I had gained little to no ground on the 3 leaders. 

The 5:31 felt great, but the next mile with the wind wasn't as strong of a mile as I was hoping it would be splitting a 5:36 going slightly uphill. 

I think this got me a little discouraged because Nick made a move up a hill and I didn't respond like I normally would have.  We made another 180 degree turn back into the wind.  Nick gapped me about 10 seconds and 6th had caught me.  So rather than fight with the wind I tucked behind into 6th place and let the other guy buck the wind for the next 2 miles. 

I was hoping that we would overtake Nick, but instead my wind blocker slowed me down to a 5:51 4th mile!  Ouch!! that was slow and it felt slow to me, but I can't imagine how much harder that mile would have been running on my own into the wind (I wish I would have tried to find out). 

Unfortunatly, I became complacent on the pace and continued to draft into the wind for a 5:48 5th mile.  With about 300 m  to go I surged finishing in 4:55 mile pace up the hill and into the wind out kicking my wind blocker. 

I finished feeling like I hadn't raced at all!  I felt way too good.  I'm happy about the PR, but I'm not happy with the effort.  I should have run those last 2 miles much harder and had use some guts to take on the wind or surge to run with Nick.  I can't complain when I get a PR, but it certainly wasn't my best effort.   

Finished with a 6 mile cooldown.

Night:  4.8 mile shakeout on the treadmill 

Morning:  Lifts + Core + 10 min bike (runners knee is super sore)

Afternoon:  Coach J exercises + some more core

Evening:  3.5 miles on the treadmill, kept this run short and very slow like 11:00 min pace, the knee wouldn't allow any faster until I got to about 2 miles where I picked up to 10:00 min miles.  Very slippery outside today, I'm glad I made the choice to use the treadmill because I could set the incline up to put less strain on the knee. 

If I wasn't training for Boston I wouldn't have ran the race on Sat., but I felt I needed a test to really see how the achilles and knee are handling the training volume and intensity.  The result is not good, this means I'll have to reduce intensity since that seems to do the most damage.  Looks like slow running for the next training cycle.  In all retrospect I should have never tackled Boston this year, but I signed up before the Monumental and paid my way, so no bailing now, just got to roll with it.  I also think it's time to think about going up a little on my heel lift for my short right leg.  The doc said I'm 1.5 cm short and I'm using a .25 cm lift, acceptable range is 1.25 cm short, so I'm just within that range, but I wonder if more lift is needed.

Evening:  5 miles easy on treadmill - I've got a cold :( - boring slow pace.

Afternoon:  Coach J workouts + Core

Evening:  8.2 miles Slow pace with a nasty head cold, started out slow enough where the knee didn't bother me and I ran outside on clear footing.  Tired, not sleeping well. Few strength lifts, not much energy though

Afternoon:  Lifts + Core

Evening:  10 miles no watch, no achillies or knee pain

Afternoon:  Coach J exercises + Core

Evening:  8.5 miles + 5x10 sec hill sprints

Morning:  3 mile warm-up, knee a little sore on the warm-up.  Didn't bother me during the race though.  The achilles did well during the race, warm-up and cooldown.  I tweaked the hamstring a little in the race, but nothing too bad.  Wow- that was quite the injury report!

Not a bad day for racing in WI this time of year, temps in the low to mid 30's, 10 mph wind out of the North.  The race starts off on a steep hill then takes a sharp right after a 100 meters making for a tricky start, but the rest of the course was rolling hills on a 1 loop 5K (actually 3 miles not a 5K).  They advertised the race as a 10K, but my Garmin and several others show 6 miles.  I hate it when race directors mess up on distances.  There is really no good excuse for it, a lot of people are paying money for an honest course.  So anyway the mile markers were all off distance. 

I got off to a comfortable 5:40 1st mile with it being mostly downhill and with the wind.  This exactly what I was shooting for and I figured it would be a pace to try and average for my current fitness.  I was sitting in what I thought was 6th, but later learned one of the leaders was just a pacer for the 1st 5K.

I came through the 2 mile in 5:37 going mostly uphill and at this point I made a move to catch the two leaders because I kept seeing them looking back, it motivated me to run a little harder.  The runners around me happened to be UW-Whitewater Alums that recognized me from my 1st year of collegiate running.  They remembered me, but I didn't recognize or remember them, which made feel like an ass.  To my credit memories did come back after the race.

Through the 3 mile it was now 1 leader, my fellow alums Ruffalo, Kyceke and myself.  I managed to lead our pack to about 5 sec. behind the lead runner, but the wind and hill took a toll on me as I slowed to a 5:42. for the 3rd mile. 

The leader put in a solid surge dropping Ruffalo and myself while Kyceke dropped off about 10 sec. behind us.  I came through mile 4 in 5:34 (same downhill as the 1st mile) as we now started the 2nd lap of the 3 mile loop. 

Between mile 4 and 5 Ruffalo who in his prime was a 2:25 marathon 31 10K guy dropped me.  I maintained a smooth efficient effort, but I was lacking the threshold endurance to keep the 5:40 pace dropping back to a 5:45 pace now going into the wind and up hill.  So sitting in 3rd place I thought if I can just stay relaxed through this portion I'll get some downhill for the last mile and maybe I can recover and surge for a strong finish.  As I was thinking this a different runner passed me like I was standing still.  I went with, but the left hamstring was tight and when I surged to go with I felt it tweak.  I backed off a little as we finished the long hill climb and lost 10 seconds on 3rd place. 

I maintained the same effort through mile 5 splitting a 5:46 and by now I knew it was damage control and no miracle surge to catch 3rd place.  My last mile slightly downhill with the steep finishing hill was a 5:49 for a final time of 34:05 for 6 miles.

I was disappointed with the last 2 miles, but I ran stronger than last week and improved my average pace to 5:41, which is only a couple seconds off my best of 5:39 for the 10K.  I debated running this race because the knee gave me trouble after last weekends race.  I also don't normally like to race two weekends in a row, plus an 8K/10K back to back isn't ideal.  However, I had someone to watch Jameson and the next two weeks doesn't hold any potential races in my area.  So, with basically the whole week being low volume and easy running I thought maybe I could make the best of the situation by getting in a race on fresh legs, but also use it as my threshold/speed work for the week.  It worked out to be an excellent effort and I can tell this down week and the back to back weekend racing really opened some doors for me.  I'm excited to get back after the volume and marathon pace running for the next couple of weeks as I inch closer to Boston.   

Night:  5 mile easy shake out

Afternoon:  14.55 miles on Glacial River Trail out and back.  The legs felt peppy and the stride was smooth.  Best of all ZERO pain in the knee and achilles.

Morning:  7 miles in town loop

Afternoon:  Core + Lifts

Evening:  8.11 miles Glacial River Trail East

Afternoon:  Coach J routine

Evening:  14.63 miles w/ a few faster miles to finish off the end of the run.  Just planning to keep this week full of easy running to let my body absorb the race from Sat.  I might do some mp training in my long run this weekend depending on how my body handles the 30% mileage increase.  So far the body is doing really well with easy running, no muscle soreness. 

Morning:  6.14 miles in town loop

Afternoon:  Core + Lifts

Evening 8.47 miles in the country through rain, sleet, snow, finished in the rain. 

Afternoon:  Coach J workout (15 donkey kicks, 15 fire hydrants, 15 clams, 15 fwd knee circles, 15 bkwd knee circles, 15 straight leg circles clockwise, 15 straightl leg circles counterclockwise, 15 donkey whips, 15 lateral leg lifts toe neutral, 15 lateral leg lifts toes down, 15 lateral leg lfits toes up, 20 groiners, 20 scorpions, 20 iron crosses, 20 hurdle exchanges, 15 lateral leg swings, 15 straight leg swings, 15 bent knee leg swings, 15 v-ups, 15 l-ups, 1 min of air bike  into 1 min of crunch)  I skipped some exercises today due to laziness.

Evening:  6 miles very very slow, body is feeling the 4 straight days of 15 miles coming off the 10K this past weekend. 

Morning:  20 miles w/6 miles uptempo.  Cold wind out of the north today made for a challenging run.  Managed to build into this tempo with 6:48,6:33,6:32,6:18,6:12,6:06 running into the wind.  I can tell the marathon specific fitness isn't there yet, but I guess that's what the next 7 weeks of training is for.

Morning: 3 miles on the treadmill to shake out the legs + core work and a few lifts

Afternoon:  7.2 miles in town to avoid the 20-30 mph wind gusts. 

Morning:  15 miles around Janesville while Jen and Jameson did the grocery shopping.  Average pace 7:05 with swirling winds, seemed like I couldn't catch a tail wind today. 

I had an eventful night due to a possible break in our home.  I went to bed around 8:00 feeling kind of lousy; I woke up with my 3^rd head cold in the past 3 months.  Jen locked up the house and was 100% sure she locked everything up.  Around midnight the alarm started going off, I ran across our bed leaped into the hallway ready for battle.  As I went running down our hallway I caught my shoulder on Jameson's door frame, which now aches.  I managed to stay on my clumsy feet as I flew into the kitchen yelling what most movie directors would consider an outstanding war cry, to find our door from the house to the garage and basement door open.  I heard no footsteps or commotion, but grabbed the phone and immediately dialed 911.  I shut the basement door and threw the latch on it in case someone was in the house.  The police showed up in less than 5 minutes and did a search around the parameter of the house.  An officer did a search in garage and basement.  All other doors were locked and secure with no sign of forced entry.  The garage door was shut and from the time the alarm went off to me flying into the kitchen I'm guessing it was less than 10 seconds!  I learned today that when my fight or flight response is activated I'm 100% a fighter!  Although, I'm pretty sure my fight would have been useless if the intruder had more dangerous intentions.  Jen still claims she locked all the doors; however with no forced entry into our garage I think this was a false alarm.  My best guess is that after Jen locked the doors Jameson went around and unlocked them when she was getting ready for bed.  The wind was blowing hard so if the door wasn't fully shut a draft might have blown it open.  Needless to say neither of us got much sleep.  We have both been on edge due to a neighbor having a break in last year. 

So with lack of sleep, Jen being on edge, and the head cold I decided to skip out on my teacher conference and run a 15 miler instead :-)  I had to sneak this one in a different city though; Fort is too small to take the risk of someone seeing me out running while I'm supposedly at home too sick! 

 Night Run:  3.7 very easy with Jen and Jameson in the stroller.  + Coach J routine

Afternoon:  Core exercises and lifts

Night:  12 miles relaxed easy pace 7:48 avg.

Afternoon:  3.5 miles + 6 strides

Night:  8 easy miles 

Morning:  5 easy miles on the treadmill

Afternoon:  Coach J exercises, core, and lifts

Decided my body needed a break today and so I skipped my evening run.  I probably would have run, but Jen didn't get home until late, which left me a small window to get a solid run and then get to bed early enough to get my 8 hours of sleep.  I've become afraid to push the stroller w/Jameson now that he weighs 40 lbs!  The stroller really messes with the stride.  I can't afford to mess with my stride due to all the nick knack sore spots I have right now.   

Afternoon:  Core

Evening:  6 miles easy running through 3-5" of snow

Afternoon:  22 miles on country roads battling a 15 mph N wind and rolling hills.  Ran the last 8 at an up tempo pace (not quite mp pace, but not easy pace either).  The last 8 were all into the wind or fighting with a cross wind & lots of hills: 6:25, 6:53, 6:45, 6:50, 6:34, 6:35, 6:36, 6:37.  Avg. Run pace 7:07

I'm praying don't get the 24 hr. flu my wife just went through.  Trying to keep my hands away from my eyes and I'm washing 24/7.

Night:  4.5 on the treadmill

Afternoon:  7.5 miles Star School to Glacial River Trail

AM:  6.44 miles very very easy

Afternoon:  Lifts

PM:  8.2 miles easy + 3 hill sprints 

Afternoon:  Coach J Exercises

Evening:  14 miles (7:53 avg) w/ 8x200m /200m float recovery {40.0, 40.7, 40.0, 38.4, 39.1, 37.9, 37.5, 37.1} Temps 65!

AM:  7.15 miles (8:31 pace), Temps @ 5:30 51!

Afternoon:  Strength Training

PM:  6.73 miles w/last 4 pushing the stroller (7:51 pace) Temps 58 - the past 2 days have been record highs

Afternoon:  3.1 miles no watch

Evening:  2 miles then  4x10 sec. hill sprints, grabbed the stroller and ran out to Jameson's daycare then ran another couple of miles to finish with 7.24 miles (7:45 pace)

I decided to take this week easy in terms of intensity since I'm up around my current danger zone of volume leading to injury.  I also have had a lot of sore spots that don't seem to be getting better.  Hopefully, the strides and hill sprints will be enough to maintain the neuromuscular coordination. 

Morning:  4.96 miles pushing Jameson out to day care and back to school w/out the stroller - cold North wind today!

Afternoon:  Coach J Exercises + leg lifts + core exercises

Evening:  9.09 miles around Fort (7:41 pace)

Morning:  23.5 miles - 8.5 miles w/ Chris on Blue trail to Ice Age Trail out and back.  Took some water and went out for another 9 miles on the rest of the blue trail alone.   After 16 miles of single and double track trail running the quads were beat up for my tempo on the road.  Started the tempo into the wind with a 6:36 at the 1/2 way point I made the turn at the bike shop and got a nice boost running with the wind to split a 6:06.  I was feeling great so, I put the pedal down for a 5:36 last mile all with the wind on slightly rolling roads.  Finished up with a coolddown on the purple nordic trail + 4 hard striders.  The trails were just starting to get muddy toward the end of the run, otherwise just some ice in shaded areas that I was able to navigate around.

It was really nice to have a running partner and I really enjoyed the trails. Last time I ran those trails was with Andrea from the blog.

Evening:  2.70 customary long run day shakeout  

Evening:  9.38 miles East River Rd loop (7:24) pace on a nice 60 degree evening.  I'm looking forward to more weather like tonight!  Feeling really good today considering how many miles I ran yesterday at the end of the a 100 mile week.  The low intensity week did a lot of good for my body and mind.

AM:  6 miles (7:57) on a nice 53 degree morning.

Afternoon:  Lifts

Evening:  8 miles + 5 10 sec. hill sprints

Afternoon:  Coach J Exercises

Evening:  13.96 miles w/6x400 cut downs 1:25,1:24,1:22,1:21,1:21,1:18.  These felt easy, but the legs were really flat today. 

AM:  5.2 miles out to Jameson's daycare and back to school

Afternoon:  Lifts & Core

Evening:  9.7 miles out to pickup Jameson at daycare and back home - temps hit 79 today!  Unbelievable - normal high is 40 this time of the year, most of the time it's in the 30's with snow.  It's going to be in the 70's through next week!  I picked the perfect year to train for Boston.

Afternoon:  Coach J Exercises, Lifts, Core

Evening: 2 mile warm-up run over to middle school track, then ran 6x200m cut downs going [37.1, 37.6, 34.6, 33.8, 31.5, 29.8].  I felt like I could have run these quite a bit faster, but that wasn't the idea.  Just working on neuromuscular coordination and trying not to over do it for my 5K/10K double this weekend.  Ran 2 miles home dropped off the flats and grabbed a drink of water.  Then off to Jameson's daycare and back for 10.76 miles.

Morning:  5.2 out to daycare and back to school - very nice morning

Afternoon:  Med ball work, Coach J

Evening:  6.01 out to daycare and back home - nice 75 degree day :-)

Big day tomorrow 5K/10K race double - hopefully my body will hold up to the abuse!

5K Report

This was my 1^st ever attempt at a 5K/10K double and I must say it was actually a lot of fun!  Temps were in the mid 60’s, absolutely unbelievable for March in WI.  So conditions were what I would consider perfect for this time of the year.

 The course was very hilly and we had a tough wind to run against up the hills, which made both races challenging.  The 5K is a loop course that climbs a large long hill into the wind 1 time and the 10K does the 5K loop twice.  The rest of this course is slight ups and downs.  We either had the wind with us or against us in both races.  The hill really wasn’t much of a factor because we ran down it an equal amount of times as we went up it with the loop format of this race.  I really like the loop format, it gives you a lot of crowd support, it’s good for spectators, and it psychologically feels easier to me.  I’m not sure why?  The course on the 5K and 10K both had an inner shorter loop and a longer outer loop.

5K Course profile: 

10K Course profile:

The 5K started at 9 am and the 10K was suppose to start at 9:30, but the race director planned the 5K to loop through the 10K start and so of course not all the 5K runners finished in less than 30 minutes.  We actually started the race at 9:50 as we all waited for all the 5K runners to cross through the start.  I didn’t mind the extra rest timeJ. 

My day started off a little hectic because I woke up late.  I packed last night so, I wouldn’t have to worry about finding everything in the morning.  Good thing I did or I probably would have missed the start of the 5K.  In the process I forgot to grab my Garmin off the charger, so this race report won’t include splits.  I’m kind of glad I didn’t have a watch because it allowed me to run by feel, it was a very free feeling and probably kept me more relaxed through all the hills and wind.  I managed to get in a .5 mile warm-up with the short amound of time. 

My goal was top 5 in both races and at least a PR in the 5K and a strong effort in the 10K with whatever I had left in the tank. 

The 5K started off with a group of 5.  I was feeling very relaxed sitting in 5^th running off everyone’s energy.  I was trying to conserve every ounce of my own energy in this 1^st race.  The 1^st mile does a small loop and then heads back through the start/finish area and past it for another loop in the opposite direction against the wind.  The 1^st mile was equal wind against/with and about equally up and down.  It was the fastest split I’ve run in any race in my post collegiate running.  In fact I’ve never even run a 5:10 mile in a workout post collegiately. 

The 2^nd mile our pack began to break up and I moved into 3^rd place about a second back from the leader.  The 2^nd mile goes with the wind down a big hill that takes us past the turnaround of the inner loop.  Down the hill with the wind felt great ;-) !!  I have no idea what this split was, but if I had to guess it was faster than the 1^st mile.  The course has a short section of flat at the bottom of the big hill then turns back into the wind to climb the big hill.  Into the wind up the big hill was quite a workout.  I focused on staying strong, but relaxed as I climbed what seemed forever…  At the top of the hill I was in 3^rd right on 2^nd place.  I felt pretty gassed in the lungs, but found my legs were really strong (got to love that marathon strength).  The 1^st place runner gapped us on the hill by about 8-10 seconds.

The 3^rd mile was slightly up hill into the wind and 2^nd place put a strong surge in with .75 miles to go.  I responded, but couldn’t shift into that next gear to stay with him.  I finished with what I would consider a 6 out of 10 kick in 16:22 – a 30 second post collegiate PR!  It was the 1^st 5K I’ve officially raced since I started running again in 2010.  The only thing I could base it off of was my split from the Literacy Network 10K last fall.  Hard to believe I hadn’t run any other 5K’s.  I need to run more of these; it was a lot of fun to run fast!!

I rate this race as 8 out of 10.  I simply lacked the strength to shift into that finishing gear I know I’m capable of.  I think it’s more of a mental thing than physical thing, which is better than the other way around in my opinion.  My avg. pace was 5:17 according to the final results.  To run that fast on marathon legs on that course is a BIG jump in fitness for me.  Best of goal #1 accomplished!

I went inside to change bibs, grab a water and chow on some snacks.  Lucky for me they had my favorite candy – Snickers!  I had two mini Snickers and went back outside to cheer on the other finishers.  I did a little stretching, but mainly just kept walking and doing some light jogging along the course.  My legs felt fully recovered after about 10 minutes and the extra rest time wasn’t really needed, but it probably did help a little with the water and food intake I was able to gulp down between races a little more slowly than I would otherwise had without time delay. 

On to the 10K for more punishing fun! 

 10K report below

They managed to squeeze the 10K start between some of the finishers in the 5K and the leader took the pace out fast leaving me leading a chase pack of 2 others.  Again going with the wind was nice ;-)  The 10K inner loop was a little longer than the 5K loop, which through me for a little surprise.  We actually ran ½ way down the big hill and had to do a 180 degree knee knocking turn.  Back into the wind we climbed.  With no watch I just kept my eyes on the leader.  He had about a 10-15 sec. lead through mile 1.

After looping through the start/finish to lots of nice cheers we did another 180 degree turn about a ½ mile in the opposite direction of where we came from (rest of the course was just like the 5K x 2).  Before the Big hill there is a medium size hill that gets the legs burning and on that hill the two guys behind me pulled in front of me, but I was able to respond with their increase of pace.

When we hit the Big downhill I let the legs open up and gapped the two other runners a good 5-10 seconds based on cheers from the crowd.  I actually pulled up about 5 seconds behind the leader who looked to be struggling. 

I made another 180 degree turn back into the wind.  When we made the turn I think the leader was really surprised to see me right there!  He made a significant surge on the flat leading up to the big hill climb.  I should have gone with him, but I starting to feel dizzy I hurled up my Snickers.  My concentration was clearly broken for a good ½ mile.  I stayed strong on the long hill climb into the wind.  My thoughts were #1 I’m never eating Snickers before or during a race again and #2 this hill is no fun the 3^rd time around.

As came to the top of the hill (which is about the mile 3 marker), I was still disoriented.  I think it was motion sickness, but I’m no doctor.  My pace must have slowed down quite a bit because the 2 guys caught me as we came through the start/finish area and the leader now had a good solid lead of 20-30 seconds. 

Mile 4 I grabbed a cup of water thinking I maybe I was dizzy due to dehydration, although in the back of my mind I knew that wasn’t the case.  It did serve good for washing out my vomit mouth – ick!  As we made the 180 degree turn to do 1 more outer loop one of the two behind me pulled up behind me.  We were now running with the wind and for whatever reason I started to feel better.

I continued to lead through mile 4 up the medium hill and down the Big Hill.  I actually opened another small gap on the Big Hill, but it was short lived as my competition (Kyle) surged to catch me at the last 180 degree turn.  I took a quick peak to see where what would be 4^th place was and he was a good 15 seconds back.  I knew I was strong enough to finish in 3^rd place with a little over a mile to go, but I had the challenging Big Hill into the wind to contend with for one last time for the day. 

Kyle and I ran neck to neck up the hill and I could tell he was struggling.  I felt very controlled up the hill and I was breathing less hard than Kyle, but I was really feeling it in my legs this time around!  When we hit the top of the hill we both made a move.  We had about ¾ of a mile with the medium downhill and then slightly up hill into the staging area.  We flew down the medium hill at a fast clip and I knew when we hit the bottom of the hill Kyle was going to make a move.

Kyle made the move I predicted and I went with him for about a .25 mile, but I just couldn’t hang with his close as he got me by about 7 seconds with the leader finishing about 40 seconds ahead, Kyle 2^nd, and myself in at 3^rd for a 35:12 – a 10 second PR. 

I was really happy with the two 3rd place race finishes and ecstatic about the 2 PR’s off of virtually no taper in mileage this week!   Plus I accomplished goal #2 and met a new runner that I’ll see in Boston.  I rate this race a 8 out of 10.  I'm just lacking that it factor at the end, but I'm making leaps in fitness as I climb out of my 9 year hibernation from running. 

Kyle ran for the Badgers about 10 years ago, which would put him close to my age.  He was a 5-6 man for the Badgers CC team back in his best years.  He’s run Boston 6 times with his best last year in 2:37 on that monster tail wind.  He says it took him 6 years to figure out to run Boston with is worst a 3:12 and numerous others in the 2:40’s even running a 2:47 on an injured foot from training.  His strategy is to jog the 1^st mile – it’s his slowest mile (about 5-10 seconds off of normal pace, but with the downhill he says it feels like a jog).  He says the rest of the race is marathon pace or a little slower always error on the slow side to conserve energy for the hills.  He says it also helps to keep the quads from getting beat up.  I would imagine he and I will be about the same pace, so I might employ a similar type of strategy.

The race was well organized.  Other than the debacle of having the 5K loop through the 10K start.  My hardware for the effort is two matching dinner plates as trophies. 

Finished with what I think was a 7 mile cool down based on the clock I saw in the lobby?

Evening:  4.5 miles w/Jameson in town route - perfect temps and calm winds.

Evening:  9.7 miles on the single track Ice Age Trail with Chris.  It was hot and sticky outside, but I managed to do well over the twisty hills.  Lots of ups and downs.  I can tell the quads and upper hamstrings are sore from the racing yesterday.  I imagine they'll be in rough shape tomorrow too.

AM:  7.06 miles on Glacial River Trail.  I wanted to run on some flat stuff, the hills these past couple of days have really taken a toll on my quads.  Hopefully, they'll be tough enough for Boston.  This week will be focused on easy recovery running with some fast strides.  I'll try to keep the volume up though.  I'm hopeful I'll bounce back from this double to run a really fast 8K and earn a 3rd PR for the week.

Afternoon:  Core & Lifts

Morning:  7 miles in Seabring Florida, beautiful weather Temp 65 mild humidity (7:49 pace)

Afternoon:  18 holes of golf riding a cart with Dad

Evening:  8 miles nice temps mild humidity (7:32 pace) + Core

AM:  14.13 miles progression run.  Last 2 6:37, 6:15 (Avg 7:37).  Hot and humid this morning.

Afternoon:  Fishing for bass - caught nothing, but had a great time with Dad.

Evening:  More golfing :-)

Morning:  4 miles by the orange orchards.

Afternoon: 18 holes golf riding a cart with Dad. 

Evening: 9.5 mile progression run (8:36, 7:53, 7:34, 7:24, 7:12, 7:06, 6:56, 6:41, 6:30 last .5 6:48) One thing about Florida is it's flat as a pancake and that makes these progression runs considerably easier. There are also a lot of dirt roads around the orange orchards so it's a lot easier on the legs.  Heading home tomorrow and then off to Chicago with the family for the race.  Should be a fun weekend.

Morning:  6 miles on dirt roads around the orange orchards.  Nice temps.   

Morning:  6 miles w/4x200 (36, 36, 33, 33)

Morning:  4.2 slow miles - ate too much for breakfast.  I was really worried about the state of my gut.  However, I woke up early enough where the food didn't have an effect on the race. 

We drove into Chicago just barely making the expo to pick up my packet at Navy Pier.  It was a very nice expo, lots of vendors, and lots of free stuff (like free training singles).  After the expo we drove over to the Congress Hotel which is right across from Grant Park where the race starts and finishes.  The Congress set us up with reservations at Chicago's premier Italian Steakhouse.  Jen and I both rated Italian Village a 10 out 10 for service and taste!

I woke up to perfect temps of 58-62 degrees with little to no wind and sunny skies.  I figured the winner would be running low 23's today.  The field was stacked.  Abdi Abdaramm was present along with many other fine elites.  Plus the BoA does a Club Elite race where the winning team takes home 20 grand, so the field was very stacked.  The Club Elites had their own tent and bathrooms.  I unfortunately, had to use a tree in the open like the other 150 elite runners.  It's very odd to see a bunch of grown men defecating on almost every tree in sight. 

They announced the race to be the largest ever assembled field for an 8K in the world topping something like 35,000 runners. 

The course is pancake flat with a few bridge rises over some of the waterways.  Otherwise, the only factor is the winds gps confusing buildings and swirling winds.  The winds were very mild in terms of Chicago winds.  They don't call it the Windy City for nothing.  Because the buildings mess with the gps my avg. split pace was all out of whack the whole race.  I think my watch figured it all out around mile 4, but I'm not certain.  Nonetheless, I'll go by what the Garmin gave me for splits when recapping the race.

The race stated at 8:30 sharp for wave 1.  Since I was in wave one with the elites my time would be gun time, so I started right next to Abdi and the rest of the best runners in the world.  I figured so what if my first .1 is a little faster than I wanted.  Plus the start was almost 5 lanes in width, which pretty much gave plenty of room for everyone to get a clean start.

My first mile felt like I was running an all out 200 meter dash and my breathing was very labored, but I told myself KEEP THE PEDAL DOWN, DON'T LOOSE FOCUS MID RACE, YOUR ENDURANCE WILL MAINTAIN YOUR SPEED, KEEP THE WEIGHT FORWARD, KEEP THE SHOULDERS RELAXED.  I pretty much had one or all of those thoughts going throughout the race.  My goal was to finish with a super hard kick and hopefully find myself in the 26's.  The mile split on the Garmin shows 5:02 only 12 seconds off my post collegiate PR mile Pr.  I actually never looked at my 1st mile split because I decided not to look at the watch knowing it would be much faster than I really wanted.

My 2nd mile split was crazy low for me and I still don't believe is accurate, but it was slightly downhill for a 4:48.  Yet, a lot of runners were still pulling away from me.  I was really  redlining it here.

My 3rd mile is way off for a split of 4:18 - Yeah right!  It started to thin out a little in this mile, but I always had 2 or 3 other runners around me.  The 4th place female came up alongside me and she and I were battling it out for a good 1/2 mile before I finally put a strong press on her.  From about 3.75 miles in I would only be passed by 1 runner as I hunted down victims of the fast early pace.

My 4th mile was a hard mile!  I was focusing on passing as many people as I could hunt down.  It was really a lot of fun, each person I passed gave me more fuel for the fire.  Again I believe this split is off - going 4:58.  I remember my legs burned really bad through this mile.  The crowd was so loud, people were really into the race.  The spectators were awesome, except for the unfortunate event that happened in the 5th mile. 

My 5th mile came by the Congress Hotel were Jen had missed me come by because another elite runner seconds ahead of me was cut off by a spectator sending him crashing into the curb as they tangled legs.  He got up limping and had to stop apparently because his hip was either broken, out of place, or both.  Race staff quickly swarmed the area and put up barricades, but the damage was already done.  I must admit the BoA did an amazing job running this race, extremely well organized 10 out of 10 in my opinion, but even with all the barricades there is no way to control the size of the crowd.  The course was wall to wall spectators with a predicted amount of 60+ thousand watching the race.

This last mile I really focused on increasing the effort and I just let the legs fly.  My breathing was extremely heavy and the legs burned more than I've felt in 10 years.  Not since my college days have I felt such a burn.  We had to climb a bridge overpass and then turn toward the finish.  My Garmin read 5:21 - off again.  The last .36 reads 5:01.  I rate my kick an 8.75 out of 10, not quite to my standards yet.  I'm making improvements though.  I did pass 1 or 2 in that final 300 meter stretch.  My final time on the Garmin reads 26:15 and gun time was 26:18.  Nonetheless, it was my 3rd PR in 8 days and it was a MONSTER PR (2:42).  The time actually ties one of my best times from my sophomore year in college.  Last year I was running college freshman year times, this year I'm running college sophomore times.

The race effort was everything I could give.  It was my best effort and I have no doubts about it, which is a great feeling!  Now I have one big tempo workout and some smaller marathon pace workouts to fine tune the legs.

For anyone looking for an awesome race the BoA will not disappoint.  It has to be one of the best road races in the world.  

Cool down  8.3 along Lake Michigan at a good clip for the last 5 miles all under 7 min miles down to 6:30 per mile.  It's amazing how easy 6:30 feels after running that kind of race.

Spent the rest of the day with Jen and Jameson touring the city.  We visited the Science and Industry Museum, which was absolutely awesome!

I decided to take the morning off from running today to make sure I let the legs heal up from the race yesterday. 

Afternoon:  Core + Strength Exercises

Evening:  10.19 miles around Fort with the majority of miles (after warming up the legs) around or under 7 min. pace.

Evening:  14.05 miles looping around in the country on the way out to pick up Jameson from daycare and back home.  Met up with Jen on her run leaving her to push Jameson so I could finish up my run.  7:33 average pace on a very windy day.  I was kind of dragging today, probably due to the race.  Although, I'm not sore so maybe it was the lack of sleep last night.  My graduate program is kicking my ass right now.  My blogging time has seriously been hurt by my studies - bummer.

Coach J Exercises and Core

Morning:  5.19 miles easy around Fort.  I must have running on the brain because I totally forgot about my staff meeting this morning.  My principal wasn't too pleased, but I got a free pass since I'm involved in so many after school committees and activities.

Afternoon:  Core + Lifts

Evening:  9 miles out Hwy M and back - Added 2 hard down hill surges 

Afternoon:  4.5 miles w/4 hard hill sprints

Evening:  8.21 miles w/2.81 @ marathon pace doing a mile down w/100 m easy float pace between.  [1600m -5:58, 1200m- 4:26, 800m- 2:57, 400m- 1:27, 300m- 1:05, 200m- 42].  The goal today was to get a feel for goal marathon pace.  I'm not expecting to run even splits at Boston, but I want to get a good feel for what the effort feels like.  I did this on the track to help dial in the pace, it was windy and I did it in my trainers yet the pace felt what I would consider comfortable.  I also didn't want to do anything that would tax me too much.  I'm saving BIG effort for my 20 mile w/10 mile tempo this weekend.  Avg. Run pace 6:49  Finished with coach J exercises & core.  Trying desperately to hold back my excitement about Boston!

Evening:  No am run due to conflict with daycare and no afternoon run due to staff development, so that left with me just my evening run of 8.23 miles around Fort.

Morning:  Lots of fun today!  Ran with about 10 other teachers from Fort on the Glacial Drumlin Trail in Lake Mills.  It was really nice to have the company for a change.  Something I almost never have on my runs.  I'd say about 99% of my training and easy runs are alone.   One of the teachers is a UW-Whitewater Alum whom I ran with my freshman year at Whitewater before I transfered to Hamline.  I hadn't run with him for a good 10 years, so that was fun to catch up.  I know we are all planning to do more of these group runs, so I'm really looking forward to getting to know more of the runners. 

After 8 miles with the group I quickly changed into my Saucony Fasttwitch and continued up the trail another 2 miles where it goes out onto country roads for about a mile.  I decided that I would stick to the rolling hwy roads to simulate Boston on my 10 mile MP tempo rather than connect up with the flat gravel trail again.  The hwy I ran on was as close to a simulation as I could to the middle miles at Boston, slightly rolling and open to the winds, where I'll try to lock into my MP. 

Tempo miles went 6:14.4 (little slow), 5:52.5, 5:54.8, 5:58.6, 5:56.9, 5:59.9, 5:59.3, 5:49.6, 5:47.7, 5:21.3 = Avg. 5:53.5 tempo pace Avg run pace 6:55  I had a 8-10 mph wind either in my face or across me for 9 out of 10 miles, which I planned on purpose in case I meet that kind of weather in Boston.  All of the miles felt comfortable in terms of effort.  My right achilles struggled with the Fasttwitch shoes though.  I didn't experience any pain, but it got really tight.  I didn't use the heel lift today in an effort to see how it would do, but I'm thinking I may have to use the lift for it to survive the hills and longer distance at Boston. 

I felt like I could have easily extended this another 4 miles and I finished strong, which is a very good sign.  On a side note I also crushed my 10 mile race PR of 1:02 from last April running a 58:59 today.

The last BIG workout is done, now it's just taper and pace work with maybe a low key 5K next weekend.  Can you tell I'm excited?  You'd think I just wrote a race report :-)    

Afternoon: Golf

Evening:  5 miles on Glacial River Trail (7:25 pace)

AM: 5 miles around Fort.  I had a hard time getting started this morning 10:01 pace for the 1st mile.  Avg. 8:22  I was quite tired and hungry too.  Nonetheless, just rolled with what the legs and body gave me for the morning.  My wife and son are sick so I hope I'm not coming down with something.  I've successfully avoided getting sick the last two times they did by constantly washing my hands and using a long stick to keep them away :-)

Afternoon:  Lifts and Core

Evening:  8 miles to River Park (7:42 pace) 1st mile was only a little faster today @ 9:00 pace.  I just generally felt tired today.  Hopefully, some good sleep tonight will make a difference.   

Afternoon:  4 miles around observatory and industrial park - no watch. 

Evening:  9 mile light progression run on Glacial River Trail, worked my way down from an 8 min mile to 6:20 (Avg. run pace 7:01)

I'm really pulling the juggling act now that Track started.  School got out at 3 pm so I booked it home changed into my running and gear and was out the door by 3:20 (helps to only live a 1/2 mile from work).  Finished my run around 4:20, ate dinner then booked it over to pick up Jameson from daycare.  Then off to our 1st track practice of the year.  I'm head coaching 4th-8th grade track again this year.  I started the team 3 years ago and we've grown to 50 athletes, so I'm really excited about our chances at doing well as a team this year.  

Made it home by 7:30, ate some dinner and finished with a collaborate graduate class meeting Now I'm finishing some grades and I'll hopefully get my 8 hrs a sleep tonight!

Afternoon:  Lifts & Core

Night:  Had to get this one in after 7pm with all the meetings today.  Usually, I'm starting to wind down so my motivation was lacking.  Started with an 8:37 mile and worked down 7 min pace and ran the last 4.5 under 7 min pace with ease.  Avg run pace 7:17

Afternoon:  3.58 miles recovery run, not feeling very good (7:48 pace)

Evening:  7 miles recovery run (7:28 pace)  Took a fell miles to feel right.  Just felt off today.  I increased my food intake this evening to see if that balances things out.  The extra time coaching is an adjustment and I think it's ramped my calorie burn up.  I'm looking to a few days off work! 

AM:  quick 7 holes of golf before off to MN.  I woke up feeling under the weather.  I just generally felt worn down and tired.

PM:  long trip to MN to see the in-laws.  Still not feeling good, can't quite put my finger on why though.  Ran an easy 3 miles because I wanted to try out my new Nike Free 2.

Woke up this morning with a headache, so I think my wife and son's sickness finally caught up with me. I had been feeling off the past couple of days and I could tell today's race was not going to be my best. Nonetheless, I decided to drive over to St. Paul to around Lake Phalen.

The winds at the lake were around the 20-25 mph mark and unfortunately the course runs into the wind for the 1st and last miles. The 2nd mile features a very steep hill with a snake to the trail in the middle. My goal time of sub 16 quickly was changed to sub 17 figuring there wouldn't be much competition for a race of 600 people. Before the race I became nauseous and thought I was going to throw up. At this point I was thinking maybe this isn't such a good idea under these conditions. I reasoned that it's only a 5K and I'll probably be in control of the race.

At the start I noticed most of the top runners that I knew were running the 10K, which in my mind left me thinking I'll probably be running this on my own.

The 1st mile took us on a roller coaster path into the wind. I came through the mile in 5:18 with another runner drafting on me.

The 2nd mile turns with the wind. I reached the last 10K runners about 1.25 miles in and so I was dodging runners on a narrow path the rest of the way. I made a conscious effort to pick up the pace and I eventually couldn't hear any footsteps from the runner drafting on me. When I reached the steep hill I was sucking air pretty hard. When I got to the top all I could see was wall to wall people running on the trail down below. I found a crease between the bushes and the cliff just off the trail I was able to somehow navigate past the narrow parts of the path. My 2nd mile split at the bottom of the hill came out to a 5:22.

The 3rd mile was straight back into the wind. I was still weaving runners from the 10K, but it wasn't nearly as narrow, so I was able to find enough room off the path to get around. I was really having hard time breathing and felt like the wheels were starting to come off. My form was starting to suffer and I really was just trying to keep it together. The 3rd mile was a very curvy trail with poor footing and several wooden bridges that were slippery from the rain. I split a slow 5:34 mile for that last mile. The last .14 turned out to be: 42.2 for a 16:57. Not a fast close for me, but I was really just kind of on auto pilot with the race wrapped up knowing I was going to break 17.

All in all a great workout and probably a better effort than I could have done on my own. I just hope I start to feel better. I checked the weather and learned humidity was in the 90% range, so that explains the heavy breathing. I had a pounding headache and felt really dizzy for a good 10 minutes after the race. Feeling better now that I ate and drank a whole bunch of water. Time for a much needed nap!

AM:  6 miles easy pace around Fort.  (Avg 7:47 pace) Feeling better after my day off and 19.5 hours of sleep over the past few days.  I feel like I'm past the sickness.  Plus only running 13 miles over 3 days probably helped.  I think it's going to be a great taper week.

Afternoon:  Core Exercises

Evening: 7.54 miles on random route in Fort.  (Avg 7:05 pace) + 3 Hard hill reps.  Very windy today, but nice temps 55 degrees.

Morning:  3 miles easy on the treadmill

Evening:  7.06 miles around Fort - very windy today (7:47 Avg. pace)

Morning:  27 degrees this morning - felt good!  Ran with my friend Todd whom I helped qualify for Boston at the St. Charles IL marathon in October.  We'll be on the same flight out.  Looking forward to having a friend along for the journey. 

Afternoon:  Core and light lifts

This a good article about easy running and recovery.

 http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=18093&PageNum=1

Evening:  2 mile warm-up, 4x200 on 200 off going 37, 35, 33, 30, then 1 lap easy into a mile @ mp, w/ 1 mile cooldown.

 That's pretty much it for me, nothing very big this week.

Evening:  6 miles - no watch Glacial River Trail

 After overlooking my marathon progression since I started running:

3:07:40 Las Vegas = Avg miles of 49 per week for 10 week build up  

2:50:49 Grandmas = Avg miles of 59 per week for 20 week build up  

2:41:12 Indianapolis = Avg miles of 88.8 per week for 16 week build up (had to take 45 days of easy running due to injuries from this training cycle)

Ultimate goal is to break 2:35 @ Boston = Avg miles of 72.4 per week for 16 weeks

We'll see if the race more train less volume worked for this cycle. 

Evening:  Nice short run around Bunker Hill and US Constitution Ship.  Nice cool temps, too bad the race wasn't today, it would have almost been perfect.

Nice easy 4 miles with fellow bloggers Jake, Andrea, John (JG), Dan, & Rachelle around the Commons.  It was really neat to meet everyone.  The support from everyone on the blog is just like a team.  It's so nice to share some time with everyone.  

The legs felt great today, I'm hoping for the same tomorrow!  Looking forward to a cruise and a lunch at Quincy Market.  

The past few days have been a blast.  We did a trolley tour to check everything out yesterday.  That gave us the lay of the land.  We visited Fenway Park, MIT, and the Constitution.  I also got to meet Meb at the Expo.  It was a lot of walking, more than I wanted for the past 2 days.   Today the goal is to stay in the shade and stay OFF the feet as much as possible!  I think we're going to do a cruise and maybe call it a day.  I've got to conserve every bit of energy as possible for the terrible heat tomorrow.  Good news is maybe a fast tail wind.  

The goal is to stay on goal pace (5:55), but adjust at 10K if the heat is beating me up too much.  Considering the 1st 10K is mostly downhill I think that should be a safe plan.  So my range is 2:35-2:40, if I'm feeling good at 2:35 pace I may try a few miles at a faster pace after the 10K (5:48).  If I'm not feeling good I'll slow to a 2:37 (6:00) pace and hopefully maintain.  I plan to loose time through the Newton Hills.  My hope is that I won't loose more than 45-50 seconds on the hills.  It's going to be really important to keep an eye on the watch through the downhills so as not to run too fast.

Went through the hardest race I’ve ever faced in my lifetime.  The last 24 hours have been absolutely miserable.  Flu like symptoms kept me in bed sick as a dog last night.  I ran my 2^nd slowest ever marathon in 3:02.05 (about 25 minutes slower than I wanted) and wound up hooked to an IV, but I’m satisfied with the result!  It was my 1^st hot weather marathon and I stayed with my plan.  In hindsight my plan should have been different, but if you make a decision good or bad you’re the one that has to live with the results and I’m not discouraged.  It’s a learning process and if you race the marathon long enough it’s a matter of time before a humbling marathon becomes part of your race history. 

I must admit I was a little worried about this race being a blow up before I even started due to my inexperience of a hilly marathon course and even more lack of experience with nutrition and the heat was just an additional factor that no one could have predicted.  Who would have predicted it to be the 2^nd hottest Boston in history?   

Every marathon I’ve run I’ve failed to stay on pace and I haven’t quite found what works for my nutrition during the race.  The plan this time was 2 cups of water every water stop and electrolyte pills with GU gels every 4-6 miles or whatever my body could handle in the heat.  Of course this was all just a guess because the longest training run I did in this kind of heat was last summer!   My nutrition plan turned out to be a catastrophe!  I hydrated and ate well leading up to the marathon and I have no doubts about it.  During the race Ishould have been drinking the Gatorade instead of water.  At my last marathon the Gatorade was not sitting well, so I abandoned it for this one.  Big mistake!  The electrolyte pills weren’t enough.  I was on goal pace for about 10 miles when I started to run out of electrolytes and my body stopped absorbing the water.  Somehow I stayed tough and maintained a 6:02 pace through the ½ marathon mark, but I knew I was in trouble because shortly after 1/2 I felt my 1^st calf cramp.  I took the cramp as a warning sign.  I made a very smart decision to back off the pace and start switching over to 2 cups of Gatorade.

The damage had already been done though.  I would eventually fall to 7:30 pace and to eventually a walking pace when I experienced a very scary cramp that went up my neck into my head.  The cramp caused me to become dizzy and almost fall over.  I thought at 1^st I might be having a stroke when it 1^st came on.  I now think it was just a neck cramp that moved up along the back of my head, but it caused me to become disoriented.  It was a very scary feeling!  I walked it off and it came back one more time later in the race, but again I immediately started walking and it went away after a minute or so. 

I would also go on to walk several more times with cramping.  I have no doubt the switch to Gatorade was the only reason I was able to finish.  From mile 14 was a long slow race to the finish.  Something I’ll never forget.  It’s such a helpless feeling to be so far away from the finish with no gas left in the tank.

There’s an old saying that says death smiles at us all we can do is smile back.  My loving wife and friend’s family all took the train to mile 17 to cheer us on.  When I ran by them at mile 17 I pointed at my legs and yelled, “My legs are shot” and smiled at them.  The rest of the way I stayed focused on getting to the finish, but that was one moment I really enjoyed in the race.  My family had a miserable time getting around the course.  It was a long day for them.  I felt much love on a very miserable day not only from my family, but all of the amazing spectators, volunteers, and medical personnel.  The medical teams had the hardest job in the city, when I made the medical tent it had just reached 50% capacity.  When I left it was at 100% and the line to get in for medical attention was 200-300 feet of people sitting in wheel chairs with no shade available!  My friend Todd finished almost 2 hours above his qualifying time.  He said he say a lady fall down with her eyes rolled back in her head.  Spectators swarmed her immediately.  He said he saw another guy fall down at mile 26 and had to be wheel chaired away.  A spectator told me 95% of everyone finishing over 4.5 hours were walking.

My 2^nd marathon was the journey to our condo.  I barely made it back without the assistance of an ambulance.  I was in the tent for an hour and a half while I received an IV of fluids.  I felt a strong desire to get up and out of there because I could see the strain on the medical teams and I knew there had to be more people outside waiting to get in. 

After about an hour I struggled to get to my feet, but once I was up standing I was steady and feeling okay to walk.  I walked to the family area and found my wife and son.  I started feeling sick again, so I found a shady spot to lie down.   I would stay in that spot until about 5 pm.  I couldn’t get up; every time I did I would throw up or get dizzy. 

I was holding down the water and started taking down chips, so I knew I was on the upswing, but it took a LONG time to get back on my feet.  Once I eventually made it to the train and back home I was confined to a toilet and a bed the rest of the night with what I would call terrible flue like symptoms.  Jen thinks it was heat exhaustion to mild heat stroke due to the temperature swings I was experiencing last night.

From a competition standpoint I stayed on my goal pace through 10K  (5:57 pace) going 6:18, 5:52, 6:00, 5:48, 6:05, 5:48 for a 37:02 10K (All of these felt good, I was just rolling with the hills.  I had faster splits on the down hills and slower splits on the up hills, but everything was in check).  I did exactly what I wanted to do. 

The next 7 miles to the ½ went 5:54, 6:02, 5:56, 6:09, 6:12 (struggled with a side stitch), 5:58, 6:13 (legs were starting to fall apart here) for a 1:19:02 ½ marathon (6:02 pace).  I was still on pace to be in that 2:35-2:40 time range.

After the amazing high of the Wellesley college girls at around mile 14 I was seriously worried about hitting my goal, little did I know I’d soon be worried about finishing!  I went 6:20, 6:38, and 6:26 desperately trying to hang on for miles 14, 15, and 16. 

Mile 17 is when everything came crashing down on me for good.  I split a 7:16 and saw the family, which gave me a little boost going into the hills, but my legs couldn’t muster much.  Miles 18, 19, and 20 were 7:33, 7:32, and 7:44.

I was so out of it I didn’t even realize I ran heart break hill.  The next miles were 8:16, and 8:06.  I had to walk mile 23 and 24 because of the painful feeling up my neck into my head that made me dizzy enough to almost fall over.  These miles were 9:56 and 9:25.  My competitive edge got me going again when I saw a few Kenyans struggling to finish.  Mile 25 I managed 8:08 and my final mile came out to be a 7:16 as I found a stride that seemed to be holding of the cramping.  I crossed the finish line running 6:21 pace with leg cramps and walked to about where they handed out medals.  I started to feel like I was going to faint so I sat down in a wheel chair and I was off to the med tent. 

A character building marathon to say the least!    

Update on the race issues.  Two nights after the race I woke up at 3 am ran into the kitchen and compared the electrolyte pills with my vitamins.   I thought I was taking electrolytes during the race, but they were actually my calcium/magnesium/d3 vitamins.  I had mixed up my vitamins with the electrolytes!  That explains the nausea after the race and the reason I got heat stroke during the race.  I can't believe I could make that kind of mistake.  Unbelievable!   

3 miles around hilly charlestown.  84 degrees Hot!  (8:18) pace.  I guess the goodnews is I don't think I'll need a long downtime for this marathon.  The legs felt suprisingly strong, but the body wasn't digg'in the heat.  I'm leaving for home tonight with the family. 

Well I ran 6 miles around fort feeling good.  Another day or so and I'll be fully recovered.  I could have run a lot more today, but I'm getting more benefit keeping the volume reasonable.  Anything longer would be too much strain and anything shorter wouldn't help as much with flushing everything out. 

Long day with the teams' 1st track meet today right after school.  I noticed my concentration and mental focus was really out of wack today.  I'm probably still suffering from the nervous system shock I went through.  I'm still in pretty good spirits though.  Maybe it has to do with being balanced.  Today, I was reminded of why running is so important to me.  Everyone piled into the gym at the begining of school to applaud me for finishing the Boston Marathon.  Most everyone knew I went through a very difficult race out there.  I thanked them for the support.  I let them know that they gave me the strength to finish a very tough race on a very difficult day.  I also made sure to let them know how much they inspire me to be a runner.  It was very rewarding, more rewarding than any trophy or title I've ever won.  Perfect day for a game of track too!   60's and sunny w/no wind. 

7.95 miles on random route around Fort.  Rainy and 40 degrees tonight.  Had to get this one in late because I spent my earlier run time trying to find my lost wallet - errr  Hopefully, it will show up tomorrow.  Avg run pace 7:43  The run felt really good, so if the next few days go well I'd say I'm in the clear to resume regular training again.  I'll probably run Crazy Legs 8K in Madison since it's a big local event. 

9.69 miles (7:47 pace) to Hoard Road and around Rock River Park + 3 hard striders + core work

14 miles easy with Voss and Reedo on the S. shore of Lake Geneva.  Voss went around the whole lake ~ 21 miles while Reedo and I turned at 7.  Neat run, most of it goes through a bunch of rich people's back yards.  Cold to start, only 32 degrees, but warmed up to 45 by the time we finished.  Had a nice breakfast at Voss's brother-in-law's diner.  With the hills and stairs we averaged just under 9 min pace, which I feel is about the same as 8 min pace on the road.    

AM:  8 miles going Star School w/random add-on + 6 hard hill sprints (7:45 pace)

PM:  2 mile w-up

5 x (2x200m - Goal 35 sec w/200m recovery jog + 1x400m - Goal 70 sec w/400m recovery jog)

2 mile cooldown 

Did these on the middle school track with a strong  N. wind of 12 mph.  Nice and cool, but more windy than I expected.  I tried to keep the effort on these at 90% regardless of the times.

1st set [35.84, 36.25, 1:13.6]

2nd [ 35.31, 35.42, 1:14.47]

3rd [35.37, 34.75, 1:11.32]

4th [35.60, 34.57, 1:11.35]

5th [34.18, 34.98, 1:10.95]

8.27 miles 

(8:00 min pace)  on random route around fort + 5  hill sprints 

8.61 miles w/6 hard hill sprints on the bigger hills during the run.  I'm so ready to just start pounding out the doubles, but I'm going to try and hold off while incorporate quality speed training 1st.

No AM due to meeting

Evening:  2 mile w-up, 6x1 mile - goal 5:35 pace w/ 1 min recovery, temp nice cool 55, but a NE cross wind of 12-15 mph made these mile repeats a little tougher.  Just tried to keep the effort in the 90% range on these tempo intervals.  All felt good running with flat legs today in 5:27, 5:31, 5:31, 5:31, 5:31, 5:25., quick 1 mile cooldown before I jetted off to pick up Jameson.  

I think my legs are a little flat from not sleeping well last night.  I keep thinking my 1st attempt at managing a large track invitational for my track team this May.  So many things to plan!  The end of the school year is always jam packed with stuff.  Jumps and Hopes for Heart, track galore, oh and a end of year field day, 8th grade graduation planning, etc....  Ahhh

Here's a link to the county paper that put me on the front page and did a nice little write up of the Boston participants from the area.  

 http://dailyunion.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=110&ArticleID=11371

7.63 recovery miles + 4 light hill sprints.  The legs were dead today.  My nutrition intake and sleep have been poor lately.  I've been slacking due to a very busy sched.

I decided to carb up with some pizza tonight.  Hopefully, some good sleep and pizza will help me bounce back strong for Crazy Legs.

Added some strength exercises and core work during lunch. 

3.5 easy miles on main street route

 Morning:  3 mile warm-up around Camp Randal, then hopped a bus to the start.  

This was my 2nd attempt at the race and I did much better this time around.  Last year I ran 29:21 on what I would call a perfect weather day.  Today I ran 26:56 on a terrible weather day!  Winds were 15-20 mph with gusts of 30 and light to hard rain at times.  This is a neat race because it has a lot of down hill, but also has some really steep climbs.  The coolest part is the finish into Camp Randal Stadium where the Big 10 Badgers play football.  The small down hill finish really helped me finish hard today.

I signed up for the race on Sunday and submitted my time from Bank of America, but apparently they weren't able to verify or didn't have the time?  I wound up with a terrible corral assignment.  So right before the start I sneaked into the elite corral to ensure I wouldn't be walking with the walkers.  At the start all the UW-Badger football players, hockey players, and cheer leaders were there to greet and send us off.  Wow, those football players are huge!

The race got off to a fast start, but not as fast the Bank of America 8K I ran in March, so I settled into about 10th place and sucked off everyone else.  I split a 5:04 for the 1st mile, which was way too fast.  Most of the 1st mile is down hill with some small uphill sections so maybe it was a 5:10-5:15 effort?  I was hoping to average 5:20's today, which I thought was a reasonable goal for the conditions.  Probably not an ideal start though.  

I was able to recover fairly well from the early fast pace, running a 5:21 for the 2nd mile, which has a really long steep hill that contains a few 90 degree turns in it.  

Miles 3-5 I was bucking the wind off the lake.  It wasn't terrible, but hit us at a tough point in the race.  I managed to split another 5:20 because I recognized another runner from Fort I've never raced against because he had a singlet that said Vos Sentury out of Fort.  I had learned he was a pretty good college runner and I think he's around 22-25 years of age.  

I pulled up along side Voss and ran shoulder to shoulder with him for a short time before he would eventually surge and begin to pull away.  This mentally hurt me and I dropped a 5:35 mile.  I'm still mad at myself for this mile because I think I would have had a chance to beat Voss if I had upped my effort to 95% for a short while.

Mile 5 I would rebound to a comfortable 5:29 pace if there is such a thing in an 8K race.  I should have pushed this mile a little harder, but I didn't really mentally have it in me.  I came to life in the last 600 meter or so though!  I blew past 3 runners with an excellent kick, probably my best to date.  My pace for the final part of the race shows a 3:50 mile pace.

This was a solid race for me coming off a major marathon blow-up!  So I'm really happy about running this race because I feel like I can move forward now with some confidence in my training plans.  I'm excited about the next 7 weeks of training now that I'm healthy and in good spirits.  

A few of my local running friends came to watch my race.  They stood in the rain just to see me run, that was cool.  I also talked with Voss and exchanged emails, so maybe now I have someone around my abilities to actually train with?  It sure would be nice to have a training partner for some of the hard intervals and long runs.   

I finished with an 8.38 mile cooldown in 7:39 pace feeling pretty good, so I'll probably put some more miles in later today. 

Evening:  4.25 miles 

Afternoon:  7.66 very very easy miles helping Karen with some 200 and 400 repeats.  Total of 12x200 and 3x400

Avg. the 200's in high 40's and 400's in the upper 1:40's

I probably would have run another run, but I ran out of time with all the graduate course work I had to work on today.

AM:  5 miles easy running on Glacial River Trail out and back.  7:49 avg.

PM:  16 miles going Pepple to County Line Rd. at the max end of easy pace for me.  No shortage of hills on this rolling country side route.  Finished a couple miles at the end around 1/2 mp effort.  Went 7:25, 6:47, 6:52, 6:49, 6:37, 6:39, 6:29, 6:33, 6:35, 6:41, 6:34, 6:33, 6:32, 6:46, 5:41, 5:41 Avg run pace 6:35

Afternoon:  Core exercises

Evening:  7.27 recovery miles Avg pace 7:57

Afternoon:  4.4 miles around Fort @ 7:45 avg pace.  75% humidity and 75 degrees

PM:   10 mile progression run - wow the heat was tough to deal with today.  I'm not acclimated for the heat yet.  I managed to work through it, but I was way off on my end target pace for the progression.  I was hoping to finish in 5:40's and struggled to hit 6:17!  Nonetheless, I did a good job accomplishing the progression going 8:09, 7:53, 7:45, 7:43, 7:30, 7:15, 6:50, 6:48, 6:35, 6:17.  (Glacial River Trail toward Jefferson out and back)