Random Inspirational Quote

Easy 7.5mi. bike after dinner ~ 25 min..  I had every intention of jogging over to midnight race in town and running the 5k as a tempo run, and then jogging back for an 11 mile night, but... I fell asleep.  Yes, I am officially old.  Fell asleep at 9:30pm on a Friday night.  Not only that, but I slept through the alarm the next morning to drive to Indy.  I woke up just in time to drive up and run the Eagle Creek Trail Race, fortunately.

Woke up late, didn't have time to eat breakfast.  Ate 2 bananas on the hour drive up to Indy.  Eagle Creek Trail Race started at 7:30a.  I had no intention of racing this race hard - this was to be a long run on soft surface as part of marathon training.  Originally started the race as a full marathon entrant, but, I opted out and switched to the half marathon. This course is a repeat of a half marathon distance out and back course around a nice lake area in the park, on 80% trails and 10% pavement/10% gravel.  Sponsors North Face, Cliff and a bunch of others made for good post race loot, but the single track with all the other race distances was porrly organized and not optimal for racers.  

Race - Running in third place mile 3-7 with the guy I have come to rememberas the orange ravenna 3 guy.  He surged ahead at a pace I could not handle at about 7 or 8 miles.  Right around that same time, a chatty but pleasant fellow who seemed to be ready to surge ahead, passed by me, slowly (more later on that).  Miles 7 - 11 were single track with the slower people going the opposite direction and I complete lost contact with oth of these guys through that section.  This was pretty awful, I'm not going to lie.  Momentum killers with dodging and weaving and stopping... Whatever - Anyway, it was probably good that that slowed me down and that I opted out of the second loop.  I knew this wasn't a "race" for me and I was okay with that at this point.  I kept telling myself - this is not the race you're training for...  :)

12.77mi. - 1:48:47.  This was 13th place in the half and 2nd age group - Loot: North Face water bottle, interesting plaque, medal/bottle opener, North Face T, and North face neon sleeves(my first pair of these things that the elites wear).  :)

So, out of curiosity, I stayed to watch the marathon winner come in, who was surprisingly the chatty guy I had hung with for a little while on the first loop! :)  The first and second place guys had been a little over a mile ahead after the first loop.  This guy came in at something like 3:30 and had put about 5 minutes on second place (whoever that was) Guess I shoulda stuck with the marathon? :)

~1.25 of slow jogging to and from the car after

 PM: 6mi. MP - 40 min. 1 up, 1 down - feeling pretty strong and surprisingly not sore after this morning.  Did this run at 4pm in about 85 degrees.  Loops around the neighborhood.  What is people's problem around here?  I'm always friendly to people in the neighborhood.  I had a guy stare me down as I ran by on one of the loops, so I gave a friendly wave.  This guy (younger, thuggish looking guy that I've waved to before) This guy spits at me and continues to stare me down.  The neighbors just ignore me and look away.  Whatever.  8mi. total - 56:34

Amazing what a good night's sleep and 10 degrees cooler can do - didn't think I was even going to run this morning... continuous run 7 mi. over to Northside track, 8mi. MP, 7 mi. home.

AM Long Run: (10am)  

7mi. easy - 8:00-8:30 pace,

8 mi. MP - 6:41, 36,36,28,32,32,35,38 on the track

7mi. easy back home - 8:00-8:30 pace

Good run today - 22mi. total-2:47:29 - longest continuous run over 20 in a while.  Solid effort after a 20+ mile yesterday.

AM: easy 9.5 mi. - 1:22:00 - recovery day

5:30am track workout with Nathan.  Trinity high school track- beautiful morning - 68 degrees:

WU, 1k, 1 mi., 3x1k - 4:10, 5:37, 4:05, 4:07, 4:05, CD

8 mi. total - 1:02:51 - Good workout - Nathan is looking strong and a little scabby after his bike wreck :)

7pm Grandview run with Tom Webster - beautiful out around the lake this evening - solid effort for about an hour - 9.3 mi. MP - 63:20  - Left the garmin watch at work, but TOm said we were dipping into the 6:30's on most of the run.  With the terrain of this course, I hovered somewhere between AT and LT the whole way.  I was drenched in sweat after this one - its probably the most fluid I have wrung out of a shirt...

PM: 10 mi. easy on bike around the neighborhood - 40 min.  Foam rolling and stretching after. 

PM: Abbreviated track workout, sharpening up for 5k's this weekend - extremely humid, and a little hot at 8pm.

WU jog to track, 8x200m - 42,43,40,38,39,36,36,36, w/ 200m recovery jogs, 400m @ mi. pace - 1:12, rec. jog, 5x100m - 17,16,15,15,14

6.61 mi. total - 48:30

AM - easy 3.6 mi. - 31:09 -- house over to Col. Unit to meet the carpool - sorry about your sweaty seat, Ryan :)

PM - easy 3.52 mi. (shorter route thru hood) back home from Unit - 30:12

PM Race - Already feeling tired in the WU - 2mi. w/ strides.  5k Race - 18:22 --in Flat Rock, IN - Extremely humid and I'm feeling the heavy mileage week in the heavy legs.  Good competitive race with the Wabash College kids showing up.  Mile 1 was a good split in 5:40, but I was already feeling like this was not going to be manageable.  Mile 2 in 5:52 - hurting pretty bad at this point, but gaining on the pack of 2 or 3 in front of me.  Pass 2 of the 3 guys in mile 3 - 5:59... good finish in 5:10 (0.16mi.).  1 mi. CD with a couple other regulars.  Good door prizes - running gear - I got a cool Adidas backpack and a cheap wooden plaque for second in the age group.  The fish fry going on at this night race/festival was torturous to smell as we waited an hour for the awards.

AM - Tipton Lakes Sprint Triathlon - run relay leg.  Fielded a team from work for this very fun and well run event.  Jane Twaddle swimming, Nathan on bike, and me on the run.  Great job by Nathan and Jane!  My run effort was definitely there, but my legs were not doing well this morning.  

Jogged 3.75mi. over to the race - 29:46. 

Enjoyed all the hoopla and fun that goes with triathlons and getting to see a lot of people I know and have really come to like.  Columbus, IN is really a surprising endurance sport mecca :)  Lots of good runners/bikers/swimmers. 

Anyway, WU ~1mi. and then struggled through the mile 2 and 3 of another humid heavy legged 5k.  Check out these splits: 5:48, 6:13, 6:27, 0.1 - 0:32.4  -  Yikes!  At least a fellow member of QuaffON! handed me a beer at the finish line!! 5k Race - 19:00  -  I also screwed it up for our team and put the chip time bracelet on my wrist (ankle), so I had to show the results people my time on Garmin for them to enter our team result and my run split.  8th place team - Good job team INDOT :)

3.71 mi. jog back home - 28:30

PM2 - 8pm easy ~10 mi.: 9.7 mi. - 1:24:02 -- 90 mile week!!

Horribly slow and hot run - the rare breeze and my hydration pack (that I was wearing today) kept me going (barely)

2pm start: 16mi. - 2:26:17.  Mostly, this was me running over to Target to try and return a movie, which they now do not take back because of a recent copyright law thing?  Apparently dishonesty is now the expected consumer response that big companies expect towards them.  

AM: easy 4mi. w/ 7xstrides: 15-20sec @ mile pace - 33:51

7PM long run - 75-80 degrees and overcast, lower humidity than it has been. 

Nathan and I left my house at 7p:

6.2mi. over to Mill Race Park - easy pace - 53:00, right into

8mi. MP - 56:01 (7:01,6:52,7:03,7:07,6:59,7:02,7:03,6:53)

6mi. easy pace back to the house in the dark.  walked last 0.2 - we were both hurting :)

PM: Beautiful evening - 75 deg. and very low humidity.  Grandview Run with Tom - First mile slow as usual - its a climb, too - 7:40

8.33mi. around the lake loop at about MP/AT - 6:49,44,51,51,34,37,45, and the last 1.33 is up a nasty climb and back down: 6:41 is LT for that climb, and then a solid finish at 5:40 pace: 0.33mi. - 1:51.

9.33mi. MP - 1:03:26

PM: Nice and easy 9.5 mi. - 1:25:12

AM: ~4 mi. easy jog over to the unit to meet the carpool - 35:26.

Left shin area is hurting - icing and the evening off.

AM: easy 5k w/ 6x15-20 sec strides before work - 24:18

Leg is feeling better - that little bit of icing and rest helped.

PM: easy run to Jimmy Johns to pick up dinner.  I love doing this - put on the hydration pack that is just big enough to carry 2 sandwiches (or burittos) and run or bike to pick it up.  Getting used to the hydration pack while running is a good thing for next spring! :)

9.75 mi. w/ 6x15-20sec. strides - 1:19:13

AM race and MP workout after:

WU with strides,  5k race - 17:38 - 5:37, 5:43, 5:50, 0:27 

2nd place by 15 seconds - hung with the 1st place guy for 2.25 miles and then he maintained pace while I slowly faded on some of the hills that are later in the course.  The finish is downhill, so everybody smokes that part, so there's not really ground that can be made up there.  Again, I have yet to win a CR Series race!  This guy today came from Dayton for the weekend to visit family... :)  This course is beautiful - a figure 8 around twin lakes - its a little hilly, but mostly downhill.  Also, a perfect day weather wise - 55 degrees and a shady course even when the sun did peak out. Second time under 17:40 this year - slow improvement is better than no improvement! :)

On a side note, I did get my strength training in for the day - the race prizes are cases of bottled water instead of medals.  Since I stuck around and promised to pick up another persons prize, I wound up with 2 x 36 bottle cases of water to carry back to the car :)

a couple miles jogging after the race with some of the regulars.

After everybody left, 7 mi. BU on the 5k course which was essentially:

5.5 MP - 49:52

CD for about a mile

8PM: 9.11 mi. easy - 1:15:17 with some slow and very controlled intervals (more to break up the monotony):  4x100m, 4x200m, 2x400m - all at like 6min. pace

100 mile Week!!

afternoon - PM: start off the down run week and XT with a bang - 50 mile bike ride to Brown County State Park and back.

Lots of dangerous roads and hills and bad pavement and a very sore lower back and shoulders - I am def. a runner. :)  This was an adventure.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361278139

50 mi. - 3:01:32 ~ 17.1 mph moving average

PM: Feeling good today with a day off running yesterday.  Longish Run with some MP stuff thrown in.

1.5mi. WU down SR11 and into town, 5.5mi. MP cutdown mostly on the People Trail, 2.5 mi. to the nearest bathroom for a 5 minute "sitting break", a half a mile back to  Mill Race Park, and then in to 3.5 mi. MP , and then 4 miles back home CD.

8:23, 7:21, 7:06, 6:43, 6:42, 6:26, 6:17, 7:53, 7:41, 7:42, 6:54, 6:37, 6:35, 6:29, 8:49, 7:55, 8:09, 8:35

AM: easy run over to unit to meet the carpool - 3.64 mi. - 31:25

PM1: easy and a tight/sore jog home from the unit - 3.56 mi. - 33:48

4:45AM run before work: 5.78 miles easy about 48:48.  Was going to do Yasso 800s workout this morning, but ran out of time and was feeling a little sore as well.  Wisely postponed till this evening.

7PM Track workout: I am hurting - I cut this workout short.  All left leg, very painful when foam rolling. 

Workout was decent: 20min. WU over to track, 7x0.5mi. LT: 2:38, 40, 42, 42, 46, 45, 48,

3x200m @ ~ 95% - 32, 31, 29, CD jog home was pretty painful...

9.69mi. total - 1:13:52

PM: Nice evening - about 80deg. and overcast.  Went out for an easy 12 miles at whatever pace my very sore legs would go.  11.44mi. - 1:40:00.  Hurting.  The 100 is going to happen this week.   

PM: easy biking around town: 15 mi. - 56:28.  Easy 3.2 mi. jog around the hood with the dog with some strides at the end - 24:39

AM: CR Series 5k race in town:  2 mi. WU with 4 strides.  Led from the gun to the finish line.  Did not hit the target time for this race, however, so a little disappointed.  Started having trouble after about 2.5 miles.  I looked down at a 5:30 pace at about 2.25 mi. Shortly after this point, I began feeling the struggle with turnover.  

5k Race - 17:42 -- 5:41, 5:39, 5:45, 0:36 for 0.11

Current target is 17:30 for these flatter 5k's, didn't have the finish in me today.

   easy 1 mi. jog CD

PM: 14 mi. bike around town - 51:57 and then 4 mi. easy - 32:51

AM: Long Run: 6mi. from house down SR 11 over to North track, right in to 9 @MP -5to10sec., 2 mi. rec. jog overto central track, 3 @ MP +10to15 sec, 4 mi. easy back to the neighborhood pool and soaked in the coole water for about 5minutes.

8:00, 7:46, 7:16, 7:38, 7:19, 7:20 // 6:27, 29, 27, 27, 25 26, 30, 31 39 // 8:50, 8:02 // 6:57, 43, 53 // 8:30, 8:15, 8:15, 8:13, 2:50 for 0.33

Solid run, but I'm thinking 6:25-6:29 may be too ambitious for fall marathon - started fading at the end of the 9 at that pace... Goal weight for marathon race weight achieved! (at least, unitl I eat and rehydrate from this morning's run)

a little late, but good luck to all the Ironmen and women in Louisville today!  My longest run of the training cycle (this morning) pales in comparison to your accomplishments in just getting to the starting line of that monster :)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/364869404

PM run with Danny Fisher from the TLAC gym.  Out and back - good talking with Danny -  a wealth of knowledge and experience on running and a good guy.  8.83 miles - 64:06  The new Adrenalines are awesome. 

PM: recovery run - 10.5 mi. super slow.  Hard to get going for about 4 miles, then climbed the fire tower at Mill Race at Mill Race to get the heart going :)  Its hot again :(

10.5 mi. - 1:30

Its been about 90 degrees all week here in central IN.

PM: Some light core and legs str. stuff inside in the airconditioningand then,

WU jog and strides over to track, 

8x0.25mi. w/ 200m jog rec. - 74,75,77,75,77,74,75,75, 

4x200m w/ 200m jog recovery - 38,38,36,35

Short and sweet today.  No work for 5 days, and marathon in 2 days! 

8mi. total - 59:46          http://connect.garmin.com/activity/366838510

easy 2 mi. jog

Night before the marathon, we decided to bandit/jog the 5k they were holding (as part of the marathon events) - kept it at moderate to easy pace - just a shake out after the 12 hour car ride up to Marquette from Indiana. 5k - 22:33.  Friday night run, marathon in the morning.

Marquette Marathon in Marquette, MI.  This is about a 10-12 hour drive North of where Nathan and I live in Indiana.  Nathan drove the whole way, while I was along for the ride.  His awesome 2 kids and wife in the back.  We also were meeting another of my good running buddies, who is also going for a BQ.  I was really looking forward to this, as it was my first attempt at pacing somebody in marathon.  Our carefully calculated planned pace is 6:50-7:00/mile range.  Nathan is going for 3:10 for BQ35-39, while our other buddy is going for 3:05 BQ-U35.

We're looking good for about 18 miles on this 2-loop course.  Right around there, there is a healthy climb for about 1.5-2mi.  It was right around here that Nathan unfortunately got a hamstring cramp.  So we really started pumping the fluids in to him at the next waterstops.  Amazingly, Nathan toughed out a very painful last 10k and hovered right around 8 minute pace, literally hobbling and visibly limping at some points.  What a ballsy effort!  We wound up a little short of the BQ 3:10, but Nathan ran a 5 minute PR, nonetheless!!

Splits really tell the story:

6:57, 6:59, 6:51, 7:03, 6:57, 6:49, 7:00, 6:48, 6:52, 6:55, 6:51, 7:15, 6:54, 6:51, 6:55, 7:06, 7:09, 7:18, 7:39, 7:37, 8:08, 7:54, 8:15, 8:40, 8:11, 7:14, 2:42 for 0.3mi. 

26.3 mi. - 3:11:49

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/368660879

Congrats to Tim, who BQed - 3:04:40 !

Wonderful trip with a couple hours at the beach along Lake Superior after the race, and eating dinner in Green Bay - right next to Lambeau Field!! :)