Run Rachel Run

My dear sister Rachel, who can recite everyone of my blogs by heart, contributed with a guest blog today:

I am so excited to be a guest contributor to the blog today! I slept in this morning, which was wonderful, and got up around 9:45. Proceeded to eat my morning staple – Honey Nut Cheerios, and then Anne and I left for our run in Central Park – our first outdoor run of the season! It was about 30 degrees out so I wore my running tights, t-shirt, long-sleeve dri-fit, and new Nike windbreaker jacket (same as Josh’s). Also wore gloves and a hat. Once in Central Park we were moving pretty fast and I got hot so I took off the hat and gloves. There were a lot of others out running, but mostly tourists in the horse carriages and skaters at Woolman Rink. Unlike Joshie's normal entries, we did not make any bathroom stops (although we do know where all of them are in the Park!) After a nice 3 mile loop in the park, Anne and I made our way back to her apartment (about a mile from CP), where once we stopped running, we immediately froze. Afterwards I, too, enjoyed my care package from Zabars! Thanks Mom!

Man in Tights

Today I went for my first outdoor run of the winter, 5 miles up Lake Michigan in about 25 degree weather with cloudy skies and very little wind. I overdressed since it was my first time out and I wanted to error on the side of way too warm. In college I would almost never wear tights, but I've come around since then and don't mind them so much anymore. They are also much warmer than warm-up pants. This run also made me remember how much I prefer running outside to treadmills. Truly a great way to start a Friday. However, the absolute best part was coming home to find a Zabars Care Package waiting for me in the lobby. A dozen bagels, two cases of cream cheese, a pound of nova lox, chocolate babka, and rugula. Awesome!

The Old vs. The New

The Old Me would slap the New Me in the face for running 5 miles on a treadmill today. I haven't run or done much working out in the past two weeks except for playing in 2 flag football games. With no recruiting events this week, I finally had time to get in a run after my afternoon class, and since it was raining, I hopped on the treadmill for 5 miles at 6:45 pace.

The Old Me would never let this happen. He would have braved the darkness and lightening storm for a 1 hour run. The New Me runs 5 miles on a treadmill in the sanctity of the Aqua building.

The Old Me had a strict no treadmill policy; the New Me calls a 40 minute flag football game a sufficient workout for the day. Feels good to sweat again though.

The Old Me ran out 6-7 days per week. The New Me eats 6-7 meals per day.

The Old Me had a hard time going to sleep if he didn't get a workout in that day. The New Me spends so much time studying and recruiting he doesn't really sleep.

The Old Me weighed about 10 pounds less than the New Me.

The Old Me used to watch a DVR'd DWTS and Glee. The New Me still does that.

The Old Me boycotted Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino's during training. The New Me has 2-3 per week (and they are so good).

The Old Me used to be consumed by fitness. The New Me is not, and it's actually quite nice... for now.

The New Me is taking a three-week hiatus once finals are over.

November update

I have run about five times since the marathon. Two weeks ago I ran the Hot Chocolate 15k after a series of nights out. I was supposed to meet my friend Caroline downstairs 60 min before the race but I overslept. After repeated phone calls, I woke up and make it to the start line about 15 minutes before the race. With minimal warm-up, and in 30 degree temperature, I managed to place 2nd (out of 15000) in 51:13. I ran 5:30's pretty much straight through from start to finish and felt pretty good, but couldn't lift with the winner over the last mile and change. I don't know how I did this, but I am quite amused by it.

The past couple weeks I have exercised by playing flag football and not much else. I am too busy with school and recruiting to run daily, and I'm OK with that for now. Hopefully, by mid February I will have an internship and have time to get back in decent shape, but for now, I'm enjoying my break and not stressing about it. First time in a long time I don't feel the urge to run.

Today I ran 7 miles

... because I felt like it! A step in the right direction.

Also, wanted to go further on Lakeshore Dr. South, but Obama's people wouldn't let me pass.

Season's Over

I started this blog as a training tool to keep me motivated during my mileage build-up for the marathon. I always thought there would be a grand recap after I finished-akin to my Alcatraz blog in May. I'm not motivated to write this blog because, quite frankly, I'm not satisfied with my marathon. My girlfriend gave me crap about not blogging for the last three weeks, and I figured I owe it to my reader(s?) to get this out there. In all seriousness, this is long overdue and I should have written it sooner.

I used to think finishing a marathon was no big deal. I still do. Anyone who puts in the miles can will his body 26.2 miles. Every year hundreds of thousands of people in America prove me right. When I started training, I had a very ambitious goal in mind--to break 2:30. I did not accomplish that goal. My goal for this blog is to reflect on why I fell short of my goal, and I what I could have done better to prepare.

The worst thing I ever did leading up to the marathon was race the Chicago Half Marathon. I had myself convinced that I would run the marathon at a modest pace, no faster than 1:15 a the halfway mark, and then do what I could coming home. I showed up at the CHM four weeks earlier with a PR of 1:13, and left with a PR of 1:10:45. My head immediately started wandering to "what that translates to" and I figured around 2:26-2:27. What that translates to, is a 1:10:45 half marathon (5:24 per mile), and what it means for a full marathon, is precisely shit.

My training following the half marathon was not great. I came down with bronchitis a week later, and it never really went away until about 4 days before the marathon. I didn't miss much time from running, but my mileage fell a bit more than I would have liked and I was jogging the miles a little slower than before. The last four weeks of training were: 50, 45, 42, 35. As the mileage got lower, I started getting antsy, but this really had a minimal effect on my running.

Still, I felt great on race day, and lining up, had no aches, pains, or concerns (except the heat, 65 degrees at the start, it would get up to 75 by the time I finished).

I really don't remember every detail of the race but here goes: my goal for the day was to run 17:30-17:40's for 5k as long as I could. I figured the excitement of the day would keep me going. That strategy might have worked really well, except I averaged about 17:15 for the first 20k, and came through two minutes faster than I wanted to. I took a power gel at the hour mark, seemingly without issues at the time. I hit the half marathon at 1:13:02, made it another 5k at that pace, and then fell apart. At mile 16, I had to pull over and hop in a port-o-let for about seconds. Over the next 8 miles I averaged about 6:30-7:00 minute miles, and my body basically shut down on me. I would stop periodically at water stations to make sure I took in sufficient fluids to battle dehydration. With two to go, I made one last stop at the John, and then calculated the pace I would need to run to break 2:40. Fortunately, I was able to will myself home at 6:00 pace over the last two miles to finish in 2:38:53. At the time, I was happy just to cross the line, because I was having serious thoughts of dropping out due to my stomach issues and dehydration.

My friends were phenomenal and really picked me up after the race. The support and congrats provide the emotional boost I needed. The truth is, I am not remotely happy with the last 10 miles of that race, and wish I had a mulligan. 2:38 is a very good time for a marathon, but doesn't satisfy me. That's a completely arrogant statement, but it's true. It's disappointing to not accomplish your goals, even if the results still seem amazing to everyone else. Goals are personal, and regardless of how high or low you set the bar, at the end of the day, all that matters is you did everything you could to accomplish them. That's my comfort. I did everything I could possibly do to get myself ready to break 2:30 for a marathon, but it just didn't happen for me on that day. I have to own that it just wasn't my day. I had some bad luck with weather, got a little over-excited with pace, went for it, and missed. There might be another day.

I haven't run much in the past 2+ weeks, hence the lack of blogs. I'm scheduled to run a 15k in 10 days, but I'm not sure if I will line up. For now, my goal is just to enjoy this wonderful time in my life that is business school, and recharge my batteries. At some point, I will be inspired and motivated to train for something again, but right now, I'm just completely burnt out from running and being "on" for the better part of 2010. My first priority right now is to do great in school, and get an internship for next summer. I'll probably blog sporadically for a bit, but once recharged, I'll be back.

I can say that it's been a phenomenal year. Starting with a 1:13 1/2 marathon in February, to 15:20 at Carlsbad, to a great showing at Alcatraz, winning two gold medals at the Allianz Games, and finishing my first marathon. What a great season! The only race I have left to cross off my bucket list is the Ironman Triathlon... someday.

Go time!!

We're finally on the eve of race day and I can finally say I'm feeling great. I have had a really uncomfortable taper, between my "Booth" flu two weeks ago, and ongoing cough, but today I feel ready. I have been leaving the Garmin at home the last two weeks and doing pretty much only easy runs for time, not distance.

Starting Monday this week, I ran 42, 40, 39 (incl 3 x 2 min hard), 38, 30, and 30 minutes. Today I met Rob and Vanessa at 8 am and ran South along Lakeshore one last time. The bike path was bustling with marathoners, and even the elites were out prepping. Merga and Sammy W. were out doing strides on the grass. I've been trying to stride out more this week, hoping that my turnover is still there (it is!), and doing anything possible to get my legs fresh. Today has been a couch day and now Heather and I are going to the Social Network so I can stay off my feet.

Yesterday, we went to the Marathon expo for a couple hours, which was very impressive. I have never actually seen such a big expo at any race event. We scanned all the booths and took free samples of energy bars before buying some marathon swag at the Nike expo. After a "mocktail" event at Booth, we went over to Betsy's (another Booth marathoner) place where she was hosting all the Booth runners for a pasta party! Just like old time.

Tonight, there is a lady in my building who is racing that is hosting a pasta party for runners in the building so we may stop there. Then probably stopping by the free country festival in Millennium Park, then early to bed and a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call. Very excited! 20 hours to go!

Last Speed Workout

Two weeks is too long to go without getting any speed work in, especially since all my runs have slowed now that I'm deep into my taper. After four days of alternating 6,7 mile runs, I set out to do 3 x mile today in faster than race pace, but not threshold--no use in injuring myself. My left glute is still a little sore so I also didn't want to over extend there.

I jogged 2.5 miles south on Lakeshore, then after a few strides went right into mile 1. I hit a comfortably fast pace right off the bat and didn't want to push it too fast--finished the first mile in 5:08, then went into a 4 minute jog. After I was four miles from home, I flipped and went into mile 2 heading North. I managed to lift a little more and came through in 5:04, then had some stomach problems (not sure why) and stopped into a bathroom before #3. The third leg was going great until about 200m to go when my stomach cramped up on me again so I had to stop. My Garmin said I was 5:05 pace so I'll just call it that. After another pit stop, I jogged the remaining 1.6 miles home and stretched down.

I keep getting groupons and coupons in my mailbox for discounted good and services, so I clipped a massage coupon and got a final pre-race massage following my run for pretty cheap $. My glute is feeling much better and my cough is almost gone, hopefully by mid-next week I'll be 100%. Nice easy day: 2.5 miles warm up, 5:08, 5:04, 5:05, 1.6 miles cool down, 8 miles for the day, 34 for the week so far. Tomorrow is an off-day as I travel to D.C. for a wedding, then an easy 9-10 miles on Sunday and rest up to the marathon!

10 days to go

I seem to keep coming up with new ways to hurt myself. Yesterday I went bowling with PIMCO, who was in town to recruit second years at my school. On my first roll I roll an emphatic strike, but my enthusiasm go the better of me as I tweaked something in my left glute as I lunged forward. I had to bowl standing straight up the rest of the night and didn't break 100.

The good news is this is only a minor set back and I was able to get a comfortable 7 miles in today. This week's mileage should be somewhere between 40-45 with a day off (alternating 6-7 mile runs so far this week). I'm definitely feeling fresh, and this bronchitis is slowly going away. I stress slowly because I every time I've run this week I've coughed up a funny-colored mucas for a about half the run. At least I'm coughing less and feeling better.

Race for the Cure

As business school has picked up, the blogs have fallen off, but have no fear readers (Mom), I'm back with exactly two weeks to go until the marathon, and will be posting more frequently until then. Unfortunately, I came down with a chest cold last week, forcing me to take a couple days off, but still managed to squeeze in a 15-miler last Sunday and hopefully 10-12 today. Most runs post-half marathon were easy 7-9 milers at a slow-ish pace. Not much worth writing about. My weight has also stabilized around 192-195 depending on the day, which is light enough, but would have been nice to be about 10 lbs lighter. I've been eating pretty healthy and out a lot less.

I had circled the Chicago Komen Race for the Cure 10k a month ago but wasn't sure about competing, since it is so close to the marathon, and I was sick last week. I was feeling better Friday night, so I decided to give it a go Saturday morning. Additionally, we had our "Fall Frolic" Friday night, where all the cohorts competed against each other in Dodgeball, Volleyball and Basketball. Needless to say, we won our first couple events so it got a little competitive, and by the end of the night my glutes and hamstrings were as tight as rubber bands. Still, I got home at 11 pm and managed to stretch and ice down before bed, and woke up feeling pretty good. I also had a chance to debut my Nike Lunar Racers, which will be my marathon shoe in two weeks (they felt great!).

There weren't too many people up front during the race so I took it out at a comfortable 5:39 first mile - close to marathon pace, then eased faster over the next five. The course wrapped around Grant Park, then headed down to South Columbus, right under my building on to the Lakeshore bike bath, then down to Soldier Field and back to Grant Park. I carried between 5:29-5:37 throughout the rest of the race, and felt great, tight hamstrings and all. I ended up winning the race by about 3 minutes and it felt like a Sunday jog, so that's great news headed into the marathon. Not sure I can go THAT fast for 26 miles, but I think 5:40's are probably doable.

Also received my marathon number - 69 so start making signs!!

Chicago Dress Rehearsal

Definitely didn't log 83 miles this week. Didn't even come close. We were shipped off to Wisconsin for three days for orientation in the middle of the week so I used the trip as a chance to take a day off and rest up for my half marathon this weekend. Pretty much ran 7-8 miles the rest of the week and then logged 16 today with warm-up and cool-down.

Today, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to get set for the Chicago Half Marathon. I was hoping to use this as a dress rehearsal for the Marathon in 4 weeks and didn't really plan on over-exerting myself. I arrived in Jackson Park around 6 a.m. and went over to the Fleet Feet tent to meet the guys and maybe find some new running partners. I also introduced myself to Mark, who is in charge of the Elite Team, and Mark let me stash my gear with his guys.

The plan today was to go out in 5:40 and maintain that pace for 6 miles, then accelerate depending on how I felt. The race did not go as planned. I went out the first mile faster than intended, a crowd pleasing 5:20. I knew I was going too fast, and kept telling myself to slow down, but I just couldn't. The next three miles calmed down to the high 5:20's, but that was still too fast. Toward the end of mile 4, we turned onto Lakeshore Drive, and I was in 10th place, not really sure what to make of my fast pace. My first 5k passed ini 16:52, then I hit 10k in 33:31 (16:39). I passed a few guys while heading north on Lakeshore and at the turn, I had moved up into 7th. I was still telling myself to slow down and settle into 5:30's, but it just didn't happen. I lost 10 seconds when I stopped to adjust my sock, because I was developing blisters on my right heel when my sweaty sock slipped down. Fortunately, it only cost me 10 seconds, and since I stopped on a downhill (planned) it was easy to get back on pace. Even with the stop, that mile was still 5:27. I came through 15k in 50:11 (16:40).

Someone in front of me dropped out around mile 10, so all of a sudden I was in 6th and closing in on 5th. Once I got my radar lock on the guy in 5th (probably 100 yards back at the time), I stopped thinking about pace and just zeroed in on him. It took about 1.5 miles to reel him in, but I caught up during mile 12 and briefly passed him. We hit 20k in 1:06:37 (16:26). Unfortunately, I got my first bit of fatigue during mile 13 and he pulled away from me over the last 1/2 mile. Still, I finished in a solid 1:10:45, a 5:23 average, good for 6th place!

Mile splits for the day were: 5:20, 5:28, 5:27, 5:28, 5:22, 5:20, 5:22, 5:19, 5:27, 5:14, 5:25, 5:17, 5:22. The residual 0.1 time was 50 seconds according to my Garmin, because I couldn't run the shortest tangent since water stops were located on the outside of the course. Still, incredibly pleased with the result. It's a PR by over 2 minutes and I'm very confident headed into the Marathon.

Lastly - 17 miles for the day, 60 miles this week in 6 days of running.

Peak Mileage

This week I ran 83 miles, one of the top 3 highest mileage weeks of my life. Fortunately, I am still feeling pretty good. The highlight of the week has to be the 22 miler from yesterday (2:22). Average pace for the run was 6:30 and my Garmin says I burned over 3500 calories during the run (give or take a few). I woke up not feeling great but managed to gut it out and even practiced taking in a power gel around mile 11. The gel worked great, and after intake, my mile splits dropped from 6:35-6:40 down to 6:20. The last 4-5 miles were all in 6-6:10 pace. I probably should have just kept going and finished a "marathon", but might as well save that for October. I'm really happy with the work put in over the last month given all my travels. School starts on Tuesday so things will get busy, but the hay is now mostly in the barn and I'm still alive to write about it!

35 days to the marathon. Now it's time to sharpen up.

10-Mile Tempo

Today was my first rainy day in Chicago, and even though I went out last night (again) I really wanted to take advantage of it. Aside from really enjoying runs in the rain, it's always good to brave the elements on occasion in case something crazy happens on race day. Still, by the time I left Aqua around 10 a.m. for my run the rain had subsided a bit and I thought maybe I had lucked out. Anyways, the meat of today's run was a 10-mile tempo run (target 5:50 pace) sandwiched between a 2 mile warm-up and 1 mile cool-down. With ini the 10-mile tempo, I wanted a controlled 9 miles, then the last mile at threshold pace.

My warm-up was sluggish and I was a little worried my legs wouldn't wake up in time for the workout. Once I got going I went right into 5:40 ish pace and had to make a concerted effort to slow down. Somehow I ended up keeping this pace for the entire workout and actually negative splitting. Since I was already two miles from home, I ran further south for 4 miles and then flipped. At around mile 2, the skies opened up and I was suddenly running straight into a thunderous downpour and into a headwind, but somehow kept the pace. I just tried to focus on getting to mile 4 then using my tailwind to coast through a few miles. I coasted through 7-8 miles and even dropped it down a bit despite some stomach issues, 9 was a little tough, and then "dropped the hammer" on mile 10, though it wasn't quite as fast as I would have liked. Splits for the run are as follows:

10 mile tempo: 56:15

5:42, 5:43, 5:42, 5:43, 5:40, 5:40, 5:36, 5:35, 5:37, 5:16

Ended on Lakeshore drive near Aqua, and finished with a sluggish 1 mile jog back to my place. All in all, very pleased with the workout, probably won't tempo again until the 1/2 Marathon in 10 days. 38 days until the marathon.

Peak Mileage and long workouts

This should be my highest mileage week leading up to the marathon since school starts next week and we're less than six weeks away. After an easy 9 miles on Monday, I woke up early Tuesday and jogged a slow 6 miles, making sure to keep the pace above 7 minutes per mile (although it was tough). It ended up getting really hot yesterday so I had to delay my road tempo until later in the day.

At around 6:30 pm I headed south on Lakeshore Drive for 3 x 2 miles, with 5 minutes recovery. The goal was to keep a controlled rhythm, slightly faster than race pace, and negative split each rep. I warmed up 2 miles then stretched out a bit before rolling into leg 1. The clocked the first two miles in 10:59 (5:33, 5:26) and went into my five minute jog. By this point it was getting dark and the tempo had cooled to the mid 80's which made the workout a little easier. I hit the 2nd rep in 10:50 (5:25, 5:25). Fortunately this one ended near a bathroom because I wasn't feeling too good. After another five minutes rest I rolled into the last one and tried to lift a little. I finished the workout with a 10:30 (5:18, 5:12). All in all, this workout felt great and I was happy to get through it without too much difficulty. I followed it with a couple more exceptionally good performances at a karaoke bar. 9 miles in the evening, 16 miles for the day.

This morning I went for a ho-hum 10 miles in 68 minutes. Left the Garmin at home as I finally know the markers in my head for each direction. It also rained overnight so the weather was cool in the 70s. So far 35 miles this week in 3 days. I'm looking forward to a 10-mile up-tempo run tomorrow or Friday and then a 20-22 miler this weekend.

First 20 miler done

Against my better judgement, I decided to get my long run in the day after getting home from Costa Rica. It was a phenomenal trip where I ended up running every day but yesterday, so I decided I was rested enough to attempt a 20 miler. I wanted to run with a power gel to see how my body reacted but I couldn't find one, so I pounded a power bar before my run. The power bar worked great, and I didn't bonk at all today. I headed south on Lakeshore Drive and had to run through the Chicago Triathlon (which I slightly regret not racing).

It took me a while to get going today, but after easing into the run for 3 miles, I was suddenly clicking off 6:20's at will. About 6-7 miles in the splits dropped down to 6:10's. The lakeshore trail actually ends 9 miles from apartment so I had to improvise in the south side near the 70's streets. I also made sure to pause for water periodically so my body didn't go into shock. When I flipped and headed home, the splits dropped to around 6:05 for the next several miles. Around mile 17 I caught up with the triathlon run and mooched off some of their gatorade and water, which was key, but actually a good race simulation so I figured I had a good excuse. The last couple miles were relaxed around 6:20, but everything was still feeling good. Total time for the run was 2:06 and change for 20 miles.

Hours later, my body is doing well except my calves are a little tight. Plan is to take it easy the next couple days and do a road tempo mid-week. I also just signed up for the Chicago Half Marathon on September 12 so that should be a good indicator of where my fitness is. Total mileage for the week was 69 in 6 days of running.

Quick Log

No time to blog from Costa Rica but I wanted to get these runs in so I don't forget them.

8/21 - 45 minutes - 7 miles
8/22 - 53 minutes - 8 miles - 65 total for the week

8/23 - 75 minutes - 11 miles
8/24 - 60 minutes - 8 miles
8/25 - 62 minutes - 9 miles
8/26 - 90 minutes - 13 miles

Great times, lots of hills and lots of sweat.

Back in the USA for one blog

I have been in Spain since my last blog and while I'm not going to write a whole blog about Spain, I will report that I ran 63 miles last week and despite some residual discomfort in my right heel from my 70+ mile weeks, I'm still in one piece. Given how busy I've been, the mileage is down a bit and will be next week while I am in Costa Rica.

Today I ran the longest run of my life, 18 miles. I made the mistake of waiting until 11 am to get going despite getting up at 6 am due to jet lag issues. Additionally, I barely ate before my run except for some cheerios sans milk and a few grapes. I was doing fine for about 9 miles, but then dehydration hit and my body didn't have enough fuel to keep going. My pace didn't slow, but I probably could have come home much quicker if my body had some fuel to burn. Total time for the run was 2 hours, 18.15 miles at 6:37 average. The one bonus was that my body felt completely trashed over the last 4-5 miles and I was able to maintain 6:30's without much effort, so I have that going for me.

Tomorrow I'm going to Costa Rica for a week and will run as much as possible, but I expect the week's festivities will once again provide a welcome recovery period. Until then...

Lifestyle Changes

I have been in Chicago for five days and I have gone out every night. This does not make running to productive except that I can sweat out whatever food or drink goes in my body. Last night I went to a tequila bar in Old Town called Adobe, which was excellent. However, I had also planned on doing a 10-mile tempo run this morning, and tequila bars and tempo runs should never mix.

Anyways, I felt pretty good this morning and was out the door by 8. I headed south again on Lakeshore drive, and after a 1.5 mile warm-up, I was off and running. Target pace for the 10 miles was 5:45, but of course I settled into 5:35's right out of the gate. I would pay for this later. The first five miles were awesome, easy, and I could have kept going for a while. At the 5-mile turnaround, I came to a quick stop an reversed my course, but this temporarily stunned my legs and I started having some problems. I made it through 6 easy, but decided I should stop quickly at a water fountain to hydrate. I didn't stop for more than 5 seconds, when my Garmin got too sweaty and started freaking out. I came through 7 miles easy, but was playing with the watch too much and was all out of rhythm so I stopped and reset it. Once I tried to get going my legs wouldn't respond I decided to jog it in at around 6:30 pace. The last two miles of the cool down was miserable. I think it's time to rediscover an appropriate work-life balance.

The "7-mile" tempo run was actually quite good: 5:36, 5:34, 5:34, 5:32, 5:35, 5:32, 5:31. Not bad all things considered. 13 miles total today, legs a little shot, but I'm about to get on a plane bound for Spain!

No case of the Monday's here

Did I mention I haven't been working recently. Well, I have been working at getting ready for this marathon. This morning I ran another 11 miles up Lakeshore Drive (north). I sampled a new route getting down to the jogging path, which wasn't much faster. Once I hit the path I dodged into Navy Pier to use the restrooms, then continued up to Irving Park and reversed my course.

Another easy run. 11 miles at 6:45 pace (1:14). Last 5-6 miles were more in the 5:30 range. Hopefully a long tempo run tomorrow then off to Spain!

75 mile week

I ran 9 easy miles this morning, heading north up Lakeshore Drive. This brought my weekly total to 75 miles. I am very happy to still be able to do this without injury. That is all!

Compartmentalizing Long Runs

Against my better judgement, I decided to move my long run up one day and knock it out early in the weekend. This wouldn't have been such a bad idea had I not parlayed the Booth Happy Hour into a night out. Still, I was mostly functional this morning and was in good enough condition to attempt a long run. 16 miles sucks no matter how you slice it, but since it gets really annoying counting down 16 miles on my Garmin, I decided to compartmentalize the run into four parts/four miles each. My goal was to negative split each block.

Once again I headed south on Lakeshore Drive. I wasn't sure how my body would be feeling after last night, but I settled right into 6:40's and decided that would be a good starting point. I breezed through the first four miles in 26:37 (6:39 average), which felt easy enough to lower my target for the next 4 mile block to 6:20-6:30 range. I ended up running 25:36 over the next four miles (6:24 average) but had a few issues come up. My stomach was hating me from last night so fortunately I found a bathroom. I was also incredibly dehydrated but fortunately there are dozens of water fountains along Lakeshore Drive. Also, around mile 7 I had a little sharp stitch in my left achilles, which I immediately stopped to stretch out for a minute. Fortunately that went away.

At the 8 mile turnaround, I had lost so much water weight I couldn't help but go faster. Heading north back to the city is also encouraging because you can see the target from 8-10 miles out, whereas going south, the path seems to never end. The pace continued to quicken and I actually had to hold myself back over the next four miles so I would have something left to lift the last block. The target for block 3 was 6:10-6:20 pace, and it ended up being 24:45 (or 6:11 average). With four to go I allowed my body to pick up the pace. The little aches I had earlier in the run were no longer bothering me and block 4 flew by in 23:50 (5:57 average) with the last three miles all sub 6 minutes.

I'm feeling pretty good all things considered. I'm not looking forward to 18 next week and building on that, but good start to the longer long runs. Today's total: 1:40, 16 miles.

Welcome to Chicago

I slept on the floor last night because I forgot to put an air mattress in the U-Haul and my mattress isn't arriving until today. It wasn't so bad. I had a carpet floor, comforter, mattress pad, and neck pillow. Still, when I went for my run this morning I was more than relieved to only be slightly sore.

I headed south on Lakeshore drive for an easy 1 hour run. Didn't really care about the mileage today, just wanted to shake out. Still, ended up being roughly 9 miles out-and-back, with my pace quickening as my muscles loosened up. A couple highlights of the run:

1) Lakeshore drive is beautiful and I ran right by Grant Park as they were setting up for Lolla, and then Soldier Field.

2) My legs are feeling much better after a heavy start to the week. The rest/travel day did me some good.

3) I found three bathrooms along the route, approximately 2, 3, and 4 miles from my apt, which is great for future reference. I even "sampled" all three!

I may scrap the 10 mile tempo until next week and do my long run tomorrow depending on this weekend's festivities. I also should have a mattress to sleep on tonight so we'll see how that situation turns up.

Last Run in California

Today is my last day in California before I move to Chicago for business school. I started it off by meeting Kaz and the high school kids at Inspiration Point at 6:30 this morning for a 12 mile run. The kids were dreading 12 miles but got through it quite well. We headed south on P.C.H. towards el Morro and made it about 2 miles into the park before turning around. Headed out at about 7:45 pace and on the way back some of the guys got a little pumped up and brought us down to 7:20's, and then below 7 for the last two miles. Total time for the run was 1:29 - 12 miles.

Afterwards, I was naturally a little sore, since I have now run 41 miles in 3 days. I cooled off, stretched down and foam rolled at home, then headed over to Kaz and Damien's place to use the iCool one last time before I left. Then I showered and headed down to my dad's office to get a chair massage. The massage and ice bath really did the trick because my legs feel much better now, although I'm still tired and will probably end taking a long nap today.

Double Day

17 miles today and feeling great!

10 miles this morning with the high school kids in 75 minutes, which was nice and easy.

Then joined in my last Cal Coast workout for a while - 18 minute tempo. I kept a steady 5:30ish pace despite the hills: 5:30, 5:37, 5:25. Then cooled down for 7 miles this afternoon.

Time Trial with Sea King Running

I ran my body ragged last week, but I'm still healthy and alive to talk about it. Last Friday Coach Sumner told me the high school kids were doing a 3-mile time trial today, so I was bracing for a long tempo. I took yesterday completely off, which helped a lot, but my hips are still really sore from Catalina. Today's plan was a long warm-up, time trial, then another 10-15 minute tempo. Coach changed the workout to just a 2-mile time trial, which was a relief, because I could just double it and go 2 x 2 mile again today--only faster than usual.

After a 3-mile warm-up, we were off and running. Predictably, the kids went out waaaaay too fast and came through the first 800 in 2:25. After that they pretty much slowed down to 5:20 pace. Splits for the first leg were 5:03, 5:20 (10:23). The whole team was together at the 1-mile turnaround, but they were real strung out over the 2nd mile. After taking the leader in, I took a short 5 minute jog and started up on leg two. I wanted to keep this one at 10:40 or below but keep the splits even if possible. Kept it controlled over the first mile and still came through in 5:11, then came home in 5:15 for 10:26. Afterwards, I headed back out towards the shake-shack to meet up with the guys for their 5-mile cool-down.

Today's workout: 3 mile warm-up, 10:23, 10:26, 5 mile cool-down. 12 miles total.

Catalina Long Run

So I went to Catalina today with Heather and her friends, and decided it would be fun to do my long run today and rest tomorrow. Ended up doing a grueling 1 hr 40 minutes - 14 miles, going from sea level to 1600 feet and back down. I'm completely spent for the week and taking tomorrow off, but 71 miles for the week ini 6 days isn't too shabby.

Drop the Watch

Every once in a while you need to go on a run and leave the watch at home. One of my biggest running pet peeves is people who look at their Garmin or watch every 10 seconds to check their pace. Most runners have measured or approximated the 1-5 mile distances from their house. Once or twice per week, leave the watch at home at listen to how your body feels. If it's supposed to be an easy day, run at whatever pace feels comfortable. If it's a medium day, consider leaving the watch at home, start off easy and allow yourself to gradually pick up the pace on the way home. It's all about the miles and effort anyways.

Sometimes people get so carried away with hitting a pace that they run faster or slower than what their body is telling them. For instance, running 8 minute miles may be slower than what your natural gate is conditioned for. You stare at your Garmin for 80 minutes trying to maintain 8 minute miles right on the button with hopes of controlling your pace. Instead of an easy run, you are actually putting unnecessary pressure on your knees trying to slow yourself from your natural pace. The same is true of going too fast. If you workout calls for 10 miles at 6 minute pace, and your body isn't up for it, listen, and adjust accordingly, otherwise you will bonk or get injured. It's okay to adjust training plans to accommodate your body. Maybe running 6:15's would be a better call, and if you are feeling good, you can lift at the end down to 6's or below.

I was feeling a little sluggish today and decided to go run with the CdMHS kids. My initial plan was an easy 6-7 miles, because I didn't know how my knees would react (still a little sore from yesterday). We started off at the usual 8 minute mile pace, and about a mile into the run I moved to the front of the pack and started lifting the pace just a little bit, down to about 7:45. A couple of the varsity guys went with me and the rest of the pack started to follow. I started hearing some jeers from guys in the back looking at their Garmins telling us to slow down. Actually, they were telling the two varsity guys to slow down. After this went on for another mile I couldn't contain myself.

"Guys, every once in a while you need to leave your Garmins in the car and just go for a freaking run."

Silence. Then someone responded that Coach said 8 minute pace.

"Of course he did, but who is stopping you from going faster. You guys have the whole weekend off, you shit 8 minute pace. If you want to get faster, sometimes you just have to run faster."

And we're off! Pace dropped to 7:20's up front almost instantaneously, but it was just me and two kids, with the rest of the team about 100 yard back. We grouped up at a stoplight and ran together until the 5 mile turnaround in El Morro. I ended up going out the whole 5 miles because I would have felt bad taking guys out harder on a run, then turning around early. Fortunately, my body held up with no discomfort at all. On the run out of El Morro we pulled the pace back for a bit to make sure the team was grouped up, but one of the faster kids had to use the restroom so I stopped and waited. When he got out, he immediately upped the pace to try and catch the team, now about 3 minutes ahead, and for the last 4 miles, we averaged between 6:00 - 6:15 pace (estimation), and nearly caught the guys. The other guys had picked up their pace as well, good for them. Enjoy two days off guys!

Moral of the story: sometimes is ok to hammer, other times its necessary to rest, but either way, listen to your body, not your Garmin.

Total time for the run was 71 minutes - 10 miles.

8-mile Road Tempo

The mileage build-up continues. I had a tempo run on the docket today or tomorrow and was feeling pretty good this morning so I decided to give it a go. I also laced up the Nike Lunar Glides for their first run (though I have thoroughly broken them in). I ran an easy 10 minute (1.5 mile) warm-up and stretched out a bit before I got going. The goal for the day was to get at least 8 miles at 5:40 pace (2:28 marathon pace), and if I was feeling good, extend it to 10 miles.

The first three miles were really easy, and I was slightly slower than target pace to start, which is fine, because it's better to close faster anyways. The splits were great except for mile 6 which had some uphill and I had some stomach problems. Splits:

5:44, 5:40, 5:44, 5:38, 5:38, 5:50, 5:37, 5:31 - 45:23 for 8 miles.

I felt ok afterwards and had enough energy for a 1.5 mile easy jog back to the house. I think my biggest problem during the run was getting sunblock in my eyes about half way through, but fortunately it wasn't too bothersome. I didn't notice my knee at all during the tempo, but it bothered me a little bit during the cool-down. Tomorrow will be an easy day, and Saturday will be off.

Easy 10

Ran with the high school kids again today. Was quite sore from yesterday, naturally and noticed some residual knee problems, but was able to run through it. I went out the first 5 miles at roughly 7:50 pace with the kids, then turned around and brought it down to 6:40s for the last five miles, good for 10 in 75 min. Took extra time to stretch and ice down afterwards and with 12 hours rest I'm feeling pretty good. Also, the stomach is recovered from yesterday, which is nice.

Tomorrow is either a tempo or easy run depending on how my knee feels.

Double Day

A rare double entry from me today. After 8 miles this morning, I headed to the Cal Coast workout at 6 pm. Today's workout was an 18 minute road/hill tempo. I was having some stomach problems earlier from lunch at Islands (won't be doing that again anytime soon) but I managed to work it out before the tempo.

I was feeling very springy when we started, and took out the first downhill mile at a respectable 4:51 (in trainers). Then the path turns uphill for the next two miles. I hit the 2 mile marker in 10:13, then the 3 mile in 16:00. Obviously the pace slowed tremendously, but this workout is really about the effort, as miles 2-3 are both uphill and draining. I kept it at about 80% effort and was pleased I could run that fast off a double day and not feel any lingering injuries. We will see if that keeps up tomorrow. Side note - my stomach is still acting up hours after this workout, not sure why, but maybe my body is just not used to the stress. Total mileage for last week: 26 miles. Total mileage for this week after two days: 26 miles.

Recovery week into Marathon Training

After the Allianz Games, my body finally told me enough is enough. I ran an easy six miles last Monday, then took a 36 hour break before a Cal Coast tempo on Tuesday. I ran 17 hard minutes and hobbled home with stomach problems. On Wednesday I took an easy 60 minutes with the high school kids and by mile 6, my knee was really acting up so I ended up having to walk/jog home. This wasn't the same IT band pain I had months ago. This was a stress reaction in some bone in my knee, so the only cure was rest. I took Thursday-Saturday completely off, except for Saturday where I hiked Half Dome with Heather and five other friends. Sunday, I ran an easy 45 minute shake-out run around Yosemite Valley with Julie. Total mileage for the week: 26 miles, 4 days of running, one tired Josh.

Moving forward to this week, my body is feeling slightly better. I ran 78 minutes easy with the high schoolers yesterday, which was sadly only 10 miles, but right now it is more about time on feet and less about pace. I'm also planning two serious tempo runs this week and upping my long run to 15-16 miles. Today, I ran another easy 61 minutes-8 miles with the high school kids--again time on feet. Hopefully the body parts hold up during recovery week two, but things are looking good so far.

Last Thursday was also my last day of work so for the time being the "corporate" road warrior is not applicable. Moving to Chicago next week for my full-time MBA program.

Last Day of the Games and Budapest

Short blog to be updated later. I ran the 5000 meters at 1145 this morning just as the sun was at its high point. The track was an oven and they even had water stations at the 200. I took the opening lap out in 85, then decided this was too slow and I was at least going to make guys chase me. So I dropped the next three laps down to 74 seconds, hit 506 for the first mile, then dropped to 77s the rest of the way and ended up running 1603 for the win by about 15 seconds. Still only 80 pct effort but it was so freaking hot and humid I lost too much water. I cooled down for 10 minutes and took in more water. I hopped on the bus after another festive medal ceremony and headed back to the pool, jumped in the ice bath, which was great, then took a 15 minute nap and headed back to the track for the Swedish Relay.

I jogged about 10 minutes before the relay and was feeling super dead legged but our crowd picked me up. When the gun went off, I took off a little too fast and rolled through the first 200 in 29, then 60 at the quarter, then it got a little rough. I hit 131 at 600, 204, then 237. It was once again deathly hot on the track, but somehow got through the last lap. On my cool down, which was only 10 minutes and very slow, I finally felt my body starting to break down so I am definitely taking a day or two off this week.

On a lighter note, in recognition of my two gold medals (half the USA total), Swedish relay performance and strong running style, I have been given the following knicknames by respective nations: France-The Robot, Portugal-The Machine, Italy-The American, the stupid annoying announcer-The American Boy. They just cannot figure out how someone so big can run so fast. Personally, I will take Portugal and go with the Machine, aka Sasha Vujacic, aka, two-time NBA champion. It is the closest I will ever get to a ring.

Great trip, just had a great closing ceremony and party. They announced that the games will be held in Zurich in 2014, so there is some motivation to be back at PIMCO in four years. The party after the ceremony was also wonderful. 3 a.m., just got back to the hotel, will be home in less than 24 hours. Goodnight and farewell Budapest.

Easy run in the sun

So last night turned into a nightmare. The opening ceremony was cute. They shoved us all into an ampitheater a couple hundred hards from our hotel. There were probably 45 countries and over 1000 flag waving people there. The problem, it was miserably humid, and whoever decided it would be a good idea for the U.S.A. delegation to wear heavy blue polo shirts should remain anonymous from me. We were all sweating through our shirts within 10 minutes of arriving. The ceremony ran through the entire half marathon, but some of us wanted to cheer the half marathoners on, so we left the sweat box and went outside the stadium, were the mosquitos were running rampant. I dont think I was bitten, but it was fairly annoying.

There were 110 half marathoners and it was so hot and humid, that 6 ended up in the hospital with IV drips. Hey, its only 5.5%. The race organizers screwed up by not having enough water stations, and the conditions made everyone 5 to 20 minutes slower than their qualifying times. Felt bad for them and glad I chose not to enter that race. I headed back in the ampitheater after I stopped sweating and immediately started sweating again. At least the stank was with everyone. A German guy won in 1:16, and they brought him out on stage after so we could congratulate him and then it was dinner time. Some of us headed back outside first to watch the half marathoners finish, then grabbed some traditional hungarian grub, and went back to the hotel to chill for a bit.

This morning I awoke at 6 am and did a quick shakout run in the rain. There were massive thunderstorms here last night and somehow I slept through it because it was the talk of breakfast. I needed the shakeout because my knee was sore from sleeping in a weird position. I headed down to the track around 8:30 am and chilled until it was time to warm up. I did an easy 2.5 mile warm up and was naturally soaked aftewards. The over 30 group raced before me, which was a bummer because there were a few faster guys in that one. The winner ran 4:25.

My race went off at 10:15 with only five people. I did not come here to run slow, so I decided to just take it from the gun, but was a little more cautious than usual since it was now deathly hot. I also wore spikes since half the track was still wet. I hit the first lap in 66.5, which felt easy, and had a 20 meter lead. I maintained pace perfectly and came through 800 in 2:12.8, by then the lead had opened up to over 100 meters. I rolled through 1200 in 3:19.4, another 66 and still felt easy. Given that it was hot and I did not want to kill myself, I cruised home in 51 for a 4:10.54. I ended up winning by nearly half a lap. Very pleased with the time given the conditions and I think I could run at least 10 seconds faster right now with competition and better conditions.

There was another Italian lady who won her race by about the same margin who probably runs competitively back home. She said her PR is 4:17, very good. I shuttled home to jump in the pool and change, then headed back for the awards ceremony and took the bus into Pest. Last thing: the announcer during the race is a hoot. He is doing live play by play during the races, but doesnt know much about track, so hes getting so confused. I also just had my first food mix up. I ordered a fruit soup, and asked what it was first. The waiter said it was a bunch of fruit in a bowl. Sounds like a fruit bowl I think. He brought out what can only be described as fruit poop n a bowl, so gross. Sent it back, finished my beer and left. STUPID AMERICAN!!! Good times, looking forward to tomorrow.

Opening Day

Opening day is not actually until tonight, but I moved into the new hotel last night, which is much nicer than my old one, free, and has better AC. I met the North America group there last night with 10 minutes to spare before the busses left for dinner. We went to Spoons on a boat on the Danú, which was delicios, except we were on the top deck so the sun baked us wet. Dinner and drinks were on the company, which was nice. Nothing too eventful last night for me, but some people were out until 4 am. There are also a ton of Allianz Life and Firemans Fund people here, maybe a monopoly on the selection process (hint hint), because I am the only PIMCO U.S. person here.

I woke up at the usual time this morning and went for a 5 mile run, pre race day and all. Then cooled off and went down for another free breakfast (ate about 5 mini chocolate crossiants), and took the buses and trains back into Pest. I then spent about two hours taking buses and public trains around town just for fun and because they are free with my Allianz badge. It is actually a great way to see the city. Had another margherita pizza in the plaza this afternoon, and now am heading back to the hotel to clean up for opening ceremonies at 530, and then watch the half marathoners suffer through 13 miles at 6pm (85 degrees, 90 pct humidity). Next blog will be post 1500 meters tomorrow.

Scenic Views, Buda Castle, Moving Day

Yesterday around sunset I crossed the Danú (Danube) over to Buda and took the tram up to Buda Castle. I have clearly been spending too much time on the Pest side because I was amazed by the spectacular views (photos coming next week). Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed because it was so late, but I decided to devote my morning and lunch to exploring further.

I had dinner at the Italian Trattoria outside my hotel. The food continues to impress. Afterwards, I got another double flavor gelato shaped like a rose. It another long day so I headed up to the room around 11, and tried to read myself to sleep. What I didnt realize at the time, was that the AC was busted in my hotel, and I woke up around 2 am in a deep sweat. I killed time by BBMing with the fam in Hawaii and finishing my book (around 4:30) and finally passed out from exhaustion.

I woke up two hours later and left a little earlier than usual for an easy 7 mile run. I headed up to Gellért park/monument, probably about 300 feet above the Danú, enjoyed the view for a minute, then continued on up and down the river. The drivers here are quite nice though I did almost get hit by a car. Almost. It also relieving to have my first run without stomach issues, which means I am finally adjusted to Hungarian/Italian cooking.

After the run I packed up my stuff, showered, ate, stopped in the Basílika for the first time (it is 100 yards from my hotel), and headed back across the bridge and up to the Buda Castle. It is quite a scene up there, and there are numerous photo ops. I paid entrance to the art exhibit-museum which was a decent value for 1900 forints. There was a special exhibit by Kovásnai, who made experimental animation films from his paintings, usually pertaining to culture and society. No photogrophy allowed but I managed to sneak a few anyway. American stereotypes: I propogate them.

I wandered around the bluff for a bit and stopped into a local sandwhich shop I noticed last night. I had a light lunch so I ordered the caprese salad, a burger (Hungarian beef is quite good, but the fixings are weak), and an ice cream sundae. They seem to love ice cream sundaes here. Every place I go they have specialty sundaes on the menu. This particular sundae was delicous, and was photographed so it will be up later. Now I am headed back to the Central Basílika near my hotel to get my stuff and move into the nicer Danubius on the Island.

Museum Day

After 9 hours of sleep last night (first time that has happened in months), I awoke to BBMs from my family at 7 am. I headed out the door by 8 a.m, track spikes in hand, 1000 forints (entry fee) buried in my shoe, and ran to Margitsziget Island for a light track workout. After a 3 mile warm up, I went straight into 4 x 400 meter repeats in my training shoes, and clocked off 67, 65, 63, 61, with 1 lap jog in between each. Then, I laced up the track spikes for 4 x 200 meters, hoping the spikes wouldnt rip my calves apart. I clicked off 31, 29, 28, 28, and never felt like I really over reached, and my calves are happy to be in one piece. I jogged two miles home, good for 8 total today.

I took my sweet time cooling off and eating breakfast, then relaxed for a bit and headed out for a Museum day on the Pest side of town. I took the yellow line uptown to the Müscarnok, which had a modern art exhibit on the artistic representation of the post-Soviet economic development. It was an interesting exhibit, but I am not a huge modern art person so I wasnt blow away. Probably stayed for about an hour, then headed across the square to the Szépmüvésti Múseum (Fine Arts Museum) which is actually quite spectacular. The building is constantly under repair because it was shelled during WWII, and they left a skylight where the hole was. The museum also boasts a big time list of Renaisance and Impressionist artists, including Raphael, Goya, Monet, Renoire to name a few. There was also a B version of the Last Supper (LDV wasnt the only person to paint one). I was pleased to follow along with a Dutch tour guide who led an English tour for two hours. However, I would only rate her art history knowledge at a B-.

For lunch, I just ate another Margherita Pizza and beer in Vosmarty Square, and will probably venture over to Buda tonight or take a boat up river. Tomorrow Im meeting up with the Allianz sports group.

The Danube is Beautiful but not Blue/Dudes in Speedos

I went to an outdoor restuarant bar last night to watch the world cup and though I nearly fell face first in my food at dinner, I managed to stay awake through the game and was up til 11. It was a suana in my room because I couldnt figure out the AC, but was tired enough for that not to matter. Also, for this and future entries, the z and y are switched on Hungarian keyboards, so may be a few typos.

This morning I woke up at 5 am to answer some BBMs from Anne and Rachel, then went back to sleep for two more hours. I headed out for a run up the Danube which is more of a shade of brown than Blue (Johanne Strauss was full of it, or it probably was blue in the 19th century). Then I ran over to the Margitziget Island where the Allianz games are, and ran a loop around the island. amazingly, there is a 5000 meter single lane mondo track that runs around the entire island. I ended up going about 8 miles (thanks Garmin) and then had a nice breakfast which is included in my hotel.

This morning I headed to the Szécheny Gíógyfürdő pool/spa. I have never seen more old fat guys in speedos in my life. Literally 95% of people were grossly out of shape. I read by the pool, enjoyed the indoor pools, and got a 30 minute massage (when in Rome) which was easily one of the worst three massages of my life. I hopped the train back to central basilika around 3 and stopped in the café for lunch. Until tomorrow...

Live from Budapest

I finally made it to Budapest and while its been a long day, this internet café keyboard is a nightmare so i will keep this short and sweet.

I ran 8 and 7 miles easy the past two days and took Sunday off, although this day never really happened since I boarded my plane at 230 in LA on saturday and landed in Budapest at the same time on Sunday.

More to come tomorrow once I figure out what is going on here.

Turn him loose

You can scroll down two blog entries to read the exact details of today's 2 x 2 mile tempo run along Back Bay Road. Today we had a five person crew rolling strong in the morning fog. I left the house around 6:10 and managed to get about a 2.5 mile warm-up in before we rolled into the first rep. Definitely need the extra warm-up time to deal with my Rubios burrito from last night, but such is life, and no real issues arose during the workout. Kaz was a little tired so we didn't take it out as hard, but I led us through in 5:42/5:35, good for an 11:17 first 2 miles. I was feeling very springy on the first rep, and it looked like the crew was going to struggle to keep pace on the second rep, so I decided to have a little fun with it.

During our 5 minute recovery between the reps, I told the group I was planning on taking them through the first mile on pace, the winding it up a bit for a controlled second mile. I led us through mile 1 in a perfectly paced 5:40, then immediately upped my turnover into the last mile. Once I hit a comfortable pace just below threshold, I locked in and tried to relax my body as much as possible. I ended up dropping the last mile down to a steady 5:05, good for 10:45 for my second rep, quite an encouraging workout ahead of the Allianz Games next week. I took an easy 2 mile jog back to my house, good for about 9 miles on the day, and headed off to a nice day at work.

Week in Review

No blogging for a week! Have no fear my dozens of readers, the dream is still alive. Time for a relatively quick week in review:

Friday morning, I woke up super early and ran an easy 90 minutes up and back along Back Bay Road (par for the course lately) and ended up meeting Kaz about 40 minutes in, so slowed down to 7:30 miles for most of the run. Despite my humungous Mastro's Dinner the night before, no stomach problems, maybe I should eat there more often. Book it as 12 miles for the day and 52 for the week (in 5 days of running), my highest weekly mileage yet. Later that day a sore Josh and fam piled in the car and drove to Yosemite for a quick family vacation.

This is primarily a training blog, but I would consider our Half Dome hike somewhat of a workout. I led the fam up the hill in just under four hours, probably record time for us, and nearly broke my parents in the process (sorry!). Half Dome was very slippery near the cables sections and the final ascent was about 90% arms, 10% legs. My shoulders are still sore from the effort. Mom and I posed for a picture on near the edge, then we headed down. We took our sweet time getting down the moutain, stopping at waterfalls, etc, but when we got back the buses were no running for some reason so we decided to walk back to the hotel. I ended up leading my family an extra 3-4 miles (20 miles total) before we finally caught a bus. Sorry family.

(photo: Mom and me at the top of Half Dome)


I took July 4th off and we headed back to Newport Beach fairly early to watch fireworks.

On Monday, despite having the day off from work, I woke up at 6 a.m. and went for an 8 mile run up and back along Back Bay Road, and had Anne join me on her road bike. She loved it because her bike idles at 10 mph so she barely had to pedal. Call it 8 miles in 6:45 pace, though I picked it up over the last two miles. Afterwards, I went for a 20 mile leisurely bike ride with Anne, Rachel, and my dad. Sad to see Anne fly back to NYC, but nice family weekend.

Tuesday I ran with the high school kids for the first time this summer. We went an easy 5 miles at 8 min pace. I didn't really care about pace since this was just a precursor to my afternoon workout. I met Heather at the track at 5:30 and warmed up for my interval workout. During the last mile of my warm-up I tried to pace her through an 8-minute mile on the track. We were on pace through 1200m but fell off a bit at the end for an 8:24. Baby Steps, but she'll be below 8 by the end of July. Funniest part was watching Coach Sumner's reaction when she told him that time.

Anyways, last week I went for anaerobic and strength. This week I wanted something short and quick, so I decided to run 4 x 600 minutes with 3 minutes recovery. I had planned to trying to negative split the workout (1:39 down to 1:33 by the end), but got a little carried away on the first rep and ran 1:35.4, a little too fast. The second rep was nearly identical in 1:35.6, which left me huffing and puffing with 2 to go. Interval 3 was a little rough, and I tried to even-split it instead of going out in 30-31 like I did on the previous two, so I ended up running consecutive 32's for 1:36.2, but I really had to muscle through this one. Second-to-last interval is always the hardest, because it's really easy to trick my mind into sucking it up for one last rep. My last 600 was back at 1:35 and fairly even split. It took me a few minutes to get my legs back, and I opted out of 4x200's (I even brought my spikes for that part) and cooled down 2 miles (6 miles this evening, 11 for the day).

Back to today. This morning I set for an easy 10 miles in this crap July Newport Beach weather we've been having. Bummer because I was planning on having Rachel join me on the bike but it was too wet. Jammed out 10 averaging 6:40 pace, very easy considering I pushed it last night. On track so far for another solid week of training.

Morning Tempo

So I guess June gloom decided to stay around a while longer. What a downer, except this makes for perfect running weather. I met Kaz, Damien, and John Loftus this morning for a 2 x 2 mile tempo run along Back Bay Road. I met the group around Park Newport on Back Bay Road and we jogged back to the Newport Dunes to finish our 2+ mile warm-up. After a quick bathroom break and a few strides, we started off on interval 1. Target time for the intervals was 11:20 for 2 miles.

I took the first interval a little too fast to start (around 5:30 pace through the 1/2 mile), then backed off to our target pace. I was pleasantly surprised how easy this felt, despite my increased mileage the past few weeks. My breathing was hardly noticable, and my body felt like it was jogging pace. We cruised through the mile in 5:32, then kept the same pace going through mile 2, clocking that one in 5:35, good for 11:07 for two miles. John and I went straight into a 5 minute recovery jog while Kaz came up for air.

After the 5 minute break we flipped around and headed back toward the Newport Dunes. We tried to stay more under control at the start but again went a little faster than Kaz's target pace to start, hitting the 800 at 2:45. Then we slowed down to the exact target pace, clocking of 2:50 for the next three 800's, with me pulling Kaz through the last minute or so with motivational speeches, finishing in 11:15. I was shocked at how easy that felt. It was more like a fast jog than a tempo run. I was barely breathing the entire time and felt like I could have continued for miles at that pace. I'm curious to see how fast I could run that workout if I really pushed myself (my guess is consecutive 10:20's on the roads, 10:00's on the track). This is actually really making me think I can hold 5:40 ish pace for a marathon. It also helps that I've lost about 10 pounds in the last month.

Afterwards, I cooled down with the group for a mile, then turned around and headed toward home for another easy two miles. Total for the day: 9 miles.

Easy 10 with Rachie

Less than 12 hours after my track workout, I pried myself out of bed at 5:30 this morning for an easy 10 miles. Before leaving, I shook my sister awake and invited her along on the bike. She was sooooo honored to be in my compnay for an hour she jumped out of bed and danced circles around the house in excitement. Ok not really, but it's my blog and I'll write what I want.

Rachel and I headed south on PCH to Bruegers, then took the Goldenrod Bridge over to Big Corona, headed down Ocean to Little C, then cut down on Hazel past the Wiseman house, picked up PCH again and took it all the way to the end of the Crystal Cove bike path near the entrance of El Morro, where we flipped and headed straight back down PCH to our house. I brough the Garmin out for fun but kept the pace pretty slow. The first several miles were in the mid-to-low 7 minute race, then dropped to 6:55's for a bit, and the last couple miles picked it up to 6:30's.

Great run. I'm a little sore but feeling good. Rachie was fantastic company.

The Interval Workout

This afternoon I headed to the track for the first time in over a month. Today's workout: 12 x 400 meters with 1 minute recovery (3 sets of 4, jog lap in between each set). I ran a junk 30 minutes/4+ miles this morning since I've been feeling good and am traveling this weekend so I'm unlikely to get much running in. I wasn't feeling the effects of my A.M. jog as I warmed up 2 miles around CdMHS. Heather ran some laps to keep me company during the warm-up and drills. My goal for the day was to keep the first set around 68-70s then drop down to 64-66 for the rest, maybe quicker at the end if I felt good. I cranked out the following splits:

69.8, 68.2, 67.7, 68.2, 65.5, 65.8, 65.2, 66.2, 65.6, 64.7, 65.4, 66.6

I got tired on the last couple repeats and lost my form on the last 100 meters, but otherwise I was quite happy with the workout. I felt strong most of the way and didn't lose my form as intervals progressed. I hit a groove from #'s 5-10 where I felt like I was floating. It would have been nice if that last interval was somewhere below 65 seconds, but oh well, it was my first 400 workout in quite some time. I cooled down 3 miles without too much discomfort, giving me 8 miles for the workout and 12 for the day. Definitely a success since I did not get injured and kept a respectable pace.

Nothing to complain about

For the first time since I can remember, I really don't have any nagging injuries or soreness to complain about. It's actually amazing considering that when browsing over this blog the last several months, I always seem to be writing about some body part bothering me. Well not today, you won't get a negative peep from me out of today's run.

But you will get something from my Saturday run! I went long an easy on Saturday morning. My glutes were still a little tight so I decided to forgo the speed work and get some mileage in. I had a very uneventful 11 mile run which took about 75 minutes. I spent most of the time cruising at around 6:45 miles and making sure nothing flared up. Dropped it down to 6:30 for the last couple miles, but overall it was a very mellow long run day. That run ended a stretch of five consecutive days of running and 45 miles for the week. I'm very happy with this total considering I took two days off.

After a Sunday off for some golf and pool time in Palm Desert, I logged another 9 miles this morning. The first five were between 6:45 - 7:00 pace, and on my way home I ran into Karen and slowed down to 7:30's the last several miles. Total time was 65 minutes of jogging. As I told Karen on the run, I had absolutely no body parts to complain about today. I'm excited to get back on the track tomorrow for the first of several speed workouts before the Allianz games.

The foam roller may be the greatest exercise invention ever. I'm definitely buying one when I move to Chicago. I have been sitting on that thing on and off for the last two days and my butt is definitely less sore than it was yesterday.

I woke up early again at 5:30 this morning and decided my body wasn't quite up to a track workout so I went long and easy down the Back Bay again. Sound redundant yet? I think I've seen at least five of the same people in the same workout clothes the past few days. I came up alongside Karen and Damien about four miles into my run and jogged a few miles with them. The timing couldn't have been better because I had been trotting along just above 7-minute mile pace, and just before I met them, I inadvertently dropped down to 6:30, which was quite unnecessary. So it was nice to have someone to run with and keep me under control. I added on a junk mile around Irvine Terrace park and settled for 9 miles (65 minutes) on the day.

Nice little Saturday planned. I'm either doing my long run or a track workout early tomorrow morning depening on how I feel. I haven't decided yet, just depends on how my body feels. Maybe I'll do both, I just don't know if I'll have enough time.

Butt-hurt

My right glute feels like someone took a baseball bat and beat it repeatedly. I guess my race and up-tempo long run last weekend finally caught up with me. Oh well, it happens. Instead of hitting the track this morning, I decided to run an easy 60 minutes through the Back Bay. Midway through the run I randomly ran into Karen, which was a pleasant suprise. She was also taking an easy day, so we had went a comfortable 30 minutes together, and then I went home. It's probably the first time we've run together where I've actually gone longer. Kept the pace between 7:15-7:45 for most of the run, and logged 8 miles for the day.

I'm happy to be getting in longer "easy" runs. When I wasn't training as much my short run was 4-5 miles, and now short is 7-9 miles, so I've got that going for me. I also have chafing issues going against me. The longer mileage and time on the road is causing all sorts of fun problems on my legs. I'll keep it PG on the blog but let's just say I have a few things I need to figure out before the marathon.

USA USA USA

I pushed my morning run to after work so I could watch the U.S.A. soccer game and was not disappointed. Great game. Inspiring effort. So inspiring I decided to go run 9 miles after work. After a mellow but up-tempo run yesterday (8 miles in 55 minutes at Shady Canyon, with a few miles around 6 minute pace), I decided to finally change my route. I think every run I've done from my house in the last month has been a Back Bay loop.

On the 3rd longest day of the year, I headed south on PCH and turned in towards Big Corona, down Ocean, past the Wiseman house on Hazel, then picked up the Crystal Cove bike path and took it all the way to Beachcomber. Pace fluctuated between 6:30-6:45 for most of the run, and I tried not to push it too much. I noticed some tightness in my right glut and hip flexor, probably the result of a basketball game last night, so I probably won't be balling for a while. Pretty easy run overall, and its nice that my base/easy runs around now in the 50-60 minute range (7-9 miles) as opposed to the 5 mile runs I was doing when I wasn't in training. Definitely feeling fit and ready to get some faster workouts in. I was debating hitting the track tomorrow morning, but with a small hip flare-up, I want to keep my runs mellow for a couple days to make sure I don't aggravate anything.

Long Sunday

I was pleasantly surprised to awaken not so sore this morning from the previous days events. I had planned on an easy 10-12 miles at whatever pace was comfortable, but just felt so good this morning that I decided to have some fun with the run. I strapped on the Garmin and headed out for 12 miles around the Back Bay and then some. By the time I left the house it was already 10 a.m. and 70+/sunny and I probably wasn't hydrated.

Usually my "warm-up" mile on runs is around around 7:30, but today I went right into sub 7 pace and kept going down. By mile 3 I had settled in near my target pace for the run. Sorry to bore with splits but I'm going to write them anyways. 6:54, 6:33, 6:18, 6:08, 6:11, 6:07, 6:10, 6:11, 6:05, 5:58, 6:24 (uphill), 6:12. Good for 12 miles in 75 minutes, 6:15 pace. Though I was spraying sweat when I got home and was completely dehydrated, I was again pleasantly surprised to be not very sore. I took a long stretch, foam roll, and ice down during the Brazil game, and it's been a nice little Father's Day since then.

Great week of training! As good things usually come in three, here's mine for the week: my IT band pain is 100% gone, I won the Camp Pendleton Mud Run, and I ran 51 miles this week (6 days), my first week over 50 in over a year!

Camp Pendleton Mud Run 10k - 3 in a row!!!

3-Peat!!! Well, I can't actually say it's a true 3-peat, since there are four Camp Pendleton Mud Runs on consecutive weekends, but I have entered this event the last three years, and remain undefeated on this course. Enough bragging, on to the race.

(pre-race: I left early to warm up, but copied a pic of me pinning my photo on by butt. Photos courtesy of Heather Martin)



I decided to use road racing flats this year, hoping they would help me go faster than the P.O.S Avias I wore the last two years. The light weight helped, but the flats didn't provide enough support for the trails. The sun came out early so I ditched my gear early and warmed up two miles in the racing shoes. The most annoying thing about the start of this race, is they make everyone go around behind the start, so while I was warming up, about 2500 people were cramming in the starting shute, and I had to spend about 10 minutes squeezing through them before the race started, and only got up to the third row.

When the gun went off, I had to barrel over a few people to get to the front, but after 400 meters, I was clear in the lead, and cruised through the first mile in what I think was 5:10 (course not clearly marked). We hit the marshes sometime before the 2 mile mark and by the sound of cheers behind me, I think I had about 20-25 seconds on the pack at this point. Right after the marshes, the course marches uphill about 350 feet over the next 1.5 miles. Climbing with water-logged shoes makes things a little more challenging. I wasn't sure how my hill strength would be, since my only hilly run in the last couple months was last weekend, but I was very strong up the hills, and came through the 3-mile mark in 16:15. At the top of the hill you can look back and see the other runners, and I estimated at this point I had gapped the field by over a minute. While, the climb is dragged out over miles 3-4, the half mile descent is dramatic and fast. I was a little nervous for my knees and hips, but I made it down the hills unscathed.

Now the fun started. I proceeded on to the first of two wall-crossings through muddy water. This time, I slipped when stepping into the water and nearly fell on my face. I made it over the wall without trouble and headed to the lake crossing. From some reason I once again slipped heading into the lake and fell in. I started swimming, but for some reason I was more tired than usual at this point and was making little progress. After making it a third of the way across I moved over to the ropes on the side and began pulling myself across. While this was efficient, the rope was covered with some weird algae and 2/3's of the way across I went back to swimming. At this point I looked back and noticed that there were three people in the water behind me. When I exited the lake, the guy in second place was probably 1/3 of the way across, or what seemed like 90 seconds. I struggled for about 30 seconds to get my pace back, and fell into a slow tempo. I was a little worried here, because with a mile to go, I was near spent, with a few obstacles to go.

I slipped after crossing over the second barrier, and once again fell on my face. When I got up my arms were caked in mud. After this, I crawled through the steel tubes (30" x 30"), which were lined with little pebbles so they completely cut up my hands and knees. I made sure to pause for a second at the next water station take in fluids and re-energize. The last real running obstacle was slippery hill, which wasn't extremely slippery except at the top, and the lack of traction on my shoes compounded the difficulty. I cruised the rest of the way to the final mud pit, and took my time crawling through. Finally, I jogged home bloodied on the hands and knees with a winning time of 42:40 (7 seconds slower than last year).

I was initially bummed not to have broken 40 minutes, but it was much hotter than last year, and my shoes and early pace didn't help. I was also surprised to see the second place finisher three minutes behind me. Evidently the elements took a greater toll on him. I showered off and pick the pieces of rock out of my hands and knees, then went back to watch my friends finish.

(crew post-race, awards stand, and medal)


After we were somewhat cleaned up the crew had a round of beers and headed to the awards stand for my trophy presentation. As I made my way on stage the crew and some marines chanted "3-peat" and "speech", so I tried to grab the microphone and speak. All I got out was "I'd like to thank my psychiatrist..." before they pulled the mic away from me. Oh well, I tried. Go Lakers!!!

I'm Back Baby!!

Training can be funny sometimes. I used to take a week or two off after a cross country or track season and it would usually take me a week or two of running to feel like I was fit, and back in my comfort zone. The further out of college I get, the longer it takes to get into that zone. My training binge has lasted since the Surf City Half Marathon in February, over four months, and in that time I've felt good, but always had nagging soreness or pain regardless of my effort. I've been dealing with these IT band issues for over three months, and haven't had a 100% comfortable run, until this week.

Karen and I met the past three days for a challenging series of runs. On Wednesday evening, we hit Back Bay and Eastbluff for an easy 9 miles (11 for her), at around 7:30 pace. It wasn't an overly difficult run except my stomach was churning butter for the first five miles. Additionally, I went shirtless for the run, and it turned into a warm evening so I was sweating a bit more than usual, causing some chafing in some uncomfortable places.

She had a six-mile tempo run scheduled for the folowing morning, which I was somewhat reluctant to join, given the short 12-hour recovery from the night before, but I figure I might as well go for it, plus the Lakers played last night and there was no way I was missing that. We also joined by John Loftus, who trains marathoners in the area. We met at CdM High School and headed down the bike path for a two-mile warm-up. My IT band was exceptionally tight from the night before so I was not feeling overly optimistic about the 6:00 "tempo" and indicated I might quit if my knee got too painful. I spent the first two miles hobbling along-side Karen and John on the dirt shoulder, and the pain was actually increasing to the point where I thought about stopping. Then, I decided to hop on the asphalt, which surprisingly made the pain completely disappear. I gradually escalated the pace over the last four miles, and we ended up splitting: 5:56, 6:00, 5:52, 5:51, 5:53, 5:54. It was Karen's workout so I stayed alongside her to motivate her over the last couple miles (she did great!). The best part: it was SOOOO easy; it was college-easy. Part of me felt so great I could have run the last two in sub-10 minutes. My heart rate during this run was probably below 120, and I was barely breathing. I didn't feel a thing for the two-mile warm-down back to the track. Drove home real quick to stretch out, foam roll, and ice down. My legs felt great all day at work, even though I just ran 19 miles within a 12 hour time-frame.

I went out a little last night to celebrate the Laker win, so debated skipping my morning run. I re-programmed my alarm clock, but awoke at 6:15 by an email from Karen indicating she'd meet me in 15 minutes at Back Bay. I wanted to be back by 7 to watch U.S.A. soccer so I roll out of bed and within 10 minutes was out the door running. My legs felt AWESOME. No pain whatsoever, not even during the first few minutes warming up! I ran an easy 37 minutes/5 miles and felt great. I don't know how, but for some reason all the work and maintenance I've been doing just clicked, and I can really run again. I'm back!

Tomorrow is the Camp Pendleton Mud Run and I'm finally in great shape. Time to open up the legs and set a course PR.

I lag

Man, I have been lazy this week. No blog posts since Tuesday! This week was a bit frustrating as after my Tuesday morning run, I tried a 36 hour recovery and I went for a tempo run on Wednesday night to test out my Garmin. It was a pathetic effort and made worse by my nagging IT band, which on this day, decided to shoot pain up into my quad. I managed to make it about 4 miles at 5:45 pace before stomach issues forced me to jog home. I logged 8 miles for the day, but pushed through my injury too much, which forced me to take Thursday off.

The goal for this week was to race the Magic Shoe 5000, a.k.a the Corona del Mar High School Alumni Race. I was hobbling around the office all day on Thursday and Friday morning, so I decided the deciding factor to rate was I had to run on Friday. I headed over to the high school on Friday to attempt 5 miles on grass, hoping the soft surface would help me. Although I struggled to get going, by the end of my run, I had loosened up enough that I was jogging comfortably. I also made sure to stretch about 20 minutes before and after, and when I got home I sat on the foam roller and iced my IT band. So about 12 hours before the race start, I decided Magic Shoe was a "go".

Mom drove me over to the high school on Saturday morning since she was the honorary starter. We had worked on a gimmick before hand where she would say "on your mark, set, Josh do you need to use the bathroom?, GO!", but she chickened out. It would have been GOLD! Anyways, the course was mostly flat circling my alma mater, which a quick out and back turnaround down Eastbluff Drive, all on asphalt, all territory in my wheelhouse. I also wore my Garmin during a race for the first time, just to see how close it came to measuring my pace. (Very close!)

Cush and I cruised through the first mile in 4:51, which was surprisingly easy. We made the left turn onto Eastbluff Drive and still had about 3-4 guys right on us, but based on some comments I overheard they were not up for the pace. After the turn we picked up a bit of a tailwind, and picked up the pace to get some space, and in turn dropped all but one person, Coach's sophomore, Blake Myers. At the U-turn back toward school, Cush pulled ahead and Blake was still on me, but started fading a bit so I picked up the pace just enough to drop him right before the 2-mile marker (9:45). I had about 3 strides over the course of the race that made my IT band twitch a bit, but with a quick form correction, I was able to make the discomfort subside. With 1200 meters to go, I was 10 seconds behind Cush and had enough of a cushion to cruise mile 3 in about 5:16, but had a nice pickup on the track, and finished in 15:29, good enough for 2nd place (and 1st alumni). I am pretty satisfied with that time given my recent injuries and current fitness level. After a 3-mile cool down I stopped by the iCool tent and hopped in the ice bath for 10 minutes, which worked wonders on my IT band.

With only four runs for the week I was at 29 miles and really wanted to hit 40 again, so I drove up to El Morro this morning and set out for a nice 11 mile run, hoping my body would cooperate. Again, I took the Garmin to play with the pace calculator and altimeter. I officially love using the Garmin. When I figure out how to export this workout from the "training center" on my PC to this blog I'll post the splits, but for now, I averaged 6:42 for 11 miles with 1500 feet of climbing and descending. With the exception of the first mile, I really didn't notice my knee. Before the run I took about 15 minutes to loosen up and go through my stretching routine, and afterward, I spent another 20 minutes stretching out on the grass (while dodging a swarm of bees). I was pleased to hit 40 miles, and even more pleased that as I write this blog I'm feeling pretty good right now.

Back to back 40 miles weeks, knee is on the mend, and Camp Pendleton Mud Run title to defend this weekend. Things are looking up on the running front.

Lakers Win!!!

I had an awesome 7 mile run this morning along Back Bay Road. 6:35 average, very little discomfort, June gloom morning dew cooled me off quite nicely. Debating a 6-mile tempo run tomorrow morning to test out my Garmin, but we'll see how my knee feels.

I would write more but I'm spent from watching that awesome Lakers game. 2 more!!!

Running Yale

Last weekend, I headed back to New Haven for my 5-year college reunion. Crazy how time flies. It's amazing how quickly I can slip back into the college routine. I'm not talking about the late nights out, although that did happen. I'm talking about forcing myself out of bed for some hungover early morning running. Good times!!!

Last weekend I fit in a trio of runs I used to frequent in the ole' college days. I slept soundly on my red-eye Thursday night so I was not too exhausted the next day, but my legs were tighter than rubber bands, so I was a little worried about my IT bands before I headed out. I was greeted by the first real "New England Summer" weekend, 80+ degrees with 90%+ humidity. Friday morning I ran an easy 40 minutes (6 miles) out to the Yale IM fields so get some mileage in on grass. It's about a 10 minute jog out there from campus through a shady area of New Haven. I took a slight detour to jog 800 meters around the Yale track, then hit the grass for a few miles before heading home. After the run I cooled down in our air-conditioned hotel room, where I set the thermostat at 64 degrees, then headed to Yorkside pizza for the first of three Moosetracks Milkshakes and chicken parm grinders during the weekend, which didn't agree with my stomach any of the three times, but I kept coming back (so good)!

After open bar #1 on Friday night, I woke myself up at 9 a.m. and headed to East Rock for an easy 7, another staple run of Yale XC. East Rock was perfect, the trees had full coverage and trails were perfectly clear. It's an awesome scenic run, mostly asphalt, but still great. I always finish that run by jogging right down the center divider of Hillhouse Avenue, past Dickie Levin's place, on what has been described as one of the most picturesque streets at any college. I capped the run with an extended loop around campus, for an easy 7 miles, 46 minutes.

Reunion night 2 went a little later, and a little harder, but I still managed to drag myself out of bed at 8:30 and meet Luke at Payne Whitney gym for a run around Maltby Lakes. This is the best run at Yale that nobody except the cross country teams knows about. Qué lástima! We headed out past the Yale Bowl and into the woods, only doing one loop today. This is a true double track dirt trail, at times complete shaded under trees, looping by multiple lakes and reservoirs. There's easily 10-15 miles of run-able terrain there. We decided on only one loop since I wasn't sure how my IT band would hold up, but I ended up feeling so good we decided to add on back at campus, and ended with about 8.5 miles, or 57 minutes. Great run with Luke. Total mileage for the week was 42! Great to be back above 40 again. Hopefully I can hold it here for a while.

I didn't get home until 11:30 last night but to my surprise my Garmin shipped quickly and was waiting for me at the front door! Looking forward to testing this thing out this week.

Last Day of PT

Woke up early this morning and instead of my tempo run, I headed to my last PT session at 7 a.m. I've recovered so much in the past four weeks and would put myself somewhere around 90% right, and they are mostly to thank for that. My quads and IT bands are significantly looser than a month ago, and I'm feeling some spring in my stride this week.

Later, I headed out for a quick run around Back Bay, picking up the pace a little over the last few days. It was a mostly flat, 50% dirt run, averaging around 6:30 minutes per mile. Total distance for the day was 6+ miles, 41 minutes. I'm taking a red-eye to New Haven tonight for my 5th year college reunion, and definitely looking forward to a run in Maltby Lakes.

Short Week

Just as I've gotten my energy back from a long weekend, I realized I'm taking a redeye to Hartford tomorrow night for my 5th years college reunion. 3-day work week! While there, I'll be happily missing the CdM Scenic 5k for the first time in a while where I have the course record, 15:01, set in 2005, 2 weeks after graduation.

I met Karen at her house this morning for a 70 minute easy run up the bike path and back on the trails along the Back Bay. Despite a healthy dinner consisting on salmon, corn, and green beans, and even bypassing fro-yo, my stomach was going crazy this morning, probably residual effects from last weekend. Anyways, that seems to have resolved itself and I'm feeling very cleansed now. We kept it really easy, jogging along at 7:45 pace for most of the run, good for 9 miles total. I was comfortable and smooth the entire run except for one downhill where I felt a small twitch in my knee. I made sure to foam roll it out and stretch and ice afterwards, and it seems to be fine now.

Lastly, I just bought the Garmin Forerunner 405cx, and am very excited to start using that when it arrives next week. Official review to follow.