Liftoff

AM: 11.5 miles, felt snappy after a slacky week. Preparing for the onslaught of the inlaws.

AM: 19 miles. Originally, I had today pencilled in for 24 miles @ 85% MP, around 6:45. Then I thought, why not 26? So naturally I wanted to run a marathon today.

My wife's parents were in town yesterday and things were nice. Cousins over too, all the kids running around and swimming. Rather suddenly, my older daughter threw up, and continued to do so for the next 12 hours.

My wife took the first shift with her until a little after midnight, so I got some sleep, then I took my turn. Elise finally stopped throwing up around 2:30am. It wasn't fun, but it wasn't a terrible ordeal either. She was so sick and exhausted, and all she asked for was a little water or gatorade.

I dozed a little more, everone was sleeping, then headed out to meet the group. Between the sleep deprivation and endless rain we've been getting, the run felt a bit distant and unreal. 11 or 12 miles rolled by on pace when I got a stomach cramp. I tried to recover and get back on pace, but it wasn't happening.

The rest of the day passed in a haze for everyone in the family. Looking back, I think I may have had the start of this flu on Thursday, but who knows. Kids bounce back so fast, Elise was back on her bike by lunch today.

AM: 8 miles. Woke up tired with a raw stomach, rain and lightning. I checked my email and saw that my boss was advising us to work at home due to area flooding. My mood improved instantly, and I loped through a pleasant run on the treadmill.

I've been on an 80s retro trip lately (thanks Mike...I think), particularly in terms of music and games. When I get obsessed with something I tend to beat it to death, only then can I move on. I hit that point sometime last week, but I'm still bludgeoning the horse. No coincidence that my illness came on as I was burning through Peter Hook's memoir for Joy Division.

On the other hand, I've managed to avoid downloading any emulators thus far- I know where that path leads. Since the original Nintendo came out when I was in 9th grade or so, I was naturally a fan. I think I liked PC games even better though. One of my favorites was Bard's Tale, a prototypical role-playing game where you directed a party of warriors, magicians, etc. through mazes gaining weapons and experience points. The combat system was text-based, and there was a lot of combat, which ultimately meant you were spending a lot of time just grinding out stats and slowly mapping the contours of large mazes. For whatever reason, I found that much more appealing than FPS and games that required tight coordination and reflexes.

Perhaps I'm just drawing parallels because the brain seems programmed to do that, but from where I'm standing now as a distance runner I can see the similarities.

AM: 6 miles. Last night my younger daughter got her turn with the stomach flu. My wife and I are getting the barf patrol down cold at least.

PM: 10 miles. Hot flashes and nausea heading to track, but I comforted myself with the thought that I was going to one of the few public places where it's acceptable to put your hands on your knees and barf your guts out.

Today was finally a full day of sun, 90 degrees/78 DP to start with a bit of cooling into the workout. Not one of my favorites today, but most of my teammates like it: 14 X 400 WITH STOP REST AFTER EACH. 1:30 REST BETWEEN ITEMS 1 & 2, 1:20 REST BETWEEN 2 & 3, 1:10 REST BETWEEN 3 & 4, 1:00 REST AFTER 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8, THEN CONTINUE DEDUCTING 10 SECONDS PER ITEM ENDING WITH :10 BETWEEN ITEMS 13 & 14.

No blazing splits today, but Hunter, Lee and I worked well together. My goals were to stick around 75 and not throw up, so I'll call it a success.

1. 1:17.1
2. 1:12.4
3. 1:15.1
4. 1:13.4
5. 1:14.1
6. 1:13.3
7. 1:14.0
8. 1:16.7
9. 1:14.8
10. 1:15.3
11. 1:15.8
12. 1:16.9
13. 1:17.1
14. 1:15.9

AM: 7 miles, no rain!

PM: 8 miles. I woke up with a sore throat and runny nose. I think this may be the first time in my life I've got straight from stomach flu to head cold. For now, I'm going to tell myself that my body knows what it's doing - purging itself before TCM?

Late afternoon run on the treadmill, easy pace alternating incline from 1-5 to pass the time. I really need to get more hills in the next six weeks.

AM: 7 miles.

PM: Nothing. Sick wife, busy work.

7 miles at lunch. No AM run.

My wife and I have an intricate system in place to ensure we can be hands-on with our kids, not get fired, and run. The fatal flaw in the design is a complete lack of redundancy. So when one of us gets sick or especially busy, the whole thing can collapse like a house of cards.

On the positive side, we are on the rebound. I woke up feeling Mostly Good for the first time in over a week. I opted for a minor workout at lunch - not that there was much of a choice at noon in Florida in August. 1 warmup, 4 miles @ MP (23:40 - 5:55 avg), 1 coolodown, then 1 more MP mile since it started to pour.

On Sunday I'm going to reattempt the long steady state run from last weekend.

0. I have no desire to write about being sick anymore, but this log will be useless if I don't write about the bad patches too.

Stomach virus continues to hang around. I felt pretty good for most of Friday. Late afternoon I even planned to move long run to Saturday AM. Planned to attack Clearwater bridges with Mike.

As I went to bed Friday night I started to feel waves of nausea, hoped it would be better. I woke up a few hours later and it was worse, so I backed out of the planned run. I like to be reliable in my training, for myself and my training partners, but it wasn't really a choice.

Most of Saturday I lay around feeling lousy. I did start reading Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing with my older daughter, which was fun. Partly because I liked those books a lot as a kid. Partly because after six years of picture books it feels like we're getting somewhere. We're starting in on Gravity's Rainbow next week.

Very gradually through the day I started feeling better, but never good. I'd probably be worried about cancer, but my wife has it too.

AM: 20 miles. Another slog. I went to bed early and hoped to spring out of bed feeling awesome. Not so much.

Small improvement, but still weak, no appetite. Anyway, I had decided I was going to attempt the scheduled workout: 12 miles @ MP+1, then 8 @ MP (6:55 / 5:55).

As I got going, I wasn't feeling absolutely awful, which is something. But I was struggling to crack 7:00 pace without excessive effort, which was not a good sign. I ran from my place to Demen's Landing to meet up with the crew. Even though I was averaging at least 5 secs/mile too slow, I hoped Christina would have the group charged up and rocking to bring things down. Her and Quint just staggered off a cruise ship with their kids though, so we were in a similar boat, so to speak. Somewhere around mile 10 I just gave up and went into full slog mode. I tried a clever route home through Venetian Isle, and got lost.

So, on one hand this all sounds pretty bad. 8 weeks out from TCM now, and no serious workouts in the last two weeks. I'm doomed!

On the other, I remember I also got stomach flu last year at this exact time. And I also remember I recovered well enough to run one of my best races of last season in late September. Even though I haven't run high quality, I've kept up the running and have put in some minor workouts. I don't think I've lost too much, although I don't feel that sharp edge right now.

So in a nutshell, I'll postpone the major freakout for another week or so. It's also a bit out of my hands. I got as much sleep as possible last week, ate well...I just need my body to kick this thing.

AM: 4 miles.

PM: 8 miles at lunch with Quint.

Meditation Monday. Originally this week was planned as a down week capped by a track 5000 on Saturday. On the surface, dropping a short track race into this stage of marathon training seems out of place.

Beside synching up with the down week, my reason is that I find interjecting these short, fast races every 5-6 weeks helps reset my marathon pace.

I need the majority of my workouts now to be tough and specific. These workouts are hard in the best of conditions, and the conditions in FL right now are pretty far from ideal. I do think it's possible to get them done, but for me one of the keys is running a whole lot faster, even just for 5k.

At this point though, if the best I can manage is a mediocre 5000, I'd probably be better off running mediocre marathon workouts late this week and weekend. I do feel a lot better today, hopefully it will stick.

I'm planning to run 3x1 mile at track tomorrow. That should clarify where things stand.

AM: 6 miles.

PM: 7 miles at track. The session didn't go as I envisioned, but that was not a bad thing.

As I was leaving my house, I got a text from Lee informing me that Jon Mott would be joining us tonight. Jon lives about 100 miles from St. Pete, and drops in on our group about once a year. When he does, it always creates a stir because he is currently the fastest marathon runner in Florida. This past January, he ran 2:18:12 in Houston. Having the opportunity to run with someone like that is a huge draw for me, so I chucked my planned workout and decided to just get in whatever I could with him.

I knew Jon was showing up on the late side, so I sat around for awhile. Eventually I did a short warmup, then ran 3x1 mile with a slower group at 6:50, 6:40, 6:30.

Just as I was beginning to pack it in, Jon arrived. We went through his warmup and caught up. His plan was 6x1 mile in the 4:40-4:50 range, although he recalibrated a bit after warming up. The conditions today were ridiculous (91 F/79 DP). I ran the first mile with him in 4:57, grateful for the built-in excuse to bow out.

It was interesting to see his approach and idiosyncrasies when running an interval workout. I wish he lived closer.

I did decide tonight to skip the 5000 on Saturday. I felt alright today - maybe not 100%, but good enough to bring my focus back to my marathon plan. Hopefully today will give me the spark I was looking for in Saturday's race. Since I wasn't planning on marathon workouts this week, skipping the race will help get me back on track.

AM: 6 miles.

PM: 8 miles at lunch with Quint.

I finally succumbed and started reading Born To Run. There's a local eccentric who runs endless circuits up and down the Pinellas Trail in flip-flops, carrying a staff.

Just background info in case my training takes a sudden detour.

AM: 12 miles. 81 F / 76 DP. Ran 10 miles @ MP for 58:57 (5:54 avg). Felt relieved to finally hit a good workout again after two weeks of illness. Effort was higher than marathon pace should be, but I'll take it.

AM: 7.5 miles.

PM: 8.5 miles. I was tired after yesterday's tempo, but not beat up. Sunday is the next hard long run - I thought today to throw in a very light workout.

After a half mile warmup, I did 8 miles alternating MP/Easy Pace every .5, which was really fun. Some quicker running, but not enough to really hurt. MP was sub 5:55 mile avg, easy today was between 7:30-8:00.

AM: 10 miles. Uh, wha...??? Today was the least humid August morning I can ever recall in FL.

AM: 27 miles. After a short warmup, ran 26.2 steady-state in 2:54:31.

I was looking for at least 85% of MP (sub-6:45), ended up averaging 6:39. Really nice weather again this morning. It took about 8 miles to settle in, but after that I felt pretty comfortable the rest of the way.

AM: 6 slow miles.

PM: 8 sun blasted miles with Quint at lunch.

AM: 7 miles.

PM: 10 miles at track. 3 x 1 mile repeats with Quint (5:58, 5:57, 5:51) with 1/4 mile rest. Then we hit the trail and ran 10 "hill repeats" on an overpass. The length was about 1/10 of a mile, grade was a bit more than 2%. Wimpy, I know, but that's what we have to work with. Effort was pretty much full-out. Mike and his friend joined in midway and blew my doors off.

AM: 8 miles.

PM: 8 miles.

AM: 0.

PM: 4 miles.

Sunday's long run and Tuesday's bridge sprints left me pretty worked over. I have plans for a hard tempo tomorrow and a tough long run on Sunday, so I decided to take it very easy today to catch up.

Kind of regret losing momentum with the mileage this week, but I have to focus on the quality right now, when there's a choice.

AM: 10 miles, with 6 miles in 32:57 (5:29.5 avg). This workout was set as my hardest sub-MP run of this cycle. My target was 5:30.

As usual, I warmed up down to Northshore Pool. I have a new pre-tempo routine that has worked so far - I catch my breath, and let the fear and doubt kicking around my psyche work its way through. When I finally achieve some version of calm, I kick it in. I think this has helped me. A lot of junk gets stuck in my head before hard workouts.

After about a quarter mile I check my pace. This is a tense moment, because I need to see a pace that makes sense in relation to the effort, and this morning the effort was high very quickly. Thankfully, I was in the low 5:20s, so I settled in and focused. I was a bit under target for miles 1 & 2.

I struggled on miles 3 & 4, running both a couple seconds above 5:30. The cowardly and weak side of my brain fed me a steady supply of excuses: "You're missing your targets, may as well pull the plug and save your energy for Sunday. It's too humid. You are low on sleep. You probably can't do this. This is way below marathon pace, no need to bother with this. Feel that twinge? Could be something..." I entertained these thoughts for awhile, but the time for excuses is over. I told myself I'd run 6 miles as fast as I could, even if it was over target pace, and the fear and doubt eased off.

The pace was hard, but it was just as much a struggle in the conditions. I have never run sub 5:30 pace on a 6 mile tempo run, and I have never exceeded a tempo workout PR during the summer, so this was a stretch in multiple directions. I managed to get my pace back under 5:30 for the last two miles, with my last mile being the best one in 5:26.

I don't want to put any more positive weight on this workout than I would a failed tempo. However, I do want to use it to harden my resolve for the final month of training before TCM. Nothing is guaranteed, but I have arrived at where I wanted to be three months ago, and I have the potential now to bring things together. Sunday I have 10 miles MP+1:00 / 10 miles MP on tap.

PM: 7.5 with Quint at lunch.

AM: 6.5 miles.

PM: 3 miles.

Crazy day with my younger daughter's 4th birthday party, 20 of her closest friends and the inlaws in town. She had a good time, and everyone should on their birthday.

AM: 22 miles. Workout today was 10 miles MP+1:00, 10 miles MP, with an easy mile warmup and cooldown on either end.

I opted to run this on the Pinellas Trail today as an out and back. With 6 or 7 overpasses in each direction, it's at least some simulation of a rolling course like TCM.

I'm really lucky to have friends like Mike and Christina. Christina ran most of the first leg up with me at a little under 6:55 pace. I met Mike very close to the turnaround and he helped pace me on the way down.

The first half felt pretty good. The MP return was hard. Unlike Friday, which was a concentration game and mental grind- this was just raw physical struggle, and it was a struggle I ultimately lost. Not badly- although I missed my ultimate goal on the workout, I got most of what I was looking for.

We were well on target for the first six miles of MP, a bit under 5:55, but mile 7 had two overpasses and I couldn't stay on pace. Mile 8 was worse - I was pretty much done, clocking a 6:16 mile. At that point I decided to fold for the day.

Usually I get pretty bummed about missing a workout target, but this is historically a very hard workout for me. I do feel like I got a lot out of the effort today, and it did expose a weakness I need to focus on this month - my hill running is really pretty poor.

I have a couple more opportunities for hard long runs on the trail before my marathon, so I will be back, and I think I can do better.

Splits today were:

10 miles: 1:08:40 (6:52 avg)

8 miles: 47:40 (5:57.5 avg)

AM:8 miles.

PM: 8 miles at lunch.

Elise is a 1st grader today. She asked me to sit down on the couch and talk with her this morning. The topic was the eternal question: "What if people are mean?"

A lot of computer guys dabble in stocks, so the mood is grim here this morning. In my case, 2001 cured me of that temptation.

AM: 5 miles.

PM: 8 miles at track. A very stressful day - back to school madness, client meltdowns and car repairs. By the time I got to track I was mentally shredded. If it wasn't for the people out there, I would have probably bagged it.

Workout: 1 X 1 MILE, 400 REST, 1 X 1200, 400 REST, 800 WITH 200 REST 800 WITH 400     REST, 4 X 400 WITH 200 REST

It was brutally hot, so we decided to focus on solid effort and consistent pacing. Mike did most of the work, with Hunter leading the charge on the mile & 1200. Splits:

Mile: 5:18.7
1200: 3:56.8
800s: 2:37.1, 2:33.8
400s: 1:17.3, 1:18.6, 1:15.9, 1:12.2

I'll take it.

AM: 9 miles. Met with a good-sized group downtown. Christina had a 5 mile cutdown scheduled, we averaged about 6:30.

I read about a new synthetic drug called flakka which causes rapid spikes in body temperature, heart palpitations and intense paranoia. I have to shake my head and wonder why anyone would pay money for dangerous chemicals when you can get the same effects by running during the summer in Florida for free.

PM: 0. Everything went off the rails at work this afternoon, no running. As an added bonus, I get to travel to Glen Burnie, MD next week. Apologies to anyone harboring idyllic childhood memories, but based on my last visit, one was enough.

AM: 3 mile run, lightning on the ground = early turnaround.

PM: 8 miles with Quint at lunch.

AM: 13 miles. 2 warmup, 10 mile wave tempo in 58:55, 1 cooldown.

Goal of the workout today was alternating miles at 4% above MP, 4% below, which works out to 6:10 / 5:40.

1. 6:09 / 5:38
2. 6:09 / 5:40
3. 6:06 / 5:40
4. 6:09 / 5:38
5. 6:09 / 5:36

PM: 6 miles easy with Quint.

AM: 10 miles.

PM: 5 miles.

AM: 20 miles, 7:06 avg. Met Mike for the Clearwater bridge tour - pretty much the best hill simulation you can get in Tampa Bay. In an 8 mile radius are three big ones. We started easy and worked into it. I'd really like to do this run once more before Twin Cities.

PM: 2 miles with Elise on her bike.

AM: Early flight into BWI near Baltimore. Busy day at client site.

PM: 12 miles. Great find- there's an 11 mile trail circling BWI within a stone's throw of my hotel. For a trail running around an airport it's very nice. Gently rolling and cuts into little wooded glens off and on through the loop. Only problem is no water to be found. It is also such a relief to be running in cooler air.