I am one with the levee and the levee with me

12 leisurely miles. 7:29 average. My right hip is giving me some grief after some of my runs. I've been having lower abdomen/hip pain for the last 4 years -- it finally dawned on me that I might have a sports hernia or something along those lines. At the moment I figure as long as it doesn't cause me problems while training I might as well finish out the training cycle and then reassess.

8 easy on the levee. Windy morning. Legs feel good despite the bump in miles, which is good since I'm racing tomorrow. Run today started at 7:40 and worked down to 7:03 for a 7:19 average.

This landed on my race calendar after I messed up registration for a 15k in Nashville in a couple weeks. That would have lined up a little better with my training schedule, but Pensacola is half the distance from home, and this a pretty competitive race. Plus, the Florida beaches are always beautiful, even in February.

With it being last minute, I couldn't find an Airbnb I liked, so we decided to try a hotel with both kiddos in the same room with us. Sounded like disaster. And at first it looked that way with Eli screaming unconsolably every time we tried to lay him down to sleep. Finally he knocked out, and the next thing I knew it was 4:15 and my alarm was waking me up. What a relief.

This is a point-to-point course, and the weather forecast kept showing unfavorable winds for race morning. And that was about right. It was 40F or so with 10-15 mph winds that weren't directly head on, but angling into your face. I hopped on a shuttle that got me to the start line at 6am, so I had plenty of time to putter around and warm up.

At the start a couple guys shot to the front, and a chase pack formed of 4 guys. The chase pack started a lot more aggressively than I wanted. I showed a 74 first quarter by my watch. I sort of hung off the back of them, but decided I had to commit to a fast pace, or else I'd be battling the wind by myself all the way. 5:07 first mile.

2nd mile turned directly into the wind and had a long gradual uphill. I had tucked directly behind 2 guys, and they slowed here. It was needed, and I felt myself recovering from the too-quick pace. 5:18 for #2.

Mile 3 started the same before turning onto the first bridge, and the wind was now blowing cross-ways with a strong "in your face" component. My wind blocks became less useful, and they also picked up the pace to around 5:10. I hung on, but that's too fast for me at this point in those conditions. I was just hoping one of them would drop before I did. 5:13 for #3.

The bridge crosses Pensacola Bay and is 3 miles long with an overpass about midway through. I continued to hang on but could feel the cracks forming. When I caught myself drifting back I threw in a few mini-surges to maintain contact. Eventually a gap formed and I knew that was it. I kept them in contact for a bit, but the end of mile 4 goes up the overpass, and once we hit the hill I was done. I've got to find more hills to run in New Orleans. 5:15 at mile 4.

I watched them pull away and glanced back to see where our 4th pack member had run off to. He was a long ways back. I tried to keep the pace up so that I could strike if one of the other 2 dropped off, but they stayed together all the way to the finish. Without position or a fast time to chase, I had a hard time keeping up race effort. I slipped to 5:31 for mile 5, then 6-8 in 5:32 (10k in ~32:30), 5:34, and 5:35. I picked it up on mile 9 a little for 5:25 and then cruised into the finish on the beach to grab the last money spot. The race timers had me at 49:12, which is a joke, so I'm going with my watch time. Tyler McCandless won in 44:52, although it looks like all the times are messed up, so I'm guessing he was a minute back from that.

I would like to have placed higher, but 3rd and 4th place were just in better shape than me. They ended up ~90 seconds up. Afterwards, I ran back to the hotel and finished up 20 miles on the treadmill. 

8 easy -- 7:13 avg. It's about 70F this afternoon. Messes with my system to go from 30s to 70s so frequently.

12 easy (7:19 avg) including 8 x ~100m strides.

Right knee is still sore (intermittently), so I slapped the knee sleeve on after the run. It doesn't feel like it's going to blow up or get worse. Just another sore spot to deal with. My bigger concern is still my hips. They are sore. Primarily the right side. It has very little effect on my running, but it seems like I'm feeling a deep ache more and more after runs.

Big workout. I shamelessly borrowed this one straight out of Paul Petersen's playbook because I thought it would fit really well into my schedule. Weather was nice this morning. 62F (61 dew point) and a light wind.

3 warmup, 2 uptempo, 8x1k @ CV (2:00 rests), 1 uptempo, 1.5 cooldown

Ran the first 2 uptempo in 6:06 & 6:13. Had a pit stop before starting the k's.

1k's:

3:12

3:11

3:15

3:15 (big dip)

3:10

3:13

3:09

3:10

Avg = 3:11.9

Jogged a few minutes before running 1 mile uptempo in 5:55.

I liked this workout. I'd like to work a little more of Tinman's CV into my schedule. I'm left with a really satisfying fatigue in my body.

AM - 12 very easy miles. 7:38 avg.

PM - 3.5 easy - 7:35 avg. Legs are pretty tired from yesterday. Needed some slower miles today.

10 easy. Starting slow and finishing right around 7:00 pace. 7:21 average. I had 12 on the schedule but my legs are feeling a little tired. 

Medium workout. I had more planned, but my body is telling me not to get overenthusiastic. I'm trying to listen. 

Warmed up 3, went through my strides and drills while staring down the creeper parked on the levee. He eventually drove away. I won. Then 3 x 2 miles w/ 2:00 rests.

10:41 (5:20, 5:21)

10:46 (5:25, 5:21)

10:38 (5:22, 5:16)

Then 4 x 30s fast.

I felt pretty sluggish the first 4 miles, then things clicked on the last 2. Glad I listened to my legs and didn't do more, though. This has been a big week. Weather was nice with 60F and low winds. 

18 on the levee. 6:50 average. Wanted to hit Audobon and do a big city loop, but it's Mardi Gras. Running through the French Quarter and driving through town, even early in the morning, sounded like a bad idea.

After an 8:08 first mile, I settled into a decent pace. I expected to be pretty beat after the last week, but I actually felt good. After 4 miles I decided to relax and let the pace come, and I started working down from 6:55 to 6:30 at the end. Wanted to keep it in the easy zone. No crash, which is a nice sign.

8 very easy. 7:44 average. Legs feeling okay but wanted to keep this to a jog.

AM - 10 easy + 8 x ~200m levee hill sprints. Right hip was bugging me a bit and never totally loosened up. Also took awhile warming into the hill sprints, which has been typical lately. First 3 are pretend hill sprints.

PM - 4 easy. 7:33 avg. Soreness turned more into sciatic pain than anything. Stretched/massaged after.

AM - 8 easy (7:18 avg). Happy Mardi Gras everyone. I'll be avoiding going anywhere besides a couple runs on the levee today.

PM - 6 easy (7:22 avg). Okay I lied. We took the kids out to the Barataria Preserve to walk among the alligators and water moccasins. It was a good way to avoid the craziness of the city.

Big workout. Warmed up 4 miles, 8 mile progression, jogged 1/2 mile then 4 x 30s fast. Jog home.

My legs are feelings a little tired from the ramp up in mileage, but this went fairly well. I don't have some of the intermediate paces ingrained in my legs, and there was some yo-yoing while I tried to find the right groove. I started at 5:15 pace, then slowed too much to about 6:00, then mostly settled into what I wanted. 

5:39, 5:36, 5:36, 5:30, 5:37 (turnaround), 5:31, 5:27, 5:21

Avg = 5:32

12 recovery in 8:01 avg. Little man didn't sleep well last night, which means I didn't sleep much either. It's a good thing babies are cute.

12 easy/recovery - 7:40 avg.

My registration went through for the NOLA Rock n Roll half. I'm sad this race has fallen so far recently. It wasn't that long ago that Martin Lel, Sammy Wanjiru, and Mo Farah were in the field. Still, it will be a great chance to race on a fast course. The profile is flatter than even Houston with fewer turns.

Big workout. 3.5 mile WU; 3 x 3200m (400m/~2:00 rests); 7 miles @ 7:10; 1 x 3200m; 1 mile CD. City Park track. Warm/humid but not terrible. 65-70F with 65-68F dew points.

This was a variation on a Daniels marathon workout. Later on I'll do 2 x 3200m at the beginning and end of a 20-miler. And further down the road it'll be 2 x 3200m to start, then 6400m continuous to finish. I've never done a workout like this, so I was a little apprehensive of the late rep.

10:33 (5:16.x/5:16.x)

10:28 (5:14/5:14)

10:25 (5:12/5:13)

7 miles @ 7:10

10:24 (5:12/5:12)

It could not have gone better, and I'm thrilled with the paces. The last 3200m ended up being miles 18 & 19 of the run, and it was a totally different sensation than the first 3 reps. I felt a little more light headed, almost like I was hyperventilating. But even though it was difficult, I had no trouble maintaining pace. 

AM - 6 recovery, 8:05 avg.

PM - 4 recovery, 7:42 avg.

10 easy + 8 x ~200m levee sprints. Sore calves, but otherwise the hill sprints felt ok. 7:29 avg.

12 easy (7:24 avg). Had a hard time getting out the door. Just wanted to sleep!

9 x 1k w/ 2:00 rests @ CV pace + 4 x 200m on the levee. Conditions were warm and humid, 72 F air/70F dew point. I can't believe we're seeing 70° dew points so soon.

3:11, 3:10, 3:09, 3:12, 3:15 (big dip), 3:11, 3:11, 3:09, 3:07

Avg: 3:10.6

I started a 10th but came through 400 in 80s and decided I was good for the day.

I think I'm going to send my Streak 6s back. I'm probably going to lose a toenail from them being a little too short. I've made them work to this point, but I don't trust them for a marathon. 

AM - 12 easy/recovery. Started at about 8:10 and worked down to 7:08. 7:34 avg.

PM - 4 easy stroller miles w/ Rylie. 7:29 avg.

12 easy. Started >8:00 and dropped to <7:10s for the second half. 7:22 average.

10 easy + 10 @ MP, 1 CD on the levee. Warm and humid. It was 75F w/ 71F dew point by the finish. Can't say how frustrated I am that it's this humid in February. I did the first 10 as an out and back and stopped at the house to switch to flats. I tried taking some honey and water at that point as well.

5:36, 5:36, 5:38, 5:48 (big dip & headwind), 5:39 (turnaround), 5:29, 5:31 (big dip & tailwind), 5:38, 5:44, 5:41

Avg = 5:38

The 2 5:30 miles surprised me since I didn't feel like I'd sped up. I was hoping to finish a little stronger, but I think the humidity got to me. There was some headwind on the last 3, maybe 5-10 mph, and those last 3 miles were pretty tough.

6 recovery, 7:58 avg.

AM - 10 easy + 8 x 200m levee sprints.

PM - 6 easy (7:30 avg).

12 easy. 7:34 avg.

6 x 1 mile @ LT pace (1:00 rest) + 4 x 200m. Weather was good if a little humid. 65F air & 65F dew point. There were pockets of cool dry air coming off the river that helped me feel fresher.

5:21, 5:26, 5:10, 5:12, 5:12, 5:12

Took a minute to find the right pace. Said a few choice words after #2 and focused on a brisk pace for #3, but was still surprised to see it go so fast. It felt really good from there. My calves started to complain from #5 on, which is residual fatigue from Saturday's long run. The rest of the week is a mini taper before the RnR half on Sunday.