I am one with the levee and the levee with me

Recovery @ 7:50 average. Was going to go 10 but I'm feeling pretty fatigued and chose to shorten it up a bit. Calves are whining. 

Day off.

4 easy + 4 x 20s strides at HM pace.

I came into this race hoping for some guys to run with. Unfortunately, the Rock n Roll series is on a serious decline since Triathlon bought them, but last year there was a nice group in the 1:10-1:11 range, with the winner in low-1:09. With an elevation profile that looks like this:

I wanted to set myself up for a potentially fast race. I was feeling fatigued from the last couple weeks and took a big taper from Thursday on. I felt really great on race day.

Unfortunately, none of those 1:09-1:10 guys returned. Kevin Castille was on the line, and I know well enough to just let him go. He ran away with it in 1:05:58. Blazing fast for a solo run. I started quick to get away from the crowd, but then settled into ~5:20 pace. One guy followed me, but he dropped back after about a half mile and I was alone, and I remained alone from there.

The weather was decent, sunny and starting in the mid-50s and warming a bit through the race. Winds were about 5 mph, and I knew that holding pace would get tough into the wind. The first 4.5 miles had a tailwind down St. Charles, and I went 5:19, 5:19, 5:12, 5:17 for the first 4. Felt great, and I was happy to bank a little time on the 1:10 mark. Hit the U-turn at Audobon Park and turned back into the wind and slowed a little. Miles 5-7 in 5:17, 5:22, 5:23. I was feeling okay, but the pace was starting to get tough with the headwind, and I couldn't maintain it solo. Around mile 10 the course would turn towards City Park, and I knew from there the wind would be favorable. If I could reach 10 in 53:30 I'd need 16:30 over the last 5k to have a shot at cracking 1:10.

In last Saturday's long run, I tried taking some honey at 10 miles before starting the 10 miles @ MP. I got a nasty side stitch that just about derailed the run, and it resurfaced here in the second half of the race.

Miles 8-10 cut through downtown and the French Quarter. The wind and the side stitch got to me. 5:28, 5:28, 5:31. Clock read 53:35 at 10, and I wasn't sure I could manage a 16:25 last 5k. Figured I really needed 16:20 to be safe. I picked up the pace and reached mile 11 in 5:25 leaving me in more of a hole. 3rd place was a few minutes behind, I was hurting, and I eased off the gas a little. Mile 12 & 13 slowed to 5:30 & 5:43. 

I'm bummed. Not so much that I packed it in (though that doesn't feel great) but more at running the thing solo. Looking beyond this spring, I'd like to make the effort to run bigger races. I'm just not going to reach my goals racing solo.

Took the day off

AM - Went out for my usual 12 out-and-back, but a monster thunderstorm cut me off. Had to hop off the levee to lower ground and cut through some of the neigborhoods. Ended up at 10.6 for the run. 7:39 avg.

PM - 4 stroller miles with Rylie. No watch.

No run. I didn't plan to take the day off, but I just felt like I needed another day off from running. Was able to sleep in after a bad night with Eli, then got off work early enough to play with the kids. 

12 on the faster side of easy. 7:07 avg w/ 6 strides. Thought about a workout today or tomorrow, but the strides did not feel good. I think I'll just run easy till Saturday.

12 easy, no watch. Estimating 7:10-7:15 avg.

Long run. Set a PR for longest run ever. Drove out to Audobon and did a Big City Loop, tacking on a few loops around Audobon after. I wanted to run fairly steady through 10, then pick it up a little through 18, then 4-5 miles at MP and a cool down mile at steady pace. 

First 10 progressed from 7:08 to 6:18, averaging 6:32.

The next 8 averaged 6:09.

Stopped at my car to switch to marathon flats, then 18-22 were in 5:33, 5:42, 5:42, 5:39. Finished 23 in 6:17. Averaged 6:14 for the whole thing. Aside from some chocolate on the way to Audobon, I only took water during the run and there was no bonk. I'm happy with that.

I started too fast on the MP section, but then 5:39-5:42 felt decent. I have plans to work a little more at MP, because right now it feels odd. It's right at the break where I want to push my footstrike forward, so I'm not sure whether to toe up or keep back on my heels. Keeping on my heels might save my calves a beating.

6 recovery. No watch, estimating 7:30 avg.

AM - 12 including 8 x 200m hill sprints. Feeling fatigued/sore in the quads and glutes following Saturday's run, but in a very good way. It was hard to get going on the hill sprints, but I managed to get into a rhythm. The wind was howling today and made what was otherwise a recovery run feel burdensome. 7:39 avg pace.

PM - 5 windy stroller miles with Rylie. Despite the wind we managed a respectable 7:15 avg.

12 easy. 7:32 avg.

Big-ish workout. 3 WU, 10 x 1k @ CV (2:00 rests), 4 x 200m @ mile pace as part of 3 miles back to the house.

Weather was PERFECT. Have to soak it in now while it lasts. Mid-40s with just a very slight cross wind.

3:11, 3:12, 3:10, 3:11, 3:09, 3:09, 3:08, 3:08, 3:09, 3:08

Saturday's long run has really wiped me out. My legs did not want to respond at first, and it took 4 reps before it started to feel good. Reps 5-8 felt easy, and I was thinking "Oh great, I'll really crank it up on the last 2." Then the fatigue caught up with me and "cranking it up" turned into maintaining pace. I felt very much in control, just had the muscle fatigue starting to take over.

This workout has progressed nicely:

Feb 6: 2 miles (6:10 avg), 8 x 1k (3:12 avg), 1 mile (5:55)

Feb 21: 9 x 1k (3:10.6 avg)

Mar 14: 10 x 1k (3:09.5 avg)

All on the levee, all with similar weather. I have one more scheduled in 3 weeks and hope to see similar progress.

Post-run my legs feel.... thrashed. It didn't seem like too intense of a run, but the training is accumulating. Have to be careful and listen to my body moving forward.

PM - 4 shakeout stroller miles w/ Rylie. 7:27 avg.

AM - 12 recovery. 7:35 avg

PM - 4 stroller miles. 7:30 avg.

AM - 8 easy. 7:35 avg.

PM - 4 easy, no watch.

Big workout / long run.

3.5 miles WU; 2 x 3200m (400m jog rest); 7 miles in 7:07 avg; 2 x 3200m (400m jog rest), 1 mile CD.

It was very warm and humid this morning. Good prep for my possible marathon conditions, I suppose, but I about melted out there. Started at 66F air / 65F dew point and finished at 75F air / 68F dew point by the end.

10:27 (5:13.x/5:13.x)

10:27 (5:12/5:15)

7 miles @ 7:07 avg

10:24 (5:14/5:10)

10:29 (5:14/5:15)

This one is structured so the last 2 reps are at miles 16-19 of the run. I didn't mean to hit 5:10, but the math in my brain got fuzzy and I thought I was barely holding 5:15 pace. It about fried me for the last rep. I don't go to the well in many workouts, but the last 1600m had me dipping in just a little. I'm okay with doing that every now and then.

Also just noticed this is a weekly mileage PR. Previous best of 100.2.

AM - 4 recovery

PM - 6 recovery. No watch either run. Avg = 8:00ish.

AM - 10 recovery + 8 x 200m hills. 7:54 avg.

PM - 5 stroller miles w/ Eli. First run with the little man, and he did great. No watch, but guessing 7:30 average or slightly faster.

12 easy, 7:31 average. Legs feeling exhausted. If I can get through this week then it's mostly smooth sailing. Will have to reevaluate the week after tomorrow's workout.

Had a 4-3-2-1 planned, but had to scrap it due to fatigue. The plan was to start the 4 at MP, then drop to LT for 3-2-1. I felt pretty bad on the warmup but thought I might be able to warm into it, but then I went 6:00 and 6:11 for the first 2 miles. I paused, took a breather, and tried to reset and start again. No luck, I just felt worse, so easy jogging for the remainder of the run.

Easy miles for the rest of the week, and I may reduce Saturday's long run/workout as well. 

6 stroller miles easy. No watch. I woke up this morning early to run, but my sleepy self decided I'd better play it safe and go back to bed. No harm done, I think.

12 easy, 7:28 avg. Still having beautiful weather. My memory says last year it was 80 degrees from February on. 45 degrees this morning with no wind is just spoiling me.

Big workout/long run. I moved my failed 4-3-2-1 workout to today and it went much better. Headed to City Park this morning and had pretty decent weather, though it was a little windy. About 65F with low-60s dew points. 6400m @ MP [800m jog], 4800m @ LT [600m jog], 3200m @ LT [400m jog], 1600m @ LT.

22:28 (5:35, 5:38, 5:35, 5:40)

15:28 (5:08, 5:08, 5:12)

10:23 (5:10.x, 5:12.x)

5:09

Fitness is coming around. I started LT pace a little quicker than intended, but it felt pretty good and sometimes I like to roll with it when that happens. I could tell after the second 5:08 the pace was just a touch hot and backed off.

PM - 4 recovery. No watch, but over 8:00 pace.

AM - 6 recovery. 7:39 avg.

PM - 4 stroller miles.

10 easy + 8 x 200m levee sprints. 7:30 avg.

10 recovery. 7:45 avg.

3 WU, 5 @ MP, 4 CD including 4 x 200m sprints.

Race on Saturday, so I made this a light workout. I practiced taking a GU at MP for the first time, and that seemed to go okay. It was windy out and my splits were varied.

5:43, 5:55, 6:03 (headwind & big dip), 5:39 (tailwind, 180, big dip), 5:42 (headwind). 

The last few weeks I have a bit of work at MP, which I need so that I get used to it, if nothing else. I tend to either push too hard or back off too much.

8 easy, no watch.

4 easy with 3 short pickups.

Usually I'm pretty good about estimating my fitness for races, but I got it wrong today. I figured I was in about 31:30 shape given recent workouts and the favorable conditions on the course. My primary goal for the race was to beat all the local runners, which is worth $300 all or nothing. The weather was unusually awesome, with about 60F and low humidity with hardly any wind.

My game plan was to run with the elite women for 5k and push the final 5k if I felt good. Usually the women go out in about 16:00, and the local guys are usually in that pack. I should be able to close in 15:45 fairly comfortably off that pace, and that is almost always good enough for the local win. 

The pace was perfect through 3 miles. I had straight 5:08s on my Garmin for 1-3, although the pack ran bad tangents and we were 16:08 through 5k. I did a self-assessment at mile 3 and everything was feeling good. I stuck to my plan and ratcheted down the pace. The lead woman and the rest of the pack began to drop back.

One local guy made a surge and caught me a little before mile 4. I've underestimated him before, so I decided to work with him for a bit and try a bigger move in mile 6. Mile 4 was 5:04 on my watch.

The bad thing was that the small drop in pace didn't feel good. He made a surge around 4.5 and all of sudden I was hanging on for dear life. He managed to get a little separation before mile 5 and I couldn't respond. 5:09 on the Garmin.

I didn't run mile 6 well and gave up a few more seconds than necessary, but I was beaten. 5:20. He continued to pull away and ended up 13 or 14 seconds up on me, about 10 of that in mile 6. I may have managed closer to 5:10 if I'd focused a little better, but there really wasn't much left in the tank. 

I feel bad about losing this one, but I'm not sure there was anything I could do different. Hoping it's just a case of marathon legs not handling a faster pace. The VDOT for this does point to a 2:28-high marathon, which is pretty much my goal. Not panicking yet.

PM - Added 6 stroller miles with Rylie. 7:08 avg.