I am one with the levee and the levee with me

AM - 8 easy including 6 x 15s strides.

PM - 6 easy

3 x 1600m (2 lap jog, 4:10-4:25 rest), 2 x 800m (1 lap jog, 2:10 rest)

4:57

4:55

4:53

2:25

2:23

Not the sharpest workout. Tired legs. But the work is done. I need to practice kicking, so I sprinted the last 200m of the final 800m. I clocked 34s for that 200m.... plenty of room for improvement there.

16 miles on the levee. 7:05 avg, starting at 8:15 and dropping to 6:50. I'm pretty sore from yesterday and didn't want to push it beyond there.

6 easy. This may be it for the day depending on how the rest of it goes.

Had 4-2-1 x miles @ threshold scheduled, 4 & 2 min rests.

21:58 (5:23, 5:28, 5:33, 5:34)

11:26 (5:39, 5:47)

Decided not to do the final mile. I started okay and felt fine through the first 2 miles, if a little sluggish, but then my legs wanted to shut down. Breathing felt okay. I figured I could reset after the 4 min rest and get back on track, but that 5:39 felt like 5:25. Not sure what the problem was, though I have some guesses. I moved this workout to Tues instead of Wed in hopes of getting a shorter 3rd session in on Thurs. So one day less rest than usual. The baby kept me up last night, but so far I've been able to run okay on less sleep. Final guess is I had a couple of vaccinations yesterday, and I had a mild reaction to one of them. Could be I needed an extra day to let my body process it.

Anyway, it hurts the psyche to have bad workouts, but I can brush this off. I think I'll keep things to 2 workouts per week through Houston, and just go Wed/Sat for those.

10 easy. From 70 degrees yesterday to 45 this morning with wind and rain. Crazy NOLA weather.

4 easy + 8 x ~40s levee sprints. Cold and windy.

6 easy. Mid-30s, pouring rain, and blowing about 15-20... one of the more miserable runs I've ever done. Unfortunately this was all I was able to get in today.

AM - 3 x 1600m; 2 x 800m (~4:20/2:20 rests)

It was 30F this morning, and there was ice on the track. Enjoying our 3 days of winter here in NOLA.

5:01

5:00

5:10

2:33

2:27

Second workout in a row that I struggled. I don't have a good explanation. First rep I went through in 2:27 but my legs rebelled after that. No pain, no aerobic stress, no lead feeling... I just couldn't move them any faster. 

Anyway, I'm not in panic mode yet. I'm thinking the lack of sleep is catching up to me. To take a positive away -- aerobically I felt fine. I just need to get my legs back under me.

PM - Added 6 easy. New shoes.

16 on the levee. Started at about 7:35 and worked down to 6:40 by the end. 7:07 avg.

10 easy including 6 x strides (~100m).

10 easy. Felt a little soreness in my legs. I was on the fence about running my workout this morning, but I'm sticking to my Wed/Sat decision.

4 x mile w/ 3:00 rests @ roughly 10k pace. I originally had 6 x mile planned, but this is a race week and my body could use a little down time. Weather was awesome. Low-30s and no wind.

5:12

5:09

5:02

5:06

I felt good and I hit the times I was looking for without much difficulty. Now, so long as my kids don't get me sick, I can take a couple of down days before Saturday's half.

8 easy

No run. I'm getting sick and had a bad night with the little guy. Decided a little more sleep was more important.

I was really on the fence about doing this one because I've been sick this week. But I woke up this morning with clear sinuses and a sore throat and decided that was good enough to give it a go. I really wanted to get a half in before Houston. It's been a few years since my first and only half. Plus this course spends 7 miles on my levee, so I felt a little ownership over the course.

I expected the Local Hero (LH) to be there and had a loose game plan to hang with him the first half, practice running the last 6 miles at goal race pace, and see if that was good enough to win. Thought that would make it 5:30/5:20 first half to second. Goal 1 was to beat LH, Goal 2 was to get 6-7 miles at goal HM pace.

That sort of went out the window at the start as it was fairly windy (~10 mph avg) and Kevin Castille showed up. LH went with Kevin at the beginning, so I hung back a little at my own pace. I flipped my Garmin to show current pace since I'd be running in no man's land and needed to keep the gap manageable to LH. I was a quarter mile in and the pace read 4:50. Yikes. I eased off the gas and reached 1 mile in 5:16.

The way the course was laid, we'd run the first 4 miles with the wind, then 6 against and the final 3 with again. I felt good at 5:20 pace and kept the intensity right around there. 5:19, 5:16, and 5:20 for miles 2-4. I felt really good, and I thought I could maintain that pace for a good while.

I caught LH around Mile 4 and he didn't like me drafting on him. We had just turned into the wind and he hit the brakes. I slowed way down, but he out-braked me and I ended up in front. We sort of started this cat-and-mouse game for the next couple miles. I accepted it and ran 6:00 pace happy for the chance to rest. He'd surge past every once in awhile before dropping back again. I surged a couple times to see if he'd hang, but then I'd slow back to 6:00 pace. 5:44 and 5:45 for miles 5-6.

I figured I'd make a big move at mile 7, try to drop him at some point into the wind, and then grind out the last 3 with the wind. But at around 6.5 we made a pass near the starting line and the wind eased up for a moment. I sped up a little and heard him drop back. Interesting. I sped up some more and soon I couldn't hear his footsteps. I decided that would do and I'd keep my foot on the gas from there.

Miles 7 through 10 were hard work. The wind hurt. I went 5:27, 5:32, 5:29, reached the turnaround during mile 9 and looked back for the first time. He was nowhere in sight. Mile 10 in 5:33, and he was a minute or two behind. 

With Goal #1 & #2 complete I had a hard time keeping my foot on the gas for the final few miles. My breathing had become wheezy. I felt like I might be able to hit low-5:20s if I had to, but I was totally fine easing up and not pushing my sick body harder than necessary. 5:28, 5:38, 5:43 and the final 0.1 in 5:21 pace.

2nd place was still in the money, so that was nice. It hardly covered the entry fee, but that's okay. I'm excited for Houston, and I'm glad I showed up for this one to help me know what to expect. I'd forgotten how hard those last few miles can be, and I think hitting 5:20s on the last 3 would have been really killer today.

8 easy. No watch but likely at or over 8:00 pace. Sore and slow.

10 easy. Legs felt a lot better. Added 2 ~100m strides at the end just to stretch out a little.

Had to go in to work at 5am and then had a doctor appt after work. By the time kids were in bed there wasn't time for a run.

6 x 1k on the levee w/ 2:00 rests + 2 x 30s sprints. 

71°F w/ 71°F dew point. Made for a swampy run, but it really didn't feel too bad. The wind was up, and that was more of a problem. Between the wind and still feeling Saturday's half, I opted not to worry much about time and just run what felt right. Wind was crosswise, but unfavorable on the first 3 (#3 turned directly into it) and favorable on the last 3.

3:12

3:15

3:22

3:09

3:11

3:11

PM - 4 easy

12 easy including 6 x ~100m strides. Foggy, cool, no wind.... Loved it.

12 easy. No watch, ~7:30 pace.

AM - Big workout. 2 x 3200m, 2 x 800m, 4 x 400m, (400m jog, ~2:00 rests each), 2 x 1600m (200m, 1:00 jog rest). Just under 8 miles of total work.

10:32 (5:16, 5:16)

10:32 (5:15, 5:17)

2:28, 2:28

70, 70, 68, 68

5:16

5:16

It was warm and humid to start (71F air/71F dew point) with a pretty steady wind. The wind wasn't bad on the tempo pace stuff, but in the middle of the first 800m a front blew through. The wind got stiff, it poured, and it blew up my 800s. I was wanting 2:25s on those. The wind and rain calmed down by the 400s, but my spikes were heavy and I had a hard time shifting gears. The 68s are okay, but 70 is outside the range I'm looking for. Best thing is the dew point dropped and the rain cooled me off for the rest of the workout.

The idea for this one was to get a big volume of total work, shift gears and generate some lactate in the middle with some quicker work, and most importantly run the last 2 miles on fatigued legs. The shift to 5k pace wasn't bad. In retrospect I should have taken shorter rests on the 400s since I wasn't hitting them fast enough. And finally I should have stitched the last 2 16s into one rep, but I decided last second to err on the side of caution and take the rest. Overall it was a great workout and I got what I needed out of it.

The legs and breathing felt great throughout. I thought the last 2 miles would be rough, but the fatigue I was expecting didn't hit till the final 200m of the last 1600m. Not a big deal. 2 more big workouts and then I'll start the cutback to Houston.

PM - 4 very easy. No watch, ~8:00 pace.

12 recovery miles. 7:37 avg.

10 easy including 6 x ~100m strides. Legs felt better than expected aside from some calf soreness.

10 easy. Postponed the workout a day due to illness. Also new Streak 6's arrived, so I'm excited to give those a try.

6 x 1k w/ 2:00 rests + 4 x 30s fast

I woke up Christmas day with a cold coming on, and so far it hasn't gone full blown yet. A little congestion and a scratchy throat, so I went ahead with the workout. I pared it down from 7-8 reps to 6 with shorter recovery. It went okay, though a little slower than I wanted to see.

It was about 47°F this morning with a stiff breeze out of the north that got stronger as the workout progressed. The first 2 reps were not affected, 3 had a favorable wind, and 4-6 were unfavorable with #4 the worst. 

3:08

3:06

3:05

3:16

3:09

3:10

Avg: 3:09

I gave the Streak 6's a try today. First impression is really good, though I'll need to spend a little more time in them. I thought they fit a little too tight at first, but they seemed to get more comfortable by the end of the run. The stiffness of the shoe is a nice change over the Lunaracers that I'm used to, but it also has the tendency to make my toes fall asleep. I wonder if that will be an issue over longer runs or if it'll go away as they wear in. At easy pace, it almost feels like there's a lateral support post that I really don't like, but that sensation goes away as I speed up and land more mid- to forefoot.

12 on the levee. Cold and windy, but the rain was kind enough to let up during my run or this one would have been miserable.

Easy 6. Feeling worse this morning and kept it short.

Sick, no run

Sick, no run.

Looking back on the year

It's been a great year. I smashed my annual mileage PR (3079, though that doesn't count ~200 miles from Jan/Feb that I didn't log). I raced a decent more frequently. I've gotten in good enough shape that I should run a huge PR in the half at Houston. And this has all happened through work, sickness, parenthood, and the birth of my second child. Historically I've struggled with consistency whether due to injury or motivation or life events, and that's a big goal of mine moving forward through 2017 and next few years. To build a few years of work in sequence and see what happens.

There's been room for improvement. I'm running slower than I think I should be. In May, I was looking ahead at the winter season with 1:08 in mind for the half. At this point, despite the annual mileage high, I think 1:09:00-1:09:30 is a more reasonable goal. I think there are 2 things that will help me improve through 2018: 1) Continued consistency, and 2) Weight lifting. The few seasons when I was running my best, I was lifting. that needs to come back if I can fit it in.

I have a few nagging injuries that I'm largely running through. Achilles tendonitis on the left side has been ongoing for 4 years now. Nothing has fixed it. I'm also concerned I have either a sports hernia or hip labrum tear that appeared around the same time as the tendonitis and could be the instigator for it. For now, I'm planning to keep running the way things are. Could be part of the reason my performance has declined, but the pain has been manageable and I'd prefer to continue treating them the  way I have been for now.

Looking ahead to 2018

2018 is my marathon year, and I'm excited for it. I've wanted to move on to the marathon for awhile. From 2009-2010 I struggled with injury. 2011-2013 I got side-tracked by going back to school and competing collegiately (very positive experience, wouldn't change that decision). 2014 I got talked into focusing on the mile/5k and 2015 the 5k/HM (wouldn't change that decision either), though I lost all my fitness in 2015 after my daughter was born (might do that differently, though I think it was important in adjusting to parenthood and establishing a happy home). I used 2017 as a buildup to get some miles under my belt, and 2018 so far is shaping up to be the year.

I'm eyeing a late-April marathon, and after Houston I'll take a short break and start my buildup for that. I'd love to go 2:25 or faster, but we'll see how training goes. 2:25 will be my "A" goal, sub-2:30 my "B." I'd also love to do 2 more marathons in 2018, but I think the Louisiana summer may limit me to 1. It's too far out at this point, but I'd be thinking about Philly, Indianapolis, CIM, or maybe push it to Houston 2019. We'll see.

Anyway, for training I think after Houston it's time to approach 100 mpw and see what happens. Maybe more will be possible after the spring. Entering the unknown....