I am one with the levee and the levee with me

AM - 10 miles easy. 4 with Austin.

PM - Added an easy 4. 

Met at Kamiakin to run with Austin. 8 miles in 49:55.

An unusual day of training for me. I woke up and knew I was getting sick. Family and friends have been getting some type of fast-acting stomach flu and I was clearly well on my way. So I went for a run, hoping I could finish before the vomiting began. I did, although this was probably the most painful 10 miler of my life. Wish I'd had a thermometer, I'm curious what my temperature was at the time. Felt like it must have been well over 100. Finished and threw up 2 hours later and haven't thrown up since. In fact, some Tylenol took my temperature down and I'm feeling pretty good right now. I'm sure I'll be back on my feet tomorrow and it doesn't look like I'm going to miss any training after all. If I'm going to get sick, this is the way to do it.

AM - Fever seems to be down so I went for a short run. Very shaky on the legs but managed 30:11 for 4 without feeling too bad.

PM - 6 miles. Spoke too soon. Very very painful. Bleh. 43:11

5 easy. Not feeling great.

AM - Easy run with some of the guys from Desert Hills. Legs felt like lead, I'm surprised at how much this bug took out of me. I was planning to run at the UW indoor next week but am reconsidering. We'll see how the tempo run goes next week.

AM - 8 miles on the river trail. 57:13.

PM - 4 miles in 23:31. Good uptempo run. Felt good.

AM - 8 miles in 56:45. My legs are sore. I can't believe my legs are sore. A couple down days because of sickness and my legs get sore when I return to normal. I still ran 33 miles last week... how are my legs sore from one 12-mile day?!

Tempo run today. Planned for 4 miles on the track at 5:15 but I've got a cold now and I went through 4800 meters in 15:57 and the pace was way too forced. So I called off the last mile. It felt like I could maintain pace for a few more miles but I was working too hard for 5:20 pace.

Finished my miles with some of the high school guys. 12.1 total today.

PM 1 - 6 miles in 43:00 with Phil, Evan, and Alan.  PM - Added an easy 4.

In Pullman WA for an interview. Ran an easy 10 on a bike trail that runs out towards Idaho. Boring and windy... not sure how I feel about moving here.

Oh boy. I don't know where to begin. To summarize: I lied my way into the meet, lost my shoe 600m in, pr'd by 14 seconds, and will be cross training the next two weeks while the skin on my foot grows back. And I don't think I've ever had so much fun at a race in my life.

My older brother is finishing up his residency in Seattle and still competes in the pole vault. He placed 5th at state in high school and has kept at it ever since. And still kicks butt. So I stayed at his place and we went over to the meet together. Which was going to be awesome, except that I had messed up my registration and wasn't actually entered in the meet. And the meet director wouldn't give me the time of day despite my begging and pleading. I even offered to help clean up after the meet. And then bribed him. So I had to lie. Yes, my name is Todd and I competed in the pole vault this morning and I'm going to win the slow heat of the 3k this evening, so please let me in okay? Yes? Great. It worked.

So in the morning I went out for an easy 7 since I needed the miles... Wow, Seattle is fun to run through. I hopped onto the Gilman Burke trail or whatever it's called by UW and ran down to Fremont and back. It was foggy, wet, and I loved every minute of it.

My cold was still lingering and I had some tightness in my chest, but I thought I could still run sub-8:50 if I got in. I watched the early heights of the pole vault and then spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around my bro's apartment.

There was a scratch in the first heat of the 3k and they were kind enough to let Todd the pole vaulter take his place. 30 guys in the slow heat, which is absolutely horrific on a 5-lane indoor track. The runner who scratched was kind enough to leave me a seed time that placed me on the inside of the first of two rows and the other runners were kind enough to go out slow enough to let me squeeze into the top 5 and stay clear of the main pack. Things were looking good.

Except that the pace was too slow and I was tucked right against the rail with bodies on all sides of me. We reached the quarter in 72 and I knew I had to get out or get left behind when the pace picked up. There was a small gap on my right shoulder, and I tried to pull Bernard Lagat's move from World's last year and jumped the gap into lane three. Except I wasn't as smooth as he was and I caught a spike on my foot that pulled my heel free of my own shoe. Maybe a little aggressive of a move, but I had 3 runners who were going to move up on my outside while the leaders got away. Anyone conditioned to Utah driving would have done the same. Shoe was still on but slipping. I tried to stamp it back in but no luck. I thought of trying trying to stop and put it back on. But there were so many people on the track I knew I'd get lost in the crowd and never make up the ground. So when it finally came off at 600m I kept going. The track actually felt pretty good to my foot right at first.

The pace really picked up then and I went through the mile in 4:38. I think I was 2nd or 3rd at that point. It felt fast but my body felt awesome and I knew I was going to win my heat. 1st place had moved up about 10m and I closed the gap and drafted on him for a lap. With 2 laps to go I made a move and grabbed the lead. I knew the win was mine, I could feel the strength left in my legs and was sure no one could stay with me. That's when the blister on my foot must have ruptured and all the skin around it slid off my foot. I was suddenly in agony. I had opened about a 5m gap but all at once I couldn't accelerate and the pack ganged back up on me. And then with a lap to go went around me. One by one until I was in 4th. I tried to accelerate but I could do nothing. The winner put 7 seconds on me in 300m. I looked down at the finish and saw the bloody footprints I was leaving on the track.

I don't know how long I'll have to cross train, but I can't run right now on this thing. Which sucks, but I'd make the same choice if I had to do it again. I pr'd by 14 seconds on one shoe. That feels pretty awesome.

There's a video of the race here:

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?do=view&member_id=1067&video_id=18957

I'm in a white top and red shorts. You see the shoe fly off at 1:33.

70 minutes on the elliptical. Top Gun was on TV... I'm not sure which was more painful. Measured HR twic, once at 35 minutes and once at the end, 138 and 150 respectively.

70 minutes on the elliptical. HR in the 150-160 range.

70 minutes on the elliptical. Went a little harder than yesterday.

Did 3 miles on the treadmill and the foot feels fine. Can't even tell I hurt it when I run now. Planning to add 8 later tonight. Amazing to me how fast things are healing.

Added 8 miles at home. Felt fine. 

Evening run, 6 miles with some of the guys. 41:30

Met with Anthony, Austin, Alan, Taylor and Taylor's little bro for a longer run. 9 miles around Thompson Hill, total time of 59:51.

AM - Easy 5, river trail.

PM - Easy 7, 6 with Austin and Anthony. 

AM - Woke up at 5, so just went on my morning run then. Easy 4.

PM - 8 total, 6:40ish pace, 7 with Anthony and Austin. 

Met with Phil at the high school in the evening for a 6 mile uptempo run. 36:13 for 5.96 on Phil's watch. Felt pretty good. Phil hung tough through about 5 miles - pretty dang good for an early season tempo.

Met with Austin at the high school. Ran 5.x with him, then finished out the run for a total of 1:09. Calling it 10, probably was a little more. Did not feel very motivated today, but things felt pretty good towards the end. Always satisfying to get out and do it when I'd rather go take a nap.

Easy 11 tonight from the high school. 7 with Alan, Anthony, and Austin.

Went by Richland High this morning for a 6400m tempo. Felt pretty relaxed, finishing in 20:42. Splits were 5:15, 5:16, 5:11, 5:00 with a 68 final lap.

Afterwards, drove over to the middle school to run an easy 10 with some of the guys. 67ish total time.

AM - 5 Easy on the river trail. No watch, 7ish pace.

PM - 8 easy, 6 with Austin and Anthony.

AM - 5 easy.

PM - 7 easy with just Austin tonight.

Wow I haven't been online in awhile.. didn't realize I was so far behind on my training log.

Ran 6 at 5:40 with Austin and Anthony. Total miles? We'll say 12. I know I got 75 for the week, that's all I need it to add to. 

AM - 5 by my apt.

PM - 8 with Austin. 

AM - Supereasy 4.

PM - Supereasy 6. I'm talking close to 8:00 pace. Austin and Anthony ran with me, we spent a lot of time screwing around, just taking it easy before tomorrow's race. 

Took some of my runners up to a meet at the University of Idaho. Pretty good results, for the most part. Should be a good season for them.

I'm not so excited about my own performances. My desire to race wasn't there and the results show it. Ran the mile and 3k, placing 4th in one and 3rd in the other with 4:26.05 and 9:03.5. On a positive note, it's the best double I've ever run. On the other hand, I feel I should be able to hit a 4:20/8:50 double right now.

So in the mile got right in behind this stud high school kid from Spokane and another college guy for the first half. We go through splits of 63 and 2:08 (I'm assuming 400m, not quarters) and I felt like the pace was just absolutely suicidal. I haven't run a competitive mile since high school, and it seemed a lot worse than it was. I don't even know the last time I ran 63 or 2:08, but it's been years. But my legs were responsive. 800m in and I was able to close a gap that was forming between me and the UI guy. Final quarter rolls around (3:15) and I start having PVCs one right after the other and it rattles me a little. I eased off the pace even though I knew it's harmless. This is the part I'm kicking myself about. The desire wasn't there. Anyway, I ran the last quarter somewhere around 70 and feel I blew my chance for my first sub 4:20. 

In the 3k I found a guy to sit on and we went through the mile in 4:43. He put down a surge there and I didn't respond. I figured I could but I knew it would hurt a lot and, again, the desire wasn't there to push myself. Felt like I coasted in the last 1400m.

I dunno, I feel like sometime last week training changed from a stress reliever to a stressor. I'm not balancing myself right and I'm feeling the strain. Lots of things are piling up and I need to figure out how to get in balance again.

On an interesting note, I tried scraping my legs between races with surprisingly good results. That mile should have made me stiff and sore for the rest of the day, but I got the 3k start line feeling loose and supple. Cool stuff. 

PM only - Easy run with Anthony.

PM only - Ran a 6 at 6:00 with Anthony, Justin and Alan. Felt fine and relaxed like it should. A little lingering soreness in my calves, but otherwise everything's good.

AM - 5 at about 7:00 pace by the river.

PM - 8 with Anthony, 6:30-6:50ish pace.

AM - Easy 4 before work. 

PM - Met with Justin, Anthony, and Austin for a 6 at 5:40 run. Not sure on the actual paces - glanced at the Garmin early in the run, told us 5:45 pace, then later in the run and it said 5:30. A little under 5:40 seems about right to how it felt.

The weather has been awesome since December. 60 degrees today, very little wind, a little rain. Austin is just getting over a bout of the flu so he hung back some. Anthony's calf has been pretty tight since Saturday's races so he and Justin went 3.5 with me. Tonight was good... Training has been much more enjoyable the last few days. I still need more sleep.

AM - Ran 5 easy before work. 

PM - Had planned another 5 but I fell asleep and couldn't get myself up till the morning. Guess I really needed it.

Slept for 10 hours last night and it was a m a z i n g!!!!!

Finally dragged myself out of bed and went to Richland High again for my 4-mile tempo. The volume of workouts this week seemsto have gotten to me a little and I stopped after 3200m (10:31) to stretch out, as I felt very tight and was having to push hard to maintain pace. Very tight in the quads and hammies. So took a couple minutes to stretch and then finished the last 3200m in 10:13 feeling much more smooth and relaxed. I'm now questioning the studies that say stretching beforehand hurts performance. It probably doesn't take into account pre-performance muscle fatigue. 68 final lap, trying to make that final kick an instinctive habit.

Splits:

5:15

5:16

2-3 min break

5:09

5:04 

Afterwards I swung over to Desert Hills to run with Austin and Alan for an easy 7 (added 3 to make it 10). Took it easy and messed around here and there. Also wore a Garmin for the first time in awhile, looks like my easy pace has improved to 6:40ish. Cool stuff. 

AM - 6 easy by the Columbia. It was misty and dreary and awesome. I love runs like this.

PM - New shoes!!!!!!!! Figured I'd pushed it far enough in my trusty old Switch and sprung for a brand new pair. 8 easy with some of the guys. Had the biggest group in awhile. Ran the traditional river trail. Actually had a little daylight left when we started.

Met up with Austin and headed to the river. Ran 8 miles at roughly 6:00 pace (48:33 for a slightly-longer-than-6-mile run; didn't have the Garmin so not sure exactly how far). Heartrate at the end was 135, which I'm pretty excited about. My training pace in Utah used to be 135-140. Felt great aerobically... but it still feels like my legs aren't quite up to where my aerobic fitness is. They were tight, especially in the hamstrings. Need to work on those, I guess.

AM - The usual easy 6.

PM - 8 with the guys in Columbia Park. Taylor showed up tonight which was cool. Looks like he's been doing some good work with Phil since tonight's 8 seemed pretty easy for him.

AM - Easy 4. Saw a banana peel in the road that looked rather Mario Kart-esque... is someone trying to sabotage me?

PM - Ran a 6 at 5:40 run tonight. Met with the guys at the HS but they're resting up a bit for a mile TT Saturday so I went off alone.

Felt better the further I went which I attribute to inadequate warmup (1 mile's worth) but it was all good. Again, indeterminate length but measured 33:31 for roughly 6 miles. It's well within .1 mile anyway. HR of 150 at the end.

Easy 10. I've never done this many miles and I can't keep enough food in me. I felt sooo hungry the entire run, but I'd already eaten 3000 calories by the time I got out. It's ridiculous.

Ran a 1600m time trial with some of our top guys on the Richland High track. We've had super-calm weather for the last month or two and today was the first day we've had any wind. Go figure. My goal was to pace them 3 laps at 67 and let them do whatever they could the final lap. The wind was coming up the homestretch and was just brutal, especially since my singlet wasn't enough to keep my arms warm. Splits went 66, 69, 70, and 71. I just got tighter and tighter. Anthony kicked in a 68 for 4:33, I was 4:36, Justin went 4:40, Austin 4:45 and Phil 4:50. The effort was equal to my indoor race two weeks ago and so I figure the times were about 10 seconds slow. Which means these guys are going to have a monster season when they start doing some mile- and two-mile-specific workouts.

Afterwards I drove out to Jump Off Joe and ran it. It won't matter how many times I run it, it's always going to surprise me how steep it is. I don't know how percentages work on inclines, but I've run down 10% inclines and this is much steeper. The wind was in my face on the way up too; it was just a brutal run. After the steepest part the road leveled a bit and I was able to stretch out my stride some and it finally hit me how much lactic acid had built up in my legs. I've never felt anything like it, it was like my legs had become encased in wood. I loved it. 11:59 to the top, close to my fastest run up it.

I had played with the idea of  tempoing the 3.7 back to my car but felt the 16:30 I'd spent at VO2 max should just about do it for the day. Took it easy and enjoyed the feeling of running my first 80 mile week. 

AM - Easy 8 by the Columbia.

PM - Added 6 with the guys from Kamiakin.

AM - Easy 4

PM - 6 miles at 5:40 pace. I've gotta start doing these my way instead of catering to the guys I'm running with. We only did 1 mile warmup since our basketball team is playing in the regional playoffs. It just doesn't work for me. It took me a full mile at 5:40 pace to really feel comfortable.

Feeling a little tired, I don't think the 3 workouts a week thing is working very well. Maybe if running were all I did and I could sit around and eat ice cream the rest of the day it would be perfect (wouldn't that be sweet? I bought some Haagen Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice cream last night... pure heaven. I woke up at 3am and with a craving and nothing to stop me....), but work has been a little bit physical and I'm struggling to feel relaxed in my workouts. I was planning an 8-10 miler at 6:00 pace Thursday, but I think I'll push it to next week and stick with just a Saturday workout. We'll see how that works out.

Also I'm starting to get a little Plantar's fascitis in my right foot. I've always been able to stretch it out, but somehow my stretches aren't reaching it. It's like my toes have locked up and they won't let me push hard enough to get a good stretch. It's been slowly creeping up on me and didn't go away with the new shoes... I'm starting to get worried.

Meant to run more tonight but I was just so tired. 6 easy miles with Austin and Anthony.

AM - 8 easy miles on the Columbia. Met some guy on the trail who was running about my pace, which threw me cause he had grey hair and the level of competition among grey-haired men in this area is relatively low. Anyway, turns out he's from the Bay Area and is a structural engineer in town to tear down a building.

Which made me think, how'd I miss the boat on this job? This is every kid's dream, to travel around the US blowing things up. As a kid you pretty much know policeman and firefighter are the only two options, maybe doctor and scientist as you get a little older. They really need to introduce this as an option earlier in life. I'm pretty sure I'd be qualified on childhood experience alone.

Anyway, on the way back I stopped by one of the restrooms (they stay open all winter... and they're heated... talk about a hobo paradise, eh?) and it was like a scene out of horror film. There were spiders everywhere, covering every inch of everything... I've never seen anything like it. They were on the toilet seat, in the corners, inside the bowl, hanging from the ceiling, doing trapeze acts from corner to corner... Black widows, large fuzzy brown ones... everything you can think of. Talk about a tense atmosphere. But I'm happy to report the purpose of the stop was a success. That's one situation I now know my bowels can handle.

PM - Easy 7. Met with Anthony and Austin. They were supposed to do 12x400m intervals earlier but instead ran 4 or 5 at 5:40. I'm going to stop showing up on days they're supposed to do track workouts, tempo runs at 5:40 are only going to get them so far. I never thought I'd be this kind of a bad influence.

AM - Easy 6 out on the river.

PM - Ran 8 with Austin and Alan.

Had a great day of training today. The workout was 3x3200m, trying to hit as close to 10:00 as I could. Austin and Anthony came as well, their workout was to do the first mile of each of my reps, which is a lot of rest, but they haven't spent much time at sub-5 pace, so I figured it would be okay.

I was planning on 3 min rests, but after the first one (10:13, 5:05-5:08), I needed a quick pit stop, and also switched from my racing flats to spikes. The rest ended up being 4:30.

Second rep was 10:07 (5:01-5:06). The pace was much easier to maintain with the other guys in front of me. First half felt great, but I was laboring to run faster than 76s on my own. Took 4 minutes rest.

The guys offered to alternate laps on the last rep to pace me to 10:00 and it made all the difference. I don't think I'd have maintained pace on my own. 4:59-4:59 for 9:58.

The best thing about the workout is I had several gears left. It was difficult and painful, but not an all-out kind of painful which has me excited to get into some longer distance races.

Afterwards we went cliff jumping out on the Snake river. It was about 60 degrees, sunny, about a 35-foot drop, and water temps just above freezing. And it was absolutely wonderful. 

AM - Easy 8 to start out the week. Fairly routine run... mornings are still a bit nippy, but the weather has been wonderful the last couple months. Probably means the winds are about to begin....

PM - Added an easy 6 along the Columbia. Track has started so I'm expecting to be running on my own a lot more.

AM - Easy 4 along the river. Warmest morning so far.

PM - 8 mile tempo. Goal pace was 6:00 but I clocked 45:33 on an unofficial course. It's one I've run several times and believe it's only off by .1 in either direction, maybe as much as .2. Doesn't matter a whole lot to me, the point is that I felt fantastic. I felt fast tonight, and I haven't felt that way in awhile. I think cutting back to 2 workouts a week was a good idea. I don't know what exactly went right, but it feels like everything is coming together very well. It was aerobically easy and for once my legs felt strong. I usually feel weak in the legs, but tonight was great. Maybe it's hills from two weeks ago, maybe it's the lunges I've added the past two Saturdays. I don't know. It just felt good. Measured my HR at the end at 135.

Tonight also gave me a chance to try out my new Lunar Racers. My local running store gave me a pretty good deal on last year's model and I'm pretty excited about them. I liked my Filas, but these just feel better. I'll see how I like them for faster stuff next week.

12 easy miles from Kamiakin. Went to the track to give Anthony some moral support in his speed workout he missed.

AM - Easy 7 from my parents' place. Spectacular sunrise this morning.

PM - Easy 7 again from my parents'. Spectacular sunset this time. Kind of a book end day today.

Easy 10. Ran the course I did on Tuesday in 1:13:16. Pretty sure it's very close to 10 miles. That's very encouraging.

In Seattle tonight, getting ready for the 3k tomorrow at UW. 

Disappointing race for me today at Dempsey Indoor. It was such a nice day in Seattle I think my body was just depressed to run indoors. Or maybe I just ran dumb. One or the other.

I seeded myself at 8:33 which is a lie but I wanted to get into the fastest heat and figured 8:33 was reachable. I mean, I ran 8:45 two months ago on less mileage and half-way barefoot, you would think that would factor to right around 8:33.

But I didn't get into the fastest heat. UW placed 3 of their own guys in the fast heat, despite having slower seed times than me. And yes, this bothers me. Yeah, I see the irony, my seed was a lie... but they didn't know that. What's the point of a seed time if you're just going to slip people in wherever you feel like? It's like that Seinfeld episode.

The one complaint I have with Dempsey is that they give the #1 seed the worst start position - right up against the rail. The 3k starts at the end of a curve, so if you don't get out really fast, you get boxed. Which means when you get out fast enough to get clear, everyone else falls in behind you because, hey you're the #1 seed, you're supposed to be fast. And I was arrogant enough to think I could beat them from the front. At first I thought it was working because I couldn't hear anyone behind me. 69 first lap. 70 second. Oh wait, I hear footsteps. Pick up the pace. Is that fast enough? I'm not sure, I'm out front and this feels fast, there's another 70, that's odd I thought I picked it up. My legs are starting to get tight, how are these guys still with me, they should be hurting too!

At the mile (4:39) this guy tried to go around me and I decided I decided to keep the lead wire to wire if I could, so I surged to keep him from passing me and make him run in lane 2. He started crowding me and trying to force me to let him take it so I gave him a few elbows and shoved him out of my space a little. It really really bugs me when runners crowd me from the outside. If you're going to pass, pass. Don't cut me off. Dumb move on my part, I should have been happy to let someone else take the lead and rest. When he finally managed to get around, 8 other guys were right there behind him, one right after the other, and going from 1st to 10th completely broke me.

So I led through 2k in 5:50 and ran the last 1k in 3:04. Not so hot. I'm trying to be positive here and chalk it up to experience. Plenty of lessons to learn from this one.

My goal for the coming weeks is to take better care of my body. I haven't been eating or sleeping well enough, I think it's time to improve.

Usually I take today completely off but my bro wanted to go for an easy run around Green Lake so I went with him. I promised he'd go about 8:00 pace but he decided to push it around 7:00. Pretty impressive for a pole vaulter, in my opinion.

12 miles tonight at about 6:50 pace along the river. Legs are not as after previous races, probably means I didn't push myself hard enough.

AM - 3 miles easy from my apartment.

PM - 6 mile tempo. Meant to feel it out at about 5:40 pace but I felt really really good and finished in 32:33.  

Single 12 mile run. Ran the same course as yesterday in 1:29:30 compared to yesterday's total time of 1:14ish.

AM - Easy 3. Seeing lots of skunks lately. Threw a rock at one and it stuck its tail up at me.

PM - Easy 7. Very very tired tonight. Glad not to have to go more.

PM 1 - Easy 4 after work. I'll finish up later tonight. The weather is turning nastier, had a windy afternoon followed by some rain. I don't expect to have another calm workout for the next 3 months.

PM 2 - 8 miles in 55:40. 

AM - First HS track meet of the year was today at Richland High so I had to go to the local middle school for my workout. My words last night proved almost prophetic, and I got to fight a 10 mph cross wind the whole time. 10mph isn't awful (I don't consider the workout blown out till it's gusting to 20mph), but it's definitely noticeable. And somehow it was blowing at such an angle that it was in my face on 3 sides of the track. Don't know how that works, but it was there.

My plan was 5x1000m in 2:55, 2:55, 2:50, 2:50, 2:50 with 3:00 rests. I wanted 3k pace at 5k volume with slightly longer rests to compensate. So in reality I ran the first 4 in 2:56 and the last one in 2:58. Not as fast as I wanted but I think it's in the ballpark, factoring in the wind. Finished the workout with 6x100m strides between 14.5 and 15.5 secs.

Afterwards I watched the 3200m and 1600m at Richland High. Some really good performances to start out the season. In fact, I can't think of a single negative... seems like everyone had good races. Our very own philerooski doubled with a 10:16/4:54. Also had a 9:42/4:40, 4:25/2:01, 4:33, and a few other sub-5s. I didn't catch the 800m, but it looks like we've got lots of good things to come this year.

PM - Finished out the week with an easy 8 miler. This is my fourth or fifth week at 80 miles and my body seems to be holding up just fine. I'm spending a lot more time stretching and icing and scraping than ever before, I'm sure this is making the difference.

There's nothing like a dose of reality to bring me back to earth. I measured out a couple miles on the river trail with a wheel and discovered that my easy pace is a lot easier than I thought. Like 20 seconds slower. So the 10 mile runs I've been doing out here are like 9.6 miles. At least, assuming I maintained the same pace once I reached the end of my 2-mile course. 

So anyway, 13 miles today... felt like it took forever. Focused on maintaining 7:00 pace out so that I could get an idea where my mile markers are and then returned in about 7:15 pace. Felt like a long time on my feet. 

AM - Easy 6 

PM - 4 mile tempo, testing out my new course. I marked off every quarter (following the tangents as best I could) and it seemed pretty accurate. The weather was beautiful all day long until I started my run, go figure, and then the wind picked up. The river trail is a little more sheltered than the rest of town, so 20mph winds in town were like 10 on the trail. It blew as a cross wind and rarely felt favorable either direction, although more so on the way back.

So headed out I hit splits of 5:15 and 5:19 for 10:34. The last half-mile runs up to the top of the dike and the wind was much more in my face, I believe I only managed 2:40 on that half. Paused at the turnaround for about 10 seconds to regroup and started back into it. That half-mile back along the dike was just as bad as coming, only managed 2:44 that direction.

Once I got down close to the river, though, things picked up. 2:41 next half for 5:25, then 2:40 and 2:32 to close it out for a 10:37 return trip. 21:11 for the overall time which I'm pleased with, all things considered.

Cooled down and added 6x15sec strides and about 30 lunges. I'm very happy with today's work. 

Found out today that my entry was accepted to the Oregon Preview. Looks like I'll be headed to Eugene this weekend! 

It's my birthday so I took today off. And I'm getting sick. Not a good birthday at all.

12 miles all at once, can you believe that? All at one time.

6 miles easy. Felt like poo. Tight chest, stuffy head. Bleh.

I submitted my entry to this meet a few weeks ago thinking it would be cool to go to a high level meet like this, not fully expecting to get in, but just that it would be cool. I managed to squeak in, but I got sick this week and had second thoughts about it. I felt like poop on my run yesterday. Literally. If you closed your eyes and felt me and then felt some poop, you couldn't tell the difference. It was that bad. 

But one of my goals this year is to take advantage of my healthy legs as much as possible and get some experience, so I sucked it up and made the drive down to Eugene last night after work. The drive was excruciating. It took half a gallon of Mt. Dew and 3/4 lb of M&Ms to keep me awake. This is what I call carbo loading. It didn't help that my CD player broke and I was forced to hum whatever songs I could remember to myself. (How did "Genie in a Bottle" get stuck in my head?! Dang you, American Idol!)

In my opinion, Eugene lives up to its hype of being a great place for track. Oregon really knows how to put on a meet, and they've got some amazing fans. I've never been to a meet where people just show up to watch. For no other reason than that they genuinely love track and field. It was awesome. There was this 60-something year old lady sitting next to me in the grand stands - all by herself - that knew runner's names and cheered and was more into it than my own parents have ever been into track. And I know this sounds like a little thing, but my name was printed on my bib instead of a number. Makes you feel kinda special.

I rolled out of bed around 10 and went for a light half-hour shakeout. I should've planned it out a little better since this wasn't exactly the most scenic tour of Eugene (I ran past all the waste management facilities... which somehow smelled like toast - it made me hungry) but it told me that my mix of drugs were doing their job to lessen my symptoms. My sinuses were relatively clear and the tightness in my chest wasn't as bad. It wasn't great, but I figured I could run a decent race.

My race plan was simple: run even 70s for as along as possible. My breathing felt like my limiting factor and I didn't want to kill myself early with a silly fast first lap. They ran all 30 of us in one heat, so that was a possibility if I got carried away.

They started us in a two-tiered waterfall, and somehow I had the good fortune of being on the inside of the second stagger. It meant I had a short route (as opposed to starting in lane 10, which some did) without having to fight everybody for position. And I ended up on the outside of the pack instead of trapped on the inside rail. There are perks to being seeded 23rd. 

The rest of the race is kind of a blur, but basically my plan worked as intended. A 70s opening lap left me near last place but kept me fresh enough to maintain right about 70 sec pace the rest of the way. I had plenty of people to pass (looking back I get a chuckle.... there were two or three guys I'd pass and then they passed me back and then I'd pass them... by the time I finished I felt like I'd passed everyone in the field) and I just focused on trying to hit straight 70s. I wasn't perfect but was close, coming through 1k in 2:56 and 2k in 5:54 (I think. My one complaint with the meet is the guy giving splits. He looked closer to pushing daisies than another birthday... it was very difficult to hear him). And somewhere along the way I passed a guy in an Oregon uni - what a great feeling that was.

I remember seeing the clock at 7:41 when I hit the bell lap and thinking I could dip under 8:50 with a good last lap. At first I was a little peeved with myself for not hitting a better final lap (there were plenty of runners to pick off, too), but my memory tells me I really gave it all I had. My chest was burning and I was fading fast. 70 seconds, not my most spectacular finish.

So 8:51. 18th place. 5 spots ahead of my seed, I can't be too upset with that, right? The funny thing is, the kid who won the race, Jordan McNamara, I beat him the last time we raced. He's a year younger than me, and he came to my hometown with his team in high school for a road 5k for whatever reason just after I graduated, and I beat him by 3 seconds. Now he's running 7:53 3ks... it just makes me wonder. All in all, I'm glad I went. It was a great experience and I'm pleased with running a decent race while less-than-healthy. And it was great seeing some of the races - watching Sally Kipyego run 4:10 wire-to-wire was epic. Cool stuff. 

AM - 6 easy

PM - 8 easy. 

AM - Easy 8.

PM - Easy 6. Switched it up today.

I've had a little twinge in my calf where I used to have problems since the meet. I've slapped some ice on it and it seems to be doing better. Think I'll hold off on my usual Tuesday workout. 

Big fat 0. I'm trying to think long-term and took the day off to let the ankle rest. 

Today started out looking like it would be a pretty beastly run. The weather reports were saying 15-20mph winds with 30mph gusts and it sure felt like it. Had to do some work out at my parents' so I ran from their house. If the river trail by my apartment is the most sheltered part of town, this is the least sheltered. I felt like I had the full force in my face for the first 3 miles, and then the wind died down a little bit to a level that normally irritates me but felt comfortable in comparison. 51 minutes out, 49:13 back for 1:40:13 total time. Ankle feels 100%. 

AM - 8 easy. Still breezy

PM - Late night run, 7 easy. Moon out, wind is gone... it was beautiful. 

I headed to the Richland High track after work for a 4x1600m workout. I was hoping to average sub-4:50 on these but fell a little short. With 3:00 rests, I hit 4:54, 4:49.9 (had to get under on at least one), 4:51, and 4:52. 

I need to start doing a full lap around the track before I start my workouts as I got halfway around before realizing someone had left some hurdles in lane 1. Who puts hurdles in lane 1 on the curve anyway? Ridiculous. So I stopped and moved them and started up again but it completely threw me off. I couldn't get out of a 74 s/lap groove till the last lap. Oh well. The workout was very taxing and should be a good indicator of what kind of 5k shape I'm currently in. I'm a little surprised, to be honest, I figured 4:50s would feel easier... I felt tight and sluggish the whole way. Something felt a little off. 

After the workout I hit the river trail for a 10-mile cool-down. I felt completely exhausted and halfway into it a lay down on the WSU campus and just stared up at the sky. It felt sooo good I almost fell asleep. Had some beautiful weather today after a crummy few days. 

As an afterthought... I was just looking at my profile pic and thinking about how my calves look disproportionately large. They look as big around as my quads... what's the deal? No wonder I kick myself when I run.....

Out and back, ran out 45:30, back in 37:03

Sick, no run

Went to dr, got some meds. Hopefully will feel better soon.

4 mile tempo - 20:40. 5:11, 5:11, 5:13, 5:05. Surprised me, thought I'd lost a little shape, so I was really happy to run this fast. It's actually a pr for 4 miles.

I've let my mileage slip a little and it really showed today. I felt awesome at 15:00 5k pace but my endurance at that speed wasn't there and I died a little. Time to get back on the horse and hammer out the miles again.

This was the most aesthetically pleasing race I've ever been to. I love Portland, the college was located in a great place... it was awesome. The race started and I went through the first lap in 72 seconds... right where I wanted. The next lap went by in 70, which really surprised me. Didn't feel like I sped up that much. Tucked in behind a group of 4 that pulled me through 1600m in 4:49. Perfect.

After that, our pace slowed. I stuck with the pack through 3200m in 9:46 (4:57) and then the wheels fell off. Totally a result of being lazy in my training, but I fell to about 5:10 pace. Managed to kick a 71 sec last lap to dip under 15:30.

I'm not upset with my race effort at all, it's the preparation I feel bad about. I lost my focus a little and this was a major wake-up call for me. On a positive note, I know that 72s will be manageable once I get that endurance back.

First day back into full swing. Easy 6 in the morning, 7:40 pace, shaking out the race. Easy 8 in the evening, out in 28:20, back in 27:30. Feeling good.

Found out today that Bloomsday accepted my entry into the elite seeding, which means I get to start in the first group ahead of the gigantic mass of humanity that turns out for the race. I figured I was borderline, so this is excellent news.

AM - 4 easy, 7:30ish pace

PM - 8 mile tempo. Wanted to see what it would feel like to hold 5:30 pace through 8 miles. I found out. It was difficult. 43:55 final time.

I've wheeled out 2 miles of river trail but really need to do more. I had to do 3 180s on this trip, that's just pushing it a bit for me. But a super awesome exciting fantastic run as it was. I feel pretty pumped. Tired but pumped.

Started feeling a little bit tired after about 2 miles, and the feeling remained steady through 7 miles or so. Just before that I had a little stomach cramp and my breathing became shallow, something I haven't felt in a really, really long time. Probably means I need to improve my diet and do some situps.

On a side note, I've been gradually improving my diet. This week I bought a bunch of Kool-aid packets to replace the huge amounts of Coke I've been ingesting. This is what I mean by gradual improvement.

Anyway, splits were as follows:

5:29
10:58	5:29
16:26	5:28
21:57	5:31
27:26	5:29
32:57	5:31
38:28	5:31
43:55	5:27

Very, very happy with this run. Followed up with 40 lunges and 25 pushups.

Ran out an hour, back in 1:00:26 for a long 16 mile run. I don't think I've ever done a 2 hour run, so this felt like an accomplishment. Very tiring to be on my feet that long.

Super-easy 8 at 7:40 pace. Feeling very tired.

AM - 7:40 pace 4 miles.

PM - 8 miles, 7:00 pace. Finally feeling a little rested.

PM 1 - After watching our guys dominate at the Hermiston Invite on a very, very windy day, I swung by Jump Off Joe hill on my way home for my run. It's been awhile and I've felt the need for some hill work, especially with Bloomsday and the Doomsday hill lingering on the horizon.

Wish I'd had a wind meter, but it felt like a steady 20mph wind in my face all the way to the base of the hill. The road takes me through a canyon that acts like a wind tunnel on windy days, so it doesn't matter which way the road turns, the wind is channeled directly down the road. Some gusts felt 30+ and fully stopped me in my tracks.

Running up the face of the hill was the easiest I've ever had it. I wish I could say it's just because I'm in better shape than ever, but I'm sure part of it had to do with the strong wind that was now at my back pushing me all the way. Regardless of the wind, it's a steep climb and my legs and lungs handled it 100% better than ever before; it can't all be because of the wind. I was worried a little about the race next week but this run eased my fears. I didn't spend too much time at the top as I felt like I was in danger of being pushed off the other side.

I tempoed from the base back to my car, which is about 3.7 miles. I forgot my watch at home, but I had the wind behind me and felt like I was literally flying. Which was perfect..... I wanted the hill climb to strengthen my legs and the downhill tempo to get some fast turnover stuff going. I must've been pushing 4:45 pace on the first-half downhill section and sub-5:00 on the rest and my halmstrings are punishing me now. It felt awesome. My stride was totally stretched out and open and there were moments I felt like I was flying. It was awesome.

AM - 5 easy miles

PM - Weird night. Meant to take a short nap after work but woke up at 2 am. Went for a 10miler then went back to sleep for a couple hours before my Tuesday morning run. 

5 easy miles. One run today, decided I'm going to taper for Bloomsday and the UW meet next week. 

AM - 4 easy

PM - Track workout. Planned 2x1600 in 4:45 then 6-8x200m in 32. My infection came back yesterday and I couldn't hit my times today. Felt like the air I was breathing was going right through me. It took a lot of effort to hit 4:46, then I came through the 800m again in 2:25 and stopped. I needed to hit the times and this was worthless. So I finished with 8x200m in 32s.

Went to the doctor and got some antibiotics and allergy medicine and then slept. I hope this works fast.

Worked this morning till it got too windy (it's been blowing a steady 15-20mph for the last week, grrrr). Made my last minute preparations and headed up to Spokane.

After registering and eating, I headed back out of town to find myself a campsite. I was hoping to stay with a buddy but it fell through, so I found myself under the stars tonight. I loved it. I'll probably do this more often, I just need to get myself a little more gear.

It was pretty late by the time I got camp set up, so I headed out with my flashlight onto the lonely wooded road that ran by the lake. Creepy. Don't think I'll ever do this again. 

It's intimidating to find yourself in a room full of people with names like Korir and Kiptoo. Kinda like you don't belong. 

But's that's where I found myself this morning. I submitted an entry to get included in the elite field at this year's race, they just said you had to have a shot at placing in the top 50, so I made my case and they accepted. But I definitely felt out of place in that little room by the start line. I did make the top 50, so I guess it was justified.

The race did not go as well as I'd hoped. I hoped that I'd be rid of whatever is in my chest by now, but it hasn't gone away. This is my second round of antibiotics, what's going on? 

In any case, I ran my race under the assumption that my body was 100%, so going through the first two miles in 5:08 and 5:06 (long downhill from about 1.5 to 2.0) felt perfect. My legs felt responsive and I felt confident I'd maintain a 5:10 average the rest of the way. It wasn't to be. 

Mile 3 climbs about 100 feet in elevation through a series of rolling hills and I came through in 5:35 (15:49) which seemed acceptable for the hill climb. But from there to the finish I couldn't get myself out of the 5:30 zone. Mile 4 continued the rolling hills but the altitude changed little, and I only managed 5:25 (21:14). At this point couple runners caught up to me and I managed to latch on to one, and we went back and forth for a couple miles, which helped. It's funny, I recognized him from his stride as Jesse Fayant, a guy who used to dominate Washington distance in high school. He was the same grade as Chris Lukezic, and the races between the two were epic. Jesse won state XC over Chris, then lost the state 1600m title to him. When the 3200m rolled around, the two ran stride for stride, closing the last lap in 57 thanks to a 27 second final 200m and Jesse managed to edge him at the line. Obviously his training isn't where it could be, but all this was running through my mind as we were running together.

Mile 5 lost considerable altitude before beginning the ascent up the Doomsday Hill, and should have been at least 5:00, but my watch had me at 26:49, another 5:35. This was incredibly frustrating: my body told me I was running 5:10 pace effort but I just wasn't producing. I can only chalk it up to my breathing issues. My chest was noticeably tight at this point, but regardless I was still positive my effort was equal to 5:10 miles. 

The climb up the hill was not bad. My runs up Jump Off Joe have paid off as I climbed mile 6 (141 foot gain) in 5:38 (32:27). Jesse dropped here and I didn't see him till the finish. A group of runners came way, way back and I nearly caught them. I set myself to catching them as we crested the hill, but again I ran into a block at around 5:30 pace. I swear up and down it was 5:10, but the watch doesn't lie. I finished mile 7 in 5:30 (37:57) and those runners had quietly slipped away. I passed a clock that I assume was set at the 10k, my watch reading 33:36.

The finish was very cool. The crowd thickened from mile 7 on, until we turned onto the final downhill stretch to the finish. Thankfully it was downhill and I managed a decent kick down the last quarter mile or so, stopping my watch at 40:20.

Very cool race to do despite the frustrations. I'm looking forward to doing it again in future years. I was planning to race at the UW this coming Saturday but think I'll skip it to let my body get back into balance.

Ferocious recovery. Those are the two words that describe my run today, the former referring to the wind and latter my goal for the run. By the end I felt a little closer to thrashed than recovered. We got  steady 20-30mph winds today with gusts up over 50. Every trash can I passed was toppled over, contents spilled and scattered and its lid lying some distance away as if saying "We're really sorry. We tried...."

Legs are very sore. I'm making it a goal to be more diligent about my stretching and core workouts, which I've been very lazy about. Finished up with 30 reps on my stomach workout... I'll be feeling it tomorrow.

AM - Easy 8 miles. I took another step towards my goal of eating healthier: I ate oatmeal for breakfast. Willingly. And I put bananas in it. I believe this marks the official end of my childhood.

On a positive note, my chest feels like it's clearing. My breathing felt much better. I'm still coughing up stuff now and then, but easy breathing is a good sign.

PM - Easy 4

Woke up bright and early at 5:30 for an easy 8. 57:07

AM - My work start moved to 7am, so it's gonna be a lot of early mornings. I rolled over and closed my eyes when the alarm went off but remembered how nice my evening run would be if I didn't have to smash in 90 minutes, so rolled out and got it done. Easy 4.

PM - Headed over to the high school meet right after work. It was a thing of beauty. The boys went 4:17, 4:22, 4:22, 4:23 in the 1600m, then followed up with 9:40, 9:44, 9:46 off a 5:00 first half in the 3200m. Big things are happening over there. Anthony is getting scary... the head coach taped his double from a meet last week where he went 4:25/9:26. Splits in the 1600m were 2:20/2:05. Also clocked his last 100m in the 3200m by video at 12.6. That's not a typo. He was down by 10m with 100m and pulled it out of somewhere to win by 2 secs. The guys keep me humble.

9.5 miles with warmups, cool downs, and an easy 50 minutes down a canal.

AM - Easy 4

PM - Easy 8 

Ran around Richland today from my apartment. Headed down the usual river trail, planning to do a 2hr out an back but just continued around on the bike path up the bypass highway. The whole loop was about 90 minutes, so I tacked on 30 at the end to finish at 2:00:00. Compared to the last 2hr run, my pace was much quicker and I felt quite a bit better. I started feeling a little shaky with about 15 minutes left, compared to 45 minutes on the last one. Good stuff.

The not-so-good stuff is that I've developed a jarring pain in my knee. It didn't prevent me from striding normally, but every so often it would shoot a sharp pain. Stretched and iced when I got back, I'll have to work on it hard this week.

Well, things are a little worse in the knee. Think I'll have to take a little downtime, try to get it up to speed.

4 easy miles this morning, had to hobble the last minute or so.

Just working over my legs and icing the knee to try to get this thing taken care of. I don't think work is helping... too much walking under load. Anyway, this is what I get for getting complacent about my stretching. It's the same injury as I had last summer, as far as I can tell.

Went to the high school regional meet. 3 easy miles in warmups, knee isn't 100% but feeling much better, the running didn't aggravate it so hopefully I can keep doing a little more each day as it continues to heal.

Some great races tonight. Anthony ran 9:13 with 4:42, 4:31 splits, running a 58.6 last lap, getting edged at the tape by Adam Thorne. Very exciting race. Austin ran another solid time with ridiculous splits in 9:40. I think Evan kind of shut down mentally for this one. It's his final race and he's not planning to run in college (despite running 9:16 last year at state), so it kind of turned into a "what's the point?" race and he jogged a 9:49. Charles made the final in the 800m. 

Second day of regionals, I pulled in 31 minutes of warmup/cooldown running. The knee is still doing well.

Thorne was obviously shocked by Anthony's finishing speed last night, he took out the mile in a 61 sec first lap and ran the kick out of everybody. I don't think Anthony was ready for a hard early pace after such a grueling 3200m and he kinda shut down. Came through 1200m in 8th place, looking like he was going to completely give up before kicking the last 150m to come within 5m of qualifying, 4:19 final time. He didn't realize it till later but he'd still have qualified if he'd started the kick about 100m sooner as the lead pack was fading fast. 

15 minutes easy. Cut it short for the knee. Still working it over.

4 at about 6:30 pace. Noticeably less pain today.

4 easy

Drove up for state meet. Anthony handled the fast pace in the 3200m pretty well, closing his last lap in 60sec to move from 8th to 3rd and finish in 9:07. 4:31/4:36, first positive split race of the year.

5 easy on the Burke in Seattle. Knee feeling much better, stretching is obviously working. Should be 100% soon.

Took a break from the state meet to check out St. Martin's in Lacey. Turns out I have a year of eligibility left and the coach there offered me some money to come compete for them. Ran 5 miles around the campus, checking out the running trails. There were signs everywhere warning about a cougar that's been in the area and not to run alone. Spent the run imagining how I'd defend myself if it pounced on me. I think I could take one.

Ran another 3 with Anthony when we got back into town. 

Anthony wanted to do an easy 30 so I joined up with him. Ran about 6:40 pace.

Ran 30 min with Austin who wanted to run fast. 6:30 pace average.

Something's wrong with my body and it's really annoying. I've had this cough/sore throat since March and have been through 2 rounds of antibiotics. Symptoms go away on antibiotics and come right back. My glands in my neck are all swollen up huge and it hurts. After the run today my chest hurt like crazy and I felt like I was going to pass out. This is getting silly, what's wrong with me?

Ran 6 with Brian, easy 7:30 pace.

Easy 4 with Austin and Nathan

6 easy on my own.

7 easy with Nathan and Austin around Thompson Hill.

Ran 7 with Nathan and Austin at about 6:40 pace. Went and watched the soccer game then we went out and cliff jumped. I love summer.

Pacific Crest trail in Pinchot Forest w/ Brian

Pinchot w/ Brian

6x800m repeats at Mid-columbia Library w/ Anthony and other guys. 2:00 rests. Slow course, deep grass, moderate hills. 2:38, 2:31, 2:34, 2:34, 2:28, 2:28

10m w/ 3 at tempo and a few hills from Desert Hills with the guys. Cruised sub-5 pace for about 10 minutes. Slight downhill course.

Flag drill at library w/ the guys

I finally felt the wrath of Anthony's finishing speed. We had a 2400m TT tonight, I paced him for the first 1600m and he took off from there. He buried me the final 800m, me in 7:03 and him in 6:49. We should have a good season this fall.

Raced a local 10k today. A couple of good runners showed up in addition to our high school guys, so I had some quality people to run with. 

The Hermiston coach was my top target, so I ran next to him the first half of the race. He put a few moves here and there, but he's about 2 weeks out from a 2:25 marathon so I figured he'd be a little fried. I recognized his younger brother at the start line, despite a heavy beard, but had no idea what kind of shape he was in. He didn't go with us at the start so I guessed he'd be a non-factor.

At the half-way mark the course runs up a brief, steep hill, which he surged up. Went with him and continued the surge over the top and it broke him. We'd been running at 5:20-5:25 pace (16:08 at 3miles), dropped to about 5:10 here for a bit. I figured from there I could slow back down to 5:20 pace, but the pace felt good so I kept it up.

Clicked off miles of 5:12 and 5:14, and glanced back with 1/2 mile to go to see a shadowy figure closing in. I got scared and picked it up, then picked it up again with 1/4 and 200m to go. The younger brother was apparently in better shape than expected and he nearly caught me, finishing 10 seconds back.  

5xSouthridge hill

Ladder workout at the library, 5-4-3-2-1 w/ 2:00 rests. 5:17, 5:05, 5:00, 4:38, 4:00 pace, respectively.

w/ Anthony. 33 out, 32 back

flag drill x 10

3200m time trial tonight. Paced Anthony through 4:35 first half, rested lap 5, paced lap 6 & 7 in 2:15ish. He came through 3000m in 8:35 but was out of gas, finished in 9:12. Amazing time for this time of year. 90 degrees and humid at the start, although the sun had just set. Others on the team are running well.