Puttin' Money In The Bank (L.A.D.)

This was a very humid day with temps in the mid to upper 70s, near 80 by the race finish. The course was extremely challenging with the first 1/2 mile uphill and the finishing 2 miles with 3 solid hills that covered well over a full mile of uphill over the last 2.5 miles of the course. I had hoped to run sub 40 today, but with the hills it just wasn't in the books. I drove the course at 6:30am, and knew that the hills at the end would come into play, but I think I really underestimated their impact as my splits will show. The first hill was a good 600 yards at a solid climb as well, but I had some experience with this one as it was part of my 3.9 mile warm up in 30 minutes (7:42s). After the race was over I got in another 3.75 in 31:11 (8:19s).

The 10k had 175 finishers and the start was narrow so I wanted to get out front immediately. My plan was to try to run 6:15s as long as I could and I think I could have come close to averaging that, but the hills from 4.5 on just killed any remote chances of that. My first mile was in 6:08, which was probably too fast considering the hill. I should have gone out more conservatively around 6:20-6:25 I think. I was in 4th place at this point where the 5kers (another 130 so racers) turned off on their own route. I actually felt very good through mile 3 and thought I had a chance to hang around the 6:20 mark. Splits for the 2nd mile was 6:16 and mile 3 was 6:20 (I was probably running around 8th at this point with a group of 5 spread out just over about 50 yards in front of me. The course was flat to ever so slightly downhill from about the .75 mark until about 3.75 or so and I tagged along most of miles 3 and 4 with another runner. My 4th mile split was 6:33 and the hills were starting to really kick in. In relation to the other runners I was gaining or losing ground, it was killing us all equally. The 5th mile was by far the worst uphill stretch with a split of 6:49. The finishing mile also contained a solid uphill section, but I was able to dig down and pick up the pace a bit here. I passed my only racer of the race here on this section with about 1/2 mile to go and then rounded the corner at the top of the hill to the finish. My finishing 1.25 miles split in at 8:33 (6:50s). So splits at a hole were as follows:

6:08, 6:16, 6:20, 6:33, 6:49, 6:50 -- I have to say that I'm not happy about this positive splitting, but honestly I felt that had this finish not been so heavily uphill laden that I could have held the last 3 miles to sub 6:30s which would have put me close to a 6:20 average. This race was also 6.25, so the converted time would have been 40:20.

The good news, despite what I consider to have been a poor race time wise, is that this is a PR for me since my return to running in July of 2007, with a full 2 minute improvement over a much flatter course I ran in Michigan back at the end of June. So I'll take it and begin my taper for the Lewis and Clark 1/2 Marathon in 2 weeks. The bad news is that they only gave out 1 overall competitive prize instead of the top 3. 3rd overall was in my age division, so that bumped me off the medal. Booooo!

Nike Elite - 294.15

Asics Gel Speedstar 2 - 60.55

Noon - Ran the 1 mile up to the car dealership to pick up my car.

4:45pm, 87 degrees, humid. Ran 3.6 miles to work in 26:31 (7:22s).

10:45pm, 83 degrees, very humid. Ran 5.45 miles home. Tried to keep the pace quick but still keep the breathing controlled with the splits being progressive. I think I mostly succeeded. I don't know for sure that the splits were progressive, but the first 2.45 was in 17:30 (7:09s) and the last 3 were in 20:36 (6:52s). Totalling 5.45 in 38:06 (6:59s). As far as keeping the breathing controlled I did well up until about the last 3/4ths of a mile. Even that was still controlled, but bordering on labored. .4 mile cool down. A good run today. Tomorrow nice and easy.

Nike Vomero - 271.15

Easy 8.5 mile run tonight. 75 degrees and humid. Total run time 1:04:58 (7:38s).

Nike Elite 302.65

Took the day off today in celebration of the Gustavian rains! It poured all day and my wife didn't get home from work until 9pm, so I just bagged the run considering that I'm in a moderate 2 week taper mode for the Lewis and Clark 1/2 M.

4.2 mile out and back to the corner past MQP today. 9:15am, 65 degrees and light drizzle. Perfect running weather. 31:30 out (7:30s) and 29:28 back (7:01s). Followed this up with a 1.2 mile cool down in 9:35 (7:59s).

Nike Elite - 312.25

Off today, but I'm recording the miles for tomorrow here to keep weekly totals correct. Not sure exactly when my schedule is going to solidify better so that I can keep a consistent day off.

9am and 70 degrees today. I'm recording the miles under yesterday to keep them consistent with weekly totals. (See note for yesterday)

This was an interesting run today. My plan was to get in 12 miles as 3 warm up, 6 tempo, 3 cool down. Things started out ok with my first 3 miles in 22:09. It was actually a touch under 3 miles. I was averaging about 7:30s through 3. I started my tempo run at what I thought was probably 7:00s to slightly sub 7s. I didn't know the mileage markers too well in the middle, and in fact, wasn't sure exactly where the 6 mile mark was, but I had a close enough approximation that I could find the exact mileage on googlemaps when I got home. As I continued my tempo run I started adding some things up and realized that if I did a 3 mile warm up and cool down, my tempo run would end up being 7 miles unless I altered my route. As I was trying to recalculate what I would shave off, tempo, cool down, or just keep it at 13 I began to realize that maybe I was running a bit faster than I wanted to be and saw just how cashed I really was and bagged the 6 mile tempo run, turning it into just a 3. There is good reason for this. At the 3 mile mark my time was 19:20. So I was running my tempo run at 6:26 pace. Fine enough, but too fast for a 6 mile tempo run 1 week out from a target race. I wanted to be more around the 6:45 ave/pace for the whole tempo run, and I almost always run negative split tempo runs. So I slowed the pace down and hit the next 1.25 in 8:50 (7:04s). At this point I had in 4.25 in 28:10 (6:37s - so I was still below my tempo pace expectations, despite the slowdown.) At this point I switched over to a pace that I felt was probably consistent with Marathon Pace, given my tired state, for the remaining 5 miles. Boy was I off. I hit my next 4.25 in 30:00 flat (7:04s). So at this point I've essentially run an 8.5 mile tempo run in completely positive split fashion. Running time on the 8.5 would be 58:10 (which puts me around 6:50s - time wise this places the 8.5 at a pace just slightly slower than I hoped to achieve for the 6 mile tempo, despite the fact that to my body it felt like I was running Marathon pace for over half of it. I'm not sure what to make of this. I do believe that I will be running around 7:00s for my next Marathon, but that isn't in the works for at least 6 months.) I finished the run with a .9 mile cool down in 6:39 (7:23s). This places my average pace for a 12.3 mile run (the segments were rounded somewhat, but this was the exact total) at 7:04 (Running Total 1:26:59).

I don't know what to make of this run. The times were spectacular for a training run, but the way my body felt was odd. In retrospect, given that I did a training run 1 week out from the 1/2 Marathon race at an average pace of 10 seconds per mile slower than my PR for a 1/2 Marathon [I've only done 1 last fall] my body should have felt shot. The thing that has me scratching my head is that I wasn't able to recognize the pace I was actually running. Usually I'm very good about being able to estimate a pace without the use of a watch and markers. I don't know if this is good news (I'm running faster) or bad news (I pushed myself harder than I should have 1 week out). I'll be doing a 40 mile week (Monday - Friday) at almost all 7:30s and above leading up to the race next Sunday so that I'm good and rested. Time shall tell I suppose, but I'm still targeting sub 6:45s for the race.

Nike Vomero - 293.45

9am, 75 degrees and humid. Somedays I just have a hard time figuring out why I can't slow down. That almost sounds stupid, but it is my biggest problem. When I ran in high school I ran as hard as I could, everyday. No one recognized that I wasn't taking the easy days easy. I just thought that was how you did it, you worked, and worked. No one ever taught me the importance of recovery. And by the time my freshman year in collegiate track ended, I was burned out. So much so, that .... I qualified to run in the Division III Nationals in the 800 meters and chose not to run them because I didn't want to spend the extra three weeks training as the school year had come to a close! I figured if I could qualify at 18 as a freshman I could do it again. Never ran competitively again until last year. Oops. And again today, here I am again, back to my old trained tricks. I did a hard workout yesterday and what did I follow it up with? 6.2 in 43:40 (7:02s). The good news is that I recognized I wasn't able to slow myself down ... despite numerous attempts during the run to do so ... so I cut the run down from my intended 8 miler to a 6 miler. I'll go out tonight and try to do an easy 4.

6pm, 80 degrees and humid. So tonight I ate 2 pieces of french toast with peanut butter and syrup and drank a glass of water and headed out the door. I figured that maybe I could put myself in a position where my body just couldn't let go. It partially worked. I had hoped to hold my pace in the 7:35-7:45 range. I almost made it. [I just read this over and felt the need to comment -- ok, so I didn't really even come close, who am I kidding] 6.2 miles (somewhat hilly) in 45:17 (7:18s). Tomorrow I'm going to try to meet up with Nancy and a few of the women that run out the Webster YMCA on Tuesday mornings and run with them. That should force me into the pace I want. I'm really going to have to focus the rest of this week to taper properly for this race Sunday. I've been targeting it as a major PR 1/2 Marathon for some time.

Nike Elite - 324.65

9am, 61 degrees today. Perfect running weather. I couldn't find my watch this morning, not sure what I did with it. All in all its probably a good thing for the time being. Did my best to stay easy today, but don't have the watch to know for sure. Ran 1.5 miles down to the YMCA. Met up with the women's group and ran with them 2.5 miles up to the track where I dropped them off. They were going to do a few pick-ups. I would guess that the 1.5 to the Y were run around 7:45 and the next 2.5 around 8:15-8:30. I ran another 5 after that, most likely bouncing between 7:20 pace and 7:45 pace. All in all I think it was a fairly good run and I plan to do more of the same tomorrow.

Nike Vomero - 302.45

Did an easy 4 today, followed by a 2 mile pick up, and finished with 1.2 mile cool down. 5pm and 80 degrees. First 4 miles in 29:37 (7:24s). 2.1 mile pick up in 13:25 ( mostly flat with about a 200 yard downhill and a 300 yard uphill at moderate grades [6:23s]), and finished with 1.1 in 8:56 (8:07s).

Nike Elite - 331.85

7:30pm, 80 degrees and light rain. 6.9 mile light and easy run tonight in 52:12 (7:34s). Not sure if I will take 2 days off before Saturday or just 1 yet. I'll decide for sure tomorrow.

Nike Elite - 338.75

Ok, so officially this was the Lewis and Clark 1/2 Marathon and Full Marathon, but I'm renaming it the Run Through Hurricane (technically just a Tropical Depression) Ike 10.1ish. In the words of Three Dog Night - "This was the craziest party there ever could be. Don't turn on the lights, 'cause I don't want to see!"

Got up at 4:30am for a 6:45am start. Headed out the door into a light rain at 5:15am. Hurricane Ike seemed to be just sending out a warning that he would be coming to the party soon enough. They asked that the runners be in the parking area by 5:45am and I would have been, honest, but about a mile from the parking area traffic slammed to a hault on the expressway and the rain was beating down cats and dogs. It took me another hour and fifteen minutes to get to the parking area from here, and the grass gutter medians were complete streams of water. When I got to my parking spot it was already after 7am. I assumed that the race would be delayed as there were hundreds and hundreds of cars behind me still trying to get in. I skipped the pre-race antics and changed out of my warm-up gear into my race gear in the car before getting out and pulled a garbage bag over my head. I took a look around and made a guess (correct too!) as to where the start might be. I jogged down the road, passing a few race officials who told me I was going the right direction. Only a few runners were doing the same however, and about 1/2 a mile down the road I spotted 2 wires over the roadway with a man standing next to them. I paused, confused, and asked, is this the start? Yep, this is the start, go when you're ready. Really? Hmm. Oh well. My shoes were soaked and squishing already, I dumped the garbage bag and got my watch ready. Another runner pulled up next to me and said, ready? Let's go I said. And we were off in the first annual Run Through Ike! 50 meters down the line we introduced ourselves and discovered we were both going for sub 1:30. Perfect! So off we went through nearly empty streets pacing a few joggers who must have started just before us.  The rain was pouring down and visibility was extremely limited due to the 30+ mile an hour winds.

Conditions were such that I couldn't really see any race surroundings and with my adrenaline racing due to being late, I didn't have much of an idea of my pace, but it didn't feel too off. My first mile marker came at mile 2. 12:52! Ugh! Too fast, 6:26s! At this point my race newly found race partner and I made a turn into the wind, which began pelting our faces. Running at this point required keeping at least 1 eye closed, and alternating back and forth between eyes. I made an intentional adjustment to slow down the pace a bit and decided that I would just call this a training run in horrific conditions.

My next mile marker (at least that I saw, it was difficult with in the face, trying to avoid deep puddles and weaving in and out of racers we were beginning to catch) was mile 5. This entire 3 mile section was totally into the wind-driven rain and there was excessive weaving required as we made our way through the pack. I had to pee and thought about stopping a couple times off to the side to let it fly, but kept on going. I hit this 3 mile section in 21:59 (7:20s). Slow, but given conditions and circumstances, I was ok with it, as I had already determined this was just a fast training run.

I was never to see another mile marker until the finish, but had a general idea where I was based on water stations, which I didn't use. After mile 5 I began to pick up the pace somewhat due to my slow 3 mile split. Somewhere around mile 6 we made a turn and the wind-driven rain was coming across us instead of straight into us. I lost my racing partner during this mile and was beginning to pick off runners in droves (honestly I would guess I was passing 50 runners a minute). Somewhere around what I think was mile 8 the wind stopped and it was just a torrential downpour. I could feel my pace picking up as a result, and passing so many runners had an empowering effect on me. I was clicking along quite well and felt that I still had a good chance of cracking 1:30 when it happened. Spectators began to pop up and they were shouting at us. I had a hard time making out what they were saying, but eventually the discussion among the runners made it clear. They had to close the course down due to flooding and we were only about 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile from the new finish! Huh? Ugh! I took their word to be true and dropped the hammer to the finish, which I believe someone said was 10 miles. My split for miles 6,7,8,9, and 10 was 33:37. If we assume this was in fact 5, I was hitting 6:44s). My guess is that the last 2 miles once the wind stopped I was hitting 6:35s or faster. Man was I dissappointed. I felt great and was certain that in the very least I could have held that pace or even picked up to an average of sub 6:30s.

I have no idea where I finished or even what the exact race distance was. However, if we assume my feeling to be true that I could have held at least 6:30s over the last 3.1 miles I would have hit about a 1:28:15ish for 13.1. Ugh! That would have been a 3 minute PR over my last 1/2 back last November. I couldn't understand why they couldn't make a few alterations and at least get 3 more miles in for everyone to complete a 1/2. I'm sure though that my disappointment was nothing compared to those who had registered for the full marathon.

I got my dry clothes from the bag claim and hopped a bus back to the start area. Most people on the bus were laughing and joking and I have to say that I was with them. It really was a very fun experience and now I can say I've raced through a tropical depression! Although I would have liked to finish the race and get a legitimate PR when I got to the parking area it all came into perspective. I looked across the parking lot and discovered it was severely flooded. Luckily, and it really was luck, because I was late I had to park at the far end of the lot, which was on the high side. There was no way around the lot except to go through it. So I stepped over the rail and began to wade across. By the time I got to the middle the water was above my knees and over the bottom of my shorts! I was passing by cars that had water half-way up their doors! I made it to the other side, got in my car, called my wife and said, I'm on my way home. Truly, I thought, "This was the craziest party there ever could be!"

Ascics Gel Speedstar - 71.15

9am and 60 degrees. Perfect running weather in the aftermath of what was left of Hurricane Ike that blew through town yesterday.  Just getting out for an easy run to work the legs out this morning. 8.1 in 1:00:48 (7:30s).

Nike Vomero - 310.55

9pm and 60 degrees. 4.2 out and back tonight. First 3 out in 21:18 (7:06s). Then a 2.4 mile ease up in 16:39 .... which is making no sense, because the clock shows this is 6:56s. So I'm really confused. But I know this distance and clock time to be true. Then a 3 mile back in 19:36 (6:32s). Followed this up with a .9 mile cool down in 7:09 (7:57s). Total run time for the non cool down portion was 57:35 for 8.4 (6:51s). I dunno about this workout. A great tempo work tonight. I guess I just felt it. Total run was 9.3.

Nike Elite - 348.05

9am and 70 degrees, another perfect day for running. Did an easy 6.6 that included 2 stops. Stopped at the YMCA in Webster and talked to one of the ladies from the Tuesday morning group that was finishing her run. Then stopped again and talked to the people at the St Louis Running Center. Both stops were about 10 minutes long. Just an easy recovery run today. 6.6 in 50:06 (7:35s).

Nike Elite - 354.65

Noon and 80 degrees today. 12.5 mile run. First 8.7 in 1:04:40 (7:26s). Next 3.3 in 24:47 (7:31s). Then a .5 mile cool down in 3:55 (7:50s). Good long run at a moderately easy pace today.

Nike Vomero - 323.05

13 miler today at 11am. 69 degrees and overcast, nearly perfect. Did a 6.5 mile out and back to the corner of Litzinger and Lindbergh. The course out is a climb for the 2nd half, making the first half on the way back a gentle downhill. The first half of the course has a number of significant hills, both up and down. Out in 50:30 (7:46s) and back in 47:24 (7:17s) Total run 13 miles in 1:37:54 (7:32s).

Nike Elite - 367.55

Planning to do a double today. 1st run at noon. 80 degrees and pleasant, not quite hot, but encroaching on it. Ran 8.7 in 1:05:06 (7:29s). Opened up with an 8:00 mile and closed down at about 7:10 pace. I'm guessing that I was marathon pace for the last 3.7 or so.

2nd run at 7:30pm. 75 degrees and humid. Great night for running. Good easy run with a pick up to marathon pace for a mile or so at the end. 8.4 miles total. 4.2 out in 34:32 (8:13s) and back in 31:38 (7:32s).

Nike Elite - 384.65

9:30 am run today. Ran 1.5 miles and met up with the YMCA ladies. Nancy and Megan were over at the track doing speedwork, so I ran with Julie. About 1.5 miles in her arch was acting up and she decided to bail out of the run and head back. So, I ended up solo anyway. Did a total of 8.3 today in 1:02:46 (7:34s). Seems to me this pace is faster than what I was actually running. I know my first 3 miles were all over 8s. And I can't imagine that I was running 7:15s for the other 5. Maybe google maps is off on distance. The run was broken into 4 segments with some rest between each segment, so maybe it is right.

392.95

1:30pm, 82 degrees. 9.5 mile run. Did about 6.5 in the 7:30 range, then the miles probably were close to under 7s by the last 2 miles before a .9 mile slow down. Running time for teh first 7.5 miles was 56:17 (7:30s). Then I got a mile split for the next mile at 6:50, which leads me to believe I was probably around 7:10 for the previous mile, then .9 mile slow down in 7:40 (8:31s).

Nike Elite - 402.45

7pm and 73 degrees, a great night for running. Did an 11 mile run tonight in 1:18:19 (7:07s). I know the first 3 miles were in 23:15 (7:45s). And my finishing mile was in 6:19. So that makes the middle 7 miles in 48:45 (6:57s). I'm going to call this 3 miles Base 2, 2 miles M-pace, 4 miles AT and 2 miles LT. A good negative split run tonight with a strong finish.

Nike Elite - 414.05

2pm and 83 degrees, hot for September. 4.2 easy miles out to MQP and back with a touch added on to slide by the high school and see what the Webster HS Cross-Country team was up to. They have a meet today it seems. Total run 8.7 miles in 1:06:30 (7:45s). Good comfortable easy run today. Will do the same tomorrow to round off my first 65 mile week since mid-March.

Nike Elite - 422.75

Had to swap my rest day on Sunday with today due to schedule conflicts. Will record the miles here though to keep the week consistent.

Had to switch rest day out with Saturday this week. Just an easy 10.5 in 1:23:09 (7:55s).

Nike Elite - 433.25

12.5 mile easy run today over mostly new routes. To be honest, this doesn't seem right. I'll recheck this later. But for now we'll just call it 12.5 in 1:37:17. My thoughts are that I was running faster than 7:45s, so maybe I'll remap it later or drive it.

Remapped this run and it was in fact quite a bit further, I must have missed a section when I mapped out the run. Total run was actually 13.3 in 1:37:17, which comes out to 7:19s.

Nike Elite - 446.55

Did a 5.5 mile warm up to the track to meet the Webster Groves HS Hockey Team for their annual 1 mile time trial. Ran a 5:09 on a windy day. Wanted to break 5, but I was happy with the time (1:17, 1:19, 1:19, 1:14). Did a 4 mile cool down.

Gel Speedstars - 81.65