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

No time for a run today.

50 degrees at noon. Did a 14.65 mile run. Was defnitely shot at the end, but tried to keep it base pace and not slip too much into M-pace. 1:43:40 (7:05s).

Easy 4 mile recovery run today.

35 degrees at 12:15pm. Slight breeze. 8.25 out and back to MQP in 59:13 (7:11s).

4:30 pm and 30 degrees. No wind. Did a 2.75 mile warm-up in 20:48 (7:34s). Then did     10 x .2 mile hill repeats with .2 mile jogging recovery between so that each repeat went off on the 3 minute mark. Nearly every repeat was around 1:03-1:05 and generally I had about 15-20 seconds of total rest at the bottom again. Then 2.8 miles in 19:08 (6:50s) and finished with .45 mile cool down. Total running time was about 1:09:40 for 10 miles when I take out the 20 seconds total rest at the bottom of the hill (6:58s)

1:30pm, 32 degrees, a little moisture in the air, but no wind. 10.25 mile loop in 1:14:14 (7:15s). Good solid steady run today at a comfortable pace.

1pm, 30 degrees, light snow, and some wind. Did a 8.1 mile out and back to the corner of Trial Crest Drive and North Ballas through what I think is the Shaw Valley Nature Reserve. Its not really a nature reserve in the typical sense, but it is a nice 2 mile winding downhill through a lot of trees and a creek that runs the side of the road on the way out, and of course up on the way back. The total run time for 16.2 was 1:56:32 (7:12s). I tried to keep it easy and in the fat burning/aroebic zone. The first 8.2 was in 1:00:22 (7:22s) and the 8 on the way back was in 56:10 (7:01s -- finishing mile in 6:45 and focusing on keeping paced and not speeding up through the finish). Wrapped it up with a .5 mile cool down.

A little bit colder this morning. 8:30am, 23 degress and hardly any wind. Did a 7.9 mile recovery run in 59:47 (7:34s). These day-after-long-run runs are becoming killers. But very beneficial for building and improving. So I'll keep at them.

8:30pm, 45 degrees, virtually no wind. 3.15 miles at base pace in 24:36 (7:48s). Followed by 2.8 in 18:44 (6:41s) and another 2.8 in 19:13 (6:52s). And then a .75 mile cool down. This was basically a short trot off my street out onto a 2.8 mile loop that I hit 3 times.

Ugh! These last 2 weeks have been some of the most undisciplined weeks in the last 2 years. And it shows in my run today. Last week I was plain lazy, taking 3 straight days off. This week the cold kicked in and the back of my knee stiffened up and I thought it best to lay off the pavement until the weather broke. So today was 45 degrees and finally above 10-15. I had planned to do a 14.2 miler averaging m-race-pace. The run was a downhill fartlek of sorts. I hit all the downhills harder than race pace, and tried to maintain just above race pace on the recoveries. Most of the downills were about 100 yards, but there was a 2 or 3 slight downhills over 1/2 mile. At any rate, my first 3.1 miles was in 21:49 (7:02s) . The next 4 was in 27:40 (6:55s) . The next 4 in 27:32 (6:53s). At this point I realized I was 11 miles in and above race pace ... and totally shot. I decided it best to back off the end of the run by about a mile and use the last 2.3 [16:32 (7:10s)] as a cool down. I'm going to need to go back to a few weeks of focused base building again to catch back on what I've lost in the last few weeks. Total run was 13.4 in 1:33:33 (6:59s).

11:30am and 35 degrees, calm.  10.25 mile base run today in 1:13:53 (7:12s). Good run somewhat tired legs from yesterday. This was a positive workout coming off yesterdays slight letdown. I need to get back to more regular runs in this zone for a good 2-3 weeks to build back up to where I can sustain race pace nearing 15 miles. The goal at this point is to be able to do a 20 miler by February 7th with 16 of it at race pace.

2:45pm, 33 degrees, and light breeze. First 3.15 in 23:40 (7:31s) followed by 3.0 in 20:42 (6:54s). Lat 1.85 in 13:07 (7:05s). Total run of 8.0 in 57:30 (7:11s).

5:30pm, 45 degrees and calm. 2.5 in 17:43 (7:05s) followed by 5.45 in 37:43 (6:55s) followed by 2.5 in 18:30 (7:24s). Total run 10.45 in 1:13:56 (7:04s).

4:40pm and 55 degrees, calm. Got to run in shorts and a lightweight long sleeve shirt today -- sweet! Did a 1.3 mile loop to the video store and back to drop off some DVDs, then did 2 loops around the neighborhood for a total of 6.35 addtional miles. Total run time was 54:08 (7:05s). This was probably a progressive run that started in the 7:15ish range and ended with about 3 miles or so close to M-pace. 

Did 45 minutes of Stadium Stairs at work tonight. 8 sets in the 5:05-5:20 range, mostly progressive. Based on perceived effort and time I'm giving this a rough road equivalent of 7:15 miles, or 6.2 miles.

Tough but promising long run today. 2pm and 25 degrees. By the end my chip and bottom lip were totally frozen. My thoughts today were to just get the miles in. Not that I was down going into the run, but I had a decent strength builder last night and I just wanted to get some aerobic base miles in today. So I just tried to settle into a pace that felt comfortable and controlled. Most of the run held this, but the last 7.6 miles were very promising, run at race pace, but I didn't think I was picking up the pace. Certainly I was aware of it the last few miles, but prior to that I just felt that I was holding things were I wanted. Finishing mile was a 6:42. I believe that it was missing my turn at mile 9ish that caused me to jump the pace up. I missed my turn and realized it about 3/4 of a mile down the road. Had to stop and ask for directions. Was running a new route and there was no street sign for Old Sappington Road where it meets New Sappington Road. So this tacked on an additonal 1.5 onto my 18 mile run. I made some slight modifications at the close to tighten it back to the original distance. At any rate.... First 6.5 miles in 48:10 (7:25s -- good easy start). Next 4.2 in 30:50 (7:20s -- little pick up, but nothing major, still getting some quality aerobic base miles in). Last 7.6 in 52:23 (6:53s -- Woah! I knew I had picked it up a bit to make up for the extra 1.5 miles I had accidentally tacked on. I took a Gu before this segment, which may have added to this increased pace. This was my first Gu aided run of this training cycle. I'm trying to train my body without it so that I get an extra benefit when I do take it ... looks like perhaps it may have worked on this day. Finishing mile in 6:42). Topped it off with a .5 mile cool down in 3:52 (7:44s). Total run time for 18.8 was 2:15:15 (7:12s) ... if we take the cool down out it was 18.3 in 2:11:23 (7:11s). Good stuff today. Very pleased with this run. When I was done I felt I had quite a bit in the tank still. Good feeling to have on such a cold day.

15 degrees today. Did an easy 6 mile run on the TM @ 7:45 pace with 7x60 secs @ 6:40 pace pick ups thrown in (ave. ppm 7:30s).

20 degrees at 5pm, sleet changing to snow with roads getting slushy near the end. Aerobic base run + speed today. 8.6 miles @ about 7:30 pace with 10 x 100 meterish build-ups to slightly faster than mile pace spread in. 8.6 in 1:02:30 (7:16s) and .5 mile cool down in 4:10 (8:20s).

Snow storm hit (within reason, just about 4 inches of snow, but a good amount of freezing rain). Decided to take the day off, mostly because I'm feeling run down. Slept almost 11 hours last night and was tired a good deal of the day. My middle child has had stomach flu since Saturday night, and I need to make sure I'm on my guard against it. I've also run 9 of the last 10 days, and having gone only 9 of the previous 17 before that. That's a touch of a big jump. All these things coming together leads me to believe that this is a good day for rest.

Given snow conditions and the possibility of no workout opportunity tomorrow (got over 9 inches of snow from last night through tonight) I decided to hit a TM workout before work tonight. Did a 7.1 mile run that included a 2 mile bout @ 6:15 followed by a .25 @ 10:00s. Also threw in 2 .25 mile stretches @ 5:45 with another .25 @ 10:00s following each one. The rest was @ 7:45s (3.85 miles). 

Another TM run tonight. Did 8.25 at Base Pace with 2x1.25 mile M-pace segments in the middle.

Another torturous TM run tonight. Did I mention that I hate that thing? 10.25 miles in 1:16:00 (7:25s). Nearly most of this run was at 7:18 pace with a touch of warm up and cool down at slower pace. Probably 9.5 of it was at 7:18. Planned to do 12, but just didn't have the mental endurance for it.

12pm, sunny, nearly 50 degrees and no wind. Ugh. Coming off 2 days with the flu, but was able to get out for a run today. First 3.15 in 23:40 (7:31s), followed by 4.75 in 33:57 (7:09s). Total run of 7.9 in 57:37 (7:18s). A solid 'moderate effort' run coming off the flu.

4:30pm and 35 degrees. Did a 3.15 mile warm-up in 23:35 (7:29s). Then hit a 5.5 mile tempo run in 36:00 (6:32s). Finished with a 3.15 mile cool down in 25:50 (8:12s). Don't think I did a good job today with fuel and such, so I was a touch slow on this tempo run. Still a decent run considering that fact.

4:45pm, low 20s and a slight breeze (making it cold!). Planned to do a 10.5 mile base run tonight. Actually ran it at the fast end of 'base pace', but it always felt comfortable to moderate. 10.5 in 1:14:24 (7:05s), followed by a .5 mile cool down in 3:59 (7:58s).

Nice day today. 4:45pm, no wind and 45 degrees. Did a 4.4 mile out in 31:44 (7:13s) and back in 30:13 (6:52s). Finished with a .5 mile cool down. The goal today was to get in some base miles at a 'comfortable' pace. Again today the pace was faster than I intended, but it felt comfortable. Interestingly, it felt less stressful (not that this describes the feeling, but I use it in a technical sense) than yesterdays run, despite the fact that the overall ppm was faster today (1:01:57 [7:02s)]). The trip back felt like I was going at a nice aerobic oriented base pace, despite the fact that it was actually at goal M-pace. I guess the best way to describe today's run was that it certainly didn't feel like I was going at M-pace, but 20 or secs slower. So this was a good run! Faster than intended, but in the confines of how I intended the run to feel.

42 minutes of stadium stairs tonight at a nice easy pace (rough road equivalent 8:00/miles).

1pm, 62 degress and breezy. Crazy tough run today. Started out with some nice easy miles and ran 4.4 to the top of Grant's Trail. This portion of the run was into the wind, and it was a bit of a battle. 4.4 in 33:41 (7:39s). My stomach was feeling, sluggish, as if I had maybe eaten too much for breakfast (I didn't and that was 3 hours ago). At any rate, I shook it off and started what I hoped to be a race pace portion of the run. My goal was to run down to the bottom of the trail at race pace. So I tried to hit a quick, but comfortable pace. Well, I blew that. The trail is nearly flat, with just the ever so slightest hint of a downhill when running from top to bottom. I hit 7.5 miles in 48:52 (6:31s). At this point I did a very very slow jog the last .5 of the trail to cool down. Then my goal was to do just easy aerobic miles back up the trail and 1.4 miles past it to where my wife was picking me up. Ugh. I was struggling to get going. 4.5 miles back up the trail I hit a GU and stopped for some water (did an extra .2 getting from the trail to the ice rink lobby and back to the trail). I think this 4 mile section was probably hitting about 7:50s or so, but I wasn't sure. When I got back to the top of the trail the time for the 8 miles was 59:46 (7:28s) and the last 1.4 back to the car was 10:29 (7:29s). The total run, excluding the .7 recovery miles when I stopped my watch, was 21.3 miles in 2:32:47 (7:10s).

I was pretty much destroyed by the end of this run, but I think it was a quality workout and I will make some solid adaptions to this run once I recover.

11am and 40 degress. Did an 8.5 mile recovery run today in 1:06:30 (7:49s). Did 1.5 to the YMCA where I picked up Chris. Did 5.5 with him and then the 1.5 back home again. Nice easy comfortable run. I don't do enough of these I think. Will shoot for the same sort of pace tomorrow, but a bit longer.

9:15am, calm, 63 degrees. Still feeling effects of Saturday's killer run. Started out in the 8:00-8:10 range running to the YMCA where I was hoping to meet up with Nancy, Megan, and Julie. But I was running behind, so they had already left. I figured they ran the 5.5 mile loop, so I did that one backwards and ran into them about mid-way, turned around and finished with them, then did the route back to the house again. Did the last 2.5 at about 6:45 pace.

5pm, 40 degrees, and very windy. Progressive 9.75 miles in 1:09:12 (7:06s). Finished with .6 mile cool down in 4:43 (7:52s).

11am, 35 degrees, mostly calm. 2.35 mile start in 16:42 (7:06s). 8.1 mile tempo run in 53:20 (6:35s). 2.05 mile cool down in 15:30 (7:34s). Total run 12.5 in 1:25:31 (6:50s). Total run time under goal M-pace for Boston today. Good run.

Missed 3 days this week, 2 of them unplanned. Good week for a recovery week in terms of miles, but some good quality miles. Next week will be a big mileage week. As of right now I'm shooting for my first ever 70+ mile week. We'll see if scheduling allows for it.

9:30am and 30 degrees, calm and sunny. Nice day for a run. Tired today from yesterday's run, but not so much that I couldn't get some good fat burning/aerobic miles in. Planned on doing 12-13, but 5 or so in it was clear I was too tired still. I'm sure I could have gone the 12-13, but at what cost? Altered my route and did 10.4 in 1:19:41 (7:39s).

12pm, 35 degrees, sunny, calm. Ran for about 38 minutes and then turned around and ran home today. The pace was very comfortable, just a touch harder than easy ... moderate at best. 5.1 out in 37:45 (7:24s) and 5.1 back in 36:16 (7:07s). Interestingly, the route out had 2 solid downhills, which, of course, made the route back 2 solid uphills. Total run time for 10.2 was 1:14:01 (7:15s). Followed up with a .5 mile cool down in 3:54 (7:48s).

Dropped the car off this morning to have the brakes checked. Ran a route from there home. 8am and 35 degrees, calm. Had and 8.4 mile route planned out, but a mile from home I saw Nancy doing a warm-up before she met with the YMCA group, so I hopped in and joined her for an extra mile. 9.4 miles in 1:08:10 (7:15s).

5pm, 40 degrees, windy. Did a short progressive run in the aerobic zone tonight. First mile was about 7:45 and last one was about 7:00. 6.3 miles total. Followed up with a .5 mile cool down.

12 sets of stadium stairs at work tonight. Rough road equivalent based on pace prediction 8.75 miles.

2:30 pm, 32 degrees, and windy. Seemed like I was fighting the wind every time I turned today. It was also the first time I've pulled out of a run. I had planned to go 20 today. The first 11.1 were at a solid clip 1:17:54 (7:01s). I did a loop and came by my house. Went inside, grabbed a Gu and some water, got on google maps to see how far I ran and see how far I had to go. Big mistake. Should have just guessed. My guess was right on anyway. While inside my gloves, hat, shirt, etc all began to get warm and as they warmed, the wet from the sweat became more noticeable. I stepped back into that cold and wind ..... and the shoes I had on just weren't good shoes for long runs and I had no socks except thin ones ..... I started down the road and within the first 10th of a mile knew I was done, turned around and came home. Ugh. Certainly no 70 mile week this week, not even 60. Oh well, we'll see how next week goes. And to top it all off, I got to the Running Center to pick up my new shoes just as they were turning off the lights. Now I'll have to wait until Monday.

Yay, new shoes! Got a pair of DS Trainers and a pair of Nike Structures today. Todays run was 13.2 total at 5pm, nearly 40 degrees and mostly calm. Did my first 5.2 in 37:26 (7:12s). Then hit 6.95 in 47:31 (6:50s). This second portion felt good. It was quick, but in control. It felt like a borderline marathon pace. Not entirely sure if I could hold it the whole way, but its not out of the realm of possibilities. Finished with mile cool down. Running time on the 12.15 was 1:24:57(6:59s).

37 degrees and breezey today at 9am. Did 2.4 in 16:40 (6:56s). Hit the YMCA loop backwards and met the ladies halfway around ... 5.5 in 41:10 (7:29s). Finished off with 3.2 in 24:12 (7:34s). 1:22:02 for the 11.1 (7:23s)

11.1 mile progressive run tonight. Beautiful night, 65 degrees and a little windy. First 3 miles in 22:45 (7:35s). Next 1.8 in 12:45 (7:05s). Next 1.7 in 11:30 (6:45s -- I'm guessing the measurement on this section was probably off by .05 or so, but google maps isn't the best option, I so need a garmin). Next 1.1 in 7:39 (6:57s). Last 3.4 in 22:02 (6:28s). Opening mile in 7:30 and closing mile in 6:20. All followed up with 1.2 mile cool down. Total run time for the 11.1 was 1:16:40 (6:54s). Not the most accurate measurements, but the sum total was right and appm for that comes out to 6:54s. I know my first 3 miles were correct, so the breakdown on the last 8.1 would have been 6:39s, so this was a great run tonight that felt mostly comfortable and in control, obviously the last few miles were cookin. Sometimes I don't know about cracking 3 hours at Boston. Some days I think I don't have a chance at it, then other nights things click and I think that I might. Either way, its going to be a tough run.

UPDATE: Not satisfied with my googlemap results, I drove the car today over the route from yesterday. The primary reason for this was that yesterday's run was not a tempo run and was almost entirely controlled moderate breathing, it simply didn't have a tempo feel to it, wasn't intended to be a tempo run, but the times were coming out to nearly tempo pace (6:30ish is my general tempo pace. As usual, when in doubt trust the body over technology. So the splits based on the car's odometer come out as follows from the 3 mile mark on. First section was in fact 1.8 (7:05s). The next section was more like 1.625 (again 7:05s). Then 1.1 (6:54s). The last section was closer to 3.35 (6:34s). If I take out the last mile run at 6:20 (because I really picked up this finishing section beyond any pace I'd want to be in a marathon), that gives me for the 2.35 15:38 (6:39s). The sum total of this was not in fact 8.1, but 7.875 and a pace of 6:51s which is right on M-pace. This makes this run still a great run because I was able to hit approximately marathon goal pace for a run that was what I would consider still in the aerobic zone. This gives me solid hope for breaking 3 hours at Boston primarily because I didn't feel that I was working at a rate that was exhaustive over time. Obviously over the course of 26.2 there will be some system exhaustion at this pace, but I did it without really feeling taxed and with some slight chest congestion. I think that the training in combination with 'race day magic (adrenaline)' will make this goal achievable. Again though, it won't be easy. I felt well fueled for this run, which is a final important factor to keep in mind. Sum total for the run was 10.875 (7:03s) + 1.2 cool down.

5:45pm and 65 degrees, humid and windy. We're on the verge of severe thunderstorms before the bottom drops out and the temp drops some 30-40 degrees. Tonights run was quite hilly and it seemed like fighting the wind was killing me. I think I took it as a personal challenge, because I really didn't want to run quite as fast as I did tonight. Once I turned the corner though with 3.5 or so to go and I had the wind at my back it was coast city. 8.65 in 1:02:42 (7:15s), including at least my last 2 miles sub 7, perhaps my last 3. Followed this up with 1.45 cool down in 11:30 (7:56s). Tomorrow I want to really work on sticking to the 7:20-7:30 range.

1pm, 36 degrees and somewhat windy. 10.25 mile route today over a course that I rarely run. I always forget how hilly this course is. The first half is flat to net downhill and the second half is a series of 9 hills raning in distance from 150 meter to 500 meters, with 3 of them over 400 meters. To add to this, the last 3 miles was into a fairly steady wind with my jacket acting like a negative sail. All this checked against my time reveals that I dropped the ball again today. Just not sure why I can't seem to get an easier run in at least 7:20-7:30. Today's run was 1:14:45 (7:18s). Close, but given conditions, I think it was still a touch too fast.

USATF coaching clinic all weekend. 6 hours today, 14 tomorrow and 5 on Sunday. Doubt that I'll get a run in tomorrow, but I may try to get up at 5:30 and get 8 or so in to get me over 60 for the week. Sunday I'll be done by 1pm, so I may try for a 20 miler then.

Went to St Louis Community College at Florissant Valley today for an all-weekend-long USATF coaching certification. Some interesting stuff, but mostly just a long day. Met up with a woman who is a marathoner and running right about the same goal pace as me. We did 9 at lunch (her garmin shows splits as follows: 7:42, 6:52, 6:52, 7:10, 6:50, 7:00, 6:50, 6:45, 6:50). This gives me 6 miles at or below goal m-pace. The route was considerably hilly and cold (20 degrees) and very windy. Got another 6.8 -7.0 in at dinner. Her garmin wasn't picking up the signal though, so I google mapped as much of it as I could. Time for the second run was 51:10 (7:19-7:31).

Well, I took the last 5 days off to rest up a touch for the final push towards Boston. I probably would have been good with 3 days, but schedules got crazy the last 2 days and I wasn't able to get a run in. My wife is on vacation now for the next 3 weeks and I'll be able to really press the training going up to Boston. Last year I felt very overtrained going into St Louis, and this year I feel quite fresh with 6 weeks to go. Whereas last year my legs were like rubber, this year I feel strong. So, on to the final push!

Did 10.75 today. Wasn't the best run. First my system was a touch shocked from 5 days off. Second, I ate more for lunch than I should have and that was only about 90 minutes before I ran. Third, it was only 81 degrees! And fourth, I had to drop a deuce the whole 2nd half of the run. Stopped at the 3 and 7.5 mile marks for water. Overall though, it was a good even paced, easy aerobic run. 10.75 in 1:19:18 (7:23s).

I think I've really dropped the ball with my Long Run training. For various reasons, some acceptable, some probably less acceptable, I haven't done a consecutive long run (Last Sat. I got in 16, but it was a double) in 4 weeks. That, combined with the 5 days I took off this week .... and I'm suddenly feeling strong. Runners certainly can be fickle people though. A couple days ago I was feeling quite confident, but today's run ... well, the only positive about it was that I finished it without shaving any off. However, I did need to stop a number of times for water, but it was 75 degrees and relatively humid.

1pm, 75 degrees, breezy and humid. Did 21.25 today in 2:42:35 (7:39s). First 6.5 in 50:51 (7:49s). Stopped here for Gu. Next 3.5 flat to slightly downhill on grants trail in 24:17 (6:56s). Stopped here for water. The 3.5 back up the trail was in 26:37 (7:36s). I ran this portion with some guy I started talking to who was a marathoner as well. At the top I ran about .4 miles down the road and stopped at the public library for some water. I stopped one more time for water in the last section and stopped about 2 miles out to talk to a police officer sitting in her car that I knew. The last section was 7.75 in 1:00 (7:45s).

Not much good to say about this run except that I was able to finish it. Definitely one of those days that leaves me feeling that hitting a sub 3 at Boston is not even remotely close to possible. There will be other days in the next 4 weeks I'm sure that I will feel it is within reach. Just got to chalk this one up to some mistakes I've made over the last month in my traning and fix those mistakes over the next month.

12pm, 71 degrees and very windy. 6.3 mile recovery run today in 48:05 (7:38s). First 3.15 in 25:05 (7:58s). Took a quick stop at the Y to get some water and then headed back. Second 3.15 in 23:00 (7:18s).

Still going over yesterdays run in my head. And I'm just not sure what to make of it. I wasn't going hard, and I wasn't intending to, but the run still felt so much harder than it should have at 7:39s. My legs were pretty trashed today too, much worse than they usually are after such a run. I think the rest of the week I will continue to run easy, increasing the intensity as the week goes on and try by next weekend to get back down near M-pace for at least 8 miles. It is possible that I've not been getting the approrpiate sleep, so I think maybe I'll start using the sleep tracker if I think about it. Might as well start with last night. I think I got about 7.

4:45pm, 55 degrees and a light, but steady rain. First 5.4 in 43:53 (8:07s). Next 4.55 in 34:04 (7:29s). 9.95 in 1:17:57 (7:50s). .5 cool down in 4:07 (8:14s). Frankly, I don't have any clue what is going on. If you would have asked me to predict the pace I was running, I would have said that the 2nd section of the course was run around 7:10s. The first half I felt completely and absolutely bloated. I had a salad for lunch along with a bagel and a cup of coffee. That was about 3 hours previous, but if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought I ate and headed out the door to run. One possibility for these incredibly slow times as of late is related to my wife being sick. She has flu like symptoms. I've felt a touch queezy and such over the last couple days. Perhaps we've both got it, but my immunity is high enough that I'm barely getting any effects and its just got my system run down without knowing it. Nothing to get worried about just yet, but we'll see how things are by next week. Definitely something to keep an eye on over the upcoming days.

4pm and 70 degrees, windy. Did an 8.8 mile run to work today. Seemed like I was fighting a moderate wind the first 2/3rds before I got to turn and have it help me out. The first 3 miles didn't feel that great today, but I was eventually able to push through them and get the total run a bit closer to where I was before I took the 5 days off. 8.8 in 1:05 (7:23s). My guess is that the first 3 or so were around 8s.

3pm and 35 degrees, just a slight breeze. Good day for a 'winter' run, although its essentially spring. First 3.1 miles in 24 (7:45s). Next 2.6 [with 2 solid hill climbs of about 300 meters] in 18:19 (7:03s). Turned around and hit the same 2.6 back in 16:58 (6:32s), and finished up the starting 3.1 in 21:46 (7:01s). Followed this up with a .5 mile cool down in 4 minutes (8:00s). Total run time less the cool down was 1:21:04 for 11.4 (7:07s). If I take out the first 3.1 miles that gives me a solid 8.3 miles at MRP or faster. This is a good sign, and as I've been thinking over the recent situation .... I'm beginning to believe the drop off in pace was related to a drastic temp change from the mid 40s to the mid 70s. Coming off months of 40 and below, my body just had not acclimated to the higher temps. Pace for miles 3.1-11.4 was 8.3 miles in 56:56 or 6:51.5s (exactly MGP). Good stuff today. I'm well pleased. 

3pm and 45 degrees. 10.1 mile easy run in 1:15:02 (7:26s).

3:30 pm, 55 degrees, nice day. First 7 miles in 52:09 (7:27s). Next 3.05 in 21:56 (7:11s). The remaining 2.9 contained 2 pickups (1 about 4 minutes long, the other about 90 seconds long) 2 recoveries from each pick-up, and a relaxed finish to the run in 21:07 (7:17s). Average pace per mile for the 12.9 was 7:23s.

2.2 mile warm-up in 16:11 (7:21s). Then took about a 5 minute rest and talked to the WGHS distance coach. The team was planning on running a mile and 800 meter time trial at the track today, so I changed my plan. Hit the next 3.1 in 19:24 (6:15s). Then did .3 mile cool-down to the track where I hit 3 x 1 mile @ M-race pace (6:52,6:56, and 6:45) with a few minutes rest in between each one. Then another .3 before hitting my second 5k, except I shut this one down at the 3 mile mark. The first one was more downhill than up with a slight tail wind. This second one kicked my butt a bit more and my intent was not to get to a point where I was going 100% for the distance, but keeping it in the range of controlled speed. As such, I shut it down at 3 miles when I was beginning to feel the control slipping. 3 miles in 18:46 (6:15s). Then did 1 more mile at M-race pace (6:51) after 2 minutes rest. Finished with 1.3 mile cool down.

Total miles for the day was 14.2. A good quality day I felt.

55 degrees at 9am this morning. Calm and sunny. Weather.com said it was 45 degrees. The bottom line was I was overdressed in a long sleeve wicking shirt. The temps got to 60 half way through the run I would guess. At any rate, ran down to the YMCA and picked up the lady's for a recovery run today. Total run for the day was 9 miles in 1:11:31 (7:57s). I was a bit tired at the end of this one. Yesterday's killer workout has me still shot. Will go easy again tomorrow.

So I just finished typing up this dissertation on my run today and it didn't save. So now I post the pissy shortened version. 70 degrees at 12:30pm today. Breezy but humid with periodic bursts of light rain. Did 19.45 today. First 15.45 below M-race-pace and 4 mile cool down. The first 7 miles were at about race pace. The next 3 were about 10 seconds/mile faster and the final 5.5ish were about 5 seconds/mile faster. The full 15.45 was in 1:45:26 (6:49s). I stopped for Gu and water for 4 minutes at mile 7 and then stopped for 3 minutes for water at mile 10. Followed all this up with 4 at recovery pace (8:17s).

I believe today's run was a strong one that was directly influenced by Monday's workout. I'll try to rest up most of the rest of the week, but continue to get in easy miles.

Bought another pair of Asics Cumulus yesterday and ran in them today. I love those shoes. I don't know why I even considered the Nike Structure. I'm sure its a fine shoe, but not a shoe designed for me. Was beginning to have some trouble with the pronate support and the stiffness of the midsole, as such, I've retired them and activated another pair of Cumulus.

4pm and 60 degrees, breezy. Did a 10 miler today with 4 approximately 1 mile pick-ups at just a touch faster than race pace. Warm-up, 1 on, 1off, 1 on 1off, etc. Running time was 1:11:48 (7:11s).

3pm, 60 degrees, mostly calm and sunny. Planned on a 15.6 mile run today at a fairly easy, but steady pace. It actually ended up being a somewhat agressive progressive run. And at 1:22:00 I started to think I messed up the mileage, so I decided on an alternate route back from there. First 5.9 in 43:29 (7:22s). Next 5.6 in 38:48 (6:56s) for an 11.5 mile run of 1:22:17 (7:09s).  My guess is that my progressive run started out in the 7:45 range and hit a peak in the 6:15-6:20 range coming down a long hill the last mile. At this point, the route I had planned seemed to be more than 4 miles, but now that I think about it, it was probably right. At any rate, I modified my run just a touch and ended up shaving about .7 off the run or so. So I finished with a 3.4 mile cool down for a 14.9 mile run.

1pm and 66 degrees, calm. Easy 6.05 mile recovery-ish run today in 45:52 (7:35s).

4:45pm, 70 degrees and quite windy. First 2.8 miles in 20:42 (7:23s). Ran into Karen (a woman who was running along the same route as I was and training for a 1/2M) and did 1.45 with her. I stopped the watch during this segment, but I think we were probably running 8:00s-8:15s. Next 5.8 in 40:49 (7:02s). Next 2 miles clocked in at 6:28 and 6:27 before the final cool down. I honestly did not think I was moving this fast tonight. Obviously I was crusing right along, but it felt comfortable for most of the run. The 7:00s felt like just a moderate pace, certainly nothing approaching M-pace. This is a good thing I suppose. Total run tonight was 13 miles on the nose.

4:30 pm, 65 degrees and steady moderate rain. Easy 8.3 today. First 3 in 22:41(7:34s), next 2.5 in 18:34 (7:26s), next 2 in 14:35 (7:18s), and the last .8 in 5:55 (7:24s). Total 8.3 in 1:01:43 (7:26s)

5pm, 60 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze. Did a 6 mile run at marathon race pace [41:34 (6:49s -- was actually 5.95)] followed by a 1 mile recovery run. Immediately into a 5 mile run at slightly faster than 1/2 marathon race pace [31:53 (6:23s)] also followed up with a 1 mile recovery run. Tough workout, but man it feels great now.

40 degrees and steady, light to moderate rain tonight at 6pm. This was a killer run today that had me wimpering like a baby immediately afterwards. Did an 11.1 (might have been a touch less than this, so between 11 and 11.1) mile loop twice. This loop is definitely rolling hills with some good ups and downs. On the first lap I felt very good early on, my goal was to hit the downhills hard and recover during the rest (only on the 1st lap). Well, I did just this, but my recovery pace was probably close to marathon race pace as the first lap went down in 1:13:10 (6:34s for 11.1 or 6:39s for 11). At this point I came in the house, got a Gu (took one at mile 4 too), a drink of water, and changed my shirt. Lap 2 was intended to be mainly easy base miles, working on fat burning. And I think as a result of glycogen burn-up in lap 1 it was a definite switch-over to fat burning. This lap was in 1:23:57 (7:38s for 11 or 7:34s for 11.1). My calves and hams were singing a song of their own when I was done. After I finished I got some quick juice in me and followed that up with a cup of chicken bouillon to replace the sodium loss. Then I hit an ice bath. All these things significantly helped my calves and hams. I've never felt such soreness in those areas after a run as today. Total run was 2:37:07 (7:09s for 22 or 7:05s for 22.2).

Well, that's it. I now officially begin taper mode as I move into the last 3 weeks before Boston.

5pm and 60 degrees. Very windy. 8.4 mile easyish /base run in 60:40 (7:13s). 30:38 (7:18s) there and 30:02 (7:09s) back. The way there was mostly into the wind and the way back was mostly with the wind. Stopped in the middle watch my son Eric take his first tennis lesson. He did well and seemed confident himself with how he did. Good for him! Legs still fairly shot today from Saturday's killer run.

Did one of those run to work, run home things tonight. So temps at 4:45pm were about 60 or so and very windy. Fought the wind most of the way to work. Ran 5.4 in 40:57 (7:35s). On the way home temsp had dropped into the upper 40s or so. Not so windy. 5.45 on the way home in 39:47 (7:18s). 2nd to last mile in 6:48. Both of these runs were done with a 3-5lbs backpack on that contained my work clothes.

5pm and 60 degrees. Very windy. Fought the wind about half the time, about 2 miles on the way out and 2 on the way back. Did a 4.4 mile out and back tonight. Out in 31:32 (7:10s) and back in 29:20 (6:40s). The full 8.8 in 1:00:52 (6:55s). Good working run tonight, but I'm still feeling the effects of Saturday's run. Will go easy tomorrow and Saturday's run may be a combo of longer distance at very easy pace with a couple 5k pick-ups inserted. Not sure yet.

5pm, 52 degrees, steady, moderate wind. Did a 9.6 mile loop tonight in 1:09:26 (7:14s). Good easy run that went into steady in the last few miles. Fought the wind for about 3-4 miles in the middle. Caught a tailwind the last 1.5.

45 minutes of stadium stairs tonight at a mostly easy pace, but progressive run. Rough road equivalent of 6 miles.

First 3 miles in 19:44 (6:35s -- First mile in 7:15, putting the remaining 2 miles at a 6:15 pace). Then 2 minutes inactive rest followed by 2.1 miles recovery in 15:31 (7:23s). Then 2.6 miles in 16:06 (6:12s -- Note, this was a steady downhill run with the wind at the back except for the last half mile which was significant uphill with wind in the face). Again 2 minutes inactive rest, followed by 4.2 miles recovery in 30:06 (7:10s -- really strong pace considering I was fighting a strong wind most of the way). Another 2 minute inactive recovery and a good long drink of water. Another pick-up, again mostly downhill, but this one fighting the wind nearly the entire way. 2.05 miles in 12:19 (6:00s). Again a 2 minute inactive recovery. Finished with 1.9 in 13:36 (7:09s). Total run of 15.9 miles in 1:47:23 (6:45s).

Not sure what to make of this run today. A solid quality day, but I didn't think the recovery sections were being done as fast as it appears they were. All my pick-ups were slight to significant downhill with 2 of 3 with the wind and 1 against. I'm surprised I ran 16 miles at an average pace of 7 seconds/mile faster than goal m-race pace. I don't know if this is a good thing, or that it means I may have worked too hard this close to the race. Time shall tell. Another issue is the shoes. I wore my DC Trainers today, quite a bit lighter than my Cumulus, but around mile 9 or 10 my legs began to feel slightly heavy (Could be from the stress of the downhill pick-ups on the quads). This actually went away during my 3rd pick-up. But my concern for 26.2. I know the Cumulus won't cause any problems like this, but they weigh a good bit more. I guess the bottom line is, you can't argue with 6:45s for 16 miles. I'll have to keep thinking about this as Boston approaches.

36 degrees at 5pm today for a 6.9 mile run staying near the house. Run time 50:18 (7:18s). Comfortable run today, but closing on Steady State as I'm still recovering from Saturday's run.

Ran to work tonight. 4:30pm and 52 degrees. Somewhat windy. 6.8 in 48 flat (7:03s). Not sure googlemaps gave the right distance. I'll check it tomorrow in the car (Man I need a Garmin!).

Update: Car Odometer marks it at 6.7 (7:09s)

4pm and 60 degrees, windy. Working against the wind on the way out, with it on the way back. Did a 4.2 mile out and back. Out in 31:20 (7:28s). Took a 2 minute rest and then hit it hard on the way back, but tried to keep breathing even and steady. Back in 25:55 (6:10s). .5 mile cool down. 

45 degrees, humid and windy today. 8.55 mile progressive run starting in the 7:15 range and ending in the 6:15 range. 8.55 in 56:51 (6:39s) flanked on both sides by .9 miles warm-up/cool down.

60 degrees today at 1pm. Beautiful day. My last real work-out going into Boston. Did a quality tempo run yesterday. Today was 7 x 800 meters downhill repeats with recovery back up. Recovery time was generally about 4:30 of active running back up the hill and 30 seconds inactive recovery waiting for my partner's heart rate to return below 120. Repeats were done as follows: 2:47 (5:34s), 2:53 (5:46s), 2:58 (5:56s), 2:53 (5:46s), 2:53 (5:46s), 2:50 (5:40s), 2:43 (5:26s). The workout was flanked on both sides with 2.3 miles of warm-up/cool-down running.

50 degrees and light rain tonight at 5pm. 8.4 out and back in 1:00:46 (7:14s) Out in 31:13 (7:26s) and back in 29:33 (7:02s).

Ran to work tonight. 5pm and 45 degrees. A touch of wind for about half the way there. Running time 46:02 (6:51s) -- right on M-pace.

8:45pm. Easy 6 in 43:56 (7:19s). Just stretching the legs to keep from getting too antsy.

Not running today, travel to Boston. Flight leaves at 4pm. Unfortunately, I'm going to miss the Red Wings first playoff game tonight. Go wings! I'll probably get out for 6 on Friday and 5 on Saturday.

At my cousins house today in Plainville, MA ... about 15-20 minutes from Hopkinton. 65 degrees and a steady mild wind at 2pm. Did 2.75 from a cold start in 17:28 (6:22s). Took a 3 minute rest and did another 2.75 easy in 19:30 (7:05s) and then a .5 mile cool down.

Did a 2.75 mile loop around the lake at my cousins at race pace followed by 1.25 mile cool down. Well, that's it. Time to rest up,fuel up, hydrate up and get up for Boston. Until then. Chow.

So much to say about this race. I'll give the race breakdown with some comments and then give my thoughts overall. My goal was to crack 3 hours, which would have been 11:35 faster than my only other marathon.

We drove the course on Saturday and I realized this was going to be a killer challenge. The course elevation tools and other aids simply do not do justice to the challenge of this course. On saturday I was in doubt of my ability to crack 3 hours.

Race temps at start were probably about 45 degrees and it may have lifted into the low 50s by the finish, but the winds were kicking in the 15-20 mph range I believe. This wasn't really a factor until the last 10-15k though. Got into corral 5 and began to move up once they lifted the corral barriers. I was a touch over a minute from the elites when I crossed the line so I think I probably moved up to corral 2 or 3 by the start. Right where I wanted to be, except that I suddenly realized that I need to pee ... again. I had this happen once before in a race and the need went away by mile 5 so I figured I might be ok. The race got started however and due to the volume of runners we were simply packed in so tight that I had no choice but the pace that the stream was travelling. About a half mile in a realized that now would be the best time to pee and I joined the 50 or so guys on both sides of the road doing the same at about the 1/2 mile mark. Did my business and utilized the outside edge of the road to make up a little lost time.

Mile 1: 7:14 (only about 15 seconds slower than I wanted to be)

Mile 2: 6:35 (a touch quicker than I wanted to be, but the pace felt right)

Mile 3: 6:43 (I had planned on going out at 7:00s my first 3 miles. Was only about 30 seconds overall ahead of my race plan, so I was ok with things. To go any slower or faster would have been working against the crowd)

Mile 4: 6:42 (Felt very comfortable with this pace)

Mile 5: 6:54 (This was a net uphill mile)

Mile 6: 6:43 (I remember this as my split. Next mile indicates why this was a guess)

Mile 7: 6:36? (I saw my family at this mark and I think for some reason I hit stop instead of split on my watch so this mile wasn't recorded, but the difference between my official time and my watch was 6:36)

Mile 8: Total for miles 6 and 8 was 13:21, so taking 6:43 off gave me a mile 8 split of 6:38 (I know I'm pushing my goal pace, but it feels very comfortable so I'm simply clicking off the miles and staying relaxed)

Mile 9: 6:43 (It was here that I realized I had missed a mile on my watch. Oh well.)

Mile 10: 6:46 Mile

11: 6:49 (At this point I'm beginning to realize that my pace is quite a bit ahead of my goal pace of 6:52s, but it simply feels right, so I'm maintaining the race based on feel and not really paying attention to splits other than to recognize to myself that I'm banking some time)

Mile 12: 6:40

Mile 13.1: 7:31 (Although I didn't stop to kiss any of the Wellesley Girls I did give about 100 yards worth of them high fives. This may have taken just a touch out of my time, but it was something I wanted to say I did)

Mile 14: 5:56 (13:25 2 mile split for 6:42-43 average over the 2 miles)

Mile 15: 6:45 (At this point I realized that if I finished the race with 7:00s I would go under 3 hours and every mile I hit at the current pace was simply more time banked. I was feeling very good. Not at all tired or stressed)

Mile 16: 6:42 (Still feeling good)

Mile 17: 6:57 (Getting into the hills now)

Mile 18: 6:57 (A good pace for the hills. I'm still feeling good, but realizing I've slipped above goal pace, but ok with it because of the banked time and knowing that once I'm over Heartbreak Hill its all downhill from there)

Mile 19: 6:57 (Very even pacing through these hills)

Mile 20: 7:11 (Hmm. I'm ok with this split, but noting that its off the pace I want)

Mile 21: 7:26 (Heartbreak Hill. Hmm. Not terribly happy with this split, but it doesn't feel bad and it was a tough spot in the race going uphill, so I'm ok with it. I just know that I need to find a way back to 7:00s. I'm still not tired, I've got the conditioning, I've got the fuel, I'm not dehydrated.)

Mile 22: 7:10 (Well. Now we see what the course does to a body. Now that I'm down the 1st and largest of the downhill stretch to the finish I know there's no way I'm going to make my goal time of sub 3 hours. My legs have become instantly trashed. They feel like scrambled eggs. They are incredibly sore and strained. I'm doing everything I can to simply pick them up without slowing too much.)

Mile 23 & 24: 15:47 (Average pace for 2 miles 7:48s. OMG! My legs are killing me. The crowds are a roar of people now but they've no effect on me. I'm being passed by a serious number of people and I'm simply trying to stay to the right and out of their way.)

Mile 25, 26, 26.2: 19:42 (Average pace 8:57s -- UGH! I'm doing all I can to simply finish the race now. Going up Citgo Hill a knot spasmed my right inner thigh and I had to stop and walk. I thought I'd have to finish by walking. There was nothing I could do. It was debilitating. I actually had to stop and stretch it. I continued to walk to the top. When I got there I said to myself, "I'm not going to walk. I'm not going to be *THAT GUY*". I started to run again and at this point just said to myself just consider this your cool down.)

After the race I checked my online 5k splits and they broke down as follows. The Ks are listed cummulitively, but each section is a 5k per mile pace. (There seems to be some slight discrepency between my watch splits and the official race splits in terms of average pace/mile): 5k: 21:14 (6:50s) 10k: 29:59 (6:45s) 15k: 20:47 (6:41s) 20k: 21:01 (6:46s) 25k: 20:55 (6:44s) 30k: 21:25 (6:54s) 35k: 22:26 (7:13s) 40k: 24:53 (8:00s) 42.2k: 12:27 (9:07s) Total Time: 3:06:07

A very frustrating finish, to be sure. Still, a PR by 5:28. I should be happy, but I'm just not sure what happened. I wasn't tired as much as I just couldn't pick my legs up. The muscles were absolutely destroyed. To be sure this was a result of the cummulitive effect of the continuous rolling hills on an extremely demanding course. I also believe that the choice to run the race in Asics DS Trainers was the wrong choice for me. I believe that had I run in my Asics Cumulus' I would have saved my muscles a significant degree of strain. The Trainers forced my quads and calves to absorb a significant degree more of the pounding that I think my Cumulus' would have. I should have sacrificed the extra ounces for the support and cushion. At 162 pounds I just believe that I can't do races over 20 miles in anything but a regular training shoe. This is both encouraging and frustrating. I believe that I could have maintained a pace that would have allowed me to break 3 hours on a course more foregiving. My conditioning was not the issue, my fuel was not the issue, my hydration was not the issue. My legs simply became incredibly sore. A couple people I talked to said their garmins had them at the 26.4 mark. I assume this comes from an inability to run tangents in heavy crowds. Of course, this is neither here nor there.

On a side note, my uncle is very well connected and got us VIP passes for the race. We got to wait inside a heated gym with our own food, drinks and bathrooms before the race and had a heated tent at the end with our own med staff, massages for those that wanted, and food and drinks. Way to go uncle Steve!

Overall this was what I would consider a humbling learning experience that left me believing I can go sub 3, but not on that course! Boston is truly a serious challenge of the body and spirit. I can now say I'm a Boston Marathon Finisher! 

Well, 2 weeks off and I got back at the running today with a bang. Did a 4.2 mile out in 30:45 (7:20s) and back in 30:54 (7:21s). Pace was a bit quicker than I wanted, but having not run in 2 weeks I was chomping at the bit a touch. Followed this up by running 4 times around the block with the Eric and Ivan (.5 miles around the block with 1 minute rest between sets). Each 800 meters was done between 4:30 and 5:00.

Ran to work tonight with a 6 pound pack on my back full of work clothes and shoes. Tried to keep it in the fat-based zone. The pack made the pace possibly moving out of this zone. Stopped after 7 miles and walked .25 just to slow things down a bit. The extra weight was really working on my quads. Tried to finish the last mile with a hard fat-based mile like Sasha was talking about. It was tough, so I guess I was doing it right, but I only made it about .75 miles and finished the last .25 easy.  Running time on 8.2 miles was 60:38 (7:24s).

7.9 Miles tonight in 58:22 (7:23s). Then did a 2 mile run with the boys (About 75-80% of this was running and the boys only stopped once on the way home. Then did 1 trip around the block with Elsa.

20 minutes aerobic cardio on the bike.

Did 12 sets of stadium stairs at the ice rink tonight followed by a mile on the track + .25 miles to and from the track. I finished with a mile on the track to get an idea of what sort of pace I might equate my sets of stairs to. I ran the track mile in 7:18 and my last stadium set was in 5:29. My estimate was that the sets were about .75 in rough equivalent to road miles. Pace wise running for 5:29 at a 7:18 pace comes out to 0.7511 miles. So I had a good guess. Running time for the sets was 1:07:14 (7:28s) for a rough road equivalent of 9 miles (I tried to keep these miles in primarily fat burning zone). Splits as follows: 5:52, 5:42, 5:38, 5:39, 5:38, 5:37, 5:35, 5:31, 5:34, 5:27, 5:30, 5:29. Then about .125 miles to the track, a 7:18 around the track and another .125 back.

11.05 mile base run today. Temps were about 70 degrees, but fairly breezy with 15mph winds. It sure felt like they were always a headwind, but certainly the last 3 miles were. Tried to keep the pace even and steady today, somewhere between a steady state run and an easy aerobic run. Running time was 1:19:44 (7:13s). Good first week back.

70 degrees today at 4:30pm. Very nice day for a run with mostly low humidity. 12.1 mile base run today in 1:29:36 (7:24s).

Ran to work tonight. 70 degrees and somewhat humid. First 4.2 in 30:45 (7:19s). Next 4.0 in 29:14 (7:19s). Total run time 59:59 (7:19s). Good even pace throughout. Tomorrow I will try to keep the pace slower in the true fat-zone.

70 degrees and very humid. My sweat was flying off my tank 15 minutes into the run. Did a good quality easy day today. 10.1 miles in 1:18:06 (7:44s).

Pretty beat up today. Poor sleep and poor fuel over 2 days has left me trashed. Planned to go 8.5 but just felt completely sluggish. Plus, the Red Wings game was on at 6pm, so I decided to turn it around and only go 5.4 in 41:43 (7:44s).

10 miles of stadium stairs at work tonight. Good progressive run that dipped into some Tempo type paces near the end. Splits for each .75 mile set as follows: 5:48, 5:39, 5:33, 5:30, 5:29, 5:28, 5:26, 5:20, 5:15, 5:13, 5:11, 4:58 followed by 8:15 cool down mile. Running time on the sets was 1:04:57 (7:13s).

Well, this wasn't exactly how I planned to get my miles in today, but miles nonetheless. Ran 3 miles on the track while Eric was at tennis lessons (Ivan did 2 and Elsa did 1 with me) in 21:07 (7:02s). Then 20 minutes later I ran from my house to the Running Center which is 2.8 miles in 21:23 (7:38s). Hit a viscious headwind for about 3/4ths of a mile and another 1/2 mile. Talked to the guys there for about 15 minutes and headed back in 18:53 (6:45s) really pushed it the last mile. Then did a .65 mile cool down in 5:14 (8:03s).

PM: The boys wanted soda at dinner tonight, so I told them they had to run 2 more miles to get that. So 2 miles (4 times around the block) tonight with the boys.

Broke out the Garmin my brother-in-law gave me for the first time tonight. Kinda cool, will take some getting used to. Did 10.01 miles in 1:13:07 (7:18s). Did the first 5 progressive from base through to almost tempo pace. Its been a while and the last mile was starting to kick my butt. Splits were as follows: 7:41, 7:15, 6:57, 6:41, 6:37 (took 2 minute break) and then set off on another 5 at base pace: 7:43, 7:22, 7:30, 7:50, 7:25. This course was fairly hilly and a few sections really did me in for a short span. Good workout.

Pretty shot after todays run. Temps in the low 70s with no wind. Did 12.66 miles in 1:39:34 (7:51s). First 3.5 was a warm up to the YMCA 1.5 miles and then did 2 with the ladies as they warmed up for their run. Then did 5.75, first mile very easy with the back of the pack, then I drove 1 mile hard to catch up with Megan. Megan and I then did 4 or so together before I cooled down around another 3.4. Splits as follows on the day:

7:55, 8:33, 9:06, 8:45, 6:58, 8:15, 7:34, 7:21, 7:00, 7:43, 7:35, 7:21, 5:10 (.66 miles -- 7:50). Some very easy sections, the portion with Megan was faster than I wanted to go, certainly not easy or recovery, so tomorrow will focus on a purely recovery type longer run.

Zen run today. 10.2 miles, garmin ran out of juice at mile 3. Google maps has it at 10.2 and it took somewhere in the neighborhood of 1:15-1:20. So the most likely guess based on time and feel was 7:45s. Good recovery type longer run today.

The word for the day is ... Hot.  Upper 80s at the beginning of the run and quite humid. Out and back double progressive tonight. 4 miles out progressive, .25 recovery, 2 minutes inactive recovery, then 4 miles back progressive, .75 recovery.

Splits as follows:

8:02, 7:33, 7:17, 7:07 2:03 (.25 -- 8:12s);

7:27, 7:16, 6:56, 6:30, 6:31 (.75 -- 8:45s)

Did 12 sets of stadium stairs at work tonight. Rough road equivalent of 9 miles in 1:06:02 (7:20s). This workout was quick, but felt very relaxed and easy, like a complete fat-burning workout more along the lines of a 7:45 type pace. Maybe we're starting to make adaptations, or maybe it was nice and cool in the ice rink and has been quite hot and humid outside, and that was the real adaptation that was made. I dunno, at any rate ... Splits as follows: 5:48, 5:37, 5:37, 5:37, 5:31, 5:29, 5:28, 5:30, 5:25, 5:21, 5:24, 5:16

Temps weren't too hot today (mid-70s) at 5pm, but we had a good rain about an hour before so the humidity was through the roof. Today's course was excessively hilly through north Webster and Glendale. 12.75 miles in 1:37:04 (7:37s). Splits as follows: 8:02, 7:57, 7:51, 7:43, 7:40, 7:37, 7:43, 7:35, 7:11, 6:29, 8:02, 7:18, 3:24 (.5 miles -- 6:48s) and then .25 cool down in 2:25 (9:45s).

Mid to upper 70s today. Humidity excessive. About 5 miles in it started to rain and built to about a 30 minute torrential downpour. Did 11.2 today. Actually lost .4 of the run with some Garmin difficulties, but nothing I couldn't piece together afterwards. The 10.8 that the Garmin did pick up was in 1:22:26 (7:38s). I stopped a few times, mostly when I switched off the road to following off road along side the creek bed when the rain was really hammering down to see how high the creek was. Splits as follows:

7:52, 7:14 (No body glide on, turned back to the house to get some), 7:34, 7:47, 7:46, 7:50, 7:44, 7:40, 7:53, 7:18, 5:40 (.8). This workout was significantly hilly, run back and forth over a grid of blocks that went up a hill, over the top, down the hill to the end of the block where I turned south 1 block and headed back across the same hill. Tough workout, but I love running in the pouring rain.

Hot and humid ... blah blah blah, same ole same ole lately. Temps in the mid 80s with excessive humidity. Ran to work tonight. Recovery type run, but had to keep reminding myself I was recovering. Didn't do too well at that part.

7:56, 7:38, 7:30, 7:44, 7:26, 7:08

Total run time was 45:55 (7:35s)

Light, but steady rain tonight at 9pm and temps around 70. No wind. The plan tonight was to get in 2 x 2miles @ around 10k race pace. I probably could have done it, but I made a decision after the first one to do 2 x 1 mile @ 5k race pace for the 2nd one instead of a single 2 mile pick up. I probably went out too hard in the 2 warm up miles and caused myself to feel that I didn't have enough going in the lung capacity department to hold the 2nd pick up all the way through. To be honest, I made the decision after I was into the 2nd pick-up. I was actually going too fast. I have a tough time gaging pace at night sometimes and I haven't done these sort of workouts in nearly 6 months, but I've got a 10k race coming up in a month and need to get some in.

Splits: 7:35, 7:25, 6:24, 6:29 (6:27 average for 2 mile), 8:15 recovery mile, 6:06, 8:41 recovery mile, 5:52, 4:48 recovery (.57 miles @ 8:25). 8.57 total in 101:36 (7:11s)

Nice cool evening. Temps in the upper 60s to low 70s. Somewhat humid still at 5pm. Did 11.51 easy base run today. The first half was considerably hilly and I probably hit the first half harder than I wanted. Easy runs are my achilles heel. I have to constantly tell myself to slow down and go easier than I'm usually going. Splits as follows:

7:44, 7:28, 7:40, 7:58, 7:34, 7:47, 7:52, 7:53, 7:33, 7:27, 7:28, 4:00 (.51 (8:00s)

Total: 11.51 in 1:28:30 (7:41s)

Kids spent the night at their grandparents last night and all day today so I had the whole morning to myself. Decided that I had more time to do a longer run today instead of tomorrow, so I did 15.33 today taking my time and enjoying the run. Stopped twice along the way, once at 5 miles to get the band on my garmin fixed at a local watch shop (this was about a 5 minute stop) and once at 9.3 at the Running Center to just chat with the guys (this was about a 20 minute stop). The second stop took a few miles to get back to pace, but pace wasn't really a concern today. I just took each mile as I felt like it at the time. Temps were about 65 at the start of the run and about 72 by the finish. Total running time was 1:55:08 (7:30s). Splits as follows:

7:54, 7:33, 7:26, 7:56, 7:26, 7:27, 7:34, 7:14, 7:10, 7:41, 7:42, 7:42, 7:14, 6:52, 7:31, 3:37 (.33 -- 7:56s).

I very much underestimated the heat effect today. Temps were around 85 degrees and I ran at 1:30pm. I got hammered by the heat. Luckily I went by a bike shop that I knew the owner, and by the Running Center. I got water at both locations and stopped for about 5 minutes at each. The first stop was at 5 miles and the 2nd at 8.8 miles. Splits as follows:

7:48, 7:42, 7:35, 7:40, 7:38, (after the stop I decided to slow things down before the heat started effecting me negatively) 8:05, 7:56, 8:03, 8:03, 7:53, 6:35 (.82 miles 8:04s)

90 Degrees at 5pm tonight. Quite hot so I took it very easy. Actually had some inflamation along the outside of my right foot above the ankle. Probably a touch of overuse injury from the high mileage week last week. Will take it easy with both miles and pace this week. Splits on the 9.06 in 1:11:51 (7:55s) as follows:

8:15, 7:53, 7:41, 7:51, 8:03, 8:08, 8:01, 7:48, 7:37, :29 (.06 -- 8:11s)

Ankle is definitely inflamed. Might ride the recline bike after work tonight if I have time. Iced the ankle twice today. Will do 2 or 3 times tomorrow and continue to postpone running until the inflamation goes away.

More rest and icing today. Swelling seems to be going down. Muscle nearby may be a bit tight, so I will do some stretching later.

More icing and stretching today. Will test out the ankle tomorrow.

3:30pm and 77 degrees. Modest humidity, actually a fairly decent day for June day in St Louis. Tested the ankle and everything felt fine today. 4 mile out and back for a total of 8. 2 mile warm-up, 4 mile pick-up, 2 mile cool down. Running time 59:58 (7:30s). Splits as follows: 7:37, 7:27, 7:16, 7:18, 7:08, 6:46, 8:06, 8:16. Left quad was a little tight at the end, but nothing major considering it was my first day running in 4 days.

Ran to the Running Center today and tried on 2 pairs of shoes. Ran about .2 miles in the shoes. Then ran home. Total today was only 6.5, but that was enough for now. Splits as follows:

8:09, 7:41, 7:27, 7:26, 7:31, 7:31, 2:25 (.3 -- 8:03s) + .2 at the store.

Some problems with the Garmin today. Got the message "Done with False Readings" or something like that. The splits do seem a bit all over the place, but the last 2 registerd correctly. At any rate, 80 degrees at 11am today. Did 6.51 in 49:00 (7:31s). Splits as follows according to the Garmin:

7:47, 7:18, 7:00, 7:40, 7:47, 7:02, 4:21 (.51 -- 8:34s)

12:30pm. Upper 70s to 80 today with relatively high humidity. Tough time for a run, so I went moderately easy until I warmed up. Got in about 1.5-2.0 miles at approximate steady state pace. Given the temps though, it was a pretty good workout. 9.0 miles in 1:09:21 (7:42s). Splits as follows:

7:59, 7:59, 7:43, 7:15, 3:35 (.52 -- 6:57s) [took a 2 minute stop here before finishing the last 2.5 easy] 7:37, 7:45, 3:46 (.48 -- 7:50s).

Nice cool morning. Temps in the upper 60s to 70 degrees. Ran to the YMCA, but only Julie and one other person was there. Ran with them nice and easy and paced them for 2 x 600 meter pick ups. Did about 3 mile to the Y, 3.5 with them, then did another 4.5 with 2 x 1 mile pick-ups built in. All told was 11.03 miles in 1:26:52 (7:52s).

Splits: 7:59, 7:28, 7:04, 8:30, 8:42, 8:51, 8:54, 7:16 (pick-up with 2 significant hills, 1 of which was about 500-600 meters long), 7:47, 3:55 (.53 -- 7:21s), 6:12, 4:08 (.49 -- 8:23s)

AM:  Temps in the high 70s at the beginning and over 80 by the end. Humidity 70%. 9:30am. Felt very sluggish at the beginning today. Ran 3 miles, took 2 minute break, did 2 more, took 5 minute break for water, did 4 more. Total run was was 9 miles in 1:10:17 (7:48s). Splits as follows:

8:07, 7:59, 7:40, 8:05, 7:51, 7:58, 7:28, 7:09, 7:54

PM: 85 degrees and 74% humidity. 2 short pick-ups, the first one from a cold start with a mile recovery in between and a cool down. First pick-up 1.5 miles, 2nd pick-up 1 mile. Splits on the run as follows:

7:30, 3:22 (.5 -- 6:44s), 8:26, 1:57 (.25 -- 7:51s), 3:22 (.5 -- 6:44s), 3:09 (.5 -- 6:17s), 6:25 (.75 -- 8:36s)

Quality run tonight. 3 mile warm up, 2 x 2 miles @ 10k race pace with 1 mile active jogging recovery after each followed by 3 mile cool down. Cool night in the upper 60s, but a fairly consistent wind on the front stretch at the track. Splits as follows:

7:55, 7:36, 7:16, 12:36 (2 mile pick-up -- 6:18s), 9:10 recovery, 12:44 (2 mile pick-up -- 6:22s), 9:01 recovery, 8:28, 7:47, 7:28

3pm and 75 degrees. 6 mile recovery run today in 45:58 (7:39s). Splits as follows:

8:02, 7:35, 7:27, 7:36, 7:34, 7:42

8pm and low 70s. Calm. Easy aerobic base run tonight [7 miles in 52:21 (7:28s)] with a couple pick-ups. Splits as follows:

7:45, 7:35, 7:39, 7:25, 7:00, 7:43, 7:11

4pm, humid, 74 degrees. Not a bad day overall for a run. The first part of this run included some tough uphill sections through mile 5 or so. From about 5.25 to 6.75 there was little relief from the sun. It was mostly overcast and the majority of the run was shaded by trees, but this section was in the open and the sun came out for a bit. After mile 8 or so I hit a slight downhill section that began a 3 mile pick-up to marathon pace. After the first mile the rest of the pick-up was mostly flat. I followed this up with 3 more aerobic base miles. 14.01 in 1:46:09 (7:34s). Splits as follows:

7:42, 7:29, 7:50 (uphill sections), 7:52 (uphill sections), 7:55 (uphill sections), 7:49 (uphill sections, 7:35, 7:37 (short but tough uphill section), 7:11 (slight but long downhill section), 7:00, 6:45, 7:43, 7:34, 7:57 (uphill section).

2pm, 85 degrees, fairly humid. 10 mile aerobic base run today in 1:16:30 (7:39s). Splits as follows:

7:48, 7:44, 7:30, 7:32, 7:46 ... (5 minute break here to get some water and cool down a bit from the heat) ... 7:50, 7:44, 7:36, 7:05, 7:50.

Complications kept me from running today.

10pm, 89 degrees, 70% humidity. Planned to do at least 2 x 2 miles @ 10k race pace tonight, but I didn't get the best food today and the conditions were brutal for that time of night. Did a 2 mile warm-up in 14:30 and knew it was going to be a struggle tonight. After 1 mile of my first repeat I bagged it and basically figured it would be better to maintain pace and shorten distance than to maintain distance and slow down pace. As such, I did the following tonight: 2 mile warm-up in 14:30; 1.25 miles @ 6:35 with .75 miles active jogging recovery; 1 mile @ 6:25 pace with 1 mile active jogging recovery; .75 miles @ 6:07 pace with 1.25 miles active jogging recovery. Not the best workout, but it wasn't a waste either and should leave me with a bit to give in another go at something similar in a couple days.

4pm, 95 degrees, heat index of 105. Good stuff! Took it real easy with the conditions. 5 miles in 41:05 (8:12s). Splits as follows: 8:22, 8:28, 8:00, 8:12, 7:59.

These conditions are beginning to take their toll. 5pm, 89 degrees, 67% humidity. Had planned to do 13 tonight, but realized I'd was toast at 8. Can't wait to get to Michigan for 3 weeks. 8 miles in 1:00:17 (7:32s). Splits: 8:03, 7:26, 7:06 (stopped at the house for water and to towel off), 7:41, 7:39, 7:18, 7:19, 7:40.

Another crushing heat run. 10 miles at 7pm, 92 degrees, heat index of 105, and 75% humidity. 10 miles tonight. 2 pick-up miles -- 1 in 7:09 and 1 in 6:44. Splits as follows:

8:31, 8:11, 7:44, 7:52, 7:45 (Stopped for a gatoraide at the house and to cool the body temp down a bit) 8:04, 7:09, 8:08, 6:44, 4:25 (.5 miles 8:50s), walked 1/2 mile to slowly bring the body down.

99 degrees today with heat index nearing 110. Unfortunately its a dreadmill work-out. Actually, it was good that I went this route, gave me some confidence going into Saturday's 10k. Did a progressive 8 miler today starting at 8:00 pace and dropping the pace by 15 seconds every mile. Splits: 8:00, 7:45, 7:30, 7:15 (stopped to get a drink of water and a towel, sweat was beginning to fly off me), 7:00, 6:45, 6:30, 6:15 ... .5 mile cool down @ 8:30 pace. Good workout, I felt I could have gone another mile at 6:00 and possibly 1 at 5:45, but I'm not sure about that one.

91 degrees, 5pm, but a touch lower humidity tonight. 7 miles aerobic base run in 53:08 (7:35s).

First day on our trip to Michigan. Did a 6.1 mile recovery run with my brother-in-law tonight. We pushed my daughter and niece in the 2 person jog stroller (about 80 lbs total). He took the way out and I took the way back. 6.1 in 52:44 (8:38s).

Temps near 70 today for the race, 8:45am and somewhat humid, but nothing like St Louis. Truly conditions were ideal for me for this time of year. Did not break 40 minutes like I wanted to, but overall not a bad race for this early in the season. Got a 3 mile warm-up in and then waited for the start. We had a 2 minute warning, and then, interestingly, nothing except the starters horn. I ran a pretty solid, even effort race, but tweaked something in my upper groin, above my thigh and below my hip in the mid-section of the race. Ran through that. Had a mental struggle at the 5k mark when I realized I was running 10-15 seconds slow of breaking 40:00. I fell off the pace for a few minutes, but pulled through it by focusing on "pulling the road" and my breathing. Towards the end I tried to pick up the woman in front of me and help her catch the next woman ahead of her. The gap was about 100 meters with 1/2 a mile to go. At the 6 mile mark I had drawn her to within 15 meters, but we were probably running sub 6:00s and I just didn't have it in the tank to carry her all the way to her. My girl didn't end up catching her. At any rate, splits as follows:

6:15, 6:27, 6:40 (tough mile with some hills in it, mile marker at the top the toughest of them), 6:38, 6:27, 6:17, 1:37 for .26 (6:03s -- Garmin was off a bit, I came through the 6 mile mark at 39 flat, so really this was 1:17 for .2 6:25s).

Not bad I suppose, 21 seconds/mile faster than last year and a 10k PR.  

1pm and 65 degrees. Finally, some relief from the heat! I actually had to take 3 days off after Saturdays race to let my 'tweak' heal. It still a little tight, but my approach to injuries is never to run through them. Better to miss 3 days now than 3 weeks 2 months from now. So today's run was mostly to test out the hip/groin/thigh area. It responded well, but we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Today's run was 9 miles over absolutely and completely flat terrain. One is hard pressed to find a hill in Dundee, Michigan, my 2nd stop on my annual Michigan trip. Last summer I had the humerous pleasure of working out UFD (UnFit Dog), but I haven't been running here so I haven't had the opportunity to jog that thing around the block a few times. I'm sure he's as glad as can be as last summer once around the block nearly killed him. At any rate, today's 9 miles was in 1:05:09 (7:14s -- if we take out the cool down mile it was 7:10s). A good quality run with a progressive build towards a 6:50ish mile, then a slight back down and another smaller build up to a 6:45 mile. Splits as follows:

7:35, 7:24, 7:22, 7:06, 6:49, 7:17, 7:07, 6:46, 7:45

55 degrees at 8:30am for my last day in Dundee. Humid with drizzle sort of hanging in the air. Perfect running conditions. Did a 10 miler today mostly in the Steady State zone. Again, as all of Dundee is flat as a pancake, this run was also. Splits as follows:

7:39, 7:25, 7:18, 7:13, 7:13, 7:10, 7:15, 6:49 (nice pick-up here), 7:21 (bit of recovery here), 7:10

Total 10 miles in 1:12:17 (7:14s)

9am, breezy, temps in the low to mid 50s. Drizzle. Saw 4 deer on my run this morning. Cool.

Garmin is acting up a bit in the woods. Garmin had me at 8.77 with 1 of my miles at 8:42, but the rest of them around 7:30ish. Double checked it with the car afterwards and the car odometer came out to exactly 9.0. I'm thinking in this case the car is probably more accurate, the Garmin may be struggling a touch with the signal out here. 9.0 in 1:08:13 (7:35s). Garmin had me at the following splits for 8.77:

8:00, 7:37, 7:38, 7:29, 7:33, 7:35, 8:43, 7:44, 7:43 (.77). Looks like it was doing ok until mile 7. I'm pretty sure the pace effort was steady throughout the run. Last 2 miles contained more hills than normal. The entire run was rolling, nice to be back to some variation.

1:30 pm, sunny and 75ish. 10 miles aerobic base today. Total running time 1:14:20 (7:26s). Same rolling route as yesterday. No significantly noticeable Garmin failures, but I suspect the actual run was probably again about .1-.2 longer.

8:00, 7:25, 7:21, 7:24, 7:18, 7:14, 7:14, 6:45 (including the last half mile significant uphills), 8:00, 7:39.

1pm, quite windy, sunny, mid-60s. Did a 5 mile out run (splits:7:55, 7:39, 7:35, 7:24, 7:18) mostly into the wind a couple very solid and long uphill climbs. Took a 2 minute rest and turned around and hit 2 miles hard. This section was with the wind. The first mile was downhill, then up and the 2nd mile finished with .4 miles downhill (6:09 and 5:50). Finished with an 8:22 recovery mile and then some with the boys.

7.1 mile recovery run today. 6 laps around the lake. Windy and 60 degrees. Terrain was considerably hilly with each lap containing 4 fairly steep hills in the 50 meter range for a total of about 24 hills. Running time 53:38 (7:33s). Splits as follows: 7:43, 7:35, 7:38, 7:40, 7:38, 7:31, 7:15

Well, 2 weeks of vacation are starting to take its toll and, although I don't have a scale, I'm suspecting my weight is up by 5-7 lbs. I've decided today and tomorrow will be strictly fat-burning miles allowing me to rest up a bit going into Saturday's race.

7.91 miles today in 1:03:58 (8:03s). Comfortable temps and morning run. I'm doing this on Sunday night, so I don't remember conditions really. Splits as follows:

8:11, 8:23, 8:07, 8:08, 8:01, 7:52, 7:56, 7:17 (.91 -- 8:02s). Standard run for the area with moderate hills.

Another fat-burning morning run, temps again in the low 60s. 9.54 miles in 1:14:40 (7:50s). Another moderately hilly run. Finished this run with a .66 mile "Sasha Fat Mile" @ 6:20 pace. Splits:

8:06, 8:05, 7:51, 7:51, 7:49, 7:53, 8:32 (this is off by about .1 I think and more like 8:15 uphill), 7:40, 2:12 (.29 miles @ 7:28), 4:09 (.66 @ 6:20), 4:17 (.5 miles @ 8:40).

Good race conditions in my book today. 63 degrees, but over 90% humidity at race start. By race finish conditions were nearing 70 degrees and 70% humidity. Coming from St Louis, I'll take this in July any day. Did a 1.54 mile warm-up over to the start. The goal was to try to break 60 minutes, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't happen on account of 1) my mileage over the last 5-6 weeks has been poor at best with most weeks 50 mpw at best and 2) this is day 17 of vacation and I have to be carrying 6-7 extra pounds (actually when I got on the scale Saturday night I was in fact 8 pounds over my normal weight, but I guess that's what 2.5 weeks of vacation does). My estimate finish time based on these facts is 1:01:30 ... and what do you know ... I ran a 1:01:21. In fact, this is a 2:15 PR at this distance over last years PR. All things considered, weight, poor training, and that its really still base-building (as crappy of a job at that as I'm doing, it still technically is) I'm fairly happy with this time. The course is entirely flat with the exception of Mt. McKinley, a massive hill, the worst of which I've ever faced in a race ... 1/2 mile up, 1/2 mile back down and of significant grade (the hill rises over 200 feet within about 500 meters and drops down the back side even quicker) and then flat as a pancake again to the finish.

Started out a touch fast in 6:08, but made friends quickly with 2 guys from Toledo in their 20s shooting to break 60 minutes. I ran with them to the base of Mt McKinley, where I had a pretty good idea they'd drop me. Had my fitness and weight been better I probably could have hung with them, but oh well. My brother-in-law found us at mile 2 (his calf was hurting, so he opted out of the run) and rode his bike along with me through about mile 7. I must also say this is one of the most scenic of races, running along both east and west bay of Grand Traverse County. At any rate I got a cramp after the hill along West Bay that hits straight at the solar plexus which killed my backside effort. I was able to fight that off and pick up the pace again, finishing very strong down the .3 mile stretch of the parade route lined with people (The parade starts about an hour after the race finish) to the tune of 5:49 pace! Given this, I should have been able to run much stronger through miles 6, 7, and 8 .. but the cramp was holding me back. After the race I got the chance to speak to a couple of people I went to high school with as well as my cousin Joe. All in all it was a great day ... splits as follows:

Warm-up (7:45 pace)

1 - 6:08

2 - 6:37

3 - 6:35

4 - 6:28 (I was right where I wanted to be to crack 60 minutes, but I knew the hill would take away some time and I'd have to make it up on the back side)

5 - 7:08 (that's the hill baby!)

6 - 6:38

7 - 6:49 (cramp really kicked in here)

8 - 6:44 (I'm starting to breath it out of me)

9 -6:26 (back on target pace, but the cramp has killed any chances)

9.3 - 1:44 (5:48 pace -- strong finish)

All things considered, can't ever complain about a 2+ minute PR on a 15k course. That's 2 PRs in 2 races early in the beginning of my 2nd training cycle this year. Things are looking good to crack my 1/2 marathon goals in the fall.

Quick aerobic base run this morning in Dundee, MI before heading home from the vacation. Temps in the low 70s at 9am. 8.0 miles in 1:01:11 (7:38s). Nothing special here, just a normal base run. Splits: 8:04, 7:34, 7:35, 7:29, 7:46, 7:41, 7:41, 7:17 (I wanted to keep this mile a touch slower, but I had to drop a duece! -- lol, vacation weight comin off baby!)

Did ye ole "Run to work, run home" thing today. 5.5 miles each way. Not sure the conditions exactly, but I would guess temps in the mid 80s with the run home being considerably humid. On the way to work I did a bell curve pick-up. On the way home I concentrated strictly on trying to keep my miles fat-burning miles (7:45-8:00). I was at work about 6 hours.

Splits to work: 5.5 in 40:31 (7:20s) -- 7:42, 7:23, 6:47, 7:24, 7:36, 3:38 (.5 -- 7:16)

Splits home: 5.5 in 43:01 (7:49s) -- 8:14, 7:44, 7:50, 7:42, 7:36, 3:51 (.5 -- 7:46)

Very difficult run tonight. To start with the conditions were tough -- 75 degrees and 90% humidity at the start of the run (9pm).  Additionally, I just don't do well in the summer, especially when its humid, if I haven't had 4-5 hours to digest dinner. Tonight's run was 3.5 hours afterwards. I should have been good, but I was dealing with some GI issues from miles 4 to the finish causing some rough cramping and such. At mile 8 I began to feel a touch humidity sick. At mile 9 I wanted to stop and rest for a touch, but I knew if I did I'd never get going again and I was 2 miles from the house still. I muscled through mile 9 and was going to alter my route (originally I had planned to do 12) and walk the last mile, but when I got through 10 miles I decided to try to gut it out to within .5 miles of my house. When I got there I gutted it out to the finish. I noticed something in addition to all the issues that were going on. When a fat-burn run starts to get tough I have a tendency to want to speed up. It dawned on me tonight that this is probably my bodies response to the fat burning, begging me to bump into carb burning. All in all, I was able to grind out a few more miles than I thought I was going to be capable of at mile 8. Glad its over and tomorrow is an 8 miler.

Fat-burn splits: 11 miles in 1:27:01 (7:54s) -- 8:20, 7:46, 7:58, 7:45, 7:54, 7:47, 7:56, 7:46, 7:49, 7:51, 8:04

66 minutes of stadium stairs at work tonight. Rough road equivalent: 9 miles.