Ethan Cannon

Approximately 7 minute mile pace in the valley with less hills.

7:04 pace, down in the valley this afternoon. Knee pain starting to return. Sigh. 

7:10 pace, Como classic...dark route? After 12.5 hours of travel, going out for a run in the cold at 8 pm felt great. And the stars were better than you'd think for being in the city. I'm glad I didn't let the sub-0 windchill stop me from continuing my streak of running outside. The fact that there was no snow on the ground helped a lot. 

It was a good day for running. I made a controversial decision to do a long run in the afternoon when it was 12 degrees rather than 0. I only did reservoir woods, mostly because of my knee I think. But I actually ran 6:09 pace which is really good for that route. My knee didn't hurt either, and it wasn't just the hard running masking it. On the way back, especially up the hill in the woods, my mask made me feel like I was suffocating a bit and I had to pull it down despite the cold. 

6:56 pace, farmers fields. 

6:48 pace, east river road. If I keep this schedule up, I'm looking forward to days when its gets lighter out at this time of day.

6:51 pace, East River flats. I estimated that at this time of year I am gaining just 30 seconds of additional sunlight each evening which is kind of sad. 

Finally a little warmer but the tradeoff was it was snowing. 7:10 pace on the way back from Como classic. 

7:09 pace in the snow to Boom Island, in the morning. I feel like I enjoyed my run a little bit more, like it wasn't so much of an afterthought (of course, it was also really warm out which helped). But everything else about going to work early points towards the benefits of doing that. 

Afternoon long run to west river and Minnehaha area. 6:05 pace with harder effort due to more snow on the ground than I had hoped for. Hard to believe I haven't run further than this since mid September. 

Well, the streak sort of ended. I very likely would have run outside had it been 50 degrees out. I also very likely would have run outside if I didn't feel under the weather as I did. The two combined had me go indoors. 

6:52 pace, Como classic snow route. 

East river road

6:57 pace, west river north

7:05 pace, Falcon Heights/Roseville. 

6:10 pace, east river road. It was 8 degrees and very sunny but also 13 mph wind. After going to work this morning, I was debating whether I should run inside or not. I'm very glad I went outside. Especially with some really cold weather coming, I am proud of myself. 

Treadmill day

It was like 5 degrees so I could have gone outside today but went on the treadmill instead. 

7:05 pace, Como classic. Good to be outside again. 

6:55 pace, farmers fields. It was 10 degrees but I ran at 2:45 today so the sun was very bright and warm. When the wind was at my back, it felt uncannily comfortable. 

Didn't realize how short that run was. 7:11 pace on Como night route. It was just getting dark when I left, but MN in the winter can be pretty cool. It was fun to walk out a little bit on the lake. This time it was cloudy so it made for this kind of natural lighting. 

6:20 pace to lake Johanna. That course is already slower than some of my usual LRs, but the dusting of snow we've had for a few days now (no complaints! Could be much worse) has made it slower still. I was lucky to see a super cool sunrise. I also saw some cars on lake Johanna which surprised me and which tempted me to run across the lake but I decided against it. 

Not interested in measuring my complex route around Falcon Heights. I ran, then met up with family at swim lessons, then ran home. Afterwards I had a headache. I think there's a chance that it came from not rehydrating immediately after the bulk of my run. 

6:56 pace, east river. 

6:56 pace. The pro was that despite getting out later than I wanted, it stayed pretty light, and I got to see a great sunset. I also liked the route I did of a loop around Como lake and going back a different way. The only downside was that there was a lot of traffic and the air especially on Como ave felt yucky. 

Apparently 6:38 pace to Boom Island in shorts and a t shirt. I did do 4x30 seconds hard on the way back (its been way too long since I ran fast at all, and I felt it), but ran similar pace overall both ways.

Just under 7 minute pace, I ran in the morning and did the same Como lake loop as a few days ago but went the other direction since I knew it would get lighter by the latter half. 

I took advantage of the dry ground today since next week is supposed to snow more. 6:00 pace on the way out on WRR. Honestly it felt harder than that. That's a little dissapointing. I came back slower because I kind of chilled after doing an easy workout of 5x1 min on, 1 off. That hurt my knee though. I can't get fast without working out. 

Ran around Falcon Heights again today (Farmers fields loop essentially) due to swim lessons. It is nice that it's getting lighter outside. We had an inch of snow this morning but thankfully this run was very doable. 

6:45 pace, east river road. 

6:53 pace, Como classic. 

About 7 minute pace. I ran north to the Diag to avoid going east-west as much as possible given the nearly 20 mph winds at 15 degrees. It was sunny so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. My wife went after I came up so props to her. 

6:56 pace, east river flats. There's a big snow expected tomorrow so this could be my last time in a while on this route. 

Do I get points for running outside when there were no other options? I woke up to a smaller snowstorm than what I had expected, but still decided to run on the treadmill in the afternoon. Afternoon rolled around and I found out the cardio room has been closed all week. Also, I don't have access to the treadmills at school right now. So it was either the stairstepper or outside. Outside it is. I ran all around- dinkytown greenway, east river flats, east river road, stadium, transitway, St Paul campus- looking for places that weren't covered in snow. Turns out the university was more on top of its snowplowing game than the cities were. 6:45 pace. 

6:54 pace around falcon heights and finishing at swim lessons. It was the warmest day we'll have in a bit (13 degrees) but felt like a slog. 

6:46 pace overall. I did a total of five hard minutes of running on the way back over a couple of reps. It was probably exceptionally slow but boy did it feel good to get the heart rate up like that again!

Saw an old teammate while running so I ran with him today, making a loop by crossing the river. 

6:50 pace overall. I ran for 5 minutes hard in the fairgrounds and don'tt dare look at my pace during that. I'm sure it was quite slow. Did the Como loop. The days are getting lighter so I can get out later and still get home while the sun is up.  

Uh oh. I thought I didn't go far on this Roseville run. 7:12 pace. Not sure what that was all about.

Treadmill day. My knee doesn't seem to do well on the treadmill. It didn't snow a ton but I was hoping to get up to speed a bit rather than slog through the snow. I slowly went down to 6 flat pace (according to the treadmill, which we all know is highly accurate of course), then alternated miles at ~5:15 pace and ~6:05 pace for maybe six miles total.

6:48 pace. I felt like I needed to run in negative temps to call myself a true Minnesotan runner. The -3 felt fine on the way out to Como lake. Coming back to get to swim lessons, the wind hurt though and it made for a painful thawing experience. 

Apparently 6:46 pace. 2 degrees and sunny today but felt fine. Passed river flats to get to West river road. 

6:45 pace, east river road. 

Very loosely calculated 6:41 pace. I decided part way through the run to surprise my family at the library and nailed the directions to get there without having seen a map. On the way home, I did 3-2-2-1 of hard running with about equal rest. It was the right day for this because it was a lot warmer than it had been previously. Probably good that I got a nice scorched lungs feeling. 

6:52 pace on west river north. Today was the warmest we've had in a while, but I was kind of just slogging through it. I have a hard time believing my putzy workout yesterday did it to me but whatever. Today I got terrible news- the number 9 bridge (tbh I didn't know that was what it was called until I looked it up) will be closed the entire warm season. That does more to affect my commute than my running. But I ran on it today, It's really nice to have a pedestrian only bridge. Sad day. 

6:09 pace, resevoir woods and then around lake McCarron. That is faster than I thought it would be. I was tired, including becuase that morning I had already gone skiing. Knee hurt skiing and continued to not feel great during the run. 

6:58 pace, west river road north on a balmy morning. 

6:42 pace, Como classic rain route because I figured it would be muddy from the melted snow. Felt great outside. 

6:56 pace, east river flats because I could!

Another warm day made good conditions for a workout. Until now, I have specifically not looked to see my pace because I knew how slow it was. Now, with February closing out, I wanted to know my pace so we can start getting serious about fitness. Alas, I am starting from a pretty low level right now. Thankfully, my knee felt pretty solid today. I did 8-mile-8-mile with 90 seconds rest in 2:26, 5:00, 2:28, 4:57. It wasn't all out but boy it wasn't easy. Wind was pretty strong. Nice to be on the track!

6:56 pace, Falcon Heights / Roseville.

5:57 pace, Gateway to Browns creek trail. It was probably the coldest I've ever run on the trail (15 degrees to start) but was very sunny, and the trees always block the majority of the wind. I did 3x3 minutes on, with rest until the end of the mile, on the way back. Only a few ice patches, most was completely clear. It took a while to kind of clear my gut and get rolling. Recorded miles: 6:18, 6:10, 5:52, 6:01, 6:34 (not a mile), 5:47, 5:51, 5:45, 5:53, 5:59, 5:39, 6:30 (not a mile), 5:48, 6:11, 6:03, 6:05. My knee started hurting a bit at the very end. Considering how long I ran and how previous LRs have gone, I feel very good about that. 

6:53 pace, Como classic for my last swim lessons run. Felt slow to start out, then loosened up later. 

6:56 pace, I hit up east river flats again before the snow came. It was an overcast day outside but the air was also kind of bad. It's been not the best for a while now. I'm hoping things will get a lot cleaner with the spring air. This winter I've often felt a lump in my throat after running.

Apparently it has snowed nearly 10 inches since last night. But the busses were grounded this morning so I worked from home, and the last thing I wanted to do was run at the gym, where I would still be inside, at my apartment complex, plugged into a device. So I ran outside which was really enjoyable. Apparently it was 6:39 pace. I did about 10 minutes hard in 4 segments coming home. 

Apparently 6:39 pace in New Orleans. I enjoyed this more than my runs in Chicago which isn't saying much. Smelled lots of pot. I actually got lost once because there wasn't a street sign where I needed one. I asked a guy on a horse-drawn carriage where Dauphine street was and here very eagerly corrected my pronunciation to "Daw-pheen". Oh well. Definitely an interesting climate though. Some of the trees are what I've seen in pictures but never in real life, it was kind of cool. Also, the French culture and architecture is cool. 

About 6:03 pace to Audobon park and then the river parkway. It'll take a while to forget the smell of this city. Knee wasn't great today.

Apparently 6:46 pace. Very warm outside but it didn't bother me. I also felt fine despite having done my LR yesterday. Ran to the city park again. 

7:07 pace, loosely. It was a good day to take my kids on their first stroller run of the year. We went to Como park so they could play. It was really nice out, over 60 degrees. The worst part was the huge puddles everywhere from the snow. These wouldn't have bothered me too much, but the wheels going through them splashed up a ton of mud onto the stroller and stuff. Pushing the stroller felt hard today, either because I'm out of practice or because the kids have grown. 

6:39 pace on East River road. So I certainly wasn't going slow but I felt slow getting passed  by another runner for the second time in a week, when usually that happens once a year or so. I was quite surprised when it happened in New Orleans of all places. 

Workout today. It was nice and sunny out and not very windy. I think someone threw something at me from their car but other than that, a great day for a workout. I repeated a stadium workout I have previously done with 1k on, 1k float. I did the same route and as I recall, hit about the same times, which is a good sign. But I did check and the route is only 0.97 kilometers. 3:25, 3:02, 3:22, 3:00, 3:24, 2:59.

6:44 pace on a warm, windy day. Met up with my family who were on a walk at Como lake. 

7 flat pace, east river flats. I felt tired running this morning after having run last night. 

5:55 pace, ran to Lino Lakes. This was another very long point to point run, and I met my family at the end of it at our friends' house for brunch. Knee hurt a bit which was what I expected. It was interesting to see some new parts of the metro. I'm amazed how big that wide-open army area is in Arden Hills. 

6:52 pace, farmers fields. I was surprised that the trail was still muddy.

6:47 pace, Boom island. 

West river north. The mill ruins area was open again. 

Workout. 2 mile tempo, (nearly) full recovery, then 4 by 800 with equal recovery. Sure there was wind and some physical issues, but I felt tired. I'm out of shape and need to get back into it quickly. I'm grateful I can run hard at all. 10:27, 2:29, 2:26, 2:29, 2:24. The two mile was a little long and the 800s were half miles. 

6:55 pace on Como classic in the morning. 

Very approximately 6:14 pace. That varied a lot. I went out controlled on the way out. Right after my workout, my hands started hurting really bad. It was 18 degrees when I started but sunny, not very windy, and getting warmer. So given that I was going on a fast run, I thought I would be fine in my light gloves. Apparently not. By the time I warmed up my hands in fists, my knee wasn't feeling great and so I definitely coasted home from the far side of the University. The workout was 5-4-3-2-1 with rest equal to the next rep. I felt much smoother today compared to Thursday. It looks like I averaged 5:55 pace for those 25 minutes, 10 of which were easy. Hard to say what pace I was going on the hard parts. 

6:48 pace, east river flats. Knee was not feeling good today.

6:41 pace, farmers fields. Knee hurt again but maybe not as much as yesterday. I think I can say my easy day pace is a product of five things: A) fitness (which probably doesn't play a major role when I am generally in shape); B) fatigue (which again probably affects me on a relatively low percent of runs); C) time of day, where afternoons are faster than mornings; D) environmental factors such as rain and wind; D) weather, where warm weather leads to faster speeds. 

I wasn't going to work out today but I saw the track was empty and decided I'd rather work out this afternoon than tomorrow morning. I did a workout that I thought would do me good- 4x4x400, with 2 minutes between sets and ~20 second jog to the start line of lane 9 (or the finish line when I reversed direction) between reps. I ran (72, 74, 73, 73), (71, 72, 72, 72), (71, 71, 70, 71), and (69, 69, 69, 66). Lane 9 is so far out that you basically end at the inflection point of the track, so with the wind, it made it much easier to go one direction than another. Still slow times but this is what I need to do. Update: I compared this to what I did last year. I had more rest and did less reps this time but did run faster. 

6:48 pace, Como classic. Surprisingly fast and pain free the day after my workout. Being good about my exercises may have helped. 

East river flats with the jogging stroller. That was really really hard. Yikes.

6:11 pace on a new combination of routes- first to Como park, then up to Resevoir woods. On the way back I did a three mile tempo at 5:13 pace. 

6:47 pace, east river flats. It was cool out but the air was clean which made running enjoyable. 

Update: I think this was on east river road. I'm not sure how I calculated that pace or messed that up but it is what it is. 

I decided to do Diagonal on a windy day. Don't have pace. 

Once again, I had planned to not work out today, but was proud of myself for doing so upon seeing that the ground was mostly wet, not icy, and that the wind tomorrow morning would be just as bad. It actually turned out that the wind was relatively mild. I was also proud of myself for sticking with exactly 1 minute of rest between each rep, despite difficulties. I ran 6 by k in 3:03, 3:04, 3:04, 3:03, 3:04, 3:01. Like I said, the wind wasn't too bad but it was very wet and slippery. 

6:51 pace, Como classic partially rain route. I could be wrong about that. Felt very groggy to start out with. 

6:47 pace, Boom island. I saw a much bigger flock of runners than I am used to seeing on a Friday morning. 

6:05 pace, East river. I did another 54321 workout on the way back. Wind was 10-15 mph blowing south so that made the way back a lot slower, I averaged 5:58s on the way out. Knee hurt again. 

6:45 pace, Como Classic. 

Wow, 6:31 pace on Farmers fields. That is either a record or close to one. It was a really nice early spring afternoon. I stopped to talk to my friend and his kids at Falcon Heights park. 

I did my 2 by campus loop again, with 3:30 rest. I ran 12:25 and 12:24 (a little over 5 minute pace). This was dissapointing as I ran faster last year on the second rep. The first rep, I had to stop several times. I also felt really smooth. the second rep, I didn't have to stop at all, but it didn't feel quite as easy. 

6:37 pace, east rice road. Knee didn't feel good. 

Early morning run north in Roseville. My knee hurt worse than it has in months. Very frustrating. 

On a positive note, I got really close to a bald eagle. That was cool. 

5:55 pace on the Gateway. My knee hurt and I had absolutely no pop in my legs for my mile on, mile off workout. But this is always a fun route to do. I was shocked to be passed by a small vehicle that was either unmanned or had a person inside of it completely covered. 

Mile splits: 6:30, 6:23, 6:08, 6:15, 6:10, 6:16, 5:44, 5:16, 5:58, 5:15, 6:08, 5:20, 5:59, 5:08.

6:41 pace, St Anthony parkway. Supposedly winds of close to 20 mph but it didn't feel that bad on the way out. The whole way home it was at my back. 

Supposedly I ran far and fast, although that could have been a miscalculation. This run was in Maple Grove after an appt. Tbh I probably would have enjoyed a run in Minneapolis better. I was mostly running right along a major commerical road. I kind of got Leesburg vibes in some areas where it felt like a parkway that was too busy with suburban traffic. I spent the last part of the run at Elm Creek park, and by total coincidence, found myself in the same area that I went skiing a couple of months ago. It looked a lot different now but a bit of snow was still left. 

I did a Michigan "junior" workout in the afternoon. The splits will tell you almost the whole story: 2:17, 2:24, 2:22 for the track 800s, and 5:08, 5:06, 5:03 for the miles around the athletic complex. Rest was a minimum of 40 seconds but I fought hard to keep it under 60 seconds. The wind was quite strong- apparently 13.9 mph average on the day, I would perceive it as a 4 out of 5. Also, I felt very tired. Last year when I did this, I remember getting chest pain from straining my cv system during a 4:38 opening mile. There was some of that too but mostly I was slowed down by leg fatigue. That is good news as it may mean my aerobic fitness is ok. Still though, this is the second workout in a row I've identified this feeling, so I'm not sure what is up. Do I just need to get more sleep? I have to say, workouts are hard but they also make you feel good afterward. However, some of that good feeling comes not purely because I did something hard, but because I did something hard and I did a good job of it. I hope as I grow older I can readjust my expectations so that I can still be excited about what will be a "good" workout for my situation, rather than be constantly dissapointed that I am running slower than in previous years. 

6:48 pace in the rain, Como classic. Felt tired.

Nice morning run after the rain yesterday. Spring is starting to spring. 6:54 average on Boom island after a slow start. 

6:17 pace, mostly chill at Resevoir woods. Ran roughly a half mile uphill and into the wind in 2:20 on the way back. 

6:38 pace, farmers fields. Beautiful afternoon. 

Nice warm overcast morning. Ran a campus loop, then did a little pre-race workout responsive to how I felt. I did 400, 800, 600 in 69, 2:18, 1:43, with up to 80 seconds rest. 

Another bad night of sleep. Darn it. West river road (from Franklin, although I suppose I could have taken the M bridge too)

8 miles on west river from the M bridge. 

Pre-race run and strides. Then I helped with a move so hopefully I can be recharged by tomorrow. 

I got 2nd place at Get in Gear! In other news, the sky is blue haha (this is my third year in a row getting 2nd). Splits were 4:56, 4:58, 5:04, 5:03, 4:58, 5:53 (1.2). This year it was sunny out which is like not ok for Get in Gear lol. Although I ran a good bit faster than last year and significantly slower than the year prior, each year my splits have been very even. It has helped to follow someone consistent each year. This year, a very brave runner who clearly belonged nowhere near the front went out in front for a good quarter mile. I was in third for a bit after that, but I soon passed that person and perceived a gap opening up a lot quicker than I expected behind me. After I made it over the St Thomas hill, I felt pretty good and it appears I was able to speed up a bit. Then either due to speeding up or just fatigue, I really started to feel it coming over the last bridge back. But today my mental game was royally bad. For like the last 3-4 miles of that race, my mind was mostly concentrated on not getting passed by the person in third. I barely gave any thought to the possibility of passing the runner in first. This is especially crazy given that I was only 4 seconds off of the win, and 33 seconds ahead of third place! Obviously had I offered more of a challenge to the winner, he might have responded. But still, I'd like to have the mojo to spend more time "looking forward" rather than behind me in races. 

6:57 pace (faster on the way back), Como classic. Ran in the morning before the storm plowed in. 

6:44 pace, nice sunny day on east river flats. Knee hurt. 

Boom island. Didn't get my pace.

6:45 pace, farmers fields. Nice day out but I felt tired and not good.

UPDATE:

Unfortunately in this changing world we live in, I am deciding to now track "smoke days" that occur during the summer (hopefully just the summer!) I will plan to start the log on May 1 of each year:

Mask days:

1 (as of 7/30)

Treadmill days:

4 (as of 7/30)

6/3, 7/31, 8/1, 8/2

FYI, mask days are usually those with AQI>100. Treadmill days definitely include those with AQI>150 and potentially lower concentrations too. 

6:40 pace, East River road. 

Just a hair over 6 flat pace. I ultimately decided to run to Theodore Wirth today. The rationale was that my knee has been bad all week and river road is best for runs where you are doing a workout or trying to roll really fast. My knee started hurting within the first couple minutes, although it actually went away at the end. The hills of Wirth park are a unique stimulus for a runner here in flat Minnesota.  

6:44 pace, Como lake loop. Knee didn't feel great, which was too bad, because it was a beautiful day outside. 

6:52 pace, west river road. My normal route to do west river (via bridge 9) is currently closed, but I decided I don't mind going via the M bridge. During the mornings campus is pretty quiet and I get to run further on WRR. It also changed things up from dinkytown greenway. 

6:56 pace, east river flats. If my knee doesn't feel better soon I should go see a doc. 

Today was probably my most enjoyable run in a while. Despite doing a workout, my knee felt pretty good, and I was able to enjoy a sunny spring afternoon running around St Paul campus, which is already pretty quiet. I decided to do a 10-5-3-1 workout (5-3-1 rest) after I realized that 10-5-4-3-2-1 is actually a pretty high mileage workout by my current standards, even though it doesn't sound like it would be. I did it on a loop that included the fairgrounds, St Paul campus, and Como avenue. I only tracked pace for the 10 minute rep, which was bang on 5 flat pace. 

6:53 pace, east river road. Knee felt pretty good again. 

5:53 average, Gateway trail. For some reason I forgot that the full route was 19 miles. Today was one of those days where you just had to be outside enjoying Minnesota so right after I came home we went biking, and then went to an outdoor party after that. I'm tired! Knee felt solid. Splits: 4:13, 6:23, 6:15, 5:56, 6:00, 5:59, 5:54, 5:54, 5:52, 4:11, 4:10, 5:42, 5:39, 5:51, 5:52, 5:45, 5:56, 5:52, 5:50, 3:50. 

7:07ish pace, west river road, knee felt solid. I need to do a better job testing MapMyRun. It often takes bounces around in a way that adds to your mileage when you let it "follow roads" automatically. I'd like to quantify the effect of that, which may result in less mileage than I think I am getting. 

6:48 pace on the way back. I had an appt in Roseville this morning right by Langton lake so I decided to run afterward to the lake Johanna area. I found a path at Tony Schmidt that was soft surface and well-maintained with woodchips. My knee felt a little worse, not better, which was the one downside, but other than that it was a great run, basically in nature the whole time. 

6:53 pace, Como classic. Knee felt ok.

4 by mile on east river road with 90 seconds rest, looks like it was just over 5 minute pace on the hard. 

This was my second run in a really nice green space this week, as I ran all over Theodore Wirth park (there are lots of side trails!) It was somewhat stressful as I had my girls and the wind was 15 mph when we left and 22 mph when we got there. My daughter said it was winter again. Thankfully, between playing at the park and visiting the butterfly garden, everyone was ok and I was able to put in a whole 65 minutes. 

I ran 32 minutes, stopped in at the house, and then ran 32 minutes again. Long story.

6:47 pace, east river flats. 

Ran to Target to meet my family. 

6:45 pace, east river flats again. I went there because the rain was coming down pretty hard initially. I actually didn't feel that cold somehow. 

I was going to work out on the roads, but knew that I would work harder if I was on the track. I ran 5 by 1600 w/ 2 minutes rest, except after rep 3 when I took 5 minutes because of a pit stop. It's nice to work out on a cool May afternoon, but there are reasons why it'll be nice to focus on morning workouts in the future. I ran 4:57, 4:57, 4:56, 4:55, 4:51. 

6:44 pace, farmers fields. Felt sort of tight and not great. 

Ran from Jamaca ave on to the Gateway and then home. According to MMR it was 5:55 pace, although my mile splits were just under 6 on the Gateway, and I thought I was slower after that. On the one hand, I was thinking during the run that we live in the coolest place ever, as it was an awesome, awesome route to take on a quiet Saturday. This was dampened a bit by feelings of hitting the wall that got stronger at the end. Maybe it was because I didn't start until 9:00 after the race. Also, I came home and had lost a lot of weight. Even though I had shade and the temp was only in the 50s, I felt like I sweat a fair amount. But I was definitely burnt by the end.  

6:42 pace, east river road. Happy memorial day.

6:24 pace apparently? Seems very quick, but we were going fast. Took my family on both sides of river road (turned around at lake street) for a bike/stroller run. 

Felt slow and tired on Como Classic, 7:03 pace. Was very humid outside but only a little above 50 degrees so it wasn't too noticeable. 

Yesterday I was at a track meet, thinking how much I would love to race. But, fun things like that don't come for free. You have to put in the work. I am in a racing drought this summer, so I thought about maybe doing a short-distance time trial before my trip. Today, I decided to get towards that by running 16-12-8-4, and after full recovery, to do 4x400 in lane 7 to add some volume. To accustom my feet to racing shoes, I decided to wear flats during that part. I decided to be responsible and put on sunscreen before this afternoon run with not shade in 70 degrees. Turns out as I got to the track, some menacing clouds started to get closer. Ahh, the classic, apparently unpredictable summer storms. Another reason to work out in the morning (when they are less frequent). The wind became very strong as the sun was covered and the storm became closer. I saw some lightning and thought my workout was toast. I felt a tiny bit of rain, and then by the 800 rep...it passed. Missed where I was by not too far. So I was able to finish the workout, which was nice, even though it didn't go very well. 4 minutes rest between everything, including the 400 and the 4x4. I ran 4:49, 3:36, 2:16, 63, followed by (68, 68, 68, 66) w/ ~23 seconds jogging recovery. Flats felt fine. 

7:03 pace, which is very slow for Farmers fields. I had a very bad charlie horse in my calf sometime last night. Then I was also just feeling tired from the workout and who knows what else. 

6:17 pace, Resevoir Woods and around McCarrons lake. Felt kind of beat up so I decided to do this route where I tend to go slower. The bright side was that although the sky was hazy, the smoke that is supposed to move in hadn't come as of this morning which was nice. 

6:56 pace, east river flats

Air was really bad today so I had the unfortunate task of running on the treadmill. Bummer but at least I can run at all. 

Nice to be out of the smoke! 6:50 pace, Como Classic.

2 mile tempo, followed by 4x800 on the track, wearing flats for the second two reps. I ran 10:03 (adjusted to 10:12 for distance), then 2:18, 2:17, 2:16, 2:12. Tempo run felt pretty good, although the construction around the stadium was awful. Then I was pleased to hit 67 I think on the bellweather first lap of the first 800, and went from there. 6 minutes between tempo and 800s, and 2:30 rest between those except 3 minutes when changing shoes. Definitely felt good to be running quicker again! 

6:56 pace, west river road. 

6:15 pace, west river road. Wanted to keep in under control as I will be working out on Monday.

Great day for a run! Overcast and super clean air, smoke all gone. It was decently windy, but like...I was running 400s. Fast 400s, but they were over in a minute. 8x400 w/ 90 seconds rest, except ~3 minutes after the third rep when I switched into my flats. I ran (64, 65, 64, 64, 63, 63, 63, 62). I thought I had at least a 61 in me on that last rep, but oh well. Still a fun way of shaking up the norm. 

Late afternoon run along the riverway in Boston. I made a couple of wrong turns; they weren't my fault though. 

Emerald necklace. This was the most fun I've had on a run at a conference. It is a really cool area with lots of green, streams, and a lake that I did a loop around at the end. It was hard to track mileage because there are  multiple trails you can take through it. 

Ran along Charles River. I had planned to stay on the south side but the north side seemed quieter so I switched to that instead. 

Emerald necklace on a cloudy, cool day. After 4 runs, goodbye Boston!

Even though there has been smoke this summer from Canada wildfires, it still feels like Spring here. I actually tied my shoes early on in my run because I was worried my hands would go numb later (they didn't). It was misting all morning and a great day to run to Tony Schmidt park. 6:18 pace apparently. Felt faster than that, although there are some slow sections. 

6:56 pace, Boom island. I took my shirt off after 10 minutes. Today was the first really humid day we've had this year. 

Had a surprisingly good workout. I ran 2x(8,4,2,2) with the goal of having the bulk of the work be in the 8s (which I would try to hit mile race pace for), with the other reps increasing volume but not being the focus of the effort. It was nice out compared to recent track workouts; humid but not windy, and the track was dry. During my 4-mile warmup, I felt like I wasn't really "waking up". However, that apparently wasn't an issue as I ran the first lap in 62. I went on to go (2:09, 63, 30, 30) and (2:06, 63, 30, 30). I went out in 60(!) on the second 800. Flats for the first set, spikes for the second. Despite that advantage, I still think it's cool to have run my fastest 800 in a workout ever. Rest was sporadic, from less than 2 minutes to 3 minutes, with nearly 6 between sets due to the work of changing into spikes. 

Ran at St Croix state park. Unsurprisingly, it was very beautiful. At the beginning it was super buggy unfortunately. Some clouds had rolled in which made it a little shady. But then the clouds got closer and became more ominous. The rain started and slowly ramped up until it was like an 8.5 out of 10 in intensity. Then it tapered off as I finished. Came back with sand all up my legs.

In the morning, another storm blew in when I woke up. Eventually it subsided, but the ground was really muddy, so I waited until I got home to run 6:47 pace on east river flats. Hot but shade from trees and some clouds helped. Wore my old shoes because mine were still soaked. 

Two things about today's workout were frustrating. First, I got kicked off the track. They are having a Special Olympics meet here and apparently with the liability insurance I can't be there even a couple hours early. Boo. Second, I began my reps at the 300 meter mark, or at least I thought I did. There are two lines, and I realized part way through that I may have been going to the wrong mark. Worst case scenario, I ran ~10 meters short. My times were 62, 45, 31, 60, 47, 61, and then 2 "200s" outside the track. 1 minute rest between reps, 2 minutes between sets. The last 61 was a 400 instead of a 200 because the person gave me one last rep. So in terms of volume, I just missed a 300. It could've been a blessing in disguise because my achilles tendon felt a little sore and I was going to wear spikes on my last set. 

6:26 pace, Como park and then to another park. For the second day in a row, I got told off for running somewhere, as the car show overran the fairgrounds. Had a few drops of rain that helped on the way out. It was 85 and very humid by the time I got home. Tbh felt pretty tired today, and the heat didn't help. 

I ran pretty darn slow this morning. I think Mondays tend to run slower these days. It was hot and humid but overcast and felt just fine compared to the past couple days. Strides. 

Before doing this time trial, I read blog posts for two of the more recent miles I have run (the most "recent" mile I ran of course was over 3 years ago). In both Indianola and Provo, I had recorded that the race was over faster than I thought and I may have been too conservative. That ended up being a good thing to think about, because once again, this race went by quickly. It was cool enough, but it was windier than I had hoped. Given the direction of the wind, I realized I could make things a good deal easier on myself by running a 1500 instead of mile. So that's what I did. There were a few people at the track, but I ended up doing this race alone. I wonder how much that affected my performance at this distance. With the way my workouts have gone recently, my splits didn't surprise me. I went out in 60. Then I sort of coasted along and tried to push the last bit. Hit 800 in 2:05. Then I had 3:10 at 1200. Final time was 3:58.73. Lungs felt torched after. My conservative goal was sub 4:20 (modified to sub-4 for 1500), and I had hoped for maybe sub 4:15 on a great day. So this is about what I could've expected. That is on pace for a mile in 4:16.1. I don't know what the official conversion is but I would convert it to about 4:17 low. NCAA converts it to 4:17.8. 

Since I was racing the following day. I ran on the treadmill just short and slow. Then I did some strides with my daughter. 

Time trial part 2: it was what it was. Just over ten years ago, I came to the NMHS track to time trial an 800 and 400 before my mission. In light of my time on Tuesday, I made a secondary goal to run faster than I did then (1:58.53). Main goal was sub-2. Things have changed in the past 10 years. They keep the back door locked and had lots of threats about trespassing. Thankfully, I noticed some people arriving on the field for soccer practice, and when I went through the main entrance, all seemed fine, although due to recent experiences I was on high alert to be kicked out. I was sad to see the track wasn't in great condition. Anyway, I went out in 58. That was faster than I had the last time I did this, but I knew I was pushing it and every second would count. So I gave what I had. I lost no more than a quarter second moving lanes becuase a soccer player wasn't looking where they were going. Hit the line in 2:00.92. This was quite dissapointing. On the other hand, I have only run a handful of 200s, and none of them (or anything else I have done) has been at sub 2 pace this year (or in recent years, tbh). So I'm not sure quite what to blame the performance on- fatigue from a 12-hour travel day yesterday, a little extra weight, lack of speed work, or just getting older (often the shorter the distance, the earlier the athletes peak). But, ultimately I need to recognize that placing high in races or winning prize money isn't really why I run. The main reason why I train for things is because it motivates me to keep running, and by continuing to run, I stay healthy. And you don't need to be a sub-2 guy at 28 years old to enjoy the health benefits of running. 

Back to longer distances!

I must have miscalculated the Aerial heights / Oregon hills route. I got 10.12 miles, which would be 6:50 pace. Still, I know I did run 0.8 more than that route normally is because I did an extra loop around the park in both directions. Oregon has a great smell to it during the summer. Nice outside. Update: 9.82 miles. 

Had a really good time running Coal mine with my brother who I haven't seen in 2 years. Even though he is getting back into shape from his mission, some things never change, as he got off to a faster start than I would have. Still, we were at over 7 minute pace when we hit Juanipero. From there I split off and started moving quicker on the Bear Creek greenway. Averaged 6:19 pace overall, including 6:08s on the way back.

Run in Langley, BC. Nice place.

Another run in Langley. Went along a power lines trail, on bridges over streams, through thickly wooded areas, up and down hills, and through a cool garden. Happy Canada day eh.

I had just finished an 11-mile hike so I decided to keep it chill. I hadn't felt the altitude much on the hike but did on the run. Plus I was just very tired. Ran around some trails in Manning park.

Felt somewhat tired again today, which was too bad because today's run was really great. It was chilly out (41 degrees when I left) but I was fine. I essentially ran a loop around beautiful lightning Lake, finishing on rainbow bridge. 

Ran to the beach of Victoria, BC. I was going to then run to a lighthouse, but ended up spending a long time running all sorts of loops on trails around Beacon hill park.

6:00 flat pace, including 5:48 pace on the way back. What a great cap to an excellent week of running. I made a mistake and turned onto the wrong trail after starting out on the galloping goose trail. It ended up being a beautiful trail going through nature and quiet neighborhoods. 

7:05 pace. A slow Monday morning on the Hillcrest route. 

6:50 pace, Coal mine. 

Run in the Redwoods!

Run in the Redwoods. Trillium Falls. 

6:55 pace via Foothill road. Tired.

Last run of the trip and hopefully last run with these shoes. Not a great day to travel, because my plantar fasciaa are swelling up. I ran with my brother on a trail up in the mountains. 

6:58 pace, Como classic except a slight detour since one of the fairgrounds gates was closed. For the first time this year, smoke was bad enough to warrant a mask but not bad enough to need to run inside. 

6:48 pace, Diagonal to St A parkway. Not sure why I don't do that specific route more often. As durable as I feel like the triumphs are, it was really nice to have on a new pair today. Toasty outside but doable. 

Yikes. I did a 6 mile progressive tempo run from the M bridge along WRR to Lake street. At the time I thought I had run 5:20 pace overall although it looks like it was actually 5:23 pace. The rain was coming decently hard but no wind. Just slow. I felt like I couldn't get my legs moving at all. I think it has just been a while since I've done any distance-oriented workouts, and I have a lot of work to do to get in marathon shape! 

Always fun to run in the rain though. 

Surprisingly fast 6:36 pace, especially becuase I started pretty slow. East river road. Very cold morning by July standards, this is probably as close as I remember it getting to being in the 40s. Unfortunately, plantar fasciaa hurt the whole time. Need to take care of that. 

6:38 pace, farmer's fields. 

I've turned my attention to a possible fall marathon, and recognized that prior to today, I had run just 2 LRs of 18 miles or more this year, compared to about 8 by this point last year. I knew this needed to change, and am proud of the 19.86 miles I ran, especially given the circumstances. It was only 68 degrees when I left but there were literally like clouds from the humidity. Well before the halfway point, my shirt was saturated with sweat. Not too far after halfway, my shoes were saturated with sweat. I stopped for water at least 5 times, and still, I weighed myself before and immediately after, and had lost 6 pounds!! A gallon is a little over 8 pounds of water. Thankfully at least it was overcast the whole time. I had planned to do a little tempo on the way back but just felt gross (knee and plantar pain on top of that) and just coasted home. 5:54 pace overall. That's about what I did a couple years ago on my 23 miler which was longer, but with the weather and the slower course I ran today, I'd say it's a wash. I took the Raymond ave way to ERR which allowed me to go down at Hidden Falls and make it past the parking lot at Crosby Farm. Since my 23 miler had me running along ERR the whole way until Crosby, there was one area I don't think I had ever been to today, and some more trail I had only done on a bike ride last fall. 

Just under 7 minute pace. This was my first time going west on Dinkytown greenway in about a month, surprisingly. 

6:58 pace, Como classic. Overcast and quiet day and humid enough to get soaked. 

6:49 pace. Absolutely drenched in sweat. On the bright side, I was thrilled to go on the recently reopened stone arch bridge! Actually, I kind of like that variation of my west river north route. I pushed one of my kids in the stroller and realized that the reason it has been harder recently has to do with the two of them together weighing a lot. This time, this one was pretty chill so we didn't need to stop much.  

Well, you can't always ask for perfect weather. It was only like 70 degrees again this morning and yes, it was very humid, but I'm surprised at how soaked I've gotten. It's really gross. I took a cold shower for the third day in a row and can feel my body emenating heat after my runs. I also think it affects my performance once I lose enough water. 

Today I tried a unique workout. I used the dirt track for the first time. It was ok, not the best but at least doable. It's also right by the highway which I don't like. I thought I would try to get in lots of volume and expose myself to a few stimuli. So after a short warm up, I started with a tempo mile, winding my way up and down hills through the St Anthony neighborhood. Then I jogged downhill about 0.3 miles to the dirt track, where I ran an 800. Next, I ran "uptempo" up the Hendon hill until it is mostly level when it crosses Fulham. Immediately thereafter, I would start another tempo mile. I did this circuit 4 times. Tempo miles were in 5:19, 5:08, 5:04, 5:13. 800s were in 2:25, 2:25, 2:26, 2:25. Felt tired and gross, hoping to be able to build my confidence at some point. This was probably a good workout though. 

We evaded the smoke through last night but it was bad this morning. Treadmill run, which interestingly was not as bad in terms of heat/sweat as my runs the past few days have been. Plantar fasciaa were fine during the workout yesterday but bad today. 

Once again, I felt the need to go long or go home. And once again, it was a furnace outside. Dew point was I think 70 when I left. It stayed there as the temp increased on a sunny day on the Gateway. I was dripping with sweat after just a mile or two and honestly not enjoying it as much as I wish I had. Lots of people on the trail today. Three people complimented my pace (not that I care). Someone gave me a banana and someone else offered to pour cold water on my head at the turnaround (which I wish I had said yes to). On the way back, I just tried to get home in one piece, and while it hurt, the splits show that the wheels never really fell off. But I did stop sweating as much, for one reason or another which was nice. Splits: 4:17, 6:18, 6:09, 5:57, 5:57, 5:57, 5:54, 5:52, 5:51, 4:03, 4:17, 5:49, 5:51, 5:58, 5:54, 5:51, 5:58, 5:56, 5:57, 3:40. Overall, 5:55 pace. I had a string of 8 straight miles which were as fast or faster than the previous one, totally unintentionally. Glad the smoke is gone!

6:58 pace, quiet day on Como classic. It was like 70 degrees but felt so nice compared to previous days. 

Smoke is supposed to come in again so I thought we might as well get out while we can. I did the same route as last week through Stone Arch bridge to west river north, but this time the whole family came. 

Forecast is calling for smoke for the next several days, so I was grateful that this morning the air was still clean enough to do a workout. I ran a route similar to something I have already done this year. I started at the intersection of Buford and Gortner, then ran through the fairgrounds (using them while I can!) and popped out on Como, running to the intersection with Cleveland. It was maybe 5 seconds short of 2 miles I think. I ran 10:21, 10:10, and 9:52, with <2:30 rest in between. Reps 1 and 3 were more downhill. I think today was evidence of the importance of warming up. You shouldn't drop 30 seconds off a 2 mile rep. Clearly, I wasn't ready to go yet that first rep. It's fine because I was trying to get more workout volume, but for a race you wouldn't want to do that. 

Day 1 of smoke

Smoke day 2

Smoke day 3. I feel better about doing this short long run after having done a couple of longer ones that past couple weeks. I ran for a total of 99 minutes, probably averaging 6 minute pace according to the treadmill for ~90 minutes of that. But I just don't feel the same way I do after an LR or even an MLR, so I'm skeptical of assuming higher mileage. Looking forward to running outside again for a lot of reasons. 

Around Como classic. I forgot that the fairgrounds closed beginning today. 

I was very glad to see the air had gotten a little better so I could do my workout today. I did something today that I have enjoyed doing before, which is doing some sort of interval over a planned route, but not the exact same one. For example, you could do mile repeats on the track and each rep would be identical. This time, I did a 1K route north on Cleveland starting at Larpenteur, then came back, then ran 1K south, then came back. So it felt like there were 4 unique paths I took on each rep, which made it much easier to stomach doing 10 of them than if they were say, all on the track. Another example of a time I did this would be my Ks on Juanipero in Medford. 10xK w/ 60 seconds rest except due to necessity after rep 5 (<4 minutes). Distances were likely 1-3 seconds short. 3:07, 3:04, 3:05, 3:04, 3:05, 3:01, 3:02, 3:04, 3:03, 3:01. 

Shoe thoughts: I am developing a lot of brand loyalty towards Saucony. However, I have gotten a little banged up while wearing my Triumphs (not necessarily cause and effect) and was ready to try something new...or old, as the Ride 10s were all-time favorites. As billed, the Ride 17s are a less cushy ride than the Triumphs. We will see how that turns out for my feet/knees. As I read somewhere though, I definitely can feel myself letting my feet down more lightly than I would otherwise, in part because of the loud slapping noise they make when you don't. So, I'm not blown away by them yet but feel like Saucony is doing its good Saucony stuff. 

6:58 pace. Enjoyed a nice overcast morning on east river flats. Not sure I love the firmness of the Rides. 

6:47 pace, west river north via stone arch. I surprised myself by doing this again, I guess I am getting caught up after both bridges were closed for months. Felt some knee pain in the patellar area. Remains to be seen whether that happened to co-occur with using the Rides or was caused by them. 

6:40 pace, steamy morning on east river road. Body felt a little better. 

Well, either I'm out of shape, or the humidity just does me in. We had a big storm roll through this morning that woke me up. It was 74 w/ 71 dewpoint when I left for my run. Initially felt fine, nice and cloudy and quiet out. But when I started by 10 mile tempo, I felt the heat, and ended up with squishy shoes. I ran 5:24ish pace overall, including just a hair slower on the way back, despite ending on a downhill (I started and finished at east river flats, and turned around at Minnehaha park). This was a good workout to do, especially without having done a 1/2 this year. 

Como classic, modified route for fair season. Very happy to wake up to decent air. It was humid but actually really nice outside. 

I made a gamble and it worked. The AQI was in the 120s this morning but it was supposed to get better, so I biked to work at 7 am with my running clothes. By the afternoon, the air was clean and I went on a run on west river. Thankfully, it wasn't too hot or humid and so it wasn't bad in that way. I guess I would say the one thing was it felt like it took more energy than a morning run. I don't rememebr really feeling that way this past winter, so maybe it's just a matter of getting used to it. The other thing is I took literally every possible side path, but river road definitely gets a lot busier with traffic in the afternoon. It's amazing how much quieter it is around 7 in the morning compared with 4 pm. 

Nice and cool morning compared to previous weeks and little wind. These made for good conditions for a workout. I ran 3 loops around the "block" that surrounds Falcon Heights park, overlapping part of my workout from last week. MapmyRun has updated. I don't like all the updates but it does have some perks, including more accurate mapping by letting you go on some sidewalks, for example. I estimated the distance was around 1.95 miles per loop but it was actually 1.93. I did one of my "float" workouts: on lap 1, I alternated 3 minutes float with 3 minutes hard. Then I did 2:2 on lap 2 and 1:1 on lap 3. I ran 10:19, 10:21, 10:20. I didn't take a break so I always started with easy, and the way that worked out, my first two reps ended up being just 4:20 of "hard", while my third rep was 5:20 of hard. That ended up being 5:21 pace overall. I'm pretty content with that. Hard to know exactly how fast I was going on the hard and float, but my initial goal was 5:30 pace (5:00 and 6:00) so I feel good about this. 

Pretty slow I think. East river road. For the second time this week, I tried to explore an area I commonly pass by, but again it ended with nothing very helpful. Between my foot, hip, patella, and knee- I wonder if it is time to back off from workouts and run easy except for long runs. 

6:47 pace, Diagonal and St. A parkway. 

Wow, this summer has not been easy for Saturday long runs. Over the last five weeks I've dealt with torching heat and humidity, wildfire smoke, and now torrential thunderstorms. Apparently we got like an inch or two over a couple hours this morning. It just wasn't reasonable to go outside and do the LR I wanted. So ultimately I decided to pivot my LR to early next week (hopefully) and run normal today...ended up hitting 6:06 pace on a slow course, because it's the end of the week and also I was trying to get somewhere fast. I basically did my Lake Johanna long run route, then cut west to the church.

Rain appeared to be coming yet again. As I started my run northeast to Resevoir woods, I thought I was escaping it. Even on the way back, it was always light or nonexistant. Kind of dissapointed with 6:16 pace overall, 6:04s on the way back for the effort I put in. I got kind of tired of just "settling in", and ran a good solid tempo on Roselawn, with moderately hard effort in the parks and chill-ish on the way back. Oh well. Time to actually run easy.  

7:03 pace, west river road north. I was slow but wouldn't say I felt overly fatigued due to my run yesterday. 

7:02 pace, east river flats. 

6:57 pace if mapping is correct, but I definitely felt like my body and pace were recovering. 

6:38 pace, Washington DC. Washington monument, Lincoln monument, Kennedy Center, rock creek trail. 

LR in Washington DC, primarily on the Capital Crescent trail. I had debated going on a canal trail instead, but ended up really liking this route. A highlight was a cool tunnel. Also, I hadn't thought to look at elevation change when planning this out. You actually gain 300 feet on the way out, which is nice because I was frustrated about my pace when looking at mile markers but didn't feel like the slope was affecting me too much on the way out (kind of like W&OD), but it sure helped to coast downhill on the way back. Took one of my expired Maurtens, and it went fine. It was 61 degrees this morning which sure felt good. Also, most of the run was shaded by huge trees. I wonder if that helped me to not feel "roasted" by the end of the run. I had a terrible sleep last night and got out late, so it was really nice to get to the end and feel like I could still move to get myself to my class on time. 5:53 pace overall. 6:05 pace on the way out, 5:41s on the way back. Got just a tiny bit lost- turns out there multiple squares and statues of people on horses!

Didn't feel slow, although apparently I ran slow. 7:10 pace, further on Rock creek trail today and I think I crossed paths with a place I ran when I was here in 2018, which was fun. Rolled my ankle which was less fun but didn't seem to hurt too much.

Just about 7 minute pace on Mount Vernon trail. This took me to Virginia, which was the third state/district I have run in on this trip. This summer, my list of states/districts/provinces I have run in includes California, Oregon, British Columbia, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maryland, D.C., and Virginia. You can add Lousiana if you expand to the calendar year. 

6:37 pace, farmer's fields. It was dark when I left before 6 and a bit cold. Felt really sluggish. I did a 5-4-3-2-1 workout, probably pretty slow, to get some faster pace going. 

6:50 pace, boom island. 

6:58 pace, WRR. 

5:51 pace, east river (shortcut route) to Hidden Falls and Crosby Farm. My two-year expired gel left a weird taste in my mouth so I'm glad I have a plan to not use those. Much less sweaty (or at least better wicked) this time compared to the last time I ran this route. It was like foggy outside. Bummer, by the end I was slowing down more due to feeling banged up on my knee and plantar fasciaa than because I was otherwise fatigued. 

6:43 pace, east river road. Beautiful day and perfect weather to be out on a run. Nice and quiet too thanks to the holiday. 

6:55 pace, west river north. 

Campus loops. I had 4:10 rest this time. It was windy. Ran 12:20 and 12:14. That's the fastest I've averaged over the three times I've done this, although all were similar and neither of the previous attempts were expected to be barn burners. 

Today was the last day the fairgrounds will be closed. 6:50 pace on my modified Como classic route, although it felt slower. Felt tired. Wore a long sleeve and gloves!! That sure happened fast. 

6:46 pace, diagonal/St A parkway. Felt good on a nice crisp morning. The air outside was really clean, although I do think this is my most polluted route. 

Great cool fall morning to run on west river road. 18 miles felt really good in comparison to previous weeks. Also, my target was to run "chill pace" on the way out, and then do a 3 mile tempo on the way back, which overall feels easier than "slog it out" pace. I started the tempo after being done with the Winchell trail on the way back, and finished at the top of the hill at the entrance of west campus. 5:11 pace is solid for that route at that point in my run. 5:53 pace overall including most of the detours which I can now map. That is quite good. 5:43 pace on the way back, although I did stop to catch my breath for a minute after the tempo. My new gel tasted interesting but should be fine I think. Good day!

6:56 pace, Como classic. The fairgrounds were still a bit messy but I was able to get through them. 

6:56 pace, east river flats. Felt kind of tired. Overcast today but the cold weather the past few days has thrown me off. The warm air felt very weird. 

It was a humid, foggy day this morning. The air felt kind of stale, so my workout around the cemetery felt kind of gross and polluted from all the traffic. That probably wasn't a great idea. For my workout, I ran hard from the bottom of Ridgeway parkway to the top, ran easy along St Anthony boulevard, then ran hard again to the end of the Diag, before running easy until the loop started again. After two loops, I ran once more up the hill, which mean I did 3 ups (0.78 miles, 100 feet elevation gain) and 2 downs (0.88 miles, 60 foot elevation loss). 4 miles total volume. The rest parts were 5 minutes long at the top and 1 minute at the bottom. I didn't feel great especially going up the hills. Averaged 5:18 pace on the ups and 4:46 on the downs. 

6:48 pace, west river north. Another foggy morning. 

6:49 pace, farmers fields. Didn't realize they were doing construction on falcon heights park until I ran right into it. Looks like some big changes are underway, I hope they preserve the path. 

3 mile warm up along Como ave, then 10 miles at race pace (5:30 goal) along Como to Wheelock parkway and then around McCarrons lake and back. This would permit some good hill running, including the 85-footer on Wheelock. The route I had mapped was closed at one point, but thankfully I was able to estimate the length of short detour I took. I was excited at the turnaround by my pace, which is always nice. It didn't end up being as fast as I thought after mapping it out more accurately. But I still ran 5:18 pace (almost identical times both directions). I would say that is pretty good and shows some solid fitness, especially on that route. Weirdly, I could've had a conversation at the end of that run. It was definitely a different type of fatigue that set in. 

Combination of things led to a very slow day, 7:10 on east river road. 

Still felt tired. 7:03 pace, Como classic. 6:30 AM is getting early to go on the soft surface trail, but I did it. 

7:00 pace, Boom island. Hoping to start having a bit more spring in the step soon. There was a cool thunderstorm that passed by to the east of me this morning while running. 

6:56 pace for everything but the first 0.75 of WRR, estimating 7 flat pace overall then. It was warm enough that I didn't want to wear a shirt, but doing that in conjunction with running across the UMN bridge at 7:30 on a school day made me feel quite uncomfortable. 

6:57 pace, east river flats. Caught just a light rain. It was hot in my room last night compared to previous nights which I think made me warmer on my run given the temperature than I would have been otherwise. Oh well. Still feeling tired. 

Resevoir woods. 6:18 pace, including 6:10s on the way back if my math was correct. Ran 4-3-2-1 along Roselawn on the way back.

6:44 pace returning from east river road (pressed the wrong button on my watching going out). Still not as snappy as I'd like. Saw several people I know today. 

7 flat pace, Como classic. Really fun foggy morning for the run, but still wondering about this slow pace. 

Apparently stil just under 6 minute pace? West river road and strides. 

7:05 pace. Wanted to keep it nice and chill today in Falcon Heights. 

Easy pre-race run and strides

Today I ran a time trial marathon, long story. I did figure that very long races like a marathon, along with the shorter races of 800 meters or less, lose the least in the absence of "race energy", allowing time trial performances to be similar to the real thing. Because I don't have a GPS watch, the decision of where to run was pretty much made for me: Gateway trail, so I could have mile markers. The route actually worked out quite well, I started just after a mile marker near the Rotary park, and ended at the end of the bike line at Norell and 120th. It was warmer than you might expect with a low above 60 degrees, although once I got into the woods it felt significantly cooler. I planned a "gun time' of 6:30 to optimize cool temps and light. I wore my old green Next%s. 

The race: My plan had been to try to run 5:30 pace, for about 2:24. My PR was 2:27:20, but I thought this would be an easier course (MapMyRun shows I did about 600 feet elevation gain, vs. >1000 in my first 2 marathons), and I hoped I had done a better job carb loading than before. My first "almost mile" was 5:30, which was a bad sign. I sped up a bit and next ran a 5:38. Then I sped up again and ran 5:31. This did not boost my confidence. At a couple points, I considered turning around and giving up. I decided I should push through for my pride, even if I had to hobble back at 6 minute pace. I was just concerned because early miles at let's say 5:20 pace had felt so easy in previous marathons. I think this may have been due to the race adrenaline perhaps, but I wasn't sure early on. I stopped for water four times, trying to limit it to 15 seconds each time. I am still not quite sure if I took 6 gels or 7. I could've sworn I made it through seven, but I had one leftover at the end. I could really feel how drinking water after taking a gel helped it digest instead of sitting in my stomach making me sick. I remember feeling kind of sick at mile 14, but knew there was water coming up and that taking a gel now was an investment for later in the race, so I'm proud I did. It was kind of windy today, but the Gateway trail is pretty covered, so I only felt it once I got to the end and had to battle. After running the last couple miles without markers seemingly pretty slow, I was optimistic to see I did my first half in 72:23. I have learned that in marathons, at least for me, you don't just gradually feel worse and worse. Instead, things ebb and flow. Sometimes I felt more sick, other times I felt good. At some points I felt almost burst of energy as perhaps my body was processing the carbs and giving permission for me to run fast. I started out pretty quick on the way back, and was able to hold it together going up the hills of miles 17-19ish. I knew once I got to 20, it would be mostly downhill. And then what happened is that I was able to hold it together. The back miles were nothing compared to my last two marathons. If I had to run 4 extra miles at the end, I would've done way better today. I felt inner thigh cramping like twice at the very end. And no bonking. So that makes me feel like I did a good job with carb loading. Still- I know I'm not nearly as competitive at this distance as I was at shorter distances. In fairness, it's not like I can run a sub-14 5K off my current training, either. But ultimately today felt like a longer, harder long run. I feel like I'm missing a piece. We'll see if I ever figure out what it is. Still, happy to have run a negative split!

Someone told me "one more week!" assuming I was running the Twin Cities marathon. Someone else kindly asked if I was ok at the end and said they were my "cheering squad" after I explained what I was doing. Funny they were concerned because I was doing *way* better than my previous ones. No sprawling out in the medical tent for 30 minutes or shivering and hardly being able to walk. I did inaugurate leaf catching season, with two grabs during the race!

Splits: 5:30 (not a full mile), 5:38, 5:31, 5:34, 5:36, 5:32, 5:31, 5:27, 5:31, 5:35, 5:33, 11:21 (past mile markers), 11:21 (same thing and same time!), 5:24, 5:33, 5:34, 5:31, 5:33, 5:41, 5:34, 5:25, 5:31, 5:39, 5:11 (not a full mile). 

After multiple mappings, I got that the route was 21.07 km each way, or ~11 seconds short. My overall time was 2:24:27. So I'll call it 2:24:38. I don't know what to say about the water stops. In a race someone would hand you the water. If you just added that time to my time, it would be 2:25:38 or so. So maybe right around 2:25:00 would be the most fair. 

7:26 pace, Como classic. Could've felt worse!