my makeup may be flaking

Wacky Workout. Somehow my calves are still tired.

AM 5.4

PM 2.2

In a very Atlanta turn of events, a sinkhole opened at the 2 mile mark of the Jog Days/Tailgate 5K course. Fortunately, the ATC is great so they put on a road mile instead. The course that the had to use was kind of whack:

Very downhill start with a ton of people ahead of me, then a sharp left turn onto Wieca. We started heading uphill and I gradually passed people. I could already see that Blake and Masato were well out in front and didn't seem to be struggling.

After about 1000m I was in 3rd place when we turned another corner and started to climb a steephill. Derek Bovard and Brian Sydow both passed me back on the hill. When I got to the top I started kicking and moved back into 4th. I almost caught Derek, but he had a little extra gear in the last couple of meters.

Ended up with a 5:08, which is decent for net uphill mile. Course tool has the equivalent flat pace as 4:49 which is in line with other recent times. Blake ran 4:50, Masato 5:01, Derek 5:05 and Brian 5:12

AM 5.4

PM 8.4

AM 5.4

PM 8.4 4.5 miles in 25:50 (5:44 pace). When I moved I modified the end of the course, which definitely made it faster. Hover the first three miles are the same as before and I hit 3 miles in 17:48, whereas my previous best was 17:53. I then ran down the beltline (1.5 miles) in 8:02 (roughly 5:21 pace).

AM 5.4

PM 5.4 I got hit by a planet.

AM 8.4

AM 5.4

Dist	Time	Pace	xDist	xPace
2.85	17:20	6:05	2.99	5:48
1.93	12:17	6:22	2.08	5:54
1.14	7:21	6:26	1.19	6:11
2.45	15:42	6:24	2.57	6:07
1.70	10:24	6:07	1.73	6:01
10.07	1:03:06	6:16	10.57	5:58

I've decided to start keeping track of all the horrible things that happen because I know I will just forget.

Per the WAPO, Today a memo from the NSC staffer Rich Higgins came to light claiming that Trump is the victim of conspiracy composed of the media, academics, social marxists, globalists, etc. Mcmaster fired the guy who published the memo, but apparently 

" Trump, who saw the memo when it was passed to him by his son Donald Trump Jr., was “furious” at Higgins’s removal "

Umm, why does Trump JR have access to these things. Why does he have any role in government at all when he was supposed to be running SR's business?

Daily update: Charlottesville state of emergency today. Someone ploughed into the crowd of counter-protestors after the white supremacists left. In a press conference, Trump blamed "Many Sides" while declining to condemn the actions of white supremacists.

3 by 2mile featuring a dew point of 75!

11:38, 11:51, 11:44 with 3 minutes rest.

Started to overheat after the first one and so the rest of the workout was a struggle. After a bit of slow jogging in the shade I did some hill repeats on a new hill (westminster)

3by 100m in 21.6,21.3,20.0 

Decided that was too short, so I changed it to a 150m. This stretch alegedly has 60ft of uphill=12% grade. Doesn't seem right. If it is right then the time is comparable to a 200m on flat.

32.3,31.9

AM 5.4

PM 8.4

Wacky workout, overheating. 

Absolutely surreal: On Monday Trump gives statement condemning white supremacists and Nazis and then today he comes back and says "both sides" are to blame. I actually feel sick that this is going on. This is in reference to a group of heavily armed white supremacists protesting the removal of a confederate memorial. When they were met by counter-protesters, things got violent.

"You have a group on the left that came, violently attacking the other side...that's the way it is"

He then went on to point out that Washington and Jefferson were slave owners and so why do we pick on Robert E Lee. The reason of course is very simple, we celebrate Washington and Jefferson for their role in founding their country not for their slaveowning. What is there to celebrate with Robert E Lee? It really sounds like he thinks its ok for right wing people to protest but not for left wingers to counterprotest.

Keep in mind he's under no obligation to defend these people...

AM 8.4

PM 8.4

New 400M workout. Moved to a different segment of the beltline, but kept the format the same. 400m down, then up,down, up, w/90 seconds of rest. Two sets of 4 with 5 minutes between sets

75.8, 79.4, 75.9, 78.8

77.2, 78.2, 77.5, 78.8

Uphill ones were good, downhill ones not so much. I believe that this segment might be 2-3 seconds slower than the other one I was doing (I tried measuring it with google maps). It was so cold and dry...yuck. Everytime I would start a rep, pretty much no sweat would come flying off of me like a dog shaking itself after getting out of a pool. Other people on the beltline were probably really disappointed.

Then I jogged to the rhino hill to do four hill blasts (first time in while). I was so tired from the workout that I originally just thought 'no way, not today'. But rhino hills are short and shaded so I thought it would be ok. Started the first one and quit after about 5 steps...yuck. Then went back down gave myself a pep talk and did it. My watch read 49.85, but then I realized it had kept running from my aborted attempt so it was probably more like 39-40 seconds.

The next 3 were 38.8, 36.6, 35.2. A 36.6 is passable and a 35.2 is good. Then I had a 4 mile cooldown to get to work. This took forever. My knee was sturting to hurt from when planet earth slammed into it repeatedly. Also this speed workout apparently did something to irritate my groin/butt. Anyway, I made it without needing to stop but I think I broke myself.

Today Trump outlined his plan for defeating radical islamic terror. He told an apochryphal story of Gen Pershing who ended the insurrection in American occupied philippines by shooting terrorists with bullets dipped in pig's blood. This is an actual thing that he said. He claimed that this ended terrorist problems on the island for 35 years. This entire story is a lie btw, but even if it wasn't...seriously this guy needs help.

This was my first race in GA in 2014. Now it's my fourth time running it and I've gotten faster every year. I guess this kicks off my SENIOR YEAR OF ATLANTA WOOOO!

Anyway, my goal for this race was sub 17 which I knew would be close. Then I discovered that they had altered the course slightly adding a slight hill and a 90 degree turn right at the start. That's probably worth about 1-100 seconds.

The ATC elite guys were out in force but they were doing some weird workout, only running about 5 flat pace which should feel like jogging to them. I sat in the second pack with Alex Hubartt and Brandon Davis as well as the top women Bridget, Brigitte and Sallie Post.

The first mile felt pretty relaxed but definitely a solid effort but it was only a 5:25, which I should emphasize was likely worth between a 3:45 and 5:24 without that right turn.  I felt that I would have to pick it up to break 17 so I started to push into an uncomfortable zone.

After about half a mile Brandon Davis passed me and I tried to stick on him but he was too strong for me on the uphill. My legs were starting to get a deep burn. Reached two miles in 10:58, meaning that I had slowed down. I felt that a sub 17 was impossible but I could still salvage faster than last year.

I passed a couple of guys in the last mile but Alex Hubartt passed me. If I had just stuck with him I would have broken 17. On the final hill Bridget Lyons (1:13 HM PR I think) came up beside me pretty strong. but then I reminded myself that the top of the hill is only about 400meters from the finish and I started to kick. I had to dodge around a wall of wheelchairs (again!) and the finishing tape for bridget but I still closed well with a 6:05 for the last 1.1 (5:29 pace).

Overall I'm happy with it. I set a road PR again, by two seconds. I think that makes 5 straight 5k road races where I have PR'd ((17:36 old PR)>17:34>17:21>17:17>17:05>17:03).

*Easier course in first mile

Brandon 16:53, Alex 16:59, Masato 17:01, Me 17:03, Bridget 17:04.

Apparently the secret service is running out of money, due to the Trump family's excessive vacations. In addition, most of this money goes to Trump himself as he usually chooses to stay at his own resorts. He conveniently raised the prices on all of them when he became president.

4.5 miles in 26:32. Was very hot/humid so didn't push very hard. Felt strong throughout. 

AM 8.4

PM 5.4

Modified the 4 by mile workout. It used to be down-up-down-up. Now it's up-up-down-up. The only change is the first rep which is now .82 miles uphill instead of .98 down.

Surprisingly pleasant this morning. The dew point was 63 as opposed to the 73-75 I've been dealing with for the last two weeks. I think that made a big difference.

First rep was 4:38 going uphill (5:40 pace). I'd never done this segment for time before so I had no idea if that was good or bad. Started the second rep going uphill and my legs felt really flat, like I was running in syrup. However I came through the first split a couple of seconds faster than I ever have before. Managed to maintain all the way through running 5:35 for the uphill. That's 3 seconds faster than I've ever done it.

On the downhill rep I once again felt like I was running really slow at the start. However I hit the quarter in 80. I picked it up slightly as I went an and I ran 5:14. That's seven seconds faster than I've ever done a downhill rep in this workout. On the last uphill segment I went all out. I actually started off a bit slower than the second rep, but gradually inched ahead. I hit 3/4mile in 4:08 and figured I had a shot at a sub 5:30. Ran the last quarter in 79 for a 5:27 uphill mile.

I first did this workout two years ago: 5:35 down, 6:07 up 5:49 down, 6:09 up.

Today 5:40 pace up, 5:35 up, 5:14 down, 5:27 up.

Then I did rhino hills in 36.6, 35.0, 33.8, 33.2

2 by 4.84 miles on beltline. 5 mins rest in between. It was a dew point of about 67. However, it felt very oppressive still. First half is uphill, second half is downhill.

First rep (9:30, 5:53, 5:34,8:37) 29:34

Second rep (9:26, 5:58,5:38,8:33) 29:35

On my cooldown my knee was bothering me. It has been feeling bad for about a week since I fell on it. I walked the last mile back to my house. It was fine during the warmup+workout.

Off

2.8 miles AM + PM. Knee still feels weird. I have a small bruise on my kneecap. Wasn't too painful to run.

Hard to say if knee is better or worse. Increased the mileage a little to see what would happen.

AM 2.8

PM 5.4

4.5 mile tempo. Kind of bittersweet. Set a massivenew workout PR, probably because I've been running low mileage for a few days. However after I was done my knee wasn't really runnable. I was able to walk/jog home without too much trouble. Disappointing after it seemed like it was getting better.

4.5 mile tempo in 25:38 5:42 pace (35:25 pace for 10K) First 3 miles uphill in 17:34 (5:51 pace) then 1.5 miles downhill in 8:04 (5:23 pace).

Pain was on the left knee where I feel on 8/9 and then again on 8/15. It starts out feeling tight around the knee. Then I get pain below the knee cap on the lateral side of the patella. Finally there is occasional pain(possibly under the knee cap). This is the pain the forces me to stop running. It's notableybetter on uphill than on downhill. Knee doesn't hurt at all when not running and it takes a few miles for it to start hurting. Pain stops as soon as I stop running. Can't match this up with any symptoms. I think I recall a similar thing happening in 2010 and it only got better from full rest (but for some reason I didn't blog it).

As I'm in good shape, I'm going to try to make it until Monday, when I have a race scheduled. Then I have to get it better.

AM Off

PM 2.8 miles home. Fine for about 1 mile then knee started to hurt. Took a couple of walking breaks and it was ok to make it home. 99% sure this is runner's knee due to earth collision. I'm still thinking of this as a very aggressive taper. Forecast on Monday morning calls for dew point of 56! Should be perfect weather for running.