Doing What I Can

completely different weather today than yesterday...4 miles tonight where it was 30 degrees with 30 mph winds and gusts to 50, been crazy cold and windy overnight into today. as a result was pretty bundled up to get in my first run of 2012.

1- 7:23.4

2- 7:02.8

3- 6:52.3

4- 7:00.6

total-- 28:19, 7:05 avg pace

Been terribly sick the last 2 days...actually for about a week now ive been battling this infection that appeared to be in my ears and nasal area but according to the doctor, its all through my chest and head and its a virus so ive had to let it run its course. peaked the last 2 days in intensity so i had to forgo running. Today was better so I'm hoping all the rest and fluids are starting to take care of the situation. I went down to the gym to get a few miles in on the treadmill..actually tonight was my first ever run on a treadmill believe it or not...afterwards im here to report that it was probably one of my last, im not a fan, the thing totally changes your running form and it feels so unnatural to hold a steady pace that long, no one does that in real life, running is about eases and surges and running by feel, not being directed by a machine (now granted, when running outside, i find it awesome to hit metronome like paces because that is a manmade achievement). Anyways, thats my take on treadmills after having tried one. 4.25 in like 30:35, kept increasing the pace, started at 8 to get my bearings and make sure i wasnt gonna fall off, then ran most of it between 8.5-9.0mph (7:08-6:44 pace)

beautiful weather today, 65 degrees on January 5th, pretty sure the entire state broke records today. Im still recovering from my virus, and my lungs are on fire when i rung cuz im hacking up all the crap from the last few days. worst part about being sick is the lung hangover. sounds like i smoke a pack a day or something...haha

1- 6:52.7

2- 6:49.1

3- 6:57.9

4- 7:08.2

5- 7:04.0

6- 7:27.0 hill kicked my wheezin butt today

total-- 42:18, 7:03 avg pace

4 easy today, my lungs are just still full of crap and it takes everything i have just to breathe on these runs, will get back into the grind again soon im sure. 30:11, 7:33 avg pace

7.5 in 55:23, 7:23 avg pace on the dreadmill, not fun but had no time today so it hadda cut it. felt pretty good tho.

5 tonight after work in the full moon light, 33 degrees and no wind, felt decent. 35:56, 7:11 avg pace

4 then bear attack struck with full force, kind of unexpected, made the last 1.5 very uncomfortable..but i did make it back...barely. first 2 miles were both 7:05, pretty steady early..never got in a rhythm. 40:00 total for 7:16 avg pace, althought most of the last mile was interrupted with "don't crap your pants" stops for about 30 sec intervals.

5 mile slogfest this morning, weather wasnt actually too bad, just felt like i was running in wet cement cuz my legs were apparently tired. 37:54, 7:35 avg pace. strides after

 side note, since my sickness, ive hit 37.5 in the last 7 days for 5.4 a day, not too shabby as im trying to build, now i need to decide if i should take a day off this week..

swam a lot, felt good to get some cross training in, back at it tomorrow

weather is awful today, makes sense given all the good weather we've been blessed with lately. it was 10 degrees with wc's between -10 and 0 with 30mph winds, so definitely not a day i was gonna run outside. decided to hit the treadmill for a "long" run of 9 miles, the treadmill only runs for 60 minutes so i had to pause quickly to restart it near the end of the run. splits on my watch taken during each mile on the mill:

1- 7:15.3

2- 7:02.3

3- 6:58.4

4- 6:48.2

5- 6:50.1

6- 6:49.4

7- 6:37.6 really cranked the mill up here

8- 7:06.9

9- 7:08

total-- 1:02:37, 6:57 avg pace

felt pretty good overall today

cold run outside today, 20 degrees with wc in the 5-10 range, decent west wind, not near as bad as it has been though plus it was sunny and clear, so i figured id run outside. hit pretty good splits and felt pretty comfortable:

1- 6:52.5

2- 6:50.5

3- 6:54.3

4- 7:05.7

5- 7:02.8

6- 7:14.5 decent work on the hill today

total-- 42:00, 7:00 avg pace, nice even run, actually ran faster into the wind, prolly cuz i wanted to get it done

6x40m  strides after

a little sore this morning, but inspired by the olympic trials, what a strong team! 20s and light snow the entire run..big ole fluffy flakes. splits:

1- 7:20.2

2- 7:20.45

half mile split of 3:50ish

3.5- 7:20.45 same split to the hundredths of my last full mile

4.5- 7:44.6 hill

TOTAL--33:38, 7:29 avg pace

pretty sore tonight during the run, my stride feels off..im not sure whats up..i doubt the treadmill screwed me up this bad, so im guessing just the increase in mileage has got me tight. pretty nice night, ran in shorts and long sleeves, mid40s with light winds splits:

1- 7:13.6

2- 7:13.1

3- 7:17.9

4- 7:03.6

5- 7:05.6

6- 7:06.6

7- 7:06.9

total-- 50:07, 7:09.5 avg pace, pretty steady overall, settled in a little the last 4 miles and was able to stride it out some, tried to run out the soreness

4x50 strides then cold tub

5 after work, started in the twilight ended in the darkness, threw a surge in halfway through to get some GHMP miles in, banged out a 12:16 but that felt tough in the cold and wind, first effort at anything faster than slow MP since this training cycle started, will slowly incorporate more speed and continue to increase mileage. splits:

1- 7:00.3

2- 6:57.5

3- 6:07.6

4- 6:08.7 (12:16, 6:08 avg pace)

5- 7:12.6

TOTAL-- 33:26, 6:41 avg pace

i dont know how "easy" todays miles actually were..full-fledged blizzard conditions outside with a few inches of snow underfoot and below zero windchills with 20-30mph winds hammering me the whole run. needless to say i didnt take splits today, just got a total time of 31:14, 7:49 avg pace, which given the conditions was definitely a win! barely any traction the entire run, slippin and sliding, bundled up big time, today was the mental equivalent of 10 miles.

In other news, signed up for the Prague Marathon officially last night. registration is in and on may 13, 2012, i will make that dream a reality! goal is sub 3!

thought about taking a rest day as i was a little tired, but figured 3 was better than nothing. cold morning, windchills in the single digits. lots of snow still on the ground, footing was awful. 3 with no splits, 22:38, 7:33 avg pace

about as cold of run as ive had in a while, temps were around 8 degrees with windchill between -5 and 0. at least the winds had calmed and it was sunny, apparently the wc was -15 overnight. i battled with myself over whether to do this run on the treadmill as i knew the windchill was going to be below 0, but i decided to tough it out and build some mental strength. 10.5 miles in the bitter cold..i felt surprisingly good throughout the run however, that was a nice sign. very bundled up, splits:

1- 6:49.1

2- 6:54.8

3- 7:04.2

4- 7:08.9

5- 7:15.5 uphill (35:12, 7:02 pace)

6- 6:55.6 downhill

7- 7:08.8

8- 7:12.2

9- 7:01.5

10- 7:17.9 big hill (1:10:48, 7:05 pace)

last .5- 3:33

TOTAL-- 1:14:22, 7:05 avg pace

overall, very happy with this run as i am getting my mileage up and i still felt good given the awful conditions to run in

negative windchills for the 2nd straight day forced me onto the dreadmill, 5.5 in very easy fashion, 40:30 for 5.5, 7:22 mill pace.

really good run today, weather was still cold, 22 degrees with wc of 10, but the wind was down and at my back for most of the tempo portion of the run, wanted to get out and hit ghmp or 6:00 per mile, actually ended up hitting way better than that, hit a warmup mile then went straight into the tempo splits were:

1- 5:52.5

2- 5:54.4 (11:47)

3- 5:47.1

TOTAL-- 3 mile tempo, 17:34, 5:51 avg pace

cooled down with 3, overall it was a 7 mile run total for 47:01. nice little tempo to throw in the middle of the run today. probably taking tomorrow off, then getting back after it next week

day off from running, i hit the pool to swim some laps instead. got in about 1100-1200 meters total, swimming is such a good cardio workout, its been very helpful crosstraining on my off days..specially cuz its no impact on the legs which is obviously beneficial to runners. back on the roads tomorrow.

horrible day for running, it wasnt too terribly cold, 28 with wc in the teens, but there was a thick coating of ice on everything. needless to say running on an ice sheet is difficult. still managed a decent 6 miles though.

1- 7:15.8

2- 7:10.0

3- 7:19.2

4- 7:12.7

5- 7:10.0 same mile as number 2...odd that i ran it both ways equally

6- 7:29.8 ice hill

total-- 43:37, 7:16 avg pace

ice bowl part 2, temp was better today, 30 degrees with almost no wind, sun was shining and felt ok there, however the trail was probably worse today cuz the thin layer of snow had melted and it was an ice sheet today with almost nowhere to get traction. slowed me down quite a bit. splits:

1- 7:15.2

2- 7:06.8

3- 6:55.4

4- 6:50.8

5- 6:54.9

6- 7:20.6

7- 7:35.1 hill

total--49:58, 7:08 avg pace, slipped quite a bit after 5, the 3-5 mile splits were relatively better footing than the other 4 which were the same miles given the out and back, decided to slow down and make sure i didnt fall the last 2

strides after

new shoes are always something to write about! nice evening for a run, no wind, decent temps near 40. splits:

1- 6:58.3

2- 7:04.2

3- 7:11.6

4- 7:08.5

5- 7:02.4

6- 6:49.9

TOTAL-- 42:15, 7:02.5 avg pace, 14 second negative split the 2nd half btw

long run today. definitely ran it way too fast..need to work on slowing it down on the longer training runs. pretty sore and crampy as i sit here later this evening writing this. the weather was pretty decent..i do think i was over-dressed though. 

1- 6:47.1

2- 6:49.5

3- 6:58.7

4- 7:08.1

5- 7:27.6 uphill and quite icy for some reason only on this mile

6- 6:30.3 downhill

7- 6:59.0

8- 7:07.2

9- 6:52.4

10- 7:07.1 (10 miles in 1:09:37, 6:58 pace) on the bright side, really attacked the daily hill

11- 7:11.7

12- 6:48.7

total-- 1:23:37, 6:58 avg pace, felt about as sporadic as my splits

5 easy today, my legs were sore so i tried to consciously slow down. 36:44 for the run, 7:21 avg pace. minor concern was that my left knee was hurting, not where the IT-band is but rather above and behind the kneecap, will ice and see how it feels in the am. may opt for the soft surface of a treadmill tomorrow.

treadmill today for a cushioned and controlled run in case my knee acted up, dropped it down to 6:00 pace from mile 2- mile 4.25, then eased off, felt winded cuz it was 73 in the gym and im used to training in the 20s outside. cooled down on the mill til 6, was gonna try to get 7 but my knee started aching ever so slightly, so i decided not to press it. listen to your body!

42 miles this week, same total as last week, except i ran 1 less day this week, so higher mileage per day avg. cutback week approaching, will shoot for 30-33 while taking wednesday off as a travel day as my wife and i move to germany for 4 months.

5 easy this afternoon, pretty nice day outside, upper 30s, light winds. felt pretty good, knee tightened up again near the end, but its prolly cuz i was wearing shorts and my knee was getting a little cold.splits:

1- 6:55.7

2- 7:02.5

3- 7:14.0

4- 7:06.3

5- 7:17.6 hill

TOTAL-- 35:36, 7:07 avg pace

record high temps today in iowa, 62 degrees!! absolutely gorgeous outside. got in a nice 6...felt nice to not have to wear a hat and gloves in january. splits:

1- 6:59.5

2- 6:54.3

3- 6:59.6

4- 6:58.8

5- 6:51.8

6- 7:09.3 hill

total-- 41:53, 6:59 avg pace

pre-flight 4, last run in iowa for 4 months! we leave for germany this afternoon! very nice day as a parting gift, already mid to upper 40s, felt great out there. splits:

1- 7:14.3

2- 7:14.6

3- 6:59.2

4- 7:05.7

total-- 28:33, 7:08 avg pace, started to loosen up towards the end

5 mile treadmill run tonight for my first run in freiburg. beautiful city, decided to get a pass at the gym as the streets are a little uneven and im unfamilar here, so i will ease into running outside. 

another treadmill night here in freiburg. Did six miles at a very easy pace, then dropped it a few gears for the final mile which i covered in 5:57...its been weird adjusting to the km/hr readout on the treadmill instead of the mph like im used to. I had the thing cranked up to 16.1 (5:56 pace) and it felt faster mentally cuz that is such a high number! Heading back later today for 5-6, cutback this week, so next week i will start pouring on some mileage, hope the weather gets warmer.

another treadmill run, today was the coldest yet. 5 miles with each one faster than the previous one...not by much tho. total 36:24, 7:17 pace

got after it today. hit the treadmill hard this evening, was frozen cuz of hiking all morning in the mountains near town. decided to drop a 4 mile tempo in the run to really get the turnover working. warmed up with a 7:17 and a 6:55, then hit these splits for the tempo:

6:02.5, 6:02.1, 6:03.0, 6:00.1

pretty easy to do steady pace on a treadmill, then last mile i bumped it up an extra tenth of a km.hr, 24:07 for the 4 miles, just under 6:02 pace, very good tempo, i felt pretty good throughout. finished with 2 c/d easy pace.

got outside today for my first mileage around freiburg...it was nice to get off the treadmill and out onto the beautiful roads here. still very cold but i stayed warm with my gear that i packed. Timed first mile then just ran by time and feel, did some exploring, found a very neat lake that will become a staple of my workouts im sure. 7.1 miles in 51:56, 7:19 avg pace, strides after

Got out 7 miles in some of the coldest conditions since we have been here, 14 degrees but strong winds making the windchill well into the negatives...fingers were frozen by the end. pretty 2 loops around the lake. splits:

1- 6:49.2

2- 6:49.2

3- 6:47.2

4- 6:34.9

5- 7:23.8 dropped off a lot here and i felt it for some reason

6- 7:17.0

7- 6:54.2 recovered to finish strong

total-- 48:35, 6:56.5 avg pace, overall a good run given the conditions, scheduled day of rest tomorrow

got after it tonight. Tempo run of 4 miles, did so on the treadmill as i wanted total control of the pace. felt great through 20 minutes, last 4 min were a struggle. splits during my tempo were 6:01, 6:02, 6:02 and 6:00 (with change) for 24:06, 6:01.5 avg pace. Very good tempo. its a good sign to hit the same exact tempo i did 4 days ago on sunday...the treadmill is nice for that. ill get out for 5 tomorrow and then 14 on saturday looking to slow it down on the LR

5 tonight in 35:32, 7:06 avg pace, splits:

1- 7:02.7

2- 7:02.1

3- 6:55.8

4- 7:16.4

5- 7:15.7

14 on the treadmill tonight...that was an experience...great workout, excellent runners high...not much scenery. it was nice to have a table to put my fluids and my gu. felt pretty decent throughout, hit steady pace obviously. 1:43:00, 7:20 avg pace. 22.6 kilometers all told, actually about .05 miles long but that sometimes gets lost in translation. 

6 miles very easy paced today in 45:03, 7:30.5 avg pace, kept it easy but my legs are still sore here afterwards. gonna keep gettin it! 

had a really good run tonight for some reason, just kept accelerating as the run went on, i felt strong so i went for it, finished hard. not as cold, pretty good night. splits:

1- 6:49.6

2-3--14:03, 7:01 avg

4- 6:39.6

5- 6:48.2

6- 6:32.2

7- 6:35.8

8- 6:30.7

total-- 53:59, 6:45 avg pace

last 5 were 33:06, 6:37 pace, although my "threshold miles" were about 30 seconds slower than GHMP, they were good given the perceived effort and the tired legs

last 3 miles 19:37, 6:32 pace

got out for 10, was hoping just to hit anything over 7 really, 10 would be if i was feeling decent and i was once i got out and got in a steady pace. snowed for the entire run, but wasnt too windy and wasn't too cold, very pretty evening in the city of Freiburg. splits tonight:

1- 7:02.1

2- 7:04.3

3- 7:19.2

4- 7:07.4

5- 7:23.4 (35:56, 7:11 pace through first 5)

6- 7:12.9

7- 7:21.5

8- 7:14.4

9- 7:17.0

10- 7:17.2 (36:23, 7:16.5 pace, only a :27 positive split, felt really easy throughout

total-- 1:12:19, 7:14 avg pace

good run today, day off tomorrow to rest some tired-ish legs

7 tonight on the mill, tried to add some speed, and did so. started at 7:17, then to 6:51, then same, then dropped to 6:00, then hit a 5:38, took a little break as the treadmill pooped out on me, then cooled down with a 7:29 and a 6:51.

overall, good workout, had a lot of pop left in my legs afterwards and even at the end, definitely a good sign..if it wasnt 80ish degress in the gym, id of been able to hold the pace longer.

5 miles easy paced tonight. splits:

1- 7:00.0 first mile perfect split

2- 6:53.6

3- 7:03.2

4- 7:17.5

5- 7:07.0

total-- 35:21, 7:04 avg pace

long run  on the dreadmill today, 16 miles, decided to hit the normal LR pace of 7:16-7:20 for the first 12 then dropped it into 6:51 pace for the last 4 miles. The only thing that broke my rythym was accidently hitting the emergency stop button about 14.25 miles in, my arm hits that thing 8-10 times a run and it usually isnt hard enough to shut it off..but today i got it just right and wabamm..quick stop...i restarted it quickly and finished strong but the mental aspect of the sudden break was not cool! some split info:

1:55:35 for the full 16 miles, 7:13 avg pace for the total

1:28:09, 7:21 avg pace for the first 12

27:26, 6:51.5 avg for the final 4 miles, a nice little finishing kick

7 miles easy on a beautiful day in germany...gotta watch the sun go down and felt really easy throughout, 51:20, 7:20 pace, just lock in  to that easy pace it seems like.

put down a pretty good little 5 miler tonight, im cutting back this week as planned...36-40 depending on how im feeling. tonight the weather was good, so i got outside and it was fun to do that. splits:

1- 6:50.8

2- 6:30.2 whoops..just happened

3- 6:58.4

4- 7:03.3

5- 6:47.6

total-- 34:10, 6:50 avg pace

great workout tonight, a true gauge of my fitness. I did this workout on the mill, so it was pretty controlled conditions, but 5:50-6:00 pace is what it is. mile w/u then dropped a 5 mile tempo with a fast finish. i felt very comfortable at this pace, which is a great sign. splits:

1- 6:01.8

2- 6:02.0

3- 6:03.1 (for some reason it was slowing down..maybe my splits werent exactly even)

4- 5:58.1

5- 5:51.2

TOTAL-- 29:56, 5:59 avg pace, hit 18:06 for the first 3 then 11:49 for the final 2 to negative split the run slightly. great workout overall, 1.5 c/d. scheduled day off tomorrow

7 easyish tonight, started too fast and ended really well, which is all good. Overdressed again and sweated my butt off the entire run. splits:

1- 6:40.0

2- 6:52.5

3- 7:18.3

4- 7:08.6

5- 7:12.9

6- 7:08.8

7- 6:23.2

TOTAL-- 48:44, 6:58 avg pace, anchored by a slightly tempo-ish final mile, felt pretty good aside from some stomach issues, nothing major thank goodness

Pretty cool run tonight, i found a brand new trail that is very scenic and follows the entire river running through freiburg. I went out 3.5 and back 3.5 for a total of 7. after 5, i threw it into gear and dropped a solid 1.5 mile tempo at very good pace.Hit the 6th mile in 5:41.7 and then the last .5 mile in 3:02, it was a tad long, more like .53, so right on 5:50ish pace. Either way it was a fantastic way to finish a run. Finished with a half mile cooldown, but by then i was feeling so good i ran the last .47ish in 3:08. 10:16 for the middle 1.5 and a 6:50 opening mile. my total run time was 46:51, so my splits were all over the place bcause I didnt have all the mile markers down. The only thing i know for sure is that i hit that 1.5 in those times and that it was accurate for that. I remeasured when i got home. 46:51 for 7 miles translates to 6:42 avg pace. overall good workout, very happy with how easy 5:40 pace felt tonight especially after 5 pretty decent miles (5 mile split was something around 34:55(6:59 pace).

5 miles 37:07, 7:25 avg pace, felt really pretty crappy the entire run, thats ok, needed to shake out the tired old legs. 

9 mile run today, really got it moving the second half. This new river route i believe is uphill one way and downhill on the way back. So that probably aids in the 2nd half splits. splits:

1- 7:01.4

2- 7:07.8

3- 7:10.9

4- 7:10.1

5- 6:50.5 (4.5 was halfway in 32:00, 7:07 pace)

6- 6:37.0

7- 6:47.3

8- 6:34.9

9- 6:40.5

TOTAL-- 1:02:00, 6:49 avg pace, 2nd half was 30:00, 6:40 avg pace, a full 2 minute negative split with only a slight perceived increase in effort! always nice to get a good run in with such a good negative split, really starting to feel good out there.

ran a 7 mile run tonight, very east paced. last mile was 6:55, 50:15-7:11 avg pace, 8x50 meter strides, big workout coming tomorrow! stay tuned

big time workout tonight, was originally planning back to back 5ks at 18:00 pace with 5 min break between. All on the treadmill so i could completely control my pace. However, back to back 5ks didnt end up panning out as after the first one i was more tired than i expected, however, this was an ambitious workout and to finish it as strong as i did is great. Warmed up with 2 miles easy then dropped into a 5k with the following splits:

1- 5:46.8

2- 5:44.6

3- 5:46.2

.1- 43.3

TOTAL 5k in 18:00.9, 5:46 avg pace, near perfect pacing (thank you treadmill) felt a little tough just because this is a race pace workout and i have been putting up some mileage on my legs as of late.

took the 5 minute break with some jogging, then attempted the 2nd 5k, hit 5:52 for the first mile, then did a little over 400 extra in 1:30ish before stopping, so 2000 meters in 7:22, 5:54 pace, probably not a long enough break in retrospect. Took a little longer break and ran an easy half mile then decided i wanted to go all out on a mile or at least as fast as the treadmill would let me. turns out the treadmills here max out at 18.0 kilometers, i kept hitting the plus button, but nothing happened, so i stayed at that pace (roughly 5:22-5:25), I did this last mile starting at 16.2 and slowly increased speed til 18.0 first half mile was 2:49, then i ran a 2:37 for a 12 second negative split. total time was 5:26.6, a very good mile for the quantity and quality of workout before. Cooled down for 2 miles, total of 10.1 and im spent for the day. day off tomorrow to rest some tired legs

9 easy on a new trail tonight, 1:04:38, 7:11 avg pace. 32:01 first half, 32:37 2nd half, 36 second positive split, but i was just running easy.

beautiful day, unfortunately i was relegated to the treadmill for 4.5 because my knee has been hurting...right under the kneecap when i bend it sometimes...i figured it was best to take it easy and not to take any chances. nothing special, went very slow and cautious..treadmill was soft impacts all the way around..hopefully this will help. Lots of ice and im sure ill be just fine.

Race plan update: next weekend, i had planned on running a local 10k, however i want a little farther race paced effort, so im entering the same race's half marathon. While certaintly not my goal race that ive been training for, im going to use this race as a 15k tempo, at 15k im going to see where im at, if im on pace to break 1:20 (55:55-56:55, ill prolly even accept 57:30 as the absolutely top end), im gonna go for it, if not and im slower than that, ill cool down the last 6k and have at least got my race effort workout in. Should be interesting! 

longest solo training run today ever. I have obviously run a marathon which is longer, but i was severely undertrained. Today, sore knee and all, i got out and hit 18 miles (actually a touch longer i found out). I ran the entire thing several seconds per mile UNDER BQ pace. My final time was 2:07:15, which averages out to 7:03 per mile...a very decent clip and one that i am pleasantly surprised about especially given my conservative early pace. By all accounts, i cant tell where nearly any of my splits were til 13.5 miles in, and so i do know i negative split the run, but im not sure by how much...perhaps by more than 2 minutes is my best educated guess. The last 4.5 miles I dropped 2.5 miles in the GMP range, a 6:47, a 6:49 and a 3:20ish half mile right after i turned around at 13.5. my last 4.5 miles was covered in right near 31:00 pace, which is 6:53 pace...a very good way to bring it home. did 7x50 meter strides after. Gonna take tomorrow off to ice my knee nonstop, then taper for a 15k race pace run in the half next weekend (hoping to be on pace though so i can bring it home in under 1:20! 

took a rest day off yesterday to ice my knee, it felt quite a bit better today. A little colder, but all is well. Splits:

1- 6:50.9

2- 7:01.2

3- 7:03.9

4- 7:14.0

.5- 3:35

5.5- 6:55.8

TOTAL-- 38:41, 7:02 avg pace

only 6 tonight 42:33, 7:05 avg pace, felt just kinda there.

3 miles then dropped 3 at ghmp tempo, felt really really easy to be at 6:00 pace. My splits during the tempo part were:

1- 5:54.8

2- 6:00.4

3- 5:59.3

total-- 17:54, 5:58 avg pace, mile cooldown after

like i said, felt very easy and is a good indicator going into this weekend

taper madness is in full effect. Im analyzing everything and uber careful...i hate tapering....5 miles easy in 35:47, 7:09 avg pace, knee wasnt feeling the greatest, iced all night.

vier heute, 28:44, 7:11 geschwindikeit. Ich habe knie schmerzen, aber ich denke alles ist OK fur der halbmaraton am Sonntag.

Hooray for German posts!

2.5 very easy miles in 18:17, 7:18 avg pace. 6x50 meter strides easy. I am feeling primed and ready for tomorrow, it felt so easy today, just glided along with no issues...shooting for a fast 15k then hoping to hold together to go sub 1:20 for the HM.

I DID IT!! Finally, after 3 years of trying, and trying very hard (as this blog has made witness) I finally broke 1:20!!! And not only did i break it, i crushed it...up until the final 3-4k, i was on pace to break 1:19 as well! 1:19:20, a new PR by almost 2 minutes (old PR was 1:21:13. Here is the report:

Pre Race

Very interesting way to get to a race. Since I know live in Germany, the best way to travel is by train. So at 5:55 am, my wife and I got on the Deutsche Bahn to travel to the race in a nearby city. However, the train was FULL of drunk people..turns out the revellers of the night can party hard here. Once the sun comes up, I think that kind of kills the fun..but not for these people! Anyways, the first train ride was fine, then we made a seamless switch at our major stopover point...got the city of Rastatt at around 7:30...just like the DB said the train would (Ive grown quite accustomed to good ole fashioned German efficiency). Once in Rastatt, we took a quick taxi ride (although not cheap at 10 Euro) to the Mercedes Benz manufacturing plant that was hosting the race. Turns out this center is a major producer of 2 types of Mercedes and the Kundencenter (Visitors Center) was very interesting and provided a nice way to pass the time (since the race didnt start til 9:45). Got all registered and i think my name is backwards officially so it is listed as Flaws Jacob, but all is good...at least its spelled right..also I love racing here because the entry fee was only 8 euro for a first class halfmarathon...thats like 11 bux in the US...very cool.

The Race

Warmup went okay, felt decent and the weather was superb...mid 40s, almost no wind, overcast and just got done raining, so i went with arm warmers, racing top, shorts and a beanie. race started right on time (German efficiency) at 9:45 and i fell immediately into a rhythm...i felt really good even from the early stages. One interesting thing about international races is that there are no mile markers...everything is in KM's which i actually found i loved. Its very helpful to get updates on your pace every 3:40 instead of every 6:00. Very much easier to pace correctly...as a result, i paced this race near perfect. Here are my splits (in kilometers) my goal by the way was to hold 3:45 per km pace as this is very near 6:00 mile pace so that was my benchmark:

1- 4:06.2 (we did some weird loop at the start of the race, and so this marker was long and everyone pretty much knew it, i wasnt worried though)

2- 3:30.6 (7:36, this marker was predictably short, all is well as 2x3:45 pace is 7:30)

3- 3:38.9 (leveling off a little, 11:15, exactly 3:45 pace)

4- 3:42.6 (14:58, aim was 15:00)

5- 3:39.0 (18:37 first 5k, 6:00 perfect pace)

6- 3:45.0 nailed it

7- 3:42.0

8- 3:48.3 (29:52 for 8k, just under 6:00 pace, at this point i was battling a gentleman who would for the life of him not let me pass, everytime i tried to get around him, he surged massively and so i just tucked in..i have no problem drafting...each time i felt like he was slow, like the 8th km for example, i just tried to pass him and he picked it up..this worked til about 11k when i finally dropped him for good)

9- 3:42.7

10- 3:45.0 (another perfectly split km, 37:20 at the 10k...that is just under 6:00 pace, the 5k split from 6-10k was 18:43, i was shooting for 37:30-37:50 at the 10k and so i was well within range, at this point i felt good and knew that sub 1:20 was not only possible but probable...however this is when the real race began for me.

11- 3:40.9

12- 3:46.2

13- 3:44.3

14- 3:47.0 (between 13 and 14k i caught another gentleman who would later pass me, but here it gave me quite a boost as i was tiring and i was all alone for much of the 2nd half of the race)

15- 3:42.0 (56:00 for 15k split, right near 6:00-6:01 pace, 18:40 for the 11-15k 5k split), when i signed up for this race, i was going to use it as a 15k tempo and my goal through 15k was 55:55-57:00, needless to say 56:00 was right where i wanted to be, very very happy with this split..however, i was alone again and the last 6k was challenging because it was basically a solo venture)

16- 3:42.4 (59:43 for 16k, the 10 mile split was somewhere right after this so i was probably right around 1:00:00 even for the 10 mile, excellent pacing! )

17- 3:52.1 (entering the hardest stretch of race mentally...the last 20 minutes...)

18- 3:50.2

19- 3:53.2

20- 3:43.2 (1:15:01 split for 20k, the last 5k from 16-20 was covered in 19:01, 6:08 pace, my slowest of the race, but the hardest too as i was all alone and have never held this pace this long...REGARDLESS, my game plan of 3:45's meant i would come through the 20k in 1:15:00...i was within 1 second of that...im very proud to say that i executed perfectly for the most part of my plan)

21.1- last 1.1 was 4:18.4 as i came in an was elated to see 1:19:xx on my wrist

FINAL-- 1:19:20, 6:03 avg pace

Post race Thoughts

As I sit here and reflect, I am struck by one thing in particular..my pacing strategy. I have tried to execute this in so many halves since my first one in 2008, and today i finally got it right. I think this is because I was ready to PR, my training is at a whole other level now. I am running far longer, faster and smarter. The good thing is I still have room to improve in my training and thus my races. I feel like with this race I have finally learned how to run a half and I expect my time to drop further and further. Some interesting stats, for most of the race and even through around 16k i was on pace to break 1:19, if not for the brief lapse in the last 5k i think i would have been there (the older gentleman who i passed at 14k passed me at 20k and went on to hit 1:18:53 for example, i tried to go with but couldnt). I am going to celebrate this one and then get back to training this week and see what i can do april 1st at the Freiburg HM. Best stat for the day, first 10k- 37:20, 2nd 10k- 37:41, through 20k, from the first half to the second half of the race i lost only 21 seconds, a good accomplishment and one of the many positives I am taking from this race! A quick comment on the race, very well organized, very friendly people, only had 3-4 water stations...all was good though, very very flat, and actually a lot was on trails so in the states might have been classified as a trail hm, it was about half on bike trails that were paved and half on bike trails that were groomed but not paved...actually saved my knee with the soft ground and i didnt lose any speed on the trails.

easy paced 7.5 tonight, beautiful weather here in Germany. I ran along the river trail, lots of people out runnin tonight. splits were easy:

1- 7:03.7

2- 7:13.8

3- 7:18.4

4- 7:13.8

5- 7:04.3

6- 6:55.27

7- 6:55.24 (i put it to the hundredths cuz i like the nuance of an even split)

.5-- 3:31

total-- 53:15, 7:06 avg pace, 10x 50m strides after

no comment....

no idea how far i ran tonight, i had a lot on my mind so i picked a mountain in the distance and ran until i reached the top of it, then turned around and came home. absolutely beautiful scenery up there, my legs will be sore tomorrow though, not use to such intense climb (and the subsequent downhill). i pegged tonight at 8.3 rough estimate, i ran for 1:06:16

woke up, decided on 10 miles, felt tough the last part, not used to morning running since ive been here, 1:13:32, 7:21 avg pace

so sore today, probably from the mountain run 2 days back, its always the 2nd day that the legs feel it. 5.2 in 38:xx, not real concerned with pace, just shaking the legs out. a good mileage week given the half PR earlier in the week, my fitness is still improving! 

rainy and cold here in Germany today. didnt stop me from throwing down some speed. started with 3 easy then dropped into speed. 4th mile was 5:15.7, ran an easy mile then ran another fast one for mile 6, that split was even better...5:08.3. I really thought i was going to break 5 minutes on this one, but i think wearing tights and being weighed down with rainwater kept me just above it. Either way these were two solid miles for today's workout..im definitely getting into good shape. cooled down with 3 for a total of 9 miles.

11 miles today, feeling like puttin up some miles this week! 1:17:55 total with the last 2 at GMP, 7:05 avg pace overall. Tale of 2 halves again, i negative split this thing pretty good. 1st half (5.5 M)- 39:46, 7:14 avg pace,

2nd half was 38:09 (5.5 M), 6:56 avg pace on the way home! 1:37 negative split!

split of the day was the last 4 miles -- 27:34, 6:53.5 avg pace

i love negative splitting, although the course i run is a little uphill on the way out and then downhill on the way back so its a little easier to negative split, but the mental aspect is very good for my training! Plus, i really do pick it up quite a bit. Overall, a good run today on very tired, sore legs. Pretty muddy and its been raining and colder lately, but those are my favorite running conditions.

7 easy tonight, felt pretty good given the higher mileage thus far this week. really nice weather today. splits:

1- 6:55.6

2- 6:57.3

3- 7:12.1

4- 7:05.5

5- 7:14.2

6- 7:13.5

7- 6:55.6

total-- 49:33, 7:05 avg pace

15 today, scrapped plans for 20 and decided instead to get consistent high mileage instead. I missed a turn and so i actually ran 14.85 in 1:44:36, which translates to like 7:02 pace. However, I did 6x50-60M strides after so I rounded my total up to 15. I never count strides but this is an exception! Felt pretty decent throughout the run...on the way back I again ran a massive negative split. right near 50 minutes on the way out (7:08 pace). 47:33 (6:48 pace) on the way back for the first 14, then i ran another mile slower to make it 15. Thats a solid 2:30 negative split (although again downhillish on the way back). My last few splits that I was able to get were 6:50.4, 6:45.6, 6:44.4, 6:50.3, 7:02.4...overall, pretty good rythym throughout and especially the end. 

6 miles easy in 44:25, 7:24 avg pace. felt really sore and tired

Wow...what to say about todays workout. My goal was just to run a fast 5k. I knew I had measured an accurate course on my computer, however I also knew this course was probably downhill and thus a little bit aided, however it was indeed accurate. Even still, i never thought i'd run a 16:29, basically a PR for 5k on a training run during the highest mileage week of my life in a non-race atmosphere. Warmed up for 3 miles, did some stretching then got after it. Here were my splits:

1- 5:09.7

2- 5:17.9

3- 5:28.1

closed with a 34 second final .1-

TOTAL time was 16:29, basically an aided PR (my 16:23 in december was likely short, this one was definitely 3.1, but pretty downhill), i cooled down for 4-5 miles and actually ran out of gas and had to walk/jog the final mile. I think the mileage this week is catching up with me. Nonetheless...extremely proud of what I just did, i cant believe that time given all the factors involved.

5 slow miles today, not quite the death march i anticipated, but still a good shakeout run nonetheless..now time to cut back for next weekend's freiburg half! 

a glorious morning 5 in the French Alps before the sun came up...absolutely beautiful.

a repeat of yesterday. Could really get used to running in these surroundings!

Back in Germany today finally, long evening of train rides yesterday as we traversed from Geneva back to Freiburg. Got some good rest last night and decided to get out and get some race pace work for this weekend as is typical for me 4 days out from a big race. 3 miles at GHMP. I was absolutely amazed at how good it felt, i tried to hold 6:00 pace but ended up way faster, just felt too easy to run quickly. My splits were as follows for the tempo portion:

1- 5:49.2

2- 5:56.8

3- 5:52.0

TOTAL-- 17:38, 5:53 avg pace

warmup was 3, cooldown was 1.5, total was 7.5. I really am shocked at how easy I perceived the pace to be, i was sure I was 6:00-6:10 and I was just takin it easy...definitely a good sign and hopefully this weekend's half will be a good one. My new goal for the race is sub 6:00 avg pace, so right near 1:18:30. We'll see how it goes, that is 3:43 per K pace. I'll try to get some pictures up from the weekend as per Jake K's request!

Above is me in Annecy, France with the lake and mountains in the background. Below is the house we stayed at with some friends and the road i took on my runs every day

More scenery pics!

A pic from the town of Annecy...notice the white capped mountains in the distance!

 and of course my wife and I:

5 easy tonight, felt pretty easy and the weather was awesome, splits were very even:

1- 7:08.1

2- 7:00.0

3- 6:58.2

4- 7:09.1

5- 6:53.6

TOTAL-- 35:09, 7:02 avg pace

taper continues tomorrow and saturday with the race on sunday.

4 miles very easy today, felt pretty smooth and even. 28:16 or something like that, 7:04 pace, wasnt took worried about that though, just got the overall time. carb loading tonight then continuing the taper tomorrow! 

pre race today, feeling primed for a good one tomorrow. Packet pick up and resting tonight, 2.5 today in 18:08, 7:15 avg pace

Wow...another PR and replacing one that is only 3 weeks old...needless to say, im ecstatic!! My level of fitness has been really high since coming to Germany, ive been putting up more mileage then ever plus i've had to walk everywhere, so my body is responding very positively. The Freiburg Marathon event is quite largee, we are talking approximately 4500-5000 runners for the half and another 1500 for the full. This was the event that I had originally hoped to PR at before I decided to jump in the mercedes hm 3 weeks back. My wife and I signed up before we left for this race and it was one of the focal points of the trip. After having PR'ed 3 weeks back, this race could have been an anti-climatic victory lap, but I decided to shoot for sub 6:00 per mile pace, something that has eluded me at longer distances..and frankly something I thought that was a year or more off at least. Turns out, it is something I can do  did. 

Pre-race

woke up without having to worry about too much travel. An 11 am start time meant sleeping in til a few minutes before 7. I love "hometown" races! Ate a piece of gluten-free bread...which was kind of a gamble but not really. I know you're not sposed to change things up on race day, but white bread (my normal pre-race food because of its low-fiber) has been given me indigestion lately, so I decided to switch to this prerace. About 9:45, my wife and I boarded a local bound train since the start was about 6km from where we are living. Apparently everyone and their dogs took advantage of the "sonderzug" or special train organized for runners...and as a result our train was literally packed with people, you could not move there so many stuffed into the train car. It was only a 3 minute ride, and everyone was in good spirits though, so definitely not a big deal (i love how runners in general are so happy-go-lucky, even here in Germany). Got to the race, warmed up, line for the bathroom was very long, so like everyone (well all the men here in germany), just went outside wherever there was a spot haha. On a side-note, my wife was participating in her first HM, a big deal for her, and so she had some pre-race jitters as well. Another side note, weather was near perfect, mid-40s, light to moderate winds later in the race, but overall, ideal racing conditions.

The race

Got to the start line after they let the handbikers go, standing there at the front of such a huge field is an awesome feeling. At first it kind of reminded me of the train ride since we were packed in the starting line, but then I could feel the energy of 6000 tapered, "raring to go" runners being held back for that magical but arbitrary time to start running. AWESOME!

gun went off and got out clean, settled in to a pace immediately and was initially surprised by the amount of runners at that pace, but I know a half is a long race and things would settle out. (all splits are in KM, goal was 3:43 per KM, which is roughly 1:18:30 pace)

1- 3:38.8 spot on

2- 3:40.0

3- 3:40.3 (10:59, 5:51 mile pace) settling in and weeding out some fast starters, always looking for new people to draft onto as the wind is decently strong today

4- 3:36.8 (a little faster as the pack started thinning and I had to go or get left in no-man's land, decisions that are important early in a race)

5k- 3:40.6 (18:16 for the first 5k, that is 5:52 mile pace, faster than i had hoped, but i was feeling good and had people to run with)

6- 3:48.1 marker was likely a touch off, not too worried by it

7- 3:42.2

8- 3:36.3 another mile where I had to move and find people to work with otherwise i was at risk of falling all alone, it may be faster than desired pace, but so often getting left alone is a death nail when shooting for good races, 8k in 29:23, 5:53 per mile

9- 3:41.7

10k- 3:42.8 (36:47, pretty decent 10k split, 5:53ish pace, probably one of the better 10ks ive run as i never race this distance it seems like)

11- 3:53.8 tough KM here, for whatever reason, my legs got heavy, in long races I know that sometimes you feel good but you get rough patches, this was a rough patch, i was worried I had maybe run the first 10k too fast, but i kept reassuring myself I had to go out that fast to hit my time goal, nonetheless, i slugged it out and got through this rough patch

12- 3:47.0

13& 14- 7:15.4 (3:38ish per K) missed the split cuz i was gettin water, by this point I had got back on the horse and was feeling better, 2 other factors also helped, 1. we had come to a part of the course I run almost daily and do ALL of my speedwork on, its a little downhill but its familiar, 2. I had by this point been running with more or less the same group and we were all encouraging each other, when they were feeling bad, i motioned for them to come with and vice versa, even over here with langauge gaps, running is about comraderie and that is awesome! some of those guys saved my race today in the 10-14k stretch

15k- 3:38.6 (55:22, a new PR for 15k as i dont really race this either, 5:54 mile pace) starting to string together a nice patch of kilometers here and this time was 38 seconds faster than my 15k split 3 weeks ago)

16 & 17- 7:34.3 (3:47ish per K) water stop again at 16k, but given that pace, my 10 mile split was likely around 59:20, which is around 5:56 pace)

18- 3:43.0 running right near where we live here

19- 3:46.5, feeling good knowing that a PR is about to be earned

20k- 3:39.2 (1:14:05, 5:58 avg mile pace, a new PR for 20k, which I dont run very often as well) also, 56 seconds faster than 3 weeks ago

last 1.1- 4:10, 5:57 mile pace for the final kick

HALF TOTAL-- 1:18:15, 5:58 avg pace, new PR!!!

post race thoughts

I love in Germany how after the race, all the runners are served water, bananas, and BEER! culture baby! (Side note- beer is actually a good recovery tool as I felt okay on my cooldown) another side note- I finished about the same exact time as the winning lady, so maybe in any videos you'll see me in the other chute as she breaks the tape, pretty neat, she ran a great race!)

Reflection over coffee

I ran this one about as well as I could of, it hurt much of the time and I had to coax my body into not slowing down, but if its easy then you're not doing it right. My 5k splits tell the tale of my training in that they are very even: here they are in order: 

18:16, 18:21, 18:35, 18:43, (plus the 1.1 change afterwards, another 4 min)

I'm super happy with these splits, they are lightyears ahead of even where I was 3 weeks back. 2 10ks faster than my fastest 3 weeks ago, a 36:47 followed by 37:18, only a 31 second positive split compared to a 21 3 weeks ago. Overall, my training helped me and I am moving in the right direction,  but in the meantime, i am going to celebrate another 1 minute 5 second PR...in 3 weeks I took my PR (set in 2009 by the way) from 1:21:13 all the way down to 1:18:15, thats 3 minutes!

Sorry to all those who made it to here, that was a long RR, but its nice to reflect for later on, plus im pretty jacked up on coffee!! Here are my splits on the results page: First (and likely only) American! Click Here

Thanks for reading, happy running!

7 tonight, felt a little sore but overall not too bad for a post PR half run. 7 miles in 50:06, 7:09 pace, positive split slightly but it was also downhill out and up back. 

8 mile run tonight, weather was really nice, just done raining and it was cool and nice out. felt pretty good, my splits were rather even:

1- 6:58.0

2- 7:00.1

3- 7:04.9

4- 6:59.1

5- 7:05.5

6- 6:51.3

7- 6:58.8

8- 6:46.8

TOTAL-- 55:44, 6:58 avg pace

10 miles tonight in the pouring rain! its been raining nonstop here in freiburg lately, my legs didnt feel too horrible, 34:03 for the first 5 miles, 6:48 avg pace, 34:54, 6:59 on the way back, 1:08:58 total, 6:54 avg pace for the 10. ran the first 8 miles in somewhere in the vicinity of 54:30, 6:49 avg pace, then slowed it down to bring it in easy. Here in Freiburg on the bike trail they have meter markers every half kilometer...over one stretch, I hit 5 consecutive 500 meter markers in 2:10 exactly..i was in a zone.

5 easy recovery today. only including my splits because there were crazy even and I like that sort of thing in running, always has interested me. 

1- 7:08.7

2- 7:06.4

3- 7:03.4

4- 7:07.0

5- 7:07.4

total--35:33, 7:06.5 avg pace

some good speed work today. warmed up for 3 miles, then ran a fast mile, then did a recovery mile, then did another fast mile, then cooled down for 2.5. Splits on my 2 fast miles were:

1- 5:03.1

2- 4:59.5

pretty cool to dip below 5 for the 2nd mile, i havent really done that since college! getting into some pretty good speed shape, hopefully will be able to make an attempt at the 5k here next weekend.

legs were tired, felt tough today. 6 in 42:52, 7:08.5 avg pace

Was thinking anywhere between 12-20 today...actually to clarify, when i first woke up, i was like...im talking today off, my legs say stop..but after some coffee, i felt better and it was cooler and rainy (my favorite running conditions) so i decided to get out and hammer some miles. I had some crazy zen late in the run and hit 5 or 6 mile splits in a row all at the same exact pace...pretty creepy but cool! here are the splits:

1- 7:01.3

2- 7:06.1

3- 7:11.7

4- 7:08.8

5- 7:14.2

6- 7:10.8

7- 7:15.6 turn around

8- 7:02.8 after this, pretty flat to decline, a reversal of the uphill first 7

9- 6:51.0

10- 6:50.5

11- 6:50.0

12- 6:50.5

13- 6:48.2 (I was so close to 6:50 on this mile to be officially amazed at that steady pace...i was just in a zone)

14- 6:49.4, creepy streak of 6 miles...all almost identical, finished the out and back, then put 2 more down

15- 6:55.1

16- 6:51.1 (had to end it with a mile that was creepily close in splits to the previous 8 except for #15)

total-- 1:51:57, Just an absolute smidge under 7:00 mile pace. I turned around at about 7:09 pace, but then i dropped it into that steady pace, pretty cool run overall...my legs are now shot and I will indulge in some easter chocolate to recover...as well as take tomorrow off. 5k + 10k double this weekend...focus on the 5k for obvious reasons

5 in 35:47, 7:09 pace, felt very sore and not a fun run, but that is the point of shakeouts

6 miles easy. 42:37, 7:06 avg pace. Felt easy, my legs were still sore, but i tried to shake them out and i think i succeeded. Very even splits throughout. 

Not much doin today, just 4.5 more shakeout miles in 32:17, 7:10 avg pace. My legs are FINALLY coming back around...maybe I rushed the 16 miler on tired legs after the half PR week...but at least they are starting to feel better. 

For this weekend's race, I've done much debating, but I think I'm gonna focus on a fast 5k then probably run the 10k an hour later as an uptempo cooldown...its only 6 euro for the 10k (only 4 for the 5k) so racing is cheap enough over here.

2.5 typical pre-workout run today. Feeling pretty good. 18:13, 7:17 pace. 

2 different races today with 1 hour of each other. The first was a 5k and then a 10k, so not a 15k all at once. My plan was to go hard on the 5k and use the 10k as a cooldown tempo effort. However, I felt great during the 10k and set a new PR! (I dont usually race 10k). 

Got up early at 4:30 and took the 5:55 train to get to the race by 8:45. Warmed up and was ready to go for the 9:45 start for the 5k. This was called the "Einsteigerlauf" which means beginner lauf, but I wanted to run a 5k and the last years' times have been competitive. This year, there was no competition. It was basically a solo time trail from the gone and I led coast to coast. I still tried to make it an honest effort, but with no tactical racing, I really hit a hard rhythm and stayed there. Competition really does help times. Splits (In km's):

1-3:10.5 short

2- 3:32.2 long

3- 3:24.0 accurate

4- 3:20.8

5- 3:20.2

Finish time: 16:47, 5:23 pace. I won by over 2:10 and nearly a half-mile. Nonetheless, it was very cool to get to do a victory lap around the stadium (as the race finished with a 300 on the local track. They announced "ya-cob flawwws" kind of cool. Got done and had 2 reporters come talk to me (they said they'd mail me the paper when it comes out. Kind of unexpected. They quickly found out my German isn't flawless, but they switched to english for me. They were shocked to find I came from the USA and that I was also running the 10k. They joked over the loud speaker I had done this as a "warm-up".  I really felt like it was a good effort though. Interesting fact for this race is the evenness of pace. Assuming the 1 and 2 markers were off, if you slice the race in half I ran 8:24 for the first 2.5k and 8:23 for the 2nd 2.5k, a 1 second negative split. Just goes with my theory that I was in shape to run quite a ways better with some competition. I was happy with that time though.

Got done with the race about 10:00, got a 1.5 mile cooldown/stay warm run in, kind of a weird place to be in. Thankfully, I didn't have any major GI issues like I do sometimes after shorter fast efforts. Must have been somewhat hydrated. At 11 sharp the 10k took off:

I started a few rows deep as I wanted to not go out fast. I really did plan on using this as a moderate 37:30ish effort. Here were my splits and they tell the tale better than I can:

1- 3:40.8

2- 3:39.4

3- 3:34.6

4- 3:32.0

5- 3:29.1 (17:56 here at the first 5k, the trend was slowly negatively splitting. At about 3k I took a GU as I was a little taxed from the initial 5k and didnt wanna upset my stomach between races. This actually was one of the smartest things I did all day as that boosted me bigtime the last 5k by the time it kicked in) Also of note, at this point, I was within eyesight of the leaders and was visually gaining on them. I kept getting this crazy notion that I was gonna pull the double victory, but I tried to reign myself in and slowly pick people off , which I was doing in droves

6- 3:38.2 into stiff 15mph headwind, not a fun mile, but I pushed through it

7- 3:32, wind at our backs for the home stretch

8- 3:37.0, 28:44 for 8k, a pace I'm more than happy with

9- 3:31.3 sniffing 3rd place, almost ran the guy down but never did

10- 3:34.5, no victory, but a 4th place finish around the track (2nd 5k split -17:54, a 2 second negative split)

Finish time-- 35:49, 5:45 pace a new PR!

Pretty cool to enter the stadium for a final lap and have people telling me "Go Jacob" when I am in a foreign land. The announcer really played up the "yahh-cob" thing which is how they say it here, and I was clearly the only American in the field.

Overall thoughts:

Very happy with these efforts. I was amazed to have run a PR just an hour after one of my better 5ks to date. Makes me wonder how fast I'd of gone on fresh legs for the 10k. I'd of battled for the win no doubt. The people at the event were awesome, and I even made some friends. Overall, an awesome day of running! One I certainly will not forget! Funny story to finish. After I got done, I was chatting to a German guy who spoke good english. And he asked me "what was that racing strategy you did. You started so slow and then by 3k you passed me and everyone else." I had to have a good laugh as I explained to him was negative-splitting means and how this is a smart way to run. He had never heard of it before! Pretty interesting stuff.

15.43 total miles

7 tonight in 49:17, 7:02.5 avg pace. felt very easy and the weather was very nice. mid-50s with a nice breeze. went out in 24:27 downhillish, and came back slightly uphill in 24:49, very even splits given the elevation difference. Strides after.

9 easy tonight. My stride felt awful. Not really sure what the deal was. Tried slowing it down on the 2nd half, but it was downhill and that makes it easy to keep rolling unfortunately. Will take it easier tomorrow. 9 in 1:03:55, 7:06 avg pace. First half, 32:14, 2nd half 31:49, a 25 second negative split, but I definitley attribute it to the elevation drop and in reality, I didnt feel that great today.

disappointing day. 6 miles on a day when i was sposed to go 8-9 cuz of bad GI issues. Such is life though, ill get up earlier tomorrow and run a little farther to make up for it. 42:56, 7:09 avg pace.

6 early this am as the sun was coming up over Germany. Kind of cloudy and cooler, but i definitely overdressed for the conditions and was sweating big time. 44:46 for 6 miles, 7:28 avg pace. Always amazing how much more mentally tough a 6 miler right after waking up is compared to a normal run in the afternoon.

Pretty awesome workout today. The goal of it was to develop a kick for late in races..a pretty important concept for obvious reasons. The plan was to run 6 miles to warmup easy, then to turn around and drop some 6:00 ish miles for 3, then give it all I had left for the next 2 miles. then cool down. Hit the first 6 miles really easy paced, uphill-ish 43:29, 7:15 pace on the way out, then turned around and started the progression part of the run, this was downhill for the most part, but thats ok, I felt like the paces i hit were pretty honest. splits on the 5 mile progression (8k):

1- 6:04.2

2- 5:59.0 (surprised at how easy this pace felt)

3- 5:54.8 (17:58)

4- 5:45.7 (felt like 5:20 effort at this point)

5- 5:38.8, may have stopped the watch a touch early.

total-- 29:22 for 8k, 5:52 pace

Closed the last 2 miles in 11:24, which is 5:42 pace. That felt pretty difficult though considering I had already run 9 miles, 3 at HMP, before even starting the faster 2. So the times werent super fast on those (yet) but the effort was good and I am happy with putting down that kind of 8k during a longer run after a high mileage week. Plus, I want to start doing more of these kinds of workouts to build that kick so that at the end of shorter races, I have that extra gear to pull out the win., 3 miles afterwards to cooldown for 14 total on the day.

Legs are pretty beat up, but I want to get a good mileage week next week before May-June racing season peaks in Iowa.  Probably do a lot of easier mileage earlier in the week to absorb the training.

very slow and easy today.

Quality run tonight. Got out just feeling pretty normal and just snowballed it into a good run. The amazing part of this run was that I ran 34:14 for the first 5 miles and that was all pretty much downhill (as this trail follows the river). Then turning around and running against the river direction, so uphill for the last 5 miles on the out and back. I ran this uphill portion in 33:53, a 21 second negative split! Not super fast by any means, all within GMP, but pretty cool nonetheless because I usually positive split this route. 1:08:07 for the 10 miles, 6:49 avg pace, one more run in freiburg tomorrow then we leave for Prague for 1 day then must fly home early on the 25th back to the USA. Im gonna miss running here for sure...

7 very slow and painful miles. pretty much served as a shakeout run, also my last run here in freiburg. Kind of sad...o well, i'll carry this fitness back home and get some good races in! 

8 today back in america, felt pretty sluggish and was pretty jet lagged, 56:36, 7:04.5 pace, most coming in the form of the final mile hill that I had forgotten about! 

Got some speed going today. Did a mile warmup then dropped right into it, 2x1600 at very hard effort. did a mile cooldown easy between the 2 mile repeats, had a little tailwind that helped, but for the most part the efforts were true. mile splits were quite good:

1- 4:59.4

2- 4:56.5

Haven't hit mile repeats like that since college, definitely a positive sign going forward. Cooled down for 3 and change. All told, a great effort workout and a nice marker of my current fitness. Hoping for some fast races in May and June starting next weekend with a local 5k I won last year.

even paced recovery run today, my legs were pretty sore throughout though.7.6 in 54:28, 7:10 pace. Originally had a LR planned, but I had to move into my new apartment all morning/afternoon and was pretty tired.

10 in heavy rain the whole time, my body gave up on me today, just didn't have anything. 1:13:30, 7:21 avg pace. Ice bath after plus day off tomorrow, need to get some pop back into my legs as may racing season is here! 

6 miles today on a brand new route in our brand new town with our brand new apartment. I have a feeling this new trail will become a staple of my training routines. pretty warm and humid even tho its only 10am, 43:38, 7:16 avg pace, 22:25 out (7:28 avg) 21:12 back (7:04 avg), started to loosen up a little plus I had the wind at my back the 2nd half...although a shakeout run, still managed a nice 1:13 negative split.

very disappointing run today. I am always shocked at when my stomach issues decide to show up..nothing out of the ordinary today..but bam after finishing up the HMP 1.5 mile tempo, it just hit me. Had to stop on the side of the road even..worst part was this was about as far away from home as I could be, so that was a nice 2-3 mile walk/run back with stomach issues hampering any effort over 1 minute in length, way back took forever...tempo was fine, 5:56 with a 2:56 half mile on the end, 8:52 for 1.5, 5:55 avg pace.  

5 miles after rolling out of bed, helped slow the pace, 36:30, 7:18 avg pace

21:49, 7:16 avg pace for tomorrows 5k. Goal is to win so I can buy some new shoes with the GC, another goal is obviously sub 16, hoping to be at least sub 16:40 tho.

Race that I won last year. Had some more local talent show up this year. Still, not my best performance, and I should have broken 17 at least. Thats racing though! Showed up, saw the eventual winner, figured I would have to have a great day to track him down. Started out hard and drafted off him through about 1 mile. We came through in 5:08, 2nd mile it was a 3 man race and we had seperated, this is where we turned into bad headwinds, about 20mph and running solo being a little guy that slowed me down a lot. Next split was something like 5:42 which was almost certainly affected by the wind. 10:50 at 2 miles, ran a 5:39 and a 34 second .1 to cross in 17:04. On the final stretch, I ran down the 2nd place guy, passed him and then had him pass me back before the line. Not much of a kick as it was directly east into the headwind and I was honestly worn out from battling it. Not a terrible effort, I feel like given normal conditions I would have been 16:40-16:45 today, probably not a winnin effort as the winner was 16:30ish into the wind. Still, My time today was 45 seconds faster than my winning time last year. So I am improving and its a plus that I ran so much faster on this course with less than ideal conditions this year.

longest training run to date here. not sure of actual mile times for most of it and I actually got lost (it was a planned 18 mile run and I tracked around for .75 til I found my route again. first 9.75 was 1:07:53, 6:58 avg pace, pretty solid out. The way back was tougher into the wind and slightly uphill, last 3 miles were exposed and very difficult but I kept pushing. Final time was 2:12:05, 7:03 avg pace for the entire run. Pretty good overall, I'm quite happy with today's run. 

goal of this one was to run at top end GMP for 6 miles straight. given the almost 19 yesterday this would simulate giving all i had left at the end of a marathon. my goal was sub 40 min as that is 6:40 pace and reasonable. Instead I crushed it and ran 38:52, 6:29 avg pace. then on my 1 mile cooldown, i ran a 6:50 for 45:42, 6:32 avg pace for 7 miles. splits during the planned 6 mile GMP run:

1- 6:27.5

2- 6:29.5

3- 6:30 (19:27 3 mile split)

4 & 5- 13:07

6- 6:17.9

total like I said was 38:52. My two 3 mile halves were very equal, 19:27 and 19:25.

ice bath afterwards, then taking tomorrow off. My quads are pretty sore, but I could feel worse. Very good marathon simulation training over the last 2 days. Looking forward to getting the BQ in early June.

6 mile shakeout early this morning at 6:15 am. 45:04, 7:30.5 avg pace, took 'er nice and easy (plus my body was still asleep for most of the run!)

nice easy 7 this afternoon. very steadily paced, had the wind at my back out and fought it on the way back...forgot how windy iowa was compared to freiburg. Splits:

1- 6:58.7

2- 6:57.0

3- 6:54.6

4- 7:04.7

5- 7:10.4

6- 7:09.0

7- 6:45.8

total-- 49:00, 7:00 avg pace, a nice evenly paced day

4 miles easy this morning, already a little warm, I got a good sweat going, last mile was a touch fast but nothing felt different. Prolly that dang wind, 28:24, 7:06 avg pace, childserve 5k tomorrow, ran 17:21 there last year and I am in far better shape than compared to then, so hopefully that will translate. A goal tomorrow is 16:30 or better. First real sub 16 attempt will likely be May 19th in Marion..good course and better competition..good recipe for success.

My 2nd attempt at the Childserve 5k this morning. Love doing this race because its such a great cause! (not to mention the course is pancake flat!). Course is very accurate as well, so its a true test here. Last year I ran a pretty solid 17:21, this year I was hoping sub 16:40. Conditions were great, mid-50s with not much wind. 

At the line there was one other guy, Vic Morales, who is a pretty good runner, I knew I'd have a challenge. Started off well, right on his shoulder, but after about 800, I let off the pace and let him have a lead, he was going out pretty hard or so the effort felt. Another kid stayed with me for around 1 mile. At the mile, I clicked a 5:19.9, a little slower than i'd like for what I'm trying to do, but my legs were not turning over very well I noticed. 5:30.2 2nd mile split, i tried to at least maintain my effort and not let Vic get any farther ahead. Soon after the first mile I had dropped the kid, so now the only goal I had was to chase down Vic. The last 1.1 I gave it a good effort and closed to within 10-15 seconds, but could never quite get em. Kind of bummed, cuz I was so close to running him down, but thats racing sometimes, today just wasn't my day. last 1.1 was 6:04,which is right near 5:23 pace, so I definitely picked it up both in reality and in perceived effort this last mile. I clocked a low 16:54, but the official results had 16:55, 5:26 pace. Not a bad race given the somewhat higher mileage this week, and the 26 second improvement on last year still shows I'm heading in the right direction (as last week I improved on last year as well). Hopefully, I'll be able to run a great time next week as the competition is really good and the course fast.

PM- 5 miles in 34:48, 6:58 avg pace. ice bath afterwards

Brand new shoes today, felt like I was running clouds. Its amazing the difference new shoes make, and man did I need them! Felt pretty good and the pace felt pedestrian, weather was around 80 degrees but not too humid so a really nice day. Splits were pretty even:

1- 6:50.4

2- 6:46.0

3- 6:44.2 (20:20 at 3 miles, 6:47 pace)

4- 6:59.4

5- 7:00.3

6- 7:01.9

7- 6:40.3

total-- 48:02, 6:52 avg pace

good tempo today, weather was pretty warm, near 90, but not much humidity, which was nice. Still, i drove down to greenbelt trail so i could run in the forest where it was a little cooler and not as much wind/sun. goal was 4 miles at/or slightly under 24:00, which is half mary pace..just a tempo effort. warmed up for 2 then dropped right into business, splits for the tempo portion were as follows:

1- 5:58.3

2- 5:50.0

3- 5:50.0

4- 6:02.5

Total-- 23:40, 5:55 avg pace for 4 miles, overall, very good workout, the effort felt very easy which is always a good sign...i think the turn around between 2 and 3 was a touch short of a full mile (maybe a few yards is all), but other than that I felt like I ran even paced throughout and am very happy with how comfortable this run was. 2 mile cooldown. 8 total

Very easy pace today as I really tried not to push at all. last mile was slightly GMP. total run was 45:41, 7:02 avg pace.

very easy run today, the GMP mile was definitely wind aided as it was very windy out. I felt like I was just out for an easy jog though. 38:49 for the 5.5 miles, 7:03 avg pace

Decided against traveling to bedford tomorrow to race, too far to spend money on gas and the entry fee, my legs are too shot to run a great time this weekend. So tonight, I had the idea of seeing what I could bust a 2 mile all out run in, but after about 800 meters, I knew that wasn't in the cards. 5:16 on that mile, tried to then run another one after a mile cooldown, went through the 800 in 2:35, and stopped shortly afterwards. Got in about another 400 in, but this workout was in shambles. My body just quit on me. Its okay to have workouts like this once in a while, remind my to listen to my body. Not a real inspiring workout, but probably a smart move to take the weekend off from racing. Tentative goal is to get a long run in tomorrow, then take a 2-3 week cut back and throw down 2-3 fast 5ks, then take a week off and regroup before a BQ attempt in early fall. We'll see how it goes.

longish run today of 11.2, had to make this week's mileage even, kind of an ocd thing. Kind of at the end of this training cycle, i believe i peaked in mid-april at the 5k/10k double in Germany. Ive lacked consistency and my legs have been getting tougher to deal with since then, im on the back side of the peak. Today was about all I had, 11.2 felt like a marathon of sorts. Alas, my game plan now is 2easy cut weeks, maybe 3 max with 5ks at the end of each, then taking a break and resetting myself. As for todays workout, 11.2 was clocked in 1:19:03 which averages to 7:03 per mile. Had 2 that were technically GMP but the wind was so bad today that it really helped on some miles and really slowed on others. For example, there is a 2 mile stretch on this run where I am with the wind and then into the wind 2/2. my splits were even on this portion 6:56.65 and 6:56.68 with the wind, so exactly even paced, then 7:05.31 and 7:05.57 into the wind..perfect mirror opposites..the funny little intricacies of running! ice bath then day off while I travel to Phoenix for work. 

108 degrees in phoenix today so i opted for the treadmill and got in 5 miles in 36:00, 7:12 pace

6 more treadmill miles tonight, 2 at 6:50 and 6:45 pace respectively just to get the legs moving a touch. 42:09,7:01.5 avg pace, nice even treadmill stuff, strides after

treadmill again today, another 100 degree day here in phoenix! 1 easy, then 5 at 6:45 pace (33:45), then 1 easy. 48:22, 6:55 avg pace for the run.

5 easy on the mill in 36:32, 7:18 avg pace

URD yesterday as I traveled all day and had no time to run, a day off there was not at all bad though, my legs could use the rest. 4 miles today in 90 degree heat with heat index of 100, wind helped cool me off a little. 28:00, 7:00 pace. Very even splits, a few right in under the GMP of 6:55, but it was hard to tell for sure how much aid the wind gave. cap city 5k tomorrow, should be a hot one! 

Cap city 5k today, hit the first mile in around 5:28 then completely dropped off the face of the earth. my body gave up on me and the last 3k was slower than 6:00 pace, finished somewhere around 18:40 or something for the 5k, but at that point I was jogging it in just to finish and was no longer  trying to run fast. Not a good day, but this is my body saying its time to take a week off and reload, I shoulda listened sooner and done it sooner, but you live and learn. Taking 6-8 days completely off, then gonna do another cycle. This cycle has been great, lots of PRs, just kinda fizzled out on tired legs.

still in phoenix, 3.5 on the treadmill, felt pretty decent for the first run of the new training cycle, still going to be able to tap into my last cycle it looks like. Awesome stuff!

4 on the mill, 28:56, 7:14 avg, strides

3 weeks in phoenix, and i finally got outside today. Its so hot...100 degrees when i went out at 5:20 pm and it was 7 percent humidity, so super dry...not fun running conditions, ill prolly go back to the mill tomorrow unfortunately..im so sick of that thing. todays were split as follows:

1- 6:54.8

2- 6:45.3

3- 7:04.8

4- 7:00.9

27:45, 6:56 avg pace for the day

5 mind numbing treadmill miles tonight, at least the nba finals was on so i could watch that and zone out.

mental grinding 4 miles at 5 am on "just woke up" legs, good practice for that aspect. pretty slow as I the 4th mile I finally "cranked" the treadmill up to 7:35, i needed slow mileage today though and so it was perfect for that.

4.2 miles today, was thinking for 6 but didnt feel that great so i turned back early. back in iowa, so hopefully I can settle into a nice routine now.

6 miles after work tonight, felt better, weather was awesome cept for a little wind, 41:59, 7:00 avg pace for the run

Just a run today.

didnt feel great, 35:13, 7:03

34:55, 6:59 avg pace. felt better today