Of Mice and Marathons

Evening: Rail Trail - 5 miles, averaged 8:05. Sluggish. Should have got out this morning, but mom and I went to check out the Beach to Beacon course and pick up my grandmother. Bit of downhill to start. My guess is that the leaders hit sub:4:20 on that one. I was going to go out ultra conservatively, but I'm going to go sensibly and roll the downhill, trying not to worry if the first mile is in the 5:40s and make adjustments from there.

Wingood Road - 5.25 miles, averaged 8:29. Quite easy, then a handful of pickups at race pace then a bit faster.

I'll write a little more tomorrow. Not satisfied with my race. The effort was fine, splits were relatively clean, but my week of race prep was fair to deplorable. Not runnerly by any means (much of which I wont't detail).

I did run into Jemma Steel as she was doing strides and I was warming up from the high school. That wasn't bad. I heard someone make a secret bathroom joke and the guy who responded (he was visiting the secret bathroom) I could swear was Ryan Hall. He was there somewhere. Meb ran well from what I can tell.

Splits: 6:00 (downhill start), 6:15 (nervous about effort), 6:09, 5:59 (my road ID hit the stop on my Timex so add 13-14 seconds), 6:08, 6:14 (uphill), 1:08 for partial

I have a lot of work to do in the next 6 weeks or even breaking 1:20 will be a task in Philly. I really thought I could run 5:57-6:00 pace or faster today without killing myself.

RACE REPORT

Going into this race I thought I could run a PR because I ran a good 5k PR recently and hit a 4-mile tempo at 6:00-6:02 average with some 5:55s. I thought in a race situation that same pace would be fine. I did many things wrong this week diet wise and otherwise (I managed not to eat a full meal the day before). Had a good week with my family though, my longest stay since summer 2010.

We were fortunate to stay at a campground in my uncle's camper (which has a washer/dryer, wi-fi, and so on, so it's not exactly "camping"). I didnt sleep well, but pre-race sleeping is rarely excellent. We left a bit early to make sure I could get to the high school and run to the starting line. I warmed up from the high school to the starting line for ~25 minutes. Did some active stretching and light strides. I figured with a downhill start I didn't want to be too loose. Plan for mile 1 was 5:55, but no faster than 5:48 and no slower than 6:00. Started slow, decided the pace wasn't right, and picked it up. First mile was a 5:59 rounded to 6. I felt like a faster pace was not doable, so I backed off and ran 6:15. At this point I knew I was in for a tough race. Went through halfway in 19:03. I had projected 18:20-18:30. (I did manage a 3 or 4 second negative split.) mile 4 was messed up because my Road ID hit the stop button (I heard a beep, but didn't catch the stop for 13-14 seconds).

Mile 5 is a series of three hills that are relatively short and that temporarily plateau, but they come at a tough time. At about 5.5 you enter the state park and you run on a paved trail, which is narrow compared to the road. The crowd really started to cheer, so I started to grab another gear ~5.75 and the crowd got louder so I grabbed another gear passing 5-6 people, including a woman by whom I was later checked. Of course this was strategic so Andrea could make fun of me. Based on the partial split, I ran the last half mile at 5:23 pace. I got jammed in by a slower runner carrying a cellphone and listening to giant headphones. I made slight contact with him and he told me not to kill him before the finish. I wanted to give him a few race decorum pointers about running with headphones. He looked at his watch and took off as I got stuck behind a group we came up to. I went around the group and about this time I was chicked. Hit the finish line to see the clock ticking 38:1x.

Felt dizzy and a bit nauseous. Yesterday I also felt nauseous.

3 mile cool down.

I wanted to run this at 1:18ish half marathon pace so I could have a shot at running the same pace at Philly in 6 weeks. My goal for the fall is to work toward running 1:15-1:17:59 at the Indy Monumental half, and Nov. 2 is a LONG way off. I'm currently shopping for several 5-10k races to prep for Philly.

Wingood Cooper Erskine loop - 8 miles, averaged 8:04. I was going to take the day off as I'm at 35 days on after not many post-marathon consecutive streaks, but I'll wait until I really need it.

No soreness or tightness, which Is good because I can get a few easy days in, hydrate, and get back to work. Did some thinking on my run about the next 6 weeks. Continue with two workouts a week, increase long run to 2 hours (like last week), while adding a micro workout to an afternoon run. Probably 6-12 200m repeats or 4 x 800 @ LT+ into 4 x 200m like I did this week, or something similar. Enough to encourage form and speed but nothing taxing enough to require a lot of extra recovery. A slight increase in mileage (~78-85), but an overall emphasis on quality and EASY recovery runs.

Wingood Road - 6.5 miles, averaged 8:09. Flying back to Indiana. Good trip.

AM/Lunch: North Side - 6 miles averaged 8:22. Feeling pretty ill.

PM: Jefferson High School (modified) - 6.75 miles, averaged 7:37. Feeling so-so. Managed to get moving, hit a few strides at the end. Fast enough to be strides, not numerous enough to count for much.

I realized over my stay in Maine (and currently) I was (am) likely very dehydrated. Drank soda daily, which I drink very rarely and drank water only after runs. Usually I drink several glasses after a run, have water at my office, and hydrate at dinner and after. I also forgot to take my iron pills after the first few days in Maine. This isn't why I feel like crap or my race wasn't up to expectations, but it's not helping. Onward and upward.

AM: North Side - 5.25 miles, averaged 8:22. Feeling a bit better other than my stomach punching me periodically. I'll be happy when the stretch of highs in the upper 70s come though the next 10 days.

PM: 10 miles around campus, averaged 7:47. Miserable weather (80/80ish), great company.

The meaning of getting chicked (I don't like the term, but I still use it). I tried to break at mile ~5.75 when the crowd starting picking up (and grabbed another gear when they apparently responded to my response). I passed 5 or 6 men and the woman in the photo. She caught me just before going into the grass finish. Lesson #898403 of last race. Don't kick before the 6 mile mark :)

Headed to Philly to see Megan. Day off. 38 days on. Not sure I earned a rest day, but I took it.

Treadmill in Philly while visiting Megan - 9 miles, averaged 6:52

1 mile @ 7:30, 4 miles @ 6:30-6:35 average, 1 mile @ ~6:08-10 pace (started at 6:15 down to 5:57-6:10), 1 mile @ 6:30ish, 2 miles easy w/ 1 200+m stride at ~5:15 thrown in. Just under 62 minutes (1:01:45). Belt was loose, but I got a good effort in and that's what mattered today. Felt good. Somewhere Bam is loudly laughing.

9 miles on the treadmill in just under 65 minutes, averaged 7:12. I watched a bit of Dusk Til Dawn. The treadmill I was on today tops out at 10 MPH. If I move here I may have to put that comment card in.

Weather is nice, but I decided to run on the treadmill again to get some miles in without taking too much time given that I'm leaving today. 10 miles in just under 70 minutes with 5-mile LT tempo after 3 up. 6:10 for the first 2, then 6:00 for the last 3. Messed with the incline a bit to make sure my breathing was elevated enough. 2 down, fighting the silly auto cool down feature and its 4.5 MPH preset.

AM: Vinton Woods - 9 miles, averaged 8:00. Did some strides.

PM: North Side - 5.25 miles, averaged 7:49

Megan and I got engaged yesterday, which I almost put in my entry, but figured I should probably tell my mom first.

AM: Jefferson High School - 7.5 miles, averaged 8:10. Did some pickups @ HMP to see where I was. Felt decent.

PM: Rest Haven Memorial Park loops - 5.25 miles, averaged 8:23. I used to run through this cemetery when I first started running. Never thought until today that I could use the gravel pathways for recovery. Just shy of a half mile around the outside. 

AM: LT repeats on Courtland: 3.1 up, then 5 x 1 mile w/ 2 min recovery jogs, 3.1 down. 5:57, 5:59, 6:03, 6:01, 6:04 (6:01 average).

A touch fast maybe, but it wasn't out of control. Had to fight back toward the end to get some seconds on the last one. Probably could have gone in reverse order and finished better, but I'm happy with it. I'd have to look, but I don't think any LT workouts from spring were this fast. In fact I know I didn't hit any sub-6s in any LT workouts, only v02 max workouts and races.

PM: Rest Haven loops - 4.1 miles, averaged 8:39

AM: North Side - 6 EASY, averaged 8:59

PM: Rest Haven loops - 6 miles, averaged 8:31. I'm really enjoying these runs in the cemetery. Much less likely to get hit by a car, and the dead are pretty quiet when the sun is still out.

AM: Aerobic Builder. Warmed up 3 (w/ a 9:46 first mile!) then a 6 tempo. Ended up being nicely progressive, but I didn't plan it that way. I'm guessing it was my legs getting loosened up, my hips getting better extension, and so on. Splits: 6:49, 6:46, 6:41, 6:39, 6:36, 6:34 (6:41 average). 2.25 cool down. 11.25 miles total, averaged 7:26. Didn't have quite enough time to cool down as long as I wanted to, but it's off to play academic!

PM: Walked home 40 minutes because the bus was 10 minutes earlier than it has been all summer and this week. Then Rest Haven - 4.25 miles, averaged 8:26

It's almost about a month away from the time I started running 3 years ago. I never thought I would be where I am. Good times.

North Side - 5.25 miles, averaged 8:28. Did some strides, including one school-to-school stride around lower 5-minute range to as fast as 4:35 (they just built a new charter school and the "school" markings on the road make a perfect start and finish for a 250 meter interval)

Brandon picked me up about 8:00 and we went to the bog, did a loop on the chips/bark, and did a campus loop for 12.5 in 1:28-1:30, then I ran home by myself another 4.5 at a pretty good clip, working the downhills pretty hard. We were running 6:42 or faster after 10 miles, so I am guessing those solo downhills were easily 6:20 or faster. I forgot my watch, which was kind of nice and just mooched off Brandon's and went by effort on the way home. Good run. Legs felt appropriately tired, yet responsive. Fun to chat and goof off.

I know 2.5 miles (maybe more) were in MP range before I took off on my own, so I am crediting myself with 3 MP and 2 threshold. I don't think the total run was much over 2 hours, so the overall pace was pretty good for me (about 7:00 or faster to as slow as 7:20 overall I think).

AM: North side - 7.25 miles, averaged 8:19. Did some strides. Reminded myself that it takes a few efforts to run 4:30 pace in the morning when you've been running 8:30. 

PM: Springvale Cemetery - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:03. Did some strides.

AM: North side - 7.25 miles, averaged 8:25. Did some hills at the beginning to mix it up and only managed 146 feet. I tried. Did one school-to-school (250-260 meters) at just below 5 minute pace, trying to just cruise.

PM: Springvale Cemetery - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:20. Did some strides.

AM:

Mile Repeats @ 5k or faster. Warmed up 4 with half a mile at marathon pace + strides and a few brief stretches. Did 3 x 1 mile: 5:39, 5:44, 5:47 (5:44 average). Took 2:20-2:30 recovery jogs. 3.4 miles down. Cool, but humid. A bit anxious on the first one, and pushing race effort on the last 200m of the last one, so I called it good. I'll do minor tweaks to this workout as I move into the Monumental half in November until I am running 4 x 1 mile off 90 seconds rest like I did last March (which was at this same pace as today in much cooler conditions). By October I expect these to be into the low 5:30s and 5:20s, but we shall see.

PM: Rest Haven + loops around Vinton Elementary playground on the grass - 5 miles, averaged 8:38

AM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 6 miles, averaged 8:45. Ran into 8 minute guy the last two miles and ran with him.

Race on Saturday has me thinking I'll probably do the afternoon off and another 6 easy tomorrow. Trying to keep the overall mileage reasonable and bump it up to just under 100 throughout October, but I am really ready to just run what I have been and see where the mileage falls.

PM: North side - 5 miles, averaged 8:00. I guess getting up early enough and being on a schedule like an adult has me into a routine. Decided to go out since I was home early.

North Side - 4 miles, averaged 8:39. A few pickups around race pace, some strides, capped with a school-to-school @ 4:53 pace.

PM: Walked about 3-4 miles between picking up my packet and doing groceries, including some shopping cart hill sprints. Yep, today was the day I did what I vowed never to do: I brought the cart home with me. Time to get the car fixed. Legs should be fully fatigued in the morning.

AM: Tippy Connect 10k. Ran a 27 second PR at the end of a 90+ mile week. I'm okay with that. Report to follow later.

The rich chocolatey goodness: 5:48, 6:04, 5:55, 6:14, 5:55, 6:14, 1:00

REPORT

I've won this race two years in a row with hobby jogger times, so I was ready to have someone else turn the race around a bit. I knew my training partner Brandon was running, and even though I've run higher mileage lately and I think I am in a bit better shape, he is a former Division I 10k runner. I ran 3.25 to campus, saw Brandon and talked to him, and we sized a few people up. He spotted the eventual winner, Patrick, who is the director of Purdue's recreational facility (he ran 35:07).

I could tell in my warmup that my legs were solid and that a light 4 yesterday was enough to run a decent race. I was expecting to run 6:10 for the hills and 5:55-6:00 for downhills and flats, finishing 6:05 or faster for a workout @ 1:20 HMP. I did a half mile @ MP and got going as fast as 6:04 toward the end, which felt pretty easy, and did some light strides in the parking lot. So I knew I could run 6:04 without killing myself.

Some confusion about where the first turn was since it was different than last year. I asked for clarification, and some was given, but it threw the lead guy off. Short, sharp downhill to start then it flattens. 5:48 first mile. Right on 5k PR pace. Here we go. It honestly felt how I start most halfs (you know it feels fast, but it feels comfortable). Brandon said we were fast, and I told him I knew but I was feeling good and would slow up for the hills and see if we could let the lead guy get humbled by the first hill. 6:04 for McCormick hill. I figured 6:10-6:15 would be good. We were trying to pull Patrick back in but he was running strong and Brandon and I pulled each other along, trading places here and there. Some course changes I had not expected occurred at mile 2-3. We hit a flat stretch, but I was feeling it a bit (probably appropriate effort though).

I knew the intersection at Lindberg was coming and that last year they had a cop stationed there, not doing a darn thing. I heard race volunteers and Brandon tell me not to go but I said screw it, I am going to go and see if I can scare the race people into seeing how dangerous a multi-lane road is without any sort of assistance for an event of that size (not big, but big enough). I yelled a few words for revision for the following year. We hit some other course changes I didn't expect, but people were stationed to help us. Kind of. Miles 3-5: 5:55, 6:14, 5:55 (good downhill that could have been faster for mile 5). I had pulled away from Brandon at the intersection, he pulled away on the hill and up the gradual, grinding grade of Northwestern. Tried to stay behind him. I closed the gap a touch, but couldn't quite get there. Hit the downhill .2 and tried to catch him, but I was still 10 seconds behind. 6:14 for mile 6, just under 60 seconds for the partial (5:20, peaked at 4:40).

Did about 1.5 with Brandon and Patrick. We are going to meet up and do a bog run tomorrow. Kept going to hit 2 for my preliminary cool down. Hung out and chatted. Awards took forever, so I hit 3 miles back home.

Didn't expect to run a PR today, but it pleased me after sucking it up at B2B (this course is harder in some ways I think) and I think on a flat course and lower mileage I can run well in Philly in 3 weeks, which doesn't mean a ton because the real work will be reflected on November 3rd.

PM: 4 miles w/ 2 miles on the Vinton Elementary playground grass, averaged 8:38. 84 degrees feels like 82 degrees? A rare 31% humidity. As they say in Maine "the way life should be."

14 miles with Brandon and Patrick. Patrick went back around 12, while Brandon and I finished about 1.5-2 of the chark (chips/bark). Super fun run. Nice to run in a small group. Conversations ranged from the serious end of things to bathroom humor. Pace was not slow but it wasn't killer. Too fast for adequate recovery I'm guessing, but I am excusing it for wearing my compression socks, which I never use other than for recovery and that I am able to run with better form in a group. I pushed the pace a bit at mile 11 because I thought we were closer. 6:34 on that one. 7:18 overall.

AM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 7 miles, averaged 8:47. Warmer weather coming in. Here's hoping it's dry, which I think it should be. Lots of easy running for at least the next 3-4 days anyway, probably nothing until Friday just to be smart.

PM: Municipal Golf course (or the area formerly known as) - 7 miles, averaged 8:17. A bit longer than planned, but it was hot, dry, and breezy. Checked out stretch of trail that I usually use for mile repeats, and it is back in good shape. The golf course is mowed, and I think Brandon said they are making it into a disc golf course. I ran on some of the old paved trails, extended what was supposed to be 5-6. I had never been on the course, but I guess since it wasn't private I could have before the town abandoned it. Should be a fine addition to my cemetery runs.

AM: North side - 7 miles, averaged 8:21. Did a couple strides and one school-to-school at just over 5:00 pace.

PM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 6 miles, averaged 8:26. Saw a fresh grave. Got spooked even though I am not highly superstitious. Never seen one. Gave me the willies though. Did some warm weather strides on the way home.

Today I enabled weight tracking, following what Riley did a few months ago. Bam once joked that I looked like "a rotund Riley Cook" in one of my race photos to which I of course replied "Do you mean to say I look fat in my new singlet?" Nothing crazy here, just a public accountability. Last March I was running 163-166, but after I got back from Vegas I never really got it back. Most of my late spring racing was 168-170ish. Not a heavyweight by any means (I'm a hair under 6'), but a lot of weight for 80+ miles a week and a pretty decent diet. I think at 158-162 in peak shape I could get much faster. Again, nothing crazy here. Oh, and through a conversation with Megan and some calculations I did, I can't get down to less than 155 anyway or she wont date me :)

AM: 18th street to Fink Cemetery and back - 10 miles, averaged 7:51

Hurray for the ability to post via iPhone! I need access to FRB ALL THE TIME.

PM: North side - 4.1 miles, averaged 7:55. Did some strides.

This morning marked the start of my highest mileage year so far by besting 2012, my first full year on the blog and 2nd year of running. My goal for this year was/is to hit 3000. I should be there by the first two weeks of October.

AM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:20. Did some strides, including one school-to-school at 4:50 pace. I was beathing hard at only the hafway point, which I can usually do these at this pace and have my breathing be "comfortably high." I started almost from a dead stop, which contributed to the effort I think. And the air feels like the ocean is near (obviously, it isn't).

PM: North side - 4.75 miles, averaged 7:37 w/ one school-to-school @ 4:41 pace. Had a little boost from my iPod. I think I will start the interval farther back a few times a week, adding just 50-75 meters every few weeks to see how long I can stretch sub-5 pace without dying.

Need to do some sort of workout in the morning. I've vascillated among about 10 different ones. I need something in the 14+ total range (that's easy enough), I'm trying to improve my LT but also my aerobic strength. But then I think I should be working on my 5k pace, but I have a hard 4 mile effort on Labor Day, so I don't want to get terribly beat up.

7-8 miles @ MP, 10 x 1000 w/ 90 seconds rest @ LT+, a Bam Buster wave run 2(6 x 1k) alternating HMP and MP (my final marathon workout last spring), 4 x 1.5 miles @ LT, 10-12 miles followed by 4 miles with what I can muster.  

AM: Aerobic Builder. Total of 14 miles, averaged 7:10. 7-mile tempo @ 6:28 pace. I wanted something that told me "Jason, it's okay to run high mileage at your level if you don't injure yourself every 3 weeks and it is paying off even if you don't see it." This is faster than anything I ran last spring for my marathon buildup I am pretty sure. I know it is 12 seconds per mile faster than the 6er I did 2 weeks ago and I felt stronger and more relaxed. 6:35, 6:33, 6:29, 6:30, 6:28, 6:23, 6:18. I should have held 6:35 pace and I could have stretched this to 9 or 10, but in time. In time. These are to help my strength for my halfs. As for the next marathon, Boston 2014 will be much faster :)

PM: North side - 4.15 miles, averaged 7:53. Hot.

Signed up for some races, one that was tentative, one that I was planning on, and one I just found out about: the SIA Track Attack 10k, which is run on the Subaru test track (there's a plant even though no one in the town drives anything other than American, bumperless cars or could afford much else). Should be either fun or insanely dull. Either way, it's a workout with a race context.

Spring Vale Cemetery - 10 miles, averaged 8:00

A personal best for weekly mileage . . . by 250+ meters, but still. Longest run was 14 miles. Previous best had a 21.25 miler at the end. Minor cut back next week, light week for race week, then more of the same. Nothing magical, nothing crazy.