Of Mice and Marathons

North side - 5.5 miles, averaged 7:53. Did some pickups here and there. One school-to-school in 45 seconds (4:50 pace).

Report to follow. Not a smart race, but I definitely  raced. 3 second PR for the opening mile :) 5:36. 

AM: THE RIPPLE EFFECT 4 MILER. Finally got my car fixed the other day, which makes racing a lot less expensive without having to rent a car. It started this morning, so that was a decent sign. Warmed up 3.1 with a half mile at marathon pace. Legs felt snappy. Did a few strides just fast enough to flash race pace on my Garmin. I saw my first live race walker today. She was also doing strides. A racewalker does strides right? (she notched a 42:xx). Probably too much of a warmup with the humidity, but I wanted a warmup of 4 but I didn't have time. The air was saturated. Temps were fine and it was overcast, but my singlet was soaked.

Lined up on the inside for the first turn. The start was announced by a guy with an ill-working megaphone, but he got us going. I went out very hard because I didn't want to get jammed in. I was in 4th just behind some speedy fellas I knew I would never catch. I knew I was running fast, but I felt pretty good. Once things straightened out I look and was running 5:17 on the lap (as fast as 4:44 peak). Much too fast, so I started to back off, still running 5:35.5 for mile 1 (the decimal is import as it is about a 4 second mile PR). The split was even faster fif measured by the marker because it was .2-.3 short. I started to back off more, figuring I could run 5:45s, managing a hard but doable effort. The gentle uphills (barely hills but they slowed me down) and a screamer (relatively speaking) opening mile assured me of that was not to happen.

Got passed after the first mile, dropping to 7th. Fine. Held off the guy behind me for the rest of the race and beat him by 14 seconds. Miles 2-4 were: 5:56, 5:53, 5:52 (5:41 for .97).

I knew the first mile was too WAY fast even as I was doing it. I didn't care. I wanted to run hard, even recklessly. I think this will be the last of my super fast starts for a while though. This effort should hopefully help make running 6:00-6:08 easier in two weeks. I think. I hope.

Cooled down 5 miles on the Monon Trail, which made me very envious. Nice trail even if that end has several stop signs.

PM: North side - 6 miles, averaged 7:45. 82 and very dry. Very very pleasant. Some cool mornings on tap for the week.

AM: 9 miles, averaged 8:03. Brandon and I ran around the Celery Bog, the Horticulture Park, and the cross country course. Lots of soft surface and changing terrain. We ran into a racoon, which stood its ground so we let it be (it hissed at us). When I turned back to see if it was gone it was still there, but looked like it was lying down or was very close to the ground in a crouch. We checked on him at the end of the run, coming up behind him and we noticed that his legs were splayed. Not sure what happened to him, but he was not in good shape. No one was at the Nature Center, so Brandon called parks and recreation. Had I been alone, I would have mustered all my Maine roots and helped the little fellow pass out of the world.

PM: Resthaven Cemetery - 5 miles, averaged 8:24

AM: Aerobic Builder - 12 miles, averaged 7:14 overall. 3 up/down w/ 6-mile tempo @ 6:35 pace: 6:37, 6:37, 6:36, 6:38, 6:36, 6:27. Did these on a partial loop of a longer tempo loop because I almost got hit last week by a car blindly turning right. A Garmin and a very flat .5 mile loop go a long way for the consistency above.

PM: Rest Haven Cemetery - 4.25 miles, averaged 8:03. DRY.

Spring Vale Cemetery - 10 miles, averaged 8:08. Did some strides.

AM: HANSON BROTHERS' WORKOUT (Jason's version): 4 x 2 miles @ HMGP w/ 3:00-3:20 recoveries + 200m directly following 4th set ("a metric half").  Nice little confidence boost this morning. I made this one slightly harder than when I did it in April and ran ~7 seconds faster overall with shorter recoveries (by just a touch) but also faster paced (about as honest as I can make them). 

Warmed up 3.5 w/ .5 @MP and just two light strides to be about 10-15 seconds below goal pace. First set: 12:17 (6:10, 6:07); Second set: 12:15 (6:11, 6:04), Third set: 12:13 (6:10, 6:03); Fourth set: 12:07 (6:06, 6:01), into 200m @ 5:05 pace (36.6 seconds). Just over 6:06 average.

I ran the recoveries faster than I usually do (8:10-8:18, while I usually am satisfied with 9-9:30)

4 mile cool down.

Last April I ran 6:13 averaged and ran 6:08 on my watch (6:13 officially for the long course). I know with a sensible start I am in sub-1:20 shape. I'm not satisfied with just squeaking under that, however. I ran at least 3 of these miles with a hitch in my left leg that sometimes happens when my glute won't fire, so I lost valuable seconds there. So, next weekend: sensible start and see if I can cut into the 1:18-range in the final 3-5 miles. 

PM: 4 miles, averaged 8:09

8 miles, averaged 8:15. Started loops around Spring Vale, but it looked like they were having a burial, so I got the heck out of there and ran around the neighborhood. Ripped off a bit of skin just smaller than a dime on the top side of my foot above the ball. Put a ball o' 'Sporin on that Bad Larry.

Good haul from the farmers' market this morning. I should have bought about 30 lbs of honeycrip apples. I love them, and I can't get them at the grocery store. The locally grown ones are amazing.

Planned to run with Brandon and Patrick, but Patrick had some sort of throat infection. I tried to start my car. Not much happening, so I figured I wouldn't make Brandon come get me and I was *$U$*$ off, so I went solo. Humid, but not unpleasant (about 76 degrees with some cloud cover). 16 miles at just a tick under 2 hours (7:29 pace). 9 minutes for mile 1, then 8:00 for 2-3, then from 4-16 I ran comfortably at 7:30, dropping to 7:00-7:20 for most of those. Pretty good for running few legitimate recoveries last week. I'm going to actually cut back a good bit this week for rest and race readiness.

Onward and upward.

AM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 8 miles, averaged 8:31

PM: North side - 5 miles, averaged 8:06. Warm, dry, and breezy.

AM: North side + Spring Vale Cemetery - 7.5 miles, averaged 8:16. Did some strides w/ one school-to-school @ 4:57 pace.

Weighed in @ 168.4 this morning, ran, weighed in at 164.4. The air was soaked. Did a wellness screening at Purdue. No body fat %, which is a number I really want to see, but I did get some other basic numbers, which were good. The best part? My HDL numbers were high enough to be outside the range of the cholesterol machine (>100 but not sure how much more). Pulse was 50, which is about 8-10 higher than it is directly after waking. 

Hottest day of the year today, I think.

PM: 5 miles, averaged 8:00. Did some strides, a few up some brief hills (felt good to get the knees nice and high), and one school-to-school at 4:51 pace.

AM: North side - 5.25 miles, averaged 8:10. Did some strides.

Registered for Boston this morning. When I was first told I had to qualify for Boston when I started running three years I ago, I said "Okay, so I will qualify." I thought running 7:15 would be impossible, then they dropped the times and I thought 7s would take years. Now, running 6:30s as marathon pace has been acheived, and I envison low 6s by April. I am excited to see what the next three years bring.

PM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 6.25 miles, averaged 8:03. 94 degrees w/ 26% humidity and a good, stiff breeze. My kind of hot.

AM: Morning off to get some extra rest and some work done.

PM: 8 miles, averaged 7:23. 3 up to Courtland on the 1/2 mile tempo loop. I was shooting for 2:58-3:04 for 2 x 1/2 mile, but did 2:54, 3:02. A half mile in between. A little ambitious on the first one, but I think I gained most of the time in the last quarter because I felt I was moving too slowly even though the pace was dead on. Keep my eyes on the watch only to get the distance right, pace was intuitive. Second rep was perfect. 3.5 back.

North side - 5.5 miles, averaged 7:42.

Did some speed changes, some strides, and one school-to-school at 4:34 pace trying to chase down a townie to let them know 1) what sidewalks are actually for (contained in the name it turns out), and 2) I don't care how many times you tell me to get on the  *$*$%*(@ sidewalk, I can't (and won't) run 4-minute pace over a concrete sidewalk, much of which is missing.

Headed to Philly to see Megan and run the Rock and Roll on Sunday.

Chestnut Hill (hills!) - 4.5 miles with Megan, averaged 9:03. Did a few pickups to show Megan race pace and how manly I am :-) I'm very much ready to race. 5:50-6:00 feels very comfortable, but still a sensible start and smart racing. Shooting for 60-61 minutes at the 10 mile mark. A few seconds under 60 would be awesome, but the seconds will be gained in the closing 5k. Nervous until I get that first mile split on my Timex (goal is no faster than 6 flat for the first mile)

Much I could say about this race, and yet it seems to occasion little comment. (Also, my browser quit and my report was getting long even though the original had a similar opening).

I underestimated my fitness for this race, but I ran perhaps the best race I've run so far. Before I begin, I would also like to thank/apologize to the Rodin Museum for my use of its bushes.

The rich chocolatey goodness from my Timex (beautiful, simple device it is): 5:55, 5:52 +8 (I think I bumped the split button or double fired, so 6 flat), 6:01, 11:49 (miles 4 and 5, had to wave to Megan, missed mile 4, so 5:55ish average), 5:59, 5:56, 6:02.5 (just so I have nothing above 6:02), 6:02. 5:57, 5:51, 5:59, 5:51, 37 seconds. Not sure what happened at end because I definitely kicked faster than 6:10 if I was running 5:51.

The first mile was fast according to pre-race plan, but perfect effort. I knew I was in for a good day at mile 1-2. The first 4 miles felt easy on the approproate effort scale and I really felt comfortable until 10-11 and didn't really start dying until mile 12-12.75, which probably means my effort was close to ideal because I started to really feel it at that point.

Around miles 6-8 I was running with a woman and a few dudes. She politely asked that someone else take the pace, so I said "Thank you. I got you." I went in front our pack for a little bit, but she apparently didn't like my pacing because she pulled out in front of me again. (Fine. I tried. I can tell you are struggling. Have a nice race). She was getting advice from a dude on a bike who I thought was race support, but I think he was a friend and he started to annoy me. He said we were on 1:18 pace, and I was sure we were at least on 1:18, but I couldn't tell high/llow. I dropped her around mile 11 or 12.

Tangents were't great I am guessing though mile 8-10 and mile 12 (winding, but not difficult if you know how to navigate), but I did my best (I'm working on a theory about tangents and race perception, incidentally).  Got some encouragement from a guy who came up behind me and who ran just in front of me into the finish. I'll post a photo of me patting him on the back when I figure out how. I was very happy to see that I was near the 13 mile mark, but not to hear guy who encouraged us "you're almost home, just uphill to the finish." (It's a slight grade as it turns out). I could see the clock ticking 1:17:42 and knew I had 5 seconds for the chip but still ran with what I had left. I think I crossed at 1:17:55 or :56, with a chip time of 1:17:50. A PR of 3 minutes and 35 seconds (not to be too exact).

3 mile cool down, followed by some walking and a ridiculous brunch w/ mimosas w/ Megan.

I have one more key race this fall, at which I will mount an assault on the 75-76 minute mark.

Thanks to the blog community and Sasha. This space makes me a better runner and better person.

(I have no idea how to embed pics)

https://plus.google.com/photos/114497105256921785165/albums/5924437984633666753

AM: North side - 7 miles, averaged 8:20. Legs are tired, but not sore. Not bad for being on a plane last night and sleeping for 3 hours at a rest stop in my car.

PM: North side - 5 miles, averaged 8:09. Some non-localized, symmetrical soreness creeped in, but to be expected. More of the same all week I think. Easy doubles with paced determined by feel. Saturday's race will be a long AT tempo as I had already planned. Maybe closer to McMillian "steady state," but that's to be determined.

Report for Philadelphia Rock and Roll is up. I need to re-figure out the buttons for linking. My HTML experience is from the days of AngelFire and spinning GIFs.

AM: Off. Tried to get caught up on some sleep (the most overlooked aspect of recovery). Walked about a mile after dropping off my rental car.

PM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 10 miles easy, averaged 8:29

AM: Jesco Hills x 3 and some neighborhood meandering - 5.5 miles, averaged 8:25. When I started running 3 years ago (this week I think it was), I began running these hills. I'm not sure why I don't do them throughout the year. It's weird how loops and routes get retired, or semi-retired, and how some routes we plan never get onto the list after an inititial test run.

PM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 6.15 miles, averaged 8:15. Something I've been eating has been punching me in the stomach the last few days. I think a change in snack bars may be to blame. Happens so rarely that it's pretty easy to find the source (usually a substitute when I can't find my regulars).

AM: Off again, mostly for sleep. Work to be done, but also my weight dropped significantly from two days ago no doubt due to the war of Jason versus GI. Busy day, but I'll go home from campus and come back to fit something in for the afternoon. Trying to remember that last week wasn't really a recovery week (71 miles) because I had a big race to start this week and the 4 weeks before that I ran something like 86, 91, 94, 93, which were unprecedented peak mileage numbers in marathon training last spring.

Looking forward to getting some recovery the next two days and another race (well, workout/race) this weekend.

PM: Vinton Woods - 10 miles, averaged 7:53. Did some strides. Well, post-race legs kind of strides. Warm and humid (for September). Looking forward to the return of the fall weather so I can start getting up even earlier and doing what I like to refer to as "big boy" doubles.

AM: Got some decent sleep. Good for recovery and good for teaching apparently. I showed up with a cup and coffee and performed better than if I had a stack of books and 20 pages of notes.

PM: North side - 5.5 miles, no watch. First rainy run in months. Got one downpour toward the end of a run this summer, but no days you would call "rainy."

AM: Tippy Connect 15k. 3.15 up, 9.2 race, 2.1 down, 3 home. I was going to run this as a workout ~MP, but I decided to put on my singlet and flats and see what happened. There was $100 on the line for best 10/15k time and I thought if Brandon and Patrick didn't show (or at least Patrick) it would be doable. They were both there so I decided to run hard but sensibly. I would have been fine running under hour (6:25 pace) putting that down as a aerobic builder, but again it's hard not to race a bit :) I ran with Brandon for a bit. First mile was slow to take the temperature. Picked it up from there. At mile 8 Brandon turned and saw me and said: "[insert blasphemy], Dodge." That lit a fire in the old glutes. I had some mustard left for mile 9, but then I that was about it.

The rich chocolately goodness: 6:16, 6:09, 6:03, 5:53 (decent downhill in the last part), 5:40 (uphill. No, I'm kidding. Very downhill), 6:06 (some uphill, after a corner, then flat), 5:58, 6:25 (good bit of uphill, into the wind, after rounding a corner. I have a big head, and so on), 5:57, 60 seconds for .20 (5:00 pace, of course).

The course uses parts of the Boiler Maker half, so the first 4-5 markers were good (I am pretty sure that course is certified). I split long in the final miles (by just a touch). I think the partial is where the error is.

A good morning for me. I think I will skip out on the 15 miler with the boys tomorrow and run my usually 12-14 AM/PM. No sense being foolish. Today will be about 22-23 total for me and 12-13 for them and I am still recovering a bit (I would just guess).

PM: 4.25 miles, no watch.

Met Brandon in the alleyway by my house, did about 6.5 with him and turned around for 11 total (7:38 average). Planned on 7-8, but I could have gone longer than I did. I felt fantastic and I really needed the run/company after doing job market materials this morning. I think I will write a cultural history of running instead, but I need Jake or a Sasha to fill in the tremendous historical gaps in my knoweldge.

My weight is all over the place. I ate a ridicuous amount of food yesterday, but I felt a bit faint on my shakeout run yesterday.

AM: Heritage Trail south to West Lafayette - 10.25 miles, averaged 7:58. Did some uphill efforts and pickups on the way back. As Joe Bell said about this morning, crisp!

PM: North side - 5.5 miles, averaged 7:57. Did some strides. One school-to-school @ 5:05. Kept it fairly reserved

AM: Fink Cemetery/Fire Cracker loop - 10.3 miles, averaged 7:45

PM: North side - 5.5 miles, averaged 7:56. Did a few strides.

To save time, I tried to shave and foam roll. Although I use an electric razor, this isn't easy. It's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach.

AM: Aerobic Builder - 14 miles, averaged 7:03. 8 mile AT tempo, averaged a tick under 6:30: 6:37, 6:36, 6:33, 6:32, 6:28, 6:25, 6:26, 6:21. Mostly flat with a few very gentle inclines mixed in. Not too shabby on tired legs. Maybe a day off next week. Almost 50 days on right now.

PM: North side - 4 miles, averaged 8:04

AM: 7.5 miles, averaged 8:08. Got chased by a poodle, which incidentally can be pretty aggressive. But they scare like small dogs when you yell at them. Sorry for the colorful language old lady; Jason is tired of being chased by dogs and sheilding kids from cars because of their irresponsible parents (yesterday afternooon). There. I feel better.

PM: North side - 6 miles, averaged 7:57

AM: Off. Walked about a mile to pick up a rental car. Legs are a bit heavy. To be expected.

PM: North side - 6.25 miles, averaged 7:32. Angry running. One of those days. On the grand scheme of 1 to war-torn and poverty stricken not so bad, I guess. Headed out for some sushi and beer, while I watch a small, bald Japanese man yell and cuss at people. He refers to himself as "crazy Tony" or, alternatively, "the sushi Nazi."

AM: Rest Haven - 4 miles, averaged 8:23

PM: SIA Track Attack 10k. Mini report to follow. A win, but not really competitive. Still, a hard effort and a good time with some wonderful folks in the community. On the Subaru test track. In the dark. Small mileage PR for the week by about 1.5 miles

I've never run a race later than maybe 9:00AM, so prepping for an 8:00PM race was interesting (I was worried about a decent sized brunch I had with some colleagues). Portions of the race were run on the 2-mile test track at the local Subaru plant. I expected it to be pretty bland, but there is a pond in the middle and some vegetation, making for pleasant scenary during a hard tempo run. I ran the course to get the layout of the first part of the coure (a right-hand turn, turn at a stop sign and then a u-turn after some cones in the parking lot, then back to and around the test track). 3 miles with a half mile at marathon pace.

I went out sensibly but hard, hard enough to deter anyone from following me. I also planned to run around HMP, which would give me a harder effort (about 1-2 notches on the effort scale below half marathon effort) given temps in the 70s and running with 87 miles in my legs before I started the race. I'm pleased overall because even though I knew I was winning I still ran hard.

5:54, 5:53, 5:58, 6:05, 6:01, 5:59, 5:44 pace for (.34)

On the second loop things were getting pretty dark and I couldn't see the ground well in a few places. The lights were on but pretty poor.

I cooled down 2 miles and called it good. Ate some pizza and did awards. I won by 11 minutes I think. Again, nothing mind-blowing, but it feels pretty good and I ran hard even though I didn't "need" to. I think this was pretty close to time trial effort if it wasn't at that effort. Received a $50 gift certificate for my efforts, but managed to lose my right CEP compression sock. I'm hoping someone finds that otherwise I lost a net of $10 for the race :) Got a pizza too. I won't be weighing in for a few days, until I can get back into my routine of fruit grazing

Ran with the boys in the early afternoon. 11 miles, averaged 7:21. They continued on. I ran more than I planned, so I turned back. Felt pretty good once I got moving. However, someone, he shall remain nameless, decided to eat pizza for breakfast and had to hit the park at 8.5. One of the reasons I (I mean he) doesn't eat much dairy. Apologies to the ladies for commandeering the rest room, but thanks to Patrick for covering the door.

New world record in the marathon. 19 second positive split? Nuts.

AM: Spring Vale Cemetery - 10.5 miles, averaged 8:33. First mile in 9:50. There were times when I would have cried if I ran that close to 10 minutes; today it was a badge of honor.

PM: Vinton Elementery playground on the gass - 5.5 miles, averaged 8:30. Thought to myself it is silly to run .2 mile loops on the grass, then I stepped back onto the concrete. It is similar to the sensation of jumping on a trampoline and then trying to jump once back on the ground.

I thought I set a monthy mileage PR this month, but I didn't quite beat March of this year. Still, 31 days versus 30, and 1 race (10k) versus 4 (4 miler, half, 15k, 10k). 8 miles difference. I was running at 164-167 lbs then and 168-172 now. Now sure how/why the weight is what it is, but I definitely do a lot more strength training in the form of pushups and core work. Not obsessing about it, but still a bit annoying. I have gotten stronger though; I can knock out 25 pushups before and after each of my morning and afternoon runs, where I before I could do 25 and that would be about for the day.