Of Mice and Marathons

Jefferson High School - 10.25 miles, averaged 7:56.

Cold, but sunny and pleasant. Didn't check my watch until mile 9. Focused on running easy, upright, and with good form

AM: doctor appointment. What I think is an umbilical hernia. Not sure yet. Hope it doesn't require surgery even though it would me minor. Did manage to impress the nurse with a 37 pulse rate. Might be a new record. I told her it was pretty much 38-42 when I'm in good shape so she didn't have to call for a crash cart. 

Nothing to be concerned about. I know better than to do my research online. 

PM: North side - 9.35 miles, averaged 7:51. Did some strides.

Pre-bed: 30 minutes of rolling, stretching, and core.

Big Workout: 20.5 miles, averaged 7:08 w/ 10-mile tempo. 5 up, 5.5 down.

Decided to put my big boy undies on and see where I was at. Tired to start, felt okay throughout, and felt strong in the last mile and in the final miles of the cool down, despite losing energy (this was an empty tank run, as usual. Well, I slept ate a Kind Bar at 1:55 AM).

Splits: 6:34, 6:33, 6:35, 6:26, 6:26, 6:28, 6:26, 6:28, 6:23, 6:13 (6:27 average)

Purdue Co-Rec - 8 miles easy.

Ran next to Patrick for a while. He did 5 in about the time I did 6  and he started after me. Nice to chat with someone. He oversees the facilities. We talked about injuries, weight, Boston. The usual runner stuff.

Legs feel good. No soreness. The usual, unseen damage is there of course, but I should be ready to roll on Saturday morning.

Purdue Co-Rec - 9.4 miles w/ micro sharpening workout

3.25 mile warmup w/ 1 mile @ MP (6:30) on the treadmill

On the Atrium Track

4 x 500m @ 5:42 pace w/ 340m jogs (~1:40; 7:55 pace)

4 x 170m @ 4:44 pace w/170m jogs (~55 seconds; 8:45 pace)

3 mile cool down on the treadmill

Felt a little tired the last few days but I think it's the minor cold I have, which isn't bothersome, but I am guessing it is draining my energy. My legs were really responsive today. Hit the last lap at 4:30 pace and I had to break around two sororitiy girls, a guy in a wheel chair, and another girl who looked back, saw me, and decided to try to pass anyway. The track is maybe 8 feet wide and three lanes (walkers taking up the first two).

Not sure whay Saturday will bring. I have a time goal, but I think I would rather go out and compete if I can. Never can tell. Some years the winner is in the 33-minute range, others in the 34-35. If the guy will the belly who has been running 35ish minutes the last few years, I would like to beat him.

Late: 35 minutes of rolling, stretching, and core. Compared some bro-style selfies I took from when I was going through my injury blues (which don't represent as bad as things got) and tonight. The side profile was very telling. Down to 171-173, which is on the edge of fall racing weight. I'd like to be 165-167 on April 21, and the rate I have been going (1-1.5 lbs a week) I will get there without sacrificing training/racing performance or health. Down 10 lbs from the week of Jan 5-11. Last I checked 166 is the Bam + 40 goal unless he has completely gone sheet-o-papah.

I will try to keep my everyday entires shorter in the future. Apparently it has been diary month.

North side - 6.7 miles, averaged 8:15. Did a set of strides.

AM: 500 Festival 10k. Good race for me. 70 seconds of my 10k split from Phily RnR and 80 seconds from stand-alone efforts. Almost 2 minutes faster than last year, and 6 minutes and 48 second faster than the year before that. I'll write a touch more later. I did make a move at mile 4 for third place (I couldn't catch the leaders who were easily a minute ahead at the end of the race), and put 18 seconds on 4th and 40 seconds in 5th. 

REPORT: Got in 32 minutes of warmup, felt decent. Peeled off my warmups, and dropped my stuff in the gearcheck (loosely defined). Did a few leg swings and sized up the competition. Saw some gents that looked like they might be Indianapolis area college runners. I did a few strides in the starting area. Got off to a decent start. I eased off just a touch after we got moving and it looked like I had a lot more faster guys to deal with than I thought, but I heard some serious breathing from one or two. Got passed by 4-6 guys in the early miles, then I moved up to 5th around mile 3. I felt like I was working harder than the two guys I was running with in 3rd and 4th, but I knew I was in better shape than at least one of them and the other was a mystery.

Around mile 4 I decided to make a move even though my breathing was getting up there (legs felt fine). The 3rd guy dropped back to 5th and I decided to see if the 4th (now 3rd) guy would go with me, so I put a few seconds on him and he stayed somewhat close. But I kept pushing and I managed to spot him on some turns. Once I got the parkway I tried to keep pushing and by mile 6 I picked it up a bit more, finishing strong but not really with a kick (~5:15-5:20 for the partial).

The rich, chocolatey goodness: 5:48, 5:35? (missed the split I guess, but 11:20-11:25 for 2 miles), 5:52, 5:53, 5:42. 5:49, 1:03-1:04 (partial. took me a second or two to hit STOP because I haven't got used to switching off my Timex)

2 laps on the canal trail + a little extra (5.25 miles)

Met/exceeded the goals for the day. Pleased with my fitness. Thinking about my upcoming half in 3 weeks, and I am pretty sure I can run within a handful of seconds from what I did today (despite what the McMillian calculator says) if I make that a cutback week. Then there's that OTHER race 4 weeks from that.

PM: North side 5.8 miles, averaged 8:19

The crack in my toe won't quit. Had a blister that popped, then the skin broke on the underside crease of my big toe. I had to switch to ducttape + bandaid.