Philippians 4:13

Yesterday afternoon my throat started to feel really scratchy and my head started to hurt...what a time to come down with a summer cold!  So today I am staying home and resting and trying to kick this or get over it quickly before Sunday's race.  Feel ok, but the throat is still a bit raw and my ears are plugged up and have some body aches.  Lots of vitamin C, echinechea and rest on tap for today and possible staying home tomorrow as well.  Mind over matter....I will not be sick, I will not be sick!

On a good note, the IF airport opened today after a month long closure for runway repairs.  So my flight to Minneapolis on Friday is on!  Yeah!

5M easy around the greenbelt.  Nice day, good company (ran with Dan S for about 2M) and a good shakeout run for this cold.  I actually feel a lot better after the run!  I kept it nice and easy for the run and threw in 3 MP strides at the end.  No problems.

Heading out tomorrow, looking forward to the events!

Total time: 36:00  Stratos 1 - 258 miles

Got to Minneapolis/St. Paul no problem today.  Once at the airport, the support from the TCM staff and volunteers has been amazing.  Friendly folks who are very willing to help and make the experience the best.  Got to the host hotel via a van with just me and the driver who was great.  Met Ed Torres (from the CU Buffalos, I just read about this guy) and Chad Johnson from Hanson-Brooks team.  Got checked in at the hospitality suite, signed up for massages and then headed to my hotel about a 5 minute walk away.  The driver who drove me to the hotel was from Pocatello, ID...small world. 

Waited at the hotel until Logan, Seth and Megan called then walked over to meet them at the "suite".  They got checked in, then we went for a easy ~4M (32:00) run along the Mississippi River.  As we were heading back, we ran into Alberto Salazar and Kara Goucher out for a run and said hello!  How cool is that! 

Got showered and then went to the VIP reception with Logan and Seth (and Megan) for some food and to listen to the presenters...man the TCM does a lot for kids charities and to promote kids health.  Then Logan and I went to the "suite" for the massage and had a nice relaxing and revitalizing massage.  Met and talked with Tracy Lokken, last year's Master's champ.

Now off to sleep, then and easy run in the morning, a course tour, technical meeting, souvenir shopping and the pasty party.  Then, the race on Sunday!

Tangent 3 - 36 miles

After a decent night sleep, Logan and I got up early (7:00am) and did a nice easy 4.5M run up to the Capital and finish line area, saw the happenings with the preps for the 5K race and ran up the last 1.1M of the marathon past St. Paul cathedral just to get a taste of the hill.  Returned the same way to the hotel, got showered and ate a good breakfast at the hotel.  Then we headed over for the tour of the course with Seth and Megan and about 25 other folks.  The tour took about 2.5 hours and I talked quite a bit with Tracy Lokken, Tim Rieger and Kristen Fryberg about the course.  From the bus, the hill from 21-24ish didn't look bad (we would learn differently on race day).

Got back in time for the technical meeting...WOW I have never been that close to that many FAST people.  Saw Katie Koski and Brandy Erholz and said hello.  Talked to the Hanson brothers from the Brooks-Hanson Distance Project and talked a bit with John Piggott and Mike Wardian. 

Logan and I then did a little souvenir shopping at the expo, the Science Museum and Macy's before taking a nap at the hotel.  Man was that nice!

Back to the expo for the pasta party where we sat and talked with Mike W. and John P. for a bit then hit the hotel early for as much sleep as we could muster.  About 2:30am, the room above us was having a huge wedding party and we had to call down to the front desk to get them to quite down (as did the whole 9th floor)! 

Tangent 3 - 41 miles

Overall result...2:44:17 which was good enough for 13th Master (10th 40-44) in the Championships and I believe 75th male and 83rd overall.  Not quite what I was hoping for, but considering the conditions, it is ok.  It was an amazing experience just being here at a US Championship race!   Here is the race report.  My GPS had the race at 26.5M, but that was probably due to the clouds and tree lined streets so my splits on the GPS were way off from mile 8 on.

Got up with the alarm feeling pretty good.  Logan and I hit the road and got to the buses early and got the starting line for the wait.  The weather was cool and a bit rainy but not bad.  Got a 1M warmup in and got the start and found Kristen Fryberg so we could run together. 

The gun went off.  Miles 1-2 were good, averaging a good clip under expected time, but then the rain started and it poured through mile 19!   I ran with Kristen and May Akor from mile 3-9 (cool pacing two Olympic Trials women runners!) Kristen took off here and Mary fell back.  By the half, I was ready to quit.  Hit the HM point spot on 1:18 (about 1 minute behind my goal time).  I couldn't feel my feet from mile 10 on as I was soaking wet and cold.  I hit mile 14 and thought of my friend Steve P. (to whom I dedicated this race) and that gave me the strength to go on.  Up to this point, I was the 9th master. 

At mile 15, 2 master's runners caught me and I ran with them until mile 17 when they (and another master) took off.   I thought of going with them, but wanted to save something for the hill and hoped they might come back to me.  About this point I remember my left foot/shoe feeling funny, like I had a pencil under the middle of my foot.  I stopped to check if my sock had rolled down under my foot (since it was soaked I thought it might have come down), but alas it was fine.  Looking back, I think this is where I first felt a problem that led to issues later in the month (thought it wasn't a Jone's fracture in my foot, but just really angry tendons!).  Yet another "excuse" for slowing down in the second half.  At 18M, another master passed me (whom I would catch and pass at 24M).  Caught Kristen F. again at 20M where she was dying on the hill (sorry, Kristen!  You are a super strong runner!).  At 22M, another master passes me but I keep him in sight and striking distance, bidding my time for a "surge". 

The hill is very steady from 20-25.5M.  The rain has stopped, but the headwind picks up and it drops 5 degrees and I just can't get my muscles warm to put any push on.  I sucked during this section and ran a 43 minute last 10K!  I was trying to fuel, but just didn't have anything left.  I tried to grab a Gu out of my back pocket around 21M but couldn't get it out with my wet/cold hands and my shoulder cramped up as I was reaching back to get it...ouch! 

As I was coming up on 25M I thought of pushing to catch the master in front of me, but I wait too long and he hits the downhill at St. Paul cathedral and takes off, and I end up finishing about 100M behind him, dang it.  I was 3 minutes off of 10th place, but don't know if I could have caught him, whom by the way was my friend John Piggott (he hit the HM in 1:14ish, so he was coming back to me but is too strong a runner).  Overall not bad to be the 13th fastest master in the US for 2008! 

Now a week or so later, looking back I am  most disappointed in my mental collapse at about 14M.  This is where mentally I went from "race" mode to "finish" mode and it showed up when the other master runners passed me.  In race mode I would have went with them (and I think I could have stayed with them), but in finish mode I let them go.  How could I let this happen in such a big race?

Lesson learned:  Respect the hills and do more hill training for the next race.  Need to build the strength in the legs to manage the uphills better next year.  A keep focused and mentally strong.

Splits may come later if I really want to look at them and post them.

Splits: 1-5:37, 2-5:58, 3-5:52, 4-5:49, 5-5:47, 6-5:54, 7-5:55, 8-5:49, 9-6:02, 10-5:49, 11-5:51, 12-6:08, 13-6:09, 14-6:10, 15-6:11, 16-5:50, 17-6:11, 18-6:16, 19-6:18, 20-6:18, 21-6:35, 22-7:00, 23-7:04, 24-6:48, 25-6:50, 26-6:59, 0.2(0.5 on GPS)-3:00.

 Tangent 3 - 69 miles

No run planned today to let my legs have a break and because the cold seems to have come back and landed more in my lungs this time.  I am coughing non-stop right now. 

3.2M easy around Freeman Park on a nice day at lunch (probably one of our last!).  Left leg (calf and hamstring) are still very tight and my right arch was a bit achy.  Cold still here and still coughing but not too bad and I wanted to have a day of decent weather running this week.

Stratos 1 - 261

Ran another 3.2M in Freeman Park after work before going to a church activity with my son.  Nice but windy afternoon and had time to kill before meeting my son and my daughter and wife were busy, so what the heck.  Felt pretty good actually.

Stratos 1 - 264 miles

4M very easy early before heading to work on a still warmer day but windy.  Supposed to get into the low 30's by tonight and by the weekend our lows are in the 20's, highs only mid-30's!  We were planning on camping this weekend, but not looking to likely now.

Stratos 2 - 241 miles

Kory, this story is for you!  My son's soccer game was tonight and I ended up refereeing the whole game (no ref, other coach did not have whistle/stopwatch and I have a cold that I didn't want to pass along) with no issues.  The team has really developed this year and play solid ball and have learned a great deal on how to run the offense (spreading out, passing, crossing, positioning, communication).  The team we played had some good kids but tended to bunch up and not work together so my guys were winning (3-0 final score, which could have been higher but for shots on goal off the mark).  Once we got up 3-0 in the last quarter, I asked my boys to stop trying to shoot and practice passing.  This is where the story starts to get bad. 

I have one boy who is good, but awfully full of himself, is a ball hog and is very emotional on the field (even in practice he gets mad at his teammates if they don't get him the ball!).  I had called back a goal he scored earlier because he kicked the ball out of the goalies hand (a no-no in AYSO).  So, the boys were playing and this particular player and one from the other team were battling for the ball, the other player goes down and the ball is underneath him and as he is trying to get up, my player steps over him and nearly steps ON him to kick the ball.  In the interest of the kid's safety, I call a halt to play and awarded a free kick to the other team (remember we are up 3- with 2 minutes left!).  My playere throws a tantrum and kicks the ball directly at a player on the other team and stomps off.  I stop him, indicate that is not good sportsmanship and ask him to apologize which he did reluctantly. 

Then, after the game, my player didn't even want to shake hands.  As I was leaving the field after shaking hands with the other coach, this players father acosts me and demands to know why I made his son apologize then in a fit of frustration continues to degrade me for my  refereeing, coaching, manlihood, etc.  He is red faced and is looking like he is going to explode.  I calmy explain why I did what I did and walk away.  He then indicates "they are done with me" for the last game and calls me more names.  I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  This is now the third incident this fall at soccer games...I am done coaching AYSO for a while!

Oh, I am claiming 1M easy running during the refereeing of the game (while my cold is turning into a sinus infection and my head feels like it is going to explode!).

4M easy around Freeman park on a cold and windy day at lunch.  Just recovery, nothing much to talk about.  Still working off emotions from yesterday's run in with a parent from my soccer team.   Crappy weather expected for this weekend...yuck.

Stratos 1 - 268 miles

4.25M this morning after walking my son to school.  A chilly morning as it was only 29 degrees when I ran...brr!  Wore tights and even a cap today. 

3M with Kami after she got done volunteering at school and taking our daughter to school after her doctor appointment.  First run for Kami in a month...we averaged 9 minute miles.  Her foot did ok during the run but is now hurting tonight as I enter this.  Hope we can keep the PF on the mend.

Stratos 2 - 248 miles

9M this morning on a cold and windy day. 4M solo and 5M with Lynette and McKay.  Nice easy run with some friends made the cold weather not quite as bad.  At least it wasn't snowing, it waited until after noon to do that!  My left foot is sore on the outside, I think it is slightly bruised as is my right arch.  Tomorrow will be rest day to allow some healing.

Stratos 2 - 257 miles

5M easy before church this morning in the cool (27 degrees) and wet (snowing, 1 inch on the ground) weather.  I am NOT ready for this weather, however it is supposed to get back into the 60's by later this week.  Feet are feeling better, I think it was the old running shoes I was wearing around as my "knock around" shoes that were creating the problem.

Stratos 2 - 262 miles

8M easy mid morning today after dropping off the kids at school (I have today off as it is Columbus Day!).  Nice easy run (averaged just under 7:00 pace) in cold weather (28 degrees but no wind).  My feet are hurting again, along the side on left foot and a little in the right arch.  I thought about going 10M, but the pain told me to stop when I did.  I know it is just a bit of bruising, but when it hurts...it hurts!  May be a lower mileage week to let this heal up.

Stratos 2 - 270 miles

4M very early this morning as I had to got to the site today (Tues and Wed will now both be site days!).  Colder (23 degrees) but no wind.  Feet still hurting.  Might get another 4M in at lunch depending on how the feet feel and schedule.

Stratos 2 - 274 miles

4M easy at lunch on nice (sun, 37 degrees) day.  Feet felt ok. 

Total time: 29:00  Stratos 1 - 272 miles

I decided to rest my feet this morning and not do a morning run before work to help them heal up.  At lunch, I ran 4M in approximately 25 minutes in the cooler weather.  Feet felt good, legs felt great and I feel totally recovered.  Was planning a longer run but meetings/issues at work got in the way.

Stratos 1 - 276 miles

7M easy early this morning.  I overdressed as it was warmer (36 degrees) than I anticipated.  Not the best run as my left foot was painful again and made the run less than fun.  Ran without Garmin, pace felt easy except for struggles with foot pain which slowed me down a bit.  Hope it starts feeling better soon or I will just have to take a week off to let it heal. 

Total time: ~54:00  Stratos 2 - 281 miles

7M on a beautiful day at lunch...48 degrees, partly sunny with a slight breeze.  Easy run, just over 3M with Dan S. then the rest by myself.  I picked up the middle 2M to slower MP and the feet felt great during the run.  Now, sitting down afterwards they are hurting again (maybe it is my work shoes?).  Overall a good run, time of 47:10. 

Stratos 1 - 285 miles 

No running today to let the foot rest.   Based on the location of the pain, I think I may have a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal.  I have an appointment for next Tuesday to check it out to see if it a possible avulsion or Jones fracture (No Jones fracture...please!).  Looks like rest or cross training for at least the next few days.

Resting my foot until at least Tuesday when I have the Doc appointment (I am betting on a Jones fracture).  16.2M on the stationary bike at the gym this morning pedalling hard on a hill workout.  Haven't done this for a while...got up a good sweat but not the same as a good run.  I will count 4.5M easy run mileage.

My daughter's last soccer game today (won 1-0)...yeah!  We get our weeknights and Saturday mornings back.  It would have been a great weekend to go camping but alas we had other things scheduled (game, party, volunteer appreciation movie). 

Got some yardwork done as well in preparation for winter, at the end of the day I could feel my foot.  I need to borrow my buddies boot to see if that helps until Tuesday.

No running again.  However, it was such a beautiful fall day that Kami and I got outside for a good 13M bike ride together after my folks grabbed the kids for the afternoon.  Nice pace, good conversation, awesome spending time with my wife!  We rode from our house down to Freeman Park and back along the river.  A great day!

16.2M early on the stationary bike at the gym.  Not as bad as I thought it was going to be...taking off a bit of time from running actually might be good to have a change and to be more inspired once I come back. 

Busy day today at work then my son's soccer party after work to officially end the season!

My current routine...16.2M on the stationary bike at the gym in 45 minutes.  Good tunes (Kenny Loggins) kept me going.  Going to the Doc this morning to see about the foot...using a buddies walking boot today to see if that makes it feel better before the visit and he will let me borrow it if I have a fracture (save a few $). 

Yet another morning of cross training, riding 16.2M on the stationary bike at the gym.  At least a full week off from running to let the tendons recover before slowly starting back up.  Will count this as 4.5M easy again.

Busy day at work!

Still resting the foot, so another morning on the stationary bike for 16.2M (4.5M easy runnning equivalent) rockin' to "Journey's Greatest Hits".  Foot is feeling a lot better, I may go for a easy run on Saturday with the IF Group (those who aren't rehabbing from injuries that is).

6M run this morning!  Foot felt great during the whole run.  Nice and easy early in the dark (22 degrees, no wind) so I dressed in tights, cap, gloves, and fleece which was nice and toasty.  Yeah!

Stratos 2 - 280 miles

0.5M running back and forth from school to drop off/pick up kids.  Got to go to "doughnuts with Dad" with my kids at school today, pretty cool!

After doing some errands around the house, Kami and I went on a 13M bike ride together on a nice but cooler day.  Had a great time spending time together.  I wil count this as 4M easy running.

12.6M this morning with Lynette.  Nice easy paced run, but picked it up a bit in the second half and we were running 7:30ish for the last 5M or so.   Foot feels great!  Now the rest of the day is with the family (taking kids swimming while Kami works out at the gym, playing) and some chores around the house.   Gotta love Saturday's!

Stratos 2 - 293 miles

6M early this morning before Church. Nice day for a run at a decent 7:05 pace.  The first mile was an easy 7:30 pace and the rest were between 6:50 and 7:05.  Foot felt great.  The rest of the day will be spent with family carving pumpkins, making chili and just enjoying each other's company.

Stratos 2 - 299 miles

7M easy early on a cool (25 degrees) clear windless morning.  Overall a good run, starting at about 7:35 pace, then progressing up to a 6:45 pace for the last mile.  Foot felt great, looking forward to a faster lunch run today.  (Stratos 2)

7.2M at lunch around the greenbelt with Pat B.  Nice easy run on a beautiful day and good conversation (always nice to run with company!).  Left hamstring started feeling twingy about half way in and stayed that way, not but just noticable.  (Stratos 1)

Running the next 2 days will be spotty as I have to go on a 1 day business trip.  Hope to get 2 runs in tomorrow but likely no run on Wednesday due to schedule.

6.6M early on a chilly morning.  Left hamstring was still tight and made the run a bit slower and painful.  Got the run in, but it wasn't a fun run this morning.  (Stratos 2)

6M easy at dawn before heading out for business meetings and flying back to Idaho Falls.  (Stratos 1)

6M early this morning very slow (I ran without a watch) as I was tired from getting in late last night.  Left hammy was tight this morning so that didn't help either.  (Stratos 2)

7.1M at lunch with Pat B. on a wonderful day (I didn't want to come back in knowing the weather that is coming in this weekend!).  Nice and easy conversational pace (7:15) which was good since my left hammy is still sore and tight.  Need to work it with the Stick tonight and do some good stretching (which I don't do enough of) to help it relax.  (Stratos 1)

6M very easy early this morning.  Weather was fine, hammy was stiff and energy level was low so I just gutted out the mileage running without a watch and not worrying about time.  I will try to get another run in at lunch (possibly in light rain).  Taking kids out for Halloween tonight, they are excited!  (Stratos 2)

6.1M at lunch on a warmer, overcast day.  Tried to pick up the pace a little today and ran most miles at a Slow MP (6:26 avg, ranging from 6:40 to 6:15).  Left hammy still tight and the faster running did not shake it out.  It didn't hurt, I just knew I couldn't push much harder today.  Had a few rain sprinkles on me, but nothing bad.  However, looking like it could be wet for the kids tonight.  (Stratos 1)