Random Inspirational Quote

AM before work - easy 31 minutes - 3.72 miles.  Nice and cool with clear skies

AM: before work - 60 degrees.  4x0.72mi. Threshold - 4:15, 4:10, 4:08, 4:08.  Weird distance, but works out well with the 1 mile block layout around my neighborhood.  6mi. total - 43:38.  Feel good today.

PM: after dark - 80 degrees.  8x0.25mi. LT w/ 1:00 rec. jog - 87, 85, 83, 85, 81, 81, 80, 80. Still feeling decent.

AM: easy 30 minutes - 3.39 miles

AM: Crossraods 5k - chilly and windy morning.  Lots of familiar faces.  Good times.  WU with some strides.  Mile 1 was a quick take off and immediately into what would remain top 3 places.  Pretty consistent pace by guys in front of me, actually.  It was strange because both of them are notorius for going out really fast.  2nd place came back to me in mile 2, but I struggled after a faster mile 2, honestly.  I am a little confused on what to expect from myself.  Everything I have done in training seems to point to a lower 17 minute 5k at some point. I could not get my breathing back in control, and my heart rate seemed to be going nuts after feeeling very calm and in control after 1 mile.  

5k Race - 17:52   Splits: 5:38, 5:29, 5:46, 0:57 for 0.17mi.

I did a workout of 8x0.5mi. at 5:20 avg. pace a couple weeks ago... but 5:30 pace puts me in the red after a 5:38.  I don't get it. 

Recovery pace CD jog for 2.6 mi. with a fellow Quaffer.  She broke the women's course record this morning and PRed - good job Sara!

Drove home and went out for the added MP workout I had wanted this morning at the race, but lazily neglected.  A little warmer, but still very gusty.  Workout quickly turned into a  7 mile cutdown  with erratic effort and pace from the wind.

7:26, 6:45, 6:39, 6:20, 6:18, 6:22, 6:17, 6:11, 7:21, 7:26, 7:18, 7:18, 3:01 partial.  

12.4 mi. total - 1:24:47

easy hour - 7mi. -- pretty bad soreness from Saturday and lingering training fatigue, still (?)

AM: easy 30 minutes - 3.4 mi.

PM: went out to run for an easy hour - hurting, so stopped and switched to some XT - 24minutes for 8mi. on the bike trainer w/ 4x0.5mi. sprint efforts.

Light core and leg work

PM: 6mi. MP + 1mi. Threshold: WU 2mi. / CD 1mi. -

8:16, 7:09, 6:35, 6:27, 6:28, 6:30, 6:30, 6:24, 5:58, 8:32

This was loops around the neighborhood in the dark.  I felt great at MP, and okay on the threshold.

1 mile stroller push - the kid enjoyed it, I hurt a bit at 9 minute pace.

Afternoon run after calming things down at the house.  Had to leave work early with the wife very pregnant and sick + migraine + crying kid. 

6 mile cutdown - 7:26, 6:33, 6:28, 6:30, 6:12, 6:16 - 39:55.  Nice weather - cool fallish feel with a speckle of rain.

PM: evening run - about 50 degrees and still feel a little spitting rain every now and then.

5mi. cutdown - 7:38, 6:43, 6:17, 6:05, 6:15 - 37:04.  At the end of the last mile, a dog attacked me... in my own neighborhood... again.  I got in a couple kicks and one wiff, but it was still barking its head off and aggressively chasing.  Ridiculous.

AM: easy 3.4 miles - about 30 minutes.

Heading out to Gatlinurg this morning for a mini family vacation.  Hoping for some trail running time down their - looks like we'll be close to portion of the App. Trail and a ton of other trails.

5:15 am Long Run - Gatlinburg, TN.

Started from the cabin up in the hills.  65 degrees and raining most of the run.  Dark and "interesting"  scary listening to all the creatures moving around in the woods surrounding me. Ran down the "hill" and back up and around a bunch of the other roads.  Probably the most vertical I have ever run in training.  Garmin says 3945', Strava says 4250' of elevation gain.  Not sure what to make of that.  

Had to make a pit stop on the way down the hill.  Also had to rely upon the generosity of a group of fellow cabin vacationers nearby - apparently I did not think it necessary to remember the name of the road that our cabin was on.  Fortunately, I had been close.  

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/611542739 

18.65 mi. - 2:49:21

AM Hill Workout - Gatlinburg, TN.  Still at the cabin in Gatlinburg.  WU for about 15 minutes going down the hill a bit.  8:00 min. uphill - LT effort.  388 ft. elev. gain over 0.76 miles is almost 10% avg. grade... Recovery jogging after that and then finished up with 5xhill 25-30sec. sprints.  An interesting feature of Strava is its GAP or grade adjusted pace.  Fun to look at, but not too accurate.  It was saying that my GAP for the hill sprints was well under 4minute mile pace.  :)  Into a taper week.  Columbus, OH Marathon on Sunday Oct. 19

4.09 mi. total - 40:01

AM easy run - we're back home after a long weekend trip to Gatlinburg.  The drive turned in to an all day trip with traffic, so I was pretty wiped out.  Got some new gear at the New Balance outlet in TN.  Pretty excited about the 870v3 Rev Lite's and new socks, shorts and hat.  Cool to discover that the items in this paticular outlet store were actually less expensive than normal stores.  I've noticed that alot of the outlet stores are just another store of that particular brand and don't offer any deals. 

Legs are very sore from sitting in the car all day and running alot more hills than I am used to. 

4mi. - 31:40

PM: 3.9 mi. after too much PJ pizza - 33:45

PM: taper week workout - half mile reps: 5x0.5mi. - about 5:50 avg. pace

5.25 mi. - 36:43

PM: easy 4 mi. - 30:00 - other new shoes - Saucony Guide 7.  Forgot what new shoes feel like. 

AM: easy 3.5 miles - 28:11

PM: easy 30 minutes w/ 8x15-25 sec. strides + drills - 4.16 mi. total

PM: mod. 3 miles around the hood.  About 7:20 pace.  Driving to Columbus, OH tomorrow afternoon, hitting up the expo and pasta dinner, and then marathon Sunday morning.  Belated congrats to all the Chicago Marathoners.  A couple guys I know and used to run "with" ran extremely well - 2:42, and 2:43. I'm expecting big things from myself on Sunday.  

Off - Travelling to Columbus, OH for Marathon.

Columbus Ohio Marathon:

The long awaited Team QuaffON! trip to Ohio for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Marathon was a success.  From the start we all had very specific goals and plans to accomplish those goals.  One guy at 2:45 or less, and 2 of us with sub-2:50 goals.  We also had several other members running the half.  One of our faster friends had graciously agreed to pace us. 

For those who may have never run this race, I highly recommend.  We jogged overfrom the hotel in about 40 degree temps and stood aorund shivering for about 30 minutes in the corral.  The start is done about as well as any marathon I have experienced.  A well planned and timed montage of very loud AC/DC accompanied by fireworks leading up to the starting gun is nothing less than exhilirating!  

Away we went in a crowded "A" corral right at 7:30a.  We found ourselves easing right into our planned pace range - 6:25-6:35 (mostly on the lower end), and settled in to a nice large pack (about 20) by the first mile mark.  We planned to stay in this range until 20 miles, and then, "go"

6:33, 28, 22, 25, 23, 23, 31, 25, 20, 25, 18, 26, 30, - through the half in 1:24:47 - very close to goal pace

6:20, 18, 23, 18, 19, 6:36 (quickly determined to be a recovery mile after some decent climbing preceding and heavy breathing from us this mile)

6:21 for mile 20, and then it was go time - we put the hammer down a little too quickly (for me)

Last 6.44 miles GPSed: 5:59, 6:09, 6:06, 6:29, 6:40, 6:42, and 2:45.  I think this may have been the only small mistake today.  Maybe ease it down to 6:15 first and then on down...

26.44 mi. - 2:48:53.  New PR! 

Several take aways: 1. Gels do not work for me any more.  I ate half of a gel today and stuck to only gatorade and water the whole way.  I can run the dsitance without if I am running the correct planned pace.

2. I can still manage 6:40's when the wheels are falling off, but shouldn't hop down too quickly in to a quicker pace in that last 10k.  Treat that last 7-8 miles as a gradual cutdown. 

3. Sticking to the plan and having a negative split marathon is the best way to go (duh!)

Off - Basking in the glory of my new marathon PR

Retired Shoes Graphic:

PM - moderate run of fairgrounds 5k course. 5.2 mi. total - about 40 min.  Recovering nicely from Sunday.

PMstroller push - 3mi. in about 25 min.

PM track workout 12x0.25 mi. LT  w/ 1min. rec. jogs on new "square" track over behind Southside Elem. ( they had to make room for construction of more baseball fields... )

80 sec. avg.  Happy with how comfortable these felt and how my legs have responded after a hard marathon on Sunday.

7mi. total - about 48 min.

PM: easy 3miles - over to the fairgrounds and back.  Night games (baseball) under the lights over at baseball fields.  Refreshing to see that on this cool fall evening - "...Ain't that America".  

Recovering nicely from marathon this week.  Big weekend planned: 2x5k races and some longish easy running thrown in around them. 

7:30 am moderate 9.7 miles - from gym with D Fish.  Out and back to Mill Race PArk - 1:10:34

9:30 am easy 5.8 miles trail - Brown County State Park trail with D. Webb and T. Proctor.  55:22.

Beautiful morning - 55 degrees and sunny

5:30 pm CR series race. 5k course around fairgrounds.  This is the same fairgrounds that are a mile from my house.  Jogged over, ran the course once to WU.  Pretty sore from this morning and lingering marathon fatigue.  

5:40, 5:40, and felt it all hit home in mile 3.  6:00 for that mile and finish with a similar jog through the shute.

5k Race - 18:13

CR Series 5k across town - Sunday afternoon - sunny and warm.  These are fun and good training runs more than anything. 

I ran solo in second place for this one.  Wanted 2mi. at LT (At least) and then not hurt myself trying to get after the 3rd mile and kick.  The effort level was a bit higher on mile 2 than I wanted.  Marathon training not helping with the 5k time to much it seems.

5:34, 5:47, 6:01, 6:42 pace for the partial.  5k Race - 18:16

WU and CD gave me 8.7 mi. total for the day

Off - Taper for last marathon

PM: easy 3.5 mile jog - 31:10

AM: easy 3.5 miles - 29:40

PM: 3 mi. cutdown to MP for 2 miles - 3.5mi. total - 23:33

PM: 5 miles with 8xstrides.  15-20 sec. for about 100m.  40:13 total time

Off - Taper and rest day for last of 3 marathons this fall.Got the packet and ate some Chipotle with the team members running tomorrow.