It's all relative

AM: short jaunt with my sister, followed by an icy polar plunge in Boston.  Have to keep the tradition alive!

AM:  Run then gym for chest and tris.  Feeling fat, sore, and out of shape.  

Knee still feeling very iffy.

PM: Run in the rain, still incredibly slow pace.  Knee soreness, but sometimes, you've just got to run.

Other news: my old bike will be here Thursday.  I'm back at weight lifting.  Swimming still needs to get a move on, but I think I'll be fine once I establish a routine.  The running part I'm not so sure of, but I'll keep trying to take it easy and just hope that's enough with the strength training.

Had a planning day, so was able to break my run up a bit into two runs. I'm still sore around the knee, but I'm a couple of percentage points more confident that it is healing.

Noon: 3 miles back to school.

PM: 3 miles home, then gym for arms and back.

The gym was awesome today. I lifted some good weight and worked hard. On days like this, sometimes I wonder if I could actually handle a desk job- it really let me get psyched up and plan out exactly what I wanted to do later at the gym. I like the idea of not having homework in a job as well, but then again, I remember how hard it was to search for a job and get hired when I moved down here.

I'm envious of those doing long runs in this weather. I wanted to run thirty miles today. I even want to go run as I'm writing this. I know days and feelings like this don't come by often during the year, so it's unfortunate that I can't savor it.

PM: 3 miles then swam outside for half a mile.  So cold in the water, but that in effect, makes it more entertaining as my brain quickly gets deprived of oxygen and my body temp lowers... so I feel quite out of it... in a good way...

PM: Solo run in SH, then swimming- half mile focusing on form.  Had someone look at my swimming form- not surprisingly, I have a long way to go with it...

The run was pretty bad news.  Knee was hurting everywhere, and disappointingly in the spot of the injury.

Bike arrives Thursday, so hopefully I can take advantage of that and have no pain while riding.

PM: run with Cory. I could barely keep up with a pathetic pace. Knee hurt. Then did practice. Followed it up with the gym- chest, tris, and shoulders.

I am over this. Dieting healthily has helped my overall outlook, but it's a real struggle.

PM: run then gym- arms and back

PM: 5 lonely miles in the rain.

PM: 5 miles. Late PM: run then gym- chest, tris, shoulders. Weight is now down from 161 to 154 since January first. It's difficult to lose weight properly while exercising a good amount, but it isn't so bad since I'm not giving truly hard efforts. Knee is still sore, but I tried a couple light striders and didn't die, so that's a good sign. I likely will be stuck in this state of unknown until it gets worse or I challenge it with a harder mile or two. I don't dare do that for another week, so in the meantime, diet and other exercises will have to work. Bike is also assembled, went on my first ride, but it got too dark and I have no lights/helmet. Knee was affected when giving extra effort, so the bike will likely be relegated to general fitness and weight loss purposes as opposed to gaining fitness and pushing heart rate.

PM: Averaged 8-minute miles for the first time in a long time.  Knee started disagreeing with me a little bit later on in the run this time- at about 5.25 miles into it- so that's fortunate.  I'm still babying it a ton and when I come to any sort of turn, I'll pretty much stop, turn my body, and then re-start running.  

On the other side of things, my running team has a buyer, so I will be under new leadership as a coach.  I don't really know what that truly means for me, but I'm hopeful to stay employed and a part of the team- I really think there is buy-in from the runners when I am coaching/teaching.  I suppose time will tell.  Hopefully I can stay on my feet in the near-term.

PM: run in East Lake at about 8min pace, then gym- chest, tris, quads, and shoulders. Felt some good progress today with the weights and dips. Felt strong. I'm going to pump. You. Up!

PM: Ran down East Lake Road and sped it up on the way back.  We'll see how it feels tomorrow.  All I know is the knee is sore and I'm out of shape.  My cadence is back up to 177-178spm, so I'm pretty much where I need to be.  Happy I chose to work on it during the injury and increase it.

Then went to one of those "painting with a twist" things with my work people.  It was a lot of fun, but very challenging to eat/drink well at those.  I can't wait for the day I can run enough where I need all the calories I can get my hands on.  In the meanntime, hopefully I'm back under 150lbs shortly, and nearer to my goal of 141-143.  

PM: 8-mile Run with Cory in SH.  We both had knee pain, so it felt good to not be the only injured person.

Late PM: 3 miles at the track... "running" with the team.  Back to being the only injured person!  That was fast.  I love working with them.  It's really nice to see people accomplish things they truly thought they couldn't do literally every week.  One guy, Tim, ran all 4 of his total mileage in under 38 minutes.  This seems like no big deal until you realize he's never bested a 10-minute mile twice in a row- let alone 4 with recoveries counting against him in between.   Very impressive.  Pacing him on the last 1200 and offering encouragement was as fun as teaching- but almost better since you knew and he knew that he had gotten better and more fit.  

PM: Run then gym- arms and back.

AM: 3 miles

PM: 2 miles

Late PM: Watched the Patriots kick some butt!

AM: 12 miles.  Partially due to the fact I was mad I DNS-ed for the first time in my running career at a race I was registered at.  It didn't feel good physically, but emotionally it helped.

PM: Watched some football with friends and avoided snacks like the plague.  Then felt the need to work out after feeling lethargic watching football all afternoon, so... did 2 miles, then gym- quads/knees/balance, chest, tris, shoulders.  this had the added benefit of keeping my mind off things as well.

Knee update: Not promising, but not worsening, so I will keep going and just continue to stay away from the speed for a bit longer.  

Body update: Down to 150.0 lbs while only suffering no measurable muscle loss.  Still tough to manage training, lifting, and a healthy calorie deficit, but seeing the progress helps.  Next stop: 146.5 by next Saturday.  

Life update: headed up to CT for two days.  Living in FL is challenging sometimes when your family isn't close and family things come up.  Sometimes I feel selfish and wonder why I always have to do the travelling and my family doesn't visit, but then I remember I'm the one who moved my life here (for a girl nonetheless) away from them, so I quickly see my immaturity.  Realization is humiliating sometimes.

AM: run with Jim in St. Pete on the trail. I could barely hold a conversation I was so out of shape.

PM: 5 cold miles on the frozen taiga...

AM: 18 degrees, windy, and hilly. On a positive note, it was too cold to feel any pain anywhere.

PM: run in Clearwater on the trail right after I got off the plane.

PM: run in East Lake, real slow. Wicked sore.

AM: 2 Miles with the team.  Hung out mostly with the coaches, and then had a "business" meeting afterwards about money- not my idea of fun.

PM: 2.5 mile warm up and cool down, then decided to run in the Bellair Sunset 5k under an incognito name as I haven't been running much and have been injured, so I thought I'd just relax more if I did it this way.  I figured, what the hell- it's a 5k, and I can do 3 miles on my easy runs pretty handily right now, albeit not expecting race pace.  The course ended up being a tad short this year as they changed things up a bit by about .05-.07 depending on the watch you read, so add about 25 seconds to the times.

My alias: Dick Tater.  Now, Dick Tater knew he has not been running real well in a while and was coming off an injury, so he took it conservative right in the beginning, and assumed that even with a 5:30 mile he'd be gassed.  He rolled right through mile 1 in 6th place behind a set of 3 high schoolers, a savvy veteran (Larry Smart), and what looked like a child not even old enough to run (turned out to be 16 years old).  The first two runners he caught during the next mile while running the same pace, each time coming up next to them and just gradually passing them, making note that their breathing was heavy and taxed.  Mile 3 came, and he was shocked that at about the 2.1 he had a lot of gas left and the wind at his back, so he decided to just go for it.  Now, Dick has raced one of these guys before and knew a quick kick past him and a speed up would be needed, so as he passed them both, he sped things up quite a bit.  Larry challenged and Dick Tater was worried, but fortunately Larry (and the pint-sized companion trailing him) decided to let him be and not to chase, allowing him to glide in with a 7-second advantage to get second place.

The crowd was the funniest when they announced my name as "Dick Tater", to which the announcer apologized as he though he mispronounced it.  Oh.  He pronounced it perfectly...

1    Luke Peterson     17   M       1 OVERALL          15:52       
      2    Dick Tater    30   M       1 30-34          16:21      
      3    Larry Smart   46   M       1 Masters        16:28      
      4    Cooper Labrant 16   M       1 15-19         16:32     
      5    Jackson Gillette  17   M    2 15-19         16:32      
      6    Christian Kondor  16   M       3 15-19      16:44      
      7    John Robida  35   M       1 35-39           16:58      

Splits:

Mile one    5:27

Mile two    5:31

Mile three  5:12

Finish      ~0:11

AM: Longer run in East Lake, nice and slow.  Soreness, but no pain.

PM: Run in East Lake.  Was supposed to be a short run, but I just lost track.  Decided to hit up the gym afterwards to burn off the rest of my energy- arms, back, and lunges.  Sometimes, I hate creating the urge to go to the gym, so I relish it when I have it for no reason and try to go with it, even though the returns after a long run like that may be minimal.  I think the short sets help although.

PM: Slow run, added striders at the end for the first time in about a month and a half.

PM: Clearwater bridges to the beach over through Bellair and back with Cory.  Rainy, I felt terribly out of shape and struggled, but overall happy the longest run other than a marathon in months is completed and I feel at least OK.

PM: Run in East Lake in the rain, then to the gym- shoulders, chest, and tris.  Felt very weak today- likely because of yesterday.

Weight is down to 145.  One week to go...

PM: ran a new location in Tarpon Springs.

AM: 6 miles in safety harbor, then hung out with the team.

PM: 3 miles then the gym- back and biceps.

AM: St. Pete run with the crew. Amazing time. Ran the first two miles solo then just had a blast talking to everyone. I knew I was excited to be out there because I just wouldn't shut up.

3x2 mile workout with a couple minutes recovery in between thrown in the middle.

PM: hot run for February 1st... Also some knee pain today, which is worrisome.

PM: Tried a track workout mixed in with some slow miles.  Didn't start well, didn't end well.  

Workout was meant to be a ladder: 400, 800, 1200, 1600, 1200, 800, 400 with 400 rest between all items except for the first two and last two.  Despite little energy, I made it cleanly through the 1600, then just lost my drive.  Tried some of the rest but couldn't get anything under 5:40 mile pace.  I think I am beat up, which makes sense.  Building mileage and speed is never a good idea.

PM: A much needed recovery run, then the gym.  5 x 5s: chest, tris, shoulders.  Went up in every category which was invigorating.  Even managed 40 solid dips.  

Knee is sore, but not on the tendon, so the pain is mostly compensatory at this point in my extremely doctoral opinion. ;)

PM: Horribly rainy.  I only got through a couple of miles before I packed it in.  I just couldn't see and my sneakers were getting soaked and it was dark.  Very uncomfortable.  

Went to the gym instead- arms, back, forearms.  Happy I did something productive.

PM: Shake out run.

I have been reviewing my run logs and what made me successful in early Fall.  It seems when I spent the majority of the time [I thought] screwing around/running during Tues/Thurs morning track at 10k/half paces [as opposed to my normal max effort] to push the other runners instead of myself, I inadvertantly progressed my own running by going slower than full sustainable effort.  I think the specific pacing was essential for my success at the 15k and half distances.

So I see it like this.  I think I'm going to keep my mileage around 85-90.  Initially I wanted to blast past that.  Instead, once I reach that, I'll incorporate a true progressive or tempo run during or ending a long run on Sundays.  Keep Tuesday as track stuff.  Make Thursday or Friday another session of either fartlek, specific race pace, more track, or time-interval sessions.  Switch the quality to more manageable and specific paces.  Then lastly, do doubles to break up my fitness/recovery runs and (hopefully) recover better as a result.

Thoughts, Drew?!

Race report- BDR Safety Harbor half

Came in feeling out of shape. Was shooting for a 1:19-1:20, as other than running a short-course 5k, and a couple ofrandom sub 6:00 miles last Sunday during a long run, I had done zero speed work since November and not to mention I should throw out the entire month of December for the pathetic running I managed. So I shot for 5:55-6:05 pace for every mile and figured I could get away with that and feel healthy.

The race: a group of 10 or so of us labored through the first two miles. Wait. I labored. Them? They did not. Fuck them. By mile 4 the group had shrunk to 5 with me still at the back. Bringing up the rear. Being the ass of everyone's joke. By mile 5 the group had shrunk to 3 and I had a weird feeling that I somehow had a shot at winning this if I raced it right. This was a surprise. I decided to start (attempting to) dictate the pace at about mile 6, and by the time it had settled as low as 5:38 per mile the group was still annoyingly together, I knew right then I had made a tactical mistake. My pace suffered, I suffered, and in the end the other two guys finished about 30 and 60 seconds ahead of me respectively.

I did not think I had this race in me though. I certainly had no reason to run a sub 1:16 given my fitness. The negative split was also a shock. I planned on blowing up a bit after starting a little below 5:55, not to end up averaging a 5:48 per mile. I'm proud of my effort and VERY thankful to have those two awesome runners with me the whole way. It felt communal. Hopefully I can work harder and catch up to them if I see them again. I missed that feeling.

Mile splits- 5:58, 5:50, 5:54, 5:55, 5:48, 5:43, 5:45, 5:41, 5:39, 5:38, 5:44, 5:49, 5:54, 0:38

1st half split- 38:20

2nd half split- 37:36

AM: 17 gruelingly slow miles (9:06 pace, for 2 hours and 35 minutes, not to mention 3 stops.). I suppose I needed it. Ran with a group of local runners and had a great time conversing, but that's a long time to be slogging along for only 17 miles.

AM: 10.5 surprising miles. I went begrudgingly to jury duty in Clearwater by the bridges. Fortunately, they sent me home after a short while, so I decided to strip down to my undershirt, cotton underwear, and work socks, then found a pair of basketball shorts and an old pair of sneakers for just such occasions in the trunk and set out for nothing in particular. Did not enjoy the cotton underwear.

PM: 5 and a half miles, then gym- arms and back.

PM: track workout in safety harbor with a couple of recruits... I coerced Tyler, Cory, and Anthony out to track for my first session back at it with others.

Workout: 12 400s with descending recovery- 90 seconds down to 10 seconds.

Splits- 1:22, 1:19, 1:18, 1:16, 1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:12, 1:11, 1:14, 1:13.

Felt okay. Happy to be running hard with people again.

PM: jamming out the entire run to some good tunes. I rarely use an iPod, but man, some days it's a game-changer.

PM: Kickball, then a short run.  Followed that by a track practice with the team.  I had a lot of fun, but that may be due to the fact I got to run around the track with all of the runners and participate.  

My knee is still sore since the weekend, but the pangs of pain are just oddly sporadic so I'll have to just keep an eye on it.

PM: slow run. Soreness in left knee, but manageable.

AM: 5am run with Eva, Dow, and Michelle. Then practice with the team. Now for a long day- hopefully with some watching of the Olympic trials! Go Meb!

AM: some bridge running in south st. Pete by the skyway with mainly Anthony. Did 7 bridges between 5:30 and 6 pace. Felt good for being tired from high mileage. I'm still feeling the knee.

PM: Some miles with Cory on the Dunedin Causeway and Honeymoon Island.  Many were in the 6:30 range for no good reason.  I think it might be because I told him he hasn't been working hard enough to break 17:00, so that's partially my fault.  Eek.

PM: track in St. Pete. This is my second real session back. Minor improvements, great company, and good weather made it a positive one. There was a moment after the session where my knee started locking up similarly to 2 months ago and I was also feeling nauseous, but it seems to just be early onset hypochondria... Workout: 4x400, 2x800, 4x400 with 200 recoveries between items and 400 between sets. Splits: 1:26, 1:23, 1:22, 1:20, 2:37, 2:37, 1:19, 1:19, 1:18, 1:14.

PM: Slow run and then gym- shoulders, tris, and chest.  Definitely have the beginnings of a head cold.

AM: Track session with a little bit of speed work.  Cut it short as I was feeling very dizzy and was coughing a ton.  Cold has gotten worse and apparently is affecting my inner ear.  

PM: 1 mile with the team.  Tried running an item with a runner, but I couldn't keep up and ended up in a coughing fit.

No running.  No exercise.  Feeling sick.  Stayed at work until 7:30.  Not happy about it.

Gasparilla 15k Race Report

I'm not impressed with myself or my effort.  I need to work harder.  This felt like the toughest race I've ever done.  I've really blown it this season.  

No running on this day.  I'm still feeling sick.  Stressed.  Didn't even get to the gym.  I can't remember the last day I literally got no exercise, and I've now done it twice in 3 days.  Only up from here!

PM: Twelve slow miles in East Lake solo.  I''m still feeling quite ill and dizzy.  I am also definitely sore from Saturday.

AM: Track- 300s in Safety Harbor.

Workout: 7 x 300 with 100 recovery between items and 500 recovery between sets.  3 sets.  Kept them all between :56 and :61.  

Still feeling ill, but I think I'm on the other side (finally).  

PM: solo run in East Lake.  

PM: East Lake, still sick.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Still not feeling too great, but ran a track workout with a group of friends.  We did a wave tempo of sorts, alternating 10k and Marathon paces.

Workout: 5 miles continuous Alternating 800s at marathon and then 10k pace.  I shot for 3:05-3:10 for the marathon pace, and 2:45-2:50 for the 10k paces for each 800.  

PM: Run in Safety Harbor then track with the team.  Just taught the basics- dynamic stretching, balance, abdominals, center of gravity, etcetera.  Then did a couple of 400s with time predictions.  Total was 7 miles.

Cough was really bad last night.  I suppose my training is getting in the way of me getting better.  It's a fine line though, I suppose.

PM: fun run

AM: 5.5 miles in John Chestnut with the group.

PM: 2 miles and then some basketball with Cory and company for 2 hours.  Definitely am too old to be playing basketball for that long.  Will be taking tomorrow off.  My poor knees!!!

Day off.  Needed.

PM: Long run... because... I didn't feel like stopping... 

AM: 2.4 miles with the group and then led them through a workout.  Had 15 runners today!  

PM: 2.6 miles before the gym.  Then did tris, chest, and shoulders.

PM: Nice easy run in East Lake.

AM: Track- basic 1-mile fitness test and then some 300s with trivia with the group.  Would have rather gave them a real 12 minute test, but the mile worked just fine I think.  I then sat out a couple of the 300s- relegating myself to the sidelines out of frustration- and only did 6 of them total.

Mile- 5:10, each 300 was done at 5-minute per mile pace.  

Certainly not proud of that mile time.  I did try my best.  That's the toughest pill to swollow.  However, thinking about it, nothing this entire season has been any good for me workout-wise, time-wise, or effort-wise, so it's pretty par for the course.  I don't know why my expectations were so high.  

For 3 months it's been a pretty grueling, sad experience to be a runner.  It's oddly depressing to be going the other way while still working hard, but then I remember all of the dedication and effort I've put in in the past two years.  The miles and time on my feet.  The mitochondria and red blood cells built/increased.  The efficiency of stride and form.  The fitness and muscle gained.  I know it's all there.  Now just to fit the pieces together- little by little if I need to.  It's just not worth it right now to waste all of that, particularly now that I'm healthy.

PM: run in East Lake. Through a faster mile @5:30 in there for no real reason.

PM: some very easy miles

Race Report Fort DeSoto Beach Halfathon

Did the race with the intention of running about 5 beforehand and then using the half as a tempo and finishing up with 2 recovery miles.  I had some bowel issues before the race, so that changed to about 2 miles beforehand followed by the half, followed by the final 5.  So basically inverted.  

The race:

My goal was to hold my placing (5th) for the money awards (hopefully) in the series or move up to another level.  There were only 2 runners I could realistically catch and move up in the series: Sean and Chris Y. who were both a minute or so ahead of me in the series, so I just focused on those two during the race and the time between us.  I thought the best thing to do would be to go out fast and see if they would bite into going too quickly early on.  I knew I'd been putting in the miles, so I could hopefully hang on to a slower pace in the later miles and make up the ground.  Well, funny thing- Sean is apparently in much better shape than I expected and I am in much worse shape than I thought so that was a hilarious joke as I watched him fly away at a 5:25 opening mile- in other words, I had no chance.  However, Chris didn't partake after the first mile, so I think I made a good decision, as he ended up finishing over 3 minutes behind me.  Fortunately, this means I earned 4th place in the series!  This is relatively exciting considering I was not running 2 months ago- and when I did run I was making things worse.  

In the end, I would rather just throw this race away and never think of it again, but it should provide a good starting point for my next marathon to at least maybe hit a respectable time.  

Splits: 5:33, 5:51, 5:34, 5:39, 5:39, 5:53, 6:04, 5:59, 5:45, 5:49, 5:59, 6:19, 6:15, Finish (60 seconds-ish).  My splits were ridiculous for this race, as you can tell.

PM: Run in Safety Harbor and saw the old track team I used to coach and watched them run for a bit.  I appreciated the nostalgia.  I ran quite quick today for a day after a long run with (effectively) speed work, with the majority of the run in the 7:30 range.  

AM: Track session with the group.  800s.  Only 8 of us there today, which made it tough, since not many could stick together.

Workout: three 800s with 200 jog recovery in between each item, 400 recovery in between the set, next set was four 800s with 200 recovery in between each item.  The times are still terrible, but, I held them.

Splits: (set 1) 2:47, 2:44, 2:40 (set 2) 2:40, 2:40, 2:40, 2:40

PM: Slow roll in East Lake, just for the sake of miles.  9 total.

PM: Solo in East Lake.  Shhhhlow.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  

Workout- 4x100 (100 rest), 2x200 (200 rest), 2x300 (100 rest), 4x400 (200 rest), 2x300 (100 rest), 2x200 (200 rest), 4x100 (100 rest).  All 5:24 mile pace or faster.

PM: 4ish miles with the team, 1 fast 200.

PM: Fun run

Armadillo 5k

This race was stupid. It was certified and I ran fine, but I just made two huge errors in this race. My running nightmare happened twice- I ran off course two times in this race. Twice. 180 degree mistakes both times and both in the final mile. They were not quick fixes either.

I understand it's important for me to know the course, but come on. At each mistake a guy was there to literally watch me screw up and did not make any attempt to correct and make the right turn until after I had gone down the wrong street. No lead bike either. The first was demoralizing, the second was just plain annoying.

I literally threw away time today. Twice. I threw away a certified PR. I threw away a sub 16. And I even didn't gut it out and sprint it in during the finish. I'm really at ends with myself recently with how my effort in training and now in races has been. I know running is about peaks and valleys, but this valley is a veritable Dead Sea. I want to persevere, but this is getting overtly challenging.

Splits: 5:15, 5:19, 5:06, finish 0:60ish.

AM: Twas a really early run with the time change. Was up at 3:30am (effectively) to head to Clearwater for some bridges. Christina, Lee, Steve, Anthony, Jim, and then an hour later the rest of the group joined. We accomplished 7 bridges. I suppose I wanted that number to be higher, but it's some at least.

PM: east lake, recovery.

AM: Track workout in Safety Harbor

Workout: Alternating 200s and 600s with 200 jog recovery.  6 sets with a 600 recovery between sets 3 and 4.  200s at 33-34 seconds, the recoveries were faster paced, and the 600s were at 10k-15k pace.  

PM: 5 miles.

PM: 13 slow.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Cory joined which made it a little better, as I didn't and wouldn't have even pushed myself even a little bit without him.

Workout: "Mile" repeats.  3x1600 with 400 active recovery.  Fast recoveries, descended pace on every mile at about the 800m mark to keep things interesting.  

Splits: 5:36, 5:29, 5:19

PM:6 more with the group  

PM: Clearwater bridges. Ran 8 bridges at a decent effort.

Early AM: 5 recovery miles, solo in Safety Harbor

Late AM: 3 miles with Celia in SH

AM: long run in St. Pete with the group. Anthony signed on for a 3x3mile workout with me within the run. It was not the best day for it as it was good ole Florida-level humid, but I'm happy I got the workout in. Started the workout at mile 5 with a mile running recovery in between each set.

Splits:

set 1- 5:57, 5:52, 5:51

set 2- 5:45, 5:52, 5:48

set 3- 5:55, 5:50, 5:55

Today was important. Before I even started today, I was tired, sore, and didn't think I would be successful. I had high mileage and effectively 3 workouts this week- 2 on the track, 1 on the bridges, so it was important to me psychologically going forward to get something like this in on tired legs. Although Boston is pretty much shot, I think I can build off this training cycle to propel myself into an awesome cycle for Chicago once I recover.

AM: 8 with Dow and Michele in Safety Harbor

Noon: 10 with Drew and Quint in Tampa/Rocky Point. Perfect weather minus the wind.

AM: 5 miles in Safety Harbor on the grass, slow

PM: track in St. Pete with the group- Drew, Lee, Anthony, Sean

Workout: 400s with descending recovery times, 90 seconds down to 10 seconds with the extras at 60 second recovery.

Splits- 1:18, 1:16, 1:18, 1:15, 1:15, 1:15, 1:15, 1:14, 1:12, 1:10, 1:12, 1:11, 1:10, 1:16

AM: 7 recovery solo in Clearwater

PM: 5 miles in East Lake

AM: 8 miles running with people at the track. Still sore, so I took it easy.

PM: 6 miles in SH, easy, mostly with Ronnie. Always an interesting experience running with a deaf man.

PM: 10 miles with Anthony in JC.

AM: 6 bridges in Clearwater at a moderate effort with Sean and Anthony. Did the bridges at a quicker pace, but nowhere near what those two were doing- I was tired and it showed.

Ideally I should drop the mileage for a week, and then ramp it back up for three weeks and then taper for 10-14 days. However, 3 weeks and 2 days out of my marathon, I'm in a weird position as I have had a challenging 3 months going from the couch to 100 miles, so I've left myself with zero wiggle room and clearly a month behind in training... But I am out of time. I knew this would occur as of 2 months ago, but now that it's upon me it's difficult to accept. I just want to have magically have put in the work. Where's my elder wand when I need it.

AM: Long run St. Pete with Anthony and Sean again. Added a workout in there too. I wanted a 4x3 mile, but no one was really interested in that, which is fine particularly due to the humidity, how I felt, and that it was Easter in St. Pete.

Traditionally, Easter Sunday is difficult to navigate running-wise by the beach due to all of the Easter services. Sincere déjà vú today as a result, as I had a memory of our similar run last year where we had a large group imposing on a bunch of services. Unfortunately today there was only 3 of us.

Running with Sean and Anthony has been tough the past couple weeks. It seems one of us is always "on," so it makes it difficult to resign a workout when someone is in front of you kicking your ass- which means we're always pushing in workouts. I can tell if we continue this, we are either going to gain some serious speed and fitness or we're all destined for injuries. It's always been a fine line between the two...

Workout was 3x3 miles with 1 mile recovery starting after a warmup.

Splits:

Set 1- 5:55, 5:48, 5:57

Set 2- 5:58, 5:54, 5:51

Set 3- 5:52, 5:51, 6:00

PM: 10 miles in East Lake, about ~7 with Anthony who I randomly saw.  We ran too fast, in my opinion.  I don't like doing that a day after a hard workout.

AM: 6 miles in SH on the track with Michele, Rick, and Alan.

PM: Track in St. Pete with Drew, Anthony, Sean, Jim, and Quint.  

Workout: 3 mile warmup, then 4x1 Mile with 400 active recovery between items.  

Splits- 5:16, 5:18, 5:18, 5:08

I think this workout was a confidence booster. I consciously decided to set the tone on the last one from the beginning of the last mile and not hang back and that seemed to be the way to go. Pacing is a really taxing in my opinion, but I appreciated the opportunity to be out in front.

PM: treadmill "hills" followed by gym: chest, tris, shoulders... Holy crap I'm out of shape.

AM: Safety Harbor Track, mostly with Alan.  I stayed in lane 6 on the outside to try to get some extra time in on each interval.

Workout: Descending ladder- 1600, 1200, 800, 4x400 with 400 rest between the 1600 and 1200, 1200 and 800, and then 200 rest after the 800and the 400s.  Started at a little slower than 5k pace and worked my way down. 

PM: Safety Harbor with the group.  It was fun pushing the runners in the group tonight- it's nice to see strong effort from people to the point where they want to do MORE than they set out to do, which I saw tonight and it was inspiring.  I can take a page from their book.

AM: Zero.  Thought about waking up early although...  That counts, right?

PM: 

AM: 6 miles in John Chestnut with Michele.

PM: 2.5 miles including a beer mile with some local friends. Tougher than my last one as we used cans this time and it was an out-and-back 180 degree turn for each quarter. Ton of fun, I just wish more people would do it...

Splits-

beer 1- 15.9, quarter 1- 1:12

beer 2- 39.5, quarter 2- 1:17

beer 3- 39.6, quarter 3- 1:19

beer 4- 38.6, quarter 4- 1:13

AM: St Pete with Anthony for a couple of miles and then Drew and Quint joined (with some Walt & Steve sprinkled in).  The weather made this run a little better than it should have been- I think all four of us have been putting in some serious miles the last couple weeks, so although we were feeling it from the start, we were able to cruise for a lot of the run and overall it felt alright.

Overall average pace: 7:27 

PM: solo in Lansbrook, easy, felt good.

AM: 7 miles at track in Safety Harbor.  16 x 300 with 100 rest between each item and 500 rest after every five items.

PM: 6 miles, with 2 miles of treadmill hills, East Lake.

Day off.  Felt fine.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Did 4 miles continuous then immediately joined for two 200s and two 600s with 200 recovery.  Felt fine.

PM: 6 miles with the team.  

Stuck at work for 13 and a half hours = no running (or lunch!)

AM: 6 miles in Ybor city

PM: 6 miles in Orlando

AM: 13 miles with Anthony

PM: Solo run in JC, felt fine.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor with a couple of people.  Today was fun since I was running marathon pace and they were doing a tempo style where they worked up to 5k pace so it was fun to watch the progression of speed and effort.

Split: 29:58 for the 5 miles

I had planned 5 miles continuous at around marathon pace.  It felt good.  My breathing was in rhythm, I had trouble with form a bit, but I think it's just something that happens with a short warmup.  This was an exciting day because, when I started running 5 or 6 years ago, the thought of completing 5 miles in 30 minutes was daunting to me let alone at a marathon pace.  Today it felt easier and as if I was just cruising.  How cool is that?  Feeling fit really is the ultimate feeling.  I always wish I were more fit, but sometimes it's nice just to take a step back and realize how far I've come and grown.

PM: slow roll in East Lake. Felt fine.

AM: 6 miles in Safety Harbor with 5 striders

PM: 5 and some striders in East Lake

Off, but did two in Boston in the afternoon because my legs were feeling sore.

AM: run in Boston.

Walked around all day, probably a regrettable move, but, it was fun which is all that matters in the end. Caught the Red Sox at Fenway too which was nice. The expo was overwhelming. It was fun to see all the excitement over a race though. Runners are a funny breed... Not many people get excited for the prospect of endured pain.

Boston Marathon Race Report:

Off

PM: Wanted to bike too, but couldn't find the stupid pump...  Felt fine running though.

PM: Slow roll in Safety Hahbah.  

I'm feeling pretty decent overall.  I did some rolling tonight, which I don't usually do, so that was a welcome feeling.  I want to run a bunch more, but I just need to be patient.  I like relishing the short runs sometimes.  But I'd prefer the larger amounts of food that accompanies the longer ones...

PM: felt fine. East lake

AM: John Chestnut with Michele and Greg. Felt fine.

AM: So a couple of weeks ago I was offered a free spot to join an Olympic Triathalon relay team hoping to win the overall male relay award. My teammates were described as absolute beasts and awesome racers in their disciplines.

However my teammates admittedly were not in top shape, which was disappointing. I honestly only agreed in the beginning when a coaching friend of mine mentioned they were top performers in their disciplines as I thought it would be wicked fun to anchor a strong triad in a sport (Triathalon) that I don't do very often. I realize it's neither of their faults for her making it seem like they were so good I'd be the weak link, but the day before when they told me their expected times for their disciplines/ what they could accomplish tomorrow and that neither were in top form even to hit those, I was bummed out. I had been gearing my recovery since the marathon in hopes to be as primed as possible for an okay run just six days away from Boston in this race, so it was deflating.

By the time my running leg was up, I just relaxed into a 5:50-5:55 pace and just coasted. I spent the run high-fiving volunteers, supporters, and those cheering on the way, running through sprinklers set up, hoses, fist-bumping people I knew on the course after the turn-around. The finishers chute was the best part! The crowd was much more dense and I was able to slap the hand of almost everyone on the side before finishing which got some cool cheers. A big caveat to the experience though- I felt terrible for passing so many people along the route though. By the time it was my turn to run, 99% of the runners on the 10k course in front of me were 8:00min/mile race pace or slower, so I didn't really know what to say other than a "you got this" or "keep it up" as I glided past as they wilted away in the 80+ degree heat. Passing people honestly felt humiliating, and usually that's the most satisfying. It felt as if I were cheating. Weird feeling during a race.

Overall, the race was entertaining. I got to see a lot of people I knew, including Tom, a friend from this blog! That was a pretty exciting surprise. Thanks really to Drew for introducing us (and for Tom being nice enough to say hi).

PM: solo in East Lake. Saw Anthony on the way, but I guess neither of us were in the mood, so we just high-fixed and continued on our runs. 6:41 pace, for no real reason.

AM: track in Safety Harbor. 6x1000 with 200 jog recovery. Nothing special- averaged between 3:18-3:28 for all of them. Was shooting for 3:10 when I started. Nope.

PM: 8 more in JC

PM: Solo in Lansbrook, felt springy.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Ran 8 x 600 w/ 200 jog recovery.  Cory came out today.  The times were mediocre, ranging from 1:56 down to 1:49 at the end.  Felt fine and didn't go deep in the tank.  Hot out there today- Florida should be hitting the 90s.  And so it begins...

PM: 6 miles in Safety Harbor

PM: 7 miles. Tampa.  Tampa sucks.

AM: Ran the bridge in Clearwater with the team.  Started with Celia, Dow, and Michele.  

AM: Ran with Anthony.  Wow.  What a terrible run.  I was planning on  between 17-20 depending on how I felt.  I was out of it by mile 4.  Awful.  Thankfully Anthony was there or I would have bailed completed and went home and ate a pizza.  Looks like I'm still in a valley with my running.  I'll dig out soon.

PM: I felt sore again today.  The 85 degrees and humid weather does not help the situation.  I'll be alright, I've been here before, but it's important to make a note of a tissue bruising beginning to occur on the top of my right foot, which is likely correlated to the left knee pain I've been dealing with.  Neither should become true injuries as long as I'm careful...

AM: Track Safety Harbor.  Cory came to join- I got really excited seeing him and literally fell over myself running and took a pretty hard fall.  I also fell on Saturday, so it was ultra-embarrassing.  I banged my knee that's been hurting, did a somersault on the asphalt and got some nice road rash as well as an awesome hip bruise.  I knew I'd be feeling it, so I decided to just run the workout anyway.

Ladder: 4x100, 2x200, 2x300, 2x400, 1x600, 2x400, 2x300, 2x200, 4x100.  It was supposed to have an extra 600 and two extra 200s, but the group I was running with was demoralized by the workout, so I cut some of it out.  They were still demoralized.  I felt like a sucky leader today.

I think I've ended my chances of racing on Sunday with that fall.  I'm writing this now in the afternoon and am incredibly sore and my skin is raw on my back, shoulder, elbow, knee, and my foot is still tender.  At least I rolled this time during my fall :)  Next time, I'll try not to roll on asphalt...

No running.  Injured from the fall.

No running.  Injured from the fall.

No running.  Injured from the fall.

No running.  Injured from the fall.

No running.  Injured from the fall.

No running.  Injured from the fall.

No running.  Injured from the fall.

No running.  Injured from the fall.

PM: A couple of miles to see how I felt in SH

Nope.

I guess I can't call them slow miles, but they felt it.  Pace my friend Brian at the Miles for Moffitt 10k I was supposed to race.  He did okay.  He doesn't really put in much mileage (20-30 a week), so it's not bad given that.  He was shooting for a 44:00 and got a 46:30.  I tried pulling him along, but he knew he didn't have it and/or gave up around mile 2 going for that time.  I spent the rest of the "race" goofing around with Celia and talking.  I suppose that's got to be annoying for the other runners, but it was nice to just kind of chill in a race.  Most of the miles were around 7:15-7:20 pace. 

I felt okay and wasn't winded at all, but I was very sore after.

Noon: Squeezed in a run before the beach.  Felt good to sleep in on a Sunday, but I regret trading it for 85 degrees and Florida humidity.

PM: Solo in East Lake.  Felt fine.  Slight hip soreness still and I felt tender under the right foot (still).  Fortunately, the knee feels better.  That fall really wrecked havoc...

Also, my first time back in the gym: chest, tris, shoulders, abs

AM: Track in Safety Harbor because- why not.  I had to be there, might as well run, even if I suck right now.  

Workout- 2 sets of 4x600 with 200 recovery.  The items were done between 2:03 and 2:08 per 600.    

Hip still tight, foot still tender.

PM: 2 miles then back in the gym: backs, biceps, abs

PM: 7 miles in Lansbrook.  

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  It's hard to get up for this workout without having anyone to run with.  Workout was 2x2miles with 4-minute rest in between.  Did both averaging about 5:50 per mile.  About what I should be expecting, to be honest.

PM: 2.5 and then gym- chest, tris, shoulders, abs

PM: 8 miles in East Lake

AM: 6 miles with Michele and a couple others.

Noon: 3 more miles after a long workout session- arms, back, abs

AM: 16 miles.  First 3 with Anthony, next 10 with Drew, Lee, Quint, Christina, Christa, Anthony... Really appreciated and enjoyed the run today.  I was not feeling in shape to run that much, so all of the faces showing up made it much better to hold on.  Fortunately, I was able to suffer the last 3 miles on my own back to my car.  

PM: Ran 4, then gym: triceps, chest, abs, and shoulders, then finished up with 2 more miles.

AM:  5 miles at track in Safety Harbor.  Just ran some laps with the group and timed them for their workout

PM: 10+ at track with Sean, Anthony, Drew, Jim, and Lee.  For the workout, Lee, Anthony, Sean and I decided to do the 1000s with 200 recovery.  I wanted to amend it to 2 sets of 3x1000, but they seemed to want a 7x1000, so I figured I'd drop down to a 5x1000 and try and make it with the short recoveries.  

Splits- 3:12, 3:15, 3:16, 3:14, 3:16

I was pretty done by the fifth item, but thankfully Drew joined for the last bit which was re-energizing.  I was surprised to be leading the last couple of items to be honest, so I appreciated the help.  I suppose I had one more in me at a slower rate, but there was no reason to push too much- I'll have another workout in 2 days and my mileage is increasing.

PM: Pretty quick run with Anthony all around East Lake.  It was great to converse with him and also to run with someone more fit than me.  It makes me want to work harder, which is what I need.  Progress is being made finally.  My weight is much lower, my effort is up, and my slow slogs aren't ridiculous anymore.

In other news, Anthony and I talked about him breaking 16 minutes for the first time and I got him to race next Saturday with me!  I don't think I have the fitness at the moment, but I can definitely pace him to an 8:00 half- which we'll see if he wants to take me up on.  That won't take too much out of me to hopefully still finish around 16:30.  If not, just him being there will motivate me to push more, which is awesome.  My "A" goal in that case is a 16:15, but who knows what the Florida humidity/heat will do.

AM: Workout in Safety Harbor.  Wass with the group but did the items by myself.  Workout was- 600, 1000, mile, (4 minutes rest/recovery over 400m), mile, 1000, 600 with 200 recoveries in between all other items.  My goals were merely to get faster as I went, which I accomplished!

Splits- 2:11, 3:39, 5:41, 5:19, 3:27, 1;59

PM: 3 miles and gym- chest, shoulders only

PM: short run followed by gym- biceps, triceps, back, abs

Weight is back down to 145.

AM: JC and then with the group. Felt great!

Rays game today. Finally get to sit at the field level, which is exciting. Too bad I'm a Red Sox fan!

AM: long run in St. Pete mostly with Anthony. We threw in a couple 5:40 miles in for good measure.

Then I decided 16 was good for me, so I turned around, and I guess Lee decided he wasn't done talking politics so he tagged along for the last 4 miles offering his opinions while I listened and/or offered other topics. It's not that I'm not caring about the good ole issues in America, it's more just an excruciating way to spend time while running- I'm not learning anything and I'm not entertained, so it's pretty tiring. I need to work on appearing more ignorant and daft to avoid future discussions on these matters.

AM: 3 miles then gym- chest, triceps, abs, and shoulders

Noon: 7 miles. Was surprisingly not terrible, but still upper 80s.

AM: Track at ELHS (rubber!)  Workout- 2x100, 2x200, 2x300, 2x400, 1x600, 2x400, 2x300, 2x200, 2x100 with 100 rest on odds and 200 rest on evens.  All were done right around 5:00 per mile pace.

This tracked ROCKED.  Beautiful, bouncy, easy to run, and still had that fresh smell to it.  What a cool experience.  My legs already feel better than they usually do.  Not sure if we'll be able to attend again, but definitely an awesome experience.

PM: Put on run clothes.  Then laid down and took a nap.  Worth it.

PM: Run in East Lake with Anthony, then coaching at SHMS.  7:30-7:40 range

AM: Track at SHMS.  Did a bunch of striders and some easy running.  

PM: 5 miles then gym: Arms, back, abs, calves, hams, glutes, quads

Day off.  Had to tutor after school too, so not much time.

Race Report BDR Leftover 5k Safety Harbor, FL

Weather: 80 degrees, dewpoint 76 (hahaha Florida sucks), humidity 88%, and sunny.  Super ideal, eh?

I rarely run 5ks anymore, so this was a little random treat.  Warmed up and then hung out with the team a bit and then with Charles.  Charles is just an awesome guy, so it was very fun before the race.  I spent a little too much time with everyone and didn't get in a good warmup or any striders and was stuck in the bathroom line (as I forgot to pee this morning, a racing no-no in my book) until about 2 minutes before race time.  I rushed to the start line and snuck in during pretty much the start of the anthem.  Other than feeling rushed, to get to the line, I wasn't nervous.  I lined up next to Anthony, Christina, Chris McCaffrey, John Robida, Jeremy Richardson, and my celebrity crush Becky H., who was a welcome surprise.   The countdown began and we were off!

Mile 1: Was planning on averaging a 5:10 mile for the whole race and not go out fast and I was pretty dedicated to stick to it if someone got in front of me at least until the last mile.  Shockingly though, I was on pace through the first quarter mile and not a single one of those guys decided to stick up with me.  Actually, I somehow had a 5 second lead.  I didn't really understand it as I know Anthony at least was shooting for sub 16.  I slowed a bit as I was worried my watch was lying to me, but it wasn't- mile 1 in 5:14.

Mile 2: Feeling fine, I sped up a bit to take those 4 seconds back and scooted around the turnaround point (just after mile 1) and it was smooth for the first half mile after that which I did in 2:31 or so and then- holy hell.  The other 1600 runners and walkers in the race started to not only take up the road, but literally the whole road to the point where the biker leading me physically stopped and could not continue forward.  I hopped up into some neighboring yards and just ran on the ledge for about a quarter mile or third of a mile.  To be honest, I had run that road a bunch of times and was half expecting it to happen, I was just more annoyed at how it would squander my lead (10-15 seconds) while making me more tired.  I wish there was a nice, loud way to tell people to please "move over" without wasting energy.  In the meantime I'll just continue to practice and hone my matrix moves until they're on point.  ;)  Hit the mile 2 marker in 5:14 again, but my pace was 5:05, so I am pleased with that effor.

Mile 3: Was tired from the weaving/running in the yards, but still maintained an okay pace.  Lots of turns here: six 90-degree turns, one incline, one decline, one 180-degree turn.  The 180-turn was in a pretty fortunate location though- about a half of a mile from the finish.  I was able to "look back" without actually having to.  Same thing, 12 seconds back for Anthony and then about 24 for Jeremy and Chris.  With so little to go I knew I just needed to hold the spacing and I'd be fine.  Crossed in 16:24 and almost tripped over the tape they had out.  Pretty embarrassing end to a race on my part.

Final thoughts- I feel like I psyched Anthony out, as he didn't even go for it during mile one.  I wanted to run/pace with him since I thought we could help each other get to/break 16 today, but I think it stressed him out.  I was hoping to instill confidence and teamwork, but I think I did the opposite.  This was disheartening, but hopefully I will learn to do a better job.

Noon: 16 miles solo in East Lake.  I woke up and slept through my long run this morning with a pretty nice hangover, which was expected.  I had planned on doing 2-3 miles of warmup and then go to the gym instead, however I was feeling good so... 2-3 miles turned into 16 at the hottest part of the day.  I am not the smartest, but it felt fine.

PM: Wow, what a run!  Ran 2 miles in the rain then went to the gym: Triceps, chest, shoulders, abs, some lunges thrown in.  Then, it was a tropical storm outside, so... I decided to go for a run!  7 miles, windy, rainy, but not too bad.  I got soaked, but totally worth it.  These are usually the most interesting days to run (and coldest weather-wise), so I'm happy I went out!

PM: Track in East Lake with Anthony.  Workout was mile repeats: 3x1600 with 400 active recovery.  Splits: 5:20, 5:20, 5:34 (lol...  oops, I wanted to hold back a bit, but that was a sad item).  Followed that with 4x100 striders with 100 recovery.

PM: Ran in East Lake with Anthony.  Wow.  Started pouring rain at about mile 1, and then we just lit it up and somehow turned it into a tempo run dropping to about 6:00 minutes per mile.  Loved it.  I missed the camaraderie of running fast with someone just to run fast and see what we could handle.  I'll pay for it with the hard workout yesterday, but it was worth it.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor, ran a couple quarters just to keep people honest in their sets.

PM: Ran 7 miles for fun, then joined in a "fun 5k" I signed up for with a couple of first-time runners and had drinks afterwards.  It's noticeably easier for me to run faster in the afternoon than it is in the morning.  Running this pace was relatively easy and I coasted the whole way- which felt good.  There was no one with me from the start, and the second place person was about 2 minutes back.  Temperature- 80 degrees, dewpoint 77 degrees, for a whopping 157 misery index.  Ouch.

Splits- 5:19, 5:18, 5:16, 0:33 (finish)

On a secondary note- this 5k was $35.  For $35, one beer (mich ultra) and one cheeseburger slider is absolutely absurd.  I could easily get a dinner for two for that and not have to exercise at all.  I will happily skip the T-shirt, medal, "swag bag", and extra aid stations (one is fine with water at the end) for buffet food and drinks.  I wish sometimes T-shirts and medals were add-ons or not included.  

I had hoped the "35$" tag was meant more for a well-stocked race and therefore was worth it.  Not for a tear-off (bib) single beer and a tear-off single mini-burger.  It's too bad, as I really normally appreciate and enjoy this race director/manager, so it was odd to see the route they chose for this event.  I like supporting local races, but this one is on the "never again" list.  

AM: 3 miles in JC then a potluck with the team, followed by 5 more miles goofing around solo in the park.  

AM: run in St. Pete. I was really hoping to see Drew or Sean out this morning but they were both MIA. This was my last St. Pete long run for likely about a month, so I was bummed to miss out on the conversations. Maybe I can drop by for a mid-day run during the week and surprise Drew. In other news, Lee's birthday was today and the little turd failed to tell us during the run. Facebook had to tell me and remind me I'm a crappy friend. Facebook- always looking out.

The run felt sluggish even with the 4-mile descending tempo, but given 2 races, 2 workouts, 1 tempo, and leg day yesterday in the past week and a half, I suppose that's not surprising.

Shut out of running.

But...

Went to Weeki Wachee for a kayaking adventure.  B. E. A. Utiful.  What an experience.  Particularly if you have the head for some questionable tree climbing and jumping into some suspect waters- which I apparently still do.  Surprisingly not burnt and I will absolutely do that again.  Hopefully next time there will be manatees (and maybe mermaids?!?!)...

AM: 8 miles @ track in Safety Harbor.  2 x 10:00 minutes @ Half marathon pace with 4-minute recovery.  Turned into marathon (dream) pace pretty quick, but that's okay- it's unreal hot and soupy.

Noon: Ran a mile warmup then gym with Danny.  Biceps, Traps, Lats, Rhomboids, Teres... no abs since I'm planning on running again this afternoon.

PM: 10 miles @ track in East Lake.  Workout was 4 x 1200 with 400 recovery with Anthony.  We were thinking of going to St. Pete, but Sean wasn't a definite and Lee was a "no", so we stayed local.  We figured we'd start at 5:20/mile pace and work down.  Well.  We stayed at 5:20 pace and held on for dear life.  We really needed each other today for this one.  Temperature- 88, dewpoint- 75.  

Splits (@ mile pace)- 5:19, 5:20, 5:21, 5:21 (3:59, 4:00, 4:01, 4:01)

AM: Ran 1.5 then went to the gym- chest, tris, shoulders- moved up in all with 5x5, then abs

PM: Ran 10.2- half of those with Anthony who had to cut it short with some dead legs.  He has been putting in a lot of miles, so I guess it's time for a cutback.  Perfect timing (for both of us) actually, especially with very few opportunities for me to run next week.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Alright.  This workout was a monster, but I can tell it's one of the workouts I needed to add to handily get into the mid 15s for a 5k.  I... commandeered.... it off another runner's blog with times I'm looking to achieve, so I knew it had some merit.  

The workout: A couple of striders to get the heart-rate up then 3 sets of 10 x 150m with 50m recovery at > fast interval pace.  450m active recovery between sets.  Also, it was a lane-changing workout.  So I'd start in lane 1, then work up to lane 6, and then restart to get to the 10, which made it easy to remember the item I was on as well as challenged me to (try to) match times.

How did I feel?  My quads were worked harder than any workout I've had in a long time.  I also felt challenged to recover so incredibly fast.  That 50m recovery is NOTHING after going from full tilt to a recovery jog pace, and often I'd get down to "recovery" pace and I'd be 3-5 steps away from starting the next one.  

Set 1- All ranged from 30 to 34 seconds.  Set 2- 30 to 33 seconds.  Set 3- 29 to 33 seconds. Shockingly, my fastest one ended up being a lane 6 item in set 3, which i feel very good about.  

Noon: 1.5 miles warmup then gym: tris, chest, shoulders, abs, calves, glutes (and light quads/hams).  

AM: Early call this morning.  Ran solo before meeting the team to babysit their gear.  I got to test out the new playlist and it is on point.

Next up, cruise to Jamaica,Mexico, and the Caribbean- unless I get antsy this afternoon and want to work out.  Ya mon!

In the Caribbean ocean today.

PM: gym. Arms, back, and abs.

In Mexico today!

AM: couldn't take not running, so got up early and ran the track on the ship. 2.5 loops for one mile- how crazy is that? A mere 25 loops for a nice 10-miler on a track isn't so bad.

PM: gym. Chest, tris, shoulders, abs

In Jamaica mon!!

In Haiti today.

AM: Decided to try a treadmill workout/fitness test I haven't done in a long time. I was still on the cruise ship, so I warmed up on the track and then hit the mill. Basically, you start, after your warmup, at 8.0 mph at a 1.5% incline and work up from there, going up 0.1 mph in speed each minute until you can't handle it anymore. Basically, every 10 minutes you are moving 1.0 mph faster.

The workout went well, after 43 minutes I made it through 12.2mph and then called it once my form and stride length started to change and I had trouble controlling it. It was fun to build into that speed, but also a total mind-screw for it to take so long.

I'm going to try this again in 4-6 months.

PM: arms, back, and abs

No running, traveling back home all day.

AM: 3 miles then gym- chest, tris, shoulders

PM: solo in Safety Harbor

AM: track in Safety Harbor. Had our largest group in a while on Tuesday. Workout was 1600, 1200, 800, 5x400 (200 recoveries for the 400s, 400 for the rest).

Started at 5:27 for the mile and worked down in speed to 5:00pace.

PM: holy cow it is nasty in FL right now.

AM: track in Safety Harbor. Felt great, but no one to run with. Workout was 4x400, 2x800, 4x400 with 200 recoveries between items and 400 between sets. Definitely capable of going faster, but just no drive. Sad.

Splits- 1:20, 1:20, 1:17, 1:15, 2:39, 2:38, 1:16, 1:16, 1:16, 1:15

Noon: nice easy run in CT

AM: run on Coecles Island off of Long Island. Awesome run.

AM: run on another island off of Long Island. Kayaked over to it, parked, ran, and enjoyed life.

AM: kayaked to a new harbor and ran from there after warding off some jellyfish which fortunately did not sting. Hills were tough here. Never knew the Long Island area was hilly.

PM: some running while bouncing to some music. Did some extra hills up into the middle of nowhere in Deep River. Fun!

PM: Essex, CT. Ran on my favorite ever set of trails and was flying for the first bit, then ate it on a downhill and that sent me flying down the trail into some rocks and roots. Limped around a bit before I sucked it up and kept going. Still fun either way.

PM: No one was planning on heading out for a bit, so I set out in the mist to do some running. Found the high school after a monster hill about 3 miles in. Track was awesome- rubber. School also had what apoeared to be a X-country loop too. Decided to do a workout: 4x400 with 200 recovery and 400 between sets, (added striders totaled too). All were between 1:14-1:18, which felt good for having just myself there to push.

PM: was planning on going jet skiing, but as expected, plans fell through due to others taking entirely too long getting ready and then deciding they didn't feel like it anymore at around 3pm. Backup plan was a nice trail run and swim in the river at dusk to cool down. Calmed my immature feelings of disappointment.

Also chainsawed my first tall tree down while waiting around- and have all my limbs remaining. Shocking.

Noon: FINALLY. I finally raced my favorite trail and did not fall. It seems so small, but every time I've tried I have bit it somewhere. It's so challenging to stay focused on every step for that long, but it's done! I think I'm going to forego the trail tomorrow and end it for the year on a positive note- it only defeated me 3 times this year and with this victory I had totalled 6 wipeouts or trip/falls.

AM: easy run but threw in some hills for who knows why.

Ran some hills then did a workout: 6x300, 5x300, 5x300 with 100 recovery between items and 500 between the sets. Kept them all between :54 and :56.

No running

PM: Run in Safety Harbor

AM: 9 miles at track in Safety Harbor.  Workout was- 4 x 1600 with 400 recovery.  I did every interval in lane 6 just to get some extra work.  5:20ish pace.

PM: 6 miles with Anthony in East Lake.

PM: Sandwiched a sand/beach 5k in between some harder running.  I probably should have taken an extra day before trying this tempo run.  Oh well, lesson learned.

AM: 5 miles early with Dow and Michele at the marina.

Late AM: 5 miles solo.

AM: longer run with Anthony.  Ton of fun, and relatively easy pace,  

AM: 5 miles and then gym- arms, back

PM: 5.5 miles with Anthony

AM: 8.25 miles at track.  One of them fast.

PM: Track in St. Pete for the first time in a while.  Ran with Lee and Anthony.  The workout was miles, but I'd say I was the only one willing, so we settled for a workout Anthony and I talked about the afternoon before, which was 300s with quick 100 recovery to gear up for Saturday.  

Workout- Two short sets of 6x300 with 100 quick recovery and an all out 400 at the end with full recovery.  I did them all between :53 and :57, but unfortunately was going solo from about item 1 and certainly by set 2, which was unfortunate as I wasn't really able to push myself to get them all down to the :53 range.  I was happy doing the quick recovery although- I think that was a bright spot for this workout and something I consciously decided to change in the past 2 weeks, so it was nice to see it play out okay. 

Late AM: Solo 5-mile recovery run in Dunedin.  Hot.

PM: 5 miles with Anthony in East Lake.

Late PM: 20 miles biking solo.

AM: Track at SHMS.  The workout was 4 miles continuous alternating marathon pace +15 seconds and -15 seconds for every 800m.

AM: 4 miles

AM: 4 miles with Celia in East Lake.

PM: Did the 2-mile track race (my first ever) in Tampa.  Ran an okay 10:15 (was only 3200m) with the first mile in 4:59, but certainly am capable of more as I didn't even use anything anaerobic at the end.  I suppose it doesn't help I kept the workouts hard and the mileage up this week  :)  I suppose it was just for fun.  

AM: Long run in East Lake with Anthony.  Had a 3 x 3mile with active recovery planned at 6:00/mile pace, and I felt pretty spry to be honest.  Anthony was not having a good morning although, so we canned it after #2.  Splits: 17:56, 17:59, ----

Pros: Finally a "long" run on the books.

Cons: Still no successful tempo work to speak of.

Light at the end of the tunnel: Although, I didn't get the 3x3 in today, I felt I could have if needed, so the fitness is there.  I was able to do a 5 mile wave tempo on Thursday.  I think I will try to knock a good one out this week if possible.  We shall see.

AM: 10ish miles solo and gym: chest, shoulders, & tris.

PM: 9-mile run, 5 of them with Anthony in East Lake.

AM: 9 miles with a ladder workout in the middle: 400, 800, 1200, 1200, 800, 400.

PM: St. Pete to do another workout with Sean, Anthony, and Lee.  The workout was 600s with 200 recovery.  I had hoped that we would keep everything at 1:55 or faster, but no one was really having that, so I relaxed a bit on a lot of the items which was, in hindsight, a waste of the long drive down to St. Pete.  

Splits: 1:57, 1:54, 1:55, 1:57, 1:59, 1:59, 1:57, 1:58.

AM: 5 miles solo then gym: arms & back

PM: 5 miles with Anthony then 18miles solo on the bike.

Late PM: Went to practice on my bike again and got into a pretty nasty crash/accident.  I didn't sleep much for a couple of days and bled a lot.  Fever went away by about Saturday but was pretty bad.  The road rash is still terrible.  No broken bones and the only non-superficial injury is a bruised hip it appears.  Certainly derails my hopes quite a bit.

No running.  No moving at all, actually, except to change bandages.

No exercise at all.

No exercise at all.

No exercise at all.

AM: Thought about running.  I'm really not in any shape to, but I just need to do something, and I feel myself atrophying a bit physically (and emotionally).  I shouldn't but I will run this afternoon.

PM: Shuffled 5 miles with Anthony's help.  Messy, bleeding, raw, and sore.  I wouldn't wish this upon anybody.

PM: This was a rough one.  I ran the first 5 and felt slightly better than yesterday, but decided to stop and lower my heart rate which had spiked.  The moment I stopped, I almost fainted.  I sat down for 5 minutes sweating profusely.  It must've been a mix of heat stroke and reaction from the wounds/injury.  I had to do it again about a mile later and this time had some tunnel-vision.  Happy I made it home as it could have ended much worse.

PM: Run with Anthony.  Felt a little better.  Still had to stop once.

AM: 8 miles with Paul and Amy.

PM: 6 miles with Anthony.

PM: Solo run, felt okay but achy.  So I have a local "race" tomorrow.  I didn't think I'd run it after last week, but, I paid for it so I guess I'll run it and see what happens.  

"Race" report:

This race was horrible.  I didn't expect much 10 days from an accident, but I expected there to be at least fitness melded with the pains I'm still feeling from the crash.  There was little fitness.  The cadence started falling at mile 1.  I felt that my form was gone by the beginning of the third mile.  Chalk this one up and move on, I suppose.  

Mile Splits- 5:35, 5:48, 5:55 

AM: Run with Anthony, Christina, and Drew (yey!).  7:43 average miles.  They were tough, but the weather was cooperative and conversation was worth it.

PM: Solo run in East Lake, then Anthony joined me for about 5.5 miles and then I finished up the last 2 on my own.  7:37 average.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Ran and paced everyone else.  The workout was 12x400 with alternating 100m and 300m recoveries, which was a fun change.

I had to stop myself from getting annoyed with them dogging the recoveries although.  There is some usefulness to persevering a bit and not completely recovering before each interval, in my opinion.  It certainly helps me anyway.

PM: 7 with Anthony in East Lake, 7:39 average

PM: Long day, then 10ish miles, about 6 with Anthony in East Lake.  7:43 average.

Later PM: 3 more miles in Safety Harbor running with the group- very slow.

AM: 9 miles total with 4+ as part of a progression down to 6 min/mile pace.

PM: Solo run in East Lake.

AM: very slow with Bill.

AM: Clearwater with Anthony, Christina, Sean, Drew, and Steve. Total of 5 bridges and 7:25 per mile average.

Didn't feel like it today.  

AM: Track.  6x800 with 400 recoveries.  All between 2:32 and 2:38.  Not really sure I could've done better than that without someone to run with, unfortunately.

PM: 7 miles with Anthony.

Off.  I worked 3 jobs today and then it was downpouring at 8pm when I got home, so I bailed.

AM: Tempo-style run in Safety Harbor.  Still not fast.  Two 15-minute repeats at 5:50 pace with 3 minutes in between each. 

PM: 9.4 miles with Anthony.  I bailed a mile or so early- I was tired.

PM: Solo run around all of East Lake.  Decent.  7:39 pace

AM: Early morning run with Alan.  Very slow.  9-minute miles.  

AM: long run descending from 8:30s down to 7:20 ish then followed with a 5-mile descending tempo from 6:50 down to 6:10. A couple of recovery miles at the end and dynamic stretching.

No running- long day of work.

AM: Track workout in Safety Harbor.  12 x 400 with descending rest from :90 down to :60 then down to :10 seconds rest.  Followed that up with a "tired 1600" at 6:00/mile pace just to work the endurance a bit.  Decent group, but still no one to run with.

Splits: (400s)- 1:19, 1:17, 1:16, 1:18, 1:15, 1:15, 1:14, 1:15, 1:14, 1:15, 1:19, 1:22

(1600)- 6:02

PM: 10 miles solo and a leg workout.

PM: slow recovery run. Solo in st. Pete.

AM: track in Safety Harbor. We went off the trail for a 3x10:00 at a reducing pace. Not at good as I wanted, but quicker running was still beneficial. Paces- 6:07, 6:00, 5:58. Recoveries in between were 2 minutes and then 3 minutes.

PM: 8 miles with Anthony in East Lake.

PM: slow run with Anthony. 7:45ish pace

None

Race Report: Sea Dog 5k in Clearwater, FL.

Opened slowly with a 5:25 mile taking it nice and easy.  No one followed closely so I kind of just coasted in from there between 5:25-5:30 the rest of the way.  No sprint at the end.  Not sure what I had in me for a real time, but I can clearly tell I am WAY behind where I was last year.  1st overall is nice, but it's- as we all know- about who shows up (or doesn't) at the local races.

PM (noon): 4 miles solo in East Lake

PM (late): 8ish miles solo in East Lake.  7:10 average- felt spry.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Basically a hard warm-up for a mile time trial.  Ran an embarrassing 5:02.  I really pushed hard too at the end which makes it even sadder.  Splits: 1:12, 1:16, 1:18, 1:16

PM: hurricane run in the downpouring with Anthony. It was honestly really fun!

PM: noon. Gym and a short run. Arms, back, legs (quads mostly)

PM: Hurricane run! 9 uberwet miles with Anthony. 3 pairs of sneakers now completely soaked!

PM: Last hurricane run- dodging mostly debris today and some wind and rain.  The AM was a little too rough, so Anthony and I joined for a PM stroll starting at 7:45 per mile and working down to 6:30 for the last two miles.  I told him he must've been feeling spry...

AM: 2 slow slow miles.

AM: Long run with a little speed sprinkled in starting at mile 9 through mile 17.  Spent most of it arguing tax with Sean.  

Splits of 8-miler: 6:54, 6:38, 6:38, 6:38, 6:48, 6:48, 6:48, 6:54.  

AM: 3 miles solo and the gym: tris, chest, shoulders, quads

PM: 8 miles with Anthony in EL.  7:29 average mostly descending.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Workout was 4x100 w/ 100 rec, 2x200 w/ 200 rec, 2x300 w/ 100 rec, 2 x 400 w/ 200 rec, 1x600 with 200 rec, 2 x 400 w/ 200 rec, 2x300 w/ 100 rec, 2x200 w/ 200 rec, 4x100 w/ 100 recovery.  

Mostly got faster as I went.  400s were 1:22/ 1:20 for the first two, then 1:19 (avg) during the 600, then 1:15/ 1:17 for the next two.  I had more as I never gassed during the workout, and at one point felt frustrated that I wasn't giving a great effort during the second set of 300s.  I really need a run buddy.  Lapped everyone else at least twice by the end of it so maybe that takes away a lot of the incentive and motivation to run hard.

PM: 6 miles solo

PM: Slow miles- 8:00 pace.

PM: 9 mile slogfest, solo after the gym: arms and back.

Off.  Busy working the two jobs.

AM: Did a triathlon race this morning.  Quarter mile swim, 10 mile bike, 5k run.  Then went to a swim meet.  Was a ton of fun!

PM: Sandwiched a 10k race into the middle of my long Sunday run.  Didn't eat well or stay hydrated the day before, so it was quite a messy run.  Started the race at mile 6 of my run.  Fortunately, I didn't have to go too hard and finished about a minute ahead of the next guy.  I think if I were to do this again, I'd push the race back to a mile 10 start, ideally.  I was pretty miserable for the last couple of miles which weren't helpful.

No running.  Busy working both jobs.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  8x800 with 400 recoveries.  All in between 2:40 and 2:48.  Nothing special, but I was tired.

PM: Run with Anthony in East Lake.

AM: track in Safety Harbor. Did 10miles total with a little over 5 of speed. Workout was a 6 x 5:00 alternating 5k pace+0:30/mile and 5k pace+1:00/mile. Felt okay.

Noticeably need to start losing weight to get into racing form. Ten pounds unfortunately have to go before I can race decently again, I think.

PM: 11 miles, seven of which with Anthony. He wanted to go a lot faster than me. I didn't buy in...

PM: Ten miles solo in the downpouring rain.  Anthony came to join but didn't leave his car when the rain wouldn't stop, so I set off on my own to continue my run when he decided to leave.  Felt okay.  7:45 average.

AM: 8 miles solo.  1 mile of that I sped up a lot just to shake out the cobwebs.

Late AM: 2 miles solo

Felt good.

AM: 20 miles in St. Pete. Probably should have done a workout inside the run, but was enjoying the conversation too much.  7:30 pace for the last 12ish miles.  Felt good.

PM: some miles on the treadmill then worked out- chest, tris, shoulders, abs, quads.  Felt good.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Just 3 of us- not that I really am running with anyone anyway.  Workout was 4x400, 2x800 4x400 with 200 jog recoveries between items and 400 jogs between each set.  I felt very good although I kept it pretty easy as I have been having terrible workouts for months now.  I didn't reach into the tank and instead just focused on my form, staying low, and keeping my cadence high- as in 200+spm high.  This helped a lot.

Splits:

4x400- 1:26, 1:24, 1:15, 1:15

2x800- 2:44, 2:39

4x400- 1:16, 1:14, 1:14, 1:11

PM: 7 with Anthony and 3 solo

AM: Track in SH. 3x1200 at around 5:20-5:30 pace.

PM: 7 more miles and gym: arms, back, back legs

No running, busy with jobs.

AM: ran a local girl scout 5k one of my friends puts on. Won 2 boxes of girl scounts and a $50 gift card. And then ate some free cookies...

The race itself was meh. Mile 2 was because some guy in a speedo was trying to run with me. I didn't appreciate that. Splits- 5:32, 5:20, 5:35, 0:35

AM: 16 miles solo, 7:55 average. Felt quite good.

PM: 4 miles and gym- chest, tris, shoulders, hamstrings

AM: Track in SH.  Alan, Mike, I changed the workout to a 4x1200 and then I ran a final quasi 1200 on top of that to flush out my legs a bit, as they were feeling tight.  

Splits: 4:18, 3:59, 3:58, 3:58, (and 4:50).  Felt good, didn't reach much into the tank.

PM: Run in East Lake, most of it with Anthony. It was definitely not slow. Went from 8/mile down immediately to 7:30 with him, then down to 7:06/ mile for the last two and a half miles. I think he's pretty itchy to beat me this weekend, because these runs are getting overtly speedy for mid-afternoon during a Florida summer. However the conversation was as good as always, so it's worth it. Sunday will be fun even if I'm digustingly behind where I was fitness-wise and motivation-wise last year.

Overall, good run.

AM: Was at track in SH, but mostly to listen to our ironmen give their race reports during the warmup. Ran some easy laps pacing some of the runners, nothing really faster than 7 minutes during this one.

PM: 5 miles solo in Lansbrook.

Planned day off.

AM: Run with a few new people and Celia.  Our last mile was at 7:20 pace for no good reason.  Felt good.  Ready for tomorrow.

Fort DeSoto 15k Race, St. Petersburg, FL Race Report

This was the second annual 15k on the island.  It's popularity has gone up quite a bit, but that's a good thing.  I won this race last year and had the best race I've ever done (50:40ish) and I knew I couldn't come anywhere near that this year- but it at least helped my confidence by knowing how to run the course.  The temperature was much hotter and more humid this year, so that didn't help.  

The race:  Really there were only three of us from the moment the gun went off: Chris T., Sean G. and myself.  They are former college runners and I train with one (Sean) semi-regularly so I knew what I had racing next to me.  The three of us were all even through 2 miles when Sean (who was clearly feeling good) lowered us down to about 5:36 for mile 2 and then low 5:30s thereafter, so I backed off both of them.  I know Sean's racing style and I'm familiar with his current fitness, so I didn't feel he could keep that, and for me personally I know I wouldn't negative split if I got into the low/mid 5:30s for multiple miles.  I knew a negative split would be the best racing strategy as it has always worked for me in these situations as long as the gap didn't grow too large.  I let a 20 second lead build over the next two and a half miles by Sean and about a 3 second gap behind Chris and then just lowered the pace ever-so-slightly.  Chris gassed first and I caught him around the beggining of mile 4.  Sean followed, but his breathing was much calmer than Chris'.  I made sure to pass them both swiftly and calmly.  I had a ton in the tank so when I caught Sean with about 4.5 miles left to go I knew I had it.  I pressed evenly on miles 6 and 7 to solidify, then relaxed a bit on 8 and 9 after looking back and seeing nobody behind me.  I cruised from there and finished over a minute ahead of Sean and a couple minutes over Chris who got third.

Fun race, and I'm happy and thankful I won- as I really had no business winning that.  Then again, it's all about who shows up, and who the hell wants to run a 15k in the middle of Florida at the end of summer?  The time I ran leaves a lot to be desired as it was 3 minutes behind where I was a year ago, but it's a step in the right direction and I do feel I am overcoming this tribulation.  Now I've earned my 4 comped half marathons which is exciting, and also it's now time to focus on the Chicago Marathon in less than a week!

Splits- 5:45, 5:36, 5:45, 5:45, 5:40, 5:38, 5:39, 5:50, 6:03, Finish (1:48)

PM: 2 miles then gym- chest, tris, quads, abs, shoulders, then 3 more miles.  Felt good.

AM: Track in Safety Harbor.  Standard 5-mile tempo at marathon pace.  Went a little over just because I felt like it, and the pace felt entirely too easy.  All miles were between 6:50 and 6:55.  

It's a weird feeling to know I'll be "taking it easy" for the Chicago Marathon on Sunday as opposed to going for a PR.  I suppose I set this in stone by racing the 15k pretty hard two days ago, but I still feel odd about it.  Fortunately, it just means the party can start the moment I cross the line.

PM: 5 miles with Anthony in East Lake and a couple runs around the track with the team in Safety Harbor.

No running- taper.

No running- taper.

AM: Slow run just to loosen the legs up.  A couple of striders at the end.

Late AM: Flight to Chicago. 

PM: Lots of walking... But that certainly doesn't count as running :)

Chicago Marathon Race Report

Well, here it is.  The race is finally here.  Just six days removed from a hard 15k race, why not fly up and race a marathon?  I’m an idiot.

Goals: “A” goal- Sub 2:59:00, “B” goal- 2:59:59, “D-“ goal- finish.

Actual finish time: 2:51:20.

Training: Admittedly I’m in much worse shape than last year, have modest long runs to my name leading up to this marathon, have trained only in crappy Florida weather, and have raced a lot the past month (two 5k’s a 10k, and the 15k on Sunday).  As a result, I had a mindset of going out with my running friends and enjoying the race.  I didn’t really do much over 75mpw, but was pretty consistent hitting runs over 10 miles.  The biking injury two months ago is really the lingering factor for the lower fitness.  Nothing really marathon specific other than mileage for training at all in the past couple of months.  I didn’t really set myself up for success, but who cares!  It’s the Chicago Marathon!

Before the race: Chicago is amazing.  I’d move here.  Took 2 days off of running on Thursday and Friday, then ran 3-4 miles on Saturday morning and walked around the city and the expo quite a bit with Drew.  I wanted to walk a lot, so I wasn’t annoyed walking 7 miles the afternoon before at the expo and around the city.  Seeing Chicago was worth it.  I was thankful that Drew was willing to spend time with me.  Drew is an amazing runner so I tried to pick his brain a lot over the course of the weekend now that I had a venue to talk specifically about running.  It was nice to shoot the shit with him as well.  As a group, we decided to shoot for a 2:59, but only two of us actually committed on going for that pace on the day of- Drew and myself. 

Race day: Slept fine, woke up and had cereal and coffee.  No jitters.  It was an odd experience staying with a group of marathoners the night before (there were 6 of us).  Everyone has a different prep method, so it was interesting to see what made them all “tick” the night before/morning of.  I slept on the couch and so I noticed all of their wake-ups, jitters, and bathroom breaks through the night.  The weather was great- mid 50s, light breeze, no humidity.  40,000+ runners is an incredibly amount, so getting to the start line which was a mere mile away took about 35 minutes.  Finding a bathroom was hilarious.  We just decided to make our own bathrooms- oh well, so is the life of a runner.  Drew and I lined up right in front of the 3 hour pacer which was about 22 seconds behind the pros/start line.  We were shooting for a 2:59 @ 6:49-6:50 pace.  I wanted to put a little pressure on myself to finally run a negative split for a marathon so I wanted to hit as close as possible to that pace for the first half.  I’ve never come close to a negative split on a marathon, so I was playing with fire a bit here in my honest opinion.

Fueling: I decided to switch it up a bit.  I cramp a ton in the marathon, so I decided to not do any GUs or Gatorade for this one, but instead stop and walk every mile or two for water and then eat gummies throughout the race (totalling about the energy from 2 GUs).  I’d say I had about 12 gummies, one every mile or two starting at mile 8 and then just water from mile 22 onward.  This was a good choice and worked very well.

Miles 1-13.1: What a blur.  As everyone states, your GPS just doesn’t work well in the city, so I manually logged the miles and ran by feel for the pace.  Incredible scenery, great spectators, easy running, focused on form (knees up, smooth knee drive, eyes forward, relaxed and tall form) and just enjoyed it.  The sights were incredible and consuming, the buildings towered above, and the feel of the city was all-encompassing.  I wanted to interact with the crowd like in Boston, but this wasn’t that type of crowd it seemed.  They were friendly and motivational, but that’s about it, but that’s okay as I could easily find a million other things to focus on.  Drew and I passed the time trying to hit splits and talking every now and again.  We hit the half 16 seconds off our goal split which is pretty impressive.

1^st Half splits- 6:54, 7:01, 6:46, 6:42, 6:48, 6:49, 6:39, 6:43, 6:48, 6:50, 6:51, 6:47, 7:01, Half @ 1:29:14. 

Mile 14: Here I asked Drew if he wanted to drop the pace down to 6:45, and he said yes, so I lowered it.  I saw Christina and sped up in front of a large group to say “hi” and spoke with her for a bit.  I suppose I kind of let it go from here.  Drew had mentioned for me to go if I felt good, so I reassessed from there and then just decided to run what felt right from there.

~6:42

Miles 15-26.2:  I have never passed so many runners in my life.  It was a cool feeling.  I felt almost giddy for the next 10+ miles. Egocentrically, it was nice to not be one of the walking dead shuffling/walking along like the majority of runners around me.  It was the first time out of the 4 marathons I’ve done where I didn’t fall apart by mile 15, let alone be gliding along faster than the first half.  Mile 24 was the only weird blip.  I’m not sure what happened there other than I just let my form get sloppy and/or fell into the pace of those around me.  Either way, I recollected myself and was able to drop the pace back down without an issue for the end and was flying the last mile.  I was sad to see the marathon end and kept running for a bit through the finish line.  The announcer even singled me out and said, “Wow!  Number 760 coming through looks like he’s ready to run another marathon!”  Selfishly, I really appreciated that comment, as I felt I could keep going and had hoped I actually looked the part.

2^nd Half Splits- 6:34, 6:19, 6:11, 6:11, 5:55, 6:10, 6:06, 6:06, 6:10, 6:27, 6:10, 5:40, Finish (1:10ish).  2^nd Half @ 1:22:06 (minus 7:08). 

Finish time: 2:51:20.

Final thoughts/takeaways: Even if it’s true that I’m not hitting my potential, negative-splitting just feels a million times better to be going the same or faster in the second half and/or end of a race.  I passed 1,020+ runners from mile 14 to the finish and didn’t get passed by a single one, moving from 1,430^th place to finishing 410^th overall and almost 8 minutes ahead of my “A” goal.  A 7+ minute negative split is obviously not racing correctly as a much more modest (or even) split is ideal, but it’s the concept and the confidence I will take from this to know that I can finish a marathon without cramps, pain, losing form, or slowing down that usually accompanies a marathon performance.  This marathon was a blast, I celebrated with friends and walked around the rest of the afternoon taking it all in.