Matt Flaherty - Training & Racing

Training, February 13 - 19

2012-02-20T13:56:00.004-06:00

Monday: 7 AM - 5 miles easy.

7 PM - 6 miles easy; GS.

Tuesday: 7 AM - 5 miles easy.

Wednesday: 7 PM - 10 miles easy.

Planned on working out tonight, but I didn't get enough sleep last night and my legs weren't ready for it, so I pushed it to tomorrow.

Thursday: 8 PM - 7 miles moderate (~6:10 pace) straight into 12 miles alternating halves to avg. MP - 2:28, (2:44), 2:29, (2:46), 2:31, (2:44), 2:28, (2:45), 2:25, (2:48), 2:27, (2:48), 2:31, (2:44), 2:30, (2:44), 2:29, (2:49), 2:33, (2:48), 2:33, (2:49), 2:29, (2:48) = 63:20 or 5:16 pace - 3 mile cooldown very slow, legs were thrashed (22 miles total).

Unfortunate that I had to work out so late due to work; it can be tough to do a long, hard session under such circumstances. Felt good, not great. Had I felt a little better, I think I could have maintained the pace I had going for the first 8 or 9 reps, but my legs were a bit heavy tonight, and I ended up tightening up / slowing up a bit on reps 10 and 11 in particular. Didn't fall apart though... I thought about calling it at 11, but during the recovery stretch, I mentally prepared myself for some serious pain, and then pushed through mile 12. The ability to finish sessions like this is absolutely key to the ability to hold up muscularly at the end of a hard marathon. (Good mental practice too.) Thrilled with the workout as a whole; it bodes very well for Albany. My PR for the half marathon, while admittedly a bit weak, is 5:15 pace. When you're almost PR-ing in a workout (and not a steady paced workout, at that), you know you're ready to roll.

Friday: 7 AM - 5 miles easy.

PM - Dinner plans, so no run, but got a nice 8 miles or so of cycling in around the city (I pretty much always hammer on the bike), so got a little neuromuscular stimulus to help recovery—almost better than running after a super hard effort like yesterday's. You see Canova have his guys do some cycling sometimes as recovery.

Saturday: 4 PM - 7 miles easy; GS.

Sunday: 3 PM - 10 miles moderate.

Summary: 70 miles, 2x GS

Generally an OK week, even though I only did one workout. I wanted to get in one longer run yet, with some marathon-specific work incorporated, but we'll see if I get it in. The job's been kind of intrusive of late. I had pushed Wednesday's workout to Thursday, so I knew Sunday's originally planned workout would be iffy. Got out there, and could tell my legs didn't have it in them on the day. With only 12 days to the race (as of Monday, as I write), doing any really hard efforts is getting risky. It's time to shift into taper mode, so I need to be careful not to overstep my bounds here.

I was comparing my specific phase for Albany—which has certainly been far from an ideal buildup—with my specific phase for Grandma's, and honestly, this one is probably a bit better. Due to a variety of issues before Grandma's, I ran significantly less mileage in that buildup and also probably had even fewer quality specific workouts. Just goes to show that the buildup can be pretty far from ideal and still lead to a good performance. Quality, extensive marathon-specific work can go a long way, even if you only do half as much as you'd like. I'll get a little more quality in during the coming week, but by and large, the work has already been done.

"I reckon I can teach a runner what I know by the time he's 18, and then he's on his own. He can come to me for advice but he must think for himself. I want the lads to be self-sufficient."
—Stan Long (coach of the Gateshead Harriers back in the 70s and earlier)

USA Cross Country Championships Race Report - Getting Even

2012-02-12T20:44:00.002-06:00

12k XC - 17th place, 35:54

To be honest, this is one of the better races I’ve run in my life. Not the peak of what I’m capable—I’m not really in 12k shape and have very little lactate tolerance at the moment—but rather the very best I could have hoped to get out of myself on the day; a tactically sound and intelligent race.

When I first heard that St. Louis would be hosting the USA Cross Country Championships, I knew I would be making the trip down to compete. The US Cross Champs are just too storied a meet, too cool an opportunity to pass up when so close to home. I found racing on the track in my prep and collegiate days satisfying enough, subsequently the roads, and now the trails as well (perhaps a much closer relative to XC, this last); but cross country was unequivocally my first love. As for this year's Champs, the way the timing worked out in my current training phase—the meet three weeks removed from a goal marathon—I knew that I would be fit, but not necessarily very 12k race ready. As such, I just hoped to run intelligently and not embarrass myself too badly.

I headed down to St. Louis Friday evening with Dave Strubbe, a fellow attorney and past Race Judicata champion, and an all-around good dude. We slipped into the Crowne Plaza seven minutes before packet pickup closed, grabbed our bibs and (rather nice) long-sleeve race tees, and headed to the nearby Sheraton to check in for the night. Grabbed a late dinner at Araka, which I mention only because the food was incredible—honestly one of the best meals I’ve had in years.

With a 2 p.m. race time, we were able to sleep in until 8:30 a.m. or so the following morning, a rarity on race day. After a cup of coffee, Dave and I hit the lobby where we ran into fellow Chicagoan Kyle Brady, also readying for his morning shakeout. We did an easy two miles to wake the legs up and then all grabbed breakfast together. Dave and I also ran into Desi Davila on the elevator and congratulated her on her Olympic berth. Man is she tiny.

Sunny skies greeted St. Louis on Saturday morning, but so did a dusting of snow and a stiff 25 mph west-northwest wind. With seven races taking place on the 2k-loop course prior to the Open Men’s race, I worried that things might get rather sloppy out there. But then I reminded myself that any perceived negatives such as mud, wind, and cold would naturally act as equalizers, allowing me to capitalize on my relative strength versus most other runners’ speed. Dave and I ran 20:00 or so for a warmup, and my feet finally unfroze near the end of our run. We caught the end of the women’s race, where a leaning Sara Hall edged Molly Huddle, who made the classic mistake of celebrating a moment too soon. After lacing up my barely-used cross country spikes and pulling on my lightweight Salomon cap, I cycled through some light form drills and strides. As we toed the line, Dave and I reiterated our shared goal of running intelligently and conservatively, picking guys off as the race progressed. A call to our marks— a shot. We were off.

I found myself somewhere in the mid-forties place-wise as we rounded the first bend. The field was not all that large, so I wouldn't really have any trouble with crowds during the race. Focusing on staying comfortable, I rolled through the 1k mark in 3:07—5:00/mile pace. Over the course of the first two 2k loops, I steadily picked off runners, hoping I wasn't pushing too hard too early. I was passing runners with less frequency after that, but I had yet to be passed myself and I was feeling pretty decent. I was hovering in the mid-twenties past 6k, trying to bridge the gap to the strung out group of five or six runners ahead. As I made my way to the back of that pack, I realized it included a number of guys I knew, all with Chicago origins: Mike Popejoy, Kyle Brady, and Chad Ware. By a bit past 8k, I was nearly with Chad and Kyle, and on a short downhill section, I put myself on their heels. After a short respite in the pack, somewhere between 9 and 10 kilometers, I made another push and started to break away. By now, I was in 17th place, with a long gap to 16th place ahead. I knew I couldn't finish any higher than my current position, so my goal was simply to keep this thing from going to a sprint finish. I was able to push just enough to do so, with my final clocking of 37:54 giving me a five second gap on a hard-charging Navy runner.

I haven't seen any official splits from the race, but I was keeping an eye on my own times (there was a clock at each K marker), and I remember the following: I passed 6k in 18:57, 8k in 25:20, and 10k in 31:34. My splits ended up being remarkably even. My final time of 37:54 equates to 5:05 per mile or 3:09.5 per kilometer (an average of 6:19 for each loop). My first 6k and last 6k were both run in 18:57. My slowest 2k loop was actually from 6k to 8k, which makes sense, as I was essentially running solo (with the wind) for this whole loop. I'm pretty sure my 8k split of 25:20 betters my previous 8k XC PR, and my 10k split of 31:34 also betters my 10k XC PR.

Twelve kilometers is a long way to race cross country. I heard a number of competitors say something along these lines post-race, and I share their sentiment. On a course that had some fairly muddy sections and some moderate hills, coupled with strong winds, it was definitely a tough race. My current strength from marathon training came in handy. However, I still would have been in real trouble if I hadn't stayed relaxed early on. We hear it time and again: running even splits is the best way to run fast. But that is much easier said than done (as evidenced by the fact that I wasn't passed a single time in the race). I don't think I've ever even-split a cross country race the way I did this one. A nice positive lesson to have reinforced.

The race was a great confidence boost, and a great training stimulus just three weeks out from the Albany Marathon. I'm a fan of gaining a bit of under-distance race sharpness as you head into a marathon. Not that you change your training to peak for the shorter distances, but rather, run the race(s) on marathon strength, without backing off in your training, using them to help marathon pace feel that much easier. I did the same thing three weeks out from the Grandma's Marathon last year, racing the Chase Corporate Challenge and Solider Field 10 Mile. Two more big marathon specific sessions to go, then it's time to taper and let it rip.

"After the finish all the suffering turns to memories of pleasure, and the greater the suffering, the greater the pleasure."

—Tim Krabbé (The Rider)

Training, February 6 - 12

2012-02-12T16:18:00.000-06:00

Monday: 7 PM - 6 miles easy; GS.

Tuesday: 7 AM - 5 miles easy.

7 PM - 7 miles easy w/ 8 strides; GS.

Wednesday: Off - No AM run, then had to work late. Opted for sleep when I got home, so no run today.

Thursday: 7 AM - 5 miles easy - legs still pretty dead, to be expected I suppose after a week like last.

6 PM - 3 mile warmup, 2 miles alternating 30s hard / 30s moderate - 10:05 (5:04, 5:01), 1 mile cooldown (6 miles total); GS.

Friday: 11 AM - 5 miles easy w/ 4 strides.

Saturday: 9 AM - 2 miles easy shakeout.

2 PM - USA Cross Country Championships - 17th place, 37:54 (11 miles including warmup/cooldown).

Race Report to follow.

Sunday: 2 PM - 8 miles easy.

Summary: 55 miles, 3x GS

The primary goal this week was to recover the previous eight days' hard training. Went more or less to plan. Tallahassee, run as a tough workout on full volume and tired legs, expectedly left me crushed for a few days. I was glad to still get in a light tuneup/maintenance session Thursday night and to have a good race at USA XC.

“While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.”

—Henry C. Link

Training, January 30 - February 5 and Tallahassee Marathon Race Report

2012-02-06T11:17:00.001-06:00

Monday: 7 PM - 6 miles easy.

Tuesday: 6 PM - 1 mile warmup, 12 miles in 1:07:53 (5:39 pace, pushing 95% MP) straight into 3 miles in 15:53 (5:17 pace, MP), 1 mile cooldown (17 miles total).

Really rather surprised I was able to pull this off barely 48 hours removed from a fairly hard 30 miler. Wasn't sure what the workout had in store exactly, but my legs had some pop (though I could definitely feel those 30 miles a bit) and the weather was great, so I just started rolling in the 90-95% MP range and figured I would decide what I was doing on the fly (I did have some sort of sub-MP/MP combo workout in mind though). The last three miles at MP were 5:21, 5:22, 5:09. Was hurting pretty good by the last mile, worried about my ability to maintain the pace, so I just threw what I had left at it and was very happy to be able to drop a 5:09. Another solid marathon workout in the books with less than 5 weeks to Albany.

Wednesday: 7 AM - 5 miles easy.

7 PM - 8 miles easy; GS.

Thursday: 6 PM - 3 mile warmup, light drills/strides, 2 mile tempo in 10:13 (5:09, 5:04), 1 mile easy, 2 miles of alternating 30s hard / 30s moderate, hitting 10:14 (5:08, 5:06), 2 mile cooldown (10 miles total).

Tired legs! I had scaled this workout back a touch to just run a 2 mile tempo at the beginning, but I was hoping to run a bit quicker, like 9:40-9:50. No such luck, 10:13 felt nearly all out; must be pretty tired still from the last two workouts.

Friday: 6 PM - 5 miles easy

Saturday: 4 PM - 4 miles easy around FSU campus with a cool sports med student I met at the expo.

Sunday: 7 AM - 2 mile warmup, Tallahassee Marathon - 2nd place, 2:28:59, 1 mile cooldown (29 miles total).

7 PM - 5 miles easy back in Chicago - too nice out not to go for a run.

Accomplished precisely what I set out to do. Normally, 4 or 5 weeks out from a goal marathon (Albany in this case), I do a hard 24 miler at 95% MP. It's a very hard session, and one of the most important I complete during a marathon Specific Phase. On full mileage, with workouts performed earlier in the week, it simulates the marathon very well. This time around, I decided to go down to Tallahassee for the "workout." I figured I could win enough money to fund the trip and guarantee decent weather for a tough session (Chicago could have been under 3 ft. of snow at this point for all I knew). 2:28:59 is 5:41/mile, which, if 95% MP, would equate to an MP of 5:25/mile. I've been treating MP as 5:20-5:25 pace, so I'm right in there. With a 30 miler 7 days prior, and two workouts during the week, my legs were definitely quite far from fresh. I felt aerobically smooth, but my legs felt a bit like cinder blocks, so 5:41s was just fine with me, particularly as it was fairly hot and humid down there. I negative split by 11 seconds and managed to run my last mile in 5:32. All good signs. It was a fun little trip, and the race was quite well-run with a pleasant out-and-back course on a mostly-shaded bike path. I would definitely recommend it as a nice low-key race.

Summary: 89 miles, 1x GS

Pretty good week of training all around. I'd still like to have a few more doubles, some more GS, etc., but with the realities of my current situation, I can't do everything all the time. But the trajectory of the training is good. If I can get a couple more good weeks in here (and drop a few extra holiday pounds I'm still carrying around!), a PR should be very doable at the Albany Marathon. Also, I found out this week that I was accepted to PowerBar Team Elite. It will be great to have support from a nutrition company with such a wide variety of quality products available.

I read Charlie Spedding's autobiography this weekend, which I thought was great. Guy's a stud; someone who kept at it for a long time with moderate success before really getting things figured out—particularly with regards to mental preparation and focus, the total commitment to a task—coming away with bronze in the '84 Olympic Marathon.

There's a great little article on some core strengthening exercises available from Running Times, here. I've already been doing some variety of all six of the exercises shown, but the article offers some unique variations, with a real focus on core stability. Increasingly, I'm finding this to be the real benefit of core work (in addition to injury prevention, of course). The more relaxed and stable you are in your core while running, the less wasted motion you have (rotationally, or otherwise) and the less your form breaks down when you get tired.

“It’s important to establish a philosophy for life and for running. There’s a proper balance between lifestyle, achievement, and the desire to achieve. Everyone has the desire to be successful. But success comes with a price: time and effort. Marathoners, especially, must constantly survey the time that they have and be truthful with themselves.”

—Dr. Joe Vigil

Training, January 23 - 29

2012-01-29T17:44:00.000-06:00

Monday: 7 PM - 6 miles easy.

Tuesday: 6 PM - 9 miles moderate.

Had a workout scheduled, but still in a bit of a tired funk. Pushed it.

Wednesday: 7 PM - 1 mile warmup, 6 miles in 34:06 (5:41 pace) straight into 6 miles in 32:02 (5:20. pace or MP) = 12 miles in 1:06:09, 1 mile cooldown.

Lighter marathon-specific session; not easy, but not killer either. The plan was 6 miles at 90% MP for the first segment, but it ended up being a bit quicker, which was fine—just made the workout a bit tougher. MP for the second half; a little tough with a some headwind (which also left me painfully frozen below the belt). In poor conditions, not feeling well, this workout gave me a decent indication of my fitness. If the rest of the prep goes relatively well, I think I'll be able to roll through the half in Albany in the 1:10-mid to 1:11 flat range feeling very good, hopefully leading to a negative split.

Thursday: 6 AM - 6 miles easy.

Friday: 6 PM - 6 miles easy.

Saturday: Noon - 10 miles moderate; GS1.
Had a workout scheduled, some sort of long marathon-specific session, but the conditions sucked (gusting 40 mph winds, very cold, black ice and some snow on the path) and I didn't feel great, so I put it off.

Sunday: Noon - 30 mile basic aerobic tempo (3:08:40 or 6:17/mile).
Solid and beneficial run, though not really a specific session. However, it will pay benefits in the marathon (and in some of the ultras to follow). The weather was more or less the same as yesterday, making things tough. Felt OK, not great. Hamstrings got pretty fatigued late in the run, after rolling 6 flats for a while around mile 20. Need to stay on top of strengthening them.

Summary: 81 miles, 1x GS
Lower mileage than I'd have liked—no doubles—and not enough GS work. Not a particularly bad week, just not a good one either. I also found out I was named as an alternate for Team USA for the IAU 100k Worlds, by virtue of the 5:32:25 50 mile I ran at the Lakefront race last October. I almost certainly won't be going as I'm the third alternate (so three guys would have to either turn down their spots or get hurt for me to go), but it was still a nice email to receive. I knew that the team selectors strongly prefer 100k qualifying times, but I was also trying to state a better case by running a lot faster at Lakefront, where I went through halfway in 2:33:00, haha. :)

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

Training, January 16 - 22

2012-01-22T20:12:00.000-06:00

Monday: 2 PM - 10 miles easy; GS

Tuesday: Off - Long day, and I could probably use a day to really absorb the training anyway. Been a little run down.

Wednesday: 3 PM - 4 mile warmup, light drills/strides, 3 mile tempo run in 15:25 (5:07, 5:09, 5:08) on the GHS track, 1 mile easy (6:49), then 6 laps (2400m) of Aussie (or Oregon) 200s - 32, (40), 35, (41), 33, (42), 34, (42), 34, (42), 34, (43) = 7:38 or 5:05/mile pace, 2+ mile cooldown (12 miles total)

Fairly cold and windy out, which didn't help things (plus I was just tired from lack of sleep). Should be getting back on a better schedule soon though. The plan was 4 miles on the tempo, like I did two weeks ago, but only had 3 miles in me today. Still a good workout for being a bit run down.

Thursday: 3 PM - 13 miles easy on singletrack

Friday: 2 PM - 9 miles easy-moderate on singletrack; GS

Saturday: Noon - 8 miles moderate-plus (~6:00 pace) straight into 7 x [3:00 hard, 3:00 moderate] to average MP (16 miles total)

Feeling pretty beat up heading into the run—perhaps I'm still catching up on sleep, or maybe all the recent trail running has been taking a bit more out of me muscularly than I realized. Either way, given how I felt, I was pretty happy with the session. I didn't have accurate half mile splits to do this workout the way I usually do (alternating hard and moderate half miles, averaging MP), so I opted for the 3:00 segments instead. I was able to catch a few mile splits here and there, and I was averaging 5:20-5:25 pace, so right on target. This workout is particularly good due to the 8 miles run relatively quickly before the real work begins. By doing this as opposed to just an easy warmup of a few miles, I was able to (1) cycle through (or partially exhaust) some muscle fibers first, making the fast running around MP more beneficial from a muscular endurance perspective, and (2) enhance my body's ability to burn fat while running quickly by using up a fair amount of glycogen prior to the quicker running.

Sunday: 4 PM - 8 miles easy

Summary: 68 miles, 2x GS

Still sort of getting back onto a normal schedule this week (sleepwise and otherwise), back to Chicago (and the snow) on Sunday. I'm glad I was able to get my first real marathon specific session in this week, which went passably well. The next four weeks of training are pretty crucial to the Albany Marathon, so hopefully I can get in the bulk of the planned work. It won't even be a full Specific Phase, but I think I'm becoming efficient enough as a runner generally, that it will be good enough to run a pretty good race.

"For our goal was not only the East, or rather the East was not only a country and something geographical, but it was the home and youth of the soul, it was everywhere and nowhere, it was the union of all times."

Training, January 9 - 15

2012-01-16T01:01:00.000-06:00

Monday: 7 AM - 5 miles easy

11 AM - 10 miles moderate

Squeezed in the second AM run before heading home (Springfield) to be with family for a bit.

Tuesday: Noon - 9 miles easy on singletrack in Springfield; GS (alt. routine)

Wednesday: 4 PM - 12 miles easy/moderate

Had a workout scheduled, but I've had to keep some late and long hours back home, and my body was exhausted and nowhere near ready for a hard effort. Started easy, was running a moderate pace by run's end.

Thursday: 2 PM - 10 miles moderate

19°, feels like 0°, 27 mph wind, lots of snow—what a contrast! This arrival of winter is why I wanted to work out yesterday, but my body wasn't having it. Just got out onto the single track again today with Paul Rollet, one of my oldest friends and my oldest training partner (on and off for 15 years!).

Friday: 3 PM - 13 miles moderate-plus

More running on the singletrack, which is only 600 yards from my house when I can cut across the golf course. Beautiful snow-covered trails with no one else's footprints (save a fox). Ran a pretty solid effort. The hills combined with the snow make this type of running incredibly good for me muscularly. I could feel my legs getting stronger with every mile, as I turned over and used muscle fibers that I don't typically reach. I can only dream of the strength I might gain if I could run on this terrain daily!

Saturday: 4 PM - 6 miles easy on snowy singletrack; GS

Sunday: 2 PM - 15 miles moderate-plus

Snowy singletrack again. Planned on doing 25 miles or so, but the body wasn't having it. Still a very good aerobic and muscular benefit though, and great trail running practice in sloppy conditions (snowmelt).

Summary: 80 miles, 2x GS

Not what I anticipated for the week, but things happen. Made the best of the situation and got in some great running, though not marathon Specific training (the Specific Phase was to start this week). May be able to get to some of that type of work next week—we'll see. However, the work I did get in was very good for me as I really don't get enough quality basic aerobic running in generally (which is a conscious choice—one I make given my limited time to train and recover—but that does not make it any less ideal). Additionally, the ability to hit up singletrack for most of my runs really enhanced the muscular benefit, in addition to being great practice on somewhat technical terrain. Just FYI, the two planned workouts for the week (very much specific sessions) were: (1) 6 miles moderate followed by 8 miles alternating half mile segments to average MP (would shoot for something like 2:30-2:35 for the fast halves, 2:45-2:50 for the "recovery" halves to average 5:20s, a.k.a. MP), and (2) 4 x 3 miles at MP w/ 1 mile recoveries 20-30s slower than MP.

Congrats to all the Trials racers and to the Olympic Marathon Team. Pumped to see Meb pull it out, that guy definitely does not suck. I'm happy with the women's team, though I kind of hoped Hastings would sneak on. A lot of impressive runs in both fields. And the depth on the men's side was incredible!

"If you're not prepared to help people, there's a weakness in you."

—Pat Clohessy (Rob De Castella’s coach, and the '61 and '62 NCAA 3 mile Champion)

Training, January 2 - 8 and Daniel Burnham Open Race Report

2012-01-08T20:22:00.009-06:00

Monday: AM - 8 miles moderate on hilly single track

Still in Springfield, ran on pretty solid trails a mile from my door. I'd planned on a moderate-paced long run, but wasn't feeling up to it (and was short on time).

Tuesday: PM - 3 mile warmup, light drills/strides, 4 mile tempo in 20:51 (5:14, 5:13, 5:08, 5:14), 1 mile easy, 10 x (30 seconds hard, 30 seconds moderate), 2+ mile cooldown (12 miles total); GS1

I originally just had an Aussie Quarters session scheduled for tonight (or tomorrow, rather, but it got moved up when I didn't go long yesterday). However, I didn't get as much of an anaerobic threshold stimulus as I wanted last week with the cruise intervals session that I had to cut at 4 reps. So I decided to try a little combo workout. The tempo was your standard AnT tempo (you usually see 20:00-30:00—I have a hard time going more than about 4 miles in training). The alternating hard/moderate reps segment that followed was in the same vein as Aussie Quarters, or even the classic Oregon 30/40 200s workout (though my paces were obviously not that fast). During those 10 repeats, I hit a mile segment in 5:21, so that was roughly the pace I was averaging (maybe something like 4:50 and 6:00 pace for the hard and moderate efforts respectively). The workout went about as well as I could have hoped, and I liked it. I might do it another time or two in the coming weeks. The other thing I like about this workout for where I'm at right now, is that the unbroken 4-mile effort requires some mental focus, which will help me for the shorter (12k) US Cross Champs on Feb. 11. The 10 x (30s hard, 30s moderate) while tired will also help for that race.

Wednesday: PM - 10 miles easy w/ Jim O'Brien; GS2

Thursday: PM - 3 mile warmup with 40s surge, light drills/strides, 10 mile progression run - 5:44, 5:44, 5:39, 5:38, 5:35, 5:34, 5:24, 5:20, 5:22, 5:17 - 55:21 total (5:32 pace) - 1 mile cooldown (14 miles total)

The original plan was a slightly more structured progression run: 6 miles at 90% MP, 3 miles at MP, 1 mile hard (basically whatever I had left). However, I started a bit on the quick side and really don't like to slow down, so I didn't. Come mile 7, I did try to "flip a switch" to MP, but the reality is I was nearly already there, particularly as the second half of the run was into the wind. The quick start and headwind made running 5:20s rather difficult, so I didn't really have much more left for the last mile. A fine progression run, just not exactly what I had originally planned. My legs/quads also felt a bit heavy and fatigued from Tuesday's workout.

Friday: PM - 20 mile progression run - 1:58:27 (5:55 pace) - took splits for the second half, which were 5:57, 5:55, 5:55, 5:53, 5:51, 5:48, 5:47, 5:44, 5:36, 5:14

This run was more or less shifted from Monday's planned moderate-paced long run. I really only planned on running a solid basic aerobic pace (6:15-6:30 pace) for this, as I expected my legs to be pretty tired from the workout last night. One benefit to doing a long run on tired legs like this is that your muscle fibers reach exhaustion more quickly than if you're fresh, thus enhancing the recruitment of additional fibers that aren't usually asked to do much aerobic work. It's sort of a delicate balance though, and rarely do I work out two days in a row like this—the timing just worked out really well here. After dropping to 6 flat pace by about 4 miles in, I was a little worried about my ability to maintain that for the whole run, but I relaxed a little before the turnaround and was actually able to run a pretty solid second half. I was particularly happy with my ability to run a 5:14 last mile on very tired legs. It's always good to run fast at the end of a long run for a myriad of reasons.

Saturday: AM - 6 miles very easy - cruised around Lincoln Park, gorgeous morning

Sunday: AM - Daniel Burnham Open (4k XC) - 1st place, 12:28 - 3+ mile warmup w/ drills/strides, 4k race, 2 mile cooldown (8 miles total)

Ran this cool little cross country criterium race in the park up at Montrose. A low-key and free meet, put on by some local runners for the last few years, this was a fun way to open the year. My legs were pretty tired going into it from the workouts on Thursday and Friday, but I was pretty happy with the outcome. The 1k loop hit the one hill in the city, and the ground was sort of sloppy/rutted and muddy. So despite the nice weather, it wasn't a race track. I hit about 3:00 for the first K and around 3:08/3:09 for the other three. I was pretty much clear after the first loop and just worked on maintaining pace. The meet was scored three deep and my team of Trent Hoer, Dave Strubbe, and myself won the team competition.

Summary: 78 miles, 2x GS

Good week, quite a bit of quality, really. I really want to push the mileage up a little more with morning runs, but I'm having a hell of a time getting them in. I really value and understand the importance of recovery, so sleep will almost always come first (and I need a lot of it). After the workouts on both Tuesday and Thursday this week, I slept 10 hours and still had a pretty high resting heart rate when I awoke, feeling tired. If I could sleep 10 hours a night all the time (and even more when I need it) I could be doubling every day, but that's not the reality right now. So I'll continue to try to squeeze in some doubles here and there, but I don't think there will be too much of that for this buildup. Still hope to push more to the 90-100 mpw range for a few weeks here.

“This is Alberto Salazar I'm going for, but I don't know who I am today, so here goes.”

—Pete Pfitzinger, a master at running his best at the Olympic Trials, describing his charge past Salazar at the end of the '84 Trials race (seemed appropriate with the Trials coming up this week in Houston)

Training, December 26 - January 1

2012-01-02T10:34:00.001-06:00

Monday: AM - 15 miles moderate-plus

On hilly single track from Bullfrog Lake (near Willow Springs and Palos). Quality aerobic effort, pushed the pace in the second half to maybe 90% MP effort, give or take. I wish I could train on these trails every day. The 7 or 8 miles of single track are incredible for the area.

Tuesday: PM - 10 miles moderate-plus; GS1

Originally had some Aussie Quarters scheduled this week, but with last weekend's medium-long run getting pushed to yesterday, something needed to get cut or scaled back. I contemplated doing a light Aussie-style 200s session tonight, but went with another quality aerobic day instead. Squeezed it down from about 6:30s to 5:40s over the course of the first 5 miles and then kept it right in that 95% MP range.

Wednesday: AM - 4 miles easy

PM - 8 miles easy "trail run" (i.e. mostly on grass, roots, mud, etc.) - No GS, too tired

Thursday: PM - 3 mile warmup, 4 x mile at AnT pace w/ 1:00 active recovery - 5:15, (1:00), 5:14, (1:00), 5:14, (:59), 5:07 - 3 mile cooldown (10 miles total)

Planned on 6+ reps, but had to stop to find a restroom (which took a while as the city basically shuts everything down in October—who would need a restroom after the marathon anyway?). Felt pretty decent, a little sluggish, but definitely could have kept it going for several more reps, so it was too bad my stomach was giving me issues.

Friday: AM - 4 miles easy; GS2

PM - 8 miles easy with Jim O'Brien, nice to run with someone

Saturday: PM - 2 mile warmup, light drills, then mile repeats at MP w/ half mile recovery ~20s/mile slower - 5:24, (2:50), 5:24, (2:50), 5:15, (2:49), 5:29, (2:53), 5:29, (2:53), 5:40, (3:02), 5:14 - 55:17 for 10 miles (5:31 pace) (7 reps) - 3 mile cooldown (15 miles total)

Felt a little sluggish starting out, but then really started to feel pretty comfortable, easily recovering at 5:40 pace, and feeling like I could probably get 8-10 reps in. This was before I turned into the wind for the third through sixth reps. Same story, different day. Tried to stay as relaxed as I could into a stiff headwind while not totally sacrificing the pace, but the longer I ran into the wind without a break, the more it took out of me. That 5:40 sixth rep was significantly harder than the 5:14 I ran for the seventh, after I had turned around. But by that point, I was pretty toast from fighting the wind for 4.5 miles. Perhaps I should have just gone back and forth, so that every other rep I was getting some respite.

Sunday: PM - 6 miles easy; GS (combined/altered routine as I was back home in Springfield and didn’t have my Swiss ball or med ball)

Summary: 80 miles, 3x GS

Fairly happy with the week. Got the mileage up a bit and also had some quality aerobic work on Monday and Tuesday. I’m often lacking this type of work, as with my workout schedule and life schedule, I usually have to take days between workouts easy in order to properly recover. When you’re strong enough, running enough mileage, and can sleep and recover more, you can more easily make some of the runs between workouts a decent aerobic effort. That’s not me right now. To be honest, in retrospect, I probably should have focused more on basic aerobic development of this kind (as well as muscular development) in the several months after my last marathon. In any event, some good work at different paces this week, and I’m fairly encouraged by the fact that 5:40 pace is starting to feel pretty easy.

“Bowerman (without ever pronouncing the word pain) taught that you redefine yourself a little with every honest, killing effort. You might not win, but you will have been brave. If you can admit that to yourself, bravery is a hell of a thing to build on.”

—Kenny Moore, The Men of Oregon

Training, December 19 - 25

2011-12-27T15:36:00.002-06:00

Monday: PM - 10 miles easy w/ light drills and strides - Planned on GS, but felt a little beat up still from yesterday's workout and core work, so I skipped it.

Tuesday: PM - 4 mile w/u, light drills, strides, 200m in 29.91, Aussie Quarters - 71, (40), 72, (43), 71, (41), 74, (42), 72, (41), 73, (43), 71, (40), 73, (43) - 15:18 for 4800m - 3 mile w/d (10 miles total); GS2

Not too bad, though I was kind of down about this workout while it was going on, seeing 73 or 74 seconds flash on my watch. But that was entirely the wrong attitude to have. I worked hard and ran the right effort, which is all I can really ask for—I was just a bit run down going into it for some reason. When you're training hard, you're going to feel less than your best sometimes and that's fine. Particularly in the winter, when there are even more uncontrollable external factors than usual, I need to do a better job of detaching myself from times, just running the right effort (more on this though in the week's recap). Hell, Ryan Hall ditched his watch entirely for quite a while during his last marathon buildup so as not to get caught up in his splits.
Wednesday: PM - 8 miles easy; GS1

Thursday: PM - 7 miles easy - Felt pretty flat and decided to push the planned progression run off until tomorrow.

Friday: PM - 1 mile w/u, 9 mile progression run - 6:05, 5:56, 5:49, 5:39, 5:38, 5:33, 5:25, 5:24, 5:15 - 50:48 total - 2 mile w/d (12 miles total)

Glad I pushed this effort off until today. I still struggled a bit, and really was running a bit quicker than I needed to early on. Planned on 10 miles, but the wind on the second half was sucking the life out of me, so I had to cap it at 9. Solid effort.

Saturday: AM - 8 easy; GS2

Sunday: AM - 8 easy

Summary: 63 miles, 3x GS

Another step in the right direction; nothing special, and the mileage was a bit low, but I'm fine with it on Christmas week. I need to start doubling next week, continuing to get the mileage up. As alluded to above, the more I'm working out in the wind, cold, and rain/snow, the more I'm realizing that times and splits won't necessarily mean much during this buildup. And by getting caught up in splits, I'm likely doing myself a disservice by running too hard at times. With the marathon, specificity is key, so splits are far from irrelevant—I need to be running at least close to actual race pace. However, if I'm losing 10 seconds per mile due to weather, and I play things on the safe (slow) side in workouts to keep the effort in the right range, the pace is likely still close enough to get the requisite benefit, as long as I'm doing the right type of Specific work. So even though my A goal and B goal for the Albany Marathon are sub-2:20 (5:20 pace) and a PR (5:27 pace), respectively, it might be wise to treat MP more like 5:30 pace as a general rule this winter. If conditions are good and I'm feeling good and can do a solid MP workout with 5:20 as MP, great. But if not, no big deal either.

"One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age."
—James Joyce, “The Dead,” Dubliners

Training, December 12 - 18

2011-12-18T16:00:00.001-06:00

Monday: PM - 3 mile w/u, light drills (heel-to-butts, A skip, B skip), strides, 200m in 31.11, Aussie Quarters [8 x (400 hard, 200 moderate)] - 70, (41), 72, (42), 71, (41), 71, (43), 70, (42), 71, (43), 70, (41), 73, (42) = 15:11 for 4800m, 4 mile w/d (10 miles total); GS1

I was pretty happy with this for the first Aussie Quarters session in a while. It's a great workout to inject a little speed and anaerobic work into your training, but it's also quite challenging aerobically, as is quite obvious. I did this workout 5 times over 8 weeks in my buildup to Grandma's Marathon, progressing from 15:25/15:30 the first couple sessions to 14:57 the last time. So hopefully I can get this workout back under 15:00 eventually. It was a bit windy out, but not too bad and temps were great (low 40s).

Tuesday: No run = no good. I'm still struggling mightily to get up for morning runs. Had a firm/client holiday party at night and ended up going out for a friend's birthday as well, so didn't get it in.

Wednesday: PM - 3 mile w/u, 6 x mile at anaerobic threshold (AnT) w/ 1:00 active rest (Daniels-style "cruise intervals") - 5:01, (:58), 5:14, (:58), 5:09, (:58), 5:17, (1:00), 5:06, (1:00), 5:13 - 3 mile w/d (12 miles total); GS2

While the temps were quite nice, it was very windy and I had to deal with a 20-30 mph headwind on the even numbered reps (as I do these repeats back and forth on the Lakefront Path... no accurate track within 5 miles of me). This wind (and lack of track) makes running in Chicago quite a challenge at times. Generally, as I'm not in a Specific Phase right now, it's the internal load of the workout—the effort—that matters. Even still, the problems with that are (1) mentally accepting that a 5:30 into the wind can actually be AnT work, and (2) there is some muscular trade off, so you don't want to be going drastically slower than you normally could, as you start to lose the muscular benefit. So I end up muscling through the "slow" reps a bit to keep the pace externally honest, but that can get you in a bit of a hole, because you're working too hard, and it slows/messes up the other reps and the whole workout a bit. Not the end of the world, just not ideal. I have no doubt that on a windless day on the track, those all would be sub-5 with the same effort.

Thursday: AM - 7 miles easy
PM - Firm holiday party #2, no run - glad I managed to get my ass out of bed for the morning run, need to make that a habit.

Friday: PM - 10 miles moderate w/ 12 x 100m strides, 100m jog rest - followed by holiday party #3, Have Yourself a Merry Little Fitness. Way too much drinking and eating this week; ah, holidays.

Saturday: PM - 8 miles easy

Sunday: PM - 3 mile w/u, 6 x mile at MP w/ 1/2 mile recovery (20-30s/mile slower than MP) - 5:15, (2:47), 5:21, (2:45), 5:26, (2:53), 5:25, (2:50), 5:18, (2:46), 5:21, (2:49) - 9 miles total in 48:58 or 5:26 pace - 3 mile w/d (15 miles total); GS1

Pretty solid workout, introduction of MP work. Running into a decent wind on the third, fourth, and sixth reps made things a touch more difficult. I was really cruising on the "recoveries" too, running as fast at 5:30 pace, which certainly kept things honest. Intentionally backed off a bit on the third rest interval to keep from digging myself into a hole. With the quick rests, I was able to average a very good pace (5:26) for the whole workout, which is probably 98% MP or so. I've seen Canova do something like 6 x 6:00 at MP w/ 3:00 recovery during the Special Phase, extending the workout to 6 x 7:00 and 6 x 8:00. It's easier for me (with no track) to do this type of work structured by distance though, not time, so the plan is just to extend the number of reps when I repeat this in two weeks.

Summary: 62 miles, 3x GS

A quick note on notation:

- When I say "easy," I typically mean 7:30-8:00 pace—pure recovery and capillarization, no real aerobic benefit here.

- "Moderate" refers to about 80% MP (or equivalent effort), so roughly 6:20-6:30 pace. This is the slow end of the spectrum where you're still getting an aerobic benefit.

I think this week was a relative success for my first week back to focused training. I got in three quality workouts; none of them were killer, but just the kind of solid work I need right now. I'll repeat the AnT and MP workouts two weeks from now, hopefully going longer. I'll be hitting the Aussie Quarters every week during the Special Phase and probably every other week or so during the Specific Phase for maintenance. Based on this week, how I felt at various paces, I think sub-2:20 is a realistic A Goal for the Albany Marathon. The B Goal would be a PR (sub-2:22:53). So those basically correspond to MPs of 5:20 and 5:25 per mile. It will be very difficult to actually do all my MP work in that pace range, such are the challenges of winter and tough external conditions. But so it goes. I'm also hoping to get my mileage up into the 80-90 range (and keep it there) in the coming weeks.

As I think I've made clear previously, I generally follow Renato Canova's philosophy of training. One of the main tenets of this philosophy is working by extension; for most workouts, rather than getting faster each time you repeat the workout, you go longer (whether that means more reps, longer reps, or just longer total distance). So for this Special Phase, I'm doing two, two-week blocks that are more or less the same, with the goal of going longer for each workout in the second block. (The Aussie Quarters are an exception, where my progression will be intensive.) The same thing will happen once I start the Specific Phase. The workouts will be structured mainly in two-week blocks, with the idea of extending the work with each repetition.

I've learned about training, generally, from reading copiously on the subject and through my own trial and error. I've been most strongly influenced by Canova's marathon pamphlet produced through the IAAF (a must have); Letsrun threads on which Canova posts; Nate Jenkins' blog (an incredible resource); and Joe Vigil's book, Road to the Top. Am I making mistakes? Surely. But the amount I've gained and learned by taking real ownership in my running far outweighs any mistakes I've made.

Finally, I've been putting quotes up at the end of my posts recently. This one is outrageously long, but I liked it a lot. It's Nate Jenkins' response to some asshole going by "Mel" who's been trolling his Running Times blog on and off for a few months:

"Mel- I wish you wouldn’t piss Melissa off. She is stressed enough as it is. My point had nothing to do with whether I’ll go faster or not. My point is this. If you quit you will never grow, never get better. You know that for sure. I’m running pretty well right now, much better then 6 weeks ago, better still then 6 months ago. Why would I even think of quitting while I’m improving? Still this is what most do. The task seems to hard so we walk away before we find out what we can do. This is the biggest mistake we can make. Never give in, never give up. It doesn’t guarantee success, nothing does, it does give you the chance of success and the chance to find your real limits. People started telling me to quit running when I was in elementary school before I was even running year round. They told me my knees would be shot by the time I was 16. That I had no talent, no hope of succeeding. This voices only got louder and more common as I got older. I would burn myself out, I was wasting my time. I should just walk away. Quitting is the easy way out, just give up and tell yourself you did the best you could. Tell yourself you just didn’t have the talent to compete. Thing is that is a soul killing lie. This isn’t a video game, this is life, you get one shot, just one. If you chose to quit early and accept defeat at the first sign of difficulty you will never get any where and you can live a sad middling life unsatisfied and unfulfilled. Or you can fight, you can refuse to give in until your crushed. You can keep coming back no matter what. No matter the odds and not give in ever. You will be stopped at some point, you will be beaten but you will KNOW you have given it your all and you will be light years further down the road then where you would have quit. I should have quit when it took me 4 years of year round training to break 5mins in the mile. I should have quit when running more and harder then anyone I could find made me only about the 25th best running in my state in HS. I should have quit when working harder in college lead to so many injuries that entering my senior year I had only competed in 2 out of 9 seasons and my PRs were essentially unchanged and not even world class by female standards. No one would have blamed me, no one would have noticed. No one would have said man that guy could have been something. I would never have qualified for a national championship. I would never have qualified for an Olympic trials. I would never have travelled to asia and europe. I would never have to be honest gone to college, got a degree, left my hometown, met my wife or got on a plane. I certainly would never have had the honor of representing my country in international competition. The fun of traveling the country to meet and race people who I consider absolute celebrities and hero’s of mine. I would never have had the experience of signing an autograph or seeing myself on TV or doing an interview. The neat experience of speaking at camps and getting a chance to encourage young people who just need a pat on the back and good word from someone who they only know via the internet or magazines. Point is I’m about the happiest person you’ll ever meet and I’m not naturally that way. Being born into my family I inherited a pretty good bit of the black dog but not quitting has given me gifts so far beyond anything I deserved or could ever have bought that if I drop dead tomorrow I can honestly say no regrets. So my suggestion to you is to read Melissa’s post. Read it carefully. Really dissect it and try to understand what Teddy was saying. Then pick your battle, pick your goal and go after it with REAL focus, REAL will, don’t TRY. Instead DO!"

—Nate Jenkins

And the aforementioned Teddy Roosevelt quote:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Time for a Marathon

2011-12-11T20:41:00.000-06:00

So as I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm going to a weekly log format for the 12-week buildup I'm doing for the Albany Marathon, since it provides a good opportunity to post my training during a marathon Specific Phase. It may get thwarted here and there by weather, but I'll do what I can. Before the 8 weeks of Specific work, I've got what I'd call 4 weeks of Fundamental/Special work. It's Fundamental (just basic, non-race-specific fitness) in nature, but I'm also adding a few workouts reintroducing marathon pace (this is the Special part—a sort of transition into the Specific phase). That starts this coming week.

I'm really going to try to be more diligent about the "little things" during this buildup. Things like core strengthening, stretching, self-therapy (primarily with a foam roller), and even morning runs are easy to let slip by the wayside with a busy schedule. I should be able to do most of these things, most of the time—it's just a matter of diligence and planning. I've got two different core (general strength or GS) routines that I've come up with for this buildup, based mostly on Jay Johnson videos from Running Times (here and here). Jay really knows his stuff in this area. I've been doing some of these exercises over the past 6 months, but not nearly enough. So I've got two routines planned with the ideal of doing each three times a week. More realistically, doing each routine twice a week would be pretty solid. It's almost all body-weight stuff, with the occasional aid of a Swiss ball, medicine ball, and ankle weights. I thought I'd go ahead and post the routines, since this was a recovery week and thus an abbreviated post. As far as reps, I'm just starting at a comfortably hard level and building from there. Also, I don't know how to adequately describe some of these exercises, though most can be viewed in Jay's videos—however, feel free to ask for a better explanation of any of the exercises.

General Strength – Circuit 1 (GS1)

pullups
bicycles
pedestal routine
lower ab hold
hammy curls w/ swiss ball
single leg squats
russians w/ med ball (8 lb)
hammy curls w/ swiss ball
single leg squats
Rockys
side (abductor) leg lifts (three varieties – toe pointing down, neutral, and pointing up)
adductor leg lifts (inner thigh – done with a chair, see Wharton article in this month's Running Times)
Supermen
hurdle (trail leg) mobility drills (forward and backward)
paw-backs

General Strength – Circuit 2 (GS2)

pullups
bicycle
pedestal routine w/ leg lifts
lower ab hold
lying hip raises
wall squats w/ swiss ball
russians w/ med ball
lying hip raises
wall squats w/ swiss ball
pushups
bird dogs
fire hydrants
leg circles (forward and backward)
Aussie crawls
jackknives
back extensions
Iron Cross
scorpions
standing hamstring curls w/ ankle weights
concentric calf "lowers" (I use my bath tub, as opposed to the more common stairs)

As for the week's training, it was mainly a recovery week from the TNF 50 race. I also got sick, so I took an extra day or two off, not running until Friday.

Monday – Thursday: Off - recovery/sick

Friday: PM - 8 miles easy, GS1

Saturday: AM - 1 mile w/u, 12 mile basic aerobic tempo: 1:11:59, 1 mile w/d

Sunday: PM - 8 miles easy, GS2

Total: 30 miles

The plan for the aerobic tempo was 90% MP or so (roughly 5:50 pace, assuming a marathon race pace of 5:20/mile—a reasonable guess/starting point), but I struggled a bit—not a total surprise as I was just getting over some sickness and only 7 days out from TNF. I wanted to keep the effort right, so I ran 6:00 pace, hitting 1:11:59 for the run. It was also fairly cold out—feels like 8—which probably slowed things a bit. This wasn't really a problem, because I still got the right stimulus. That's it—the real training starts next week!

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man my son!

—Rudyard Kipling

Tentative 2012 Schedule

2011-12-07T12:04:00.003-06:00

I was going to hold off on posting this for a bit, but I'm sick in bed, so I've got some time on my hands. (I haven't been sick since early May, so I'm glad I was able to fend things off this long— good timing too during a recovery week.) I'm currently planning on the following races in 2012:

Tallahassee Marathon (2/5) - Tuneup for Albany, should be a good opportunity to get a quality effort in during my marathon Specific Phase. I would normally do a hard 24 miler, but I think it's fairly likely that the weather in Chicago will be ridiculous in February, so off to Tallahassee it is!
U.S. Cross Country Championships (2/11) - I've always wanted to race US Cross; hard to pass up when it's so close, should be a lot of fun.
Albany Marathon (3/3) - Peak marathon, hoping to PR and perhaps get into the two-teens.
Chicago Lakefront 50k (3/31) - I'm taking some down time after Albany, so this will be a first race/long run back. Not planning on going after Dave Dunham's ridiculous record or anything like that.
American River 50 Mile (4/7) - First hard effort of my spring/summer ultra season. Really looking forward to checking out this classic race. I think it suits me well.
Ice Age 50 Mile (5/14) - Really excited about this; local race for me (more or less), and as part of the Montrail Ultra Cup this year and a qualifier for Western States, there's likely to be some great competition.
Mount Washington (U.S. Mountain Running Championships) (6/16) - Going to go mix it up on the course with "only one hill," try to make the Worlds team. Hopefully this race draws a competitive field (see Rickey Gates' call to arms).
Knee Knacker 50k (7/14) - Subject to lottery, would be nice to head up to Vancouver. I hear it's pretty technical.
White River 50 Mile (7/28) - Another competitive 50 mile, keep 'em coming.
TransRockies Stage Run (8/14 - 8/19) - This race seems incredibly awesome and I really want to do it. However, my participation will be subject to both having a running partner (may have something in the works) and finding a comp! :)
New York City Marathon (11/4) - Peak marathon for the season. I'm hoping to really rock a long Fundamental Phase (while running all the above ultra and/or mountain races) and then hit a focused Specific Phase for NYC.

I'm sure there will be some other low-key races (shorter distances) mixed in from time to time, maybe the Shamrock Shuffle, Southwest Half Marathon in Palos, and Soldier Field 10 Miler to name a few. The other big ultra that I would really like to go back to is the UROC 100k. In its second year, the race should only get better. The prize money has doubled, and with recruiting efforts being launched from a year out, hopefully UROC will draw an even better (and international) field in 2012. My concern is that it's six weeks out from NYC. I don't doubt that I would recover in time for the race itself—my concern is that I would miss too much time (recovering) during the crucial part of my Specific Phase. I'll keep it in mind, but it really depends on how my body is reacting to ultras earlier in the year and if I'm showing Wardian-like recovery abilities.

"All I want to do is drink beer and train like an animal."

—Rod Dixon

The North Face 50 Mile Championships Race Report

2011-12-04T22:53:00.001-06:00

I had a pretty rough day in Marin (again) at The North Face 50 Mile Championships. Like last year, I had quad issues from the descents, but I also had kind of an off day generally. I’ve worked on my climbing a fair amount over the last month or two and really should have been able to hang on the climbs without much trouble, but I never really felt comfortable out there. I was forcing it early on and found myself dropped on the big climb to Cardiac at mile 18. The rest of the day was a bit up and down, mostly down in terms of how I was feeling. However, I kept a much better perspective on the race this year, doing my best to enjoy the rest of the day despite my poor race. I hooked up with some 50k runners for a while and just enjoyed the gorgeous trails and the company of other runners.

The major takeaway for me is that I’m simply not going to be able to excel on this course until I live in a place where I can have regular access to several thousand foot ascents and descents. The trails in Marin are just too steep; descents like those to Muir Beach and Stinson Beach completely destroy my legs. On courses with either less total vertical or more gradual slopes (e.g. TNF50-Wisco and UROC), I can sort of fake my way through—or at least handle things well enough that my training limitations aren’t a major handicap. However, the lack of specificity in my training terrain is fully exposed on this course. I know I'll come back here again to compete, but not until I’m ready.

Now I’ll take one week easy before doing a 12 week training block for the Albany (Georgia) Marathon on March 3. This will consist of a 4 week Fundamental/Special Phase where I work a bit more on my non-Specific fitness (along with introducing just a bit of running at marathon pace (MP)) and an 8 week marathon Specific Phase. Along the way, I’m headed down to the Tallahassee Marathon on February 5 and the U.S. Cross Country Championships on February 11 in St. Louis. I think I’m going to go to a weekly log format for the blog for these 12 weeks, as the training should present a good opportunity to explain how I prepare specifically for a marathon. It could get pretty interesting trying to do a marathon Specific Phase during a Chicago winter. There could be a fair bit of improvisation involved while working around the weather, but all the better as an example I suppose—having to adjust things on the fly. Luckily, I have treadmill access in my apartment building, which could be a savior.

After the Albany Marathon, I’ll take some down time in early March before ramping up the training volume and racing some ultra, trail, and mountain races in the spring and summer of 2012. I’ve got a number of specific races in mind and I’ll probably post a tentative 2012 schedule soon.

“Some people said, ‘You cannot win a race.’ But I knew my day would come. I knew nothing was going to stop me.”

—The Emperor, Haile Gebrselassie

Let's Race!

2011-11-29T13:02:00.000-06:00

The focus of my ultra season, The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championship, is this Saturday morning, starting at 5 a.m. in the Marin Headlands outside of San Francisco. I'm pretty excited for this race and the crazy level of competition it holds. There's nothing better than duking it out with so many top guys. As a huge pack cruises through 10, 15, 20 miles... it's like the ultimate calm before the storm. (Then again, maybe someone will take it out hard this year and there will be no such pack— Dave? Mike?) Last year, we had quite a few of us together as we crested the largest climb on the course, maybe 18 miles in. Then, suddenly, Dave Mackey threw down the hammer and the pack fragmented almost immediately. We had five, maybe six guys regroup as we headed to the turnaround point, moving pretty quickly. Twenty miles in, the race had begun in earnest. Unfortunately for me, by mile 28 or so, my race was over, my ultra debut a relative disappointment, as the downhills took me out. (Perhaps I shouldn't have so quickly covered Mackey's hard move—but after much anticipation, it was so fun to be racing.) Dakota, Geoff, Mackey, and Heras battled on, as the Spaniard overtook Geoff for the win with a strong, late surge.

Like last year, the thing most likely to take me out is quad fatigue from the massive descents. However, I'm much more prepared in general this year. In the last three months, I've raced two pretty solid 50 milers and a decent 100k, the latter having quite a bit of vertical. Will the muscle memory from those races, combined with dozens of repeats on my modest North Pond hill be enough for the legs to hold up? I'm hopeful that the answer is 'yes.' I've honed my climbing ability with treadmill hill runs and countless stairs in the past two months, and the distance of the race is no longer a question mark. I feel I have yet to really "nail" an ultra—I'm waiting for that day when everything clicks. When it does, I know I can run with anyone.

The men's field is stacked, probably even more than last year. With such a field, a thrilling race is a virtual guarantee. The women's race is sure to be stellar as well, with an incredibly deep and competitive field. iRunFar will be covering the race via Twitter, and I believe The North Face Endurance Challenge website will also have runner tracking and will cover the race via Twitter.

Pre-race coverage here:

"It's a whole new bloody world. They look hungry, they look mean. I wonder if I've got that look."
—Rod Dixon, prior to the 1983 NYC Marathon

Double the Fun

2011-11-20T23:04:00.004-06:00

I knew I was going to get in one more long training stimulus prior to The North Face 50 Championships in two weeks, but I wasn't really sure what that would be. I thought about an overdistance run in the neighborhood of 30-35 miles. I also thought about the back to back long runs you see a lot among ultra runners, something like 25 Saturday, 25 Sunday. In the end, I opted for what I'll consider an ultra specific block a la Canova. In other words, a hard double workout, specific to my goal race, that is a harder effort than I could run all in one training session.

First up, for the A.M. session, I headed out to the trail at Waterfall Glen with Rich Heffron, a U Chicago Ph.D. student whom I recently met when he won the Lakefront 50k. This was my first time out to Waterfall Glen, and while the gently rolling crushed gravel path is great for some workouts (including this morning's), the single track at nearby Bullfrog Lake is definitely much better terrain if one desires to train for a trail race. The plan was just to hit 20 miles or so at a solid aerobic effort, around 80% MP. I had done an uphill treadmill tempo on Thursday and 40 hill repeats plus stairs on Friday, so I wasn't feeling particularly fresh. We got into a nice rhythm though, and the 19+ miles we ran in two loops flew by. We ran the second loop a minute or two faster than the first, averaging about 6:20 pace for the whole run.

Seven hours later, back in the city, I was out the door for long run number two. The plan was:

- 7 miles with 20 hill repeats

- stairs, 3 x 30 stories

- 7 miles with 20 hill repeats

- stairs, 3 x 30 stories

- 2 mile warmup, 5 mile tempo, 1 mile cool down

As I headed out the door, some stiffness and minor aches had me limping slightly. So much so that I thought I would have to call it. However, after a few miles, I loosened up and all seemed well, so I forged on. The two seven mile loops with hill repeats were mostly on grass. As with the morning run, I was just running a quality aerobic effort, about 6:00-6:20 pace. When I run these hill repeats (at North Pond), I run comfortably hard on the ups, but really hammer the downs, trying to condition my quads to the impact. It was back to my apartment building for the stairs, adding some significant vertical to the run.

By about midway through my second set of hill repeats, things finally started to get difficult. I gutted out the hills, but needed a bit of extra motivation for the second set of stairs, which took the form of Okkervil River's Unless It's Kicks and Elton John's Funeral for a Friend on my iPod Shuffle. Or Nano. Or whatever.

Finally, after two miles moderate, I headed into the tempo. I only made it four miles of the planned five. I was feeling pretty rough by this point, but managed to run 5:47, 5:45, 5:39, 5:30 mile splits for the tempo. My breathing was pretty easy, but my legs were done after nearly 40 miles and 4,000 feet vertical on the day. An easy 2 mile cooldown capped the day.

All in all, I think the specific block was a success. I ran 41 miles today, nearly all of them faster than 6:30 pace, and got in some solid hill and stair work to boot. I wore my new Salomon XR Crossmax shoes, which performed quite well. I particularly like the ample room in the toe box, along with the flexible material there, which allows for foot swelling without issue. Now I just need to make sure I recover well and absorb the effects of the supercompensation day.

"The first thing I do when I figure out the perfect program is change it!"
—Renato Canova

Joining Salomon in 2012

2011-11-13T22:45:00.000-06:00

Thanks to some solid results at trail ultras this fall (and, perhaps, having lowered my marathon PR to 2:22), I was able to secure sponsorship for the coming year. I'm excited to announce that I'll be joining the Salomon running team. The Salomon team has been running very well of late, with some incredibly impressive results around the world this year. Hopefully I can contribute in the coming year. They (we) will have a good crew out at the TNF 50 Mile Championships in three weeks, where Miguel Heras will seek to defend his title.

Salomon makes a lot of quality products and really supports their team well. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to run for them, and I should be kitted up by TNF. Also, I'm excited about these coming out, particularly since I spend a lot of time on pavement in Chicago. They look sweet—I want some blue ones...

Hot Chocolate 15k Race Report and a Change of Plans

2011-11-08T11:32:00.000-06:00

I raced to a fourth place finish in the Hot Chocolate 15k this weekend with a time of 49:29. Not great, but not bad; I'll take it given the circumstances. I wasn't sure what sort of competition there would be, and I also wasn't sure how I would feel. I was pretty beat up after last week's Lakefront 50 Mile and ended up taking three days off. I hadn't done a workout since that race, so I went into Hot Chocolate with no specific goals. I just wanted to run intelligently and be competitive.

The course was pretty nice—all roads around downtown Chicago, which was new this year. We also had close to ideal weather, with sunny skies, cool temperatures, and only a slight breeze. I went through the first mile in about 5:15 feeling pretty good aerobically, but I just couldn't seem to get my legs under me; they were more or less dead from the start. The lead pack of five or six that developed kept moving at this pace. My breathing was so easy, it honestly felt like MP effort, but I had a hard time turning over fast enough. The logical guess is that I was dealing with some residual muscular fatigue from the 50 miles last weekend. Even still, I hoped the legs would come around and that I could maybe pull out a victory. Not so.

After a 5:19 fifth mile, my friend Emisael started to push the pace. I was trying to hold on, and rolled through the sixth mile in 5:11, already a second or two back from the new lead pack of three. This mile did me in. I seemed to have been walking a fine line, which I overstepped trying to hang with the lead group. I had a long last three miles solo, lost focus a bit with a 5:31 eighth mile, but came back with a relatively solid 5:21 ninth. Emisael charged ahead for the win in 48:11, with only 8 seconds separating the top three. I wish I could have been there—those sort of races are the most fun. I'm always impressed with Emisael, as he almost never has a bad race. He runs intelligently and seems to perform well every time out.

Now, for the change of plans... I've decided not to go out to Big Sur in two weeks to chase an OT qualifier. This is certainly an anticlimactic end (for now) to my chasing of the Trials standard, but I think it's the right decision. My Hot Chocolate race, even while run under less than ideal circumstances, makes it clear to me that I'm not in 1:05 shape, and I won't be with just another two weeks of sharpening and tapering (and I'm having a hard time justifying spending $600 to go race). Did I somewhat sacrifice my ability to get sharp for a half marathon by doing three ultras in the last two months? Yes. I'm still learning my own limits, and recovering from some of those races took longer than expected. But they were quite fun and have given rise to some sponsorship opportunities that would not have been available otherwise (on that note, I should announce shortly which company I've decided to join—just want to make sure I have the green light). My attitude regarding the Trials is that I will be there in 2016 and I will be competitive. 2012 wasn't in the cards, but I'm OK with that.

Overall, I'm quite happy with how this year has gone. I took a legitimate shot at the Trials with my marathon at Grandma's. I fell short, but I went for it, and I can be satisfied with that. I also ended up with a big PR and am moving in the right direction. I've PRed over a number of other distances this year and had some decent success in the ultra world. One more to go on that front: the TNF EC 50 Championships in four weeks. The TNF 50 and my goals for my next marathon are what reaffirmed my decision not to race Big Sur. First, I can get in a solid three weeks of training for TNF, as opposed to backing off for another race. I need some more hill and stair work, and could use the mileage as well. Also, I have 17 weeks until my next marathon, the Albany Marathon in Georgia. This is a perfect amount of time for a good buildup, split between a Fundamental Phase and a Specific Phase. I can work a bit more on my speed and turnover in the coming 8 weeks and then transition to a marathon-specific prep. that will hopefully see me to another PR.

Finally, I enjoyed a nice first group run and brunch on Sunday with the Chicago Ultrarunners (CHUGs). Met some cool people, including Geoffrey and Paige Dunmore, who are headed down to Javelina Jundred this weekend—best of luck to them!

Chicago Lakefront 50 Mile Race Report - Disappointed, But Not Upset

2011-11-01T11:20:00.003-05:00

I won the Lakefront 50 Mile on Saturday in 5:32:25, or 6:38/mile. I'm a little disappointed with the result, even though objectively speaking, I wouldn't call my time "bad." The disappointment comes from my high expectations going into the race. I really thought I was capable of a time in the low 5 hour range. In fact, I still think so, and believe I will eventually break the 5 hour barrier. I wanted to do something special, but I was missing a piece of the puzzle on Saturday. That piece wasn't fitness, but muscular endurance. This has been a common theme this year, as I'm simply not running enough mileage to hold up at race pace in some of the longer stuff. The fix is tantalizingly simple: run more! Yet this is easier said than done in the real world. Nate Jenkins once told me that "everyone sucks in their first year of working full time"—it's an adjustment that takes time. If this year has been me sucking, I'll take it.

As for race day, things got underway at 6:30 a.m. We had perfect weather, and I knew I had a great opportunity to run a quick time. If it felt relaxed enough, my plan was to run 6 flats from the gun. The course consisted of four 12.5 mile out-and-backs along the Lakefront path. Miles are marked on the path generally, but the course sometimes took side paths, or re-routes around construction areas, so that you could only catch splits in a few places. As such, I didn't actually know what pace I was running (I don't have a GPS watch) until about three miles in. Turns out I was running 5:45-5:50 pace. I kept trying to back off, but kept seeing splits in that range. After about six miles, I finally settled in and eased off the pace a bit. I came through the first loop in 1:15:09, or right at 6:00 pace.

As the sun began to rise during the next loop, I slowed slightly. By this point, I could tell it wasn't going to be an incredible day for me, but I was still running quickly and relaxed. I completed the second loop in just under 78 minutes, hitting the halfway point at 2:33:00. My feet were starting to get a bit sore from all the pavement pounding, so I changed shoes. I usually run in pretty minimalist footwear, so I didn't have many pairs of more heavily cuchioned shoes from which to choose. As such, I was running in a pair of Mizuno trainers that probably already had 500+ miles in them. Perhaps not ideal. I knew I was going to need to change shoes at the end of the third loop if not now, so I went ahead and made the switch.

As I set out on the third loop, it was a bit discouraging how poor I was beginning to feel. I knew that loop wasn't going to be fun, and that the fourth loop would be worse. I held it together relatively well for the third loop, running about 82 minutes, putting me at 3:55 overall as I headed out for the last loop. Some quick math reveals how awful my split was for the fourth loop. I actually maintained fairly well for the "out" portion of the loop, hovering around 7:00 pace. But shortly before the turnaround, my quads had finally had enough. You can only muscle through something for so long... in my case on Saturday, about four and a half hours. I walked for about 10 seconds, shook my legs out and then started running again, albeit much slower. I didn't have cramps in the charlie horse, muscle-seizing sense. I was just too fatigued to move quickly any more. I stopped for a minute or so in each of the two aid stations on the way back to the finish, grabbing some food, but really stopping more for a mental break than anything else. I had close to 20 minutes on Inov-8 runner Mark Lundblad in second place, so I knew I was going to win, but it was a daunting and painful trip to the finish line.
In the end, the monotony of 50 flat, paved miles got to me. I think I might have held up and ran significantly faster on a gently rolling course. It makes me wonder how I would have fared against Wardian last week at Tussey Mountainback, though Tussey is more than "gently rolling" to be sure.

While disappointed that I didn't meet my goals, I'm not upset with how the day panned out. I went for it, and I don't think there's much I could have done differently on race day, so I have no regrets. I'll just learn from the experience and keep moving forward. As I mentioned above, I certainly need to be running more miles. If you're running 120+ miles a week, you're going to stand a good chance of holding up muscularly. Additionally, I could probably benefit from greater specificity of training. Either back to back long runs in the 25 mile range, or even a specific block of sorts—I'm thinking 20 miles at 6:00 pace in the morning, followed by the same run in the evening.

But... there's "time and time and time." I'll be back for the Lakefront 50 again in the future, I'm sure—maybe two or three years from now—seeking atonement and, perhaps, that ethereal sub-5.

"It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth." —from Rocky Balboa

Running Times coverage
Results

The Joys of Training in Chicago

2011-10-24T15:23:00.002-05:00

It's always interesting training in this city. The weather is all over the board, and after yet another unseasonably warm Chicago Marathon two weeks ago, I've more recently been dealing with some of the worst running weather one can have: excessive wind, rain, and "feels like" temperatures in the twenties. It is much better to be running in temperatures well below freezing so that you don't have to deal with the rain. But such is life. When you run year-round, in most parts of the country that means you deal with some pretty crappy weather. I don't mind so much for "normal" runs; in fact, it is often a welcome change. But workouts can really get screwed up, particularly ones where pace is important.

I've been doing mid-week back to back workouts in my current phase. Typically, I've been doing a harder, more half-marathon specific workout on Wednesday and hill work on Thursdays. I can pull this double off fairly well, because it doesn't really matter if I'm tired for the hill work, as pace isn't too important—it may well be better that I'm tired.

Last week, I had 12 x 400m repeats on Monday, followed by a scheduled Wednesday/Thursday double of the variety described above. The 400s went well, and the weather was decent. However, we were then hit with 48+ hours of rain/wind/bullshit, and I had to juggle my workouts just to retain some semblance of the original plan. I had aerobic power 1000m repeats scheduled for Wednesday, but with 30-40 mph winds coming from the north, I pushed them to Thursday. Instead, I talked myself into getting out the door for hill work on Wednesday night. I've been trying to take my hill preparations for the TNF 50 Champs seriously, as I didn't really have any focus on hills prior to TNF Wisco or UROC. In other words, there's a lot of room for improvement. In howling wind and rain, I headed up to the hill at North Pond and banged out 20 hill reps (running hard both up and down) in the dark, more than a little worried that a tree or large branch would fall on me at any moment. Back at my apartment complex, I did a 3 mile uphill tempo on the treadmill at varying grades (7.5-15%) and speeds (anywhere from 5.5 to 8.5 mph). Then I hit the stairwell for a number of trips up my 36 story building.

This left the 1000m repeats on Thursday. I did 10 x 1k at 3:00 w/ 1:1 rest a couple weeks ago and was hoping to do 12-15 this week. However, the weather was still pretty bad (though not nearly as bad as Wendesday, which is why I swapped the days). Additionally, I was not going into the workout fresh, which is far from ideal for a session where muscular endurance is one of the goals. On a wet Lakefront path, with some solid wind, I managed 8 x 1k in about 3:05. Not great, but better than nothing, and I felt like I had made about the most I could of a poor training situation.

The Saturday prior, I did my only real "specific" run for the Lakefront 50 Mile that I have coming up on October 29. The goal was 30-35 miles at 6:00 pace, or close to it. The temperatures were decent, but the wind was pretty strong, which definitely slowed things down a bit. I also didn't feel too great. I ended up running 30 miles in about 6:15 pace. I actually felt pretty awful about 15 miles in and slowed down a bit, but managed to average low sixes for the last 10 miles. A good mental exercise in grinding it out a bit. This is almost surely what the last of four 12.5 loops will be like at the Lakefront 50—a grind. This workout wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it wasn't too bad either. I'm still hoping to race well this weekend, and wind up somewhere on this list. There were a number of fast 50 miles this past weekend, with Mike Wardian running 5:33:46 on a tough course at Tussey Mountainback, picking up the USATF road championship and a CR by about 10 minutes. Zach Bitter, whom I met at TNF Wisco, also cruised a nice 5:26:52 on the less-challenging (than Tussey) Door County Fall 50. Still a very impressive time.

"Somewhere there's a nice, sunny place with warm breezes and shady palms, where all the second-place guys train." —Bob Kennedy ad from the 90s

Fit-pourri

2011-10-10T21:18:00.001-05:00

Like potpourri, but about fitness.

Chicago Marathon Pace Team

This past weekend I had the pleasure of helping pace the 3:20 group at the Chicago Marathon. This was my first pacing experience, and it turned out to be quite a good one. My group of four pacers was eclectic and fun, and we hit our pace pretty well. We rolled through the half just a bit ahead of pace (1:39:39), maintaining for a 3:19:45 finish. It was a real treat conversing with people from around the U.S. and world, especially in the early miles, about their goals and racing experiences. Unfortunately, the heat took its toll on many competitors in the final 6 miles or so, as it has done in most, recent Chicago Marathons. But we were able to help a number of people to significant PRs and Boston Qualifying times, and a few tough runners even pulled away from our group in the final, hot miles to run 3:18 or so!

Pacing Chicago is something I had thought about in the past, but the timing just worked really well this year. It's kind of a fun and unique way to give back (though to be fair, we did get a couple hundred bucks of free gear). I should also volunteer more at races, manning aid stations, etc., but pacing a marathon is something that not a ton of people can do well. So it was nice to use my abilities in such a way. That said, I'd be hesitant to pace anything slower than a 3 hour marathon in the future. I'm sore in weird places today (my hips, particularly) from running for so long at a pace so much slower than I usually run. Eventually, I would love to pace faster races. Pacing for a women's Trials standard (full race) or even a men's Trials standard (partial race) would be great. These could also, perhaps, be a nice supplementary payday in time! :) Jeff Eggleston paced at Pittsburgh earlier this year, and I know one of the Hansons guys paced the elite women through 18 or so at Chicago last year. So the opportunities are out there...

Trail Running in the City

Prompted by some recent success on the trails, my upcoming trail races, and some questions from Trail Runner Magazine's Ashley Arnold, I've been doing most of my easy runs the last week or two on "trails" in the city. And by this, I mean random, circuitous "off-road" routes in Lincoln Park and on the Lakefront. I decided I needed more running in grass and on odd surfaces to help strengthen my ankles and lower legs, and to engage my mind more with my footing. This has really made my easy runs a lot more enjoyable. I basically seek out any uneven surface I can find, from rocks, drainage grates, and torn up pavement, to rutted grass, tree roots, and mud. I run up and down the steep side hills of overpasses and just generally try to recreate the "trail experience" in the city. I'm reminded of Peter Snell and Lydiard's other athletes running over hill and dale for all of their base training. The rougher the ground, the better. (You can see what I mean here, in this great little documentary on Peter Snell.) Trying to leave no stone unturned as the TNF 50 Champs approach.

Still Trying To Be Fast

The transition to a bit of speedwork has been going OK so far. I had a quicker aerobic power session last week of 10 x 1k in 3:00 with 1:1 rest. I haven't done a sustained amount of running this fast in a long time. Probably too long. As such, I was a little worried that I wasn't going to be able to hit the times in this workout. But it went pretty well for the first time doing it, and I hit all my splits within a second or two. I probably only have room on the Big Sur schedule to do this one more time, where I'll shoot for more like 12-15 reps. The purposes are multiple. There's a muscular endurance component which will translate to a half marathon fairly well, as well as an anaerobic threshold component (even with the longer recovery, due to the relatively high volume) and the simple benefit of getting some decent volume in at faster than HMP.

I was supposed to have my first 400 repeats session last week as well, but a short bout of food poisoning prevented that and forced me to take Friday and Saturday off. I was just happy to be nearly back to normal by Chicago Marathon day. I hate to have missed that session, especially with my being so short on time to sharpen up for Big Sur (already down to less than 6 weeks!), but so it goes. The Dude abides.

Early Plans

In the last week or two, I've started to map out my 2012 schedule in a little more detail. This far out, most things are subject to change, but there are a few events in particular that I'm already getting excited for. Whether or not I qualify for the Trials, I will be running a marathon the first weekend of March, because I am taking off for Botswana with family the week after. I don't anticipate being able to run much on that trip, so I will necessarily take a break.

When I get back from Botswana, I plan on hitting a pretty long base/fundamental phase (5 months or so) during which I will run a number of races without ever really peaking. First of these will be the American River 50 Mile in Sacramento, CA. I just signed up last week and am pretty excited for this. It's a course where a guy with some road speed can do some damage. I'll just be getting started back up, but I hope to run a pretty solid time there, maybe even crack the race's top 10 all-time list if things go well.

Another race I'm getting excited about is the USATF Mountain Running Championships which will be taking place at the Mount Washington Road Race in New Hampshire in mid-June. This race is a little crazy and has some nice history, with guys like Bob Hodge tearing up the course in the 70s. Matt Carpenter is one of only four guys under an hour on the 7.6 mile, 12% average grade, all-uphill course. Rickey Gates is another, and a guy who will probably be there in 2012. What a great place to test my climbing chops! Looks like I'll be continuing to hit some boring treadmill hill runs into next year. This race is also the qualifier for the World Mountain Running Championships, taking place on September 2, location TBD (but maybe in northern Italy?).

In August, I hope to take part in the TransRockies Stage Run. I first heard about this race a year ago, and followed it a little more closely this year, watching Mike Smith's and Max King's teams battle it out in the six day stage race, with the former prevailing. I talked to Mark Thompson (third place at TNF Wisconsin) a bit about this race, which he ran this year. It sounds like a great time, just camping, hanging out, and running all day with like-minded people in the mountains. Does it get much better than this?

Finally, I think my peak marathon for the fall of 2012 is going to be the New York City Marathon. The timing is right, and I'm hoping to jump another level at this race. I've never been to NYC, and this should make for a great first trip. Plus, I've done Berlin and Chicago now, so I'll check another Major off the list. I'm not really in any rush to race all five of these, but it will be nice to have done so.

Back At It - Fundamental Phase Part II

2011-10-02T20:52:00.001-05:00

Ever since my poor race at the DeKalb Cornfest 10k five weeks ago, my training had been pretty awful. I was racing relatively frequently, and I felt so run-down that I wasn't doing much running or working out in between races (particularly after the two ultras). In fact, in the preceding five weeks, I only worked out twice: a failed muscular endurance session of mile repeats where I had to stop mid-way through, and a session of alternating half mile segments (averaging MP) which I also had to cut short. But the two ultras the last two weekends were a blast and gave me some renewed confidence, especially since the level of specific training I did for those was embarrassingly minimal (not the good kind of minimalism!). Now that I've had a bit of forced recovery, I'm feeling renewed, ready to get back at it in earnest.

Today, I had an encouraging first workout back as I begin a 6-week scramble to get fit, fast, and sharp enough to run a sub-1:05 half marathon—the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying standard. I went with a 12 mile tempo/progression run. I was going to let how I felt dictate which it would be. If things were a little rough out there, a 12 mile basic aerobic tempo around 5:40-5:50 pace would be good. But as often happens with these efforts, I get a little faster each split, and don't want to slow down, so the pace just escalates continuously. I ended up running 1:07:23 for the 12 miles with the following splits: 5:59, 5:51, 5:45, 5:43, 5:39, 5:37, 5:25, 5:23, 5:27, 5:48, 5:31, 5:12. Just about perfect. I sped things up a bit much on miles 7 and 8, and realized that I had a choice to make after my 5:27 ninth mile. I could either speed up and finish the run at 10 miles, or back off, recover a bit, and then close hard for the full 12 miles. (It's key to not finish a progression run moving "backwards.") Glad I had the mid-workout discipline to reign it in a bit. It took about 2:00 to get my breathing back where it needed to be, but I went ahead and relaxed the full tenth mile for a 5:48. I was then able to close pretty well.

The legs by no means felt great today (doubtless there's a bit of fatigue from 113 miles of racing the last two weeks), but good enough to hit a solid workout. I was a little worried that after the last 5 weeks of basically crap workouts, and some mediocre (shorter) races as well, that I was going to be nowhere near my half marathon time goal come November 20. I still may not quite be there, but I think I can get close.

Over the course of the next 6 weeks of training, I hope to hit two more sessions like the one I did today. They're great for aerobic fitness, and just for running hard for over an hour, as I will need to do at Big Sur. I will also be progressing through the half marathon workout (starting with the second session) that Steve Magness had on Running Times a while back. Then I'm going to hit a number of 400s sessions at 3k-5k (goal) pace (66 or so) to start to sharpen some, improve V02 max, and make HMP feel a bit easier. I'm also toying with the idea of squeezing a Canova "Special Block" in somewhere, or maybe just a few aerobic power sessions at 10k pace.

I'll be supplementing all this with some hill work of various sorts. I need to work on my climbing ability some before TNF 50 San Fran. I'm naturally a pretty good climber, and that showed a bit at TNF 50 Wisco and UROC, but considering how little actual climbing I had done in preparation, I know I can be way better. So every week, I'm going to be doing an uphill tempo on the treadmill. I did the following workout once a couple months ago: 1 mile (15% grade, 6 mph), 2 miles (8% grade, 8 mph), 1 mile (15% grade, 6 mph). I liked this effort with the variations of moderately steep and very steep climbing. So that will be my template to start, but I may vary it some. I would also alter the paces based on how I feel that day. In addition, I need to start climbing the stairs (30 stories) in my building again. I did 3 or 4 sets I think twice in the last couple months. This needs to be a mandatory weekly session (I enjoy doing it right after the treadmill work). Finally, I'll be doing "hill" reps on the small hill next to North Pond in Lincoln Park. Just up and down, over and over, trying the best I can to run "out of control" and thrash my quads on the downhills. This can never really compare to descents in the mountains, but it's the best I've got.

I'm sure there will be some hiccups along the way, but that's to be expected. It's how you react and adjust that makes or breaks your training block. But if I'm diligent about sleep and recovery, I think it's a reasonable schedule for me to complete. If I can get the majority of the planned work in over the next month and a half, I should be able to at least take a legitimate shot at the qualifying standard at Big Sur, and should additionally be quite strong and ready for TNF. Looking forward to the challenge and to running "fast" again!

Trail Runner UROC 100k Race Report

2011-09-26T17:45:00.008-05:00

I had a bit of a rough day down in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but managed to come away with a third place finish in the inaugural Trail Runner UROC 100k this past weekend, with a final time of 9:22:42 in my 100k debut (results here). Overall, I'm satisfied with the performance, as I managed to give it some fight all the way through the final climb, even though I really felt pretty awful from 25 miles on. No way was I beating Geoff Roes or Michael Wardian on Saturday (or Dave Mackey for that matter, if lingering illness hadn't led him to drop), but that's alright, as I know I have a lot of room for improvement. I'm looking forward to facing many of the same guys (and more) at The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 in December. I think I can be a lot more competitive in 10 weeks time, and the 50 mile distance is more in my range as well.

I flew into Charlottesville late Friday afternoon, rented a car, and ended up car pooling with Dave Mackey to Wintergreen Resort, the host venue. We got in a little late for all the pre-race interviews, so we just went straight to our condo, where a number of the elite runners were staying. Then we grabbed a quick dinner and got down to the pre-race panel discussion, hosted by Andy Jones-Wilkins. I took some (good-natured) shit from people about my 50 mile win last week in Wisconsin. Most seemed to think it was an unwise move, but I still think it did me more good than harm. (My favorite was Eric Grossman, who asked, as we ran down the long descent out of Wintergreen early in the race, "You're the guy who ran the 50 miler last week, right?" Me: "Yeah." Eric: "You're f*cked." Me: "Eh, we'll see... I feel recovered." Eric: "Nah, you're f*cked.") I think the panel (and really, all of the media coverage) was a nice touch to the race. I know my parents and sister enjoyed checking it out back home.

Saturday morning I felt ready to roll, and we got things underway just past 7 a.m. Dave James took it out from the start (characteristically, I gather), along with Scott Gall, as I tucked into fourth behind Ian Sharman. After a quick descent, we climbed to the 5.5 mile point and the "King of the Mountain" $200 bonus. I happened to be in second here, rather unintentionally, until Wardian blasted by chasing the bonus (which he got after Gall DNFed). We started descending from there, and I took a fall on the very set of stairs Geoff had warned me about the day before. It was a flight of 7 or so pretty narrow stairs. I stepped on the second stair from the top and my foot just went straight out from under me as I sailed through the air. I ended up landing on my ass/lower back on the bottom step, which did not feel so great. Mackey and Geoff were right behind me at the time, and it reminded me of TNF 50 SF last December, where I tripped on a root and fell on my chest about 25 miles into the race, while running right behind those two. My lower back/glutes would tighten up on me some during the race, but I don't think it negatively affected me in the end. I took a minute to kind of shake things out and then settled in behind Eric Grossman.

Eric and I pushed the road sections a bit in the coming miles, and I ended up in third again (now behind Gall and Mackey) as we headed into a single track descent to Sherando Lake. Geoff caught me as we neared the lake and we ran together for a few miles here. As we headed back up however, I found myself pulling away a bit. Geoff seemed to be having a rough time at the moment, so I gradually distanced myself as we ascended nearly 2,000 feet on Bald Mountain. This was all single track, with some pretty steep and technical sections, especially near the top. I didn't really try to push this section, just maintain a solid effort, but I must have put some distance on everyone else (except Wardian, who came whooping – literally – down the descent from Bald Mountain after me), as it would be another 12 miles before anyone passed me. And that was just Geoff. I managed to hold off everyone else until mile 60 without really running all that well, so I'm thankful for the cushion I seem to have built on that climb.

Whereas Wardian was just getting rolling, my legs were toast as we left the Bald Mountain Overlook aid station. I still managed to run 7:10 pace along the road section, but I felt like I couldn't get moving at all. Wardian was quickly out of sight. I was now in fourth place, and managed to stay there until the entrance to the Dragon's Back section of trail at mile 33. Neal Gorman helped me out with my bag and getting a bit of food, I changed shoes to help alleviate my blistered feet, and was off. I quickly ran into Scott Gall, who was standing on the trail. I think he started running a bit again, but eventually dropped. Ten minutes later, I ran into Mackey, walking back toward the aid station. He was out too. All of a sudden I was in second place. Still feeling like crap, but in second place. That didn't last too long as Geoff had started to feel a little better. He passed me just before the turnaround at mile 37. I was crawling along this section of trail. It wasn't so much the technical nature of it (as it wasn't overly technical), I was just in a bad spot. I timed my gap over the next competitors after I turned around. I had 15:00 on Ian Sharman, whom I guessed would present the biggest challenge. But to be honest, at this point, I wasn't really thinking about maintaining position. I was just worried about finishing. I spent a while in the aid station at 41, maybe 3 or 4 minutes, drank a ton of water, grabbed a couple PB & Js for the road, and got back at it.

Another long stretch of road came next, which included some walking here and there on the steep sections, and a bee sting on my right calf, which was unpleasant. Scott McCoubrey told me, as I refilled my water bottle, that one time he was having a bad day at Western States, got stung by a bee, and managed to turn it around. I can't say I did that exactly, but I was able to finish stronger that I thought I could. When I finally got to the 48.5 mile aid station, still in third place, I started to think maybe I could hold on. I was feeling a bit better as I entered the single track of Bald Mountain again. After a bit of technical descent, I crossed a parking lot and Dave James (who had dropped earlier in the day) told me that Wardian had taken a wrong turn and I was in second place. He also said Ian wasn't far back. I tried to get things moving on the few remaining miles of single track.

I hit the White Rock Gap aid station with Wardian maybe a minute behind me. He reeled me in over the next three miles of climbing and rolling road. Major props to him for staying focused and rallying for second after a wrong turn so late in the race. Tough thing to do. I wasn't going to give anything away, but part of me was still glad he passed me, as he clearly would have beaten me without the wrong turn. At the last aid station, 58.5 miles in, I refilled my water bottle one last time, and asked if anyone knew how far back Ian was. Someone guessed maybe two minutes, but then someone else said "oh, here he comes now!" Great.

I headed down the last descent, ~700 feet on roads, with a small gap. Ian made it up rather quickly. As he blew by me, I tried to run his pace, but I just couldn't do it. My quads were gone. By the time we got to the bottom of the hill, he had maybe 30 seconds on me. We had a brutal 1500 foot climb over a couple of miles, then one last, maybe quarter mile descent to the finish line. As Ian had just destroyed me on the descent, I knew I had to open up at least a small gap on him by the top of the climb to prevail. We were both alternately power hiking and running up the hill, but I was slowly closing. The hill was so steep, I figured that running the whole thing would be less efficient. To keep your heart rate under control and still be running, you'd have to go so slow, you might as well be walking. And walking is more efficient if you're going about the same pace. So I would run for a minute or two, walk for 30 seconds to get my heart rate and breathing under control, and then go again. I managed to catch Ian and put a small gap on by the time we got to the top. I painfully bombed down the last little descent, worried that Ian was on my heels, and looped into the finish area.

Dead at the Line
(Photo: iRunFar)

In the end, it was a very painful and trying race, but a good experience all the same. Gill and Francesca did a great job with this first time event. I really enjoyed meeting many of the other competitors, hanging out with them some, hearing them talk about ultra running, their race experiences, etc. I was lucky enough to stay with Mackey, Roes, and Devon Crosby-Helms; and I enjoyed a nice lunch at Devil's Backbone Brewery with Dave James and Ian Sharman on Sunday.

Up next, I'm shooting for a fast half marathon at Big Sur on November 20. I'll definitely take an easy week this week, and then have 7 weeks to try to sharpen for that. The ideal goal there is sub-1:05 and a Trials qualifier, but I think that might be a bridge too far. Either way, hoping to set a big PR. Along the way, I'll target a fast time in another 50 mile race, the Lakefront 50 on October 29 here in Chicago. Flat as can be. If all goes well, I'm hoping to crack the North American Top 10 List that's up on ultrarunning.com. It looks like no American has run faster than 5:14 in 30 years. Then on to TNF EC 50 in San Francisco on December 3.

Coverage:

TNF 50 Wisconsin & Chicago Half Marathon Race Reports - Strikes and Gutters

2011-09-18T09:29:00.006-05:00

The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler - Wisconsin Regional Race Report - 1st Place, 5:59:39* or 6:00:14 (PR, CR**)

I went up for this race on Saturday, more or less on a whim, but ended up having a pretty good showing, coming away with the win, $1,000, a course record (?), and some renewed confidence for my efforts. I almost made a post in the blog called "Fitness or Folly" the day before the race (ran out of time trying to get it up), as I knew my decision to compete was a bit dicey with the Trail Runner Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100k in Virginia just a week away. "Fitness" if I could run well, gain some momentum, and recover for UROC. "Folly" if I ran poorly or DNF'ed, or compromised my UROC run. Early indications point to Fitness winning out.

The reason I ultimately decided to race TNF 50 is because I thought that if all went well, it would actually help my performance next weekend at UROC. I've detailed in the past how it is rather difficult for me to prepare for the downhill pounding (and eccentric quad loading) of hilly trail ultras while living here in Chicago. I've been doing a little better, traveling to the suburb forest preserves every other weekend for some hilly long runs, and trying to do more core work focused on my legs. But even still, the forest preserves aren't that hilly, and the core work is the first thing to go when things get busy. The longest run I have done in this buildup was only about 30 miles (on trails), while I really wanted to do a 40-45 miler in preparation for UROC. So a 50 miler on hilly trails in Wisconsin was only a bit of a stretch, and could provide an important training stimulus that I wasn't able to fit in otherwise. If I recover in time, I really believe that my run at TNF 50 will have helped harden my legs to the downhill pounding for UROC. If the races were two weeks apart, I would have had no doubts. However, early signs make me think I made the right decision. My legs are not too sore today (the day after)—more or less like they feel after I race a marathon, and way better than they felt after TNF 50 in San Francisco last December (my first ultra).

As for the race itself, I drove up to Mukwanago, WI after work on Friday, got in about 9 p.m., filled my bottles, packed up my gear for the next day, and passed out. I was up at 3 a.m. for the race, as I had about a 25 minute drive to the Start/Finish area, and needed to pick up my bib and get my drop bag checked in with race officials. The official start was 5 a.m. I didn't quite weasel my way up to the front of the line, so I was about 6 rows back when we took off, but this, of course, hardly matters in an ultra. All it meant was that I barely saw the one guy who took off into the night at a pretty good clip.

I briefly found myself in a pack of three as we wound through the woods in the dark, with the first place guy already out of sight. I knew it was a long race, so I wanted to stay comfortable, but even so, I found myself slowly moving away from my small pack. In another 10 minutes or so, I started to see a light (headlamp) bobbing in the woods ahead. Maybe 30 minutes into the race, I caught up with that light, which happened to be Zach Bitter, last year's winner in 6:02:37. We began lapping other 50 mile runners, and we were unsure if this was correct (I knew the course made a few loops early on, but I didn't really think that much of those loops actually repeated the same section of trail). Zach didn't remember lapping anyone early-race like this from the year before, so we decided to turn around and run until we saw whoever was in third place to discuss. After about a minute running the opposite way, we found eventual 8th placer Jason Schatz. He wasn't sure either, but after discussing for a bit, we figured we should be getting close to the first aid station if we were going the right way, so we'd run for another mile or so to find out. Turns out we were just fine, though Zach and I added about 3:00 to our total time with this turnaround. Little did we know our fears of doing the same loop twice were about to come to fruition.

After the first loop and aid station, you do a second loop of a few miles (I think 2.4). Jason, Zach, and I ran together for most of this loop before Jason decided to let us go. Soon after, we came up to a fork in the trail with orange arrows (orange marked the 50 mile route) pointing in both directions. I was about to ask Zach what this meant, when I saw two guys who pointed us left. We later found out that we did the second loop on the course twice, adding (I think) 2.4 extra miles at that point. I also heard that disgruntled hunters (who wants a bunch of runners in the way of a good hunt in the pre-dawn light?) removed or changed some of the signs or arrows on the course and that this caused the mix up. In the end, I'm not really sure where/how we went wrong (that referenced double arrow spot may not have been it at all—adding to the confusion was the fact that some of the trails in that area were marked with orange regularly, i.e. not by TNF, so an orange section of trail could theoretically be off course). But we started lapping people again, and when we pulled into the next aid station, we found out for sure we'd done an extra loop.

Now finding out early in a 50 mile race that you've just added 2.4 miles to the route—and that you've gone from first place to who knows—can be a bit demoralizing. I didn't assume anything would be done about our mishap. I'm relatively new to ultras, but I know the onus is on the runner to find the right route, even if it did seem like we were pointed the wrong way (again, I'm not sure this is 100% correct). However, volunteers started asking me if I was one of the ones who did an extra loop. Apparently there were a dozen or so people who did. I tried to regroup and refocus a bit. Zach had pulled away after I took my one and only bathroom break, so I was running solo. I was (officially) only 12 or 13 miles into the race and not feeling very good. Not a good place to be. I relaxed, tried to keep a positive outlook, and slowly began reeling people in. When I got to the 16.5 mile aid station, I was told that "something" would be done about the extra distance we added, and further, that I was in 4th place overall (including people that had gone the right way). That was some good news. Crossing a road about 20 minutes later, a woman volunteer told me that race directors would stop anyone who did the extra loop 2.4 miles early at the end of the race. I didn't have any confirmation of this until mile 40.3 (42.7 for me), but it got my head back in the right place. I was feeling better, and I had caught Zach. We were running together and gaining on the two runners in front of us.

It didn't take too long for Zach and I to pass the two runners ahead, one of whom was Mark Thompson. Mark had been the first runner not to take the wrong turn. He ended up running a smart, tough race and came in third overall, even when the discrepancies from the extra loop had been set straight. (I hung out with Mark and his wife in the beer tent for a while post-race. Very nice people.) I exchanged my bottle at the 21 mile McMiller aid station and Zach and I rolled into the toughest section of the course—a 14.4 mile out-and-back with a lot of steep, short (and some long) hills.

Zach really flies on the downhills, so it was about all I could do to keep up on those, all the while worried that the pounding would take me out later in the race. I, on the other hand, seemed to excel a bit more on the uphills, and I found myself opening up a gap around 25 (or 27.4) miles. It turned out to be a fairly small gap, as I saw when I reached the turnaround (officially 28.3 miles into the race). I stopped to fill my water bottle, and Zach was already into the aid station by the time I ran out of there.

My legs were already starting to feel the effects of the last 7.2 miles of hilly terrain, but we had a brief mile or two stretch without any big hills before we got back into it. I felt like taking it easy through here, recovering a bit, but I figured I needed to do something with this gap I had. So I pushed, probably running close to 6 minute pace. I think I managed to open another minute or two here. We were then back into the very steep rollers in the woods. This section of the course did me in, but luckily, it did Zach in too. At the 35.4 mile aid station (we were at 37.8), McMiller again, I exchanged bottles, downed a honey stinger waffle and headed out, starting to feel a little delirious. I was certain Zach would catch me in the coming miles.

I thought that after the second McMiller visit, I was supposed to get onto some much-needed flat terrain. I guess that's accurate, but only after another 5 miles or so of grueling hills. I crawled through this section. My legs were toast. I even had to power walk some small sections of uphills. On each of the steep hills, I wanted to walk the whole damn thing, but I knew that if I had any chance of holding off Zach, I couldn't walk for more than a few brief moments here and there. I was still able to move fast on the downhills, but my quads were really taking a beating.

Finally on some flat (though extraordinarily sandy) terrain, I pulled into the 40.3 mile Highway 67 aid station. Here, a race official ran with me for a bit and explained that someone would be waiting 2.4 miles back from the finish to stop me. I had been banking on this bit of info that I'd gotten earlier in the race. It was a great confirmation. I don't think I would have handled news to the contrary very well. I realized I didn't have too long to go, and that Zach still hadn't caught me. Nor was he in sight behind me. I reasoned that if he was feeling good at all, he would have passed me already. I started to entertain thoughts of winning again. I also ran into a 50k racer (they were on the same course, having started at 7:00 a.m., also on their way to the finish) who helped me along a fair bit. I passed him, but then he caught me again, and we were pushing each other until I was mercifully allowed to stop, having finally run the full race distance.

A race official noted that the time of day was 11:00 a.m. and 14 seconds. This is where my official final time of 6:00:14 came from, as we started at 5:00 a.m. But I think we must have started a bit after 5:00 on the nose, because my chip time in the results was 5:59:39. Everyone else in the 50 mile race similarly had ~35 seconds between their "Time" and "Chip" results. Last year, by contrast, saw all the top runners with the same time for both. I also dipped under the old course record of 6:01:37 from 2009, though I of course ran a slightly different course. That said, the extra loop we did was a difficult and hilly loop, so I'm confident that it didn't make the course any faster for us.

Zach rolled in at 6:08:55, also having a rough last 12 miles or so. As I mentioned above, Mark Thompson had a very solid showing in third place, running 6:29:09. My overall pace for the race was 7:13 per mile. I don't own a Garmin so I'm not sure what my pace was at any given point, but I was going pretty slow the last 15 miles, so I must have banked some time in the early and middle miles.

This race was also a bit of an experiment with fueling for me. I've been using Generation UCAN superstarch on my training runs. I'm a big believer in metabolic efficiency, and think we can get by on a lot fewer calories during races than people think. I don't think any calories are necessary in a marathon, for instance (and that people relying on them actually just hurt themselves and risk bonking more than they would if they properly trained to be fuel efficient at marathon pace). My plan for the race was to only have about 650 calories of Generation UCAN. I had 160 calories of UCAN (Vanilla) pre-race. UCAN is an especially good pre-race choice as it doesn't spike your insulin, and thus does not inhibit fat oxidation. Late race I started craving something different, so I took a bit of food that I had packed along as backup.

The totals ended up looking like this:

Pre-race:

1 packet vanilla Generation UCAN (160 calories)
1 Salt Stick pill

Race:

4 packets lemonade Generation UCAN (440 calories)
2 packets Sport Beans (200 calories)
1 Honey Stinger waffle (160 calories)
2 small chocolate chip cookies (100 calories – going off the Chips Ahoy nutrition info here)
2 Salt Stick pills
A lot of water (best guess: 130-140 ounces)

Post-race:

(In order) soup, bagel, M&Ms, bratwurst, beer, pulled pork sandwich, beer, salad, beer, cookie, beer, Taco Bell (2 flatbread sandwiches, 1 quesadilla), granola bar, bagel, beer. I like beer.

So that's 900 calories for a 6 hour race, 1060 calories if you include the pre-race nutrition. Not bad. Overall, I think just about everything about this race went better than my one other 50 miler. It gives me some good momentum headed into the UROC 100k. It confirms my thoughts that I should be able to run a pretty fast flat 50 miles at the Lakefront 50 Mile next month. And it hopefully sets me up well for a competitive run at the TNF 50 Championships in San Francisco in December.

Congrats to everyone who raced out there, and a big thanks to all the workers and volunteers who helped to put on a great event.

* As I mentioned, not sure which time is official. Normally, a "chip" time would not be official, but there was clearly some sort of error here. The volunteer looking at the time of day in order to get the "6:00:14" time leads me to believe that the 5:59:39 is the correct time.

** Again, as mentioned above, not sure if this is an official course record, since we had a slightly different route (though it probably only made the race more difficult).

Running Times Recap

Chicago Half Marathon Race Report - 8th place, 1:11:20

Did this race the week before TNF 50. A pretty poor and disappointing performance to say the least. Unlike in DeKalb the week prior, I don't think I made any large tactical errors or anything. I just didn't have it. My opening 4 miles were something like 5:20, 5:18, 5:16, 5:12. Relatively conservative, and I was feeling OK, but then the wheels sort of just came off. Running 5:25s was suddenly very difficult, and the last 4 miles in were a bit of a death march. Not sure how to explain this really. I worked out on Wednesday, so I had three easy days before the race and should have felt relatively well rested. It got a little warm out, and it was sunny, but nothing too bad. Only 70 degrees at most by race end, but even still, the "heat" seemed to bother me some. I'm at a bit of a loss really, but just need to move on. No need to dwell on a poor performance. Sub-1:05 seems a far off possibility at the moment, but who knows. Another 10 weeks of fitness, some sharpening, and a taper may work wonders.

DeKalb Corn Fest Classic Race Report - Racing 101

2011-09-05T15:32:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I decided to take up an offer from Dave Strubbe for a ride out to DeKalb to race the Corn Fest Classic 10k. I knew I was getting into pretty decent shape, and was getting antsy for a race. With some decent prize money at the race, I knew there would be good competition, so it seemed like a good idea to hop in. I ended up running a pretty humbling race, as I went out way too hard. A 4:48 uphill opening mile threw me into oxygen debt, and the rest of the race was pretty painful as a result. My splits were 4:48, 5:04, 5:24, 5:21, 5:21, 5:21, 1:06 (last 0.2) for a 32:28 final time.

So why did I race like an idiot, going out way over my head? Basically, my attitude since Grandma's has shifted to thinking that I should be able to run with anyone in the Chicago area, that I'm as good as any of the other top guys here (essentially Chas Gillespie, Jordan Horwitz, Jeff Jonaitis, Chad Ware, and Kyle Brady). In the marathon, this may more or less be true, and it might be true for the shorter distances if I focused on them. But the reality is that I train very hard, and run some pretty crushing workouts. I don't back off for races like this, and even though I'm doing Fundamental (and not Marathon Specific) work, that work is still focused on getting me prepared for a 2:15-2:17 marathon in January or March (as opposed to say, running a peak 5k or 10k on the track). So to the extent that I can be competitive in the 5k to half marathon (especially during my base), I have to run smart. The 'I can run with anybody' attitude is a useful attitude to have, but it must be tempered by a realistic and intelligent approach to a race given your strengths and where you are in your training.

So I should have gone out in 5:00-5:05 for the first mile. I probably could have maintained that the whole race, picking guys off. I would have felt great, had a positive experience, and come away with some money. Instead, I found myself in a lot of pain 8 minutes into a 32 minute race, pissed off and wondering what the hell I was thinking that first mile. That said, a number of positives still came out of the race:
- It was a nice wake up call before I race the Chicago Half Marathon next week. If not for this screw up, I may well have gone out sub-5 at the half. Now I realize I need to run much more intelligently. I am fit, and think that I should be able to run sub-1:08, but I need to be no faster than 5:15 pace for the first 4 miles.
- I had to deal with a system flooded with lactic acid for quite a while. I don't get very anaerobic in much of my training. The Aussie Quarters session does, but it's over so fast, you really just deal with about 5:00 of pain at the end of that session. Having to run a painful last 4 miles of the 10k should serve me well for the half marathon and it was a good rust buster as I start to do some more anaerobically challenging workouts in a few weeks.
- It was a good mental exercise of trying to stay tough when feeling like shit. After a 5:24 third mile, I was able to stop the bleeding, coming back with 3 consecutive 5:21s. Now this is about marathon pace so obviously not very impressive, but still, it would have been easy to pack it in after a horrible start, but I was able to refocus a bit.

Hopefully I can get my head on straight for the Chicago Half next weekend. May be a bit run down from training still, so I'll try to run smart and take whatever I have in me on the day.

Fundamental Phase, Part I (Another Long Post)

2011-08-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

Despite running a few races immediately following Grandma's Marathon, I would say that the first four weeks after that race were more or less a recovery period and Introduction Phase in my training. I did mostly easy mileage, and a few lights workouts and strides to reintroduce some quicker running, get the legs back under me. That leaves 10 weeks for what I'll call Part I of my Fundamental Phase. My seasons are usually divided into a Fundamental Phase and a Specific Phase. The goals in the former can vary widely, but in general, I'm just trying to get really fit—get in good all-around shape. There may be some race goals in the Fundamental Phase, and even some mini-peaks, but again, the main focus is general fitness. The Specific Phase is the time to work toward a specific race goal. The goal this time around is a marathon—either the Olympic Trials or the Napa Valley Marathon, depending on if I qualify for the Trials.

The Fundamental and Specific phases are macrocycles; within each macrocycle, I work in a series of microcycles, which are typically about two weeks long. I currently have a fairly lengthy period of time in which to do Fundamental work, so I'm dividing it into two parts, based on race and fitness goals. Part I will be 10 weeks (I'm in week 4 right now), ending with the Trail Runner UROC 100k. Part II will be either 8 or 13 weeks depending on my Olympic Trials situation. If I qualify for the Trials at the Big Sur Half, I will need to immediately transition into an 8 week Specific Phase for the Trials. If I do not qualify, I will extend my fundamental work another 5 weeks before doing a slightly longer, 10 week Specific Phase for Napa Valley.

So what am I doing in Part I? Like I wrote above, I'm trying to get into good overall shape. So I'm doing a large variety of workouts: different kinds of fartleks, tempos of varying lengths, and other runs focused on threshold, as well as a lot of muscular work. I'm really beefing up the muscular work this time around because (a) it is an area in which I (and most other American runners for that matter) am deficient—this was part of the reason that I struggled to hold pace at Grandma's—and (b) the trail ultramarathons I am doing are very hilly, and I'm hoping that more muscular work will help my legs handle the significant climbing and downhill pounding.

At first, I was planning on working in two week microcycles—a lot of programs do this, Terrence Mahon's marathon training for instance—as two weeks is enough time for your body to absorb the workout and do it better the next time around. However, it quickly became apparent that I had too many different workouts in my plans to do a two week microcycle and recover properly between workouts.  Of course, you don't have to work in a microcycle that is a set number of days. For instance, say you have 7 different workouts in your microcycle; you just do each workout in order, and put recovery days in between as needed, whether that's one day or three days, depending on how you feel. If you need to work in a race, you can do so and just push back the next workout (or have the race replace a workout that has a similar stimulus). I'm a big fan of this flexible approach, and for professional runners, it's rather easy to pull off—one microcycle might be 13 days, the next might be 17 days, no big deal. The difficulty in doing this while working full time is that my long run workouts more or less have to go on the weekends, so I can't just do the next workout in my cycle whenever I feel I'm recovered and ready.  This has led to a bit of an odd format to my current phase. Some of my workouts (generally, the long runs and the muscular work) are on a two week microcycle, while some other workouts are on a three week microcycle that overlaps with the other. Anyway, on to the workouts, their progressions and purposes...

Aussie Quarters – This is a great session, used by Australians under Pat Clohessy, like Deek, in which you do 8 x (400m hard, 200m moderate). You end up doing ~3 miles (or 4800m) of pretty quick running. You get a bit anaerobic, but not so much so that you need a long time to recover or that you're going to stagnate from doing too much anaerobic work. The workout is also very aerobically challenging with the quick "rest" 200m segments. You work a variety of systems and stay in touch with some quick stuff, which can help you race halfway decently year round. I usually do the 400m segments at close to 5k race pace, and run the 200m segments approaching marathon pace. I did the workout 5 times last spring, progressing from 15:30 total time down to a 14:57 best. This time around, I opened up with a 15:05, running 70/71 for the 400s and 41/42 for the 200s. I'm planning on repeating this workout three more times in this part of the Fundamental Phase, hoping to progress to close to 14:40 the last time.

Alternating Halves (Threshold Workout) – Instead of doing a traditional 4 mile tempo, or even Jack Daniels style "cruise intervals," I'm doing a workout where I alternate half mile segments at about HMP with segments a little slower, so that I average about MP. Right now that means I'm shooting for ~2:30 for the quick segments and ~2:50 for the slower segments. This really stresses aerobic efficiency, as you're forced to recover at a pretty quick pace.  It can also be a great marathon-specific session, though I'm using it in the Fundamental Phase here. As the workout gets longer, there is definitely a muscular endurance component to it as well, as you get some HMP running in after some good volume. The first time out, I got through 6 miles of this. I'm repeating the workout two more times, hoping to make it through 8 and then 10+ miles.

Mile Repeats at Marathon Pace – This is about muscular endurance. It's a sort of Vigil aerobic power workout, though those are more often at HMP, not MP. Since these are a bit slower, the rest is short, and the reps will get pretty high. MP is also aerobic threshold pace, so it has some similar benefits to the longer tempos (as the shorter the rests get, the greater amount of time that you'll stay near that threshold). In addition, running MP on a day when you're kind of tired from training will make the effort internally more difficult, so the workout may even approximate anaerobic threshold work to some extent (usually thought of as HMP). I'm still experimenting a bit with the workout, the rests in particular, which are just a real easy jog. The first time out, I did 10 x mile in 5:15-5:20 w/ 2:00 easy jog rest. I'm repeating this workout three more times, aiming for 12, 15, and then 18 reps. The pace may get down to the 5:10 range as my fitness progresses, and the rests may also drop down closer to 1:00 instead of 2:00. I see this session as a great fundamental workout for marathoners. It isn't as taxing as some of the crazy marathon-specific workouts, but with a substantial volume of running at MP, it should really help the legs get ready for the Specific Phase and lots of hard MP sessions.

Long Tempos – I started this phase with basic aerobic tempos at a couple different paces. These are slower than traditional 4-6 mile tempos at anaerobic threshold pace. These are more in the 85-95% MP range and can really help build your strength. On the quicker end, I started with an 8 mile and then a 10 mile tempo run at ~5:30-5:35 pace. Around the same time, I also got a few long runs in as basic aerobic tempos. I did a 20 miler at 6:00 pace and then a 17 miler at 5:53 pace. The progression for the shorter, quicker tempos (the 8 and 10 milers) was extensive—i.e., go longer each time out (while the pace stays about the same). The progression for the longer, slower tempos (the 20 and 17 milers) was intensive—i.e., go faster each time out (while distance stays about the same). Ideally I would have been able to go the full 20 miles for the second long tempo as well, but I didn't quite have it in me that day.

As the quicker tempos get longer, and the longer tempos get quicker, they start to approximate each other. Thus, starting with the tempo I ran last Sunday, I've lumped the two into a single session. (I did 18 miles at 5:43 pace as my long run last week.) From here on, I'll be doing one of these every other weekend, keeping the distance right around 18 miles, and hoping to progress the pace down to 5:30/mile or so. Long-term, in the Specific Phase, I hope to ramp this up to 24 miles at 5:25 or 5:30 pace, which will hopefully be 95% MP by then.

Overdistance Long Runs – These runs can be good in general for marathoners, and I used to do some 30 mile runs at 6:00-6:30 pace as extra-long basic aerobic tempos in the fundamental phase before a marathon. But I have some specific ultra races I'm preparing for this fall, so these runs need to be a bit more focused this time around. Before the UROC 100k, I'm getting in 3 main overdistance sessions.  I'm doing all of them in the forest preserves in Palos (a Chicago suburb), which has some relatively hilly single track trails. I'm hoping that this will help my legs get ready for the hilliness I'll encounter in the ultra races. I've already completed the first overdistance session, which was 32 miles in about 4 hours. This weekend, I'm going after my second session, which will actually be two runs over the course of about a 30 hour time period. My plan is to do 31 miles Saturday morning and 31 miles again Sunday morning (62 miles total, this being the distance of the UROC 100k). A lot of ultra runners seem to do double long runs in this fashion, as a 50 mile training run can just take too long to recover from. The last overdistance session I'll do before UROC (three weeks out), is a planned 45 mile run, again on hilly trails.

100 Meter Repeats – These are all about muscular endurance. I'm still learning a lot about this oft neglected facet of training, but repetitions at close to top end seem to be really beneficial for musculoskeletal strength. They also help prolong the slow decline in your basic speed with age, and help to recruit muscle fibers that distance runners don't often use. The specific benefit to 100s is that they're alactic (as opposed to anaerobic) due to their short duration. This means that recovery time will be less from the workout because you're not flooding your body with lactic acid (and the associated hydrogen ions). However, for now, I still need to take a day recovery afterward because I get so muscularly tired/sore. But eventually, I'll hopefully be able to do this session the day before a tempo or the like.  The pace is around 800m race pace. My PR being 1:59, I typically run these in just a shade under 15 seconds.

I've toyed with this session a bit in the past. Two seasons ago I did it once or twice (stupidly doing a full 30 x 100m the very first time I tried it).   Last season I was starting to build up, probably did it three or so times, maybe 20-25 reps, but I had some calf tightness and recovery issues and just ended up abandoning the session sometime in February. This time around, I'm determined to do it right and be diligent in getting this session into the mix. I've done it a couple times so far and am up to 15 x 100. I'll continue to build to 30 x 100. I'll be doing it every other week for this part of the Fundamental Phase and will be trying to carry it over to Part II as well. This is one of the areas where I have a lot of room for improvement, so hopefully the benefits will start to show a few months down the line.

Downhill Strides – If it wasn't for the ultras I'm doing, I probably wouldn't be doing these downhill repeats. Instead, I would be doing the 100m repeats (above) every week. But I need to try everything I can to get my quads ready to handle the eccentric loading I'll face in the utlras, racing downhill. So in the weeks I'm not doing regular 100m repeats, I'll be doing downhill repeats (about 100m still) instead. I just did 6 of these in my first (and only) session, just to see how the legs reacted. I was a bit sore, but not too bad. I'm going to try to kick it up to 12 reps this week, and will hopefully build these to 20+ by UROC. Like the 100m repeats, this session will probably continue into the next part of the Fundamental Phase, as I will be facing a very hilly course at the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler as well.

Uphill Runs – I'm doing longer uphill runs as part of my prepartions for the hilly utras. When I did the NF50 last year, I trained for the uphills by running up and down the 17 stories of my apartment building. This really did work fairly well, as I was able to hammer away on the hills all day in California on race day. And in fact, I may still add some stair climbs to my routine eventually. But I've moved apartments and now have access to a treadmill in the apartment complex gym (I'm also really looking forward to this easy access for workouts come winter). So I've just been cranking away on a 10 to 15 percent grade for uphill runs, varying the pace and grade in a sort of fartlek. I've only done a couple of these so far, and only about a half hour. However, I've got 60:00, 75:00, and 90:00 uphill treadmill runs planned before UROC. These are a little more running-specific (obviously) than climbing stairs, and are just very beneficial in general.  You exhaust muscle fibers more rapidly and in a different way than you do when running on flats, so longer uphill runs can really help you get the most out of your legs.

And more...

Drills – I'm doing some dynamic form drills / plyometrics before each session of 100s or downhills repeats. I've started with 2 sets (about 30-40 meters for most) of the following:

heel-to-butts (a.k.a. butt kicks, but I don't call them that, because I think it invokes an image of the improper form that 90% of people have when doing these)
fast feet
A skips
B skips
karoakes
ankle pops (or ankle springing)
springing
bounding

After the first few sessions, I moved the last three drills to a hill. For the ankle springing and the springing, this allows the heel to actually dip below the horizontal plane that the toe is on, really increasing the eccentric load on the calves and achilles. And the bounding is of course made much more challenging by doing it up a hill. I might eventually build these drills to more sets, and perhaps extend the distance a bit. These are good for all sorts of things, strengthening, flexibility, form, getting your muscles to fire in the proper sequence... Another facet of training that I tend to sometimes neglect, but hopefully not this phase.

Core and Weight Work – Finally, I'm building up to multiple days a week of core and weight work. I have always been a little up and down with core work in my training. When I'm feeling tired or busy, it's about the first thing to go. However, with the trail ultra races coming up, this work becomes even more important than it usually is. I'm doing a basic core routine that more or less follows a progression I got from Jay Johnson on RunningTimes.com (with a few substitutions). In addition, I am spending some time on exercises (some with weights) that are really focused on my quad, calf, and hamstring strength, hoping to enhance the ability of my legs to handle hours of pounding up and down hills. Some of the quad exercises especially, I'm focusing on eccentrically loading the quads, with a very full range of motion. I've been a bit sporadic so far, but I'm trying to get to 4 or 5 sessions a week (about an even split between the Jay Johnson core sessions and the core sessions with weight work).

So that's it! The fairly varied work that's making up my first 10 weeks of Fundamental training. Some of the work will continue in Part II, but some will start to change in order to hit a mini-peak for the Big Sur Half, trying to qualify for the Trials.

Race Plans for the Next Phase

2011-07-28T14:00:00.004-05:00

As the next phase of my training is more or less in full swing now, I thought I'd outline my planned races for this phase: the logic behind the races I've chosen and what my goals are for these races. (Looong post, sorry.) The number one goal this phase is to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. However, I'm not chasing the marathon standard (2:19:00), but rather, the half marathon standard (1:05:00), which will also get you into the Trials. My reasoning in doing so is that a fall marathon (1) is a quick turnaround from the Grandma's Marathon that I just completed, and (2) wouldn't allow for much recovery before the Trials.

I could potentially ramp up my training and take a shot at sub-2:19 at, say, the Chicago Marathon, or even Cal International or Las Vegas in December. But I would have to pretty quickly move into a marathon specific phase again. The problem with this is that you don't have time to really improve as a runner. Do I think that I could run a sub-2:19 this fall? Yes, particularly if I made sure my mileage was high enough, while essentially completing the same training I did from April to June this year. But I'd rather focus the next several months on a fundamental phase, improving on my base level of fitness, before moving to a marathon specific phase where I will hopefully be even fitter than I was at Grandma's. I still believe that I had the fitness to run 2:17/2:18 at Grandma's, but lacked the mileage (and muscular endurance) to support that fitness.  (I averaged 48 miles per week from January to June.) Thus, if I can make a jump in base level fitness over the next several months, and also run enough mileage to support that fitness, I think a 2:15 (5:10/mile) will be within my reach at my next marathon. Hopefully, that marathon will be the Olympic Trials. Which brings me to point two...

If I ran a marathon this fall to qualify, not only would I be somewhat neglecting my long-term development, but the Olympic Trials would become like a victory lap. This is the case for many guys who run the Olympic Marathon Trials. Merely qualifying is their end game. You go to say you did it, and not much more. I don't want to run the Trials like this. If I'm on the line, I want to be ready to run a big PR. And while, obviously, qualifying for the London Team would be a long, long, long shot (and let's not put the horse ahead of the cart here—I still haven't even qualifed), stranger things have happened. (For instance, when Christian Smith qualified in the 800 meters for the Beijing Olympics, he was ranked about 30th on time going into the Trials.) Bottom line, I've never seen qualifying for the Trials as the ultimate goal in my training. So if it's not in the cards for 2012, that's okay. By 2016, qualifying will be an afterthought. The experience at this Olympic Trials would be great, but I won't be heartbroken if I miss out. However, this training phase of 6-8 months or so will end in a marathon, whether or not it's the Trials. Okay. Enough rambling. On to the actual races this phase.

Chicago Half Marathon (9/11) – This race is a little over 6 weeks away and is the first serious race of the phase. It's too soon for me to take a legitimate shot at sub-1:05, but the race will be useful for a number of other reasons.  First, it will be a good way to check my progress so far. Additionally, it I can PR, it may help me to get more aid from races later in this phase. My current half PR is a modest 1:08:45. I'm hoping to run a 1:06 or 1:07 at the Chicago Half, which should make it easier to get comp'ed hotel stays, etc. The racing experience for the half marathon distance will also be beneficial. Finally, it's nice to do some of the local Chicago races. I haven't raced this half since 2008.

Trail Runner UROC 100k (9/24) – This ultramarathon is being billed as a championship race. Ultra running, particularly in the States, has really lacked any championship in the past. Some races, like the Western States 100 and the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler (thanks in no small part to the $10,000 winner's prize) have become more or less de facto championships, but the UROC 100k is the first race to really focus on this aspect. The race, which winds through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, also offers a sizeable prize purse, with $2,500 going to the winner. I think that if all goes well, I can win, which is of course why I'm going. In addition to the prize money, a big ultra win or two could be very good from a sponsorship and marketability standpoint down the road.

Yet... why ultras? Less than a year ago, I was criticizing them as lacking competition, and never really planned to do one myself. The North Face 50 drew me in with the prize purse, and my race there last December left a bad taste in my mouth. I know that I can and should be competitive in these races, but it's tough for me, living in Chicago, to properly train my legs for the downhill pounding in these races. I'm working on fixing that. I still wouldn't be interested in most ultras, but the most competitive ones are intriguing to me at this point. The prize money is pretty decent, and I do love trail running.  Plus, the top races are plenty competitive for me, as I am by no means a world class marathoner yet.

I think my former criticism about ultras somewhat lacking in competition generally is still accurate, and will continue to be on the global stage for the foreseeable future.  The marathon is a globally competitive event. Ultramarathons simply are not—at least not in the same way as the marathon. And they won't be until they have the kind of money that marathons do, and the kind of participation from the East African nations that the marathon does. It would be great to see ultramarathoning eventually grow into what the marathon is today, from a copmetition standpoint (similarly, the marathon was once a fringe event, 50-60+ years ago). If it were already there, maybe I would take up ultra running in earnest. However, I am really only interested in finding out how good I can be against the very best in the world, and that means I must stay in the marathon. My roommate Dan teases me about my resistance to being called an ultra runner. But I think of it like this: I'm a marathoner. I may run the mile and 5k races, but that doesn't make me a miler or a 5k runner. I may run 100ks. But that doesn't make me an ultra runner. None of this really matters though... just a lot of strands in the old duder's head... The race should be competitive and a lot of fun, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Chicago Lakefront 50 Mile (10/29) – This race, first and foremost, will be great training for the NF 50 five weeks later. I also think I may be able to run a time that will get me selected for the 100k World Championships next April (a sub-5:40:00 would put me in the eligible pool of athletes, though it will probably take significantly faster than this to be selected). If this list from ultrarunning.com is accurate, then no American has run faster than 5:14:00 for 50 miles in the last 30 years. I'm fairly certain that I can do that on the flat Lakefront course, and hopefully, I could approach 5 hours (6:00 pace). I've run 6:00 pace for 30 miles in training before without really trying. I think I could probably do upwards of 40 miles at 6:00 pace in training if I needed to, so why not 50 in a race situation? As long as the legs hold up muscularly and the weather cooperates, I should be there. It will be an interesting test.

Big Sur Half Marathon (11/20) – This is where I will take a shot at sub-1:05. The race should be plenty competitive, as it has historically been, and there's some decent money on the table. It's possible that I may take a shot at the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon the weekend before as well, particularly if I can get some aid to go down there, though we'll see... from what I've heard, the Competitor Group is not very liberal in this department. Despite the ultras that I'm running in this phase, the focus is still to get into great half marathon shape, and then great marathon shape. I will be doing long runs of 30+ miles every other weekend, and some additional hilly runs to help prepare for the ultras, but these are not counterproductive to a good half marathon. The rest of my training will all be geared toward general fitness and then sharpening for the half. 13.1 miles at 4:57 pace is a pretty tall order for me at this point, and it will take a very good race to meet the Trials standard here, but I should be very close.

North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler (12/3) – I decided shortly after last year's NF50 that I would be coming back again this year. First of all, the winning prize of $10,000 is still great. More importantly, as I mentioned in the UROC preview, a big ultra win could be very good for future sponsorship and marketability opportunities. Last year, I hung with the leaders through 30 miles before the eccentric loading on my quads took me out. I'll be significantly fitter this year (both in general and specifically to ultras), so I still like my chances. The X factor remains my ability to handle said eccentric loading while I train in Chicago. I'm doing a number of things to try to fix my previous issue, and the UROC 100k should give me an early indication of whether or not they're working.

Olympic Marathon Team Trials (1/14) – If I qualify for the Trials, I will have 8 weeks between Big Sur and the marathon. This is the perfect amount of time for a marathon specific phase. The NF50 throws a small kink into the training, as I'll need a week to recover, but the strength gains from training for several hilly ultras will also be very beneficial. As I mentioned above, I would be hoping to run 2:15 or so. This would probably be good for top 15, maybe even top 10, as many guys will "go for it" and blow up.

Whether or not I race the Trials, I am still doing the following two races:

U.S. Cross Country Championships (2/11) – The US XC Champs have been on my bucket list for some time, and as they're in St. Louis in 2012, I'm going to run them, regardless of where I am in my training. If I qualify for and race at the Trials, I will have a hard time being in good form for this race, as it comes just 4 weeks later. However, it would still be worth running for the experience, especially when it's so close to home. If I don't qualify for the Trials, I will be racing the Napa Valley Marathon (see below), and will actually be able to be quite fit for this race. My chances of being competitive in this case are increased by the fact that 2012 is an Olympic year. Many guys will have just raced the Marathon Trials and thus won't be racing the XC Champs. Many others will be training for the Track Trials and similarly won't compete. Lastly, with World XC (sadly) changing to an every-other-year format, the 2012 U.S. XC Champs won't act as a World Champs qualifier. Rather, they will be the qualifier for Team USA at the North American, Central American, Carribean (NACAC) Cross Country Championships.

Napa Valley Marathon (3/4) – I'll be running the Napa Valley Marathon regardless of whether or not I run the Olympic Trials. The main reason for this is that a few days later, I'm leaving for Botswana for 10 days with family. I don't anticipate doing much running, if any, in Botswana, so it makes sense to race something immediately beforehand. Huge bonus: the winner of Napa Valley wins his weight in wine. If I do end up running the Trials, it will be interesting to try to come back and run another solid marathon 7 weeks later. Some athletes have been very succesful with this (Charlie Spedding and Pete Pfitzinger for instance, along with countless other guys from the '80s). It would also be good practice because you never know when you may need to run two marathons in close succession in the future. The placement of the Olympic Trials could affect this, or I could just find myself in a Jeffrey Eggleston situation in the future. Jeffrey recently ran a 2:16 marathon in Pittsburgh a mere 5 weeks before running a big PR at the Grandma's Marathon in 2:13.  He was supposed to be a pacer for a 2:19 group in Pittsburgh, but ended up finishing the race. I was a little puzzled by this at first, especially since Jeffrey is also racing the World Championships Marathon next month in Daegu. But then, I read in an article that he picked up $9,000 for the win in Pittsburgh. I'm sure they paid him a bit to pace as well, but when you're a professional runner, struggling to scrape together a living, sometimes you've gotta choose the payday over ideal race selection.

If I don't run the Trials, this race will become the peak and focus of my current training phase. As mentioned above, if all goes well, I'll be shooting for a 2:15 kind of time. This will probably leave me running solo in Napa (I think low 2:20s is the course record), which is of course less than ideal for completely maxing out your racing potential, but it may help me rein things in a bit the first half to ensure a PR.

So that's everything for this phase. Goals, in order are to:
- Run a PR in the marathon, 2:15-2:17 range
- Qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials
- Win the North Face Endurance Challenge
- Win the Trail Runner UROC 100k
- Run around 5 hours for the Lakefront 50 Mile

Next phase, preliminary thoughts include racing the IAU 100k World Championships in Seregno, Italy (April), and running the U.S. Half Marathon Championships in Duluth, Minnesota (June).

Race Judicata Race Report

2011-07-24T10:58:00.002-05:00

I came away with a win and a Fastest Lawyer title, both unofficial, Thursday night at the Race Judicata—a race to benefit Chicago Volunteer Legal Services. With the ridiculous heat wave that Chicago just went through, the race was canceled in favor of a 5k charity walk. However, when this change was announced on Tuesday, Dave Strubbe, a past winner and reigning Fastest Lawyer, talked to me and Derek Holland (another past winner) about it. We were all still interested in racing, so we decided we would do so in an unofficial capacity as there was no chip timing or places recorded. Many people still ran instead of walked, and a number (besides the three of us) still raced.

The heat index was 111 in the late afternoon on Thursday, but that was probably down to about 100 by race time at 6:30 p.m. Even still, pretty brutal racing conditions. I warmed up for about 10:00 with a few strides and form drills—an abbreviated pre-race routine given the heat. Weeks ago, I had planned on taking the race out pretty hard. Based on the recent Elmhurst 4 on the 4th race, I figured I could run around 15:00 or so for 5k right now. I assumed that would win, so I wanted to just run hard wire to wire. However, with the heat, I had changed my plan to just hang with the leaders until a half mile to go. I don't really know why, but when the gun went off, I just abandoned this new plan and reverted to running hard from the start. This wasn't too bright.

I opened up a decent gap right from the start and cruised through the first mile in 4:47. This actually felt pretty good, but I could tell I wouldn't be able to maintain that pace in the heat. Sure enough, I rolled through two miles in 9:50 (a 5:03 second mile) and was hurting pretty bad by this point. The last mile actually has a couple of little uphills and I slowed down significantly. There's no third mile split, but my final time was about 15:47 (unofficial). So I was probably at 15:10 or just under at the third mile, meaning that split was close to a 5:20. It was an unpleasant way to race.

The unofficial results, as near as we could tell, were as follows:

1st - Matt Flaherty, 15:47

Won in 2009 and 2010, attorney at Winston & Strawn

2nd - Derek Holland, 16:32

Won in 2007, attorney at Bryan Cave

3rd - Dave Strubbe, 16:40

Won in 2008, attorney at Williams, Bax & Saltzman

4th - Brent Chatham, (time?)

Summer associate at Leydig, Voit & Mayer and rising 3L at University of Chicago Law School

5th - Chris Wehrman, (time?)

Won in 2006, the first year (I think) of the Race Judicata

So in the top 5 we had all 4 previous race winners. Dave, Derek, Brent, and I went on a nice cool down around the aquarium after the race. The post-race party was pretty fun as usual. There is a pretty decent band that plays until 9:30 or so, and there is free 312 at the beer tent. Plus free Krispy Kremes (I always eat about five of these) and other food. It's too bad the race had to be canceled, officially anyway, but I still had a good time and was glad that we still got to race. Looking forward to the Race Judicata 2012.

Post-Marathon Racing - Willis & Elmhurst

2011-07-12T14:48:00.000-05:00

Racing shortly after a marathon is an odd experience. You're so strong, yet so far from being sharp and are often fairly run-down. In 2008, about a month after running 2:26 in the St. Louis Marathon, I nearly PR'ed in a road mile, running 4:18. More recently, in the two weeks following the Grandma's Marathon, I did a 1500 meters in 4:05 (4:23 mile equivalent) and a 4 mile in 19:47. The strength carried me through these races, but I find my legs feeling the way they usually do in the final stretches of a race before I even get to half way. It's an odd way to race. Nonetheless, I think I need to race more in general than I have been doing the last few years, so when a few opportunities presented themselves, I decided to partake.

First Annual Nick Willis Memorial 1500 Meters
The Old Town Track Club (my running club, which is slowly gaining legitimacy) hosted this race to honor the Kiwi Olympic Silver Medalist. While "memorials" are typically in remembrance of the deceased, we felt that Willis should be remembered all the time, especially in the city that named a tower after him. Anyway, this race had a whopping 4 participants. Early reports indicated a possible field of 7 or more, but Ben Huffman had to work, Dan Walters got injured, and Justin Aronson probably never really planned on running. That left me, Trent Hoerr, Jared Richardson, and Nick Brown, all U of I Track & Field alumni (though Nick was a jumper, not a distance guy).

We met in the early evening on June 25, toeing a line in the south end of Lincoln Park for a measured 1500 meter "road" course that featured the mounted Ulysses S. Grant statue (and the accompanying "hill"), picturesque views from South Pond, and a finish line at an obelisk. As things got underway, Trent and I quickly moved to the front and were actually running quite hard. As this race was sort of just for fun, I didn't actually expect to race, but it was soon apparent that that's what we were going to do. I somehow managed to put a small gap on Trent with about a quarter mile to go and hold that lead to the line. I crossed in a 4:05 flat, Trent about a second and a half back. Jared and Nick both accomplished their goals of breaking 5:00 and 6:00, respectively, so the night was a success. All participants were treated to free ice cream at Fresh Choice, compliments of the OTTC.

Elmhurst 4 on the 4th
I waffled several times on whether or not I would do this race. With some prize money on the line, it's almost guaranteed to be competitive, and that's what really drew me in. I mentioned above that I think I need to race more generally, but without competition, the racing experience doesn't mean much. There is no chance to practice tactics, and it's difficult if not impossible to really push yourself to the maximum without someone else there.

So off to Elmhurst I went on the morning of the 4th. I somehow managed to mistake the starting time for 7:30 a.m. instead of the actual 7:15 a.m. I had not yet done any strides when I heard the national anthem being sung, which alerted me of my mistake. I managed to get one quick stride in post-anthem, and then we were off. I hadn't even had time to eye up the competition or see who was in the race. I found myself in the lead, more or less solo, for nearly the whole first two miles, but there was a chase pack with quite a few guys right on me. These miles were run in 4:51 and 4:50 before turning around to retrace our steps. Right before the turnaround, Kyle Brady and Mike Spain (fresh off his DIII 5k/10k double win), both formerly of North Central College, opened up a gap. I was trying to hang on to Tyler Jermann, who I guess ran at Naperville North (my roommate, who also went to North back in the day, told me this) and just finished his freshman year at Iowa State. We rolled through a slow third mile in about 5:05, before I was able to open up a 15 or 20 meter gap about a quarter mile later. I was hurting pretty bad, but managed to close alright with a 5:00 last mile for a 19:47, a slight PR at the distance. Spain and Brady went 1-2 (or tied) at 19:31.

I was pretty happy with this race, considering where I'm at right now. I felt absolutely horrible pre-race and know that a short race two weeks after a marathon PR is far from ideal. But by racing tough to snag third, I made the trip worth my while, winning $75 and a free pair of Saucony shoes. I look forward to racing Kyle and Mike again when I'm a little more ready for the race.

Up next is the Race Judicata on July 21. Trying to three-peat there. Should be doable, though you never quite know who will show up at any given race. As I'm still feeling pretty awful on most of my runs/workouts, I'll still be racing on faith. :)

Grandma's Marathon Race Report - Getting Close...

2011-06-20T08:20:00.001-05:00

The focus of my early 2011 racing season came to a close on Saturday with the 35^th Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. Despite a rough last 8 miles, I finished 24^th overall in a new PR of 2:22:53. We had a great day for the race—temperatures in the low 50s and overcast—and despite falling short of my sub-2:19 Olympic Trials qualifying time goal, I left the weekend satisfied and encouraged.

Based on my races and workouts leading up to Grandma’s, I knew that I was very close to being able to go sub-2:19. Further, all of the external factors associated with a marathon were aligned for a great race. Fast course, check. Competition, check. Good weather, check. Talking to a few competitors before the race, it was clear that there were a number of Americans shooting for the Olympic Trials standard. As we took off along Lake Superior at 7:30 a.m., I cruised through the opening mile in 5:20. With some gentle downhills over the next 6 miles, I began to “bank” a little time on the 5:18 per mile pace required to run sub-2:19. Miles 2 through 7 were passed in 5:11, 5:13, 5:17, 5:10 (catching up to a pack here), 5:17, and 5:18. A group of about 6 runners had sorted itself out and we rolled through the half marathon in 1:09:16. This is 31 seconds shy of my Half PR, and only 10 seconds slower than I ran at the Indy Mini Marathon 6 weeks ago. Yet it’s exactly what I expected. Proper marathon training isn’t conducive to running a fast half marathon (and I was also a bit under the weather in Indy).

Around halfway, I began to grow quite tired muscularly. I was comfortable at pace aerobically, but I was struggling to remain as efficient. Here is where the one real weakness of my last 6 months of training began to show. A lack of mileage due to time constraints (and a corresponding lack of mileage spent at marathon pace in training) had left me without the muscular endurance to support my current fitness. From an aerobic perspective and a fueling perspective, my body was ready for sub-2:19, but the legs wouldn’t hold. But of course mid-race, what else could I do but keep trying? Knowing I should probably back off a bit, I continued to push, determined to keep rolling 5:18s as long as I possibly could. I actually remained ahead of 5:18/mile pace until mile 18 (a 5:27 mile). At this point, it was finally clear that I would not be qualifying for the Trials today.

As the legs fell apart, I kept moving the best I could. By mile 21, things were grim. Note, this was not “hitting the wall” the way most mean it (bonking, running out of glycogen). I have figured out fueling for the marathon and had adequately trained myself to burn a high percentage of fat at MP, ensuring my glycogen stores would last the full 26.2 miles. But by now, I was running splits in the 5:45-5:50 range, and just couldn’t get moving any faster. My last mile (a tough one with a lot of turns and some wind) was my only mile over 6:00—a 6:01. The final time of 2:22:53 was a PR by about three and a half minutes, and the first solid marathon I have put together in three years.

I think I probably had a 2:20-high or 2:21 in me if I would have run conservatively. But if I had gone 2:20, I would have been mad at myself for not giving the Trials standard a shot. I ran the race the only way I could run it. I didn’t quite have the time in me, but along with a new PR, I came away with a very clear understanding of what was lacking in my preparations, and more importantly, how to correct this deficiency. To some extent, of course, I knew before the race that muscular endurance could be an issue. But there is no place for negative thoughts pre-race, so I pushed them aside. It will continue to be tough to train the way I need to while working full time, but it’s all a matter of priorities. As my roommate Dan often rhetorically asks, ‘How good do you want to be?’

One final note: Grandma’s was a wonderfully run race, and my host family, Judy and Packy, were truly great with their support. I will definitely head back to Duluth in the future, hopefully near. Grandma’s is hosting the 2012 and 2013 USATF Half Marathon Championships, so I would like to get back for one or both of those races. And I would love to come back for the marathon some day too.

Final Preparations for Grandma's

2011-06-10T16:12:00.001-05:00

I was getting a bit nervous the last few weeks. Between the 24 mile tempo and the two races I did all within a week, my body was wrecked. Add to it a couple weddings, not enough sleep generally, and outrageous heat, and I was in a funk. I went for an easy 14 miles on Memorial Day (95 degrees out), and managed to get blisters, sunburned, and have a side stitch surface that lasted for over a week. The rest of that week was pretty awful—no working out, and even a few days off. This odd cramp issue is something that has happened to me a time or two in the past. A side stitch will pop up that can last for weeks at a time. I seem to have finally gotten rid of this one by stretching, doing lots of situps, and really focusing on deeply breathing (both while running and at rest).

I tried to go for a long run last weekend (2 weeks out from Grandma's). The original plan was 1 mile w/u, 17 miles at ~6:00 pace, 3 miles at MP, 1 mile w/d. However, it was 95 degrees out again at about 9:00 a.m. and it was killing me. I once again only got through 14 miles, and the pace was nothing to brag about. I knew the fitness for Grandma's was still there, the last 3 weeks before the race being the least important, but I was still getting a little concerned.

Finally, I hit a pretty solid progression run on Tuesday, despite temps in the 90s, and as things cooled off last night, I had a great confidence-building workout. Exactly what I needed 9 days out from race day. After a mile warmup, I did 6 miles cutting down from 6:00 to 5:30 pace, then straight into 4 miles at MP. As I kicked it up to MP, my legs were a bit heavy, but I focused on sensory data, essentially my breathing, to dictate the pace. While breathing pretty comfortably at MP effort, I hit 5:16, 5:17, 5:16, 5:17 for the 4 miles. I haven't done a ton of actual running at MP during this buildup (though I did do quite a few workouts that bounced around to average MP), so hitting my goal race pace comfortably was very encouraging.

Once I'm fully rested, the legs will feel fresh, and hopefully next Saturday I will be capable of running 5:18/mile for 26.2 miles. I know I'm right there. The 24 miler at 5:37 pace, some solid races in less than ideal conditions, a victory at Chase while beating a 1:04 Half guy... Weather reports for Duluth a week out say high of 59, low of 50, a few showers (so probably overcast), and a light E or NE wind (which will be a tailwind, as the course goes NE to SW along Lake Superior). Everything is shaping up right for me take a legitimate shot at the Trials standard. There isn't much room for error, but I genuinely believe I'm in shape to run 2:18 something. Just gotta put it together on race day.

Soldier Field 10 Mile Race Report - Great Training Stimulus

2011-05-30T17:53:00.001-05:00

I ran the Soldier Field 10 Mile for the first time on Saturday morning. I ended up getting 5th in 51:54. Usually this time would be good for top three, but not this year! Managed to pick up $50 for the finish, which nearly covered my entry fee anyway. And now that I got in the top 5, I get a comped entry next year, so that's good. I didn't have very high expectations of myself in this race, as it came exactly 36 hours after the Chase Corporate Challenge, where I was pushed all the way to the line. Further, I only got 5 hours of sleep the night before due to rehearsals for a wedding band I was playing in on Saturday night.

I originally had a harder marathon workout scheduled for Saturday, knowing that Sunday was out for a quality day due to the wedding Saturday night. However, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to work out very well on 36 hours rest from the Corporate Challenge, which was probably a legitimate concern. So instead, by forcing myself to race the SF10, even in less than ideal conditions, I was able to get a better training stimulus than I would have been able to on my own in training... due to race day adrenaline and competition. My plan worked perfectly as I was able to run 5:11 pace for 10 miles on dead legs. I felt like garbage pretty much the whole time, and was in no-man's land from 3.5 miles on, stuck between the first and second packs. There was a slight headwind on the way out, which certainly contributed to my negative split (26:11/25:43), but I was still happy that I was able to cut it down the last few miles, running 5:09, 5:09, 5:12, 5:06, 5:03 for the final 5 miles.

The race was pretty competitive up front. Moses Waweru, a Kenyan based in Wisconsin, took the win in 49:41, defeating Jordan Horwitz, who ran 49:59. Chas Gillespie and Chad Ware ran 50:29 and 50:51, respectively (results here). I was happy with my race given the circumstances. I'm pretty confident that if rested and having a good day, I could have mixed it up with the front group and perhaps gone sub-50:00. And this based on marathon training, which is of course not ideal for racing the shorter distances. So in the end, the late addition of the SF10 to my schedule was a good move. The marathon workout I had originally scheduled for Saturday has been moved back to Wednesday and is the last hard workout before Grandma's on June 18.

Chase Corporate Fitness

2011-05-27T15:24:00.004-05:00

I managed to pull off a win at the Chase Corporate Challenge last night, but only by one second. My final time was 16:14 to Gian-Paul Ciacca's 16:15. Todd Ptacek and Lars Juhl were third and fourth respectively, and both ran solid races. I knew about Todd and Lars going into the race, but had no idea who Gian-Paul was. He was clearly very fit though, and he ran a tough race. He apparently runs (or ran) for the the New York Athletic Club and won the NYC Chase Corporate Challenge in 2010. I'm not sure if he lives in Chicago now or what. But he has some pretty quick PRs, including a 14:23 5,000 meters and 1:04:46 half marathon from a couple months ago. I feel like my fitness is more or less on par with those times, even though I don't have the PRs to prove it yet (i.e. I haven't focused on running a fast 5,000 or half marathon in the last couple of years). Overall I was quite happy with the race and it turned out to be a good night for racing, even if it was a little cold and windy.

The race started off a touch slow as no one really wanted to lead while running north into the wind. I was glad the wind didn't slow things down too much though, as I knew that the longer we ran hard, the better chance I would have. Three weeks out from my marathon, my strength is my strength. We ran through the "mile" in 4:29, but that was surely an inaccurate split. We couldn't have been going much faster than 5:00 pace, and I actually commented on that to the lead pack of five at the time. Gian-Paul agreed. About 1.5 miles in, as we ran a slight uphill stretch into the wind, things bunched up behind Todd, more or less in single file. As we turned the corner to head west on Lower Wacker, Gian-Paul started to press a little bit, but the pack remained.

Finally, as we turned south and began to run with the wind at our backs just past the two mile mark, Gian-Paul put on a strong move. The pack instantly broke up as I was the only one to really cover the move. He was pressing pretty hard, and I knew I probably couldn't maintain the pace we were running to the finish line, but wanted to hang around as long as I could. My breathing wasn't actually all that heavy in this stretch, but my legs felt like they were all out. Not the lactic-acid burning of the final sprint, but just this feeling of 'this is as fast as I can really run.' Approaching Congress (where you take a sharp right and then make a U-turn), I began to think that maybe I had a chance at this thing. Up to this point, Gian-Paul looked very good. Just light and bouncy. But I could hear his breathing starting to get heavier and I knew he was struggling as well. As we looped back on Congress, he opened a small gap of a stride or two, and more or less held this lead for a bit as we turned south for the final time.

We were inside a half mile to go now, and I knew that I had two gears left. I didn't want to go too soon, because I couldn't pick it up for very long. I crept back onto Gian-Paul's shoulder and with maybe a quarter mile to go, kicked it up to about 98%. I opened up a few stride lead, maybe a touch more. Gian-Paul seemed to be coming back on me though and with probably 150m to go, I gave it whatever I had left. I just kept thinking, 'man, I wish I had done more 30 x 100m sessions for muscular endurance when running fast.' Next time. But it all worked out as I was able to hold my one second lead to the line to grab the win for Winston & Strawn. This was one of the better duels I've had in some time, and it's always nice to come out on top in the homestretch like that. I'm rounding into form quite nicely with just over three weeks to go until the Grandma's Marathon.

- Chase recap here
- Video highlight here (mid-video)

Nailed It

2011-05-25T11:18:00.001-05:00

I'm ready to give the Olympic Trials standard a shot at the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth in a few weeks. I completed the hardest workout in my marathon buildup this past weekend and really nailed it. The goal was a 24 miler at 95% MP, or ~16s/mile slower than MP. Straight out of the Book of Canova. A marathon pace of 5:18/mile is required to qualify for the Trials, so ideally I would run this workout in about 5:34 pace.

I ended up running 24 miles (in two 12 mile out-and-back segments on the Lakefront Path) in 2:14:57, which is 5:37 pace. I also ran the two 12 mile segments in essentially equal times. Very close to a perfect workout. What was especially encouraging was the fact that I was never really breathing hard. It wasn't too difficult aerobically, but muscularly it was challenging. My legs were feeling heavy just 10 miles into the run, and I really didn't think I would be able to make it the full 24. But I kept taking it one mile at a time and just kept hitting my splits. My fastest mile was a 5:31 and my slowest was a 5:42. The mental toughness required to get through the last 4 or 5 miles will be especially helpful come race day.

The conditions were pretty solid. A bit humid, but not too hot. A bit windy, but from the East (so a crosswind) and not too strong by Spring-in-Chicago standards. As I plan on doing on race day, I did not eat breakfast (this will help to metabolize fat better at MP). I had a cup of coffee a couple hours prior to running. I also took down about 36 oz. of fluid during the run. Specifically, this was an electrolyte solution with no calories in order to enhance one of the workout's intended training stimuli: fuel efficiency. All of the logistics went off without incident. Did not need to use the bathroom, no cramps or other issues from taking fluid, no blisters wearing my race shoes.

My legs were very tired by the end of the workout, but nothing beyond expected fatigue—no particular muscle group failed or anything like that (I've had hamstring issues some in the past). Again, on the whole, very encouraging. The Grandma's course is about 150 ft. net downhill (mostly in the first 1/3 of the race), which will help with a quick time. It will almost surely be windy on the shore of Lake Superior, but if that is a tailwind in any degree, I should have a pretty solid shot at the Trials standard. It will be very tough, and I have little room for error, but this workout shows without a doubt that I'm right there. A few races in the coming days, a couple more key workouts, then it's time to taper and then go for it.

Tough Workout, Two Races, and a Worrisome Hip Flexor

2011-05-20T16:32:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow is supposed to be one of my toughest, and one of the most crucial workouts in my marathon buildup. Goal is 24 miles at about 95% marathon pace. I'm treating my MP as somewhere between 5:20 and 5:25 pace at the moment, so this equates to 5:35-5:40 pace. I'll shoot for starting out at 5:40s for the first 12 miles and bringing it down if I feel good. I'm doing it on the Lakefront Path in two equal out-and-back segments. I'm also trying to treat it more or less like race day. I'll wake up about 2 hours prior to running, and will skip breakfast (helps the body metabolize fat better from the start). I'll have a coffee about 1.5 hour beforehand, warm up similarly, and take fluids throughout. There's a crucial difference on this last one though—I'll be taking a water/electrolyte solution as opposed to Gatorade like I will on race day. I learned from my last marathon that I really do need to practice fueling so that my stomach can handle the volume of liquid while running at MP. I'll probably try to get about 40 oz. down over the course of a full 24 miles (assuming I make it the full distance), which should take about 2:15-2:16 total.

When I did this workout pre-Chicago, I only made it through 19 miles at about 5:36 pace, though I had some fluid issues. I know that I'm fitter and hopefully will be able to complete the workout in its entirety. However, just in the last two days, my right hip flexor has gotten pretty sore for no real discernible reason. It hasn't really been bothering me too much, but I can tell it's the exact sort of "injury" that could present a problem for sustained, quick running like tomorrow's workout. So I'll pop some ibuprofen tonight, ice a little bit, and hope for the best. If all goes well (i.e., I get the full 24 in), this is essentially as challenging as the marathon itself will be. In the middle of normal training without race adrenaline... running 24 miles at 95% is about as good of an approximation of the race as you can get.

I'm also racing the Chase Corporate Challenge next Thursday night. I should be close to recovered from the 24 miler by then, and while the 3.5 race distance is obviously short for me, I should be in the hunt for the win. Best I can tell, the competition will be Todd Ptacek, a former Notre Dame runner and low 4:00 miler, and Lars Juhl, a 2:20 guy in the marathon. I beat Todd by about 40 seconds in the Shamrock Shuffle a month ago, but the shorter distance will favor him and perhaps he just had an off day at Shamrock. In any event, even without sharpening or training for the short stuff, my strength is such that I think I can probably run 4:50 pace or close to it for the race. However, the course will slow things down a bit—it's got a lot of 90 degree turns and two 180s.

I also made a late addition to my race calendar — the Solider Field 10 Mile. It's a pretty big Chicago race and definitely one that I planned on doing at some point. There's some decent prize money and solid competition. I think I should be able to run around 52 minutes or under if I have a good day. It will be a tough 36 hour turnaround after the Corporate Challenge, but I should still be able to compete fairly well. I like throwing a couple of extra races in here as I near the Grandma's Marathon as well. Helps with mental toughness and being race ready.

Indy Mini Race Report

2011-05-10T15:48:00.001-05:00

I headed down to Indianapolis last weekend to visit an old college roommate and teammate, Steve Rogers, and to race the Indy Mini. I made the trip down on Friday afternoon with Brad Topol, another college teammate. Unfortunately, I had been sick all week and was just finally getting over my cold by the weekend. I felt a little flat on race day, but not horrible. However, the next day, my cold was back. It seems like I was 95% rid of it, and then a hard race effort knocked my immune system back down... and back it came.

I ended up 21st overall in the race in 1:09:05, which is 5:16 per mile pace. Given how I felt on the day, I don't think I could have raced much faster. I raced intelligently and was pretty happy with the result. Only 20 seconds off a PR, and I was getting over sickness and untapered / in the middle of marathon training. My first mile was my slowest in 5:24. I then dropped a 5:17 and 5:18 before picking it up a bit and running a string of 5:10-5:12s. (This was what I was hoping HMP would be, and if I had been able to run 5:11s the whole way, I could have dipped under 1:08.)

I realized while we were on the Indy 500 track mid-race that I probably couldn't maintain 5:10s to the line, so I backed off for a bit as a few guys running near me bunched up. After a 5:18 eighth mile, I opened a little gap and ended up hitting 5:11 for the ninth mile. As this point, I was pretty extended and I didn't have anyone to work up to in the closing four miles. That made for a pretty long last 20+ minutes running solo, trying to hold off the three or four guys behind me. I held on pretty well however and remained in 19th place to the finish.

Again, I'm pretty happy with this result given the circumstances. I think for a runner like me, my half marathon PR and marathon PR (assuming I'm tapered for both races and run well) should differ by about 15 seconds per mile. So if we take my race pace, 5:16 per mile, we can perhaps assume 5:31 per mile is a realistic pace for Grandma's Marathon in six weeks. However, I was not tapered for, or training specifically for this race, so I would expect my pace to be a bit slower than my hypothetical PR pace. I think, conservatively, even feeling like I did in Indy, I could run 5:10 pace for a half marathon if peaked on my current fitness. And that puts my marathon pace closer to 5:25 per mile. This would equate to about a 2:22 marathon. Add to this the fact that I was perhaps run down from being sick, and there could be a few more seconds to play with. 2:19 (the Olympic Trials qualifying standard) may be a bit quick still for me this cycle, but on the net downhill Grandma's course, with a tailwind... who knows. Probably a bit of a stretch, but I'm not counting myself out yet.

Shamrock Shuffle Race Report

2011-04-18T14:59:00.002-05:00

My fears of getting beat by Amy Yoder-Begley proved unfounded as she was just under 27:00 and I managed to dip under 25:00 myself. I ended up 14th overall in 24:51. I believe I was the 6th guy from the Chicago area. The race was a 21-second PR, so I certainly can't complain. I think I probably could have gone a bit faster if I hadn't ended up in no man's land from 2.5 miles on. Additionally, I had two hard workouts earlier in the week and didn't really back off at all for the race.

I went out in 4:54 for the first mile and was at the back of the second pack. I stayed with and worked through this pack for the next mile (in a similar split) before catching and passing my former U of I teammate, Ryan Giuliano. I was struggling a bit the final mile or mile and a half, especially running solo, but I held it together alright.

The most encouraging thing about the race is that it was a relatively significant PR without feeling good, training specifically for the race, or backing off in my training. Hopefully this simply indicates that my base level fitness is at a higher level than it's ever been. I am still shooting for a Trials qualifier in Grandma's (which is 10 weeks after the Shamrock Shuffle). I'm about to shift to my Marathon Specific Phase, and hopefully that will allow me to convert my current level of fitness into sub-2:19 shape. It might be a bit of a stretch, so I'll just have to see how the training goes and evaluate as I go along...

Lakefront 50k Race Report - An Experiment in Fuel Deprivation

2011-04-08T16:43:00.001-05:00

I won the Lakefront 50k here in Chicago on March 26, in a time of 3:16:55, or 6:20/mile pace. I hadn't really planned on this race, but I had a 28 miler scheduled for that morning anyway, so I figured I'd hop in. I figured I could probably run something around 6:00 pace if I was feeling good. But I wasn't, and the conditions were horrendous. It was in the lower 30s and very windy fron the northeast, with the "feels like" temperature at start time listed as 17 degrees on weather.com. However, this was much worse on the sections of the lakefront path that were within 10 yards or so of the lake. The course was an approximately 10.3 mile out-and-back "loop" that was completed three times.

I was using this race as a significant training stimulus in trying to get my body to burn fat more efficiently for the marathon. Not only did I not take any fuel during the race, but I didn't eat anything for breakfast either, having gone since 8 p.m. the night before without food. I did take some water with electrolyte tablets, but only 12 oz. of this (not enough!). I thought that perhaps I would fill my bottle a time or two, but that didn't end up happening. I ran more or less an even pace the whole race, and started out more or less in third place. I really felt pretty awful from the very beginning and 8 miles into the race I wasn't thinking about winning, but rather about how extremely unpleasant the next 23 miles were going to be. Somewhere around 12 miles (after a quick change of clothes and grabbing my bottle upon completing the first loop), I moved into second place. At the half-way turnaround, I was down three minutes on first place (this gap had been steadily growing). However, from 15-20 miles, I started to feel a little better and was dropping some close-to-six-flat miles. The gap to first was down to about 45 seconds by the completion of the second loop and at this point I thought I could probably win it. Between 20 and 25, I tried to throw down pretty hard (relatively speaking) so that when we hit the last turnaround, I would have a sizeable lead, making it pychologically tougher on the second place guy. My form was not so hot the last 5 miles, but I managed in alright, and ended up winning by 7 minutes.

To some extent, I'm sure the difficulties I had, especially at the end of the race, were from a total lack of fuel. But that was the point. Should serve me well for the marathon. I liked the race generally (despite the weather), and thought it was well-run. The same organizers have a 50k and 50 mile in the fall, which I'll consider doing if it fits into my schedule. I would love to take a shot at running a fast 50 miler (perhaps low 6:00 pace) on a flat course at some point. Next up, the Shamrock Shuffle—trying not to get beat by Amy Yoder-Begley!

2011 Plans

2011-03-22T10:56:00.000-05:00

My number one goal for 2011 remains to try to qualify for the Men's Olympic Marathon Trials in January 2012 in Houston. To do so, I need to run 2:19:00 or faster in the marathon or 1:05:00 or faster in the half marathon. I am going to take a shot at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota on June 18. If that doesn't work out, I'll also be doing a couple of half marathons in the fall to try to run a qualifier there, but that will be pretty challenging for me: 4:57 pace for 13.1 miles.

In the buildup to Grandma's I'll be doing a bit of racing, including a 50k (which I'm treating more or less as a training effort, though if someone good shows up, I might get pulled into a race), the Shamrock Shuffle 8k, Indy Mini, and the Chase Corporate Challenge (3.5 miles). There's quite a wide variety of distances there, and the races should serve to get me a little more sharp and race-ready heading into the marathon. I'm not really backing off for any of them and don't expect to have great times necessarily. I would like to PR in the half in Indy, and that is the race I'm probably focusing on the most of these buildup races.

In the fall, I will shift focus a bit to some longer races. I had already planned on returning to the North Face Endurance Challenge in December (and am working out how to work this race into a Trials buildup if necessary), but I also wanted to do another ultra in the fall at some point. I was initially thinking of doing the NF50 regional race in Wisconsin, but then I discovered the Trail Runner UROC (Ultra Race of Chamions) race, which looks like a lot of fun. The race (as indicated in the name) is billing itself as a championship of sorts and should be quite competitive. There's some solid money on the line as well for this 100k race. The distance is a bit higher than I've done before, but I also have much more time to prepare for the race this go around, as compared to my last ultra. In the Blue Ridge Mountains, it should be a gorgeous course, and again, the field should be great as well. I'm really looking forward to getting in there and competing.

Famous Last Words

2011-03-21T15:35:00.003-05:00

A ridiculously late post-race report on the North Face Endurance Challenge...

At the end of previous entry, I said about the NF50 race, "...if the hills don't destroy me, I like my chances." Well, the hills did indeed take me out in the end, but it wasn't the uphills—it was the downs. It turns out that my unorthodox "hill training" of running up and down the 17 stories of my building (mandated by the flat Chicago terrain) was adequate to get my quads trained for the uphills. They were strengthened enough to handle concentric (muscle shortening) loading greater than the concentric loading of flat running without a problem for 8+ hours, even on the biggest ascents in the Marin headlands. However, the eccentric (muscle lengthening) loading from flying downhills was a different story altogether. I should have seen this coming, and to some extent I did, but I should have taken the dangers of eccentric loading more seriously and hit the forest preserves in the Chicago suburbs for downhill rep sessions. Next ultra that I do, you better believe I'll have prepared for the downhills.

In the race itself, I ran with the lead pack, which was down to about five or six people by the time I got dropped, through 26 or 28 miles. It was essentially Dave Mackey (eventual 3rd), Geoff Roes (eventual 2nd), Dakota Jones, Miguel Herras (eventual winner), Herras' Salomon teammate, and me through the turnaround. We were moving pretty good, but aerobically, I was more than okay. But when my quads started to give out from the downhill pounding, it was game over. I had to walk portions, and found myself just sitting in aid stations more or less wanting to drop out. I stopped caring about place in the least and probably spent somewhere around 30-45 minutes hanging out at aid stations. Having finished 21st in about 8:15, I suppose I could have finished a bit higher without doing this, but I didn't really care one way or the other. 15th is the same as 21st is the same as 100th. I was here to try to win, and I gave it a shot.

By the last miles, my quads were even struggling on flat sections of trail and the only times I could really push the pace was on uphills, on which I remained strong the whole race. Overall, the race was still a pretty enjoyable experience, despite my disappointing finish. I learned from it and I'll be back again next year to take another shot.

Preparations for the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler

2010-12-03T15:28:00.000-06:00

About 6 months ago, an advertisement in Running Times caught my eye. The ad was of course for the North Face Endurance Challenge, a series of 50 mile races around the States. The national championship for the event, which did not require qualifying at a regional event, is in the Marin Headlands north of San Francisco tomorrow, December 4. On the line is a $10,000 winners prize and an all expenses paid trip to one of the North Face Global Challenges. This is what lured me into the race without a whole lot of consideration. I knew this: I had run 30+ miles in training at 6 flat pace and the winner of the NF50 last year was slower than 7:30 pace. I did not take proper account of elevation changes into my analysis of my chances in the race, which on first glance, I thought I would surely win. That said, I still think I have a chance to win this thing, and I have gotten some good specific training in for the race in the few weeks I have had to work with.

Only in the last two weeks have I begun to feel good on normal runs again. I had grand plans for doing massive amounts of muscular work, hoping to prevent the nearly-inevitable muscular fatigue that comes from repeated 1,000+ foot ascents and descents. While my work in this area has been far short of what I hoped, I do feel like I have restored some strength to my hamstring and quads through some focused exercises (mainly hamstring curls on a Swiss exercise ball and single leg squats). But the primary focus of my limited training has been some over-distance long runs.

First, on November 8, I did a 34 mile long run in Ft. Collins, Colorado while I was visiting friends there. It was an out and back that rose (through repeated ups and downs) from 5,000 feet to 6,000 feet. I ran this in 4:01, or 7:06/mile pace. I actually felt horrible from the start and was happy with the effort considering the altitude and how I felt.

Five days later I did a 3 hour run in Boulder, Colorado with my friend Sonne. We did some trail running on Mesa Trail (actually running by Tony Krupicka, a top ultra runner who was supposed to be at the NF50, but has pulled out with an injury) and then I summited Flagstaff Mountain (about a 1,500 foot climb). It was good practice on some technical terrain and served to confirm my confidence in my trail-running ability. Having grown up spending 8 hours a day running around the woods behind my house, I've always had great instincts on the trails. This has not faded, and I blasted a descent down Flagstaff, really pushing the limit.

My last long run came only 11 days out from the race. I was back in Chicago and was trying to simulate the race. This was a difficult task given Chicago's topography. There is one hill—Cricket Hill—up near Montrose Beach, and even this is not very big. It is about 4 miles from my apartment. The other option for climbing is the 17 flights of stairs in my apartment building. My program was as follows:
- 10 miles out and back with 2 miles of running up and down Cricket Hill (~500 feet of climbing)
- 3x up and down my building (600+ feet of climbing)
- 10 miles out and back with 2 miles of running up and down Cricket Hill (~500 feet of climbing)
- 7x up and down my building (1,500 feet of climbing)
- 10 miles out and back with 2 miles of running up and down Cricket Hill (~500 feet of climbing)
- 5 x up and down my building (1,000+ feet of climbing)
- 5 mile progression run
- 1 mile warm down
The workout went quite well. I completed the three 10 mile circuits in 68:36, 66:48, and 65:51. The stair climbing, all told, took nearly 45 minutes, and while obviously not "running," the whole thing was clearly "worth" more than the 36 miles I actually ran. Despite legs that were just destroyed, I was able to really cruise on the progression run, hitting splits of 5:59, 5:43, 5:42, 5:33, 5:31. That really cost me, and I spent about 5 minutes laying on the ground. I could barely walk when I got up, but eventually managed to shuffle the mile back to my apartment.

In addition to the long runs, the other major concern for the race was fueling. I knew nothing about this concept for ultra marathons. I learned what the top ultra runners do by reading their blogs and race reports. After conducting a thorough survey and some experimenting of my own, I settled on a formula that worked for me. I dissolve Power Bar C2 Max powder in a bottle and then also squeeze Power Bar gels straight into the bottle (these also dissolve). I can pack up to 430 calories in a 22 oz. bottle this way (power plus two gels). I've read that one can absorb a maximum of about 300 calories an hour while running, so this is what I'm aiming for at the NF50. I will have 5 bottles containing a total of about 1900 calories, as I hopefully won't be running more than about 6 and a half hours.

By having all drinkable calories, I don't have to mess with opening a gel, choking it down, etc. Additionally, this method will allow my body to have a constant supply of calories without any spikes (like ingesting a 110 calorie gel all at once would). I practiced taking my fluids about 5 days a week, and on all my long runs. The final long run I managed to get 1450 calories down without incident.

In sum, I have had very little time to prepare for this race, but I've been happy with the preparations I've gotten in. I have no concerns with merely finishing the 50 mile distance. I have fueling completely figured out, I would wager even more so than some regular ultra runners. I am confident that I can run technical terrain as fast as anyone out there. I am faster at the marathon distance than nearly everyone in the field, and even those with faster PRs have not run those times recently. (I haven't run my PR recently either, but I was, without a doubt, ready to run low 2:20s two months ago, but was thwarted by temperatures in the 80s.) My final remaining concern is the hilly terrain. The simple fact may be that I cannot hang with top athletes who train in the mountains year round. My final long run gave me a lot of confidence in this area, but it still remains to be seen if I can really hold my own on a 1,900 foot ascent. But if the hills don't destroy me, I like my chances.

Chicago and Dublin Marathons

2010-12-03T14:30:00.001-06:00

So I haven't updated the blog in a while. Not that anyone really reads this most of the time anyway, but I like to keep track of some of my thoughts on running in a more concrete fashion than the ramblings in my training log. In October, I ran both the Chicago and Dublin marathons. I had different expectations for each and was unsatisfied with both. I think that has something to do with the fact that I haven't written in a while.

First, the Chicago Marathon, October 10, 2010. I ended up dropping out at about 16 miles into the race—obviously not what I was looking for. I find it very frustrating that my PR in the marathon is still 2:26:19 from what was more or less my debut in 2008. I know without a doubt that I was in PR shape in Chicago. I'm pretty sure I was in low 2:20s shape. I made some mistakes in training in the 4 month build-up that kept me from being in 2:19 shape, which I wrote about some previously (these were mainly errors in the Fundamental Phase). However, fueling was my downfall in Chicago. I had not anticipated this being an issue. In fact, I had planned on taking next to no fluid or carbs during the race. Like Canova, I believe that if you train properly, you don't need to. The problem is that it was 80 degrees on race day. I knew I needed to replenish liquids in that heat, so I started drinking early on. Having done next to none of this in training, my stomach rebelled, cramped; I began having breathing issues and by halfway in around 1:12-mid, I knew my race was more or less over. I decided to bag it because I don't really care about finishing a marathon or not. It just doesn't hold any intrigue for me.

The lessons to be learned from Chicago were not immediately obvious to me. I still don't believe carbohydrates play a key role in the marathon for a properly trained runner completing the race in under 2:30. Further, taking on carbohydrate drinks in training can actually have an undesirable training effect. Your body sees that it will get fuel when going long distances and it doesn't teach itself to burn a higher percentage of fat to conserve its own glycogen. This is exactly what you don't want. But obviously, I need to practice taking down something in training. I think the answer is water. Water will not have the negative training effect that a carbohydrate drink would, but it will help teach my stomach how to handle fluid at a quick pace.

I think an even better lesson from the race is to pick a better marathon. Chicago is way too much of a crap shoot with the weather. Why they don't move the race to late October, I don't know. Instead of 3 out of every 4 marathons being 70+ degrees with one good one (as has been the case from 2007–2010), a late October race would likely see only 1 out of 4 marathons with poor weather (and likely in the opposite direction, quite cold, which is still better than too hot) and would have good weather most of the time.

One of the things running through my mind when I dropped out of Chicago was that I was racing the Dublin Marathon 15 days later. I already had a vacation in Ireland planned when I realized that the race was going on while I would be there. Not wanting to miss a unique opportunity, I signed up, planning on running it as a training run, perhaps in costume. However, as my Chicago hopes came to and end mid-race, I was thinking that I just needed a solid marathon under my belt. Not necessarily a PR, but just something positive. My last three marathons were DNF (Chicago '10), blowup (Berlin '09), and DNF (Houston, '09). I felt that I could go run 2:30 without much of a problem and at least get things headed back in the right direction. I was wrong.

Well maybe not wrong in theory, but wrong for pragmatic reasons. The Dublin Marathon came near the end of my trip. After 10 days of travel, drinking, and very little running due to being sick, I had lost a lot of fitness in a hurry. I fell apart in Dublin and struggled home in 2:47 after an opening 1:18 half. I couldn't believe how hard it was to run 6 minute pace a mere 15 days after I was in top shape.

Another bout of sickness followed Dublin and I found the window of training time before the North Face Endurance Challenge on December 4 rapidly closing. However, I have gotten some good training in in the last few weeks and finally have the fire back. I lost focus, as surely all runners do from time to time. And while the last year's training has certainly not been bad (in fact, it will be my highest mileage year ever), even looking back at my training log for 2010 disgusts me. How can I allow myself to wallow in mediocrity running 90 miles a week? I had an incredible 6 or 7 weeks of training in late 2009 before letting things slip away back at school in the spring. I know now the training I need to do, and the mileage I need to run. I have an incredible plan that will see me run a massive PB at the June 2011 Grandma's Marathon, if only I have the heart to carry it out in full. It will be a difficult test, as I begin work full time at my law firm on January 10. Doubtless, there will be many times, after long days and nights of work, where I won't want to lace them up for "yet another, Jesus God, ten-miler with the boys" (except, in my case, without the boys). But no one ever said it would be easy.

Chicago Marathon Preview - Elite Men's Race

2010-10-05T13:18:00.009-05:00

The 2010 Chicago Marathon has the potential to be one for the ages. The men's field* is certainly the best Chicago has ever assembled and is one of the best (if not the best) in history. The four runners that I think will feature most prominently in the race are Sammy Wanjiru, Tsegaye Kebede, Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, and Deriba Merga. Two other runners with notable personal records are Vincent Kipruto and Feyisa Lilesa. With Ryan Hall having dropped from the race, the top American hopeful has to be Nick Arciniaga. Adding drama is the World Marathon Major series, with another two-year cycle ending with this year's fall marathons. Its half-million dollar winner's prize will almost certainly be decided on Sunday.

World Marathon Majors
Every year, the World Marathon Majors (a partnership of five races: Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York) awards $500,000 to both the top male and female over the previous two years. The winners are decided based on cumulative point totals from the following scoring system: 1st - 25 points, 2nd - 15 points, 3rd - 10 points, 4th - 5 points, 5th - 1 point. Points are, of course, awarded in each of the five yearly majors, but also in all Olympic and World Championship Marathons. The 2009-2010 series is currently tied up, with Wanjiru and Kebede each having 50 points. Merga is not far behind with 35 points.

Athletes
With such a quality field, it is almost a guarantee that there will be a fast and thrilling race. But what really makes the race interesting is looking beyond the numbers and knowing the athletes as individuals—the past, struggles, and current trajectory of each.

Sammy Wanjiru (Kenya, 2:05:10 PR) - It's hard to bet against the reigning Olympic Champion and defending Chicago Marathon Champion. In 2008 in Beijing, Wanjiru broke the Olympic Marathon record by nearly 3 minutes in brutally hot and humid conditions. Last year in Chicago, Wanjiru raced very aggressively from the gun, ultimately clocking a 2:05:41, the fastest marathon ever recorded on U.S. soil. The fast early pace took its toll on Wanjiru's competitors, as they dropped away one by one. And despite his course record, Wanjiru almost certainly could have gone faster if he had run a more even pace. Since last year, Wanjiru has only attempted one marathon, London in April 2010. He dropped out with knee trouble mid-race. On paper, Wanjiru's record is still virtually flawless. However, Chicago 2009 notwithstanding, he has not recently seemed as on form as he was at the Beijing Olympics and at London the following spring. His training situation has also changed. He is no longer living a monastic life of training in Japan, but has moved back to his native Kenya. One can't help but wonder if the current Sammy Wanjiru can still measure up to his former self.

Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia, 2:05:18 PR) - Hailing from Ethiopia, the 23-year-old Kebede has been the most consistent marathoner of the last few years. His impressive resume has unfolded as follows: 2008 - Paris Marathon (1st), Olympics (3rd), Fukuoka (1st); 2009 - London (2nd), World Championships (3rd), Fukuoka (1st); 2010 - London (1st). Perhaps even more impressive than these finishes, Kebede has run 2:05:20 or faster in three of his last four marathons. No current marathoner, and perhaps no marathoner in history has strung together a streak comparable to Kebede's current run.

Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot (Kenya, 2:05:52 PR) - While lacking Kebede's consistency, the young Cheruiyot (22 years old) has one incredibly impressive, recent statistic on his resume. He won the 2010 Boston Marathon in 2:05:52, shedding 1:22 from the old course record in the process. This is a time that not many thought was possible on the hilly Boston course. For this reason alone, Cheruiyot must be considered a substantial threat.

Deriba Merga (Ethiopia, 2:06:38 PR) - While lacking the top-notch PR of many of Chicago's elites this year, Merga is still a force to be reckoned with. His aggressive style may be the reason he has never run a low-2:05 time in the marathon, but it has also led to some impressive races. In 2008, Merga was the only runner to truly challenge Sammy Wanjiru in the heat of Beijing. The weather and pace finally took its toll as Merga faded to 4th place in the final quarter mile. However, Merga went on to win both the Houston and Boston marathons in the following 8 months. After dropping out of the 2009 World Championships, Merga appears to be back. In Boston 2010, if it weren't for the incredible race of Robert Cheruiyot, Merga likely would have won. Instead, Merga's bold move after 18 miles was covered by Cheruiyot, and after a 6 mile duel, Merga faded to third place. It is clear from Merga's races that he runs to win, no matter what (and when he doesn't win, he often pushes others to incredible performances). This racing philosophy has left Merga with an inconsistent record, but he is a dangerous competitor when fit. If there were any doubt of Merga's current fitness, one need only look to the Bogota Half Marathon in August, where he set a course record and dismantled world record holder and world champion Zersenay Tadese.

Vincent Kipruto (Kenya, 2:05:10 PR) - With only one international win to his name (Paris 2009), the 23-year-old Kipruto can't be considered a top tier marathoner yet, but he does have two 2:05 marathons under his belt, and with a breakout race, he could contend for the win.

Feyisa Lilesa (Ethiopia, 2:05:23 PR) - The youngest of the elites, Lilesa is 20 years old. He won the Dublin Marathon (2009) and the Xiamen International Marathon (2010) in relatively slow times before bursting onto the scene with a 3+ minute PR in Rotterdam in April. In Rotterdam, Lilesa finished fourth, just behind Vincent Kipruto. Like Kipruto, Lilesa is still a bit unproven, but with a low-2:05 to his name, he cannot be counted out.

The Americans - With Ryan Hall out, there are no U.S. runners who can realistically contend for the win. The top entries are Nick Arciniaga (2:11:46 PR) and Jason Hartmann (2:12:09 PR), who have both posted their personal bests recently. They are joined by another ten or so Americans who could potentially run in the 2:12-2:16 range.

Predictions
Even with weather.com forecasting temperatures in the seventies on Sunday, the race should be quick. There are simply too many fast athletes (many of them proven competitors in the heat) for hot temps to take them all out. It is possible the race could be tactical and thus a little slower, but this is unlikely, especially since Chicago is a rabbited race. Even un-rabbited affairs like Boston and New York are typically fast races these days. In addition to the race prize money and the World Marathon Majors purse, the runners will want to take advantage of a flat course and chase the $100,000 course record bonus.

My pick for the win is Tsegaye Kebede in a new PR of 2:05:14. He's been nothing short of remarkable the last few years, and he's proven he can win a major marathon. I think Sammy Wanjiru is the best marathoner in the world when on top of his game, but I don't think he is quite the same runner as he was in Beijing 2008 and London 2009. Addtionally, Wanjiru, like Deriba Merga, has not always shown the ability to race patiently. Both of these athletes are so good that they can sometimes get away with aggressive tactics; the surging and fast early paces hurt everyone, and both Wanjiru and Merga have sometimes won these self-inflicted battles of attrition. However, this is a risky game. Kebede on the other hand has shown patience and consistency in his numerous marathons. He is well-rested for this race, and I think he has the best shot at coming out on top.

PAWS 8k Race Report & Final Preparations for Chicago

2010-10-04T15:16:00.002-05:00

On September 25, 15 days out from the marathon, I ran the PAWS (a no-kill, no-cage animal shelter in Chicago) 8k race up at Montrose Beach. The main reason was to try to pick up a little cash. I got second place in 25:19, and came away with $100, so I was fairly happy with the race. As I thought might be the case, Jeff Jonaitis (probably the best runner in Chicago, a 1:05/2:18 guy) was there, like last year. Emisael Favela was also there, fresh off a 1:08-low PR in the Chicago Half Marathon earlier in the month. With prize money only three deep, I knew I'd have to put forth a good effort to come away with anything.

JJ, Emisael, one other runner, and I went through the first two miles together. By the turnaround, it was down to just JJ, Emisael, and I. We were about 14:55 or so through three miles. I was pretty well extended, and I could tell JJ was taking it easy for a bit. Sure enough, at about 3 1/4 miles in, he broke it open, and the three of us strung out, with myself in third. We were also running into a headwind and I was just holding on. With about 3/4 of a mile to go, I was 6 or 7 seconds back of Emisael, and while I had been more or less satisfied to take third place, I started to think maybe I could come back on him. I caught Emisael by about 400m to go, relaxed for about 20 seconds and then made a move to take it. Emisael must have been a bit overextended at this pace as well (he's also in the middle of marathon training for Chicago), as I was able to open up 6 seconds on him by the finish. It was a fun race, with lots of dogs around, and a decent band playing afterward. The timing was right that I didn't really have to sacrifice any big workouts from my training for Chicago, but I'll also be able to recover fully before the marathon.

Now, with one week to go before the marathon, the hay is all in the barn. I've learned a lot over the last few months in terms of both training theory and how my body reacts to a variety of marathon specific workouts. I made plenty of mistakes in training, having focused too little on threshold training before the specific phase began to name one mistake. However, I still got some very good specific work in and am certainly in shape to PR on Sunday. I don't think I quite have a sub-2:19 in me (the Olympic Trials standard), though if I had a perfect day, it might be there. But my plan as of right now is to go out somewhere in the 1:10-1:12 range (5:20s - 5:30s), running by feel. I want to make sure I stay comfortable through 18 miles and then let it rip. I'm going to do my absolute best to take whatever pace I have in me that day, and not race stubbornly. It was doing the latter that led to a DNF and a 2:42 blow up in my last two marathons. If all I have is a 2:23, so be it. It would be a 3 minute PR and a big step in the right direction. The last year has been a big learning process, and I would be happy with a PR. That said, I think I am probably capable of a 2:20/2:21 right now. Lastly, the weather (6 days out) is now predicted to get up to the 80s this weekend. That is 30+ degrees too hot for a marathon and will definitely affect times. We'll see how it is on race day, and hope for cooler than predicted temperatures.

Two Types of Long Run (9/4 and 9/14)

2010-09-17T15:33:00.004-05:00

I'm a big believer in making your long runs into a workout, particularly in a marathon phase. There comes a point where a standard 20 miler (or even 24, 25, or 30 miler) can only do so much for you. If you want to really run well in a marathon, you need to teach your body how to run fast after 20 miles. One way of doing this is to progress your long run. Khalid Khannouchi was famous for this. He would run his 20 or 22 miles getting progressively faster from 10 miles on, finishing on the track in 4:40s or better for the last 2 or 3 miles when he was really "on." I did about five of these types of long runs during my buildup for the St. Louis Marathon in 2008 (where I ran my PR of 2:26:19). With the Specific Block and some other things I've been trying, I have not gotten in as many of this type of run during my current Chicago buildup, but I did get one in on September 4, a couple of weeks ago.

I did 24 miles total, and the plan was to progress the pace from about half way until a mile from the end (leaving the last mile for a cooldown). I rolled up the lakefront path to a bit north of Northwestern's campus on the way out. I was running 6:00 pace by the time I got to mile 7. I really started to get moving about 13 miles in, dropping it to the 5:40-5:50 range. I did not have splits up north, but my best guess for miles 16-19 was about 5:30s average. I was back onto the path at this point, but feeling pretty rough. I took one mile "easy" at 6:00 pace to recover a bit, then hit 2.5 miles at MP before cooling down a mile and a half. The splits for my last 2.5 were 5:20, 5:19, 2:39, right on my goal MP.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the workout. I got some solid MP running in late in the game--crucial for teaching my body how to really finish a marathon (both from a muscular endurance standpoint and a fuel-burning standpoint). I finished this type of run faster a few times during my St. Louis buildup, but those runs usually didn't hit 5:40 pace or faster until just 4 or 5 miles from the end. Here, I was really running pretty quickly for quite a long time, so naturally, I could not close quite as hard.

Just a few days ago, on September 14, I did a long run at 95% MP (or 16 seconds slower per mile than my goal MP). My goal was to hit 22-24 miles at pace, which should be about 5:34s, based on my goal MP of 5:18/mile. I got through 19 miles at 5:35 pace. My splits are finally dead-on accurate, since I took it upon myself to measure the lakefront path via satellite (see here and here), since CARA or Nike or whoever runs the show with the mile markers is too incompetent to do so accurately. I was pretty happy with getting those 19 miles in.

Not exactly what I hoped, but I had some issues with fluids. I'm much less of a believer in taking in a lot of calories than I used to be. More or less, at MP, your digestive system shuts down, so you can take in very little glycogen. The better option is to train properly to teach your body to burn lipids and glycogen in the right percentages to reach 26.2 miles without running out of glycogen or "bonking." I do plan on taking in some fluid (alternating water and gatorade), but no gels, during the marathon, but only a few ounces at each stop, which isn't too much of a problem. Anyway, for whatever reason, I decided to try to get down 12 oz. of gatorade at mile 12. I used to do this a few years ago, but during the aforementioned long progression runs, meaning I would be running slower than 6:00 pace when I took the fluid in. No big deal then. Taking 12 oz. of fluid while running low 5:30s is a whole different ball game. It's the same reason why I don't take anything in during half marathons. Trying to swallow (not to mention carrying a bottle without spilling it) throws me into oxygen debt. I was riding a fine line, and taking down that much really threw a kink in the run. Not only were miles 13 and 14, while I was taking the fluid, my slowest miles of the run (5:40s), but even afterward, I was just thrown off. I just couldn't get back to the same relaxation I had at 5:34 pace before taking the fluid. It may sound dumb, but I really think that issue cut my run short by a few miles. I think I could have gotten through 21, 22 miles or more at pace if I'd just skipped it all together.

Despite all this, it was a very solid session, and one that should pay dividends come race day. It helped prepare my body to burn fuel properly in the race. It helped me practice mentally focusing for a long time. And it helped prepare my muscles for a long, fast run. These and other workouts over the last month or so let me know that, on the right day, a sub-2:19 (Olympic Trials qualifying standard) is possible in Chicago. Only a few hard efforts left, and then it's time to see what I can do!

A Specific Block and Frustrations on the Lakefront Path

2010-09-05T16:24:00.002-05:00

Last week I did a (Renato Canova-style) Marathon Specific Block. This was one of the most important days of training in my Chicago buildup, and was probably the hardest day of training in my life thus far. The Specific Block is basically a super-compensation workout where you really work your body hard in two marathon specific workouts (an AM and PM session) and then make sure you get plenty of recovery in the days to follow. It's an especially useful tool in the marathon context because you're trying to teach your body how to use its fuel properly to not run out of glycogen until the end of the race. You do this by letting your body know, repeatedly, through a LOT of marathon specific pace work, especially late in runs, that it will be asked to run a long time at a fast pace (i.e. marathon pace). Then, instead of burning too much glycogen at MP, like an improperly trained runner's body would do running MP (thus running out of glycogen before 26.2 miles is reached), your body can properly allocate the fat and glycogen it is burning to carry the whole race distance. The specific block is especially good at accomplishing this training stimulus because you are 30 miles into your day by the end of the second session and have done a lot of marathon pace or slightly slower running.

Anyway, the workout... I originally planned on doing the same session in the AM and the PM, which was 6 miles at 5:45 pace straight into 6 miles at 5:20 pace (MP). Not a killer single session, but doing two of them is plenty to handle. However, I feel like I haven't gotten in quite enough long workouts so far (had to drop a long run after the 10k race, etc.), so I mixed it up with a different AM session. The AM session, like the original planned workout, was taken from Canova's marathon pamphlet.

AM - Goal: 1 mile w/u, 15 miles at 98% MP (~6 sec./mile slower than MP), 1 mile w/d -- Hit the 15 miles on the lakefront path (about 2/3 on gravel) in 1:21:31, or 5:26 pace. Had splits for the three five mile segments: 27:17, 27:03, 27:11. Very solid run, and I liked getting the extra length in, but I was pretty destroyed from it. Walked around some afterward to loosen the legs up, then took a short nap. Felt pretty rough all day and really doubted my ability to hit the evening session.

PM - Goal: 1 mile w/u, 6 miles at 5:45/mile, 6 miles at 5:20/mile (MP), 1 mile w/d -- Felt pretty rough on the opening 6 miles and was not feeling real optimistic for the workout. Ended up working through it alright though and hit 34:15 and 31:51 for the two 6 mile segments, which is 5:42/mile and 5:18/mile pace, which was a touch better than I hoped for.

So, for the day, I had 31 miles, 27 of which were quality miles, with an average of 5:28/mile for those 27. Really, this should be a pretty good indicator that the Olympic Trials standard of 2:19:00 (5:18/mile) is a realistic goal. If 5:18 pace wasn't about what my MP should be, I wouldn't have been able to get through the workout. Some shorter MP workouts, you can bullshit, and kind of fake it at too fast of a pace, but with the specific block, that's not really possible. The one thing that throws a kink into the equation is the mile markers on the lakefront path, which brings me to the second topic of this entry.

The mile markers on the path heading north from my apartment (at State and North Ave.) wind mostly on gravel and some on the main paved portion of the path. There are a few markers missing (though CARA has occasionally put up signs, supposedly where the marks should be), but I thought I more or less had it figured out where the markers were supposed to be. I knew that some miles were a little off, seemingly short in some places and long in others, but it seemed like the overall distance more or less balanced out to be accurate--hence me giving 5 miles splits only for the 15 miler, and not mile splits. These markers have been difficult to verify via gmaps pedometers because it is hard to tell from a satellite aerial view where they are.

Adding to the confusion, new markers were put in early this week (partially following the old route and partially on a new route). These markers also seemed off to me. I got on gmaps pedometer and was able to verify this; the new route and markers are averaging about .02 miles long each mile, which is about 7 sec./mile when running MP. Best I can tell, the old markers (which I used for the Specific Block) are fairly accurate in the aggregate, though maybe a touch short (something like 1-2 seconds per mile when running MP).

Bottom line, the measurements on the old route are close enough that the Specific Block I did still instills a lot of confidence... particularly since most of the path is on crushed gravel, which is slowing me down a bit to be sure. It is just very frustrating that whoever is measuring these routes can't get it right. The path is basically the only place for tens of thousands of people to run, here in the third largest city in the country, and we have no accurate mile markers. Just pathetic and inexcusable. As is the fact that there isn't a normal track within 5 miles that I can get to, but that's another rant altogether.

A New Format and Two Races

2010-08-28T14:56:00.002-05:00

I've decided to abandon the old format of posting the minutia of weekly training in favor of periodic (maybe weekly or so) updates on my training, racing, future plans, etc. In the last month, I've raced twice: the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon and the Chamions' Run 10k (updates on those races below) as I continue training with a main goal of the Chicago Marathon on October 10, hoping to qualify for the Olympic Trials.

Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon: This race was on August 1 and was somewhat a focus of my training. As such, I was quite disappointed with my 1:12:49 for 14th place. Once the wheels fell off, they really fell off. It was hot and humid, but I'm still at a bit of a loss as to why I ran so poorly. Just need to forget about it and move on. The time is certainly not indicative of my fitness, so I just need to keep my head down, train my ass off for the Chicago Marathon, and keep the faith.

Champions' Run 10k: This race was on August 21, and served as the USATF Illinois Championships for 10k road racing. To my knowledge, this hasn't really been contested before, and the field was not too deep. I didn't really know what to expect from myself in the middle of marathon training... run down and without many quick workouts in my legs. However, I felt pretty decent once the race got going and I ended up winning it by nearly two minutes in 31:52.

Someone with a GPS told me that the course was about 150m long (which would be ~26 or 27s for me). Not sure if that is true, but it would help to explain the splits I took on my watch--5:04, 5:04, 5:25, 4:58, 5:16, 5:03, (1:00)--as I definitely wasn't varying in pace that much, and the faster splits seemed dead on (actually verified one when we were on the lakefront path). Additionally, the course was pretty damn slow... on gravel for about 1/3 of it, wet from rain the night before, about a dozen 90 degree turns, and 2+ miles on the lakefront path (which was crowded with people, bikes, etc., leaving me weaving in and out of people). I think the poor conditions were worth at least 30 - 45s on a track, plus the course possibly being long... this is probably about worth my track PR of 30:59, if not better. Factor in no competition, and a lack of 10k training, no doubt I'm fit.

Got a sweet USATF jacket for the win and a free pair of shoes. I felt real heavy pre-race, but pretty decent in the race itself. Felt pretty smooth, felt I was going the right pace, and felt I was pretty tough mentally running solo, but keeping the pressure on. Had a pretty bad sidestitch the last mile(+) in my right side. This has been sticking around for the last month or so. Kind of weird, I haven't had an issue like this in a long time. Didn't affect the time too much in the race though.

Training, July 19 - July 25

2010-07-25T13:31:00.000-05:00

Monday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - Ran with Wallor. Switched up the core routine to Jay Johnson's Cannonball routine.
Total - 9

Tuesday: AM - 23 miles - abs - Finally was able to complete the workout I tried two and four Tuesdays ago. 30:00 of moderate pace running into a descending ladder of 6k, 5k, 4k, 3k, 2k, 1k w/ 1k rests in 4:00. The paces on the hard segments decrease gradually to where you're around MP for the 3k/4k intervals and around HMP or faster for the 1k/2k intervals. I was only able to get through 13k (of 21k possible work) of the hard segments the first time, and 17k the next time. Today, nailed it. Times were: ~6:00 pace for 5 miles, then 6k in 20:42 (3:27/k, 5:33/mile), 5k in 16:52 (3:22/k, 5:25/mile), 4k in 13:06 (3:16/k, 5:15/mile), 3k in 9:33 (3:11/k, 5:07/mile), 2k in 6:14 (3:07/k, 5:01/mile), 1k in 3:02 (4:53/mile). 21k of work in 1:09:32 (3:18/k avg., 5:19/mile) (or about a 1:10 half marathon).
Total - 23

Wednesday: AM - 8 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 8

Thursday: AM - 5 miles easy - light core, abs, hamstring curls
PM - 8 miles - Race Judicata - A 5k for lawyers that I won last year. Rode my bike down to Grant Park, warmed up about 3 miles, light drills, and strides. The conditions were pretty bad, 88 degrees, sunny, humid, and very strong winds from the south (so the second half of the course). The pace wasn't too hot, and I just chilled with it until about 12:00 into the race at which point I took off. Won by 19 seconds in 16:12. Splits (if accurate) were something like 5:12, 5: 38, 4:45. Didn't feel great, but I did do 32 miles on Saturday, one of the best workouts of my life Tuesday, and have been pretty much at full volume. Got some decent prizes: free pair of NB shoes, a NB duffle bag, bottle of French wine, an apron, and a water bottle.
Total - 13

Friday: AM - 7 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - Was pretty beat up from the race. Just took it easy.
Total - 7

Saturday: AM - 15 mile progression run
Total - 15

Sunday: AM - 5 miles easy - abs, hamstring curls
Total - 5

Summary: 80 miles, 4x core, 6x abs, 5x hamstring curls
Started to back off the mileage a bit in anticipation of the Rock 'n' Roll Half next weekend. The race on Thursday was so-so. Nothing special, just did what I needed to do to win. Very pleased with the Tuesday workout. Next week, just one workout (3 miles at HMP), easy running, and the race........ and the bar exam.

Training, July 12 - July 18

2010-07-20T20:25:00.000-05:00

Monday: AM - 8 miles easy - Ran with Wallor on the lakefront path. Body was pretty destroyed. Had trouble sleeping last night.
PM - 5 miles easy - abs - Tried to do hamstring curls, but couldn't get even one in without my hammys cramping.
Total - 13

Tuesday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - Still pretty wrecked.
Total - 9

Wednesday: AM - 8 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - 2 sets of drills (heel-to-butts, ankle pops, A skips, B skips, karaokes, springing, bounding) - Feeling decent finally. Originally had a workout planned for today, but pushed it until tomorrow.
PM - 8 miles moderate - abs, hamstring curls - Ran with Brian Runyon on the lakefront path.
Total - 16

Thursday: AM - 11 miles - abs, hamstring curls - Had a vo2 max workout today. After warmup (going about 5:50s in the warmup for 25:00), did 5 x (3 min hard, 3 min moderate). Humid as shit out, index pushing 100 degrees. Got started a bit quick, beginning averaging 4:48s and 5:35s for the fast/mod sections. This wasn't quite sustainable, though the second hard segment was probably still on pace. Third and fourth both slowed a touch, but not much, and the fifth, held on at 4:50 pace. The moderate segments got slightly slower each time, until I was at about 5:50 pace for those by the end. Solid, not great. Believe it or not, may still be a touch beat up from the special block 4 days ago. Solid all the same.
PM - 7 miles easy - hamstring curls

Friday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - Felt decent.
PM - 7 miles easy - Felt terrible. The heat index was 100+, but still...
Total - 16

Saturday: AM - 32 miles moderate, 6:02/mile average - Got going by 7:30 a.m. to "avoid" the heat. However, this is hard to do when the run takes over 3 hours. Thus, by run's end, it was 93 degrees, w/ a heat index over 100. I was thrashed. Drank a lot of water and still lost about 10 lbs on the run. Original plan was to do 25 easy and then try 5 at MP. This is very hard workout to do, especially with the heat. You've gotta go very easy on the first 25 too, e.g. 7 min pace. I decided a few miles in that I would trash that plan, as I felt pretty shitty. Considered bagging the long run, but decided it would be good to just man up and do it anyway, just focusing on volume. Ended up running a pretty good pace too, averaging sub-6 (usually about 5:45s) for the whole last 15 miles. It's like I can run 5:40-5:50 pace no matter how tired I am. My hamstrings held up well, but my glutes are just wrecked. Gonna try to target those additionally in the core stuff I'm doing.
Total - 32

Sunday: Off - Pretty wrecked from the long run yesterday. Didn't plan on a day off exactly, but with the Illinois bar exam a week away, studying is taking its toll, and to be honest, a day off after yesterday's session probably isn't a bad idea.
Total - 0

Summary: 105 miles, 3x core, 6x abs, 6x hamstring curls

Solid week all around. Per usual, not quite as high of mileage as I'd like (though for 6 days it's not bad), but it can be tough with the workouts. Nothing too crazy this week as early on I was recovering from last week's Special Block, which took some time for sure. The vo2 max workout on Thursday was solid, nothing too special. I was happy with the 32 miler Saturday as well. I think being able to run for over 3 hours at 6 minute pace bodes well for Chicago.

Training, July 5 - July 11

2010-07-11T22:22:00.001-05:00

Monday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 9

Tuesday: AM - 19 miles - Attempted the same workout as two weeks ago, the 30:00 moderate into a descending ladder of 6k, 5k, 4k, 3k, 2k, 1k, w/ 1k recovery intervals. It was hot out, and I once again didn't make it through (this is a very tough workout!). My legs were pretty tired to start (from Saturday's long run still?). Got through the 6k, 5k, 4k intervals more or less on the goal paces of 3:24/k, 3:22/k, 3:20/k, though I was toast then. After that, did 2 x 1k harder. Last time, I only got through 13k of work (excluding recovery intervals), and this time I made it through 17k (of a total 21k possible). Hopefully when I try this one more time in two more weeks, I'll get it.
PM - 6 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 25

Wednesday: AM - 8 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
PM - 6 miles easy w/ Dave Walters
Total - 14

Thursday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - Did drills on the turf field, 2 x (ankle pops, heel-to-butts, A skips, B skips, karaokes, springing, bounding) w/ jog back
Total - 9

Friday: AM - 12 miles - abs, hamstring curls - vo2 max workout: 30:00 moderate into 6 x (2 min hard, 2 min moderate), same workout as two weeks ago. On the lakefront path, averaged a shade under 5:10 pace for the 24:00 of fartlek. Solid workout, not killer.
Total - 12

Saturday: PM - 5 miles easy - Stupid, drank way more than I intended to last night and was hungover all day. Cost me about 10 miles on the week.
Total - 5

Sunday: AM - 14 miles - abs, hamstring curls - Trying a Canova Special Block today. The program for the morning was a goal of 10k in 35:30, 10k at MP (32:30-33:00 right now). A little warm out, got going about 9 a.m. 1.5 mile w/u, then 10k in 35:24, or 5:42/mile, 3:32/k. 1:00 easy jog and a quick sip of water, into the MP run. Was into the wind and the heat started to get to me, so I only got 5.2 (instead of 6.2) miles in. Did these in 27:33, or 5:18/mile, 3:18/k. With the wind and heat, that pace might have realistically been a touch fast for MP. Got the majority in though.
PM - 17 miles - Second half of the block, goal of 10k in 35:30, 10 x 1k at HMP, 3:10/k. Stormy weather brought some cooler temps, thankfully. Got a little out of hand in the first 10k. Was already going a little quick, but then got into a race with some guy on the path. I usually am not very prone to race. I usually just run whatever pace I need to run, but it annoyed me that some guy tried to be a hardass and chase me down when he hadn't been going fast previously. I was running 5:35s or so and he tried closing on me, so I dropped a 5:04 5th mile to put him in his place. With this, ended up running a 34:00 10k, or 5:29/mile, 3:24/k, quite a bit quicker than planned. Still managed to get through the 10 x 1k though, w/ 200m jog recovery, in 3:09, 3:10, 3:08, 3:10, 3:08, 3:08, 3:10, 3:10, 3:09, 3:09. Very solid workout. Overall for the day, got in 31 miles, 23.8 of which were quality in an average of about 5:25/mile. The most miles I've ever done in a day, and definitely the most quality I've done in a day.
Total - 31

Summary: 105 miles, 4x core, 6x abs, 6x hamstring curls

Pretty solid week. Should have had about 15-20 miles more on the week, but the workouts were solid, and got back on the core/abs/hamstring curls. 3 weeks until the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half, and things are looking pretty good. Need to lose a little weight still.

Training, June 28 - July 4

2010-07-06T19:57:00.000-05:00

Monday: AM - 16 miles - Up-tempo medium-long run. Got going a little late and was dying in the heat by run's end.
Total - 16

Tuesday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
PM - 6 miles easy
Total - 15

Wednesday: AM - 17 miles - 30:00 moderate into 6 x 7:00 at MP w/ 3:00 recovery intervals at 6:00/mile pace (hour total). Workout went pretty well, though had no splits on anything--just on the roads.
PM - Off, travel (moving to Chicago)
Total - 17

Thursday: AM - 10 miles easy
Total - 10

Friday: AM - 9 miles easy plus drills
Total - 9

Saturday: AM - 22 miles hard - Was supposed to be a progression run, but I'm kind of bad with paces right now, and was rolling 5:45s or better from the start. Held it until 20, in the heat, then cooldown jogged it in. Very difficult run.
Total - 22

Sunday: Off - unplanned, just didn't get it in on the 4th.
Total - 0

Summary: 89 miles, 1x core, 1x abs, 1x hamstring curls

Not a great week. Did have a couple of solid workouts, but really fell off the core/abs/hamstring curls, which I had been very good about the last few weeks. The move up to Chicago didn't help. Left me very tired a few days, but still, need to turn things back around next week.

Training, June 21 - June 27

2010-06-28T09:54:00.000-05:00

Monday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - Felt great, probably due to the day off yesterday.
PM - 4 miles easy - Planned on more, but felt like toast. More weather in the 90s, w/ heat indexes in the 100s is brutal.
Total - 13

Tuesday: AM - 15 miles - Planned progressive workout of 6k, 5k, 4k, 3k, 2k, 1k w/ 1k recovery intervals. Goal was to start a bit slower, maybe 3:35/k, cutting down to MP (3:25/k) by the 3k or 2k interval. Recovery k's were in about 4:00. I measured a 4k loop out by Glenwood High School, so the workout as on the roads. Started out too hot, and couldn't finish it. Wouldn't have mattered much anyway, because a horrendous storm blew in right as I was finishing--hail, etc. Got through 6k, 5k intervals, then just did two more 1k intervals, so 6k (1k), 5k (1k), 1k (1k), 1k. Splits: 20:46 (3:27/k), 4:07, 17:05 (3:25/k), 4:10, 3:24, 4:16, 3:16.
PM - 4 miles - abs, hamstring curls - Felt like death again.
Total - 19

Wednesday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
PM - 7 miles easy
Total - 16

Thursday: AM - 11 miles - vo2 max workout of 6 x (2 min hard, 2 min moderate) on the bike trail. Felt pretty good. Based on a few rough splits, seemed to be averaging about 5:15/mile for the whole thing.
PM - 3 miles easy - Felt like 10 lbs of shit in a 5 lb bag. Should have napped in the afternoon. I can't really remember when I've felt worse than I did this evening.
Total - 14

Friday: AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
PM - Off, given how bad I felt yesterday afternoon, and another workout coming up tomorrow.'
Total - 9

Saturday: PM - 16 miles - Didn't get an early enough start in the morning, so I had to push the workout off until 7:30 pm, though the heat index was still upper 90s even then. Did 6 miles at date MP, then 10 x 3:00 at HMP w/ 1:30 easy jog recovery. The workout went great, out on the bike trail. Hit the 6 miles in 33:00 (5:30 pace, or 3:25/k), then right into the HMP reps, for which I averaged about 5:05/mile (or 3:10/k). This is the first workout I've really been happy with in a long time. Hopefully my body's starting to turn the corner and this is a sign of good things to come.
Total - 16

Sunday: AM - 6 mile shakeout - core, abs, hamstring curls - Ran very easy, was pretty beat up from last night's workout.
PM - Off
Total - 6

Summary: 93 miles - 4x core, 6x abs, 6x hamstring curls

This week was pretty solid. Miles still weren't where they need to be, but two of the three workouts were good, and the other wasn't terrible. Stayed on top of the core work too.

Training, June 14 - June 20

2010-06-28T09:35:00.000-05:00

Monday: PM - 20 miles quality - In Chicago, up to Evanston. Turned into a bit of a progression run from 15-18. Solid run. Foot felt OK.
Total - 20

Tuesday: PM - 9 miles easy - After travel back to Springfield, only got the one run in. Got poured and hailed on mid-run. First time that's happened in a while. Still some foot pain, though not too bad. Continuing to ice it.
Total - 9

Wednesday: AM - 13 miles - Planned workout was 6 x 6:00 at date MP (3:25/k, or 5:30/mile) w/ 3:00 recovery at 3:45/k (or 6:02/mile). Felt pretty good starting out, but the heat got to me soon. Only made it through 4 reps, or 24:00 of running at MP, 33:00 total. Hopefully it really was just the heat that was slowing me down.
PM - 7 miles easy - hamstring curls
Total - 20

Thursday: AM - 9 miles easy - Myrtle core, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 9

Friday: AM - 8 miles w/ strength endurance circuit - abs, hamstring curls - The workout is a Canova one that is a continuous circuit run uphill that consists of: sprint, bounding, sprint, A skips, sprint, heel-to-butts, sprint. Did it 4 times w/ 4:00 jog recovery. Foot had been feeling better, but got back in the lightweight Saucony Kinvaras for this workout... probably would have been OK, except I stepped on a big rock in the center of the ball of my right foot during one of the circuits, so now my metatarsal is aching again. Sha-lame.
PM - 7 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 15

Saturday: AM - 10 miles easy progression - core, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 10

Sunday: Off - Foot bothering me still. Should have gotten on some soft surfaces for a while anyway. The 95 degree heat didn't help the decision, but still, not good.
Total - 0

Summary: 83 miles, 4x core, 5x abs, 6x hamstring curls

Mediocre week. Did some good things (core/abs/hamstring curls), and got some solid work in, but sort of bombed the key workout of the week, the MP reps. Hopefully the foot keeps getting better, and I can get my workouts going OK if I avoid the heat.

Training, June 7 - June 13

2010-06-16T18:25:00.000-05:00

Monday: 10 AM - 9 miles easy - core, abs, hamstring curls - Some soft surface at the Wildlife Sanctuary
6 PM - 10 miles easy - abs, hamstring curls - I think I've bruised a metatarsal head (that, or pinched a nerve). Not sure what from, maybe just too thin of shoes and stepped on a rock or something. Noticed it the last few days, though it's not too bad.
Total - 19

Tuesday: 10 AM - 9 miles easy - abs, hamstring curls
PM - off - Even with a nap, I was super tired
Total - 9

Wednesday: 11 AM - 10 miles w/ workout - core, abs, hamstring curls - 70/70/90 workout where you do two consecutive laps at 70 seconds and one recovery lap at 90 seconds. Plan was to do 4 continuous reps, or 12 laps (4800 m) in 15:20. I felt good on my warmup, but didn't quite have it in me to do the whole workout. Managed 3 reps, then just a 400 in 2:19.6 (1:29.2), 2:21.6 (1:28.2), 2:25.7 (1:29.1), 71.6 = 12:44 for 2.5 miles, or 5:06 pace. OK workout, but I was expecting better.
5 PM - 1 mile easy - My foot issue really flared up, to where I couldn't run w/out a decent amount of pain, so I stopped and walked back home. I think the track work in flats may have aggravated it this morning. No good.
Total - 11

Thursday: Off, foot issue. Not sure exactly what it is. I'm icing and taking some ibuprofen, and hoping it will just sort of go away.
Total - 0

Friday: 10 AM - 10 quality - core, abs, hamstring curls - In Chicago, ran all on grass/gravel. Foot still hurts some, though it's a bit better. Going to just try to get on soft surfaces, take some pain killers, keep icing, and see what happens.
Total - 10

Saturday: 10 AM - 19 quality - Got out for a nice run in the Whitewater Lake area of Wisconsin. Foot felt so-so. Stepped on a big rock a time or two, which made it hurt worse. Got on some good trails for a lot of it... a lot of up and downs. Good run.
Total - 19

Sunday: Off - Rode 24 miles (avg. 18 mph) on the bike with Caroline and Clayton to give the foot a rest.
Total - 0

Summary: 69 miles, 1 workout, 3x core, 5x abs, 5x hamstring curls.

The foot issue notwithstanding, not a bad week. Got on top of some of the extra stuff I need to. The workout Wednesday was a bit of a bust. I think I went out a bit over my head... may need to adjust paces on some planned workouts the next few months to be conservative and make sure I match my fitness.

Training, May 31 - June 6

2010-06-07T15:04:00.000-05:00

Monday: 9 PM - 13 miles quality - Felt a bit like shit after over-eating all holiday weekend.
Total - 13

Tuesday: 10 AM - 10 miles quality - core, abs, hamstring curls - Out to the XC course, solo.
8 PM - 15 miles - 4 mile w/u, strides, then 4 x 2 mile at HMP w/ 3:00 jog rest, 2 mile w/d. Original plan was to do mile repeats at HMP on the track, but a bunch of high schoolers were on it. Switched to the 4 x 2 mile on Woodcrest. Was shooting for 5:10s, but should have adjusted the times based on the hilly route to something more like 5:15s. Poor choice not to, as I died as the workout went on... still managed to finish it though. Times were: 10:15, 10:20, 10:31, 10:51.
Total - 25

Wednesday: 10 AM - 10 miles easy - Solo on campus
5 PM - 5 miles easy - light drills - Ran w/ Tracy and Lindsay
Total - 15

Thursday: 8 PM - 12 miles - Foiled again by high schoolers on the IU track (and by barbed wire surrounding the B-North track). Original plan was to repeat the 32/45s workout I did last week, but to go longer. I ended up working out on the Little 500 track. I should have probably done the same workout just based on effort (since that track is NOT an accurate 400m, and is cinders), but I ended up doing a sprint/float workout instead, where I sprinted (about 95-98% of all-out) the straights and floated on the curves. Gmap pedometer measured the track to figure out that my 16 laps total was actually 4.08 miles, and that my time of 21:39 for the 16 laps was 5:18 pace avg. Solid workout.
Total - 12

Friday: 10 AM - 8 miles easy - Ran w/ Hursh out on E Kerr Creek for my last run in Bloomington
PM - Off. Really should have run, but with travel home, didn't get in until dinner was basically on the table.
Total - 8

Saturday: 10 AM - 11 miles quality
Total - 11

Sunday: 10 AM - 24 miles quality - Did 20 more or less steady followed by some 600m repeats on the track. Original plan was 20 miles steady then 10 x 600m @ HMP w/ 200m jog rest. However, I felt good and really cranked the 20 pretty good (about 5:45/5:50 avg. for the last 14 miles of it), so I didn't have much left for the track portion, especially in the heat. Managed 5 repeats in 1:56, 1:56, 1:57, 1:56, 1:56 (~5:10 pace), w/ the 200m jog rests all in about 50 sec. Good workout.
Total - 24

Summary: 108 miles - 1x core, 1x abs, 1x hamstring curls

The training was pretty solid this week. Not quite as high as I wanted on the mileage (again... though better than last week), but not so bad given three workouts. I really kind of dropped the ball on the extra core work again this week.

Training, May 24 - May 30

2010-06-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

Monday: 6 PM - 18 quality - Very hot, 85 degrees or so, sunny, and humid... (no real end in sight to this whether either). Started easy running with Kate and Lindsay, eventually picked it up pretty good rolling out to Grammercy Park and Griffey, averaging sub-6 for the last half.
Total - 18

Tuesday: 11 AM - 13 quality - Very hot again, ran on the rail trail to clear creek. I can't do this heat thing anymore. I need to get up at 7 a.m., work out, go back to bed and then just run again at like 9 p.m.
9 PM - 9 easy - Ran w/ Hursh after the sun went down. Didn't feel great. Skipped core afterward...very tired.
Total - 22

Wednesday: 8 PM - 12 miles - 10 x 1k @ HMP w/ 200m jog rest - Reps in 3:14, 3:13, 3:13, 3:14, 3:13, 3:13, 3:13, 3:14, 3:14, 3:14 (basically 5:10/mile pace)... rests were about 0:55 - 1:00. Planned 15 reps, but legs were just pretty dead. Not a big shock... still got a good bit out of the workout and was overall pretty happy with it (even though I've had faster tempos for the same distance or longer).
Total - 12

Thursday: 9 AM - 8 easy w/ Hursh on E Kerr Creek
Total - 8

Friday: 10 AM - 6 easy - Felt pretty awful.
8 PM - 9 miles - track work: goal of 8-12 x 200m at mile PR pace (4:17), so 32 seconds, w/ 200m recovery in 45 seconds. Didn't feel great, but got in 10 reps... probably could have pushed through the last two, but it would have been sloppy, and some IU groundsperson was coming to kick me off the track anyway. Times: 31.1 (44.2), 32.9 (46.3), 32.1 (44.5), 32.1 (45.1), 32.0 (45.8), 31.4 (45.5), 31.8 (44.2), 32.6 (44.6), 32.1 (44.7), 32.4 (44.6). Passed the 2 mile mark in 10:15... the 32s felt pretty close to all-out because I'm just not used to this speed stuff yet.
Total - 15

Saturday: 10 AM - 8 easy - Ran around campus. Felt OK, warm like usual now.
Total - 7

Sunday: 9 AM - 12 easy - Ran with Lindsay, planned on adding on after we finished, but was feeling pretty beat up.
Total - 12

Summary: 95 miles - OK week, not great. Got away from the core stuff, which I didn't mean to do...need to get back on it next week. Got a couple of good workouts in, though not quite as good as I'd like. Part of the issue is that I've just put on some weight in the last month or so and need to slim back down. Mileage was down a bit, but with the added stress of workouts, not a huge deal. Still got in a fairly long run on Monday.

Training, May 17 - May 23

2010-05-25T14:38:00.000-05:00

Monday: PM - 13 quality - core, abs, hamstring curls - Out on the XC course, nice run, though the ground was a bit soggy
Total - 13

Tuesday: AM - 9 easy - abs, hamstring curls
PM - 10 easy - strides, light drills
Total - 19

Wednesday: AM - 13 w/ 7 mile progression run on Woodcrest. The plan was to do a 10 mile progression, but it was pretty hot and I got rolling a little quicker than I wanted to early on... also just didn't have a whole lot in the legs today. Splits: 5:44, 5:30, 5:35, 5:28, 5:28, 5:26, 5:20.
PM - 8 easy w/ strides - core, abs, hamstring curls - Ran w/ Tracy
Total - 21

Thursday: AM - 8 easy - abs, hamstring curls - felt pretty awful
Total - 8

Friday: PM - 19 quality - Ran easy to start w/ John out to E Kerr Creek Road... hadn't been out there in a long time, maybe a year and a half. It was pretty gorgeous. Despite the humidity, was just enjoying being outside so much that I just kept rolling around campus for a while, picking up the pace pretty good.
Total - 19

Saturday: AM - 8 easy - abs, hamstring curls - Solo on Rail Trail... felt OK
PM - 9 total, 5 easy into 24 x 100m @ 800 race pace, starting on the minutes (i.e. starting each rep at 1 minute total time, 2 minutes, 3, etc.), 2.5 w/d. John did the first 12 with me. I felt pretty good, so just kept rolling them out. Got this workout from Jenkins... I like it was as a sort of crossover/transition from strides/diagonals to more legit track stuff, which I'll be starting here pretty soon. Could have done the full 30 that the workout eventually calls for, but being that this was the first time trying this, decided to cap it at 24. Every rep was between 14.1 and 14.8, w/ a 14.4 or so average time. That's 1.5 miles of volume at 3:52 1600m pace... probably won't go completely unnoticed by my legs (calves).
Total - 17

Sunday: AM - 18 quality - Suuuuper hot, started at 9:30 a.m., but this just wasn't early enough. 80 degrees by the time I finished. Started the run with John, heading out to N Maple loop again, but he had to turn back w/ some injury concerns. Had a pretty rough go of it... legs feeling last night's light workout.

Summary: 115 total - 2x core, 5x abs, 5x hamstring curls

Finally getting back on track. Solid mileage, some core work, and a few extras, plus 2 workouts, which both went fairly well. Need to keep this trend going.

Training, May 10 - May 16

2010-05-25T13:57:00.000-05:00

Monday: AM - 10 quality
PM - 6 easy - w/ Tracy and Lindsay
Total - 16

Tuesday: AM - 10 quality
PM - 5 easy w/ 6x short hills - Ran with Tracy and Lindsay again
Total - 15

Wednesday: PM - 7 easy - w/ Beth and Tracy
Total - 7

Thursday: AM - 12 miles, attempted workout... Planned on doing 3 or 4 sets of 2 miles at HMP w/ an easy 1 minute jog between. Got in the first repeat OK, doing about 5:10s, second repeat, was just holding on at the end and still ran a 5:30 second mile. No good, so I bailed. It was hot and humid, which couldn't have helped matters, but I still just don't feel like I really have my legs back under me since that horrible month of sickness.
Total - 12

Friday: AM - 9 miles, got in an unplanned progression/tempo. Rolled 7+ miles in about 5:35s average.
PM - 9 quality - abs, hamstring curls - Ran with John
Total - 18

Saturday: AM - 9 easy
Total - 9

Sunday: AM - 18 quality - abs, hamstring curls - Ran w/ John out on N Maple St loop from my house
Total - 18

Summary: 95 miles, 2x abs, 2x hamstring curls

Toward the end of the week, finally started to get my legs back under me. Got a nice little progression/tempo in, started to get some abs/hamstring curls back in the mix, and the mileage wasn't too bad.

Training, May 3 - May 9

2010-05-25T12:36:00.000-05:00

Monday: 8 quality - Still feeling a little sick.

Tuesday: 11 quality

Wednesday: 9 quality

Thursday: 9 quality

Friday: 11 quality

Saturday: 6 easy w/ the sister and bro-in-law before graduation

Sunday: 9 quality w/ Hursh

Summary: 63 miles total

Was still a bit sick this week and just really struggling while getting my final law school graduation requirements taken care of. Not a good week.

Training, Apr. 26 - May 2

2010-05-03T14:16:00.000-05:00

Monday: 4 PM - 8 quality - In San Diego. Still sick, though energy levels are higher.
Total - 8

Tuesday: 10 AM - 11, w/ 3 mile HMP tempo - Still sick, but I felt like I needed to get in something at race pace for the Illinois Half Marathon coming up on Saturday. 4+ mi w/u, tempo in 5:05, 5:09, 5:05 = 15:20 on the track (4800 meters). Felt OK, not great, not terrible. 4+ mi w/d.
Total - 11

Wednesday: 9 AM - 9 quality - abs, hamstring curls, light core. I keep planning on doubling, but then I'm super tired in the evenings. While I'm not as sick as last week, it's still affecting me some.
Total - 9

Thursday: Noon - 7 easy - abs, hamstring curls
Total - 7

Friday: 8 AM - 5 easy - Travel back to the Midwest and to Champaign in the afternoon/evening. Flight delayed, didn't actually make it to C-U until about 10 p.m.
Total - 5

Saturday: 7 AM - 17 miles, Race Illinois Half Marathon in Champaign-Urbana. Ran 1:12:21. Obviously a pretty awful race, given that I ran 3 minutes faster a month ago on a challenging, hilly course in Bloomington. Basically, (a) I was still sick after two weeks... and (b) after 5 hours of delayed flights, I got into Champaign at 1 a.m. Saturday morning, slept maybe 5 hours and then raced. Factor in humidity and some strong winds, and I just felt terrible and died. Not a good situation, though I know that it's not really indicative of my fitness. I've had a pretty rough last three weeks. Next week isn't looking to be great as I have a number of graduation requirements to finish up (graduating one week from today from law school). Hopefully I'll finally get healthy and after that week be able to get some solid training in.
Total - 17

Sunday: 11 AM - 9 miles quality - abs, hamstring curls
5 PM - 4 miles easy - Felt awful, and still sick.
Total - 13

Summary: 71 miles - 1x core, 3x abs, 3x hamstring curls

Frustrating week due to just not being healthy still, and also because of the shitty race. Hoping things get better soon.

Training, Apr. 19 - Apr. 25

2010-05-03T14:10:00.000-05:00

Monday: 10 AM - 10 quality - core, abs, hamstring curls - Woke up with a sore throat, hoping to zap it.
7 PM - 8 easy - Ran w/ John, pretty damn tired.
Total - 18

Tuesday: 10 AM - 6 easy - Sick, decided not to double.
Total - 6

Wednesday: 10 AM - 8 easy - abs, hamstring curls
5 PM - 6 easy - Still sick.
Total - 14

Thursday: 10 AM - 6 easy - Still sick, couldn't run through it like I was hoping. Gonna back off a bit... learning the hard way.
Total - 6

Friday: 5 PM - 8 easy - Ran w/ the roomy (Kate), Lindsay, Tracy, and Sonni* on the rail trail. Yup, still sick.
Total - 8

Saturday: 4 easy - Ran w/ John. Sick.

Sunday: 11 AM - 6 easy - Still sick. Post-run, flying out to San Diego to visit Eva for a week.
Total -6

Summary: 62 miles - 1x core, 2x abs, 2x hamstring curls

Pretty awful week. Sick the whole time, and no real signs of improvement.

Training, Apr. 12 - Apr. 18

2010-05-03T14:07:00.000-05:00

Monday: 11 AM - 17 quality - hamstring curls - Great run out in the country -- beautiful day.
7 PM - 5 easy - Napped in the afternoon, but still felt awful (only 8 hours sleep last night... not enough for me). Did a real easy run w/ Kate, Beth, Tracy, and John. NEED MORE SLEEP!
Total - 22

Tuesday: Noon - 10 quality - Still didn't sleep enough, was tired and feeling kinda shitty on the run.
7 PM - 8 easy w/ 6x short hills - Ran with John. 6 hills were all I could manage... just damn tired.
Total - 18

Wednesday: 11 AM - 10 miles - Failed tempo run. I was hoping I was feeling better, and went out to do a HMP tempo on Woodcrest. Hit 5:05, 5:10, 5:13 and was barely holding on, so I called it. A little depressing. Just haven't been getting enough sleep w/ school work, and I'm worn out!
Total - 10

Thursday: 10 AM - 4 miles easy - Just dead.
Total - 4

Friday: 10 AM - 6 miles easy
5 PM - 9 miles quality
Total - 15

Saturday: 11 AM - 9 miles quality - abs, hamstring curls
6 PM - 6 miles easy
Total - 15

Sunday: 4 PM - 12 miles quality - On trails w/ John and a random guy we met up with. Felt pretty shitty by the end of the 12, so decided to cut the long run.
Total - 12

Summary: 96 miles - 2x abs, 3x hamstring curls

Not a great week. Mileage wasn't awful, but felt like crap and dropped a workout, some ancillary work, and plenty of miles due to just being tired and overworked. School's really pissing me off.

Training, Apr. 5 - Apr. 11

2010-04-13T13:10:00.001-05:00

Monday: 10 AM - 10 quality - abs
Total - 10

Tuesday: 10 AM - 13 quality - Actually turned into sort of a light tempo, as I was rolling probably 5:40s effort on trails.
4 PM - 6 easy w/ drills - abs, hamstring curls
Total - 19

Wednesday: 10 AM - 13 w/ long hill repeats - abs, hamstring curls - This was my first time trying this workout. I'll be repeating it four more times in the next six weeks. It consists of longer (2-4 min) hill repeats w/ jog down rest, shooting for 15 minutes of total uphill reps. You basically run them all-out. The main purpose is to increase oxygen uptake, or VO2 max. They also help develop one's capacity to eliminate lactate on the recovery jog, and there is a significant muscular strength portion due to the hills as well. Today, I did 5 repeats in 1:35, 1:40, 1:45, 1:44, 1:42, so a little over 8 minutes of volume. I really did the workout wrong due to a poor choice of hill. The hill I chose was too short and too steep. As such, I couldn't get in the right volume of work, and the efforts were difficult to control. I've already got a new hill (about 3/4 mile or just short of it) picked out for next time. Still got an OK workout out of the deal, but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for.
PM - 6 easy w/ drills - core, king deadlifts, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 19

Thursday: 10 AM - 10 quality - Ran with John on trails.
Total - 10

Friday: 1 PM - 21 quality - Ran mostly on trails, great run.
Total - 21

Saturday: 10 AM - 11 quality w/ 10x short hills - core, abs, hamstring curls
5 PM - 7 easy w/ 4 sets of diagonals - abs, hamstring curls
Total - 18

Sunday: 11 easy - abs, hamstring curls - Planned on more of a medium-long run, but didn't get enough sleep last night and was pretty beat.
Total - 11

Summary: 108 miles, 2x core, 7x abs, 6x hamstring curls

Solid (but not great) week. I was hoping for more in the 120-130 range on the miles...gotta get those up here eventually. I've only got about 2 months left of "base." Rather, it's all kind of fluid as I shift toward more workouts, but the point is that the focus will be less on mileage and more on recovery in the future, so I need to make sure to get the miles in now. I was better about abs/hamstring curls, but still not getting the core work in quite frequently enough. A lot of that (and the lower mileage) is due to just not getting enough rest. The school situation should only get better from here on, which is encouraging. Got in all the supplementary work I wanted to except for hill springing/bounding.

Training, Mar. 29 - Apr. 4

2010-04-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

Monday: 10 AM - 6 easy
Total - 6

Tuesday: 10 AM - 8 easy - abs, hamstring curls - Rail trail run. I've got a very busy week, and it's a planned down week anyway with the IU Mini Marathon on Saturday. I still originally planned on getting about 100 miles, but I'm not going to, as I don't really have time to be doubling this week.
Total - 8

Wednesday: 11 AM - 10 easy, w/ 8x short hill sprints - Myrtle core, king deadlifts, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 10

Thursday: 10 AM - 6 easy, w/ a few easy strides - abs, hamstring curls - Rail trail.
Total - 6

Friday: Noon - 6 easy, w/ a few easy strides
Total - 6

Saturday: 8 AM - 15 quality - IU Mini Marathon race, 1:09:22, 2nd place. 2 mile easy warmup, no real cooldown, as it was raining/getting very cold... just headed inside. As for the race, I'm fairly happy with it. This is a tough course, and I have no doubt that I'm currently in better shape than my half marathon PR of 1:08:45. I was out a bit late last night for a cast party for a play I directed, so had some sluggish legs. Even so, got a good effort in. Opened with a 5:30 mile, then let loose down a hill a bit, and nobody went with me. So I led from 1 mile to 10 miles, opening a gap of about 30 seconds by mile 7. Stephen Haas and Mark Fruin then started to real me in, Haas catching me around 10 miles. We ran together most the rest of the way, with him dropping me with about 1200 m to go. He ran 1:09:16 for the W. These guys weren't going all out, but I still made it a little more difficult for them, and was able to pick up $400 for the 2nd place effort.
6 PM - 4 easy/regeneration - abs, hamstring curls
Total - 19

Sunday: 11 AM - 8 easy - abs
Total - 8

Summary: 63 miles - 1x core, 4x hamstring curls, 5x abs

OK with the week given how busy I was with school. Just accepted that the mileage would be low and went with it. The race went alright. I'm starting to get into pretty decent shape, and will be looking to pop a significant PR at the C-U half marathon in Champaign next month. Despite some down weeks here and there due to sickness and my schedule, I've averaged 95 miles a week for the last 24 weeks--nearly half a year. I think the highest yearly average I've ever had is something like 76 or 78 miles a week. So clearly, these last 6 months have been a step up in volume, and I'm getting fitter because of it.

Training, Mar. 22 - Mar. 28

2010-03-30T10:21:00.000-05:00

Monday: 10 AM - 8 easy w/ 8 mins hill springing/bounding - Myrtle core, abs, hamstring curls
7 PM - 10 quality - Ran with John.
Total - 18

Tuesday: 10 AM - 10 quality - Felt crappy, didn't get enough sleep. I'm having a hard time re-adjusting to east coast time after being out in California.
7 PM - 5 easy w/ 4 sets of diagonals - hamstring curls
Total - 15

Wednesday: 3 PM - 4 easy - abs - Felt just absolutely dead. Total crap.
Total - 4

Thursday: 3 PM - 12 quality w/ 7 mile tempo - Had a great workout. Decided to shorten my usual 10 mile progression/tempo to 6 miles at HMP, just to get a bit of specific work in before the IU Mini (half marathon) in 9 days. My hope was to run 5:15s for 6 miles on my normal hilly tempo route. It was raining and gusting pretty strong winds, making things more difficult. But I got rolling and felt very good, doing 7 miles instead in 35:57, or 5:08 pace, with the following splits: 5:06, 5:08, 5:04, 5:07, 5:09, 5:14, 5:05. The time of the run itself was, of course, encouraging--especially given the conditions. But what really excites me is how easy 5:05 pace felt when I wasn't running uphill or into the wind. On the few flat stretches, that pace just felt like cruising, and I was barely breathing. It felt like about half marathon pace. Which makes me think I'm nearly in shape to go sub-1:07 on a flat course right now.
Total - 12

Friday: 10 AM - 8 easy w/ 6 sets of diagonals
6 PM - 8 easy w/ 10x short hills
Total - 16

Saturday: 8 AM - 5 easy
Total - 5

Sunday: 10 AM - 30 quality - Did the Boltinghouse loop with John plus extra. Another over-distance run, like the one I did three weeks ago. Didn't have it in my legs (not enough sleep most of the week leaving me tired) to cut it down this time, but still averaged about 6:50s for the whole thing over some pretty outrageous terrain.
Total - 30

Summary: 100 miles, 1x core, 2x abs, 2x hamstring curls

A mediocre week overall. I got in most of the supplementary work, but missed one hill session and drills. I also still didn't get on top of core 3-4+ times like I want. It was really all a matter of not being well-rested. I did as much work this week as my body could handle, given my schedule, so I guess I have to accept that. The tempo was particularly encouraging. In addition to the Chicago Marathon this fall (where my initial plan was to qualify for the 2012 Olympic marathon trials), I'm doing the Rock 'n' Roll Chicago Half Marathon in August. I will be doing a proper buildup for that race, and recently, I've been thinking that sub-1:05 is a possibility there (4:57 pace). That would also qualify me for the trials... and further, it would take the pressure off for the marathon, so I could just let it rip. After the tempo this week, that 1:04:59 or better goal for August seems like a real possibility. I just need things to keep progressing in the right direction.

Next week is a down week, with the IU Mini on Saturday. Mileage will probably be pretty low, as I'm crazy busy with school and a play that I'm directing at the law school. Will probably be sleep deprived too... just gonna do the best I can with it and hope I'm not too tired on race day.

Training, Mar. 15 - Mar. 21

2010-03-23T08:57:00.000-05:00

Monday: 11 AM - 10 quality - In San Diego all week, warm and sunny.
5 PM - 6 easy, w/ 7 sets of diagonals - Myrtle core, king deadlifts, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 16

Tuesday: 10 AM - 13 quality - abs - Nearly 80 degrees out and sunny, I was baking!
Total - 13

Wednesday: 9 AM - 16 quality, w/ 10 mile tempo/progression - It was another 80 degree day, so I tried to get going early. 10 mile tempo "effort" at about 5:30-5:40 pace on the oceanfront. Didn't make it out for an afternoon run, as I was drinking a lot of Guinness (St. Paddy's Day!). This will make it a bit tougher to hit my mileage goals.
Total - 16

Thursday: 9 AM - 11 easy, w/ drills, 6 mins hill springing/bounding - Myrtle core, king deadlifts, abs, hamstring curls - With singles the last two days, I'm left trying to "make up" the supplementary work I missed. Hence both the drills and hill springing/bounding. Going to get short hill sprints in the evening.
4 PM - 10 easy, w/ 2 x 6 short hills

Friday: 9 AM - 18 quality
Total - 18

Saturday: 6 AM - 10 quality, w/ 4 sets diagonals - Ran early before travel home, got in an abbreviated set of diagonals. Travel the rest of the day, no time for doubling.
Total - 10

Sunday: 10 AM - 10 quality - abs, hamstring curls - In Chicago before heading back to Bloomington.
Total - 10

Summary: 104 miles, 2x core, 3x hamstring curls, 4x abs

Not a bad week, though not a great week either. I was hoping for a bit more mileage and bit more core work. That said, I got in mostly quality running and most of the other supplementary work. Travel made things a bit tough.

Training, Mar. 8 - Mar. 14

2010-03-15T13:18:00.000-05:00

Monday: Noon - 6 easy - Beautiful weather, ran really easy on the rail trail. Legs felt pretty awkward. Kind of planned on doubling, but it didn't end up happening. It will be hard to get good mileage in on the week with just 6 miles today, but I probably could use the recovery. Only got about 8 hours of sleep, which, of course, was not near enough to recover from a hard 30 miles.
Total - 6

Tuesday: 10 AM - 8 easy, w/ 6 mins hill springing/bounding - Myrtle core, abs, hamstring curls, king deadlifts, pullups - Solo on rail trail, feeling pretty drained, but still managed to get the springing/bounding in
7 PM - 11 mostly quality, w/ 6 sets of diagonals - Ran the first few miles easy with Liz, then John and I ran out to the XC course and got in diagonals
Total - 19

Wednesday: 10 AM - 15 quality - 10 mile progression run on hilly Woodcrest route, w/ 3 mi w/u, 2 mi w/d. Intended to more or less just do a steady 5:45 pace tempo, but ended up gradually picking it up a bit. Splits were: 5:54, 5:45, 5:43, 5:40, 5:34, 5:36, 5:25, 5:30, 5:38, 5:10 for 55:59 total, or 5:36 pace. Given how tired my legs were from all the work yesterday and the 30 miler three days ago, I was pretty happy with this run.
Total - 15

Thursday: 11 AM - 10 quality - abs, hamstring curls - Ran out on the XC course and trails
4 PM - 7 quality, w/ 10x short hills - Ran with John on trails in the pouring rain. Got in a set of short hills. Planned on two sets, but my legs were pretty tired, and I didn't quite feel up to it. But I felt the strongest I have yet on the 10 reps, so I should be ready to start cranking out two sets next week.
Total - 17

Friday: 2 PM - 11 quality, w/ 6 sets of diagonals - Myrtle core, abs, hamstring curls, king deadlifts, pullups - Travel up to Chicago in the morning, only had time for one run.
Total - 11

Saturday: 10 AM - 22 quality - abs, hamstring curls - St. Paddy's day celebration in Chicago, did my long run decked out in Irish colors. The weather was pretty crappy, but it was still a pretty good run, around 6 flats or better for most of it. Ran into Eric Wallor (an old U of I teammate) on the lakefront path, and we joined each other for a few miles. He's pretty fit, doing marathon training, and hopefully we can train together some once I'm up in Chicago for good.
Total - 22

Sunday: 1 PM - 10 easy, w/ drills - pullups - Dead tired. Hadn't been getting the best sleep all week, but then got 5 hours last night (after a long run no less) before an early flight to San Diego for my spring break. Ran an easy 10 including a mile of barefoot running. Added drills to my week for the first time in a while, which consisted of: ankle pops, butt kicks, springing, bounding, side-to-sides, A skips, B skips, and a few "A-runs" transitioning into a stride.
Total - 10

Summary: 100 miles, 2x core, 4x abs/hamstring curls

I was pretty happy with the week, given the traveling difficulties. The mileage was so-so due to travel, but I got in 5 days of supplementary work of some kind, plus two days of core. This latter needs to come up, as does the mileage. Next week should be easier though, as I'm on spring break. Gonna shoot for 130 miles or so, 3 or 4 times core, and 6 days of supplementary work (which is the full amount I want to be doing in my base phase: 2 days of diagonals, 2 days of short hills, 1 day of hill springing/bounding, and 1 day of drills).

Training, Mar. 1 - Mar. 7

2010-03-09T08:29:00.000-06:00

Monday: Noon - 20 quality - Cut the long run short yesterday, and moved it to today. Solo, did 20 miles around campus, mostly on Woodcrest. First 10 were 6:30 avg., second 10 were 5:45 avg., in what turned into a nice little tempo/progression
Total - 20

Tuesday: Noon - 6 easy, w/ 5 sets of diagonals - Myrtle core + king deadlifts, abs, hamstring curls - Felt pretty tired from yesterday's run, but the strides felt good.
7 PM - 10 quality - Ran with John out on the XC course. The weather is starting to creep toward decent.
Total - 16

Wednesday: 10 AM - 10 easy - Solo.
Total - 10

Thursday: 11 AM - 8 easy - Solo on rail trail, felt pretty tired still...haven't been getting good enough sleep.
4 PM - 6 easy, w/ 8x short hills - Ran with John. Felt awful, but got the hills in.
Total - 14

Friday: 5 PM - 10 easy, w/ 5 mins hill springing/bounding - abs, hamstring curls - Ran pretty slow w/ a big group. Finished up back at the house and got a little springing/bounding in. Glad to get back on that, so I can build it back up.
Total - 10

Saturday: 1 PM - 12 quality, w/ 5 sets diagonals - abs, hamstring curls, king deadlifts - Ran with John post-MPRE test, beautiful day, stopped at Dunn Meadow for the diagonals.
Total - 12

Sunday: 10 AM - 30 quality - Ran the Boltinghouse loop from the house, met up with John for 17 of it, then swung into a Woodcrest loop. I plan on doing about 3 or 4 overdistance, 30+ mile runs over the next 3 months or so. This was the first attempt, which went quite well. My legs didn't feel great (not quite enough sleep, and maybe a bit too much work yesterday), but after the first 21 miles or so in about 7:00 pace (over some very difficult terrain), started dropping the pace in a nice progression run. Had splits for the 23rd through 28th miles, which were: 6:11, 6:06, 5:57, 5:44, 5:36, 5:13. I was in extremis on this last mile, but I was glad to be able to cut this down to MP or under. Cooled down the last two miles back to the house. The quick part brought the average pace down a bit, hit 3 hours, 25 minutes for the whole run. The point of doing these overdistance runs is to really use up all muscle fibers and available energy sources. This kind of training tool is one that will help teach the body to burn fuel efficiently (i.e. with a greater percentage of fat) for the marathon. See Kenny Moore, and his 36 milers (30 easy, 6 at MP).
Total - 30

Summary: 112 miles, 1x Myrtle core, 3x abs, 3x hamstring curls

I was pretty happy with the week overall. Mileage was a hair under what I wanted, but I just needed a little more rest than I anticipated mid-week. Was glad to get on the supplementary work pretty well. Had four days with extra work (2 w/ diagonals, hill springing/bounding, and short hills). Need to keep that up, and also get the core up there too, as I adjust to the work volume.

Training, Feb. 22 - Feb. 28

2010-03-01T19:16:00.000-06:00

Monday: 7 PM - 6 easy - Dead legs from yesterday's 24+ long run.
Total - 6

Tuesday: 10 AM - 4 easy - Felt terrible still, cut it short. I think 24+ was a bit too much on the long run... taking too long to recover. Also, haven't been sleeping enough with a bunch of papers due this week.
7 PM - 10 quality - Ran with Beth for a few miles and John.
Total - 14

Wednesday: 4 PM - 8 easy - Ran most of it with Beth.
Total - 8

Thursday: 4 PM - 8 easy, w/ 5 sets of diagonals
Total - 8

Friday: 5 PM - 10 quality, w/ 1x 10 short hills - With John.
Total - 10

Saturday: 2 PM - 8 quality - Ran with Justin, who was visiting, and John.
Total - 8

Sunday: 11 AM - 13 quality - Planned long run with John. We were on some tough terrain south of town and both felt like crap, so decided to cut it short. Gonna push the long run back to tomorrow.
Total - 13

Summary: 67 miles

Not a good week. A number of factors... too long of a long run last week slowed me down early, and I had friends visiting later in the week. Also, cutting the long run really hurt the total. Hopefully next week will be better.

Training, Feb. 15 - Feb. 21

2010-03-01T19:01:00.000-06:00

Monday: 10 AM - 11 quality
7 PM - 8 easy
Total - 19

Tuesday: 10 AM - 12 quality - Snowy, ran in the woods.
7 PM - 9 easy
Total - 21

Wednesday: 10 AM - 15 quality, w/ 10 mile light tempo - 58:45 over Hillcrest + Frat Loop route. Felt pretty rough, but the effort was good.
7 PM - 9 easy - Ran with John, felt pretty awful.
Total - 24

Thursday: 10 AM - 4 easy - Have been pushing too hard the last few days. Body was breaking down and I need to take a real down day.
Total - 4

Friday: 5 PM - 10 quality, w/ 8x short hills - With John.
Total - 10

Saturday: 4 PM - 11 quality, w/ 4 sets diagonals
Total - 11

Sunday: 11 AM - 24+ quality - Tough run out on Boltinghouse loop from my house, about 24.5 miles. Averaged 6:40s
Total - 24

Summary: 113 miles

An OK week. Glad to have the mileage back at a decent level. I tried jumping back to full volume a bit too quickly and paid for it mid-week. Was lax about getting back into core. Need to get back to that. It's so much easier once you have that going consistently to keep it up.

Heat, Hills, and Humidity - El Maraton San Blas

2010-02-16T18:43:00.004-06:00

During a recent semester studying abroad in Germany, I received an email from my old high school teammate Paul Rollet, asking if I was interested in doing a half marathon in Puerto Rico in February. He said it would all be paid for, but that he needed to know ASAP. About 30 seconds later, my response went out—an unequivocal yes. I’m not yet a good enough runner to be receiving regular invitations to races around the world. As such, I figured I’d better take the opportunity when presented, school or no school (I am currently finishing up my last semester in law school). I googled “Puerto Rico half marathon February” to figure out that this was the Medio Maratón San Blas, a historical and apparently quite difficult half marathon. After a brief series of phone calls in January with my contact to the race, I finally was able to secure my plane ticket, though my name for the ticket and the race was entered as Mathew Alan Flaheney (an alternate personality which I embraced on the trip, as I was announced as “Mathew Alan Flaheney” multiple times and signed my meal ticket and race entry form as such).

My fellow traveler was Brian Runyon, a 2003 Ball State graduate, 4:06 miler, and business teacher at Schaumburg High School near Chicago. Communicating via text, I knew we’d be arriving at O’Hare at about the same time on the Thursday afternoon of our flight. He wasn’t hard to pick out of the hundred or so people in the security line—tall, lanky, shaggy hair, and wearing an Adidas track jacket, looking vaguely like Ryan Hall. “Brian?” “Yeah, hey man, how’s it going?” At our gate, we exchanged the usual information of runners meeting for the first time: college, PRs, favorite race distance (Brian’s a miler, I’m a marathoner), current training, etc.

Things were gratefully simple upon arrival in San Juan, as we quickly found a man with a “Maratón San Blas” badge ready to drive us to wherever it was we’d be staying. There were four other runners waiting in the van: two Peruvians; a friendly Moroccan named Mohamed who trains in Albuquerque; and a Kenyan named Patrick Nthiwa, sleeping in the back seat. In three days time, Patrick would take down James Kwambai, the second-fastest* marathoner on the planet, in the most difficult footrace I have ever run. But more on that later.

It was 11:45 p.m. by the time we got to the Albergue Olimpico training center where we would be staying for the next four days. We all quickly received our room assignments and were told that the door would be unlocked for us, but that other runners would already be asleep inside. Brian and I went in the “second door on the left, second level” as instructed, stumbled into a hot, dark room, accidentally woke some groggy athletes, scrambled onto some top bunks, and fell asleep. Early the next morning, several of our roommates were giving us odd looks, like we were intruding into their space (they didn’t seem to speak English, and Brian’s and my Spanish is embarrassingly bad). By the afternoon, we had figured out why. This was the Puerto Rican team’s quarters, and apparently a semi-permanent home to them—weeks’ worth of clothes hanging, coffee machines plugged in, etc. Turns out we were first door on the left, second level.

We met our new roommates a short time later: a talkative Bolivian-American named Jhonny, who had run in the ’84 Olympic Marathon for Bolivia; a laidback Brazilian-American named Ednaldo; and Ridouane Harroufi, another Albuquerque-based Moroccan, who I've personally witnessed win the Steamboat Classic the last two years in a row. The other runners there for the race were mostly from around the Americas and Africa. There were about ten Kenyans, accompanied by their famed Italian coach, Gabriele Rosa. I couldn’t help but be in awe of Rosa as well as James Kwambai, whom I recognized immediately from having watched his marathons in Rotterdam and Berlin. I’ve met a number of Kenyan distance runners in the past, but man, were these guys skinny. They made my post-holidays diet plans seem more of an imperative.

Days at the training center were pretty simple. Run, eat, lay around, run, eat, lay around some more . . . or in my case, write a paper that was due on Monday. There were a few other groups of athletes staying at the training center (badminton and volleyball players, swimmers), plus one other group, with which us skinny distance runners contrasted sharply—the cast of the Puerto Rican reality TV show, Transformación Total. This is basically an equivalent to The Biggest Loser show in the U.S., but without the demeaning title.

Things started to pick up a bit on Saturday, as we went to a press conference in Coamo in the early afternoon. The race organizers were proud of the race’s multicultural dimension, with 24 countries represented. Brian’s and my place among such elite company was beginning to make sense—we were the Estados Unidos contingent. The seven or so senior organizers all spoke a few words about the race from their seats on stage—the depth and diversity of the field, the race’s history, the difficulty of the course. They were accompanied by a young Puerto Rican beauty queen whom I took to be Miss Coamo (she would accompany all of the official race festivities). The thirty or so runners in our “elite” group were announced by country of origin before all of the reporters made a bee-line for Kwambai, last year’s winner. Meanwhile, the rest of us got complimentary bags, the drawstring kind commonly handed out at races. These types of bags are usually stuffed with a tee-shirt, a few pens, and a dozen coupons or advertisements. Our bags however, had two items: a 12-pack of oatmeal cream pies and a bag of dinner rolls, compliments of race sponsor Pan Pepín.

Saturday night was more entertaining yet. We were headed to the pre-race festival in Coamo, which was taking place in a large stadium filled with fair-type vendors selling food and beer. For the twenty mile drive to the stadium, we had our usual police escort (in fact, we even had a police escort for the quarter mile drive down the hill from the dorms to a catered dinner Friday night). This time, we needed it, as traffic was a mess. Between the police and a manic, horn-happy bus driver, we made it in no time. There were probably a few thousand people attending the festival, which featured several top Latin singers, a presentation of the athletes, a flag raising ceremony, an Olympic-style torch lighting, fireworks, and plenty of dancing. Each country’s athletes were paraded across stage and up through the stands to the flagpoles ringing the top of the stadium for the raising of las banderas. Brian and I were guided by a local high school student named Giselle, who spoke almost as little English as we did Spanish. We found ways to roughly communicate, Giselle asking if we were on Facebook and expressing her distaste for one of the singers on stage. I explained which runner Kwambai was and that he was “numero dos en todo tiempo en el maratón.” She told us she would cheer for us the next day (among the reported 250,000 spectators) as we parted ways for a snack of plantains and the bus ride back to our dorms.

The race on Sunday didn’t take place until 4:30 p.m. Apparently, running in the early morning is actually worse on runners, as the humidity is higher then and it is still quite hot. However, I couldn’t help but question this logic as we lined up a few kilometers outside of Coamo in 90 degree heat and 70 percent humidity under a blazing Caribbean sun. Brian and I lined up about three people deep at the start, and about 15 seconds before the gun went off, I noticed that Kwambai was standing over my left shoulder. We made sure to quickly shuffle him to the front. It was a good thing, as I heard the lead pack went out in 2:30 for the first kilometer. That’s 4:02 mile pace, and honestly, I could believe it, as the course was fairly downhill, and those guys took off like crazy.

I kept a more modest 5:20 pace through the relatively-downhill first 5 kilometers. Even this turned out to be a little aggressive however. There were a number of significant uphills from 5k to 11k, and my legs started to get heavy with fatigue as my pace slowed slightly. The heat certainly wasn’t helping matters. But the real challenge was only beginning, as the course starts a long climb around 11k, culminating somewhere just short of 14k. I had to have been running 7:30 miles up this hill at best. It was incredibly difficult, but amazingly, no one passed me on it.

As I crested the top of the hill, a runner from the Dominican Republic, whom I had met briefly in the previous few days, shot by me. He looked at me for a split second, stuck a thumb pointing backward over his shoulder and said, “Women!” Though I hadn’t been passed on the massive climb, the women’s leaders had nevertheless been steadily gaining ground. We flew down the hill, and I knew my legs would be paying the price in the last few kilometers. The descent took us through 16 kilometers.

The last 5.1 kilometers are a blur. I remember thinking, “How on earth am I going to make it through another three miles?” The group of three lead women passed me and kept on rolling. I was just trying to maintain some sort of mental contact with the Puerto Rican runner 100 meters in front of me. From 17k to 18k, two more women passed me, Carolina Tabares from Colombia and Workitu Ayanu from Ethiopia. I tried to convince myself that the 2.1 kilometers remaining was really just like running a hard mile as I picked up my pace. I was ultimately able to pass both women and the Puerto Rican man I had been chasing. However, I timed my “kick” (or whatever I had left in me by this point) poorly, as I really started to make my final push before I could see the finish line. As it turned out, I still had about 800 meters remaining.

The final stretch of the course tours the warning track of a baseball stadium before shooting down the first baseline to the finish. These last 300 meters were pure gasping, form-failing hell. I was able to hold off Carolina by two seconds, but I paid for it. Collapsing and then stumbling to the medical tent, my head was spinning. As race volunteers were asking repeatedly if I was OK, I couldn’t help thinking of a scene from John L. Parker’s Once A Runner, after protagonist Quenton Cassidy has suffered through a particularly brutal finish in a cross country race. Cassidy’s teammate responds to the same question, “Sure hell, he’s all right, he’s just run himself a race is all.” In the end, I finished 32^nd in 1:16:18. When Brian came through a few minutes later, he looked as bad as I felt.

Up front, Patrick Nthiwa gradually pulled away from James Kwambai over the last few kilometers, posting a very impressive time of 1:02:50. When you see times like 1:02 for the leaders, it’s hard to appreciate how hard the course really is. But these are guys who routinely run 58 or 59 minutes for “normal” half marathons. The course record of 1:02:10 was set by Philip Tarus of Kenya in 1999. Former marathon world record holder Khalid Kannouchi has won the race four times, with a best of 1:03:29. Four-time Olympic gold medalist Lasse Virren won in 1974 with a 1:06:17. Bill Rodgers lost a tough battle to the incredible Henry Rono in 1978, 1:04:46 to 1:04:55.

The atmosphere during the race was wonderful. This race is an event. People camp out the night before to have a good spot to watch, something I can scarcely imagine in the United States. In what I deemed a fitting contrast to the U.S.—as it was Super Bowl Sunday back home—people tailgate all day long. For a footrace. Nearly the entire course is lined with spectators. I’m reminded of pictures of the Boston Marathon from the seventies, where the leaders are essentially running through a tunnel of spectators, maybe three or four feet wide. People are grilling out, drinking beer, and cheering like crazy. The cheer most often heard is “Vamos! Vamos! Vamos!” However, Brian and I got a few . . . more interesting comments. I heard “papi” and “papito” a lot, “lindo” and “Americano!” I even heard “blanco” a few times. But the one word I heard even more than “vamos” was “gringo.” “Ayyy GRINGO! Vamos!” echoed through my head throughout the race.

That evening, in addition to the usual post-race dead legs, I had a headache and felt like someone had just punched me in the stomach. My misery notwithstanding, we had a nice post-race dinner during the presentation of awards and prize money before finally making our way back to the training center. The following morning Brian and I enjoyed one last run in warm weather before heading back to San Juan and on to Chicago.

I left Puerto Rico with new friends, a newfound respect for heat and hills, and a renewed hunger to train my butt off, even in a Midwest winter. But mostly, I left having had a lot of plain fun. If only every race could be such a wonderful experience.

* Technically speaking, Kwambai’s time of 2:04:27 in the 2009 Rotterdam Marathon ranks third on the all-time list, as he was edged by fellow Kenyan Duncan Kibet, who also ran 2:04:27. But I’m willing to call them both second best all-time.

Training, Feb. 8 - Feb. 14

2010-02-15T14:10:00.002-06:00

Monday: 11 AM - 6+ easy - Last run in Puerto Rico, ran with Brian.
PM - Travel back Bloomington.
Total - 6

Tuesday: 10 AM - 9 easy - Big contrast coming back to a snow-covered Bloomington.
7 PM - 8 easy - With John.
Total - 17

Wednesday: 10 AM - 9 easy
7 PM - 8 easy/quality - First 3 easy with John and Beth Rosenbarger, last 5 quicker with John. Waiting on core and stuff until my quads finally get rid of their soreness.
Total - 17

Thursday: No run, sick, sore throat. Playing it safe. With the last week of travel, some long days, short nights, etc., I'm not too surprised that a cold popped up.

Friday: Off, sick.

Saturday: Off, sick. Probably should have gotten in an easy 4 or 5 today as I was starting to feel better, but I had a ton of school work and wanted to make sure I was recovered.

Sunday: 11 AM - 20 quality - First 14 with John out on Maple Street loop a little easier (7 min pace)--ran into my housemate Caroline on the bike too--then a 6 mile campus loop solo, dropping it pretty hard, 6 flats down to about 5:20s by the end. Good run.
Total - 20

Summary: 60 miles

Obviously, I'm not happy with the fact that I got sick and missed a lot of miles, but I got over it pretty quick and am pretty much back to normal now. Next week, I'll hopefully finally be able to put in the kind of miles I want to be putting in. I haven't been able to for like the whole last 7 week due to sickness and racing.

Training, Feb. 1 - Feb. 7

2010-02-11T07:14:00.000-06:00

Monday: 10 AM - 10 quality - Solo.
7 PM - 9 easy - hamstring curls, abs - With John.
Total - 19

Tuesday: 11 AM - 14 - 10 mile progression run, 2.5 mi w/u, 1.5 mi w/d. Ran on Woodcrest + Frat Loop. I felt pretty awful going through the first mile in 5:59. Thought about scrapping the whole thing, then decided I would just try to run a sort of marathon date pace run (maybe 5:40/5:45s) for as long as I could. But in the end, I stayed tough and actually ended up progressing through the run... the last 9 were slower than last week, but I was happy with it, for how I felt. Splits: 5:59, 5:48, 5:45, 5:41, 5:41, 5:35, 5:32, 5:25, 5:46, 5:14.
7 PM - 7 easy - Ran with John, felt pretty crappy.
Total - 21

Wednesday: 3 PM - 8 easy, w/ a few easy strides - hamstring curls - Planned on doubling, but felt pretty rotten, so started to take it easy in anticipation fo the race Sunday.
Total - 8

Thursday: 11 AM - 7 easy - In Chicago, before leaving for Puerto Rico.
Total - 7

Friday: 11 AM - 7 easy - In Puerto Rico, ran with my fellow traveler/roommate, Brian Runyon. About 90 degrees out. We're staying at the Olympic training center, but we ran out into the hills and small towns surrounding the area.
4 PM - 5+ easy, w/ 4 strides - Ran with Brian again, finished at the track.
Total - 12

Saturday: 8 AM - 4+ easy - With Brian.
4 PM - 4+ easy, w/ a few strides - Ran easy down on the track with a few other competitors.
Total - 8

Sunday: 8 AM - 2+ easy - Pre-race shakeout.
4 PM - 17+ - 3 mile w/u including strides, 13.1 mile race (Maraton San Blas), 1+ mile w/d. Ran 1:16:16 for 32nd place. I was OK with the race overall. Very tough, 90 degrees, 70% humidity, and ridiculously hilly. Got beat by two Kenyan women and a Hungarian women. But I ran pretty tough over the last 2k to re-pass a Puerto Rican guy and Colombian and Ethiopian women. I'm writing a longer recap post/article that I'll post later this week, kind of explaining the whole race experience down there.
Total - 19

Summary: 93 miles, one race, progression run, 1x abs, 2x hamstring curls.

I was pretty happy with the week. Got some reasonable volume in while backing off a bit for the race in Puerto Rico, which I thought went fairly well. Like I said above, I'll post a long recap post later this week. Back to the grind now.

Training, Jan. 25 - Jan. 31

2010-02-01T20:43:00.001-06:00

Monday: 10 AM - 7 easy
7 PM - 10 quality - Ran with John, it was snowing.
Total - 17

Tuesday: 10 AM - 7 quality - Felt pretty awful. Icy/sloppy roads didn't help.
7 PM - 8 easy - With John.
Total - 15

Wednesday: 10 AM - 14 quality - hamstring curls - Had a 9 mile progression run on Woodcrest + Frat Loop, 2.5 mile w/u, 1.5 mile w/d. Hopped in my new Adidas Mana flats to break them in for the San Blas Half Marathon. The footing was good 95% of the time. Got a little anxious (again) and started too quickly. I want to just ease from 6 flat down to 5:40s over the first 5 miles, but started out with a 5:46 (albeit downhill). Luckily I reigned it in a bit and was still able to progress for the full 9. Splits were: 5:46, 5:47, 5:44, 5:38, 5:33, 5:25, 5:17, 5:35, 5:02 = 49:52. That second to last mile is horrendous, one long climb...I remember a progression runs in the past when I was in 2:26 marathon shape that hit that mile in 5:52. Anyway, the run averaged out to 5:32 and change pace on a tough course. Even out that pace, and I think I could be rolling out a 5:25 pace 9 miler on the same route right now. Which leads me to believe that 5:20 pace (sub 1:10) is a reasonable goal for San Blas next week, even if it is a tough course.
7 PM - 7 easy - Ran with John.
Total - 21

Thursday: 11 AM - 12 quality - In the end, probably pushed a bit too hard on this run, as I ended up ditching the PM run cause I felt like crap.
Total - 12

Friday: 11 AM - 4 easy - Myrtle core, abs, hamstring curls - Glad I got out the door, but I felt pretty awful still, so kept it real short. Finally got in some core work.
5 PM - 7 easy w/ 8x short hills - Ran with John out on Grammercy then put in 8 short hills on the far side of Griffey.
Total - 11

Saturday: 10 AM - 22 quality - Ran out northwest of town. 6:30s average for the whole thing with a 5 min negative split. I'm happy with that in the hilly Bloomington countryside anytime. Solid run.
Total - 22

Sunday: 10 AM - 11 quality - Ran with Hursh on the rail trail and actually felt pretty decent, considering.
Total - 11

Summary: 109 miles, 1x short hills, 1x core, 1x abs, 2x hamstring curls

I was pretty happy with the week. Had a solid progression run and a solid long run. The mileage was back up to a reasonable range too, though I fell a bit short of what I had planned on for the week. Finally got a core session back in the mix. I'll really be able to get back on top of that and other supplementary work (hills, strides, drills, etc.) after next week and the San Blas half marathon. I'm supposed to take off for Puerto Rico on Thursday next week with the race on Sunday. I think I'm still just shooting for a conservative start, and hopefully a sub-1:10. Should be a good experience either way.

Training, Jan. 18 - Jan. 24

2010-01-25T21:24:00.000-06:00

Monday: 10 AM - 7+ quality - hamstring curls - Ran with John out on Cascades.
Total - 7

Tuesday: 11 AM - 8 easy, w/ 4 sets of diagonals - hamstring curls
7 PM - 8 quality - With John.
Total - 16

Wednesday: 11 AM - 10 (workout: 2 mile w/u with strides, 7 mile progression run, 1 mile w/d) - In light of the half marathon I'm doing in 2 1/2 weeks, I'm going to do a progression each week just to prime the systems a bit. Planned on an 8 mile progression on Woodcrest (a hilly course, for which I have measured mile markers). It was a tough route, and after 7 I wasn't going to be getting any faster today, so I stopped. I hope to build to 9 or 10 in the next two weeks. Splits for today were: 5:52, 5:47, 5:47, 5:33, 5:29, 5:28, 5:19 = 39:18, or ~5:37 average. Overall, given some crappy weather (windy, freezing rain) and a lack of sleep (I had a paper due this morning), I felt the run went pretty well. Even the pace out, that's gotta be 5:30s on a tough course in poor conditions. My initial thought of a goal in Puerto Rico was sub-1:10, or ~5:20 pace, and it seems like that might be a realistic possibility for now.
Total - 10

Thursday: 11 AM - 8 easy - XC course, solo.
7 PM - 9 quality - hamstring curls - Had a few beers in me from a post-panel discussion reception, so I felt a little off.
Total - 17

Friday: 11 AM - 13 quality
5 PM - 7 easy, w/ 8 short hill sprints - hamstring curls - So this is the first time I've brought the hill sprints back into my current base phase. Basically, they work on improving your basic speed, but they also increase stroke volume (volume of blood the heart beats in one pump). This latter is best accomplished by max. differentials in heart rate (like from rest, to max, to rest again). So a 200m interval workout will improve stroke volume too, but you're also producing a bunch of lactic acid and wearing yourself out. The short hills accomplish the same effect, but you never start producing lactic acid, cause they're only about 12 seconds long. So you can fit a couple days of them in per week in your base phase and not really be a whole lot worse for the wear. Canova's a big fan of them, as well as Brad Hudson and some others.
Total - 20

Saturday: 8 PM - 7 quality - hamstring curls - Ran with John around campus.
Total - 7

Sunday: 11 AM - 19 quality - Solo out to Lake Lemon. Very tough route. Averaged 6:40s on the way out and 6:15s on the way back. On so many hills, this was a hard effort.
Total - 19

Summary: 96 miles, 4x hamstring curls

Continuing to get back on track. I should have gotten core in once or twice toward the end of the week, once I was finally able, but other than that, everything went pretty well. The progression was solid, though I was a bit impatient, and the long run was good. Hope to be more like 120+ miles next week, before backing off a bit for the half marathon in Puerto Rico.

Training, Jan. 11 - Jan. 17

2010-01-17T17:33:00.001-06:00

Monday: 4 PM - 9 quality - hamstring curls, abs - Felt pretty much like crap, per usual since taking time off.

Tuesday: 4 PM - 11 quality - Partially with John Hursh, the rest solo/with some IU Run Club guys. Felt a little better.

Wednesday: Noon - 13 quality - hamstring curls, abs - I'm still holding off on the core, because my lymph node is still messed up and swollen.

Thursday: 7 PM - 7+ quality - With John after class.

Friday: 10 AM - 8 quality - Solo, felt like crap.

Saturday: 5 PM - 8 quality, w/ 4 sets of diagonals - Felt good to get a little turnover back.

Sunday: 2 PM - 19+ quality - This is the first run since my time off that I really felt like I had my legs back under me again. I went out on an old route of mine, Boltinghouse, with a giant hill in the middle. The whole route is pretty damn tough really. I only had a measured split for the 3rd and 17th miles. The 3rd was in 6:30 and I only picked it up from there...probably rolling sub-6 effort through the middle stages, though the hills have to cost you at least 15-20 seconds a mile. Surprised myself with a 5:30 17th mile (which is moderately hilly) after having thrashed my legs for an hour and a half. That was about the pace I was going for the last four.

Summary: 75 miles, 1x strides, 2x hamstring curls, 2x abs

I guess I'm satisfied with this first full week coming back. Legs felt like crap a good bit, but with the long run, looked like things are turning around. I thought about doubling a number of times, and maybe should have, but my legs felt like enough junk that I didn't. The long run showed that the fitness is still there, which is good, because I've confirmed for sure that I'm running a half marathon in Puerto Rico in three weeks. This is the website: http://www.maratonsanblas.com/ingles/index.html This opportunity came up through a guy I met (and ran with for the Chicago-based Universal Sole group) at Steamboat this summer. It's a paid trip and looks like a pretty cool race on a fairly tough course. Obviously, I won't be in peak form, but I'll do a few progression runs in the coming weeks and give it a good effort. I don't think I'll embarrass myself anyway.

Training, Dec. 28 - Jan. 10

2010-01-12T17:59:00.000-06:00

So the last two weeks have been a little rough. I got in a couple of solid days just before the new year (Mon. - 5/14 double, Tues. - 6/10 double w/ 7 sets of diagonals), but then got the flu (no H1N1, just normal symptoms). But I had a fever for several days, muscle aches, and headaches. I needed to take a few days off for that, but unfortunately, I got a swollen lymph node in the wake of the flu (some sort of immune system reaction I guess). It was the lymph node by my lower left abdomen and it caused me to not be able to lift my left leg more than about a foot for the next several days. Needless to say, I wasn't running those days. I finally got back to it after 9 days off, with an easy 8 miles on Friday, Jan. 8. I got in 9 miles Saturday and 11 on Sunday when I finally arrived back in Bloomington, IN for the semester. I'm on antibiotics for the lymph node, which is still swollen, but no longer preventing me from running. I've been amazed and humbled by how much crap I feel like after 9 days off. Hitting the hills back here in Bloomington hasn't helped. All I can really do right now is just run by feel and wait for my legs to get back under me before I really ramp up the training. So for the last two weeks, I got in a total of 63 miles. I'll hope things only go up from here and my troubles were left back in 2009.

Training, Dec. 21 - Dec. 27

2009-12-27T20:47:00.000-06:00

Monday: 7 AM - 5 easy - Token run before 22 hours of transit back to Chicago...pleasant.
Total - 5

Tuesday: 4 PM - 10 quality, w/ 6 sets of a diagonals - abs, hamstring curls - Back in Springfield.
Total - 10

Wednesday: 5 PM - 14 quality - Awful run that reminded me of Belgium. Lots of wind and rain, just above freezing.
Total - 14

Thursday: 11 AM - 8 easy, w/ 10 mins hill springing/bounding - hamstring curls - I've been struggling to get back on a good sleep pattern back in the states and have been feeling pretty crappy. Got the hill work in though. Another day of terrible, rainy weather.
Total - 8

Friday: 2 PM - 9 easy - Traveled to Chicago for Christmas in the morning. This run was another shit show. Just above freezing, I got hailed on, snowed on, and poured on. Froze my butt off.
Total - 9

Saturday: 11 AM - 10 easy - In the forrest preserve, finally running on some snow.
6 PM - Myrtle core, king deadlifts, abs, hamstring curls - I'm not sure doing core like this has the exact same benefits as it does post-run, but I figured it was definitely better than nothing. Need to look into that though.
Total - 10

Sunday: 5 PM - 11 quality - abs, hamstring curls - More travel all day, ran in 5 inches of snow in Springfield. I think a lot of the winter runs are going to end up this way. Despite running at a pretty quality effort, it took me nearly 80 minutes to cover the 11 miles. So for the future, I think I'm going to go off of durations. For example, if I have 60 minutes of quality aerobice running on the schedule and I'm running in deep snow, I'll just do 60-65 minutes of quality effort, even if that's only 8 or 9 miles.
Total - 11

Summary: 67 miles, 10 mins hill springing/bounding, 1x strides, 1x core, 2x abs, 3x hamstring curls

Obviously this was a pretty awful week all-around. The majority of that had to do with traveling, and something to do with some awful weather. It is what it is...no need to dwell on it, it's just extremely frustrating to do only get in half of the work you want.

Training, Dec. 14 - Dec. 20

2009-12-27T20:34:00.000-06:00

Monday: 1 PM - 10 quality - Hilly trails.
6 PM - 10 easy, w/ 5 sets of diagonals - Myrtle core, abs, hamstring curls, king deadlifts
Total - 20

Tuesday: 11 AM - 14 quality - So part of the classic Lydiard base (which admittedly, I am changing some, adding in more muscular skeletal stuff, etc.) is to do a 10 mile tempo on Tuesdays. It starts easy (maybe 6 min pace for me) at the beginning of the phase, and gets faster each week. I thought about starting this up this week. My legs kinda felt like crap as I warmed up, but I went with it anyway...did 5 miles in ~5:55 pace and bagged it. It was discouraging, though I know I've gone significantly faster than this for large portions of many of my runs. I think the issue is, that being new to this high of mileage, I'm gonna feel like crap some days and I can't really control when those days are. So for now, given the volume of work, I think I'm gonna can the Lydiard 10 mile tempo and just let some of my quality runs naturally progress when I feel good. I might bring it back in a few months...we'll see.
Total - 14

Wednesday: Noon - 9 easy - Myrtle core, abs, hamstring curls, king deadlifts
7 PM - 9 easy, w/ 8 mins hill springing/bounding
Total - 18

Thursday: 6 PM - 10 quality
Total - 10

Friday: 11 AM - 9 quality - Felt like crap.
4 PM - 9 easy, w/ 5 sets of diagonals - Myrtle core, king deadlifts, abs, hamstring curls
Total - 18

Saturday: 5 PM - 10 quality - Hamstring curls
Total - 10

Sunday: 11 AM - 22 quality - Ran in 2-3 inches of snow, made for quite a long run.
Total - 22

Summary: 112 miles, 8 mins hill springing/bounding, 2x strides, 3x Myrtle core, 3x king deadlifts, 3x abs, 4x hamstring curls

Not a great week, not a terrible week. This was my last week in Hamburg. Things were a little tougher with finals going on. Felt a little rough due to lack of sleep I think and just being run down a bit from travel the previous weekend. I was glad to get in 3 good core sessions though as well as the days of diagonals and hill springing/bounding. Need to stay on top of the supplementary work beyond just running. Flying home on Monday.