NYC Marathon - The Stories!!

The NYC Marathon wasn't what I had hoped for months before, but it wound up to be a really fun race and experience.

It really was pretty amazing story that involved being honest, cheating the system, the military, lots of cops, a police chief saying "Get outta here!" in a thick NY accent, several miracles, our own private coach bus w/ bathrooms and TV's, gospel music, and a negative split fun run that had me road killing everyone in sight for miles upon miles.

Let's see here, a few things before the race:

We learned that in order to get a bib at the ever so important NYC Marathon, that all you need to do is show a confirm. That's it. Fuck security, fuck the countless checkpoints just to enter the expo, forget begging and pleeding with the director, forget it all.

This was Justin Jackson picking up Jason Kedzuch's bib. The resounding theme at the marathon expo was not only "Everything has changed since 911." ...but also "Everything has changed since Boston." Security was too the gills. (I hope everyone felt safe!) Now only if they could actually do something about the countless holes in the system. We were horribly hassled for trying to be honest and telling them we were picking up a friend's bib. Regardless of how low his number was or bringing countless forms of identification and proof, they wouldn't have anything to do with it. Apparently you could be the president and still need to show up in person to get your bib. Very VERY strict. In the end, all we wound up doing was going to the bin and grabbing Kedzuch's bib with no questions asked. The underlings didn't even care!! Just showed the emailed confirm on JJ's phone and that was it. Hilarious and tragic at the same time. Talking about a waste of resources. The lesson: screw being honest, and cheat the system.

OK, I also have this fixation with getting sleep before a marathon. Everyone should know this by now. Aaand occasionally, I like go in style. Enter the "Towne Car to Staten Island" trick that I learned from Myra Rasmussen long ago. It's very similar to "Spending the night in Hopkinton" trick before Boston that I graciously got from Dan McDowell. (I wish I could claim with these fool proof tricks as my own, but I can't). You get hours of extra sleep, reduce hassles of public transport, and boom. No problem right? I've done the Towne Car each of the last few times for NYC and without any issues. (Note to self and the short story: that theme of "Everything's changed since Boston" is apparently true. Perhaps using the public transit would be better next time).

I'll say that trying to take a Towne Car to the start was initially a good idea. The bad idea was getting a driver that didn't know his elbow from his asshole, and he's the driver in NYC that doesn't speed and doesn't know where the fuck he's going. Ultimately, the bridge closed on us because he couldn't fucking drive. Not totally my fault, but I'll take the blame. My bad. Needless to say some guys got a little stressed out about that.

Being a resourceful, calm person that I am, I started checking options off the list. The next easiest thing was to dump out of the car and then attempt to walk over the bridge. Years ago, this was fine. But of course... "Everything has changed since Boston." And every single cop in NYC reminded us of this. Jesus. Fine, we get it. So we walked... and we walked. Trying to find different ways onto the bridge. Dan Stanton even attempted to climb a fence at a military base to get to the bridge. The heavily armed guards chasing him were not amused. And we walked some more. And then a WSJ reported started walking with us. We told him that we were sub-elite runners and he started interviewing us. He tried hitching along with us to the start.

After a couple miles (which are not ideal before having to run 26.2 miles, but ok), we got to the base of the bridge/expressway where there were hundreds of cops and a sea of busses carrying runners over to the start. We pleaded, begged, cried, and bled our hearts out with cops to halt one of the countless buses going 5 mph at the on ramp of the bridge. Eventually a captain came over and recognized that (shocker) we weren't actually terrorists, but merely runners trying to participate in the marathon. The cops weren't happy, but finally after playing our "Sub-elite Towne Car with a WSJ reporter escort" story to them, the captain caved. ...And the bus that he stopped for us? Well it was completely empty. We wound up with our own private coach with all the amenities on it. Gospel music included, praising us! Unfuckingbelievable.

So a tiny bit of a snafu trying to get us to the starting lined... but it happened. Just like in Boston. We made it there. Safe and sound. With plenty of time to spare. And an extra 90 minutes of sleep to boot! Ya bish!!

OK, on to the fun run that almost didn't happen because we couldn't cross the stupid bridge because everything's changed since Boston.....

-----------------------

Race morning temps were chilly but eventually warmed up to the 40's. A slightly nasty wind was coming out of the NW, which meant a headwind for 20 miles. Typical for every NYC race that I've done... Why make it easy?

Amazingly, I was pretty calm and cool going into the start... even after the snafu of getting there. Probably because I had low expectations from the onset. In fact, because I didn't know how I would feel with my hip flexors/adductors, I wasn't even sure if I'd finish the thing.... I drowned myself in ibuprofen prior to the race to hopefully reduce this risk.

The basic plan was to hang with training partners, Justin Jackson and Evan Rosendahl for as long as possible. We were to target a 1:26-27 split, then to chop away towards a 2:50 goal if guys felt good. Ironically, Evan wound up missing the A-Corral cut off because he was site seeing (classic). And Justin and myself, which nearly missed the race all together, were perched in front of the A block. We stuck with one another for as long as possible.

At the gun JJ and I took it nice and easy, crawling up the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and getting passed by countless fat old ladies and guys. It was quite comical. We then put in several miles at a 6:40ish pace. We weeded our way through the crowds of runners that went out way too fast. (I still have no idea how all those people wound up in front of us!? We literally had thousands upon thousands of them!!) Justin helped to keep the reigns on me through that stretch. By mile 10, I was chomping at the bit to pick it up. I felt good. The ibuprofen had done its magic. If I was going to try for that 1:26/2:50 target, I needed to pull away.

At that point, I started passing everyone in sight. The crowds of runners became thinner as time went on... but wow, were there a lot of people back there! I guess that's what it's like to shoot for a 2:55 race? It's been a long time since I've seen that. Just taking it from 6:40ish down to 6:20-6:25 had me passing people like they were standing still. No doubt too that I pissed off a bunch as I jumped from pack to pack. It was windy though and I couldn't do it without a little shelter.

I continued that strategy of pack hopping and cutting them down until the 17th mile. Then I picked it up up 1st Ave. That's a great stretch of this race, and possibly one of the best straights in any marathon. Monster of crowds all the way pushing into the streets. I still felt solid, and it was basically like crawling compared to my normal MGP. I dropped some 6:15s. That was about as fast as I was willing to go, and about what I needed to get towards 2:50. After a couple miles and by the end of 1st Ave, I didn't have many more packs jump to.

At about 20 miles, I realized that sub 2:50 would be out of the question. I had a good stretch, but I needed another gear for sub 2:50 and I just didn't have it. Too much fitness had passed since Chicago. I still maintained 6:20-30s into Central Park. At that point, I broke slightly in on the hills, and it became a mere battle to just finish. My adductor and hip flexors were on fire. Those hills hurt a lot. More than they should've. I began to feel the pains I had in Chicago, but more so. I just hung in there. The last couple miles were about 6:35-40. It wasn't a travesty, but by the time I hit Central Park South and my final mile... I was begging for the finish like never before.

After I crossed the line, holy shit my legs hurt! I could hardly raise my knees to move forward. I was officially trashed. The mile walk to the gear pick up might've been the most painful mile of the day/week/month/year. Wow.

NYC wasn't what I originally wanted, though it was still a fun race. I adjusted my goals and made it work. It's hard to say if I enjoyed the experience there more than some of my other marathons. It was different. It wasn't as competitive so the glory wasn't there, but definitely had great stories! 2:52:18 and a nice negative split "tempo run". By some miracle I still placed 344th. Guessing that was due to the nasty head winds. Maybe I would've broke 2:50 without them? Doesn't matter.

In the days and weeks that followed, it became very apparent that I am now officially injured. I'm still not sure what it is... whether a torn adductor/groin muscle? Torn hip flexor? Something in my abs? Heaven forbid sports hernia.

For now, I'm chalking up running altogether and letting things heal. I've tested it a few times with some easy runs and to no avail. I'll give myself until the end of the year before I sort out what to do next and actually seek medical attention. Technically, I'm signed up for both Boston and Berlin in 2014 - but I need to get back to where I can run again before thinking about them.

Split recap:

K     Time       Diff      Pace

5-     0:21:32   21:32   6:56

10-   0:42:02   20:30   6:36

15-   1:02:34   20:32   6:37

20-   1:22:30   19:56   6:25

25-   1:42:54   20:24   6:34

30-   2:02:50   19:56   6:25

35-   2:22:53   20:03   6:27

40-   2:43:10   20:17   6:32

2.2-  2:52:18   09:08   6:37

1st Half-   1:26:54   6:38

2nd Half-  1:25:24   6:31

Overall-    2:52:18   6:34

344th Overall

Getting Injured

In between the Chicago Marathon and NYC marathon, I was forced to reassess my NYC goals. I initially wanted to actually run a course PR there - but not necessarily go all out. I wanted to lay up a mid/high-2:40's. This shouldn't have been too difficult given my fitness level. All I needed to do was maintain a base over the 3 weeks and heal from Chicago.

Unfortunately, I didn't heal. The following weeks from Chicago, my adductor/groin injury started to become increasingly a problem. I gutted out one final CARA 5K race, which under better circumstances could've been my 5K PR. After that race, I never recovered.

~~Incidentally, I ran 16:39 at that Halloween Hustle 5K. Good for 2nd place in my AG, and that sealed my 2nd place overall in the 35-39 AG for the entire 2013 CARA Circuit. I'm actually quite proud of that accomplishment, given that the 1st place runner is probably one of the fastest guys in my age group for the entire country! I wound up 8th in the overall circuit standings.~~

Anyway, my adductor/groin started to weigh on runs over 10 miles. It then started to weigh on each and every run. The only thing that calmed it down was soaking myself in anti-inflammatories. I kept cutting my mileage more and took as many days off as possible.

This all forced me to redefine my NYC goal and I decided to make it merely a "fun run". I was expecting worse, but I was still fit enough to go roughly 2:50 if I ran it conservatively.

Chicago Marathon 2013 & Start of Injury

This is a long over due post. I'm typing it months later and back dating it.

The Chicago Marathon was a disappointment for me. I still had a good race, but this was supposed to be a PR gimme.

Where to begin? Months ago, I had wanted this to be a "pinnacle race"... Meaning a PR that I've gunned for since Philly last year and in Boston, but couldn't get due to either a lack of stupid sleep or merely very tough course. It was intended to break me out of my 2:38-2:39 range.

Flat and fast course, combined with ideal weather was all I could ever ask for. The goal was simply a sub 2:38, which I should've easily been able to do in Philly or Boston. Even if I might've been more fit for those races, this should've been a sure thing.

So where did this go wrong? I suppose it all started following Boston, six months prior. I was recovering from the marathon, yet still ran some good races to take advantage of my fitness. I wound up getting a massage, and during that massage a muscle in my right adductor-groin knotted up severely or pulled. My adductors are always uber-tight, just like my hamstrings... but they generally have never been a problem. So the massage itself maybe didn't cause it, but it did ultimately triggered the Jack out of the box. And that Jack is fucking evil! Since then, it has yet to calm down and has wreaked havoc on my groin and abdomen.

Initially in June, I took a some weeks of downtime and reduced mileage to try to let that knot chill out. This should've helped. No such luck the knot never went away. In July, I needed to start training for Chicago. I found the adductor merely manageable, so I pressed on. A side effect of the down time was me bumping up back to 50/week and creating a classic shin splint in my left calf. I probably would've been better off not taking any downtime? The calf/shin actually effected me throughout my training more than the adductor. The adductor only became a bigger concern for me after my peak was in (and at the time, I was still more worried about my calf).

However, at about mile 10 in the Chicago Marathon the adductor moved to front and center.

The race itself had me going out very conservative and I was to pick up a healthy negative split for the PR. I crossed the half almost exactly on target: 1:19:20. I had run the first half with some teammates. They fell off just before the second half and I was solo for the balance. All I needed to do was drop a few seconds per mile and hold on.

After the second half though, and as much as I tried - each mile became increasingly difficult to maintain. Obviously this is the case with all marathons, but when I was basically under the impression that this PR was a lay up - it became a mental and physical problem for me.

My stride refused to open up and completely caved as I went deeper into the race. My lower abs and both adductors became extremely tight. I felt like I was running hunched over. After the 30K, I tried to get aggressive and had a few miles sub 6:00. At about 23 I was forced to pull back. I didn't hit the wall. I just couldn't stride any longer. I then maintained a 6:10-12 through the finish. A far cry from a strong finish and the last few miles were excruciatingly painful.

After, I described the race as my toughest marathon in several years. It wasn't supposed to be. This was nothing like what I had experienced in any of my other sub-2:40 races.

I finished in 2:39:37. Out in 1:19:20 and back in 1:20:17. Not a train wreck split, but certainly not what I had expected given over 3,000 miles in the last 12 months. My body failed me in the last 4 miles. There was nothing I could do. The only good thing I can say about this race is that I at least defended another 2:40. That's now my 7th sub-2:40 marathon. It was also my Chicago Marathon course PR by 1 whopping second. Whoopie!

After the race, I was extremely sore for a couple days. I took it easy and things chilled out by the end of the week.... or so I thought.

Split recap:

K     Time        Diff      Pace

5-     0:18:58   18:58   6:06.3

10-   0:37:38   18:40   6:00.5

15-   0:56:33   18:55   6:05.3

20-   1:15:13   18:40   6:00.5

25-   1:34:01   18:48   6:03.1

30-   1:52:44   18:43   6:01.4

35-   2:11:48   19:04   6:08.2

40-   2:31:03   19:15   6:11.7

.2-    2:39:37   08:34   6:17.0

1st Half-  1:19:20 / 6:03.1

2nd Half-  1:20:17 / 6:07.4

Overall-  2:39:37 / 6:05.3

153rd place overall / 21st IL / 4th IL AG / 2nd CARA AG

One final spin of the wheels

Yesterday, I was feeling spent and flat. Today... today is a new day.

I did a variation of Bill Leach's pre-marathon workout tonight as my final bit of speed:

1x 400 @ "mile pace" (ran 75.8)

1x 1600 @ "all out" (ran 5:00.3... 78,77,74,71)

1x 800 @ "mile pace" (chill at 2:32.5)

1x 800 @ "near all out" (rolled 2:24.1, evenly split)

1x 400 @ "all out" (rolled 66.1 and felt very comfortable)

I'm actually pretty pleased with this workout, considering how crappy I've felt in the last several days.

The mile started very slow. Braulio and Scott took the early lead, so I didn't have control. We also had a collision with a kid in lane 1 on the first lap (that probably cost a second). It finished a little slower than I wanted but I'm actually ok with it, as we ran a huge negative split. Someday I'll get the chance to blow one of these out.

In a weird way, I don't know that I've run a 800 that fast before...? I did a 65 second 400 back in the spring, with a similar workout. Anyway, I felt really smooth and never out of control anywhere in this workout. A full effort, but left me craving more. That's how it should've been run!

I'm completely off tomorrow and Friday. I'll also get a massage tomorrow. Shakeout on Saturday. There might be hope for me after all.

Tick Tock Taper

I'm questioning everything right now. I have no clue what my fitness has in store for me, come Sunday.

I can hang my hat on this: In the 15 weeks leading up to this marathon I will have run 1,068 miles. That includes a few down weeks and a cut back leading into August's vacation.

I've never run that many miles leading into a marathon before.

In the 15 weeks leading up to each sub-2:40, here's what I've done:

'13 Boston: 961 (2:38:23, tough course / near PR)

'12 Philly: 1,002 (2:39:40, the insomnia marathon)

'11 CIM: 877 (2:38:14, PR... spectacular)

'11 Rotterdam: 875 (2:38:46... spectacular)

'10 NYC: 1,006 (2:50/DNF... over trained, blew up)

'10 London: 725 (2:39:53... post-SFX, under trained, still near PR)

'09 Chicago: 987 (2:39:38... spectacular)

The only time I came close to these miles was for NYC in 2010. I pulled the plug on the training early as I was overcome with a calf strain. Without cutting it short, I probably could've squeaked in another 30 miles. I still tried to race it, but then blew up in it. At the time, that was my best fitness. I still wonder if I've actually ever been in that good of shape since then... (Hell, I haven't PRd my half since then).

My taper has me second guessing everything right now. I'm still sitting on 62 miles in the last 7 days (more than usual), and with only 4 more days to go. I'm still sore and achy. This needs to go away ASAP. I'll track it tomorrow night, then flush the system with a massage and few days off. Shake out on Saturday. Maybe that'll do the trick?

I know if I have the rest, I can be fast... I don't know how fast, but there is fitness in me... Will I allow the rest though? Will I get enough?? I can take 2 more days off. To keep my sanity though, I also need to run a few more days... I need the pre-marathon workout and a shakeout. I almost wanna only take 1 day off.

I have 4 days to go.

I feel like a crack addict.... I just need one more hit... The clock ticks loudly. It's starting to consume me.

Fucking taper. Fucking miles of trials and trials of miles.

Peak is in, now what?

I'm definitely feeling the effects of my training. I'm drained. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I'm sore.

I hit a 7 day PR peak of 110 miles about a week and a half ago. That was insane.

My quality has taken a hit as a result of the quantity. My peak is in though. I had 4 out of 5 weeks north of 90 miles, 6 of 8 weeks north of 80 miles.

Here are my most last 2 weeks of workouts:

9/25 - 20x 200 w/ 200 recovery:

- 20x 200's served a purpose and gave me some turn over... and I actually ran them pretty well.

1-5- 36.32 avg

6-10- 35.37 avg

11-15- 34.39 avg

16-20- 33.84 avg

34.98 avg

9/28 - Park Ridge 5K:

- The Park Ridge 5K turned out to be a bust. I gunned for a PR (needed sub 16:16), but I bombed in the final 1/2 mile.... It was spectacular up until that point, and then I just ran out of gas. Clearly that early pace pushed me and I paid for it... or I just didn't have the balls to finish the job (I hope that's the case). The weather was somewhat ideal too. That's my second honest attempt at PR'ing a 5K this year and failing by a matter of seconds.

1- 5:10.2

4- 5:12.8

3- 5:24.3

.1- 34.0

16:21, 5:17 pace

10/1 - 10mi Tempo:

- I then took 2 days off and went for a 10 mile tempo. It wound up being slower than I would've liked. Maybe I turned stale with the 2 day break? I donno, I simply lacked the hunger and ability to push the pace faster in the last couple miles though. I wouldn't have wanted to go any longer. My cool down home was a train wreck.

1- 5:55.8

2- 5:52.7

3- 5:58.1

4- 5:57.8

5- 5:58.0

6- 5:56.1

7- 5:58.0

8- 6:03.9

9- 5:54.1

10- 5:53.5

5:56.8 avg

10/3 - 10x 800 w/ 90 sec recovery:

- Mostly steady and averaged 2:37.4. To my defense, this was on the path and as a rain storm was clearing. It was 100% humidity and felt absolutely disgusting. A far cry from the 8x 800's at 2:32.8 that I had back on 9/5, and certainly not a confidence booster.

After a couple really solid workouts in early/mid September, I feel like this training ended with a thud. I got the volume though and made it though. Maybe too much quantity and not enough quality?? Shit, have I over trained??? And am I fit enough to roll a PR in Chicago? UGH....

TTM 3,121

I randomly thought about this today... What's my been mileage over the last 12 months? Answer: an eye popping 3,121 miles!

That's insane. It's a result of rolling through 3 different training seasons over the last year.

I generally think of things on a trailing 7-day scale, or a weekly mileage, or an calendar year's mileage... But I haven't thought of it on a trailing 12-months scale. It completely blows away other 12 month period that I've had before. On an calendar basis, I've run a little over 2,500 each of the last few years. CY13 will be a PR around 2,800-2,900. But over 3,121 on a TTM basis!? 60 miles a week, assuming no time off. That's big boy miles!

Certainly a lot of guys run more than I do, as I tend to peak for specific events (marathons), as opposed to maintaining more steady mileage in off seasons. My 3 seasons in the last twelve months have been Philly, then Boston, and now double dipping for the Chicago and New York City Marathons.

It's no wonder I feel trashed at the moment.

That number will push a bit higher too over the next 2 weeks as I round out this training cycle.

Monday night's 9 mi tempo was so-so. I'm happy it was done, but I'm not happy how the times rolled off. I faded a little in the last few miles as opposed to progressing. No doubt it was because I forced miles last weekend.... 51 miles in 3 days. Not something that I haven't done before, just how it was done. I jammed in a 15, then a 23 in Barrington, then a sloppy 13 on Sunday. 15 in front of the 23 made it very ugly. Let that be a lesson. 23 then 13 then 15 is ok. 15 then 23 = not worth it if I want to maintain any sort of quality.

Anyway, 3,121. Wow. Stay calm, and carry on.

Tempo recap:

1- 6:03.3

2- 5:51.0

3- 5:52.3

4- 5:45.4

5- 5:46.9

6- 5:46.5

7- 5:49.5

8- 5:53.9

9- 5:54.6

Avg- 5:51.5

Here we go, 20x 400...

Last week, I ran a very fast 8x 800 workout. My half marathon didn't reflect it. After the half and a few days of painful recovery runs, I forced myself to take a critical day off.  I went back to the track last night not knowing what to expect. It was time to spin wheels and hope for the best.

One of my all-time favorite workouts has become the 20x 400. OK, so it may not be as monstrous as Quenton Cassidy's 3x 20x 400, but 1x 20 is still a bad ass workout.

I ran with Scott, Evan, and Justin at North Park Track. We were looking for somewhere between 16 and 20 reps, with 75 seconds of rest. Headwinds on the home stretch; decent temps. We traded the lead for the first several laps, though I would up taking it more often. I clearly had a fire in me that some of the other guys didn't. I felt incredibly smooth and in control for the entire workout. I hung in there and progressed my pace for the full 20.

Taking the day off on Wednesday was a difficult decision to make, especially being inside of a peak week. I hate the idea that I had to do it, but I felt like absolute shit on Tuesday. I ran a double, and in the second run I literally had to stop a mile short because I was in so much pain. All sorts of banged up. My hip turned into a train wreck. My entire left leg was completely knotted up. I didn't have a choice, so I scratched Wednesday and opted to get a massage. I needed to hit the reset button. And reset I did.

Out of the last 5 years, my training log shows that I've run this workout 7 times now. I've never averaged 20x 400's this fast before. The closest I've come to 72.28 average was 72.5, just before Philly. I was in solid condition then... easily PR shape if it wasn't for a botched race.

I still have a little over 2 weeks of big mileage ahead of me. 

I'm starting to foam at the mouth.

Shin splints be damned... I'm not giving up that easy.

Split recap:

1- 73.7

2- 73.3

3- 73.9

4- 72.8

5- 73.1

1-5 Avg: 73.36

6- 72.8

7- 72.9

8- 71.6

9- 73

10- 72.2

6-10 Avg: 72.50

11- 71.8

12- 72.7

13- 72.8

14- 72.1

15- 72

11-15 Avg: 72.28

16- 71.7

17- 72

18- 71.2

19- 70.8

20- 69.3

16-20 Avg: 71.00

20x 400 Avg: 72.28

Chicago Drippy Half Marathon

I definitely have some fitness in me right now, but today just wasn't the day to show it.

Chicago in early September can be a crap shoot with the weather. For this year's Chicago Half Marathon it was, 70 degrees, which isn't a deal breaker at all... BUT it was also a very drippy 90% humidity (per weather.com). Ugh. And dripping it was... I had probably blown through all of my prior day's hydration on the warm up run alone.

If there's one thing that I hate more than a crappy windy race, it's a drippy humid race. We actually kinda had both today though, as there was a headwind for half of the run. The out and back provided some help in the late miles, though you wouldn't notice it in my splits.

Running wise, I didn't feel all that terrible. My splits were very steady in the early going, as I jammed through about 5-6 miles with Scott Laumann. I averaged about 5:43 through mile 7, like clock work and spot on with PR pace. In spite the weather, I was still gunning for sub 1:15.

The Chicago Half is notorious for mismarking the course though, in the later miles. So once again, I'm not sure if the course was long -or just very poorly marked. Regardless, I apparently ran a "6:06" in the 8th mile and a 6:01 in the 12th mile. I seriously doubt that I ran that slow in both of those miles... especially the 8th mile. I'm not sure where I would've gained that lost time either. I think that got into my head a little, once I saw both of those splits. Anyway, I definitely slowed down a touch in the last 5 miles so it's a moot point. I went from those low-5:40's to a low-5:50's, then choked a 5:57 in mile 13.

Ultimately, the humidity took over and I sagged. Scott gradually pulled away from me in the 6th mile and left me with little motivation, aside from a road kill in the 9th mile. (SL had a great race btw, going just under 1:15 - he picked it up a lot after mile 6 then faded a little, but not nearly as badly as I did). He had a couple guys to chase. I only wound up chasing 1 of them. The motivation eventually caved once again as I just gut it out to finish the race and not trade placements. Oh well.

I'm a little bummed, because this was the first time in a few years that I've been in decent shape for a half marathon and I didn't get the chance to show it off. More importantly though, I didn't wear myself out and it was a solid run in what will be a big boy week of marathon training.

Eyes on the prize... 10/13/13+11/3/13=badmotherfucker.

Split Recap:

1- 5:38.8

2- 5:46.9

3- 5:45.9

4- 5:44.4

5- 5:40.3

6- 5:46.9

7- 5:43.2

8- 6:06.1

9- 5:51.7

10- 5:50.6

11- 5:50.1

12- 6:01.9

13- 5:57.5

.1- 0:38.6

Total- 1:16:22.9, Avg- 5:49.6 / 3rd AG, 15th O'All

182 ADK miles yields tempo and speed.

I spent the final 2 weeks of August at the cabin in the Adirondacks. This included some big running that has started to get me in shape for the fall racing. The vacation also provided some much needed family time, a very welcomed "unplug" from the markets and the world, ...and probably most importantly, a distraction from my recent relationship break-up.

....I'll spare the details on the break-up, aside from the fact that it really sucks to fold on something after putting so much time into it. After 5+ years, Sarah and I mutually agreed that the relationship was stagnant. Neither of us have been overly happy or satisfied for some time, and both somewhat unfulfilled on many levels. Maybe me more than her and that's why I might've held back? I donno. It hurts to admit and pull that trigger though. I've thought about this far too much. In the end, I lose a truly wonderful person in my life. Sucks.

Anyhoo... back to running. I used the time at the cabin to cram in as many miles of hill work as possible. I wound up with 182 miles over the 2 weeks. Some of the runs were absolutely wicked, including a new favorite that runs to Belfort and back.... it's a 17 miles route that I ran twice as progression runs, with over 2500 feet of vertical change. Another was running from the cabin to Stillwater Road and up a few miles... 12 miles total with nearly 1800 feet of vertical change. Rolling hills every step of the way.

Just by comparison, the typical Barrington 20 miles, which is as hilly as can get anywhere near Chicago - done the hard way, and including a trip up Chris Woods Hill... has about 2200 feet of change. My typical "as easy as I can do it" 20 mile ADK run has about 3000 feet.  The only other place that I've had more bad ass 20 milers has been up at the Rasmussen Compound, in Wisconsin.  

When I got back to Chicago the other day, I wasn't sure where it left me... aside from yearning for flat ground, sick of a ramp in training, and still dealing with a shitty medial tibial shin splint.  I'm still not sure how fit I am, but at least I had a couple tests that suggest I'm now gaining ground quickly... 

On Tuesday night, I had my first chance to test my fitness... 8 miles of tempo, which started in mid-5:50's and finished in the mid-5:30's. I averaged 5:46. Very solid for my first true tempo run in a while.

Last night I confirmed - 8x 800 w/ 90sec rest. I averaged about 2:32.6. The final rep was 2:29. I called it quits at 8 instead of 10, so that I could save something for this weekend's race. I don't think that I've run 800's that fast before. I'm pretty happy with that one.

Aside from the minor problem of a fucking shin split, which is incredibly uncomfortable to run on when it's flared up... all other health issues seem to be ok at the moment. Even my hip and hammy's seem to be ok. Runs have their good and bad days due my age old problem of the left shin split. It's been there for about a month and a half now (or going on 7 or 8 years, depending on when you start counting). Eventually it'll let up... any day now...

Chicago Half Marathon this weekend. If I get through that without snapping my shin in half, then I'll press for 2 big-boy weeks of 100+ miles.

July wrap up.

A recap of the month of July and where things stand:

- I averaged 70 miles a week for the month, 4 weeks of basing.

- 7/11, Bastille Birthday 5K: 17:14. It wasn't pretty since I hadn't had any solid running prior to that point. But then again, maybe that time was meant to be? I hadn't thought of that until just now. Forget it, I like it.

- 7/14, Hometeam Charity 10K. In addition to 5oz of gold and 300oz of silver, this was my 36th Birthday present to myself. It was a disgusting stuffy heater though, and hurt at 35:39. I felt old. I died. The last mile was pathetic. I had no motivation either. I blame it on the weather and a lack of speed work. I placed 2nd for CARA AG points.

- Since then, long runs have jumped up to 20 miles.

- I now have 3 weeks in a row of tempos, with averages in the mid-5:40's... I guess technically, including the races, I have 5 weeks in a row with tempos.

- I took 3 days off from running in July, and as of now, I haven't taken a day off in over 2 weeks.

All in, my endurance has come back. I feel comfortable running pretty much any distance, and am feeling more fit. I'm still lacking any interval training at this point.

BUT.... All of this has come at a pretty nasty cost: I did bump up rather quickly after having some lame running in June. I'm now suffering from some ugly shin splits in my left leg and I'm actually starting to feel a bit broken down. This is classic. I've been dealing with left calf issues for nearly 10 years now. Anytime I drop my mileage down and then pick it back up again, I aggravate the calf and inner shin. Massage hasn't helped one bit. In the last couple weeks, I've been trying to run a little more with my Vibram Five Fingers. That usually chills it out, but no such luck yet.

This shin issue needs to go away if I'm gonna ramp up with any quality and intensity. Clearly I need a day off and some recovery.

That said, I'll run the Terrapin 5K tonight and press on through the end of this week. I'll take a day or two off next week and get that much needed cut back. Hopefully that puts me back to an even keel.

I head up to the cabin next weekend. That'll give me 2 very big weeks on the hills. My ADK training and September running likely the balance of my year.

With September comes racing season. Stretching through November, I have the Chicago Half Marathon, Park Ridge 5K, Chicago Marathon, Palatine 5K, and NYC Marathon......
Yeah, that's right... I'm racing 2 marathons in 3 weeks....

Half way.

I'm slowly pulling myself out of maintenance mode and back into running. It looks increasingly like I'll be running the Chicago Marathon this fall, followed by the NYC Marathon three weeks later.

Along the way, I'll take on more of the CARA Circuit. This isn't going to be easy.

Year to date through June 30th, I'm at 1,440 miles. That's more than I've ever run in the first half of the year. I don't think I want to get 3,000... (that's a huge number!)... but this will be my biggest year ever.

Spring break is over. Summer running is here.

Roselle + Spring Mile = Done.

It wasn't pretty, but I did gut out another age group win at the Roselle Run for Roses 5K a little over a week ago. I followed that with a fast mile mid-week, and now I'm in a mini-recovery mode.

Roselle 5K:

I actually had the intentions of running a fast 5K here, but for some reason it just didn't work out. I'll blame it on a lack of mileage over the prior weeks, and a last minute audible that had me running for placement instead of time. Training wise, I've been gradually winding down in this post-marathon mode (more like delaying the inevitable), yet still racing nearly every weekend for the last several weeks. I simply have sacrificed quality long runs for races. Regardless, I went to Roselle thinking that I'd be able to run a 16:20ish.

A little head wind in the first half of the race forced me to change my strategy. I didn't want to be the work horse for the chase pack going into the wind. If I did, then I would've risked either dying or getting dropped by guys that I should've beaten. And if I would've sat in the middle of the chase, then I would've gone out too slow and been victim to who knows what (heaven forbid a negative split 5K).

So with the gun, I sprang quickly onto the back of the lead pack. It was fast. I knew it. These guys were going sub 16 pace, but I felt nice and loose so I just went with it. I simply decided to get far enough ahead of the chase and then gut out what I could. I didn't have a watch and I don't recall my exact splits - but they wound up something like 5:08, 5:28, 5:23, 0:32 = 16:33.

That first mile was really hot. I saw the clock and immediately had a big "whoops!" Trouble with that, was I had already started to slow up before reaching the marker (as did most of the pack). Only they clung to their pace from there, while I pulled back again in the second mile as I tried to get under control. Hence 5:28. After the first mile, I dropped a kid that went out with me, and saw nobody else the rest of the way. Little did I know, that a couple guys from the chase were closing on me, but nobody ever passed me. And for that, it was a success as I won my age group. 16:33 was a far cry from 16:20 and even more from a PR... but another good enough.

Spring Mile:

A mile isn't something I normally do. Since some of my recent racing was behind me and I was about to hit the reset button, I thought I'd give it a shot just to see what I could do. So last Wednesday night, a number of us went to the track for the first time this year. It was a treat, since we've been doing our speed on the lakefront path or in the zoo parking lot.

I simply had the target of running sub-5 minutes. I know I can go faster, but given that I suck at the mile... I figured I'd play it safe. I split 75, 76, 74, 73... for a total of 4:58. It felt great and was actually pretty fun. I couldn't have run it any better too - a very conservative and clean negative split. To boot, I capped off the 2x 400, 1x 1600, 2x 400 workout with a blazing 65 second 400. I think I'll try to give the mile another shot after building my training back up, as opposed to winding down. I'd absolutely love to go sub 4:50, which I should be able to do with a little more fitness and speed work.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm taking a few weeks of reduced mileage before I roll back up. Some much needed recovery. I'll keep it simple for now and reassess in a couple weeks. Ultimately I'll build to burn a fast marathon in the fall (location still TBD), followed by a lay-up with the NYC Marathon. Along the way, I'll give my 5K and half marathon both an honest shake for PRs.

Postpartum Marathon Syndrome

On the heels of a marathon, I almost always get some sort of postpartum syndrome. I'm often not quite sure what to do with myself. I go from loads of big mile training, then run a race, then it all shuts down and I'm left guessing what to do with myself.   

So that's where I've been for the past month... Stuck between wanting a break, but forging ahead with a few races... I mean, it can't all go for naught.  With no real goal in mind, I've decided to snag some quick CARA Circuit points.

I've kept up about 40-60 miles a week since Boston... probably least amount possible to allow me to strike while the iron is still somewhat warm. I've raced in the following:

4/28 - Oak Park Race That's Good for Life 5K - 16:20

If ever there was a recent chance for my 5K PR, this might've been it. The weather was absolutely perfect for racing in Chicago (actually, very rare!!). No wind, nicely in the mid-50's. Oak Park is a very competitive race that I've run several times. It's a fast course, and I had plenty teammates and other runners to help pace with. Unfortunately, I wound up missing my PR by 4 seconds. This was 2 weeks after Boston, and though I was fit, I still felt somewhat flat and sore. So true, you can burn a fast 5K after a marathon... without doing any additional work whatsoever... but it didn't feel good and it was still shy of a PR. Maybe I should've put in a little more work following the marathon? Whatever. I was 4th in my AG, which is amazing considering this was a 16:20!

5/19 - Woodridge Seven Bridges 5K - 16:43

This race served a simple purpose: moar CARA AG points. And I did just that, as I won my AG. It was a hot day... probably our first of the year for a race. I wasn't feeling overly fast, and I basically recognized that I had no competition in the age group. I hung in there, and just ran as short/fast tempo. That's what I call good enough.

5/25 - Soldier Field 10 Miler - 56:22

I had the goal of a sub-57 race. I haven't actually raced too many 10 mile road races, so this was entertaining. Like a giant fast tempo. I believe my 10mi PR was previously inside of a half marathon or a tempo run. Either way, SF10 is a competitive race so I went out with Scott Laumann again, and we blazed the first 5miles. Unfortunately, we turned and realized that the wind was previously at our backs. Per forecasts, wind wasn't supposed to be a factor, but it certainly was on the lakefront. After the turn, I gave up nearly 10-15 seconds a mile and ran a 56:22. Not the best execution, but another good enough for 2nd in my AG.

After Shamrock and each of these races, I believe I'm now seeded 1st place for the CARA 35-39 AG. Ugh. I'm afraid of what this might bring. Since I have no major goals for the rest of the season, I fear this might rope me into gunning for the circuit. I know that I'm not the fastest guy in the 35-39 AG, but if the more elite guys miss enough races, I might be able to hang in there with a few more decent runs.

At the very least, I'm going to run another Circuit 5K this coming weekend and then reassess. Beyond that, I'm a man without a plan and I'm getting by on a diet of lite mileage and former marathon fitness.

2013 Boston Marathon

After a month of thinking about what that happened at the Boston Marathon, and after being lazy about posting... I'm finally updating Coursing.

Unfortunately, the actual race itself became of little importance due to the events that directly followed the marathon... or interrupted the marathon for many people.

Regarding what followed the race, I still struggle with what to say. Unless you live in a cave or you're reading this years from now, you are fully aware that the 2013 Boston Marathon was bombed. Literally. Two bombs went off, both right near the finish line. Seconds apart. Three people died on the scene, and something like almost 200 people wound up in the hospital, including a huge number of amputees.

It was a disgusting act that left America and the sport dumbfounded. What should've been a day of joy, celebration, competition, and holiday in Boston turned into a nightmare scene straight out of Hollywood. Fortunately, it could've been a lot worse all around. And for myself, I had long finished the race and was a few miles away from the finish line when it occurred.

The days that followed where a complete circus act, very similar to watching OJ Simpson drive down the highway. The city went on lockdown and law enforcement went on a manhunt for two suspects. A few more people died. Emotions were high. Every media outlet in the country thrived on it, and was fixated with each and every waking moment.

Finally, with the killing of one suspect and capture of another, things have calmed down. There are still dribbles of news every now and then, but for the most part, this cowardly act is fading away. Who knows, maybe they'll come out with a made-for-TV movie on it someday? For many of us though, this won't be something that we are going to forget for a long time.

I'll never forget hearing the huge "BA-BOOOOM!" that the two blasts made. I heard them from Cambridge.

I'll never forget watching the chaos unfold on TV, only a few minutes later, knowing that I was only a few miles away and that I was just at the scene. This sort of thing happens every day in random places all over the world. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that it could happened in our own country? Either way, to actually be that close to a bombing leaves you emotional and jumpy, to say the least... even after 26.2 miles.

I'll never forget a casual conversation with another marathon finisher while walking through the Boston Commons. Both of us jokingly said, "I survived the race". About 10 minutes later, the bombs went off.

I'll never forget that 2 days before the race, on Saturday, a handful of teammates and I climbed through the scaffolding, directly in front of Marathon Sports on Boylston St, right at the finish line. This was exactly the scaffolding that was blown to smithereens and killed and mangled people 48 hours later. We climbed on it like monkey bars. We laughed and had fun the whole way. We then took a photo in front of the finish line, and moved on.

And lastly, I'll never forget my conversation with a women at the airport, while I waited to board the plane back to Chicago. She was in the final steps of her race when the blasts went off. She was 26.1 miles deep, and physically stuck on the course between both blasts. Exhausted, tired, dehydrated, delirious... and now nearly killed. Not knowing how else to respond, she crossed the finish line and found safety. She was physically unharmed, but I can only imagine the horror that she experienced.

It is absolutely horrible that such an innocent and pure event like that was soiled. The most famous race in the world was victimized, much like the Olympics and some other sports in the past. For runners, this was especially disheartening. Our Mecca, our Vatican, our place of homage was tarnished. Again, we can only be fortunate that more people weren't injured or killed.

Everyone has their own stories of the 2013 Boston Marathon. Alas, all the things I mentioned above took center stage away from what was a great race for many of us. Unfortunately, time has passed and I never really had the chance to fully reflect upon my own race. I haven't really embraced or celebrated the accomplishment. I wound up running my second fastest marathon to date, a mere 9 seconds away from a PR and 23 seconds away from cracking below 2:38. It might have actually been one of my best marathons yet, given how strategic Boston can be.

Here are some very brief memories and thoughts from the race itself aside from the bombing:

I spent the night before the race in Hopkinton area with Jason Kedzuch. What was supposed to be logistically easy, nearly turned into a pre-race nightmare as our shuttle driver got lost. Luckily, we made it to the start with a little time to spare and found our teammates.

Weather on Patriot's Day was nearly perfect. It was sunny and in the 50's. We had a touch of headwind, which increased as we got closer to the coast.

I ran most of the race literally stride for stride, with teammate Scott Laumann.

Scott and I tackled the course by going easy on the early down hills, averaging 6:13's for the first 3 miles. We blazed the 4 through 16 miles at an average of 5:55.8... (I recall constantly thinking "Wow this is really fast", and minutes later thinking "Wow, this is going so smooth and easy"). We battled the uphills in 17 through 21 with 6:13 avg's. At that point, Scott and I separated.

I stayed conservative on the sharp downhills of 22 and 23, then threw everything I had at the last 3 miles. My final 5.2 miles, which were in an increasing headwind at that point, averaged 6:02.9.

In a perfectly executed race, the goal was to go through the half at about 1:18:40 (we were 1 whopping second fast!), and then come back in whatever possible to get sub 2:38:00. I recognized that a negative split would've been very difficult or impossible for me with that strategy... and hence stuck to an even-effort plan.

I ran 2:38:23.

Looking back, everything felt very smooth and very fast. At no point, did I feel like I was out of control or bonking. I was truly all-in from mile 4 though 26.2... even those late miles. I don't think it would've been wise for me to have gone any faster at any point in those 22 miles. The uphills took a lot out of me, and the late downhills were taxing and begged to break me (hence, I didn't roll 5:45's on them)... The late headwinds probably took a little away from me in the final miles that I didn't expect. Mile 25 had a nasty uphill/over pass that hurt but I still pushed on it. I was sub-6 pace in the last 2.2K.

The only place I could have possibly squeaked out any time would've been in the first 5K. Scott and I started the race incredibly conservative... Hell, that first mile was 6:23! Coming out of Hopkinton is basically a fall-down-hill mile. That 5K was so slow that when we finally picked it up, we easily had a thousand runners in front of us at the 3 mi split. We did this to save our legs, and maybe that helped in the end? In hind sight though, it would've been worth the risk to go out slightly faster so that I had a chance at a sub-2:38.

Otherwise, I ran the highly strategic course as perfectly as I think I could've. And for that, I'm extremely proud of my Boston Marathon. On any other course, I would've had a huge PR race

It was a great experience and help to tackle all those miles along with Scott, and I couldn't have done it without him. Likewise, I couldn't have made it through all of my winter training without my TTAU teammates. A big thanks to my host for the weekend, Jason Kedzuch (he and Dawn made me feel at home, and kept me safe in Somerville). I only wish Sarah could've been there with me (she was sick at the time, back in Chicago).

I put a ton of split info below, but I think it's worthy of looking at to see how special this race was. Given the volatile course and an even effort, it was a near perfect performance in a Boston Marathon that will never be forgotten.

K's - Splits - Laps - Avg Per Mile

5- 0:19:18 - 0:19:18 - 0:06:12.6

10- 0:37:45 - 0:18:27 - 0:05:56.2

15- 0:56:14 - 0:18:29 - 0:05:56.9

20- 1:14:38 - 0:18:24 - 0:05:55.3

25- 1:33:02 - 0:18:24 - 0:05:55.3

30- 1:52:01 - 0:18:59 - 0:06:06.5

35- 2:11:19 - 0:19:18 - 0:06:12.6

40- 2:30:07 - 0:18:48 - 0:06:03.0

42.195- 2:38:23 - 0:08:16 - 0:05:59.5

1st Half- 1:18:39 -- 0:05:59.9

2nd Half- 1:19:44 -- 0:06:04.9

TOTAL 26.22- 2:38:23 -- 0:06:02.4

Mile- Split

1- 6:23.1

2- 6:11.7

3- 6:05.1

4- 5:59.0

5- 5:59.0 (30:37.9)

6- 5:51.0

7- 5:57.0

8- 5:59.0

9- 5:57.2

10- 5:52.5 (1:00.10)

11- 5:55.3

12- 5:52.9

13- 5:56.7 (split- 1:18:39)

14- 5:53.9

15- 5:58.6 (1:29:52)

16- 5:53.1

17- 6:10.1

18- 6:11.7

19- 6:01.8

20- 6:16.5 (2:00:25)

21- 6:24.9

22- 5:59.6

23- 6:06.3

24- 5:59.3

25- 6:07.4 (2:31.0)

26- 6:02.0

.219- 1:17.9

26.219- 2:38:23

2nd Chicagoan

3rd Illinois

216 Male

235 Overall