"What kinda battery you got in there?"

The brand spanking new Wilson track is beautiful. Unfortunately, it is completely useless when it comes to doing a track workout. There are far too many people crowded around it spectating and loitering the games on the infield. Maybe it's a fantastic facility between the hours of 10pm and 10am ...or later depending on the use of lights... or maybe even in the off season of soccer?  Otherwise forget it. This was my fourth time to this track, and each time I go it gets worse.

Be warned: If you need to do a serious workout and there is a crowd at Wilson, then chalk it up and choose another location.

When I got to the track (~6:00pm), there was a high school soccer game on the infield and another starting immediately after (in other words, probably 3 peak hours consumed by scheduled games)... Lots of people were constantly coming and going. Seriously, no fewer than 100 were scattered all over the track, infield and surrounding area. ...And let's not forget about the vendors/ice cream carts! There were THREE... all in lane 1!! It was my mistake to even stay there.

So, I chilled out with about 30 minutes of easy laps while waiting for the crowds to thin. After the second soccer game started, it became a little more manageable and I was able to start the workout (ie, the crowd was cut to about 50-60). Mind you though, I still had several people and children meandering aimlessly. Teens were kicking/throwing soccer balls at one another. The only thing missing were tricycles! 98% of everyone could've given a shit about track etiquette.

...The problem with this track is that it's not a track. It is a soccer field surrounded by other soccer fields...

During the workout, I had THREE collisions. Those weren't near collisions. Contact was made. Now I did bounce off and nobody ever went down, but I had no choice but to hit 3 different people. I tried to avoid them. There where many other near collisions, including almost mowing down children a couple different times.

And the icing on the cake: I had to politely asked a group of about 10 eager spectators to share the track on multiple occasions, only they were not being so polite in return. They refused to clear the track or share the space, were constantly mouthing off to me, and were purposely making me swing out into lane three... just for the sake of being pendejos. (And these weren't all young kids! Half of them were adults!!). They were even sitting and laying on the on the track at times! The only thing I could offer was an honest warning that I was wearing spikes, running fast, and might not be able to stop myself from stepping on hands. I generally don't have runner rage, and I was trying to not provoke these people, but I actually thought there was a good chance of getting into a fight. Finally after a few other runners were on the track, they backed off a bit. However, this crowd and a few others heckled me throughout the workout.

This was not a good environment for a focused track workout.

At least from an entertaining standpoint, on the 18th repeat one of the guys asked (in the best Cheech accent), "Eh man, what kinda battery you got in there?!" I could only laugh as I gasped for air.

All that said and the fact that I was doing this thing solo, it wound up being a very difficult 20x 400. Nonetheless, I still managed to pull off a 72.8 average. A little less consistent or lack of progressing as I would've liked... probably due to either being fired up or steered from distractions. In the end, it was very annoying and I was somewhat upset when I finished. Looking back, my splits actually weren't as bad as I had thought. I won't let it bother me but I definitely could've gone faster.

Yesterday, I was claiming that I'd be happy with sub 1:13's. I suppose given the conditions, this should suffice. So apparently not only do I have my wheels back, but I also have a bad ass battery to go with them!

Split recap w/ 80sec recovery

1- 1:12.3

2- 1:14.6

3- 1:12.8

4- 1:13.0 / 1-4 avg 1:13.2

5- 1:12.0

6- 1:13.7

7- 1:13.5

8- 1:12.6 / 5-8 avg 1:13.0

9- 1:11.9

10- 1:13.5

11- 1:12.8

12- 1:12.9 / 9-12 avg 1:12.7

13- 1:13.3

14- 1:13.3

15- 1:12.3

16- 1:13.4 / 13-16 avg 1:13.1

17- 1:12.4

18- 1:12.5

19- 1:11.5

20- 1:12.1 / 17-20 avg 1:12.1

Overall avg 1:12.8

Big boy tempo + Big boy 400's = We'll find out tonight.

Alright, as of the other day, I topped out at 102 miles and my peak is in. My endurance is finally back, I'm actually feeling mechanically decent, and a big tempo on Tuesday and a massage yesterday are leaving me a little more comfortable than I was a week ago.

Now the all important question - How fast am I???

It's tough to answer at the moment. Aside from a set of 800s a month ago, I haven't had any real quality workouts over the last month. The miles at the cabin made me strong, but were mostly effort based... nothing blazing fast. The Chicago Half doesn't really answer the question either (though technically, it was my second fastest half marathon... I haven't "raced" a half in ages... but I don't think this was a fair race effort)...

I have had one good big boy tempo run, which was Tuesday night.

10 mile recap:

1- 5:56.2

2- 5:55.5

3- 5:50.1

4- 5:51.7

5- 5:51.1

6- 5:48.2

7- 5:52.7

8- 5:40.6

9- 5:40.0

10- 5:32.0

Tot: 57:58.1 / Avg: 05:47.8

I actually felt very much in control and smooth, so that kind of gives me some confidence, it doesn't feel like isn't enough.

My training is basically done. I have 10 days before the marathon. I won't have another chance to race again, so it all comes down to tonight's workout. Big boy 20x400's. At this point, I believe I'm doing the workout solo too, which makes it that much more difficult. Knowing how I've run 400's in the past, if I'm gonna have a chance at sub-2:38 then I need to average mid-72's/sub-73's.

The weather looks like it'll be favorable. All I need to do is stay calm and avoid the countless kids and soccer balls randomly gravitating towards me. Time to suck it up and spin those wheels! ...This marathon ain't gonna run itself!

Chicago Half Marathon recap

I'm not gonna dwell upon this forever - but I'm actually a very annoyed about the race this year.

Let me ask one serious question - How fucking difficult is it to mark a course properly?? Alight, congratulations that they we able to get the overall distance "somewhat accurate" this year... But the markers were waaay fucking off!! This should be the absolute easiest thing to do with it comes to organizing a race and the Chicago Half consistently screws it up.

I've deleted my exact splits because they were completely useless, but I'm pretty sure they went something like this (I might've mixed up a couple in the 5 thru 8 stretch). Out of the first 8 miles though, only 1 marker was correct!!!  ONE!!! 

Split recap:

1 - 5:19

2 - 6:20

3 - 5:50 -guessing correct?

4 - 6:20

5 - 5:20

6 - 6:19

7 - 5:19

8 - 6:15

9 - 5:40 -finally getting it right

10 - 5:38

11 - 5:31-possibly short?

12 - 5:38

13 - 5:40

.1 - 0:37-unless I'm mistaken, seemed long?

Tot- 1:15:46

Avg- 5:47

Pathetic. I'm mostly annoyed because I simply didn't know how fast I was running, and I know I could've gone faster if I had a more accurate guide! I had to guestimate pace and sit with a small pack through 8 miles, hoping that we weren't royally screwing up. None of us had GPS's. Maybe that actually helped me go more conservative and then light it up later? Regardless, it wasn't until about 9 miles that I could do anything about it. In the end, I wound up getting aggressive and passing quite a few people, but also running out of room. I failed to catch a few runners that I should've been with/ahead of.

Anyway, whatever. It was a good workout. I ran well. Negative split. Felt decent at the end. I probably could've gone another mile or two at that 5:40ish closing pace. Weather was actually decent for a change. Blah blah blah.

Chicago Half Marathon: If you're reading this... PLEASE... after years and years in a row of repeating these mistakes... PLEASE MEASURE AND MARK YOUR COURSE. It's a simple task.  This isn't rocket science... and it doesn't even require fancy tools!!  Hell, even get a few boyscouts to do it or double check it!  I'm sure they'd enjoy the little adventure. 

2014 ADK Recap

It never fails and apparently I need to take a hint - I simply cannot train in Chicago and then go up to the cabin for two weeks and run 200 miles on hills, and expect to not get injured.

I didn't necessarily get "injured" but I did hit a mild breaking point that forced me to take some key days off.

So the good: I had a week and a half of big miles and quality. All hills. I ran them in a complicated fashion so that I could build build build. I had a great amount of aggressive miles, and I was getting cocky. I hit a point where I had five days in a row with my 7-day-trailing mileage at 100. I've never done that at the cabin before. It's no joke to hit a hundred up there. I then had visions of clipping 200 miles in the two weeks.

The bad: In spite of feeling fantastic, I was still forced to pull back. With a few days left, I had a garbage night of sleep, then went for a recovery run on Wednesday, which left my right knee feeling extremely sore after words. Thursday's Stillwater run buried me. I almost didn't finish, and walking after was extremely painful. I was forced to play it safe with Friday off, and then gingerly run 14 miles on Saturday instead of a big 22.

The pain has been posterior/medial on the right knee. It was a mix of my calf, adductor and hamstring. I don't recall doing anything specific to pull anything. I took a few more days off, loaded up on ibuprofen, iced, and had a solid massage once I got back to Chicago. Apparently it was more hamstring than anything else... it figures, because they've been super tight ever since Boston, in April.

Everything appears to be much better a few days later. The Chicago Half Marathon this coming weekend. This can still be a great race for me, albeit I'm a little more cautious and less concerned about making it an 'all-in' race. I've also mildly sabotaged it by running 20 miles last night. It went mostly alright, but a brutal finish due to the heat. Including today, that's three scorching days in a row and I'm now feeling extremely drained. The knee is holding up though, which is far more important.

After the half, I have 10 days to push and then another 10 days to recover.

Recap of my ADK trials of miles:

WEEK OF 8/24-30: 79mi

8/30 - 14 ADK/easy

8/29 - REST

8/28 - 14 ADK/Stillwater easy

8/27 - 12 ADK/#4 easy

8/26 - 17 ADK/Belfort progression

8/25 - 12 ADK/Croghan Tempo

8/24 - 10 ADK/#4 easy

WEEK OF 8/17-23: 90mi

8/23 - 22 ADK/Belfort up past falls, last 5 aggressive

8/22 - 13 ADK/Marks easy

8/21 - 14 ADK/Stillwater moderate

8/20 - 12 ADK/#4 easy

8/19 - 17 ADK/Belfort progression aggressive

8/18 - 12 ADK/Marks progression

8/17 - REST