The 2 Week Itch

The Itch is starting to set in.

In spite of being a far cry from my peak, I still ran 61 miles in the last 7 days. I'm only a week an a half a way from the marathon. I want to run more - I'm hungry today, but I need to cut back. I'm gonna have to take the day off. I'd like to take 2 days off, but I don't think that'll happen. I'm itching like a crack addict right now.

Irrational behavior begins in the marathon taper. I've mentioned this in the past, with Boston. A marathoner will start obsession about his race... and pretty much anything that revolves around it. So far this week I've been good, but the itch will start soon enough. The fact that I'm even writing about this means it's already begun.

I'll soon wind up being completely useless at work... spending the entire day building excel models that try to give me a mile-by-mile strategy... Of course, the weather could fuck that up so I'll have to spend hours staring at 5 different internet weather sites. Obsessing about everything. I'll start shopping for gear that I don't need. I'll probably make some sort of big purchase (actually, I already did - I bought Sarah a sweet camera last week)... so I'll make another one. I also attempted to buy some Vibram Five-Fingers. Those are very cool and I think could be a useful too - but they certainly won't help my taper. Someday. Probably won't work well going into the winter either though...? WTF? Why would I even look at them? Fortunately, they were out of stock in my size. This will go on and on and on. I'm gonna go stir crazy.


Anyway, in the last week I've had a few solid runs:

Last Saturday's long run was 17 miles w/ about 12 at race pace'ish. I'm not really sure the actual pace because I didn't have markers. It felt smooth and fast. Some of it was probably faster than race pace.

Monday night tempo was at race pace again. 8 miles worth. The temperature has finally started to drop a little, so it made for a very pleasant run... minus the 20-30mph winds from every direction. It was pretty much a futile effort. My 1/2 mile splits were anywhere from 2:50's to 3:20's. I hammered the last mile at 5:40 though... and into the wind. So much for knowing what race pace under ideal conditions feels like.

Wednesday night's speed - absolutely perfect marathon weather!! (See I'm obsessing about this!) 5x 3x200 cut-downs. It was all about quick feet, a smooth stride, and pushing the pace... but not draining myself too much. The last 200 was at 30 seconds. It left me wanting more. Hence, I'm itching today.

Over the next week, it'll be a handful of easy runs, probably 1 more shorter goal-pace run (just to wake my legs up a bit), and 1 more short distance track workout next Wednesday (the 1600 should be interesting).

In the mean time, my ADHD and OCD is clearly taking over.

Yeah, so... ?

Last bigger track workout before the marathon.
Yasso's 10x 800's... run at 2:35 pace w/ 1:30 seconds of rest.

I've done this workout a number of times. The last time I did it, it was 10x 800 back in August at basically the same pace (...If I remember correctly, it may have actually been marginally better weather though - last night was cooler but extremely humid).

Bart Yasso's theory is that if you can run 10x 800 before your marathon, you should be able to run the marathon at the pace of your 800's. Such as, if I can run at a consistent pace of 2:35 without being destroyed, then I could shoot for a 2:35 marathon. From experience, I know this isn't true... at least not for me. But it's definitely fair to say that if I couldn't run a 2:35 workout, then I have no business even attempting a 2:35 marathon... or a 2:40 marathon, for that matter.

Point being - I ran the workout faster than I intend on even attempting the marathon. 2:35 is way out of my league right now. But 2:40 may not be. Let's call that 5 seconds of cushion built into Yasso's theory.

In spite of the humidity and being sluggish for the warm up and first rep, I felt pretty smooth and comfortable for the entire workout. The consistency in my splits shows this. After the cool down, I was still hungry for more miles, and the thought occurred to me after that maybe I should have done 12 reps instead of 10? I don't think it would've been a problem. Oh well... after all, I am in a taper.

Splits:
1 - 2:40.5
2 - 2:35.4
3 - 2:35.6
4 - 2:35.7
5 - 2:35.5
6 - 2:36.8
7 - 2:35.8
8 - 2:34.6
9 - 2:35.3
10 - 2:30.1
2:35.5avg (77.5 pace)

The only thing I have to fear, is fear itself.

Last night's tempo run was ridiculous. Hands down, it was the best workout I've had all year.

I was sweating the run all day. I was tired. I was still feeling last week’s mileage. I was especially still feeling some remnants of Sunday's nasty hangover. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pull together mid-5:40's for a total tempo of 8 or 9 miles.

Once I finally got moving though, that pressure let up. My body woke up from its self-induced coma. On the warm up, I started to realize that maybe I needed to man-up and hang with the big boys. Rob Chenoweth and a few others were going an eye popping 10. I've never done a 10 tempo before...

It was myself, Rob, Derek Holland, Mark Wherman, and another guy. They're all faster and more experienced runners than I am. Since we were basically going out with my half pace, I figured I should be able to hang with them to the turn and then see what happens from there. The goal would then become to hold that pace until the finish.

I never really fell off the back of the pack. Everything was going smoothly. I was particularly paying attention to holding my stride together... and it did! The pack eventually shook up around me. Derek went shorter and starting hammering some blistering sub 5:20’s; Rob dropped off after 6 with some stomach issues; and I rode with Mark and the other guy until they dropped the hammer at 8.5. Myself: There was no way I was able to hold Mark’s pace at the end but I pulled my own trigger late in the run. I went from 5:40's to posting a nice 5:36 in the last mile. I have to admit it was pretty motivating to roll with them, and hang on the way I did.

We rolled about 9.95mi (the 2nd and 9th mile are a little short). 57:09 total, 5:43 average, a big 41 sec negative split! Not only was it my longest, but also one of my fastest tempos of the year! It was also roughly my 10mi PR to boot. Not too shabby considering it was on the heels of my peak week. A nice consolation prize for my Chicago 1/2.

I'm gradually pulling together what looks to be a potential ballz-to-the-wall marathon in 3 weeks time.


Splits:
1 - 5:55.6
2 - 5:38.4
3 - 5:47.5
4 - 5:41.3
5 - 5:52.2
6 - 5:40.1
7 - 5:40.0
8 - 5:41.0
9 - 5:36.3
10 - 5:36.7
Total - 57:09.1
5:42.9 avg, 41sec neg split

100

ONE HUNDRED.

100.

It is such a nice number. So clean. So round. So big!

Years ago, this would've been an unfathomable goal for me. I would've called bullshit anytime I heard that anyone ran over 100 miles in a week. How’s that even possible? Isn’t it like 15 miles in a day??

Then as I ran more, I thought only true studs hit 100. Certainly not me. Disclosure: I’m not saying that everyone who runs 100 is a stud, nor that you can't be a stud if you run fewer than 100... I'm just saying... It’s a shitload of miles. Most guys that do it AND can live to tell about it 2 or 3 weeks later… are kind of in good shape.

100 really wasn't even a goal in my current training. When I built my marathon schedule back in the spring, I was planning on only topping out around 90 miles. However, after feeling comfortable pushing well into the 90's over a 7 day period at the cabin, I decided that I needed to make a go for 100.

After last Sunday's 1/2 marathon I was pretty banged up. My right ITB got knotted up. Both calves were a mess at one point or another. I had something with my left achilles for a day. The top of my left foot had some sort of soreness...(And still does?)... Going for 100 in my peak week seemed once again improbable.

I'd be lying if I told you it felt good. It's debatable if it was a smart thing to do. Only time will tell. Recovery from that half was a big struggle. Garbage sleep didn’t help the cause. 3 of my runs felt like death marches by the final mile. I did have some good runs though.

So did it hurt? Yes.

Was it fun? No.

How's my social life? Yeah, take a guess. If you need help, ask my girlfriend, Sarah, or ask Myra.

Did I need to go 100? Probably not.

Did I consider bailing on this stupid goal? Every day. But fuck it, it had to happen at some point. Be a man.

That glowing, shiny “1-double-0” kept staring at me. Now was as good of a time as any.

That was my motivation.

So I did it. I clocked 100 miles in a week. I'm proud of it. I've come a long way. If nothing else, I can say at the end of the day (or week) that I can run 100 miles

An HUGE special thank you to Sarah! She gave me two much needed massages during the week. After the 1/2 marathon, that made it possible to keep going. By the time Saturday's 24 miler rolled around, I was pretty much back to normal.
The 24 was mostly at an easier 7:15 pace, and then I felt totally fine picking it up and hitting a 6:10s for the last 3 miles. I felt like I could've easily (if that's possible) gone another 5 or 6 miles. But I had to stop at some point... I mean come on, that would've been overkill! 100 was good enough.

The peak is in. Now I taper my mileage for 3 weeks, then it's Chicago Marathon #5. Marathon #10.

Chicago 1/2 Marathon

The Chicago 1/2 Marathon was my first decent race since the Boston Marathon. It was also my first opportunity to gauge how well my training has been going. Unfortunately, I don't think it was an accurate gauge.

The race took place on the south side of the city - near Jackson/Hyde Park area. It’s a large competitive race (nearly 20,000), but unfortunately the directors and sponsors have changed hands a number of times in the last few years. As best I can estimate, the course was a little long - probably by about 150-200m (or 30-45 seconds). The fact that the race started 15 minutes late also gives a little validity to my lament. An attempt to re-draw the course on USATF.

I wound up finishing 1:16:43, in 32nd place, 7th age group. I'm guessing I would've come close or broke 1:16 if the course was accurately measured. That would’ve been faster than my Cary 1/2 back in March.

Mind you, I’m not crying about my time. More importantly, I just wanted some sort of measure of my current fitness. I haven’t had much in the way of tempo or track work since August. I certainly have had my share of hill work and distance though. From as best I could tell, I ran this race with an honest / even effort and pace. Knowing that, gives me a little confidence in my training.

Race recap:
I went out somewhat easy through the first three miles and then settled into a steady mid-to-high 5:40’s effort. Weather was warm and sunny (maybe 70 for the race); wind was a steady 10mph from the north.

The first three miles snaked its way around Jackson Park, before going on a five mile out and back on LSD. By the time I hit LSD, I had set myself up to draft off a string of 10-15 runners while heading into the wind for the next 5 miles. Packs were far and few between by now, but 2 or 3 of us were able to work together for quite some time as we jumped from wind-blocker to wind-blocker.

Here's the annoying part: Mile 8 was blatantly long. In spite of a small side-stitch from drinking too much gatorade, I don’t believe my pace ever faded. In fact I had a small group of 3 that I was working with at the time, and none of us were giving anything up. Yet the 6:11 split was way off! For all I know, we even picked it up? I don't remember getting a jump back on the following miles either. By the time mile 12 rolled around, I was having some tightness in my ITB. But again - here I was actually pressing the pace and gaining ground on anyone near or ahead of me. Somehow that was clocked at 5:59. That had to be off. Mile 13 could also be suspect...? It's difficult to tell if any of the other miles were 'obviously short or long' though.

Bottom line: After talking to a few others with GPS watches and re-drawing the course on USATF or mapmyrun.com, I have slightly more confidence that the course was in fact long. And hence, I'm less concerned about the 1:16:43 time and could say that I might be in similar condition -if not better than I was back in the spring. That gives me a lot of comfort in my current training. I suspect I have a lot more endurance at this point though. I'm certainly putting in more miles right now.

This next week is my peak week of training. I’m sore from the 1/2, but I’m forging ahead with an attempt for 100 miles.


Split recap:
1 - 05:47.4
2 - 05:50.2
3 - 05:52.4
4 - 05:45.7
5 - 05:45.5
6 - 05:53.5
7 - 05:45.8
8 - 06:11.7*Long
9 - 05:48.8
10 - 05:48.8
11 - 05:43.3
12 - 05:59.6*Long
13 - 05:53.4
13.? - 00:37.2
Finish - 1:16:43

ADK Running Camp

Since 2004, my annual pilgrimage up to the family cabin in the Adirondacks has been turned into my own personal running boot-camp.

The landscape is a deep forest chalk full of rolling hills, mountains, dirt roads, trails, lakes, and rivers... my typical 16 mile loop has 2400 feet of elevation change... all perfect for beating the hell out of my body. I've always been hyper-active up here, but in each of the past 5 years I've pushed the limits.

Since I started running more aggressively, I typically try to hit my peak or near peak mileage in the Adirondacks in preparation for a fall marathon. I then ice over the running with water skiing, swimming, bridge jumping, cliff diving, rock climbing, four wheeling, hiking, tree clearing, log splitting, building, and busting my ass with countless other chores around the cabin. ....And in each of the past few years, I've wound up breaking those limits in one sense or another. I've often gone home with some sort of aggravated injury, or chalk full of difficult to cure knots.

This year was different (aside from rolling the four wheeler and almost killing myself)....

It's a great testament to the "base" mileage that I've put together in the last 8 months, and 5 years... This is bigger than my recent two months of basing. My hip injury from the Boston training has forced me to improve my stride and clean up some of my weaknesses, namely in the glutes and my core. For the first time since Boston, I can say that the injury has actually helped me to be a stronger runner. ADK proved that.

My ADK milestones this year: From 8/17-9/3, I streaked for 18 days. A total of 225 miles. I peaked with 97 miles over a 7 day period.... the most I've ever put in a week. 225 miles over 3 weeks isn't anything new to me, but it was steady build that included days off at the beginning and end of the 3 weeks; and all of those miles were on the hills. It used to be that if I touched 80, I'd cry like a baby. That's now a thing of the past. 97 miles and not one double... and it left me chomping at the bit for more.

Since then, I've taken 2 days off. Then turned around and ran 2 doubles, 2 days in a row. I'm often afraid to say this, but I'm feeling good. Aside from some occasional side stitch/psoas problems, I'm rolling. Coming back to the flat lands of Chicago seem like a joke after climbing thousands of feet.

My first post camp test comes this weekend: the Chicago 1/2 Marathon. It should be a flat and fast course (I believe only 1 hair-pin turn). Weather can be a bit dicey in September - hot, humid, raining, windy... whatever. There's no telling. This is my first 1/2 since Cary. My favorite distance. I'm going into it as a training / long tempo run. But if I feel good, I'll roll.

Next week will be my peak week. I'll give it another go for 100 miles.

The King, Norb, and a big 8

August enters with a few bangs. Last week, I hit 80 miles for the first time in this round of training. It included the Elvis is Alive 5K, and 21 miles up at Ras's homestead... revisiting our old friend, Norb. And after a long 8 mile tempo run last night, I'm actually feeling pretty good today.

Some highlights:

Last Monday (8/3) was a pretty cool run with w/ Claudia, Paul, and Jason. Excluding a warm up and cool down, we ran 10 miles at about 7ish. We then ran 5x 400's. Theory was to simulate finishing very strong at the end of a 1/2 marathon. To my surprise, I blazed the 400's. 77, 77, 75, 73, 68. That 68 was awesome! For some dumb reason, I felt great. After that many miles, I would've expected to be dead.
I think I'll try to incorporate this workout up at the cabin, over the next 3 weeks...

Thursday night race: Elvis is Alive 5K
This was a majorly disappointing race for me. More like bomb, not bang. I was hoping that I'd be able to redeem myself after the Bastille Day Massacre. In theory, I should be able to run a 5K somewhere around 16:30ish. With Elvis, I went out thinking mid-5:20's, and then push for 5:20 in mile 3. That should put me around 16:30. Instead, I choked a 16:55. It may have been a PR, but it's not worthy of counting it as one.

Mile 1 was 5:26ish. It seemed to feel good. Too good though... Unfortunately, once I settled into my pace (just before passing the 1 mile), it took another mile to figure figure out that I was rolling too slow. Mile 2 wound up 5:31. Since I didn't have a soul around to push me, I just sucked it up and tried to get to the finish. A far cry from dropping the hammer. I'm guessing 3 was about 5:27-28, and a 30 second kick. I ran 16:55/56.

I let the heat wear on me (which really wasn't all that bad), and a lack of motivation get the better of me. My excuse is that I've only had 1 month of good training... maybe a month and a half. But in the end, it was a flop. I've got to stop coming up with lame excuses in these 5K's. I've been hammering my tempo runs and getting some good distance. My racing has been pathetic lately though.

Saturday was I went up to Wisconsin with Ras, C-well, and Creamers. We ran the Ras circuit: a 21 mile route in the hills. In spite of the down pour early in the morning and humidity that followed, I still managed to have a strong run.

Splits from last night's 8 mile tempo, which works out to be my last tempo before going to the cabin:
1 - 6:06.5
2 - 5:46.5
3 - 5:47.5
4 - 5:48.9
5 - 5:51.0
6 - 5:49.0
7 - 5:46.5
8 - 5:44.3
5:50 avg, 19sec neg split.

July Basing

My wheels are slowly starting to come back, and so are my miles. Through the end of July, I had 5 good weeks of basing with 60+ miles each week (including 2 weeks at 70+). In the process I've had some decent tempos, track workouts, the disappointing Bastille Day 5k, and a so-so Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 miler. In all, I feel "decent". The hip isn't bothering me as much. No other major aches or pains to speak of, aside from a reoccurring side stitch and some consistently chronic dehydration. I'm still not feeling fast, and the couple races that I've run were slower/less intense than I wanted, but I'm slowly getting there.

Recap:

Tempo run, 7/20th:
1 - 5:54.6
2 - 5:46.7 (short)
3 - 5:45.0
4 - 5:37.5
5 - 5:33.6 (short)
6 - 5:35.9
5:42 avg, 39 sec neg split

All in all, a great run. The thought crossed my mind to push for 7 miles, but held back. It was hot. I might've died with that pace too, as we started out pretty aggressive (and taken away from my 10 miler). 6 was a good call. 7's will roll in August.

Track workout, 7/22:
8x 800's at 78 avg w/ 80 rest. It was shaping up to be a great workout. I felt comfortable rolling through the first 6, but bombed the last couple reps w/ a nasty side stitch.

Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10mi, 7/25:
Well it lived up to its name. A hot and humid July race, with a XC start for the first mile, a number of rolling hills including the last couple miles being up hill, and a nasty XC finish in the last 1200.

My straight up goal for this race was to break 60 minutes. I did that. I'm a little annoyed that I didn't run harder in the last couple miles. Looking back, I certainly could've, but I wasn't motivated for some reason. Also, I was out kicked by a guy that I had been chasing in the last 3 miles, and finally passed with a mile to go. He passed me back in the last 400. I easily should've buried him. I just didn't have it...? Lame.

1 - 5:46.9
2 - 5:58.7
3 - 6:02.5
4 - 6:05.6
5 - 6:00.9
6 - 5:45.2
7 - 5:48.6
8 - 5:47.7
9 - 6:07.6
10 - 6:08.2
59:30, 5:57 avg, 17 sec neg split

Track workout, 7/29:
17x 400's at 76 avg w/ 75 rest. Goal was to actually start out closer to 80, then push towards 75. I started a little faster (77), and still finished faster than expected (the few sub 75). My strength was a good confidence booster.

1 - 1:17.5
2 - 1:17.9
3 - 1:17.9
4 - 1:16.6
5 - 1:17.7
6 - 1:16.6
7 - 1:15.6
8 - 1:16.3
9 - 1:16.4
10 - 1:16.7
11 - 1:15.6
12 - 1:15.9
13 - 1:16.2
14 - 1:13.8
15 - 1:14.1
16 - 1:15.3
17 - 1:11.3
1:16.0 avg

20 mi Long run, 8/1:
This was my first 20 mile run. I ran alone, with the help of a hot water girl tailing me on the bike (Thank you, Sarah!!). First half was into the wind, and the first several miles were around 7:15, then 7's. As I got about 5 deep, I started slowly pushing sub 7. By the turn, I was hitting 6:45's. Then with the wind at my back, it started flowing. By about 13, I was committed to pushing sub 6:30 thru 18. 7/7:15 for the cool down. A very solid, progressing long run. I was dead by the end, but I felt better than some of my previous long runs. The big speed may not be there, but endurance is definitely coming back.

Progress this week

I've had a bit of a roller coaster in the past week, but things are starting to look up.

I was getting some nasty dehydration issues a week ago that I was never able to overcome.

It seems like Tuesday tipped it off. Whatever I ate for lunch was causing me some cramping and dehydrated me before the track workout. I don't think I ever fully recovered from that. After that, Bastille Day 5K was a flop. Then Friday night's 10 miler was supposed to be an "easy" run with Jason, but it was far from easy. The humidity hurt. Could've been worse though, I guess I could've been hurled over on the side of the path sticking my finger down my throat...?

Saturday's 18 was the low point... I didn't get a lot of sleep Friday night, and I swear everything I drank to rehydrated myself went in one end and right out the other end.
I was supposed to do a long workout with Mike and Jason, but pulled the plug before we even kicked it off. It was a good thing too. I would've died. I instead hung back and still had a death march in the last few miles. That was my ugliest and most difficult long run in a month.

A couple good nights of sleep, and swamping my system w/ fluids put me back on the map though...


Monday night's tempo was great. Whatever recovery I did since Saturday worked wonders. It was the first time in a while that I actually felt fast + strong. Splits were 5:49, 5:40, 5:47, 5:44, 5:30, 5:34... (those are Chicago miles, so #'s 2 and 5 are short by probably 6 to 8 seconds).... but the important point is, I did the same exact workout a couple weeks earlier in some nasty heat and pulled a positive 30 split. This week, the weather was slightly better and I was now a negative 28 split... and had gas in the tank. That was a big and much needed confidence booster after some of the recent garbage runs.


Wednesday night we did a time trial at the track for Claudia. Goal was 3200 w/ laps 1-5 @ 82, #6 @ 81, #7 @ 80, #8 sub 80.

We loosened up with 4x 200 @ 36+37's w/ 200 outs. Then a 5 minute recovery.

3200 went 79.6, 82.5, 82.7, 83, 83.5, 80.9, 82.4, 75.9 = 10:50.7 First 200 was a little fast, and a couple of the laps with some strong head winds in the final 100, but otherwise it was about as perfect as we could've run it.

Topped it off with 4 nice 400's @ 73.4, 72.2, 71.4, 70.4 w/ 60 rest. I think I was actually more happy with the 400's than the 3200 - each was 1 second faster than the prior.

That was a very cool workout! I'm going to try it at least 1 more time before October.


Saturday will be my first long run w/ hills. Going out to Waterfall Glenn. We're going to run two laps of the Xtreme 10's route.

They can't all be winners

I've had a couple solid weeks of training... I'm back towards 60 miles/week, with some quality work. I’ve had a couple decent tempo and track workouts, albeit slower than I'd like. Some very good 15/16 mile runs, which included progressing the pace towards some sort of "marathon goal pace" for at least a few miles near the end of those runs.

I am still feeling some tightness in my hip, but it seems to be manageable. I haven't had a massage in about 3 weeks and am probably due for one, and I'm still getting acupuncture once every other week. My sleeping patterns are horrible right now… I’m barely getting 7 hours.

That said, I've had a reintroduction into racing as I've participated in 3 events in the last 2 weeks. All three have been very humbling experiences. In spite of some ultra conservative goals, they all fell short of my expectations - and I have lame excuses as to why they weren't good races.


6/27 - Old Man Mile @ 5:04
Goal was to go sub-5. I don't care what happened earlier in the day... 4:59 was still a conservative goal. Instead, a very poor showing for my 1-mile debut. 5:04 was slower than my fastest mile, which was about 5 flat in a track workout... and far from what I'm capable of, which should easily be sub 4:50.
It was a fun experience, considering I've never raced anything that short before. It was over so quickly though! I mean only 5 minutes. I’m used to dragging it out over hours. I felt like there wasn't even a chance to get into a rhythm. More like "just run a fast 800, then hang on to as much discomfort as you can for the next 800, and try not to die." Unfortunately, I was a great big giant pussy about it... I was trailing a small pack, and then I mentally caved. After 800, it was either hang or be done and run comfortably... I chose the latter. The excuse was, I ran 16 miles at a solid pace in the morning, then spent the day at the beach, and even had a few beers. It was a long day, and I was tired... so I told myself after 800 that I didn't care. But of course after the fact, I did care! 2 weeks later, and I’m still pissed about it. 19 miles total that day, and I was still a pussy.

7/4 - 4 on the 4th @ 22:40
Here's a great idea... let's go run 16 miles hard the day before a race (slowest mile was 6:50, average was sub 6:30)... then hit the beach, get all dehydrated, watch a bunch of fireworks down at Grant Park, eat very little, drink no water, drink a ton of alkihol, get drunk, then go to bed after midnight... then get up at 5:45 am to run a 4 mile race.... Serious, I was still drunk when I woke up, and I felt like a crumpled up $1 bill at the starting line. A couple mile warm up shook some of it out of me, but it didn't stop me from having a terrible race. It was a miracle I didn’t puke! 5:30's for the first couple miles, then 5:50's for the second couple.... hence 22:40 when I should've easily gone sub 22. I really had no goal at the starting line, other than get back to bed ASAP. This was pathetic.

7/9 - Bastille Day 5K @ 17:01
I should've PR'd this race. My 5K PR was (and still is) 16:55 from Oakpark in April 2008. Last year I ran 16:57 at Bastille Day. I'm long over due to reset the 5K bar.
Admittedly, this race is usually a heater, and avoiding a fade in the conditions is almost impossible. I thought to myself that this year might be different though... it was only like 75 degrees (better than 85!). Yeah, think again.
I'm really not sure why, but throughout the day I had some stomach/digestion issues going on. I’ve actually felt it all week long. I had a big salad for lunch and in hind sight, this probably killed me. After lunch, I wasn't able to hold anything in my system. I became very dehydrated well before the race. Even on a warm day, this would’ve been a mix for disaster. And of course, going into the race I thought about this all too much. More than likely, I probably convinced myself that this was going to be my excuse and it was OK to bonk.
I hung with Chris and Michael through the first mile... we rolled 5:19. Jason and a couple others were slightly ahead of us. Sub 16 guys had their own pack up front. 5:19 was slightly faster than I wanted, but I didn't feel too horrible. Thinking I had some time in the bank, I decided to relax and back off slightly. I let Chris and Mike go... Second mile was 5:27. Maybe I pulled back too much? But I was still doing fine. Just holding that pace would’ve given me a sub 16:50. Mile 3 was a bomb though. My gut was wrenching and only gas pedal I had was the kind that desperately required a pit stop... and I was badly in need of it. My body was done. Towel was thrown in. Mile 3 was a 5:40, and there was no kick. 17:01. I don't care how out of shape I was a month or two ago... and I don't care how many track workouts I haven't had... I should've been able to walk this thing backwards faster!
(A shout out to Mike and Chris – Huge PR’s! Nice job guys!! I wish I could’ve been there with you.)

SO, ripe with excuses... 3 disappointing race. The good news is that I'm starting to feel good about running fast again. Bad news is that I still have a lot of work to get back to where I was pre-Boston.

I need to start acting like a competitive runner again. I need to kick the excessive toxins out of my system, eat better, and definitely get more sleep. If I'm going to train hard and run races, I can't give myself any chances for excuses to enter my head.

Talk is cheap. Time to get to work.

My next race is in 2 weeks: Waterfall Glen Xtreme 10 Miler. It's a tough and hilly course, and generally very hot. Unfortunately, I haven't had any hills since April... and that heat will be a bitch... so, I'll probably be happy with anything under an hour. If I can pull my shit together though and everything clicks, I should be able to go sub 58.