Post Moscow: CARA + Naperville Half Marathon + CIM Ramp

After Moscow, I didn't take too much time to figure out what I wanted to do with the balance of this year's running.

After two weeks of travel and chilling out, I then needed to quickly pull myself back together. I was committed to the CARA Circuit, which meant I needed to gut out two final races of the season: Halloween Hustle 5K and the Naperville Half Marathon. Furthermore, I had a twinkle in my eye...... I was left somewhat unfulfilled from Moscow and wondering what I should do about it.

Ramping back up wasn't easy. I had some medial left-knee pain that was caused by doing too much walking / stairs in the days following the marathon. Ironically it was very similar to some pain that I had after last year's Berlin. Last year it took a few months to heal. This year, I decided to run through it for the circuit races. It took about three weeks to calm down and become runnable without any discomfort. With a bunch of stretching, foam rolling, and some simple exercises... it's totally fine now.

My initial push back into running was some pacing during the Chicago Marathon for a few friends. It required me to build for a week. I then towed Anu to the finish line for the last 8 miles. The 6:00-6:10 effort wasn't too bad. I started setting my sights on the CARA races.

Halloween Hustle was easy. It was just a 5K. It score points and helped to test some speed. It wasn't super fast because the conditions were less than ideal (rainy / windy / cold), but it gave me more comfort and the knee was no longer bothering me. It wasn't a fast Circuit 5K since many people had just run the marathon... but I did have to race to get 3rd. I dropped a guy that placed 4th, and briefly was in 2nd place before getting kicked myself in the final 400m. I was happy with 3rd and 16:46 in those conditions was satisfying nonetheless. That secured my season with CARA as 2nd 35-39 AG, and 5th OA).

At that point, I had a few weeks of 50+ miles back underneath me. The thoughts were creeping into my head....

If was going to go for a redemption marathon, it had to be CIM (Dec 6th). I felt good. If I was going to do it though, I'd have to quickly ramp my mileage. So I signed up with the option to defer the registration. I'd have to make the ultimate commitment/decision by Nov 16th.... conveniently the day after Naperville Half Marathon.

My focus immediately shifted towards building mileage. I didn't think I'd need a blast into the hundreds, but I knew I'd need a handful of 75-90 miles weeks and a little more speed.

That said, the next two weeks popped up to 72 and 85 miles. The second week at 85 miles was key, as I had 3 large workouts:

- 7 mile rust buster tempo (avg'd 5:54 with conservative start and low 5:40's in second half).

- 8x800 @ 2:34.7 on the lakefront w/ 90 recovery (alternating 4 in wind @ 2:38avg, 4 w/ wind @ 2:31avg).

- 18 miles with 12 at progressing from 6:30 down to 6:15

What happened next was not planned by any means, but inked my commitment to CIM.

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Naperville Half Marathon

I honestly didn't have high expectations for this race. I merely wanted to add to my CARA points and get a solid workout. My running in the week up to this half was all building blocks. I hit 99 miles in 7 days through that Friday, including the workouts mentioned above. I went easy/short on Saturday, then the half on Sunday. In other words - there was no taper, this was a run-through-race.

I expected something similar to the Lake Zurich Half, and that would've been ideal. I knew that a sub-1:17 would be enough to gain more CARA points, though it wouldn't necessarily change the standings... A sub-1:17 also would've easily satisfied my desire for some MGP miles + progressing a little faster towards the end of the race.

Sasha was running this as her debut half marathon, so we road out to Naperville at some ridiculously early hour. Without any significant expectations, I wasn't stressing myself out too much... (maybe this is what makes the best races??). Prior to the start, I took a quick glance at the course map. It showed a bunch of twisty roads and turns, with some rolling hills. Way too much for me to take in. It was what it was. I simply had no clue where I was gonna be running or what was ahead.

Weather was brisk, around 40 degrees at the start. No significant wind and plenty of sun... Ideal racing conditions for me.

I warmed up with Sean Clark, and we ducked into the front of the starting line with just enough time to run a few strides. I looked around and didn't see many recognizable faces, aside from a few New Balance and Dick Pond runners... some of which I expected to go faster than me. Surprisingly no bigger Fleet Feet guys.

After very early some turns and jockeying, at about 3/4ths mile I found myself running with only a handful of runners in front of me. Sean was shooting for 1:18, and I said I might hang with him for the first few miles. I kept checking back, and I was already gaining distance on him. Apparently so much for that plan! I still didn't think I would crush this thing. Everything felt very smooth though; the weather was cool, no wind, and I actually welcomed the sun. I just locked onto my pace and went with it. I passed a few more people before mile one, then breezed the marker at 5:45.

There were three guys solidly in front of me and gaining ground. One was Jeremy Rustin and in my AG. I figured if he had a bad day and I had a really good day, then I could catch him. He wasn't holding anything back in the early going though. The other two guys were New Balance and even gaining on him. Still no Fleet Feet in sight. I knew I would find myself in no-man's-land soon enough. Then I gradually heard a runner approaching from behind. Initially I wasn't sure what to do with that.

As he ran along side of me, and I latched on. He was a younger guy... maybe in his mid-20's. Seemed a little cumbersome, but certainly wasn't slow. We exchanged a couple quick comments, and he was clearly happy hanging onto this pace. I wasn't overly taxed, so I decided to stay with him. Besides, absolutely nobody else was near us at this point... he was my only hope for someone to run with. Mile 2: 5:44.

We turned off the main street into some neighborhoods. The course immediately then started climbing. We couldn't even see the guys in front of us any longer, nor anything behind. We climbed through that pig of a hill. Mile 3: 5:48. Neither one of us was letting go of the other. All I could think was, "Shit! What did I just get myself into?" I had no idea there would be hills like that out here.

The course then leveled off. We maintained our effort. Mile 4: 5:38. Yowza! At this point, I'd better not be thinking about a MGP run... because that would be a crash and burn! I laid the cards on the table and told the kid I'd try to run with him for as long as I could, but I didn't know what I had inside of me.

We kept twisting through the neighborhood and saw random crowds cheer on the streets. Mile 5: 5:39.

This was no joke now. I was committing myself to whatever this kid was going doing and he was looking solid. I didn't feel terrible, so I was still ok with it. The constant checking kept happening though... both of myself and of him. Neither of us broke for a second. There was rarely a point where I thought I could drop him... but interestingly, nor did I think I was going to be dropped. I started to use him. I wanted to match him as much as possible.

We hit a nasty uphill again in the 6th mile. We rounded some turns, more good sized crowds cheering, climbed and turned again. A couple people shouted my name. I had no clue who they were. Where did they come from?? I've never been to Naperville!? I was numb to the outside world. Tunnel vision. I just wanted to get up this hill without him dropping me. Mile 6: 5:46.

We then turned out of the neighborhoods and hit a wide, long, straight road, down hill road. I lit the fire! Mile 7: 5:30!

He stayed right with me too. I actually didn't want him to go either. At this point we were feeding one another.

We then snaked our way into downtown Naperville (whatever that is!!)... crowds were cheering again. Still, I had no clue what this course or town looked like, so I was somewhat shocked by everything that was going on. I had no idea people would be out here watching! And more people kept cheering for me too... HOW?!? I had no idea. (Spoiler alert: My name was on the bib!!)

We still couldn't see the other guys in front of us. God only knows how far back the field was. People kept cheering for us to "stay together" and "work together". They were right. Mile 8: another smoking 5:33.

Mile 9: 5:39

We were running like a metronome now... with only a slight ebb and flow around turns.

Mile 10: 5:38... We ran stride for stride with one another through 10 miles without either of us blinking an eye! But this was no longer us running together... It finally dawned on me that we were racing each other! I had completely forgotten all about my 1:17 goal. All I was worried about was two things: Eat or be eaten.

We went through a gatorade station and I grabbed another drink. It wasn't hot by any means, but I was sweating and I had taken a few gatorades before then to keep the fire lit. I noticed that he didn't take anything. He had actually skipped several by that point. I even thought about it... asking myself, was he drinking anything?? Why not?? Hmmm.

About 200m later, we rounded a corner and I noticed him taking it slightly slower than I did and not coming back.

Bingo!

After that point, I was two stepping him for another half mile. I could feel him getting ever so slightly weaker. I actually tried to egg him on and told him to stay with me. Mile 11: 5:37.

Another turn and we were back in a neighborhood and had a few more hills. I had no clue where the hell this course was taking us!! It kept turning. Neighborhoods. Straight-aways. What the hell!? I then pulled a trigger with a surge. I increased the lead ever so slightly. He didn't follow. I knew he was done. The question was now, what did I have left? I was redlining; I was locked in and didn't want to let go. I leaned in to what I could. His footsteps grew more faint. Mile 12: 5:38. The clock said 1:07:59 flat.

It took me a minute to think, but I recognized 1:08 + 6:30 if I blow up = still a PR.

Blow up was not an option. I was finishing this fucker as fast as I could!

Rounded a another turn. I put in another surge to gain as I crested a slight high spot on the road. From there was a long straight away in front of me, and it was all a gradual downhill. My eyes welled up. I couldn't see anyone in front of me. Rustin was out of the picture. All I worried about was keeping the pedal to the metal and not letting the kid kick me down. Mile 13: 5:34.

I was all in. I still couldn't see the finish line though. Where was it?

Boom! I heard loud speakers say the second placed runner finished. It was Jeremy. I waited to hear who was third. I heard nothing after that... It turns out that one of the original three guys dropped off the course/ took a wrong turn.

More downhill, then I rounded a final corner and kicked as hard as I could. The loud speaker then blared "And here comes 3rd place..."... I closed the last .11 in 33.8 seconds, or a 5:07 pace.

SPLIT RECAP:

1- 5:45.1

2- 5:44.1

3- 5:48.1

4- 5:38.4

5- 5:39.2

6- 5:46.4

7- 5:30.8

8- 5:33.5

9- 5:39.0

10- 5:38.6

11- 5:37.0

12- 5:38.7

13- 5:34.6

0.11- 33.8 (5:07 pace)

Tot- 1:14:07 / 5:39.2 Avg; 3rd OA.

Solid negative split and long overdue Half Marathon PR. In fact, it was one of my best races to date. Hilarious, considering I had no intentions of running hard in this race!! I put 12 seconds on the 26 year old "kid" in the last couple miles. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have done it without that guy's help... So thank you, Kyle Julian... whoever you are.

Ironically, a 1:14:07 is somewhat inline with my 55:31 at SF10, per McMillan Running. It says I should gun for a 2:35:59.

With this, I'm officially committed to closing my season with CIM. Time to get to work!!

A special shout out to Sasha for running a fantastic Half Marathon debut: 1:43:53!! Fantastic!! XOXOXOX!!!!

Moscow Marathon: From Chicago w/ Love

Another long over due marathon report.... What can I say, sometimes life gets in the way. In this case, work has been challenging and distracting to say the least, coupled with a few personal events and random running. I'll address those in other posts soon enough. In the meantime, here's my brief review of the Moscow Marathon and photo blast from the trip.

I boarded my flight for Moscow all hopped up, and thinking that I should be able gun for a PR. My training had been solid. I certainly had the endurance. I was hitting good speed workouts. And I was totally healthy without any lingering aches or pains.

All those things suggested that I should go for it.

Unfortunately, we can't always control everything, and when traveling internationally there will always be additional elements that stack up against us.

In the end, I didn't get a PR in Moscow simply because it just wasn't meant to be on that course and on that day. I pushed hard through 35K, and then didn't have enough in me to get aggressive at the end. I still ran a 2:39:12. About three minutes off from my PR.

Although the race was a disappointing from my original goals, I'm perfectly OK with how it went. I gave it a shot. I still ran well, and I left more in the tank for another day. It took me all of about five minutes after crossing the finish line to accept that.

This trip to Russia was about much more than just a race. The race was just a small part of a 2-1/2 week adventure to a new world for me. Hell, the race was a glorified tour of Moscow, which turns out is a beautiful and impressive city!

More importantly, I traveled with someone that I'm absolutely head over heels for, and together we explored places that I might not have gone otherwise. I was able to see where Sasha was from, learn more about the culture she grew up with, and met some of the people that are most dear to her. We had a blast!

So where to go with this marathon recap? There were some things that certainly effected my race and they're worth highlighting. I don't think any one singlehandedly was terrible, but all of them combined made the day more difficult than expected.

For starters, Moscow's not cold. Don't be fooled!! They have hot summers and their winters are warmer than Chicago's. In September, it generally starts to cool off but inconveniently they were in the midst of an Indian-Summer. Race day was easily 75 degrees, and very sunny. And since the course was on some extremely wide streets, the sun was soaked up by the blacktop and only made things seem much hotter. Luckily wind wasn't a factor.

Given the heat, hydration should've been key. Unfortunately, I went into the race already somewhat depleted. Reason being: on the flight over, I had some sort of freak migraine and massive kankle swelling... worse than anything I've experienced before. It took a few days to resolve this as my body literally wound up flushing itself. I also "broke my fever" in the two nights that lead up to the race (aka waking up in disgusting pools of sweat). By marathon morning, my hydration was already blown. It was frustrating and upsetting. To add insult to injury on a hot day, I didn't get any water or powerade until the 10K mark! Ugh.

The course itself made for some beautiful, scenic views. It was fun to start from the 1980 Olympic Village, which screamed a Soviet Era mini-city. I couldn't help but think about the 1980 USA team that was forced to boycott. The first 5K was along the Moscow River, then through Moscow City... which is an uber-modern business district with some wild architecture. A similar idea to La Defense in Paris, only bigger, Moscow City is growing rapidly and would put any American downtown to shame. After 10K, we snaked our way along several boulevards, ring-roads, the river, and old neighborhoods that lead to the Red Square. (Unfortunately, we didn't run through the Red Square - that would've been really impressive!) The final 10K passed the Bolshoi Theatre, former KGB headquarters and other old CCCP buildings, along the Kremlin wall, and then the river back to the Olympic Village.

Again, a very impressive tour of the city! After the weekend, I came away with a new found respect for Moscow. Unfortunately, it clearly doesn't receive enough much deserving, positive attention from the western world.

Moscow Marathon Course Map:

SO, a few other things about the course: Moscow's not flat. There were a series of hills from 9-11K, 22-26K, and 30-31K. It seemed like steps leading up to the Red Square, then 33-34K was a very fast downhill back to the river. The first uphill was over a couple K and Boston worthy, or worse. The 20-25KM stretch had a nasty bridge followed by a steady rise over a longer distance. By then, I was starting to push the pace. So if I averaged about 6:01/mi in there, then it was more like 5:50 effort.

The extremely wide streets made tangents difficult, especially when hydration was located on the outer edges of 6 to 10 lanes. Think trying to run on a Lake Shore Drive without any medians! There were four x 180 degree turns, of which the last was at 35K and appeared to be incorrectly marked. From that point on, those final 7-8K markers were very inaccurate and basically useless. I had no idea what pace I was actually running in there.

In summary, my sob story goes as follows: Hydration depleted from the get go, then it was hot, not enough water, somewhat hilly, and screwed up markers towards the end. Like I said, nothing singlehandedly was horrible... but collectively this became too much for my 2:36 expectation.

OK, all that said... Here are a few thoughts about my race itself.

Collectively, there was a marathon + a 10K race. I think both had about 12-15,000 runners. Maybe 5,000 were marathoners. The 10K hung with us through about 4K, then split and reconnected briefly at our 12K.

It seemed like a big field initially, but after the 10K race split off things got lonely. Fortunately, I was working with a guy early on, and we were very steady together... consistently hitting 3:43-46/K or ~6:00/mi, with the exception of the hill at the 10K mark. Things felt extremely smooth, and the only hiccup was missing that first water/powerade station at 5K.

I eventually dropped this other runner around the half way point. By then, we had already passed a most of the field in front of us. It became a solo effort from there. More often than not, I couldn't see anyone ahead. There were a few runners to chase down, but none willing to hang with me.

Looking back, I would say that my race went extremely well through the 34K mark. At 34K I was on pace for 2:37:40. There was a little volatility in my splits, but my effort was always constant or pressing. At times, I had to force myself to hold back. At 30K, I saw Sasha and her dad cheering for me. That sparked me to start pushing. It was hot, but I knew if I was going to run something solid, that's were it needed to happen. I wound up having some of my fastest splits from 31 to 34K, which averaged 3:40's. 34 was downhill and I blazed a 3:28 or 5:35/mi pace. It felt fantastic too!

I remember thinking that if I could hold 3:40's, then I come close to breaking 2:37. I already knew it was likely too hot for a PR, but up until I still thought I had a chance to go sub-6 min for the whole thing. I reached the river and Kremlin, and I had 8K to go.

That's all ironic because after that uber-fast 34th K, things got shitty quickly! The 35th K had a 180 turn that seemed too long. I split 4:13. 36K was 4:52. I remember thinking, "What the fuck!?" I was running way too fast for those splits, and I was trusting what I ran in 34 given my effort on that downhill. Then a 2:33 at 37... I was starting to get frustrated, but the course seemed to be correcting itself. Then 3:58 at 38 (another WTF?), and finally back at 3:43 in 39. That's a huge variance in pace that I knew wasn't happeneing, so I had absolutely no clue what I was running! As far as I was concerned, I was still holding a decent effort and the 3:43 confirmed it at 39K... only praying that the final 3K would correct the error.

Then I hit the wall. The dehydration and frustration slammed into me. I started to mentally give up. No matter what the splits said, I knew I was slowing in this last 3.2K. I made it 24 miles deep and there wasn't anything I could do about it. My legs went into slow motion. I didn't completely cave, but I stopped fighting. Ironically I was still passing a couple dying runners. The end merely became a self-battle of attrition.

It turns out that the final 7.2K were about 3:53/KM or 6:15 pace. Was that actually the pace? Was the distance correct? I don't know. It's hard to say since the markers were so far off. I've tried to use Google Maps to study the course. As far as I can tell, through 34K looks accurate... then it gets dicey due to that 180 turn. Regardless of the overall distance that I ran... I know I slowed towards the end... and that makes a huge difference from what I ran last year in Berlin. I finished Moscow in 2:39:12. placed 21st OA, 18th male, 4th AG. The nearest person was a minute and a half in front of me.

So that's it. That's the race. Not quite the work of art I was originally expecting, but given my laundry list above, I was actually OK with it. It was what it was, and I readily accepted that soon after crossing the finish line. Honestly, after seeing Sasha and her dad at the finish made everything so much better. Yet another sub-2:40 to put in the spreadsheet.

International marathons are awesome trips, and I've done plenty at this point. Each time I go, I recognize the risks of not running good races. It's tough because you get your hopes up for them. Sometimes you get lucky and things fall into place. I PR'd at Rotterdam and twice in Berlin. Moscow just wasn't my day. Regardless, it was an amazing run and effort, and I'd recommend it to anyone. The race is still an infant compared to the majors, but with some time it'll grow into a fantastic event.

Split Recap:

K----- Time ----- Lap ---- /KM ---- /Mi

5K -- 0:18:39 -- 18:39 -- 3:43.8 -- 6:00.2 (Missed water at 5K)

10 -- 0:37:42 -- 19:03 -- 3:48.6 -- 6:07.9 (Included big hill!)

15 -- 0:56:17 -- 18:35 -- 3:43.0 -- 5:58.9 (Let it fly)

21.1 -- 1:18:59 -- 22:42 -- 3:43.4 -- 5:59.5 (Let it fly)

25 -- 1:33:35 -- 14:36 -- 3:44.5 -- 6:01.3 (All uphill)

30 -- 1:52:24 -- 18:49 -- 3:45.8 -- 6:03.4 (More hill)

35 -- 2:11:16 -- 18:52 -- 3:46.4 -- 6:04.4 (Avg'd 3:40s except 35K)

42.2 -- 2:39:12 -- 27:56 -- 3:52.9 -- 6:14.9 (This was all FUBAR)

Overall: 2:39:12 / 1:18:59 out, 1:20:13 back

The funny thing is, the course was covered with paparazzi! I swear, I've never been photographed so much while running. Those Russians really love their cameras!! Anyway, I scalped a few random ones that I found online, along with some of the fancy official race shots.

12K, with the only person willing to hang with me:

15K and passing these fools like they were standing still:

25K:

27K and melting in the sun:

Near 32K:

Blazing it near 34K, and completely alone:

No man's land, near 39K:

Sasha and I at the finish:

With Sasha and her dad at the finish:

Probably one of my favorite photo bombs ever!!!

Some of the media pics...

Start:

First 5K:

Moscow City, 8K:

One of the "Seven Sisters" buildings, 12K:

Hills, 20-something-K:

Red Square, 32-33K:

Kremlin, 36K:

Of course, the trip that followed the marathon is really why we were there! Sasha and I left Moscow the following day. We then went to St Petersburg for several days and toured many historical museums, palaces, and cathedrals. We then went to Voronezh to see her family and friends, and wrapped up on the Mediterranean coast in Antalya, Turkey. All in all, an amazing experience. Here are a few of the nearly 1,000 photos that we took:

Aleksander Sad, Moscow:

Kremlin, Moscow:

Kremlin Cathedral, Moscow:

St Basil in Red Square, Moscow:

Red Square, Moscow:

Cathedral top, looking at Winter Palace, St Petersburg:

Winter Palace, St Petersburg:

Cathedral on Spilled Blood, St Petersburg:

One of many St Petersburg Canals:

Entrance to Summer Palace, St Petersburg:

Voronezh:

Countryside near Voronezh:

Orlov Family at Dacha, near Voronezh:

Former noble castle, near Voronezh:

Voronezh Circus!!

Antalya Beach:

Antalya Harbor:

Mosque from hotel at Antalya:

Waterfall into Mediterranean, Antalya:

Roman Gate, Antalya:

Roman Ruins, Pamukkale:

Pamukkale:

Lake Zurich Half Marathon

This was an interesting development. Only time will tell if it'll end up hurting me.

Yesterday's race was a week out from my Moscow Marathon. I generally do some harder efforts and/or goal paced work in the week leading into a marathon, but never to the extent of a half marathon. In theory, I shouldn't have been pushing it too hard for that distance. Lake Zurich Half was to merely tune up to help me feel my marathon pace, with the option of pushing for the whole distance if I felt good.

A conflicting problem was that its a CARA Circuit race. I would gain points, but how many? I knew that some of the CARA Age Groupers would be there and feared getting roped into running too fast. On the one hand I wanted to remain conservative for Moscow, on the other hand I wanted to make sure that I grabbed CARA AG points.

The weather was absolutely perfect. It was a nice crisp morning, with little wind. Regardless of the race itself, this was one of the most comfortable running days that I can remember.

At the starting line, I had already seen my competition: a guy that's generally faster than me, and a guy that I should be able to beat... Everyone else was inconsequential. From CARA AG scoring purposes, I would either place 2nd or 3rd depending on each of our paces. When the race started, I told Scott and Fred that I would run with them, but warned I might not be able to stick to the plan due to this small problem of mine. I still wanted to keep the reigns in as much as possible though.

The first two miles went off every easy, at 5:53 and 5:54. It was a little faster than I wanted, but I had already gained the guy I would be vying with for 2nd place. I wanted to make sure I held that. Scott and Fred hung back and let me do my thing. There were a few packs of runners just ahead and I simply couldn't help myself to overtake them.

Everything felt incredibly smooth. Autopilot was engaged and I locked into lower 5:50's. By the fifth mile, I was resting in about 12th place overall. First place AG was too far in front of me to warrant a push... nor did I want to over extend myself. I stayed comfortable.

A few rolling hills and a few more passes had me pressing into the mid/lower 5:40s through the 11th mile. Everything still remained was in check so I wasn't overly concerned. I merely maintained from there. I coasted 12 and 13 at about 5:45-5:50s (mile 12 was waay long).

I finished 1:16:10, ninth overall and second for CARA AG scoring purposes (technically 3rd AG).

For what it's worth, it appears that the course might've been long by at least 0.1 miles... A couple people claimed even longer, in spite of running tangents. If that's the case, and if it should've been closer to a 1:15:45, then this is one of my fastest half marathons to date. Not too shabby since I ran it as a workout. I easily could've gone sub 1:15. At some point I might actually have to give the half an honest effort.

Anyway, it was still much faster time than I expected. Importantly though, it was wasn't an all-in effort and it didn't hurt. Of course I'm an idiot because I've now risked cutting into my precious marathon taper. I should've exercised more restraint. But, I couldn't help myself!... The weather and other runners just begged me to push it, and I've been chomping at the bit to have a strong distance run.

This is what the marathon taper is all about... a caged wild animal (rabbit?) that's finely tuned itself and now chewing at bars to get released.

As of this morning, I feel OK. I actually am not really sore from the effort... I mean obviously I can tell I ran a 1:16 yesterday... but I'm not limping and I don't think I hurt my Moscow chances. My only real damage appears to be a nasty blister on my right foot, which should have plenty of time to heal.

From here, I'm shut down. I'm getting a massage this afternoon. Tomorrow, a very easy 8 miles. Wednesday and Thursday will be rest and travel days. Friday and Saturday will be easy 6-8 mile runs in Moscow, just to shake the nerves out. I don't know if this is gonna be a PR race, but I've set it up so that I can go for it.

Split recap:

1- 5:53.6

2- 5:54.4

3- 5:53.9

4- 5:35.0 (Short!)

5- 5:53.9

6- 5:49.3

7- 5:45.0

8- 5:51.0 (Long!)

9- 5:42.2

10- 5:45.1

11- 5:42.6

12- 5:59.1 (Long!)

13- 5:48.1

.1- 0:37.0

Total: 1:16:10

20x400 - Moscow Style

I had a few solid workouts towards the end of July and early August, but haven't really done much since then. Last week's 800s didn't help to put my mind at ease, and the BG10K was basically a bust... I was desperately in need of something to show my fitness.

Tonight was really the only chance I had left to spin my wheels. I went for old faithful: 20x400, with 80-90sec rest.

Weather was in the mid-70s and rather humid. It wasn't helpful but certainly better than what I've dealt with in the past week. I went to Montrose and the track was a shit show as usual... There was a soccer game on the infield and several other people milling about the track. I constantly had to remind people to watch out for speed in lane one, and on a number of occasions had to dodge pedestrians, other runners, and/or soccer balls. Conditions were certainly not easy, and add to it that I ran the workout solo.

With that said, my splits were surprisingly smooth ...like freakishly smooth!

The first rep was very fast (apparently I was excited?), and in the 11th I basically hit a traffic jam. Otherwise, I maintained 72s for the rest of the first four miles. I was able to speed up just a touch in the fifth mile. I had traffic again in the final lap... otherwise that would've closed it with a bigger bang.

All in all, I averaged 72.18. According to my training log, that's the fastest I've ever run 20x400... EVER. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr Putin! I'll be blowing by your door step in 10 days.

Split recap:

1- 70.62

2- 72.44

3- 72.38

4- 71.85

5- 72.54 (1-5 avg: 71.97)

6- 72.57

7- 72.16

8- 72.65

9- 72.37

10- 72.49 (6-10 avg: 72.45)

11- 73.38 (traffic)

12- 72.01

13- 72.84

14- 72.92

15- 72.56 (11-15 avg: 72.74)

16- 72.01

17- 71.79

18- 71.43

19- 71.20

20- 71.40 (16-20 avg: 71.57)

O'all avg: 72.18

Buffalo Grove 10K

I ran the Buffalo Grove 10K with the intentions of 1) gaining some CARA Circuit points in my age group, and 2) for a trial of miles to give myself confidence heading into Moscow. I went into it thinking that this should've been a reasonably important race. A 10K PR should've been a gimme.

If I rate my race based upon those thoughts, then I failed. Horribly. However, given the circumstances, it wasn't a total loss.

Let's start with the weather: The race was run in the middle of a nasty, early September heat wave. We had about 8 days of 90+ degrees and humidity. There were claims that Sunday was possibly the hottest day of the year... easily mid-90s. The race was run mostly through a forest preserve, at 7:30am. That meant, it was either blazing hot in the sun or choking humidity in the preserve's shade.

Under ideal conditions, I thought a 5:25 paced run would've been possible. Given the heat and the fact that I was sitting on my peak mileage, tired, and sore... I was willing to adjust that goal pace. I thought maybe go out at a 5:30ish pace and see what happens.

It started out ok, with the first mile right around 5:31. It was on suburban streets and felt hot but reasonable.

Incidentally, at about 400 meters into the race, point number one from above came into play: After a very brief jockey for positioning, I found myself in 5th place. In front of me were four runners that I knew I wouldn't beat (well maybe one of them if he had a really horrible day). Otherwise, they were talented guys that could bury me even when they're out of shape. Inconveniently for my original intentions: Three of the four were in the 35-40 AG. Unbelievable!

Let's put this into perspective... even at this year's Shamrock Shuffle, which is probably THE most competitive race in the city and the USATF 8K national championships... I placed 4th in my age group! And that was a bad race for me!! Had I not sucked and been a giant pussy that day, I should've placed second. So here I find myself at some podunk, Buffalo Grove Stampede race on a holiday weekend when most guys should be off camping and drinking beer... and I'm in fifth place overall and fourth in the 35-39 AG!! All I could think was, Don't these guys have lives!?!?

After that first mile, I wasn't too far behind the lead (only maybe 5 seconds) but I knew that wouldn't last. It was clear though that the gap behind me was widening. Barring my own death or a freight train coming from behind, I pretty much had the 5th place locked up. 5:31.

By the second mile, we were in the forest preserve and the lead pack started to pull away from me. It was only a matter of time. There was no question that I shouldn't follow them. We crested a small hill with me only about 20m behind, and by the bottom they started to hammer. I ran 5:35 that mile, and could only see them farther and farther in front on straight aways. I was all alone from there on.

By the third mile, I was in the position of having nobody to work or race with. I slipped a little in pace (5:45). Fortunately I couldn't see anyone behind me. My sole purpose became to defend my position and attempt to maintain effort. The fourth was another 5:45. The race then exited the forest preserve. The humidity took its toll. I was completely soaked in sweat and my feet were sopping wet.

Outside of the preserve and blanket of humidity, I was able to pick up the pace towards lower 5:30's. I maintained that through the finish. In the end, 34:59. Averaged about 5:38s. Fifth place OA, fourth place AG.

This was a joke considering I ran SF10 in 55:31... or a 5:33 pace.

The silver lining could be seen in the fact that the lead pack finished at least minute slower than I would've expected (results). Also, I didn't completely die during the run. It certainly was very difficult given the conditions and I did lose motivation without having other runners around me. But the takeaway was a hard heat-indexed effort, that would've been much faster under better circumstances.

I now look to this week's 20x400 track workout to fine tune my speed. The weather has finally let up and my mileage has started it's slow decent towards a taper.

Peak Heat

Peak week is never easy. I closed out the week with 101 miles. I actually hit a 7-day PR in there, at 116 miles. That surpassed my previous 110 PR set back in 2013.

The mileage hasn't been a big deal. It really wasn't that bad. The 116 was achieved with two over distance runs and more doubles than usual. The difficultly though has been the fucking heat!! After spending time at the cabin and having the joy of running in no more than 75-80 degree temps, I spent this whole week choking on 90 degrees and humidity. It's been brutal!! Many of the runs felt like death marches. All I could do though is try to adjust my training, use doubles instead of longer runs, drink a ton of water, and man up.

As for my all important track workout? I sucked it up. However, that too required multiple adjustments. Instead of risking complete failure and mental breakdown, I delayed Wednesday's 90+ degree workout to Thursday. Then when it was 90 degrees again on Thursday, I went indoors. An indoor track workout in early September due to weather sounds ridiculous, but it was the lesser of two evils.

SO, I hit the East Bank Club track for my 10x800s. Was it fun? Hell no. The turns are very sharp, and it's not even a clean oval. The narrow two-lanes required running slower on the corners and then picking it up on the straights... it felt more like a series of pick-ups versus steady 800s. Then there was the surface... It was soft. Very soft! Almost too soft for a big workout. I can understand it for recreational running and easy mileage. But striding on that thing is like pushing on a sponge. In hind sight, track spikes minus the pins would've made a big improvement and gave me more control.

In the end, the workout was a little slower than I would've liked (2:36.6 average), but I did run steady and it certainly was more comfortable than running outdoors. I figure the surface and turns taxed me around 1-2 seconds. Running alone and/or dead tired (on 100 miles) might've hurt a little as well. I'll call it good enough and move on.

I'm running Buffalo Grove 10K tomorrow, and then I'll be able to pull my mileage back down to the 60's and start the recovery process. Two weeks to Moscow.

EBC Indoor Split Recap, 10x800 w/ 85 rest:

1- 239.6

2- 236.8

3- 236.8

4- 237.0

5- 236.8

6- 236.8

7- 236.2

8- 235.8

9- 235.3

10- 235.3

Avg: 236.6

Big Boy 13 Mile Tempo

JR: "Are you fit?"

RW: "I didn't get to run as much as I wanted (at cabin), but I think so."

RW: "I need a big tempo to see where I'm at."

JR: "Bingo... We're doing 13 at 5:50 tonight. You're in."

I initially cringed at the idea. Coming off the ADK hills, I wasn't sure what was in my legs, let alone being 2 days out from a 25 miler. I wanted a "bigger" tempo last night, but I was only thinking 8 or maybe 9 miles. 13 seemed almost too big! Add to it, that it was close to 80 degrees when we started (75ish at finish), and very humid.

Nonetheless, I manned up. It was myself, Jason, Anu, Lionel, and Adam Palumbo. Lionel is way faster than I am. Jason and Adam are wild cards, depending on where they are in training. And Anu has been getting big miles and still in his breaking out mode. I was merely hoping that I could hang on to the pack and stick to the plan, which was to roll out at about 5:55-6:00 range, and back at 5:50-5:55's.

We ran south on the lakefront from the Chicago Loop, going an out-and-back. The first few miles were right on cue... 5:55's. I didn't have my watch, but the other guys were calling splits as we ran. So far, it was very smooth for me. I just tried to set it on autopilot, and hoped/prayed that this near-MGP wasn't going to get too uncomfortable.

After about 5 miles, we started chipping it closer to 5:50's. It was a little sooner than we wanted to push it, but it still didn't feel too badly so I went with the flow. So far, so good.

Just before the 6.5mi turn, we were now dipping just below 5:50. Jason and Anu backed off to get a drink of water and recover for a few minutes, then jumped back aboard after the turn. Sweat was flying everywhere. Shoes began to squish. The train rolled on.

At about around 7.5-8 miles, Lionel put in a surge going over a small hill at around 47th Street. Adam followed. I responded, but not quite as extreme. I fell about 5 seconds off. They later claimed they dropped a 5:40 on that mile. Anu and Jason were just off my back. Anu grabbed back on to me within the next mile, while Adam stopped for the bathroom. Anu and I now were following Lionel, though he was no longer gapping us. Steady 5:45-5:48s.

Hot and humid. No stopping for water. Fortunately no real wind. At about 9 miles, I was still keeping control, albeit it now more taxing. Anu continued to work with me, as we gradually closed on Lionel. He was now starting to pull back a little, as he was getting cramps. He wound up stopping for a few minutes. I know the feeling all too well on nights like this, and I was lucky it didn't happen to me. The heat and humidity are workout killers.

With about 3 miles go to, I was soaking in sweat right down to my toes. The salt was irritating my eyes. We were hitting about 5:45's. I still had my stride, but it was clearly work at this point. Autopilot was no longer an option. As long as we didn't push the pace too much, I knew I could hang on until the finish. Then Anu dropped off at 11.5 miles. I was solo. Now the real work had to begin.

Without a watch, I'm not sure of the final 1.5mi splits. I was going faster than I intended, just to get it over with. I used Dolgin Hill to propel myself forward and closed the final half mile the best I could yet still in control. Judging by the gap between myself and Anu at the finish, I believe I still averaged 5:45's... maybe down to a 5:40 in final mile.

Technically we ran 13.1 miles... I believe I averaged about 5:50, which would've resulted in a ~1:16:28, give or take. Not too shabby considering I didn't take a drop of water or stop on this hot and humid Monday nite tempo. It's nights like this that I'm lucky to have guys to train with.  There is no way I would've done this on my own!! 

Going back to the original question, "Are you fit?"... I'm in my final peak week of training. I'm certainly getting there. I hesitate to say that I'm in PR shape just yet. And there are too many variables between now and 9/20... But if I can keep myself rolling, then I could have a shot. My next tests will be a larger track workout on Wednesday, 10K on Sunday, another larger track workout next Wednesday, and finally a MGP tune up at the Lake Zurich Half Marathon.

Est'd Split Recap:

1- 5:55

2- 5:57

3- 5:55

4- 5:55

5- 5:50

6- 5:50

7- 5:45

8- 5:45

9- 5:48

10- 5:48

11- 5:45

12- 5:45

13- 5:43

Avg 5:49.5