The Wait

It's Monday. I leave on Thursday with my drive to Duluth. The waiting game has begun.

My mileage has pulled back significantly now and I'm starting to twiddle my thumbs. I've checked the weather a million times (which is pointless, because it keeps changing!). I've watched a few videos of marathon course. I've studied the maps. I've plotted my driving route. I've made pointless purchases online. It's all the waiting game.

Since the end of last week, here are my runs:

Thursday: 14 miles easy. I pulled this forward because I signed up for a 5K trial on Saturday.

Friday: REST and a massage. The massage definitely helped.

Saturday: I intended on racing a 5K at Montrose Harbor. Unfortunately, weather shifted quite a bit... it wound up pouring, thundering, and lightening for the hour surrounding the start of that race. They called it off. Bummer because I sunk the money just a couple days prior and I was really looking for this to give me a true indication of my current speed. I haven't raced in ages!! I ran home form Montrose and had nearly 3 miles at MGP. That helped me burn some energy.

Sunday: 10 with 3 miles at 5:59, 5:55, 5:39. The 5:39 was because in the last quarter mile I essentially ran it as a long stride. That run started easy but was a little more work than I had hoped. The pain was self inflicted... I had a mild hangover.

...On that note, I've really been trying to significantly cut alcohol clean up my diet in the last few months. Partly as sympathy for Sasha being pregnant, and low and behold I've noticed a side effect of not drinking as often... I've been recovering and sleeping much better! Who woulda thunk?!? I'm still allowing myself one or two nights a week to "chill out" and have some wine or beer... However, I paid a small price for Saturday's bottle of wine. Fortunately, I still have plenty of time to cleanse myself before heading to Duluth.

I've also been trying to monitor what I've been eating lately. Some higher protein. Much less fat. Trying to cut the sugar. Lots of grains, I guess. I'm not a freak about it... but I have been "counting my calories a bit". It all shows too. My weight before this marathon is probably the lowest I've had in a long time. And I feel much more lean. A true 138-139. I hit 135 a week ago after a run. I can't remember the last time I saw that...? I still feel strong though. My skin looks like it's painted on my muscles. No doubt, this is a result of my diet and boozing less while training in the last month...

Anyway, today was another rest day and another massage. The Serbian really broke some junk up this time. My back and legs are now a little sore, but feeling much more loosey-goosey. I'm planning on using the hot tub tonight with lots of epsom salts.

Tomorrow and Wednesday will each be easy 7-8 miles, with some strides. Then that's it. I'm leaving on Thursday and driving half way to Duluth. Wake up Friday morning in Northern Wisconsin, run a shake out, then drive the rest of the way.

The downside of not getting that 5K - I'm once again going to be toeing the line without any clear indication of my current fitness. The only thing I have at this point is my Makin' the Eights from last week. I can trust that a little bit. Otherwise, it'll another trial of miles after miles of trials. Ugh.

Soaking up the rest and recovery, and now waiting. Everything between now and 7:45AM on Saturday is just spanning time. Spanning time and just waiting to unleash whatever might be inside me.

Makin' the Eights

This is really my final week of running before Grandma's. The race is next Saturday. Like I said before, I haven't written much about this, but I've been certainly thinking and obsessing over it for the last couple of months.

May was solid. I ran a hell of a lot. I've only had three other comparable peaks that were this big:

- Philly 2012 - I had 12 day streak of trailing-7 days clocking 100+. Technically, 13 out of 15 days had the 100+. I was fantastically fit, but only had a few hours of sleep the night before the race. It was all for naught.

- Chicago 2013 - While I was "finding myself", I had 15 weeks of 1068 miles. My biggest ramp to that point, but not a peak like Philly. Lots of strong running and speed in here too, but I wound up breaking myself a week or so before the marathon. That lead to my worst injury ever. The marathon became a struggle to finish due the beginning of my pubic symphysis getting crushed.

- NYC 2017 - This was the mother of all training, as far as I was concerned. 15 weeks of 1121 miles. I even ran a marathon before the marathon. I had speed, I had strength, yet I came up lame. Yet again, all for naught and not worth discussing any longer.

Anyway, it's not all done yet for Grandma's, but I'll likely wind up with around 1040'ish miles in the 15 weeks. In addition, I also have the 13 days that lived above 100+. Twin peaks of 108. This has been solid and strong work yet again. I don't feel fresh, but I do feel fit. That's for sure.

That brings me to this week. Nothing big mileage wise, but I had two notable workouts:

8 Mile SOLO Tempo:

1- 548.2

2- 540.9

3- 543.3

4- 537.1

5- 537.5

6- 536.3

7- 533.3

8- 534.9

= 5:38.9 avg

The thing that was nice about this one - I was solo. It was a warm day, but wind wasn't a significant factor. Fast as I could want, and actually faster that I intended. I finished very strong. I actually don't know that I've done a tempo that fast before, outside of a race???

10x 800 w/ 85-90 rest:

1- 236.6

2- 236.3

3- 236.1

4- 235.2

5- 236.1 [1-5 avg: 236.06]

6- 233.1

7- 232.3

8- 231.6

9- 232.5

10- 231.2 [6-10 avg: 232.14]

= 234.10 avg

Again, SOLO. Decent conditions as well. Warmish day, and wind wasn't a factor. Considering the shit cold, monster wind, then incredibly hot weather we've had for the last 2 straight months, this was absolutely perfect!

One other kicker for the workout that I didn't anticipate... apparently it was National Running Day. The track was fucked! EXTREMELY crowded with Back on My Feet Again and CARA both having big groups doing social runs. I had to compete with 75+ people during my laps, and 3 soccer games on the infield. I tried the best I could to delay the run, and stay out of trouble. Every single lap required some sort of obstacle though.

The result: 236.06 in the first 5 reps. Not blazing, but not bad. It didn't feel easy. Just trying to get my groove and hold it. Then something hit me inside... I just opened up my legs and let the stride flow. Number 6 was tough, but I pushed the pace. I forced a 233. I don't know why, but everything after that felt sooo smooth!!! I wasn't having to force it as much. I even still had all the traffic in lane one. It didn't phase me. I sailed the second half, averaging 232.14. All in, I've had faster 8x800s, but that's definitely the fastest I've done 10x800... and certainly the best negative split interval workout that I've done.

Makin' the Eights... 8 mile tempo, and 10x800s. Two big workouts in my final week before cutting it off.

May got here in a hurry

Time slips away when you're having fun.

I've totally slacked on keeping this blog up to date. I used to write very often. Lately, a clear pattern has been that I get excited before a big race/marathon, and try to calm my nerves by putting the thoughts into the blog.

I've delayed up until now, and I'm once again in that situation. It's nearly mid-2018, time has been flying by, and I haven't touched this thing since my mugging in NYC. Let's do a quick run down of everything since then through May:

November: Trip to Thailand with Sasha. I try to forget about NYC, which is difficult since I sunk so much into that race... my biggest training stretch ever, and absolutely nothing to show for it but a mediocre 2:42:30.

December: Blah miles. Sasha finds out that she missed the cutoff for Boston by 5 lousy seconds! She's crushed. And she's significantly faster since then, as she even went sub-20 in her 5K. Qualifying for women is 3:35. She ran 3:31:40'ish, and the cutoff was like 3:31:35. Sucks. I signed up, and it wound up being a complete waste of $200 or whatever the damn price was... I wasn't going to run it without her. Immediately scrap that plan. I wander aimlessly for a while.

December 31: totaled 2823.6 miles for 2017.

January: Skiing in Colorado with Fools. Biggest news for the year: Sasha and I also found out that we're expecting a baby! The bear cub will be due September 20, 2018. Apparently the cubby decided that as soon as momma wasn't gonna run Boston, that this was the next best thing for our race calendar. We're both signed up for the Chicago Marathon in October, but this certainly throws a wrench in that plan. She's clearly out. I'm not scrapping it totally, but I certainly can't bury myself into it. I run base mile with twinkles of Grandma's popping into my head.

February: Napa Valley for Presidents' Day weekend. This was a great trip!! It would've been cooler if it was the highly romantic get-away as originally planned, but we still had a blast. Lots of wineries. She still tasted. I certainly drank. We ate fantastic food. Hot air balloon ride. Came back with a couple cases of wine that I've been foaming at the mouth over since then (I'm not allowed to drink it wihtout Sasha). Running was still an after thought, as Boston was off the docket. I threw my hat into the ring as an elite entry to Grandma's Marathon, competing as a master.

March: Skiing in Colorado again, with Paul Wilczewski and crew. First time I've been to Beaver Creek since like 2005. It was awesome! As soon as I returned from CO, I started to ramp up for Grandma's... the race is June 16th. That's three months to go from 50ish to 100ish and allow for a little break in the middle and a taper. Still mostly base miles, with one week towards the end of the month at 74 miles. I start to insert a few workouts. Shamrock Shuffle 8K is a wash, as I'm not fit to race. I run steady pace though, with 27:36 on the chip and 27:45 elite clock.

April: First half of the month was pushing to 80 miles. A few more workouts, lots of progressions, a couple tempos. I hit a 20 miler. Training gets cut for a week at the end of the month, as Sasha and I take a trip to Russia. We spent most of the time in her home-city, Voronezh, and then slightly North-east of Moscow at her relative's dacha. I did run a little while there, but it was mostly just to burn off the sour cream and meat. We returned to Chicago on April 29.

May: I didn't take a single day off here. Balls to the wall training, as best as I could do. Not sure what I'll run, but I wanna give a hell of a shot.

- After Russia, I immediately ramped to 80, the 90, then 100+.

- I had 13 days in a row that maintained a 7-day trailing 100+ miles. I kissed 108 twice at the beginning and end of that stretch.

- My workouts through the month were mostly strength builders. Not blazing speed, but getting me fit and strong, without breaking me.

- I have a few good tempos. One solid 8mi tempo at 5:45 average.

- 20x 400 @ 72.6 average, 80-85 rest. Very steady. No frills or fancy cut down.

- Lots of lunch runs, a number of doubles. Alvaro helped with some of the bigger runs, otherwise a lot of solo miles.

- My only true test of speed is with the Chase Corporate Challenge 3.5mi... I expected slightly under 19 minutes, at a 5:20ish pace. I run 19:06. There were several 180 degree turns that likely hurt. I also didn't see the finish until it was too late to really put a steady kick. Regardless, I went into that race with 105 miles under me... needless to say, I wasn't fresh.

- I ended the month with a 20 miler. I'm tired but strong. No idea how fast. I have just over 2 weeks to pull my life back together and toe the line for my 26th official marathon.

2017 NYC Marathon

I'm not done with Coursing yet! Once again, I ran the race, but don't publish my thoughts until well after the fact. I've had this one written for a while, but buried my head in the sand and tried to ignore the results. This is more of an angry rant about what I went wrong in NY. Since I'm now just a week out from my next marathon (2018 Grandma's), it's worthy of publishing the recap in a separate post and bringing things up to speed. Thinking about this race is helping me to recognize what I need to correct before toeing the line again. So here goes...

2017 NYC Marathon

This was a death by a thousand cuts. After having been so fit going into NYC, I so really REALLY expected this thing to go sub-240, like probably no other race before. I was absolutely shocked that I didn't hit my mark. Mentally, I was hanging a lot on that number. NYC is my only major north of 2:40. Looking back, I'm still annoyed and angry, but now it's time to move on.

To be clear, missing a mark by 2 minutes and 30 seconds isn't tragic for most people... unless you're a highly trained and experienced marathoner. 25 deep and 11 sub-240's, I think it's fair to say that I should really question what went wrong here. There wasn't any single issue that resulted in this race blowing up. It was a combo of many things, some being in my control and some out of my control. I may have been fit as fuck, but the errors became too much to overcome on a pisser of a course.

The problems:

1) Indigestion. Days before the race, I started to notice some stomach issues. I didn't think much of it at the time, but the lack of proper digestion for the days leading into the race and on race morning is not good. In hind sight, this shouldn't come as a shocker, as it likely stems from being in the Dominican Republic a week before the race. Anyway, let's just say my digestion was screwed for several days. I didn't have to stop during the race, but I felt full and heavy the entire way.

2) PreRace Fuel. My consumption the day before and morning of the race was a bit overkill. Strangely enough, I actually started getting gag reflexes and nearly puked somewhere around mile 23.5 or 24. Seriously. I nearly puked. I don't know if it's related to #1 above, but again, I felt full and heavy the entire race. It was a huge effort up until 24, and maybe 2:40 was still in the cards. Needless to say after that point, I knew it was done. My stomach wasn't going to allow it, and my muscles were breaking down.

So what did I eat? Actually nothing out of the ordinary. Typical sandwich, pasta, I believe some pizza. Not bad things before a marathon. However, I did likely over eat at dinner before, and I also ate a fair amount in the morning. One other thing that coudld've hurt was that I drank two bottles of Pedialyte over the evening before and morning of the the race. This was out of the ordinary for me. I should've probably just stuck to Gatorade. Why?? Logic being, I had to wake up a ridiculously early hour to take the ferry over, and I was concerned that I'd be in hyper-digestion mode. When you wake up 5 hours before the start of a race, you undoubtedly need fuel. I didn't want to go the starting line being hungry. Apparently this was too much though.

Somehow #1 and #2 above had me feeling like crap from an input/output stand point. 48 after the race, and I was still dealing with nausea and stomach issues.

3) My Shoes. This sucked. My old faithful, Mizuno Wave Universe has been discontinued and I didn't have a fresh pair before the marathon. They're light as a feather, and super slim. Tried and true for me, and I've run all of my fastest marathons in them. Since they're seriously endangered, I had to go with a backup. Unfortunately, because the running world has been gorging on Hoka's so much in the last few years, I don't have many other minimalist uber sexy racing slippers to choose from. I went with the Nike Zoom LT Streaks. I had been using for some tempo runs and a half marathon over the last couple years, never big boy runs. No 20+ miler in them.

This wound up a bad choice, because the shoe has a odd curvature under the forefoot, and the rubber is very hard. There's just something about how the foot flexes or splays when landing. Regardless, I did test them out in the Naperville Half Marathon, so I thought they'd be OK. They didn't feel fantastic in that race, but I thought good enough.

Immediately after crossing the finish line in Central Park, my feet and legs felt absolutely trashed. I don't think I've ever experienced that particular feeling before. The soreness has always been higher up. I seriously didn't want to walk on my feet after the race. They were killing me until I got out of those shoes. NEVER AGAIN, NIKE!

4) The ground surface: From a weather perspective, temps weren't terrible... 50ish degrees, and wind could've been worse. But there was a constant mist and drizzle that created slick conditions. The course was often very wet, especially for the last 10 miles. Add this to the stiff and unforgiving rubber on my Nike Zoom LT Streaks, and the shoes became terrible in the rain. Double whammy to my lower legs.

5) Along those lines, my hamstring also nearly blew up in the 26th mile. I had been dragging around a balled up hamstring ever since my 2017 Boston Marathon training. It's been irritating, but generally manageable. I was able to train all the way to NYC without any major issues. I even had a fantastic massage a few days before this race, and it appeared to let go somewhat. Needless to say, in the final mile, that thing bit me like a rabid dog. It cramped up two different times on Central Park South. It was so bad for a couple my strides that I nearly stopped. I immediately had to pull back all effort and just slowly try to get it to calm down so I could finish. No doubt, this taxed me 15-30 seconds.

When a bust occurs in a marathon, it gets ugly. And ugly it did get. So up until Central Park, I was hanging. I wasn't happy, but I was still in the hunt for 2:40. Then all of the above became my dream crusher. 24 through the finish went 6:43, 6:38, 6:51, and a 6:33 effort in the final kick. That's a far cry from the 6:00-6:05s, which in theory were supposed to be conservative for me. I was running steady and solid. 23 was 6:14 on 5th Ave's incline, and to be expected.

If I assume that I was in the best shape of my life (which was very arguable given my monster training), and I was able to merely hang onto the 6:15's (which seem pathetic), that would have shed 1:35 seconds off my clock. If I went 6:00, I was at 2:40.

So given some self-inflicted wounds and NY's difficult and hilly course, I can accept the error in my ways. But what I can't accept is the mother of all evils... #6.

6) The Start: And this really got into my kitchen, and fucked with my head for a long time during and after the race. Forget the whole idea that you need to wake up at like 3:30am for this dumb marathon, and that it takes over 2 hours to get from lower Manhattan to the staging area in Staten Island. Forget that cluster fuck, which is worse than Disney World in high season. Forget that it's probably the most expensive marathon in the world, and that Manhattan's hotels gouge your eyeballs out. All that's just part of the circus.

What I did not expect was the shit show in front of me at the starting line and the first two miles, while having a sub-elite bib.

Somehow, given all the damn waves and different starting locations, NY Road Runners still can't figure out how to start that race... and it gets worse every year!!! I STILL HAD OVER 1,000 RUNNERS IN FRONT OF ME AT THE STARTING LINE!! This might not seem like a big deal in a 50K person race, but when you have a sub-elite bib, you're pissed. There should've been 100-200 people in front of me. Again, 3 different starting lines!! Multiple waves. WTF?? And the icing on the cake: When I saw a sea of selfie sticks pop up with 30 seconds to go before the famous cannon, I wanted to cry. Alvaro, Jason Mahakian and I all looked around in awe... half the people were wearing costumes and some even jorts. Somehow we screwed up by being behind them. Or somehow, those assholes wound up cheating their way into a location that they had no business being in. (this is more likely).

Needless to say, I was walking the first 100+ feet of the race. Not running. WALKING. I then started to jog... slowly. I then started to run, and then probably started to sprint around people while jockeying for position. My split shows 7:00 in the first mile. I was originally thinking 6:15-20, but at a very easy effort!! This was work to get that 7:00. No doubt I was going a much faster pace to make up for the lost time... because walking 100 feet takes a long time!!

Mile two was again bad, but better. In an even effort, that mile should've been around 5:30 pace going down the VZ bridge. Instead I was 6:05 and riding the brakes. The congestion didn't clear up until mile three.

This ate away at me. I knew I was robbed, and that I'd have to over run myself to make up for that lost time. When I hit the half, the clock was north of 1:21, yet I was running nearly 6:00 pace. My split was 1:20, but when you back out 1:30-2:00 of damage in the first 2-3 miles, I was running about 1:18:30 effort in the first half. Faster than I was supposed to, in order to "lay up" a 2:40.

The damage was done long before my self-inflicted wounds took over in Central Park.

The NYC Marathon should be fucking ashamed of itself for organizing these starting corrals. They're a world marathon major, for Christ's sake! They go through a lot of effort to segregate the run groups in the staging areas, but completely fuck it up at one of the most important parts of the race... the START! Any other major clearly keeps the tourists separated from the real runners, all the way through the starting line. This. This is why I probably could give a shit less about ever running the NYC Marathon again. I'd rather be mugged.

So there's a right way to run a marathon and there's a wrong way. Generally, you can tell when former happens because you've negative split it. Another sign is how you feel at the finish line. Once I crossed the line, and had to walk through central park to retrieve my gear, I knew I was in trouble.

This wound up being hands down one of the most difficult races I've ever encountered, regardless of how fit it was. I'm still shocked that I didn't go sub-2:40 here, when I thought it was a total gimme. Why does that matter?? Because this continues to stand as my nemesis. My only major >2:40 for me. And it may as well stay that way.

Split Recap:

1- 7:00.2 - Vz Brdige and fucked start, includes walking!!!

2- 6:05.3 - Still fucked, slow effort should've had 5:45 or better

3- 6:06.3 - Still slowish, but things finally calmed down

4- 6:03.7

5- 6:03.2

6- 6:02.4

7- 6:00.5

8- 6:01.0

9- 6:06.3

10- 6:00.6

11- 6:04.6

12- 5:58.2

13- 06:06.6 - Pulaski Bridge, shocked the clock was 1:21+ at half!

14- 5:58.9

15- 6:13.8 - Queensboro Bridge / hill

16- 6:15.5 - Queensboro Bridge / hill

17- 6:04.7 - 1st Ave / headwind

18- 5:58.5 - 1st Ave / headwind

19- 5:58.6 - 1st Ave / headwind

20- 6:10.4 - Willis Bridge / major headwind

21- 6:09.3 - Madison Ave Bridge / hill

22- 6:07.3 - Still felt strong here

23- 6:14.4 - 5th Ave hill starts taking a toll

24- 6:43.8 - 5th Ave Dream Crusher comes, I nearly puke

25- 6:38.5 - Central Park just get to the damn finish, feet hurt

26- 6:51.7 - Hamstring balls up, nearly stop altogether

.2- 1:26.0 (6:33 pace) - Literally hobble across

Out in 1:20:19, back in 1:22:11 = 2:42:30

I need to sleep until Brooklyn

So here we go again. NYC#4.

I peaked out two weeks ago and have been desperately trying to not ruin myself since then.

I finished my training with a solid tempo run at the Naperville Half Marathon. I was butting up against 100 in the prior seven days, had zero taper, ran 19 the day before... and still felt strong the whole way through the race. Splits were steady effort and pretty consistent around 5:45-5:55.

Split recap:

1- 5:52.1

2- 5:55.8

3- 5:56.7

4- 5:52.1

5- 5:51.5

6- 5:50.4

7- 5:55.3

8- 5:56.2

9- 5:46.1

10- 6:00.0

11- 5:51.3

12- 5:45.1

13- 5:51.7

.1- 0:44.0

Total 1:17:08

This was a culminating tempo for me.

My taper since then has actually been quite tame... I reduced my mileage a little more extreme than usual. I did 45 last week, and it'll be upper 30s this week. Aside from one teeny, tiny, minor detail this has been a good recovery period. That certain detail was an all-inclusive wedding in the Dominican Republic last weekend. I was there for 3-1/2 days. It wasn't terrible but took it's toll for a few of those nights. Again, I did the best I could to not ruin myself, but I required a few days to shake the all-inclusive out of my system.

The weather for NYC is what it is... it might be a little warm and humid. They're suggesting it rains prior to the start of the race, so that has me a little worried. The wind will be also be key. So far it suggests a sidewind for the first 20mi. That's about the best I can ask for.

In the last 15 weeks, I've run more than I ever have in my entire running career. Before I toe the line, I'll have over 1,120 miles in those 15 weeks... and my base stretches back longer than that.

I know I'm strong. I'm light. I'm fit. Everything feels good or good enough. I don't know if I'm fast because I haven't raced anything all out... but I have had solid workouts to show that I do have wheels.

I'm still antsy as all hell. Afterall, I'm about to walk into a battle. Victory loves preparation though... and I got me plenty of that.

All that's left to do it stay calm, relax, get to Brooklyn, and then go to work.

So, NYC, ready or not, here I come!!

The 400s

I ran my big boy 20x400s tonight. I had Alvaro there to help me out. We did the workout at Wilson track. I had been sweating this thing for several days and in the end, all I can say is, WOW!

The weather was pretty solid... Low 60s, mild humidity, a little wind out of the south that I put on the homestretch as opposed to having it slow the intervals on the backstretch. I managed it well, as I pushed into the wind while closing each 100-150m.

Aside from a few soccer teams practicing on the infield, there weren't many people around. We basically had the track to ourselves. No other runners or traffic to compete with. We only had one incident with a ball, but it really wasn't that big of a deal.

Alvaro wound up doing a combo of 200, 300, and 400s to keep in the game. He was starting the intervals with me, and I'd pull away when he was either finishing his rep or with my press into the wind. Without a doubt, he was a big reason that I ran as well as I did. Our rest was 90 seconds.

This was truly a night to spin my wheels! I was smooth and steady the whole way, and then dropped it just enough at the end.

#- Split

1- 73.7

2- 72.4

3- 72.7

4- 73.0, avg 72.95

5- 72.8

6- 72.6

7- 72.1

8- 71.8, avg 72.325

9- 72.5

10- 71.9

11- 72.2

12- 72.5, avg 72.275

13- 72.7

14- 72.5

15- 72.4

16- 71.8, avg 72.35

17- 71.6

18- 71.7

19- 70.7

20- 69.8, avg 71.0

AVG- 72.17

Per my training log, that goes down as my fastest ever 20x400 workout... by a whopping 100th of a second (previous was going into my bad ass Moscow'15/CIM'15 PR). I'll take what I can get.

Not too shabby for sitting on 100 miles in the last 7 days, 40 years old, 24 official marathons deep... er is it 25 (un)official?

My 25th (Unofficial) Marathon

I'm pushing the redline with my training right now. I've officially entered a place where I've never been before. My runs has become unconventional, to say the least.

Let's back up a week...

I topped off my second-out-of-four peak weeks with a 22 miler on that Saturday. That was my second 90+ week, and I had just started to bump towards 100. Nothing particularly special about that run, but the next morning was the Chicago Marathon. I volunteered to pace with Anu and Jeff Hoj for the second half of the race. It was a great way to help those guys out, and get a fully supported tempo run at MGP. I ran with the guys for a little over 12 miles, and we averaged a 5:58 pace... the day after I ran a 22 miler... and with a cool down, that put me at 100mi in 7 days... and I felt totally fine.

Then throughout the rest of last week, I poured the miles on in order to keep the 100 going. Despite some nasty and lonely runs in the pouring rain, and being a little tired... I held up well. The only problem I had was Thursday, when I was forced to take Hella Spring to the shop instead of running a track workout. That created a slight pull back, but I still ran easy on the day and it allowed me to recover.

Here's where it gets interesting though... over the weekend, Sasha and I were up in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. I still needed to do my long run, which capped off week three of the peak. What better of a way to do it, than a tour of the Door County peninsula? It just so happened that I mapped out a 26.25mi route. This was the first time ever in my training that I would push the distance prior to racing the distance. I've done 24 plenty, and even 25... so all I could think was, "What's the difference as long as I just keep it in control?"

The course was basically an out and back loop with many exit points to cut it short. Weather was perfect... in the low 50s, sunny, with a slight headwind for the first half followed by tailwind in the second half. I carried my own gatorade and a gu.

I kept it as calm as possible, for as long as possible... with the intention of surviving unscathed and being able to continue my training. Generally speaking, the most of the run was pretty steady. Uphills were around 7:15s, and everything else was 6:55-7:00. A few miles later were pushed down to 6:40-45, with a little help from the wind. All in, I ran 3:02:19... right about 6:57 pace.

I stopped the clock briefly at half way to take a gu, enjoy the view, and appreciate the fact that I ran up to the northernmost tip of the peninsula. When I finished the run, I was tired, but surprisingly not trashed. I didn't even take any real downtime! I quickly showered, and went out the door to the Fall Fest.

Sunday morning, I was tight, but not terrible. I didn't have any difficulty going down stairs. I basically just felt like I did a bigger, long run. Seriously, I've done 15 milers before and felt way worse! The point is... I ran a marathon in my training for my marathon, and it didn't bother me!! It's not like I even tapered for it. That also closed out the week at 100. I went 11 miles the next afternoon, once we got back to Chicago. Either I'm stupid or I'm stupid fit right now. Maybe a little of both?

So on top of that, Monday's lunchrun included a 7mi tempo... 48 hours after this "26th" marathon. Splits were solid: 5:44.8, 5:53.8, 5:48.5, 5:37.1, 5:35.7, 5:31.8, 5:28.6... for a 5:40.0 average. Looking back at some of my numbers, excluding races, this was one of my faster tempos.

Last night was 16 after work, and today was 11 at lunch. I was definitely more tired for those runs than I would've liked, but I should be. This is my fourth week of packing on the miles... the last three weeks were 95, 92, and 100. This week will be another mid-90s.

The peak will round out with my big boy 20x400s tomorrow (Thursday). 18-20 again on Saturday. On Sunday, I'm returning to the Naperville Half Marathon for a tune-up/extended MGP/progression run.

In the end, I'm going to have about 1,150 miles in the 15 weeks that lead into NYC. In my last 10 years of competitively running, I've never run this much before. The quantity is clearly there. Some solid quality. And I don't feel over as extended as I have in the past. Of course I'm tired, but days off will clear that up. Otherwise feel strong and healthy and almost ready to take Manhattan in proper fashion.

I can't help but keep thinking... Jesus, I ran a 3:02 Marathon for the fun of it, without any bit of rest going into it, and I wasn't even phased... I could've easily gone much faster, but there was no need.

My 25th (Unofficial) Marathon. Nothing to see here. Keep moving.

Writing sebatical over. Back to work!

The last year has been full of events. Nothing too crazy on the running front, just life taking over a little bit. I may not have been writing or updating this blog (aside from miles and race), but I haven't stopped running!

That ends today... a year after I left it hanging.

So what have I been doing?

I last posted about my 2016 Chicago Marathon training. I had a recap was written long ago, but never posted it. At this point, it's stale. I mean the 2017 Chicago Marathon was yesterday! So I guess it's pointless to post the old one now. Here were my splits, and a very very quick run down...

Dist - Split - Lap - Pace

05K - 0:18:38 - 18:38 - 6:00

10K - 0:37:17 - 18:40 - 6:01

15K - 0:56:00 - 18:44 - 6:02

20K - 1:14:38 - 18:39 - 6:00

HALF - 1:18:42

25K - 1:33:17 - 14:35 - 6:01

30K - 1:51:30 - 18:13 - 5:52

35K - 2:10:09 - 18:40 - 6:01

40K - 2:29:40 - 19:31 - 6:17

42.2 - 2:38:06 - 8:26 - 6:11

Out in 1:18:42, back in 1:19:24. 2:38:06 (course PR).

Much like this year, last year's weather was a little warm (easily hitting 70 in the second half) and there was a southerly wind. I paced and ran with Matt Thor and Tim Faith, otherwise the field was pretty sparce for us, especially once we hit halfway. Our plan was to run 6-flat for the as long as possible and hopefully drop the hammer at some point. I ran solid and eventually left Matt and Tim, but the homestretch on Michigan Ave broke me. I went from pushing the pace sub 6 into the wind, to trying to hang on to 6:15's once the wind calmed down. In the end, I gave up a sub-2:38 and what should've been a negative split. I knew it wouldn't be a PR due to a lack of quantity in my training, but I was expecting better than this. Instead I wound up with another sub-2:40 notch in my belt and a course PR. I can collect those all days long, so I can't complain too much about that.

The rest of 2016's running included a so-so Carrera 5K and maintenance mileage that filled out the year. I finished 2016 with 2,672 miles. My crowning event for the year was Shamrock's 26:37 (1 second shy of a PR), otherwise I finished in 3rd place Overall in the 2016 CARA Circuit and 2nd place 35-39 Age Group for the season. A good year, but it became clear that running the circuit has taken it's toll. Too many races spread out over the year, without any real quality training to back them up... and that was my third year in four doing that.

The last couple months of 2016 were consumed by two life changing things:

1) I started a new job in early November. After a nice long sebatical, I took on a non-trading, analyst position with a larger fund company. I've now been here almost a year. I'll spare the details aside from I am learning new things and getting experience in the corporate world, but it's not as exciting nor as challenging as I would like. It pays the bills and keeps me entertained though. I'm hoping that it's a stepping stone for a better role within the company.

2) Most importantly: Sasha and I got married!! We had absolutely beautiful wedding (in my completely upbiased opinion), and the first year of our marriage has been blissful. I spare all the details, but it was Nov 20, 2016 in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The wedding and reception were at the Hotel El Convento. We had about 60 guests. Spending the long weekend with the our close friends and family made for a perfect and very special experience that we'll remember for the rest of our lives. Sasha and I followed Puerto Rico with a small trip to St John, USVI. And since then, we've had several trips in the last year, which have certainly made training an after throughout or not my primary focus, at least until recently. A wedding few pix and then moving on.

2017:

I decided I needed a break from the CARA Circuit in 2017. Three out of four years was enough. I've spent far too much time over-racing and under-training. My results were increasingly showing it as the schedule took its toll. So for this year, I've set my sights on just accumulating miles and focusing on my old nemisis, the New York City Marathon. I wound up running Boston in the spring for the entertainment factor, but NYC will be all business.

The best thing to come out of my winter/spring training was a respectable 26:44 at Shamrock Shuffle. Otherwise, I probably short changed myself going into Boston. I wasn't super motivated in the winter months, as we had a few ski trips and other fun things going on, which I allowed to distract my focus. I definitely missed out on a few key weeks and an accumulation of mileage.

The weather in Boston was then abnormally hot for marathon Monday; easily 75-80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky on race day. Peak temps on the blacktop would've been hotter. Long story short, I thought it was wise to go out easier and then pick it up if I felt good. I start conservatively with 6:10-15s, then slowly squeezed the trigger starting at 10-15K. Confidence and experience from Shamrock told me that I could save a sub or low 2:40's, but then the wheels came off on the back of the hills. It was either a lack of training or the heat that broke me. Probably a little of both.

Out in 1:20:47, back in 1:25:48. 2:46:35. It was only sloppy after heartbreak. The result sucked, but I don't regret running the way I did. Maybe any other day, and I could've done it. Oh well. On that day, in that race, at that time, I would've rather blown up than laid up. Unfortunately, training in the winter doesn't help when you are forced to race in unexpected summer-like conditions.

Dist - Split - Lap - Pace

05K - 0:19:34 - 19:34 - 6:16

10K - 0:38:52 - 19:18 - 6:11

15K - 0:57:45 - 18:53 - 6:03

20K - 1:16:38 - 18:53 - 6:03

HALF - 1:20:47

25K - 1:35:42 - 19:04 - 6:07

30K - 1:55:09 - 19:27 - 6:14

35K - 2:15:53 - 20:44 - 6:39

40K - 2:37:15 - 21:22 - 6:51

42.2 - 2:46:35 - 9:20 - 6:49

No tears shed in Boston.

By the end of June, I had 1,342 miles YTD. That's not a small number... Aside from a few races around Boston, it was all part of my basing plan and building for the big prize of the year... New York City.

This has really been my main focus. Everything else has just been noise.

I've done the New York Marathon three times now. Each with similar outcomes in time, but very different races:

- In 2008, as I was breaking out. That year I did the double... a 2:47:03 at Berlin Marathon, followed by a 2:53:57. Two marathons within a month an a half is not easy; at the time, I was very proud of that race.

- In 2010, I was trying to crush it. I already had a few other sub-2:40s, I had solid training, but the wheels started to come off before I even toed the line. Everything went smoothly until about two weeks before the marathon, when I either knotted or pulled a muscle. I managed it, but conditions and a monster blister lead me to blow up on 1st Avenue. I retreated and finished in 2:50:56... the hard way.

- In 2013, I did the double again following a 2:39:37 in Chicago. But this time, I was on the brink of serious injury. Nonetheless, I laid up a 2:52:18. That race was more about the stories and the fun than anything else, but I paid a dear price for it.

The New York Marathon is no joke. Experience tells me that I need to respect it. It's much more difficult than Boston. The logistics suck. The starting area sucks. The weather always sucks. The wind is terrible, no matter which direction you're heading. The bridges suck. The turn onto 1st Ave sucks. The Bronx sucks. 5th Ave sucks. The hills in Central Park suck. It's just a sucky race. And that's why I need to go into this thing absolutely, 100%, fully prepared for a dog fight. A well honed, and significantly experienced marathoner against his arch nemesis... the most difficult of the majors... Not that I need to prove myself in my 26th marathon, but Frankie said it best, "If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere." New York will go down as a sub-2:40.

As of this moment right now, I'm sitting on 100 miles in the last seven days. I've been piling it on. In the 15 weeks that will lead up to the race, I'll have more miles going into NYC than an other marathon that I've ever run. I'm solidly fit already and still have just inside of four weeks until the race. My goal: to be PR shape so that I can guarantee myself success, regardless of conditions that bitch throws at me.

Seven years later, I'll get my revenge. I'm coursing you, New York! And I want my sub-2:40.

23 Marathons Later and I Still Get Antsy Like a Noobie

So I'm about to embark on my 23rd marathon in a few days.

This should be old business for me, yet I'm still pretty nervous about it. I'm antsy because I don't know what to expect. I keep second guessing some things and reviewing my training. Maybe this is just because I drastically cut my mileage in the last handful of days? ...It's kinda been a crash training followed by crash taper... Or maybe I'm finally just experiencing some plain old taper madness??

I guess this is all amusing since I've been through it so many times. Regardless of experience, the feelings and fixations don't change when you're only a couple days out from a marathon. It's exciting and nerve racking all at the same time. The ultimate question is, what am I going run?

I've had a decent base all year long and I've run a lot of races (though most were glorified tempo runs and not a single PR --yet!). However, by the time I was able to focus on my marathon training during the summer, I started to hit a few road blocks.

I've discussed a couple of these issues previously: I over-raced earlier in the season. It's been an extremely humid year, and I became chronically dehydrated at various points through out the the summer. In July and early August, my quads were shot and forced some downtime. Then in early September, I was forced to cut a critical week of training due to a monster knot in my right calf (going only 40 miles instead of 90+).

Fortunately, those issues are past me by now and I do feel very healthy.

My training now hinges upon seven key weeks. And for the most part, I think I pulled it off... 67, 90, 99, 90, 40, 102, 81.

That 40 was a big hole though... It cut into my mileage right where I needed it most. It also had me cancel a key track workout that week. And that gets right to the heart of my taper madness... A lack of speed training. Sure, I've had some okay tempo runs. But every time I wanted to do something on the track throughout this training session, something got in the way. Last week's 20x400 was hacked. The week before's 10x800s were mediocre. I cut workouts short due to heat, humidity, nasty winds, stomach issues, the calf, and so on. As well, every attempt was a solo effort, which never helps.

In the end, this training had me doing a number of non-standard things. Lack of tracking. Weeks or days off when I didn't want them. Running a 24 miler two weeks out. Shorter taper. The list goes on. I don't feel like it's been terrible training, just that if I had one more week, then I'd be golden for a PR. Like I'm missing that one key big workout and I just ran out of time.

So why not one more nonstandard thing to seal all this? Now that I'm only a few days away from the marathon... and after taking three days off out of the last four... naturally, my OCD had me wanting to spin of the wheels today. I had to feed the beast. It's actually not too different from my other training cycles, it just comes one day later. A track sharpener on the Thursday before instead of Wednesday.

Anyway, I ran 5x400 at the track, in the middle of today's easy run. The first rep was roughly marathon goal pace: 90 seconds. No big deal. It actually felt comfortable. The next four reps were 70.3, 70.7, 69.9, 68.8; 90 seconds rest between the five. Fast and furious, and it hardly phased me.

I just wanted to turn my legs over. I had to see how they'd respond, and they did damn well. Smooth as could be. 69.9 average for the four. I didn't gain anything from this other than a mental boost... but that's what I needed most.

My endurance is here. I can feel it. I know I'm strong. I feel healthy. And after some days off and a very light week, I'm starting to feel fresh again. Now I just need to deal with the waiting game. Sunday will once again tell me how fast I really am.

Ugh. Into the deep once more.

Progression, 800s + an Olympic Double, a 5K, 24

This past week was a pisser. I had some harder workouts, it continues to be an Indian Summer here in Chicago, and I’ve been stuffing mileage in where I can.

A huge knock on wood here... My calf feels solid again. My dead legs are long gone. With the exception of feeling tired, I continue to plug along.

In the last week:

- Tuesday evening progression – it was hot and humid, 14mi total w/ 5.5 at MGP or faster.

- Thursday afternoon track – Another hot and humid day. 10x800 at 2:36.4 average w/ 90sec recovery. It was about two seconds slower than I would've liked, but I think given the conditions, it was all I could expect.

- Thursday evening Olympic double – 11mi at a moderate pace. It made for a bitch of day, but it was an absolute mandatory run. A huge thank you to my friends, Michelle and Anu Parekh for including me in Anu’s birthday festivities.

Long story short, Michelle surprised Anu by having Matthew Centrowitz join a small group of us for the evening. In case you need a refresher... Matthew Centrowitz was freshly crowned the Rio 1500M Gold Medalist. He's the first American to win the 1500M Gold Medal since 1908!! Literally, HE IS QUENTIN CASSIDY FROM ONCE A RUNNER... only Matthew won the gold!!

The whirlwind festivities included an 11 mile run with him on Thursday evening, then dinner/drinks and hanging out, and then another 8 again on Friday AM. Everyone was totally geeked out by this. There’s no way we couldn’t have been!! The guy has inked his name into running history for having won one the greatest races I've ever watched. And to top it off, Matthew is a really friendly and genuine person too, let alone a complete stud. Seriously, a thoroughbred racehorse at his prime. It’ll be fun to watch him perform over the next few years as he ventures into more competitions and new distances. We’re all huge fans of his following this experience.

- Saturday 5K – There’s nothing to brag about here, as I choked out a lame 16:30 at Park Ridge. It was just that... me gutting the thing out.

First mile was solid and I clung to a 3rd place position, at 5:13. 1st and 2nd places were about 5 seconds ahead of me, and I had 4th slightly off my tail. Second mile I over took one of the front runners, but slowed to 5:19. And that was the end of it for me. The guy that was originally in 4th passed me and I just let him go. I slipped to a 5:23 in that third mile, and closed at 33 sec for the 16:30 and 3rd overall. The lame thing was, the guy that wound up passing me and in 2nd place was only 4 seconds ahead. I can’t say that I sucked, but I definitely didn't lay pipe like I was supposed to... I was just plain old tired. That capped off a 102 mile week, which had me over-running in the past couple days. There was no taper or letting up going into this thing.

- Sunday 24 – So following yesterday's 5K and now being officially two weeks from the Chicago Marathon, I was struggling with what to do with myself. I wanted a long run, but I didn’t know if I should push 20, 22, or 23. I started easier and just let it unfold. First 8 miles averaged about 7:15. I then began plugging away. I knocked it down with about 9 miles of 6:35-6:45s, followed by a couple of 6:10-6:15s in the 22+23rd miles. I felt completely strong the whole way and finished without the slightest dent from 75 degree heat or dehydration. Absolutely no complaints there, and it totally redeems my 16:30 the previous day.

In light of the 24, I’m definitely fit but I’m not done yet. It’s clearly risky doing all this two weeks out from the marathon, but given my lull in July and early August, then my speed bump a couple weeks ago... I don’t think it’s a bad strategy. After today, I have easy miles tomorrow, another bigger tempo on Tuesday, a day of rest on Wednesday, and then my infamous 20x400 track workout on Thursday.

After that, the peak is in and I can start a massive recovery for the following nine days. By Thursday, I’ll how fast I should gun this marathon.

Hopefully Centro has rubbed off on me, and helps my motivation to lay pipe on marathon morning: