Shamrock Slush

BofA Shamrock Shuffle 8k
Course Map

Weather for this year's Shamrock Shuffle was ridiculous. I don't know why I would've expected differently for Chicago racing conditions though. There are two seasons here: really hot and really cold. Regardless it's always windy. This is a terrible city to race in. If you buy a bib ahead of time, you're cursed for a bad race. The window of opportunity for optimal conditions is narrow and unpredictable. The Shamrock Shuffle (late March) and Chicago Marathon (Columbus Day weekend) ALWAYS fall on the turning points of those two seasons.

I woke up on Sunday to an absolute disaster: Low-mid 30's, steady 15-20mph winds, and at least 2-3 inches of accumulated slop on the ground... and the snow was still dumping. The streets were literally covered in slush cake. It was impossible to walk outside without soaking your feet in this nasty frozen water. You know what it's like: the ground was a little too warm to actually keep the snow packing, but too cold to keep it from melting fast enough... and there was a lot of it!Over 30,000 people were registered for this thing, but apparently only about 13,000 die-hards actually showed up to run it. For me, this was no different than any of the other crap that I've had to deal with this winter... so it running wasn't a question. I certainly can't blame anyone for not wanting to deal with the conditions though. It was cold, windy, and an absolute guarantee to be head-to-toe soaking wet from this frozen slop by the end of the race.

I rode down to Grant Park with Chris and Jason. That worked out to be a life saver. We hid in an underground parking ramp near the starting line, so we were able to go through the pre-race motions while being insulated from the elements. We each had top-100 bibs, which meant we didn't need to mess around with the masses or lines at the corrals. We went right to the front of the starting line with about 10 minutes before the gun.

When we got to the line I saw my old friend, two time Olympian Deena Kastor, and we talked for a couple minutes. Aside from a new elite-team comptition this year, Shamrock has stopped paying out for the winners in recent years, so there hasn't been high-profile draw... but Deena was there. I'm sure she got a pretty appearance fee though. It may actually tied to a return for the marathon in the fall...? Anyway, it was kinda cool because she was nice enough to entertain a conversation with me (as opposed to saying, "beat it loser"). I should've mentioned that we actually have a mutual friend... No doubt that she know's my boy out in Mammoth. It would've been funny to see her reaction ...all I could think about was how bad of an experience this was going to be though. No doubt, the Queen of Distance USA had the same concerns.

I really had no idea what I was going to be able to run in these conditions. I just thought that I'd go out and try to stay as comfortable as possible, and try to get it over with as quickly as possible so I could get dry. Under better circumstances, 27:20ish (5:30's) was my 'conservative' goal. Today, I was just hoping to PR (previous was 27:55).

Fellow Fleet Feeter, Rob Chenoweth was near me at the start. He's a much more experienced runner than I am, much faster, and has always been willing to offer me good advice over the last couple years. He consistently is very strategic and successful with his racing, so it's hard not to respect what his plans were. He said he wasn't intending on blowing the race up (not that anyone was), but he was trying to at least run it as a fast tempo and progress it. It was common sense. I thought that I should try to pace with him through the first 1/2 mile or mile and if I felt comfortable, then I'd just settle into my own groove. He wound up doing what he said he would and picked it up, but he never really left my sight throughout the race.

Within 400 meters of the start, I was soaked. Frozen water was everywhere and impossible to avoid. Every step was into an inch or two of slush. Nothing appeared to be plowed. Maybe it was, but it didn't seem to help. My kick created a nasty rooster tail that had especially soaked my entire back side and shorts. My feet were sopping wet. My singlet was over a thin long-sleeved shirt... both weren't totally drenched yet, but would get there.

Winds were supposed to be from the NNW. It's hard to tell where they were actually came from though, because it always seemed to in my face - regardless of direction.

For the most part, that 1st mile was kind of chaotic as people were jumping out and running different paces all over the place. We went north on Columbus as you leave Grant Park, and continued until you get to Grand Ave. I hung off of Rob's back for a bit. Jason was a bit further in front. Mike was with me for the first 1/2 mile. I passed the marker at 5:28. Not obscenely fast, but a little faster than I would've liked. However, more importantly I felt good.

Mile two turned west onto Grand Ave, then to State Street and turned back south again. State included running slight hill as you cross the bridge and get back into the loop. Things thinned out quite a bit here. I really didn't have much of a pack to work with. The climb to get up the bridge was annoying and slippery. I spent the mile gradually passing a few people that went out too fast. Winds continued to swirl, so it definitely wasn't always at my back as we headed south. Mile two was 5:37.

As we passed the second marker, I heard some of the crowd cheering for the 2nd place female. I knew I didn't have a chance against Deena, but I wasn't expecting anyone else to be close to me. According to Mike, it was Tera Moody (which makes sense) trying to shake up the 3rd place chick. It worked. She eventually beat her by a big 50 seconds. Tera's definitely a great runner, faster than I am, but she never posed a threat to me. I dropped her within the next 1/2 mile.

The rest of mile 3, I had a little bit of a pack form as we headed west into some more steady wind. We also had a good incline with the Jackson Street bridge. 3 or 4 of us in this pack were working together to catch and pass some stragglers up ahead. We hung within reach of each other until Roosevelt, at 4 1/2 miles. I missed the 3rd mile split, but I'm guessing it was closer to 5:34ish.

Mile 4 had us turn back east towards Michigan Ave. We also went over our 4th bridge. These bridges were a pain because they all included small, slippery, sloppy hills. The bridges themselves were extremely slick since the footing was on corrugated or grooved wet steel. Four through 4 1/2 had our little pack with a few guys coming and going. No major tactics here. We all seemed to just want to get out of this mess as quickly as possible. The splashing in the slush was taking its toll too. My legs were frozen. They felt like stiff concrete. I had small ice chips accumulating near my ankles, between my skin and the socks, or the socks and the shoes. We passed the 4 mile mark at about 5:30ish.

Once we hit Michigan Ave, we headed south again to Roosevelt. I could still see Rob and Jason a little in the distance. There may have been a couple guys in between them, and then maybe 8 or so guys between myself and Jason. One of the guys with me started putting in some surges as we went down Mich Ave. Each of us traded places every little bit, but no one ever left a 10 foot radius of everyone else. We rolled by a couple of guys that were slowing.

After we turned onto the hill on Roosevelt, it would be about a quarter mile up, then another quarter mile into some wind for the finish. This is where the race really begins.

I doubted any of these poor bastards had been through the shit that I've been through in the last several months. I mean this race was extremely annoying with the slush and wind... but come on... Barrington in pouring rain a few weeks ago, and those tundra runs were far worse! I never saw a single other guy out there on our Saturday runs, aside from our Austin Bound crew. My legs love hills right now. I love horrible conditions. So between myself and the few around Jason there were still maybe 6 to 8 possible kills. Let's say 6 of them within reach, including whatever was left from my little pack. I toasted all of these guys on the hill! Literally, it was like round the turn... surge... then power and more power up it. 400 meters later and I'm on top. I now had 10 feet+ on the next guy behind me.

Everything was frozen. Everything was wet. The snow was still dumping down. I couldn't feel my toes, my legs, my fingers. My feet were ice. And somehow I had turn onto Columbus and head into the wind for a last 400m+. Man up and push for a little longer, and the pain would be over. I knew this wasn't turning out to be as fast as I had wanted, but there wasn't much I could do about it. Just don't let anyone pass me!

Jason still had some distance on me. He looked to be dropping 2 guys (one later dubbed Mr Candycane). They were all just a little too far ahead for me to even consider catching. After the 2 he dropped though, there was 1 more straggler for the taking. He was maybe 20 feet up. It was gonna be work. I knew if I went for him nobody else would catch me from behind unless they had a monstrous kick. I doubted it in this garbage... but ya never know. I had to commit now or lose my chance. As I started to fill the gap, he wasn't pulling away. 15 feet between us now. Maybe 300m until the finish. I put in a big push to close it some more. 5 feet now. He didn't even know I was coming! Nothing behind me from what I could tell. Only 100 meters to the finish. I dropped everything I had to plow through the slush, pass him, and put some cushion between us. He didn't even care. I looked back and nobody else was challenging me. Done. 27:35 on my watch. 27:38 officially (I lose the 0:03 due to the elite start versus chip start).

(Reamers creamering Candycane; Getting my final kill; Kicking it home; The trail of dead bodies behind me)

In the full last mile, there were maybe 10 kills for the taking. I did it. I hung in there until the right time, and then I passed all of them. Everyone that was in my sight from the bottom of Michigan Ave to the finish line. None came back to get me. THAT was a strong finish. Even though it wasn't the overall time I wanted, it was a very solid race.

I continued my streak of strong Shamrock Shuffles. It was an unofficial PR by 20 seconds, and in the worst racing conditions that I could've possibly imagined. Deena was only about 20 seconds in front of me. The win was about a minute off last year's pace. 60th place over all for me... which was kind of disappointing, but apparently $$$ for the elite team competition brought in some studs from the surrounding states.

Splits:
5:28, 5:37, 5:34, 5:30, 5:25 = 27:35

On to the next thing....

Tomfoolery in Barrington!

I packed away 89 miles last week - that's the most I've ever ran in 7 days. It was my peak week for Boston (I'll bump up for 1 more week after Shamrock, but it won't be that many miles). Also it was probably the 3rd time that I've gone 80+ within a 7 day period during this training. Aside from some standard aches and pains, and constantly being tired, I'm actually holding together pretty well.

Runs last week included the 1:16:28 Cary ½, a recovery run, some easy + moderate runs, a light progression on Friday with a few miles at marathon goal pace, and a big PHat 24 miler on the Barrington hills.

Chris and I plugged away the 24 with about ½ of the run at 6:30-6:40 pace. It was pretty nasty, especially since we tried to make the course as complex as possible and include a maximum amount of hills. In the end though, we both finish very strong. I can say with confidence that those 24 miles will wind up being more difficult than the Boston Marathon itself.... obviously at a much different pace though.

The highlight of that run wasn't the miles or the hills the pace though.... it was something much more beautiful!
Good ol' Oak Knoll Road recently received a fresh coat of black top.... something that a stuck up suburbanite bitch like Sue Cass would even be proud of! But what did some little Barrington hooligan decide to do with that pretty new surface job? Well just what any rich little brat would do: soil it by spray painting a gigantic cock in the middle of the road!! ...right outside of the area's most gorgeous estates, horse farms, and the Barrington Country Club. Absolutely brilliant!! ....It reminds me of the old-time favorite “Treasure Trove” scene in Super Bad:




So yeah....

Shamrock Shuffle is this coming Sunday. It's hard to believe, but in 2003 that was the first race I ever ran. I've purposely pulled back my mileage this week to help recover for this perennial favorite. Sunday and Monday were completely off, I'm running a few days mid-week to give me a track workout and some 11-12 milers, Friday will be off again, and then a shakeout on Saturday AM.

If things go right, Shamrock should help to solidify some confidence in myself after Cary. I know Cary couldn’t be a fluke, but together both races will give me a good indication of what I'm capable of in Boston. I have about 3 ½ weeks to go.

As far as my injury update.... I'm not feeling totally fresh, but the days off this week have helped. My hip is feeling better after a lot of work on the foam roller and a massage from Sarah. It looks like I've had my own treasure trove of knots in my Glutes, Piriformis, TFL, et al. This has actually been on both sides too, and I know that some of this deep down soreness has been an issue for a while... I'm saying that possibly for the last year plus, I've had pains in my ass. I only assumed that this was some normal function of higher mileage and more intense training...?? I'm an idiot. So it seems perfectly likely that some of these deep knots have been the root of my other issues, such as tight hip adductors and groin muscles that have plagued me numerous times before.
I have another massage and a day off tomorrow. I'm hopeful that the worst of this is over and I continue to roll on.

The Ides of March

That cold of mine turned out to be a bitch. Nothing like hacking my lungs out and having my head feeling like a punching bag for 3-4 days. After some heavy doses of nyquil and theraflu, I'm feeling better... I don't get sick often, but when I do, it sucks.

My hip is still a mess. I've been stretching, digging at it, and trying to massage it on my own quite a bit, and I'm not seeing much improvement.

Friday Nite Fight: an 18mile a blood bath. I ran with Chris after work, and whatever is going on in my hip started flaring up about 1/2 way into the run and got progressively worse the further we went. We really weren't pushing the pace at all... 7-7:15's. Maybe a couple 6:50's, at best. Whoopie. It was never completely unbearable, but all I could think was, "How the hell am I going to race/tempo 13 miles on Sunday?... How am I going to peak next week?" I finished that 18mi pig with a death march to the door. Probably my worst run of the training season. Saturday's 5 filled out 70 miles for the week. I spent a good part of Saturday massaging and icing.

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

March Madness Cary 1/2 Marathon

Course map (see elevation)

After feeling like garbage this past week, I was fearful of this morning's race. Cary is/was my first chance to test my fitness for the year and how much this training has helped me. My fears were a DNF because of my newly acquired hip pains. Feeling sick during the week wasn't going to help the cause either. It's amazing how quickly some aches and pains can become problems!

Cary is dubbed as the most difficult 1/2 Marathon in Illinois. It's a great predictor race for the Boston Marathon - many of us are convinced the course is even slightly more difficult than Boston.

My goal was basically to go out and treat the thing as a long tempo run - and if by some miracle I was feeling good, I'd start to roll. I was assuming I would PR my half even if I only ran it as a "tempo." My previous PR was 1:19:58. 6's get mid-1:18's. If I didn't PR, it would've been a disappointment.

The weather was perfect. High 30's at the start, w/ light wind and clear skies. Singlet and shorts weather (a rarity considering the last 4 months of arctic training).

At the start, we had Dave Strubbe (FF'er and a possible winner if lo-teens were good enough)... Moster Mike, Chris Woods, Pflipper Kepler, Kfan, Shooter Ras... and Johnny Lance Romance starred as "The Bandit". For the most part, we were all looking to go out conservative and just run some hilly tempos.

I ran the first few miles with Monster... It was nice to have him there - almost calming and kept me from getting into too much trouble too early. Mile 1 has a slight up hill, then a steady down hill through 2.5.... this is one of the bigger down hills on the course and since it's early (like Boston), it was important to keep control. We went through 1 & 2 at right about 5:50's. It seemed like a relaxed tempo pace and I felt comfortable… obviously with some downhill help though. Things were setting up as a lead pack appeared to have about 10 guys (Dave included), then a large gap with a chase pack having another 10 guys. Mike and I kept about 20 meters off the back of the chase, and then another large gap to the runners behind us. I knew some of these douche bags in front of us weren't for real (they couldn't be, Chucky was leading them!)... road kills were gonna be for the taking.

After about 2.5 miles, we had reached one of the rarities on the course: fairly level ground for about a mile. At this point, I had to make a decision: maintain my effort and stick with mike (which really meant to stick with closer to 6's due to the early down hills), try to keep my pace even and hope to catch some guys as we went on, or make a move now. My hip wasn't bothering me (at least nothing to be concerned about)... that cold/cough wasn't an issue. Breathing was fine. Heart rate was fine. Plenty hydrated. Fuel in the tank. All systems go..... Mike said "Go gett'em".....

I chose to hunt rabbits.

In the next mile, the chase pack started to split up as guys either realized they went out too fast, or purposely tried to blow the group up. This is one of the coolest parts about racing that spectators or back of the packers never get to experience.... once people start getting comfortable - someone goes and makes things uncomfortable for everyone else.... an opening comes, and runners start messing with the pace a little, and they blow things up to widdle away the competition. I knew that some of these hacks were gonna be easy to kill, especially since I could see Chucky leading the way of 10 guys.

.....I closed the gap pretty quick with a few of the guys in front of me. Mile 3: 5:45. By 3.5, 2 runners were gone. Now the hills started bumping. The term "shredding" comes to mind for the next 4-5 miles....

Barrington in negative degrees.... Barrington in freezing rain.... Barrington in 6 inches of fresh snow.... No water... no gu... Just the Tip... Chris Woods' Hill... Verdo's Hill... The Hill with No Name.... Tempos progressing during snow storms and 20mph winds..... a steady base of 60-70miles a week w/ inter-week spikes into the 80's... all of them fresh on my legs and in my memory...

I literally shredded the chase pack between the 2.5 and the 4.5, and now the adrenaline was flowing. Nobody even put up a fight! Honestly, I was a little confused by their tactics... either I was too fast or they screwed up big time with an overly aggressive early pace! The first hill was at about 4 miles... I swear I was going faster up it than down it.... I mean I wasn't, but it was like taking candy from babies!! I put in a few surges on the hill and 4 guys just let me go. Mile 4: 5:52. On the back side of 4's rolling hill, I took a few more. We round a turn, and nobody even cares!? I hammer further to get away from them. Mile 5: 5:34!! The chase was officially smoked. Chucky and his followers were all dead. I felt strong and they were my fuel. Those tempo runs and hills were paying major dividends.

At this point, there was a large gap between anyone in front of me (200+ meters)... the lead pack had gone around a turn and blown itself to pieces. Obviously I wasn't going to win this thing, but there was still a chance I could take a few more guys. I was just thinking maintain, maintain, and surge when I got near someone slower than me. I had no idea how many were actually ahead of me... I was guessing still 10+? Each of them would probably pose a much better challenge than the last few.

Miles 6-8 were basically all up hill. The top of the course was at about 7.5... 6 was 6:06, 7 was 5:52, 8 was 5:49. I probably had another 4 road kills over those miles - two would come back to bite me in the butt at around 10, but at the time they didn't pose any major challenge.... they were running together and I'm guessing just hung off my back far enough to reel me in later. The only entertaining part of this hilly stretch was a guy from Universal Sole (a main competitor to Fleet Feet). Those hills were annoying and I could tell he was starting to fall apart... I passed him like 3 times over a ½ mile, and he'd always come back with a surge and put 10 feet on me. I was even nice about it one time and told him just to "hang on, man." Then on the incline at about 7.5, I buried him and the next guy in front of us. It's a pisser of a hill, but I knew that I'd be able to relax on the back side of it for the next 1-1/2 miles.

Mile 9 is my favorite mile on this course. It's goes down hill and then flattens out. Nothing up. Hammer time! It's really the only chance on the course to open it up. If you've still got it at this point, throw down. I could see 1 guy probably 200 meters ahead of me, then a few more maybe a quarter mile ahead. Slim pickings from here on. I put it into high gear... I went for Mr. 200. Mile 9: 5:33.

That was a gutsy move and maybe it would hurt me in the end, but at the time I had no idea I was being followed. Mile 10 has a bitch of hill - basically retracing part of 3's downhill, which then turns and spikes up again at 11 and a last hill before 12 finishes.

I passed Mr 200 meters with a solid surge going up the hill on 10, but by the top of it, two of my former road kills came back and passed me. At the time, I was toasted and needed something flat to bring my heart rate back down. I needed to save something for the last hills. I couldn't do much about it. They put about 10-20 meters on me over the next series of hills as we advanced through 12, but they weren't too strong to get too far away. Mile 10: 6:02, 11: 5:53, 12: 6:02.

After 12, any significant hills were basically done. I wasn't losing ground to the guys that passed me... nobody was gaining on me (there was a now big gap at this point)... and the couple other guys that were once about a quarter mile ahead of me were now for the taking. So we had 5 runners within 50 meters of each other, and about a mile to go. 1 went easy, and without a fight. Actually we all just blew by him. (turns out, he was pacing a legally blind guy that finished in 1:15!! Dang!!).

Now it's myself and 3 others. The odd man out was passed by the other two guys... and put a few surges on me as I came up to him. That fucker… I even told him we needed to work together to catch those other fuckers... I suggested we work together, and then he surges on me....??? Reeallly??.... I mean really!!?? Well lookie-looo, what do I see....? A turn with another slight hill after it. Then it would be 1 last turn and the final ½ mile on the home stretch. We round the first turn, I scoot from around the back of him and get on the inside, and on that ever so slightly upward slope... bu-bye! He's dead. Mile 13 passes: 5:41.

At this point, it was pretty much set. The targets in front were still about 20 meters ahead, and I had run out of chances to catch them... I just didn’t have enough flat spots to catch them, and they stayed strong on the hills. They didn't seem to be racing each other either (for all I know just out for a jog in the park)... so as I saw the finish line in the distance, I guessed any surge I threw at them would be met and probably crushed, and leave me out of gas. After 3 miles of coursing them, I opted to play defense to the previously dropped soul (this way I could still out kick the last 100 if I had to). The last .1 mi was in 33 seconds (about a 5:30 pace).

Finish: 1:16:28.... 8th place over all, 1st place age group, 5:50 average.... basically evenly split... a 3:30 PR..... my 10 mile PR.... and 75 miles over the last 7 hard days of running …all on the hilliest 1/2 Marathon course in Illinois, on the Ides of March.

Split recap:
1 - 05:51.6
2 - 05:50.2
3 - 05:45.9
4 - 05:52.6
5 - 05:34.2
6 - 06:06.3
7 - 05:52.7
8 - 05:49.1
9 - 05:33.7
10 - 06:02.0
11 - 05:53.0
12 - 06:02.2
13 - 05:41.1
13.1 - 00:33.8
Finish - 1:16:28

On the cool down, my hip was flaring up again. Sore within minutes of racing. My adrenaline clearly shut off any thoughts of pain during the race and gave me the chance to pound out a solid run... even if it was "unintentional."

I'll take it easy for a few days, but I should still have high mileage this week. This week should be my peak week for Boston. Next week I'm planning a solid 50% cut back into the Shamrock Shuffle. Per McMillanRunning.com, his predictors suggest I should get a more aggressive in the Shamrock on March 29th. I was going to shoot for 27:30. Now I have some cushion. I just need to recover and get the wheels turning by then!!

For now.... I'm just enjoying the moment. It was a great day. Congrats to all of my friends that ran! Even if you weren't racing, you all had great tempo runs. (ok, well welcome back to the hills, Pflipper!) Happy Birthday, Monster!

I can't get no sleep!

I feel like my #1 problem in training is my lack of sleep. Considering I have full time job that requires a highly stressful >50 hours / week, and requires me to wake up at 5:50ish AM... I don't know of an easy solution. To boot, when I attempt to socialize and go out during the weekends, I often pay the price by not being able to fall asleep on Sunday nights. That insomnia can carry through for a few days.

Hence my recovery suffers, and when I start bumping up my mileage w/o the recovery and sleep, I start feeling the growing pains. The insomnia feeds upon itself.

This latest problem child: some sort of annoying knot in my hip that just won't seem to quit. In addition, I'm now feeling like I'm getting sick. A nasty head-cold... full of coughing, a stuffy nose, and splitting headache.

Some very strong workouts in the last couple weeks - including a very comforting 7x 1200's on Monday night at 77-78's (basically my estimated Shamrock / 5:30 pace). Cary kicks things off this coming weekend on Sunday. I'm praying for sleep, this cold to give up, and my hip to wang itself out... otherwise, I fear that my latest push to step up my training is all for nothing....

What's coursing?

Great clip! --excellent song to run to, and ya gotta love the pikey by Mickey.

In spite of missing last Sunday's run and not manning up for a double, I should still hit about 73 this week. I'm a bit sore and I wish I would've spaced it out more with a double, but I should manage alright. A massage sometime next week should help a lot.

11 more to go tonight with some race pace for 4-5mi, and then 21 tomorrow AM in Barrington. The weather is awesome in Chicago for the moment... 60 degrees, light wind, and sunny blue skies. I haven't seen that in probably 6 months!! Luckily I'll be able to take advantage tonight. Tomorrow will be complete shit though - I'm expecting that 21 miles to be in a steady rain w/ 40 degrees and wind. Ugh.

Next week's looking pretty ugly - 2 track workouts, a mid-week 16 miler, wanting to still top 70, and then the Cary 1/2 Marathon on 3/15. I'm still not sure how I'll treat that race... I'm guessing very conservatively considering the mileage that I want to keep up before and after the race.

....and then there's the fact that "St Patrick's Month" is starting to kick off here. Probably the most drunken 3 weeks of the year for the city. I'm attempting to avoid it at all costs. We'll see how that works out!

What am I?

Well I certainly don't think I'll ever be able to qualify for an "elite" title, especially since I skipped running for the first 25 years of my life...

But in the last couple years, I have become more aggressive and dropped my times to a point that some very solid runners are starting to respect me - and their respecting the fact that my fastest miles are undoubtedly still ahead of me. So if I can keep on keep’n on and potentially achieve a few more milestones, at what point should I be considered a "local elite" athlete?

At this point, I really don't think I deserve that title - at least not yet. I feel like I still need to prove more to the running community, to my team, and especially to myself. Ideally if I can continue my progression though, I may be able to pull that by the end of the summer... a whole 6 months... maybe. (I know, maybe I should take the hint now).

I bring this up is because I was recently selected to join the Fleet Feet Elite Racing Team, which is really just a glorified local elite program and still part of the Fleet Feet team. Apparently someone must think that I'm good enough...? Don't get me wrong, I am happy about this honor. I’ve put in a lot of work to get it, and I have dedicated a lot to my team over a number of years. But I do have my reservations... mostly due to my own self-consciousness, and the fact that I feel some other very good and possibly more qualified runners/teammates should have been given this opportunity instead..... regardless of stupid technicalities, whether or not they chose to apply, or simply because they denied the spot when it was offered. Hence I’m feeling guilty about receiving something when I know others are equally if not more deserving for it.

Damn it, that’s the socialist in me. As much of a capitalist as I am, I hate the idea of a class system... at least when I don’t think I’ve unquestionably earned it above others.

When it comes to our racing team, there should be no pecking order. You just run. Hopefully you have a few guys and girls to train and run some races with, and once and a while someone achieves something awesome. In that moment, we should all be able to celebrate together – because that one person’s success is likely the result of a lot of people’s hard work - together. Positive results come from strength in numbers and positive energy. It’s as simple as that. I wouldn't be the runner that I am without having my team.

So unless someone’s a stellar sub 2:30/2:20 marathoner or a nationally ranked stud (which I'm far from), then running is more recreational and should be about having fun. There shouldn't be any sort of label. A few seconds or minutes here or there shouldn’t mean anyone is more deserving than anyone else. (Jesus, listen to me! Don't let me talk myself into that sh!t when it comes to the real world, capital markets, and politics!!!).

But I am a capitalist. And hard work should be rewarded if someone is willing to reward you. And that capitalist in me is taking the offer to join the elite team. The socialist in me is merely going to gripe about it and hope that the system changes in the future and kills any politics.

To my teammates and comrades in the darkest and coldest of days: I’ll try to do you proud and make the best of this opportunity that you’ve given me. I really hope there aren’t any hard feelings here because I need you, and you need me. I’m still on board with you, through think and thin. Nothing changes.

To my lurchers and backbiters: This only puts a bigger target on me! Keep coming, catch me if you can, just don’t bite too hard!

Time to man up

This last week+ has been a cutback week. Really, the first break that I’ve taken in the last 2 months… well, it was kind of a cutback. I didn't necessarily use easier or shorter runs, but instead fewer runs and some cross training... I mean skipping Sunday and Monday because of skiing wasn't entirely the same as resting... I guess you can call it cross training… but it was more like hammering on bumps at 9000-12000 feet for 7 hours, 3 days in a row. I think I did experience some recovery from quitting the pavement for a few days though. I also skipped Thursday. That was simply because I haven't had a "chill out and do nothing" night in ages. It was much needed. I skipped yesterday, while in Columbus w/ the family. Tonight's tempo will likely show how much I've benefitted from this break...

Anyway, the two highlight runs for the week were Wednesday's track workout and Saturday's long run.

Track was 4x 1000+600 @ about 79-80's, w/ 200's off in between everything... That was my first outdoor track workout this round of training. It was also my first real chance to get a taste of my latest progress. I can't say that I felt overly fast or strong, but I was happy with how steady I was through out the workout. If the weather holds, I'd like to test some 800's on the track this next week.

Saturday's 21.5 mi was another good long run. My first big one all alone. Avg pace of 6:50's... with about 17 miles bouncing between 650 and 635, depending on the terrain. I put it up at a park near Jodi&Josh's in Columbus... 5 loops, mostly flat, with about every 3rd to 4th mile being hilly. I was actually shocked when I saw that each lap was faster than the previous... It certainly didn't feel that way, since by the I felt like I was crawling through the 6:35.

I feel like a piece of garbage today though. Antsy, but nervous to run hard tonight. I’m annoyed that I completely skipped my run (again) yesterday and haven't eaten the best the past few days either. I was basically just being lazy and wanting to relax w/ the family, plus I was a bit sore from Saturday's long run ... I should be able to still squeeze in a double during the week to make up the miles. This week should be my step up to the next level.... Looking for a few weeks of steady mid 70's, then the Shamrock, then 1 last week of higher miles before Boston's taper.