101

101 miles in the last 7 days.

I sweated yesterday's track workout all day. I was feeling trashed. Legs were incredibly sore and tired. Still, I was resilient:

10x 800's w/ 75 second rest:
1 - 2:33.4
2- 2:34.7
3- 2:34.3
4- 2:35.5
5- 2:36.5
6- 2:34.5
7- 2:33.7
8- 2:34.0
9- 2:35.5
10- 2:31.5
Avg: 2:34 (77's)

Even better - I had to pace it all alone. McHair and Monster were there, but running their own paces. No Reamers to pull piggy back off of. I still felt plenty strong though, and easily could've belted out a couple more... or even pressed the pace slightly more.

My reward: I'm sore again this morning. Too sore. It's all in the calves. I had nightmares last night about getting injured.... and again, I've been sweating today's planned double.

I'm pulling the plug on my plans to close the week at 100. I'm already there w/ 101. I'm not going to gain anything from running myself into the ground. It shouldn't be this stressful so I'm taking today completely off and relaxing.

Hello 100

100 miles in the last 7 days.

Last night's tempo was supposed to be 4.5 miles at MGP (~6-6:05), then progress slightly for 4.5 miles. Splits were roughly 6:03, 5:56, 6:00, 5:54, 5:54, 5:51, 5:51, 5:42, 5:36... avg 5:52. I let Verdo do most of the work with the pace. In the end, it was way faster than I needed/wanted/intended. It definitely didn't feel as comfortable as I would've liked - but that's to be expected given my last several runs.

I'm sore today. Icing the calf and taking Aleve to come back down to earth. I'll also hit the hot tub and take a nap shortly.

I'm happy to see 100 again... but... I'm already ahead of my schedule for the week. I'm now pushing the red line with that many miles a week and a half sooner than I had originally anticipated. I need to exercise some restraint and be patient.

1 down, 3 to go

Target hit for the last week: 94 miles. After today's run, I'm at 98 miles in the last 7 days. 1st week through my 4 week peak. I had 3 hard quality runs amidst quantity...

Monday nite tempo - 7 miles on a windy night @ 5:44 pace. Progressed from 5:50ish down to 5:40ish. Happy with the results, but it certainly wasn't easy. Pace was similar to my half marathon - only the half marathon was significantly more comfortable.... I guess chalk that up as a lack of recovery from my 22 mile run 2 days prior.

Wednesday nite at St IggyPiggyopolis - 8x 3x 200 Cut-Downs, hammered at 34.5/33/32 splits (45 sec recovery after the 1st 2 reps, then slow 200 after the 3rd rep)... Awesome track workout. The cut-down stragergy focuses on turn-over and really gets the wheels going faster and faster. Ideally, I'd like to get another one of these in before NYC.

Back to Barrington - 22 miles on Saturday in Barrington. 2:19:30 total time, or 6:20 average pace, which included 1 mile warm up and 2 mile "ease" down... In other words, a near goal paced run with >1000 ft climb and >2000 ft net change.

I ran it solo. Basically out and retraced back (which is more difficult than running the Barrington Loops as it adds more intense hills later). Sarah assisted me on the bike, and that was an huge help!

I set out thinking I'd hold something more aggressive than my typical long run. After getting settled in with the first mile, everything just started falling into place. By the time I was able to catch some accurate splits, I was hitting 6:15's. Way more aggressive than I wanted, but it felt smooth so I just went with the flow. Most of the splits I took fluctuated between 6:05-6:20.

This was a huge run and confidence booster as: 1) I never had any rest/stopping since Sarah was able to help with Gatorade and Gu... 2) It was effectively an ultra-long "tempo" run... 3) The pace + hills provided a great NYC simulation... 4) I felt comfortable and strong the entire run.

After the past week, I'm feeling decent. Tired, and calves are sore (especially left).... otherwise no major complaints. I definitely feel like I need a day off, but can manage. At this point, I'll try to push 100 this week, step down slightly next week, and then pop the last week back up.

It's Business Time

After the 1/2, I took Monday off. I figured I had earned it. That'll be the last of that for a while. Since then, a double and 3- ten mile runs. Total for the week will be 82 after tomorrow's 20.

I build from here. It's go time. I have 4 weeks of solid training ahead of me. Everything I've run up until now has been merely to prepare me for these next 4 weeks. If all goes well, then those 4 weeks will prepare me to absolutely torch 5th Avenue.

Quantity with a handful of quality workouts. I'll take it week by week - but the goal is to have at least 1 week in the 90's and 2 weeks breaking 100 miles each. In all, I should see 375-385 miles over the next 28 days..... Come to think of it, 395-405 over the next 29 days. (GULP!)

Truly a trial of miles.

Mid-term Aced!

I fretted about this year's Chicago Half Marathon. No idea why, since I wound up blowing the doors off it. Simply put, I just started running and tried to maintain as long as I could. In the end, and aside from dealing with a monster blister on my foot in the last two miles... I killed it.

Weather was ideal for race conditions. I couldn't ask for a better day. Sunny, low 60's, a slight side wind from the west (occasionally annoying, but never hindering). Course was on the south-side of Chicago: looped through Jackson Park, headed north on Lake Shore Drive, then returned south on LSD, and finished in the park. Mostly flat except for a few overpasses.

Gun was at 7am. Pre-race rituals were pretty standard. Got down there with time to spare and everything flowed smoothly right up to the gun.

My initial goal was to go out at ~5:50. I’d either hang on to that, or if things felt good then I'd try to push splits down to 5:45. Ideally, I wanted sub-1:16.

Miles 1-3:
I started only a couple rows back from the line. However, it's a big race. Easily 50 guys took off fast and were ahead of me through at least the first mile. I wasn't sure how many of them actually belonged there, but eventually most would come back to me. Mile 1- 5:43.5... A tad faster than I wanted, but nothing critical. I had settled down after the first 1/2 mile anyway.

Cruised in the 2nd mile. Many of those overly eager soles started to get weeded out. I coasted by a couple packs of 5-10 runners. Nobody wanted to play with me.

By the end of the second mile a small pack formed with 5 or 6 up ahead, but otherwise I was amongst a thin line of runners. I saw a local stud, Jeff Jonaitis jump in with the pack. Either he was pacing or just doing a workout with another runner in that pack. His presence reassured me that they’d act as a steady measuring stick. I chose to play their chase. Mile 2- 5:49.1.

As we finished winding through Jackson Park, I had a handful of randoms around me that were trying to jockey for position. This was pretty annoying, as we didn't quite formed a pack. None of them wanted to work together. Lots of surging by some of them, and then laying off, but we had a long way to go to be messing around. I got cut off a couple times going around turns by one of the guys. Nothing like having to step over someone's heel because he has no respect for your personal space. Maybe I should've clipped him? 5:41.9. Still felt good, but the annoying maneuvers from the other runners upped the pace slightly.

Miles 4-8:
Heading north on Lake Shore Drive now, which meant wide lanes and long sweeping turns for almost the remainder of the race. The tangents would be extremely important to maintain. No sense in making the race any longer than it needed to be. Unfortunately, Gatorade and water tended to be on the outside of the course. Because of this and the fact that it wasn’t blazing hot - I limited the amount of times I took Gatorade (grabbed 3 drinks at one point or another).

Mile 4’s split was waaaaay off - 5:09.8! All I could do was laugh. Last year’s race was horribly mis-marked. Unfortunately, this year wasn't any different. Miles 5- 5:47.3, 6- 6:05.0, 7- 5:37.1, 8- 6:05.7. It felt like I had cruise control set on a 5:45ish pace in here, so mile 4’s error was returned over the next several splits. In this stretch, I simply tried to maintain and not lose too much distance on JJ’s pack ahead of me. For the most part, they were always about 25-50m ahead. As for my little angry pack, it gradually dissolved by mile 7. None of them were of any help, and they were also no longer threats as each of them fell off the back.

Miles 9-11:
The course turned with mile 9 on the 31st Street off ramp / on ramp, and began heading south again. I still felt very smooth and strong at this point, so I set my sights ahead. In my mind, everything up until now was not a race. It was merely getting me to a point where I could possibly pick up the pace. The questions at this point were: How fast was I actually going? And how much could I afford to pick it up?

The pack ahead began to fall apart after the off/on ramps. JJ and his partner were taking off. In the far distance, I could see Joe Guinness’s bright green FF singlet (aka - something was going wrong for him). I hit mile 9 with 5:35.3. The split actually seemed honest too. Since it didn't kill me, I continued to press on. I started to reel in the 4 or 5 guys that fell off of JJ. Each upcoming road kill became my motivation, and I easily passed each of them. Mile 10- 5:38.8. Gatorade. 5K to go. I approached Joe. A great runner, much faster than I am – but just not having a good day. We exchanged a few words, and I pulled the trigger. Mile 11- 5:29.2.

12-Finish:
Last 2 miles. Crowds were a non-event up until now. People all along the sides of the course. Masses of runners on the other side of the median. This part of the race actually became entertaining. Unfortunately, I was too dehydrated and deep to care. It was just noise. After passing Joe and 1 final runner, I had no more road kills for the taking. The next guy up had considerable distance on me.

Somewhere in here, I started to feel an extremely nasty blister on the ball of my right foot. Over the course of the next mile, the pain became quite intense. That's what I get for washing my shoes the night before and running in new socks!! This and a lack of motivation forced me to ease up slightly. Mile 12- 5:46.4. I was to easily hit mid-1:15's, if I didn't fall apart. I passed Sarah. She was screaming at the top of her lungs at me. Without any other motivation though, I just tried to keep my pace and avoid burning the hell out of my foot. Every step hurt at this point.

Turned off Lake Shore Drive onto Hayes. Mile 13- 5:46.8. As I approached the marker, I saw it ticking 1:14. Awesome! Given the blister, any kick was likely out of the question, but I had time. Hold and I can cruise to sub-1:15.

Then, just out of nowhere - some formerly road killed, sand baggin' son of a bitch snuck up and passed me. All I could do was try to get him back and stay with him. My foot was absolutely on fire! Burring him was out of the question. I didn't have the room, the pain threshold, or the will since I could see I was already sub-1:15. We basically crossed the line together – in my mind, I may have had a step or two on him. It turned out, that slag had 4 seconds on me by actual versus chip times, so he got the better placement. To add insult to injury, he was in my age group.

Finish: 1:14:50. 18th overall out of 14,000+, 3rd age group.

All in all – an absolutely awesome run! Well above my 'hopeful' expectations of a mid-1:15 run, in spite of a nasty blister.

The course was identical to last year. I’m not sure what that means... either its total distance is actually correct (depending on how perfectly you run the huge tangents), or it was long again. A couple runners with GPS’s both told me they ran 13.17 miles. Either I can still be upset about last year, or I can have solace in this year’s run and know for sure that I didn’t run a short course. Regardless, HUGE PR! 1:40 under Cary '09, and almost 2 minutes under Chicago 1/2 '09 on the same course.

Split recap:
1- 5:43.5
2- 5:49.1
3- 5:41.9
4- 5:09.8
5- 5:47.3
6- 6:05.0
7- 5:37.1
8- 6:02.7
9- 5:35.3
10- 5:38.8
11- 5:29.2
12- 5:46.4
13- 5:46.8
.1- 0:38.1

Finish- 1:14:50 / Avg- 05:42.5

Mid-term Exam

Front end loaded this week so I can get some rest and recover before Sunday's Chicago 1/2 Marathon. I'm taking a whopping 1 day off (today), and then doing a measly recovery run tomorrow. I'll still be in the low 60's for the week.

Today is much needed. It's my first day off since August 26th and basically my second in the last month. After the PF5 on Monday, I'm feeling it. Looking back, in the last 7 days I have 87 miles. Not ridiculous, but the most I've put in a 7 day stretch in 12 months. Left shin, right knee, left ITB are all tender.

This weekend's half marathon will be my first time running the distance since last year's Chicago 1/2. Unfortunately that course was slightly long, otherwise it would've been a PR for me. Hoping that they've sorted their shit out this year. It pisses me off beyond belief when a race distance is incorrect. (I mean seriously, how difficult it is to measure a course??)

This should be a great mid-term exam to see where I am with my training, but I have no idea what to expect. A) I'm pretty much running through it with 87 miles in the last 7 days, and coming off a mini-peak. B) I've had basically no racing to gauge myself. C) My track work has been handicapped by the summer weather, so I have no idea what kind of speed is under me. I'm just trying to go into the thing with no expectations, and if it feels good then I can go for it.

Park Forest 5mi

I haven't raced much in the last several months, since I've been building my mileage back up. The Woodsmen's 10.?K a few weeks back was the ice breaker, and really just a tempo on hills. Over Labor Day weekend, I ran the Park Forest Scenic 5 Miler.

I went into Park Forest thinking it would a glorified tempo, but unlikely anything all-in. I wound up running a very steady and controlled race.

It was a stacked race w/ some prize money. Something like 9 Kenyans showed up for a 300 person race! Also had a number of guys vying for top seats in the CARA standings. Weather was decent, however, winds were generally tails for miles 1 and 3, and heads on 2, 4, and 5.

Mile 1... Slightly down hill with a tail wind. Pretty much guaranteed to be the fastest mile. Several runners pushed ahead of me. Since I had no idea what I was actually going to wind up running, I just let it unfold. Everything felt good. A group of college / high school kids rolled by me. For a moment, I was impressed with how easy they were jamming. 5:27.

Mile 2... Blew by the kids. I thought they were going to suck on me as we turned into some head winds for about 1/2 mile. They weren't ever a threat. Dumb kids. I was no longer impressed. However, Felipe Lopez passed me (he'd be the last). Up in the distance were Steve Breeze and Mike Egle. All race hogs. Felipe and Steve are in my age group for the CARA Circuit, and they're generally slower than I am. I haven't seen them in a year, so this created a good measure for myself... They shouldn't blow me away. If they did, then I'd really need to start questioning my training. Felipe quickly put 20+ meters on me, and he still had another 20+ before Steve and Egle. 5:38.

Mile 3... Settled into auto pilot now. I still felt good, but didn't know how long that might last. I was slowly getting dropped by Felipe as he pushed to catch Steve and Egle. Maybe 50 meters between us now. Then all of a sudden, it was as if someone pulled in the train. We approached a few turns on the course, and I gained significant ground on their pack. I passed a few other guys that started to fade. 5:37.

Mile 4... I sat on Steve, Mike, and Felipe for a minute now. We turned a corner into the wind, and I immediately dropped them. No body challenged me. Somewhat surprising that Egle didn't step up. He's typically more aggressive than that. Either he had his own agenda, or he's starting to show his age. From here on, I was pretty much alone - one runner in the distance... easily another 100m up. I still felt strong, so I put a little more distance on the pack as I headed into a slight wind. 5:34.

Mile 5... Now straight into head winds, which were very steady and relentless. I still had plenty of gas, but the wind definitely made the final mile a challenge. At some points I was crawling. Other times, I was hammering. I mainly didn't want to get caught by my former road kills, so I just kept pressing. The runner in front of me was initially an after thought, but he started to show pain as the mile progressed. I could see him looking back and gauging me. We hit a quarter-mile long incline, and I started to reel him in. By the final 200m, he became my bitch. I buried him. An unimpressive 5:35 for the 5th mile, but given the evil headwinds, I'll take it. 27:53 overall.

First age for Circuit purposes... 14th over all... loaded w/ 9 Kenyans.

Split recap: 5:27, 5:38, 5:37, 5:34, 5:35... 27:53.

For comparative purposes: Back in the spring, my Shamrock 8k was 28:05 (also treated as a fast tempo versus all-in race). 8k is fractionally shorter than 5 miles. On an 8k basis, I could possibly shave another 8-10 seconds off the Park Forest time. Considering I didn't feel extremely taxed, I would say this was a nice test race.