Lake Zurich Half Marathon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Split recap:

1- 5:53.6

2- 5:54.4

3- 5:53.9

4- 5:35.0 (Short!)

5- 5:53.9

6- 5:49.3

7- 5:45.0

8- 5:51.0 (Long!)

9- 5:42.2

10- 5:45.1

11- 5:42.6

12- 5:59.1 (Long!)

13- 5:48.1

.1- 0:37.0

Total: 1:16:10

20x400 - Moscow Style

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

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

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

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

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

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

Split recap:

1- 70.62

2- 72.44

3- 72.38

4- 71.85

5- 72.54 (1-5 avg: 71.97)

6- 72.57

7- 72.16

8- 72.65

9- 72.37

10- 72.49 (6-10 avg: 72.45)

11- 73.38 (traffic)

12- 72.01

13- 72.84

14- 72.92

15- 72.56 (11-15 avg: 72.74)

16- 72.01

17- 71.79

18- 71.43

19- 71.20

20- 71.40 (16-20 avg: 71.57)

O'all avg: 72.18

Buffalo Grove 10K

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peak Heat

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1- 239.6

2- 236.8

3- 236.8

4- 237.0

5- 236.8

6- 236.8

7- 236.2

8- 235.8

9- 235.3

10- 235.3

Avg: 236.6

Big Boy 13 Mile Tempo

JR: "Are you fit?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Est'd Split Recap:

1- 5:55

2- 5:57

3- 5:55

4- 5:55

5- 5:50

6- 5:50

7- 5:45

8- 5:45

9- 5:48

10- 5:48

11- 5:45

12- 5:45

13- 5:43

Avg 5:49.5