D-Man

Ran a pretty good 7.5+ mile recovery run w/ Jacki from Meadows through Dobbs Park (2 loops) and backin 55:16.  Temp cool 63 at 7:30.  Workout tomorrow, then race on Saturday!!!

Today Austin had his first CC meet for Otter Creek Middle School.  Cool.  After the meet, went to WW MS track to do Yasso 800s.  Ran 4.5 mile warmup from WW through Deming Park with the Woodridge add-on since legs were feeling kinda beat up.  Then ran 10x800m w/ 2:00 rest in pretty decent times (2:59,2:51,2:47,2:45,2:49,2:46,2:44,2:45,2:48,2:50).  Hamstrings and calfs kept wanting to cramp up on me on the last two.  On the last one, had 1:22 at the 400, but really fell apart.  It was all I could do to jog a 1 mile cooldown.  Closed the track tonight!!!  

Tonight ran a pretty good 8 miles w/ Jacki in 58:15 on the trails at Hawthorn Park then through Woodridge and back.  Legs have been really sore all day, mostly my butt right above my left hamstring.  Temp a little warmer today, 79.  Need to do an easy 4-6 tomorrow and be ready for Saturday's race.

Got up and ran an easy two miles this morning w/ Austin's CC team for their morning run.  Did 8x40m strides after.  Then this evening, ran easy 4.5 miles w/ Jacki at Honey Creek MS during Austin's soccer practice in 33:54.  Legs are just really beat up.  Will be pretty sore going into tomorrow's race.

Today ran the Little Italy Festival in 17:36 for first overall.  Legs felt a ton better than yesterday.  Ran by myself from about 400m on and won by over a minute.  5th time I've won this race ('96,'99,'06,'08,'09).  Ran 2 mile warmup and 3 mile cooldown.  Temp cool, but humid, 67.  Splits:

1) 5:31

2) 11:41 (6:10)  The BIG Hill!

3) 17:04 (5:33)

F) 17:36 (0:32)

Today ran a pretty solid 15 miles.  Didn't really plan on going that far, but wanted to run the second half of next Saturday's half marathon course.  Started out with an easy 3 miles on the trails in Hawthorn Park, then headed out on the course and ran 6:45-6:55 pace the rest of the way.  Not even sore from yesterday's race except for left hip flexor.  Had a little GI disagreement along the way, but overall felt great.

Ran a pretty solid 13 miles w/ Jacki this afternoon, same course as last Sunday in 1:31:45, about 3 minutes faster than last Sunday.  Down around 6:40 pace on some of the mile.  Temp really warmed up though, and humid, 79.  Started to struggle the last couple of miles, but still held pace.  Now for a couple of easy days to prep for Saturday.

Ran a somewhat tough 8 miles with Dave and Jacki tonight from Meadows, through Deming, Woodridge and Robinwood through Rose-Hulman and back.  Had 31:20 half way, 58:56 at the end.  Struggled in some spots.  Didn't feel well earlier in the day, but with some OJ and a decent lunch, I was OK this afternoon.  4 more days until the race.  Now for some easy rest days!

Accidentally deleted last week's entry.  Just barely made in a mile tonight.  Cold is taking hold and legs are completely dead.

Once again struggled on the run.  Now developing congestion in my lungs...  In Bolingbrook.  Made it 1.75 miles barely at 8:30 pace.  Didn't get in town last night until about 1 and went in to work at 8.  Now, drinking OJ, Gatorade, "Sticking" and resting up, hope I can still race on Saturday.

Ran The Blues At The Crossroads Half Marathon today in a pretty decent 1:19:50 for 2nd overall.  Pretty tough course, but handled it pretty well.  Temp cool 59 at the start and a little humid, but good conditions.  Fighting some pretty bad lung congestion as I came down with a cold when I was in Bolingbrook earlier this week.  Explains why legs were completely dead for two days.  Went out the first mile with eventual winner Tim Monaghan in 5:47 and had to let him go, I wasn't going to maintain that today!  Splits:

1 5:47

2 11:40 (5:53)

3: 17:37 (5:57)

4 23:36 (5:59) roughly 45 seconds off the lead at this point and only about 20 seconds on 3rd

5 29:48 (6:12)

6 35:58 (6:10) wondering at this point if I was going to break 1:20

7 42:02 (6:04)

8 48:13 (6:11)

9 54:27 (6:14)

10 1:00:53 (6:26) Hitting the hills now!  Trying to accelerate on the down hills to hold off 3rd place

11 1:07:16 (6:23)

12 1:13:27 (6:11)

13 1:19:39 (6:12)

F 1:19:48.  Splits are off my Garmin rather than course markers.  Garmin was dead on right through 4 miles, then it started to lose.  Others in the race had 13.08+ on their Garmins.  No problems at all with the left groin muscle.

Excellent effort, but work week really got in the way, and there's things I really need to be working on.

Could not run today.  Cold has completely taken over.  Miserable...  Don't see how I even mustered up to race yesterday.

Finally got in a 3.25 mile run from home up through Howard Subdivision and back in a semiquick 22:02.  Now at the tail end of my cold.  Still have a little congestion, but the energy levels are coming back.  First mile in 7:29 and last mile in an "easy" 6:08 (with a decent 10 mph tail wind).  Legs are as if I ran a full marathon Saturday, not a half...  30K race may be up in the air now as it's only 11 days away.

Ran late tonight around 10 after the North Vigo/South Vigo soccer game.  Cool 58, clear night sky.  Ran from home down around Collett Park and back in a really quick 39:44!  Had 20:40 half way, 19:04 for the 2nd half.  First mile in 6:48, then dropped down below 6:20 pace.  Last mile was in 5:37!  Lungs are a little raw now with the cold dry air and I'm still getting over the cold.  It was a long day, almost didn't get out tonight.  

Could not run today.  Worked 12+ hours and was completely exhausted after work, going on just 4 hours of sleep..

Ran a pretty decent 10 miles tonight from home up through Northwood

Subdivision and back in 1:08:31.  Had 35:27 half way w/ the first 3

miles all over 7:00.  Very humid tonight and occasional sprinkles. 

Someone tried to mace me tonight as they were driving by.  Ironic that

it was near the same exact area that Ben and I got maced almost 10

years ago.

Ran a really tough 4 miles w/ Jacki tonight from ISU up north and back.  Total time 29:32.  Legs completely dead.  So tired from this cold and the last 10 days of work.  This cold really prolongs recovery time from otherwise normal runs.  Temp a little warm than it has been 79, sunny and humid.

Tonight ran 4x1 controlled mile repeats with Jeff in pretty decent times.  Best workout I've had since my Yasso 800s a few weeks ago.  Ran 2.25 mile warmup from Meadows to Woodridge, then ran 4x1 mile "tempo" in 5:59,6:04,5:47 and 5:36 w/ 5 min. recover between around Woodridge loop.  Ran 2.25 cooldown.  Temp pretty warm 79 and humid.  Take it easy the next few days until race day.

This morning ran the Crossroads of America 30K.  Didn't do so well.  I was taking a chance with not being able to train properly for the past 2 weeks and didn't feel all that great today.  Legs felt really good (after 4 miles), but had severe GI problems.  Knew things were going to be rough when the legs were burning and struggling to hit 6:10 on the first mile. Had to make an emergency bathroom pitstop just before 9 miles to deal with GI problem.  After that, I felt jittery, nauseus, and hands and face started tingling if I tried to dip back down to 6:15 pace...  Pretty disgusted as I lost 5 spots in the last 3 miles.  Two bad races in a row dealing with a long cold and sleep deprivation from work the past 2+ weeks.  I was so disgusted afterward, I walked back to my car and left.  Going to have to regroup and see if I have any Fall racing left in me.  Splits:

1) 6:06

2) 12:07 (6:01)

3) 18:19 (6:12) Wondering why 6:12 pace feels so rough today.  Dumped the shirt.  It's only 58 degrees and I'm burning up.

4) 24:27 (6:08)

5) 30:45 (6:18) Finally by myself, 20 seconds out of 3rd place

6) 37:03 (6:18) Still struggling but OK with current pace

7) 43:19 (6:16) Feeling pretty decent, just maintaining the 20 second "string" on the next guys back

8) 49:32 (6:13) Heading downhill trying to chip away at this guy.  Stomach and GI is really really getting out of hand.

9) 55:51 (6:19) Still holding position, starting to wonder about the bathrooms

10) 1:03:14 (7:23) See a port-a-pot right after 9 mile marker, bail the course.  Stopped for 90 seconds according to the Garmin, lost 2 spots, ran 5:57 pace to reclaim my two spots

11) 1:09:55 (6:41) Getting nauseus and jittery after the bathroom stop

12) 1:16:23 (6:28) Getting a little concerned about how I feel. 

13) 1:23:00 (6:37) 3rd place guy is pulling away

14) 1:29:34 (6:34) Monster hills to deal with

15) 1:36:32 (6:58) Heading downhill, trying to take advantage of it, down at 5:40 pace, but once again, dizziness, had to slow down and "jog"

16) 1:43:19 (6:47) (Lost another spot)

17) 1:50:53 (7:34) Dropped down to 6:15 pace to challenge another person passing me, sure enough, only 20 seconds in and I'm getting nauseus.  Stop and walk for a minute, wondering if I was even going to finish.  Getting cold chills at this point.

18) 1:57:46 (6:53) Lose 2 more spots and fall to 8th place.

18.78) 2:03:04 (5:20)

Ran an easy 1.5 miles in new shoes.  Major change in weather.  57 w/ 20 mph WNW breeze.  Left hip flexor sore and nerve tenderness in right foot.  Socks were two thick yesterday during the race.