Puttin' Money In The Bank (L.A.D.)

2:44:58 for 22.5. Terrain was nearly completely flat. Beautiful 60 degree day. Had the neighbor drop me off 2 miles from Grants Trail. Ran to the Trail and met up with Matt. We ran the trail top to bottom, bottom to top. At the top of the trail (about 2.5 miles maybe just a touch less I was at 18:40. From the top to the 2.5 mark (5.5 miles total) I was 41:11 (7:30s). From there Matt and I hit 2.5 miles at 6:55s for a 10.5 mile total of 1:17:08. The way back was just the slightest bit uphill (4.5 in 33:48), (6.5 in 46:06) and the final mile cool down in 7:45.

I'm rather tired and my hams are sore. Time for an ice bath.

(Nike Vomero2 - 102)

Of f.

35 degrees, windy and a steady rain. 10.5 miles in rain soaked gear.  Total run time 1:18:33. Final mile in 6:56. Average pace 7:28. First 2 miles at 8:00s, last 3 miles between 6:50 and 7:10. The middle 5.5 miles probably between 7:45 and 7:20. I often have a difficult time judging pace when conditions are bad. Today the rain was cold and on the verge of freezing. It was windy and causing the rain to drive into my face (thank god for the sunglasses, even if I could barely see). My guess is that the entire run was progressive starting at 8:00 and finishing at 6:56 with each mile a negative split.

Running on the edge of the storm this morning. 5am, 25 degrees, blustry, ice pellets plunking off the eyelids and snow blowing into the face. The beard was frozen beautifully. Total run time was 70 minutes. Average pace around 7:45.

(Nike Vomero2 - 111)

Went to the gym today to test out my new Asics Gel-Speedstars. Plus the streets were all slushy from the 10 inches of snow we got yesterday. Stole a page from Tom's book today. Did 2 30 minute progressive TM runs. The first one started at a 8:30/mile pace and bumped up every 2 minutes. The average splits for this run worked out as follows.

1st mile - 8:13

2nd mile - 7:18

3rd mile - 6:49

4th mile - 6:30

.2 miles @ 6:18 pace

.3 mile cool down @ 9:00 pace.

Took 2 minutes rest to get a drink and started a strictly mile oriented progressive run.

.35 mile re-warm-up at 7:13 pace

1st mile in 6:53

2nd mile in 6:49

3rd mile in 6:44

1.1 miles @ 6:40 pace.

.3 miles @ 7:30 pace

.3 miles @ 9:00 pace

Shoes worked great! I'll keep 'em.

(Asics Speedstar II - 9.55)

AM -- 6.5 with Nancy today. Average pace 7:52. 9:30am 30 degrees. Streets tough to run on with snow still spilling off the banks a bit.

 PM -- 1.5 miles up to the high school to meet the track team. 2.5 mile warm up. 5 x 500 meter hill repeats at 1:30 with 500 yard jogging rest back down (slope not excessive, just enough to work). 1.5 miles back to school around marathon pace. 1.5 mile cool down back to the house. 

(Nike Vomero2 - 127.5)

Ran the stadium stairs for 35 minutes at work tonight. I estimate the mileage at about 4.5 miles, did 6 sets.

(Nike Vomero2 - 132)

 19.1 miles with Matt today. 25 degrees and somewhat windy at 2:30pm. Total run time was 2:25:47 (7:37s).

1st 10.7 miles in 1:22:43 (7:43s) then we took a break for gatoraide before we hit the uphill stretch of the actual St Louis Marathon course. This section was about a 3 mile stretch uphill then about 1.2 miles of flat before rolling up and down for another mile and then stretching back downhill again. So the next 4.3 miles were done in 32:19 (7:30s -- this was the uphill section). The next 3.5 miles were done in 25:00 (7:08s -- this was the rolling up and down before stetching down for about 2 miles) and then the remainder of the run (5:43) was a cool down.

(Nike Vomero2 - 151.1)

Off.

Beautiful day today ... 50 degrees and sunny at 5pm.

Wasn't sure what I was going to do when I began the run today. The stomach was doing backflips and 1/2 a mile in I thought I'd be lucky to get in 3. I settled into a nice easy pace (8:15s) that I thought I might be able to keep for 3-6 and set it in my mind that there was no shame in turning around at any point. Somewhere around mile 2 the pace got comfortable and may have begun to speed up. At mile 3 (24:45) I took a necessary pit stop and came back out a new man. I could instantly feel the pace quicken and set out for a longer run and hit the next 2.8 in 19:58. I'm not really sure about the distance, but I'm guessing I was probably hitting somewhere between 7:15 and 7:25. At this point I knew exactly where I was (Kirkwood Farmer's Market) and that I was 6 miles out on the nose taking a different route back. I fell right into the groove as soon as I began the trip back. The terrain was moderate with a good number of ups and downs. The 6 mile run time was 39:00 exactly (6:30s). I'm guesing the entire 6 was run progressively because I hit the last mile in 5:55 and could really tell the pace was steadily picking up from 3 miles out all the way in. Very pleased with this run today.

(Nike Vomero - 162.9)

Beautiful day for an easy run. 52 degrees and sunny at 2pm. Just an easy 8.5 mile recovery run today. Running time 1:04:45 (7:37s). Last couple miles probably dipped down into the marathon pace range.

(Nike Vomero2 - 171.4)

About a 15 mile run today.  Running time 1:44:48 (6:59s) Ran to Grant's Trail, did 7 miles on the trail and ran back. The run was a 4 mile warm up followed by 3 build ups in the neighborhood of  3.5-4 miles. I took a 5 minute break between build up 1 and 2 for water and a 1:30 break between 2 and 3. Because of the speed of the 1st build up (which was probably too fast, but felt good so I let it go) successive build ups were run at slower paces. But I still got at least 7 miles of threshhold work in and 4 miles of M-pace work as well as 4 miles of E-pace.

Split averages were as follows.

1st 4 in 30:28 (7:37s).

Next 3.5 in 21:43 (6:12s) Ever so slightly downhill, but for all intents and purposes it was flat, but with a moderate headwin.

Next 3.5 in 24:04 (6:52s) These were back up the previous 3.5, so uphill, but with a slight headwin. I think the wind was starting to die down by this time though. This set started out in the M-pace range, probably 7:20 or so.

Last 4 in 29:47 (7:26s). This set started out at E-pace and as I had used no energy gel on this run I was shot. I really had to fight this build up to get my last mile down to 6:45. I was absolutely shot when I finished the run and the legs were beat up, possibly from the shoes. I'm not sure if these flats will work for the Marathon or not, they might not possess enough cushion, or it may be that my training runs, having been done in a very cushy shoe, are influencing how these shoes feel.

(Asics Gel Speedstar2 - 24.55)

Easy run with Nancy this morning. 6.2ish in 48:30. Can't remember the exact mileage, but Nancy said her garmin had us at 7:56s. 9:45am and 45 degrees with no wind.

(Nike Vomero2 - 177.6)

Stairs at work again tonight. 6 sets for a total running time of 32:54. I'm estimating based on time and feel that these sets are coming out to a road equivalent of about .75 miles per set. Splits for the 6 sets were as follows:

5:50, 5:36, 5:35, 5:28, 5:17, 5:05 -- Nice negative split progression

(Nike Vomero2 - 182.1)

Did an 11.7 mile loop twice. Total distance 23.4 in 2:43:46 (Average pace 6:59? This doesn't seem right. I may have to get in my car and map this out with the odometer. I used google maps.) The first loop was in 1:23:37 and the 2nd loop was in 1:20:09. I know the first 3 miles were average 7:40s and I know the first 3 miles of the 2nd loop were average 7:20s. I have a hard time believing my pace throughout the rest built up to equal sub 7:00s. More on this later. For now I'll call it what Google Maps has and update it later. If it is correct, I may have to reconstruct what my M-pace should be. This run was a very tough one. I was battling a number of times. Strong winds in my face it seemed constantly and the route was considerably hilly. 

 Update: Ok, I drove the course and I came up with 11.3. I'm going with this because it seems much closer to my pace capacities. With a first lap in 1:23:37 that would give me 7:23s and the second loop in 1:20:09 would give me 7:05s for a total run ppm ave of 7:14s. A very solid run considering course terrain and wind conditions. This was the last of my very long training runs. BQ here I come!

[Asics Gel Speedstar2 -- 35.85/ Nike Vomero2 -- 193.5 (Switched shoes halfway through. I don't think the Speedstars are soft enough to go over a 1/2 marathon. Way too much strain on my knees.]

Off.

45 degrees today at 1pm, windy and a few rain drops. Easy out and back past MQP to the corner of Big Bend and Berry. Total running time 1:12:42 (7:34s). What I find extremely exciting about this run is that 7:30ish has become 'easy' whereas 6 weeks or so ago when I joined FRB I would have called them M-pace miles. I'm really getting excited to see what I will be able to do in the marathon in 20 days. In the fall when I was training for the 1/2 marathon my longer training runs were all run at about 7:20s and I ran 6:55s. Now for 18-22 mile runs I'm starting to hit some 7:15s. Is sub 7:00s possible? I honestly don't think it is, but only race day will tell.

(Nike Vomero2 - 203.1)

10.1 mile fartlek today. 55 degrees and a steady rain. When I was done I had about 7 pounds of wet clothes on. The total running time was 1:14:01 (7:19s). The goal today was to hit all hills during the run at a pace that was somewhere between 3k and 5k pace depending on the length of the hill. Hills under 150 meters were done around 3k pace and those over 150 meters were closer to 5k pace. The recovery goal was to get my pace down to LSD (7:30-7:45 as quickly as possible). All total there were 13 hills on my run. Some were as short as 75 yards and two or three were 300-400 yards. Total time spent on hills was 12:04. Finishing mile was a 6:45 started about 300 yards after my last hill fartlek (200 yards). The goal for this mile was to see how fast I could run without actually running fast. Keeping it smooth and tempo oriented (M-paceish).

I have this theory about hills. I don't know the science behind what is going on or if its simply something that MY body happens to respond well to, however, I find that between 4 and 6 days after hill work (done between threshold and vo2 max) my tempo runs go very well.

11.1 in 1:22:42 (7:27s). Moderate course terrain. Run felt very easy and relaxed. The entire thing was intended to be easy, and for the most part it felt that way. Must have picked up the pace a bit towards the end though. Last 2 miles at 6:45 average, but the pace still felt comfortable. Definitely did not feel like threshhold pace. 

(Nike Vomero2 - 214.2)

Ran to the Kirkwood track today to watch the Webster team run. Got there in time to see the 100 and 4x200 and then the 1600. A sophmore from Webster won the event turning in a time of 4:53 or so. Not too impressive, but not bad for a sophmore this early in the season. The run there was about 7.8 miles I estimate. Running time 58:04 (7:26s). I stayed about an hour total before heading back. Getting started on the way back was difficult. I took a slightly different route back and I'm guessing the distance was about 1/2 a mile less. We'll call it 7.2 in 54:10 (7:31s). The wind had picked up by the time I ran home, but it was still nearly 60 degrees.

(Nike Vomero2 - 229.2)

Not quite sure how to break this run down. First 2 miles were at 7:15 pace. I hit the 2.75 mark around 19:00 and then ran a 5:35 mile. The mile seems like it should be in the vo2max range based on time, but I wasn't going as hard as I could go. It was probably somewhere between vo2max and threshhold. At any rate, just a quick short run to keep sharp and get some speed in. Finished with a cool down mile. Total time on the road was 32:30.

(Nike Vomero2 - 234)

3.3 mile warm up in 24:55 to meet Matt at MQP (7:33s). Then 10.1 with Matt. Terrain moderately hilly, both up and down. 1st 5.8 in 41:46 (7:12s). Next mile in 6:47 to my house where we grabbed a GU for Matt. Started the last 3.3 at a casual pace and built back up. Time for this stretch was 24:08 (7:18s). Grabbed some G2 out of the bushes I had stashed and hit that before leaving Matt and heading back home. The last 3.3 was in 22:59 (6:57s) with a closing mile in 6:45. Walked 1/4 of a mile to round out the run to 17 miles. Total running time for 16.75 was 2:00:46 (7:12s).

(Nike Vomero2- 251)

Off. 2 weeks to the St Louis Marathon.

Not sure exactly how many miles this run was. Based on time and feel, plus a measurement on my last 2 miles, I'm going to guess that it was 10-10.5. I did about 2 miles easy and had my last 2 miles before the cool down at 12:44 (6:22s). This pace did not feel strained at all, but felt comfortably quick. I'm guessing I probably was sub 7 for about 2 miles prior to that. Had about a 15-20 minute warm up and then got into M-pace until the last 2 miles. Total running time was 1:13:34 (7:21s for 10 and 7:00s for 10.5 -- I'd guess this run was closer to 10.5. 

 Google maps says it is 10.6 and if I take out the cool down of 1.2 miles and measure the running time for the rest of the run I come out with 9.4 miles in 1:04:32 or 6:51s. This run was a real confidence booster. It felt comfortable with terrain similar to what I can expect in the marathon which is 12 days away. I'm beginning to believe that with the 'race day magic' as I think Jon called it I just might be able to hold to a sub 7 pace. Of course, the goal is BQ, so that becomes the first priority.

(Nike Vomero2 - 261.6)

Slow night at work tonight so I hopped on the track for some speed work. I wasn't really sure exactly what I was going to do. I had planned on doing a couple mile warm up followed by a short tempo run with the last mile really hammered out. I jumped on and as I crossed the first mile of my warm up I saw I was in at 7:15 and decided I do some 2 mile repeats and considered myself 1/2 way through the 1st. Usually my body takes longer to warm up to pace, but things felt good. Did a 1/2 mile jogging rest interval between each repeat and a 1 mile cool down. The goal was negative split repeats. I did pull out of the last one with 1/2 a mile to go because the pace felt fast and I'm fighting a cold that's trying to get a foothold. As of yet its just a tickle in my throat, but at the 1.5 mile mark of the last repeat I thought it would be a good idea given the pace not to put too much stress on my lungs. I am, after all, supposed to be in my 2 week marathon taper. The following were the splits for my 2 mile repeats.

1st one -- 14:00 [7:15, 6:45(Ave Pace 7:00)]

2nd one -- 12:27 [6:17, 6:10 (Ave Pace 6:13)]

3rd one (2400m) -- 8:51 [5:53, 2:58 (Ave Pace 5:55)]

(Acics Gel Speedstar 2 -- 46.35)

Pretty significant storms today so I did a treadmill run after dinner. Total run was 8.5 miles. Did a 50 minute progressive run starting out at 7:41 pace and bumping my pace up every 5 minutes so that the final run time was at 6:18 pace. Total distance for the 50 minutes was 7.05 miles followed up with 1.3 miles @ 7:45 pace and a 3 walk.

(Nike Vomero 2 - 270.1)

60 minutes running the stairs inside the ice rink stadium at work tonight. Based on time and feel I'm giving this run an 8 mile road equivalent (7:30s).

(Nike Vomero2 - 278.1)

6 miles in about 41 minutes tonight (6:50ish). Crisp and windy. Winding down to race day with only 8 days to go.

Nike Vomero2 - 284.1)

Ran my first 4 miles in 26:55 today (6:44s). The plan from there was to do a nice easy 6 at 7:30 pace. 2 miles in my achilles tendon had sudden sharp needle like sensations. I had to pull out of my run and have the wife come pick me up. Hope this will go away by next weekend, but I don't have a good feeling about this one.

(Nike Vomero2 - 290.1)

Standard Sunday rest day today, but I'll be taking tomorrow off as well to hopefully let the ankle heal and work itself out. Maybe Tuesday I'll give it a little test. I know its taper week and that nothing is really to be gained or lost this week, but still the fact that I've worked for 16 weeks only to have this odd sort of thing happen is very un-nerving.

No run today. Went to Nancy's work and she hooked my ankle up to the electro-stim machine. Not taking any chances, feels ok, but I haven't tried to run on it since Saturday. I guess my mentality at this point is I might as well just rest it until Wed. or Thurs. and treat it as injured until then. Even if its ok, that will still give me 3 days of full rest with 3-4 days of running before St Louis Marathon on Sunday.