January 2009 Training
 

December 29th - January 4th:

• Monday - 8.03 mi from apt before work (Francis Park/Welmore Park/River Des Peres trail)
  • 7:01, 6:32, 6:26, 6:17, 6:19, 6:17, 6:20, 6:21, 0:14(6:33pace) splits - easy run.
• Tuesday - 5.04 mi @ SC Fleet Feet Social Run w/ Jeff
  • 6:15, 6:15, 5:53, 5:48, 6:24, 0:14(5:57pace) splits - from 4.5 to 4.75 I slowed up and waited for Jeff to catch back up and finished together, most likely would have easily been under 6min on the 5th mile.  Good run overall, windy as hell though final 1.5mi or so.
• Wednesday - 6.29 mi from the Fenton store after work
  • 6:33, 6:40, 6:03, 6:16, 6:29, 5:57, 1:47(6:04pace) splits - ran most of the FE social run loop but added on.  Some good hills on this, took it easy after working 10-4.  Nice weather out.
• Thursday - 0 mi
• Friday - 7.13 mi @ Chubb Trail before work
  • 7:10, 6:22, 6:18, 6:19, 6:36, 6:41, 6:48, 0:51(6:44pace) splits - easy run on trails, footing for the most part pretty good but as the ground was thawing some parts became slippery and due to flooding over the summer a section has washed away causing a new hilly path in the trail.  Felt fine, but this run hurt me towards the end of Saturday's run I think.
• Saturday - 6.31 mi @ FE Fleet Feet Social Run (ran same loop as Wed)
  • 6:36, 6:40, 6:14, 6:34, 6:36, 5:44, 1:54(6:15pace) splits - about 4.5mi the right front lateral shin began to hurt (feeling when you flex it) - figure this is probably a result from yesterdays run on the trail, might have worked those stabilizer muscles prety good.  Ice bath after work, helped temporary but then it hurt real bad again later - wore my Zensah sleeves to bed to see if that would help.
• Sunday - 0 mi - intended to run a longer run @ Castlewood before work but didn't want to push my luck on the leg.  I awoke and it felt much better, probably feeling 95-99% but it wasn't gone entirely...so I opted to try wearing the sleeves all day at work and see how it felt walking around a bunch.  I still got plenty of time before the marathon to get back from this so not worried.
  • Weekly Total - 32.8 miles

January 5th - January 11th:

• Mon - 8.12 mi @ Castlewood "MICKEY MOUSE" loop before work
  • 6:29, 6:01, 6:08, 6:06, 6:06, 6:06, 5:56, 5:52, 0:43(5:53pace) splits - felt good.  Relaxed normal run and the right leg felt fine, no pain like Saturday.
• Tue - 5.2 mi @ Cedar Woods loop from apt after work
  • 6:58, 6:38, 6:30, 6:15, 6:16, 1:14(6:20pace) splits - easy run after working 10-8.  Body was tired and really didn't want to run but made a new loop.
• Wed - 5.14 mi @ Forest 44 before work
  • 8:09, 8:48, 9:40, 8:00, 6:11, 0:51(6:01pace) splits - very easy run as the most of the footing was rough with horse tracks, fallen leaves covering tree limbs and holes, along with rocks large and small.  I just ran the perimeter loop here, this is similar to Queeny in the fact you can connect all the trails with inner loops, and the footing got much better for that 5th mile where it was more like the Al Foster path (gravel path) where I could open up my stride more and just roll.  Everything else had steep up and down hills mixed with treacherous footing - from 1.5mi on the profanities became abundant with each roll of the ankle (one step after another!).  Wasn't worried on pace as I knew it would be slow, otherwise I did enjoy this run to some degree.  Right by a horse ranch so it was cool watching them run around - definitely have to come back some day with my camera.
• Thu - 16.12 mi total | Castlewood in the afternoon then CH Social Run at night w/ Serena
  • 10.62mi @ Castlewood - normal run, added on the Lone Wolf trail to my Sherman Beach loop (added on .68mi roughly) and just cruised along comfortably.  Felt really strong at the end and wanted to do more but stopped since I don't need to increase my mileage crazy this week and I was going to run w/ Serena later.
    7:00, 6:10, 5:56, 6:01, 6:08, 5:58, 5:53, 5:58, 5:50, 5:49, 3:40(5:57pace) splits
  • 5.5mi @ Social Run w/ Serena - didn't wear the garmin but the run is 5 miles and we added on 2min more heading out so she would get her 40min total (we finished 40:21).  At our pace that extra 2min had to at least be a quarter of a mile as we weren't crawling and I know myself now to be able to guess we had to be in the mid to low 7min range easily - she ran very well for her first week back to running since Boyd!  Felt great to have the company as we talked the whole way.  Great turn out for the social run as well as many new faces along with some regulars!  Legs felt good and the pizza and drinks after tasted yummy!  :)
• Fri - 6.26 mi @ Castlewood w/ Adam Behnke
  • 8:01, 7:41, 7:16, 6:53, 6:51, 7:10, 1:48(6:54pace) splits - easy run for 45 min (45:42) around the trails at the park.  Compared to yesterday it was sloppy and muddy all over - due to the 55-60 degree weather thawing out the ground!  Felt like summer which was awesome.  We just ran pretty easy as we ran along some of the hills and flat sections.
• Sat - 15.25 mi total | FE Social Run in the morning then Green Rock Trail @ Rockwoods w/ Billy in the afternoon
  • 5mi @ Social Run - easy run, really wanted to sleep in today as I was out late the night before.  Ran first 1.5-2mi with another guy there who is running the Surf City Half-Marathon coming up, then he dropped back off the pace some and I waited till after the wind to fall into my own pace.  Okay run, nothing hard.
  • 10.25 mi @ Green Rock Trail w/ Billy in afternoon - this was to be just an easy fun run on the trails, as this path is pretty tough at times and hilly as hell.  Billy had never been here so we ran out a little over 5mi before turning back.  Good run overall as we talked most of the way as we just ran for fun.  Legs felt really good on this though...so provided the weather co-operates we had talked about possibly parking at both ends and just run one way at some point (this is a 10mi trail one direction)...we shall see.
• Sun - 0 mi, rest day
  • Took the day off as I went way over the mileage I had planned for this week - feeling great, but didn't want to add any more.  With the marathon coming up I hope to keep things in the 40 range or so, it is getting a little difficult at times to keep the mileage down as my body gets into shape - find myself wanting to run a little more or longer at times...I am holding myself back for now as I don't want to get back to the high mileage just yet.  This week does however mark my highest mileage since the Mardi Gras Marathon almost a year ago!  Wow...far cry from the 120-145 mile weeks...but I am not missing all those that much to be honest.  One day I may get back up there, but for now I am content and happy with what I am doing.
     
  • Weekly Total - 56.09 miles

January 12th - January 18th: Arctic temps moved in on Wednesday night into Thursday - COLD!

• Mon - 4.54 mi @ Metro Link / Francis Park loop
  • 7:00, 6:34, 6:30, 6:21, 3:24(6:18pace) splits - easy shakeout run basically from the apt before work today.  Ran up to the Metro Link via the paved path, cut over and back on the gravel path then headed over to Francis Park for one perimeter loop and headed back home, taking the gravel path back up to the Metro Link and back to the apt via the paved path.  Good run and felt comfortable.
• Tue - 6.15 mi @ MHS - Lix loop
  • 6:47, 6:17, 5:46, 5:37, 5:34, 5:45, 0:51(5:36pace) splits - normal run after interview from school.  Once I hit Hutchison I decided to gradually increase my pace a bit and just let it go...in some ways this could be a "mini" marathon pace run for the final 4 miles.  Felt good and kept everything in control and stayed relax - just rolled along the pavement effortlessly.  Weather wasn't too bad either.
• Wed - 9.64 mi @ Green Rock Trail from Greensfelder Park before work
  • 8:21, 7:33, 8:11, 8:04, 8:41, 8:50, 7:56, 8:01, 8:02, 5:10(8:01pace) splits - easy recovery run basically starting in Greensfelder Park and took the Green Rock Trail to the other end where it hits Fox Creek road - that was the first time I ever ran this portion of the trail, ended up being about 4.08mi or so from where I started to the next parking lot, then I turned back intending to go back the same way I came - go figure that with less than a half mile to go I took a wrong turn and got myself lost, adding on almost a good 2 miles more than I intended to run!  Worked out for the best anyway I think as I at least explored some more trails and the footing was a little better on that final section than had I gone the correct way (very rocky and uphill).  Felt really good though despite a few instances where I really worked the lower ankles - probably be feeling those tomorrow!
• Thu - 5 mi @ FF Social Run in CH
  • 6:29, 6:03, 5:52, 5:45, 5:45 splits - VERY cold and windy (temps feeling about -1 or so because of the wind).  Broke out the CW-X tights, which also would be helpful as I was feeling it along the lateral shins in both legs (from yesterday ofcourse) so those would provide some compression at least while keeping me warm.  Wore the sunglasses and face mask to help with the breathing on the way out as I ran into the wind, coming back was a little nicer so took off the glasses as they tended to fog up from breathing in the face mask.  Treated this run like a normal pace effort - so very pleased with the outcome as it didn't feel like I was straining to run 5:45-5:50 pace, plus I felt like I could have continued more afterwards, this is good.  Kept it at just the 5 though, as we grabbed pizza and drinks afterwards - this has now become a Thursday ritual for me I guess...plus it ensures I get at least 5 miles in during the week!  : )
• Fri - 8.5 mi @ MHS after work
  • 53:35 overall time - no garmin tonight (forgot it) so just cruised along on my UNO's loop from school.  Felt pretty good, little bit warmer then the night before but still a bit cold.  Glanced at the splits towards the end at the final 800m and was on 6 flat pace feeling easy.  Recovery run from the night before basically.
• Sat - 5 mi @ FF Social Run in FE
  • 6:49, 7:01, 6:31, 7:08, 6:17 splits - early morning run that I really didn't want to do.  Sat in my car while it warmed up staring at the flag that was perfectly straight in the wind...to think I had just finished my run last night by 10pm and now running this at 7am...ugh, this was definitely more of a laid back run for sure.  The slower miles were the ones with the big hills, didn't bother to push on those.  Bread Co. afterwards tasted good though at least!  After work I got in the ice bath up at school which felt nice.
• Sun - 10 mi @ Castlewood Sherman Beach loop w/ Billy before work
  • 7:04, 6:41, 6:54, 6:44, 6:33, 6:26, 6:29, 6:27, 6:17, 6:23 splits - easy fun run at 10am on the trails.  Weather was nicer than previous days - feels like a heat wave being in the 30s again!  Talked most of the way and just cruised along, definitely felt like I could have gone on much longer!  Grabbed breakfast at my parents place before heading to work.  Hit my goal mileage for the week at least this time around (48miles) so that was good.  2 more weeks and I am on the beach!!!  : )
  • Weekly Total - 48.83 miles

January 19th - January 25th:

• Mon - 0 mi - resting day
• Tue - 6.54 mi @ SC Social Run
  • 6:23, 6:23, 6:03, 5:47, 5:51, 5:51, 3:06(5:47pace) splits - easy run after work, really didn't want to run for some reason tonight.  Plan was to run with someone tonight but didn't hear anything, so it was to be a solo run...and I just wasn't really motivated...so I talked myself in to driving all the way out to SC for the social run there knowing at least other people would be out running and maybe that would at least get me going - unfortunately Jeff was not there tonight so no one to run with, I can't win.  After about 3-3.5mi into the run I opted to extend it and on my way back I took a right at the church and ran one of my older loops from when I used to work out here more often (this was at 3.75mi into the run) - that added on basically 1.54mi.  Overall though I felt very relaxed and smooth out there, so looking back over the splits and how they felt was happy with it, especially since this is a hilly loop.
• Wed - 8.22 mi w/ Billy and AJ
  • 7:04, 7:07, 6:54, 6:54, 6:48, 6:33, 6:40, 6:34, 1:30(6:59pace) splits - had a staff meeting at 7:30am, ran from Billy's house afterwards and ran along the common ground near MHS, then back through the golf course before turning back.  Nice easy run, windy on the way out - despite being sunny and warmer than the last few days my hands froze bad due to the wind, sucked.  AJ's getting ready for his half-marathon this weekend so just chilled with them, good run.
• Thu - 14.76 mi | 11.76mi TRACK WORKOUT afternoon then 3mi @ FF Social Run
  • Got my new racing flats (Mizuno Ronin 2) today and opted to try them out for a test run on the track to see if I might wear them for the marathon - they were awesome!  Created the workout at the last minute, and wanted to do something that kinda would mimic my marathon strategy a bit (starting out slow and get used to switching gears late in the race).  I chose a 2 mile to be run at normal to slightly tempo pace (5:40-6:00 range) followed by 4xMile at slightly faster than marathon pace (5:30ish range) and then finished with 4x800 to be quicker but smooth and fluid, something quick but not all out (2:30ish range).  Ran a 2 mile warm up to Pod's house and back from school, and my cool down was 1 mile in reverse on the track easy jogging.  I took just slightly over 3 minutes rest after the 2mi - jogged a lap for the rest period.  Everything else I took 1 minute rest to keep the heart rate up and not get too relaxed.  Felt great and went perfectly - only time I looked at my watch was after the first lap of the 2 mile, the rest of the workout I did not check splits at all and just ran on perceived effort.
    • 2 mile:  5:44 / 5:42 = 11:26 (felt slow and easy, just out for a normal run basically)
    • 4 x Mile:  5:24 / 5:33 / 5:23 / 5:22 (easy, not sure what happened on the 2nd one as nothing felt different, apparently I was too relaxed...)
    • 4 x 800:  2:34 / 2:35 / 2:36 / 2:32 (ran fairly even pace/effort wise on all and just cruised along)
  • 21:46 (7:15 pace) - For the Social Run I opted to cut it short and just get in 3 miles easy as the workout did put in more mileage than I anticipated for the day...ran back in the group this time and turned back at 1.5 and ran on the gravel path.  Forgot to switch back on the lap splits for the garmin so just have the total time and pace.  Pizza and drinks afterwards as usual!  : ) 
• Fri - 8.66 mi @ Valley Park trails w/ Serena
  • 6:57, 6:38, 6:33, 6:34, 6:36, 6:37, 6:34, 6:30, 4:22(6:37pace) splits - nice and easy run, legs felt fine after yesterday which is good.  Ran from 141 out to Simpson park along the pave paths, did the out and back along the lake and then continued out past the ball fields to the end of the path and then headed back to where we started.  Felt relaxed, then had to grab a quick bite as had to go to work early for co-worker (sick).
• Sat - 6.91 mi @ Forest Park w/ Serena (her tempo workout)
  • Met Serena along Wydown as she was running a 15min easy / 40min hard / 15min easy workout - I was going to join her on the 40min hard and help pace a little as she wasn't sure how fast to go...so I just jogged out till when I met her, then joined in and as we got a little into Forest Park was when we started the 40min segment and I began my watch.  Overall I thought it went very well for her, despite her having a rough outing (looking back at it we basically did a 3-2-1 type of workout as we took 2 minor pauses during, but we finished it and she held close to the same paces on all which was very impressive!)  We finished the 40min at the Visitor Center so we jogged the remainder cool down back to my car and I drove her back to where she parked - I didn't count that running either, so all in all I probably got closer to 9-9.5 today but I'm only counting the tempo segment of it.  :)  For myself this run felt perfect for what I want to do with the marathon - paces are most likely what I am looking to start out at if not just a smidge slower....but who knows, that 6:00 pace may not be that hard this time around, I felt like I could have just clipped this off all day long....plus I am itching to race again, been since Dec 27th now and watching a little bit of the Frostbite Race while we ran made me wish I was out there.....1 more week!
    • 5:58, 6:03, 5:52, 1:24(6:16pace) = 3.22 mi
    • 0:50(6:46pace) = .12 mi easy before jumping back into the fast pace
    • 6:07, 6:16, 1:10(6:14pace) = 2.19 mi
    • 1:32(7:17pace) = .21 mi easy before jumping back into quicker pace
    • 5:59, 1:01(6:02pace) = 1.17 mi
• Sun - 0 mi - took the day off as I hit my mileage goal already for the week and no need to over due it, plus it was my birthday so I slept in and awoke to lots of snow!  :)  AJ PR'd by 8min in his half marathon today down in TX, so that was awesome.
  • Weekly Total - 45.09 miles

January 26th - February 1st:  SURF CITY MARATHON SUNDAY!

• Mon - 9.43 mi @ FE store before work
  • 6:44, 6:48, 6:31, 6:26, 6:20, 6:45, 6:33, 6:10, 6:00, 2:27(5:43pace) splits - starting from the store ran out the same way as the social run, then went right on Bowles to Fenway instead of left.  The 6 mile mark was right when I rejoined the social run loop at the top of the final uphill and then ran it in reverse, excluding the little out and back section.  Good run overall, just kinda took it easy.
• Tue - 4.76 mi @ 24-Hr Fitness w/ Serena
  • Weather was really bad as snow/sleet moved in late Monday and then heavy snow all day long - roads really bad to drive on so ended up running on the treadmill with Serena at the gym - I hate treadmills, at least this way I would have company.  I got there late due to traffic and having to grab some clothes so I only got in the final 30min with Serena as she already had been running when I got there.  Just jumped on and ran first mile @ 9mph, then bumped it up to 9.5mph for a few minutes before raising it to 10mph and left it there the rest of the time - felt nice and easy as we talked most of the time.  Also ran into Jay Orr towards the end of my run.
• Wed - 3.09 mi from apt before work
  • 7:48, 6:36, 6:17, 0:36(7:09pace) splits - Started out along the paved path but that was entirely covered in shin deep snow so worked my way over to Watson and took that to Jamieson and ran along there and back since the roads were pretty decent. 
• Thu - 0 mi, Leave for CA!
• Fri - 5.89 mi @ Laguna Canyon Conservation
  • Intended to get in a nice easy run on some trails but after 1.5mi into it that was not gonna happen - the path basically went straight uphill after that.  Fun and cool run to go on, but was definitely a quad killer as I had to come back down the hill - I later grabbed the camera at the end of the run and went back up it to take photos!  I threw time out the window after seeing it took me 11+ min for one of the miles...so I just ran distance basically.
• Sat - 5.57 mi @ Santa Ana from cousin's apt
  • 6:52, 6:24, 6:32, 6:42, 6:37, 3:43(6:31pace) splits - Grabbed breakfast then headed to the expo.  After that I ran from Steph's place and kept it flat along the sidewalks, towards the end I found a park that had about .5mi perimeter gravel/dirt path before heading back to finish.  Good run although I could really feel it in the quads from yesterday!
• Sun - 26.36 mi - SURF CITY MARATHON!
  • 6:12, 5:59, 5:43, 5:47, 5:38, 5:29, 5:31, 5:34, 5:50, 5:44, 5:48, 6:01, 5:54, 5:49, 5:51, 5:41, 5:46, 5:58, 6:19, 6:13, 6:01, 6:06, 6:00, 6:10, 6:00, 6:01, 2:03(5:39pace) splits - 94sec PR @ 2:35:20 for 3rd overall and 1st in my age group.  After 3 miles I was on my own the rest of the race, 5min back from 2nd and 7+min ahead of 4th.  Felt very comfortable and relaxed on this run as I enjoyed watching the waves along the ocean until miles 18-19 when I got the feeling to use the restroom - that forced me to slow my pace a bit to fight that off as I wasn't going to stop at that point.  That feeling came and went the rest of the way but somehow I managed to fight it off.  They had chip timing as well so below are the splits I got from that - some of their mile markers were way off, either too far apart or too close at times and they had no half-marathon split which kinda sucked, but I think I was around 1:15:50-1:16:00 range based on my pace through 13 miles.
    • 3 mile = 18:02 (6:01pace)
    • 6 mile = 34:53 (5:49pace) - 16:51 3mi split
    • 12.2 mile = 1:11:19 (5:51pace) - 36:26 10K split
    • 20 mile = 1:56:43 (5:51pace)
    • 26.2 mile = 2:35:20 (5:56pace) - 38:37 10K split
  • Weekly Total - 55.1 miles