April 2009 Training
 

March 30th - April 5th:

• Mon - 4.22 mi @ APT RD Greenway to Gravois and back
  • 7:16, 6:56, 6:36, 6:15, 1:22(6:13pace) splits - easy run from apt after work.  Crappy run as it was windy as hell going out and my legs just felt like blah.  Even on the way back going with the wind just didn't feel right for some reason...
• Tue - 0 mi, rest day and right ankle feeling weird...
• Wed - 8.45 mi @ Castlewood w/ Billy, made Fig Eight loop
  • 7:35, 6:57, 9:11, 8:02, 7:44, 7:47, 7:24, 7:55, 3:02(6:47pace) splits - easy run as we cruised the trails and made up a new loop since parts of the trail were flooded.  Surprisingly it wasn't really muddy despite the flooding.
• Thu - 8.32 mi @ Castlewood w/ Serena new Fig Eight loop
  • 7:21, 7:01, 8:55, 7:52, 7:55, 7:51, 7:20, 8:03, 2:10(6:48pace) splits - easy run as we did the same loop Billy and I ran only minus the little detours which made it a little shorter distance wise.
• Fri - 3 mi @ MHS before practice
  • 6:52, 6:30, 6:06 splits - ran easy Germann loop before practice plus 2 laps on track to get 3mi, then drills and 5x150m strides.  After work in the evening I came back for an ice bath.
• Sat - 16.11 mi | Meet Me At Meramec 5K = 16:15, 1st overall AM plus 2mi w/u and 1mi c/d, 10mi PM @ Creve COeur Lake
  • 6:50, 6:31 splits - warm up around campus
  • 5:02, 5:18, 5:24, 0:33(4:52pace) splits - 5K race, goal was to try and get after a 16 flat pace so aim around 5:00 or so first mile and see what happens.  Started off good as I quickly seperated myself from everyone but on the 2nd loop of the course (2 loops) I obvsiouly slowed WAY down...not too thrilled with the time but I held on for the win and ended up being a course record actually (old one was 17:36 from 2007!).  For my cool down I basically jogged a mile or so and that was it.
  • 6:49, 6:01, 6:07, 6:08, 5:48, 5:43, 5:49, 6:03, 5:57, 6:04 splits - easy run to my ipod at Creve Coeur Lake in the afternoon to be as a shakeout run.  Weather was awesome save for the freakish wind - basically the first 4 miles was head on into a nasty wind where I literally thought I was going to be blown away, it was ridiculous!  I found some roller bladers that I chased down and had fun with but I don't think I would have run the times I did had it not been for the music to fall back on during those windy segments, that helped get through that moment by keeping my mind on something other than how miserable I felt in the wind.  :)  I ran one outer loop and an inner loop plus some in parking lot to get the 10 miles.  Legs felt perfect as I didn't feel like I was running those times!  Hope this doesn't drain me for tomorrow...
• Sun - 11.04 mi | Renaud Spirit Center 5K = 16:25 @ 3.2mi, 1st overall AM plus 4.84mi w/u and 3mi c/d
  • Warm up consisted of 3.34mi easy, drills and some stretching, then another 1.5mi to get 4.84mi total before the race.  Weather looked good once again!
  • 5:07, 5:06, 5:16, 0:56(4:49pace) splits @ 3.2 miles - race actually ended up being just over a 5K distance which really sucked for my time as going back over my pace, the 5K split would roughly be about 16:00 which was right where I wanted to be at....oh well....another day I guess.  I felt MUCH more relaxed and smooth in this race than yesterday.  Perhaps it was the fact that at the start I let all the little kids line up first and take off and then worked my way around them all...or what I don't know.  The plan was to try and slow that first mile down to around 5:10ish - they had the first half mile marked so I glanced at the time and saw 2:35 (5:10pace), perfect.  I had a stalker till about 3/4 of that first mile before he faded from me and then finished over a minute behind me at the end.  Even though my time was slower in the results, actual pace wise was faster today than yesterdays (5:07 vs 5:13)
  • 7:46, 7:08, 6:57 splits - cool down I did out in CH on the gravel trails to the ipod.  The legs really didn't want to move on this but towards the end I felt better.  I was glad I got something in at least since I didn't do jack after the race, just sat around and drank.  :)
  • Weekly Total - 51.14 miles

April 6th - April 12th:

• Mon - 0 mi
• Tue - 3.88 mi @ apt - ML/Francis Park 1x loop
  • 7:11, 6:48, 6:39, 5:41(6:26pace) splits - easy run before work.
• Wed - 7.07 mi @ Chubb w/ Billy before work
  • 8:51, 9:35, 8:10, 7:34, 6:58, 8:40, 7:27, 0:28(6:59pace) splits - easy run starting in West Tyson, and included the flood loop near Lone Elk just past the rail roads, very hilly for most of run.  Legs and body just felt sluggish, little run down for some reason more than normal.
• Thu - 8.7 mi @ Castlewood w/ Billy and Serena
  • 7:30, 6:57, 7:05, 7:04, 7:04, 6:40, 6:38, 4:50(6:52) splits - ran the Mickey Mouse loop first and then added on more time to make it an hour run.  Start was a bit rough on the body, but felt good as we went - trails in good shape.
• Fri - 0 mi - sick
• Sat - 0 mi - sick, went home from work early, slept all day - running a fever
• Sun - 0 mi - sick, Easter Sunday stayed home and slept
  • Weekly Total - 19.65 miles

April 13th - April 19th:

• Mon - 0 mi - sick, worked for a few hours but got sent home
• Tue - 0 mi - sick, stayed home from work
• Wed - 0 mi - some improvement, able to work today finally
• Thu - 0 mi - deciding not to run till race day if I get one good day in, make it that day
• Fri - 0 mi - resting
• Sat - 17.56 mi @ Double Chubb 25K Trail Race
  • 1:43:09 time on watch, 1st overall by over 10minutes in the 25K. 
• Sun - 0 mi
  • Weekly Total - 17.56 miles

April 20th - April 26th:

• Mon - 4.33 mi @ Mini Ha Ha park before work
  • 7:48, 7:17, 6:59, 6:42, 2:13(6:45pace) splits - shake-out run before work, legs really felt it at the start but eventually loosened up some.
• Tue - 6.75 mi @ MHS after practice
  • 7:10, 7:01, 6:46, 6:49, 6:51, 6:52, 5:12(6:58pace) splits - easy run after practice, very windy going out (Lix Loop) and then just felt sluggish the rest of the way.  Sat in the ice bath afterwards.
• Wed - 12.26 mi @ Grant's Trail w/ Serena on her TEMPO run
  • 6:56, 6:16, 6:00, 5:57, 5:55, 5:50, 5:45, 5:49, 5:55, 6:03, 6:40, 1:43@.26mi(6:45pace), 5:38@.24mi walk, 8:30, 3:24@.30mi walk/jog splits - very bad run for me after about 9-10 miles in.  The 6:03 split I was already fading from Serena and struggling to keep it together as my body just completing shut down on me and became a death run back to the start.  Till that point I felt no problem...eventually I needed to just stop and walk some, then tried running again and at the end just did a mix of walking and jogging...not happy with this run.
    • 11.26mi @ 1:08:49 = 6:07 avg pace (amount I covered before walking)
    • 12.26mi @ 1:17:19 = 6:18 avg pace (total amount ran, excluding the walking)
    • 12.79mi @ 1:26:21 = 6:45 avg pace (everything combined)
• Thu - 8.33 mi @ Castlewood w/ Billy and Serena
  • Not a good run for me as I struggled yet again, really felt beat up from yesterday and the legs just wouldn't go, kept falling back from the two of them and we weren't running that fast.  My right knee began acting up today...
• Fri - 0 mi - rest
• Sat - 9.38 mi | 6.27 mi @ Fenton Social Run AM, Clarkson Eyecare Foundation 5K PM
  • Today everyone ran the loop in reverse, and I added on the Summit loop to get a little extra in.  Felt a little better as I got into it.  Headed to work 10-5 after run.
  • Last minute entry in this race - planned on showing up to take photos, but ran instead...nothing great which was to be expected - finished 1st overall in 16:38, well ahead of 2nd by about 2min or so.  Hilly course.
• Sun - 0 mi
  • Weekly Total - 41.05 miles

April 27th - May 3rd:

• Mon - 9.5 mi @ Chubb Trail w/ Billy
  • 8:30, 7:09, 7:07, 6:48, 6:57, 6:56, 6:48, 7:25, 6:27, 4:08(8:13pace) splits - ran from Lone Elk and hit the Castlewood loop first, then headed out along the Lone Elk loop and stayed along the river till the clearing, then went left on the flood route to head back.  Great weather, cool with a little bit of drizzle towards the end.
• Tue - 3.13 mi @ MHS w/ Serena
  • 23:10 @ 7:24avg - Ran cool down with Serena back to her house from school, then she drove me back to my car.  Pretty easy simple run.  Knee felt a little better at least, got in the ice bath though back at school.
• Wed - 8.1 mi @ apt w/ Billy
  • 52:33 @ 6:29avg - Easy run w/ Billy from my apt running to the Metro Link and over to Francis Park for a loop, then to Wilmore Park for a loop, south past Gravois and cross the bridge and took the River Des Peres path back to my place.  Good overall but could really feel the knee on uphills.
• Thu - 0 mi
• Fri - 0 mi
• Sat - 5 mi @ Fenton Social Run
  • Ran with Randy and Michelle for most of it.  Took it easy with the knee as it bugged me a lot on the hills still, but it was nice to run with some others for a change.  Good weather at least!  Track meet after all day @ Parkway South.
• Sun - 5.88 mi @ Run for Sight 5K
  • 2.5mi warm-up to see how the knee felt: hated me.  Work was paying for us in this race so I felt obligated to at least show up and run - I was wearing one of my Zhensa sleeves on the right leg to help as my shin was hurting from the track meet all day Saturday as well as the knee issue...I can't win.  I didn't see anyone right away that looked really fast so I figured I would just sit back and see what unfolds in the race rather than really go for it - I started farther back from the line because of that and the other people who all crowded up at the front.  Josh and another guy took to the lead and I probably was sitting back around 10th or so for awhile, and luckily I was close enough to yell at them for about to go the wrong direction as the police leading didn't know the course and were about to turn the wrong way!  By the half mile or after I had now moved up to Josh and the other guy in the lead and as we headed back on Market Josh and I took turns leading.  By the time we came back around the start just before the mile I was now in the lead and took it from there.  I felt very good as the race went on and just kinda lost myself in it and by the 3rd mile the leg was not an issue and actually felt ten times better!  Won by over a minute.
    • 5:17, 5:18, 5:07, 0:38 splits = 16:20, 1st overall
  • Weekly Total - 31.61 miles