Record Mile

Warmer this morning, 49F so was able to run in shorts and one shirt, started with a warm up mile of 10:20, then miles of 9:32, 9:29, 9:28, 9:28, then kicked it in for a record mile of 7:45, then 9:49 and a cool down mile of 10:00. 8 miles in 9:29 overall, 161 AHR (174 AHR for my record mile). The 7:45 mile I was dying at the end.

Foggy Run

Brr! 34F out, but at least no wind. Got running right around sunrise up at the lake, but running towards the river, it got foggy - REALLY foggy… 20ft visibility foggy.The fog seemed to have slowed me down, because once I got out of the fog on the way back to the car, I felt lighter and I ran a bit faster - not sure if it was psychological, or if it was actually something about the fog slowing me down, perhaps a bit of both. Stomach was giving me some trouble as well, even though I had gone before my run. 6 miles in 59:58, splits of 10:42, 9:44, 9:47, 10:01, 10:31 and 9:11, AHR of 156. Had brief walks several times while my stomach and such settled.

16 Mile Run

16 miles from the lake to the Page Extension spur, then southwest on the Katy Trail, then back. Nice out but a bit windy, felt pretty good though. Ran a bit faster than I probably should have, pretty tired now. 2:42:33 overall time, 10:09 avg pace, 161 AHR. Slowest mile was 10:58 which included have 2 gus while walking up the hill from the Katy Trail to the Page Extension parking lot. Other than that, miles were between 9:30 and 10:32, with the last 4 miles being 9:37, 9:56, 9:56 and 9:30. I had a water break every two miles where I would walk about 1 minute, and had cliff shots at the 6 mile point and gu at the 12 mile point. About 60F out, feel like a nap, heh.

6 Mile Neighborhood Run

6 mile run around the neighborhood. Was about 50F out and sprinkling. Not too bad, but I got pretty soaked by the end of it. 59:32 total time, 9:55 avg pace, splits of 10:29, 9:50, 9:48, 9:48 and 9:44. Tried taking it easy, but also didn't want to be out there any longer than I needed to be. AHR of 162. Plan on running 16 tomorrow, hopefully the weather is nice.

'Speed' Workout

First 'speed' workout. Cool (48F) and windy out. Ran 4 x 1 mile intervals with 1/2 mile recovery and a 1 mile warm up/cool down. Overall 8 miles in 1:17:15, avg pace of 9:39, splits of 10:22 (warm up), 8:58, 5:16 (.5 miles), 9:01, 5:19 (.5 miles), 8:57, 5:26 (.5 miles), 8:46, 5:24 (.5 miles) and 9:39 cool down mile. Was tougher than I expected it to be to run those 'fast' miles, but I did run yesterday, it's cooler out so I am bunded up a bit, so various things might have been slowing me down a bit. Running 6 miles tomorrow.

Getting Brisk!

Felt a bit sluggish out there, not sure why. Was cooler and windy out, so had to bungle up a bit, but not too much. Sign of things to come I guess. 6 miles up at the lake in 59:47, splits of 10:09, 9:52, 10:02, 9:49, 10:03 and 9:50. AHR of 162. Got a speed workout tomorrow, hopefully I feel more 'fresh' for that.

Sunday 16 Miler

Originally I was going to run 12 miles, but Judy was running a half marathon thing out on the Katy Trail, so I figured I'd try to run about 3 hours so I wouldn't be waiting around for her much. Run went well, 8 miles southwest on the Katy Trail from downtown St Charles, and then back. Wing was gusty, and it was fairly dry out, warm, but not too bad, in the 70s. Garmin acted up just a bit during the second mile, making it about 1.1 miles instead of 1 mile. Other than that mile, miles were between 10:17 and 10:57, so fairly consistent. AHR was 158, so even that was pretty good. First mile was a bit painful getting going - had the MWG in Chicago Thursday - Saturday, so the lack of sleep and the bad eating and drinking made for one tired morning, but overall the run felt pretty good.

Thursday Morning Run

Neighborhood run, was a bit warmer out than it has been, around 68F. 5 miles in 49:03, avg pace of 9:48, splits of 10:01, 9:43, 9:37, 9:48 and 9:52. AHR of 163. One of these days I'll actually slow down on my 'easy' runs.

6 Mile Tempo Run

Did a tempo run this morning, 4 miles @9:40 with 1 mile warmup/cooldown on the agenda. Ran a bit faster, but it was cool and comfortable out. 6 miles in 57:06 overall, 9:31 pace, splits of 10:14 (warmup), 9:25, 9:24, 9:19, 8:57 and 9:44 (a bit of a cool down). AHR was 165 overall. Was in the low 50s, felt pretty good.

Monday 5 mile run

5 miles around the neighborhood, ran a bit faster than I meant to, but it was fairly comfortable. For my 'easy' runs I should be closer to 11 min/mile than 10 min/mile, but sometimes it seems just easier to run a bit faster. 5 miles in 47:57, 9:35 avg pace, splits of 9:36, 9:41, 9:30, 9:31 and 9:36. Was about 60F out, mostly overcast. AHR of 164.

Back at It

Well, Judy and I signed up for the Memphis Marathon December 1st, so figured I'd get out and loosen the legs up a bit. Ran up at the Creve Coeur Lake, 6 miles in 59:37, avg pace of 9:56, splits of 10:14, 9:53, 10:29 (had a phone call), 9:35, 9:41 and 9:43. Felt all right, was nice and cool out which helped. Got my training schedule planned out for until Memphis. Looks to be the same course as last year, so it shouldn't be too bad - with luck I can get my 4:22 marathon then - it better not be freakin' 80 degrees out! (:

I Survived Chicago 07

Chicago Marathon day - one for the books, to say the least. Got up at about 4:30, took a run up and down the street real quick, then got ready to head downtown. BC was nice enough to drop us off at the train station, and we took the blue line downtown, then walked to the start area. Got our bags checked and whatnot, then joined into the mass o people waiting for the start. It was already in the 70s with insane humidity. I had brought a bottle of water to drink from so I wouldn't have to stop at the first aid station. The race began, and we started our slow march to the starting line. About 16 minutes later, we finally crossed the starting line.

The first few miles it was tough getting in a groove because things were so crowded. Things started getting a bit less packed, and when I reached the first aid station, it was so crowded that I was glad I brought along my water. I took a few gulps and kept on going. I was a bit off my 10 min/mile pace, but not much. About 6 miles in, my heart rate was already over 170 and I knew that my 4:22 goal was not going to be hit. I started slowing down and walking more at the water stations, and then walking other times too. I thought that perhaps I could still hit a PR... then I thought perhaps I'd break 5 hours. Then by the half way point, so many people were walking that it was tough to run, and about that time I decided I would mix running and walking the rest of the way.

Around mile 20 I started hearing 'the race is cancelled, stop running and start walking' comments, first from a few police officers, and then eventually by some race people with bullhorns. They said we could take public transportation back to the finish line, or we could walk back. So I mostly walked back, jogging occasionally. I eventually made it in 5:34:30. My splits were 5k 32:21, 10k 1:05:03, 15k 1:40:28, 20K 2:19:49, 13.1 miles at 2:27:19, 25K 2:57:13, 30K 3:42:49, 35K 4:27:31, 40K 5:14:47.

Judy was farther back and got diverted between mile 16 and 17 back to the start line, so she got 'done' before I did. We're looking at running Memphis at the start of December so she can complete her first Marathon.

Last Run before Chicago

Last run before the marathon, headed out a bit fast, but not too bad. Wasn't pushing it much, run felt pretty good overall. 3.1 miles in 28:29, avg pace of 9:11, splits of 9:03, 9:11, 9:29 and last .1 in :45 for a 7:27 pace. Plan on walking Friday and then it's off to Chicago.

5K tapering run

5K around the neighborhood, took it easy, and did not look at the garmin during the run, so just ran whatever pace I was running. 3.1 miles in 30:39, 9:50 pace, AHR of 159, splits of 10:21, 9:42, 9:30 and last 1/10th at a 9:09 pace.