8 Mile Record Run

8 miles up at the lake, my back is still hurting a little, but it doesn't look to be slowing me down. Was going to do a tempo run, with the 4 middle miles hard, and the first 2 and last 2 fast, but not too fast. 1:09:47, 8:43 pace, AHR of 164, record 8 mile run. Splits of 9:15, 9:08, 8:26, 8:17, 8:25, 8:19, 8:58 and 8:56. The middle miles were fairly tough, side hurt a little but I sorta got in a groove and it wasn't all that tough. I probably should have slowed more the last 2 miles, but I knew I was in range to get under 1h10min for the run. VERY nice out, about 70F, low humidity, very comfortable.

5 Mile Run

Back is getting mostly back to normal, still a bit tight, but not hampering me much. Ran in the morning, cool out, about 50F and a bit of wind, but was still able to run in shorts. 5 miles in 49:39, average pace of 9:55, AHR of 148. Splits of 10:09, 10:01, 10:00, 9:57 and 9:30. With luck I'll be able to do my tempo run tomorrow as planned. Ran in my new trail shoes, they felt pretty good, not much different than other shoes, we'll see how they go for the 7 mile trial run Sunday.

12 Mile Run

Back was feeling a bit better, but still nowhere near 100%, but got in 12 miles. 2:08:46 total time, 10:43 average pace, 149 AHR. Splits of 11:49, 11:17, 10:55, 10:37, 10:29, 10:34, 10:44, 10:34, 10:29, 10:42, 10:20 and 10:11. Run felt pretty good, started about 10:30, got done at 12:30. Sunny out but not too warm, though it did start to feel a bit warm by the end of things. Hopefully my back gets better through the week.

6 Miles at Lake

I had tweaked my back Thursday night, and it was still pretty tight Saturday. 6 miles up at the lake, I walked for about .1 miles, then started jogging. I was able to run with Judy, but going faster really didn't feel feasible. Was nice to run with Judy for a change. 6 miles in 1:16:33, splits of 12:46, 12:46, 13:13, 12:40, 12:23 and 12:43, overall pace of 12:45. Didn't wear the heart monitor, but heart rate felt pretty low.

8 x 1/2 Mile Speed Work

Speed work up at the lake in the evening, 8 x .5 mile with 2 minute walk after each one, and a 1 mile warm up / cool down. Stretched for 2 minutes after the warm up mile, then ran for 2 minutes, then started with the repeats. 10:06 for the first mile, 9:10 pace for the 2 minute run, then half mile repeats at 7:46 pace, 7:43, 7:45, 7:41, 7:39, 7:41, 7:34 and 7:37. Cool down mile at 9:58. Was 72F, overcast but failr humid, 67F dewpoint, but didn't feel as bad as yesterday. Getting dark earlier, going to start getting tough to get the run squeezed in.

8 Mile Tempo Run

8 miles up at the lake, 2 mile warm up, 4 miles tempo run, then 2 mile cool down, though I really didn't cool down much. Was fairly warm out, 77F with a dewpoint of 64F. Could have been worse, but I was a sweaty mess by the time I was done. Ran south, then north on the inside path, across the soccor field parking lot, and up towards the sailboat cove, then back the same way to the circle, then out on the spur and back. Took a 1 minute walk break the first two miles and last 2 miles, and 1 30 second walk break between mile 2 and 3 of the 4 mile tempo run. Splits of 9:41, 9:16, 8:18, 8:29, 8:29, 8:20, 9:33 and 9:42. Overall 1:11:51 total time, average pace of 8:58, AHR of 164. 8:24 average pace for the middle 4 miles, 33:36 time, which I believe is a record 4 mile time for me. Was pretty beat when I was done, and heart rate didn't really come down much the final two miles.

5 Mile Run

5 miles up at the lake, running to the south end, then north to the soccer fields on the inside, across the parking lot, then back south, then up the overpass hill and back. 47:45 total time, 9:33 average pace, 152 AHR. Splits of 9:58, 9:50, 9:48, 9:35 and 8:31. Run felt pretty good, legs feel pretty good.

10 Mile Run at Lake

10 miles up at the lake, running south, then up to the sailboat cove on the inside trail, then back to the circle on the outside trail, then out on the spur and back. Run felt pretty good, but was feeling pretty tired by the time I was done. Sped up the second half, splits of 10:29, 9:57, 9:46, 9:55, 9:53, 10:00 (took a gu break), 9:36, 9:31, 9:32 and 8:41. Overall pace of 9:44, AHR of 151.

Wild In The Woods Matson Hill 10K

Wild In The Woods Matson Hill Park 10K. Ran with Ray more or less the whole way. Started with a rather tough 1.5 mile or so uphill to the park, then a 3 mile loop in the park that was not too bad, but had some decent hills. Never tripped so I consider that a good thing, and then 1.5 miles or so back to the start line. Official time of 1:02:51, pace of 10:08, splits according to the garmin of 10:28, 10:04, 10:37, 11:10, 10:53, 8:26 and 1:38 for the final bit. Garmin was short, but that's not surprising as the course cut back and forth in the woods quite a bit. Not sure if this was an easy, moderate or difficult trail run, but to me it was quite difficult. I'm sure they get easier. (: I was 60 of 105, 44 of 66 men, 7 of 10 in my age group. Should be a fun series.

Speed Work, 5K On/Off

Did a speed workout, felt pretty good. Warmed up for .5 miles, then stretched, then jogged for 2 minutes and then did a 5K alternating fast/jog every ~200M (.13 miles on the Garmin). The pace for my 13 'fast' parts was between 6:54 and 8:04 with most of them around 7:30-7:40. The 'jog' parts were between 8:52 and 9:27. I then walked for 2 minutes and then jogged for .5 miles. Overall 4.57 miles in 40:38 for a 8:53 pace. Didn't push it too hard, as my max heart rate was 172. I kinda like this workout and will probably do it again sometime, but I don't see running my fastest 5K this way.

5 Mile Evening Run

5 mile run up at the lake, running south for .5 miles, then returning and running out on the spur and back. Took it fairly easy, 49:56 total time, 9:59 pace, 154 AHR. Splits of 10:26, 9:53, 9:51, 9:54 and 9:49.

3.5 Mile Run/Walk

Easy walk/jog up at the lake. Walked .5 miles, then ran .5, then walked, etc for 3.5 miles, running 1.5 miles and walking 2.0 miles. Total time of 47:33, average page of 13:35, AHR of 124. Splits of 8:12, 5:28, 7:29, 5:16, 8:11, 5:06 and 7:49. Felt pretty good. About 70F out, light rain.

Lewis and Clark Marathon

Lewis and Clark Marathon, was one of the 5:00 pace setters, so needed to stick to the pace. Got to the parking lot shortly after 6am, went to the bathroom, jogged about a half mile to loosen up a bit, went to the bathroom again. Found the other pacers, got our pace balloons and headed to the starting area. A few people talked to Kay and I before the race, asking about our pace strategy and such. The plan was to walk at every water stop, and for miles without a water stop we would take a short walk break as well. My balloon was not holding air very well, so didn't really work well.

First seven miles, got into a pretty good groove, running splits of 11:21, 11:20, 11:17, 11:07, a 0:36 split to get back on the mile markers, 11:10, 11:08 and 11:18. Next six miles ran 11:25 (up the bridge mile), 11:11, a 0:33 split to get back on mile markers, 11:29, 11:11, 11:10 and 10:57 as we ran down towards the half marathon finish. Crowd along the finish area was large and encouraging. Things thinned out greatly after we passed the half marathon finish, Kay and I had 3 other runners sticking with us. We hit the half marathon finish at about 2:28:30, so 1m30sec 'banked' for the second half.

Next seven miles were 11:20, 11:25, 11:22, 11:00, 11:37, 11:48, a 0:36 split to get back on the mile markers, and 11:44. Miles 18.5-20.7 were out on the Green's Bottom stretch of the Katy Trail with a very hot sun overhead. This slowed us down a bit, and by the time we were back into the shade we had only one runner with us.

Final six miles, it was harder to maintain the pace than I thought it would be. We did pick up a few people as we passed them to run with us. Splits were 11:42, 11:01, 11:40, 11:22, 11:05, 11:29 and 2:35 (10:22 pace) for the final .25 miles on the garmin to bring us to the finish line. Garmin time was 4:59:29 for the 26.44 miles, official time was 4:59:26, 11:26 average pace. AHR was 156 for the race, with it creeping up the second half. I was 482 of 692 finishers, 338 of 428 men, and 63 of 74 in my age group.

I was quite beat when I finished. I sat in the finishers tent talking with the other marathon pacers for a bit, then went to the bathroom and changed, when I came back most everyone was gone. I went over and waited for Judy to come in, then we sat for a bit, I talked to Bob and Tim from the running club, had a few beers, then we headed to catch the bus back to the car. Got home, showered, relaxed, then went out to Sam's Steakhouse for dinner. Very tasty.

Final Marathon Tune Up

2 easy miles up at the lake with the FFRC, running ot a mile with Ray and then returning. Then I drove out to St Charles and ran 2 miles with the pacers at pace. Took it easy, all set for the marathon.

Evening 5K Run

3.1 miles up at the lake in the evening. Was a bit warm out, but not too bad, no wind, low 80s, didn't feel too humid. Left knee has been a bit sore when running, but usually loosens up during the run, hopefully it doesn't bother me for the Marathon. Started off easy, sped up the final mile, especially the last half of the mile. Splits of 11:05, 11:01, 9:01 and 0:43 for the final .1 mile (7:20 pace). AHR was 145, 175 for the final .1 mile, so was getting it going for that. Decent feeling run, mostly out there to burn calories though.

5 Mile Lake Run

5 miles up at the lake, 4 miles at the marathon pace group pace, final mile faster but still not too hard. Total time of 53:55, average page of 10:47, AHR of 146, splits of 11:13, 11:17, 11:15, 11:09 and 8:59. In the 60s and foggy, pleasant run.

Easy 5K at Lake

3.1 easy miles up at the lake, starting from the restaurant, running to the soccer field parking lot on the inside, then returning on the outside loop, adding in the spur hill too. Took it easy, splits of 11:12, 10:48, 11:16 and 1:06 for the final .1 mile (10:50 pace), total time 34:22, average pace of 11:04, AHR of 143. In the 60s and foggy, pretty nice out.

5 Easy Miles

5 easy miles up at the lake, running to the south tail, then north to the soccer fields on the inside trail, across the parking lot, and then back south on the outside trail back to the circle. Ran up the hill then down and back to the restaurant. 5 miles in 55:14, average pace of 11:02, splits of 11:05, 11:10, 11:09, 10:33 and 11:14, AHR of 143. Getting a bit antsy about the marathon, time to let the legs rest up a bit.

10 Mile Run

10 miles up at the lake with the FFRC. Ran with Bob and Kay, ran a bit faster than I had anticipated, as I was wanting to practice my marathon pace group pace some. 66F with a 64F dewpoint and rainy, but not too hard of a rain. Started at the sailboat cove, ran clockwise then west under the page extension, then out on the spur, getting near the bridge before turning around, and then along north on the outside soccer field, then back to the start. Was soaked by the time I was done. 1:38:34 total time, 9:51 average pace, 153 AHR. Splits of 10:25, 10:04, 9:51, 9:44, 9:42, 10:11, 9:55, 9:38, 9:45 and 9:15. May or may not run tomorrow, not sure yet. Run went well and was pretty easy.

1 Mile Time Trail

Fleet Feet Speed Workout Mile Time-Trial. I warmed up for a mile in 9:40, then stretched a bit, then ran .75 miles in 7:02 (9:18 pace). They had 2 groups, one group for over 7:00, one group for under 7:00. I was going to run in the over 7:00 group, but it looked like 3/4th of the people were running in that group, so I decided to go with the under 7:00 group, knowing I'd be bringing up the rear. Got going, first quarter was in 1:34 - a bit fast. Second quarter was in 1:45, and my heart rate was high enough the alarm on the garmin was starting to go off (have it set for 183). Third quarter was in 1:45, and final quarter was in 1:49 as I was starting to run out of gas. My average and max heart rate for the final lap was 186, was definately running on guts. And I was last for the group... but, I did break 7:00, coming in at 6:55, AHR for the mile was 179. The 1:34 first quarter actually felt fairly comfortable, but if I want to hold that pace for a mile, I'll have to work on it some. Next year!

8 Mile Run

8 miles up at the lake, running south to the tail, and then north up and past the Sailboat Cove, then returning to the restaurant. 1:28:55 total time, 11:06 average pace, 142 AHR. Took it easy the whole way, running my marathon pace group pace. Splits of 11:06, 11:12, 11:09, 11:08, 11:10, 11:07, 11:05 and 10:53. Temp was about 56F out, dewpoint of 51F, so nice and comfortable.

5 Mile Easy Run

Wasn't sure if I was going to run this morning, as my back was still sore Monday, but woke up Tuesday and things felt pretty good. I got up late so I didn't 'go' before getting out the door, so figured I'd have to go when I got out and running. 5 miles in 52:30, not counting the bathroom break. Average pace of 10:30, AHR of 147. Started at the restaurant, ran south, then north to the soccer field on the inside loop, past the bathrooms, then returned to the resaurant, stopping for a bathroom break. Splits of 11:15, 11:10, 11:09, 10:59 and 7:56. AHR for the last mile was 164, max of 169, so pretty good considering that I was pushing it. VERY nice out, 54F otu and a dewpoint of 49F, with no wind. Bottle up this day and save it for a marathon.