Saturday, December 01, 2007
Storm of the Century
Ran around Isles with the Scholis and Sherm during what some have called the "Storm of the Century". Those folks tend to refer to most weather as the Storm of the Century, though, as Nick and I discussed. I do have nice new shoes which is probably what enabled me to complete this epic run. Thanks Matt.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Don't Need To Hold My Hand/Just Walk With Me Tonight
Of Late
Today marks 10 weeks since I've gone for a run. It turns out that if you set me down, my body will probably just intuitively stay put. There have been some sit-up fits, some push-up starts and some biking in place. But for the most part the stationary bike has been the Metaphor in the Corner of my living room.
So tonight, I just walked with me, disguised as a head-bobbin' nobody. Wearing running shoes, a wind brief, hind pants and hind shirts underneath some faux-carharts, a sweatshirt, jacket, hat, ipod and glasses, my eyes teared in the wind. The skyline was as crisp as the air. And I wore my pedestrian disguise to the base of the Metaphor in our Corner of the world: The PPHC.
As with many epic peaks, the trek to base camp is nearly as brutal as the climb itself. This is especially true if base camp sits one and a half miles below your residence. But man does not create bases and summits and the PPHC cares little if strong winds toss descending travelers from the Franklin Traverse into the Great Mississippi Crevasse. I leaned into the wind and prayed that my be-socked hands would be nimble enough to catch the Traverse rail should an icy blast catch me off balance.
Pete was singing when I reached base camp; "They buried William in the old church-yard..." The words made scarcely an imprint on my frozen brain as I raised my eyes to the slope. I lifted a stony foot and moved tentatively ahead. Again. Again. And then faster. Again. For about a minute, on the Frozen West River Pitch of the PPHC, I ran.
It was not bad.
Today marks 10 weeks since I've gone for a run. It turns out that if you set me down, my body will probably just intuitively stay put. There have been some sit-up fits, some push-up starts and some biking in place. But for the most part the stationary bike has been the Metaphor in the Corner of my living room.
So tonight, I just walked with me, disguised as a head-bobbin' nobody. Wearing running shoes, a wind brief, hind pants and hind shirts underneath some faux-carharts, a sweatshirt, jacket, hat, ipod and glasses, my eyes teared in the wind. The skyline was as crisp as the air. And I wore my pedestrian disguise to the base of the Metaphor in our Corner of the world: The PPHC.
As with many epic peaks, the trek to base camp is nearly as brutal as the climb itself. This is especially true if base camp sits one and a half miles below your residence. But man does not create bases and summits and the PPHC cares little if strong winds toss descending travelers from the Franklin Traverse into the Great Mississippi Crevasse. I leaned into the wind and prayed that my be-socked hands would be nimble enough to catch the Traverse rail should an icy blast catch me off balance.
Pete was singing when I reached base camp; "They buried William in the old church-yard..." The words made scarcely an imprint on my frozen brain as I raised my eyes to the slope. I lifted a stony foot and moved tentatively ahead. Again. Again. And then faster. Again. For about a minute, on the Frozen West River Pitch of the PPHC, I ran.
It was not bad.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Harp-Cee-Dar
So I've got this new run. Harp-Cee-Dar. It involves Cedar Lake if you can believe it. It's about 50 minutes and has done a good job of getting me out the door consistently. Running is so much easier when you have established routes. I don't think I do that enough here in the city. I tend to just sorta run here and there. As it says in the good book, familiar routes are way easier mentally. Makes ya miss Northfield and the huge library of runs there.
Or maybe it's just tougher to get out the door these days because I'm lazy. Anyway, the past couple weeks have been as consistent as I've been in in long time.
Or maybe it's just tougher to get out the door these days because I'm lazy. Anyway, the past couple weeks have been as consistent as I've been in in long time.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
New Subject For Variety
Went for a run with Biz and about six future lawyers yesterday. I feel like there's a joke to be made about that.
Friday, October 05, 2007
He'll have to come up with seven grand some other way
September 20 - October 5
Off. I got antsy one day and went out for a short bike ride on the river. That was pretty relaxed until someone driving a Ford Compensation pickup got angry with me and I discovered that on rare occasions my body responds to external stimuli. Caught him and the rest of rush hour on the Franklin Ave bridge where they were struggling to hit 5:20s. I suggested he take his truck over to the track for some 200s, declined his invitation for a more intimate encounter and took off.
Met with the surgeon two days ago. I was all like, "Should I have surgery? I'll give you ten bucks and my tennis shoes." But he told me, "You know, you gotta dance with who you came to the dance with." Which means we're not adding a mesh lining to my abdominal wall. Yet. First I'm taking 12 weeks off from "heavy training" to see if it heals itself. My rehab plan, basically, is to power up and proceed to jam, man.
Shortly after my surgical consultation I had a similar consultation with the last notch on my brown belt. We agreed that during the next few months it would be best for both of us if we took some time off to try and gain some perspective. I've been on a few dates since then, mostly with the second-to-last notch. I ran into the last notch a few times and we even ended up having a dinner together. Needless to say, that was pretty uncomfortable.
All of which makes me extremely glad I didn't decide to enter this weekend's US BMI Championships. Some fatties are scared of Abdi, with good reason. Based on my knowledge of each athlete's torso I predict it comes down to Abdi, HDLN, and an even darker horse. Sorry, Biz.
Off. I got antsy one day and went out for a short bike ride on the river. That was pretty relaxed until someone driving a Ford Compensation pickup got angry with me and I discovered that on rare occasions my body responds to external stimuli. Caught him and the rest of rush hour on the Franklin Ave bridge where they were struggling to hit 5:20s. I suggested he take his truck over to the track for some 200s, declined his invitation for a more intimate encounter and took off.
Met with the surgeon two days ago. I was all like, "Should I have surgery? I'll give you ten bucks and my tennis shoes." But he told me, "You know, you gotta dance with who you came to the dance with." Which means we're not adding a mesh lining to my abdominal wall. Yet. First I'm taking 12 weeks off from "heavy training" to see if it heals itself. My rehab plan, basically, is to power up and proceed to jam, man.
Shortly after my surgical consultation I had a similar consultation with the last notch on my brown belt. We agreed that during the next few months it would be best for both of us if we took some time off to try and gain some perspective. I've been on a few dates since then, mostly with the second-to-last notch. I ran into the last notch a few times and we even ended up having a dinner together. Needless to say, that was pretty uncomfortable.
All of which makes me extremely glad I didn't decide to enter this weekend's US BMI Championships. Some fatties are scared of Abdi, with good reason. Based on my knowledge of each athlete's torso I predict it comes down to Abdi, HDLN, and an even darker horse. Sorry, Biz.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
And I'm the boy that passes through these towns
September 17-20
Off (Yoga), Off (Doctor), 7.5mi w/ LSCC.
Saw Dr. Todd on Tuesday. His office is a block away from the streets that hold my course-record half-marathon. He said the pain I felt coughing after City of Lakes was likely a sports hernia. I reminded him that I hadn't had a sports hernia before, which meant it had to have started sometime and that's impossible based on everything I learned last week. He called me a poor-man's Pat Russell and told me to see a surgeon. So I called the surgeon. Consultation is 10/3.
It's my call whether to run the marathon. I've sought some advice. A sampling:
Hooley - "Hernias is not always good. Much the opposite."
Sherman - "Fuck, dude. That sucks"
Phil - "Maybe go easy on the doing it for a while..."
Schrades - "Do you just need some You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet?"
And,
Biz - "I mean, you're hurt anyway. Might as well schedule the surgery and go balls-to-the-wall."
Impermanence, Biz. Impermanence. Of course, his rebuttal is the same...that's the thing about impermanence...
September 10-16
2mi, Off, 7mi, 4mi, 7mi, 4mi, 16mi. Body was still declining to cool down on Monday. Body felt better on Wednesday and mind felt somewhat rested. On Thursday I ran a mile on the river in 5:25 to prove I couldn't hit 5:40 pace. Friday and Saturday were both easy, but congested, and Sunday was a somewhat baffling Legend of Minneapolis.
I limit the amount of bafflement to "somewhat" because earlier in the week I had been abruptly tutored in the Eastern philosophies that subtly control Minnesota's system of parkways, hospitals and justice. Experience is Samsara and how silly I must seem, deigning to pinpoint finality! It's something I understand innately - witness this week's training, which existed without beginning or end! - and only confuse when I approach intellectually. Fortunately, I've easily abandoned intellect before and anticipate few problems doing so, star...continuing to do so...
September 9
17mi, City of Lakes 25K (1:31:26): I was very happy with about 80% of this race. Splits were 6:03, 5:55, 5:53, 11:47, 5:45, 5:48, 5:42, 5:47, 5:50, 5:45, 5:48, 5:55, 6:01, 6:05, 3:11. Ran with Dan and Biz for the first seven miles, and those were seven of the most enjoyable racing miles since college. We deliberately picked it up after 5mi, and Dan took off at 10 to do that thang he do. I resolved to hold it between 5:45 and 5:50 to finish and was unsuccessful. Over the last 3mi my hips/core began to tighten in a fashion reminiscent of miles 7-8 at New Prague. I finished and stretched before things got too bad, but my body declined to cool down. Body did accept a post-race invitation to Zumbro.
Week: 36.5mi/5days. And something's up.
September 8
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Standard pre-meet.
September 7
3mi, Arb 5K Loop. Headed down to Northfield with parents and brother to watch the women's XC meet and to confirm that sister had, in fact, returned from France. Had been excited about doing a nice Pig Farm or something, but must have tossed my shoes in the celebratory bonfire I usually build for myself when I'm excited about a run. They did not make it to Northfield, nor did they make it onto my feet. Dan's shoes did, but barely. Stopped after 3mi of awkwardness. Even Coach T agreed it was a bad idea to continue.
September 6
8.5mi, Modified Gawkah (biker pace or faster): Good run on a nice night. Crossed the 10th ST bridge and ran into Biz on his bike. Made him take the long way home. Discussed finality.
Off (Yoga), Off (Doctor), 7.5mi w/ LSCC.
Saw Dr. Todd on Tuesday. His office is a block away from the streets that hold my course-record half-marathon. He said the pain I felt coughing after City of Lakes was likely a sports hernia. I reminded him that I hadn't had a sports hernia before, which meant it had to have started sometime and that's impossible based on everything I learned last week. He called me a poor-man's Pat Russell and told me to see a surgeon. So I called the surgeon. Consultation is 10/3.
It's my call whether to run the marathon. I've sought some advice. A sampling:
Hooley - "Hernias is not always good. Much the opposite."
Sherman - "Fuck, dude. That sucks"
Phil - "Maybe go easy on the doing it for a while..."
Schrades - "Do you just need some You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet?"
And,
Biz - "I mean, you're hurt anyway. Might as well schedule the surgery and go balls-to-the-wall."
Impermanence, Biz. Impermanence. Of course, his rebuttal is the same...that's the thing about impermanence...
September 10-16
2mi, Off, 7mi, 4mi, 7mi, 4mi, 16mi. Body was still declining to cool down on Monday. Body felt better on Wednesday and mind felt somewhat rested. On Thursday I ran a mile on the river in 5:25 to prove I couldn't hit 5:40 pace. Friday and Saturday were both easy, but congested, and Sunday was a somewhat baffling Legend of Minneapolis.
I limit the amount of bafflement to "somewhat" because earlier in the week I had been abruptly tutored in the Eastern philosophies that subtly control Minnesota's system of parkways, hospitals and justice. Experience is Samsara and how silly I must seem, deigning to pinpoint finality! It's something I understand innately - witness this week's training, which existed without beginning or end! - and only confuse when I approach intellectually. Fortunately, I've easily abandoned intellect before and anticipate few problems doing so, star...continuing to do so...
September 9
17mi, City of Lakes 25K (1:31:26): I was very happy with about 80% of this race. Splits were 6:03, 5:55, 5:53, 11:47, 5:45, 5:48, 5:42, 5:47, 5:50, 5:45, 5:48, 5:55, 6:01, 6:05, 3:11. Ran with Dan and Biz for the first seven miles, and those were seven of the most enjoyable racing miles since college. We deliberately picked it up after 5mi, and Dan took off at 10 to do that thang he do. I resolved to hold it between 5:45 and 5:50 to finish and was unsuccessful. Over the last 3mi my hips/core began to tighten in a fashion reminiscent of miles 7-8 at New Prague. I finished and stretched before things got too bad, but my body declined to cool down. Body did accept a post-race invitation to Zumbro.
Week: 36.5mi/5days. And something's up.
September 8
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Standard pre-meet.
September 7
3mi, Arb 5K Loop. Headed down to Northfield with parents and brother to watch the women's XC meet and to confirm that sister had, in fact, returned from France. Had been excited about doing a nice Pig Farm or something, but must have tossed my shoes in the celebratory bonfire I usually build for myself when I'm excited about a run. They did not make it to Northfield, nor did they make it onto my feet. Dan's shoes did, but barely. Stopped after 3mi of awkwardness. Even Coach T agreed it was a bad idea to continue.
September 6
8.5mi, Modified Gawkah (biker pace or faster): Good run on a nice night. Crossed the 10th ST bridge and ran into Biz on his bike. Made him take the long way home. Discussed finality.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Showered and Blue-Blazered
September 3-5
4mi, Off (yoga), Off.
People are always coming up to me on the street and saying, "Tom, we love your work on the blog. It's just, well, sometimes we want to read a heartrending description of the General Difficulties you face each day as an unassailably attractive 25 year old white male in the midwest blessed with social grace and the genius of soul-defining wisdom." It happens all the time.
September 2
Day Off. It's worth remembering that weeks are artificial units of trainaj and that one does not automatically recover because it is Monday.
Week: Weak. 48mi/5days.
September 1
21mi, 2:20ish. 12-13up, 5@MP, The Rest down. All on the TCM course w/Dan & Nick. Sherman made the more reasonable decision to sleep until 3 or 4pm. Picked it up with Dan when we hit the river: 6:11, 6:08, 6:03, 5:59, 5:58. It got hot and we packed it in. Dan was chipper enough to bound on the cool down. I was not.
August 31
10mi, easy. Run Rabbit w/Gehring. Felt decent.
August 30
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. My cup runneth over.
August 29
9mi, wkout. 4mi WU, 2x1600m @T, 3mi CD. The stands at the U's track were about 1/4 full for my planned 6x1600m effort. Such is the blessing of greatness. Alas, the blessing failed to extend to my physical prowess, and my fans turned on me. So fickle, the commoner. Quickly uninterested in my Human Struggle, they chose instead to watch the glittering marching band in the parking lot behind the track. I writhed to 5:37, 5:36, 83s and looked, gasping, to the vacant heavens. Faintly, masked by the horns and drums and stomping to my right, a child applauded. It was not hopeful, but it was a good thing. I think it is maybe the best of things.
August 28
Day Off. Litigating.
August 27
4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
4mi, Off (yoga), Off.
People are always coming up to me on the street and saying, "Tom, we love your work on the blog. It's just, well, sometimes we want to read a heartrending description of the General Difficulties you face each day as an unassailably attractive 25 year old white male in the midwest blessed with social grace and the genius of soul-defining wisdom." It happens all the time.
September 2
Day Off. It's worth remembering that weeks are artificial units of trainaj and that one does not automatically recover because it is Monday.
Week: Weak. 48mi/5days.
September 1
21mi, 2:20ish. 12-13up, 5@MP, The Rest down. All on the TCM course w/Dan & Nick. Sherman made the more reasonable decision to sleep until 3 or 4pm. Picked it up with Dan when we hit the river: 6:11, 6:08, 6:03, 5:59, 5:58. It got hot and we packed it in. Dan was chipper enough to bound on the cool down. I was not.
August 31
10mi, easy. Run Rabbit w/Gehring. Felt decent.
August 30
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. My cup runneth over.
August 29
9mi, wkout. 4mi WU, 2x1600m @T, 3mi CD. The stands at the U's track were about 1/4 full for my planned 6x1600m effort. Such is the blessing of greatness. Alas, the blessing failed to extend to my physical prowess, and my fans turned on me. So fickle, the commoner. Quickly uninterested in my Human Struggle, they chose instead to watch the glittering marching band in the parking lot behind the track. I writhed to 5:37, 5:36, 83s and looked, gasping, to the vacant heavens. Faintly, masked by the horns and drums and stomping to my right, a child applauded. It was not hopeful, but it was a good thing. I think it is maybe the best of things.
August 28
Day Off. Litigating.
August 27
4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
Monday, August 27, 2007
oooooo, oooooo, oooooo, la-la-laa
August 26
8.5mi, LS8+xtra. A beautiful evening, and I felt better than I expected after yesterday's effort. The sun was even with the tops of the buildings downtown, but beaming up and over them through the clouds. Lovely.
Week: 61/6days. Solid week with an encouraging long run/workout. Need to aim for another workout and some more core work in the weeks to come.
August 25
21.5mi, 2:20:15 (6:31/mi): The Miscalibrated 22, w/Biz. Ran up to Washington and down to Minnehaha for just over 8mi of warmup before running the "out" portion of Pat's course. 10mi in aprx 59:50; splits: 6:19, :04, :09, 5:55, 6:01, 5:57, 11:46, 5:52, 5:47. Had a good rythym going but felt a little fatigued by the final tempo mile. Would have been more encouraged if I hadn't been 18mi into a 22mi run and still almost 6mi from home. Fortunately, as we slogged along wondering if running parallell routes would make things shorter, Owen Hanley pulled up to save us what would have been three very painful miles.
August 24
5mi, West Side Five. Legs felt very stiff. Some pains in places I wish I didn't have pains.
August 23
5.5mi, Road to Nowhere. I was angry about something. Now I can't remember what it was. Whatever it was, my Committee on Anger Management decided the best way to handle it would be to run 10mi hard. Splits were something like 6:10, 6:01, stretching break, 7:15, nap. Excuse me.
August 22
12.5mi, Como Relays. 5.5mi WU, 4xMile (5:24, 5:41, 5:40, 5:45), 3mi CD. Teamed with Shaw and placed 9th, only two behind Hooley running 8mi continuous. Not exactly uplifting. Trees are down all over the place, and the new course has more twists, turns and short steep hills. Thought I was late during the warmup so ran it too hard. Then harbored thoughts of catching Hooley during the first mile. Over the final three intervals I just tried to stay relaxed and hold it steady. Felt moderately comfortable. Hard to hold it steady when half your friends are dead already...
August 21
8mi, 56:30. LS8 w/Biz. OK run. Very humid and didn't feel great, but had Biz to drag me through 8.
August 20
Day Off.
8.5mi, LS8+xtra. A beautiful evening, and I felt better than I expected after yesterday's effort. The sun was even with the tops of the buildings downtown, but beaming up and over them through the clouds. Lovely.
Week: 61/6days. Solid week with an encouraging long run/workout. Need to aim for another workout and some more core work in the weeks to come.
August 25
21.5mi, 2:20:15 (6:31/mi): The Miscalibrated 22, w/Biz. Ran up to Washington and down to Minnehaha for just over 8mi of warmup before running the "out" portion of Pat's course. 10mi in aprx 59:50; splits: 6:19, :04, :09, 5:55, 6:01, 5:57, 11:46, 5:52, 5:47. Had a good rythym going but felt a little fatigued by the final tempo mile. Would have been more encouraged if I hadn't been 18mi into a 22mi run and still almost 6mi from home. Fortunately, as we slogged along wondering if running parallell routes would make things shorter, Owen Hanley pulled up to save us what would have been three very painful miles.
August 24
5mi, West Side Five. Legs felt very stiff. Some pains in places I wish I didn't have pains.
August 23
5.5mi, Road to Nowhere. I was angry about something. Now I can't remember what it was. Whatever it was, my Committee on Anger Management decided the best way to handle it would be to run 10mi hard. Splits were something like 6:10, 6:01, stretching break, 7:15, nap. Excuse me.
August 22
12.5mi, Como Relays. 5.5mi WU, 4xMile (5:24, 5:41, 5:40, 5:45), 3mi CD. Teamed with Shaw and placed 9th, only two behind Hooley running 8mi continuous. Not exactly uplifting. Trees are down all over the place, and the new course has more twists, turns and short steep hills. Thought I was late during the warmup so ran it too hard. Then harbored thoughts of catching Hooley during the first mile. Over the final three intervals I just tried to stay relaxed and hold it steady. Felt moderately comfortable. Hard to hold it steady when half your friends are dead already...
August 21
8mi, 56:30. LS8 w/Biz. OK run. Very humid and didn't feel great, but had Biz to drag me through 8.
August 20
Day Off.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Obeying stop signs and curing diseases
August 19
9mi, 1:04ish. Iron Bridge+Upper Arb. Nice slow run with Sherman on a gray and quiet Northfield morning. Felt surprisingly good. Might have been pastoral if Sherman hadn't been there...
Week: 66.5/6days. 1hr of yoga. A little bit below what I'd planned, but I'm very happy with it.
August 18
24mi, 2:50:11. Pig Farm Extended into Ole 8 Reverse into Dundas, Baby, Dundas! Reverse into Ambroe Mile. Epic. Starring: Schrades, Shermanimal, Bizyah. Appearances By: Chapel, HDLN. Introducing: Health Care, The Constitution, Grey's Anatomy, Conservation. Picked it up with Schrades and Biz during the Ambroe Mile and was surprised by how much I had left. Fantastic run on a rainy August morning before the wedding.
The obvious slabbaj shout out: To Phil and Jill, tougher than the rest! Congratulations!
August 17
7mi, untimed. LS8. Quick run before driving out to the Boonies to watch Phil rehearse his dinner.
August 16
4mi, 30:00: Magical Mystery Tour for Phil's Bachelor Run. Tacked on about 7 or 8mi worth of cross-training in the form of a Stadium Shower Titanic Song. Enjoyed a Tremendous 12 with 12+ tremendous fellahs.
August 15
18.5mi, 2:06ish (workout): WU, 3x1600m (60s R), ~9mi in 60min, 2x1600m (60s R), CD. Good workout with Biz and Sherman. 5:36, :38, :36, :36, :33 for the 1600s, which felt like threshold. Slower than my 2004 efforts, but also had less rest and was probably not as honest about threshold pace. Best of all, I begain to feel stronger over the last 15-20min of the run and then during the final two 1600s. Accellerated easily over the last 200m on the last interval, but paused too long to chat with our adoring fans and stumbled on tight legs back to Prospect Park.
August 14
Day Off
9mi, 1:04ish. Iron Bridge+Upper Arb. Nice slow run with Sherman on a gray and quiet Northfield morning. Felt surprisingly good. Might have been pastoral if Sherman hadn't been there...
Week: 66.5/6days. 1hr of yoga. A little bit below what I'd planned, but I'm very happy with it.
August 18
24mi, 2:50:11. Pig Farm Extended into Ole 8 Reverse into Dundas, Baby, Dundas! Reverse into Ambroe Mile. Epic. Starring: Schrades, Shermanimal, Bizyah. Appearances By: Chapel, HDLN. Introducing: Health Care, The Constitution, Grey's Anatomy, Conservation. Picked it up with Schrades and Biz during the Ambroe Mile and was surprised by how much I had left. Fantastic run on a rainy August morning before the wedding.
The obvious slabbaj shout out: To Phil and Jill, tougher than the rest! Congratulations!
August 17
7mi, untimed. LS8. Quick run before driving out to the Boonies to watch Phil rehearse his dinner.
August 16
4mi, 30:00: Magical Mystery Tour for Phil's Bachelor Run. Tacked on about 7 or 8mi worth of cross-training in the form of a Stadium Shower Titanic Song. Enjoyed a Tremendous 12 with 12+ tremendous fellahs.
August 15
18.5mi, 2:06ish (workout): WU, 3x1600m (60s R), ~9mi in 60min, 2x1600m (60s R), CD. Good workout with Biz and Sherman. 5:36, :38, :36, :36, :33 for the 1600s, which felt like threshold. Slower than my 2004 efforts, but also had less rest and was probably not as honest about threshold pace. Best of all, I begain to feel stronger over the last 15-20min of the run and then during the final two 1600s. Accellerated easily over the last 200m on the last interval, but paused too long to chat with our adoring fans and stumbled on tight legs back to Prospect Park.
August 14
Day Off
Friday, August 10, 2007
Sail away ladies, sail away!
August 13
4mi, Shortcut untimed. Very sore. You'll never believe this, but Lundstrom passed me. That's how sore I was.
August 12
21.5mi, MDRA 15K. Short warmup, 15K in 53:19, 11mi CD. First race since the New Prague disaster and I'm encouraged. Only a few seconds slower than last year's effort, and I felt comfortable and in control the whole way. Pace splits for the three loops: 5:46/mi, 5:45/mi, 5:41/mi. Has me excited for City of Lakes. Huge Slabbaj Shout-Out to Dan and to Merchant for two outstanding races!
Week: 61.5mi/6days. Good week, especially considering the travel.
August 11
4mi, Shortcut untimed. Very humid pre-meet.
August 10
9.5mi, Ford-Franklin. It would have been 10mi but for some pressing intestinal obligations. We'd gone to the Angry Trout for lunch. I'd ordered the Lake Trout of Unspecified Mood. In hindsight, "Unspecified" should not have created ambiguity.
August 9
10mi, Hwy 61 Revisited. Ran to and through Grand Marais (Downtown GM split: sub-2:00) before exploring the Gunflint trail a little bit on the way back. Exploration was uphill, so it did not last very long.
August 8
10mi, workout. 1mi WU out where I get my killing done. 2xBirch St. in 11:52 and 11:56. 1mi CD where we just put some bleachers out in the sun. Birch St. is a 2mi hill that begins by destroying your soul and finishes by destroying your legs. Dan and I discovered it in 2004 and did this same workout (11:59, 11:52) though possibly with a different end point. Crushing workout, but encouraging to see that times were comprable to the higher volume marathon training from summer '04.
August 7
Day Off. Performing emergency shuttle service to dentist in Duluth.
August 6
6.5mi. Superior Hiking Trail. Similar, but I was more prepared for the vagaries of space/time. More hiking, too.
August 5
10mi, Superior Hiking Trail. Actually ran on the ski/snowshoe trails that weave their ways in and around the SHT and evidently comprise their own dimension. There are lots of signs to direct you properly; so many, in fact, that I started ignoring them and just ran what felt like "out" for about 40min. The "back" route, then, took 5min. Take that, Einstein. Added on over the hard basalt shores of Lake Superior. Also did some hiking up the Gooseberry River, where we discovered gooseberries.
Week: 60mi/6days. Respectable, but only because I crammed in two long runs. Will work on some better distribution next week.
August 4
4mi, untimed. Midwest Mountaineering & other errands. Quck run before heading up to the north shore.
August 3
20.5mi, workout. Did a short morning shakeout to wake up, then went long after work. Ran what Biz accurately called Gawkah for just over 10mi of warming up before meeting Sherman and Nick at the UMN track. Ran continuously at 5:50 pace while Sherman and Nick ran intervals. Felt very smooth and comfortable for just under 5mi and then it felt like the heat smacked into my head all at once. Hung on for about a half mile of that, but cut the workout short when I started seeing a slideshow of Sherman's back.
August 2
Day Off. Don't recall why.
4mi, Shortcut untimed. Very sore. You'll never believe this, but Lundstrom passed me. That's how sore I was.
August 12
21.5mi, MDRA 15K. Short warmup, 15K in 53:19, 11mi CD. First race since the New Prague disaster and I'm encouraged. Only a few seconds slower than last year's effort, and I felt comfortable and in control the whole way. Pace splits for the three loops: 5:46/mi, 5:45/mi, 5:41/mi. Has me excited for City of Lakes. Huge Slabbaj Shout-Out to Dan and to Merchant for two outstanding races!
Week: 61.5mi/6days. Good week, especially considering the travel.
August 11
4mi, Shortcut untimed. Very humid pre-meet.
August 10
9.5mi, Ford-Franklin. It would have been 10mi but for some pressing intestinal obligations. We'd gone to the Angry Trout for lunch. I'd ordered the Lake Trout of Unspecified Mood. In hindsight, "Unspecified" should not have created ambiguity.
August 9
10mi, Hwy 61 Revisited. Ran to and through Grand Marais (Downtown GM split: sub-2:00) before exploring the Gunflint trail a little bit on the way back. Exploration was uphill, so it did not last very long.
August 8
10mi, workout. 1mi WU out where I get my killing done. 2xBirch St. in 11:52 and 11:56. 1mi CD where we just put some bleachers out in the sun. Birch St. is a 2mi hill that begins by destroying your soul and finishes by destroying your legs. Dan and I discovered it in 2004 and did this same workout (11:59, 11:52) though possibly with a different end point. Crushing workout, but encouraging to see that times were comprable to the higher volume marathon training from summer '04.
August 7
Day Off. Performing emergency shuttle service to dentist in Duluth.
August 6
6.5mi. Superior Hiking Trail. Similar, but I was more prepared for the vagaries of space/time. More hiking, too.
August 5
10mi, Superior Hiking Trail. Actually ran on the ski/snowshoe trails that weave their ways in and around the SHT and evidently comprise their own dimension. There are lots of signs to direct you properly; so many, in fact, that I started ignoring them and just ran what felt like "out" for about 40min. The "back" route, then, took 5min. Take that, Einstein. Added on over the hard basalt shores of Lake Superior. Also did some hiking up the Gooseberry River, where we discovered gooseberries.
Week: 60mi/6days. Respectable, but only because I crammed in two long runs. Will work on some better distribution next week.
August 4
4mi, untimed. Midwest Mountaineering & other errands. Quck run before heading up to the north shore.
August 3
20.5mi, workout. Did a short morning shakeout to wake up, then went long after work. Ran what Biz accurately called Gawkah for just over 10mi of warming up before meeting Sherman and Nick at the UMN track. Ran continuously at 5:50 pace while Sherman and Nick ran intervals. Felt very smooth and comfortable for just under 5mi and then it felt like the heat smacked into my head all at once. Hung on for about a half mile of that, but cut the workout short when I started seeing a slideshow of Sherman's back.
August 2
Day Off. Don't recall why.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
And I wanna go home...
August 1
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. One of the many fortuitous routes fellahs ran today.
July 31
4mi, Historic Philly. Quick run, with cheese steak in stomach, with trash in legs, with excitement for another rendezvous with Philly's friendliest friends and Philly's gelatoist gelato.
July 30
17.5mi, Schuylkill River, 1:56ish. Route courtesy of PDA. Tough run. Felt good, almost cleansing on the way out. Turned around after a 5min stretch on rocky trails a la the West Hartford Resevoir, climbing a gigantic hill that spilled out of the woods on to a secluded softball field. Stretched, turned around, and tried to pick it up. Hit the wall after about 4mi (26ish minutes). Had been very dehydrated, and stopped at a fountain. There was little starting after the stopping, and two walking breaks knocked this down from 18mi. Cathartic to run myself into the ground, but somewhat discouraging. Joel and Taylor erased negative thoughts soon thereafter with trendy Mexican food and gelato.
July 29
Day Off. Not happy about it.
Week: 42mi/5days. One decent workout, one bagged workout, no long run. Roar.
July 28
4mi, Old Town, Independence Park. Planned to go anywhere from 4-18mi exploring the Old Town/Delaware River river but only made it 3mi before getting distracted at the National Constitution Center. Bolted back to the hotel, grabbed wallet, bolted back in time to towel off in the bathroom and see The Devil Came on Horseback advanced screening. There are no words. Posting about it opens me up to the same critique leveled at Richardson and Biden. I'll do it anyway.
July 27
6mi, Schuylkill River. Out 'n' back on Philadelphia's version of the river road. Ran past but did not summit the art museum steps. Also ran past the Train To Garbage Town and tons of friendly friends, of which Philly seems to be Phull.
July 26
Day Off. Happy Birthday (and run) to Dan.
July 25
13mi, non-consecutive. 2mi in the morning with Boulder. 11mi after work, attempting an 8mi tempo. That got cut to ~3mi when the heat caught me.
July 24
4mi, Untimed. Dragging Boulder through the July.
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. One of the many fortuitous routes fellahs ran today.
July 31
4mi, Historic Philly. Quick run, with cheese steak in stomach, with trash in legs, with excitement for another rendezvous with Philly's friendliest friends and Philly's gelatoist gelato.
July 30
17.5mi, Schuylkill River, 1:56ish. Route courtesy of PDA. Tough run. Felt good, almost cleansing on the way out. Turned around after a 5min stretch on rocky trails a la the West Hartford Resevoir, climbing a gigantic hill that spilled out of the woods on to a secluded softball field. Stretched, turned around, and tried to pick it up. Hit the wall after about 4mi (26ish minutes). Had been very dehydrated, and stopped at a fountain. There was little starting after the stopping, and two walking breaks knocked this down from 18mi. Cathartic to run myself into the ground, but somewhat discouraging. Joel and Taylor erased negative thoughts soon thereafter with trendy Mexican food and gelato.
July 29
Day Off. Not happy about it.
Week: 42mi/5days. One decent workout, one bagged workout, no long run. Roar.
July 28
4mi, Old Town, Independence Park. Planned to go anywhere from 4-18mi exploring the Old Town/Delaware River river but only made it 3mi before getting distracted at the National Constitution Center. Bolted back to the hotel, grabbed wallet, bolted back in time to towel off in the bathroom and see The Devil Came on Horseback advanced screening. There are no words. Posting about it opens me up to the same critique leveled at Richardson and Biden. I'll do it anyway.
July 27
6mi, Schuylkill River. Out 'n' back on Philadelphia's version of the river road. Ran past but did not summit the art museum steps. Also ran past the Train To Garbage Town and tons of friendly friends, of which Philly seems to be Phull.
July 26
Day Off. Happy Birthday (and run) to Dan.
July 25
13mi, non-consecutive. 2mi in the morning with Boulder. 11mi after work, attempting an 8mi tempo. That got cut to ~3mi when the heat caught me.
July 24
4mi, Untimed. Dragging Boulder through the July.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Step out like a blond steps out of a car
July 23
14mi, Untimed. Did a 2mi jog with Boulder in the morning. After work did 8xHill on the WRR under Franklin. Ran with Sherm and Reub and made it my goal to keep my face and shoulders relaxed for the whole thing. Also wanted to stay well within myself for most of the workout and did. Timed the first one (2:49) and then ditched the watch and went by effort. Sherman reported times for 2-8 as 2:51, :52, :48, :43, :43, :36, :28. Finished feeling strong, relaxed and focused. Need to do more workouts like this.
July 22
4mi, Untimed. Still easy with Boulder. 1hr of yoga.
Week: 53.5mi/6days, 2hrs of yoga. Missed a few miles over the first few days of the week, but got one good workout, one so-so workout and a good long run. So I'm happy.
July 21
16mi, 1:47+. Doughnut Run (Past Melo Glaze, around Nokomis & back). Felt pretty terrible and probably only would have made it 6-8mi without Schrader/Dan/Biz. Instead got a solid long run and picked it up for 2.5-3mi at 6:00-pace towards the end.
July 20
10mi, Como Etc, Untimed. Easy Run with Sherman. More difficult with the addition of Boulder late in the run. I was towed along as Sherman and Boulder settled -or aggravated- a score I hadn't known existed.
July 19
4mi, Untimed. Easy with Boulder.
14mi, Untimed. Did a 2mi jog with Boulder in the morning. After work did 8xHill on the WRR under Franklin. Ran with Sherm and Reub and made it my goal to keep my face and shoulders relaxed for the whole thing. Also wanted to stay well within myself for most of the workout and did. Timed the first one (2:49) and then ditched the watch and went by effort. Sherman reported times for 2-8 as 2:51, :52, :48, :43, :43, :36, :28. Finished feeling strong, relaxed and focused. Need to do more workouts like this.
July 22
4mi, Untimed. Still easy with Boulder. 1hr of yoga.
Week: 53.5mi/6days, 2hrs of yoga. Missed a few miles over the first few days of the week, but got one good workout, one so-so workout and a good long run. So I'm happy.
July 21
16mi, 1:47+. Doughnut Run (Past Melo Glaze, around Nokomis & back). Felt pretty terrible and probably only would have made it 6-8mi without Schrader/Dan/Biz. Instead got a solid long run and picked it up for 2.5-3mi at 6:00-pace towards the end.
July 20
10mi, Como Etc, Untimed. Easy Run with Sherman. More difficult with the addition of Boulder late in the run. I was towed along as Sherman and Boulder settled -or aggravated- a score I hadn't known existed.
July 19
4mi, Untimed. Easy with Boulder.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Life is like a song
July 18
11.5mi, 1:11:42 (Wkout): WU, 6mi "RR", CD+. Plan was to try a 6mi progression run with splits at 6:20, :10, :00, :55, :50, :40-45. Instead hit 5:55, :54, :52, :52, :42, :42 out and back on PR's miles 6-9. After the first two miles were fast I decided just to hold pace and try to negative split over the last two miles, and that worked. The first 4mi felt very relaxed and controlled and only the last half-mile was difficult. I'm encouraged by the fact that I can run 5:50s with relative ease but now that I have a better sense of pacing I want to do this workout again and focus on hitting the correct splits. Watched Boulder stoically fend off an attack on the cool down.
July 17
8mi, Untimed Wkout (4xWeissman K). Not sure what I was thinking. Taking Monday off complicated my plans for the week, so I thought I'd cram in an easy workout. Then I thought it would be easy to run 6xK on the river road over by the Weissman. Not the case. These start downhill for 400-600m depending on which way you're running, then finish uphill for the balance like the cemetary hills in Northfield. Sometime when I'm fit and it's less humid this will be a great workout. Today I was taking full walking recovery between each one and packed it in after 4. Did the last 2mi of my cool down with Boulder. Also 1hr of very sweaty yoga.
July 16
Day Off. Exhausted.
July 15
4mi, Untimed. Legs sore from trying to keep up with Turner and Shankman's son on the dance floor. Ran down Forsyth in St. Louis hoping to find something recognizable. Found one of the high school kids who kept sprinting past us on our run the day before. Sprinted past him and hoped the hotel was close. It was.
Week: 44mi/6days. Not what I'd hoped for, but decent considering the busy week.
July 14
Tremendous 12, Untimed. 2xForest Park Loop in St. Louis with the Fellahs: Tim McMurry, Mark Schroeder, Turner, Schutz, Hinckley, Painer, Sherm, Paul, Hools, the Brodeo, and of course Dan Schofer on his last run as a bachelor. There was baitaj and switchaj, credit cardaj and wrestlah/sprintahs, and from the groom-to-be, pace concernaj. Abslabloutely fantastic. Congratulations yet again to Schof and Marie!
July 13
4mi, Untimed. Beautiful early morning loop past the Star Tribune, over Boom and Nicollet Islands and back to Sherman's. No Sherman on the run.
July 12
Day Off.
11.5mi, 1:11:42 (Wkout): WU, 6mi "RR", CD+. Plan was to try a 6mi progression run with splits at 6:20, :10, :00, :55, :50, :40-45. Instead hit 5:55, :54, :52, :52, :42, :42 out and back on PR's miles 6-9. After the first two miles were fast I decided just to hold pace and try to negative split over the last two miles, and that worked. The first 4mi felt very relaxed and controlled and only the last half-mile was difficult. I'm encouraged by the fact that I can run 5:50s with relative ease but now that I have a better sense of pacing I want to do this workout again and focus on hitting the correct splits. Watched Boulder stoically fend off an attack on the cool down.
July 17
8mi, Untimed Wkout (4xWeissman K). Not sure what I was thinking. Taking Monday off complicated my plans for the week, so I thought I'd cram in an easy workout. Then I thought it would be easy to run 6xK on the river road over by the Weissman. Not the case. These start downhill for 400-600m depending on which way you're running, then finish uphill for the balance like the cemetary hills in Northfield. Sometime when I'm fit and it's less humid this will be a great workout. Today I was taking full walking recovery between each one and packed it in after 4. Did the last 2mi of my cool down with Boulder. Also 1hr of very sweaty yoga.
July 16
Day Off. Exhausted.
July 15
4mi, Untimed. Legs sore from trying to keep up with Turner and Shankman's son on the dance floor. Ran down Forsyth in St. Louis hoping to find something recognizable. Found one of the high school kids who kept sprinting past us on our run the day before. Sprinted past him and hoped the hotel was close. It was.
Week: 44mi/6days. Not what I'd hoped for, but decent considering the busy week.
July 14
Tremendous 12, Untimed. 2xForest Park Loop in St. Louis with the Fellahs: Tim McMurry, Mark Schroeder, Turner, Schutz, Hinckley, Painer, Sherm, Paul, Hools, the Brodeo, and of course Dan Schofer on his last run as a bachelor. There was baitaj and switchaj, credit cardaj and wrestlah/sprintahs, and from the groom-to-be, pace concernaj. Abslabloutely fantastic. Congratulations yet again to Schof and Marie!
July 13
4mi, Untimed. Beautiful early morning loop past the Star Tribune, over Boom and Nicollet Islands and back to Sherman's. No Sherman on the run.
July 12
Day Off.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tryin' to hold on to the quarter notes...
July 11
~11mi, 1:17:04 (Mystery Fartlek): 15min WU, 40+min Mystery Fartlek, CD. Thanks to Dan for planning the workout. I love the mystery fartlek and today was no exception, despite/because of some human error and some Ruben. Legs felt very stiff and unresponsive, and I had trouble relaxing and focusing. Looking forward to more group workouts to work on that.
July 10
4mi, Untimed. Unremarkable. 1hr of yoga. Pullups on the bridge.
July 9
9mi, Untimed. ~1.5mi WU, ~7mi with 1mi On, 1mi Off, ~1mi CD. Ran down to Ford St. and basically did 4xmi with 1mi rest using Pat's mile markers starting at 6.0. Mile 8 continues past Ford and I crossed, so I had to approximate that one. Rest was short before I started up again on the West Bank at mile 1.0. Goal was to keep the shoulders relaxed and to stay focused running close to threshold, and that went very well. 1hr of yoga after.
~11mi, 1:17:04 (Mystery Fartlek): 15min WU, 40+min Mystery Fartlek, CD. Thanks to Dan for planning the workout. I love the mystery fartlek and today was no exception, despite/because of some human error and some Ruben. Legs felt very stiff and unresponsive, and I had trouble relaxing and focusing. Looking forward to more group workouts to work on that.
July 10
4mi, Untimed. Unremarkable. 1hr of yoga. Pullups on the bridge.
July 9
9mi, Untimed. ~1.5mi WU, ~7mi with 1mi On, 1mi Off, ~1mi CD. Ran down to Ford St. and basically did 4xmi with 1mi rest using Pat's mile markers starting at 6.0. Mile 8 continues past Ford and I crossed, so I had to approximate that one. Rest was short before I started up again on the West Bank at mile 1.0. Goal was to keep the shoulders relaxed and to stay focused running close to threshold, and that went very well. 1hr of yoga after.
Monday, July 09, 2007
I like cold beverages
July 8
Day Off. It's unsurprising, but on July 3rd plaintiffs in Lynn, Massachusetts filed what is likely the first of several challenges to school assignment programs in light of the Supreme Court's decision on June 28th in Parents Involved. There's been a lot of chatter about whether that decision flips Brown on its head. Some of it is academically intersting; most of it is practically irrelevant. The closing paragraph in the Lynn plaintiff's brief shows why:
The rights established in the Court’s Parents Involved decision should be given effect “with all deliberate speed” and without the kinds of delays and obfuscations that accompanied the implementation of the right protecting children from de jure segregation in public schools that was announced in Brown v. Brd. of Ed., 349 U.S. 294, 300 (1955) (Brown II) (requiring the defendant school systems “to admit to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed”). See, Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward, 377 U.S. 218, 234 (1964) (“The time for mere ‘deliberate speed’ has run out”).
So should we call in the National Guard for this effort, too?
Week: 42mi, 1 wkout. Only 1hr of yoga bc of some sickness on Friday and a closed studio on Sunday.
July 7
12mi, Fishouse Untimed. Good run with HDLN a couple hours after Sherman's bedtime, longest in about 6 weeks. We discussed some of the things that provoke our anger. Then we slowed down.
July 6
3mi, Untimed. The game's name is Recovery.
July 5
9mi, Untimed. ~2mi WU, ~5+ too fast through Kenwood and around Isles, ~2mi CD. At once humbling and encouraging for the first workout since May. Ran about the first half of the uptempo portion at a pretty steady pace and felt relatively comfortable. Picked it up to catch Dan, finished Isles with him and dropped off a lot going back up the hill through Kenwood to finish. Dan's pace estimates suggest that 6/mile was comfortable and that 5:35-45/mile was very uncomfortable. Fair enough. Very glad to have Dan's and Sherm's company.
Day Off. It's unsurprising, but on July 3rd plaintiffs in Lynn, Massachusetts filed what is likely the first of several challenges to school assignment programs in light of the Supreme Court's decision on June 28th in Parents Involved. There's been a lot of chatter about whether that decision flips Brown on its head. Some of it is academically intersting; most of it is practically irrelevant. The closing paragraph in the Lynn plaintiff's brief shows why:
The rights established in the Court’s Parents Involved decision should be given effect “with all deliberate speed” and without the kinds of delays and obfuscations that accompanied the implementation of the right protecting children from de jure segregation in public schools that was announced in Brown v. Brd. of Ed., 349 U.S. 294, 300 (1955) (Brown II) (requiring the defendant school systems “to admit to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed”). See, Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward, 377 U.S. 218, 234 (1964) (“The time for mere ‘deliberate speed’ has run out”).
So should we call in the National Guard for this effort, too?
Week: 42mi, 1 wkout. Only 1hr of yoga bc of some sickness on Friday and a closed studio on Sunday.
July 7
12mi, Fishouse Untimed. Good run with HDLN a couple hours after Sherman's bedtime, longest in about 6 weeks. We discussed some of the things that provoke our anger. Then we slowed down.
July 6
3mi, Untimed. The game's name is Recovery.
July 5
9mi, Untimed. ~2mi WU, ~5+ too fast through Kenwood and around Isles, ~2mi CD. At once humbling and encouraging for the first workout since May. Ran about the first half of the uptempo portion at a pretty steady pace and felt relatively comfortable. Picked it up to catch Dan, finished Isles with him and dropped off a lot going back up the hill through Kenwood to finish. Dan's pace estimates suggest that 6/mile was comfortable and that 5:35-45/mile was very uncomfortable. Fair enough. Very glad to have Dan's and Sherm's company.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Forcin' a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this warm July
July 4
6mi, Untimed. Coincidental Six, which will be the new name for West Side Five + xtra. Ran into another Church, and we soon met a fellow runner wrapped in the stars and stripes. He introduced himself as State. We did not run together. Also, pullups.
July 3
4mi, Untimed. Very slow. Possible causes: humidity, slowness. Also 1hr of yoga.
July 2
8mi, LSCC. Untimed. Too rambunxious for Betsy.
July 1
6mi, West Side Five + xtra. Untimed but very slow after yoga.
Week: 30mi/6days. 6hrs of yoga. Didn't really have a long run or a workout, but it's early yet. Will try to keep up with the yoga aprx 3x a week.
June 30
6mi. Como & Back w/BD. Good, easy run.
June 29
Day Off. Shocking, I know.
6mi, Untimed. Coincidental Six, which will be the new name for West Side Five + xtra. Ran into another Church, and we soon met a fellow runner wrapped in the stars and stripes. He introduced himself as State. We did not run together. Also, pullups.
July 3
4mi, Untimed. Very slow. Possible causes: humidity, slowness. Also 1hr of yoga.
July 2
8mi, LSCC. Untimed. Too rambunxious for Betsy.
July 1
6mi, West Side Five + xtra. Untimed but very slow after yoga.
Week: 30mi/6days. 6hrs of yoga. Didn't really have a long run or a workout, but it's early yet. Will try to keep up with the yoga aprx 3x a week.
June 30
6mi. Como & Back w/BD. Good, easy run.
June 29
Day Off. Shocking, I know.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The distant future. The year 2000.
June 27 - 28
6mi and 4mi, some yoga, some pullups, and some sore shoulders. This morning especially felt faster than I've been running lately, a sensation confirmed when I arrived back at my apartment in 1896. Like usual, I had to wade through four squeamish old white dudes and an indignant black man to get to my coffee. One hundred and eleven years of time travel gave me a few spare minutes before I had to leave for work, and I listened to their deliberations:
Elaine: Well, what do you think?
Jerry: What? About you datin' a black guy? What's the big deal?
Elaine: What black guy?
Jerry: Darryl. He's black, isn't he?
Elaine: He is?
George: No, he isn't.
Jerry: Isn't he, Elaine?
Elaine: You think?
George: I thought he looked Irish.
Jerry: What's his last name?
Elaine: Nelson.
George: That's not Irish.
Jerry: I think he's black.
George: Should we be talkin' about this?
Elaine: I think it's OK.
George: No, it isn't.
Jerry: Why not?
George: Well, it would be OK if Darryl was here.
Jerry: If he's black.
Elaine: Is he black?
Jerry: Does it matter?
Elaine: No, course not. I mean, I'd just like to know.
Jerry: Oh, so you need to know?
Elaine: No, I don't need to know. I just think it would be nice if I knew.
The coffee wasn't that good, either. Kind of weak, and it was hard to tell if the dull ache in my brain was because I hadn't bothered to use the french press or from squinting at what my guests ultimately concluded:
Close your eyes. Picture a convict. What's he wearing? Nothing special. Baseball cap on backward, baggy pants. He says something ordinary like, "Yo, that's shizzle". Now slowly open your eyes again. Who are you picturing? A black man? Wrong. That was a white woman. Surprised? Well shame on you.
6mi and 4mi, some yoga, some pullups, and some sore shoulders. This morning especially felt faster than I've been running lately, a sensation confirmed when I arrived back at my apartment in 1896. Like usual, I had to wade through four squeamish old white dudes and an indignant black man to get to my coffee. One hundred and eleven years of time travel gave me a few spare minutes before I had to leave for work, and I listened to their deliberations:
Elaine: Well, what do you think?
Jerry: What? About you datin' a black guy? What's the big deal?
Elaine: What black guy?
Jerry: Darryl. He's black, isn't he?
Elaine: He is?
George: No, he isn't.
Jerry: Isn't he, Elaine?
Elaine: You think?
George: I thought he looked Irish.
Jerry: What's his last name?
Elaine: Nelson.
George: That's not Irish.
Jerry: I think he's black.
George: Should we be talkin' about this?
Elaine: I think it's OK.
George: No, it isn't.
Jerry: Why not?
George: Well, it would be OK if Darryl was here.
Jerry: If he's black.
Elaine: Is he black?
Jerry: Does it matter?
Elaine: No, course not. I mean, I'd just like to know.
Jerry: Oh, so you need to know?
Elaine: No, I don't need to know. I just think it would be nice if I knew.
The coffee wasn't that good, either. Kind of weak, and it was hard to tell if the dull ache in my brain was because I hadn't bothered to use the french press or from squinting at what my guests ultimately concluded:
Close your eyes. Picture a convict. What's he wearing? Nothing special. Baseball cap on backward, baggy pants. He says something ordinary like, "Yo, that's shizzle". Now slowly open your eyes again. Who are you picturing? A black man? Wrong. That was a white woman. Surprised? Well shame on you.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
No drum machine can make a beat like that
June 26
4mi. Same. Morning again. Today's run followed last night's inaugural yoga class and I felt much better than I expected to after contorting myself - good enough that I'll go back for the rest of my free week. Spent much of last night's session very confused. Spent the rest of it sweating.
June 25
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Yeah, my watch is in Duluth. And that's fine. I'm thinking about a no-watch-til-August experiment. Also starting to run in the morning (finally) this week.
June 24
4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
Week: 24mi/5days. Will add a day and maybe a workout next week.
June 23
8mi, Untimed. Ran around Isles with the Fellahs. Legs stiff but not dangerously so.
June 21-22
Days Off
June 20
4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
4mi. Same. Morning again. Today's run followed last night's inaugural yoga class and I felt much better than I expected to after contorting myself - good enough that I'll go back for the rest of my free week. Spent much of last night's session very confused. Spent the rest of it sweating.
June 25
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Yeah, my watch is in Duluth. And that's fine. I'm thinking about a no-watch-til-August experiment. Also starting to run in the morning (finally) this week.
June 24
4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
Week: 24mi/5days. Will add a day and maybe a workout next week.
June 23
8mi, Untimed. Ran around Isles with the Fellahs. Legs stiff but not dangerously so.
June 21-22
Days Off
June 20
4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Pumping someone else's blood
June 19
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Felt great. Since I started running again I've been finishing this loop by crossing the pedestrian bridge over 94 and doing 5 pullups. So I did that today, too.
June 18
4mi, 27:50 (6:57/mi): Shortcut. Legs felt good, upper body did not, likely because of a large late lunch. Ran Pat's third mile in 5:39 mostly out of curiosity.
June 11 - 17
Ran 14mi in 4 runs (Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday). Shin pain ranges from zero to a dull ache that does not affect my stride. I need to prioritize stretching and core work and take the recovery slowly, but running started to feel normal by the end of the week. Congrats to all Grandma's and GB racers for running tough on a hot day. Slabbaj Shout Outs to Dan (Chapel, not Digger)(1:12:32, PR by 4+ minutes) and the Shermanimal (3:05:50, PR by ~25 minutes).
June 5 - 10
Ran for 15min on 6/7 to test the legs and so I could say I started training for TCM 4 months out. Felt out of shape, but no pain in the shin. Ran for just over 30min on both 6/9 and 6/10 with similar results.
4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Felt great. Since I started running again I've been finishing this loop by crossing the pedestrian bridge over 94 and doing 5 pullups. So I did that today, too.
June 18
4mi, 27:50 (6:57/mi): Shortcut. Legs felt good, upper body did not, likely because of a large late lunch. Ran Pat's third mile in 5:39 mostly out of curiosity.
June 11 - 17
Ran 14mi in 4 runs (Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday). Shin pain ranges from zero to a dull ache that does not affect my stride. I need to prioritize stretching and core work and take the recovery slowly, but running started to feel normal by the end of the week. Congrats to all Grandma's and GB racers for running tough on a hot day. Slabbaj Shout Outs to Dan (Chapel, not Digger)(1:12:32, PR by 4+ minutes) and the Shermanimal (3:05:50, PR by ~25 minutes).
June 5 - 10
Ran for 15min on 6/7 to test the legs and so I could say I started training for TCM 4 months out. Felt out of shape, but no pain in the shin. Ran for just over 30min on both 6/9 and 6/10 with similar results.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
And I still go...
May 25 - June 5
Some biking, including an impromptu race around Lake Harriet against a much faster individual. Some hiking up north. Some occasional sprinting across streets in downtown Minneapolis. Starting to think it's getting better all the time. But I don't expect to be racing at GB.
Taking the time for a number of things that weren't important yesterday:
1) Some front page congratulations to SCRC for their second consecutive Woods to Water victory. Congratulations also to the SCRC members who ensured that we had a team at Lake Nokomis on Memorial Day - one outright PR (Merchant), 3 post-collegiate PRs (BD, Sherm, Giggles), one season best (Mad Dog).
2) Sgt. Pepper was released three years after Congress passed Title VII. Forty years later, if you used to be cruel to your woman, it turns out she can't complain.
Some biking, including an impromptu race around Lake Harriet against a much faster individual. Some hiking up north. Some occasional sprinting across streets in downtown Minneapolis. Starting to think it's getting better all the time. But I don't expect to be racing at GB.
Taking the time for a number of things that weren't important yesterday:
1) Some front page congratulations to SCRC for their second consecutive Woods to Water victory. Congratulations also to the SCRC members who ensured that we had a team at Lake Nokomis on Memorial Day - one outright PR (Merchant), 3 post-collegiate PRs (BD, Sherm, Giggles), one season best (Mad Dog).
2) Sgt. Pepper was released three years after Congress passed Title VII. Forty years later, if you used to be cruel to your woman, it turns out she can't complain.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Water is gasping for your mouth
May 24
1hr Bike. Plan to spend the next week or so hitting the ol' XT. Also did some good lifting tonight. This post is mostly an excuse to address all of the various business that needs addressing. Joel: Yes, please, run with us! Are you still registered with Lundgren Ford? Have you considered the myriad benefits that might come your way as a member of SCRC? Among others, you wouldn't have to run for Lundgren Ford.
May 23
Day Off. Huge Slabbaj Shout-Out to Dan Schofer, voted Cornell College Coach of the Year by the athletes! Along with a crop of recruits that will basically double the size of both teams, his female athletes notched school records in the 1k, 1500, 3k, 5k and 10k. Nice work Schof!
May 22
2mi. Ouch. Stopped after a mile and stretched a bunch. Then ran home. Hot spot low on the right shin that I'd not discovered on previous inspections. Lengthy analysis omitted. Will seek out docs.
1hr Bike. Plan to spend the next week or so hitting the ol' XT. Also did some good lifting tonight. This post is mostly an excuse to address all of the various business that needs addressing. Joel: Yes, please, run with us! Are you still registered with Lundgren Ford? Have you considered the myriad benefits that might come your way as a member of SCRC? Among others, you wouldn't have to run for Lundgren Ford.
May 23
Day Off. Huge Slabbaj Shout-Out to Dan Schofer, voted Cornell College Coach of the Year by the athletes! Along with a crop of recruits that will basically double the size of both teams, his female athletes notched school records in the 1k, 1500, 3k, 5k and 10k. Nice work Schof!
May 22
2mi. Ouch. Stopped after a mile and stretched a bunch. Then ran home. Hot spot low on the right shin that I'd not discovered on previous inspections. Lengthy analysis omitted. Will seek out docs.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Division One
So I'm riding my bike across the Hennepin bridge today when I see up ahead of me this dude on a tiny little scooter-type thing. He's screaming along on it at about 15 mi/hr, lazily smoking a cigarette in his left hand and twisting the hell out of the throttle with his right. The scooter-type thing looks like it's designed to fold up and fit in a suitcase, with an oddly tall handlebar and comically small wheels. The situation is Kia-esque.
Much as I want to express my contempt by just Lance Armstronging the hell out of the thing, my one-speeeder is still nosily dragging a few gear teeth on the side of the frame, and I'm worried that the clanky-rubbing sound is going to steel my thunder. So I fall back to plan B and ride right behind him ostentatiously scrutinizing this scooter-type thing on behalf of all onlookers.
As we hit the end of the bridge, the light ahead turns red and we both stop, me still right behind him. As he senses me and turns around, I give him my biggest "Yup I'm checking out your funny little scooter-type thing" grin. Encouraged by my affability, he shakes his head solemnly at the nearby cars and proclaims, "Lot of d$@#*e bags on the road."
"Yeah, man, it's terrible," I agree.
At that moment the light changes, the cars move, and his scooter-type thing coughs unresponsively. He angrily begins kicking at the chinsy plastic sides and cursing as I ride off, the commotion drowning out the sound of my dragging gear.
Oh and I'll probably go running today.
Much as I want to express my contempt by just Lance Armstronging the hell out of the thing, my one-speeeder is still nosily dragging a few gear teeth on the side of the frame, and I'm worried that the clanky-rubbing sound is going to steel my thunder. So I fall back to plan B and ride right behind him ostentatiously scrutinizing this scooter-type thing on behalf of all onlookers.
As we hit the end of the bridge, the light ahead turns red and we both stop, me still right behind him. As he senses me and turns around, I give him my biggest "Yup I'm checking out your funny little scooter-type thing" grin. Encouraged by my affability, he shakes his head solemnly at the nearby cars and proclaims, "Lot of d$@#*e bags on the road."
"Yeah, man, it's terrible," I agree.
At that moment the light changes, the cars move, and his scooter-type thing coughs unresponsively. He angrily begins kicking at the chinsy plastic sides and cursing as I ride off, the commotion drowning out the sound of my dragging gear.
Oh and I'll probably go running today.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Schrader wins Tour de Minnesconsin
Phil Schrader looked fresh in his first major challenge of the season, as he cruised to a first place finish in the "Tour de Minnesconsin." Schrader radiated poise, leading from start to finish on the grueling four-stage, 290 mi. course. "You'd never even know he was racing," remarked one onlooker during a one of the leader's frequent stops to eat, pee, or just sort of look around.
This year's Tour de Minnesconsin led off with the traditional 50 mi. individual time trial from Minneapolis to Northfield, MN, before setting off for the Wisconsin boarder. In the first leg of stage two the field battled a sharp cross wind to Cannon Falls at which point the entire pack took advantage of the shelter afforded by the Cannon Valley trail and flew on to Redwing. There Schrader, the savvy veteran, shocked fans by stopping to cook lunch in the city park and read the first chapter of Don Quixote. By the end of the stage, across the river in Stockholm, WI, the gamble had paid off and Schrader retained the leader's blue jersey-- despite two Mother's day phone calls and a stop to read about "Maiden Rock" en route.
The only signs of strain in four stages of brilliant riding came the following day in the challenging Stockholm - Chippewa Falls leg. Heavy winds, cool overnight temperatures, and a pair of not really very insulating trash bags led to a very early start for the field. Schrader looked solid though the rolling hills to Durand and also on the hot, flat run into Eau Claire on the Chippewa River Trail. The last bit of riding, from Eau Claire to Chippewa Falls, proved the toughest of the day, perhaps of the entire race. Afterwards a frustrated Schrader vented his frustration. "I mean, you think of the two cities as basically connected, right? But then you hit Eau Claire and find out that there's really no good way to get to Chippewa. I want to thank Google Maps and my brother Drew for their help in the last 15 miles or so."
The entire field was treated to a rest day on Tuesday and the generous hospitality of Nate and Brianna soon-to-be Henderson. "We're always happy to help out, it's a great-- but really pretty stupid-- event which gives us a good excuse to go out to dinner," remarked the couple.
Schrader rode unchallenged on the fourth and final stage from Chippewa Falls to Winona, MN, on a beautiful route that followed the Buffalo and Mississippi River Valleys and culminated in a trip to the Winona Hospital-- where Schrader's mom works. The rider celebrated his win with a relaxing couple of days in nearby La Crosse, WI, several dog-walks, cups of coffee, and bullshitting sessions with his folks, before hopping the train back to the cities.
The win couldn't have come at a better time for the rider-- just weeks after training partner and Slab City manager Tom Church's stunning decision to cut Schrader from the team's Woods to Water squad. Said Churchie, "We hope to see Phil looking fit and strong come fall at the TCM, but right now I wouldn't trust him with a trip to Target, let alone three 5k legs in the Chaquamanogonnaworkhereanymoregan." Schrader refrained from commenting on Church's comments, but did bore reporter's ears off with a multi-digressional, unprovoked speech on organizational dynamics, beauty, and watchmaking.
This year's Tour de Minnesconsin led off with the traditional 50 mi. individual time trial from Minneapolis to Northfield, MN, before setting off for the Wisconsin boarder. In the first leg of stage two the field battled a sharp cross wind to Cannon Falls at which point the entire pack took advantage of the shelter afforded by the Cannon Valley trail and flew on to Redwing. There Schrader, the savvy veteran, shocked fans by stopping to cook lunch in the city park and read the first chapter of Don Quixote. By the end of the stage, across the river in Stockholm, WI, the gamble had paid off and Schrader retained the leader's blue jersey-- despite two Mother's day phone calls and a stop to read about "Maiden Rock" en route.
The only signs of strain in four stages of brilliant riding came the following day in the challenging Stockholm - Chippewa Falls leg. Heavy winds, cool overnight temperatures, and a pair of not really very insulating trash bags led to a very early start for the field. Schrader looked solid though the rolling hills to Durand and also on the hot, flat run into Eau Claire on the Chippewa River Trail. The last bit of riding, from Eau Claire to Chippewa Falls, proved the toughest of the day, perhaps of the entire race. Afterwards a frustrated Schrader vented his frustration. "I mean, you think of the two cities as basically connected, right? But then you hit Eau Claire and find out that there's really no good way to get to Chippewa. I want to thank Google Maps and my brother Drew for their help in the last 15 miles or so."
The entire field was treated to a rest day on Tuesday and the generous hospitality of Nate and Brianna soon-to-be Henderson. "We're always happy to help out, it's a great-- but really pretty stupid-- event which gives us a good excuse to go out to dinner," remarked the couple.
Schrader rode unchallenged on the fourth and final stage from Chippewa Falls to Winona, MN, on a beautiful route that followed the Buffalo and Mississippi River Valleys and culminated in a trip to the Winona Hospital-- where Schrader's mom works. The rider celebrated his win with a relaxing couple of days in nearby La Crosse, WI, several dog-walks, cups of coffee, and bullshitting sessions with his folks, before hopping the train back to the cities.
The win couldn't have come at a better time for the rider-- just weeks after training partner and Slab City manager Tom Church's stunning decision to cut Schrader from the team's Woods to Water squad. Said Churchie, "We hope to see Phil looking fit and strong come fall at the TCM, but right now I wouldn't trust him with a trip to Target, let alone three 5k legs in the Chaquamanogonnaworkhereanymoregan." Schrader refrained from commenting on Church's comments, but did bore reporter's ears off with a multi-digressional, unprovoked speech on organizational dynamics, beauty, and watchmaking.
Monday, May 21, 2007
All Wrapped Up In Some Video Booth
May 21
4mi, 27:50 (6:57/mi): Shortcut. Felt un-fit. Legs felt ok, but occasionally still felt the shooting though my shins and tightness in my hamstring. Taking it slow.
May 14-20
Took the week off, basically. 5mi easy with LSCC on Tuesday and an attempted run on Wednesday was the only running. Lots of icing, a little less stretching and some hoping that I'd be recovered when the week was over. Held steady on Friday before Hooley took off to score big in Denver and Sherman failed to heed Jackie O. St. Peter had me on the cue...Etc. Gigantic Slabbaj Shout-Out to Jill McKiernan for her 3:28:13 PR at the Green Bay Marathon!
4mi, 27:50 (6:57/mi): Shortcut. Felt un-fit. Legs felt ok, but occasionally still felt the shooting though my shins and tightness in my hamstring. Taking it slow.
May 14-20
Took the week off, basically. 5mi easy with LSCC on Tuesday and an attempted run on Wednesday was the only running. Lots of icing, a little less stretching and some hoping that I'd be recovered when the week was over. Held steady on Friday before Hooley took off to score big in Denver and Sherman failed to heed Jackie O. St. Peter had me on the cue...Etc. Gigantic Slabbaj Shout-Out to Jill McKiernan for her 3:28:13 PR at the Green Bay Marathon!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Drugs and wine and flattering light
May 13
Day Off. Obviously, I am not recovering as easily as I thought. Yesterday made that clear. 1262mi on the year is well ahead of any previous 5month total, and 280mi since 4/19 is the most I've done without a day off since college by a lot. I'm glad to have done this base work and I think ultimately it will leave me stronger. But for the next 5 weeks, recovery will be the focus.
Week: 61mi/6days. Shortly after my Ayn Rand research the other day, I returned to more agreeable fare: "As with the hero children, so too with the hero principals, there is this inclination to avert our eyes from the pervasive injuries inflicted upon students by our acquiescence in a dual system and to convey the tantalizing notion that the problems of this system can be superseded somehow by a faith in miracles embodied in dynamic and distinctive individuals." - Jonathan Kozol. [Ayn shrugs]
May 12
14.5mi, New Prague 1/2M (over 1:19:00): Not a lot to say. Went out very conservative (5:46) and the pace was never (well...) a problem. Legs felt tight the whole way, and my range of motion felt especially compromised after about 7 or 8mi. Ultimately didn't have a choice about jogging it in around 6:30 pace. Last 5K (20:07) tells the story. Congrats to the birthday boy for his PR. Congrats to the Shermanimal and the Giggly on their respective PRs. And, Muggy, a huge shout out to Jessica Deutsch for her 1:31:47 PR!
`
Day Off. Obviously, I am not recovering as easily as I thought. Yesterday made that clear. 1262mi on the year is well ahead of any previous 5month total, and 280mi since 4/19 is the most I've done without a day off since college by a lot. I'm glad to have done this base work and I think ultimately it will leave me stronger. But for the next 5 weeks, recovery will be the focus.
Week: 61mi/6days. Shortly after my Ayn Rand research the other day, I returned to more agreeable fare: "As with the hero children, so too with the hero principals, there is this inclination to avert our eyes from the pervasive injuries inflicted upon students by our acquiescence in a dual system and to convey the tantalizing notion that the problems of this system can be superseded somehow by a faith in miracles embodied in dynamic and distinctive individuals." - Jonathan Kozol. [Ayn shrugs]
May 12
14.5mi, New Prague 1/2M (over 1:19:00): Not a lot to say. Went out very conservative (5:46) and the pace was never (well...) a problem. Legs felt tight the whole way, and my range of motion felt especially compromised after about 7 or 8mi. Ultimately didn't have a choice about jogging it in around 6:30 pace. Last 5K (20:07) tells the story. Congrats to the birthday boy for his PR. Congrats to the Shermanimal and the Giggly on their respective PRs. And, Muggy, a huge shout out to Jessica Deutsch for her 1:31:47 PR!
`
Friday, May 11, 2007
She said "why/why don't we drive through the night?/wake up down in, Mexico..."
May 11
6mi, 40:58 (6:50/mi): West Side Five + xtra. Easy w/Schrades. Legs stiff. Spent the day conducting Ayn Rand research. From what I can gather, her philosphy boils down to: "Impressive people are quite impressive. They should impress themselves and us. Oh, and just a few other points - Saying God exists is far more foolish than saying God does not exist; As long as the government doesn't give you stuff you've earned it; Rights do not apply in those primitive societies." Yes, well crafted, Ayn.
May 10
8mi, 54:09 (6:46/mi): Seventeen Forever 8. Ran past those camps down on the banks of the Mississippi River. Lethargic.
6mi, 40:58 (6:50/mi): West Side Five + xtra. Easy w/Schrades. Legs stiff. Spent the day conducting Ayn Rand research. From what I can gather, her philosphy boils down to: "Impressive people are quite impressive. They should impress themselves and us. Oh, and just a few other points - Saying God exists is far more foolish than saying God does not exist; As long as the government doesn't give you stuff you've earned it; Rights do not apply in those primitive societies." Yes, well crafted, Ayn.
May 10
8mi, 54:09 (6:46/mi): Seventeen Forever 8. Ran past those camps down on the banks of the Mississippi River. Lethargic.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
He could throw that speedball by ya
May 9
PM: 10mi, 1:08:00 (wkout): WU, 4x1600m w/60s R, 4x200m w/200m walk/jog R, CD. 5:24, :21, :16, :09; 31, 31, 32, 30. Waited until it was slightly cooler on the UMN track, which certainly helped. Legs felt a little fatigued, but basically the effort on the 1600s was threshold. Probably had 1-2 more in me at the same 5s cut-down progression, but wanted to keep this relatively relaxed ahead of New Prague on Saturday. 200s felt surprisingly strong. Time to rest-up a bit before the race...
AM: 4mi, Shortcut untimed. Hot. Legs stiff.
May 8
12.5mi, 1:27:28 (7:00/mi): LSCC+xtra. Not sure what, if anything, was remarkable about this run. Legs still needed some recovery from last week. Roger Clemens is fat.
PM: 10mi, 1:08:00 (wkout): WU, 4x1600m w/60s R, 4x200m w/200m walk/jog R, CD. 5:24, :21, :16, :09; 31, 31, 32, 30. Waited until it was slightly cooler on the UMN track, which certainly helped. Legs felt a little fatigued, but basically the effort on the 1600s was threshold. Probably had 1-2 more in me at the same 5s cut-down progression, but wanted to keep this relatively relaxed ahead of New Prague on Saturday. 200s felt surprisingly strong. Time to rest-up a bit before the race...
AM: 4mi, Shortcut untimed. Hot. Legs stiff.
May 8
12.5mi, 1:27:28 (7:00/mi): LSCC+xtra. Not sure what, if anything, was remarkable about this run. Legs still needed some recovery from last week. Roger Clemens is fat.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Arms and hearts and alcohol and faith
May 7
6mi, 40:14 (6:42/mi): There Is No Such Thing As Identity 6. CSED. Drills/Strides. Felt fine. Humid.
6mi, 40:14 (6:42/mi): There Is No Such Thing As Identity 6. CSED. Drills/Strides. Felt fine. Humid.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
How I pushed my fingers through your mouth
May 6
11.5mi, 1:17:13 (6:43/mi): Fancy Dance. Next to the river. Just a stupid variation on LS8 with some rambling around to get to 11.5. Thought about naming it something more simply fancy, but felt "Fancy Dance" might better achieve my objective. Practicing relevant preaching, and intend to continue.
Week: 90mi. Very good week with two good workouts. For those itching to find out, I'm at 1201mi on the year. H is at 1203.2mi. Look out, 30:05.
May 5
PM: 14.5mi, 1:38:00 (6:45/mi): WU, 4xBuddha Loop (aprx 2.1mi), CD. 11:52 (course tour), 11:01, 11:07, 11:04. Felt relatively strong running alone with my breathing through the arb. Great loop. Solid workout.
AM: 5mi, 34:57 (6:59/mi): Helen C Five. Three seconds faster (more attractive) than Hooley.
May 4
PM: 10mi, 1:04:11 (6:25/mi): NMR Extended. W/Hools, Corey & Mike. Roughly 1/3 of the company was atrocious. Another 1/3 was hilarious. And the last 1/3 was 3rd at the LMR the next day. Police have yet to begin the investigation...
AM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
May 3
6mi, 40:42 (6:47/mi): West Side Five + xtra. CSED.
11.5mi, 1:17:13 (6:43/mi): Fancy Dance. Next to the river. Just a stupid variation on LS8 with some rambling around to get to 11.5. Thought about naming it something more simply fancy, but felt "Fancy Dance" might better achieve my objective. Practicing relevant preaching, and intend to continue.
Week: 90mi. Very good week with two good workouts. For those itching to find out, I'm at 1201mi on the year. H is at 1203.2mi. Look out, 30:05.
May 5
PM: 14.5mi, 1:38:00 (6:45/mi): WU, 4xBuddha Loop (aprx 2.1mi), CD. 11:52 (course tour), 11:01, 11:07, 11:04. Felt relatively strong running alone with my breathing through the arb. Great loop. Solid workout.
AM: 5mi, 34:57 (6:59/mi): Helen C Five. Three seconds faster (more attractive) than Hooley.
May 4
PM: 10mi, 1:04:11 (6:25/mi): NMR Extended. W/Hools, Corey & Mike. Roughly 1/3 of the company was atrocious. Another 1/3 was hilarious. And the last 1/3 was 3rd at the LMR the next day. Police have yet to begin the investigation...
AM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed.
May 3
6mi, 40:42 (6:47/mi): West Side Five + xtra. CSED.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
The verbal giraffe
May 2
PM: 17mi, wkout + LSCC (1:52:16): 8xHill on West River Parkway. 2:32, :38, :33, :25, :24, :21, :23, :19. Wow. Harder than I'd intended but everything was under control until the last one, during which I was quite confident I'd finish well over 2:30. Sherman joined me at #4 and spooked me to the 2:25. Stubborness kicked in and I tried to follow my normal rule for this workout by holding or increasing pace with each interval. I don't think this is my best workout on this hill, but it is my fastest. Encouraging. LSCC cooldown made for a long day, but I got to have dinner with Jessica and Keith Ellison and our waitress found a way to make an already-killer banana waffle even more deadly. Wonderful.
AM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Easy.
May 1
6mi, 39:43 (6:37/mi): West Side Five + xtra. CSED. Drills/Strides.
PM: 17mi, wkout + LSCC (1:52:16): 8xHill on West River Parkway. 2:32, :38, :33, :25, :24, :21, :23, :19. Wow. Harder than I'd intended but everything was under control until the last one, during which I was quite confident I'd finish well over 2:30. Sherman joined me at #4 and spooked me to the 2:25. Stubborness kicked in and I tried to follow my normal rule for this workout by holding or increasing pace with each interval. I don't think this is my best workout on this hill, but it is my fastest. Encouraging. LSCC cooldown made for a long day, but I got to have dinner with Jessica and Keith Ellison and our waitress found a way to make an already-killer banana waffle even more deadly. Wonderful.
AM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Easy.
May 1
6mi, 39:43 (6:37/mi): West Side Five + xtra. CSED. Drills/Strides.
Monday, April 30, 2007
It's always entertaining when you're hanging out with entertainers
April 30
12mi, 1:16:16 (6:21/mi): Hennepin-Lake + xtra. Found a great rythym tonight. Lovely rain, and yesterday's ice bath worked wonders on the legs. I anticipate being very glad to have the CSED as an option tomorrow. Stats For Schrades: 322mi in April is a PR for the month, destroying 2002 by 41mi; 1123mi on the year is ahead of previous 4-month best, also 2002, by 47mi. Of course, mileaj alone has yet to translate on the roads, but I'm starting to feel strong. And those workouts I was talking about yesterday should start up again this week. Erik, your blog is beautiful.
12mi, 1:16:16 (6:21/mi): Hennepin-Lake + xtra. Found a great rythym tonight. Lovely rain, and yesterday's ice bath worked wonders on the legs. I anticipate being very glad to have the CSED as an option tomorrow. Stats For Schrades: 322mi in April is a PR for the month, destroying 2002 by 41mi; 1123mi on the year is ahead of previous 4-month best, also 2002, by 47mi. Of course, mileaj alone has yet to translate on the roads, but I'm starting to feel strong. And those workouts I was talking about yesterday should start up again this week. Erik, your blog is beautiful.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
It's all I can do to walk out of here alive
April 29
20mi, 2:20:29 (7:01/mi): El Scorcho! Long hot run with water fountains spaced exactly as they were for Biz. From Sherman's condo, skirting the lakes, down the Parkway, up the river to Cecil. Dan and Sherman made for excellent company, but contrary to any other reports it was, in fact, Sherman that made this such an extended effort. He should be commended.
Week: 83mi. Need to make sure I actually do the longer intervals and hills I schedule for myself. And lift. Felt weak during the race.
April 28
PM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Because that's what the plan dictates. Slabbaj Shout-Out to Marie Brandewide for a 6-SECOND PR IN THE 1500m with a 4:23.39 at Drake!!!
AM: 12.5mi, Get in Gear 10K (33:38/31st Overall): What. Ever. Went out hard (5:02ish) trying to apply lessons learned at Guidant and the Race for Justice. My legs didn't have it, and it's (obviously, now) harder to rebound from a too-fast first mile when it's hot. Faster than The Human Race, but that just makes me more frustrated. BUT - waiting on results for what should be a very solid team showing. Very nice races from the Chapel and the Sherman.
April 27
6.5mi, 44:14 (6:48/mi): A&W Ext. "Easy" with Biz and Dan, but I hadn't travelled to the mountainous region of Minneapolis recently so it ended up being a slightly harder effort. At least for me.
April 26
8mi, 54:10 (6:46/mi): LS8+xtra. Legs were mucho fatigue-o. I remember because I wrote a song about it.
20mi, 2:20:29 (7:01/mi): El Scorcho! Long hot run with water fountains spaced exactly as they were for Biz. From Sherman's condo, skirting the lakes, down the Parkway, up the river to Cecil. Dan and Sherman made for excellent company, but contrary to any other reports it was, in fact, Sherman that made this such an extended effort. He should be commended.
Week: 83mi. Need to make sure I actually do the longer intervals and hills I schedule for myself. And lift. Felt weak during the race.
April 28
PM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Because that's what the plan dictates. Slabbaj Shout-Out to Marie Brandewide for a 6-SECOND PR IN THE 1500m with a 4:23.39 at Drake!!!
AM: 12.5mi, Get in Gear 10K (33:38/31st Overall): What. Ever. Went out hard (5:02ish) trying to apply lessons learned at Guidant and the Race for Justice. My legs didn't have it, and it's (obviously, now) harder to rebound from a too-fast first mile when it's hot. Faster than The Human Race, but that just makes me more frustrated. BUT - waiting on results for what should be a very solid team showing. Very nice races from the Chapel and the Sherman.
April 27
6.5mi, 44:14 (6:48/mi): A&W Ext. "Easy" with Biz and Dan, but I hadn't travelled to the mountainous region of Minneapolis recently so it ended up being a slightly harder effort. At least for me.
April 26
8mi, 54:10 (6:46/mi): LS8+xtra. Legs were mucho fatigue-o. I remember because I wrote a song about it.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
I am dreaming for a much better life
April 25
PM: 10.5mi, 1:11:13 (wkout): 20x200m w/200m jog recovery. WU/CD to and from the UMN track w/Jessica. Did not time the 200s but felt pretty strong on all of them. Legs were actually quite good. Stomach and the rest of my upper body not as good. Glad to get through 20. Work Work.
AM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Stomach not altogether thrilled with the decision to run.
April 24
11.5mi, 1:14:44 (6:30/mi): LSCC + over there. Ran about 5mi around 6-min pace before the group run. Moderately therapeutic.
April 23
6mi, 40:36 (CSED): West Side Five + xtra. Nice recovery. Sprint drills.
PM: 10.5mi, 1:11:13 (wkout): 20x200m w/200m jog recovery. WU/CD to and from the UMN track w/Jessica. Did not time the 200s but felt pretty strong on all of them. Legs were actually quite good. Stomach and the rest of my upper body not as good. Glad to get through 20. Work Work.
AM: 4mi, Shortcut Untimed. Stomach not altogether thrilled with the decision to run.
April 24
11.5mi, 1:14:44 (6:30/mi): LSCC + over there. Ran about 5mi around 6-min pace before the group run. Moderately therapeutic.
April 23
6mi, 40:36 (CSED): West Side Five + xtra. Nice recovery. Sprint drills.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
I am an American aquarium drinker
April 22
17mi, 1:52:40 (6:30+/mi): The Luscious. Beautiful run in the rain down the east bank to the Falls and then on the Parkway over to Nokomis and back. Ran into Giggles and his buddy after about 20min and had a lovely chat with them over to the Lake. Negative split the way back, including about a 3mi pickup where each 800m is marked on the west bank - cruised at 5:40-45 pace before adding on through the bucket of snakes. Lovely run.
Week: 70mi/6days. OK, considering the distractions this week. But I do need to work on implementing the CSED plan a lot better, since it's such a great plan.
April 21
PM: 12.5mi, 1:24:28 (6:44/mi): Edison Track + cool down back to PP. 2x1600@T, 1x800@T, some running with the rest of the crew, 1x800@T. 5:19, :20, 2:42, 2:39. A rare instance where the undue burden itself caused the abortion. Here I refer to the wind and heat. Frustrated, but I got some decent miles on the day. Kudos to those who managed to run 10K pace today.
AM: 4mi, 27+ (generous): Isles+. No matter how tempting it might appear, do not order the "Big O' Chocolate Cake" if you're already having some trouble with the enchiladas at La Cuc.
April 20
12.5mi, 1:28:01 (7:02/mi): Hennepin-Lake. Up to Sherman's, down to Lake St. with Sherman. Nice easy run.
April 19
Day Off. Long Day.
17mi, 1:52:40 (6:30+/mi): The Luscious. Beautiful run in the rain down the east bank to the Falls and then on the Parkway over to Nokomis and back. Ran into Giggles and his buddy after about 20min and had a lovely chat with them over to the Lake. Negative split the way back, including about a 3mi pickup where each 800m is marked on the west bank - cruised at 5:40-45 pace before adding on through the bucket of snakes. Lovely run.
Week: 70mi/6days. OK, considering the distractions this week. But I do need to work on implementing the CSED plan a lot better, since it's such a great plan.
April 21
PM: 12.5mi, 1:24:28 (6:44/mi): Edison Track + cool down back to PP. 2x1600@T, 1x800@T, some running with the rest of the crew, 1x800@T. 5:19, :20, 2:42, 2:39. A rare instance where the undue burden itself caused the abortion. Here I refer to the wind and heat. Frustrated, but I got some decent miles on the day. Kudos to those who managed to run 10K pace today.
AM: 4mi, 27+ (generous): Isles+. No matter how tempting it might appear, do not order the "Big O' Chocolate Cake" if you're already having some trouble with the enchiladas at La Cuc.
April 20
12.5mi, 1:28:01 (7:02/mi): Hennepin-Lake. Up to Sherman's, down to Lake St. with Sherman. Nice easy run.
April 19
Day Off. Long Day.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
I gather all the news I need on the weather report
April 18
6mi, 39:43 (6:37/mi): West Side Five Augmented. Hill wkout turned into another CSED by accident. Legs felt OK but body, particularly the head region, was drained and or foggy. Granting self a continuance for the workout...
April 17
12mi, 1:18:37 (6:33/mi): LS8+Shortcut Extended. Had to hold myself back a little.
April 16
6mi, 40:10 (6:42/mi): Secret Bridges. CSED. Drills/Strides.
6mi, 39:43 (6:37/mi): West Side Five Augmented. Hill wkout turned into another CSED by accident. Legs felt OK but body, particularly the head region, was drained and or foggy. Granting self a continuance for the workout...
April 17
12mi, 1:18:37 (6:33/mi): LS8+Shortcut Extended. Had to hold myself back a little.
April 16
6mi, 40:10 (6:42/mi): Secret Bridges. CSED. Drills/Strides.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night
April 15
PM: 5mi, West Side Five Untimed. Nice easy shakeout on a beautiful night with Gehring. Legs and body felt strong and good.
AM: 9.5mi, 5K Race (15:43/2nd): Race for Justice. Amazed by how good I felt. Opening mile in 4:57 felt very smooth and light. Ran shoulder to shoulder with Biz until just before the 2mi mark. He gapped me on the two short, steep downhills to the Stone Arch Bridge and we basically ran the same pace separated by 3-5s for the rest of the race. I did make a few attempts to close the gap, but each time I tried to pick it up my legs approached empty. Might have had a chance to take him on the last straight, but it's another downhill...Overall, I'm extremely encouraged by this race. Post-collegiate PR (by 1s over Jan. 2006 indoors) and I was deliberately not backing off volume or workouts ahead of time. More importantly, I raced well. It helped that basically the only racing decision I had to make came in the first half-mile. But whereas I have been known to get scared off by fast early paces this morning I put myself right up front instead of tucking in somewhere around 5:10-20. Plus it was very fun to race hard with Biz. I feel a lot more confident about actually racing, not just worrying about pace, on the roads this year.
Week: 80mi. Wednesday's 5mi and Thursday's good 17mi got me thinking about the Corey Stelljes Easy Day (CSED). I am happy to report that I will be attempting to implement this training element from here on out as we count down 9 weeks to Garry Bjorklund (Grandma's).
April 14
PM: 10mi, 1:07:21 (6:44/mi): Upriver. Easy run to Sherman's previewing the Race for Justice course. Legs felt a little heavy. Followed it up with a shrieking ice bath.
AM: 4mi. Shortcut Untimed. Easy shakeout. Beautiful weather is back, baybee!
April 13
8mi, 55:08 (6:53/mi): MN Landscape Arb. Eh. Beautiful place to run but legs and body felt like crap after a long day standing and racing around. Late lunch didn't help either. Wish I'd had a monkey paw.
April 12
17mi, 1:42:17 (6:01/mi): The Legend of Minneapolis. Surprised by how strong I felt. Intened to go pretty easy for the first half and then pick it up Hooley-style over the back half. Instead started out quick (3-4min ahead of normal entering DT, 5+min ahead of normal at the old turnaround) and picked it up through Kenwood and built to a very quick pace around Isles and down the Greenway. Made it back to the river in about 1:26:30 and jogged the 2-2.5mi home. Pace got difficult to handle towards the end of the Greenway, fighting a stitch, but otherwise a great, encouraging workout. For those interested (Schrades and Gehring in particular) I'm calling it 17 because although I did not get lost in Uptown this time I did add an extra half-mile upon my return to Prospect Park to make it an honest 17.
PM: 5mi, West Side Five Untimed. Nice easy shakeout on a beautiful night with Gehring. Legs and body felt strong and good.
AM: 9.5mi, 5K Race (15:43/2nd): Race for Justice. Amazed by how good I felt. Opening mile in 4:57 felt very smooth and light. Ran shoulder to shoulder with Biz until just before the 2mi mark. He gapped me on the two short, steep downhills to the Stone Arch Bridge and we basically ran the same pace separated by 3-5s for the rest of the race. I did make a few attempts to close the gap, but each time I tried to pick it up my legs approached empty. Might have had a chance to take him on the last straight, but it's another downhill...Overall, I'm extremely encouraged by this race. Post-collegiate PR (by 1s over Jan. 2006 indoors) and I was deliberately not backing off volume or workouts ahead of time. More importantly, I raced well. It helped that basically the only racing decision I had to make came in the first half-mile. But whereas I have been known to get scared off by fast early paces this morning I put myself right up front instead of tucking in somewhere around 5:10-20. Plus it was very fun to race hard with Biz. I feel a lot more confident about actually racing, not just worrying about pace, on the roads this year.
Week: 80mi. Wednesday's 5mi and Thursday's good 17mi got me thinking about the Corey Stelljes Easy Day (CSED). I am happy to report that I will be attempting to implement this training element from here on out as we count down 9 weeks to Garry Bjorklund (Grandma's).
April 14
PM: 10mi, 1:07:21 (6:44/mi): Upriver. Easy run to Sherman's previewing the Race for Justice course. Legs felt a little heavy. Followed it up with a shrieking ice bath.
AM: 4mi. Shortcut Untimed. Easy shakeout. Beautiful weather is back, baybee!
April 13
8mi, 55:08 (6:53/mi): MN Landscape Arb. Eh. Beautiful place to run but legs and body felt like crap after a long day standing and racing around. Late lunch didn't help either. Wish I'd had a monkey paw.
April 12
17mi, 1:42:17 (6:01/mi): The Legend of Minneapolis. Surprised by how strong I felt. Intened to go pretty easy for the first half and then pick it up Hooley-style over the back half. Instead started out quick (3-4min ahead of normal entering DT, 5+min ahead of normal at the old turnaround) and picked it up through Kenwood and built to a very quick pace around Isles and down the Greenway. Made it back to the river in about 1:26:30 and jogged the 2-2.5mi home. Pace got difficult to handle towards the end of the Greenway, fighting a stitch, but otherwise a great, encouraging workout. For those interested (Schrades and Gehring in particular) I'm calling it 17 because although I did not get lost in Uptown this time I did add an extra half-mile upon my return to Prospect Park to make it an honest 17.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
When streams are ripe and swelled with [snow]
April 11
5mi, 33:12 (6:38/mi): West Side Five. Legs felt good. Day felt good. April snow felt OK but ground on my brain. Energy felt gone, and proved, in fact, to be gone. Tried to pick it up to do a tempo run and more or less fell over. So I threw some snowballs in the river and moseyed on home.
April 10
10mi, 1:11:25 (7:09/mi): Race for Justice course preview. With LSCC + Arneson. Ran ahead of Biz for most of the time to simulate race conditions.
April 9
11.5mi, 1:13:17 (6:22/mi): 3up, 16x200m w/200m jog, 4.5down. All untimed and zero urge to time them. Felt OK and would have done 20 if the feets hadn't gone to sleep because Lundberg is a genius. Or something less causal.
April 8
10.5mi, 1:10:08 (6:41/mi): LS8 extended. I think I might rename this run. Calves were moderate. Hair was done up in broken glass.
Week: 60mi/6days. Feel bad about missing the 17 @ Hyland...
April 7
Day Off. Sorry Dan & Biz. I'm a real soft girl having real hard times.
April 6
10mi, 1:07:22 (6:44/mi): Banging Camps. Calves destroyed after yesterday's spike wearing experiment. Should have stayed to defend Athens with H-town and Schrader.
5mi, 33:12 (6:38/mi): West Side Five. Legs felt good. Day felt good. April snow felt OK but ground on my brain. Energy felt gone, and proved, in fact, to be gone. Tried to pick it up to do a tempo run and more or less fell over. So I threw some snowballs in the river and moseyed on home.
April 10
10mi, 1:11:25 (7:09/mi): Race for Justice course preview. With LSCC + Arneson. Ran ahead of Biz for most of the time to simulate race conditions.
April 9
11.5mi, 1:13:17 (6:22/mi): 3up, 16x200m w/200m jog, 4.5down. All untimed and zero urge to time them. Felt OK and would have done 20 if the feets hadn't gone to sleep because Lundberg is a genius. Or something less causal.
April 8
10.5mi, 1:10:08 (6:41/mi): LS8 extended. I think I might rename this run. Calves were moderate. Hair was done up in broken glass.
Week: 60mi/6days. Feel bad about missing the 17 @ Hyland...
April 7
Day Off. Sorry Dan & Biz. I'm a real soft girl having real hard times.
April 6
10mi, 1:07:22 (6:44/mi): Banging Camps. Calves destroyed after yesterday's spike wearing experiment. Should have stayed to defend Athens with H-town and Schrader.
Friday, April 06, 2007
If she says we partied, then I'm pretty sure we partied
April 5
PM: 11mi, 5K at Carleton in 16:27. Cold and windy. Ran in tights. All in all, an encouraging effort. I think my splits were 5:20, :18, :16 and I felt in control the whole way. Close to threshold, and had enough left in the tank after the accumulated mileaj and the race to run uptempo with Biz and Hools back from Iron Bridge. A small, but nice confidence boost after the Human Race. After dinner I thought about going to bed instead of going to Perkins. But instead I went to Perkins with some of my friends because I wasn't tired enough to go to bed.
AM: 4mi, Shortcut: Just a shakeout to log miles and give myself additonal excuses for the afternoon. Felt surprisingly lively.
April 4
8mi, 53:23 (6:44/mi): LS8+xtra. Chilly. Played around with some accells during the run so I wouldn't have to do strides after. Also to investigate whether my legs could move faster than 7min pace.
April 3
12mi, 1:25:36 (7ish/mi): LSCC+over there+then to campus pizza. 1xdinner faster than Biz.
April 2
4mi, 27:47 (6:56/mi): Shortcut. Don't remember much about this run. Legs a little beat up from the weekend. But, Erik, you are definitely correct about the Hyland romp. I remember saying to my brother and Lundberg, "Nothing could be sweller!"
PM: 11mi, 5K at Carleton in 16:27. Cold and windy. Ran in tights. All in all, an encouraging effort. I think my splits were 5:20, :18, :16 and I felt in control the whole way. Close to threshold, and had enough left in the tank after the accumulated mileaj and the race to run uptempo with Biz and Hools back from Iron Bridge. A small, but nice confidence boost after the Human Race. After dinner I thought about going to bed instead of going to Perkins. But instead I went to Perkins with some of my friends because I wasn't tired enough to go to bed.
AM: 4mi, Shortcut: Just a shakeout to log miles and give myself additonal excuses for the afternoon. Felt surprisingly lively.
April 4
8mi, 53:23 (6:44/mi): LS8+xtra. Chilly. Played around with some accells during the run so I wouldn't have to do strides after. Also to investigate whether my legs could move faster than 7min pace.
April 3
12mi, 1:25:36 (7ish/mi): LSCC+over there+then to campus pizza. 1xdinner faster than Biz.
April 2
4mi, 27:47 (6:56/mi): Shortcut. Don't remember much about this run. Legs a little beat up from the weekend. But, Erik, you are definitely correct about the Hyland romp. I remember saying to my brother and Lundberg, "Nothing could be sweller!"
Sunday, April 01, 2007
B-1 is for the good girls
April 1
17mi, 2:00:41 (7:06/mi): Legend of Minnneapolis. Beautiful run with Schrades and Gehring, putting the city together. Fishouse/Isles/Pirates/Greenway. Legs felt pretty good after the trails yesterday. Hadn't intended to run this far, but have felt increasingly better over the course of the week. So that's good.
Week: 83mi. Now, at some point we must have a plan. We must have a plan even if it is wrong.
17mi, 2:00:41 (7:06/mi): Legend of Minnneapolis. Beautiful run with Schrades and Gehring, putting the city together. Fishouse/Isles/Pirates/Greenway. Legs felt pretty good after the trails yesterday. Hadn't intended to run this far, but have felt increasingly better over the course of the week. So that's good.
Week: 83mi. Now, at some point we must have a plan. We must have a plan even if it is wrong.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
If you want to see a handsome man, come with me to sandy land
March 31
17.5, 2:01:23 (6:56/mi): Hyland Park w/Biz and Dan. Soggy, but lovely. And we picked it up to, like, 4-min pace for, like, the last half of the run. It was really, really easy. There were all kinds of mountains and not many sherpas and it was windy and also extremely early in the morning but also we are very good runners, such that we could complete this run with extreme ease. Felt goodish, finally. Then we ate breakfast, because we're so good at running. Stat for Schrades (Immediately to my Left): The bloggy blogg now records a year's worth of trainaj for Churchie and Schrader. For Churchie, the past calendar year included 2754.5mi, which is more than any other year I've recorded. Other Stats: 254mi in March. Not terrible considering the injury. 801mi so far in 2007, fastest to 800 and 210.5mi ahead of 2006. Viva Year II.
March 30
8mi, 50:47 (6:21/mi): Also Quite Magical. This time I finally felt pretty good, though the cough came back during the run. Even picked things up down the RR and then up and down the Greenway. Slowed up a little when I realized that Dan wanted to pick it up towards the end of the looooooooooong run.
March 29
10mi, 1:07:47 (6:47/mi): Magical Somethingorother. Ran around. Probably thought about doing a workout and then thought better of it. Or maybe that was a different day, I'm not enitrely sure. Anyway, I ran out on the ol' Midtown Greenway and became excited about the ol' Midtown Greenway. But I kept coughing and decided to turn around.
17.5, 2:01:23 (6:56/mi): Hyland Park w/Biz and Dan. Soggy, but lovely. And we picked it up to, like, 4-min pace for, like, the last half of the run. It was really, really easy. There were all kinds of mountains and not many sherpas and it was windy and also extremely early in the morning but also we are very good runners, such that we could complete this run with extreme ease. Felt goodish, finally. Then we ate breakfast, because we're so good at running. Stat for Schrades (Immediately to my Left): The bloggy blogg now records a year's worth of trainaj for Churchie and Schrader. For Churchie, the past calendar year included 2754.5mi, which is more than any other year I've recorded. Other Stats: 254mi in March. Not terrible considering the injury. 801mi so far in 2007, fastest to 800 and 210.5mi ahead of 2006. Viva Year II.
March 30
8mi, 50:47 (6:21/mi): Also Quite Magical. This time I finally felt pretty good, though the cough came back during the run. Even picked things up down the RR and then up and down the Greenway. Slowed up a little when I realized that Dan wanted to pick it up towards the end of the looooooooooong run.
March 29
10mi, 1:07:47 (6:47/mi): Magical Somethingorother. Ran around. Probably thought about doing a workout and then thought better of it. Or maybe that was a different day, I'm not enitrely sure. Anyway, I ran out on the ol' Midtown Greenway and became excited about the ol' Midtown Greenway. But I kept coughing and decided to turn around.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
They Didn't Know The Music Was In My Soul (Baby)
March 28
8mi, 56:04 (7:01/mi): LS8+xtra. Decent considering I have whooping cough. Running on vitamin C and assorted teas.
March 27
12.5mi 1:28:30 (7:05/mi): LSCC+there 'n' back. Nice easy run in the rain. Gave the old pair of shoes early retirement. I'd explain why but it's stupid.
March 26
10mi, 1:06:44 (6:40/mi): Accidental Lasso. Yeah, it was hot. Tried to fartlek. It didn't work that well. 3x5min with 60s recovery. Then things fell apart under the Lake Street bridge. Jogged around aimlessly, accidentally creating a lasso. Heading home I latched on to a kid riding his bike and held the pace for an 800m pick-up. Did the same thing only much shorter with some roller blader a little while later.
8mi, 56:04 (7:01/mi): LS8+xtra. Decent considering I have whooping cough. Running on vitamin C and assorted teas.
March 27
12.5mi 1:28:30 (7:05/mi): LSCC+there 'n' back. Nice easy run in the rain. Gave the old pair of shoes early retirement. I'd explain why but it's stupid.
March 26
10mi, 1:06:44 (6:40/mi): Accidental Lasso. Yeah, it was hot. Tried to fartlek. It didn't work that well. 3x5min with 60s recovery. Then things fell apart under the Lake Street bridge. Jogged around aimlessly, accidentally creating a lasso. Heading home I latched on to a kid riding his bike and held the pace for an 800m pick-up. Did the same thing only much shorter with some roller blader a little while later.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Who The Hell Are You Guys?
March 25
16.5mi, 1:49:40 (6:39/mi): Whatever Schrades Seize. Another epic. It might be accurate to say that we were running from the cold up in New England, but we almost certainly were not running from anything. Especially once Schrades decided just to let it flow free. It would be more accurate to say that we were born to be fiddlers in old time string bands. And so, Northland College, please blame Willie Nelson for encouraging our mothers to discourage us from lives that might involve picking guitars. Who the hell are we? We are doctors and lawyers and such. Where did we come from? Exactly. 
Week: 69mi/6days. No workouts to speak of, but started to feel pretty decent towards the end of the week. Fantastic running in Ashland -- very excited for Woods to Water.
16.5mi, 1:49:40 (6:39/mi): Whatever Schrades Seize. Another epic. It might be accurate to say that we were running from the cold up in New England, but we almost certainly were not running from anything. Especially once Schrades decided just to let it flow free. It would be more accurate to say that we were born to be fiddlers in old time string bands. And so, Northland College, please blame Willie Nelson for encouraging our mothers to discourage us from lives that might involve picking guitars. Who the hell are we? We are doctors and lawyers and such. Where did we come from? Exactly. 
Week: 69mi/6days. No workouts to speak of, but started to feel pretty decent towards the end of the week. Fantastic running in Ashland -- very excited for Woods to Water.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Original Beats
March 24
12.5mi, 1:27:47 (7:01/mi): Zornland. Even beautifuler! Shirtless with the Aerobic Animal around the Oredocker track and then out to the corridor for an out 'n' back on the closing W2W leg. Body better but back still tender...Then brarkfast and syrup boilaj!!!!
March 23
8mi, 52:24 (6:33/mi): LS8+xtra. Absolutely beautiful day; ran shirtless on le river road. Wonderful. Buuuuut, hammys, calves and lower back were very, very tight. Stopped to stretch a lot. Frustrating, but hard to be too upset with this weather.
March 22
12mi, 1:23:28 (6:57/mi): Como+Pierce Butler. First hour or so with Boulder, Dan and Biz, then added on with Biz. To clarify, the add-on was the portion on Pierce Butler. Boulder did not join us for that. I wasn't altogether clear why we joined us for that.
12.5mi, 1:27:47 (7:01/mi): Zornland. Even beautifuler! Shirtless with the Aerobic Animal around the Oredocker track and then out to the corridor for an out 'n' back on the closing W2W leg. Body better but back still tender...Then brarkfast and syrup boilaj!!!! 
March 23
8mi, 52:24 (6:33/mi): LS8+xtra. Absolutely beautiful day; ran shirtless on le river road. Wonderful. Buuuuut, hammys, calves and lower back were very, very tight. Stopped to stretch a lot. Frustrating, but hard to be too upset with this weather.
March 22
12mi, 1:23:28 (6:57/mi): Como+Pierce Butler. First hour or so with Boulder, Dan and Biz, then added on with Biz. To clarify, the add-on was the portion on Pierce Butler. Boulder did not join us for that. I wasn't altogether clear why we joined us for that.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Hey, Hey, Mister Man
March 21
12mi, 1:20:42 (6:44/mi): Como Etc. Ran the first two miles with Boulder and then added on with the intention of doing a workout. Got to Como and picked it up for once around the lake. 9:15, whatever that means. Nothing was sore, but right hamstring and lots of my core felt tight, so I stretched and headed home rather than complete a second loop. Just gotta keep running...
March 20
Day Off. Last day teaching for a little while. And, if you haven't checked out the race Brooksie is running this fall you can get the details here. Meanwhile, Alison will be doing this race in May.
March 19
8mi, 1:00:58 (Boulder Miles): Actually completed this run in AM and PM segments, both with Boulder. The longer involved a jaunt over to Como and getting moderately lost trying not to travel back along the same route.
12mi, 1:20:42 (6:44/mi): Como Etc. Ran the first two miles with Boulder and then added on with the intention of doing a workout. Got to Como and picked it up for once around the lake. 9:15, whatever that means. Nothing was sore, but right hamstring and lots of my core felt tight, so I stretched and headed home rather than complete a second loop. Just gotta keep running...
March 20
Day Off. Last day teaching for a little while. And, if you haven't checked out the race Brooksie is running this fall you can get the details here. Meanwhile, Alison will be doing this race in May.
March 19
8mi, 1:00:58 (Boulder Miles): Actually completed this run in AM and PM segments, both with Boulder. The longer involved a jaunt over to Como and getting moderately lost trying not to travel back along the same route.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
On a Sunday morning sidewalk/I'm wishin', Lord, that I was stoned...
March 18
10mi, Human Race 8K (27:14, 49th Overall): Not much to say about it. 5:20, 5:20, 5:43, 5:32, 5:20ish. The first two miles didn't feel too hard, but all of a sudden my legs were empty and my head was not in the race. Reminiscent of the MN Master's 15K this summer. Extremely frustrating way to open the circuit; time to Get In Gear. And my apologies to Kaluza for finishing lazily until he Got me into Gear over the last 100m. Gigantic Slabbaj Shout-Out to the brodes for his 31s 8K PR, for beating Brady Anderson, and for identifying some of the most relevant concerns about Paps' most recent spring training start.
Week: 55mi. Ok. Compared to last year through the Human Race I've done 110 more miles and at least 3 more workouts. So I'll wait to panic.
10mi, Human Race 8K (27:14, 49th Overall): Not much to say about it. 5:20, 5:20, 5:43, 5:32, 5:20ish. The first two miles didn't feel too hard, but all of a sudden my legs were empty and my head was not in the race. Reminiscent of the MN Master's 15K this summer. Extremely frustrating way to open the circuit; time to Get In Gear. And my apologies to Kaluza for finishing lazily until he Got me into Gear over the last 100m. Gigantic Slabbaj Shout-Out to the brodes for his 31s 8K PR, for beating Brady Anderson, and for identifying some of the most relevant concerns about Paps' most recent spring training start.
Week: 55mi. Ok. Compared to last year through the Human Race I've done 110 more miles and at least 3 more workouts. So I'll wait to panic.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music
March 17
4mi, 30:00 (7:30/mi): Hamline etc. First half with Boulder, second half solo. Felt sluggish. Circuit starts tomorrow! Slabbaj Shout-Out to Le Fromage for his 10k PR, solo on the roads while infirm and stressed about tournament allegories. Tres bien, mon ami!
March 16
8mi, 56:26 (7:03/mi): No Idea. This might have been A&W or something. Someone who ran with me (Biz, Dan (chapel), Phil) should decide. Fun run until we got to Edison and started running 200s. "Eased" in to a 30-hi with Biz on the first. Proceeded to hit 31-mid, 31-lo and 31-flat while Biz broke 30. 8K coming up, by the way...
March 15
10mi, 1:09:20 (6:55ish): Como etc. Nice run with BD and Boulder. Need to pay attention to a hot spot on left shin...
March 14
7mi, 45somethingorother: Lock the gates, Goofey take my hand. Some days, indeed.
March 13
4mi, 27:23 (6:50/mi): Shortcut. Legs tight. Rushed.
4mi, 30:00 (7:30/mi): Hamline etc. First half with Boulder, second half solo. Felt sluggish. Circuit starts tomorrow! Slabbaj Shout-Out to Le Fromage for his 10k PR, solo on the roads while infirm and stressed about tournament allegories. Tres bien, mon ami!
March 16
8mi, 56:26 (7:03/mi): No Idea. This might have been A&W or something. Someone who ran with me (Biz, Dan (chapel), Phil) should decide. Fun run until we got to Edison and started running 200s. "Eased" in to a 30-hi with Biz on the first. Proceeded to hit 31-mid, 31-lo and 31-flat while Biz broke 30. 8K coming up, by the way...
March 15
10mi, 1:09:20 (6:55ish): Como etc. Nice run with BD and Boulder. Need to pay attention to a hot spot on left shin...
March 14
7mi, 45somethingorother: Lock the gates, Goofey take my hand. Some days, indeed.
March 13
4mi, 27:23 (6:50/mi): Shortcut. Legs tight. Rushed.
Monday, March 12, 2007
One is for the money and two is for the gangsta
March 12
12mi, 1:19:49 (Hills): 2mi WU, 8xParkway Hill, 2mi CD. 2:38, :38, :35, :33, :29, :29, :25, :24. Excellent wkout, all things considered. Totally thought this was going to be zee Baz Judd, and we're talkin' totally here. But le Fromage gave me zee cheezy eenzpirazion. Lotz of zee zand on zee hill, zo zee form (not zee from) became zee focus. Extended zee stride and stayed, how you zaye, relaxed in me khaks, no? Zees ees, how you zaye, charactairrre conflazione? Roysh.
12mi, 1:19:49 (Hills): 2mi WU, 8xParkway Hill, 2mi CD. 2:38, :38, :35, :33, :29, :29, :25, :24. Excellent wkout, all things considered. Totally thought this was going to be zee Baz Judd, and we're talkin' totally here. But le Fromage gave me zee cheezy eenzpirazion. Lotz of zee zand on zee hill, zo zee form (not zee from) became zee focus. Extended zee stride and stayed, how you zaye, relaxed in me khaks, no? Zees ees, how you zaye, charactairrre conflazione? Roysh.
I still hear guitars in the air as we sat in the sand...
March 11
8mi, 51:35 (6:27/mi): LS8+xtra. Everything felt as normal as it ever does. (Happy Birthday, Jill McKiernan!)
Week: 35mi/5days. I get fragile at high(er) volume. Need to take care of myself a little better so that I can string a few of these 75+ weeks together...
March 10
10mi, Lake Johanna 4mi (21:47/2nd): 2mi WU w/Gehring. Race Splits: 5:26, :28, :33, :18. 4mi CD. Treated this as a workout. My goal was to run within myself, feel comfortable and to back off if my groin started to flare-up. I hadn't done anything fast in about two weeks, so this was a good wake-up call for my body a week ahead of the Human Race. Digger took off in 5:05 for the first mile and I had no interest or business following him. Effort was comfortable and easy until just before the 3-mile mark, which comes at the end of a gigantic uphill. I started to get a stitch over the last mile and finished feeling humbled by the time. Overall, though, a decent day.
March 9
8mi, 50:47 (6:21/mi): LS8+xtra. Again, no pain. Very nice weather, and refreshing to be running on solid surfaces. Threw in some accells of various paces and distances to see if it hurt to run fast. Success on that count. Did one ~1000m interval at about 3:20 (based on a marked 800m on the river road) and found it to be much more difficult than it should be.
March 8
5mi, 33:45 (6:45/mi): West Side Five. No pain at all, but I was a little nervous about pushing things past 5mi. Also felt very sluggish after so much no-or-slow running. (Happy Birthday, Mom!)
March 7
Day Off. Tried to go out for a test run, but ice made it impossible to do much of anything. Ran for about 10-11min and felt OK on the few sections where I had traction and could take a normal stride. Wherever it was icy (most places) and I had to clip or adjust my stride I could feel it. Frustrated. More stretching/icing.
March 6
Day Off. Stretching/icing.
March 5
4mi, 32:39 (8:08/mi): Shortcut. Everything was much improved after a fridgid Sunday ice bath, except my groin. That was better than yesterday, but I felt it walking around and it was a persistent dull ache during this slog. Exceptionally icy sidewalks/streets didn't help. Lots of stretching/icing after.
8mi, 51:35 (6:27/mi): LS8+xtra. Everything felt as normal as it ever does. (Happy Birthday, Jill McKiernan!)
Week: 35mi/5days. I get fragile at high(er) volume. Need to take care of myself a little better so that I can string a few of these 75+ weeks together...
March 10
10mi, Lake Johanna 4mi (21:47/2nd): 2mi WU w/Gehring. Race Splits: 5:26, :28, :33, :18. 4mi CD. Treated this as a workout. My goal was to run within myself, feel comfortable and to back off if my groin started to flare-up. I hadn't done anything fast in about two weeks, so this was a good wake-up call for my body a week ahead of the Human Race. Digger took off in 5:05 for the first mile and I had no interest or business following him. Effort was comfortable and easy until just before the 3-mile mark, which comes at the end of a gigantic uphill. I started to get a stitch over the last mile and finished feeling humbled by the time. Overall, though, a decent day.
March 9
8mi, 50:47 (6:21/mi): LS8+xtra. Again, no pain. Very nice weather, and refreshing to be running on solid surfaces. Threw in some accells of various paces and distances to see if it hurt to run fast. Success on that count. Did one ~1000m interval at about 3:20 (based on a marked 800m on the river road) and found it to be much more difficult than it should be.
March 8
5mi, 33:45 (6:45/mi): West Side Five. No pain at all, but I was a little nervous about pushing things past 5mi. Also felt very sluggish after so much no-or-slow running. (Happy Birthday, Mom!)
March 7
Day Off. Tried to go out for a test run, but ice made it impossible to do much of anything. Ran for about 10-11min and felt OK on the few sections where I had traction and could take a normal stride. Wherever it was icy (most places) and I had to clip or adjust my stride I could feel it. Frustrated. More stretching/icing.
March 6
Day Off. Stretching/icing.
March 5
4mi, 32:39 (8:08/mi): Shortcut. Everything was much improved after a fridgid Sunday ice bath, except my groin. That was better than yesterday, but I felt it walking around and it was a persistent dull ache during this slog. Exceptionally icy sidewalks/streets didn't help. Lots of stretching/icing after.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Up on the 101
March 4
2mi shakeout. Hip flexors. Groin. Quads. Back. Impossibly sore. Lots of stretching and icing.
Week: 62mi/6days. Decent considering all the winter, and the additional 6-8mi of x-training. Except that now I need to heal.
March 3
8mi, 57:05 (7:08/mi): LS8+xtra. Decent run...legs a little wobbly. Ah, who am I kidding. I was fatigued. From yesterday's mystery tour, yes. But moreso from a ridiculous hour or so attempting to ski...with Biz. It's almost like he never sent me an email telling me to take it easy...
March 2
18mi, 2:02:38 (6:49/mi): Magical Mystery Tour. And while it was magical, it was also with Biz. And THAT only occurred to me after I was half an hour from home 90min in to the run.
March 1
Day Off. Winter. You're not going to believe this, but Biz told me to take it easy.
2mi shakeout. Hip flexors. Groin. Quads. Back. Impossibly sore. Lots of stretching and icing.
Week: 62mi/6days. Decent considering all the winter, and the additional 6-8mi of x-training. Except that now I need to heal.
March 3
8mi, 57:05 (7:08/mi): LS8+xtra. Decent run...legs a little wobbly. Ah, who am I kidding. I was fatigued. From yesterday's mystery tour, yes. But moreso from a ridiculous hour or so attempting to ski...with Biz. It's almost like he never sent me an email telling me to take it easy...
March 2
18mi, 2:02:38 (6:49/mi): Magical Mystery Tour. And while it was magical, it was also with Biz. And THAT only occurred to me after I was half an hour from home 90min in to the run.
March 1
Day Off. Winter. You're not going to believe this, but Biz told me to take it easy.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Do you think you could answer all the questions of the world/in just one word -- I think you could
February 28
PM: 12mi, 1:17:06 (6:26/mi): LS8 into Shortcut Reverse Extended. Felt MUCH better. Legs are fatigued from the volume, but they felt much looser after the morning shakeout and some stretching. Built to a quick pace and finished with Shortcut reverse close to 10min faster than it was this morning. Stat For Schrades: 257mi in February is a PR for the month, beating February of 2002 by 21.5mi.
AM: 4mi, so long it would take too long to type: Shortcut. Exceptionally slow (over 8:00/mi) and fairly painful, but I thought it would be the best way to stretch my shins.
PM: 12mi, 1:17:06 (6:26/mi): LS8 into Shortcut Reverse Extended. Felt MUCH better. Legs are fatigued from the volume, but they felt much looser after the morning shakeout and some stretching. Built to a quick pace and finished with Shortcut reverse close to 10min faster than it was this morning. Stat For Schrades: 257mi in February is a PR for the month, beating February of 2002 by 21.5mi.
AM: 4mi, so long it would take too long to type: Shortcut. Exceptionally slow (over 8:00/mi) and fairly painful, but I thought it would be the best way to stretch my shins.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
We Eatin' Mangoes In Trinidad With Attorneys
February 27
10mi, 1:04:10 (6:25/mi): Stone Arch-Lake+xtra. Rushed before teaching. Can't remember if I've named this run. The calves and the shins were sort of wincing the night away.
February 26
8mi, 59:39 (7:27/mi): LS8+xtra. Blech. Roads were actually pretty good, but legs were shot. Then Ben Maiyo told me that it's not good to push all the time. I like him.
10mi, 1:04:10 (6:25/mi): Stone Arch-Lake+xtra. Rushed before teaching. Can't remember if I've named this run. The calves and the shins were sort of wincing the night away.
February 26
8mi, 59:39 (7:27/mi): LS8+xtra. Blech. Roads were actually pretty good, but legs were shot. Then Ben Maiyo told me that it's not good to push all the time. I like him.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Southern [Minnesota] wants to be western New York
February 25
11.5mi, 1:28:03 (7:39/mi): Back from Uptown + Shortcut. Another snowy run. Shins a little sore from yesterday's snow-slow. Deliberately fatigued the legs a little bit by occasionally choosing roads less travelled by. Not the long run I was hoping for, but I wasn't smart enough to think of finding a parking garage.
Week: 76mi/6days. Stat for Schrades: Mileage PR for a six day week, edging 8/12-8/18 of 2002 by half a mile. So I can't be too disappointed.
February 24
PM: 5mi, 40:32 (snow): Fun run to Uptown, slogging through the snow.
AM: 12mi, 1:25:54 (7:09/mmi): PPHC Tour + LS8. Good easy run over some icy streets. Then food. Yummm!
11.5mi, 1:28:03 (7:39/mi): Back from Uptown + Shortcut. Another snowy run. Shins a little sore from yesterday's snow-slow. Deliberately fatigued the legs a little bit by occasionally choosing roads less travelled by. Not the long run I was hoping for, but I wasn't smart enough to think of finding a parking garage.
Week: 76mi/6days. Stat for Schrades: Mileage PR for a six day week, edging 8/12-8/18 of 2002 by half a mile. So I can't be too disappointed.
February 24
PM: 5mi, 40:32 (snow): Fun run to Uptown, slogging through the snow.
AM: 12mi, 1:25:54 (7:09/mmi): PPHC Tour + LS8. Good easy run over some icy streets. Then food. Yummm!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Sounds like 1963, but for now sounds like heaven
February 23
13mi, 1:22:30ish (wkout): 26min WU to Nicollet Island. 4xmile in 5:18, :22, :19, :25. 33:30 CD. Recovered 73s, 72s and 85s. Did mine about 3 or 4 hours after Biz did his. First two felt pretty smooth and controlled, but compensating for extreme wind caught up with me midway through the third and I was at what felt like a molasses top-end on the fourth. Spent some time clutching my knees before heading home. Tough wkout on a tough day. Biz didn't explain that the wind, somehow, managed to be in your face much more than it's not (including during the entire last 1/2mi) even though this is a loop. May it take your troubles away.
13mi, 1:22:30ish (wkout): 26min WU to Nicollet Island. 4xmile in 5:18, :22, :19, :25. 33:30 CD. Recovered 73s, 72s and 85s. Did mine about 3 or 4 hours after Biz did his. First two felt pretty smooth and controlled, but compensating for extreme wind caught up with me midway through the third and I was at what felt like a molasses top-end on the fourth. Spent some time clutching my knees before heading home. Tough wkout on a tough day. Biz didn't explain that the wind, somehow, managed to be in your face much more than it's not (including during the entire last 1/2mi) even though this is a loop. May it take your troubles away.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
There Are Nights When I Think That Sal Paradise Was Right
February 22
8mi, 55:19 (7:02/mi): LS8+xtra. Legs a little tender. She was a damn good dancer.
February 21
14.5mi, 1:36:17 (6:37/mi): Fishing Line. Around the lakes and back through downtown, car drop off. Dark. Thought about complex structures.
February 20
Day Off. Busy.
8mi, 55:19 (7:02/mi): LS8+xtra. Legs a little tender. She was a damn good dancer.
February 21
14.5mi, 1:36:17 (6:37/mi): Fishing Line. Around the lakes and back through downtown, car drop off. Dark. Thought about complex structures.
February 20
Day Off. Busy.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Clouds of her own, na na na-na
February 19
12mi, 1:11:38 (5:58/mi): Washington-Ford. 60min @ tempo. 1mi WU, 4:30 CD. Very good workout, although I was feeling prouder before I checked Biz's post. 10+, and as much as 10.5 on the tempo portion, feeling relatively relaxed until the last 2-3min when I decided to pick it up. Hit what I had been thinking was the 10mi mark in about 57 and change. Lovely weather definitely helps...
12mi, 1:11:38 (5:58/mi): Washington-Ford. 60min @ tempo. 1mi WU, 4:30 CD. Very good workout, although I was feeling prouder before I checked Biz's post. 10+, and as much as 10.5 on the tempo portion, feeling relatively relaxed until the last 2-3min when I decided to pick it up. Hit what I had been thinking was the 10mi mark in about 57 and change. Lovely weather definitely helps...
I Hear In My Mind/All Of This Music
February 18
5mi, 31:34 (6:19/mi): West Side Five. Decided mileage wasn't going to salvage the week, but then ran too hard. Most of the too hard came during a 2-2.5mi stretch where I was drafting on someone in a yellow hat listening to an iPod. I still find the combination vexing.
Week: 35.5mi/4days. Not happy with the 3 days off, but no longer especially unhappy, either. Still on track for Grandma's, and not off track for The Human Race.
February 17
11.5mi, 1:16:04 (6:36/mi): Whatever Hooley Called It. We didn't run where we couldn't, and we tried to stay out of too much trouble with Rush. Hooley explained about identity, and about how his was The Guy Who Just Lost to Church in the Bruce Springsteen Pushup Workout.
February 16
14mi, 1:31:32 (6:32/mi): Fishouse + PPHC exploration. Good run with Hooley. Felt much better than I did earlier in the week.
February 15
Day Off.
February 14
Day Off.
5mi, 31:34 (6:19/mi): West Side Five. Decided mileage wasn't going to salvage the week, but then ran too hard. Most of the too hard came during a 2-2.5mi stretch where I was drafting on someone in a yellow hat listening to an iPod. I still find the combination vexing.
Week: 35.5mi/4days. Not happy with the 3 days off, but no longer especially unhappy, either. Still on track for Grandma's, and not off track for The Human Race.
February 17
11.5mi, 1:16:04 (6:36/mi): Whatever Hooley Called It. We didn't run where we couldn't, and we tried to stay out of too much trouble with Rush. Hooley explained about identity, and about how his was The Guy Who Just Lost to Church in the Bruce Springsteen Pushup Workout.
February 16
14mi, 1:31:32 (6:32/mi): Fishouse + PPHC exploration. Good run with Hooley. Felt much better than I did earlier in the week.
February 15
Day Off.
February 14
Day Off.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
But you're still lyin'/ in sleep songs and I'm tryin'/ to feel your heart
February 13
5mi, 33:12 (6:38/mi): West Side Five. Ugh.
February 12
Day Off. Lots of walking. And more donuts.
February 11
PM: 3.5mi, 21:55 (it's less than 4mi...): Seattle Center Shakeout. Ran through a fountain in the rain. Made friends with the teenagers who evidently had just completed the same.
AM: 4mi, 28:47 (7:12/mi): Bandit Seawall. Ran into the First Half Vancouver 1/2M and followed the last couple of miles behind some dudes finishing around 1:30, then ran back and found Jessica also following the course. This is a gorgeous course; top places match up well with times from Bjorklund on the men's side, women's race won in 1:15ish last year; and it fills up in 4 days. I only felt slightly better about missing most of it when I learned that last point...
Week: 61.5/6 days. So-so. Would have liked to have done more running in Seattle and Vancouver, but I did respectably and my legs were a little shot from all the walking. But this did throw me off schedule, so I'll be taking another look at what I want to do with the next five weeks before The Human Race.
February 10
PM: 6.5mi, 45:10 (6:57/mi): Vancouver Seawall. Beautiful run into Stanley Park in Vancouver. Saw a fox run out on the chilly night. With chilly meaning not chilly. Fox was confessing and bringing the flood. Or, at least the rain, which was scarce before his arrival.
AM: 5.5mi, 37:24 (Ask Paul): Once around Greenlake pre-breakfast. For those interested, Paul should make the team so long as he continues to direct deserving parties to exceptional donuts.
February 9
12mi, 1:20:09 (6:41/mi): The Modified Tops Extended. Lovely run with Pauuuuuul Anderson around Greenlake, the destination for the pair of runners in my favorite Seattle radio commercial. Did not notice if they made it because I was busy a) confiscating the desktop computer Paul straps to his wrist for every run, b) telling the foolish 6 year olds suggesting that some ambiguous "we" should do an even more ambiguous "something" about global warming that they'd better march their environmental gospel far away from this Church and c) administering Paul's tryout for the SCRC 2007 W2W throw downaj squad.
February 8
PM: 7mi, 50:00 (7:09/mi): LS8. Warmer, but rushed after work and before packing/flight/etc.
AM: 4mi, Untimed (Watches Freeze at Absolute Zero): Shortcut. Very early ahead of a long day.
February 7
10mi, 1:08:58 (6:54/mi): Brrr-8-O Extend-O. Sometimes when it's cold outside, puns and burritos get me motivated. Ran around until I got cold, then a couple laps inside the Washington Ave bridge, then to Chipotle. Then Extend-O.
February 6
9mi, 1:04:16 (7:08/mi): It Makes A 9. Crappy run. Cold. And it doesn't actually make a 9.
February 5
Day Off. The sky [was] falling.
5mi, 33:12 (6:38/mi): West Side Five. Ugh.
February 12
Day Off. Lots of walking. And more donuts.
February 11
PM: 3.5mi, 21:55 (it's less than 4mi...): Seattle Center Shakeout. Ran through a fountain in the rain. Made friends with the teenagers who evidently had just completed the same.
AM: 4mi, 28:47 (7:12/mi): Bandit Seawall. Ran into the First Half Vancouver 1/2M and followed the last couple of miles behind some dudes finishing around 1:30, then ran back and found Jessica also following the course. This is a gorgeous course; top places match up well with times from Bjorklund on the men's side, women's race won in 1:15ish last year; and it fills up in 4 days. I only felt slightly better about missing most of it when I learned that last point...
Week: 61.5/6 days. So-so. Would have liked to have done more running in Seattle and Vancouver, but I did respectably and my legs were a little shot from all the walking. But this did throw me off schedule, so I'll be taking another look at what I want to do with the next five weeks before The Human Race.
February 10
PM: 6.5mi, 45:10 (6:57/mi): Vancouver Seawall. Beautiful run into Stanley Park in Vancouver. Saw a fox run out on the chilly night. With chilly meaning not chilly. Fox was confessing and bringing the flood. Or, at least the rain, which was scarce before his arrival.
AM: 5.5mi, 37:24 (Ask Paul): Once around Greenlake pre-breakfast. For those interested, Paul should make the team so long as he continues to direct deserving parties to exceptional donuts.
February 9
12mi, 1:20:09 (6:41/mi): The Modified Tops Extended. Lovely run with Pauuuuuul Anderson around Greenlake, the destination for the pair of runners in my favorite Seattle radio commercial. Did not notice if they made it because I was busy a) confiscating the desktop computer Paul straps to his wrist for every run, b) telling the foolish 6 year olds suggesting that some ambiguous "we" should do an even more ambiguous "something" about global warming that they'd better march their environmental gospel far away from this Church and c) administering Paul's tryout for the SCRC 2007 W2W throw downaj squad.
February 8
PM: 7mi, 50:00 (7:09/mi): LS8. Warmer, but rushed after work and before packing/flight/etc.
AM: 4mi, Untimed (Watches Freeze at Absolute Zero): Shortcut. Very early ahead of a long day.
February 7
10mi, 1:08:58 (6:54/mi): Brrr-8-O Extend-O. Sometimes when it's cold outside, puns and burritos get me motivated. Ran around until I got cold, then a couple laps inside the Washington Ave bridge, then to Chipotle. Then Extend-O.
February 6
9mi, 1:04:16 (7:08/mi): It Makes A 9. Crappy run. Cold. And it doesn't actually make a 9.
February 5
Day Off. The sky [was] falling.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Tell it to me
February 4
16mi, 1:45:32 (6:36/mi): Carleton Rec Ctr. Aprx 60min WU w/Dan & some of Jessica's workout. Then 16x200m, 200m jog recovery, CD. Felt good, OK on the 200s. The last few started to feel a little long.
Week: 80mi.
February 3
12mi, 1:22:30 (6:52/mi): Treadmill 12. Biz didn't join me for some reason.
February 2
10mi, 1:06:45 (6:40/mi): LS8 into Shortcut Reverse. Easy like Nick Mascioli.
16mi, 1:45:32 (6:36/mi): Carleton Rec Ctr. Aprx 60min WU w/Dan & some of Jessica's workout. Then 16x200m, 200m jog recovery, CD. Felt good, OK on the 200s. The last few started to feel a little long.
Week: 80mi.
February 3
12mi, 1:22:30 (6:52/mi): Treadmill 12. Biz didn't join me for some reason.
February 2
10mi, 1:06:45 (6:40/mi): LS8 into Shortcut Reverse. Easy like Nick Mascioli.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
So we came to February
February 1
12mi, 1:22:58 (6:55/mi): LS8 into Shortcut Reverse Extended. There was a pretty night sky squeaking underfoot through February eyes. Felt like that. Go like this. Stat for Schrades: 290mi in January is a PR total for the month, nipping 2006 by 5mi.
12mi, 1:22:58 (6:55/mi): LS8 into Shortcut Reverse Extended. There was a pretty night sky squeaking underfoot through February eyes. Felt like that. Go like this. Stat for Schrades: 290mi in January is a PR total for the month, nipping 2006 by 5mi.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
No, this is how it works
January 31
10mi, 1:15:58, (7:36/mi): LSCC+there 'n' back. Nice easy run after two days of relatively fast running. Lovely company as Biz describes.
January 30
8mi, 50:00, (6:15/mi): Treadmill/IT 8. Long day. Late night run. Finished fast. 'Nuff said.
10mi, 1:15:58, (7:36/mi): LSCC+there 'n' back. Nice easy run after two days of relatively fast running. Lovely company as Biz describes.
January 30
8mi, 50:00, (6:15/mi): Treadmill/IT 8. Long day. Late night run. Finished fast. 'Nuff said.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Drunk is my new sober/has been since October
January 29
12mi, 1:13:35 (6:08/mi): Washington-Ford. Finally got a tempo run to work! Ran quick-but-easy on a 24+ min warm up and built up to a haulin' pace for about 44min and cooled down for the last 5min. Felt strong. Cold coming back into the wind.
12mi, 1:13:35 (6:08/mi): Washington-Ford. Finally got a tempo run to work! Ran quick-but-easy on a 24+ min warm up and built up to a haulin' pace for about 44min and cooled down for the last 5min. Felt strong. Cold coming back into the wind.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Six-Fingered/Man Alive!/How'd I ever get along with five?
January 28
16mi, 1:47:08 (6:42/mi): MTPO augmented up river. Good run with Biz. Felt relatively strong. Very cold, but at least it wasn't as windy as yesterday...
Week: 70mi/6days. Slabbaj Shout-Out to Marie Brandewiede for making it to about 5 different cheering spots on the point to point 3M Austin 1/2M while Schof was motoring along en route to his 1:09:27.
16mi, 1:47:08 (6:42/mi): MTPO augmented up river. Good run with Biz. Felt relatively strong. Very cold, but at least it wasn't as windy as yesterday...
Week: 70mi/6days. Slabbaj Shout-Out to Marie Brandewiede for making it to about 5 different cheering spots on the point to point 3M Austin 1/2M while Schof was motoring along en route to his 1:09:27.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Somebody stole my shoes/but there's a couplea bananas and a bottle of booze
January 27
10mi, 1:09:27 (6:57?/mi): Lakes etc. I would describe this run but the wind would probably blow the words right off the screen. I remember that my face was cold.
January 26
PM: 8mi, 52:12 (dunno): Isles + Calhoun + xtra. Legs worn out from a long day. Dealt with it by running pretty quick on a warm, windy night. Possibly a little longer than 8 by that measure...
AM: 4mi, 30:17 (7:34/mi): Shortcut. The 6:30am stumble, pre-course.
January 25
12mi, 1:20:03 (6:40something/mi): Hennepin-Lake + xtra. New Shoes!!! And the best run in a couple weeks. Some foot soreness from the new kicks, but everything else felt relatively smooth. Encouraging. Finished with an inadvertent 4ish mi uptempo.
January 24
10mi, 1:04:25 (dunno, something like 6:27/mi): Ford-Franklin + xtra. Terrible run. 1mi WU, 24min@tempo, CD. Shins cramped from the first steps of the uptempo portion and got gradually worse until I could no longer push-off. Stopped to stretch after about 19min but it didn't do much. Frustrating, but I think it's just the shoes.
January 23
Day Off
10mi, 1:09:27 (6:57?/mi): Lakes etc. I would describe this run but the wind would probably blow the words right off the screen. I remember that my face was cold.
January 26
PM: 8mi, 52:12 (dunno): Isles + Calhoun + xtra. Legs worn out from a long day. Dealt with it by running pretty quick on a warm, windy night. Possibly a little longer than 8 by that measure...
AM: 4mi, 30:17 (7:34/mi): Shortcut. The 6:30am stumble, pre-course.
January 25
12mi, 1:20:03 (6:40something/mi): Hennepin-Lake + xtra. New Shoes!!! And the best run in a couple weeks. Some foot soreness from the new kicks, but everything else felt relatively smooth. Encouraging. Finished with an inadvertent 4ish mi uptempo.
January 24
10mi, 1:04:25 (dunno, something like 6:27/mi): Ford-Franklin + xtra. Terrible run. 1mi WU, 24min@tempo, CD. Shins cramped from the first steps of the uptempo portion and got gradually worse until I could no longer push-off. Stopped to stretch after about 19min but it didn't do much. Frustrating, but I think it's just the shoes.
January 23
Day Off
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
"But many Americans cannot afford a health insurance policy." -Bush
And yet, somehow, "For all other Americans ['cept the eldery, disabled, and the urchins] private health insurance is the best way to meet their needs."
Today I ran with Nick for about a half hour, from the downtown over by Les Isles.
Yesterday I did an out to Tom's house, then came back and ate iced-cream. Slept fitfully, given the professed state of this here union. My compensation professor assured us today that pretty much no one has any idea what Bush was getting at with the tax cut health benefit thing.
Day before that (I won't say which day) was Monday and I did "the post office pretty close to my house slightly extended"
On the 7th day I rested
On Saturday I ran when I got back to the cities with Biz, it was a good one. Now that I think about it, I remember posting about the "rocky stairs" already so that means I must now be up to date.
Today I ran with Nick for about a half hour, from the downtown over by Les Isles.
Yesterday I did an out to Tom's house, then came back and ate iced-cream. Slept fitfully, given the professed state of this here union. My compensation professor assured us today that pretty much no one has any idea what Bush was getting at with the tax cut health benefit thing.
Day before that (I won't say which day) was Monday and I did "the post office pretty close to my house slightly extended"
On the 7th day I rested
On Saturday I ran when I got back to the cities with Biz, it was a good one. Now that I think about it, I remember posting about the "rocky stairs" already so that means I must now be up to date.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Seven Spanish Angels
January 22
10mi, wkout: 4x1600m @ T, 200m jog recovery. 5:27, :25, :26, :22. At the U fieldhouse, and all that implies. Legs felt ragged and tight. Not great but decent considering the last week. Almost time to visit the shoe-man.
January 21
6mi, 46:05 (7:48/mi): Four Lakes loop. Nice and easy with Riles and Sherman over fresh snow. 1xsprint from the L to Midway.
Week: 70mi. On schedule...legs feeling a little banged up.
10mi, wkout: 4x1600m @ T, 200m jog recovery. 5:27, :25, :26, :22. At the U fieldhouse, and all that implies. Legs felt ragged and tight. Not great but decent considering the last week. Almost time to visit the shoe-man.
January 21
6mi, 46:05 (7:48/mi): Four Lakes loop. Nice and easy with Riles and Sherman over fresh snow. 1xsprint from the L to Midway.
Week: 70mi. On schedule...legs feeling a little banged up.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
What Did Ziggy Play?
January 20
14.5mi, 1:44:30 (7:12/mi): Four Lakes etc, first loop with Riles and Sherm, second loop minus Riles, third loop solo. Did not enjoy the third loop.
14.5mi, 1:44:30 (7:12/mi): Four Lakes etc, first loop with Riles and Sherm, second loop minus Riles, third loop solo. Did not enjoy the third loop.
Great with a Sandwich and Chips
Today: Ran with Biz down and over to the left, then across the U of M bridge and back over the Stone Arch, up the Rocky stairs and back through the side streets. Just over an hour all told.
Yesterday: Ole 8 from downtown Northfield with Steve.
Day before that: Ran down to the U to pick up my bus pass, ran back, showered, rode the bus to the U.
Yesterday: Ole 8 from downtown Northfield with Steve.
Day before that: Ran down to the U to pick up my bus pass, ran back, showered, rode the bus to the U.
Turn the lights off, carry me home.
January 19
12mi, 1:17:23 (6:27/mi): 3xPPHC. Untimed, because who am I but merely mortal against this Hill of hills? Some 8 year old kid walking home with a backpack started racing me while I was cooling down. He lost interest when he realized I was not, um, gaining on him. Still a little unsure on how the course finishes, so I took three different routes up the final ascent. Route #2 turned into not-a-route-at-all about 10 or 15 feet from the finish...leaving me crawling through the snow to the Witch's Hat. But. Much more fun than 200s. Arneson joined me for the first half of #1 but turned off. Next time I may try to avoid rush hour...Oh, and that turn onto Malcom is absolutely brutal.
January 18
9mi, 1:05:34 (7:17/mi): Skyline Nine with Biz and Gehring. Good easy run.
January 17
12mi, 1:17:46 (6:29/mi): Washington-Ford. 43:19 @ tempo (6min pace, 7+mi). Felt much smoother than last week, but things stopped working after I crossed Ford. Slanty street, icy surface, dark = empty legs and side stitch. Winter workouts...
12mi, 1:17:23 (6:27/mi): 3xPPHC. Untimed, because who am I but merely mortal against this Hill of hills? Some 8 year old kid walking home with a backpack started racing me while I was cooling down. He lost interest when he realized I was not, um, gaining on him. Still a little unsure on how the course finishes, so I took three different routes up the final ascent. Route #2 turned into not-a-route-at-all about 10 or 15 feet from the finish...leaving me crawling through the snow to the Witch's Hat. But. Much more fun than 200s. Arneson joined me for the first half of #1 but turned off. Next time I may try to avoid rush hour...Oh, and that turn onto Malcom is absolutely brutal.
January 18
9mi, 1:05:34 (7:17/mi): Skyline Nine with Biz and Gehring. Good easy run.
January 17
12mi, 1:17:46 (6:29/mi): Washington-Ford. 43:19 @ tempo (6min pace, 7+mi). Felt much smoother than last week, but things stopped working after I crossed Ford. Slanty street, icy surface, dark = empty legs and side stitch. Winter workouts...
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Damned if you do, Damned if you don't.
Today: Nice night run. BBB&B (Big Blue Bridge and Back). 'bout an hour. Winter nights are so beautiful.
Yesterday: Chunked around the golf course. Henry Ford was a bastard.
Day before that: Quick run with Tom, Sherman, Ghering, Biz and Chapel.
Day before that would have been, un, Sunday: Don't think I ran. I was down in Northfield. I didn't run in the morning. I got home and went to a potluck one of the Wobblies was putting on. The Wobblies are not bastards.
Saturday: I ran with Chapel, as I recall. Lets see... I got back from Indiana on Friday night so Saturday must have been when we ran Chapel's new "Hey we could just run north and then turn around run." And I thought Joel was boring.
Friday: I don't remember running when I got back into town.
Yesterday: Chunked around the golf course. Henry Ford was a bastard.
Day before that: Quick run with Tom, Sherman, Ghering, Biz and Chapel.
Day before that would have been, un, Sunday: Don't think I ran. I was down in Northfield. I didn't run in the morning. I got home and went to a potluck one of the Wobblies was putting on. The Wobblies are not bastards.
Saturday: I ran with Chapel, as I recall. Lets see... I got back from Indiana on Friday night so Saturday must have been when we ran Chapel's new "Hey we could just run north and then turn around run." And I thought Joel was boring.
Friday: I don't remember running when I got back into town.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
All Along The Watchtower
January 16
6mi, 39:20 (6:33/mi): West Side Five + PPHC, sorta. Felt good, but had to squeeze the run between work and teaching. Gald to get it done, because all training now is building towards the Fourth Annual Prospect Park Hill Climb. As Hooley observes, you will all be running. I picked up the pace for approximately the last 2.055mi of the run to get a feel for the course. Sadly, I turned on Seymore instead of onto the bike path after the bridge over 94, and so did not get a very precise read. I will probably be running the course on a daily basis, however, and will be happy to lead tours as soon as I become more comfortable with the route. From what I have been able to gather from this preliminary run, The Hill is only one of myriad challenges presented by the PPHC. Another, obviously, is the impressive competition. But this event also requires strength and dexterity to avoid oncoming traffic and to negotiate icy, treacherous roadways and sidewalks. Given all of this and also considering my greenhorn status, I am especially proud to have bested the current women's course record. I don't expect it to happen every time I'm out there, but I'll take victory as it comes. And with the PPHC's new Women's Elite Athlete Coordinator I don't expect to enjoy anything similar in 2008. Viva 12/31/07!
6mi, 39:20 (6:33/mi): West Side Five + PPHC, sorta. Felt good, but had to squeeze the run between work and teaching. Gald to get it done, because all training now is building towards the Fourth Annual Prospect Park Hill Climb. As Hooley observes, you will all be running. I picked up the pace for approximately the last 2.055mi of the run to get a feel for the course. Sadly, I turned on Seymore instead of onto the bike path after the bridge over 94, and so did not get a very precise read. I will probably be running the course on a daily basis, however, and will be happy to lead tours as soon as I become more comfortable with the route. From what I have been able to gather from this preliminary run, The Hill is only one of myriad challenges presented by the PPHC. Another, obviously, is the impressive competition. But this event also requires strength and dexterity to avoid oncoming traffic and to negotiate icy, treacherous roadways and sidewalks. Given all of this and also considering my greenhorn status, I am especially proud to have bested the current women's course record. I don't expect it to happen every time I'm out there, but I'll take victory as it comes. And with the PPHC's new Women's Elite Athlete Coordinator I don't expect to enjoy anything similar in 2008. Viva 12/31/07!
Monday, January 15, 2007
You can tell me any/thing that you want 'cept 'I started seein Jenny.'
January 15
10.5mi, 1:16:09 (7:15/mi): NE via Condoland + WF20 without the hills. Interesting, V8-infused run. But legs felt better. And company was improved over the last few days. Gehring, Sherm, Schrad-rhad, Biz and Dan...
10.5mi, 1:16:09 (7:15/mi): NE via Condoland + WF20 without the hills. Interesting, V8-infused run. But legs felt better. And company was improved over the last few days. Gehring, Sherm, Schrad-rhad, Biz and Dan...
Sunday, January 14, 2007
If I Ever Get Home to Houston Alive...
January 14
8mi, 52:23 (whatever): LS8+xtra. Sluggish but fine. Warmer than, ya know, when it wasn't so warm.
Week: 60mi/6 days. As planned, but need to start hydrating and stretching more. And a Slabbaj Shout-Out to, well, it's pretty obvious.
January 13
14mi, 1:34:24 (reasonable): Fishouse Extended. Pretty cold on the way out, much better on the way home. Enjoyed an encounter with a heckler, wherein I stopped to ask exactly what his thinking was when yelling "Run Forrest, Run!" Learned, sincerely, that it's from this movie. Guess I'll have to check that out.
January 12
8mi, 52:30, (unreasonable): 2up, 4xWRR Hill, 2down. -8 windchill sent me home before I'd finished the planned 8hills. Welcome back, winter.
8mi, 52:23 (whatever): LS8+xtra. Sluggish but fine. Warmer than, ya know, when it wasn't so warm.
Week: 60mi/6 days. As planned, but need to start hydrating and stretching more. And a Slabbaj Shout-Out to, well, it's pretty obvious.
January 13
14mi, 1:34:24 (reasonable): Fishouse Extended. Pretty cold on the way out, much better on the way home. Enjoyed an encounter with a heckler, wherein I stopped to ask exactly what his thinking was when yelling "Run Forrest, Run!" Learned, sincerely, that it's from this movie. Guess I'll have to check that out.
January 12
8mi, 52:30, (unreasonable): 2up, 4xWRR Hill, 2down. -8 windchill sent me home before I'd finished the planned 8hills. Welcome back, winter.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
F-U-G-E. E. Get the CD from Sam Goody.
January 11
10mi, 1:13:17 (7:20/mi): MTPO Reverse. Loooooovely easy run with Biz and Smerch. Biz can correct me on the spelling. IT better. Legs still a little tight. Nothing some mangoes in Trinidad with attorneys can't cure. You can tell by the way I roll...
10mi, 1:13:17 (7:20/mi): MTPO Reverse. Loooooovely easy run with Biz and Smerch. Biz can correct me on the spelling. IT better. Legs still a little tight. Nothing some mangoes in Trinidad with attorneys can't cure. You can tell by the way I roll...
Magellan
yesterday: super hugified orgey of a 25 or 30 minute run with quite a few stops to look at the cascades waterfall and to climb down a slippery overhang in a very foolish way.
today: ran the Giffey loop. figured it be about, ya know, an hour. wound up running for more like 1:35. legs felt good though, despite cranking out something like 4 miles yesterday.
No Biz, you're being to hard on yourself. I'm the one who is at fault here.
today: ran the Giffey loop. figured it be about, ya know, an hour. wound up running for more like 1:35. legs felt good though, despite cranking out something like 4 miles yesterday.
No Biz, you're being to hard on yourself. I'm the one who is at fault here.
Passerby: Oh don'tcha be a.
January 10
10mi, 1:01:23 (6:08/mi): Ford-Franklin+xtra. 36:10@tempo (6mi+). Felt OK, but 6-min pace should be a little easier than this was. Legs were feeling beat up from dress shoes on Tuesday. Need to pay attention to left IT band, but right calf/hamstring were bigger hinderances during the run. Probably just need to stretch more than the not-at-all program I've been following so far this year. Recovered easily on the cool down.
January 9
Day Off.
January 8
10mi, 1:07:17 (6:44/mi): Run Rabbit. Easy, chilly. Still sluggish but good run.
10mi, 1:01:23 (6:08/mi): Ford-Franklin+xtra. 36:10@tempo (6mi+). Felt OK, but 6-min pace should be a little easier than this was. Legs were feeling beat up from dress shoes on Tuesday. Need to pay attention to left IT band, but right calf/hamstring were bigger hinderances during the run. Probably just need to stretch more than the not-at-all program I've been following so far this year. Recovered easily on the cool down.
January 9
Day Off.
January 8
10mi, 1:07:17 (6:44/mi): Run Rabbit. Easy, chilly. Still sluggish but good run.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Breaking Away
Yesterday: Ran over to campus with Biz's backpack. Then ran for an hour with Heather. Probably about 13 all told.
Today: Ran over to the fieldhouse, right past the stadium where Mike from breaking away delivers his "I'll just be Mike 20 year-old. Mike 30 year-old. Old man Mike. But the college kids will never get old, out of shape, 'cause new ones come every year. And they'll keep calling us 'cutters.'' speech. Then ran for an hour with Heather. Probably more like 11 or 12 all told. Sorry about the spaghetti, Biz.
Today: Ran over to the fieldhouse, right past the stadium where Mike from breaking away delivers his "I'll just be Mike 20 year-old. Mike 30 year-old. Old man Mike. But the college kids will never get old, out of shape, 'cause new ones come every year. And they'll keep calling us 'cutters.'' speech. Then ran for an hour with Heather. Probably more like 11 or 12 all told. Sorry about the spaghetti, Biz.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
If those boys wanna fight you'd better let 'em
January 7
14mi, 1:33:30 (6:41/mi): Fishouse + xtra. Felt like I was running progressively slower over the course of the run, but I attempted to compensate by adding some surges. Interesting, I suppose. Chilly and windy. Late October is beautiful.
Week: 60.5mi. Exactly as planned. And there's another 2-3mi hidden in there somewhere, but, umm, those don't go on the shoes.
January 6
5.5mi, 38:33 (7:00/mi): Car Retrieval. A standard loop. Also, a little chilly in shorts today having misplaced my running pants. Specifically, missed my legs. Did not run around Lake Harriet because of the inevitable confusion that would result.
14mi, 1:33:30 (6:41/mi): Fishouse + xtra. Felt like I was running progressively slower over the course of the run, but I attempted to compensate by adding some surges. Interesting, I suppose. Chilly and windy. Late October is beautiful.
Week: 60.5mi. Exactly as planned. And there's another 2-3mi hidden in there somewhere, but, umm, those don't go on the shoes.
January 6
5.5mi, 38:33 (7:00/mi): Car Retrieval. A standard loop. Also, a little chilly in shorts today having misplaced my running pants. Specifically, missed my legs. Did not run around Lake Harriet because of the inevitable confusion that would result.
clever title goes here
Yesterday: Whopping hugified 20 min. run.
Today: an hour and 50 min with Heather. We ran the first 5 mi. or so with the IU women's distance squad. That's Indiana University, not Industrial Unit. After that we were separated into two distinct groups, one of which had to work much harder than the other- as if by some invisible hand.
Today: an hour and 50 min with Heather. We ran the first 5 mi. or so with the IU women's distance squad. That's Indiana University, not Industrial Unit. After that we were separated into two distinct groups, one of which had to work much harder than the other- as if by some invisible hand.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Tryin' to throw these dollas-atcha
January 5
5mi, 31:13 (6:15/mi): West Side Five. Again, shorts. A little chillier today, so the run was a little faster and a little shorter. But really it just feels so good to be running in shorts that it's as if the pace is controlled by some sort of invisible hand...Rather than throw snow balls today post-run I attempted to throw some dollas at Alison. I missed.
January 4
8mi, 51:30 (6:26/mi): LS8+xtra. It was something like 46 here around 1 or 2pm. I wore shorts and two light shirts running an hour after the sun went down in January! Global warming isn't inconvenient at all! Only 1xmissing the sign today, then 2xhitting the sign. Hands get cold after 3-4 attempts.
January 3
10mi, 1:03:15 (6:20/mi): Ford St. + a little. 10min w/u, 8x(3min on/3min off), 8ish-min c/d. Had not read Schof's workout before completing this, but it was basically the same only probably slower. Felt decent for the first workout in about 3 weeks, but a little sluggish, some lunch left in the stomach and things like that. But normal. Recovered pretty well on the rest intervals and was probably running too fast on the "on" portions anyway. Then 4 x missing the stop-sign across the street with snow balls. Lots of wide-right.
5mi, 31:13 (6:15/mi): West Side Five. Again, shorts. A little chillier today, so the run was a little faster and a little shorter. But really it just feels so good to be running in shorts that it's as if the pace is controlled by some sort of invisible hand...Rather than throw snow balls today post-run I attempted to throw some dollas at Alison. I missed.
January 4
8mi, 51:30 (6:26/mi): LS8+xtra. It was something like 46 here around 1 or 2pm. I wore shorts and two light shirts running an hour after the sun went down in January! Global warming isn't inconvenient at all! Only 1xmissing the sign today, then 2xhitting the sign. Hands get cold after 3-4 attempts.
January 3
10mi, 1:03:15 (6:20/mi): Ford St. + a little. 10min w/u, 8x(3min on/3min off), 8ish-min c/d. Had not read Schof's workout before completing this, but it was basically the same only probably slower. Felt decent for the first workout in about 3 weeks, but a little sluggish, some lunch left in the stomach and things like that. But normal. Recovered pretty well on the rest intervals and was probably running too fast on the "on" portions anyway. Then 4 x missing the stop-sign across the street with snow balls. Lots of wide-right.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Hemay
Wednesday: Bus - Train - Bloomington - no running
Thursday: Ran an easy hour with Heather in the morning after not enough sleep. Great to catch up with her and to see one of the old routes. Ran in shorts cause it's January and hell I'm damn near in Kentucky.
Friday: 30 min. acid sampler pack. Still playing around to gauge where my fitness is at. Ran some fartleks down around Cascade Park.
Oh yeah, ran on Tuesday too. So missed Monday and Wednesday this week.
Thursday: Ran an easy hour with Heather in the morning after not enough sleep. Great to catch up with her and to see one of the old routes. Ran in shorts cause it's January and hell I'm damn near in Kentucky.
Friday: 30 min. acid sampler pack. Still playing around to gauge where my fitness is at. Ran some fartleks down around Cascade Park.
Oh yeah, ran on Tuesday too. So missed Monday and Wednesday this week.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
I hear leaders quit their lying/I hear babies quit their crying/I hear soldiers quit their dying one and all...
January 2
8mi, 56:53 (7:08/mi): Condoland. Easy run to Franklin and back to Sherman's with Mr. Condoland, Mr. Gehring and Mr. Biz. Yah. Then malts, etc.
January 1
9.5mi, 1:01:53 (6:31/mi): Calhoun-2xIsles. Ran the first 6.5ish with Matt Mascioli's brother. Picked it up for the last lap around Isles to celebrate the New Year.
December 31
6mi, 42:13 (7:02/mi): Isles, Blockbuster + xtra. Beautiful run over fresh snow. Way to go, 2006, I knew you could do it.
Week: 38.5mi. Ok. Missed a day that I didn't want to miss, but treated the week as planned.
Year: 2,544mi. Second highest yearly total behind 2002. Ran 20 races, of which 14 were either an outright PR, a Best Since College or a 1st-place finish.
December 30
Day Off. Downhill skiing @ Lutsen.
December 29
Day Off.
8mi, 56:53 (7:08/mi): Condoland. Easy run to Franklin and back to Sherman's with Mr. Condoland, Mr. Gehring and Mr. Biz. Yah. Then malts, etc.
January 1
9.5mi, 1:01:53 (6:31/mi): Calhoun-2xIsles. Ran the first 6.5ish with Matt Mascioli's brother. Picked it up for the last lap around Isles to celebrate the New Year.
December 31
6mi, 42:13 (7:02/mi): Isles, Blockbuster + xtra. Beautiful run over fresh snow. Way to go, 2006, I knew you could do it.
Week: 38.5mi. Ok. Missed a day that I didn't want to miss, but treated the week as planned.
Year: 2,544mi. Second highest yearly total behind 2002. Ran 20 races, of which 14 were either an outright PR, a Best Since College or a 1st-place finish.
December 30
Day Off. Downhill skiing @ Lutsen.
December 29
Day Off.
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