This past week was a blur.  We closed on our house on Tuesday and have been working on it since then.  We’ve cleaned, painted, moved, cleaned again, and done some needed repairs.  Man am I exhausted.  I did manage to squeeze my miles in – a much needed break from the stress.

Past Posts

We all want to get faster, striding is one way to accomplish that.  USATF is trying to be a better, friendlier organization.  One way they are doing that is through a CEO Blog, my thoughts. Want to know what it is like to live with HIV/AIDS, the World Vision Experience helps you understand. A nice 5k loop with great views and wildlife is Pike Island, one of my favorites.  Foto Friday was in honor of my wedding anniversary.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 33.3 Miles
Bike: 48.0 Miles

This Week’s Running

Tuesday morning I ran alone, since we would need the evening to work on our house.  I ran 7.5 miles on the Minneapolis Riverfront loop. I finished in just under an hour. It was 59 and humid.  I did at least 8 “fast intervals”.

Thursday was a 5 mile run on the Greenway.  It was 60 and humid. I ran this “tempo” run in 39:11.

Friday I went to the gym again and stretched, foam rolled my IT band, and relaxed in the hot tub.  This has been really helpful in keeping my leg loose, which helps my foot.

Saturday we ran from the Nokomis Community Center to and around Lake Harriet getting about 11 miles in.  I finished in 1:26.  It was 60 and humid, again!  Most of the run was at 7:30 pace and I got dropped about 8 miles into the run.  They came back once, picked me up, and then picked the pace back up!  Oh well.

This Week’s Mileage

Run: 23.5 Miles

Previous Posts

Two race reviews – from 2007 the DINO Series #5 at Town Run Park and from 2008 the City of Lakes 25k. In case you missed it, last year the Republican National Convention was held in the Twin Cities.  My wife and I took part in a World Vision event – sending caretaker packages to Africa. Two runners attempted to run across America. They did complete the journey – now we just wait for the video. Foto Friday is a picture of Mike at the City of Lakes 25k.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 53.0 Miles
Bike: 25.3 Miles

This Week’s Running

Monday was the Victory 5k race during which I ran a 20:36 on a pretty nice morning. Be sure to check out my deeper thoughts about my first race since May.  Tuesday night was our group training run, a lot of us had raced the day before so instead of a workout we just ran 8 easy miles on the marathon course.  It was by no means an easy run as we ran up Summit Ave (aka the long slow hill at the end of TCM), before turning around.  It is actually a little hilly on the way back too, which is a good reminder that there are downhills on race day!  It was 81 and sunny which wasn’t too pleasant but I ran 8.3 miles in 1:08.  The run was followed by a Dinner Fun Night where the training class goes out to eat together.  This time we went to the Wild Onion in St Paul.  I took my normal Wednesday off and am still trying to get into the routine of working out in the morning, so I skipped Thursday‘s run. I’ve only been running 3 days a week anyway so I wasn’t super motivated.  I’ve heard from a few other people that they lack motivation and feel lethargic right now.  On Friday morning I managed to get up early and head to the gym.  I stretched, used the foam roller on my IT Band and sat in the hot tub.  I still didn’t have time to swim though.

Saturday morning was the big day.  Our last real long run for the training cycle. I woke up pretty congested and out of oatmeal (my pre-long run food).  I think I was a little dehydrated too.  It was in the upper-60’s and very humid. Enough excuses though.  We met at the University of St Thomas which is around mile 21 on the course.  We then proceeded to run it backwards to the 11 mile mark.  I ran with the group for a good 7-8 miles before they started picking up the pace.  I made a decision to let them go so that I could try to salvage the remainder of the run.  I was really feeling terrible when I got to the water stop at 8.5 miles.  It was on Lake Nokomis and there was some race going on.  It was at this point that I started running into Lifetime Fitness runners. They were running the last 20 miles of the course and made for a very congested trail.  I decided to run out to the turn around point and by the time I got back to the water stop I was feeling a lot better.  I decided to continue the run instead of my many contingency/worst case plans running through my head.  Even though they tried to steal our water it was nice having the Lifetime runners out there.  It gave me lots of people to pass which felt really good and was a good motivator. I actually felt really good until I turned off the course and cut the 20 miles short.  I turned on Lake Street as planned from the beginning as an option.  When I got to the top of the St Thomas hill I was around 16.5 so I ran a little more before being done. I finished the just under 17 miles in 2:17.  I didn’t feel too terribly bad.

Sunday was a nice rest day.

This Week’s Mileage

Run: 28.3 Miles

Not a lot of working out, but a lot of adjusting to a work schedule again.

Previous Posts

An older post about the equipment I run with, it was pre-Garmin.  To go along with the previous list is an out-dated list of podcasts that I listen to while running, etc.  Do you remember Hurricane Katrina? World Vision was there helping with the relief effort.  A favorite post of mine about running along the Minneapolis Riverfront, there is a lot to see and do down there.  Foto Friday is me cliff jumping at Gooseberry Falls.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 40.9 Miles
Bike: 33.0 Miles

This Week’s Running

To be honest I have lots of reasons why I didn’t get my runs in this week.  I got 2 of the 3 in.  This was the first week back with students at school and so I actually had to be somewhere on time.  I did try to go the YWCA to swim one day, but the pool was closed for its annual cleaning.  So instead I ran a lap on the track and did some extensive stretching and rolling muscles on a foam rolller. A meeting with volunteers for an ESL site I co-coordinate made me miss Tuesday night’s run.  I did get the 7 mile marathon pace run in though – hitting a 7:27 pace for 6 miles.  I started off down the Greenway before deciding to go around Lake of the Isles (mostly for its well-placed port-a-potty) and coming back on Franklin Ave (which threw in some late hills).  Lake of the Isles now hosts the infamous Lake Creature. It was a pretty perfect morning, 53 and sunny and I was able to squeeze the run and all the physical therapy in before heading to work.  Yes, part of why running takes so long is that after doing the workout I’ve got to ice massage my foot and complete 10 exercises designed to keep my body in alignment and get rid of the Plantar Fasciitis.   More scheduling conflicts and lame excuses left Saturday as the next run.   Our 10-12 easy miles actually became closer to 9.  Several of us opted for the shorter distance in part to be “fresh” from Monday’s race, but also to get back and eat.  Our pace group was hosting an annual picnic for the entire training group which included french toast, eggs, homemade bannana bread, and much more.  It was a great time socializing with friends.

This Week’s Mileage

Run: 15.7 miles

Bike: 8 miles

Getting closer…

Previous Posts

I ran the Bears of Blue River 10k for 3 years and actually won money all but one, it helped that there was a 5k going on at the same time! Last year I set a new half-marathon PR at the Rochester Half-Marathon.  The on-going genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan was the focus of my World Vision post. Foto Friday was from the Rochester race with a funny guy standing in front of Team MDRA.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 49.5 Miles
Bike: 32.5 Miles
Swim: 300 Yards

This Week’s Training

I’m just going to say from the outset that I was a little lazy this week on my non-running days. In part because work is starting back up and I’m not quite used to the routine of working out before work and getting up in time. I work at a school so I need to get back into that routine and figure out how much time it actually takes to go to the gym. The students come back on Sept 1, so that is exciting. My laptop’s power cord is broken too so I haven’t synced my Garmin for over a week either, so that’s why Running Ahead is showing a bunch of 0’s. Monday was our first staff meeting. Tuesday we did a progression run starting from the University of St Thomas. Basically we did 4 miles out at Marathon Pace and then 2 miles at half marathon pace followed by 2 miles at 10k pace (up some tough hills). My paces weren’t exactly where they should have been but it was a great workout. It was 80 and sunny. The first 4 miles were something like 7:45 pace then I dropped to 7:27 and 7:26 respectively. I’m not sure what my pace was before I hit the hills, but given where I’m at in training I think that was an excellent workout. Wednesday was a district wide staff meeting (aka snooze fest). Thursday morning I felt pretty lethargic still and ran 4.5 miles on my downtown loop. It was 60, humid, and sunny but a pretty nice day. In the evening was our annual open house at school. Friday I just lounged around the house, I told you I was feeling lazy!

Saturday made up for that. I ran 15.6 miles with the group on the marathon course. We started at the finish line and ran out 10 miles and then back (they did 20-22). I planned ahead and left a bike on the St Thomas campus (but didn’t actually check the mileage – I should have been closer to 14 than 16). Also, if I had really planned ahead I would have realized that it would have been just as easy to run home as it was to run to my bike and still got the distance. I hung with the group for at least 12 miles. We saw Meb Keflezighi running down West River Road – he was looking really smooth and said “hi” to me first. I actually didn’t recognize him. It was a perfect morning for a long run – 52 at the start and alternating between sunny and cloudy with a slight breeze. I ran it in 2:04:08 which is 7:55 pace.

Sunday was the Minnesota State Fair and lots of random items either deep fried or on a stick. With another couple we split 64oz of fresh cut French Fries and a large cone of delicious Sweet Martha’s Cookies. Also ate half a corn on the cob. Yummy!

This Week’s Mileage

Run: 28 miles

A beautiful week for running and a step-back week.

Previous Posts

While I was living in Indiana I ran the Pop Weaver 5k every year.  The best part was the free popcorn – which lasts forever! Did you know that Caffeine is illegal for Olympic competition? Well, at least large quantities.  During last year’s training I completed and reflected upon my farthest distance (at the time) ever – a 20 miler.  While in Ghana in 2004 I was only able to squeeze in a few runs, you’ll have to read the post to see why. Twitter is hugely popular, last year I tried to get the running community to coalesce around a single hashtag “runlog” to tweet about their daily run – some have adopted it. Foto Friday is from one of our trips to Gooseberry Falls.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 32.1 Miles
Bike: 53.4 Miles

This Week’s Training

On Monday I had scheduled a massage as part of my plan to get rid of plantar fasciitis.  So I went to the YWCA before hand and swam 500 meters, without too much of a break.  The Uptown YWCA pool is in meters and is shallower overall, but it seems easier to swim there than at the Midtown which is in yards and is much deeper. Anyone know how pool depth impacts swimming?  After the swim  I got one of the most painful massages ever.  She was pretty much using only her forearm to break up the knots in my legs.  Afterwards everything felt much looser and better.  She commented that she wasn’t able to break up all the knots in my quads and that my IT bands were still really tight.

Tuesday night’s group run was around Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet.  We were scheduled to do a marathon pace workout, but I was just planning to get the 8-10 miles in.  Our little tail-fin group formed again and we did the warm-up and then slowly picked up the pace during the first 2 mile segment.  The first 2.03 miles was in 15:07 – 7:27 pace.  After a short break we did the second 1.98 mile segment in 15:00 – 7:35 pace.  Another short break (I was starting to get tired) and we finished the last 1.94 mile segment in 14:23 – 7:26 pace.  We were pushing the pace at the end of the last one and then I struggled through the cooldown for a total workout of 8.5 miles in 1:05.  I was surprised at how good I felt for most of the run.

On Wednesday I went back to the pool – this time Midtown – and swam 300 yards at an easier pace. I had to share my lane and ended up having to deal with the waves the dude was shoving at me while we swam.

Thursday morning I went to the Sibley trail. I decided to check out the trails off to the north.  They were narrower and disappeared about 0.8 of a mile in.  On the way back I took a different trail which ended in the middle of the woods so I cut straight through towards the river.  With a nice warm-up I went out for another mile and a half or so doing a true fartlek along the way.  I picked points ahead of me and picked up the pace to them.  I probably did 7 or 8 pickups.  Again I felt pretty good out there.  It was 63 and humid and I did a total of 5 miles in 42:55 (including some of the bush whacking).

Friday I was a lazy bum.

Saturday‘s group run was to be an easy out and back along the marathon course from the Nokomis Community Center.  It was a nice run, using the torn up River Road trails but when we turned around at the Franklin bridge the pace started picking up.  Before the final water stop we were hitting 7 minute pace and my legs are quite used to that kind of pace for any distance and I just couldn’t hang on anymore.  I ran the last 3 miles by myself.  I worked on keeping my form as good as possible.  The total work out was 10 miles in 1:21 on a gorgeous – 53 degree morning.

On Sunday we helped a friend move out of her house, so that was a good weight lifting workout!

This Week’s Mileage

Run: 23.7 Miles
Swim: 846 Yards