March 31

AM: 11 miles moderate

PM: weights, core, stretching

I felt good enough in the morning, having some pep in my step from the get-go. I pushed a little up some of the hills in Rock Creek Park. 

After work, I hit the gym with Valerie before running a quick errand. 

March 30 (93 miles/week)

AM: 21 miles easy

Met a GRC crew at The Line for a run in Rock Creek Park. I spent most of the run with Klim, Christiam, and P. Murphy, hitting the Zoo loop. After 14, Patrick and I ran an out-and-back on the CCT to Bethesda to make it 21. I felt pretty good, but we were running easy.

Luckily, I had no calf-death after wearing spikes yesterday. I took a waist-deep ice bath when I got home after getting some post-run food.

March 29 - UMD Invitational 5,000m

AM: 2 miles easy shake-out

PM: UMD Invitational 5k (track), 15:33 (PR), 6th place, 7 miles

I ran in the 5k of the UMD home meet, even though I have done no real 5k training whatsoever. I hadn't run faster than a 73-second 400m in months, but I thought I might have enough strength from marathon training to run a PR. A lot of my old teammates were there cheering me on, though none of them (aside from Fleg) were in the race. 

At the start, there was a lot of jostling, and Fleg and I were pushed to the back. The field didn't go out that fast, so I worked my way back up to a pack with places 4-8. If I made a mistake in the race, it was here: this race is usually won in 14:50 or so, which I wasn't ready to run. I falsely assumed that this was also the case. So, I spent too much time infighting with the pack to realize that the gap between us and the lead wasn't changing at all. By the time I realized this, with about a mile to go, I needed the speed I don't have right now to close the gap. If I would have just moved in the beginning, I would have been in contention for the win, since it was only won in 15:11. This frustrated me, but it's been a while since I've raced on the track; I guess I wasn't strategically sharp, much less lacking a feel for 5k-race speed. I wish I'd been more aggressive in the first 2k. 

I hung on, running a slow last mile, missing my goal of 15:25 but hitting a 23-second PR nonetheless, and I think my 2-mile split was a PR, too. Fleg passed me with two laps to go, outkicking me significantly; my "kick" was trying to prevent the gap between him and me from growing (he finished one spot ahead in 15:26). I wore spikes, so I made sure that I iced my calves Saturday night.

Splits: 4:50 (1600), 9:49 (3200)

Christiam was there to take photos after a solid comeback double in the 1500 and 800. After the race, Valerie and I hung out for a while with some of my old teammates at Plato's, my favorite Greek diner. 

March 28

AM: 7 miles easy, strides

Easy run on the Capital Crescent. Tomorrow is my first race on the track in quite some time; I'm running a 5,000 at the UMD home meet to see if I can use my marathon fitness to pull myself to a 5k PR. We'll see--I'm not really sure what to expect. I've done just a little bit of 5k-pace stuff during my Boston prep, and I'm not exactly the kind of guy who can wake up in the morning and throw down a 52-second quarter-mile before breakfast. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous: some of us were blessed with the fast-twitch muscle fibers used in a 5k, and I'm not one of them. 

Also...I have recently been introduced to a new blog, Stuff White People Like. And it's more or less all biting truths, pointing out white, middle-class stereotypes. It's got great deadpan delivery. AND...I feel pretty white having written that last sentence.

And though you already knew this, white people like marathons. I love the Baltimore photo. The last paragraph made me do the stifled-by-fake-cough-laugh at work, with apologies to my triathlete friends:

"Also worth nothing, more competitive white people prefer triathlons because Kenyans can’t afford $10,000 specialty bicycles. If the subject ever comes up, just say that triathletes are in better shape than football and basketball players. It’s not true, but it will make the conversation a lot more genial."

March 27

AM: 10 miles easy

Rock Creek Park trails in the morning before work. Felt tired and weak this morning. My stomach/colon was killing me by the end, but I sense that this is starting to pass.

I was going to go to the gym tonight, but I will instead bag it to go visit our buddy Jen in the hospital, who got hit by a car last night when it ran up on the curb in Baltimore.

:-(

Jen's a fellow runner, but odds are she won't be running anytime soon because she came out of it with a broken leg. These sorts of freak accidents are hard to fathom sometimes.

March 27

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 2 miles @ 10-mile pace, 800m jog rec, 4 miles @ MP, 800m jog rec, 15 miles

I met up with a sizable GRC group at B-CC after work to run this workout on the Capital Crescent. We ran just a mile warmup and rolled right into it. I was worried about this workout coming in this evening because I made an unplanned trip out with some coworkers ate way too heavy of a lunch, which was pretty foolish on my part. I need to do a better job of saying "No thanks" on workout days. 

Even though the first interval was a false-downhill, we scorched the first interval a little bit, despite easing back in the last half mile. At this point, I could already feel my stomach. The middle interval was fairly smooth, but not as smooth as I wanted, and by the time we started the last interval, my stomach was starting to turn into knots. Dwyer set the pace on the last one, which was slightly uphill, and I was fine until the last half mile when I lost about 4 seconds from the mile split. The last half mile was going to be tough for me, anyway, at our pace, but my stomach/colon/whatever just made it too much.

I had to make a run  into the woods shortly thereafter, and by the time we got back to B-CC, my stomach waved red flags again, forcing me to take another stop, albeit indoors this time.

To make matters worse, I wore the Skylons I plan to wear at Boston, but they gave me a nasty blister on my small, left toe, though I am wondering if it wasn't my socks, which were kind of old and stiff. Add in a five-mile cooldown to this, and I was pretty tired and cranky by the time we got back. The stomach issues continued until I went to bed. 

Until the last half mile, this was a fine workout, but I don't like positive splitting long intervals at all. Maybe call it a good, bad workout? Whatever--it was a good effort, so I'm still glad to have this one in the bank. 

Splits: 10:21 (5:16, 5:05), 23:18 (5:49, 5:51, 5:47, 5:50), 10:34 (5:14, 5:20)

March 25

AM: 9 miles easy

PM: weights, core, stretching

Same route as yesterday morning, albeit a little shorter and slower. Went to the gym with Valerie after a long day at work.

March 24

AM: 20 x 1'on/1'off, 11 miles

PM: 7 miles easy, core

In the morning, I ran a fartlek on the hills in Rock Creek Park. It felt like a good effort, but it didn't kill me, either. After work, I met up with Fleg and ran an out-and-back on the Capital Crescent.

March 23 (110 miles/week)

AM: 10 miles easy

Ran down the Rock Creek Park trails before coming back up on Beach Drive. Legs a little stiff after yesterday but finally woke up about six miles in. Nice and easy recovery.

I knocked this out in the morning before Valerie and I drove down to Calvert County for some tasty Easter fixin's with her folks and their friends. 

March 22

AM: 23 miles easy/moderate

I met up with a bunch of GRC guys in Bethesda. Starting at Woodmont Ave, we ran the Capital Crescent all the way down through Georgetown, hopped on the canal, ran up Rock Creek Parkway, past the zoo, through the park, eventually hooking back up with the CCT around the 2-hour mark. The entire loop was about 22, and I added an extra mile at the end to get to 2:30 for the run.

We got in some good hills in Rock Creek Park toward the end of the run. There were maybe a few stretches where we hit marathon pace, but for the most part we kept it steady. We started around 7:25 but dropped down to 6:10-6:20 by the time we hooked up with the CCT again.

In the afternoon, I took a pretty heavy nap that took me a while to wake up from. I watched some basketball, including seeing West Virginia take down Duke. A Duke loss always seems to put me in a good mood, perhaps even more so than long runs when I'm feeling great. 

March 21

AM: 8 miles progression run, 12 miles

PM: 4 miles easy

I took my sweet time waking up this morning. After a 3-mile warmup, I felt like I wanted to go back to sleep. The plan for the workout was to start at 5:45-50 and start to cut down from there. Consequently, I was a little concerned when I was almost 15 second slow for my first mile. I gradually did work my way down; my transmission was just sticking a little bit. I ran three loops around the Meadowbrook Stables, adding on one mile at the end.

Splits for the loops: 13:53, 13:16, 12:55.

Mile splits that I took, including the last mile: 6:00, 5:43, 5:31, 5:19.

Even though I started slower than I wanted to, I did get close to where I wanted to be by the final mile (~5:15), so I guess it's still OK. My guess is that I fell victim to a little cumulative fatigue this morning.

I'm probably going to get out of work early today, which means I might sneak in the elusive, but often coveted, weekday afternoon nap.

March 20

AM: 8 miles easy

PM: 7 miles easy

I forgot to set my alarm and woke up late, so I started running about 10 minutes after I rolled out of bed. I felt half as.

After work, I ran with Valerie and then added on a couple of miles afterward. We watched Belmont come painstakingly close to knocking Duke out of the first round of the NCAA tournament. For about 10 minutes there, I became the world's greatest Belmont fan, but that was after I had to Google the school just to find what state it's in. 

March 19

AM: 14 miles easy

PM: weights, core, stretching

I planned to sleep in a little bit and break this up into two runs, but I woke up on my own around 5:30. Sitting in bed, I thought critically for a few seconds, remembered that 1.) I'd feel a lot better in the long run waking up without my alarm, and 2.) it is supposed to rain cats and dogs tonight. So, I just got up and went for it. As crappy as I felt last night after the workout, with my stomach, I felt fine this morning.

Ran up Connecticut, though Chevy Chase, down Western Ave., and finishing on the trails in Rock Creek Park once the sun started to come up.

After work, I made it to the gym with Valerie to loosen up.

Also, happy five-year anniversary in Iraq, everyone. Here's to five more (*groan*).

Stay the course. Mission accomplished.

March 18

AM: 4 miles easy

PM: 10 x 1000m @ 3:10 w/ 200 jog recovery, 13 miles

Ran easy and slow in the morning. I was planning for 5 or 6, but I was so tired and hungry by 2 miles that I just turned around and went home.

In the evening, I met Chris Bain at B-CC high school for the track workout. We got this directly from Matias, and true to his word, while it started off pretty smoothly, the last two intervals required some concentration. The scant rest (no more than 70-80 seconds) makes this workout tough. Fortunately, Christiam came by the track in the middle of the workout and ran the last 200 of the last two intervals with me, and Klim also made a cameo for some pacing help and just to hang out. 

I started off feeling awful and stiff during the warmup, but I woke up well enough after some strides. The rain also held off, and though the wind wasn't great, the air wasn't all that cold. 

The goal of the workout is to split through 800 in minutes:seconds what you'd want to run for hours:minutes for the workout. So, if you want to run 2:30 in the marathon, then you'd run 2:30 for your 800 split. Does that make sense? Probably not: I'm not sure I explained it very well. Anyway...

Splits: 3:10, 3:10, 3:09, 3:09, 3:07, 3:08, 3:07, 3:07, 3:07, 3:05.

March 17

AM: 9 miles moderate

PM: 6 miles easy, stretching

Ran on the Rock Creek Park trails in the morning, feeling pretty good. After work, I ran up Connecticut Ave for an easy shake-out. 

March 16 (110 miles/week)

PM: 11 miles easy, weights, core

I took the morning pretty easy, relaxing a little bit with breakfast and some desperately needed grocery shopping. I got out around noon, running mostly along Beach Drive. I hit the gym with Valerie immediately after my run. I planned to stretch there more than I did, but by the end of it I was pretty hungry and low on energy, so I just headed back after some weights and core work. 

March 15

AM: 20 miles w/ last 10 miles @ MP

Drove out to Riley's Lock to meet up with a bunch of GRC guys. I ran the first ten easy/moderate with them, then I just shifted up a gear to marathon pace, averaging 5:50 for the next ten. P. Murphy and Zach joined me for the first three at pace until we got back to the Lock.

The goal of the workout is to run fast when tired. This much is probably true because counting Sunday through today, I ran somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 miles, which is volume I've never really approached. I'm feeling stronger and more refreshed than I thought I would at this point. 

I never really pushed today; I just floated. Not much of the second part seemed "uptempo," which is good, I suppose. When I did this workout a few times last year, the second half was certainly more uncomfortable than it was today. 

I had to go back and do some math with my splits to find the real mileage on the mile markers. I wavered around a little bit due to dodging small children, jumping over turtles, or simply running into the wind, but I comfortably kept everything in the same 5-10 sec/mile window. 

March 14

AM: 13 miles easy/moderate

Ran up Connecticut Ave, through Chevy Chase, down Western Ave, and through Rock Creek Park. Felt OK, more good than bad.

I'm headed to the Caps-Thrashers game this evening right after work, so I'm pretty sure I won't get in an evening run.

I'm hoping that I can get some decent sleep this weekend. Though it's probably the lingering effects of the time change last weekend, I've been slow to get out of bed every morning this week.

Also, Happy "Pi Day", everyone...

March 13

AM: 9 miles easy

PM: 7 miles easy, core

Ran through the hills in Rock Creek Park in the morning. In the evening, I went with Valerie on her run and added a few miles at the end. 

My legs finally woke up in the second half of the second run. For whatever reason, sleep has been an issue this week. I know the body can't "make up for it," but I am looking forward to more sleep this weekend. 

March 12

AM: 5 miles Easy

PM: 4 x 2-mile @ HM pace w/ 400m jog recovery, 14 miles

Ran a shake-out on the CCT in the morning.

After work, my legs felt like lead during the warmup. Spirits were nonetheless high because of the motley crew we had last night for the workout: no fewer than eight guys showed to run, which is uncharacterisitcally high for a mid-week workout. I was definitely grateful for the company; this workout is a bit of a grinder on the track and not particularly fun to run solo.

The goal was to run evenly paced intervals with negative splits for the reps, which we did, give or take a few laps. So many laps on the track can be mundane, but it also helps to keep even pace. For most of these, we even split or were close to even splitting at the mile. Splits: 10:49, 10:38, 10:36, 10:36. I was happy with the effort; everything felt very controlled.

I went to Hard Times afterward with Valerie, and then promptly came home and slept like a rock. This has been a tough week for some reason. Next week will be my last week of high-ish volume before Boston, after which I'll slowly start to wind down as the race approaches.

March 11

AM: 5 miles easy

PM: 11 miles easy/moderate

Ran on the CCT in the morning. After work, I met up with Klim and ran the hills of Cabin John, finishing right at dusk. Some minor G.I. issues, but only enough to make me uncomfortable, not run-threatening. 

March 10

AM: 8 miles easy

PM: 7 miles easy

Ran in the Chevy Chase neighborhoods in the morning. I'm already missing the daylight in the morning. 

After work, I went easy through Rock Creek Park, just finishing the run as the sun was going down.

Also, I forgot to mention yesterday that during our cooldown after the race, we saw the DC police fishing  a body out of the Potomac. Creepy. Here's the link to the story about it; we saw the TV crew on site, too.

WASHINGTON DC (WUSA) -- A helicopter hovered overhead and police boats worked close to the shore of the river Sunday morning near the FDR Memorial. It caught the attention of passersby walking and jogging along the Potomac.



"We weren't shure if it was a practice exercise for the city or if it was actually, unfortunately a body," said Michelle Shore, a passerby.

The unusual activity on the water near Ohio Drive and West Basin Drive, SW started after police received a 911 call.

"At approximately 10:16 this morning, a passerby along the West Basin here observed a body floating in the water," said Inspector Rodney Parks, DC Police.

The body of the woman in exercise clothing had no identification on it. Police say they have no reason to suspect foul play, but there are questions about how the woman got to that point in the Potomac.

"You have to wonder if the body floated down the river from all the rain that we had or if it was unfortunately, dumped here," said Shore.

Inspector Parks says there were no obvious signs of trauma on the body. The DC Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy to try to determine the cause of death.

The type of clothing the woman was wearing might be an indication that she was out exercising at some point.

"It appeared to be athletic attire, some sort of jogging clothing, bluish in color," said Inspector Parks.

March 9 (91 miles/week)

AM: St. Patrick's Day 8k, 25:57 (PR), 8th place, 19 miles 

PM: stretching, core

I feel a little ambivalent about the race today. On the one hand, I got a PR, but on the other hand, I didn't compete that well. 

The race was in downtown DC, greeting us with a cold and windy morning. While the cold wasn't awful, the wind was oppressive. There were a few stretches, especially in the second half and including almost the entire final mile, where the race was more a fight against the wind. I will be the first to admit that I didn't respond to it well, because I only passed one guy after the second mile, after getting passed and re-passed by two others and letting the pack slip away. I was hoping to run about 30 seconds faster, but even if I brought my A-game this morning, I'm not sure the course and conditions were conducive for that today...for me.

I got out well enough--4:59 and 4:55 for the first two miles. It's safe to assume that I probably ran a 5k PR today, which should also reveal my struggles against the wind in the last three miles (this means I probably averaged around 5:20 for the last three). If today's weather had been a little more favorable, maybe I could have hung on better. But tying up early because of going out fast, in addition to fighting the wind, made it tough to make any real moves for me. Trying to close with the wind gusting directly in our faces coming down Pennsylvania Ave was probably my least favorite part; when we faced the same thing on Constitution Ave, we at least got to make a 180-degree turn to have the wind at our backs. This is where I passed "the second Ethiopian guy" who seemed to be dying hard (or at least he had an Ethiopian name--not sure if he was actually from Ethiopia. We didn't get a chance to talk at that moment.). 

I lost some battles I should have won today. However, the PR is an obvious positive to take away from today, and though my pace was about the same as the 10k a few weeks ago, the conditions were far worse, and the course was a bit slower; though it's flat, there are a bunch of 180-degree turns to completely kill your momentum. I'm pretty sure I've never broken 10:00 for two miles, so that's another positive to take away from today. Days like today can also make you tougher as a runner, I suppose.

After the race, I got in a long cooldown (80 minutes), though some of it was broken up when we stopped to pick up our stuff and get some food. 

After a nap and cooking a surprisingly good polenta and pot roast, I stretched out and did some core work. I also reconfigured my mileage for 2008, shifting my weeks to Monday-Sunday to give myself some added flexibility in my training schedule, as I mentioned earlier; otherwise, I can't really race on Sunday unless it's long, and I get locked into a Sunday long run when Saturday might be more convenient. 

Also, GRC teammates and visual media gurus Klim and Peter put together a sweet video of the team at the race today.  I'm posting it below:

March 8

AM: 8 miles easy, strides

End of a recovery week for me. Slept in a little bit and jogged an easy out-and-back on Beach Drive because of a race tomorrow. 

After this week, I'm thinking about switching my weeks from Monday-Sunday. I'm tired of always running my long runs on Sunday; some more flexibility will be nice, and this is something I've been meaning to do for a while now. Plus, if I do a long run next Saturday, two long runs won't kill be next week, especially since next week will probably be my peak mileage week for this training cycle. That's the plan, anyway.

March 7

AM: 12 miles w/ 10 miles @ MP

I more of less rolled right into the workout this morning, just like it would feel on race day in April. I wanted something uptempo today, but nothing too crazy with a race on Sunday morning.

After about a 5 minute jog, I ran four laps around the Meadowbrook stables loop. It felt like an uptempo jog, completely relaxed; the split times I did take were absurdly consistent (there is a mile marked off on the 2.3-mile loop): 5:50, 5:50, 5:50, 5:47. I wanted to run by feel today, so I apparently accomplished that much. Jogged 10 minutes or so for a short cooldown.

March 6

AM: 12 miles easy/moderate

PM: weights, core

Ran on the Rock Creek Park trails in the morning in case as if I hadn't run enough hills this week already. Went to the gym after work.

March 5

AM: 5 miles easy

PM: 3 x 2k , 1k with 400m jog recovery, 12 miles

Got in a shake-out on the CCT in the morning.

After work, I met Fleg, Bain, and P. Murphy at B-CC high school for a track workout (repeats of 2k @ 10k pace, 1k @ 5k pace). It seemed like a solid effort all around, even though Patrick worked his colon-clearing voodoo on Chris in the last set. I ran the same effort as I did a few weeks ago in the same workout, but faster. Splits: 6:26, 3:04, 6:21, 3:04. 6:22, 2:59. 

When I got home, I found six boxes of girl scout cookies waiting for me--so much for dropping weight before Boston.

March 4

AM: 10 miles easy/moderate

PM: 5 miles easy

Ran through the Rock Creek Park trails in the morning. I was definitely a bit sore still, especially on the downhills. I felt like it took me 45 minutes to warm up, but I got moving after that a little. We're finally getting a break in the weather--I was in short sleeves this morning.

After work, I ran easy with Valerie on the CCT and Connecticut Ave. We just missed the rain. 

March 3

AM: 8 miles easy

PM: weights, core

Recovery day on the CCT in the morning. Went to the gym with Valerie after work.

March 2 (105 miles/week)

AM: 21+ miles moderate

Met at the DC-MD line with a bunch of GRC guys. We started running down the trails to toward the zoo, finding some decent hills right from the get-go. Then, we actually ran through the zoo; what I failed to realize when I suggested this route is that the zoo is all uphill for what seemed like a mile. Max pushed ahead somewhere between the prairie dogs and zebras, so we spent the climb trying to stick to him.

After this, we headed up Connecticut Ave bombing down another steep hill to Pierce Mill. From there, we ran up a long, winding hill (the name of the road escapes me). At this point, a cyclist passed us. Klim reacts to cyclists on hills like a German shepherd seeing a squirrel, so he immediately and without hesitation gave chase to the aforementioned cyclist. I hung on as long as I could, making it to the top of the hill but almost losing my breakfast in the process with the sudden and unexpected surge. 

After this, we regrouped and coasted back to the parking lot on Beach Drive. Here, at about 14 miles, I stopped briefly to take some Power Gel and Gatorade, before Chris Bain and I went through Chevy Chase, climbing yet more hills to add on another 6 miles. 

I ran home when we got to the parking lot, finishing with a good bit left in the tank. After 20+ mile runs in the past, I'm usually useless for the rest of the day, but I actually had some pep in my step as I finished--encouraging effort today. I thought I was weak on hills, but last week and today suggested otherwise. 

March 1

AM: 12 miles with 60 min. progression

Ran from the GRC store with a big group. I wanted to get in sort of a moderate workout today, so I picked it up in the second half with Klim and Munro to something to the tune of 5:30-6:00 pace. Nothing too crazy. The wind was pretty tough coming around Hains Point, but it eased up a little when we ran over the Key Bridge to the VA side of the Potomac.

Feb. 29

AM: 9 miles easy/moderate

PM: 6 miles easy

Legs felt pretty heavy after work. Writing this now, I don't remember what I ran in the morning--Rock Creek Park, I think?