March 31

AM: 11 miles moderate

PM: 1:20:00 easy bike

Joey and Liam met me for a run from my place through Duke Forest before I dashed off to a morning meeting.

After classes, I took off with my buddy Will from school for my first real ride in months...and did it ever feel like it. Sunny weather in the 70s made for a perfect afternoon to bike.

March 30

AM: 3 x 2-mile @ goal 10-mile pace w/ 400 jog recovery, 4 x 200 strides, 13 miles

PM: 4 miles easy

Liam and I jumped on the track for a 10-mile workout. I was a little off running the reps evenly, but I was still able to hit the target times (10:30). On the second rep, the entire Duke football team was walking down the back straightaway coming back from practice, and almost created a disaster for us. I narrowly missed colliding with a guy that I'm assuming was a linebacker while they were clearing lane 1 for us. That surely would have ended poorly: I had visions of the video below. A wideout/cornerback was joking around and jumped in with us for 100 yards while Liam and I tried to drop him.

In the afternoon, I just ran an easy shake-out through the neighborhoods.

March 29

AM: 11 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

Ran in the morning with Liam on the ATT in light rain, followed by a solo shake-out on the WaDuke trail in the evening after classes. I actually felt like I had a spring in my step today. The ol' legs may be coming around just in the nick of time.

March 28 (95 miles/week)

AM: 16 miles easy/moderate

Klim, PMurphy, Liam and I met up at Umstead for a fine long run. The weather warmed up fast despite overcast skies, making us shed layers throughout. It had been a few weeks since I'd been to Umstead, and I wanted to show the GRC guys some of my NC stomping grounds as well. It's been a fine weekend.

March 27 - Great Human Race 5k

AM: 5k road race, 15:44, 2nd place, 8 miles

PM: 6 miles easy

I ran the Great Human Race with PMurphy for my friends the Currey's this morning, racing for their nonprofit Corral. They had quite a team out, and it felt good to race for something greater than myself for a change. As Patrick noted, it was definitely a worthy cause.

That being said, I wish I could have had the win for the team, but I lead through 4k and couldn't respond when the guy I was trying to shake (a Duke law student whose name escapes me) moved. The course had constant rolling hills and plenty of turns. I'm happy with the time at least and am excited to see what I'll post on the track at Duke next Friday.

In the afternoon after Valerie and I did some work at school, Murphy and I ran an easy shake-out on the WaDuke trail from my place. Plans later to paint the town red fizzled when I fell asleep on the couch at 10:30.

March 26

AM: 3 miles easy

PM: 10 miles easy

Murphy, Liam and I unfortunately were put in a race at 11:30 in the morning in Raleigh, but because of class I couldn't get there. Instead, I went with Valerie and Patrick down to watch Klim race in the evening and got in a run around campus instead.

March 25

AM: 9 miles easy

I had a relaxed run with Liam from my place through Durham Academy and some of my neighborhood. We kept the pace really conservative. Race tomorrow evening...I'm curious to see where I'm at right now in terms of fitness. It should be fun.

March 24

AM: 55:00 easy, 4 x :80 @ 5k pace w/ 2:00 jog recovery plus cooldown, 11 miles

PM: 6 miles easy/moderate

Liam and I ran a short and sweet workout, just to get the legs moving before Friday night's race. We got to the track only to find it occupied by Duke's football team. Bust. We instead ran around the upper perimeter of the stands, which is slightly over 400m.

The afternoon shake-out was the first bare-chested run of 2010. Spring is definitely here in Durham.

Tomorrow will be light and easy before the GRC wages a multi-front, 12.5-laps wars against multiple angry youth factions of the Atlantic Coast Conference as well as some lesser tribes over rubber ovals from Maryland to the Carolinas.

March 23

AM: 11 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

Yep...still sore. WaDuke Trail to East Campus with Liam in the morning, and solo in the neighborhood slooooow after school.

March 22

AM: 10 miles easy

Woke up ridiculously sore before an easy recovery run on the ATT with Liam. I had a date with the foam roller in the evening.

March 21 (99 miles/week)

AM: Shamrock Half Marathon, 1:11:03 (PR), 15th place, 20 miles

When I looked at the spring racing season, I wanted this race to be the end of something with a shot at breaking 70 minutes (as my time from the Army 10-Mile last October suggests). Instead, a crappy month of training from work and travel has lead to a sewn-together training plan. I just missed my "B" goal of breaking 71 minutes, but I'll certainly take a PR off of less than ideal training. I suffered a similar collapse at the end of the Penn Relays 20k last year, yet that effort was slower and my training was better. So we'll have to leave today at a small step forward...perhaps just not as big of a step as I wanted when preparing my spring plan last fall.

I started off this race surprisingly conservative. I knew it was going out quickly with a number of guys shooting for the Olympic Trials standard of sub-65 minutes. But after seeing a 5:30 first mile, I moved up intent on hitting 5:20-:25 pace the rest of the way.

Through about 8 miles on this pancake-flat course, I was on track for my goal. I was picking off new packs of runners and patiently moving up in the race. I could see the next pack 20 seconds ahead of me at this point looking down one of the looooong straightaways that characterize the Shamrock course. I saw a lighthouse up ahead, but realized it could be anywhere from 1 to 10 miles away at this point. I really had no idea. I also realized that I was steering straight into a headwind with no pack to work with. The guys that did fall off and come back to me didn't hang around very long. Drafting wasn't an option.

So I fought like hell to get to the next group, which I could see was splintering, but I felt like a cyclist who had fallen off the peloton in a bike race and was working twice as hard without the ability to draft. I felt like I was moving and closing the gap, but the watch doesn't lie: I was slowing.

I made the final turns through downtown, which formed a nice little wind tunnel, to the boardwalk. It was painful seeing the clock tick above 71 minutes, but I know for certain I didn't leave anything out on the course.

I'm looking forward to more racing in the weeks to come. There may only be 2 or 3 more left for me this season despite it just starting. One thing I can say for sure is that despite narrowly missing my goal, it felt damn good to get out there and race again.

I cooled down with Wiggy before hanging out with Valerie to watch some friends from Maryland finish the marathon before making the drive back to Durham: OK race but a solid weekend because I got to spend some time with folks I hadn't seen in weeks or months that I used to see every week.

Splits: 5:30, 10:41 (2 and 3), 5:20, 5:15, 5:20, 5:17, 5:23, 5:30, 5:35, 5:36, 6:00 (1.1)

March 20

AM: 8 miles easy, strides

Easy run with Wiggy and Chris Sloane through downtown Virginia Beach. Joe had just finished his fast comeback race in the 8k and met us midway during his cooldown.

March 19

AM: 11 miles easy

Relaxed run with Liam in Duke Forest in the morning before driving to VA Beach in the evening. I had one weird moment where my achilles seized up on me, but after stretching it out for a minute I returned to normalcy and finished the run. It was a minor scare: my achilles felt like a hot poker was jabbing into it, but then it went away just as fast as it came on.

March 18

AM: 12 miles easy

PM: 4 miles easy

My legs weren't totally alive this morning, but I certainly felt better than yesterday. The 9 hours of sleep last night helped with that. ATT with Liam in the morning, and then a quick neighborhood loop in the evening.

March 17

AM: mile, 2 miles, mile w/ 400 jog recovery, 4 x 200 strides, 11 miles

PM: 6 miles

I felt off from the get-go this morning during the workout with Liam and Joey...just stale and tired all around. All three reps were positive or even splits, though I did hit my target for the 2-mile. I pouted for a couple of minutes, shook it off, and went home to sit in an ice bath. I then got in a 30-minute nap for good measure before class.

Splits: 4:59, 10:18, 4:58

I made sure I kept my shake-out run dog slow. The focus on the rest of the week is going to be taking care of the little things to make sure I'm feeling better for this weekend's opening of spring racing: stretching, icing, and quality sleep.

March 16

AM: 10 miles easy

PM: 5 miles easy

Easy morning run with Liam on the ATT. My evening run was almost an RIC disaster. I barely made it back before the bell.

March 15

PM: 12 miles easy

My plane arrived a little late on Sunday night, so I slept in and ran after classes on Monday. I had a little stomach distress here in there in Duke Forest, and I could still feel the mountains in my legs. Breathing at sea level again felt pretty sweet.

March 14 (80 miles/week)

AM: 16 miles easy/hard

I wrote "easy/hard" because this was a typical long run until the last three miles when it abruptly became nasty. The wind in Steamboat Springs today was so bad that the ski lifts and slopes were closed. This same wind blew directly in my face for the last almost-all-uphill 2.5 miles--so hard that at points I felt like I was standing still with a hippopotamus jumping on my chest. My one last tough run in Colorado before heading back to Durham left me drunk with fatigue by the end.

Given the traveling and lack of doubles, I'm actually pretty happy with how the week played out. Though it's been fun to travel so much, I'm relieved the last 3 to 4 weeks of craziness is behind me...just in time to race 3 out of 4 of the next weekends. I'm hoping my work in January and February is going to pay off, and fortunately I should be able to get plenty of sleep this week.

March 13

AM: 6 x 4:00 on/2:00 off, 10 miles

I mustered up a workout today along the Yampa Core Trail. Six reps proved to be plenty. My legs felt like cinderblocks toward the end. I'm assuming this is from the altitude, but I'm happy with the honest effort. The uphill two-mile cooldown was less than fun.

My workout was interrupted by one nasty fall on the ice, which hurt only slightly more than a couple of good falls I had today on the slopes. I'm still in one piece...no complaints.

March 12

AM: 10+ miles moderate

Another morning run on the Yampa Core Trail before a day chock full of skiing. I felt great, despite the altitude and even during the climb to get home.

March 11

AM: 10 miles easy

Ran an out-and-back along the Yampa Core Trail in Steamboat Springs through a light snowfall before a day of skiing, with a pit stop at the turnaround. The last mile or so of the run was uphill from our place on the mountain. That definitely left me sucking wind, and I'm sure the altitude helped with that. But, it's really beautiful out here....I can't complain too much.

March 10

AM: 13 miles progression run

I finished up a whirlwind clean energy field trip with a class from Duke today for an all-around outstanding experience. The photos show a few highlights. One of our stops was a wind farm, which was one of the most relaxing places I've ever been. It has miles and miles of dirt roads, rolling verdant hills, constant 55-degree days, and abundant clean energy with tons of cool scenery to soak in. In other words, if I die and go to running heaven, it might be at a Northern California wind farm. It felt a little surreal. I unfortunately didn't actually get a chance to run there since it was for a group site visit. But still...some day...sigh.

I again ran in the morning along the Bay Trail, heading south past Coyote Point Park, turning around near Seal Point Park. Though I took in the peaceful scenery on the way out, I hammered the way home.

I'm writing now from the Denver Airport on my way to Steamboat Springs where my mom and brother, three days of skiing, and 7,500 feet of altitude and mountain running await.

March 9

AM: 10 miles easy

I started this run on the treadmill, but coming off a night of poor sleep and "other" activities, I desperately wanted to get outside for some fresh air. To my luck, I found this trail right outside of my hotel.

March 8

AM: 11 miles easy, treadmill

I managed to break another hotel treadmill this morning. This is getting ridiculous.

March 7 (79 miles/week)

AM: 9 miles progression run

Solid treadmill workout in the hotel in San Francisco to finish up a hectic week. It wasn't a great week in terms of volume, but I'm happy with two workouts and a respectable long run.

March 6

DNR

I was stuck in transit from 3:45 AM East Coast until 8:00 PM West Coast time. No run today unfortunately.

March 5

PM: 20 miles easy/moderate

It's the end of a long week, but I was damned if I was going to let The Man win. I wanted a long run, and I wanted a good one.

I took off for a satisfying 20-miler in the afternoon as a result after working last night past midnight. To my surprise, I felt better as the run grew past the hour mark. I picked it up over the hills on my way home. Don't get me wrong: I felt tired the entire time. This was just less dead-legs and more "I want to sleep for days."

March 4

AM: 8 miles easy

PM: 6 miles easy

I squeezed a couple of runs in on the WaDuke trail amid school work--the worst of which is behind me for the time being. I dreamt about Excel modeling last night, which probably means someone should just mercifully put me out of my misery at this point.

I have a 5:30 flight tomorrow morning to San Francisco for a four-day field trip. Wednesday morning, I leave from there straight to Steamboat Springs for some "altitude training" but mostly some awesome skiing with the family.

March 3

PM: 10 miles easy

Duke and school work are kicking my butt right now. Yeesh.

March 2

AM: 2 miles @ goal 10k pace, 6:00 jog recovery, 6 x 800m @ goal 5k pace with 300 jog recovery, 12 miles

Liam and I met at dawn for the track this morning. We hit the times as planned, and the 2-mile felt unbelievably smooth. On the first 800m rep, there was some sort of club team jogging on the track, with a few guys trying to run what looked to be an all-out 400 starting exactly at the same time we were. Naturally, we couldn't let them pass us, so we ran a slight positive split. After that, we settled in for what proved to be a tough but fair morning workout. Liam, as usual, left me in the dust on the last interval.

I'll be ready to race 2 weeks from now.

Splits: 10:02, 2:22, 2:25, 2:24, 2:24, 2:24, 2:24

With a ton of work and an interview this afternoon, it's looking like this will be the only run for the day.

March 1

AM: 8 miles easy, treadmill

PM: 6 miles easy

I'm back to reality after coming back from Arizona, facing a killer week of school. I literally studied for a midterm today on the treadmill. I felt ridiculous, but was running out of time. Post-midterm, I went for a shake-out run from the LSRC.