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.