long time gone

So when I last left my few faithful followers I had come down with the black death down in Austin, Tx and was pretty much on my deathbed.

The following week consisted of 30-40min a day with 62min on Saturday that was very slow and relaxed. My legs felt ok but I still had a lingering annoying cough and was a little weak.

This Past week marked the 1st return to "real" running as I started off the week with a workout on Monday. This was 6x600 with 70-80 sec rest. I felt smooth on the first few but was running much slower than what I came thru on the 400's a few weeks back. I wasnt too surprised as it had been almost 2 weeks since any effort harder than an easy run had happened. As is per usual I was spot on the whole workout and a bad rep was only 2 sec off a good rep. I was hitting 80-81 on the 400's then finishing off the last 200m in 40 so it was paced very well. Unfortunately my upper body was weak and the fatigue hit pretty hard after the 4th one which surprised me.

Tuesday was an easy 7m run while Wednesday I met up with Greg Costello and ran just short of an hour. Again on this run despite a moderate pace I was left feeling pretty worn out by the end...not a good feeling to have with a race coming up the next day.

Thursday was a 5mile turkey trot and I figured if I had a good day I could run 28:30 pretty easily and if it was a bad day I would be right around 29:00. Well I fell far short of that with a 29:25. I started off pretty strong and felt ok with the opener at 5:40 and the second mile in 5:38. I suspect the 2nd mile was a bit short as the 3rd was 6:04 into the wind and the 4th was 6:17 into the wind still and I was just trudging along at this point. With zero change in effort I ran the last mile in 5:43 with the wind so it was pretty gusty. At the very least I got a nice hard tempo run out of it that will serve me better a few weeks down the line.

Friday was a recover 43min run around Wrigley Field while Saturday I was forced to run early in the morning at 7am since my dad was coming to town. I met up with Jeremy Borling and while he was going 2hrs I kept him company for 49min before turning around and while taking a bit shorter of a route home( school instead of addison) I managed to log 95min which was my longest long run in quite some time.

Sunday yet again started off early with knocking out an easy 6miles before 9am but then while carrying some boxes out with wet shoes and Liam nipping at my feet I took a digger down the stairs which left my ribs sore as hell and a knot on my head the size of a fantastically huge impant. I actually threw up from this a few hrs later which was odd so I'm guessing I was actually "concussed" from what Dr. Sarah says. So it goes....

Possibly be prepared for videos of sales meeting next week as I will try to get the flip camera rolling along with some pics.

This tops off a good week of running with ~57miles.

austin strikes again.

Last week finished up another mid 50's week and the next saw me on the road to Austin, Tx where I normally never run and instead drink my face off with no sleep and treat my body like a garbage dump.

This year figured to be different as I was going for the National Running Event and the adidas crew is rarely one to miss a 6am morning run which is never less than 45min. I got in on Monday around 11am and didnt want to wait around till 4pm to run since it was beautiful so I instead cruised up and down the strip then made my way around the capital building as well as the UT campus and football stadium. Coming from 50's and cloudy to 80's and sunny was fantastic. I ended up doing about 8miles of easy cruising on my own before heading back to clean up. I immediately did my core work and set out for a lunch which ended up being the Texas Embassy(?) which was across from the Levi's fader fort(which it is 1 week out of the year). Instead of relaxing i had a mojito, bloody and a lonestar along with my salad while it should have been gatorade. After this I wandered down the strip and up to Waterloo records to kill some time but not before stopping off for a few more cocktails before heading back for the first activity of the event...cocktail hour.

We took a few accts to dinner following at the Iron Cactus which was the site of my biggest boondoogle in industry history when I picked up a $400 no food all drinks tab while at SXSW in 2006. If you are wondering it did get passed thru without question and i was sent back again the following year. Somehow I cant seem to get potbellys for an acct expensed as quick these days...so it goes.

Tuesday we did 43min on the path at a pretty steady tempo and all that kept going thru my head was a text i got from Mike Willison saying "they have a nice running path. I barfed on it once". I'm actually in good shape but 6am runs do nothing for me...they hurt the same no matter what. Later on this night I went for, as keith would say, some scoops and ma have overindulged. I met up with some friends from Marathon Sports in Mnpls at an irish pub Fado and that was the death of me. Literally.

I couldnt sleep as my sinus's were acting up so despite not wanting to I rose from my slumber and ran down to the indie 5k, jogged with John Clark for 10min, then ran back home. It was chilly yet humid...odd weather. I saw my breath but it was too hot for a longsleever. Soon after this run I started feeling pretty sick( FYI i was out for 50min) but thought i could drink it out of my system--- with good fluids. I worked the whole day in the booth coughing...hurting....hammering dayquil....not good. I left dinner early to hit some z's but awoke thursday worse for the wear.

Thursday was a short day but I was dying, not able to think, I couldnt even email coherently and while showing a new coworker some computer ins/outs the effort to talk and focus was too much. I hit the airport at 130pm and was zonked out on the flight soon after. This day also marked the end of almost 7 straight weeks of running.

Friday I awoke yet again even worse....how could that be? Sarah brought me Liam, OJ, drugs and some food so I was grateful for that. The weekend consisted of rest, cold sweats, hot showers, lots of tussin, lots of nyquil, ignoring phone calls and being pissed I couldnt get down to the Peace to Meace run. That was a heartbreaker.

Also heartbreaking is the act of downloading itunes 9 as it wrecked my ipod. After my powerbook crashed I managed to store all my jams on my ipod yet about 1,000 songs couldnt be transferred over. The ipod remains but now there is no way to snyc or transfer anything over. I guess its better than not losing them all but god damn it, why should i keep paying hundreds of dollars for cool apple shit when it hasnt treated me very well? I'm salty to say the least.

Back in the saddle today. did 28min run to get a sweat and see how bad i felt. Like a baby fawn, all wobbly, i got going but a nagging cough will hold me back this week.

In a bit.

double quick

Packing should be simple and quick...unfortunately I get caught up in watching TV, responding to work emails and spending a few extra minutes reassuring the dog I am not leaving him with his keeper to go off and have fun without him forever. Whenever I start packing he immediately crawls into my travel bag and lays over all the clothes I'm packing but its hard to be mad at the little guy when you spend pretty much 24/7 with him and he's used to riding shotgun.

I forget where we left off but the week has been pretty solid with the track workout, a couple of 60+min runs and then on Saturday morning I did 71min pretty steady without any hint of fatigue which is pretty fantastic. Especially considering I had to do the same report not once, not twice but three times due to our wonderful system being shut down and not being able to transfer any files over. I also saw The Prairie Cartel play a set at Angels/Kings which was far superior to the show they played a few weeks back despite the venue being pretty...oh well i'll just say it was kind of douchey. Openr A&R were suprisingly good as well and you can download their EP free on their website. http://arsounds.net/

This lead to a random encounter with my old roommate and good friend RB who then lead to far too many drinks and the 7am call came too early for my liking. So it goes...

After a great run on saturday I capped it off with a nap but then awoke to my sinus's going haywire which is going to be brutal while traveling and living in a hotel room. The week totals off with about 54m total which is exactly what the last 3 weeks have been and my body has thanked me for the consistency. Upcoming races look like the Thanksgiving day 8k, Rock N Sole Trail Run, New Orleans 1/2 marathon and ING Miami. We will see how it plays out though, anything else I should look into?

to short tight or not to short tight?

So a few years back I would never have been caught dead in these but as it now happens I do the majority of my runs in these whenever its under 50 degrees. Yeah, they keep my hips looser and a bit warmer but the simple fact is that they are amazingly comfortable. Unfortunately my favorite pair, the adistar short tights, were never made due to retailers taking a pass for one reason or another despite trying to gobble them up after the fact...so it goes. My ill will towards these is similar to how I i feel about men's capri running tights as whenever Internet Celebrity Baumer wears them I ridicule him endlessly. Please tell me two years from now I wont be sporting these.

So back to the running. Wednesday I did a morning run that took me down towards FF Pipers Alley then onto the lake then home which logged me 63min and I felt loose, smooth and easy the whole way. So good in fact that I was contemplating another 30-40min run in the evening before deciding to settle down, rest and stay the course/plan. Today I wanted to do a fartlek with Baum but had no desire to run at 6am or at 4pm so I set off again solo to do what has become the standard 2min on with this time only 1min off on the lakefront path. The total time was 54min as I looped around Diversey Harbor and essentially did an out and back. I felt good but not fast and more than a little tired but once the meat was done I felt like I could do a second set.

On the entertainment front I have been a bit out of the loop this week due to being slammed at work and trying to get ready for Austin on Monday-Thurs then the Peace to Meece run a day after I get back. For those that don't know my best friend recently passed away due to a freak accident and left behind a wife and 2 little ones at the young age of 34. He was a 5th year senior when I was the only freshman to make the traveling team and he took me on like a little brother and had become something of a mentor/big brother to me. As it normally happens married folk head to the burbs and you don't see each other as much as you should as the thought of a 45min drive doesn't seem to appealing on both ends. Despite that we both had similar jobs and each week was filled with hours of window time (5am driving to appts in different states for example) talking about everything from family, my amazingly crazy ex-girlfriend situations(note the plural), odd nights out or simply not talking but speaking dialogue from movies for miles and miles. Anyhow, our friends and coach are starting a memorial race that will not only serve to honor him but also provide some funds this year towards his family then a scholarship each year for an EIU track/xc athlete. http://peacetomeece.com/

The grind continues on and I think this jam kind of sums up a little bit how most days lately I just want to chuck it all, take the day off and act 10yrs younger.



Until the next time.

Round and Round...

To those that are confused the title is NOT a homage to the hair band of the 80's known as RATT. Today marked the first day returning to the track since last February so I did not know what exactly to expect. The workout was going to be easy and hopefully smooth, consisting of 10x400 w/70sec rest. Goal times were 80 feeling easy but I figured it may be ugly.

Amazingly despite dodging the burrito cart/onion ring bike i ran 76-77 on all with a 75 closer and they felt really smooth. I only strained in the upper body with the arms a few times but then again I have not run faster than 6:00p officially in some time. All in all it was pretty solid and easy which I'm very pleased with.

I do need to change up my Ishuffle as the Fruit Bats kept getting played over and over today. Combine that with RadioHeads "the bends" and it was a pretty depressing workout jam.



Look how young Thom looks....wow

5 straight

Five straight weeks of running and being healthy are now behind me and I've gotten my legs underneath me, retired the larger clothes i bought just a month ago and lost ~20lbs. Moderation has never been a strong point as its either all or nothing these days. The weeks tally brought me up to 53m again which is exactly what the last 3 have been. Key runs were both fartleks with 6x2min on and 1min off on tuesday which hurt something awful since i was still dead legged and then on Friday i did 10x 60sec on w/60 sec off that also stung a bit. All in all not bad and I even managed to have a sxsw night on friday in the city followed up by an easy 65min morning run....then napping all day saturday.

Tuesday i saw the Prairie Cartel/Neon Indian show and Friday I saw Mason Jennings which is about as bipolar as it gets. Despite a small ticket debacle is worked out well and i got to hang out with Chris and Jake Hanson a bit which is always good fun. Bidding farewell to the friend that came to the show around midnight I then managed to fire it up with recent Ebony member Marsden and also met Willison out who had been having it mad since 2pm. Good times ensued so I'm told.

Ive already tossed up some Prairie Cartel vids and really dont feel to high on Neon Indian so here is a Mason jam. Be warned, its not much like the show as most songs are lowkey although the cover of the "the weight" slayed and inspired me to learn that on guitar this week. Win/Win for all most would agree.

Embedding disabled at Request. Thats some weak shit. Here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV30CSS5Zy0&feature=PlayList&p=DD4478920C055B26&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=58

and since copying and pasting is so hard check this: