Easy Boston Long Run...Not Quite

Boston Marathon was this past Monday and i arrived home Tuesday after a week away from home and good buddy Liam. Training up to the marathon had been pretty solid although in the last two weeks I had grown a bit stale since I hadnt had a downweek since september and still havent missed a day since 1/11/2010. While running has been going well Boston was never the goal but only an excuse to get in long runs and something I had committed to as a long run so at the very least i knew i would have to be in somewhat decent shape to make it thru. The plan was to just run this as a typical long run and possibly negative split the last half. The days/week after the race would be the down week and recovery I think my body needs since I've been feeling run down.

Wednesday was a travel day but I still managed to get in 10miles at a steady clip around a pond and some nice running paths that Mcgrane showed Vonny, Evans and I which was a welcome change from the Charles River path. Thursday and Friday were double days that had me at 11miles and 10miles while both Saturday and Sunday were an easy 40min jaunt. During this time I was unable to turn down drinks with my fellow reps and friends which led to very little sleep for the three days leading to Monday.

Monday morning I woke up and felt actually pretty good for sleeping about 90min total due to Todd Williams and Mark Coogan rehashing their glory days and reverting to 25yr old kids...which was pretty entertaining. Starbucks yogurt, some gross blue gatordade and a couple granola bars for breakfast and I was still feeling good but just ready to start the long run and get rolling.

Got to the start with Johnny Sipple and got my MiCoach all ready to roll and boom....we were off. Long story short I started off at an easy pace I've been running for months but as per the usual in Boston the downhills started to be noticeable pretty early. It would have hurt to run slower so i just kept running the same easy pace but was worried I was going to trash my quads and miss more than a week of my downtime. I stopped at 11m to take a leak and again at 19m when i ran into Emily Carano and chatted with her for about a minute then I was on my way again. By this point I felt that I had enough of a workout and just wanted to be done but still had another 45min to finish. At this point my quads were getting pretty rocked so I went into damage control and just shuffled in. For a run that was supposed to be easy as hell this did not feel good!

1)7:10 2)6:58 3(6:58) 4)6:53 5)7:08 6)7:00 7)7:02 8)7:04 9)6:58 10)7:04 11)7:05 12)7:00 13)7:03 14)7:05 15)7:10 16)6:58 17)7:09 18)7:13 19)7:03 20)7:28 21)7:39 22)7:20 23)7:27 24)7:22 25)7:36 26)7:31 .2)1:36

Tuesday and Wednesday were both 10min jogs that were not very good as my quads were drilled. Everything else is fine though. Thursday I went 2.5miles and was into an actual running motion but still have some lingering soreness. I would say I'll be close to 100% by end of the week. I'm just still amazed I had no pain, soreness and almost did a double the day I did my 21miler at Argonne.

So it goes...more updates to follow.

Dog Parkin

The last few days I have been getting up super early to run but then take Liam to Horner Park so he can party, hump dogs and run around crazy for an hour or so in the hopes that will make him content and more chilled out during the day. Not so much. I think he's building up his stamina now and getting a tolerance.

For some reason the Youtube link i placed yesterday was taken down so I'll try and fine another one. One record I have been totally mystified by has been the Smith Westerns. They are from Chicago, i've seen them be blown off the stage, they get endless amounts of hype and to be honest, their record sounds like dogshit. I have also been listening to the Dandy Warhols older stuff of late and for some reason i thought of their song "not if you were the last junkie on earth" when reading that Sookie aka Anna Paquin is bisexual. Vampire Bill better be watching his back now he's got double the worry.

thawed out

After waiting since November to get out to Argonne last week marked the first time out there in almost 8mths. Those not familiar with it should know its 9.8m of rolling hills and crushed limestone. The goal was 2+ loops and to do it as a Boston simulator. The regular loop features the first 2m of some climbing then mostly some longer downhills from 3-6 then some climbing from 7-9. The plan was to just chill out, log the time and do one regular loop with the downs then reverse directions and do the long climbing.

The morning greeted us with 37degrees and a light wind and i was a bit worried i was undressed with short tights and a 1/2 zip but after the first loop i was burning up as the day got progressively nicer. Accompanying me on this run were old EIU teammates Andy Derks and John Sipple. The first mile is long by about 20-30sec but below are the splits:

8:02, 7:10, 7:06, 7:27(had to run on traintracks due to flooding), 6:47, 6:53, 7:03, 6:48, 6:48, 3:51, 3:57, 6:54, 6:51, 6:54, 6:45, 7:00(climb), 7:19(train tracks), 6:42, 6:35, 6:53(long) and 2:47 add on to hit 20m.

We ended up running 68/66 with a nice negative split despite hitting the wind and having the reverse direction being more difficult than the regular way. The best part of the run was there was no pain, no struggling and i felt full of run and could have kept going. The next day I was able to run normally and was completely recovered so these are all great signs. I'm still running thru Boston in trainers and a going to treat the run just like the above long run since the goal is to run fast this summer, not run a mediocre time in Boston. I just know despite being in good shape I'm not ready for the beating the course can dole out to you if you arent 100% prepared and to be honest I'm dead sick of having 6mths of running then 2mths of recovery. Breaking this cycle is something i need to do to keep running fun and positive.

Directly after the run I attended yet another college roommates wedding. I'm the last one not married off. It will probably stay this was as long as i keep bringing my ex-girlfriend to these and ignore the hot asian wedding party across the hall but making good decisions that relate to myself has never been my strongpoint. Do as i say....not as i do.






It was great seeing those cats for the first time in way too long and I'm sure we bored the hell out of everyone around us our decades old stories...good lord I'm getting old.

As for jams I'm seeing Miles Kurosky tomorrow night which should be fullfilling since i missed his old band bealuh when they toured Chicago in 2004 and broke up at the Abbey Pub.

shamrock truffle shuffle

Shamrock came and went and to no surprise the near 70degree weather we had was broken by low 30's, snow, wind and rain. So it go's.

I managed to get a nice little spot in the elite tent and even had the low bib of # 12. A cruel joke but funny non the less. We hung out here before embarking on a 3m warmup which actually felt like a quick training run...of course those guys ran under 24:30 so that should give you the level that i was jogging around with. To the start and I was astounded by all the adidas adizero product seen on the other competitors. How do i have to beg and plead to get this stuff placed in stores then manage to see probably over half the elite(no, not real elites...other schmo's like me as well) field wearing this?

The 1st mile was passed in 5:30 and I was so far back it was insane. I thought i would be top 50 or so but I was closer to 300th at this point. Very humbling and a tad embarrassing. I kept on running in what felt like an easy tempo but i knew i couldnt go much faster and the next mile passed in 5:35 so I started to think that maybe I would run 27:30 which would have exceeded my goal by about 45seconds. After the duece we turned into the wind a few times and had a few tiny uphills that got us to the 3m in 16:46(5:40) so i was gradually starting to slow up but still passing people in droves. 4m was reached in 5:38( 22:26) and at this point I was just running to finish it up. Its still an odd feeling to try to dig down then have all the thoughts come into your head that you are running 3:30 slower than what you used to....being passed by kids wearing scottie pippen jerseys....whats the point? The last 600m were pretty rough as you go uphill into the teeth of a 20mph wind then have 300m to the finish. The final "kick" wasnt much more than a strider but I picked off a few people and almost caught Sara Slattery...how the mighty have fallen. The last mile was covered in 5:38 which gave me the grad total of 28:05 for the 5miles. I guess I'm pleased since that was my five fastest miles since 2004(tear rolls down my face) and I still have not done much other than so minor fartleks and easy running. Until I'm down under 27:00 I wont consider myself being competitve or even close to being successful in this half assed comeback though.

The rest of the day was spent drinking whiskey, eating breakfast quesadillas, drinking pbr's and eating burgers. Classy. Oh yeah....there was also an incident with a roller derby girl that may or may not make it into a future installment of the blog. I'm still trying to suss out what happened.

I leave you with this:

still trucking....

It's been waaaaaay too long since my last post but I doubt anyone really missed me. It has been a crazy and hectic last few months and will continue to escalate until the end of May, the 28th to be precise. Many work functions, lots of running and a lot of resting and preparing have been going on.

Work wise i survived my first re-org that smacked the running unit which left me a bit worried about my own job but you just have to take it as it comes. In this industry it seems sooner or later you will be on the bad side of the desk before moving on....hopefully mine will come much later. Being without a direct boss and tech rep has been challenging as previously they were just such an immense help that nothing ever really fell thru the cracks. At the moment i'm still plate juggling/spinning.

Running wise things have been going stellar. Still grinding away and have increased from the usual 55-60 to 65-75 miles a week. Most runs are just logging time but twice a week I get in a fartlek. The core of these has been 6x2min on 1min off and this has become easy and I should probably do more and add time but its in the comfort zone at the moment. Today I met Kris Hartner of Naperville Running Co. I had to leave the city at 530am but we got out the door for 4x3min on 90sec off and 4x1min on 1min off and he was giving it. I should have known I was in for it when he walked out the door wearing the adios.

Long runs have been all pretty good minus the one i did down at EIU but that was due to coming off the bird flue/plague and dead legs than anything else. This past Sunday I ran with Derek Holland and Greg Costello and logged 2:13:30 which was 12min longer than anything I've done this season. The good news is the next day i puttered 6miles pretty easy then the day after that I was full on and recovered. That means the legs are standing up to the strain.

Jams wise I saw "we were promised jetpacks..." last week and have bought tickets to a number of other shows including: Miles Kurosky, Thom Yorke's solo project, Frightened Rabbit, 2 Door Cinema Club and will be getting passes to see Jonsi as well as the Jacob Dylan show in which he is backed by Neko Case who is brilliant.

Oh yes, I did make it to New Orleans to run the 1/2 and it went well. The goal going in was 1:16:30 and I was nearly there till cratering the last 1.5m and finished in 1:17:02. I ran the entire race solo until i was passed by Rick Wilhelm but thats no big deal. Those were my first 13 sub 6min miles since 2006 so I will gladly take them. Stories and pics to possibly follow.

In a Bit.

still going.

Ok, so i have failed my faithful readers by not updating these as much as i should have.

This will be a short one since i have spent the entire last 2 days online and need to close the laptop for a split reprieve. Still staying the course and havent missed a day since the 23rd driving home from Mnpls. My workouts have pretty much stopped since i have been babying my hamstring on the ice due to aggravating it from slipping around. Fear not, this is not a big deal and I am 90% which is about as good as i can ask for at this point. The mileage has been steady around 50-60 a week.

Last week i took it up a bit and knocked off 65miles and actually felt really solid doing it. Saturday was 1:56 with the first hour being run with JJ, Costello and Kafel who are far out of my league. It was steady and just a bit faster than comfortable but i managed the same pace as i turned around to come home solo.

Today i did my first uptempo effort in 2-3 weeks and it was primarily a rust buster as i plan on hitting the indoor track later this week or early next week. At 630am I shuffled out the door and 54min later i finished 6x2min on 1 min off that was surprisingly easy and led me to think it wasnt worth it. At this point i would rather be a tad undertrained than pushing the envelope everyday.

Some big changes have been the adding of a double a couple times a week, actually wanting to run early in the AM to have the rest of the day free and just continually feeling really good on my runs.

New jams of note would be the A.A. Bondy record "when the devils loose". I also saw the Cribbs with Johnny Marr and that was a blinder. Good jams all around.

strange days indeed...

Last week topped out at 61miles for the week which is the highest ive hit since probably last fall/winter. It was a bit easier since it was kind of like an xmas break since store owners were on vacation or slammed with other brands begging to get in the doors. I of course receive samples late each time, cant make appts in advance and scramble around like a headless chicken chasing the deadline but ive come to accept being pissed off, frustrated and stressed out for 2-3 weeks and being done with it. Does it sound like I'm complaining...not really, maybe venting.

Anyhow I started tinkering around with MiCoach and its legit. Sometimes i do not like getting feedback like on days when its freezing, snowy and the HR and GPS tells you exactly how slow you are going. I did manage one workout during this time which consisted of finding a stretch of road on a one-way that was somewhat clear. I ended up doing 10x80 on 80 off so it was pretty much a 400m workout on the roads in 23 layers of clothes. The other great run i did was my saturday long run where i got in 1:50min which was about 16miles. This was totally easy and its startling how different it is running without 20lbs than it was last year.

At the moment I'm craving some mac and cheese so i leave you with The Dirty Mac. Long live Winston O'Boogie.

On the eve of the eve

Just kicked of my NYE run and i slopped around the streets of chicago for 62:20. I again used MiCoach's free option. I hate digging thru my clothes to stop/start at every light so i just stopped my watch. Came out to 7:02p which is totally fine for what im doing.

Tonight bring going to the Double Door to see Electric 6 and Local H. As it looms laying on the couch and avoiding the madness sounds more appealing. totally not wanting to wait on cabs and watch drunk assholes....or be that drunk asshole.

So it goes.....

MiCoach date from today.

busy busy busy

It seems I can't quite commit to be a responsible blogger, possibly too many social networking fired brewing that are keeping me at bay.

So a quick recap: Sales meeting-- missed 2 days but had 3 quality days that week with a very hard 12miler and got in solid week otherwise while killing my liver and subjecting myself to pink eye and other diseases from establishments not on the Zagat surveys list.

The next week was fantastic as I did a couple of killer workouts including some 400's in 73-74 that felt completely at ease then a nice 72min run with 8x90sec on in the middle with Costello that was again totally at ease. After this I had to head to Mnlps for sell in but only managed to miss two days on the week, both being travel/work days in a blizzard so it wasnt too bad.

This week currently is shaping up pretty fair with all the travel included. Monday was an easy 45min slop around in the muck but Tuesday I got in an 8/4 double for a whopping total of 12. Today I tried to get in a workout despite the awful conditions for running fast. I managed to find a 2min patch of good running and did 10x80sec on and 80sec off running back and forth on a one way street. My hamstring has been pretty tight(right leg) so I have been careful not to exert anymore than necessary on the snow/ice.

As for music...well....lets see. Last night I saw The Good Life which was suprisingly good despite being the oldest guy there and a swarm of EMO sing alongs and fist raising. The Fleetwood Mac cover of The Chain was the highlight although I may have been one of 3 people who knew it was a cover.

white nightmare

The snow is coming and coming and coming....

Got up early for some reason and knocked out 41min and felt pretty good. Thinking of a double but i need to run downtown for errands later on and ill need my rest i reckon. Last night was spent hanging apparel samples. This season is a large bag with many colors and many new styles...lots of hanging.

My friend Andrew is also releasing his first solo record today FREE. No reason to not check it out. Andrew was formerly of the Redwalls until that band imploded with just the brothers remaining but I did see the Sleeptalkers a few times and they are rock solid. Get there record here: http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2009/12/09/magnet-exclusive-download-the-debut-album-by-the-sleeptalkers-for-free/

They also have a video with none other than Thax making a grand appearance.

The Sleeptalkers - Falling Apart from The Sleeptalkers on Vimeo.

Back from the brink

Last week was spent in Portland indulging in their fine city's establishments that we probably shouldn't go into much detail about lest you lose some respect for me. We also had our sales meetings and got to see whats new coming down the pipe for the fine 3 stripes brand.

Running is always a crap shoot at these meetings as we start early and end early in the AM each day. Monday was an easy 30min run with T-Will, Mcgrane and Jones before we had to head to catch MNF at a fine little bar where you could play shuffleboard, pingpong or drink heavily. If you are a woman of fine charachter they will also let you play shirtless....classy.

Tuesday was an off day---mainly due to Monday night and Wednesday we ran 72min hard as hell. This was supposed to be a 40min loop but old man Vonny's directional sense led us astray but I feel he knew where he was going the whole time and wanted us to suffer. Thursday was another easy 30min run while testing out MiCoach. Awesome stuff I tell you.

I landed late Thursday night and went to catch Scott band, Scott Lucas and the Married Men at the Whistler. Started out by cabbing to Willisons to have some cocktails then off to the Whistler then per the usual we topped it off at the Burlington. Both of us were in rare form and i will just say don't be a dick if you dont want your messenger bag emptied out all over the floor.

Friday was spent catching up on emails for the morning and pulling my head out of the gutter. Scott and I ended up catching "The Road" at Pipers Alley then a few pints and some mac and cheese at Corcorans before heading our seperate ways. A good night in was just what I needed. Saturday was 56min on the path where I need to stress the importance to adidas of building a wind brief. Come on guys! Sunday was an easy 45min run.

Snow has started falling...winter is officially here...so the time to suck it up and get tough has come. I wanted to do a fartlek on the park course Baum and I do but I figured the snow would make it worthless so i stuck to the roads. I ended up doing the long bucktown route and throwing in 8-9 70-90sec surges along the way. Nothing special but enough to get the legs moving.

This morning I met Costello for an easy 64min slopping thru a snowstorm. I need to wear sunglasses for this stuff now that it looks like I smoked a pound of meth since my eyes are all red.

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:

...when you've got the greys

What's with the blues when you got the grey's? It's fantastic question from Frightened Rabbit that I cant help but thing about on these grey and nasty morning that will be commonplace until April.

Yesterday I did my longer Bucktown Loop down Milwaukee ---> Ashland---> home. It's crazy to see how that area has changed even in the short time since I have moved to Chicago. I first looked at an apartment there in 2003 and lets just say it was pretty awful and the "neighbors" looked a little dicey. Now with the money i squandered away at the time and the price I could of bought something makes me regret not plunking down there although I now think it has a Lincoln Park vibe which i detest.

Anyways the run was 53min of easy cruising and there were no major problems other than my hips feeling like they needed to be adjusted. I think the next few days will consist of easy running then a track workout of 400's or 600's will commence on Thursday and a long run this weekend.

The agenda for tonight consists of checking out Neon Indian and my good friends The Prairie Cartel at the new Lincoln Hall. Friday I also may check out Mason Jennings at the HOB but thats a definite maybe.

Here is a clip from the Disciplines who headlined the show I saw on Friday. Ken Stringfellow of Posies fame is the frontman. Music is ok but the stage show wasnt too bad.

coming up only to hold you under

Today marks the end of my 4th week of non-stop running and recommittment and the first "race" i've done since the Corn Fest 5K in 2006. While I have done both Chicago and Boston marathons i do not consider them races but rather long sustained runs. I think in a race you try to beat people while in the marathon you just try to not beat yourself. Philosophical i know but then again I did get up at 7am on a Sunday for the first time in ages, slam a mucky breakfast of bloody mary's and chilequilles and then watched the Bears get throttled before passing out for what some call a nap...i will just call it going back to bed. It was pretty epic.

Saturday's long run was put on hold as i checked out the Nike Human Race and ran that 10k at an easy clip then tacked on some time to get in just over 60min for a solid run. Today's run/race was intended to be a tempo run at 6:00-610p with nothing more than a solid effort. The course split were all over the place but i did feel I kept a solid effort, neither pushing nor fading, for the whole way minus a few minutes around 4.5m were i questioned why i was making myself hurt to run over 5min slower than my personal best but....well lets just say we have a lot of work to do. 5:49, 6:10(11:59), 5:49(17:49), 6:21(24:09), 6:01(30:10), 6:01(36:11) 1:04= 37:15

While marking my return to action(insert joke) the race also marks the first time I've lined up wearing the shuffle. I added the new Prairie Cartel record which despite having/hearing most of the songs I bought on itunes last night and they have managed to change quite a bit since they were first debuted. Highlights include Suitcase Pimp, Jump Like Chemicals and 10ft of Snow( no, its not a homage to a fantastic Canadian rapper named Snow). I also have been on a Radiohead kick of late and put "The Bends" back in the mix partly because I have spent the last few days trying to learn many of the songs on guitar and also since I have had the title track stuck in my head for days. Rounding it out was the Doves, Fruit Bats, Glasvegas and last but not least Earlimart.



And I simply love the tone of this plus the line of slipping inside your pocket. I think Keith is tearing up somewhere that i referenced the mighty Radiohead



Big week coming up with a trip to the burbs to try and put together a new adidas aBE unit which is sure to be a cluster as i have to be on the other side of the burbs for a halloween fun run at a great account in Elmhurst,Il called The Runners Sole. Tuesday bring about the Prairie Cartel set w/Neon Indian and the new Lincoln Hall, Wednesday I travel south to Bloomington where an account has rented out a movie theatre to show the York HS XC documentary and have an official adidas night. The rest of the week is same old same old.

Until the next time.

...and you blew all away

Wow, i apologize to the faithful readers that i went almost a week without an update after i committed to keep blogging. I think you'll get over it but ill try and stay the course.

Last week ended pretty solid with doing 1:28 with Baum even though he dropped me and i felt like absolute garbage then managing to followup that run with a solid 45min on Sunday which put me right about 54m for the week.

This week started off ok with 40min on Monday, 48min on tues again doing the 6x2min on 2min off at Horner Park and then getting up for an early run on Wed to knock out 65min heading down toward Fleet Feet PA then hopping on the path for the return trip.

I felt like I dodged a bullet yesterday as I ended up having to run in the rain for 44min which was less then enjoyable and I managed to feel fine until I had a snack and then all of a sudden i was bundled up on the couch hoping H1N1 wasnt getting ready to introduce themselves to me. No change today so I'm guessing I just didnt agree with the broccoli soup i hoovered down.

Wednesday night also saw me take in Dead Mans Bones which is probably more mentionable for having Ryan Gosling as its singer/creator. Going in not knowing what to expect i will say I came away really enjoying it and thought while it was definitely set up for more of a stage show that it played well especially with the time of year it is. The only way to describe it is like watching a spooky, evil, cajun/folk Charile Brown play. Below is a picture a friend of mine snapped of Ryan along with the childrens choir that accompanied them.



The rest of the week has shaped up to be a 40-60min today, 8-10m tomorrow then I'm doing the Trick or Treat Trot as a tempo run on Sunday before heading to the playoffs for our kickball team. Some serious business I know. On the non running side I will be checking out a band tonight at Subterranean a few of my friends play in called Scott Lucas and the Married Men. They have finished a fantastic record that is very Heartbreaker-ish in theme and a cross between old Sun Volt, Neil Young...and Scott Lucas. The video is from Martyr's a few months back.


Until the next one.