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.