Getting back to Boston

Hoped to do 12 with 9 at MP this morning. Uh, no. Couldn't even get to MP in the half mile I tried (maybe 8:10 was as quick as I got) and the legs had less than nothing. It was a struggle just to get 6 done. Oh well, bump up tomorrow to a 16 instead.

Joined Kathy, Jill, Erica, Tiffany and Virginia for a long run from Eastside this morning. They were all going 20+; slacker me (thanks to Hanson) was only doing 16. So I ran with them for 10 miles, turned around and headed back, and averaged less than 9 for the last six. Plenty of hills on the route, as running up and down Massard will do, and they ate my lunch. I was a little surprised I was able to hold pace and even pick up the pace in the last three miles once it flattened (although a little rest waiting to cross Zero, Phoenix and Rogers didn't hurt). I'm kinda glad it worked out this way; otherwise I would have only had one 16-miler before Memphis. Now I have two, plus the 15 from last Saturday.

Ten-miler today starting at noon. I left when Cindy got to 15 at NYC. I figured she'd finish before me. I was wrong. After a 10:30 first mile, I cranked it up pretty good and the last mile was essentially at MP. Not sure I could have picked a hillier course. Burnham to Free Ferry to Old Greenwood to Phoenix to Leigh to Cliff and back past Hardscrabble. Run that a few times I'll definitely be ready for Newton and HBH. Of course I've run this route before but not in a long time, and I don't think I pushed it this hard when I did.

Wound up with 57 for the week. I need to sustain that kind of mileage and build on it in the next five months to get where I want to be.

Cindy got her BQ anyway, despite a big fade. So pressure's on me now to get there for 2015.

Six miles easy on the Country Club/SHS loop, then did hill sprints on Burnham. For as long as its been since I've done sprints, they seemed to go well. I felt like there was some power there. Legs were OK, not too tight after a 26-mile weekend.

Progression run in the rain. Nobody else showed up for the 5:15 run, so I did it solo. Went pretty well actually, got down to 8:34 at the end.

A tempo run that actually went as planned. It was 32 degrees out there, and I'm in shorts hauling butt while everyone else is bundled. Glad to see so many people out in it even bundled though. I did the first 7 hard and then jogged 3. The jog is where the legs got tired. Best tempo run in a long long time though. This lends further credence to my idea that the summer heat just screws me up. I can't run properly when it's hot or even warm.

Recovery Gallowalk with Kathy, David, Rose, Randy B, Daniel and Tracey. Somehow we kept getting faster and faster; wound up with 10:03 average even with walks. Weather was nice, almost too warm.

Dawn run with Tiffany. She was having trouble with a sttch in her side and cut it short at 5.25. I kept going, across 540 and down the east side and wound up with 10.15. My left hammy started bothering me at about 7.5. Started walking for about 100 yards, resumed running. It didn't go away but it didn't get any worse and I could push the pace without aggravating it. Then the inside of the left knee started hurting, about the same as in Alaska only not as severe. Pushed through that too. Most of the run, except for the run-walk with Tiff's stitch, was at sub-9. Averaged under 9:30 anyway. And got over 1800 for the year.

Ran with Lionel today from the Schoolhouse. Hammy niggle was still there but eased as the run went on. Then as a diversion we did about a half mile on I-49 around Massard. Pavement is down, rolled and smooth, no construction traffic, so we peeled off Massard, down the off ramp the wrong way, ran under Massard to the westbound off ramp, back up to Massard and finished the run. So now I can say I've run on the Interstate. We averaged 9:20 for the bulk of the run, with a half-mile walk/jog cooldown after the 10-mile main run. Got 53 for the week, over 85 for the month. Hoping to get close to 250 for the entire month.

Easy morning run from Marketplace with D. Langford. That's about all I can say about that.

Wiped out from work and Moose's nocturnal shenanigans Tuesday, so I decided to make that my rest day and run Wednesday. Then I almost didn't run today either, but finally got out the door at 4 p.m. for an easy 6 with hill sprints. I did 8 on the hill on Duncan shortly after Vickie passed me and put up a pic on FB. Felt fairly strong on the sprints but maybe not as much as last time. Then again, last time was the hill on Burnham which is not as steep, so maybe that played a role. Got it done before dark, barely.

Showed up with the crazies at 5:15. It was 30 degrees and felt even colder. I even wore tights (shocking, I know). It was just Jamie, Terry and David. I did OK at keeping up for the first two miles, but lagged some on the uphill and then my shoe came untied at the amphitheater. After that, the rest of the run was solo. With the hill and the shoe, third mile was 8:40. First mile was 8:32 while I got going, but the rest was low 8/high 7s, which was the idea. Overall average 8:15, which qualifies as MP. I'd take an 8:15 at Memphis right now. I decided to do that rather than try to run tempo intervals, even faster and completely alone in the dark. I guess for now hill sprints are my speed work. Debating going out this afternoon for 3-4 slow miles since I didn't do a cooldown jog today. It'll be much warmer to do that.

Wound up doing 5 easy on the gravel trail around the Ben Geren tennis courts. And who do I see out there on the trail but Jill and her daughter! Good 12 mile day. And nice to have weather where I can think about doubles.

Gallowalk with the Langfords, winding around eastern Fort Smith. Don't ask me to duplicate this course; I couldn't. I was also having to slow them down. They were getting down around 9:00 pace on the run segments, and I didn't want to go that fast. About 9:45 was more like it. And I was feeling all of those three runs in the preceding 40 hours, too. Got eight done, though. I'm gonna be ready to start the taper after Sunday.

Patched together a new course this morning. Out 58th, down the hill instead of toward SHS, under the freeway, along Phoenix to Leigh, up the hill, left to AB, down to Country Club, up Valley to SHS, then home. I felt pretty good after going up Leigh and decided to push the pace, and the run home from SHS was all at or below MP. I think that's what a progression run is supposed to be. I don't get many runs like this and I enjoyed it. MP felt really comfortable.

Planned 16 didn't happen today. It was 77 degrees, humid, 20 mph wind, bright sun so it felt even warmer, and the IT band was acting up. Decided to shut it down after 8ish and come back tomorrow when it's 35 degrees cooler. If it's like this in Memphis, I'm not running. Period.

Finally got out for that 16 I intended to do yesterday. Weather cooperated and cooled off by 30 degrees. And I pushed it. Sub-9 every mile after mile 7, last mile was at MP. Wasn't sure the legs were going to cooperate; I had a banana for breakfast, no gels and only a splash of water during the run. But they held up with the aid of that downhill on 58th Street. The uphill to get there was a bit of a struggle (OK, I walked about 100 yards). But even with that I got the average under 9:00. Time to taper -- and I'm ready.

5 a.m. run from the Boys Club with Kathy, Tiffany M, Khoung and Logan. Low 40s and breezy but after the first mile I was fine in singlet and shorts. Knee was a little achier than usual but no biggie. Big concern was lack of sleep; Benadryl grogged me but I didn't sleep well at all. Good thing I can get in a morning nap after I retrieve the garage door opener from the rentacar place.

Easy run before leaving for Bryany/Hot Springs. Or it felt easy, even if my pace was low-9. Maybe that means I'm ready for a good 10K tomorrow.

Very pleased with the race. More details to follow.

Spa morning dawned around 40 and windy, but not bad enough that I needed anything beyond WR gloves. In fact I did wind up with some sweat in my eyes, Mile1 was OK on the flat. Struggled a bit with mile 2 but decided to push the climb up West Mountain and see how many people I could pass. Answer was a lot. And I don't think anyone passed me on the downhill. Mile 3 was about 8:00 pace, mile 4 coming down mountain was 7:39, then I really got fast on the flats, with 7:19 and 7:06. If I'd done miles 2 and 4 a little better I maybe could have threatened my PR. As it was, a course PR by three minutes, 4th in a state championship race in AG and salted away my top 10 AG finish for the year. Does this mean I can do something good in Memphis? Sure doesn't hurt my confidence. People were coming up to me afterward that I didn't know (I'd passed them, basically) congratulating me on my run, which felt nice.

My five-mile recovery run after work turned into a long run when I got worried about forecast freezing rain overnight. The rain was holding off and I felt OK, so I left Southside after 16 laps and did another 7+ running around south Fort Smith. By the end the left knee was hurting pretty good but it calmed down quickly so we'll see. I'll likely do what I always do and suck it up and run anyway. Good pace over a lot of hills, 11.1 in 1:46:xx.

Recovery run at SHS. To vary the scenery a bit I ran the whole thing in lane 8, figuring 19 laps out there would be more than 20 laps in lane 1. Turned out to be roughly equal to 21 laps, plus 200 meters or so running back to the car. Pace was a little quicker than normal recovery run as I focused on more knee lift than usual for my shuffle runs. Knee pain not an issue, perhaps because the extra knee lift seemed to lessen the pounding.

Ran to and from SHS for mile repeats on the track. Five reps ranging from 7:37 to 7:22. As usual, the first one was the slowest; even 2.5 miles didn't get me warmed up. Probably could have done a sixth rep, but why? Don't overdo it with 10 days to Memphis, but give the muscles something to adapt to and reinforce last Saturday's race effort.

Today took me over 12,000 miles since I became a runner again 6.5 years ago. If you had told me then I'd run halfway around the world in this time, I would have been dumbfounded. Or told you you were nuts. Yet here I am. The body has held up pretty well. So has the motivation for the most part.

From here on I just take it easy before Memphis. Will I go 3:2x? Doubtful. But I'm going to try.

Did the Go!bbler Trot in Hillcrest/theHeights this morning, but it wasn't easy. First, I found myself at sub-9 pace on the paved portions, which I was feeling after yesterday's mile repeats. Second, there was a mile or so of trails off Ozark and in Allsopp Park and I was not ready for those. I just hoped I didn't break an ankle, or my face, on the rocks and roots. Managed not to do either, so I guess I'm OK. Worked up a nice sweat as I had too many layers on the upper body, even for temps in the high 20s. I was amazed at how many people showed up. I guessed 500 and that might be on the low side. Gary said there were runners from 22 states (comment on the Arkansas economy; all those people left home to get real jobs and came back for Thanksgiving with the folks?). Anyway, on to Memphis now. Everything will be easy except for dress rehearsal Tuesday and maybe a hard burst Friday to start the carbloading.

Finally got out the door at 12:30 for a progression run after taking yesterday off for sleep, travel and finally a niggle in my left thigh. No niggle today and I tried to push the pace. Put the hammer down at Hardscrabble and went sub MP the rest of the way.