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29 September 2009

Okay, I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been busy, and I lost the USB device that downloads info from my Garmin to my computer. So I'll have to do it the old fashioned way. After the 20 mile run I was in Cape Coral and Orlando and Jacksonville, so I didn't have tons of time to run. I forgot my watch at home, so I have no idea about my Cape Coral run. I went for about half an hour in the morning. The other runs were in the evening when I got home. The 12 mile run felt really short. I finally did mile repeats this morning. I've been on the road and couldn't get any of the other ones in before work. I did six mile repeats this morning with half a mile in between. Ten miles total. The weather was a little cooler this morning (75 degrees), so it felt good.

Not sure what to aim for as far as pace goes in the race. Any thoughts?

Some stats:

22-sept-09

4.0 miles

35:34

8:54/mile

25-sept-09

7.0 miles

1:02:51

8:59/mile

27-sept-09

12.0 miles

1:46:53

8:54/mile

29-sept-09

10.0 miles

1:25:05

8:31/mile

Mike is wondering if his brother, Mark, is still out there, somewhere.

Slowing Down...

After watching the Davenport Marathon, I've decided trying for the 4:30 is going to be tough, but I still believe it is going to be possible for me.

I watched a few people I know reach that mark on Sunday and watched Darren get through his first marathon in 4:58:43. 1:17 ahead of his goal (now that's just about perfect pacing). He complained there was no water on the course when I saw him at mile 7. Then again, I was the only person standing at the 7 mile sign. People were looking at me like "aren't you going to tell us our time?" or "do you have any water?". There was more water after the 10 mile mark and through to the end of the race, but man that has to be scary...no water.

I ran this morning what I would call the pace I think I can handle for 26.2. Turned out to be a little more than 10:30pace, but that's OK... final stats:

4 miles

42:23

10:35 pace

10:35 = 4:37 marathon and I would be extremely content with that time.

Goodbye RUBY TUESDAY...Mick and Craig are hanging out today.

Keota to Sigourney- Annual Run

Craig's annual KS run was a nice run. The final "long" run before the marathon and very nice weather. Cool, overcast and a little sun at the end.

I started at the Jct. of 92 and the county hwy just outside of Keota and ran to Sigourney HS. The miles were always just a little off of the crossing roads, so as I was shooting for my 10 min miles at the crossroads, I knew I was probably U10. The goal was to finish the 12.27 in under 2:00. Just made it:

Final Stats:

12.27 miles

1:58:00

9:37 pace

Today I felt like Rocky. Not the Rocky that went the distance w/ Apollo Creed, the one that ran through the streets of Philly, grabbed an apple running through the market, ran with some kids and climbed the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Go ahead and TRY to run an 11 min mile...

Todays goal: Run, even if it is dark and raining.

Only 3 miles since I was running a longer run on Sat and Darren is running the Davenport Marathon on Sunday.

Rain, 63º- 6am. 1st mile 10:45 and then I think we just got distracted. 3 miles and we must have seen 15-20 cars and that doesn't sit well when the shoulder is full of water and you insist on staying on the pavement.

Final Stats:

3.0 miles

31:31

10:30/mile

Keota to Sigourney 12 mile run tomorrow.

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays Craig from the swift completion of his appointed runs.

4 miles, 4 cars, 4:44/half mile?s

Not quite. Eeeerrrriieee morning...cloudy and very dark. High humidity and 66º which is about as warm as it has been at 6am for a long time. Very dead out with hardly any traffic.

This is actually an "extra" run I wasn't planning on this week, but my heel feels good so I thought I'd throw it in at a pace my body would tell me to run. Comfortable. Turns out comfortable is about a 10min pace for me. 10:08 on the first mile, 20:04 2nd mile, 30:05 on the 3rd mile and final stats:

4.0 miles

39:22

9:50/mile

ya, Craig was just smokin' that last mile...9:45 woooo...

Back in the US of A.

21 September 2009

So I'm back from a week in St. Kitts. It was a good trip, but not relaxing as I was there for work. You know you travel a lot when you travel to St. Kitts, and instead of staying through the weekend, you go, "Hmmm. I'd really rather just be home."

While there I ran 5 on the treadmill on Tuesday, 3 on the treadmill on Thursday morning and then 4.5 outside on Thursday afternoon. I didn't run on Friday or Saturday, and then I did 20 on Sunday morning.

The 20 felt good for the first half. The next 5 were okay, but at 15-16 I hit the wall. Just like the last 20 I slowed and slowed and slowed. I managed to finish 1 minute under the last 20 miler, but it didn't feel any better. I did better with eating this time, and I looked at what was different between my good 18 and the 2 crappy feeling 20's. The only two things I could see were the amount of sleep and the temperature. The 18 was run in the low 70's. The first 20 was in the upper 70's, and this one? I checked it when I got home: 81 degrees (87 heat index). Maybe that's why I ran out of gas.

I'm thinking I'll pace myself a little more at the marathon. Maybe not try to hit the 9 min/mile so hard in the first half.

Anyway.

Stats:

Treadmill: who knows

4.5 miles

39:40

8:49/mile

20.02 miles

3:04:57

9:14/mile

The sound of one hand clapping is Mike.

PB PR PBR?4

20.08 miles

3:21:29

10:02/mile

IF I kept this pace up, I would have placed 1257th out of 2767 in my age group in last year's Chicago Marathon.

Overall, I would have been 10,953 out of 31, 344.

In both cases, I would meet a goal I have been striving for which is the "in the top half". Even at a 10:30 pace I will accomplish this "in the top half". I'm feeling confident I can do this.

Looking back at last year, I didn't even come close to 10:00 pace on any 19 or 20 mile runs. 10:56 was the closest.

Today I ran the first 10 miles with Darren and Jill Baetsle following me in their car and handing me gatorade and chomps. Darren (who'll run next week at Davenport) ran the last 10 miles with me...tough to keep up with at times.

My heel feels incredibly well.

Craig over. Craig out. Craig over and out!

Friday, Sept 18

Final Stats

6.03 miles

55:45

9:14 pace

Easy running...

The New Bib Numbers Are Here! I'm Somebody!

Participant guide came in the mail yesterday.

I am #14123.

Those last three digits are going to be hard to remember. Luckily they are the same digits on my briefcase lock.

Heel is healing and the 3 day run week is doing fine. I run 6 tomorrow w/ Darren...in fact, ALL my runs have been with Darren lately. Tues/Fri/Sun.

20 miles this weekend. Strict 10:30/mile start and go from there. 7 or 7:30 start to get used to the time on Sunday morning.

Craig over like a 2TD lead w/ 10 seconds left in the game and out like a Hwt contender in the 70s fighting Ali.

6

Heel felt much better this morning. Ran easy for 6 miles and finished U9:30.

Heel bothered me a little more the rest of the day, but nothing like it had. I still believe I'll shoot for Tues/Friday/Sunday for the next few weeks.

FINAL STATS

6.03 miles

56:17

9:20 pace

Craig has all the right moves...

10 miles

I ran my ten miles yesterday morning. It was nice and cool. :-) There was actually some lightning while I was running.

Now, to the run. I was so slow, I am not even going to tell you my pace. The first five miles I felt like I was running through molasses, like I had weights around my ankles, like I was wading through pudding. It was a really, really tough five miles. Then I hit five miles and the flip switched and I made up some time. I felt pretty good afterward, but was a bit horrified by my time. At the eight mile mark this week, I was ten full minutes slower than I was last week. Ugh.

But, I did it, and I chalk it up to just one of those days.

Next Sunday I'll go for 12!

"10" with no Bolero

Another day in Paradise, Iowa. 61º @ 6am and no wind or rain.

Started out with a 10 min pace in mind trying to see what it would feel like @ 10 miles, but quickly found ourselves running U10 and just going faster. Conversational Runs usually not 10 milers, but this one was. A lot to talk about w/ Darren's marathon coming up on the 27th.

It was a good run, my heel is sore, but not bad. Again I'll look at taking Mon, Wed, & Thurs off from here on out unless it gets better somehow.

Final Stats:

10.04

1:35:30

9:31 pace

...and so it goes, and so it goes...

Dedication.

13 September 2009

Pretty good couple of runs. I did 4.5 (not 5) in KC on Thursday morning. Hills. Big hills. But the weather was cool. I ran out from the hotel into a neighborhood that quickly ended at the top of a big hill. I looked around and saw that it was a big down and up again or out on a little road into the country. I took the little road. No shoulder, but little traffic. It was a good run. I tried to extend it into five, but figured a half mile probably wouldn't make that much difference.

I skipped the cardio workout. Actually, I've skipped most of them. I surfed, but that isn't really a a cardio workout.

On Saturday I went out in the afternoon. It had been raining most of the day, and there was no lightning. I took off in a break, but it started sprinkling at 1.5 miles. Then at 2 miles it poured on me until mile 6. I ran through, at times, six inches of water. It was awesome. The rain kept me cool, and there wasn't much wind. Felt pretty good.

Stats:

4.5 miles

41:24

9:12/mile

8.0 miles

1:07:40

8:27/mile

Mike out.

Patterns

Day off today (Saturday). Took Wed and Thurs off last week. There's a pattern developing here where I believe I'll be lucky to run 3 times a week from here on out unless my heel just "gets better". It's possible, but I was really hoping to get those 8-10 milers in with the pickups, but instead it seems I get a 6 miler and another 6 miler and then a long run.

Frustrating, but hey...if I can finish and I'm under 5 hours. Then so be it.

On my 6 mile runs I have noticed my pace starts out a lot faster than when I was running 5-6 days a week. I just hope I don't lose anything in the process. Maybe this is the key. The last month...rest more.

I guess when you look at the training schedule, besides the pick-up runs, I'm really not missing anything except cross training and cardio. I know it says 8 miles, but I'm going 10 tomorrow since I didn't go all 20 last weekend. I can go 20 next week.

Craig over...

6 or 1/2 dozen

6 miles in the Fog was absolutely crazy. Darren had a light on his head and we ran pretty hard, especially the 2nd half. Started out around 9:30/mile and kept that up until it was 9:20 at the 3 mile mark...28:0??? I was thinking...close to the 9/mile, but don't push it, just finish.

37:04 and then 46:00...Had to have an 8 min mile to close under 9/mile.

30 seconds to do what looks like a 100 yd dash...final stats:

6.03 miles

53:51

8:55 pace

Craig is feeling the pain...

2 days off

I feel like a spectator, but I would rather heal up my heel than run 13 min/pace or end up walking, so I'm resting it.

Hoping I feel good enough to run Friday.

0 miles

0:00

0:00 pace

Craig

Going nowhere fast.

Six and Ten

9 September 2009

Ran six easy on Monday. Didn't feel too bad, and the weather has been better here. High's 85-90 instead of 95-100. Lows around 70. I waited to run until the evening just to give myself some extra off time.

On Tuesday I did the 6 x 1200m (0.75 miles) pick-ups. I did the pick-ups at 7:30 to 8:00. It was hard, but even though I wonder why the hell I'm doing this while I'm doing it. I love having done it.

Only 31 more days!

Stats:

Monday:

6.02 miles

55:21

9:12/ mile

Tuesday:

10.0 miles

1:26:05

8:37/mile

Stay tuned for more Mike, next on MTV! All Mike. All Night.

6 Miles

6 easy miles   

in the dark.   5am.

56:51

9:28 pace

Heel bothered me a little today.  May take a day off tomorrow and Thursday, we'll see how I feel. 

This last month gets tough when you are feeling any kind of pain and you have a busy schedule. 

...

And I'm not missing a thing...

Watchin' the full moon crossing the range...

Ridin' the storm out

20 miles -5+1 +.25

So I ran 5 miles at 10:20-10:30 pace, we kept the pace through 10 miles, then at 15 miles with a 10:27 pace...I had to call it quits for the day and let Darren head in on the last 5 miles by himself. As I told Mike in a text: disappointing, but not devastating. I was not exhausted, didn't hit a wall, but I could feel myself favoring my right side to the point where I realized I should stop.

A few more days rest and I think my heel will be back. Funny how you look at it...15 miles and I didn't really get my workout in. How crazy is that?

Final Stats:

15 miles

2:36:55

10:27 pace

The +1 mile was the mile I walked before getting picked up and the .25 was the last quarter mile I ran with Darren for support.

Fall Down 7 times, get up 8.

20 miles

5 September 2009

So this run didn't feel nearly as good as the 18 miles. I started out about the same, but within a few miles was having mild abdominal cramps. Those cleared around mile 8, and I felt pretty good. At mile 13 I started to feel some pain in my joints, especially my left knee. I kept looking for landmarks, but it took forever to get to where I thought I should be. With four miles left I could tell I was slowing down. I'd kept my pace between 9:00-9:15 most of the way, but I really hit a wall. Okay, maybe not a wall, but a fence. One of those old rusty fences that wobbles when you try to climb over it. You know you can do it, but it won't be pretty. I finished without even trying a kick and figured I probably could have kept going, but it wouldn't have been fun.

So what was different? I didn't eat as well as usual yesterday. I had light pasta for lunch, but then got talked into going out for dinner. Burger. Bleh. I think that had to do with cramps the next day. Also, I didn't get as much sleep this time either. Then, because of the cramps, I didn't eat any energy gels until after half-way. I did drink 24 oz. of Gatorade and water (48 oz total). What else? It was 2 degrees warmer? 76, I think. Oh, and no glasses! That was cool.

I'm thinking I'll go to my new shoes. I'm only at 300 miles on these, but that seems to be where I really start to feel it.

I feel pretty good about the run. Not a great time, but I made it through several things that worry me. Cramps, pain, just not feeling good. I know I can hit a wall and keep going.

By the way, what kind of response do you get when you tell people, "I ran 20 miles this morning?" I mostly get, "That's crazy." or "Why." I think I get more of that or even, "That's stupid," than I do. "Wow. That's awesome." Just wondering.

Stats:

20.02 miles (wasn't looking at my watch and went over a bit)

3:05:52

9:17/mile

Mike didn't draw first blood. They did.

A couple Days off

After my 8 miles on Wed, I could hardly walk on Thursday, so I decided to take off 3 days and run my 20 on Sunday.

Felt pretty good on Friday and even better on Saturday. Will do a lot of stretching today and I should be good to go for tomorrow!

Eight Miles

Am I the only one running?!

I did my eight miles this morning. It was my usual pace and felt very good. At the end of this run and last week's I have had some pain in my right knee, but it is just at the end. Other than that, I'm feeling good!

Eight Miles

10:39 pace

1:25:00

It was a dark and stormy night...

3 September 2009

Six miles: easy. Twenty mile per hour wind: hard. (then: easy). 79 degrees: meh.

Stats:

6.06 miles

54:37

9:01/mile

Yes...

OK...shoot for the stars and end up on top of the barn.

70º, no hills, no wind, no sun in your eyes, no cars. All I needed was to have someone run it for me and it would have been perfect.

Good run. Much better than I'd anticipated. My Plantar Fasciitis (left heel) has been bothering me since I started back to work. I need to try something different for work or get some insoles.

I went about 6:15pm and went out on the ke-Wash trail. Since it was supposed to be more than 8 miles I decided to start running from home and from there to the trail and back might be about 3/4 mile.

Without any GPS I decided to start at the first mile marker and if my pace was around 9:30 I would run 2:22 and then do the pick up until the next mile marker. I got to a point where I knew I was right around the 9:00 pace as I hit the last 2 miles. I was definitely U9 during the pickups.

When I finished, I check it out on Favorite Run and it turned out to be 8.70. I plugged it in and it turned out to be the following stats:

8.70 miles

1:18:14

8:59.54/mile

Every 1/2 second really does count in the end.

Craig just said, "yesssssssssssss."

Cool "3"

Day behind Mike with 3 miles today.   The weather continues to throw me for a loop.   Darren and I ran 3 miles today and he was moving so I just went along for the ride and we ended up with the following stats:

3 miles

25:01

8:20/mile

It was 46º when I started out.   Makes me realize how cold Minneapolis was last  year (RAIN and 48º).  We both ran w/ additional tops (sweatshirt or jacket).

Left heel is feeling sore, but not when I run.   I will try and do the 8 miles tomorrow as Mike did today, but sans hot/humid weather and sans the 8min/mile pickups.  Mine will be more like 8:30 and the rest will be around 9min/mile...shooting for 8:45/mile in the end.  

Craig is in the ZONE...the Twilight Zone...

Happy September Day!

1 September 2009

Skipped the 3 miles yesterday as work was coming down on me hard. Plus I did 4 on Sunday. Did my 8.75 today with 5 x 1200m (0.75 mile) pick ups. I tried to keep the pick-ups around 8 min/mile and that was pretty tough. The temperature was 79 degrees with 90% humidity. So, still really hot here.

Overall the run didn't feel too bad. My legs felt good, it was just the heat getting to me. I'm off to Orlando for the day and a dinner meeting there tonight.

Stats:

8.75 miles

1:15:42

8:39/mile

Mike is Audi (5000) here.