Next year this time, you’ll be in Boston!
Thanks Nikky! I’m definitely gonna give it everything I’ve got. Thanks for the encouragement. I really appreciate it.
ON THE TRAIL OF THE WHITE HORSE By: CHRISTOPHER MCDOUGALL (Outside Magazine)
Absolute must read article by Christopher Mcdougall (author of Born to Run) on the search for Caballo Blanco (Micah True) after going missing in the Gila National Forest.
What a beautiful spring day in Middle Tennessee with sunny skies and high’s in the mid-60s. This awesome day made for a perfect evening for a track workout with the JSRC. Tonight’s workout consisted of 2-sets of…
- 800m (200m)
- 600m (200m)
- 400m (200m)
- 3 x 200m (100m) [800m]
This made for a fairly long workout with 5-miles of intervals and recoveries. I ended up running slightly harder than in recent workouts, but I think a lot of that had to do with the great weather and having all easy-paced runs so far this week. My legs and lungs felt pretty good throughout the workout, though my pace lagged by a few seconds in the second 600m and in two of the final three 200m intervals. Always room for improvement.
With warmup the final total was 8.3-miles completed on the night. Tomorrow the schedule calls for 4 easy-paced miles with 4 x 100m stride outs, and it is supposed to be below 40 degrees again. I guess that means at least one more day wearing tights. I’m hoping that it will be warm enough Saturday morning to not have to wear tights for the scheduled 14-miler.
Beast Mode…ON!
I feel I’ll never run Boston, and sometimes I don’t know how to feel about it. One side of me, well hates the BAA, but then the other side of me, just wants to run it once just to share in the history of it. Until then – SIGH!
I totally understand the conflict, and was actually thinking about it earlier today. I too despise the policies and the qualification system devised by the BAA, but at the same time I know that my running journey will feel incomplete if I never run Boston.
Another day, another easy-paced run with Nathan in Bellevue. Today’s schedule called for 6-miles at easy pace followed by 4 x 100m stride outs. As has become somewhat routine for Wednesdays, I ran in my Hattoris which inevitably made the pace a little slower than the easy-paced runs on Monday and Tuesday.
I’ve done so much running in Bellevue recently that I suggested to Nathan that we mix it up a bit with a lap around the old, and empty, Bellevue Center Mall (it’s a bit depressing). Our first mile was just under 10-minute pace before we dropped it down to a consistent 8:40ish pace for the remaining miles. My legs still continue to improve after the race on Saturday, with no more lingering soreness.
We ended up doing the 4 x 100m stride outs in the parking lot of Bellevue Church of Christ. This is the first time I’ve ever done stride outs in my Hattoris, but it felt pretty good. I actually feel like I have the capacity for a much faster turnover when I’m up on my forefoot.
No scheduled run tomorrow morning, but tomorrow night is track practice with the JSRC.
Beast Mode…ON!
It was a perfect morning for a run with pleasantly cooler temperatures at 6am. Nathan and I started from the Edwin Warner Nature Center and ran in the park, along the Harpeth River Greenway, and through the streets of Bellevue. The schedule called for 10-miles at an easy pace, and it started off a little bit slower than my easy 8-miler yesterday.
However, everything felt good and we slowly worked our way down to a very comfortable 8:00 min pace per mile (Overall average was 8:14). I felt less lingering soreness during the run than I did yesterday and overall it was a very relaxed effort. It was nice to get a chance to discuss the race on Saturday and hear Nathan talk about his experience.
Tomorrow morning the temps are supposed to be down in the mid-30s for our run. I really, really don’t want to wear tights again after having warm weather for the past several weeks, but I’ll do what I need to do.
Beast Mode…ON!
My thoughts on the 3rd annual Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN
Oak Barrel Half Marathon
April 7, 2012
www.oakbarrelhalf.com
My Run: Overall, the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg was my 11th half marathon. This race was capped at 1050 entries, and this was my second consecutive year to participate in the event.
Even though I had a specific goal going in, I really didn’t treat this like a goal race. I did drop my total mileage by about 10-miles for the week of the race, but otherwise just trained right through the event. My goal was to “officially” break 1:30 for the first time. At the Murfreesboro “Middle” Half Marathon last October the course ended up being long by 4/10 of a mile due to a mis-routing in the early miles. My “unofficial” re-calculated time for that event was 1:29:49, but it never felt like I had truly broken 1:30, since this result was from a recalculation.
Anyway, the Oak Barrel course is much tougher than the Middle Half, but I also felt like I was in better shape than I was last October. This is especially true considering that the Middle Half was six days after the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and my recent PR performance at the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon (3:12:28) a few weeks ago.
The Oak Barrel course is famous for a very difficult climb during part of mile four and all of mile five called “Whiskey Hill.” This hill is significant enough that you almost have to base your entire race strategy around it. To break 1:30, I would need to finish with an average pace of 6:52 per mile. With that in mind, my plan was to run the first three miles around goal pace, and then hope to complete Whiskey Hill with an overall average around 7:00 min pace. After Whiskey Hill, there are three miles of rolling hills, followed by four miles of mostly downhill (or flat) and a rolling finish. Provided that I didn’t spend all of my energy on the climb, I was confident that I could make up eight seconds in the final eight miles.
Can you guess which one is “Whiskey Hill?”
The schedule today called for 8-miles at an easy pace followed by 4 x 100m stride outs. John didn’t give me a target pace, but told me to judge it by feel. I overslept this morning, so this unintentionally turned into an afternoon run. One of the benefits of this was that it was beautiful outside. The temperatures were around 70 with pretty low humidity and a slight breeze.
I started from my house and ran through the streets of Bellevue. There was definitely some lingering soreness from the hard effort at the race on Saturday, but nothing that impeded the run. I just tried to stay smooth and relaxed and my splits hovered just under 8:00 pace for all but the first three miles. Overall I felt much better than I expected.
The stride outs at the end of the run are something that is new to me. I’m used to doing these before every track workout and before most races, but not after an easy training run. It was a little bizarre to run with a quick turnover after such an easy run, but my legs still felt great.
Beast Mode….ON!
Oak Barrel Half Marathon – “Whiskey Hill”
One of the hallmarks of the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN is a 1.5-mile climb known as “Whiskey Hill” that will make you hate your life. Can anyone figure out from my Garmin elevation chart above where that hill might be? 🙂
When I finished the 4th mile, just after the start of Whiskey Hill, my average pace was right at 6:50 per mile. It took me 8:01 to finish the fifth mile and my average pace dropped to 7:04. It took me three more miles before I got control of my breathing and began to make up the time that I lost.
I love this race, but Whiskey Hill is quite a challenge!
After so many consecutive days in the 80s over the past two weeks, I was fairly worried about the weather conditions for tomorrow’s Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN. However, this forecast looks just about perfect for an 8am start!
Beast Mode….ON!
After a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG day-trip to NYC yesterday, I slept in a bit this morning, and then went out for a 2-mile shakeout run just to work out the kinks before tomorrow’s Oak Barrel Half Marathon. I took the first mile very easy, but felt a bit of stiffness in my calves and right ankle. Most of that had dissipated by the end of the first mile, so I picked up the pace for the second mile and my legs felt pretty good.
Not sure how fast I’m going to be able to go tomorrow since I haven’t really taken time to rest before the race. If I feel good I’m going to take a shot at breaking 1:30, but will probably start out a bit slower than this pace to test the waters.
Beast Mode…ON!
Third run in a row with high humidity, but at least it was slightly cooler. This morning Paxton, Nathan, and I did a very chilled pace 7.5-mile run through Bellevue. I ran in my Saucony Hattoris and felt pretty good throughout. I did feel a little soreness from doing P90X Legs and Back on Monday night and P90X Ab Ripper X last night, but overall it was not a big deal.
This may sound strange, but one thing I like about the Hattoris (that I haven’t mentioned before) is that they make it easier to run a very slow pace. When I run in my Kinvaras, or even my old Nike Vomeros, on a recovery run day, I almost always end up running a bit too fast. This is never an issue with the Hattoris because I have so much more feel for the road and my lower legs are more involved in the run.
Tomorrow will be a “marathon” day-trip to NYC (6am flight up there, 4 meetings back-to-back, 9:30pm flight back), so no running or cross training. I hope to get in an easy 2-mile shakeout run on Friday before the Oak Barrel Half Marathon on Saturday.
Beast Mode…ON!
I spent a good bit of time in Honduras doing mission work… such a neat country! And I think Rosetta Stone is great if you don’t know much of the language to begin with. If you already know a good bit, it might feel remedial for a while. Good luck!
Love working in Honduras, and especially getting to teach and study with the people there. Do you know Spanish? If so, how did you learn? I know very, very little so remedial level will be perfect! Thanks!
