September 28th

I met with Matt and we got together with Abby and Justin @ the quad. Started off a little harder than usual. Ran to bridge on w extension of trail. Kept decent pace, surprisingly a little sore from yesterday's run. Finished feeling a little tired, but decent. Plan is to take tomorrow off and focus on legitimately TAPERING!! I gotta get that through my head. . .

Total Distance: 8.0 miles

September 27th

Ran with Matt towards campus. Matt made sure that the pace was quick, must have been running low 6's on the way out. Turned around at Watterson and headed back towards the apartment on School. Pushed pace a little bit and I started to lead the run. Got to Orlando, legs were still feeling good, a little IT pressure, but nothing terrible. Ran as hard as I could over last mile, felt "free" even though when conscious I felt like I was running much too fast. Sprinted in to the house. Body felt good today, but I may have pushed a little too hard.

total distance: 6.9 miles

September 26th

Still sore from yesterday's easy run so decided to take today easy as well. Met w/Travis and we did Vitesse loop. Really hoping that I recover quickly, Chicago is less than 2 1/2 weeks away. . .

Total Distance: 4.25 miles

September 25th

Took another day off, still pretty beat from track/race/21 miler. That's a lot for the body to take, lemme tell you.

I ran down Parkside to College and took that to Adelaide where I hopped on the trail. Actually ran into Tim Farrell, coudn't believe it. Took pace real easy, but it felt incredibly difficult. Legs were very sore when I got back so I iced the shins and hamstrings, but everything was tight.

Total Distance: 5.4 miles

September 23rd

I took another day off just to make sure that I was going to recover 100%. Ran over to track, planning on doing 2 mile repeats @ sub marathon pace. Instead, decided to do mile repeats--plan was to do them at sub marathon pace, around 6:15. However, a bunch of people were there and ran faster than planned. Plus Travis came and we competed.

Mile warmpup

Mile 1: 5:48
Mile 2: 5:37
Mile 3: 5:45
Mile 4: 5:47
Mile 5: 5:43
Mile 6: 5:49

Ran back to apartment, pretty sore for that, but I made it(somehow)

Total Distance: 12.5 miles

.September 21st

Felt about 70%. Not horrible, just tired from Thursday and Friday. Ran easy to Watterson and back. Shins a little sore as can be expected, but did not overdo it.

Total Distance: 7.1 miles

September 19th

XC Invite

I am still wondering if this was such a good idea. My legs were sore as hell from day b4, especially lower calves.

Travis, Matt H, and myself decided to do this race last minute. I figured it would be good to do some speed after long run. Before the run, my legs were toast, real sore. Loosened up a bit, but I was out of breath from just jogging around.

Started out at a decent clip, but was behind Matt and Travis. Breathing was a little heavy. At about 1/2 mile, I passed up Travis and just b4 mile 1, I passed up Matt. Maybe too early because I got tired pretty quickly and mile 1 was 5:40. 2nd mile was a little tougher, but I didn't slow down much. Not sure what the 2nd mile split was, but I came in at 3 in just over 18 minutes. I started running slower and got passed by a few runners. Just trying to keep pace right now. Just beofre mile 3, Matt passed me, but never got too far ahead.

I had to slow down for this mile because there was no way I could finish at pace. Got things together and about hald mile later, things got smoother. I sped up and started running side by side with other runners. Last 800 was kinda rough, but sprinted last stretch and came across in 30:15(6:03 pace). Matt was not even 15 seconds ahead of me, he also had a great race.

Later on, Travis and I took an ice bath to sooth SORE muscles. Definitely helped

Total Distance(w/cooldown): 6.5 miles

September 18th

Matt and I woke up really early again. 2nd to last 20 miler for Chicago. We ran 3 miles to the gazebo to meet up with the rest of our crew. We got there to find about 10 other people that were also planning on running. We stretched for a bit and then took off. We started off at a decent pace and soon the guys and girl seperated. I ran with Don, Colin, Matt, Matt Hogan, Dustin, and some other kid whose name I forgot.

We got a pretty good pace, Matt H left us around 2 1/2 miles for ROTC training. At 3 miles, it was just me, Matt, and Dustin. We were feeling good and headed out down Linden. Pace was pretty quick still and around 5 or 6 miles out, Dustin headed back to campus while Matt and myself kept on going. Just before getting into Linden, my legs started to get a little heavy. We ran past a dead toad, stopped to check it out which kinda killed my legs. At the turnaround we made a brief stop for h20 and gels. I was not drinking too much but took some water here. We were pretty beat, but continued to push the pace. Running back down Linden was pretty rough, temps weren't too bad, I was just tired.

When getting back onto the trail, Matt said he wasn't doing the whole 20 due to IT/knee/shin issues. Not gonna lie, this kinda motivated me. But I still needed to finish so i slowed a little. Matt kept up the pace so I had to run hard to keep up. I filled up on h20 just past northtown. Just before we got to Raab, Matt changed his mind for the umpteenth time and decided to keep running. He was moving faster than me at this point so I tried unsuccessfully to catch up. He got a couple yards on me and I did everything possible to keep up. When we got to the quad, I was about 10 strides behind him, but by Adelaide he started to pull away. My body was getting near shut down/dehydration at this point and I started slowing down. Gregory was rough, but at Parkside things got a little ugly. I shuffled the last mile and lost a lot of ground. Matt was prob about a half mile ahead of me and things got so bad I started walking over last 1/2 mile. Finished and was thoroughly exhausted

September 16th

Ran to the track again today. This time did the workout

Mile warmup
400 meters: 61 seconds
800 meters: 2:30
1200 meters: 4:20
800 meters: 2:28
400 meters: 67 seconds

The new Matt was out there and he really kicked my butt. We pushed each other pretty hard, I think I edged him out on 2nd-4th while he smoked me on the last 400. I probably should not be racing right now. . . Oh well, felt good. Ran back home with Justin

Total Distance: 9.35 miles

September 15th

Around noon, I went for an easy run for about 7 miles.

Later on, ran out to the track to watch the workout, then ran back to the apt afterwards.

Total Distance: 11.7 miles

September 13th

Before this run, I was considering taking the day off. My shin was hurting just while I was walking. We were supposed to do 20 or more, but walking by itself was hard enough. I stopped At Vitesse and stumbled upon a shin strap. Bought it and decided to run. Thank God.

Saturday group run. About 10 of us met up plus Justin/Abby brought bikes. Started out a little hard, plus was humid. Stopped a few times early, definitely tired. Decided to push pace, up there with guys that were just running 4 miles. At 5 miles, ran around quad.

Matt, Travis, Justin, Abby, and myself headed back out on the trail. Pace was still respectable. Lost Travis @ bathroom. Headed out on Bunn St, pace was getting harder, but still i thought it was manageable. Even considered doing over 20 miles. Hill @ mile 12 killed me and had to walk a bit. Matt moved ahead of me, but we were still w/Abby. We stopped at the top and took a short water break. Sweating really hard, but no shin/IT pain. Started back very slow, felt quite dehydrated. Got some H20 and felt much better.

Matt & I split up for some reason, but Abby stuck with me. I had to stop a few times to stretch out my IT, which was bugging me. At the very end, pain got bad and i had to walk last 200 yards. But having Abby there plus being hydrated definitely helped and was able to run last 3miles at a decent pace.

Total Distance: 19 miles

September 12th

Easy run with Matt and Travis. Not sure if Matt knew what he got himself into when I told him I was going easy. Shin was killing me, but the left knee wasn't too bad. I think I lucked out with that. However, I concentrated so much on that problem, that I totally ignored the shin, which was in shit condition at this point. I ran at about 9 minute miles and took it real easy. Pissed the entire time and really hoping that things do not get worse.

Total Distance: 3.5 miles

September 11th

YIKES! I woke up today and could not bend my left leg. This scared the hell out of me, mainly because I had no idea why this would hurt. I guess maybe we pushed so hard the night before that my legs just went numb and all pain was concentrated on my lungs. Either way, i was nervous that I was in trouble for Chicago. After the shin/IT/knee problems, would this random injury be the reason for taking me out of Chicago? Couldn't be, but I could barely walk. Every time it was bent, the pain was excruciating. What am I doing to my body? Overtraining is definitely a concern right now. . .

I iced al day long, hopefully things will get better by tomorrow

September 10th

My shins were definitely bothering me and was really nervous that I was about to get a stress fracture. I met up with Matt around 11 pm and started off in the dark. The plan was to do about 12 and since I wasn't putting much distance in, I wanted to run FAST. I took off from the start and Matt was definitely struggling early on. My shins were hurting and I thought that it was going to get ugly. However, I kept running hard and soon we had to be running somewhere close to low 6 minute miles. At the turnaround, we had to make a quick pee break and we also needed a minute to rest, I was pretty beat! Turned around @ mile 5 due to intense shin pain.

Turned back and I was pissed. My shin felt like it was going to snap at any second and I wanted to take my frustration out on myself. Good plan James, like that will make the shin better. Well, Matt and I kept running hard, when we back to the trail on Washington, we were running hard. I kept pushing the pace as we got closer and closer, I swear we had to have been moving sub 6. Pace felt really really fast, possibly previous 5K pace. Put a little distance on Matt and as we got closer to Shauna's, the pace just kept getting faster. I sprinted in, finishing just ahead of Matt with nothing left in me. I was beat! Great run tho.

Total Distance: 9.5 miles

September 9th

Felt a little beat up from last week, but decided to keep going to track workouts. Today was repeat 800s. I didn't feel great, but ran them all under 2:50, most around 2:45. It felt good to do this and was really excited to be running fast.

I think that my recent strategy will really get my body in prime condition for Chicago. I've been doing long runs followed by sprints. I hope that this will teach my body to run fast after it is already tired, and will hopefully increase endurance. I'm a little worried about that 6:18 pace, but I think that if I keep this up, things will be good. Cross your fingers!

September 7th

I went with Nick to Madison to watch the Ironman. Decided to do 20 around the lake. I was pretty nervous about this run, because it would be my 3rd 20-miler for the week, something I never did before. I had some shin pain too and was very worried about that. Nick and I took off at a decent pace and started cruising around the course. Got to some hills and around mile 5 or 6, I left Nick behind me. Shins bothered me a tad, but I figured it would be alright.

The trail was a little confusing and had to ask for directions a few times. About mile 10, knees started to act up. It got pretty bad and was even worse when i had to run on a sidewalk. I was considering just doing one loop(14.3 miles). When I finally finished the first loop, I grabbed some Boost, ran to my car, got some water and cream and decided that i had already gone so far, I might as well just finish the 20. I took off, feeling pretty motivated about the incoming bikers. Just thinking about it got me pumped. I ran along the beginning/end of the bike course(which I did the year before) and really got to reminiscing. It motivated me so much that I ran a little too fast, got a tad lost and got another tight IT band that needed to be stretched.

On the way back, I ran into a few volunteers, nice to see them. With about a quarter mile to go, I saw the top guy come in. He looked like he was toast, but was far enough of everyone else. That was motivating, but my legs were in a shuffle by now and finished near the transition area with very little left in the tank. Shins/knees were sore, but definitely could have been worse given the conditions.

Week is over! 72 miles, 3 20 milers!!

September 5th

I met up w/Travis @ the track to do a few mile repeats. We ran them pretty good, maybe a mile warmup or so, then ran 3 more around 6 minute pace. We talked a lot with some guy that was from Germany, with generous breaks. Some shin pain, but tried to take it easy. No IT problems.

Total Distance: 4.5 miles

September 4th

Three days after last 20 miler. Woke up @ 5:00 am w/Matt. We left @ 6, ran past run club down Fell about 3 miles into the run. We tried to stop rarely, but IT bothered me occasionally so we stopped a few times. I had to put cream on a few times, joints were a little sore and pace was pretty good. There was a little rain and temps were not bad at all. Worked on hydration, me and Matt did a good job of continuing to drink, took about 3 gels too. Felt good at the end, was able to run hard over the last mile and a half. Matt fell back a little bit at the end, but I was really running hard. Shins hurt, but nothing terrible. Legs were definitely sore.

Total Distance: 21 miles

September 2nd

Nick's track workout

2.5 mile warmup
600 meters @ 85%
800 meters @ 85%
1000 meters @ 85%
800 meters @ 85%
600 meters @ 85%
1.25 mile cooldown
Total Distance: 5.75 miles

September 1st

Looking back, this may not have been one of my wiser decisions with regards to training, but Matt & I were set on doing a 20 miler and we couldn't wait much longer. Took off @ quick pace, I struggled to keep up over the first 5 miles. As sun went down, I picked it up a bit. Had to stop to stretch out IT band. We ran into some crazy guy who was walking down Linden for a total distance of 20 miles. Training for the Bataan Death March, from what it sounded like.

@ Hudson, we both took a gel. I kept drinking, I was carrying 2 H20 bottles and Matt had 3 in the camelbak. Did a good job with hydration. We reached Lake Bloomington Rd(M10) surprisingly quickly, but as we turned around the run got a little bit more difficult. 12 miles in my legs started feeling heavy and by the time we passed Hudson, things were getting a little shaky. We ran past the hiker again, said something crazy, and kept moving. With 3 miles ago, Matt started moving ahead of me a bit. I decided that no matter what, I was going to not stop running so I kept moving. The pace did not slow too much, but Matt slowly gained about a quarter mile on me. We ran Northtown to Main, where we saw Sarah, then crawled down Raab to finally wind up @ our apt. Definitely tired, but I did not stop to walk over the last 3 miles.

Total Distance: 20.5 miles

August 30th

Matt & I drove to McNaughton with the intentions of running 2 loops at a solid pace. However, we did not leave until after 7:30 and found out that the park closed at 10 when we arrived @ 8:30. We started off running at a solid pace since we knew that we would only be able to do one loop. The trail was pretty dark and it was a good thing that I knew my way around. I started running across a bridge around mile 2 when all of a sudden it took a twist sideways. Yikes! I stopped right before tumbling into a black abyss and warned Matt just in time too. We kept going and navigating became more and more difficult. At about 4 or 5 miles into the run, we crossed a creek that did not look familiar. From that point, we decided to just run and see where the trail took us. Somehow, we managed to come across the mile7-9 section of the course and ran that for a bit. Don't know how that happened, considering I can't find that section during the day! Anyways, we ended up back at the beginning of the loop(no idea how) and ran one more time around the field at the beginning of the course.

Total Distance: ~ 6.5 miles

August 28th

Short recovery run @ easy pace.

Total Distance: 4 miles

August 27th

Did a run @ moderate pace. Shins starting to really hurt, I think that shinsplints have returned.

Total Distance: 7 miles

August 26th

Met up w/Jon and we went out for a run @ moderate pace. We never ran too fast, but we did push each other a bit. I ran the last mile and half solo and picked up the pace a bit by then. Felt good as I finished.

Total Distance: 5.9 miles

August 25th

Recovery run from Ragnar.

Total Distance: 3.5 miles