Spaniel, things settling down at all?  This is the best time of year to be getting out there and running.  Hit that reset button and get out the door!

Heh.  I'm trying.  Actually it's still getting pretty warm for me if I can't get out in the morning.  I'm eagerly awaiting fall.  But no, stuff is not really calming down enough.  I spend all last week in Japan.  Hoping for a good couple weeks here before I'm off to Wyoming for a week with no running.

Today was the first day I can ever recall going to a race and not running.   I should have, the winning time was a bit over 20 minutes, I think I can still do THAT...

20:54 for the XC race on Saturday. Two seconds slower than last years slopfest. Interesting that this years dry course presented another set of challenges. The course was sandy! Ugh.. As rough as my final 1k was, all those plyometrics paid dividends. Im guessing, I closed the last 200m in low 30s (Strava picked it up as 421 pace).

 The course was sandy!

That's just not fair.  Running cross country courses while fun is already hard enough.  To run through a sand section on top of it is just plain rude.  Nice work though.  I'm running the Illinois Club Cross Country Invitational in November and I don't think I've raced a true cross country course since high school 22 years ago.   Hoping I don't break an ankle, fall in a river, get spiked, etc.

I did a fartlek which included 2 1-mile sections at 6:40 pace.  I felt it today.  Heh.

Thanks!  Weather is brilliant so no excuses.   Might see mbehr out there!  Bib 1204 if you are runner tracking

Michael,

Just wanted to wish you luck in the marathon.. I think you are running Chicago..

 

Running my 5k XC this Saturday.. Last year ran it in just under 1800.

 

 

Great job out there Parklife.

The run in Chi-town went well. Ended up with a 2:46. Ran dead on even splits (1:23:17 for each).  Ran with Scully for the first 6 miles. Started to pull away from him then came up on mmarty around Mike 8. Recognized the blue singlet from Livegrit and introduced myself. At about 14, latched on to a group of about 6-7 and ran with them through Chinatown. Fell back at a water station and did the best I could to keep the "fade" from happening. Last two miles were around 6:24 and 6:30. Didn't realize splits were that even until I saw the final results.  Overall was quite pleased with the effort out there. I don't think I would have done anything different. If I were to go a little more aggressively at the front end, I would have paid for it later. First goal was to get a comfortable BQ time, second goal was sub-2:50, and stretch goal was to be under 2:45. Almost got them all.

Really great racing Mike!  You ran super smart...as good as the weather was, I'm surprised how few people I knew who ran even or negative splits.  Whether it was the wind or just going out aggressive due to the perfect conditions, it seems like most (including me) got beat up in Chinatown.  I was a little quicker through half than I wanted, mostly due to the fist 5K being 27 seconds fast.  I ran really even splits through 30K and was still OK at 35K.  My last 7K wasn't pretty around 7:15 pace to come home at 2:52:35.  That was my third marathon so I'm still dialing it, particularly nutrition and hydration.  That's two in a row where I had some intestinal distress at the end.  Even though I missed my goal, it's a 7 minute PR so I'll take it, learn from it, and try to cling on next time!

Great job out there Parklife.

 

The run in Chi-town went well. Ended up with a 2:46. Ran dead on even splits (1:23:17 for each).  Ran with Scully for the first 6 miles. Started to pull away from him then came up on mmarty around Mike 8. Recognized the blue singlet from Livegrit and introduced myself. At about 14, latched on to a group of about 6-7 and ran with them through Chinatown. Fell back at a water station and did the best I could to keep the "fade" from happening. Last two miles were around 6:24 and 6:30. Didn't realize splits were that even until I saw the final results.  Overall was quite pleased with the effort out there. I don't think I would have done anything different. If I were to go a little more aggressively at the front end, I would have paid for it later. First goal was to get a comfortable BQ time, second goal was sub-2:50, and stretch goal was to be under 2:45. Almost got them all.