I'm working my way through the Daniels' marathon training "A plan". Don't ask me why it's the A plan. The other choices are "elite" and "just want to finish". "A" seems to be medium (?). There are several asskicker workouts along the way. Today was one of them: 2 mi easy, 4x12 minutes t-pace run w/ 2 minutes recovery, 2 mi easy. These are basically Daniels "cruise intervals". A little easier than a 48 minute tempo run, but plenty hard for me two days after a 50k where I PRed. (in fairness, that PR was a party trick. You know how you PR a 50k while still running 31 miles easy? You run several really hard 50ks on technical trails and then pick the easiest course possible. And run consistently the whole way) 12.7 miles total today. Phew.

Stumpy - I can't get the link to work.

Try this experiment next time you are running and you feel fatigued. Say to yourself, "lift the knees."

Oh, that's what I'm supposed to say. I always say to myself, "There's coffee at the end."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/health/nutrition/26best.html?_r=1&ref=nutrition How's that ? She beat me

Caffeine, huh? I'm not a morning runner but morning is the only time I drink caffeine, so maybe I should have a second cup of coffee before my lunchtime run and see if I notice any improvement. I'll try it and report back... 4.5 easy miles at lunchtime on a paved bike path in the local state park. Ever since I started working in this part of town I've been scoping out the best unpaved running trails, so I don't know many paved places to run, but until the snow melts and the mud dries out, I need to stick to paved paths.Temps in the 60's and 70's all week, though, so everything should dry out soon. Can't wait for the Boston RRs!

Another picture perfect day in Seattle, sunny ,blue sky low 70s....I fear the party is almost over...we'll be back to really tomorrow ... 7:41 miles bright and early, at a 9:00 min pace, the first 3 miles the legs were tired but the more I ran the better they felt. Got back home, showered had my second breakfast and got out on the bike for an hour, I just did not want to go to work..... Looking forward to all those Boston RRs!! Good runs to all!! Francesca

For years, people have been setting PRs left and right at the Newport (OR) Marathon. I did too a few years ago. Literally half my friends set a PR and/or BQed there last year. And for a few years, I've been quietly saying "I think this course is short." Mind you, it is certified. Has been for years. So it has to be right, correct? Nope. The certification expired this year and it had to go through re-cert. Some of us noticed that the course map was now subtly different. (here's what a very trustworthy person recently wrote elsewhere)

I noticed the course had a subtle change on the website and it turns out that when it got its ten year review recently, they had to add an additional 4/10 of a mile due to "road improvements over the years" according to the race director.

The "I told you so" part of my brain wants to do a little dance, but this is instructive in general. Just because a course has been certified at some point does not, in fact, guarantee that the course you are running this year is the correct distance.

SRL, you run far races than I do. What would you think are the likely reasons for a discrepancy of this size? In order for it to be certified, I would think a jones wheel. What are your thoughts? Spareribs

I know how courses are certified, which I won't go into here... but I totally expect that the course, as certified in 1999, was 26/385. I've no idea what happened here. And it had to be more complex than a simple 'short' mile in the middle or placing the turnaround cone too soon. If either of those had occurred, then it would have been crystal clear in people's splits (at least people who run evenly). A little spooky, really. 2/5s of a mile! (edited because math is hard)