Ben's Training Log

Grandma's Marathon Training Archive

Hello everyone. Since we are opening the store soon I thought I would start posting my log on the site to give people a little bit better idea of who I was and to give people who are interested a little insight into some high level training. A big reason that Matt and I are opening this store is so we can give back to the running community. For me, an easy way to do that is to share my training. American Distance Running has seen a huge resurgence over the past few years and I believe that the internet is a big reason for that. I know that when I was in college I was constantly reading interviews from the nation’s best runners and trying to figure out what they were doing that made them so good. It was because of the information that I read that I began to experiment with higher mileage. When I did that I became a lot better runner. It is important for today’s high school runners to see what is out there at the elite level. I am not saying that high schoolers should be running the amount of miles that I am running, but I just want them to know that it is a big world out there and kids across the country are doing some amazing things and they can too.

So anyway, here is a little introduction to where I am at right now. I had a great race at the Twin Cities Marathon in October. After that race, my motivation level was surprisingly low for a couple of months, I think due to the comedown after such a high. I ran fairly well in November and December, but I really got the itch to start hammering again as January approached. I ran 1:06:05 for a Half Marathon in January and then set my sights on the US Cross Country Championships in February. Unfortunately I did not run well there and was quite disappointed. I spent most of March basically moping around and running when I felt like it which wasn’t that often. It was the first time since probably me sophomore year in high school where I took more than one day off in a week for no good reason. Over the past week though, I have caught the bug again. My runs have been smooth and fast and I am very excited about things. Grandmas Marathon is 12 weeks from tomorrow and that is the perfect amount of time to get ready.

I hope you enjoy this log and feel free to email me at ben@bigriverrunning.com if you have any questions about things that I am doing. I love talking training and would love to help anyone out with their own goals and ambitions. So here goes:

Week 1

Sunday March 19: 9 miles with Mike around South City and Affton. Nice Run
Monday March 20: 4 miles with Mike
Tuesday March 21: am 4 miles on the treadmill at Bally’s (I’m a woos I know). Pm 6 with Mike and Matt around the reservoir.
Wed: March 22: 6 miles with Mike
Thursday March 23: 10 miles solo from work back to my moms and she drove me back to my car. What a nice lady.
Friday March 24: am 7 miles with Mike, Matt, and Alan. pm 4 more
Saturday March 25: 4 miles, my last day as a regular dude, training starts tomorrow.

Total Mileage: 54 miles, 9 runs.

Week 2

Sunday March 26: 15 miles with Brian Lyons and Danny Maurer. Brian and I rolled the dowtown loop pretty good. Hit the last 6 or 7 in 5:20-5:30 range.
Monday March 27: am 4 miles easy pm 10 miles
Tuesday March 28: am 6 miles pm 10 miles
Wednesday March 29: am 6 miles. Wanted to go 10 this afternoon, but had store stuff to work on after work so never got a chance.
Thursday March 30: am 6 miles pm 14 miles, felt good, ran with Brian, Mike, Joe Porter, and Mike Aitken in Forest Park.
Friday March 31: am 8 miles pm 12 miles. Ran home from work. Felt good.
Saturday April 1: am 12 miles, ran back to work. pm 8 miles with Matt and Brian. Fun for Matt and I to watch Brian squirm as he had eaten a huge burger, fries, and shake about an hour earlier.

Total Mileage: 113, 12 runs.

Week 3

Sunday April 2: 19 miles, 13 of it with Brian and Jason. Felt like garbage. Probably a result of jumping up so much in mileage.
Monday April 3: 13 miles, ran about 8 of it with Brian. Still felt quite sluggish.
Tuesday April 4: 14 miles, solo. Not much to say- pretty uneventful.
Wednesday April 5: am 4 miles pm 12 miles, 5 or so with Brian. Actually felt much better today and got going at a pretty good clip. Maybe I have beaten my legs into submission. I think I have 122 in the last 7 days which is good because the St. Louis Marathon is this weekend and I will not get to run much the next 4 days.
Thursday April 6: 0. Big fat zero.
Friday April 7: 4 miles. I worked from 5:45 am until 9:30 pm, but did find time to sneak 4 miles in at about 6:00.
Saturday April 8: Worked from 6am until 7:30 pm getting ready for the marathon. No Run.

Total Mileage: 66 miles, 6 runs

Week 4

Sunday April 9: snuck in 2 miles at 4 am before heading downtown for the marathon.
Monday April 10: took one more day off recovering from all the work this weekend. The marathon went great though and was the most rewarding weekend of my life. That may have sounded corny but it is true.
Tuesday April 11: 10 miles with Matt around South City, beautiful weather.
Wednesday April 12: am 6 miles pm 1.5 up/4x1mile/3 down. hit 4:49/4:46/4:38/4:44 Felt good but it was hot.
Thursday April 13: am 6 miles pm 10 miles with the FPTC.
Friday April 14: am 6 miles pm 10 miles in New Lenox, IL with my boy DeBold.
Saturday April 15: am 2up/8x800 with 400 jog rec./2 down
Supposed to hit 2:20. Hit: 2:19/2:20/2:21/2:19/2:19/2:20/2:19/2:20
Strangely tough. First one felt all out as did the next seven. Most likely had to do with the fact that it was at 6:00 am.
pm 6 miles in Boston along the Charles River. Lots of Smaht Hahvahd kids playing frisbee.

Total Mileage: 75 miles, 10 runs

Week 5

Sunday April 16: am 22 miles. Very fun run. Ran with Pat Callihan of the Reebok Boston Team. Terry dropped us off at mile 4 of the course and we ran all the way to the finish. Pretty much took it easy, but definitely were going decent by the end after increasing slightly the whole time.
pm 6 miles. I usually don't run twice on long run day, but wanted to do tomorrow's afternoon run tonight because I'll be traveling tomorrow evening. Also- went to the Red Sox game this afternoon. Fenway is frickin awesome.
Monday April 17 (BOSTON MARATHON!!): 10 miles Ran with James and Jackie for 10 around Boston. Briefly got a little lost. Thought we might be in Southie (Good Will Hunting reference). Anyway, we made it back to the hotel and then watched the Boston Marathon. We watched the first ten miles or so in the hotel before heading out and taking the T to mile 21. Brooks had a huge cheering zone there where they had given out 1500 t-shirts to spectators as well as Heads on sticks of Brian and Clint. They also had a rugby team paint themselves up with Go Brian and Go Clint. The atmosphere was great and the Boston College Girls didn't hurt the cause either. We watched as the lead women came by, eagerly awaiting my friend Carly. I got the U-S-A chant going as she and other top American women came by. Then the motorcade sped by signaling the arrival of the lead male runner. Robert Cheriyot (sp??) came flying by and the crowd gave him a great ovation as he sped away. Next came Maiyo who looked considerably less good but still had a lot of ground on Meb who came by next. To my surprise Culpepper was the next to run by as I was not sure how he would handle the almost suicidal early pace. Props to he and Meb both who handled it better than most. At this point I started getting really anxious for Sell to come by. I knew from constant phone calls to Linden and my friend Jen who were following on the internet that he was running great splits. Two more runners passed though before the fans caught glimpse of the familiar Red, Black, and Yellow jersey. Everyone went nuts and Sell hammed it up to the crowd, smiling, pumping his fists, and raising the roof. Oh and on top of that he looked like he was going much faster than anyone else who had come by save for the leader. Next it was back to waiting as we knew Clint and Luke would be the next Hansons boys to come by. Before their arrival it was Peter "Meat" Gilmore who came by putting another American in the top ten mix. Then Clint and Luke passed us stride for stride looking great though not quite as animated as Brian. Chad, Kyle, Trent, and Marty all looked focused and strong as they came by and then it was off to try and get the word on the finish. Myself, James, and Jackie's cousin got into a BC Sorority party (not surprising considering our good looks and my boyish charm). We flipped on the tv in time to see the finish and get the good news about Sell getting fourth. All in all a frickin awesome day. I am so proud of all the guys and feel honored to be friends with such a dedicated group of people. That was all a bit corny, but it's true.
Tuesday April 18: am 6 miles in New Lenox again. pm 3up/20x400/3down. Had 200 jog after the repeats and 400 jog after each set of 5. Supposed to hit 70s. I hit 69 or 69 on all with a couple of 70 points mixed in. Felt like a million bucks. Could've run all night. Fun to run a workout with Matt, Mike, and Alan.
Wednesday April 19: am 6 miles pm 10 miles
Thursday April 20: am 6 miles  pm 10 miles with the Thursday group.  Didn't have a workout scheduled or anything, but it turned into one when Zac started pushing the pace through Clayton.  By the time we got to Wydown we were rolling and according to the GPS we were right around 20:00 for the last 4 miles, staying steady right around 5:00 pace.  I was definitely hangin on as was Brian.   Zac loked great.
Friday April 21: 17 miles.  Took er pretty easy for about 1:56.  Enjoyed it.
Saturday April 22: am 10 miles   pm 6 miles with Brian between Joe's wedding and the reception.

Weekly Total: 122 miles, 12 runs

Week 6

Sunday April 23: Ah, the 'ol long run the morning after a wedding reception.  Felt surprisingly good, albeit a bit dehydrated. Ran for 2:08.
Monday April 24: am 8 miles pm 10 miles, legs feelin good.
Tuesday April 25: am 10 miles pm 9 miles, feelin real good.
Wednesday April 26: am 6 miles pm 3up/ alternating 200s 32/42 for as long as I could go, followed by 5 minutes rest and then 4 x 600 at 68 pace/ 3 down Felt awesome out there. Ran with Brian Lyons for the 32/42 and we both surprised ourselves. he made it 14 laps and I made it 16, running 4 miles in 19:49 total. Hit the 600s in 1:43/1:43/1:40/1:40. Really about as good as it gets for me on the track.
Thursday April 27: am 6 miles with Mike, Alan, and Brad. pm 10 miles easy with the boys.
Friday April 28: 16 miles, legs felt like garbage.
Saturday April 29: am 6 miles, flet a little better. pm 8 miles with Matt in Kansas City after a long drive so I felt a little stiff.

Weekly Total: 121.5, 12 runs

Week 7

Sunday April 30: am TROLLEY RUN 4 MILER. 2up/4mile race/4 down. I finished 3rd place in 18:46, so 4:42 pace. Only got beat by a few seconds. Really felt strong out there. Wish I could've thrown down a wicked kick for the win, but I got beat but a pretty good couple of guys. Fun race. pm 6 miles
Monday May 1: am 6 miles pm 10 miles, ran with Matt at about 9pm in the pouring rain. It was awesome.
Tuesday May 2: 20 miles. I don't like doing my long runs solo but had no choice today. Had a good one though. Hammered the last 3 miles at a pretty good clip.
Wednesday May 3: am 8 miles with Mike. pm 10 miles.

RACE RECAP
Thursday May 4: am 4 miles pm 2.5up/Big River 2 mile race/3.5 down. Fun race. Went off at about 8:15 under the lights at SLUH after the MCC Meet ended. The crowd was great as most of the kids and parents stuck around to watch. SLUH did an awesome job hyping it up for us. The race began with Joe Porter rabbiting through the first 3 laps. We hit 400 in about 63-64 and then settled in running a 2:11 first 800 meters. We were at 3:19 for 1200 when Joe stepped off after a job well done. Brian and I then began trading laps. We passed the 1600 in 4:29, on pace for sub 9. Matt and Adam were still in striking distance at 4:33. I took the next lap and we hit 5:35 for 5 laps.At this point I felt great and knew we would go sub 9 for sure. We hit 6 laps in 6:45 so we only needed a sub 2:15 to do it. I led the next lap and we came through with a lap to go at 7:52 with the fans doing a great job cheering us on. Brian went by and led the next 200 and I moved to his outside shoulder ready to move. At 200 to go I actually kicked for once and finished in 8:56.1 with Brian a few steps back at 8:58. Props to him as his wife had given birth on Monday and the poor guy had had almost no sleep for the past few nights. Anyway, it was a ton of fun and I think all the fans and runners had a great time.

Friday May 5: am 8 miles with Mike and Alan. pm 10 miles solo.
Saturday May 6: am 13 miles at Queeny, getting progressively faster each loop albeit I didn't start very fast so it was never really that fast. Then I went to the horsetrack, lost money, and came home and ran 6 more miles. Felt good on that one actually.

Weekly Total: 119 Miles, 13 runs

Week 8

Sunday May 7: 21 miles. Ran to FP and met Jason, Matt and Brian for the downtown 15 mile loop, then tacked on three more with Brian to get 21 on the day. Felt quite good.
Monday May 8: am 8 miles pm 12 miles, felt really tired at work all day so took a nap when I got home and then 12 with Mike at night. Felt good.
Tuesday May 9: am 4 miles pm 2up/3 x 3 miles with 1 mile jog recovery/ 3 down. Ran this workout with Brian. Supposed to go 5:00 pace. We did it at Katy Trail, but the first mile was 5:13 and I think it was long because our next one was 4:51 and then 5:02 for 15:06. Then on the second one Brian pulled away on the third mile and ran 14:58 and I came across in 15:07. I had some major stomach issues, most likely due to a bran muffin I ate for lunch. After a bathroom break I felt a bit better for the third repeat but Brian still rolled on me. He was 14:51 and I was 15:06. All in all not too bad. Great one for Brian.
Wednesday May 10: am 6 miles pm 10 miles, ran with JCR and Brian for the first 5 and solo for the second 5.
Thursday May 11: am 6 pm 10 miles
Friday May 12: am 6 miles pm 6 miles with Matt and Brian
Saturday May 13: am 4 miles pm 2.5 up/10k at the Tenessee Distance Solution, 1st place, 29:44 (pr)/3.5 down I had a rabbit take me through 5k in 14:45 and then I was on my own for the second half. I hit every lap after that in 72 with a couple of 71 highs and then I closed in 68 for the 29:44 which is a 12 second PR. Very happy to run this at the end of a 120 mile week.

Weekly Total: 121 miles, 13 runs

Week 9

Sunday May 14: REST DAY
Monday May 15: 21 miles, did not feel great. A little rusty after the day off.
Tuesday May 16: am (well actually like 12:30 pm) 8 miles in the rain. pm 10 miles with Matt and Alan. Right quad a little tight.
Wednesday May 17: am 4 miles pm 2up/10 mile tempo/2down. Supposed to hit 5:10 pace (marathon pace) for the ten miler. Splits: 5:06/5:11/5:19/5:10/5:05/5:04/5:04/5:03/5:04/5:02 for a 51:08 overall. Very pleased. I did this same workout before Twin Cities and ran 52:00.
Thursday May 18: am 6 miles pm 10 miles
Friday May 19: medium long run - 17.5 miles. Matt and I ran out at Weldon Springs Conservation area. I had never run there before and I really liked it. There is an 8.5 mile loop that is all dirt and gravel. I ran the first loop with Matt and then did a second loop solo. We made a wrong turn on the first loop, hence the extra half mile. Legs felt like garbage.
Saturday May 20: am 8 miles with Mike and Katie at Queeny Park. Felt like dog poo. pm 8.5 miles solo. Felt much better. Hopefully I will feel good tomorrow morning as well.

Weekly Total: 108 miles, 10 runs

Week 10

Sunday May 21: 22 miles. Ran the first hour pretty easy. We had a nice group with me, Brian, Liam, Mike, Alan, Danny, and Zac. Katie joined us to the Arch as well. After the hour mark I picked it up a bit and from there on in to the park we were around 5:45s with me, Brian and Zac pulling away. I ran the last 3 miles back to my house in 15:59, which is by far the fastest I have ever hit those miles at the end of a long run. Very pleased, and felt very strong- like I could have run all day.
Monday May 22: am 8.5 miles pm 10 miles, felt good on both runs today.
Tuesday May 23: am 8 miles with Matt around beautiful South City (the greatest place on Earth) pm 12 miles, first 4
with JCR and Thomas and next 8 solo, but felt quite good as the sun went down.
Wednesday May 24: am 4 miles solo. pm 2up/2x1 mile on the track, 10 mile tempo on the roads, 2x1 mile on the
track/ 2 down. This is a workout that I made up myself when I was a senior in college. I think this is the 4th time I
have done it. Anyway, I did it with Brian and the plan was to hit the miles in 4:40, hit the tempo at 5:20 pace, and
then come back for two more 4:40s.  The day was tough as it was in the 80s and it has been a real mild spring so
that was a challenge as was the wind.  Anyway, we hit the miles in 4:39, 4:39 no problem.  We had three minutes
rest in between everything by the way.  We headed out on the tempo and hit 5:17 but followed it up with a couple in
the high 5:30s which was no good but after that we found it and were at 5:20 or under the rest of the way and
ended up running 53:36 for ten, just 16 seconds off overall goal pace. Unfortunately that was about all she wrote
energy-wise. I hit the miles in 5:00 and 5:02.  Not too bad all things considered.  
Thursday May 25: am 6 miles pm 10 miles in Columbia for the State Meet, felt not good.
Friday May 26: 17 miles, In Columbia, ran first 8 with Matt and next 9 solo. Felt loads better than yesterday, but still took er easy. 6:20-30 pace.
Saturday May 27: am 8 miles with Matt and Coach Figas from Washington MO. nice and easy. pm Spent all day at the MO State Track Meet where my boys from SLUH won the State title by a point and a half. It came down to the 4x4 and we needed 4th and our anchore slpit 47.2 to give us third. Very fun two days down there. Ran a very smooth and fast 10 when I got home, still pumped up from the meet.

Weekly Total: 134.5 miles, 12 runs. new mileage PR!

Week 11

Sunday May 28: REST DAY. traveled to Portland to see my girlfriend Jen. I'm spending a few days here and then I'm taking her back to STL with me.
Monday May 29: Jen took me out to do a 23 mile run today but dummy me took a wrong turn and ended up running for 3 hours and 22 minutes. I have no idea how far I went but I figure 29 is a pretty safe assumption. Good part is that it was on a nice dirt trail for the last 2 and a half hours of it and I never got going too fast so I think I'll be fine.
Tuesday May 30: am 6.5 miles with Robb Finegan (2:17 marathoner) from Portland. pm 5.5 miles with Jen on the Oregon Coast, beautiful view.
Wednesday May 31: 2up/2x6 miles with 10 min jog recovery/2down. Hit 30:23/30:20. Splits were: 4:55/5:12/4:58/5:06/5:06/5:04. Then: 5:03/5:03/5:06/10:06(next 2)/5:01. Very pleased. My best 2x6 ever. Did it on a nice paved trail in Portland, with markers every half mile. Felt controlled.
Thursday June 1: am 9 miles around Portland with "Bus" who works at Fit Right Northwest. pm 5 miles with Jen in Twin Falls Idaho, our first stop on the trip back to St. Louis.
Friday June 2: am 10 miles in Twin Falls along the Snake River. Legs were tired but it was a nice view. pm 6 miles in Cheyenne WY.
Saturday June 3: 20 miles. Fun one. Jen and I got to Harrisonville, MO (her hometown) at about 7:30 and I headed out the door around 8 for a 20 miler. Ran out and back on an old country road for about 1:40 before running three miles hard. First one was to the track and I just ran hard but I don't know how fast. Next two were on the track in 5:05 and 4:55. Felt great. Then I ran back to the house and got in about 2:03 overall. I was cookin pretty good on the roads so definitely 20.

Weekly Total: 108 miles, 9 runs.

Week 12

Sunday June 4: am 6 miles in H'ville before heading back to STL. pm 8 miles, 4 with Jen and 4 solo.
Monday June 5: am 6 miles pm 9 miles- felt like garbage big time. Got a massage this afternoon and felt a little beat up from that but also I think the trip is catching up to me a bit. Sleep will be at a premium the next week and a half.
Tuesday June 6: 2.5 up/3x2 miles with 1/2 mile jog recovery/2.5down Supposed to hit 9:55 on all three. I ended up hitting 9:48/9:57/9:54. Felt not good. Way harder than it should have been.
Wednesday June 7: am 8 miles with Matt pm 5 miles with Jen.
Thursday June 8: 14 miles with Mike, 10 of it with Matt. Ran the last 2 miles hard, felt pretty good.
Friday June 9: am 6 miles pm 4 miles
Saturday June 10: 16 miles with Mike.

Weekly Total: 94 miles, 11 runs

Week 13- ONE WEEK TO GO!

Sunday June 11: 8 miles easy.
Monday June 12: 2up/ 2x3 miles/2 down. I always do this one the week of the Marathon. It is just 2 x 3 miles at slightly slower than race pace so for today that was 5:15. I hit 15:45 (5:16, 5:17, 5:11) and 15:36 (5:11, 5:15, 5:09).
Tuesday June 13: 12 miles, woke up with some energy for the first time since I've been back in town. Felt good.
Wednesday June 14: 6 miles, felt good again. I leave tomorrow for the race. The gun goess of Sat. morning at 7:30. I feel ready but nervous which is par for the course for me . If you are not nervous then you probably aren't ready to go. Thanks to everyone who has been reading my log on the site. I appreciate the support. Can't wait to write a great race report when I get back. Goal: 5:10 pace which is 2:15:30 (if the weather cooperates) and top 5.
Thursday June 15: Got to Duluth around 10:30 am . Arrived at the Hotel (which had an indoor water park which was cool) at 11:00 . Mike and Alan who had drive from STL with a stop in Minneapolis got there a half hour later and we went out for our run. Went about 7-8 miles with 3x2 minute surges mixed in at 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 40 minutes just to turn the legs over. Felt very rusty and stiff.
Friday June 16: easy 4 miles with Mike and Alan. We checked out Lemon Drop Hill which is at about the 21 mile mark on the course and everybody seems to get really hyped up about but it doesn't seem that bad to me. Did some strides afterwards but never really felt good today.

Saturday June 17: GRANDMAS MARATHON . 15 th place, 2:27 . Worst Marathon I've ever had. Woke up at 4:00 and did a ten minute walk to wake up. Ate a bagel and a Clif Bar, took a shower and headed out of the hotel at 5:30 . The weather was pretty hot and humid for a Marathon (high 60s and 91% humidity) which concerned me. I warmed up seven or so minutes with Mike, Alan, and Keith Kimmons from TN who had paced me at the TN Distance Solution meet in May. Doing strides I ran into Nick Stanko from Michigan and he and I had emailed back and ofrth and planned on running 5:10 pace together. We both felt the weather would not allow for that kind of time so we agreed to scale it back to 5:15s . When the race began a pack formed with Nick and myself as well as Wynston Alberts (who had finished in third at Twin Cities last year). We worked together trhough 3 miles in 5:13 , 5:13 , 5:15 but then hit 5:23 , 5:20 , 5:21 for the next three. By this point we were switching off leads in single file due to the slight headwind which wasn't helping matters. We hit another 5:21 before a 5:31 and at that point I think we all knew it was going to be a long day. I am not sure how they felt but I was not feeling good. I have never been grinding it out like that at the 8 mile mark of a Marathon . I could already see several people had fallen off the lead pack which got me semi-excited because I knew we would be catching them but it was tough to stay positive knowing that I just didn't have a good feeling in my legs or overall. We hit another 5:21 and then Alberts led a 5:13 (which I could tell was too fast but I followed along). Then it was a 5:26 during which I stopped to get my water bottle but I couldn't find it (in my opinion they gave too many people elite water bottles which made the table way too crowded). It cost me 10 or so seconds and the group had me gapped. This was really the beginning of the end for me as they continued to pull away slightly over the next few miles. Though I hit halfway in 1:10 and change and tried to tell myself that if I could suck it up and come back just as fast that I could be top ten my body just wasn't having it. By 16 it was, for all intents and purposes, over. I began just hitting 5:50s or so and then some miles over 6 minutes from 20 on in. The only saving grace was that at 24.5 some guy passed me and started waving to the crowd and pumping his hands “raise the roof” style. Granted it was not to taunt me and only to get them excited, but my competitive instincts took over and I snapped out of my funk at 25 and decided I would beat him. He had about 20 seconds on me at that point but I ran the 26 th mile in 5:42 and with .2 to go took off sprinting and passed him with about 250 meters to go and beat him by 10 seconds. Other than that a pretty uneventful day.

Weekly Total: 75 miles, 7 runs.

Check back for more soon, because I am going to make sure I keep this up-to-date.

-BEN