Ben's Training Log

Grandmas Training 2006 Archive

Summer 2006 Archive

Houston Marathon 2007 Training Archive

Boston Marathon 2007 Training Archive

Early Summer 2007 Training Archive

Olympic Trials Training Archive

Indoor Track 2008

Summer 2008

Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Week 11
Week 12
Week 13
Week 14
Week 15
Week 16
Week 17
Week 18

"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. " - summer 2006

UPDATE: A good update this time. My last segment which you can read here was really fun and I raced very well. All told the entire segment was only 8 weeks long and I pretty much just whipped myself into shape off of nothing and still ran 6 good races including a 4:01 road mile and a 4:06 road mile. Now the plan is to have a nice long block of training culminating with the US Club Cross Country Championships in December. I finished 7th there two years ago and 20th last year. I would very much like to take a crack at winning that bad boy this time around. I will also do a few XC races in October and November to tune-up a bit.

Week 1/2

Friday August 8th- First run after 5 days off. Ran about 7 miles with Jeremy random around South City. Then went to the horsetrack and lost money.
Saturday August 9th- Ran with the Training Team, 2 miles with Julie B. and then 4 miles with Larry who did a great job on his fast finish long run. Got in 170 pushups today on day 2 of our Racing Team's Olympic Pushup Contest. Unfortunately I'm still way behind.
Sunday August 10th- 13 miles. Ran with Carter and Ben Murphy Baum at the Sunday Long Run. Ben is in good shape for his XC season and he dragged Carter and I along faster and farther than we probably should have gone. Had fun though. Beautiful weather.

Week 1

Monday August 11th - about 5.5 miles at the Monday Group Run at the South City Store. Legs were super beat up from yesterday so I couldn't run with the guys doingthe 7 mile loop (too much pavement). I ran to the park and did three loops and came back.
Tuesday August 12th- Ran 6 miles at Queeny before work. Felt better than yesterday but still a bit dead-legged.
Wednesday August 13th- Ran 1 mile warmup and then the first 9 miles of Steph's cutdown tempo run with her at Forest Park.
Thursday August 14th- In all honesty I can't remember what I did as I am a week behind in writing this but I think it was 50 minutes-ish somewhere in Saint Louis.
Friday August 15th- Same as yesterday.
Saturday August 16th- 3 miles up. SLUH Alumni Race. First place, 9:56. Fun race as always. Ran with Ben Murphy Baum most of the way. 4 miles down.
Sunday August 17th- 13 miles with Carter at the Sunday Morning Long Run at Castlewood. Felt pretty darn good.

60 miles, 7 runs. Felt pretty cruddy all week until Sunday morning. A good sign of things to come I hope.

Week 2

Monday August 18th- 50 minutes with Dustin and Matt random around South City. Felt very good. Beautiful evening for running.
Tuesday August 19th- am 30 minutes solo. Felt good. pm 40 minutes with Carter and then with the Summer Speedwork folks as they did their 4 x 800 workout. Fun times at Amigos afterwards for the Olympic Viewing Party. A big thumbs down to NBC for deciding that the mens 1500, one of the most popular events in all of track and field, did not warrant a prime-time spot. Apparently the 4 minutes that the race takes would have cut too deeply into the coverage of the mens 3 meter diving finals.
Wednesday August 20th- 55 minutes from the SC store up to Shrewsbury. Did my loop around Wehner Park and the Seminary and came back to Francis for a couple of loops. Ran kinda slow but I dreamed of running fast on the indoor track next winter.
Thursday August 21st- am 30 minutes easy to Francis, 2 loops and back. pm- did not run. Pouring down rain after a long day of work so put it off and decided to double tomorrow.
Friday August 22nd- am 30 minutes same as yesterday. pm- 60 minutes with Brian. Ran this one at 12:30 only 3 hours after I finished up my morning run. Probably not super smart.
Saturday August 23rd- 3 miles. Had to cut my run short due to some pretty severe pain in my left knee that was causing me to limp. Iced it at night after watching the Mens Olympic Marathon at Doug's house (and eating some great food!)
Sunday August 24th- 12.5 miles at the Sunday Group Run. We were at Forest Park and did the Clayton Loop. I loaded up on the Ibuprofen to make sure my knee wouldn't hurt and iced it after. It was fine but hurt later in the day.

58 miles, 9 runs. Still not clicking yet. Lots of time though.

Week 3

Monday August 25th- 60 minutes solo. Reverted to my old habitual self and just ran to Francis Park and ran six loops and ran back home. Felt alright.
Tuesday August 26th- am 30 minutes to Francis, 2 loops and back. pm 40 minutes with Carter before speedwork. We ran to the Grants Trail...out 20 and back 20.
Wednesday August 27th- 60 minutes solo. Switched it up today a bit. Ran only one and a half loops of Francis, then over to Wilmore Park, then to the Christy Park Greenway and out and back on the Holly Hills Median before returning home. Got moving pretty decent.
Thursday August 28th- am 30 minutes to Francis, 2 loops and back. pm 40 minutes at night after work. Ran out from home along the River Des Peres Trail and back.
Friday August 29th- 60 minutes solo.
Saturday August 30th- 60 minutes at Creve Couer Park with the Training Team.
Sunday August 31st- 14 miles at the Sunday Long Run with Carter. Rolled it pretty good at Castlewood. Nice ice bath in the creek afterwards!

70 miles, 9 runs. Turned a bit of a corner after this long run. Felt like myself again.

Week 4

Monday September 1st- 54 minutes with Carter and Brian W. Carter and I stopped and did a set of plyos, drills, and strides at Maplewood track.
Tuesday September 2nd- am 30 minutes, standard run- from house, to Francis, 2 loops & back. For now and evermore that will just be called Francis 4 miler. pm 40 minutes at night. FELT GREAT. Really rolled this one. Did 4 loops of Francis plus there and back in 40 minutes.
Wednesday September 3rd- 20 minutes up/ 4 mile steady state at Central Fields with Carter/ 20 minutes down + 6 barefoot strides. Goal was just 5:20 pace. Hit: 5:17/ 5:18/ 5:19/ 5:13. Not as easy as I thought it would feel but I did run probably just as fast last night.
Thursday September 4th- am 30 minutes. Out & back from the house in the pouring rain. Remnant of Hurricane Gustav. pm- No run
Didn't get out of the store until 9:00 and figured it would be better to get some sleep and do tonight's 40 minutes in the am tomorrow instead.
Friday September 5th- am 40 minutes out & back. Felt good. pm 30 minutes up, 10 x :20 hard, 1 minute easy, 30 minutes down. Felt like a million bucks!!
Saturday Spetember 6th- Ran for an hour with the Training Team at Forest Park
Sunday September 7th- 90 minutes at the Sunday Long Run with Lyons and David Kujo. Okay run. Sub 6 the last few miles but never really all that fast.

70 miles, 9 runs. Still just in base phase really but starting to feel good.

Week 5

Monday September 8th- Ran at 8:30 pm with Carter after work. Did about 50 or so minutes and then stopped at Maplewood track for plyos, drills and strides. Felt okay. Cooled down a few minutes.
Tuesday September 9th- Honestly I cannot remember what I ran on this day. The week was total craziness. I don't remember being disappointed so I probably got an hour of running in but don't recall if it was one run or two.
Wednesday September 10th- Absolutely killer day at work getting ready for the Festival. Ran 37 minutes with Jeremy after we closed up. Did the Parking Lot loop east of Weidman. (for those who haven't read my log before this is the loop I do when it's dark out after work at the West County Store. It consists of laps around a bunch of parking lots in an office park.)
Thursday September 11th- am 2up/ 40 minute fartlek on Central Fields = 3:30 on/ 1:30 off/ 2 down. Terrible workout. Legs dead. No enthusiasm. 12-14 hour days definitely catching up to me. Did do some nice strides afterwards just so I could say something went well. pm 40 minutes at Blazers practice with the kids.
Friday September 12th- NO RUNNING- worked 5am to midnight on the Festival.
Saturday September 13th- NO RUNNING- Forest Park Cross Country Festival presented by National City!!
Sunday September 14th- 87 minutes in the pouring rain with Carter in St. Charles watching the Lewis & Clark Marathon. Pretty fun run actually.

46 miles, give or take. I knew this week was coming. No big deal. Gotta do what you gotta do.

Week 6

Monday September 15th- Ran the Monday Group Run loop with Carter after work and stopped at DuBourg for plyos, drills and strides. Felt extremely fast on the strides which we did barefoot in the grass. Got about 54 minutes in.
Tuesday September 16th- am 30 minutes. Francis Park Loop. pm Only got in about 18 minutes of running at Blazer practice.
Wednesday September 17th- am ran 30 minutes. Francis Park Loop. Got a massage afterwards. It hurt. pm 2 miles up/ 6 mile tempo at Central Fields + barefoot strides/ 2 miles down. The tempo was supposed to be 5:20 pace. Hit 5:17/ 5:15/ 5:19/ 5:19/ 5:16/ 5:11. Still felt harder than I think it should have but not bad at this point overall. Plus, my legs felt 100 times better in terms of just being more fluid as a result of the massage.
Thursday September 18th- I am writing this on October 3rd and seeing as this was two days before my wedding I don't really remember what I ran. I am pretty sure I got in 50 minutes in the morning and another 20 or so at Blazers practice.
Friday September 19th- Again, I think I ran for an hour on this day. Not sure.
Saturday September 20th- This one I remember! Met the guys at the store for a about a 20 minute warmup before the Run for the Hills 5k at Francis Park. This was the first road race I ever ran (I was in 8th grade). It was cool to run it for the second time on my wedding day 15 years later. Had a nice group that included Mike Nelson, Joe Porter, JCR who were talking a little trash beforehand. Then we had myself, Carter and Lyons as well as a hobbled TP Shea and little Franklin. Race was fun. Just kind of a tempo effort. A guy from Iowa showed up who was in town for the weekend and made Brian and I work a little harder than we wanted to after a couple of long nights of pre-wedding fun but we got the job done. I ran 15:30 for the win and Brian was second.
Sunday September 21st- No Run. Travel Day to San Juan and then to the Royal Carribean, our home for the next seven days!!!

60 miles, give or take. I am looking forward to the cruise and I think I will try to run quite a bit and take advantage of actually being able to recover from runs instead of constantly working.

Week 7

Monday September 22nd- We were at Sea all day which meant I had to run on the deck's jogging track which is 5 laps to a mile or on the treadmill. I chose the deck first but it was storming pretty bad so the wind dang near blew me off the boat but I stuck with it for 40 minutes and even did my drills and strides and then went inside for 10 more minutes on the treadmill to finish up. That was in the morning. In the evening I ran 4 miles on the treadmill pretty fast. Last couple miles were 5:45 pace. Cruise highlight of the day: Played in a $100 buy-in Texas Hold-em Tourney. Top 2 would advance to the final table on Saturday night. Played great for the first hour or so and was actually chip leader for a bit. Made an absolutely stupid mistake and called a loose player for $1900 when I had top pair but it wasn't enough to beat his straight. That cut my stack by more than half. It got down to four of us with three small stacks and one big one. This is where I made another stupid mistake. One of the small stacks went all-in, the big stack called and not thinking I called all-in as well meaning the Irish guy to my left only had to fold and hope the big stack took us both out and he'd advance. That is exactly what happened. Had I just folded I would have another hand or two to play the Irish guy as we both were down to almost nothing so it would have just been a crapshoot. Stupid.
Tuesday September 23rd: am Ran for 54 minutes in Aruba. Terrible run. It was really hot and muggy and I wasn't used to it. pm back on the boat. Ran 2 on the deck and two on the treadmill. Cruise highlight of the day: Jen and I went to the beach in Aruba and bought some picnic lunch at a grocery store only to have it start raining an hour into our time on the beach. Not much of a highlight I guess. Did have a great dinner served by our waiter for the week, Raj. We are seated with all Spanish-speaking folks. Nice peoples though.
Wednesday September 24th: The iguana run! I had a workout today and we were in Curacao so I definitely wanted to do it on land and not the treadmill. Warmed up 20 minutes til I found a decent spot to do the workout which was a fartlek where I had to go hard for 4 minutes/ 3 minutes/ 2 minutes/ 1 minute/ 1 minute/ 2 minutes/ 3 minutes/ 4 minutes with 2 minutes easy between each hard segment. The workout went pretty well actually, especially the second half of it. I did it on a gravel sidewalk next to a lake but there was a lot of traffic which made the air really bad. I do not think there could possibly be emissions standards in Curacao. I called this the iguana run because I saw two iguanas dart in front of me during my workout which scared me rather significantly as I am a total city boy but I pushed on! The only bummer and it was a pretty big one is that I got lost on my way back to the boat and ended up cooling down for an hour instead of 20 minutes which gave me about 17 miles on the morning. Cruise highlight of the day: Jen and I got wicked good smoothies at a little fruit stand for only $2.50 each.
Thursday September 25th- At sea again today which meant more deck and treadmill running. Was afraid I might be tired from yesterday so I just went 6 in the am and 4 in the pm. I actually moved pretty well on the deck in the morning, even running my last mile in 6:08 which was no easy task as I dodged people who didn't realize that a jogging track was meant for runners and walkers not lovebirds on a leisurely stroll taking up both lanes. Cruise highlight of the day: Jen was kind enough to allow me to compete in another Hold-Em tourney! I wanted to make up for my two poor decisions on Monday and finish top 2 in this one so I could still make the final table. Unfortunately for me I sat down and knew I had my work cut out for me. This group was much better than who I faced on Monday. Still though, I played conservative and folded for most of the first 40 minutes. I finally won a hand and increased the ol' stack a little only to be hit with a streak of tough cards that forced me to sit and watch others build their stacks. The blinds went up fast so sitting with only $900 I knew I'd have to go all-in if I had anything decent. I did with pocket 10s and the board showed nothing so I felt pretty good til the other guy flipped his pocket queens. That left me with only $100 so it was pretty much all over at that point. I ended up in fifth I think.
Friday September 26th- am 30 minutes warmup/ 10 x 20 seconds hard, 1 minute easy/ 30 minutes down. Ran this one in St. Maarten. It rained on me during the workout which was a theme as it rained during Wednesday's workout as well. Anyway, it went well. I found a strip on brick sidewalk that was pretty smooth and just did the workout on that. I felt pretty fast. pm 6 miles. Did this one still on land in St. Maarten only about 4 hours after my workout for 2 reasons. Number one I was tired of the treadmill and number two I wanted to drink some beers on the beach. It was our honeymoon for cryin' out loud!! The run was pretty fun. Found a baseball field that I did a few laps on and a hill that I ran up where I got a great view at the top. Cruise Highlight of the Day: Jen and I rented a jet ski (before we drank the beers!) and cruised around the ocean for a half hour. I even got Jen to go "full throttle"
Saturday September 27th- am 10 miles in St. Thomas. Ran out and back (making sure not to get lost) on all sidewalk which was tough on the legs. Pretty boring run and pretty hot but I'm sort of used to that at this point. pm 6 very easy miles on the treadmill. Legs felt beat up from this morning so I didn't want to put myself in a hole. Never even went uder 7 minute pace. Cruise Highlight of the Day: Saw an absolutely massive Iguana on the beach. I thought it was a dragon. This sucker was at least four feet long. Even the local guy said it was the biggest he had ever seen.
Sunday September 28th- Ran for an hour and 35 minutes in San Juan Puerto Rico. I had visions of going 2 hours and getting 100 for the week but those dissipated pretty quickly when I got about 40 minutes in and the heat and humidity was killing me and all of the running over the past three days was catching up. Did find a nice long beach with some hard sand to run on for a decent portion of the run. Got myself in a bit of a pickle because I was having so much with the beach running that I tried to climb over the rocks separating one beach from the next. Well my friends, those rocks are there for a reason. They don't want you climbing over them. Upon realizing this was a futile mission I climbed into the neighborhood bordered by the rocks. Minutes later I realized that I was locked in as this was a private neighborhood with an electric fence to keep out the bad guys and apparently to keep them in as well. Anyway, after a few minutes of zigzagging through the streets hoping to catch a car on its way out I finally saw someone in a driveway near the fence and he let me out. Highlight of the day: Lunch at a Puerto Rican restaurant along the beach.

97 miles, 12 runs. I really miss being a full-time runner and being able to run, eat and sleep with not much work in between.

Week 8

Monday September 29th- No run. Travel Day. However I can't resist posting about the highlight of the day. This was our last day of the honeymoon. We had spent the night in San Juan at a beautiful hotel on the beach and had only Monday morning to enjoy before heading out to the airport to catch our flight. When we went downstairs in the morning we found out that American Idol was filming in our hotel. I'm not a huge fan of the show but I love the episodes where they make fun of people. I saw those people! Many of whom were crying, one of which was actually running down the street as Jen and I returned from breakfast complete with his American Idol bib and everything. Oh, I should also mention that I tried to sneak into the waiting room where the have the cameras and everything but a very large man told me it was a private event. I obeyed the very large man.
Tuesday September 30th- am 60 minutes in South City solo. Right hip felt a bit weird. Most likely from running at an angle on the beach. pm 20 minutes at Blazers practice with the kids.
Wednesday October 1st- 2 miles up/ 8 mile tempo at Central Fields/ 2 miles down. Our Clubs XC group is finally all on the same page and I think we are going to have our best team ever. Today we had me, Lyons, Adam and Carter together for a tempo at 5:20 pace on the grass. Brian and I went 8, Adam did 7 and Carter did 4, took one off, and hopped back in one more. Everyone looked great. Totally effortless. My splits were: 5:16/ 5:19/ 5:16/ 5:16/ 5:16/ 5:16/ 5:19/ 5:11. I was super pleased. Not because it was some kind of back-breaking workout but because it felt so easy. I could have run all night or at least I felt like it.
Thursday October 2nd- am 57 minutes solo in South City.
Friday October 3rd- am 4 miles solo. Francis Loop. Supposed to have done this last night but didn't get a chance to run with the kids as Coach Blair wasn't there so I had to lead practice. pm Jeremy, Carter, Brian and I all met up for our turnover workout, 10 x 20 seconds fast with 1 minute recovery. Got in 55 minutes total of running. The 20 second surges went well. I felt very fast and under control.
Saturday October 4th- 10 miles at Forest Park. Met the training team for their last long run before Chicago. They are ready to go!
Sunday October 5th- 15 miles at the Sunday Long Run in Forest Park. Tied one on last night at Porter's wedding which made waking up a challenge but the run went surprisingly well. Lyons and I brought it home pretty hard- 5:35, 5:35, 5:12 for the last 3 miles.

70 miles, 8 runs. The workout was the best day of the week and the Sunday Long Run was next best. Next week with no day off I'd like to be back up over 80 miles for the week and stay there for the remainder of the segment minus a down week in there in a few weeks.

Week 9

Monday October 6th- Ran with Carter through from Maplewood into Clayton and down to Forest Park and back. Finished at the Maplewood HS Track for some drills and strides. Felt quite fast on the strides. Right around 60 minutes total.
Tuesday October 7th- am 30 minutes. Francis Loop. Was going to go longer in the morning and shorter in the pm but right hip was bugging me pretty bad this morning so I switched it up hoping it might feel better later. pm 40 minutes with Lyons at Blazers practice. Ran lots of hills but nice and easy. Those kids are tough!
Wednesday October 8th- 2.5 miles up/ 20 x 400 on the grass/ 2 miles down. Warmed up with Carter, Brian, Jeremy and Adam. The plan was 20 400s in sets of 5 with 200 jog between repeats and 400 jog between sets. We measured out a straight 400 meters on Aviation field. One way was slightly downhill and one way was slightly uphill. Plan was to do the first set in 74, next set in 72, next set in 70 and last set in 68. We realized right away that we'd be about 2 seconds slow on the uphill and 2 seconds fast on the downhill so that became the new plan. Jeremy had to cut out early with knee troubles but the rest of us hit it pretty much together the whole time. Workout was a little tougher than we thought. Just takes some getting used to to run that pace on thick grass.
Thursday October 9th- am 60 minutes. Had a nice solo run. Beautiful 50 degree morning. Ran to Tower Grove Park. Ran for a half hour in the park in the grass the whole time and then ran back home. pm really didn't get any running in at Blazer practice. Focused on watching the kids.
Friday October 10th- am 60 minutes. Felt okay. Ran random around Francis and then around Wilmore and then back. pm 4 miles Francis Loop. Felt pretty good.
Saturday October 11th- am shakeout at 6:30am = 10 minutes jog. BORDER WARS XC RACE. 3 miles up/ 8k XC race, 1st place, 25:02/ 2 miles down. Well, I didn't run as fast as I thought I would but I do think I am in the shape that I thought I was. The course was pretty tough and it was super hot and muggy. Hit the first mile in 4:46 but quickly realized that today was not a day to run 4:50s. I just focused and tried to keep the effort going. I came through 2 miles in 9:49, 3 miles in 14:58, four miles in 20:06 and finished in 25:02. Again, a pretty tough course and day so I'll take it.
Sunday October 12th- 90 minutes with Drew, Brian and Carter at 6am in downtown Chicago along the lake before the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. We got in another 20 minutes or so running around watching the race so I'll call it 16 miles on the morning. By the way, the race was awesome!! Steph did an amazing job to get 11th and run 2:35:09. Like Brian said, it was inspiring. Brian Whitehead did great as well. It was cool to see the Big River jersey out there!

78 miles, 9 runs. I was hoping for 80 this week but I'm pleased. I think I am right where I want to be at this point. Getting fit but not quite there yet. The best sign of good things to come was how easy running 90 minutes felt on Sunday morning the day after a cross country race. Felt like I could have run all day.

Week 10

Monday October 13th - Slept a much-needed 10.5 hours last night after an exhausting weekend. Ran for 40 minutes, did what was really kind of a half-hearted set of drills and strides, then jogged 10 minutes home. Legs definitely felt like I had ran 90 minutes and then continued to stay on my feet for 3 more hours watching a marathon yesterday.
Tuesday October 14th- am 55 minutes solo. Still not feeling too great. pm 40 minutes at Blazers practice. Legs felt much better. I think I'll be ready for a good workout tomorrow.
Wednesday October 15th- 2 up/ Cutdown tempo starting at 6:00 and cutting down 10 seconds each mile til you don't hit the time/ 2 down. Ran this at Central Fields on the grass. Started with Jeremy, Carter and Adam. Splits: 5:57/ 5:48/ 5:34/ 5:25/ 5:17/ 5:07/ 4:56/ 4:55. Jeremy is still nursing some injury issues so he just went three and then skipped one and then jumped back in for one more. Carter and Adam made it through six. I was solo on my last 2 miles. The only bummer of the workout is that my calf started cramping up on the seventh one and then grabbed on me on the last mile to the point that I had to stop for a couple of seconds and massage it out. I was happy to still run a 4:55 with a stop in there and having to run flat-footed but I wish I could have hit that 4:50 which I am almost cetain I would have.
Thursday October 16th- am 60 minutes solo from my apt. to Francis for a couple laps and then to Shrewsbury for a lap around the park/seminary up there and back home. Right hip which has been bugging me on and off since the honeymoon really acted up this morning. pm 4 miles Francis loop. Hip hurt pretty bad to the point that I was favoring it. Have to go see Dr. Cragg at St. Louis Injury and Rehab tomorrow for sure.
Friday October 17th- am got worked on by Dr. Matt in the morning. Those guys are miracle workers! He found the problem in my hip right away. A bit knot had developed basically right in the middle of my butt. The treatment hurt pretty bad but by the pain was gone by the evening. pm 30 minutes up/ 10 x 20 seconds hard, 1 minute easy/ 30 minutes down. Ran the warmup and cooldown with JCR. Did the workout solo but felt very fast. Actually probably ran two fast. They are supposed to be at mile race pace but I was definitely going faster than that.
Saturday October 18th- ran for about an hour in Harrisonville, MO right after a four hour drive. Legs felt kind of sluggish. It was a beautiful day to run though and I enjoyed running through the trails.
Sunday October 19th- am 4 miles in Harrisonville before leaving for home. pm 60 minutes from Kirkwood Park where we had a Blazers Meet back home. Nice to do something different. Legs didn't feel good on either run though.

77 miles, 10 runs. Definitely had a nice workout on Wednesday and it was good to feel fast on Friday but the last couple days have not felt good. We'll see what happens tommorrow.

Week 11

Monday October 20th- Warmed up 2 miles at Forest Park for a 10 mile tempo. Had to do it by myself as I was working all day and then had a meeting so couldn't start until 8:45 pm. I wanted to run 5:10 pace. Hit the first mile in 5:30 which didn't seem right because I was working pretty hard, then really picked up the effort and could only hit 5:17 so I stopped it right there figuring something was wrong. I did cool down about 3.5 miles.
Tuesday October 21st- REST DAY. After last night I am not sure if I am just tired from traveling the last two weekends or if I have some leg issue. Either way I decided to make this a down week to try and get ready for the race this Sunday. I was going to take one next week anyway so I am just switching it up.
Wednesday October 22nd- 55 minutes. Stride just felt way off. Like I was favoring the right leg. I am pretty sure it is my right IT band which was probably over-compensating when I had the hip problem. This actually makes sense because thinking back to last Saturday and Sunday my stride didn't really feel right either and that must have been why Monday it felt so hard to run a 5:17 because I was doing it favoring one leg.
Thursday October 23rd- am Did some major work on the IT band in the morning. Foam Rolled it on my own, then had Jen dig into it then went to Golds Gym and got in the hot tub and worked on it myself in there. pm Ran at Blazers practice with the kids. Its a short warmup so I probably only got in about 3/4 of a mile before starting the workout. It was a perfect one to do with the kids. We went out 1:30 at perceived race effort and then had to turn around and try to make it back to the start before 3:00. I actually felt very good and my stride felt nice and fluid again. We did four of them. Cooled down about another 3/4 of a mile or so.
Friday October 24th- Ran 50 minutes in Boston with Terry, Brian and Liam. It is nice to feel like myself again. I now have no worries about Sunday.
Saturday October 25th- Ran the course at Franklin Park with Terry and Brian. Got 40 minutes in total and did some strides. Course is tougher than I thought but should be very fun.
Sunday October 26th- am 10 minute shakeout in Cambridge. MAYORS CUP 8K. 3up/ 8k cross country race, 3rd, 24:10/ 3 down. Race was a blast. Big pack of guys at the mile in 4:36. Hit 2 miles in 9:20. There is a gradual incline after 2 miles which whittled the lead pack down to 6. I felt like at was right at the edge but I hung in there and tried to stay as relaxed as I could. There were three African runners kind of controlling the pack and it seemed like there were a lot of pace changes. When we hit 4 miles, the three aforementioned Africans moved really hard and broke things up and I found myself in 5th. Then there was some confusion as they made a wrong turn and myself and Sean Burris did not. All of a sudden we were in 1st and second and weren't sure whether to slow down or not. We kind of did but didn't actually stop. Bottom line is that he and I and one of the Africans, Jacob Korir who sprinted back to catch up, got to the base of the final hill together and near the top of the hill Korir moved hard and pulled away big time. I ended up third in 24:10. I'll take it.

45 miles. Really was a down week except for the race obviously. In the end I think things worked out because I was able to get my leg feeling good and I was fresh for the race which I am sure helped me run well.

Week 12

Monday October 27th - 90 minutes solo. Ran a really nice loop from my house straight down Macklind to Forest Park which is only 3 miles away. Then ran a loop of the park with a 2 mile add on up Wydown and down Forsyth. Came back home down Macklind. Loop is probably a hair over 14 miles. Felt good with the exception of some sore muscles from the race.
Tuesday October 28th- Ran 50 minutes at Forest Park from SLUH out 25 minutes and back. Ran up Wydown and made it to around Big Bend if I remember right. Anyway I felt really good. pm Ran 40 minutes at Blazers practice on the grass. Once again felt very good.
Wednesday October 29th- 2 miles up/ Mike Nelson's Tower Grove Park Hilly Fartlek/ 3 miles down. Workout was just okay. Felt like I just couldn't get going. Calved cramped up 27 minutes in so I had to cut it short. Was going to go 35 minutes.
Thursday October 30th- am 45 minutes. Felt kinda crappy. pm 30 minutes at Blazers. The big Cemetery Hill day. The kids did great!
Friday October 31st- 30 minutes up/ 10 x :20 hard, 1 minute easy/ 30 minutes down. Did this one on the track to feel fast. Definitely did feel fast. Probably ran way too fast actually. I am supposed to do these at mile race pace but I am quite sure I was running faster than that.
Saturday November 1st- Ran for 65 minutes. Felt okay actually.
Sunday November 2nd- 85 minutes. Not good. Meant to run 30 minutes easy/ 30 minutes medium/ 30 minutes hard. I'll say this; I nailed the 30 minutes easy! Something is just not right in my stride and my mind was just not there either. I have this problem after a big race like Mayors Cup. I just feel let down and tired. Need to snap out of it. If you are wondering- on the 30 minutes hard segment I started out with a 5:19 on the FPXC Festival course which was good but then got slower from there and just cut it short after about 17 minutes and then jogged in from there.

78 miles, 9 runs. Do not feel right. Need to decide what to do to snap out of it.

Week 13

Monday November 3rd- Zero. I'm fried. I feel like I have felt during the last couple weeks of my past three marathons where I could push through the runs but they just didn't feel right. I am not going to do that this time. I am going to nip this fatigue cycle in the bud and take three days off. Really it makes sense because I've been at it for 12 weeks and that is a long segment for me.
Tuesday November 4th- OFF
Wednesday November 5th- OFF. Brian, Adam and Carter looked very good on their workout.
Thursday November 6th- am Ran for about an hour watching Jeremy's workout at Central Fields. pm ran for 30 minutes at Blazers practice with the kids.
Friday November 7th- 60 minutes. Ran from home to Forest Park and messed around on Aviation Field a bit before coming back. Got a massage afterwards.
Saturday November 8th- STATE MEET!!! Jeremy, Matt, Karl and I ran at the State Meet. Ran for a little over an hour and then ran around watching the races. I'll call it 10 miles for the day.
Sunday November 9th- Sunday Long Run at Castlewood. My schedule just hasn't worked out with Castlewood lately so this was my first run there in a while. I missed it! Today's run got moving fast as it usually does when Brian, Zac and I get together. I had course record on my mind but in the end it was Brian who dropped the hammer on us and got it. 1:26:17 for the 15 mile out and back course. Zac was a few ticks back and I was 1:27:25. I'll take it. I really think if I can have good long runs from here on in I will have the strength I need to run very well at Clubs. I think my speed is fine.

46 miles, 5 runs. Obviously this was just half a week but the three days off seemed to do the trick.

Week 14

Monday November 10th- Ran about 50 minutes with Tara Storage who was in town from Ohio on business. Really enjoyed the run. Stopped at the track for drills and strides. Felt great. Jogged back home. Call it 8.
Tuesday November 11th- am 65 minutes. Ran from SLUH, around Forest Park and back home. pm 30 minutes with Brian to Carondelet Park and back.
Wednesday November 12th- 2 miles up/ Cutdown Tempo/ 2 miles down. Workout was supposed to be 6:00/ 5:50/ 5:40....and so on til you couldn't hit 10 seconds faster. We started with Me, Brian, Adam, Carter, Jeremy and Steph. It was tought to hit the splits because we were on the path so we had no marks other than the miles. I hit 6:21/ 5:30/ 5:40/ 5:30/ 5:20/ 4:59/ 4:52/ 5:05. Brian kicked my butt again, just like Sunday and hit 4:50 for his last mile. Adam and I were with him on the 4:52 (which was supposed to be 5:00) but that last mile was killer. The one thing that was not good for me was that my right foot cramped up, a problem I haven't had since 2004 but one that bugged me for a good 6-8 months when I first got to Hansons. I don't know why it happens or really how I fixed it but it throws my stride off big time. Hopefully I can figure it out with a trip to St. Louis Injury and Rehab on Friday.
Thursday November 13th- am Ran 45 minutes out to Shrewsbury Park, around it and back. pm Ran for 1:21, much of it with Joe Porter at Forest Park. Big mileage day for me these days.
Friday November 14th- am a little under 3 miles for a warmup/ 10 x 1 hard/ 1 easy on Central Fields in the rain/ 3 down. Really felt good. Ran the minute hard segments very fast and felt smooth.
Saturday November 15th- am Ran for just under an hour in Terre Haute at a golf course near our hotel. pm 3 miles warming up with the SLUH boys at Nike Regionals. Had a great trip. The boys ran very well.
Sunday November 16th- Sunday Long Run at Forest Park with Brian, Adam, Carter and Jeremy. We had 30 easy/ 30 medium/ 30 hard progression run on the docket. Felt great today. Our medium segment was fast but felt easy. Carter had one clocked in 5:22. We did our last 4 miles hard on the Central Fields Loop after the first hour was on the Clayton Loop. I went 5:06/ 5:07/ 5:22/ 5:06. Lyons had an even better one and went 5:06/ 5:07/ 5:08/ 5:04. Today was the first day I felt really fit in a long time. By really fit I mean not just quick or fast or strong but all of them combined.

88 miles, 10 runs. That was a week to be excited about. Couple more of those and I'll be right where I want to be for Clubs.

Week 15

Monday November 17th- Ran for 51 minutes kind of random around South City solo and ended up at DuBourg for drills and strides. Did a nice full set and jogged home. Call it 8 for sure on the day.
Tuesday November 18th- am Ran 4 mile Francis Loop. Cold. pm 40 minutes at Blazers practice. Nice to be on the grass for 40 straight minutes.
Wednesday November 19th- 2 miles up/ 10 x 800 on the track/ 4 miles down. Nice night for a workout- about 55 degrees and no wind. Brian and I had a good one. Hit 2:17, 2:18, 2:14, 2:16, 2:15, 2:15, 2:16, 2:15, 2:15, 2:14. Felt better as it went. 400 jog recovery. Nice atmosphere with Steph, Tyler and Joe doing a workout as well.
Thursday November 20th- am 10 miles. Ran with Matt for about a half hour and then went up into Shrewsbury and messed around up there before coming back home. Got about 1:08 in. pm only got in about 2 miles at Blazers practice.
Friday November 21st- am 30 minutes up/ 10 x 20 seconds hard/ 1 minute easy/ 30 minutes down. Ran to Tower Grove Park for this one and did it on the hilly loop where we do workouts occassionally. Wanted to be on the grass and get some work on some ups and some downs. Mission accomplished. Felt good.
Saturday November 22nd- am 12 miles with Lyons. Ran to Forest Park from home, around the path, and back. pm 4 miles easy with Jeremy and Carter.
Sunday November 23rd- Miles for Food Route 66 Relay. We raised more than 1,400 cans and $1,000 for Operation Food Search which was awesome. The event as a whole raised more than $3,000 and 3,000 cans!! Anyway, I ran 16.9 miles. Had a nice run. Started out with Matt, Craig and Doug and then ran solo from there but closed the last 8 miles or so well under 6 minute pace. Felt good. Grilled up some sausage after. Good stuff!

86 miles, 10 runs. Another good week. Rolling right along.

Week 16

Monday November 24th- Ran with Lyons around Frances a few times from home and then went over to the track for drills and strides. Felt good. Got in about 50 minutes total.
Tuesday November 25th- am 10 miles solo. Ran from home to River Des Peres gravel path, then did a loop through Wilmore Park, then over to Carondelet for a loop there and then back home. pm got in 30 minutes at Blazers.
Wednesday November 26th- 2 miles up/ 3 x 2 miles on the grass at Central Fields/ 2 miles down. I was really pumped for this one. I ran this workout two years ago and hit 9:42/ 9:44/ 9:43 before finishing 7th at Clubs in what was one of my better races ever. I was anxious to see how I compared to my former self. I hit the first two in 9:38 and 9:37 and was feeling really good and controlled. The only issue was my right calf which has been a problem a couple of other times this segment. Sure enough it cramped up on the 3rd repeat event though I felt great otherwise and I ended up running 9:45 even though I stopped to massage it out during the repeat. Bottom line is I was bummed I couldn't show my true fitness but then again I do know that I am fitter than I was two years ago and that is a great sign.
Thursday November 27th- THANKSGIVING! Jen and I stayed in town this year which was nice. I ran for 1:16 in Kirkwood watching the Kirkwood Webster Turkey Trot. Saw lots of friendly faces and had a good time. Also enjoyed the famous Sutton's runners brunch afterward. Then headed over the river to my family's Thanksgiving where I definitely ate too much. Ran 4 miles when I got home and had to fend off stomach cramps the whole time.
Friday November 28th- 30 minutes up with Eric Fernandez from the store into Queeny. Then did my 10 x 1 minute hard/ 1 minute easy solo on the hills of Queeny. Felt pretty good. 30 minutes down.
Saturday November 29th- am 10 miles solo. Ran to Forest Park and turned around at 35 minutes and headed back the way I came. pm 4 miles solo Frances loop.
Sunday November 30th- 90 minutes at the Sunday Long Run. Brian and I pulled away once we got back to the park at 60 minutes in and rolled 5:20s for about 5 miles and then took it in easy the last mile and a half. Nice run.

87 miles, 10 runs. Mission accomplished...another good week.

Week 17

Monday December 1st- Ran about 50 minutes solo around Frances Park before arriving at the track for drills and strides. Felt fast. Jogged home for about 8 on the day.
Tuesday December 2nd- Ran 54 minutes with Jeremy around South City before work. I have been getting in the high 80s the last 3 weeks but this week I am going to drop it down just a bit. pm 30 minutes at Blazers. It is fun to see the kids getting excited about the race this weekend.
Wednesday December 3rd- 2 miles up/ 6 x 1 mile on the track with 3 minutes rest/ 2 miles down. Cold & Windy. I hit 4:43/ 4:41/ 4:45/ 4:43/ 4:47/ 4:35. Not sure what to think of this one. I was STILL having calf issues even after hydrating very well all day. That was somewhat inhibiting as was the nasty wind. Just didn't feel like I fought hard enough to hit 4:40s. Never really hurt. I'll have to hurt if I want to run well next weekend.
Thursday December 4th- am 50 minutes solo and very slow due to both achilles being sore from last night. pm 30 minutes at Blazers.
Friday December 5th- Had a 7 hour drive to Decatur, AL for the AAU National Meet. Ran at 6:30 pm from the hotel. Pretty boring for about 30 or so minutes until I found a track and then got in about 25 minutes on the track which some people would still find boring I guess but I do some of my best daydreaming on the track so that's what I did. Got 65 mintues in total...call it 10.
Saturday December 6th- Had a blast watching ALL of our Blazers set PR's at the National Meet! I was able to get my workout in on the course which was nice. 40 minutes up/ 10 x 20 seconds hard, 1 minute easy/ 25 minutes down. Felt pretty fast out there.
Sunday December 7th- Nice and easy for an hour and 28 minutes with Brian, Carter and Jeremy at Castlewood. Weird to not hammer the long run for the first time in four weeks.

77 miles, 9 runs.

Week 18

Monday December 8th- ran 51 minutes around Francis and Wilmore before making my way to the track for drills and strides. Felt good to be without gloves and a hat for the first time in a week and a half.
Tuesday December 9th- 2 miles up/ 6 x 2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy/ 2 miles down. Ran with Jeremy out at McCluer North. Tested out my sweet new white half tights. Felt good. Fast and strong.
Wednesday December 10th- am 60 minutes. Didn't feel very good. Kind of sluggish. pm 3 miles. Got worked on after at Dr. Cragg's. I think he took care of my calf which is a load off of my mind for this weekend.
Thursday December 11th- Ran 45 minutes with Jeremy around South City.
Friday December 12th- 40 minutes on the course in Spokane with the team. Crazy weather! When we started the course was green and when we finished it was white. The snow is coming down and the temps are dropping...should be fun tomorrow!!
Saturday December 13th- US Club Cross Country Championships. Well, it was a total disaster. Sorry to all of you who have read my log and followed my training. Here's the report: Race got out slow. I was right at the front. No problems there. We hit the mile in 5:08 and I figured it would pick up after everyone saw the split which it did. I just tried to weather the storm and even though it got real fast real quick I knew we wouldn't keep that up in these conditions. It was low to mid 20s with 25-30 mph cold wind gusts. Coldest weather I've ever raced in by far. Anyway, near the end of the second mile I was tucked in at the back of the lead pack and somebody went down in front of me. I had to jump up in the air and go spread eagle mid flight to avoid his head. I planted with both feet and looked up and the pack had what seemed like 20 or 30 meters on me. All of a sudden I was in 20th and instead of getting tough and trying to get back in my rhythm I started feeling sorry for myself and letting people pass me. I got a little jolt when Sell passed around 3 miles but couldn't stay with him and fell back even further. I think I was probably back in the 40s when I snapped out of it and started passing people again and ended up finishing 36th. Just not good. Add to that that our other guys didn't run well either and it just made for a really disappointing day.

The segment as a whole was pretty good but at the end of the day if you don't run well when it counts it leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. I will just have to let nature take its course and when I start indoor track workouts hopefully I'll get excited again and snap out of this funk.

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: