Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 49:55 (7:40)

Ran in Forest Park in Portland with Zack. A bunch of uphill at the beginning, then more rolling-type hills after that. 27:46 out, 22:09 back. Was feeling good the second half so I had fun throwing in little accelerations.

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 53:37 (8:14)

Had some beers and then ran with Steve late at night with our headlamps, on an asphalt path.

Chris - 2 hrs of bball

I wanted to post because I haven't in awhile. It's been so nasty out lately it's tough to think about going on a run during lunch in the cold rain. I lifted weights last Thursday with a buddy from work and did my first decent leg workout in forever. I had to have assistance sitting down or standing up for a couple days, haha. I can definitely tell I'm getting in better basketball shape. Tonight I felt like my legs were able to support me in a crouched defensive position for longer without getting too tired, and I'm able to jump without as much concerted effort. I had a guy sorta dunk on me...so even more motivation to continue lifting and getting in better shape!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas.

Luke - 6

6mi, 45:09 (7:31)

Ran to a softball field and ran barefoot for 11½ minutes and came back.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 29:04 (6:50)

Christmas day run, took my new Mayflys out and did seventeen minutes warmup, 1.5 miles in 7:52, and five minutes cooldown. Feet hurt a bit after--I think the road was pretty harsh.

Luke - 6

6mi, 44:09 (7:21)

Ran to a softball field, did 10:22 barefoot in the grass, ran back.

Luke - 6

6mi, 42:09 (7:01)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:24.

Zack - 14.6

1:48:30 (7:26)
Long run on farm roads. Felt the effects of the 12 two days ago but stayed slow to start. Route: Warrensburg Rd, over to River Rd, back across open farm roads, brief stint on RT 203, over to Hills Miller, Troy Rd, home. Took gels at 45 min and 80 min in. I was bonking a bit around mile 10 (dizzy/heavier legs), I think due to some dehydration. I should have carried water but I thought it would freeze. Felt a touch better the last few miles and managed a 6:59 last mile. Route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4198942

Steve - 6

52:00 (8:40)

Still raining out here. It was only raining a bit when I ran at 8 am, but it had been raining all night so the ground was pretty wet. I ran on the bark trail in MB, so it was still runable. There were a few bad spots with puddles but mostly it was ok. I wanted to quit so much on this run. I somehow managed to slug my way through 6 miles.

Zack - 4.6

34:37 (7:31)
EZ loop around Hayes, cut through the field beyond Carlisle Elem. on the way out and stayed down Central on the way back.

Steve - .76 * 3! (aka 4.6)

40:00 (8:42)

It's raining like crazy here. I went to Griffith Park after work to run but there were puddles everywhere and I didn't feel like sloshing around. It gets flooded here really easily because it doesnt rain much. So I ended up at the gym running on a treadmill for the first time in like a year. Pretty boring, but I got some miles in. Yawn.

Zack - 12

90:08 (7:30)
Cruised out past Smith Park, continued through the park and ran around the mile frozen trail which was covered in a few inches of snow, slowed to about 8:30 with the same effort as on the road. The rest of the run was blowing snow, about 25F again. Enjoyed the rolling (small) hills and country roads with Miike Snow and Los Campesinos tucked under my hat. Route (+1 loop Smith Park): http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4197265

Zack - 8.35

61:19 (7:20)
Long loop around Delaware, roads with packed snow, patches of ice, and plowed streets. ~25F, felt pretty good throughout. Turnaround through Mingo Park on a 0.75 mi doubletrack trail covered in snow.

Luke - 3.25

3.25mi, 24:21 (7:29)

Mile loops of 7:47 and 7:25.

Zack - 5

37:23 (7:28)

Flew back home (Delaware, OH), ran at 10PM in frigid 7 deg F weather! Bundled up with the usual gloves, hat, tights, and used a crucial neck gaiter. Felt fairly warm even though my beard had ice in it by the end!

My past few weeks have been good, a few days off due to various reasons and a few hikes in addition. I am now home visiting family until Dec 29th and plan to run big miles, despite the temperature range from 5-30F expected for the rest of the time.

Last five weeks of training (miles): 55,41,35,63!,42. A bit sporadic but I have enjoyed the increase in workload and think this will translate to a quick debut marathon Feb 5th.

Steve - 6

Ran with a friend out in Santa Monica. My first run in 13 days I think. I was busy studying for my Calc 2 final and living it up in Vegas for a four day gambling and drinking binge. Had a pretty great time and finished only down a bit so I was happy with that. My favorite game is Pai Gow Poker. You can play for hours and get tons of free drinks while usually being close to breaking even.

Anyway, my leg has also been bothering me so I decided to take time off from running and get it checked out. I went and got X-rays and they didn't see anything. Since I have had the pain for like 3-6 months, there probably isnt anything there that is broken. So I guess I just manage the pain and start cranking up the running again. So I will shoot for 3-4 runs a week and see how that goes. Luke you are no longer alone.

Chris - 2.75

20:24 - 7:25.09 pace

Ran during lunch at work. Went better than I expected. My right groin was hurting a little after I got done, but I don't think it will last.

Luke - 5.75

5.75mi, 47:53 (8:19)

Fox Hollow with Zack. 8:25 up, 8:04 down. My hip started hurting coming down the hill, then at the bottom it was so bad I had to stop, and Zack continued on and then came back with his car and got me (I was able to go about 3/4 miles in a half hour, as it hurt even to walk). The injury is from a couple weeks ago when I was biking home from work and I fell on the ice and got a bruise. It wasn't too bad then but for some reason it got a lot worse, so I'm gonna take a couple days off and hope it heals.

Luke - 8.25

8.25mi, 67:37 (8:11)

Mile loops of 7:56, 7:46, 7:57, 8:07, and 8:05, then like two miles on the high school track before heading home.

Luke - 6.9

6.9mi, 51:17 (7:25)

Did the 1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail with Zack, but took a side trail near the end of it and did a loop of the BMX track before heading home. Weather was windy, but really warm (50º).

Luke - 5.25

5.25mi, 39:36 (7:32)

Mile loops of 7:40, 7:39, 7:35, and 7:12.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 28:01 (6:35)

Mile loops of 7:00, 6:25, and 5:31. Didn't have much time so went fast instead of far.

Luke - 11.25

11.25mi, 88:51 (7:53)

Fox Hollow with Zack, extended, then extended some more. Started out by going up the hill in a more controlled than usual 9:29, then tacked on the 1.6-mile loop at the top, then on the way down added a fun little offshoot trail. We both felt pretty good the whole way.

Luke - 10.75

.25mi warmup, then 10.5mi in 70:20 (6:41). 35:48 out, 34:31 back, on varying terrain through farmland.

Luke - 12.5

12.5mi, 1:53:27 (9:04)

Don't really know how long this was, but I was thinking 12.5 before I left so I'll call it that even though the pace seems even slower than the shit-show it was. I took the Ribbon Trail to Spring Blvd and took Ridgeline all the way to Willamette, then came down and cut over to Rexius on the way back. First ~7 miles were not too bad, but nothing spectacular, then the next couple miles were quite good, then the last 3+ were super-painful because of my stomach. Had to just stop and stand there a bunch of times to wait for the pain to pass, and then when running was only able to keep up like 9:30s. Those couple good miles in the middle are encouraging; I know I can run well when my stomach allows it.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 72:33 (8:17)

Took my headlamp since it gets dark before 4:30 these days. Went up Rexius then through the hills to Spring Blvd and back down. In a few places it was foggy and the headlamp doesn't work too well in fog, so those places and on the short trail with lots of turns I went pretty slowly. Felt pretty all right for having done 19.5 today.

Luke - 10.75

10.75mi, 83:26 (7:45)

1.6-mile loop in 12:18, 1.4-mile loop in 10:32, then did a couple loops of the BMX course, then took a trail around the pond and finished up on the 1.6-mile loop.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 68:54 (7:52)

Fox Hollow with Zack in the morning. 7:46 up the hill, 7:23 down, gradual acceleration from 7:30 to a little under 7:00 pace on Rexius on the way back. Weather was nice and miserable. Nipples got a bit chafed.

Steve - 8.95

At MB Trail. Running with my friend who wanted to do a progressive run that I could only keep up with for about 3 miles. First mile in 7:15, second mile in 6:45 and then I started falling behind him as I could run only a 6:45 before I stopped for a while. I ended up running another 3.25 miles to end up with some decent mileage.  So for me it was a 3 mile tempo in 20:45 on the bark.

2.25 wup 18:27
3 mile tempo 20:45, 7:15, 6:45, 6:45
3.25 miles 25:36
.45 4:00

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 42:25 (7:42)

1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 10:49. Early morning, with Zack.

Chris - 2.75

20:37 - 7:29 pace

After playing basketball for an hour or two yesterday, I just wanted to do a short shakeout run. Except my shakeout run turned into a tempo-ish run about 1/4 of the way into it. Oh well! I'm going to Roseville, CA tomorrow and Wednesday on a business trip, so I'm planning on doing another one of these on either Thu or Fri, depending which day I decide to play basketball.

Luke - 5.25

5.25mi, 41:48 (7:57)

Mile loops of 8:03, 7:53, 7:52, and 7:44. I was going to do more but my stomach hurt, so I headed to the bathroom for a pitstop, but there was a freestyle rap battle going on inside and I didn't want to break that up so I just headed home.

Zack - 20

2:36:58 (7:51)
An absolutely gigantic effort with Luke in the evening. Moderately cold (44-->38F), a touch of rain, and darkness at the end. Our route started from the house which felt like a normal run, instead of an epic route like we have been doing for our previous weekend long runs. We went down the Willamette bike path to Valley River Center, caught some water on the way back at about 6 mi. Then proceeded down the bike path to Springfield. Went D St, and took a right in Springfield up a steady hill out to Dorris Ranch. Ran around the ranch on some excellent muddy terrain through the forest and orchards. I wasn't feeling great at about 9 mi, so I was a little worried. We also were unable to get water anywhere, until mile 18.5! Luke and I were both feeling dehydrated but maintained a respectable turnover as we arrived to Pre's Trail in the dark. Went our usual route through campus home, tacked on 3 loops of the square short track on campus, and then staggered home and ate tons of food.

Took gels at 5mi, 10mi, and 17mi. Really should have carried water but I learned a valuable lesson. All and all, really nice difficult effort, longest run ever (2.4 mi beyond the previous long). Excited for the marathon in roughly 2 months.

Luke - 20

20mi, 2:37:03 (7:51)

Long run with Zack (see his post for deets). Wore my new Ronins, which are the same as my old Ronins except yellow instead of orange, and with like a thousand less miles on them.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 11/21-11/27

Luke - 48.5 (7)

Steve - 22.4 (4)

Zack - 7 (1)

Luke - 7.8

7.8mi, 58:51 (7:32)

1.6-mile loop in 11:57, 1.4-mile loop in 10:29, with Zack.

Steve - 3.2

30:00 (9:22)

One final run in Michigan before I head home tonight. I only had time for a 30 min run with Michigan game starting at 12pm. Freezing again but trudged through.

Steve - 6.2

58:00 (9:21)

My first run in Michigan. Man it's freezing here. It's probably in the high 20s. I did a loop around this lake near my grandparents' house that is about 4 miles and then did a little extra out and back. I was running and talking with some other runners I met along the way and we probably got down to low to mid 8:00s for the final 2 miles. First time I have ever run with gloves on in my life I think, although I didnt wear them after the first few miles.

Zack - 7 (5km in 17:39)

Turkey Stuffer 5k 17:39 PR (5:39, 5:44, 5:43, 30.9!) 23rd/661 (strong field!)

Woke at 630AM to a cold, sunny morning. Luke and I set off to Springfield and picked up our packets. Warmup was about 2 miles. Race temp was ~34F at the start. Wore my old Saucony A2 flats, singlet, shorts, gloves, and hat. Bolted off the start in a large pack, cruised the first mile in 5:39. Ran solo much of the second mile and passed a few runners despite slowing to a 5:44. Felt strong enough to keep pushing and battled with a 57 yr old man (who is was a sub 4 min miler in his day) and we were chasing another guy. Kicked past the older guy at 3 miles (5:43), couldn't pass the other guy and finished very strong in 30.9 for the last tenth. Clock read 17:37, but my watch had myself at 17:39 so that's what I am sticking with. I was very psyched with this 9 sec PR with absolutely no speed workouts! The higher mileage recently was the sole difference in training and results are already evident of the great benefits from simply running more.

Luke - 7.7

Turkey Stuffer 5k, 16:07 (3rd)

Wasn't really sure what kind of shape I was in heading into the race. I hadn't done any speedwork but my mileage had been all right, so I figured I was strong but not fast. Based on that, I knew I could hold quite near my top speed for the whole distance, so I made my race strategy to go as fast as I could and just hold on.

The race was big and of course there were ten-year-olds and slow women right at the front of the line, so I started a row back and was boxed in for the first 100-200 meters. Race photos and video show that I was behind Zack for a bit. After I got free of the crowd I settled into a quick pace, then remembered my strategy and picked it up a bit. A guy Zack knows who runs in the mid- to high-15s, named Josh Gordon, had said on the start line that he would be going out fairly slow, at 5:15 pace. After a half a mile, he and two other guys were in front of me and there was a good-sized pack behind me. At the mile the guy in front was way in front, then a guy in white led Josh Gordon by a couple seconds, and I was 5-10 seconds back. My split was 5:13, so he was faster than expected. About a quarter mile later Josh moved into second place and I put in a strong move to move into third around halfway through the race. At the second mile I was still 5-10 seconds back, even though I came through at 5:11. I tried to catch up the entire third mile but lost a few seconds on him as I ran another 5:13. Around the last two turns (at about 2.75 and 2.95 miles) I looked back and saw a big group of guys behind me. Then as I was heading to the finish a spectator said, "He's catching you, relax and speed up" or something. I think he was lying, but it got me to move a little faster. Came through at 16:07 or maybe 16:09 for third place. Last year that time would have gotten me ninth place, so I was definitely higher up than I expected.

Checking out the results, it's crazy to me that my 16:20 from a few months ago would have only been good enough for maybe top ten...I'm lucky that my fitness improved just enough to put me at the front of that pack instead of at the end. I'm pretty happy that I finished as high as I did in such a deep race.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 44:53 (8:09)

Have no idea what this run was, but the following was written on my mirror and I think it corresponds to this day:

44:53

8:00

7:54

------

8:19

So my best guess is I did Amazon loops and stopped off at the bathroom.

Steve - 3

25:00 (8:20)

Flying to Michigan tonight on 3 different flights and arriving at 10 am. I only had time to knock out a 3 mile run. I did a bunch of loops around a park near my house. Boring run, but I got it in.

Luke - 4.5

Ran the Ribbon Trail with Zack early in the morning. It was snowy/icy. Forgot to write down the time, but it was a little over 8:00 pace I think.

Luke - 10.75

10.75mi, 82:56 (7:42)

Went East on Pre's Trail and then back over the river and hopped the railroad tracks and ran up to the back side of the Moon Mountain area. Came back the route of the second half of Relentless Hills, and cut over to Amazon for a single mile loop (7:56) and home. It was raining a bit when I left, but by the time I got to the Relentless Hills area it was pouring, and as it got dark it got super cold too. I was planning on doing a couple more miles on Amazon but my hands were frozen even though I was wearing my heavier gloves, and I was soaked to the bone. Definitely felt longer than it was, due to the conditions.

Steve - 10

86:05 (8:36)

Ran with a friend at Manhattan Beach. He's way faster than me so the pace usually goes a bit faster than I would normally run. Fortunately he cares more about getting in the mileage than ripping off fast miles. It was cold and a bit rainy but we didn't get too wet. Went through first mile in about 9 minutes then average probably low 8:00s for the rest of the way. Last mile or so my body was aching a lot and I lost the pace a bit.

Luke - 6.25

6.25mi, 47:33 (7:36)

Mile loops of 7:54, 7:38, 7:37, 7:30, and 7:24.

Luke - 6

6mi, 46:46 (7:47)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 12:24.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 11/14-11/20

Luke - 62.25 (6)

Chris - 12.4 (3)

Steve - 9.75 (2)

Steve - 5

42:30

Distance and time are both approximate. Today was pretty much a calamity of errors. I was meeting some friends to run at Griffith Park. I hit some crazy unexpected traffic on a freaking Saturday morning and was really late. My phone had just enough juice for one call to let them know I was running late. I told them to start without me. So my phone died and got to GP really late. Once I got there I ended up getting drenched cuz it was pouring rain. I then locked my key in my car and had to call AAA to get it unlocked. Had some good food afterward though.

Luke - 3.25

3.25mi, sl:ow

Was planning on doing a track workout, but after a couple very slow loops on Amazon I headed to the track and was feeling a bit dizzy and didn't even have enough energy for strides, so I just went home instead.

Chris - 4

30:07 - 7:31 pace

Ran with Corey during lunch @ work. I felt like we ran way faster than this, but maybe that's because I was hurting today. Been awhile since I did 3 runs in one week! Feels good though. Also looking forward to playing basketball tomorrow and signing up for a membership at 24 Hour Fitness. That way I can play basketball whenever I want!

splits: 15:47 - 14:20

Luke - 8

8mi, 63:17 (7:54)

1.6-mile loop in 12:52, 1.4-mile loop in 10:50. At 7am with Zack.

Luke - 9

9mi, 72:02 (8:00)

Did Rexius, then ran to work and biked home. It was fairly nice when I left, but about seven miles in it started pouring and got freezing so by the time I got home I was soaked and shivering. My hands were numb even though I was wearing gloves. Having tea now.

Steve - 4.75

My running has been dodgy lately, as James might say, so it felt good to get in a solid workout with the Flyers. Of course I forgot my watch and my shorts, as I mentioned in another post. So I ran a 3 mile tempo at about 6:55 average pace. I hadn't run for a full week after having a really tough midterm on Tuesday and traveling during the weekend. I need to get back into a good routine. I am so lazy lately.

Chris - 4.2

31:14 - 7:26 pace

Today was colder and it was raining a little. Glad I remembered to bring my gloves and long sleeve cotton shirt. Happy that my speed picked up a little!

splits: 16:24 - 14:49

Luke - 12

12mi, 1:55:08 (9:35)

Ran home from work for some reason. I think I might be brain damaged. Oh man it was hard. There was a little downhill section in the middle where I was okay, but the rest was just rough. Next time I do my hardest run of the year I should probably get more than 13 hours of recovery before I do a hilly twelve-miler. And I should eat before all twelve-milers. Lessons in life! Oh and I got the hiccups three miles from the end so that sucked.

Luke - 20.25

20.25mi, 2:39:29 (7:52)

Took the Ribbon Trail to Relentless Hills, and after a loop of that headed up Spring Boulevard to Ridgeline. Took Ridgeline over Mount Baldy, then went up Dillard to continue on Ridgeline to Fox Hollow, and down the hill to Rexius. Stopped at the top of Rexius for a cup of water and a PowerBar Energy Gel, then a quarter mile later started the hard part of the run: trying to do the last nine miles under seven minute pace. First mile and a half (on Rexius) was 10:10 (~6:45 pace), then went down to Amazon, vowing that if I couldn't do the planned six laps I'd at least go until one of them was over 8:00. Went 7:02, 6:59, 6:57, 6:52, 6:56, 6:42, and headed home to finish the nine in a total of 62:24 (6:56 pace).

p.s. I'm a beast.

Luke - 5.25

5.25mi, 39:01 (7:25)

Mile loops of 7:50, 7:26, 7:07, and 7:13.

Chris - 4.2

31:51 - 7:35 pace

Lunch run @ work. Felt like I worked harder on this one than I did on Saturday.

splits: 16:20 - 15:30

Luke - 10.25

10.25mi, 81:47 (7:58)

Ran the Ribbon Trail with Zack, then after a quick pit stop at home, did a 1k loop and mile loops of 7:53, 7:34, 7:24, and 7:22 on Amazon, by myself.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 11/7-11/13

Luke - 85.85 (9)

Zack - 54.65 (7)

Steve - 13 (2)

Chris - 7.67 (2)

Zack - 17.6

2:15:47 (7:42)
Longest run ever. Ran Siuslaw River Rd from Lorane to Siuslaw Falls and back with Luke and Sean. About 48F and some slight rain, great conditions on this curvy, small rolling hill route. Run executed perfectly. We hit the first 3 miles in 8:15, 8:10, 8:00. Then stayed comfortable with miles of 7:40-8:00 on the way out. Turned around and stayed easy for a few miles before dropping down slowly to marathon pace (and lower!). Splits coming back: 7:47, 7:45, 7:57, 7:43, 6:55, 6:58, 6:54, 6:36! (17th mile!). Very very pleased with this run. I was starting to have muscle fatigue late in the run, but was certainly not wrecked. Nice to have Sean alongside running solid as well, with Luke just up the road. Turned a down week around with this adventure.

Chris - 4.2

31:50 - 7:34 pace

I forgot to bring gloves for my lunch run at work. I also forgot an extra pair of boxers. Having neither of those made my run a little more uncomfortable...especially since it was raining and chilly out. Other than that it went pretty well. There's still a faint pain in my shin, but that issue is pretty much gone.

Luke - 17.6

17.6mi, 2:15:10 (7:40)

Headed out to the town of Lorane (30-40 minutes Southwest of Eugene) with Zack and Sean for a long run. Started out easy, first 3 miles ~8:20, ~8:10, ~8:00, then 7:45-8:00 the rest of the way out. Stopped briefly at the turnaround to take a pitstop in the woods and take in a gel and a bit of water, then headed back. at about 10k to go I picked it up and put a bit of distance on the other two. Mile markers told me 7:18, 7:09, 6:58, 7:07, 6:58, and 6:44 for the last six miles (and then another 1:40 to the end). As I finished I looked back and saw Zack and Sean finishing strong; apparently they had picked it up about a mile after I had, and they finished less than a minute after me.

After the run ended we stopped by this small diner/store and had a nice little lunch (burger, muffin, chocolate milk), which was perfect post-run.

I felt like the last six miles were harder than last week; it's probably because my mileage was pretty high this week.

Zack - 5.5

41:14 (7:29)
Pre's Trail 1.4 mi loop in 10:41.

Luke - 8.25

8.25mi, 67:45 (8:12)

Ribbon Trail to Relentless Hills, back the normal way.

Luke - 7.75

7.75mi, 63:54 (8:14)

Used my new headlamp that I got at REI last weekend for the first time. Started out by heading up Amazon, and it seemed to be working well, so I headed up Rexius, and it wasn't any harder to see, so I headed up the trail toward Fox Hollow. I had to slow down slightly going down the hills but really it worked quite well. Then I headed onto a very minor trail, all muddy and with lots of turns and hills. I definitely had to slow down a bit to get through that section, but it was a lot of fun.

Zack - 4.25

31:02 (7:18)
More spring in the step this morning. Sunny and a chilly 35F. Amazon miles in 7:35, 7:21, 7:00. Andy Wheating and another OTC elite warming up before their track work on Amazon. Cool to see those guys out.

Steve -3

26:00

Stomach problems caused me to stop early. I only had limited time because I needed to get home to study and pack. Writing this a week later. I wasn't able to run for awhile cuz I was studying for a midterm and visiting my Grandma in Indiana. I went to the Purdue-Michigan game and it was pouring rain the whole time. Michigan won in a really ugly game. Now I'm back in town and midterm is over with, so I can get back to running.

Luke - 11.5

11.5mi, 88:15 (7:40)

1.6-mile loop in 12:26, 1.4-mile loop in 10:36, 1.5-mile loop in 11:40 and 11:24.

Dave Niehaus died yesterday. He was the Seattle Mariners' announcer ever since the team was formed in 1977. Here are some clips of his announcing:

The Double

Blowers's Prediction

Bottle Opener

Zack - 8.75

68:59 (7:53)
Out the door by about 7AM with Sean and Luke for a Fox Hollow run. Stomach has been acting up and we set off on an easy pace up to the climb. Decided to go fairly hard on the climb, managed an 8:37 climb up, and about 7:05 down. Didn't feel particularly great, perhaps still adjusting to the early morning training. Dropped it to about 7:20 pace on Rexius coming back and then staggered home. Hitting a rough patch midweek.

Luke - 12

12mi, 97:52 (8:09)

When I went to ride home from work this morning I found my bike had sprouted a flat tire sometime in the night, so I threw it in the back of the taxi and drove it home, then drove back to drop off the taxi and ran the 2.9 miles home. Immediately left again with Zack and his friend Sean for a Fox Hollow run. 8:01 up, 7:10 down, then on the way back my stomach was hurting so I stopped off at Sean's place before heading home again. It's my weekend now so I'm looking forward to getting a bunch of sleep so I can recover from some of these runs.

Zack - 6.5

51:54 (7:59)
Rexius in the evening, much colder weather. Didn't eat enough today/sleep enough last night. Paid the price with no energy and stomach issues.

Luke - 7.5

7.5mi, 58:46 (7:50)

Ran Rexius with Zack, but he stopped halfway due to stomach pain so I did the rest on my own, and added a 7:19 loop of Amazon.

Luke - 6.25

6.25mi, 49:31 (7:55)

Mile loops of 8:17, 8:05, 7:51, 7:45, and 7:34.

Zack - 4.25

35:07 (8:15)
Mile loops of 8:23, 8:02, and 7:58 in the morning.

Chris - 3.47

28:01 - 8:04 pace

I just finished watching Maurice Lucas' memorial service, which was streaming live from the Memorial Coliseum today. His son David and nephew Damian played basketball at Tigard High when I was there. He's definitely a strong public figure in the Portland area that will be missed. RIP Enforcer! Here's a cool little article from Bill Walton, remembering Lucas.

I started this run out slow to help get my knee/shin warmed up, and it seemed to work. I still had a slight hitch in my step it felt like, but not especially from limping in pain, so that's good! Props to Zack for putting in some major PR mileage last week!

splits: 14:24 - 13:36

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 35:07 (8:15)

Mile loops of 8:23, 8:02, and 7:58, with Zack. I wanted to run this morning but wasn't sure I'd have it in me, so I was glad that Zack was good to go right after I got home from work.

Zack - 7.8

58:19 (7:28)
Had some bounce in my step surprisingly but started to feel a bit fatigued on this easy run at about 6 miles. Ran both loops of Pre's Trail in a mix of bright greens and blues before it started to rain and cloud up towards the end. My hands/arms were freezing at the end.

Luke - 10.75

10.75mi, 87:25 (8:07)

Headed back up to the Amazon Headwaters Trail area, went over to Fox Hollow Road, got lost in some woods/brush trying to find a trail, came down the hill that is the first mile of Butte to Butte, went back up Fox Hollow, and headed back down Rexius. Rexius is getting swampy again.

Steve - 10

91:30 (9:09)

Met a friend for a run at Griffith Park. Another person was supposed to meet us, but they never showed up. We are starting in a part of the park I'm not familiar with, so it was a bit of adventure. We started with a tough climb up to the Observatory. It's about a mile and half that climbs 600 feet. It's a pretty tough way to start a long run. Once we got through that we headed down towards the other side of the park. We ended up having to run a lot more concrete than I would have preferred. Finally we made it to some dirt trail that I am familiar with. We headed out on that for a few miles before turning and heading all the way back. I mapped it on Gmaps and I got 9.63 miles. I'm sure we ran closer to 10.5 or 11, but I'm putting 10 to just to be safe. I was pretty sore and achy after this run. But I have been feeling good lately with the extra rehab stuff I'm doing for my quads, hips, and knee. Should be able to hit around 25-30 miles this week.

Also did anyone see how Jared the Subway loser did in the New York Marathon? Apparently he ran like 5:13(almost 12 minute mile pace). They were hyping him so much about he was training hard for the marathon. That is a pretty pathetic time (assuming he didn't have any horrific bathroom related setbacks). I like what one guy said in that thread I posted about eating at Quiznos instead of Subway...

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/31-11/6

Luke - 75.5 (8)

Zack - 58.7 (9)

Steve - 16.67 (3)

Chris - 2.75 (1)

Zack - 15

1:51:55 (7:27)
Went out to N. Eugene, to River Rd and ran an out and back to Junction City. Sean and Luke joined and we stayed together for the first 10, very controlled with about 7:45 pace. Then I wanted to drop down to marathon pace for the last 5 miles. Things went according to plan, and caught splits of 7:03, 7:03, 6:52, 6:46 for the last four miles! Didn't push too hard and felt solid throughout despite the fast finish. Ate a gel at mile 6 and probably could have had another at mile 12 or so. Last five miles: 34:40 (6:56/mi). Biggest week ever!!

Luke - 15

15mi, 1:51:49 (7:27)

Zack and I and a friend of Zack's drove out to River Road (North Eugene) for a long run. The course was just straight along the road for about 7 miles, then a half-mile foray into the town of Junction City, and back. First 7.5 in 58:30, first 10 in 77:15. Last 5 wanted to go about 7:00 pace or better...eleventh mile 6:52, with stomach starting to hurt; Zack passed me at about mile 11.5, and a bit after mile 12 I was reduced to a walk for about 20-30 seconds, before I found a big tree on the side of the road to go behind. Took :57 for that pitstop, and then I made it my goal to catch Zack. Between mile 13.5 and 14.5 was 5:53, and caught Zack right after. So the last 5 miles were 6:54 pace, but that included taking about a minute and a half to go ~50m. Both Zack and I felt surprisingly good after. We stopped by a gyro place on the way back home for the first course of our post-run meal, and watched the football game to relax.

Steve - 4.42

37:47 (8:33)

Headed out during halftime of the awesome Michigan game (paused the game), banged out an easy 4.42 miles, and then watched the incredible 3OT finish.

Zack - 4.25

32:58 (7:45)
Easy morning run on Amazon, still very sleepy but woke up as the run progressed. Splits: 8:01, 7:48, 7:42.

Luke - 7.75

7.75mi, 62:09 (8:01)

Relentless Hills. Pretty nice out, but there were a few spots of mud.

Zack - 5.5

38:54 (7:04)
Felt tired to start but had enough energy to pick up the pace a mile in. I continued to feel better around the 1.4 mi loop of Pre's Trail and on the way home just before dark. Just kind of bounced along well.

Luke - 10

10mi, 77:35 (7:09)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail (forgot to take a split), 1.4-mile loop in 9:37, 1.5-mile loop in 10:41.

Luke - 7.25

7.25mi, 55:33 (7:39)

Mile loops of 7:54, 7:55, and 7:45 with Zack, then 7:37, 7:28, and 7:19 on my own.

Steve - 5.25

Flyers track workout. I decided to run some 1600 repeats with a friend at about 6:45-6:50 pace. Apparently he thought we were running a 3200 on the first one. So when we hit 1600, I stopped and he kept going. I decided to try to catch up and run the 3200 after all. We definitely negative split the second 1600 but it was a bit tougher than it should have been for me. We ran a solid 6:40 after that.

1.5 mi wup 13:58 wup
3200 in 13:40
1600 in 6:40
400 rec
800 cd in 4:06

Chris - 2.75

20:58 - 7:37 pace

I didn't feel like I ran nearly this fast, which is weird. Enjoyed the sun though; it was about 65* when I ran during lunch.

So I have a huge problem...I was hoping taking some time off would help heal my shin enough that I could run on it without too much pain. This tactic didn't work. Like, at all. I was not even 100 ft away from my office and my shin started to hurt. It warms up a bit so I don't have to limp so much during the run, but it aggravates it so I end up limping a little afterwards just from walking. I don't want to stop running because I'll fall into horrible shape....but it hurts to run and I'm sure it's not good to limp through miles and miles - I'd probably end up injuring something else.

Any suggestions? This sucks!

Luke - 10.35

10.35mi, 86:45 (8:22)

See Zack's post, below.

Zack - 10.4

87:14 (8:23)
Fox Hollow 32 + 1.6 mi loop on Ridgeline Trail at 6:50AM with my fellow Chemist Sean and Luke. Started off super slow and ran the trails conservatively. The trails are starting to get muddy and retain some water which is of course lots of fun. Sun didn't rise until 7:50AM and it was nice and foggy. Great morning run. Picked it up back on Rexius and dropped down to ~7:20 pace.

Zack - 4.25

33:04 (7:46)
Adidas loops with Luke. Felt easier than expected. Huge day!

Luke - 11.75

11.75mi, 88:51 (7:33)

Once again left the house not knowing where I was headed. Went up Rexius and ended up in this area (don't know why Google thinks there is a road there; there is most certainly not) and dorked around on the trails a bunch, then headed up to the top of Owl Road and came back down to Rexius again. First three miles were about 7:40 pace, last three miles were about 7:10 pace, the rest is a guess. Very fun run.

Zack - 4.25

32:40 (7:41)
Some more loops at Amazon in the dark. Kept things easy enough since I was scheduled to run 10 hrs later in the early AM.

Zack - 6.25

47:23 (7:35)
Warm solo run on Amazon at 9PM. Felt so good, made it past 10 for the day comfortably. Mile loops of 7:49, 7:42, 7:38, 7:36, 7:38.

Zack - 3.8

29:46 (7:50)
Very warm at 7:30AM, ~57F. Felt great, ran a few mile loops of Amazon (7:52, 7:45) and a 1km loop before a long day at work.

Luke - 2.9

2.9mi, 23:00 (7:55)

Zack had to drive me in to work last night because my bike was being dumb, so I ran home this morning. It was very nice out.

Luke - 10.5

10.5mi, 83:51 (7:59)

Left the house not knowing where I was going. Started out by heading to the Masonic Cemetery (on Halloween! Spooky!) for some hills, and found a perfect circuit for hill repeats--~45 seconds up a steep hill, then ~90 seconds of mostly gradual downhill back to the start, all on even-surfaced trail. From there headed up and down some hills to the start of the Relentless Hills loop, but instead of going in, took the Ribbon Trail through Hendricks Park and down a muddy little trail to the road. Ran down the road and hopped the railroad tracks to get onto the bike path, then crossed the river and ran a short section of Pre's Trail, then headed back home through campus, adding a loop of Pioneer Cemetery for extra spookiness.

Zack - 5 (5k race)

Corvallis 5k. 18:03 (5:49/mi) 26th place.

Splits were off but course was a legit distance. Splits: 6:12 (too long), 5:57, 5:58 for 1.1 (too short). I felt like I held an even split or negative split. Splits probably more like 5:50, 5:55, 5:45ish on effort. Should have probably went more aggressive off the start. Lost touch with a few people early on who ran 17:30, and ended up in no man's land and solo most of the time. Winner was 14:14 (a 28:20 10km guy!)and the rest of the field was very deep. Lots of fun even though the result was not what I had wanted. Now time for some serious marathon training!

Steve - 7

56:14 (8:02)

On the grass in Brentwood/Santa Monica. No sign of Arnold.  I did see Rob Schneider at Whole Foods in Pasadena last week. So there's that. What I can say, wherever I go, the celebrities come out. 

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/24-10/30

Luke - 66 (8)

Zack - 39.75 (8)

Steve - 5 (1)

Chris - 3.1 (1)

James - 1 (1)

Zack - 4

Ridgeline Trail run with Erin and Matilida, very slow but fun.

Luke - 12.5

12.5mi, 95:17 (7:37)

Zack, Erin and Matilda were driving up to Ridgeline for a short run (Zack and Erin are running a 5k tomorrow; Matilda is a dog) so I caught a ride with them so I could start my run at the Fox Hollow parking lot. I took Ridgeline over to Dillard Road and turned South, and headed down the road. I haven't been over there in a while, so I had forgotten that there is a ~1.25-mile downhill on the way out. At the bottom of the hill I turned onto an interesting-looking street called Hideaway Hills Road, which turned into gravel after about a quarter mile. I had to force myself to turn around before the end since I didn't want to go like fifteen miles. Headed back the same route, powering up the long hill, and then headed home from Fox Hollow the usual way. Down the hill took 8 minutes, and I was thinking it would be tough to keep up a good pace the rest of the way home, but on Rexius, across the creek from me, there was a guy in UOXC gear and I decided I'd better keep pace with him. That ended up being just about exactly 6-minute mile pace. While we were both stopped at the light, I asked him, "Just out for an easy run today?" He said yeah, and I told him I'd had to go tempo pace to keep up, and he laughed a bit. When the light changed I let him go and just went my easy ~7:40 pace the rest of the way home.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 64:59 (7:25)

1.4-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 10:32 with Zack, then tacked on mile loops of 7:41 and 7:45 without him.

Zack - 5.5

Pre's Trail 1.4 mi loop

Luke - 6

6mi, 44:47 (7:27)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail.

Luke - 5.5

5.5mi, 44:43 (8:09)

Mile loops of 8:00. 7:52, 8:00, and 8:19. Stomach hurt.

Zack - 4.25

33:49 (7:57)
More easy miles on Amazon. Ran with Luke tonight and felt slightly better than yesterday.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 56:15 (6:25)

Fox Hollow. Zack wasn't with me today so I decided to hit it hard. 9:00 for the first 1.5mi, 9:30 for the second 1.5mi. 8:07 up the hill, which put me just over 29 minutes total, by far my fastest for the first half of the run. I knew at that point that 6:45 down the hill and then 6-flat pace the rest of the way would put me at 56 minutes (my PR is 56:02). My stomach started to bother me as I went up the hill, but I tried to power through. Coming down the hill it was getting a bit dark and the trail was muddy, but I was keeping up a good pace. As I got to the bottom of the hill the stomach pain got really bad and stopped me in my tracks. I found a somewhat secluded place with moss nearby and relieved myself, but I wasn't 100% the rest of the run. My downhill split was 6:38, but I just couldn't hit 90s on the bark. Most of the quarters in that section were 92-95. With a mile and a half to go I was at 47:33, so I'd've needed to go sub-5:40 pace to get a PR. I did manage to pick it up and hit 8:42 for that last bit, for a very respectable overall time. I think without stomach problems I definitely could have gone under 56, and 55-flat is probably possible in the future.

Zack - 4.25

34:36 (8:08)
Recovery run on Amazon, very slow and it was all I could handle. The cumulative effect of 24 days in a row must have generated this sort of fatigue. My muscles were twitching throughout the day at work and the down week in mileage/prep for Sunday's 5k is occurring at the proper time.

James - 1

15:00

As I was doing 4mph according to the machine, I shall assume that is the time and distance. Sort of.

I started out by walking and slowly progressed to that speed. Thankfully I had no toe problems. I was going to try going faster but Alison was ready to leave, which was probably a blessing in disguise. I'll slowly ramp it up next time (and try to understand how to make measurements on the treadmills).

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 30:59 (7:17)

Mile loops of 7:38, 7:33, and 6:19.

Zack - 7

2 loops on Amazon warmup, over to the track for 10 x 300 at ~3km pace(100 rest). Wildly varied splits, felt a bit awkward but still got the work in: 61, 57, 58, 60, 59, 61, 60, 62, 58, 62. 1 loop Amazon cooldown.

James - 0

Next update will be a real number, I promise. Tonight we're both going to the gym and I am considering trying a light run for the first time since my broken toe injury just over a month ago. Any advice for the path to recovery ahead? Anyone want to talk me out of it?

Also I wanted to share this short video I got from flotrack. A nice message from a country most Westerners know too little about (with runners coming slightly ahead of the curve).

Haile Gebrselassie Road to NYC Marathon: Part 3, Haile & Ethiopia
In the third part of the series, Haile Gebrselassie gives us some insight on Ethiopia, where it is as a country, and ways it is struggling. Haile, who lives a comfortable life, could live anywhere in the world however he believes he has a duty to stay in his native country to inspire other Ethiopians.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Zack - 5.5

5.5 miles 41:48 (7:36)

Short loop of Pre's Trail in a cold rain. Sun set midway through, but I had enough twilight to run without losing the trail. 1.4 mi loop in 10:58.

Luke - 6

6mi, 45:19 (7:33)

1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail.

Zack - 5.25

36:24 (6:58)
Wu jog, 4 miles steady (6:53, 6:54, 6:47, 6:42), cooldown. A few seconds too quick for marathon pace, especially on the soft surface of Amazon but a nice controlled effort. Form stayed together well throughout. Running the Corvallis 5km next Sunday, shooting for a quick time based on mileage rather than speed work. 17:45 perhaps?!

Luke - 14.25

14.25mi, 1:48:38 (7:37)

Took Rexius to the base of the Fox Hollow trail but went around to the side of the hill before taking an alternate route up. Then took Ridgeline to Dillard Road on the "lower" trail, took Dillard to the Easternmost section of Ridgeline, went up and over Mount Baldy to Spring Boulevard, where I turned around and went the alternate route back to Dillard. Back up Dillard to Ridgeline, took the "upper" trail to Fox Hollow, and went down the usual way, but just before the bottom headed West for a short loop that took me back to Rexius, then took the usual route home. 7:15 pace last three miles, and the rest of it was pretty solid too. Definitely a good run to start the week.

Zack - 4

In Portland, ran a small portion of the very hilly Wildwood Trail in Washington Park with Erin and Matilda. Amazing well-maintained 30ish mile forested dirt/gravel trail in the NW that I cannot wait to explore more.

Steve - 5

40:39 (8:05)

Ran in Santa Monica with a friend. My first run since the half marathon. Had 6 days off from running. I'm feeling ok. I rode the bike pretty hard for an hour on Saturday. My run went through Brentwood and I was privileged to be graced by the presence of one Arnold Schwarzneger. I'm not gonna take the time to look up the spelling. Anyway, he was riding his bike on the other side of the street. My first celeb sighting since I shared a smoothie with Lamar Odom last year in a local smoothie joint.

Chris - 3.1

Got a little bit of a late start this morning, but figured I was okay....until I hit traffic on 26 behind a crash. So as soon as I got into downtown Portland I found a place to park on the street (Park and Market) and ran toward the waterfront. Figured I could just use that as my warmup. I had about 10 minutes to use the bathroom, check in my extra clothes and get to the start line. Five guys I work with were running in the race too. I saw them way in the back of the race line and thought about going to say hey, but I had 3 minutes left and wanted to stretch and warm up a little more before I headed up to the front. It was pouring down rain early this morning, but we got lucky with the 5k. No rain and a little blue sky even!

I didn't have high hopes for this race considering I was sick and hardly ran the past 2 weeks. Also the shin/knee bruise I have hurts like hell when I flex my shin muscle, so I had a very slight limp the whole race. Here's a map of the race route. Not particularly flat. I started out okay, but didn't feel like I really hit my stride until a little over a mile in. They had this 5K sign for when we turned off of Naito, but it didn't say 1 MILE so I didn't hit my watch. Came through the 2nd mile marker @ 13:46. I knew I had absolutely no shot to break my 19:20 from RFTC, so I just did my best to stride out on the downhill portions and concentrate on catching as many of the 10k and half marathon people as I could before the finish. That was nice because usually I'm the one getting passed in the last mile, haha. Maybe I actually didn't start too fast this time! Passed mile 3 with a 6:26 split, then had to run uphill away from the waterfront to the finish. Came through with a final time of 20:53.

I stood around at the finish waiting for the guys I work with. One of my bosses quit smoking a month or so ago and this was his first race ever, and also longest mileage. I guess they all ran together and came through around 37 minutes. We all went and got some pizza and our extra clothes, had a beer or two and then headed out.

Side note - I obviously hadn't brought my wallet down to the race from my car, and they were checking freaking ID's and wouldn't let me go through the line to get a beer, so one of my buddies from work gave me his. I'm pretty sure they weren't checking them last year because I've never had my driver's license with me for a race. Anyway, that was dumb. Cheers for beer after a race though!

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/17-10/23

Zack - 49.55 (7)

Luke - 42 (6)

Steve - 13.1 (1)

Chris - 6.94 (2)

Luke - 11.35

11.35mi, 83:28 (7:21)

Some bike path, then the 1.6-mile loop of Pre's Trail in 11:12. Hustled home because I had to pick up my bike from the shop before they closed.

Zack - 5.5

Pre's Trail in the morning before driving to Portland. Beautiful fall day, sunny on this run. Easy pace.

Luke - 6.5

Mile time trial, 4:49.

Warmed up 22 minutes, went to the bathroom, did some strides, shed my shirt, and ran. Zack and his friend Sam also participated. Splits were 1.5 seconds for the first 9m, then 69, 73, 73, 71. I might have been able to go a bit faster with a longer warmup, I think, and having some competition would definitely have helped. Zack ran 5:18 and Sam ran 5:49.

Chris - 3.47

25:54 - 7:27 pace

Well, it would seem I'm starting to get some energy back even though I'm still trying to shed the end of my cold. Unfortunately I found out about 100 yards into my run that I have some sort of bruise along the top of my left shin that created some pain when landing and pushing off on that foot. Can't decide if I'm dumb to have continued on the rest of my run, or just an f'ing badass. I'll ice it tonight. Signed up for the Run Like Hell 5k last night, so I'll go pick up my packet tomorrow over in NE Portland.

Here's to hoping the race goes well Sunday even though I was sick and couldn't run very much, and that the weather isn't too crappy. I think my goal is just to beat the 19:20 I ran for Race for The Cure.

splits: 13:03 - 12:50

Zack - 6.5

Mile PR of 5:18 (76, 82, 83, 77). 2 loops Amazon warmup, 2 loops cooldown.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 34:25 (8:05)

Mile loops of 8:06, 7:59, and 8:30. Ran with Zack after watching the Oregon game and consuming multiple adult beverages. We both epitomized the phrase "I feel like shit."

Zack - 4.25

3 loops Amazon after the Ducks game/a few beers. Not very successful.

Luke - 8.25

8.25mi, 67:26 (8:10)

Took the Ribbon Trail to Relentless Hills, then came back the usual way. It's getting a bit chilly, but the trails are great right now, mostly covered with leaves.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 64:47 (7:24)

Fox Hollow with Zack. 8:56 up, 6:27 down, accel from 7-minute pace to 6-minute pace on the bark on the way back. I was feeling pretty out of breath before I even got to the uphill, and the hill of course was hard (always is), but on the downhill I was feeling nice and bouncy, and I continued to not feel bad on the way back. Only downside to the run was the amount of bugs out...Zack and I both got multiple gnats in the eyes and mouth.

Zack - 8.75

65:57 (7:32)
Fox Hollow. Super tired mind and body, but headed out for a hard typical Wed. run in perfect 65F conditions with Luke. Felt a little rough heading out Rexius and kept getting swarms of bugs hitting my face. Up the hill steady in 9:19, back down kind of fast but stayed back from Luke in 6:58. On Rexius, wanted to do about goal marathon pace (~6:50-7). Settled into a 6:45 first mile, and finished a bit fast with 0.75 mi in 4:55 (6:33/mi).

Luke - 2.9

2.9mi, 21:56 (7:33)

My bike got a flat tire on the way to work Tuesday night, so I ran home. Kinda glad I was forced to, because while I wanted to run home, I doubt I would have had the energy and motivation to do so after biking home. While on vacation I had forgotten how hard it is to run on work days. Gotta get back into the habit of running once every work day and twice every off day.

Zack - 6.5

49:14 (7:34)
Average night run, still not fully recovered from Sunday. Adidas trail including a bathroom stop after the 4th loop. Splits: 7:42, 7:41, 7:42, 7:37, 7:32. Slept a solid 8.5 hrs after, much needed.

Zack - 5.25

41:27 (7:54)
Recovery run. Very sore legs and long day at work. Amazon loops: 8:09, 8:01, 7:59, 7:57.

Zack - 12.8

98:04 (7:40)
Hungover in the morning, so this run was postponed until about 5PM. Kept a comfortable pace throughout, ran the bike path to Valley River Center and back along the bike path on the other side of the river. Got to Autzen footbridge and went and did Pre's Trail until the Springfield foot bridge. Bike path to riverfront field for 1.5 mi barefoot on the grass. Felt great, nice and chilly. ~60F-->52F by the end. Stomach hurt some at about 50 min in (due to mass quantities of beer the previous evening), but I felt better after about 75 min.

Luke - 4.75

4.75mi, 37:46 (7:57)

Don't know what this run was, or if it was on this day. I have a time and a mileage written on a mirror.

Steve - 13.1

1:37:19(7:26). Not a great race, but I did my best.

So logistically everything went as planned. I woke up at 5 am, got dropped off at the race around 6:15. Plenty of time to take a few leaks and get up to the very front of wave 1. I jogged around for about 5-6 minutes and that felt like it was enough. The weather was perfect. Overcast but not rainy. Pretty much no sun at all.

My plan was to run about 7:15-7:20 for the first mile and just negative split from there. My goal going in was to break 1:30, or to break to 7:00 mile/pace, which is like 1:31:xx. I got off to a nice smooth start and clipped the first mile at 7:01 and felt great. It was a bit faster than planned, but I was feeling good. There was a bit of a hill in mile 2 so my mile time faded a bit. Came through mile 3 at 6:56 and I was feeling confident. At some point in mile 4, I started to falter. The weird groin/lower stomach muscle(sports hernia) thing I have started acting up again. Pretty much it feels like a really bad cramp in the side. It sucked to have it flair up so early in the race. I knew it was going to be really tough to keep close to a 7 min pace with the pain. I had to squeeze with one hand at various points to lessen the pain while I ran swinging only my left arm. After about 2 miles of doing that on and off the pain did fade somewhat, somehow, although my mile times were fading as well. When I crossed 6 miles at 36:16, I knew it would be really tough to make up that 1:16 to get down to 7:00 min pace for the entire race. I started feeling better on miles 7 and 8 and started thinking I was going to have a shot to start running close to 7 min miles. It felt like I was running that pace but I was actually 7:20 and 7:16. After that little surge, I started to fade again. I was at over 60 minutes at an average pace and distance that I haven't run for a few months.

It was starting to become more of a quest to finish the race respectably, rather than running for a time. The sports hernia wasn't bothering me, but my body was starting to wear down. I just kept thinking about getting to the mile 12 marker and finishing strong. Miles 10,11,12 went by in 23:55. I think I missed the splits because I was trying not to look at my watch too much. Also at the mile 11 marker they had donut holes. At that moment I was thinking that is the last thing on Earth I want to eat with 2 miles to go. I had been taking small bites of a Clif Bar and grabbing water every other mile so I was thoroughly fueled up. When I did finally hit mile 12, I picked it up. People had been passing me somewhat for the last few miles so I wanted to catch a few people. I got a surge of adrenaline that carried me to the last turn of the race. I knew there would be about .3 miles from there so I picked it up again and passed a few people. I cruised into the line in 1:37:19.

My take on the race is that I did the best I could, considering I haven't trained as much as I would have liked. In hindsight, 1:30 was a bit unrealistic since I didn't get that many long runs in. I think last year when I ran 1:40, I was in much better shape. However, a comical series of events added about 7-8 minutes to my time. Last year I was regularly getting in 8 mile runs with long tempo efforts. This year I was only doing about 20 miles a week during August and September. Anyway, I'm glad I pulled through and that I made it through the race without ever stopping.

Splits below:

7:01, 7:10, 6:56, 7:15, 7:22, 7:34, 7:20, 7:16, 7:28, 23:55, 7:14, 48

Chris - 3.47

27:57 - 8:03 pace

Starting to feel a bit better. Body is still in recovery/rest mode, but I figured it'd feel good to get outside for some fresh air. On my way back, I passed a couple kids walking across the street. The younger one put up his hand real quick as I passed by and said "Bang bang". I laughed as I continued on and said "You got me!" to which he paused and then replied, "Then why aren't you dead?".

splits: 13:33 - 14:24

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/10-10/16

Luke - 59 (7)

Zack - 52.9 (8)

Chris - 13.55 (3)

Steve - 9.97 (2)

Zack - 8

72:00 (9:00)
Super easy run with my buddy Sam down in Oak Ridge (Salmon Creek trail) on a mix of single-track trail, gravel road, and a forest road with zero traffic. Excellent day, very easy pace but a nice way to finish off my highest mileage week ever. (52.9 miles!)

Luke - 6.3

6.3mi, 47:48 (7:35)

Don't know what this run was, or if it was on this day. Wrote it on a mirror forever ago.

Zack - 5

37:10 (7:26)
Didn't feel like running much, Amazon run at about 8PM. 3 loops: 7:50, 7:48, 7:46. Then decided to just do a few fast quarters on the track coming home in 75, 73.

Luke - 10

10mi, 83:44 (8:22)

2.5 miles of mostly-flat bike path to the trail, 2 miles uphill, 1 mile of rolling hills, 2 miles downhill, and 2.5 miles back. Always a tough run, but I finished fairly strong.

Chris - 5.04

44:37 - 8:51 pace

My cold is worse today - runny nose and scratchy throat. I thought my legs and energy were actually better at the start of this run, but I guess I slowed down from there. Not sure if I'm going to be able to run 5 tomorrow and 4 on Saturday to get over 20...

Luke - 6.25

6.25mi, 50:48 (8:07)

Same route as Monday. My legs were fairly dead from yesterday. Hopefully they'll feel a lot better tomorrow morning when I do my tough ten-miler before heading back to Oregon.

Zack - 4.25

31:30 (7:24)
Quick Amazon run. On the end of the first lap I had a guy running just behind me, so I eased to about the same pace and we start running together. Nice chat w/ 50ish yr old dude named Gene prepping for a marathon down in California this weekend. I ran a few more loops with him and it made this short run even shorter. Splits: 7:40, 7:26, 7:42.

Luke - 8

3x400m, 100r; 2x800m, 400r; 1200m, 400r; 2x800m, 400r; 3x400m, 100r:

75, 75, 75

2:30, 2:30

3:48

2:30, 2:29

71, 70, 68.

Ran at CalTech with Steve's running group, the Flyers. There was a good group for me to run with, where I finished each rep just at the front. About halfway through I noticed some irritation on my foot, and I took off my sock and found I had a blister a bit bigger than the size of a quarter on the bottom of my foot...I guess my feet weren't used to the Mondo track surface. Was happy to finish the workout faster than I started. Afterwards I was SO HUNGRY and then I ate a ton and I was SO FULL.

Steve - 5.37

Joined by Luke today for the Flyers workout, but I decided to do some 1600s around half marathon race pace(6:52 or so). A friend of mine who is running the full marathon on Sunday ran the 1600s with me. We were way too fast on the first and hair slow on the final two. Legs felt pretty good overall though. I just need to go out conservatively in the first few miles then gradually whittle my pace down towards 6:50. It was interesting to see Luke run with the "A" group in my club. Some of the big guns didn't run cuz they are running Long Beach this weekend, but he was finishing a second or two ahead in most of the intervals...

1.8 mi 17:03 wup
3x1600 in 6:37, 6:54, 6:58 (2x400 rec)
.69 mi in 6:59 cd

Chris - 5.04

42:12 - 8:22 pace

Fighting off a cold, so I changed my mileage plan for the week to include a shorter run today. Hopefully with a lot of rest and vitamin C I'll feel strong enough by Saturday to do my 8 miler and get into the mid 20's overall. Was cold enough tonight to wear my long sleeve tech shirt.

Luke - 6

6mi, 44:52 (7:28)

Easy am run with a mile barefoot on the grass. Going out to Pasadena tonight to run with Steve's track group.

Zack - 8.75

68:02 (7:46)
30th Fox Hollow climb of the year! Solo in mild, sunny weather. Despite the high mileage this week, felt solid. Cruised out EZ (~7:40 pace), hit the climb super hard from the start but eased up as my quads didn't really want me climbing. Managed a 9:11 up and went back down in a conservative 7:48 (it was getting quite dark). On Rexius heading home I decided to settle into a fast pace and went 1.75 mi in 11:44 (6:42/mi) comfortably. Very enjoyable run!

My quarterly PhD. qualifying exam is today. Once this is completed, then the rest of the week I will be relatively stress free and should be able to stay on target and pile on the miles. 50-55 is the target this week! Good running from all of you guys lately, the persistence will certainly pay dividends!

Luke - 10.5

10.5mi, 84:18 (8:01)

Ran to a park near here where there are lots of hills, and just ran around a bunch and came home. Here is a topo map of the area.

Zack - 7.25

54:07 (7:27)
Once again Adidas loops at night! Legs had some zip but I tried to relax and save the fast running for later in the week. Still allowed for a relaxed progression with splits: 7:47, 7:46, 7:32, 7:31, 7:26, 7:00.

Zack - 4.25

4.25 miles 32:20 (7:36)
Much easier to get these Amazon loops done at 9PM, felt better than the morning.

Steve - 4.6

39:57 (8:45)

Two flat loops at Griffith Park. Legs felt pretty good. I had a dream last night that I woke up late for my half marathon. So for some reason I kept waking up thinking the race was that morning and that I was late. Weird. Anyways, I definitely will be there very early this year.

Luke - 6.25

6.25mi, 47:51 (7:39)

The same run I did on Saturday. My calves were pretty tight from racing. It was near 90º so I ran shirtless and got in the pool right after (but only up to my waist cause the pool is pretty cold).

Chris - 3.47

24:59 - 7:11 pace

Not quite as fast as I was hoping for this tempo run, but it still kicked my ass at any rate. I had 3 eggs and 2 waffles for breakfast around 11, and discovered that stuff was still in my stomach toward the end of the run when it started yelling at me to stop. I need to do more of these, maybe twice a week (?) before the race. I don't like how foreign it was to my body to be pushing itself that hard anaerobically. I used to be really used to it...maybe from basketball.

splits: 12:04 - 12:55

Zack - 3.8

30:07 (7:55)
Recovery run at 7:30AM on Amazon with 2 mile loops (7:58, 7:55) and a 1km loop (5:01) in the interest of time. Long day at work so easier to get in the miles and recover in split sessions. Also nice to not have to run all of them in the dark! Plan is get up around 50 this week.

I don't think I have mentioned this to the blog, but I signed up for my first marathon Feb 5th. The Death Valley Borax marathon , should be a surreal experience and a psychological test but the weather conditions could allow a reasonable time. It is a certified course, potential Boston qualifier. Now it is just time to train and get the weekly mileage up. The plan is two workouts a week on average, a speed/tempo focused one midweek and long runs/marathon pace/a couple 5k-10k races on the weekend.

Zack - 11.6

94:55 (8:10)
Long cold rainy run up to the nastiest hills on Ridgeline, very difficult but fun! Meandered over to 29th Ave, went on Lorane Hwy to Madison Street (this section is brutally steep) and through to Wayne Morse Park continued to Storey Blvd for even more uphills, over to Blanton to meet up on the start of Ridgeline. I was steady but the switchback sections early on were tough coupled with the long downhills of Willamette and Fox Hollow. Made it down to Rexius and I had some tight legs but managed ~7:30 pace for that 1.75 mi stretch. Exhausted afterwards due to a touch of dehydration i'd suspect.

Luke - 12

Citrus Heritage 5k/10k

I had gone to bed at like 8:30 on Saturday, so getting up at 4:45 wasn't too bad. Had a bagel and a banana and took a quick shower and my mother and I left for Riverside at about 5:20. Got to the mall where it was being held just before 6, and went and registered for both the races and then my mom and I went back to the car and drove to the parking garage since we'd parked in a lot that was a bit far from the start/finish. Started warming up about 6:25, did a couple miles and then changed into my racing shoes (the Universes) and put my jersey on (a cool new Adidas one that I bought a couple days ago). Did a couple strides and went to the front of the start (when I got there the entire front was a group of junior-high kids). No one there looked particularly fast, there was a guy with dreadlocks who looked like a high-schooler, who I figured would go out too fast, and some Masters-looking guys. We ended up starting like 5 minutes before 7, which I'd've been pissed about if I'd missed the start. A few people went out pretty quick but died just as quickly, and I found myself in first after about a quarter mile. Dreadlocks guy was right behind me, and actually passed me at about 3/4-mile. I was hoping he would die at about a mile, but he was putting distance on me. Came through the mile at 4:53, which I assumed was off because it definitely didn't feel that fast. An older guy in blue passed me just past the mile mark, so I ran with him for a bit trying to catch dreadlocks, but they both ended up taking off from me. The course was pretty much out-and-back, so I could see them in front of me, the guy in blue maybe close enough to catch, and I could see that no one was close to catching me. Passed the second mile in 5:22, but I'm guessing my mile splits were closer to 5:05/5:10, which is right where I wanted to be. There was a slight downhill on the way back, so I tried to hit it hard, but I wasn't catching up at all. I didn't see a third mile marker, but my last split was 5:46, which is 5:14 pace. As I got to the end I didn't think I'd be near 16, so I thought about letting up a bit to save energy for the second race, but I still kicked a bit, and ended up at 16:02. I think if I'd really gone all out I could have knocked a second off that, but not the 2 or 3 needed for 16-flat or sub-16. A big PR anyway, and I got $75 for my third-place finish.

The guy who won ran a 15:25, and they said his name was "Ezekias Sisay" which sounded sufficiently Kenyan enough for me not to worry about losing to him. Turns out his name is actually Ezkyas Sisay, and he was the 2006 Ethiopian National Champion in the Steeplechase, and has run 29:49 for 10k and something like 1:03 for a half marathon (though I didn't find that out until Monday). He and two women were there from Flagstaff to do some training and get paid. I asked him between races if he was doing the 10k also and he said, "Yes, training."

So after the 5k I walked around a bit and did a little bit of jogging and just generally tried to keep my legs feeling as loose as possible. At the line for the 10k the competition looked a bit better (the prize money was double that of the 5k) and I figured I wouldn't have much of a shot of placing in the money. At the start there was a big group, maybe 12-15, in front of me, but by mile 1 I was in tenth. Passed it at 5:43, which seemed slow, but was probably right since my legs were a bit tired. In front of me was a guy in gray, who I tried to catch up to. Wasn't able to catch him by mile 2, which I passed in 5:45, but the guy in front of him, in white, looked like he was dying. I didn't see mile markers for 3 or 4, but I caught the guy in white at about 3 miles (it took forever!) but hadn't really caught up to the guy in gray at all. At the turnaround I could see the people in front, led by Sisay, with a chick (who looked like Tirunesh Dibaba) in third place overall. The fourth mile was a perfectly gradual downhill, so I put a big move in to catch the guy in gray. I caught him at the bottom of the hill, held him off as the course went up a slight incline, and then took off from him as the course flattened out. I focused on the next guy, who was wearing a Morocco jersey (green on front, red on back) and looked slightly like Hicham El Guerrouj. My split for miles 3-5 was 16:34, which was probably something like 5:40/5:35/5:19. As I tried to catch Morocco guy, guy in gray caught back up, and I held him off and pulled away, then he caught back up again, and I held him off and pulled away, then he caught back up one last time before I was able to break him for good. About a half a mile to go I was still a good fifty or sixty meters back of Morocco guy, but I was definitely closing. We turned into the mall parking lot and I passed the sixth mile marker in 5:22, 20-30 meters back of Morocco guy. I started really kicking and as we turned around the last corner I was 10-15 meters back with about 100 meters to go. He hadn't looked back in a while so I don't think he knew how close I was. I was really kicking hard, but my legs were pretty dead from having 9 miles of hard running in them already. I was about 5m back at 50m to go, and he looked back and saw me and kicked a little harder, but I was still running him down, and the crowd was getting pumped, but at the end my legs just couldn't get to that next gear and he and I finished with the same time, but with him ahead of me. My time was 34:31, which I am fine with under the circumstances. The winner was the same guy who won the 5k, and apparently it was a close finish for him as well, 32:22 to 32:23. Third place was 32:52, so even if I'd gone in fresh I wouldn't have been in the money. The first place female ran 33:0x, which is ridiculously fast.

Overall a very successful day, and my mom and sister and nephew were all out to see me race, which was fun. I got a third-place medal for the 5k, and a second-place medal for the 10k since I was second in my age group (they wouldn't give me a first-place medal for winning my age group in the 5k though). Next stop, 15s!

Weekly Mileage Totals, 10/3-10/9

Luke - 42.5 (5)

Zack - 38.9 (6)

Chris - 23.87 (4)

Steve - 23.3 (4)

Zack - 4.25

31:00 (7:17)
Amazon loops, didn't feel like running much today. Planning on going longer tomorrow. 7:35, 7:27, 7:23 splits.

Steve - 3

25:43 (8:34)

The front of my lower right leg has been sore for a few days now. Being the paranoid injury prone runner that I am, I fear the worst (stress fracture). Right along the bone is painful to the touch. I decided to just do an easy 3 miler just to get something in. I feel like I need to take a few weeks off from running after my half marathon on Oct. 17. I'm going to ride the bike in the gym and renew my acquaintance with the weight room. On Sunday I got in a hard 50 minute ride on the bike. I did about 11 miles on level 5 resistance, whatever that means.

Luke - 6.25

6.25mi, 48:35 (7:46)

Easy morning run. Races tomorrow.

Chris - 8.18

67:57 - 8:18 pace

Felt like I did a pretty good job of pacing myself on the longest run I've done in awhile. My knees started tweaking a little toward the end, and the bottom outside of my left foot started to cramp a bit, but other than that it was a successful run!

Zack - 5.25

40:34 (7:43)
EZ Adidas Trail loops. 7:52, 7:47, 7:50, 7:51

Steve - 5.5

47:40 (8:40)

One of those late night runs I just had to get through. Been like that a lot lately. All kinds of aches and pains I have had lately. I need to get my legs and core stronger in the weight room.

Chris - 6.45

50:15 - 7:47 pace

I've done more miles already this week than I did all of last week, so that's good. Started this one out easy, then tried to pick it up going in. With about 2 miles to go, a guy appeared out of a side street about 100 yards in front of me, so of course I had to catch him. Went flying down a hill and made up a lot of ground, then slowly pulled him in until I was right behind him, then put on a burst of speed for ~40 yards to leave him in the dust.

Plan is to do a longer run tomorrow, and then intervals Monday. I'd do them Saturday but I'm helping my dad clean out a garage and then playing golf with him (weather permitting). Also last night I went bowling again with Platt people and had one of the best games of my life - a 176.

Zack - 6.75

47:56 (7:06)

22 min wu on Amazon with mile loops of 7:50, 7:46. Really was effortless so I decided to do my tempo run tonight instead of tomorrow that I had originally intended. Did a few strides and then set off to run a true controlled tempo. Wanted to target ~6:20 to start and stay very relaxed then slowly speed up if I was able to without straining. The run went just about as planned!

3 mi in 18:44 (6:21, 6:19, 6:04).

Luke - 6

6mi, 46:34 (7:45)

In California now, just an easy run, the usual route from here to a softball field, a mile barefoot, and back.

Steve - 4.8

Track workout with the Flyers on a wet track. I wasn't feeling great today so I just banged out a 3 mile tempo in 21:32. Need to get some good easy mileage on Thursday and Saturday

1mi 10:10 wup
3 mi tempo in 21:32
.8 mi cd in 9:02

Chris - 4.2

30:51 - 7:20 pace

Ran during lunch @ work with a new guy named Corey. He was in better shape than I thought he'd be, which was nice. Was able to do a decent pace without pushing it too much. Ran in my old Haywards that I keep in the locker room, and boy oh boy I can tell how little cushioning is left in those after using my Mizunos for most of my runs.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, sl:ow.

Fox Hollow with Zack right when I got off work in the morning. It was freezing (well fortysomethingº, but still) but I only have giant gloves so I went without...that was a mistake, and I am going to buy some normal gloves soon. Up Fox Hollow in 9:32, which wasn't all-out or anything but it was still work. That hill is always hard, even if you take it easy. Down in 8:01 and my stomach started hurting; a half-mile later I gave the key to Zack and lagged back, then started walking. Walked about a mile, to the closest portaloo, and relieved just enough pressure to be able to jog the mile and a half home. WHATEVER, I'm done with that run, now I'm flying to California for a week and a half, races Sunday, then mileage again, Beer Mile 10/22, hundred-mile week 11/14-20, hill phase 1/'11, fast stuff fast stuff fast stuff taper 15:30 32:30 40:00 2:50, mileage mileage mileage sub-15 sub-31 sub-2:40 profit! chicks happiness mileage mileage mileage beer.

Zack - 8.75

70:52 (8:05)
Very early and chilly run with Luke, 43F. Fox Hollow climb 29, legs had no zip and I was sleepy but overall a pleasant run.

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 47:53 (7:22)

Zack - 8.4

63:08 (7:30)

Steady easy run of both Pre's Loops on a perfect sunny evening with 0.6 mi barefoot on the Riverfront Fields. Let my mind wander and didn't worry about much on this one. 1.4 mi loop of Pre's in 10:35.

Zack - 5.5

39:14 (7:08)
Pre's Trail loop. Super easy run having had some time off. Felt like fall with cooler temperatures.

Chris - 5.04

37:39 - 7:28 pace

Felt great after my low mileage last week. Definitely could've gone faster but I didn't want to kill myself since I want to run tomorrow and Wednesday. I passed two different cops on my way out and then halfway thru my run, then at the end of my route near my neighborhood they were both parked outside a house with a guy and two girls. I wanted to stop and ask what was going on.

Time to clean up and play some Uncharted 2!

Steve - 10

80:33 (8:03)

I talked with Luke earlier in the week and he advised me to get in a 10 mile run so I did just that. Plan was to do 5 miles easy, 5 miles around half marathon pace(6:50-7:00). I went out to Manhattan Beach to run the trail so I knew it would be really tough to keep a sub 7 pace. The trail is 7.5 miles so I know I would have to run an extra 1.25 mile out-and-back. I ended up running 5.25 miles easy and then 4.75 hard. Hit 5.25 miles in 46:16(8:49) and then brought home the final 4.75 in 35:17(7:26). The first mile of the faster portion was pretty slow (about 7:56), but I was able to pick up pretty well. I didn't have much juice at the end though and finished the last mile in 7:08. Not sure exactly what to take out of this run because my half marathon will be on road and wood chips slow the pace considerably. I do feel a bit more confident having done a 10-mile run since I haven't hit double digits for a few months.

Luke - 15

15mi, 2:02:25 (8:09)

Did Relentless Hills, then headed up to Ridgeline and went from Spring Blvd to Fox Hollow; 7:47 down, 7:55 pace for the last 3.5 miles. Fifteen miles was wholly unnecessary today, but it's the route I felt like going.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 9/26-10/2

Luke - 75 (9)

Steve - 31.65 (5)

Chris - 13.39 (3)

Alison - 3.1 (1)

James - 0 (0)

Luke - 8

8mi, 61:35 (7:41)

A fairly hilly course mostly on road. Back in time to watch the Duck game, which has started out pretty ugly but they just scored and recovered an onside kick after being down 21-3, so it should at least be interesting!

Steve - 5.3

46:45

Ran to the post office and dropped off a letter. I was able to run on some grass for about half the way. I didn't watch the Michigan game until later at night and it was awesome. Denard Robinson is more awesome than awesome actually.

Luke - 6.5

2x5x200m, 200/600r. I didn't get all the splits, but the first one was 34 and the rest were 32-33. I was hoping/expecting to be a couple seconds faster than that, but I think this week's mileage got to me a little. Also my stomach didn't feel great and the bathroom at the track was closed for repairs.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 33:41 (7:55)

Mile loops of 8:16, 7:56, and 7:48.

I promised myself last night that I would run right when I woke up. Usually these promises end up broken as when I wake up I "forget" or rationalize to myself why it's not a good idea to run right then. But today I followed through, yaaaay.

Chris - 6.45

49:53 - 7:44 pace

I felt so good going out on this run, only to have it turn to crap due to stomach issues. After a guy yelled "Ahhhhh!" at me out of his car window as he turned a corner (and I went "Ahhhh, that was crayzee!!" back to him) I stopped about halfway through, and then had to stop at another port-o-john with about a mile to go. So I'm glad to just be home now, haha.

Steve - 8

70:23 (8:48)

We had a celebration at my company for some new release we just did today. I can't reveal the details due to the risk of termination or something like that. So from 3-5 the company paid for drinks and food at a nearby establishment. I imbibed 3 blue moons and a vodka red bull. Good times. Anyway, my plan that day was to run about 7-8 miles. So once I got to Griffith Park, I was not feeling like running. Fortunately I was meeting a friend so I had no choice. He was probably pissed that I got there like 45 minutes late cuz the traffic was terrible. Felt like a complete ass but traffic is traffic. Anyway, I slogged through the run even though my stomach felt like garbage. We ran in the complete dark but were both equipped with trusty headlamps.

Luke - 9.2

9.2mi, 68:34 (7:27)

1.5-mile loop of Pre's Trail loop in 11:22 and 11:17, 1 mile barefoot on the grass.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 68:14 (7:47)

Fox Hollow with Zack. My breathing was pretty labored to start out, after my dirty dozen this morning, so I just wanted to hit the hill fairly well. I made it my goal to get to the top in front of Zack...I managed 8:17 up, and he was about ten seconds back...if he'd PRed up it he probably would have beaten me. It was pretty dark by the time we got to the top so we descended cautiously slow, 8:31. Once on Rexius we picked it up and going fast actually made me feel better, so we both ended up killing it for a mile and a half on the bark there. About 6:15 pace overall; last few quarters were I think 92, 91, 88, 87. At twenty miles into the day I am pretty happy with that. Got home and immediately opened a beer, and now that I've showered it's about time for DoughCo. Last night at work I hatched the plan for today of 12 miles / sleep / 8.75 miles / DoughCo, and that plan is coming to fruition nicely. Great day.

Steve - 6.35

Flyers track workout. My usual routine of tempo run on the track. Tempo went decently. I was going to do a 3 mile tempo but felt good after 3 miles so I threw in another half. A few minutes later my friend asked if I wanted to do a 1600 in 6:30 and I obliged of course. I am feeling moderately strong for my half marion in a few weeks.

1.1 mi wup 10:55
3.5 mi tempo in 24:25 (7:03, 7:06, 6:52, 3:24)
6:26 1600
.75 mi 7:09 cd

Luke - 12

12mi, 1:46:32 (8:52)

Ran home from work the hilly way. Always a tough run, but it was especially hard today. Managed to push it under 8-minute pace the last 3.25 miles, but only just. Still, always feels great to do this run. Or at least, to have done it.

Alison - 3.1

I did the 5K program on the treadmill. I've been doing lots of strength training at the gym, eating well, and intense cardio so I've been wondering what my present 5K time would be. It was a not-to-shabby 26:57. I am so glad it was beneath 27min because that was my goal (to be under) and it would have depressed me to have been over.

Fight the power.

Chris - 3.47

26:23 - 7:36

Went to go get my haircut right after work, and then did this short route to help get in some good mileage this week. Went out a little easy, then pushed myself some coming back. I think I need to eat a more substantial snack after lunch though, because I still felt weak energy wise even though my legs felt fine.

splits: 13:21 - 13:01

Luke - 7.8

7.8mi, 56:54 (7:17)

1.6-mile loop in 11:51, 1.4-mile loop in 9:54. Was going to do some barefoot grass running but both of the fields on the route were occupied.

Steve - 7

60:10 (8:44)

There is a huge heat wave in L.A. and probably other places too. It reached 110 today. I think it might be a record high for this time of year. I ran at Griffith Park at about 7pm after the sun had set and it felt like it was noon. So hot and dry. I'm worried there are going to be a lot of fires if the winds pick up. Out in 31:00 and back 29:10. Both my feet have been hurting lately. Gonna up calcium intake and do the foot stretches Luke told me about to see if that helps

James - 0

And it will be nothing for a while, as last Wednesday I cracked my pinkie toe on a doorframe in our flat. Ow! Crutches suck, not to mention arsing around with your health system.

Alison rest assured is still kicking ass at the gym.

I read an uplifting article a few days ago in Utne Reader called "On Being Fat and Running". A guy basically said he runs rather than goes to do gym workouts because he needs that sort of "heart-rattling-in-your-ribcage" intensity to get healthier, and he wants to do it in front of the world. Sadly it doesn't appear to be anywhere online, but it was nice.

Chris - 3.47

26:43 - 7:41 pace

Hot out today. I waited too late to go run, and didn't have lunch before I did. Bad idea!

Luke - 11

10.75mi, 85:39 (7:58)

Took a hilly course over to Spring Blvd, took Ridgeline back to Fox Hollow and came down. 7:30 pace on the flat portions of the run.

Luke - 7.5

7.5mi, 59:21 (7:54)

Rexius, plus a mile loop in 7:32.

Steve - 5

45:00

I was up in the Bay Area this weekend visiting my brother and parents. Went for a run with my brother and Dad. I was running ahead of them and after a while I looked back and I couldn't see them. So I started running back and I could see they had turned around and were running back. As I got closer I saw my Dad wasn't swinging his right arm. When I caught up, I found out he had taken a nasty spill and had a huge gash under his eye and cuts all over his body. He fell hard on the shoulder too and he could barely move it. My Mom happened to drive along cuz she was going to meet us at the park we were running to and we took him to the hospital shortly thereafter. He had to get 11 stitches on the cut under his eye and his shoulder were severely bruised and not separated or dislocated. Anyway, he's doing OK now.

Weekly Mileage Totals, 9/19-9/25

Luke - 34.25 (5)

Chris - 21.94 (4)

Steve - 21.1 (3)

Zack - 18.65 (2)

James - 15 (1)

Chris - 7.35

63:13 - 8:36 pace

I did an out & back down the main road that goes through Beaverton and into Tigard. I had planned to do 8 miles, but my stomach and legs didn't really let me. I ended up ducking into a Godfathers Pizza place to use their bathroom, and then finished my run. I'm proud I even tried to attempt this - I knew I wouldn't have it today.

Time to clean up, go to Fry's to get a bigger HD for my PS3 and a new game! Then getting all that set up before the Ducks play ASU!

GO DUCKS!

Luke - 9.5

The Best Dam 10k, 34:13, 5th place.

Nice course along the Clackamas River. The start was downhill, which was a good way to get into a fast pace right from the gun. There were 3 guys from the Bowerman Athletic Club who looked quite fast and a decent sized group of other good runners, and a lot of fast masters. I started out in about tenth place but was in eighth I think by the first mile, which I passed in 5:33. I passed one or two guys in the second mile, and came through at 5:03, so I figured the mile marker was off. Over the next couple miles I concentrated on passing one guy, then another. Third mile was 5:27 and fourth was 5:25, which seem right. In the fifth mile there was the only real hill in the race, which takes you from the road next to the river up to the highway. It was definitely tough, and my fifth mile was 5:38. I did some quick math and figured I only needed to run 5:45 pace to break 34, which had been my goal. There was a Bowerman AC guy in front of me that I'd been trying to catch since about mile 4, and at the 5-mile mark he stopped and walked for about ten seconds, so I thought I'd be able to catch him, but when he started running again he took off from me pretty well. The last mile was downhill but I was too dead to really take advantage of it. My sixth mile split was 5:49, which was definitely wrong, and my last .2 was 1:14, so I ended up at 34:13, a PR but not sub-34 as I'd hoped. After the race Zack and I talked to a guy who said the second mile was ~20 seconds short and the sixth mile was ~20 seconds long, which sounded about right. Kind of annoying they were like that, but it wouldn't have really changed anything.

The results aren't up yet but I'm pretty sure I got 5th behind the three Bowerman AC guys and one guy that had a RunPortland jersey on who also looked semi-pro.

Afterwards got Mexican food and then drank beer all day and watched the really long Oregon game.

Luke - 6.5

6.5mi, 47:13 (7:15)

Felt okay.

The engine in the taxi I usually drive blew up the other night, so I won't be working Saturday, so I decided to join Zack in Estacada for the Best Dam 10k. My low mileage this week should work out well for a PR.

Luke - 5.25

5.25mi, 38:14 (7:16)

Mile loops of 7:44, 7:24, 6:58, and 6:17. Picked it up to try and finish before the lights turned off...fell short by 15-20 seconds.

Chris - 5.04

38:41 - 7:40 pace

Ran a little longer route today in lieu of not running yesterday because I was too tired and had to go in early to work today. Plan is to run 8 on Saturday to get to over 20 for the week, and then play 18 on Sunday afternoon.

Luke - 8.75

8.75mi, 65:30 (7:29)

Fox Hollow with Zack. 8:13 up, 7:31 down in the almost-dark; 6:00 pace on the way back. A lot of bounce in my step...there'd better be, with as low of mileage as I've been doing the past few days. Next few days should be much better since it's my weekend.

Also five minutes into the run there was an insanely hot girl wearing UOXC clothes on Amazon. It was ridiculous how good-looking she was. I will attempt to marry her within the month. Updates forthcoming.

Steve - 5.85

Tempo run on the track. I didn't feel like running at all today but after an emergency trip to the bathroom following my warmup, I was re-energized. My first 800 of the tempo was slow as as hell (4:14 or so), but I wanted to gradually work my way into it. Felt pretty good in the end. Half marathon is slightly less than 4 weeks away..


1.1 mi wup 12:14
4 mile tempo in 29:08 (7:55, 7:11, 7:01, 7:01)
.75 mi 8:18 cd

Steve - 7

68

Run at Griffith Park. Distance and time approximate.

Chris - 6.45

49:49 - 7:43 pace

Had a really stressful day at work today, and was really looking forward to coming home and getting out for a longish run. Didn't feel like running super hard today, so just ran a solid pace, and pushed it a tad. Felt pretty strong overall.

Luke - 4.25

4.25mi, 28:09 (6:37)

Mile loops of 7:21, 6:28, and 5:25. Got a late start again so I just did a short acceleration.

Zack - 7.75

7.25 mi Amazon 55:23 (7:38) EZ pace, felt great with a slow progression: 7:51, 7:47, 7:44, 7:42, 7:38, 7:32. 6 strides on the practice soccer field next to S. Eugene HS. Ready to race a 10km this weekend, the Best Dam 10km race in Estacada, OR. http://www.orrc.net/races/bestdam/bestdam.htm

James - 15

That's just an estimate of several runs from the last few weeks.

Sorry about the total post. But I've been finding it very hard to measure my runs in any way whatsoever, and that's because Alison and I have joined a gym called YouFit. They are cheap, seem good quality, and have an environmental agenda!

It's taking me a while to get used to running on a treadmill, as I don't like not being able to alter my speed without thinking about it and pressing a button. What do you guys think of them? I'd like to blame my runs being harder solely on this change of venue, but it's probably me too. Anyway, they are getting longer, I ran for 30 minutes at 5 mph (I think? Not kmph) on Saturday. Alison has also been running, but been more adventurous than me in using other equipment.

Perhaps I can keep you updated on what rubbish I'm watching while running (a horrifying new experience that has included True Lies).

So even if we are not here very often, know we are running.

Steve - 8.25

71:30 (8:40)

I bought a headlamp this weekend and this was my first trial run. I got the Petzl Tikka 2 for $29.99. There are 3 settings. Bright, Economy, and Flashing. I usually used Bright when it was completely dark. Economy you need to have some other light I think but you could get by with it if you really want to save the battery life(3 AAAs). I was running over some pretty dark terrain and the light helped a lot. I didn't twist my ankle once. That happened to me a fair amount last year running in this area. I found the best way to set it up is with a hat worn backwards and the headlamp on top. That way I can adjust it to point about 3-4 feet in front of me. Wearing only the headlamp kind of gives me a headache, but it probably just takes getting used to. It's a given that with any headlamp you look like a complete dork in residential areas. I got it mostly for running at Griffith Park where most people don't run during night. Plus I don't give a damn what anyone thinks.

As far the actual run goes, I was on some deepish sand for awhile and that slowed my overall pace.

Chris - 3.1

19:20 - 6:14 pace

Since this was an event for Race for the Cure, I had to leave my house at about 6:15am to drive to Washington Square and catch a bus that was bringing us downtown. To give some perspective as to why they set this up, there's about 40,000+ people who show up to participate in the various walks/runs, which include a timed and untimed 5k, along with a 5k walk and a mile walk.

I met Darren on a corner a couple blocks up from the waterfront to make it much easier to find each other. I had got a bit of my own warm-up in accidentally when I realized that I had forgotten if Taylor St (where I met Darren) was north or south of Morrison Ave. So of course I ended up guessing wrong and running 4 or 5 blocks in the wrong direction. Turned out to be a good thing, since once I met up with him and we jogged down to the waterfront, we realized just how many people were in the way of doing any actual good warming up. He wasn't feeling to great about his chances as it was, since he hadn't been training a lot and he had gone to an Oktoberfest event the night before. So we just found a good spot to stretch and I did a couple strides. We had about 5 minutes left and jogged up to the start. They had one side of the street blocked off by barriers so we had to run around that and then get in between the ribbons with everyone. After I realized just how far back I was and that there was no way I was going to be able to sidle up much farther, I ducked out and went around up to the front, about 5 people back.

The race was a chip-timed, sanctioned USATF event. I got off to my customary fast start with everyone else, and soon settled in to a moderately quick pace behind a group of guys that all had the same t-shirt on. Said "Bosom Buddies" or something. I've learned that this early in the race I really can't gauge who is going to help pull me along/stay in contact with, but even so I tried to guess and kept my eye on this blue shirt guy and a cute short girl that was next to him. Passed the first mile marker at 5:07 and didn't even hit my split because I knew that marker was bullshit. Shortly after that I started to feel the strain and tried to focus on taking quick steps and keeping up with the running buddies. They started to thin out pretty soon after that. So I gave up on them and picked someone else. The hardest part of the route is probably the long, straight finish. It definitely helped to go by Darren after the turnaround and give each other high fives. That gave my legs a big energy boost for a good 10-20 yards. Since this was such a huge event, there were also volunteer groups along the route that were cheering for everyone, which was pretty neat. Passed the 2nd mile mark at 11:53, so that would've been 6:47 for the second mile - and there's no way I slowed down THAT much after the first quick mile. Also per usual, the last mile or so a couple people started to slowly pass me, so I tried my best to pick up my legs a tad more to try and ride their heels. I didn't want to expend the rest of my energy too early though, so I let them go. As we came into the last .5 I started catching up to a couple people that were dying off, and since the finish was along a straight I could see the 3rd mile marker and time my final burst well. I started to really pick up my legs about 50 yards before the marker, and passed a couple people. Then the last .1 I gave everything I had left in the tank, even managed to get up on my toes going into the chute and caught another 3 or 4 people. I had completely forgotten to hit my watch at the 3rd mile marker, so after I hit it at the finish I showed 7:26 for the last 1.1 for a total of 19:19.99! I didn't even look at the official clock as I came into the finish, partly because I knew that was the gun time and partly because my eyes were covered in a haze from trying to kill myself at the end and catch as many people as I could.

I tried to not fall over/pass out as I bent over to unstrap the velcro thing that the timing chip was attached to, and then walked to the end of the line of people to catch my breath and wait for Darren. We high fived as he came to the end of the chute and then went off the find some snacks and water. Since I was mildly curious to see if I had somehow nabbed 2nd in my age group to get an award, I tried asking the people that were holding 'Race Info' signs if they knew where times were going to be posted, but none of them knew anything. One lady's first answer was, "Oh they'll be posted online". Thaaanks lady. We wandered around for a bit longer, then he walked home and I got on my bus to go back to Washington Square. I felt kinda back since I was pretty sweaty and smelly, and everyone else on the bus were normal people that had just come to do the one mile walk with their kids or something. Considering my goal was the break 20, the day was definitely a success!

47th out of 1019, 5th in my age group

Link for the results page

Zack - 10.9

10.9 miles 79:23 (7:17)
Wanted to do a solid long run. Rested enough to maintain 7:10-7:20/mi the first 7-8 miles without too much trouble and from here was hoping to dip under 7 and extend to at least 12 mi but I started to feel very bad. I think it was a product of being sick..enjoyed the route down various sections of the bike path. I ended the run and walked the last 0.5 mi when I started to feel really dizzy and completely exhausted. This was one of those tougher than anticapted days but still solid mileage despite the problems. Route mapped at: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4054137

Weekly Mileage Totals, 9/12-9/18

Luke - 64 (9)

Zack - 42.5 (6)

Steve - 23.9 (4)

Chris - 16.53 (3)

Luke - 5

5mi, 38:09 (7:37)

Two 1000-meter Amazon loops, two 1-mile Amazon loops, and two laps on the track. Didn't really feel like running, woke up late, and was watching the Oregon game, so I left pretty late, without much time to run before work.

Steve - 7

58:12 (8:18)

Cruising the trail in Manhattan Beach. Final mile in 7:30 after mostly 8:30ish miles.

Zack - 5.5

46:41 (8:29)
Very sore, non-responsive legs as I headed up Emerald Street, across the fairways at Laurelwood Golf Course, and up to the very start of Relentless Hills. I would have continued but I was dead and just made my way home.

Luke - 6.5

2x4x400m, 200/600r: 74, 75, 72, 70 / 71, 70, 70, 66.

Good workout except for the first two, on which I felt good but wasn't fast. Made the rest of them hurt a little and everything was hunky dory. Don't know what my 400 PR is so maybe 66.15 is it now. Zack's last one was definitely a PR for him, 71.1 I think.