Marine Corps Marathon

Time: 113:00
Distance: 17 mi.

Finally the Marine Corps Marathon is upon us. Jordan and I came up woefully short in our preparations, but we didn't want to miss getting involved by helping out Team MJ. If Meagan and Jilane ran well maybe we could lul them into a false sense of security about a future OJ vs. MJ matchup. (Okay... kidding, kidding.) The plan for the day was to help pace Jilane and Meagan through the first 16 miles of the marathon just around 3:00 (6:52/mile) pace.

Jordan came over to Colin's to drag me out of bed and head down to the start of the marathon, near the Pentagon. We made it down to the start line in enough time to jog a little bit and get a decent spot near the start before a howitzer shot announced the commencement of the race. The race conditions were nearly perfect, but it did take a couple of miles to get warmed up and going (the race is hilly through about the first 10 miles).


The start of the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon

We enjoyed running together through the first 8 miles at which point Meagan (and Jordan) had to make a pit stop. I ran with Jilane through the next few miles from Georgetown out past the halfway mark over by East Patomac Park. We were a bit quick through the half (1:27:30) but Jilane seemed relaxed and I was even trying to pull in the reins a bit after a few miles under 6:30. I let her go at 16 miles with confidence that she was on the right track, but I wouldn't get any update until I saw her finish. She ran a great second half (about 1:30:50) and finished in 10th! Meagan had a rough stomach day, which I can definitely sympathize with, and had to stop around 20 miles.

Splits: 7:03, 7:04, 6:31, 6:25, 6:34, 6:44, 6:55, 6:31, 6:45, 6:23, 6:25, 6:47, 6:34 (1:27:30 half), 6:42, 6:42, 6:32 (1:46:35 at 16 miles)

I was very glad that despite not fulfilling my marathon goal, I could help Jilane out, and her hard work paid off. I felt fine and was having a lot of fun being in the race, despite a bit of hamstring tightness. Once Meagan reached 16 miles Jordan dropped out as well and we walked back to the Iwo Jima memorial for the finish.

For a lot more on the day, see Jilane, Meagan and Jordan's logs, as well as the full race results.

Rock Creek Park

Time: 57:37
Distance: 7.5 mi.

After driving down to Washington, DC last night I ran with Jordan and Aja who I picked up at the airport this afternoon. We ran from Colin's over to Rock Creek Park and did a loop up the Western Ridge trail and back through the middle of the park. Hamstring was tight, but running slow kept it from getting sore.

Boulevard, Hard Mile, Freeman

Time: 35:00
Distance: 5 mi.

It started as an easy run from the OMAC. Then, for some genius reason, we decided to add in some challenges. After running down the Boulevard and starting back up towards the track, Coste decided he wanted to see if he could run a fast mile. Jordan and I got in for the pacing job and next thing we were running around the track in blazing sub-75 pace. We ended up running 4:47.

Then, as we headed back, Craig decided he wanted to see what he could run a Freeman in, shooting for 68. We charged up it and sneaked in just under... 67.7 or so.

Good times. Maybe we should institute a REAL mile at Brown commencement every year.

Track and Back

Time: 45:00?
Distance: 6 mi.

Ran down to the track to see Sarro and Ozzie's workout, around the infield for a bit, and then back. They are running regionals in 10 days. Tired, but not as tired as I'm going to be.

Safari

Time: 111:00
Distance: 17.5 mi.
Map

A square-ish long run with Jordan from his place on my last morning in Norman. We began with 4 miles directly into an unrelenting 15+ mph wind. As soon as I was about to start hating him and running in general, we turned east and got out of the wind. It was fairly nice out there, with very straight rolling roads and farms abound. We got down to a steady pace, which was definitely good. It has been really nice to run with Jordan, who keeps the pace honest and the mood light. It has been a very nice change of pace (literally and figuratively) training with him the last few days. He posted the splits and the rundown:

Hit splits of: 6:59, 6:43, 6:38, 6:35, 6:26, 6:26, 6:09, 6:21, 6:07, 6:07, 6:04, 6:12, 6:05, 6:02, 6:05... We were trying to come up with a name for the run and some ideas were: "Rusty Tractor," "Rusty Wheel," "Midget Horse," "Wild Dogs," and "Dead Squirrel."

I've decided on naming the run "Safari." For one, we were a bit in the middle of nowhere. For two, there were a lot of animals: more dogs than I could count, squirrels (including a dead one), a dead skunk, turkeys, cows, hawks, horses, and yes, in fact, two miniature horses.

5 Mile Tempo, 300s

Time: 82:00
Distance: 13.5 mi.

Target: average of ~5:10 for 5 miles on Jordan's "Tetris" loop; 6 x 300m in 48-49 with 100m quick jog
Workout: 25:48 (avg. 5:09.6); 6 x 300m in 48-50 (7:59 total)

I met Jordan at the OU track to start warming up for the tempo and 300s. He worked out a loop (that looks a bit like a Tetris piece) for his tempo last week, and we used it again. This time it featured the good old 360 degree Oklahoma wind that is at your face at almost every turn. He led through the first half and then I led the rest. The splits are a little weird, but we started in 5:12 and brought it down to 5:06 for the last mile. The blocks are exact distances here, so it was easy to know when we had gone 1/4, 1/2 and 1 mile at different places in the course.

The finishing point gave us just shy of 10 minutes back to the track for 300s. I wasn't feeling too sharp, and it showed. I was between 48 and 49-high on the 300s, Jordan was 48-45. The jog was a little slower than it probably should have been too.

As it turned out, Jordan was being a milage hero and managed to get in a longer warmup and cooldown than I did. Who does that?

Corn Dog

Time: 60:00
Distance: 9 mi.

Run from Jilane's house with Jordan. As he describes in his log, we ran across a major Corn Dog spill near Norman High School. A tragedy, to be sure, but we had to soldier on. I was thinking of doubling today, but was feeling pretty beat at the end of the day and seem to be still fighting off a bit of a cold.

Bobcat

Time: 85:00
Distance: 13.5 mi.

I headed up for a long weekend in Norman, OK last night and met Jordan at his place in the morning for a run. We headed out on his "Bobcat" run. I'm not sure what makes this a standard run for him, as he has it listed on his log ranging from 12 to 20 miles, and many things in-between. After a few miles we got into a fairly steady pace, just over (and one mile apparently just under) 6 minute pace. It was a little bit windy and there are some rolling hills out in the country outside of Norman. The streets out there are also in one square mile grids, so you can split almost everything. This would make me hammer most of my runs... wait a second...

My legs felt a bit dead... I probably need new shoes relatively soon, but I just calculated that I've got about 375 miles on these, so they should last another week.

Norman Loop

Time: 45:00
Distance: 6.5 mi.

Jordan ran down to Jilane's to pick me up for part of his long run. I was apprehensive about how my knee would feel, but was pleasantly surprised. Only the slightest stiffness, so it seems that taking it easy is paying off. I warmed it up well beforehand and iced it afterward.

OK Runner Workout

Time: 50:00
Distance: 7 mi.

Very easy 7 miler on and around the OU track while Jordan was doing one of Tom's workouts (4 x 800-300) in the morning before I left Norman. The workout went well, but I felt pretty stiff (part of the reason I didn't do it with him... the other part is that I'm lazy and tired from traveling).

Dead Presidents

Time: 90:00
Distance: 14 mi.


OU has a (dare I say surprisingly?) nice campus

I ran from Jilane's and Jordan ran from his place and we met near the OU campus to start this run. It's a pretty regular loop of Jordan's, apparently, and is decently nice and keeps away from the major windy sections. I am naming this run for him as he declined to do so, but mentioned that it goes by 5 local schools all named after presidents. Legs were tight and felt tired. My right piriformis/glute was particularly tight this morning. We added on through the campus to get enough time.

Torrey Pines, UCSD

Time: 86:00
Distance: 13 mi.


The beach where the run started at Torrey Pines State Reserve

Jilane and I drove from Brea to Palm Springs to pick up Jordan and then down to San Diego. Graddy took us to the Torrey Pines State Reserve, which is only a few miles from his house for a run. We started down by the beach and then ran south through the park and then into the UCSD campus. We ran "to the balls" and back, passing the school's "floating" library (which was designed by Dr. Seuss):


The Geisel Library at UCSD

The run started with a very solid uphill section, which we ran fairly slowly, but then flattened out. We got back to the starting point at close to 70 minutes and Jordan and I ran a little ways along the beach to the north.

Palm Springs Is Rainy

Time: 90:00
Distance: 13.5 mi.
Map

It is rainy in Palm Springs. Do you know how I know? Because there was water falling from the sky and hitting me in the face during my run this morning. Jordan is still disputing this point with some sort of "sweat ratio" argument, but as far as I know from my experience, Palm Springs has the winter weather of Seattle.


Palm Springs and the San Jacinto Mountains

Woke up feeling groggy and wondering if I should take another day off to kill this cold. I knew I couldn't let Jordan go while I was just sitting in the house so we headed out. My feeling these days is as long as you're going running at all, you should just go 90 minutes. We ran as close as possible along the San Jacinto mountains on the roads. It is amazing how flat it is here with pretty big mountains so close. Pretty tired and feeling tight, but Jordan dragged me along at a decent pace. This will probably be my long run for the weekend (though I did get a longer one in Central Park early in the week).

Palm Springs

Time: 70:00
Distance: 10.5 mi.

Woke up in Phoenix and immediately decided that I wasn't up for a morning run. The cold and sore throat is still nagging me pretty well, and I'm tired. Clark did take me out to Camelback Mountain in Phoenix, though, which was fun, beautiful and a good way to start the day.


View of Phoenix from Camelback Mountain

When I reached Jordan's dad's place in Palm Springs he and I headed out for a loop around town. He went 50 minutes and I added on an extra 20. Feeling about the same as the last few days... tired and feeling this nagging cold.


Palm Springs still seems to look a lot like this