#run366

8.5 | 60:19 | 7:06 STL - Home 

I felt the expected general soreness that comes the day after a workout. But with the company of my iPod I knocked out another hour on this Hump Day.

I checked out the trail nearest my house for the first time this year. It’s about 3 miles away and travels along the Meramec River, which flooded as much as ever at the end of last year. The water has reseeded and half of the trail has been cleared. The signs of the extreme flooding were still clearly visible - most amazingly big logs hanging high up in trees parallel to the ground.

13.02 | 85:04 | 6:32 STL - DeSmet Fartlek - 10x 3:30 on (5:34 pace), 3:00 off Zach

Met up with Zach to help him with another workout. This time it was a fartlek, and we got after it on streets of Creve Coeur, our old training grounds.

It was good workout, and it turned into a long run with the warmup and cooldown. I could tell I don’t have a lot of speed in my legs. I can run under 7 no problem, but mid 5′s was tough. I felt like I was losing a small partial step with each Zach took so by the end of the segments he had a decent gap on me. But, it’s cool. I ran well and helped him to a strong workout.

I ran hard and easy. I hung out with a friend. I ran some of my favorite streets and we edited the route as we went.  I like runs like this.

9.14 | 63:01 | 6:54 STL - Downtown / Wash Ave / Grand

Another solid downtown run with a new turn-around point. I ran out Wash Ave to Grand Center (where the Fox Theater and  Powell Symphony Hall are located). I turned north on Grand and it was the further north than I’ve ever gone when running downtown. Also, It was probably the roughest part of town I’ve ran in St. Louis. I ran through a couple rough neighborhoods in NYC so I wasn’t completely uncomfortable. While things were beat up, there were a couple of neat Catholic churches that I enjoyed seeing.

~8.62 | ~60 | ~6:57 STL - Downtown to Tower Grove Park

I felt the nag in my leg a little again, but it did not hold me back, which was great. I ran from the stadium out to Tower Grove Park for the first time. The route took me through SLU’s Med Campus and passed the Compton Hill Water Tower.

This was my first run of the year where my watch died mid-run. That’s why the stats are all approximations.

6.11 | 45:01 | 7:22 STL - Downtown / Soulard / AB

This was a stressful run. My left calf started bugging me at the end of yesterday’s run. It didn’t feel worse, but it was still there. I couldn’t decide if it was an oncoming injury or just residual soreness. I thought about making it a rest day and only going 10 minutes, but the desire to hit 60 miles for the week convinced me to run the whole 6 miles I planned. The entire time I kept waiting for it to flair up really bad. I was constantly debating if I was doing the right thing. Do I turn around now? How much further should I run? Question after question.

Well, I got in my 6 miles to cap off a good week without a disaster. So it’s all good.

24/342

13.16 | 86:55 | 6:36 STL - Forest Park 6 Mile Tempo (5:59) Zach, Jake, Randy, Taylor (sorta)

My high school teammate turned college conference opponent and good running bud, Zach, is training for his first marathon. His plan called for a half marathon at marathon pace and he asked me to help out. I gladly agreed but wasn’t sure if I had a fast 13.1 in me. So, I planned on joining him between mile 5 and 6 to make sure things stay on pace over the second half.

It was the St. Louis Track Club’s Frostbite Series Half Marathon so Zach signed up, and I reviewed the course map. I thought I would warmup for a little bit then catch him no problem. There was, of course, a problem. I started running one way (the course just goes back and forth between two points) and after a little bit decided he must have passed already. So I ran the other direction, but saw the turn around point before I saw him. By then, I realized we must have been going the same way and shortly thereafter we meet up at mile 7.

The connection might not have gone as planned, but the workout was spot on. The six miles I ran were slightly under 6:00 pace. Zach was just over 80 minutes for 13.1. It was nice to get locked in, push myself and run fast.