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Search Intensifies for Runner Micah True in NM (ABC News)

Today’s group run was on the east side of Nashville, and consisted of two 8-mile loops with an optional 4-mile cooldown for those that needed to get in 20. The first loop started in Shelby Park and went out Davidson toward LP Field (Titan’s Stadium), and then came back toward Shelby on Woodland. We maintained a very easy 8:50 pace for this loop.

The second loop was an out and back lolly-pop loop on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. Most of the group picked up the pace significantly for this section. I ran with John the whole way and all of our splits were between 7:18 and 7:35 per mile. This was a very comfortable, conversational pace, and my legs felt good the entire way. I’m really glad this pace felt good, because I’m hoping to at least run in the 6:50s for the Oak Barrel Half Marathon next weekend if my legs cooperate. Another good thing about this loop was that John and I got to talk a lot about his thoughts on my training for Milwaukee this fall, and some of the important principles that I need to keep in mind throughout the schedule he is putting together for me.

When we finished the second loop, John advised me to call it a day with 16 total miles and 55 completed for the week.  One interesting thing about the run today is that I never really felt overly warm during the loops, but was drenched in sweat at the finish. The temperatures were in the low 60s at the start and in the mid 70s at the finish, with full sun and elevated humidity. Hope this means that I’m getting better at dealing with warmer temperatures, because I have a feeling it is going to be a nasty summer in Tennessee.

Anyway, I have felt pretty good ever since we finished, and am really excited about my upcoming races and training over the summer. Next week we will be shooting for around 45 total miles, which will include the half marathon on Saturday. 

Beast Mode…ON!

Famed runner Micah True missing in Gila Wilderness (Las Cruces Sun News)

Born to Run’s Caballo Blanco Reported Missing (Runner’s World)

Great track workout tonight with the JSRC. The temperatures were in the low 80s this afternoon, which easily makes this the warmest track day so far in 2012.

I got to Vanderbilt about an hour early and ran an easy 5.5-mile warmup around campus and on the track. My legs are still fairly sore from doing P90X: Legs and Back on Tuesday, so the extra warmup really helped loosen up my muscles.

The actual workout was 4 x 1600m (1-mile) repeats with 400m recovery. Our instructions were to run the intervals at marathon pace. Since my only upcoming spring marathon is as the 4-hour pacer in the Country Music Marathon, I asked John (our coach) if I could run the intervals at goal half marathon pace instead. I am running in the Oak Barrel Half Marathon a week from Saturday, and was actually hoping for mile repeats so I could practice my half marathon pace. He said that would be ok, so I was shooting for something between 6:40 and 6:50. I ended up running all of the repeats with Sue Anne and Nathan, and we completed the four intervals in 6:40, 6:42, 6:38, and 6:37. These were a little faster than my target but (1) I felt really good (2) The pace was consistent. I was actually really pleased with how well I felt considering the higher temps and the fact that I did a 5.5-mile warmup. I never felt winded and could have run more repeats at the end. In total I completed 11.5-miles with warmup and cooldown.

After the workout, John advised me (he is also my personal coach) to take tomorrow off since I already have almost 40 miles completed this week. I had been hoping to get in 60+ miles total for the week, but he told me to be more conservative in ramping up my mileage to hopefully avoid injury. This makes a lot of sense, and I’m glad that I have someone to give me feedback. So, I’m going to enjoy my unexpected rest day tomorrow and then get back to work on Saturday morning.

Beast Mode…ON!

This morning I completed a 7-mile solo run through the streets of Bellevue in my Saucony Hattoris. Through the end of last year I was only doing four or five miles per week in my Hattoris, but I have been slowly increasing that this year to the point where I’m trying to use them for most of my recovery miles on Wednesday and Friday. I know I’ve said this several times, but it is amazing to me how much of a difference it has made adding these types of runs. I have stopped using orthotics, have moved to the Saucony Kinvara as my primary trainer and race shoe (was using the Nike Vomero), and no longer have aches and pains in my arch and metatarsals. 

Today’s run felt pretty smooth, and I didn’t notice the minor aches that I was feeling on Monday and Tuesday. I kept the pace pretty easy at around a 9min average since I put in quite a few miles yesterday (14). So far this week I’ve completed 28-miles after only getting in 25 last week while in Honduras. I’m hoping to land around 60 for the week after Saturday’s run.

Beast Mode…ON!

This morning Nathan and I completed a moderate paced 12-mile run on Old Natchez and Del Rio. I love running out there, but sometimes forget how crazy it can be on a weekday morning during the school year. There were so many cars that I stayed on edge for most of the run. I need to make a mental note to stick to weekends during the school year.

As for the run, we started off fairly conservatively with miles of 9:22, 8:28 and 8:15. The next two miles were right at 8:00 min pace, and all but one of the last seven miles were under 8:00, with the last two in the 7:30s.  Overall the run felt pretty comfortable, though I do still have some aches from all of the hill running in Honduras last week. It was good to be able to push past 6-miles for the first time in over a week. I’m on schedule to have a 60+ mile week if I can get in a 20+ miler on Saturday.

Fortunately my stomach issues that cropped up yesterday afternoon did not affect this run significantly. Hopefully the worst of that is over. I hope to get in another 2-mile run this afternoon with my daughter Kate as we try to log miles for the ING Kids Rock Marathon.

Beast Mode….ON!

I’m glad to be back running closer to sea level after a week at 5,000 feet. My knees and ankles felt a little achey from the rough terrain last week, but it was nice to be able to run without feeling like I had a bag over my head. The temperatures this afternoon were in the mid 70s, just like most of my runs in Honduras, but the humidity was quite a bit higher.

I had hoped to get in an easy 10-miles, but it got shortened to six once my stomach started doing cartwheels. I’m sure this is related to my Honduras trip. This happens every time I travel there no matter how careful I attempt to be with food, water, hygiene, etc. I hope that I can get control of it without it affecting my running schedule this week.

I’m looking to get in a solid 12-mile run tomorrow and 60+ miles total for this week. Really trying to keep my mileage up as I prepare for leading the 4-hour pace group at the Country Music Marathon in five weeks. That’s going to be a long time on my feet!!

Beast Mode…ON!

This morning the Nashville Striders group training run for the Country Music Marathon was a 20-miler on the Stones River and Shelby Bottoms Greenways. There were several members of our group who were planning to participate (most of them are running Boston), so I decided to join them for at least part of the run. My coach had told me on Thursday that for the next couple of weeks he just wants me to try and keep my mileage up as long as my legs feel good, and then we would start thinking about the specific training plan for Milwaukee.

Since I’m only two weeks removed from the NOLA Marathon I decided to just play it by feel with regard to how much distance I would go for today. Most of the route was an out-and-back, so shortening the run would not be a problem.

However, I ended up feeling good for the entire run and actually completed 21-miles. I love this route and the run was fantastic. My overall pace was in the 8:30s, but this was a mix of miles from the 9:10s in the beginning to 7:40s at the end. I was especially pleased with how well my legs felt on big hills near the end of the run. Dan and Mary pushed the pace through this section, and my legs felt strong all the way to the end (BTW…Dan and Mary looked great).

Right now my confidence is still pretty high from NOLA, and I’m excited about the things my coach has in store for my training over the spring and summer. Beginning tomorrow, my Dad and I leave for an 8-day mission trip to southern Honduras. Not sure how much I’ll get to run, but any mileage completed will be up in the mountains at 5,000 ft above sea level.

Two weeks after we get back I’ve got the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, followed 3-weeks later by the Country Music Marathon (as the 4-hour pacer), and then the 500 Festival Mini Marathon (in Indianapolis) a week after that. Busy Schedule!

Beast Mode…ON!

Last night’s track workout was delayed due to a band of storms that moved through the Nashville area between 5:00 and 6:00pm. For a while I thought there was no way we were going to get the workout in, but by 10 minutes after 6pm we were on the track warming up.

It turned out to be a perfect night after the storm with a beautiful sunset and even a rainbow in the distance. The workout consisted of three sets of intervals:

Set 1

• 800m (200m)
• 400m (200m)
• 3 x 200m (100m) [400m]

Set 2

• 800m (200m)
• 400m (200m)
• 3 x 200m (100m) [400m]

Set 3

• 600m (200m)
• 3-Laps of Straights and Curves

With warmup and cooldown the workout came out to just under 7-miles for the night. I took it fairly easy since I’m still less than 2-weeks removed from the NOLA Marathon, but generally felt pretty good all evening. I can tell that my legs are still a bit fatigued, but this really only manifests itself when I try to push the pace. I did feel a bit of tightness in my calves tonight after my 6.5-mile Hattori run the morning before. However, I think this is more soreness than strain or injury.

Overall, it was a good night at the track! Beast Mode…ON!

Saucony Kinvara 3 – I’m totally getting geeked up about the upcoming Kinvara 3 from Saucony. My initial nervousness about the changes has now turned into…CAN’T WAIT TO TAKE THESE FOR A SPIN. While the official drop is in May, they are supposed to begin showing up at specialty retailers on April 26th.

Dang, yet another reason to move home 🙂

No place like Nashvegas 🙂

On a side note, the Jim Spivey Running Club that I mentioned is now based in Chicago. Jim started a club in Nashville when he was the cross-country coach at Vanderbilt. After a few years he accepted a job with Asics and moved back to Chicago. Pretty cool to be coached through a track workout by a 3-time Olympian.

Easy 6.5-mile run this AM in my Saucony Hattoris with Nathan & Paxton from the EW Nature Center. Slightly faster pace than normal for a Hattori run, especially after the first couple of miles, but it felt pretty effortless. Legs actually felt better than they did yesterday. Really want to do more of my easy miles in these shoes since I can tell such a HUGE difference in my feet and calves since adding them to the rotation. Now will have a full 35 hours off before track tomorrow night.

Beast Mode…ON

Tonight Kate and I started logging miles for what will be her 6th kid’s marathon. The idea is that they complete 25 miles before race day, and then on the night before the St. Jude Country Music Marathon, they all run the final 1.2 miles around LP Field to complete their own “kid’s” marathon.

The cool thing is that Kate enjoys doing this, and it means that we get to do some running together. Also her school has organized runs once per week leading up to the event to help the kid’s get in their mileage. On race day, everyone from their class gets to run together.

Tonight we were able to get in 2 miles on the Harpeth River Greenway running in 1/4 mile increments. Between each interval we took a 1-minute break, with a slightly longer break between miles 1 and 2. Our average pace for the intervals was around 9:30 per mile. I’ve said this before, but even though Kate is just 7-years-old, I wish I had her running form. She is natural forefoot runner which stands in stark contrast to my heavy heal strikes.

Anyway, it was a beautiful evening and a fun run with my daughter.

Is the coach a local guy or are you doing on-line coaching?

David…he is local. He is actually our track coach at the Jim Spivey Running Club, and is the buddy who just ran a 2:49 full in New Orleans.

After taking two days off it was good to get back on the road with Nathan this morning for a relatively easy paced 9-mile run. We ran a modified version of our “Steeplechase” route through Percy and Edwin Warner Parks, which is quite hilly. My legs are still a bit sluggish after the marathon last week, but overall this run felt pretty good, especially considering the hills and the humidity. Even at 6am, the temps were in the mid 60s and the humidity was nasty. Not looking forward to the summer months when we get this type of humidity with temps in the 80s and 90s.

On a side note, I have decided to hire a coach to help me develop my training plan for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in October. I know I’m going to have to take my training up to another level to qualify for Boston, and I really wanted someone else with a lot of experience to give me their recommendation on what that should look like. Very excited (an nervous) to see what he comes up with.

Beast Mode…ON

Even though I had already been selected by the Nashville Striders as the “official” 4-hour pacer for the Country Music Marathon, I was not officially registered for the race until today when I finally got my code for FREE registration. This is obviously part of being a pacer, but it was still pretty cool to go through the registration process and see this at the end…

If you are running either the CMM Half or Full and see my 4-hour pace sign, make sure you stop by and say hello. Keeping my fingers crossed for great weather!

Today has been a pretty miserable day in Nashville with widespread rain, frequent downpours, and gusty wind. I was afraid that our weekly track workout with the JSRC might get cancelled, or that no-one else would show up, so I got to track about an hour early to get in some miles around Vanderbilt campus in case either of these happened.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Susan also show up early for the same reasons and we ended up getting in over 5-miles prior to the workout in the heavy rain and wind. By the scheduled start time, Sue Anne, Aine, and Paxton had also arrived and we were able to have a great track workout.

Since I am still only four days removed from the NOLA Marathon, I took this workout really easy. Even with the nasty conditions I am happy to have completed the miles. The final total with the warmup, workout, and cool-down was just under 9.5-miles.

On a side note, it has been 2-hours since the end of the workout, and I am just now beginning to regain feeling in my toes. I don’t ever remember my feet being as cold as they were after the run was over. During our warmup miles, Susan said “We’re either really tough, or really stupid” to be out here doing this. I responded that to be long distance runners, I think you really have to be a little bit of both.

Beast Mode…ON

My next scheduled marathon is the St. Jude Country Music Marathon on April 28th in Nashville as the official 4-hour pacer. Saw this picture today of the various medals for the race, and I’ll have to say that these have got to be some of the most blah medals I’ve seen for a big race (40k+ participants). What’s worse is that the best of the three is the “Mini Marathon” which is a 2.6-mile race.

What do you think? Anybody else out there running the Country Music?