The tour of 8k

Hey folks -



Every race I've run thus far in 2013 has been an 8000 meter race.  Two cross country and two road.  I'm very excited to finally not race five miles, but all of the 8ks I've run so far have been pretty good.  Most recently, I've busted the rust with an 8k in St. Paul (interview and recap here) and last weekend in Chicago, at the Shamrock Shuffle (almost a month after St. Pat's).  I'm told there will be good video up from the lead of the race soon, so that will be much more entertaining than my rambling textual retelling.

Other things -

Go to the TCTC store and buy yourself one of the comfiest sweatshirts or t-shirts you will ever clothe your torso in. 100% of the proceeds from sales go into track club activities.

Also, don't be afraid to go to Gear Running and try out the new Karhu Flow3.  Them shoes is on fire right now.

A Far Better Rest

This was the serious face I made so the Canadians didn't think I was suffering.  I was very much suffering.

My mega-season is finally over.  This mess of a racing "segment" (thanks Hansons) lasted from my first marathon prep race at the US 20k in early September to the NACAC Cross Country race last Saturday.  I got to put on the the red, white, and blue one more time, and wound up running halfway well.  The Canadian team was pretty stacked, but our team rolled up on them in the second half of the race and we eeked out the win.  Winning is fun.

So now I am able to rest.  I have only vague plans for the spring, mostly centered around running really fast and winning lots of races.  That's probably a good way to start planning.

Here's a line from another good book I read once, completely out of context:

"But that is the beginning of a new story - the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended."

Here's a picture from the race in Scotland.  This serves to remind me that I will never have hair like Sean Quigley, and I really should give up trying.  (I've got a haircut scheduled for Friday)

There are recaps of the race all over the place, and a decent interview should be up at Level Renner sometime soon.

In other news, I "paced" at the Houston Marathon last weekend.  The job was to go 5:04 for 15 miles.  Thanks to the temps and wind and rain, it wound up being somewhere around 5:18 pace for 16 miles.  Oh well.  I was planning on getting a nice workout out of the deal, but had to settle for a nice run and then an hour long shivering fit in a med tent while the volunteers joked about you runners not havin' any body fat.  Hilarious.

The next move is to Mandeville, Jamaica for the NACAC Cross Country race.  Most of the team ran in Scotland, so I expect a similarly victorious result.

After that, I need a break.  I've been training since June, so get off my case.