It was a lonely road
With 890s on dirt and I have flown
And I presuppose
You're not reading this 'cause I'm unknown

I did those mile repeats
And the sweat ran down my face in streams
Did those miles in heaps
And if I do them fast I won't be unknown

But I'm unknown
Yes, I'm unknown
I should have known
I run un...

My birthday's no reason to take it easy
By ten I thought that my heart would stop beating
My cooldown was slow 'cause I had no esprit
And I still am unknown


My birthday was two days ago.  To "celebrate" I did the hardest interval workout I've ever done.  I finished feeling like I'd just done a long, hard race.  I was almost too tired to do my long run yesterday.  Almost.

I'll spare you all the details of the workout.  Mainly so that if somebody other than my grandmother is actually reading this, they won't steal my workouts.  Sufficed to say, I thought my legs were on the verge of giving out before I hit the halfway point.  To clarify a bit from above, I wore New Balance 890s.  Lightweight with enough support for what seemed like a million miles.

I guess I'll also finish my Switzerland update, since I've been back for almost a month now.  The race organizers hired a gourmet chef to cook breakfast and dinner every day for the invited racers.  We had free lunch in a different gourmet restaurant every day.  Except for the day that we gathered at somebody's house for wine and raclette, a special cheese from the Alps.  It comes in a giant wheel and they heat it up and scrape a bunch of melted cheese on top of potatoes.  It was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten.  Quote of the day from another runner:  "These kids are so smart.  They're like five and they know French.  I don't even know French!"

The race was pretty good too.  I wasn't quite ready for the steepness of the Alps.  Or, more accurately, I wasn't quite ready for the race course ignoring switchbacks going strait up, and far more terrifyingly, down.  I guess I know what to be ready for next time, because I fully intend to race Sierre-Zinal again.  Running with my own drinks was a good plan, because PowerBar Ironman Perform is much better than taking your chances with feed stations and wondering if you'll get sparkling water, tea, wine...  Little things like that helped me be the 8th place and the top American.

Next up is the Chicago Marathon.  We'll see how that goes.