For Whom the Dogs Bark

Lone Star Stampede 5K

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Location:

Cypress,TX,

Member Since:

Oct 10, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K: 24:22 (March 2010); 22:33 (October 2010); 20:47 (May 2011); 21:05 (May 2012); 21:33 (September 2012); 21:23 (November, 2013); 22:31 (September 2014)

5M:  39:22 (November, 2012); 35:54 (November, 2013); 36:03 (March, 2015)

10K: 44:08 (November, 2010); 49:20 (July, 2013); 44:07 (April, 2015)

12K:  56:03 (December, 2013); 58:58 (December, 2014)

10M:  1:11:58 (October, 2012); 1:15:24 (October, 2014)

Half Marathon:  1:53:xx (London's Run 2010); 2:05:21 (Cowtown 2010); 1:37:04 (Gusher 2011); 1:42:19 (Huntsville 2011); 1:33:47 (Baytown Jailbreak 2012); 1:33:50 (The Woodlands 2012); 1:42:52 (Texas 2015); 1:49:17 (Jailbreak 2015); 1:38:34 (The Woodlands 2015)

25K: 2:01:47 (Fifth Third River Bank, May 2014)

Marathon: 5:51:35 (Texas Marathon 2009); 6:21:36 (Ogden 2009); 4:58:29 (St. George 2009); 4:13:45 (Texas Marathon 2010); 4:04:12 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2010); 5:11:14 (Hartford ING, 2010); 3:41:43 (Richmond SunTrust, 2010); 3:39:27 (Texas Marathon 2011); 3:41:46 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2011); 3:30:35 (St. George 2011); 3:41:51 (Richmond 2012); 3:49:15 (Texas 2013); 3:46:59 (Paavo Nurmi, 2013); 3:34:04 (St. George 2013); 3:49:51 (Texas 2014); 3:31:59 (Richmond 2014); 3:28:34 (Boston 2015)

Short-Term Running Goals:

3:20, 1:30, 0:20

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'm 60, there is no long term.

Personal:

I live, work and run in Houston, Texas.  I have run 17 marathons, some good ones and some others.  I prefer straight, flat, cold, sea-level marathons, still waiting for my first one.  I feel like there are more PRs out there.  When I have them, I am told it is time to dial it back, run for healthy reasons.  I'm sure that's right, and I'm sure it won't happen.

My wife and I are from the mountains of the west.  We have five kids, three granddaughters and three grandsons.  The kids and grandkids are native Texans but we are not -- you have to be born here.

As for my blog title: I run most of my miles before sunrise, sometimes hours before. On the back road of my neighborhood two hours before daylight, I can depend on a pack of mutts behind the boundary fence lighting up when they hear my footsteps. I have wondered what they wanted; but according to Hemingway I needn't ask.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
92.4611.003.603.14110.20
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.530.000.000.007.53

72F, 94%, SSE 5 mph.  Back was pretty sore when I woke up, but it isn't running muscles because I didn't feel anything when I was running.  Good news there.  I ran 7.53 miles in 1:06:19, 8:48/mile, 147 bpm.  The tendon on top of my right foot was sore at first, then settled down quickly until 2.5 miles, where it got very sore.  But at about mile 4 it settled down a little and didn't get worse.  I finished out the intended mileage plus a little with no major issues.  Foot quit hurting immediately when I stopped running, starting to see a pattern here.  I have had it on ice most of the morning, will monitor it during the day today.  If there is incremental improvement again, I will probably try to get in a little bit of speedwork this week.  Have to do something if I am going to run a marathon on June 16.  I've been thinking about how disappointed I would be if there was good weather in Duluth on that day and I couldn't take advantage of it.  Finished with a long stretching session, got to work and discovered I had sailed right past my 8:30 meeting, but at least I ran injured. . .  May do bike again tonight.

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.040.000.000.005.04

85F, 60%, SE 2 mph to start, 81F, 72%, SSE 7 mph to end.  When I got up this morning the foot hurt worse than at the same time yesterday, so I didn't go out.  Worked until mid-afternoon, then drove back home and went to the gym where I did one hour on the stationary bike at a cadence of about 90 per minute (upright, not recumbent, my back felt much better), felt better at that speed and resistance than last time, and I could read so it helped pass the time.  At about the 50-minute mark I got tired of reading, cranked up the tension and sped up to 104 rpm, whereupon my heart rate finally started to rise, all the way up to 142, but by the time I got to 60 minutes I felt like I was finishing a 5K.  Then did weights for about a half hour and came home and ate a full dinner, then went out the door for 5 actual running miles, 5.04 in 44:12, 8:46 per mile, 152 bpm.  Felt really odd at first but I eventually got used to the food sloshing around.  Foot has been improving all day long and felt fine tonight, not sure how it will feel in the morning.  The sun started to go down a little bit and as soon as the shadows came it felt much cooler.  But I learned that it is better to run outside hot than inside on a treadmill.

At about the 1-mile mark an unleashed mangy mutt (35 pounds) came running up, so I did my usual frozen statue defense, after pausing my Garmin of course.  The owner started talking and I thought she was trying to me her dog was harmless, but she was pointing at a rooftop, it was a bald eagle sitting there, the first I had seen in Texas, even the dog lost interest in my arthritic heel.  I looked at a Texas birds guide and sure enough, the bald eagle is an uncommon but year-round resident on the upper Texas coast, I had no idea.  There was a song-bird flying around it trying to get it to leave, probably has a nest in the area.  I have seen large hawks fly away when smaller, faster birds start pecking at them, but the eagle just ignored him, he was too special to run.  Very cool.  (Rye is going to have to psychoanalyze why the appearance of the eagle stopped the dog attack.)

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.050.000.000.005.05

72F, 100% and calm.  5.05 miles in 43:04, 8:32 per mile, 149 bpm.  Tendon on right foot is starting to recover.  Iced it twice today as a precaution, but was getting around a lot better.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

70F, 100%, SSE 1 mph, cloudy.  Out the door at 5:00 for 7.00 miles in 58:15, 8:19 per mile, 149 bpm.  Same average heart rate as yesterday but 13 seconds per mile faster.  (Mile 5 yesterday was 8:15 at 157 bpm, today 8:05 at 152 bpm.)  Had a little bit of springiness going on in Charlie and Horse this morning, no tendon pain at all in my right foot, so they probably won't shoot me after all.  This week has felt like tapering, so I will probably run a 5K in the morning, might be able to get a PR despite the heat.  Then back to 10 miles a day next week if all goes well, and putting in some honest speed work.  Then, if everything goes really well, I will get in another hard long run Saturday a week, the goal will be 7:45.

Comments(3)
Race: Lone Star Stampede 5K (3.14 Miles) 00:21:05, Place overall: 17, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.160.000.003.144.30

75F, 100%, S 6 mph.  This would have been a great race in February, well organized, well attended, lots of good food afterwards.  But the first weekend in May is almost always going to be a little tough temperature-wise.

It was 72F at the time I left the house this morning, and 82F at 10:00 in the morning, so I am guessing the temperature for the 8:00 start.  This race is sponsored by the University of Texas, so there was a lot of burnt orange around and no Aggie maroon to be seen anywhere.  But they were taking anybody's money.  The wife of a colleague at work was running in it, and their kids were running the mile race afterwards (his two boys got first and second, but he doesn't like to run, go figure), so I decided to go to this one instead of the 5K in the Medical Center that I did last year on the same weekend.  I read this week that if you "prime the pump" by racing your heart a little bit ahead of time, you won't have so much trouble with the first mile.  So I warmed up for a bit then ran two and a half minutes at what felt like a 10K pace.  Was good and warmed up for the start, but there is no cure for being out of shape.  The first mile went OK, 6:30 (175 bpm) and I figured I was going to get a PR.  Second mile was 6:37 (186 bpm), still not too bad.  Then it all went south.  Couldn't maintain it any longer, third mile 7:01 (187) bpm, then 6:52 (188) for the stub split.  6:43 overall pace, not a PR.  I was 17th overall, and all alone.  Winning time was 14:55 and there were 16 runners under 20:00, including 3 or 4 women, then me, then the next one was over 22 I think.  They had me listed as a female, but I got it fixed, or at least they said so.  First in age group and I think third overall master. 

The course had lots of turns, but I ran every tangent and it still measured long.  I saw something recently about course measurement.  Race directors say the discrepancy is attributable to the Garmin technology, not the course measurement technique.  But Garmin geometry says that because it measures each straight line segment compared to a curvy actual course, the Garmin will always measure a little short.  So why does mine always measure long?  I think course directors make it a little bit long to ensure certification.  This one wasn't too bad, though, only 0.03 miles long, about 20 seconds at the pace I was running.  On the other hand, it meant the different between getting a PR and not -- but I am really aiming for 20 flat, which I wouldn't have gotten today under any circumstances, so no big deal.

 

Comments(9)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.130.003.600.008.73

67F, 100% and calm.  Really big moon out there, bright enough that I had two shadows when I would run under streetlamps, one moving and the other stationary, kind of cool.  Out the door at 4:15, planned to run 10 with 7 x 1K as a workout part of the run.  Warmed up at 8:40 pace, then ran 5 intervals, whereupon the tendon on the top of my foot started to hurt.  Started another one and it was still hurting, so I quit without finishing it, jogged a little further then walked the rest of the way in.  Wasn't in intense pain, just trying to be careful.  The foot has been pretty good today, but is hurting tonight.  Total of 8.73 miles in 1:11:41, 8:13 per mile.  Intervals grossed up to 1-mile pacing were 7:11 (158), 7:05 (164), 6:49 (169), 6:52 (169) and 7:01 (170).  These weren't particularly hard, so that part was good at least.  Then went on the seminary run followed by legs and core, then came home for a long stretching and rolling session.  Seminary run ends Wednesday a week, and my daughter will have a ride next year, so this part of my life is almost over.  Have had kids in early morning seminary for 15 straight years, probably drove 10 of those years.  No wonder I don't sleep well.

Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.170.000.000.0012.17

67F, 100%, calm and clearing.  Big storm blew through last night but I never heard it, didn't know until I got out and had to start dodging debris.  Today is garbage day and nearly every can was blown over, with many of the hinged lids detached.  Sorry I missed it.  I resolved to go slow today, and found out I am good at that.  12.17 miles in 1:52:26, 9:14 per mile, 136 bpm.  I iced my foot twice yesterday and by this morning it was fine, no pain at all, at least at these speeds.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.185.000.000.0010.18

68F, 100%, N 7 mph, clear then cloudy.  Got in late from a dinner last night, where I ate too much rich food.  Was planning to sleep a little later, but woke up like a clock at 4:15, out the door by 4:50.  I wanted to get 6 before the seminary run.  It was originally supposed to be speed intervals today, but I was afraid of aggravating my foot, so I ran MP miles instead.  After 1 mile warmup I went 5 at GMP:  7:36 (157), 7:30 (160), 7:24 (163), 7:31 (164) and 7:39 (165).  Then drove my daughter to the church and ran 4 more slow miles (8:40 - 9:00) from there -- restarts are always painful but I got through it.  Overall 10.18 miles in 1:24:04, 8:15 per mile.  Then drove to the gym and did legs and core for about an hour, came home and ate, then stretched and rolled.  I felt one small twinge in my foot at about mile 4 of the fast ones, but that was it.  I probably saved a week of training but cutting it short on Monday.  Legs feel very tired this morning but not stiff and sore.

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

65F, 81%, calm and partly cloudy.  Got up very early and finished the run before taking my daughter to seminary.  10.00 miles in 1:21:18, average pace 8:08 per mile, 152 bpm, max 161 bpm.  Got a couple of high 7s in, wanted to run just a little harder today then let up tomorrow.  Nice crisp pace, but harder than I would have thought, especially at the lower temperatures we had today.  It occurred to me that I should be doing a lot of work in the 160 to 165 bpm range, that is where I run on a marathon, if not higher.  Aside from the mental aspect of getting used to that level of effort, it seems that in addition to overall fitness, there is a sub-fitness level within each heart rate zones.  Some people are more fit at higher heart rates, others at lower.  Obviously I tend toward the lower range, which is why I have a hard time holding higher heart rates for the whole marathon distance.  Just a theory, I get a new one every week.

Weights, rolling and stretching.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.110.000.000.0010.11

66F, 96%, calm between storms.  10.11 miles in 1:28:54, 8:42 per mile, 140 bpm.  Was saving up for Saturday morning, but now it's Saturday morning and we have lightning and thunder.  Not sure what will happen.

Comments(7)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.270.000.000.0010.27

81F, 56%, NNW 7 mph.  Had to cancel the run this morning due to lightning.  I'll have to do the big run later, my next chance is Wednesday.  Went out at 5:00 p.m. and my new neighbor walked up -- actually it was his father, have yet to meet my new neighbor.  Wanted to thank me for painting his side of the fence when I got mine painted.  I was hoping he would contribute but I don't think it is happening -- at least he thinks I am a stand-up guy.  Turns out his son lives in College Station and bought this house just in case he "met someone" here in Houston.  His dad said it hasn't been successful and he doubts his son will ever move into the house.  So I got a lot of information about my bachelor neighbor quick, but it was 5:30 before I finally started, blazing sun but it felt OK at first.  The run started to get long toward the end, though.  10.27 miles in 1:27:39, 8:32 per mile.  Average HR was 153 bpm, even though it didn't feel like I was working that hard.  That is what the heat does, you have a higher heart rate and you get tired faster, even though your legs feel fine.  Best part of the run was meeting a guy coming the other way wearing a bad toupee.  That works as well as a sun screen I suppose, kind of like an umbrella, but doesn't the toupee just have to come off for the run, no exceptions?

Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.106.000.000.0010.10

61F, 97%, calm and clear.  Out very early again to finish the run before the seminary run, thus avoiding the dreaded re-start.  Ran 4 easy at 8:25, then dropped it to GMP for the next 6:  7:23 (156), 7:33 (159), 7:36 (162), 7:22 (164), 7:30 (166), and 7:27 (169).  These felt pretty good.  Altogether 10.10 miles in 1:19:24, 7:54 per mile.  The plan is to do 20 at 7:45 on Wednesday (the run I missed on Saturday), however . . .

Possible disaster after the seminary run.  My lower back, which has been bothering me all weekend but felt fine during the run, seized up and I could barely walk when I got out of the car.  I have been stretching and I have iced it, to little effect.  I have a herniated disk which pushes against the sciatic nerve between L2 and L3, causing a small amount of permanent numbness in my right foot.  I got this 4 years ago, right after I started running, and it shut me down for the summer, very intense pain initially.  This morning is a rude reminder that I am not a young man.  Maybe it will go away as quickly as it came, but I am worried.  At least it appears I have been through every injury now, since we are apparently in a recycle mode.

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

63F, 89%, NW 6 mph with light rain.  Figured I should at least post the weather.  My injury might be in my upper glutes instead of lower back.  It is very deep, impervious to ice, and it only hurts when I try to walk.  I can stand, sit and drive normally.  And my left leg is normal, just my right, too bad I need them both.  When I focus on keeping the muscle relaxed, whatever muscle it is, I can walk.  And it is a little better this morning.  So there is hope, although a 3:20 marathon in Duluth is not going to happen at this point unless I am back to full speed at some point this week.  That will be a long shot.

Comments(11)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.500.000.000.002.50

Painful throughout the day.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

Not much better.

Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

No real progress.  I think it must be my herniated disc flaring up again.  It is an old injury which has resulted in numbness on the bottom of my right foot continually since it happened four years ago.  There isn't any place I can push to stimulate muscle pain, and it doesn't improve like a regular muscle or tendon injury would do.  Definitely not an overuse injury, I was not running big miles when it happened.  It might be related to lifting weights.  This morning I did an hour on the stationary bike, got my heart rate up to 158 at one point.  Planned to do it again tonight, but it didn't feel too good during the day today.  If I can't spin then I am toast, probably am anyway.

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Did spin bike for one hour this morning, for the third straight day.  Actually getting better at it, moved from 15.5 mph to 16.8, and got my heart rate up to 169 for short bursts.  I don't know how much conditioning it is preserving, but I get a good endorphin dose out of it.  I went to a chiro this afternoon who specializes in sports injuries and they worked me over pretty good.  They say my right hamstrings are the source of all my ills, they don't think it's the back at all.  I'm a little skeptical, but it's not like I have any answers.  I have to do ice and some prescribed stretches twice a day, not too bad for homework.  They also put that black tape all over my back, didn't totally follow the explanation for that either.  The chiro runs a 2:02 half, so he is in the mix.  They said I could run by feel, so it's back out on the pavement in the morning to see how it goes.  Still hope for Grandma's, I have until June 1 to pull out without forfeiting my housing money.

Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.220.000.000.005.22

73F, 88%, SSE 6 mph, partly cloudy.  Summer weather patterns are starting to take permanent hold.  I felt about the same when I got up, but armed with the chiro's encouragement I went out and ran.  5.22 miles in 45:04, 8:38 per mile, 151 bpm.  Even correcting for the heat and humidity I have lost 4 or 5 bpm in conditioning, could have been worse and might still be.  The back/glutes/abs/whatever it is were an issue the whole time, iced immediately but still seized up like an overheated engine when I tried to get out of the car after driving my daughter to school.  Limped around for a while fixing my breakfast, could hardly put any weight on the leg.  Then all of a sudden it improved, shortly after taking two Ibuprofen.  I never take drugs.  Actually, I think the improvement was starting to happen anyway, but not sure, maybe this stuff kicks in really fast?  If they hadn't told me I could run I would be thinking right now that I had made a serious mistake.  I'm going to keep my other appointment on Monday, see what he says.  The best I can say for this morning is non-definitive, trending toward negative.  But it's just one day.

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
1.000.000.000.001.00

I have been to two different chiros now and they are both saying the same thing, that it isn't a herniated disc but sciatic nerve passing through the psoas, which has probably been aggravated from a recent uptick in weights.  I guess that's right, it's all I have to go on right now.  Ran a mile this morning and it hurt a lot, although I am getting around OK today.  Needless to say, Grandma's Marathon is a scratch.  It seems that an aggressive stretching regimen is going to get me past this the quickest.  I am spinning for an hour every morning and started back on weights yesterday.  There is some discomfort with that but it is on a different order than running or even walking.  Those are the only two activities that give me trouble.

Comments(7)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

I am feeling a lot better, probably because I don't run anymore.  My plan is to do spin bike every morning for an hour, weights three times a week, and tons of stretching.  So far this week I have spun four times and weights twice.  Got 18.5 miles this morning, spinning for an hour on settings 10 and 15, my best so far (believe me, I would have preferred about 7 or 8 1K repeats).  I actually got my heart rate up to high 160s.  When I finished there was a large puddle of sweat under my bike.  I was impressed, but I don't think that opinion was shared by the bikers around me.  Just trying not to lose too much fitness, folks.

So the gym I go to is called Planet Fitness.  It stresses low prices and a judgment-free environment.  As a result it is friendly and low-key.  My son used to go there every day for about a year, and got some pretty large muscles.  But for his birthday last week he upgraded to LA Fitness.  (I don't know how widespread these gyms are, they are both pretty prevalent in the Houston area.)  So I have been going there with him to do weights, but I think I prefer the cheap place.  LA Fitness has more machines, but it seems to be full of posers, really large guys covered with tattoos and a bunch of high school wannabes whose daddies bought their memberships.  (Looking at it honestly, I admit that my son fits in well there.) 

I am trying to ice twice a day but it usually ends up being only once.  For the first time in decades I can touch the floor in front of my toes with knees locked.  It is ironic that I am gaining hamstring flexibility because of what I thought was a back injury.  I think the injury is in the piroformis.  When I sit with my ankle over the opposite knee, I can do fine with my left leg but my right leg doesn't bend much.

My chiro consults with one of the national track organizations and I like him a lot.  I think he may even be somebody who can help me long term. 

 

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
92.4611.003.603.14110.20
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