For Whom the Dogs Bark

79F, 94%, SSW 3 mph.  Ran this right at 10-minute pace.  Wanted to get some miles in without racking up any deficits.  First 6 felt very good, legs were strong.  Then they got sore.  It has been almost 2 weeks since I ran 20, almost tempted to do it on Saturday but hopefully I won't.  Overall 12.11 miles in 2:01:01, 10:00/mile.  141 average heart rate, 152 max.

74F, 100% and calm.  Woke up stiff and slow, legs dead from running 12 easy yesterday.  But I was out the door on autopilot, sat down to get a RHR and it came to 55.  I can tell this taper is doing a lot of good?  The reason I don't trust my training is because it has never given me a reason to trust it.

Started out and legs felt heavy, though not sore.  I pushed it just a little and came in on the warmup mile at 9:26.  Then went 5 x 1K pretty hard, trying for 7:45 but ultimately faster than that:  7:56 (152), 7:42 (159), 7:07 (169), 7:06 (175) and 7:08 (180).  The third one kicked in nicely, was working hard but felt mostly under control.  Overall 6.02 miles in 48:56, 8:07/mile, 156 bpm, 185 max.  Even though I could never hold it that far, it felt good to see my legs churning at my old half marathon pace for the last 3 repeats.  Hopefully 8:15 will be sustainable in a week.

75F, 100%, calm and bright sunlight most of the run.  Kept the lid on today.  My daughter is in town with her family for my wife's birthday, so she agreed to join me at 7:00.  Left the house at 6:05 and ran 5 at low-low HR, 11:35 per mile, 122 bpm.  Then I met my daughter, told her I didn't want to run anything under 8:45, so that is what we did.  9:04 (137), 8:49 (144), 8:56 (147), 8:53 (149).  Then my daughter peeled off and I ran one more, 8:35 (156).  It was oppressively hot with the high humidity and the sun beating down, was very happy to see my heart rate under 150 at this particular speed.  It compares favorably with the splits in this training zone that I was seeing at the start of last year and the end of 2011 when I was hitting my PRs.  I could see myself running 8:15s at a similar heart rate if the temperature were in the 50s, but we will soon know.  We will have some rollers and a little bit of altitude to deal with (only 1,500 feet but it makes a difference to a sea-level guy).

78F, 93% (77 DP), SSW 3 mph.  Ran a quick 4 this morning at GMP, 8:41 (138), 8:18 (151), 8:11 (156) and 8:10 (159).  4.06 miles in 33:50, 8:20/mile.  150 bpm average, 162 max.  Legs feel good today.  HR seems to be almost in the right zone, it might be even better if I get a boost from the weather this weekend.  It will come down to conditioning rather than heart rate -- that sounds a little off, but from experience I know that if my conditioning is good I can sustain higher heart rates for longer distances.  Current forecast for Hurley on Saturday morning is high 40s/low 50s, that can change quickly but at the moment I can hardly believe my luck.

79F, 89%, SSW 8 mph.  Still hot but no big deal at these distances.  1 mile WU then 3 x 1K:  7:27 (158), 7:17 (166) and 6:57 (174).  Overall 4.08 miles in 33:24, 154 bpm average, 182 max.  Trying to get apples to apples (or at least apples to pears):  Last Friday, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th repeats were 7:42 (159), 7:07 (169) and 7:06 (175), so today might be an improvement.

Some sobering realizations about the marathon course in Wisconsin.  Looked up a couple of comments about the course and people were complaining that it was a very challenging course.  Apparently it is mostly hills, which if true will not be good since starting and ending elevations are almost the same.  The course profile shows lots of bumps but it always does and I don't trust them anyway, they are usually wrong.

79F, 94% (77 DP), SSW 7 mph.  4.10 miles at GMP, 33:38 total, 8:13/mile.  8:29 (139), 8:13 (151), 8:05 (157) and 8:05 (160).  Heart rate climbing too fast, but I think that is a weather thing.  Felt like I could do 16 but not 26.  Banking hard on a big boost from the weather.

3-mile shakeout run with 5 sprints in the last mile to create lactated legs for carb loading.  But couldn't eat enough carbs to meet the standard, decided not to push it.  9:19 (129), 9:12 (137), 7:39 (157), 5:52 (170) for the stub.

Writing this on Friday night, at my motel in Ironwood, MI, across the river from Hurley, WI.  I have driven the majority of the course and I am worried.  Nothing jawdropping, but it's just that there is 26 miles of it.  I don't think a flat mile exists in the whole state.  The purpose of this race is to get a BQ -- otherwise it would be a lot of fun.  The scenery is beautiful, the people are nice and the weather is fantastic.  Maybe it won't be a big deal.  I ran bigger hills in Arizona, not well, but that was at altitude.  And the course from downtown Houston along the bayou that I ran 5 or 6 times in the afternoon heat is almost as hilly as this one, so there is a sliver of hope.  Maybe the thick cool air will save me.

Temperature at race time is forecast at 51F, climbing to 66F by the finish.  Dew point right now is 48F, compared to 72F in Houston.  At least I achieved my weather goal by coming here.

Well, it was an interesting day.  Didn’t get a BQ, but I think it was due to factors beyond my control, couldn’t really have done anything more.  The course was a monster and it actually got too hot at the end, up there in the north woods.  But I had fun.  There are thousands of lakes up there, and I may have talked my wife into getting property somewhere in the Upper Peninsula.

This is a small marathon, but that is deceiving, it is an important event for this region.  It is a venerable race, this was its 45th running, not many races can say that.  It was organized but not well-organized, no feel of large marathon professionalism, which was OK of course.  I got to the registration desk late Friday afternoon and they had me registered for the half, even though my form was in the marathon book.  They said they would fix it but they were also like, “dang, there’s another one”.  I wasn’t super confident but decided that the race was small enough I could get it fixed if I somehow managed to qualify.  By this time I had driven portions of the course and I knew that goal was receding into the sunset, so I decided that would be a happy problem to have if somehow they didn’t give me an official qualifying time.

In keeping with the theme, there was quite a debate about bus pickup times.  The website said 5:15, the local newspaper said 6:00, and a sheet handed out at the registration desk said 6:15.  I decided to go with that but went a little bit early just in case I was wrong.  I could drive to the start and figure out later how to retrieve my car.  But I guessed right.  It was me and a bunch of friendly, old local guys on the first bus -- the crowd that wakes up at 2:00 ready for the day.  The bus was literally 2/3 full of old men with heavy Scandinavian accents (mostly Finns and Norwegians, as far as I could tell), have never seen anything like it.  They were having a grand old time, curious about what brought me up there.  It got raucous when I said I came up there for the weather; apparently this marathon is known around there for being hot, humid and miserable.  One guy had a long, thin gray goatee and a do-rag -- he said that just proves you can never trust anything on Google.  He was also pretty fired up about the price of Grandma’s Marathon, said next time I should come run his, which is free, including a t-shirt, chip timing and a certified course.  He did say his was “small, not like this one”.  These guys are the reason I finished 6th in my age group, which you would think would be impossible for a race that had about 200 total individual runners.

Another unique thing about this race was all the relay teams.  They were running 5-mile legs and the town turned out in force -- I think there were almost as many relay teams as individual runners.  One of the teams had about 10 runners in it (not sure how, maybe there were two teams).  They showed up somewhat inebriated and started doing drills and chants like a football team warming up.  One guy’s running outfit was cut-off jeans and basketball shoes -- no shirt.  He was practicing his starting block technique.

Starting temperature was about 50F, but the sun was already up at 7:30 when they started -- not sure why they don’t just start an hour early, but I think they consider 10:00 too early to drink beer.  I tried to go very relaxed the first mile but it came in right at 8:15, my goal pace.  The next two were a little slower, but it was difficult to maintain an even pace due to the very uneven course.  I read somewhere that there was a total of 1,800 feet of climbing, though the finish line was only 3’ higher than the start line.  They had mats every 5 miles, but not at the start line -- gun times only.  At about mile 3 I fell in with a 51-year old guy from the Detroit area who was running his 14th marathon, but his last one was 1997, so he had no idea what he was doing.  Our paces seemed similar, so we decided to work together.  We ran all the way to about mile 19 before he fell off pace.  By about mile 20 I still had an 8:17 - 8:20 cumulative pace going, but went up a big hill and my legs failed to recover for the first time, at which point I knew it was over.  Did the 10K death march and ended up walking part of the last hill in mile 26, which was the longest and steepest of the course.  Finished in 3:46:59, but because of no starting mat my posted time (whenever they get around to it) is going to be the gun time, 3:47:04. 

Here are my splits, reliable heart rate readout kicking in after two miles:  (1) 8:15; (2) 8:33; (3) 8:24 (158); (4) 7:56 (159); (5) 8:04 (158); (6) 8:34 (160); (7) 8:22 (161); (8) 8:33 (162); (9) 8:16 (162); (10) 8:14 (162); 8:13 (160); (12) 8:23 (160); (13) 8:05 (160); (14) 8:24 (167); (15) 8:08 (166); (16) 8:17 (165); (17) 8:22 (163); (18) 8:24 (166); (19) 8:27 (166); (20) 8:30 (170); (21) 8:46 (168); (22) 8:38 (168); (23) 8:41 (168); (24) 9:32 (164); (25) 9:55 (158); (26) 12:19 (149) and (26.28 by Garmin measurement) 2:45 (9:58 pace) (149).

Low 70s at the end, but I never got an official temperature/humidity reading.  My heart rate was never bad, which I attribute to running down here all summer.  It was actually lower than when I ran my first BQ in Richmond 3 years ago.  When HR goes down at the end of the race, that means “bonk”, pure and simple, very easy to interpret that particular biofeedback indicator.  But I believe that my bonk for the last 3 miles despite a lower overall heart rate means I haven’t come all the way back yet.  The day I ran my PR (SGM 2011) I averaged 169 for the race.  Today was 163 (disregarding the bonked miles).  And the hills used up precious glycogen, which I think may be a different metric than heart rate.  It all added up, but I didn’t run poorly, I did slightly better than in January on a flat cold course.  Today I just wasn’t quite ready, probably would not have made 3:35 even on a flat course, though I would have been much closer.  On to St. George, my first qualifying race for 2015, when my BQ switches to 3:55, I’m embarrassed to say.

78F, 100%, SW 8 mph.  Felt good to get out running again, for about half a mile.  Lower left leg and calf are still sore from the race.  Ran 4.05 miles in 43:13, 9:29/mile, 141 bpm, 154 max.  I have travel the next two weeks, so good timing for the build-up.  Then 3 weeks as hard as I can go, then a 2-week taper for SGM.  Not sure what is going to happen after that, I don't have anything else scheduled until Woodlands in March, and I'm pacing my son on that one.  Maybe I'll run Grandma's next summer.  Now that I've toured Paavo Nurmi's little shop of horrors, Dick Beardsley's should be a snap.

But on that subject, the guys on the bus told me it was a fun course, just not fast, and that was a good description.  This course was very beautiful and the people were wonderful.  I might run it again sometime if it aligns well with overall training plan -- but I won't be trying to get a PR.

75F, 96%, NE 3 mph.  Drizzly and cloudy this morning, felt pretty comfortable outside.  5.30 miles at LLHR:  121 bpm, 125 max.  11:41/mile.  RHR 58, so my body is still trying to build back from Saturday's race.

I decided this morning that I am quite happy with how fast I came back from my injury, though I am not all the way back yet -- but at the same time I need to find my ceiling quickly, never found it before the injury.  I am probably going to do something like the following: 

(1)  Train through SGM -- run hard on race day, maybe even let up a little bit the last week going into it, but basically train through.  Definitely going though, there will be several relatives and friends there, so it will just be a fun day.  My time for that race is pretty irrelevant at this point, other than getting a qualifying time for Boston 2015 in the next age group up.

(2)  Next target race Kingwood on New Years day.  Boring 4-loop course but flat as a pancake, almost always cool or cold weather, and measures the correct distance.  Between now and then my training is going to involve lots of distance, front-loaded with lots of LHR miles, lots of long, long runs (maybe 24 miles instead of 20) and lots of daytime running.  I think I can get started right away, I really believe in LHR running and those miles don't seem to be affected too much by my recent race.  I noticed on Saturday that despite minimal speedwork going into the race it was no problem hitting GMP for extended periods of time even on a very hilly course, the problem was maintaining heart rate through the last 10K, maybe even bumping it up, need to get just a little tougher.  Every 4 weeks or so do a monster distance or workout week, then back off until I recover.

(3) Pace my son at Woodlands, then possibly run Grandma's or Paavo Nurmi next summer. 

(4) Start programs for long-term weight loss and serious long-term core/glute/hams weightlifting.  Even though I am 163 right now at 6'0" and look skinny, I am 22% body fat and can barely do a situp.  The ceiling is soft in this area, but the trick will be doing both at the same time while avoiding injury.  My bodybuilder son is a fountain of knowledge and can help me.

(5)  Something in the fall or Kingwood again, maybe both, next target race being Boston 2015.  That might be it, but that's a long ways away and could change several times.

(6)  Keep my job, I'm going to need it.

74F, 100% and calm.  Slightly cooler.  Ran 6.03 miles in 1:09:44, 11:31/mile.  LLHR: 120 bpm, 125 max;  RHR 48.  My RHR yesterday was 10 bpm higher, kind of strange.  But when I went out to run and sat down to get a reading, I started talking to my neighbor who is training for the Houston marathon, telling him about my race, etc.  By the time I got done it was in the low 60s.  When I sat still it dropped like a rock, all the way to 48.  But I did run better than yesterday, whether because of better weather or further recovery hard to tell.

Yesterday I got a health screening at work, not for personal reasons but because they offer a discount on health insurance premiums.  So I went and got my arm cuffed and finger pricked.  All the readings were very different from the ones I have gotten recently.  Blood pressure was 126/64 instead of 106/60 like I normally get at the dentists office.  Blood sugar was 109 instead of 60 from my last physical.  HDL was 37 instead of 63.  Total cholesteral 176 instead of 138.  Just a low-tech operation.  Then I had to fill out a very invasive survey on which I lied repeatedly (e.g., I get depressed whenever I think about my PR, about 5 times a day).  Finally, I have to promise to try to run a 5K.  I'm hoping they will accept a 3:47 marathon, it's the best I can offer right now.  Anything for a 3.4% discount.

73F, 93%, NNE 6 mph.  By late yesterday I was feeling good and thought I could get away with going long today, thought better of it this morning and decided to do 10, then ran it too fast anyway.  10.79 miles in 1:34:08, 8:43/mile, 155/173.  Got some good data out of it, though.  Last Wednesday I ran 4 at GMP, tapering into the race.  Miles 3 and 4 were 8:05 (157) and 8:05 (160).  Today those splits were 8:48 (151) and 8:34 (154).  So just eyeballing it, adjusting for weather differential and curvature of the earth, it looks somewhat equivalent, i.e., given that I bonked and didn't race the last 10K a week ago, seems like I have mostly recovered.  That being the case, I next compared miles 3-11 today with last Saturday.  Here it is, race times first:

(3) 8:24 (158) and 8:48 (151); (4) 7:56 (159) and 8:34 (154); (5) 8:04 (158) and 8:37 (157); (6) 8:34 (160) and 8:44 (158); (7) 8:22 (161) and 8:41 (160); (8) 8:33 (162) and 8:41 (161); (9) 8:16 (162) and 8:37 (162); (10) 8:14 (162) and 8:34 (165); and (10) 8:13 (160) and 8:35 (169) (mile adjusted pace for the 0.79 actually run).

So early on not a dramatic difference, slower pacing today but also lower heart rates.  But by mile 5 the heart rate draws even and pretty soon there is a big drop-off in today's results compared to race day.  So if my physical condition is truly about the same, that would mean I am getting 20-30 seconds per mile boost from improved weather, principally the humidity/dew point factor.  That comes out to 9-13 minutes difference over the race distance.  Cut that back a little because initial mileage is similar and there is still, conservatively, a 7-10 minute boost from dropping the dew point from 75 to 55.

71F, 100% and calm.  LLHR run, 10.00 miles at 11:50/mile, last mile 12:19.  RHR 53, average 119, max 126.  Amazing how depleted I feel after these fat-burning runs, but glad I could keep it up for a full 10 without a heart rate spike.

71F, 96% and calm.  Still good weather.  Same run as yesterday.  Have started my legs and core program, so things were a bit slower today.  10.02 miles at 11:51 per mile, HR 121, 127 max.  Off to China for the rest of the week, so any further mileage is going be TM, not planning on running outside in that air.

10 miles on the TM at the hotel in Beijing, prior to leaving for the airport.  I had my HR monitor with me, so I set the TM at 11:30 to see what would happen.  By mile 5 I was over the LHR zone, so I switched to a fast workout.  Second 5 started out at 160 bpm, then ratched up gradually, finishing at 193, equal to my HRmax, first time I have hit it in 4 years.  It was odd, could have sustained the pace for even further, but didn't seem to be going that fast, not much under 7-minute pace according to the readout.  But I don't really trust the data readouts on treadmills, probably going faster than it indicated.  This was the first time I have worn a monitor on the TM and it was interesting to see my heart rate oscillate at the same speed, though I am not sure of the exact speed.  It would swing between 117 and 122 then back down again, all the while at a constant pace.  Just thinking about my next marathon would make it spike.

75F, 93%, ENE 8 mph.  10.01 miles in 2:00:41, LLHR, 12:04/mile, 120 bpm, 126 max.

Left foot is bothering me, decided not to run for a couple of days.

South Lake Tahoe, about 50F.  Ran 4.83 miles with my brother-in-law down by the lake, 10:40/mile, 137 bpm, 153 max.  Altitude at the lake is 6200', 7400' at our rental house.  As close as I can tell, I am about 20 seconds per mile off due to the altitude.

Ran with my sister-in-law down the hill to the lake, then the same route as yesterday.  The road down is 3.5 miles and has a 7.5% average grade, so it was pounding my legs pretty good.  Probably shouldn't be running this hard on my gimpy foot, but it seems to be holding up OK.  7.73 miles in 1:12:19, 9:21 per mile, 136 bpm, 173 max.  They need air here.