For Whom the Dogs Bark

UNCF Race/Walk

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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
Race: UNCF Race/Walk (3.1 Miles) 00:22:12, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.500.003.100.005.60

75F, 94%, (DP 73F), NE 5 mph.  This is my annual UNCF 5K, always hoping for a win, since nobody fast ever shows up.  But every year at least one person shows up who is faster than me.  Got up and packed, remembered everything but my Garmin.  Even had my HRM strapped on.  But it was no big deal -- the weather was hot and I knew I wouldn't get a good time.  But on the other hand I figured it might be to my advantage, since I don't think most people train in the heat like I do, even in Houston.

I got to the race early, just at sunrise, picked up my bib and puttered around.  I didn't have anybody running it with me this year.  I decided to go out and run the course, but realized I better cut it short since I wasn't sure of the time.  So I turned back toward the start line, getting there just as they were starting.  If I had run a full 3 warmup I would have missed the race.

Me and a ragged assortment of guys took off at the front.  I wasn't in the lead, but the leaders didn't know the course.  So I was yelling out directions from 20 yards back.  After about a mile I started closing the gap.  I was in second place at the 2-mile mark when the leader made a wrong turn.  He was a kid,  looked like about 15.  I yelled at him and the constables finally got him turned back.  He probably lost only 4 or 5 seconds but it took the starch out of his legs because I never heard from him again.  So I ran the last mile all alone, then at the last turn into the finishing chute the first guy I passed caught me and I couldn't answer, no kick in these ancient legs.  So second place again.  I wonder if he knows he cheated an old man out of his only chance for victory.

Not having a watch probably hurt me, because I have run this fast alone in my neighborhood; should have been faster than that today, but maybe doing speed work yesterday wasn't such a good idea.

Comments
From MarkS on Sat, Sep 12, 2015 at 10:29:38 from 174.52.115.134

Good race and congratulations on second.

Enjoyed very much reading you race summary. Looks like your time was better than the 22:31 you had last September, so that is a good sign you are doing things right.

From SlowJoe on Sat, Sep 12, 2015 at 14:42:20 from 45.18.50.53

I like these annual races for comparison purposes...nice improvement.

The only unfortunate part is you don't get to see the young folks' eyes pop out when they find out they got stomped by a 60-yr-old. Actually I would probably personally inform them all before, during and after the race.

From flatlander on Sun, Sep 13, 2015 at 05:26:20 from 76.31.29.220

Mark, hand't noticed, thanks for pointing that out.

Joe, in order to point out my age I would have to take my hat off -- not gonna do that: http://thurm.fastrunningblog.com/blog-11-15-2014.html (P.S. Your daughter is very cute, by the way -- love how she took on Jake right out of the chute.)

From SlowJoe on Sun, Sep 13, 2015 at 11:42:05 from 45.18.50.53

You have more hair than Meb.

From derhammer on Sun, Sep 13, 2015 at 12:01:06 from 12.251.244.54

Nice race Flat! I have wondered about putting one of those small cyclist mirrors on the brim of a running cap, that way I could see who was behind me during that last stretch.

From Tom K on Sun, Sep 13, 2015 at 12:52:24 from 174.58.54.215

Aweome report. Constables! Love it! 2nd place is great. Oates, Garfunkel, etc. - Legends. Sounds like you had fun, anyway.

From Dan on Mon, Sep 14, 2015 at 18:27:31 from 207.244.77.4

Great report!I'll take 2nd anytime and comparing to last year - improvement is always nice. Fun times

From Smooth on Sat, Sep 19, 2015 at 13:25:50 from 75.162.79.168

Always enjoy reading your report! You're so dang funny, not to mention speedy for someone with ancient legs! :)

From JG on Sat, Sep 19, 2015 at 14:14:12 from 174.60.252.61

Great job Flat! Perhaps next year you should consider yelling out faulty directions to anyone ahead of you!

I would say that is a pretty darn good time for those conditions! Running fast in heat and humidity is for Kenyans!

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