For Whom the Dogs Bark

46F, 100% and calm.  Great running weather, was supposed to heat back up to the low 60s this morning but it didn't happen.  Due to Halloween last night, I slept in until time for the seminary run, so got started running very late.  It was 9:00 by the time I finished but still comfortably cool.  I ran 16.13 LHR miles in 2:40:50, average pace 9:58 per mile.  My left calf is bothering me considerably, probably from running hills on Saturday, and I think that slowed me down.  But I think it is excessive soreness, not an injury.  It feels generally OK once I get going.  But the colder weather had a different effect.  I was making more detours to the facilities than a sailor coming off shore leave.

Halloween was interesting.  Our eclectic cul-de-sac got together (Peru/Argentina, England/France, some Arab guy who has replaced the Mexican/Irish couple, Flatlander/Mrs. Flatlander, plus one normal couple), set out tables and passed out candy from there instead of our front doors.  The Arab wasn't there (in fact, nobody has actually met him), and the French lady lit into him, her accent thickening after each glass of wine.  She thinks it is suspicious that he paid cash for his house, it is his second house, he is never there, he is single with weird facial hair, and his name is unpronounceable and sounds Middle Eastern.  She has "friends in the FBI" and intends to get to the bottom of it.  I was shaking with laughter -- no American could talk like that.  But I managed to get to the end of the night without offending her -- she is a wonderful cook and I want to stay on her good side.  After all, "cul-de-sac" is very French; and who knows, she might be right about my new neighbor.

60F, 99%, E 4 mph.  A lot warmer this morning but it was fine.  Woke up really early but I have been going to bed early so that was fine too.  Ran 11 then 5.  After 11 I had a 9:44 average, then it ballooned on the last 5 when I went back out after the seminary run, stiff and tired by that point.  16.01 LHR miles in 2:39:44, average pace 9:58.  I can tell it's going to take a while to get any better.

As I was stretching afterward*, I noticed that my shoes are not looking great.  I take unrighteous pride in wearing them until they are really ugly, but perhaps the big toe poking out is a little much?

  *Yes, it's a Danskin yoga mat.

51F, 55%, WNW 13-22 mph.  When I first went out it was windier than that.  Howling out there.  I ran 6 then went on the seminary run and afterwards checked the conditions before heading back out, but by then the wind felt more reasonable.  I was in short sleeves and doing fine, but I ran past a kid walking to the school bus.  He was bundled from head to toe, including a scarf that covered most of his face.  Only his eyes were poking out, and they were red.  He looked miserable, and he looked at me like I was crazy.  Really, it wasn't that bad, though it was hard to keep a steady heart rate, running with and then against the wind.  Overall I ran 16.14 LHR miles in 2:39:09, average pace 9:52 per mile, which I was happy with under the circumstances.  My legs are trashed, so I am not going to run today.  They never quite recovered from Saturday's hills.  My left calf is especially sore, it needs a day of rest.  I might not be quite ready for this much mileage yet, even LHR miles. 

I am writing this on Friday after taking my daughter and son-in-law to the airport this morning.  They came in last night.  We met up at a restaurant because I was driving straight from work.  Our granddaughters came running into the restaurant and parked on each side of me.  Grandma got stuck across the table.  I might have smirked.

37F, 99%, E 1 mph.  Very nice morning, wore gloves, long sleeves and a beanie but no long pants and that turned out about right.  Wade picked me up at 5:15 and we did 10 from the Y starting at 5:30.  Only one other guy showed up, Dave, who I hadn't met before.  He took off fast.  We took the first 5 at about an 8:00 to 8:15 pace, then Dave went a different direction and Wade and I immediately slowed down to a 9:00 pace.  After Wade left I ran home from the Y, with enough detours to make another 10 miles.  But my left calf had stiffened from the first 10 and it was painful the whole way, never really got back to normal.  I ran about 9:30s on the way home, some splits even slower.  I'm worried but it feels better today after a long "fall back" 9 hours of sleep. 

Altogether 20.47 miles in 3:10:25, average pace 9:18 per mile.  About 2 miles from the house I saw another runner staring at my shoes, which isn't unusual, because my shoes are unusual.  Then I saw he didn't have any shoes at all.  I have heard all about these guys, but this was my first actual sighting.  He appeared normal from the ankles up.

69F, 93%, ESE 5 mph.  Warm again, tomorrow too, but it feels fine, not stifling like high 70s.  Got out early and ran 12.17 LHR miles in 2:02:29, average pace 10:04 per mile.  My left calf still hurt but it made it through the run without getting worse, and it has felt fine all day.  If it continues to improve I can build back up a little bit later, but this much is plenty for this week.  If all goes well I will stay in base mode through the middle of January before adding faster stuff back into the mix.

73F, 89%, SSW 4 mph.  Even warmer.  Got out a little later and ran 12.13 LHR miles in 2:02:51, average 10:09 per mile, so slower than yesterday.  Tomorrow will be cooler, interesting to see if it speeds up or not.  When I got back I was staring out the window at a large white egret.  My granddaughter asked me what I was looking at, I told her it was a beautiful bird.  She looked at it and said it wasn't a bird.  I asked her if it could fly, and without hesitation she said yes, but it isn't a bird.  I told her I was pretty sure it was, but finally asked her what she thought it was.  She said it is somewhere between a bird and a duck.  QED.  I need to be a more gracious loser.

55F, 70%, NNW 11 mph.  Much better running weather today and my pacing showed it.  Ran 12.88 LHR miles in 2:04:35, average 9:40 per mile, almost 30 seconds faster than yesterday and a slower heart rate as well (by 2 bpm, which doesn't sound like much but over a 2-hour span it is significant).  So even with a respectable breeze the lower temperatures and humidity made a big difference.  I ran 5 in a row under 9:30 in the sweet spot of the run, miles 4 through 9.  I also stopped at the clubhouse near the end of the run and did some leg weights before running the rest of the way home.  Out of curiosity I just now checked the forecast for Richmond, Virginia this Saturday.  I almost entered that marathon but decided I didn't need to be doing another one right now.   38F with a mild SW breeze and low humidity.  Dramatically better running weather than St. George, sea level to boot -- almost tempted to go run it anyway, but I won't.

50F, 52%, N 6 mph.  Another good running day, it was colder by the time I finished.  Ran 12.07 LHR miles in 1:55:55, average pace 9:38 per mile.  It wasn't really faster than yesterday, though.  The distance was a little shorter, so not as many slow steps at the end, plus today's initial warmup mile was faster than yesterday's.  Still, about the same, and I'm happy with these speeds for now, they are almost my best.  This is the third week in a 12-week base phase.  The last time I did this religiously it took at least 8 weeks before I really started to get significant results.  That may not happen again the same way, but it's worth a try.

36F, 96%, clear and calm, nearly a full moon.  Ran 12.09 miles in 1:55:22, average pace 9:33 per mile.  It was a great morning for running, but it did require long sleeves and gloves.  It seems like I am starting to get some LHR fitness back, will be interesting early next week when the lows are in the 50s to see if these times hold.  If they don't, then the improvement is just temperature-related, although I wouldn't have thought there is much of that going on between the mid-40s (like yesterday) and the mid-30s (like today).

I was checking out some running stuff on the web and figured out who the mystery lady in the jeep is, the one who beat me by a minute at my last 5K.  I have been telling everybody I got beat by a 60-year old woman because that's how old she looked.  Well, it turns out she is 60, and she holds the world record in the 5K for 60-year old women.  Aside from the world record thing, which is pretty cool all by itself, I think it must be an important talent to be able to correctly guess women's ages.  In this internet age there has to be a way to make money off of this stuff.  But I must say there seems to be little upside in walking up to strange women and guessing their age out loud.

47F, 98%, partly cloudy but dry, and calm.  Gorgeous weather this morning.  I was expecting high 50s, which would have morphed into high 60s by the time I finished.  This was better.  I started at 6:00 because I got to bed late last night.  The plan was. . . .actually there was no plan.  I toyed with going fast and also doing the whole thing at low heart rate, but it is too early in the training cycle to run fast and I couldn't withstand another LHR run after doing 5 already this week.  Even though Wade is out of town marrying off his son I thought I might go down to the Y anyway to run, but it was too late.  So I just ran, and had fun doing it.  The warmup mile was 9:49, at which point I thought I could average 9:00 pretty easily.  Second mile was 8:44 and I decided to shoot for an 8:40 average.  But after the second mile nothing was over 8:30 and I ended up with an 8:25 average pace, last mile 7:44.  Hit 20.00 right in front of my house, 2:48:26 total running time, that was it for the day.

One year ago today I ran the Richmond Marathon, also at 8:25 per mile by the Garmin (8:27 official).  The difference is heart rate -- today my average was 149 for miles 1-20, compared with 164 at Richmond for miles 3-20.  That was the race of my life but it is history now.  I longingly checked Richmond weather one last time this morning before heading out, 30F at race time, 5 below forecast and 5 colder than last year.  That might not have been so good, I would have had to go out in an extra layer of clothes then throw them away, and I never throw clothes away.

Up all night on a call with China.  Really loving life this morning.

71F, 96% and calm.  Running in the soup again this morning, but it won't last.  Should be about 10 degrees cooler by tomorrow.  Woke up with a raw throat, my resistance goes down whenever I don't get enough sleep.  Still have it, but it didn't seem to affect my run much.  Legs felt well rested at the start of the run, but by mile 10 my pace slowed significantly because of the higher temperatures.  I ran 13.03 LHR miles in 2:08:08, average pace 9:50 per mile, so it was a good run under the conditions.  I stopped by the clubhouse about a half mile from the end of the run and did some leg work.  I figure if I can get stronger glutes and hams it will make me faster.  But I think the main problem is that the spring in my tendons has sprung.  When I watch a young guy run it is amazing how light they are on their feet.  Not sure there is a way to fix that one.

Went to bed with a sore throat last night and it was worse this morning, plus a headache and fever.  No running today, just isn't my week I guess.  Hopefully I will "miraculously recover" as soon as the temps cool down.

56F, 68%, NE 8-17 mph.  6.79 miles at 9:41 per mile.  Test run, the endorphins masked fever symptoms for a while then they came back.  But running didn't set me back.

42F, 54%, E 8 mph.  Very pretty morning, started out with long sleeves and gloves but decided I didn't need the gloves after a couple of miles.  Very stiff by the end of the run, though.  I was hitting 9:30s and a few 9:20s most of the way until the last 3 miles when it went to 9:50 and stayed there, bam, just like that, no warning.  12.62 LHR miles in 2:01:33, average pace 9:38 per mile.  Still have cold/flu symptoms but it is gradually running through my system.  I'm going to go ahead and do the long run tomorrow, but it is back into the 60s.  We can't shake summer.

67F, 86%, SE 8 mph.  Warm weather again, but it isn't expected to last beyond Monday.  After the endorphin glow of yesterday morning's run wore off my flu symptoms came back hard like a Mack truck (sorry Mack).  Barely made it through the rest of the day and collapsed in bed at 8:45.  I didn't plan to run at all this morning unless I woke up without an alarm and feeling great.  I woke up once at 4:20 but the next thing I knew it was 6:00, 9 hours of nearly uninterrupted sleep.  I felt much better but the groups at the Y had long since departed, so I did a short run from my front door.  6.40 LHR miles in 1:02:11, average pace 9:43 per mile.  I stopped at the clubhouse near the end of the run and did leg weights, ran the rest of the way home, ate a large healthy breakfast, took a long hot shower and now I am ready for a nap.

73F, 95%, SSE 5 mph.  Very nice weather outside, but no good for running.  I had a high heart rate from the beginning and my achilles tendonitis returned.  After 14.5 my pace was up to 10:30+, so I gave up and ran the rest of it at marathon pace, which felt a little better.  Altogether 16.13 miles in 2:43:07, average pace 10:07 per mile.  Not a pretty run, and it is going to be warm again tomorrow, then it will cool off, hopefully for good. 

73F, 94% SW 3 mph to start, 68F, 94%, WNW 7 mph to end, but a lot happened in between.  I was pretty sore after yesterday, especially in my right achilles, so I was ready to pull the plug whenever it was needed.  As it turned out, I lasted the whole run and even felt a little better than yesterday, though my heart rate was no better.  I ran 16.08 miles in 2:43:06, average pace 10:09 per mile.  It was warm and muggy when I started, but the air was unsettled and cloud cover was very low, intermittent drizzles that didn't amount to much.  Then at about mile 5 I started running through heavy cells of rain, 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off.  Completely soaked but not a real good reason to stop.  There was no lightning or thunder, even though I listened hopefully without success.  Then that weather pattern stopped and things actually dried out a bit until sunrise.  Right at sunrise, mile 13.5, the sky got that angry look -- if you have ever lived here you know what I mean.  You know without checking that there is a severe weather warning out.  Still no thunder, though, so I kept going.  Right as the front passed, the shafts of warm and cold air became striated, I would run through warm for a while then cold then warm again.  This lasted for 5 minutes or so then it turned uniformly cool.  About 10 minutes later the clouds let loose and I was in a Texas frog strangler the rest of the way home.  2 miles of running in horizontal sheets of rain, but worst of all my neighbors all got a good look in broad daylight at the crazy guy who lives in the red brick house. 

Checked the severe weather report when I got home and it had all the predictable stuff, fast moving front, watch for funnel clouds, careful of rising water, blah, blah.  I liked this one though:  "Seek shelter in a sturdy structure or non-convertible automobile."  We have lots of rednecks around here; whenever there are tornadoes around the government tries to keep them out of trailer parks and 20-year old Cadillacs with the tops sawn off, although why I don't know.  As I think about it, though, there were no rednecks out in this weather except me.

51F, 96%, NNE 4 mph, clear.  Running weather has finally returned.  I ran 16.83 miles in 2:46:34, average pace 9:54 per mile, 129 bpm, so a better run.  I would have hoped to see my LHR pace dipping below 9:30 by this point in the cycle but it hasn't happened.  Possibly because of the training load, but possibly because I am getting slower.  I'm giving it 12 weeks in any event, middle of January.  Then I will start racing again and training for Boston.  In the meantime, trying to decide whether to race in the Turkey Trot tomorrow.  Hadn't planned to but the perfect weather, temperatures and festive atmosphere is going to make it difficult to refrain.

48F, 97%, ESE 2 mph and overcast, extraordinary running weather today.  I ate a big plate of fried catfish last night and woke up with the turkey trots.  One more entree goes on the pre-race verboten list.  I ran a little over 9 miles at 10.14 per mile, heart rate was all over the place but I think it was mostly a combination of a bad gut and inaccurate HRM read-out in the colder air.  Finally got things stabilized in time to leave for the race. 

We loaded up and drove to The Woodlands for the GE Run Through the Woods annual run.  I did this run last year but wasn't really interested in racing right now, trying to get in lots of base miles for the next month or two.  I took my daughter Jennifer and her husband Scott, and my son Clint.  I ran with Clint and had a good time.  Warmed up for almost a mile to get the stiffness out and got loose enough to keep up with Clint.  We ran the race (5.11 miles) at an average pace of 7:34, but I'll let him report on the details.  Altogether 15.19 miles today.

Hung with Wade awhile, ate the pancake breakfast, drove home and spent the rest of the day lounging around.  Good day.

49F, 100%, NNE 5 mph and clear.  Nice weather but it is going to be +60 again tomorrow, just for the Saturday long run, then back to winter temps.  My achilles was a little sore this morning after all the running around yesterday, so I didn't run the full program this morning.  Ran 10.13 LHR miles in 1:39:30, average pace 9:49 per mile and 130 bpm.  Good thing I stopped early, by the time I got home my younger granddaughter was up and ready for her day, wondering where the heck I was.  According to her mother she always gets up an hour earlier at grandma's house. 

65F, 97%, SE 3 mph.  That was the reading at 4 a.m.  By the time we started running it was warmer than that, at least according to the thermometer on my car.  This is the only warm day in several weeks, looking back or forward, so of course I invited slowjoe to run slow with me.  He always comes in town when it gets really hot and muggy.  I think he misses Iraq.

We met up a Memorial Park, which is inside the main loop here in Houston.  A well-lit jogging path with a 3-mile main loop.  I stopped at a gas station for one last bathroom break and Joe was there getting some Gatorade, so we drove into the park together and started.  I had hopes of doing this one sub-8s, but with the weather and the mileage on my legs this weeks I didn't try.  Joe was a good sport and went with whatever speed I picked.  I tried to hold mid-8:20s for most of the run, but slipped occasionally into the 8:30s and one or two 8:40s. 

Once it got light we left the park and ran to downtown and back.  There were some pretty muddy trails along Buffalo Bayou, including a lot of up and down, that forced me to pick up my feet and twist and turn a lot more.  The extra effort seemed to wake up my legs and by the end of the run I was in the low 8s.  By my watch, 20.06 miles in 2:48:56, 8:25 per mile, average heart rate 161, trending toward 170 at the end.  Joe's watch measured it just a little shorter.  It was great to get together again and get caught up.

35F, 61%, NNW 5 mph.  16.07 LHR miles in 2:43:21, average 10:10 per mile.

35F, 88%, W 4 mph.  It was as cold yesterday and today as it was warm on Saturday.  I ran with long pants yesterday and decided they weren't really necessary, so just shorts today (long sleeves, gloves and beanie though), and that worked better.  Much faster, plus I am probably better recovered by now from the paces Joe put me through on Saturday.  Didn't have time to do a full run, and a little concerned anyway whether I can sustain 16 through the whole week, so I ran 10.46 LHR miles in 1:40:12, average pace 9:35 per mile.  It went well, nothing over 9:40 after the first mile, sort of gives me hope that this base stuff will help.  Did leg weights afterward and pushed it a little harder, I can feel it today.

41F, 75%, calm and clear.  20.23 LHR miles in 3:21:02, average 9:56 per mile.  LHR pace started to drift in the last two miles, otherwise did OK.  Won't be running on Friday, so trying to run a little longer today and tomorrow.