For Whom the Dogs Bark

64F, 100% and calm.  Pretty warm for a December morning, even in Houston.  Got it done though.  Went to the Y but Wade is traveling this week and I didn't feel like running fast.  Eventually I ended up running with Elizabeth, who is a pretty good runner that has been fighting sickness and injury.  The group was running 18.8 and I was running 20.  We ran about 9:40 pace most of the way, speeding up a little bit at times but basically slogging it out.  Her hip started to kill her so she had to stop about 3 miles from the end, but it was the furthest she had run in 2 years.  I came in the last 3 at about an 8:50 pace.  Recovered a little bit then drove back out along the course looking for her but never found her, hopefully she got a ride from somebody.  I really hope she didn't exacerbate the injury.  She has a marathon and a 50-miler coming up in the first quarter next year.

20.00 miles in 3:10:27, 9:31 per mile, 143 bpm, 166 max.  Honestly I probably wouldn't have run this much faster on my own, it has been a lot of miles this week, but a good week.  Feel like I accomplished something, but the proof is on race day (January 1) and it has been a while since I ran a really good marathon.

54F, 94%, NNW 3 mph.  Brutal work schedule, barely able to break free for any running.  This was supposed to be a big week and it is not.  6.01 miles in 52:44, 8:46/mile, 148 bpm, 159 max.

59F, 100%, ESE 6 mph.  6.0 miles in 45:32, 7:35/mile, 165 bpm/180 max.  Splits were 8:28 (145), 7:42 (159), 7:27 (169), 7:23 (173), 7:15 (176) and 7:07 (179).

60F, 100% and calm.  2.49 miles in 20:19, 8:10/mile -- 9:04 (138), 7:52 (159) and 6:55 (171).  Was going to go 3 but saw Wade halfway through.  He crashed on a 22 miler at mile 16, too hot for him.  Walked with him for a while then walked home.

57F, 88%, N 6 mph.  Ran a half marathon in Temple with my daughter, 13.11 miles in 1:55:07, 8:47/mile.  She was shooting for 8:30 pace and had it through 9.75 then got in trouble, ran out of glycogen.  But she was able to run to the finish despite stopping 3 times.  If I get in trouble and stop, I am done.

48F, 73%, NW 28 mph.  Howling wind out there, thank you Canada.  About halfway through I started to wonder if I shouldn't have dressed differently than in July, but I made it through with no permanent damage, though it is amazing how stiff and sore I have felt all weekend.  10.00 miles in 1:27:42, 8:45/mile, 143 bpm, 151 max.  Plan is to run 70 slow this week, do a little speedwork next week and coast into the New Years Day marathon from there.  Our coach Eric ran a marathon yesterday in College Station.  His over-40 PR is 3:17, but he told Wade and me that he was only good for 3:47 on this one.  He is going to pace me the last two laps on mine.  Not sure we'll both make it, we are all getting old, one of us is going to collapse before we collect our first social security check.

32F, 76%, NNW 4 mph.  10.0 miles in 1:30:44, 9:04/mile, 142/148.  Still feeling pretty bad from Saturday.

30F, 100%, N 2 mph.  10.00 miles in 1:23:55, 8:24/mile, 151/158 bpm.  Put pants on this morning and legs felt a lot better in the cold air, results correspondingly better as well.

No running due to work pressures.

52F, 68%, ENE 4 mph.  10.00 miles in 1:19:34, 7:57/mile, 157/167, ran at steady state, heart rate built throughout.

68F, 100% and calm.  16.27 miles in 2:30:15, 9:14/mile.  Really difficult run today, although Wade felt great.  We ran the whole thing together and he could have finished off the marathon easily.  I was wasted, quite worrisome actually.

55F, 92%, W 8 mph.  6.18 miles in 48:18, 7:49/mile as follows:  8:55 (141), 8:03 (154), 7:48 (160), 7:41 (165), 7:08 (176) and 7:18 (180).  Pretty tough run, as evident by heart rate.

No running due to work pressures.

66F, 100%, ESE 8 mph.  8.14 miles in 1:12:58, 8:58/mile, 148/162.  Heart rate way too high for these kinds of speeds, thinking I might switch to the half on New Years Day.

59F, 33%, NNW 18-30 mph.  Translation:  TM.  The wind was whistling through the sliding doors and the trees outside were bent over, very similar to Hurricane Ike a few years ago.  This is a monster cold front.  I wanted to run some quarters, so I made a gametime decision, grabbed some clothes out of the closet, drove to work and did it at the gym in my building.  Worked out fine, the machines were new and remarkably available that early in the morning.  They time out at 30 minutes (what's up with that?), but I just turned it off and started over.  1 mile warmup at 8:57 pace, then 8 x 400 starting at 7:30 pace down to 5:56 for the last 200 (as fast as my legs move), rest for 400 at 8:57 pace, then 1.25 cooldown at 8:00, in my seat at work by 7:30.  Nice little workout for a taper week.  Three hours later, temperature is 45F, 43%, gusts 20-38, which is still too conservative, it is howling out there.  I am on the 46th floor and I can feel movement -- I wonder if I'm above or below the snap point. 

But I could get used to these short workouts.  Wade told my wife last night that he thought he had talked me into running only halfs.  I only said I would consider it, but it emphasizes how many people think I run too hard.  I told her there are some things I think I can try for the Boston cycle.  If there isn't improvement then I would have to agree that it is time to congratulate Father Time and move on to the next hobby (trying to decide between birding and ham radio, have ruled out needlepoint and assault weapons, just don't have enough small muscle control for those).  Just then my son walked in from a leg workout and said he was going vegan, trying to get a reaction.  My wife ignored him.  I hopped right in and said if he did then I would.  Still no reaction.  She long ago learned to ignore her five children (now six) when they are acting up.

29F, 87%, WNW 4 mph.  Back up to 55F tomorrow morning, can't really figure out this weather.  Ran 6.18 miles in 53:45, 8:42 per mile, 147/157.  I don't run well when it is this cold.  The lady who delivers papers in my neighborhood almost ran me over, for about the third time.  She is a menace, drives very fast and is always looking at her chart instead of the road.

31F, 96%, calm and clear.  I thought it was going to be 55 this morning, not sure what happened to that.  I was going to go out to Conroe and run the Day after the End of the End of the World Half Marathon at a relaxed pace.  Smooth and her family are out there so that would have been fun.  Wade went out and ran the Day Before half yesterday morning and ended up doing it at an 8:00 pace, on trails.  He said it just happened naturally and I was afraid of the same thing, so I went to the Y where they were running 12 this morning -- and ran at a 7:55 pace.  They took off and I didn't want to run alone, pretty lame, and probably screwed up my marathon, but I have 10 days to recover.  Aerobically I feel great this morning, but my legs are screaming at me.  It was a progression run, the first mile was 8:42 and the last one 7:33 (175).  One old guy in our group took off and ran 7:14 on the last one, good for him.

57F, 100% and calm.  Pretty nice weather this morning.  Great to be on vacation and on taper at the same time.  Slept in and went out for a quick six:  8:50 (143), 7:58 (155), 7:51 (159), 7:41 (164), 7:24 (171) and 7:08 (176).  Overall 6.18 miles in 48:13, 7:48 per mile. Trying to not run too far this week but not worrying too much about keeping my speed down.  For race day, I think I can hold 165 bpm pretty well, 170 not so much.  I went out at 170 in Richmond and that was my demise.  Supposed to be back down to 27F tomorrow morning.  The computer is predicting low 40s for January 1, which would be ideal, but I think this far out they just go by historical averages, no way to rely on temperature predictions that far out.

67F, 100% SSE 7 mph.  Very unsettled weather today.  It was supposed to be 27F this morning, they missed it by a small margin of error.  Luckily I looked at the computer before venturing out in 3 layers.  Ran 6.18 in 56:07, 9:05 per mile, 143 bpm, 149 max.  Pretty stiff and sore to start, after running some hard ones yesterday, but I loosened up and finished pretty well.  Heart rate wasn't too favorable, combination of warm weather and day after a mini-workout, I hope.

Merry Christmas to all.

35F, 85%, ENE 8 mph.  Somewhat cold but not too bad, only wore 1 layer and left the long pants home for this short run.  Ran 6.18 miles in 49:57, 8:05/mile, including 6x400, 7:45 pace down to 6:53 on the last one.  Not all out but as fast as I dared this close to D-Day.  I strained my back doing "some assembly required" over Christmas, to the point I didn't run yesterday.  Still pretty gimpy this morning but decided I had to run anyway and see what happened.  If it is my 3rd DNS in 4 marathons, so be it.  But nothing happened, it is different muscles than I use for running, lucky break.  The back was plenty sore afterwards, but I don't care about that.

34F, 79%, N 9 mph (31F, 74% and calm at the end).  Pretty cold this morning, met Wade at the Y and we did 5 at a medium pace, 8:38 (145), 7:59 (158), 8:19 (155), 8:17 (156), and 8:34 (155).  Way too much effort for the speeds involved, quite worrisome, but better a bad day today than Tuesday.  There is a chance we could be splashing around in the rain, so I experimented without socks today.  My shoes are soft and there didn't seem to be any difference with or without.  Have had problems lately anyway with my sock sliding down into my shoe, I'll probably ditch them for the race.  Also have no idea what I am going to carry with me, my best idea right now is pickle juice.  I have no hydration plan, no calorie intake or electrolytes plan, no carb-loading plan, no socks.  But I've got my pre-race restaurant and my post-race excuses nailed down, let it fly.