For Whom the Dogs Bark

50F, NNE 3 mph and raining. Cold rain coming out of the north this morning. And stiff and sore from running long yesterday. Took a while to get going and never got going very well. 6.0 in 49:24, 8:14/mile, 145 bpm, 157 max. 

50F, 92%, NNE calm breeze. Tried to do a workout this morning with mixed results. 1 wu @ 8:51, then 3 tempo miles:  7:37, 7:22 and 7:12 (HRmax 169), then met Wade for about 4 more. Got a cramp in my left calf right after mile 7 but it gradually receded and seems OK. Finished with abbreviated session of stretching and weights.

41F, 91%, NE calm breeze, clear skies. LLHR recovery run, 8 at 10:19/mile, 120 bpm average, good run considering a workout and weights yesterday. My calf has mostly healed, so it must have been cramps instead of muscle strain.

Wade and I were talking about becoming recreational runners, kind of funny when you think about how slow we already are. PRs are starting to get harder for him as well, even though he is 8 years behind me. I have two marathons coming up, Dubai and Boston, where I will be trying for a PR. That will make 19. Boston 2017 makes 20 and I will be running that one slow, with siblings if everything happens as planned. So basically no more marathon training cycles after the upcoming April. If I can make that stick.

41F, 95%, calm wind NE, clear. Short, hard workout this morning. Ran 1 wu, 8:42, then 3 hard:  7:25 (153), 7:23 (157), 6:41 (166), HRmax 173. First time I have run sub-7 on a flat course in a long time, wasn't sure I could still do it. Stride length on the last one was 1.28 meters, which is the longest I have measured; apparently there is another gear up there, assuming it is repeatable. 2 cd at 8:22, 8:10, total 6 at 7:47/mile. Stretching and weights.

38F, 95%, ENE calm breeze, clear skies. Woke up extremely early, probably anxious about the run, since I have failed twice already to reach 30 on this training cycle. If I couldn't do it in this weather I knew I had a lot of work left to do to get ready for the next race. Out the door slightly after 3:00, met Wade at 5:30 with 16+ under my belt. He was running a half marathon and had 2+ already, so we ran about 11 together, then I finished up running back to my house. Was pretty cold for most of the run; probably needed long pants but I wasn't about to try 30 in long pants.

The goal was 8:30/mile started well, first mile at 8:30, down to 8:16 for mile 4, felt like I could break 8:20 whenever I wanted. Then after mile 10 my heart rate went up and I started running splits over 8:35, my cumulative average climbed up to 8:26 by mile 16. Wade got me going faster though. We split mile 21 at 8:04 at which point we consciously slowed down. I hit the marathon at 3:39:08. Wade finished his half at a 7:19 pace for the last mile, I drug in to his house, got a drink of water and ran the last 2.5 solo. Legs felt very stiff when I started running again, but I still maintained an 8:10 pace through the end and finished with an overall average of 8:21/mile, compared to a best of 8:33 on my last training cycle.. Average heart rate 149 bpm, broke 150 at mile 18. HRmax 161. Good run, especially after doing a workout and a fairly vigorous weight session yesterday. Hopefully I didn't cannibalize next week's workouts.

46F, 98%, NE calm breeze and clear. 6.0 at LLHR, 120 bpm average, 10:54/mile. Legs felt good, but must be hung over from Saturday because this run was slower than some equivalent runs last week. Last 3 with Wade.

56F, 95%, calm and clear. Today I intended to run a metric marathon at a 7:30 pace, which is about where I left off at the end of the last training cycle. Warmed up for 1.3 with a bio break sandwiched in. Then I re-set the watch and took off. First one was 7:42, then 7:39, then 7:24.  Splits kept bouncing around, but by mile 8 I hit a 7:12, then 7:24 for mile 9 when my left calf started hurting again, to the point it wasn't wise to continue. Heart rate peaked at 168, so I had some more to give, but called it a day. Overall average was 7:32.

Left calf is still hurting as of 10 a.m., definitely not a cramp like I originally thought. I'm leaving for Cairo on Friday night and was hoping to get this one out of the way before leaving. If the calf recovers quickly I may try this one again, though it will be much warmer on Friday morning.

Finished with stretching and weights.

66F, 100%, very warm in Houston this week. Got back from Cairo late Saturday night. I found it impossible to run there, because the U.S. day starts about when the Egypt day ends -- late nights and found myself sleeping until the last minute. Good trip business wise but not for running.

I wasn't overly concerned because I felt like I needed to rest the calf. But when I got back out on the road this morning the calf was stiff, and started to cause significant problems by mile 5. I planned to do a hard long run and instead it was all I could do to maintain a pace in the mid-9s for a regular distance-- just too hard to push off. I got worried when I could barely walk for most of the day. But toward evening it loosened up somewhat and by Tuesday morning I was walking OK. 10.00 miles at 9:28/mile, average heart rate was 147 bpm, believe it or not.

74F, 88% (DP 70F), S 5 mph. Mid-summer night's dream. I wasn't planning on running today but last night Wade asked me if we were going to meet up and the shame was too much, I said yes. Turned out to be a good decision. I ran 5.3 at about a 9:30 pace, according to Wade's watch. I didn't carry my own, so no idea on heart rate. I took 400 mg of Ibuprofen and headed out.

My right calf was actually stiffer than my left, I think this may have come from something other than running. I have had latent arthritis for about 20 years now, held at bay by running I have always felt -- but it might be coming back a little harder now. If so my BQ days are over because it really slows me down.  Just a theory though.

First mile was pretty rough, but I kept at it and my legs eventually loosened up to a reasonable degree. I was actually glad for the extremely warm temperatures this morning, I think it helped keep my muscles loose.

61F, 5.37 miles at 8:41/mile, 153 bpm, 162 max, still trying to get my legs back. Joints still feel stiff throughout, but calf is calming down.

73F, rainy. Ran 5.27 miles, hard time maintaining any sort of pace, but came in at 8:56/mile, 148 bpm average, 156 max. Met my son about halfway and ran a couple with him. Still struggling but not getting worse.

75F, 93% (DP 73F), SSW 5 mph and rainy. 10 miles at 8:30/mile. 159 bpm, 174 max. Met Wade for about 5 of it. Felt a lot better on the run itself, but recovery during the day has been slow. Starting to feel like I turned the corner, though, from whatever the problem was or is. It will be about 35 to 40 degrees colder next week.

40F, 79% (WC 30F), WSW 18 mph, very blustery, about 35 degrees colder than Saturday, 45 counting wind chill. Originally planned to go long but didn't feel like battling the wind for 3 hours. Joints are still very creaky, average stride length was under 1 meter today. Overall 11 miles at 8:45/mile, average heart rate 144, max 153. So my heart rate is back down in the cold weather, something else must be to blame. I'm thinking it might be my weight, planning to get on the scales sometime in the next month to check it out.

39F, 91% NE calm breeze. Perfect running weather, took the opportunkty and went long, 20 in 2.53:10, 8:39/mile, 147 bpm average, 154 max. Still very stiff and sore, legs felt like logs throughout. I checked my 30-miler earlier in the month and the stride length for that one was 1.04 average, finishing up at 1.10, compared to 0.98 today, finishing up a 0.96, a 5-1/2-inch difference at the end, which is a lot. But at least I could run it.

Took off my outer layer halfway through, finished in short sleeves. Without wind and rain one can tolerate a lot of cold.

48F, NE 5 mph. Ran a mile and a half and my knee started bothering me, which  hasn't happened since I switched to minimal shoes about 5 years ago. Walked home, jogging a little bit on the way. I think I altered my stride to compensate for my sore calf. It isn't too bad, but I don't even remember how to treat knees.

46F and dry. Intended to go long, depending on my knee. It started acting up at 4.5; pushed through to 5 and then quit. It didn't get worse but the extra miles aren't worth it. 5 is better than the 2 I got yesterday though. It is looking like this is going to be a temporary thing. 8:44 average, stride length short, heart rate somewhat high for this pace: 147/154. I think I am fat, but not getting on the scales. 

2759.14 miles for the year, better than last, and race results showed it generally, though Boston was the only race I ran all year where I was maximum trained. Traveling and work pressures prevented getting to 3000.