For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 01, 2024

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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

Sat, Jan 09, 2010

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.96	10.00	0.00	0.00	14.96

18F and calm, 14.96 miles in 2:28:46, average pace 9:57. I "warmed" up for two miles then tried to run 10 miles at an 8:35 pace, which is what I have to run for a whole marathon to qualify for Boston. I didn't make it, but I have lots of excuses. My splits and average heart rate for the tempo part of the run were: 9:05 (154), 8:34 (164), 8:41 (166), 8:44 (169), 8:43 (170), 9:00 (170) (stopped to shed a layer, which promptly froze solid), 8:31 (168), 8:37 (172), 8:41 (169) and 8:57 (164). I was looking real hard for a bathroom solution on the last split and lost concentration. I jogged in the last three at a 12-minute pace. My average pace for the tempo run was 8:45, so 10 seconds slow. Plenty to work on. I am going to earn every minute of marathon time from here on out. My excuses are . . . never mind, I didn't make it.

Today is a record low for January 9, by one degree, breaking a record set in 1976. It is by no means the coldest day ever, in fact it was warmer than yesterday because there was no wind this morning. There was 3-day stretch in December, 1989 of 13, 7 and 11, which were three of the four coldest days on record here. The all-time record for Houston is 5F, set on January 18, 1930, before plumbing. So we are a ways from that and won't get close, thankfully. My attic pipes which I wrapped myself 9 years ago held up just fine last night, unlike many of my neighbors, who have plumbing trucks in front of their houses this morning.

Comments

From lightitup on Sat, Jan 09, 2010 at 10:43:54 from 67.185.20.107

Love reading your blog before going out on my run, nice of you to go so much earlier every day just so you could provide me with some extra inspiration! It's 25 here and headin up all the way to 30s.

From flatlander on Sat, Jan 09, 2010 at 13:16:26 from 76.31.26.153

One of these days I'm going to do a slow all-night run. That ought to build endurance, plus I can have it all done by the time you wake up.

From lightitup on Sat, Jan 09, 2010 at 19:47:10 from 67.185.20.107

I can see an ultra in your future...

From flatlander on Sat, Jan 09, 2010 at 20:07:08 from 198.207.244.102

Those are a ways away. I have the marathon bug right now, but someday I will want to hit the trails, when I live somewhere that has good trails. I know nobody does it, but in order to be completely safe I think you need a running dog and bear spray. I can't see running a trail alone at night, though people seem to do it all the time, at least in races.

From Mack on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 18:17:00 from 71.111.182.118

Good job Flat. Glad to hear you are surviving the cold. I would never have guessed that it can get that cold in Houston. Are you a native of Houston?

From flatlander on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 18:41:26 from 198.207.244.102

I moved here in 1981, but I'm a first generation immigrant, always welcome but never a native. My kids, on the other hand, are native Texans. They speak without an accent! I once received an inquiry about returning to Japan where I served my mission. It was all very exciting until I saw the looks on everybody's face -- they thought I was crazy to even bring it up. That was that.

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