For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 02, 2024

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesFlatlander's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2009201020112012201320142015201620172018
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

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.
Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Thu, Dec 31, 2009
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

47F, calm but foggy.  Ran a couple of easy miles, didn't time it.  I feel fine.

Forecast for tomorrow morning is 38F at race time, going up to 49F at noon and clear, so pretty much ideal. 

I still have not decided on a pace for tomorrow.  The two choices are 9:30 and 9:10.  On December 12, almost 3 weeks ago, I ran 22 miles at a 9:30 pace.  I was strung out at the end, but it was the finish of a hard 64-mile week.  I ran a similar pace last Saturday for a 10-mile run and felt better than I did on the front end of the 22-mile run.  So I think 9:30 is very doable unless I am miscalculating somewhere.  With the benefit of a reasonable taper it gives me a high probability of finishing strong, something that hasn't happened yet on a marathon.  Lots of family and friends will be there, and no one would fault me for a 50-minute PR.  Plus I don't plan to enter another marathon until the fall, so it would be nice to have a solid effort tomorrow. 

The other approach is to go for it and try to run at a 9:10 pace, which would put me right at 4:00.  This approach is no different than what I have been doing almost every Saturday this fall, which is to push myself regularly.  It has been a little scary staring out into the darkness early in the morning knowing the task ahead, but the rewards of running at unknown speeds, including the occasional failure, have provided me with enough courage to keep up what has been a successful fall training season.  Not sure the race itself is a good place to risk failure, though, so there you have it. 

Comments
From lightitup on Thu, Dec 31, 2009 at 11:49:02 from 166.205.10.181

Go for it....you have all the components to do under 4

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Most Recent Entries:
New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: