For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 07, 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, Dec 17, 2011

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
20.09	0.00	0.00	0.00	20.09

51F, 89%, NE 10 mph. The temperature seemed lower and the wind heavier than officially. Was planning to meet Wade at 4:45 to run to the Y and meet up with the group. My alarm went off as scheduled, then the next thing I knew it was 4:30. Luckily I was able to get Wade on his cell so he wasn't standing in the cold waiting for me. Left the house at 4:50, met Wade at 5:05 and we proceeded to the Y for a 5:50 start running faster than we intended, had 7 miles by the time we got there, just right for a well timed visit to the facilities. We met up with two other guys, Mike and David and the four of us were quickly back out for another 4 or 5 before Wade and I headed back to his house. Left Wade there at mile 14 and ran to my neighborhood and finished the last miles here. 20.05 miles in 2:51:09, average pace 8:31 per mile, maxHR 168, aveHR 154. I managed to speed up a little after I left Wade, down to 8:09 on the last mile, but I have all kinds of cramping in my calf today, like I ran a marathon instead of a medium-paced 20 miles.

On the way to the Y we ran into a guy who had two young german shepherds with him -- loose. They would just play as long as we were walking but would want to bite whenever we started running. He was yelling at them to no avail. Finally another runner came from the other direction and it was his problem. About two minutes later we met a group of 20 or so runners coming up out of the Y, I bet that was interesting when they found the dogs, but there was no blood or yellow tape on the trail when we ran back, so maybe it all worked out.

Not sure, but I think I'm getting old. Wade's heart rate was running 7 to 10 bpm less than mine this morning, a year ago it was the other way around. Part of it is him getting better, but my LHR pace has not improved during this base phase, for which there is only about 4 weeks left. Wade thinks it is stress and lack of sleep, and that may be part of it, but not the whole story. I ordered some books to see if I can figure things out. If I have run a lifetime PR already, so be it, but not conceding anything quite yet.

Comments

From Smooth on Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 17:05:37 from 174.27.214.60

NICE run with friends! Glad there was no *crime scene* left by the German Sherpherds. Those dogs scare me! Another reason to run *in packs*!!! :)

You are not getting old. Sometimes I think our fitness plateau. I haven't used a HRM forever. I do notice from my yearly check up that my resting heart rate creeps up ever so slightly. It used to be in the 40s now it is in the 50s. Stress and lack of sleep definitely affects it. I LOVE that you have such a strong desire to figure things out to not give up on improving your fitness and attaining a PR. I'll be interested to find out what you learn from your reading and experimenting.

I think your improvement in marathon times is very impressive. In just two years you shaved off 2 hours 21 min. That is phenomenal! :)

From SlowJoe on Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 19:12:36 from 74.195.74.62

Great 20 today and nice move with the dogs -- in basketball that's a pick-and-roll, right?

Good on you for getting the books and doing the research. I definitely don't believe you've gotten a lifetime PR though. You might not run another sub-5 mile but I bet you will keep building the endurance and get a breakthrough before Boston.

From Rye on Sun, Dec 18, 2011 at 00:37:40 from 174.27.101.93

You seem to have adventures on your long runs. I must have a boring life!

From I Just Run on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 08:04:27 from 166.147.76.232

I was getting worried...hadn't seen a 39 miler for a while! I agree with the stress and lack if sleep.

Rye, seriously...you run a treadmill all the time...BOARING...!!!

From Steam8 on Tue, Dec 20, 2011 at 00:31:26 from 166.70.55.77

I can't believe you can find friends that will run with you! I don't know very many people other than SLOWJOE that could keep up! I don't know how you pump out so many miles a week and never get injured! You aren't old! YOur body is in great shape!!

From Rye on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 23:54:27 from 75.174.11.217

So what is up flat? Are you traveling the world, shopping or just being a ...... lawyer. Hope that all is well with you and the family.

From I Just Run on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 10:49:36 from 67.79.11.242

Merry Christmas Flat...!

From JG on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 23:22:39 from 71.59.27.33

What books did you order? RLRF says you can run a sub 3:30 ... just ask IJR! :)

Merry Christmas!!

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