For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 02, 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

Wed, Dec 15, 2010

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.09	10.00	0.00	0.00	12.09

57F, 90% humidity, wind SSW 2 mph. Felt nice out there, not too warm or too cold. I ran 12.09 miles in 1:39:58, average pace 8:16 per mile, flat shoes. Warmed up 2 then ran 10 at GMP, average pace 7:54 per mile. Heart rate was about 3 or 4 bpm higher today, possibly due to a slightly faster pace, possibly because of warmer temperatures. Left hip flexor improved slightly again today, much appreciated. The run was very doable, but still don't have confidence in the full marathon distance at this pace. During the race I will probably try to follow my heart (rate) from the last one, and whatever the speed is, it is.

There is an interesting article in RW about the Hanson brothers out of Chicago. They advocate running lots of MP miles and eschewing the long run. The guy who wrote the article got a 10-year PR on a program that had no runs longer than 16 miles. I found it interesting because I had arrived at a similar conclusion (as to the MP miles) in my own amateur way. But I also like low heart rate running. I try to either run fast or slow and avoid doing too much in-between stuff, although I still do more than I should. I think what we perceive as a "slow" pace is too fast, in the sense that it exceeds the fat-burning effort and we end up just burning carbs at a slower speed, which is possibly a little less effective than staying down in the fat-burning zone or moving up to a high-heart rate zone. My guess is that is why some people, such as the Hansons, are questioning the value of long runs, which are usually run at an in-between pace. But there are a lot of theories and it is fun to experiment.

Comments

From Burt on Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 13:41:04 from 206.19.214.144

Incredible pace for 12 miles.

From SlowJoe on Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 15:08:52 from 214.13.130.104

Great run. Sometimes I wonder if any of it matters, and if just running miles (regardless of pace) is all you need. But you're right, mixing it up and experimenting is the fun part.

From Rye on Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 19:16:42 from 63.227.134.18

I had a friend that I trained with for years and then he moved away. He ran trails 5 days a week and didn't bump his mileage up, 12 to 16 miles per run. He ran a marathon that fall and eclipsed his pr by 25 minutes. Maybe that was due to the fact that he didn't run that race with me or was it his hills and trail running????

From Kelli on Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 13:41:41 from 71.219.84.215

I ripped the training schedule out that they suggested. I am intrigued! I do not mind long runs, I just hate the amount of time all of this running sucks out of my already busy life, ya know???? I may just give it a try, it was an interesting article and it obviously worked for the writer.

I ditto Burt, WOW.

From flatlander on Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 15:09:41 from 198.207.244.102

Thanks Burt.

Joe, that is probably right. I have said the same thing many times, and it isn't like I am already going as fast as I can and need to eke out a few seconds per mile. But the amateur science is half the fun.

Rye, interesting. I've noticed that serious trail runners all have marathon speeds that are a lot faster than their regular runs. First time I've heard of that much improvement, though.

Kelli, thanks, I ripped it out too, although frankly the workout sheet doesn't seem to perfectly match the description of what the author was doing. Seems like he was putting in more miles than that.

From Smooth on Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 16:23:41 from 67.2.69.151

NICE mileage and speed!

I too was intrigued by that article. You have a good point there!

From derhammer on Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 11:33:44 from 65.67.40.73

I have been told the same about the long runs - the 20 plus milers are more for confidence than anything else. I only have one 20 mile run planned this cycle - most others are 15-18. I think it is beneficial to run MGP at the end of a long run though, say 18 miles with 10 - 14 @ MGP. That is what I am doing this time around, anyway. Everyone is so different - there is no blanket training that can be applied to everyone. What works for one person will not necessarily work for others. For example, there are many people in my running group that PR and run sub 3:10's on 50ish miles a week with speed work and traditional long runs. One guy just PR'd from a 3:30 to 3:11 with this training and another from 3:24 to 3:08.

From Kelli on Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 18:58:24 from 71.219.84.215

This is very interesting. I experimented in a COMPLETELY different way this year---upping my miles BIG TIME (but also trying harder on the speed work than I had, I do not like pain and tend to not push it as hard as I can/should) AND I PR'd in every race distance. However, i also am completely burnt out now on the running thing and have lost all desire and motivation to every run that hard again. It was great to PR and enjoyable AFTER the race for maybe a week....but that wore off.

From flatlander on Fri, Dec 17, 2010 at 23:18:46 from 75.223.159.57

Smooth, thanks. It was certainly an interesting article.

DH, I am convinced that running hard at the end is good, I don't do it enough.

Kelli, that is a thoughtful comment. I try to never judge myself or anyone else by the miles we run. Everybody's situation is different and changes from time to time even for an individual. (Even though you feel exhausted, I am still mighty impressed by your accomplishments this year, though!)

From Kelli on Sat, Dec 18, 2010 at 18:14:31 from 71.219.84.215

Well, I am all for trying this new plan of LESS running and see where it gets me....I am gettin' too old for this!

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