For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 05, 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

Tue, Mar 08, 2011

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
7.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	7.04

67F, 90% humidity, wind SSE 10-18 mph, starting to rain. Nice cloudy morning out there, a little warm though. Started out well on the LHR run, but heart rate drift was pretty steep in the heat. Mile 2 was 9:33, mile 7 was 10:20. Overall 7.04 miles in 1:10:10, average pace 9:58 per mile, flat shoes. Had to knock off early to drive a kid to school but that is OK for this week. I am not in full taper mode for a half marathon, but I don't mind going into the race a little bit rested. Hopefully I can do some more fast miles tomorrow then nothing hard until Saturday. Looks like it will be a little warm in Beaumont on Saturday morning, high 50s and low 60s, warm enough to affect pacing, but there is some colder weather scheduled between now and then, so if things get delayed it might still be cool then. Hoping for the best.

Trying to decide whether to run UVM. The altitude got me last year, although I had a pretty decent PR anyway. I am thinking if I do a lot of hill work on my wife's treadmill, up and down, I might be OK. It would be nice to have something better than a 3:39 (day 5) in my pocket when I am trying to get into Boston this fall.

Once Saturday's race is over, I am thinking of doing 8 weeks of straight LHR training so I can have something to build on for the rest of the year. I am not improving much on that end of the spectrum by doing it 3 or 4 times a week.

Comments

From I Just Run on Tue, Mar 08, 2011 at 12:47:40 from 67.79.11.242

Hi Flatlander,

I'm excited to see what you can do on your upcoming marathon. I didn't realize you were trying to qualify for Boston. Would that be for 2012? Man...that would be cool if you, me, Turbo Joe (Slow Joe) all qualified and went in 2012...! Der Hammer has already made it, now all he needs to do is to get entered.

Another question (you're probably tired of all my question), when you work you LHR miles what is your HR goal...BPM & % Max? Just curious...IJR

On another note, I think you're close to my age. Is your BQ time 3:35:59?

From flatlander on Tue, Mar 08, 2011 at 13:08:35 from 198.207.244.102

IJR, I'm 55, I already qualified! My BQ time is 3:45:59, so with my 3:39 I am in the 5-day group, hoping to do better than that, but I agree it would be a lot of fun if we could all go in 2012.

I haven't gone to a clinic yet, which is the only way to tell for sure where your aerobic zone is, but I use the Maffetone formula to establish low heart rate, which is to subtract your age from 180 and add 5 bpm if you are in shape. Puts me in the 125 to 130 range, I cheat a little bit and run it up to 132 at times. Like I say, I need to get a real answer to that question. If it is higher I would love to run faster on my LHR runs. If it is lower I need to know that.

From I Just Run on Tue, Mar 08, 2011 at 13:29:15 from 67.79.11.242

So...I correct my statement "Man...that would be cool if me and Turbo Joe (Slow Joe) all qualified and went in 2012...! You and Der Hammer have already made it, now all you need to do is to get entered. Oh…wait a minute, Turbo Joe may have already qualified too…I may be the “odd man out”!

From derhammer on Tue, Mar 08, 2011 at 22:33:25 from 70.113.204.189

Hey Flat, you will do just fine this weekend.

Have you heard of the Karvonen method for determining heart rate zones? They say it is the "gold" standard for determining HR zones and is what Pfitzinger uses in advanced marathoning. A quick calculator is here: http://www.briancalkins.com/HeartRate.htm

I broke down and ordered a 305 with HR so I can get an idea what my zones are vs the paces I run, though I am pretty sure I am close.

I don't think you have any worries about getting into Boston. I have actually been looking at what is out there. I hear good things about Grandma's marathon - point to point and pretty flat course. I would only have 12 weeks to prepare since it is June 18th.

From flatlander on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 10:25:25 from 76.31.26.153

David, hadn't seen that, it definitely looks more sophisticated than the average HR tables I see. Still, it pegs my maximum heart rate in the mid-160s, which is really a mid-race marathon bpm for me. My max is somewhere in the 190s, not sure exactly where. I just need to get on a treadmill with a gas mask on to see when my body switches from fats to carbs (hopefully low 130s), and see what it will show for a max. When I do, I am going to wear my Garmin and see how that readout compares to the "official" one. After this morning I am starting to suspect that my Garmin heart rate monitor might be faulty or at least inconsistent.

From derhammer on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 10:46:59 from 65.67.40.73

Right, the problem with that calculator is that it figures your max for you. Last year when I had my max tested it was 185. You can google heart rate reserve to find out more about it. I found this one where you can manually enter you numbers: http://www.cardiacathletes.org.uk/calc1.php

Does your HR strap have a built in battery? Maybe it is getting low on power.

From I Just Run on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 10:56:08 from 67.79.11.242

I've been following you guys conversation. I actually have two HR monitors (my Garmin and my Timex), when the battery goes weak on either they immediatly quit working. Regarding the Max HR and other zones I believe the last calculator Der Hammer sent seems accurate on the upper end of the chart (when I plug in my numbers 36 RHR & 183 MHR) but the mid and low just don't seem right compaired to my efforts. It's going to he interesting when I go in for my Stress Test on the 16th.

From derhammer on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 11:19:58 from 65.67.40.73

I would not pay too much attention to what the zones say, the percentage is more important.

I found this quite interesting and insightful as well:

http://pfitzinger.com/labreports/hrmpitfalls.shtml

From I Just Run on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 11:35:11 from 67.79.11.242

Man...Der Hammer, you're a wealth of information! This article is very accurate and informative based on my (little) experience. Point # 1 was proven between my two last (and only) half marathons. The first one I was more concerned about running in a specific HR zone, the second race I Just Ran. When it was all said and done I improved drasticlly on the second race. Point #2 is exactly right...I think we all know that. #3 is interesting because I can measure my LHR down to 36 bpm but if I start thinking about the day or even rolling around in bed it goes to 40-42. #5 is what I've been trying to do running consistant treadmill runs ever so often to see my progress.

Flatlander, I hope you don't think I'm trying to take over the conversation on your Blog but I thought another perspective might be of interest.

I JUST RUN

From derhammer on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 11:52:17 from 65.67.40.73

Nah, I just know where to find the information. Pfitzinger is one of my favorites as I really respect him. This is a must read as well:

http://pfitzinger.com/labreports/hrm.shtml

Who knew? One's max heart rate actually decreases with fitness.

From I Just Run on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 12:41:52 from 67.79.11.242

Dang...Now my head is spinning...! I'm not working hard enough on the easy days and too hard on the hard days...LOL...I'm Glad I JUST RUN or this would make me crazy...!

From derhammer on Wed, Mar 09, 2011 at 13:05:08 from 65.67.40.73

Aerobic base pace should not be "easy" - easy/recovery days should only follow a hard day such as tempo, intervals, a race, or a tough long run, or if you body just feels like it. Just my 2 cents. :-)

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