For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 03, 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, Jul 10, 2012

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.04

73F, 100% and calm. Lots of rain the last week and it appears that it will continue for the rest of this week. Ran 12.04 miles in 1:52:54, 9:23 per mile, 146 bpm, 152 max. The object today was to keep my heart rate at 150 or below for the entire run, even if it meant not making a 9:20 pace. I'm pretty sure I am not getting much base-building, fat-burning benefit when my heart rate goes over that threshold. \

It worked out better than I thought it would. Miles 3, 4 and 5 my heart rate was already climbing, I was over a 9:20 pace and I figured it was going to be a slow, sweaty disaster. Then miles 6, 7, and 8 came in nicely: 9:07, 9:00 and 9:10. Mile 9 ballooned to 9:36 and I was just hanging on after that. The heart rate bumped over 150 a few times, especially at the end, but I would always slow down. Even though mile 12 was 9:52, I was under a 9:20 cumulative pace through mile 11. I missed it overall by 31 seconds, so better than I anticipated, I figured I would go over at mile 6.

Joe and I have discussed this before, I think, but if you are holding to a particular heart rate, there seems to be a sweet spot somewhere between miles 6 and 10 which usually lasts 20 minutes to a half hour. Then I fall off the cliff, in heart rate terms. I don't know the physiological explanation, but in practical terms it means don't get excited during a marathon just because I am feeling good at mile 8.

Near miss in the mud this morning. With all the rain some of the construction sites in my neighborhood are shedding a thin layer of clay onto the street. I stepped on some wet clay right before dawn and nearly went down. Not sure of the consequences of a fall onto the concrete, possibly hitting the back of my head. Last time that happened was a winter morning in Albuquerque -- I was partially cushioned by an inch of snow and a beanie. There would have been no cushion this time, really felt lucky.

Comments

From derhammer on Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 16:24:41 from 70.113.125.159

Does the HR hold true in cold weather as well?

From Rye on Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 20:14:09 from 174.27.111.36

Nice run flat.... all that clay soil sounds so familiar...that's all we have in potato land....glad the head didn't meet the pavement.

From Dan on Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 19:41:39 from 24.209.83.20

I was thinking the same this as DH. Do you see the same thing no matter what the conditions?

From flatlander on Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 20:32:25 from 166.249.197.113

DH and Dan, I think so, but can't remember for sure. Possibly not quite so dramatic.

Rye, thanks, my head would have looked like a potato if I had fallen.

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