For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 13, 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, May 03, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
3.00	0.00	8.00	0.00	11.00

62F, 68%, WSW 3 mph. Pretty good morning, a bit breezy to start (not 3 mph, despite the weather report) but died down pretty much after about a half hour. I wanted to do 10 fast but settled for 8. It is good progress, but probably won't get me to my goal pace a week from today unless I am feeling really good that morning. The weather is projected to be somewhat cooler, but the course profile shows some hills, though it doesn't look too bad on YouTube.

I warmed up for 3, starting at 9:26 down to 8:23, then ran the remaining 8 at a 7:38 pace (goal was 7:43). Started out at 7:52 so I felt like I was in a hole the whole time, even though I got ahead of the 7:43 guy about halfway through. About then I was feeling bad enough that I realized that if I went for 10 I might be running my race today instead of next Saturday; 10 at this pace is almost like running 20 at 8:00, not a good tapering strategy. So I shifted my head into an 8-mile mode, finished with a 7:29, stopped exactly there and walked home.

Good thing I quit early, because when I got back to the house I found my daughter just arriving home from the senior prom. Actually, she is a grounded kid and he seems relatively harmless -- my wife told his parents at pictures last night that me and my son had decided that their son was safe, to the point we passed on the customary gun-cleaning ceremony at our first meeting. Nevertheless, I "invited" her in, and she "complied". They went to an all-night event after the prom where they lock everybody down in a structured environment and eat and play video games all night I guess.

The race next weekend is called the Fifth Third River Bank Run in Grand Rapids, where my father now lives. I don't know anything about the strange name, but apparently it is the national chapionship 25K race, prize money and everything. They have something called a 2-hour club, which comes to a 7:43 pace, which happens to be right on the edge of my training level. If the course is long (I know, they all are, even Boston apparently, judging from some of the race reports), I probably need 7:40 just to be safe. If I had been able to do 10 this morning I would have felt somewhat confident. But 8 is what I got, and you get what you got.

Comments

From SlowJoe on Sat, May 03, 2014 at 11:24:35 from 66.69.93.8

25k seems like the perfect distance. Sounds like it'll be fun. I have my money on you joining the (sub) 2-hr club - especially since you just did more than half the distance ahead of pace today.

From I Just Run on Mon, May 05, 2014 at 08:10:58 from 67.79.11.242

Sounds like a fun race! Hope you do well and your foot doesn't give you any problems.

From Tom K on Fri, May 09, 2014 at 08:42:35 from 174.58.4.250

Is this race still on for you, Flat? I'm looking at some races later this year that fit (at least some) your preferences. Flat, check. Saturday, check. Sea-level, (1) yes, and (2) close. Straight and cold, um, no.

From flatlander on Sat, May 10, 2014 at 16:22:52 from 70.210.74.103

Thanks Joe (hope you didn't put too much money down, missed it by a bit). I agree that 25K is a good distance. It takes me almost to the end of my glycogen.

IJR, the foot is improving in minute increments. Kind of sore after running the race today but not enough to worry me, at least for now.

Tom, I might consider some of these (saw your e-mail, and thanks). Wade (my running buddy) is in Wyoming this summer and has found a long downhill half with a gradual consistent drop, but startng at 6000' altitude. I'm wondering if that somewhat equates to flat sea-level? Temperatures would be reasonable I think.

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