For Whom the Dogs Bark

51F at start, 61F at end, 22% humidity (lowest I have ever seen in Houston), wind N 8 to 22 mph, beautiful day for running unless you are trying to run a marathon, then you have to give it a B+, the low humidity probably saved the day.  Today was the Texas Marathon, a small 400+ marathon in the Houston community of Kingwood that takes 4 laps around a community jogging trail, basically an out and back with a loop at the far end, so all day you are seeing other runners for both the half and the full.  I ran my first marathon here exactly two years ago today, then ran it again last year and got a big PR, so this one has a spot in my heart, it is the only one I have run more than once.  Last year I got a big PR.  Today I got a small PR, but I’m happy with it.  Here is how it happened:

When I woke up this morning I still felt pretty lousy from the flu-like symptoms I have had all week.  In the early hours I could still feel the fever.  I almost bailed but didn’t, decided that part of running is to take your races as they come.  After I got moving around a little bit I felt better anyway, so I got in the car and drove to Kingwood.  Got there way early and just sat around second-guessing my decision, but when everybody is lining up you just line up.  The plan was to try to mimic the Richmond heart rate pattern:  < 160 for the first 10 miles, 160-165 for the next 5, < 170 until mile 20, then whatever I can do after that.  Whatever speed that translates to, so be it.  This turned out to be a good strategy, took a lot of the stress out of a less than ideal situation.  Here are my splits (no good skin connection for the first three miles, so no reliable heart rate read-outs until mile 4):

First 5:  8:07, 8:09, 8:01, 8:22 (158) and 8:31 (159).  As soon as I got a good heart rate reading I could see that I was going too fast.  I felt great and didn’t want to slow down and watch my 3:30 goal slip away, but I knew that if I was 100% I would have a lower heart rate at these speeds and that I was in no position to gamble like I did at Richmond, so I slowed down and let the miles come in wherever they happened to fall.

Second 5:  8:29 (160), 8:31 (159), 8:25 (158), 8:33 (158) and 8:40 (160).  So just like Richmond, the old ticker held steady through these miles and set me up for a decent second half.

Third 5:  8:35 (162), 8:41 (160), 8:34 (164), 8:32 (162) and 8:16 (164).  I intentionally sped up here, using up some energy I had left in the bank in the early miles, but didn’t really go that fast.

Fourth 5:  8:19 (165), 8:22 (168), 8:24 (168), 8:26 (170) and 8:12 (171).  At mile 16.5 I was taking my last shot of EFS and caught my shoe on a sidewalk lip.  Down I went for the third time in a month.  I am getting good at this, I rolled to my left onto the lawn and managed to not stick my arms out.  Still got a nasty scrape on my knee that drove my younger granddaughter nuts.

Last 10K:  8:08 (172), 8:28 (171), 8:37 (168), 8:37 (167), 9:04 (168) and 8:42 (168).  There were no high heart rates at the end like Richmond, just didn’t have the strength today.  Plus a weird thing happened at about mile 22.  I was coming in for water, yelling for it from about 50 feet away, stepped up and took it, then a fairly heavy woman coming the opposite direction, staring at me, veered right into my face for a spectacular head-on, helmet-to-helmet collision.  I won despite giving up 30 pounds, but how does this happen?  I think these are the same people that drive 45 mph in the left lane.  Some of my friends in the biological specialties need to isolate this gene so we can eliminate it from the pool.

I finished in 3:39:27, 39th place overall.  Half marathon split was 1:49:37, second half 1:49:50, almost dead even.  A little more than 2 minutes better than Richmond, but the course is about 0.2 short I think, so my overall pace appears to have been almost identical.  Several other people said the same thing.  How is it that there is so much variation in certified courses?  I think there were about 400 running the marathon, but not sure.  It usually takes this race a while to post results, and they don’t do age group or anything like that.  But my son went and got the results for me, so I think they are official.  Anyway, it felt really good to finish and get a PR under the circumstances.  My daughter ran the half in 1:48:38, 8:17 per mile, so she ran faster than me, and got 32nd overall, very proud of her and her rapid progress.

I got compression socks this week and had my family put them on after the race, but I still had some cramping and so was stuck on the lawn for a while.  Pretty soon this guy comes up and starts talking to me, asks me if I ran the marathon and what did I think.  I non-committally said it’s a long ways.  Then he asks if I am part of the local running club and I said no, I drove over from the other side of town.  Then he says he wants to talk to the local club about nutrition, anybody who would eat a pepperoni pizza (I had just had three pieces) after running a marathon has their head up . . . .  whoa, got a live one here.  Turns out he is a multi-level marketer for a prominent vitamin company whose product is so good it cures cancer, diabetes and heart conditions, in addition to actually making you younger.  There I was, stuck on the lawn waiting for the calf cramps to subside, the ultimate captive audience.  Got out of there pronto with the help of the compression socks and without buying anything.

One last thing.  This is the "Texas Marathon", and as you may know, everything is bigger in Texas.  Here we are holding our finisher medals:

Solid brass, about 5 pounds apiece.

Taking the day off, might take a few days off although I feel pretty good.  Now that I have slept on it a couple of nights, still very happy about Saturday's race, but pretty sure there will be better days.  A few wind-up items and then I will put it to bed:

1.   It was only a 2-minute PR but it was significant in a couple of ways.  I moved down one age bracket in the BQ chase, and for women I am now BQ-qualified in the open category (no surgery planned, however).  I also beat my old long-term goal of 3:40.

2.  I put the finisher's medal on a food scale (you can tell that work is busy today).  It weighs 48 ounces, exactly 3 pounds, so they exaggerated when they said it was 5 pounds.  By comparison, however, I weighed last year's medal and it was a mere 30 ounces, so this year is a definite improvement.

3.  Looks like my official finishing place is 39th out of 317, not 37th and not quite a top 10% finish.  I am listed 40th by gun time, but I was 30 seconds late crossing the starting mat so one slower runner is listed ahead of me.  I was the 36th male and second in age group by about 1 minute.  My daughter finished the half 30th overall out of 300, 10th female and first in her age group.

4.  To squelch a nasty rumor started by Burt, I am not making up my spill at mile 16.5.  Here is the photographic evidence, which I think documents a pretty bad owie.  Sorry if anybody is squeamish, but this is not a pretty sport.  (Burt, it's the left leg, and you can tell by the bony knee structure that it is mine.)

39F, 80% humidity, wind NW 5 mph.  Fantastic running weather this morning.  I have been fighting a work schedule and a persistent cold all week, but mostly a creeping lethargy --  I knew I needed to get out for a run today even though I don't have the time.  My wife did the seminary run so I was able to sleep in a little.  Then ran 5.5 miles in 47:52, average pace 8:42 per mile, flat shoes.  Ran first two at low heart rate, 10:03 and 9:29, then 3 at GMP, 8:00, 7:51 and 7:39, then 1/2 cooldown.  Heart rate still a little high, but it felt really good to get some endorphins back into my system.  Still slammed by work but more optimistic now about getting through this rough patch.

I need to make a plan for the year.  Even though I didn't get a 3:30 marathon, I'm thinking I was probably close under better conditions and I should go ahead and target a faster one.  That is the only way I can get better.  It doesn't happen for me if I just go out and run without a plan. 

42F, 61% humidity, wind E 1 mph.  Just another day in paradise.  Worked late last night, got to bed at 1 then met Wade at 6 at the YMCA, the whole group was going 21 as their final long run before the Houston marathon.  Wade only wanted 9 and that was OK with me.  He wanted to do three fast ones, so we started out in the 9:15 to 9:00 range for five, then did three at 8:00 to 7:50 then one cooldown.  Overall 9.00 miles in 1:20:08, average pace 8:56 per mile. I was showing very low heart rates (157, 153 and 146 for the three fast miles), but I don't think that is correct unless I'm a lot better than I was a week ago.  Possible I suppose after running almost nothing this week, but not likely, especially since it went down instead of up.  I felt lousy getting out of bed this morning but much better after I ran.  I should run more often.

Got my work out last night so hopefully things will be a little more reasonable that way and I can get back into a rhythm next week.  It has been a week, time to get going.  I may go back to Argentina a week from tomorrow, so it may be hard to maintain a schedule for a while.

Happy weekend all.

37F, 96% humidity, wind NNE 6 mph, cloudy.  Nice brisk morning out there.  Ran 10.04 in 1:42:01, average pace 10:10 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  Not a particularly good pace but no sense drawing any conclusions based on one day.  I have been dong a lot of faster running lately and neglecting the slow side.  It may be time to run almost exclusively low heart rate for a couple of months, but still thinking about that.  Legs feel fine.

34F, 50% humidity, wind N. 7 mph.  10.05 miles in 1:23:29, average pace 8:18 per mile, fast miles between 7:50 and 8:00 (one 8:03, two 7:45).  Tuesday night run.

28F, 56% humidity, wind N 5 mph.  Very cool out there for us coastal types.  I knew when I ran late and fast last night, followed by TexMex at 10:00, that this morning was going to be a bad run, and it did not disappoint.  Started out low heart rate and went slower and slower.  Final tally was 10.02 miles in 1:45:16, average pace 10:30 per mile, regular shoes.  This was one of the more difficult runs I remember, I was ready for it to be over from the beginning, and it never got better.  I was fully wrapped, two shirts, long pants, gloves and beanie; still, my hands were still so cold I could barely fix breakfast when I got in. 

In the process I saw the food scale sitting there (we have a houseful of food Nazis, that's why we have a scale in the kitchen) and got an idea.  Went into the bedroom, got my flat shoes and put them on the food scale, in a very sanitary fashion of course.  (Good thing Mrs. Flatlander doesn't read this blog.)  9.95 ounces (about 5 ounces each).  Then I weighed my regular shoes.  27.15 ounces (about 13.6 ounces each).  Learned a couple of things:  Turns out that shoe weight is by shoe, not by pair.  And left shoes don't weigh the same as right ones.  My left flat shoe is 4.85 and the right is 5.1.  Forgot to weigh my socks but I'm guessing they are half the weight of the flat shoes.

This all came up because I got a book in the mail yesterday, The Competitive Runner's Handbook.  (I got it not because I am competitive, but because it is supposedly chock full of answers to all the running questions one might have.)  I haven't looked at it much yet, but happened to glance at the shoe section.  They had nothing good to say about minimal shoes, said they are worth a few seconds per mile but the benefit diminishes with distance.  No, mine are worth about 20 seconds per mile at the same heart rate.  I have measured it more than once, apparently they haven't.  Hoping for better advice on other stuff.  On the other hand, Once a Runner also arrived.  Pure poetry.  I learned more by reading the first few pages than I will ever learn from a handbook.

32F, 24F wind chill, 50% humidity, wind NE 9 mph.  Still very cold by our standards but runnable.  I came very close to skipping this run because I was still hung over from yesterday's modest but painful effort.  But went out anyway, was in a hurry due to work deadlines so ran it fast.  Happily the aches and pains faded as soon as I got warmed up and the run went fine, albeit somewhat difficult.  10.01 miles in 1:20:34, average pace 8:03 per mile, flat shoes.  Left the heart rate monitor at home, it doesn't work very well at this temperature, but I was working hard.  Ran 2 slow then 8 fast.  The fast miles averaged 7:38, slowest right at 8:00 (mile 3) and down to 7:27 for miles 5 and 6.  Then I started running out of gas so I let my pace drift by about 15 seconds per mile and managed to finish the last 4 OK, never went over 7:45.  Probably harder than it should have been.  It was a 10K effort but not really 10K speed.  But it was what I had to give today, and I was glad I did.

38F, 50% humidity, wind SE at 3 mph.  Very good running weather today, but I wasn't a good runner today.  Went 10.27 miles in 1:48:05, average pace 10:32 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes, quite a bit slower than a normal run under these conditions.  Maybe I was still worn out from yesterday, but I didn't feel like it.  It was OK though, I enjoyed the run and felt fine when I was done. 

44F, 85% humidity, wind ENE 6 mph, rainy.  Very nice running weather, but slow again for the second day in a row.  Ran the same route as yesterday, 10.29 in 1:48:46, average pace 10:34 per mile, flat shoes, so even slower.  Not sure what is going on but not panicking just yet. 

Then in the afternoon I ran in a church-sponsored 5K.  The teenagers are getting ready for a 3-day trek in March to commemorate our pioneer heritage, so today there was a 5K run/walk organized to help certain of them know that they needed to get into shape.  Altogether there were 230 runners, very nice turnout.  My friend Wade organized it and did a great job.  As I told him, I have paid quite a bit of money for races that were not organized as well as this one, and this one was free.  Everyone at church today was talking about what a blast they had and lobbying to repeat it next year.  Isn't running great?

My daughter-in-law came out from downtown to run it and to support the trek preparations, so we ended up running together, had a great time, very nice of her to come out.  I ran some more miles before the race, then 2.8 for the "5K", then went back out to bring in my daughter who was walking it with some friends.  She didn't seem too embarrassed to have a parent show up with bony knees and long white socks (just kidding about the socks, the knees are no kidding).  I even convinced them to run a little bit, so altogether I ran about another 5.3 miles, total of 15.59 for the day.  It was a good day to take it easy, as my Achilles was hurting by the end of the day.  It feels better today, probably going to be OK if I don't do anything overly stupid -- not that I won't.

Then, we drove to Kingwood and met Smooth and her daughter for a nice evening at a pretty good local restaurant.  Compared a lot of notes and talked a lot of family background and a lot of running.  It was a great time, glad to meet another blogger.  Thanks Smooth (and your daughter) for taking the time to meet us!

48F, 93% humidity, calm, foggy and misting rain.  This is very good running weather.  I got almost 8 hours of sleep and felt much better this morning.  Ran the first half at low heart rate, averaging about 9:55 per mile or so, almost back in my zone.  Then the goal was to run two sets of 2 at 6:30, but I wasn't strong enough to pull that off.  I ran one at 6:59 and felt pretty trashed.  Ran a recovery mile, then did 1.5 at 6:55, a little better.  Ran another recovery mile then another fast mile at 7:00.  On this one I felt like I was able to get into a smoother, more relaxed rhythm, even though it was still difficult.  Then jogged it in.  Overall 12.39 miles in 1:52:03, average pace 9:03 per mile.

I ran across some references over the weekend to age group All-Americans, got curious and looked it up.  Turns out the standards are ridiculously loose, I have already met all of them for 5K through marathon for the road racer category and I am an average runner.  Inexplicably, they are much tighter for the track category (18:25 and 39:00 for my age group).  But in the process I found out that there are standards for national ranking by age group.  For my group they are:   5K: 18:20 (5:54); 10K: 39:30 (6:22);  half: 1:27 (6:38); and full: 3:00 (6:52).  Those are worthy goals and a significant accomplishment for any 55-year old who can do it.  To put things in perspective, this morning I ran 2.4K at a pace slightly slower than target pace for a 3-hour marathon.  Hard to believe there are old guys running around that fast out there.  They must be wearing very short shorts and doing yoga.

51F, 96% humidity, calm.  12.22 miles in 2:04:58, 10:14 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.

37F, 100% humidity, calm and clear.  Beautiful morning with almost a full moon and Saturn (or whatever it is) still hanging around at dawn, mid-sky in the south.  I bundled up but didn't need to.  Even though we had high humidity it felt warmer than yesterday because it wasn't raining or getting ready to rain.  For the first leg I had only 70 minutes to run, so I did 3 at low heart rate, one transition mile at old marathon pace (8:46), then two fast ones, 7:08 (166) and 6:53 (176).  Then jogged in for a mile and had to make a seminary run to pick up my daughter.  After getting her home I went out for five more, one warmup mile and four at progressive pace, 8:10 (155), 7:52 (162), 7:43 (166), and 7:33 (172).  Last one was harder than it should have been but that is the story lately, interesting that my heart rate for the 7:33 mile was about the same as for the 6:53 mile.  I think it takes the heart a while to get up to speed.  Overall I ran 12.13 miles in 1:46:22, average pace 8:46 per mile, flat shoes.  Good run, but don't know where my best speed went.  I did a 6:34 mile on November 22, less than two weeks after a marathon.  Maybe I have been gaining weight, but I am afraid to check it.

53F, 93% humidity, calm and cloudy.  Temperature dropping all day today, but running this morning was very comfortable.  Ran 12.16 miles in 2:07:42, average pace 10:30 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  Compares to a similar run last week in regular shoes.  Also had a run in this range last week in flat shoes, so looks like I am definitely slower all of a sudden across all heart rate zones, no idea why.  I got on the scales expecting to see 5 extra pounds but it wasn't there.  Has to be something else, but hopefully it won't last long.  My liver is probably regrouping or something.  (Does that sound bad?)

29F, 21F wind chill, 74% humidity,couldy and wind N 8 mph.  Cold, but predicted winds were 20-30 mph, so could have been much worse.  Usually the wind dies out some by the time it gets this far south.  Did a full wrap and wasn't that cold except for my fingers, which were like 10 popsicles by the time I finished.  Wimpy I know, but the cloth gloves were not doing it for this southern runner.  It has cleared up now and I think it will be even colder tomorrow, but probably no wind.  I ran 12.02 miles in 2:02:06, average pace 10:10 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  Got 4 in a row under 10 so a little better.

26F, 81% humidity, wind NW 2 mph, clear and cold.  Bright moon, waning but almost full, gorgeous morning for a run.  Bundled up double wrap and was on the road before 5.  Met Wade at his house, ran down to the Y and joined them for 4 of their 8 miles (most of them are running the Houston Marathon in a week) before breaking off and heading home.  I left Wade at his house and ran a few more to get 20, last 4 were 8:47, 8:37, 8:25 and 7:41, 20.06 miles altogether, 2:58:23, average pace 8:54 per mile, flat shoes.  Felt good to run in the brisk weather this morning, but not nearly as good as the big breakfast and hot shower afterward.  No ice bath for this runner.  Breakfast was 4 glasses of of grapefruit juice, one calcium pill, one piece of toast with peanut butter, one glass of chocolate milk, 1/3 cup of whole wheat boiled (with 1% milk, brown sugar and blueberries), and one egg (cooked Sunnyside up in honor of allie).  No wonder I'm not losing any weight.

Wade had a good week.  He has been in search mode for 6 months and got a job on Thursday.  CFO of a start-up oilfield tool company, gets to keep his old salary and has a ton of upside as the company grows, and he is staying in Houston so I'm not losing a running buddy.  Plus he is getting some running speed back, he has almost caught back up to me all of a sudden, which makes sense -- he was faster than me in high school and he is 7 or 8 years younger than me.  He announces his new job on Wednesday.  Would have qualified for a nice severance package (about 3 months of salary) if he waited two more weeks to announce.  His wife asked him why he couldn't wait to announce and he said he didn't feel right taking severance from his old company when he already had a job.  He was a Mormon bishop for five years and I would say he was flying his colors high this week.  Not sure I would have come out the same way as he did, but I have complete respect for a decision like that.  So many people I deal with are fun to be around in most circumstances but they behave differently when money is involved.  It is an honor to count Wade as a friend.

In contrast to Wade, I found a $1 bill by the side of the trail this morning.  I think I spotted it first because I have the poorest running form, always looking at the ground.  Caused a 15-runner pile-up while I stopped to scoop it up and do a victory dance.  I'm not in Burt's league, but it's a start.

46F, 100% humidity, wind NE 8 mph, rain.  Actually turned out to be pretty good running weather.  It looked awful when I anxiously peeked out the window dark and early for a preview, but once I got my feet wet (literally) it was fine, wind wasn't too bad and it was just warm enough to leave gloves at home.  I intended to do only 10 but felt good and had the time so I kept going.  Plus I thought I would be traveling later this week, but that just got cancelled.  Ran 14.13 miles in 2:21:25, average pace 10:01 per mile, low heart rate.  I had a 9:54 average pace through 10, after that the miles started catching up with me but I never got slower than 10:15.  My LHR pace is gradually getting faster again, still not my best but improving, legs felt strong today.

46F, 87% humidity, wind NNW 8 mph, blustery and clearing.  Finally saw the moon and it was dry out there.  Felt pretty stiff from yesterday, even though it was a slow run, but no injuries, so I felt pretty much OK from the beginning today.  Turned out to be a good run.  I planned to run 5 at low heart rate, then six at GMP (7:30) then cool down one.  When I woke up my mojo failed me and I decided to go for 4 fast miles, because I have been having trouble hitting 7:30 lately.  The slow miles were uneventful except for one incident with a small dog.  at 4.75 miles I sped up and hit my stride going into mile 6.  The speed felt hard but not overwhelming and I thought maybe 6 wouldn't be so bad after all.  7:38 (156), 7:18 (163), 7:21 (167), 7:21 (170), 7:16 (173) and 7:18 (175), average 7:22 for the 6 fast ones.  I let up on the gas pedal a little bit because I want to run some more fast miles this week.  Wade and I have decided to run a half in Beaumont on the second Saturday in March.  My nephew, his wife and her father (who is from Beaumont) are also going to run it.  Original plan was to run 7:30 pace but now I think it might be possible to go faster.  One morning doesn't make a race, but today was a good omen.

OK, about this dog.  Some 8-year old girl accidentally let him out the front door and he was relentless.  Very small but wouldn't go away.  She was out there trying to chase him in a house coat, crying in the cold.  I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there while the drama played out.  Not a good situation, but I don't want to be bitten no matter how small the dog.  This one definitely wanted a piece of me and the girl knew it.  I have no idea why this poor girl's parents didn't come out and resolve the situation, some people have no manners.  But it was a small price to pay for a good run.

33F, 88% humidity and calm.  Very nice morning but a little cold on my sensitive Texas skin.  I got out early, eager to run some more fast miles.  The plan was to do 2x2 miles at 7:00.  Didn't make it.  7:15 was the best I could do.  I could feel stiffness in my inner thigh that stayed around after the run.  Probably OK but not the best situation -- that probably held me back some, but this speed felt very, very fast today.  Results were 7:15 (161), 7:13 (169), one slow mile, then 7:15 (166) and 7:14 (172).  The last one felt particularly fast but it was the same.  Overall 12.07 miles in 1:49:38, average 9:05 per mile.  I think to some extent I had hangover from yesterday, legs just weren't quite as strong.  It's OK though, training is not a linear process.

I ordered some new Jingas (the flat shoes I wear almost all the time now, they are made in Brazil but shipped from England) a few weeks ago.  They haven't arrived so I finally sent this message:

"Would much appreciate a status update.  The tracking system says my order was despatched on January 6 and shoes mailed on January 7, now "winging their way toward me", but there has been no landing and no further information.  Even a corked bottle launched from Liverpool would have arrived by now.  Would appreciate knowing when the airplane is expected to run out of fuel and land."

They wrote back immediately with a long, customized and detailed explanation.  It was like I am their only customer.  Something goes wrong with every order:  missing shoelaces, wrong size and now this.  But they are so charming and quirky that I can't get mad, and they always fix it.  So if you want some flat shoes and a little bit of adventure, order Jingas.  They are on sale through January for 30 Pounds Sterling, plus "shipping". 

38F, 88% humidity, wind W 5 mph.  Thought it was going to feel colder than it did.  38 is my new 48.  Ran 12.07 in 1:59:41 average pace 9:55 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  Original plan was to do 3 fast days this week but I was a little worried about my right achilles and heel which have been acting up somewhat the last couple of days, so I took it easy today and will probably do the same for the rest of the week.  Despite some tired legs, all of my splits were under 10 except for the first (10:31) and the last (10:00), so continuing to improve at the low end, still not back to my 9:30 days but that is coming.  My best ever slow run was 9:42 per mile back on December 1.  It was 28F that morning, so the cold isn't the issue.  Anyway, feeling good but gotta go, can't hang around to chat.

Whiffed on the run this morning.  Got on a call at midnight last night, people from Taiwan, Beijing, Singapore, France and U.S., all speaking bad English (but better than my French or Chinese) for 4 hours talking about arcane West African accounting rules -- got to bed just in time to turn off my alarm.  That was fun.  Honestly, I probably need a day off anyway.

52F, humidity 82%, wind SW 5 mph.  Really nice running weather, felt good to run without the usual accoutrements.  I had to be somewhere at 8:00 so I was out the door at 4:30, kind of funny, my alarm clock went off this morning at almost exactly the same time I went to bed Friday morning.  It's one advantage I have being old, sleep is optional.  The plan was to run 20 at 9:00.  First mile was 9:21, so I sped up and the second was 8:34, and I mostly left it there for the rest of the run, dipped into the 8:20s a couple of times toward the end.  I ended up running 20.07 in 2:54:01, average pace 8:40, flat shoes.  Heart rate never broke 160 and it was below 150 most of the run until I sped up a little bit toward the end.  Legs were quite sore and still are, but no particular stress otherwise.  This was basically my marathon pace going into Richmond, so I am improving.

56F, 93% humidity, gathering clouds but calm.  Good running weather.  Ran 4 then did the seminary run, then 4 more then a second GI break then 4 more.  So overall speed was down, but I was slower this morning no matter how you cut it.  I ran 12.10 miles in 2:03:02, average pace 10:10 per mile, flat shoes.  Too much rich food over the weekend.  But it was a fun weekend meeting bloggers and monitoring their races.   My daughter-in-law's bosses were a sponsor of the half marathon, so she and my son drew duty at one of the stations.  They passed out water and Gatorade, but my daughter-in-law was also in charge of the music and organizing cheers.  Her bosses were so impressed they promised a raise.  We'll see if that holds up today as they are recovering from their hangovers.

66F, 94% humidity, wind S 13-20 mph.  Almost summertime temperatures.  Ran 4.44 miles at low heart rate (regular shoes), then came back in to do the seminary run.

After dropping my daughter off, the car thermometer read-out headed south.  It went from 66 to 41 in about 10 minutes, first time I have seen anything like that.  By the time I got back in my neighborhood the wind was rocking my vehicle and there was lightning and thunder, so I wimped out and went to the clubhouse, waited around for the only treadmill that was working, settled for 1 mile on the elliptical.  Finally the treadmill opened up and I got two more miles on it at low heart rate, then my phone rang and my daughter's ride home had fallen through. Back to pick her up.

By this time the weather had calmed down, 42F, 100% humidity, wind NW 16-30, so I put on beanie and gloves, went back out and ran 3 more in the 8:30 to 9:00 range, frankly it felt better than the slow miles earlier.  Total miles on my Garmin were 7.40 in 1:13, 9:54 pace.  Adding 3 for the clubhouse miles, so a total of 10.40.  Then back to the house to take my daughter to the bus stop, too cold to have the little darling wait in the wind.  Let's see, I was out there in shorts, something wrong here.  At that point I called it a day.

My legs and feet hurt all day yesterday, got worse as the day wore on, I figured I had an injury.  The good news this morning is that all seems well.  We are bracing for some serious winter weather here in the next few days.  I know, I know, everybody else already has it.

19F, 62% humidity, wind NNW 12 mph, 7F wind chill, partly cloudy.  It was already 21F when I went to bed last night, so this could have been worse.  With lower than usual humidity it didn't turn out to be all that bad.  Certainly the cold was a distraction, and it was tough running against the wind, but perhaps two shirts and a pullover were a little much?  Had to shed the pullover after 2 miles.  I considered passing on this run because I was afraid that frost bite would ruin my complexion.  But I'm glad I went out there, and I'm happy to report that I look the same, for better or worse.  Wind chill-wise, this is the lowest temperature I remember for a couple of decades, and it will be similar tomorrow morning.

The objective was to get this over as soon as possible, so I "warmed up" as fast as I could, 9:13 and 8:13, then hit mid-7s plus a little for the rest of the run, 7:42, 7:34, 7:34, 7:28, 7:33, 7:30, 7:35 and 7:29.  I figured it was useless to try to get a heart rate reading, but as it turned out I was sweating enough I could have done it.  I am estimating 165-175 for the 8 hard ones, but not sure.  Total distance 10.07 in 1:18:37, average pace 7:48 and flat shoes.

Speaking of which, here they are:

This is my first pair of flat shoes and they are just about done after about 500 miles.  (Regular shoes still going strong after a couple of thousand miles.)  Most of the wear is on the outside ball, which is generally correct I think.  But the right foot has a hole in that spot and the left foot still has a little bit of tread.  I wonder if I am striking unevenly.  I don't have a coach, but it would be interesting if I could find somebody really good who could take my stride apart and put it together again.

27F, 16WC, 57% humidity, wind N12-20 mph.  Balmy.  Ran 10.22 miles in 1:47:18, average pace 10:30 per mile, regular shoes.  No heart rate data today.  Even though the wind chill was almost 10 degrees warmer than yesterday and the humidity was lower, that was the coldest I've been in a while.  Something about going slower I guess, but I had to after running hard yesterday.  I started to feel lethargic toward the end, possibly more from lack of sleep than the cold though.  Still bone dry, but snow predicted for tonight.  Wade said he'll run with me if there is snow in the morning.  If there is snow in the morning I may not run, last time I did that I practically got a concussion when I fell, probably did.  But I don't think there will be much if any.  Some of the Canadians in town are having a great time laughing at all the school closures, etc., but I tell them they don't want to be out on the road competing for freeway lanes with a bunch of rednecks with slick tires, they are better off at home.

26F/18WC/NW 8mph/85% at start, 25F/15WC/10mph/85% at end.  Colder than yesterday, but ran it hard:  9:42, 8:12, 7:53, 7:44, 7:43, 7:39, 7:44, 7:42, 7:34 and 7:38, 10.16 miles in 1:21:00, 7:58 per mile.  The cold isn't so bad running hard, at times it felt almost good, but not quite.

The snow never materialized, of course, but instead we had ice.  There was enough moisture in the air that it put a layer of ice over everything, particularly bridges.  I left for work early and got there late because all the freeways were closed.  Over 800 wrecks in Houston today.  Roads were dry by this afternoon, but it was a good thing they cancelled school today, would have been a mess out there.  I don't care where it is, clear ice on the roads is dangerous.

20F, 89% humidity, calm and clear.  It was sterling weather out there this morning, by the time we finished the sun was up -- clear, cold and calm.  With no wind the cold wasn't really noticeable.  Met the group at the Y.  They were doing their shakeout run one week out from the Houston marathon.  Forgot my Garmin (yes, it's true), but according to Wade's watch we ran 8.44 miles at about a 9:00 pace, regular shoes.  Easy run, but decided not to go out again for another loop, too much to do today.

41F, 71% humidity, wind NW 9 mph.  Those are the numbers on the computer for Cyrpess, but actual wind was at least 15 if not 20 mph.  It was a real problem every time I turned into it.  Otherwise it was really great running weather out there, actually had to take off my gloves after awhile.  Ran 2 warmup miles, 9:39 and 8:41, then back to GMP for 10:  7:35 (168), 7:35 (170), 7:33 (171), 7:20 (172), 7:23 (178), 7:22 (174), 7:34 (174), 7:35 (176), 7:36 (178) and 7:35 (181), flat shoes.  Overall pace 7:49, average pace for GMP miles 7:31, so pretty much on the money.  I had real problems maintaining pace the last 4 miles, it was like my legs stiffened up or something.  I wasn't particularly tired, and I felt like I pumped up the effort considerably on the last two miles and they still came in high.  I'll have to work on figuring that one out, I'm probably not limber enough.  Time for Pilates (right).  On the other hand, the relatively high heart rate never bothered me, I guess I was feeling good from not having run hard for a few days.

We have two new familes on our cul de sac.  So our neighbor invited everybody over for a pre-Super Bowl party yesterday.  Proceeding counterclockwise, the first house is English (him) and French (her), then Irish (him) and Mexican (her), then Mormon (us), then the host, Jill and Todd (the only normal house), then finally the last house is Peruvians who didn't show, but we know who they are.  But we were all united in our love for the Packers (BnS, are you still out there?), because the Steelers did some really rude things to the old Houston Oilers' Super Bowl ambitions about 30 years ago and we haven't forgotten.  We had to explain a couple of things to the English/French couple, starting with why the ball wasn't round, but before long they got with the program.  It was well worth the effort, though, because she brought over a really superior apple tart.

29F, 77% humidity, wind ENE 5 mph.  Stellar morning.  Out the door early, ran 4 before the seminary run, then took care of some work duties and ran 8 more in the bright sunshine.  It was nice out there.  Ran slower than normal after going hard yesterday:  12.24 miles in 2:07:17, average pace 10:24 per mile, flat shoes and LHR.  We have another weather system coming in, but so far I am unimpressed.  What impresses me is the number of sub-30 days we have had this year.  Must be 10 or 15 by now and we should have a couple more this week.  Some winters here it never freezes.  Either way, though, I have yet to see it get so cold you can't run, although last Wednesday was close.  Pretty much, we get to run year-round here, although a lot of locals take the summer off.

My legs hurt more today than they did after running hard yesterday.  Part of it must be delayed onset, and part of it is going out again after cooling down completely.  But the bottom line is that slow is not the same as easy.

Impossible day, did 6 easy on the TM at the house late at night, 10-minute pace.

22º, 11ºWC, wind NW 12 mph, humidity 70%.  Second coldest morning this winter for us.  But it was dry.  I didn't get to bed until 1:30 last night due to work issues, but my sweet wife offered to do the seminary run for me this morning, so I slept in until 7:30 and woke up refreshed.

The cold didn't seem so bad in the daylight.  I warmed up for 4 miles, 9:08, 8:20, 8:17 and 8:13.  Then launched into 10 x 400 (400 rest interval) as fast as my legs could do it.  I got faster as my legs loosened up.  Mile-equivalent paces for the quarters were 6:57, 6:49, 6:28, 6:43, 6:28, 6:24, 6:23, 6:14, 6:09 and 6:17.  Then a 1-mile cool-down.  I was happier with the last five than the first five.  I got more speed by trying to push off harder so as to get longer strides.  That seemed to smooth things out and helped me to pick up the pace.  Was actually nauseous when I finished but managed to eat a nutritious breakfast on schedule.  Overall run was 10.09 miles in 1:23: 45, average pace 8:18, flat shoes, ditched my heart rate strap after 2 miles, didn't really need it today anyway and there was no hope of getting a read-out in these temperatures.

Found a new pizza dive yesterday, best I have had in my 30 years in Houston.  Serving the best pizza in Houston is not a high standard, but it's always good to get a PR.

23ºF, 93% humidity, wind N 1 mph, clear and calm.  A bit chilly but great weather.  Ran 3.5, did the seminary run then finished the run mostly in the daylight.  Sun is starting to come up earlier, too bad it all goes to pot when we switch to DST in a month (March 13 to be exact).  Ran 14.01 miles in 2:21:41, average pace 10:07 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  I couldn't really monitor my heart rate because I didn't sweat.  Interesting experiment would be to see how many slow miles you could run in these temperatures without needing a drink of water.

I really need to do more of these slow miles, ideally this many every day or even a few more while temperatures stay low.  They do me a lot of good over the long term and they are easy on the joints, but they eat a big chunk out of my day.  Some days it isn't possible, but maybe I can get in a bunch of them tomorrow.

29º F, 91% humidity, calm and clear.  Terrific weather, maybe a tad cool but decided against long pants and glad I did.  This was the 5th morning in a row under 30º F, which hasn't happened for many years.  Ran to Wade's house and did the loop down to the Y and back, about 16 miles, then did another loop in his neighborhood before calling it a day.  All at easy pace.  21.00 miles in 3:35:59, average pace 10:17 per mile, flat shoes.  I didn't have a heart rate monitor but am hoping the speed was slow enough to stay below my LHR threshold.  Wade was in the high 130s but mine could have been higher or lower.  Heel is bothering me some today, may have to take a week off from flat shoes.  They are great for most purposes but my right heel and Achilles let me know if I wear them too much.

43º, 100% humidity, calm and foggy.  But the stars were out, very nice running weather.  It was almost like spring was in the air, very heavy and full of woodsy smells.  Pretty good running weather, wore short sleeves and regular hat.  It's going to be warm like thsi for at least a week, maybe it never will return to the 20s like last week.  I checked my old blog entries and it looks like a total of 14 days below 30º F so far this year, pretty much a record for these parts.  Must be some sort of a running accomlishment?  Most years it is 2 or 3 days all winter, some years it doesn't even come close to that.

I ran 10.21 miles in 1:44:08, average pace 10:12 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  The heart rate monitor went out after about 5 miles so I just held the same pace, probably let my heart rate drift up too much but it still isn't warm enough for me to sweat at low effort, so no accurate read-out.  I would have thought it would be better at these tempertures, hopefully I don't have mechanical issues with the Garmin. 

Absolutely no issues with my Achilles and heel today, but I think I am going to stay in regular shoes for the week.  When I wear them too much I start to get a little bit knee pain and other aches and pains, but I think it's OK for one week.

52º, 100% humidity, wind SSE 3 mph.  Short-sleeve weather this morning.  Ran 10.12 miles in 1:43:58, average pace 10:17, LHR and regular shoes.  HR monitor was working this morning, so I ran a true LHR run, whereas yesterday I was guessing.  Really not a bad pace for heavy shoes, but the back of my knee hurts more today than it did yesterday.  Funny how different shoes make different parts hurt.  After much agony and indecision, I have finally come to the conclusion that it is time to purchase a new pair of regular-weight shoes.  The old ones have about 2,500 miles on them, as best as I can estimate.  Maybe I can find some that will be easy on my knees.  That is the main benefit I get from flat shoes, so it would be good to have a back-up pair for weeks like this one when it is time to give my heel a rest from the flat shoes.  Clear as mud?

54º, 94% humidity, calm and foggy.  I really like these conditions to run in.  Since my knee was bothering me from running slow in normal-lift shoes, I put my flats back on and decided to do a speed day.  Trying to discipline myself to only one speed day a week right now.  The goal was to do 6 @ 7:15 and I made that.  Warmed up for two miles, accelerating into the fast miles:  9:57 and 8:23.  Then 7:00 (166), 7:09 (174), 7:04 (178), 7:08 (181), 7:15 (182) and 7:10 (184).  From the way my heart rate was climbing rapidly, you can tell I was just hanging on at the end and it felt like it.  Average pace 7:08 for the 6, which is an unofficial 10K PR for me, not quite 10K but close enough.  Overall run was 10.03 miles in 1:22:18, average pace 8:12 per mile.  If I could do 8 and then 10 at this speed in the next two weeks I might have a shot at running the half at 7:15 speed in 3-1/2 weeks.  I think running intervals last week was helpful.  The pace didn't seem quite so frantic this morning.

Our local church is doing a "pioneer trek" in March, and one of my assignments is to collect stories from accounts by the original Mormon handcart pioneers.  I have been reading quite a bit in the last couple of days and it is truly amazing what they went through.  Most families lost a few people in the snow, some were almost entirely wiped out.  It was the last river rossing of the Platte River in eastern Wyoming that really did them in.  The bad part of the trek only lasted a few weeks in late October and early November, but it was fatal for a lot of people.  These homespun accounts will stop your heart, it is a sobering read.  I was thinking about it on the run this morning but not in a way you would guess.  Mainly I was thinking about how little it had to do with running.

63º, 90% humidity, wind SSE 5 mph.  Wind was heavier than that during the run, but otherwise nice running weather, as warm this week as it was cold last week.  Today was back to the LHR salt mine after frolicking in the low 7s yesterday.  Got out late after working late last night.  Ran 10.00 miles exactly, in 1:44:31, average pace 10:27 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  Right knee is aching again today after muscles cooled down, but it will disappear overnight and I will do it again tomorrow.  I don't think it is a big deal.  I'm still happy about yesterday's run, to the point that it doesn't bother me that today was slow.  For some reason LHR runs work for me even though it is hard to detect any improvement on a week to week basis.

Granddaughters are in town, and Mrs. Flatlander has a full program in progress.  Just trying to stay out of the way.

64F, 93% humidity, wind SSW 5 mph.  Good running weather.  Short sleep, had to get to work, so ran faster today, 10.02 miles in 1:21:30, average pace 8:08 per mile and regular shoes:  8:54 (137); 8:08 (152); 7:54 (159); 7:56 (162); 7:56 (163); 8:06 (164); 8:06 (165); 8:12 (166), 8:13 (167) and 8:00 (171).  Corrected for heavier shoes, this was an OK run heart-rate wise.  In order to make a marathon work it is ideal to get through 10 miles under 160, so I wouldn't have run a 3:30 marathon this morning in these shoes.

59F, 100% humidity, wind ENE 3 mph, heavy fog.  Even though it was cooler than yesterday it was the type of running weather that tests your resolve.  So wet out there the fog was generating a mist of rain.  Was soaking wet within a couple of miles and unfortunately forgot to treate with Glide, creating a Burt-like episode on the front of my white shirt.

I ran from my front door down to the Y, about 6.5, then ran another 13.5 with Wade and the rest of the group.  Pace down to the Y was about 9:30, then about 9:00 for the rest of the run.  Wade ran his last mile at 7:30, leaving me in the dust.  He has definitely got his mojo back, but says he won't run any more marathons.  I'm working on him.  He is running the half with me on March 12, but only plans to do 8:00 per mile.  I think he is selling himself way short.

20.02 miles in 3:05:38, average pace 9:16 per mile.  I ran around the parking lot a couple of times at the end of the run to get to 20.  Someday I'll grow up.

65F, 86% humidity, wind S 12 mph.  Nice spring morning out there.  My Garmin went dark about 20 steps into the run so I finished entirely by feel.  Ran for 2:06 and figured a 10:30 pace in regular shoes.  I got the Garmin to go on once for just long enough to get a heart rate readout, at about mile 6, 133, a little high for this type of run.  So I slowed down a little, but that is the only data point I got, other than the clock on my cell phone.  Plus I know the distances in my neighborhood pretty well, so it kind of worked.  I don't know how Pheidippedes did it without a GPS watch.

59F, 63% humidity, wind NNE 6 mph.  First look at my Blackberry this morning showed 70F.  After a moment of panic I realized that was last night's readout, and was much relieved when I got the true temperature, which is only a little bit warmer than ideal.  The intent today was to do 8 at 7:15, which is goal half marathon pace for my race in 2-1/2 weeks.  I got it but it was hard.  Warmed up for 2 miles, 9:48 and 8:22 and accelerated into the fast ones:  7:12 (161), 7:04 (170), 7:02 (173), 7:08 (175), 7:14 (176), 7:23 (176) (that one woke me up), 7:12 (178) and 7:02 (181), average pace about 7:10, good result but I could not have run 13 at this pace today.  2 cooldown.  12.02 total in 1:36:26, 8:01 average pace.  In my mental fog at mile 9 I started wondering how many dogs have barked at me in my running life.  I decided at least one per mile, I must be on the wall of honor down at the K9-VFW.

67F, 87% humidity, wind SE 6 mph.  Not a good morning for running, there I said it.  At least it wasn't cold.  Ran 10.19 miles in 1:48:43, average pace 10:40 per mile, LHR and regular-weight shoes.  Heat started getting to me towards the end, I was soaked to the skin by the time I finished.  Lots of pain left in my legs from yesterday's run, some of it in new spots.  I got two bad cramps in my right hamstring yesterday morning and it was still hurting today, to the point it altered my stride for the first few miles.  Despite the negative factors that kept my LHR speed slow this morning (heat, heavy shoes, hung over legs), I think the bottom line is it is slower overall right now.  I have continued to improve on the high end for the first couple of months this year, but my guess is that unless I get the low end back I will eventually run out of capacity to get more speed.  That isn't a traditional way to think about conditioning, but it makes sense to me.  Right now I seem to be unwilling to forget about races and just do LHR runs for 8-12 weeks, which is really what it takes.  If I don't have a race coming up in the next few weeks I start to get impatient.

54F, 72% humidity, wind N 7 mph.  Didn't run yesterday, work was impossible, up late and up early.  Ran 10.22 miles in 1:44:45, 10:15 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  26 second per mile improvement over Wednesday.

58F, 87% humidity, wind S 10 mph.  Unlike yesterday, it was getting warmer as I ran today rather than cooler.  The program was to run an entire long run at low heart rate.  Started out OK, a little slower than yesterday, hitting mid-10s for the first 8 or 9 miles, not as good as yesterday but OK.  Then it went south.  I was in the low 12s by the time I finished, kind of interesting and disheartening at the same time.  I now know for sure that I need to do a lot more running in this range.  It is hard to do long runs at low heart rate unless I do them alone though.  I am starting to think that long runs are like regular runs, they should be either fast or slow to get the most benefit.  I was really beat up by the time I finished, which again shows that I am working a different system than usual.  Ran 20.12 miles in 3:41, average pace 11:02 per mile.

I am traveling starting Tuesday morning and will be jet lagged, so running is going to be a mess this week.  Don't know what the situation will be as far as temperatures, time or a place to run, and I won't be back until Sunday night.  Probably time for an easier week anyway.  Bummer is that I might also be traveling the following weekend, when I have a half scheduled in Beaumont.  So life is intruding a little.

64F, 87% humidity, wind S 10 mph, trying to rain.  Very nice morning for running, I think I said it already but the spring smells that come out this time of the year are a nice change from winter.  It will be colder tomorrow but not that cold.  Got out the door intending to do my big fast run for the week since I am traveling tomorrow and discovered that my Garmin's battery had died again.  Second time in a week.  My son uses it and I think he is putting it back on the cradle without turning it off.  Not complaining though, I am glad to see him running. 

I am calling it 10.22 miles because I ran exactly the same thing as Friday.  Ran it at about a 10:30 pace (according to the clock on my cell phone) in flat shoes, so I am pretty sure I kept my heart rate in the target range.  Another indication is that my legs and Achilles felt good at the end.  Hopefully I can get the fast run in tomorrow before I leave for the airport at 7:00 a.m.  It will be an early start but shouldn't matter because sleep patterns will be screwed up anyway.

46F, 77% humidity, wind N 5 mph.  Ideal running conditions.  Up very early to get it in before leaving for the airport.  Warmed up 2 miles, 9:37 and 8:16, then tried to do 10 at 7:15 but couldn't pull it off.  Never got down to that speed.  Splits were 7:24 (161), 7:20 (167), 7:17 (169), 7:28 (170), 7:21 (171, 7:22 (173), 7:24 (174), 7:24 (174), 7:31 (174) and 7:30 (173).  Overall pace for the 10 was 7:24, legs feel good.  Felt pretty tired, but the limiting factor was speed.  After awhile my legs just wouldn't go any faster, but I wonder if I was a little bit afraid of the run.  Perhaps if I had started out faster I would have been able to hang on.  Good news is it looks like I won't miss the Beaumont half a week from Saturday.  From here on out it is catch as catch can for runs this week.

75F, 90% humidity, wind about 15 mph.  In China this week, ran from a hotel on Hainan Island, which is in the far south of China, so it was pretty much summer temperatures.  Did a low heart rate run anyway, 1:49:35, average pace 10:57 per mile, but true pace was probably more like 10:40 because I went a stretch with no GPS but the clock still running.

85F, 80% humidity, wind about 15 mph.  Still on Hainan Island.  Stayed up most of the night working because I was still too jetlagged to sleep more than 3 or 4 hours at a time.  Had a 6-hour presentation at a conference today with lunch in the middle.  I was afraid I would fall asleep on my feet in front of our clients, so I skipped lunch and went out for a run in the sun.  Was only going to do 6 or 7 then decided to do the whole thing.  Was surprised that I didn't do too badly, Same route as Wednesday, 10.14 miles in 1:28:04, average pace 8:41 per mile, down to the 8:20s by the end of the run.  Most people ignored me, there aren't a lot of runners here, but every once in a while I could tell from somebody's look that they knew I was working pretty hard, this was not a jog, i.e., they were runners, there is a code, we can all tell somehow.  It worked, I made it through the afternoon fine.  Back in Houston tonight, have to go back in a week but it looks like I will make my race this weekend.

50F, 85% humidity, wind E 6 mph.  Very nice morning.  Slept like a rock last night, never changed positions and woke up with severe neck pain.  It didn't really affect my run, but I've got leftover stomach problems from my travels last week and that did affect my run.  I warmed up 2 miles, the plan was to go 4 hard at faster than HMP, but I could only go 2, my stomach started to hurt badly and I got nauseous.  So I ran the last 2 as a cooldown.  The fast ones were 6:50 (167) and 7:01 (176).  On a better day I think I could have done 4.  Overall 6.08 miles in 51:30, average pace 8:29 per mile, flat shoes.  Right at the beginning of my fast miles a 2-pound yapper came out to greet me, but he just wanted to run.  He kept up with me for a half mile then got distracted by a tree.  Felt pretty dumb getting outrun by a furball.

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.

66F, 99% humidity, wind NW 5 mph to start, 56F, 70% humidity, wind N 10-20 mph at end.  Ran right through a front coming in this morning, hope it hangs around until Saturday morning.  Was pretty surprised at how strong the wind was, since the weather report had posted 5 mph at the time I went out -- turns out it was changing on the fly.

The plan was to run 5 fast at 7:00 pace, in hopes that a 7:15 pace on Saturday would seem manageable.  I managed to do that, but given how tired I was I am not sure it will work for Saturday.  Hopefully I didn't wear myself out.  Warmed up for three, accelerating into the fast ones, then 7:02 (169), 6:55 (176), 6:58 (183), 7:09 (188) (really feeling it here) and 6:57 (190).  Was very happy to get that last one under 7, especially since a lot of it was into the wind.  Average pace 7:00 plus 1 second for the whole 5 which I will call a rounding error.  Couldn't believe how high my heart rate readouts were, at some points it was steady 192 and even showing upper 190s but it was spiking at that point and I think it might have been a mechanical malfunction (hopefully not a coronary malfunction).  Nevertheless, the average bpm showing for each split are pretty accurate, I think.  This one was either maximum effort or pretty close, would have been a real battle to run 10K at this speed.  Cool down 2 miles, total 10.04 miles in 1:23:41, average pace 8:19 per mile, flat shoes and definitely not LHR.

41F, 75% humidity, wind WNW 3 mph.  Great running weather today.  Ran 10.25 miles in 1:41:05, average pace 9:52 minutes per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  Last mile was 9:49, so nothing under 10 other than the first one, good run.

36F, 93% humidity, calm and clear as a bell.  Pretty much perfect out there this morning.  When I saw the temperature I bundled up, but never noticed the cold.  Still can't believe we are getting these temperatures in mid-March.  Hopefully some of this will hold until tomorrow morning.  60 was predicted yesterday, 53 being predicted this morning.  50 would be about perfect and remove all excuses.  I was going to go 10 this morning but then I remembered something about never going over 8 when you are getting ready for a race so I cut it short.  Hasn't been much of a taper this week but at least I gave it a nod.  Back to China on Monday morning, so I will get almost no running done there unless I can make myself do treadmill.  But first, off to Beaumont tonight for the big race tomorrow.  (Actually a pretty small race but you know what I mean.)

I registered for UVM yesterday, back to Utah for more high altitude punishment.  I got a hotel room in Midvale but it doesn't look like it is much of an advantage, it appears to be 10 miles from the start line.  When a race starts at 6:00 there are few alternatives to a very early alarm clock.

60F, 90% humidity, wind SE 15 mph.  Really nice running weather today, but I admit it got a little warm by the end.  Wade and I drove to Beaumont last night, got our hotel room, got registered, watched the Jimmer show, went foraging for food at gas stations, then retired early, at midnight, satisfied that the thermometer had dropped to 50F.  Arose in the 5:30 range, noted with alarm that the temperature was back up to 60F, took in a few calories and drove to the start line, about 10 miles away.  This kind of weather always feels cool and refreshing until you try to run in it.

Wade’s brother was running his first marathon and his sister-in-law was running the half as well.  Also, my nephew’s father-in-law, Mike, is a local and he was running in the same age group as me.  I warmed up for a mile and lined up almost at the front, didn’t want to be fighting for running room.  I noticed a guy with Mike on his bib, but didn’t feel like chatting before the race to see if he was the right Mike.  There were several other old guys in the same area, most wearing half-marathon bibs.  I remembered that a 54-year old won this race last year and figured I would have some good age-group competition.  The race counted down and we were off exactly on time at 7:30, was very glad they didn’t wait until 8.

About a hundred yards in I checked my watch and I was running at a 6:35 pace.  It felt plenty smooth but I immediately reeled it in.  It was toucg finding my target 7:15 pace.  First mile was 7:10, second was 7:24.  After that I got into the groove until I started to fade a little bit past the halfway point.

The old guys formed our own group almost immediately, together with the first place woman, and we held together for a while, surging back and forth.  We dropped the first-place woman after about 3 miles, dropped a few younger guys that went out too fast, then gradually started dropping the old, steady guys.  Finally they all fell off except for me and Mike, then at about mile 6 or 7, can’t remember exactly, I put on a last surge and kind of dropped Mike but he never went away.  Then there was nobody.  About then we made the turn back into the wind.  It was hotter and there was some up-hill to the road as well.  Previously we had been twisting and turning through the city but coming back it was a long, lonely straightaway, very tough.  A couple of younger marathoners were ahead of me but they kept increasing their lead and eventually I had the road all to myself, and it stayed that way for the duration.  I found myself asking for directions frequently, but never had trouble getting the right advice about which way the course turned.  Whenever I would pass a group of spectators they would encourage me and then fall silent.  I could tell how far back Mike was by the following shouts of encouragement.  Didn’t seem to me like he was all that far back.

At mile 12 there was a u-turn and sure enough, Mike was within 30 yards but working very hard.  By this time I was struggling to maintain any pace at all and my heart rate was already in the 180s.  I had done a mile earlier this week in the 190s so I did it again.  When I made the next to final turn I had 150 yards on Mike and that was it.  Splits were 7:10, 7:24, 7:15 (172), 7:16 (171), 7:19 (171), 7:15 (175), 7:12 (178), 7:22 (178), 7:27 (180), 7:37 (179), 7:38 (179), 7:47 (184), 7:30 (191), then .11 at 6:55, (188).  Finished in 1:37:04, average pace 7:24 per mile.

After I finished the first thing I did was introduce myself to Mike and sure enough he was the one, 59 years old, a very good runner.  One of the other old guys was 70, and he broke 1:40 and sounded disappointed.  I hope I can do that when I am 70.  (Actually, I probably won’t be doing this when I am 70.)  Turns out Mike and I had met at my nephew’s wedding.  After finishing I immediately tried to find out my overall place but they were coy about it, asking me to “stick around”.  So we did, even though we wanted to get back to the hotel and shower in order to get back for Wade’s brother’s marathon finish.  But we stuck around.  It takes a while to get to my age group.  Wade’s sister-in-law got second out of 37 in her age group and was ecstatic.  Finally they announced us.  Mike was third, so I knew that meant I was second.  The age group winner ran 1:27, way out of my league, so I had no regrets.  Catching somebody like that is going to have to wait for next year.  I worked hard and got a good time considering the conditions.  The overall winner ran 1:11, so thankfully a 1:27 didn’t win it again this year, that would have been embarrassing.  I got 14th overall out of 507 half-marathon finishers, Mike got 15th, and we had a grand time racing through the oil town on a warm Saturday morning. 

After showering, we got back just in time to see Wade’s brother run past the parking lot with 2 miles to go.  He finished his first marathon in about 4:12, running 2:04 and 2:08.  Very steady runner.  He seemed happy when I told him my time for my first marathon.  And my second. And my third.

TM indoors, so no weather report.  Didn't want to run in the cold and smog and get lost here in Beijing, so it was inside and I may stay there for the rest of the week.  The facility at the hotel was pretty good, the TMs even had TVs on them, but couldn't get any channels, maybe mine was broken.  So it was just like running outside in a way, nothing to entertain me except my own neurons and watching my form in the plate-glass window in front of me -- like I say, nothing to entertain me.  Ran for 90 minutes at 1% incline and set the speed to bring me up to low heart rate, then decreased it slightly throughout the run to compensate for heart rate drift, which was pretty mild, it has been several days since I ran.  So I think 10 minutes per mile is a pretty good estimate, which makes 9 miles worth of LHR effort.  I was the first one in and the last one out.  I guess runners have a different idea of what passes for a workout.  There were also some ellipticals in there, but I stayed far enough away that I don't think I got infected.

Same exact thing as yesterday, minus the HR monitor.  My Garmin is low on batteries, I think I left it on after yesterday and I am a bit far from home to put it on the charger cradle.  I thought I could make it through four days on one charge but I guess not if I am going to do dumb things like that.  Everybody out here is panicking about radiation from Japan.  Certainly something to keep an eye on, but can't see that it presents any threat to China at this point.  Might be a little bit of politics involved.  Japan is a really good country, I was a missionary there 35 years ago.  I hope they make it through this OK.

Same thing.

Saturday morning here in Beijing now.  One quick tourist stop and then to the airport and home through the radiation.  Made one last trip to see Mr. Treadmill this morning, 9 more at low heart rate.  It was so early when I got in that the gym didn't have many lights on, just a few lights that created a mood lighting effect.  I figured it would be just me but there was an unusual woman already in there, walking quickly on the treadmill.  She was about 50, wearing a silk blouse with tight-fitting, knee-length jeans, which was OK.  She was also wearing nylons, which was not OK.  She was also wearing high heels.  I guessed that she was in from an all-night party and had an 8:00 appointment for which she needed to be sober.  Definitely one of the more unusual running guests I have seen.  But then I reminded myself that I was wearing a hat, indoors, in the dark, and Brazilian dancing flats with a color scheme that most closely resembles the rentals at the 24-hour Bowl-a-Rama.  In light of that, I wonder what her report was this morning.

P.M. We flew directly over the reactor in Japan coming home today.  Have to wonder about United.  As I arrived back in Texas I realized that I missed Tuesday but got two Saturdays this week, so decided to go out again since it had been a full 24 hours from this "morning's" run, which was really Friday night Houston time.  I intended to do 10 at low heart rate.  But it was about 80F and my heart rate wasn't staying low with the temperature and my jet-lagged legs unless I wanted to run in the 11s, which I wasn't willing to do since the family had things planned.  After 3-1/2, I saw a guy about a quarter mile ahead and it was like a dog seeing a rabbit, my discipline was gone, almost trash talked him when I passed him but managed at least to hold that one in.  I ran the last 6 in 8:02, 7:59, 7:53, 7:46, 7:56 and 7:25.  Kind of a MP run, overall 10.11 miles in 1:27:54, average pace 8:41 per mile for the whole 10.

Pretty good week considering all the travel.  Nerves in my right leg have been bothering me for the last couple of months, the faster I run the more they hurt later in the day but usually better the next morning in time to do it again.  Driving can be painful at times.  It comes from a herniated disk I got in the summer of 2008, after an especially bad (and my last) round of golf.  That being said, the plan is to ramp it up again next week assuming my body holds up.

64F, 93% humidity, wind SE 5 mph, gusts to 15 mph, partly cloudy.  Very comfortable running weather, didn't feel hot to me.  I got up early and did 5.75 at low heart rate, then did the seminary run, which I will be doing for the next 4 weeks, then went back out after returning to the house, which wasn't easy.  On my second trip out I started with 1.25 transition miles, then 4 at goal marathon pace, 7:28, 7:29, 7:09 and 7:28, and 1 mile cooldown.  Didn't get any consistent heart rate readouts so I changed the battery in the strap after I finished, hopefully that was the issue.  Overall I ran 12.01 miles in 1:49:40, average pace 9:08 per mile, flat shoes.  The thought on this workout was to get both low heart rate miles and race-pace miles in the same workout, kind of an experiment between now and the next marathon.  I know I need to get a lot of LHR work in because that end of my conditioning isn't too good right now, but at the same time I don't want to give up minutes on the next race.  So this is my "cake and eat it too" plan.  I want to do some variation of this workout as often as I can, every day if possible between now and UVM.  But I felt a bone-deep fatigue when I finished, so I may have to back off depending on how I feel as the week progresses.  I have some mild cold symptoms after too much traveling and too little sleep but I don't think it will amount to much. 

68F, 84% humidity, wind S 9-19 mph.  Hot wind blowing but it was dark so it wasn't too bad.  Ran exactly the same run as yesterday, with the seminary kid delivery in the middle, but a little bit hotter so a little bit faster.  It is way to early to be this hot.  The MP miles were 8-11: 7:33, 7:27, 7:19 and 7:15, seemed a little easier than yesterday.  But my bad back came back (after 2-1/2 years), I think it is because of going back out for the second half of the run, there are always aches and pains doing that because my joints freeze up almost the instant I stop running.  Also I have mild fever tonight, so not sure what is going to happen the rest of the week.  I think both will go away quickly if I behave.  Overall 12.02 miles in 1:47:46, average pace 8:58 per mile.

60F, 96% humidity, wind NE 3 mph.  Beautiful morning today, may not get many more of these before summer hits for good.  Wasn't sure how my back would respond, so after taking yesterday off I ran some slow miles this morning and cut it short.  Back seems fine though -- sometimes it would tighten but it would go away as soon as I corrected my posture.  I have had a herniated disc for three years now and it bothers me sometimes.  At the time I got some stretching exercises from the physical therapist that are effective, I just don't do them when I go through long periods of no problems, there isn't enough time for everything.  Then it catches up with me and I pay for it a little bit.  The last couple of days I have been stretching my back frequently and it has helped.  No issues this morning, I will try some GMP miles tomorrow.  I have an 8K race on Saturday and should be good to go.  7.66 miles in 1:16:44, average pace 10:01 per mile, LHR and flat shoes.

No weather report, sorry about that, I know it is disappointing, just forgot to look.  It was nice, probably a little warmer than yesterday.  I had to make an 8:00 meeting downtown, which meant I was out the door early in order to finish the run before taking my daughter to seminary.  Ran 10.25 miles in 1:29:42, average pace 8:45 per mile.  Ran 5 at LHR, one transition mile, then 4 at goal marathon pace, 7:34, 7:23, 7:12 and 7:20, tellin' ya, it's a distant goal right now.  Quarter-mile jog to calm the nerves down in my leg and back, but overall my back held up well and the day is going well, so all is well in Texas.

72F, 90% humidity, calm and partly cloudy.  A little warm, but generally good running weather.  Today's race is named after a lawyer who, to put it bluntly, has been dead for 15 years.  I imagine he is still in protracted negotiations at the pearly gates.  My interest in this race was that the entry fee was covered, end of discussion.  Supposedly our firm had a team put together, a meeting place and everything.  I got there early and ran 3 warmup miles, checking out the course.  It is the same downtown course that ends on a long uphill pull, which is actually possible in Houston, though it isn't all that steep once you climb out of the final underpass.  Except this course, being 5 miles instead of 3, loops back into downtown for an even longer uphill, then turns around for a slight drop into the finish chute.  Also included are two underpasses going out, and the same two coming back.  Underpasses aren't fun. 

Made my third POP stop, made it to the meeting place at the appointed time and met a colleague named Harve, and nobody else, I suppose sleeping was the better option.  I don't know Harve, but turns out he is a moderately serious marathoner who has now also bought a bike.  I got to talk to him quite a bit on the way to the start.  He said he was going to do low 8s so I assumed we wouldn't be running together unless he was lying.  He wasn't.

My goal was to do the first 3 miles at 7:00 then try to lay down the hammer on the uphill coming back.  That is pretty much what happened, although not quite the way I expected.  Harve and I were talking when all of a sudden the gun went off unannounced, like a Laurel and Hardy western.  Everyone was startled and took off.  I started a little bit too far back and had to bob and weave a little, but still got a good first mile.  My splits were 6:50, 7:15, 6:55, 6:56, 6:32 and 5:42 pace for the stub split to the finish, average pace 6:51, the best I have done at this distance.  My heart rate monitor is completely kaput, so I don't know how hard I was working.  I was on the fringes of the puke zone in the last mile, but not that deep into it, would have been interesting to see what my heart rate was.  If it had been 185 or lower I would have pushed harder, but I felt like I put in a good effort.  I was especially surprised to see the 6:32 for mile 5 because it felt like I was slowing down with the lactate buildup in my legs.  As a comparison, last fall I ran a 10K at 7:11 per mile (35F) and a 5-mile run at 7:14 per mile (77F, 5 degrees warmer than today).  Any way you slice it, today was an improvement, but 6:51 per mile at this distance translates into 7:37 per mile for the marathon distance.  Add in the fact that my marathon paces don't translate well and my true marathon pace right now is probably in the 7:45 to 7:50 range, so that is the work I have cut out for me in the next two months to get down to 7:30 at altitude.

I got 8th in the 55-59 age division but forgot to check my overall standings.  First place old guy ran 6:12 per mile, overall winner somewhere in the 5s.

PM:  Went out again before dinner for some LHR work, ran 6.09 in 1:03:39, average pace 10:27 per mile.

60F, 80% humidity, wind NE 5 mph.  Very nice morning out there; the wind was a lot more than 5 mph but I didn't mind.  I am already acclimated to the heat to the point that my hands were actually cold at 60F.  (I know it opens me to all kinds of ridicule for saying it, but this is a bare-your-soul blog and the truth must be told.)  

So yesterday I finally threw away my old heart rate strap in disgust and got out a new one that came with the replacement Garmin I ordered last year.  It never worked before, which is why I had been using the old one.  Against my very nature, I surreptitiously pulled out the directions.  Even though every Y chromosome was clanging the alarm, I perservered.  In between looking over my shoulder to make sure nobody was seeing me cheat, within three minutes I found the magical word "sync", and I was on my way, the new strap is perfectly fine.  Of course I have a yet-newer one on its way from Amazon.com.  In my typical ready, fire, aim MO, I ordered the new one before sitting down to figure out the problem with the mothballed one.  So pretty soon I am going to be long on heart rate straps and CR 2032 batteries, in case anybody needs either.

Oh yes, I ran today.  I got up early for about 6.5 at low heart rate, then did the seminary run and came back to finish the run run.  I warmed up for about a mile and a half, taking care to do it very gradually unlike last week, then eased into 4 GMP miles, 7:37 (153), 7:30 (157), 7:37 (160) and 7:28 (166).  Looks like I eased into them a little too gradually, but close enough.  Would have preferred the 166 to be 156, but OK for now.  I am hoping that this will be a sustainable workout for the next few weeks, maybe even up the GMP miles to 6 or 7 if things are going well.  Did a cool-down mile at about 8:44, overall 13.08 miles in 1:57:12, average 8:58 per mile.

Hope everybody has a nice week.

63F, 71% humidity, wind ENE 6 mph.  Good running weather, not quite as cool as yesterday but not bad at all.  Same routine, ran 6 before the seminary run then came back and went out again.  My right foot was acting up a little, so I did two transition miles instead of 1 or 1.5.  The MP miles were 7:23 (152), 7:30 (155), 7:30 (159) and 7:29 (163), so I got 3 of them under 160 today.  The slow miles were also good, averaged 9:33 and even got a 9:14.  Overall, 13.00 miles in 1:54:17, average pace 8:48 per mile, flat shoes.  Good run, keeping an eye on my foot though, it didn't recover quite enough overnight.  If it persists I may have to switch back to regular-weight shoes for a few days, which I hate to do.  It throws off my form and the slower speeds put me in a funk.  But it is hard doing flat shoes every day, too many years of civilization, takes a while to make the switch.

54F, 83% humidity, wind N 7-10 mph.  Wind felt heavier than that, but at this temperature I was in a forgiving mood.  By Saturday it will be hot again.  Feet didn't feel too bad when I got up this morning, so strapped on the flats again and it worked out OK.  Ran 6.37 miles in exactly 1 hour at low heart rate, including a 9:08 third mile, and an average of 9:28, both my best so far.  It would be way cool to get down to BQ pace at LHR, that is probably still at least a year away though, if it happens at all.  Did the seminary run and went back out again (hard for me to go back out, I need to suck it up and just do it), two warmup miles then 4 at GMP accelerating to tempo speed:  7:44 (151), 7:23 (157), 7:14 (163) and 7:04 (170), then an active cooldown mile at 8:27.

46F, 90% humidity, wind NNE 3 mph, clear and crisp.  Excellent running weather this morning, undoubtedly the best we will have until fall.  Same routine, I am right on the edge of cutting back or switching over to regular shoes, but went with the flats again today.  It was OK until I went out for the second half, literally 1.5 miles before heel/Achilles pain went away, it is hard on injury zones to stop and then re-start the run.  But it did go away finally, so I was able to speed up and do my fast splits on schedule, 7:37 (151), 7:27 (156), 7:31 (159) and 7:15 (165).  Would really like to up these to 6 or 7 a day, but I am afraid right now I can't sustain that -- everything works fine except for my right foot, would be great to be able to figure that one out.  Why that foot and not the other one?  Actually, I think I know, it is where I still have the numbness from my herniated disc three years ago and somehow the nerve damage translates into joint/tendon/ligament damage -- either that or my gait changes to compensate and puts more stress on that foot.  One way or the other it is related; golf is a dangerous sport when you have a swing like mine.  LHR miles were also good, average pace 9:32, overall 13.08 miles in 1:55:01, average 8:49 per mile. 

60F, 90% humidity, calm then freshening ESE wind, foggy.  Pretty good running weather.  Did it backwards today, 2 mile warmup then 4 miles at GMP:  7:29 (152), 7:17 (157), 7:23 (163) and 7:09 (167), active cooldown for 1 mile then did the seminary delivery.  45-minute break altogether.  Then the thought on the second run was to compare LHR pace to earlier in the week.  Turns out it was about 20-25 seconds per mile slower than doing the same miles on the front end.  After a couple of miles my legs were warmed up again and I felt pretty good, even got a 9:29, had extra time so I kept going for a few extra miles.  Toward the end my LHR pace slowed into the 10:20 range.  Overall 16.06 miles in 2:29:17, average pace 9:14 per mile, flat shoes.  Right achilles is sore now, but no worse than yesterday.  Not sure what I am going to do tomorrow, kind of day-to-day right now.

68F, 94%, ESE 5 mph to start, 70F, 88% and calm at the end.  Nice summer running temperatures.  Ran 21.34 miles in 3:22:29, average pace 9:28 per mile, flat shoes.  Left the house at 4:30 and ran to Wade's house, met him there and we continued to the Y, all at low heart rate pace, managed to hold LHR through 8 or 9 miles.  Met the group at the Y just as they were leaving and we ran with them for 4 or 5 miles then ran back to Wade's house where I re-filled my water.  Then continued on my own, accelerating into 3 MP miles, 7:57 (154), 7:36 (167) and 7:30 (173).  Very difficult for me this morning in the heat and at the end of the run, thought I could do 4 but couldn't.  But I know what I have to do on long runs now, the end is where the secret sauce is.  Ran a couple of recovery miles, came home, ate breakfast, iced my Achilles and took a nap.  Almost mobile again this afternoon, but very glad tomorrow is a rest day.  Headed to Temple to see my granddaughters and watch my daughter in a piano concert tonight, then to San Marcos tomorrow to visit my other daughter and then to San Antonio for an off-site Monday and Tuesday, so I will have to figure out new running trails while I am there.  Happy weekend all.

On treadmill at hotel.  Went to meetings all day, then caught an hour before dinner, so did a quick 8 on the TM.  Was going to do LHR, but decided I didn't have time, so did one at 6 mph, 3 at 7 mph, 3 at 8 mph and one cool-down.  Took about 68 minutes, TM did not like me going past an hour; it would slow down to 4.5 mph every minute and I had to speed it back up, like a car with a bad engine, but I finally finished.

40F, 60%, NW 3 mph.  Yesterday there was a hot, 35 mph wind all day, which contributed to my treadmill decision last night.  Today I got up on time but didn't really know what to do.  Looked at the computer and it showed 40F outside, almost drove me to the TM again since I had no long-sleeves or gloves, but decided not to waste the day and I'm glad I didn't.  I ran outside and it was magical.  With low humidity it wasn't cold, just ran at low heart rate and explored.  Lots of hills, since this hotel is in the Texas hill country, but I just went up and down for over two hours.  Kept a very low heart rate the whole time (less than 125) except for a few of the steeper hills.  All of my splits were in the 10:10 to 10:30 range, very slow but got the job done.  Back in Houston now.  We have cooler temperatures here in the morning, then back to 70+ for the remainder of the week at least, probably longer.  Hopefully I can get a good run in the morning since it may be my last chance for a while.

47F, 87%, SE 1 mph, clear and crisp.  This will undoubtedly be the best running day until November, plus I had no seminary run, so I did it uninterrupted.  I toyed with the idea of taking advantage of the ideal conditions by running to failure, such as 15 miles at GMP, but decided to be a bit more prudent, save something for the rest of the week.  So I ran 3 at LHR, 1 transition, then 6 at GMP and 2 cooldown at about 10 flat.  Altogether 12.07 miles in 1:43:02, overall pace 8:32 per mile, flat shoes.  The GMP miles were 7:30 (157), 7:29 (161), 7:23 (165), 7:28 (167), 7:28 (168) and 7:21 (170).  Truth is my fast miles felt awkward, never was able to get into a smooth rhythm and the higher heart rates show it.  But I got it done and lived to run another day.  I am wondering whether I should be doing these faster.  For a 7:30 MP target, tempo runs should be in the high 6s to low 7s, but on the other hand tempo runs are not recommended for every day.  I am trying to run these daily in order to acclimate myself to the pace -- unusual I know, but maybe it is OK to stay at 7:30, have to think about it and see how my legs feel later today.

64F, 88%, SSE 5 mph, cloudy and getting ready to do something.  Started early this morning, two warmup, 4 at GMP, 7:39 (157), 7:24 (161), 7:21 (167) and 7:21 (171), then cooldown.  I woke up with a cramp in my right hamstring and my legs felt sluggish from the start, but by the end of the fast laps I was feeling more in the groove.  The good thing is no specific injuries at the moment, just general aches and pains from training at a high percentage of capacity.  My heart rate was high from the beginning as well but not high enough to slow me down on a short run like this.  I am hoping to get some hill work in tonight on the treadmill, time to start doing that.  Overall 7.34 miles in 1:01:29, average pace 8:22 per mile, flat shoes.

72F, 88% SSE 6 mph, cloudy but doin' nothin.  Good morning for losing weight while you run.  Got up very early and ran 9 slow before the seminary run, then came back and warmed up for 2 more, then tried to do 4 GMP miles, pulled up at 3.8 because my right hamstring started to hurt, same spot as it cramped yesterday morning.  Discretion over valor, live to run another day, etc., etc.  The 3 I did do were 7:39 (161), 7:31 (168) and 7:27 (174), don't know the pace on the 0.8 split.  1.35 cooldown.  I was hitting 180 bpm on the 4th one before I pulled up, heat and accumulation of fast miles this week are starting to take their toll.  I now know what my long run is going to be like tomorrow: slow.  It isn't too bad doing miles at this pace periodically, but it is a different feel to do them every day.  If I manage to pull off a marathon at this pace I will feel like I have earned it -- this is hard work.

Overall 16.15 miles in 2:34:17, average pace 9:33 per mile, flat shoes.

My biker friend (he is out there every morning and we exchange greetings every 6 months) found a biker buddy this morning, so I guess it is over for us.  But I know he'll come back when he gets tired of the new guy.

72F, 82%, SSE 7 mph.  Almost identical day to yesterday, except that I got 8 hours of sleep.  Woke up late and headed out for a quick long run in time to get back for the big day with my granddaughters.  The older one was already up, agenda ready, by the time I got back.  10.83 miles in 1:48:34, average pace 10:01 per mile, low heart rate.  I compared this run to the low heart rate part of yesterday's run and I think the only variable is the amount of sleep I got.  Full 8 hours for this one, about 5 hours for Friday's run.  Here is the comparison:

Mile	04.08.11 72°, 88%	04.09.11 72°, 82%
1	10:49 (123)	10:59 (118)
2	10:06 (127)	9:50 (127)
3	10:09 (128)	9:42 (131)
4	10:09 (129)	9:37 (131)
5	10:14 (128)	10:08 (131)
6	10:06 (130)	9:56 (131)
7	10:15 (130)	9:52 (132)
8	10:17 (130)	9:56 (132)
9	10:13 (132)	10:02 (132)
Average	10:13	10:00

 I recall feeling refreshed at the Richmond Marathon when I woke up late and strolled to the starting line about 10 minutes before the gun.  There must be something to this sleep thing.

I intended to get on the treadmill later in the day and start my hill climbing sessions, but I had other things to do today.  If you don't get it done first thing in the morning it probably won't get done.  Here is a partial record of the day's busy activities in the strawberry patch and other locations:

So that's my excuse.  Happy weekend all.

72F, 81%, WSW 4 mph.  So much for the cold front, not bad running weather though.  At least the wind is swinging to the west, which is where our cooler weather comes from.  Another bifurcated run, 5.8 at LHR prior to taking my daughter to seminary, average pace 9:45 per mile; then restart with 1.2 warmup, accelerating into 4 at GMP:  7:14 (161), 7:24 (166), 7:27 (169) and 7:21 (175); then 1 mile cooldown and that was it.  Overall 12.04 miles in 1:46:27, average pace 8:51, flat shoes.  Hoping to get some TM ups and downs tonight, finally.

PM:  2 miles on TM, 3% up and 3% down, beginning my hill work for UVM.

52F, 77%, NW 3mph, cool and clear.  Matchless running weather, joggers out in droves this morning.  Did my normal workout, 6 before at low heart rate (9:42 average), break for seminary run, then 2 more warmup, 4 at GMP (7:35 (157), 7:35 (160), 7:23 (163) and 7:07 (168)), finished with 1 cooldown.  Total 13.03 miles in 1:56:48, average pace 8:48.  I did some stretches during the break and that seemed to help.  Maybe I should go back to that a little more than I have been.

Talking to my younger son this morning as we ate our respective healthy breakfasts -- he is a bodybuilder, although he has lost some weight and is trying to get more into running.  Now that he is down to the last two months of his senior year he is starting to think about college.  He asked if I thought it would be a good idea to take a business class the first year instead of all straight requirements.  I told him to go for it, but why the sudden interest?  Turns out he was talking to the owner at the local GNC store who is apparently raking it in, saving up for a 911 Turbo.  My son says there are lots of idiots out there, just like he was when he first started buying that stuff, and he wants to be a seller instead of a buyer.  Progress.

50F, 80%, calm and clear.  Another great running morning.  Got out the door early and did 3 easy, 1 transition and 4 at GMP:  7:43 (156), 7:25 (161), 7:29 (163) and 7:19 (166) (average 7:29), 1 cooldown.  Break for seminary run, then finish up with 5 LHR (10:30 to 10:45 per mile on fatigued legs), overall 14.01 miles in 2:11:25, average pace 9:23 per mile, flat shoes. 

Had to get done early to be sitting in the dentist chair at 8 sharp, where they started with a blood pressure reading, approximately 55 minutes after finishing my run:  113/53.  Apparently you don't normally have a 60 point spread (aka pulse pressure) between diastolic and systolic, more like 40.  But apparently it is also the case that runners have bigger pulse pressures.  Wikipedia, which I consider the final authority, has this to say:

Usually, the resting pulse pressure in healthy adults, sitting position, is about 40 mmHg.  The pulse pressure increases with exercise due to increased stroke volume, healthy values being up to pulse pressures of about 100 mmHg, simultaneously as total peripheral resistance drops during exercise. In healthy individuals the pulse pressure will typically return to normal within about 10 minutes. For most individuals, during aerobic exercise, the systolic pressure progressively increases while the diastolic  remains about the same. In some very aerobically athletic individuals, for example distance runners, the disastolic will progressively fall as the systolic increases. This behavior facilitates a much greater increase in stroke volume and cardiac output at a lower mean arterial pressure and enables much greater aerobic capacity and physical performance. The diastolic drop reflects a much greater fall in total peripheral resistance of the muscle arterioles in response to the exercise (a greater proportion of red versus white muscle tissue).

That's just what I was thinking.  (Actually, I have no idea whether it explains anything about my high pulse pressure reading.)

PM:  2 miles hill work on TM.  Legs were killing me all day, but they felt good once I got going a little bit.  Kind of sad that I have to run to feel better.

71F, 86%, calm and cloudy.  Summer temperatures today but wasn't too bad until later in the run.  I started with the normal routine, 6 at LHR, average pace 10:00, then took daughter to seminary.  For the second half I did 2 warmup, then 10 x 400 with 400 rest intervals.  I had to stop after 8 for a drink and really didn't want to go again, I knew I would get nauseous on the last two and I did.  Heart rate wasn't that high, but this workout took me to my limit, unexpectedly.  Interval paces (converted to 1 mile) and heart rates were 6:41 (164), 6:33 (163), 6:33 (169), 6:24 (170), 6:36 (170), 6:28 (172), 6:30 (172), 6:39 (173), 7:05 (168) and 6:54 (171).  Goal was 6:20 average, didn't come close, the last two were lost causes.  Total run was 13.32 miles in 2:02:17, average pace 9:11 per mile, flat shoes.

In a way, this should have been expected.  I am purposely running tired this week; the training load is starting to accumulate.  Plus it was a warm morning and the intervals were not begun until I had run 8 miles, albeit at a slow pace.  Still, it is humbling to reach your limit before you expect to.  At the same time, I'm glad I did the last two even though they stunk -- someday I'll need to make a withdrawal from that account.

74F, 85%, SW 12mph.  It was supposed to be high 40s this morning, guess they missed that one by a little.  Same basic run.  Out early for 6, then seminary deliveries, then back for 7 more, including 4 at GMP:  7:34 (156), 7:17 (164), 7:26 (168) and 7:21 (172), then 1 active cooldown, overall 13.04 miles in 1:58:21, average 9:05 per mile, flat shoes.  I assumed at the end of the week I would have trouble hitting the fast miles, especially after yesterday's pretty hard run, but it wasn't a problem.  Either I'm developing a tolerance to the pace or it just seemed slower after running (mostly) in the mid-6s yesterday.  Probably a little of both.  But closest equivalent on pacing and temperature was Monday, and heart rate today was a little better, so maybe there is some progress, too early to tell.  Did some stretching after the run, I feel better today over yesterday.  Might get in some more TM work tonight.

PM, two miles TM hill work, legs felt fine.

48F, 78%, calm and clear.  Weather could not possibly be one bit better, it was almost magical out there.  I left the house at 4:29 and ran down to the Y to meet up with Wade and the rest of the group at about 6.  Got there early, running very low heart rate which in the cool air worked out to about a 10-minute pace.  Nobody there yet, so I went out for another small loop.  They had arrived and were just leaving on the run when I got back.  Wade and one of his friends from his previous work place led out, chattering away.  I met a guy named Stan who is about my age (OK, three years younger, but close enough) and we hung back just a little and talked running war stories.  He doesn't run marathons anymore, but his PR is a little better than mine, which I say makes him a good runner. 

With all the talking I kept thinking that the pace had picked up quite a bit, checked my watch and sure enough, we were in the low 8s.  Stan turned back after 4 miles and I sped up and caught Wade and his friend.  We went another mile then turned back and booked it in, we were in the 7s by the time we finished, the last quarter about mid-6s.  It was one of those mornings you don't want to miss, so much fun, made me grateful to be a runner.  Total 18.13 miles in 2:48:47, average pace 9:19 per mile, flat shoes.

When we got back to the Y they were setting up for a fun run.  We never did find out how far they were running, but we took a clue by the location of the first water stop, just to the right of the start line below.  We skipped the fun run.

71F, 87%, S 8 mph, cloudy, but ain't gonna get no rain today.  Nice running weather though.  Started with 6 low heart rate miles at 9:36 per mile, then took my daughter to seminary.  Going back out, my legs felt good after a day off, so I promptly trashed them:  2 warmup miles then 4 tempo miles at 7:07 (163), 7:00 (171), 7:01 (177) and 7:07 (180), 1 mile active cooldown.  Not sure what the overall program looks like for this week.  Trying to keep the long + hard stuff going, but my schedule will be messed up beginning Wednesday, plus I have a 5K on Saturday, so playing it by ear.

My daughter on the way to seminary said she admires my effort, but why do I do it?  In particular she thinks it's crazy to get up not that far past the middle of the night, 6 days a week.  This from a teenager who gets up at 5 every morning to make seminary at 6, probably harder for her than for an old guy like me.  I can give long answers all day long, but I don't have a good simple answer, other than being addicted to the endorphins -- there must be something more noble than that?

74F, 84%, S 7mph.  Another good running day.  Ran for an hour before seminary at low heart rate, 9:55 average pace, dropped my daughter off and ran another 40 minutes, including 4 miles at GMP:  7:35 (155); 7:33 (160); 7:22 (167); and 7:18 (172).  Total 11.24 miles in 1:40:07, average pace 8:55 per mile, flat shoes.  Evening 4.0 on TM, hill work.  Tomorrow I am teaching seminary, plus my car is in the shop so I am running my son around, not sure when I will run.  Daughter is bringing in granddaughters tonight for a quick trip, so all is not lost.

75F, 83%, SSE 5 mph.  Wind was blowing hard at times, which wasn't indicated in the weather report, seems like it is trying to rain.  We are having a drought through most of Texas and could really use some rain.  I had to teach seminary this morning, so was out the door very early to try to get in at least the core of the run.  Did 2 LHR miles, 1 transition, then 4 at GMP, 7:36 (155), 7:20 (162), 7:24 (168) and 7:27 (172).  Right hamstring kept trying to cramp and it is still stiff, have to watch that.  Might get in some more TM work later today.

Schedule completely out of control today, taught seminary, picked up cars from the garage, early meetings at work, etc.  Settled down this afternoon but I'm not really into running in the heat in the middle of the day.  So I settled for 6 hill miles on the TM this evening, 3 up, 3 down, 3% grade each way.  Really hope doing this regularly helps me on the UVM course.  Trying to decide what to do tomorrow.  It is a holiday and I have a 5K on Saturday, so tomorrow would be an ideal day for a long run, but not sure I want to sacrifice my 5K time for a long run.  I'll just get up and play it by ear.

74F, 82%, SSE 6 mph and clearing.  Sky was clear by the time I finished.  It is Good Friday, no work today, slept until I woke up and decided to just do a regular run, but all in one session today due to the holiday.  Ran 6 LHR at about 9:55 per mile.  Second mile was 9:36 and had high expectations but the heat caught up to me pretty quickly.  Then 1 transition mile, 8:27 and 4 at GMP:  7:26 (163), 7:23 (169), 7:22 (175) and 7:27 (177), then 1 mile active cooldown.  Weight to start: 161; at end: 157.  In between I drank 1.5 pounds of liquid, so that is how much we sweat down here.

As I was thinking about my weight at about mile 6, it occurred to me that my best mile time right now is probably pretty close to 6 minutes flat.  In high school, the last time I ran seriously, I only broke 5 minutes one time, never consistently, so right now I am about a minute slower but 25 pounds heavier.  So the thing I realized (as I was running along at mile 6 with nothing else to do) is that if I had run with a 25-pound backpack in high school, it is unlikely I would broken 6 minutes, much less 5.  Looking at it that way, I am as fast now as then if I would lose more weight.  That is the rub, though.  Friends and family who are used to the old 200-pound me aren't really too thrilled about how skinny I am already.  If I went down to 135 they would probably stage an intervention.

PM:  6 hill training on TM.

75F, 82%, S 9-25 mph.  I ran 6 TM miles last night, foregoing any pretense of anything but a pure train-through for this race.  Turned out to be a great decision, because this was a forgettable day.  This race is in a large community called Bridgeland, out on the plains west of Houston, converted rice paddies and pretty much flat.  Used to be prime territory for hunting ducks and geese; good thing I didn't have a shotgun with me.  It is an inaugural 5K/Half and it showed.  Got a queasy feeling when I read some of these gems from the race rules that were sent out yesterday:

"All chips must be surrendered at the finish line.  You will be responsible and required to pay Cadence Sports cost of $109 if you do not return your chip at the finish line."  [Really?  $109?]

"Bandits; otherwise known as unregistered runners, are not allowed and will be subject to a fine by an officer."  [A traffic ticket for running in a public place?  Good luck making that one stick.]

"It is against the rules to run with headphones on.  Does that mean we will disqualify you, not at all!" [So exactly what is the rule?]

"Results will be posted after the event.  DO NOT BOTHER THE TIMING COMPANY.  They are very busy and it takes hard work to do what they do.  If you go up and bug them, we will ask them to remove your time."  [If you can remember your chief rival's bib number, this unusual rule presents a golden opportunity.]

I had paid $30 for the 5K, which was plenty but actually a discount because I am in a running club.  The half marathon was $75, which I refused to pay, very good decision as things turned out.  My goal was to run 6:30 per mile.  The temperature was 74F at midnight and I thought there was a chance we would be under 70 for the race, but no go, turned out hot and windy.  I warmed up for a mile and a half and lined up at the front.  Almost everybody seemed to have half bibs on, so I thought I might have a chance to place.  Somebody with a pistol was talking, but I couldn't hear a word.  Thankfully she pointed it up before firing, and we were off.

First mile came in at 6:33, wind at our backs.  I got to a water station at about 1.5, kept going and finally saw a little sign that had a u-turn symbol and it said "5K turnaround".  So I turned around.  I could tell then that they had measured the course at least a quarter-mile long, not sure why nobody ever seems to get that pesky little detail right.  Second mile 6:43.  I was in second place at that point, but going back against the traffic it was impossible to keep track of the first-place guy.  A high-school kid came up behind me and passed me but I hung with him and he slowed down.  Repassed him at about 2.5 and saw the turn-in to the finish line, or so it appeared.  Orange cones guiding us off into a side street that looked just like the real thing.  I turned in of course, and the kid followed, but it was a trap.  I hit 3.11 miles and turned off my Garmin, but I knew long before then that I was lost and I had already slowed down, third mile 7:12, time for 3.11 was 21:18.  I told the kid we were lost, but he seemed to take it much better than I.  I ran an extra mile and a half before finally finding my way out of the neighborhood and getting to the finish line.  I have no idea what my official time was because the clock at the finish line was dark.  Should have asked the timing company just to make sure it didn't get recorded.  Looked like there were about 200-300 people running the 5K.  If you are running with a bunch of people you just follow the crowd, but if you are up front I guess you are on your own to figure the course out.

I just got in my car and drove home, didn't wait around, afraid I would say something I would regret. The thing that bothers me most was not missing out on the chance to get second place.  Any race where I would finish second is not really much of a race.  But I had saved a little something in the tank for the final push and I think I could have come in under 20:30, which would have been a 2-minute PR for me -- basically I didn't get to finish my race.  I feel like there is a certain element of dishonesty in taking people's money for a race then putting forth minimal effort to organize it.  But there is no incentive to do otherwise.  She sold out the half-marathon two weeks ago, $75 for an inaugural, unorganized no-name race in the heat, unbelievable.  Did I mention I was glad I didn't run the half?

PM:  10 hill miles on TM.

75F, 79%, SSE 10 mph, cloudy but no chance of rain.  Pretty good running weather.  Did 5.75 miles, LHR at 9:52 per mile, seminary run, then back out for fast miles.  One transition, 8:24, then 7:24 (161), 7:32 (166), 7:24 (171) and 7:12 (177), finished with active cooldown mile (8:48).  Overall 12.09 miles in 1:47:01, average 8:51 per mile, flat shoes.  Summer is here, ran through three clouds of bugs.  Swallowed twice.

PM:  4 TM miles, hill work up and down.

76F, 89%, S 5 mph.  For some reason this felt a lot hotter than yesterday, though my times and effort weren't too bad.  I did 3 LHR miles before the seminary run at 9:53 per mile, then was going pretty good on the GMP miles until my right groin started barking at .2 on the last fast mile.  7:27 (156), 7:27 (163) and 7:24 (168).  I could have continued but I know this one:  if you stop soon it's like it never happened -- if you wait you will pay.  It was feeling better as I finished up at about a 9:00 pace, then iced it and I think it will be fine.  Overall 10.01 miles in 1:29:13.

The hullaballoo over the 5K I ran on Saturday apparently reached the point where they had to take down the comment board.  From the e-mail the race director sent out this morning:  "Review sectiion has been taken off Active.com as some comments were uncalled for. I hear the frustrations, but I don't agree with the bad language and name calling."  What a circus. Turns out the "winning time" was slower than my 5K time when I reached 3.11 and turned off my Garmin (either the guy ahead of me got lost or they timed him incorrectly), all kinds of people getting lost, missing un-manned turnaround spots, complete fiasco.   Definitely one to drive away from and forget it ever happened, but sorry I didn't get to read the comment board.

PM:  6 hill work on TM, picked up the last uphill mile a little bit with no ill effects.  Groin feels OK so far.

79F, 74%, WSW 10 mph, at least the wind direction is changing, but there were very few mornings last year that were this warm, even in August.  It will be cool tomorrow if you believe the weather report, but then warm again.  I ran 7.5 then did the seminary run then another 4.5, total time 2:01:54, average pace 10:07 (included two warmup miles, true time was probably more like 10:01).  Decided no MP miles today to protect groin that pulled yesterday.  It feels fine so far this morning, hopefully back to full strength tomorrow, although that is a relative term, I'm running tired by design.  Seems kind of risky but so far I am doing OK.  The thing I have to watch most closely is my right achilles, that is what always hurts until I get warmed up.  I signed up for a replacement 5K Saturday a week, so this coming week I will probably use that race as an excuse to dial things back a bit before a final push to the UVM marathon taper in early June.

PM:  6 TM hill miles, upping the tempo a little bit.  Uphill 6 mph, downhill 6.5.  Thinking of going to a 4% up and down incline, but not sure it's necessary.

60F, 59%, NE 7 mph, clear with old moon rising.  Weather was too nice to be real, actually the silver lining has a cloud, since our cool clear weather is directly related to the horrific tornadoes that have hit much of the southeast in the last 24 hours.  Woke early from insomnia and did all of my run before the seminary run, 5 at low heart rate, average about 9:35, then a transition mile and 4 at GMP:  7:26 (154), 7:40 (156) (oops), 7:36 (158) and 7:30 (162), overall 10.11 miles in 1:27:42, average pace 8:41 per mile.  Notwithstanding missing the mark on a couple of them, they were definitely a little easier in the cool weather, gives me hope for UVM, though I am still not really within range of hitting this pace for a whole marathon.  Still glad to get 3 of them under 160 bpm though.  As for hitting 7:30, I'm just going to have to be patient.  Wasn't that long ago that 8:30 felt too fast.  I missed hitting it for a marathon twice, but eventually I got it and I'll get this one too, sooner or later.

50F, 89%, calm and clear.  Extraordinary running weather.  Ran 4 before seminary, then 5 waiting for my daughter to finish, all LHR, then brought her home and went out for the fast miles after 1 warmup and 1 transition:  7:17 (156), 7:18 (158), 7:16 (163) and 7:00 (170), then 1-mile cooldown, didn't want to waste any of this weather.  Overall 16.02 miles in 2:21:34, average pace 8:50 per mile.  The LHR miles were pretty good, most under 9:30.

74F, 94%, S 7mph and cloudy, pretty good running weather, other than the temperature, humidity and wind.  The goal was to run 10 at GMP + 1, then 10 at GMP.  They say if you can run 10, then 8, then 2 at 10K pace with last quarter at 3K pace you are ready.  I'm not ready.  First 10 went fine, all within a few seconds, + or -, of 8:30, heart rate held at 153 or below, so I was starting to get my hopes up.  By then I was back at the house.  Stopped for a few seconds to refill my water bottle and wring the sweat out of my hair, realized immediately when I stopped that I was pretty tired and thirsty.  I held the pace at 7:30 pretty well at first, started to get my hopes up but then began to fail rapidly.  I thought for a while I could only make 4, but decided that no matter what I was going to do 5, because that's where the magic is.  Fast miles were 7:32 (159), 7:36 (167) (this is where I lost the possibility of going 10), 7:26 (169), 7:26 (173) and 7:19 (177).  Total run was 15.50 miles in 2:07:19, average pace 8:13 per mile.  I probably could have made this run with yesterday's temperatures, but no excuses.  Six weeks to the marathon, so I'll do two more of these, maybe get 7 or 8 then 10.  At least it won't be much hotter than today, so with a little bit of luck I'll get close to that goal.  For now though, this pace is difficult.

59F, 72%, N 3 mph.  Typing this for the second time, somehow I lost my entire first post.  I ran all my miles before the seminary run, planning to cut back this week, then one final push if things go well.  My right leg as a whole hasn't felt very good this afternoon, won't know if there is a problem until in the morning.  But no possibility of doing TM hill miles tonight.  Ran 3 at LHR (10:20, 9:46 and 9:46), one transition then 4 at GMP, 7:32 (155), 7:26 (159), 7:28 (163) and 7:33 (164).  This heart rate should have been a little lower given the cool weather, but at least it was lower than several runs recently in warmer temperatures.  Overall 8.19 miles in 1:09:51, average pace 8:32 per mile.  I think the real culprit was the new flat shoes that I ran in today.  They came in the mail and the sole is quite a bit thicker than the old ones, and the shoe feels heavier, only a little bit but a definite difference.  Here are the old and new right shoes:

So I think what I will do is train in the heavier ones and race in the others, that way I get kind of a handicap effect for training.  Really is amazing, though, how manufacturing standards are not that uniform at all in the Amazon jungle (not a website) where these are manufactured.

54F, 82%, NNW 10 mph.  Good running weather despite a pretty fresh wind.  Did the seminary run and ran about 5 from the church waiting for my daughter, brought her home and went out for 7 more.  Probably my last seminary run of the school year, back to regular training schedule until September.  Did all LHR work because my right leg had a hollow, raw pain in it yesterday afternoon and evening, top to bottom, felt like a rogue nerve but I have no expertise to diagnose it.  I apparently ran too hard after running hard on Saturday, was worried that I might have overdone it and set myself back.  I was pleased when I got out this morning and everything felt mostly normal.  But still I didn't press the issue, kept it slow.   I'll do some TM tonight if things hold together during the day.  12.05 miles in 1:59:09, average pace 9:46 per mile, flat shoes, felt relaxing to do these miles at a comfortable temperature.

PM: 4 miles hill work on TM, 5.5 to 6.0 mph.

45F (it's true), 83%, calm and clear.  No seminary run today, in fact I am off for the rest of the school year, the other parent is taking over.  So I exited the front door at 5:30 instead of 4:30, almost getting light already.  The plan was to do 8 and stop but couldn't keep it to that in good conscience, not in this weather, 45 freaking degrees.  I did 3 LHR miles, 10:05, 9:33 and 9:23; 1 transition, 8:16; 5 at GMP, 7:26 (156), 7:23 (161), 7:25 (164), 7:14 (167) and 7:26 (167); then 2 active cooldown, 8:35 (156) and 8:20 (152).  Even though my heart rate wasn't that much lower than for comparable fast miles recently, it stopped climbing; I felt fresh and could have gone further without my tongue hanging out at an awkward angle.  Also encouraging was my heart rate for the cooldown miles, which I took at my old marathon pace.  I looked up my notes on the Richmond Marathon.  Miles 10 and 11 came in at 8:41 (159) and 8:38 (168), both slightly slower than miles 10 and 11 this morning.  Of course I ran miles 1-9 faster today than I did at Richmond, so it is significant that my heart rate was much lower this morning, even though it was 10 degrees cooler on that day (humidity about the same).

One last comment about the nightmare 5K I ran 10 days ago.  I got an e-mail yesterday telling me I had won my age group and will be receiving a trophy in the mail (how about skipping the trophy and sending a gift certificate?).  Even though I ran 3.11 miles that day in 21:18 according to my own watch, not my goal but not bad, I ran what seemed a mile and a half extra to get to the finish line, so I was skeptical.  But I looked them up and here are the official results.  No kidding, I won my age group with a chip time of 30:14.  Not only that, they are declaring the winning time at 22:57.  For a 5K?  We may be a little slow here in Texas with our daily fights to ward off barbeque and TexMex, but I think these results show a different kind of slowness, the above-the-shoulder kind.  I don't see how they can declare a winner with a straight face.

Event: 5K			Division: M 50-59
PL	No	Name	Age	Pace	Chip Time	Gun Time
1	766	Mark Thurber	56	9:41/M	30:14	30:16
2	770	Mark Traylor	50	10:53/M	33:57	34:27
3	548	Andre Childress	57	12:55/M	40:17	40:39
4	763	Mike Thomas	50	13:50/M	43:11	48:14
5	755	Rob Sullivan	56	15:37/M	48:44	49:20

OK, I'm done talking about it now.

48F, 94%, calm and clear.  Another picture perfect morning, just beautiful out there.  I was still a little sore from yesterday, my feet are getting used to the new shoes and they are a little heavier, but once I got going I felt good.  I ran 5.5 at LHR, average pace 9:27.  My left groin (the healthy one) started pulling during the LHR miles and I thought I would have to stop, but I changed my stride pattern a little bit and got it to go away.  Then transition for a half mile, then 5 at GMP, 7:45 (154), 7:28 (158), 7:23 (162), 7:23 (165) and 7:26 (166), then 1 cooldown and done.  Felt pretty tired at the end.  I was telling my younger son Austin about the nerve pain I have been getting in my right leg when I drive after running and he immediately diagnosed it as coming from my herniated disk from three years ago, which is exactly right when I think about it.  My back was starting to hurt a little bit today at about mile 10, so back to my lower back stretching exercises, I feel better now.  Overall I ran 12.05 miles in 1:43:28, average pace 8:35.  Good run today.

Purely for scientific purposes, I put my Jingas on Austin's food scale.  First picture is the heavier ones that just came in the mail and which now have about 35 miles on them, second is the ones I have been running in for most of the year, they have about 1100 miles on them (550 per shoe, but you know what I mean), and the third is a new pair which just arrived yesterday (I stockpile them when they go on sale for 30 Pounds Sterling), and which for some reason are the lighter version.  Weight is in ounces:

So race strategy is to run in the old light ones.  I have been told (and I keep telling myself) that these shoe styles are highly fashionable in Brazil.  Too bad I live in Texas, where you can get shot for wearing stuff like this.

54F, 90%, calm and clear, still holding on to the good weather.  Did the same thing as yesterday but a little faster.  5.5 warmup miles, average pace 9:25 which is my best LHR pace to date.  1/2 transition, then 5 at GMP:  7:28 (157), 7:24 (160), 7:23 (163), 7:22 (166) and 7:23 (169) (heart rate slightly higher than yesterday), then one cooldown.  Total 12.00 miles in 1:42:22, average pace 8:32 per mile. 

One of my many brothers ran a 5K last night.  He doesn't blog, but I told him to let me know as soon as he found out.  I have one of my own in the morning, so I gotta know, y'know.  This particular brother won state in cross-country in high school, but hasn't run much since and he trains like a lazy bum.  He is 10 years younger than me.  We like to keep in touch, we chat like sisters, so naturally we had a nice talk after he got done.  Here are our texts:

Him:  19:30

Me:  Crap

Him:  LOL

Game on. 

66F, 84%, SSE 5 mph.  Race day today, dawned bright and clear.  Actually a little cloudy but any time you get to run at 7:30 instead of 4:30 it qualifies as bright and clear.  I ran down to Wade's house and he brought his wife and daughter to the race.  My son and daughter-in-law (Clint and Becky) also ran, they live in the area and met us there.  The race is a fundraiser for ovarian cancer and is associated with the Texas Medical Center, so for once on a Houston 5K we weren't running out of downtown.  This course was also better than the downtown course.

We got there a little early, got our bibs, warmed up a little bit, met up with Clint and Becky and got lined up.  Last year there were only about 600 runners, at least twice that this year.  I could tell when warming up that my groin was going to be a problem.  Wade and I lined up toward the front.  I went out fast, probably a sub-6 pace for the first half mile, then my groin went tight and I pulled up.  Almost stopped, contemplated turning around, but kept going at a jog and the tightness subsided a little bit.  Wade said later he saw me pull up, then speed back up, but I never sped up to the original pace.  Not sure if I could have handled it anyway but would have been fun to find out.  First mile was 6:35, so that is why I think I was booking it at the beginning.  After that I was just trying to find a stride pattern and length that could keep me going.  The course didn't have any sharp turns so it was ideal that way.  Second mile 6:43, so I started out almost identically to my last 5K.  Third mile I held pace, 6:45, which is why I did better this time.  I was plenty beat but never made it into the puke zone because I couldn't accelerate.  I think a 20-minute 5K is approachable for me at this point, but probably wouldn't have made it today even with a healthy groin -- a little worrisome as to whether it will significantly affect UVM preparations.

Stayed around for the awards, got a medal to give to my granddaughter.  First place in the 50-54 group was 17:45, the guy is 53 years old, something to shoot for.  I would have won the 40-44 group, age group awards are very hit and miss on these 5Ks.  But this one was very well organized and a lot of fun.  Plus they measured the course exactly right.  I will run it again next year if I can. 

75F, 83%, S 10-18, cloudy but won't rain.  The drought continues, but good running weather.  The goal this morning was to test out my right groin which was in pretty bad shape on Saturday after the race.  Went 9.02 miles all at LHR, 1:31:29, average pace 10:08 per mile.  I was a little surprised that my pace was so slow despite running low miles on Saturday, but probably a combination of heat and injury.  The groin was generally OK, definitely sore and not healed but better than Saturday.  I was ready to stop whenever I got the right neural signals, but it never happened.  The muscle gradually loosened up, to the point that by mile 5 it was almost unnoticeable so long as I stayed in the same rhythm.  Might try a little bit of speed tomorrow.  I think I will try 1K intervals at a little slower than GMP and see how that works.

I've been thinking all weekend about the 53-year old who ran a 17:45 5K, more than 3 minutes faster than me.  So far, every local race in the 5K to 10K range has the best runners in my age group coming in around 6:10 to 6:30 per mile.  Sometimes none of them show up and I win the age group.  Other times they all do and I come in 10th.  But with my 6:41 per mile on Saturday I was getting close to being competitive no matter who shows up.  But every time I think I must be approaching my limit I see another shining example in gray hair and it's back to the drawing board.  This guy ran 5:42 per mile and he was at least 185 pounds, a big guy, his time is definitely a standard I should be shooting for.  My genetics are good but not great and sooner or later they will catch up with me, but I am enjoying the ride while it lasts, so glad I decided to do this.  Plus, just found out I am in SGM with two sisters, two brothers and a brother in law!  What a day.

75F, 83%, SE 12-17 mph, cloudy and blustery but no rain.  Pretty good running weather.  Somewhat apprehensively I decided to do 1K intervals at GMP.  Slept in, spent a little extra time switching my watch over to metric and was out the door at 6.  Ran 10K at LHR, average pace 6:01 per km (9:40 per mile), was happy about that pace in the heat.  Then 1 km transition into the first interval and 1km active recovery between intervals.  Really enjoyed my faster interval times; after careful experimentation I have concluded that Ks are faster than Ms and I think we should switch.  Ran the GMP intervals at 4:44 (7:36)(154); 4:39 (7:29)(158); 4:40 (7:30)(160); 4:35 (7:25)(166); and 4:36 (7:28)(167).  Had trouble stretching out my stride on the first one or two intervals but then things loosened up somewhat and was relatively comfortable for the rest of the run.  But now that I have cooled off I am hurting some (mostly the achilles, surprisingly) and may have to stay slow for most of the week.  Plus I need more hill work on the TM, hard to know how to allocate precious resources with only this week and two more before my taper.  Overall 19.43 km (12.07 miles) at 8:57 per mile.

76F, 78%, SSE 13 gusting to 21, cloudy and rainy without the rain part.  Seemed like pretty good running weather though.  Ran Ks again.  16.10 km (10.00 miles) in 1:37:00, LHR, average pace 6:01/km, which is 9:42 per mile, OK for these conditions.  No fast miles today, everything was too iffy.  As a result I felt better during the day and managed to finally get on the treadmill tonight for some hill work, 4 miles at 5.5, 6.0, 6.0 and 6.5 mph; up, down, up, down.  Kind of a complicated workout.

75F, 93%, E 7 mph, very muggy this morning.  LHR miles were 9:48 per mile, slower than yesterday.  Had to hurry and get done, but didn't mind because I'm a little leery about piling on too many miles right now anyway.  Ran about 5.9 LHR, then sped up into 2 x 1K, paces were 7:38 and 7:39, groin got tight and had to pull back and restart the second one, but got through it feeling pretty good.  So total of 8.22 this morning in 1:17:12, average pace 9:23 per mile, then did two TM miles, hill work, tonight.  I'm a little worried about finishing my training program for UVM on time, should be running harder this week and next but trying to pay attention to what my legs are telling me, right now they are speaking in a foreign language.  We got rain today, very happy about that, and the air is cooler outside tonight.

59F, 100%, calm and foggy.  It wasn't really that foggy out there, but that's what the weather report said.  Very nice running weather, obviously.  Ran 9.5K warmup, average pace 9:31 per mile, then 3 x 1K at GMP, 7:29 (156), 7:20 (161) and 7:17 (161), (paces converted to miles), 1K cooldown in between.  Groin has settled down a lot, but still felt too sore to do TM tonight.

59F (70F at end), 50%, NNW 11-18 mph.  Another picture perfect running morning, looks like we will have a couple more of these next week before normal temperatures return.  Went to bed at 9 and set the alarm for 5 but woke up at 4:30, seems I don't need 8 hours any more.  I drove down to the Y and met Wade and the group.  I told Wade I needed to go 8:30 to 9:00 for the 12 miles they were doing, and the whole group responded.  Everybody was feeling good in the dry cool air and running fast.  This is a group that usually does 9:30 pace, today everybody ran together and as a group they averaged 8:40.  I had to peel off for a restroom break, caught up part of the distance but not all.  I am putting my average at 8:35 for the first 12.3.  Wade was keeping time because I was conserving battery life on my Garmin.  They all went to breakfast and I headed back out for the fast miles.  I warmed up for about a half mile then took off.  The course out was into the wind and slightly uphill, so was happy to hit everything in the 7:30s, nothing faster than 7:33 though.  Coming back I was around 7:25 the whole way, 7:15 (182) on the last mile, average 7:31 for the 8.  In some ways it was easier, but without the wind in my face it was hot and it was close to 9:00 by this time anyway.  I had my EFS flask with me to practice taking on calories and electrolytes.  Gave me slight nausea, especially coming back in the heat.  I am used to running hungry and it is more comfortable that way, but I need a little bit in order to make it through the marathon distance, so I have to practice it.  I stopped as soon as I hit 8, the fast miles are not a rounding error.  I knew it was right on the button because my 1-hour clock went off just before I stopped.

This was a big run for me, never seem to hit it but I got it today.  Those last two miles I am putting in the bank, I will need to make a withdrawal at UVM.  Hopefully the teller lines at the Bank of the Mountain Running Gods are not too long that morning.  In two weeks if all goes well I hope to do this run again as a 10/10 instead of 12/8 before the UVM taper, and maybe try to get a little more speed on the last two.  My legs are trashed but my groin gave me no problems today, during the run or afterward, and my achilles is no worse than usual.  So all is well.

64F, 61%, calm with clouds moving in.  One of the few cool running days left until the fall.  Was trying to decide whether to do a tempo run or 1K intervals, then remembered that last week I didn't do too well running fast on Monday after running hard on Saturday.  So even though I felt fine yesterday and this morning I pulled back and used up the cool morning doing a long LHR run.  I needed one anyway and it looks like I get one more cool morning tomorrow.  Started out slow and stiff and gradually sped up, got several splits in the low 9:30s miles 7 through 10, overall 12.00 miles in 1:57:11, average pace 9:46 per mile, all LHR, good pace for a Monday after.  Got that familiar deep fatigue feeling the last two miles, which signals a good LHR workout. Training for SGM is going to depend on what happens at UVM, but I am thinking that after SGM I will do exclusivly slow running for about 12 weeks before starting my training for Boston.  I probably won't run a January marathon next year, so nothing between SGM and Boston.  Would love to get my LHR pace down to the mid-8s, not sure if that is doable or not but it would be a big step if I could make it happen.  How is that for long-term planning? 

PM 4 TM miles, hill training.