For Whom the Dogs Bark

47F, 100%, SE 3 mph.  Was going to switch to the half because my son (who I planned to pace in a marathon in March) broke his clavicle skiing at Park City yesterday, which meant, assuming he doesn't run, that I could run hard that day instead of today.  Training was bad, of course, but race times in earlier races, Turkey Trot (5 miles, 7:05/mile) and 12k (7.5 miles, 7:31/mile) didn't predict todays results.  I really have to figure out a way to run faster.  Ran at 8:46/mile, 3:49:51, placed 33/305, essentially the same pace as my 23-miler a week ago, which I ran after doing the 12k race the previous Saturday and another 23-miler two days before.  I feel like I could go out and duplicate this race this morning, three days later, with no trouble, but apparently I am delusionary.  Ran with my watch in my pocket, but I knew what was happening anyway, because I got a read-out every loop.  The overall splits for this four-loop course were 53:02, 54:20, 58:31 and 1:04:15.  First two laps were close to goal pace, then had some 10s in the last lap, but never had to walk.  Overall heart rate was 160, max 169 -- I have averaged 169 for a marathon before.  It was just a gradual fail, no heavy legs, no bonk, no explanation. But it was a definite fail.  Dizzy and extremely fatigued at the end, dried salt on my face, but no results to show for all the effort.  Qne no explanation:  The taper might not have been long enough (had no choice under the circumstances), but that would have been the difference between 3:30 and 3:35, not a 20-minute miss.  A little warm at the end, close to 60, but again that is an incremental difference, not an explantion for these results.  We always say it was just one of those days, but this is a physical event, an explanation exists.

Course measured short, but that is most likely because the trail was under the trees on a windy path, lots of turns including at least 10 sharp turns on every loop.  So splits are slow compared to actual speed, but actual speed was slow enough:  8:43 (151), 8:09 (162), 8:09 (163), 8:00 (160), 8:12 (166), 8:08 (166), 8:09 (165), 8:11 (163), 8:20 (163), 8:22 (161), 8:23 (161), 8:39 (162), 8:42 (161), 8:44 (159), 8:49 (158), 8:50 (159), 8:59 (160), 9:15 (160), 9:16 (161), 9:27 (160), 9:25 (160), 9:49 (158), 10:01 (157), 10:10 (159), 10:26 (158), 10:07 (159).

28F, (18 WC), 55%, N 12-17 mph.  Wasn't going to run for a few more days but couldn't pass up the great weather.  5.35 miles at relaxed pace, followed by some more strething and weights at the gym.  Still very sore from weights on Saturday though.

23F (16 WC), 60%, WSW 5 mph.  Quite a bit calmer and actually felt warmer than yesterday, though I still wore three shirts.  No watch or heart rate monitor, just running at a comfortable pace for a few days at least, neither fast nor slow.  Legs are still sore from weightlifting, I'll probably wait an extra day to go back.

42F, 73%, ENE 7 mph.  The wind was actually swirling around from all different directions and at various speeds, felt like 20 mph at times.  Also, I don't think it was quite as cold as the computer indicated.  I went to one shirt and wore shorts -- shed my gloves during the run and rolled up my sleeves.  Whatever it was I was glad for the change.  Legs felt a little better today but still sore.

56F, 100%, ESE 6, raining steadily.  8.0 miles in the 9:00 to 9:20 range, though I wore no watch.  Feeling much better, lifted at the gym afterwards which also went well.

59F, 100%, SE 8 mph, low clouds but moving out post rain, lots of rain in the last 24 hours.  Ran 9.0 miles in the same range, 9:00 to 9:20, no watch, still feeling good, pleasantly tired at the end.

So about 6 weeks ago I was running very early and needed to make an emergency stop at a construction site PoP (we call them "Juans").  But a guy in a honey truck pulled in just ahead of me to service his equipment.  Throwing caution to the wind I told him "you beat me to it".  He looked thrilled to have human conversation and told me he would be happy to wait, it wasn't like he had anything else to do.  I wasn't sure of the proper etiquette for pre-dawn encounters of this type, but decided to "gut" it out for another loop.  A couple of weeks ago I saw him again and waved; he enthusiastically returned the courtesy.  This morning in the bright daylight he drove up behind me and laid on the horn even before I smelled him, right in front of all my neighbors.  So this is the second friend I have made in five and a half years of running, the first being UnaTed, the questionable guy who rides around the neighborhood on a 6-foot unicycle.  I think I'm climbing the social ladder around here pretty quickly.

56F, 100%, W 4 mph and clear.  Kind of nice this morning, but a little warm.  Got in late last night from helping my daughter move, so didn't hit the road until about 7:00 this morning.  Ran 10.54 miles in 1:29:14, 8:28/mile, did not wear a heart rate monitor.  Last two splits in the high 7s, but was working pretty hard.  More fun than anything, no real information without heart rate data.

36F, 90%, calm and clear.  A fantastic morning, just warm enough to run in shorts.  I shed my gloves after 5 miles, but that was a little much.  Put my monitor on for the first time since the marathon, and noticed right away that my resting heart rate was low, 50 bpm.  I hadn't run yesterday due to time pressures, and I am traveling later this week, so I decided to run hard this morning.  Original plan was LHR, but that doesn't work well anyway when it is this cold.  Splits were as follows:  9:13 (141), 8:50 (146), 8:22 (152), 8:05 (159), 8:01 (161), 7:50 (165), 7:45 (166), 7:31 (169), 7:24 (175) and 7:10 (179).  Didn't quite make it to a 5k pace on the last 2.  Overall 8:01 pace, 160 bpm, 181 max.  0.45 miles cooldown.  Very stiff and sore, but better after an hour of stretching and lifting at the gym.

46F, 44%, N 7 mph, clear.  Full moon, nice running, but definitely colder than 46F -- I had to put gloves on after 4 miles.  Ran 10.07 miles in 1:55:35, 11:29/mile, 120 bpm, max 125 -- pretty good LHR run.  Started out at 12:13, got down to 11:12 at one point, but immediately back to the 11:20s after that.  Finished at 11:30, so was able to hold the pace through the run, which is an improvement.

39F, 88%, calm and clear.  Another full moon -- ran Tuesday's workout again because I liked it a lot.  Warmed up for 2 then hit the fast miles a little bit harder, ended up with an overall 7:57 pace for the 10 miles, not counting the 0.45 cooldown.  Not including the warmup miles, my overall pace for the remaining 8 was probably in the 7:30 - 7:40 range.  Last 2 were 7:22 and 7:14, so still not hitting 5K pace on those.  My heart rate monitor went completely haywire, reading out anywhere between 180 and 150 on the fast miles, so I don't have the necessary info to compare today to Tuesday, but I felt tireder today, unsurprisingly.

Finished up with stretching and lifting at the gym, which helped the post-run joint inflammation a lot.  But now I have a stiff neck.

Driving to Arizona starting this afternoon, hopefully I can get some running in on the trip.

38F (31 WC), 58%, SSE 5 mph, Fort Stockton, Texas.  On my way to Arizona, holed up in Fort Stockton for the night.  There is a long straight road heading northwest out of town that I ran last summer, so I went back out there.  Took a long time to get light, but I had only 7 hours of driving today so I didn't worry about starting late.  Ran out and back on the road, most of the traffic is the oil-field variety.  Their oil around here is high sulfur, so the air has a slight but distinctive rotten-egg smell; they call it the smell of money.  I was running against the 70 mph traffic.  The big tractor trailer rigs would always move to the center of the road to give me plenty of room.  But the dualy trucks would usually move towards me, trying to crowd me off the road -- it worked several times.  The good thing is that the traffic kept all the dogs away -- I don't do well with free-range dogs.

The "out" part went pretty well, maintained a good solid pace with a modest heart rate.  Then I turned around to find that I had been running slightly downhill with a slight tailwind.  Turns out the road hasn't changed since last summer.  Overall 8:45 per mile for 15 miles.

Ate breakfast, hit the road, and made Arizona before dark.

15F (10WC), W 15 mph, clear, Red Hill, New Mexico.  My hometown is Eagar, AZ, which is 15 miles inside the New Mexico border.  Driving in last night I saw a pullout about 10 miles on the NM side of the state line and mostly downhill all the way in, so I got an idea.  My brother Daryl, who lives there, texted me suggesting a six-mile climb out of town heading south, ending up at 9,000 feet (there is no snow this year, so we had our choice of where to run).  I was a bit too smart to take that bait, so I suggested that he park at the state line and run east, and I would drive out to the pullout and run west until we met, then we would run back to his car.  He was supposed to wait to start, so that we would meet at about the 7-mile mark and it would be 6 for him and 10 for me.

I checked the temperature before I left and the computer said 27F -- I almost went from three shirts to two, knowing that the thinner air makes the cold easier to handle.  But I thought better of it, knowing I could always take one off if I got warm.  On the way out in the pre-dawn I almost hit a herd of elk crossing the road, 4 cows and an anterless bull.  Then as I climbed I noticed the temperature guage on my car was going nuts, first 21F, then all the way down to 17F.  It normally registers 4 degrees warm, so I am calling it 15F.  There was a stiff breeze as well, so it was as cold as I have ever run.

The course started out at 7,400' feet and ended up at about 7,200'.  So it was mostly downhill but not the first mile -- that one was straight up, so steep I had to tilt my head back to see the top.  My face was immediately frozen solid and I was creeping up the hill, lungs on fire.  About halfway up the hill I remembered my pepper spray, tucked away in my suitcase back in town.  No big deal except for the wolves out here.  There are quite a few of them and I realized that at this speed I was a better breakfast prospect than the elk.  Almost turned around but decided that with the average car coming by every eight minutes I could hold them off for that long and hope that the car would stop.  The sun came out at the top of the hill, though, and at least my face was immediately out of danger, not that it looks that great.

Daryl showed up at mile 5, not mile 7.  Was definitely happy to see him, and by then I was running pretty well.  Splits for the run were 10:37, 9:37, 9:04, 9:09, 8:44, 8:44, 8:36, 8:23, 8:10 and 7:56, so it was a good run under the circumstances and Daryl says I gave him a good workout.

45F, 93%, calm with heavy fog.  Back in Houston this morning, drove 2200 miles over the weekend for a family event in Arizona.  Ran 10.00 miles in 1:50:46, 11:05/mile, LLHR, 120 bpm, 125 max.  Legs felt fine, good run and nice to be home.

53F, 40%, N 15-24 mph, a blustery morning.  Was going to do a LHR run but don't like doing that in the wind, too hard to maintain an even effort, so I ran on the upper end instead, 10.00 miles at GMP, almost tempo pace, 1:17:54, 7:47/mile, frst mile was the slowest mile 8:26, last mile was the fastest, 7:10, then jogged it in as a cooldown.

34F, 75%, ESE 3 mph.  Cold again, hands especially cold inside my gloves, but did a LHR run anyway and surprisingly my heart rate monitor seemed to work OK -- it completely flamed out yesterday.. 10.00 miles in 1:51:09, 11:07/mile, slightly lower than Monday but the back end of the run was faster.  120 bpm average, 125 max.  Followed up by stretching and lifting at the gym, very tired by the time I finished.

50F, 93%, NE 5 mph.  Big front coming in, the air smells different but temperature still moderate.  By tomorrow we are supposed to be sliding around on the ice so we can provide entertainment for the Yankees.  I ran 10.00 miles at GMP, 1:19:33, 7:57/mile.  First mile 9:21, last mile 7:33; not as fast as Tuesday, pretty worn out from lifting yesterday.  But heart rate was not unreasonable.  After the first slow mile (9:21), splits and heart rate were as follows:  8:14 (148), 7:48 (155), 7:42 (159), 7:47 (161), 7:51 (163), 7:46 (163),7:51 (164), 7:32 (167), 7:33 (167).  As usual, couldn't hit anything better than HMP for the last 2, but still a pretty good run all considered.

29F (25 WC), 84%, WSW 5 mph.  Yesterday morning was an icy mess, cold and raining, so I took a "snow" day.  Ice is actually very dangerous here, even if you are from a cold place.  But the roads were dry this morning, albeit terribly cold, so I went out for 20.  After doing four 10s in the last two weeks at sub-8 pace, I thought I could probably do 20, even though I have done that only once before that I recall, two and a half years ago.  I warmed up for a quarter mile, set down my gatorade and an emergency pair of long pants and ran 8 laps for 20, 7:58 pace overall, I was happy with this.  Didn't try to jog it in.  Last 5 miles were 8:00 (166), 8:01 (168), 7:57 (169), 7:51 (170) and 7:51 (171).  Average heart rate 163, max 173, an even effort.  Wade met me for miles 5 through 12.5, big help, he kept the pace honest during the difficult middle miles.  I didn't feel like I wanted to finish a marathon at this pace, but the heart rate was right in the zone for what it would be on an ideal full effort marathon without a bonk.  I don't know what effect the cold weather had, but normally it slows me down, so this run is probably repeatable at 50F.  Five weeks out from The Woodlands Marathon.  My son with his broken collarbone has officially pulled out (at least from the marathon), so I am going to take the opportunity to run it for time, whatever that time may be.

59F, 99%, E 6 mph and clear.  Getting ready for another front, but hasn't arrived yet, so just a warmer than normal winter run.  10.10 LLHR miles in 1:55:30, 11:26/mile, 120 bpm, 126 max.  A lot of Saturday left in my legs, took a while to get moving very well at all.  Short lifting session at the end, seeing if I can get 3 sessions a week in by shortening the session but maintaining the intensity.

30F, 60%, N 5 mph.  With the wind it seemd like a 3-shirt morning, but turned out pretty sweaty with that much clothing.  No long pants though.  I didn't run yesterday because we supposedly had another ice storm coming in and I needed to get to work early to beat the traffic.  The storm didn't get icy until noon and by the time I got home the roads were dry.  Temps were about 2 degrees warmer than the last storm on Friday and that made a big difference.

Ran 10.00 miles in 1:20:06, 8:01/mile, 159 average heart rate, 167 max.  I was surprised at how difficult this is, once I finish with these series of GMP runs I am going to make a table and track my progress or decline, as the case may be.  Today's splits were 8:29, 8:00 (155), 7:56 (157), 7:57 (160), 7:57 (161), 7:59 (162), 7:58 (162), 8:01 (162), 7:57 (162 and 7:52 (165).  0.5 CD then finished with stretching and lifting at the gym.

27F, 82%, E 5 mph.  I don't think it was this cold, I am going to have to get my own weather station because the sites on the computer are not accurate.  They extrapolate too much.  I wore three shirts again but again it was too warm.  It will be much warmer the rest of the week.  The computer-reported temperature was already 34F by the time I finished.

Ran 10.00 miles in 1:18:52, 7:53/mile, average 164 bpm, max 170.  Splits were 8:10, 8:02 (159), 7:34 (162), 7:46 (163), 7:54 (164), 8:03 (164), 7:52 (165), 7:59 (166) 7:52 (166) and 7:41 (169).  So I ran quite a bit hotter than yesterday, but I didn't feel like I was working any harder.  Finished with 0.5 CD.  I don't normally run consecutive workouts like this, but I am quite a ways out from my next race and kind of experimenting with what I can withstand and whetherr I can get my legs to recover faster.  I may run hard again tomorrow if I can manage it.

58F, 96%, SSE 6 mph.  Dramatically warmer.  Legs are quite tired so I gave up on the fast stuff, did a LLHR run but only logged 11:31 per mile, 121 bpm, max 126.  Finished off with stretching and weights.

I went out at 6:00 instead of 5:00.  One guy putting his trash out said hi, you're running late this morning.  Had never seen him in my life.  I'm fooling myself if I don't think everybody in this neighborhood keeps a running log for me, don't know why I bother to do my own.

64F, 93%, S 7 mph.  Joined Wade for a long run this morning, plan was to go down to the Y and back, 20 at an easy 9:00 pace, but the week had caught up with me, the lifting more than the running I think.  If there had been a vehicle at the Y I would have called it a day.  Found some shortcuts coming back and finished with 18.70 at 9:17/mile.  Heart rate held pretty steady, 147 average and 160 max, just tired legs.  Taking it easy for a few days until I feel recovered.  Recovered pretty quickly over the weekend, thankfully.

38F, 93%, NNE 6.  Much colder for a few days at least.  Trying to keep it easy, I ran 5 at LLHR, 11:14 average, last 3 under 11:00.  120 bpm, 125 max.  After Saturday's suffering I was surprised by feeling good today.

45F, 100%, ENE 7 mph and raining.  Notwithstanding the weather report, it was gusting harder than 7 mph, pretty much the bottom of the barrel as far as running conditions go; I loved it.  Had to get out and get done, but trying to run a little less for a few days anyway.  Ran 5.0 miles at 7:43 per mile from a cold start, then cooled down for a half mile back to the house.  Splits were 8:03 (150), 7:54 (161), 7:45 (165), 7:32 (167) and 7:22 (169). Would have liked to see the heart rate lower than that.  Overall 38:36 for the first 5 miles, 162 bpm, 173 max.  Probably not good to start out fast like that, hams feel kind of weird this morning.

39F, 100%, N 5 mph, fog.  5.00 miles in 56:46, 11:22/mile, 120 bpm, 127 max.  Slower than Monday, foot still bothering me.  Stretched and lifted at the gym.

Took the day off, trying to get past the heel pain on my right foot.  It comes and goes, but seems to react specifically to the speed I am running.  Don't know if it is the tendon or something more serious.

35F, 70%, NE 5 mph.  Cold day today, ran 5.00 miles at LLHR, 11:40/mile, 120 bpm, 125 max.  Been getting slower all week, but I feel great.  Probably means I'm gaining weight.  Heel felt OK today.  Need to put some miles together to top off my training for the marathon in three weeks.  Lifted at the gym afterward.

39F, 100%, ENE 3 mph.  It was raining last night but nothing serious this morning.  A little bit of misty moisture but it was quite comfortable and shoes stayed dry, ideal running weather.  Wore two shirts, beanie and gloves but it was a little warm.  Left it all on until the last lap though.  Took Gatorade every 3 laps.  Not good that I am starting to get too comfortable in these temperatures, it does me no good for the rest of the year when I have to run in a sticky mess.

The plan today was to test out my heel with a long run at slow pace, so I ran my 2.53 mile course 9 times.  With the out and back to the course added in I came in at the goal distance a few clicks before I got back to my front door.  23 miles in 3:25:04, 8:55/mile, average heart rate 151, max 162 (watch says 164 max but I never saw it).  Last 4 splits were 9:00 (159), 8:49 (161), 8:44 (161) and 8:55 (161).  Did not break 150 until mile 14, stayed between 145 and 150 from mile 2 through mile 13, then had another smaller plateau at 160, both of which I was happy about.  The mental work of getting through a run like this is harder than the physical, at least at these speeds.  (For what it's worth, I did run this at sub-BQ speed, but it is embarassing to admit that.)

Heel started bothering me at mile 15 but it receded a bit after a couple of miles so I pushed through to the end.  I won't know immediately if that was a mistake, but I will have good feedback by Monday morning.  Depending on how my heel responds I might do two or three more of these to get back to my conditioning level of a couple of weeks ago, nothing fast though and nothing closer than 10 days out.  Race day is 3 weeks from today.

58F, 100%, calm, fog and rain.  LLHR run, 5.0 miles at 11:42/mile.  RHR 50 bpm.  Average 121, max 128.  Not a good run.  Stretching and weights at the gym after the run.  Right heel marginally better, but was hurting by the end of the day.

35F (25 WC), 88%, NNE 14-23.  Was supposed to be a freezing rain this morning but it did not materialize.  Heel was bad when I first woke up but improved so I went back out to punish it some more.  Started with 4 at 9:00 pace or better, followed by 5 at GMP, then 1 miles CD.  GMP splits were 8:07 (158), 8:02 (162), 7:46 (162), 8:01 (163) and 7:52 (163).  Overall 153 bpm average, 167 max.  Much better run than yesterday.  Heel seems no worse so far today, I'm thinking it might gradually fade even under training stress.  Either way, can't really stop training if I am going to run on March 1.  If the heel craters I won't run, which is what would happen anyway by stopping now.

34F, 95%, NNW 9 mph.  Still wet outside, but not raining.  Did 5 slow (11:43/mile, 121 bpm, 126 max), then stretching and weights at the gym.  Heel still bad, but felt better after the gym, not sure what is going on there that is helping but the same thing happened on Monday.

30F, 100%, calm and clear.  Three shirt morning.  Almost a full moon, first time I have seen it in a month, didn't even realize it had cycled through already. The sun came up at the halfway point, pretty much perfect running weather.  Ran 23 miles in 3:26:02 at 8:58/mile, 152 bpm, 163 max.  Last 4 were 8:59 (158), 8:56 (159), 8:58 (160) and 8:56 (161). Very similar to Saturday, but colder.  Heart rate higher today than Saturday by a little bit and I broke 150 a few miles earlier.  My gimpy heel was really bothering me this morning, not sure if it is going to make it to race day.  I may have to alter my training to accommodate it.

64F, 95%, SSW 7 and cloudy.  About 30 degrees warmer than my last run, which was Thursday.  Heel was barking at me real bad for a couple of days after the long run on Thursday, so I won't do any more of those for now.  It feels kind of bad this morning after running somewhat hard, but I think it will improve as the day wears on.  Ran 10.00 miles in 1:25:46, 8:35/mile.  5 at long run pace, about 8:50, then 5 x 1K targeting a 7:30 pace -- had a hard time dialing it in, though, heel was bugging me throughout, kind of a low-level distraction.  Splits (adjusted to 1-mile) were 7:32 (166), 7:34 (169), 7:41 (169),. 7:34 (172) and 7:27 (173).  Average heart rate 155, max 178.  I don't know what I will do between now and the race, it will be a day-to-day decision.  I have already started to gain weight and lose conditioning in the 4 days since Thursday, so I can't just sit back and rest up for race day.  Finished with lifting and stretching.

65F, 92%, S 5 mph.  Didn't run yesterday, as my wife had an outpatient procedure.  But my heel is still bothering me and I might not have run anyway.  It had settled down enough this morning to run again, so I did 5 slow (high 8:50s) followed by 5 at GMP:  8:06 (160), 8:08 (163), 8:10 (165), 7:55 (170), 7:39 (175), overall 10.00 in 1:24:15, 156 bpm, 178 max.  Most of the heart rate results came from the heat and humidity.  Early indications are that it is going to be cool again in 10 days, though it might be rainy.  But the heel bothers me to the point that it alters my stride, I have to concentrate on staying completely on the balls of my feet, which probably isn't bad, but it is too late in this training cycle to pull off a complete stride change.  So still a possibility of pulling out on March 1, just don't know yet.  Kind of a shame because I have pretty good conditioning right now.

Stationary bike for the last two days, one hour each day, hard enough to maintain fitness for a little while, though I am probably gaining weight.   Followed up today with stretching and weights.  Heel is marginally better, chances of running are probably about 30%.

Thanks to all for checking in.  Heel is still bad, though I have no clue what I did to cause this.  Today was race day but I decided early in the week not to do it.  I have been working out on a stationary bike and doing weights several times a week; but I need to mix in other routines as well.  Am looking into pool running, but don't know if I can put that together.  This morning I ran to my neighborhood facility, about a third of a mile, and spent an hour on the bike.  Walked back.  My legs felt strong but the pain was there immediately and never abated.  I went with the family to the rodeo and the heel hurt all day.  But it comes and goes.  It was gone after I laid down and took a nap.  My son thinks it might be a stress fracture.  Nothing to do but wait and try not to lose too much conditioning or get too fat.

More of the same this week, though I am cautiously optimistic I turned the corner.  I ran this morning to the clubhouse for some quality time on the bike then back, total of 1K.  Heel seems to be responding OK, but I know I couldn't have done an actual run on it, not yet anyway.  But if this happens too many weeks in a row I might write down one of the Ks.

56F, 95%, S 1 mph.  2.85 miles without watch or heart rate monitor.  Heel was more sore today than yesterday without running.

41F, 72%, N 6 mph.  5.35 miles without watch or heart rate monitor.  Rare running weather so I ran.  Foot was sore all day and part of the next.  Seemed worth it though.

Foot felt better today but didn't run.  I have done either the stationary bike or stretching/lifting sessions at the gym every day this week that I didn't run -- sometimes both.  Starting to gain a little weight, though, as I am only burning 600 calories per session, and I don't think the bike is going to cut it for maintaining conditioning, though it certainly helps.  So today I went down to the Y and joined.  The friendly rep gave me a tour -- I apologized at the end for being too easy.  They have a great pool for pool running, Deep, and flotation vests are included.  If I can manage the boredom I should be able to stay in shape this way, and get enough training that I am not tempted to run on the heel, and keep the weight off.  Lots of classes there too, most of them free, some might be fun.

I have been cross-training the last week.  Foot is improving quite a bit.  On Monday I went to a spin class at the Y, taught by Rosie, a 50-year old woman who helped me get set up on the bike, then reduced me to a quivering mass on the multi-purpose carpet.  She said don't worry, you need the right shoes, so I went and bought a pair, surprisingly expensive.  They have a certain type of cleat on them (SPD I think they call it) that clips to the pedal.  I never knew.  They are very stiff, almost like wearing ski boots.

So Thursday I went back for more.  The shoes helped, but this time unfortunately Rosie was doing interval training.  So difficult to stand up on a bike when legs are jello.  I stayed with Rosie for more of the session than on Monday, so progress.  Heart rate maxed out at 176, which is sky high for an activity like this where only a few muscles are being used compared to running. Possibly in a couple of more sessions I can keep up.

On the other days, other than normal weight training and stretching, I did water running.  Talk about low impact, I almost felt like I was doing nothing, yet my legs were tired afterward.  A little worried that I am not doing it hard enough.  I finally got the idea of bringing my heart rate monitor, tied it to the ladder and could get a reading if I pulled myself out of the water.  At first it was reading 87 or so, which I knew could not be right.  Figured out that if I stayed out of the water for 20 or 30 seconds it would get a true reading, came out to about 110.  So I wasn't working hard enough, but have learned this week that heart rates don't translate to cross-training activities.  Still, pool running is supposed to mimic the real thing pretty closely.  Rosie teaches a class on Thursday morning. I'll probably go if I dare.

55F, 88%, N 12 mph. 2.85 miles at 9:13/mile, average heart rate low 150s.  Foot was feeling pretty good all week so I tried out a run.  Not a disaster, but heel is back to hurting, at least for now. But this morning was good weather and there won't be many more like it, so I ran.  It felt great to get back to running, and I haven't lost a lot of fitness yet.  Heart rate was only 5 or 6 beats high.  I have been doing pool running, spin classes, stretching, core and weights. 1 to 2 hours a day.  Lots of new muscle groups coming into play.  This whole thing may be an entre into tris, but that is down the road.  First I have to get better.

54F, 94% and alm.  2.85 miles in 26:01, 9:08/mile, HR low 150s.

68F, 95%, SSE 4 mph.  2.83 miles in 24:54, 8:48/mile, max HR 159.  Foot feels kind of OK, but lots of groin pain from all the cross-training, not used to all the new moves.

58F, 95%, NNE 10 mph.  5.43 miles in 50:31, 9:17/mile.

So this week I have been doing about 2 hours a day of other stuff, pool running, spin class, weights and just sitting on a recumbent bike.  I think the pool running work,s but it also works my groin pretty hard, because of the upstroke.  I can bike as much as I want, which isn't much.

This morning the plan was to do a 5-mile run, then spin class, then stretching, then pool running.  Kind of like a long run without the running.  I took the run very easy, only speeding up as my groin felt up to it.  At about mile 4 there was a twinge in my right heel, but it never amounted to much and I finished the run in the 8:45 range.  Then went to a spin class.  This morning's flavor was Maria, whose sadistic streak rivals Rosie's; plus her Spanish accent was very thick so I wasn't always sure whether she was yelling at me or somebody else, most likely me.  These bikers are all pudgy, then they saddle up and they are gone, figuratively speaking.  I am keeping up better, though.

Then stretched in the weight room and was headed to the pool but decided to check it out before getting dressed.  It was chock full of people, have never seen it like that.  There was no room for a pool runner.  So I called it a day.  Felt pretty wasted by the end of the day but am fine this morning.  I am thinking of going to 5 miles a day this week.  I still have a 25K in Grand Rapids scheduled for May 10.  If I can get back into it this week I can probably make the start line, though I don't expect to be at full strength.

55F, 93%, NNW 10 mph.  Good running weather this week, hope I can take advantage.  Ran 5.41 miles in 48:11, 8:54/mile.  150 bpm, 162 max.  Groin sore at start but it went away, then came back after I quit.  Heel OK but a little tender now.  I am really enjoying getting back out on the streets, have lost some conditioning but not a disaster so far.  I'll probably try to get in some work at the gym later today.

54F, 93%, NNW 10 mph.  Can't run everyday right now.  Back out today after taking yesterday off, ran 5.41 miles in 48:11, 8:54/mile.  Average heart rate 150, 162 max.  Resting heart rate 51, lower than I would have thought.  After finishing I took the dog for a spin around the loop, 1 mile. She loves that, should do it more often.

65F, 93%, S 5 mph.  Gradually warming up.  Some cooler days coming but every cool cycle is warmer than the last one.  Missed most of the good running this winter -- again.  8.00 miles in 1:09:31, 8:41/mile, 157 bpm, 166 max, harder than it should have been.  Cooldown 1 with dog, then weights at the gym.  Had to stop early because I was starting to hurt, but not serious.

Didn't record the weather this morning, but upper 60s with a southwest wind about 10-12 mph.  Went out at 5:30 a.m. and ran 10.54 in 1:35:39, 9:04 per mile.  First mile 10:11, last one 8:23.  150 bpm average, 174 max, 54 RHR.  Was curious and slightly concerned about what would happen today, after running quite a bit yesterday.  So far in this recovery cycle I haven't been able to run 2 days in a row, and yesterday was already the furthest distance.  My legs were heavy, mostly from lifting weights I think, and that never really went away; every time I picked up the speed it was a significant effort, not only to speed up but to maintain it.

I slept with a boot on my right foot last night.  It kept my heel at 90 degrees all night long, keeping the tendon stretched out, and there was no pain when the feet hit the floor this morning.  So I started out the day unrested and uninjured, there are worse combinations.  I sped up very gradually and finished at a pretty brisk pace, for me at least.

Then I took the dog out for a 1-mile CD, saving the last mile for her.  She pulls hard the whole way.  A border collie, not too large, but boundless energy.  I am teaching her left and right, quick learner. (I would say "Gee" and "Haw", but I don't know which is which and  don't want her laughing at me.  For the next phase of my life I might do Iditarod instead of ultras.)

Then I drove to the Y for a spin class.  Got my heart rate all the way back up to 174, it started to feel like a 5K.  We were doing 8-minute hill climbs and they were tough, actually felt nauseous at times.  Finally I stretched extensively then went into the weightroom and did squats (3 x 10 at full weight), which I couldn't do yesterday because my body was objecting too much.  All in all, today was at least as hard as running 20, probably even 20 with a fast finish.

Bottom line, I am out of shape but not terribly out of shape, and it feels like I will get it back pretty soon, so life is good.  Plus we get 2 more days of cold weather early next week, middle of April no less.

74F, 87%, S 9 mph.  Ran 5.45 mile in 50:52, 9:19/mile.  147 average heart rate, 152 max.  Miles 4 and 5 were 9:18 (149) and 9:21 (150).  Then 0.55 CD then 1 mile with dog for a total of 7.  Was trying to go slow today to compensate for the hard day on Saturday.  Everything feels fine though.

44F, 78%, NNW 9 mph.  Ran 8.00 miles in 1:10:00, 8:45/mile.  149 average, 157 max.  Resting heart rate 52.  Miles 4 and 5 were 8:48 (149) and 8:31 (151).

32F, 43%, S 7 and clear.  Beautiful morning in Sandy, Utah.  I arrived late Tuesday night for a funeral on Wednesday, flight 5 hours late and didn't get to bed until 4:00 a.m., so didn't run yesterday.  But found the Jordan River Parkway this morning.  The computer said 38F for this zip code but there was frost on the grass down by the river, so that means 32F.  Ran up the trail from 100th South, hit the golf course and ran (trespassed) around it, got lost a couple of times, not sure where the trail goes from there.  Got back to my starting point and headed south, then back to the car, total of 8.37 miles in 1:13:34, 8:48/mile, 157 average heart rate, 163 max.  Ate breakfast and barely made my plan. I could get used to running in this but I know it isn't so pleasant in the winter.

61F, 83%, N 1 mph.  Back in Houston.  Ran 4.12 miles at LLHR, 12:00 per mile, 119 bpm, 125 max.  Took a drink and headed back out for more, 5.42 miles at 8:42 per mile, 151 bpm, 160 max.  Miles 4 and 5 were 8:25 (157) and 8:34 (158).  Then lifted weights at the gym.

54F, 98%, NE 1 mph.  I think today is the last sub-60 day until November, lucky to have made it this far.  Ran 8.01 miles in 1:06:42, 8:20/mile.  155 bpm average, 169 max.  Miles 4 and 5 were 8:10 (157) and 8:11 (158).  Got two sub-8 miles at the end.  Heel is feeling pretty good this week, not really a factor anymore so long as I honor the fact that it is still in recovery mode.  Went to the Y for a spin class and got trashed as usual, but I kept up fine.  I hit 174 heart rate a couple of times.  Started to wonder how long a particular sprint was going to last then realized I could hold it as long as the instructor, which was a good feeling.  I feel like I am improving pretty quickly right now, getting my fitness back.  Here is a table I made up of my speed and heart rate at miles 4 and 5 for the last 8 or 9 runs.  Earlier in the week and last week I was running those miles at a lower heart rate, so not a lot of conclusions, but the last 3 days are pretty instructive, starting with the Utah run:

*Jordan River Parkway, 100th S., Sandy, Utah

I did significantly better at sea level despite being 30 degrees warmer, then even better today when it was slightly cooler, despite lifting weights yesterday.  I am definitely a flatlander.

64F, 93%, SSW 4 mph.  1.05 wu with dog, then 6.00 at 9:00/mile, 146 bpm, 151 max4.12 miles at 12:00, LLHR (119 bpm, 125 max), then 5.42 miles at 8:42, (151 bpm, 160 max).  Mile 4:  8:25 (157); mile 5:  8:34 (158)

Still nursing my foot, acting up today even though I didn't run hard yesterday.  Did pool running for an hour then weights.

63F, 100%, calm and clear. 1.05 wu with dog, then 10.48 miles in 1:31:26, 8:43/mile.  152 bpm average, 161 max.  Mile 4:  8:13 (157); mile 5:  8:22 (157).

69F, 90%, S 9 mph.  5.05 miles in 45:24, 8:59/mile, 143 bpm average, 153 max.  Then 1.05 cd with dog, followed by stretching and weights.

76F, 88% (71 DP), SSW 8 mph.  Took the rest of last week off and my foot felt better this morning.  Ran 10.45 miles in 1:28:32, 8:28/mile, 164 bpm average, 184 max.  Active wu for 3 miles, then wanted 2 hard at 7:43, which is my goal pace for the upcoming race.  They came in faster than that:  7:27 (173) and 7:30 (180).  But I suffered somewhat in the heat; the rest of the week will be cooler.  Then finished out the run in the 8:40 range.  Goal is to go hard again on Wednesday and Saturday, at increasingly longer distances.

66F, 100%, S 5 mph.  6.17 miles in 1:13:59, 11:59/mile.  LLHR:  121 bpm average, 128 max.  Weights and stretching.

58F, 51%, NNW 5 mph.  10.07 miles in 1:22:07, 8:09/mile.  162 bpm average, 180 max.  Better results today.  Warmed up then 5 fast then 3 active cd.  Fast ones were 7:44 (163), 7:37 (170), 7:38 (173), 7:22 (176) and 7:28 (178), 7:34 average for the 5, slightly slower than Monday but 5 miles instead of 2 and 172 bpm instead of 177 -- mostly attributable to cooler weather I presume, but this is more like race conditions will be.

48F, 92% and calm.  Pretty stellar running weather, undoubtedly the last sub-50 day I'll see for 6 months.  LLHR:  6.06 miles in 1:11:14, 11:46/mile, 120 bpm average, 125 max.  Then 1.05 miles with dog, followed by weights and stretching.  Foot has held up well this week.

56F, 68%, WSW 3 mph.  Still good weather.  LLHR:  6.04 miles in 1:10:47, 11:43/mile, 121 bpm, 128 max.  Tomorrow semi-long and hard.

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

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

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

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

48F, 71%, SSW 7.  60F at finish.  Traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to run the Fifth Third River Bank Run, a very large 25K (the unusual name can be blamed on the local bank sponsor) that doubles as the national championship for that distance.  I have been traveling all week, so got a forced taper, 10 miles on Monday and 6 on Wednesday, ran 3 at race pace each time.  Don't have my notes for those days, I'll fill them in later.

My dad lives here, and he met me last night at the airport with his wife.  We went over to the expo and picked up my bib, checked out the logistics, etc.  The race is well-run.  Went to bed and slept well.  My alarm went off at 5:30 (a luxury compared to races out west) and got to the race area at 7:00 for an 8:20 start.  Plenty of time to get everything done.

They started the 5K at 7:00 and the 10K at 7:40, we never saw them, had the course to ourselves.  Loop course, it finished about a block from the start.  My goal was to hit 7:43 per mile, which for a true 25K distance comes in right at 2 hours.  I ran it in 2:01:47 (just under 7:46/mile) and measured it at 15.69, about 0.15 further than 25K.  (These courses are all certified, but if you read the certification rules, they want them to measure it long so that if anybody sets a record the measurement will hold up.  I missed one or two tangents but wasn't off by that much.)  Official pace was 7:50 per mile.  My heart rate was sky-high, 182 max, averaged 176.  858 overall out of 5565 finishers, 29th in age group out of 176.  Splits and heart rates were as follows (as usual, no accurate heart rate data to start, seemed to kick in OK by mile 2 though):

1: 7:37; 2: 7:36 (170); 3: 7:40 (172); 4: 7:37 (172); 5: 7:37 (173); 6: 7:45 (172); 7: 7:30 (176); 8: 7:30 (177); 9: 7:33 (178); 10: 7:50 (178); 11: 7:31 (178); 12: 7:57 (179); 13: 7:45 (177); 14: 8:16 (175); 15: 8:15 (176) and 16: 8:24 (177).

The course was essentially flat in the first half, then rollers until about mile 12.5.  The rollers were not difficult, but again I showed my inability to sustain hills late in a race.  I felt strong through mile 9 and managed to hang on through mile 11, didn't fall competely off the wagon until mile 14.  Got hot and couldn't sustain the heart rate any longer.  I think this is the highest heart rate I have carried for a longer-distance race.

But I felt strong in the first half, could have laid down the hammer at any time.  That is the first takeaway.  I never ran more than 11 miles after coming back from my injury a few weeks ago.  But the weight lifting and other cross-training have given me better speed.  Solution is to get back to longer mileage and longer runs, that is what gives me the depth to sustain what is now an easier effort to get to these kinds of speeds.  It's almost like I'm a younger runner who is naturally faster but undertrained.

Second takeaway is a rude wake-up for Boston in a year.  I have never run a course before that is ea.sy for the first half then gets hard before getting easy again.  Again, I need more stamina, but I have time to get it if I can maintain proper training cycles.

Really glad I came up here to run this; it is a good distance.  Hoping to convince some of my brothers and sisters into running it together next year.

61F, 85%, SSW 6.  5.27 miles in 47:12, 8:57/mile.

65F, 83%, SSW 14-21.  12.04 miles, 1:47:14, 8:54/mile.  150 bpm, 157 max.

70F, 94%, SSE 6.  9.00 miles in 1:51:12, 12:22/mile, 120 bpm. Starting in on a long summer of low heart rate runs, need to restore my base.  Foot comes and goes, still watching it carefully.  Today was extra slow, to be expected, but it will be a base to compare times against as I hopefully improve.  I just raced 16 miles at 7:46/mile, yet at low heart rate I am probably about a minute and a half slow.  Just shows how unbalanced my conditioning is right now, and it is probably why I faded at the end of the race.

73F, 84%, S 9-19 mph.  5.12 miles in 1:01:01, 11:55/mile, 121 bpm.  Much better today.  Did weights afterward, doing 170 on the glute machine (2 sets of 8 on each leg) and 135 Smith machine squats (3 sets of 10).

70F, 100% and calm.  10.00 miles in 1:56:36, 11:40/mile, 120 bpm.

72F, 93% and calm.  10.0 miles, no watch, it was dead whe I woke up.  Weights and stretching.

67F, 97% and calm.  Didn't get started until 5:30, not good for a long run.  Object was to do 20 at 9:00 but I went too fast, the sun came up and I started to get heat symptoms.  So I quit early, way too much vitamin D.  This is my first hard effort in the heat, so it was OK.  In a couple of weeks I should be able to do this pretty readily.  17.53 miles in 2:33:50, 8:47/mile, 155 bpm, 176 max.  Foot not getting worse.

73F, 95%, SSE 7.  LLHR run, 10.11 miles in 2:04:00, 12:16/mile, 121 bpm average.  Legs still beat up from Saturday I assume, though the heat is building as well.  At least it was a little faster than last Monday.  Wade ran the middle 5 miles with me; we won't be doing much running together this summer as he is going to his summer place in Wyoming this weekend, he will probably be there through September or October.  He was a good sport to run at my speed and commented that his legs felt rubbery at the end, just like mine do at these snail speeds. Might go up there in July and run a local half with him, undecided right now.

We also went to the outlet mall and got shoes.  My Jinga sources are drying up, so I got some Merrill shoes that are light and have zero lift.  With discounts they were half off.  I haven't run in anything but Jinga for at least 4 years, so this could be interesting.

68F, 100%, NW 2 mph.  8.24 miles in 1:33:24, 11:20/mile, 120 bpm.

Interesting run this morning, ran it in between storm cells.  I didn’t run yesterday because the downpour started exactly when I went out the door.  Today it started about 5 minutes after I came in.  We have my grandson so I quit early anyway this morning, in case he woke up.  At the 8 mile mark on Monday I had 12:09 as an average pace, ended up with 12:20 overall average as my heart rate climbed in the heat the last two miles.  So a big difference between Monday and today, which shows how much a moderate effort on a long run in the heat can take out of you, at least early in the year.

I started out in the new Merrills I bought on Monday.  They felt very light, but after 5 miles the right one was rubbing on the top of my foot.  I stopped and loosened the laces but that seemed to make it worse.  So I switched over to my Jingas.  I went a little slower after that, presumably because it was later in the run, but I was curious how the weight compared.  So I got out my son's food scales.  The wet Merrill weighed 7.5 oz.  The wet Jinga weighed 8.0.  Then I weighed a dry Jinga (same style as the wet one) and it was 7.1.  Then I weighed the dry Jinga racing version, slightly different style with a very thin sole.  It came in at a featherweight 4.2, so definitely I will continue to race in those.

The Merrills seemed to make my right foot feel better, the one I have been struggling with all year, so they are going to be a good shoe once I get the laces figured out.  And I would feel comfortable running trails in them as well.  I don't do it often but it is nice to have a pair available.

66F, 100% and calm.  10.0 miles i 1:53:04, 11:19/mile, 121 bpm.

73F, 100%, calm and clear.  6.00 miles in 1;10:06, 11:41/mile, 121 bpm.  Merrills again, not sure they are helping my foot though.  Didn't run all last weekend (Thursday through Saturday) due to graduation events.  My wife graduated from BYU, my son graduated from medical school and my daughter graduated from high school.  So we had a big family blow-out, including packing my son's truck up for their move to Virginia for his residency.  He left town at noon on Saturday and is gone, just like that.  Kind of hard to take after having them around for 4 years, hard to believe it is already over.  My daughter will be doing the same thing in August.

73F, 100% clear and calm.  5.14 miles in 1:02:39, 12:11/mile, 120 bpm.  Lifted weights yesterday and it was taking a toll today.  One thing for sure, I will never go into a weight room inside of 10 days from a goal race.

74F, 93%, SSW 5 mph.  10.00 iles in 2:03:46, 12:22/mile, even slower than yesterday.  I ran 12:08 through 6 miles, then 12:42 for the last four.  Combination of heavy weights two days ago and hot weather, plus lack of talent.

75F, 100%, SSE 3 mph.  Getting hotter every day now.  10.00 miles in 2:02:00, 12:12/mile, 121 bpm average.  First 6 were 12:03, last 4 were 12:25, so better than yesterday, time to hit the weight room again.  Hoping to go long tomorrow, almost looking forward to putting the gas pedal down a little, but probably won't feel that way at the end of the run.

73F, 96% and calm.  15.0 miles at 8:59/mile, 161 bpm, 181 max.

77F, 99%, S5.  10.00 miles at 12:50/mile, 121 bpm.

68F, 100% and calm.  10.00 miles at 12:01/mile, 121 bpm.

77F, 90%, SSE 7 mph.  10.00 miles in 1:31:12, 9:07/mile, 163 bpm, 183 max.

London, cool temperatures, but no watch or HRM.  Ran 6 with client out of hotel, past Buckingham Palace.  I have been on planes most of the month of June and dealing with a couple of injuries, but today's run went OK.  Might be on my way back.

Last day in London, 9 more.  Warmest day of the year but the temperatures were great, probably high 50s or low 60s.

74F, 97% and calm.  Back in the soup.  Out the door at 4:12 a.m. for 15 in 2:19:41, 9:19/mile, 158 bpm, 186 max.  Slowest 10:09, fastest 8:29.  Was out of the country most of June and the first week of July and am out of shape.  Foot seems to be OK though it still hurts (not getting worse though), also have a nagging groin injury.

76F, 94% and calm.  Back to LHR training, I think I can get over my injuries best this way and I need to do it anyway.  10.00 miles in 2:13:17, 13:20/mile, 121 bpm.  Pretty ugly, but it is a combination of heat, out of shape and running hard (for my current conditioning) on Saturday.  Should get better as the week progresses.  The groin was sore at first but the slow job loosened it up.

76F, 90% and calm.  10.00 in 2:10:10, 13:01/mile, 122 bpm.

76F, 97%, S 3 mph.  10.00 in 2:05:36, 12:34/mile, 121 bpm.

75F, 96% and calm.  10.00 miles in 2:02:05, 12:12/mile, 122 bpm.

73F, 95%, SW 2 mph.  10.00 in 1:59:12, 11:55/mile, 122 bpm.  So this week my average LHR pace dropped from 13:20 to 11:55, same distance every day, very similar temperatures, though this morning did feel a little cooler.  I guess if you don't stay out of shape for long it is easy to get a lot of it back.  That and finally acclimating myself to summer temps.  They hadn't really hit in early June when I stopped running.

75F, 97% (73 DP) and calm.  Huge thunderstorm here last night and the pavement was still boiling off this morning.  Other than the 10 for Texas run last fall in similar conditions, this was probably the warmest run I have had.  Out the door at 4:15 a.m. for 20, thinking I would try to hold it at 9 flat.  Last Saturday, first day out for a longer run, was 9:19.  This morning I got my first mile at 9:24, caught the 9:00 guy at mile 6 then everything else through mile 11 was 9:00 or below.  At this point I was suffering in the heat and decided to do 16 instead of 20, so as a result I picked up the pace -- it actually felt good for a while, then things got really grim:  Last 5 were 8:53, 8:42, 8:36, 8:19, stumbling in for mile 16 at 8:27.  Pretty beat but I recovered quickly throughout the day, foot feels OK and groin pull is gone.  Overall 8:52 average.  161 bpm and 186 max.  Same heart rate as last Saturday, but 27 seconds per mile faster, which confirms the LHR progression I was seeing this week. I have been taking my heart rate up regularly when not doing LHR runs and it feels like the right thing to do.  It isn't hard to do in the heat anyway.

79F (74 DP), 84%, SW 5.  Hot dry wind from the southwest.  Short on time this week; ran 8.0 miles in 1:42:02, 12:46/mile, 121 bpm.  So quite a bit slower than I finished up last week before the long run, but faster than the beginning of last week after the previous long run.

79F, 91% (76 DP), WSW 5 mph.  6.20 miles in 50:21, 8:07/mile, 164 bpm average, 187 max.  Started at 9:01 and finished at 7:40.  Another quick run and done day.

74F (74 DP), 100% and calm.  10.00 in 1:27:18, 8:44/mile, 160 bpm, 178 max.  Took it a bit easier than yesterday, but still got in a 160+ heart rate run.  Again, was in a hurry to get to work, really hard to get in a 2-hour run when there are early appointments to be met.  Heading out of town tonight.

TM run at a hotel in Tulsa, OK.  10.00 miles, starting out at 6 mph and ending at 9 mph.  Probably ran too hard but was in a hurry to get to a meeting.

Nothing today.  Flight from Tulsa got in a midnight last night and I need my beauty sleep.  Going long tomorrow.

73F, 93%, ENE 5 mph, 20 miles at 9:20 pace, heart rate about 152 average, hit 167 towards the end as I sped up.  I planned to do these at 9:00, but my Garmin has an error message on it and won't give me a clock/GPS readout.  Heart rate monitor worked fine, though, so I was able to judge my speed a little bit by heart rate and feel.  But at the end of the run I had come in slow.  Not that I wanted to do it any faster, probably just as good I didn't have a Garmin today, I would have outrun my fitness again like I did the last two weekends.  It has been a long time since I could string 20 miles together in one run, so the primary goal today was distance rather than speed.  Legs are sore but seem to be recovering quickly this afternoon.

79F, 97%, DP 78F, SE 1 mph and clear.  Hotter than ever.  Don't see it getting cooler soon.  Usually there is a whiff a coolness in the morning, but it was muggy today even before starting.  Out at 5:00 a.m. for 10, LLHR, 12:43 average, 120 bpm average.  A bit faster than last Monday's run, with muggier conditions today, so I am continuing to progress a little bit.

77F, 100%, 77DP and calm.  10.00 miles in 2:02:30, 12:15/mile, 121 bpm.

79F, 100% (79 DP, highest yet) and calm.  Ran 11.22 miles in 2:16:50, first 10 averaged 12:09/mile, but mile 12, if I had finished it, would have been close to 13, steady through 9, then big fade at the end.  121 bpm average.  Air was tot, humid and stale.  Changed clothes and went to the gym to lift.

75F, 96% (74 DP), calm and crisp.  12.00 miles in 2:25:27.  First 10 in 2:00:10, 12:01/mile, 122 bpm average for the entire run.  Everything through mile 8 was under 12, then the pace dropped fast and mile 12 was 12:49.  This run is a slight improvement over yesterday, mostly attributable to the nicer running conditions, but happy to get it anyway.  My legs feel wasted from lifting weights yesterday and I assumed I would be slower today.  I am thinking that if I keep pushing the distance on the low heart rate stuff that I will improve faster at the bottom end of the training zone, rather than just waiting for it to come to me by running the same distance every day.  Won't be able to run these distances consistently, though, it takes too much time.

Out of curiosity I checked my LLHR entries from a year ago.  Interesting that during July my low heart rate runs were mostly faster than I am running right now, preceding a meltdown at the Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Wisconsin.  But right now I am running faster than I did in September, 2013, preceding SGM where I ran within 4 minutes of my PR and had energy to spare.  Also my long run heart rate/speed combinations are comparing favorably with last year at this time; hopefully that holds this Saturday.

75F, 96% and calm to start, 77F, 95% (75 DP) and W 3 mph at end.  Ran from 5:00 to 7:30 then did weights.  Low heart rate run, averaged 11:56/mile through 10, as good as anything else recently.  121 bpm average heart rate.  Was going to run 13 but my pace went to pot and I decided there was no more benefit.  Last 5 splits show the quick deterioration:  11:56, 12:11, 12:16, 12:55 and 12:53.  Finished with a vigorous weight session and I am tired.

80F, 91% (79 DP), SSW 8 mph.  Truly miserable, intended to do 20 at 9:00 pace, but did 16.20 at 9:13/mile, 155 bpm average, 169 max.  I got up very early because I have an 8:00 commitment.  So I needed to get out the door at 4:00, actually got out at 3:50, the last thing that went right.  Temperature was overwhelmingly warm, and my legs were still tired from lifting yesterday.  I huffed and puffed through a 9:35 first mile and I knew I was cooked.  I only broke 9 once and it was a fight the whole way, though I didn't fight that hard -- too dangerous to fight hard for 2+ hours in these conditions.  I kept fluids down well and heart rate was relatively controlled, which were a couple of good things.  This is one of those runs that you do it and forget about it, deposit made, no big deal.

79F, 95% (77 DP), SW 4 mph.  Started at 4:26 a.m., did 5 miles at LLHR, 12:08/mile, 120 bpm, surprisingly good considering this is a Monday after a long run -- last Monday, almost identical conditions, was 12:43/mile; today probably would have been about 12:20 for the full 10.  Then met Wade and did 4 at long-run rate, low 9s and upper 8s, finishing with 3.25 more by myself, picking up the pace slightly -- 7.25 miles at 8:51/mile, starting at 9:27 and working down to 8:19, average heart rate 153 bpm, max 171.  Overall 12.25 in 2:04:51.  Good run.

77F, 97% (76 DP) and calm.  My watch battery was low, so I clocked the run by my cell phone, averaged 12:21/mile with estimated water stops.  No idea what my heart rate was, but I felt like I was keeping it in the correct zone, maybe a little lower.  Followed with weights at the gym.

73F, 100% (73 DP).  Noticeably cooler this morning and my running showed it even though I did weights yesterday.  I did 12.81 miles, LLHR, 2:30:58, 11:47/mile, but the first 10 were at 11:36/mile, 19 seconds faster than my best time in recent weeks.  Mile 5 was 11:18 (throw it down!).  Average heart rate 122.

81F, 84% (75DP), S 3 mph.  Out at 4:25 for 13.  Legs tired to start and I thought I would only do 10, especially in light of the temperature, but things got better and I stuck it out.  13.00 in 2:34:44, 121 bpm.  First 10 at 11:43/mile, slightly slower than yesterday but hotter today.  Last two were at almost exactly the same speed (12:29 and 12:51) as yesterday.  Then lifting at the gym.

75F (75 DP), 100%, W 5 mph.  Same dew point as yesterday, boil-off from a rain last night put us at max humiity; but somehow it felt more comfortable than the 81F/84%/75DP combo from yesterday, maybe the brisk wind out of the west was the difference.  I ran a few miles at LLHR and got good results for 4 miles:  11:41, 11:12, 11:07 and 11:03 = 11:16 average (121 bpm).  Probably fair to put it at 11:25 if I had gone a full 10 so we'll call it that, 11 seconds per mile better than Wednesday.  Some of that is weather-driven, but still undeniably making progress.  I met Wade at about mile 2.5 and ran another 2 at LLHR after that but didn't want to make him run that slow, so picked it up to long run pace through mile 7.5 where Wade peeled off to go back home; after that I ran another 4.5 by myself, overall 12.00 miles in 2:00:13, hitting mostly upper 8s for the last 4 or 5.  Total run was10:01/mile, 128 bpm average, 161 max.  Pretty happy with how my heart rate is behaving this week.  Hopefully I have something left in the tank for a good run tomorrow.

69F, 99% (68F DP), calm.  Unbelievably cool morning for this time of year -- the first two weeks of August are the hottest of the year, should have been 10 degrees warmer today.  Didn't argue, just tried to make the most of it.  Got a late start, 5:35 and cooked a little bit when the sun came up after mile 8 with no cloud protection, but not too bad.  Ran 20.00 miles in 2:52:45, 8:38/mile, 156 bpm average, 181 high.  My overall pace was only 1 second off the old BQ standard for my age group, before they tightened it down by 6 minutes, so I was working it pretty good.  Average heart rate was about the same as last week, though the high end was significantly higher today, 181 bpm ompared to 169 last week.  Started out at 9:42 but caught the 9:00 guy at 4 miles, the 8:50 guy at 8 miles and the 8:45 guy at 11 miles.   Biggest difference was the DP:  79 last week compared to 68 today, with the result that I ran 35 seconds per mile faster for the full 20, compared to running only 16 last week.  Nauseous at the end, so I guess I ran hard enough.  In fact, I probably cannibalized Monday and Tuesday but that isn't too important so long as I don't come up with an injury.  I did cramp up some after finishing, first cramps I have had in a while.  This is the best week I have had in a very long time.  If dropping 10 degrees makes that much difference I wonder what the boost would be at race temperatures in low 50s/upper 40s.  Seems like it should be worth another 30 seconds/mile but no way of really knowing.

75F, 95%, 74 DP, ENE 3 mph.  Pretty good weather today.  Out the door at 4:00 a.m., ran 10.10 in 2:00:57, 11:59/mile, 119 bpm, surprisingly good considering Saturday's sweatfest.  I think I pegged last Monday's run at 12:20, so this is an improvement.  Even though last Monday was somewhat muggier, today's heart rate was lower, so I'm calling it a wash.  Slowest mile today was 12:05, fastest 11:53, nice tight pattern.  Trying to take it easy this week; nothing long until Saturday.

75F, 98% (75 DP), N 1 mph.  Even though there is a slight wind on record, in reality it was essentially stagnant air out there and so it felt warmer than yesterday.  Ran 10.00 in 1:57:27, 11:45/mile, 121 bpm.  Tailed off quite a bit the last 2 miles, 11:52 and 11:58, but otherwise felt OK.  Stretching and weights at gym.

75F, 100% and calm.  Basically the same weather as yesterday, stagnant air, but really not paying that much attention anymore unless it goes back up to 80F, which is possible.  But at 75F I can run all summer long, not that I have a choice.  Another 10 at LLHR, 1:54:26, 11:27/mile, 120 bpm, still improving.  First mile was 11:53, last was 11:37, fastest (mile 6) was 11:10.  Legs were heavy the first 3 miles then I got into a rhythm, the second half actually faster than the first half by about 4 seconds per mile at a similar heart rate -- which is good because the object of this type of running is to build endurance.  My "fall off the cliff" point has been moving further out in the run, probably at about 8 miles now.  Eventually 10 miles might not be far enough to keep the training effect going, but that would be a good problem to have.

78F (96%) (78 DP), S 3 mph.  Got out a little late on minimal sleep and ran slower than yesterday, mostly due to the extra heat.  10.00 miles in 1:56:27, 11:39/mile, 120 bpm.  Fastest mile was mile 5 @ 11:17 (yesterday mile 6 was fastest at 11:10) and miles 9 and 10 were 11:50 and 12:00.  So not bad, just too hot and too sleepy.

81F, 93% (78 DP), SSW 2 mph.  Heavy hot air settling in for the long haul it appears.  This is the kind of weather that breeds hurricanes, hope we don't get any this year.  Close to a dew point PR this morning, figured the run would be a disaster but went out anyway.  Began at 5:27 a.m., 10.00 miles in 1:58:08, 11:49/mile.  Fastest mile was mile 5 again, 11:33.  Finished at 12:13, which was the slowest mile.  121 bpm average.  Other days in this range this year were July 21 (12:43/mile), July 23 (12:09/mile) and July 28 (12:08/mile); so I am happy with this LLHR pace, so long as it goes back down when the temperatures recede.

79F (78 DP), 97%, SSW 5 mph.  Went out at 5:00 for a long run but gave up halfway through.  Trying to target 9:00 pace, but heart rate was climbing quickly.  I took it from 161 to 167 in mile 8 and came out 4 seconds slower, at which point I decided nothing good was going to happen today -- did not want to be paying for a long run for the next 5 days, which is what happens in these conditions if you push it too hard for too long.  Been feelling sluggish anyway for the last 3 days, apparently I am overtrained at these ridiculously low heart rates; either that or I never recovered from the last long one.  Averaged 9:04 for 10.5, then took the dog out for a 1.05 mile cool down. Next week is a new week.

78F, 96% (78 DP) and calm.  Still not a grown-up runner, even though I have been doing this for over 6 years now.  Felt the need to try a re-do from Saturday.  Succeeded just fine, but probably undermined my workouts for the entire week as a result.  20.00 miles in 3:01:37, 9:05/mile, 157 bpm, 176 max, pretty even pace throughout.  Nothing over 9:09 and only a couple under 9:00.  Despite the childish nature of this workout, there was nevertheless a bit of grim satisfaction to be had.  78 DP at sea level is sky-high and I did 20 in it at a fair pace, within 3 minutes of BQ.  

76F, 97% (76 DP), calm.  I was convinced that any run I could get in today would be a disaster, could barely walk when I fell out of bed because my right foot always gets stiff, more so on harder runs like yesterday, from which I usually take a day off.  But after stumbling around a while the foot felt more normal so I headed out at 4:40 a.m., intending to only do 6, all LLHR of course.  The first mile came in at 12:12, which surprised me.  Averaged 11:37 for the run and did 10 instead of 6, 120 bpm average heart rate, felt absolutely fine, almost like I hadn't run at all yesterday.  I have no explanation, it was a slightly cooler but not enough to really make any difference.  Indulging in a long run yesterday felt like robbing the bank; this morning felt like a clean getaway.  Also had a good stretching and weight session afterwards.

76F, 98% (75 DP) and calm.  No running on Wednesday and Thursday due to work pressures.  Felt great going out the door but heart rate was high today compared to Tuesday.  10.00 miles in 2:03:30, 12:21/mile, 120 bpm.  No available explanation.  Off to stretching and weights.

79F, 94% (77 DP), SSW 4 mph.  Running symptoms of some sort, slept in fits and starts all night and decided in the middle of the night not to go 20.  Finally got out the door at 6:00 a.m. for a quick 10.  Heart rate standing at my front door was in the mid70s instead of low 60s.  I then sat down to see how low I could make it go and 64 bpm was the bottom, so 10-12 bpm higher than normal resting start, which explains what was going on yesterday.  So I just ran whatever speed felt good, stayed under 150 bpm for the first half and under 160 bpm for the second half.  10.00 miles in 1:32:53, 9:17/mile, a bit quicker than I would have predicted.  Felt better when I was done, should be back to normal by Monday.

79F, 93% (77 DP), S 5 mph.  10.00 in 1:56:49, 11:41/mile, 120 bpm. Recovered from whatever was ailing me on Friday, so this is OK under the circumstances.

79F, 95% (77 DP), SSW 5 mph.  10.00 miles in 1:56:19, 11:38/mile, 120 bpm.  Almost identical to yesterday in every respect.  Finished with stretching and weights.

76F, 100% and calm.  Felt warmer than yesterday for some reason.  Another run very close to the other two this week.  10.00 miles in 1:56:02, 11:36/mile, 120 bpm.  Last mile was 11:56, excactly the same as yesterday.  At least I'm not getting worse, and I had weightlifting hangover in my legs, so this is probably an OK run.

80F, 97% (80 DP) and calm.  10.00 in 1:59:04, 11:56/mile.  New DP PR.  Really happy to pull back ahead of SlowJoe, he tried beating me on temperature yesterday, caught me napping, but I'm back on track this morning.

80F, 93% (77 DP), S 6 mph.  Ran the usual, 10.00 in 1:56:18, 11:38/mile, 120 bpm average.  Quite a bit faster than yesterday even with a lower heart rate.  So out of curiosity I checked the temperature again (Weather Channel) when I finished, and it showed 73F (100%), meaning a 4-degree drop in the dew point?  Pretty sure that is wrong; dew point tends to stay constant as temperature rises and RH drops in the course of the day, beccause it measures the actual amount of moisture in the air and stays the same until new weather moves in.  Right now it is 82F (89%), translating to a 78 DP, so either the moisture moved out then moved back in over a 4-hour period or the second reading was wrong.  I have my own weather station, but it is still boxed up waiting for a pergola to be built in the backyard.  I am looking forward to having accurate weather data.

76F, 97% (74 DP), calm and clear.  Slightly lower temperatures this morning, thought I might be able to hit 20, which turned out to be the case.  Started at 5:01 a.m. and so the last 5 miles or so were in the direct sunlight; took quite a toll but I made it.  Had a bottle of gatorade and a bottle of water and drained them both.  I was nauseous for about an hour after the run but never threw up.  Layed down and waited for my heart rate to get down into the 80s and then I was OK; took a long hot shower and I am moving around pretty well now, though lots of chafing on the outside of my legs, for some reason that was the rubbing spot today.  20.00 miles in 2:59:08, 8:57/mile, 157 bpm average heart rate, 175 max.

75F, 98% (75 DP), N 1 mph.  LLHR run again, 11:48/mile and 120 bpm, not too bad for a Monday.  Weather is starting to ease up just a bit this week, hope it holds.

77F, 84% (72 DP) and calm.  Warmed up at LLHR for 3.5 miles, about 11:25/mile at 119 bpm, feeling good.  Busted out a 5 x 1K workout at 7:33, 7:18, 7:09, 7:19 and 7:03 paces jogging out each mile.  Then ran the dog for a mile to cool down and finish off the 10.  I have a 5K race in about 10 days, so figured I should at least see what I can do.  My 5K PR is a 6:41 average pace, if I remember correctly, so a long way from where I am right now.

Not sure how I will feel the rest of the day, but this seemed to go pretty well.  Who knows what would happen if I actually did workouts regularly.  But even running fast it's all about the aerobic base, I don't regret any of the slow miles, except while I am running them.

PM weights and stretching.

75F, 87% (71 DP), N 1 mph.  Considerably cooler this morning, and even though I did a workout yesterday and weights late last night I still ran quicker this morning, 11:25 pace for 9 miles, then finished 1 mile untimed with the dog.  An interesting thing is that mile 6 was my quickest mile, 11:11, and by the 9th mile the pacing still hadn't deteriorated, it came in at 11:24, so mile 10 would have still been OK.

76F, 87% (73 DP) and calm.  Late night last night, got a late start, almost daylight by the time I got out and it was beating down by the third mile.  9.1 miles at LLHR, 11:17/mile, 121 bpm.  It looks better than yesterday, but my heart rate was higher today in the sunlight so really about the same, maybe a little slower actually.  Finished with stretching and weights. 

75F, 96% (74 DP), calm.  Didn't run yesterday due to work issues then couldn't hit 20 today, everything was hurting.  15.19 at 8:56/mile.  Just waiting for summer to end at this point.

75F, 95% (DP 74) and calm.  No end in sight to the hot weather, even though things are cooling down in the rest of the country.  At least we aren't hitting 80s.  I am going to try a 5K on Saturday, so putting in a little bit of speedier work this week.  Warmed up for 4 miles then 2 miles as hard as I could, 7:33 and 7:10, then slogged out 4 more in the 9:15 to 9:30 range.  If I recover properly I'll do this a couple of more times this week.

79F, 97% (DP 78) and calm.  81F to finish.  Same run as yesterday, but hotter by quite a bit.  Got a late start and ran the fast ones in the sun.  The two fast miles were 7:19 and 7:13, so started out faster and ended up slower than yesterday.  Probably a combination of fatigue and heat.  Overall 8:56/mile, feeling the heat pretty badly at the end.  Heart rate 153 bpm, 184 max.  Last 4 were in the 9:02 to 9:22 range.

Indoors.  Had to travel suddenly to Guatemala this week and have missed running for the last two days due to work schedules.  But finished yesterday and made it downstairs to the treadmill this morning.  The weather here is gorgeous, was confused until somebody told me we are at 5,000 feet altitude.  The group we are working with here has a couple of runners in it, there are lots of runners in Latin America.  But they were both injured, so I didn't get to run with company, just the TM.  Legs were pretty rested, obviously, and I ran short, only 10K.  I ran 2 x 1K at 7:00/mile pace.  The rest of the run was at an 8:50 pace.  Was happy that it wasn't too difficult, but hard to really get a bead on it.  I am at altitude (minus), not racing (minus), on the treadmill (plus), indoors at 74F (minus) but with lower humidity (plus), and you have to wonder if the TM is calibrated accurately.  Too many variables to extrapolate to a morning run in my neighborhood at home.  Left a puddle of sweat for whatever that is worth.  

I'm planning to run a 5K tomorrow morning back in Houston, would be very happy to be able to hold a similar pace in that race though it will be a stretch.  If I could hit 6:45 (not likely) I would PR.  Might have already ran my race this morning, though. Dang.

75F, 97% (DP 74F) and calm.  Boiloff from rains yesterday, pretty humid.  Thought I was running a race this morning but it is next week.  But didn't do a long run, too much going on today with the BYU game in Austin and my daughter's birthday.  Ran 9 miles at 8:41 pace, 153 bpm average heart rate, 165 max, so not too easy or too hard, then 1 more with the dog at slightly slower pace.  That's it for the week, not much but not nothin'.

75F, 94% (73 DP) and calm.  Ran 10 miles in 1:28:56, 8:54/mile, warmup 4 miles then 1 x 2 mile at 7:09, 7:17 then jog out the rest.  Average heart rate 153, max 184.  Didn't run yesteray due to work pressures.

79F, 89% (74 DP), S 5 mph.  10.0 in 1:26:53, 8:41/mile, 152 heart rate, 169 max.  Was going to repeat yesterday's run, but hadn't recovere enough, and didn't have enough time to run LLHR.  Not sure how much good it does to run at this speed but it is miles.

79F, 86%, 74 DP, calm.  At the end it was 78F and 96%, DP calculator shows 78F for that combination, so close to max conditions at the end, which was consistent with how this run felt.  Did LLHR for 3 warmup miles, 11;56, 11:45, 11:43, then 5 x 1K:  8:00, 7:17, 7:10, 7:11, and 7:07.  144 average HR, 184 max.  Out of curiosity I pulled off the cooldown heart rates after each kilometer split, they climbed quite a bit:  142, 152, 160, 163 and 164, and if anything the latter ones were slower.  Radiator builds up quite a head of steam at these temps.

74F, 92% (DP 71), NNE 13 mph.  A system moved through last night and cooled things off somewhat for this race.  A girl/boy combination with same last name (either siblings or a married couple) took first and second, I got third in 22:38, splits were 6:59, 7:09, 7:09 and 7:11, HR maxed out at 182.  The girl beat me by nearly two minutes, but she ran close to my PR from 3 years ago.  The guy beat me by about 25 seconds.  Thinking the heat was to blame, I checked out my old race reports and those PR-type races were not necessarily cooler.  One was run at 80F, the other at 66F with a bad groin.  So I'm definitely slower now.  Nothing you can do.

Trying to decide whether to put in a lot of speed work for a big 10-miler in October or go back to LLHR training for a long-haul training cycle.  Problem with LLHR training is making the time, it takes almost 2 hours to do a run and that is hard to get in every day.

70F, 94% (DP 68F), calm.  So I made a tentative decision to move into a phase that includes more speedwork.  In the past doing this I got faster for a while, then got stale for at least a year, though hard to tell since some of that was injury-related.  If things go well I will probably peak at the end of the year, but not at Boston.  But I liked racing enough on Saturday that I think I am going to see how close I can get to my old PRs at shorter distances.  Everybody who knows me will be happy, not sure if I am but it isn't too much fun just getting ready for a marathon once or twice a year.

So today was 6 miles, with a fast mile thrown in, 7:21 (160 bpm).  Overall 6.09 in 54:07, 8:53/mile.

Here is the back of a car I saw at the race on Saturday.  No wonder everybody hates us.

77F, 90%, NE 3 mph. 14 miles Iin 2:05:03, 8:56/mile, 151 bpm, 161 max. Out the door at 5:05 for a medium long run, hot again but managed to keep an honest pace, inside one minute over GMP. Wade got back into town last night and joined me for about 4 or 5, it was good to catch up. As usual we are a bad influence on each other and ran too fast but I made up for it later!

76F, 93%, calm.  6.0 miles in 52:23, 8:44/mile, 144 bpm, 176 average.  Ran 2 miles fast, 7:19 (159) and 7:12 (171).

76F, 97%, SE 3 mph, raining.  10.00 miles @ 8:55/mi, 147 bpm, 161 max.  Ran 4 or 5 with Wade, then called it a day.  Didn't feel like doing 14, still hot.

74F, 89% and calm.  Didn't run yesterday in Houston due to a lightning storm.  Visiting my daughter and her family in Temple, TX.  No streetlights so it was 7:10 before I started.  I drove out to Lyons Park after filling up with gas, eating a breakfast burrito and a bottle of orange juice, just killing time until it got light enough to see.  Good cloud cover but it burned off by the end of the run.  Was only going to do 14, but had enough in me to go the entire 20, but the reason was it was very slow, 9:37/mile, 146 bpm, 165 max.  Pretty hot by the end of the run.  Lots of hills, some of them very steep, so it was a good workout.  After 10 before I finished though.

72F, 93% (69 DP), N 1 mph.  Cooling off at least temporarily. Everything else this week is supposed to be under 60.  14 miles in 2:02:04, 8:43/mile, 148 bpm, 161 max.  Pretty good run despite leftover miles from Saturday still in my legs.

66F, 71% (56 DP), NE 5 mph.  Not a typo, the north wind is a miracle worker, moves all the GOM moisture offshore where it belongs.  Plan today was to do speed work.  As I got into the run I thought about switching to a long GMP run, but my goal is to work on speed right now so I stuck with the plan.  4 miles warmup, starting at 9:20 down to 8:19, then 10 x 2 minutes on, 1 minute off, then 2 miles cooldown at 8:40, 8:18 (151).  Hadn't tried this one before, didn't time the individual splits, but overall pace during those miles was in the 7:30 range, so the intervals were probably in the low 7s, maybe even high 6s.  The best thing was hitting the last mile at low heart rate.  Probably as good as it has been in a while for that late in the run.  10.09 miles in 1;23:25, 8:17/mile, 149 bpm, 170 max.

One sad note, the bottom of my shoe started flapping at mile 8, had to come in and change.  The old ones went here:

It appears that there are no more Jingas in my size for sale worldwide.  A similar shoe, Taygra, is being made in Brazil.  They are ultra-lightweight but don't last long.  I have a pair that I race with.  I have another pair of Jingas that is almost in the same condition as the ones I threw away, and another newer pair.  After that it is a dark void in my life until I find a new hobby.

64F, 76% (57 DP), NE 4 mph.  Almost chilly out there.  Ran 6.0 in 53:41, 8:57/mile, 136 bpm average, 141 max; a little short on time and trying to keep it easy anyway.  Was surprised that I could stay under 9:00 pace and under 140 bpm, last mile was 139 bpm.  The miracles of reasonable temperatures, almost forgotten after these long months.  We aren't out of the woods yet, but end is in sight at least.

70F, 81% (64 DP), NE 5 mph.  DP 7 degrees warmer than yesterday, but not bad.  3 miles wu, then 6 at GMP, followed by 1 cd.  Overall 10.00 miles in 1:20:15, 8:02/mile, 157 bpm, 177 max.  Was targeting 8:00 on the GMP miles but the first one came in at 7:43 and after that it was off to the races -- forget the training plan.  Splits on the GMP miles were 7:43 (156), 7:54 (157), 7:49 (161), 7:31 (167), 7:34 (172) and 7:19 (175), average 7:38/mile.  

This run was fun, and the results made me start to wonder if a half-marathon PR is in the range of possibilities.  Probably not quite there yet, my PR pace in the half is 7:06, set 2-1/2 years ago.  The weird thing is that my PR pace in the full is 8:00, from 3 years ago.  Right now a full marathon PR seems more achievable, even though I am trying to concentrate on shorter races for the next couple of months.  I have a big 10-mile race in 2 weeks.  I'm pretty sure I can hit 7:30, but 7:10 would be in the range all of a sudden.

71F, 88% (DP 68) and calm.  Warming up again, but probably not much warmer than this at least in the next week.  Time crunch, was going to do 14 but settled for 12.  1:43:14, 8:36/mile, 148 bpm, max 160. Good run.

71F, 85% (67 DP) and calm.  Similar to yesterday.  Ran 20 this time, 2:58:50, 8:57/mile, 146 bpm, 162 max.  Didn't hit 150 bpm until mile 14, didn't hit 151 until mile 16.  At that point I was running a straight 9s but sped up in the last 4 by about 15-20 seconds/mile.

I was planning to do 24 today but was starting to fade pretty fast, so saved it for another day.  I'm learning.  I really believe that running an honest number of close-to-marathon long runs would be helpful in developing the needed reserves for the real race.  I know that is by no means a unanimous viewpoint in the running community, but I was thinking this morning that maybe a bonk isn't purely a muscle mass versus weight thing like many researchers say, i.e., at a certain distance you use up all the glycogen in your muscles and at that point you can't really run much further, at least not with any resemblance of normal speed.  Maybe you can actually beat it by training around it?  The extra 3 or 4 miles is a real mental adjustment that I haven't fully made yet.  I'm pretty much a 20 and done guy, although this morning pulling the plug was the right thing to do.  But I will say, I don't think those types of distances bring much benefit to shorter racing distances, there are better ways to train.

A bunch of running friends from the days when I used to run out of the Y were out in my neighborhood this morning.  Met two different groups of them and they were both yelling my name and congratulating  me for getting in to Boston.  Honestly, people really look that up?

71F, 94% (69 DP) and calm.  Getting hotter again for a few days.  Time constrained this morning, so ran 6 at GMP:  8:46 (1:37), 7:53 (150), 7:46 (156), 7:43 (161), 7:29 (167) and 7:18 (173), overall 46:54, 7:49/mile, 156 bpm average, 177 max.  Don't really have much context for this run at this DP, but in any event I still had some of Saturday left in my legs so good to cut it short.

75F, 96% and calm.  Getting very warm, not running much this week because I have a conference room full of people at work to babysit.  Not missing running in the mid-summer temperatures though.  Today was 10.13 miles in 1:31:01, 8:59/mile. 147 bpm average, 157 max.  Met Wade for about half of the run.  He is headed back to Wyoming to shut down for the winter then back here for 10 for Texas on October 11.

60F, 78%, NNE 7 mph (wind chill 56F).  Not that much warmer than St. George -- very nice this morning, slept in late, have been doing almost no running this week because of a deal at work that went bad.  Flying to Asia on Sunday night so won't get much done next week either.  Then I will try to run a 10-mile race on Saturday. This is why I am not a good runner.

Today was a 10-mile progression run:  9:14 (134), 8:29 (143), 7:50 (158), 7:40 (160), 7:36 (163) 7:24 (165), 7:30 (168), 7:19 (171), 7:26 (173) and 7:17 (177).  Average 159 bpm, max 180.  Overall 10.00 miles in 1:17:43, 7:46/mile.  Cooled down one mile with the household pet unit.

Mile 6 was a good one, in a zone and it just kind of happened without a lot of effort.  I could almost see myself doing a marathon at that pace if I was in better shape, but it will probably never happen.  Just 3 miles later (mile 9) my heart rate was up 8 bpm at the same pace.  

Good luck to all the SGM runners this morning.

On TM in hotel in Taipei.  10K progressive run right off the plane, started out at 10K/hour, finished up at 15K/hour, which translates to 9:39/mile down to 6:26/mile.

Still in Taipei, managed to get in another TM session just before leaving for the airport to return home.  Same run as Tuesday's, a little faster.

74F, 95%, slight breeze.  Race day arrived hot, windy and humid.  Very close to the same conditions as last year, but no rain boiling off the pavement.  By Monday morning it is going to be 52F according to one forecast.  Basically we missed acceptable weather by one day.

Wade and I drove out together, we showed up wearing the same hat, which was awkward.  He threw out his race plans and decided to do a progression run, as he has been running in Wyoming all summer and didn't want to deal with heat stroke.  I decided to deal with heat stroke, thinking I would have an advantage over the other guys running on creaky legs in my age group.  But I did make one concession to the running gods, not to try for anything faster than 7:30/mile overall average.  I started out right on pace, 7:27 and held it through 3 miles.  Mile 4 was 7:40 and I couldn't get it back after that.  Mile 9 was 7:37, which I was happy about.  Turned on the afterburners, sprinted in to the finish and got 7:51 on the last mile.  Overall 7:37/mile.  Official pace was 7:33/mile but the course was a tenth short, kind of lame for a certified course for a big race.  I ran most of the tangents but didn't catch them all.  Over 3,000 runners, got 7th in my age group.  Average heart rate 179, max 188.  Didn't know I could hold that high of a heart rate for 10 miles.

Pretty happy with  results today under these conditions.  Jet lag probably didn't help things any.  Have been short on sleep all week, surviving mostly on 2-hour naps on planes or in hotels.  Slept well last night though.  I complained to Wade about all the fast guys in my age group -- he said that guys our age don't have anything else to do so it's no wonder.  My age group was apparently faster than his (50-54), as he got 10th with a per-mile pace that was 23 seconds slower than mine.

77F, 87% (73 DP), S 8 mph.  Woke up this morning thinking the temps would be in the low 50s and got a nasty surprise.  But wasn't really that bad, have been doing it all summer.  Wade ran a few with me, truly misery loves company.  Was going to go 14 but legs were wooden from racing on Saturday so decided to call it a day.  11.33 in 1:36:48, 8:33/mile, 156 bpm, 170 max.  Got in just before the storm cells moved in.

53F, 83%, calm and clear.  Good weather finally here.  Didn't run yesterday because of work deadlines in the morning.  I have about decided to switch to the marathon at Richmond on November 15, one month from today, so time to start doing some marathon-paced runs.  Ran a "metric marathon" this morning after a very short warmup.  16.0 miles in 2:07:34, 7:58/mile, average heart rate 161, max 173.  Last two were 7:44 and 7:49.  Held the heart rate in the 160-165 range through 12 then it spiralled away from me and I had a hard time making my splits after that.  Need to get that number up to 15, 12 isn't quite close enough.  But I'll try to get this run in twice more and I think my leg strength will improve -- nothing wrong aerobically at the moment.  

60F, 83%, WSW 3 mph and clear.  Legs were stale this morning after yesterday.  Was going to do a LLHR run, haven't done one in a while, but my Garmin went dark so I reverted to a known 6-mile route and did it twice at long-run effort.  The second time through I timed it at 52 minutes on my phone, which works out to 8:40/mile.  First half might have been a little slower.  I was able to turn on my Garmin for a few seconds at a time to pull off heart rates.  At the end of the first half I had 141 and 152 at the end.

63F, 100%, clear and calm. Didn't run yesterday because of an early work meeting.  If I don't do it in the morning, I don't do it.  But didn't mind the day off because my old back injury seems to have returned.  I am smarter about it, though, immediately went into an intense stretching regime and took ibuprofen -- a lot of the pain comes from swelling, not from actual injury.  Took 400 mg last night and 200 mg this morning at 4:30.  Out the door at 5:00, prepared to turn back if my back was off.  But there wasn't even a twinge, so I knew it was back to plan A, which was to run 24.  My marathon is only 4 weeks out, so time to get in some good long runs.

I thought I could do 9s OK, even though I have had trouble with that pace all summer on long runs.  It is a little cooler now and I am a little better conditioned.  The first mile came in at 9:18, the second at 8:42 and I knew I would probably do better than 9s.  Heart rate stayed low, I was not over 150 bpm until mile 18.  This run was textbook long and slow.  Finished off a little faster, last mile was 8:25, 161 bpm.  Average 146 bpm, max 163, never worked very hard.  Altogether 24.0 miles in 3:30:22, 8:46/mile.  Happy that I can run this well in relatively warm conditions.  I took one drink at 8 miles and nothing the rest of the way, I guess that makes me a desert tortoise.

Got back to the house and cracked two eggs for breakfast, both doubles.

My son the bodybuilder, who eats more eggs than Gaston, is insanely jealous.  He has only gotten one double in his lifetime.  It's one of those days.

62F, 86%, ENE 3 mph.  Original plan this morning was to do 10 at 7:30, then decided that wasn't too smart, have a whole week of running ahead of me, and Wade was coming out to meet me.  I had told him I was doing 8s, momentarily forgetting about the 7:30 thing.  So I ran the first one at 8:54, then 7:58 and ran a couple more in the 7:30 to 7:45 range before meeting Wade.  We ran mile 6 at 7:27 then intentionally slowed down to the 7:50 to 8:00 range.  Turns out Wade had to slow down to my pace, he was really feeling it this morning.  He was running a heart rate that was 20 bpm lower than mine.  His altitude running in Wyoming all summer long has made a big difference.  So he headed home at about my mile 10.5, running his last 2 at 7:13 and 7:07, maxing out at 156 on his heart rate, and beating his 10 for Texas pace by 10 seconds per mile.  I was happy with my own run, but it didn't compare to his.  I got 12:00 in 1:34:32, average pace of 7:53/mile, 156 bpm, 166 max.  Kept it in the high 150s/low 160s for almost all of the run, which based on experience is sustainable for the full marathon distance.  Good Monday run, very much enjoying these civilized temperatures.

64F, 90%, NE 3 mph.  Notably warmer than last Wednesday when I did this run.  Just like last week, this morning was after a day off due to an excessive work schedule.  Got to bed at midnight last night, so a short night on top of everything else.

After a short wu, I ran 16 in 2:07:32, essentially the same as last week.  Average heart rate 159, max 170.  I was kind of agitated during the run about how difficult it was starting to get, hit 8:07, 8:11 and 8:07 around the 2/3 point even though I was pressing somewhat to take the splits back down.  After that I had to dig quite a bit deeper to get my speed back, but when I finished and checked the metrics against last week I realized that I had improved.  Overall heart rate and max both went down by 2 - 3 bpm even though the dew point this morning was 12 degrees higher than last week.  So I am revising my assessment, it appears that I making progress.  Richmond morning temps are  running in the high 40s right now, and I can see finishing out the full distance if hitting the splits becomes a little easier, which should happen from a combination of a little bit more conditioning, rested legs and cooler temperatures.

62F, 78% and calm.  12.0 in 1:45:33, 8:48/mile, 142 bpm, 149 max.  Recovery from yesterday.

58F, 88% and calm.  Started very early, ran 7 at long run pace (8:38/mile), then 5 x 1K, jogging out the mile as recovery.  Intervals, converted to mile pace, were 7:41 (154), 7:21 (158), 7:20 (162), 7:15 (163) ad 7:03 (168).  Average heart rate 148, max 173, had a hard time getting to a high heart rate in these lower temperatures.  Right now the limiting factor is leg strength, not cardio.  I'll go back to weight training after the race.

57F, 97%, E 1 mph.  

Started at 3:50 a.m. to get in my long run before a church cleaning assignment at 8:00.  Ran 24 in 3:26:03, 8:35/mile 144 bpm, 156 max, beating the old 55-59 BQ pace but not the new one.   Wade ran miles 12 through 19 with me, as usual it was helpful to get the company, these long runs are more mental than anything.  I had an 8:39 average after mile 19 and a heart rate of 150, which was unusually low based on my experience.  So I dropped the overall minutes per mile by 4 seconds in the last 5 miles, basically running low 8s, and still only hit a max of 156.  On the other hand, never felt particularly good for this run, front end to back end -- it was at the end of a long week with some hard runs and a lot of miles in it, hopefully that is the only reason.

So I am now going in to the final 3 weeks with a good training cycle under my belt and uninjured, with a respectable shot at a PR if I can get switched to the full when I get to the expo at Richmond.  The only significant run remaining is the third 16-er at GMP, will probably do that about Wednesday, no later than Saturday. Aside from that, I need to plan what to do with the taper; I have some thoughts but nothing settled yet.

Made it to the cleaning assignment, showered and shaved, at 8:03.  Wade was already there and enjoyed watching me exit my car.

61F, 94%, calm and foggy.  Ran LLHR this morning, 10.00 miles in 1:53:24, 11:20/mile, 120 bpm average.  This is better than my best low heart rate pace over the summer, but I think that adjusted for cooler weather it would have been under 11:00 if I had not stopped running these about a month and a half ago.  Legs felt completely recovered from Saturday's run.  I seem to be recovering quickly right now.

60F, 96%, calm, not too warm, but Houston is not letting go of  summer easily.  7 miles in 54:19, 7:44 per mile.  Two w/u miles finishing at 8:05, then 5 tempo miles at 7:26 average pace:  7:30 (157), 7:33 (161), 7:24 (165), 7:19 (168) and 7:26 (171).  Heart rate maxed out at 173.  

This seemed harder than it should have been, so no running on Wednesday.  That said, I read a Dean Karnizius interview recently, claiming that rest is overrated.  When he ran 50 marathons in 50 days, his best time was his last marathon.  But no running on Wednesday.

61F, 90%, NE 3 mph.  Seemed cooler than Monday, don't trust computer weather.  Resting heart rate was quite a bit higher this morning, probably due to lack of sleep.  But still had enough reserve to do the workout, which was  the same as Monday.  Results were a little faster due to legs being more rested, overall 7:38/mile.  Tempo splits were 7:36 (151), 7:30 (161), 7:23 (166), 7:15 (171) and 6:58 (176), average 7:23, maximum heart rate 177.  Can't remember the last time I had a 6 in front of any split, though it was definitely not a sustainable pace for longer than 5K.  But improvement at least.

55F, 93%, WNW 3 mph.  LLHR run this moring, 8.0 miles at 10:50/mile, 120 bpm.  37 seconds per mile faster than my previous best pace at this heart rate.  Pretty much verifies that I get at least 30 seconds boost when the cool weather hits.

Traveled to Temple, TX last night to attend my granddaughter's baptism.  Lots of company so we stayed at a hotel and I did my run on the TM, since there wasn't time to do anything outside once daylight hit.  6.0 on the TM at LLHR, had my Garmin on to monitor heart rate.  Saw something that I hadn't noticed before -- at 5.7 mph, about 10:30 pace, my heart rate went in long half-mile waves, between 117 bpm and 121 bpm.  Each wave peaked a little higher than the last one, such that I actually finished up about 124, even though the average for the last mile was probably only about 122.  No explanation for any of this, but something to chew on during my next 3-hour run.

54F, 90%, ESE 1 mph.  It will start warming up for the rest of the week, but the 10-day forecast in Richmond is still holding firm in the low 40s, that is the only thing that maters at the moment.  

So this morning was my last of three metric marathons in this training cycle -- I am 12 days out which I think is fine, especially since I didn't run it all out.  Was well-rested from easy or no running in the last few days.  The goal, if I felt OK, was to do 7:45 and that is what happened.  16.0 miles in 2:04:02, 7:45/mile, 159 bpm average, 166 high.  First 9 were under 160 bpm.  Slowest was 7:51, fastest was 7:36.  Took one drink at mile 8.  I timed myself at the 25K mark, thinking I would break 2 hours, but I missed it by about 25 seconds.  Slightly faster than I ran the Fifth Third River Bank Run back in May, but max heart rate was 16 bpm lower this morning at a similar finishing temperature.  At about mile 10 it started to get harder to hit my splits, but it was more a matter of wooden legs than anything approaching exhaustion.  If I concentrated I could still get my speed down.  This means I will probably benefit from some more short speed work in the last part of the taper.

I have benefited from a summer of running low heart rate miles in the heat.  And this morning I seemed to benefit from running a lot of fast stuff lately.  The other two 16-milers I did were 2-1/2 weeks ago: 7:58/mile (53F, 161 bpm 173 max) and 1-1/2 weeks ago: 7:58/mile (64F, 159 bpm, 171 max).  So today was an improvement.

64F, 94%, E 3 mph.  Low heart rate run this morning, 8.0 miles in 1:30:35. 11:20/mile, 120 bpm average.  Very stiff to start, worked some of it out but it will take a couple of more days to work through yesterday's run.

64F, 94%, NNE 5 mph.  Got up at 4:00 but had to wait an hour until some heavy rain passed through, then out the door at 5:20 for a quick 8.  2 warmup:  8:32 and 7:47, then 5 at tempo, 7:28 (162), 7:16 (171), 7:03 (177), 7:02 (180) and 7:01 (183), then 1 cooldown at 7:51.  Couldn't get faster after mile 3, but did manage to maintain good form and maintain my pace, ran almost a 5K at this pace so was happy about that.  Average for the 5 tempo miles was 7:10, overall 8.0 miles in exactly 1:00:00, 7:30/mile, 167 bpm, 185 max.  No water break.  Good run considering it was kind of warm.  Legs felt a little stronger today compared to yesterday.

62F, 96%, N 9 mph, light rain.  Still warm but cooling off soon.  Ran 8 at LLHR, 11:22/mile, 120 bpm.  Developig a sore throat, cold, glad it is now instead of next week.  I don't think it will be serious.

No running today, with whatever I do tomorrow I will have enough for the week, and trying to beat some cold/flu symptoms.  Too bad though, it is cool and dry outside, and a full moon in the west, a magical morning out there.  High possibility of wind, rain and 30F - 35F for the race in Richmond.  No problem, almost exactly like the weather I have been training in all summer.

53F, 92%, and calm. Up most of the night with a sore throat, finally got up and went running at about 5:00. Felt better running than sleeping, which is a disturbing development. Went 5 easy, about 8:50 pace, then 5 x 1K, jogging out the mile. Splits (corrected to mile pace) were 7:44 (156), 7:16 (160), 6:59 (166), 6:55 (169), and 6:50 (172), max 177 bpm. Overall 10.0 miles in 1:23:33, 8;21/ mile. Glad to get the 6s. One week to go, really hoping this cold doesn't hang around. It doesn't keep me from running but it would definitely affect the race.

45F, 93%, calm and clear.  Really skeptical it is quite that cold, but maybe it is.  Felt good and didn't feel like I needed long sleeves.  Up most of the night again with flu-like symptoms.  Took aspirin at 3:00 a.m. and finally got up for good at 5:00.  I knew I would feel better if I ran, and I needed to run anyway or risk losing fitness in the final week -- but I will pay for it this afternoon.  So did 8 at GMP, 1:03:59, 8:00/mile, 152 bpm average.  But heart rate climbed pretty fast and I had to push somewhat to maintain the pace.  Got up to 160 bpm average for mile 7, which was a 7:39.  Let it back down to 157 for mile 8, and ended up with an 8:08, quite a difference.  Can't really explain it, but maybe it is heart rate deterioration earlier in the run than I am used to -- not good if that is true.  Would have preferred being able to run 8:00 flat at 155 but maybe I can attribute that to my symptoms.  Mainly trying to get some muscle memory today so I will be dialed in for Saturday.  Off to Richmond in the morning.  Latest forecast for Saturday is clear and cold, would be a shame to whiff because of a head cold.

60F, 94%, calm and foggy.  Visiting my son this week.  We ran together this morning for a final shake-out.  Problem is that my legs are noticeably weaker from flu/cold or whatever I had.  The headache, congestion and similar symptoms are gone for the most part, but not sure there will be time enough to fully recover.  Won't know really until Saturday.  Today I ran 5, a warmup at about 8:30, then 8:11 and 7:53, all with Clint, followed by 2 quick miles on my own, 7:28 and 7:27.  Heart rate peaked in the low 160s, not that bad, but these miles were difficult.  Part of it is the hilly terrain in this neighborhood, I haven't done any hill work this year and the course itself is not that hilly.  But mostly the legs felt weak, like I had gained 15 pounds or that I was running at altitude (there is no altitude here).  That really has to change in the next 72 hours.  Still hoping though.  I am on the ground in Richmond, sleeping well at night and getting naps.

Race morning is predicting about 31F at race start (7:50 a.m.), about 43F at the finish.  Couldn't ask for colder weather, might even be too cold but I doubt it -- the winds will be light, I may even run in short sleeves.  Everything is lining up well if I can get healthy.

28F, 65%, N 10-12 mph.  Pretty good day, even though I didn't get a PR.  Everything pre-race was like clockwork.  Went to the expo on Thursday night and got switched to the marathon.  Drove the course on Friday to remind myself of where the hills were (probably prevented a meltdown in the second half of the race).  Then this morning I drove with my son from his house to the race, had a little trouble finding parking, but we were there in plenty of time for him to start his race at 7:30.  Mine started at 7:50.  Main indecision of the morning was whether to wear a second layer, knowing I would be a little warm in the second half.  I decided at the last minute to keep my short-sleeved undershirt, it was cold out there.  I felt a little warm at times, but I don't think it affected my time.  Stood in PoP lines long enough to miss the start gun, my offset from the gun was about 3-1/2 minutes, started out with the 4:45 group.  Didn't get a heart rate until mile 3, as usual, and it was in the 162-164 range already.  It held pretty well through 10, but still too high.  Hit 170 after about mile 17 and couldn't hold it all the way in, finished up at about 167.  My ability to control my heart rate has been the prime feature of this training cycle, not a good time for it to fail me.  Because of that single data point, I am guessing that the cold/flu symptoms from earlier in the week were still affecting me to some degree, probably took on 5 bpm because of it, a little too much for a stellar performance.

Using my best crowd navigating skills I managed to get 8:01 on the first mile without making any crazy course alterations, running on the sidewalk, cutting off little old ladies, etc.  Second mile was 8:07 so I picked it up a little bit and by mile 3 I was banking time.  Tried not to run too fast, knowing what was coming, but felt pretty good and didn't slow down specifically because of my heart rate.  The half came in at 1:44:20, so a 3-1/2 minute positive split.  Not ideal, but all of the significant uphill was in the second half.  In addition, we turned into the wind for large parts of the journey back.  Mile 16 was a long uphill climb over a bridge, not steep but long and completely exposed to the wind.  A new feature this year was a steep climb over I-95 at mile 20, not welcome at all, not sure who thought of that one.

At mile 20 I was 20 seconds slower than a 3:30 pace, in theory right where I wanted to be but I was wiped out at that point.  A couple of times I had to really fight the urge to break into a jog, but managed to hold it together somewhat by forcing myself to concentrate on the current mile and not worry about the ones coming up.  Mile 25 was 8:35, slowest mile, but I had hit sub-8 paces as recently as mile 22, also got a 7:50 pace for the steep downhill 0.37-mile stub at the end (course measured 0.15 long, which cost me about 1:20, still not enough to get me down to a PR though).  I don't have my Garmin with me, so don't have indiviual mile/heart rate splits; I will add them later.

So I managed to hold it together on what turned out to be a tough day despite the very cold temperatures. Probably would have had a better day at 55F with light breezes.  I left everything out there and was happy with my effort.  The good things:  My second fastest marathon to date and only my third marathon under 3:40; I got a BQ time for 2016 (23 minutes under); got a good enough time to move up a couple of corrals for Boston 2015; and beat my previous best time on this course by 9 or 10 minutes.  But the truth is, I should have run 3:25 today, and someday I might.

From the race I got directly in my rental car, drove to Dulles airport and am now on a layover on my way to Perth, Australia, still wearing my warmups, I look pretty ridiculous sitting in the lounge.  Legs are pretty stiff but I seem to be recovering fine. 

UPDATE: Back from Australia now, here are my splits for this race:  1:  8:01; 2: 8:07; 3: 7:40 (166); 4: 7:48 (164); 5: 7:51 (164); 6: 8:00 (165); 7: 7:37 (161); 8: 7:57 (164); 9: 7:44 (165); 10: 7:54 (164); 11: 8:15 (166); 12: 8:06 (165); 13: 8:02 (166); 14: 7:57 (166); 15: 7:48 (165); 16: 8:18 (168); 17: 8:06 (169); 18: 7:50 (170); 19: 8:04 (168); 20: 8:24 (168); 21: 8:05 (169); 22: 7:58 (168); 23: 8:11 (167);  24: 8:09 (166); 25: 8:35 (165); 26: 8:29 (163); stub 7:50 (159)

Here is a photo right before the I-95 overpass:

Interesting, because this is what I thought I looked like: