For Whom the Dogs Bark

41F, 95%, N 7 mph and light rain.  Cold and rainy this morning.  Didn't affect the race, but made things mody uncomfortable before and after.  Next time I need to remember to bring dry shoes -- I had dry socks but you can't put them in wet shoes.  Almost nobody was there except runners and volunteers.  Riding a wave of confidence after the conclusion yesterday of my one-workout training cyle, followed by a generous 24-hour taper, I hopped in Wade's truck at 6:30 and we were off to the races.

This race is run by an aging hippie, Steve Boone, and his wife Paula, possibly the two nicest people on the planet.  They give out good stuff (real stuff, as Steve calls it), including the largest finishing medals in the industry.  And Steve run/walks all his races himself.  I have run this race 4 times as the marathon, but only ran the half today.  The course measures a little short according to my Garmin.  I have measured it short every year, and Steve's e-mail this year indicates he is up for "recertification", which probably means somebody got wind of the issue.  Not an issue if it is long, even if it is quite long, but if a certified course seems just a little short certain people get wound up.  The missing 1/10 mile today was worth 3 seconds per mile, no big deal.

The race started at 8:15 a.m. and within a couple of miles I knew it wasn't going to be a stellar day.  Goal was 7:30/mile, but actual splits were as follows:  8:16, 7:45, 7:59 (169), 7:49 (169), 7:58 (168), 7:44 (170), 7:41 (170), 7:32 (172), 7:57 (170), 7:59 (1680), 7:58 (168), 8:12 (168) and 8:04 (168).  Should have been able to finish at least at180 bpm, but nothing was happening with my legs.  Some of it is due to training through, but mostly I am not completely back in shape after losing training miles to the cold and flu I have had off and on since November.  I think the winning time was close to my PR, and I am pretty sure the second-place time was slower than it.  

Wade and I agreed on the way home that a bad day at the races is still a ton of fun, even in the rain.  

Raining, thunder and lightning and cold this morning, ran inside on TM at Planet Fitness.  10 miles, had to re-set the machine at one hour.  Started out at 10:00/mile, ended up at 6:50.  Overall averaged about 10 seconds per mile slower than I raced on Thursday, which was interesting.  The bottom of my left foot is bruised, at least that is what I hope it is, rather than a stress fracture.  Felt pretty bad all day, but getting a little better by Sunday afternoon.

32F (26 WC), 62%, N 6 mph.  A three-shirt morning.  LLHR run, met Wade for 3 or 4, he is also trying to recover from some knee and hip pain, but both of us are getting better.  Started out a low heart rate, Wade was running a bit faster so moved up to about 128-132 bpm, then back down for the final 4 miles.  Overall 11:30/mile, 122 bpm, but slow miles were in the upper 11s.  To be expected for this type of weather and clothing.  Foot seems a little better.

34F, 90%, calm.  Much nicer this morning, even though it was only 2 degrees warmer.  Lack of wind made the differencd.  Down to two shirts.  Ran another 8 at LLHR, 11:30/mile but lower heart rate than yesterday, 120 bpm.  Foot a little more tender today, probably should have stopped at 5.

40F, 95%, NW 1 mph.  Pretty good weather today.  Foot is still holding serve, so went 10 at LLHR, 11:12/mile, 120 bpm, quite a bit better than yesterday.  Ran middle miles with Wade, who is also doing much better.  We are supposed to get some very cold weather in, but it is unclear how far south the super cold air will come.  Heavy winds this afternoon, which almost always brings frigid temps.

29F (20 WC), 44%, N 9 mph.  Pretty cold, very cold for Housto, though humidity was low and that helped.  Still slow though, LLHR run, 10.0 miles at 11:56/mile, 121 bpm.  Ran half of it with Wade.

Had jury duty this morning, had to be downtown at 8:00 a.m. and it is raining, so no chance to run today.  Senator Ted Cruz was on the same panel as me.  It was a media circus and I photobombed him a couple of times, two rows back in this one:

http://abc13.com/politics/sen-ted-cruz-reports-for-jury-duty/468405/

The secret for not getting picked off of a jury panel is to wear your best suit and try to say  intelligent stuff.  At least I got the suit part down.  It worked, Ted and I both got off, though he told me he was looking forward to serving, which I think he has to say, but maybe he meant it.

38F, 75%, NNE 7, raining off and on.  This is what you get this time of year.  Had to be done by 8:00, so I started at 4:25 a.m. and finished in plenty of time.  20 miles in 2:57:38, 8:53/mile, 148 bpm average, 154 max.  Ran 5 or 6 in the middle with Wade, which was nice.  He showed up at about mile 9, and when he was gone it was mile 14, like nothing had happened.

One objective today was to not speed up too much in the second half, try to save my legs for training next week.  I stopped looking at my splits and heart rate after Wade left and I slowed down quite nicely.  Last mile was 9:07.

43F, 100%, NW 5 mph.  Rained some more last night, but good running weather this morning.  Another LLHR run, 10.0 in 1:56:34, 11:41/mile, not too bad for a Monday after a weekend long run.  Pretty happy with my feet right now, still sore but recovering, and I am starting to lose a little bit of weight again.  Have to travel at the end of this week but hopefully I can get my running in before then.

44F, 89%, N 8 mph, gusting to 15, rain.  Wasn't any rain scheduled, but the running gods control the weather as an ancillary activity and they don't have laptops.  I walked outside to set my watch, saw the rain and decided to go to the gym.  But I was scheduled to meet Wade and I couldn't raise him on his phone so I went out anyway, figuring the worst that could happen is death.  Rain finally stopped at mile 8, but my long-sleeved cotton shirt was soaked, to the point it wouldn't even hang straight off of my shoulders.  I started out at low heart rate but immediately met up with Wade and he was already running sub-9s so I moved up to his speed.  First mile was 9:53, then 4 with Wade, 8:25 progressively down to 8:02, then sped up again for the final 5:  8:02 (163), 7:34 (167), 7:40 (172), 7:39 (174) and 7:34 (179).  Altogether 10 in 1:21:20, 8:08/mile, 158 bpm, max 181.

43F, 73%, NNE 10 mph.  Much better weather today.  Ran 10 at LLHR, 1:56:11, 11:37/mile, 121 bpm.  Surprised it went pretty well after running fairly hard yesterday.

40F, 87%, NW 2 mph and light rain.  It's good they get rid of the suspense by making you say your miles first thing.  Ran 'em at LLHR (shocker), got 11:19/mile today, 120 bpm.  Maybe I'll try something different tomorrow.  Maybe not.

30F, 100% and calm.  Started out 34F but during the run it felt like it was getting colder and windshields were starting to frost up.  Re-checked it when I got back, right at dawn and it was a lot colder.  Even while running the cold was settling into my old bones.  Ran my usual, 10 at LLHR, 11:20/mile, 120 bpm.  Thought it might go faster today but my heartbeat stayed higher to keep me warm, I think.  What was interesting, though, is that miles 7-10 (compared to yesterday), went like this:  11:11 (10:51), 11:20 (11:20), 11:05 (11:12) and 10:55 (11:23).  Yesterday was a modest tail-off, pretty much like I see every run like this.  I can't explain today, have never had mile 10 as the fastest mile and not sure why it happened -- no difference in heart rate.

Also, when I got home I noticed that my long-sleeved tech shirt with race logo all over it was on backwards.  This is why I run in the dark.

Long run tomorrow then tomorrow night off to Dubai/Abu Dhabi for a week.  At best I will get in 4 days of running over there, maybe not even that.  

41F, 82%, SSE 1 mph.  Good morning for a run.  I am getting on a plane this afternoon for a blue water flight.  My wife strongly suggested I run only 10, so as not to repeat the back injury that happened the last time I boarded a long flight after running long.  I assured her that I was in good enough shape and wouldn't run faster than 9:00.

So I ran at 8:39/mile instead, overall time 2:53:09.  Started at 4:38 a.m. and ran 5 or 6 in the middle with Wade.  Overall heart rate was 148 bpm, same as last week.  Comparing last 5 miles this week and last week [in brackets]:  16: 8:41 (153) [8:57 (151)]; 17: 8:36 (153) [8:55 (152)]; 18: 8:41 (154) [8:57 (153)]; 19: 8:34 (155) [8:56 (154)]; and mile 20: 8:38 (156) [9:08 (154)].  A lot of numbers that say my body is recovering from all the abuse and getting back to normal.  This run felt easy.

10 jet-lagged miles on the treadmill at the hotel.  9-minute pace.  The rest of the week was successful but not in the sense of running, didn't get any further miles in with everything going on. 

Went to the gym and did weights afterward.  2x10 donkey kicks on each leg (130), 3x10 squats (105).  Trying to get in a good cycle of weights getting ready for the Newton Hills.  I was up to 175/145 pounds when I quit doing them late last summer.

38F, 89%, WNW 5 mph.  Got in last night from Dubai, went to bed and woke up at 2.  I have no body clock right now.  Finally went out the door at 4:04 and ran 10 before meeting Wade for about 6.  Then 8 more on my own.  24.0 in 3:34:04, 8:55/mile, 155 bpm average, 165 max.  Fading quite a bit at the end, the buzzards were circling this morning.  The last 5 were 9:06 (160), 9:09 (161), 9:08 (161), 9:18 (160) and 9:19 (159), about 30 seconds slower and 5 bpm higher than miles 16-20 a week ago.  The lesson is never race after riding an airplane.  Also, don't get out of shape.  Also, get some sleep.

42F, 73% and calm.  The weather website early this morning said 51F so I went out in short sleeves, hat and bare hands.  I knew right away that the website was wrong but gutted it out.  LLHR, 10.0 miles in 1:59:10, 11:55/mile, 121 bpm.  Met Wade for about 5 of it.  Started out in upper 12s but felt better after a couple of warmup miles.  Pretty much recovered from Saturday -- I had a bug going through my gut was the main problem, felt much better this morning even though I am still jet-lagged.

49F, 73%, WSW 7 mph.  My heart rate monitor wasn't working this morning, so I did the LLHR run by feel.  I could actually feel myself slowing down towards the end, don't know if I was imagining it or not.  Ran it at 11:49 pace, which seems about right, though it might have been too fast since doing weights yesterday.

45F, 94%, ESE 1.  Another LLHR run without a HRM, so guessing at the proper speed.  Did the run at 11:52/mile.  My legs got so sore last night from lifting on Monday that I could barely walk to bed.  But they were good enough to run on when I got up and seemed to loosen up quite a bit during the run.  Didn't have any more trouble with them throughout the day.

59F, 96%, SSW 7 mph, heavy fog.  I think that wind readout is wrong -- I am very close to being ready to install my own weather station and I will have accurate measurements.  Got to bed very late last night, so a late start, but same run, 10 at LLHR, this time 11:30/mile.  It felt the same as the last two days, but hard to tell without the HRM.  Trying to fix it, I found a website that said to hold the battery on the strap in its slot backwards for 10 seconds, then wait 30 seconds, put it in frontwards, close it up and try it again.  It worked, but nobody seems to know why.  If I was Einstein that would bother me.  It doesn't bother me.

50F, 61%, NNE 9 mph.  Blustery out, which slowed me down some, but got out for another 10 LLHR miles, this time at 11:28/mile, 120 bpm.  Glad to have the HRM back in order.  Comparing today to yesterday, I think I ran yesterday at about the right speed, not having the HRM.  Running these kinds of miles really helps me embrace Saturday long runs.

Did weights, 2 x 10 kicks at 130, 3 x 10 squats at 105.  Recovered much better than on Monday.  Got in 3 sessions this week.

44F, 72%, ENE 7 mph, colder than expected this morning.  First step at 4:05, ran 20.14 miles in 2:57:38, 8:49/mile, 151 bpm average, 161 max.  Ran 8.5 on my own, then 9 with Wade, then 2.5 more to get back home.  Got a little tired in the middle but finished strong without undue difficulty.  Better run than last week.

36F (28 WC), 51%, N 13-23 mph.  Got progressively colder during the run, after a low of 65F yesterday morning.  Couldn't get a consistent heart rate readout, so ran mostly by feel.  10.0 in 1:54:46, 11:29/mile.  Met Wade for the usual middle miles.  We both felt good this morning.  Nothing like running slow after a day off.

Followed with stretching then legs at the gym, adding 10 pounds from last week.

42F, 62%, NE 6 mph.  10.0 in 1:55:16, 11:32/mile.  Unreliable heart rate readout due to wind and cold weather.

42F, 90%, NNE 4 mph, rain.  Roads very wet, socks were soaked by the time I got out of my cul de sac.  Was supposed to meet Wade but never found him.  Hopefully he did the sensible thing and slept in.  My arthritic feet and hands don't like cold, wet weather.  But finished the run OK, all the later miles were in the mid to low 11s.  10.0 in 1:54:28, 11:27/mile.  Heart rate jumped around again because of the cold, but I think I kept the speed pretty accurate.  

Followed up with stretching and weights at the gym.  Same program as Monday.

P.M.  5 miles on the TM, 1 mile warmup, then 2 up (3%) and 1 down (4%).  Did last mile on the level, then down again for the last bit.  Trying to get ready for Boston without injuring myself.  

52F, 94% and calm to start, 44F, 89% NNW 10 mph to end.  Was underdressed, knew it immediately when I went out the door, but stuck with it.  10.0 in 1:57:05, 11:42/mile, no HR readout, just guessing at the pace, ran conservatively to make sure I stayed in the zone.  Time to get a new strap.

40F, 89%, NNW 3 mph.  Staying cold, at least for this area.  Longer the better.  Same old run, 10.0 in 1:56:52, 11:41/mile.  I was going to go down to the gym and run hills on a treadmill and just confirm that there is nothing wrong with my actual heart rate (as compared to what I think is a bogus readout on the HRM).  The HRM runs OK for a couple of miles, then jumps up to the 175-190 range.  I have a high heart rate max for my age (193), but if my heart was actually beating in that range at this speed I am in deep trouble.  Anyway, I didn't go, had a meeting with a client come up and had to get in, so missed my third lifting session this week.

38F, 95%, W 1 mph to start, 43F, 90%, W 6 mph at the end.  Ran from about 4:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.  Today was step 1 of my plan to run long-long and chip away at the mental barrier over 20 miles.  Hoping to do 3 more of these before Boston.  I ran 6 in my neighborhood, took a bio break and ran to Wade's house (2 more miles), then ran about 12 with Wade (interrupted by a second bio break in the woods), which was a huge help (running with Wade, not the bio break -- well, that too I guess).  Dropped Wade off just over mile 20 and gutted out the last 10 on my own.  He ran 14.5, which works fine for his HM program.  

Just like I thought, it was more of a mental barrier than anything.  I kept pace throughout -- not necessarily easy but not superhuman effort either, 4:26:26 total run time, 8:53/mile, last 4 were under the overall pace.  My heart rate monitor showed about 144 to 147 bpm through 10 then it went batty again.  I'm guessing it went up 10 bpm for each 10 miles, probably ending somewhere around 165, didn't feel any higher than that.

Water at mile 6 and mile 20, nothing else.  Pretty happy about this run, but need to see if I recover quickly.  I went through the marathon in 3:52:57, about 2 minutes under my current BQ standard, so that is one way of looking at it I guess.

53F, 95%, NNE 1 mph and clear.  Good weather, ran 10 at LLHR, 11:45/mile.  Wade joined for about 7 of it.  Finished up with stretching and weights at the gym, 3x10x125 squats.  Donkey kick machine was broken, not by me.

45F, 95% and calm.  Buried in a deal, but got 5 miles in:  12:00/mile, heart rate monitor not reading out right now.

44F, 95% and calm.  10 in 1:55;53, 11;35/mile, Wade joined for about 6.  Didn't run yesterday because of work conflicts.

Couldn't run this morning because of work, but broke away at noon for 10 on the TM at the gym.  Ran 5 flat ones, then 3% grade for miles 6, 8 and 10.  Started out about 9:00 pace, then picked it up to 8:30 or so, both flat and uphill miles at the same speed.

Then did 3x10 squats, 125 pounds.  Then went home.

46F, 93% and calm.  Got up very early, out the door at 3:55 a.m. and ran 8 at 7:59 pace.  Then drove to Wade's house at 5:30 and met up with Wade, his brother Mark and two co-workers, Derek and Nate.  Plan this morning was to run the Baytown Jailbreak Half Marathon.  I got my half marathon PR in this race 3 years ago, with a pace in the 7:05 to 7:10 range.  Nothing like that today, haven't been doing workouts yet.

We all piled in and I drove, about an hour to the start line, where we registered then made a quick PoP stop.  The race started about 5 minutes early, not sure why, but we fell in line toward the end.  Derek and Nate are young guys who don't train much, about 10:30/mile guys;  Wade's plan was to run with them.  Mark said he was going to run just under 9:00/mile, which was just about my long run pace anyway, so I decided to run with him just to get in my normal Saturday miles.

Splits were as follows:  9:13, 8:39, 8:24, 8:25, 8:29, 8:43, 8:24, 8:00, 8:09, 8:15, 8:06, 8:12, 7:46 and 7:15 for the stub.  8:21 overall average, 1:49:17 total time.  There is a mile-long bridge, the Fred Hartmann bridge, that is cleared for the race.  We run up to the top, which is the turnaround point just prior to the halfway mark.  Coming down we booked it pretty good and never really slowed up after hitting level ground again.  

Mark is the guy who has the new treadmill that goes up and down and can program different courses in it, such as Boston.  I'm trying to be nice to him, so when he cranked it up another gear at the end I let him go, wanted to make sure he medaled in case we were in third place.  Sure enough, he got second and I got third.  First place was about 5 minutes faster than us, a time that both of us can beat under better circumstances.  But I won't be fast again until I start doing workouts.  One more race in this age group in a couple of weeks (Woodlands Half).

We stayed for food (Chick Fil A) and awards (bobble head cops) and drove home.  Not a good race result necessarily, but fine under the circumstances.

Day after update: Was totally wiped out yesterday, took a mid-day nap and didn't get much done most of the day.  I thought taking a 2-hour break would be like doing a morning/night double but it wasn't, it was almost like running 21 straight.  Very glad in retrospect I ran with Mark and didn't go out hard trying to break 1:40, or I would have had almost the equivalent of 21 at GMP, which I don't want to do anymore unless it is race day  But luckily tonight I feel great and will probably be ready to resume low heart rate running in the morning.

66F, 88%, SSW 9 mph.  10.0 in 2:03:10, 12:19/mile.  HRM still not working right, but I think I was easily in the 122 range, maybe a little higher.  I really am going to order a new strap this week.

Followed up with stretching and squats at the gym:  3x10@125 lbs.  Right now trying to get a lot lower on the squat -- the low point is where the good stuff happens (and injuries).

PM:  5.0 on the TM, up and down.

After the race over the weekend, I wasted some time trying to figure out what I need to do to get ready for Heartbreak Hill.  One thing I have started, which is to run several long-long runs, such that being at the 20-mile point (at the base of Heartbreak) isn't as stressful.

But I read a course description that said Mile 21, which includes Heartbreak, is only 80' up, which comes out to a 1.5% grade.  Turns out that Heartbreak Hill itself, though, is only 0.37 miles, meaning a 4.5% grade if you assume that the rest of the mile is flat.  I have only been practicing TM at 3%, so I have to ramp that up.

But in my defense, there was a bridge in the race on Saturday called Fred Hartman Bridge, which I thought was quite steep.  I estimated 4.5%.  Turns out it has 436' of rise over a mile length to the apex, which comes out to 8.25%, and quite a bit steeper than that in the last third.  That doesn't seem entirely correct, but at least the last third was easily over a 5% grade.  On Saturday our overall pace was 8:20.  We climbed the bridge at a 9:15 to 9:30 pace and came down it at a 7:30 pace, so that confirms the steepness at least to some degree.  It was at Mile 7 of the race, not Mile 21.  But I had already run 8 miles before that at faster than race pace (7:59), so the climb on Saturday would have been the equivalent of Mile 15.  So 5% to 8% % for 1 mile at mile 15, versus 4.5% for 1/3 mile at Mile 21 -- the comparison seems fair enough, though Heartbreak of course follows three lesser hills.  Also, being short like that it isn't going to hurt overall results to take it easy going up.  Probably running downhill to get ready for Boston is going to help out almost as much as uphill, there is a lot more of it.  Just a flatlander's analysis here -- I actually don't think that any races should have hills.

35F, 81%, N 11 mph (WC 27F).  10.0 at low heart rate, 11:51/mile.

37F, 80% and calm.  10 more at low heart rate, 1:57:41, 11:46/mile.  Didn't run yesterday because of work obligations, so my plans for a high-mileage week are ruined.  I did order a HRM strap though, should be here by the weekend or early next week.  I found that I can run a while without it because I already know what speeds to run for different workouts.  But it's been long enough without it now that I don't have much of a reference left.

59F, 79%, SE 10 mph to start (4:05 a.m.) and 63F, 75%, SSE 10 mph to end.  Ran long today because we may have thunder and lightning by tomorrow morning.  Didn't want to miss this run (well, I wanted to, but you know what I mean) this week because I am running another half next weekend with Wade and I don't want to crowd these 30-milers too close to Boston.  I ran the last one 2 weeks ago, was about 1.5 minutes slower today, but actually came through the marathon at 3:52:03, close to a minute faster than the last one.  Then I bonked beginning in mile 28, last 3 miles were 9:24, 9:43 and 10:00.  Overall average was 8:56, had an 8:51 average going into the last 3.

Water at 8.25, 16.75 and 25, then the bottle was empty.  At mile 29.6 I was feeling very dehydrated and stopped at a spot where I had found water before, but it was shut down.  I sat down on a bench and felt sorry for myself for a minute, then decided it was pretty stupid to stop with 0.4 miles to go, dehydrated or not.  So I slogged it in.  Really amazing what happens when those little factory things in your legs shut down.  Also interesting, I went to the grocery store immediately after the run and thought I would be in a post-marathon shuffle mode, but I was walking almost normally.  So it wasn't my legs, which feel prety good, just didn't have the conditioning to finish at a constant pace.  Most likely it is the 20+ degree temperature difference, I don't think I'm less conditioned than 2 weeks ago.  59F up to 63F is officially warm enough to make a difference after long miles.

Two more of these.  I hope they work, they are certainly mentally grueling, which is the point of doing them -- and today physically as well.

66F, 88%, SSW 12 mph, gusting to 19.  5.0 in 59:17, 11:52/mile.  Started out badly, but felt OK after a couple of miles.

43F, 86%, NNE 12 mph (WC 35F).  LLHR again:  10.0 in 2:00:22, 12:02/mile.  I should be getting my new heart rate strap in the mail this week so I can actually tell how fast I should be running these.  Planned to do one more week of only low heart rate stuff, but I'm going to pull the plug and start workouts this week, 5 weeks before taper instead of 4.  I have a race Saturday anyway, so the timing is good.

33F, 89%, N 9 mph (WC 26F).  Thought way too long about whether to wear pants this morning, decided to stay with shorts and that turned out fine.  Wasn't cold after the first mile.  Started out in the mid-8s and finished 10 in 1:19:28, 7:57 overall average.  Mile 9 was fastest at 7:45, then really poured it on the last mile and got 7:52, a good sign that I was fading.  But that's why we do workouts.  I don't think this one was fast enough to qualify as a tempo but it felt hard.  Wondering if I can do 7:30s in the half this weekend.  It's going to be warm, so probably not, but I can still dream about the good old days, back when I was 57.

38F, 85%, NE 10 mph, drizzling.  I didn't run Wednesday through Friday of this week because of a deal that was closing at work, some days bedtime was as late as 4:00 a.m.  So I got a forced taper even though I intended to train through this race.  I picked up Wade at 5:00 and we drove out to The Woodlands to run the half marathon.  Smooth is here running the marathon I think, but I couldn't find her before the race and we had to leave immediately afterward as Wade is driving to Wyoming today.  I'll have to figure out my placement a little later.

I PR-ed in this race exactly 3 years ago.  Knew that wasn't in the cards today, as I have not been doing any workouts yet in this training cycle, other than one brisk run on Tuesday.  Even if I had been, it might not be in the cards, just getting a little too old to run low 7s for this distance (or any other).  Wade has been running well and this was a target race for him.  He was hoping for a PR and missed it by less than 20 seconds, but adjusting for course length he actually ran faster than on his PR day. His plan was to go out slow then settle into goal pace by mile 3. My plan was to stick with him as long as I could.  Both plans worked well.  We ran the first mile in 7:52 and the second in 7:32, then down into the teens and twenties after that.  I pulled up even with Wade after mile 4 and remarked that we had already caught the 7:26 guy.  He was feeling good and I wasn't doing too badly, the pace felt somewhat sustainable.  After that he got ahead of me and I never caught up.  I figured if I was to catch him it would be with a push at mile 10, and only then if he was fading.  Then at about mile 8.5 he caught his foot in a pavement crack and went down hard.  I was 20 seconds behind at the time and saw it all.  He bounced right back up and kept running faster than before; very impressive and I never caught him, he never faded.  Finished about 20 seconds behind him.

My own race went well until miles 12 and 13, where I recorded a 7:42 and a 7:33.  Other than that almost everything was in the twenties and teens and my overall pace was 7:28/mile, though the official pace will be slower than that because they only credit me with 13.11 miles (don't get me started).  Got my new HRM strap in the mail this week and wore it this morning for the first time.  I think it is recording accurately, but won't know for sure until working out with it a few times.

Mile by mile splits are:  7:52, 7:32, 7:20 (172), 7:16 (174), 7:32 (175), 7:14 (176), 7:27 (174), 7:19 (174), 7:27 (174), 7:31 (174), 7:30 (173), 7:41 (173), 7:33 (174) and 7:03 (174) for the stub.

So even though the heart rate was high it felt sustainable.  I lost a little bit of concentration in miles 10-12, but otherwise kept a good steady effort.  Part of my plan for March is to run 3 metric marathons, the first at 8:00, then 7:45 and finally7:30, on the theory that if I can hit 7:30 for 16 then I can hit sub-8:00 for 26, which would be a PR.  Based on this morning's results that might be too slow, but it's hazardous to extrapolate race results onto 5 a.m. solo workouts.  

58F, 96%, E 2 mph, heavy fog.  Weird weather morning, get plenty of these here in the spring.  Left the house at 5:30, warmed up for about 2 minutes then 16 at GMP, my first metric marathon of the month.  Kind of close to the race last Saturday, but I didn't go out yesterday due to work schedule and 3 days is enough -- I needed to get started on these.  Had kind of a hard time maintaining pace, which wasn't ideal, but I made it through.  My plan is to just get through the big workouts this month without worrying too much about the end game; whatever happens, happens.  So today was 16.0 in 2:07:46, 7:59/mile, 163 bpm, 171 max.  Didn't actually break 170 until the last mile, so that was good, especially since the conditions are pretty stifling out there.  The lap counter on my watch filled up, but I guess it just drops the oldest miles because I have a complete lap count for the run.

Work conflicts.  Ran 5 on the TM in the evening, 1 wu, 2 up at 2% to 5%, 2 down at 4%.

40F, 84%, N 16 to 24 mph (31 WC).  I dressed too warmly for this weather, overestimated the wind chill effect, and sweated profusely the whole run.  3 wu, then 6 x 1K:  7:34 (159), 7:34 (166), 7:14 (169), 7:31, 7:24 (169) and 7:18 (170), 176 bpm max.  Overall 10.0 in 1:24:17, 8:26/mile.  Legs tired from late TM last night and big run on Tuesday -- otherwise felt OK.  It was difficult to do anything significant in this kind of wind, but the workout served its purpose.  I have calendared every day between now and Boston.  If I can find the time to do what's on the calendar I will be fine.

PM:  5 hills on TM

31F, 67%, calm, clear, full moon.  40 degrees cooler than Wednesday morning.  Exquisite running conditions, nothing like starting out with a full moon then watching the sun come up, makes me actually happy to be a runner.  And it felt good to run slow.  Did a LLHR run, 10.0 in 1:56:32, 11:39/mile, 120 bpm average; not too bad considering all the pressure I am putting on my legs the last few days.  Finished with stretching and weights at the gym.  All systems feel good.

PM:  5 hills on TM

40F, 60%, cloudy and calm.  Was supposed to be low 30s this morning, actually got warmer over night so the coldest part of the winter is now gone for good presumably.  Plan this morning was a quick 20, not doing my next long long run until next week.  First mile was 9:20, everything after that was pretty much below 8:45, with some mid-8s coming in at the 3/4 mark.  Heart rate stayed below 150 through mile 15, it was 147 at mile 5 and 149 at mile 15, so it held very well on the middle miles, which would be a big help on race day if I can duplicate that.  After mile 15 I sped up a little bit and maxed out at 157 bpm.  Overall 20.0 in 2:54:08, 8:43/mile.  Legs got a little ripe in the last quarter but not too bad.  I still feel good  but I may to take two days off instead of one, just to make sure I fully recover before doing some fairly hard runs next week.  Very happy lately though with my quicker recoveries, which have allowed me to train better.

Raining hard this morning and work was pressing, so I did the repeats in the PM on the TM at work. It was a zoo, I thought the facility would be pretty empty at 6:00 on a rainy day, but getting a treadmill was like circling the lot for a parking spot.  Did 10 x 400, starting at 7:30 pace, working my way up by 0.1 mph each repeat, ending up in mid-6s.  I think the treadmill might have been a little off, because these were not particularly challenging.  Probably needed to do 20, not 10.  Finished up with weights and stretching.

54F, 94%, NW 9 mph.  Actual conditions felt colder and windier than that.  LLHR this morning, the usual 10.0, 1:51:32, 11:11/mile, 120 bpm.  Lots of spring in my legs even though I ran last night.  It shows (a) how little I did last night and (b) my recovery time is getting shorter as I get into shape.  Finished with weights and stretching at the gym.

54F, 95%, NNE 5 mph, cloudy but no rain.  Today I scheduled a big interval day, wasn't sure what would happen, but it went well.  1 mile warmup then 10 x 1K as fast as I could go, jogging out each mile.  The first one I wasn't really warmed up and felt herky jerky when I tried to go fast, so was quite surprised when it came in at 7:12 pace, felt more like 7:45, certainly better than the other way around.  The splits went like this:  7:12 (155), 7:11 (158), 7:01 (163), 7:03 (167), 7:04 (169), 7:02 (170), 6:50 (167), 6:51 (169), 6:54 (168) and 6:59 (170), maximum heart rate 175 bpm.  (I raced 11 days ago and held a 174 bpm average through about 2/3 of the race, but was going quite a bit slower than this morning.  I could not have sustained that high of a heart rate this morning -- heart rates are just faster on race day.)  Average pace on the 10 splits was 7:01, at least 20 seconds faster than I thought feasible.  I have been trying to follow a focused program to strengthen my glutes and hams and it might be paying off; or it might just be the result of doing quite a few races and fast sessions lately.  As I got deep into each 1K, I would try to push off harder instead of moving faster and that seemed to produce a little extra speed.  Whatever it was, I felt like I was 56 again.  Overall 11.0 miles in 1:25:31, 7:47/mile.  I have scheduled another one of these in two weeks, will be interested to see if this morning's results hold.

PM:  9 hills on TM; legs felt better at the end than the beginning, some fatigue but looser.

55F, 90%, NE 6 mph and drizzling.  Didn't count on rain this morning but it wasn't bad, wind was more annoying than the rain, higher than the 6 mph advertised.  Out the door before 5:00 and got 10 LLHR miles, 1;51:10, 11:07 average, 120 bpm.  First 2 were 12:01 and 11:20, nothing over 11:05 after that.  These slow runs are like a canary in a mine shaft, I'm depending on them to indicate early any overtraining symptoms.  So I was happy with this run.  Followed with weights and stretching at the gym.

AM, still raining outside, so bagged it and went to the gym, did 10 LLHR miles on the TM, followed by stretching and abbreviated weight session.

PM, 5 hills on TM, felt fine.

54F, 94%, calm and foggy.  Good running weather.  Out the door at 4:35 for my third of four 30 milers.  Woke up feeling not too well but decided to just try it and see what would happen.  If I had to delay the run by a week no big deal, I have time.  But once I got past the first half mile I was fine.  First mile came in at 9:02, second at 8:37 and all but one after that were under 8:45, which seemed comfortable.  The best metric of the run was my heart rate in mile 20, 149 bpm, which I am pretty sure is the lowest it has ever been that late in a run.  Something must be working.  Overall 30 miles in 4:19:00, 8:38/mile, 147 bpm average, 160 bpm max.  No bonk today so that was also welcome.  Last 30-mile run was on February 20, when I ran 8:56/mile and bonked, so this morning was a big improvement.  I came through the marathon at 3:47:20, just a bit off of the old BQ pace for my current age group, of which I am a proud member for two more weeks.  Buzzards were circling a little higher this morning, I think there is somebody in the next neighborhood over they are more interested in right now.

58F, 90%, NNE 4 mph, partly cloudy, sliver of a moon left in the eastern sky.  Rain is predicted for quite a bit of this week.  Out the door at 5:10 a.m., 2 wu (8:56, 8:22), then 8 @ GMP:  7:58 (152), 8:00 (154), 7:53 (157), 7:54 (157), 8:05 (156), 7:52 (156), 7:56 (158) and 7:57 (159), overall 1:20:52, 8:05/mile, 152 bpm average, 161 max.  Heart rate was good, but legs didn't really like this run, not surprising, really, after Saturday's slobberfest.  I have a metric marathon scheduled this week, 7:45/mile goal pace, not feeling too sure of it right now.

Weights and stretching at the gym.

5.0 hills on TM.  Busy this morning, didn't get this done until noon.  It was just as well, feeling quite fatigued today, was wondering if I am getting overtrained but too early to tell.

66F, 93%, WSW 7 mph.  Got out early and got this done before the rain moved in.  It may be raining most of the rest of the week, but this is a down week so I don't care too much.

I originally scheduled a metric marathon for this morning, but after feeling so tired yesterday I decided it wouldn't be a good idea.  Wade is back in town and he was sick the whole time he was in Wyoming.  This was his first run longer than 3 or 4 miles since his half marathon PR at The Woodlands 2-1/2 weeks ago.  He met me for 5 or 6 miles this morning, was running low heart rate and he was happy with that.  For the first time ever, his heart rate was higher than mine.  We have different tickers and he is usually 10 lower than me, and 5 lower on LLHR runs.  But he was running 10 high this morning and actually got a 167 bpm for an 8:25 mile on the way back to his house after leaving me.  Our conditioning is a fragile thing.

For me, on the other hand, it was a good morning.  I ran 10 at 10:58/mile, everything under 11 after the first mile, 120 bpm average heart rate.  I have only broken 11 one other time and I think it was more than a year ago and not for 10 miles.  I was kind of expecting 11:30 to 11:45 after the way I felt yesterday, so I was obviously happy to see this.  Based on this morning's results I'm going to go ahead and do the metric marathon at some point this week, weather permitting.

68F, 90%, SSE 2 mph, cloudy but dry.  Weather is starting to look pretty sketchy for the next couple of days, so it was now or never for this one, my second metric marathon of this training cycle, goal 7:45/mile.  I was a little bit afraid of the heat, but it all worked out.  Did a hard warmup, was up to speed after 1 mile and turned on my watch.  First mile came in at 7:32 (156), second one ballooned to 7:48 (158) and it yoyo-ed like that for the whole run.  Pretty beat by 5 miles but decided to just try for 10.  Wade met me at mile 9.  He is recovering from a bad cold and was realy struggling in the heat, but he stayed with me for 3, which was a huge help; I actually started speeding up and was at 12 miles by the time he left.  12 is very different than 9, it was like one of those board games where you jump ahead several spaces if you land on the right spot.  After Wade left I finished it off without too much trouble.  Last 5 were 7:32 (173), 7:37 (173), 7:34 (173), 7:30 (175) and 7:37 (176).  Overall pace was 7:38, maximum heart rate was 177, average 167.  I was thinking just yesterday that I needed to do a lot more miles over 170 bpm, so there you go.

68F, 96%, SSE 3 mph down to calm, and foggy.  Another warm morning, we probably won't be under 55F again until late this year, anything below 60F and we move on in our SE Regional bracket.  My legs responded well this morning, LLHR run, 10 in 1:19:18, 10:56/mile, a new LLHR PR and better than two days ago, which surprised me but I'll take it.  The canary is still healthy.

64F, 95%, NW 2 mph swinging to N 7 mph, starting to rain but never got there.  Wanted at least 14 and quit when I got there, 8:42/mile, 142 bpm average, 151 max.  Still dark when I quit, a strange feeling.

So sitting at the computer entering my run, looked at my watch and it was only 6:45.  Law Week fun run starts at 8:00 and I am already entered.  Had decided not to go because of rain and because I needed to get some miles today.  But I already had my miles, and was planning another 5 hills on the TM later on.  Ephiphany -- changed clothes, packed up and headed downtown to run the 8K, which is on a somewhat hilly route anyway.  Thought it would be a success if I could get a couple under 7.  Got to the start line 2 minutes before the gun, couldn't see anyboy I knew but did recognize lots of competing law firm teams with cute matching shirts.  Just made it that much easier to pick them off, one by one, never saw any cute law firm shirts after 2 miles, wish it was that easy to get their clients.  I, on the other hand, after much deliberation in the dark before leaving the house, decided on my race-day shirt -- only time I have ever done that, and today I was the only runner I could find wearing the 2015 Law Week Fun Run official sort-sleeved t-shirt, light gray, modest logo on left shoulder, 50% cotton, 50% polyester.  Splits were 7:09 (164), 7:00 (176), 6:59 (181), 7:11 (182), and 7:25 (182).  In my defense, the second half was generally uphill, got to the point where I was playing mind games with my legs and only objective was to maintain heart rate.  Might have warmed up a tad too long.  Overall 5.05 miles in 36:03, 7:08/mile, heart rate 177/185 max.

55F, 93%, calm and clear.  Very nice morning today.  Should have good weather most of the week.  Warmed up for 2, then 10 at GMP, right at 8:00 per mile, heart rate on the last 2 was 155 bpm, my watch says the max was 159 but I never saw anything over 157.  In any event, these were sustainable heart rates, so I was satisfied with the run.  Cooled down for about 0.2.  

Stretching and weights at the gym.

58F, 93%, SSE 5 mph and clear.  Out for a LLHR run this morning, and it went well, 12 @ 10:48/mile, 120 bpm, new LLHR PR.  

Wade joined me for about 5 or 6, his heart rate is almost back down to mine, he'll probably be fully recovered in a week.  Our next race is a 10K in Brennam, the weekend before Boston.  It has enough roller coaster hills to charge admission as a theme park, should be a good warmup for the real thing (Boston, not a theme park).  Wade, his brother Mark and I will each be running in a different age group, maybe we can sweep.

62F, 93%, SW 2 mph.  Trying to get hills in at night, but legs are not feeling it at the end of the day after the endorphins have worn off.  In any event, made it out the door this morning on schedule, goal was to run 10 at GMP - 15, 1 wu and 1.3 cd.  Results:  fast miles averaged 7:39, average heart rate 153, maximum 163, RHR before the run started was 50 bpm.  Last 4 splits were 7:32 (161), 7:35 (159), 7:42 (160) and 7:36 (162).  Heart rate holding steady, but legs still need to get stronger at this speed.

64F, 94% and calm, but wind and rain coming in.  Decided against anything hard, legs are feeling a little stale after running hard yesterday, might be a cumulative effect going on.  Ran LLHR without a watch, 11:06/mile until the rain started pouring down, at which point I quit because I needed to hurry to work anyway, 7.37 miles.  Then last night I finally got on the TM, 5 miles of hills at a little under 9-minute pace, 1 wu, 2 up (3.5%) and then 2 down (-5%).  This works better than alternating, could really feel the downhill in my legs after I quit.

45F, 82%, calm and clear.  Absoslutely beautiful out, hope it carries through to tomorrow for my last long-long run.  Another LLHR run, 12.17 miles in 2:10:19, 10:42/mile, 121 bpm, new low heart rate PR.  Thought at first it wouldn't happen, legs felt pretty unresponsive after running TM hills last night, first mile came in at 11:22, then 11:04, but each mile got progressively faster through mile 10, which was 10:28, and mile 12 was 10:38.  Met Wade at the halfway point for a couple of loops.  

So I am thinking of a somewhat unorthodox tapering strategy, as I am three weeks out after tomorrow.  The competing issues for getting to the start line in optimal shape are losing training vs. getting stale.  I have noticed that my best performances seem to be when I am on the uphill part of a training cycle rather than on the plateau, like this morning for instance.  I'm not sure I have ever figured out how to stay on a plateau, I seem to either gain or lose conditioning.  So the strategy would be to take next week very easy, just run hills at night, maybe vitamin D runs from work during the day, with the exception of my last metric marathon about Wednesday (7:30 goal), then maybe run 10 on Saturday, maybe even let myself get slightly undertrained by the end of the week.  Then the next week (2 weeks out), go back to 60-70 miles, lots of short hard runs combined with outside mid-day runs, with a 10K race on a very hilly course in Brennam that Saturday.  Then the normal final-week shakeout runs before getting on the plane Friday night, April 17.  Especially with the race being on Monday rather than Saturday, this layout doesn't seem particularly risky?

54F, 72%, NE 2 mph to start, 58F, 63%, SSE 5 mph to end, completely clear.  Not much to complain about there -- the last hour was in the sun, but that's the way it is going to be on race day for a lot more than an hour.  

Out the door at 4:23 a.m. for my last long-long run of this training cycle, 30.00 miles in 4:16:37, 8:33/mile, 145 bpm average, 156 max.  Last 4 were 8:34 (151), 8:26 (154), 8:30 (154) and 8:25 (154).  Marathon at 3:44:37, first split over 150 bpm being mile 23.  Watered twice, mile 15.25 and 26.3.  Today was a small but definite improvement over the last one two weeks ago, easy to compare since the temperature was the same on both days; a little less humid today but I don't think humidity matters much in the 50s.  Two weeks ago, the last 4 splits were 8:25 (157), 8:32 (158), 8:34 (159) and 8:37 (159), overall pace 8:38/mile, 147 bpm average, 160 max.  Marathon at 3:47:20, first split over 150 bpm being mile 21.  So I improved by 5 seconds per mile while dropping my heart rate at the end of the run by 5 or 6 bpm.  

Still, my body feels like it is plateauing, especially my legs.  I don't think another 30-mile run would do me much good, even if there was time.  I'm glad I did them and I think they will pay off, but right now I feel like I need to rest my legs as much as possible.  My legs and my heart rate seem de-linked, like they are on two different curves, and unfortunately it is the legs that get you getting along.

66F, 93%, SW 9 mph.  Got hotter and windier as the run progressed; originally scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday, but it had to be today for a number of work and weather-related reasons.  Kind of hot but not unmanageable.

Didn't run yesterday, partly to get ready for today and partly to recover from Saturday.  That plan worked out OK.  I was out the door late at 5:30 after working late last night, ran a 1-mile warmup without my watch on then started in on the last metric marathon of this training cycle, goal 7:30/mile  (at 15 miles it isn't really 26K, but close enough for training, with the warmup mile included I didn't want to run 17 today).  It was somewhat difficult from the beginning.  Wade joined me early on for 4, then he was gone after my first water stop.  Overall 15 miles in 1:52:13, 7:29/mile, 168 bpm average, 177 max.  Last 4 were 7:31 (172), 7:34 (173), 7:32 (175) and 7:27 (176).   On the last one two weeks ago (2 degrees warmer than today), the last 4 were 7:37 (173), 7:34 (173), 7:30 (175) and 7:37 (176), overall heart rate 167/177, so today was a small improvement in terms of speed versus effort (as monitored by heart rate).  I had an overwhelming desire to quit at mile 5, mile 10, mile 12 and mile 13, not sure how I managed to hold onto this one, but happy it is done. 

I have now hit all of my goal workouts for this training cycle, what remains is to get to the start line healthy and see if I left enough in the tank.  This week is going to be very easy the rest of the way, then a little harder next week, then a steep taper for the last week.

68F, 90%, S 5 mph.  Met Wade for 5 LLHR miles, 5.39 miles in 56:40, 10:31/mile, 118 bpm.  Felt good, and this was a new low heart rate PR, suprisingly.  For some reason, after running very hard, like yesterday, the low heart rate miles get faster rather than slower.  There is always something new about running.

72F, 95%, calm.  LLHR run with Wade, 5.54 miles in 59:05, 10:40/mile, 121 bpm.  Heat made it a little slower than last LLHR run, but still a good time.

64F, 60%, NNE 9-17 mph, cloudy.  Cooled off a little, was going to run 15 at LLHR but I turned off my alarm and didn't wake up until 6:30, decided to run 10 instead at long run pace.  First one came in at 8:49, then everything after that was between 8:01 and 8:11 with a reasonable heart rate.  10.10 miles in 1:22:52, 8:12/mile, 149 bpm average, 154 bpm on the last mile.  If I feel as good as I felt this morning I can see myself running 7:45 for the marathon, just need to get some more miles in next week above 160 bpm.  Base conditioning is there but the higher heart rates are still uncomfortable for me.

70F, 88%, S 5 mph, low cloud cover.  Probably lots of rain this week.  Warmed up 2 miles, then 5 at 160 bpm, trying to see how much deterioration there is at that heart rate.  I figured out that this is the hole in my training, being able to sustain a moderately high heart rate.  It is probably a long term thing, but I'm going to work it a little this week.  The speed decline was definitely there:  7:32 (158), 7:35 (161), 7:42 (160), 7:47 (161) and 8:01 (161).  A lot of this is attributable to the heat, but not all of it.  Definitely found my achilles heel.  It will be a challenge this week to get everything packed in.  Overall 10.0 in 1:23:27, 8:21/mile, 150 bpm.

PM:  Vitamin D run, 6 from office, out along the north side of Buffalo Bayou.  No watch or HR monitor, but felt like about 9:00 pace going out and 8:40 coming back.  82F, wind about 20 mph, partly cloudy but enough sun to get some redness to my southern neck.  This trail is quite hilly, but nothing long -- still, this is a good substitute for hills on the treadmill.  Pretty beat after this run.  (From measurement later in the week, this run was 6.19 miles)

71F, 87%, S 6 mph.  Getting hotter by the day right now.  Slept right until my alarm, out the door at 5:30 and Wade was already out there.  He had run a 5K at speed already, thinking I was going to do LHR after yesterday.  But I wanted to get 5 more at 160 bpm.  Legs were trashed after running in the sun yesterday afternoon, but finally warmed up a little bit after 2 miles and I accelerated right into the fast part, Wade hanging in for 3 of them:  7:20 (153), 7:26 (158), 7:32 (161), 7:41 (162) and 7:44 (162).  1.13 cooldown.  Altogether 8.12 miles in 1:05:18, 8:03/mile, 150 bpm average, 164 max.  Yesterday's decline was 29 seconds/mile, today's was 24, and overall speed improved by 11 seconds/mile at about the same heart rate, even though my legs were tired.  My heart rate right now (and whatever systems it measures) seem to be immune to heavy workouts, it is back at normal within a few hours.  This must mean something.

73F, 88%, SSE 6 mph and cloudy.  10.2 miles in 1:23:07, 8:09/mile, 152 bpm, 170 max.  Fast ones were 7:35 (155), 7:39 (160), 7:40 (162), 7:26 (162) and 7:27 (167), average 7:33/mile, 161 bpm, felt like quite a drop from yesterday though it wasn't that far off.  The difference was I let my heart rate build up, finishing faster rather than slower.  From the first step this morning I never felt good, and felt like I was running almost at max by the time I got very far into the workout portion.  I have a 10K on Saturday but I won't be doing any other fast miles this week.  If I recover from these it will be good enough.

PM: 6.19 late afternoon miles along the bayou from work, 81F and a brisk wind.  Average pace was hard to measure because the watch didn't sync until about 1/3 of a mile into the run.  But the last 5 were 8:32, 8:29, 8:11, 8:03 and 8:28, so about 8:25 overall pace including the first mile.  No HRM, pace felt moderately difficult but mainly because I was on very tired legs.

74F, 87%, S 11 mph, gusting to 22 mph.  Not particularly pleasant conditions.  We are supposed to have rain by now, but even when it arrives the forecast is not for cooling.  I almost collapsed into my bed last night, but still woke up at 4:30, old man's body.  Went out for LLHR miles, half of them with Wade.  10.0 in 1:47:48, 10:47/mile, 121 bpm.  Never felt really good, but glad I could hold this pace in the heat and with the fatigue.  

Forgot to get a weather report, but about 60F until the sun came up, then about 65F for the race.  Didn't run yesterday because of work pressures, and woke up earlier than I intended.  So I went out and ran LLHR miles in the neighborhood, 4.15 miles at 11:00/mile.  

Picked up Wade at 6:00 and we headed to Brennam, TX, which is an hour west of Houston on the eastern edge of the Texas hill country.  This race benefits the local high school and is popular throughout the region because they serve Blue Bell Ice Cream, a confectionary delight known locally as the National Ice Cream of Texas.  Wade and I ran a little bit of the course to get a feel for the hills, 2.0 miles at a 9:00 pace.  Main reason to race today was to warm up for the Newton Hills in 9 days.  

The race started about 3 minutes late, first mile largely downhill.  Ran with Wade until I caught my breath at the first corner then took off, as Wade is still not fully recovered from a bad cold he had a couple of weeks ago.  I decided there was no reason whatsoever to hold back, just run as hard as I could.  Faded a bit as a result, but not badly.  Lots of hills in this race, five in all I think, a couple of them respectably steep and long.  Splits were 6:41 (165), 7:03 (178), 7:05 (179), 7:08 (178), 7:18 (177), 7:25 (179) and 6:12 (180) (downhill through the finishing chute).  Tried to maintain a high heart rate and not worry too much about time, which worked generally OK except for mile 5.  It was fun racing people today, went back and forth with several runners, beat some of them and some beat me.  Next guy in my new age group was 2:30 behind me, so this isn't going to be much fun.  I also won the 55-59 age group, but we left early in any event because it was taking too long to announce awards.  40th overall out of 1129 runners, nice to be back in the top 5% of these local fun runs, it has been a while.

So about 7:05/mile, which grades out to 7:25/mile for a half and 7:45/mile for a full.  I think I may be in better marathon shape right now than 10K shape, but the race itself will determine that.  If I break 8:00/mile on The Race Day that will be good enough. 10 day forecast for Boston now includes Patriots Day, 57H, 46L, SW 10 mph, 10% chance of rain.  That's good enough if it holds.

70F, 92%, ESE 5 mph, swinging to NW.  No running yesterday due to work schedule, but didn't really need to run.  Was planning on running later in the day but that never panned out.  

To bed at 12:30 last night, figured I would miss again this morning, then old man wakeup at 6:00, so I ran anyway.  5 miles: 1 warmup (8:41), three fast ones:  7:42 (155), 7:25 (161) and 7:15 (166, max 169), then 1 cooldown at 7:56 (162, ending at 155).  The cooldown mile was a good indication, marathon pace in the heat with heart rate retreating.

I’m going to do the same thing in the morning, not too hard but enough to get my heart rate up.

59F, 90%, NNW 3 mph, thunder approaching.  Plan was to meet Wade for 5, 3 fast, he was already out there when I got there.  Lightning was moving in closer so we quit after one loop.  Got in 1.7 fast ones, 7:23 and 7:33 (155), then scurried back inside.  Might go out again, since I won't be running tomorrow, but the way my day usually goes it might not happen.

Late AM:  The sky cleared up beautifully, and by the time I got to work it was cool, breezy and sunny outside, low 60s.  I got to a stopping point late morning and couldn't resist, especially since this morning's run got cut short and I need to stay sharp.  Dressed out and went out for another 6, 1 quick warm-up mile (8:29) followed by 5 at tempo, 7:28 average for the 5, then short cooldown.  Felt good, I have no injuries or fatigue, running is pretty great right now.

65F, 93%, SE 3 mph. 5.0 LLHR miles @ 11:01/mile.  Huge thunderstorms last night, the whole neighborhood seemed like it was torn up, but it was only trees, boiloff from the pavement even though it wasn't that hot.  Now leaving for Boston tomorow instead of today, so I'll probably run 5 more in the morning, mix in a couple of fast ones to keep circulation going.  Current headwind forecast is 17 mph, hard to believe, I hope it moderates a little bit.

68F, 96%, calm and cloudy, getting ready for the next line of thunderstorms.  Despite the moderate temperature, the air felt stifling because of all the water on the ground, it has been raining heavily for 2 or 3 days now.

Last shakeout run this morning, 2 warmup at brisk pace, 2 at tempo (7:39 (157), 7:24(161)), then 1 cooldown and that's it. 5.0 in 40:20, 8:04/mile.  

Heading to the airport in a couple of hours.  Feels like I have latent head cold symptoms, hopefully just the taper blues.

Bib number is 17192.  Starting time for my wave is 10:50 Eastern, I'm in the second corral, so a few minutes after that I presume.

Good luck to all who are running on Monday, or anytime else for that matter.

Boston weather forecast for tomorrow at the finish, 47F, 21 mph headwind and driving rain.  Couldn’t be happier about my life right now.

I found a headband and gloves at the expo (there was a run on them, I think I may have gotten the last pair).  Also have a banana, bagel/crème cheese and baked plain potato chips for in the morning.  Eating cold pizza right now, decided that is better than traipsing around any more looking for a last carb fix.  Don’t know what else I could possibly do, other than run another one when conditions are more reasonable, like 80F and bright sun, with rising steam from a recent thunderstorm -- that would be more my type of race.  

There are people still running the sidewalks here in their marathon shirts, less than 18 hours from the start.  They don’t seem to understand that training is over.

Sleep tight everybody, I know I will, since my fate is already decided.

PR by about 2 minutes today.  3:28:34, half in 1:43:45, so lost only one minute on the second half. 

Late on Monday night here.  Conditions in the early evening are 47F, still raining, ENE 14.  It was similar to that out on the course, except the wind was higher according to reports (somebody said 20 mph gusting to 30, don’t know how accurate that is).  But I don’t think the wind slowed me down by more than 2 minutes, just hard to tell, though I do know that a tailwind would have pushed me through rather nicely.  Perusing the elite results (one of whom is on our blog), I see that times were several minutes slower this year, so maybe the wind had more effect than I realized.  For my part, my legs just did their thing and pretty soon I was at the finish line.  Totally hypothermic, however, took several hours of shivering in bed to finally get warm.

It was a very good day for me.  I feel like I pushed the sun up a little bit on the western horizon, for at least this one day.  I had a bad attitude about the weather, because I thought it would probably prevent me from getting the PR that I had put in the work to get.  My attitude got even worse on the way up, when it started raining on our bus, rain wasn’t supposed to start until noon.  But everybody stuck with the program, all the waves started like clockwork.  The village was quite a scene, runners shivering in the tents while anti-terrorist squads roamed the school rooftop.

My wave started right at 10:50 and I was across the line about 5 minutes after that.  I noticed right away that I was running with young women and old men.  All the young men, by definition, were a lot further up in the queue.  As is typical for races like this, I started to feel better once we got going.  The first mile was a mess, however, no room to maneuver at all.  At one point somebody clipped my trailing foot and I almost went down.  Looked at my watch at the half-mile point and it showed an 8:50 pace, I knew I had to be a little more proactive in finding lanes to run in, and managed to get the first mile down to 8:20, which was acceptable.  Another thing that was going on was higher than expected heart rate; it is still a mystery to me why it always goes up on race day.  I had it in the low 50s sitting in the tent, but it was immediately in the 160-165 range from the beginning.  But it held steady and I felt good, so I went with it.  That said, today was definitely a day when I needed the discipline of my watch, both to speed up and to slow down, as well as to maintain a steady effort level by monitoring my heart rate. 

My Garmin splits weren’t matching the official mile markers.  Part of it is that it is hard to run tangents on this course with all the crowds, but there weren’t a lot of tangents and I did a reasonably good job of it.  But by the halfway point I knew I had to average in the low 7:50s to break 3:30.  Luckily I was able to do that.

First miles were mostly downhill, but not all, a couple of rollers just to remind us of what was to come.  Then pretty much rollers after that through the half.  Halfway through mile 11 my left shoelace came loose, unbelievably.  I had to sit down on the curb and tie it, lost at least 25 seconds doing that, based on splits.  Took a gulp of water shortly after that and another one at mile 22.  They were preaching hydration, but if I’m not thirsty I don’t drink, that’s the way it’s always been, no need to change it on a cold rainy day.

But my legs were doing their thing, just pumped out the miles.  About 8 miles in I realized that they had 30 miles in them.  Wasn’t quite so sure about that at the top of the Newton Hills, but they had enough left in them to get me in.

Went through the Wellesley scream tunnel running in the middle of the road with my head down, emerged with my honor intact.  Not sure the course profile was right for the Newton hills.  They started right on schedule after the 16-mile mark and lasted a full 5 miles, all as advertised.  Supposedly there are only 4 of them, but I read it wrong or they counted wrong, because I think there were at least 6 significant climbs and a few minor ones.  Heartbreak was gut check time.  I tried to maintain a little bit of turnover, pumped my arms a lot and probably lost only about 20-25 seconds in mile 21.  There were people walking up the hill who had better PRs than I do based on their bib numbers, some of them much better.  I couldn’t fathom just giving up my race like that, so I kept going.  The crowd at this point was my favorite.  They knew what was going on, almost as if they had done it themselves, and they were extremely supportive.  If I ever by-stand this race that is where I am going to station myself.

I had promised myself when I got to the top of Heartbreak that I would find the courage to race it in no matter how I felt, and indeed I got good splits for mile 22 and 23.  I couldn’t maintain it, but never slowed down dramatically.  Most of the runners in my wave lost it going up the hills.  I was passing almost as many runners almost as I did in the second half of SGM 2013, both going up and coming down the other side.  I decided that I didn’t care if I threw up at the finish line or before, I was taking this one on in, I knew I had a PR by that point if I could maintain some semblance of a pace.  When I made the left onto Boylston I was ecstatic.  My name was announced at the finish line, although Nike hasn’t called just yet.  Me and one other old guy had our hands on our knees and moisture in our eyes that wasn’t from the rain. Knuckle bumps and we were on our separate ways back to our lives in the office.

Splits:  1: 8:20 (164); 2: 7:55 (173); 3: 7:34 (161); 4: 7:37 (162); 5: 7:59 (163); 6: 7:46 (163); 7: 7:48 (163); 8: 7:55 (163); 9: 7:48 (162); 10: 7:50 (165); 11: 8:13 (165); 12: 7:40 (165); 13: 7:47 (166); 14: 7:43 (167); 15: 7:58 (167); 16: 7:33 (167); 17: 8:05 (169); 18: 8:04 (170); 19: 7:49 (168); 20: 8:06 (169); 21: 8:17 (171); 22: 7:35 (170); 23: 7:45 (169); 24: 7:54 (168); 25: 7:54 (167); 26: 8:19 (167); 26.22: 7:44 (167) (0.22); 26.50: 6:03 (168) (0.28)  Overall:  3:28:34, 167 bpm. 

First shakeout run since racing.  No watch but felt very good, though not ready yet to start training again.

75F, 95%, swirling wind.  Heard a little bit of thunder but went out anyway.  Quickly saw that was a bad idea, it started raining hard and was coming down in sheets when I finally got back to the house after 2.5, dodging lightning bolts.  (Garmin is broken, probably from getting rained on for four hours at Boston, can't get it started no matter what hard reset or soft reset I try.)  Shortly after I returned a strong cell came through, 60 or 70 mph winds, so good thing I quit.  Retired to the neighborhood gym and ran 7.5 on the TM while my daughter did weights.  I started at 6.7 mph and ended up at 9.0 mph for the last half mile.  Still feeling good, easing back into a routine.  I am very thankful I made it to the starting line healthy and am still healthy.

I did some calculations to see how fast my race would have been on a regular course on a regular day.  I compared my starting bib number to my finishing place, corrected for no-shows (about 10%) and reserved bib numbers (about 3%), which gave me an approximate number of runners passed.  Then "assigning" myself to a higher corral as if I got a bib number equivalent to the runners I finished with, and based on the qualifying times of those runners based on their corral placement, I probably would have run about 3:22, which is what I thought I might be capable of if everything went well.  (The other thing is the course was 100 seconds long, but it is Boston and they get to do that -- measurements weren't that accurate in 1897.)

Next target race is a half marathon in October in Susanville, CA, my wife's home.  It has some altitude but is also gradual downhill, which I think makes it somewhat equivalent to a sea-level course for a guy like me going up to altitude.  More importantly, the tempertature should be fine.  I have some PR-type goals for it, but still honing a training plan.  I was planning to go back to Grand Rapids to run the 25K in May, but I think doing that might interrupt training too much.

66F, 90%, N 8 mph.  Didn't run yesterday morning due to a thunderstorm, then couldn't get out the rest of the day, so whiff on that one.  Plan is to do all LLHR this week, have lost a little of that base as I was getting ready for Boston.  Also, need a little time to decide on the best way to get through the summer and ready for a couple of fall races.  Today was 10.4, broken Garmin but I ran somewhere between 11:30 and 11:45 per mile, heart rate felt about right but it was a guess.

53F, 90%, NNW 1 mph, clear skies.  Rare running weather this morning.  Have developed a little bit of back pain, but couldn't pass it up for the second day in a row.  Same LLHR run as Tuesday, 10.4, no watch yet.

PM:  6.2 on the TM after work, starting at 6.7 mph, got impatient and worked up to 8.7 mph.  Took a little bit more out of me than I intended, but felt good.

58F, 90%,W 4 mph.  Ran 13.0 miles at LLHR, still no Garmin, might have run them a little fast but hard to tell, since legs were wooden after last night's TM run.

60F, 86%, W 3 mph and clear.  Probably the last good running day, I think it gets hot after this and stays that way.  Bought a new Garmin yesterday and broke it in this morning.  10:36/mile, LLHR.  This result will provide a good baseline for the summer.  My fastest LLHR time in the Boston training cycle, or any other time, was 10:31, and that was a 5-mile run on April 1, compared to 13 today.  Nothing else under 10:40 and only a few under 11, so this was a very good result.  Have been fighting back pain all week but it hasn't affected my running yet.

61F, 95%, calm and full moon.  Out early for a quick workout.  2 wu, 8:33, 8:03, then 5 x 1K, jogging out each mile at an 8:00 pace:  7:22 (161), 7:06 (166), 6:56 (171), 6:52 (76) and 6:38 (180), maxHR 184, then 1 cd.  Overall 8.0 in 1:01:35, 7:42/mile.  Followed by stretching and lunges, which immediately made my back feel better.  Still trying to formulate my approach for the next few months, but kind of like the idea of bouncing back and forth between LLHR and workouts on alternate weeks.  Can't work out every day on the "on" weeks, but I think I can go 3 or 4 times without too much risk, especially if I keep the distances low.  But need to refine it, and get more focused on complementary stuff, like stretching, weights, jump rope and swimming (I can't do either one at this point), and weight loss.

My new Garmin has some fairly useless metrics in it, like vertical oscillation, ground contact time and altitude (?!!), which starts at 150', goes up to 153' and ends at 150'.  This is why I am Flatlander.  But since it measures cadence it also spits out stride length.  My longest stride length, at 6:38 pace, is 1.17 meters (first split was 1.09 meters, at a slightly lower cadence).  The big boys are closer to 2.0, I think I have read somewhere.  This is why I look like an old man when I run, right there in black and white on my computer screen.  This might actually be a good metric to keep an eye on to see if I am progressing.

67F, don't have any other met-metrics, got the temperature from Wade.  It is warming up quickly, should be 70s for the rest of the week, probably forever.  Ran 12 LLHR miles, 10:49/mile, 2:09:56.  Feeling the effects of the lunges I did yesterday.

74F, 79%, SE 7-17 mph.  Blustery and hot, my favorite weather.  There is a big oil and gas conference in town and I have not been getting much sleep.  5:00 came very early this morning.  Plan was to run 6 at 7:30 pace.  Then my first warmup mile was 8:46, where I met up with Wade and I about deccided to bag it since Wade didn't really want to run hard anyway.  Then the second one came in at 7:50 and I thought there might be a shot.  So the 6 were:  7:50 (149), 7:44 (156), 7:22 (163), 7:25 (170), 7:25 (170), 7:05 (178), average for the tempo miles coming in at about 7:28.  Longest stride length was 1.12, quite a bit shorter than Monday when I was running some intervals in the mid-6s.  Speed is all about stride length.  Overall 8.0 miles in 1:01:35, 7:42/mile.

74F, 89%, SE 10 mph, rain clouds but no rain.  Woke up very early and out the door for 12 LLHR miles, 10:53/mile.  Tuesday was 7 degrees cooler, so this run is somewhat equivalent to the 10:49 on Tuesday.  Finished with weights and stretching, feeling good but sleepy.

77F, 85%  (DP 72F), S 4 mph, according to the internet, in actuality a lot more wind than that, more like 15 mph.  Was going to do speedwork today, but decided it was too early after racing to amp it up to three sessions in one week, so back to LLHR, 12.0 miles in 2:09:00, 10:45/mile.  Pretty happy with that, given the muggy weather, which has quickly morphed into late-summer-dog-days muck.  Finished with stretching, lunges and squats.  Right now, just learning how to do the lunges and squats, getting a little better at it, but not good enough to get into a training regimin. 

77F, 82% (DP 71F), SE 7 mph.  This was a tough one.  Ran 4 then met Wade for 12 more, then finished with another 2.  18.0 miles in 2:34:39, 8:35/mile, average heart rate 153 bpm, max 178, big gap, heart rate climbed continuously for the whole run.  Last 3 miles were 8:29 (167), 8:09 (170) and 8:08 (174), so even though I was in bad shape I was stubborn enough to keep it going.  Not sure if that was smart or not.  I knew by about mile 10 that I wasn't going to hit 20 today, was all I could do to get to 18, just not acclimated to the heat yet.  We decided at about mile 14 that this was probably the toughest long run of the summer, unless we try to do one of these fast, for which we see no reason.

79F, 83% (DP 73F), S 7 mph, trying to rain. 8.5 in 1:30:36, 10:40/mile. Individual splits all over the place, from 10:17 to 11:04, hard to say why, as heart rate was a steady 121-122. Stretching and weights at the gym (Boston Strong shirt. pink hat, MMF shoes, nobody bothered me though). Lunges at home. Started jump rope training. Got two in a row. Once.

69F, 94%, WSW, moving to ENE, raining and unsettled.  Out the door at 5:30 a.m. for 12, half of them with Wade.  2:07:47, 10:39/mile.  Pace started out at 11:04, went down to 10:15, then finished at 11:12.  At 8 miles I had a 10:31 average (close to a record), compared to 10:40 yesterday, so the cooler weather made a big difference, even with sore legs from lifting yesterday.  Lots of weather in the region right now, but so far we have been spared.  Finished with stretching, rolling and lunges.

69F, 94% (DP 66F), E 6 mph. Good running weather for the second morning in a row; met Wade for about half of the miles -- he is off to Wyoming and won't see him for at least 2 weeks. Out at 5:25 a.m. for 12 LLHR miles, 2:04:57 total, 10:25/mile, which is 11 seconds faster than the baseline pace set on May 2 at 60F. Further, my 5-mile pace, 10:22/mile, is 9 seconds faster than my previous overall LLHR best, also a 5-mile run. Mile 5 came in at a magical 9:55. Doesn't take much to make me happy.

Followed with stretching and weights at the gym, lunges and jump rope at the house. Starting to get the hang of getting both feet in the air simultaneously, at precisely the moment the rope hits the ground. I have stopped watching boxers' jump rope videos. I can't see the rope and I don't think they actually have one.

72F, 95%, 70DP, ESE 2 mph, partly cloudy.  Another 12 at LLHR, 10:29/mile, 2:05:52 total run time.  Figured I would be in the high 10:30s, then at mile 9 I hit a 10:09 and I was home free.  With weights yesterday, big meal last night, heart rate slightly more under control, and  DP 4 degrees higher, this morning was comparable to the 10:25 yesterday, maybe a little better.  Last mile was 25 seconds faster than the first mile, which is the best metric of the morning.  A couple of days ago the last mile pace was slower than first mile pace.  Finished with stretching and jump rope.

75F, 94% (73 DP), SE 3 mph and cloudy.  Very wet week, rained again hard yesterday but relatively calm this morning.  Got in a good LLHR run, 48 hours after my last weight session.  10.1 miles in 1:44:10, 10:19/mile, fastest so far.   Slowest split after the warmup mile was 10:29.  Did stretching and weights (donkey kicks and squats) at the gym afterward.

76F, 93% (73 DP), SE 3 mph.  Decided to finish off the week at LLHR, so ran 15.4 more in 2:44:42, 10:42/mile, quite a bit slower than yesterday but I was fine with it.  This is the first time I remember running exclusively low heart rate miles for an entire week, though I'm sure I must have done it at some point.  Back to workouts next week, along with a little bit of traveling.  I'm going to alternate for a while and see how it goes, seems like it might be a good way to improve at both ends without gettting overextended, but time we tell.

77F, 93% (DP 74), SE 3 mph.  Started a workout but then aborted it beccause of thunder and lightning.  3.0 in 23:07:  8:19 (141), 7:21 (162) and 7:27 (172), max 178 bpm.  Didn't make it out again, I'm not good at getting back out later in the day.  Partly schedule driven, mostly mental.

74F, 94% (DP 72), NE 3 mph. Air a little fresher this morning after yesterday's thunderstorms, did yesterday's workout:  8.5 in 1:05:40, 7:44/mile. 1 wu (8:42), then 2 x 3 miles with 1 mile recovery:  [7:31 (157), 7:32 (164), 7:13 (172)] and [7:19 (174), 7:30 (179), 7:17 (182)], 1/2 cd.  186 bpm max. If I did 2 x 10K or 3 x 5k in this heat I would probably get to my HRmax. This workout is a good one to do regularly; if I can improve the heart rate drift I can see some sustained HM speed starting to develop. Followed by stretching and weights at the gym after eating a full breakfast.  

Off to Orlando for a dinner tonight, not sure what chance I will have to run there.

74F, 94% (DP 73), SE 1 mph.  Still raining incessantly here, though not this morning. Missed this workout yesterday due to travel, so went out early this morning and did it.  2 wu then 10 x 400 with 400 recovery, then about 1.5 cd.  Probably too much recovery, but it was plenty of workout for me.  Splits (converted to minutes/mile) for the repeats were:  7:16, 6:58, 6:43, 6:56, 6:46, 6:27, 6:22, 6:43, 6:41 and 7:14.  Legs were very acidy on the last two, and I wasn't close to my water stop so I was running thirsty.  Really faded on this one, but I don't care, it is hot and early in the cycle. Maximum heart rate 185, which I hit several times at the end.  Maximum stride length 1.19 meters. Overall 8:10/mile.  Finished with weights, stretching and jump rope.

68F, 91% (DP 65), ENE 8 mph, cloudy.  Still raining off and on but not during the run.  Cooled down considerably, but still slow this morning.  LLHR run, 10.0 in 1:48:52, 10:53/mile.  I had thought that it was imposible at this point to run slower than 11:00, but after 3 I had an 11:15 average, which was discouraging given the good weather and low miles this week.  But after a quick pit stop at mile 3 the pace suddenly went into the mid-10s and stayed there throughout the rest of the run except for the last split.  No explanation, sorry.  Finished with stretching, jump rope and lunges.  Getting ready for the big bubble run tomorrow with my daughter.

75F, 93% (DP 73F), ESE 7 mph, cloudy.  Goal today was 8 tempo miles, 7:30 pace, which qualifies as tempo in the heat.  Started pretty slow (9+) but eventually got there.  1 wu, then 7:43 (151), 7:44 (158), 7:19 (164), 7:17 (171), 7:19 (176), 7:25 (176), 7:27 (176), 7:25 (180), then 1.4 cd.  Overall 7:47/mile.  I really don't need to be running these at more than 170 bpm, but once I get to 170 the tendency is to try to hold pace rather than heart rate -- but in this weather I can't hold a steady pace at the same heart rate yet, so I end up running harder than I should.

Not many miles this week, but I got in three workouts as planned.  Next week it is back to LLHR, but I think I am going to back off the miles anyway, maybe do about 60, trying to stay rested.

72F, 94% (DP 70F), SE 4 mph and clear. Back to LLHR this week, 10.0 in 1:48:22, 10:50/mile. A little better than Friday, plus slightly lower heart rate and warmer today; but nothing like the 10:19 I hit a week ago Friday, when it was 75F. Not sure why things swing like that, not like I am loaded up on miles right now. Makes me wonder what would happen if I reloaded, but not ready to try anything like that just yet. I am still at about the same LLHR speed as going into Boston, even though those runs were on a full training load. Finished with stretching and weights (donkey kicks (180#) and leg curls (80#)).

Started outside for my run this morning, but the weather hadn't moved out -- the sky was still bright with lightning so I turned back and drove to the gym, where I did 10 on the TM, LLHR.  Checked my pulse on the handgrips and it was staying well below 120 bpm, so I sped up to a 10:00 pace.  Based on this metric, the difference between TM and road running seems to be about 30 seconds/mile.  Office closed today due to flooding downtown.

Ran 10 LLHR on TM again.  Violent thunder and lightning when I woke up, so much so that I was afraid to walk from my car to the gym.  Did it anyway, finished with stretching and weights (donkey kicks (180/185) and squats (135/125).  Rain was gone by mid-morning and hasn't been an issue since, unless your house got flooded, in which case it is an issue.

72F, 92% (DP 70F), calm and clear.  Got out late, as my daughter had her baby last night, grandchild number 6.  When I get more grandkids than marathons I'm definitely quitting.  10.0 LLHR, 10:43/mile, 122 bpm.  Followed with stretching and jump rope.

Got ready to run, noticed another front coming in on the weather app, bulge pointed straight at Cypress, decided to try it anyway.  When I walked out the door, the lightning and thunder were already lighting up the western sky, so I decided not to try it anyway.  Back to the gym, 10 LLHR on the TM, followed by stretching and weights.

73F, 94% (DP 71F), SSW 1 mph, clear. Made it back outside this morning, very pleasant run with sub-par results. 10.0 LLHR in 1:49:35, 10:58/mile, 122 bpm. My pace drift from fastest mile to last mile was 40 seconds, which seemed like a lot. I checked out the other two outside runs this week and they were both 36 seconds. Seems like pace drift in the LLHR zone should measure some sort of training effect. But two weeks ago when I was nailing these LLHR runs, my pace drift between the best split and mile 10 was all over the place, from 45 seconds down to 10. So not really a meaningful metric, at least the way I am looking at it.

Regardless, I seem to be stuck, which might indicate some sort of a problem, or it might be OK for right now, just a patience game. Going to Dubai tonight. I'll probably mess around with the hotel treadmill a couple of times, but basically an off week (as if this week wasn't), time to think through a few things training-wise.

Finished with lunges and jump rope.

107F, 50% (DP 85F), calm.  Ultimate vitamin D run.  Was at a conference in Abu Dhabi and somehow running came up.  A local group said they were going to the Formula 1 race track to take a lap.  Not sure how much heat was coming up from the surface of the track in the late afternoon.  Had to get a ticket and everything, it was an organized event, with music and one aid station out on the course.  Got there a little bit late and started about 3 or 4 minutes after the gate opened, never saw the conference people. 

I was crushed after the first 20 steps, was breathing very hard like I was running uphill or at altitude, or both.  Eventually got somewhat used to it and managed to run kind of hard.  Kind of cool out there on the track where the European drivers run; not actually cool I guess.  Got water at about mile 1, that was the last water I saw.

At first I could barely pass the walkers.  Then I caught my breath, saw a few joggers and passed them, then runners.  There were so many twists and turns to the track I couldn't tell where the finish was and thought I might have passed it.  But it lasted long enough (about 32 minutes) that I think I ran about 4 miles, even though it was advertised as 5K.  I ended up passing every runner I saw, so maybe I won?  There were also several hundred bikers out there, riding the opposite direction from the runners.

Thankfully I found the finish line and there was water there.  My partner picked me up but was silent when I climbed in and got his BMW upholstery wet.  He shouldn't have offered.  Not sure if I will run any more this week, this one seemed sufficient.

On the hotel TM.  Still must be jet-lagged or something worse, legs felt very heavy, traveling is not kind on the body.  I got it up to 10.4 km/hr after the wu, then escalated by 0.2 every K, then hit it hard the last split, ratcheting up every quarter or so and finishing at 14.0.  Sweating like a farm animal at the end, even though the overall pace was only about 8:10/mile or something like that.

Same run but a little faster and more speed on the front end.  Did the first 2K in about 12 minutes, then down to 4:40/km thereafter (13 km/hr).  Finished with a 7:44 overall pace, but the last 8 were about 7:27/mile, not great but better than the previous one, and felt a lot better afterwards.  Must be time to get on a plane again.  I didn't bring a HR monitor or a watch with me, so I don't really know how hard I am working, other than by feel.  If I could do one of these at 15 km/hr that would be a 40-minute 10K -- also, if could do it at 30 km/hr that would be a 20-minute 10K, but I might try to work up to that over several sessions.  

More TM time, a little slower overall than Saturday.

77F, 85% (DP 72F), SW 5 mph.  Back out on the streets in Houston, very early and pretty jet-lagged.  Did 6 LLHR, about 11:22/mile, not a good result but not surprising I suppose.  Off on another plane today, so more TM miles ahead.

6 on the hotel treadmill (Panama this week) in 43:22, 7:13/mile.  This felt much easier than the last TM run on Monday, which is undoubtedly a reflection of how the belt speed is metered.  First mile came in at about 8:30 overall, was planning to do 5 x 1K at 7:00, but the first one was easy enough that I changed plans and pushed it through as a tempo run at the same speed, then sped up at the end:  last split was run at 6:40 pace for the first half, 6:18 for the second half, but who knows what the actual speed was.  The TM had a bar you could grip and it would read out your heart rate.  at 4.75 miles I took a reading, 164 bpm, which isn't even close to a tempo speed, should have been in the 175-185 range for an extended run in the low 7s.  I didn't get the same rapid deterioration I got in Dubai at 14 km/hr (6:53/mile) until I took it down to 6:18 for the last half mile.  So throw this one out.

77F, 90% (DP 74F), SE 10 mph, raining off and on.  Pretty nasty conditions, trying to rain but not succeeding, gets really humid when that happens.  Jet-lagged, I woke up at 2:30 and finally left for the run at 3:57 a.m.  Not a whole lot of company, just me and the paper guy, who basically tries to run me down every time he sees me.

I intended to run 20, haven't done that since before Boston, intentionally, but thought I needed to get a long one in even though that isn't the focus right now.  I was interested to see what would happen after doing a lot of fast treadmill work lately.  I took what felt like an easy pace and the splits were coming in naturally between 8:15 and 8:30, so I went with that.  Heart rate climbed gradually from the mid-140s, reaching high 160s toward the end.  At about mile 17 I slowed down quite a bit and started to feel the effects of the heat, so I decided not to run the last mile.  It was one of those workouts where I had to lay down afterward.  Overall 8:26 pace.  I needed this run and will probably do it every other week or so until I start a more rigorous endurance regimen for my fall races.

77F, 88% (DP 73F), ESE 6 mph and clear, calm before the next storm.  Out early for 10 LLHR miles, 1:50:35, 11:03/mile, 121 bpm.  Followed by stretching and weights.

75F, 100% (DP 75F), NE 8 mph, starting to gust.  Tropical Storm Bill is moving in, the air actually felt fresh, if you can say that when you have 100% humidity at sea level.  I thought I might have to quit, but the rain held off until I finished, other than a couple of minor episodes from the outer bands of the storm.  Good run, was under 11 for all splits until mile 10.  Average 10:50/mile for the first 10, 11:00/mile overall for 15 LLHR miles (2:45:01, 122 bpm).  Last split was 11:38, more than a minute slower than the fastest one, things really fell apart in the last 2 or 3 miles.  If I were an ultra guy I would probably do this every day, which is why I am not.

77F with rain and too much wind this morning, so I drove down to the gym to run on the TM.  Gym was closed, even though we have had less than 2" of rain in this part of town.  Drove back to my neighborhood and went to the clubhouse where they have a TM and a few machines.  Did 10 at about a 9:05 pace.  My heart rate didn't go above LLHR level until the last mile or two.  It is amazing how much easier the TM is compared to the pavement, about 1:30/mile faster than outside at the same heart rate.  At least for that particular machine.

Finished with stretching, leg curls, squats, lunges, core and jump rope.

Storm should be moving out today.  I think tropical storms should be named something other than Bill, might as well be Peggy or JoeBob.  Should be something more ominous and foreign, like Barack.

77F.  Planned to go 15, but got a late start due to work last night; then in addition there was a 17 mph south wind this morning, can't run LLHR in the heat if I am fighting a wind, can't get a steady enough effort.  So back to the gym, this time LLHR came in at 6.2 mph, compared to 6.6 on the machine yesterday.  Finished with stretching and jump rope.

75F, 100% (DP 75F), S 6 mph.  Very muggy, but finally made it back outside.  Got 10 at 10:49 pace, which I am OK with.  Finished with stretching and a heavy weight session.

75F, 100% (DP 75F), S 6 mph.  Identical to yesterday.  Hit the road slightly after 4:30, ready to run 4 hours if necessary to get to 20 at LLHR.  Haven't gone this far at this speed before.  It is more difficult than doing it at 9:00 pace.  The first 10 came in at 10:50/mile, then my watch went dark at 10.18.  I forgot to charge it.  I knew how far I had to run to get to 20, but not sure if I ran the right pace or not.  Pretty close though.  Sat in the pool for my post-run workout -- that was tough.

77F, 94% (DP 75F) and calm. Out at 4:50 a.m. Wade is back in town and caught up with him about 5:30. Ran 2 wu and 3 fast ones before meeting Wade, then finished out at normal speed around 8:00 to 8:10/mile. Oveall 10.0 miles in 1:19:43, 7:58/mile, 160 bpm average, 178 max. Fast splits were 7:24 (160), 7:19 (167) and 7:14 (174). Finished with stretching, weights, jump rope and lunges.

Over the weekend I installed a weather station that I bought 2 years ago. I have been waiting for some work in my backyard to get done. Here is the outside unit. It has solar panels that point south in order to calibrate wind direction correctly.

Then it sends a signal to a receiver set up in the other end of the house, where I get a detailed readout.  Pretty cool.

I have long mis-trusted the weather information on the computer. This morning, for instance, the Weather Channel app had a readout of 78F, 92% (DP 75F), wind SE 3 mph. Local Channel 13 had 75F, 100% (DP 75%), SE 4 mph. What is interesting is that dew point is exactly the same on all three, not sure how that happens.  But overall not too far off on a calm morning. My guess is that when the atmosphere is active the data points at my house are going to be quite a bit different than the official ones.  I am actually looking forward to the next rain event to see how the rain guage works, which is certainly an unhealthy wish given our recent history around here.

81F, 89% (DP 77F), calm. Got out late and paid for it. Started out fine, second mile was in the 10:30 range with heart rate below threshold, then quickly into the 11s and stayed there. Overall 10.0 in 1:51:03, 11:06/mile, 122 bpm average. Legs didn't feel dead, felt good in fact, despite doing weights yesterday, but heart rate was not to be controlled. Probably just the heat but I also missed a meal yesterday and I wonder if that is a factor. Shouldn't be, since I am supposedly burning more fat than glycogen at this heart rate.  I will probably go hard again tomorrow.  

This summer is a search for speed, which I think is to be found, if at all, in losing yet a little more weight and achieving a longer stride via a strenuous weight regimen.  I have posted it before, but my goal is this stride, which my son reposted on Father's Day on his Facebook account.  No dignity in my family, but I will say that I won that race, my only W ever.

74F, 95% (DP 73F), calm.  Slightly better weather, but not a particularly good run.  Got an early start, 2 wu, 8:40 and 8:07, then 5 @ 7:20 goal pace, didn't quite make it.  Fast ones came in at 7:25 (162), 7:26 (170), 7:19 (174), 7:16 (181) and 7;25 (183), 7:22 average, maximum heart rate 186.  Monday's fast splits were 7:24 (160), 7:19 (167) and 7:14 (174), so today was not up to Monday's level.  It was OK though, I got 5 in the heat at a fast pace.  I told myself that if split #4  came in over 7:25 I would quit. Unfortunately it came in at 7:16 so I did all five.  Overall 10.0 in 1:20:49, 8:05/mile. If I can get to 10 in the heat at 7:20 I should be in good enough shape to knock another 10 minutes off my PR.  But to really knock it out of the park on my half marathon in October I need to get this down to 7:00 instead of 7:20

77F, 91% (DP 74F), calm and clear.  Air felt fresher this morning even though it isn't actually much cooler.  Measurement at my house was 3 degrees hotter than the local TV station.  Ran 10 at LLHR, 10:48/mile, 121 bpm, much better than Tuesday.  Wade was out there for about half of it.  

We spent the whole time arguing about why we are doing this.  Right now I could revert to a daily 6-mile run at 9:00 pace, do it every morning for the next 25 years, be in optimal health, and never think about racing again.  But racing is like a drug.  I frequently wake up in the night thinking about Boston, or whatever my latest race happens to be.  Sorting through splits, thinking about my age group placement, wondering what would make me faster, planning the next workout.  Go too long and I have to find a race somewhere.  Not sure what would make me walk away from that, even though I am not fast, and even if I were it would mean almost nothing to anybody else.

Finished with stretching, weights (donkey kicks (180#), squats (135#) and good mornings (40#)) and body weight lunges.  Love the names weightlifters have for some of their routines.  I'm not going to do any weightlifting routine that doesn't have a cool name.

79F, 90% (DP 76F), calm and clear.  Hot morning.  Goal was to run 8 x 1K, only got 5.  They were 7:50 (161), ?, 7:14 (168), 7:12 (174) and 7:16 (177), 181 bpm max.  Felt wiped out, presumably from the heat and from yesterday's weight session.  Overall 10.0 in 1:23:13, 8:19/mile average pace.

79F, 92% (DP 76F), SW 4 mph. Very warm. Met Wade at about mile 4, but he had run a couple of the 1K repeats with me yesterday and was short on sleep and felt wiped out in this heat. So we called it a day early. 12.0 miles at 9:04/mile, 144 average heart rate, 155 max. Wade and I came back to my house and cooled off in the pool, which I highly recommend over running. We are toying with the idea of doing a Mt. Whitney/Boundary  Peak (i.e., California/Nevada) double in October. It's not like we have to train for it.

78F, 92% (DP 76F), calm.  Another beautiful morning.  Back to LLHR today, 10.15 in 1:52:05, 11:03/mile, 121 bpm.  After the first few miles I had revised my training program for the rest of the summer, then after the second half I wasn't so sure.  First 5 were 11:13/mile, trending to a steady downward spiral since I was hitting 10:30 with no problem at the beginning of the summer; then the second 5 came in at 10:52 which I was much happier about.  Still not sure I'm making progress alternating between workout weeks and slow weeks.  I think it may be the case that I need to pick one or the other, run its course, then move on to something else, rather than switching back and forth.  I know I can't sustain workout weeks all the way through without overtraining, so that leaves slow miles.  But waiting to see how the rest of this week unwinds.  Another way of looking at it is to keep doing what I am doing, and concentrate on weights and getting my body fat % down.  That would work best if I could do it.

78F, 93% (DP 76F), calm with an almost-full moon settling below the trees at the beginning.  Identical run to yesterday as to distance and DP, but faster.  10.15 miles in 1:49:16, 10:46/mile, 120 bpm.  17 seconds faster than yesterday's pace, with heart rate a little lower.  Wade and I are running at about the same heart rates right now, usually his is 7-10 bpm lower than mine.  But he isn't fully acclimated to the heat and he goes back to Wyoming tomorrow, leaving me alone in the soup.  He has a hilly 10K this weekend in Star Valley; it will be interesting to see how he reacts to the hills and altitude, particularly whether the high-DP training helps.

72F, 94% (DP 70F) and calm.  A storm moved through last night and it was significantly cooler this morning.  Wade and I were giddy, like we had gotten away with something.  10.0 in 1:44:57, 10:30/mile, 120 bpm.  Mile 9 was 10:13, mile 10 was 10:48, so that is where I finally broke.  Same pattern on my other runs this week; I think it means I am improving my aerobic longevity, because this used to happen after mile 7.

82F, 85% (DP 77F), calm.  Late start after not running yesterday due to work schedule.  10.0 in 1:49:39, 10:58/mile, 122 bpm.  Finished with heavy weight session.

PM:  3.5 on TM.  Legs were dead, had to quit early.

79F, 92% (DP 76F), calm.  Very early start, then ran out of gas.  16.5 at 9:00/mile, last half mile at 9:41 pace, unbelievably.  I assume most of this relates to yesterday's weight session.  Have been dragging all day, even after taking a nap.  Have yet to get 20 at long-run speed post-Boston.  Not sure where I am at right now, which is disconcerting.  Just have to keep going and push through it.

We had about 40-50 people at the house for fireworks. My son-in-law is a Canadian who got his citizenship about the same time he got his pyrotechnician's license.  Most of the fireworks were off-the-shelf consumer grade.  But he made one out of gunpowder and coffee creamer.  It was my job to buy the gunpowder.  So I walked into Gander Mountain, a local outdoors store.  It was tough getting the right stuff since I didn't know what I needed.  I didn't want to say "my foreign friend is making a bomb for the 4th of July -- which brand of explosives would you recommend?"  I was saved by a couple of rednecks hanging around the self-loading area.  They got me hooked up and knew not to ask too many questions.  The fireworks were spectacular; some of them were good enough to probably be illegal.  But there is very little in this state that is actually against the law, other than driving slow in the left lane, for which a small but growing minority is advocating capital punishment.

80F, 91% (DP 78F) and calm, wind freshening during the run, thankfully, from the south. Decided to take an extra day yesterday, needed to work in any event. So this morning was 15.0 miles in 2:07:12, 8:29/mile, 154 bpm (171 max).  Decidedly better than Saturday, worked no harder and went 30 seconds/mile faster.  Actually, I worked a little harder this morning, as overall heart rate was 152 bpm on Saturday, with a 161 max, but legs felt much better from the beginning.  So the lesson learned is that a heavy weight session, which happened on Friday, does what it is supposed to do, makes the core tired and slows pace.  I almost quit at 10 so I would have time to do weights this morning, but I didn't want to waste a good running day.

81F, 87% (DP 77F), SE 5-15 mph.  Windy but slightly less humid.  10.0 in 1:23:11, 8:19/mile, 150 bpm, 162 max.  Pace yesterday through the first 10 was 8:34, which I was happy with, but today was 15 seconds faster at the same heart rate through 10 and essentially the same temperature (one degree higher, but DP one degree cooler).  Saturday's run appears to have been an outlier, which is great news.

76F, 94% (DP 74F), calm and clear.  Needed a quick workout this morning, so went out for 10 MP miles, 1:18:31, 7:52/mile and 154 bpm averages, right at Boston pace.  Last two splits were the best, 7:20 and 7:19, and highest heart rate was 180.  Good run, taking advantage of the cooler weather.

75F, 95%, (DP 74F), calm.  Low heart rate run today, reasonably strong @ 10:48/mile, 121 bpm.  Felt good to slow down.  Tomorrow is a long run, but not sure I want to go back to LLHR next week, have to think about that.

77F, 91% (DP 74F), calm. Woke up at 1:30, no kiddding, finally got up at 3:20 and actually spent some time reading before I left; underway at 4:07 a.m. Finally got all 20, a milestone for this summer, which has been hotter than average. 8:37/mile, 154 bpm (175 max). Almost everything was between 8:25 and 8:40, but my heart rate climbed in nearly a continuous straight line, from 135 to 175, was working pretty hard the last couple of miles. Water at 9.3 and 14.7. Not sure I could do this run at 8:20/mile right now, though I will probably try.

Vacuuming at the church afterward, I had to sit down in a pew at one point to rest, hunched over and totally weak. I felt like I will probably feel all the time in 20 years. I also felt like I needed a sermon, but it was Saturday morning.

78F, 92% (DP 75F), calm. Got quite a bit of rain late afternoon yesterday, so the pavement was still steamy. Ran 3 wu, but failed to turn on my watch until the start of mile 2. Then ran 5 at tempo speed, goal was 7:20 and I did it, not without difficulty: 7:20 (160), 7:20 (167), 7:21 (170), 7:05 (173), 7:35 (176). What's with the last one? 2 cd, overall 7:50 pace for the 9 I measured; then stretching and a vigorous weight session on tired legs.

77F, 92% (DP 74F), SSE 1 mph.  10 at LLHR, 11:03/mile, 119 bpm; not too bad after doing weights yesterday. With LLHR runs I can definitely track the recovery time off of weight sessions -- enough to know not to ever do weights the week of an important race.

77F, 90% (DP 74F) and calm.  More LLHR, abbrevated because of work.  6.0 miles at 10:47/mile, 120 bpm, so pace was 16 seconds faster than yesterday, 48 hours out from last weight session as oppose to 24.  Hoping to get some more miles in tonight after things calm down.

After reading Joe's blog today, I realized that my thinking on some of these issues is starting to coalesce around yet another running theory, which this, as the king of slow miles:  There is a certain speed at which you can run pretty much as long as you want each day, as many days in a row as you want, at steady-state level.  For me that is 122 bpm, right at the halfway point between my HRMax (193) and my resting heart rate (50).  Then there is another "cyclical" level, still not at workout speed, at which you can run heavy miles for a while, then you have to back off.  For me about 145-160 bpm, basically long-run speed.  Then "workouts" are mini-cyclical (for me 165-180 bpm), can't do them more than 2 days in a row, once in a while 3, without taking a good honest rest.  I think all three modes have an important role, but fitting them all in without bumping into each other is hard to figure out.  It might be impossible.  But the conclusion is, it's important to run when you are tired and it's mandatory to rest before you get too tired.

78F, 92% (DP 76F) and calm to start, 81F, 88% (DP 77F) and calm at the end.  12.0 in 2:11:29, 10:57/mile, 122 bpm.  First 6 were almost the same as yesterday, despite doing weights after the run, then the next 6 fell off dramatically:  10:45 on the first half, 11:09 on the second half.  It is amazing how many different runs there are at the same speed in the same soup.

At mile 3.5 I found two (2) five (5)-dollar bills soaking in the dew-filled grass at the curb, which is better than one 10-dollar bill any day.  This return represents about $0.00066 for every mile I have run (15,086 since joining this blog on October 3, 2009), which is unacceptable.

PM:  5 on TM at 9:20 pace, trying to keep my legs loose.  

78F, 91% (DP 75F) and calm.  Back out for another workout.  Goal was 7:15 pace for 5 miles, since I did 7:20 on Monday, but it wasn't to be. Probably too many miles yesterday.  Overall 1:20:34, 8:03/mile, average 159 bpm, max 182.  Warmed up 3, then 5 fast at 7:25 (161), 7:29 (169), 7:14 (174), 7:28 (177), 7:31 (179).  7:25 average, compared to 7:20 on Monday -- should have stopped running after Monday?

80F, 90% (DP 77F) SW 1 mph.  12.0 miles in 1:42:32, 8:33/mile, 149 bpm, 162 max.  Went out semi-quick, planned to do 17 but quit at 12 as it felt like mile 18 of a bad marathon, right when you know you are going to want to die in about a half an hour.  Decided instead to live another day.  It was weird, because my heart rate was behaving fine, it was just too hot and legs were too tired.  Have to keep reminding myself that I am not trying to peak right now.

79F, 91% (DP 76F), no wind.  LLHR, 1:49:50, 10:59/mile, 121 bpm, not a good run but that's the way it is on Mondays, not sure why.  I used to blame it on Saturday, but Saturday was an easy day this time around.  Just a Monday thing.  Wade is back in town for a week and a half, very good to have someone to talk to.

79F, 89% (DP 75F) and calm.  Supposed to continue to get hotter throughout the remainder of the month. Out very early, had to be done in time for a 6 o'clock call. LLHR again, 10 in 1:48:46, 10:53/mile, 121 bpm. Pretty average run, a little better than yesterday, which is typical for Tuesday. Finished with stretching and weights.

80F, 90% (DP 77F), calm.  More LLHR stuff, 10.0 in 1:46:09, 10:37/mile, 121 bpm. Legs were stiff and tight from weights, was quite surprised when the splits started coming in at the mid-10 range. At 6 miles I had a 10:32 average, but the heat finally started getting to me after that. Not too bad of a run today.

78F, 92% (DP 75F) and calm.  10 more LLHR.  I did a weight session last night which my son coached me through, could barely walk out of the gym.  So I figured a bad run this morning.  But even with pretty numb legs it went well.  1:45:11, 10:31/mile, 121 bpm.  Pace was 6 seconds better than yesterday, even though at the 7-mile mark I was 14 seconds behind yesterday's cumulative clock, so I gained 75 seconds against yesteray's clock in the last 3 miles.  A week like this makes me think my plan is actually working, but one data point doesn't make a trend.

79F, 90% (DP 75F), SSW 2 mph.  Another beautiful morning.  10 again, LLHR, but this time 10:54/mile (1:48:57), and 122 bpm, so not as good a run.  Not much sleep, which might be an explanation.  Finished with stretching and weights.

77F, 94% (DP 75F), calm.  15.0 in 2:10:12, 8:37/mile.  First 8 at 8:47/mile, last split was 7:58.  Average heart rate 148, max 172.  Planned on 20 but slept all the way to my alarm and I have grandkids here, so I quit early.  But felt great, good run, might have time for some TM miles later on during his nap.

Here he is, preparing for his nap:

81F, 91% (DP 78F), calm.  Was going to do a workout today but decided to do it tomorrow instead.  Wade didn't really want to chase me around the neighborhood at a low 7-minute pace anyway.  11.0 miles at 11:01/mile, 120 bpm average.  Not too bad for a Monday.

79F, 83% (DP 77F), calm.  Had to be at a 7:30 a.m. meeting an hour from the house, so a 4:00 a.m., short workout this morning.  2 wu, 9:12 and 8:33, then 5 tempo miles:  7:31 (151), 7:22 (164), 7:10 (169), 7:21 (173) and 7:34 (176), followed by 1.15 cd, 8:34 and 8:31.  Overall 8.15 miles in 1:04:23, 7:54/mile.

78F, 93% (DP 77F), calm.  Back to LLHR this morning.  It went relatively well, as it usually does the day after a workout.  Don't really know why.  11.20 miles in 2:01:18, 10:50/mile, 122 bpm.  Wade joined me for the middle 5 or 6.  Today is his last day for a couple of weeks.  He is going to be in Calgary tomorrow and I told him he should try a low heart rate run there and compare paces.  I'm thinking it will be quite a bit faster, even though there is a little bit of altitude there.

81F, 87% (DP 77F), still calm.  Didn't run yesterday because I had to be in the office by 5:00 a.m. to get ready for a speech.  The speech went well, running not so much.  But managed to get in the second workout of the week this morning, though it wasn't much.  6 x 1K at a moderately vigorous pace, which is about all I can do at these temperatures anyway.  1K splits were 7:27 (166), 7:13 (173), 7:39 (173), 7:26 (171), 7:27 (177).  10 miles altogether at overall 8:06 pace.

Wade ran in Calgary last night on a relatively hilly course and still got 20 seconds per mile faster than Cypress, at a 122 heart rate.  He ran it in late afternoon, 79F 30% humidity, so the only real difference was the humidity, plus he had a little bit of altitude (about 3,500').  I think when lower temperatures kick in I am going to see a 30 second boost for sea-level splits.

When I walked into my study this morning to check the readouts from my weather station, it announced a "blue moon", which is the second full moon in a calendar month.  

Never saw the actual moon until the end of the run, and it was yellow.

75F, 76% (DP 67F), calm to start; 82F, 62% (DP 68F), NE 6 mph at the end. A rare good weather day for this time of year, and I could immediately feel the difference. I began late, and started at a 9:15 pace; I had an overall pace just under 8:30 at the halfway point, finished up in 2:47:33, 8:22/mile overall, so I ran 8:14 the second half. It felt cool even though it was 75 degrees. Took water at 10.5, 12.5 and 16. Average heart rate for the run was 151 bpm, max 178. Heart rate for the first 10 was 143 average, didn't break 150 until mile 12. Speeding up to the finish, the heart rate got quite a bit higher -- last 3 miles were 168, 172 and 177. Was feeling pretty wasted at the end, but not terminal.

Went to the gym and did weights, medium session.  Squats got to me pretty good.

75F, 90% (DP 72F), calm. Still pretty reasonable weather, though not as cool as Saturday. The combination of a brisk long run followed by weights on Saturday kept me pretty stiff and sore through the weekend, and I was slower this morning, though my heart rate held up well throughout. 12.5 in 2:19:25, 11:09/mile, 120 bpm. All of the low heart rate running this summer is playing with my mind and I started thinking about ultras. Really have to suppress those kinds of thoughts. Honestly, if I had a choice between a 5-minute mile and a 20-hour 100-miler, I would take the former in a heartbeat. The problem is that the latter is more achievable.

76F, 92% (DP 74F), calm. Warming back up. Out very early for another 12.5 at LLHR, 2:19:08, 11:08/mile. Nothing much going on in this run, a bit irritated that I am slower this week. 

Saw an interesting McMillan article about tapering, which says some things I have always believed. The gist of his view is: two-week taper, not three; don't back off much in terms of time (10 - 20 minutes/dat first week, 20-30 minutes second week); don't back off at all in terms of frequency or intensity, maybe even up the intensity a little bit without actually going to race speed). He calls it peaking instead of tapering. My own view is that tapering probably works best in the three weeks after the race; my body at least needs the rest, but rest slows it down temporarily -- don't want to do that going into a race.

80F, 91% (DP 77F), SW 2 mph.  12.5 miles at LLHR, 11:05/mile.  Heart rate monitor went nuts, showing 200+ bpm at times.  It eventually settled down toward the end.  I think the battery is going out, hope that is all it is.  I don't know how to change the battery in this new watch I have.

79F, 90% (DP 76F), calm.  Going nuts with the low heart rate stuff, so I ran some repeats this morning.  2 wu, then 5 x 1K:  7:28, 7:17, 7:22, 7:06, 7:23, maximum HR 183.  Jogged out the mile on each one.  Not a particularly good workout.  I hope all the slower times this week are attributable to temperatures, but not sure that is the case.

79F, 90% (DP 76F), calm.  Identical to yesterday.  Back to LLHR this morning, 12.5 miles at 11:11/mile.  HRM is still acting up, hard to get a good reading, but have been getting slower all week.  Usually I get faster as the week goes on.

79F, 89% (DP 76F), calm.  Out by 4:15 running my daily constitutional.  20.0 miles at 8:59 pace.  Not a good run.  Took water at 10.75 and 15.75, it wasn't enough, got dehydrated.  Have drunk about a half gallon of water since finishing and I am gradually getting back to normal, but chilled, etc.  So the week is done.  Not a good week but it is on the books.