For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 05, 2024

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Location:

Cypress,TX,

Member Since:

Oct 10, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K: 24:22 (March 2010); 22:33 (October 2010); 20:47 (May 2011); 21:05 (May 2012); 21:33 (September 2012); 21:23 (November, 2013); 22:31 (September 2014)

5M: 39:22 (November, 2012); 35:54 (November, 2013); 36:03 (March, 2015)

10K: 44:08 (November, 2010); 49:20 (July, 2013); 44:07 (April, 2015)

12K: 56:03 (December, 2013); 58:58 (December, 2014)

10M: 1:11:58 (October, 2012); 1:15:24 (October, 2014)

Half Marathon: 1:53:xx (London's Run 2010); 2:05:21 (Cowtown 2010); 1:37:04 (Gusher 2011); 1:42:19 (Huntsville 2011); 1:33:47 (Baytown Jailbreak 2012); 1:33:50 (The Woodlands 2012); 1:42:52 (Texas 2015); 1:49:17 (Jailbreak 2015); 1:38:34 (The Woodlands 2015)

25K: 2:01:47 (Fifth Third River Bank, May 2014)

Marathon: 5:51:35 (Texas Marathon 2009); 6:21:36 (Ogden 2009); 4:58:29 (St. George 2009); 4:13:45 (Texas Marathon 2010); 4:04:12 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2010); 5:11:14 (Hartford ING, 2010); 3:41:43 (Richmond SunTrust, 2010); 3:39:27 (Texas Marathon 2011); 3:41:46 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2011); 3:30:35 (St. George 2011); 3:41:51 (Richmond 2012); 3:49:15 (Texas 2013); 3:46:59 (Paavo Nurmi, 2013); 3:34:04 (St. George 2013); 3:49:51 (Texas 2014); 3:31:59 (Richmond 2014); 3:28:34 (Boston 2015)

Short-Term Running Goals:

3:20, 1:30, 0:20

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'm 60, there is no long term.

Personal:

I live, work and run in Houston, Texas. I have run 17 marathons, some good ones and some others. I prefer straight, flat, cold, sea-level marathons, still waiting for my first one. I feel like there are more PRs out there. When I have them, I am told it is time to dial it back, run for healthy reasons. I'm sure that's right, and I'm sure it won't happen.

My wife and I are from the mountains of the west. We have five kids, three granddaughters and three grandsons. The kids and grandkids are native Texans but we are not -- you have to be born here.

As for my blog title: I run most of my miles before sunrise, sometimes hours before. On the back road of my neighborhood two hours before daylight, I can depend on a pack of mutts behind the boundary fence lighting up when they hear my footsteps. I have wondered what they wanted; but according to Hemingway I needn't ask.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Sat, Feb 08, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
23.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	23.00

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

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

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

Comments

From Tom K on Sat, Feb 08, 2014 at 14:18:32 from 71.203.20.181

What is the race in 3 weeks? I don't know much about the heart rate stuff, but if you're happy, I'm happy. Great miles, Flat. 100% humidity - nice.

From SlowJoe on Sun, Feb 09, 2014 at 15:31:04 from 66.69.93.8

Really nice going, Flat. Only a few more 23-milers left before your race then? Great run.

From I Just Run on Mon, Feb 10, 2014 at 09:45:03 from 67.79.11.242

I still think you should be an Ultra-Marathoner!

From flatlander on Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 14:03:55 from 198.207.244.102

Tom, it is The Woodlands Marathon on March 1, pretty popular around here, second only to the Houston Marathon. Heart rate data is for my own reference; it won't mean a thing to anybody else because almost everybody deals with a ticker that is slightly different.

Joe, two or three if I am feeling good. I plan to stop running long on Monday, which is 12 days out. Got away with 10 days out at SGM, but took a hit for Kingwood by trying to run long about 8 days out, as I recall. But really, just taking it day by day, I'll shut it down if I start getting that certain feeling in my legs.

IRJ, get thee behind me, not going there. A few small complications: (i) no trails, (ii) no altitude, (iii) no time and (iv) no wife if I tried it. Still, a 10-minute pace is super fast for a 100, ya know? I'm gonna miss her.

From Tom K on Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 14:09:56 from 174.58.4.250

Funny stuff. I was confusing Kingwood with Woodlands. The names SOUND like trail races, but neither one is a trail race... Or so I am told.

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