For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 07, 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

Wed, Sep 25, 2013

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
20.55	0.00	0.00	0.00	20.55

66F, 94%, N 1 mph and clear. Unexpectedly got cooler weather this morning after complaining for a week. Another very early start, ran 20.55 miles in 3:06:47, 9:05/mile, average heart rate 155, max 174. Similar route to Monday down to the Y and back, but heart rate about 8-10 bpm faster, not bad for the extra speed I gained but not close to what I once could do. Closed out the last couple of miles at about an 8:50 pace, so I think I am at least in the zone to break 4 hours. Not great but better than where I was 10 days ago. I'll probably shoot for 3:45 to 3:55 on race day, but a lot will depend on how things develop during the race, especially miles 8-20.

I sprained my left ankle on a rock in the dark at mile 11, stumbled along pretty badly for about a quarter of a mile but eventually it either went numb or got loosened up. It seemed like a pretty bad sprain at the time and I am still hurting somewhat, but I don't think it will affect race preparations.

I decided to shut down the long runs after today. I did 3 in 5 days and they were just what I needed to get back in shape after my last race and ensuing hip injury, but they have done their job; anything more might make me stale, at least if I ran them hard. Based on my almost-no-taper experiment, I have six more training days, then carbo-load on Thursday, then on the plane for Las Vegas on Friday and drive to St. George. Then run it. For the next six days I'll probably try to tune up by doing TM up and down, speed work and running in the afternoon heat for solar effect.

Comments

From Burt on Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 17:02:24 from 71.216.109.214

Wowzers! Glad you're feeling more confident.

From flatlander on Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 17:15:38 from 198.207.244.102

Thanks, but don't be impressed. Those miles aren't fast to anybody but me.

From allie on Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 17:38:25 from 97.117.90.140

wowzers! said burt.

your plan sounds good. safe travels to st. george. and good luck.

From Burt on Wed, Sep 25, 2013 at 18:34:54 from 71.216.109.214

I was gonna say wowza, but that's too cliche.

From derhammer on Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 09:44:01 from 64.245.52.2

Nice miles, Flat. Will this be your 3rd St. George?

From I Just Run on Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 10:42:21 from 67.79.11.242

Sounds like you're ready for St George. I would like to run it some day. :-)

From JG on Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 10:49:25 from 99.141.151.28

Great run Flat ... now rest up for St.George ... that is a great race! Oh ... and ice & elevate that ankle just to be on the safe side! :)

From flatlander on Tue, Oct 01, 2013 at 08:31:41 from 76.31.9.237

All, thanks for the well wishes. Ankle is good, hip still acting up periodically. If I crash in St. George it will be from hip pain, which seems to flare up on the downhill. Just hoping for the best, I think I will aggressively stretch, knead and pull for a couple of days, that might help. I'm afraid to get on the TM and test it out at a decline, better at this point just to wait. (DH, yep, 3rd one.)

From derhammer on Tue, Oct 01, 2013 at 08:47:55 from 64.245.52.2

I read Hoku shoes are made for downhill running - too late to go with another shoe though.

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