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

Sat, Apr 14, 2012

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
20.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	20.00

74F, 84%, SSE 11-18 mph to start (6:10 a.m.); 76F, 79%, SSE 14-23 to end (9:05 a.m.) partly cloudy. This was a difficult run. Got a late start because I was trying to catch up on sleep a little bit. I planned to this run at 9 flat but legs naturally sped up, down into the low 8s at one point, then because of the way the course was laid out I went for an 8-mile segment with no water and ended up getting into trouble with the heat/humidity/sunlight. I turned around to go home at 15 because I was feeling dizzy, but really didn't want to log a 15 today, especially after everything else that has taken away from running this week. At that point I was averaging 8:38, so I slowed back down to a 9:00 pace then sped up a little bit through the end. Ran the twists and turns so I had 20 right at my front door, didn't want to run a step extra. Overall 20.00 miles in 2:54:20, average 8:43/mile, 158 bpm, 173 bpm maximum. Heart rate climbed throughout. Normally I am ravenous when finishing a 20, but today I didn't want anything. Managed to drink a glass of chocolate milk and that was it. Feel almost like I just ran a marathon. I have 3 hard 20-milers coming up, this wasn't supposed to be one of them. But the important thing was putting in the effort and letting the chips fall where they may. For me that approach has usually turned out fine, so I am not worrying.

Comments

From SonofaFlatlander on Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 13:02:40 from 128.42.87.214

solid.

From Kelli on Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 18:17:00 from 71.219.98.16

I LIKE your approach, it is kind of how I approach life and running, too!

Nicely done, good effort. I hate it when you can not eat afterwards, but at least you know you worked hard. Hopefully you can stomach something later---something deliciously good!

So, my husband is finally in Dubai. He returns next Friday night and he thinks he is going to run a marathon the next day. I keep telling him to bag it, it was a mere $65 and it is fine if he "loses" it by not racing. He insists he is going to do it anyway. What do you think, since you have been there? I think the 16 hour flight alone is enough to make him rethink the marathon, not to mention jet lag and elevation and all of that other stuff!

From flatlander on Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 18:40:05 from 76.31.26.153

Clint, thanks, hope your exams are going well.

Kelli, thanks for the kind words. Not to worry, my appetite came back with a vengeance late morning. I am now trying to stop myself from eating everything in the house. I think traveling and jet lag are bad for trying to run fast, although they certainly don't prevent running. I haven't tried to run a marathon immediately after jet-lagged travel, but I know it slows my training paces down for at least a couple of days. Everybody's different, but my guess is that he won't get a PR if he is coming in from Dubai on Friday night and running on Saturday morning. Even one night of rest is a big help, though.

From Kelli on Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 21:25:58 from 71.219.98.16

They flew him first class (you should SEE it!) and he said he got a lot of sleep on the way there. He has thrown any kind of PR out the window for sure, but that was definitely his plan up until 3 weeks ago when they finally gave him travel dates! He was (is) ready for it, too, so it is sad! OH WELL. There will be another one 4 weeks later.

Glad your appetite came back! That whole scenario is why I seem to gain major weight when I am training. I am ill right after the run (well, for 3-4 hours) and then I eat every thing in site for the next 10 hours. I get so darn hungry!

From SlowJoe on Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 11:48:06 from 69.131.141.92

Your decision to drop out a Boston awhile back it looking pretty genius right now!

Nice 20 in some brutal heat/humidity. Pace plans have a way of going to pot when it's hot outside.

From flatlander on Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 18:48:03 from 76.31.26.153

Kelli, overseas first class can be pretty good on some airlines, was he on Emirates? Haven't flown that one but I hear it is great.

Joe, just dumb luck. I don't get good weather for very many marathons, but I would have been particularly unhappy running this one undertrained and in the heat.

From Kelli on Sun, Apr 15, 2012 at 20:29:50 from 71.219.98.16

Yep, he was on Emirates. He actually got to call today and apparently it was not first class, it was business class. If you had seen the pictures....I can only imagine what first class looks like. he is upgraded to first class for his flight back.

WHY did you go to Dubai, BTW?

From I Just Run on Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 08:55:57 from 67.79.11.242

I know the feeling well! Glad you pushed through it!

From Mack on Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 14:52:22 from 50.39.204.232

Nice run. Way to dig down for those last five.

Not sure what your age is Flat, but I remember learning that max HR is 220 minus your age. And that the training zone is somewhere around 60% of your max. Is that still the current thinking? If so, both your max and avg HR seem a little high on this run...unless you are a lot younger than I think you are.

From flatlander on Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 07:56:19 from 76.31.26.153

Kelli, I was negotiating a contract for an oil company called a lifting agreement. Most oil companies divide up their interest in prospects in order to spread the risk. So when it comes time to take (lift) the oil, they have to figure out a way to divide it between them, since ships come in certain sizes that almost never correspond to the percentage rights in the oil. So that is what a "lifting" agreement is all about. The client was a Chinese company with an office in Dubai, and the oil field is in Iraq. The lawyer (me) was from Texas, the most foreign place of all. The things we do. (TMI I know, but you asked so I told!)

IJR, thanks so much. It was a hard run, sometimes the harder ones mean more than the fast ones.

Mack, you made my day. According to that formula I am 27 years old, since my HRmax is 193. (I'm actually 57, but that is dog years -- or maybe it's the other way around?) I ran SGM at an average HR of 168, 87% of max, so none of these age-group norms seem to apply to me.

From Kelli on Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 13:34:01 from 71.219.98.16

You answered! That is very interesting, actually!

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