For Whom the Dogs Bark

May 06, 2024

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

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.

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

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

Wed, Sep 14, 2011

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.94	0.00	1.24	0.00	10.18

77F, 91%, SW 8 mph. We will break our record high for today by about 6 degrees, these temperatures are astonishing. I ran 10.18 miles in 1:37:26, average 9:34 per mile. Started with 6 LHR miles, average 9:52, then did 10 x 200 sprints, except the sprints weren't very fast. I picked a straight stretch in the back of my neighborhood that was .13 miles long and sprinted down then returned at a slog. Slowest was 6:34 pace and the fastest 5:52, most in the low 6s, maxHR 179. A little discouraging that my legs won't go any faster, I felt like I was flying, I was sure I was running in the low 5s, but couldn't see my watch well enough until I got back to the house. But at least I have identified why I am not fast. I'm certain it's because I'm slow. I run at a high percentage of VO2max compared to most runners I know, but that pace so far isn't producing much speed. I have started working on this and am getting some outside advice, but it was astounding to me that one of my sprints was only a little faster than my 5K pace, and slower than I had planned to be running 5Ks by the end of the year. I will be paying much more attention to this going forward.

Comments

From I Just Run on Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 13:29:32 from 67.79.11.242

I'm sure tired of this heat...I'm sure you are too!

Regarding your comment on speed, I think Derhammer's comment/excert from yesterday may be a help..It said:

"Namely, there really isn't that much difference in training between someone training for a mile or someone training for a marathon. Specifically, all phases of training need to be addressed in order to improve all facets of conditioning - long runs, progressive runs, intervals, and mileage. Leave any one of these out you will never reach your full potential."

It makes a lot of sense to me... :-)

From ACorn on Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 14:05:12 from 68.66.168.22

Nice workout, you've run a couple of 5ks in the last couple of weeks and been putting in solid mileage. You may still be recovering.

To get a real accurate assessment of your current ability, I would say to take an easy day or two and then run/race a mile at the track or on as flat a stretch of road as possible. That'll give you a baseline idea of how hard you should be running some track repeats and intervals during your runs to increase your speed.

From JG on Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 14:29:08 from 71.59.27.33

Good running Flat! I think speed has a lot to do with form. It was just last fall I started concentrating on this and becoming more a midfoot/forefoot striker, increasing my forward lean, shortening my stride and increasing my cadence! All these things are easier said than done, and take lots of practice, but I am convinced they helped my speed more than anything. I am much faster in all shorter distances, and this came from improving my form, not my fitness level. I have been a competitive athlete my whole life, and most of it I was not running efficiently! This is true of most people.

From Smooth on Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 16:59:31 from 174.27.201.64

Your mileage and speed workout are AWESOME!!! Good points from what everyone has mentioned.

NICE work as always!

From Huans32 on Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 09:08:01 from 138.64.8.51

Wow still way hot down there. Lets hope that SGM will be nice and cool this year. I am sure if its hot again. You will do awesome. As for me I will roast in the heat again.

From flatlander on Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 09:22:06 from 76.31.26.153

IJR, yes, David is the wise one. I was thinking about that same comment while I was running today. I believe it too.

AC, I really hope that is part of it. I know a day or two makes a big difference for me if I am tired. I also taper off really fast and if I'm not careful I get out of shape just tapering. Always interesting.

JG, I totally agree about form. I am getting advice on this because I can't figure out how to fix my form by myself.

Smooth, you're right, there is always somebody on this blog who has really good information about whatever comes up. Hang in there with your renovation mess!

Mark, I really am due for a better marathon. If St. George is hot again I'll probably just slit my throat and get it over with.

Add Your Comment.

Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.

Debt Reduction Calculator

Featured Announcements

Most Recent Entries:

New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):

Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):