For Whom the Dogs Bark

Sprint for Life 5K

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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, May 07, 2011

Race: Sprint for Life 5K (3.11 Miles) 00:20:47, Place overall: 27, Place in age division: 1

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
2.50	0.00	3.11	0.00	5.61

66F, 84%, SSE 5 mph. Race day today, dawned bright and clear. Actually a little cloudy but any time you get to run at 7:30 instead of 4:30 it qualifies as bright and clear. I ran down to Wade's house and he brought his wife and daughter to the race. My son and daughter-in-law (Clint and Becky) also ran, they live in the area and met us there. The race is a fundraiser for ovarian cancer and is associated with the Texas Medical Center, so for once on a Houston 5K we weren't running out of downtown. This course was also better than the downtown course.

We got there a little early, got our bibs, warmed up a little bit, met up with Clint and Becky and got lined up. Last year there were only about 600 runners, at least twice that this year. I could tell when warming up that my groin was going to be a problem. Wade and I lined up toward the front. I went out fast, probably a sub-6 pace for the first half mile, then my groin went tight and I pulled up. Almost stopped, contemplated turning around, but kept going at a jog and the tightness subsided a little bit. Wade said later he saw me pull up, then speed back up, but I never sped up to the original pace. Not sure if I could have handled it anyway but would have been fun to find out. First mile was 6:35, so that is why I think I was booking it at the beginning. After that I was just trying to find a stride pattern and length that could keep me going. The course didn't have any sharp turns so it was ideal that way. Second mile 6:43, so I started out almost identically to my last 5K. Third mile I held pace, 6:45, which is why I did better this time. I was plenty beat but never made it into the puke zone because I couldn't accelerate. I think a 20-minute 5K is approachable for me at this point, but probably wouldn't have made it today even with a healthy groin -- a little worrisome as to whether it will significantly affect UVM preparations.

Stayed around for the awards, got a medal to give to my granddaughter. First place in the 50-54 group was 17:45, the guy is 53 years old, something to shoot for. I would have won the 40-44 group, age group awards are very hit and miss on these 5Ks. But this one was very well organized and a lot of fun. Plus they measured the course exactly right. I will run it again next year if I can.

Comments

From SlowJoe on Sat, May 07, 2011 at 13:17:17 from 184.79.24.255

Congrats on breaking 21 and the AG win -- great race, your next 5K could easily be sub-20. Hope that groin settles down for you...

Always nice to find the course measured correctly too, that can be rare.

From derhammer on Sat, May 07, 2011 at 15:52:30 from 70.124.68.134

Yikes, strong run given the tightness acting up. Way to stay with it and not give up!

From Burt on Sat, May 07, 2011 at 19:12:37 from 72.223.90.79

I just can't believe how fast you're getting. Great job!

From Dan on Sat, May 07, 2011 at 21:57:49 from 24.209.83.20

Great job man- way to push on! Told you that those miles would be there when you needed a withdrawal

From Kelli on Sun, May 08, 2011 at 20:28:26 from 71.219.96.115

Sweet race! That grandpa with the 17:45??? WOW, that is something for all to shoot for, That is incredible. BUT this grandpa (meaning you) did not do too shabby himself!

OK, super excited for UVM, you will have to watch for me out there running backwards (not physically, of course, just backwards on the course). If you can spot me, you get to run with me! Such an incentive (i am being facetious, of course). I just run in whoever I can find. Maybe one day I will actually enter the race. ;o)

From flatlander on Mon, May 09, 2011 at 09:54:56 from 76.31.26.153

Thanks so much guys. Kelli, what a nice offer, that would be great! I hope I find you running backwards before somebody else does. The day you actually enter the race we are all doomed.

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