For Whom the Dogs Bark

38F, 10.05 miles in 2:04:24, 12:23 average pace, low heart rate.

I worked harder on Saturday than I thought, took a while to get going this morning and never got going very fast, although the kinks eventually worked themselves out.  My speed is still slow.

My sister pointed out something over the weekend, which is that if one's speed at the same heart rate continues to deteriorate, that is probably a sign of overtraining.  It seems obvious when I think about it, and a blessing, actually, because it might give one the ability to back off soon enough to avoid injury.  I can't think of another explanation for why speed at the same heart rate would decrease consistently over 7-10 days.  This is something I will be watching closely this week.

Shoulder is still pretty painful from my fall 10 days ago, but otherwise no remaining effects.

48F, windy and trying to rain, felt cold.  Went out late and ran 10.10 miles in 2:00:09, 11:54 minutes per mile, low heart rate.

I was prepared to cut it short if my times were still slow, but I started hitting some 11s after the first mile and continued doing it, so I went the full distance.  Not a great run, but better than the last few.

Still have a lot of chatter going on in the family about Saturday's run in Queen Creek, Arizona.  It was a big success and we will probably do it again with a higher participation rate.  Turns out my sister won her age group, as did a second nephew running the 10K.  With results like that everybody is enthused to go at it again.  Of the 9 in our group who did the half or the 10K, only three or four were running when we organized this race about 6 months ago.  Running is contagious, probably the best thing about it. 

There was also a long-lost law school buddy running, finishing about 2 minutes ahead of me.  I didn't realize he was there until I got home and saw his name on the results list.  Good thing I didn't elbow him at the start line, or push him into the mud at mile 3.  I contacted him yesterday and he said he has been doing this for about as long as I have.  Lots of fun.

48F, wind E 8 mph and rainy.  It was dang cold out there.  Ran 10.04 in 1:58:27, average pace 11:48 per mile, low heart rate.

Somebody on this blog, can't remember who, posted a link (http://www.scribd.com/doc/13695/Gordon-Piries-Running-Fast-and-Injury-Free) to a long essay by Gordon Pirie, who I had never heard about.  He was an iconoclastic British runner, post WWII, a contemporary of Roger Bannister.  He was very, very good.  He beat Zatopek several times but apparently was not popular with the UK running establishment.  Very opinionated, thought anybody who disagreed with him was uninformed or worse.  In many ways his views are the antithesis of the Lydiard long slow distance theory, so I am doing things that would make him yell at me if he were still alive, if he even cared.  He thinks running long and slow all the time is a waste of time.  His basic thesis is that you avoid injury by acquiring good (by which he means perfect) running form, which includes wearing minimalistic shoes, after which you let it fly.  Frequent monster workouts (at his peak he ran 175 miles per week), lots of racing and lots of heavy weight-lifting.  Despite the temptation to laugh him off as old-fashioned, the guy got results.  And my recent habit of running long runs hard may not be that far off from his views.

49 F, wind NNW 5 mph, rain petering out.  It rained all night but stopped in time to run this morning.  Cold and dry is OK, wet and warm is OK, but cold and wet is uncomfortable for my delicate disposition.

Ran 10.18 miles in 1:56:55, 11:29 minutes per mile, low heart rate.  One of my better runs, nearly a best, especially since the first mile was in the upper 12s.  I got 11:27 about a month ago.  My left groin is still bothering me, the one that first popped up late in my last marathon.  It comes and goes, but right now it is here, and it takes two and a half miles to loosen up.  It isn't getting worse, so I'm just watching it for now.  I have been practicing my form a little bit, and I think that has helped my speed as well as keeping the groin pull in check.

48F, wind NW 10 mph.  Got up early but had to work, so didn't make it out until later in the morning, then had to stop a couple of time to fix my heart rate monitor, then a client called so I had to stop for that.  But eventually I got going and ran 10.17 miles in 1:58:56, average pace 11:42 per mile, low heart rate, not as good as yesterday but OK under the circumstances.

The highlight of the run was following a garbage truck picking up cans in my neighborhood.  I was right behind him for a full mile, going about the same speed (2 mph).  Nice smells, but the guys were friendly and he wasn't trying to run me over.

41F, ran 10.43 miles in 1:49:39, average pace 10:43 per mile.  I had planned to run 20, 15 of them at a pace of about 8:30 or so.  I warmed up for 4 miles but never seemed to get completely loose.  Tried anyway, but it was obvious after 3 miles that I still had groin/hip problems in my left leg, so I shut it down and jogged in. 

Whenever I get an injury, it has been traceable to running too fast rather than too far, probably a geriatric problem.  This is the same groin that first acted up in my last marathon -- it came back a few hours after the half marathon a week ago and never completely disappeared during the week.  If I don't run fast I won't get better, so there isn't an easy answer, but I think going forward I will run faster but shorter and increase it more gradually, just like the slow running.  There are no important races on the near horizon, so I will probably shut it down completely this week, maybe try some machines or something so as not to lose ground.  My goal was to not let this happen, but it did.  Hopefully a week will be sufficient.

Two bits of good news.  First, I drove out to the Rocky Raccoon 100 last night (Saturday) in Huntsville, Texas, about an hour from my home, hoping to spot Davy Crockett.  I missed him because he was way ahead of schedule, but it was fun watching all the hundred mile runners come through the home aid station at the end of their third or fourth laps.  Davy a couple of weeks ago generously invited me to pace him (he doesn't normally use pacers) but I had to decline because of my leg.  Probably a good thing, I might have slowed him down.  Some other year.

Second, a friend who is an orthopedic surgeon came over today and we talked about running.  He doesn't like it too much, says the biggest problem is that it can eventually cause osteoporosis, but if I take lots of dairy I should be fine.  Time to add that Sam's non-diet rocky road 3-pack to the shopping list.

Back in a week for better or worse.