For Whom the Dogs Bark

53F, cloudy and intermittent rain.  9.01 miles in 1:53:43, 12:31 average pace, low heart rate.  Must be hung over from Saturday, even though I don't feel sore or fatigued.  In my "heart" I know what I did on Saturday.

This run was late in the afternoon.  Last night I woke up from a wierd dream at 4 a.m., but got up and went to work instead of heading out, I had some leftover stuff I planned to get done over the weekend but couldn't.  So I didn't go out to run until later, which is always tough and never produces good results.  But a run is a run and I appear to be recovered from all of my ailments, just slower than slow.  I practiced running like a Kenyan for one mile and went even slower.  Guess I'll stick to Western European.

Lots of dogs out getting walked, several off their leashes, but I changed my route several times and avoided any direct encounters.  I'm working on becoming a better dog person, but they still don't like me.  I need to buy Dog Whisperer for Dummies.

43F, clear and gusty.  9.08 miles in 1:47:36, average pace 11:51, low heart rate.  Started out pretty rocky after running last night, but got into a rhythm after a couple of miles and it went fine.  Stopped near the end of the run to do weights, then finished it off.

I have my first 5K this weekend, got a free entry at work.  I'm going to do some speed work tomorrow, such as it is.  I need to mix things up since I haven't been getting faster lately.  Injuries are the pits.  They put you way behind schedule.  And they lead to morbid thoughts, like the ones I had after the first two miles this morning:  What if I get slower and slower and don't know why, then I finally go to the doctor and find out I am on my last lap?  Then the sun came out, I got faster, and everything was fine.  Time to buy an Ipod.

45F, calm and waning moon.  Couldn't run this morning, had a roomful of clients all day long, then went to eat.  It was 10:00 when I got home, and I have to start early again in the morning, so it was out the door or miss maybe two days of running.  I had intended to run fast on this one, but started out slow with a full belly, good thing I don't imbibe.  First mile was 10:23, last full mile 8:34, last partial split 7:59 pace.  9.12 miles in 1:24:35, 9:16 average pace, no heart rate monitor.  I ran about the same pace as in the half marathon on Saturday after the first two slow miles dealing with my son's shin splints.  Not that I was happy about that race, but tonight wasn't bad considering the circumstances, especially happy that I could accelerate through the whole run.  Maybe it is time to start running mile repeats, but not this week.  Felt a couple of twinges tonight, hopefully that is all it is.

48F, calm.  Another night run after being in a conference room all day.  9.11 miles in 1:47:44, average pace 11:49 per mile, low heart rate.  Before I ran I went to my son's gym and he showed me some of the weight machines.  Then halfway through the run my daughter joined me, so it was a good night.  I never get company in the morning.  Was also pleased that I could keep a pace below 12 minutes after running hard last night.

44F and calm.  Ran 7.03 in 1:09:03, average pace 9:50 per mile, medium heart rate.

I was time constrained this morning with work and taking my daughter to the bus stop, plus it was only a few hours after Thursday's late run -- I decided to run anyway since I may need to do my long run tonight, given a full weekend schedule.  So the thought was to see what my speed would be at about 150 bpm, and this is what I got, though it bounced up to 160 from time to time.  Actually, my heart rate was fairly erratic at these speeds, not steady like when I run at 130, probably a sign that I am not adequately conditioned in this zone.

Kind of a complicated day but a good one, a 5K race sandwiched inside a long run. I intended to run long last night but I thought it would put too much stress on my recovering legs after already running yesterday morning.  So I ended up with a race and the need to get in a long run today.

The race is a local charity event to raise money for the Women's Center.  It is well-backed and it is for a good cause.  I usually don't pay attention to these sorts of things, but this is an important cause and one that doesn't get enough support.  These institutions hide battered women and their children, in addition to performing a host of other services.  They do a good job and have always been well-funded in this community.  I liked the atmosphere at the race, very positive but you could tell people were serious about this issue.  I was happy to participate.

This is the first time I have run a 5K race, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I thought it would be good to get there early and do a few slow miles so as to be loosened up for the race.  What I didn't want to do was re-injure my groin, especially since running fast got it injured in the first place.  This turned out to be a pretty good strategy.  I got there an hour and a half early and ran about 10K before the race, 6.22 miles, average pace 10:58 per mile, range 11:09 to 10:39, basically a steady pace.  I felt ready to go.

Then I went to the start line.  The race started in downtown Houston and headed west and back to the start line, basically an out and back with a loop in the middle.  Weather was perfect, about 50F with a light breeze.  I met up with some people from work (our firm was a contributor) and suggested a team strategy session, which suggestion was politely ignored.  That's why they call them fun runs, nobody was interested in taking out the other law firms.  That was the last I saw of any teammates.  I lined up fairly close to the front.  After the gun went off there was a little bit of jockeying around as people tried to find their pace.  I wove in and out for a couple of hundred yards, accidentally elbowed and apologized to a woman who wasn't too happy (especially given the subject matter of this particular charity), then I was free to run my own speed.  Lots of practice from Fort Worth last week and from driving an old sports car with a radar detector, but I digress.

Even though there were lots of runners, most of them were either good or purely recreational, then me running alone in the middle.  I marveled that I had so much room to run in a short crowded race like this.  After the first half-mile I passed very few people and even fewer passed me.  I felt like I was pushing the pace a little but it wasn't too bad.  I was afraid given my recent training adventures that the first mile would be low 9s, but it came in at 7:24 (171 bpm).  This is by far the fastest I have run a mile since high school.  Something paid off big time.  The next mile was 7:44 (184 bpm) which I also thought was good.  By then I figured I could make this happen.  I was very tired and lactic acid was building up, plus the last mile was a little bit uphill, but I hit 8:03 (187 bpm) and then a 7:57 (188 bpm) pace for the stub split at the end.  (My heart isn't supposed to beat that fast at my age, but it does and I am not complaining.  It gives me more upside, I think.)  Total time was 24:22, average pace 7:44.  This is not a fast time by the standards on this blog, but it is faster than I thought I could run and I am happy with the result.  I measured 3.15 miles on my Garmin -- admittedly not the most accurate measuring tool but I still think the course was a little long, and I won't get an official time or place for 2 weeks.  That's what you get when the sponsor is 501(c)(3) -- nice people but not razor's edge in the organizational aspects. 

They gave out age-group awards right after the race.  I didn't see any old guys running fast, so there is a possibility I might have placed, but I didn't stay around.  You can bet I am going to check the times of my co-workers as soon as I can.

I went back out and finished my long run as soon as I cooled off a little bit.  By this time it was getting hot.  I ran from downtown along the course route and then west to Memorial Park, which is the primary running location in Houston.  That place was more crowded than the race.  It was truly a great morning for running here.  Altogether I did another 10.35 miles, average pace 10:25, progression from11:25 down to 9:42 pace.  I was pretty tired but felt a lot better once I sucked down a chocolate milk shake.  I tell anybody who will listen that I run drug-free, but that isn't entirely true.  Chocolate is a drug.