For Whom the Dogs Bark

64F, 93% humidity, wind SE 5 mph, gusts to 15 mph, partly cloudy.  Very comfortable running weather, didn't feel hot to me.  I got up early and did 5.75 at low heart rate, then did the seminary run, which I will be doing for the next 4 weeks, then went back out after returning to the house, which wasn't easy.  On my second trip out I started with 1.25 transition miles, then 4 at goal marathon pace, 7:28, 7:29, 7:09 and 7:28, and 1 mile cooldown.  Didn't get any consistent heart rate readouts so I changed the battery in the strap after I finished, hopefully that was the issue.  Overall I ran 12.01 miles in 1:49:40, average pace 9:08 per mile, flat shoes.  The thought on this workout was to get both low heart rate miles and race-pace miles in the same workout, kind of an experiment between now and the next marathon.  I know I need to get a lot of LHR work in because that end of my conditioning isn't too good right now, but at the same time I don't want to give up minutes on the next race.  So this is my "cake and eat it too" plan.  I want to do some variation of this workout as often as I can, every day if possible between now and UVM.  But I felt a bone-deep fatigue when I finished, so I may have to back off depending on how I feel as the week progresses.  I have some mild cold symptoms after too much traveling and too little sleep but I don't think it will amount to much. 

68F, 84% humidity, wind S 9-19 mph.  Hot wind blowing but it was dark so it wasn't too bad.  Ran exactly the same run as yesterday, with the seminary kid delivery in the middle, but a little bit hotter so a little bit faster.  It is way to early to be this hot.  The MP miles were 8-11: 7:33, 7:27, 7:19 and 7:15, seemed a little easier than yesterday.  But my bad back came back (after 2-1/2 years), I think it is because of going back out for the second half of the run, there are always aches and pains doing that because my joints freeze up almost the instant I stop running.  Also I have mild fever tonight, so not sure what is going to happen the rest of the week.  I think both will go away quickly if I behave.  Overall 12.02 miles in 1:47:46, average pace 8:58 per mile.

60F, 96% humidity, wind NE 3 mph.  Beautiful morning today, may not get many more of these before summer hits for good.  Wasn't sure how my back would respond, so after taking yesterday off I ran some slow miles this morning and cut it short.  Back seems fine though -- sometimes it would tighten but it would go away as soon as I corrected my posture.  I have had a herniated disc for three years now and it bothers me sometimes.  At the time I got some stretching exercises from the physical therapist that are effective, I just don't do them when I go through long periods of no problems, there isn't enough time for everything.  Then it catches up with me and I pay for it a little bit.  The last couple of days I have been stretching my back frequently and it has helped.  No issues this morning, I will try some GMP miles tomorrow.  I have an 8K race on Saturday and should be good to go.  7.66 miles in 1:16:44, average pace 10:01 per mile, LHR and flat shoes.

No weather report, sorry about that, I know it is disappointing, just forgot to look.  It was nice, probably a little warmer than yesterday.  I had to make an 8:00 meeting downtown, which meant I was out the door early in order to finish the run before taking my daughter to seminary.  Ran 10.25 miles in 1:29:42, average pace 8:45 per mile.  Ran 5 at LHR, one transition mile, then 4 at goal marathon pace, 7:34, 7:23, 7:12 and 7:20, tellin' ya, it's a distant goal right now.  Quarter-mile jog to calm the nerves down in my leg and back, but overall my back held up well and the day is going well, so all is well in Texas.

72F, 90% humidity, calm and partly cloudy.  A little warm, but generally good running weather.  Today's race is named after a lawyer who, to put it bluntly, has been dead for 15 years.  I imagine he is still in protracted negotiations at the pearly gates.  My interest in this race was that the entry fee was covered, end of discussion.  Supposedly our firm had a team put together, a meeting place and everything.  I got there early and ran 3 warmup miles, checking out the course.  It is the same downtown course that ends on a long uphill pull, which is actually possible in Houston, though it isn't all that steep once you climb out of the final underpass.  Except this course, being 5 miles instead of 3, loops back into downtown for an even longer uphill, then turns around for a slight drop into the finish chute.  Also included are two underpasses going out, and the same two coming back.  Underpasses aren't fun. 

Made my third POP stop, made it to the meeting place at the appointed time and met a colleague named Harve, and nobody else, I suppose sleeping was the better option.  I don't know Harve, but turns out he is a moderately serious marathoner who has now also bought a bike.  I got to talk to him quite a bit on the way to the start.  He said he was going to do low 8s so I assumed we wouldn't be running together unless he was lying.  He wasn't.

My goal was to do the first 3 miles at 7:00 then try to lay down the hammer on the uphill coming back.  That is pretty much what happened, although not quite the way I expected.  Harve and I were talking when all of a sudden the gun went off unannounced, like a Laurel and Hardy western.  Everyone was startled and took off.  I started a little bit too far back and had to bob and weave a little, but still got a good first mile.  My splits were 6:50, 7:15, 6:55, 6:56, 6:32 and 5:42 pace for the stub split to the finish, average pace 6:51, the best I have done at this distance.  My heart rate monitor is completely kaput, so I don't know how hard I was working.  I was on the fringes of the puke zone in the last mile, but not that deep into it, would have been interesting to see what my heart rate was.  If it had been 185 or lower I would have pushed harder, but I felt like I put in a good effort.  I was especially surprised to see the 6:32 for mile 5 because it felt like I was slowing down with the lactate buildup in my legs.  As a comparison, last fall I ran a 10K at 7:11 per mile (35F) and a 5-mile run at 7:14 per mile (77F, 5 degrees warmer than today).  Any way you slice it, today was an improvement, but 6:51 per mile at this distance translates into 7:37 per mile for the marathon distance.  Add in the fact that my marathon paces don't translate well and my true marathon pace right now is probably in the 7:45 to 7:50 range, so that is the work I have cut out for me in the next two months to get down to 7:30 at altitude.

I got 8th in the 55-59 age division but forgot to check my overall standings.  First place old guy ran 6:12 per mile, overall winner somewhere in the 5s.

PM:  Went out again before dinner for some LHR work, ran 6.09 in 1:03:39, average pace 10:27 per mile.