For Whom the Dogs Bark

53F, wind NE 1 mph, high thin cloud layer.  Best morning for running that we will have for a while.  I thought I would wait another day for this week's speed trial, since I did big miles over the weekend, but decided to go ahead with it this morning since it is going to be warm for the rest of the week.  Warmed up two miles then ran 9 miles at threshold pace in flat shoes, targeting 8:00 per mile.  Splits and heart rate were 7:57 (157), 7:54 (165), 7:52 (163), 7:44 (172), 7:53 (172), 8:03 (173), 7:53 (174), 8:04 (174) and 8:07 (174), then jogged it in since I had to take my youngest daughter to school.  Average pace for the threshold run was 7:56, I liked how my heart rate held steady in the low 170s, thought that was a good sign.  Was hoping for 10 miles, but this is good enough.  Next time I do this run I will target somewhere between 7:15 and 7:30, starting out short and building up.  Feels good to continue making progress.

My middle daughter, who has a very mixed academic career, stayed up all night doing a paper last night.  Had a couple of bad breaks, not her fault, that put her behind, but didn't complain, just decided on her own to take a Red Bull (OK, not the best choice) and push through to get it done.  She gets it, she is a regular adult now.  That feels pretty good, like I can let her go and she can diagnose her problems and figure them out.  Life is better since she dumped her toxic boyfriend.  Now if she could just get the whole church thing going.

67F, wind SE 13 mph, 9:00 p.m.  Ran 9.32 miles at an average pace of about 10 per mile, regular shoes, no heart rate monitor.  Today was a mess work-wise and I needed the early morning hours to try and meet my deadlines for the day.  So it was late before I got out, I came pretty close to not getting out at all.  Even though it had been 36 hours since I last ran I still had a lot of aches and pains.  Running hard for 9 miles yesterday took a lot out of me, and my bad groin was making it hard to go very fast.  Plus I ate a full dinner before going out.  I was hungry, but also wanted to see what that was like.  Didn't cause problems but it definitely slowed me down.  Starvation is the best way to go.  The object tonight was to just get through the run.  Tried to pick it up a little at the end, but didn't do much, most of the splits were right at 10.  I came home and went right back to work, didn't get to bed until 1:00 and still didn't finish.

69F, wind ESE 7 mph, good morning for running until I got going hard.  I slept in a little, finished my leftover work then ran 7.75 miles in 1:13:30, average pace 9:29 per mile, average heart rate 158 bpm, regular shoes.  Had to quit early to take a phone call.  I tried to speed up throughout the run, got down to 8:27 for one split but couldn't go any faster in the heat and after running late last night.  My heart rate got up to 182 at one point, 10 bpm higher than Monday's much faster run.  A run like this isn't all that encouraging, but running hard on the hard days is what makes it all work.  My groin felt a little better from last night.  Every time it started to pull I paid more attention to my form and got through the run with minimal problems.

On a happier note, I ordered my first senior breakfast last Saturday morning.  Smaller portions but it seemed just right, so I am fitting into my new role quite nicely.  A bonus was this automobile parked out front.  So two classics at IHOP that morning.

59F, wind ESE 10 mph, light rain for about 4 miles, enough to soak everything.  A great morning for running, sloshy and messy, just like playing in puddles and mud.  Ran 9.00 at low heart rate, regular shoes, high 10s and low 11s.  Legs felt heavy, acidy and awkward the whole time, though my pace wasn't too bad.  At the end I decided to see what would happen when I sped up.  Amazingly, everything felt better as long as I was careful with my form.  By the last quarter I was sub-8 and all my aches and pains disappeared.  I was plenty tired but it was a good kind or tired instead of wanting to lay down and take a nap kind of tired.  Maybe going different speeds uses different muscles?

For some reason I had that old song "School Days" floating through my head, the one we used to sing in elementary school.  Not sure why, maybe it was overflow from a dream.  Anyway, looks like I'm all set with my own internal iPod for the next few runs.

64F, wind ENE 5 mph, 93% humidity, getting ready to rain.  Perfect running weather.  Ran 9.10 miles in1:34:42, average pace 10:24 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  This is 11 seconds better than my previous best 10 days ago.  My fantasy goal is to average 10:00 at low heart rate, which is now starting to look achievable.  (I am perfectly aware that most people fantasize about more interesting topics.)  I got a full 7 hours of sleep last night, and as heavy and weak as my legs felt yesterday they felt light and strong this morning.  head-Pod tune for this run was Stranger in Paradise.  Dunno why.  Never even saw the movie.

A serpent in paradise:  Had to quit early because of some pain in my left ankle, down low on the heel on the outside.  It was there at the beginning, subsided during the middle miles (I got one split at 10:03) then all of a sudden came back hard.  So I quit early and may have to skip the 10K race in the morning out in Brennam.  I have been thinking I could run 7:30 splits if the course isn't too hilly, but all that may have to wait depending on how things progress today.

Inside workout this morning, no long run.  My ankle didn't loosen up after the run yesterday.  It felt like a bad sprain, to the point I was almost walking sideways at times to get around.  Felt kind of ridiculous at work.  I just told everybody I stepped in a hole on my lawn.  If you tell them you got hurt running it's like a gotcha.  It feels somewhat better this morning, so I did 6 miles on the elliptical, 3 forward and 3 backwards (that adds up to 6, not 0).  I have complete respect for anybody who does that machine on a regular basis, it takes a lot of mental stamina.  I was ready to quit after 1 mile, not sure how I made 6.

Good luck to all the Boston runners and anybody else who is racing this weekend.  I am definitely going to track my two sisters and brother-in-law as they pound the historic pavement on Monday, as well as some of the bloggers.  Looks like Ryan Hall and Meb are both entered so maybe the U.S. will get a win finally.  There appears to be only one U.S. woman entered in the elite field, Michelle Frey out of Iowa -- I have heard the name but don't know much about her.