For Whom the Dogs Bark

Walked out the door at a quarter to four, lightning so I scurried back in.  Back out at 6 and same story.  Went to the gym at noon and all the treadmills were full.  By the time I got my clothes back on they were available again, that's how it goes.  So I stopped at my son's gym on the way home and ran on the treadmill there for 2 hours at 6.7 miles per hour (8:57 per mile).  Not sure of the exact distance because I had to keep stopping for one reason or another and it would always re-set.  Also, one stretch where I actually got 60 minutes in it stopped and I had to re-set again.  Not fun, I've got to get sound off the TVs into my ears on these treadmills, not really something that I can figure out on my own at my age.  Congratulations to all the Boston finishers today, that is an experience to tell the grandkids, but I must admit I'm happy I won't be telling it to mine.

62F, 90%, N 6 mph.  7.04 miles in 1:01:57, 8:48 per mile, 143 bpm.

56F, 96%, calm.  10.10 miles in 1:18:22, 7:46 per mile, 156 bpm average.  Ran 5 easy then 5 MP:  7:28 (162), 7:18 (166), 7:24 (167), 7:21 (170) and 7:14 (169).  We have very nice weather all of a sudden.

53F, 99%, SSE 1 mph and clear.  10.08 miles in 1:27:12, 8:39 per mile, 140 bpm (152 max).

63F, 90%, calm and partly cloudy.  I'm traveling out of town this weekend and it's my first Saturday for a "fast finish" long run, of which I plan to do 3 before my next marathon.  Except I am going to do them a little different this time around, back to my retro style before I read too many running books:  Run like *&^^^% and hold it for 20, on the theory that if you can do it for 20 you can do it for 26, and you're on your own for the last 0.2.  So the goal today was 8:00 per mile, which isn't really my A goal but it is a respectable pace.  I made it, only two or three splits were over 8, overall I ran 20 miles in 2:38:13 for an average pace of 7:55 per mile.  I also had an untimed 0.15 mile warmup, which is just enough to get the sludge in my joints circulating a little bit.  The best thing about the run was my heart rate, average 158 and max 170, which is below marathon range.  I never averaged higher than 168, and didn't break 165 until mile 19.  The worst thing was playing "you first, no me first", with a car as I was running out of a side street.  The driver was my wife, who was finishing the seminary run for me.  I got a bit of a lecture on that one.  I took water at mile 3.5, 10 and 13.6, didn't do EFS or other calories or electrolytes,  need to buy some and practice taking it.  Next time I will try for 7:45, but we will see.  Even though the cardio was there, the old legs were pretty sore for the last 10 this morning.

40F, 50%, N 5 mph and clear.  Ran in Round Valley, Arizona this morning, which is my hometown, elevation 7,000 feet thank you.  Here for a funeral.  Left the motel in Springerville and headed east on the Soccorro, NM highway, then turned south toward Alpine, all the way to the rodeo grounds.  It was generally uphill all the way to the rodeo grounds, and I felt the familiar high altitude burn in my lungs.  I used to feel it all the time in high school here, no wonder I quit running for so many years.  I didn't want to push the pace but it was still difficult.  Suprisingly though I maintained about 9:00 flat going up then sped up from there, wasn't sure what would happen after the hard 20 yesterday.  From the rodeo grounds I turned west into Eagar, one more hill but generally downhill, ran to the center of town, then turned north all the way back into Springerville, also downhill.  When I got to the stop light in Springerville (still only 1 light after all these years) I turned left toward St. Johns and got another 1.5 in before meeting my daughter and my brother who lives in Sierra Vista.  We ran back out toward St. Johns and got another 3 miles, had a good time talking about various stuff.  11.5 total, not a bad day for a semi-tropical coastal runner.

My sister and I have decided to run Grandma's marathon in Duluth, MN on June 16.  She needs a BQ, so we can run Boston together in 2013.  She will be 40 on race day and only has to get a 3:45 to qualify, but she wants a 3:25 so she can register on Monday.  She should get it pretty easily unless she doesn't get her training in.