For Whom the Dogs Bark

59F, 72%, N 3 mph.  Typing this for the second time, somehow I lost my entire first post.  I ran all my miles before the seminary run, planning to cut back this week, then one final push if things go well.  My right leg as a whole hasn't felt very good this afternoon, won't know if there is a problem until in the morning.  But no possibility of doing TM hill miles tonight.  Ran 3 at LHR (10:20, 9:46 and 9:46), one transition then 4 at GMP, 7:32 (155), 7:26 (159), 7:28 (163) and 7:33 (164).  This heart rate should have been a little lower given the cool weather, but at least it was lower than several runs recently in warmer temperatures.  Overall 8.19 miles in 1:09:51, average pace 8:32 per mile.  I think the real culprit was the new flat shoes that I ran in today.  They came in the mail and the sole is quite a bit thicker than the old ones, and the shoe feels heavier, only a little bit but a definite difference.  Here are the old and new right shoes:

So I think what I will do is train in the heavier ones and race in the others, that way I get kind of a handicap effect for training.  Really is amazing, though, how manufacturing standards are not that uniform at all in the Amazon jungle (not a website) where these are manufactured.

54F, 82%, NNW 10 mph.  Good running weather despite a pretty fresh wind.  Did the seminary run and ran about 5 from the church waiting for my daughter, brought her home and went out for 7 more.  Probably my last seminary run of the school year, back to regular training schedule until September.  Did all LHR work because my right leg had a hollow, raw pain in it yesterday afternoon and evening, top to bottom, felt like a rogue nerve but I have no expertise to diagnose it.  I apparently ran too hard after running hard on Saturday, was worried that I might have overdone it and set myself back.  I was pleased when I got out this morning and everything felt mostly normal.  But still I didn't press the issue, kept it slow.   I'll do some TM tonight if things hold together during the day.  12.05 miles in 1:59:09, average pace 9:46 per mile, flat shoes, felt relaxing to do these miles at a comfortable temperature.

PM: 4 miles hill work on TM, 5.5 to 6.0 mph.

45F (it's true), 83%, calm and clear.  No seminary run today, in fact I am off for the rest of the school year, the other parent is taking over.  So I exited the front door at 5:30 instead of 4:30, almost getting light already.  The plan was to do 8 and stop but couldn't keep it to that in good conscience, not in this weather, 45 freaking degrees.  I did 3 LHR miles, 10:05, 9:33 and 9:23; 1 transition, 8:16; 5 at GMP, 7:26 (156), 7:23 (161), 7:25 (164), 7:14 (167) and 7:26 (167); then 2 active cooldown, 8:35 (156) and 8:20 (152).  Even though my heart rate wasn't that much lower than for comparable fast miles recently, it stopped climbing; I felt fresh and could have gone further without my tongue hanging out at an awkward angle.  Also encouraging was my heart rate for the cooldown miles, which I took at my old marathon pace.  I looked up my notes on the Richmond Marathon.  Miles 10 and 11 came in at 8:41 (159) and 8:38 (168), both slightly slower than miles 10 and 11 this morning.  Of course I ran miles 1-9 faster today than I did at Richmond, so it is significant that my heart rate was much lower this morning, even though it was 10 degrees cooler on that day (humidity about the same).

One last comment about the nightmare 5K I ran 10 days ago.  I got an e-mail yesterday telling me I had won my age group and will be receiving a trophy in the mail (how about skipping the trophy and sending a gift certificate?).  Even though I ran 3.11 miles that day in 21:18 according to my own watch, not my goal but not bad, I ran what seemed a mile and a half extra to get to the finish line, so I was skeptical.  But I looked them up and here are the official results.  No kidding, I won my age group with a chip time of 30:14.  Not only that, they are declaring the winning time at 22:57.  For a 5K?  We may be a little slow here in Texas with our daily fights to ward off barbeque and TexMex, but I think these results show a different kind of slowness, the above-the-shoulder kind.  I don't see how they can declare a winner with a straight face.

Event: 5K			Division: M 50-59
PL	No	Name	Age	Pace	Chip Time	Gun Time
1	766	Mark Thurber	56	9:41/M	30:14	30:16
2	770	Mark Traylor	50	10:53/M	33:57	34:27
3	548	Andre Childress	57	12:55/M	40:17	40:39
4	763	Mike Thomas	50	13:50/M	43:11	48:14
5	755	Rob Sullivan	56	15:37/M	48:44	49:20

OK, I'm done talking about it now.

48F, 94%, calm and clear.  Another picture perfect morning, just beautiful out there.  I was still a little sore from yesterday, my feet are getting used to the new shoes and they are a little heavier, but once I got going I felt good.  I ran 5.5 at LHR, average pace 9:27.  My left groin (the healthy one) started pulling during the LHR miles and I thought I would have to stop, but I changed my stride pattern a little bit and got it to go away.  Then transition for a half mile, then 5 at GMP, 7:45 (154), 7:28 (158), 7:23 (162), 7:23 (165) and 7:26 (166), then 1 cooldown and done.  Felt pretty tired at the end.  I was telling my younger son Austin about the nerve pain I have been getting in my right leg when I drive after running and he immediately diagnosed it as coming from my herniated disk from three years ago, which is exactly right when I think about it.  My back was starting to hurt a little bit today at about mile 10, so back to my lower back stretching exercises, I feel better now.  Overall I ran 12.05 miles in 1:43:28, average pace 8:35.  Good run today.

Purely for scientific purposes, I put my Jingas on Austin's food scale.  First picture is the heavier ones that just came in the mail and which now have about 35 miles on them, second is the ones I have been running in for most of the year, they have about 1100 miles on them (550 per shoe, but you know what I mean), and the third is a new pair which just arrived yesterday (I stockpile them when they go on sale for 30 Pounds Sterling), and which for some reason are the lighter version.  Weight is in ounces:

So race strategy is to run in the old light ones.  I have been told (and I keep telling myself) that these shoe styles are highly fashionable in Brazil.  Too bad I live in Texas, where you can get shot for wearing stuff like this.

54F, 90%, calm and clear, still holding on to the good weather.  Did the same thing as yesterday but a little faster.  5.5 warmup miles, average pace 9:25 which is my best LHR pace to date.  1/2 transition, then 5 at GMP:  7:28 (157), 7:24 (160), 7:23 (163), 7:22 (166) and 7:23 (169) (heart rate slightly higher than yesterday), then one cooldown.  Total 12.00 miles in 1:42:22, average pace 8:32 per mile. 

One of my many brothers ran a 5K last night.  He doesn't blog, but I told him to let me know as soon as he found out.  I have one of my own in the morning, so I gotta know, y'know.  This particular brother won state in cross-country in high school, but hasn't run much since and he trains like a lazy bum.  He is 10 years younger than me.  We like to keep in touch, we chat like sisters, so naturally we had a nice talk after he got done.  Here are our texts:

Him:  19:30

Me:  Crap

Him:  LOL

Game on. 

66F, 84%, SSE 5 mph.  Race day today, dawned bright and clear.  Actually a little cloudy but any time you get to run at 7:30 instead of 4:30 it qualifies as bright and clear.  I ran down to Wade's house and he brought his wife and daughter to the race.  My son and daughter-in-law (Clint and Becky) also ran, they live in the area and met us there.  The race is a fundraiser for ovarian cancer and is associated with the Texas Medical Center, so for once on a Houston 5K we weren't running out of downtown.  This course was also better than the downtown course.

We got there a little early, got our bibs, warmed up a little bit, met up with Clint and Becky and got lined up.  Last year there were only about 600 runners, at least twice that this year.  I could tell when warming up that my groin was going to be a problem.  Wade and I lined up toward the front.  I went out fast, probably a sub-6 pace for the first half mile, then my groin went tight and I pulled up.  Almost stopped, contemplated turning around, but kept going at a jog and the tightness subsided a little bit.  Wade said later he saw me pull up, then speed back up, but I never sped up to the original pace.  Not sure if I could have handled it anyway but would have been fun to find out.  First mile was 6:35, so that is why I think I was booking it at the beginning.  After that I was just trying to find a stride pattern and length that could keep me going.  The course didn't have any sharp turns so it was ideal that way.  Second mile 6:43, so I started out almost identically to my last 5K.  Third mile I held pace, 6:45, which is why I did better this time.  I was plenty beat but never made it into the puke zone because I couldn't accelerate.  I think a 20-minute 5K is approachable for me at this point, but probably wouldn't have made it today even with a healthy groin -- a little worrisome as to whether it will significantly affect UVM preparations.

Stayed around for the awards, got a medal to give to my granddaughter.  First place in the 50-54 group was 17:45, the guy is 53 years old, something to shoot for.  I would have won the 40-44 group, age group awards are very hit and miss on these 5Ks.  But this one was very well organized and a lot of fun.  Plus they measured the course exactly right.  I will run it again next year if I can.