For Whom the Dogs Bark

73F, wind SSE 7 mph, 87% humidity, storms moving in.  Good running weather.  Ran 10.02 in 1:59:16, average pace 11:54 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  My ankle was tender for 3 miles then not an issue, so that was encouraging after Saturday's long run.  Not much else going on, except the strap on my hat came loose.  It will have to be re-attached, because I am not giving up on this hat.  I have run every mile I have ever run in it since my first marathon.  I wear it in races, I wear it training, I wear it to work, and to bed.  Maybe kidding on the last two.  Even more important, it covers my questionable hairline.  Bald is cool for some guys, like that blogger in Pittsburgh, but others have yet to embrace it.

75F, wind SSE 5 mph, 82% humidity, cloudy, great running weather.  Completely screwed up my Garmin this morning.  Forgot to re-set it going out, so I was running on top of yesterday's clock.  Then I hit the lap button, not sure what that did but nothing good.  Then after my sprint I turned it off, not sure why, for about 3/10 of a mile, so everything today is an estimate.  I ran the first 7 miles at low heart rate in regular shoes, mid 11s.  Then switched to flats and went as far as I could at a 7:10 pace, trying for 7:00 but that wasn't happening.  I ran out of gas after about 3/4 of a mile, but hey, I got my first distance in at close to my next goal 10K pace, just have to run that hard for another 5.5 miles and I'll be good to go.  After that I went back to original pace, although my heart rate was in the 140s because of the sprint.  On my sister's orders I iced down my ankle after the run and so far it feels great, like I don't have to wait 12 hours for the inflammation to fade.  We'll see how it holds up today, but I might have stumbled on to a pretty good solution here.

Well, I took the plunge.  I'm going to run the Utah Valley Marathon this year, signed up last night just before the fee went up.  It is way ahead of schedule to get a BQ, but the ankle is improving, I'm in range, the course is fast and the weather should be cool.  So I'm going to try.  I still have a few weeks to improve, so maybe it will work out OK.  I have to run 8:37 pace to qualify, pretty ambitious, but I'm glad to just have a chance.

75F, 84% humidity, wind SSE 10-18 mph.  'Twas a great running day.  Ran 12.03 in 2:18:03, average pace 11:29 per mile, low heart rate.  Ran the first two miles in flats then switched to regular shoes.  First five splits were 11:42, 10:45, 11:17, 11:22, 11:13.  Ignoring the first mile, which I always run slow until my heart gets warmed up, this is pretty good evidence that on the same day in the same conditions I am 30 seconds per mile faster in my flats, possibly more than that because my fastest mile is usually my fifth mile.  That is too much advantage to pass up, I need to get my ankles in shape to wear flats for the marathon, so I'll be trying to wear them every day for at least part of the run.  I could feel the weakness in my ankles for the first two miles, then my feet felt more support when I put on regular shoes, so I think it is just a matter of building up to it.  I have enough time if I keep at it.  I iced my ankle down and it feels fine so far today.

Also worked on hydration this morning.  I realized that if I try to drink all the time, even if I'm not that thirsty, maybe I can increase my ability to absorb water.  Worth a try.  Also weighed myself, down to 165, so making progress.  That is 35 off altogether from the beginning.  I ran St. George in 2009 at about 180.

75F, 85% humidity, wind SSE 10-20 mph.  Good running weather.  Ran 12.22 miles at a mixture of speeds, overall pace 10:58 per mile, low heart rate on the easy miles.  I warmed up in flats then tried to run at 7:00 per mile, my new 10K goal.  Had to quit after .32 miles (7:02 pace) because the house key fell out of a hole in my pocket.  (Bet that's the first time anybody heard that one.)  So I jogged for a while longer then tried it again.  This time I made .87 miles at 7:09 pace (top heart rate 186 bpm) before the wind picked up and slowed me down.  Then I jogged back to the house and changed to regular shoes, ankle was feeling it a little bit and still is.  I went back to low heart rate (about 12:00 per mile, some higher some lower) until mile 9.  Even though the regular shoes felt heavy and clunky, I knew I needed some marathon pace miles, so I did the last two at 8:37 and 8:26, although it was hard to hold a steady pace, I kept wanting to go to either 8:00 or 9:00.  Anyway, it went pretty well, I thought it would be harder than it was after running ten miles including a little bit of fast stuff, but probably a good thing it wasn't, otherwise I wouldn't have a prayer for a BQ in a month.  There is a workout that people talk about, which is to do a 20-mile run, first half at MP plus 1.5 minutes, then 8 at MP then 2 at 10K pace, accelerating to 5K pace for the last 400.  They say if you can do that one you will have confidence that you can make your marathon pace in the actual marathon.  I have a few Saturday's left, maybe I'll try that one a couple of times if my left ankle holds up.

About 10 degrees cooler this morning, great running weather, didn't run though.  Was up very late working and the ankle was a still a little iffy this morning after yesterday's frolic.  It gets more sore as the day wears on, which probably means that inflammation builds up from sitting all day.  So I did elliptical for an hour this morning after sleeping in and taking my daughter to school.  Actually ran the machine pretty fast -- I didn't bring my heart rate monitor but I could tell it was racing by the time I finished.  Still, I'm not going to put down anything other than 6 easy for an hour on the elliptical.  It feels much better today so I think I can run in the morning, not sure how far.  Kind of frustrating to be training around an injury while trying to get ready for a race, but so far it has worked out.

Maybe it was the high sustained rate on the machine, but driving around to my meetings today I felt wonderful.  I guess it was endorphins but it almost seemed more than that, like all the toxins were flushed out of my system.  That sounds pretty new-agey I guess.  So I stopped and bought fries.

66F, 100% humidity, wind NNW 6 mph.  66F was nice running weather, felt great for the first 100 yards but I embraced it even after that.  I looked at the 10-day forecast and it is showing thunderstorms everyday, first time I have ever seen that.  The forecasts never actually happen exactly as predicted, but I think we have a lot of moisture coming in.  Thunderstorms are the one no-no I impose on my running, but usually they boil up in the afternoon so I should be OK. 

Oh yes, I went for a run this morning.  I went 11.02 miles, average pace 9:49, regular shoes.  The plan was to do 20, first half at marathon pace plus 1.5, then marathon pace for 8, then 10K pace for the last 2.  My ankle was very stiff to start out but it loosened up and I did the first 10 at about 9:55 per mile.  Did the next mile at 8:38, one second over marathon pace, then a few steps into my second mile I re-pulled my groin, in a single step.  I knew instantly what it was because the identical thing happened in my last marathon.  It is posible to run through it but not smart.  I stopped immediately and walked home, otherwise I would pay a price that I have learned is too high.  Probably bad form caused it.  I was smelling this run, it was there.  I am pretty sure I could have finished it as planned, though the 10K splits at the end might have been a little iffy.  So I think I am going to play it conservatively and go back to the machines for a week.  Then I will run in Utah this next weekend since I am traveling there for my son-in-law's graduation; maybe I can get acclimated a little for the Utah Valley Marathon in four weeks.

The way I figure it, for UVM I have three things going for me:  Temperature/humidity, taper and downhill.  The altitude is against me.  I believe the temperature will at a minimum make up for the altitude, it is very draining to run in high humidity at 65F+.  So I net out to plus 2, the taper and the downhill slant of the course.  I should be OK, but race day will tell the tale, as it always does.  You are what you ran last, and until I run something better I am a 4:13 marathoner.

Happy weekend, all y'all.