For Whom the Dogs Bark

79F, 82%, SSE 10-21 mph.  Suprisingly nice weather out there despite the temperature and wind.  I am now two weeks out, so won't be running anything more than 8 for the duration.  Warmed up two miles then took 6 at GMP:  7:41 (152), 7:26 (160), 7:23 (162), 7:32 (168), 7:20 (174) and 7:12 (179).  Overall 8.13 miles in 1:05:45, average pace 8:05, max heart rate 182.  Despite the junky heart rates, I feel good and am looking forward to running a respectable race at UVM.

Afterward I sat down outside to dry off.  It is actually quite nice at these temperatures just at sunrise, so long as no running is involved.  I saw a guy fishing and several different kinds of birds.  A great blue heron fishing along the edge of the lake and 6 or 8 red-wing blackbirds just being busy, couldn't tell that they were accomplishing anything.  These two are old friends from my days as a kid in Bear Lake Valley.  The red-wings have just recently shown up in my neighborhood, very cool.  Also saw mockingbirds eating bugs in the grass and arguing in the trees, two different kinds of swallows darting around like point guards, grackles (yuck) and a circling vulture who had an eye on me.  Three different kinds of airplanes, but I guess I can't count those.  Gotta love the long holiday weekends.

77F, 84%, SSE 7 mph.  Not bad weather out there, especially for a slow day, but we need rain.  Ran 8.00 miles in 1:18:57, average pace 9:52, LHR.  The taper continues.

PM 4 TM miles hill work.

71F, 95%, ENE 4 mph.  Nice balmy morning, honestly it felt comfortable after the last couple of days.   Was still sweating like a porcine mammal at the end though.  Slept in because school is out, went out late and did my run.  3 miles LHR at 9:33 pace then 5 x 1K at approximately half marathon pace:  7:25 (153), 7:23 (158), 7:23 (163), 7:21 (164) and 7:11 (169).  I jogged out each mile at 8:30 to 9:00 pace.  overall 8.00 miles in 1:08:32, average pace 8:34.  Felt pretty good the whole time, but at these heart rates I ain't gonna hit 7:30 at UVM, no matter how I slice, dice, adjust, extrapolate and pray.  I still think I will run a good race, though.  I can feel my legs getting a little bit stronger now that I am cutting the mileage back.  No new injuries are popping up, the old ones are under control, and I have a great attitude.  As Joe used to say (before his first marathon), what could go wrong?

69F, 85% and calm to begin, 76F, 71% and calm at end, rapidly moving to 102F today.  Might as well live in Burt's town.  I thought there would be no time to run today with some work pressures, but insomnia hit so I got up plenty early to get everything done.  Finished up and headed out the door at 6:00 for a LHR run, 8.00 in 1:15:37, average pace 9:27 per mile.  Close to a LHR PR for me, one mile was 9:02 which was a PR, but the heat eventually caught up with me and the last couple of miles were over 9:30.  Legs are definitely a little stronger, even after running 1K repeats yesterday.

69F, 89% and calm to start, 82F, 77%, ESE 8 mph to end.  Wind turning to the southeast again so the weather will change by tomorrow I'm sure.  Slept in (7 hours of sleep!) and got out at 6:30, pretty warm by the time I finished.  Did 3 LHR miles, average pace 9:18, followed by 5 x 1000:  7:18 (151), 7:09 (157), 7:10 (160), 7:15 (163) and 7:20 (167), average 7:14 (160).  Wednesday's 5 x 1000 run was: 7:25 (153), 7:23 (158), 7:23 (163), 7:21 (164) and 7:11 (169), average 7:21 (161) so a little better today, taper appears to still be working.  More importantly, I feel better post-run today.

Intended to do some TM hill work last night, but attended my son's high school graduation instead.  I suppose that is more important?  His graduation with 800 of his closest friends bore no resemblance to my own class of 50.  But since we were 75 strong as juniors, the academics must be similar.  I graduated at the end of the hippie era, so political student speeches were the order of the day:  railing at Nixon, the school board and drug laws.  Now everything is sanitized, student speeches are approved in advance, as are prayers.  Valedictory speeches are history, because everybody is a winner now.  And the crowd is patrolled by the sheriff's department -- some beach ball throwers were escorted out to begin their life as criminals.  Kind of miss the old days.  The real party starts afterward, and it can be dangerous.  But for some unknown, unexpected reason my son stayed home, maybe he is turning a corner.

65F, 97%, finishing up at 72F, 87%, calm and clear.  Air was fresh and clear, great day to be running.  Drove with Wade down to the Y and our group wasn't there.  We latched on to another group and ran 10.01 miles in 1:34:28, average pace 9:26 per mile, all LHR until the last 2 or 3, couldn't hold it after that.  We intended to only do 8, but noticed a new paved trail and decided to see where it went, that added an extra couple of miles but the trail was beautiful.  I have heard that you aren't supposed to do more than 8 as you get close to a race if you want a true taper, but hopefully the extra 2 didn't do too much damage.  Time goes very quickly when you have company, a fun run.

I am working on a carb depletion/loading plan this weekend.  There are a lot of theories out there, one of which is that if you change to about a 30 to 40 percent carb intake the first part of the week, then 80% the last couple of days, you get a super-loading effect.  Also, supposedly if you run some sprints (6 or 8, 40 to 80 yards) the day before, you get a similar effect.  Deciding whether to experiment or not.  I also have my sister-in-law's vegetarian pasta recipe, which I ate (the pasta, not the recipe) before the Richmond Marathon.  I am thinking of making it up, freezing it and bringing it on the plane with me to eat when I get to the hotel Friday night.  I think I can get it through security if I bring enough for the TSA guys to share.