For Whom the Dogs Bark

73F, 61% and calm.  I was overjoyed with our weather this morning, unbelievably low humidity, went long again, very low heart rate, though probably not low enough.  20.00 miles in 3:24:22, 10:13/mile, RHR 50, 132 average bpm, 144 max.  Pretty tired by the end, but it went OK.

69F, 75% and calm, another great running day.  10.00 miles in 1:25:22, 8:32/mile.  RHR 50, 147 average, 176 max.  Did 5 miles warmup, 9:42 (130), 9:03 (139), 8:48 (141), 8:51 (143) and 8:43 (144).  Then 5 x 1000, 7:44 mile pace (158), 7:33 (160), 7:33 (163), 7:23 (165) and 7:14 (169), 7:29 average pace.  These were hard, but results were better as I progressed through the sequence without a lot of extra work -- I have quite a bit of endurance now, just need to be able to apply it at higher speeds.  I jogged out each mile, generally in the 9:20 to 9:40 range.  Legs feel good, this workout did not waste me, which is probably the best thing about it.

Driving to Arizona starting this afternoon, I'll get in some high altitude runs there.

Fort Stockton, TX, 65F, 48%, SSE 8 mph, 2,972' elevation.  Ran 10 miles out of the motel, straight up Hwy. 285 and back.  Was making pretty good time (heart-rate wise) on the way out, then turned around and realized I had been running slightly downhill with the wind at my back, pace dropped by about 30 seconds per mile.  Lots of oil out here, and lots of oil-field trucks going by, some closer to me than others.  Overall 10.00 miles in 1:39:23, 9:56/mile.  46 RHR, 134 average, 146 max.  Then into my car to drive to Arizona.

Big Lake, AZ, 44F, 68%, SSE 8 mph, elevation 9,100 at end, highest point 9,400.  Drove from Round Valley up to the top and ran to Big Lake, a fishing reservoir up here.  Lungs were burning the first half-mile heading up the first hill, then I was OK through 10, then it was a struggle to finish the last few hills, my legs were too tired.  My niece gave us water every two miles and a ride home when we were done.  Dirt road all the way, some of the rocks were too big for my Jingas.  14.00 miles in 2:19:22, 9:57/mile, 49 RHR, 148/170.  The wide open meadows on top are spectacular, but this cell-phone photo is inadequate.  The mountain in the distance is the second-highest point in Arizona, climbed it a couple of times when I was a kid.  Some friends ran up it once but I was never that crazy.  Now that I am that crazy I am incapable.

Springerville, AZ, 44F, 82%, E 5 mph, elevation 7,000'.  Ran north out of town along the highway, out and back.  Lots of hills but quite relaxing after yesterday.  10.00 miles in 1:34:51, 9:29/mile.  49 RHR, 140/156.

According to the new person running this race, there were double the number of entrants from last year.  I showed up expecting at least 200 runners but there were more like 25, and that was 5K and 10K combined.  Most of the faster runners were in the 10K, but we all started together.  Combined with 7,000' elevation, the first 2.5 miles was all uphill, plus a couple of side-hills on the way back down.  I had an 8:40 mile in one stretch.  Was comfortably below 8:00 for most of the way down, but my legs were too wasted to do much more than that.  I did pass the 5K winner, though.  Turns out he is the son-in-law of a woman I graduated with.  She now has 22 grandchildren and counting, of which he is the proud owner of 6.  Age division awards were a bit spotty, to put the best light on it.  Some divisions had no runners.  Mine had 4, so they gave it the whole deal, starting with the bronze medal and dramatically announcing me as the gold medal winner.  The medal was actually yellowish in color, so I took it home.  I don't have any races at elevation scheduled for this year (unless you count SGM), so not sure if any of this running this week did any good.  I had fun though; went to my HS reunion and got to hang out with my family for a few days.  Drove back to Houston over the weekend.