For Whom the Dogs Bark

75F, 97% humidity, clear and calm.  Gorgeous morning after a lot of rain yesterday.  Houston is beautiful and green if you can get past the heat and the best way to do that is get right out in it.  Ran 11.18 miles in 1:36:12, average pace 8:36 per mile in flat shoes, including 10:16 warmup first mile, 8:26 per mile after taking out the warmup mile, 11 seconds under BQ pace.  Most interesting thing was my low heart rate compared to a similar run last week, on Thursday (76F/97%, conditions almost identical).  Bpm comparisons after throwing out the warmup miles:  144 (149); 147 (154); 152 (158);155 (163); 156 (165); 157 (168); 157 (169); 157 (171); 160 (174); and 161 (178).  That run was in regular shoes, but it was the same heart rate as flat shoes the day before.  Interesting that the bpm spread went from 5 in the first mile to 17 in the last mile, I think it shows I am getting some conditioning in that heart rate range.  Plus my speed was 5 seconds per mile faster today, felt like I could have completed a marathon, which is a good thing because that is exactly what I am going to have to do in less than 4 weeks.  Another encouraging development was Wade's 20 miler last weekend, which he ran in Utah.  Despite the altitude, unlit road (he took a spill) and a lot of hills, he flew in the cool air and low humidity.  Gives me hope. 

73F, 97% humidity, calm and clear with ground fog.  I didn't know you could have fog at this temperature, but definitely a great morning for running.  Went long and slow, 11.01 miles in 1:56:58, average pace 10:37 pe rmile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  Woke up at 2:30 and couldn't go back to sleep.  Finally got up at 5:00 and hit the road at 5:30, back just in time to take my daughter to school.  I am going to be sleepy today, already am, but it didn't seem to affect my speed, this was a good pace for regular shoes.

So last Saturday my son went to homecoming at his girlfriend's high school and the group and their parents came to our house for pictures.  Two strange things.  First was that the group of 13 kids was 9 girls and 4 boys, there were 5 girls without dates.  That is new to me, nothing wrong with it but when I was a kid you took a date to a big dance or stayed home or did something else.  Second thing was of a very different nature.  Two of the girls were mothers of 3-month infants, who were included in some of the pictures.  Both of the mothers had dates, one was the father and the other was not.  When I realized what the situation was, I just sat in the corner in shock while everybody chattered away.  I am not ignorant about teenage parenting, but I naively thought that if you had a kid the party was over.  Apparently not.  Still trying to sort this one out in my head, but I am pretty sure these kids don't understand the full extent of the price they will be paying for their decisions.

70F, 100% humidity, calm and clear.  The air felt a little fresher this morning, but I think the humidity is the main limiting factor.  Until the humidity goes down my pace isn't really going to pick up that much.  I had to quit early to take my daughter to school for tutoring.  I ran 8.01 miles in 1:09:07, average pace 8:38, regular shoes.  Average pace for the fast miles was 8:25, slightly faster than Monday -- heart rate today was slightly lower on the front end, a little higher at the end, so a good run.  Felt like I was working pretty hard despite a pretty normal heart rate.  The legs really need to get used to marathon pace, not really there yet.  I was very fatigued yesterday after waking up so early then putting in a long day, including taking clients to the Astros game.  Slept well though and didn't feel like there was much residual effect this morning.  I might try to go faster tomorrow if I am feeling decent.

66F, 94% humidity, clear and calm.  Beautiful morning outside, the weather broke last night and I wasn't aware until I stepped outside to catch a satellite with my Garmin.  I was considering skipping this run altogether, because I was up until past midnight due to a daughter's car accident.  (She is OK, ran over a tire on a freeway in Louisiana, don't ask why she was in Louisiana, I'm still not sure.)  But I woke up pretty much on schedule.  I had planned a half-marathon run in an overconfident moment earlier in the week, but it was daunting to get up this morning and actually have to do it.  But I put on my flats and went out the door on autopilot and warmed up for a mile (9:59) then took off.  The goal was to do 13 at 8 flat and I succeeded.  Splits for the 13 were 8:00 (148); 8:01 (153); 7:59 (155); 8:03 (159); 7:50 (161); 7:58 (163); 7:58 (163); 8:04 (165); 8:00 (166); 7:52 (168); 8:12 (168); 7:51 (172); and 7:45 (175), average pace for the 13 was 7:58, overall average was 8:06, total time 1:53:28 and 1:43:30 for the 13, which projects to 1:44:18 for a full half marathon, which is about an 8-1/2 minute PR for me for that distance, not that I have run it much.  I got an assist from the weather, not sure what would have happened at 76F but probably wouldn't have made it.  Gotta go, big day at work today.  Happy running everybody.

75F, 94% humidity, calm and clear.  Nice running weather out there.  I had a smile on my face when I woke up after 7-1/2 hours of sleep, no fast miles today.  Got some tomorrow, then a very welcome three weeks of taper.  Ran 11.10 miles in 2:01:41, 10:58 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  The slow miles felt relaxed for a while, then I was laboring to finish -- my average pace climbed from 10:50 to 10:58 in the last 4 miles.  Not out of breath, just fatigued.  A lot of residual fatigue left from yesterday's frolic.  I think I am OK, though.  Ideally I would get a nap today, but it ain't happenin'.

I had an interesting dream last night, variation on the old one where I forget to go to class for a whole semester then wonder how I am going to pass the final, or even figure out where it is.  I still have that dream even though I finished my last degree well over 20 years ago.  In last night's version I was running my "BQ" marathon and got distracted.  About 20 miles in I realized I was right on pace for a 4:30 marathon, no wonder I felt so good.  I had stopped to help paint lines in the road, not sure why that was so important.  Another reason I was happy to wake up this morning with a BQ possibility still alive.

76F, 94% humidity, wind NE 3 mph.  Another beautiful scorcher of a morning.  Went with Wade to the same neighborhood group we ran with a few weeks ago.  They have great trails out there and some faster runners.  The plan for me was to do two 9.5 mile loops, but Wade is on his SGM taper already so he was only out for 15.  Ran 20.04 in 3:07:02, average pace 9:20 per mile, regular shoes.  On the second loop, was almost to marathon pace when Wade peeled off to run back.  His race is shaping up nicely, bpm already lower than mine at the same speed.  I sped up to marathon pace and managed to hold it for 4.5 miles.  Came into an aid station (this group is very organized) and I was done, heart rate was up to 177.  Rehydrated, ate a little bit and felt queasy.  When I started back in the best pace I could manage was 10:00 to 10:15 but I held it the rest of the way, including an extra mile at the end to get a full 20.  Very different run than Thursday, but it was fine.  I didn't feel pressure to perform because I already got my confidence run on Thursday.  So when I was done I was done.  No unusual aches and pains so far this morning, but very much looking forward to a taper.

Came upon a sad scene on the second loop.  A lot of runners were on the trail by this time.  A kid was standing alongside holding a big sign that said "I lied to my Dad".  I'm sure he was hoping he didn't see anybody he knew.  He was probably about 15.  I certainly sympathize with the dad, some of the stuff that teenagers throw at us starts to get really old after awhile.  But he may not realize that this might be the last time he can make his kid to do anything, or close to it.   I know I have had my share of situations where I would welcome a do-over.