For Whom the Dogs Bark

67F, 5.18 miles in 1:10::05, average pace 13:32 per mile, average heart rate 127 bpm.  Once again, I am upping my running time a little.  If all goes well I will keep doing that until I get to 90 minutes 5 days in a row, plus Saturday.  Despite my flu shot two weeks ago, I have flu-like symptoms this morning and was on aspirin all night.  But I didn't think running would make it any worse and I was right.  About halfway through I started sweating just like at the end of the flu -- it would be interesting if it were possible to sweat out flu toxins by running.  Maybe that will become clear during the day today.  Other than the slower than normal pace, which could be attributed to the heat or the flu, the legs, Charley and Horse, performed admirably, with no pain or other indication that they remained under any particular strain from Saturday's run.  Got in just in time, though, a Texas-sized thunderstorm just started.  Cooler temps tomorrow undoubtedly.

53F, WNW wind @ 10 mph, average pace 13:06, average heart rate 127, total time 1:10:00.  A little better than yesterday, but I still have some flu left.  It rained all day yesterday and it is just now blowing out, although it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow, not colder.  I don't like running in the wind, never have.  Good run anyway, though.

50F, no wind, 5.61 miles in 1:10:01, 126 bpm, 12:32 average pace.  It was supposed to be warm this morning but turned out to be perfect.  Also, no heart rate issues even though it was cold, which is different from the last three cold mornings.  I still have a few residual flu symptoms, but the run helped clear out my congestion, so I'm feeling pretty good about things.  I had one run back in May that was pretty close to this one, I actually slammed down a couple of mid-11s on that one, but I suspect I let my heart rate get up a little higher on that one, I wasn't as good at keeping it down then.  All in all I would rate this as my best low heart rate run.

With a mile to go my Garmin started going crazy, beeping like a car alarm that you can't turn off.  It had a message on it, but my eyesight isn't good enough to read it while running.  When I pushed the start/stop button at the end the beeping finally went away, but so did the message so I'll never know what it said.  I was running very early and there was no moon -- maybe it was a message from another medium.  That's my technical explanation, I'll be on the lookout for further information from unusual sources.

It was a weird one this morning.  The temperature was 79F, compared to 50 yesterday.  I started running and my Garmin wouldn't work except for the heart rate monitor.  Plus it was windy, swirling rain the whole time.  Plus my legs started to feel tired, this is almost three weeks now that I have run 6 days a week.  Even though I have kept exertion levels low, there is still a little fatigue setting in.  Anyway, I ran the same route as yesterday, probably a little slower, I felt the heat.  It is hard to run in a hot wind, because when you are running into it it slows you down, and when it is behind you there is no breeze at all and you heat up.  Either way you are screwed.

Enough whining.  I did it.  Was actually going to go a little more just to let my legs know I am in charge, but I had to make a financial transaction, as Burt would say.  My banker usually likes to see me every day and I was late, enough said.

55F, 1:00:00, average pace 12:44. I wasn't going to go out this morning because of a late night and because my legs felt heavy during yesterday's run, but I'm glad I did. The heart rate readout on my watch was out of whack again in the blustery wind, but I ran some different roads and everything felt good. Had to come in early to get on a call about our London office, which is a train wreck. I'm hoping the long run goes well tomorrow.

43F at start, 49F at end, 17.00 miles in 3:00:01, average pace 10:35 (goal pace was 11:00), no heart rate monitor, splits as follows:

11:15, 11:03, 10:40, 10:48, 10:51, 11:10 (pull rock out of shoe), 11:25 (Juan*), 10:41, 10:35, 10:27, 10:30, 10:23, 10:22, 10:17, 9:52, 9:59, 9:40.

During the last third of the run I was trying to decide whether to stay at 3 hours or push through to 17 miles, but my speed kept picking up and I ended up doing both.  My legs felt heavy the whole time but never got worse, so I pushed through.  I am probably overtrained a little bit right now, but I'll back off next week, take my heart rate down to 125 bpm and only run an hour each day, then only two hours on Saturday at a true 11:00 pace.  That should get me back into equilibrium.  No knee problems despite the extra speed today.  Knock on wood, that issue seems to be a thing of the past.

Also, I passed another runner today.  That makes two this year.

*This is a term used by my politically incorrect older son to describe outdoor sanitary facilities at constructions sites, owing to the predominant ethnicity of crews in our area.