For Whom the Dogs Bark

28F, 63% humidity and calm.  Weather forecast was 25F, disappointed with that 28.  Not a good run, went 14.11 in 2:30:11, average pace 10:39 per mile, regular shoes and long pants.  Left leg is hurting in the same spot, top/front, no worse or better than Saturday, but I am starting to worry.  Also not happy to be so slow, not sure why, even in heavy shoes this run should have been about 20 seconds per mile faster.  Maybe it is the colder than normal weather moving me out of my sweet spot, or maybe my leg is slowing me down.  How I feel in the morning will be important.

34F, 89% humidity, calm and clear.  There is a star in the southeast that has been there for a month now, so bright it continues to shine as the sun comes up, very beautiful.  I assume it is Saturn, probably too big to be a star.  This weather seemed more compatible for running than yesterday.  I did 10.04 miles in 1:23:37, average pace 8:20, flat shoes.  Warmed up for 2 (10:00 and 9:18), then 8 at goal marathon pace, average pace 7:59 as follows:  7:57 (149), 7:58 (152), 7:57 (154), 8:00 (156), 7:53 (157), 8:08 (158), 8:05 (157) and 7:58 (159).  The hip flexor was OK until the last 3 miles, had to consciously power up in order to get my pace back below 8.  It really slows me down.  Overall though it was better than yesterday despite the higher speeds, so for now the situation looks to be manageable.  I think having lighter shoes helped as well, I was certainly glad to see my heart rate climb so slowly, I think that is a good sign, but probably not good enough to get me through a whole marathon.  My plan for the rest of the week is to do two more runs like this one tomorrow on Thursday, go slow on Friday, then plan Saturday according to how I am feeling.

57F, 90% humidity, wind SSW 2 mph.  Felt nice out there, not too warm or too cold.  I ran 12.09 miles in 1:39:58, average pace 8:16 per mile, flat shoes.  Warmed up 2 then ran 10 at GMP, average pace 7:54 per mile.  Heart rate was about 3 or 4 bpm higher today, possibly due to a slightly faster pace, possibly because of warmer temperatures.  Left hip flexor improved slightly again today, much appreciated.  The run was very doable, but still don't have confidence in the full marathon distance at this pace.  During the race I will probably try to follow my heart (rate) from the last one, and whatever the speed is, it is.

There is an interesting article in RW about the Hanson brothers out of Chicago.  They advocate running lots of MP miles and eschewing the long run.  The guy who wrote the article got a 10-year PR on a program that had no runs longer than 16 miles.  I found it interesting because I had arrived at a similar conclusion (as to the MP miles) in my own amateur way.  But I also like low heart rate running.  I try to either run fast or slow and avoid doing too much in-between stuff, although I still do more than I should.  I think what we perceive as a "slow" pace is too fast, in the sense that it exceeds the fat-burning effort and we end up just burning carbs at a slower speed, which is possibly a little less effective than staying down in the fat-burning zone or moving up to a high-heart rate zone.  My guess is that is why some people, such as the Hansons, are questioning the value of long runs, which are usually run at an in-between pace.  But there are a lot of theories and it is fun to experiment.

62F, 90% humidity, wind SSW 10 mph.  Breezy and mild, very nice out there, the extra heat didn't seem to bother me, although it may have elevated my heart rate a little.  Basically the same run as yesterday, a little faster.  Warmed up 2 then 10.00 miles at GMP, total of 12.02 in 1:37:46, average pace 8:08 per mile for the whole run, 7:47 per mile for the fast miles, which were as follows:  7:56 (151), 7:59 (154), 7:44 (158), 7:48 (160), 7:45 (164), 7:35 (166), 7:48 (166), 7:50 (166), 7:48 (168), 7:39 (171).  So quite a bit more heart rate action going on than yesterday, even though the runs look identical.  Part of the difference is still higher temperatures (back down to 41F tomorrow morning thankfully), some fatigue I guess, but I am guessing most of it is the faster pace.  7 seconds per mile faster than yesterday, doesn't sound like much, but I must be right at the cusp where going any faster puts me into a 10K/5K level of effort even though I'm not actually running those speeds.  No hip flexor issues during the run, I may have avoided that train wreck altogether.  Interesting that three straight days in flat shoes running hard seems to have cured it.  I went to flat shoes originally because I thought they would help me stay healthier, the extra speed was just a bonus.  Maybe the original purpose is finally coming through.  Time permitting I am going slow in the morning in regular shoes, will be interesting to see if my hip starts to hurt again..

49F, 69% humidity, wind NE 3 mph.  Briskier out there today.  Ran 9.94 in 1:41:52, average pace 10:15 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  This run was 24 seconds per mile better than Monday, when the temperature was 24F.  Then I ran out of time because I had to pick up my daughter from seminary.  It seemed like a short run but still pretty tired today.  A sudden business trip has come up, leaving tomorrow night and returning on a red-eye Wednesday morning, so running might be iffy for a couple of days, we'll see what the hotel situation is like.  I have been ragged busy for the last several days.  After tomorrow I start my taper for New Years Day.

46F, 55% humidity, wind NNE 7 mph.  It was supposed to be 41F this morning but was happy to see it a little warmer, left my gloves at home and ran pretty much in perfect temperatures, together with low humidity.  Ran the first 9 at 8:55 pace (GMP + 1) then ran 12 at GMP and 1 cooldown.  GMP miles were 8:17 (150), 8:03 (155), 7:56 (160), 7:50 (165), 7:59 (165), 8:05 (165), 7:54 (165), 8:03 (162), 8:15 (156), 7:57 (164), 7:29 (170) and 7:18 (176), maximum heart rate 182, average 7:56 for the 12.  Overall 22.07 miles, average 8:27 per mile, almost exactly the pace I ran at Richmond.  Flat shoes.  This was a hard run, stopped at mile 17 for water and took a phone call in mile 18.  Was happy to stop both times but it was hard getting back up to speed, my legs freeze up almost immediately when I stop.

My youngest daughter turns 14 today and she had a houseful of friends spending the night.  They got to bed at 3:30, but I didn't hear a thing.  They were up already when I got back and came down and joined me for breakfast.  They asked me how far I ran and had a look of incomprehension when I told them.  It was like explaining calculus to my granddaughter.

This is it for this training cycle.  Off to Argentina tonight, I plan to run there on Monday and Tuesday and I will miss Wednesday's run traveling back.  They have mid-summer temperatures going, not sure what the humidity is like.  There is a chance I may have to skip my New Years Day marathon because of a year-end business trip, but that is OK if it happens, the economy is back!