For Whom the Dogs Bark

Texas Half Marathon

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Location:

Cypress,TX,

Member Since:

Oct 10, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K: 24:22 (March 2010); 22:33 (October 2010); 20:47 (May 2011); 21:05 (May 2012); 21:33 (September 2012); 21:23 (November, 2013); 22:31 (September 2014)

5M:  39:22 (November, 2012); 35:54 (November, 2013); 36:03 (March, 2015)

10K: 44:08 (November, 2010); 49:20 (July, 2013); 44:07 (April, 2015)

12K:  56:03 (December, 2013); 58:58 (December, 2014)

10M:  1:11:58 (October, 2012); 1:15:24 (October, 2014)

Half Marathon:  1:53:xx (London's Run 2010); 2:05:21 (Cowtown 2010); 1:37:04 (Gusher 2011); 1:42:19 (Huntsville 2011); 1:33:47 (Baytown Jailbreak 2012); 1:33:50 (The Woodlands 2012); 1:42:52 (Texas 2015); 1:49:17 (Jailbreak 2015); 1:38:34 (The Woodlands 2015)

25K: 2:01:47 (Fifth Third River Bank, May 2014)

Marathon: 5:51:35 (Texas Marathon 2009); 6:21:36 (Ogden 2009); 4:58:29 (St. George 2009); 4:13:45 (Texas Marathon 2010); 4:04:12 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2010); 5:11:14 (Hartford ING, 2010); 3:41:43 (Richmond SunTrust, 2010); 3:39:27 (Texas Marathon 2011); 3:41:46 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2011); 3:30:35 (St. George 2011); 3:41:51 (Richmond 2012); 3:49:15 (Texas 2013); 3:46:59 (Paavo Nurmi, 2013); 3:34:04 (St. George 2013); 3:49:51 (Texas 2014); 3:31:59 (Richmond 2014); 3:28:34 (Boston 2015)

Short-Term Running Goals:

3:20, 1:30, 0:20

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'm 60, there is no long term.

Personal:

I live, work and run in Houston, Texas.  I have run 17 marathons, some good ones and some others.  I prefer straight, flat, cold, sea-level marathons, still waiting for my first one.  I feel like there are more PRs out there.  When I have them, I am told it is time to dial it back, run for healthy reasons.  I'm sure that's right, and I'm sure it won't happen.

My wife and I are from the mountains of the west.  We have five kids, three granddaughters and three grandsons.  The kids and grandkids are native Texans but we are not -- you have to be born here.

As for my blog title: I run most of my miles before sunrise, sometimes hours before. On the back road of my neighborhood two hours before daylight, I can depend on a pack of mutts behind the boundary fence lighting up when they hear my footsteps. I have wondered what they wanted; but according to Hemingway I needn't ask.

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.2416.011.860.0038.11
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

47F, 93%, ENE 7 mph.  Didn't run yesterday due to some work deadlines, so in a bit of a bind to get 15 in this week and taper at the same time for Thursday's half.  Decided best option was to run 10 miles at LLHR today, 48 hours out, then get the last 5 tomorrow.  Run turned out to be pretty good, 11:29/mile, 119 bpm average, much better than how these LLHR runs were going a couple of weeks ago.  Looks like I am finally past the cold/flu episode that has been dogging me since the week of Richmond.  But I probably got a new dose in church on Sunday.  Somebody sitting directly behind me was coughing constantly throughout, so hard I could feel the breeze on my neck.

Today was ideal running weather, just a little bit gusty.  Ran it in shorts, short sleeves and hat, no gloves, stayed cold the whole time but not frigid.  Wish it was like this every day.  Not happening though; race day, for instance, is forecasted 10 degrees colder with wind and rain.  Lovely.  At this point I am very glad I got my marathon done at Richmond.

Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.240.001.860.005.10

40F (34 WC), 77% NNE 10 mph.  So the plan on this last day of the year was three-fold, in order of importance:  (a) 2,000 miles for the year; (b) begin and finish speed work for this training cycle; and (c) taper for tomorrow's race.  Got them all done, happy to report.  2,000.23 miles (overachiever here), one day of speed work and 24 hours' taper, should be in great shape for tomorrow.  

Today I warmed up for 2, 8:53, 8:26, then 3 x 1K at GHMP, jogging out each mile:  7:28, 7:29 and 7:12.  Overall 5.1 miles in 41:43, no reliable heart rate indicator in the cold wind.

Speaking of which, the rain tomorrow is apparently holding off until late-morning, early-afternoon, so we should be good to go, high 30s/low 40s temperature range.  Wind is not a problem on that course.  

Happy new year, be safe out there all y'all.

Comments(4)
Race: Texas Half Marathon (13.01 Miles) 01:42:52, Place overall: 14
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0013.010.000.0013.01

41F, 95%, N 7 mph and light rain.  Cold and rainy this morning.  Didn't affect the race, but made things mody uncomfortable before and after.  Next time I need to remember to bring dry shoes -- I had dry socks but you can't put them in wet shoes.  Almost nobody was there except runners and volunteers.  Riding a wave of confidence after the conclusion yesterday of my one-workout training cyle, followed by a generous 24-hour taper, I hopped in Wade's truck at 6:30 and we were off to the races.

This race is run by an aging hippie, Steve Boone, and his wife Paula, possibly the two nicest people on the planet.  They give out good stuff (real stuff, as Steve calls it), including the largest finishing medals in the industry.  And Steve run/walks all his races himself.  I have run this race 4 times as the marathon, but only ran the half today.  The course measures a little short according to my Garmin.  I have measured it short every year, and Steve's e-mail this year indicates he is up for "recertification", which probably means somebody got wind of the issue.  Not an issue if it is long, even if it is quite long, but if a certified course seems just a little short certain people get wound up.  The missing 1/10 mile today was worth 3 seconds per mile, no big deal.

The race started at 8:15 a.m. and within a couple of miles I knew it wasn't going to be a stellar day.  Goal was 7:30/mile, but actual splits were as follows:  8:16, 7:45, 7:59 (169), 7:49 (169), 7:58 (168), 7:44 (170), 7:41 (170), 7:32 (172), 7:57 (170), 7:59 (1680), 7:58 (168), 8:12 (168) and 8:04 (168).  Should have been able to finish at least at180 bpm, but nothing was happening with my legs.  Some of it is due to training through, but mostly I am not completely back in shape after losing training miles to the cold and flu I have had off and on since November.  I think the winning time was close to my PR, and I am pretty sure the second-place time was slower than it.  

Wade and I agreed on the way home that a bad day at the races is still a ton of fun, even in the rain.  

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.003.000.000.0010.00

Raining, thunder and lightning and cold this morning, ran inside on TM at Planet Fitness.  10 miles, had to re-set the machine at one hour.  Started out at 10:00/mile, ended up at 6:50.  Overall averaged about 10 seconds per mile slower than I raced on Thursday, which was interesting.  The bottom of my left foot is bruised, at least that is what I hope it is, rather than a stress fracture.  Felt pretty bad all day, but getting a little better by Sunday afternoon.

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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.2416.011.860.0038.11
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