Long Run in the Hills of Conroe

OBJECTIVE
18 mi. w/last 3 mi. pickup

ACHIEVED
16.47 mi.@ 8:37/mi. (slight pickup over final 1.5 mi.)

5:27 AM 74° 94% 1 mph

This was a fun run although I didn't fully appreciate it until after the fact.

I rather large group ended up meeting in Conroe on League Line Road for this one. I'm sure I'll omit some but the group included: Stephanie, Laurie, Stacey, Randy, Josh, Jonathan, Cindy, LaErica, Shellie, Leno, Sim (sp?), Ann, Christina, and another Tornado who came late whose name I didn't catch. Manny answered the early wake up call to drive SAG for us. This was an incredibly generous act on his part since those in Houston had to meet at 4:15 AM to make it to Conroe in time to start. Manny was great driving all around the course as the group got strung out.

We started at "the church" and ran to the marina. This is a hilly section but it was very dark and we always say "it doesn't count if it's still dark." This is oddly true. Those earliest miles somehow melt it a haze and mentally vanish as the sun comes up. (However, I oftentimes still feel them physically.) On our way out, we heard something howling in the dark. It sounded a long ways off but it was a bit unnerving. My first guess is that is was coyotes. If not then I'm thinking it must have been dogs. It did sound wild and threatening.

From the marina, we turned back over the hills toward the church. Before getting to the church, we turned and went back to the marina. This section has some good up and down hills. We wanted to cover it twice but due to weekend traffic increasing didn't want to wait until the way back so that led to the double out-and-back. Before getting back to the church, we turned into the Teaswood neighborhood. At this point, it was just our usual Saturday group: Laurie, Stacey, Steph, Josh, Randy, and me. We were joined by Christina who I think usually runs with the Tornados on Sundays.

We wound our way through the slight ups-and-downs toward the freeway. Before the freeway, we turned back into another neighborhood for a big loop that I think was around 1 - 1.5 miles. We exited the loop and headed toward the freeway. We all needed water but Manny was nowhere to be found. I walked back up the freeway off ramp looking for him. After a minute or two, I looked back and the group was moving again. Everyone needed hydration. I figured they formed a plan while I was away. But as the group run away from me, I saw Christina coming back toward me. She asked if I was cutting it short for 17 instead of 21. I said yes since my schedule was for 18 and I didn't think 21 in the hills was a good idea at this point. She said that would be her long run too and that the others were going for 21. I was surprised because I thought only Laurie and Stacey were going for 21. Anyway, Christina and I headed back. Thankfully before making the loop through the side neighborhood, Manny found us. We told him the others really needed him. We saw Cindy, LaErica, and Shellie on the loop. We then worked our way back through Teaswood. Since I had never run with Christina before, I wasn't sure of her ability but she seemed very strong. I was progressively slowing and told her to go ahead if she wanted but she stayed with me. At around 14.5 miles on my Garmin, she asked if I wanted to pick it up. We pushed the pace and saw a couple of the faster Tornados coming into the neighborhood, adding on miles to their already completed run. The finish at the church came early - at 16.5 on my Garmin. It had been mapped for 17. I think we must have cut it a bit short on the turnaround point of our out-and-back to the marina.

We clocked 8:15/mi. over the last mile and 7:47/mi. pace over the final half. I'm not exactly sure what the previous splits were but they weren't nearly that fast.

I was very spent after this one. While waiting for the others, I had plenty of time to thoroughly stretch and hydrate. Once everyone made it back, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel down the road for breakfast and conversation.

Overall, a good run. I think we're going back to the hills one more time before the marathon. I want to give the 21-mile course a shot.

PRE RUN
FRS & oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk

POST RUN
2 SlimFast & water
Later, blueberry pancakes w/blueberry syrup, water & grapefruit juice

Late & Short

OBJECTIVE
6 - 8 mi. Easy

ACHIEVED
4.03 mi.@ 8:24/mi.

8:03 AM 80° 87% 2 mph

Got a really late start. Observed that I seem much faster at this hour than earlier; the same has happened a couple other times too.

Inconsistent

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. w/7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED
8.34 mi. w/7x2 min. & 2 min. jog

6:24 AM 77° 90% 1 mph

Inconsistent pretty much sums up my effort today and over the past couple weeks. Deadlines at work are once again conspiring against my running. I’m also enjoying watching the late Olympic sessions but that shortchanges my sleep and makes it tougher for me to get an early run before going to work.

My stomach was sloshing with every stride today. This caused very slight discomfort but was incredibly annoying. I only drank 10 ounces of water before going out this morning so I’m not sure what the deal is. I experienced the same thing to a lesser degree during last Saturday’s long run. I can’t identify anything different about these runs compared to others.

Here are my erratic splits:

Warm-up – 2.41 mi.@ 9:29/mi.
2:00 min.@ 6:42/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:30/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:26/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:36/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:48/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:36/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:45/mi.
2:00 min. jog
Cool down – 2.55 mi.@ 9:16/mi.

My preference of course would be for a tighter grouping of the speed intervals. I also would prefer the warm-up and cool down to be about 30 seconds per mile faster. However, I'm falling back on the heat and humidity excuse for the slower times. I know that’s “chicken” because if you can hit the prescribed times in heat and humidity, you should be even better in ideal conditions.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water & oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

I Much-needed Recovery Run

OBJECTIVE
3 - 4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.02 mi.@ 9:37/mi.

5:13 AM 79F 84% 9 mph (???!!?)

I certainly did my part to make this a SLOW run! I suppose this was a recovery run in the truest sense. I was still pretty achy ... from Saturday's run I suppose. I felt like I loosened up slightly after a mile but my pace didn't get any faster. I knew I was slow and thought about pushing but decided that clearly wasn't today's objective. So I just let the slow miles roll up. Hopefully clearing my legs and body for better runs later this week.

Almost forgot to mention, I very surprised the wind was 9 mph. The air certainly wasn't moving where I was running! The weather station that my run data is sync'd to is at a small airport about three miles north of where I actually run.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, cinnamon, brown sugar & 1% milk

Training Schedule: Aug 10 - 16

Sun: Rest
Mon: 3 - 4 mi. slow
Tue: 6 - 8 mi. easy ***physical therapy***
Wed: 6 mi. incl. 7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. w/2 min. jog
Thu: 3 - 4 mi. slow
Fri: 6 - 8 mi. easy
Sat: 18 mi. w/last 3 pickup @ 7:55/mi. ***League Line Road hills***