Saturday, May 30, 2009

Together With the Group Again

OBJECTIVE
9 mi.@ 7:46 - 8:37

ACHIEVED
8.98 mi.@ 9:27 (Garmin lost contact with satellites over the last mile or two so I'm not exactly sure of distance or pace. We were slow though.)

5:56 AM 72° 80% 0 mph

The old group got back together for a run today. The run was actually blocked into two segments - a 9-miler and an 11-miler. I opted for the 9-miler only so I ran with the early group. Several are getting ready for an Ironman triathlon in Idaho in three or four weeks so they were running both legs. Running the early leg were: Randy, Josh, Jonathan, Aaron, John, Joe, Jill and me.

The run was nice. It was good to be back with the group and the weather was pleasant. Our pace was slow because of the 20-miler most were running today. The slower pace was fine with me following yesterday's double. My legs and body were sore from the "dynamic stretching" routine I did in the morning yesterday. Obviously using muscles I'm not used to hitting! I need to keep those stretches as part of my routine.

My Garmin flipped out when we went under an overpass with a little less than two miles left. It seems like it lost all contact for about a mile before finding itself. Of course this means my recorded time, pace, etc. is all questionable.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's off day.

PRE RUN
weight = 161.5
water

POST RUN
2 SlimFast

Friday, May 29, 2009

Running Naked

OBJECTIVE
5.5 mi.@ 7:46-8:37

ACHIEVED
~5.8 mi.@ ~8:47

8:40 PM

Two loops at Memorial Park. I forgot my Garmin ... therfore I was naked!

PRE RUN

POST RUN
2 small hamburgers & orange Hi-C

Nice Morning Fartlek

OBJECTIVE
dynamic stretching
5.5 mi.@ 7:46-8:36 w/6x75 sec.@ 6:11/mi. "sprinkled in"

ACHIEVED
dynamic stretching
5.18 mi.@ 7:58
6:00/6:10/6:07/6:00/6:08/6:09

7:42 AM 71° 79% 2 mph

It was a nice morning and a nice run. I started late so I chose to avoid Cypresswood by just going out-and-back on York Minster. I mixed in the 75 second bursts and hit my targeted 6:11 pace for each. I generally started out fast then eased it in. I ran them like intervals instead of a true fartlek.

I got in all the stretching and expect sore legs from the routine especially the luges. They always get me pretty good.

My mileage was a little short due to the re-routing. But that's fine as I plan on running tonight after work then I'll be back on track for the week.

PRE RUN
weight = 161.5

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

Thursday, May 28, 2009

"Forced" Off Day

I didn't get my run in today. Yesterday's wall-to-wall schedule caught up with me. Paige and I did have a nice dinner at Ibiza last night followed by an evening at the Hobby Center for Fiddler on the Roof.

The show was very good. The last time I saw it was at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. The year would have been 1975, 1976 or 1978. That's a long time ago but I still remember much of the show. It was nice to see it again. Amazingly, the lead role of Tevye was played by Topol. This guy really was Tevye! After the first act, I said to Paige that it didn't even seem like he was acting. Upon the further review, the playbill revealed that he's played the role over 2,500 times including in the 1971 movie! I've since looked up Topol's age and he's 73. He's won a couple Golden Globes and been nominated for an Academy Award. I didn't know any of this before the show but it sure came through in his performance.

What does this have to do with running? Nothing. It has to do with why I didn't run today. We got home from the show after midnight so I got a late start to the day and ended up working late too.

Now I plan to proceed to break one of the cardinal rules of training: I plan to "make up" for the missed run by doubling up tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Bounce Back

OBJECTIVE
5.5 mi.@ 7:37 - 8:36

ACHIEVED
5.64 mi.@ 8:19

5:58 AM 74° 97% 5 mph

Morning came fast! I wasn't sure how I would respond this morning after last night's run. It was a quick turnaround. At the outset, I had a bit a stiffness in my left foot from the pre-half marathon injury. I haven't noticed anything related to that injury for a few days now. The uneven ground and hills must have tweaked it ... ??? It loosened up once I got going.

Today's run ended up being fine. Even better than I expected. I felt pretty good and enjoyed the morning weather.

PRE RUN
weight 161

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Looking for Hills ... Dying on Hills

OBJECTIVE
Dynamic stretching
1.5 mi. warm up
6 x 75 sec. hill repeats @ 5:50/mi. w/2 min. active recovery
1.5 mi. cool down

ACHIEVED

2.83 mi. WU
6:42 / 7:13 / 6:52 / 6:54 / 7:00 / 7:28
2.65 mi. CD

8:06 PM 79° 77% 9 mph

Nothing went as planned for this run. I didn't know where I was going to find hills so I decided to wait until after work when I could go down to the bayou. Planned to go at 4:30 PM then come back to the office to take care of a project. Wouldn't you know someone drops by my office at about 4:15 for an impromptu meeting. Project starts at 6 pm (I've been at work since 7:45 AM). Project ends at 8 PM. I still haven't run yet .... arghhhh!

I skipped the "dynamic stretching" and headed out for the bayou. I figured I'd go over to the Shepherd bridge because that's the biggest hill I could think of. I knew it was going to be a bit farther to the bridge than the 1.5 mile warm up I was looking for but I just figured that would make up for the skipped stretching (I know, that's not how it works). It was farther than I remembered.

I sized up the hill from the bottom and choose the longest route I could see - a diagonal across the face of the hill (these are Houston hills people so don't imagine anything too drastic ... but there is a decent grade ....) I hit my watch and take off. I could tell I was too slow. At the top I checked my watch and still had about 30 seconds to go. Now what? I ran across the top trying to pick up the pace. The 75 seconds wrapped up and I was into my 2 minute recovery jog trying to figure out how to make these hills that were too short work. Long story, short. I ran the longest diagonal then came straight down and ran an long diagonal in the opposite direction. This isn't how this run was supposed to work out and I wasn't coming anywhere near my targeted time.

I finished it off and schlepped my way back to the parking garage at the office. It was about 9:30 PM. I still had to eat dinner and stopped at Chacho's drive-thru for a couple tacos on the way home.

My head hit the pillow at about 10:30 and I was asleep by 10:32. Obviously I need to find a better location to run this workout.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Chachos chicken fajita tacos - Mexico style (this was my reward for pounding the hills!)

Monday, May 25, 2009

Pulled Over

OBJECTIVE
5.5 mi.@ base pace
high knees 2x20 sec.
bounding 2x20 sec.

ACHIEVED
5.63 mi.@ 8:07
high knees
bounding

5:46 AM 66° 96% 0 mph

So I'm enjoying my Memorial Day morning run. Basking in the thought that there's no work for me today. Even though I started a bit later than usual there's hardly any traffic on the roads. I'm happy to be starting a new training cycle with an approach that I'm eager to try out. Today's prescribed distance of 5.5 miles is different than I've run before and while the drills following the run aren't new, I'm hopeful that they will improve my running efficiency.

I'm running along Cypresswood Drive by Meyer Park and I get "pulled over" by a Harris County sheriff for running in the road. "Do you know it's illegal to run in the road?" the officer asks me after getting my attention with a blast from his siren and a yell to, "Come over here!" I'm thinking this is going to be too easy to carve this muscle head to pieces but, resisting every urge and impulse I was experiencing, I just said "Yes, sir." to the man with the gun. I was just hoping it would be easier this way. And it was. "Get on the side of the road and get going," he said after reminding me it's Memorial Day and how do I expect cars to see me. This one-sided dialogue just invited too many possibilities. I'll just let them all go as I got up on the sidewalk-less side of the road and continued my interrupted run. Must be a slow day at the precinct! I'm only mad that I wasn't pulled over for running too fast!

PRE RUN
weight 162
water

POST RUN
water, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/1% milk

Sunday, May 24, 2009

May 24 – 30 Training Schedule

Sun: Rest

Mon: 5.5 mi.@ base pace
high knees 2x20 sec.
bounding 2x20 sec.

Tue: dynamic stretching warm up
1.5 mi. warm-up @ recovery pace
6x75 sec. hill reps @ 1 mi. pace w/2 min. active recoveries

Wed: 5.5 mi.@ base pace
resistance workout

Thu: dynamic stretching warm up
5.5 mi.@ base pace w/6x75 sec. intervals @ 3K pace "sprinkled in"

Fri: 5.5 mi.@base pace
resistance workout

Sat: 9 mi.@ base pace