Unmitigated Disaster

OBJECTIVE
Training schedule – 20 mi. @ 8:15/mi.
Revised for race – 30K; get to know Ogden marathon course Mile 5 – 13; push pace based on feel

ACHIEVED
30K
Official gun time – 2:58:15
Garmin self-timed – 2:58:07
(forgot to reset auto-lap from last hill workout; this REALLY screwed up my pacing since I had no clue until the end of the race)

8:13/7:47/7:33/7:44/7:54/7:51/7:57/8:16/8:13/8:15/7:55/8:03/8:22/8:31/8:45/12:14/16:28/16:14

The words of William Shakespeare came to my mind. “Discretion is the better part of valor.” At the time, I didn’t realize the phrase was from King Henry the Fourth, Part One. But I had plenty of time for many random thoughts to flash across my mind.

Today was the Striders Winter Racing Circuit 30K. I had no plan to run this event until yesterday. My training schedule called for a 20-miler. None of my occasional long-run partners were going anywhere near that distance. I figured I’d either go 10 miles with Stephanie’s group or the renegade Spring Running Club then add the rest of the mileage on my own. This idea didn’t seem all that appealing. My dad called with tickets available for the Houston Rockets – Utah Jazz playoff game. The idea quickly gelled: I’d leave work for Cameron’s last baseball game of the school season. From the game, I’d hustle home and pack while Cam cleaned up. Then we’d fly to Utah.

After the flight and drive to my parents’ house, it was around 1 AM. I was tired and fell asleep quickly. The race was at 7:30 AM and I had not registered so I would need to be there early to sign up. The drive up the canyon was about 40 minutes. Luckily, I got behind someone with a “26.2” sticker on their car. I figured there’s only one place he was going on a Saturday morning.

The mountain air was cold (another blogger had it at 28°). This is much colder than I’ve been training in. In fact, I think the last time I ran in this cold of temperature was also in Utah at Thanksgiving. Fortunately, I had brought my tights, long sleeves, gloves, and pullover.

I stretched and warmed up … a little. Then it was time to run. Following last years’ Ogden Half Marathon tactic, I tucked myself in at the back of the pack. I hoped this would slow me down and eliminate my usual “irrational exuberance” at the beginning of long races. It didn’t but may have helped a little.

I got a little eager in passing people over the first two miles. But I felt good. I didn’t notice any impact from the altitude and could tell early on that I has going to end up being overdressed.

After about a mile, the course jumped on to the Ogden marathon course which we ran in reverse. The overall course was a modified out-and-back (out 6 miles followed by a 6 mile loop then back the over the first 6). Part of the motivation of running this race was to see part of the top of the marathon course.

The course was good and the setting was beautiful. There were still small patches of snow in the shaded areas along the route. The mountains all around were snowed covered. At one point there were dozens of horses in a huge pasture running alongside the course. The runners had stirred them up, I suppose.

I had no expectation of time. That wasn’t for a lack of “running some numbers”. I had a full sheet of hand written times and paces that I had been considering. Ultimately, I threw it all out the window and just ran. I decided the time would be whatever my body felt like.

A little over 6 miles in, I was overtaken by a couple of guys who started talking. They actually weren’t in the race and had already gone around the “lake” on their Saturday morning long run. They stayed with me for a bit less than 2 miles as we tracked up a long incline. Finally, they turned back and I was on my own again. I say “on my own” but there were other runners all around. Someone said they expected 200 – 400 for the day’s event.

Around 9.5 miles, the turn back was made. I felt a bit slower but wasn’t sure if it was just the incline or the fact a couple people passed me. I was a bit surprised by the pass at this point. I didn’t feel like I was falling off pace that much. I was feeling okay. Cardio and breathing were fine and my legs generally felt good except for my left knee that has having the faintest degree of discomfort. I had stripped off my pullover and gloves. (“Thank you” to the guys in the Dodge pickup who took them back to the start/finish area for me!) My nutrition and hydration seemed good. I was happy to be turning back.

Some quick math revealed that I was on pace for 2:24. My absolute best case scenario was 2:20 so I really just wanted to hold the pace and press on. I realized that I was falling off a bit but somewhere along the way had mentally divided the run into 3 segments: 7 miles, 7 miles, and 4+ miles. My hope was to pick it up over the last segment.

I didn’t really feel like my form was breaking down or that I was slowing dramatically but around the 14 mile mark a couple runners passed me. They had been talking behind me for some time. They said they had been referring to me as “the 8-minute guy” because I was so consistent with my splits. I pointed out that I clearly wasn’t holding at 8-minute miles now. I also acknowledged that my IT band was giving me a problem. I had not really noticed it getting worse but between 9.5 and 14 miles, it had become a problem and it was slowing me. I made a turn and came to the 15 mile mark and water stop. I had not stopped to this point but did here. I grabbed a GU, a Gatorade, and water. I stood at the garbage box and consumed all three. I turned to go and my knee REALLY let me know there was a problem.

Over the next half mile, I had a huge debate with myself. I have NEVER stopped during a race. I finally decided this was the right thing to do. The marathon is three weeks away. Maybe I could grind out the next 3 miles but for what purpose. Just to prove to myself that I could? And at what cost? Was I willing to risk getting to the starting line of the marathon?

So with slightly more than 3 miles to go, I started the walk.

My knee was fine walking but my pride wasn’t! People passed me. Most of them didn’t say anything. A few offered encouragement. One guy thoughtfully asked if I needed help. It was during this walk that the Shakespeare quote crossed my mind.

“Discretion is the better part of valor.”

The next big decision I faced was whether to actually allow my time to be recorded … “for the record”. Some people I know will go around the timing mats at the finish if they haven’t had a good run. That way their time is not recorded, posted to the Internet, etc. Hey, even the elite runners will record a “DNF” (did not finish) when it’s just not their day. My pride and ego suggested to me that I probably should do the same. Just walk to the car and drive back to my parents' place.

I was leaning toward this approach when I remembered watching the last Hawaii Ironman on television. One of the top male contenders had a problem during the race (I don’t recall what it was.) that didn’t allow him to run but he could still walk. When faced with this situation, the top competitors almost always just get in a support van and rest for another day. Instead of taking this approach, the guy walked and finished the Ironman back in the middle of the pack. A position I doubt he’s ever been in. An interviewer later asked him why he walked to the finish. His reply was something to the effect that it’s disrespectful to the other competitors if you drop out when you can finish under your own power.

Now I’m not suggesting that I’m a top competitor. Rather I’m a middle of the pack guy. Walking put me at the back of the pack. I decided this wasn’t a problem. I wanted this race to be “on the record”. It will serve as a reminder that there’s a lot that can go wrong over the course of a race. It will also remind me not to take the opportunity to run for granted.

Glass half-full perspective –
• Fastest 25K ever – 2:06:29
• Half marathon – 1:44:54 (faster than current PR [1:46:09])

PRE RUN

Oatmeal with milk; water

DURING
3 GU’s; 3 Gatorades; 2 or 3 waters

POST RUN

Gatorade, whole wheat bread & couple doughnut holes

Will's Hills: 12 cones @ Spotts Park

OBJECTIVE
Scheduled for 3 mile tempo run + plus 4 easy miles
Opted for Will's Hills which is always a mystery until you there

ACHIEVED
WU
2 x 12 min. hills w/2 min. rest
CD
stretch

5:34 AM 73F 88% 4 mph

These hill workouts are tough! This morning the course was set up around Spotts Park, a smallish city park that sits in a "bowl". Twelve cones with flashing lights are set up around the perimeter. The course was roughly half a mile and alternately dipped toward the center park then climbed out to the very fringe. It was a challenging hill exercise. Our workout was to run the circuit for 12 minutes then take a 2 minute break followed by another 12 minutes in the opposite direction. There were about 12 or 15 runners this morning. I may have started a bit fast because my lap times really dropped from during the second 12 minutes. My splits:

4:32/4:30/2:56 (.33)
4:45/4:54/3:35 (.39)

I've said it before, I enjoy running with this group. There's no "wasted motion" or idle time. They get their workout in then move on. The runs always seem well thought out and challenging.

The three times I've done Will's Hills, Jonathan and I have stayed for the post run stretching which is good for me since it's usually given short shrift on my solo runs.

Went to Jonathan's to clean up and eat before going to work. JB's smoothie was particularly good this morning!

PRE RUN
don't remember ???!?!?!?!

POST RUN
water & SlimFast
Later, Jonathan's special smoothie, Cheerios w/granola & milk

On Heavy Legs, In Heavy Air

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. @ 8:15

ACHIEVED
8.03 mi.@8:30/mi

4:18 AM 71F 85% 3mph

The air was very heavy this morning. There were low clouds covering an almost full moon. I figured the clouds were impeding air flow and raising the humidity. This appears true with humidity at 85%. After the run, I was surprised to see the temperature at 71!

Anyway, the only things heavier than the air were my legs! I dont't know if this was from the hills and pace of Saturday's run, the cumulative effect of recent runs (shouldn't be), or less than optimal sleep and nutrition over the weekend. Oh, wait, there's some job related stress at the moment too. Whatever the cause(s), I wasn't feeling it this morning.

After a warm up mile, I pressed the second mile to an unimpressive 8:11 then just faded up from there over the remaining 6 miles.

I thought a lot about the marathon and also about work. I came up with some answers for work issues but seem to be chasing my tail about the marathon strategy/reality....

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, Grape Nuts w/skim milk

The Hills of League Line Road

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.48 @ 7:51/mi.

7:31 AM 44° 97% 0 mph

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Jonathan and I had arranged to meet in Conroe to run League Line Road. We heard about this location about a year ago and have wanted to get out there for sometime. For flatlanders at sea level like us, we'll drive 45 minutes to find some hills to run on.

Have I said the morning was beautiful? It was. We saw cardinals, a deer, Texas wild flowers, and much more in an impressive display of nature's beauty. This along with Jonathan's excellent conversation and superb pacing resulted in a very good run. The miles just seemed to roll by without much effort until the very end.

The infamous hills of League Line Road were okay but weren't as impressive as I had built them up to be in my mind. Over the out-and-back route, we had about 9 good climbs ranging from 50' to 100' ... some decent rollers I suppose. I envision this being somewhat like the first half of the Ogden marathon course. The maximum elevation was 325' and the minimum was 200'. I suppose that's about the best we're going to get for a long hill route near Houston.

Jonathan is great. I really enjoy his company. I'm not sure this workout required that much of an effort from him. He's been running high mileage weeks with speed workouts over the last several weeks. He just won a local 5K last Saturday. His times and conditioning really seem to be improving at a rapid pace but he's been paying the price to achieve those gains. I look forward to running with him in Ogden.

I worked on my downhill technique today. Jonathan suggested keeping my knees lower and not over-striding. This seemed to help a lot. Now if I can just hold that form near the spillway in Ogden Canyon!

The goal this week was to get back to 100% healthy. I think I'm close. I didn't have any problems while running today. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Based on how I'm feeling now, I think my left knee and ankle will be a bit achy. But as long as that is post-run rather than while running - it's all good.

The coming week steps up the pace and mileage culminating in a 20-miler next Saturday. This will be my last 20 below the marathon. I really need a good one!

PRE RUN
oatmeal & skim milk

POST RUN
2 SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean cereal with skim milk

Taking the "S" out of LSD ....

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.02 mi. @ 8:16/mi.

4:30 AM 64° 78% 6 mph

In runner parlance LSD is long, slow distance run and, as I understand it, there's a purpose in going slow over a long distance. I think I took the "S" out of my LSD this morning. Okay, so you look at my time and wonder, what am I talking about? An 8:16/mi. pace isn't that fast. Let me explain.

I had planned on running from work last night but I didn't get away from the office early enough. So I knew that I'd be going out this morning. ... I wasn't looking forward to it for some reason. I drove to the Y and started my run at 4:30. I figured that I would just run based on how I felt. That's what I had done on Monday on the same course over the same distance and I ended up quite happy with the result in the end.

Today's opening mile was around 9:00. My ankle was being cranky and I just wasn't feeling it. I thought the next 8 miles where going to be long if I felt this way the whole time! So I decided that I'd try to run negative 10 second splits for each mile. That way I could ease into a faster pace and still finish around my goal of 8:20/mi.

With this challenge laid down, my mind had something to focus on and I "went to work". Of course, this isn't anything heroic but I was able to do it. Here are my mile splits:

8:59/8:51/8:33/8:26/8:16/8:08/7:52/7:47/7:34

I didn't get exactly 10 second negatives but I was close and I did get negative splits over the whole distance.

I was pleased when this run was over.

Interestingly, this run was about 1 minute slower than Monday's run but the runs felt completely different. Monday's run was close to flat splits while today's was negative. It's interesting how each run takes on a personality of its own.

Okay, so back to my original comment that I took the "S" out of my LSD. I fairly certain the the last 3 miles were technically too fast for a textbook long, slow run.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk; water & multivitamin

Early 9-miler

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.03 mi. @ 8:08/mi.

4:27 AM 42° 81% 0 mph

This is "recovery" week. I'm doing three 9-mile runs this week at an easy pace. This is the last recovery period prior to the marathon so I'm hopeful that by next Sunday, I'm feeling very good physically.

At this point, I'm happy to report the only thing that bothered me this morning was my left ankle. It's still achy and doesn't seem to be improving but it does seem to loosen up after a couple miles.

I didn't really feel like going when the alarm sounded at 4 AM but drug myself out the door. To illustrate how simple my mind is, I've always been very eager to run when I'm going out in new shoes. Well, today was the maiden voyage of my new Mizuno Wave Rider 10's. These are the same model as my last two pairs and are getting harder to find now that Mizuno is selling newer models. This pair is red, blue, and silver and look pretty good. But not even the lure of new shoes was motivating this morning.

On days I start out like this the runs usually aren't that great but this one turned out okay. I drove to the Y and ran the bayou trail out and back for 9 miles. The morning air was surprisingly cool and for the first couple miles I wished I had worn long sleeves and gloves. My hands were very cold at the finish.

There was low lying fog which turned the bayou into something like the Michael Jackson Thriller video. Maybe the thought of zombies at 4:30 in the morning darkness prompted me to pick up the pace! Actually it was pleasant. I sat on my desired pace (8:20) during the trip out and cranked it up a bit on the way back in. I noticed again this morning if I sync my breathing with my strides that I ran faster.

Interestingly, I can clearly remember this "recovery" week in preparation for the St. George marathon last fall. I'm not sure why it's such a vivid memory ... maybe because it was a new route that I hadn't run before or since ... ??? I pulled my training log to see what pace I ran these 9-milers. I ran one on Monday and another on Thursday. The planned pace was 8:51. I ran 8:49 and 9:41. This made today's 8:08 feel even better!

May 17 and the marathon will be here before you know it. I checked our flights yesterday and they still look very good (we're flying standby). Paige's training for the half seems to be going well. She got new shoes last week too. Cameron has now decided he wants to run the half but I checked yesterday and it's sold out. I'll add him to the wait list today. I've been tinkering with elevation-based pace charts. I've still got some work to do there but a plan seems to be formulating.

I'll post again after Wednesday's run. At the moment, I'm not sure if it's going to be AM or PM. I would like PM but think I have a scheduling conflict so it may have to be another early morning extravaganza.


PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

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

A Good Long Run from Home to Meet Others

OBJECTIVE
16 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
16.98 mi. @ 8:06/mi.

5:53 pm 54° 61% 2 mph

This turned out to be a surprisingly good run. I ran from home to the Y to meet up with the renegade Spring Running Club. I underestimated the distance and overestimated my pace so I arrived late but saw them ahead and was able to catch them. There were 4 or 5 guys together. I only recognized Gordon. He said Bob was up ahead and that I should catch him. I saw Bob and someone else and reeled them in. I was now at about 5.5 miles and holding around an 8 minute pace which I figured would be catching up to me on the back half of the run.

Bob introduced me to Michelle. She and her husband are triathletes. It was great to run with Bob and Michelle today. The miles passed by easily and I felt good with the small exception of my left ankle. I thought they would be turning at the 4-mile point but they were going for 10 miles. I figured I'd try staying with them for as long as I could. I stayed with them all the way back to the Y where we stopped. I talked to the other guys who had gone 9 miles, said my good-byes, and took off for the run home. It was tougher alone but I maintained the pace for about a mile or a bit more. At that point the traffic on Cypresswood and later on Louetta was bad and with little or no shoulder in places, I felt like I was in a real-life version of the 80's arcade game Frogger. My pace dropped off over the last mile but I was very happy with the overall result.

PRE RUN
GrapeNuts & skim milk; water

POST RUN
2 SlimFast & water
Later, Wheaties & skim milk

Daily Injury Report

OBJECTIVE
5 mi. @ 8:20

ACHIEVED
5.14 mi. @ 8:11 (42:04)

4:51 AM 73° 78% 13 mph

It seems like my blog has turned into a regular injury report lately! I wasn't scheduled to run today but figured I better see what I could do about getting some miles since I missed Monday and last Saturday's run was a bit short.

It was a steamy, windy morning. I wore my IT band strap and my knee held up great. Each ankle had problems of varying degrees. I think the right ankle that I twisted lightly running hills yesterday is going to be fine. It's just a little tender. I'm not sure what to think about the left ankle. It doesn't seem to be improving and can get rather cranky. I plan on giving my legs a 48 hour break then going out for 16 miles Saturday morning. Hopefully the rest allows them to get feeling closer to normal.

This morning's run was uneventful. I held a decent pace that was fairly consistent. During Mile 2, I noticed I was going faster than I should have been so a pulled it back and pretty much held it there throughout. My cardio felt good and (other than my ankles) my legs felt surprisingly good after yesterday's hills.

I'm having concerns about my mileage and the inconsistency of my training but am hopeful that I'm on track (I know, you've heard me say that before!). Time is growing short with only 37 days until the marathon. I'm hopeful that every run between now and then can be focused and with purpose that will allow for my best effort on May 17. I also hope my body gets feeling better than it has for the past several weeks. I really believe my training inconsistency is the cause of my nagging injuries.

I believe next week is a "pull back" week in my training schedule. I need to check but I think I've only got 3 runs of 9 miles each. After that, I've got a 3-week buildup cycle with good intensity and distance followed by a week taper. I can't believe it's so close!

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & water
Later, multivitamin & water; 5 grain hot cereal w/milk

Hills without Will

OBJECTIVE
8 miles w/ 5 mi. tempo @ 7:05

ACHIEVED
WU
4 x hills 6:22/6:32/6:53/6:35
CD
core exercises

5:30 AM

On Monday morning, I started out early from home but only made it about .25 miles. My knee was having none of it so I shut it down and turned back for the house. My knee and ankle haven't been "right" over the past couple of days.

Tuesday evening was Part II of the Tour de Bayou which I probably could have run but decided it wasn't the best thing to prepare for Ogden so I gave my knee and ankle another day of rest. I'm very disappointed that I won't be completing the series and that I let my 20th overall position in the standings slip by the wayside but everything I do now needs to be focused on the marathon.

This morning was Will's Hills. Will is on sabbatical so Lee managed the workout. It was straight forward enough:

Easy run from the YWCA to warm up
25 minutes of hills over a course he laid out (5 ups and downs over xx miles)
4 x slightly downhill strides approx. 35 yards; run backwards uphill then repeat
Easy run back to YWCA to cool down
Core exercises

I wore my IT strap and am happy to report my knee did not bother me this morning even though it was achy before we started. The ankle had a dull ache throughout. I did step on uneven ground during the third hill and tweaked my right ankle (a danger of running hills in the dark, I suppose). It gave me something else to contend with.

I enjoy this group. It's low-key but the workouts are good and seem to be well designed. This morning and last Wednesday, the runs with been short in duration but high in intensity. It's not the most convenient for me to drive downtown at 5 AM but Jonathan is gracious enough to let me clean up and eat at his place afterwards. It's very convenient since it's not too far from where the runs are based and it's close to the office. I've been at my desk before 8 AM each day.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
water & SlimFast
Later, oatmeal w/milk & brown sugar; smoothie (Jonathan's special recipe)

Ill-advised Racing

OBJECTIVE
3.1 mi. : finish

ACHIEVED
3.13 mi. @ 7:13/mi. (22:35)

8:00 AM 61° 86% 4 mph

I probably shouldn't have run this race today. However, my employer is corporate sponsor and our running group received 35 paid entries. Late Friday afternoon, I checked the registration listings and found only 4 or 5 coworkers had registered so I signed up. Thinking that if Saturday's long run didn't go well that I'd just not race today.

This run is a HUGE local fundraising event for cancer research. On the course - all at the same time - are timed runners, untimed runners, family run/walkers, and walkers. Walking from my car to the packet pickup table was difficult for me. I was still feeling yesterday's run ... BIG TIME. I walked back to the car and stretched. I heard the call for runners and tried slowly running to the start. Wasn't happening .... Luckily they didn't start right away. I found a place in the pack, the gun sounded and off we went. I was behind slow people but that wasn't a problem today! My left ITB was throbbing and I had no get-up-and-go. Early in the race, I considered dropping out. I figured I might be hurting myself but honestly couldn't see I "good" place to drop out ... anonymously. So I slowed down even more and pressed on. I decided to "enjoy" the run as much as possible. When I saw the race leaders doubling back toward Reliant Stadium, it somehow lifted me. I cheered a few of them one then started cheering some of the other runners around me especially the young ones. I noticed that I was starting to pass people. My knee was still giving me a problem but not as bad as before.

I started focusing on the turnaround. I decided that I would work on my technique. Most runners started crowding to the extreme inside. This gave me the opportunity on the outside. So I swung wide while passing people then cut the turn and accelerated off the orange cone. I passed several others and got a lift. My knee was feeling better. I decided that my goal was to not let anyone pass me the rest of the way.

With .5 mile to go, I feeling felt good (relatively speaking). I picked up my pace. There was a long hill that I powered up smoothly; passing many others as I did. I turned hard for the finish and felt fine pushing to the end.

After the run, my knee was really screaming as I walked around trying the food samples available from the sponsors.

Normally this race result would have been a huge disappointment. But in context, I'm happy with the result:

* just ran 19 miles yesterday
* managed negative splits 7:41/7:30/6:39/ .14 @ 0:45 (5:21) [I think this is the first time I've gone negative splits in a 5K.]
* last year's time for this race 24:42

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
water, pumpkin bread, spring roll, smoothie, granola bar, nutella crepe

Blew Up!

OBJECTIVE
20 mi. @ 8:20

ACHIEVED
18.95 mi. @ 8:53

9:48 AM 60° 80% 8 mph

Ran a new route from Memorial Park along the Bayou into Downtown then looped the Bayou a couple times on the way back to the Park.

I started slowly because I really wanted to get the miles. Everything went well through 15 miles then the wheels fell off. I covered Mile 15 in 7:56 which was my fastest mile then stopped at the fountain at the Sabine Bridge. When I started again, it just wasn't happening! My left ITB hadn't bothered me until this point and my left ankle was becoming a problem too. I gutted out another 3 miles back along the Bayou and was committed to finishing this run. But it wasn't to be. With only a couple miles to go, I started alternating running and walking then finally decided that I might be hurting myself too much to keep running. I walked it back and wasn't happy about it. This run had started so well and ended so poorly.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

DURING
2 GU packets and 20 oz. Accelerade

POST RUN
SlimFast & water

Will's Hills

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. total including 4x1600@6:34 w/800 recovery

ACHIEVED
WU .64 mi.
.95 mi.(6:11) [.60 mi.(5:32)] .96 mi.(6:37)
5 "W"'s : 1.43 mi@9:19 (HILLS!)
CD .80 mi.

5:35 AM 71° 86% 4 mph

Jonathan introduced me to the Will's Hills group and routine this morning. This ended up being a really good workout for me but I wasn't very optimistic to start out. After a warm up jog, we ran 2 one-mile intervals. It was still quite dark in some areas along the trail which caused me to be a bit tentative. I also found myself holding back since I was uncertain about the energy requirements of the 5 "W"'s. In the simplest terms, a "W" consisted of starting at the top of the hill at Shepherd and Memorial. From the top, it was down then back up 3 times while moving diagonally across the face of the hill. It was a tough workout! I found myself somewhere in the middle of the pack of about 14 runners with the group with morning. The hills brought out a little "burn" in my legs.

After finishing the "W"'s, we cooled down over the 3/4 mile back to the parking lot. Some of the group hung around for conditioning and stretching exercises. Jonathan and I joined the group. This was really good for me even though my form on some of the movements was pitiful!

From there, we followed Jonathan by car to his new house. After cleaning up for work, he grabbed a quick breakfast and he shared a very good smoothie concoction with me.

This was a really good workout for me and I felt great about it throughout the morning. I think the guy running Will's Hills is running the Boston Marathon and won't be with the group for a while but informal sessions will continue so I think I'll make Wednesday mornings my day with them (they meet M, W, and F). I really appreciate Jonathan putting me on to this group and making his facilities available.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & Accelerade
Later, oatmeal w/brn. sugar & milk; smoothie

Tour de Bayou, Part I

I didn't know what to expect going into the first leg of today's Tour de Bayou. Throughout the day, I really didn't feel like running it tonight. But finally decided to at least go check it out.

The Tour de Bayou is a 5-leg series of cross country races with distances ranging from 5K to 8K. The races are held Tuesdays at 6 pm at various locations around Houston.

Tonight's leg ended up being 2.77 miles at Spotts Park. The course was an "out-and-back out-and-back", went up and down 5 hills, and was all on grass. The recent rains created a heavy bog in one area and I noticed people losing their shoes in it on my first pass.

Not knowing exactly what to expect and "not feeling it", I started slow. I decided to just run this one on "feel". I didn't have my Garmin and I wasn't up to "racing" so it was just going to be a cruise around the course.

I ended up with 22:43 (self-timed) and 20th place. Jonathan Bennett, who I met up with before the race, ran well and finished in 10th.

I suppose the plan is to catch the next 4 legs of this event. Cumulative standings are kept so maybe I can move up before it's all over.

4 Easy Miles

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
4 mi. @ 8:18/mi.

Garmin was out of commission again this morning. My legs were a little tight this morning and I wasn't sure my left IT band was going to cooperate. The IT band was painful for the first mile but evolved to a dull ache. It was misty/lightly raining this morning. My cardio feels okay. It's just the "muscle fitness" (certainly an unscientific term!) that seems to be a problem.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
Slim Fast, multivitamin, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Easy (theoretically!) 6 Miles

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
6.48 mi. @ 9:19/mi.

This was a tough run. I kept pulling the pace back so as not to aggravate my left IT band. I was happy to get this one in. Mileage-wise, it looks like I'm heading for a problem with my marathon preparations.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & water

Failure

OBJECTIVE
16 mi. @ 8:25/mi.

ACHIEVED
8.68 mi. @ 9:07/mi.

6:05 AM

Started from the Y with Bob Bond and Gordon this morning. Bob's been having a problem with his back so they were going for 8 miles. I figured I'd run the first 4 miles with them and see how I was feeling. Specifically my toe - which I'm fairly certain I broke last Sunday. It's black and blue and very swollen. I haven't run since Sunday because of it.

It was good to run with Bob again. Conversation has a way of passing the miles away much more efficiently than thinking! We covered the first 4 miles around 8:37/mi. pace. Bob and Gordon turned back. I was feeling pretty good so I picked up the pace and headed for Spring-Cypress Road. My thought at this point was to push for 10 miles then see how I was feeling. Unfortunately by the time I hit 8 miles, my left IT band was absolutely screaming. I had failed to wear my IT band strap today even though I've been wearing for virtually every run for the past month. My IT band has not given me any trouble lately. Evenso, it was a complete oversight on my part in failing to put it on.

There are always "crossroads" while running. These are the times you have to make a decision. For me, they always come up during races and also occur during training runs. I was at today's crossroad. In the past when the IT band issue has manifest itself, I've always "pushed on through". The result has been that I've ended up having to take some time off to recover. Today, I just shut it down and walked in the last 2 miles. It nearly killed me as several ChampionsFit runners passed me while I was walking. I kept telling myself that this was the right thing to do and that this approach would allow me to keep running rather than having to take time off. ... time will tell.

PRE RUN
Oatmeal w/skim milk, water & multivitamin

IN RUN
Accelerade & GU (Mint chocolate)

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, GrapeNuts cereal w/skim milk

Lookin' Good 10K

 

 

 

Easy 4 Miles

OBJECTIVE
4 miles @ 8:25

ACHIEVED
4.00 miles @ 8:28 (33:53)

Went for an easy 4 miler this morning. My legs felt good. The upcoming week should be interesting. I'm back into my training schedule after last week's "pull back". I'm scheduled for 7 miles Monday, a tough tempo run on Wednesday, and a 16-miler on Saturday. I suspect I'll get the weekday runs in the morning before work and I'm planning on trying Will's Hills with Jonathan Wednesday morning.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Run The Woodlands 5K #197

OBJECTIVE
5K : challenge January's 20:37 PR

ACHIEVED
5K : 20:12 (unofficial)

8:00 AM 52° 97% 0 mph

I wasn't planning on racing today but my 15-year old son mentioned last night that he wanted to run The Woodlands 5K this morning. He's been running the two-mile event this track season (when it doesn't conflict with baseball) so I fully expected him to beat me today. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight! I didn't sleep well last night and didn't feel too good this morning before the race.

Amazingly, I felt great for the first half of the race. I forgot to bring my Garmin so I didn't know my pace. I was just running with my Timex Ironman. I think Cameron must have misjudged the distance because I passed him between 1 and 1.5 miles into the race. It felt like I was pushing the pace just about right. An amazingly efficient female runner passed me around 2 miles. Her stride was short but her turnover was very fast. She rolled past me. I tried to hang with her for a while but she methodically stretched the gap as I started breaking down. I think she was the same person who passed around the same point when I ran this race back in January.

I checked my watch and figured that I was going to have a chance of breaking 20:00 if I pushed it. So I did. But, in the end it wasn't enough. I didn't hear my time called out at the finish but had 20:12 on my watch. They usually post the results so I'll watch for the official time later.

My finish was good enough for 6th place overall. Cameron was about 20 - 25 seconds behind me in 9th place.

I was supposed to run 7 miles today so I'll either get 4 more miles later today or first thing in the morning.

PRE RUN
water & GrapeNuts w/skim milk

POST RUN
water & SlimFast

Run Home from the Office

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. @ 8:25/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.77 mi. @ 8:28/mi.

6:45 PM 66° 31% 14 mph

Okay, I've been wanting to try this run for a long time. Ironically, I live a little over 26 miles from the office where I work. There happens to be a Park and Ride for bus commuters a little over half way from my house. For a little less than a year now, I've thought I'd like to park my car at the bus stop, ride the bus to work in the morning then run back to the bus stop after work. I've plotted several different routes to accomplish this. Now that daylight savings time is here and my fitness allows for it, I figured I'd give it a try today.

I was a bit eager at the outset as I wound my way out of downtown. I decided to just let my watch run continuously rather than mess around with stopping and starting it at every traffic light along the way (there ended up being many!). It was a very nice evening and I felt pretty good. A few people that I had talked to about attempting this run in the past didn't think it was a good idea since I'd be running alone and if anything happened there wouldn't be an easy or obvious contingency plan. This is a big part of the reason I hadn't tried this run before now.

The first 5 miles went well. The route was new so I was wide-eyed. The evening was beautiful as the sun was setting. The last 3 miles were tough. It was one long stretch along a "feeder road" (something I didn't know about until moving to Houston 8 1/2 years ago). The shoulder was 4" to nonexistent in some places. The traffic - while only one-way - was moving close to freeway speed. While I didn't ever feel in imminent danger, there were times that the sidewalk did seem the safest of places - especially as a began to get darker.

The smells from ethnic restaurants along the way were great! I also saw and heard a woman playing her guitar and singing on her porch. It was fun.

The shortcomings of the run were the traffic and running on sidewalks. I think I'll try this again but will probably look for alternate routing to keep me on some quieter streets along some sections of the run.

Although the last three miles were particularly tough, I felt great after stretching and driving the rest of the way home. Chalk one up for reducing my carbon footprint today (he said, tongue-somewhat-in-cheek).

PRE RUN
granola bar & water

During the run, I ate 1/2 Clif bar and drank about 16 oz. H2O

POST RUN
SlimFast

On Tired Legs

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. @ 8:25/mi.

ACHIEVED
8.00 mi. @ 8:17/mi. (1:06:26)

7:06 AM 70° 81% 15 mph

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, oatmeal 2/skm mlk & brn. sugar; multivitamin; water

Easy Miles

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. : easy pace

ACHIEVED
5.53 mi. @ 9:09/mi. (50:40)

6:05 AM 55° 72% 6 mph

Just looking to stretch it out and get a few easy miles this morning. I was experiencing some soreness from yesterday's effort. I also must have been sleepwalking (sleeprunning?) because I turned too early on my six-mile route and inadvertently cut it 1/2 too short.


PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast

Late Entry

OBJECTIVE
10K race : 45 - 46 min.

ACHIEVED
10K @ 7:15/mi. (44:58)

At the last minute I decided to enter the Houston Eye Associates Lookin' Good 10K this morning. I found myself more apprehensive about this race than most others I've been in (except maiden voyages at new distances). I think it's because I was using this race as a "fitness check". Would my knee hold up? Where does my conditioning stand at the moment? ... just a bunch of questions like these were churning through my head.

I targeted 46:09 as my goal time. Why such a specific time? Well, the "equivalent" calculators equate a 3:30:00 marathon (my goal for Ogden) as a 46:09 10K. (Side note: these calculators haven't always been very reliable in my case.)

Of course, I ran the equivalent 10K time for a 3:20:00 marathon (my Boston qualifying time)... 43:36.

So, I set 45:00 - 46:00 as a solid range to work toward. I thought I should be able to "cruise" to a 46. I also figured I'd run negative splits in an effort to put less stress on my body.

Okay ... so with that background off I went.

As usual, I went out too fast. It didn't help that the 10K course was a double-loop of the 5K course and the 5K and 10K started together. I tried to reign it in but really couldn't. I knew this would cause a problem later.

I wasn't feeling particularly good or bad. Just running. I decided that I like this course. I ran it last year as a 5K. It was the second race after I started running last year. I ran it with my son, Cameron. I remember discovering the benefit of even splits in that race. I was ultimately thrilled to clock a 24:32 last year. Interestingly, today's first 5K was 22:34; the second 5K was 22:35.

I tried to settle in was I made the return trip of the second loop. I gave myself a thorough session of self-talk about how I couldn't get sucked into kicking with those who were running the final stretch of the 5K. Fortunately, I didn't end up around any crazy, strong kickers. After making the turn, the field really thinned out. There were a couple of guys ahead of me who had picked up water. I passed both of them but the second guy wasn't going to let me leave him. We passed a couple others going out the 4.5 mile (approx.) turn around. Shortly thereafter, he came up to pass me. We ran side by side for 300-400 meters. There always comes a decision time in every race. This was it for me. I was questioning whether I had much left. I was feeling somewhat fatigued. So the easy choice was to let this guy go. The more difficult option was to stay with him. I thought I was clever in taking a hedge. I've never done this before but have read about the elites and some of the "super" bloggers at www.fastrunningblog.com who run at the front and finish in the money will oftentimes "work together". I decided to propose it to the guy I was running with. I said, "I'm going to fall in behind you if you don't mind." He said, "Not a problem. You've been helping me." I said, "If it's becomes a problem just let me know." He said, "No problem." I said, "Maybe if we work together we can go pick off a couple others ahead of us."

So I fell in just off his shoulder. This was a tremendous help. I don't know the degree of the physical benefit but the psychological advantage was huge. My new friend was running strong and picked up the pace. I doubt I would have had the resolve to the this on my own but since I was "in the trailer he was pulling", I just went for the ride. It was great. I looked at my watch. We had covered a about a mile together and increased the pace. We were reeling in a couple of runners in front of us. I decided to kick with 1/2 mile left. I figured if I could pass the closest runner, he might make the mistake of trying to go with me. I thought I might have a huge drop off but maybe I could hold him off and soften him up for my partner. I told my new friend that I was going early but I was sure that I wouldn't have enough to sustain it. He said, "Go for it!" So with about .45 left, I broke. I reeled in the guy ahead quickly. He didn't try to stay with me. My partner didn't let the gap between us get too wide. There was now one more runner ahead that we had a chance to beat. I'd spent too much with my burst and just before the 6 mile marker, my buddy passed me and said, "Come on. We have to pass her!" He was strong, went hard and made the pass. She picked it up and tried to hold him off. If decided I could recover later and that there was no use saving anything. With one last burst, I went hard. I passed the female runner that we'd reeled in together. I think he softened her up by kicking past her and she tried to stay with him. Now the thought crossed my mind that I could catch and pass my buddy. I went for it but he was strong and held me off as I run out of room to get him. I consoled myself that this wasn't bad for not doing any speed work for several weeks ... maybe it's been months now!

My splits:

7:08/7:15/7:27/7:22/7:23/6:55 (1:36 for .25 mile)

My knee was fine. No problems. My fitness was a little lacking but I now feel like I'm on track for 3:30 in Ogden. I've got 2 months ... if I work hard and get quality workouts, I could have the chance for something faster.

PRE RUN
Earlier, GrapeNuts w/skim milk; water
Clif bar and water

POST RUN
ham & cheese kolache & water; SlimFast

Rollin'

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.06 mi.@8:15 (25:13)

4:57 AM 43° 93% 0 mph

It was cool this morning. I felt pretty good. I know I'm not really doing high volume doubles and I'm just barely into it but it seems there's something to this approach. They say it's easier to get miles and it seems to be true in my extremely limited experience so far. It also seems less stressful on the body.

PRE RUN
water & Panda licorice

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, GrapeNuts w/skm mlk

Second Run for the Day

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
2.9 mi. @ ???/mi. [no watch ... estimated pace 8:15-20]

7:30 pm

Stopped at Memorial Park for a loop on my way home. I'm very happy about the time change to Daylight Savings Time. The extra hour of daylight is great. The park was busy. It's been quite awhile since I've been down there. I saw Joe Oviedo going the opposite direction and yelled out a "hello" as he passed.

I felt pretty good.

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
chocolate milk & 2 small hamburgers

Another Good Run

OBJECTIVE
3 mi : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.01 mi @ 8:03/mi. (24:15)

5:04 AM 52° 89% 1 mph

Everything felt good today. My legs were feeling "heavy" yesterday after but it was the "good" heavy. Don't know how to explain it other than it feels like my fitness is returning.

I picked up a book by Lance Armstrong's trainer - Chris Carmichael. It's called Food for Fitness: Eat Right to Train Right. I'm looking forward to getting into this one. It's 414 pages and seems very detailed. The overall concept appears to be based on periodization which follows an endurance athlete's training cycle periodization.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, cracked wheat w/ brown sugar & skim milk

Knock On Wood

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.03 mi. @ 8:00 min./mi. (24:13)

5:12 AM 56° 88% 4 mph

Started out slow today. Felt fine. In fact, I'm a bit paranoid to say that I felt good because it's been so long since I've felt this way and I suppose I'm superstitious ... just don't want something bad to happen. I just need to keep the momentum now that everything seems to be moving in the right direction.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
multivitamin & water
Later, Kashi GoLean cereal & skim milk

Just Tryin' to Get Miles

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
6.06 mi. @ 8:25 (51:04)

7:53 PM 62° 70% 15 mph

All I wanted to do was get a few miles. The wind was blowing in my face pretty hard on the return trip. This run seemed harder than it should have been.

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
Clif bar & water
Later, Grape Nuts cereal w/skim milk

Knee is Okay Today

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
6.2 mi.@8:07 (50:19)

6:55 AM 34° 79% 0 mph

This morning was uneventful ... which was nice for a change. My knee wasn't 100% but it was okay. My overall fitness seems lacking which isn't a surprise at this point. The temperature was unseasonably cool but actually felt refreshing.

Looking forward to the next run and hopeful that this is the start of a good, strong run of training.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water


POST RUN
Kashi GoLean cereal with skim milk

Stretching Out ... My Leg; Not the Distance!

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.01 mi. @ 8:10 min./mi. (24:37)

4:53 AM 51° 91% 0 mph

Frustratingly, my left knee is still having a problem. My training schedule called for a track workout of mile repeats yesterday but given the way my knee was feeling I knew that wouldn't be prudent. So I didn't run in the morning and planned on an evening run. I figured I'd just go out and get an easy 3 - 5 miles but, like the past few days, the knee seems to get worse throughout the day while I'm sitting at my desk. I've tried getting up frequently and walking but that hasn't seemed to help. By the time I got home from work I scrapped the idea of a run. And, I've essentially scrapped my training program ... for the time being. I've got to figure out a way to get my knee feeling better. I believe the problem stems from inconsistent training during the weeks I was extremely busy at work. I think I lost the benefit of what little base I had built up. I'm not quite back to "square one" but it feels like it! This isn't a nice place to be with 72 days remaining before the Ogden marathon and my attempt at 3:30.

So I've concocted a training plan that I hope gets me back on track. Since I broke down around 7-8 miles during my last two long runs of 10 and 16 miles, I not going to go long this weekend and probably next. Instead I'm going to get my miles by attempting doubles. I'm going to start real easy ... 3 miles in the morning and 3 at night with no set pace. I'll see how my body responds. I'll take Friday and Sunday off for recovery. I'm not sure about Saturday but I'm toying with 6 miles in the AM and 6 in the PM. If my body (and mind) can hold up, I'll be getting around 40 miles per week. After a couple weeks, I'm hopefully back on track. Hopefully this isn't one of those approaches that end up being much better in theory than practice!

Today's 3 miles were uneventful. The knee has not happy at the start but started loosening up after about 1/2 mile. I started pretty slow and never really pushed the pace. Over the last mile, I tried something I read yesterday about leaning forward. The suggestion was made to lean "from the ankles". This seemed like a good idea and it felt pretty good too. I just can't sustain it for very long. I think this approach is better than mine of trying to keep my shoulders over the balls of my feet. This seemed to have me bending at the waist.

As usual, I stretched before and after hoping that will somehow help. It's now been 3 hours since running and my knee actually feels okay. My car is in the shop (about 4 miles away) so at the end of the day, if everything works out, I'll just run over for the office to pick it up.

PRE RUN
Nothing

POST RUN
SlimFast

... How Does it Feel Today ... ?

OBJECTIVE
Easy Run 2 mi. @ 8:25

ACHIEVED
2.03 mi. @ 8:07 min./mi. (16:30)

5:13 AM 72° 78% 12 mph

Thankfully my schedule was only for 2 miles today. After Saturday's debacle, I probably should have taken another day off but I'm fearful of falling further behind schedule. So this morning turned out to be a test for my left knee. In summary, it bothered me from the beginning and made it seem is if I wasn't going to be able to continue. But I kept the pace slow until the soreness/pain dissipated around 3/4 mile in. From that point, everything was good but I was still cautious. I've got a good 48 hours now until Wednesday's track workout. Hopefully the knee recovers fully in time for that effort!

PRE RUN
Nothing

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, GrapeNuts w/skim milk

Unmitigated Disaster

OBJECTIVE
Long Run 16 mi. @ 8:25 min./mi.

ACHIEVED
15.64 mi. @ 10:23 min./mi. (2:42:35)

8:24 AM 67° 87% 2 mph

To say this run didn't go well would be a gross understatement! I wasn't feeling particularly motivated this morning but finally made it out. I drove to Memorial Park to use a 16-mile route that the group ran back in July. I was vaguely familiar with the route but had it programmed into my Garmin so I knew where to go.

I didn't feel too good right out of the gate. But after the first mile started feeling better, got into a good rhythm, and picked up the pace. Things were fine through 6 miles. It was a beautiful morning and even my negative thoughts had dissipated. Then my left knee started bothering me. I find it interesting that this is about the exact same distance that it started giving me a problem last Saturday. I just figured I'd "tough it out". After all I only had about 10 miles left (stupid idea!). Somewhere during the seventh mile, I stopped for a quick drink and a good stretch. When I started back up, everything felt fine. I figured I was good to go. But a short time later the knee was giving me trouble again. After arguing with my ego during the eighth mile, I decided I had better shift to the Galloway method of alternately walking and running ... maybe that would help. Soon thereafter I degenerated into mostly walking and when I did run I was reduced to a slow jog due to my throbbing knee. To add insult to injury, I was running alone and wasn't familiar with the area. So although I knew a direct line back to the park and my car would be much shorter, I couldn't risk getting lost in an unfamiliar area so the second half of my planned 16-miler now turned into a hike rather than a run. Fortunately, the knee wasn't much trouble when walking.

This led me to ponder the following question:

Is

A Bad Run > No Run

a true statement?

I decided that a bad run is better than no run if only because it allows me to savor the good days!

Here's the breakdown of my run in by halves:

8.00 mi. @ 8:38
7.36 mi. @ 11:58

This is disappointing and I think it's attributable to the gap in my training when I was working too much during late-January and February. I'll keep working at it. Hopefully the knee is able to recover during my active training.


PRE RUN
Water & oatmeal w/skim milk
ClifBar

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water & slice of cold, cheese pizza

Un-Tempo Run

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. w/ 4 mi. Tempo Run @ 7:05

ACHIEVED
WU 1 mi.; 4 mi. @ 7:17 (29:07); CD 1.13 mi.

4:57 AM 41° 76% 0 mph

I was apprehensive about this run for a couple days. It was my first effort at speed since my latest attempt at a return to fitness.

The warm up went fine. My legs felt okay and my left ITB was only hinting of any issue. The first mile of my tempo effort went fine too. I hit my time but could already feel that making it 3 more miles while holding the pace probably wasn't going to be in the cards. I thought about cutting a mile off the run but convinced myself otherwise. If I didn't hit my times at least I'd get my planned mileage for the day.

I was surprised that I held up through the second mile. The run was going better than expected and really better than I was feeling. From there, I really lost the pace. I was running in an unfamiliar area and the streets were windy-er (is that a word?) than I anticipated. I'd tried this route one time before and ended up inadvertently cutting the run short. As I floundered around - both for directions and for pace - I finally emerged from the neighborhood onto a familiar street. I'd given up on looking at my watch and just tried to press it to the end of the fourth mile. It wasn't a surprise that my overall conditioning just wasn't there but it was still disappointing. I made a good push to the end and took some consolation that I didn't cut the run short like I had considered earlier.

My splits:

7:03 / 7:07 / 7:28 / 7:29

Obviously I've got some work to do but at least I'm not starting from scratch. I finished out the run with an easy cool down mile back to the house. I'll monitor my body - primarily legs - to see how I'm feeling after this effort. There's a long run on the schedule for Saturday but I'm going to let my body "tell" me what the right thing to do is.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

Hmmmm ....

OBJECTIVE
Easy run 4 mi. @ 8:25 min./mi.

ACHIEVED
4.00 @ 8:10 min./mi.

4:36 AM 55° 50% 17 mph

I took an extra rest day trying to give my legs and more specifically my left ITB a chance to recover from Saturday's long run.

I used my ITB strap expecting the worst. I was pleasantly surprised that I really didn't have any problem with my ITB. My legs felt very fatigued around one mile in but I'm convinced that's just a lack of conditioning. A little over 1.5 miles it started raining and I expected it to burst open but it only lasted a few minutes then stopped. There was lightning dancing across the early morning sky for the rest of the run. The wind was really blowing and I noticed the return trip was more difficult going into the wind. However, once back at the house analyzing my run, I was surprised at my mile splits ... not the speed but the consistency. I was at

8:14 / 8:14 / 8:14 / 7:59

I'm sure I've never hit splits like that even on a tempo run! It was wholly unintentional as I didn't pay much attention to my watch.

I'll see how my legs feel and plan to go out for an aggressive tempo run Thursday morning. That will be the true test of my loss of conditioning and my ITB.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, water & GrapeNuts w/ skim milk

Ain't No Way to Train ....

OBJECTIVE
10 mi : no pace

ACHIEVED
10.13 mi @ 8:33 min/mi.

6:48 AM 42° 86% 5 mph

I just wrapped up 33 consecutive days in the office including a couple of back-to-back 17 hour days. This has made it incredibly difficult to stay consistent with my training.

I wanted to see how it felt today so rolled out for 10 miles. The first 6 went okay. In fact, I felt quiet strong and comfortable. Just short of 6 miles my left ITB started bothering me and got progressively worse. The pain moved into my calf and became pretty intense. I pressed on through it which I doubt was the right thing to do but I just wanted to finish a run since it's been so long.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to reclaim my training plan yet but I intend to ....

PRE RUN
Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk; water, Clif bar

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water

Trying to Find the Tempo

OBJECTIVE
5 miles - 1 mi. WU; 3 mi. tempo@7:05/mi.; 1 mi. CD

ACHIEVED
1.00 mi. WU @ 9:06
3.05 mi. Tempo @ 7:03/mi. (21:30)
1.05 mi. CD @ 9:56

4:40 AM 39° 70% 5 mph

Just wrote a long description of this run which was lost. Don't have time to rewrite.

7:02/7:04/7:03

Run wasn't as good as it looks on paper. I have a hard time finding and holding the 7:05 pace. Pace was all over the board. At one point I was 6:15 which means I either went all the way up to 7:45 OR drifted well-above the desired 7:05 pace for an extended stretch. Need to focus on keeping pace of tempo runs in a tighter range to reap all the benefits of this type of workout. Probably reset the Garmin to .25 or .50 mile lap intervals rather than 1 mile to see if that keeps me on pace. Right now, it seems I'm either "banking" time by going fast at the beginning of each mile or "playing catch up" over the last .50 or .33 in order to "make" the pace. I don't think this is the way tempo runs are supposed to work.

PRE RUN
water & ginger snaps

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brn sgr & skm mlk

Back in the Saddle

OBJECTIVE
Easy 5 mi. @ 8:30

ACHIEVED
5.12 mi. @ 8:19 (42:36)

5:07 AM 52° 97% Fog

Decent run this morning. Felt Saturday's long run a bit. Also, a slight tightness in my left hamstring. It's just a matter of building my fitness back up.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk; water

Where Have I Been?

OBJECTIVE
10 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
10.05 mi. : 8:55/mi. (1:29:39)

6:39 AM 60° 41% 7 mph

Since my last run 10 days ago much has happened. I became sick Thursday ... the day after I ran. It lasted 5 days. My fitness both literally and figuratively went down the toilet. I was starting to feel a bit better this past Monday so tried to run Tuesday morning. I made it 9/10 of a mile. It wasn't happening. I couldn't even jog home ... had to walk. My training schedule has been comprised and I missed the race I had planned on running last Saturday. Work has been extremely challenging and time consuming. I expect that will continue to be the case for a couple more weeks.

This morning I just "felt" like running. I hadn't even really planned on it. I went over to the Y and planned on 10 miles but realized there was a chance I'd be cutting it short. Two other runners invited me to run the first 3 miles with them. I wasn't eager to join them but it ended up helping me a great deal. We clocked 3 miles at 9:45/mile. They turned back and I felt good so went out 2 miles then turned back for the closing 5 miles. My pace over the last 7 miles was 8:30/mile which is where I preferred this run to be. It worked out well that I had started slow and got my feet under me.

I'm now off to work. I need to consider revising my training schedule. I am pleased that with the run today and how I felt overall.

PRE RUN
oatmeal, brwn sgr, skm mlk & water

POST RUN
Water
SlimFast
Waffles w/maple syrup & skim milk

Taste of Speed

OBJECTIVE
5 miles - 1 mi. WU, 3 mi. tempo @ 7:05/mi, 1 mi. CD

ACHIEVED
1 mi. WU @ 9:23
3 mi.@6:57/mi. (20:54)
1.10 mi. CD @ 9:03

4:19 AM 37° 48% 7 mph

This was my first speed workout in over two months. It was nice to get rolling again. I had a hard time finding the pace over the first mile+ but seemed to manage better over the last half of the run.

7:04
6:55
6:52

Once I found it I just tried to relax. I read a good thread yesterday where it was suggested that elite and semi-elite runners have the ability to shift into auto-pilot while local and recreational runners aren't able to do so. There seemed to be some agreement that relaxing was a key element to the auto-pilot concept. I remember a 5K last summer where I was kicking to the finish and seemed to find another gear when I "accidentally" stumbled upon relaxation approach. It's counter-intuitive but seems to work. Over the last half of the run today, I was pushing pace but didn't feel overwhelmed. I think this was due to relaxing. I need to remember this approach.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, oatmeal w/honey & skim milk, water

Enough of the Base Building Already

OBJECTIVE
6 mi.@8:30

ACHIEVED
6.06 mi.@8:26 (51:09)

4:23 AM 48° 94% 4 mph misty

I had a little residual soreness yesterday from Saturday's run but acknowledged it as a good thing.

I worked up a 1 mile extension to what has become my usual 5 mile route. I was a bit sluggish throughout today's run but nothing too bad. I started around 8:30 per mile and gradually fell off a bit. Some of that may have been the new section of my routing. I actually made a wrong turn in Wimbledon Estates resulting in cutting the route 1/2 mile short. But I tacked on a loop around the block back at the house to get to 6 miles. I picked up the last mile enough to take my average pace back under my 8:30 goal. I noticed a bit of a tweak in my right ankle and something lurking in my left knee but neither of these ended up having an impact on the run. I'm hopeful the injuries are behind me. Overall it was a pretty good run.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean w/skim milk, multivitamin, zinc, vitamin C & water

Training Schedule: Jan 28 - Feb 3

MON - Easy Run 6 mi.@8:30
WED - Tempo Run 3 mi.@7:05 (include 1 mi. WU & 1 mi. CD)
SAT - Long Run 10 mi.@8:30

I Feel GOOD!

OBJECTIVE
9 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
9.01 mi. : 1:10:50 = 7:52/mi.

6:06 AM 43° 87% 1 mph

Today was a GOOD run. There really wasn't really reason for it that I know of and I certainly didn't see it coming. It surprised me so much that I kept expecting to fade as the run progressed but "it" was there the whole time.

I was out of bed early this morning but slow to get going. It was cool this morning and I wasn't really that eager for this morning' run. By the time I made it over to the Y, ChampionsFit was gathering for their "unofficial long run" scheduled for 10 miles. I didn't want to have anything to do with them (long story) and was happy that I didn't see anyone that I knew while stretching in the parking lot. I let there band of about 20 set off while I was still stretching. I don't know how much time passed but it was a while before I started. Their group includes runners of all paces going all distances. I'm sure by now you're anticipating what happened .... As I began reeling them in, my pace quickened as I looked for more. My first mile was 8:16 - about 30 seconds faster than I'd planned. I started thinking I'd be in trouble later in the run for this fast start. Of course the faster runners were still ahead. I don't know why I had something to prove but it seems that I did. Second mile - 7:46. I had passed them all. Now I was sure I'd be hurting later. But I figured I was around 8:00 miles and was feeling pretty good. Even though this was supposed to be a long, slow distance run (my longest since before Thanksgiving), I decided I'd try to hold the 8 minute pace for as long as I could.

Mile 3 - 8:05
Mile 4 - 8:09

I was still feeling fine. Legs felt good and cardio was strong. I turned around at 4.5 miles. I had not planned on seeing the CF group again but obviously since it's out and back, I was going to. I started pushing it a bit because I wanted to pass them as far back the path as I could.

Mile 5 - 8:13
Mile 6 - 7:40

Passing them here and there. Some going back from shorter runs; some still going out. It really spurred me on. I was still feeling good. I decided that over the last two miles I'd try a legitimate pickup. I've only tried this a couple other times and it's never really worked out for me. I wanted to see if I could run the last two miles faster than any other mile up to that point. In the back of my mind a wondered about stressing my old injuries but figured I'd been playing it safe for a long time and it was about time for a test. Since everything was going so well, today seemed as good a time as any.

Mile 7 - 7:46
Mile 8 - 7:33
Mile 9 - 7:16

I did it and I felt great! I passed a couple guys over the last mile had run a shorter distance and were running at a good pace. That really helped me focus on working my way up to them.

Again, I have no good reason why this happened for me today but I'll take it! There are plenty of days when it's just not there so it's extremely nice to get a good day like today.

As a reference, yesterday I ate a small pasta marinara for lunch, a PBJ smoothie in the afternoon, a hard boiled egg in the early evening, and cereal in the evening. I went to bed around 9:30 and woke up around 2:30. Had a hard time getting back to sleep. After tossing around until about 4:30, I got up and surfed the Internet for a while before going for the run. [Just wanted this on record as I will probably try to replicate today's run sometime in the future!]

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean w. skim milk, water, multivitamin, zinc

Sluggish

OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
5.11 mi. : 44:07 = 8:38/mi.

4:37AM 45° 57% 5 mph

Started sluggish and stayed sluggish this morning. Left knee was a bit slow to start again but not as bad as usual. Relying on yesterday's forecast for this morning, I overdressed. This made for an uncomfortable effort. Tried to keep my mind busy with work issues but couldn't really focus.

Paige has been sick for most of this week. I've been sleeping in the guest room in an attempt to avoid picking anything up from her. I was tired at work most of the afternoon yesterday. That coupled with how I felt ruuning this morning has me fearful that I may be getting sick. Stay tuned ....

9 mile long run tomorrow before going to the office.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, water & oatmeal w/brn sgr
Later, vitamin C

Rain & Cooler

OBJECTIVE
3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
≈3.00 miles : 23:52 = 7:57/mi.

≈4:30 AM 42° 92% 1 mph light rain

Got 3 miles in under light rain and cooler temperatures. About 150 yards from the house a car passed and sprayed me big time. At that point the hope of staying as dry as possible had been eliminated! My left knee was slow to start again but, as has been the trend, finally got into the act a little before the 1 mile mark. My Garmin didn't work from the outset so I switched to the IronMan and followed the regular 3 mile route. Overall I felt pretty good this morning. Tomorrow is a scheduled day off before going out for 5 miles on Friday and 9 on Saturday. The cool temperatures and rain are supposed to continue throughout the weekend. There are times when the rain doesn't bother me at all; other times it absolutely drives me crazy!

Paige is planning to run the Galloway Gallop 10K with me on February 2. I'm just hoping my work situation will allow me the time to do it! To make an incredibly long story as short as possible, we condensing 8½ months work into 5 weeks! The "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow ... so to speak ... is that the summer should be much lighter than usual.

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, Kashi GoLean & water

Light Rain & Warm Temp

OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
5.13 miles : 42:30 = 8:17/mi.

4:24 AM 57° 95% 1 mph light rain

My left knee was cranky for a little less than a mile this morning but got with the program thereafter. It was warm with a very heavy mist/light rain. It was a quiet morning. I only saw a couple of cars over the whole run. Although one of them was a speeding SUV on a dark section of Cypresswood Drive that came closer than I'd like. I think it may have been a law enforcement vehicle .... I'll assume the best ... they were responding to an emergency and the abrupt lane change that took the vehicle into my path was necessary ... ???

My mile splits were tightly bunched today (slowest mile - 8:22; fastest mile 8:12). I suppose that qualifies this as a tempo run. Although the pace was slower than my tempo run should be. I'm still running at "no pace". I thought I'd switch to defined pacing this week but since I missed the long run over the weekend and re-read some of Daniel's stuff, I'm not sure what the proper pacing should be at this point. At the moment, my plan is to roll off of Hal Higdon's plan that I'm currently following (not enough detail) and shift over to Runners' World Smart Coach. Next week will be 16 weeks out from the Ogden marathon which is an ideal point to start. The other thing I like about Smart Coach is that it better fits my schedule for now. I've recently taken on additional responsibilities at work and am "drinking from a fire hydrant" right now. I like running as a release during this time but there are late hours and suboptimal nutrition and rest ahead. It's just a fact. Smart Coach should allow me to properly prepare for Ogden and better manage the other aspects of my current situation. Smart Coach also worked well for me at last year's Ogden half and St. George.

Yesterday was a bad nutrition day for me and I felt it during this morning's run ... just a general sluggishness. It wasn't that I ate bad food ... just that I didn't get enough calories and carbohydrates to properly fuel for today's run.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & water
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & skim milk, water

Uncorked a Good One

GOAL
3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.04 miles : 23:10 = 7:37/mi.

Had a good run this morning which I expected since I missed my weekend long run due to work. Tried Sasha's ta-ta-ta cadence (which honestly I don't really know what it is, how to do it, or what it's supposed to do) and it seemed to speed me up and allow me to keep a strong pace.

Run nice, negative splits.


PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & water

Don't Spit Into the Wind

OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
5.13 mi. : 41:18 = 8:03/mi.

4:30 AM 42F 61% 8 mph

It was a good run this morning. My left knee had a slight but fleeting problem and my right half tightened midway but abated.

For the first half of the run I was working on a comprehensive example to offer as a simple explanation for a now-very-public tax accounting issue that is the hottest topic in the office. I don't think I quite completed it but I'm close. I think I'll be using this technique more regularly. It seems to make the miles pass by and, for some reason, I seem to run faster than when I'm focusing solely on pace, form, etc.

I managed negative splits again today which I always like. Of course, it's more likely when starting with a slow initial mile.

I think I'll start adding pace objectives for my runs beginning next week.

I'm also considering shifting my marathon goal time given my recent 5K and how I've been feeling on my runs. However, I'm concerned about getting overly aggressive with my training since I think that's what led to my injuries. The best course is probably to maintain the goals as planned. If I'm still feeling like I'm ahead of schedule in a month, I should be able to modify my training for faster times and still have enough time before the marathon to reap the training benefits.

The demands of work are going to be staggering over the next 5 weeks. If hopeful that my running is not impacted too much. At the moment, it appears the February 10K is in jeopardy.

PRERUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, oatmeal w/ b. sugar, multivitamin & water

Insomnia

OBJECTIVE
3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
4.00 mi : 32:27 = 8:07/mi.

3:25 AM 52° 92% 0 mph

I couldn't sleep so I got up and went for a run. There's a lot going on at work which occupied my mind for most of the time. I stretched the run an extra mile to get more "thinking time".

Going to try to get some sleep now.

Oh ... almost forgot ... my Garmin wasn't working this morning so I used my IronMan watch. Not sure what's wrong with the Garmin. Seems like the battery dead and won't recharge ....

PRE RUN
Clif Bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin

Sweet Release

OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
5.12 mi. : 44:08 = 8:37/mi.

4:28 AM 46° 76% 0 mph

It was good to get out this morning. I wasn't sure that I would make it this morning. I got home from work last night at 11:30. Work has been particularly stressful of late and at the moment I see no end in sight. I didn't set the alarm for this morning's run but found myself looking at the clock at exactly 4:00. I was actually happy that I woke up. I'll probably pay for the short night's sleep this afternoon.

The run started off shaky. My left knee was pretty bad. I haven't abandoned my self-diagnosis of ITB issues but currently believe that's not what I'm dealing with. The knee feels "twisted". Like yesterday, it gradually worked itself out and by the time I was into Mile 2, it was pretty much gone. It's very strange.

I wasn't pushing pace today. I was just happy to be out. I was operating on limited sleep and a bad nutrition day yesterday. I managed negative splits which is always nice but much easier when the initial pace is slow.

I'm not proficient at just clearing my mind of running while running. But today, I was able to think about some work issues and personal matters as well. No earth-shattering breakthroughs, just clear-headed thought away from the "madness". I wasn't passed by a car until the last mile. It was truly a solitary run ... and I liked it!

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & water
Later, Kashi GoLean cereal & water

Hmmmm.......

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.02 mi. : 25:03 = 8:18/mi.

5:07 AM 36° 93% 0 mph

Strange run this morning .... My left knee was bothering me pretty intensely from the outset. I figured I'd just take it slow and easy to allow myself the opportunity to "gut it out". A little over a mile in, the pain eased up and continued to improve until it was gone. Very strange .... I don't know what to think of it. It probably has something to do with Saturday's race effort. That's the first time I've been that intense since Thanksgiving. But it didn't bother me during the race at all .... I did do some heavy leg extensions yesterday but I doubt that contributed.

Anyway it was really nice to just keep running and be able to get some relief along the way. I ended up with negative splits at around 34 seconds each.

I went to watch the Houston Marathon yesterday. I first stopped around the Mile 5 but quickly determined that I was too late to see most of my friends. From there, I drove to a spot a couple blocks before 20K. I sat there for quite a while and took some pictures. It was a cool, breezy morning ... great conditions to run in except for the wind. I saw Joe Oviedo, Jonathan Bennett, Laurie Aaron, Stephanie Burlet, Josh Rayner, Miranda Jamieson, and Bob Bond come through. I then relocated to Mile 22 and saw everyone except Stephanie come through. It was an interesting perspective to watch a marathon from the spectator's vantage point.



PRE RUN
water

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

Run The Woodlands 5K #192 - PR 20:37

OBJECTIVE
Test my legs (ITB's & right calf); Run a good race; Assess fitness
Stretch goal - if everything's going well, press for a PR

ACHIEVED
3.1 mi. : 20:37 = 6:42/mi. NEW PR

8:00 AM 44° 88% 0 mph

Very strange race today .... I'm thrilled with shaving 11 seconds off my PR. The fact that it follows no speed workouts since before Thanksgiving is a huge surprise. There hasn't been much intensity to my workouts since the 2 week layoff after Thanksgiving. From that point, I've run more frequently but with reduced intensity and mileage. I've only been around 20 miles a week with my longest run an 8 miler last Saturday. What's more surprising to me is that since Wednesday my legs have felt terrible. The left ITB seems to have only gotten worse since Wednesday morning's run. I didn't run Thursday or Friday. This break was planned. But noticed that throughout each day after sitting for extended periods at work, my left ITB and, to a lesser degree, my right ITB really felt ... strained ??? or maybe inflamed ... ??? This morning I wondered if I should even go to the race but decided it was scheduled and, if I had to, I could just shut it down mid-race.

The race was lightly attended today. I'm sure tomorrow's Houston marathon played into the participation. It was cool. I wore tights and my Nike jacket over a technical t-shirt. I also wore gloves and knit hat.

As usual a few younger runners pressed the pace as we circled the bus loop at the elementary school twice. Shortly before leaving the loop I checked my watched and, if I recall correctly, I was at a 6:08/mi. pace. This was a faster start than I wanted. There was a group of 4 or 5 guys ahead of me leaving the school. I was able to put them behind me over the next 1/3 mile.

A little less than a mile in, I was aware a couple of the guys were hanging with me. I thought I did a good job running my race and not letting their presence impact my pace.

I covered the first mile in 6:25. I had planned to be at 6:27 so I felt good. My legs were not bothering me in the slightest which really surprised me based on the past few days. My focus shifted to holding the pace. One runner was still with me. It seemed that he was drafting off me but there was no wind. The wide sidewalk is winding and I was staying on the tangents as much as possible. This most likely made it difficult to pass me ... if in fact that was his intention. I hoped that I would be able to drop him but it became clear that he was going to stay with me. My next hope was that it came down to a kick; hoping I would have something in the tank even without any speed work since before Thanksgiving. I felt my form breaking down slightly and my pace falling off a bit. Aerobically I felt fine but I think the fast start was catching up with me.

Somewhere around 2 miles, I was passed. I had covered Mile 2 in 6:46; had planned for 6:42. So I was slightly slower (+2 seconds) than my goal through 2 miles. I stayed on the heels of the runner who had passed for somewhere around 1/3 mile before he started stretching it out on me. I hoped to see him closer to the finish but I didn't. I think he ended up finishing 20 seconds in front of me. I tried to focus on holding my form together. For me that usually means resisting the urge to lean back at the waist. I do this by working to keep my shoulders over the balls of my feet. I also felt like I was overstriding a bit so I tried to shorten my stride a bit and increase my turnover. I feel like all of this helps me. However as usually happens, I was only able to keep my mental focus for short distances. I persisted but wasn't able to stick with it as much as I would have liked.

Based on how I was feeling when I was passed, I had decided on a two-stage kick. I don't know if this technique has any value at all. It may even be counterproductive. For me this means that with a 1/2 mile to go, I really hit it at about 90%+ effort. I'm not able sustain this for long ... maybe 200 - 250 meters. From there, I naturally slow. This allows me to recover ever-so-slightly for a final push. Today's data shows I made a strong push for about 200 meters before falling back to the overall pace. Then with 200 meters left, I made a good final kick.

I finished at 20:37 (based on times being called at the finish line). I was happy and surprised. The the last several weeks training and the past few days leg issues. I really doubted my ability to pull anything like this off. I'm looking forward to my next phase of training.

The weather was cool and I think it's supposed to continue for tomorrow's Houston Marathon.

Good luck to all of tomorrow's marathoners and especially my running friends!

PRE RUN
Earlier, Grape Nuts w/skim milk & water
Multivitamin, 800 mg Ibuprofen, & water
1/2 Clif bar & water

POST RUN
Water, SlimFast, & 1/2 Clif bar
Later, flax seed pancakes 2/syrup & skim milk
Later than later, French toast & skim milk

Now the Left

OBJECTIVE
3 mi : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.01 mi. : 25:07 = 8:20/mi.

5:29 AM 46F 64% 6mph

Missed yesterday's hill session due to work (year-end close). Thought I'd do an extra mile mile today and go 4 but woke up late and as soon as I started my left ITB flared. This was/is a surprising development. The left has always been secondary and never too bad. But today it got my attention early and often! I pulled back the reins just hoping to get the run in. By the time I was on the third mile, the knee had numbed. This is a obviously a frustrating development. Today was supposed to be my last training run before Saturday's 5K but I'm not exactly sure how the play this latest set back. I also have no good idea what led to this. Hopefully it's short-term but I'm starting to have my doubts.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
oatmeal w/skim milk, cinnamon, & honey, multivitamin & water

Inadvertent Proof

OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
5.11 miles : 44:45 = 8:45/mi.

4:43 AM 70° 83% 10 mph

It seems I inadvertently proved a theory that I've subscribed to. I didn't eat or drink before or after yesterday's run. Today I was quite sore and stiff. I think by depriving my body nutrients at critical times yesterday, I slowed the recovery process. On top of that, I failed to stretch after yesterday's run. So it's difficult to know what to attribute the way I felt this morning to. But in a very real way, I proved to myself that I need to be sure to get proper nutrition and stretch. I know that's not an earth-shattering revelation. But being a firsthand witness has made the case much more obvious to me. By the way, none of this was planned. It's just how things ended up working out yesterday.

It was warm for today's 5-miler. Fortunately, I loosened up once I got going. I treated the effort like a recovery run given my recent runs over consecutive days. I didn't want to push the pace and figured I'd be around 8:45. I sat on this pace through 3 miles then fell off for mile 4 and finished stronger for mile 5.

I hope it's cooler this weekend! I think it's supposed to rain mid week so that may turn the current trend and give the marathoners better conditions.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, oatmeal & skim milk

Unseasonably Warm

OBJECTIVE
3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.37 mi. : 26:39 = 7:55/mi.

6:36 AM 64° 94% 8 mph

I just wanted to get out today and see how I felt after yesterday's good run. I had the idea in the back of my head that I just wanted to finish strong. This concept was balanced against the fact that I just wanted to stretch it out.

It was warm this morning. For the sake of next weekend's Houston marathoners and especially my friends who are running, I hope that it's cooler next Sunday morning than it is today! A marathon start in the mid-60's most likely would not result in a good day.

While stretching out before I got started, I noticed that my hips had a bit of tenderness in them. I'm guessing it's the ITB "connection" at the hip. It didn't bother me at all during the run but it was there pre-run. My right calf felt good before, during, and after. I think I'm ready to officially declare that injury as behind me. I should probably wait on any "free from injury" declarations until after next Saturday's 5K. My body will encounter some stresses that it hasn't been subjected to in a while ... so until then I'll tread lightly ....

Today's run was decent. Nothing especially noteworthy. I tacked on a little extra at the end just to force myself mentally to run in my neighborhood. For some reason, I seem to have a mental block about doing that.


PRE RUN
Nothing

POST RUN
Nothing

Training Schedule: January 6 - 12

Sun - 3 mi.
Mon - 5 mi.
Tue - 5 x hill
Wed - 3 mi.
Thu - rest
Fri - rest
Sat - Run The Woodlands #192 5K

Great Day on the Road

OBJECTIVE
8 mile easy : no pace

ACHIEVED
8.38 miles : 66:35 = 7:56/mi.

8:05 AM 63° 89% 6 mph

Had a good run this morning. This was my longest since November 17's 17-miler. I'm happy to report no problem with ITB's or right calf. The best part of today's run was that Jonathan drove up to run with me. Although we've met for lunch a few times recently, I don't think we've run together since October 21 in Baton Rouge the morning after the LSU - Auburn football game.

Jonathan is tapering for next Sunday's Houston Marathon. He's looking for a 3:10 to qualify for the Boston marathon. He just missed the qualifying time at last month's White Rock marathon in Dallas; coming in at 3:11:55. That was his first marathon effort after starting running the same night I did back in March (2007). I wish him the best with next weekend's effort. I'm betting he'll do it. For anyone interested, his blog is at Run for Speed. I'll admit his blog is more entertaining and informative than mine!

Anyway, it was great to run with him and we shared good conversation over the whole 8+ miles. He wanted to cover the distance at 8 minute miles which I knew may be a bit of a stretch for me. But I felt great this morning and with the distraction of the conversation, the miles rolled by easily.

It had rained this morning before we ran so it was a bit steamy but overall it was a great morning to run ... good weather, great company, feeling solid ... I'm happy with how it all went down this morning.

Thank you for making the drive to run with me this morning, Jonathan!


PRE RUN
Earlier, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk & water
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, & water

Pedestrian

OBJECTIVE
35 min tempo : no pace

ACHIEVED
4.05 miles : 35:42 = 8:49/mi.

4:48 AM 37° 78% 5 mph

It was warmer today. I generally felt okay. Strange how the mind works ... I was running for time this morning ... 35 minutes. I planned to run the 4 mile route and knew that I'd have to add on a bit to get the time. I was mentally prepared for the 4 miles but was groping around for the best way to add on to the run. Finally, I decided that I'd best circle the block back in my neighborhood to get the additional time. I wasn't thrilled about that but figured it would be fine. Interestingly, after completing the 4 mile route I found myself back at the house. I checked my watch ... I had been running a little over 35 minutes! Somehow my mind had worked as a governor to restrict my pace such that I wouldn't have to run in the neighborhood! I've had a few similar occurrences over the past several months. It is proof to me the the mental side of running can be a powerful tool or an obstacle. Of course, I have no idea at the moment how to harness this power but I convinced that it's there. I analyzed my splits at home and found that I was generally slowing over the whole run. I didn't feel it but somehow I mentally "made it happen" because I didn't really want to run the neighborhood. I need to give this concept more consideration.


PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, Kashi GoLean cereal with skim milk

Eager Anticipation

OBJECTIVE
3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.01 miles : 23:28 (7:47/mile)

4:53 AM 30° 64% 4 mph

After yesterday's solid effort, I was really looking forward to this morning's run. Last night's forecast was for a cold front so I was mentally prepared for a cool morning. After running in Utah over the holiday, I relearned the concept that weather conditions are relative. I was also reminded that the body seems to acclimate itself to its surroundings (e.g., altitude and cold).

This morning's run was a decent 3 miler. I didn't feel quite as good as yesterday but it was still pretty good. I was at 7:45 for the first mile. This was a bit of a disappointment compared to yesterday but I'm still running by "feel" and that's what I felt. I held the pace over the second mile and fell off about 6 seconds over the last mile. I'm curious to see what kind of time I'll put down in The Woodlands 5K a week from Saturday. My "no pace" training and lack of 9+ mile long runs seem to be a weak base to race from. But maybe the "rest" has done my body good ... ???

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

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

It's Good to Be Back Home!

OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
5.12 : 38:36 = (7:32 min/mile)

9:20 AM 47° 30% 12 mph


I felt very good today once I was out the door. I'm not sure what to attribute it to ... it could be the two day break from running or the better conditions here in Houston than in Utah or better sleep and nutrition or full recovery from my lifting session at the South Weber Recreation Center last week ....

I didn't check my watch until I heard the mile indicator for the first time. I felt strong and felt that I had started at a stronger pace than I've been running lately but I was surprised to see that I was at 7:28. I felt good and figured that I'd just try to maintain the pace. You can see that I fell off a bit (thanks to the last couple miles) but I was happy to run strong and not have ITB issues. My right calf flared up slightly but it wasn't a factor in today's run.

I extended my usual 4-mile "Stuebner-Airline" route to pick up an extra mile. I ended up down on Cypresswood across a section of the Bearkat Bash 5K course.

I expect to pick up my mileage a bit this week and am looking forward to my next race on January 12, the Run The Woodlands 5K. Hopefully I stay strong over the next week and a half. Turning the calendar to 2008 is also exciting in that it's now the year in which I plan to qualify for the Boston Marathon. ... here's to a great year of running!


PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, waffles w/syrup & 2% milk

Christmas at Grandma's

 

We were in Utah to visit family and friends. This is a December 30 picture of my nieces and nephews at my parent's home.