Gerrymandering for LSD

OBJECTIVE
18 mi. w/last 3 @ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED
18.03 mi.@ 9:03/mi.

6:09 AM 75° 94% 0 mph

Ended up on own running from the Y for 18 miles. This area doesn't lend itself to that distance. I took every turn and side road to get the miles and also doubled back on the bayou twice on the way back in. Ended up running the trails around the kids' soccer fields at the Y to get the last few. Lost it a little over 16 miles. Walked to the car and got water, took off my empty hydration belt and shirt then went for the final 2 miles ... slowly. Just gutted it out. The distance was more important than the speed.

Tried controlling my hydration by drinking approximately 4 oz. of Accelerade every 30 minutes. Supposedly the body can only absorb 8 oz. per hour.

This was a tough run. My Saturday group was all over the place. Steph in the UK. Jonathan running Hood to Coast Relay in Oregon. Stacey and Laurie at Terry Hershey Park with KatyFit. Shellie and Kathleen with Kenyan Way. I think Randy, William, and Josh may have ultimately ended up with Kenyan Way too. I considered all the options and none seemed that appealing so I stayed close to home and ran from the Y by myself. I knew ChampionsFit would be starting sometime so I saw a bunch of runners especially along the bayou trail. From the trail, I went down Eldridge to Louetta then turned back up toward Spring Cypress then back down to the bayou trail. At the end of the trail, I turned back and did it again. I the way back to the Y, I went all the way to the end of the dead end road then turned to the Y and started around the soccer fields.

Looking forward to tomorrow's rest and running with the group on next Saturday's long run.

PRE RUN
FRS liquid concentrate, water, oatmeal w/flax & brown sugar

POST RUN
2 SlimFast & water

Regular 6

OBJECTIVE
6 - 8 mi. Easy

ACHIEVED
6.11 mi.@ 8:49/mi.

5:33 AM 74° 94% 0 mph mist

Ran the Wimbledon Forest Loop for 6 miles. Felt good; solid effort resulted in a good pace for an easy run. Feeling very happy with this week's training. However, there's a great deal of uncertainty surrounding tomorrow's long run.

Too Fast for Recovery

OBJECTIVE
3 - 4 mi. Slow

ACHIEVED
4.02 mi.@ 8:18/mi.

7:16 AM 73° 94% 5 mph mist & rain

This one was supposed to be a nice, slow recovery run. Somehow it didn't end up that way. During the first half mile, it seemed that my turnover was a lot faster than usual. I wonder if that's from the speed workout yesterday ... ??? I don't remember this happening the day after intervals before ...?

I knew I was faster than I should be so I reminded myself to just stay comfortable. The result of this is that I just ended up holding pretty much the same pace. This surprised me.

I'm happy to take another good run! We'll see how it impacts tomorrow's 6-miler.

Forgot to mention a funny thing that happened immediately after yesterday's run. I was running from the YMCA as I oftentimes do but I was later than usual. When I got back from the run, I walked past a large group of kids who were in some sort of holding pattern. I assume they were maybe K - third graders participating in the Y's summer program. Any I could hear the kids voices but wasn't close enough to make out what they were saying. Once I was a "safe" distance past them, I heard a kid's voice call out, "Get a shirt on. There are kids around!" I won't argue that I don't look that good with my shirt off ... but I certainly didn't think it was that bad! When I run alone in the summer, I usually run without a shirt. When I run with others, I wear one. I've been laughing about that youthful comment for the past 24 hours.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
Water, multivitamin & All Bran cereal w/skim milk

Ragged Intervals

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. w/ 9x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED
8.21 mi.@ 8:33/mi. incl. 9x2 min. & 2 min. jog

7:29 AM 73° 94% 0 mph Max HR 179 Avg. HR ~155

It was raining very hard when I got up to go out for this one.

Once I started running from the Y, I struggled. My back was a problem ... right between my shoulder blades. It was like something was pinched or twisted. I thought it would loosen as I warmed up but it really never did. It has caused a mild headache throughout the day and limited range of motion (turning my neck and shoulders).

Anyway I wore my heartrate monitor today. I wanted to see what heart rate did during my 2 minute recovery jogs. I was disappointed to find that I didn't ever fully recover and my heart rate just kept going higher and higher throughtout the portion of the run. During the jogs, the heart rate would come down but wouldn't get lower than when I started the last interval. Of course the rate would take off during the intervals. On a graph, I imagine it as a 2-steps-forward-one step-back pattern. My maximum heart rate hit 179 on my eighth and/or ninth interval. Ironically that is my "textbook" maximum heart rate ... i.e., 220 - age = MHR or 220 - 41 = 179. The heart rate monitoring was disappointing because I was hoping to find that I was recovering better/faster.

My intervals paces were all over the board. I was trying to hit 6:40/mile without looking at my watch very much. Here's what that got me:

Warmup 2.38 mi.@ 8:53/mi.
2 min.@6:48/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:43/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:36/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:44/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:45/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:39/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:41/
2 min. jog
2 min.@7:00/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:51/
2 min. jog
Cooldown 1.47 mi.@ 8:55/mi.

I'm disappointed that I wasn't more consistent and that I missed my times so much. I may have been letting the heart rate situation get into my head a bit (e.g., you're not recovery properly ... there's no way you can sustain the speed ....).

Needless to say I'm happy this one is over. Looking to be stronger next week!

PRE RUN
FRS & 1/2 Clif bar

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

A Really Good Run

OBJECTIVE
4 - 6 mi. Easy

ACHIEVED
6.16 mi.@ 8:31/mi.

4:56 AM 73F 89% 4 mph

This was a really good run.

I'm not sure what happened to set me up for this. As always, there are too many variables at play. Here are the factors I believe may have contributed:

Rest - I've gone to bed earlier (before 10) the past couple nights.

Physical therapy - After last week's session with Danni, I've diligently completed my 7 exercise routine every other day.

Temperature - It's been cooler the past couple days. The difference isn't huge on the thermometer - maybe 7 or 8 degrees - but it's noticeable right from the start when running even when the humidity is around 90%. I didn't realize a storm was moving in. I just enjoyed today's run. About 30 minutes after finishing, it started raining.

Hills/Rest Cycle - Saturday's long run in the hills was challenging. Could I be noticing the training benefit already? Sunday's rest day may have given my body a chance to "reload". Or my mileage pull back over the past couple weeks may be allowing me to be fresher ... ???

Nutrition - My eating has been fairly "clean". I've probably overeaten slightly over the past 5 days as my weight has edged up 4-5 pounds. But I've generally been using high octanes fuels.

After half a mile, I picked it up. One of the things I've allowed is for my pace to just stay in "warm up mode". The past couple days I've tried to avoid letting my body set that as the auto-pilot pace. I found a comfortable pace that still seemed "easy". I was able to hold it and ended up running fairly flat splits. This is similar to yesterday.

From a mental standpoint, I really needed the past couple days. Hopefully the feeling continues!

Tomorrow is a big workout of 8 miles with intervals along the way. Maybe I'll be doing it in the rain.

Olympic footnote: Brian Sell who will be running the marathon for the US has been putting 160 - 170 miles per week! ... makes my 40 seem rather easy .... His tempo runs are at 5:00/mile pace. It's difficult for me to understand what that really means. It's kind of like the child's ultimate topper to win numerical arguments - "infinity". You have no idea what it means but know that no one else can put up a bigger number. I can't even say that I've got a job to work and Sell doesn't ... that's how he has time for the miles. Wrong! Brian actually works 5-6 hour shifts in the garden section at Home Depot. He's a huge underdog in Beijing but I'm rooting for him. He has commented that he hopes the conditions are absolutely terrible come race day. He believes it could be the equalizer that gives him a shot. Good luck for a great race, Brian.

PRE RUN
1/2 Clif bar & water

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

Mixed Review

OBJECTIVE
3 - 4 mi. Slow

ACHIEVED
4.02 mi.@ 8:49/

5:00 AM 73F 92% 0 mph

I'm not exactly sure how I could feel good and sore during the same run but that's how it worked out today. The soreness is from Saturday's hills. I was really feeling it on my rest day yesterday. That was a bit of a surprise since I've felt pretty good after the other times I've been out to League Line Road to run the hills.

Some of soreness may also be from the 7 PT exercises Dani gave me to do last week. I'm supposed to do them twice a week but I've adopted every other for now. I've noticed they leave me a little sore in odd places.

After a half mile, I decided I didn't want the run to get sloppy and slow so I picked it up. I thought it was just a slight pace increase since I still felt comfortable. After Mile 2, I checked again and was surprised how fast I was going. I pulled it back slightly; reminding myself that this was a slow, recovery run and that I need to save the effort for Wednesday.

It's nice to have a good run. Planning on 6 miles tomorrow.

The thought just occurred to me that maybe I felt good because the temperature was slightly cooler this morning ....

PRE RUN
bran muffin & water

POST RUN
Accelerade, water, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

Training Schedule: Aug 17 - 23

Sun. Rest
Mon. 3 - 4 mi. Easy
Tue. 6 - 8 mi. Slow
Wed. 8 mi. incl. 9 x 2 min.@ 6:40 w/2 min. jog
Thu. 3 - 4 Easy
Fri. 6 - 8 mi. Slow
Sat. 18 mi. pickup last 4 mi.

Long Run in the Hills of Conroe

OBJECTIVE
18 mi. w/last 3 mi. pickup

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

5:27 AM 74° 94% 1 mph

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Late & Short

OBJECTIVE
6 - 8 mi. Easy

ACHIEVED
4.03 mi.@ 8:24/mi.

8:03 AM 80° 87% 2 mph

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

Inconsistent

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

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

6:24 AM 77° 90% 1 mph

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

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

Here are my erratic splits:

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

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

PRE RUN
water

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

I Much-needed Recovery Run

OBJECTIVE
3 - 4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.02 mi.@ 9:37/mi.

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

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

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

PRE RUN
water

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

Training Schedule: Aug 10 - 16

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

A Good Long Run

OBJECTIVE
18 mi. EZ w/last 3 mi. pickup @ 7:55/mi

ACHIEVED
16.72 mi.@ 8:49/mi. w/last 2.72 mi.@ 8:13/mi.

5:39 AM 78° 86% 0 mph

It was a good long run today. It wasn't easy but I had good company. Today was Miranda's last run with us before moving to Fort Lauderdale. Others along for the run were Stephanie, Stuart, Randy, Josh, William and me.

We went started at Memorial Park and went to Rice University for a loop around the campus. From there we went north and west until we got to Stephanie's house for a water break. There was about 4 miles left at that point.

My legs felt okay throughout the run. This was good given yesterday's 8 miler. My cardio felt good intermittently. It was warm and humid. The soft surface on the trail around Rice was helpful.

I was debating the pickup as we worked our way back to Memorial Park. The group gradually picked up with about 3 miles to go. I think we must have cut the planned route short because we should have had 2 miles left when we hit the park. But I knew it was less than that. I broke from the group at Memorial Drive. I think I pushed too hard right away instead of working up to the faster pace. I was gassed over the final half mile.

The run was a bit shorter than I scheduled and I didn't hit the 7:55/mi. pickup pace. But the heat index was pretty high so I think it was still okay.

I missed the Rich Bouchard 10K in Utah this morning. Sorry that I did ....

PRE RUN
water, oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk; FRS

POST RUN
2 SlimFast, water
Later, homemade berry smoothie

8 on 8/8/08

OBJECTIVE
6 - 8 mi. Easy (8:24-54/mi.)

ACHIEVED
~8.00 mi.@ ~8:56/mi.

~6:30 AM 77° 93% 0 mph

My trusty Garmin has worked so well lately .... Apparently today was time for it to pull the "Low Battery" routine on me. Very frustrating. I know it was fully charged after yesterday's run and I'm relatively certain the sequence I followed when disengaging from my desktop at home was the same as usual .... That left me with my IronMan. This wasn't too big of a problem since I was running from the YMCA for 8 miles. I generally know where the mile intervals along the way are.

I was slow to get going. My legs felt a tight but loosened up shortly after I was underway. I got a late start because I slept in until 5:40 AM. I usually don't bother with an alarm during the week figuring that's the best way to get the rest my body needs. After the past couple weeks of inconsistent morning starting times I've been waking up at different times. Prior to that I was pretty much waking up at 5 every morning.

It was humid again today. By the time I was finished, my shoes were sloshing with sweat. Jonathan has come up with the concept of "rain gutters" for runners' feet to keep the sweat from filling up their shoes. I could have used them today!

Overall I felt fine today. My cardio seems solid and with the exception of a few niggling issues my body is okay too.

I've decided not to go to Utah for tomorrow's 10K. This is a disappointment because I wanted to defend my age group title from last year. I also really wanted a race to assess my fitness. I haven't raced in a long time now. But I was going to have to go on a 9:30 PM flight and get in very late then turn around for a 7 AM race start in the morning. It just didn't make sense. I've also got some work issues that most likely will require my attention over the weekend. So I'm going to miss the race. GOOD LUCK TO THE BIGFOOT FARMS RACING TEAM TOMORROW!

As for me, I'll be heading out for a long one in the morning. Stephanie is in town and has put together a 17-mile route from Memorial Park around Rice University and back to the Park. I hope to hold up better than I did last week and add a bit of a pickup at the end.

PRE RUN
GrapeNuts w/skim milk

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

Slow 4

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. Slow (+8:54/mi.)

ACHIEVED
4.03 mi.@ 9:06/mi.

5:51 AM 74F 95% 0 mph

Got out and got a few miles this morning .... I'll call it Day 2 of getting back on track. It was quite humid.

I'm considering going to Utah for the weekend to run a 10K. The course is hilly, at altitude, and I wouldn't mind a "fitness check". Stephanie is out of town this weekend and Stacey is running with KatyFit. The usual Saturday group is fragmented at best. This seems to make it a better time for me to go. I was planning on 18 miles Saturday. I figure I can run to the race start, finish the race then go add a few more miles.

Stay tuned to see how this one plays out ....

PRE RUN
Accelerade

POST RUN
Accelerade, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar, cinnamon & skim milk

I Suck

OBJECTIVE
who knows?

ACHIEVED
5.13 mi. @ 9:20/mi.

5:17 AM 77° 89% 4 mph

In 1976-7, I was a fifth grader at Central Elementary in St. Anthony, Idaho. During that year my occasional friend, Alan Edlefson (sp?) and I wrote a few supposedly humorous skits for some sort of school talent show. We chose what we thought were the best ones and “acted” (I use that term loosely in this instance.) them out as part of the show.

At a climatic point in one of skits I ad lib’d: “This thing sucks!” I thought nothing of it but later in the day received a fairly serious scolding from my mom (serious enough that I remember it 30+ years later!), who was present in the audience. In short, she told me that “suck” was a bad word and that I shouldn’t say it.

So with apologies to my mother I say, “I suck!”

Saturday’s run was hard. I followed that up with a lot of time in the sun over the weekend. The temperatures were +95° with high humidity – typical August days in Southeast Texas. The baseball team I was coaching ended up making a run to the championship before losing. This meant 5 games … all played during the day. I was smart enough to use sun screen but the conditions really zapped me.

Using that as an excuse, I slept in Monday. On Tuesday morning, it was Hurricane Edouard (ended up being not much more than a rain storm with some wind). Over the days my legs were achy and I still felt fatigued.

Upon waking up this morning, I gave myself permission to run at ANY pace in exchange for just getting out and putting one foot in front of the other.

I took myself up on the deal and made it out the door. I slogged through an extremely slow 5 miles. I didn’t feel particularly bad and certainly wasn’t good … just getting back to training. Today I operated under the theory that there’s no such thing as “junk miles”.

Last week I tried adopting the “rest 3 days a week” training approach. I didn’t feel like it worked for me so I’m planning to flip back to running 6 days per week. I know this isn’t what my doctor or physical therapist have recommended but I felt better running this way over the 6 weeks I followed this approach. It’s not a good time to be messing around with my training schedule.

I need focus and I need to stop sucking. There’s only 58 days until the marathon.

Postscript: The skit Alan and I performed was pretty funny. I’m probably the only person who remembers it now. The skit was in the form of a television commercial for a shaving product we called “Triple Trac” – a razor with three blades. For context, please remember that the most advanced razors at the time only had two blades. Ironically, I shaved this morning with a four-bladed razor. Not only were we funny but we were well ahead of our time!

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
Accelerade, multivitamin, water, oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar, cinnamon & skim milk

How Easy (or Hard) Should An "Easy Run" Be

OBJECTIVE
Easy 8 mi.@ 8:53/mi.

ACHIEVED
8.02 mi.@ 8:50/mi.

5:40 AM 77F 89% 4 mph

I haven't really figured out how fast or slow to run "easy runs". Over the past six weeks, I just run how ever I felt. Sometimes that led to fast runs; other times slow. Today started out relatively slow. I decided to "put a little effort into it" so I would be closed to my target time. I ended up just under it. How fast should an easy run be? There are tables and formulas. But I've also read about just leaving your watch home and allowing the run to be paced however you feel. I've also read that you can "speed up by slowing down".

Along these same lines I've heard that it's best to stay away from "junk miles" (too slow). I've also heard there is no such thing as junk miles.

I don't know what's right and wrong when it comes to these thing ....

I pushed today's run a bit out of the "easy" range for me ... but not much. It just required slightly more focus and attention to pace.

PRE RUN
apple juice

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

First Tempo Run in a Long Time

OBJECTIVE
7 mi. w/4 mi. tempo @ 7:30/mi.

ACHIEVED
7.04 mi. w/4 mi. tempo @ 7:25/mi.

6:09 AM 75° 89% 4 mph

Drove over to Faulkey Gully to run the bayou trail. I dropped in at Louetta which I now know is almost exactly the midpoint of the trail ... thanks to the mile markers that have been installed along the trail. From there I went up the path and extended my warm up to cross Eldridge and continued to the dead end. From there, I came back and crossed Eldridge, took a short break then started my tempo run.

I had been dreading this one somewhat. Only because I haven't done a tempo run in a long time and I didn't know if I could hold a 7:30/mile pace for 4 miles. I'm sure it was this anxiety that led me to start out too fast. But somewhere between 1/2 and one mile, I settled in to a better rhythm and found the pace. I don't recall running this pace over any distance before so that's probably why I had some trouble finding it.

I just kept trying to relax and "run strong". Most of the time those attributes seem opposed to me but I had pretty good focus this morning. I was a little faster than planned over the first mile but felt pretty good. I decided to try to hold it there over the second mile (which included the turnaround at the bottom of the path). The return trip felt like more of a struggle but I stayed focused and reminded myself that I was over half way done. The third mile clipped by and I was heading for the top of the trail. I figured I was going to have to keep going all the way to the top of the trail and cross Eldridge and go to the dead end to get the full 4 miles. I was exactly right. Fortunately, traffic wasn't too bad crossing Eldridge and I didn't lose much time there. I finished strong and very spent. A blue collar guy in a truck saw me finish and asked if I needed some water. This was quite generous and thoughtful on his part. I declined, telling him I had some back at my car which wasn't too far back.

My mile splits:

7:25/7:24/7:26/7:25

I'm happy with the consistency and very happy that I came in under the planned 7:30.

My legs felt good today ... after doing some "clam shells" last night.

PRE RUN
GrapeNuts w/skim milk

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk, 2 homemade waffles with maple syrup, tall glass of 1% milk

Not So Easy Run

OBJECTIVE
9 mi.@ 8:53/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.03 mi.@ 8:56/mi.

5:31 AM 75F 91% 6 mph

Had some general soreness from the beginning. Most of it dissipated once I got warmed up. I just ran easy but found myself around 9:04-08/mi. Struggled in an effort to go a bit faster so I just left it there until I turned back at the midway point. Started playing the "2% more effort" game. I focus on putting just 2 percent more into every stride. I've found this is usually good for a 10-25 second pace reduction. I only wish I could stay mentally focused longer. I'm getting better but its still too short.

I ran the bayou trail from the Y. It looks like I'll be using the Y as my starting point more often now that my runs are longer.

PRE RUN
2 FRS chews & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, 5-grain w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

Training Schedule: July 28 - August 3

Monday - Easy 9 mi.@ 8:53/mi.
Tuesday - Rest
Wednesday - Tempo 4 mi.@ 7:30/mi. (Total distance = 7 mi.)
Thursday - Easy 8 mi.@ 8:53/mi.
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 18 mi.@ 8:53/mi. w/3 mi. pickup @ 7:55/mi.
Sunday - Rest


I'm nervous about changing up my approach but the doctor and physcial therapist say I need more rest in my schedule. I'll see how this goes.