A Lot to be Thankful For

LOOK AT THAT STRIDE TO THE FINISH!


The temperature at race time was indeed 24 degrees making it the coldest race I've run. I wore tights, gloves, hat, and three layers on top. Before it was over, I'd be too hot!

The good news is I clocked in at 33:17 - well, ahead of my 34:28 goal. The bad news is that the course was short and there was no "official" timing. There was a great deal of confusion leading up to the start of the run. Apparently, the race organizers did not have the appropriate permits in place with the South Ogden police to run the scheduled course. Therefore, some last minute course changes were made and no one - runners or race officials - seemed to know the course or even where the run was going to start. A moment for perspective ... this was a charitable fun run. Admission to the event was a nonperishable food item that was donated to three local organizations. The run did receive a good bit of news coverage from local television stations and print media. According to the local newspaper, over 1,000 people participated in either the 5-mile run or 2-mile walk. I was very impressed with the turnout given the cold temperature.

At the start, I was in a huge mosh pit of walkers and runners. No one seemed to know if the run was starting to the north, south, or east (at least one direction was ruled out!). I saw Tim Grubb, a friend and strong Utah runner. We talked briefly until his group decided they were in the wrong place and began moving to the front. I hesitated and missed my opportunity to move with them but suddenly the mass of humanity was moving. I heard no gun, whistle, shout, ... anything but it was clear that the run had started ... and I was in a very poor position.

I began working my way through the crowd. For a section of a couple hundred yards, I was on the grass at the side of the hospital's driveway. Finally out on the road, I checked my GPS. My pace was okay but I wasn't feeling too good. I don't know if it was the cold or the energy spent working my way through the crowd but I knew I was in for a challenge. By the end of the first mile, I clocked in at 6:59 and finally had good running room. I had hoped to cover the first mile in something closer to 6:30. I quickly revised my upcoming splits to try and hold 7 minute miles for as long as possible. That came to a quick disappointment as the hills started. A lot of up and down over mile 2 and 3. I'll be interested to see what the elevation changes were when I download back at home. The uphill sections of course slowed me down and the downhill got my IT bands screaming so I wasn't able to capitalize like I wanted. Somewhere along the way, I set aside all goals and just tried to race. My style of racing isn't complicated, find someone in front of me to pick off and don't let anyone behind me pass. I was successful for the most part.

A young male runner passed me with about a mile to go. I stayed with him and when I tried to pass him back he stayed with me. I pushed it a little harder then harder still. He stayed with me. I backed off a bit but thought to myself that I had probably pushed him enough that I'd be passing him again before the end. I did attributing it to my experience and his lack of it.

Coming in front of the hospital, a group came up behind me. This was going to be a contested finish but I didn't know who the players would be but planned on being one of them. My legs weren't feeling great but my cardio was good. I felt ready for a push. I picked up the pace and picked off two runners. Turning into the back parking lot, there were foot steps along side. A tall, younger female was along side and pushing hard. I stayed with her. Her strides were long and smooth; powerful. Mine were choppy and flailing but I wasn't prepared to let her go. Side by side, it went. Then, I relaxed. This had a great consequence. I was faster; my stride lengthened and I was on my toes. It felt good. I shouldn't be surprised that relaxing helps in this manner but it never crosses my mind in the heat of the challenge. Frankly, I just stumbled upon it. She stayed with me. I had a fleeting moment of doubt. I didn't think I'd be able to shake her. I'd used all my gears but was determined to stay with it until the end. Finally with about fifty yards to go, she dropped back slightly. I kept pushing to the timekeeper who was calling times. She faded slightly and I crossed about a second ahead of her.

No matter how a race goes. Finishing strong makes it seems like a good race. Sure, I didn't make my goal time today. It wasn't in the cards. The conditions and the course weren't right. I should have been smart enough to pull off the attempt ahead of time. But pushing for the goal, always helps me stay focused. And, finishing strong makes the run feel successful.


4.56 miles - 33:17 (7:21/mile)


Okay, now for the fun stuff.

Congratulations and thanks to the following!

Colorado Cousins - Amy and Julie (using this as speed work for upcoming Las Vegas half marathon)

Wife - Paige (said she felt good and could have gone faster; that's after two 7-milers earlier in the week)

Sister - Wendy (took a break from Thanksgiving kitchen duty to run; her homemade rolls were the absolute best this afternoon and she looked strong in the run ... a true dual threat!)

Brother-in-law - Brandon (started out on the walk with his wife and kids before "transferring" over to run course.

Skiing Utah cousins - Ryan, Stephanie, and their kids (walked the course; a long-time family tradition for them)

Sister - Becky and 4/5 of her kids made the walk (one in a stroller); her only kid not to walk is new to the whole walking thing being around a year old.

Aunt Debbie, Uncle Clayton, & Mom - our loyal and excellent cheering section. Incredibly, they were not deterred by the icy condtions! Clayton also served as the family's race photographer (Thanks, Clayton!)

And, finally Dad - in a surprise effort, he lined up at the very back of the runners at the start. Known for his comedic antics, this wasn't a shock to anyone. The surprise came when he actually went out with the runners and finished the course. Great job, Dad! And thanks to Brandon and Tim for circling back to bring him in.



Dad, Paige, Wendy, and me in the prerace chill!



After a late decision to run, Paige makes the run look fun!



Phoebe, Brandon, and Dad basking in post race glory!

Tomorrow's Run

The race tomorrow is at 9 am when the forecast temperature is 24 degrees. Should be interesting ... ?

Also, heard indirectly that this is a "big" event and that there will be a "whole bunch of people" participating.

I've decided that the goal for tomorrow is 34:28 over the 5 mile course. This is the equivalent time of my 5K PR over 5 miles. My plan is to go out hard looking to achieve the goal. I'm hoping the conditions cooperate and that I'm feeling good once out on the course.

5 x 1000 's

1.5 mile warm up over to the Klein High track this morning at 4:30.

WORKOUT: 5 x 1000 meters @ 3:55 w/ 400 meter rest interval

3:59
3:45 * pretty sure the Garmin fired early on this interval ???
3:47
3:57
3:56

1.6 mile cool down back home

Lately I've enjoyed my weekly interval workouts. But today I think I came back too soon from Saturday's long run. My legs felt heavy. ITB's flared a bit but I found that by going clockwise on the track they weren't so bad. 1000 meters somehow seems to offend my left brain concept of wanting everything symmetrical.

Training Schedule: Nov 19 - 25

This should be an interesting week with the Thanksgiving holiday/travel/gorging on the list of scheduled events. I'm looking forward to an old-fashioned Thanksgiving hosted by my grandparents. It's the first time we will be in Utah for this holiday in a long time. We usually go to Seattle or California to celebrate with Paige's family.

Mon - WU, 5x1K @ 3:55 (w/400m rest), CD
Thu - 5 Mile Race
Fri ??? - 20 Miles @ 8:43


I wanted to give myself two days rest before the Thanksgiving Day race. Hopefully that gives my ITB's a good rest. I'll work core, flexibility, and strength on Tuesday and Wednesday. I'd really like to put the hammer down at the race but I think there will be several things working against me: temperatures expected to be in the 30's; this isn't an "official race" - it's a "charity run". The event won't be timed and calls into question the quality of competition (not necessarily a factor for me); and, probably my biggest concern ... my ITB's.

I've got a 20-miler for my long run. From the standpoint of potential overeating, this sounds good. From the standpoint of having to go it alone in cold weather ... not so good. I see the Striders are staging the 2nd Annual Black Friday 25K/50K on Antelope Island Friday at 7 AM. It sounds like it's just a group training run. This would give me others to run with so I think I'll drop a note to the event organizer to get details.

Back with the Saturday Long Run Group

It was very nice to get back with the group for a run this morning. Stephanie, Laurie, Randy, Biff, and I started from Memorial Park at 6:30. They were scheduled for 20 miles and I had 17 on my training plan. I wasn't sure what to expect given the recent issues with my IT bands ... yes, it's both legs now. I figured I'd go out with the group and see how far I could go. I was fully prepared to walk it in if necessary. I just hoped that if I had a problem that it would happen early or late in the run to make the walk shorter!

The ITB's started flaring up around 4-5 miles. It wasn't the sharp, intense pain that I've had before. It was more of a dull ache. I kept going. We went down around the Rice University campus. The ITB's were getting progressively worse and my pace was falling off. At 13.5, I broke from the group to head back to the park. This is where I planned to leave them to shorten my run to 17 miles. Once I was away from the group, I got slower and the strain on my knees became more persistent. I finished the run but it wasn't a strong one.

17 miles @ 8:50/mile


I wore my old blue Mizuno Wave Rider 10's today. I haven't worn them in a long time. I just wanted to change shoes to see if that helped my ITB's any. It's hard to say .... I also took 800 mg Ibuprofen before starting and "rolled" my legs with a rolling pin. During the week, I also did stretching and strengthening exercises hoping to alleviate the problem.

Reading for Runners

Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune wrote this worthwhile editorial commenting on the Ryan Shay and Chicago marathon incidents.

LINK

Still Trying to Find the Tempo

For some reason I stayed in the office until a little after 7 today. This only served to make me feel less like running as the afternoon evolved to evening. The plan was to run at Memorial Park. The 5 mile tempo run with mile warm up and cool down could be better controlled on the 3-mile loop. In the event a breakdown occurred, the walk would be shorter and hopefully the trail is a bit softer than pavement. As a side note, last Saturday it seemed the trail at Memorial Park had been filled in with new sand/crushed rock in some places.

The run got under way a little after 7:30. The temperature was a cool 57 but the real shocker was the humidity at 27%. The park was busy with people winding down their activities for the evening.

The tempo run was scheduled for 7:33/mile pace. I warmed up by going over to the tennis courts and back. During the 8:51/mile warm up, it felt like 7:33 was going to be a stretch tonight. I figured I'd just go out at that pace and hold it as long as I could. If the run deteriorated as it progressed so be it.

I decided that I'd only check the Garmin each quarter mile. That way I wouldn't be constantly "messing with the watch". If I was slow, I'd pick it up and vica versa. For the first mile, I started fast and stayed fast. The second felt pretty good too but a slowed a bit in an effort to save some for the later miles. The third mile was the toughest. Somewhere near the end of the mile, I found myself having to make that decision for whether I was going to stay on track or let this one get away from me. Oddly, for some reason tonight this crossroad almost seemed like it does during a race for me. I usually have these moments during races and oftentimes have them during challenging workouts ... although during workouts they aren't as seemingly dramatic as in races. It just comes down to a "so what's it going to be" moment. Tonight I pushed though and once on the other side, it felt better. I used other runners along the trail as targets over the last two miles. Whoever was up ahead was my next "victim". How fast could I reel them in? This little mental game helped me hold the pace. At the beginning of the final mile, I think I passed a guy who didn't appreciate being passed. I noticed that he picked up the pace and stayed with me for about 300 yards. I liked this push. I was determined to hold my pace. If he could maintain or go faster, more power to him. Slowly but steadily, his foot strikes became quieter and quieter as I stretch the gap between us until he was gone. I appreciate him for helping me finish my run stronger than I probably would have otherwise.

1 mile warm up
5 mile tempo (7:29/mile pace)
7:24
7:33
7:35
7:25
7:28
1 mile cool down

I wish my mile splits were a bit tighter but am satisfied that the run was a success.

I've intentionally not mentioned my knee. If there is a mental "injury cycle", I've now stepped into the all-out denial phase. I'm also having those questions about mental toughness and pain threshold that occasionally dance around in my head.

Stephanie has the group scheduled for 20 miles Saturday morning. I need 17 and plan to join them.

On the heals of tonight's workout, I'm looking forward to next Thursday's 5-mile race. It's a new distance so it is guaranteed to be a PR!

Injury? ... what injury? ... Oh, now I remember!

Okay, last I posted I had failed to complete the final 2 miles of my 15-miler on Saturday and had self-diagnosed iliotibial band syndrome. Of course, I'm not a doctor but I don't mind playing one ... on myself!

I prescribed rest and trying an ITB strap while running. Not surprisingly, I took my own advice. So I went 3 days without running and I picked up the strap at a local running store. Interestingly, I lifted weights yesterday morning and didn't notice anything wrong with my legs during or afterward.

So, I figured it was time to get back to running this morning. I put my new strap on and made my way to the high school track at a pedestrian pace. Everything felt fine.

Once at the track I ran the scheduled ladder of 1200, 1000, 800, 600, 400, and 200. The times were supposed to be:

4:51
3:55
3:07
2:16
1:31
0:45

My actuals were:

4:47
3:58
3:08
2:14
1:23
0:37

The workout felt good and I was happy to be "on" my times. The strap bothered me a little bit near the end as it seemed to slip a bit once I got lathered up (it was 72 with 87% humidity this morning ... at 4:45 ... yes, it is November 14!) More importantly, the right knee didn't bother me at all. I was a bit tentative at first but "put the hammer down" for the last 2 intervals. The knee held up fine.

So after picking up my shirt and water bottle, I walked from the stadium and started the 1.5 miles for home. BOOM! There goes the knee! I have no idea what this is. It's unlike any injury I've ever had playing baseball, basketball, football, running, etc. How can I go from busting it on a tough interval workout to effectively paralyzed? The situation on Saturday was similar. I had run negative splits for 12 miles followed by a +2 second 13th mile when I stopped for a traffic light. After the light when I tried to go, the knee wasn't cooperating. This whole thing is weird.

Oh, I failed to mention that I found a few strengthening exercises that I started doing on Monday. Maybe that's what delayed the onset today until after the speed part ... ? I'll stick with the exercise that I'm doing and add a couple that I found on the Runners' World website.

Interestingly, I almost hit every single split today (with the Garmin's lack of exact precision on distances, I calibrated each interval to be slightly longer than scheduled ... so I like to think that I hit every one). This FIRST training program is very challenging as I mentioned before but it seems that I have a relatively easier time with the speed workouts and really struggle with the endurance workouts. FIRST posted this to their website (Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training):

"In our studies, we have found that some runners find the track intervals difficult but find the long run pace easy and conversely, some find the track intervals easy and are very challenged with the long tempo and long run paces. Some runners have more speed than endurance and vice versa.

What we emphasize to the runners in our program is that we want the track intervals to have a very small range for the entire workout. After each week we adjust the target training times based on the most recent training performance. We attempt to find target paces that are realistic and challenging, but not so difficult that the runner is unable to recover for key workout #2. By insisting that the entire set of repeats be run with a range of only a couple of seconds, it pretty much ensures that the runner isn't overdoing it."

Apparently, I fall into the category of having more speed than endurance. This is actually pretty funny to me because I openly acknowledge that I'm pitifully slow!

I plan to try this week's tempo run tomorrow night.

Training Schedule: November 12 - 18

Tue - 10-20 min. WU
1200 - 4:51
1000 - 3:55
800 - 3:07
600 - 2:16
400 - 1:31
200 - 0:45
(200M rest intervals)
10 min. CD

Thu - 1M WU; 5M@7:33; 1M CD

Sat - 17 miles @ 8:28

No Mo becomes Go Go then turns to Uh Oh

I had NO MOtivation to go out for my long run today. I got a late start due to a late night and I knew I'd be running alone. There is a 25K race tomorrow as part of the Houston Marathon prep series that is the perfect distance for me right now and I'm sure I'd run better under race conditions but I decided against the Sunday morning race.

I was scheduled for 15 miles at an 8:28 pace. I pulled up all of the 15-mile routes that we ran as a group during the summer. I found one that looked good and downloaded it to my Garmin. I think it was one of Randy's scenic routes that had a leg through the exclusive River Oaks neighborhood. Before setting out, I also analyzed last Saturday's 13 miler. I broke the run into mile segments and threw out the fastest and slowest miles. I then took the range of my slowest and fastest remaining miles. Then I overlaid the range onto my target pace of 8:28. From there, I broke the range into 15 segments and designated each segment as the targeted split for each mile of today's run. My goal was to run negative splits for the entire 15 miles. WARNING: This methodology has no basis in anything that I've read or heard of. The approach is just something I came up with myself that I thought might help me start slower and finish faster.

After driving to Memorial Park, I got started a little before 7:30 am (late for me on a Saturday). I had to keep slowing myself down at first reminding myself of the negative splits and that I'd need everything I had to finish as planned. I was feeling good and the 73 degree temperature was great. About 2 miles in, I felt a tightness in my right knee but this issue has been with me now for about 10 days so I ignored it and pressed on focused on my negative splits. I stopped a few times for water at the usual locations and thought I was on pace for the splits. The back half of the run became more difficult but somehow I managed each mile to step it up and hit the goal time or better. The further I made it the better I felt about actually finishing it off. Long story; short - I had one of the best 13-mile runs I've ever had. Here are my splits:

9:06
8:56
8:51
8:49
8:42
8:38
8:34
8:31
8:23
8:21
8:14
8:10
8:12

So with the exception of the last mile (by 2 seconds), I had done it! Of course, this was "gamed" a little bit by starting so slowly but I was on pace for the 8:28/mile pace that the training program required, it wasn't going to be easy but seemed attainable.

I'm not sure how to describe what happened next other than to say after stopping for a light on the Waugh Street Bridge, it felt like someone had jammed a knife into the side of my right knee! I tried walking it out for a bit, determined to loosen it up and finish this good run I was having. When I started running again, it just wasn't happening. My run was reduced to a jog then a walk. I alternated walking and jogging but the knee just felt worse. In this manner, the last 1.60 miles were finished at an 11:00/mile pace.

Needless to say this was very frustrating.

My right knee has had a few "flare ups" over the past 10 days but I really couldn't attribute it to anything specific. After researching the Internet later in the day, I'm convinced I'm suffering from iliotibial band syndrome (see also ITBS). I probably shouldn't continue running until I get this situation under control but I doubt I'll take that advice ... for now. I'm going to try to find a strap that's supposed to help. There's another one here.

There are also some exercises that are supposed to help build muscular strength that takes some pressure off the IT band while running.

I've been flippant about running injury free up to this point. It's frustrating but it looks like this is something I'm going to have to work with. Hopefully it's easily dealt with and doesn't become chronic.

800 Intervals

I thought I hit all my target times this morning but the trusty (???)
Garmin indicates otherwise.

I was surprised to wake up at 4:15 this morning after travelling back
from Vegas yesterday and going to bed around 10:30. But I was awake
and began running at 4:30. It was cool this morning ... not too cool
but close. I need to look into getting some tights for the upcoming
change in season. I think I'll need them in Utah for the Thanksgiving
5-miler too.

The schedule called for:

1 mile warm up
4 x 800 @ 3:07 (with 2 minute rest interval)
10 minute cool down

I ended up with:

1.5 mile warm up (I took Louetta straight to the high school track since there was very little traffic. I would never try this at any other time of day!)

3:13
3:03
3:05
3:07

2.0 mile cool down

I'm surprised the Garmin has 3:13 for the time of the first 800. When running intervals, I've adapted an approach wherein I wear my Garmin to track the workout. On my right wrist, I wear my Ironman. I set it for a repeating timer with an alarm for desired split times. This allows me to know how I'm doing while running the interval. This morning I set the alarm for 1:33 which is what I wanted each 400 of the 800 to be. I would know by where I was on the track when the alarm sounded if I was ahead of or behind "schedule". By the Ironman, I thought I hit the first interval right on. The Garmin obviously disagrees with me on that point.

I did focus on not starting out too fast. With last week's intervals, I hit my target time for the first one but didn't get down to it again ... every one was slower. Today I wanted the first 800 to be a little slow or right on 3:07 at the fastest. I was hoping to conserve energy for the later 800's. This approach seemed to work well for me today as evidenced by my subsequent times. It's no secret that I get too giddy at the beginning of my runs and waste a bunch of energy going too fast, too early. I'm going to work on getting away from that approach since I think it's counterproductive.

I also decided that I'm going to count Monday's run in Las Vegas as my tempo run this week. I know the time wasn't as fast as the tempo run was supposed to be and the distance was further. But that run was in the neighborhood of what I was supposed to run and I don't think I'll have a chance to "catch up" and still get the proper between-workout rest.

I've got 15 on the schedule for Saturday.

6 Miles in the City of Broken Dreams

I'm in Las Vegas for an industry tax conference. I don't really enjoy these events nor do I like enjoy Vegas .... So as a diversion/excuse to "get away", I brought my running shoes and gear. I looked up running routes on the web and was able to find a 12 mile loop just off the Strip. Since my "body clock" is still on Central Daylight Time (the change from daylight to standard time was early AM yesterday) and Las Vegas is now Pacific Standard Time, I woke up early this morning. I laced 'em up, strapped on my Garmin, and was ready to run from Bally's where I'm staying.

It turned out to be an interesting run. I had no goal for pace or distance. The only reason I even wore the Garmin is out of habit and so I could upload the run when I get back home. I did think that if everything worked out okay that I'd try to go for about an hour.

I was directionally disoriented at the start and went a few blocks before figuring that out. But I got turned around and back to the Strip, in front of Bellagio, and on my way to crossing the freeway overpass. I was surprised that I saw several runners out this morning. The air was cool and dry. It was refreshing weather in what I view as a depressing city. The run was stop-and-go at times as I dodged traffic, checked my map, and tried to figure out where to go when the sidewalk ended. But since I wasn't running for a pace or time, none of this mattered today. I was just happy to get out. The dry air was absolutely awesome! I wonder if it feels this good to others who run in these conditions? I ended up running a huge square. It got a little dicey coming back under a freeway overpass with no sidewalk or right-of-way. Fortunately the morning traffic wasn't too heavy at the time. I also went up a couple flights of stairs to get over a skywalk then back down again.

Overall, the run was a nice start to what I expect to be a long day sitting on a conference room.

The result ... not that it matters ....

6.35 miles @ 8:23/mile

Training Schedule: Nov 5 - 11

This week is going to be tricky since I'm traveling to Las Vegas for a seminar but I'm determined to get it in! I may mix up the order depending on the opportunities.

#1: 1M WU; 4x800(3:07) 2 min. RI; 10 min. CD
#2: 1M easy; 5M @ 7:43; 1M easy
#3: 15M @ 8:28

Failure-based Training!

I had a tough run this morning. The schedule was for 13 miles @ 8:13.

It started out good but deteriorated. I drove to the Y to run the regular 8-mile route with 5 tacked on. I got going a little before 6 am. The temperature was good (around 57) with high humidity (95% - it was "foggy"). I reminded myself to start slow and also had it in my mind to attempt negative splits for the whole run. I failed both objectives very early!

I ended up with 13.2 @ 9:17 and was pretty much I living, breathing example of what not to do on a long run. Here's a partial list:

Start out too fast.

Run for more than an hour without nutrition.

Run for more than an hour without hydration.

Continue running after experiencing a high degree of discomfort that could be an injury.

Get upset that the run isn't going well and recalibrate objectives to punish yourself.


Here are my frustrating splits with commentary:

8:21 wanted to start about 8:30; feeling good

8:14 negative split; still feeling good but too close to goal time this early ... better slow

8:19 this is good; not negative but the first 3 miles are warm up; time to go!

8:26 didn't feel like I was slowing but obviously was

8:43 new part of route; crossing big intersection & contending with 2-lane country road ... surprised there's this much traffic this early on a Saturday. I like the road (i.e., scenery) but understand why Bob Bond never wanted to take this route. It's unsafe!

8:59 sure wish I had some water. Deciding against my fuel belt in an effort to "toughen up" this morning was stupid.

9:19 I can't believe I'm a minute per mile over my target pace! This is pitiful. My right knee has been bothering me now for a couple miles and seems to be getting worse.

9:35 Okay, I'm not going to hit my goal time. I've turned back for the Y. I can salvage the run by going negative splits the whole way back. I should be able to do this based on how slow I'm going!

9:15 Good - a negative split. Bad - it's 1:02 greater than the goal time. Knee is not well; still need something to drink. Wonder if GU would help at this point?

8:59 Another negative split. Keep this up and I can say the whole run wasn't a waste.

8:52 Still on track but the knee isn't improving and I've got no energy.

9:23 Feeling sorry for myself.

10:49 Downright embarrassing given the objective.


This was a frustrating run. The FIRST training program is proving to be hard and I'm realizing that I won't be hitting my times but I'm going to press on to see if I can "catch up" to the program. If I do then I'll have tangible evidence that I'm really improving. If I don't then I'll recalibrate the program. Everything right now is driving off my 5K PR time but maybe that isn't the right starting point given my current fitness level.

I know better than to do everything wrong today like I did. Somehow I was thinking I could go "outside the lines" and achieve something more. That's just stupid. Instead of complicating the workouts, I just need to focus on the task at hand AND make proper preparations to be successful. I don't want to feel like this after another workout anytime soon!

Mile Intervals Ain't Easy

I couldn't sleep this morning so that led to an early start. I had
planned to run tonight (thought it might be interesting to be out with
the trick-or-treaters) but Jonathan gave me a heads up about a 5K at
Rice University tomorrow night. I knew that I wouldn't make the race
if I ran my intervals tonight but I may have a shot if I got them in
this morning.

The schedule was for a warm up of 10 to 20 minutes followed by 3 1600 meter intervals in 6:28 with 1 minute rest in between each. The cool down was for 10 minutes. That was the plan, this is the reality:

2 mile warm up
6:25
6:46
6:51
1.8 mile cool down

This workout was tough! I'm not sure if it was just a bad day or if it was just too much of a stretch for me. I like to think it was a bad
day. The 1 minute break between intervals was SHORT! It didn't allow
for much recovery.

I've got 13 miles on Saturday. I'd like to be done in time to watch
the Olympic marathon trials from NYC. There are a couple of guys with Utah connections I've been following.

Day 1

Awww, the excitement of a new training cycle ... !!!

I overslept since I stayed up to watch the final out of the Red Sox sweep of the Rockies in the World Series. I had planned to run from the Y but didn't think I could get back home before Cameron would need a ride to get his day started. Therefore, I just ran from the house. I started a little before 5 am.

The plan called for a 2 easy miles followed by a 2 mile short tempo run at 7:03 pace then 2 more easy miles. I made the trek over to the high school and ran the middle 2 miles on the track then came back home. It broke down like this:


2.12M @ 8:38

2M tempo (7:02 & 7:00)

2.01M @ 8:59


My right knee was bothering me a bit on the cool down. I'm not sure what that was because everything was fine until I transitioned from the faster tempo pace to the cool down pace. Hopefully it's nothing.

This training program is supposed to place an emphasis on quality rather than quantity. I have the early impression that every workout is going to be just that "work". There's probably not going to be an opportunity to loaf through a workout and still hit the planned times. I suppose this is good since I think it's what I need to get where I want to be. This morning's run felt like a "speed workout" but it wasn't ... the speed workout will be Wednesday night when I get to go out for 3 x 1600's. I'm already looking forward to the payoff of this training plan!

Training Schedule: Oct 29 - Nov 4

Mon - 6 MILE RUN (2 easy; 2 @ 7:03; 2 easy)
Wed - SPEED (10-20 min. WU; 3x1600@6:28[1 min. recov.]; 10 min. CD)
Sat - 13 MILE RUN @ 8:13

Profiled on Run for Speed Blog

Jonathan Bennett wrote a flattering profile on his Run for Speed blog.

Cory's St. George Marathon


Run for Speed Blog

New 5K PR

This morning's Run The Woodlands 5K went well. I clocked a new personal record (PR) of 20:48.

It was a cool morning. But I warmed up soon after the start. I worked my way through the small group of runners to the front of the pack. (One of the entertaining aspects of The Woodlands run for me is the fact that I can stay with the frontrunners for awhile, if I choose to.) I found myself in second place 2/3 mile into the run. My pace was a bit faster than I wanted and I knew that I'd pay for it later. I dropped to third then fourth place during the second mile as my pace slowed from 6:27 over the first mile to 6:56 for the second. I had planned to hold the second mile at 6:45 but just wasn't able to do it. Over the last mile I was passed by a few other runners even though I held my third mile pace at 6:55 (my plan was for 7:00). I ended with a decent kick over the final 0.1 mile. I covered it in 0:29. I finished in 9th place.

My stomach started bothering me about half way into the race. I haven't had that problem before. It just felt like my stomach was empty even though I ate earlier this morning. I'm not exactly sure what to make of that situation.

On the one hand I'm pleased with the run after not training for 6 days (that's the longest break I've taken since March). On the other hand, it seems like I can do better. There's some time to be had over that second mile. I'm closer to my 20:30 5K goal. Of all the goal times, I've laid out for myself I expect this one to be the easiest to reach.

FOOTNOTE: The anticipated dual with Cameron never materialized as Cameron found himself afflicted with the common teenage malady that I call "mattress-itis". You know that's the one where a person finds a mattress attached to their back in the morning and are unable to free themselves from it. My guess is that he knew he wasn't ready for the challenge so he just folded before he found himself embarrassed.

I'm Floundering!

No goals ... no training schedule ... no motivation ....

That's what I'm feeling right now. So it's time to take the bull by horns and get organized with my running!

My objective is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The required time for 40-44 year old men is 3:20. That's a big jump from my 3:40 in St. George (which I'm finding is an EXTREMELY fast course on which I had absolutely PERFECT conditions ... I've even read several bloggers suggest that St. George allows marathoners to record inflated PR's ... not that good for my confidence!). But I think with some focus and effort, I can get there.

Here's the plan I'm toying with but not yet committed to:

GOALS

5K - 20:30 (current PR 21:35)
10K - 42:37 (current PR 45:31)
HLF - 1:34:50 (current PR 1:46:09)
MAR - 3:20:00 (current PR 3:40:18)

To accomplish this I've got to introduce more speed work into my training. I used Runners World Smart Coach for my St. George training program and it worked well. I'm a bit reluctant to go away from it but I think I'm going to try a training program by the Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training. The program seems to focus on intense, quality workouts without "junk" mileage. I'll follow the FIRST program for my next marathon and see what kind of results I get.

I dropped the Cajun Classic from my race schedule since I don't think I'll be ready to challenge my goal time by then (due to my recent slack training regimen!). My new race schedule is something like this:

Oct 27 - Run The Woodlands 5K (Cameron plans to beat me and I expect he will but I won't go down easily!)

Nov 22 - Ogden Regional Medical Center 5 Mile Run (We'll be in Utah for Thanksgiving so I'll give this one a shot. It will probably be COLD! I'd like to come in somewhere near 34:00 but that will be a challenge.)

May 17 - Ogden Marathon (It should be nice to get back on the Ogden course. I saw the last half in 2007 so that should help from a tactical standpoint. I also plan to get a pacing strategy from the guy who designed the pacing schedule I used in St. George. My goal here is 3:30:00.)

Oct 4 - St. George Marathon (A return to the scene of my maiden marathon. Hopefully I can get through the lottery again this year and get back on that fast track. If not, my backup marathon at the moment appears to be the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA [Oct 12])

Baton Rouge 4-Miler

Cameron and I spent the night at Jonathan's mom's place in Baton Rouge after last night's LSU-Auburn game.

Jonathan and I started the 4-mile loop around University Lake at 7 AM. It was very nice to have new scenery and I always enjoy running with Jonathan. He's training for the White Rock Marathon in Dallas. He's also getting faster every time out - it seems! I'm confident he'll have a succesful marathon debut in December. He's following that up with the Houston Marathon in January.

Cameron and I made the 4 1/2 drive home this afternoon. Paige will be back from California tomorrow.

Solo 9 Miles from the Y

I started a run from the Y at 5:45 this morning. I was just under a 9:00/mile pace. The weather in Houston is changing so I enjoyed the 55 degree temperature this morning. However, the humidity was still +90%.

Paige is in California visiting her mother and brother. Cameron took the PSAT exam this morning. When he finished, we drove to Baton Rouge. We met up with Jonathan and Julie. Jonathan had miraculously found someone to sell him 2 tickets to the LSU-Auburn game at face value this afternoon. Cameron and I really enjoyed the game. LSU won on a last-second touchdown pass. It was nice to see an SEC football game with +94,000 ragin' Cajuns! THANKS, JONATHAN!

Rice University Tour w/Jonathan

Jonathan and I got together today for a 6-miler around the campus of Rice University. It still doesn't seem that I've fully recovered. This is surprising to me. Maybe it shouldn't be ....

One Week Later and Still Feeling It

Paige wanted to try out Memorial Park so we left the house at 6 am for a morning run. She did 7 miles (counterclockwise) and I did 8 miles (clockwise). That arrangement worked out well.

My legs (particularly quads) were still sore and a little tight.

Paige said her hip and knees flared up a bit at that distance. Hopefully she's able to train through it and be physically sound to continue working toward her marathon goal.

Another 3 in the 'hood

Clocked 3 miles in the neighborhood this morning at 4:20 am. It seems I'm finally starting the feel better. My legs weren't as weak as they were Wednesday morning.

What's Next?

I'm still thinking through things but at the moment this is my best guess.

I'm not going to WARR in Sydney at the end of the month. This is a disappointment but the disorganization of those in charge of our contingent and the general logistics weren't working out. I'm finding as I get older I have less patience so to avoid further frustration, I'm scrapping this plan altogether.

The Houston Marathon is full and I didn't register. Frankly, I didn't want to commit to another marathon before running my first. There may be opportunities to have other runners transfer their entry to me but for now I'm not counting on it.

Okay, so that's what I'm NOT doing .... How about what I am doing ...

November 3 Cajun Cup 10K, Lafayette, Louisiana
November 22 5-Mile Thanksgiving Charity Run, Ogden, Utah
January 19 Cabo Half Marathon, Cabo San Lucas
May 17 Ogden Marathon, Ogden, Utah

Of course, all of this is tentative and subject to change but it's good to have a plan.

Interestingly, after spending an hour at the finish line in St. George, Paige is thinking she would like to do a marathon. She's looking around at different dates and locations. Of course, her decision could alter my schedule.

Stretched Out with 3 SLOW Miles

I took a three-mile tour of the neighborhood this morning. I went very slow and didn't look at my watch. Just used it to stretch out. I've still got soreness from the marathon - mostly in my quads (from the downhill run, I suppose) and some in calfs.

My plan this week is just to "listen" to my body and try to give it an opportunity to recover.

The question of "what I'm doing next" keeps coming up. At the moment, I'm not too sure ....

List of Marathon Moments To Blog About ...

Four alarms & the false start

2 things speaker at the First Timers' Seminar has never heard after a marathon:
"I really wish I wouldn't have trained so hard."
"Boy, you really sucked today."

The "real" marathon began at the post-run massage line!

Final 1/4 mile

"Stan" really was The Man!

Zimmerman's pace band

The "pink" ladies ... were they robots?!?!?!?

DATELINE: St. George, Utah

3:40:18

St. George Marathon Report - DRAFT VERSION !!!

Jonathan pointed out this afternoon that my blog isn't current. Hopefully this hasn't been too hard on my readership (ha, ha, ha)! It seems I've had to pay a price for skipping out of town to run the marathon. It's been a peak time in the office so ever since I've been back I've been making up for being gone by working.

Anyway, here's a hacked up race report for what it's worth. I wanted to polish it up before posting it but that may not be forthcoming so ... here's what I have for now:



The marathon went well. It was a really good experience. I had mentally prepared for the worst and was pleasantly surprised when none of my worst-case-scenarios came to pass.


The conditions were absolutely perfect. The temperature at the start was 35 and at the finish it was 60. Humidity was 40%. I ran with my friend from LA for about 17 miles. He was having stomach problems and had to fall back. The run started feeling more like work at about 18. I think that was because I wasn’t with my friend anymore. By Mile 23, my legs were very fatigued (mostly quads from running downhill but my calfs were getting tight too). The course gets into town at about that point so spectators are lined along the streets with signs, cowbells, and cheering. There were some bands playing too. That was a big boost. Coming out of an aid station, I was gasping as I was gulping water or Gatorade. Fortunately, I hooked up with a 56-year old guy who was trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. His required time was 3:45. My best-case-scenario goal time was 3:45. He offered A LOT of encouragement over the last 3 miles. I finally told him to go ahead so he could get his time and qualify but he wouldn’t go. I stayed with me. He knew the course so he kept me informed of what was coming up next. It was a miracle this guy came along for me. Interestingly, my legs kept getting heavier and heavier but I felt really strong on the cardio side. It was a strange feeling (runner’s high ???) … like I could keep going indefinitely if only my legs weren’t burning so badly.


Okay, here’s my favorite marathon moment. We make the last turn and there’s a little over ¼ mile left. I could see the finish and was feeling real giddy. My older running buddy sensed it and told me to go ahead. So I took off for the finish line. I was passing what seemed like dozens of people as I picked up speed. Now you’ve got to realize I’m not fast but I do have a mantra that “no one passes me at the end of a race”. As I’m going faster and continuing to pass other runners, I hear footsteps over my right shoulder. Someone is coming up fast. I pick up my pace. The other runner is now beside me. He picks up his pace. I stay with him. It seemed like forever …. We kept picking it up until I was at top speed. There was no way I could go faster. At that point, I looked over at the guy. It seemed like he was a young kid. In reality he was probably in his mid-20’s. He looks at me and smiles. I figured that was it so I said to him, “Ahhh, it looks like you got me.” I turned back toward the finish line and gave it absolutely everything I had. I don’t know how far I went like that but when I looked to my right he was gone. I had dropped him! By this point, the line seemed within reach and I figured I’d just continue the sprint to the end. I ran out of gas about 60 yards short of the line and couldn’t take it in as strong as I wanted but I still finished fast and … no one passed me at the end. That whole last stretch had spectators on both sides of bleachers along the way. They were yelling and it was really exciting. I was happy the have a National Guardsman “catch” me after the finish or else I’m sure I would have collapsed to the ground.


I’m pleased to report that my GPS recorded my final splits as:

Last Mile – 7:38
Last ½ Mile – 3:22 (6:44 mile pace)
Last ¼ Mile – 1:23 (5:32 mile pace)


My finishing time was 3:40:18 (8:25 mile pace)


You can view a couple action photos here:

http://www.marathonfoto.com­/index.cfm?RaceOID=13112007M1­&LastName=BIRT&BibNumber=2777­&Mailing=5924


It’s too soon after the finish to know what my plans are from here. I really enjoyed the marathon but I’m sure that a big reason why I did was because of my preparation. To prepare properly requires a huge commitment of time. I think I’m going to drop down and run some shorter races for a while – maybe a 10K next month and a half marathon in January. From there, I’ll see how I feel about getting ready for another marathon.

Confusion Reigns!

Yesterday turned out to be a particularly bad day at the office. Without getting into the details, my nutrition and hydration routine was really thrown off. My intent this week has been to focus on three things: nutrition, hydration, and rest. I've done pretty well until yesterday which ended up being an extremely bad day all the way around.

This morning I was scheduled for an easy 3 miles at 8:46 pace. Hopefully I'm thinking more clearly than I was this morning when I went out at 4:50 am. I started from the house feeling okay and without much thought proceeded along my run focusing on keeping it EASY and not stepping in a hole or on a curb. My pace seemed fine and I wasn't really paying much attention to it. I was trying to imagine the start Saturday before sun up. Well before I knew it 3 miles had passed and to my surprise I was still 1.5 miles from the house. I had absent-mindedly taken my 5 mile route this morning instead of the 3 mile route. Doh!

I used the additional distance as a warm down.

Easy
3 miles @ 8:26

Cool Down
.84 mile @ 7:08 ????!!???!


Hopefully the day goes better!


Forgot to mention I wore sunglasses yesterday to see how the high visibility lenses worked before sun up. They were fine but I've decided I'm not wearing sunglasses during the marathon. It's too long to be dealing with them if for some reason they become a nuisance.

3 Mile Tempo

I wasn't expecting to feel too good this morning due to skewing my diet away from carbohydrates the past couple days. I'm not doing a full blown carbo loading routine but a modified version of my own design. I've read the best science suggests a 3-days off/3-days on for the best carbo loading. So I've just focused on a protein-rich diet for the past couple of days. Beginning tomorrow, I'll skew my intake toward carbohydrates with a goal of about 75% total caloric intake being carbs between now and the marathon.

I didn't feel particularly bad ... or good this morning. I started from the YMCA through the neighborhoods at 5:30 am. The goal was a 1 mile warm up followed by a 3 mile tempo run at 7:20/mile pace then a 1 mile cool down. I decided I'd try to run the first warm up mile at the same pace I hope to run the first mile of the marathon, 8:56. Here's what I ended up with:

1 mile warm up 8:44

Tempo
Mile 1 7:16
Mile 2 7:30
Mile 3 7:22

1 mile cool down 8:30


The air felt cool at the start this morning. But after the run, I noticed the temperature was 64 with 90% humidity. The current forecast temperature for the start of the marathon Saturday is 36!

St. George Pace Chart

Here's what I'm considering for Saturday given what I've heard about pacing and the variable elevation.

Pre-Event Thoughts ...

Okay, if you've been following along here, you my have a sense for my crazed anxiety about this Saturday's marathon. If not, let me just say that for the past two weeks I've been VERY freaked out by the whole concept.

However, while I can still get myself pretty worked up over the whole thing, I'm feeling differently about things now. Don't get me wrong! I can still get worked up and easily head off down the road of pessimism but beginning Saturday my attitude started to change.

It seems my two biggest concerns have been a general but overwhelming fear of the unknown and an attitude of wanting to do my best while having no idea what to expect as my best. So these issues have turned me into the mental equivalent of a dog chasing its own tail!

An analogy occurred to me Monday morning which led me to wise words taught to me when I was a teenager.

The idea about preparing reminded me of a concept I was taught as a teenager by a respected member of the community. My friend's dad happened to be the Justice of the Peace as well as an ecclesiastical leader in the small town where I grew up. He was one of those people you occasionally meet who just seemed a bit wiser than the general population. Because of this and his position and personality, most people accorded him a degree of respect. At least as a young person, I know that I did. He once shared with me the concept of the 6 P's. I've used it many times since but it just occurred to me that it applies to my marathon training.

The 6 P's are:

Proper prior planning precludes poor performance.

Weeks ago I made my plan and I've stuck to it. There were training runs which I really enjoyed and some that I didn't. There were times when I felt great and times when I didn't. There were times when I didn't feel like running but I did. There were times when the Houston summer didn't offer ideal conditions but I went out anyway.

The plan was laid out and executed. There's really nothing left to do to give myself the best opportunity for a good marathon.

Now the analogy. It occurred to me that the marathon is not unlike a test from my days in school. Most of the time one never knows exactly what's going to be on the test. You probably have a general idea of the concepts but not the precise way the instructor will choose to test your knowledge or ability.

The marathon is the same except in a physical rather than mental sense. I have an idea of what the experience might be like but I don't know the exact way it's going to play out. What will it be like on the course with 7,000 other runners? How will I feel at Mile 22? ... I've never been that far. How hard can I push for a better time and still finish? There are dozens of questions but none can be answered until I'm living the experience. Just like the academic test, the only thing to do is study and prepare the best way you know how ... maybe rely on others who have taken the class or had the instructor before (thanks, Stephanie, Randy et al.) ... maybe you take an approach that has been successful in the past (Runners World SmartCoach worked for me at the Ogden Half Marathon in May). Once you've made your preparations, there's no more left to do but take the test ....

On Saturday morning at 6:45 am MDT, I'll step to the starting line to take the test. From there, I'll rely on my preparations over the past 16 weeks.

Giddy 3 Miles

Today's scheduled run was for 3 miles at 8:46. I'm planning to go out in the morning for each run this week. I read somewhere that it's a good idea to get your body used to running at the same time of day that the marathon will be.

I started from the house around 4:45 am. I was feeling good right from the start and even though today's run was supposed to be "easy", I figured I'd pick it up a bit faster than scheduled.

Here's what I ended up with:

7:58
7:50
7:48

3 miles @ 7:52 (23:36)


This probably wasn't exactly what I should have done .... I had a good stretch after and generally felt good; strong. Hopefully this is the result of the taper and allows me the same sensations this coming weekend!

Training Schedule: Oct 1 - 7

Mon - Easy 3M @ 8:46
Wed - 5M w/3M Tempo @ 7:20
Thu - Easy 3M @ 8:46
Sat - St. George Marathon

8 Mile Taper

The good news is that today was the last long run before the marathon. Ironically, that's the bad news too!

I ran from Memorial Park with Stephanie, Laurie, and Randy. We started at the 6 and the weather was very nice. It has been very nice to train with Stephanie's group. Most of the group is running the Chicago Marathon next Sunday. I realized today that it seems like I have much more confidence when running with this group. They're all better and more experienced runners than I am but it seems like they care that I do well. I hope I can run next Saturday as comfortably and confidently as I usually do when running with my regular Saturday group. I also wish each of them the best in their marathon next weekend. I know they've trained hard for a long time and I'm sure they'll do well.

We rolled up 8 miles this morning.


8.11 miles @ 8:19 (1:07:29)


By complete coincidence, I met a guy named Dirk in the parking lot after our run. He has run the St. George Marathon seven times. He's not running this year due to injury. He gave me several things to think about: Veyo Hill is huge ("bigger than any hill on any other marathon"); start out slow; there are places on the course where you can take advantage of the downhill grade; don't try to run an even pace - it will really screw you up; seriously consider wearing sunglasses; among other things.

I guess that's about it. I picked up my parents from the airport and went to Cameron's cross country meet. Unfortunately I just missed the JV race he was in. Incredibly, he shaved one minute off his 5K PR! He had been saying throughout the week that he felt like he was going to have a good race. Boy was he right!

Longest 3 Mile Run Ever ...

I wasn't able to run yesterday due to work so went out this morning.

Warmed up for a mile from home on road toward the high school track. Got three miles at a somewhat consistent pace. Oddly, the run felt like it would never end. Cooled down on the run home.

7:21
7:23
7:14

5 @ 5

Started a 5-miler from the Y this morning at 5 am. That distance barely gets me out of the neighborhoods and on to the bayou trail. The result is that it seems very short.

I felt really good this morning. The temperature was around 68 which was great.


5 miles @ 8:29 (42:25)

Training Schedule: Aug 24-30

Mon - easy 5M @ 8:46
Wed - 5M w/ 3M tempo @ 7:20
Sat - long 8M @ 8:46

Tapering Madness!

Rolled up 12.25 miles this morning with the Chicago marathon training group. It's a bit funny to hear us talking about a "short run" and that we're now "down to 12 miles". I couldn't have imagined back in March when I joined Power In Motion that I'd ever feel like 12 miles was a SHORT run! I didn't even know if I could make it 1 mile that first night.

Our group consisted of Randy, Josh, Miranda, Biff, William, and me. William peeled off after about 3 miles but the rest of us finished together and finished strong. Everyone seemed to be feeling good with the shorter distance and the cooler temperature (around 72).

This whole concept of "tapering" for the big race feels incredibly counterintuitive to me right now. It seems I should be doing more ... make that much more ... to get myself ready for 26.2 miles in 2 weeks. I understand the purpose of the taper and while it makes complete sense, it's still frustrating.

The run went well. I was surprised that I had a little soreness throughout and wondered if that was from Thursday's speed workout. After the track work Thursday, I warmed down with 2 slow, easy miles but didn't stretch or get some recovery nutrition fast enough. Other than the soreness today's run was great!

With the taper on in full force, I really have to focus on nutrition, hydration, and rest over the next couple weeks. The upcoming runs are short and generally easy so the conditioning is basically done (funny ... I don't feel "done"!). The best thing I can do now is just take care of myself the best I know how. Hopefully that puts me at the start line in the best possible situation.

12.25 miles @ 8:32 (1:44:32)

AM Work on the Track

I didn't get out last night due to another late evening at the office. So I left the house at about 4:30 this morning. I used the 2 miles over to the Klein High track as a warm up. Initially it looked like the facility was locked up but after circling the perimeter I found an open gate.

Once on the track, I ran 4 x 1600 with an 800 jog in between each. The targeted time for each 400 was 6:55. I ended up with:

6:50
6:42
6:55
6:59

I'm a little disappointed that I fell off on the last one and that the trend was generally for increasing times rather than decreasing. But, I suppose it wasn't a bad workout overall.

When I started I was the only one on the track but by the time I was finished there were several others walking, jogging, and running.

Oh, I should mention that after an exchange with my running conscience, I finally admitted that running a half marathon this weekend is a bad idea. What was I thinking? I'm supposed to be tapering! Thanks for helping me with that realization, Stephanie.

The next workout is Saturday morning. I'm scheduled for 12 miles and expect I'll get out with the regular Saturday group. Randy will be leading the run in Stephanie's absence.

Oh Boy !!!

There was the slightest hint of "coolness" in the air this morning. It felt great! So good in fact that I had to "bridle the horses" at the beginning of this morning's run.

I ended up with the following:

7 miles @ 8:40 pace


I was happy with the effort. I was still a little sore from Saturday's long run but felt fine once I got going. I wore the new Mizuno's. I'll probably be wearing them the rest of the way now.

I've been using the training schedule from Runners World for several months now and I've just realized that I don't know exactly what marathon finish time I'm training for. It's not one of the inputs when setting up the Smart Coach. It seems I'm running at an 8:46 pace the rest of my workouts (except for speed and tempo runs). I wonder if that's the marathon pace I'm training for? That calculates out to a 3:49:41 marathon.

I'm toying with the idea of testing my fitness level with a half marathon this coming Saturday. My thinking is that at least I would have a better idea of exactly where I'm at. Stephanie will be in Cancun so there's some question of whether the Chicago marathon crew that I usually run with will have an organized run on Saturday. My scheduled run is for 12 miles. This happens to be the exact distance ChampionsFit - Green is running. I've still not introduced myself to the group and it seems they're rather disorganized (judging from the discussion board entries).

On Saturday there is a half marathon in Dallas and one in Shawnee, Oklahoma. These are the closest I can find. If I run one of these 2 weeks prior to the marathon, will I have time to recover? It seems like I should. At the moment, I'm kind of liking the idea of flying into Oklahoma City late Friday evening, running Saturday morning then flying home. The flights look okay.

Training Schedule: Sep 17-23

Mon - 7 @ 8:46
Wed - 8 w/ 4 x 1600 @ 6:55 (800 recovery jogs)
Sat - 12 @ 8:46

Last 20-miler before the Marathon

Well, I logged my last 20 mile run before the marathon today. It's hard to believe the race is just 3 weeks away! I'm pretty much freaking out about the whole concept and I'm sure that's only going to get worse. The emotion is very strange. On one hand, I just want it to get here so I can get on with it. On the other hand, I've got so much anxiety and fear of the unknown that I hope the day never comes.

It was nice to be back with Stephanie's group again this morning. There was a slight miscommunication about the start time for today's run that caused me some concern this morning and led to my speeding to Memorial Park for the start. But, alas, the start time was 5:30 as usual instead of the 5:15 that I read in an email this morning ... at 4:45 ... when I wasn't prepared to leave and it takes at least 30 minutes to get there.

Running this morning were Randy, Stephanie, Josh, Chris, Shellie, and me. Thankfully, Shellie put water and Gatorade out at the 8 mile mark for us. The group was scheduled for 16 miles but I had 20 on my schedule. I felt really good through 10 miles and the pace was exactly where I wanted it to be 8:46. I struggled to stay with the group at the pace for another 4 miles when they picked it up for their final 2 miles. From the point they left me, my pace progressively fell off as I worked my way back to the park then went around the loop and a half for the extra miles to get 20 miles. Final result:

20.06 miles @ 9:00 (3:00:34)

Frankly, I don't know what to think. I would really like to have a better sense of what I'm really capable of running in St. George. It seems that's critical for pacing. But I honestly have no idea. It seems my projected time could span a range of 45 minutes. What does the altitude do to me? What does the 2,700 foot drop in elevation mean? What about the temperature and humidity I've been training in, shouldn't I benefit from closer to ideal conditions at the race? What about the "race magic" that seems to happen for most runners? How will the taper in training impact how I feel? I have no clue what the answers to these questions might be. It's all just a great unknown. Today I felt great for 10 miles, okay for 4-5, and not-so-good for 5-6 miles. If I project that same sensation over to race day, it's extremely difficult for me to imagine 10 miles (1:20 - 1:30 ???) of not-so-good. I like to imagine that somehow the first 20 miles of the marathon go by like the first 10 miles did today then get the last 6.2 while I'm feeling pretty good and have the opportunity to push it a bit at the end. No matter what my finish time, I don't want to be shuffling my feet across the finish line. I want to have the strength to raise my arms and put together some semblance of a kick to the line.

I'm toying with the idea of signing up for a pacing group. But how do I know which group to sign up for? If I choose too fast of a group - knowing myself as I do - when they pull away somewhere along the course, I'll wilt and go into survival mode. Somehow that scenario just mentally demoralizes me. If I choose to slow of a group, it seems I'd be happy to settle in with their pace and finish strong but have the nagging regret that I could have gone faster. Why has this turned into such a mental game? You'd think I was preparing for the world championship of chess or something!

Well, I suppose that's about it for now. I also suppose with today's run behind me, I've entered the tapering phase of my training.

Aah, a footnote - as I was stretching in the parking lot after my run, I witnessed two cars back into each other. It happened about 40' from where I was standing. The drivers had very different views of what occurred. I probably made a huge mistake but I gave each of them my business card. The guy wanted me to commit to whose fault it was. I just told him that I couldn't really say. Before leaving the lot, I took about half a dozen quick photos with my Palm. As I was leaving, a mounted police officer arrived on the scene. I have an opinion of what happened but I'll set that aside and just describe the facts as I saw the scene play out. Someone else can decide who was at fault! Hopefully I'm not called on as a witness.

Can't You Read a Training Schedule?

Just realized I screwed up my run this morning. That's disappointing since I was feeling pretty good about it. I ran 5 miles which consisted of 1 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo, 1 mile cool down. Everything was fine except I was supposed to get 7 miles today not 5! I just realized it when I checked the blog.

Anyway, I went out early and started from the Y a little after 5 am. The target for my tempo run was 7:20 and that's what I ran it in (thanks to my virtual training partner). The range of my 1/2 mile times was between 3:27 - 3:52. I would have liked them to be a little tighter but it works.

5 miles total
with 3 tempo miles @ 7:20

So over the past few days I'm short 2 miles today and 6 miles last Saturday. Hope that doesn't catch up with me!

Here's a clip about the St. George marathon that lifted my spirits. It is from Paul Petersen's blog:

St. George is most likely the fastest certified course on earth, as long as you are trained for downhill and altitude. ... No, St. George is not record-eligible (has a downhill gradient greater than 1%), but let’s just speculate here. The idea is no worse than the Steroid Olympics.

Petersen will be running St. George attempting to qualify for the Olympic Trials. I'll be looking for him ... but doubt I'll see him!

Many people know there are some pretty good runners' t-shirt phases. I heard one I really liked the other day.

"It's rude to count people as you pass them. Out loud."

Shellie (runs with us on Saturday's) sent this one and attributed it to an Adidas ad. The other one I like is about gazelles and lions in Africa. I'll have to pull the exact wording and post it sometime.

Easy 8 vs. Virtual Training Partner

I figured I better get this one in early or else it may be difficult.
Today will be hectic at the office as we're finalizing and filing the
corporate tax return.

I left the house at 4:30 and parked at the Y. I went through the
neighborhoods for 2 miles and onto the bayou trail for another 2 miles
then I run back the way I came.

The training goal was for an 8:46 pace. My plan was to run 2.7 miles
at 9:01 followed by 2.7 miles at 8:46 then 2.7 at 8:31.

I think I was pretty close the first 5.4 (I'll have to check my watch
later). For the final 2.7, I switched my watch to Virtual Patner
mode. I used this one other time last week. The screen has a visual
depiction of my "partner" and me with an indication of how far I'm
ahead or behind. I programmed the "partner" to go 8:46 before I
started today. So now all I had to do was catch him before the
finish. I don't know why this works for me but it does. With 2.5 to
go, I was behind by 120 feet. I wasn't going to let him beat me. I
closed the gap quickly and was even with a mile to go. I stayed on
pace and finished with an overall 8:41 pace.

It was a good run this morning. I'm glad I got it in. Now it's on to
the realities of the day.

Training Schedule: Sep 10 - 16

Mon - Easy 8M @ 8:46
Wed - Tempo 7M w/ 3M @ 7:20
Sat - Long 20M @ 8:46 (last long one before the real deal)

Bearkat Bash 5K

Today was a rather full day!

I was scheduled for an easy 9 miles today but opted for a 5K sponsored
by Cam's high school cross country team - the Bearkat Bash.

It was a fun race because there were several people from the
neighborhood running and watching. Cameron was also running with his
team. I planned for a 21:20 but that wasn't in the cards as soon as I
went out too hard fighting my way through pre-race traffic (why did
the drill team think they needed to be at the front for the start?).

The CC team started up front and went out fast. I finally caught Cam
about 1.7 miles in. About half a mile later, I got into a verbal
confrontation with a fellow runner (it's all rather comical now but if
I see the guy again I'll have to thank him for providing me with an
adrenaline rush). I started my kick way too early just to get away
from this joker but I still had quite a bit left in the tank for the
final 1/10 mile. I ended up around 21:53 (forgot to stop my watch at
the finish line and I doubt they'll be posting official results). I
think I took 6th in the 40-44 age group.

From the race, Cam and I cleaned up, went to the airport, and flew to
LA. My good friend Alex picked us up and we went to the Rose Bowl for
the BYU - UCLA football game. We had a great time even though BYU
lost 27-17.

We caught a redeye back to Houston and were finally in our own beds at
6:30 Sunday morning.

Junking It Up

3+ loops at Memorial Park for 9 miles ... beginning after 8 pm.

It was a bad run. Not much else left to say ....

Note to self: it's probably not a good idea to run at the very end of
the day especially if you're sleep and nutrition deprived.

Early 9 Miles

Today is Labor Day. I didn't have to go in to the office but there was still plenty of work to do as we move closer to the September 15 deadline.

I previously volunteered to be a driver for the Boy Scouts this morning as they took flags out and posted them throughout our neighborhood. I've done this a few other times and enjoy the project. The flag raising exercise begins at 7 am.

This made for an early start to my run. My Garmin recorded the start time of my run as 4:43 am. Frankly, this really isn't that big of a deal for me. Mornings have never been an issue. Perhaps I can thank my early days milking cows at 3:30 am before going to school ... ???

Anyway I needed to finish my run in plenty of time to "do flags" at 7. I started from the Y again as most of my morning runs do. But instead of following the bayou all the way for 4+ miles, I followed an old ChampionsFit route that I had loaded into my GPS. The route broke from the bayou at 3+ and wound through a couple neighborhoods until I hit 4.5 miles then returned the same way I came.

I know today was supposed to be an "easy" run. But since I was feeling pretty good from Saturday I set some goals for myself. Since the scheduled pace was 8:51, I decided I'd run the first 3 miles at 9:00. Followed by 8:50 for the next 3 miles then 8:40 for the final 3. It didn't quite workout as planned:

8:53
8:58
9:07
8:53
8:30
8:51
8:52
8:45
8:33

So I'm not sure what to make of it ... probably nothing. I got my 9 miles in and was able to hit my training time of 8:51 (actually 8:49).

I wouldn't call it a "real" easy run but it wasn't a killer workout either. I should mention that I ran with sunglasses for the first time today. Thought I'd try them out so I picked up some Optic Nerve Banshees. Now why would I run with sunglasses at 5 am? Well, the lenses are interchangeable so I had the clear lenses in. So what's the point? Well, I wanted to see how they felt. You know if they bounced around or fogged up or irritated my ears or nose. Thankfully, none of those were a problem. In fact, they were quite comfortable. I wanted to try them out a couple times in case I decide I want to use them on marathon day.

Don't remember if I already mentioned that I returned the Asics Cumulus 9's that I bought a while back. After a couple, runs it felt like the ball of my right foot was getting "bruised" each time I wore them. It wasn't something I wanted to deal with or adapt to so I returned them. I absolutely have to get new shoes so I can run a bit in them before the marathon. The shoes I have now are well over 500 miles and are permeated with an indescribable and very powerful stink! Last Friday I ordered a new pair of Mizuno Wave Rider 10's in red. Yes, that's the exact shoe I now have. And, yes, this is the same shoe that seems to cause me blisters. But they're light (much lighter than the Asics I just returned). Hopefully they show up later this week and I can start the breaking in process.

I'm considering going to the track Wednesday for 10 Yasso 800's instead of the scheduled 9 mile easy run. A series of Yasso's is supposed to offer some insight into a realistic time that can be run for a marathon.

On Saturday there is a 5K sponsored by Cameron's high school. I need to get 9 miles but there is mounting pressure to run in the Bearkat Bash. I haven't figured out what I'm going to do yet.

Training Schedule: Sep 3 - 9

Mon - Easy 9 @ 8:51
Wed - Easy 9 @ 8:51
Sat - Easy 9 @ 8:51

Yes !!!!!

16 miles @ 8:44 (2:19:47)

Finally something to feel good about!

Went out with Stephanie's group this morning. They were going for 18 miles. I was scheduled for 16 @ 8:51. It started raining half way into our run.

I didn't really know what to expect. On Thursday, I finally relented to taking some allergy medication. It knocked out the symptoms ... and knocked me out too. That's why I generally stay away from those meds. Thankfully, I slept well Thursday night. It's the best night of sleep I've had in a couple weeks. My nutrition and hydration weren't exactly ideal on Friday and the allergy symptoms seemed to be edging back Friday evening. But I slept okay.

At the beginning of the run, it felt like I was going to have trouble breathing again. That sounds a lot more serious than it is. It's what I've been dealing with for 2 1/2 weeks. It just doesn't seem like I can take in enough air ... but it's subtle. Anyway, that seemed to clear a couple miles in and I was feeling pretty good. I still wasn't optimistic because this has happened previously too. Apparently the adrenaline produced by physical exertion can suppress the histamine generated by the allergies. However, this can be a short-lived effect. In my case it always seems to be.

It seemed I was starting to break down about 8 miles in but I kept pressing on. About that time a rain storm began that was very refreshing. The air cooled a bit ahead of the storm.

It wasn't an easy run but I was determined to stay with the group at least to the point they started their "pick up" at 14 miles. The reality was the pick up started early ... a little after 13 miles. They were pulling away. I gave myself a prep talk and decided I wasn't going to let them go easily so I tried to stay with them. I caught them for the last time on a water break before they went into the park. From there, they dropped me pretty quickly so I finished the last 2 miles alone. This was fine. It was a good test.

I'm happy with the results of today's run. I came in better than my scheduled time and I was able to pick up at the end. The best news ... I still don't think I'm 100% yet.

Mile splits:

9:17
8:57
8:55
8:50
8:44
8:40
8:38
8:25
8:51
8:46
8:36
8:45
8:45
8:28
8:32
8:34

(notice the trend for today's run ... there were a lot of things "right" about today)


I had a big lasagna dinner last night around 6 pm.
Around 9, Grape Nuts for more carbs.
One hour prior to run this AM, 3/4 c oatmeal w/brown sugar and honey.
During run hydration, Accelerade and water (drank more water than usual).
1 Clif Shot gel pack (Razz): 1/2 around 4 miles; 1/2 around 9 miles
2 Clif Shot bloks (Cran-Razz)

I'm noting the "recipe" because it seemed to work well today.

Still Not Right

I'm on the bus this morning so I have a couple minutes to post .... I missed last Saturday's and Monday's posts but expect to have something up for them in the next couple of days. Work has been hectic but hopefully there's a break around the corner.

I'm still struggling with my running. My latest self-diagnosis is that I'm battling allergies. Today is the sixteenth day. Ever since I got back from Utah, I haven't been "right". I haven't been hitting any of my training targets and am generally fatigued. I've still made all my miles but fear most of them fall into the "junk" miles category. I haven't yet found a solution that provides much relief. I'm sure the work situation isn't helping.

I ran 8 miles this morning from the Y. The middle 5 were supposed to be a tempo run of 7:33. I started okay over 2 miles but faded and ended up at 8:16. Meaning it wasn't much of a tempo run and that I missed my pace by 43 seconds.

The frustration continues to mount ....

Training Schedule: Aug 27-Sep 2

Mon - Easy 9M @ 8:51
Wed - 8M w/ 5M Tempo @ 7:33
Sat - Long 16M @ 8:51

Another 20 Miler ...

Okay the good news is that I got another 20-miler in today. The bad news is that it was SLOW!

I run with Stephanie's group again today. They were going out for 16 miles with the last half at marathon pace. My training plan was for a 20 miler and I knew I wouldn't be able to pull it off if I stuck to the pick-up pace so after an 8 mile "warm up" and 2 mile pickup, I pulled it back a bit ... then just faded from there. I got back to Memorial Park and did 2 1/2 loops to get my 20. It was nice that Houston Area Road Runners Association (HARRA) was set up with some goodies which gave me something to look forward to each time around!

In the infamous words of Bill Murray's character, John Winger, in the classic movie Stripes, "Then depression set in!" I'm really disappointed with my times over the past couple of weeks. I'm not hitting my training schedule times like I was able to up to that point. On one hand I am happy that I finished 20 miles today while running the last 12 alone. For the last several miles I just kept asking myself, "Is there any physical reason I can't finish this?"

"No.

"Is there any mental reason I can't finish 20 today?"

"No."

"Is there any reason I can't go faster?"

"Yes but I can't describe it."

It's very frustrating! And, of course, I have no idea what's really going on. My 20-miler this week was quite a bit slower than my 20-miler 3 weeks ago (which I already thought was too slow). Of course, I can come up with dozens of excuses but I'm really trying not to allow myself those cop outs.

Based on my 20-milers, I have no idea what to expect come marathon day. I know the taper should help me along with the cooler air but that isn't calming my anxiety ... somewhat a fear of the unknown, I guess.

On the bright side, for the first time today I had a glimpse of myself actually finishing. Up to this point, it seemed too far of a distance to imagine and too far away on the calendar. I guess this is a very small step in my progression ....

1600 Intervals

I went over to Klein High tonight to run 1600 meter intervals. It had been a long day so I wasn't feeling my best mentally or physically when I started out at about 8:30 pm.

I slowly ran the 1.8 miles to the track for my warmup. Once on the track, I turned a decent first 1600 but knew it was going to be a struggle from there. The harder I pushed, the worse I felt. Early on I wasn't sure how I was going to get each of the 4 intervals in. In between, I walked or ran a slow 800. Even this late the temperature was 84 and humidity was around 70%. I was very happy to finish the 4 intervals I set out to do. I made the slow run home and quickly found my bed and sleep!

Total miles 9.4

Warm - 2 miles

7:00
7:22
7:31
7:35

Cool - 1.9 miles

4 Miles This Morning

I wasn't able to run last night because I was working. I got out this morning around 5 for 4 miles in the neighborhood.

I wore my new shoes (Asics Cumulus IX) for the first time. They felt slightly heavier than my Mizuno's and the gel pads felt a bit too hard. I suppose they will just take some getting used to. I noticed it doesn't appear that I'll be having the blister problem with them. This is a surprise as it seems the Mizuno's themselves may have been the cause of the blisters. This morning's run was short so it's still too early to tell for sure.

4.1 miles @ 8:42 (35:53)

Training Schedule: Aug 20 - 26

Mon: Easy 4M @ 8:51
Wed: Speed 8M w/ 4x1600@7:00 w/800 active recovery
Sat: Long 20M @ 8:51

16 Miler

I had a pretty good run going this morning with Stephanie's group. We started with six - Stephanie, Randy, Josh, Miranda, Chris, and me - from the pool at Memorial Park. We took a new route which seems to be beneficial for me - new scenery ... or at least scenery in a different order.

The group was scheduled for 20 miles but my training plan had me for 16. Chris broke back early to finish at 10 miles.

Through 14 miles, my mile splits were in a very nice range 8:48 - 9:12. This is about where I should have been given the temperature and humidity. Miles 15 and 16 just dropped off. It was like I hit the wall but, oddly it wasn't really physical (general fatigue, yes. "I'm going to die if I don't stop soon.", no), it was mental. I think I preprogrammed my mind to go 16 miles and it was just coasting in for the finish. It was strange.

The route left me about 1.5 miles from the starting point when I finished my 16 miles so I walked it in from there. It wasn't too bad and may have served as a good cool down.

Today's fueling:
1 hour pre-run: 3/4 c oatmeal w/skim milk
Accerlade - 21 oz. orange
Clif Shot Bloks - 2 Black Cherry w/caffeine
Clif Shot Energy Gel - 1 @ 32g Razz

I don't have my fueling down properly yet and with only 6 Saturdays left (including taper), I need to track more closely what's working best for me.

16 miles @ 9:05 (2:25:22)

Supposed Tempo Run in the Rain

This morning's run was an absolute disaster!

I don't have anything to attribute it to but it certainly didn't go well today. I didn't run last night because I has in the office late. This morning the "bands" from Tropical Storm Erin were just hitting as I went out around 5:30 to run. The rain was off and on with some light gusting winds. The weather wasn't the problem. I usually enjoy running in this type of weather on occasion.

My tempo run was so bad that Tuesday morning's "easy" run ended up being better by comparison. Now that's bad!

7 miles

1M warm
5M @ 8:52
1M cool

Early, Easy 7 from the Y

I missed yesterday's scheduled run due to the craziness of flying standby back from Utah. But made up with a run this morning at 5:30.

I ran the typical route from the Y out 3.5 miles and back. I used the Garmin pace alert to stay close to my targeted pace +/- 15 seconds and had a good run. I felt pretty good throughout. I may have to consider shifting my runs to the morning given the August heat index is +100 virtually every evening now.

Here are my 1/2 mile splits:

4:14
4:10 (8:24)
4:15
4:16 (8:31)
4:19
4:23 (8:42)
4:28
4:30 (8:58)
4:27
4:21 (8:58)
4:20
4:20 (8:40)
4:20
4:09 (8:29)

7 miles @ 8:39 (1:00:32)


... looking forward to a good track workout tomorrow night ....

Training Schedule: Aug 13-19

Monday - Easy 7 miles @ 8:51
Wednesday - 7 miles w/5 mile tempo @ 7:33
Saturday - Long 16 miles @ 8:51

Rich's 10K

I ran the Rich Bouchard Memorial 10K at South Weber Country Fair Days in Utah this morning.

My goal was 45:00. My official time was 45:31. I should mention that the course was not certified. My Garmin had the distance at 6.07 miles and my time at 45:48. The race had it all. The course was challenging with hills. Of course the wind was blowing as it always does during the morning in South Weber. Fortunately it was at the runners' backs most of the way. That is until the final two miles which were run back uphill, into the wind ... tough! In addition, the altitude was around 4,500-4,700 feet.

I won my age group but that's more a function of today's event being a 5K and 10K. Most runners ran the 5K leaving the 10K field much lighter and very diluted. Still, a win is a win so I'm happy to take the victory and the hardware.

It's late but I want to add a quick note about Rich Bouchard, a personal friend of mine. Unfortunately he was killed in a car accident 20 years ago. During what now seems like a prior life, I ran track and cross country in junior high and high school. Rich is a big reason that I ran. He was a senior when I was a sophomore. He was an excellent runner who loved the sport and loved life. Rich drove a couple friends and me home from team workouts. We didn't have our drivers' licenses yet but he did. Of course, he didn't have to do that but he did. And I enjoyed the association of an "ultra-cool" upper classman.

A couple years later, I was part of a 4-man contingent that traveled to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the National Explorer Olympics. We had a great time during our week of competition. Rich was our distance specialist. Ricky Smith was our sprint specialist. Glen Coy was a strong distance runner and excellent swimmer. I was the fourth man in this group. We had no idea how we would stack up at this level coming from a small town in northern Utah. But by week's end, we had piled up a stack of gold, silver, and bronze medals primarily on the track and in the pool. Rich was the heart and soul of our team. The competitive fire burned brightly inside of him and each raised our game just from being around him. I don't recall how many medals Rich won but I remember cheering from the side during one race - probably the 800 or 1600 finals or maybe the anchor leg of our medley relay. He ran the gutsiest race I've ever seen and brought it home for the victory.

As great of a runner as Rich was, he was an even better person. It's a shame his time with us was so short. I'm happy I was able to share some of that time with him.

My run today was in his memory. Had he been with us to race today, I'm sure he would have challenged for the overall victory; just as he always did.

Morning 8

I missed last night's scheduled run. Work has become increasing busy as we move closer to the September 15 deadline. I had a chance to break away around 6:30 or 7 pm but the heat index was 100 degrees so I just stayed in the office working for a couple more hours. I went home and straight to bed.

Got up around 5 am and drove to the Y parking lot and went 4 miles out and back through the neighborhoods and onto the trail. The run was good. I generally held the pace close to where I wanted it. I did run the last 6 miles with a particularly upset stomach. I suspect it was from neglecting my pre-run "fueling" routine ... or maybe it was something I had eaten earlier ... ???

The humidity was around 94% but, thankfully, the temperature was about 73 degrees.

8 miles @ 9:14/M (1:13:53)

Still Feeling the Affects ... ???

(For those questioning the grammar of this entry's title, I never can sort out the difference between effect and affect. Can someone please give me an easy way to distinguish?)

Today was my worst run ever! I felt absolutely lousy!

I left the office around 7:30 to run 8 miles along Buffalo Bayou. It didn't take very long to know that it wasn't going to be a good run. I could see I was slow on my watch and more importantly could feel that there wasn't going to be much I could do about it. No matter what I did to spur myself to pick it up, I couldn't sustain anything. It was a VERY frustrating feeling. So I resigned myself to slogging it out while just trying to enjoy being outside. ... difficult to enjoy much based on how I felt .... So I made a mental list of excuses for what was happening. Here are a few:

• Even though my legs felt fine from Saturday’s long run, my body really hadn’t recovered.

• The past two Saturday’s 18- and 20-milers had taken a cumulative effect (or is it affect???) that finally caught up to me.

• My glycogen stores were absolutely tapped leaving me with absolutely no “fuel in the tank”.

• This morning’s weight lifting workout pushed me to or over the limit. My trainer bumped my leg press up another 25 pounds.

• I am suffering from major nutritional deficiencies. Maybe two long runs tapped me out. Saturday afternoon I ate a big pile of junk food for about the first time in over 6 months (justified myself with the fact that I’d run 20 miles earlier that day). I ate the wrong foods and I overate in a big way. On Sunday the pendulum swung the other way. Since it was the first Sunday of the month, I ended up not eating much all day long (although Paige made some lovely marinated turkey steaks for us Sunday evening!).

• It was hot and humid. These are probably a bit flimsy as excuses since I should be somewhat used to it by now and it wasn’t overly extreme. The temperature was around 86 degrees with 68% humidity.

• Work is quickly becoming a pressure cooker of stress as the September 15 deadline approaches.


So with this tremendously bad vibe going, I did something that I haven't done before. I cut my run short by a mile. It made me mad to do it but it seemed like the right thing to do.


7.32 miles @ 9:49 (1:11:52)

Training Schedule: August 6 - 12

MON: Easy 8M @ 8:57
WED: Easy 8M @ 8:57
SAT: Race 10K

20 Miles

I got 20 miles in with Stephanie's group this morning. It was hard!

We started out with a group of 7 - Stephanie, Shelley, Laurie, Miranda, Randy, John, and me. The course we ran was new to me and the pace was a bit faster than last Saturday's 18-miler. As much as possible, I just tried to enjoy it.

We started early (5:30) to try to avoid the heat but the humidity was high (+80%). Shelley broke from the group early to go a shorter distance. Stephanie graciously put a cooler of water and Gatorade out on the trail for us before we started this morning. I started slipping off the pace around 13 - 14 miles but was determined to stay with the group ... as long as possible. I know my tendency of really dropping off the pace once the group has dropped me! I was able to work my way back to the group while they were stopped for a water break at the Sabine Bridge. On the way back to the park I tried to keep up along the bayou but by the time the path went under the freeway, I was behind. I told Stephanie in advance not to come back for me this week .... I knew my way back and felt fine (slight exaggeration!). But before the Waugh Bridge, I caught the group as they were walking ... unscheduled so this couldn't be good. It wasn't. Stephanie was having a serious problem with her left shin ... maybe shin splints, maybe something else. She said she'd walk it in to prevent further injury. It didn't seem right to leave her behind to walk the last few miles but she insisted she'd be fine. So we pressed on. Again I was fighting to stay with the group. Sometimes I was better than others. When they got out of reach, a water stop would come up and I would retake them, take a shorter water break then go out with them for the next leg. By the time we hit Memorial Park, they had stretched out a lead that I wasn't going to close (but I could still see them!). I wasn't sure what their plan was as they were scheduled for 21 miles and I was scheduled for 20. I was still a couple miles short so I turned right at the loop. The group had gone left ahead of me. I went about half way around until my mileage was right passing group along the way. I took an extended water break before the last mile then tried to push it to the finish. I passed Randy, John, and Laurie breaking for water and they ran the rest of the way in with me.

It was a very hard run. It's still difficult for me to imagine tacking on another 6+ miles to today's run but I keep telling myself that's why I'm training. I've got two more 20-milers before the marathon. The pace is supposed to be a little faster for each one so I hope to get a better feel for the distance and break through the physical and mental barriers.

4 Mile Tempo Run @ Memorial

I met Jonathan for a run after work. At Memorial Park, we warmed up for a mile then took off for a 4 mile tempo run. The goal was a 7:33 pace but we went out too fast and I finished too slow. Jonathan had a good run and left me about 2.5 miles in.

Here are my quarter mile splits:

1:47
1:48
1:50
1:52 (7:17)
1:52
1:51
1:51
1:51 (7:25)
1:52
1:51
1:57
2:00 (7:40)
2:04
2:05
2:00
2:04 (8:13)

So the overall pace was 7:39/mile but the distribution was not optimal for the maximum benefit of a good tempo run.

NOTE TO SELF: Slower at the beginning; faster at the end!

We cooled down going back to the car for a slow mile. Once back at the car, we went through core exercises .... This is always good for me to do even though it's about the last thing I'm thinking of after a run!