I only run on days that end in a "y."

6.5 easy miles this morning.  Glad to be back in Austin, although I could do without the allergies which are hitting me already.  Miles around 8:55 pace.  

Also came upon a park a little under 2 miles from the house.  It has a nice crushed granite path but it is only a fourth of a mile.  Still, because of the softer surface I decided to go around a few times, ended up with 3 miles then back home on the pavement.

Woke up to windy conditions and 72 degrees with 70% humidity.  Blah.  My plan was to do 8-9 aerobic base miles but at about 2.5 I thought I would add some tempo miles.  I will be on the road tomorrow morning and won't get a quality workout in.  I ran 4 tempo pace and it was tough.  High mileage week last week coupled with allergies and this morning's heat and humidity made for a tougher than expected run.  I stopped briefly at 1.8 miles to take a drink from a faucet and at mile 3 I wanted to stop completely but managed to tough the last one out anyway.  Not as fast as I wanted.  Definitely not one of my better workouts.  

Easy miles:  8:05, 7:45, 7:42, .15 @ 7:37 followed by 4 tempo miles:  6:45, 6:48, 6:45, 6:40 with 1 cool down mile @ 7:37 pace.

Still not feeling too great today.  I woke up early and went for a 4 mile a/b run - average pace 7:50's.

I then drove up to Denton to the University  of Mary Hardin Baylor.  I signed up to be a part of a double-blind study that will show the effects, if any, of the consumption of the antioxidant Revertisol on endurance runners.  So today I had to get a DEXA body scan to determine my body fat (11%) along with a V02Max test.  The V02Max test consisted of running on a treadmill @ 7:00 pace with the incline increasing by 2% every 2 minutes after a 1 minute warm-up.  I got to 8% and 9 minutes before stopping.  I probably could have gone a bit further but it hurt.  She had told me that the results were not being used as part of the study but to determine what speed I need to run part II of the study at.  So my V02Max has not changed since I last did the test 2 years ago.  However, she said that was still pretty good considering that it will decline a few % points a year with no training as we age.  Certainly my running economy has increased dramatically so I am not letting the V0@Max get to me too much.  Of course we all like to see improvement.  As I said, I probably could have pushed the test harder but I don't think the result would have increase by more than 2-3. 

Part II of the test is to go back in two weeks and run on an 8% decline for 45 minutes (to simulate the muscle damage of a much longer run) while taking 3 blood samples.  Should be fun. :0

I felt very tired driving back - I wonder if it is from the allergy tabs I took last night.  It was hard to stay awake in the office as well.  I figured the only way to cure that was to go for a run.  So I ran 7 aerobic based miles on the soft trail loop near to the office.  Overall 7:54 pace. 

Nice cool morning - I keep thinking we won't get any more of these and then we do.  It has to end sometime.

Still not feeling too great.  I had ideas of getting in 10-12 miles but when I started running my legs were not feeling too great.  In fact, my calves were quite sore.  It took me a minute to figure out that it must have been the treadmill testing that did it.  

So I turned my run into a slower "recovery" run and ran 7 miles in the 8:20's. 

This has probably been done before but thought about this on the run while I was running a 7 mile "recovery" run.

 You know you are an endurance runner when:

You run a 7 mile "recovery" run.

Your long run was "only" 16 miles.

[Please feel free to continue...]

OK - so last night after work I felt terrible!  My wife had a work function to attend so I had the 2 kiddos.  When I took my 3 year old daughter to bed I checked my temp - it was 101.  Ouch.  I was quite certain there was no way I was going to run this morning.

I woke up at 4:30 am and I thought I felt much better. ( I went to bed just after 9 pm so I got some good solid sleep.)  I feel back asleep and woke up again - with no alarm - at 5:15.  I got up, knowing that I should stay in bed, and put my running gear on.  I felt pretty good except for a bit of a cough.  So much better than the previous evening.  

I drove downtown, did 2 easy warm up miles on the trail and met the group at the Austin High track.  I decided to stick with some faster guys and see if I could hang.  The workout chart says I should be running 800m repeats in 2:40-2:50.  I have never run consistent repeats below 2:50 before, usually it is the last one when I drop it.  What is great about being in the running group is there are always faster runners that you can hook up with to push you. 

Anyway, the first 3 went pretty easily, the 4 a bit harder, the 5th the legs were really complaining as well as the lungs, and the 6th was a tough-it-out-this-is-the-last-one kinda repeat.  I was shot after the 6th one.  1:30 walking recovery in between repeats.

Splits: Note: Paces per cool running pace calculator.

800m @ 2:47 (5:36 pace)

800m @ 2:48 (5:38 pace)

800m @ 2:44 (5:29 pace)

800m @ 2:46 (5:33 pace)

800m @ 2:49 (5:39 pace)

800m @ 2:46 (5:33 pace)

 2 easy miles on the trail back to the car. 

My wife was not happy with me when I came back, that's for sure! She thinks that running while sick is idiotic.  My daughter locked me out when I came home, too.  So much for a nice home coming! :-)

BTW - there is hope for us aging runners!

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine
April 10, 2011

Intense Training Maintains Endurance in Older People

        Last Saturday, a 75-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman
rode a tandem at the Sebring Tandem Rally, covering 51 miles at
an average speed of 18.9 miles per hour.  We used all the energy
we had trying to stay with the bikes in front of us.
        You lose power and strength with aging, but you keep most
of your endurance.  The limiting factor to how fast you can run or
ride a bicycle is the time that it takes to move oxygen from your
lungs into your muscles.  This is measured with a test called
VO2max.  The higher the number, the faster you move oxygen into
muscles.
        Dave Costill of Ball State University studied marathon
runners in their prime in the late 1960s and then again 25 years
later. In 1970, Derek Clayton of Australia held the world record in
the marathon at 2 hours and 8 minutes.  In 1992, his orthopedic
problems limited his running to 3-4 very fast miles per day.
His VO2 max remained the same.  His maximum heart rate slowed
from 188 beats per minute at age 28 to 176 at age 50.  He gained
only 2 kilograms of weight going from 73.1 kg to 75.2.  Other
world class marathon runners who continued competing over the
25 years had an average drop in their VO2 max from 70 down to
65, a small reduction.
        The world records for the marathon and mile for all ages are
less than 10 percent slower for 50-year-olds, and a rapid decline
in age group world records starts only after age 70.  This applies
to both men and women.
        You have to work gradually into any exercise program.  If
you are thinking of starting an exercise program or increasing its
intensity, you probably should check with your doctor.  Intense
exercise can kill people with blocked coronary arteries.  Training
for older people uses the same principles as those used by
younger ones.  You train intensely three days a week, and go 
slowly on the other four days.  We average close to 20 miles per
hour on our 25-mile rides on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
and only 10-12 miles per hour on our four recovery days.
        As you age, you lose muscle fibers and strength.  However,
if you train intensely, you can maintain the size and number of
mitochondria in muscles that use oxygen to convert food to
energy, which helps you to keep your ability to move fast over
long distances.

Had a 101.5 fever this morning.  Went to the Dr - she had me tested for H1N1 and walking pneumonia.   Fortunately, both tests came back negative.  Still, no running today and I will probably take tomorrow off as well.

Not feeling well today.  No reason to push things and run.  I will chalk this week up as a recovery week anyway.  "One day does not a runner make." Me.  

It was nice change to sleep in and then spend the morning with my family.