High-Octane

Still taking it easy… hot, muggy, boring run. :-) Lots of sweat! 

Genesis 3:19     

 In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you shall return.

Wimped out and went to the gym today. Although the weather really wasn't that bad but I thought last night it might be raining and really windy. I felt I needed an easy day anyway and avoid some pounding on my knees. I ran 5 miles on the Elliptical and worked four upper body parts @ 20 repsx4.

Here's my trophy for winning my age group at the Army Marathon.

We were supposed to have a record LOW temperature last night. It was 45 degrees when I started my run and the humidity was really low too. NICE....!!!!

I wasn't really sure what to run so I Just Ran ... That's until I hit mile 9 where I decided to kick it in and run a "fast" mile. I wasn't sure I could run a sub-6:00 mile after 8, not just plodding along miles, and also the fact that I ran a marathon less than two weeks ago. I also haven't run any fast stuff in quite a while. To my surprise I did it without too much difficulty. I probably couldn't have kept it up for much longer but I wasn't just dead at the end and actually continued my run with a decent 8:04 final mile.

I know I'm speaking in relative terms when I talk about "fast" but for me when I run fast it feels like my upper body is sitting on top of my legs and my legs are just down below churning away...It's kind of a weird feeling. Another way to put it is it feels like my upper body is just relaxed and sitting up there barking instructions to the legs below. If I could just improve my cardio I believe I could run much faster. :-)

Easy run in the morning for 40 minutes - approx 4.25 miles.

Easy bike ride with Sarah in the evening.

Went to a World Series Team Roping in Hamilton on Saturday but didn't do any good. I haven't qualified for Las Vegas yet ....Ahhhh.... need to do so!

Psalm 139:13-14

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well

Another easy run without a watch. Approximately 40 minutes. 

I've officially started my 5K to Boston training with two Easy Runs .... Ha Ha!

I plan to go the the High School Track tomorrow for the first VO2 Max Pace Stride workout tomorrow! Yeah!!!

Proverbs 3:13 

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, 

Let's see...what's interesting about today's run? Well I ran in my new Saucony Mirage II shoes today. They feel good but I think I still like my Saucony Cortana shoes the best.

Oh yeah....and it takes about 1300 steps to run a mile at an easy pace. :-)

5 miles - Easy - I have no idea of how long. I Just Ran

2 Peter 3:9 

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

I saw the Hulk today in the gym! Now I know he's not really green, I think it's just makeup they put on him for the movies. He's about 6'-6" tall and has arms bigger than my legs but you know what, I think I could out run him!

5 Miles on the Elliptical and Upper body 5 Machines @ 20 Reps Each 

 Judges 16:6

Is this getting boring yet? Is this getting boring yet? Another 5 miles easy...well I'm calling it "easy" but really trying to figure out how that feels.

5 Miles @ an unknown pace today.

Matthew 6:25-34 

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ... 

No running for me today, I didn't want to get hit by lightning!

Well it wasn't quite this bad but there seemed to be a lot of it striking!

It's my birthday ... :-)

I'm 53 years old so I decided to ride my bike for 53 miles. (I actually rode further but stopped at 53 for a picture.) This is the first "real" ride in about 7-8 months. The weather was a little sketchy the night before so most of the normal Saturday morning guys didn't show. I rode from my house to the normal meeting place (13 miles), then with the two guys who did show up for the normal New Braunfels loop (34 miles), then back home for another 13 miles. It was predicted to be raining on Saturday morning but it turned out to be really nice except for the wind which blew about 10-20 miles per hour for most of the ride.

Proverbs 16:31 

Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

5.3 Miles in celebration of my birthday yesterday. (I'm not exactly sure about the .3 I just guessed at that distance. :-) Slow and easy...but I still sweat a lot even at that pace.

Luke 22:44

I started my "5K to Boston" training today.

I went to the High School Track for the workout. Here's what I did....I hope it was right!

20 minutes Warm-Up = 9 Laps around the track

Drills - High Knee Walk x 20 Yards x 2 Times

100 Yards @ 20 seconds (timed the first one, it was actually 20.56 seconds, ran the next 5 by feel) Ran 6 of these with 100 Yard Jog between each

Rested for 5 Minutes (Stretched as I rested)

100 Yards @ 20 seconds (timed the last one, it was actually 18.97 seconds, ran all the others by feel) Ran 6 of these with 100 Yard Jog between each

20 minutes Cool-Down = 9 Laps around the track

This was a very easy workout.

 Matthew 19:23-24

Added 20 miles on rode bike this evening.

The only hard thing about these gym days is the fact that I have to get up extra early to go to the gym. I also seems the earlier I get up the slower I get ready. :-(

 It's good my arms are not as sore now as they were a couple of weeks ago when I started back on the gym workouts. 

Progression Run today. On the Bam Schedule it calls for 8 but my closest loop route is 9 so I made it 9 with the last mile just a jog/walk mile.

Started out slow for the first two miles then just started picking it up as I felt like it. The last half mile or so was pretty fast.

72 Degrees, 85% Humidity - It felt really hot and I sweated a lot. :-(

Romans 12:21 

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Got up early to beat the heat (lol that's impossible) to do my workout:

2 Mile Warm-Up 

Drills x2:

High Knee Walk, High Knees, Butt Kicks, Fast Feet, Skips 

"Hill Blast" Workout:

6x8 sec Hill Blast

20 min cool-down

After that I went and rode with the bike group 26 miles - easy speed.

 2 Corinthians 11:14 

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

2.25 Mile Warm-Up

Drills x2: High Knee Walk, High Knees, Butt Kicks, Fast Feet, Skips 

 VVO2 Max Pace Strides:

3x6x20 sec - jog back, 5 min easy between sets.

Timed the first one but I'm not saying what it was. It took me 3 more to get it right, then I finally quit timing. 

2.25 Mile Cool-Down 

Hot and humid today at 75 degrees and 75% humidity. I drank 32 oz of gatorade. I haven't felt good after several of the runs lately. Now I remember I had this problem last year and was not drinking nearly enough water and gatorade. Last week I only drank 16 oz and felt a little lactated afterward. Let's see how I feel today after drinking 2x as much. 

John 4:14 

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

Cross-Training today at the Gym:

Isaiah 45:7 

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Late to Work Run:

9 Miles Total 

2 miles easy then picking up the pace slowly. At about 2 miles out I started picking up the pace/effort to what I would call 10K and then about a quarter mile out I kicked it up to 5K pace. Aerobic was struggling much more than the legs. I jogged slowly in for the last mile.

^37-39 â€śThe Arrival of the Son of Man will take place in times like Noah’s. Before the great flood everyone was carrying on as usual, having a good time right up to the day Noah boarded the ark. They knew nothing—until the flood hit and swept everything away. 

Recovery Day:

5.3 Miles at a slow pace.

75 Degrees and 85% Humidity -  Miserable...

 Mark 2:17 

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I decided to run this 5K to establish my base for my 5k training. I ran this race last year and ran a 20:19 so today was a pretty good improvement over that time.

I'm almost embarrassed to post my splits as I did a terrible job at managing my pace. The course is an out an back so it measures exastly 3.1 miles on the Garmin. Now I can at least say I have a legitimate 19:xx 5K time.

The weather was nasty with thunderstorms (raining) the whole time. With the bad weather the race was poorly attended. I think it was actually much nicer than last year when it was very hot.

I won a cool trophy and I will post a picture next week when I get back to a "real" computer. They also gave nice Tech T-shirts (unexpected as last year they gave really cheap cotton T's.)

The course has one small hill at the start but the rest is just slightly rising or dropping slopes. The 3rd mile again seemed harder than it should have for the elevation change.

At the start the race I felt really light on my feet. As there weren't many "fast" runners I went out with about 6-8 runners for the first .25-.5 mile. At that point all but 4 of us had already dropped back. After about a mile the top two guys had established a lead and I knew I wouldn't be able to catch them. The third guy was 30-40 yards ahead of me so I set my sights on him. All three of these guys were in their 30's. I ran with the 3rd guy throughout the race, pretty much neck and neck after the first mile.

Mile 1 came in at 5:58 - As I was running this mile I was thinking, "I can hold this pace for the whole race" :-)

Mile 2 came in at 6:31 - I realized I couldn't maintain a sub 6:00 mile for the rest of the race. I actually didn't realize I had slowed down that much until the beeper went off and I looked at the time.

 Mile 3 came in at 6:46 - Ridiculous! How can I run a Half Marathon at an avg. 6:53 pace and run  the third mile of a 5K at 6:46....Ahhhh!

Last .1 came in at 29 seconds - I did have a good kick but I was hurting quite a bit at this time. I was actually ahead of the #3 guy 50 yards out but was running on the edge of the pavement and slipped off. It was about a 6-8" drop, I almost fell down and the guy passed me. I regained my composure and almost caught him at the end. (He beat me by 1 second.)

Things I learned:

I am a 19 second 5K'er now

I can run a 18 second 5K

My max HR is truly 180 BPM

I am horrible at running by feel

I think I'll keep running for a while longer 

I like to run fast (I was clipping along on part of the first mile at a 5:00 pace and it felt good. I maintained a 4:15 pace for a lot of the last .107 mile.)

I still have a kick, even when I feel like I'm spent.

Oh....And my aerobic conditioning really stinks and holds me back! 

Overall time: 19:42

1st in Master's Division

4th Overall 

Luke 18:27 

But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” 

Easy day (after the race). 

5.3 miles at a slow, sweaty speed.

One curious thing, why did I feel better today (after the race) running this slow run, than I have for the last couple of weeks?

Psalms 118:14

The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. 

Track Workout today on Memorial Day.

20 Min. Warmup

Drills

3x6x20 at 20 sec./100 - 5 min. jog recovery between sets

3 Minn. @ 95% (900 m)

20 Min. Cooldown 

(Don't tell Bam but I actually got mixed up and ran 4x6x20.) 

I thought this was a good verse for Memorial Day: 

John 15:13 

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 

GO SPURS GO ... !!! 

 Gym workout today. Same routine as last Tuesday:

6 On Elliptical & 6 Upper Body Exercises @ 20 Reps Each at the Gym

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 

8 Mile Progressive Run w/1 mile jog/walk

I enjoyed the 25 mph wind today, it made it feel cooler.

 John 3:8 

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Running Form Questions:

I drew the following illustrations and would like some help understanding this aspect of running. Looking at a lot of my running photos I believe the first image represents how I run. The second image is what I see when I look at Kenyan and other "fast" runners form. I have been doing some drills to help increase my speed but feel like this may be an important aspect of running form to not only make you faster but also more efficient.

I notice two main things: The first is angle "A" is much more narrow on my running form. The second is angle "B" where the foot goes up and back to an almost horizontal position on the Kenyan form. I've tried to do both of these things and find that it is not natural to my stride.

Also studying many of my running photos I do see that my front foot strikes the ground very parallel to the ground and under my body. I worked on this part of my form when I first started to run and feel I have accomplished the mid-foot strike form pretty well. (It took a couple of months to change this part of my form and it was uncomfortable at first. Now it's a natural stride for me.) 

Any insight or comments on this form issue would be appreciated! 

Hill Blast Today:

2.75 Mile Easy - (6) Drills x2 - 8x8 Sec. Hill Blast - 2.75 Mile Easy

I can feel to Drills and Hill Blast troquing my left knee and hip. 

Genesis 32:25 

When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.