High-Octane

Much better this morning. I'm still watching and feeling the dew point. This morning it was down to 68 which seems to feel much better than 72-75 (which it has been). I was sweating by the end of the first mile but not profusely. This morning I was noticing the difference in the humidity when I ran down in the low areas and where the creeks are. In these areas I definitely got hotter. Today I was practicing my "walk about 10-20 steps and drink" for every mile. This is what I did in my last marathon and it seems to work best for me. I'm happy that I could pick up the pace for the last 2 miles, I haven't been able to do this much lately.

Tried a little "speedier" work today. Each mile I would run .25 of the mile @ 5K pace. At this point I can't imagine running 3 miles at that faster pace. 

Callie is home for one day then flies out to Alaska this evening 

We ran together -  3.25 miles @ 8:45 pace. 

Decided to try a double digit run today. Two of my small loops equals 13.5 miles so that's what I decided to run. It was hot, the dew point was high and I sweated like a pig (actually I don't think pigs even sweat). 

Even though it was slow I consider this an accomplishment because I completed the run and didn't feel too bad afterwards. Things are coming back slowly but I think I'm going to have to do some type of modified marathon training program to be ready for San Antonio Rock-N-Roll on November 17th.

Gym Workout - Alternating 4 easy, 4 @ 7:30 Pace

Random Thoughts:

I have run 26 out of the last 30 days. So far so good, other than I'm slow and out of condition.

I'm taking today. Everything is good other than I went to bed late last night. I'll start again tomorrow.

I have about 13 weeks before the Rock-N-Roll Marathon in San Antonio. Hopefully I will really begin improving in the next few weeks. My only concern is training in this heat. With the heat, humidity and dew point we have here in central Texas it makes it very difficult to successfully complete any long runs. I feel I need to be running some 15 mile + runs soon.

I'm not really sure I know what I want to accomplish in this upcoming marathon. Originally I had convinced myself that a 3:22 was now my base time and it would only get better from there. But now, with the injury and loss of training time, I have a lot of doubt. I almost wish I could just consider this a "fun run" and take it really easy but that is so against my internal gut feeling it's impossible for me to seriously consider. I will put out a full effort or bonk trying.

Thursday I am going to Illinois for a vacation. We will be there for about 10 days. I'm hoping to get some really good training in while I'm there and boost my confidence. The weather should be much cooler than here in Texas.

Haggai 1:11 

And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

I felt worse than I've felt in a while when I started and better than I've felt in a while when I finished?

The weather conditions are just brutal right now. 79 degrees, 85% humidity, 70 degree dew point and dust from Africa filling the sky.

Planned 8, ran 10 with a fast finish last half mile.

I

I'm in Illinois now and will be here until next friday. The weather is much cooler but the dew point is still high. I didn't run yesterday so I was pretty fresh today. I didn't really have a plan for running today so I just went out with the intention to run maybe 6-10 miles by feel.

The terrain is fairly flat here with just a few small rolling hills. On the first mile it seemed my legs just wanted to go the slow pace I've been running the last few weeks but after a mile or so I was able to convience them that it was okay to run faster. Most of this run was fairly easy but I did push it on the last mile but not to race effort. We'll see how I feel tomorrow before determining a running plan for the next few days. I'm hoping the dew point goes down a little. I believe I will get another boost of energy if it does. Today the temperature was 69 (nice!) the humidity was 85, and the dewpoint was 69. This is still not in a very good range for running per the chart I posted the other day about dew point.

Mile

1 8:27

I2 7:58

3 7:53

4 7:45

5 7:45

6 7:46

7 7:55

8 7:34

9 7:01

.25 Slow Cool-Down

Avg Pace - 7:47

I ran a little slower today. It was a little warmer and the dew point and humidity was still high. My legs seemed a little stiff and heavier. I ran the same route as yesterday.

1 8:06

2 7:58

3 7:51

4 7:56

5 7:56

6 8:09

7 8:11

8 8:10

9 8:21

10 7:42

.25 Slow Cool-Down

It was a little cooler this morning but the dew point was still high. The slightly cooler temperature let me run little faster tody (but not much). I'll probably be sore tomorrw.

After my 9 mile run I ran three additional miles with Callie @ a 9:00 pace.

1 7:58

2 7:37

3 7:43

4 7:47

5 7:42

6 7:41

7 7:51

8 7:44

9 7:15

Avg Pace  -  7:42

Temp: 69-75, Dew Point - 72, Humidity - 65 

W/Callie - 3 @ 9:00

.5 Cool-Down 

9 Miles @ 8:41 then .25 Cool-Down

then

3 Miles @ 8:54 then .25 Cool-Down (w/Callie)

The weather was a little better but tomorrow is supposed to be in the upper 50's. 

Wooo Hooo !!!!  RUN!!!

2 Miles Warm-Up @ 8:45 Pace

1 7:20

2 7:21

3: 7:15

4 7:06

5 6:57

Average Pace - 7:12

2 Miles Cool-Down @ 8:50 Pace 

Temp: 65 Dew Point 52, Humidity 58

What more can I say :-) 

6 Miles @ 8:26

then

3 Miles @ 8:35 w/Callie

No time to really run. Gotta catch a plane. 

3 Miles @ 7:05 Pace

Back to Texas and 9:00 miles again. 

7 Miles @ 8:42

Then

3.5 Miles @ 9:00 w\Callie 

7 Miles @ 7:42 Pace

Then

3.5 Miles @ 9:00 Pace

70 Deg. 59 Dew Point 

Back in Texas. The weather was pretty nice this morning but I decided to go to the gym and give my legs a break from the pounding.

8 Miles total with 4 on the TM @ 7:30 pace.

 Proverbs 24:3-4 

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

I was dreading this run but I felt like I had to do it. I went to bed late and got up at 5:00 am to run. I was tired before I started.

The weather conditions were fair: 70 degrees, 68% humidity, 63 degree dew point, no wind.

I believe this gives a fair indication as to my condition right now. I need to run more "fast" miles to get used to a faster cadence. I should be able to keep my heart rate in the 150's throughout a run like this but the low energy didn't allow me to do it today. I'm not training under the RLRF program right now but if I were about four weeks into the training I should be running about this distance and pace, so I feel like I'm on track for preparing for SA Marathon.

I'm happy with my mileage for the last few weeks and my legs (joints) seem to be holding up pretty well. I would like to keep the mileage between 50-60 miles and add in some cross-training when I'm released to ride my bike.

 Proverbs 21:5 

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Not much to report. Ran 7 miles without a watch. Mostly very slow with a few blasts of speed.

I was still tired from yesterdays run.

I take my son, Kirby, to college tomorrow. This will leave us with an empty nest. I'm starting to feel a little depressed. I am very proud of Kirby, he is an upstanding young man and I know he is ready for a new chapter in his life and will do well wherever God leads him.

John 16:22 

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 

Feeling a little down right now. We took Kirby (my son) off to college yesterday. Now we have no kids in the house. Life is changing!

I had no plan for running today, I just woke up early so I went out and took off. At the second turn I decide to run my old 10 mile route. I haven't run it in quite a while. When I got to the Smallville loop I decided to run that loop adding another 2 miles. If I were thinking about running today I guess I would say this was pretty good run with decent results.

4.25 Miles - Slow. 100 degrees, 48% Humidity, 68 degree Dew Point - HOT!

15 @ 8:25, .25 slow cool-down

New Shoes - Felt great.

Swallowed a bug on the first mile and stepped on a rock and twisted my ankle on mile two but kept running.

10 slow miles @ 9:20 Pace, HR Avg. 133, 70 Degrees, 90% Humidity, DP 66, Foggy.

I need to do some faster runs but right now I just can't make myself do them so I Just Run.

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

6 Miles total on the machines. 3 @ 7:30 Pace w/2% Incline.

Ecclesiastes 10:2

The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.

Even though the temperature was 77 this morning it felt a little more comfortable with the Dew Point at 66 and the Humidity at 64.

I don't think there will be any more running for until Monday as I am going to a roping competition this weekend. This will be the first one in about 4 months so we'll see how it goes. I was able to go and practice last night and everything felt good and my horse worked well.

I felt pretty good on this run although my paces aren't that fast. I did do a fast(er) finish which raised my HR fairly high. One good thing is my left hip and knee are feeling better than I can every remember, they always have felt a little tweeked. I think running so many slow miles may be strengthening them a little. We'll see when I start picking up the pace.

Isaiah 41:10 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.