High-Octane

Reviewing my milage and realized I missed an entry.....

This was a pretty wet, cold and windy race but overall I hit my goal of a Boston Qualifying time. Going into this race I was targeting a 3:25 and really though I could do that and even better but I believe I made a rookie mistake that cost me lots of time in the race and created a lot of undue pain!

Because the weather was forcasted to be so nasty with lots of rain, I decided at the last minute to run in my racing shoes that are very light weight and do not absorb any water. Well, I didn't think about the fact that the shoes are much differenet than my training Altras I've been running in since I had my foot operation. I believe the difference in shoe profile created stress on my calves that they were not used to causing the quick and severe calf pain.

I have never had any calf tightness in a race before, it is usually my quads that give me problems. In this race both calves started to tighten up around mile 7 and continued to get tighter throughout the race. Around mile 15, where I planned to make my move and increase the pace I started to get some major cramping, I realized I had better just maintain and see if I could finish. From this point on in the race it was a concentrated effort to just keep moving and try to avoid a complete lock up.

So here's the lesson learned AGAIN .... DO NOT CHANGE YOUR GEAR BEFORE A RACE...!!!!

Regarding the race, I was impressed with the course and race setup and activities. The course seemed very flay with only a few small hills (over bridges and under underpasses). If the weather was better I would have really enjoyed this race as it ran through downtown, by the Alamo and around a very nice park area. It also had a section where the course doubled back on itself, which I like, as you can see and talk to the runners coming your was, seeing the leaders and many of the other participants along that portion of the course. 

Because it was cold and rainy, I sat in my car as long as I could before going to the starting line of the race. It was about a mile walk to the start and I actually got to the corrals later than I should have and could not get into the proper corral so I started way...way back with the 5:00 marathoners. Because of this I did start out a little slower than I planned but it probably didn't hurt based on my overall race.

Below are my splits:

Went to the gym and did 5 on the elliptical today. Still a little sore but it felt good to move and stretch the muscles. Also dit a round of light weights. It's been a while since I've done that so I will be sore tomorrow.

I'm starting another intense training schedule now, concentrating on my roping competition. Now that i don't have a full time job I've decided to make a run at some big money in team roping. I hit a nice few wins 2-3 years ago but not really concerned on it since. Next year at this time im planning to be in Las Vegas again competing for a quarter-million dollars....LET THE TRAINING BEGIN...!!!

5 miles on the elliptical....that's all.

First road run since the marathon. I felt fine starting out but my calves got a little sore after about 4 miles...not too bad though.

7 Mile short loop, the weather was perfect at 45 degrees, 71% Humidity, 13 mph wind, 43 Degree Dewpoint.

Another run around the small loop. Left calf is just slightly sore now. Just running to maintain for a while. 

Competed at a small World Series Team Roping today in Sinton Texas. Made it through the second round with two partners but went out on the third with both. No win today but feeling good about my consistency. Next big competition is at the end of January.

23 degrees and windy here today so I decided to go to the gym. Ran 5 miles on the elliptical and a round of upper body weights.

Small loop run. 7:45 pace.

5 miles on the elliptical and some upper body weights. Thats all!

Great Christmas morning...got to run 10 miles with Callie!

3 miles with Callie. 9, 7:30, 9.

5 Mile Progress Run with Callie. 9:15 to 8:30.

Ran the small loop today. It was very windy so half my miles seemed very hard and the other half seemed very easy. :-O

Last run with Callie for a while. Callie is training for the Revel Mt Charleston Marathon in Las Vegas April 29th.

Today we ran 6.5 miles with two miles at Callie's GMP 8:00.

Had fun running with her a few times.

These last 6.5 miles put me at 1,000 miles for the year. Half of those miles were the actual training miles for the R&R Marathon. Hopefully next year I will get to 1K much easier and earlier in the year!