Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

35F, drizzling.  10 @ 7:39 AP.  Legs not ready for a workout...or much of anything lately.

6 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon

39F, 6 @ 8:03 AP.  Workout tomorrow and Thursday - hoping to get a glimpse into fitness level...

43F, 16 @ 6:55 AP.  A little too windy for the track so I headed to the creek trail to do a 4 x 1.5 @ LT, 1/4 mile recoveries.  I stacked the deck in my favor by running upstream for the 8 warmup miles (7:30 AP) and then downstream for the workout.  Going downstream it drops 15-20' per mile -- almost imperceptible while running but believe me it makes a difference.  I needed the confidence boost.

Splits: 1.5 legs in bold, (1/4 mile rec. time) -- 9:03, (1:59), 9:08, (2:04), 9:02, (2:06), 9:00

Works out to 6:02 AP for the LT miles - a little skewed thanks to the downhill, and distance was measured with garmin of course, not on an accurate track, but I'll take it.  This is the kind of workout I would've turned in before the December mess.  Actually, one of the most encouraging parts of this run was the 1.25 mile cooldown @ 6:44 AP...and it recovered me.  Last 8 miles in 50:46.

I have to be one of the most bipolar runners around.  In December I barely ran, injured myself, got sick, worked ~60 hrs/week, boozed way way too much, ate horribly and gained 5 pounds.  Now on January 4th I've just done maybe one of my top 10 all-time workouts @ 5 lbs fatter.

AM: 30F, 6 @ 8:35 AP.  I think that actually might have been the coldest run of the year so far.  Really mild winter for us, even by our warm standards.

PM:  4 TM miles, slow

AM:  38F.  6 @ 8:19 AP.

PM:  4 TM miles w/ 6 x 1 min @ 5k

44F.  6 @ 8:21 AP.  That's probably it for today.  Last big workout tomorrow.

AM:  29F.  14 @ 6:57 AP.  I did 6 easy, then 8 tempo @ 6:24 AP.  Splits were 6:39, 6:29, 6:27, 6:25, 6:21, 6:21, 6:23, 6:06.  Confidence in 2:55 increasing.

40F.  5 @ 8:23 AP.  Today: peaceful, easy.  Tomorrow: Running With Crazies.

Saturday I did the last 20 or so miles of the Bandera 100k with April, plus a warmup mile and a "bonus mile."  It was crazy, and a lot of fun.  Heard several seasoned ultra runners remark about how this was one of the toughest days/courses they've run.  It was the ridiculous mud combined with a very technical, very slippery course.  April had already run 42 miles by the time I started running with her, but she kept an amazingly steady effort.  Tough as nails - she's an absolute beast.  Other than that I don't want to give away anything, I'm sure she'll put up a good race report!

4 slow with the dog after dinner.

37F.  6 @ 8:20 AP.  Legs feel pretty good, maybe a tad heavy.  Hip flexors are a little sore going upstairs, but feeling good while running.  Saturday was the perfect time-on-feet kind of day that I was lacking in this cycle.  I'll be in pretty solid shape for Houston, just wish the forcast would start showing me some lower temps and DP.

37F.  5 @ 8:00 AP.  Included 2 strides

38F.  8 @ 7:04 AP.  Included 3 @ MP.  I didn't write them down but they were faster than I need to go (I think the 3rd one was 6:20) and felt really good.  Got a spring in my step and the weather is looking a bit cooler too -- low 50s for most of it, with a moderate wind.

Decided to go with a 1-week taper this time instead of the usual 10-14 days.  When your build up is only 2.5 weeks, a long taper is kinda dumb.  I have a good feeling about this race.

50F.  5 @ 7:36 AP with a few strides.  Ran right after pizza for dinner... that always hurts a little.

41F.  3 @ 7:31 AP from my parents' in Houston.  My youngest was sent home with a fever on Friday, so my only worry at this point is catching her virus (drove 3 hrs in the car with her yesterday).  I feel fine so far.  Weather will be good -- upper 40s and low 50s.  

My plan is to hit the half in 1:28:00, a little conservative.  I figure if I'm really in 2:55 shape, I'll be able to fight my way down there with a negative split.  If I'm not in 2:55 shape, I think I can still pull off a PR with a slight fade in the second half.

Bib # is 1099 - appropriate for tax season!

Oh and maybe this is a good sign - every year I park in the garage next to the expo to get my packet.  It is free for 0-30 minutes, $4 for 30-60 min, and goes up from there.  I've never made it back to the exit gate in sub-30, but today I walked to the expo, got my bib, got my shirt, bought some gu and made a bathroom stop in 28 minutes, entrance gate to exit gate.  Free parking!

49-58F.  Another bonkathon unfortunately.  Although I was in good spirits after a couple good workouts, I knew this was a possibility based on the lack of any buildup or decent block of training.  It's now been almost 2 years since I've had a solid buildup before a marathon - no surprise, that was also my last PR.  Even so, this one still kind of stings.  I wasn't really close to 2:55 shape after all.

3 sentence race report:  In the first half I'd originally planned to let the 6:40 guy get ahead of me but I kept up with him instead, to my detriment, hitting the half in 1:27:30.  Then stupidly led the 2:55 pack (6-7 guys) into the wind the next 4 miles and the wheels came off from there.  Missing sub-3 at the end was the cherry on top.

I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's time to find a new challenge in running.  I do think I owe myself one more shot at the marathon with a real training cycle.  But I was pretty inspired by the ultra runners at Bandera last weekend.  Cowtown 50k could be a good intro, and a way to dip my toe in the water a bit.  One of the things I fell in love with about running was reaching new distances, taking chunks of time off my PRs, etc.  Not saying those days are over with marathoning, but they are certainly few and far between.  I don't know, maybe I'm not being patient enough?

Tentative short-term plan is to just put in miles.  And more miles.  Have fun in the 50k with no expectations.  Fewer track workouts and more long runs for fun.  Next running season will probably have a marathon and maybe a 50-miler, we'll see.  Excited to shift gears a little.

52F.  4 @ 8:58 AP.  Going to be a quick marathon recovery thanks to the underperformance.  I'll probably take tomorrow off during the deluge we'll get and pick up daily runs on Friday.  I finally started catching my kids' virus yesterday but the timing is good.  Thankfully the running gods spared me from getting it before the race!

Still sick but slogged through 4 on the TM this morning.  Woke up dehydrated and cruddy.  I'd planned on 6 miles, but, no.  

34F.  7 @ 8:03 AP.  Woke up feeling crappy again but the tylenol kicked in around mile 3 and I enjoyed it from there.  Really nice morning, clear skies, calm winds, thin layer of frost...perfect.

40F.  10 @ 7:54 AP.

PM:  1 with my oldest...her first continuous mile running!  She was pretty excited.

42F.  6 @ 8:15 AP.  Keeping it easy this week but I'll pick up the volume.

49F.  8 @ 7:30 AP.  I was feeling pretty good so I did a little half-mile pickup to MP and my legs instantly felt heavy.  Guess those particular muscles are still tired.  More yogging in my near future...

1 with Elle in the neighborhood.  Thinking we'll stick with 1 mile for a couple weeks, then go for 1.25!

AM:  44F.  12 @ 7:37 AP.  More perfect winter weather.

AM:  51F, foggy.  6 @ 8:23 AP.  New shoes!  I get a pair of Type A's once a year but hadn't bought new trainer shoes in >2 years so I was due for some new ones.  Decided on the FT 6 since my 5's lasted through ~1200 miles.  Took awhile for them to go on sale but I finally found them for $47.99 so I bought a couple pair.  All the other colors were $60+ but red was on sale for some reason.

PM:  71F.  4 @ 8:26 AP.  Had time for a nice shirtless afternoon run on the trail under the blazing January sun.

PM2:  1 mile with Elle.

AM:  50F.  7 @ 8:24 AP.  Had a weird stomach thing yesterday and didn't eat or drink much.  So a weak/dehydrated run this morning but feeling better now.  Better to get all these bugs out of the way now I guess.

PM:  63F.  4 @ 7:53, mostly on trail.

Forced day off, just me and the kids from 5am-9pm with Danielle out of town.  Looking forward to maybe picking up the pace a little tomorrow though.