Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

55F, SSW 12 mph.  8:37 AP.  Taper day 1 of 2 for the half on Saturday.

51F, N 17 mph.  8:24 AP.  Taper day 2 of 2, hopefully that recovered me enough for a good race.  Temperature will be perfect tomorrow with the usual suspect, the wind, at 16-23 mph according to wx.gov.  Sigh.

45F, N 11 mph.  Great race for me.  The wind that I was scared of was not too bad, really light for this time of year.  My stretch goal was to break 1:25 and I actually did it this time.

It was about a 2-hour drive to Wichita Falls, so got up early to make the drive.  Did about a mile to warm up, then lined up at the front since there were only about a hundred participants.

Miles 1-5 - 6:29, 6:28, 6:30, 6:32, 6:20.  The race was mostly flat and had a lot of crosswind which was great.  Mile 1, however, was downhill and downwind, which meant mile 13 would suck.  I took it easy and was in 5th after mile 1.  After that I was feeling good, so I held on to a 6:30-ish pace and moved into the lead after mile 3.  This was actually kind of a nice, scenic course around Lake Wichita.  I was just following the golf cart guy and enjoying my lead.

Miles 6-10 - 6:35, 6:18, 6:20, 6:31, 6:28.  Got to the turnaround just a bit early, and I guessed that the course would be short, but we ended up taking a slightly modified route back.  After the turnaround, I got to get a look at my lead.  Not huge, maybe 20 seconds.  The guy in second said, "You're killing me!" as we passed each other.  Uh huh.  Well, he was a little too close for comfort so I did a little surge for about 10 minutes through miles 7 and 8, running 6:15-6:20 pace to make sure he was dropped.  I think it worked.  Miles 9 and 10 had really slippery gravel (this was the modified return) and I spend half the time running on the grass since the footing sucked.

Miles 11-13 - 6:25, 6:16, 6:38.  Finally around the 10.5 mark, there was a turn back on to asphault right after an aid station.  Right after I hit the street, I heard cheers for the 2nd place guy, who I thought was long gone.  He was close.  Hello motivation.  I turned on the jets and ran my fastest mile in mile 12.  That would be the mile he passed me.  Not gradually either, there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.  I just said "great push," and let him go.  The last mile was as brutal as I thought it would be, uphill and into the strongest wind of the morning, it seemed.  I ended up losing by about 25 seconds but what could I do?  Turns out it was that guy's first HM, so he was probably a lot faster than me but just ran conservatively at the beginning since he'd never raced one.

I measured it at 13.00 miles, the winner measured it at 13.05.  AP was 6:27 by my garmin, and the course was not certified.  If you do the math, I would have run 1:24:31 for 13.11, so we'll call that the new PR.

I'm pretty pumped, this is better than I thought I could do.  I've had pretty much no good workouts since Houston, and 6:30 pace has felt terribly hard until just now.  I think this race is probably better than my 3:01 in Houston.  Definitely think I'm on my way to sub-3...

64F, SW 12 mph.  8:39 AP.  Tired legs, but not sore from the race.  Overall, not too bad, should be able to bounce back quickly but I've scheduled a couple more really easy days just in case

AM - 60F, S 13 mph.  6 @ 8:22 AP.  Legs feel just about ready to go again.

PM - 65F, SSE 18 mph.  4.17 @ 8:27 AP. 

55F, S 21-31 mph.  7:39 AP.  I absent-mindedly ran an extra outbound mile today, so I had to pick up the pace and take a shortcut home to get back in time to take my kindergartner to school.  I got in about a mile of unexpected trail running at a fast pace.

Packing up some stuff today - I will move into the house in Oklahoma tomorrow, and the family will stay in TX to finish out the school year.  Guess I will check back in on FRB once I get internet and everything hooked up at the new place.  Hopefully all my Texas friends will still talk to me when I become an Oklahoman, or Oklahomite, whatever it is.

7:38 AP - last run in Abilene before moving.  Don't remember it except that they paved a road that I always ran on and it was nice.  The day before I move.  Jerks.

My first run in Okie was 1.3 miles.  I underdressed and my pinkies went numb, so I turned around.  40 mph wind, rain, etc.  Finished up the rest in the evening.  Overall 7:58/mile.

7:35/mile

8:18/mile

Explored the area to the east of Elgin, and ran at a moderate to hard aerobic pace, 7:14 avg.  I wanted to do some MP but had a headwind the whole way back and quickly gave up on that idea.

8:28/mile

AM - 10 @ 7:52 AP.  early and dark.  In my old job, if you weren't flying, you just had to show up by 8:00 am, wink, wink, nod.  For my new job you have to show up at 8am sharp, which takes place a lot earlier in the day than 8am, wink, wink, nod.  I live about 15 miles up the turnpike from Fort Sill, in a small town called Elgin.  Hills!  I have hills now.  I think I will like it, running-wise, more than Abilene, although the climate is basically the same.  I have more options out here.  The best part is the super-long east/west county road right outside the neighborhood, perfect for days with a strong south or north wind.

PM - 74F, S 20-29 mph.  I was too lazy to fill in all the old weather for the last week, but I'll start putting it in again - I do find it helpful when I look back.  4 @ 8:24 AP

Going to start really pounding out the miles, I think.  Really the only change is more of these little PM recovery runs, but I should hit 80+ for the next 4 weeks or so.  I've still been pretty lazy as far as workouts.  Basically nothing since my HM, but I'm planning on 10-12 @ GMP on Sunday.

64F, 100%, S 13 mph.  7:58 AP.  Tired legs, and I forgot to bring anything to drink.  Given the amount I sweat, it was a little too warm and muggy for no liquids on a 2-hour run and I dehydrated a bit.  Made for some 8:20s on the way home.

AM - 65F, S 17-25 mph.  6 @ 9:02 AP.

PM - 73F, S 14 mph.  4 @ 8:36 AP.

It's been awhile since I've averaged in the 9's for a run, but I always let the legs dictate the pace on recovery days.  I think they were trying to tell me something this morning.

63F, 100%, S 12 mph.  7:48 AP.

Married 10 years today!

66F, S 15 mph.  8:33 AP.  Back in Abilene for the weekend.  I'll try to try 10 @ MP tomorrow but it's looking like a hot south wind.  we'll see...

67F, S 22-31 mph.  Not exactly ideal conditions to crank out my first MP run of the cycle, but it went pretty well.  I set up the route to have the return portion (the MP miles) about half crosswind and half tailwind.  I figured that was the only way I could actually run MP for 10 miles with it being this warm.  67 degrees is no big deal at the end of the summer, but here in March, my body is not efficient at cooling itself off so it's pretty draining, at least for me.

11 easy, followed by 10 @ GMP (looking for 6:52 or better).

11 @ 7:43 AP.

10 @ 6:42 AP.  (6:46, 6:50, 6:40, 6:42, 6:38, 6:45, 6:43, 6:45, 6:47, 6:26)

Overall for 21 miles, 7:14 AP.

I had a solid tailwind for the last 5 MP miles.  Kinda needed it, or so I thought, but I was still able to crank out a good HMP mile to finish the run, despite about a 30-40' elevation gain on the last mile (albeit with a nice tailwind).  So, a successful run.  I still think I'm hosed if it's this warm for OKC, but my confidence is up right now.

It makes it sweeter that this run comes at the end of a weekly PR for mileage - 83 (I count Mon-Sun).  I gotta think that with a taper and cool weather that 6:40s is going to be a lot easier.

Today ends a 34-day running streak.  Never meant to go that many days without a day off, whoops.  It's a good time for one, with rain all day and a tough 21-miler yesterday.  Got over 8 hours of sleep last night for the first time in awhile - should be able to pick up where I left off tomorrow morning.

AM - 53F, ESE 15 mph. Nice and cool again. 10 @ 7:56 AP

PM - 58F, 4.07 @ 8:30 AP

42F, foggy.  7:32 AP.  Really dark out here in the sticks with fog and no moonlight.  For some reason I tried a new route and ended up on soggy dirt roads for the middle 10 miles of this run.  Got it done though, and felt pretty good overall.  15 miles completed before 7am, can't complain about that.

AM - 43F, 6 @ 8:39 AP.

PM - 58F, 4 @ 8:19 AP.

Time to hit the track tomorrow - I think all my excuses will be gone.  It'll be a great temperature, very little wind, legs recovered from Sunday.  Nothing crazy, maybe 6 x 800.  Can't do too much since it's a 3.5-4 mile run just to get to the track.  See, I knew I could come up with some kind of excuse.

49F, low wind.  Nice running weather, bad running.  Went down to the track to do 6 x 800 w/ 400m active recovery this morning.  McMillan says 2:48-2:55 for distance runners.  Figured I could probably do the 2:55, which should roughly be 5k pace.  I got to the track, did a few easy laps, putting off the inevitable, then got started.  I knew after the first lap came in slow that I was in trouble.  My repeats were 2:55, 2:56, 3:01 and 3:07.  When the last lap came in at 1:36 (half marathon pace?) I pulled the plug.  Yuck.  I jogged a few laps then did 4 x 200m (200m slog recovery) since I felt guilty.  Those averaged about 37.  Slogged slowly home and called it a day.

I think it was just an off day, but I can't discount 1) that I'm not used to 80 miles/week yet and 2) that I never do speedwork.  Probably a combination of everything.  Oh well, not too worried about it.

AM - 50F, 6 @ 8:27 AP.  My butt is sore from the 200s.  Man, I am getting soft.

PM - 74F, 3.32 @ 8:30 AP.  This little run came after about 4 hours of yard work, which included mowing an acre of tall grass and weeds with a standard lawnmower.  I don't really get seasonal allergies but I am wheezing a little; feels like there are lawn clippings in my lungs.  Let's see if dandelions will actually start growing inside me, I'm sure I inhaled plenty of seeds.

54F.  Felt terrible to start out but when the caffeine kicked in around mile 4, I started running normally.  7:25/mile overall.

Pretty pleasant except for the dogs at mile 8 (and therefore also mile 10).  One was snarling pretty viciously and looked ready to bite so I made a move at him and shouted at him as loud as I could and he backed off....for about 10 seconds.  Had to repeat the process a couple more times.  Then of course I had to see them again 15 minutes later since it was near my turnaround point.  My shouting did not wake the owners, I guess, because they were nowhere to be seen.  The agressive one was pretty good sized, and could have definitely done some damage.  He must have re-formulated his plan of attack over the 15-minute break, because now he was coming at me from behind instead of from the side.  So I stopped and charged after him for a few steps and shouted "NO" again.  That deterred him long enough to stop caring about chasing me, and he just did his barking from 10-20 feet away after that.  The joys of running out in the country...

78F, SSE 17 mph.  8:26 AP.  Maybe these little evening 4-milers will help me acclimate sooner this year, so that when the low is 78 pretty soon, it won't feel as bad.

AM - 60F, S 12 mph.  10 @ 7:53 AP.

PM - 75F, SSE 13 mph.  4 @ 8:25 AP.

Legs are just kinda pooped.  I wish I was running Boston this year, mostly because I'm ready to taper now.  Just need to slog through a few more weeks.

AM - 60F.  15 @ 7:25 AP.  The little half of a caffeine pill I take in the morning is really helping.  It's total agony for the first 4 miles or so, then I'm good to go.  Nice smooth run today with the last mile coming in at MP, without much additional effort.

PM - 77F, S 13 mph.  4 @ 8:32 AP.  Moved up a recovery run so I have more free time in Abilene this weekend.

AM - 60F, really dense fog.  6.06 @ 8:48 AP.

PM - 77F, SSE 16-20 mph.  4.06 @ 8:28 AP.

Exciting huh?

63F, SSE 12 mph.  7:32 AP.  Off to Abilene after work!

88F, 8:29 AP.  Couldn't get out until the afternoon....hot!  Definitely back in Texas.  The high tomorrow is 94.

I'm going to try a tempo tomorrow, not sure how fast, but I want 6 miles of it.  Even if I can only manage MP, I WILL do 6.