Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

35F.  My favorite running temperature.

As I said yesterday, they cancelled my 50k and the marathon due to icy conditions, but were confident enough in the HM course to let us all have a go on it.  I was actually kind of impressed they didn't cancel everything, but I would much rather have stayed home than raced a HM when I'm not in that kind of shape.

Mile 10 has a long uphill bridge everyone there talks about, so I decided to run the first 10 miles at Lazy HM Pace (LHMP) and kick it in the last 5k to get a progressive-type workout that wouldn't require a long recovery.

First 10 @ LHMP: 6:23, 6:37, 6:27, 6:24, 6:33, 6:25, 6:17, 6:22, 6:21, 6:27.  Mile 2 was really the only mile you definitely needed to slow down due to ice.  The majority of the second half of the marathon was on those same trails so it was probably good they cancelled it; that wouldn't have been fun.  Anyway, I enjoyed running the race with no expectations...basically not caring what happened.  I made my way up the bridge from 9.0-9.5 at around a 6:40 pace, passing lots of people, then collected myself for a minute and started picking it up.

Last 5k(ish): 6:10, 6:09, 6:12, 1:10 for 0.2 (5:50).  I think I only made 3 or 4 passes in this section as the field was already pretty stretched out, but it was nice to have so much in the tank at the end of a race - a completely foreign concept for me.  The last mile was mostly uphill so I'm calling it a sub-6 in my head.

Skipped the medal, never saw the finisher shirts, chugged some free protein shakes and made it to my car in about 12 minutes.  I'm still really disappointed about missing that 50k - I've wanted to do it for years but Boston has always been in the way.  I'm going to try and find another one in the next few weeks, though it'll be on trails.  The best thing that came out of this debacle was that I don't need 2 weeks to recover and my training won't take a big hit.

Official chip splits are below, the ones above are from Garmin.  Not sure how I lost a place at the end, must have been someone behind me with a late start/chip.  I was electronically passed!

41F.  5 @ 8:58 AP.

AM:  46F, drizzly.  6 @ 8:24 AP.  Legs are kinda sore.  13 @ 6:22 is definitely more than an average workout for me so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.  The thing that's most sore is my left groin.  WTH was I doing out there?

PM:  58F.  4 @ 8:16 AP.

AM:  63F, 93%.  6 @ 8:44 AP.  Legs are not recovering.  Probably because I'm actually a 90-year-old lady.

PM:  skipping it today, hoping to get my legs back

Great news though - Cowtown sent me an email saying if I send them a form stating I ran a "virtual" 50k on my own, they'll send me my finishers medal!  Wow.  You can't make this stuff up...  Good on them for trying though - fact is, it probably made a lot of people happy.

AM:  32F, N wind, 20+ mph.  6 @ 8:01 AP.  I felt a little better today, though my right leg is still kind of dead.  The imbalanced feeling is a little disturbing but it's the kind of thing that will probably work itself out after a few more recovery runs.

PM:  45F.  4 @ 7:49 AP.

There is a local trail 50k called the Prickly Pear on the 14th (in 9 days, yikes) but I dunno...if it takes all this week to get well after the HM, what am I going to do next week, taper again?  I've spent the whole winter tapering and recovering, and any semblance of legitimate training is pretty far in my rear view mirror at this point.  If I had a brain, I'd ditch any race plans and spend the last month or two of decent temperatures getting in some solid miles and training.  But then I'd have to admit I accomplished nothing in races all season.  I think if I fall in love with the either of the weather forecasts for Prickly Pear or Hells Hills, then I'll sign up and give it a shot.  If I don't then I can enjoy some nice long runs on my own before summer slogging season starts.  

AM:  29F.  8 @ 7:42 AP.  Flat, flat, flat.  Who knew this would be the toughest HM recovery in recent memory?  Not signing up for anything unless I can get a little bounce in my step again.

PM: Golf.  Bowling later tonight.  Things white people love.

AM:  51F, rain showers.  6 @ 7:50 AP.

PM:  55F.  4 @ 7:37 AP.  Still raining, so I put on my wet clothes from this morning.  It was only gross for a minute.

AM:  53F.  8 @ 7:49 AP.  Didn't sleep well last night, but I was ok once the 200 mg of caffeine started kicking in.

PM:  62F.  4 @ 7:57 AP.

AM:  49F.  12 @ 7:41 AP.  Plan for these next couple weeks is to do some higher mileage but no workouts as I adjust to it.  I want to really take advantage of the last of the runnable weather.  If we have some magical cold front before Hells Hills, I'll do a short taper and run it for the experience but otherwise just putting miles on legs.

PM:  57F.  4 @ 8:19 AP.  This run powered by 8 lbs of chicken fried rice.

AM:  47F.  6 @ 8:54 AP.

PM:  73F.  4 @ 8:21 AP.  Looks like the cool afternoons just got replaced by warm afternoons...for the next 7 months.  I almost went shirtless but there were lots of families out today in the park (Spring Break here) and I didn't want to scare the children.  You've gotta think of the children.  Best to wait until the dark cover of my early morning runs.

AM:  48F.  7 @ 8:00 AP.

PM:  74F.  4 @ 8:01 AP.  8-minute pace kind of day...I'll take it.

55F.  17 @ 7:12 AP.  Last 3 were 6:37, 6:39, 5:51.  Gotta rev the engine every now and then.

4 untimed miles in the evening with the mutt.  80 for the week - so far, so good.

AM:  55F.  7 @ 7:51 AP

PM:  70F.  4 @ 8:06 AP.  Trail romping, definitely not recovery, but legs are feeling good.

Lucky 13th anniversary today!  We celebrated back on Saturday with a hike in Government Canyon and then dinner at my favorite place, the Boiler House - they make a mean cabrito.

AM:  63F, 97%.  10 @ 7:52 AP.  Moist.

PM:  72F.  4 @ 8:13 AP.

AM:  61F, 92%.  14 @ 7:48 AP.  Running-wise, nothing interesting lately as I'm running fairly easy during this mileage increase, but I did have a protracted engagement with a skunk today.  He was in front of me, running down the center of the paved trail, in the same direction I was going.  Every time I'd get close, he'd stop and stare me down with his tail in the air, and I'd have to stop (you don't mess around with a skunk when you have work in an hour).  This went on for a few minutes as he just refused to get off the trail.  Little jerk... Finally he found a spot he liked and got off, but still stared me down as I tiptoed past.

PM:  71F.  4 @ 8:26 AP.

AM:  65F, 96%, wet fog.  6 @ 8:40 AP.  Leaves are beginning to fall, which means it's spring here.

PM:  72F, 79%.  4 @ 8:15 AP.

AM:  68F, 92%.  7 @ 8:13 AP.  First gnat in the eye this season.  That usually doesn't happen until April...hmmm.

PM:  71F, 83%.  4 @ 7:57 AP.  If the rain stays away (unlikely), then I'll do my first trail long run tomorrow.  Otherwise...roads.

AM:  58F, raining.  22 @ 7:14 AP.  Rained all night and during this run, so the state park trails were out.  I went to Leon Creek to run on a stretch that I knew wouldn't be too flooded, and did 2 x 11-mile out and backs.  The first one was 7:31/mile and the second one was 6:57/mile, with a few @ MP and LHMP.  I really enjoy a good, rainy run.

PM:  74F.  4 @ 8:22 AP  evening miles with the dog in tow.

3 miles around lunch.  Derailed a bit this week.  Hopefully that's the last of that.

4 more in the evening, 8:10 AP

AM:  62F, 93%.  8 @ 8:02 AP.

PM:  80F.  4 @ 8:13 AP.  Lots of cyclist-dodging today.  See if you can complete this SAT question:

Cyclists : warm weather : :

A) runners : bench press machine

B) flies : dog crap

C) hillbillies : dentist's office 

AM:  65-55F, N 20 mph.  10 @ 8:01 AP.  Ran right as the cold front was arriving; it dropped the temp 10 degrees in the 80 minutes I was out there.  Should make for a really nice Saturday morning run, maybe the last good long-run weather for a long time, so I'm going to savor the $%!% out of it and spend a few hours out on the trails in the state park.  Legs have not been in the mood to run the last couple days so I'm hoping a cool morning out on the trails will turn things around.

PM:  66F, windy.  4 @ 8:17 AP.

AM:  44F!  7 @ 8:28 AP.  The temperature gets an exclamation mark instead of a period today.

PM:  75F, 20%!  4 @ 8:12 AP.  Now the humidity gets an exclamation point.  Amazing how good 75 and sunny can feel when your sweat actually cools you off.

AM:  Trail Run Fail this morning.  I went up to Government Canyon park and selected an old pair of A5s, thinking they'd make me nice and nimble.  I was picturing myself like a ninja, zipping around the canyon.  But the trails were a lot more rocky and technical than I was expecting.  Somehow my shoes didn't make it:

Must have been all the weird landings, direction changes, etc, with an upper that was already wearing out.  I guess it's a lesson learned.  R.I.P.  I suffered through a big loop, about 9 miles with my foot half hanging out for a lot of it, before I made it back to my car and decided it wasn't fun anymore.  Got in some good, hard running though.  Guess I should've known not to use a beat-up pair of racing flats on mostly rocks and boulders.

When I got home I changed shoes and took the dog out for his 4 miles.  Ran him a little harder than usual.  He was lagging behind a bit today.

50F.  13 @ 7:24 AP.  Perfect morning.  Might not get another like it for 6-7 months.  Felt pretty good and closed it with a 6:14.  Fortunately yesterday's adventure didn't leave me worn out.

That gives me 70 miles for the week, not bad considering the missed runs earlier this week.  Hopefully back up to 90 again next week.

AM:  65F, 90%.  7 @ 8:16 AP.  I didn't think this would happen but the weather for Hells Hills on Saturday is tempting me.  Going to watch it another day or two to decide.

PM:  71F, 74%.  4 @ 8:17 AP.  Sore throat today.  Getting sick would change my mind if that happens.  Let's see how things feel tomorrow...

AM:  65F, 95%.  10 @ 7:45 AP.  Definitely have cold symptoms...it's the kind of stuff you can run through but may not necessarily want to enter a 4-hour race with.  We'll see...I kinda need to decide soon so I can start either resting up for it or not.

PM:  76F, 61%.  4 @ 8:17 AP.  Just noticed this is my first month over 300 miles since before the Summer of Joe.