Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

AM:  75F, 86%.  6.5 mi.  Forgot Garmin again but it was a plod.  Same tomorrow as the FC weather is back.  A cold front will arrive by this weekend though, so it'll be the perfect opportunity for a Big Workout.  Might even see 59 degrees.

Here's the chart o' the month.  Pretty much shows why I'm light years ahead of last year after the 2013 Summer of Joe (at least I hope).  I have 4 races over a 6-week period so it's time to put up or shut up!

PM:  4 slow TM miles.

AM:  78F, 83%.  7 mi.  Remembered my garmin but forgot to stop it until after I'd been driving for 3 miles in my car.  Even with the bonus car miles, it was only about 7-min pace overall...safe to say it was a slow run.  Of all the days to forget my buttsweat towel, it would have to be a hot one...and that's why I carry Febreeze in my car.

PM:  4.5 TM with 6 x 1 min @ 5k.  Legs have been telling me they're tired the past couple days.  I don't agree that they should be tired right now, but it's hard to win an argument with an appendage so I might cut tomorrow's volume a bit.  Trying to lull them into a false sense of security before I destroy them with a brutal BW on Saturday.

71F, 56%.  6.5 @ 8:19 AP.  Cool, dry air blowing in today.  I wish I could've stayed out and run all morning.  Will probably skip the PM run today and be ready for a good workout tomorrow.

61F, 60%.  18 miles today with a 10k wave tempo.  First I wanted to get some miles on the legs, so I ran through the surrounding neighborhoods - about 8.5 mi. @ 7:35/mile.  Then hit the track, reset the watch and rolled into the tempo.  My goal was to alternate 3:00/3:15 every 800, until I had 6 miles.  My obsessive need to stay a couple seconds ahead of the desired split meant I'd go a hair faster.

Bold splits are 1600s, with (800s) - 6:14 (3:00, 3:14), 6:10 (2:58, 3:12), 6:09 (2:57, 3:12), 6:10 (2:57, 3:13), 6:10 (2:57, 3:13), 6:12 (2:59, 3:13), then a 92 final lap.

I didn't want to do the last lap, and hadn't really planned on it, but it was hard to pass up an easy 10k PR, so I motored through it for a 38:37 10k (6:13/mile).

whoops, it's sideways.  Anyway, good effort and lots of benefits for both the half and the full.  Last HMP workout will be in ~10 days, and I'll be doing my 2 x 5k predictor.  If I can get those around 19-flat, I might have a shot at sub-80.  Unfortunately, I think the predictor works great for Houston, but I've selected a race in the Texas "hill country," so it might be asking too much, given the course.  Still worth a try, you never know...

AM:  75F, 86%.  8 @ 7:56 AP.  Looks like more summer weather this week.  I was just reading through the St George reports.  Looks like pretty much everyone ran a big PR unless their PR was already at St George.  Maybe I'll run the last marathon of my life there, but not until then.

PM:  4 on the TM, with 1.5 mi @ 9 mph.  Why?  Because some guy I didn't know hopped on the TM next to me and started running 8 mph.  "Immature" doesn't even begin to describe me...

AM:  5k tuning workout on the TM.  3 x (4 x 2 min on / 1 min off).  The "on's" for the 3 sets were 10.4, 10.5 and the last set was a combo that averaged to ~10.7.  "Off's" were @ 6.7, and I took 2 min "off" between each set of 4, instead of 1 min.  Worked out to a solid 4.2 miles of work @ ~5:41 pace avg.  Looks like a hot, sticky race this weekend, showing a 72 DP in the forecast right now, but I'll still take a crack at sub-18.

PM:  4.3 TM miles.  Legs were actually pretty tired!  That "tuneup" from this morning feels like it was a full blown workout.  I guess I just assumed I could do whatever I wanted on the TM, penalty-free, but maybe not.  Time for a few days of ploddin'.

AM:  76F, 86%.  7 @ 8:13 AP.  Too cloudy to see the eclipse.

PM:  4 mile TM plod

AM:  77F, 84%.  7 @ 8:22 AP.  Fall arrives Monday evening.  I ran the last mile in ~7:00 and it was kinda hard.  Tough to see myself running 5:45/mile on Saturday if conditions are similar...

PM:  4 slow on the TM with a few strides @ 5k.

76F, 84%.  8:12 AP.  Reckon I'll skip the PM run so I'm ready for yonder hootenanny.  I think I just like to say (and type) "hootenanny."

hootenanny.

69F, 90%, raining.  Hootenanny 5k this morning.  I met up with Preston (I Just Run) and their foreign exchange student, Polina.  We hung out for a bit, then I did a ~20 min warmup run w/ strides.

I started out ok and hit a 5:47 for mile 1, which I think was a bit downhill.  I ran with the other second place guy for a half mile or so and we talked about how we were glad there was someone ahead, since it was dark and hard to see the signs.  Mile 2 was uphill (6:06), and I passed the first place guy here...now I was the one that needed to pay attention to where I was going.  We hit the school right at the mile 2 marker, and I saw my lead had grown.  I was feeling pretty decent to start mile 3, and came to a 'T' in the road but there was no sign.  I guessed and turned right.  Started slowing down once I realized I'd done it again and had gone the wrong way.  I saw the 2 guys behind me had followed; they were a good 50m+ behind.  I randomly cruised through the neighborhood and wound up back at the school again, having already run more than a 5k.  From there, I followed the crowd and saw the turn I missed.  Just kinda cruised in from there.  Mile 3 was 6:18, mile 4 was 6:40 (to add injury to insult, I rolled my ankle in mile 4 and now it's puffy and hurts a bit), and then another 2 minutes to the finish for 4.34 miles.  I don't know what eventually happened to the other 2 guys...

From there, I decided I'd try to run with Preston for his last couple miles of the 10k around the lake, since I'd basically just had a 2-mile cooldown along the 5k course.  So that was fun, at least.  Then a long, hydroplaney drive back to SA.

I still would definitely not have broken 18.  I actually felt good too, but the pace was not there.  Hopefully I can still run on my puffy ankle tomorrow...

62F, 91%.  7:46 AP.  Legs were a little tired but the run felt great, nice and cool outside.  One of those where it's just fun to be outside running.  I was surprised to be able to run at all, as bad as my ankle looked yesterday.  800 mg of "Vitamin I" before I went to bed last night, and again this morning, and I was cured.

AM:  70F, 90%.  6 @ 8:51 AP.  yyyep.

PM:  4 mile TM plod

AM:  52F!  6 @ 8:20 AP.  Cold front day!  Didn't even need my buttsweat towel!  I still need today to recover from this weekend's runs, but tomorrow will still be nice and I'll do my big 2 x 5k.  Kinda want it to go well - the 5k has me a bit rattled (the 2 miles where I wasn't lost).  Mile 2 was a 6:06, which is the pace I want for 13.1...not good.  I looked, and it was a bit more than 40' net uphill, but still...c'mon man!

PM:  4 mile TM plod

AM:  52F.  11 mi total.  Today was my big 2 x 5k @ HMP, 1 lap recovery between the 5k’s.  The goal was to just run 92/lap for the first 5k, then max effort, run my eyeballs out for the last 5k.  It went as planned – 19:08, 18:51.  Splits below are 1600s, plus the last 200.

19:08 – 6:08, 6:08, 6:07, 45

Lazy lap ~2:25

18:51 – 6:01, 6:05, 6:05, 40

The 5k’s together average right at 1:20 pace for a half, just under 6:07/mile.  If I were running Houston, with cold weather, I’d say I have an excellent shot at 1:19:xx.  Need to be a little more careful with this race though – should have some hills and most likely warmer weather than today.  Before Houston Half I ran this workout in 19:40, 19:28 (6:18 AP), then proceeded to run the race at a 6:19 AP.  So the good news is I'm way faster now (11 sec/mile).  The bad news is it'll be tough to convert that into a sub-80.  We shall see!

Just lost a month of entries..?  Hope that doesn't mean I just imagined running the last month.  I kinda remember running but if it's not on the blog, did it ever happen?

PM:  4 mile TM plod

AM:  58F.  6.5 @ 8:43 AP.

PM:  4 mile TM plod

AM:  59F.  8 @ 7:23 AP.  Couple miles in the 6:40s on the way back, no reason, just enjoying the cool weather.

PM:  25 min on the TM between meetings...cut it close but I made it...still sweating but on time

71F, 88%.  7:50 AP.  They harvested a big cotton field on my route between today and last weekend.  Whatever machinery they use must take the whole shrub, because all that was left were little sticks poking up from the ground.  Just thought everyone would want to know that.

AM:  68F, 87%.  8 @ 7:38 AP.  After a day off and 7+ hrs of sleep I felt well-rested this morning, fairly rare feeling, and the result was a sub-8:30 for mile 1, and my legs DIDN'T want to buckle going up 10-ft hills. What a luxury!

PM:  4 TM miles, including 4 x 1/4 mile on/off @ 10.0/7.0, out of boredom and Rested Legs Syndrome (RLS).

AM:  62F, 87%.  8 @ 7:17 AP.  Did a little bit @ HMP on the way back -- a couple half miles, and a "blind" mile (not checking pace) that I ran at a much harder effort than HM, thereby completely defeating the purpose of a blind mile, and it was still only a 6:02.  I think I've concluded that a PR of any size this weekend would be a win.

PM:  4 mile TM plod

6 @ 8:29 in the AM.  Impossible to fit in the PM.

65F, 91%.  6 @ 7:47 AP.  Large contingent of shirtless runners this morning.  Felt at home on the trail.  No PM run planned, not going to try to make up yesterday's missed run.

60F, 5 @ 7:35 AP.  Legs feel good, training was great, I'm in good shape.  Ready to take what the course/conditions will give and run a good race.  Goal is a PR.

yeah, I don't know.

AM:  63F, 95%.  6 @ 8:26 AP.  I'm pretending the race Saturday never happened.  My performance kind of defies explanation...it wasn't 120 degrees outside, I wasn't recovering from the Ebola virus, etc.  My fastest single mile the entire race was still slower than my average PR pace, and there were some downhill miles.  Yet I'm in better shape now?

These aren't the droids you're looking for.  Move along.

PM:  didn't have time

AM:  65F, 91%.  7 @ 8:14 AP.

PM:  4 TM miles

AM:  66F, 80%.  10 @ 7:45 AP, with 6 x (1 min on/off).  5:40s-5:50s for the on's, felt rough - still not quite physically recovered from the big Terrible Unbelieveable Race Day.

PM:  not enough time

AM:  65F, 83%.  7 @ 8:22 AP.

PM: nope

63F, 96%.  6 @ 8:09 AP.  Still tired...one of those weeks.