| Location: San Antonio,TX, Member Since: Dec 13, 2009 Gender: Male Goal Type: Other Running Accomplishments: 5K PR - 18:01 - Nov '14
10K PR - 38:37 (workout) - Oct '14
Half-marathon - 1:22:43 - Jan '14
Marathon - 2:58:43 in Boston! - Apr '13
50 mile - 7:49:30 (2nd) - Nov '15 Short-Term Running Goals: - Balance
- Run more trails, volunteer, more social running, run with a team
- Race a lot more. learn.
Race results / possible schedule:
Apr 2 - Hells Hills 25k trail - 4th
Apr 9 - Toughest 'n Texas 20-mile Trail - 2nd
May 7 - Paleface - Trail Marathon - 3rd
May 29 - American Hero road 25k - 2nd
Jun 25 - Pedernales Falls 30k nighttime Trail - 5th (sick)
Jul 16 - Muleshoe Bend 30k nighttime Trail - 3rd
Jul 23-24 - Fossil Valley 9-hour nighttime Trail - 2nd
Aug 6 - Colorado Bend 30k nighttime Trail - 4th
Aug 27 - Reveille Peak 30k nighttime Trail (entered)
Sep 10 - Franklin Mountains 50k (entered - not all-out effort...I hope)
Sep 17 - Lighthouse Hill 20-mile trail (entered)
Sep 24 - J&J 50 mile trail Long-Term Running Goals: Compete in a few more ultras without going off course (again)
Sub-18 in a 5k
One. Good. Marathon. Personal: I started running at age 30, in late 2009. I have 2 daughters (10 and 8 yrs old).
   
Favorite Blogs: |
|
Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
|
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3061.86 | 312.14 | 3374.00 |
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 553.00 | Fastwich Miles: 32.00 | Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 269.00 | Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 97.00 | Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 412.00 | Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 92.00 | 1160s Miles: 55.80 | Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 780.50 | Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 475.00 | Saucony A5 Miles: 198.00 | Saucony A5 Red Miles: 291.20 | NB MT101 Trail Miles: 44.00 | Saucony A6 - Red/blue Miles: 30.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 35F, drizzling. 10 @ 7:39 AP. Legs not ready for a workout...or much of anything lately.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| 6 in the morning, 4 in the afternoon
| |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 39F, 6 @ 8:03 AP. Workout tomorrow and Thursday - hoping to get a glimpse into fitness level...
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 6.00 | 16.00 |
| 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.
|
| Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 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
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 38F. 6 @ 8:19 AP.
PM: 4 TM miles w/ 6 x 1 min @ 5k
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 44F. 6 @ 8:21 AP. That's probably it for today. Last big workout tomorrow.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 8.00 | 14.00 |
| 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.
|
| Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 40F. 5 @ 8:23 AP. Today: peaceful, easy. Tomorrow: Running With Crazies.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 22.00 | 0.00 | 22.00 |
| 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!
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 4 slow with the dog after dinner.
| |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 37F. 5 @ 8:00 AP. Included 2 strides
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 |
| 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.
|
| Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 8.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 50F. 5 @ 7:36 AP with a few strides. Ran right after pizza for dinner... that always hurts a little.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 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!
| |
| |
| |
| | Race: |
Houston Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:00:10, Place overall: 123, Place in age division: 24 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.80 | 26.20 | 27.00 |
| 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.
|
| Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 27.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 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!
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Still sick but slogged through 4 on the TM this morning. Woke up dehydrated and cruddy. I'd planned on 6 miles, but, no.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 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.
|
| Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 40F. 10 @ 7:54 AP.
PM: 1 with my oldest...her first continuous mile running! She was pretty excited.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 42F. 6 @ 8:15 AP. Keeping it easy this week but I'll pick up the volume.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.50 | 0.50 | 9.00 |
| 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!
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 8.00 | 1160s Miles: 1.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 44F. 12 @ 7:37 AP. More perfect winter weather.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 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.
|
| 1160s Miles: 1.00 | Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| 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.
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 2.00 | 16.00 |
| AM: 60F, dense fog. 16 @ 7:33 AP. I wanted to get in some miles @ 50k pace, whatever that is, but legs still have a good layer of marathon stink on them and felt pretty heavy. Last 2 were sub-7, the first such miles since Houston, and I kept an honest aerobic effort coming home.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 38F. 6 @ 8:12 AP. Legs felt good, better than before my MLR yesterday, which is weird.
PM: 49F. 5 @ 7:58 AP. Lots of romping around on trails again. Daylight is magical, I can see where I'm going; why didn't anyone tell me? Can't do these trails in the early-morning darkness...
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 41F. 7 @ 8:18 AP. I'm starting to enjoy my easy days more for some reason. I used to hate them due to the boredom...
PM: 4 mile TM plod, at least I got to watch some ESPN. They only replayed the game-winning interception 1,369 times in the 34 minutes I was on the tread.
Came to the realization I need to go long tomorrow as it'll be my last chance with our upcoming vacation. It'll hurt a little, but I'll get it done.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 6.00 | 22.00 |
| AM: 43F. 22 @ 7:13 AP. Up and at 'em at Ridiculous O'clock this morning to get in a Wednesday LR. I did it as a long out and back, starting at the bottom of the Leon Creek trailhead at the shady bus station on Ingram, and made it about 3/4 mile from the Drury at the top before hitting my 11-mile turnaround. Maybe one day I'll do the whole thing.
I ran 10 easy, then picked it up slightly to a steady pace and did the last 12 in 1:22:38 (6:53 AP). It was tiring - I was probably a mile away from an ugly bonk, but it's done. 17 days post-marathon is probably a little too soon for a run like this, but now I won't be worried about trying to somehow fit it in on vacation.
|
| Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 22.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 43F. 6 slow miles; probably good that I forgot my watch at work.
PM: 44F. 4 @ 8:38 AP. Sweat levels were low enough that I decided a shower would not be necessary before returning to work and going to a staff meeting in close quarters. What a timesaver!
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 42F. 8 @ 7:57 AP. In the neighborhood. Fly out to FL this afternoon. Our travel agent sent us a detailed, packed agenda for when we hit Disney on Sunday. I can already see a couple days where running will probably get squeezed out, but I'll try my best!
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 8.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| 36F. 9 @ 7:47 AP. Never knew it was so cold in FL! Ran from my aunt's house near Gainesville. It was a nice run -- their motto here must be No Street Goes Un-sidewalked. In San Antonio they're anti-sidewalk.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
| 42F. 16 @ 7:23 AP. Another cool run from Aunt Laura's house. Made it to San Felasco Park for some trail running, though most of the run was transiting to the park. Maybe 6 miles of trails total.
Driving to Orlando today. Good visit in Gainesville, I always love visiting here. Got to see my 93-year-old grandmother every day. She's quite a lady - raised 7 children, and lived all over the world as my grandpa was a career Air Force officer for 30 years (fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam), so she had to handle all the kids by herself a lot. Must have been some interesting times... 14 grandkids and 7 great-grandkids now!
We're all sleeping like princesses tonight!
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No run, had to be at Chef Mickeys by 7am:
Here they are 15 hours later (not kidding) on the bus back to the resort:
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 55F. 10 brisk miles around the resort. Pedestrians are the resort's implicit prisoners -- the streets on the outside have no shoulders or sidewalks and the traffic moves pretty fast...no thanks. They make up for it with a "new balance running trail" which is about a 1-mile loop. So I did that a couple time then rebelled as much as I could without going on Suicide Road. Good aerobic run.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 2.00 | 8.00 |
| 47F. 8 @ 7:01 AP. Resort miles, included a 2 x 1 (6:03, 5:55) to get the legs going. I don't think I'd gone faster than MP in over a month so this was needed. Actually, more than 2 miles was needed but I'm on vacation here...out of my element. Epcot wasn't as fun for the kids yesterday so we were only there for 11 hours. I remember when I thought an 8-hour day at sea world was long.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 8.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 8.00 | 15.00 |
| 43F. 15 @ 7:03 AP. Last 8 @ 6:30/mile.
Hollywood Studios yesterday - is there any movie that Disney doesn't own the rights to these days? My daughter now has a stuffed Mickey with a Star Wars flight suit on.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 47F. 8 @ 8:01 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 8.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 40F. 8 @ 7:38 AP. Last few Disney miles, now we're waiting in the airport. Great vacation, I must say. By forcing the kids to miss school we really skipped out on the big crowds (and big prices) that DW usually has. Yea truancy!
I did ok trying to run while in FL - 74 miles in the 8 mornings we had here, including 1 run that I could count as a workout. The time on feet from visiting the parks all week also has to count for something, right? Probably not.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 8.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 3.00 | 18.00 |
| 58F, 86%. 18 @ 7:14 AP. Last 3 were 6:41, 6:35, 6:21. Back in San Antonio. Felt surprisingly good, after the first few I-just-had-a-long-vacation miles were complete. Went to bed before 9pm last night and got 8+ hours of sleep, which was awesome. I actually slept pretty good the whole vacation in my princess bed, but there's no substitute for your own bed.
|
| Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 63F, 92%. 6 @ 8:23 AP.
PM: 47F. 4 miles out on the trail, after the cold front arrived. GPS didn't lock on until the run was almost over, but I was running plenty easy.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 37F. 7 @ 8:22 AP. Stung for a couple minutes with some sleet or freezing rain. You know these extreme San Antonio winters...
PM: 49F. 4 @ 7:55 AP. Trails outside.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 36F. 6 @ 7:33 AP. No run yesterday, I had kid duties. I'm thinking one more long aerobic tempo tomorrow or Saturday...
PM: 66F. 4 @ 7:52 AP.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 58F. 7 @ 7:52 AP. Workout tomorrow but nothing too crazy - just want 1 more good aerobic effort.
PM: 68F. 4 @ 7:37 AP. Worked up a sweat - I'm definitely not ready for Buttsweat Towel Season to start.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 3.00 | 14.00 |
| 62F, 84%. 14 @ 7:23 AP. It just took me forever to get going today, never felt comfortable until about 10 miles in, then started dropping the pace finally. Probably just 3 quality miles at the end. I'm someone that takes a lot of time to get warmed up but that's a little ridiculous! No matter, should be feeling good by next weekend. Looking nice and cool for the 50k so far.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 56F. 6 @ 8:30 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 35F, light drizzle. 6 @ 8:26 AP. Legs have felt strangely cruddy the last few days, not sure why. Hoping this easy week will fix it, although last week was pretty dang easy too.
On the plus side, I made it to 1000 miles on my last pair of Kinvara 1's. Not sure how much longer they have though, the upper is really starting to pull away on one of them.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 32F. 6 @ 7:51 AP. Legs were a little bouncier today. 3 days of 6-mile recovery runs usually does the trick. 60% of the time, it works every time.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 3.00 | 8.00 |
| 37F. 8 @ 7:09 AP. Included a 3-mile block on the way back @ 6:39 AP. Felt nice and springy this morning.
Here's my pacing plan on the 50k - for the first 10 miles, let the 7-minute guy gap me by a minute, and hit the 10-mile mark in 71 min. Then hold it there at 7:00 pace for the next 10, hitting the 20-mile mark in 2:21. From there, go by feel but be conservative until crossing the marathon mat, hopefully in 3:04-3:05. Then idontknowwhat for the last 5. I think the biggest challenge will be running at such a low effort initially, in a race setting. Having never run this far before will hopefully give me a healthy fear of going too fast.
|
| Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 8.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 58F. 5 @ 7:42 AP. Included some lazy strides. Really nice afternoon to escape from the office for a bit.
Weather should be to my liking in Fort Worth on Sunday. Upper 30s to start, mid to upper 40s at the end, probably some rain. I have run a couple races in cold, wet conditions and I always seem to do well relative to the field (as opposed to hot, humid races where I get beat by 80-year-old grandmas). My best workouts have always come in the 30-40 degree range (I keep track of this stuff) so I'm excited to get to at least start out in the 30s. My average marathon has been squarely in the 50s.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Cowtown cancelled the expo today and all the Saturday races due to the EXTREME winter weather. I guess the whole city is pretty much shut down now. Fortunately my race is Sunday, although it will now start an hour later. Thanks for the extra 2 degrees, you wusses! Not looking forward to getting my bib tomorrow with the EXTREME crowds that will be mobbing the expo for the 5 hours it's open, but at least we're racing.
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 mile shakeout before leaving San Antonio.
I got an email from Cowtown right after I made the 4-hour drive to Fort Worth saying they were working with officials to determine whether conditions would even allow for the race tomorrow. Ugh. I made fun of them yesterday but admittedly the roads are a little treacherous up here, especially if you consider that there are a bunch of Texans driving on them. Skating-rink-like in a lot of spots. I really hope this race happens; I can't exactly go find another big road 50k next week if they cancel it.
**update - 50k and marathon were cancelled but we can all run the half since that part of the course is ok. I guess I will run it since I'm already here. I'm in terrible HM shape and really don't feel like running that hard but maybe a good progression to HMP. Sucks!
Here's my hotel, seems to be covered with this cold, white substance.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 3.00 |
| |
| |
| | Race: |
Cowtown Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:23:55, Place overall: 49, Place in age division: 5 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.80 | 13.20 | 14.00 |
| 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!
|
| Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 41F. 5 @ 8:58 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 8.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 48F. 7 @ 8:00 AP.
PM: 74F. 4 @ 8:01 AP. 8-minute pace kind of day...I'll take it.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 3.00 | 17.00 |
| 55F. 17 @ 7:12 AP. Last 3 were 6:37, 6:39, 5:51. Gotta rev the engine every now and then.
|
| Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 17.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 4 untimed miles in the evening with the mutt. 80 for the week - so far, so good.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 63F, 97%. 10 @ 7:52 AP. Moist.
PM: 72F. 4 @ 8:13 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 18.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 5.00 | 22.00 |
| 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.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| PM: 74F. 4 @ 8:22 AP evening miles with the dog in tow.
| |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 3 miles around lunch. Derailed a bit this week. Hopefully that's the last of that.
4 more in the evening, 8:10 AP
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 3.00 | Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| 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
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 14.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
| 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.
|
| Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 9.00 | Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 1.00 | 13.00 |
| 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.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 13.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 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...
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| 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.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 1.00 | 18.00 |
| AM: 68F, 95%. 14 @ 7:30 AP. I guess by doing a MLR today I'm deciding not to race this weekend. I was never that excited about it anyway... I'll do a long training run instead that is $100 cheaper.
PM: 80F, 51%. 4 @ 8:08 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 68F, 92%. 6 @ 8:50 AP. yyyyyyep.
PM: 76F, 74%. 4 @ 8:27 AP.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 69F, 87%. 7 @ 8:35 AP. Legs still seem pretty sluggish but I swallowed a couple recovery gnats so I should be good for a long run tomorrow.
PM: 75F, 81%. 4 @ 8:19 AP. More gnats massacred.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 25.00 | 1.20 | 26.20 |
| 59F, NE 20 mph. 26.2 @ 7:26 AP. Full marathon in 3:14:46. Even split, hovered around 7:30 pace, mostly. Didn't feel too good or too bad.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 26.20 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.80 | 0.00 | 3.80 |
| PM: 71F. 3.8 @ 8:28 AP. Recovered decently from yesterday's run. I tried something different yesterday - drank my chocolate milk with BCAA powder at the halfway point, versus at the end. I have a pretty tough running stomach so it worked out ok. Anyway I think it helped...we'll see how the week goes. Recovery has always been one of my biggest challenges with running. I'm older but not THAT old, ya know?
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 67F, 89%. 7 @ 8:40 AP. Goal this week: do a workout.
PM: 76F, 67%. 4 @ 8:21 AP.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 68F, 93%. 10 @ 8:09 AP. Legs felt super cruddy. I know it's only Tuesday but I think my goal for the week will probably go unfulfilled. Unless 400s at marathon pace is a workout. New goal: do a workout NEXT week (and no marathons this weekend).
PM: 84F, 50%. 4 @ 8:18 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.90 | 3.10 | 19.00 |
| AM: 69F, 92%. 14 @ 7:36 AP. 10 miles easy, followed by a 5k tempo in 20:53, then a short cooldown. I did the tempo without checking my pace...probably smart because I was running pretty hard yet barely hitting MP. Mmmmmkaaaayy.
PM: 75F, 76%. 5 miles exploring some of the back trails around Leon Creek. They have a pretty extensive network of singletrack but you have to know where you're going or you can get more than you bargained for (like I did). Some are good for recovery plodding, and some are good for switchbacks and slashing / stabbing wounds. Next up, 2 recovery days...
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 19.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 69F, 90%. 6 @ 9:39 AP. <--- not a typo
PM: 84F, 56%. 4 @ 5:40 AP. <--- typo
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 65F, 70%, raining. 6 @ 8:06 AP. Felt a lot better today - same 6-mile route as yesterday, but 10 minutes faster.
PM: 67F, 67%. 4 @ 8:01 AP. Ran around lunch and it was still cool outside from the storms. I did a few strides too, the first in weeks. Need to do more. Don't really want my legs getting locked into 8 minute pace, like they have the last 400 miles or so.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 1.00 | 18.00 |
| AM: 62F, 94%. 18 @ 7:31 AP. A much more reasonable LR this weekend. Picked it up to 6:30 for the last mile, which felt easier than the previous few miles. I think my legs get tired of running a constant pace after awhile.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 68F, 99%. 6 @ 8:28 AP.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 64F, 94%. 7 @ 8:29 AP.
PM: 78F, 53%. 4 @ 7:40 AP. included 5 x 1 minute @ 3k-5k pace, 90 sec jogs. My legs pretty much mocked me the whole time..."you wanna do WHAT? LOL" And they actually said L-O-L instead of just laughing, which annoyed me even more.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 64F, 86%. 10 @ 7:53 AP. Workout tomorrow!
PM: 69F. 4 @ 8:10 AP. Ran at lunch, still nice and cool outside.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.50 | 3.50 | 18.00 |
| AM: 60F, 73%. 14 @ 7:23 AP. Took advantage of a rare spring morning - I ran 1 hour easy, then 7 x (3 min on / 1 min off). I just did this on the trail with Garmin instead of at the track. The "on's" averaged 5:58 pace (6:12, 5:56, 5:58, 5:57, 5:48, 5:57, 5:56). So yeah, that first one felt awful, but it was a good rustbuster and at least I know I haven't completely fallen out of touch with workout paces. Cooldown was ~2 miles.
PM: 77F, 52%. 4 @ 8:08 AP.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 68F, 90%. 6 @ 9:06 AP. ahhhhh. Dropped a couple 8:40s at the end though, no big deal.
PM: 73F, 79%. 4 @ 8:18 AP. I did 2, count em, 2 strides. Hopefully I didn't overdo it.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 67F, 98%, fog. 7 @ 8:38 AP. It was, like, raining inside the fog, man.
PM: 71F, 90%. 4 @ 8:35 AP. Long run: maybe tomorrow, maybe Sunday.
I got my pre-race invite from the folks who live in Hopkinton, right on Main St, again this year. I let them know I wouldn't make it but I'd probably be back next year...that is the best pre-race set up in the history of pre-race setups. I'm not sure what the elites get at Boston but it cannot possibly be better than Jacki and Jim's place.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 22.00 | 0.00 | 22.00 |
| AM: 68F, 97%. 22 @ 7:37 AP. Day off yesterday after my wife and I stayed out way way way too late on Friday night. It's ok, it had been a few weeks since my last full day off.
Trying to keep up the long runs this year, even with no races coming up anytime soon. This one was a pretty humid run, which made it harder than it needs to be, but I figure it'll only get worse so might as well slog through it now while it's semi-runnable outside.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 22.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 58F. 7 @ 8:47 AP. looks like I'll completely waste this cold front doing recovery runs. At least they'll be pleasant.
Looking forward to my athlete alerts today!
PM: 69F. 5 @ 8:16 AP. Ran at lunch - great weather here today. Congrats to Boston finishers!
PM2: 2 mile walk with my youngest daughter.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 12.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 1.00 | 13.00 |
| AM: 52F! 8 @ 8:14 AP. When I moved to San Antonio, IJR told me we only get one day of spring each year - CHECK!
PM: 76F. 5 @ 7:42 AP. I did 6 x 1 minute strides, 90 sec jogs on the way back. Probably closer to 3k pace. I think I'll try to to these longer strides once a week and then a set of shorter ones...maybe 30 sec @ mile pace?....toward the end of every week. Cover all the bases.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 13.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.80 | 6.20 | 18.00 |
| AM: 67F, 93%. 14 @ 7:16 AP. 7-mile warmup, then on the way back I did a 10k tempo in 41:38 (6:42/mile). Effort-based - lots of humidity and miles on my legs lately but the pace was still decent. Cooled down the last .8 to my car. Buttsweat towel soaked all the way through to my seat today, so it must've been a good effort.
PM: 72F. 4 mile Thunderstorm Plod.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 70F, 97%, foggy. 7 @ 8:51 AP. Fog Plod.
PM: 78F, 81%. 4 @ 8:19 AP.
Seems like fast running blog has been a little dead lately.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 71F, 97%, raining. 7 @ 8:15 AP.
PM: 76F, 87%. 4 @ 8:10 AP.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 11.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| PM: 82F. 4 untimed miles with the dog around sunset. Was gonna do a long run this morning but I woke up to hail, lots of lightning and flooding. Tomorrow it is.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 1.00 | 18.00 |
| AM: 70F, 97%. 18 @ 7:33 AP. last one around MP. It'll be a lot cooler next week, looking forward to a couple harder workouts.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 63F, 88%. 7 @ 8:42 AP. I think I'm starting to prefer the Saturday LR instead of Sunday...resting on Sunday gets my running week off to a better start (unlike today). Still targeting Wednesday for a nice long LT workout.
PM: 83F. 5 @ 8:13 AP. cold air arrives tomorrow! Kinda sad how excited I get over changes in weather patterns. And by "kinda," I mean "extremely."
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 1.00 | 13.00 |
| AM: 57F. 8 @ 8:21 AP. So nice outside! I just did some dirt/grass plodding but tomorrow it's on!
PM: 60F. 5 @ 7:51 AP. on the way back I did 8 x 30 sec @ mile pace+, 90 sec jogs. Felt a little awkward, like a cartoon character whose legs take off before the rest of his body.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 13.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 6.00 | 18.00 |
| AM: 49F. 14 @ 7:07 AP. Had today circled for a big workout thanks to the front that came through. 7 warmup miles, then 4 x 1.5 @ LT, with quarter mile recoveries. I averaged 9:13 (6:09 pace) for the 1.5's and the recoveries were 2:05-2:10. Splits were 9:18, 9:12, 9:12, 9:10. I didn't leave any gas in the tank today, ran my eyeballs out. It'll be 6 months before we see 40's again so why hold back? Anyway, I've run similar workouts faster before but given the direction my training has taken (lots of 8-minute miles) this was very solid. And it was good to get in a lung-burning, snot-producing, grunting, drooling, wheezing, coughing, hallucination-inducing effort again...last one was probably Cowtown.
PM: 71F. 4 @ 8:26 AP.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 48F. 6 @ 9:10 AP. soooothing
PM: 77F. 4 @ 8:11 AP.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 53F. 6 @ 8:47 AP. Should still be decent tomorrow, so I'll squeeze in a LR. Next week we're back to crap weather.
PM: 79F. 5 @ 7:51 AP. 6 x 1 min @ 3-5k pace on the way back.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 11.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 5.00 | 22.00 |
| AM: 56F -> 62F. 22 @ 7:11 AP. Fast Finish long run today. Ran 17 easy then the last 5 @ 6:26 AP (6:25, 6:23, 6:34, 6:26, 6:20). Felt really good today. After 8 weeks of high mileage I finally have a little spring in my step again. I thought it would only take 3 or 4 weeks, but whatever.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 22.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| PM: 79F. 4 @ 8:31 AP. 4 mutt miles right after sunset.
| |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| AM: 68F, 90%. 7 @ 8:06 AP. I think my t-shirts can go on vacation until October now.
I put together my running history over the last ~2 years, have a look:
It shows my mileage each month, converted to a weekly number, which makes more sense to me than a monthly amount. Definitely clears up why my last couple marathons were not great. At times over the past 2 years, I have been in better shape than the guy who ran 2:58 at Boston in 2013...it just has not come together for me at the right time.
Plan is to run high mileage for the next 6-8 months, continuing what I did last month, run a couple ultras, then a solid January to April marathon training block, and run 2:50-2:55 in a spring 2016 marathon. If everything goes right and I still run a 3-hour marathon, I will retire to ultras or curling.
PM: no way on free time today, but I ran the last mile kinda fast this morning...was hoping that would count for something
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 1.00 | 13.00 |
| AM: 69F, 91%. 8 @ 7:42 AP.
PM: 74F, 74%. 5 @ 7:45 AP. Short strides (the 8 x 30s variety).
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 13.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 72F, 91%. 10 @ 7:57 AP. Swampy morning. I thought maybe if I felt like it, I'd do a few tempo miles. I did not feel like it. This is a just-get-in-the-miles week.
PM: 81F, 63%. 4 @ 8:17 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
| AM: 72F, 93%. 10 @ 7:48 AP.
PM: 80F, 73%. 5 @ 8:18 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 15.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 74F, 92%. 6 @ 8:37 AP.
PM: 76F, 85%. 5 @ 7:30 AP. Long strides (6 x 1 min).
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 74F, 95%. 10 @ 8:18 AP. Stayed up too late drinking beer and watching the stupid Rockets. This run felt bad.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 76F, 91%. 6 @ 7:58 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 68F, 89%. 10 @ 7:46 AP. ridiculous work week... A couple of 4am runs is all I've had time for and probably nothing tomorrow. I need to become a professional runner...just need to drop an hour or so from my marathon PR - should be doable.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 71F, 98%. 10 @ 7:37 AP. did my workout for the week - 1 x 2 min @ vo2 max. sad.
PM: 78F, 78%. I had a double cheeseburger combo for lunch and hit the trail 10 minutes later. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Mercifully my Garmin ran out of battery but it was my 4-mile route.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 14.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 4.00 | 16.00 |
| AM: Lots of lightning so I did 11 on the treadmills at work this morning. It was probably a good thing because I ended up getting in a workout instead of another 10 miles easy. I did 8 x (3 min on / 1 min off). The on's averaged out to around 10 mph (started slower, finished faster) and the off's were 6.7. So at least I accomplished something this week with running...next week I should be able to hop back on the horse and get in more runs.
AM2: 69F, 91%, raining. 5 @ 8:13 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 0.00 | 17.00 |
| AM: Not sure on the mileage but it was at least 13... One of my running nightmares came true - my car key must've fallen out of my shorts somehow and I was locked out of my car. I frantically looked up and down the trail for it and finally ended up jogging to Walmart (shirtless) and asked a mechanic if I could use his phone, and my wife brought the other key. So lots of extra miles running/jogging/walking back and forth.
PM: 88F, 63% (HI 96F). 4 @ 8:15 AP. Going to start tracking heat index for these PM runs now that it's getting hotter. I think I'll be ok throughout the summer as long as it's just 4-5 slow miles, but we'll see. I think trying to suck it up and run in the heat will have some benefits, even if it just makes the morning runs comfortable by comparison.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 17.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 18.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
| AM: 75F, 94%. 14 @ 7:47 AP. this is my make-up week for the crummy last week and a half. I had 8.5 good weeks in a row then 1.5 not so good...still altogether solid I guess. Hopefully life will allow an uninterrupted high-mileage block from here to our summer vacation in early July, which will probably be the next little recovery period.
PM: 84F, 67% (HI 90F). 4 @ 8:23 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 73F, 91%. 6 @ 8:40 AP. Decent amount of sleep last night, almost 8 hours. I thought if I went to sleep during last night's game that the Rockets would pull off the win, as they usually do when I miss the game, but no luck. Now I don't know what to do next time...stay up or go to sleep?
PM: 83F, 67% (HI 88F). 4 @ 8:17 AP
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 1.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 67F, 91%. 7 @ 8:34 AP. Treated to some cool post-thunderstorm weather. Ain't no sunshine in SA lately, but I'm ok with that.
PM: 74F, 68%. 5 @ 7:52 AP. short strides.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 5.00 | 16.00 |
| AM: 65F, 96%. 12 @ 7:12 AP. Every once in awhile you can cherry pick a decent morning for a workout this time of year. I did 5 ez, 5 mile tempo in 32:00 (6:24/mile), and a 2-mile cool down. Good effort given the high-mileage week and humidity.
NOAA just released their latest summer forecast...looks like Texas may be getting cooler-than-average weather this summer (everyone except Flatlander in Houston - the one white spot) but we'll see...
PM: 78F, 75%. 4 @ 8:05 AP.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| AM: 75F, 95%. 5 @ 8:31 AP. ow, my calf hurts. What the heck...
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 73F, 87%. 10 @ 7:38 AP. Found the thigh-deep water in mile 1 today, that was fun.
2 days off for my calf - it started out fine but I felt it more and more as the run went on...possibly with the natural increase in pace. I first aggravated it after a workout so the message is probably to keep it at a shuffle this week.
PM: 84F, 69% (HI 90F). 4 @ 8:06 AP. I think I'll just try to repeat today's runs every day this week, but probably even slower. Stupid calf.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 76F, 95%. 10 @ 7:56 AP. I tried Jake's heat wrap idea and kept the pace pretty snug around 8 minutes...that combo helped the calf out a lot this morning. I'll start mixing in workouts when I'm pretty sure the calf won't be a factor anymore. I'm in a long base phase right now anyway...miles first, workouts second.
PM: 86F, 59% (HI 91F). 4 @ 7:59 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 75F, 92%. 10 @ 8:08 AP. Tired, hot, creek levels still high so a back-and-forth route... Just punching the clock today. Almost stepped on a baby possum though. Most critters move out of my way but this little guy just stared innocently at me as I made a last-minute move to avoid him...where was mama possum on that one? Probably digging in someone's garbage can.
PM: 85F, 69% (HI 92F). 4 @ 8:22 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| AM: 65F, 90%. 5 @ 8:25 AP. Legs felt all bogged down yesterday so I decided on a cutback day today. I was a little pissed when I saw it was 65 degrees though (~10 degrees cooler than forecasted). Some more thunderstorms had come through last night to cool everything off. I think I would've structured my week a little differently had I known this opportunity would be available, but maybe I'll luck out tomorrow morning and it'll be decent (long run day).
PM: 82F, 59% (HI 84F). 4 @ 8:25 AP. Still tired. But on the plus side, I'm getting a sweet watch tan from all these lunch runs.
You can actually see the notches...ridiculous!
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 20.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
| AM: 73F, 93%. 20 @ 7:36 AP. After 3 Weekend Fails in a row, I finally got in a decent long run. Felt pretty good too, with a DP in the low 70s. I'm going to try to do these every weekend, but even if I only pull it off once every 2 or 3 weeks, I'll still be ahead of years past. There are so many benefits to the LR, I'm not sure why I always thought it was ok to stop doing them for 6 months out of every year just because it was a little warm.
PM: Daughter's last bball game. They only won 1 game during the regular season but every team makes the playoffs, and they won both playoff games somehow so they got the big trophy.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 20.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 64F, 94%. 8 @ 7:51 AP. Drier air this week -- lower dew points, higher highs and lower lows, which is good for running...probably hit the track tomorrow.
Managed to barely tally 300 miles this month, with 7 missed days of running. A pretty good sign, I think. If I can keep my bad months around 300 and my good months 350+ then that'll give me a much better summer base than I've ever put down. So here's to a good June, hopefully.
PM: 84F, 50%. 4 @ 7:55 AP. 2 x 1 min @ 5k pace. With the dew point still down in the 60s it felt downright pleasant out there.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 3.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 67F, 98%. 10 miles. I went to the track today...I think for the first time in 2015? Workout was 6 x 800, (400m rec). Goal going in was only 5k pace (2:52) since I wasn't sure where I'd be -- other than strides, I haven't run 5k pace since November. It went well though, probably owing to the ~1000 miles I've run in the past 3 months. I averaged 2:46 (2:51, 2:46, 2:47, 2:44, 2:48, 2:40). So probably closer to 3k pace which seems more appropriate for that workout. I definitely won't be hitting the track as much this summer, but it's good to know the mileage is keeping me in decent track/race shape.
AM2: 83F, 54% (HI 85F). 4 @ 7:57 AP. Nothing like a nice recovery run in racing flats.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 18.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
| AM: 71F, 95%. 14 @ 7:50 AP. had a large gnat in my eye for ten of those miles.
PM: 84F, 54% (HI 86F). 4 @ 8:17 AP.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 67F, 97%. 6 @ 8:41 AP.
PM: 85F, 52% (HI 87F). 4 @ 8:24 AP.
If San Antonio is any kind of beacon for the latest fitness trends (hahaha), then rollerblading is making a comeback.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 1.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 72F, 94%. 7 @ 8:03 AP. Long strides.
PM: 85F, 51% (HI 87F). 4 @ 8:26 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 11.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 19.00 | 1.00 | 20.00 |
| AM: 68F/98% -> 74F/90%. 20 @ 7:33 AP. 2 weekends in a row! Although last weekend, I debated whether to keep going because I felt so good. Today, by contrast, I was happy just to be done. Still had a decent dew point today - it was on the rise but only topped out at 71.
Going to see the Spazmatics tonight!
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 20.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 72F, 92%. 8 @ 8:01 AP.
PM: 86F, 51% (HI 88F). 6 @ 8:15 AP. Extended the normal lunch run a bit to see if the creek levels receded enough to let me start at the other trailhead in the morning. Looked fine. It's the little things...
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 1.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 70F, 94%. 10 @ 7:40 AP. Short stride routine in the last 3 miles. I don't know how long the DP is going to keep hanging out in the upper 60s, but I'm loving it. Delay the pain!
PM: 87F, 49% (HI 89F). 4 @ 8:23 AP.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 8.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 71F, 84%. 14 @ 7:13 AP. 6-mile warmup, followed by 8 @ AT. Averaged 6:40/mile (6:41, 6:39, 6:44, 6:40, 6:33, 6:41, 6:42, 6:36). Always tough to feel out the correct effort this time of year, but I think I was right on this morning, given that the last couple miles felt pretty rough.
Right now, I'm targeting 1 workout a week from a rotation of 4 different paces (5k, 10k, LT, AT) to try stay in good general shape.
PM: no time
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 75F, 90%. 6 @ 8:35 AP.
PM: 89F, 50% (HI 93F). 5 @ 8:16 AP.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 11.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 1.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 76F, 89%. 9 @ 8:08 AP. I kinda miss when fast running blog had people on it.
PM: 5 more on the TM, with my long stride routine.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 9.00 | Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
| AM: 77F, 93%. 16 @ 8:00 AP. There's that summer weather - dew point nestled snugly in the mid-70s...
I did pull off an impressive comeback against the 8-minute guy though. Punk jumped out to a huge lead but I clipped him by a couple seconds on the home stretch.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 74F, 95%. 7 @ 8:30 AP.
PM: 85F, 61% (HI 90F). 5 @ 8:29 AP. Got out right after lunch before it got too hot. Maximum misery seems to be occurring around 5pm so I'm getting ahead of that by a solid 4-5 hours.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 75F, 89%. 10 @ 8:03 AP. Legs are feeling tired and mushy lately but I'm still doing a workout tomorrow - I think the ol' girls have been in this state before, where they feel cruddy but will still respond. Usually comes after lots of consistent mileage. Might do it on the TM though...will probably decide after I see the dew point in the morning.
PM: 81F, 75%, raining. 4 @ 8:20 AP. All my workout places will probably be underwater tomorrow morning, so it's looking like a TM workout. I'm thinking 1200s at 10k pace, +/- depending on leg mushiness.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 4.00 | 15.00 |
| AM: 10 on the TM: 4 warmup, then 0.75 mile repeats, jogging a quarter mile inbetween. I decided to start at 9.8 mph for the first rep, and increase it by 0.1 each rep until I couldn't do anymore. I envisioned making it through 7 or 8, but made it through 5 (10.2). Then did some strides in the cool down...win some, lose some...
PM: 88F, 57% (HI 94F). 5 @ 7:58 AP. Took my business outside - we barely got any rain from Bill, so my creek trail was fine.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 73F, 93%. 7 @ 8:22 AP.
PM: 83F, 73% (HI 89F). 5 @ 8:41 AP. Really suffered the last couple miles. I probably would've stopped and walked if I wasn't worried about making it back for a meeting. Diet is worse than usual and the hours of sleep have not been there, which is why I think my legs have been dead this week. I'll give it a few more days and then consider some relative rest.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 74F, 96%, raining. 6 @ 8:29 AP. Usually a good downpour livens me up but I was still feeling weak and tired. So the plan is to take the afternoon off (from running), try not to have too many beers tonight, take Saturday off and then attempt a LR on Sunday. I'll do it as a double out and back so I can pull the plug if I'm still mush.
I was hoping to keep the volume up until our vacation starts on the 5th, but there comes a time when running on tired legs is no longer beneficial and I think I'm just about there.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| AM: 76F, 96%. 4 @ 8:33 AP. Decided to rest the legs this weekend...probably a down week to soak up the recent mileage.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 76F, 93%. 6 @ 8:00 AP. Been under the weather...legs feel good now but the rest of the body needs to catch up.
PM: 85F, 62% (HI 90F). 4 @ 8:03 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.50 | 0.50 | 12.00 |
| AM: 75F, 93%. 7 @ 7:52 AP. In the last mile I picked it up for 0.5 in 2:47...definitely not quite ready for all that, so back to slogging around until maybe Sunday. I am kinda thinking about a July 4th race though (4-miler).
PM: 89F, 52% (H/I 94F). 5 @ 8:16 AP.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 76F, 94%. 9 @ 7:44 AP.
PM: 89F, 55% (H/I 95F). 5 @ 8:15 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 75F, 94%. 6 @ 7:55 AP. Some large, loose neighborhood dogs started following me after a tenth of a mile or so, until we came upon a lady walking her tiny dog, at which point they left me to harass them...so I went to help. Then the lady was pretty angry at "my" loose dogs and it was very little consolation when I said they weren't mine. So, like the pied piper, I led them to the unpopulated side of the neighborhood where they're still building streets, and they got tired over there.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 20.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
| 71F, 97% -> 76F, 94%. 20 @ 7:39 AP. Weird morning, usually the DP isn't so volatile but it climbed from 70 to 75 in just ~3 hrs. Really felt sloggy/tired by the end of the run around 9am. I guess I'll wait and see what the damage is and then adjust the week as necessary - I meant to run at a much easier effort today but the first half of the run was much cooler. My first race in 4 months is coming up on Saturday so I'd like a decent showing.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 20.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 75F, 92%. 6 @ 8:41 AP.
PM: 89F, 53% (H/I 94F). 4 @ 8:30 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 77F, 88%. 10 @ 8:06 AP.
PM: 86F, 59% (H/I 91F). 4 @ 8:15 AP. mini sharpening workout tomorrow and then dial it down the rest of the week.
Since Jake and Andrea are always posting majestic scenery from their runs/hikes, I thought I'd counterpunch with some of the beautiful scenery from MY backyard. So this whole week, I'll be posting pictures of where I run in NW San Antonio.
This serene pond greets me in mile 1. Sometimes I can just picture Wordsworth in a place like this, writing about the beauty of nature.
I mean, yeah, you don't want your skin to contact the water, but you enjoy nature's beauty with your eyes...not by touching it.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.50 | 1.50 | 12.00 |
| AM: 72F, 92%. 8 @ 7:50 AP. Relatively cool morning. Included 5 x 2 minutes around 6-minute pace, or a little under.
The trail I always run on is the Leon Creek Greenway. Leon Creek cuts through the west side of town. Actually, I'd compare it to how the Colorado river cuts through the Grand Canyon - probably equal in its majesty, although I've never been to the Grand Canyon to do a direct comparison. That being said, we obviously have scenic overlooks - here's proof:
And now, drumroll....here is the vista:
One day, when I'm ready, I WILL bag that peak, which towers nearly 50 feet above the surrounding terrain.
PM: 85F, 67% (H/I 92F). 4 @ 8:38 AP.
We got some rain yesterday, so the creek had some water in it today. Here's a view from a bridge I run across a lot. I just had to stop and take in the beauty.
Did you even know such vivid colors could exist in nature? Probably not.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 69F, 90%. 6 @ 8:45 AP. A sub-70 degree morning in July is crazy. If I hadn't signed up for a 4th of July race, I would've taken advantage with a long tempo or something, but instead I just plodded around for rest. Still enjoyed it though. Probably going to skip the PM run today.
One of the problems with the greenway is the overpopulated deer, which aren't afraid of humans. I came running up on this one and she was obviously in no hurry to get out of the way.
I petitioned city council to import some Bengal tigers to help eradicate the deer, but they won't even bring the issue up for a vote.
Here's another shot of the beautiful scenery. The telephone poles just seem to continue infinitely off into the distance.
Stunning. Sometimes I wonder just how far they really go.
Maybe forever, SlowJoe.
Maybe forever.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| AM: 75F, 95%. 5 @ 8:05 AP. Took the mutt along - he hasn't gone on a run in awhile and was dragging behind at the end. That's probably it for today - race tomorrow! Taking the kids to sea world / aquatica later today.
Here's what the creek looks like most of the time (dry):
So use your imagination - close your eyes and picture the brown rainwater flowing gently under the bridge. Listen to the sound of the trash and litter clinking gently against the concrete pillars as it flows along...heaven.
Here's another incredible sidewalk pic for Allie:
2 words: RAVE RUN.
On the other side of that construction, I managed to capture a picture of what your run-of-the-mill, average chainsaw looks like in Texas:
You actually can't pass 5th grade here until you learn how to use it.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Race: |
Freedom 4-miler (4 Miles) 00:24:42, Place overall: 11, Place in age division: 3 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 4.00 | 10.00 |
| AM1: 77F, 90% (DP 74F). First race in quite awhile, but I basically met my expectations. I'm pretty awful when the dew point creeps into the mid-70s, so I only expected between 24 and 25 minutes, which is right where I was.
The race started at a big soccer complex, so I got a nice warmup on the grass. This is one of San Antonio's most well-attended races next to the Rock & Roll, so it's actually pretty competetive (the guy that won beat me by ~5 minutes...in a 4-miler - ouch!).
Race started and I just hovered around 6-minute pace at first to see how doable it was. We hit some kind of uphill ramp to nowhere and then turned around and came back down - first mile was 6:05. Mile 2 was the XC mile, which kind of surprised me. It had 2 sections that went through some tall grass (nothing like the nice short soccer field grass) and you kind of had to high-step a little. I'd say between the 2 sections, there was only half a mile total in the high grass - that mile ended up being a 6:09. Mile 3 I found myself alone - guys in front were too far up and no one pushing me from behind. Fortunately it was all flat concrete and I ran it in 6:03. Last mile, I was hot, hurting and unmotivated, and it was a 6:11. 14 bonus seconds and 0.05 miles later I was done, mission accomplished.
The main reason I entered the race, other than for the fun of racing, was to get in a good, hard effort that I wouldn't have otherwise pushed myself to undertake in the heat/humidity. So, to that end, I was successful. 3rd in AG as a bonus (we hobby joggers love to measure ourselves against similarly decrepit runners).
AM2: 1 mile run with Elle.
|
| Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 20.00 | 0.00 | 20.00 |
| 75F, 94%. 20 @ 7:44 AP. Knocked out another solid long run today. As usual, took it out slow and let the legs settle into whatever pace they wanted. It stayed overcast throughout the run and it felt a lot cooler than yesterday's race.
Headed down to the coast today - the second annual family vacation to Padre Island! Looking forward to some R&R, I think we all need it.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 20.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| 80F, 97% (DP 79F). 8 @ 8:38 AP. Nice run right at sunrise, down south padre island drive. SPID is not the most picturesque run, but it was nice and quiet in the morning. Afterward, I ran a mile with Elle.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 81F, 92% (DP 78F). 8 @ 8:28 AP. I decided to head the other way today and ran to Mustang Island. Looked pretty much the same as Padre island except there was 20x the traffic, and some narrower shoulders. So tomorrow I'll head south again.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 8.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 79F, 99%. 10 @ 8:21 AP. More peaceful vacation-paced miles down the barrier island. I woke up a little earlier and decided I could afford a couple extra miles this morning. It is really nice not waking up to an alarm - I could definitely get used to this...
Also, I had a cheeseburger and a fried dough ball for breakfast.
And the seagulls enjoyed some bread ends...
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 80F, 90%. 8 @ 8:34 AP. I did these miles on the beach, felt pretty good! That was my last run here, we're headed back to SA this morning.
On a sad note, my last pair of Kinvara 1's is on its way to the Corpus Christi dump. They are riddled with holes, waterlogged, sandlogged, sweatlogged and probably other kinds of logged I don't even know about. Thanks for the 1220 miles and RIP.
Alright, time to start cleaning up the beach condo a little so they don't think we're complete savages.
************
On our way out we skipped out on all the seafood places and went to the largest Whataburger in the world ("Whataburger by the Bay"). There is too much redneck in both of our bloodlines to pass that up. We drove by 7 or 8 other Whataburgers to get to this one.
Most of you probably don't even know what Whataburger is, which means your life is incomplete.
|
| Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 8.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 3.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 76F, 88%. 7 @ 7:50 AP. included a very begrudging 6 x 1 min strides @ 3k-5k pace. So out of the ~10 hours of running I'll have this week, there will be 6 total minutes of actual effort...I'll take it! Vacation summary:
# of vacation days: 4
# of total miles: 35
# of sub-8:00 miles: 0
PM: Short on time so my 5-miler outside turned into a quick 4-miler on the TMs at work. 1 mile each @ 7, 8, 9 and then 10+ mph. Tripled my "fast miles" for the week!
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 21.00 | 0.00 | 21.00 |
| 74F, 93% -> 78F, 85%. 21 @ 7:47 AP. so sloggy. Legs weren't in the running mood either, despite the easy week...took me 8-9 miles to catch the 8-minute guy this morning. Maybe it was the whopping effort I put in yesterday. It always surprises me how my legs adamantly refuse to adapt and recover from anything.
But, the good news is another LR is in the books. That's 3 weekends in a row now, so maybe cut few miles off next weekend's LR.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 21.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 74F, 94%. 6 @ 8:59 AP. Ran around the construction in the neighborhood - there are a lot of new roads that have been cleared, but not paved, and the packed dirt makes a great running surface.
Oh, I forgot to post this yesterday, but it's important. As I was running shirtless down Potranco road, a lady slowed down to yell "WOOOOOO!" at me. This makes 2 times now. in my lifetime. I looked, and there is unfortunately no tracker for this on the blog, which is weird. I mean it's a much more important metric than sleep, shoe miles, weight, etc.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 76F, 89%. 8 @ 8:22 AP. Legs are still shot, so it's looking like a Wednesday workout, not Tuesday as I'd hoped. DP is forecasted to be in the 70-72 range on Wed, so I MIGHT even be able to get away with some mediocre mile reps without wanting to quit after the first 2.
PM: 91F, 4 @ 8:37 AP. oooowwwww come back to me, legs.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.50 | 0.50 | 12.00 |
| AM: 73F, 89%. 8 @ 8:11 AP. Some really spread out strides over the last 2-3 miles. It is really taking my legs a long time to feel ok in the morning. Like 45 minutes + of jogging before I don't feel terrible. The first 15-20 minutes has always felt rough in the morning but it's reached remarkable levels now...like barely-making-it-up-hills levels. So I'm not sure what's up with that, but the strides actually felt semi decent. So I'll give the mile reps a try tomorrow; hopefully it'll be cooler like it was this morning.
PM: 89F (H/I 93F). 4 @ 8:36 AP. Post-Carl's Jr run...when will I learn? I'm pretty wiped out and don't even know if I should bother going to the track tomorrow, but I probably will anyway.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 3.00 | 11.00 |
| AM: 75F, 89%. 6 miles. Workout fail at the track today - went out for a 6 x 1 and I got through 1 rep. I ran a strained 6:21 and pretty much walked off the track right then, almost unconsciously, it was pretty abrupt. I've had plenty of workout fails but that one was pretty spectacular.
AM2: When I got to work it was still 6:30, so instead of doing actual work, I hopped on the TM for 5 more, and added 10 x (1 minute on/off). Now THERE'S a workout I can get used to.
I'm not ready to give up on the mileage experiment yet, but I'm close. Over the past 18 weeks, I've averaged 77+ miles/week and it seems like it's not doing anything. I just get a little slower every week. I've been assuming that your body will eventually just adapt to anything but maybe not. I could call this a long base phase, hit a couple months of speed work @ 60-65/week, then back to high mileage before my 50-miler and probably be fine. But first I want to try cutting the long runs back to 1 every 3rd week. I'll also move most of my PM runs to the TM, keeping 1 or 2 outside for heat conditioning. Hopefully that combo will give me enough life to get me through the summer, but if not, I'm ok scaling back until October.
PM: meh, that's enough for today
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| AM: 74F, 88%. 5 @ 8:43 AP. Thought it over, read some articles last night and concluded I need to change it up a little, and cycle my running more, even if my next big race is a 50 miler. Job 1 is to dig out of my current hole with some short, easy days. Then I have a few plans, most of which I hatched on this morning's run. I'll post it once I've plotted it out a bit more.
PM: 4 slow ones on the TM. I think this will help - it's a lot less effort than doing it in the heat. I will still try to do 1-2 a week outside in the afternoon to keep up my heat conditioning.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| AM: 76F, 88%. 5 @ 8:49 AP.
I sketched out the next 4 months or so. One upcoming problem was that I am taking the kids to Florida in early August by myself and probably looking at 4 consecutive days with no running at all. My solution to that is a supercompensation cycle (Jul 27-Aug 16; 3 weeks). Should be ok as long as I go in with rested legs. Next up is a 6-week 5k training cycle (Aug 17-Sep 27). Then a 6-week block of ultra training, followed by a 2-week taper. This is about what it'll look like, extremely subject to change:
Decoder ring: italics is a double. Underline means to add in strides somewhere. I've never planned strides before but I'm so bad about doing them that I thought maybe I should. The other thing is that I probably run ~5-10% fewer miles than I plan for (on average) when I draw it out like this, due to work/life demands, so that cushion is included. My wife and I are probably going on a cruise to Jamaica in October (pending childcare) so that week is kind of a question mark - 10 miles/day is pretty optimistic but with my race so close, maybe I'll be inspired...
PM: 4 poky TM miles.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 1.00 | 7.00 |
| 77F, 87%. 7 @ 7:48 AP. Last mile was a net downhill 5:40. Legs aren't completely broken, but the first 6 miles still felt pretty bad. Going to cut back next week, and make sure I'm fully dug out of this hole before starting supercompensation. I'd put the odds @ 50/50 that I make it through those 10 days without aborting, but I've been wanting to try it for awhile to see if it'll give me some kind of boost, and it seems like a good block for ultra training.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 76F, 89%. 6 @ 8:37 AP. Took the dog along to run the neighborhood construction route. After 4 miles or so I noticed him panting differently and he seemed to have foamy drool so I dropped him off at home @ 5 miles. While I finished up my run he went to the closest carpet (had to go upstairs) and threw up on it. When I put him in the backyard I noticed his legs were pretty unsteady and he wasn't looking too good. So I hosed him off outside and gave him a big bucket of water. He's one of those dogs that would run himself to death if he thought it would please his human master...so I probably need to drop him off a little sooner next time.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 75F, 91%. 6 @ 7:58 AP. with Lackluster Strides.
PM: 4 TM miles, with a few more 5k strides. Workout tomorrow. I guess.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.50 | 3.50 | 9.00 |
| Decided to do my workout on the TMs at the gym at work - my fragile psyche can't take another workout fail on the track. So I did 10 x (2 min on / 1 min off). Increased the speed every rep - the on's started at 10.0 and ended at 11.0 (skipped 10.1 when I realized my kindergarten counting skills were rusty). The off's were all @ 6.7. Works out to a solid 20 minutes total at ~5k avg. The most important thing is that I actually did what I set out to do, which makes this an atypical workout.
Alright, laying low the rest of the week to be ready for supercompensation on Monday...
| |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 77F, 82%. 6 @ 8:27 AP. Last mile or two I had to pick it up a little to > recovery pace, as a couple people were trying to race me (in my mind). We all know I don't take too kindly to that (trail rage).
PM: 4 mile TM plod.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 76F, 87%. 6 @ 8:42 AP. yyyyyyyyyep.
PM: 95F. 4 @ 8:23 AP. Sticker burr season is here, adding a degree of difficulty to my soft-surface running attempts.
Beautiful, really. If you listen closely, you can hear Mother Nature whispering, "Stay the &@$! away from me."
Fortunately I can take my shoes off without untying them. My plan is to pay one of my kids to take them off. What is a fair price per burr?
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 0.50 | 10.00 |
| AM: 77F, 87%. 6 @ 8:29 AP. Legs still cruddy and tired....why, I don't know. I'm running a total of 12 miles the entire weekend, so that should fix me. Sometimes I think I have one foot in the grave already.
PM: 4 TM miles with fast strides...although all the stride speeds feel the same on the stupid 'mill. I was just too pooped to do them this morning outside.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 76F, 90%. 7 @ 7:55 AP. I never had much of a chance for a run yesterday but it was probably good - it's been about a month since my last day off. Next week is my supercompensation experiment: 10 days on, then 10 days "off."
So in the next 10 days I am targeting ~17 miles/day, then an equal and opposite down period which will start with 5 days completely off. Ideally, I'd only take 1 or 2 days off and get in some light jogging after that but I'm not expecting that opportunity since it'll just be me and the kids in a hotel.
Let's see what happens - I'd give myself about a 50/50 shot at making it through what I've planned.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 21.00 | 0.00 | 21.00 |
| AM: 77F, 89%. 16 @ 7:47 AP. Felt pretty good this morning after the low mileage last week. It'll be fun to see how slow my pace is 10 days from now.
PM: 5 mile TM plod. Little known fact that 5 mile TM plods take twice as long as 4 mile TM plods.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 21.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 1.00 | 13.00 |
| AM: 77F, 85%. 8 @ 9:03 AP. I did my 2 + 6 workout: a 2 mile hobble followed by a 6 mile plod. Luckily I budgeted 80 minutes for this 8-miler when I set my alarm last night, so I crushed it compared to that.
PM: 5 on the TM, with 6 x 1 min @ 5k. Only 15 more runs to get through!
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 13.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 21.00 | 0.00 | 21.00 |
| AM: 76F, 89%. 16 @ 8:14 AP. Bonked pretty hard in the last mile. 50/50 might have been a tad optimistic...
PM: 5 more plodding on the TM. At lunch, I had another gorge session at an Asian buffet (2nd time this week) and it made me feel a little better. Although it was a little sad - I didn't have anyone go with me today so I sat in the corner by myself, just shoveling in mounds of fried rice until it hurt.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 21.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 0.00 | 13.00 |
| AM: 74F, 83%. 8 @ 8:47 AP. Drier and cooler this morning...almost felt chilly outside at first!
PM: 96F. 5 @ 9:06 AP. Did my weekly heat slog, felt pretty bad. Back on the TM tomorrow afternoon.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 13.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 1.00 | 15.00 |
| AM: 79F, 60%. 10 @ 8:35 AP. San Antonio was converted to a desert and it felt amazing outside this morning...64 degree DP! I would gladly take 80-degree lows all summer if we could get a DP like that on a regular basis. Anyway, it helped me not bonk today, which makes me happy.
PM: 5 on the TM with 10 x 30 second strides. Started at 11.5 mph and worked up to 14.0. Felt a little different than running 8-10 minute pace all week. If there's one thing I've learned from Crossfit, which I've never done, it's that you have to trick your muscles into improving.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 25.00 | 0.00 | 25.00 |
| AM: 76F/83% -> 82F/69%. 22 @ 8:20 AP. Over 3 hours of fun - the last time I ran for 3 hours straight....well, you know... For this one I made sure I ended up near my house around mile 17, and then did the rest in the neighborhood in case I bonked...really don't have time for a long walk of shame today, but fortunately I was able to trot through the whole thing. Next up, my daughter's bday party!
PM: 93F. Took the dog out for 3 in the neighborhood. I did a progressive run: 10:09, 9:53, 9:24. The dog did not get tired today.
|
| 1160s Miles: 3.00 | Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 22.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 71F, 83%. 8 @ 8:32 AP. Recovery paces except for about a quarter mile when someone in the next neighborhood over didn't want to be passed. I don't mind (and actually secretly enjoy) when people put up a fight, but not so much when I just ran 25 miles the day before. It hurt a little but it proved my superiority which is the most important thing.
Picture from the birthday party yesterday:
PM: 4 slow miles on the home TM. I'd forgotten what a hunk of crap that thing was - I'm used to the good ones at the gym at work...
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 2.00 | 15.00 |
| AM: 74F, 83%. 10 @ 8:15 AP
PM: 5 on the TM, last 2 @ LT (~12:20s).
Supercompensation day 8 -- felt better today than I have since day 1..?
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 15.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 0.00 | 15.00 |
| AM: 78F, 84%. 10 @ 8:44 AP. Aaaaaaand, I'm tired again. But I'll always have the memories of yesterday...
PM: 5 mile TM plod for my penultimate run in this block. I've been waiting for 9 days to use the word penultimate.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.00 | 2.00 | 15.00 |
| AM: 78F, 86%. 15 @ 8:11 AP. I set out to do 20 this morning but determined pretty early on that I would be cutting it short. I decided to run the last 2 miles hard to make up for it (6:42, 6:18) but I'm definitely ok with 165 miles in 10 days.
So I don't know if this supercompensation theory is legit or not but at the very least, it's keeping my average volume up despite the fact that I won't be able to run for 4-5 days, so I don't have to feel bad about my upcoming period of extreme inactivity. It also was good to train myself to plod around on legs that feel about twice as heavy as usual. I often imagined myself in mile 40 of my upcoming ultra and wondered if that's how it would feel. I bet it'll be much worse.
And I think I did it all without overtraining - still had normal energy at work, home, etc. Another week of this and I think it would've been too much for me, as the sleep deficit grows bit by bit and today kinda showed me I didn't have the legs for much more either. It would be interesting to try this in the winter and see if recovery is easier.
Alright - let the healing begin!
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM 6 / PM 4 on TM w/ 6 x 1 min @ 5k
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| AM 6 / PM 3 TM
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 9.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.75 | 1.25 | 9.00 |
| AM 5 / PM 4 TM with 1 @ 5:50 and 1/4 @ 1:15
Been running for a few days, just not posting. I'm trying to do better. Lots going on, old demons returning, etc. I'd be less cryptic but, you know, it's the innernet y'all. Running helps pull me through my problems so at least there's that. It's how I became fanatical about running in the first place, in 2009. Of course it's a band-aid, not a cure, but you gotta stop the bleeding first.
What a weird post. Don't worry, I'll go back to posting pictures of garbage, dry creeks and toxic ponds soon.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| AM: 76F, 78%. 7 @ 8:06 AP. felt pretty decent today, did a few more pickups. Should be ready to start my 5k block next week.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 15.00 | 1.00 | 16.00 |
| 76F, 81%. 16 @ 7:47 AP. Last mile in 5:57 - most of the work in the last half mile. The only good thing about running in my neighborhood, and I really mean the ONLY good thing, is that I can situate a run to have the last mile to my house about 60' net downhill. I can also set it up to finish 80' uphill, but you know, I don't do that.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6 @ 8:36 AP. Standard Sunday neighborhood construction trails.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 74F, 90%. 6 @ 8:22 AP. I think I'm ready to hit the track tomorrow. "Ready" is a relative term, but I'll just set the bar low and work into some 5k-ish effort.
PM: 4 TM w/ 6 x 1 min @ 5k
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 4.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 74F, 91%. Dang. I set out to do 8 x 800 @ 2:52, 400m rec. That's 5k pace.
1: 2:53 - am I usually this tired 1/8 of the way through a workout?
2: 2:54 - new goal: 8 reps below 2:55
3: 2:54 - new goal: 6 reps below 2:55
4: 2:56 - new goal: finish 6 reps
5: pulled the plug after 200m
Dang. I knew it wouldn't be amazing but I was really hoping for a decent starting point to this block. Dang. The one silver lining is that I am 100% sure I am doing the right thing by shifting my focus to speed - I need it bad.
Probably going to do a penalty TM run this afternoon with some 1-min on/offs.
Dang.
PM: 5 on the TM with my punishment - 10 x 1 min on/off. Kept increasing the speed until I was panting as hard as possible.
3 easy recovery days next, and then I gotta figure out how to do LT... Mile reps @ 7:30?
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 77F, 84%. 6 @ 8:54 AP. hopped an armadillo.
PM: 92F, H/I: 99F. 4 @ 8:48 AP. weekly heat plod...might need more of these if I keep tanking workouts.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| AM: 78F, 89%. 6 @ 8:47 AP. Nasty and sticky outside this morning but fortunately all I ever do is plod around now...even when I'm not trying to. I did finally see some of the UTSA team out on the trail though...a harbinger of fall running maybe?
PM: 3 on the TM because I didn't think I had time for 4. Then I got to my meeting 8-9 minutes early. Timing fail, slowjoe.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 9.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 0.50 | 10.00 |
| AM: 72F, 88%. 6 @ 8:16 AP. Did a few pitiful pickups to HMP, which is 5k effort.
PM: 83F, H/I 88F. 4 @ 8:45 AP. Right after a way-too-big lunch, so this run tasted like stomach acid. Buffet again. Help me.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 6.00 | 13.00 |
| 77F, 90%. Went to the track this morning for the classic 4 x 2400m, w/ 400m active recovery. To get through it, I decided to set the bar even lower - I would accept 10:00 per rep (6:40 pace). Considering that back in peak shape days, I'd want to be around 9:00 per rep, this was conceeding a lot, but I'm accepting that I have to work with whatever the running gods have bestowed upon me.
Fortunately it wasn't quite that bad and I ended up averaging 9:31 (9:38, 9:41, 9:31, 9:13). That's not quite good, either, but probably the correct-ish stimulus, especially considering I'm a little gun-shy.
The high school XC team (like 40-50 kids!) showed up right as I was starting my first rep, and I was really cursing my luck....aren't they supposed to be running on grass or something right now? Fortunately they did in fact mostly run on the fields, and not really on the track except to do some lunges in lanes 2-8 and some kind of whistle-based fartlek thing during my last rep. If anything, it kept me going.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 13.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 77F, 90%. 6 @ 8:43 AP. Neighborhood construction trails. Looks like they are getting really close to paving some of them, which displeases me, but it's still nice back there with no houses or cars or people. The deer aren't as arrogant either.
Looks like some lower dew points could happen toward the end of the week...might try to cherrypick the best one for a workout.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
| AM: First day of school here, running late, so I just did 5 on the TM at work, with 8 x 45s @ 3k pace.
PM: 97F. 3 @ 8:38 AP. Took the dog out after dinner. Lots of stops for him to pee on stuff.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 3.00 | Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 2.50 | 12.00 |
| AM: 74F, 84%. 8 miles. Hit the track again today for the classic 5 x 800 @ 3k pace, 2 min rest. All my workouts are classic. Fortunately I have a good history of this one built up - I ran it 6 times last summer. To my surprise, this one was right in the mix. I averaged 2:44.5 (2:47, 2:45, 2:44, 2:46, 2:40). Best set last year only averaged 2:42.7 so I'm right there.
Starting to enjoy how my legs feel again. I was barely making it the last couple months. I do think all that tired mileage will serve a purpose - the kind of slogging that helps you in an ultra or in the last 5 miles of a marathon, I think. But it just feels so much better running 65-70 miles/week and having a little spring in my step again.
PM: 96F. 4 @ 9:00 AP. Had time today to get out on the trail for a good heat plod...full sun, no clouds. I decided Friday looks like the superior weather day, and it looks awesome...low 70s, DP around 60! I'm actually fantasizing about how that cool air will feel, which is beyond sad. Sad on several levels. But I'll deal with that weirdness another time.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 74F, 84%. 6 @ 9:02 AP. Super cruddy legs today. I don't remember that 3k workout ever giving me this big a smackdown but I guess I haven't run that hard in awhile.
PM: 4 mile TM plod
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 1.00 | 9.00 |
| AM: 76F, 85%. 6 @ 8:45 AP. Still really tired and flat. I tried a blind half mile pickup without checking pace and guessed 2:55. It was 3:08. But I'm still going to try a workout tomorrow with the cooler air coming in. If I can't recover from a 14-minute workout with 2 full days of 9-minute pace recovery, then I'm not sure what I CAN do.
PM: 3 on the TM with 3 min @ 10 mph.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 4.50 | 14.00 |
| AM: 70F, 74%. 10.5 miles. Legs were a lot less poopy thanks to the 62 degree dew point, which magically snapped me back into shape. Today was 8 x 800 @ 10k, 200m active recovery. I averaged 2:54.9 for the 800s (2:59, 2:57, 2:56, 2:57, 2:56, 2:54, 2:53, 2:47). Looking back, I had a similar effort last year under similar conditions, although I'm guessing I milked the recoveries more today...maybe a 75s average for the 200 recoveries today, which is just a small step above walking. The good news is I am just starting the speed block this year; last year's effort came at the end of a long block of track work. Also, I have a lot more miles on my legs this year. So I'm ok, I think.
PM: 3.5 on the TM, with 5 x 30s fast.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.00 | 0.00 | 11.00 |
| 67F, 85%. 11 @ 7:54 AP. beautiful fall fakeout weather. I think September was one of the hottest months last year, so it won't last, but man it was nice. I saw someone running outside with a hoodie.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| Did my last 6 alloted miles for the week behind the neighborhood again. Mildly fascinated by how they are building this new "master planned community." First was the community center and pool, still under construction. Then a few miles of roads (still unpaved..woohoo!) that wind through hills and trees, seemingly with no rhyme or reason. The only evidence of houses so far are just the pipes and wires that stick up where the lots are going to be. Saw a coyote today in addition to the usual deer and jackrabbits. Too bad Sunday is the only day they are not working out there...it's pretty nice for running.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 74F, 87%. 6 @ 8:36 AP.
PM: 4 on the TM. Pretty easy week on tap with 400s on Wednesday and a LR on Saturday. The rest of the week is pretty much just what you see here...
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 74F, 88%. 6 @ 8:35 AP. Sluggish. Also, yesterday I got the results of some bloodwork and it was pretty much crappy across the board. Last test was ~15 months ago and I guess I've just gone downhill since then. Weeeeeeee!
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 73F, 85%. 7 miles. Track today, intending to do 8 x 400 @ mile pace. I ran 75, 78, 81, 83, quit. Last year I did this workout 3 times and averaged 75.xx every time. So I was pretty surprised to start falling apart 200m into the second rep. Well-rested for this, with decent weather, so I don't know. The good days seem to be few and far between lately.
PM: 3 mile TM plod. Usually I do a mini-workout after a workout fail, but I was barely hanging on at 7.0 today. Some days you gotta just throw in the towel.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 74F, 87F. 6 @ 8:58 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 76F, 86%. 6 @ 8:36 AP. This has been a long, rough work week...had to skip a couple PM runs, and my AM runs have all felt like death. Hopefully I can look back on this later as a low point, and bounce back from here. After my failed long run tomorrow, I'm going to try and get lots of sleep on Sunday and Monday, so that should help.
PM: 4 on the TM. I did manage to get through my 6 x 1 minute stride routine, so that's something.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 21.00 | 0.00 | 21.00 |
| 79F, 86%. 21 @ 8:16 AP. I didn't want to have too much time between long runs so I planted this one in the middle of this 5k cycle. Original plan was for 24, so I set it up as 3 x 8 mile out and backs so I could easily quit once I inevitably bonked (still plagued with that overall fatigue from this week). It finally happened on the last out and back so I turned around early and crawled back. Tough 75-degree dew point today which is on the high side, even for us, but it's not like I was trying to run hard. Just a nasty cycle this whole summer of having one or two good days followed by weeks in a hole.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 21.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 77F, 90%. 6 @ 7:59 AP. Workers were out there on my coveted neighborhood construction trails. Toiling away, and besmirching the sanctity of Labor Day!
Anyway.. I took the day off running yesterday, and got 8+ hours of sleep both of the last 2 nights. I feel pretty rested. The work week will reverse all of this, of course, but at least I can start off on the right foot. No booze in a month either (that's impressive for me).
PM: 96F. 4 miles, some with daughter #1 and some with the dog. Ran around sunset which made it feel pretty decent.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 | Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 0.00 | 9.00 |
| AM: 77F, 86%. 6 @ 8:29 AP.
PM: 95F. 3 @ 7:39 AP. Finally had some time just after sunset with the dog. Picked up the pace a little - sub-8 seems so fast for a non-workout now.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 3.00 | Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 77F, 83%. 6 @ 8:28 AP. My oldest daughter Elle joined the blog (I finally gave in). She's really into it (for now).
PM: no. Might have to start adding a few miles in the morning as a hedge against long work hours.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 3.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 76F, 89%. 10 miles. Hit the track for a set-the-bar-low workout at 5k effort. I went with 6 x 800, 1 lap recovery. Back in June, I averaged 2:46 for this one, but set the bar today at 3:00. Ended up averaging 2:53 (2:57, 2:55, 2:54, 2:54, 2:51, 2:48). Mediocre, but I think I'm on to something with the easy targets...you never fail! Anyway, as crappy as running feels right now, plus cruddy conditions, I'll definitely take it. We are getting a couple days of cool air soon and I'm thinking mile reps on Sunday. If that goes poorly, THEN I can press the panic button, which usually includes some kind of drastic, overreacting changes to my training.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No. Wife out of town, failed VPN, deadlines...no.
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.50 | 0.50 | 6.00 |
| 6 on the home TM with a few pickups. Wife comes back to San Antonio tonight, and so does the cold front! I rarely let one of those slip by without jamming in a workout...track time tomorrow.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 6.00 | 14.00 |
| 65F, 76%. 14 miles total. Alright, I guess most of my recent running problems were just heat-related...this was a really solid workout. I did 6 x 1600, 400 recovery. I averaged 5:59.8 per rep (6:06, 6:05, 6:05, 5:59, 5:57, 5:47). My fitness has been a grab bag lately so I had no target - just be conservative enough that I don't quit. It took 3 reps before I trusted myself enough to let loose a bit. Always a positive sign when you can just about hit 5k pace on the last rep of a 6x1. So maybe all those miles this summer counted for something (I had my doubts).
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 65F, 74%. 6 @ 9:02 AP. Tired legs, but I don't mind when there's actually a reason for it. Cool air again today - unfortunately, by the time I recover from Sunday (estimating summer 2017) it will be gone.
PM: no
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| AM: 73F, 87%. 7 @ 8:12 AP.
PM: no
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 7.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 76F, 87%. 6 @ 8:30 AP. More missed runs. Really stretched thin this week, but next week looks better.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 75F, 91%. 6 slow, forgot to look at pace.
PM: 4 on the TM with long strides....happy to get in a double today, but really tired on this one.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 0.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 76F, 88%. 8 @ 8:01 AP. zzzzzzzz
PM: 91F (H/I 94F). 4 @ 8:35 AP. Haven't gotten in a good vitamin D heat slog in awhile. #stillsweating
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 76F, 89%. 6 @ 8:31 AP. Neighborhood construction run. Lots of work going on today though. On one block it was like a competition between work sites as to who had the loudest tejano music.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 13.50 | 3.50 | 17.00 |
| AM: 70F, 91%. 13 miles. I've missed/failed so many workouts in this 5k block, that I wasn't sure what kind to do today...so I did the pu pu platter - a little of everything. First about an hour of easy running, then hit the track:
1600 in 5:53
1200 in 4:16 (5:43/mile pace)
2 x 800 (2:46, 2:44)
2 x 400 (75, 76)
2 x 200 (33, 33)
Recovery was a 400 after each rep, except after the 400s and 200s (200 recoveries there). Also the second 400 and the second 200 had a few extra meters in them - 2 ladies showed up toward the end of my workout and decided they would own lanes 1 and 2...and they looked like they could easily beat me up so I just went around them.
Glad to get in another solid weeekend workout. I wish I could run like this during the week, but it has been pretty stressful lately and it's pretty much all I can do to just get in a little exhausted slogging. Fortunately I should be able to finally just lay around today, and after Monday, the work week looks lighter as well. So hopefully I can get the mileage and sleep levels back up.
PM: 90F. 4 @ 8:46 AP. Sunset with the mutt.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 | Saucony A5 Red Miles: 13.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 73F, 90%. 6 @ 8:49 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 68F, 83%. 6 @ 8:43 AP. Getting cooler!
PM: 4 on the TM with long strides
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 3.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 68F, 91%. 8 @ 7:32 AP. On the way back, I did 7 x (2 min on, 1 min off), then a harder quarter mile to finish it. Most repeats around 5k pace. Not quite a workout, but definitely harder than just doing strides; that's about right for what I felt like I could handle without killing myself this morning.
PM: 4 on the TM. A little more uptempo than usual, on account of the fast shoes and higher-than-usual caffeine levels.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 65F. 6 @ 8:42 AP. I ran with a shirt on this morning. It was kinda weird.
PM: 4 ez on the TM.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 7.00 | 14.00 |
| AM: 70F, 72%. 14 @ 7:12 AP. Last 10 @ 6:53. My wife is having a birthday weekend away from the kids, so I needed to move up my normal harder weekend run, which I decided would be aerobic in nature. It's not really in the SlowJoe repertoire to do a workout without at least 2 easy days preceding it but I figured I could just go a little slower at first and ease into it, which I did. Felt pretty good considering there is some sleep debt this week again, but it took a really long time to catch my breath after the run. This weekend I should be able to get 2 pretty good nights of sleep, and minimal running.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 14.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 67F, 87%. 6 @ 8:24 AP.
PM: no. This is supposed to be mileage liftoff week but I don't know if I can get in any doubles. So it looks like earlier wakeups and longer morning runs. Need about a 26-hour day and I think I could do it all (be a good dad, husband, employee, runner and still get enough sleep) but running and sleep keep getting squeezed out.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 0.00 | 14.00 |
| 14 @ 7:43
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6 @ 8:15
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.50 | 3.50 | 12.00 |
| AM: 8 @ 7:22. Last 2.5 below MP.
PM: Got the chance for 4 more TM miles, sub-tripeish
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 12.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No running today, but I plan on 6-7 hours of running over the next 2 mornings. We'll see if I make it... If I'm going to run a 50-miler, I need to at least pretend I'm a distance runner. I haven't actually signed up yet, since they don't have a bunch of stupid fee increases like the mainstream races do.
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 23.00 | 1.00 | 24.00 |
| 63F -> 68F. 24 @ 8:03 AP. Double long run weekend! Coolest mornings of the fall are this weekend so the timing is good. I did this as 3 x 8-mile out and backs so I could use my car as an aid station. I stocked it with PBJ sandwiches, cut into fourths like I saw (and poached) when I was pacing April at Bandera. For the most part, I kept it slower than 8-minute pace, with a random 6:33 thrown in around halfway.
Even though I feel like I kept it pretty easy, my legs are still pretty tired. Makes sense, but it's going to be interesting tomorrow, as I attempt to do it all over again. We all know I'm not the best recoverererer. One of 3 things will happen:
1. I'll make it, and get a great training stimulus from it.
2. I'll make it, and be destroyed for weeks.
3. I won't make it, and be filled with self-doubt for weeks.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 24.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 24.00 | 0.00 | 24.00 |
| 61F -> 66F. 24 @ 7:51 AP. Double long run, day 2 is complete. Had to get it in off of only 4-5 hours of sleep but once the caffeine kicked in I was ok. This one went pretty much like yesterday, except the first few miles were slower and more painful, and the back half was faster (~7:40/mile for the last 12) and oddly felt better. So there we go, 48 miles in 2 days. Now 50% of my ultra-specific workouts (1 of 2) are complete. In a few weeks, I'll do a 30-35 miler and call it good. It would also be wise to, you know, run on trails eventually, since it's a trail race. I don't have time for that during the week, but I hope to make the rest of my weekend long runs on something more technical than sidewalk.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 24.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 70F. 4 @ 9:05 AP. You know that 85-year-old guy you see in races in the last mile, and you don't know whether to cheer for him or beg him to stop running so you can call an ambulance? That.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 5 @ 8:18 AP
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 8 miles, watch ran out of juice.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 8.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 71F, 89%. 10 @ 8:13 AP. Left home @ 4:30am and got back from work @ 9:30pm....one of those days.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 73F, 88%. 6 @ 8:59 AP. Regressive run, felt horrible. Can't tell if I'm getting sick or just exhausted from a crazy week. I never thought an "office job" could possibly be tiring after some of the crazy jobs I've been through, but lately...ugh! One more week until our Jamaican cruise...countdown is on!
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 1.00 | 17.00 |
| AM: 67F -> 74F. 17 @ 8:35 AP. Fun morning on the trails. I debated skipping this run since I felt like crap yesterday, but I wound getting almost 8 hours of sleep last night and felt pretty good when I woke up. So I headed to Government Canyon (worst park name ever) and ran around until I hit ~2.5 hours on the watch. The trails there are no cakewalk and I was definitely working (possibly even werking)...I'd say moderate to hard aerobic effort, most of the time. Legs feel nice and beat up - I made sure to go careening out of control on every good downhill stretch.
Went through 40 oz of liquids during the run and was still really thirsty at the end. So I weighed myself when I got home and saw 139.8! Pretty sure the last time I was that light, my face was covered with zits and I was listening to the new Soundgarden album (Spoonman!!). Obviously way dehydrated today, but an interesting note nonetheless.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 17.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 5 @ 9:09 AP
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| AM: 70F, 90%. 7 @ 8:28 AP. Really fatigue-y the last couple days.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| No. 14 hours at work instead.
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 62F. 6 @ 8:04 AP. Felt amazing outside, crazy low dew point. Just don't have the time for running lately, unless I start waking up at 3am...by now I've figured out that does more harm than good. 2 days until vacation!
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6 @ 8:06
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| Quick TM run at the hotel in Miami, boarding the cruise ship today.
I'll decide on the 50-miler when I get back, though I'll probably still do it, even if my running volume continues its trip down the toilet next week...this always seems to happen right before big races.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 3.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 4.00 | 9.00 |
| 9 on the cruise ship TM, most were somewhat fast, I guess.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 9.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 4 more on the boat. Last vacation miles I did.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 4.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Rented some bikes and rode around South Beach, pretty fun, but probably didn't quite reach the definition of exercise.
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 3.00 | 5.00 |
| 67F, 91%. 5 miles back home - GPS didn't get a good enough signal until after the first 2 miles, but the last 5k or so was 6:33/mile, including a 6:48 up the neighborhood death mile. With 5 or 6 days off, legs were ready to go from the first step.
Training completely cratered on the trip...I have some excuses, but I shoulda/coulda run a lot more than I did. Will try to map out a salvage plan with a good 30-miler in there somewhere and probably sign up for the 50 at the last minute, if at all.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 1.00 | 15.00 |
| 59F, rainy, windy. 15 @ 7:44 AP. My first sub-60 degree run this fall. Roads were slippery, and I could feel the loss of efficiency from the layoff but otherwise felt ok.
So this gives me a 24-mile week, which is not a great follow up to the 31-mile week before that. Need to start cramming. I almost attempted the super-long run today, but it was a good move to wait, based on how I felt about 10 miles in today. I might try it mid-week - just block out the calendar one morning and hope for the best...or might cut it back to 25-28 and just do it next weekend. Hopefully work will allow a few decent running weeks.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 58F. 6 @ 8:34 AP. Sore. I might just need to go easy this week, we'll see.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 54F. 6 @ 7:18 AP. Went faster when I felt like it. Slowed down when I got tired.
Outside chance at a PM run today, fingers crossed.
PM: no. feel dumb for even thinking there might be time.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 1.00 | 7.00 |
| 58F. 7 @ 7:20 AP. More fartlek. Just biding my time until this weekend, trying to get over a head cold...
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 7.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 58F, 6 @ 8:08 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 17.00 | 0.00 | 17.00 |
| AM: 59F. 17 @ 7:30 AP. Stop the presses, slowjoe ran today! Goal was to make it a harder aerobic effort, and 7:30 definitely did the trick...yikes. Just flat out of shape at this point after basically a 3-week hiatus of sorts. So, I'm going to do the mature, responsible thing, and sign up for the 50-miler that takes place in 3 weeks. I've been thinking about that dang race all summer, so screw it...I'm running!
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 17.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 0.00 | 9.50 |
| AM: 54F, 6 @ 8:33 AP. Legs crushed...I already kinda regret signing up for that 50. Never sign up for races in anger.
PM: 30 min TM jog
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 9.50 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 56F, fog. 6 @ 8:05 AP. Doubles are going to be tough to work in, schedule-wise, from here until the race. Earlier wake-up tomorrow...maybe do that every other day or so.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 4.00 | 10.00 |
| 66F, 95%. 10 @ 7:23 AP. 4-mile pickup toward the end - 6:55, 6:38, 6:31, 6:16. Felt ok, I guess. It was humid and I got very little sleep. Oh and I'm outa shape. There...3 excuses is the sweet spot.
A good start, anyway, to my ultra 2-week ultra training plan for ultras. Copyright pending.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.50 | 4.50 |
| 4.5 moderate on the TM
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6 @ 8:02 AP
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| I slept in this morning - was really tired, but got some great sleep. Might hit the TM later, as I've got the kids on my own. Long work week behind me - no human being should ever spend this much time at the office...lately I am pretty much only home for a few hours of sleep (and not sleeping too well). Should be a few more brutal days next week and then it'll let up. I'm actually pretty proud that I still knocked out a run every morning.
Sunday will be my last (semi) long run, and we should have decent temps, down to the mid 50s.
PM: Ate half of a large pizza with all the meats, but then got in 4 @ 7:58. Yes, that should completely counteract it.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 13.00 | 18.00 |
| 55F. 18 @ 6:46 AP. The goal with this one was to get in a longer aerobic effort. It's too late for 30-milers and such so I figured I'd give the aerobic engine one last toke on the fitness pipe (that made no sense). But this was really good. I ran the same hilly roads as last weekend, but ~45 sec/mile faster.
Splits: 7:32, 7:00, 7:04, 6:53, 7:02, 6:45, 6:40, 6:55, 6:45, 7:00, 6:53, 6:48, 6:43, 6:53, 6:41, 6:22, 6:16, 5:43.
Hammered the last 3. That last mile to my house is downhill, but to do be able to that at the end of this run almost makes no sense. Maybe I'll be ok.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 52F, 6 @ 8:32 AP. Achilles hurts. Should have known the running gods wouldn't let me get away with something for nothing. Well, I figure the hay is in the barn anyway after 1 successful workout in 3 months. I was going to do a 5k tuneup this week, but instead I think I'll do nothing. Nothing fits nicely into my schedule.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 2.00 | 0.00 | 2.00 |
| turned around early, achilles...
| |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| a little better
| |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| better again, without the bigfattrainers
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 7.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| I think I'll be ok...not feeling like I can run a very good 5k but probably ok on the achilles.
What a training cycle - work explodes, then vacation, then sick, then work explodes again, then achilles....sprinkle in some general apathy throughout, and you have my buildup to the longest race I've ever signed up for.
Alright, 5k tomorrow...hopefully no one good shows up.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Race: |
5k @ work (3.107 Miles) 00:18:13, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 1 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.86 | 3.14 | 9.00 |
| 57F, a little rainy. Did the ol' work 5k again this year but got my butt kicked. Surprisingly, I had the same AP on my Garmin as last year (5:49), but had a faster time - I think they moved the finish line up a bit, so it measured more like a real 5k (3.14 miles on my watch).
After the normal shakeout in the first mile (5:51) I was already way back from several people. Mile 2 was 5:47 and I was still in 6th, but 3 guys were coming back to me. Got two of them early on in the 3rd mile and sat behind the other guy until maybe the 2.7 mark or so...then put on a furious (uphill) sprint, which I knew I had absolutely no chance to sustain through the line, but it dissuaded the guy from trying to match it. So mile 3 was 5:47 and the last 0.14 was only 5:57 pace on the watch...obviously I was completely destroyed by the early kick and flailing around wildly, but it worked, so I'm good with it.
Anyway, not bad! But geez, I don't know if I'll do this one again next year...I mean, who wants to compete in a race if it's going to be competitive?
|
| Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 9.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 6 mile comfort plod in the neighborhood. Busy day yesterday, pretty much gone all day with activities, including back-to-back basketball games for my oldest daughter, but the season is now over. This was a 4-days-a-week commitment, so we're all a bit relieved...even my mini-hoopster!
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 67F, humid. 5 easy...just about needed the buttsweat towel. Weather for Saturday is looking ok. Heavy rains Monday and Tuesday but 3 full days to dry out. The temperature will be an issue later in the race. Starts in the low 50s but close to 70 by the time I'll be done.
Some other things I was too dumb to consider until now: the race starts at 5am so I need a headlamp. Never used one; I'm wondering if I could get away with carrying a flashlight for a couple hours, then switching out for a handheld water bottle (which I also don't own) when it gets light outside. I also don't own trail shoes. I'm hoping this won't be an issue... I planned on wearing the fastwitch and hoping they held up.
Anyway, this is how it looks to be unprepared for a race...don't be me.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.75 | 2.25 | 9.00 |
| AM: TM today, didn't feel like dealing with horizontal rain. Picked it up to MP for ~15 minutes.
PM: 2.5 with the dog in the hood. Felt good...kinda like I've been tapering for 2 months.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 2.50 | Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 6.50 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| 44F! 4 @ 8:12 AP. Long sleeves for the first time this fall. One day I'll have to find my gloves...so exciting!
Probably take a day off from running tomorrow...and hopefully get to the running store.
Weather for Saturday is looking interesting. A cold front arrives Saturday morning, which looks like it will keep the temperature from ever going above 60 or so, but will bring heavy winds and probably some rain. Overall, I think I like it. Anything but hot is fine.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 51F, 3 @ 7:48 AP. Included about 1/2 mile on dirt - trail training complete!
Cleared the schedule and leaving work early to head to La Grange, where I booked a hotel. I'll hit up the running store on the way out. Probably.
Gonna be a little windy tomorrow:
Ok, got a headlamp, gu and glide. No new shoes, no handheld bottle. Got restless at work and left around lunchtime for La Grange...now I just need to find ZZ Top. Actually, I looked up the Chicken Ranch (which is what that song is about) and they literally moved the building to Dallas (where it subsequently burned down), so I'm guessing there's nothing else to see or do here.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 3.00 |
| |
| |
| | Race: |
Wild Hare 50M (50 Miles) 07:49:30, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 2 | | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 50.00 | 0.00 | 50.00 |
| Alright, it’s done. Pretty fun day, when I look back on it. Brutal. But I had fun.
Weather: It started at 63F/95%. The temp would stay right there, maybe 62 degrees, the entire race. I went shirtless after the first loop…it was pretty hot, especially when the sun came up. The cold front arrived about halfway through the race. This dropped the dew point but not the temps. It also brought 20-35 mph winds. That really sucked in several areas.
Course: My hopes of having a dry course were dashed in the first mile. It was really muddy. Hit some unavoidable shin-deep water about 2 miles in and stayed fully waterlogged/mudlogged the rest of the way. Some parts were really treacherous. It’s a loop course, 7.8 mile loops. To make the mileage work out, you do an add-on segment in the first loop, so the first time around is 11.3 miles, and the next 5 loops are 7.8 apiece. 2 aid stations in each 7.8 mile loop. My 50-miler started at 5am, but there was a 50k @ 6am, a 25k @ 7am, and I think a 10k @ 8am. All on the same course.
Loop 1: Definitely a different kind of start than I’m used to, as a road runner. Everyone kind of wandered into the horse barn where you start, about 3 minutes before the gun. Then it goes off and everyone breaks into a nice slow jog. Inside I was laughing. Anyway, I was in 3rd by the time we got to the singletrack, which was fine. The guy in front of me (Gabe) seemed to be setting a reasonable pace, but the first place guy (Matt) was pulling away. I tried not to care, but it sorta bothered me. Obviously I could have passed and caught up to Matt, but that just seemed stupid…there were 48 miles to go for crying out loud. And Gabe seemed to know what he was doing, and I did not want to get lost in the dark so I stayed behind him. Finished the long loop in 1:38:29, right behind Gabe.
Loop 2: Gabe was not stopping at the aid stations at all – his wife? would just hand stuff to him. So it always took me a mile or so to catch up, but it still seemed dumb to “make a move” with 35+ miles to go so I stuck with him, even though I could see Matt’s lead was growing, every time we’d hit an open section. As a side note, Gabe was falling…a lot. I’d always check on him, make sure he was ok, etc. But dang, it was probably 5 or 6 times in the first 2 loops. This loop was 1:10:12, still in 3rd, right behind him.
Loop 3: More of the same. I made up my mind to pick it up and pass him after this loop since we were probably now 3-4 minutes behind Matt. This loop was 1:13:11.
Loop 4: “The surge.” I probably took my longest break after Loop 3, having run roughly a marathon at this point. I hit the PoP and guzzled a lot of Gatorade…and ate more PB&J. Once again, Gabe ran right through and I found myself way behind. I took my first big spill @ mile 27 – a total face plant, which really rung my bell for a few minutes. Ended up being a good thing though – I picked it up more (after collecting myself) and just kinda ran my own pace; when I (eventually) caught up, I just kept it up, and actually hit the gas a little harder. After a couple miles, we hit the pasture and it looked like I’d already put a good 2 minutes on Gabe. Unfortunately, by the end of the loop, I was bonking. Well, that was dumb. This loop was 1:11:41, even though it felt like I was hammering it, guess it turned out to only be 90s faster than the previous loop.
Loop 5: I’d say I ran these last 2 loops in a fully bonked state. We all know how bad it sucks to feel like that…so to feel like that for 3 hours was not a lot of fun. Still, I couldn’t even see Gabe – figured I had no less than a 3-4 minute lead on him. And I didn’t really see Matt up ahead anymore either. So I broke into my best plod. No more running on the steeper uphill sections, no more ninja moves to avoid puddles and mud (just shuffled straight through), and a lot more grabbing trees to pull myself up. 1:18:55 for this one.
Loop 6: So this last loop starts, and I’m dying, but pretty sure I’ll finish. I stopped looking behind me and just plodded on… fat dumb and happy(ish). With about 3 miles to go I hear a big KER-PLAT behind me. I looked and it was Gabe, falling down again, but only about 10 seconds behind me. Oh man, I was so pissed. Obviously I took off at that point. Frankly, I was surprised (and a little disappointed in myself) at how easy it was to all of a sudden drop my pace. I’m guessing here, but I’d say I was running 90 sec/mile faster, instantaneously, and held it through the line. The last 2 miles are the toughest ones, but I was (relatively speaking) screaming through them, compared to the previous loop. I kept looking back and I’d put maybe 30-45 seconds on him in pretty short order. Ended up about 80 seconds ahead of Gabe, and 4 minutes behind Matt. Last loop was 1:17:02…2nd place overall.
Hindsight being 20/20, the main thing I would’ve done differently would be to stay up with Matt from the beginning. I was just too scared of the unknown, I guess. 4 minutes over a distance of 50 miles is not exactly a huge difference in pace. Can’t really blame myself though. I had no idea how I was supposed to feel at various points in the race…or how hard I should be pushing – just a lack of experience. Oh, I should have trained too. These minor details add up!
Anyway, this won’t be my last ultra. I found out from Matt that there’s a really good trail running group he belongs to, and they run at Govt. Canyon a lot, which is close to my house. Once I regain use of my legs, I’ll focus on road running for awhile (if I can manage to focus on anything) but I can already see a possible shift in focus down the road.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 50.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 1.00 | 6.00 |
| hot & humid! Ran 6 @ Memorial Park in Houston with my wife (1 was @ MP on my own).
Pretty happy with recovery. It was different than a marathon recovery - in a marathon my muscles are usually all torn up, and that's what takes forever. With this, my muscles were a little sore, but it was joints, tendons, etc, that took the beating from the race. On Monday I could barely get my shoes on for work, because my feet and ankles were all swollen. So I had a couple ouchies to work out this morning but felt great after that.
Last bit of wrapup from the 50 - equipment... Headlamp went fine...even though I hadn't used one before the race, there's obviously not much to it. Shoes - although they worked out well this time, I'd say no more Saucony road shoes in trail races. I killed another pair:
So I'm shopping...might have settled on New Balance MT101 - they are ~7.5 oz but have a nice big 10mm heel-to-toe drop; they are also supposed to be good on all kinds of trails. My Achilles/lower calves were getting sore toward the end, and I think less minimal might be better. Also definitely getting a handheld water bottle, if for no other reason than to do the aid stations faster.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 70F, 93%. 6 @ 8:43 AP. Parents' house to downtown Houston and back along the completed bayou trail (finally!). Running my own pace today, I felt a bit more dead than yesterday. Still think it'll be a relatively fast recovery, just not the superman version I envisioned yesterday.
Followed that up with 18 holes with dad. He still likes to walk the course, bag on shoulder. Even so, we made it around in just over 3 hours, although neither one of us played well (he still kicks my butt).
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 11.50 | 0.00 | 11.50 |
| 53F, raining. Still in Houston, headed back soon. Flatlander was nice enough to drive into town (in the middle of his long run) to run a few loops at Memorial with me. As usual, we had rainy/crappy weather for our run, and as usual, I still really enjoyed it.
My little one had some martial arts training before we left.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 11.50 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.50 | 1.00 | 5.50 |
| 50F. Mostly around 8-min pace, legs felt heavy and stuck, so I dropped in a 6:09 toward the end. It actually felt good. It's like my 8-9 minute muscles are tired but my 6 min muscles are fresh.
Right now I'm signed up for a half in January and Cowtown 50k at the end of February. I kind of regret signing up for the half. I want to do well at cowtown so I'm preserving the weeks leading up to that one. But I'm also thinking about maybe a 50k @ Bandera on 1/9, which is 2 weeks before my January half...if I do, there's probably no chance for a HM PR. Really feeling like I don't care about that though. Or getting a marathon PR this season - might replace Providence with another trail ultra. Always feels like the racing season is so short, so I'm trying to maximize my "fun."
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 5.50 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 46F. 7 @ 8:05 AP. Legs still have some kinks and stiffness.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 7.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 48F. 6 @ 7:57 AP.
PM: 60F. 4 @ 7:28 AP. Lunch run. Felt better, but far from smooth. Next week, I think I'll start a mini speed block. Impossible to go worse than the last one, so I'm excited.
I saw a guy running shirtless on the PM run, meaning that for the first time in 2.5 years of living in San Antonio, I was MORE clothed than another runner. The apocalypse is upon us.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.90 | 3.10 | 10.00 |
| 43F. 10 @ 7:06 AP. I can't find my light gloves. Every year this happens. Anyway, it was ok today...no wind and 95% humidity. I have my "Oklahoma gloves" which are thick, but left them in the bag.
Regardless, I liked the temps and put on the type A's today, encouraged by yesterday's PM run, and did a 5k in 19:33 (6:25, 6:20, 6:13, :35) on the way back (downstream - 15-20'/mile downhill). Recovery is definitely still needed from the race, but I gotta say my muscles needed a lot less recovery from that 50-miler than ANY marathon I've done. I guess plodding around on dirt is easier than running hard on concrete, even at twice the distance. Either that or maybe I underperformed...I wonder if you had perfect pacing and somehow maximized your effort if it would be worse? I'm happy either way - either I can go ahead and run a bunch of ultras since the recovery isn't bad, or I can go a lot faster when I run 'em. Mighta found my direction...
As a side note I got access to the Rockhoppers group (SA trail running club) and got some of the backstory of the race from a guy that was directing traffic at a transition point; the winner was adjusting his pace based on this guy's intel of how far back I was. I definitely need these guys on my side!
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 39F. 6 @ 8:07. Take a look at JG's team in training page below:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/ma/boston16/jgillette
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| AM: 36F. 6 @ 7:49 AP.
PM: 63F. 4 @ 7:26 AP.
Tested out my new trail shoes! I bought them on specs alone (7.5 oz, 10mm toe drop) but I think they'll work fine. Going to take them out to Bandera in a couple weeks, so that's the real test. If I can do a long run without creating a gaping hole in my shoes, then these are the winners.
My AM run was on pavement but my PM run was a pretty hard effort on trails. I don't know, somehow, somewhere along the way, I let myself believe I was done recovering from the 50. No. Legs were crushed after the PM run, and I need to start taking the recovery more seriously.
After a big race, for me, one of two things will happen. Either I will get unbelievably lazy, or unbelievably motivated. Fortunately, the latter happened this time, but I need to de-motivate until my decrepit body says it's ready. Lots of fatigue today...not ready quite yet.
|
| NB MT101 Trail Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 12.00 | 3.00 | 15.00 |
| 39F. 15 @ 7:22 AP. Broke in my other pair of new shoes. Tried to keep the pace moderate, and did so until the last 3 miles, which were around MP...so hard to run in the Type As and NOT go fast. Probably save these new ones for a couple workouts then shelf 'em until the HM next month.
Up next, 3 days of real, actual recovery runs.
|
| Saucony A6 - Red/blue Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3.00 | 0.00 | 3.00 |
| 3 after dinner with the dog. Felt light headed and dizzy so came back early.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 3.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 42F. 7 @ 8:10 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 7.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 42F. 10 @ 7:37 AP.
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.50 | 3.50 | 11.00 |
| 46F. 11 @ 7:10 AP. Included 7 x 1/2 mile reps, 60-sec jog recoveries. Averaged 2:59 (3:06, 3:01, 2:55, 2:57, 3:01, 2:58, 2:55). Felt ok, kinda meh.
It always feels haphazard and random to do these anywhere but the track. Unfortunately, I was booted from the HS track by a school district cop back in September for being there on a school day, so no track on weekdays anymore. I never understood what was so suspicious to him about a middle-aged shirtless guy roaming around school grounds at 4:55am... Yep, he was a weirdo.
|
| Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 11.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 58F, foggy. 7 miles...watch died after ~3 miles, but I definitely didn't log any sub-4 half-miles (auto lap was still set to 0.5 from yesterday).
Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with work this week, and should be able to log some doubles next week.
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 1.00 | 8.00 |
| 52F, with dense fog. 8 @ 7:44 AP. Did some pretty decent strides in the last 3 miles.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 8.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 4.00 | 0.00 | 4.00 |
| Warm 4, no watch...LR tomorrow.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 14.00 | 4.00 | 18.00 |
| 51F, rainy. 18 @ 7:26. Workout fail - set out to do 10 @ ~MP but pulled the plug after 4 and jog-of-shame'd it back, each mile a little slower than the one before it. Anything below 7-min pace felt like a sprint today. Just tired from a long week, maybe.
|
| Saucony A5 Red Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 5.00 | 0.00 | 5.00 |
| 5 @ 8:45. trail was cut off due to high water, so I was ok with 5, thinking I'd for sure get in a PM run. No.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 5.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 0.00 | 8.00 |
| 8 @ 7:56 AP.
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 16.00 | 0.00 | 16.00 |
| Ran at Bandera with someone from the local trail running group. Good stuff. It ain't the Rockies but not bad for only being an hour away.
|
| NB MT101 Trail Miles: 16.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 9.00 | 1.00 | 10.00 |
| 51F. 10 @ 7:26 AP. Last mile around 6:15. Got a pretty good tendon workout at Bandera yesterday hopping around on boulders for a few hours. That's going to be a much different kind of race than Wild Hare...
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| AM: 61F, 99%. 6 @ 8:31 AP.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 2.00 | 12.00 |
| AM: 48F. 8 @ 7:16 AP. Last couple miles had some fierce fartleking, and I ended up splitting 6:22, 6:06 for those. These old A5s feel more like socks than shoes though...they may be close to retirement, even though there are no (big) holes in them yet.
PM: 79F. 4 @ 7:30 AP. Shirtless! Worked on my tan for 30 minutes in the blistering December heat.
|
| Saucony A5 Miles: 8.00 | Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 4.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 59F, foggy. 6 @ 8:10 AP. That's probably it for today, long trail run tomorrow.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 18.00 | 0.00 | 18.00 |
| 51F -> 61F/90%. Warming pretty quickly, high is 80 again today. Ran 3 loops (18-19? miles of trail) at Friedrich Wilderness park with a couple of guys from the trail running club. Pretty steady effort on varying terrain, working pretty hard the last loop...around 2:50 total running time. There are some good runners in the group. Also a pretty cool place to run that I wouldn't have found otherwise. Great morning!
Merry Christmas all
|
| NB MT101 Trail Miles: 18.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 68F, 80%. 6 @ 8:23 AP. Spent most of the morning putting together an elaborate art desk (lazy Santa) that pretty much made me want to cry when I saw all the pieces. Got in lunch, a short run on some nicely beat-up legs and now must construct a basketball goal. You should be able to sub-contract Santa's elves for this stuff.
|
| Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 7.00 | 0.00 | 7.00 |
| 73F, 90%. 7 @ 8:29 AP. Typical June weather. Thankfully the cold front blows in tomorrow. Legs are still beat up - I was going to maybe mix some speed into my MLR tomorrow but might just jog it.
On a side note, I finally stepped on the scale a couple times this week. It's not that I was avoiding it, we just had the bathroom remodeled and it is no longer sitting out in the open, so I don't think about it. Anyway, I'm up about 7-8 lbs which is kind of a lot for me. I saw it happening over the last ~3 months (extra fat roll, belt notch, etc) with the reduced mileage - not a huge deal but back to Summer of Joe levels. It'll take me a long time to get rid of it since I won't eat right. My weight loss plan is basically to cut back to 1 Coke a day and run more. Maybe eat Chex Mix instead of Doritos...don't know if it's that extreme yet, but maybe soon.
Alright, time to make some huevos con chorizo!
PM: 3 mile hike at Government Canyon with Keira.
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 7.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 8.00 | 7.00 | 15.00 |
| 48F, NNW 15-25 mph. 15 @ 7:10 AP. Cold front finally arrived.
Picked it up on the way back home, last 7 @ 6:32 AP. Hit the gas for the last mile downhill to my house and ran it in 5:31 - probably the fastest full mile I've done on a training run...felt pretty good, definitely ran it hard but still had some gas in the tank at the end.
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 37F, ~17 mph wind. 6 @ 8:21 AP. I might need to find my hat if it gets any cooler!
| |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 10.00 | 0.00 | 10.00 |
| 37F. 10 @ 7:42 AP. A few short strides toward the end, but the legs are still kinda cranky from Sunday. So, recovery tomorrow and then I'm thinking ~90 min of solid aerobic running on Thursday to close out my 2 week Bandera training block. Sad!
|
| Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 10.00 |
| |
|
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 6.00 | 0.00 | 6.00 |
| 46F. 6 @ 8:07 AP. Felt good, ready to run harder tomorrow.
Next year I really want to have fun with running, and have several goals to that end. One of them is that I want need to race more. I had so much fun running and racing back in 2011, and got a lot faster...partially by racing more, I think. 2015 was pathetic by comparison...5 races all year?!
If I get my way, and run all the races I've penciled in for 2016, it should be a fun year!
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 6.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 1.00 | 14.00 | 15.00 |
| 44F. 15 @ 6:25 AP. Big breakthrough today. It's been a long, long time since I've been able to write that.
Original plan was just to average 7:00 for this run (~50k effort?) but in the back of my mind, I knew I'd probably test myself a bit more. Ran mile 1 in 7:04, which is undoubtedly a mile-1-early-AM PR. Then the next 14 were 6:42, 6:45, 6:41, 6:50, 6:30, 6:25, 6:27, 6:25, 6:23, 5:58, 6:12, 6:02, 6:07, 5:44.
To put it in perspective, the last 13.1 miles today works out to a low 1:23, maybe 30 seconds off my PR. Averaged 6:10 for the last 10 miles, ran sub-38 for the last 10k, and averaged 6:01 for the last 5. Now I just need to hope for a full recovery in 9 days...the angel on my shoulder was telling me to slow down and this was unnecessary, but the devil on the other shoulder needed to see what I could do (he won).
Anyway, good segue into my last chart of the year. In the past, I'd looked at each month in a vacuum and gotten discouraged when I cratered a month of training. But I think our fitness is more about what we've done in the past year, not in the past month (today's run solidified that for me). So I'm looking at my training volume now, using the trailing 12-months' weekly average (red line) instead of looking at each month separately (dotted blue line). It certainly explains my lack of improvement in the last couple marathons (Apr-14 and Jan-15), and why the Jan-15 race was a little better.
Anyway, I've planned out the next year with yearly volume in mind, instead of hitting weekly goals, which don't always make sense. Goal is to move the red line to 70 by the end of the year. Motivation right now is 10/10, and it hasn't been there in years. Looking forward to a great 2016, happy new year all!
|
| Saucony A6 - Red/blue Miles: 15.00 |
| |
| |
| | Slow miles | Fast miles | Total Distance | | 3061.86 | 312.14 | 3374.00 |
|
| Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Miles: 553.00 | Fastwich Miles: 32.00 | Kinvara 1 - Blk/orange Miles: 269.00 | Saucony A5 - Blue Miles: 97.00 | Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Miles: 412.00 | Saucony A6 - Yellow Miles: 92.00 | 1160s Miles: 55.80 | Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Miles: 780.50 | Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Miles: 475.00 | Saucony A5 Miles: 198.00 | Saucony A5 Red Miles: 291.20 | NB MT101 Trail Miles: 44.00 | Saucony A6 - Red/blue Miles: 30.00 |
| |
|
|
|
| Debt Reduction Calculator |
|
New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
|