Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

29F to start, 43F to finish...Awesome day to run.  This was my first 20-miler back in the U.S. and I got to explore some new areas.  I ran to one of the many wind farms around Abilene, and actually found some solid hills!  We have a zillion humongous electricity-generating windmills around our town (gee, wonder why) but I've never really seen them up close.  Sometimes you'll see an "oversize load" 18+ wheeler slowly carrying a single fan blade on the interstate.  Anyway, about 8 miles into the run I found myself on an isolated road with 100+ foot tall windmills on either side, whooshing away.  Very surreal, it was a cool experience.

Oh yeah, I had a great run too.  Plan was 10 ez, 10 @ GMP.

AP for 10 ez was 8:04.  Splits were 8:24, 8:05, 8:14, 8:11, 8:00, 7:59, 7:52, 7:58, 7:58, 7:54.

AP for 10 "mp" was 7:12. Splits were 7:38, 7:25, 7:17, 7:22, 7:19, 7:15, 7:08, 7:04, 6:54, 6:40.

"MP" in quotes because that is more like HMP.  Believe it or not, the last 3 miles were into a decent headwind.  AP for the run - 7:38.

Sooo, I did this run at my goal marathon pace on average.  My time of 2:32:36 is 18 seconds faster than my 20-mile split at Houston.  The difference is I was on death's door in Houston at the 20-mile point, but able to run a 6:40 mile into the wind today.  Mostly it's the 30-degree difference in temperature, but I think I'm more fit too.

One thing I should probably point out...I just checked the map data, and I climbed a net 200 feet going out and descended 200 feet coming back home.  So that skews the last 10 miles a little.

61F, wind S 15-20.  My hips are still kinda sore from Sunday, and I didn't like the temperature or wind so I blew off Tempo Tuesday and just did some solid aerobic base miles.  8:07 AP.  The wind was only moderate by our standards, and I was able to run sub-9s on the direct headwind legs; when the wind is bad I can't even do that, but still not a good day to try and hit any specific paces.  I will make up for it on Thursday, it's supposed to be nicer.

36F, 13 mph wind.  8:04 AP.  Nice and cool this morning, but I just did base miles again.  I had to borrow some of tomorrow's miles; I want to do some faster stuff in racing flats tomorrow but don't want exceed 9 total miles.

AM#1 - 31F, 5mph winds.  Great day to run fast.  I warmed up 3 miles @ 8:05 AP, then did 4 mile repeats with an easy half-mile inbetween.  The mile repeats (with rest intervals) were:

6:37, (3:59), 6:28, (3:51), 6:20 (3:40), 6:14, (4:20 cooldown).

AP 7:19 for 9 miles.

I am now a fan of racing flats.  I just kept getting faster, even my half-mile "rest" was speeding up.  I redlined by the end of the last one as the last half-mile was a little uphill.  Probably shouldn't have pushed so hard 2 days before my 5K...oh well.  Goal will be a sub-20.

Damage assessment from the flats - not much, but my right achilles or lower calf is a bit tender/sore.  Not bad to run or walk on, so hopefully it goes away.

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AM#2 - I was in a class this morning that did a mock-PT test...crap.  So, quarter-mile warmup, then 1.5 at about a 6:45 pace (after pushups and situps).  I just kinda cruised since I was a good bit in front of everyone, but maybe shoulda made it more of a jog since it was not officially scored.  I just hate giving crappy effort.  Right achilles feeling a bit more tender now, but should not affect Saturday's race.  I am starting to re-think flats for a half marathon though, we'll see.

8:42 AP.  Hopefully my legs are ready to go tomorrow for the 5K, and are recovered from the fast stuff yesterday.  Right now they are angry at me.

Conditions for the race were mid 50s and windy.  I got to the race and the south wind is blowing down every sign or stand they put up.  I'd guesstimate 15-20 mph.  Thankfully, two-thirds of the race was east/west.

Warmed up a couple miles and started near the front.  Not a bad turnout for Abilene, probably a couple hundred people.  Mile 1 I started out in 6th, and worked my way up to 4th by the end of the mile.  Split was 6:14.  Mile 2 I moved into 3rd where I would stay the rest of the race - I just could not catch up to the 2 guys in front, but they were close (10-15 seconds ahead maybe).  Mile 2 split was 6:25.  The last mile was tough.  About halfway through, we hit a wall of wind.  I knew I wouldn't catch up at that point as my legs became silly putty.  Still, Mile 3 was 6:22.  The last bit was tailwind, and I did the 0.13 in 40 seconds (5:06 pace).

Big PR, way better than I thought would be possible.  I might just try and wear flats for the half next weekend if the lower calf/achilles (not sure which it is) soreness goes away.  I'm definitely not used to the shoes yet but getting there.