Getting back to Boston

I was scheduled to take today off, but the legs felt good after yesterday's 13.2 and I figured I'd get a recovery run today and take off either Tuesday or Thursday instead. Easy, routine treadmill run at 9:42 pace. No muss, no fuss, not even much perspiration (a lot cooler around here today after a front came through this morning and dumped a bunch of rain).

I'm starting to think really seriously about what my goal for Memphis should be. I still want to break four hours, obviously, but beyond that? Maybe 3:50, maybe 3:40. Maybe even BQ. I don't have to decide just yet; my performances in training and in the three planned races between now and then will decide a lot. Especially the 13.1 in late October. That is where I'm really going to find out where my fitness is and thus decide what the ultimate plan is. I do plan to hook up with the appropriate pace group on race morning -- and stick with them this time. I do better running with a group of people, or even with one person (AKA Pat). I'm more accountable, less likely to slack off/walk, and manage my pace better. For now, IMO, a pace group is the way to go. And if things go well for the next four months, the pace group I may be with is the 3:30 group.

The reason I'm starting to think about the ultimate goal is that training is going so well. I'm handling higher mileage and faster paces, together, better than I had hoped I would. Frankly, I'll be really disappointed with "only" a 45-minute PR if I don't break 4:00. And I may be disappointed if I don't go quite a bit lower than that.

Pat won't be in Memphis, BTW. He's going to jog Omaha in late September and then seriously run Detroit. I looked at the Detroit website this morning and it looks like an interesting race. Something about running from the U.S. to Canada and back (including the tunnel from Windsor to Detroit) intrigues me. I may have to put Detroit on my future wish list, along with Chicago, Toronto, Athens and, of course, Boston. And at some point, I'd probably go run Houston if only because I lived down there so long.

Nine miles on the treadmill tonight, followed by 10 striders. Weather was cooler and drier today and I probably could have run outside semi-comfortably, but since I was on call, it's easier to have my phone with me on the treadmill than on the road. So I ran on the TM, watched the Home Run Derby while I ran, and it seemed to be a nice distraction. Turns out I got called twice in the half-hour AFTER I finished my run -- and the cellphone didn't ring either time. I really need a new phone -- or a new carrier, but Verizon is buying my carrier, so we'll see if that makes any difference.

It feels strange to say that a nine-mile run which ends with three miles of sub-9:00 running was easy, but it was. My pulse never got up to150 and I was barely winded after nine miles. Now the striders, that's another story. Maybe I'm still approaching them as I did wind sprints in junior high school football, except I'm probably running them faster than I did then (and I know I'm in better shape than I was then).

Got caught up on my sleep somewhat over the weekend, although last-minute studying and my reunion will probably cut back on that through this week.

Short and sweet. Four easy miles at 9:30 pace after a bad day at work and not much sleep, thanks to a mysterious call from a patient at 2:30 a.m. with a psychiatric problem (I don't do psychiatry). A little bit of studying for Thursday's test, then early to bed. Probably 9-10 miles tomorrow, unless I get pummelled again at work. 

Not sure easy miles is the right way to describe most of this run. I ran nine miles at 9-minute pace, which until 2 weeks ago WAS GMP for me. Felt smooth too. Then did last mile at NEW GMP -- 8-minute pace.

Kind of a mixed day. I had a miserable morning taking PANRE for five hours (bad), my son had a very nice 18th birthday and we had an excellent family birthday dinner (good), and I decided I needed to run off some of that dinner, so I went for a nothing recovery run. That probably falls into the category of junk miles, but an easy day is an easy day whether I spend it on the couch or doing three slow treadmill miles.

 True to my OCD tendencies, because both Pfitz and Daniels recommend not running under a certain amount of time, I added in one more "lap" of the treadmill to get me up over 30 minutes. I noticed a little twinge in my left hamstring tendons as I got going, but it felt like something that I could work out as I ran, and sure enough, it eased off.

I guess I'm getting old now. The hair (what's left of it) is gray, I'm just as (or more) likely to turn the car radio off as crank it, I have just about zero interest in pop culture or movies or why Brangelina went to France to have their brats, and the kid is now an adult. But I have my running again, and on the road, I can still dust a lot of young whippersnappers and I'm working on getting past more of them. Gray hair or not.

I'm really pleased with how I've adapted to higher mileage so far. I'm sometimes sore when I go to bed, but the soreness is virtually gone by the time I get up the next morning. That bodes well for me as I build up the MPWs through the summer and fall. I still have to be careful, though. I still have the tendency to do too much -- too many miles, too fast, not enough rest. It's a tendency I'll have to fight as long as I keep running, I guess, unless I finally get that impulse to overdo tamed.

Off today. Full day of work, then into the car and down to Arkadelphia for my class reunion (#30 for those scoring at home). I'm not the most successful member of the Class of 1978, but I bet I'm the only one who has run a marathon (well, I can think of one other possibility). But that's all right. I'm not going to impress people. I'm going mainly to see Mike, whom I haven't seen in 20 plus years after I spent much of my childhood at his house. Have to cut it off early tonight; the 6 a.m. Crackhead session looms Saturday.

Bit of a setback today. I got in bed by 10:30 and got six hours' sleep, but I was not well rested. Once I started running from Surgical Hospital, I realized the legs weren't rested either. Plus there were some GI issues left over from last night's food at the reunion. Once those were resolved, the legs continued to feel heavy, plus I sped up quite a bit to catch up to Pat. Then on the loop around the Burns Park ballfields, I started to have pain in my feet and particularly my toes, related to the wrong choice of socks. I can't wear those socks unless my shoes are a full size too big (which I may need to consider anyway). A bit of walking (OK, a lot of walking) from miles 7-9 helped the legs, but the feet still hurt until I finally got rid of the socks entirely.

So, with all that, I decided the planned 14 miles was just too much. So instead of turning left when I got back to the soccer complex, I turned right and returned to Surgical Hospital. It still ended up as an 11-mile morning, which I finished in a touch over two hours. Pat thinks I may have ramped up the mileage a tad too quickly, and he may be right. Next week is a bit of a backoff anyway because of the 5K next Saturday, so hopefully that will help get the legs back.