Getting back to Boston

Another Beat the Cop run on Moon Landing Day. Had about 46 minutes to get in five miles before the cop chased me out of the clubhouse, and decided to crank up a five-miler nd get it in before they tossed me out. Started at 9:00 pace, then 8:42, then 8:20, then the last two miles at GMP. Finished in 41:42.

I'm starting to think what I need to do for Memphis is to stay on about a 75-mpw plan, maybe 80, but push the quality runs harder than I have done in the past. Perhaps that combination, along with better sodium loading, will get me over the hump and into the Boston field. But I still want to look at Hudson before I start any plan.

Another progression run. Started at 6.5, ended up at 9.0. Overall average less than 8:45. Legs felt pretty good. I'm starting to toy with the idea on doing Dam Night Run on Saturday; a lot's going to depend on the weather on Saturday. Something less than 95 degrees and 80% humidity, which is what I got last July, would be nice.

Oh yeah, went over 1500 miles for the year tonight. Only did 1900 all last year.

Easy recovery run. Had intended to go 4, but Astros were rallying when I got to that point and I didn't want to step off the DM and miss the end (sure enough, they won in the bottom of the ninth). So just kept going another 10:10 to make it five miles. Figure if I'm only going to be in the AC for another month, might as well make full use of it.

Double-day today, including a race. Went out to Pinnacle Mountain this morning with the Crackheads and got a good 6-miler in over the hills out there. I think I needed a run like that, to break things up. Plus it won't hurt my strength to have run all those hills at a decent pace. Tried to moderate the pace so as not to wear myself out in case I decide to go to Arkadelphia tonight for the Dam Night Run (which, as I suggested, is likely), but still averaged 9:23 miles even with the hills (and mile 6, which is almost all uphill, I ran in 9:06)

Headed for Arkadelphia in late afternoon, still felt good, a little stiff but OK. That changed on the ride up to the start. DNR is a point-to-point race, and to get to the start from the finish, they carry people up the hill on lumber trucks. You're sitting on a bundle of 2X4s, literally. Which is a lawsuit waiting to happen; there's nothing to prevent people from falling off. Anyway, the road is quite rough, there's nothing to hold on to and you're tensing up trying to make sure you don't fall enough. So by the time we got to the top, my back had locked up. Stretching and a warmup run didn't help -- although they definitely warmed me up; sweat was streaming down my back as I stood at the line. It wasn't as hot as it was for this race last year, but it was darn humid. So I'm three miles from the finish, and my car, and I can either run down the hill or bail out and walk down the hill. So I decided to run.

It was obvious early that my back was not going to let me run fast. I just tried to maintain as good a pace as I could. First mile was like 7:20, second mile was 7:50. It actually seemed to loosen up a bit in the third mile and I was able to pick up the pace in the last half-mile, which included a big downhill. By the time I drove halfway back home and had to stop for gas, I was COMPLETELY locked up and limping.