For Whom the Dogs Bark

48F, 93% humidity, calm, foggy and misting rain.  This is very good running weather.  I got almost 8 hours of sleep and felt much better this morning.  Ran the first half at low heart rate, averaging about 9:55 per mile or so, almost back in my zone.  Then the goal was to run two sets of 2 at 6:30, but I wasn't strong enough to pull that off.  I ran one at 6:59 and felt pretty trashed.  Ran a recovery mile, then did 1.5 at 6:55, a little better.  Ran another recovery mile then another fast mile at 7:00.  On this one I felt like I was able to get into a smoother, more relaxed rhythm, even though it was still difficult.  Then jogged it in.  Overall 12.39 miles in 1:52:03, average pace 9:03 per mile.

I ran across some references over the weekend to age group All-Americans, got curious and looked it up.  Turns out the standards are ridiculously loose, I have already met all of them for 5K through marathon for the road racer category and I am an average runner.  Inexplicably, they are much tighter for the track category (18:25 and 39:00 for my age group).  But in the process I found out that there are standards for national ranking by age group.  For my group they are:   5K: 18:20 (5:54); 10K: 39:30 (6:22);  half: 1:27 (6:38); and full: 3:00 (6:52).  Those are worthy goals and a significant accomplishment for any 55-year old who can do it.  To put things in perspective, this morning I ran 2.4K at a pace slightly slower than target pace for a 3-hour marathon.  Hard to believe there are old guys running around that fast out there.  They must be wearing very short shorts and doing yoga.

51F, 96% humidity, calm.  12.22 miles in 2:04:58, 10:14 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.

37F, 100% humidity, calm and clear.  Beautiful morning with almost a full moon and Saturn (or whatever it is) still hanging around at dawn, mid-sky in the south.  I bundled up but didn't need to.  Even though we had high humidity it felt warmer than yesterday because it wasn't raining or getting ready to rain.  For the first leg I had only 70 minutes to run, so I did 3 at low heart rate, one transition mile at old marathon pace (8:46), then two fast ones, 7:08 (166) and 6:53 (176).  Then jogged in for a mile and had to make a seminary run to pick up my daughter.  After getting her home I went out for five more, one warmup mile and four at progressive pace, 8:10 (155), 7:52 (162), 7:43 (166), and 7:33 (172).  Last one was harder than it should have been but that is the story lately, interesting that my heart rate for the 7:33 mile was about the same as for the 6:53 mile.  I think it takes the heart a while to get up to speed.  Overall I ran 12.13 miles in 1:46:22, average pace 8:46 per mile, flat shoes.  Good run, but don't know where my best speed went.  I did a 6:34 mile on November 22, less than two weeks after a marathon.  Maybe I have been gaining weight, but I am afraid to check it.

53F, 93% humidity, calm and cloudy.  Temperature dropping all day today, but running this morning was very comfortable.  Ran 12.16 miles in 2:07:42, average pace 10:30 per mile, low heart rate and regular shoes.  Compares to a similar run last week in regular shoes.  Also had a run in this range last week in flat shoes, so looks like I am definitely slower all of a sudden across all heart rate zones, no idea why.  I got on the scales expecting to see 5 extra pounds but it wasn't there.  Has to be something else, but hopefully it won't last long.  My liver is probably regrouping or something.  (Does that sound bad?)

29F, 21F wind chill, 74% humidity,couldy and wind N 8 mph.  Cold, but predicted winds were 20-30 mph, so could have been much worse.  Usually the wind dies out some by the time it gets this far south.  Did a full wrap and wasn't that cold except for my fingers, which were like 10 popsicles by the time I finished.  Wimpy I know, but the cloth gloves were not doing it for this southern runner.  It has cleared up now and I think it will be even colder tomorrow, but probably no wind.  I ran 12.02 miles in 2:02:06, average pace 10:10 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  Got 4 in a row under 10 so a little better.

26F, 81% humidity, wind NW 2 mph, clear and cold.  Bright moon, waning but almost full, gorgeous morning for a run.  Bundled up double wrap and was on the road before 5.  Met Wade at his house, ran down to the Y and joined them for 4 of their 8 miles (most of them are running the Houston Marathon in a week) before breaking off and heading home.  I left Wade at his house and ran a few more to get 20, last 4 were 8:47, 8:37, 8:25 and 7:41, 20.06 miles altogether, 2:58:23, average pace 8:54 per mile, flat shoes.  Felt good to run in the brisk weather this morning, but not nearly as good as the big breakfast and hot shower afterward.  No ice bath for this runner.  Breakfast was 4 glasses of of grapefruit juice, one calcium pill, one piece of toast with peanut butter, one glass of chocolate milk, 1/3 cup of whole wheat boiled (with 1% milk, brown sugar and blueberries), and one egg (cooked Sunnyside up in honor of allie).  No wonder I'm not losing any weight.

Wade had a good week.  He has been in search mode for 6 months and got a job on Thursday.  CFO of a start-up oilfield tool company, gets to keep his old salary and has a ton of upside as the company grows, and he is staying in Houston so I'm not losing a running buddy.  Plus he is getting some running speed back, he has almost caught back up to me all of a sudden, which makes sense -- he was faster than me in high school and he is 7 or 8 years younger than me.  He announces his new job on Wednesday.  Would have qualified for a nice severance package (about 3 months of salary) if he waited two more weeks to announce.  His wife asked him why he couldn't wait to announce and he said he didn't feel right taking severance from his old company when he already had a job.  He was a Mormon bishop for five years and I would say he was flying his colors high this week.  Not sure I would have come out the same way as he did, but I have complete respect for a decision like that.  So many people I deal with are fun to be around in most circumstances but they behave differently when money is involved.  It is an honor to count Wade as a friend.

In contrast to Wade, I found a $1 bill by the side of the trail this morning.  I think I spotted it first because I have the poorest running form, always looking at the ground.  Caused a 15-runner pile-up while I stopped to scoop it up and do a victory dance.  I'm not in Burt's league, but it's a start.