For Whom the Dogs Bark

41F, 71% humidity, wind NW 9 mph.  Those are the numbers on the computer for Cyrpess, but actual wind was at least 15 if not 20 mph.  It was a real problem every time I turned into it.  Otherwise it was really great running weather out there, actually had to take off my gloves after awhile.  Ran 2 warmup miles, 9:39 and 8:41, then back to GMP for 10:  7:35 (168), 7:35 (170), 7:33 (171), 7:20 (172), 7:23 (178), 7:22 (174), 7:34 (174), 7:35 (176), 7:36 (178) and 7:35 (181), flat shoes.  Overall pace 7:49, average pace for GMP miles 7:31, so pretty much on the money.  I had real problems maintaining pace the last 4 miles, it was like my legs stiffened up or something.  I wasn't particularly tired, and I felt like I pumped up the effort considerably on the last two miles and they still came in high.  I'll have to work on figuring that one out, I'm probably not limber enough.  Time for Pilates (right).  On the other hand, the relatively high heart rate never bothered me, I guess I was feeling good from not having run hard for a few days.

We have two new familes on our cul de sac.  So our neighbor invited everybody over for a pre-Super Bowl party yesterday.  Proceeding counterclockwise, the first house is English (him) and French (her), then Irish (him) and Mexican (her), then Mormon (us), then the host, Jill and Todd (the only normal house), then finally the last house is Peruvians who didn't show, but we know who they are.  But we were all united in our love for the Packers (BnS, are you still out there?), because the Steelers did some really rude things to the old Houston Oilers' Super Bowl ambitions about 30 years ago and we haven't forgotten.  We had to explain a couple of things to the English/French couple, starting with why the ball wasn't round, but before long they got with the program.  It was well worth the effort, though, because she brought over a really superior apple tart.

29F, 77% humidity, wind ENE 5 mph.  Stellar morning.  Out the door early, ran 4 before the seminary run, then took care of some work duties and ran 8 more in the bright sunshine.  It was nice out there.  Ran slower than normal after going hard yesterday:  12.24 miles in 2:07:17, average pace 10:24 per mile, flat shoes and LHR.  We have another weather system coming in, but so far I am unimpressed.  What impresses me is the number of sub-30 days we have had this year.  Must be 10 or 15 by now and we should have a couple more this week.  Some winters here it never freezes.  Either way, though, I have yet to see it get so cold you can't run, although last Wednesday was close.  Pretty much, we get to run year-round here, although a lot of locals take the summer off.

My legs hurt more today than they did after running hard yesterday.  Part of it must be delayed onset, and part of it is going out again after cooling down completely.  But the bottom line is that slow is not the same as easy.

Impossible day, did 6 easy on the TM at the house late at night, 10-minute pace.

22º, 11ºWC, wind NW 12 mph, humidity 70%.  Second coldest morning this winter for us.  But it was dry.  I didn't get to bed until 1:30 last night due to work issues, but my sweet wife offered to do the seminary run for me this morning, so I slept in until 7:30 and woke up refreshed.

The cold didn't seem so bad in the daylight.  I warmed up for 4 miles, 9:08, 8:20, 8:17 and 8:13.  Then launched into 10 x 400 (400 rest interval) as fast as my legs could do it.  I got faster as my legs loosened up.  Mile-equivalent paces for the quarters were 6:57, 6:49, 6:28, 6:43, 6:28, 6:24, 6:23, 6:14, 6:09 and 6:17.  Then a 1-mile cool-down.  I was happier with the last five than the first five.  I got more speed by trying to push off harder so as to get longer strides.  That seemed to smooth things out and helped me to pick up the pace.  Was actually nauseous when I finished but managed to eat a nutritious breakfast on schedule.  Overall run was 10.09 miles in 1:23: 45, average pace 8:18, flat shoes, ditched my heart rate strap after 2 miles, didn't really need it today anyway and there was no hope of getting a read-out in these temperatures.

Found a new pizza dive yesterday, best I have had in my 30 years in Houston.  Serving the best pizza in Houston is not a high standard, but it's always good to get a PR.

23ºF, 93% humidity, wind N 1 mph, clear and calm.  A bit chilly but great weather.  Ran 3.5, did the seminary run then finished the run mostly in the daylight.  Sun is starting to come up earlier, too bad it all goes to pot when we switch to DST in a month (March 13 to be exact).  Ran 14.01 miles in 2:21:41, average pace 10:07 per mile, low heart rate and flat shoes.  I couldn't really monitor my heart rate because I didn't sweat.  Interesting experiment would be to see how many slow miles you could run in these temperatures without needing a drink of water.

I really need to do more of these slow miles, ideally this many every day or even a few more while temperatures stay low.  They do me a lot of good over the long term and they are easy on the joints, but they eat a big chunk out of my day.  Some days it isn't possible, but maybe I can get in a bunch of them tomorrow.

29º F, 91% humidity, calm and clear.  Terrific weather, maybe a tad cool but decided against long pants and glad I did.  This was the 5th morning in a row under 30º F, which hasn't happened for many years.  Ran to Wade's house and did the loop down to the Y and back, about 16 miles, then did another loop in his neighborhood before calling it a day.  All at easy pace.  21.00 miles in 3:35:59, average pace 10:17 per mile, flat shoes.  I didn't have a heart rate monitor but am hoping the speed was slow enough to stay below my LHR threshold.  Wade was in the high 130s but mine could have been higher or lower.  Heel is bothering me some today, may have to take a week off from flat shoes.  They are great for most purposes but my right heel and Achilles let me know if I wear them too much.