For Whom the Dogs Bark

78F, 100%, SW 8 mph.  Felt good to get out running again, for about half a mile.  Lower left leg and calf are still sore from the race.  Ran 4.05 miles in 43:13, 9:29/mile, 141 bpm, 154 max.  I have travel the next two weeks, so good timing for the build-up.  Then 3 weeks as hard as I can go, then a 2-week taper for SGM.  Not sure what is going to happen after that, I don't have anything else scheduled until Woodlands in March, and I'm pacing my son on that one.  Maybe I'll run Grandma's next summer.  Now that I've toured Paavo Nurmi's little shop of horrors, Dick Beardsley's should be a snap.

But on that subject, the guys on the bus told me it was a fun course, just not fast, and that was a good description.  This course was very beautiful and the people were wonderful.  I might run it again sometime if it aligns well with overall training plan -- but I won't be trying to get a PR.

75F, 96%, NE 3 mph.  Drizzly and cloudy this morning, felt pretty comfortable outside.  5.30 miles at LLHR:  121 bpm, 125 max.  11:41/mile.  RHR 58, so my body is still trying to build back from Saturday's race.

I decided this morning that I am quite happy with how fast I came back from my injury, though I am not all the way back yet -- but at the same time I need to find my ceiling quickly, never found it before the injury.  I am probably going to do something like the following: 

(1)  Train through SGM -- run hard on race day, maybe even let up a little bit the last week going into it, but basically train through.  Definitely going though, there will be several relatives and friends there, so it will just be a fun day.  My time for that race is pretty irrelevant at this point, other than getting a qualifying time for Boston 2015 in the next age group up.

(2)  Next target race Kingwood on New Years day.  Boring 4-loop course but flat as a pancake, almost always cool or cold weather, and measures the correct distance.  Between now and then my training is going to involve lots of distance, front-loaded with lots of LHR miles, lots of long, long runs (maybe 24 miles instead of 20) and lots of daytime running.  I think I can get started right away, I really believe in LHR running and those miles don't seem to be affected too much by my recent race.  I noticed on Saturday that despite minimal speedwork going into the race it was no problem hitting GMP for extended periods of time even on a very hilly course, the problem was maintaining heart rate through the last 10K, maybe even bumping it up, need to get just a little tougher.  Every 4 weeks or so do a monster distance or workout week, then back off until I recover.

(3) Pace my son at Woodlands, then possibly run Grandma's or Paavo Nurmi next summer. 

(4) Start programs for long-term weight loss and serious long-term core/glute/hams weightlifting.  Even though I am 163 right now at 6'0" and look skinny, I am 22% body fat and can barely do a situp.  The ceiling is soft in this area, but the trick will be doing both at the same time while avoiding injury.  My bodybuilder son is a fountain of knowledge and can help me.

(5)  Something in the fall or Kingwood again, maybe both, next target race being Boston 2015.  That might be it, but that's a long ways away and could change several times.

(6)  Keep my job, I'm going to need it.

74F, 100% and calm.  Slightly cooler.  Ran 6.03 miles in 1:09:44, 11:31/mile.  LLHR: 120 bpm, 125 max;  RHR 48.  My RHR yesterday was 10 bpm higher, kind of strange.  But when I went out to run and sat down to get a reading, I started talking to my neighbor who is training for the Houston marathon, telling him about my race, etc.  By the time I got done it was in the low 60s.  When I sat still it dropped like a rock, all the way to 48.  But I did run better than yesterday, whether because of better weather or further recovery hard to tell.

Yesterday I got a health screening at work, not for personal reasons but because they offer a discount on health insurance premiums.  So I went and got my arm cuffed and finger pricked.  All the readings were very different from the ones I have gotten recently.  Blood pressure was 126/64 instead of 106/60 like I normally get at the dentists office.  Blood sugar was 109 instead of 60 from my last physical.  HDL was 37 instead of 63.  Total cholesteral 176 instead of 138.  Just a low-tech operation.  Then I had to fill out a very invasive survey on which I lied repeatedly (e.g., I get depressed whenever I think about my PR, about 5 times a day).  Finally, I have to promise to try to run a 5K.  I'm hoping they will accept a 3:47 marathon, it's the best I can offer right now.  Anything for a 3.4% discount.

73F, 93%, NNE 6 mph.  By late yesterday I was feeling good and thought I could get away with going long today, thought better of it this morning and decided to do 10, then ran it too fast anyway.  10.79 miles in 1:34:08, 8:43/mile, 155/173.  Got some good data out of it, though.  Last Wednesday I ran 4 at GMP, tapering into the race.  Miles 3 and 4 were 8:05 (157) and 8:05 (160).  Today those splits were 8:48 (151) and 8:34 (154).  So just eyeballing it, adjusting for weather differential and curvature of the earth, it looks somewhat equivalent, i.e., given that I bonked and didn't race the last 10K a week ago, seems like I have mostly recovered.  That being the case, I next compared miles 3-11 today with last Saturday.  Here it is, race times first:

(3) 8:24 (158) and 8:48 (151); (4) 7:56 (159) and 8:34 (154); (5) 8:04 (158) and 8:37 (157); (6) 8:34 (160) and 8:44 (158); (7) 8:22 (161) and 8:41 (160); (8) 8:33 (162) and 8:41 (161); (9) 8:16 (162) and 8:37 (162); (10) 8:14 (162) and 8:34 (165); and (10) 8:13 (160) and 8:35 (169) (mile adjusted pace for the 0.79 actually run).

So early on not a dramatic difference, slower pacing today but also lower heart rates.  But by mile 5 the heart rate draws even and pretty soon there is a big drop-off in today's results compared to race day.  So if my physical condition is truly about the same, that would mean I am getting 20-30 seconds per mile boost from improved weather, principally the humidity/dew point factor.  That comes out to 9-13 minutes difference over the race distance.  Cut that back a little because initial mileage is similar and there is still, conservatively, a 7-10 minute boost from dropping the dew point from 75 to 55.