For Whom the Dogs Bark

70F.  I went out the door at 5:30 a.m. for my normal a.m. run, did one mile at low heart rate and then the rain came pouring down.  I hurried inside just as Austin was pulling out for seminary, so I quickly explained that I wasn't a wimp, I just didn't want to be struck by lightning, which is a good possibility for someone like me.  He was like sure, Dad, and drove off laughing.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), there was no lightning, which I will say is unusual for a storm of this magnitude, especially when the starting temperature is 70.  I think it dropped 10 degrees just during the run and the wind was ferocious.

So I ran from my downtown office at lunch.  I recently joined a club downtown so I could have more flexibility.  It is a good time to join with the economy in the toilet.  I got a whole year for $250, I basically pay for it twice by not entering the Ogden Marathon in May.  So anyway I figured everything out and found the trail along the bayou.  A total of 6.00 miles in 1:01:07, average pace 10:11, average heart rate 157 bpm, 60F.  I intended to do it at low heart rate but the wind was still strong and the trail had more up and down than I thought possible in this town, so that plan went out the window real quick and I just ran.  I'll figure out the rest later, the important thing was to get my run in.

Legs are still sore from Saturday but I'll be fine.

41F, 6.21 miles in 1:20:00, average pace 12:53, average heart rate 128 bpm. I went to one of those Brazilian meat palaces last night with some clients and ate quite a bit, even though I tried to keep the quantity down and ate lots of salad. Very good restaurant, very slow morning. My legs are still unwinding from the weekend and yesterday, so it's OK. Interesting, though, how the quantity and type of food at dinner affects running performance the next morning.

Also, in what is becoming a trend, I interrupted my run again, this time a bio break to visit the Juan. A Juan, as opposed to a PoP, has no hand sanitizer in it. I thought I was early enough to avoid competition, but all of a sudden truck drove up and some guy started banging on the door. Juan wanted to use the Juan.

38F, 6.15 miles in 1:20:00, average pace 13:01, average heart rate 126 bpm.  Frustrating run because I love these running conditions, but at this ambient temperature my heart rate was all over the map.  Max 158 and min 105, even late in the run.  It never would stabilize, I am surprised that the average rate came in so close to normal.  Nothing to do but keep running.  I am happy that my legs, knees and feet are staying in good shape, no ill effects from Saturday's and Monday's faster runs.

My Rockets screwed up late against the Suns last night, so I'm guessing a couple of AZ siblings are gloating, not to mention Burt.  I'm taking no calls this morning.  I love this Rockets team, they have no talent but they show up every night and even when they don't win they are almost always in the game late.

48F, warmed up for two miles, about 11:00 pace then ran 10 x 400 with 400 jogging intervals, then jogged in for the last mile or two, about the same pace.  I left my heart rate monitor at home today, but I'll take it on the next one of these, it would have been interesting to see what is happening on the upper end of the spectrum.  Average pace for the whole run was 10:10 per mile, total distance 7.87, total running time 1:20:00.  These are most of my splits, although I'm not the greatest at figuring out the buttons on my Garmin:

2:16, 2:04, 1:57, 1:57, 1:54, 1:50, 1:54, 1:49 (7:09 pace).

That's only eight splits, so where did the others go?  No telling, I had a 1:47 in there I thought, and  I swear I counted ten splits altogether.  It felt good to stretch it out a little bit, and I actually hit my lactate threshold on one of the quarters, something I haven't felt since I was a teenager.  I wonder if it is still possible to run a 5-minute mile (slapping myself awake now).  I hope I don't pay dearly for this morning's frolic. 

61F, 6.37 miles in 1:20:00, average pace 12:34, average heart rate 127.  This was one of those days when there are all kinds of reasons to not go out -- short on sleep, bad weather, work pressures, but then when you run it anyway you are glad you did.  I ran this one in howling wind and horizontal rain.  Despite the mild temperature, it was actually cold with the wind and the rain.  Also, it is garbage day and everybody's cans were blowing over.  Empty milk jugs were rolling down the street (sad to report, mostly whole milk labels).  I had no competition on the roads this morning.  Amazingly enough, my legs felt pretty good despite yesterday's run.  Looks like the rain will clear out, the clouds will stay and it should cool down by about 10 degrees for tomorrow's long run.

51F at beginning, 53F at end, 21.00 miles in 3:28:04, average pace 9:55 per mile.  This was the goal run I had for last week but didn't make it, so I stubbornly added a half hour to the run and went for it again.  It was about 10 degrees cooler and that helped, but I think my training helped too.  This run puts me on target for a 4:20 to 4:30 marathon on New Years Day.  A good day would be faster than that, but a bad day would be slower.  Either way I should beat my St. George time unless heat is a factor, which is always a possibility around here.

When I anxiously peered out the window at 5:00 a.m. it was raining and gusty.  That doesn't usually bother me for a shorter run but it gave me pause this morning.  I knew my feet would be wet and my shirt heavy by the time I got done.  I have a weak mind, what can I say.  But I made it out the door and everything went pretty well after I got going.  It never rained too hard, but my feet were wet and my shirt was heavy by the time I got done.  My splits were:

10:20, 9:25, 9:46, 9:53, 9:59, 9:42, 9:53, 10:00, 9:45, 9:52, 9:53, 9:56, 9:51, 10:00, 9:47, 10:00, 9:56, 10:00, 9:58, 10:03, 10:05.

I learned a lot on this run.  I got my hydration and electrolytes working pretty well so I could concentrate on my other systems.  By the time I got 2/3 of the way in I was struggling with every mile, but I learned that I could push through when I don't have stomach issues.