Today I Run

OBJECTIVE

5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED

5.12 : 38:36 = (7:32 min/mile)

9:20 AM 47° 30% 12 mph

I felt very good today once I was out the door. I'm not sure what to attribute it to ... it could be the two day break from running or the better conditions here in Houston than in Utah or better sleep and nutrition or full recovery from my lifting session at the South Weber Recreation Center last week ....

I didn't check my watch until I heard the mile indicator for the first time. I felt strong and felt that I had started at a stronger pace than I've been running lately but I was surprised to see that I was at 7:28. I felt good and figured that I'd just try to maintain the pace. You can see that I fell off a bit (thanks to the last couple miles) but I was happy to run strong and not have ITB issues. My right calf flared up slightly but it wasn't a factor in today's run.

I extended my usual 4-mile "Stuebner-Airline" route to pick up an extra mile. I ended up down on Cypresswood across a section of the Bearkat Bash 5K course.

I expect to pick up my mileage a bit this week and am looking forward to my next race on January 12, the Run The Woodlands 5K. Hopefully I stay strong over the next week and a half. Turning the calendar to 2008 is also exciting in that it's now the year in which I plan to qualify for the Boston Marathon. ... here's to a great year of running!

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, waffles w/syrup & 2% milk

OBJECTIVE

35 min tempo : no pace

ACHIEVED

4.05 miles : 35:42 = 8:49/mi.

4:48 AM 37° 78% 5 mph

It was warmer today. I generally felt okay. Strange how the mind works ... I was running for time this morning ... 35 minutes. I planned to run the 4 mile route and knew that I'd have to add on a bit to get the time. I was mentally prepared for the 4 miles but was groping around for the best way to add on to the run. Finally, I decided that I'd best circle the block back in my neighborhood to get the additional time. I wasn't thrilled about that but figured it would be fine. Interestingly, after completing the 4 mile route I found myself back at the house. I checked my watch ... I had been running a little over 35 minutes! Somehow my mind had worked as a governor to restrict my pace such that I wouldn't have to run in the neighborhood! I've had a few similar occurrences over the past several months. It is proof to me the the mental side of running can be a powerful tool or an obstacle. Of course, I have no idea at the moment how to harness this power but I convinced that it's there. I analyzed my splits at home and found that I was generally slowing over the whole run. I didn't feel it but somehow I mentally "made it happen" because I didn't really want to run the neighborhood. I need to give this concept more consideration.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast & multivitamin

Later, Kashi GoLean cereal with skim milk

OBJECTIVE

8 mile easy : no pace

ACHIEVED

8.38 miles : 66:35 = 7:56/mi.

8:05 AM

Had a good run this morning. This was my longest since November 17's 17-miler. I'm happy to report no problem with ITB's or right calf. The best part of today's run was that Jonathan drove up to run with me. Although we've met for lunch a few times recently, I don't think we've run together since October 21 in Baton Rouge the morning after the LSU - Auburn football game.

Jonathan is tapering for next Sunday's Houston Marathon. He's looking for a 3:10 to qualify for the Boston marathon. He just missed the qualifying time at last month's White Rock marathon in Dallas; coming in at 3:11:55. That was his first marathon effort after starting running the same night I did back in March (2007). I wish him the best with next weekend's effort. I'm betting he'll do it. For anyone interested, his blog is at Run for Speed. I'll admit his blog is more entertaining and informative than mine!

Anyway, it was great to run with him and we shared good conversation over the whole 8+ miles. He wanted to cover the distance at 8 minute miles which I knew may be a bit of a stretch for me. But I felt great this morning and with the distraction of the conversation, the miles rolled by easily.

It had rained this morning before we ran so it was a bit steamy but overall it was a great morning to run ... good weather, great company, feeling solid ... I'm happy with how it all went down this morning.

Thank you for making the drive to run with me this morning, Jonathan!

PRE RUN

Earlier, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk & water

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, water, multivitamin, & water

OBJECTIVE

3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED

3.37 mi. : 26:39 = 7:55/mi.

6:36 AM 64° 94% 8 mph

I just wanted to get out today and see how I felt after yesterday's good run. I had the idea in the back of my head that I just wanted to finish strong. This concept was balanced against the fact that I just wanted to stretch it out.

It was warm this morning. For the sake of next weekend's Houston marathoners and especially my friends who are running, I hope that it's cooler next Sunday morning than it is today! A marathon start in the mid-60's most likely would not result in a good day.

While stretching out before I got started, I noticed that my hips had a bit of tenderness in them. I'm guessing it's the ITB "connection" at the hip. It didn't bother me at all during the run but it was there pre-run. My right calf felt good before, during, and after. I think I'm ready to officially declare that injury as behind me. I should probably wait on any "free from injury" declarations until after next Saturday's 5K. My body will encounter some stresses that it hasn't been subjected to in a while ... so until then I'll tread lightly ....

Today's run was decent. Nothing especially noteworthy. I tacked on a little extra at the end just to force myself mentally to run in my neighborhood. For some reason, I seem to have a mental block about doing that.

PRE RUN

Nothing

POST RUN

Nothing

OBJECTIVE

3 mi : no pace

ACHIEVED

3.01 mi. : 25:07 = 8:20/mi.

5:29 AM 46°F 64% 6mph

Missed yesterday's hill session due to work (year-end close). Thought I'd do an extra mile mile today and go 4 but woke up late and as soon as I started my left ITB flared. This was/is a surprising development. The left has always been secondary and never too bad. But today it got my attention early and often! I pulled back the reins just hoping to get the run in. By the time I was on the third mile, the knee had numbed. This is a obviously a frustrating development. Today was supposed to be my last training run before Saturday's 5K but I'm not exactly sure how the play this latest set back. I also have no good idea what led to this. Hopefully it's short-term but I'm starting to have my doubts.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

oatmeal w/skim milk, cinnamon, & honey, multivitamin & water

OBJECTIVE

Test my legs (ITB's & right calf); Run a good race; Assess fitness

Stretch goal - if everything's going well, press for a PR

ACHIEVED

3.1 mi. : 20:37 = 6:42/mi. NEW PR

8:00 AM 44° 88% 0 mph

Very strange race today .... I'm thrilled with shaving 11 seconds off my PR. The fact that it follows no speed workouts since before Thanksgiving is a huge surprise. There hasn't been much intensity to my workouts since the 2 week layoff after Thanksgiving. From that point, I've run more frequently but with reduced intensity and mileage. I've only been around 20 miles a week with my longest run an 8 miler last Saturday. What's more surprising to me is that since Wednesday my legs have felt terrible. The left ITB seems to have only gotten worse since Wednesday morning's run. I didn't run Thursday or Friday. This break was planned. But noticed that throughout each day after sitting for extended periods at work, my left ITB and, to a lesser degree, my right ITB really felt ... strained ??? or maybe inflamed ... ??? This morning I wondered if I should even go to the race but decided it was scheduled and, if I had to, I could just shut it down mid-race.

The race was lightly attended today. I'm sure tomorrow's Houston marathon played into the participation. It was cool. I wore tights and my Nike jacket over a technical t-shirt. I also wore gloves and knit hat.

As usual a few younger runners pressed the pace as we circled the bus loop at the elementary school twice. Shortly before leaving the loop I checked my watched and, if I recall correctly, I was at a 6:08/mi. pace. This was a faster start than I wanted. There was a group of 4 or 5 guys ahead of me leaving the school. I was able to put them behind me over the next 1/3 mile.

A little less than a mile in, I was aware a couple of the guys were hanging with me. I thought I did a good job running my race and not letting their presence impact my pace.

I covered the first mile in 6:25. I had planned to be at 6:27 so I felt good. My legs were not bothering me in the slightest which really surprised me based on the past few days. My focus shifted to holding the pace. One runner was still with me. It seemed that he was drafting off me but there was no wind. The wide sidewalk is winding and I was staying on the tangents as much as possible. This most likely made it difficult to pass me ... if in fact that was his intention. I hoped that I would be able to drop him but it became clear that he was going to stay with me. My next hope was that it came down to a kick; hoping I would have something in the tank even without any speed work since before Thanksgiving. I felt my form breaking down slightly and my pace falling off a bit. Aerobically I felt fine but I think the fast start was catching up with me.

Somewhere around 2 miles, I was passed. I had covered Mile 2 in 6:46; had planned for 6:42. So I was slightly slower (+2 seconds) than my goal through 2 miles. I stayed on the heels of the runner who had passed for somewhere around 1/3 mile before he started stretching it out on me. I hoped to see him closer to the finish but I didn't. I think he ended up finishing 20 seconds in front of me. I tried to focus on holding my form together. For me that usually means resisting the urge to lean back at the waist. I do this by working to keep my shoulders over the balls of my feet. I also felt like I was overstriding a bit so I tried to shorten my stride a bit and increase my turnover. I feel like all of this helps me. However as usually happens, I was only able to keep my mental focus for short distances. I persisted but wasn't able to stick with it as much as I would have liked.

Based on how I was feeling when I was passed, I had decided on a two-stage kick. I don't know if this technique has any value at all. It may even be counterproductive. For me this means that with a 1/2 mile to go, I really hit it at about 90%+ effort. I'm not able sustain this for long ... maybe 200 - 250 meters. From there, I naturally slow. This allows me to recover ever-so-slightly for a final push. Today's data shows I made a strong push for about 200 meters before falling back to the overall pace. Then with 200 meters left, I made a good final kick.

I finished at 20:37 (based on times being called at the finish line). I was happy and surprised. The the last several weeks training and the past few days leg issues. I really doubted my ability to pull anything like this off. I'm looking forward to my next phase of training.

The weather was cool and I think it's supposed to continue for tomorrow's Houston Marathon.

Good luck to all of tomorrow's marathoners and especially my running friends!

PRE RUN

Earlier, Grape Nuts w/skim milk & water

Multivitamin, 800 mg Ibuprofen, & water

1/2 Clif bar & water

POST RUN

Water, SlimFast, & 1/2 Clif bar

Later, flax seed pancakes 2/syrup & skim milk

Later than later, French toast & skim milk

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.02 mi. : 25:03 = 8:18/mi.

5:07 AM 36° 93% 0 mph

Strange run this morning .... My left knee was bothering me pretty intensely from the outset. I figured I'd just take it slow and easy to allow myself the opportunity to "gut it out". A little over a mile in, the pain eased up and continued to improve until it was gone. Very strange .... I don't know what to think of it. It probably has something to do with Saturday's race effort. That's the first time I've been that intense since Thanksgiving. But it didn't bother me during the race at all .... I did do some heavy leg extensions yesterday but I doubt that contributed.

Anyway it was really nice to just keep running and be able to get some relief along the way. I ended up with negative splits at around 34 seconds each.

I went to watch the Houston Marathon yesterday. I first stopped around the Mile 5 but quickly determined that I was too late to see most of my friends. From there, I drove to a spot a couple blocks before 20K. I sat there for quite a while and took some pictures. It was a cool, breezy morning ... great conditions to run in except for the wind. I saw Joe Oviedo, Jonathan Bennett, Laurie Aaron, Stephanie Burlet, Josh Rayner, Miranda Jamieson, and Bob Bond come through. I then relocated to Mile 22 and saw everyone except Stephanie come through. It was an interesting perspective to watch a marathon from the spectator's vantage point.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk; water

OBJECTIVE

3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED

4.00 mi : 32:27 = 8:07/mi.

3:25 AM 52° 92% 0 mph

I couldn't sleep so I got up and went for a run. There's a lot going on at work which occupied my mind for most of the time. I stretched the run an extra mile to get more "thinking time".

Going to try to get some sleep now.

Oh ... almost forgot ... my Garmin wasn't working this morning so I used my IronMan watch. Not sure what's wrong with the Garmin. Seems like the battery dead and won't recharge ....

PRE RUN

Clif Bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast & multivitamin

GOAL
3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.04 miles : 23:10 = 7:37/mi.

Had a good run this morning which I expected since I missed my weekend long run due to work. Tried Sasha's ta-ta-ta cadence (which honestly I don't really know what it is, how to do it, or what it's supposed to do) and it seemed to speed me up and allow me to keep a strong pace.

Run nice, negative splits.


PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & water

OBJECTIVE
5 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
5.13 miles : 42:30 = 8:17/mi.

4:24 AM 57° 95% 1 mph light rain

My left knee was cranky for a little less than a mile this morning but got with the program thereafter. It was warm with a very heavy mist/light rain. It was a quiet morning. I only saw a couple of cars over the whole run. Although one of them was a speeding SUV on a dark section of Cypresswood Drive that came closer than I'd like. I think it may have been a law enforcement vehicle .... I'll assume the best ... they were responding to an emergency and the abrupt lane change that took the vehicle into my path was necessary ... ???

My mile splits were tightly bunched today (slowest mile - 8:22; fastest mile 8:12). I suppose that qualifies this as a tempo run. Although the pace was slower than my tempo run should be. I'm still running at "no pace". I thought I'd switch to defined pacing this week but since I missed the long run over the weekend and re-read some of Daniel's stuff, I'm not sure what the proper pacing should be at this point. At the moment, my plan is to roll off of Hal Higdon's plan that I'm currently following (not enough detail) and shift over to Runners' World Smart Coach. Next week will be 16 weeks out from the Ogden marathon which is an ideal point to start. The other thing I like about Smart Coach is that it better fits my schedule for now. I've recently taken on additional responsibilities at work and am "drinking from a fire hydrant" right now. I like running as a release during this time but there are late hours and suboptimal nutrition and rest ahead. It's just a fact. Smart Coach should allow me to properly prepare for Ogden and better manage the other aspects of my current situation. Smart Coach also worked well for me at last year's Ogden half and St. George.

Yesterday was a bad nutrition day for me and I felt it during this morning's run ... just a general sluggishness. It wasn't that I ate bad food ... just that I didn't get enough calories and carbohydrates to properly fuel for today's run.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & water
Later, oatmeal w/b.sugar & skim milk, water

OBJECTIVE
3 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
≈3.00 miles : 23:52 = 7:57/mi.

≈4:30 AM 42° 92% 1 mph light rain

Got 3 miles in under light rain and cooler temperatures. About 150 yards from the house a car passed and sprayed me big time. At that point the hope of staying as dry as possible had been eliminated! My left knee was slow to start again but, as has been the trend, finally got into the act a little before the 1 mile mark. My Garmin didn't work from the outset so I switched to the IronMan and followed the regular 3 mile route. Overall I felt pretty good this morning. Tomorrow is a scheduled day off before going out for 5 miles on Friday and 9 on Saturday. The cool temperatures and rain are supposed to continue throughout the weekend. There are times when the rain doesn't bother me at all; other times it absolutely drives me crazy!

Paige is planning to run the Galloway Gallop 10K with me on February 2. I'm just hoping my work situation will allow me the time to do it! To make an incredibly long story as short as possible, we condensing 8½ months work into 5 weeks! The "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow ... so to speak ... is that the summer should be much lighter than usual.

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, Kashi GoLean & water

OBJECTIVE
9 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED
9.01 mi. : 1:10:50 = 7:52/mi.

6:06 AM 43° 87% 1 mph

Today was a GOOD run. There really wasn't really reason for it that I know of and I certainly didn't see it coming. It surprised me so much that I kept expecting to fade as the run progressed but "it" was there the whole time.

I was out of bed early this morning but slow to get going. It was cool this morning and I wasn't really that eager for this morning' run. By the time I made it over to the Y, ChampionsFit was gathering for their "unofficial long run" scheduled for 10 miles. I didn't want to have anything to do with them (long story) and was happy that I didn't see anyone that I knew while stretching in the parking lot. I let there band of about 20 set off while I was still stretching. I don't know how much time passed but it was a while before I started. Their group includes runners of all paces going all distances. I'm sure by now you're anticipating what happened .... As I began reeling them in, my pace quickened as I looked for more. My first mile was 8:16 - about 30 seconds faster than I'd planned. I started thinking I'd be in trouble later in the run for this fast start. Of course the faster runners were still ahead. I don't know why I had something to prove but it seems that I did. Second mile - 7:46. I had passed them all. Now I was sure I'd be hurting later. But I figured I was around 8:00 miles and was feeling pretty good. Even though this was supposed to be a long, slow distance run (my longest since before Thanksgiving), I decided I'd try to hold the 8 minute pace for as long as I could.

Mile 3 - 8:05
Mile 4 - 8:09

I was still feeling fine. Legs felt good and cardio was strong. I turned around at 4.5 miles. I had not planned on seeing the CF group again but obviously since it's out and back, I was going to. I started pushing it a bit because I wanted to pass them as far back the path as I could.

Mile 5 - 8:13
Mile 6 - 7:40

Passing them here and there. Some going back from shorter runs; some still going out. It really spurred me on. I was still feeling good. I decided that over the last two miles I'd try a legitimate pickup. I've only tried this a couple other times and it's never really worked out for me. I wanted to see if I could run the last two miles faster than any other mile up to that point. In the back of my mind a wondered about stressing my old injuries but figured I'd been playing it safe for a long time and it was about time for a test. Since everything was going so well, today seemed as good a time as any.

Mile 7 - 7:46
Mile 8 - 7:33
Mile 9 - 7:16

I did it and I felt great! I passed a couple guys over the last mile had run a shorter distance and were running at a good pace. That really helped me focus on working my way up to them.

Again, I have no good reason why this happened for me today but I'll take it! There are plenty of days when it's just not there so it's extremely nice to get a good day like today.

As a reference, yesterday I ate a small pasta marinara for lunch, a PBJ smoothie in the afternoon, a hard boiled egg in the early evening, and cereal in the evening. I went to bed around 9:30 and woke up around 2:30. Had a hard time getting back to sleep. After tossing around until about 4:30, I got up and surfed the Internet for a while before going for the run. [Just wanted this on record as I will probably try to replicate today's run sometime in the future!]

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean w. skim milk, water, multivitamin, zinc

OBJECTIVE

10 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED

10.05 mi. : 8:55/mi. (1:29:39)

6:39 AM 60° 41% 7 mph

Since my last run 10 days ago much has happened. I became sick Thursday ... the day after I ran. It lasted 5 days. My fitness both literally and figuratively went down the toilet. I was starting to feel a bit better this past Monday so tried to run Tuesday morning. I made it 9/10 of a mile. It wasn't happening. I couldn't even jog home ... had to walk. My training schedule has been comprised and I missed the race I had planned on running last Saturday. Work has been extremely challenging and time consuming. I expect that will continue to be the case for a couple more weeks.

This morning I just "felt" like running. I hadn't even really planned on it. I went over to the Y and planned on 10 miles but realized there was a chance I'd be cutting it short. Two other runners invited me to run the first 3 miles with them. I wasn't eager to join them but it ended up helping me a great deal. We clocked 3 miles at 9:45/mile. They turned back and I felt good so went out 2 miles then turned back for the closing 5 miles. My pace over the last 7 miles was 8:30/mile which is where I preferred this run to be. It worked out well that I had started slow and got my feet under me.

I'm now off to work. I need to consider revising my training schedule. I am pleased that with the run today and how I felt overall.

PRE RUN

oatmeal, brwn sgr, skm mlk & water

POST RUN

Water

SlimFast

Waffles w/maple syrup & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

Easy 5 mi. @ 8:30

ACHIEVED

5.12 mi. @ 8:19 (42:36)

5:07 AM 52° 97% Fog

Decent run this morning. Felt Saturday's long run a bit. Also, a slight tightness in my left hamstring. It's just a matter of building my fitness back up.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast & multivitamin

Later, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk; water

OBJECTIVE
5 miles - 1 mi. WU; 3 mi. tempo@7:05/mi.; 1 mi. CD

ACHIEVED
1.00 mi. WU @ 9:06
3.05 mi. Tempo @ 7:03/mi. (21:30)
1.05 mi. CD @ 9:56

4:40 AM 39° 70% 5 mph

Just wrote a long description of this run which was lost. Don't have time to rewrite.

7:02/7:04/7:03

Run wasn't as good as it looks on paper. I have a hard time finding and holding the 7:05 pace. Pace was all over the board. At one point I was 6:15 which means I either went all the way up to 7:45 OR drifted well-above the desired 7:05 pace for an extended stretch. Need to focus on keeping pace of tempo runs in a tighter range to reap all the benefits of this type of workout. Probably reset the Garmin to .25 or .50 mile lap intervals rather than 1 mile to see if that keeps me on pace. Right now, it seems I'm either "banking" time by going fast at the beginning of each mile or "playing catch up" over the last .50 or .33 in order to "make" the pace. I don't think this is the way tempo runs are supposed to work.

PRE RUN
water & ginger snaps

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin & oatmeal w/brn sgr & skm mlk

OBJECTIVE

10 mi : no pace

ACHIEVED

10.13 mi @ 8:33 min/mi.

6:48 AM 42° 86% 5 mph

I just wrapped up 33 consecutive days in the office including a couple of back-to-back 17 hour days. This has made it incredibly difficult to stay consistent with my training.

I wanted to see how it felt today so rolled out for 10 miles. The first 6 went okay. In fact, I felt quiet strong and comfortable. Just short of 6 miles my left ITB started bothering me and got progressively worse. The pain moved into my calf and became pretty intense. I pressed on through it which I doubt was the right thing to do but I just wanted to finish a run since it's been so long.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to reclaim my training plan yet but I intend to ....

PRE RUN

Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk; water, Clif bar

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, water

OBJECTIVE

6 mi. w/ 4 mi. Tempo Run @ 7:05

ACHIEVED

WU 1 mi.; 4 mi. @ 7:17 (29:07); CD 1.13 mi.

4:57 AM 41° 76% 0 mph

I was apprehensive about this run for a couple days. It was my first effort at speed since my latest attempt at a return to fitness.

The warm up went fine. My legs felt okay and my left ITB was only hinting of any issue. The first mile of my tempo effort went fine too. I hit my time but could already feel that making it 3 more miles while holding the pace probably wasn't going to be in the cards. I thought about cutting a mile off the run but convinced myself otherwise. If I didn't hit my times at least I'd get my planned mileage for the day.

I was surprised that I held up through the second mile. The run was going better than expected and really better than I was feeling. From there, I really lost the pace. I was running in an unfamiliar area and the streets were windy-er (is that a word?) than I anticipated. I'd tried this route one time before and ended up inadvertently cutting the run short. As I floundered around - both for directions and for pace - I finally emerged from the neighborhood onto a familiar street. I'd given up on looking at my watch and just tried to press it to the end of the fourth mile. It wasn't a surprise that my overall conditioning just wasn't there but it was still disappointing. I made a good push to the end and took some consolation that I didn't cut the run short like I had considered earlier.

My splits:

7:03 / 7:07 / 7:28 / 7:29

Obviously I've got some work to do but at least I'm not starting from scratch. I finished out the run with an easy cool down mile back to the house. I'll monitor my body - primarily legs - to see how I'm feeling after this effort. There's a long run on the schedule for Saturday but I'm going to let my body "tell" me what the right thing to do is.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast, multivitamin, & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

Long Run 16 mi. @ 8:25 min./mi.

ACHIEVED

15.64 mi. @ 10:23 min./mi. (2:42:35)

8:24 AM 67° 87% 2 mph

To say this run didn't go well would be a gross understatement! I wasn't feeling particularly motivated this morning but finally made it out. I drove to Memorial Park to use a 16-mile route that the group ran back in July. I was vaguely familiar with the route but had it programmed into my Garmin so I knew where to go.

I didn't feel too good right out of the gate. But after the first mile started feeling better, got into a good rhythm, and picked up the pace. Things were fine through 6 miles. It was a beautiful morning and even my negative thoughts had dissipated. Then my left knee started bothering me. I find it interesting that this is about the exact same distance that it started giving me a problem last Saturday. I just figured I'd "tough it out". After all I only had about 10 miles left (stupid idea!). Somewhere during the seventh mile, I stopped for a quick drink and a good stretch. When I started back up, everything felt fine. I figured I was good to go. But a short time later the knee was giving me trouble again. After arguing with my ego during the eighth mile, I decided I had better shift to the Galloway method of alternately walking and running ... maybe that would help. Soon thereafter I degenerated into mostly walking and when I did run I was reduced to a slow jog due to my throbbing knee. To add insult to injury, I was running alone and wasn't familiar with the area. So although I knew a direct line back to the park and my car would be much shorter, I couldn't risk getting lost in an unfamiliar area so the second half of my planned 16-miler now turned into a hike rather than a run. Fortunately, the knee wasn't much trouble when walking.

This led me to ponder the following question:

Is

A Bad Run > No Run

a true statement?

I decided that a bad run is better than no run if only because it allows me to savor the good days!

Here's the breakdown of my run in by halves:

8.00 mi. @ 8:38

7.36 mi. @ 11:58

This is disappointing and I think it's attributable to the gap in my training when I was working too much during late-January and February. I'll keep working at it. Hopefully the knee is able to recover during my active training.

PRE RUN

Water & oatmeal w/skim milk

ClifBar

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, water & slice of cold, cheese pizza

OBJECTIVE

Easy Run 2 mi. @ 8:25

ACHIEVED

2.03 mi. @ 8:07 min./mi. (16:30)

5:13 AM 72° 78% 12 mph

Thankfully my schedule was only for 2 miles today. After Saturday's debacle, I probably should have taken another day off but I'm fearful of falling further behind schedule. So this morning turned out to be a test for my left knee. In summary, it bothered me from the beginning and made it seem is if I wasn't going to be able to continue. But I kept the pace slow until the soreness/pain dissipated around 3/4 mile in. From that point, everything was good but I was still cautious. I've got a good 48 hours now until Wednesday's track workout. Hopefully the knee recovers fully in time for that effort!

PRE RUN

Nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, GrapeNuts w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.01 mi. @ 8:10 min./mi. (24:37)

4:53 AM 51° 91% 0 mph

Frustratingly, my left knee is still having a problem. My training schedule called for a track workout of mile repeats yesterday but given the way my knee was feeling I knew that wouldn't be prudent. So I didn't run in the morning and planned on an evening run. I figured I'd just go out and get an easy 3 - 5 miles but, like the past few days, the knee seems to get worse throughout the day while I'm sitting at my desk. I've tried getting up frequently and walking but that hasn't seemed to help. By the time I got home from work I scrapped the idea of a run. And, I've essentially scrapped my training program ... for the time being. I've got to figure out a way to get my knee feeling better. I believe the problem stems from inconsistent training during the weeks I was extremely busy at work. I think I lost the benefit of what little base I had built up. I'm not quite back to "square one" but it feels like it! This isn't a nice place to be with 72 days remaining before the Ogden marathon and my attempt at 3:30.

So I've concocted a training plan that I hope gets me back on track. Since I broke down around 7-8 miles during my last two long runs of 10 and 16 miles, I not going to go long this weekend and probably next. Instead I'm going to get my miles by attempting doubles. I'm going to start real easy ... 3 miles in the morning and 3 at night with no set pace. I'll see how my body responds. I'll take Friday and Sunday off for recovery. I'm not sure about Saturday but I'm toying with 6 miles in the AM and 6 in the PM. If my body (and mind) can hold up, I'll be getting around 40 miles per week. After a couple weeks, I'm hopefully back on track. Hopefully this isn't one of those approaches that end up being much better in theory than practice!

Today's 3 miles were uneventful. The knee has not happy at the start but started loosening up after about 1/2 mile. I started pretty slow and never really pushed the pace. Over the last mile, I tried something I read yesterday about leaning forward. The suggestion was made to lean "from the ankles". This seemed like a good idea and it felt pretty good too. I just can't sustain it for very long. I think this approach is better than mine of trying to keep my shoulders over the balls of my feet. This seemed to have me bending at the waist.

As usual, I stretched before and after hoping that will somehow help. It's now been 3 hours since running and my knee actually feels okay. My car is in the shop (about 4 miles away) so at the end of the day, if everything works out, I'll just run over for the office to pick it up.

PRE RUN
Nothing

POST RUN
SlimFast

OBJECTIVE

6 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED

6.2 mi.@8:07 (50:19)

6:55 AM 34° 79% 0 mph

This morning was uneventful ... which was nice for a change. My knee wasn't 100% but it was okay. My overall fitness seems lacking which isn't a surprise at this point. The temperature was unseasonably cool but actually felt refreshing.

Looking forward to the next run and hopeful that this is the start of a good, strong run of training.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

Kashi GoLean cereal with skim milk

OBJECTIVE

6 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED

6.06 mi. @ 8:25 (51:04)

7:53 PM 62° 70% 15 mph

All I wanted to do was get a few miles. The wind was blowing in my face pretty hard on the return trip. This run seemed harder than it should have been.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

Clif bar & water

Later, Grape Nuts cereal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

3 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED

3.03 mi. @ 8:00 min./mi. (24:13)

5:12 AM 56° 88% 4 mph

Started out slow today. Felt fine. In fact, I'm a bit paranoid to say that I felt good because it's been so long since I've felt this way and I suppose I'm superstitious ... just don't want something bad to happen. I just need to keep the momentum now that everything seems to be moving in the right direction.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

multivitamin & water

Later, Kashi GoLean cereal & skim milk

OBJECTIVE
3 mi : no pace

ACHIEVED
3.01 mi @ 8:03/mi. (24:15)

5:04 AM 52° 89% 1 mph

Everything felt good today. My legs were feeling "heavy" yesterday after but it was the "good" heavy. Don't know how to explain it other than it feels like my fitness is returning.

I picked up a book by Lance Armstrong's trainer - Chris Carmichael. It's called Food for Fitness: Eat Right to Train Right. I'm looking forward to getting into this one. It's 414 pages and seems very detailed. The overall concept appears to be based on periodization which follows an endurance athlete's training cycle periodization.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & multivitamin
Later, cracked wheat w/ brown sugar & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

10K race : 45 - 46 min.

ACHIEVED

10K @ 7:12/mi. (44.58)

At the last minute I decided to enter the Houston Eye Associates Lookin' Good 10K this morning. I found myself more apprehensive about this race than most others I've been in (except maiden voyages at new distances). I think it's because I was using this race as a "fitness check". Would my knee hold up? Where does my conditioning stand at the moment? ... just a bunch of questions like these were churning through my head.

I targeted 46:09 as my goal time. Why such a specific time? Well, the "equivalent" calculators equate a 3:30:00 marathon (my goal for Ogden) as a 46:09 10K. (Side note: these calculators haven't always been very reliable in my case.)

Of course, I calculated the equivalent 10K time for a 3:20:00 marathon (my Boston qualifying time)... 43:36.

So, I set 45:00 - 46:00 as a solid range to work toward. I thought I should be able to "cruise" to a 46. I also figured I'd run negative splits in an effort to put less stress on my body.

Okay ... so with that background off I went.

As usual, I went out too fast. It didn't help that the 10K course was a double-loop of the 5K course and the 5K and 10K started together. I tried to reign it in but really couldn't. I knew this would cause a problem later.

I wasn't feeling particularly good or bad. Just running. I decided that I like this course. I ran it last year as a 5K. It was the second race after I started running last year. I ran it with my son, Cameron. I remember discovering the benefit of even splits in that race. I was ultimately thrilled to clock a 24:32 last year. Interestingly, today's first 5K was 22:34; the second 5K was 22:35.

I tried to settle in was I made the return trip of the first loop. I gave myself a thorough session of self-talk about how I couldn't get sucked into kicking with those who were running the final stretch of the 5K. Fortunately, I didn't end up around any crazy, strong kickers. After making the turn, the field really thinned out. There were a couple of guys ahead of me who had picked up water. I passed both of them but the second guy wasn't going to let me leave him. We passed a couple others going out the 4.5 mile (approx.) turn around. Shortly thereafter, he came up to pass me. We ran side by side for 300-400 meters. There always comes a decision time in every race. This was it for me. I was questioning whether I had much left. I was feeling somewhat fatigued. So the easy choice was to let this guy go. The more difficult option was to stay with him. I thought I was clever in taking a hedge. I've never done this before but have read about the elites and some of the "super" bloggers at www.fastrunningblog.com who run at the front and finish in the money will oftentimes "work together". I decided to propose it to the guy I was running with. I said, "I'm going to fall in behind you if you don't mind." He said, "Not a problem. You've been helping me." I said, "If it's becomes a problem just let me know." He said, "No problem." I said, "Maybe if we work together we can go pick off a couple others ahead of us."

So I fell in just off his shoulder. This was a tremendous help. I don't know the degree of the physical benefit but the psychological advantage was huge. My new friend was running strong and picked up the pace. I doubt I would have had the resolve to the this on my own but since I was "in the trailer he was pulling", I just went for the ride. It was great. I looked at my watch. We had covered a about a mile together and increased the pace. We were reeling in a couple of runners in front of us. I decided to kick with 1/2 mile left. I figured if I could pass the closest runner, he might make the mistake of trying to go with me. I thought I might have a huge drop off but maybe I could hold him off and soften him up for my partner. I told my new friend that I was going early but I was sure that I wouldn't have enough to sustain it. He said, "Go for it!" So with about .45 left, I broke. I reeled in the guy ahead quickly. He didn't try to stay with me. My partner didn't let the gap between us get too wide. There was now one more runner ahead that we had a chance to beat. I'd spent too much with my burst and just before the 6 mile marker, my buddy passed me and said, "Come on. We have to pass her!" He was strong, went hard and made the pass. She picked it up and tried to hold him off. If decided I could recover later and that there was no use saving anything. With one last burst, I went hard. I passed the female runner that we'd reeled in together. I think he softened her up by kicking past her and she tried to stay with him. Now the thought crossed my mind that I could catch and pass my buddy. I went for it but he was strong and held me off as I run out of room to get him. I consoled myself that this wasn't bad for not doing any speed work for several weeks ... maybe it's been months now!

My splits:

7:08/7:15/7:27/7:22/7:23/6:55 (1:36 for .25 mile)

My knee was fine. No problems. My fitness was a little lacking but I now feel like I'm on track for 3:30 in Ogden. I've got 2 months ... if I work hard and get quality workouts, I could have the chance for something faster.

PRE RUN

Earlier, GrapeNuts w/skim milk; water

Clif bar and water

POST RUN

ham & cheese kolache & water; SlimFast

OBJECTIVE

6 mi. : easy pace

ACHIEVED

5.53 mi. @ 9:09/mi. (50:40)

6:05 AM 55° 72% 6 mph

Just looking to stretch it out and get a few easy miles this morning. I was experiencing some soreness from yesterday's effort. I also must have been sleepwalking (sleeprunning?) because I turned too early on my six-mile route and inadvertently cut it 1/2 too short.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. @ 8:25/mi.

ACHIEVED
8.00 mi. @ 8:18/mi. (1:06:24)

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, oatmeal 2/skm mlk & brn. sugar; multivitamin; water

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. @ 8:25/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.77 mi. @ 8:28/mi.

6:45 PM 66° 31% 14 mph

Okay, I've been wanting to try this run for a long time. Ironically, I live a little over 26 miles from the office where I work. There happens to be a Park and Ride for bus commuters a little over half way from my house. For a little less than a year now, I've thought I'd like to park my car at the bus stop, ride the bus to work in the morning then run back to the bus stop after work. I've plotted several different routes to accomplish this. Now that daylight savings time is here and my fitness allows for it, I figured I'd give it a try today.

I was a bit eager at the outset as I wound my way out of downtown. I decided to just let my watch run continuously rather than mess around with stopping and starting it at every traffic light along the way (there ended up being many!). It was a very nice evening and I felt pretty good. A few people that I had talked to about attempting this run in the past didn't think it was a good idea since I'd be running alone and if anything happened there wouldn't be an easy or obvious contingency plan. This is a big part of the reason I hadn't tried this run before now.

The first 5 miles went well. The route was new so I was wide-eyed. The evening was beautiful as the sun was setting. The last 3 miles were tough. It was one long stretch along a "feeder road" (something I didn't know about until moving to Houston 8 1/2 years ago). The shoulder was 4" to nonexistent in some places. The traffic - while only one-way - was moving close to freeway speed. While I didn't ever feel in imminent danger, there were times that the sidewalk did seem the safest of places - especially as a began to get darker.

The smells from ethnic restaurants along the way were great! I also saw and heard a woman playing her guitar and singing on her porch. It was fun.

The shortcomings of the run were the traffic and running on sidewalks. I think I'll try this again but will probably look for alternate routing to keep me on some quieter streets along some sections of the run.

Although the last three miles were particularly tough, I felt great after stretching and driving the rest of the way home. Chalk one up for reducing my carbon footprint today (he said, tongue-somewhat-in-cheek).

PRE RUN
granola bar & water

During the run, I ate 1/2 Clif bar and drank about 16 oz. H2O

POST RUN
SlimFast

OBJECTIVE

5K : challenge January's 20:37 PR

ACHIEVED

5K : 20:12 (unofficial)

8:00 AM 52° 97% 0 mph

I wasn't planning on racing today but my 15-year old son mentioned last night that he wanted to run The Woodlands 5K this morning. He's been running the two-mile event this track season (when it doesn't conflict with baseball) so I fully expected him to beat me today. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight! I didn't sleep well last night and didn't feel too good this morning before the race.

Amazingly, I felt great for the first half of the race. I forgot to bring my Garmin so I didn't know my pace. I was just running with my Timex Ironman. I think Cameron must have misjudged the distance because I passed him between 1 and 1.5 miles into the race. It felt like I was pushing the pace just about right. An amazingly efficient female runner passed me around 2 miles. Her stride was short but her turnover was very fast. She rolled past me. I tried to hang with her for a while but she methodically stretched the gap as I started breaking down. I think she was the same person who passed around the same point when I ran this race back in January.

I checked my watch and figured that I was going to have a chance of breaking 20:00 if I pushed it. So I did. But, in the end it wasn't enough. I didn't hear my time called out at the finish but had 20:12 on my watch. They usually post the results so I'll watch for the official time later.

My finish was good enough for 6th place overall. Cameron was about 20 - 25 seconds behind me in 9th place.

I was supposed to run 7 miles today so I'll either get 4 more miles later today or first thing in the morning.

PRE RUN

water & GrapeNuts w/skim milk

POST RUN

water & SlimFast

OBJECTIVE

4 miles @ 8:25

ACHIEVED

4.00 miles @ 8:28 (33:53)

Went for an easy 4 miler this morning. My legs felt good. The upcoming week should be interesting. I'm back into my training schedule after last week's "pull back". I'm scheduled for 7 miles Monday, a tough tempo run on Wednesday, and a 16-miler on Saturday. I suspect I'll get the weekday runs in the morning before work and I'm planning on trying Will's Hills with Jonathan Wednesday morning.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
16 mi. @ 8:25/mi.

ACHIEVED
8.68 mi. @ 9:07/mi.

6:05 AM

Started from the Y with Bob Bond and Gordon this morning. Bob's been having a problem with his back so they were going for 8 miles. I figured I'd run the first 4 miles with them and see how I was feeling. Specifically my toe - which I'm fairly certain I broke last Sunday. It's black and blue and very swollen. I haven't run since Sunday because of it.

It was good to run with Bob again. Conversation has a way of passing the miles away much more efficiently than thinking! We covered the first 4 miles around 8:37/mi. pace. Bob and Gordon turned back. I was feeling pretty good so I picked up the pace and headed for Spring-Cypress Road. My thought at this point was to push for 10 miles then see how I was feeling. Unfortunately by the time I hit 8 miles, my left IT band was absolutely screaming. I had failed to wear my IT band strap today even though I've been wearing for virtually every run for the past month. My IT band has not given me any trouble lately. Evenso, it was a complete oversight on my part in failing to put it on.

There are always "crossroads" while running. These are the times you have to make a decision. For me, they always come up during races and also occur during training runs. I was at today's crossroad. In the past when the IT band issue has manifest itself, I've always "pushed on through". The result has been that I've ended up having to take some time off to recover. Today, I just shut it down and walked in the last 2 miles. It nearly killed me as several ChampionsFit runners passed me while I was walking. I kept telling myself that this was the right thing to do and that this approach would allow me to keep running rather than having to take time off. ... time will tell.

PRE RUN
Oatmeal w/skim milk, water & multivitamin

IN RUN
Accelerade & GU (Mint chocolate)

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, GrapeNuts cereal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. : no pace

ACHIEVED
6.48 mi. @ 9:19/mi.

This was a tough run. I kept pulling the pace back so as not to aggravate my left IT band. I was happy to get this one in. Mileage-wise, it looks like I'm heading for a problem with my marathon preparations.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & water

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
4 mi. @ 8:18/mi.

Garmin was out of commission again this morning. My legs were a little tight this morning and I wasn't sure my left IT band was going to cooperate. The IT band was painful for the first mile but evolved to a dull ache. It was misty/lightly raining this morning. My cardio feels okay. It's just the "muscle fitness" (certainly an unscientific term!) that seems to be a problem.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
Slim Fast, multivitamin, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

I didn't know what to expect going into the first leg of today's Tour de Bayou. Throughout the day, I really didn't feel like running it tonight. But finally decided to at least go check it out.

The Tour de Bayou is a 5-leg series of cross country races with distances ranging from 5K to 8K. The races are held Tuesdays at 6 pm at various locations around Houston.

Tonight's leg ended up being 2.77 miles at Spotts Park. The course was an "out-and-back out-and-back", went up and down 5 hills, and was all on grass. The recent rains created a heavy bog in one area and I noticed people losing their shoes in it on my first pass.

Not knowing exactly what to expect and "not feeling it", I started slow. I decided to just run this one on "feel". I didn't have my Garmin and I wasn't up to "racing" so it was just going to be a cruise around the course.

I ended up with 22:43 (self-timed) and 20th place. Jonathan Bennett, who I met up with before the race, ran well and finished in 10th.

I suppose the plan is to catch the next 4 legs of this event. Cumulative standings are kept so maybe I can move up before it's all over.

OBJECTIVE

8 mi. total including 4x1600@6:34 w/800 recovery

ACHIEVED

WU .64 mi.

.95 mi.(6:11) [.60 mi.(5:32)] .96 mi.(6:37)

5 "W"'s : 1.43 mi@9:19 (HILLS!)

CD .80 mi.

5:35 AM 71° 86% 4 mph

Jonathan introduced me to the Will's Hills group and routine this morning. This ended up being a really good workout for me but I wasn't very optimistic to start out. After a warm up jog, we ran 2 one-mile intervals. It was still quite dark in some areas along the trail which caused me to be a bit tentative. I also found myself holding back since I was uncertain about the energy requirements of the 5 "W"'s. In the simplest terms, a "W" consisted of starting at the top of the hill at Shepherd and Memorial. From the top, it was down then back up 3 times while moving diagonally across the face of the hill. It was a tough workout! I found myself somewhere in the middle of the pack of about 14 runners with the group with morning. The hills brought out a little "burn" in my legs.

After finishing the "W"'s, we cooled down over the 3/4 mile back to the parking lot. Some of the group hung around for conditioning and stretching exercises. Jonathan and I joined the group. This was really good for me even though my form on some of the movements was pitiful!

From there, we followed Jonathan by car to his new house. After cleaning up for work, he grabbed a quick breakfast and he shared a very good smoothie concoction with me.

This was a really good workout for me and I felt great about it throughout the morning. I think the guy running Will's Hills is running the Boston Marathon and won't be with the group for a while but informal sessions will continue so I think I'll make Wednesday mornings my day with them (they meet M, W, and F). I really appreciate Jonathan putting me on to this group and making his facilities available.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast & Accelerade

Later, oatmeal w/brn. sugar & milk; smoothie

OBJECTIVE

20 mi. @ 8:20

ACHIEVED

18.95 mi. @ 8:53

9:48 AM 60° 80% 8 mph

Ran a new route from Memorial Park along the Bayou into Downtown then looped the Bayou a couple times on the way back to the Park.

I started slowly because I really wanted to get the miles. Everything went well through 15 miles then the wheels fell off. I covered Mile 15 in 7:56 which was my fastest mile then stopped at the fountain at the Sabine Bridge. When I started again, it just wasn't happening! My left ITB hadn't bothered me until this point and my left ankle was becoming a problem too. I gutted out another 3 miles back along the Bayou and was committed to finishing this run. But it wasn't to be. With only a couple miles to go, I started alternating running and walking then finally decided that I might be hurting myself too much to keep running. I walked it back and wasn't happy about it. This run had started so well and ended so poorly.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

DURING

2 GU packets and 20 oz. Accelerade

POST RUN

SlimFast & water

OBJECTIVE 3.1 mi. : finish

ACHIEVED 3.14 mi. @ 7:13/mi. (22:35)

8:00 AM 61° 86% 4 mph

I probably shouldn't have run this race today. However, my employer is corporate sponsor and our running group received 35 paid entries. Late Friday afternoon, I checked the registration listings and found only 4 or 5 coworkers had registered so I signed up. Thinking that if Saturday's long run didn't go well that I'd just not race today.

This run is a HUGE local fundraising event for cancer research. On the course - all at the same time - are timed runners, untimed runners, family run/walkers, and walkers. Walking from my car to the packet pickup table was difficult for me. I was still feeling yesterday's run ... BIG TIME. I walked back to the car and stretched. I heard the call for runners and tried slowly running to the start. Wasn't happening .... Luckily they didn't start right away. I found a place in the pack, the gun sounded and off we went. I was behind slower people but that wasn't a problem today! My left ITB was throbbing and I had no get-up-and-go.

Early in the race, I considered dropping out. I figured I might be hurting myself but honestly couldn't see I "good" place to drop out ... anonymously. So I slowed down even more and pressed on. I decided to "enjoy" the run as much as possible. When I saw the race leaders doubling back toward Reliant Stadium, it somehow lifted me. I cheered a few of them one then started cheering some of the other runners around me especially the young ones.

I noticed that I was starting to pass people. My knee was still giving me a problem but not as bad as before. I started focusing on the turnaround. I decided that I would work on my technique. Most runners started crowding to the extreme inside. This gave me the opportunity on the outside. So I swung wide while passing people then cut the turn and accelerated off the orange cone. I passed several others and got a lift. My knee was feeling better. I decided that my goal was to not let anyone pass me the rest of the way. With .5 mile to go, I felt good (relatively speaking). I picked up my pace. There was a long hill that I powered up smoothly; passing many others as I did. I turned hard for the finish and felt fine pushing to the end. After the run, my knee was really screaming as I walked around trying the food samples available from the sponsors.

Normally this race result would have been a huge disappointment. But in context, I'm happy with the result:

• ran 19 miles yesterday
• managed negative splits 7:41/7:30/6:39/ .14 @ 0:45 (5:21) [I think this is the first time I've gone negative splits in a 5K.]
• last year's time for this race 24:42

PRE RUN Clif bar & water

POST RUN water, pumpkin bread, spring roll, smoothie, granola bar, nutella crepe

OBJECTIVE
8 miles w/ 5 mi. tempo @ 7:05

ACHIEVED
WU
4 x hills 6:22/6:32/6:53/6:35
CD
core exercises

5:30 AM

On Monday morning, I started out early from home but only made it about .25 miles. My knee was having none of it so I shut it down and turned back for the house. My knee and ankle haven't been "right" over the past couple of days.

Tuesday evening was Part II of the Tour de Bayou which I probably could have run but decided it wasn't the best thing to prepare for Ogden so I gave my knee and ankle another day of rest. I'm very disappointed that I won't be completing the series and that I let my 20th overall position in the standings slip by the wayside but everything I do now needs to be focused on the marathon.

This morning was Will's Hills. Will is on sabbatical so Lee managed the workout. It was straight forward enough:

Easy run from the YWCA to warm up
25 minutes of hills over a course he laid out (5 ups and downs over xx miles)
4 x slightly downhill strides approx. 35 yards; run backwards uphill then repeat
Easy run back to YWCA to cool down
Core exercises

I wore my IT strap and am happy to report my knee did not bother me this morning even though it was achy before we started. The ankle had a dull ache throughout. I did step on uneven ground during the third hill and tweaked my right ankle (a danger of running hills in the dark, I suppose). It gave me something else to contend with.

I enjoy this group. It's low-key but the workouts are good and seem to be well designed. This morning and last Wednesday, the runs with been short in duration but high in intensity. It's not the most convenient for me to drive downtown at 5 AM but Jonathan is gracious enough to let me clean up and eat at his place afterwards. It's very convenient since it's not too far from where the runs are based and it's close to the office. I've been at my desk before 8 AM each day.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
water & SlimFast
Later, oatmeal w/milk & brown sugar; smoothie (Jonathan's special recipe)

OBJECTIVE
5 mi. @ 8:20

ACHIEVED
5.14 mi. @ 8:11 (42:04)

4:51 AM 73° 78% 13 mph

It seems like my blog has turned into a regular injury report lately! I wasn't scheduled to run today but figured I better see what I could do about getting some miles since I missed Monday and last Saturday's run was a bit short.

It was a steamy, windy morning. I wore my IT band strap and my knee held up great. Each ankle had problems of varying degrees. I think the right ankle that I twisted lightly running hills yesterday is going to be fine. It's just a little tender. I'm not sure what to think about the left ankle. It doesn't seem to be improving and can get rather cranky. I plan on giving my legs a 48 hour break then going out for 16 miles Saturday morning. Hopefully the rest allows them to get feeling closer to normal.

This morning's run was uneventful. I held a decent pace that was fairly consistent. During Mile 2, I noticed I was going faster than I should have been so a pulled it back and pretty much held it there throughout. My cardio felt good and (other than my ankles) my legs felt surprisingly good after yesterday's hills.

I'm having concerns about my mileage and the inconsistency of my training but am hopeful that I'm on track (I know, you've heard me say that before!). Time is growing short with only 37 days until the marathon. I'm hopeful that every run between now and then can be focused and with purpose that will allow for my best effort on May 17. I also hope my body gets feeling better than it has for the past several weeks. I really believe my training inconsistency is the cause of my nagging injuries.

I believe next week is a "pull back" week in my training schedule. I need to check but I think I've only got 3 runs of 9 miles each. After that, I've got a 3-week buildup cycle with good intensity and distance followed by a week taper. I can't believe it's so close!

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast & water
Later, multivitamin & water; 5 grain hot cereal w/milk

OBJECTIVE

16 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED

16.98 mi. @ 8:06/mi.

5:53 pm 54° 61% 2 mph

This turned out to be a surprisingly good run. I ran from home to the Y to meet up with the renegade Spring Running Club. I underestimated the distance and overestimated my pace so I arrived late but saw them ahead and was able to catch them. There were 4 or 5 guys together. I only recognized Gordon. He said Bob was up ahead and that I should catch him. I saw Bob and someone else and reeled them in. I was now at about 5.5 miles and holding around an 8 minute pace which I figured would be catching up to me on the back half of the run.

Bob introduced me to Michelle. She and her husband are triathletes. It was great to run with Bob and Michelle today. The miles passed by easily and I felt good with the small exception of my left ankle. I thought they would be turning at the 4-mile point but they were going for 10 miles. I figured I'd try staying with them for as long as I could. I stayed with them all the way back to the Y where we stopped. I talked to the other guys who had gone 9 miles, said my good-byes, and took off for the run home. It was tougher alone but I maintained the pace for about a mile or a bit more. At that point the traffic on Cypresswood and later on Louetta was bad and with little or no shoulder in places, I felt like I was in a real-life version of the 80's arcade game Frogger. My pace dropped off over the last mile but I was very happy with the overall result.

PRE RUN

GrapeNuts & skim milk; water

POST RUN

2 SlimFast & water

Later, Wheaties & skim milk

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.03 mi. @ 8:08/mi.

4:27 AM 42° 81% 0 mph

This is "recovery" week. I'm doing three 9-mile runs this week at an easy pace. This is the last recovery period prior to the marathon so I'm hopeful that by next Sunday, I'm feeling very good physically.

At this point, I'm happy to report the only thing that bothered me this morning was my left ankle. It's still achy and doesn't seem to be improving but it does seem to loosen up after a couple miles.

I didn't really feel like going when the alarm sounded at 4 AM but drug myself out the door. To illustrate how simple my mind is, I've always been very eager to run when I'm going out in new shoes. Well, today was the maiden voyage of my new Mizuno Wave Rider 10's. These are the same model as my last two pairs and are getting harder to find now that Mizuno is selling newer models. This pair is red, blue, and silver and look pretty good. But not even the lure of new shoes was motivating this morning.

On days I start out like this the runs usually aren't that great but this one turned out okay. I drove to the Y and ran the bayou trail out and back for 9 miles. The morning air was surprisingly cool and for the first couple miles I wished I had worn long sleeves and gloves. My hands were very cold at the finish.

There was low lying fog which turned the bayou into something like the Michael Jackson Thriller video. Maybe the thought of zombies at 4:30 in the morning darkness prompted me to pick up the pace! Actually it was pleasant. I sat on my desired pace (8:20) during the trip out and cranked it up a bit on the way back in. I noticed again this morning if I sync my breathing with my strides that I ran faster.

Interestingly, I can clearly remember this "recovery" week in preparation for the St. George marathon last fall. I'm not sure why it's such a vivid memory ... maybe because it was a new route that I hadn't run before or since ... ??? I pulled my training log to see what pace I ran these 9-milers. I ran one on Monday and another on Thursday. The planned pace was 8:51. I ran 8:49 and 9:41. This made today's 8:08 feel even better!

May 17 and the marathon will be here before you know it. I checked our flights yesterday and they still look very good (we're flying standby). Paige's training for the half seems to be going well. She got new shoes last week too. Cameron has now decided he wants to run the half but I checked yesterday and it's sold out. I'll add him to the wait list today. I've been tinkering with elevation-based pace charts. I've still got some work to do there but a plan seems to be formulating.

I'll post again after Wednesday's run. At the moment, I'm not sure if it's going to be AM or PM. I would like PM but think I have a scheduling conflict so it may have to be another early morning extravaganza.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water & oatmeal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.02 mi. @ 8:16/mi.

4:30 AM 64° 78% 6 mph

In runner parlance LSD is long, slow distance run and, as I understand it, there's a purpose in going slow over a long distance. I think I took the "S" out of my LSD this morning. Okay, so you look at my time and wonder, what am I talking about? An 8:16/mi. pace isn't that fast. Let me explain.

I had planned on running from work last night but I didn't get away from the office early enough. So I knew that I'd be going out this morning. ... I wasn't looking forward to it for some reason. I drove to the Y and started my run at 4:30. I figured that I would just run based on how I felt. That's what I had done on Monday on the same course over the same distance and I ended up quite happy with the result in the end.

Today's opening mile was around 9:00. My ankle was being cranky and I just wasn't feeling it. I thought the next 8 miles where going to be long if I felt this way the whole time! So I decided that I'd try to run negative 10 second splits for each mile. That way I could ease into a faster pace and still finish around my goal of 8:20/mi.

With this challenge laid down, my mind had something to focus on and I "went to work". Of course, this isn't anything heroic but I was able to do it. Here are my mile splits:

8:59/8:51/8:33/8:26/8:16/8:08/7:52/7:47/7:34

I didn't get exactly 10 second negatives but I was close and I did get negative splits over the whole distance.

I was pleased when this run was over.

Interestingly, this run was about 1 minute slower than Monday's run but the runs felt completely different. Monday's run was close to flat splits while today's was negative. It's interesting how each run takes on a personality of its own.

Okay, so back to my original comment that I took the "S" out of my LSD. I fairly certain the the last 3 miles were technically too fast for a textbook long, slow run.

PRE RUN
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk; water & multivitamin

OBJECTIVE

9 mi. @ 8:20/mi.

ACHIEVED

9.48 @ 7:51/mi.

7:31 AM 44° 97% 0 mph

It was a beautiful Saturday morning. Jonathan and I had arranged to meet in Conroe to run League Line Road. We heard about this location about a year ago and have wanted to get out there for sometime. For flatlanders at sea level like us, we'll drive 45 minutes to find some hills to run on.

Have I said the morning was beautiful? It was. We saw cardinals, a deer, Texas wild flowers, and much more in an impressive display of nature's beauty. This along with Jonathan's excellent conversation and superb pacing resulted in a very good run. The miles just seemed to roll by without much effort until the very end.

The infamous hills of League Line Road were okay but weren't as impressive as I had built them up to be in my mind. Over the out-and-back route, we had about 9 good climbs ranging from 50' to 100' ... some decent rollers I suppose. I envision this being somewhat like the first half of the Ogden marathon course. The maximum elevation was 325' and the minimum was 200'. I suppose that's about the best we're going to get for a long hill route near Houston.

Jonathan is great. I really enjoy his company. I'm not sure this workout required that much of an effort from him. He's been running high mileage weeks with speed workouts over the last several weeks. He just won a local 5K last Saturday. His times and conditioning really seem to be improving at a rapid pace but he's been paying the price to achieve those gains. I look forward to running with him in Ogden.

I worked on my downhill technique today. Jonathan suggested keeping my knees lower and not over-striding. This seemed to help a lot. Now if I can just hold that form near the spillway in Ogden Canyon!

The goal this week was to get back to 100% healthy. I think I'm close. I didn't have any problems while running today. I'll see how I feel tomorrow. Based on how I'm feeling now, I think my left knee and ankle will be a bit achy. But as long as that is post-run rather than while running - it's all good.

The coming week steps up the pace and mileage culminating in a 20-miler next Saturday. This will be my last 20 below the marathon. I really need a good one!

PRE RUN

oatmeal & skim milk

POST RUN

2 SlimFast

Later, Kashi GoLean cereal with skim milk

OBJECTIVE

8 mi. @ 8:15

ACHIEVED

8.03 mi.@8:30/mi

4:18 AM 71F 85% 3mph

The air was very heavy this morning. There were low clouds covering an almost full moon. I figured the clouds were impeding air flow and raising the humidity. This appears true with humidity at 85%. After the run, I was surprised to see the temperature at 71!

Anyway, the only things heavier than the air were my legs! I dont't know if this was from the hills and pace of Saturday's run, the cumulative effect of recent runs (shouldn't be), or less than optimal sleep and nutrition over the weekend. Oh, wait, there's some job related stress at the moment too. Whatever the cause(s), I wasn't feeling it this morning.

After a warm up mile, I pressed the second mile to an unimpressive 8:11 then just faded up from there over the remaining 6 miles.

I thought a lot about the marathon and also about work. I came up with some answers for work issues but seem to be chasing my tail about the marathon strategy/reality....

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast & multivitamin

Later, Grape Nuts w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

Training schedule – 20 mi. @ 8:15/mi.

Revised for race – 30K; get to know Ogden marathon course Mile 5 – 13; push pace based on feel

ACHIEVED

30K

Official gun time – 2:58:15

Garmin self-timed – 2:58:07

(forgot to reset auto-lap from last hill workout; this REALLY screwed up my pacing since I had no clue until the end of the race)

8:13/7:47/7:33/7:44/7:54/7:51/7:57/8:16/8:13/8:15/7:55/8:03/8:22/8:31/8:45/12:14/16:28/16:14

The words of William Shakespeare came to my mind.  “Discretion is the better part of valor.”  At the time, I didn’t realize the phrase was from King Henry the Fourth, Part One.  But I had plenty of time for many random thoughts to flash across my mind.

Today was the Striders Winter Racing Circuit 30K.  I had no plan to run this event until yesterday.  My training schedule called for a 20-miler.  None of my occasional long-run partners were going anywhere near that distance.  I figured I’d either go 10 miles with Stephanie’s group or the renegade Spring Running Club then add the rest of the mileage on my own.  This idea didn’t seem all that appealing.  My dad called with tickets available for the Houston Rockets – Utah Jazz playoff game.  The idea quickly gelled: I’d leave work for Cameron’s last baseball game of the school season.  From the game, I’d hustle home and pack while Cam cleaned up.  Then we’d fly to Utah.

After the flight and drive to my parents’ house, it was around 1 AM.  I was tired and fell asleep quickly.  The race was at 7:30 AM and I had not registered so I would need to be there early to sign up.  The drive up the canyon was about 40 minutes.  Luckily, I got behind someone with a “26.2” sticker on their car.  I figured there’s only one place he was going on a Saturday morning.

The mountain air was cold (another blogger had it at 28°).  This is much colder than I’ve been training in.  In fact, I think the last time I ran in this cold of temperature was also in Utah at Thanksgiving.  Fortunately, I had brought my tights, long sleeves, gloves, and pullover.

I stretched and warmed up … a little.  Then it was time to run.  Following last year’s Ogden Half Marathon tactic, I tucked myself in at the back of the pack.  I hoped this would slow me down and eliminate my usual “irrational exuberance” at the beginning of long races.  It didn’t but may have helped a little.

I got a little eager in passing people over the first two miles.  But I felt good.  I didn’t notice any impact from the altitude and could tell early on that I has going to end up being overdressed.

After about a mile, the course jumped on to the Ogden marathon course which we ran in reverse.  The overall course was a modified out-and-back (out 6 miles followed by a 6 mile loop then back over the first 6).  Part of the motivation of running this race was to see part of the top of the marathon course.

The course was good and the setting was beautiful.  There were still small patches of snow in the shaded areas along the route.  The mountains all around were snowed covered.  At one point there were dozens of horses in a huge pasture running alongside the course.  The runners had stirred them up, I suppose.

I had no expectation of time.  That wasn’t for a lack of “running some numbers”.  I had a full sheet of hand written times and paces that I had been considering.  Ultimately, I threw it all out the window and just ran.  I decided the time would be whatever my body felt like.

A little over 6 miles in, I was overtaken by a couple of guys who started talking.  They actually weren’t in the race and had already gone around the “lake” on their Saturday morning long run.  They stayed with me for a bit less than 2 miles as we tracked up a long incline.  Finally, they turned back and I was on my own again.  I say “on my own” but there were other runners all around.  Someone said they expected 200 – 400 for the day’s event.

Around 9.5 miles, the turn back was made.  I felt a bit slower but wasn’t sure if it was just the incline or the fact a couple people passed me.  I was a bit surprised by the pass at this point.  I didn’t feel like I was falling off pace that much.  I was feeling okay.  Cardio and breathing were fine and my legs generally felt good except for my left knee that has having the faintest degree of discomfort.  I had stripped off my pullover and gloves.  (“Thank you” to the guys in the Dodge pickup who took them back to the start/finish area for me!)  My nutrition and hydration seemed good.  I was happy to be turning back.

Some quick math revealed that I was on pace for 2:24.  My absolute best case scenario was 2:20 so I really just wanted to hold the pace and press on.  I realized that I was falling off a bit but somewhere along the way had mentally divided the run into 3 segments:  7 miles, 7 miles, and 4+ miles.  My hope was to pick it up over the last segment.

I didn’t really feel like my form was breaking down or that I was slowing dramatically but around the 14 mile mark a couple runners passed me.  They had been talking behind me for some time.  They said they had been referring to me as “the 8-minute guy” because I was so consistent with my splits.  I pointed out that I clearly wasn’t holding at 8-minute miles now.  I also acknowledged that my IT band was giving me a problem.  I had not really noticed it getting worse but between 9.5 and 14 miles, it had become a problem and it was slowing me.  I made a turn and came to the 15 mile mark and water stop.  I had not stopped to this point but did here.  I grabbed a GU, a Gatorade, and water.  I stood at the garbage box and consumed all three.  I turned to go and my knee REALLY let me know there was a problem.

Over the next half mile, I had a huge debate with myself.  I have NEVER stopped during a race.  I finally decided this was the right thing to do.  The marathon is three weeks away.  Maybe I could grind out the next 3 miles but for what purpose.  Just to prove to myself that I could?  And at what cost?  Was I willing to risk getting to the starting line of the marathon?

So with slightly more than 3 miles to go, I started the walk.

My knee was fine walking but my pride wasn’t!  People passed me.  Most of them didn’t say anything.  A few offered encouragement.  One guy thoughtfully asked if I needed help.  It was during this walk that the Shakespeare quote crossed my mind.

“Discretion is the better part of valor.”

The next big decision I faced was whether to actually allow my time to be recorded … “for the record”.  Some people I know will go around the timing mats at the finish if they haven’t had a good run.  That way their time is not recorded, posted to the Internet, etc.  Hey, even the elite runners will record a “DNF” (did not finish) when it’s just not their day.  My pride and ego suggested to me that I probably should do the same.  Just walk to the car and drive back to my parents’ place.

I was leaning toward this approach when I remembered watching the last Hawaii Ironman on television.  One of the top male contenders had a problem during the race (I don’t recall what it was.) that didn’t allow him to run but he could still walk.  When faced with this situation, the top competitors almost always just get in a support van and rest for another day.  Instead of taking this approach, the guy walked and finished the Ironman back in the middle of the pack.  A position I doubt he’s ever been in.  An interviewer later asked him why he walked to the finish.  His reply was something to the effect that it’s disrespectful to the other competitors if you drop out when you can finish under your own power.

Now I’m not suggesting that I’m a top competitor.  Rather I’m a middle of the pack guy.  Walking put me at the back of the pack.  I decided this wasn’t a problem.  I wanted this race to be “on the record”.  It will serve as a reminder that there’s a lot that can go wrong over the course of a race.  It will also remind me not to take the opportunity to run for granted.

Glass half-full perspective –

• Fastest 25K ever – 2:06:29
• Half marathon – 1:44:54 (faster than current PR [1:46:09])

PRE RUN

Oatmeal with milk; water

DURING

3 GU’s; 3 Gatorades; 2 or 3 waters

POST RUN

Gatorade, whole wheat bread & couple doughnut holes

Physical problem persists.

4.01 @ 9:10/mi.

OBJECTIVE

12 mi. @ 8:15

ACHIEVED

11.64 mi. @ 8:29

7:08 AM 76° 79% 5 mph

Ran with Stephanie's group this morning. It was good to be back with them. Today's group included Randy, Josh, Laurie, and Steph. It's been a long time since I've joined them for a Saturday long run.

The pace started slow which I was thankful for. Steph ran the Boston Marathon but had a challenging experience. The other three finished the Arizona Ironman under difficult conditions recently and may not have fully recovered yet. Around 6 miles, my left knee started bothering me. The whole sensation is rather ominous for me now because I have experience with how it progresses. From that point until we finished, I wasn't sure if I would be able to complete the run. There were times when in really bothered me and other times when it wasn't too bad. It was worst when starting after a couple water stops.

I'm not sure what this means for Ogden but feel like the goal is changing. I've stubbornly held to the plan but with a couple weeks left and no sign of improvement with the knee, a revision seems to be the prudent thing. I'm still hoping for a miracle but have nothing tangible to support that expectation. Stay tuned for more on developments ....

PRE RUN

oatmeal w/skim milk & water

POST RUN

SlimFast, Clif bar, & water

OBJECTIVE

5 mi. @ 8:15

ACHIEVED

5.85 mi. @ 8:17

7:32 PM 70° 78% 6 mph

This was a strange run. I was real sluggish at the start and stayed that way for about 2 1/2 miles. From that point, I loosened up and found some rhythm. My legs seemed sore but the knee wasn't uncomfortable. I could tell it wasn't 100% but it wasn't a factor.

My weekend nutrition and sleep weren't that great so I attribute my sluggishness to Cinco de Mayo (i.e., too much Mexican food!).

PRE RUN

2 doughnuts

POST RUN

water, 2 hamburgers, & 2 chocolate milk

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. tempo @ 6:53/mi. 5 mi. total w/WU & CD

ACHIEVED
WU 1.07 @ 9:20/mi.
3.02 @ 6:50/mi. (6:51/6:49/6:52/0:08)
CD 1.48 @ 9:27

6:34 AM 71° 86% 5 mph

This run was on the schedule for yesterday but it didn't happen which I believe may have worked out for the best.

I finally went for a massage yesterday. I had the RMT work deep tissue on my legs and feet focusing on the IT band area. I must say that there were times when it hurt so bad that I wanted to scream but instead just grit my teeth telling myself that it was for the best and that I'd feel better later. I was right. I did feel much better the rest of the day. In fact, my legs felt better than they have in a long time. I scheduled another session for next Thursday (the day before leaving for Ogden) and may get another one early in the week. Who knows why I waited so long to do this!

Today's run started late due to a later-than-planned evening last night. Long story; short - I ended up playing basketball until about 9:30 then came home to watch the Jazz-Lakers game. I only stayed awake for the first quarter. After dropping Cameron off for his early morning, before-school activities, I usually just head to work. Today I dressed to run, dropped him off then drove a couple miles to the trail along Faulkey Gully. The gully trail isn't new. Whenever I run from the YMCA, I catch it two miles in to my run. I figured since I was running later commuter traffic would be bad and I didn't want to be on a road. The gully trail is a two-mile pavement trail with a few bends along the way.

I took an easy mile warm up. I didn't feel particularly good or bad. I did introduce a figure 4 stretch to my pre run routine that a woman at the RMT office showed me for ITB. It really hits the glutes. I did notice a general looseness in my legs during the warm up.

I took a very short break at the top of the trail. The tempo run called for 6:53 miles. I wondered if I could maintain it. A guy walked by with his dog and off I went. As usual, I started way too fast. After a quarter mile, I was easing slightly to get back to 6:51 for the first mile. I figured the fast start may have doomed Miles 2 and 3 for me.

My legs generally felt good. Early in Mile 2 the trail dips under a bridge for Louetta Road. I remembered Jonathan's encouragement to keep my knees down a couple weeks ago when we were running League Line Road. The downhill was too short to be a true test of downhill technique but I tried to keep the momentum on the corresponding uphill side. I passed a few walkers and runners along the way. It was a very nice morning. At the end of the trail, I made the turn. I was a bit slow for Mile 2 so I picked it up. After hitting 6:49 for Mile 2, I started Mile 3.

I was getting a bit tired but focused on breathing and form over much of Mile 3. I tried to "lean forward from my ankles" and to put slightly more energy "into the ground". I felt good. My legs were fine. I thought I should feel worse than I did. ... I don't know .... It was strange. My mind was telling me that I wouldn't be able to sustain the pace due to my overzealous start. Mile 3 came in at 6:52.

This was a good run for me. I took an easy cool down then stretched really good including the newly introduced figure 4 on the hood of my car. I drove home, got ready for work, and arrived in the office much later than I should have.

PRE RUN
Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk, water & 2 FRS chews

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, 5-grain oatmeal w/skim milk, water & multivitamin

Future blog topic reminders

No more negative thoughts for marathon.
Time goal & course strategy/study
Which running team?

OBJECTIVE

8 mi. @ 8:15/mi.

ACHIEVED

10.14 mi. @ 8:22/mi.

6:37 AM 76° 87% 6 mph

It was a good run today. This was the last long run before the marathon. Jonathan and I joined Stephanie's group which included Miranda, Stacey Almond, Randy, Josh, William, and Stewart.

My legs felt good today. The pace generally felt slow. The humidity made the air heavy so it seemed the group was slowed by it somewhat. The group was scheduled for 13 miles which was more than I wanted to go today. Jonathan and I broke it off early at just less the 8 miles. We picked up the pace over a couple hills as we worked the 2+ miles back to his house. We got water then Julie drove us back to Memorial Park.

Overall this was a positive run in preparation for next Saturday.

PRE RUN

oatmeal w/skim milk, multivitamin & powdered FRS w/water

POST RUN

water

Later, SlimFast & Clif bar

OBJECTIVE

3 mi. Tempo run @ 6:53/mi.

ACHIEVED

WU 0.97 mi.

3.01 mi. @ 7:11/mi. [6:55, 7:26, 7:12]

CD 1.03 mi.

7:12 AM 75° 89% 1 mph

The good news is that my legs felt fine. The bad news is that I was slow and laboring. At this point, I'd like to feel strong and powerful. The marathon is 3 days away and I've been tapering. I hoped that I would feel fresh but it wasn't the case. Maybe it was the humidity ... ?

It rained last night and the morning air was heavy. I drove to Faulkey Gully after dropping Cameron off late. Rather than park in the mud just off Louetta, I drove to a neighborhood swimming pool and crossed the bridge over to the trail.

1 mile warmup took me to the end of the trail where I started the tempo. Slightly slower than target over the first mile. Working hard. Wasn't able to hold pace over Mile 2. Made the turn back and continued to slow over last mile. Walked about 1/2 mile then cooled down over 1 mile. Thorough stretch back at the car.

PRE RUN

Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, oatmeal w/skim milk, multivitamin & water

OBJECTIVE

stretch legs & clear muscle soreness; test left knee

ACHIEVED

3.53 mi. @ 8:04/mi.

6:33 AM 72° 89% 7 mph

With mixed emotions, I hit the pavement this morning. Jonathan ran Sunday morning in Utah but my knee wasn't ready for that. I took my running clothes to work yesterday thinking I'd run downtown before going home. Ultimately I didn't feel ready. Finally, this morning after dropping Cameron off, I made my way over to the gully trail for a run. I wasn't concerned about time or distance; just wanted to see how I felt. There was muscle soreness in my quads and calfs but not as much as I thought there would be. My knee was achy but okay once it warmed up.

I've got a lot of things to sort out with my running. I'm going to take it slow. I requested a physician referral from a doctor who works with Power in Motion. I need to get the knee figured out before I go long again.

PRE RUN

GrapeNuts w/skim milk

POST RUN

SlimFast

OBJECTIVE

run

ACHIEVED

4.02 mi. @ 8:02/mi.

Stretched it out over to Stuebner-Airline and back this morning. Left knee was a bit balky and legs still seemed tired.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast, oatmeal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

run some miles

ACHIEVED

7.12 mi. @ 8:35/mi.

6:40 AM 82° 74% 9 mph

I ran from Memorial Park with Stephanie's group this morning. There was quite a group today: Steph, Laurie, Randy, Shellie, Stacey, Miranda, Jonathan, William, and me. Stephanie's wedding is later today so I think that contributed to the attendance this morning. On one hand, it's surprising to me that she'd run this morning ... on the other hand, it's not surprising at all.

Originally I thought I may stretch it out longer today but found the miles a bit difficult even though the pace was modest. This just reminded me that I'm still recovering from last Saturday's marathon effort. I believe there's a rule of thumb suggesting that it takes one day for each mile raced to fully recover. Therefore, I've still got 19 days of recovering. This is similar to how the first week after the St. George marathon went too ... if I recall correctly. The week after the marathon I was surprised by how good I felt. I had a few runs and wondered what the big deal with recovery is. But the second week has a different story. It was like it all caught up with me. I'll be curious to see how I feel over the next week.

It was good to talk with Jonathan again. I wasn't that eager to see the rest of the group because I knew it would mean reporting on the marathon but no one really pressed and everyone seemed forgiving; acknowledging that "bad races happen".

PRE RUN

Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

POST RUN

SlimFast

OBJECTIVE

run a bit

ACHIEVED

WU

2 x 1100-660-430 + 1100

CD

5:34 AM 79° 84% 5 mph

Rory and Cameron went with me to run Will's Hills this morning. It's Memorial Day so they are out of school and I'm off work. As usual we didn't know what the workout was until we got there. An 1100 meter loop with a couple relatively small hills was laid out. The workout was to run the full loop then take a 3 minute break. Run approximately 660 meters then take a 2 minute break. Run the remaining 430 meters then take a 1 minute break. After completing this circuit, we repeated it then followed it with a final 1100 meter loop.

It was a good workout. My knee felt "stressed" but not over-strained. Rory and Cam each ran well. Here are my approximate splits with breaks in parenthesis:

4:43 (2:59) 2:03 (2:01) 1:38 (0:54)

4:34 (2:30) 2:39 (2:00) 1:45 (1:17)

4:39

PRE RUN

Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

POST RUN

SlimFast & Clif bar

OBJECTIVE

stretch legs over a few miles

ACHIEVED

4.08 mi. @ 8:32/mi.

4:52 AM 70° 88% 0 mph

Left knee was achy today but loosened slightly over the run. (Maybe it was Monday's hills or residual marathon damage ...?) Other than that my legs seemed to have a little spring during the second half. I suppose I'm still recovering from the marathon.

I set an appoint with Dr. John Cianca. I'll meet with him on Friday, June 6 (the earliest I could get in). He's the former medical director of the Houston Marathon and a runner himself. I know at least three people who have used him and they have had good success with his diagnostic techniques and therapies. Ironically, my formal training for the St. George marathon begins in earnest June 9.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast & multivitamin

Later, GrapeNuts w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

run

ACHIEVED

3.02 mi.@8:15/mi.

5:01 AM 70° 83% 0 mph

Nothing special about today's run. I played basketball for an hour and a half last night. I haven't played in a long time. It was good to get out again. Sometime ago I read that distance running reduces jumping ability. I don't recall the source or biomechanical details. I did notice that I seemed to have difficulty getting two feet off the ground at the same time last night. Being honest with myself, it might not be the running .... It may be that 41-year old guys just aren't supposed to jump! Not that I ever had an amazing vertical but there was a time when I could get off the floor a bit.

I wasn't sure when I would wake up this morning and didn't set an alarm. I figured if I woke up early enough, I'd run. If not, I'd go out tonight or tomorrow. I woke up around 4:50, tossed a bit then figured I had time for 3 miles.

I haven't checked the weather this morning but I'm guessing I'll find the temperature was slightly cooler and the humidity was noticeably lower. It was pleasant. Weather supposed to stay the same for a while ... lows in the 70's, highs in the 90's.

The only thing I noticed was my legs felt a little tweaked from the lateral movement playing basketball last night. I tried to keep the pace comfortable and just enjoy being out. It was a good start to the day.

I'm not sure what's going to happen for this weekend's running. Steph's wedding was last weekend. I don't know about the honeymoon plans but I'm guessing she's out of town. If that's the case, the question becomes will anyone pick up the slack and plan a run in her absence. I'm also not sure what the renegade Spring runners are doing. Bob Bond is running the San Diego marathon Sunday so he'll be out of town. I think a couple of the other guys are nursing injuries. Jonathan has picked up with the Tornados running club so I doubt he's going to want to do anything. I may be left on my own ....

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast & multivitamin

OBJECTIVE

10 miles : no pace

ACHIEVED

9.85 mi. @ 8:21/mi.

6:14 AM 75° 85% 2 mph

Ran with Stephanie's group this morning. Stephanie was gone for her honeymoon but today's group included: Stacey, Randy, Jonathan, Miranda, Laurie, William, and me.

The group was scheduled for 13.5 but Jonathan and I cut it short. He's probably running with the Tornados tomorrow and I had to hustle back to the house to help Cameron get ready for his first day on the job. He's umpiring 9-year old baseball games this morning. Both he and Paige were nervous (he did just fine).

My legs felt okay today but my overall fitness didn't. Jonathan and Stacey picked up the pace to around 8 minute miles over the middle part of the run and I felt pressed. My cardio didn't seem to be there nor my legs. This run was tougher than it should have been.

PRE RUN

Kashi Go Lean cereal w/skim milk and multivitamin

POST RUN

Clif bar and water

OBJECTIVE

4 - 6 miles : easy

ACHIEVED

5.13 mi. @ 9:03/mi.

5:25 AM 76° 88% 7 mph

Rolled out five plus miles this morning ... Day 2 of the new training plan. Having posted the week's schedule at the beginning of the week was good because it had me thinking about today's run throughout the day yesterday. When it came time to go this morning, I felt okay and mentally seemed prepared too. Not that today's run was a big, major effort. I just seemed better prepared.

I took the York Minster Loop from the house. I haven't run that specific route for quite some time. My legs seemed heavy at different times during the run. I don't think I've fully recovered from the marathon yet. Theoretically by sometime next week, the marathon should be out of my system. Today's slow pace never challenged my cardio.

There's no such thing as wasted miles under the approach to training so this was a good run to get in the books. Tomorrow will be the first test as I include a touch of speed into a longer run. I'm already looking forward to it.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

oatmeal w/skim milk, multivitamin @ water

OBJECTIVE
8 miles w/ 5x2 minutes @ CV pace (7:15), jog 2 minutes between

ACHIEVED
8.03 miles w/5x2 min. (see pace detail below), jog 2 min. between

6:15 AM 78° 81% 7 mph

This really was a peculiar run. I haven't done one like this before ... that I recall. After looking forward to this run, I actually had some dread going into it. But it turned out fine.

Today is Cameron's first day out of school so I didn't have to get up at a particular time. Normally that wouldn't matter and I'd just get up early like always but I actually slept in a bit today. I went to the YMCA to start my run. I like the 8-mile route that starts there since over half of it is off the streets on a paved trail.

I'm not exactly sure how fast the run is supposed to be when not running the speed portion so I really eased into this one. My legs felt a little fatigued but loosened up as I went along.

After about 2.5 miles, I hit the trail and that's where I had decided the faster portion of the run would begin. I'm sure I looked like a dork since I had my Garmin GPS on my left wrist and my Timex Ironman on my right but I wanted the Ironman to run repeating 2:00 intervals with an audible indicator. The sound on my Garmin is hit and miss so I didn't want to rely on it.

I banged out the first 2 minutes and was surprised by my comfort with the pace. I was a bit worried that this may be a trick since I still had 4 more to go. I slowed for a 2:00 jog then hit it again. The pace again felt fine. This repeated then it was time to turn around. I jogged a little extra only because I didn't want to turn around during a speed portion. After the turn, I run then jogged for two more segments. Then it was three miles back to the Y.

I wondered if I somehow miscalculated the pace of my speed segments. They seemed too easy this morning. Well, I think the beauty of this type of run hit me as I was working my way back to the Y. The speed part seemed to catch up with me. And even though I wasn't running an aggressive pace at all. I could feel the 10 minutes of blasters (for lack of a better word) that I had done. I'm curious to see if I feel the same next week.

8.03 mi. @ 8:38/mi.

2.45 mi. @ 8:53/mi.
2:02 min.@ 7:09/mi.
2:00 min. recovery
2:00 min.@ 7:11/mi.
2:00 min. recovery
2:00 min.@ 6:55/mi.
3:03 min. recovery
2:00 min.@ 6:47/mi.
2:00 min. recovery
2:03 min.@ 6:39/mi.
1:58 min. recovery
3:02 mi. @ 8:44/mi.


PRE RUN
Clif bar & water


POST RUN
water, multivitamin, oatmeal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

4 - 6 miles : EZ pace (8:34 - 8:54)

ACHIEVED

5.12 mi. @ 8:45/mi.

5:33 AM

I managed to find the pace this morning. It actually felt pretty good. I'm somewhat surprised that I'm feeling as good as I do so far with daily running. (We'll see how the last couple miles of tomorrow's longer run goes!)

I took the York Minster loop again (same as Tuesday). There seemed to be a bit more traffic than usual this morning.

I feel much better having a target pace.

I'm visiting the doctor this morning for an evaluation of my knee / IT band issue. I'm hopeful that he's not going to shut me down.

Tomorrow is a 10-mile run that it looks like I'll be doing on my own very early.

PRE RUN

1/2 Rice Krispie treat & water

POST RUN

other 1/2 Rice Krispie treat, multivitamin, water & oatmeal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

10 mi. w/last 2 mi. @ marathon pace (MP = 7:55)

ACHIEVED

10.04 mi. @ 8:39/mi. [last 2 mi. - 7:52/7:35)

5:46 AM 79° 82% 7 mph

It was tough to get going this morning but I'm glad I did. It turned out to be a good run. I went from the Y on a solo trip. I took it out slow and tried to hold the mile pace around 8:45-8:50. The morning was warm and humid. At the turn around point, I stopped at a convenience store for a Gatorade. My knee felt a little loose but I think part of that was mental now that I have a diagnosis. With about 4 miles to go, I started seeing people from the ChampionsFit group in their way out. This was helpful in that it sparked my pace at a time when I may have fallen off some.

By the time I hit 8 miles, I really wasn't sure if I would be able to slice a minute off the pace to finish strong over the final 2 miles. But once I got going, it felt good. It's the concept Jonathan has talked about before. Basically that it can be harder to go slow than it is to go faster. It's hard to explain but it held true for me today. The last two miles felt good and I was able to hit my planned for paces.

9:13/8:49/8:46/8:49/8:49/8:45/8:51/9:03/7:52/7:35

Tinman has set my EZ pace at 8:24 - 8:54 for now. My CV pace is 6:40 and my MP is 7:55.

It looks like I'll just stick with the same weekly plan I followed this week over the next 4 weeks while I'm doing rehab. That way I keep my longest run to 10 miles (in line with Dr. Cianca's orders) but still get 34 miles each week. Assuming I get a clean bill of health in 4 weeks (how's that for optimism?), I'll have a decent base to build on for my sole goal - the 2008 St. George marathon on October 4.

PRE RUN

apple juice

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, oatmeal w/skim milk; water & multivitamin

OBJECTIVE
3 miles : slow

ACHIEVED
3.03 mi. @ 8:34/mi.

5:11 AM 79° 79% 5 mph

Stretched out over an easy three miles this morning. The run was uneventful except at the end of two miles my left IT band flared up in a big way! Oddly, the pain subsided shortly after it started. That hasn't happened before. My legs felt good and my cardio felt untested this morning. I was a bit faster than I wanted to be but I think that's due to yesterday's rest and an eagerness to get the week's running underway.

Tomorrow is 4-6 miles. I'm thinking I'll go 6.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, GrapeNuts w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
4 - 6 mi. EZ (8:24 - 8:54)

ACHIEVED
6.15 mi. @ 8:48/mi.

5:09 AM 76° 87% 3 mph

Started out too slow and ended too fast today. I wanted to be around 8:50/mi. for the run which I did but the range was a bit wider than I had hoped. I wasn't running fast at the end to make the time. I was feeling pretty good and just let the pace come to me. I took the Wimbeldon Forest Loop which seemed to have a lot of traffic this morning for some reason.

Two thoughts occurred to me this morning. First, my current training approach seems better than my past ones. Previously, while only running 3 times a week, I felt like I was always "racing mentally". It wasn't that I was necessarily running fast but in my mind I was always trying to hit a certain time. In the current approach there are 4 runs each week where I'm either running "slow" or "easy". Pace isn't critical here only the miles are. It's the concept of "getting faster by training slower". Hopefully I feel the same way in a few months as the mileage piles up.

The other thought was prompted by a Runners' World article. This is going to sound odd but there have been several times over the past year+ of running when I get in the shower, there has been a strong odor of ammonia. At first, I thought maybe Paige had just cleaned the shower that day. Later, I wondered if somehow my running clothes were transferring residual laundry detergent into my skin. Failing to reach a viable explanation, I just disregarded it even though I still noticed it after runs occasionally. Well, there's an answer. So I'm taking this to be an indication that I didn't have enough carbohydrates to burn as fuel during the run AND I didn't drink enough to flush the nitrogen byproduct the "normal" way.

PRE RUN
apple juice & 1 mini powdered donut

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, @ oatmeal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

8 mi. w/5x2 min.@CV (6:40) & 2 min. active recovery (non speed miles @ EZ pace 8:24 - 8:54/mi.)

ACHIEVED

8.02 mi. @ 8:29/mi. - broken down as follows:

2.43 mi. @ 8:50/mi.

2:03 @ 6:52/mi.

1:56 recovery

2:02 @ 6:32/mi.

1:57 recovery

2:00 @ 6:30/mi.

2:59 recovery

2:00 @ 6:27/mi.

1:59 recovery

1:59 @ 6:24/mi.

2:03 recovery

3.00 @ 8:31/mi.

5:26AM

Good run this morning. It felt like the pace for the speed sections was better dialed in than last week. I missed the split on the first rep but once I got going I was under for the remaining 4 reps. I wondered how this was going to impact my 3-mile return but I was able to increasingly pick up the pace to finish the run. I seemed to notice a pronounced recovery over the last 3 miles. This made me wonder about my heart rate. I haven't ever monitored my heart rate during training but something was going on this morning over the final 3 miles that I think could only be quantified by a heart rate monitor. What I suspect happened is the speed sections took my heart rate up and the recovery sections were too short - by design - to fully recover. By the time I finished my fifth speed section, I needed time for my heart rate to come down. As I continued running at a slower pace, my heart rate dropped. As my heart rate dropped, I felt better and was able to gradually pick up the pace to the finish without going into oxygen deficit or overtaxing my heart. That's my theory. As I've said before, I'm not a doctor or a scientist but that doesn't stop me from spouting physiological theory about myself or the human body in general. I'm sure someone has already figured all of this out. I just need to find the source and read up on it.

Slow 3 miles tomorrow.

PRE RUN

Clif bar & water

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, Kahsi GoLean cereal w/skim milk, apple juice & multivitamin

OBJECTIVE

3 miles : SLOW

ACHIEVED

3.03 mi @ 9:01/mi.

73° 89% 0 mph

This was a day that I easily could have missed my run. The justification that today called for a short, slow run flashed through my head when I woke up. It wouldn't be a big deal if I blew it off .... But I "flipped the script" on myself thinking, "if it's such a short, slow run - what's the big deal? Just get it done."

My legs were sore or tired ??? this morning ... I'm not exactly sure which. Yesterday was a Big Workout but I stretched well after the run. I did end up sitting in the bleachers for four hours through Cameron's doubleheader last doubleheader last night. Maybe I just tightened up during that stretch ... ???

Anyway rolled out the three miles. I started slowly then found myself picking it up about midway. I was getting faster than I wanted to be so I pulled it back and just eased it home. I wanted to be around 8:54-9:00/mi. For some reason, I've got it in my head that if I'm slower than 9:17/mi. the miles are being wasted and fall into the junk category. I'm not sure that's a true-ism but I think I read about the concept somewhere along the line.

Looking at 5 miles tomorrow.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

water, multivitamin, Honey Nut Cheerios w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
5 mi. : EZ (8:24-54)

ACHIEVED
5.12 mi. @ 8:26/mi.

≈5:15 AM 77° 88% 0 mph

My legs are still sore and tight. I had hoped the condition was going to be short lived. It's not a big problem; just made it hard to get going this morning.

My Garmin pulled its mysterious "LOW BATTERY" routine again this morning. It hasn't done that for several weeks. So no GPS tracks for today's run. However, yesterday I received a new heart rate monitor that I ordered. So I had a toy to employ during the run. I didn't spend much time with it last night so I barely know how to use it. At this point, I can say it seems capable of many things. But there are only 4 buttons and if you punch them in the right sequence, you'll get the desired output. Let me just say that I haven't figured out how to play Wagner's Flight of the Valkyries with four notes yet!

Strapped on the monitor, hit start and ran. It was actually good not knowing my pace today. I should probably take this approach more often. When I'm doing easy or slow runs, I try not to look at my Garmin but it's habitual and I think I still focus on it a bit too much. Well, not having the Garmin today made the point as I caught myself looking at the heart rate monitor.

I ran the York Minster Loop so I know where the mile breaks are. I checked the monitor at those points and knew that I was around 8:45-50/mi. and just tried to hold it there.

The miles rolled by. I think I'm getting better at pushing my mental focal point out farther. Other than that the run was uneventful. The sun is coming up earlier and it gets lighter earlier now as we approach the longest day of the year next week.

I have my first physical therapy session this afternoon. I'm a bit apprehensive about it but I suspect it will turn out fine.

Tomorrow's run is 10 miles. I'll have to start early. Cameron has a baseball game at 10 on the other side of town.

Oh, about failed to mention my average heart rate for the run was 144. Not sure what that means since I have nothing to compare it to ....


PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast, water, multivitamin @ GrapeNuts w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

10 mi. w/8 mi. @ 8:24-54/mi. & last 2 mi. @ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED

8.92 mi. (9:16/9:01/8:42/8:48/8:39/7:59/7:48/7:41/7:06 [.92 mi])

5:28 AM 72° 94% 0 mph

This run obviously didn't go as planned! Here's the explanation. Cameron had a doubleheader in Katy starting at 10 AM. Katy's an hour drive from the house and of course the players have to be there an hour early. This made for a less than leisurely morning. I checked the Spring Runners board last night and saw they were planning a 6 AM run. "They" being Bob Bond and anyone who chose to join him. Their plan was for 8 or 10 miles. That was too late of a start for me so I planned to drive to the 10-mile run turnaround point and start early enough to catch them when they started their run. Other than the fact I got a bit of a late start, everything was generally on schedule. I figured if I ran into them before I made it the their starting point, I'd just run with them and add on to the end of my run for 10 miles.

You can see from my splits, I was on schedule pace-wise over the first 4 miles. I met up with a huge group of ChampionsFit runners at the gate leaving the Y property so I just missed their start by about 300 yards. I'll call that perfect timing. Bob Bond was in the group along with a couple other Spring Runners. Bob broke with a couple other guys while I was still making my way through the group and talking with Stan (???). I caught Bob. He was talking to another guy I hadn't met. We stayed together and chatted as we pulled away from the group. Bob just ran the San Diego marathon two weeks ago. So we talked about his run there, about my physical condition, etc. I feel the pace is fast but I figured it was just relative to my slow start. Finally I can't deny the urge to look at my Garmin and we're clipping along under 8:00/mi. At that point, I decided to hold on as look as I could and just end the run when I got back to the car. Bob dropped off a little over 3 miles into his run. That left Sean and me. He talked small talk and maintained the pace. I didn't feel extremely pushed at the pace but I was working. I think this may have been an easy pace for Sean. I started connecting the dots of who this guy was. I fairly certain he's Sean Easton, the Head Coach of the ChampionsFit Green Group (8:30 pace and faster). His wife ran with us on a Saturday a month or two ago. Anyway once we made it to Spring Cypress Road where my car was. Sean took a couple minutes to show me a yoga-style stretch for my IT bands. Interesting that I hadn't seen this one before .... It seems to work. He suggested doing each leg for 5 minutes a night. I figure it's worth a try.

So that's how my run ended up shorter and faster than planned.

PRE RUN

ginger snaps & water

POST RUN

SlimFast

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. w/5x2 min. @ CV (6:40/mi.) & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED
8.01 mi. @ 8:30/mi. broken down as follows:
2.42 mi. @ 8:55/mi.
2:00 min. @ 6:15/mi.
1:59 jog
2:00 min. @ 6:21/mi.
1:59 jog
2:00 min. @ 6:17/mi.
2:26 jog
2:00 min. @ 6:21/mi.
2:00 jog
2:00 min. @ 6:16/mi.
2:00 jog
2.99 mi. @ 8:43/mi.

5:33 AM 72° 86% 2 mph

It was a good run this morning. This was my third mid-week Big Workout and, although they seem ominous as they approach, I ultimately enjoy the workout - especially when it's over!

I was supposed to hit 6:40/mi. on my 2 minute bursts but felt good from the first one so I just stayed with the faster pace. I was trying to get farther down the bayou path than I did last week. I thought this might present difficulty for me over the 3 miles back to the car. But, just like last week, after starting slowly I was able to pick up the pace the entire distance. Obviously, 8:43/mile isn't a fast pace but it's in the range I want to be at (8:24-54).

I'm going to strive to eat and drink properly throughout the day and get plenty of sleep tonight. Tomorrow's run is a slow 3-miler.

On fastrunningblog.com, Josse commented yesterday that I might have an iron deficiency. I plan to start supplementing to see if it helps with my overall fatigue.

PRE RUN
water & Accelerade

POST RUN
Accelerade & SlimFast
Later, GrapeNuts w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

3 mi. : SLOW (>8:54/mi.)

ACHIEVED

4.02 mi. @ 9:13/mi.

5:10 AM 73° 94% 0 mph

Took this one slow and easy as prescribed. Had a bit of muscle soreness in my legs from yesterday. Added a mile ... for good measure.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast, multivitamin, 65 mg Iron, & oatmeal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

4 - 6 mi. EZ (8:24-54/mi.)

ACHIEVED

≈6.12 mi.@ 8:37/mi. (52:47)

≈5:40 AM 72° 92% 0 mph

Nice 6-miler to celebrate the summer solstice. Early in the run I was thinking this must for a big week for pagans. I think yesterday was a full moon and today is summer solstice. It seems like I should be running a race at Stonehenge today!

My Garmin pulled the always-aggravating "LOW BATTERY" routine again this morning so I pulled out the trusty Timex IronMan to accompany me. I ran the Wimbledon Forest Loop so I have a good idea that the distance is 6.10 - 6.15 miles. I felt fine today. My IT band hasn't been a problem for a while now (knock on wood!). My legs seemed a little "tired" but not really a big deal.

I started about 30 minutes later than usual today since I'm taking the day off work. Which is really good at this point. However, Paige is having surgery this afternoon so that's not so exciting. Hopefully it's a smooth out-patient procedure with a quick recovery - as currently anticipated.

Tomorrow's run is 10 miles. I'm not sure who, if anyone, I'll be running with yet. It's somewhat dependent on how Paige is doing.

PRE RUN

Accelerade

POST RUN

SlimFast, multivitamin @ Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE

10 mi. w/8 @ EZ (8:24-54/mi.) & last 2@ MP (7:55/mi.)

ACHIEVED

10.02 mi. w/8@8:20/mi. & 2@7:41/mi.

5:47 AM 71° 92% 0 mph

Good run this morning. I started from Spring Cypress a little late. Eased on down the bayou path. I was feeling pretty good. Pace was around 8:30/mi. Didn't make it all the way to the Y - 1 1/2 mile short - before meeting up with Bob Bond, Sean Easton, Sean's friend, and a guy named Seth. I met them on Jones Road and anytime Sean's in the group the pace is going to be hot ... at least for met. I wasn't with them for long before Sean had us under 8:00/mi.

We got back on the bayou trail and went to the 8-mile turn around for Bob. Bob and I turned back. The others continued on. I ran with Bob along the trail back to the end of the path. Bob continued back to the Y. I took a water break (thank you, ChampionsFit!) then headed back on the trail for the third time. With 2 miles remaining, I picked it back up looking for 7:55/mi. I was feeling good. I was pushing but it wasn't uncomfortable. I made each of the last two miles in 7:41/mi. which I was pleased with.

It seems I'm making slow, incremental progress. I need to decide on next week's training schedule. I start physical therapy on Tuesday and go back on Thursday. I have a hunch Dani is really going to "put it to me" and she'll be able to tell I've been running more and faster than she suggested. At this point, I'm willing to let those chips fall where they may ....

PRE RUN

Accelerade

POST RUN

SlimFast; potato, egg & cheese breakfast taco

Later, Life cereal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. EZ (8:24-54/mi.)

ACHIEVED
6.30 mi.@ 8:50/mi.

5:22 AM 71° 95% 0 mph

Ninety-five percent humidity that's crazy! The air definitely had a "thickness" to it this morning.

My legs were heavy and I really didn't ever feel like I got going. I also suspect myself of subconsciously holding back since I have no idea what's in store for me at this morning's PT session. The only thing I've heard over and over is that Dani, my therapist, isn't "warm and fuzzy". She even said something to that effect when we met ... and seemed proud of it. That's fine with me - so long as her methods work and are able to get me back on track.

I spent much of this morning's run thinking over a memo that I have to write for the CEO. Although the topic is highly technical, I had the good fortunate of sitting through Dr. Dave Stewart's class at BYU that was exactly on point. The problem for me is that the class was thirteen years ago! At least it's a good base to work from. I'm enjoying the fact that I'm slightly ahead of the high-paid consultants on this topic. Of course they have national experts to drawn upon when necessary. Okay ... enough work talk on my running blog! ... although maybe that's what slowed me down this morning ....

I've got to hustle off to PT. I'll post more about that experience later.

PRE RUN
Accelerade

POST RUN
water, multivitamin @ oatmeal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. including 5 x 2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. active recovery

ACHIEVED
8 mi. @ 8:30/mi. including
2.42 mi.@ 8:50/mi.
2:02 min.@ 6:44/mi.
1:58 min.
2:00 min.@ 6:23/mi.
1:59 min.
2:00 min.@ 6:30/mi.
2:00 min.
1:59 min.@ 6:35/mi.
1:59 min.
2:04 min.@ 6:29/mi.
1:56 min.
1:59 min.@ 6:38/mi.
1:59 min.
2.56 mi.@ 8:51/mi.

5:34 AM 73° 92% 0 mph

Yes, I added an extra rep on my Big Workout today. It wasn't because I was feeling great. Probably more just to spite my physical therapist! Yes, I know that's childish.

Also, when I've done my Wednesday Big Workout over the past three weeks, I've extended my active recovery by about a minute. I've only done this because I end up about a quarter of a mile short of the turnaround point for the run and I haven't wanted to make the turnaround in the middle of a fast rep. Well, today I just started my fourth rep on schedule and made the turnaround in the middle of the rep. ... not good for speed but I still ended up at 6:35/mi. pace.

After the set of speed work, the run back was tough. It was all I could do to hold on to the pace. I think it was a combination of the extra speed rep, no extended rest between the third and fourth rep, and PT yesterday. But I made it.

Yesterday's PT session seemed pretty good. I was late due to my having to stop on the way to buy compression shorts. I forgot mine at home. Great way to start a working relationship, right? Dani greeted me by asking about my running. I told her 37 miles last week. She wanted to know when I rested. "Sunday." "That's not enough. You need to rest every other day. I know you have a race coming up but you have to compromise. Did you do any speed work?" I lied. "No - just miles." She turned me over to Pilar, who honestly looked like she was about 16 years old. But she seemed to know what she was doing. She took me through the following:

calf stretch
Figure 4
calf raises 2-leg then 1-leg
clam - (tie an elastic band around both legs, lay (or is it lie) on side, lift top leg)
bridge
bridge w/calfs on ball
bridge w/heels on ball 2-leg then 1-leg
leg press 2-leg then 1-leg

My form on the one-leg press especially the left leg was naturally bad. Dani came over and pointed it out. She cleaned up my form and said, "This is what we need to work on." She explained that while running the knee goes out of position or alignment so quickly then back in that it may be imperceptible. Running reinforces the bad form. So it looks like I'm in for a break-him-down, build-him-up approach to clean up my form. I'm supposed to do clams at home then go back on Thurday.

I've got a slow 4 miles tomorrow and PT again.

PRE RUN
Accelerade

POST RUN
Accelerade
Later, water mulitvitamin & 5-gain oatmeal w/flax seed, turbinado & skim milk

OBJECTIVE
4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.02 mi.@ 8:48/mi.

6:29 AM 73° 94% 0 mph

I got a late start this morning. I was up in time but got sidetracked while checking my work email before the run.

Finally broke away. I expected a slow one today which was fine because that's what the plan called for. My legs started getting sore yesterday at work while sitting for long stretches. I surmise it's delayed onset muscle soreness from my PT on Tuesday (Dani, my therapist, tipped me off to that when I met with her today.). Of course the difference with starting later is that it's light at the beginning of the run. I don't necessarily like it that way for some reason. Maybe in a perverse sense it seems like I'm more dedicated if I'm running while it's still dark ....

With sore legs and a planned slow run, I was surprised I was under 8:30/mi. for the first 2 miles while running a natural pace and not looking at my watch. I reigned it in over the last half of the run. I don't understand the physiology of running slow on recovery days but I know that's the way it's supposed to be done. I've also read that the aerobic benefit of running slow miles is almost the same as running fast miles. Anyway, as I pondered this and wondered about it, I slowed down.

After driving to the office and spending some time there, I broke away for physical therapy. I liked having Dani to myself this time. She's tough and really forces me to use proper form. Which is good for me ... but it's hard. Generally had more of the same with bands and the large ball; working the glutes, quads and hamstrings. Some of the positions don't look that tough but once you get going there's a tremendous burn. Hoping that all of this is helping. She's not at all happy with my running schedule. She wants me to rest every other day and reduce mileage. ... I'm still not listening.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
chocolate milk, multivitamin & oatmeal w/flax seed, turbinado & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

10 mi. w/8 mi.@ 8:24-54/mi. & last 2 mi.@ 7:55/mi

ACHIEVED

10.35 mi.@ 8:34/mi. w/8:43/mi. & last 2 mi.@ approx. 8:26/mi.

5:20 AM 73° 94% 2 mph

I got the miles in this morning but it didn't go exactly as planned. I started from Spring Cypress headed toward the Y. The Spring Running Club and ChampionsFit were starting from the Y at 6:00. My plan was to meet them there like a have the last couple Saturdays. My legs were sore at the outset but loosened very gradually as I worked my way to the bayou and down the trail in the dark. My pace was a little slower than I wanted over the first 3 miles but I was anticipating meeting Sean and Bob who would push it faster than I wanted on the way back. Miles 4 and 5 I was at the high end of the range I wanted to be in.

When I got to the Y, no one was lined up to run. Rather than be about a half mile short of 10 miles when I got back to the car, I decided to make a loop of the soccer fields while waiting for the large running group to appear. While I was early in my loop, the group materialized at the "start line" and disappeared. I finished my loop and started reeling in runners. The group came back to me pretty quickly. I pushed my pace as I passed the other CF runners some called out "hello's" and encouraged me to catch the "fast guys". It took me a while to catch Bob, Seth, Stan, and an unidentified woman who's training for the Portland marathon. When I saw that Sean wasn't with them, I knew the pace wouldn't be as "hot". We chatted as we worked our way back up the trail.

With 2 miles to go ... it was time for my pickup. But I didn't. For some stupid reason, I felt obligated to stay with the group. I'm a bit mad at myself now for not taking off. Once we got to Eldridge, I had planned to break off since the group was going to go through the neighborhood to get an even 5 miles before doubling back. Bob persuaded me to stay with the group through the neighborhoods and end up coming out the backside close to my car. Okay ... I agreed. Figuring it wasn't that big of a deal. Well, Stan and Bob then proceeded to disagree about the right course through the neighborhood. This slowed as down and really frustrated me. This went on for much longer than it should have. Now I really wished I had just picked up over the last 2 miles on the path and turned up Eldridge to my car. Needless to say my last two miles were slower than planned.

Once back at the car, I took time to stretch really good. I did figure 4 on the ground and the yoga position Sean showed me a couple weeks ago. While in the parking lot, I noticed a HUGE bird sitting on a power line. I walked over for a closer look. It didn't fly. I wished I had me camera for a picture. I want back to the car for my phone which, like most phones, has a poor-excuse-for-camera built into it. I took 4 or 5 pictures then took my phone back to the car and started stretching some more. Still watching the bird, I noticed a blue jay kept swooping at it like mosquito. The big bird didn't flinch. Suddenly out of no where another HUGE bird came flying in and landed on the wire next to the other one. This one was bigger than the first! The first bird flapped its wings and made some noise until the second moved down the wire about 50 yards. When that bird flew it's wingspan seemed like it was 6 feet! I was amazed at the size of the birds. When it flew, I saw color around its head and beak. All the time, I'm wondering what kind of bird is this. I was thinking it must be some kind of vulture. After seeing the head and color, I was thinking maybe it's a California condor. I looked up wikipedia and the California condor is critically endangered and its range doesn't extend to Texas (although it used to). So I'm back to wondering what kind of bird I saw. I think the smaller one was a female and the larger, more colored a male. ... a couple of vultures knowing where a tired runner was going to finish a long run for the day ....

PRE RUN

Accelerade

POST RUN

Accelerade

Later, chocolate milk, multivitamin & Kashi GoLean cereal w/skim milk

OBJECTIVE
3-4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.06 mi.@ 8:55/mi.

5:38 AM 73° 89% 0 mph


PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
chocolate milk, multivitamin, water, 5 grain hot cereal w/turbinado, flax seed & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

5 - 7 mi. EZ (8:24-54/mi.)

ACHIEVED

6.17 mi.@ 8:42/mi.

5:17 AM 70° 83% 0 mph

Except for tweaking my right ankle when stepping on the edge of the sidewalk 1/2 mile into this run, it was a good one. It had a nice rhythm to it.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

chocolate milk, multivitamin, & oatmeal w/flax, turbinado & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

9 mi. w/7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED

9 mi.@ 8:17/mi. including

3 mi.@ 8:51/mi.

• 2:17     run
• 2:00     jog
• 1:59     run
• 2:01     jog
• 1:59     run
• 2:00     jog
• 1:59     run
• 2:00     jog
• 1:59     run
• 1:59     jog
• 2:00     run
• 1:59     jog
• 2:00     run
• 2:04     jog

No watch so I don’t know the actual split paces but the total is 3.7 mi.@ 7:38/mi.

2.3 mi.@ 8:33/mi.

5:38 AM

Woke up to “LOW BATTERY” on the Garmin.  The only day I really need that thing is Wednesday.  I tried to make do with my Ironman.  Of course that means I had no idea of my pace over the 2 minute intervals.  I added 1 mile to this run and two extra intervals.

The objective was to run a 6:40/mile pace for the intervals.  My overall pace for the 9 miles was 8:17/mile and I estimate my pace for the total interval set including recovery times was 7:38/mile.  I’m usually around 10:00/mile over the recovery period.  So who knows what really happened?  Maybe I ran the speed sections slower than planned but ran the recovery sections faster.  I tried to maintain my usual cadence over the speed sections and I did “feel” slower once I hit the 5, 6, and 7^th intervals.

Anyway, I’m walking away from this one very happy.  Maybe I should leave my Garmin home all the time … then I can wander around in this blissful, ignorant state more often!

PRE RUN

FRS powdered drink

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, 5-grain hot cereal w/turbinado, flax & skim milk, water, multivitamin, & 2 English muffins (1 honey & 1 cinnamon sugar)

OBJECTIVE
3 - 4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED
4.02 mi.@ 9:07/mi.

5:24 AM

Between yesterday's run and physical therapy, I was feeling pretty beat up before I even started this morning. There was muscle soreness in my hip flexors, abs, and legs. Over the first half mile, I was wondering if I could make it based on how my abs were feeling. Apparently, I must be shifting the weight in one of the PT exercises off of my quads and glutes over to my abs. I suppose this is a form of cheating. I don't notice that I'm doing it but I don't think my abs should be feeling like they do today. I had the same thing but to a lesser degree on Tuesday.

I rolled out the 4 miles at a pedestrian pace. Somehow I've convinced myself that if I never run slower than 9:17/mile that the miles are still "good". I think I've read something about that before but may have misinterpreted what I was reading. I then coupled my reading with the recovery pace found at runbayou.com to determine I can avoid junk miles if I'm under 9:17.

I think I solved a mystery while running this morning. My initial right IT band problem last November subsided after a couple weeks rest. But later the left IT band became the problem and is now a much bigger issue than the right ever was. This has always baffled me. I didn't even tell Dr. Cianca about my right because that isn't what I was there for and it was no longer a problem. I thought it would just cloud the picture. I mentioned it to Dani in my initial PT evaluation but I under emphasized it and she didn't seem to give it much consideration. Since then, I've tried to listen closely to Cianca and Dani to see if something they said could offer an explanation. Of course, I looked for my own explanation and also skimmed around the internet looking for a reason.

I think I've got it now thanks to something Dani said yesterday. I've somewhat been in denial about this "muscle weakness" and even Cianca and Dani were surprised that I could "even run a marathon". So something about their separate diagnosis just didn't sync up with my experience. Being in denial about the muscle weakness, I harbored some kind of weird hope that ... I wasn't weak. I didn't feel weak, did I? Through PT, Dani has repeatedly put me in positions where I feel incredibly weak. At first I think I subconsciously believed this was some kind of trick. Of course she knows which muscles are naturally weaker and could put anyone in a "comprising" position of weakness. But yesterday Dani commented that she sees people with IT band problems all the time. What I have isn't any different than the typical cases. However, she said a compounding issue for me is that my ankles are weak. Okay, she's alluded to this before but I haven't considered it. I thought Cianca said it was my glutes and that my knees and ankles looked good. I think Dani even said in my initial with her that it was my glutes. So that's where I've been focused. Whatever she said about my ankles to this point didn't hold much stock with me. Even yesterday when she said it, I passed it off but it least we openly discussed it this time.

While running this morning, I was considering all of this. This isn't going to seem like much of a breakthrough ... like a preschool dot-to-dot. But my stubbornness has caused me to miss this for sometime now. Dani is right. My ankles are weak and so are my glutes. I'm sure I have other muscle weaknesses too. My right ITB was caused by this and so is my current left ITB. The difference not running at Memorial Park on a softer, flatter surface.

After St. George last year, I started the Furman training program. I was running more in the morning and a lot more on the track at Klein High. My hard running loops on the track were almost always counterclockwise making my right leg, the "longer" outside leg. Once I stopped running for a couple weeks and came back with no track running, the right ITB problem disappeared.

What about the current left ITB? Well, when I started training for Ogden in December almost all of my running was on roads. Very rarely did I go back to Memorial Park's trail where I did most of my running in preparation for St. George. Almost all roads are crowned and I run against the traffic. This makes my left leg the "longer" of the two. I think this is it. It's why I can't shake the problem with my left. The physical internal cause is my muscle weakness which has always existed. But shifting from Memorial Park where I did almost all of my running last summer, to the track then later to the roads seems to be the external cause of my ITB problems. I really think this is it. I should find softer surfaces and/or get back over to Memorial Park.

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, turbinado & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

11 mi. w/last 3 mi.@ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED

10.07 mi.@ 8:21/mi. including last 2 miles 7:44/7:41

5:41 AM

It was a good run today. My thought is that it's attributable to slowing down during the recovery runs earlier this week. I need to remember the key purpose of the recovery runs is ... to give my body a chance to recover from prior runs AND prepare for upcoming ones.

I started a little late from Spring Cypress and headed down the bayou trail. I didn't make it to the YMCA before I met Bob, Stan, and Brad. They were a little over a mile from the Y. The pace picked up slightly with them. They were running 8 miles so a stayed with them after the turn at their 4 mile mark. I went back with them to the end of the bayou path then turned back to run the path for the fourth time this morning. This worked out well because it was time for my pickup. I pushed the pace and felt pretty good. I tried to hold a constant effort and pace. I could see I was well under my 7:55/mi. plan but felt good so I just went with it, reminding myself that I needed to maintain the pace to the end. I made the decision not to tack on the extra mile since I would get back to the car right at 10 miles and felt I could still call it a good run.

I REALLY wanted to run the Run Wild 5K this morning. I had a great run there last year. I wanted to run for several reasons including my desire to test my IT band under race conditions, I want to see if running every day (even with marathon-specific training) could yield a PR, I really liked the race last year and the post race band, and several of my friends are running this morning. But, in the end, I realized all of these reasons are shallow and disregard my true goal of a strong marathon on October 4. What if I went out and caused a setback? It wouldn't have been worth it. So what if it cost me a PR today. There will be other opportunities when the risk isn't as great.

PRE RUN

FRS

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later-water, multivitamin & chocolate milk

Later than that-steel cut oats w/flax, turbinado & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

5-7 mi. EZ

ACHIEVED

2.02 mi.@ 7:55/mi.

6:51 AM

Got up at 3 AM to drive over to San Antonio and pick up Cameron and his friend from camp. They were supposed to check out at 7 AM. After finding the campus and a place to park, I sent Cameron a text message that I was running and where he could find the car. I changed clothes in the car and took off. I figured I'd loop around campus then decide where to go from there. I ended up on the track, did a few laps then started worrying about Cam not getting my text, not finding the car, wondering where I was, etc. so I went back to the car. What I failed to factor in is that Cameron hates to get up in the morning and his friend is typically late everywhere he goes. While the other kids were breaking camp, they were no where to be found. Ultimately they showed up around 7:30-40. I could have kept running for thirty minutes and come closer to my 6-7 miles. We drove back home and I ended up busy and napping in the afternoon so I failed to get the other miles today. I'm calling it extra rest for next week.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast

OBJECTIVE
9 mi. w/7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED
9.06 mi.@ 8:31/mi. w/7x2 & 2 min. jog (see below for splits)

5:31 AM

This run always looms ominously on my weekly calendar. I don't enjoy the strange anxiety it causes leading up to it but I love the ecstatic feeling of completing it!

I was particularly happy with closing the last 3 miles averaging 8:31/mi. and running negative splits. I was working but it felt good.

2.44 mi.@ 9:00/mi.
1:59 @6:50/mi.
1:59
2:00 @6:29/mi.
1:59
2:00 @6:42/mi.
1:59
2:00 @6:34/mi.
3:32
2:01 @6:35/mi.
1:59
2:01 @6:35/mi.
1:58
1:59 @6:25/mi.
2:00
3.02 mi.@ 8:31/mi.

PRE RUN
FRS

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water; multivitamin; oatmeal w/flax, turbinado, & skim milk; 2 slices wheat toast (1 honey & 1 cinnamon sugar)

OBJECTIVE

6 mi.@ 8:24-54 (EZ)

ACHIEVED

nothing

This is the first day in six weeks that I've missed a run. I got up this morning with every intention of running but checked my email before going and ended up tied up with a major issue at work. ... very disappointing. Thought I'd get the miles this evening but the work issue continued throughout the day and kept my at the office late. Decided just to go home and sleep to save my legs for tomorrow.

OBJECTIVE

10 mi. including 8 mi.@ 8:24-54/mi. & 2 mi.@ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED

12.89 mi.@ 8:08/mi.

6:15 AM 74° 92% 4 mph

It was a beautiful morning for a run. I got an early start on the drive to Conroe and arrived about 15 minutes before the others. This worked out great as I got in a good stretch and mentally shifted gears.

Stephanie arrived with Randy, Laurie and Brian (our host for the day who usually runs with Wayne's group). They waited about 5 minutes for Jonathan but we found out later he had a late night and didn't set his alarm.

We ended up running the exact same route Jonathan and I covered together a while back. The route is hilly (for Houston) but I really enjoy it. It's a bit cooler in Conroe ... maybe because of the nearby water and being a bit farther north ....

We started out fast. Brian was leading and I think he's used to a faster pace than Steph's group runs. We kept trying to bridle him. I was feeling okay but didn't know what to expect with my IT band so I didn't want to blew out too fast, too early. We stopped by a water break at the Teaswood turnoff. I had mild stomach discomfort and wondered about my decision to eat a little oatmeal this morning before leaving the house. I used to always eat before a morning run but haven't been eating pre-run for a few months now.

We made it the I-45 where they had stashed more water. It's about 4.5 miles in. I was still feeling okay. There was discussion about slowing the pace. Brian pulled off the lead for the return trip. Laurie pulled out and started gapping us (as she often does). Randy wasn't going to let her go. The two of them stretched a 100 meter lead on us. Stephanie and I had a chance to catch up. Brian talked about St. George since he's run it twice.

At the water stop with around 2.5 miles remaining, I was still feeling good and decided that I'd try staying with whoever went to the front. Brian reminded us that once back at the cars there was a 3 mile loop to add on at the end of the run. I figured if I wasn't feeling like it, I'd just skip the add on. After all, I'm still capped at 10 miles, right?

Laurie and Randy eased to the front. I went with them. There are a few big ups and downs over this section but the road is narrow and morning recreational traffic had picked up by now. Going up the second hill, an oncoming vehicle approached at a high speed. I picked up my pace to get ahead of Laurie and into single file. I felt strong and the pace felt okay so I just stayed with it figuring I'd top the hill then ease up. Once on top, I tried focusing on my form going downhill; low knees without over striding ... increased turnover. My pace picked up. I couldn't hear Randy and Laurie any more but didn't look back. I still felt good and figured I'd just hold the pace as long as I could. Be strong on the up's and use good form on the down's. I thought I knew how many hills there here back to the marina but I was early surprised when I topped a hill and the parking lot was at the end of this long downhill section. I was sure that at least another up and down was left. As usual, I was "the horse returning to the barn" and picked up the pace some more. I've never led Steph's group at the finish of a run. Not that it's a big deal but to me it felt like some sort of milestone. Of course, they were all planning on another 3 miles and, at this point, I wasn't.

At the car I got water, the others arrived shortly after I did. Although I didn't feel like adding the extra 3 miles. I went out with them for two reasons: 1) I missed yesterday's run and 2) I wanted to know the 3-mile loop that Brian was leading us on ... in case I come up on League Line Road myself sometime. It's always good to get another route in your mental directory.

Mile splits:

8:26/7:52/7:53/8:02/8:08/7:56/8:10/8:09/7:26/6:52(0.85 mi.)

8:55/8:56/8:40

PRE RUN

FRS & oatmeal w/turbinado, flax & skim milk

(had very mild stomach cramping throughout first third of run; not a big deal but occasionally uncomfortable)

IN RUN

Accelerade - 20 oz. over 4 stops & mint, chocolate GU @ 4.5 mi

POST RUN

SlimFast (2 cans) & water

OBJECTIVE

4 mi. SLOW

ACHIEVED

4.02@ 9:28/mi.

4:40 AM 75° 91% 4 mph

I had a few problems this morning. First, after a few hundred meters in to the run I had to use the restroom. That issue persisted throughout the run.

Second and more problematic, it feels like I have a pulled right groin and a pulled extreme lower abdominal muscle on the right side. I don't think these are the same injury but it feels like they're intertwined in function. The result this morning was a shortening of my stride that really slowed down the pace.

I'm not sure of the causes for these but have a couple theories. Neither bothered me during Saturday's run on the hills. Even so, I think the ab situation is from a particular exercise from my PT. Maybe Saturday's run aggravated it ... ???

My theory on the groin is that I may have pulled it while Indian leg wrestling my niece yesterday. My niece and parents are visiting us from out of town this weekend through Tuesday.

A third problem was that I had some general muscle soreness in my legs. I'm fairly certain this is from Saturday's long run on the hills and expect it to clear up soon.

I'll monitor the two issues, hoping not to compound them.

Last week Jonathan and I discussed junk miles ... wondering if the concept really exists. I hope not because, if so, today was all junk. If not, I got my four miles and am off to work for what promises to be a hectic day.

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast & multivitamin

OBJECTIVE

6 mi. EZ (8:24-54/mi.)

ACHIEVED

6.04 mi.@ 9:07/mi.

8:16 PM 84° 70% 6 mph

This run was just getting miles. I took my parents and niece to the airport this morning so I ran at Memorial Park on the way home from work. I haven't been over there to run for some time.

I had an extremely hard to getting going and never really found any rhythm during this run. Fortunately my right groin problem from yesterday seems to be gone but the lower ab problem persists and gave my problems while running. My nutrition today was up-and-down but I think I should have been okay. My hydration wasn't too good especially in the afternoon.

I had PT just before lunch. That most likely contributed to the difficulty I had running tonight. Dani just started me on plyometrics last week and is building up. Today's edition was the toughest yet and it took something out of me. She thinks my ab and groin problem are from the hard run on Saturday. I do think I'm still recovering from that run but I think my ab damage came from the incline bench leg pull-ups (not sure of the correct term for these) that she has me doing somehow tears my abs. It's most likely a result of poor form on my part.

Anyway it wasn't a good run tonight and my schedule is now off so I'm considering pushing my midweek big workout to Thursday rather than tomorrow. However, I'm concerned that could impact Saturday's long run. I've boxed myself in a bit schedule-wise ....

PRE RUN

nothing

POST RUN

SlimFast

Later, 2 small hamburgers & soft-serve ice cream cone

OBJECTIVE

9 mi. w/7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED

8.04 mi.@ 8:31/mi. including

2.46 mi.@ 9:02/mi.

2:00 min.@ 6:47/mi.

2:00 min.

1:59 min.@ 6:30/mi.

2:00 min.

1:59 min.@ 6:13/mi.

3:01 min.

1:59 min.@ 6:32/mi.

1:57 min.

2:00 min.@ 6:29/mi.

1:59 min.

2:00 min.@ 6:46/mi.

1:59 min.

2.49 mi.@ 8:36/mi.

6:19 AM 71° 95% 0 mph

My job is really getting in the way of my running lately! It's second quarter close. I didn't run yesterday and shortened today's run so I could get to work early enough to deal with things there.

My legs were sore. I'm sure it is from the plyometrics at PT Tuesday. My abdominal strain is still a problem but not as bad as it has been.

No big mental breakthrough here but it occurred to me while running that training for a marathon is like a marathon. I've had this thought before but extended the analogy. Since my training started June 2, I had 18 weeks until the marathon. I'm 7 weeks into the cycle so I've got roughly 39% of my training behind me. 39% of a marathon is about 10 miles. In each of my marathons, I felt good for 10 miles just as my training to this point has generally been good. In Ogden, I started having minor problems around 10 miles. The next part of my training is going to be the hardest. I'm still building mileage for several more weeks and expect to increase intensity. I can't lose focus on what I'm training for and why the effort right now is worth it. I'm training now for that second 10 miles of the marathon. I want to be able to run them strong-ly (???) and efficiently. I need to recommit to the effort and continue building to the next plateau.

I've got PT again tomorrow.

PRE RUN

FRS

POST RUN

SlimFast, GrapeNuts w/turbinado & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

6 mi.@ EZ = 8:24-54/mi.

ACHIEVED

6.09 mi.@ 8:34/mi

7:08 AM 69° 93% 0 mph

Since I got a late start, I started the Wimbledon Forest Loop but turned it into an out-and-back so I didn't have to dodge morning commuting traffic on Cypresswood. I've never run "backwards" on that route and I was surprised how long it made it seem. There were parts where I wasn't sure I was on the right road. Proving that it's all a matter of perspective!

I felt okay. The pace was fine. My ab strain is still lingering but seems slightly improved.

I've got PT later today and a long run of undetermined length tomorrow.

PRE RUN

apple juice

POST RUN

chocolate milk, multivitamin, 5-grain hot cereal w/flax, turbinado & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

12 - 14 mi. EZ pace with 2 - 3 mi. pickup @ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED

14.21 mi.@ 8:33/mi. including Mile 13 = 7:46; Mile 14 = 7:51; Final 0.21 mi. = 7:42/mi.

5:43 AM 80° 78% 0 mph

I wasn't "feeling it" today right from the start. I spent the first 2 miles doing a whole body check. My abs were hurting. I didn't have much spring in my legs. I'm fairly certain it was the plyometrics I did at PT yesterday.

Stephanie, Miranda, Laurie, Josh, Randy, William, and I made the trek from Memorial Park along the bayou to downtown ... through downtown to the George R. Brown Convention Center. Then back. At Shepherd, Steph, Josh, and Randy continued through River Oaks. The others including me headed back toward the park. I tried to pickup once I hit the park and went around the backside. It was tough but generally a success.

I stretched and chatted with William and Miranda back at the cars while we waited for the others. They didn't make it before I left.

Dani cut me off from PT yesterday. She said she's done all she can for me. She also said I need to go back to Dr. Cianca for a followup and get a running coach who can help me increase my mileage wisely. This was abrupt! I was hoping to stay with her for longer. She has definitely helped me but it doesn't seem to me like our work is done.

PRE RUN

FRS

POST RUN

2 SlimFast & water

Later, multivitamin, water, English muffin, poached egg & Canadian bacon

OBJECTIVE
16 mi.@ 8:24-54/mi. w/last 2 mi.@ 7:55/mi.

ACHIEVED
16.01 mi.@ 8:18/mi. w/last 2 mi. 7:53/7:32

5:36 AM 78° 89% 1 mph

Stacey Almond hosted Steph's group for a long run at Hershey Park this morning. Stacey runs with Steph's group downtown occasionally. Along with her today was Steve Brammer who may ??? have won this year's New York City Marathon 50-59 age group and a strong runner named Kevin. Joining the run from Stephanie's group was Laurie, Stacey, Stephanie, Randy, Jonathan, William, and me. Our merry band got started down the trail in the dark around 5:30 AM. I decided I'm not fond of running in unknown terrain in the dark. The path was okay but I seemed to find a few uneven spots.

After a little over 2 miles, we ran repeats on a long hill. We did 10 from about 2 miles total up and down. Knowing that this is my longest run since the Ogden marathon and since I just did intervals on the track on Wednesday, I did not push myself on these. Before we were finished I was near the back of the pack.

From there we headed out a long paved trail that generally parallels I-10 leaving Houston. Somewhere around 5 miles out, an injured runner from KatyFit was manning a water station. I had a couple cups of Gatorade. It was very nice for him to be there. Stacey runs and coaches with KatyFit so we were welcome to share their refreshments. From there we turned and went out a long dead end road until we came to a failing bridge then turned back.

There were a bunch of runners and bikers along the paved trail on the way back. Going out, I stayed with Stephanie and Randy most of the way to the Gatorade stop. From there I was with Jonathan to the bridge. On the way back, I was with Stacey and Randy to the Gatorade truck. From there I was alone until about 2+ miles where the group stopped for a rest hydration break. Jonathan and I hung back for William after the others left. Once William joined us, we walked a bit then started back. I asked Jonathan to keep us on a 7:55/mi. pace which he did ... much easier for him than me! Right before the end we passed the others. Stacey and Steve were heading back for William.

KatyFit has a bunch of people participating in their program. It was like a post-race event afterwards. I helped myself to some Powerade but passed on the core stretching. Hung around a bit and chatted then headed home.

I generally felt okay today. It was a long run but I had no hint of IT band issues. For this I am ecstatic. Hopefully everything stays that way. I still need to build endurance for St. George. The long runs are now the most important part of my training.

Once at home, I took an ice bath but didn't get it quite as cold as I wanted so I'm not expecting the full benefit.

On a side note, it's Christmas in July at our house. Paige got a new car this afternoon. She ended up with a 2005 Buick Rendezvous which is what she wanted. ... Buick ... we must be getting old!

PRE RUN
water & oatmeal w/flax & turbinado

POST RUN
Accelerade, 2 SlimFast, water

OBJECTIVE
9 mi.@ 8:53/mi.

ACHIEVED
9.03 mi.@ 8:56/mi.

5:31 AM 75° 91% 6 mph

Had some general soreness from the beginning. Most of it dissipated once I got warmed up. I just ran easy but found myself around 9:04-08/mi. Struggled in an effort to go a bit faster so I just left it there until I turned back at the midway point. Started playing the "2% more effort" game. I focus on putting just 2 percent more into every stride. I've found this is usually good for a 10-25 second pace reduction. I only wish I could stay mentally focused longer. I'm getting better but its still too short.

I ran the bayou trail from the Y. It looks like I'll be using the Y as my starting point more often now that my runs are longer.

PRE RUN
2 FRS chews & water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, 5-grain w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk

OBJECTIVE
who knows?

ACHIEVED
5.13 mi. @ 9:20/mi.

5:17 AM 77° 89% 4 mph

In 1976-7, I was a fifth grader at Central Elementary in St. Anthony, Idaho. During that year my occasional friend, Alan Edlefson (sp?) and I wrote a few supposedly humorous skits for some sort of school talent show. We chose what we thought were the best ones and “acted” (I use that term loosely in this instance.) them out as part of the show.

At a climatic point in one of skits I ad lib’d: “This thing sucks!” I thought nothing of it but later in the day received a fairly serious scolding from my mom (serious enough that I remember it 30+ years later!), who was present in the audience. In short, she told me that “suck” was a bad word and that I shouldn’t say it.

So with apologies to my mother I say, “I suck!”

Saturday’s run was hard. I followed that up with a lot of time in the sun over the weekend. The temperatures were +95° with high humidity – typical August days in Southeast Texas. The baseball team I was coaching ended up making a run to the championship before losing. This meant 5 games … all played during the day. I was smart enough to use sun screen but the conditions really zapped me.

Using that as an excuse, I slept in Monday. On Tuesday morning, it was Hurricane Edouard (ended up being not much more than a rain storm with some wind). Over the days my legs were achy and I still felt fatigued.

Upon waking up this morning, I gave myself permission to run at ANY pace in exchange for just getting out and putting one foot in front of the other.

I took myself up on the deal and made it out the door. I slogged through an extremely slow 5 miles. I didn’t feel particularly bad and certainly wasn’t good … just getting back to training. Today I operated under the theory that there’s no such thing as “junk miles”.

Last week I tried adopting the “rest 3 days a week” training approach. I didn’t feel like it worked for me so I’m planning to flip back to running 6 days per week. I know this isn’t what my doctor or physical therapist have recommended but I felt better running this way over the 6 weeks I followed this approach. It’s not a good time to be messing around with my training schedule.

I need focus and I need to stop sucking. There’s only 58 days until the marathon.

Postscript: The skit Alan and I performed was pretty funny. I’m probably the only person who remembers it now. The skit was in the form of a television commercial for a shaving product we called “Triple Trac” – a razor with three blades. For context, please remember that the most advanced razors at the time only had two blades. Ironically, I shaved this morning with a four-bladed razor. Not only were we funny but we were well ahead of our time!

PRE RUN
nothing

POST RUN
Accelerade, multivitamin, water, oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar, cinnamon & skim milk

OBJECTIVE

18 mi. EZ w/last 3 mi. pickup @ 7:55/mi

ACHIEVED

16.72 mi.@ 8:49/mi. w/last 2.72 mi.@ 8:13/mi.

5:39 AM 78° 86% 0 mph

It was a good long run today. It wasn't easy but I had good company. Today was Miranda's last run with us before moving to Fort Lauderdale. Others along for the run were Stephanie, Stuart, Randy, Josh, William and me.

We went started at Memorial Park and went to Rice University for a loop around the campus. From there we went north and west until we got to Stephanie's house for a water break. There was about 4 miles left at that point.

My legs felt okay throughout the run. This was good given yesterday's 8 miler. My cardio felt good intermittently. It was warm and humid. The soft surface on the trail around Rice was helpful.

I was debating the pickup as we worked our way back to Memorial Park. The group gradually picked up with about 3 miles to go. I think we must have cut the planned route short because we should have had 2 miles left when we hit the park. But I knew it was less than that. I broke from the group at Memorial Drive. I think I pushed too hard right away instead of working up to the faster pace. I was gassed over the final half mile.

The run was a bit shorter than I scheduled and I didn't hit the 7:55/mi. pickup pace. But the heat index was pretty high so I think it was still okay.

I missed the Rich Bouchard 10K in Utah this morning. Sorry that I did ....

PRE RUN

water, oatmeal w/brown sugar & skim milk; FRS

POST RUN

2 SlimFast, water

Later, homemade berry smoothie

OBJECTIVE
6 mi. w/7x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED
8.34 mi. w/7x2 min. & 2 min. jog

6:24 AM 77° 90% 1 mph

Inconsistent pretty much sums up my effort today and over the past couple weeks. Deadlines at work are once again conspiring against my running. I’m also enjoying watching the late Olympic sessions but that shortchanges my sleep and makes it tougher for me to get an early run before going to work.

My stomach was sloshing with every stride today. This caused very slight discomfort but was incredibly annoying. I only drank 10 ounces of water before going out this morning so I’m not sure what the deal is. I experienced the same thing to a lesser degree during last Saturday’s long run. I can’t identify anything different about these runs compared to others.

Here are my erratic splits:

Warm-up – 2.41 mi.@ 9:29/mi.
2:00 min.@ 6:42/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:30/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:26/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:36/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:48/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:36/mi.
2:00 min. jog
2:00 min.@ 6:45/mi.
2:00 min. jog
Cool down – 2.55 mi.@ 9:16/mi.

My preference of course would be for a tighter grouping of the speed intervals. I also would prefer the warm-up and cool down to be about 30 seconds per mile faster. However, I'm falling back on the heat and humidity excuse for the slower times. I know that’s “chicken” because if you can hit the prescribed times in heat and humidity, you should be even better in ideal conditions.

PRE RUN
water

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water & oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk