Bonus Milage

Saturday night at about 9 PM I went out for some bonus milage. I was feeling no effects from the 8K that morning and due to my taper I really needed some miles before the week ended.

I did five miles even, at a seven minute pace. Everything felt fine.

Law Week 8K Race Report

Going into this morning things were coming together for a nice race. I had two weeks of high milage along with quality, and solid progress with the mile repeats. I had a nice taper week this week, my best session ever at the track on Tuesday (as far as average 400 time), and a good race a few weeks ago at the Strider Handicap 5K (that turned out to be 3 miles flat). My weight was a couple of pounds higher yesterday morning than I wanted but even that was gone this morning - 152.4.

But I knew the weather was going to be ugly - warm and humid, unseasonably so for late March. We haven't had much opportunity to train in those conditions, though I tend to do better than most when adverse conditions are present, and I think I benefit from training in the late afternoon and evening, when temperatures are higher. That proved to be the case today (somewhat) though the conditions definitely prevented me from posting the kind of time I anticipated. I'll bet alot of others can say the same.

I hit mile one in 5:52. I certainly didn't expect to hold that pace throughout, especially given the conditions, but it actually wasn't all that uncomfortable. Mile two was a respectable 6:02 for a two mile time of 11:54. We hit the turnaround at Sheperd and I was beginning to feel the effect of the conditions. I was breaking a sweat and longing for that mile three marker. It came soon enough and I had a still respectable 6:05 for a three mile total of 17:59.

But mile four was where I finally gave in to the inevitable slowing that I had been staving off during mile three, especially on the hills. I posted a mile four time of 6:34 (!) but wasn't getting passed by anyone so everyone else was struggling as well I assume.

I'm used to this course as a 5K but those have you finish about where you started, right by Sam Houston park. With this race we had to head into town a couple of blocks and loop around a building then head back to the park. It made it difficult to know how much farther I had to go but finally I could see the finish line. That mile four had certainly kept me from going under 30 minutes but I really didn't know where I was time-wise because the last marker was nearly a mile back. I closed the 10 foot of distance between the nearest guy in front of me (Stephen Mayor) and we ran side-by-side for ten or fifteen seconds. Finally, with about 100 feet to go he reached down for another gear. I answered as best as I could considering how gassed I was but I didn't have it in me to stay with him. On another day maybe. He finished one second ahead of me as I came in with a 30:39, good for a 6:11 overall pace. I'm sure I could have gotten at least one more mile in at around 6 minutes if not for the muggy, warm air.

My time turned out to be good enough for 3rd in the 45-49 age group. It's not gonna age-grade well though, no ones' will.

I'm disappointed with my time, though I understand fully why I wasn't able to hit my target. And hitting three miles in 17:59 bodes well for my next 5K. That's in three weeks. I'm not doing the Bellaire Trolly Run. I'm going to get in two more great training weeks then shoot for a 5K PR on April 19.

Runner Needed

I need a runner (actually two) for our Beach To Bay Marathon Relay team men's masters team. I have four guys on board, and need six. The four I have are all capable of a 5K under 19:30. I'd be happy with anyone who is a sub 20 5K guy. Must be 40 or older. I think the race costs about $30 a head and is on Saturday, May 17 in Corpus Christi. It's a blast. I did it last year.

If anyone wants to suggest someone else send me their e-mail address and/or phone # in an e-mail to lancec1963@yahoo.com.

10 x 400 Repeats

I met Brian King at the junior high track yesterday for our 400s speedwork session. We normally do this workout every week, on Thursday, but have missed it the past three weeks (for various reasons) and have also decided to move it up to Wednesdays. I was going to be unavailable to do the workout today so we went ahead and moved it to yesterday. Brian is coming back from his foot injury and I have a race on schedule for this weekend so we did 10 x 400 instead of 12. The workout went fine but it was very windy. Below are the 400 splits:

1:18, 1:17, 1:17, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17, 1:16, 1:16, 1:17, 1:13

Sunday Long-Run With Scott

I met Scott Grischow yesterday morning at Memorial Park for a long-run. Scott is doing the Big D Marathon in two weeks and was looking for someone to do a long-run with him. We had done one together the day after Thanksgiving in preparation for the White Rock Marathon and it worked out well. Our long-run pace matches well and he's no more interested in stopping more than a few times during the run than I am.

Scott wanted to go 22 miles, which is probably more than I need to be doing at this time of the year, but hey, more miles are better than less miles right? (provided you don't get injured), and he's a friend who needed some company. So we met at 6 AM and hammered out 22 miles in 2:45:13, which equates to a 7:31 pace and includes our two stops for water.

I felt very little wear and tear on my legs from this run, which was a pleasant surprise. At 21 miles my legs felt about they way they normally would at 15 or 16 miles into a run. Maybe my recent higher milage has something to do with that - probably. I ended up with 65.9 miles this past week but will back off this week in anticipation of racing this weekend.

AM Run With Brian King

I got up this morning and met Brian King in front of my house for his first training run with either Steve or me in weeks. Brian injured his foot a few weeks back and, after seeing a doctor (who confirmed no break), some meds and some time off, he was ready to get back out there.

We took off about 6:45 AM with great temperatures (50 or so), very little wind and a clear sky. We ran a new route that I measured yesterday to be about 4.5 miles out, then 4.5 miles back. We covered it in 1:11:03, which equates to only a 7:53 pace. It sure felt like we were going no slower than 7:30, and more like 7:15. Maybe my measurement was off. It was a good route though, one we can incorporate into our long-run rotation if we get creative and add some milage to it. There are lots of options for doing that.

I'm at 43.9 miles for the week and am meeting Scott Grischow tomorrow morning at Memorial Park for 20 miles, maybe just a bit more. Steve Schroeder is probably going to join us. And anyone else who can cover that distance at a 7:30 to 8 minute pace is welcome to tag along. Meeting at the zero mile marker in front of the tennis center at 6 AM.

60 lbs of Boys

Yesterday I took my two boys to a new park that opened up out here in Sugar Land, just off 59. I had read that there's a running trail that's three or four miles long. That was not the case. I completed the length of trail, pushing two boys (combined weight at least 60 lbs) in nine minutes. On the second time around I went off the path and onto a long sidewalk that goes nearly up to 59, turned around and came back, then completed the second time around on the running path. I'd guess that the total distance covered was around 4.5 miles. Then I let the boys play in the playground for awhile before heading back home.

I thought I might get in some more miles last night but six hours at the sports bar watching NCAA basketball and four adult dehydrating beverages later I wisely chose not to.

Mile Repeats Go Better

Yesterday I went out to do my mile repeats again, targeting four repeats again, at or better than the speed I ran them last week. I felt great and things went well. Negative splits all the way through again and faster than last week. Here are the times:

5:47
5:47
5:44
5:35

I attribute the better times (average eight seconds faster over last week) to great weather and a week of good training under my belt. Also, I've read that you make all your gains in speedwork in about the first six weeks then it levels off. Of course I've been doing speedwork for some time now but these mile repeats are in their own class.

Later last night I went out and picked up 6.1 recovery miles at about a 7:30 pace.

Ho-Hum Training

Since my training thus far this week has not been noteworthy (I haven't even worn a watch) I'll just report the bare essentials.

Monday - Day off

Tuesday - Five easy-paced miles at lunch while pushing my four year old in the jogging stroller, then 4.3 easy miles Tuesday evening. Total miles - 9.3.

Wednesday - One New Territory loop of 3.2 miles (plus up to the loop and back), then one big New Territory loop of 3.82 miles (plus up there and back) with our dog. Man, that dog is a better runner than me. Total miles - 7.5.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink (And A Day Off)

My past week of training had everything but the kitchen sink:

*A long-run of 15 miles
*Two days where I ran twice
*A 10 mile tempo run (unplanned!)
*Speedwork (mile repeats)
*A race where I finished in the equivalent of my 2nd fastest 5K
*No run where I cut the distance short from what I set out to do
And,
*My highest milage week ever - 72.3 miles

I ran all seven days but will be taking today off - not only is it St. Patrick's Day, but more importantly it's my wife's birthday.

Sunday Morning Long-Run

This morning I met Steve Schroder over in Greatwood at 6 AM to drive down to Memorial Park for a long-run. We met Scott Grischow at 6:30 and headed out. Scott peeled off to go home after about seven miles (he had already put in some milage before we got there). Steve and I continued on an out and back and got back to the Memorial Park loop after about ten miles. Some more milage in the park got us to exactly 15 miles for the day.

Total time 1:57:43, 7:51 pace, stops included.

Oh, and then I took my dog out tonight for about two miles. We ran very fast - close to six minute pace I'd guess, at least for a good portion of it. That dog is a much better runner than me!

Morning Milage

I took our dog out this morning around 9 AM to let her work off some energy. We did one loop around New Territory, plus the trip up to the loop and back for a total of 3.5 miles. I felt so good on this run that when I took the dog back to the house I asked my wife if I could run some more on my own and then I'd have my run out of the way for the day. She had no problem with it and the boys were behaving so I headed back out for two more loops.

Since I felt great and it wasn't hot yet I let the pace come to me, not trying to go fast and not trying to intentionally hold back. I did the first loop in 22:46 (7:08 pace). On the second loop my pace remained roughly the same until about halfway through when I saw a guy running the same direction as me, way up ahead of me. I began estimating at what point I'd catch him, which naturally caused my pace to increase. Finally, with about half a mile to go I got within 20 or 30 feet of him and could see that it was a young guy, about 17 or 18. As I began to close the final distance he picked up his pace significantly. Two weeks ago I would have gone with him but with my determination to not do my best running in training I let him go, though I must admit I probably picked it up a little. About a quarter mile later he stopped and began walking off the loop. I thought he had picked it up to try to stay in front of me but he was finishing his workout and that was his finishing kick. That kid could be a future training partner for Brian and Steve and I! I told him that was the way to finish a workout and gave him a "nice job" shoutout. I finished my own workout (though not with the finishing surge he put in) then headed to the shower. The second loop came in at 22:07 (6:56) and my total distance for the day was around 10.30 miles.

Still Searchin'

I took advantage of not working today and headed out around lunchtime for what I hoped would be an easy-paced 10.2 miles over in my old neighborhood. I had no pace goal, other than slow. In fact, I left my watch at home. Not intentionally but I wasn't going to worry about pace anyway so it didn't matter. I made a note of what time the clock in my car said just before I got out so I'd have an idea of the total duration when I returned.

It was pretty danged windy today, especially when headed in certain directions as this course takes many turns. As time wore on I also began to notice just how darned hot it was out there. It was the first training run since last Fall where I was really thirsty by the conclusion. When I got home the thermometer I have outside (in the shade) said 84.

The wind and the heat made this run the most difficult one so far this week. I really wanted to quit or cut it short several times but never did. I thought I had an easy pace going but when I finally got to my car I saw that I had been gone one hour, nine minutes. That's a 6:46 pace. It certainly didn't feel like a 6:46 pace. I'm still surprised at that number.

I guess I'm still searchin' for that easy pace. Hopefully I'll have something left in the tank for a long-run tomorrow or Sunday.

4 x 1 Mile Intervals

My running buddy Brian King has been doing mile intervals for more than two years but only recently went from three to four (and even five on at least one occasion). Brian told me recently that he didn't really see any gains until he went from three to four.
The idea of doing four gave me a warm feeling. Then I realized it was because I had wizz running down my leg. The though of doing just three makes me want to hide under my bed. Doing four sounded like a life-changing experience, like my life would change because it would cause me to give up running.

Naturally I'm exaggerating but mile repeats or intervals are tough as nails. You get half way through one and think, "oh crap - I'm totally gassed and only halfway done!" But I was determined to dial back the hellbent-for-leather pace today and get in four, no matter what times I had to turn in. It really worked out quite nicely.

I did all four, and probably could have done another, which from what I've always heard, is the way you're supposed to finish speedwork. My big secret was that I went just a little slower than last week. I know, can you believe it? I need to write a book, huh? Anyway, my times were still pretty respectable, especially considering that they didn't send me into blue-in-the-face territory.

Here are my mile times: 5:54, 5:52, 5:52, 5:47. Not far off what I did two weeks ago when I did only three and was totally whipped after the third one.

Calorie Burn Wednesday

After a hard 5K (well, almost a 5K) on Tuesday I took it easy in the intensity department on Wednesday but I did put in some milage. I did five miles at lunch and ten miles last night.

During both runs I tried really hard to hold back on the pace. While most of us are looking for a faster gear, I'm trying to find a slow gear. I've always had this problem. I couldn't run a ten minute pace if my life depended on it. But I really didn't accomplish my goal, certainly not on the lunch run, but did better last night on the ten miler.

On the lunch run I covered the first half in 17:46, which is a 7:06 pace, but on the return 2.5 miles I went faster, despite my best efforts to hold back. I covered the return in 17:05 (6:50 pace) for a 34:51 overall (6:58 pace).

Last night I went out to the loop here in New Territory and was determined that my only goal was to do three loops. The first loop came in at 23:51 (7:29 pace). Loop #2 was completed in 23:23 (7:20 pace). But things got a little faster in the final loop, which came in at 22:30 (7:03 pace). With the warm-up and cool-down portions I covered 10 miles. A little faster than I had wanted to go but much better restraint than the lunchtime run. And today I feel 100% for my mile repeats that I'm about to go tackle. Results later tonight.

Strider 5K Handicap Run

This evening my running club, the Houston Striders, held their 5K Handicap Run, which is designed to level the playing field by adjusting everyone's start time based on their current 5K fitness. For example, if the slowest person runs a 35 minute 5K and you typically run a 20 minute 5K you would start 15 minutes after them. Ideally everyone would cross the finish line exactly even with everyone else. But of course some people (like me) haven't run a 5K race in a while and others pad their number so it never works out exactly but it's a great concept and a good time was had by all.

Since I haven't run a 5K race since last September, I took my 10K time from this past weekend and plugged it into a race predictor, which spat out a 19:10 or so. I put down 19:30 for a little breathing room and hoped that I didn't add any more cushion than the next person. I finished 9th, out of about 25 or so, thus my cushion didn't result in any unfair advantage, though I did blow 19:30 away.

I was the 3rd to last person to take off. Only Andrew Keller, who had put down an 18 flat, and John Yoder, who had put down a 17 flat, started behind me. It was very cool starting off on my own. No pack to slow me down or speed me up. But I still started too fast and had to rein things in a bit after the first few minutes. I was still hammering though and settled into a pace that I figured would be tough to maintain for 3.1 miles, but I'd cross that bridge when I got to it. I hit the first mile marker in a smoking 5:42. I had what wind there was in my face for much of mile one so I thought I might have a shot of hanging on in mile two without much drift. I hit the two mile mark in 11:25, meaning I'd done mile two in 5:43. Holy crap! My PR is 18:11, which meant that even if I could only manage a six minute mile three I'd still have 35 seconds to cover the final tenth to get in under the long-sought 18 minute barrier.

I passed my first few people just after the two mile mark but only got a couple more before I was maybe 1/2 a mile from the finish. I reeled in a few more but as we closed in on the home stretch I looked up ahead and could see that although I would surely pass several more I wouldn't catch all of them. I hit the three mile mark in 17:05. Now the PR was going to crush my old one. But I could see that the distance yet to cover was certainly more than .1 mile. I covered it in 46 seconds, whereas I usually cover the final tenth of a 5K in about 30 seconds. My total time was 17:51, an awesome 20 second improvement on my PR.

But you know my next question, don't you? Accurate course? That first mile of 5:42 I could believe, but a 2nd mile of 5:43 and a third mile of 5:40? Pretty hard to swallow. Sure enough, after checking with some Garmin wearers, it was about .1 mile short. I heard anywhere from 2.99 to 3.06. I'll settle on a conservative three miles flat. But that still equates to an 18:27, my second best 5K ever. I'll take it all day long.

9.1 With Steve in the Drizzle

I met Steve Schroeder yesterday at 5:30 PM for an easy run in the slosh. Steve is still getting over the flu and I needed some recovery milage after the run I did the previous night. We did 9.1 miles, which consisted of a loop around Greatwood (3.55 miles), a mile out and back, then another loop around Greatwood going the opposite direction.

The run went fine and we never let ourselves get carried away with the pace. Maintained right around 7:25 to 7:35 most of the time. Total time was 1:08:48, a 7:33 pace.

Sunday Night Run Alone

Sunday night I went over to the Greatwood loop for three loops alone, beginning at 8 PM. I would have liked to do more but I didn't want to be up all night. Here are my loop times:

24:49, 24:45, 23:46. Overall milage 10.65, overall pace 6:53.

Half A Good Race Doesn't Cut It

I met Steve Schroeder and Brian King this morning at 6:30 AM to head down to the Bayou City Classic 10K. I have been running fairly well in training recently, particularly in speedwork so I had reason to be cautiously optimistic. Brian and Steve, on the other hand, had reason to not expect their best this morning. Steve is recovering from the flu earlier this week and Brian has had a foot injury for two weeks now. My 10K PR is 38:26 and I thought it might be within reach, or at the very least sub 39 would be.

The temperature was perfect. I was freezin' my as* off before the start so it must have been just right. Around 40, little wind, and sunshine. One thing I like about this race is that there is a 1/2 mile marker in the first mile - very beneficial to ensure not going out to fast. I hit it at about 2:55 so I throttled back just a hair but felt fine. First mile came in at 6:04. I couldn't have gone much faster but wasn't really redlining yet. Second mile came in at 6:10 and I was starting to realize that I probably wouldn't be able to maintain that pace. By mile three I was starting to realize that I probably should have stayed home in bed. Mile three was a nice 6:07, for a three mile total of 18:21, but I was gassed. I knew mile four was going to be slower, and it was - 6:33! At this point I just wanted to hang on as best I could, and started doing the math to determine if I could just come in under 39. Mile five posted at 6:28, but after a 6:44 mile six (good gosh!) I realized sadly that sub 39 wasn't going to happen, even though I felt like I really picked up the pace in the last quarter mile of mile six. It was time to hit the jets for the final .2. I covered it in 1:05 for a chip time of 39:11. I'll bet I could go out tomorrow night and run a 10K training run at least 30 seconds faster. I'd give anything to determine why I can't seem to get it done at shorter distance races. It's not mental and it's not a matter of just gutting it out. I leave everything out there but it rarely comes together. Probably goes back to me not being a morning runner. I'll try to do some morning runs before my next race.

I'm thinking of passing up some of the shorter stuff on the calendar and focus on that 1/2 marathon in Clear Lake on April 6. We'll see. I'm sick of underperforming at 10Ks, which I used to think was my distance.

Wednesday Speedwork Then Recovery Milage Tonight

With the race this weekend I planned on doing only one speedwork session this week. Today at lunchtime I headed over to the .4 mile oval for some repeats. It turned out being a great workout and possibly my best set of repeats ever on the .4 mile course. Here are my splits:

2:14, 2:10, 2:09, 2:06, 2:07, 2:03*

That 2:03 on the final loop represents the best time I've ever recorded on this course. A good day.

Tonight I went out for an easy, 4.5 mile run, no watch. I had a little fun at the end though. After completing one loop you have to go out half a mile then come back in order to make it 4.5 miles. As I was nearing the turnaround, two girls were going the other direction - pretty fast. When I hit the turnaround myself I looked up ahead and saw that they were about 100 yards away and still moving pretty quickly. I hammered my tail off trying to close that 100 yard gap in the final half mile. Didn't quite do it but came within 20 feet of them. Oh yeah, forgot to mention, they were on rollerblades.

Catching Up

I haven't posted in awhile (sorry) so I need to catch up.

Last Saturday morning Brian King and I ran an uneventful 13.70 miles here in New Territory. Our pace worked out to be 7:26 but we weren't trying to push it.

I took Sunday off then ran about six miles on Monday. Didn't time it but it felt great and I'm pretty sure it was around 7 minutes, maybe a little better.

On Tuesday I did an easy five miles. I'm trying not to hammer it too hard this week, as I'm doing the Bayou City Classic 10K this weekend and want to run well.