Another NIght at the Track

WE had another solid turnout at the track.  I was worried early on.  It looked like we were going to be a little short on runners tonight.  We had four new faces out there tonight.  New guy James, fast girl Angela, neighbor Guy, and another woman were out there tonight.  Always good to get some new blood.  We ran 4X800 at 5K pace.  We changed it up a little by compressing the recovery time down to 300 meters.  It was a little hard when you got to the third and fourth speed part.  After the 800s, we transitioned to 4X400m at one mile pace.  We kept the historical 200m recovery in there.

As for me, I ran well.  My right has been a little tight since the Wallow, but it felt good tonight.  I ran all the speed parts a little faster than my goal.  I blew out a 3:178 on one of the 800s and had the 400s down in the 1:32-1:34 range.  The warm-up and cool-downs were fairly quick miles.  When I run with Lisa, I tend to run a little more spirited.  I think some of the joking and laughing we do just makes me run faster.

It’s great to see the new guys running so fast.  The track really pays off some quick dividends.

The Wallow

This may very well have been the most busiest Saturday that I have ever had.  The day started out with a drive downtown to run in the Buffalo Wallow 6K Cross Country Race.  This is the first time I have run this race.  It’s held downtown at the park between Allen Parkway and Memorial.  The course is a triple loop.  It includes some severe up and downs.

As it was my first time to run a 6K, I have PR’d.  I was hoping that I could run something in the 7:30 pace, but I just could not make it happen.  My pace stayed right at 7:40.  Although the hills up and down were short, I was forced to walk one hill because of its grade and its slickness.  The other hill was just as steep.  I was able to run up it, but I’m not sure it was any faster than a walk.  The down hills were no treat for me either.  It was a learning experience for me, and I was happy to try something new out.

With all the rain we had over the last couple of days, I was pleased that the course was not muddier.  There was only one bad section; the rest of the course was relatively dry with good footing.

As always, I run with a pretty good bunch of runners.  The Open runners are a special group.  Virginia Jones finished first in the Open Women.  And, as a group, the Open team won the race.  As for us Masters, we ran strong.  Kelly, Nica, and Diane all placed.  John ran well.  However, there were a couple of other teams that were better.  Above is a picture of my running team.  If Diane and Kelly stay in, we’ll have a very good master’s team.

As far as races go, this one is “old school”.  There are no T-shirts, but it is chip timed.  The only folks running this race are serious club runners.  Going into this race, I was worried about finishing last in my age group.  Thankfully, I managed to come in 7^th out of 11 runners in the 45-49 age group, a very solid, mid pack performance.  All in all, the Wallow is a humbling experience.

After the race, I went out sailing.  It was the first time for me to sail.  It was nice of Julie’s dad to take me.  The boat was something like 35 feet long.  The bay was gorgeous.  There was plenty of sunshine and a little breeze.  I thought sailing was much more complicated.  Maybe it is, but these guys made it look very easy.

My day finished off with some BBQ.  I met a number of other runners for a post Houston celebration.  It was a nice affair.  By the end of it, I was exhausted. I think all of this added up to a rather slow and lethargic run today.  I ran a little over 7 miles.  I wanted to put in something like 12 to 15 miles.  But, I just could not get myself going.

New Traditions

So, it’s tradition. I took Wednesday off for the second week in a row. And, more importantly, I made it out to the Kemah Bridge bright and early today (Thursday). After all these years of taking off on Thursdays, it feels weird to get up and go for a run. The good news is that I woke up before the alarm clock. But, it’s still a challenge to make this change.

The weather was pretty rough this morning. When I got down to the bridge at 5:15, there were no cars in the parking lot. I thought about just heading back home. But, soon Julie, John, and Virginia showed up. The winds were blowing at 25MPH with gusts of 40-45MPH. And, there was a little rain to go with it. Thankfully, it was not a downpour, there was no lightning, and the temps were OK (low 50s). Running over the bridge was a real treat this morning. The cross wind was blowing hard. So hard, it was really pushing us around a lot. A couple of the folks had wind-breakers on. Those wind-breakers made for a good sail. We were hustling at an 8 min/mile pace on the first loop of the bridge. After dropping some clothes, we decided to stick to the flat grounds of Clear Lake Shores. We continued to run a solid pace, but it was nothing crazy. We finished up at 5.5 miles.

I’m pleased that I got up early again on a Thursday. Considering that I’m running a race on Saturday, it’s a good thing that we only did one loop on the bridge. The most important part about today’s run was establishing a new Tradition.

Cut-Down

Tonight, we ran a cut-down workout of 1600, 1200, 800, 400, and 200 meters and topped it off with a 1200m.  I rant he 800, 1200s, and 1600 at a blistering 5K pace of 6:45 with the 800 at about 3:19 and the last 1200 at 5:01 (6:37 pace).  The 400s and 200 were almost all out sprints.  The 400 was at 95 seconds and the 200 was at 43 seconds.  Very happy with how I ran the last 1200m.  The warm-up and cool-down miles were pretty easy at about an 8:20 pace. The weather tonight was great.  The temps were in the 50s.  A little humid and the track was wet, but there was little wind.  All in all, it was ideal.

We had a solid turnout again.  We likely had about 12 people.  Most of the usual folks were there.  Lisa was out of town, and Julie and Les bagged it.  Otherwise, it was another strong turnout.

After finishing the workout, I felt bad about stepping up my leadership in the GCRC.  I really need to do the same for BARC.  Hope to talk to the president some more on Thursday.  Otherwise, I will just let the guilt eat me away.

From Bad to Good

This morning’s run was a spirited 11 mile run.  I ran the first six miles with Pauline’s dog (Jessie).  It was a fairly fast pace with some quick stops for peeing and pooping.  Not me, the dog had to stop.  The dog actually ran a very nice pace.  After the six miles with her, I went back out for another 5 miles or so.  I started back a little slow, but I picked it up and finished the last three miles at sub marathon pace.  I was a little tired, but it felt good to push the pace some.  All in all, it was a very good run.

For January, I hit 217 miles.  This puts me one mile behind my torrid pace from last year.  I’m not so sure if I’ll be able to maintain the total mileage, but I will try my best.  The hamstring will need to be babied along the way.  And, my spirits will need be coaxed to the positive side.  However, I will stay strong and have the best year ever.

Best years can be explained in many different ways.  2010 will be about becoming a force of good.  I’ve signed up to start logging my miles to give to a charitable organization.  In the week or so I’ve been participating, I’ve earned $11 for the Breast Cancer Fund.  It’s not much, but over a year, I may raise near $500.  I also will be the Vice President in GCRC.  I hope to help with their training schedule.  And, in other ways as needed over the year.  Well, 2010 is off to a solid start.  The running calendar will be busy over the next few months.

Running on Empty

This morning should have been a near perfect run.  I was running 18 miles.  A long run for sure, but the mileage should have been easy for me.  The weather was near perfect for running long.  It was in the 30s.  It was windy, but it should have been no problems.  We started the run a little later at 8AM.  And, I even got myself a couple cups of coffee in me.  But none of this helped me.  I just had one of those crappy runs.

The run plan was to start at the Seabrook trails.  We would run down to the Kemah bridge cross over, run a loop through Kemah, do a loop on the bridge, run through Clear Lake Shores, then back over the bridge tot eh trails.  Then, we finished with an out and back on the trails.  We had a good group of folks for the run.

Right from the start, I was in a bad mood.  Everyone took off.  I just settled back into an 8:30-8:40 pace.  After all, this was going to be a long run.  Julie and Les turned back to get me.  I really wished that they would have just left me.  They were nice and conversational, but I simply did not want the company.  I really wanted to run in my moment and not in someone else’s.

My right leg never felt really good.  With the cold and wind, I ran with a new pair of tights.  It felt weird having the tights on.  About 6 or so miles in the run, I did loosen up and had a few miles down in the 8:10 to 8:20 range.  By the time we got back to the trails, I was feeling pretty good.

For the last six miles, I ran with Julie on the trails.  She was getting a little tired.  I just stayed with her.  She was kind enough to pick me up on the way to the trails.  And, it was nice of her to turn around and come back to get me.  After 16 miles, my right leg was acting up again.  It almost felt numb.  At least we picked up for the last mile.

Overall, we were just over 18 miles and the pace was in the 8:40s.  Some days are just crappy.   And, today was one of those.

Times are a-Changin

My apologies to Mr. Dylan.

Today was my first attempt at switching to Thursday mornings for a run.  My decision was based on two factors.  First, my training partners have been egging me on for a while.  Second, I wanted to get in another quality run for the week.  To get ready for the Seabrook and Boston Marathons, I thought it would be helpful to have the additional quality run.  For the past year, my run  week has consisted of Saturday long (with some marathon pace miles), Sunday mid-mileage at an easy pace, easy five on Monday, speed work on Tuesdays, Wednesdays an easy 5 to 7, Thursdays off and Fridays easy 5-7.  For the last 15 years of running, I almost always take off on Thursdays. 

 So today was different for me.  My new plan has me running long on Saturdays, easy on Sunday and Monday, speed work on Tuesdays, off on Wednesday, bridge or tempo on Thursday s, and easy on Friday.  The new schedule may be tough for me.  First, it’s an extra day of hard running.  Second, it will be another day to wake up at the crack of dawn.  But, I will stick with it for a couple of weeks

 As far as the run this morning, I just never felt good.  However, my final stats were nice.  It was a little warm this morning.  I started out pretty slow with an 8:48 min/mile.  And, the first mile was the toughest on me.  I then ran down in the 8:20s and finished the last two miles at an 8:05 pace.  The run included three loops over the bridge.  I ran for a total of 7 miles.

 So, there it is.  The times are a-changin.  Let’s see how it goes.

HARRA Runner of the Season

The HARRA Fall Runner of the Season standings came out today.  And yes, I finished in tenth place among the 40-49 age group.   And, I was the top BARC masters male.   Relative to last year, it was a huge improvement. I moved up from 18^th to 10^th.  My race times have improved along the way.   It was also great to see so many of my club mates and training partners doing so well. 

I’m not sure why something like this gets me so excited, but it does.  I think it’s affirmation of my improvement and accomplishment.  I really wish that I could have nosed my way in to the top 8 and won some money.  But, there is a big gap between me and the money places.  Because of the way HARRA calculates the number of winning places, next year, there will be money going 9 deep.  So, maybe there is hope for the 2010 Fall Race Season.

I do believe that I may be a little nuts.  In looking at the standings, I was listed as 11^th.  However, the guy in front of me should not have placed ahead of me.  His place was based on an erroneous result from the marathon.  His original time for the marathon was listed as 3:02.  However, he did not have the half or 30K splits. In fact his time at the 10K mark was over an hour.  After a week, the marathon results no longer listed him.  But, he showed up in the standings.  So, I then go to the photos and look up his pictures.  Sure enough, he is finishing with the half marathon folks.  I sent the guy in HARRA who puts together the standings.  He replied back to let me know he will correct the standings.  In the grand scheme of life, it is nothing.  But, it is bragging rights. 

So, the 2009 Fall Race Season is officially over.  Spring 2010 is here. My original thoughts were to maybe run a local 10K in February, followed by the Sylamore 50K, the Seabrook Marathon, and then cap it off with the Boston Marathon.  But,  Nica sent me a note about participating on a team at the Buffalo Wallow 6K cross country race.  I think it is crazy of me to run it.  But, if she has a team, I told her I would.  Cross country is not my bag.  However, running on a team and maybe winning some hardware may make it worthwhile.  My real goals for the spring are to stay strong and knock out a BQ at Seabrook.  I’ll glide into Boston and simply have fun.  I’ll return to Arkansas for some summer 5Ks. 

 The Fall 2010 season is up in the air.  However, we may be making some decisions soon.  If a group of us run the Chicago marathon, it will make the Fall HARRA series impossible.  I will lose the ability to run in the 10 miler and half marathons.  Both of those are my strongest distances.  And, the 25K would only be four weeks after Chicago.  So, I will need to think through the year and decide on my goals. For the moment, I am enjoying it.

Fast Back

It’s not been the quickest recovery, but I think that I’m back to it.  This weekend I had two fairly fast runs.  Yesterday was a 13 miler at an 8:18 pace.  Today, I ran with some fast guys and were right at an 8 minute pace for a 7+ mile run.  I struggled a little yesterday.  However, today felt easy.

I’ve been running on the trails mostly during the last two days of running.  Yesterday, we did throw in a loop over the Kemah Bridge and back.   Today, I headed out on the trails with Kerry and Chris.  I thought it was a big mistake to head out with them.  I felt for sure that after a mile or so, they would have dropped me.  However, between them still recovering, and with me feeling OK, I stayed with them for the whole run.  We did have a couple of miles that were under 8 minute/mile pace.  All in all, it was a very good weekend of running.

I have little patience for recovery.  It seemed like on Friday that I was still annoyed with the pace of my recovery.  But, come today, I feel like I’m right back on track.  I will need to be careful about the runs coming up this week.  Who knows, maybe I will have a race in a couple of weeks.  I do have some big races coming up.  There is the Sylamore 50K in 3 weeks, then I’m running a marathon in March.  I will try this year to run more with less.

The Long Road Back

The recovery has been pretty tough.  I think this marathon has hurt me a lot more than any other one I have been in.  My quads were trashed.  And, my calves were in bad way.  Monday was pretty painful.  Just getting up and down was tough. 

 I did head out for a run on Tuesday morning.  I thought I was going fall right on my face.  The first few steps were indeed tough and painful ones.  However, I found a good stride and ran an easy 3 miles.  I could have gone further, but I thought 3 miles were good enough.  I was surprised that my pace was in the 8s.

 I was hoping that Wednesday night would be an easy, enjoyable run.  However, I think Tuesday night made Wednesday night a little tougher.  Although I enjoyed going out and celebrating my birthday one last time, I wished that I would have been home earlier.  Anyway, the start of the run on Wednesday went OK.  Once again, my pace was a little faster than I wanted it to be.  And after about 2 or 3 miles, my legs were hurting.  And this time, it meant the hamstring was hurting some.  I did slow my pace down.  I finished the five mile run under a nine minute pace.

 I really am a lot more sore from this marathon than others I have been on.  The worse part is the pain I have with the hamstring.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed, I would like to get back to the training schedule.