November Roundup
Grand totals for November: 171.8 miles, a new lifetime record for mileage in a single month, and a hundred miles more than last November. In 2003, my average run was much longer than now, but I ran many fewer runs, almost a third of the number I ran this November. All of my runs last November were either races or long runs, not the blueprint to success. The quantity of runs and quality of them (average pace is significantly faster) is way up as well. This continues to be high-level training for a mid-pack runner like me, and I'm seeing the results of it in my race times, which have been consistently fast. My last 4 races have all been "Masters PR's," the fastest race times at those distances since I turned 40, and I've been chopping 5 or 10 minutes or more off my times at these same races last year. That's pretty cool. On to Decker!
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Circuit Workout
This morning was really a nasty one. I think the term "blustery" serves to describe it pretty well. A pretty small crowd gathered at RunTex to meet Gilbert for our assignment. It was raining lightly, about 42 degrees, and breezy with a wind from the west. We all had on raingear and hats, and most of us wore tights just because of the weather. Anyway, we warmed up over to Austin High School, at a relaxed pace, and it took much of that run to let my legs get loosened up. We laughed a lot about how crazy we must be to be out there for a workout in this weather.
After the usual drills, Gilbert told us all to do the circuit training, 3-5 circuits with 800m easy running between each circuit. I paired up with Frank, and off we went. Our 800's were at about 9:00/mile pace, on average. We did 3 circuits (each circuit was step ups, pushups, situps, "Superman" jumps, and deep lunges), and called it a morning. It was just too nasty to stay out much longer.
On our cooldown run back to RunTex, it started to rain a bit harder. Alex caught up with us almost all the way back, after he did 4 circuits (or was it 5?). We got to our cars right as the weather really started to open up, and those dry clothes stashed in our cars really felt great. Sometimes it's the very simple things that bring joy... dry shirt, socks and shoes, and an old sweatshirt to warm up.
I chatted briefly with Gilbert after I got bundled up, and he was busy trying to find reasons not to run in the rain with his training buddies. I thought that was funny, and reassuring to see that even the really good runners sometimes just don't want to get out there in the weather. One of his training friends is Greg McMillan, whose McMillan running site has a really useful race pace calculator. Gilbert introduced us, and it was fun to put a face with the website. When they finally headed out into the wet and cold, I piled into the truck and drove back home.
It was one of those character building exercises, I guess, but I'm glad I got out there and did it. Total running day, 5.2 miles, average pace 9:27/mile. Tomorrow, it's supposed to dip into the low 30's, warming all the way to the mid to high 40's. Good running weather if the sun is out, and it looks like Decker will have near perfect weather conditions on Sunday!
This morning was really a nasty one. I think the term "blustery" serves to describe it pretty well. A pretty small crowd gathered at RunTex to meet Gilbert for our assignment. It was raining lightly, about 42 degrees, and breezy with a wind from the west. We all had on raingear and hats, and most of us wore tights just because of the weather. Anyway, we warmed up over to Austin High School, at a relaxed pace, and it took much of that run to let my legs get loosened up. We laughed a lot about how crazy we must be to be out there for a workout in this weather.
After the usual drills, Gilbert told us all to do the circuit training, 3-5 circuits with 800m easy running between each circuit. I paired up with Frank, and off we went. Our 800's were at about 9:00/mile pace, on average. We did 3 circuits (each circuit was step ups, pushups, situps, "Superman" jumps, and deep lunges), and called it a morning. It was just too nasty to stay out much longer.
On our cooldown run back to RunTex, it started to rain a bit harder. Alex caught up with us almost all the way back, after he did 4 circuits (or was it 5?). We got to our cars right as the weather really started to open up, and those dry clothes stashed in our cars really felt great. Sometimes it's the very simple things that bring joy... dry shirt, socks and shoes, and an old sweatshirt to warm up.
I chatted briefly with Gilbert after I got bundled up, and he was busy trying to find reasons not to run in the rain with his training buddies. I thought that was funny, and reassuring to see that even the really good runners sometimes just don't want to get out there in the weather. One of his training friends is Greg McMillan, whose McMillan running site has a really useful race pace calculator. Gilbert introduced us, and it was fun to put a face with the website. When they finally headed out into the wet and cold, I piled into the truck and drove back home.
It was one of those character building exercises, I guess, but I'm glad I got out there and did it. Total running day, 5.2 miles, average pace 9:27/mile. Tomorrow, it's supposed to dip into the low 30's, warming all the way to the mid to high 40's. Good running weather if the sun is out, and it looks like Decker will have near perfect weather conditions on Sunday!
Monday, November 29, 2004
Recovery Run + Strides
Today, Gilbert assigned us a very different workout. Instead of the usual marathon pace run or fartlek workout on the Monday after a long training run, he assigned a run of 40-70 minutes, easy recovery pace, followed by 20-30 x 100m strides, concentrating on form. The idea of this workout, if I understand it correctly, is to let the muscles limber back up in the recovery run, and then to bring them back into snappy form with the strides after all that lumbering long run training.
After I got my massage from Ron this morning, I went to the trail at Town Lake for my workout. I really wanted to run as much as possible on something not asphalt or concrete, to give my legs a bit of a rest from the big pounding. I started about 11:30 am, under sunny and warm conditions, maybe mid-70's. I took off, going east on the loop from Auditorium Shores (First Street) to Longhorn Dam, and crossing to finish on the First St. bridge. I guessed that would be about 5 - 5.5 miles. I was hoping to run about 60 minutes of recovery running, plus the strides.
I set my HR monitor to tell me when I was going too hard, and set out on my journey. It's been a while since I've run this much without training partners, so it was a little strange today. At any rate, I fell into a good rhythm after about a mile, after my legs loosened up enough to run fluidly. I stopped at the water fountain at Longhorn Dam for a quick drink of water, and then moved on. I checked out the floodgates that were open there, and once again marvelled at the power of the current. It was really loud down there.
For some reason, the song stuck in my head during this easy run was The Who's "Pinball Wizard," and by the time I finished up the run, I think I had remembered all the lyrics in order. What a strange song to pop up!
The final total on the recovery run portion of the festivities was 6.6 miles, at an average pace of 9:50/mile, which is about right for true low HR recovery running. I was sweaty in the heat, but I wasn't breathing super hard, either. After 5 minutes of walking and drinking cool water at the RunTex water stop there at the Zero marker, I was ready for the strides.
On the first strider, I felt totally clumsy, stiff and awkward. I counted off 100 steps, which would serve as my 100m marker. Turns out that was at a nice landmark of stone steps. I took 30 seconds or so of easy walking between each strider, and moved through the workout. It was funny to be running back and forth like that, as people were playing with their dogs on the grass field there. Without other Gazelles, I did stick out. Back and forth I went, getting to 10 striders. I kept thinking of reasons to stop doing this, but I just kept on and finally knocked out 20 x 100m. By the last 6 or 7 strides, I had found smooth form again, and my legs were feeling a lot better by number 20. I guess the workout served its purpose!
Total day was 7.9 miles, with the striders. It was a good way to get back to running after the long one on Saturday! Tonight and tomorrow is supposed to bring big time thunderstorms again, so the morning Gazelles circuit workout will be totally interesting if there's really bad weather.
Today, Gilbert assigned us a very different workout. Instead of the usual marathon pace run or fartlek workout on the Monday after a long training run, he assigned a run of 40-70 minutes, easy recovery pace, followed by 20-30 x 100m strides, concentrating on form. The idea of this workout, if I understand it correctly, is to let the muscles limber back up in the recovery run, and then to bring them back into snappy form with the strides after all that lumbering long run training.
After I got my massage from Ron this morning, I went to the trail at Town Lake for my workout. I really wanted to run as much as possible on something not asphalt or concrete, to give my legs a bit of a rest from the big pounding. I started about 11:30 am, under sunny and warm conditions, maybe mid-70's. I took off, going east on the loop from Auditorium Shores (First Street) to Longhorn Dam, and crossing to finish on the First St. bridge. I guessed that would be about 5 - 5.5 miles. I was hoping to run about 60 minutes of recovery running, plus the strides.
I set my HR monitor to tell me when I was going too hard, and set out on my journey. It's been a while since I've run this much without training partners, so it was a little strange today. At any rate, I fell into a good rhythm after about a mile, after my legs loosened up enough to run fluidly. I stopped at the water fountain at Longhorn Dam for a quick drink of water, and then moved on. I checked out the floodgates that were open there, and once again marvelled at the power of the current. It was really loud down there.
For some reason, the song stuck in my head during this easy run was The Who's "Pinball Wizard," and by the time I finished up the run, I think I had remembered all the lyrics in order. What a strange song to pop up!
The final total on the recovery run portion of the festivities was 6.6 miles, at an average pace of 9:50/mile, which is about right for true low HR recovery running. I was sweaty in the heat, but I wasn't breathing super hard, either. After 5 minutes of walking and drinking cool water at the RunTex water stop there at the Zero marker, I was ready for the strides.
On the first strider, I felt totally clumsy, stiff and awkward. I counted off 100 steps, which would serve as my 100m marker. Turns out that was at a nice landmark of stone steps. I took 30 seconds or so of easy walking between each strider, and moved through the workout. It was funny to be running back and forth like that, as people were playing with their dogs on the grass field there. Without other Gazelles, I did stick out. Back and forth I went, getting to 10 striders. I kept thinking of reasons to stop doing this, but I just kept on and finally knocked out 20 x 100m. By the last 6 or 7 strides, I had found smooth form again, and my legs were feeling a lot better by number 20. I guess the workout served its purpose!
Total day was 7.9 miles, with the striders. It was a good way to get back to running after the long one on Saturday! Tonight and tomorrow is supposed to bring big time thunderstorms again, so the morning Gazelles circuit workout will be totally interesting if there's really bad weather.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
Weekly Roundup
This morning, the Galloway folks had plenty of leaders, so after dropping off water and Accelerade on the course, and meeting the troops at the start, I was able to let them head out on their own. My legs feel pretty good this morning after yesterday's long run, so that's a good sign. I'll do some easy stretching and maybe some heat/cold treatment on my calf and quad, where some very slight stiffness is still present.
Totals for the week: 4 runs, 44 miles. Skipped one workout, the recovery run on Wednesday. Did one easy recovery run on Monday after the race, then the vigorous speedwork 1,000m repeats and my 9.5 miles worth of fartlek acceleration workout, finishing the week with the long 20.4 miler. It was a fabulous week. Last week featured the good half marathon race effort, and this week, the long run went even better, probably. The weather has been nice, too. Once all the heavy rain water can run through Town Lake, and allow the trail to become available again for its full length, we'll be ready to enjoy everything even more.
This week is another race week, with the Decker Challenge 20K on Sunday. Monday is an interesting workout from Gilbert...40 minutes easy running, then 20-30 strides on a grassy surface, concentrating on full form. His thinking is that with the super long long runs (20+ miles), that we need to get that snap back in our legs and get rid of any tendency to revert to long run shuffle form. Then, circuit training, a recovery run, and a tempo run, probably 4 miles, on Thursday. That'll be instructive to check out how I'm doing on the tempo run. I bet the trail hasn't drained down by then, though, so it will probably be on a different course. Mileage will be reduced this week, which is about right. Total mileage for November will be more than double what I ran last November, and I've already run more this year than last year's 12 month totals.
This morning, the Galloway folks had plenty of leaders, so after dropping off water and Accelerade on the course, and meeting the troops at the start, I was able to let them head out on their own. My legs feel pretty good this morning after yesterday's long run, so that's a good sign. I'll do some easy stretching and maybe some heat/cold treatment on my calf and quad, where some very slight stiffness is still present.
Totals for the week: 4 runs, 44 miles. Skipped one workout, the recovery run on Wednesday. Did one easy recovery run on Monday after the race, then the vigorous speedwork 1,000m repeats and my 9.5 miles worth of fartlek acceleration workout, finishing the week with the long 20.4 miler. It was a fabulous week. Last week featured the good half marathon race effort, and this week, the long run went even better, probably. The weather has been nice, too. Once all the heavy rain water can run through Town Lake, and allow the trail to become available again for its full length, we'll be ready to enjoy everything even more.
This week is another race week, with the Decker Challenge 20K on Sunday. Monday is an interesting workout from Gilbert...40 minutes easy running, then 20-30 strides on a grassy surface, concentrating on full form. His thinking is that with the super long long runs (20+ miles), that we need to get that snap back in our legs and get rid of any tendency to revert to long run shuffle form. Then, circuit training, a recovery run, and a tempo run, probably 4 miles, on Thursday. That'll be instructive to check out how I'm doing on the tempo run. I bet the trail hasn't drained down by then, though, so it will probably be on a different course. Mileage will be reduced this week, which is about right. Total mileage for November will be more than double what I ran last November, and I've already run more this year than last year's 12 month totals.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
20 Mile Long Run
I guess the title of this entry is redundant, but what the heck. It was a glorious morning to do a long long long run, sunny and cool (45 rising to maybe 55 degrees), with a steady breeze that helped keep us cool. The Gazelles met at RunTex at 5:45 am to load up and carpool to the start of this morning's 20 miler, just north of the 6 mile point of the Freescale course, and we were to run the last 20 miles of the course. More reconnaissance running. My truck got severely loaded up. By the time people stopped climbing in and around the Tahoe, I think I ended up with 10 people and a water cooler. Gilbert called it a "Burundi Taxi," due its overloaded nature. I suppose we are a close group, right? We arrived without incident to the start point, and grouped up. The instructions were to run this one nice and easy, and pick it up only for the last 15-20 minutes of the run. That was okay by me.
My group was Diana, Greta, Tracy and me. Patrick was in Louisiana or something like that on a family trip. We set out after everyone else had left, waiting for a moment to let Diana get organized and get all her stuff ready. We eased out of the chute just after 6:10 am, and started running in the pre-dawn darkness. We made it as far as the first water stop without too much in the way of stoppage, chatting with a fellow walking in his neighborhood, and I pointed out spots that usually have bands on Race Day. Diana found out at that first water stop (about 4 miles in) that she had not packed her Power Bar, so she would have to purchase one on the road, so to speak. I did a GU at that water stop, and we started back up. First 4.67 miles at average pace of 9:55/mile, right on schedule. My HR numbers were very good, easily in the aerobic zone as we tooled along on the mostly downhill portion of the early race course. My legs were a little tired still from the aggressive fartlek workout that I did on Thursday, Diana had done the 400m repeat workout with Gilbert on Thursday, and Tracy had run the Turkey Trot 5 miler here, so we all had some fatigue in our legs.
The next segment of the day went from 45th and Lamar all the way to 6th and Congress. It is a downhill section except for a nasty steep little hill right at the half marathon mark of the Freescale course. We flew through this 3.8 miles at an average of 9:35/mile, but it wasn't a hard push, mostly accelerating just due to topographical assistance. We stopped at a Starbucks there to let Diana go in and buy some food to replace her missing Power Bar, and that really hit the spot for her. We took off down 6th Street.
The next bit was 1.8 miles, average pace 9:51, to the Powerade stop on Lake Austin Blvd, just past Magnolia Cafe. I took my second GU there, and drank down a good bit of Powerade. While we were there, waiting on some bathroom breaks and more food purchasing, Frank was coming down the return leg of the out and back section, and we chatted briefly. He was having a good day as he returned to the regular marathon training after his NYC marathon. My group gathered again, and we headed out Lake Austin Blvd to the turnaround and back.
The out and back miles were 10:06 into the wind and 9:27 with it to our backs, and then we headed down to Cesar Chavez / First Street and the next Powerade stop. Those miles were mostly flat, but the nice downhill trend had ended for the course by now. Rolling along, that was 2 miles, average at 9:33/mile. More Powerade and my last GU at that stop, since it was the last official water stop for the run. This was at the 20 mile mark of the marathon course. Greta pulled off at this point, since she was only going 15 miles, and we carried on as a trio, heading East.
We were all feeling a little beaten up during this stretch, trying to get past some discomfort and fatigue to finish the run in solid fashion. There was a short rest stop again in this chunk, but we stayed together to the end of the Longhorn Dam. Short stop there for a last water stop, 3.04 miles at 9:37 average pace. It was time for the home stretch. We all basically decided to run at different rates for the last 3 or 4 miles, and Diana took off ahead of me over the dam. I followed along, moving quicker, but not crazy fast, and Tracy was just behind me. As I ran across the dam, it was amazing to hear the roar of the water surging through the open floodgates below us, and to watch the water rumble and crash on the Town Lake side of things. Water is a powerful thing when angry.
Anyway, Diana was about 20 yards ahead of me, but I kept that distance gap as I dashed up the short hill on Pleasant Valley and made the turn towards Riverside drive. At about the 24 mile mark, Diana crossed the street to my side and turned back to join me for the last push. I was both thankful for her company for those last hard miles, and worried because now we'd race in together. Mile 25 is comprised of two long hills, neither steep, but both nice tests that late in a marathon. We pushed up those hills in strong fashion, and then enjoyed the steep downhill on the backside of the last hill, the 25 mile mark being on the last hill. I knew we were in the homestretch now, and relaxed into the final push. We made most of the lights, and were able to keep running hard to the finish. We both felt great to be done, and actually felt pretty good. Not nearly as exhausted as on the 16 miler, so we did a much better job of pacing the early miles. Our last miles went 8:46, 8:16, and 7:41 for just over a mile on the last stretch. Average pace for final accelerated miles was 8:13/mile for 3.07 miles.
Overall, we ran 20.4 miles in 9:30/mile average pace. It was a really good run, and I was happy to see that we were mostly in aerobic HR zone for me, until the last 3 mile push, which was to be expected. This was a much better executed long run, and another good one like the Bonnell-2222 long run two weeks ago. If they keep going like this, then I'll have to think even bigger thoughts regarding race pace for Freescale.
A good stretching session after the run worked out most of the stiffness from the hard effort, and I've spent much of the rest of the day refueling the running machine.
I guess the title of this entry is redundant, but what the heck. It was a glorious morning to do a long long long run, sunny and cool (45 rising to maybe 55 degrees), with a steady breeze that helped keep us cool. The Gazelles met at RunTex at 5:45 am to load up and carpool to the start of this morning's 20 miler, just north of the 6 mile point of the Freescale course, and we were to run the last 20 miles of the course. More reconnaissance running. My truck got severely loaded up. By the time people stopped climbing in and around the Tahoe, I think I ended up with 10 people and a water cooler. Gilbert called it a "Burundi Taxi," due its overloaded nature. I suppose we are a close group, right? We arrived without incident to the start point, and grouped up. The instructions were to run this one nice and easy, and pick it up only for the last 15-20 minutes of the run. That was okay by me.
My group was Diana, Greta, Tracy and me. Patrick was in Louisiana or something like that on a family trip. We set out after everyone else had left, waiting for a moment to let Diana get organized and get all her stuff ready. We eased out of the chute just after 6:10 am, and started running in the pre-dawn darkness. We made it as far as the first water stop without too much in the way of stoppage, chatting with a fellow walking in his neighborhood, and I pointed out spots that usually have bands on Race Day. Diana found out at that first water stop (about 4 miles in) that she had not packed her Power Bar, so she would have to purchase one on the road, so to speak. I did a GU at that water stop, and we started back up. First 4.67 miles at average pace of 9:55/mile, right on schedule. My HR numbers were very good, easily in the aerobic zone as we tooled along on the mostly downhill portion of the early race course. My legs were a little tired still from the aggressive fartlek workout that I did on Thursday, Diana had done the 400m repeat workout with Gilbert on Thursday, and Tracy had run the Turkey Trot 5 miler here, so we all had some fatigue in our legs.
The next segment of the day went from 45th and Lamar all the way to 6th and Congress. It is a downhill section except for a nasty steep little hill right at the half marathon mark of the Freescale course. We flew through this 3.8 miles at an average of 9:35/mile, but it wasn't a hard push, mostly accelerating just due to topographical assistance. We stopped at a Starbucks there to let Diana go in and buy some food to replace her missing Power Bar, and that really hit the spot for her. We took off down 6th Street.
The next bit was 1.8 miles, average pace 9:51, to the Powerade stop on Lake Austin Blvd, just past Magnolia Cafe. I took my second GU there, and drank down a good bit of Powerade. While we were there, waiting on some bathroom breaks and more food purchasing, Frank was coming down the return leg of the out and back section, and we chatted briefly. He was having a good day as he returned to the regular marathon training after his NYC marathon. My group gathered again, and we headed out Lake Austin Blvd to the turnaround and back.
The out and back miles were 10:06 into the wind and 9:27 with it to our backs, and then we headed down to Cesar Chavez / First Street and the next Powerade stop. Those miles were mostly flat, but the nice downhill trend had ended for the course by now. Rolling along, that was 2 miles, average at 9:33/mile. More Powerade and my last GU at that stop, since it was the last official water stop for the run. This was at the 20 mile mark of the marathon course. Greta pulled off at this point, since she was only going 15 miles, and we carried on as a trio, heading East.
We were all feeling a little beaten up during this stretch, trying to get past some discomfort and fatigue to finish the run in solid fashion. There was a short rest stop again in this chunk, but we stayed together to the end of the Longhorn Dam. Short stop there for a last water stop, 3.04 miles at 9:37 average pace. It was time for the home stretch. We all basically decided to run at different rates for the last 3 or 4 miles, and Diana took off ahead of me over the dam. I followed along, moving quicker, but not crazy fast, and Tracy was just behind me. As I ran across the dam, it was amazing to hear the roar of the water surging through the open floodgates below us, and to watch the water rumble and crash on the Town Lake side of things. Water is a powerful thing when angry.
Anyway, Diana was about 20 yards ahead of me, but I kept that distance gap as I dashed up the short hill on Pleasant Valley and made the turn towards Riverside drive. At about the 24 mile mark, Diana crossed the street to my side and turned back to join me for the last push. I was both thankful for her company for those last hard miles, and worried because now we'd race in together. Mile 25 is comprised of two long hills, neither steep, but both nice tests that late in a marathon. We pushed up those hills in strong fashion, and then enjoyed the steep downhill on the backside of the last hill, the 25 mile mark being on the last hill. I knew we were in the homestretch now, and relaxed into the final push. We made most of the lights, and were able to keep running hard to the finish. We both felt great to be done, and actually felt pretty good. Not nearly as exhausted as on the 16 miler, so we did a much better job of pacing the early miles. Our last miles went 8:46, 8:16, and 7:41 for just over a mile on the last stretch. Average pace for final accelerated miles was 8:13/mile for 3.07 miles.
Overall, we ran 20.4 miles in 9:30/mile average pace. It was a really good run, and I was happy to see that we were mostly in aerobic HR zone for me, until the last 3 mile push, which was to be expected. This was a much better executed long run, and another good one like the Bonnell-2222 long run two weeks ago. If they keep going like this, then I'll have to think even bigger thoughts regarding race pace for Freescale.
A good stretching session after the run worked out most of the stiffness from the hard effort, and I've spent much of the rest of the day refueling the running machine.
Friday, November 26, 2004
Kaywood Turkey Trot 9.5 Miler
Tuesday evening, the family and I flew to Mississippi to be with my clan for Thanksgiving. There were some delays getting there, but it all worked out just fine. We dragged into bed after midnight, though, and we were all quite tired. Wednesday, I had planned to do another 45 minute recovery run, but various family activities and a good morning's sleep interfered with those plans. The weather chilled down all day long, until by that evening, it had dropped into the 40's. I was thankful for that, since all my running gear was for cool weather.
Thursday morning, though, I got out there around 9:00 am, on a slightly overcast, somewhat breezy morning, temps in the 40's probably. I ran with my vest on, initially, and wore long pants throughout. After the GPS synched up in its new location, I strapped on my water bottle, filled with Accelerade, put an additional water bottle out on the front porch, and headed out for my workout.
The plan was to simulate the 15 x 400m workout that Gilbert had the Gazelles doing on Turkey Day morning. So, I chose to go 20 minutes easy for warmup, then do a fartlek acceleration workout of 15 x 2:00 pace, with 1:00 easy jog rest between each acceleration. Then finish it off with another easy 20 minute of jogging. I guessed I'd go about 8 miles, maybe 8.5 miles.
I did a loop around the rock road by the houses out in the country, and then exited the gate and started exploring. I went down a farm road, and then turned onto an even smaller road, and waited for my warmup period to end. I got pretty far down Kane Road when the warmup period had finished, and started accelerating. The 20 minute warmup time covered a little over 2 miles, about 9:40 pace for that segment. Except for some hilly bits, I stayed in warmup HR range.
With much zigzagging, various loops on the rock road, and a couple of out and back segments up and down the hilly farm roads, I finished up the 45 minutes of fartlek accelerations. I fought off a couple of spots where I tried talking myself out of finishing the workout, around 10-12 repeats, but I just kept clicking them off, and the fartlek section was over soon enough. Those 45 minutes, including the recovery jogging between fartlek intervals, covered about 5.6 miles, at an average overall pace of 7:57/mile, about right, but maybe a little harder than I should have run. Oh, well, for the most part it was invigorating, and I only got chased by two farm dogs, who turned around when I told them to "shoo."
Gratefully, I eased into the 20 minute cooldown, and watched my HR slowly drop back into a happy range. I went just under 2 miles again during the cooldown, at about 10:30/mile pace, and by the time the cooldown was over, I felt really good, warm, and happy. I finished the run by going down to a pond on the farm out there, and it was a beautiful sunny morning by then. I spent some time walking around after the workout, just enjoying the scenery, the quiet, and the fact that I've gotten to the point that I'd spend almost an hour and a half on Thanksgiving morning, on vacation, running a pretty intense workout for an eventual marathon race in February. Without any running partner, or, indeed, much notice from the gathered family.
As much as I enjoyed the solitude of this run and the satisfaction I gained from it, I can't wait to have my long run crew join me on Saturday for the 20 miler. Running that far by myself is something I'm not sure I could do.
Total workout about 9.5 miles, overall average pace, including warmup and cooldown, was 8:50/mile. I've only run a couple of times this week, but they've been good ones! Friday was a travel day back to Texas, and I've carbo-loaded with pasta (pizza at lunch in Hobby airport in Houston), and I'm drinking water hourly. I've got the Accelerade ready for my supplemental fluid replenishment for the 20 miler, my GU, and my pre-run Clif Bar. Ready to go. Just got to get to sleep and wake up at 5:00 am to join my friends.
Tuesday evening, the family and I flew to Mississippi to be with my clan for Thanksgiving. There were some delays getting there, but it all worked out just fine. We dragged into bed after midnight, though, and we were all quite tired. Wednesday, I had planned to do another 45 minute recovery run, but various family activities and a good morning's sleep interfered with those plans. The weather chilled down all day long, until by that evening, it had dropped into the 40's. I was thankful for that, since all my running gear was for cool weather.
Thursday morning, though, I got out there around 9:00 am, on a slightly overcast, somewhat breezy morning, temps in the 40's probably. I ran with my vest on, initially, and wore long pants throughout. After the GPS synched up in its new location, I strapped on my water bottle, filled with Accelerade, put an additional water bottle out on the front porch, and headed out for my workout.
The plan was to simulate the 15 x 400m workout that Gilbert had the Gazelles doing on Turkey Day morning. So, I chose to go 20 minutes easy for warmup, then do a fartlek acceleration workout of 15 x 2:00 pace, with 1:00 easy jog rest between each acceleration. Then finish it off with another easy 20 minute of jogging. I guessed I'd go about 8 miles, maybe 8.5 miles.
I did a loop around the rock road by the houses out in the country, and then exited the gate and started exploring. I went down a farm road, and then turned onto an even smaller road, and waited for my warmup period to end. I got pretty far down Kane Road when the warmup period had finished, and started accelerating. The 20 minute warmup time covered a little over 2 miles, about 9:40 pace for that segment. Except for some hilly bits, I stayed in warmup HR range.
With much zigzagging, various loops on the rock road, and a couple of out and back segments up and down the hilly farm roads, I finished up the 45 minutes of fartlek accelerations. I fought off a couple of spots where I tried talking myself out of finishing the workout, around 10-12 repeats, but I just kept clicking them off, and the fartlek section was over soon enough. Those 45 minutes, including the recovery jogging between fartlek intervals, covered about 5.6 miles, at an average overall pace of 7:57/mile, about right, but maybe a little harder than I should have run. Oh, well, for the most part it was invigorating, and I only got chased by two farm dogs, who turned around when I told them to "shoo."
Gratefully, I eased into the 20 minute cooldown, and watched my HR slowly drop back into a happy range. I went just under 2 miles again during the cooldown, at about 10:30/mile pace, and by the time the cooldown was over, I felt really good, warm, and happy. I finished the run by going down to a pond on the farm out there, and it was a beautiful sunny morning by then. I spent some time walking around after the workout, just enjoying the scenery, the quiet, and the fact that I've gotten to the point that I'd spend almost an hour and a half on Thanksgiving morning, on vacation, running a pretty intense workout for an eventual marathon race in February. Without any running partner, or, indeed, much notice from the gathered family.
As much as I enjoyed the solitude of this run and the satisfaction I gained from it, I can't wait to have my long run crew join me on Saturday for the 20 miler. Running that far by myself is something I'm not sure I could do.
Total workout about 9.5 miles, overall average pace, including warmup and cooldown, was 8:50/mile. I've only run a couple of times this week, but they've been good ones! Friday was a travel day back to Texas, and I've carbo-loaded with pasta (pizza at lunch in Hobby airport in Houston), and I'm drinking water hourly. I've got the Accelerade ready for my supplemental fluid replenishment for the 20 miler, my GU, and my pre-run Clif Bar. Ready to go. Just got to get to sleep and wake up at 5:00 am to join my friends.
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
1,000m Repeats
This was a funny workout by the end of it. We gathered at RunTex under ominous skies at 6:00 am for our scheduled 1,000m repeat workout. The trail has been flooded around Town Lake, so we decided to do the repeats on the track instead of on the road at Zilker Park. There were only about 10 of us there, and we picked our way carefully along the way to Austin High School, running a little further than usual due to detours, but we got there in one piece. We were met there by more and more and more Gazelles as we did the drills. It seemed like on every different drill, a new person would pop up, so by the time we were ready to workout, there were probably 30 folks there.
Gilbert had the people racing at the Turkey Trot 5 miler on Thursday do 8-10 x 400m. The rest of us got to do 1000m repeats, with 3:00 rest between, including a jog of 200m back to the start each time. 80% effort, as usual, and for a change, we were going to actually run them at 80% instead of crazy fast. 5 repeats for non-marathoners, and 7 for marathoners.
It was totally humid, 100%, with a mist/fog/drizzle thing happening the whole workout. About 65 degrees, but it was a day that only dedicated runners would get out there.
My calf was tight, but it loosened up during the drills, so I figured I'd start and see what happened. We had a large group: Frank, Margaret, Joseph, Amy, Henry, and myself. Frank, Henry and I had raced the Bison Half on Sunday, and the others had not. I let the others lead out, and we knocked off the first repeat in a comfortable 4:54. It was an effort, but not crazy fast or anything like that. We took turns leading the next 4 intervals, and we were remarkably consistent: 4:57, 4:56, 4:53, 4:51. Amy and Margaret had had enough after that, as well as Henry, so it was down to Joseph, Frank and me for the rest of the day. Frank and Joseph really pushed the 6th interval, but I held back a bit, because I really wanted to do the full 7 repeats for a change. They covered the 6th one in 4:25 or so, and I came across in a faster 4:37. Still feeling fine, I did the 7th interval, and Joseph ended up joining me. I pushed the last one just a bit, and finished it in 4:28.
I was very pleased with this workout, both at the good pacing and how good I felt at the end. The return run to RunTex was uneventful, and we finished a good workout just before the big rains came.
Total day just over 9 miles. 7 x 1000m average pace was 7:44/mile, plenty fast for two days after a hard half marathon effort.
This was a funny workout by the end of it. We gathered at RunTex under ominous skies at 6:00 am for our scheduled 1,000m repeat workout. The trail has been flooded around Town Lake, so we decided to do the repeats on the track instead of on the road at Zilker Park. There were only about 10 of us there, and we picked our way carefully along the way to Austin High School, running a little further than usual due to detours, but we got there in one piece. We were met there by more and more and more Gazelles as we did the drills. It seemed like on every different drill, a new person would pop up, so by the time we were ready to workout, there were probably 30 folks there.
Gilbert had the people racing at the Turkey Trot 5 miler on Thursday do 8-10 x 400m. The rest of us got to do 1000m repeats, with 3:00 rest between, including a jog of 200m back to the start each time. 80% effort, as usual, and for a change, we were going to actually run them at 80% instead of crazy fast. 5 repeats for non-marathoners, and 7 for marathoners.
It was totally humid, 100%, with a mist/fog/drizzle thing happening the whole workout. About 65 degrees, but it was a day that only dedicated runners would get out there.
My calf was tight, but it loosened up during the drills, so I figured I'd start and see what happened. We had a large group: Frank, Margaret, Joseph, Amy, Henry, and myself. Frank, Henry and I had raced the Bison Half on Sunday, and the others had not. I let the others lead out, and we knocked off the first repeat in a comfortable 4:54. It was an effort, but not crazy fast or anything like that. We took turns leading the next 4 intervals, and we were remarkably consistent: 4:57, 4:56, 4:53, 4:51. Amy and Margaret had had enough after that, as well as Henry, so it was down to Joseph, Frank and me for the rest of the day. Frank and Joseph really pushed the 6th interval, but I held back a bit, because I really wanted to do the full 7 repeats for a change. They covered the 6th one in 4:25 or so, and I came across in a faster 4:37. Still feeling fine, I did the 7th interval, and Joseph ended up joining me. I pushed the last one just a bit, and finished it in 4:28.
I was very pleased with this workout, both at the good pacing and how good I felt at the end. The return run to RunTex was uneventful, and we finished a good workout just before the big rains came.
Total day just over 9 miles. 7 x 1000m average pace was 7:44/mile, plenty fast for two days after a hard half marathon effort.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Weekly Totals:
5 runs, 36.4 miles total. 2 easy days, one hard half marathon race, one hard progressive 10 miler, and a medium fartlek workout. A good week. This week will feature some runs in Mississippi, my own personal "Turkey Trot" on Thursday, and a 20 miler on the Freescale course on Saturday. Should be fun, as usual. On we go!
5 runs, 36.4 miles total. 2 easy days, one hard half marathon race, one hard progressive 10 miler, and a medium fartlek workout. A good week. This week will feature some runs in Mississippi, my own personal "Turkey Trot" on Thursday, and a 20 miler on the Freescale course on Saturday. Should be fun, as usual. On we go!
Motive Bison Half Marathon (Sunday)
Sunday dawned with misty, cool conditions, about 65 degrees, which stayed constant through the whole race. There were slight breezes on a couple of the stretches that helped cool me off a little as I tromped through this hilly course, but basically it was an okay weather day. Just cool enough. News reports after the race touted this course as the toughest half marathon in Texas, which may be true, but I still maintain that the Pervasive 10 miler course is tougher for me. This one is tough, don't get me wrong. There's a long section in the middle of the race that has a sustained climb with several distinct parts, then a section of steady inclines of a more insidious nature, before it more or less levels out with 4 miles to go.
I was really nervous before this one for some reason. I think it's mostly because my legs have been a little weird this week, and because I knew I was in shape for a good time if I ran a proper race. It's been a while since I've really been in shape to run solid races, so I'm still having to relearn The Art Of Racing after a couple of years of pretty slow running.
After a quick port-o-stop, I met some of the Gazelles at the finish line at 6:30 am for our warmup with Gilbert. Jesse, Frank, Alex, and others met there, and we enjoyed a truly easy 1.2 mile warmup out and back to the 12.5 mile mark of the race course. We saw that there were some sneaky inclines during the last mile that would have to be dealt with, which is good information to know. Also, when we were at our wit's end, we'd know exactly how far it was to the last two corners of the course, which is always good information to have. After the warmup, we did the drills that we do every morning at our workouts, and finished with some strides. This routine has become a comfort before these hard efforts, which is partly the reason for it, I suppose. Gilbert gave us some last minute encouragement, and we were off to drop off extra clothes and any other last minute adjustments. I still had 25 minutes or so to the race start, so I dropped off my jacket in the car, pinned on my race number, took a last sip of Accelerade in the car, and strolled back to the start line.
For a change, I lined up closer to the start than normal, partly as an experiment, and because I was tired of losing Distance Challenge positions to folks who ran a slower time than me, but had a 1 or 2 minute headstart based on field position. I chatted with Frank as we waited. Frank wanted to run a solid half, partly to get rid of any lasting aftereffects from his NYC marathon. Most of the Gazelles wanted to run fast, because this race and Decker (20K) would be the last real chances to run a long race hard. The Buda 30K and 3M Half Marathon would be too close to Freescale for really hard racing, instead being opportunities to run at a controlled marathon race pace.
My goals for the day, in the usual three-tiered format, were to (1) Beat my course and "Masters" PR of 1:57:31 (8:58 pace) from two years ago, (2) 1:53:37 (8:40 pace), which was the half marathon equivalent time on a distance prediction chart for a 4:00:00 marathon time, and (3) a perfect day goal of 1:51:26 (8:30 pace). I also wanted to run a negative split, with my average pace for the last 6.11 miles being faster than that for the first 7 miles, and hopefully, my last mile would be my fastest. That sounds like a lot of stuff to keep in mind, but basically I wanted to go out conservatively, push through the steep and long climbing section of the course without blowing the whole race doing it, and pass people all the way in for the last 6 miles, picking up the pace from the 8 mile mark to the finish.
A nice multi-part harmony version of the Star Spangled Banner was played (taped), and we got the starting horn shortly thereafter. I crossed the start line some 17 seconds after the horn, and got underway. Gene Woodruff, a really terrific guy and 70-something year old runner, was just ahead of me in the crowd. I had spoken with him shortly before the race started, and he was hoping to run somewhere around the pace I was trying for, so I figured we'd see each other along the way.
A whole group of Gazelles passed me about a half mile into the race, getting up to their race speed, including Diana, Jesse, Alex and Liliana. It turns out that they all ran together and finished within a minute or two of each other. I certainly did well to let them get on with their fast ways.
I passed the first mile split in 8:26, a little quicker than I had planned, so I tried to ease back just a bit over the rest of the relatively flat opening section. At the first water stop, I took a quick drink, and enjoyed the live music at the "Bison City Limits" stop, but then it was time to keep going. All through the day, I walked about 5-10 seconds through the water stops, which didn't cost me too much time, maybe a couple of seconds each stop. The second mile came and went, along with mile 3, splits 8:06 (oops) and 8:51 (more like it). We streamed past the giant megachurch there on Jollyville Road, and I hoped that we'd all be gone by the time they needed to open up their parking lot to the 5 to 10,000 parishioners who'd be attending that morning's services.
A lot of people streamed by me during those opening 3 or 4 miles, huffing and puffing loudly, and it was all I could do to resist telling each of them that they were working a little hard too early, if they were having to breathe like that on the flat section. I wondered if they really knew what was ahead on the course, and knew that I'd pass most of them for good later on in the race. These musings gave me something to do while I tried to keep my pace regulated.
Gene was up ahead of me, about 10-20 yards, and I was sort of using him to distantly pace myself. Mile 4 was a smooth 8:47, for an overall early pace of 8:33/mile for 4 flat miles. I was ahead of schedule, but had throttled things back, and was feeling just fine. We turned off of Great Hills and headed towards the serious climbing section of the course.
Mile 5 featured a long steep downhill that I carefully negotiated, trying not to pound my legs too much, then a water stop at the bottom of that hill, a circus-themed stop. I took my first dose of Gilbert's favorite on-the-road energy replacement stuff, Enerviten, there, and headed up the steep initial part of the three part hill climb. I passed the mile 5 split at 8:50, about half and half steep downhill and then uphill. During mile 6, Ron Perry, my massage therapist, passed me, running at his training pace with his training partner. We chatted a bit, and he was gone. Looking up at the hill, it seemed to never end, but I shifted into climbing gear, and worked my way up and past a bunch of fellow runners. The neighbors there were out to watch us crazy people fight their way up the long series of inclines, but to their credit, they didn't taunt us or lie to us that "this is the last hill." I caught up with Gene during this mile, and we ran together for the next little bit. Mile 6 was in 9:15, about what I had planned for this nasty stretch. I felt pretty good, considering the terrain, and felt like I wasn't using myself up too much. We turned a last corner and I pulled away from Gene on a shorter steep bit, followed by a shallower but still inclined segment after another turn. The mile 7 water stop was themed after the 70's movie "Car Wash," which was pretty funny, especially since it was on a flatter section after all that climbing. Mile 7 split was 8:58, for an overall pace through 7 miles of 8:45/mile. I was close enough to my middle goal pace that I was confident I would get it, since I felt fairly fresh at the halfway point, and the worst of the course was behind me.
During mile 8, I felt the need for a quick hydration adjustment, and spotted an empty port-o-john, dashed in, and was back on the course pretty quickly. Gene had again passed me during my short rest stop, but I caught him again, and on the steady incline that followed, I pulled away again, and never saw him again until after the race. I also caught and passed Patrick on the same incline. My mile split suffered due to the 20-30 second rest stop, but still it was 8:57. I was okay, pacewise, and settled into the effort now that the course had settled down again. I figured I had run around 8:30 pace during the running portion of that split, so I was picking it up just on plan.
During mile 9, I hooked up with Patrick again from my long run training group, as he rolled up on me just after the water stop. I took my last Enerviten dose there, and told Patrick that I was going to try to push it from there. My mile 9 split was 8:22, and it didn't feel that bad. The water stop there was a takeoff on the Blue Man Group, with everyone made up like that troupe, which was funny to see. At least they didn't switch to blue Powerade. Patrick and I dueled a bit during mile 10, after I caught up after my Enerviten stop, for a split of 8:45. At the 10 mile mark, I pushed a bit harder, and on a steady shallow incline, Patrick fell behind a bit, and I was off.
Mile 11 was full of turns and slight ups and downs, but I made good time through here. I believe the second Bison City Limits water stop was through here, with more live music. That boosted my spirits, for sure. By now, I was mostly pouring water on my head and taking just a sip of Gatorade at each stop. Mile 11 split was a fine 8:05, which was unexpected. I kept reeling in people, and started picking individuals to chase down for a game to play. I also tried to keep a running total of the miles clicking down, and started looking for the mile 12 marker, just around the next bend. There was a fun Las Vegas styled water stop, and then there was mile 12. Split for mile 12 was 8:16. I was in good shape for my various race goals, but couldn't quite work the math, so I pressed on.
Mile 13 was a tough one, with a lot of sneaky uphills and only a few short downhill respites. I was still pulling in people, and so I knew I was doing okay, but I was starting to break form a bit. I also started looking for Gilbert and those Gazelles who I knew had finished by now, so I tried to get into full Gazelles running form. I was working hard as I took the last two sharp turns onto the last stretch. Mile 13 was 8:31, but I only saw that later. Right at that mile marker was Gilbert, and he jumped onto the course with me, exhorting me to push hard to the finish, that "[I'd] been here before" so do butt kicks and get to the finish. He ran with me for a good distance, and for a second, I feared that I'd have to race him all the way to the finish line. He yelled at me to pass the people in front of me, which they heard as well, and so I was at maximum speed by the time he pulled away. I was in a serious gear now, and I'm sure my face was a study in fierce concentration. I wheeled around the last sharp turn and blasted as much as I could to the finish line, crossing in 1:52:55, 8:37 overall pace. My last .11 miles was in 0:45, for a sprint finish pace of 6:49, about as fast as I can run.
Gasping, I took a second to catch my breath, hands on knees, and then went ahead through the finish chute to collect my medal and food bag. I took a Gatorade and water bottle, and moved on. Man, I was glad to be finished!
My second 6.11 miles were covered at an average pace of 8:28, so I achieved my negative split goal. I had some of my fastest miles in the last 4 or 5 miles, so that was good. I beat my middle speed goal, and am right on track with progress towards my Freescale marathon goals. This was a truly great race for me, and I was pretty stoked about it afterwards. My finish time equates to a 3:58 marathon, using the McMillian calculators, so that's a good thing. Considering the Freescale course is much more runner-friendly, I'm probably ahead of the game.
This was a 10 minute improvement over my time at the Indy 500 Half Marathon in May, a 17 minute improvement over my time at this same race in 2003, and a 5 minute improvement on my "Masters PR (PR since I turned 40)" set at this race in 2002. Altogether unexplored territory, and further evidence that Gilbert's training regimen is working for me in a big way.
I found Gene afterwards, while I was finishing my Gatorade, and then saw Frank, Alex and Patrick quickly after that. Everyone seemed to have had a good day at the races, with PR's from almost everyone in the Gazelles. After hanging out a bit, I scurried (slowly) over to my car to get some dry clothes on, since I was starting to chill down. I pawed through my stuff in the truck, and found a jacket, cap and long running pants, along with a dry t-shirt. Gratefully, I put all that stuff on, along with dry shoes and socks. Amazing how something as simple as dry clothes can make you so happy, eh? While I was there, I chugged down my post-race Endurox recovery drink to help the legs start to heal. I was pretty stiff walking along there, but I started feeling better as I walked back to the post-run scene.
Now that I was warm and dry, it was a lot more fun to chat with people as they finished. I saw a good number of running friends, as expected, and most everyone seemed to have enjoyed their day. There was a live band, and plenty of good food, including Krispy Kreme donuts, for those so inclined. After chatting away, and checking in with Gilbert for a post-race discussion, I decided to call it a day. In the parking lot, I ended up talking for a good while with Gene, about a large span of topics. Once again, it's an example of the generally fine disposition and makeup of most distance runners. We may pursue a solitary sport to those who don't partake in it, but it's a lot more about community and a bond of a shared pursuit to those of us in the middle of it. I only hope that I'm still out there racing when I'm 73 years old!
It was a fabulous day at the races, and now I'm looking forward to Turkey Day, the 20 miler on Saturday, and the Decker Challenge 20K the weekend after that. Decker has been my favorite race the last two years, so it will be fun to run it in my improved running shape.
Sunday dawned with misty, cool conditions, about 65 degrees, which stayed constant through the whole race. There were slight breezes on a couple of the stretches that helped cool me off a little as I tromped through this hilly course, but basically it was an okay weather day. Just cool enough. News reports after the race touted this course as the toughest half marathon in Texas, which may be true, but I still maintain that the Pervasive 10 miler course is tougher for me. This one is tough, don't get me wrong. There's a long section in the middle of the race that has a sustained climb with several distinct parts, then a section of steady inclines of a more insidious nature, before it more or less levels out with 4 miles to go.
I was really nervous before this one for some reason. I think it's mostly because my legs have been a little weird this week, and because I knew I was in shape for a good time if I ran a proper race. It's been a while since I've really been in shape to run solid races, so I'm still having to relearn The Art Of Racing after a couple of years of pretty slow running.
After a quick port-o-stop, I met some of the Gazelles at the finish line at 6:30 am for our warmup with Gilbert. Jesse, Frank, Alex, and others met there, and we enjoyed a truly easy 1.2 mile warmup out and back to the 12.5 mile mark of the race course. We saw that there were some sneaky inclines during the last mile that would have to be dealt with, which is good information to know. Also, when we were at our wit's end, we'd know exactly how far it was to the last two corners of the course, which is always good information to have. After the warmup, we did the drills that we do every morning at our workouts, and finished with some strides. This routine has become a comfort before these hard efforts, which is partly the reason for it, I suppose. Gilbert gave us some last minute encouragement, and we were off to drop off extra clothes and any other last minute adjustments. I still had 25 minutes or so to the race start, so I dropped off my jacket in the car, pinned on my race number, took a last sip of Accelerade in the car, and strolled back to the start line.
For a change, I lined up closer to the start than normal, partly as an experiment, and because I was tired of losing Distance Challenge positions to folks who ran a slower time than me, but had a 1 or 2 minute headstart based on field position. I chatted with Frank as we waited. Frank wanted to run a solid half, partly to get rid of any lasting aftereffects from his NYC marathon. Most of the Gazelles wanted to run fast, because this race and Decker (20K) would be the last real chances to run a long race hard. The Buda 30K and 3M Half Marathon would be too close to Freescale for really hard racing, instead being opportunities to run at a controlled marathon race pace.
My goals for the day, in the usual three-tiered format, were to (1) Beat my course and "Masters" PR of 1:57:31 (8:58 pace) from two years ago, (2) 1:53:37 (8:40 pace), which was the half marathon equivalent time on a distance prediction chart for a 4:00:00 marathon time, and (3) a perfect day goal of 1:51:26 (8:30 pace). I also wanted to run a negative split, with my average pace for the last 6.11 miles being faster than that for the first 7 miles, and hopefully, my last mile would be my fastest. That sounds like a lot of stuff to keep in mind, but basically I wanted to go out conservatively, push through the steep and long climbing section of the course without blowing the whole race doing it, and pass people all the way in for the last 6 miles, picking up the pace from the 8 mile mark to the finish.
A nice multi-part harmony version of the Star Spangled Banner was played (taped), and we got the starting horn shortly thereafter. I crossed the start line some 17 seconds after the horn, and got underway. Gene Woodruff, a really terrific guy and 70-something year old runner, was just ahead of me in the crowd. I had spoken with him shortly before the race started, and he was hoping to run somewhere around the pace I was trying for, so I figured we'd see each other along the way.
A whole group of Gazelles passed me about a half mile into the race, getting up to their race speed, including Diana, Jesse, Alex and Liliana. It turns out that they all ran together and finished within a minute or two of each other. I certainly did well to let them get on with their fast ways.
I passed the first mile split in 8:26, a little quicker than I had planned, so I tried to ease back just a bit over the rest of the relatively flat opening section. At the first water stop, I took a quick drink, and enjoyed the live music at the "Bison City Limits" stop, but then it was time to keep going. All through the day, I walked about 5-10 seconds through the water stops, which didn't cost me too much time, maybe a couple of seconds each stop. The second mile came and went, along with mile 3, splits 8:06 (oops) and 8:51 (more like it). We streamed past the giant megachurch there on Jollyville Road, and I hoped that we'd all be gone by the time they needed to open up their parking lot to the 5 to 10,000 parishioners who'd be attending that morning's services.
A lot of people streamed by me during those opening 3 or 4 miles, huffing and puffing loudly, and it was all I could do to resist telling each of them that they were working a little hard too early, if they were having to breathe like that on the flat section. I wondered if they really knew what was ahead on the course, and knew that I'd pass most of them for good later on in the race. These musings gave me something to do while I tried to keep my pace regulated.
Gene was up ahead of me, about 10-20 yards, and I was sort of using him to distantly pace myself. Mile 4 was a smooth 8:47, for an overall early pace of 8:33/mile for 4 flat miles. I was ahead of schedule, but had throttled things back, and was feeling just fine. We turned off of Great Hills and headed towards the serious climbing section of the course.
Mile 5 featured a long steep downhill that I carefully negotiated, trying not to pound my legs too much, then a water stop at the bottom of that hill, a circus-themed stop. I took my first dose of Gilbert's favorite on-the-road energy replacement stuff, Enerviten, there, and headed up the steep initial part of the three part hill climb. I passed the mile 5 split at 8:50, about half and half steep downhill and then uphill. During mile 6, Ron Perry, my massage therapist, passed me, running at his training pace with his training partner. We chatted a bit, and he was gone. Looking up at the hill, it seemed to never end, but I shifted into climbing gear, and worked my way up and past a bunch of fellow runners. The neighbors there were out to watch us crazy people fight their way up the long series of inclines, but to their credit, they didn't taunt us or lie to us that "this is the last hill." I caught up with Gene during this mile, and we ran together for the next little bit. Mile 6 was in 9:15, about what I had planned for this nasty stretch. I felt pretty good, considering the terrain, and felt like I wasn't using myself up too much. We turned a last corner and I pulled away from Gene on a shorter steep bit, followed by a shallower but still inclined segment after another turn. The mile 7 water stop was themed after the 70's movie "Car Wash," which was pretty funny, especially since it was on a flatter section after all that climbing. Mile 7 split was 8:58, for an overall pace through 7 miles of 8:45/mile. I was close enough to my middle goal pace that I was confident I would get it, since I felt fairly fresh at the halfway point, and the worst of the course was behind me.
During mile 8, I felt the need for a quick hydration adjustment, and spotted an empty port-o-john, dashed in, and was back on the course pretty quickly. Gene had again passed me during my short rest stop, but I caught him again, and on the steady incline that followed, I pulled away again, and never saw him again until after the race. I also caught and passed Patrick on the same incline. My mile split suffered due to the 20-30 second rest stop, but still it was 8:57. I was okay, pacewise, and settled into the effort now that the course had settled down again. I figured I had run around 8:30 pace during the running portion of that split, so I was picking it up just on plan.
During mile 9, I hooked up with Patrick again from my long run training group, as he rolled up on me just after the water stop. I took my last Enerviten dose there, and told Patrick that I was going to try to push it from there. My mile 9 split was 8:22, and it didn't feel that bad. The water stop there was a takeoff on the Blue Man Group, with everyone made up like that troupe, which was funny to see. At least they didn't switch to blue Powerade. Patrick and I dueled a bit during mile 10, after I caught up after my Enerviten stop, for a split of 8:45. At the 10 mile mark, I pushed a bit harder, and on a steady shallow incline, Patrick fell behind a bit, and I was off.
Mile 11 was full of turns and slight ups and downs, but I made good time through here. I believe the second Bison City Limits water stop was through here, with more live music. That boosted my spirits, for sure. By now, I was mostly pouring water on my head and taking just a sip of Gatorade at each stop. Mile 11 split was a fine 8:05, which was unexpected. I kept reeling in people, and started picking individuals to chase down for a game to play. I also tried to keep a running total of the miles clicking down, and started looking for the mile 12 marker, just around the next bend. There was a fun Las Vegas styled water stop, and then there was mile 12. Split for mile 12 was 8:16. I was in good shape for my various race goals, but couldn't quite work the math, so I pressed on.
Mile 13 was a tough one, with a lot of sneaky uphills and only a few short downhill respites. I was still pulling in people, and so I knew I was doing okay, but I was starting to break form a bit. I also started looking for Gilbert and those Gazelles who I knew had finished by now, so I tried to get into full Gazelles running form. I was working hard as I took the last two sharp turns onto the last stretch. Mile 13 was 8:31, but I only saw that later. Right at that mile marker was Gilbert, and he jumped onto the course with me, exhorting me to push hard to the finish, that "[I'd] been here before" so do butt kicks and get to the finish. He ran with me for a good distance, and for a second, I feared that I'd have to race him all the way to the finish line. He yelled at me to pass the people in front of me, which they heard as well, and so I was at maximum speed by the time he pulled away. I was in a serious gear now, and I'm sure my face was a study in fierce concentration. I wheeled around the last sharp turn and blasted as much as I could to the finish line, crossing in 1:52:55, 8:37 overall pace. My last .11 miles was in 0:45, for a sprint finish pace of 6:49, about as fast as I can run.
Gasping, I took a second to catch my breath, hands on knees, and then went ahead through the finish chute to collect my medal and food bag. I took a Gatorade and water bottle, and moved on. Man, I was glad to be finished!
My second 6.11 miles were covered at an average pace of 8:28, so I achieved my negative split goal. I had some of my fastest miles in the last 4 or 5 miles, so that was good. I beat my middle speed goal, and am right on track with progress towards my Freescale marathon goals. This was a truly great race for me, and I was pretty stoked about it afterwards. My finish time equates to a 3:58 marathon, using the McMillian calculators, so that's a good thing. Considering the Freescale course is much more runner-friendly, I'm probably ahead of the game.
This was a 10 minute improvement over my time at the Indy 500 Half Marathon in May, a 17 minute improvement over my time at this same race in 2003, and a 5 minute improvement on my "Masters PR (PR since I turned 40)" set at this race in 2002. Altogether unexplored territory, and further evidence that Gilbert's training regimen is working for me in a big way.
I found Gene afterwards, while I was finishing my Gatorade, and then saw Frank, Alex and Patrick quickly after that. Everyone seemed to have had a good day at the races, with PR's from almost everyone in the Gazelles. After hanging out a bit, I scurried (slowly) over to my car to get some dry clothes on, since I was starting to chill down. I pawed through my stuff in the truck, and found a jacket, cap and long running pants, along with a dry t-shirt. Gratefully, I put all that stuff on, along with dry shoes and socks. Amazing how something as simple as dry clothes can make you so happy, eh? While I was there, I chugged down my post-race Endurox recovery drink to help the legs start to heal. I was pretty stiff walking along there, but I started feeling better as I walked back to the post-run scene.
Now that I was warm and dry, it was a lot more fun to chat with people as they finished. I saw a good number of running friends, as expected, and most everyone seemed to have enjoyed their day. There was a live band, and plenty of good food, including Krispy Kreme donuts, for those so inclined. After chatting away, and checking in with Gilbert for a post-race discussion, I decided to call it a day. In the parking lot, I ended up talking for a good while with Gene, about a large span of topics. Once again, it's an example of the generally fine disposition and makeup of most distance runners. We may pursue a solitary sport to those who don't partake in it, but it's a lot more about community and a bond of a shared pursuit to those of us in the middle of it. I only hope that I'm still out there racing when I'm 73 years old!
It was a fabulous day at the races, and now I'm looking forward to Turkey Day, the 20 miler on Saturday, and the Decker Challenge 20K the weekend after that. Decker has been my favorite race the last two years, so it will be fun to run it in my improved running shape.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
Easy Day + Stretching
This morning, we met at 7:45 am for a nice relaxed run with Gilbert before the usual long stretching session. We ran at his relaxed pace, which was truly easy. Total run about 3.5 miles, at about 9:35/mile pace overall. We did some singing as we ran, chanting the Yon Gwe refrain as he sang African verses about how the lion was right behind us, or ahead of us, or off to the side...it was a lot of fun on a gloomy morning on a wet trail. Afterwards, we had a nice stretching session, and Gilbert gave us his suggestions on race strategy for the half marathon tomorrow. Basically, he wants us to go out nice and relaxed, and then crank it up after the hills, at about mile 7. Sounds like good advice, now will I do it that way?
It's on mornings like this, as I got the opportunity to share a morning run with a group of fellow runners and friends, that I realize just how lucky we all are to be able to do this. There's so many folks that can't or won't get off the couch or out of their houses, and they gasp and stagger through their days. And there we are, running a totally easy 3.5 miles at a pace that exceeds many runners' 5K race pace. We are blessed, and lucky to have both Gilbert as our leader and each other as running friends. I can't wait for tomorrow! Warmups at 6:30, an hour prior to the start of the race. Super easy jogging for the last mile of the race course and back, then drills and strides. I'm going to try to be disciplined enough tomorrow to also do a super easy 10-15 minute cooldown jog after the race as well.
This morning, we met at 7:45 am for a nice relaxed run with Gilbert before the usual long stretching session. We ran at his relaxed pace, which was truly easy. Total run about 3.5 miles, at about 9:35/mile pace overall. We did some singing as we ran, chanting the Yon Gwe refrain as he sang African verses about how the lion was right behind us, or ahead of us, or off to the side...it was a lot of fun on a gloomy morning on a wet trail. Afterwards, we had a nice stretching session, and Gilbert gave us his suggestions on race strategy for the half marathon tomorrow. Basically, he wants us to go out nice and relaxed, and then crank it up after the hills, at about mile 7. Sounds like good advice, now will I do it that way?
It's on mornings like this, as I got the opportunity to share a morning run with a group of fellow runners and friends, that I realize just how lucky we all are to be able to do this. There's so many folks that can't or won't get off the couch or out of their houses, and they gasp and stagger through their days. And there we are, running a totally easy 3.5 miles at a pace that exceeds many runners' 5K race pace. We are blessed, and lucky to have both Gilbert as our leader and each other as running friends. I can't wait for tomorrow! Warmups at 6:30, an hour prior to the start of the race. Super easy jogging for the last mile of the race course and back, then drills and strides. I'm going to try to be disciplined enough tomorrow to also do a super easy 10-15 minute cooldown jog after the race as well.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Rest Day
Another full scheduled rest day today. I stretched a bit and worked on my calf with The Stick torture/massage device, trying to work out the knots there. Otherwise, I feel pretty good. The weather is nice today, but it's supposed to cloud up and be rainy over the weekend. Should be interesting if it's raining on race morning on Sunday. Tomorrow morning is a very relaxed run with Gilbert leading the way, and then we'll do the usual long stretching session as a group. I'm starting to get slightly nervous and excited now about the half marathon on Sunday, but I'll try to channel that into a positive force. I know I'm ready, training-wise, to run a good time. I'm a little worried about my persistent soreness in my leg, but since I felt fine running the fartlek workout yesterday, I know that's just something I'll have to work out. The whole key to Sunday is getting to the 7 mile mark without emptying the energy tank going up the long long hilly section. After that, I can slowly pick up the pace just like it was a long training run or like the progressive 10 miler on Monday. It should be interesting.
Another full scheduled rest day today. I stretched a bit and worked on my calf with The Stick torture/massage device, trying to work out the knots there. Otherwise, I feel pretty good. The weather is nice today, but it's supposed to cloud up and be rainy over the weekend. Should be interesting if it's raining on race morning on Sunday. Tomorrow morning is a very relaxed run with Gilbert leading the way, and then we'll do the usual long stretching session as a group. I'm starting to get slightly nervous and excited now about the half marathon on Sunday, but I'll try to channel that into a positive force. I know I'm ready, training-wise, to run a good time. I'm a little worried about my persistent soreness in my leg, but since I felt fine running the fartlek workout yesterday, I know that's just something I'll have to work out. The whole key to Sunday is getting to the 7 mile mark without emptying the energy tank going up the long long hilly section. After that, I can slowly pick up the pace just like it was a long training run or like the progressive 10 miler on Monday. It should be interesting.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Fartlek Run
After a couple of days that worried me, it was great to get out there this morning, and join my friends in the Gazelles for the usual fartlek tuneup run before a race. We had a subgroup of 5 people, Frank, Margaret, Joseph, Amy, and myself. We had a nice warmup of 17 minutes or so, doing the I-35 loop "backwards." Then, we took turns leading the fartlek accelerations, 10 x 1:00, with 1:00 easy running between. The trail was wet and muddy, but that was actually pretty fun. We crossed Town Lake on the Pfluger foot bridge, and finished our last acceleration right before the zero mile marker. We finished off the run with a cooldown jog around Auditorium Shores. Total day, 5.3 miles, 8:43 overall pace including warmup and cooldown. Fartlek sections, including recovery running between accelerations, were at about 7:45-7:50 pace, which was moving along.
Town Lake was a noisy rushing stream of water this morning, as the flood waters above Austin are flowing through. The trail was covered in water in a couple of spots, all west of where we crossed the river. It was impressive to hear the water rushing by as we ran along the banks of it.
Afterwards, we did 4 strides at Gilbert's suggestion, and it was a good day. My legs felt much revived after the couple of days' recovery I've taken. The right calf is still a little tight, but I'll work that out soon.
After a couple of days that worried me, it was great to get out there this morning, and join my friends in the Gazelles for the usual fartlek tuneup run before a race. We had a subgroup of 5 people, Frank, Margaret, Joseph, Amy, and myself. We had a nice warmup of 17 minutes or so, doing the I-35 loop "backwards." Then, we took turns leading the fartlek accelerations, 10 x 1:00, with 1:00 easy running between. The trail was wet and muddy, but that was actually pretty fun. We crossed Town Lake on the Pfluger foot bridge, and finished our last acceleration right before the zero mile marker. We finished off the run with a cooldown jog around Auditorium Shores. Total day, 5.3 miles, 8:43 overall pace including warmup and cooldown. Fartlek sections, including recovery running between accelerations, were at about 7:45-7:50 pace, which was moving along.
Town Lake was a noisy rushing stream of water this morning, as the flood waters above Austin are flowing through. The trail was covered in water in a couple of spots, all west of where we crossed the river. It was impressive to hear the water rushing by as we ran along the banks of it.
Afterwards, we did 4 strides at Gilbert's suggestion, and it was a good day. My legs felt much revived after the couple of days' recovery I've taken. The right calf is still a little tight, but I'll work that out soon.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Rest Day, Rainy Day
Big rain this morning flooded the trail in spots, and so I bailed on the recovery run today. I got a massage this afternoon, and Ron worked out most of the junk in my legs, so I'm looking forward to the fartlek workout tomorrow morning with Gazelles. I think my body was just begging for more rest and recovery than I had given it after the 18 mile / 10 mile doubleheader workout.
Big rain this morning flooded the trail in spots, and so I bailed on the recovery run today. I got a massage this afternoon, and Ron worked out most of the junk in my legs, so I'm looking forward to the fartlek workout tomorrow morning with Gazelles. I think my body was just begging for more rest and recovery than I had given it after the 18 mile / 10 mile doubleheader workout.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Disappointing morning
Well, it was bound to happen. A workout that wasn't spectacular. I woke up this morning with bothersome stiffness and mild pain in my right calf and shin muscles (yes, it is muscular pain, not anything else), as well as some persistent right knee/IT tightness, etc. Nevertheless, I went down to join the Gazelles for the 1000m Meriden hilly repeats. That's my favorite Gazelles workout, mainly because I think it's such a good combination strength and speedwork.
However, I was struggling to get loose as we did our short warmup jog to the start of the repeats, finishing at the back of the pack. During the drills, I was very clumsy and couldn't get loose at all. Once we did the finishing strides, I knew that I shouldn't be trying the repeats. I reported my findings to Gilbert, and he agreed that I should sit this one out. He has told us in the past that the most important workouts each week are the long run and the marathon pace run (progressive run this week), and I had done both of those in good fashion.
He had me do some easy backwards running up the long first hill of the course, to try to loosen up my calf. I did 3 of those. Then, after watching me run on level ground, he decided that I am not engaging my quads enough in my running motion, which is causing my hamstrings and calves to work harder than they need to, plus I'm restricting my range of motion with my contact and pushoff. He wants to see me to work on form, perhaps tomorrow morning, even.
I did the finishing 5 uphill striders with the main gang after they had done their repeats, and did the 2 backwards hill climbs as well. By the time I had finished those, my legs felt better, and I had regained my smoothness in my stride. However, I still think I did the right thing in avoiding the workout today. I'm disappointed because I enjoy this workout, but I'll get other chances to do these again.
The cooldown jog back to RunTex felt pretty good. I iced down the calf when I got home, and have done some light stretching throughout the day. I'm still a little clunky, but hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.
For the day, a miniscule 2.4 total miles, but I'm trying to be okay with that. Tomorrow is a 45-60 minute easy recovery effort. I'll go to the trail to do that tomorrow, hopefully, and then meet Gilbert and see if he wants to work with me while the Wednesday 9:00 gang is doing their 10 x 1:00 fartlek loop. I've also got my massage scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so those combined activities should get me back on the good path.
Well, it was bound to happen. A workout that wasn't spectacular. I woke up this morning with bothersome stiffness and mild pain in my right calf and shin muscles (yes, it is muscular pain, not anything else), as well as some persistent right knee/IT tightness, etc. Nevertheless, I went down to join the Gazelles for the 1000m Meriden hilly repeats. That's my favorite Gazelles workout, mainly because I think it's such a good combination strength and speedwork.
However, I was struggling to get loose as we did our short warmup jog to the start of the repeats, finishing at the back of the pack. During the drills, I was very clumsy and couldn't get loose at all. Once we did the finishing strides, I knew that I shouldn't be trying the repeats. I reported my findings to Gilbert, and he agreed that I should sit this one out. He has told us in the past that the most important workouts each week are the long run and the marathon pace run (progressive run this week), and I had done both of those in good fashion.
He had me do some easy backwards running up the long first hill of the course, to try to loosen up my calf. I did 3 of those. Then, after watching me run on level ground, he decided that I am not engaging my quads enough in my running motion, which is causing my hamstrings and calves to work harder than they need to, plus I'm restricting my range of motion with my contact and pushoff. He wants to see me to work on form, perhaps tomorrow morning, even.
I did the finishing 5 uphill striders with the main gang after they had done their repeats, and did the 2 backwards hill climbs as well. By the time I had finished those, my legs felt better, and I had regained my smoothness in my stride. However, I still think I did the right thing in avoiding the workout today. I'm disappointed because I enjoy this workout, but I'll get other chances to do these again.
The cooldown jog back to RunTex felt pretty good. I iced down the calf when I got home, and have done some light stretching throughout the day. I'm still a little clunky, but hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.
For the day, a miniscule 2.4 total miles, but I'm trying to be okay with that. Tomorrow is a 45-60 minute easy recovery effort. I'll go to the trail to do that tomorrow, hopefully, and then meet Gilbert and see if he wants to work with me while the Wednesday 9:00 gang is doing their 10 x 1:00 fartlek loop. I've also got my massage scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, so those combined activities should get me back on the good path.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Progressive Pace Run
This would be an adventure. Instead of the usual easy warmup, comfortable but accelerated middle section at something like marathon race pace, and easy cooldown for about 8-10 miles total, Gilbert prescribed a Progressive run, 10 miles, with (for me) 45 minutes easy running, and then accelerate each mile from there to the finish, trying to end up with something like 5K pace at the end.
I woke up today pretty beaten up with the second day onset soreness from Saturday's great run finally settling into my legs. My calves were very tight, and there was some minor IT type stiffness in my right knee area. Plus, it was pouring this morning as I took the kids to school (their bus was very late). I decided to wait out the weather a bit, since the TV radar showed a patch of clouds without heavy rain moving in. I had a Clif Bar and banana, and chugged some Accelerade, and packed a bunch of extra clothes, just in case. I decided to go with shorts and a long sleeved shirt and cap for this one, since it was 60 degrees or so as I drove down to Town Lake. I did a tiny bit of gentle stretching just to wake up the legs, and then I set out on my first Congress Bridge loop, clockwise, for the 45 minute warmup section.
I had problems keeping my HR down under the super easy warmup level, so I turned off the beeper after the first water stop at 2.3 miles or so. I think that's a sign that I'm still a bit tired from the Saturday run. My legs started to loosen up a bit as the warmup portion continued. Without the beeper on, I still tried to run nice and easy, but the pace picked up nonetheless. I finished the first loop at almost exactly 45 minutes, about 4.7 miles and 9:39 overall pace. A pretty good job with pacing, but I still felt a little out of sorts.
I took a GU at the water stop there at Mopac, and took off on the second faster loop. I felt better, actually, to get moving faster. I felt good with breathing and such, but my legs were still a little clunky to me. When I reached the water stop at about 2.3 miles, I had knocked off those miles in 8:20, 8:05, and a short bit at 7:36. I was, indeed, being progressive with my pacing. Encouraged, I soldiered on. I crossed the Congress bridge, and turned for home. I was feeling good at this point, legs and all, so I started rolling with it as I neared the finish. Next miles were 7:50 (with some bridge climbing and stairs to negotiate), and 7:11. The last .7 miles or so were at 7:10 pace, too. I caught my breath, and once I got home, I found that I had knocked out the 5.1 miles of the second loop (I doubled some of the loop due to my start point, and added a bit at the end to get the mileage up closer to 10 miles) at an average pace of 7:45/mile.
Overall run was 9.8 miles at 8:39 overall pace, which makes me happy. On a day that I felt not totally on my running game, I persevered and completed the workout, and was successful with the goals I had set for it. Tomorrow's 1,000m hilly repeats will be the last tough workout this week, as we do another mini-taper for the Motive Half Marathon on Sunday. I hope I'm not wiped out tomorrow after this run! I did 4 repeats last time at Meriden, averaging about 5:05/repeat (just longer than 1000m). I'll try for 5, maybe 6, tomorrow, shooting for a similar pacing.
This would be an adventure. Instead of the usual easy warmup, comfortable but accelerated middle section at something like marathon race pace, and easy cooldown for about 8-10 miles total, Gilbert prescribed a Progressive run, 10 miles, with (for me) 45 minutes easy running, and then accelerate each mile from there to the finish, trying to end up with something like 5K pace at the end.
I woke up today pretty beaten up with the second day onset soreness from Saturday's great run finally settling into my legs. My calves were very tight, and there was some minor IT type stiffness in my right knee area. Plus, it was pouring this morning as I took the kids to school (their bus was very late). I decided to wait out the weather a bit, since the TV radar showed a patch of clouds without heavy rain moving in. I had a Clif Bar and banana, and chugged some Accelerade, and packed a bunch of extra clothes, just in case. I decided to go with shorts and a long sleeved shirt and cap for this one, since it was 60 degrees or so as I drove down to Town Lake. I did a tiny bit of gentle stretching just to wake up the legs, and then I set out on my first Congress Bridge loop, clockwise, for the 45 minute warmup section.
I had problems keeping my HR down under the super easy warmup level, so I turned off the beeper after the first water stop at 2.3 miles or so. I think that's a sign that I'm still a bit tired from the Saturday run. My legs started to loosen up a bit as the warmup portion continued. Without the beeper on, I still tried to run nice and easy, but the pace picked up nonetheless. I finished the first loop at almost exactly 45 minutes, about 4.7 miles and 9:39 overall pace. A pretty good job with pacing, but I still felt a little out of sorts.
I took a GU at the water stop there at Mopac, and took off on the second faster loop. I felt better, actually, to get moving faster. I felt good with breathing and such, but my legs were still a little clunky to me. When I reached the water stop at about 2.3 miles, I had knocked off those miles in 8:20, 8:05, and a short bit at 7:36. I was, indeed, being progressive with my pacing. Encouraged, I soldiered on. I crossed the Congress bridge, and turned for home. I was feeling good at this point, legs and all, so I started rolling with it as I neared the finish. Next miles were 7:50 (with some bridge climbing and stairs to negotiate), and 7:11. The last .7 miles or so were at 7:10 pace, too. I caught my breath, and once I got home, I found that I had knocked out the 5.1 miles of the second loop (I doubled some of the loop due to my start point, and added a bit at the end to get the mileage up closer to 10 miles) at an average pace of 7:45/mile.
Overall run was 9.8 miles at 8:39 overall pace, which makes me happy. On a day that I felt not totally on my running game, I persevered and completed the workout, and was successful with the goals I had set for it. Tomorrow's 1,000m hilly repeats will be the last tough workout this week, as we do another mini-taper for the Motive Half Marathon on Sunday. I hope I'm not wiped out tomorrow after this run! I did 4 repeats last time at Meriden, averaging about 5:05/repeat (just longer than 1000m). I'll try for 5, maybe 6, tomorrow, shooting for a similar pacing.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
Weekly Totals
Weekly totals: 5 runs, 42.4 miles. One great long run, mile repeats, marathon pace run, and two recovery runs. It was a good week. Next week will be shorter on mileage as we do a semi-taper for the Motive Half Marathon next Sunday. I'm really looking forward to that race! I have the progressive 10 mile run on Monday, then 5-6 x 1,000m hilly repeats on Tuesday, a recovery run of 45-60 minutes on Wednesday, and the usual fartlek workout on Thursday (10 x 1:00 accelerations, 1:00 rest between).
Off Day
This morning, there were plenty of people to lead the Galloway group, so I could come back and take a day off of running after yesterday's long journey. I'm a little stiff and sore this morning, but later, I'll do some easy cycling indoors and then stretch to work out some of those kinks.
The rain has come this morning, too, a steady light rain that is supposed to be around for most of the next four days. Running on the hilly Meriden 1,000m loop on Tuesday will be spooky if it's raining.
Weekly totals: 5 runs, 42.4 miles. One great long run, mile repeats, marathon pace run, and two recovery runs. It was a good week. Next week will be shorter on mileage as we do a semi-taper for the Motive Half Marathon next Sunday. I'm really looking forward to that race! I have the progressive 10 mile run on Monday, then 5-6 x 1,000m hilly repeats on Tuesday, a recovery run of 45-60 minutes on Wednesday, and the usual fartlek workout on Thursday (10 x 1:00 accelerations, 1:00 rest between).
Off Day
This morning, there were plenty of people to lead the Galloway group, so I could come back and take a day off of running after yesterday's long journey. I'm a little stiff and sore this morning, but later, I'll do some easy cycling indoors and then stretch to work out some of those kinks.
The rain has come this morning, too, a steady light rain that is supposed to be around for most of the next four days. Running on the hilly Meriden 1,000m loop on Tuesday will be spooky if it's raining.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
18 Mile Long Run: Mt. Bonnell - RR2222 - and Back!
This was merely the best long training run I've ever had. Period. The details?
We gathered at RunTex at 6:00 am, under overcast skies, at 52 perfect degrees. Shorts and long sleeve poly shirt were all I needed, along with a cap. Gilbert told us to go out easy, 1:00 to 1:30 per mile slower than race pace, and to push the last 5 miles from 35th and Exposition all the way back to the zero mile marker. He told us if we insisted, we could add any necessary distance after than 5 mile high speed push at an easy cooldown pace to get to 18 miles. The course was the long-mentioned RunTex to Mount Bonnell, over Mount Bonnell, down and up to RR 2222, then turnaround and climb back up over Mount Bonnell, then down and along the rolling but challenging Exposition, and finally to the trail and back to RunTex. I felt good just waiting to run, so I was cautiously optimistic.
Our long run crew grew with the addition of two guys from the afternoon group, Craig and John(?). Tracy, Patrick and I did our first mile in a sedate 10:00, as Diana, Craig and John got carried away with the other Gazelles early. We tooled along for a second mile at about the same pace, then stopped briefly at the Mopac bridge to let Tracy get a rock out of her shoe. Diana and the new guys were there, so we rejoined forces at that point. We reached the first water stop (3.77 miles in), averaging 10:05 pace. Perfect so far! Greta joined us at the water stop, having overslept, but since she only needed 10-12 miles, she was about right. She paired up with Tracy, and the rest of us moved slightly ahead.
After a short run to the bathrooms at the boat docks and a short stop there for hydration adjustments, we were off again on the Scenic loop, a hilly favorite among the running community here. We rolled that loop at a slightly elevated 9:50/mile pace, about 2.5 miles. Turning onto 35th Street, we began the assault on Bonnell, Part One. Tracy and Greta stopped at Mayfield Park, but they had told us to go on, that they were assaulting the mountain at a slower pace today.
Craig, Patrick, Diana and I started up Bonnell, which has a hard right turn in the middle of the climb, disguising the evil slope from view until you're a third of the way up. It's one of those three part hills, a steep first section, then a slightly less steep longer section, then a false flat that is still inclined, and a final steeper bit to the top. We powered up the hill in pretty good fashion, and reached the Powerade stop at the peak of Bonnell. Our climb had been at 10:00/mile pace, which was much better than I had expected. I worked fairly hard to climb that part of the route, but it wasn't all out by any means. I took my first GU here. We were at 7.1 miles, average pace so far 9:56.
Craig bid us adieu, and headed back. John kept running ahead, then stopping to stretch, and starting again. Diana, Patrick and I began the new (to me) section of the route to RR 2222 and back. It started with a series of downhills, some of them very steep, some milder, then some climbs, some very steep, back up to RR 2222. Then, all you had to do is turn around and climb back up to the top of Bonnell again. It was steeper coming up this side of Bonnell, I think. We saw Gilbert and the faster Gazelles coming up Bonnell as we went down that side of the mountain, which was cool. Anyway, we rolled through the downhill initial mile at 9:20, all due to gravity's help. Then, a 9:48 mile to the turnaround and partway back, and a final 1.2 miles climbing up the tough stuff at 9:35 overall pace. I felt really good through this section, even being cautious on the steepest sections, and reached the Powerade stop again feeling great. I took another GU here, just for fun. It was amazing to have done what we did, but we had miles to go before we were done. We were at 10.4 miles, average pace down to 9:51/mile. The worst of the course was presumably behind us, and we were ready to roll.
Coming down the steep Bonnell Road, we knocked out another gravity enhanced 8:57 mile. We eased the pace back down going up 35th street and its hills, to 9:30 pace or so, and then turned onto Exposition and the commencement of the acceleration section of the day. After starting to push the pace, gently at first, we clicked off a mile at 9:08, which included about half and half speedier pace and long run pace. Then we rolled through an 8:20 mile and a shorter 8:50 section to the last PowerAde stop. I took my last GU, and we hit the road again for the home stretch of the fast section. We were at 13.6 miles, average pace down to 9:37/mile. Those fast miles really change the overall pace!
The next mile was more or less gently downhill, to the Mopac bridge, following a chunk of the Freescale marathon course. That one passed at a startling 7:47/mile. Diana and Patrick started pulling away ever so slightly as we raced across the footbridge under Mopac, and I decided to let them do so. We were cruising at speeds that I had no idea that I could do at this point in a long run, and I was happy with my pace. They could go faster if they wanted.
Now, on the trail, I knew exactly how far to the zero marker, so I pushed. I didn't feel like I was running that hard, although I certainly was. It was almost magical how I felt. Next mile was 7:36, then 7:11, and finally a short bit of a third of a mile at 7:52 pace as I eased up a bit near the finish. I stopped ever so briefly to chat with Diana and Patrick, who had gotten there maybe 30-40 seconds ahead of me, and we started our 1.1 mile cooldown jog around Auditorium Shores and back to RunTex. The cooldown was at 11:00 pace, and it felt good to let the legs gently warm down.
Final overall pace for 17.9 miles was 9:18/mile. I felt absolutely great at the end of the run. I was surprised at how great I felt on the 5 mile speed run, as well as on the big climbs around Bonnell. Just a magical day at the running office. I felt much better today than I did after the 16 miler a few weeks ago, which was on a much easier course.
The long stretching session with the Gazelles mob went great, with no real sore spots to be found. I'll make sure and do some more stretching as the day goes on, and I might even go for a 20 minute walk just to help the healing process.
I just can't believe how great this run was for me. Like we discussed afterwards, all the training is starting to really show itself in our performance. I can't wait for the Motive Half Marathon next weekend to see where I am. I think I should be able to run that race at a pace faster than the Pervasive 10 Miler a few weeks ago, especially if the weather holds.
This was merely the best long training run I've ever had. Period. The details?
We gathered at RunTex at 6:00 am, under overcast skies, at 52 perfect degrees. Shorts and long sleeve poly shirt were all I needed, along with a cap. Gilbert told us to go out easy, 1:00 to 1:30 per mile slower than race pace, and to push the last 5 miles from 35th and Exposition all the way back to the zero mile marker. He told us if we insisted, we could add any necessary distance after than 5 mile high speed push at an easy cooldown pace to get to 18 miles. The course was the long-mentioned RunTex to Mount Bonnell, over Mount Bonnell, down and up to RR 2222, then turnaround and climb back up over Mount Bonnell, then down and along the rolling but challenging Exposition, and finally to the trail and back to RunTex. I felt good just waiting to run, so I was cautiously optimistic.
Our long run crew grew with the addition of two guys from the afternoon group, Craig and John(?). Tracy, Patrick and I did our first mile in a sedate 10:00, as Diana, Craig and John got carried away with the other Gazelles early. We tooled along for a second mile at about the same pace, then stopped briefly at the Mopac bridge to let Tracy get a rock out of her shoe. Diana and the new guys were there, so we rejoined forces at that point. We reached the first water stop (3.77 miles in), averaging 10:05 pace. Perfect so far! Greta joined us at the water stop, having overslept, but since she only needed 10-12 miles, she was about right. She paired up with Tracy, and the rest of us moved slightly ahead.
After a short run to the bathrooms at the boat docks and a short stop there for hydration adjustments, we were off again on the Scenic loop, a hilly favorite among the running community here. We rolled that loop at a slightly elevated 9:50/mile pace, about 2.5 miles. Turning onto 35th Street, we began the assault on Bonnell, Part One. Tracy and Greta stopped at Mayfield Park, but they had told us to go on, that they were assaulting the mountain at a slower pace today.
Craig, Patrick, Diana and I started up Bonnell, which has a hard right turn in the middle of the climb, disguising the evil slope from view until you're a third of the way up. It's one of those three part hills, a steep first section, then a slightly less steep longer section, then a false flat that is still inclined, and a final steeper bit to the top. We powered up the hill in pretty good fashion, and reached the Powerade stop at the peak of Bonnell. Our climb had been at 10:00/mile pace, which was much better than I had expected. I worked fairly hard to climb that part of the route, but it wasn't all out by any means. I took my first GU here. We were at 7.1 miles, average pace so far 9:56.
Craig bid us adieu, and headed back. John kept running ahead, then stopping to stretch, and starting again. Diana, Patrick and I began the new (to me) section of the route to RR 2222 and back. It started with a series of downhills, some of them very steep, some milder, then some climbs, some very steep, back up to RR 2222. Then, all you had to do is turn around and climb back up to the top of Bonnell again. It was steeper coming up this side of Bonnell, I think. We saw Gilbert and the faster Gazelles coming up Bonnell as we went down that side of the mountain, which was cool. Anyway, we rolled through the downhill initial mile at 9:20, all due to gravity's help. Then, a 9:48 mile to the turnaround and partway back, and a final 1.2 miles climbing up the tough stuff at 9:35 overall pace. I felt really good through this section, even being cautious on the steepest sections, and reached the Powerade stop again feeling great. I took another GU here, just for fun. It was amazing to have done what we did, but we had miles to go before we were done. We were at 10.4 miles, average pace down to 9:51/mile. The worst of the course was presumably behind us, and we were ready to roll.
Coming down the steep Bonnell Road, we knocked out another gravity enhanced 8:57 mile. We eased the pace back down going up 35th street and its hills, to 9:30 pace or so, and then turned onto Exposition and the commencement of the acceleration section of the day. After starting to push the pace, gently at first, we clicked off a mile at 9:08, which included about half and half speedier pace and long run pace. Then we rolled through an 8:20 mile and a shorter 8:50 section to the last PowerAde stop. I took my last GU, and we hit the road again for the home stretch of the fast section. We were at 13.6 miles, average pace down to 9:37/mile. Those fast miles really change the overall pace!
The next mile was more or less gently downhill, to the Mopac bridge, following a chunk of the Freescale marathon course. That one passed at a startling 7:47/mile. Diana and Patrick started pulling away ever so slightly as we raced across the footbridge under Mopac, and I decided to let them do so. We were cruising at speeds that I had no idea that I could do at this point in a long run, and I was happy with my pace. They could go faster if they wanted.
Now, on the trail, I knew exactly how far to the zero marker, so I pushed. I didn't feel like I was running that hard, although I certainly was. It was almost magical how I felt. Next mile was 7:36, then 7:11, and finally a short bit of a third of a mile at 7:52 pace as I eased up a bit near the finish. I stopped ever so briefly to chat with Diana and Patrick, who had gotten there maybe 30-40 seconds ahead of me, and we started our 1.1 mile cooldown jog around Auditorium Shores and back to RunTex. The cooldown was at 11:00 pace, and it felt good to let the legs gently warm down.
Final overall pace for 17.9 miles was 9:18/mile. I felt absolutely great at the end of the run. I was surprised at how great I felt on the 5 mile speed run, as well as on the big climbs around Bonnell. Just a magical day at the running office. I felt much better today than I did after the 16 miler a few weeks ago, which was on a much easier course.
The long stretching session with the Gazelles mob went great, with no real sore spots to be found. I'll make sure and do some more stretching as the day goes on, and I might even go for a 20 minute walk just to help the healing process.
I just can't believe how great this run was for me. Like we discussed afterwards, all the training is starting to really show itself in our performance. I can't wait for the Motive Half Marathon next weekend to see where I am. I think I should be able to run that race at a pace faster than the Pervasive 10 Miler a few weeks ago, especially if the weather holds.
Friday, November 12, 2004
Rest Day
Today is a full planned rest day, getting ready for tomorrow's 18 miler up and over Mt. Bonnell...andn then back up and over it again from the other side. I've talked to all of my pace group for this run, and we're all excited and nervous about it. I think we'll do a good job of staying on the proper pace for the first 10 miles of it, that's for sure. We're supposed to push the pace for the last 5 miles of the run, just enough to work on the mental aspects of running hard while you're tired.
The weather has really turned today. It's 45 degrees out now, and it's only supposed to get up to about 55 degrees. Heavily overcast, too. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be similar weather, maybe with some light rain. Should be interesting. The temperatures are just fine. Since we've not really run in temps this cool on a long run, it'll take some time to figure out the proper clothing. I think long pants are out, but maybe a jacket would be smart, or a vest. We'll see.
As usual, today is a dress rehearsal for my pre-marathon feeding strategy, as I eat exactly what I plan on eating before the Freescale marathon. I'm going to experiment with drinking Accelerade during tomorrow's run, and I'll be using GU. It's probably time to get out the GU flask, as a matter of fact.
My legs feel rejuvenated after yesterday's easy day and today's rest, but I'll still do some easy stretching later on to get everything ready to go. Tomorrow will be a real adventure!
Today is a full planned rest day, getting ready for tomorrow's 18 miler up and over Mt. Bonnell...andn then back up and over it again from the other side. I've talked to all of my pace group for this run, and we're all excited and nervous about it. I think we'll do a good job of staying on the proper pace for the first 10 miles of it, that's for sure. We're supposed to push the pace for the last 5 miles of the run, just enough to work on the mental aspects of running hard while you're tired.
The weather has really turned today. It's 45 degrees out now, and it's only supposed to get up to about 55 degrees. Heavily overcast, too. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be similar weather, maybe with some light rain. Should be interesting. The temperatures are just fine. Since we've not really run in temps this cool on a long run, it'll take some time to figure out the proper clothing. I think long pants are out, but maybe a jacket would be smart, or a vest. We'll see.
As usual, today is a dress rehearsal for my pre-marathon feeding strategy, as I eat exactly what I plan on eating before the Freescale marathon. I'm going to experiment with drinking Accelerade during tomorrow's run, and I'll be using GU. It's probably time to get out the GU flask, as a matter of fact.
My legs feel rejuvenated after yesterday's easy day and today's rest, but I'll still do some easy stretching later on to get everything ready to go. Tomorrow will be a real adventure!
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Easy day
I met the Gazelles this morning, on a beautiful 60 degree clear day, and did the warmup run over to Zilker park. Then, after the drills, I hung out. Since I did the mile repeats on Monday, today was sort of a rest day. Gilbert talked to me about some form issues that he's noticed in my running, and we worked on those while the other folks were knocking out their mile repeats. My legs were a bit sore from last night's pace run, so this was probably a good thing. I ran back with Alex and Liliana, two fast Gazelles. After their mile repeats, they were slow enough on the cooldown run for me to comfortably run with them. Some good stretching later on, and I feel fine. Total day 4 miles, 9:45 average pace.
Now, it's basically two days to rest and get ready for Saturday's epic 18 miler. I'm doing my usual pre-marathon feeding rituals the next couple of days, to totally simulate all that for the long run. Another dress rehearsal for Marathon Day.
I met the Gazelles this morning, on a beautiful 60 degree clear day, and did the warmup run over to Zilker park. Then, after the drills, I hung out. Since I did the mile repeats on Monday, today was sort of a rest day. Gilbert talked to me about some form issues that he's noticed in my running, and we worked on those while the other folks were knocking out their mile repeats. My legs were a bit sore from last night's pace run, so this was probably a good thing. I ran back with Alex and Liliana, two fast Gazelles. After their mile repeats, they were slow enough on the cooldown run for me to comfortably run with them. Some good stretching later on, and I feel fine. Total day 4 miles, 9:45 average pace.
Now, it's basically two days to rest and get ready for Saturday's epic 18 miler. I'm doing my usual pre-marathon feeding rituals the next couple of days, to totally simulate all that for the long run. Another dress rehearsal for Marathon Day.
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
Marathon Pace Run
I felt tired this morning, so I put off the pace run until tonight. Started about 6:30 pm, right at dusk. Weather not too bad, maybe 73 degrees, and darker as the run went on, so no sun problems. It cooled off a bit as the run progressed.
The goal for the workout was to get 45 minutes of "As you Feel" comfortable running in the middle of the workout, quicker than long run/slow recovery pace, but not tempo run pace. I interpreted that to mean about 60-70% of max HR, so I set the HR monitor accordingly, to beep at me if I got too frisky during the run. Due to time constraints, I cut the warmup slightly short to 15 minutes instead of 20, and the cooldown was slightly abbreviated, too (18:30 instead of 20:00). 45:00 of pace running was kept intact. The workout was in the 'Hood, on rolling terrain.
Warmup was in easy aerobic zone, about 1.6 miles at 9:05 pace. I felt really good, and began the pace section by accelerating just a bit to get into the HR range, and after that, I didn't look at the watches again until it was time to start the cooldown. I eased back on the few occasions when I popped over the top HR number (on steeper bits), and recovered quickly back into the right range. The 45:00 pace section turned out to be 5.2 miles at 8:38 pace, and it felt very comfortable. HR numbers right on target. The cooldown was longer, 1.9 miles at 9:55 pace. It was a very good workout, right where I was supposed to be, not too hard but not easy, either. Overall, it was 8.7 miles at 9:00 pace, so the whole run was under my former projected marathon goal pace of 9:09/mile. Gilbert won't let me get hung up on a marathon goal pace right now, but as I've said to many people, as long as the clock says 3:xx:xx at Freescale, I'll be ecstatic! That would require 9:09/mile pace. Anything faster would be a bonus.
Some good stretching afterwards, too. Now, do I get up tomorrow early and meet the Gazelles, or do I wait until the afternoon session instead? Hmmmmm... tomorrow is a school holiday, so it might be best to go ahead and muddle through Gazelles World early, so that I have the rest of the day with the kids, and to give my body maximum time to recover before the long trek on Saturday.
I felt tired this morning, so I put off the pace run until tonight. Started about 6:30 pm, right at dusk. Weather not too bad, maybe 73 degrees, and darker as the run went on, so no sun problems. It cooled off a bit as the run progressed.
The goal for the workout was to get 45 minutes of "As you Feel" comfortable running in the middle of the workout, quicker than long run/slow recovery pace, but not tempo run pace. I interpreted that to mean about 60-70% of max HR, so I set the HR monitor accordingly, to beep at me if I got too frisky during the run. Due to time constraints, I cut the warmup slightly short to 15 minutes instead of 20, and the cooldown was slightly abbreviated, too (18:30 instead of 20:00). 45:00 of pace running was kept intact. The workout was in the 'Hood, on rolling terrain.
Warmup was in easy aerobic zone, about 1.6 miles at 9:05 pace. I felt really good, and began the pace section by accelerating just a bit to get into the HR range, and after that, I didn't look at the watches again until it was time to start the cooldown. I eased back on the few occasions when I popped over the top HR number (on steeper bits), and recovered quickly back into the right range. The 45:00 pace section turned out to be 5.2 miles at 8:38 pace, and it felt very comfortable. HR numbers right on target. The cooldown was longer, 1.9 miles at 9:55 pace. It was a very good workout, right where I was supposed to be, not too hard but not easy, either. Overall, it was 8.7 miles at 9:00 pace, so the whole run was under my former projected marathon goal pace of 9:09/mile. Gilbert won't let me get hung up on a marathon goal pace right now, but as I've said to many people, as long as the clock says 3:xx:xx at Freescale, I'll be ecstatic! That would require 9:09/mile pace. Anything faster would be a bonus.
Some good stretching afterwards, too. Now, do I get up tomorrow early and meet the Gazelles, or do I wait until the afternoon session instead? Hmmmmm... tomorrow is a school holiday, so it might be best to go ahead and muddle through Gazelles World early, so that I have the rest of the day with the kids, and to give my body maximum time to recover before the long trek on Saturday.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
Recovery Run
This morning, it was a true recovery run. It was a nice morning, once again, temps in the low 70's, bright sunshine. I set the HR monitor to beep at me if I got going a little too frisky, and set out for a relaxing run. I did most of the run in the nature preserve behind our neighborhood, and really enjoyed the nice running surface and the total absence of cars (or anything else for that matter). I explored a new trail that some neighbors have told me about, and it looks promising, although I'll need to wear real trail shoes for it, since it's very rocky. I had the Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner" stuck in my head the whole time I was running, which wasn't totally bad.
Final numbers, 4.1 miles, right at 10:00/mile pace, HR average safely in the totally aerobic zone. I did some strides afterwards, per Gilbert's suggestion, and everything felt just fine. The legs were slightly stiff this morning before the run, but they feel great now after the run and after stretching.
Tomorrow is the marathon pace run, 20 easy, 45 minutes at marathon race pace, 20 easy. I've been looking forward to this one!
This morning, it was a true recovery run. It was a nice morning, once again, temps in the low 70's, bright sunshine. I set the HR monitor to beep at me if I got going a little too frisky, and set out for a relaxing run. I did most of the run in the nature preserve behind our neighborhood, and really enjoyed the nice running surface and the total absence of cars (or anything else for that matter). I explored a new trail that some neighbors have told me about, and it looks promising, although I'll need to wear real trail shoes for it, since it's very rocky. I had the Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner" stuck in my head the whole time I was running, which wasn't totally bad.
Final numbers, 4.1 miles, right at 10:00/mile pace, HR average safely in the totally aerobic zone. I did some strides afterwards, per Gilbert's suggestion, and everything felt just fine. The legs were slightly stiff this morning before the run, but they feel great now after the run and after stretching.
Tomorrow is the marathon pace run, 20 easy, 45 minutes at marathon race pace, 20 easy. I've been looking forward to this one!
Monday, November 08, 2004
Mile Repeats
This morning, I joined the later morning Gazelles group for what I thought would be circuit training. My schedule doesn't allow me to join my regular group tomorrow at 6:00am. Anyway, Gilbert called an audible on us this morning, and we set out to Zilker park for mile repeats. Tracy and Patrick were there from my long run group, along with some other folks I've met along the way.
We saw this group of about 7 really fit looking guys limbering up at RunTex while we waited to leave, and noticed a big black Secret Service Suburban parked in the lot. There was also a bicycle cop rolling around. It was all clear to us when Governor Perry showed up, and joined his running group for a morning run. I never thought that a governor needed that level of protection, but sadly, I guess it's come to that. The guys ran off, trailed by the Suburban and the bicycle cop. I must surmise that some of the runners were security guys. Paul Carroza joined Gov. Perry for the run.
After drills, we got our marching orders. Those of us doing Freescale marathon were to do 4 x 1 mile repeats on the hilly repeat course, alternating directions on the loop with each repeat. He wanted 80% effort, not all out, but working diligently. Consistency was the watchword. Our first repeat was 7:20, faster than I had expected, and the second was 7:17, so that was surprising. Jessica was a new person with the group, coming off of a 19:00 5K on Sunday, and she drug Patrick along on the second interval to a 7:07 clocking. We all backed off just a tad on the third interval, at 7:26. Gilbert told us before the last one that he wanted us to push on this one, so off we went. I felt sluggish at first, but settled down. Patrick told me to go on, that his pacing had left him flat for the fourth repeat. I set my sights on Greta and Jessica ahead of me. As we went up the long quarter mile hill leading to the halfway point, I passed Greta, but I was way behind Jessica. Either I was going really slow, or she was stomping ahead of me. Regardless, I gathered myself at the top of the loop, and tried to recover a bit on the slight downhill there. Turning for home with less than a half mile to go, I tried to stay calm and focused on the task at hand. I thought I was tooling along at about 7:20-7:30 pace, assuming I was fading at the end. I tried to keep Jessica in sight, but she reached the finish way before I got there. She was heading back on the course for a cooldown jog, and told me to push for the finish, so I shifted into Butt Kick mode, and tried to relax into proper form for the finish. I was stunned to see a 7:07 time for that last interval, but very very pleased.
Average pace for 4 mile repeats 7:18, about 12 seconds / mile faster than my average for 3 repeats about 6 weeks ago. Another very encouraging sign. Gilbert was happy with my running, too, and that made me feel great.
After returning to RunTex, Tracy, Camille and I stretched and enjoyed the sunny morning. It was another good day at the running office. Total day, 7.6 miles, 8:48 average pace.
This morning, I joined the later morning Gazelles group for what I thought would be circuit training. My schedule doesn't allow me to join my regular group tomorrow at 6:00am. Anyway, Gilbert called an audible on us this morning, and we set out to Zilker park for mile repeats. Tracy and Patrick were there from my long run group, along with some other folks I've met along the way.
We saw this group of about 7 really fit looking guys limbering up at RunTex while we waited to leave, and noticed a big black Secret Service Suburban parked in the lot. There was also a bicycle cop rolling around. It was all clear to us when Governor Perry showed up, and joined his running group for a morning run. I never thought that a governor needed that level of protection, but sadly, I guess it's come to that. The guys ran off, trailed by the Suburban and the bicycle cop. I must surmise that some of the runners were security guys. Paul Carroza joined Gov. Perry for the run.
After drills, we got our marching orders. Those of us doing Freescale marathon were to do 4 x 1 mile repeats on the hilly repeat course, alternating directions on the loop with each repeat. He wanted 80% effort, not all out, but working diligently. Consistency was the watchword. Our first repeat was 7:20, faster than I had expected, and the second was 7:17, so that was surprising. Jessica was a new person with the group, coming off of a 19:00 5K on Sunday, and she drug Patrick along on the second interval to a 7:07 clocking. We all backed off just a tad on the third interval, at 7:26. Gilbert told us before the last one that he wanted us to push on this one, so off we went. I felt sluggish at first, but settled down. Patrick told me to go on, that his pacing had left him flat for the fourth repeat. I set my sights on Greta and Jessica ahead of me. As we went up the long quarter mile hill leading to the halfway point, I passed Greta, but I was way behind Jessica. Either I was going really slow, or she was stomping ahead of me. Regardless, I gathered myself at the top of the loop, and tried to recover a bit on the slight downhill there. Turning for home with less than a half mile to go, I tried to stay calm and focused on the task at hand. I thought I was tooling along at about 7:20-7:30 pace, assuming I was fading at the end. I tried to keep Jessica in sight, but she reached the finish way before I got there. She was heading back on the course for a cooldown jog, and told me to push for the finish, so I shifted into Butt Kick mode, and tried to relax into proper form for the finish. I was stunned to see a 7:07 time for that last interval, but very very pleased.
Average pace for 4 mile repeats 7:18, about 12 seconds / mile faster than my average for 3 repeats about 6 weeks ago. Another very encouraging sign. Gilbert was happy with my running, too, and that made me feel great.
After returning to RunTex, Tracy, Camille and I stretched and enjoyed the sunny morning. It was another good day at the running office. Total day, 7.6 miles, 8:48 average pace.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
New York City Marathon
Apparently, it got a little warm today at the NYC marathon, warming to high 60's and bright sun for most of the race, starting at around 1:00 pm EST. That hurt most of the finish times that I checked out among Austin folks. Frank, my running friend and fellow Gazelle, had what he described as a bad day, but still ran 4:03. That would be a pretty good time for me, but Frank had been shooting for a much more aggressive time goal, so he was disappointed. He'll snap back quickly, and is already working through the process of analyzing his race preparation. The Galloway people from here all ran in the mid-5 hour range, which in some cases is surprising, but the weather may have had a lot to say about that.
I had perfect weather the year I ran NYC, but my training wasn't as solid as it needed to be. There's just so much that goes into a good marathon performance...it's almost a miracle when everything comes together just so.
Apparently, it got a little warm today at the NYC marathon, warming to high 60's and bright sun for most of the race, starting at around 1:00 pm EST. That hurt most of the finish times that I checked out among Austin folks. Frank, my running friend and fellow Gazelle, had what he described as a bad day, but still ran 4:03. That would be a pretty good time for me, but Frank had been shooting for a much more aggressive time goal, so he was disappointed. He'll snap back quickly, and is already working through the process of analyzing his race preparation. The Galloway people from here all ran in the mid-5 hour range, which in some cases is surprising, but the weather may have had a lot to say about that.
I had perfect weather the year I ran NYC, but my training wasn't as solid as it needed to be. There's just so much that goes into a good marathon performance...it's almost a miracle when everything comes together just so.
Weekly totals:
5 runs, 36 miles total. One indoor cycling workout. 2 good recovery runs, one long and one short, a solid 10 mile long run with the Gazelles, a great 4 mile tempo test at my best pace yet, and a fun long fartlek workout to put the snap back in my legs on Monday.
Next week is going to be a bear, but I think I'm ready for the task. The pace run this week is a marathon pace run, 20 minutes warmup and cooldown, with 45 minutes of marathon pace running in the middle. I've set my HR monitor up to keep me in the right range, I think, so that'll be an interesting run. Gazelles workouts include a circuit workout for strength and mile repeats. The long run this weekend is the 18 mile Mount Bonnell - fm 2222 and back route.
So far, Frank is having a good run at New York, so that's exciting to watch over the Internet...
5 runs, 36 miles total. One indoor cycling workout. 2 good recovery runs, one long and one short, a solid 10 mile long run with the Gazelles, a great 4 mile tempo test at my best pace yet, and a fun long fartlek workout to put the snap back in my legs on Monday.
Next week is going to be a bear, but I think I'm ready for the task. The pace run this week is a marathon pace run, 20 minutes warmup and cooldown, with 45 minutes of marathon pace running in the middle. I've set my HR monitor up to keep me in the right range, I think, so that'll be an interesting run. Gazelles workouts include a circuit workout for strength and mile repeats. The long run this weekend is the 18 mile Mount Bonnell - fm 2222 and back route.
So far, Frank is having a good run at New York, so that's exciting to watch over the Internet...
Recovery run w/ Galloway folks
This morning, another absolutely glorious day, I met my Galloway troops for their workouts. I was the only available group leader, so I had to get creative. I sent two of the finisher folks out on the trail to do the 7 mile loop portion of their 12 mile scheduled long run. One of those runners was stopping at about 5 miles to line up and run the Race for the Cure 5K downtown this morning, and the other was to continue and meet me on the trail. I led the two time goal folks over for hill repeats at Zilker Park. Nice and easy warmup run over to the hill, and then I took an easy run up the hill with them to show them again where the finish line of the hill was. We jogged back down the hill, and I turned them loose to do their repeats. I jogged back and forth about halfway up the hill to meet them on the way back of their next two repeats, and then left them to finish while I went back to the trail to meet Lindsey.
She showed up pretty much right on schedule, and I joined her for her last 6 miles or so. We ran about 11:00/mile pace, and my HR numbers were truly in easy aerobic range the whole time. It was a nice relaxing run as we chatted about her various questions about training and racing, etc. Runners were still crossing the First Street bridge heading to the finish of the 5K when we were rolling along the trail there.
All in all, it was a beautiful day to be out running, and I did 9.5 miles total, average pace somewhere around 10:40/mile.
I took the time to sit in the sunshine afterwards and did the full stretching routine while I had my post-run refreshments. What a day!
This morning, another absolutely glorious day, I met my Galloway troops for their workouts. I was the only available group leader, so I had to get creative. I sent two of the finisher folks out on the trail to do the 7 mile loop portion of their 12 mile scheduled long run. One of those runners was stopping at about 5 miles to line up and run the Race for the Cure 5K downtown this morning, and the other was to continue and meet me on the trail. I led the two time goal folks over for hill repeats at Zilker Park. Nice and easy warmup run over to the hill, and then I took an easy run up the hill with them to show them again where the finish line of the hill was. We jogged back down the hill, and I turned them loose to do their repeats. I jogged back and forth about halfway up the hill to meet them on the way back of their next two repeats, and then left them to finish while I went back to the trail to meet Lindsey.
She showed up pretty much right on schedule, and I joined her for her last 6 miles or so. We ran about 11:00/mile pace, and my HR numbers were truly in easy aerobic range the whole time. It was a nice relaxing run as we chatted about her various questions about training and racing, etc. Runners were still crossing the First Street bridge heading to the finish of the 5K when we were rolling along the trail there.
All in all, it was a beautiful day to be out running, and I did 9.5 miles total, average pace somewhere around 10:40/mile.
I took the time to sit in the sunshine afterwards and did the full stretching routine while I had my post-run refreshments. What a day!
Saturday, November 06, 2004
10 Mile Long Run
Gilbert had us do a relaxed 10 miler this morning, after last week's 16 miler. Tracy, Patrick and I met at 6:30 am on a glorious morning, and set off to do the Longhorn Dam loop from RunTex. The weather was, once again, absolutely perfect. High 40's at the start of the run, warming gently to mid 50's by the end of it. While we were stretching afterwards, it had warmed a little more, which felt just great. But, I get ahead of myself.
We had pledged that we would run a controlled pace today, even though it was a short long run. We ended up with miles in the 9:40-9:30 range for most of the run, which were right in my happy heartrate zone, and sped up for the last couple of miles to the 8:15-8:30 range. Overall run just over 10 miles, 9:33 overall pace. It felt really good, and we were totally conversational for all of the run until the last two miles.
Stretching was with the entire Gazelles gang, and everyone seemed very happy to be out there on such a pretty day.
Next weekend is the long-dreaded 18 mile run up to and over Mount Bonnell, then to FM 2222, and back up and over Bonnell on the way back. We sure will stay under pace control on that one!
I chatted with Gilbert afterwards about various items of concern, mainly regarding the long-range schedule for runs leading up to Freescale. He's a genuinely nice guy, and a great coach. We're lucky to have him.
Tomorrow I lead the Galloway time goal folks through their hill repeat workout.
Gilbert had us do a relaxed 10 miler this morning, after last week's 16 miler. Tracy, Patrick and I met at 6:30 am on a glorious morning, and set off to do the Longhorn Dam loop from RunTex. The weather was, once again, absolutely perfect. High 40's at the start of the run, warming gently to mid 50's by the end of it. While we were stretching afterwards, it had warmed a little more, which felt just great. But, I get ahead of myself.
We had pledged that we would run a controlled pace today, even though it was a short long run. We ended up with miles in the 9:40-9:30 range for most of the run, which were right in my happy heartrate zone, and sped up for the last couple of miles to the 8:15-8:30 range. Overall run just over 10 miles, 9:33 overall pace. It felt really good, and we were totally conversational for all of the run until the last two miles.
Stretching was with the entire Gazelles gang, and everyone seemed very happy to be out there on such a pretty day.
Next weekend is the long-dreaded 18 mile run up to and over Mount Bonnell, then to FM 2222, and back up and over Bonnell on the way back. We sure will stay under pace control on that one!
I chatted with Gilbert afterwards about various items of concern, mainly regarding the long-range schedule for runs leading up to Freescale. He's a genuinely nice guy, and a great coach. We're lucky to have him.
Tomorrow I lead the Galloway time goal folks through their hill repeat workout.
Friday, November 05, 2004
Rest Day
Another beautiful day here in Austin today. But, I'm staying on schedule and taking this day as a full off day. I've got runs Saturday through Tuesday, and an off day today is important for that stretch of workouts. I've read that rest days and easy run days are easily as important as the harder days in a weekly training schedule, and I agree with that. The body needs time to recover between hard efforts, and that makes those longer or more stressful runs easier to accomplish.
We've talked about it amongst our long run group, and we've promised ourselves that we will stay on pace tomorrow for the recovery 10 miler. We can pick it up over the last 2 miles or so, but not until then. After that is the stretching session with the rest of the Gazelles. Tomorrow, I also hope that RunTex has gotten in their next shipment of Mizunos, so I can pick up a new pair of shoes to start working into the shoe rotation. With the heavier mileage we're doing, shoes don't last as long, and I like to have two good pairs of shoes so that I can alternate pairs when I'm running several days in a row.
A lot of my running pals are doing New York on Sunday, so that will be both exciting and nerve-wracking tracking their progress online as they tour the five boroughs of NYC.
Another beautiful day here in Austin today. But, I'm staying on schedule and taking this day as a full off day. I've got runs Saturday through Tuesday, and an off day today is important for that stretch of workouts. I've read that rest days and easy run days are easily as important as the harder days in a weekly training schedule, and I agree with that. The body needs time to recover between hard efforts, and that makes those longer or more stressful runs easier to accomplish.
We've talked about it amongst our long run group, and we've promised ourselves that we will stay on pace tomorrow for the recovery 10 miler. We can pick it up over the last 2 miles or so, but not until then. After that is the stretching session with the rest of the Gazelles. Tomorrow, I also hope that RunTex has gotten in their next shipment of Mizunos, so I can pick up a new pair of shoes to start working into the shoe rotation. With the heavier mileage we're doing, shoes don't last as long, and I like to have two good pairs of shoes so that I can alternate pairs when I'm running several days in a row.
A lot of my running pals are doing New York on Sunday, so that will be both exciting and nerve-wracking tracking their progress online as they tour the five boroughs of NYC.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Tempo Run
This morning was absolutely perfect! 45 degrees, clear, low humidity. Just a spectacular morning for a run, and we were out there to enjoy it. Nice group of Gazelles gathered at 6:00 am, and after a little warmup and drills, we were ready for the tempo run. 4 miles, at 80-85% effort. Since I have my HR monitor back, I was able to run to a HR number, which would be interesting.
We took off, and after the initial quarter mile where I always feel like I am running way too hard, everything settled down. I rolled along with Amy, just behind Margaret and Joseph, as we watched the speedy people pull away ahead of us. The last time I did this tempo run, it was warmer, and I ran 7:56 pace (31:37). My plan this morning was to go out at 8:00 pace, and bring it home strong. Instead, I was surprised to see a first mile split of 7:47. HR was right in range, and I wasn't struggling, so I kept rolling along. By now, Margaret and I had grouped up , and we had pulled away from Joseph and Amy. We reached the turnaround with a mile 2 split of 7:43, and I still was feeling well in control. Heading back, my mile 3 split was 7:40, so I was on a very steady pace. For the last mile, I focused ahead on a fellow Gazelle, and tried to match her pace. For the last half mile, I tried to use nice flowing form, and concentrated on that. My last mile was a surprising 7:20, for a total time of 30:30, 7:38 overall pace.
I felt like I could do more at that pace, so this was a fabulous run for me, and yet another sign that the training is working for me. After some strides to warmdown, I put my jacket back on and we headed back to RunTex. Gilbert was very happy with my performance, and that made me feel even better about things. My legs felt great, no aches or pains, and I did a good stretching session afterwards.
I talked with Gilbert a bit about the long run on Saturday past, and he agreed that we had gotten a little carried away with our pace on it. I'll try to be a better pacer this Saturday, and only pick it up over the last couple of miles. Speedwork is speedwork, and long runs are long runs. Only on the marathon pace runs do the two things meet. These are things to remember.
This morning was absolutely perfect! 45 degrees, clear, low humidity. Just a spectacular morning for a run, and we were out there to enjoy it. Nice group of Gazelles gathered at 6:00 am, and after a little warmup and drills, we were ready for the tempo run. 4 miles, at 80-85% effort. Since I have my HR monitor back, I was able to run to a HR number, which would be interesting.
We took off, and after the initial quarter mile where I always feel like I am running way too hard, everything settled down. I rolled along with Amy, just behind Margaret and Joseph, as we watched the speedy people pull away ahead of us. The last time I did this tempo run, it was warmer, and I ran 7:56 pace (31:37). My plan this morning was to go out at 8:00 pace, and bring it home strong. Instead, I was surprised to see a first mile split of 7:47. HR was right in range, and I wasn't struggling, so I kept rolling along. By now, Margaret and I had grouped up , and we had pulled away from Joseph and Amy. We reached the turnaround with a mile 2 split of 7:43, and I still was feeling well in control. Heading back, my mile 3 split was 7:40, so I was on a very steady pace. For the last mile, I focused ahead on a fellow Gazelle, and tried to match her pace. For the last half mile, I tried to use nice flowing form, and concentrated on that. My last mile was a surprising 7:20, for a total time of 30:30, 7:38 overall pace.
I felt like I could do more at that pace, so this was a fabulous run for me, and yet another sign that the training is working for me. After some strides to warmdown, I put my jacket back on and we headed back to RunTex. Gilbert was very happy with my performance, and that made me feel even better about things. My legs felt great, no aches or pains, and I did a good stretching session afterwards.
I talked with Gilbert a bit about the long run on Saturday past, and he agreed that we had gotten a little carried away with our pace on it. I'll try to be a better pacer this Saturday, and only pick it up over the last couple of miles. Speedwork is speedwork, and long runs are long runs. Only on the marathon pace runs do the two things meet. These are things to remember.
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
Well, I skipped the Wilke hill repeats with the Gazelles on Tuesday, since my quad was feeling a little cranky. I figured that extreme hill climbing with a questionable quad muscle wasn't a good idea. So, I did a cross-training cycle instead, 45 minutes.
Today, Wednesday, I did an easy 45 minute run, just to get the legs moving. Everything felt fine today, so that's a good sign. I've got a bit of a cold, from the quick weather change we've had here, but the running weather is almost perfect as a result. Tomorrow is a tempo run with the Gazelles, so it'll be interesting to see where I am with that regular test.
On a side note, it was good to see that the presidential election was settled quickly, without the drama of the 2000 election. Whoever your candidate was, it's good to see that the system apparently worked, without a tremendous amount of trouble. Now, let's see if everyone can agree to work together...
Today, Wednesday, I did an easy 45 minute run, just to get the legs moving. Everything felt fine today, so that's a good sign. I've got a bit of a cold, from the quick weather change we've had here, but the running weather is almost perfect as a result. Tomorrow is a tempo run with the Gazelles, so it'll be interesting to see where I am with that regular test.
On a side note, it was good to see that the presidential election was settled quickly, without the drama of the 2000 election. Whoever your candidate was, it's good to see that the system apparently worked, without a tremendous amount of trouble. Now, let's see if everyone can agree to work together...
Monday, November 01, 2004
Fartlek Pace Run
I tried to talk myself out of running today. I was a little fatigued after the weekend runs, and I'm dreading tomorrow's Wilke mountain repeats. So, I didn't run early today in the early mist and rain, and waited. After lunch and various stuff, the weather was clear, and not too hot, maybe in the low 70's, so I figured I had no excuse. I put on the gear, including my newly repaired HR monitor watch, and headed out the door about 5:00 pm.
The workout was scheduled for 20 minute warmup and cooldown, with Fartlek accelerations in the middle, to simulate the varying paces and stresses of a long run or race. I didn't have time for the full length workout, so I just cut the warmup and cooldown periods down (to 10 minutes and somewhere around 6 minutes, respectively), and kept all the guts of the workout, which was 3 x 5 minutes acceleration with 2:00 minute recovery jogging between, and 6 x 3:00 minutes accelerations with 1:00 minute recovery between.
I did this all in the neighborhood, which has rolling hills, but nothing terribly bad. I was surprised initially to see that my HR numbers were very good. I haven't had the HR watch in a while, and haven't used it for training in a while, but I remember having trouble staying in the warmup range before. Tonight, it was no big deal to cruise along at 9:20 pace with my HR running at under 150 bpm. That was really cool to see. Once the accelerations begain, I actually had trouble getting the HR up to my former "floor" of 160 for the Tempo portions, and again, that was really cool to see. My pace for the actual acceleration bits was somewhere right at 8:00 pace. I had a nice time on this workout, cruising along, shifting gears as it were, and enjoying the ride. When I got to the cooldown segment at the end, my HR quickly dropped back to the 150 range, which was very different from months ago when I was doing similar workouts. HR at the finish was 152, and it quickly dropped down to 140 within a minute of stopping.
Of course, I messed up with the data on the HR watch, and lost the individual high/low/average numbers for all the different segments. But, I was scouting that stuff out as I was running tonight, so I've got a good handle on what my numbers were. That's the only problem with this particular watch...it only holds all the tiny detailed numbers for the last workout, and if you accidentally hit the "go" button again before you download all the stuff in it, you are left with only the average HR and high HR for the workout. Oh, well.
Overall workout about 7 miles, overall pace 8:33/mile, pace during Fartlek segments, including recovery jogging, was 8:15/mile. I was probably running too hard for the purpose of this workout, so I'll try to modify things next time out. Still, it was fun to see, judging from the HR information, that I'm in much better cardiovascular shape now than I was a year ago, or even 6 months ago.
I tried to talk myself out of running today. I was a little fatigued after the weekend runs, and I'm dreading tomorrow's Wilke mountain repeats. So, I didn't run early today in the early mist and rain, and waited. After lunch and various stuff, the weather was clear, and not too hot, maybe in the low 70's, so I figured I had no excuse. I put on the gear, including my newly repaired HR monitor watch, and headed out the door about 5:00 pm.
The workout was scheduled for 20 minute warmup and cooldown, with Fartlek accelerations in the middle, to simulate the varying paces and stresses of a long run or race. I didn't have time for the full length workout, so I just cut the warmup and cooldown periods down (to 10 minutes and somewhere around 6 minutes, respectively), and kept all the guts of the workout, which was 3 x 5 minutes acceleration with 2:00 minute recovery jogging between, and 6 x 3:00 minutes accelerations with 1:00 minute recovery between.
I did this all in the neighborhood, which has rolling hills, but nothing terribly bad. I was surprised initially to see that my HR numbers were very good. I haven't had the HR watch in a while, and haven't used it for training in a while, but I remember having trouble staying in the warmup range before. Tonight, it was no big deal to cruise along at 9:20 pace with my HR running at under 150 bpm. That was really cool to see. Once the accelerations begain, I actually had trouble getting the HR up to my former "floor" of 160 for the Tempo portions, and again, that was really cool to see. My pace for the actual acceleration bits was somewhere right at 8:00 pace. I had a nice time on this workout, cruising along, shifting gears as it were, and enjoying the ride. When I got to the cooldown segment at the end, my HR quickly dropped back to the 150 range, which was very different from months ago when I was doing similar workouts. HR at the finish was 152, and it quickly dropped down to 140 within a minute of stopping.
Of course, I messed up with the data on the HR watch, and lost the individual high/low/average numbers for all the different segments. But, I was scouting that stuff out as I was running tonight, so I've got a good handle on what my numbers were. That's the only problem with this particular watch...it only holds all the tiny detailed numbers for the last workout, and if you accidentally hit the "go" button again before you download all the stuff in it, you are left with only the average HR and high HR for the workout. Oh, well.
Overall workout about 7 miles, overall pace 8:33/mile, pace during Fartlek segments, including recovery jogging, was 8:15/mile. I was probably running too hard for the purpose of this workout, so I'll try to modify things next time out. Still, it was fun to see, judging from the HR information, that I'm in much better cardiovascular shape now than I was a year ago, or even 6 months ago.
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