December and 2004 Year End Numbers:

My highest mileage month, ever. 187 miles, 19 runs. Just amazing that I'm at this point after moping through June and July rehabbing from a strained/torn psoas muscle. Totals for 2004 are 1,238 miles, 172 runs. Both of those are lifetime bests by a large margin. I am very pleased with where I am right now with my running, and I'm looking forward to 2005, both for specific goal races and for generally continuing to improve.

I'm blessed to have been given what genetic gifts I possess, and further blessed to have found such a great group of people to train with this year. Taking the plunge and joining Gilbert's Gazelles has made such a profound difference in my specific running performance and my general attitude about my running hobby that I cannot overemphasize it. Gilbert is a truly fine coach, and in his gentle way, he encourages us to maximize our potential and to continue to stretch our performance envelope. Plus, he is one of the most inspiring guys I've met. My fellow Gazelles have also been a constant source of support inside and outside the workouts that we share. This has been a fabulous running year, and I can't wait for what 2005 will bring me!

23 Mile Tour d'Austin

In typical Gazelles fashion, we began the last day of 2004 by cranking out our longest training run for the Freescale Marathon. We may all be very sleepy tonight trying to celebrate New Year's Eve, but what a finish to our running year!!

After carpooling up to the head of the Freescale course, we split into pace groups, and set out on our long journey covering most of the Freescale course. We would cover the first 15 miles of the course, then cut over and join the course at about the 19 mile mark, thence finishing the course all the way to the finish at Auditorium Shores. The weather wasn't as grand as it has been, with slight overcast skies, humidity, and temps ranging from 66-70. Still, with the slight breeze and the overcast, the warmth didn't unnecessarily bother us today.

Our particular pace posse was comprised of Patrick, Jan, Henry, Varel, Greta and myself. Henry, Varel and Greta would cut the run to about 15 miles to suit their training needs, and Patrick and Jan would be my buddies for the full route today. We set out just after 6:00 am, and scurried along on the bigger streets in the first couple of miles of the course, just to get away from big traffic on this Friday morning. We were all feeling a little beaten up after the 1000m repeats yesterday, but it was mainly just minor stiffness. Nevertheless, we rolled through the industrial park that is the initial scenery at Freescale and came upon Gilbert, who was waiting at a tricky intersection with the first Powerade stop. We exchanged pleasantries and tanked up, then moved on. So far: 3.7 miles, avg pace of 9:44/mile. Right on schedule, maybe even a tiny bit quick for so early in the run. Off we went.

Our pacing was slightly erratic, but we stayed in a good group as we cruised down Shoal Creek, and then along the railroad street, then back down to Shoal Creek. This is a nice section of the course, gently downhill for the most part, but with a few uphill slides to break up the trip. I spotted a port-o-john at a house rehab project, and darted in for a hydration adjustment. The other folks in the group had previously taken care of such things at various strategically located bushes. Funny, but we don't even think twice about such things, and that's just part of this running addiction that we have. I caught up with the pack, and then we pushed up 45th Street, to Gilbert again waiting for us with Powerade (or some more exotic brand of such stuff) and his car pumping out the Sounds of Burundi. He was leaving after seeing us at this point, off to Dallas, so we exchanged New Year's greetings and wishes, and we were off. I took a GU at this stop, as did most of us. Everyone was still feeling pretty good at this point. This section was a little over 6 miles, at about 9:56/mile pace, as we had settled into the usual long run rhythm. Overall, we were at 9.7 miles, 9:52/mile pace.

We had to deal with a little more traffic than usual as we cut across 45th Street to Duval, but it wasn't too bad. Rolling down Duval to and through the UT campus, we enjoyed the absence of the UT students, still out on break. Finding our way to the half marathon mark of the course, we pushed up the steep little hill right there after the half marathon mark, up and over, then by the Capitol, and down Congress to 6th Street. This is where our gang split up. Henry, Varel and Greta headed on down Congress back to RunTex for their 14-15 mile day. Jan, Patrick and I wished them good tidings, and set out down 6th Street, now reduced to a power trio from the sextet that started the day. Overall, just over 14 miles, average pace for the day 9:45/mile. The section just past was about 4.3 miles, average pace 9:30/mile on the rolling terrain.

We went out 6th, cut down Lamar, crossed the railroad tracks, dealt with traffic on Cesar Chavez, and rejoined the marathon course there. We met up with our substitute Powerade Provider there at Congress and Cesar Chavez, for the last official fluid stop. Took another GU here, and we were out of there in a snappy 2 minutes. Our average pace as a trio was about 9:39/mile for about 2 miles here. We were gently starting to accelerate over the last part of the run. We were about 16 miles into our day, the skies stayed just overcast enough to keep the sun from baking us, and we were feeling pretty good. The conversation was interesting, and we set out to finish this thing.

We negotiated the twists and turns of the course from Congress Avenue, and made it to the Longhorn Dam in fine fashion. This was our point of departure for the end of the run. From there, approximately 3 miles from the finish, we would each decide on our pace, trying to accelerate to the finish, for mental strength on race day. We took a bit of water at the fountain there, and I took my third GU of the day. It was time to finish this long journey. The portion from Congress to the Longhorn Dam was about 2.9 miles, 9:47/mile pace, as we gathered ourselves for the last push. We were sore, but it was time to pick up the pace.

I led things out from there, feeling pretty good, and I negotiated the Riverside hills in pretty strong fashion. Except for dealing with traffic at the I-35 overpass and a stoplight or two on Riverside, I made excellent time finishing up the speedy portion of the run. I knocked the last 3 miles out at about 8:37/mile pace, which felt great. I wasn't gasping for breath or anything, I was just tired and ready to finish. After that, I crossed over and did a slower loop around Auditorium Shores for a cooldown of sorts, but even that was a mile at 9:51 pace.

Overall, my day was 22.8 miles, average pace 9:36/mile, which was a great day for me. I finished things off by doing a handful of strides with Jan after she finished, and that was a clunky experience! By the last strider, my legs started feeling more fluid again, but it was a clumsy ordeal for the most part. I did the full stretching routine afterwards, and called it a (long) day. Now, will I get a chance to take a nap this afternoon so I don't fall asleep at 9:00?

Happy New Year's, everyone! Stay safe tonight, and don't be stupid if you're out partying.

1000m Repeats

Gilbert cut us some slack this morning, since we're going 22-23 miles tomorrow morning. If we were running long on Friday, we "only" needed to do 5x1000m this morning (200m easy jog between each interval), instead of 8. That gave me a big sense of relief. I was a bit worried about doing the 1000m workout to the max and then going for the longest long run we'll do the day after that.

The weather was overcast, humid, and about 60 degrees. Okay, but tomorrow it may not be all that much fun to knock out the looooonnnnggg run if it's that type weather. Oh, well. Easy run to Austin High School, drills, and a variation at the end. Instead of doing 2 x 100m strides at the end of the drills, we did a 400m lap, alternating 50m jogs with 50m strides for the full lap. Same amount of stride distance, but just a different way of approaching it.

I was a 'tweener today, not quite as fast as Frank's group, but faster than Henry, Pat, and a woman I don't know yet. The other guys hung near me on the first couple of repeats, which I did in 4:42 and 4:38, both way faster than last time I did this workout. After that, I left them, and became a group of one for the last 3. Those were in 4:31, 4:32, and 4:22 for the last one. Average pace for the 5x1000m intervals was 4:33 (7:19 mile pace), which was about 10 seconds per 1000m faster than the last such workout. I was surprised and pleased that they felt as comfortable as they did. I did my 3 x 200m strides with Margaret, Frank and Sean, and then we cruised back to RunTex. I ran back with Margaret, and I guess she was in a hurry to get to work, because our pace coming back was about 9:12/mile, faster than I usually do a cooldown.

I stuck around afterwards and chatted with Lucy and Frank while I did most of the full stretching regimen.

For the day, total mileage of about 8 miles, 8:22/mile average pace for everything. Now, it's time to simulate my pre-marathon hydration and nutrition ritual for the long run tomorrow.

Missed run and Weekly data (12/20-26):

Yesterday, I felt a little out of sorts, with some weird sore spots in my legs, so I didn't do the mile repeats. I felt a little bad about that, but after a good pace run on Monday and that good 15 miler last Friday, maybe it won't permanently damage my training. We drove back from Lufkin today, and I'll try to get out there in a little while to do some easy trail running, about 45 minutes or so.

Last week's stats: 5 runs, 46 miles. Longest mileage week in forever, by just a few tenths of a mile. Quality medium long run (15 miles up Mt. Bonnell) which was quite a bit faster than I normally do those runs (thanks, Frank!), solid marathon pace run last Monday, circuit training session, monster 18 x 400m repeats on Thursday, and a super easy recovery run on a hilly Scenic loop course on Sunday. This week, I've already done a good marathon pace run on Monday, hopefully a trail run later today, 1000m repeats tomorrow, a 22-23 miler on Friday, and then some sort of recovery type run on Sunday, probably a 60-90 minute trail run. Freescale is closer and closer, so it's time to try to lose a few pounds (just a few) and to get on the truly healthy dietary regimen that I know I need to do.

Marathon Pace Run (Lufkin)

Among the tougher things to do when training for a marathon (or for any other race, for that matter) is to do workouts when you're essentially "on vacation," out of your normal home routine and running routes. At least that's the case for me. We're in Lufkin for a couple of days, seeing both of our families, and there's important workouts on the Gazelles Schedule that I really should do. Fortunately, with the GPS watch, I don't have to worry about measuring the routes, but I do have to figure out where to go a little bit, just to make sure I've got enough real estate to cover the planned 8, 9 or 10 miles of a given workout.

This morning, I left my parents' house at about 9:30 am, on a cool sunny day (maybe mid-50's), for a marathon pace run. Gilbert wanted us to take it a little easier on this one, so no 10 mile Progressive run or 8 Mile Pace run. I chose to do a 20/50/20 pace run, with easy 20 minute warmup and cooldown, and 50 minutes of "run as you feel" pace in the middle. I would try not to look at the GPS pace while doing this, instead relying on HR for my pacing.

I took off and cruised through my old neighborhood for the first 20 minutes, crossing the loop towards town before finishing the warmup section. I covered about 2.2 miles for warmup, and I stayed in a decent lower HR range. Average pace about 9:20/mile. I passed some old friend's houses and generally had fun reminiscing as I ran. I felt pretty good after the warmup, and started to pick up the pace. (Edit: 2.15 miles, avg 9:18 pace).

The pace section had me touring more of Lufkin, passing by my grandfather's old house, some houses of friends, the old Junior High school, the foundry in town that makes oilfield equipment, my father and grandfather's dental and medical offices, respectively, the hospital, more friend's houses, several churches, and finally my old neighborhood where I lived through 7th grade. Having so much to check out and think about really kept me distracted, and allowed my body to find a pace and just roll with it. It was a nice tour, and I was surprised at some changes, but mostly was comforted that most things stayed the same (except for the people living in the houses in some cases). The 50 minute pace section splits were: 8:24, 8:40, 8:30, 8:35, 8:46, and 8:14 for about .9 miles at the end. I'll calculate average pace later for the pace section, but it looks about right. Running with a HR limit for this section worked well for me today, and it was nice to be able to ignore all the information from the GPS watch while running. Looks like it was about 5.8 miles of pace, somewhere around 8:30/mile average pace. (Edit: 5.86 miles, avg pace 8:30)

The cooldown section, again trying to get back to that super easy HR number, ended up with 1.6 miles at 10:35 and 9:47 pace. I cut the cooldown section a tiny bit short (cut about 3-4 minutes) so I could get cleaned up and meet my father for lunch at Lufkin Barbecue (and it was really good! ).

All in all, 9.6 miles, average pace 9:01/mile. It was a good run, and a fun tour of Lufkin.

Tomorrow is a most challenging workout when you're away from your training partners...3-5 x mile repeats. I've got a plan to do them on a standard stretch of road, back and forth, so that at least the distance will be constant for each repeat. This means no Tour d'Lufkin tomorrow, and I will need to really concentrate to keep my pace up for the repeats.

Galloway Run (Recovery Run)

Sunday morning, I led the Galloway finishers group on a shorter recovery run for them (and a nice easy recovery run for me). We met at 7:00 am, and the weather was again perfect, 29-30 degrees, crisp, clear. The run was uneventful, taking the Scenic loop for a hilly test. We cruised the 6.3 miles at about 13:00/mile average pace. My legs felt pretty good all the way through, with no musculo-skeletal issues to mention.

Then, it was off to Lufkin for the next couple of days. Weekly totals will be posted later, but it was another 40+ mile week, 5 runs. Next week has some interesting workouts, mile repeats and 1000m repeats, another marathon pace run, and a long run of 22+ miles, our longest training run in the entire cycle. I think we're going to start at the top of the Freescale course, and then roll down to the finish, skipping a chunk in the middle (the out and back section on 6th and Lake Austin) so that we again get the start of the race with most of the downhills and the tougher second half of the race.

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to say Merry Christmas to anyone who might stumble upon this blog. Among the gifts I received were several running-related things, of course, so I'll be sporting some new clothes in this winter running season. Mary Anne also got a neat display frame for my marathon medals at www.raceframes.com, which is really cool. Right now, they're all just draped around a lamp in the office, so this will be a much nicer way to reminisce about all those miles on the marathon trail. Jeff and I sent each other the exact same gift (a great book), which was really funny. I can't wait to talk with him about that. Great minds thinking alike, I guess, but it's still amusing.

The dog and cat are happily playing with their toys, Ranger chewing up his pig's ear and Mittens going crazy with her catnip mice. Jake is upstairs building Bionicles, and Sarah is honing her skills at Mario Tennis. Now that the video camera is turned off and the cameras put away, the rest of the day is all about enjoying all that we were fortunate enough to receive. It's another great Christmas, I've talked to my brother, sister and parents, and life is good!

Running Through A Winter Wonderland

I know that Austin isn't exactly in the Snow Belt or anything, but it's been chilly here the last couple of days, with even snappier cold projected for Christmas morning, and it has been a challenge to dredge through the memory to remember how to dress for cold weather runs. Once you figure that out, it's actually really nice to run in the cold weather. If your hands and head are warm, the rest of you kind of follows along happily.

This morning, we had a large group meet at RunTex for a 14-16 mile "optional" run, including Mt. Bonnell. Alex and Gretchen were there, refugees from the faster groups, as well as Frank, Patrick, and my friend Mike, who was "sitting in" with us. Mike is a triathlete, and normally doesn't run this far, but it sounded fun to him last night as we ate Mexican food with our families. We were all dressed in our warm stuff, and set out right on time at 8:00am. A group of about 6 of the really fast Gazelles finished up right when we were leaving, and we all had a good laugh about being in the Lunatic Fringe of runners, to be out in the overcast cold on Christmas Eve day.

Temperature was 28-30 degrees during the run, breezy, and overcast. No possibility of the sun warming us up even a little. We went out in a group of 3 sets of 2 runners, with occasional movement back and forth as folks took turns leading in the wind. I hung out near the back with Alex for most of the early miles. Turns out Alex had stayed up way too late last night playing video games, and he was hurting a little. The early pace was much quicker than I usually go on long runs, but I felt okay, if a little pressed. I knew that as they sped up, I'd be in some difficulty, so I was trying to figure out how to ask them to ease back the throttle a little. Nature intervened when Frank needed a port-o-stop at mile 4. The others kept going at that point, figuring that we'd catch up. Fortunately, once Frank and I started again, the pace was slightly more sane, easing up from the 8:54 mile on mile 4 to 9:05-9:10 miles for 5 and 6. We didn't see the other guys for quite a while, but happily rolled along, swapping stories and having some fun on the run. The overall pace through 6 miles was 9:13/mile, quick for me, but just about right for early in a run for Frank.

After that, we headed up Mt. Bonnell, and took a GU/Accelerade stop at the top of the mountain. We pushed hard up the steep slopes of Bonnell, and only slowed to 9:38/mile for that last vertical mile to the mile 7 mark. Overall pace at the 7 mile mark was 9:16/mile. After an efficient replenishment stop, we moved on. We thought we'd see the other guys, but they must have taken the longer option for the day, going to the other side of Bonnell. Frank and I turned and went down Bonnell via Balcones Woods road, which isn't quite so steep of a downhill run and is easier on the knees. After some good downhill miles, we decided to go back via Pecos Drive instead of going over to Exposition, which are both about the same in terms of rolling hills.

We took an "extra credit" course option at Enfield, going back west to Lake Austin Blvd, to add some miles to the day. By the time we were nearing the hike and bike trail again, we were moving along pretty well. I still felt pretty good and only huffed and puffed a bit on a few steeper uphill bits. Coming back on Lake Austin, we hit the 11 mile mark at an average of 9:11/mile, dropping that average slightly as we were heading away from Bonnell and back to the finish.

From there, we continued to slowly pick up the pace each mile, clicking off paces of 8:50 for mile 11, then 8:48, 8:19, and 8:07 as we hit the finish at the Zero mile marker. Our average pace then, for just over 14 miles, was 9:01/mile, again way faster than I usually go for these runs, but I felt pretty comfortable, and my HR wasn't totally crazy, although it was a little elevated for a long run effort. Mike and Gretchen passed us with about 2 miles to go, and finished about a minute or so ahead of us, having done 16 miles. Right after we finished, Patrick finished, and Alex as just behind him. They were very fast. Frank and I kept going, and did a nice warmdown lap of Auditorium Shores after our higher speed push to the finish, a relaxed 9:30 pace for just under a mile. That gave us a total day of 15 miles at 9:03/mile pace, which was a very strong run, indeed.

We were all pretty happy with our day, and laughed about how we just do what Gilbert says, no matter how crazy it might sound when you have good options available, like a good long nap. After the run was over and we strolled back to RunTex, we were getting chilled down almost immediately, so the conversation was short there. I quickly pulled on all sorts of dry clothes from the car, and started feeling better immediately. Taking off my gloves for just a few minutes was a bad mistake, and my hands didn't really warm up until I got home.

It was a great day at the running office, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's Christmas festivities and a full day off of running. Going back to back with the long 400m workout yesterday and the very hilly 15 miler today takes a toll on you. Some stretching today has helped, and the super easy run on Sunday with the Galloway people will hopefully be another gentle help to further my recovery. Next week promises some tough running, with mile repeats, a marathon pace run, 1000m repeats, and a 22 miler. Gilbert has told us to take a more casual approach to the pace run on Monday, so I'll go with a 20/50/20 pace workout with 20 minute warmup/cooldown segments, and 50 minutes in the middle of "run as you feel" pace running without watching the clock every mile.

Merry Christmas!

400m Repeats, Frozen

After a day off of running yesterday (Christmas shopping and a lot of cookie baking), I approached this morning's workout with some trepidation. I knew it was going to be cold, and the prospect of running a hard 15-20 x 400m workout in really cold temps was daunting, to say the least. We started this morning an hour later than normal, at 7:00 am, and with the sun rising and then out for most of the workout, that helped us all deal with the conditions. The numbers? 29 degrees, with a breeze from time to time dropping it lower than that. It was a beautiful morning, but cold.

We took a longer warmup than usual, per Gilbert's instructions, and the small crew of Gazelles (about 7 of us), cruised slower than usual for the 2.5 miles, about 10:00 pace, to the Austin High track. I wore a running vest and a long sleeved running shirt, which was perfect for these conditions (hat and gloves and tights, of course). The drills were fine, and then we commenced the program. Gilbert suggested a range of 1:45-1:50 for our group, to begin with, and then after 5 repeats, if we were feeling good, we could drop to the 1:42-1:45 range for the rest of the workout. He wanted me to do over 15, so I got started.

My initial group was Frank, Sean and Chelsea. I mostly hung around and let them set pace for the first 5 repeats or so, and after I lagged behind on the first one, I was right there for the next set. First 5 for me: 1:53, 1:45, 1:47, 1:45, 1:44. I was finally getting rolling after a sluggish, cold induced start. Next 5 were 1:44, 1:46, 1:42, 1:42, 1:43. By the 10th repeat, Frank had to leave to be with his family, and Sean had to get to work. Chelsea was only doing 8 or 9 repeats, since she's not marathoning. So, it was just me.

My solo intervals were (numbers 11-18): 1:42, 1:43, 1:43, 1:42, 1:44, 1:43, 1:43, 1:38, a very consistent body of work with just me doing the pacing. I was feeling good, and the pace was almost automatic. I pushed the last interval because, uh, it was my last one. I was very pleased with the day's work, in less than ideal conditions. Actually, once I got past the second repeat or so, the weather was not a factor. I was exactly warm enough, and my ears and hands stayed warm, so I had nothing to complain about in that regard.

I ran back to RunTex with Alex, Gretchen and Liliana, and we cruised that 1.6 miles in a relaxed 10:00/mile pace as well. After some chatting with Gilbert, I started putting on dry clothes from the car, and turned on the heater and heated seats, trying to warm back up after stopping.

It was a good running day, and my only worry is that I may have worked too hard today, considering I'm doing the Mt. Bonnell loop tomorrow morning. Overall day was 9.1 miles, average pace 8:25. 18x400m intervals were at an average of 1:43-1:44, 1:00 rest jog/walk between each. Now, I just need to finish up my Christmas shopping...

Circuit

Pretty uneventful workout. Another crisp clear morning, about 50 degrees throughout. My legs felt pretty good after yesterday's 10 mile pace run, but it took a half mile or so to get going with the gang. After drills, we were off for circuit training, with 800m easy running between exercise segments. I intended to do 4 x circuit, but Gilbert stopped me after 400m of my last running bit and had me join the rest of the folks for "fast feet." I suppose that takes the place of the circuit exercises, and it was a burner, but I was a little let down that I didn't get to do what I intended. After the fast feet (2 x 1:00 of, well, fast feet churning in place ), Frank, Sean and I did the cooldown run back to RunTex, enjoying the morning.

I stayed afterwards and did pretty much the whole stretching routine with Alex and Liliana, and I think that will prove to be a good thing.

It was a pleasant day at the running office, about 5.5 miles total at average of 9:18/mile, with 3 sets of circuit exercises in the middle there (pushups, stepups, crunches, back extensions, "superman" jumps (a plyometric sort of thing), and deep lunges).

8 mile pace run

This morning, Gilbert assigned us a new marathon pace run. We were to do the Longhorn Dam 10 mile loop, taking the first 2 miles easy, and then shifting into a "solid" but "comfortable" gear after that for the last 8 miles. Not quite as aggressive as the progressive 10 miler, but a solid test. I had thought a pace of 8:40-8:50 during the 8 mile speedy portion would be about right.

I got to Auditorium Shores about 9:30 am, and saw Gilbert working with a fellow Gazelle on the circuit training stuff. He told me to run the loop counterclockwise, so that when I was pushing, I'd be safe from traffic. Since I had originally intended to run the loop clockwise so I'd have to run the Riverside hills at pace, this was good information. He also told me to go out and run at a pace that felt comfortable but strong. 80% effort, again, whatever that really is. I figured I'd let my GPS watch do its thing, but I'd ignore the mile pace numbers, and catch the info later. For pacing, I'd rely on my HR monitor, to run to a number there.

It was bright and sunny, with a stiff wind that was blowing out of the East. Temperature right at 60 degrees. I was almost overdressed with my long-sleeved running shirt, but I did wear shorts, so it wasn't too bad, really. The first couple of miles were pretty relaxed, and except for pushing up the backside of the Riverside hills, I kept my warmup HR down where it was supposed to be. First 2 miles were at 9:03/mile average pace. Probably a little fast, but not terribly so.

I shifted into pace gear, and ran to a HR number for the next 4 miles. Pace for first 4 miles was 8:40/mile, perfectly according to plan. HR was starting to rise a little with the extended effort, so I chose a new HR number to run to, about 5 bpm higher than initially set. Took a GU at about 5 miles total, and I was drinking Accelerade that I was packing during the run.

Last 4 miles were probably run too hard, but I just got into a groove, and kept on running. The wind pushed me around a bit coming back towards the finish, but I kept up a good pace, and knocked out the second 4 miles of pace at 8:22/mile. It's just hard to avoid picking up the pace at the end of a Gilbert workout (unless there's a programmed cooldown portion at the end).

I was pretty happy with this run, but I may have run it a bit too fast. My HR did get up to an average of 10 bpm over my initial "pace" number, which may or may not have been a good thing. We'll see.

Overall, the 8 miles of pace running were at 8:30/mile pace, and the overall pace for 10 miles was 8:37/mile. I did some stretching afterwards, and that felt pretty good as well.

It was a good day at the running office, albeit a bit faster than I possibly should have run.

Weekly Roundup

This morning, I tooled along with the Galloway long runners as they tackled their 18 miler. They did really well, and I got in a lot of extra biking miles going back and forth between the pieces of the group as they spread out on the course. It was another beautiful day to be out there, that's for sure!

After their run, I saw Gene and Don, two running buddies who are well over 65 years old. Gene dusted me at every race the last two years, but this fall season, I've caught up to him finally. Of course, since he's 73 years old, it's about time I caught him. Gene set a Texas age group record in the marathon in 2003, with something like 3:45, so he's really fast. I enjoy talking with both of them, and I can only hope that in 20 years I'll be doing as well as they are!

Weekly stats: 4 runs, 36 miles. Skipped the 45-60 minute recovery run again this week, but otherwise did all the quality workouts. 10 mile Progressive run went very well, the Wilke mountain repeats were surprisingly good, the 4 mile tempo run was slightly slower than my best, but I had a big negative split and ran strong. Saturday's short long run of 13 miles was really enjoyable, and again, I ran well for the Gilbert Acceleration over the last 3 miles. I'm pleased with the week's work.

This week features a new Monday run: the 8 mile Pace Run. We are to go out for 2 easy warmup miles, then pick it up for the last 8 miles at a "solid" pace, which I interpret to be something like the normal pace run idea of "comfortable but quicker." I'll shoot for a "solid" pace of 8:40-8:50 for the 8 mile part, faster than projected marathon race pace, but not quite crazy fast pace. The Gazelles workouts are the circuit workout, which is mostly about strength, and 15-20 x 400m, 1:00 rest. Frank and I are going out on Friday for a Mount Bonnell loop run of 14 miles or so. It's supposed to be very very cold, possibly snowy, on Friday, so that should be interesting. Christmas Day, after the package ripping and tearing is over, I might go out for a really easy 40-50 minutes, and Sunday is a day off.

Short Long Run

Friday was a day for Christmas shopping and errands, and I just got lazy and didn't do the recovery 30-45 minute run. Oh, well.

Today (Saturday) was a beautiful crisp and clear morning for running. At 6:30 am, it was a smooth 40 degrees. My tribe consisted of Henry and Tracy and myself for the scheduled 13 miler. This was intended to be a long recovery run, encompassing the Longhorn Dam Loop (10.1 miles), plus an extra loop that featured some rolling hills up to Enfield, to Exposition, and finally back to the trail. We took it pretty easy, rolling along and chatting as we enjoyed the wonderful scenery and nice weather. The first 8 miles were mostly on the trail, and we averaged about 9:51/mile on that portion. The extra 3 mile loop to Exposition was covered at about 9:35/mile pace, as we slowly started to pick it up. Once we got back near the trail, I picked up my pace to push a little on the way in as Gilbert usually suggests. The last 2.5 miles were pushed in an average of 8:06/mile, enough that it was faster, but not so fast as to be a finishing sprint or anything like that. Overall, I clocked 13.24 miles at an average of 9:28/mile, which was about perfect for this particular workout.

The local PBS station is working on a piece about Gilbert and his training program as it relates to Town Lake and the trail (at least I think that's what it's about), and Henry and I were interviewed after our run for the piece. We'll see if any of our interview is in the finished story. It was fun to have to articulate exactly what it is that Gilbert does for us, and I finally decided that what he has done for me is more mental than physical. The workouts have certainly made me faster and stronger, but mostly I've gotten stronger mentally about my running as a result of being in the Gazelles. I look forward to most of the workouts, and the other Gazelles and Gilbert are a constant source of encouragement. And, I'm starting to believe that I can achieve my running goals, as long as I stay with a consistent training regimen.

Tomorrow, I get to tag along on my bike with a second group of Galloway people, so I'll get another casual bike workout to help get the legs ready for next week.

Tempo Run

I took Wednesday off after Wilke, even though my legs felt pretty good. I did some easy stretching while on errands.

This morning, on a dreary sort of weather situation (temps mild at 50 degrees, though), we met for a 4 mile tempo run, sort of checkup workout to see where we are. We're always told to run it at 80% effort, but we tend to push it harder than that. It's a little tricky running fast in the dark on the trail, but it turns out okay. On warmups, I was hanging at the back of the tribe, letting my legs warmup nice and easy. Drills were uneventful, but I felt fine.

At the gun for the tempo, I found myself dead last. I soon got rolling, and passed the first couple of people by the quarter mile mark. They had gone out too fast, and would pay for their error later. I rolled up on a few more folks, and then by about the half mile marker, I was tucked in with Margaret as we made our way on the trail. My first mile split was a relatively sedate 7:57. I figured we'd start picking it up a bit in the second mile. However, at the turnaround and 2 miles, I was exactly at 16:00, 8:00/mile. I felt really good, though, and so accelerated away from Margaret and Caitlin, thinking they'd be right behind me. I knew I was moving well in mile 3, but was surprised to see a 7:22 split for mile 3. I tried to find new people to chase, and started picking off people on the trail that weren't part of our group, just as a game. The last two guys I was chasing were caught with less than a half mile to go, and I pushed all the way to the finish, hitting a 7:31 split for mile 4. Overall, not a tempo run "PR," but a big negative split and a very respectable 30:52 (7:43/mile average pace) for the day.

We finished it off with a short cooldown jog and then 6 strides on the grass. Total day 6.5 miles, 8:22 average pace.

Chilly Wilke Repeats

Well, my friends, it was chilly this morning in the pre-dawn darkness! A fairly small group (about 10-15) of us met at a parking area on Barton Springs for the Wilke repeats. It was brisk, about 38 degrees and breezy throughout the workout, and it was difficult to figure out proper running attire. Most went with some sort of running tights, and gloves were a necessary thing. Most also had on hats. We eased over to the base of the Wilke hill, cruising along at something like 9:40 pace as we took longer to get loose than usual. By the time we did the drills, a second group of runners had arrived who had run all the way from RunTex (naturally, Alex was in the Extra Mileage Group ), so we had a good sized group after all.

Gilbert emphasized that the goals for this workout are strength and form, not necessarily speed. The hill is just evil, 300m with a gradual start, then a transition upward, and finally it really steepens for the last bit of the hill. After cresting that last chunk, we were to finish it off on a flatter upper part for an additional 20 yards or so. He wanted marathoners to do 10 repeats, but since I had only done 5 the last time I did this workout, I set a goal of adding 2, for 7 x Wilke for the day. After that, we were to do 2 x 200m backwards repeats, running backwards up the steeper 2/3 of the hill.

I concentrated on form this morning, trying to keep my pace down just a little so that I wouldn't blow up early. Still, my first repeat was about the same pace as my average pace last time out. I stayed in the 1:29-1:34 range throughout the workout, and was surprisingly fresh after 5 repeats, and even the last 2 weren't terrible. I ditched my running vest after the second repeat, needing only the long-sleeved running shirt during the hard work. I was pushing hard on the 7th repeat, but I held form on all of them. Average pace for the repeats was 1:32 (compared to 1:28 last time), which was just fine. That calibrates to 8:14/mile pace up that nasty hill. The backwards repeats felt like I was towing my car up the hill, and my quads were burning like they've never burned before. Wow!

At any rate, the recovery run back to the cars felt just great, and Frank and I were pretty happy about the workout as we chatted on the way. It was a good day at the running office, and I think I'm over my phobia/hatred of the Wilke workout, although I certainly still respect the hard work that it requires. It is a serious muscle builder, and I know it will help me at Buda when we tackle the big hills late in that 30k race.

Tomorrow is an easy recovery run, and maybe I'll get going on formal weight work at the gym (provided I join one today ). Thursday will be the 4 mile tempo run, so we'll get a chance to see if we're improving. I hope to improve on my 30:30 performance of 8 weeks ago at that time.

Overall, 6 miles, average pace 9:16, but some serious running in there! Oh, yeah, I was checking out the numbers in the running log, and I noticed that I exceeded my total mileage for last December by last Thursday (9 days!). By this Thursday, I will have doubled last year's monthly total. That says a lot more about how lackadaisical I was about my running before I joined the Gazelles than anything else. Even with the 6-8 weeks that I was either out of running with my injury in May and June or in very low mileage recovery mode afterwards, I've done more miles this year than last already, and I'll probably go over last year's totals by a hundred miles by the end of the year.

10 Mile Progressive Run

I sort of tried to talk myself into substituting a standard marathon pace run (20 wup/cooldown, 50 minutes marathon pace "run as you feel" in the middle), but in the end, I once again took the first steps out to my car and then down to Town Lake for the 10 mile Progressive run. As Gilbert maps them out for me, it's 45 minutes relaxed, recovery paced running, followed by progressively faster miles all the way from there to the end of the 10 mile Longhorn Dam loop, trying to hit 5k pace towards the end of the run. It's a character builder. The last time I did one of these, I think I was still a little too sore and stiff from the Mount Bonnell - FM 2222 mountain extravaganza, and it set me back for a couple of weeks. This time, I felt way better going into the run, with no real soreness or stiffness left over from Saturday's 21 miler, so I had more confidence today. I also decided to try to hold back a little until the last couple of miles instead of blasting it out too early. "Progressive," not "Stupid." Plus, tomorrow's workout is the Wilke hill repeats, and I need to have something left over for that.

Anyway, weather at noon was gorgeous. Clear, sunny, temps in the high 50's, very windy. One of those Austin "winter" days that reminds you why you love living here so much. The wind was an issue from time to time, but other than having to hold my hat in my hands going over the Mopac bridge and the Longhorn Dam, it didn't cause too much trouble.

I started and finished at the Zero Mile marker at Auditorium Shores. It was shorts and long-sleeve shirt weather, and off I went, packing a little Accelerade and some GU. Definitely a sunglasses kind of day. I set the HR monitor as a governor of sorts for the 45 minute easy period of the run, trying to harness me to a nice easy pace. I ran a little faster than I should, even so, but my legs felt great, and I rolled the warmup period at 9:27/mile pace, covering 4.75 miles. I took a very short stop at about 4.25 miles to get a quick gulp of Accelerade and to finish off my Enervitene left over from Decker a couple of weeks ago. With that quick energy stop, I ran the rest of the run continuously. After the timer told me it was time to pick up the pace 5 minutes later, I eased into gear, and headed on towards Longhorn Dam (I ran the loop clockwise so that I'd get to run the Riverside hills as I will on marathon race day).

In semi-high speed mode, I rolled through the next few miles in 8:00, 8:17, and 8:34, trying to keep my HR at or just over my high tempo run sort of rate. Again, I wanted to try to run faster, but not crazy fast just yet. Feeling good, I hit Riverside, and really pushed the hills there, covering that mile in 7:34 pace, which was very satisfying. I was obviously ignoring the HR monitor at this point. Cresting that last hill, I thought I was easing back on the accelerator, but the next mile was 7:29 pace. It had a substantial downhill in it, and was certainly flatter than the previous mile. As the watch told me I had clicked off another mile, I eased back a little to the finish, covering the last .4 miles in a semi-leisurely 9:08/mile. I did the last 5.3 miles at 8:00/mile pace, nice and speedy for me, and I felt really good at the end of the run.

I certainly had worked hard, but it didn't feel like an all-out sort of day. I gulped down a GU right after finishing, and had a few cups of water and the rest of my Accelerade as I took a 5 minute walk to continue the post-run cooldown.

Everything was just great until I got to my truck, and found that my right front tire had decided to go flat. I drank my post-run Endurox drink as I perused the owner's manual to figure out how to get my spare tire down from its secret hiding place underneath the rear of the car. After toiling away for 20 minutes or so, I had the spare mounted, and found the tack or nail that had caused the flat in the original tire. Not the recommended post-run cross-training, but it wasn't too bad. It was such a pretty day that I didn't get too upset with the whole ordeal.

It was a great run today. 10.1 miles, average pace 8:41/mile. Now, it's time to get ready for Wilke...

Weekly Stats and Stuff

For the week, 4 runs, 41 miles, more or less. Excellent long run and 8x800m interval sessions, plus a true recovery run after Decker and a relaxed 6x900m interval workout while we continued to recuperate from those Decker hills. I was worried that the hard running at the 800m workout would bother me on the 21 miler, but apparently it did not. I took an extra day off, but I think that was a decision well made. The easy bike ride on Sunday with the GalloWayers felt pretty good, too, and it was a nice change of pace to help hasten recovery from the long run.

This week, we've got the dreaded 10 mile Progressive run on Monday, then the even more dreaded Wilke mountain repeats on Tuesday. Wednesday is an easy recovery run, and Thursday is another 4 mile tempo run checkup. Saturday is a 12-15 miler, presumably relaxed with a fast finish. There's some hard stuff this week, but at least the Saturday run is way easier than it's been in 6 weeks or so.

A lot of my Galloway folks did the 50k run at the SunMart ultramarathon race on Saturday, and they apparently had a lot of fun. The goodies that you get are pretty awesome, and they feed the runners really well during the race. It's a really different way of running and racing, but everyone who tries it seems to like it.

In other racing news, Coach Gilbert won the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon today in 1:11, smoking the nearest competitor by 4 minutes! Nice job, Coach! And Elly Rono, of Kenya via North Carolina, won the full Marathon at White Rock. I met Elly at a 30k race in Winston-Salem, NC, a few years ago. Nice guy, and he's obviously very fast. Maybe one day I'll go back and run White Rock again (it was my very first marathon a decade ago)...

21 Mile Long Run

Well, today was a really nice run. It was a perfect running morning, crisp, clear, temps in the 40's and maybe warming to the low 50's by the end of the run. Just a great day to be out there.

We gathered at RunTex and carpooled up to the start of the Freescale course this morning, and this time I didn't have quite as many people in the vehicle. Seemed that there were fewer of the super fast people than normal today. Gilbert told us to go at least 20 miles, and to add a mile or two easy at the end if we wanted to bump up to 22. He wanted us to pick it up for three miles at the end, mile 17-20, but to run nice and easy for the rest of it. G was doing a rolling water stop in his truck for us this morning, so there were lots of chances to check in with him.

Diana either was moved or decided to move up to the faster mid-pack crew (Frank and Alex's people), so she has "graduated" from our gang, I guess. Greta was out of town. However, Liliana decided to run with us, since she is nursing a slight injury, and Jan joined us, along with our buddy Henry. The Alex gang wasn't going that much faster than us early, which was unusual. We headed off after hearing a make-believe starter's horn, and chugged up the sneaky hill that is mile 1. Gilbert drove behind us with his flashers on, to keep us safe on the busy road there, even though it was just after 6:00 am. It was kinda cool to have that treatment. We soon organized into a pack of Liliana, Henry, Jan, Tracy, Patrick and myself. A few turns later, we were in the industrial park section of the course. We ran up on the Alex/Frank group, who were huddled over a map in the darkness. I gave them some help, as well as Gilbert, and we moved on. Patrick got excited and was running with those folks, and as he pulled away, I tried to call for him, but he just kept going. I wished him luck (mentally), and we moved to mile 3 and 4. As we turned south onto United, we saw the faster guys running the wrong way ahead of us, but they didn't hear us when we yelled at them, and they ended up running an extra .5-.75 miles with their mistaken route. Suddenly, we were the lead group, and that made us laugh. We rolled up to Gilbert at the 5 mile mark and Powerade stop, and made a pretty efficient water stop and clothing drop, and rolled on. First 5 miles or so at about 10:07/mile pace, which was about perfect. HR numbers were slumbering in the happy zone, so I was feeling very good about the run so far. Took a GU here, and we were off.

We were caught and passed by the faster folks at about mile 7 or so. Patrick thought for a second about staying with us, but he just couldn't stand it, and ran away with those speedy people. They again had problems with the route ahead of us, and I made a mistake and insisted that the route went one way, which turned out wrong. My way was the old way from 2003, not the revised course from 2004. Oops. It turned out to be maybe slightly further my way, but not a significant amount. Turning east on 45th Street, we were nearly blinded by the rising sun, but fought through that and met up with Gilbert at Powerade Stop #2 at about 10 miles. Another GU, and we continued our journey. About 10 miles, almost exactly 10:00/mile overall pace. Still right on schedule. Gretchen, from the faster people, joined us somewhere in here, just chilling with us after the early extra mileage from their geographical mistake.

The next 6 miles or so featured much heavier traffic than usual for this early in the morning, but we dodged it without too much trouble, and wound our way down Congress Avenue, past the capitol, onto 6th Street, and finally hit Lamar. There, Henry and Gretchen turned back towards Town Lake, since Gretchen was shooting for 18 miles, and Henry wanted 15-17 miles. We were now a foursome: Jan, Jay, Liliana and Tracy. A short while later, we reached the last Powerade stop (my last GU here, too). Gilbert was there, and he told us to pick up the pace at the turnaround out on Lake Austin Blvd, and to run those last 3 miles faster, then adding extra easy miles after that if we felt like it. We were at about 16 miles, average pace 9:54/mile.

Tracy saw some other running buddies across the street, and joined them for the rest of the run. Liliana was going to run the whole run easy this time. Jan and I moved out Lake Austin Blvd, but I pulled away slowly from her as I began my stretch push. The mile out to the turnaround was slightly pushed, at 9:21, and then I turned for home. I was a little tired, but resolved to pick it up on the way back, even if I was running those miles alone. I zoomed past several other running groups on the way back, knocking off the 3 fast miles in 8:19, 8:33, and 8:08, finishing on the First Street bridge. As the watch told me I had finished the Speed Run, I eased the throttle back, and did a nice and easy loop around Auditorium Shores and back to RunTex. That last easy mile or so was at a nice 10:15 pace.

I felt pretty darned good about this one. Another really good long run, 21.3 miles, average pace 9:41/mile. Slightly slower than some of our long runs, but no less of an effort. Coming at the end of the long string of long races alternating with longer and longer training runs, it's not surprising that we were a little slower today.

We had a good stretching session, which Gilbert left me to administer. He had to get on the road to Dallas, where he's racing the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon tomorrow (Go, Gilbert!!). Henry was kind enough to drive some of us up to the start of the course to retrieve our vehicles, and we called it a day.

It was a good day at the running office. Now we get some nice semi-relaxed weekends during the Holidays, before cranking it back up on January 2nd, 2005.

800m Repeats

Today was one of those epiphanies that occur from time to time in running (and, I suppose, in Real Life as well). More on that later, but it was a good workout!

It was a great, crisp, clear morning when we met at RunTex. About 48 degrees, where it stayed for the duration of our workout. It was a pretty big group today, about 30 of us, and we enjoyed the warmup jog over to Austin High School's track. I floated back and forth in the pack, talking with various different folks, and even though it was dark, it was a nice little run on the trail.

After the drills, Gilbert put us into groups, and assigned goal times for our 800m repeats. We were to take 2:00 of active jog/walk rest between each repeat, and marathoners were to do 8x800m, other runners to do 5 or 6. Last time out, about a month ago, I did 6x800m at an average time of 3:40, with a last fast lap of 3:33. Gilbert, however, told me that today I should shoot for doing 8x800m at an average of 3:30-3:35. I tried to argue with him, but then shut up pretty quickly and joined my group for the first repeat. It wasn't much of an argument, mind you, but I did want to point out to him what I had done last time. Gilbert told us that this was a strength workout primarily, but that didn't cause us to run easier, that's for sure.

Our main group was Caitlin, Margaret, Amy, Frank and me. Frank and Margaret led the first two repeats. I thought the first one felt crazy fast, but by the end of it, I felt okay with the pace. I trailed the faster folks on that first 800, settling into the rhythm of the workout, and was a little slower on that repeat only. From there, we just didn't let up. I led 3 of the intervals in the middle, with Frank or Margaret running alongside. Caitlin dropped out after 5 repeats, since she's not training specifically for a race, and Amy and Margaret dropped after 6, since they are not marathoning. That left Frank and I for the last two. We chatted a bit during the 7th repeat, and our pace slacked off just a few seconds. On the last one, though, Frank pulled ahead, and I tagged along to finish with a really strong last 800. The numbers? 3:38, 3:32, 3:29, 3:35, 3:29, 3:29, 3:34, 3:22. Fairly consistent, about 3:31 average time, average pace 7:04/mile. The nice cool weather helped make this workout possible, and I guess I'm getting in better running shape every day.

We finished off the track stuff with 3 x 200m striders, concentrating on form. Those felt pretty good to stretch out the legs and shake out the residual fatigue from the 800's. The easy cooldown run back to RunTex with Henry, Alex and Frank was fun, as we chatted and laughed about a variety of topics, none of which shall be revealed here. What happens on the trail stays on the trail, right?

The epiphany that I had occurred during the 5th or 6th repeat, when I realized that our pace for 800m was as fast or faster than my pace doing 400m repeats just a little while ago. On October 19th, I did 10x400m at an average pace of 1:44. Today, two months later, more or less, I did 8 x 800m repeats at an average pace of 3:31, just a tiny bit slower than my 400m pace then (2 or 3 seconds over 800m). There were 4 repeats today where I was at or faster than those 400m paces. It's very empowering to see this type of hard evidence that the training is having a real effect.

I know that one can use these "Yasso 800's" to predict a marathon race time, but I don't think I'll put too much stock in them just yet. I'll use my actual Distance Challenge race times as more accurate predictors of my Freescale Marathon time, right now in the 3:56 range. The 800's today would "predict" a Freescale in the 3:31 range, which is crazy to me. We'll see in February, but right now, I'll take this nice workout and enjoy it for a while.

Total day 8 miles, average pace 8:05/mile, including warmup and cooldown.

Today's a full day off. I got a massage, which didn't find any really bad spots in the legs. Otherwise, just did some light stretching and some core exercises that I've been neglecting (abs, back, hips, etc.). Tomorrow is 800m repeats on the track, which should be fun.

Casual Speedwork (9oom repeats)

Yep, casual speedwork. But, I get ahead of myself. Beautiful morning, mid 50's and clear. Gilbert was quizzing people as we gathered, asking how we felt after Decker. I honestly told him I felt really good, no aches or pains to mention. Others were a little more stiff and sore than I was. Anyway, Gilbert offered to us that we could run an easy 7 miles if we felt too tired, since he wants us fresh for the long run on Saturday. Noone took him up on that offer. Frank and I told him that we'd go over to Zilker park with the gang, and then we'd just cruise around at Zilker while everyone else did 900's, and then we'd cruise back with them. That was our plan. Even on the warmup, Frank, Shannon, Henry and I fell back a little from the main pack, as we warmed up slower than the usual group pace, letting our legs slowly get into the proper rhythm. About 10:15/mile pace going over to Zilker. We got to the park just a short time after the main pack did, and decided to do the drills, even if we weren't going to do the speedwork. We figured some of the exercises might actually help ease our legs. I felt fine, but some of the others in the group had actual pains. The drills passed uneventfully, but on the strides at the end, I could tell that my legs were a little heavy. Not painful, but still tired.

Anyway, we gathered, and Gilbert told those of us who did Decker on Sunday that we could do 5x900m on this hilly course, but to do them easy, and he wasn't going to ask us for our times. It was a little like being in grade school, and having a substitute teacher come in and hand out an assignment but deciding to let it be "open book." Non-Decker people were to do the 900's as usual. So, with that option, we decided to cruise the 900's instead of making laps in Zilker Park. Our Gang of Four took off, and we cruised the first 900 in a very relaxed 4:43 (8:26 mile pace). We were talking during the intervals, it was so relaxed. The next 3 were in 4:34, 4:35, and 4:32, about 8:08/mile pace, very consistent, and still nice and easy. During the 90 second rest between each repeat, I jogged very slowly, mainly to keep warm. My legs felt just fine, and I was having a good time. On the fifth repeat, we picked it up just a bit, to 4:28, dipping just under 8:00/mile pace. Since we had been such good boys and girls, we chose to do one more repeat, and Frank and I decided to push the pace on this one. I knew I was working harder, but it didn't feel crazy fast, so I was shocked to see that I had covered that last repeat in 3:55, 7:00/mile pace!

On the cooldown run back to RunTex, I chatted with Shannon, who is one of the newer Gazelles. She's a PhD candidate at UT, and I was curious about her research, so as we talked, we were running quicker than we thought. I should have been slower coming back, but I guess it didn't hurt to run a little faster. We were about 9:00 pace coming back.

After some easy stretching and some warm clothes, I felt really good. This was a nice workout, just enough pace to pick up my leg speed, but still easy enough that it counts as more of a recovery type effort than the usual Gazelles speedy stuff. A nice day at the running office, on a nice crisp morning. Overall, about 7 miles, average pace 8:46/mile.

Recovery Run The Day After...

I must admit, I was a little worried that I'd be totally sore today after the rigors of the Decker Challenge yesterday. However, this morning, I felt pretty great. Some gentle stretching as I woke up helped loosen up the calves, and everything else was in good shape. After a little cross-training putting boxes back in the attic after yesterday's Christmas decorating, I went out this evening for my recovery run. Gilbert suggested up to 7 miles, super easy, and I went for 50 minutes instead.

I felt great throughout the run, governed by my HR watch set on Recovery Range, and really didn't blip the HR monitor except on a couple of inclines on my run. I kept it nice and easy, and enjoyed the feeling of legs that weren't locked up and sore like they were much of last week. This was a wonderful thing. I ended up with just over 5 miles at just over 10:00 pace. Perfect.

The run did wonders for me, physically and mentally, and I finished more relaxed than I had started. Afterwards, I did the full stretching regimen, and found some tight muscles, but nothing unusually bad. This was a great little run on a damp and dreary evening. As I was finishing up, the wind kicked up and was noticeably cooler. Could this be the next promised cool front? We'll see tomorrow.

Weekly Stats:

Despite some muscle soreness and slightly scary stiffness, I had a good and productive week last week. 5 runs, about 37 miles. A PR 20k race on a tough, hilly course led the way. Then, a circuit workout and a fartlek tuneup run, a stridefest on Monday, and a nice easy run on Saturday before the usual stretching session. This week, we have another 20+ mile run on Saturday, and some solid speedwork as well. Today is a nice easy recovery run, which I'll do later today. My legs feel pretty darned good after yesterday's exertions, so I hope the easy run today helps the process of flushing out the junk in my legs. It will be nice to be able to train without racing for a while. The cumulative stresses of long runs alternating with hilly, long races have taken a toll on all of us, but we are stronger for it.

Decker Challenge 20k

Let me begin by saying that I'm very happy that the Distance Challenge series takes a 5 week break after today. This alternating schedule of 18-20 mile runs and long hard hilly races in between has been tough!

This morning brought typical Decker weather. Cool, drizzly, damp, breezy, temps hanging in the 58 degree range for the whole race. I met about 10 of the Gazelles at 6:00 am for our pre-race warmup and reconnaissance run, and after various bathroom breaks, we headed out, bundled up extra warm per Gilbert's instructions, and followed the Burundi Bandit on a tour from the finish line backwards on the course. We shuffled along at 10:00/mile pace or thereabouts, and chatted about the course and the finish. It was a convivial group, and we laughed a lot as we checked out the evil finishing bit of the 20k course. There were a lot of good sized gravel rocks strewn over the course in various spots on the backside of the finishing mile, and I made a mental note to step carefully through those as well as the 40-50 yard stretch of gravel road that we'd have to negotiate just when we were most exhausted near the finish. I felt pretty good during warmups, with little in the way of muscle discomfort or stiffness, and I was thankful for that bit of good news. After our warmup jog, we did the Gazelles drills and strides, and some gentle stretching. Gilbert dropped a little more running wisdom on us about pacing and using good form up and down the rolling hills to come, and we scurried back to our cars to drop off all of our extra clothes.

By now, I had decided to wear my Gazelles singlet and shorts instead of long pants or long-sleeved shirt, so I clambered into the Tahoe and changed pants there. I substituted my mesh cap for the warm wool hat, since it wasn't as cold as I had thought, pinned on my number, and I was off. I kept my now very old New York Marathon throwaway Tyvek jacket for the time being. I figured it would help me out early until I got warmed up during the race, and I could either throw it away or tie it around me later.

I jogged back over to the start area, and took advantage of a relatively short port-o-line, and made that last-minute hydration adjustment. I didn't want to give up 20 or 30 seconds like I did at Motive just because I had failed to pay attention to the full pre-race rituals. With plenty of time to spare, I squeezed into line with the other runners, a little further back than I would have liked, but I was okay with that. The same pre-taped National Anthem as at Motive, and then the horn and we were off.

I went with the flow of people early, and slowly made my way forward as the crowd crossed the start line (I was 52 seconds behind the official clock). There was a good bit of easy sliding forward as I found creases in the crowd, and really wasn't inconvenienced too much as I got up to speed. My plan was to take it easy in the first mile, something in the 9:00 range, and then get down to business once the course started getting tougher. The course had some moderate long hills in the first few miles, but the course generally trends downhill through mile 3 or so. I made the turn off of Decker Lane, and got down to the business of the main hills to come. So far so good.

Splits 1-3: 8:51, 8:32, 8:27.

Mile 4 featured a climb, and then the course really went downhill to its lowest point right at the 6 mile mark. I missed the mile 4 split, so the splits for miles 4 and 5 are an average split for that time. I passed Jan from the Gazelles during mile 4 and Don Albee just after mile 5 during this stretch on a hill, and was generally passing folks all along. Sure, there were some faster people going around me, but not too many. I felt pretty good at the mile 6 marker, and prepared for the start of the bad stuff. I took a gulp of Enervitene at the water stop along there, and planned on taking the rest somewhere like mile 9 or 10. I was drinking Powerade and water at the water stops. So far so good.

Splits 4-6: 8:42, 8:42 (average), 8:18. Average pace for 6 miles - 8:35, right around my goal pace.

Just after the mile 6 marker, the course turned hard right, and we started up a substantial hill. I tried to relax through this obstacle, and then tried to recover afterwards on the relatively flat (but still rolling) miles after that. I still felt good, and the hills seemed to just roll underneath my feet. The weather still sucked, but by now I had tied my jacket around my waist, and was feeling okay in the damp conditions. I seemed to have fallen into a funny spot in the crowd, passing people and sort of staying in open space for the most part. In races, I do best when I'm not running specifically with someone, and so I just kept picking new people to go after and moving along. There was a pretty steep hill during mile 9, and it was there that I passed Governor Perry. People on the side of the course were yelling at us to go get Governor Perry, and pointed him out ahead of us. I caught him right before the hill started, and talked with him briefly. A classical guitar group that I'm a member of was playing at his Christmas reception at noon today, and I told him that I'd see him there later. He sounded a little like he wasn't having a really fun time, but said that he'd be there, "God willing." I gave him an Attaboy, and headed up the hill. Cresting that bad boy, I took stock of the situation, and knew that I had just over 3 miles left. I had a vague notion that I was on pace for my race goal, and so kept pushing. My splits show where the hills were, that's for sure. I passed Richard, another Gazelle alumni, on the mile 9 hill.

Mile 7-9: 9:05, 8:14, 8:49

Mile 10 featured another long incline, and then we turned for home. The fog and drizzle kept obscuring the length of the hills until you got in the middle of one of them, which was both good and bad. You didn't have time to obsess over them until you had already run into them, but then it was hard to know where the end of it was at first. I got through this hill in pretty good fashion, and then the course rolled onward to the Expo Center, but the evil finishing section was ahead. During mile 10, I noticed that we were sent right by a part of the course that I thought was on the course map, but tried to put that out of my mind. It would have been a minor difference, but maybe on recertifying the course, it changed ever so slightly? I was struggling a little in my mind here, and I was feeling a little heavy-legged, but I tried to keep moving on. I must have missed a water stop or something, because I never got around to taking the last of my Enervitene. Anyway, I turned into the ground of the Expo, and grinded my way up the nasty hill that ensues promptly inside the gate there. I took a cup of water at the mile 10.5 water stop and poured it on my head, and rolled on. I finished the uphill bit, and fought the wind a bit as we went to the 11 mile marker and the turnaround. Just 200 yards from the finish line, we went to the bottom of a hill, and then turned 180 degrees back up that same hill, going away from the finish line. Mentally, this was a tough spot for me. I pushed up that shorter hill and then fought through a more subtle uphill all the way to a turnoff into the back parking lot. I got the chance to see some runners coming the other way, and nodded to a couple of folks, and then turned for the real final bit. It was a little lonely out there on the parking tarmac, but except for dodging those gravel bits that we noticed on our warmup run, I was just thinking about holding my form together for the finish.

I was catching a few folks, and holding my own against some others who were around me. Some of the Gazelles were doing their cooldown jog, and they cheered me up a little as they went the other way. I passed the mile 12 marker, and tried to guess how painful the last .43 miles would be. I know, those were negative thoughts, but I had to work with what was going on in my head. The course drifted uphill here, ending with a sharp little hill right before the gravel road section. At that corner, I saw Gilbert and a couple of other Gazelles there, and he went crazy cheering me on. He jumped in with me, and coached me up that nasty little hill, basically telling me how to do everything, trying to take my mind away from my personal agony. He told me that I'd pass a lot of people in the stretch run. This was all great to hear, but I whimpered to him to please not run all the way in with me, and he just kept cheering and turned me loose on the gravel path. I almost turned an ankle on a couple of big gravel chunks, but escaped that without undue injury. Gilbert had accelerated me, and I kept that speed up on the largely downhill portion of the homestretch. I saw the mile 3 sign for the 5K Brown Santa race, and knew that I only had a tenth of a mile to go. Gasping, pushing, grinding, I pushed across the line, and I knew it was over.

Mile 10-12.43: 8:28, 8:17, 8:40, 3:36 (8:22 pace)
Overall time: 1:46:41, 8:35 pace

Second half pace was only 2 seconds slower than first half pace, which was really good, and I had some strong miles late in the race. I struggled a bit more than I had hoped late, but I was strong enough mentally to pull myself through a tough day.

It was a big PR, and I destroyed my previous bests at Decker (pace only, since it was a 12 miler until this year). I caught my breath, chatted with Frank, Liliana, Alex and some other Gazelles, and then had to scurry to my car so I could get to the guitar gig on time. Sounded like there were a lot of PR's had today, including mine. I put on all sorts of clothes from the car, and took an additional 10 minute slow jog around the parking lot as I waited for the kids' 1 mile race to finish so we could get out of the parking area. That was actually a good thing. I was tired, but happy, and now I get a rest from racing for a bit. Next up, the Buda 30k, a nemesis race in years past, so that's an important mental effort there in January.

All Better Now

Okay, after yesterday's worried whining about the state of my stiff and sore muscles, today's warmup run with the Gazelles before the stretching session has put my fears to rest. After a full rest day yesterday, and some ice/cold treatments, I felt fine this morning. We got underway at 8:00 am, on an overcast day in the high 40's, and we tooled along at 9:50 pace for just over 4 miles with Gilbert. I didn't have any problem getting underway, which was a welcome change from the last couple of runs. I was able to relax and chat with the folks as we ran along, and had fun. Afterwards, we did 5 strides to finish the loosening process, and then went over to stretch. The stretching felt good, as usual, and we were all in good humor. Tomorrow, we'll meet at 7:00 for a group warmup over the last mile or so of the race course, and then Gilbert wants us to do a full 15-20 minutes super easy jogging after the race is over. I'll have to see what my time pressures are before I go and do that. I may have to make my cooldown jogging on the way to the car to get going, in order to make it to the Governor's mansion for our classical guitar gig at his Christmas party at noon.

Decker Race Goals

Alright, using the three-part goal setting ritual that I've grown accustomed to, here's my goals for tomorrow's hilly 20k race:

Reasonable goal: 20k PR of 1:50:44 (8:56 pace)
Aggressive goal: 8:35 pace (1:46:45), which fits with Motive time
Crazy goal: 8:30 pace (1:45:29), next round pace number

I've usually run better at Decker than at Motive, and the race is shorter, by .7 miles, so along with the more rolling nature of the course, and absence of a truly steep hill like at Pervasive and Motive, these are a good group of goals. I'd also like to run the second half (last 6.43 miles) at a faster pace than the first half, and it would be nice if my last mile was among my fastest. I'm looking forward to it. Weather looks to be about perfect, temps in the low 50's.

Decker 20k Course Preview

I drove the Decker course on Thursday, and I'm glad I did. They've changed it from a 12 miler to a full 20K this year, and they did it by changing the start and finish substantially from years past. The course start is quicker out of the Expo parking lot, and the course itself, for the first 10+ miles, is the same as in the past. Lots of rolling hills, very little in the way of flat spots, but no hills that are as individually nasty as the bad ones at Pervasive or Motive. I've had good races here in the past. Now, the finish is very different. You enter the Expo parking area as usual, and there's a long steady uphill right at the entrance of it. Then, it levels out and curves towards the finish area. You pass the 11 mile marker right before a 180 degree turnaround at the base of a short hill, and then have to turn away from the finish and climb that hill, while listening to the sounds of the race announcer calling out names just a couple hundred yards away. Mentally, this will be a tough spot. After climbing that short hill, we'll curve way around the perimeter parking drive, in back of the barn there, and finally climb one last nasty little rise. After that, about 12 miles in, we turn and run across a gravel path for about 50 yards, and then string around the lower parking lot, and finally turn for home and a very short home stretch run up a slight incline to a finish exactly where we started. This race will be all about proper pacing, since the course is equally challenging throughout. Going out too hard will make for a really really bad day, especially with the new finish that teases us so much with still over a mile to go.

Grumble, grumble...

Today is a scheduled off day, which I needed. After some extra stretching last night on my hamstrings and quads/flexors, I woke up this morning feeling better. My hamstring stiffness was basically gone away, as was any residual discomfort in my right calf. However, my left quad is still troublesome, which worries me a bit, since that is how my hip flexor / psoas injury presented back in May. I've done some ice/cold therapy on it today, and some gentle stretching from my post-injury rehab routine. Hopefully, it will feel even better tomorrow for the easy warmup run with the Gazelles, and the full stretching routine will help finish it up. I think ice and cold therapy will still be the rule tomorrow after I get back (and in between Christmas tree decorating and climbing up and down the stairs into the attic to get all the boxes down ). I'm hoping that today and tomorrow will give the leg a chance to heal itself pretty well, and then I'll go after Decker in a big way. Race goals for Decker will be solidified tomorrow, but I hope to do about the same pace at Decker as I did at Motive, overall, or 8:37/mile. If I get in faster than that, it'll be great, but I'd be satisfied with that sort of pace.

Fartlek Tuneup Workout

On another really nice, crisp, clear, cool (40 degrees) morning, a larger group of Gazelles met Gilbert at RunTex for the workout. Since many of us are racing either on Saturday or Sunday, today we did the usual pre-race fartlek tuneup workout, which was 10 x 1:00 fartlek accelerations with 1:00 recovery jogs between each acceleration. This workout isn't intended to be a blaster, just a recovery run, really, to get the legs snappy without using up too much of your legs.

Yesterday, after the two day workout series of the extended strides on Monday and the circuit workout on Tuesday, my legs felt extremely sore. My hamstrings were tight and stiff all day long, to the point that I couldn't imagine doing the easy recovery run yesterday. So, I was a little worried about what was going on there as I started the warmup this morning. I was dead last as I hobbled along on the warmup, trying to let my legs slowly get up to speed. By the turnaround at about a half mile, I had moved up a bit, and by the end of the 1.2 miles, I actually felt much better. The drills felt a lot better than they did on Tuesday, and although I took it easy on the finishing strides, I knew I'd be okay today.

My group was Amy, Joseph, Henry, and two other newer Gazelles, as yet unnamed. We started off and I told Amy and Joseph that I felt a little beaten up, and they agreed that they felt a little sore, too. Nonetheless, we got out there and did the workout in good fashion. Our overall pace for the Fartlek section was about 8:11/mile, with the recovery bits included, so the accelerated bits were well under 8:00/mile. I felt really good at the end of the 20 minutes of fartlek, and was happy to have come out for the workout.

After finishing off that last lap with some cooldown jogging and then 4 x 100m strides, we gathered as a large mob on the grass field there for some Gilbert form drills. These are somewhat difficult to explain, but they are variations on his recurring theme of "High Knees" and "Butt Kick." We drilled and drilled for about 15-20 minutes, and I think I was better at these than the last couple of times we've done them. Something about getting your brain out of the way helps you be more fluid with the movements. Again, these felt pretty good, and my legs were happier for having done them.

Since everyone was chilling down quickly after we stopped running, we left fairly quickly this morning, but I still chatted briefly with Gilbert about Decker before we all dispersed. After getting home, I stretched well, and I think I'll be in good shape for the race on Sunday. We get to sleep in, almost, on Saturday, meeting at 8:00 for an easy run before stretching at 9:00 am, which has been our standard pre-race routine. I'm looking forward to it.

Total workout: 4.5 miles, more or less, at 8:39 pace. The warmup, drills, and cooldown bits were about half that total, at 9:50 pace or so, and the faster fartlek bit was about half at the aforementioned 8:11/mile average pace.