Tour d'Lufkin [Entered 1/1/06]

Saturday, I found myself in Lufkin instead of Austin, due to some car trouble on the road home from Mississippi. Is that enough geography? At any rate, I had been off the running wagon since the Monday workout here with the Gazelles, and I needed to get back out there to avoid excessive amounts of self-flagellation over more missed workouts. In Mississippi, it was still deer hunting season, and we were worried that I might be mistaken for a game animal, despite my garish day-glo running gear. It was also a little warmer than usual, so I just got a bit lazy. The only workout I regret missing was the Wednesday ladder workout, which I had planned to do as a sort of lengthy fartlek deal like I did in the past in Mississippi. Oh, well. I had a lot of fun with my entire family, which is a rare thing these days (rare that we all find ourselves in the same place). It was cool to see that the kids settled in right away to the different rhythm of life in the country, enjoying simple activities and not missing their electronica very much at all. Those days might be ending soon, I guess, but for now, it's pretty charming to see them happily join their grandparents when they go out and gather sticks and branches to put on the burn piles.

In Lufkin, however, I got out of bed promptly when the alarm went off, and headed out the door before I could convince myself that I didn't need to do a 12-15 miler. For the first time on a longer run, I used the iPod to keep me company, but I was very careful to run against traffic, and my head was on a swivel the whole time, watching for cars. Folks in Lufkin aren't used to dealing with lots of joggers on their roads, especially on New Year's Eve morning. I waited a few minutes until it got light, about 6:45, and then got going. It was nice out there, in the low to mid 40's, crisp and clear. After some preliminary touring of my neighborhood, I crossed over the highway loop and into Lufkin proper. Since my goal was to cover something over 12 miles, I just kept on going, following whatever whim or thought I had, and checked out a good bit of my hometown.

I made an alteration in my route when a train came through the crossing that I had planned to use, and ran down a different street full of memories. No worries. There was a time when I was concerned about riding my bike over railroad tracks right after a train had passed. I thought the rails would be hot enough to pop a tire, because pennies were always so hot after we put them on the tracks and let the train roll over them, flattening them down to shiny copper discs. Simpler times, eh? I made the usual passes by various friends' houses, the public tennis courts where I learned that game, my old Junior High School, now being used for some other purpose, and then I went into downtown Lufkin.

Running down Main Street (or was it First Street?), I marveled at how much was the same there. Sure, a good many of the stores were gone or had changed hands, but it still felt like the sleepy town that I knew growing up. The banks are all sporting the names of giant banking companies instead of "Lufkin National Bank" and "First Bank and Trust," but the buildings are just the same except for the signs.

The movie theater (one screen, of course) was now some sort of Holiness Church of the Something Or Other. I remembered being scared out of my wits after an all-day horror movie matinee that I attended there when I was somewhere around 12 years old. All those Vincent Price movies from the Edgar Allan Poe stories were pretty spooky back then. It was the kind of theater that had a big jar of pickles on the counter for consumption during the movies.

I checked out my form in the various storefront windows, and the super day-glo shirt looked pretty damned bright, I must say. I passed the First Baptist Church complex and thought about the many times I was there to participate in their youth group's music program. As a Presbyterian, I was sort of a hired gun, but it was a lot of fun there. After the church, I kept going and looped around the Civic Center, the site of our Junior and Senior Proms. I shuddered with the memory of the all-white tux ensemble that I sported my senior year. What was I thinking? The sign there was in Spanish this morning, honoring Teresa and her Quinciera (is that right?), which I suppose was a huge party held there the day before. Teresa's family must love her a lot.

Past the Civic Center, I rolled past what used to be the Episcopal Church, where I attended school for Kindergarten, 3rd and 4th grade. It's now a county-wide museum and history center. They've done a nice job of adaptive reuse there. Onward I went, down the other side of the Baptist grounds, and back into downtown proper. I rolled past dozens of lawyers' offices surrounding the Courthouse, saw the two big feedstores for the largely agricultural community that is Lufkin, and checked out the Courthouse itself, where I took my driving test a zillion years ago. I'm still a little bitter about my low score on the driving test, but hindsight tells me that may have been the officer's way of telling all of us that we really didn't know nearly as much about driving as we thought we did. I've done all right on that score.

Past the bus station that's still downtown, and then the Angelina Hotel, formerly a pretty swank place that hosted many a fancy party or gathering. It's now some sort of apartment building, which might be interesting to see some day. I ran past the Lufkin Daily News building, still exactly as it was when we toured it in Boy Scouts and on school field trips. I suppose the interior is quite different now, with computers taking the place of the press machinery, but it looks the same from the street.

I took a GU and some Accelerade as I ran past my Dad's old dental office and the site of my grandfather's medical office. My grandfather's office was sold and physically moved by the purchaser. I wonder what memories they've created in that great old house in its new location? As was the custom then, he used a two story house with a great rambling porch as his office. I thought of going to see him in his office, and how he'd always start the conversation by taking your blood pressure, no matter what the purpose of your visit was. Habit, I guess.

Dropped my trash in the dumpster outside what used to be Mac's Minit Market, where I would buy a tall RC Cola, a Snickers bar, and some chips after mowing the lawn at both offices right across the street. RC was the first that I remembered featuring a 16 ounce bottle (glass) with a screw top (metal), and they tasted great when they were ice cold. I ended up working for about a year for Mac at another location, but that's another story for another day.

I went up and down some residential streets and admired the nice old houses...the sort of houses that would sell for nearly a million dollars in some of the old neighborhoods here in Austin if they had a similar sized lot. Out again past the Lufkin Industries complex, booming again as they crank out oilfield equipment for places all over the world.

Snapping back to the job at hand, I did pick up the pace for the last 4 or 5 miles of the run, heading back to the house. I had picked it up a little as I went, and it was a very enjoyable run altogether. It didn't seem to be that much more stressful to do the "fast finish," which was a source of relief after my slothful week of non-training. Crossing back into my current neighborhood, I ran on people's yards when I could, enjoying the soft feel underfoot after the concrete and asphalt from the city streets. Finally, I was back where I started, and it was time to rejoin the real world after my trip through time. I did some strides in my parents' driveway and loosened up, but I felt really good. I was happy after a desultory week of training, and now I'm ready for the new year of training and the final push to Freescale!

Splits: 9:43, 9:21, 9:14, 9:01, 9:14, 9:01, 8:58, 8:41, 8:06, 8:01, 7:50, 7:53, and .4 miles at 8:07. 12.4 miles, moderately rolling to flat terrain. Overall pace 8:44, which felt pretty easy. No water stops at all. I drank fluids and took my GU on foot, not even slowing down much. My pals in Austin got to do 16 miles including Mt. Bonnell, which I'm sorry I missed. Really. But, fate intervened, and I got to enjoy my tour of my hometown and all that that entails. I'll take it as it came to me.

Have a Happy New Year!

"Easy" 10 Miler

This morning, after a couple of days off from running, I joined a small group at 6:00 am for what was supposed to be an easy 10 miler. It was a little colder than we had thought, in the high 30's, but it felt pretty good once we got rolling. I ended up running most of the way with Jason, who was taking it easy. We had a nice conversation on a variety of topics as we toured the hike and bike trail. Took a few short water breaks along the way, too. We might have been the only Gazelles truly running easy this morning, though. We came in with an overall pace of 9:25/mile for 10.1 miles. Actual running pace more like 9:00/mile. Finished things off with 10 x 100m striders, and then it was time to get going. I'm glad I joined the crew this morning for this one, as I'll be running solo the next couple of days.

Tour d'Freescale (part Trois)

Today, we took our third jaunt over the new Freescale Marathon course. Due to Christmas, we ran a day early, and even so, we had a good turnout. I think we had all of our pace crew except for Charlene, who was off for the holidays. Richard joined us today for the whole run, along with a new Gazelle, Rachel. Amy, Shannon, Rich, Jennifer and Brian completed the crew. Erine ran with us until the first water stop, and then scooted ahead with Volel.

After the usual carpool up to the 4 mile (approx) mark of the new course, we bailed out and got ready to run. Conditions were ideal again, with clear skies and temps around 47 for the entire run. It was a day to run in shorts, hat and gloves, along with one or two shirts, depending on your tendency to get chilled. Nice.

Gilbert sent us off, with the usual suggestion to finish fast over the last 3-5 miles of the route. I trailed the entire pack for the first mile, slowly catching up with my group as I chatted with Erine and Rachel. The first miles were uneventful, and we arrived at the first Powerade stop on Braker feeling very good. Most of us took a GU there, and we were off.

Splits miles 1-4.5: 9:33, 9:28, 9:15, 9:13, .5 miles at 9:08/mile pace. Overall, 9:21/mile. Perfect.

The next section featured the only scary part of the run, along the rest of Braker and on Burnet, which are heavily trafficked, even early in the morning. We ran way over in the grass when we could, and single file along the side of the road when we couldn't. I know I was relieved to turn into the industrial park off of Burnet. A nagging need for a hydration adjustment led me to a convenient shrubbery in the office park, and I spent the next mile catching back up with the crew, so I got a quick(er) mile in there as a result. Under 183, and then onto Shoal Creek, we made our way to Gilbert and the second Powerade stop. Still all good. Felt comfortable, no pains or worries. Took second GU, and it was time to go.

Splits miles 5-8.6: 9:26, 9:39 (hydration adjustment in this mile), 8:43 (catching back up), 9:23. Overall, 9:19/mile. With first water stop, overall was 9:36/mile. Good work.

Now we were well onto the part of the course that has been used for several years now, along the railroad tracks and down Shoal Creek. Familiar turf, and I think we all relaxed through here. We enjoyed the general downhill trend through this part of the course, and turned onto the new West to East corridor, on North Loop/53rd Street. This was right into the rising sun, and it had the modest hills in it as well, so it was sort of tough to maintain focus with those things working against us. We successfully found the turn onto Duval, and later found Gilbert for the last Powerade stop. My last GU, and it was time for the "fast finish."

Splits miles 9-15: 9:16, 9:03, .4 miles at 9:16 (traffic stop), 9:16, 9:22 (10 seconds standing at a light in this split), 9:02, .8 miles at 8:59/mile to water stop. Overall running pace 9:16. With first two water stops and traffic stop included, pace was 9:39. Still good. Now, what did we have for the fast finish?

Leaving the water stop, we cruised for a couple of tenths of a mile, and then Shannon, Amy and Rich darted ahead across a busy street, and the rest of us were stuck waiting on a light. By now, the cars were moving with a purpose, and we couldn't risk trying to go across without the light. We watched our friends go off in the distance, getting almost a minute lead on us due to the light. Once we got across the street, we started closing on them a little, but at pretty much every major street, we got delayed by lights and/or traffic. No big deal, I guess, but it sort of changed the dynamics of the finish. I started pushing more and more as we went through the UT campus, and after another traffic snarl at MLK, I picked it up into another gear, going up the hill to 12th Street and the turn into the Capitol grounds. I pulled away from most of the folks there, but Richard came up after a few minutes. I finally caught Amy and Shannon at the 11th Street entrance to the Capitol, and from there, Shannon and I ran it in pretty aggressively. Richard hung in there as well, and ended up finishing right around us, with Amy just behind that. Shannon and I blasted down the trail, up the ramp on the Pfluger bridge, and finally turned for home on the south side of the trail. I never let up, and we crossed in good fashion. We waited just a minute for Amy to finish, and then we did a cooldown lap of Auditorium Shores with Rich, Amy and Shannon. It was a great finish to a very good long run.

Splits miles 16-finish: 8:22, .5 miles at 8:11, 7:38, 7:09 (watch said 6:47, but I think that was wrong...sub 7:00 pace?), 7:12 to the finish. Cooldown was .9 miles at 9:15 pace. Overall pace for 20.37 miles of running was 8:53/mile, after the fast finish. Some very good splits at the end, that's for sure. With water stops, traffic stops, etc., included, overall pace was still good at 9:24/mile.

We knocked out 5 striders after that, and then had a nice stretching session in the morning sun at RunTex. Everyone did a great job today, I think we all came away with a very good experience on the second 20+ miler on the schedule. For the record, when I manipulated the data points in Topo Fusion, I came up with 20.7 miles for the day, but I just couldn't figure out where to insert this mystery extra distance, so I left it at 20.37.

Now, I get to go wrap presents and do that Christmas thing. Also, I need to make the Chex Mix in the enormous quantities that I usually produce. The fudge turned out great, if you're interested.

Gilbert told us that Monday will be an easy day with some balance drills and that sort of thing afterwards, instead of the 1000m repeats listed on the schedule. That's fine with me. I still plan on an easy afternoon run on Christmas for an hour, just to celebrate the holiday after the opening of gifts has run its course.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, or whatever you prefer. What a gift I've received with the great year of running I've had! Anything else will be icing on the cake.

Fast Miles, One at a Time

I'm sitting here at home, still shivering a bit after this morning's mile repeats with the Gazelles. It was nice and cold out there, between 35 and 38 degrees while we did laps of the Zilker mile loop. Some folks had trouble getting out of their cars to start the festivities, but eventually, we did our easy warmup over to Zilker. Amy and Shannon joined our group today since we're all doing the long run early on Friday, and we all ran over at a very easy 10:00/mile pace, letting our bodies warm up nice and easy. It seemed that everyone was feeling it today, and even the drills didn't go as far as usual. We were cutting them short in distance. Oh, well. Soon enough, it was time to group up for the mile repeats. Rich, Amy, Shannon, Jennifer and I were the marathoners in our pace group, but we had 4 or 5 of the half marathoners with us, too, so our group was pretty big. Gilbert told us to take the first repeat nice and easy, and to do a total of 5x1 mile (half marathoners had to do 3x1 mile). 2:00 rest between. He suggested a pace of twice our 800m repeat average, plus 10-15 seconds. That would be about 6:54 + 15 seconds = 7:09/mile at the fast end of the range.

The first repeat was indeed pretty casual, if you can call 7:42 casual. Then, alternating directions on the loop each time, we got faster and faster. We took turns leading the way at various points during the repeats, which was nice. We dipped under 7:00 pace on the fourth repeat, only the second time I've done that during this workout in the last year, and then really blasted the last lap, in a surprisingly fast time. I thought I was just struggling on the last lap and everyone else was feeling good, but it turns out we were just really pushing things.

Splits: 7:42, 7:16, 7:09, 6:59, 6:51. 7:11/mile overall pace, a new mile repeat "PR." Amy, Shannon and I finished right together on the last lap, with Rich a few seconds ahead of us. Excellent workout!

A few cups of Powerade, and then we all jogged back to RunTex. Everyone was in a good mood, and it was just a nice day. I'm glad I came down for this workout, that's for sure.

8.7 miles for the day. This will be a big mileage week, especially if I get out on Christmas afternoon for an easy 60 minute recovery type effort.

Easy Running With Frank

I met Frank down at RunTex this morning for an easy 7 mile loop. I really enjoy these runs, because we get a chance to chat and hang out while doing the work of Gilbert's recovery days. Today was no exception. Overcast, 50 degrees, but what the heck. Richard, Carrie, Thon, and a couple of other folks also did an easy run, but I guess they took it even easier than we did. We had a one minute stop at Mopac for water, but I just let the watch run. I tallied 7.2 miles at an average 9:21/mile pace, which was just fine. Frank added a couple of miles because he had missed yesterday's run. My legs were a little tired today, but nothing big. I did minor stretching afterwards, and then bundled up to go finish my Christmas shopping (mission accomplished there!). I got a chance to talk with Shannon, Amy, and Pete as they came in from their runs, too, which made it even a better day.

Tomorrow are mile repeats, and I suppose I should try for 6 x 1 mile, since I did 5 x 1 mile the last two times at that workout. That mainly means I need to be careful on the first two repeats, in order to do the full allotment.

MGP Pace Run

Today was a sort of in-between workout. 10 miles on the trail, 2 miles easy to start, and then 8 miles at our marathon goal pace (MGP). No fast finish, no progressively faster pacing, just find your pace and hang out there for 8 miles. Should feel pretty relaxed. I chose 8:35/mile as MGP, which would be a 3:45 marathon. That's the marathon time predicted thus far by my Distance Challenge races.

I ran with a pack including Brian, Rich and Charlene. For Charlene, this was maybe a little slow, but she stayed with us the whole way, enjoying the relatively easy pace. Alex started with us, but true to his word, he took it easy today and did the 7 mile loop instead. Once the two mile mark passed, Richard went on ahead to test his foot, but our gang stayed together for our run. I checked the pace of the second easy mile, and saw 9:08, so I knew that our MGP was just a click faster than that. We found the pace almost perfectly on the first pace mile, and did a pretty good job of consistent pacing from there to the finish. We had a couple of miles just a touch too fast, some just right, one or two a little slow, but we hit our goal pace, on average. We did not stop for water, mainly since the pace was moderate and the distance fairly short. Good run. Lots of conversation at the relaxed pace, which I take as a good sign that the pace might indeed be my MGP at Freescale. We successfully resisted the temptation to pick it up at the end, and rolled to a stop feeling very good indeed. Gilbert prescribed 10 x 100m striders to finish things off, and so we did those as well.

After a quick stretching session and a few words with Richard and Jason, I left to knock out some Christmas shopping while the crowds were slim. It was a nice workout, and it felt good to hit our goal so comfortably. I'm not sure what that pace would be like for 26.2 miles, but so far, so good.

Splits: 9:16, 9:08 (end of easy running), then 8:32, 8:37, 8:29, 8:21, 8:44, 8:21, 8:28, 8:34, and .2 miles at 8:28. Average on pace miles was 8:31/mile, average for entire 10.2 miles was 8:39/mile.

Now, back out for Christmas shopping!

Climb Mountain Bonnell!

The title sounds so exciting, but we've run up Bonnell so often over the last year, it's become a bit of a ho-hum run. Still quite a challenging route for a longish run, but pretty familiar turf for the Gazelles. Weather was overcast, gloomy and cool (40 degrees), but the rain that we had feared did not materialize. Cold rain might be the worst of all possible winter weather for runners. Sleet or snow would be preferable, I think.

The gang gathered, and we got going at 6:00. There were lots of mileage options, but Gilbert had told me yesterday that 14 was just fine for our crew. After the usual early chaos as we all rolled out of the gate, my group settled in for the day ahead. Jennifer is still fighting off a bad cold or flu, so she wasn't there, but Rich, Amy, Shannon, and Brian were there as usual. Jan has an injured calf, so she's out for a while, I think. Margaret joined us for the first 5 miles or so, but was cutting off the run a little short to get home early. Along Lake Austin Blvd., I was able to get rid of the song "Love Shack" by telling the gang about it, and after that, it was out of my head. We did a good job of pacing through the first water stop, and took that break at the boat docks water fountain. A fairly leisurely stop ensued, at 3:03, and then we got going again.

Once we hit the Scenic portion of the run, I guess I picked up the pace a little, or at least Rich pointed out the specific hill that I started pushing a bit. Funny, that. Still, I think the pace remained at a sane level through Scenic and to the base of Bonnell. Once we hit Mt. Bonnell, Rich and I sort of pushed on up, and although I don't think I ran it as hard as I have in the past, it was still a tough climb. Once we crested the hill, it was time for the blue Powerade and GU stop on top of Bonnell. The gang gathered back together, and after a second 3:02 stop, it was time to head down the mountain. So far, so good, and the weather was holding just fine. For me, this was almost perfect running conditions.

Splits miles 1-Bonnell (7): 9:36, 9:06, 9:21, 9:33 (first water stop here), then 9:20, 9:23, 9:07 (top of Bonnell). Average pace running 9:21, and with first water stop time, overall 9:47.

Heading down Bonnell, we passed Frank's people going the other way, since they were getting extra credit by doubling back from Balcones Woods and going back down Bonnell. Charlene joined us at the water stop and ran with us for the rest of the day. It seemed that no one was really feeling a need to push the pace today, which was fine with me. I wanted to try a "fast finish" as usual from the last water stop, so the pace during the run wasn't too important to me until then. Up 35th and then down Exposition, we stayed in a nice pack, and arrived at O. Henry middle school together for the last Powerade. Gilbert had mixed a very potent brew, and it was almost too thick to drink. We laughed about it. I decided I didn't need another GU at this point, and we were a little more efficient at this stop. Alex and Liliana came up behind us at the water stop, having done some extra mileage at the top of the mountain. A 2:05 stop, and we were heading for home.

Splits Bonnell - O. Henry: 9:23, 9:08, 9:05. Overall, down to 9:19/mile pace. With first two water stops, pace up to 9:54. Time for the fast finish.

Heading from O. Henry, I just started accelerating and found a good pace. I was running in the vicinity of Alex, Liliana and Rich, and the whole gang just strung out along Lake Austin Blvd as we ran back to the trail. Once we hit the trail, it was the same turf that we cover every tempo run, so I just kept chasing the three fast folks all the way to the tape. I wasn't able to keep right on their heels, but I was moving very nicely over the last 3 miles and change. Except for some heavy foot traffic on the trail heading towards us, I was having a good day. Once I crossed the finish line, I waited on the rest of the gang to finish, and then I coaxed Frank, Shannon and Brian to join me for a cooldown jog around Auditorium Shores. That easy running was nice after the hard finish. 5 or 6 striders on the grass finished things off. Good run, and really good finish.

Splits for fast finish: 8:06, 7:27, 7:26, 0.23 miles at 7:23/mile. Cooldown loop was .83 miles at 9:41/mile pace. With the cooldown lap, running pace for the day was 8:57/mile for 14.4 miles. Mileage was 13.6 without the cooldown lap. With all the water stop time, it slid to 9:31/mile. Good numbers. Except the assault up Mt. Bonnell and the fast finish miles, the run was comfortable. Just what the coach ordered, I'd say.

I put on a ton of clothes once we got back to RunTex, and was nice and toasty for the stretching session. Alex cracked me up during the stretching when I looked over and he had put a towel over his face to try and get a little warmer. Everyone had a good time except that some folks got a little cold after they finished.

We're having the Gazelles Christmas party this afternoon, so that'll be fun. It'll end up being a nice day of running altogether.

Quick Gym Workout [Entered 12-17-05]

Today, I went in to Gold's just for a quick gym workout to hit the high spots. Since we are doing Mt. Bonnell in the morning, I didn't want to do too much. A little stretching, and then just the floor exercises for core stuff. For legs, quad extensions, hamstring curls and calf raises. Then, I did pretty much the usual upper body workout, bicep curls, bench press, lat pulldowns and tricep extensions. On bench, I experimented with doing two regular sets of 8 reps at 100 lbs, and then did a third set of 3 reps at 105 lbs. Just messing around. I know one of the zillion theories of weight lifting is to do sets of very few reps at high weight to push past barriers. What the heck, I'll try it here and there. Not on leg stuff, though.

At any rate, it was a quick visit, and I'm glad I went. It would have been easy to bag this workout today, and it's part of my continuing effort to stay on task with the exercise regiment that I did it anyway. I'm getting faster for a reason (or reasons), and since I can't pin it all on any one workout or item in my weekly routines, I need to continue to do everything on the schedule.

Return to Tempo Race/Run

For various reasons, I missed the November edition of the tempo run/race, so it's been a while since I've toed the line for this workout with the Gazelles. The last one was just 3 days after the Pervasive 10 Miler, and we were all a bit tired still from the weekend race. Still, I scored a PR for this workout at that time, dipping under 30:00 for the first time to finish in 29:54. I was pleased with that run back then. This morning, on a perfect day for running, 40 degrees, crisp and clear, we gathered to do the tempo again. Gilbert had called for a 2 mile warmup and 2 mile cooldown, so several of us arrived at 5:45 am for that purpose. Turns out, he intended the Thursday gang to meet at 6:00. No worries. I was nervous about this workout, and had a strong urge to just get back in the car and go home. But, once I saw some of my old Thursday gang arrive, I got in better spirits. Frank and Brian joined me as "guest runners" from the M/W gang.

Pretty relaxing 2 mile warmup rolled by at around a 9:30/mile clip, and then we drilled. I got a chance to talk with Pete while we were doing drills, and that's always nice to get caught up with old friends. Amy and Shannon were there, and we laughed about the race being "on," but I truly didn't know how I'd feel until we took off. Gilbert gave us the usual pep talk about negative splits, and then we were blasting away on the trail.

I found myself in wide open space behind Frank's group of runners ahead of me, with no one running with me. I felt comfortable with the pace, though, so I just stayed with what I was doing. It was strange to be able to see those faster people just ahead, and I had to fight off some panic that I was going too fast. As I crossed the footbridge at the one mile mark, I took a quick glance behind me, to see if I spotted Shannon or Amy chasing me down. When I saw only darkness, I returned my focus on the road ahead. So far, so good. Later review showed my first mile at 7:33, but I didn't know that this morning in the dark.

In mile 2, I caught up with Marcy, which surprised and then scared me. She's so much faster than I am, and I got nervous about going by her. Still, I guess she was having an off day, and so I moved on. It was really cool to see how close I was to Alex and Frank ahead of me as we made the turnaround at the 2 mile mark. I knew I was on a good pace, maybe a record pace for me, but all I saw at the turn was my mile split, which was 7:18. Again, review later showed a 2 mile split of 14:51, more or less on my old PR pace for this run.

As I made the turn and headed back to the finish, I was very interested to see how much of a lead I might have on Shannon and Amy, so I presume that I picked it up for that reason. I guessed that I had maybe a quarter mile on Shannon, and I missed Amy. Now, I needed to kick it down so that I wouldn't get caught by my two pace partners today. I focused on keeping a steady effort, counting down the quarter mile markers as I went. I crossed the footbridge again at the 3 mile mark, and took a quick glance at my split time in the somewhat brighter conditions. I saw a 6:56, which was one of those Up/Down sort of things. It was the first time I've had a sub-7:00 split on a tempo run, which is cause for excitement. However, since it was in the unknown territory, it was also scary. Had I blown it by going too fast? Could I hang on?

Again, as I crossed the bridge, I glanced back, and didn't see anyone chasing me down. From there on out, it was time to have eyes only for the road ahead. I picked off runners on the trail as I steamed home, and continued to press the pace. It was obviously a good day for me, and I didn't want to blow it by dropping way off the pace in the last mile. I just thought about running form as I neared the finish at Auditorium Shores, and ran all the way through the finish line. Final mile split was 7:10, overall time 28:57, a tempo PR of nearly a full minute from two months ago. Huge negative split in second half of 14:06, compared to 14:51 in first half. Needless to say, I was very happy with my running day! Overall pace 7:14/mile.

After a minute or two of collecting my wits (and getting my breathing somewhat back to normal), I grabbed some water at the coolers, and then put my vest back on before I started getting chilled. Frank and I then headed out for the prescribed 2 mile cooldown. It was nice to cruise along and let the body settle down after the hard effort of racing.

I checked out Frank's new ride and Richard's repaired ride (they did a fantastic job of repairing the sheet metal damaged on Richard's car), and then it was time to get going. For the day, 8.7 miles total. Cool. I'll do the gym workout tomorrow, after a possible easy run in the morning.

Schedule Change

Today, I had to handle some carpooling chores, so I didn't get to do the tempo run with my fellow Gazelles this morning. I'll do that tomorrow as a "guest runner" with the Thursday gang. As for today, I went to the gym for the second half of the workout, and that's all. No running today. Might go for an easy run on Friday instead, since we're "only" going 14 on Saturday.

Gym workout started with stretching, and then core stuff. Did the floor crunches (3 varieties) and then the back raises and oblique raises on the slanted rack device. Then, upper body work. I was a little off today there, but managed to carry on well enough. Bench was tougher than usual today, for instance.

Still, I got the work in, didn't waste any time, and went on with my day.

Later, I got my tuneup massage, and Ron didn't find too many spots of tortured muscle.

Tomorrow is the tempo run with long warmup and cooldown (2 mile warmup, 2-3 miles cooldown), and as usual, I am not optimistic about how I'll do. It would be good to dip under 30:00 again, so that will be a modest goal. Hopefully, I'll get in a gym visit as well.

Recovery Running

This morning, I went out for an easy recovery type effort in the 'Hood. It wasn't as nice and crisp outside as it has been, but that will change over the next few days. I did a couple of my upper neighborhood loops, with the water tower trail portion on both of them. Even added a little at the end to make sure I got to 7 miles (although I'm sure 6.3 miles would have been fine, too). Pace was pretty controlled until the last couple of miles, when I picked it up just a little bit. Nothing faster than 8:35/mile, and ended up with just over 7 miles, right at 9:00/mile pace. All systems go, and the run served its purpose. After I finished, I did some balance drills to loosen up my legs after the run, and that felt pretty darned good.

Gym Rat

After grabbing a snack, I headed up to Gold's for the first gym workout of the week. I started the festivities with the stretching routine, and that made my legs very happy. Since we did a fair amount of core stuff yesterday during and after the circuit workout, I just did the Roman Chair exercises and the Planks for core workout. (I'll do the other stuff tomorrow). I did the full leg series, though, and those exercises always make my legs feel better after having done them.

There was some fun people watching at the gym, as always, sort of like being at the zoo and watching the animals do their thing behind the bars and glass. There's an assortment of standard gym types, and I pass the time on some exercises by classifying the various folks into their group. This is all in my head, of course. I wouldn't want to get my butt kicked because I went up to someone and told them they fell into the "Stripper" or "Charles Atlas" category. :-) I would be put in the "Skinny Guy" category, naturally. It would be hard for anyone there to know WHY I'm there, but I guess they might peg me as a runner. I'm not in the "Body Builder," "Weight Loss," or "Looking For A Date" categories, so I fall into the "Skinny Guy" category by default. So much fun!

Circuitry

Some folks who had been MIA for a few workouts returned to join us this morning. Richard and Erine were both there, and it was nice to see them back in the fold, so to speak. Turns out that Richard had a car wreck the afternoon of the Decker Challenge, and was pretty banged up himself last week. Hopefully, he'll get back to normal soon enough. Erine was nursing an Achilles injury, but seems to be on the road to recovery.

Weather was overcast and damp, but moderate 48 degree temperatures. I wore gloves today, just because I had them, but they probably weren't necessary.

Gilbert sent us over to Austin High School via the longer route, so we got 2.7 miles of warmup instead of 1.6. Nice and comfortable running over there with Frank, and we chatted mostly about Saturday's long run and what caused them to be a little off their normal pace. Drills were drilled, and then it was time for circuit training. Gilbert wanted us to stop circuits in something like 20 minutes from the time we started, to do some other fun stuff. With 1200m runs between exercise segments, that meant that I only got in two full circuits. The exercises are pretty easy now that I've been working hard in the gym, but still, with the running and the immediate plunge into exercises, it's an honest workout, and as a recovery type deal, it serves the purpose well.

After everyone had done two circuits, Gilbert had us do some other core stuff, including standard planks, which I do in the gym most times, so that wasn't too tough. Then, we did more core things involving laying (lying?) on our backs, with our feet near our partner's knees, and revolved our legs around each other for 20 revolutions. Hard to explain, but easy to see in person. There was also a variation of that where we did sort of a ballet move with the legs, in and out. Two sets of 20 reps each of those. Then we got off the ground and did two rounds of "Fast Feet." Fun stuff, really.

Frank and Rich joined me for the longer return cooldown run (everyone else went the shorter route), and that made for an enjoyable conversation and run.

After scoring one of the new red long-sleeved Gazelles shirts (it is REALLY red), I stuck around and did the full stretching routine to help my legs continue their recovery from Saturday's long run. I felt pretty good throughout the day, and the lunges, in particular, helped stretch out and loosen my quads.

For the day, 7.4 miles of mostly easy running. Tomorrow is an easy 60 minute or 7 mile run, and then a tempo race on Wednesday. This weekend, our "recovery" medium length run is the jaunt over to and up Mt. Bonnell. Go figure. I like the Bonnell run, though, so that's fine with me.

I'm getting more and more confidence regarding Freescale, with the last really critical step being the 20 mile RunTex race in January. The consensus for a race plan seems to be to do the first 10 mile loop 10-15 seconds slower than marathon race pace, and then drop the pace on the second loop to goal pace or even slightly faster. I need a positive mental experience at that race to complete my race preparation package, since I've faltered at the now defunct Buda 30K race similarly situated in the past. I've got another 20 mile training run before that race, and then it'll be time for racing again. I think we'll be able to run the 3M Half Marathon after that pretty hard, since we've got an extra week between it and Freescale this year. That'll be cool, to be able to rock that downhill course without worrying too much about the marathon after it.

Richard Pryor

I'm old enough now that when a public figure, entertainer, or athlete passes away, it's usually someone that I remember. Until you're in your teens or even older, the death of a celebrity has no meaning to you because they were generally popular before you were born. After that, though, and growing more true as you age, you feel more of a sense of loss when that celebrity obituary appears.

Richard Pryor died yesterday morning, on Saturday, about the time we were enjoying our 20 mile run. Only 65 years old. My only connection with Pryor was through his comedy albums, movies, and appearances on television, but I was still saddened to hear that his long fight with MS had ended. He certainly lived a fast and full life, and I guess you can say that his drug abuse and sometimes careless lifestyle may have hastened his end. Still, since my teenage years, I've spent many hours laughing my butt off, listening to the amazingly funny stuff that Richard Pryor left to us. I have all of his albums on CD now, and although I can only listen to them when the kids are not in my car, I love to get them out from time to time for serious laughter therapy when the world closes in a little too much.

I listened this afternoon to "Is It Something I Said?," which contains most of my favorite Pryor routines, and even though I practically have the album memorized, it still made me laugh out loud as I drove to and from guitar practice today. A devastatingly funny man, Richard Pryor will be missed, but I'll always be able to hear his work or see his movies (including "Blazing Saddles," for which he was a co-writer of the screenplay) when real life makes things a little too grim to handle.

I hope you're at peace now, Mr. Pryor. You won't easily be forgotten by the rest of us.

20 Miler On Freescale Course [Entered 12-11-05]

Today was a very important day, psychologically, for all of us training for Freescale. It was the first 20+ mile run of the training season, and for some reason, the runs seem a lot more serious once they cross into the 20's. The weather forecast was off slightly, and it was 45 degrees throughout the run and overcast, instead of starting at 36 and warming to 45 or so in sunny conditions. No big problem. Some folks were overdressed, but since it stayed right in the mid-40's throughout, heat never became an issue. Gloves were needed throughout. I was ready, I thought, properly fueled and excited about the workout.

Anyway, we met at Lake Austin RunTex, and carpooled up to the starting point at 183 and Spicewood Springs, the 3.5 mile mark on the Freescale course. I had a car full, as usual. The weird Christmas music station that I had playing didn't provide sufficient inspiration for the run, so in retaliation, I switched to the 80's channel on satellite radio, where we were treated to Tommy Tutone's "867-5309 (Jenny)." That's the kind of tune that can haunt you on a long run! The conversation on the ride up was bubbly, and I think everyone was looking forward to the run.

Gilbert was up in Dallas for the White Rock races, so Henry and Rudy took over the job of course support from him. They did a fantastic job of supplying us with fluids and snacks, as well as acting as drop sites for extra clothes and such. After we milled around for a bit once we arrived at the parking lot at the top of our course for the day, it was time to get going, a little before 6:00 am. We all just sort of took off, and slowly, the typical pace groups formed up. I ended up running with Jennifer, Amy, Shannon, Brian, Rich and Jan on this one. Alex ran with us for the first mile or so before moving up to the group ahead of us. We ran the 5 miles to the first water stop (Henry's stop) very comfortably, with only a little nervousness on Jollyville Road and Burnet with the traffic behind us. Shannon put together enough GU's from our extras that we were carrying to supply her on the run, so that logistical problem was solved. We caught Frank's group at that stop, which surprised us, and we kept running up on the group ahead of us throughout the day. Either we were moving quicker than normal, or they were having to take extra "rest" stops. Whatever the case, it was odd to see them so much. That also made the water stops last longer than normal, with 3:30 being the norm today. A couple of cups of Powerade (blue flavor) and a GU, and it was time to get going again. So far, things were going great!

Splits miles 1-5.45: 9:30, 9:17, 9:29, 9:10, 9:03, .45 miles at 8:56. Overall, 9:16/mile pace.

We survived the sometimes dicey traffic on Burnet, and got off of heavily travelled roads for the rest of the run. The zigzag route through the industrial park just north of 183 was easy, and we saw a group coming up from the old version of the Freescale course, not for the last time. They passed through our group, and we made our way to Shoal Creek. Our merry band rolled down to the Great Northern road along the railroad tracks, and again encountered a Rogue Training workout while we went through there. They were doing some sort of multiple lap workout on the route they call "The Lab," so they were moving faster than we were...not a lot faster, but enough. We found Rudy on White Rock Trail, and again mixed up with the faster people ahead of us. Frank even came from the old route again, behind us, and I'm sure that was due to some sort of extra stops that his group had to make. Once we get 10 miles into one of these long runs, we shouldn't be seeing those folks on a typical day. Another GU, more Powerade, and it was time to get going. We were well into the run, and things seemed just fine. The course had been flat to gently downhill trend to this point, but during the next 5 miles, we'd encounter the moderately hilly middle section of the marathon course.

Splits miles 6-10.6: 8:50, 8:38, 9:09, 9:19, 9:20 and 300 yards at 9:17 pace. Overall, 9:09/mile. With the first water stop in there, pace dropped to 9:27/mile, which was perfect. Everyone seemed to be doing just fine, and spirits remained high, conversation animated. My legs stiffened up during the longish stop there, but soon loosened back up as we moved on.

A short jaunt down Shoal Creek took us to Hancock and then the split to North Loop for the journey West to East to Duval Street. North Loop features a series of modest inclines which aren't much, but they will be something to consider at the 16-18 mile segment of Freescale in February. We got through them well, and successfully made the turn onto Duval without adding any extra distance for a navigational error (unlike some other Gazelles on Saturday!). We saw Frank's group just up ahead, and I kept cautioning our people that catching Frank and his tribe was not in our best interest. Keeping the same gap between our groups was okay, but closing on them was probably an indication that we were getting a little frisky with pace. After cruising through the UT campus, we found Henry and the last water stop just south of MLK Blvd, as planned. The usual collision of groups occurred there, and a group of faster people even came up after we did, due to more unplanned stops. Just one of those days, I guess. We took our last GU's, downed a few cups of Powerade, and we were off.

Splits miles 11-16.5: 9:07, 9:01, 9:11, 8:54, 8:53, and .75 miles at 8:44/mile. Those downhill miles on Duval and San Jacinto picked our overall pace to 9:06/mile. With the first two water stops included, our pace to that point was 9:30. We were all having a good run, that's for sure.

This was where Gilbert had told us to "Go!" and pick up the pace to something between 10K and half marathon pace to the end of the run. I resolved to pick it up to one degree or the other, and I'd just run how I felt in from there. The time for trying to stay together in one big happy pace group was over, although we generally stayed with one or more folks from the group to the finish. We had the option of following the actual course as it goes around the Capitol building, and we all took that option. More rehearsal value. I picked it up, and soon enough, Rich came up with me, and we pushed it from there. As we ran along Congress Avenue, enjoying that slightly downhill mile, we made pretty much every light along the way, so we didn't have to do too much waiting for traffic. After 2nd Street, we took the north side of the hike and bike trail, which went right along the Freescale course on Cesar Chavez. That street is too busy by then to run on, so we sort of simulated it as best as we could. The surface of the trail was a relief after all the concrete and asphalt that we had covered to then. Rich and I kept pushing each other, and later when we compared notes, it seems that at various points, we thought the other guy was going to move ahead to stay, but we kept finding new reserves to maintain the pace. I knew we had picked it up a good bit, but it didn't feel like we were going crazy fast. It was certainly as fast as I could go after all the first 16 miles, though. We kept counting down the mile markers, and finally, we hit Veterans Blvd., and caught Alex there underneath Mopac. The three of us pushed up that last little hill to RunTex, and it was over, finally. It turns out, Rich and I had a really strong finish to the day. Congratulations all around from those folks who had already finished, and very shortly after that, Shannon and then the rest of the gang powered up to the finish. It was a great running day for all of my pace pals, that's for sure!

Splits miles 17-20: 7:59, 7:43, 7:35, and .4 at 7:41/mile. Whew! Overall pace improved to 8:51/mile, running pace. With all three water stops included, it slowed to 9:22, which was terrific all by itself. Final mileage 20.1 miles, 3:08:18 time including water stops.

We managed to convince ourselves to do 5 striders up the alley behind RunTex. Most of the first one, I did exaggerated balance drills trying to loosen up my quads and hips, and then by the end of the striders, I was feeling almost decent. You could really tell that we had worked hard today, that's for sure. That fast finish portion was hard going, but most of the rest was tough mainly just due to the accumulation of miles and wear and tear, not from cardiovascular issues.

The gang gathered at the Austin High School track for post-run stretching, and the groans were more pronounced after the 20 miler. Still, I felt pretty darned good after we finished. Frank was nice enough to drive Jason and I up to our cars at the start of the course, and the long day's work was over.

For the week, "only" 35.5 miles running. Good compliance with gym workouts, though. I skipped only one run, actually, the easy hour run on Thursday. The 800m repeats went great, so I'll call this a very fine week of training. I'll try to get all the scheduled workouts in next week, starting with circuit training on Monday. Today, Sunday, I'm a little stiff, but that's to be expected. Tomorrow, after the circuit training, I'll take the time to stretch my legs after they're warmed from the exercises.

GymWork [Entered 12-11-05]

I admit that I wimped out a bit yesterday in the biting cold and icy footing conditions. But, since it was just a recovery run, I'll probably be okay for missing it. Maybe I'll get out there on Sunday for an easy run just to make up the miles.

At any rate, today was a quick gym visit, hitting the high points while letting the legs rest for tomorrow's 20 mile jaunt through Austin. I did the core routine, but dropped the bookends (Roman Chair and Planks). Leg stuff was very relaxed, with just quad extensions and hamstring curls to gently work the legs, and then single position calf raises, both seated (bent leg) and straight leg. No leg press today. Then, I did the normal upper body stuff, dropping only the concentrated dumbbell chest exercises that I usually do after bench. I felt great afterward, and this was enough to just get the body worked up a bit before tomorrow's more important long run.

Now, it's time to spend the rest of the day fueling the machine for tomorrow. Another dress rehearsal for marathon race day!

800's Before the Big Freeze

Ah, yes, Texas weather! This morning while we did our 8x800m workout, it was 50 degrees, damp and heavily overcast. The damp sort of seeped into you, chilling you down more than the temperature would normally indicate. This afternoon, it's around 30 degrees, windy and still yucky outside. Go figure.

Anyway, it turned out to be a pretty good workout. I was sort of sleepy this morning, but by the time we warmed up over to Austin High School, I was feeling fine. My group today for the interval work was Rich and Brian, as usual, plus Emily and David, who are new to me at least. Coach assigned us to do 8 x 800m, aiming for a pace between 3:25 and 3:30 per 800m. 2:00 rest between. It was really dark for almost the entire workout, so it was tough to quickly check our paces as we toured the track, and our consistency was a little off as a result. David and Rich helped with the pace work, and that was good for me, too. Our first 400 was way slow, and we really had to crack it on the second lap to get back on pace. Those first couple of intervals are tough to get dialed in...always. Anyway, after a more evenly paced, but still slightly slow, second interval, we got it together and had a strong last 6 repeats, pulling us easily within Gilbert's assigned range. Emily had to leave after 5 repeats, but the rest of us completed the assignment. On the very last repeat, Gilbert told us to run it hard, and so we did. We stayed together for the first lap, about as fast as we had been running before, and he yelled at us to kick it into gear as he saw us come by. David and Rich went out like rabbits, and suddenly I was way behind, even though I was running hard, I thought. I eventually caught up with Brian, and we finished that last lap together. David knocked out a last lap right at 3:00, which was awfully good.

Our splits: 3:32, 3:31, 3:26, 3:25, 3:23, 3:28, 3:26, 3:13. Average 3:25, or 6:53/mile pace. We were slightly faster than the last 800m repeat workout, and we did more repeats today.

It was nice to get out there and run fast again after a couple of recovery days. My legs were a little tired today after yesterday's trail run and leg weights, but all in all, I'm pleased with what I accomplished. We did 3x200m striders, and Frank and Sean joined us for those. After that, it was time to enjoy a comfortable cooldown jog back to RunTex. It was not a pretty day out, so we didn't stick around for stretching. Warm clothes on, I headed out for my second workout of the morning at the gym. Total miles this morning were just over 8, with 4 miles of repeats in the middle at the aforementioned 6:53/mile average.

We Want to Pump...You Up!

I started things off at Gold's with a good 20 minutes of stretching, mostly for the legs. I needed it this morning. Core stuff was mostly the stuff I didn't do yesterday. I did the Roman Chair leg lifts, the usual sets of floor crunches (160 total of those), and the 3 different plank exercises. Then, off to Upper Body world... The 60 lb. curl bar was in use the entire time I was back in IronWorld, so I kept doing the other exercises on my list, out of order, while waiting on it to come free. Moved up to 100 lbs on bench press, which wasn't that different than 95 lbs (I know, it was 5 lbs different...). At this point, I might need to start moving up 10 lbs. when it comes time to add weight on bench, percentage-wise. We'll see about that. Did 2x8 @ 100 lbs today. Then, I did dumbbell incline presses, moving up to 25 lbs in either hand. So far, so good. At that point, a different guy was using the 60 lb. curl bar, so I just went back to the 50 lb bar and did sets of 15 reps instead of the 8-10 I've been doing at the heavier weight. Seated Rows were after that, and then the tricep extensions with the rope handles. I moved up to 60 lbs on that one. It was a really good upper body workout.

Later today, I went to see Ron for my post-race tuneup massage, and that was just fine except for a really excrutiating bit of digging around in my left calf. It's the first time I've complained, even a little, but he worked out the bad stuff there soon enough. Nothing else was too bad. Ron gave me some ideas of some exercises to consider adding after the marathon in February, so I'll file those away for later.

Now, are we going to get frozen precipitation tonight as predicted? It wouldn't last long, but I'm sure people will freak out over it if it does. :-)

Gym Visit

After the recovery trail run today, I went to Gold's for the split weight workout. Started off with 10-15 minutes of leg stretching, and then launched into core stuff. I skipped roman chair and planks today, but did the rest of the core workout. Then, legstuff. I skipped the 4-way hip machine today, but did do the Butt Blaster and full sets on everything else. It was a relatively efficient workout, and my legs felt better after having done it. It was tempting to take a day off from the weights today, but I persevered.

Recovery Trail Running

After taking a full day off from running yesterday following the hard effort at Decker on Sunday, I was feeling really good today. Jeff, Andy and I toured the State Capitol and walked around downtown for a while yesterday, which helped loosen up the legs. We all could tell that we had done some serious running the day before.

Today, I went out mid-morning on a beautiful day with temps in the mid- to high-forties, bright sunshine, and little wind. Just great out there. I intended to run either an hour or 7 miles, depending on how I felt. I headed through the 'Hood to the Water Tower Trail, and really enjoyed the solitude of the trail and the surface underfoot after the race on Sunday. I did a pretty good job of running nice and easy, but it was probably still a little faster than it would have been if I had been able to run with Frank and Sean this morning. Anyway, after popping out of the trailhead, I decided to go up and explore the side trail that winds down and over to St. Edward's Park, which is on Spicewood Springs Road. The brush is pretty overgrown, but I found that trailhead fairly easily and turned to explore.

I intended to maybe go for 5 minutes and then turn around, just to break up consecutive loops on the water tower trail. Instead, I found myself really enjoying the rockier trail as it wound its way down to the other side of the mountain, so to speak. I guess I was sort of lost in the music and the simple rhythms of the run, but all of a sudden, I sensed someone right behind me, and I know I jumped a bit when I saw the guy. He was just a fellow runner, but man, it got the old HR pumped up for a moment. He was faster, and soon disappeared ahead of me, but it gave me something to laugh about after I relaxed. I ended up going quite a ways down the trail, turning around after 10 minutes or so, and headed back up the rather steep and rocky return trail. I took it relatively easy coming up the trail, and even saw a big buck deer trot across ahead of me, leaping gracefully over a fence. Cool! I enjoyed this new trail so much, I think I'll do it more often in the weeks to come.

Anyway, after that detour, I did another lap of the water tower trail, and then finally, grudgingly, I got back on the pavement for the half mile or so return trip to the house. I picked it up over the last few miles after the steep trail part, but still ended up with a reasonably easy run. Did some balance drills after I finished, and then I was done.

7.17 miles, 1:06:00, 9:12/mile pace. Pace was 9:21/mile through 5 miles or so, but I had a couple of moderately faster miles to finish, bringing the overall pace down.

It was actually fun out there today. Not as much fun as running with my friends, but pretty good all the same.

Decker Challenge 20K Race [Entered Monday]

Sunday, we ran my favorite Distance Challenge race, the Decker Challenge 20k. The course is a challenging one, with rolling hills throughout the race, but for some reason it has always seemed fun to me. My friends from North Carolina, Jeff and Andy, were in town for the race this year, which made this an even better run than normal. We got rolling at 6:15 for the longer trip to the race site, and the weather was exactly as predicted on www.weather.com when checked last night: 51 degrees, windy, and overcast skies. As usual, we got there early, but that was okay with me. With some extra shirts on for the warmup, we strolled over to the Expo center for some relief from the wind. The Gazelle gang was there, excited about the prospects of the run, and dreading getting out in the weather for the warmups. Gilbert chatted with us from the comfort of his car before he headed out to the water stop that the Gazelles would be doing at the 10K mark.

Finally, we got everyone to go outside, and we ran the last mile of the course, backwards from the finish line, and then turned around and came back. Nice and easy running, 2 miles at something around 9:30-10:00 pace. Lots of nervous chatter as we rolled along. When we got back, we ducked inside the giant barn there at the Expo Center to get out of the wind, and did the drills and some striders, followed by some easy stretching. Shannon and Amy laughed and asked me to give the usual last-minute advice, so I tried to do my best Gilbert imitation, telling them that this wasn't a PR course, to run conservatively early, and then to "Go!" at the 9 mile mark after the last long hill. After that, Frank and I jogged over to the cars to change into our race shirts. I took a pre-race GU, put on my long-sleeved Gazelles shirt instead of the singlet that I had considered, loaned my gloves to Brian, and I was ready to go. Andy was running the 5K since he's still coming back from an injury, but Jeff was running the 20K. Jeff lined up much closer to the front, and I sidled up to Amy in the crowd so that we could continue our private competition in these races. Richard was lined up a few people ahead of us, but I figured he'd be trying to run a faster pace than I planned.

The wind was really howling, reaching 15-20 mph (found this out later), so that was going to have to become a factor in how we ran our race. I hoped to duck behind some folks on the first couple of miles which headed directly into the wind, and then just deal with it once it came at us from the side after we turned. Race plan was to run how I felt, but I hoped to average 8:00-8:15 per mile.

After the National Anthem (sung live in nice two-part harmony!), we were off into the teeth of the breeze. Wind chill was in the 40's going into the wind, but that was the least of our problems. I tracked along with Amy as we did the short portion of the course exiting the park, and then we were on the long straight stretch up to the first major turn. Bryan was running along with us for a while, but during mile two, he settled into his own pace, and Amy and I were left to our own devices. I tried to duck behind people when I could to break some of the wind, but it was somewhat tough even so. I skipped the first water stop. It was a relief to reach the first corner and turn out of the breeze. I found myself running along just ahead or just behind a man and woman running together during this stretch, and I ended up around them the entire race, with some occasional stretches when we'd gap each other. I think Amy settled into a different pace during mile three after the turn, and I guess I picked it up then. I was trying to "run how I feel," and used the downhills to recover slightly after efficiently moving up the inclines. By mile 4, I could see that I was on a really good pace, but after that, I concentrated on keeping my effort consistent without going overboard too early. So far, so good. My pace splits seemed erratic, but later on, I was able to match them with the terrain map and elevations, and it became obvious why that was the case. I did a GU at the mile 4 water stop, and moved on without stopping.

Splits miles 1-4: 8:12, 8:23, 7:34, 8:11. Overall pace through 4 miles was 8:05, right in the goal pace range, and I was feeling good.

Right after the mile 4 marker, we took another sharp right turn leading into a nasty little hill, but it didn't seem too awful. This is where I first became annoyed with "Gasping Boy." I'd go by him on the uphills, moving quietly, and this guy was slapping his feet hard and making a world of noise that really made me feel tired. It became my goal to get away from him. By the top of that little rise, I thought I had put him behind me, but he came back on the downhill and passed me again. This pattern would continue for a long time. I started to treasure those stretches when I was away from him. Maybe this gave me something to take my mind off of any discomfort that I might have otherwise felt? I dueled with two groups of women in this stretch, but got past them by mile 6. These little wars gave me interim goals on the way to the big prize of the ultimate finish time. Typical day at the races. Mile 6 finished with a fairly decent downhill stretch, and I sought to get myself together so that I'd look good and strong for the Gazelles at their water stop at mile 6. When we got there, they had cameras and movie cameras both to film their fellows as we came through. I took down half of my Enervitene packet here, and grabbed a cup of water to wash it down. Gilbert yelled encouragement, and as quick as I had come upon them, it was over. That water stop was at yet another sharp right hand turn and subsequent uphill stretch. This one wasn't as steep as the one at mile 4, but was longer. The sounds from the water stop carried to me, and helped me scoot up that hill. This mile of the course was challenging because of the road construction next to it, which let a lot of side wind blast through to us, and we also had to run right alongside those concrete barriers that they use on highways. Just didn't feel as comfortable as when we had a road shoulder beside us. I tried to note my 10K split time as I stomped on that timing mat, but only really noticed it was somewhere around 49 minutes (exact split below). Negative split, maybe? There was a guy on the side of the road, sitting in his pickup with a boombox on his roof. He was blasting Van Halen to us, which helped me a lot, believe it or not. Mile 7 seemed easier, and maybe it had more downhill than we had had lately. I saw the Governor's support vehicles coming up and down the road between mile 4 and 6, but the Guv was apparently way behind me by then. I never saw him today. Mile 8 was on one of the last two big hills, and I was doing great at that split. Could I hang onto this pace?

[Ed. Note: I forgot to mention Sandal Boy, too! Starting around mile 3 or 4, I found myself dueling with a guy running in sandals. Don't know if they were "running sandals" or not, but there he was, nonetheless. I didn't get past him until the Expo Center grounds, but I did finish ahead of him. It was very disconcerting to see such odd footwear, but then, he probably would say the same about all the rest of us. :-) ]

Splits miles 5-8: 7:50, 7:43, 8:21, 7:47. Overall pace dipped to 8:00 even. 10K split was 49:34. I took my second GU at mile 8, even walking a few steps to make sure I got the full cup of water with the GU, but got a little nervous when my stomach did a little flip-flopping after that. No more Gu-stuff for me today! Just 4.43 miles to go, and I was having the race of my life so far.

I finally put Gasping Boy away during mile 8, and I never heard from him again. Thank God! I relaxed as much as I could while pushing through the long hill in mile 9 that led to the last big turn on the course. I wanted to make sure that I didn't waste my final kick by pushing too hard up that last big hill, and I think I did a good job there. Once we turned for the straight stretch back to the Expo Center, I was sort of spacing out a bit, but I kept the hammer down and continued to pick off runners as I recovered after that last big hill. I skipped the last water stop, focusing instead on bringing this race home. On those rollers during mile 10, I pushed at every chance I could, but my goal at this point was to get to the top of that hill inside the Expo Center grounds with something left for the last 1.6 miles or so. I was surprised to run up on Richard during mile 10. At first, I thought it was somebody that looked like Richard, because I thought he had on a blue singlet. Turns out, his singlet is blue on one side and white on the back. I planned to stalk him for a while and then try to pass him inside the Expo grounds. Instead, all of a sudden, I was going by him on a slight rise in that mile. He said a few words, and I think I gasped out something in reply. (Sorry about the terse response, Richard! :-) I didn't have a lot of spare energy for a conversation). As I went by him, I started having all kinds of thoughts about him sticking to me and trying to pass me, NASCAR-style, in the final stretch. So, I pushed even harder than I normally would have, trying to at least make it painful for him to try to keep up with me. Believe me, these are entirely new thoughts, since I've not been at a level before now where I could intelligently race someone. Finally, we turned into the Expo grounds, with a last nasty sharp right hand turn and a fairly long and tough hill rising into the parking lots. The wind also became a big factor again here, blasting right into us as we tried to push up that hill.

The stretch inside the parking lots is very tough for me, mentally, because it puts some stresses on us that are unusual. Plus, the wind today made it even tougher. I crested that hill, and tried to get some relief on the flatter section that followed. I caught the couple that I had been running around for the entire race here, and we duked it out from there to the finish. As I passed the spot where I'd later turn for the finish, I started scouting the runners heading towards me going the other way. I saw Frank, so I knew he was 5 minutes ahead or so, about right. I think I saw a few other Gazelles going the other way, but after I hit the 11 mile marker, I had to utilize all my mental energy for my own purposes, holding my effort at a hard level when my body was screaming at me to back off. We reached the turnaround at the bottom of the little hill in the parking lot, and I tried to ignore the sounds from the finish line that were just a couple of hundred yards away as the crow flies. At the turnaround, as I started pushing up that incline, I peeked at the runners that were behind me, buoyed a bit by the knowledge that they could see me ahead of them. I heard Shannon say something nice to me, but I didn't see her over there. My vision seemed to be narrowing, not in a physical sense, but in an emotional sense, focusing on the task at hand. I saw Richard and Amy as they passed on the other side, and gave them a little wave. Man, I felt rough, but I had a shot at something special if I could hang on. Finally cresting that modest rise, I turned into the parking lot stretch, which was almost like running on the moon. Sort of wide and desolate, acres of paved lots, with the wind howling at me from the side. I actually got pushed around a bit by the wind, which is a first for me, I think. My next intermediate goal was to see and pass the 12 mile marker. For some reason, I thought it was on my right, and I got a little concerned when I didn't see it right away. My reserves were flagging, and I needed a boost. I got it when I finally saw the marker on my left (oops!). My split there was 7 seconds over 8:00/mile pace, which hit me both ways. First, I was happy that I was still on such a good pace. However, my second thought was that now I had to really kick it in the last .43 miles to grab those 7 seconds for an 8:00/mile pace. Last, having .43 miles to go to the finish seems like way more than the usual bits left over at the end of a 5K, 10K, or half marathon, and as hard as I was working, it almost seemed too far to go!

The last 0.43 miles of the course starts with a steady little incline, then a short steep bit, and then blessed relief as we glided downhill at a slight decline into the last parking lot stretch. I put a lot into the uphill portion of this bit, and caught and passed the man and woman that I had been with all day. They ended up a few seconds behind me. Once I got across the little stretch of gravel road and onto pavement again, I would push hard, then I glided around a turn, then put it back into my best finishing gear, turning for the last tiny uphill stretch to the finish. I tried to remember all the workouts that had gotten me to this point, and pushed hard all the way across the timing mat. I took a Powerade from the volunteers, and found a spot where I could grab some air. After a bit of time, I moved on, and finally at the end of the finishing chute, I spotted some fellow Gazelles, including Diana and Sean. I was mostly gasping, and had to keep moving a little bit to find some recovery. Shortly after that, Shannon, Richard, Amy and then Brian all joined us. Smiles all around, tired but happy.

Splits miles 9-12.43: 8:06, 7:53, 7:53, 8:13, last 0.43 in 3:18 (7:51/mile pace). Overall, 1:39:24, 8:00/mile pace! My second 10K was 49:49, just 15 seconds slower than my first half. I was very happy with that consistent pacing. Awesome! I PR'd by 7:12 over last year's race, and it's always good to PR by that big of a gap.

Shannon, Diana, Sean, Brian and I got ourselves together enough to grit our teeth and do a nice and easy 1.5 miles of cooldown jogging. Our pace varied from barely moving to a slow jog. I did feel much better after having done that little run. A set of 4x100m striders inside the barn again finished things off, and I felt remarkably like a human being again. We made our way into the expo center for warmth and refreshments after that. I didn't do any of the food, but I did finish off my Powerade. Soon enough, we saw all of our friends, and it seems everyone was pleased with their day. Jeff had had a good run, reaching at least one of his goals, and Andy finished second in his age group in the 5K. Gazelles took a lot of the trophies in the 20K, but that's not a big surprise.

Shannon beat me by 12 seconds, based on chip time, which stung a bit, but that's racing. Amy did well, too, as did Brian and Richard. I was really excited about how I did, on several levels. It was cool to have a race plan and be able to execute it. I think I did a good job of moderating my efforts up the hills, pushing hard but not too hard. The dozens of Gazelles workouts that involve hill running all helped me to achieve my goals, so once again, all the hard work is obviously paying off. When I would find myself wandering mentally, I would use the simple mantra of "engaging my abs," which would snap my running form back into place, and it also gave me something very simple to focus on instead of everything else about the race.

Digging into the numbers, I am most pleased with the two 10K splits. On a course that is perhaps more difficult in the second half, I managed to run almost bookend splits. My relative performance, according to the results site, showed that my first half split put me at 333rd place, and my second half split, while slightly slower, was the 283rd best split. That is very satisfying to see that I was maintaining or getting stronger while others were fading.

After hanging out for a really long time at the post-race expo, we finally made our way to the truck and then home. Getting all my warm and dry clothes on at the truck was a wonderful thing! After an afternoon practice with my classical guitar group, Alex and Frank met up with Jeff, Andy and me at Mangia Pizza for a post-race feast. Between the 5 of us, we devoured 2 large deep dish pizzas, which the waiter said should have fed between 8 and 10 people. Heh! Full and happy (the couple of beers helped, too), I took a side trip with Andy and Jeff to show them Amy's Ice Cream. We each got a healthy scoop of ice cream, and somehow found room in our bellies for that on top of everything else. Once we got home, we had more fun talking and such, and we ended up crashing around 11:00.

All in all, it was a great day at the races, starting with quality running, then good friends at the expo, then a little music to cleanse the palate, and ending up with massive quantities of great food. You gotta give that kind of day an "A+."

For the week, 44.6 miles. Good gym work compliance, 5 runs. I only skipped one recovery run, just to give myself a good mini-taper for Decker. This coming week is mostly about the 20 miler on Saturday, where we get to explore a little more of the new Freescale course. And the weather has turned colder again, which makes me very happy.

Pre-Race Preparations [Entered Sunday]

Saturday, we met on a somewhat muggy morning for the pre-race Saturday workout. Nice and easy 4 miles on the trail up to the Mopac bridge and back. My friends Jeff and Andy were in town for tomorrow's race, and they joined our crew for the festivities. The running was a joyful occasion, with lots of conversation as we moved up and back within the group to find new folks to talk with. We checked out the new signs along the trail, which are more accurate than they previously were, including some signs on the various footbridges. We averaged about 10:00 miles, so we were good boys and girls.

5x100m striders came after that, and then we did a bunch of Gilbert's balance drills, which I really enjoy. Jeff and Andy just checked that action out, and I think they were amused. The long stretching session afterwards was entertaining as well.

I think everyone is excited about Decker tomorrow, and I hope I have a good race. I'd like to run something with a pace between 8:00 and 8:15/mile, at least as fast as my Motive pace, and possibly faster, since I like the Decker course so much, despite the constant rolling hills.

GymStuff

Today was a slightly abbreviated gym workout. I'm taking an extra day off from running this week for a mini-taper for Decker, so no recovery run today. Went straight to the gym and did 10 minutes of cycling, then basically the full stretching regimen afterwards. I did the modified core workout after that, skipping roman chair lifts and the planks. I did all the rest of the core stuff. For leg weights, I did everything, but I did cut the number of sets of seated calf raises, doing just 2 x 15 reps in only one foot position, not the three positions I normally do. For standing calf raises, I also did just one foot position.

Good amount of exercise, and I don't think I overdid it too much this close to the big race on Sunday. Tomorrow, I'll go back for a quick upper body workout with a little core stuff thrown in just for fun. Maybe some cycling, but I'm okay if I skip that.