On a muggy morning (the last for a while, I hope), we took to the trail on Wednesday for the fartlek tuneup workout. We had a pretty huge pack of runners for a long while this morning, but it eventually wound down to a group of maybe 8-10. Norma and Bonnie were along to show us how to crank up the fartlek intervals when they took the lead around the fourth or fifth 1:00 acceleration on the trail. Still, it was a fun workout, and with all the runners, nobody had to lead more than twice, which is a bonus. We had some good variety in the pace set by the group leaders, and still ended up about like we did the last time I ran fartleks with the group.
For the day, about 7 miles. The fartlek bits were knocked out right at 8:00/mile overall, with the 15 x 1:00 easy jogs mixed in. The actual pace for the fast bits only was 7:01/mile, which is pretty snappy. For the full run, we averaged 8:40/mile, with warmup/cooldown included. I'll score this a as a good workout, and I feel ready for Decker. We knocked out 6 striders once we were done, and I stayed around for the full stretching as well.
Now, just have to get to the starting line for the big race on Sunday!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Slippery Mile Repeats
This morning was very humid, misting, with slick roads on the rolling Zilker mile repeat course. As I was driving down to the workout, I thought of a good number of reasons to turn around the car, and fought off another twinge of desire to bag the workout when I arrived at RunTex before anybody else. No one would ever have known I was there...but I got past that, and figured I'd try the repeats, just to get the work in. My legs and body were still a little goofed up after all the travel and excessive eating over the holidays, and I wasn't sure how I'd do on the roads today. After the really nice mornings in
It was cool to see a bunch of the Chicago folks back in the fold today, including Frank, Marcy, Anne, Brian, Lisa, Jan and Brad, and we even had some of the folks going to Sacramento this weekend (Lilliana and Gilbert) as well as the Dallas people (Venus, Carrie). An eclectic crowd, and a much bigger crowd than usual. Maybe we've gotten to that point that the full complement of AT&T marathon types is now in attendance on a regular basis?
Gilbert sent us off to Zilker for warmups, and we made that without incident. I was among the last folks to get to Zilker, but as I've written before, I need all the warmup time I can get on these early mornings to get my legs rolling for the hard work to come. Drills drilled, and it was time to get going. Kenny was there to get us started, telling us we knew our groups. I sort of called together the people that usually run with me, and we took off, trailing Frank's group by 30-50 yards on each repeat.
The roads were sort of treacherous, especially on the steeper hilly bits, and they were especially annoying when we were trying to push UP those hilly bits. A lot of legpower was wasted as the old feet zipped along on the slick pavement. Anyway, the first mile was modestly paced, but it was still much quicker than it had seemed to me as we were running it. Rachel and I took that as a good sign. The second repeat was up that aforementioned hilly section, and despite that, we picked up the pace on mile two to a surprisingly quick number. Although we kept saying that we were searching for a pace somewhere between mile one and two, we stayed right on the same pace for miles 2-4. Mile 5, as always, was a "run how you feel" situation, and on that one, I chased Brad, who stayed a good bit ahead of me. The other folks who finished all 5 repeats were close enough behind me that I used that psychic push to keep me digging in for that final repeat. I was really surprised when the final numbers came in. The last repeat took a lot out of me, sort of a cumulative effect between the faster pace on number 5 and the total workout. Two minutes rest is pretty short on this type workout, after all.
The numbers were awfully good:
This workout (Zilker mile repeats) is not the workout that I fear the most, but it is, for me, the most physically taxing workout that we do as Gazelles. I grump about Wilke, and I never feel ready for a tempo race, but the mile repeats on the rolling course leave you pretty used up. The cooldown run was with a bunch of folks, including Jan, Brad, Frank, Colleen, Brian and Rachel. We were all glad to be done, that's for sure.
Most of the stretching routine was done at RunTex, finishing under the shed after we got rained on, finally, during our stretch-a-thon. I spent a little time chatting with Lisa and Gilbert, and it was time to go. For the day, I clocked 8.8 miles. That's the last hard work until Decker on Sunday, so from here on, it's all about a mini-taper for my favorite Distance Challenge race. Brad and Jan told me that I'm only allowed one race goal...not my usual range of targets. So, I'll have to choose wisely, I guess. :-)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Massage Torture and Easy Running
Well, today I had probably the most painful massage ever. Normally, when I go see Ron for my semi-monthly tuneups, there's just some modest soreness that he works out, and I'm one of the most trouble free clients he has. Today, though, after the long and moderately hilly run on Saturday and then Wilke yesterday, I had some knots that he found. After he gleefully reported that there were things to break out the heavy artillery on, he dug into a couple of really painful and knotty spots on the quads. I swear that I had to focus on the very act of breathing while he broke up those knots. Ouch!! There was normal soreness elsewhere, except for a fun knot or two in the calves and one at the insertion point of the quad and thigh muscles into the inside of the knee. I know that this was good juju, but it almost makes me break into a cold sweat writing about it and remembering it just now. :-) Still, I recommend regular massage treatments to everyone, and I'll be back at Ron's place after the Decker 20K...
As for the easy running, it was another tour of the 'Hood in the evening darkness, nice and relaxed. Everything felt great, and it was another easy HR effort and some good miles to keep the running machine in fine tune. I'll be running in Mississippi the rest of the week, so that will be interesting. For the night, 6.5 miles, avg pace of 9:20/mile. Gotta go pack...
As for the easy running, it was another tour of the 'Hood in the evening darkness, nice and relaxed. Everything felt great, and it was another easy HR effort and some good miles to keep the running machine in fine tune. I'll be running in Mississippi the rest of the week, so that will be interesting. For the night, 6.5 miles, avg pace of 9:20/mile. Gotta go pack...
Monday, November 20, 2006
W-W-W-W-Wilke!!! (Once More, With Feeling)
It seems as though we just did Wilke a little while ago, but it has indeed been three weeks. Just like last time, Gilbert had us doing Wilke the Monday after a longer long run...last time it was after a 15.5 miler, today after the 18.6 mile tour of the AT&T course on Saturday. This sort of workout schedule builds character, no? :-)
Anyway, it was really great out there this morning. It was around 40 degrees when we started, and it might have warmed to the mid-40's by the time we were done at Wilke, and then maybe warmed a bit more by the time we stretched. This sort of weather makes Wilke a lot more tolerable. The warmup run was really nice and easy , for a change, but of course I was trailing everyone on the warmup, so those in front might have been boogeying right along. I'll never know. We all did the long warmup/cooldown version of Wilke today, and as previously noted, I think that's the only way to do this workout. Plus, after the long run on Saturday, I needed the extra distance to get fully loose and ready to run the hills. Once we reached the parking lot at Robert E. Lee, I hung back to make sure Eric found his way to Wilke, and we had a nice chat as we rolled through those warmup hills. When we got there, we had only missed one drill, so that worked out about right.
Gilbert gathered us up, and it was a much better crowd today than usual for Wilke. Given the long warmup/cooldown, he only called for 7 x Wilke, and 2 Backwards Wilkes. I was thinking we'd bump up to 8 x Wilke with the usual 3 x Backwards, so relatively speaking, I was happy that we'd have this "easier" workout today. Kenny and Gilbert took up positions on the hill so that we couldn't cheat anywhere, and we were off. It was good to see Brad and Jan back with us today, and I ran the first couple of the uphill Wilkes with Brad. My goal was to set a steady pace and to maintain good form throughout the repeats. I succeeded with that, I think. I started out last, and ended up in mid-pack, so I was moving up as the workout progressed. I only made "Wilke Noises" on the very last repeat, and only for a short time. It is always a wonderful thing to be at the top of the mountain after that last repeat! I noticed that Gilbert made Eric his special project for the morning, making sure that he learned the correct method to the madness that is Wilke. Everyone gets his or her turn as the Special Project on this workout, and Gilbert does end up making the workout go better for you as you learn the proper form and speed for the hills.
With "only" two backwards Wilkes on the schedule, I was very happy. Still, I finished that second backwards repeat feeling like my quads were on fire, which is the desired result, I think. It was really great to come down off the mountain for the last time!
A cup or two of Powerade, and it was time to jog back to RunTex. Going back, we could see the trails near Barton Springs better, and so we got to enjoy quieter running on the return trip. For a change, we ran truly easy coming back. We've been guilty of running too fast on the cooldown miles on most workouts, so it was great to see us really letting the body relax off of the more intense work today.
I stretched with Colleen, and that was the day. Right at 8 miles total, and it was an entertaining bit of mileage at that. Tomorrow is easy running, and then I'll be running in the countryside for the rest of the week while travelling. That will be great as long as the deer hunters don't mistake me for a white-tail deer. :-) I'll wear only non-natural colors, so that should keep me safe.
Anyway, it was really great out there this morning. It was around 40 degrees when we started, and it might have warmed to the mid-40's by the time we were done at Wilke, and then maybe warmed a bit more by the time we stretched. This sort of weather makes Wilke a lot more tolerable. The warmup run was really nice and easy , for a change, but of course I was trailing everyone on the warmup, so those in front might have been boogeying right along. I'll never know. We all did the long warmup/cooldown version of Wilke today, and as previously noted, I think that's the only way to do this workout. Plus, after the long run on Saturday, I needed the extra distance to get fully loose and ready to run the hills. Once we reached the parking lot at Robert E. Lee, I hung back to make sure Eric found his way to Wilke, and we had a nice chat as we rolled through those warmup hills. When we got there, we had only missed one drill, so that worked out about right.
Gilbert gathered us up, and it was a much better crowd today than usual for Wilke. Given the long warmup/cooldown, he only called for 7 x Wilke, and 2 Backwards Wilkes. I was thinking we'd bump up to 8 x Wilke with the usual 3 x Backwards, so relatively speaking, I was happy that we'd have this "easier" workout today. Kenny and Gilbert took up positions on the hill so that we couldn't cheat anywhere, and we were off. It was good to see Brad and Jan back with us today, and I ran the first couple of the uphill Wilkes with Brad. My goal was to set a steady pace and to maintain good form throughout the repeats. I succeeded with that, I think. I started out last, and ended up in mid-pack, so I was moving up as the workout progressed. I only made "Wilke Noises" on the very last repeat, and only for a short time. It is always a wonderful thing to be at the top of the mountain after that last repeat! I noticed that Gilbert made Eric his special project for the morning, making sure that he learned the correct method to the madness that is Wilke. Everyone gets his or her turn as the Special Project on this workout, and Gilbert does end up making the workout go better for you as you learn the proper form and speed for the hills.
With "only" two backwards Wilkes on the schedule, I was very happy. Still, I finished that second backwards repeat feeling like my quads were on fire, which is the desired result, I think. It was really great to come down off the mountain for the last time!
A cup or two of Powerade, and it was time to jog back to RunTex. Going back, we could see the trails near Barton Springs better, and so we got to enjoy quieter running on the return trip. For a change, we ran truly easy coming back. We've been guilty of running too fast on the cooldown miles on most workouts, so it was great to see us really letting the body relax off of the more intense work today.
I stretched with Colleen, and that was the day. Right at 8 miles total, and it was an entertaining bit of mileage at that. Tomorrow is easy running, and then I'll be running in the countryside for the rest of the week while travelling. That will be great as long as the deer hunters don't mistake me for a white-tail deer. :-) I'll wear only non-natural colors, so that should keep me safe.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Long AT&T Reconnaissance Run
Today, we turned our scheduled 18 miler into a tour of the new AT&T marathon course. The course was only recently revealed, and this modification of the original new loop course for 2007 is going to be much better than the first version. Remember that the first version had a really awful stretch up and around Balcones Woods, which was truly rough. The new version is much improved.
After a few words of encouragement from the Boss, who's nursing a cold that's hammered him for a week, we were off. It was a pretty nice day, with temps starting in the mid-40's and rising to maybe 60 degrees by the time my group finished the whole 18.6 mile run. That'll work for me. There was a pretty huge pod of people running along at our pace for quite a while, and the first water stop was a lengthy one as a result. So far, so good, at just about 4 miles into the run. That first stretch was the very standard trail/Veterans/Lake Austin Blvd. piece. Except for the steep little hill on Veterans, that stretch should prove to be a nice one on Race Day. Mostly flat to gentle downhill.
After the water stop, the course turned tough. Some rolling hills on Enfield, then the rolling hills on Exposition. They will come early in the race, so the key will be to run smart there, easing back the pace just a little to save precious energy for later in the race. The 15-20 of us strung out a bit on Exposition, but I was running along, minding my own business, I suppose. The pace was solid, and my HR numbers were very good. I figured that's how it is supposed to go on a long training run, so I settled in to enjoy the ride. I was sort of the navigator today for the group at large, so I did some course corrections to those who were running ahead of me ("Right!" "Left!"). The course settled down once we got over the Mopac bridge, and we rolled along to Bull Creek, then Hancock, into the sun, negotiated that hill on Hancock, and then turned north onto Shoal Creek. That's where the next water/Powerade/GU stop was, almost exactly 8 miles into the day. After we took our fluids, a sizeable group peeled off to cut across and rejoin the AT&T course for a 16 mile day. The rest of us motored up Shoal Creek. So far, so good.
It was sort of weird going "backwards" on Shoal Creek after all those years of coming south on that street, but it was a pretty nice stretch today. On Race Day, this should be a nice part of the race. After crossing White Rock Rd., we continued north for a bit, leaving the marathon course for our own cross country journey to rejoin the course a bit further East. We were sort of two different groups by now. There was a lead pack of maybe 6 guys, running just ahead of me, and then the rest of the crew was hanging out with me. Amy had long ago left us to run ahead, but the group that ended up running with me the most was Jennifer, Sue, Eric, Javier, and Diana. I'm pretty sure that's the list. We skirted Lamar Middle School, cut across Burnet, and then went east on Romeria, rejoining the marathon course after Arroyo Seco. This was another nice stretch, flat to gently downhill. A series of turns ensued, and we ended up finally on North Loop, which was familiar turf from last year's course. Again into the sun, we cruised up the fairly modest hills on North Loop, and then enjoyed another downhill/flat stretch across Lamar, down Guadalupe, and into the parking lot at the intramural fields, where Gilbert and Staley were waiting on us with the next water/Powerade/GU stop. Just over 12 miles down, and I was still feeling really good.
The next stretch featured more turns, but not too much in the way of tough terrain. There were some uphill stretches, but they were manageable. The general trend of the course was still downhill. We rolled along, generally enjoying the day, although some fatigue was setting into our legs. HR-wise, I was still cruising, but it was starting to be a long run. Duh. The guys ahead of us made a few false starts or missed turns, but managed to stay more or less on course. The rest of us made it across 51st Street to Red River, and now we were finally heading south for good. All those turns up and down and across made it seem like we were never going to get back downtown, that's for sure. In the marathon, these miles will be pretty late, certainly at least mile 21, so this was turning into a really good training run.
Going down Red River, we passed by where the old MARS music superstore was located, before the inevitable bankruptcy, that is. There's a 24-Hour Fitness place in that location now. The guys ahead made a wrong turn and went down 41st Street, but soon figured out their mistake. We were starting to stretch out a bit, ourselves, as we all went within our own space and found a good finishing pace. Didn't mean to rhyme, there. Honest! Anyway, the last really fun part of the run today was along 38 1/2 Street and 38th Street, where we ran on a dirt trail that tracked alongside 38th Street. It had a few extra hills than the marathon course, but we still had to climb the same elevation in the end. Reaching Duval, we were finally on familiar turf again. At this point, Eric and Sue were officially on their Longest Run Ever, so congratulations to them today! Duval to San Jacinto and through the UT campus, the course was a relaxing downhill trend after the grind up 38th Street. The last water/Powerade/GU stop was at the edge of the UT campus, and after tanking up there, it was time for the "Fast Finish," if we were doing one.
I checked to make sure everyone knew the way home from where we were, and then it was time to finish this thing. I took off through the UT campus, remembering many races and training runs in which I've had to cover those same miles. Sue caught up to me by the end of the UT campus, and from that point on, we pushed each other to a pretty good fast finish. Except for one minor traffic light annoyance crossing MLK, we had a free run from the last water stop, and that helped to keep the pace up. That hill up MLK wasn't as bad as I remembered, but the little bit on Congress after MLK will demand some focus on race day. By now, we were in the last mile of the marathon course, but we had about a mile after the marathon finishing line for our training day. Sue and I cut around the Capitol, weaved around and through some sort of big catering operation on the south side of the Capitol, and enjoyed police barricades blocking all the side streets leading to Congress for the rest of that stretch. Very nice. There's some sort of parade and celebration happening today, but we managed to finish our use of Congress Ave. before the parade caused us any difficulty. I was a little nervous about the freshly powerwashed brick pavers on the sidewalks, but we didn't slip today. Powering home, we zigzagged over across Cesar Chavez, onto the First Street bridge, down the steps on the other side, and finished at the water coolers at Auditorium Shores. Done! Sue and I were once again a pacing team, fresh off of our performance last Sunday at Motive. It's been nice to find a new pacing crew, that's for sure.
The numbers? 9:55, 9:19, 9:14, and 0.74 miles at 8:43/mile pace. 2:29 water/Powerade/GU stop. I started my GU-Day with a half pack I had left over from a previous training run. Now, the hills of Enfield and Exposition at 8:48, 8:52, 8:56, 8:50, and 0.54 miles at 8:44/mile. Another water/Powerade/GU stop, long at 2:54 while we figured out who was going 16 and who was continuing on with us. We had some stoplight issues for the entire next section, which was sort of a drag. But, the splits worked out as 0.67 at 8:58/mile pace, 1 mile at 8:49, 0.86 at 9:02, 1 mile at 8:41, and 0.44 miles at 8:29/mile pace. Another water/Powerade/GU stop, this time 2:40. Then, 8:56, 8:39, 9:03, and 0.9 at 8:33/mile pace. Our last refreshment stop was 2:38 at UT, and then it was fast finish time. Sue and I clipped the finish off in 7:52, 7:46, and .5 miles at 7:30/mile pace. Not bad after a very long run.
Grand totals were 18.6 miles of running. Running pace was 8:47/mile, 9:25/mile with all stop time included. Both numbers were quite good for so long a run. This was a big step up for most of us, with the last continuous long run in the 15.5 mile range, but everyone seemed to do pretty well.
Sue and I caught Amy right at the end, and we did our striders grudgingly. I never really loosened up in the striders, but I felt a bit better having done them. By the time our group got over to the stretching, everyone else had started. So, we established our own little group, and knocked out the full stretching routine. I needed it today, that's for sure. By now, the weather was really perfect. Sunny and in the mid-60's, which felt really good as we stretched.
I hung out and chatted with Brad, Jan and Alex, and even took the time to peruse the latest Gazelles gear. I purchased the nice warmup pants that feature our logo, and before you accuse me of buying every new piece of Gazelles Gear, let the record show that I've been looking for just this sort of item. :-) Gilbert was sporting the extreme Orange Gazelles running hoodie, but I resisted that cool piece of apparel.
What a day! My HR numbers were really great today, so I know I was running at the proper pace, and I had plenty left for a fast finish, even though my legs were sort of dead by the end of the run. From here, it's a much smaller jump up to 20 miles, the next long training run, so we've made it past the biggest hurdle we'll likely face. Still lots of hard work before the marathon, but after seeing the course today, I'm hopeful that with some strategic running, a PR is still within reason.
After a few words of encouragement from the Boss, who's nursing a cold that's hammered him for a week, we were off. It was a pretty nice day, with temps starting in the mid-40's and rising to maybe 60 degrees by the time my group finished the whole 18.6 mile run. That'll work for me. There was a pretty huge pod of people running along at our pace for quite a while, and the first water stop was a lengthy one as a result. So far, so good, at just about 4 miles into the run. That first stretch was the very standard trail/Veterans/Lake Austin Blvd. piece. Except for the steep little hill on Veterans, that stretch should prove to be a nice one on Race Day. Mostly flat to gentle downhill.
After the water stop, the course turned tough. Some rolling hills on Enfield, then the rolling hills on Exposition. They will come early in the race, so the key will be to run smart there, easing back the pace just a little to save precious energy for later in the race. The 15-20 of us strung out a bit on Exposition, but I was running along, minding my own business, I suppose. The pace was solid, and my HR numbers were very good. I figured that's how it is supposed to go on a long training run, so I settled in to enjoy the ride. I was sort of the navigator today for the group at large, so I did some course corrections to those who were running ahead of me ("Right!" "Left!"). The course settled down once we got over the Mopac bridge, and we rolled along to Bull Creek, then Hancock, into the sun, negotiated that hill on Hancock, and then turned north onto Shoal Creek. That's where the next water/Powerade/GU stop was, almost exactly 8 miles into the day. After we took our fluids, a sizeable group peeled off to cut across and rejoin the AT&T course for a 16 mile day. The rest of us motored up Shoal Creek. So far, so good.
It was sort of weird going "backwards" on Shoal Creek after all those years of coming south on that street, but it was a pretty nice stretch today. On Race Day, this should be a nice part of the race. After crossing White Rock Rd., we continued north for a bit, leaving the marathon course for our own cross country journey to rejoin the course a bit further East. We were sort of two different groups by now. There was a lead pack of maybe 6 guys, running just ahead of me, and then the rest of the crew was hanging out with me. Amy had long ago left us to run ahead, but the group that ended up running with me the most was Jennifer, Sue, Eric, Javier, and Diana. I'm pretty sure that's the list. We skirted Lamar Middle School, cut across Burnet, and then went east on Romeria, rejoining the marathon course after Arroyo Seco. This was another nice stretch, flat to gently downhill. A series of turns ensued, and we ended up finally on North Loop, which was familiar turf from last year's course. Again into the sun, we cruised up the fairly modest hills on North Loop, and then enjoyed another downhill/flat stretch across Lamar, down Guadalupe, and into the parking lot at the intramural fields, where Gilbert and Staley were waiting on us with the next water/Powerade/GU stop. Just over 12 miles down, and I was still feeling really good.
The next stretch featured more turns, but not too much in the way of tough terrain. There were some uphill stretches, but they were manageable. The general trend of the course was still downhill. We rolled along, generally enjoying the day, although some fatigue was setting into our legs. HR-wise, I was still cruising, but it was starting to be a long run. Duh. The guys ahead of us made a few false starts or missed turns, but managed to stay more or less on course. The rest of us made it across 51st Street to Red River, and now we were finally heading south for good. All those turns up and down and across made it seem like we were never going to get back downtown, that's for sure. In the marathon, these miles will be pretty late, certainly at least mile 21, so this was turning into a really good training run.
Going down Red River, we passed by where the old MARS music superstore was located, before the inevitable bankruptcy, that is. There's a 24-Hour Fitness place in that location now. The guys ahead made a wrong turn and went down 41st Street, but soon figured out their mistake. We were starting to stretch out a bit, ourselves, as we all went within our own space and found a good finishing pace. Didn't mean to rhyme, there. Honest! Anyway, the last really fun part of the run today was along 38 1/2 Street and 38th Street, where we ran on a dirt trail that tracked alongside 38th Street. It had a few extra hills than the marathon course, but we still had to climb the same elevation in the end. Reaching Duval, we were finally on familiar turf again. At this point, Eric and Sue were officially on their Longest Run Ever, so congratulations to them today! Duval to San Jacinto and through the UT campus, the course was a relaxing downhill trend after the grind up 38th Street. The last water/Powerade/GU stop was at the edge of the UT campus, and after tanking up there, it was time for the "Fast Finish," if we were doing one.
I checked to make sure everyone knew the way home from where we were, and then it was time to finish this thing. I took off through the UT campus, remembering many races and training runs in which I've had to cover those same miles. Sue caught up to me by the end of the UT campus, and from that point on, we pushed each other to a pretty good fast finish. Except for one minor traffic light annoyance crossing MLK, we had a free run from the last water stop, and that helped to keep the pace up. That hill up MLK wasn't as bad as I remembered, but the little bit on Congress after MLK will demand some focus on race day. By now, we were in the last mile of the marathon course, but we had about a mile after the marathon finishing line for our training day. Sue and I cut around the Capitol, weaved around and through some sort of big catering operation on the south side of the Capitol, and enjoyed police barricades blocking all the side streets leading to Congress for the rest of that stretch. Very nice. There's some sort of parade and celebration happening today, but we managed to finish our use of Congress Ave. before the parade caused us any difficulty. I was a little nervous about the freshly powerwashed brick pavers on the sidewalks, but we didn't slip today. Powering home, we zigzagged over across Cesar Chavez, onto the First Street bridge, down the steps on the other side, and finished at the water coolers at Auditorium Shores. Done! Sue and I were once again a pacing team, fresh off of our performance last Sunday at Motive. It's been nice to find a new pacing crew, that's for sure.
The numbers? 9:55, 9:19, 9:14, and 0.74 miles at 8:43/mile pace. 2:29 water/Powerade/GU stop. I started my GU-Day with a half pack I had left over from a previous training run. Now, the hills of Enfield and Exposition at 8:48, 8:52, 8:56, 8:50, and 0.54 miles at 8:44/mile. Another water/Powerade/GU stop, long at 2:54 while we figured out who was going 16 and who was continuing on with us. We had some stoplight issues for the entire next section, which was sort of a drag. But, the splits worked out as 0.67 at 8:58/mile pace, 1 mile at 8:49, 0.86 at 9:02, 1 mile at 8:41, and 0.44 miles at 8:29/mile pace. Another water/Powerade/GU stop, this time 2:40. Then, 8:56, 8:39, 9:03, and 0.9 at 8:33/mile pace. Our last refreshment stop was 2:38 at UT, and then it was fast finish time. Sue and I clipped the finish off in 7:52, 7:46, and .5 miles at 7:30/mile pace. Not bad after a very long run.
Grand totals were 18.6 miles of running. Running pace was 8:47/mile, 9:25/mile with all stop time included. Both numbers were quite good for so long a run. This was a big step up for most of us, with the last continuous long run in the 15.5 mile range, but everyone seemed to do pretty well.
Sue and I caught Amy right at the end, and we did our striders grudgingly. I never really loosened up in the striders, but I felt a bit better having done them. By the time our group got over to the stretching, everyone else had started. So, we established our own little group, and knocked out the full stretching routine. I needed it today, that's for sure. By now, the weather was really perfect. Sunny and in the mid-60's, which felt really good as we stretched.
I hung out and chatted with Brad, Jan and Alex, and even took the time to peruse the latest Gazelles gear. I purchased the nice warmup pants that feature our logo, and before you accuse me of buying every new piece of Gazelles Gear, let the record show that I've been looking for just this sort of item. :-) Gilbert was sporting the extreme Orange Gazelles running hoodie, but I resisted that cool piece of apparel.
What a day! My HR numbers were really great today, so I know I was running at the proper pace, and I had plenty left for a fast finish, even though my legs were sort of dead by the end of the run. From here, it's a much smaller jump up to 20 miles, the next long training run, so we've made it past the biggest hurdle we'll likely face. Still lots of hard work before the marathon, but after seeing the course today, I'm hopeful that with some strategic running, a PR is still within reason.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Solo Speedwork (2000m Repeats)
Yesterday was a rest day, sort of unscheduled, but it just worked out that way. No problem, really. Today, I wanted to simulate the 4x2000m workout that Gilbert had assigned the Wednesday group to do yesterday morning. The Thursday group was doing a tempo race, and I just didn't feel like I needed that so soon after the half marathon. So, I was on my own to figure out how to build the 4x2000m workout here in the 'Hood.
The weather was nice, with the temps this evening in the low 50's, crisp and clear. It was good running weather. To do the workout without a measured course, I dove deep into the feature set of the Garmin, and programmed a 4x2000m workout using the software on the computer, and then uploaded my homemade workout to the watch. It worked like a charm. The geeky stuff went like this: First, 20:00 of easy running. I didn't do drills on my own, but hey, a man can only do so much. At that point, the watch took me through a 2:00 rest (I walked those intervals) and then 1.24 miles of running. Pretty cool stuff, really. These intervals were very slightly longer than the Zilker course (that's 1.2 miles), but at least they were more or less consistent with each other in the 'Hood. After that, the watch embarked me on 15 minutes of easy running time. If you have a Garmin, you really ought to check out the Workout features.
Anyway, the 20 minutes of easy running felt great. Nice and comfortable, and I was warm and ready to run hard when that was done. 2:00 of walking, and it was time to launch into the faster stuff. Now, running in the dark, I just had to guess how hard to run, since I had no one to chase or to be chased by, and all the pace work would have to be done by myself. Boo hoo. I was using a particular loop in the 'Hood, and all the intervals came out almost exactly the same. Pretty cool. I tried to talk myself out of doing that fourth interval while I was slogging through number three, but I persevered, and completed the prescribed 4x2000m after all. The cooldown was slightly abbreviated, at around 12 minutes, but I think that's okay. I got my HR back down to a reasonable number during that post-speedwork jogging, so score that as a victory.
How did it go, you ask? My 4x2000m were 8:44, 8:30, 8:23, and 8:33 on a course that's pretty similar to the Zilker course. My pace average for the 4 repeats was 6:53/mile, which was a huge PR for this workout. It's not precisely apples to apples, but it was some 7 seconds/mile faster than last time, when we only did 3 repeats at Zilker. It was a good workout.
Speedwork is really difficult to do by yourself. At least it is for me. So, I'm pretty stoked about getting the hard work done as a solo artist.
I got some stretching in once I got inside the house, and everything seems to check out A-OK. For the night, 8.9 miles of running. Friday is a day off, but I might get to the gym for some recovery type stuff. Saturday is an 18-19 miler, so that will be a challenge. At least the weather promises to stay perfect for us!
The weather was nice, with the temps this evening in the low 50's, crisp and clear. It was good running weather. To do the workout without a measured course, I dove deep into the feature set of the Garmin, and programmed a 4x2000m workout using the software on the computer, and then uploaded my homemade workout to the watch. It worked like a charm. The geeky stuff went like this: First, 20:00 of easy running. I didn't do drills on my own, but hey, a man can only do so much. At that point, the watch took me through a 2:00 rest (I walked those intervals) and then 1.24 miles of running. Pretty cool stuff, really. These intervals were very slightly longer than the Zilker course (that's 1.2 miles), but at least they were more or less consistent with each other in the 'Hood. After that, the watch embarked me on 15 minutes of easy running time. If you have a Garmin, you really ought to check out the Workout features.
Anyway, the 20 minutes of easy running felt great. Nice and comfortable, and I was warm and ready to run hard when that was done. 2:00 of walking, and it was time to launch into the faster stuff. Now, running in the dark, I just had to guess how hard to run, since I had no one to chase or to be chased by, and all the pace work would have to be done by myself. Boo hoo. I was using a particular loop in the 'Hood, and all the intervals came out almost exactly the same. Pretty cool. I tried to talk myself out of doing that fourth interval while I was slogging through number three, but I persevered, and completed the prescribed 4x2000m after all. The cooldown was slightly abbreviated, at around 12 minutes, but I think that's okay. I got my HR back down to a reasonable number during that post-speedwork jogging, so score that as a victory.
How did it go, you ask? My 4x2000m were 8:44, 8:30, 8:23, and 8:33 on a course that's pretty similar to the Zilker course. My pace average for the 4 repeats was 6:53/mile, which was a huge PR for this workout. It's not precisely apples to apples, but it was some 7 seconds/mile faster than last time, when we only did 3 repeats at Zilker. It was a good workout.
Speedwork is really difficult to do by yourself. At least it is for me. So, I'm pretty stoked about getting the hard work done as a solo artist.
I got some stretching in once I got inside the house, and everything seems to check out A-OK. For the night, 8.9 miles of running. Friday is a day off, but I might get to the gym for some recovery type stuff. Saturday is an 18-19 miler, so that will be a challenge. At least the weather promises to stay perfect for us!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Evening Running
Another Tuesday night, another easy recovery run. I got a massage today, the first in quite a while, and there were a good number of sore spots that Ron found as he worked my legs over. I got a clean bill of running health, though. No knots or anything like that, just some soreness to work out. That's to be expected after a hard half marathon on Sunday. I'm getting back on my regular massage schedule, too, now that the miles are starting to pile up a little. For me, massage is a preventative measure...something to add to the recovery run/gym/stretching maintenance toolkit.
The run tonight was really nice. The weather was muggy, but that promises to change yet again tonight as a windy front comes through. I did a great job on keeping the HR nice and low, and my legs felt great after the first half mile. I ended up with 5.2 miles at 9:08/mile pace. That's just what the doctor ordered, so to speak.
Tomorrow, I get to simulate the 4x2000m repeat workout here in the 'Hood. That won't be as much fun as doing it with the herd, but scheduling will prevent me from getting down there at 5:45 tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I can hook up with some folks on Thursday morning for a recovery run around Town Lake.
The run tonight was really nice. The weather was muggy, but that promises to change yet again tonight as a windy front comes through. I did a great job on keeping the HR nice and low, and my legs felt great after the first half mile. I ended up with 5.2 miles at 9:08/mile pace. That's just what the doctor ordered, so to speak.
Tomorrow, I get to simulate the 4x2000m repeat workout here in the 'Hood. That won't be as much fun as doing it with the herd, but scheduling will prevent me from getting down there at 5:45 tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I can hook up with some folks on Thursday morning for a recovery run around Town Lake.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Circuitry
This morning wasn't quite as nice as yesterday, but conditions were okay for our day-after-the-race workout. The group was fairly small today. Gilbert prescribed the longer warmup/cooldown version of circuits for those who didn't race yesterday, and for the Bison people, we got to do the shorter wup/cdn, along with relaxed circuits. We did this a few weeks ago after the 10 miler, and it actually worked pretty well to get out the stiffness and soreness left over from race day.
The warmup running was nice and easy, and after drills, we settled into the circuits. Nothing new here, but I ran the 400m laps ridiculously slow. The exercises went great, and nothing hurt or tweaked during the workout. The lunges, in particular, worked well to gently stretch out most of the leg.
Once we had done our 3 circuits, Rachel, Amy and I went over to do some other stuff, and at Amy's suggestion, we did planks. I showed them the oblique planks, and we did those (both sides) along with the standard plank on elbows, all for 1:00. By the time we had done those, Kenny brought the rest of the folks over to do long striders on the practice football field there at AHS. We did 5 of those, and they finished off the job of working out the junk in our legs.
The cooldown run was also nice and slow, and we mostly talked about the race and how it went. There were some questions about the Decker 20K, and I touted it as my favorite DC race. I know it's rolling, rolling, rolling, but at least it doesn't have a mountain in it like Motive! The course changes this year should eliminate that never-ending tour of the parking lots at the end of the race, so it should be even better this December.
I hung out after we got done and talked with folks, and got an idea from Gilbert of what sort of long run we'll be doing on Saturday. I need to get up to 18-19 miles this weekend, since I won't be doing a super long run next weekend in Mississippi for Turkey Day Vacation.
For the day, a mere 4.8 miles, but it did the job. Tomorrow is easy running in the 'Hood.
The warmup running was nice and easy, and after drills, we settled into the circuits. Nothing new here, but I ran the 400m laps ridiculously slow. The exercises went great, and nothing hurt or tweaked during the workout. The lunges, in particular, worked well to gently stretch out most of the leg.
Once we had done our 3 circuits, Rachel, Amy and I went over to do some other stuff, and at Amy's suggestion, we did planks. I showed them the oblique planks, and we did those (both sides) along with the standard plank on elbows, all for 1:00. By the time we had done those, Kenny brought the rest of the folks over to do long striders on the practice football field there at AHS. We did 5 of those, and they finished off the job of working out the junk in our legs.
The cooldown run was also nice and slow, and we mostly talked about the race and how it went. There were some questions about the Decker 20K, and I touted it as my favorite DC race. I know it's rolling, rolling, rolling, but at least it doesn't have a mountain in it like Motive! The course changes this year should eliminate that never-ending tour of the parking lots at the end of the race, so it should be even better this December.
I hung out after we got done and talked with folks, and got an idea from Gilbert of what sort of long run we'll be doing on Saturday. I need to get up to 18-19 miles this weekend, since I won't be doing a super long run next weekend in Mississippi for Turkey Day Vacation.
For the day, a mere 4.8 miles, but it did the job. Tomorrow is easy running in the 'Hood.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Motive Bison Half Marathon (The Rest of the Story)
Wow! Where to start? This morning, we had the Motive Bison Half Marathon, a fixture on the Austin running scene for quite a while. I think I've run 5 of these, plus one other time I ran its precursor, the Bison 20K, so for pretty much my entire Austin running career, I've been here in November for this one. Motive has done a great job with it, with great goodies, and plenty of food and stuff in the post-run scene. I've heard rumors that they might finally have to step down as title sponsor due to the vagaries of the high-tech biz, but I hope not. It would be a drag to have this race lose this course, among other things.
Anyway, I woke up to perfect running weather. It was actually in the high 30's on the way to the race, crisp and clear, and warmed to the mid-40's by the start of the race. It probably warmed up to the low 50's by the time I finished, so all things considered, it was pretty great out there. So, as predicted yesterday, I would lose that handy excuse if things didn't go well. :-)
I got there plenty early, found a good parking spot, and then meandered over to the Gazelles tent to meet up with the troops for the warmup jogging and drills. I was glad to see that Frank was feeling better, and seemed ready to run, and my would-be pacer, Alex, was chomping at the bit to lead me through this thing. A good group of Gazelles hit the road, and we ran backwards along the course one mile and then turned around, so that we could: (1) warmup for 2 miles (duh!), and (2) Check out the final mile of the course so we'd know what was coming in the homestretch of the race. It was some super easy jogging, and most of us were all bundled up just to make sure we gently warmed to the task at foot, so to speak. While the others started their drills, I jogged back to my car to get my bag of stuff, so I'd have my post-race stuff nearer at hand. That Gazelles tent has proven to be a really great thing. It's fabulous to have a place to gather before and after the race, and to have the option of dropping clothing there is pretty cool.
Once I got back, I did a few drills, dropped a jacket, then an extra shirt, and finally after doing strides, I was in my race outfit. I wore my lucky red long-sleeve Gazelles shirt (but I'm not superstitious!), and started out with light gloves and a cap. My pocket shorts were loaded up with stuff, two Enervitines, a GU, and gum (love that peppermint!). Race number pinned on, I went with Alex over to the starting corral. In the process, we lost Rachel, Amy, Frank and everybody else except for Sue, who lined up a few feet behind us at the start. In the corral area, I went over my generic race plan once again with Alex, and he seemed ready to execute it with me. For him, even my craziest race goal pace would be a full minute per mile slower than his best at the half marathon, so this should be easy for him, even 3 weeks after his marathon at Chicago.
The national anthem was sung very well, and I think it was done live, although I'm not positive of that. After that rousing sendoff, Evel hit the air horn, and cued up his "Start The Race" mix of nothing but opening riffs of songs. If you had the time and inclination, it would make for a pretty good trivia contest to name all the tunes that appeared. At 4 or 5 seconds each, there would be a lot of songs to cover. Anyway, about a minute after the horn, Alex and I crossed the timing mat, and we were off.
The first mile was the typical jumble of people, and for Alex it was a new experience. He's accustomed to starting closer to the front, where you are running free pretty quickly. Welcome to my world, Alex. :-) We took turns leading the way through the early traffic, and by the time we crossed under 183, we were running free. Not too bad. I did miss the first mile marker, though. Oh, well. Sue caught up with us during mile 2, and we passed the Guv and his running posse during that second mile as well. It was funny, but we did pick it up as we went by him. Didn't mean to, but we did. Pace was solid after the first couple of miles, maybe a shade faster than I had expected, but not horribly so. The third mile was a little too relaxed, and then we settled into the pace of the day after that.
With Alex's suggestion, I grabbed a cup of water at each aid station (except the one at mile 3), and drank some of each cup. I only drank the full cup once, at mile 7 where I took my GU, but that's getting ahead of myself. The aid stations this year weren't as inventive as in years past, and the budget must have been smaller, too, because there was no live music at the water stops. Oh, well.
Mile 4 came along right before the big downhill to the low spot of the course, and we were moving along nicely. I tried to get down that long downhill without too much pounding, and mostly succeeded. Reaching the bottom of the course, I took my first Enervitene at that water stop, and then it was time for the Assault of Rain Tree Mountain. I like what Frank said about this long series of climbs after the race. He said that the first year he ran Motive, it seemed monstrous, and over the years, and after years of Gazelles hillwork, the mountain seems to have leveled out a bit for us. It doesn't seem quite as steep and awful as it did back then. It's still tough, and you have to be smart about it, but it's not a deal breaker, either. If you've done the proper preparation, that is. We stepped on the King/Queen of the Hill timing mat, and commenced climbing. There's a shorter climb, then a short level spot, followed by a tough steep part, about like parts of Mt. Bonnell. I shifted climbing gears as the incline angle changed, and made my way up the hill. Sue was right with me, and Alex would drift ahead of us 20 feet or so, and then he'd ease up so that he could encourage us at times. After that second part of the hill, there was another flat to downhill bit, followed by a longer incline that wasn't quite as steep, but still challenging. Having passed that with flying colors, we got a respite with a downhill section. Finally, we turned the last corner onto Fire Oak, and had that last nasty steep climb to finish off the festivities. That's the one that gets me, usually.
By the way, I was a little saddened that the cello girl wasn't there at that last corner this year. It was a long-standing tradition that she'd be out there, playing the Theme From Rocky (Gonna Fly Now). Let me shed just a single tear, here. Turn away, please, to let me have this moment...
Okay, you can turn back now. I've got it back together. :-)
Still, we reached the water stop at mile 7 in pretty good shape. Our pace was nicely in line with pre-race goals, and judging from HR data, I was doing a good job of running a quality race. Burning the candle, but not burning it up at both ends. Not yet, at least. I took a GU at that water stop, and drank the whole cup of water there. Alex started getting antsy here, wanting to start running harder, but I called him back so that we could negotiate the last section of short hills in the first half mile of mile 8. Once we finished those up, we got back up to speed. I told him that just running normally, we'd speed up enough to get to most of our goals, and when we settled into a nice pace in the 7:45-7:50 region, I asked my pacer to take us through a bunch of miles just like that.
The three of us made our way forward during the stretch from mile 8 to mile 10, passing plenty of folks, and gently picking up the pace. I used HR today to reassure myself that I wasn't blowing my race in those miles, and it was cool to see that my body was handling the stresses of today's activity well. There were a few spectators yelling for us around mile 9, including Patrick, and that helped. I think I snapped at Alex in there somewhere, at mile 11, when we had just clicked off a mile in something like 7:30, and he was yelling "Let's Go!" I stopped trying to calculate what my potential finish time might be, and started just focusing on not letting up. If I was able to keep running at that same pace, I was pretty sure I'd have a great day. And, last year, I gave up 20 seconds or so in mile 13, and I didn't want to repeat that this year.
Rachel caught up with us and passed us in mile 11, but stayed maybe 20 yards ahead. I think Alex used her as a target of opportunity for our last couple of miles. :-) I was struggling mentally during mile 12, losing a tiny bit of focus, but snapped back soon enough. My discomfort was totally musculo-skeletal, and not from breathing agony, and I figured I could handle that. More twists and turns later, we finally reached the final mile of the course. Somewhere in there, maybe in the last half mile, we caught up to Rachel again and passed her. She had me on chip time, but Alex had the fever to pass people, and Rachel just happened to be the next in line. :-) I missed the mile 12 marker, but as we turned into the circular street that was most of mile 13, I knew exactly what we had left, because we had done it in warmups. Sue fell back a yard or two in mile 13, and I just kept trying my best to stay on Alex's pace through that inclined last mile. I was begging inside for that road to end, and I was very happy to see the corner that would take us almost to the end of the race. Someone on the side of the road said, "just a quarter mile to go!" and that helped a bunch.
We flew up the short piece of Riata Drive (Street, Parkway, whatever it was), turned a corner into the Motive campus, and passed Bernard and the Mile 13 marker almost simultaneously. Now, Alex was really excited. He got me sort of stoked for a last hard effort, and I chased him as he accelerated for the last bit of the race. As we turned into the parking lot at Motive for the very last 50 yards, he yelled at me to "race [him] to the line!" and I figured that I had no choice by then, so I obliged him. :-) It felt great to blast across the finish line and be done for the day. After congratulating Alex for his great job today, and trying to catch my breath, we were done. Score! We got our medals, food bag and complementary replenishment liquids, and walked slowly out of the finishing chute.
And what was the final scoring?
Splits: 8:00 (est.), 7:45 (est. due to missing first mile marker), 8:15, 7:44, 7:47 (includes first bit of the mountain climbing), 7:59, 8:06 (the two miles of hilly bits), 7:50, 7:45, 7:45, 7:32, 7:35 (est.), 7:36 (est. due to missed mile marker mile 12), and 0.11 miles in 0:41 (6:13/mile finishing sprint). Total time 1:42:20. Average pace 7:48/mile.
For all practical purposes, achieved even the craziest of pre-race goals for today. Lifetime PR by 1:10, course PR by almost 6 minutes from 2005, and within a few seconds of the predicted McMillan table time of 1:42:15. My last miles were my best, I didn't slow up at the end, and I had a big negative split. First 7 miles at 7:57/mile average pace, last 6.11 miles at 7:39/mile average pace. It was the best possible running day for me at this point in my running life, and I am thankful for all that conspired to get me through the day's efforts. Everything went just about as I had hoped, and it was nice to see that a pre-race plan can be followed and succeed.
Soon enough, the gang had assembled, in various states of fatigue, at the Gazelles tent, and we began the process of putting on warmer clothing now that we were done with the heavy lifting. I convinced some folks to do the cooldown 2 miles with me, but only Alex ended up doing the full 2 miles. Everyone else decided that a mile was plenty, I think. Can't say that I blame them. The cooldown miles were very slow. Very, very slow. But, I felt pretty darned good after I was done with them. The race was still finishing up as we did our mile out and back on the course, so we got to see some friends fight through the last mile.
Once we got back, Richard was there, with his bride and their dogs. Patrick was there, too, with his doggie. It was really great of them to come out and spectate, and I enjoyed seeing Richard again. It's been a couple of months since he's been able to run with us, so we took advantage of the chance to sort of catch up on things. Hopefully, he'll continue to get better, and he can rejoin us in the new year.
Frank and Brian ran a very controlled and relaxed half marathon today, and they looked awfully happy with how they felt. I think there were quite a few PR's or course PR's at least among the Gazelles, and that sort of thing sure makes it easier to forget how uncomfortable you were on Rain Creek, for instance. I know it worked for me. :-) I hung out and talked with almost everyone there in Gazelles World, and then it was finally time to go. Hard to leave when it's so pretty outside, but the Real World was calling.
So, that's the story. Thanks again to Alex for all his help today. It was cool to be just a little like Lance, and enjoy the benefits of a good pacer and taskmaster. It was also interesting and helpful to run alongside Sue today. I've not had much success running a race side by side with someone in the past, at least not for the whole race, and today I found out that it can be a pretty good thing. I kept waiting for her to blast by me, but we just helped each other grind it out today instead.
For the week, I tip over 40 miles for the first time in a while, at 42 miles. Tomorrow is something in the easier/recovery mode, and I then after a couple of days running at home, Thursday will be a return to Gazelle-ing. Cool.
Anyway, I woke up to perfect running weather. It was actually in the high 30's on the way to the race, crisp and clear, and warmed to the mid-40's by the start of the race. It probably warmed up to the low 50's by the time I finished, so all things considered, it was pretty great out there. So, as predicted yesterday, I would lose that handy excuse if things didn't go well. :-)
I got there plenty early, found a good parking spot, and then meandered over to the Gazelles tent to meet up with the troops for the warmup jogging and drills. I was glad to see that Frank was feeling better, and seemed ready to run, and my would-be pacer, Alex, was chomping at the bit to lead me through this thing. A good group of Gazelles hit the road, and we ran backwards along the course one mile and then turned around, so that we could: (1) warmup for 2 miles (duh!), and (2) Check out the final mile of the course so we'd know what was coming in the homestretch of the race. It was some super easy jogging, and most of us were all bundled up just to make sure we gently warmed to the task at foot, so to speak. While the others started their drills, I jogged back to my car to get my bag of stuff, so I'd have my post-race stuff nearer at hand. That Gazelles tent has proven to be a really great thing. It's fabulous to have a place to gather before and after the race, and to have the option of dropping clothing there is pretty cool.
Once I got back, I did a few drills, dropped a jacket, then an extra shirt, and finally after doing strides, I was in my race outfit. I wore my lucky red long-sleeve Gazelles shirt (but I'm not superstitious!), and started out with light gloves and a cap. My pocket shorts were loaded up with stuff, two Enervitines, a GU, and gum (love that peppermint!). Race number pinned on, I went with Alex over to the starting corral. In the process, we lost Rachel, Amy, Frank and everybody else except for Sue, who lined up a few feet behind us at the start. In the corral area, I went over my generic race plan once again with Alex, and he seemed ready to execute it with me. For him, even my craziest race goal pace would be a full minute per mile slower than his best at the half marathon, so this should be easy for him, even 3 weeks after his marathon at Chicago.
The national anthem was sung very well, and I think it was done live, although I'm not positive of that. After that rousing sendoff, Evel hit the air horn, and cued up his "Start The Race" mix of nothing but opening riffs of songs. If you had the time and inclination, it would make for a pretty good trivia contest to name all the tunes that appeared. At 4 or 5 seconds each, there would be a lot of songs to cover. Anyway, about a minute after the horn, Alex and I crossed the timing mat, and we were off.
The first mile was the typical jumble of people, and for Alex it was a new experience. He's accustomed to starting closer to the front, where you are running free pretty quickly. Welcome to my world, Alex. :-) We took turns leading the way through the early traffic, and by the time we crossed under 183, we were running free. Not too bad. I did miss the first mile marker, though. Oh, well. Sue caught up with us during mile 2, and we passed the Guv and his running posse during that second mile as well. It was funny, but we did pick it up as we went by him. Didn't mean to, but we did. Pace was solid after the first couple of miles, maybe a shade faster than I had expected, but not horribly so. The third mile was a little too relaxed, and then we settled into the pace of the day after that.
With Alex's suggestion, I grabbed a cup of water at each aid station (except the one at mile 3), and drank some of each cup. I only drank the full cup once, at mile 7 where I took my GU, but that's getting ahead of myself. The aid stations this year weren't as inventive as in years past, and the budget must have been smaller, too, because there was no live music at the water stops. Oh, well.
Mile 4 came along right before the big downhill to the low spot of the course, and we were moving along nicely. I tried to get down that long downhill without too much pounding, and mostly succeeded. Reaching the bottom of the course, I took my first Enervitene at that water stop, and then it was time for the Assault of Rain Tree Mountain. I like what Frank said about this long series of climbs after the race. He said that the first year he ran Motive, it seemed monstrous, and over the years, and after years of Gazelles hillwork, the mountain seems to have leveled out a bit for us. It doesn't seem quite as steep and awful as it did back then. It's still tough, and you have to be smart about it, but it's not a deal breaker, either. If you've done the proper preparation, that is. We stepped on the King/Queen of the Hill timing mat, and commenced climbing. There's a shorter climb, then a short level spot, followed by a tough steep part, about like parts of Mt. Bonnell. I shifted climbing gears as the incline angle changed, and made my way up the hill. Sue was right with me, and Alex would drift ahead of us 20 feet or so, and then he'd ease up so that he could encourage us at times. After that second part of the hill, there was another flat to downhill bit, followed by a longer incline that wasn't quite as steep, but still challenging. Having passed that with flying colors, we got a respite with a downhill section. Finally, we turned the last corner onto Fire Oak, and had that last nasty steep climb to finish off the festivities. That's the one that gets me, usually.
By the way, I was a little saddened that the cello girl wasn't there at that last corner this year. It was a long-standing tradition that she'd be out there, playing the Theme From Rocky (Gonna Fly Now). Let me shed just a single tear, here. Turn away, please, to let me have this moment...
Okay, you can turn back now. I've got it back together. :-)
Still, we reached the water stop at mile 7 in pretty good shape. Our pace was nicely in line with pre-race goals, and judging from HR data, I was doing a good job of running a quality race. Burning the candle, but not burning it up at both ends. Not yet, at least. I took a GU at that water stop, and drank the whole cup of water there. Alex started getting antsy here, wanting to start running harder, but I called him back so that we could negotiate the last section of short hills in the first half mile of mile 8. Once we finished those up, we got back up to speed. I told him that just running normally, we'd speed up enough to get to most of our goals, and when we settled into a nice pace in the 7:45-7:50 region, I asked my pacer to take us through a bunch of miles just like that.
The three of us made our way forward during the stretch from mile 8 to mile 10, passing plenty of folks, and gently picking up the pace. I used HR today to reassure myself that I wasn't blowing my race in those miles, and it was cool to see that my body was handling the stresses of today's activity well. There were a few spectators yelling for us around mile 9, including Patrick, and that helped. I think I snapped at Alex in there somewhere, at mile 11, when we had just clicked off a mile in something like 7:30, and he was yelling "Let's Go!" I stopped trying to calculate what my potential finish time might be, and started just focusing on not letting up. If I was able to keep running at that same pace, I was pretty sure I'd have a great day. And, last year, I gave up 20 seconds or so in mile 13, and I didn't want to repeat that this year.
Rachel caught up with us and passed us in mile 11, but stayed maybe 20 yards ahead. I think Alex used her as a target of opportunity for our last couple of miles. :-) I was struggling mentally during mile 12, losing a tiny bit of focus, but snapped back soon enough. My discomfort was totally musculo-skeletal, and not from breathing agony, and I figured I could handle that. More twists and turns later, we finally reached the final mile of the course. Somewhere in there, maybe in the last half mile, we caught up to Rachel again and passed her. She had me on chip time, but Alex had the fever to pass people, and Rachel just happened to be the next in line. :-) I missed the mile 12 marker, but as we turned into the circular street that was most of mile 13, I knew exactly what we had left, because we had done it in warmups. Sue fell back a yard or two in mile 13, and I just kept trying my best to stay on Alex's pace through that inclined last mile. I was begging inside for that road to end, and I was very happy to see the corner that would take us almost to the end of the race. Someone on the side of the road said, "just a quarter mile to go!" and that helped a bunch.
We flew up the short piece of Riata Drive (Street, Parkway, whatever it was), turned a corner into the Motive campus, and passed Bernard and the Mile 13 marker almost simultaneously. Now, Alex was really excited. He got me sort of stoked for a last hard effort, and I chased him as he accelerated for the last bit of the race. As we turned into the parking lot at Motive for the very last 50 yards, he yelled at me to "race [him] to the line!" and I figured that I had no choice by then, so I obliged him. :-) It felt great to blast across the finish line and be done for the day. After congratulating Alex for his great job today, and trying to catch my breath, we were done. Score! We got our medals, food bag and complementary replenishment liquids, and walked slowly out of the finishing chute.
And what was the final scoring?
Splits: 8:00 (est.), 7:45 (est. due to missing first mile marker), 8:15, 7:44, 7:47 (includes first bit of the mountain climbing), 7:59, 8:06 (the two miles of hilly bits), 7:50, 7:45, 7:45, 7:32, 7:35 (est.), 7:36 (est. due to missed mile marker mile 12), and 0.11 miles in 0:41 (6:13/mile finishing sprint). Total time 1:42:20. Average pace 7:48/mile.
For all practical purposes, achieved even the craziest of pre-race goals for today. Lifetime PR by 1:10, course PR by almost 6 minutes from 2005, and within a few seconds of the predicted McMillan table time of 1:42:15. My last miles were my best, I didn't slow up at the end, and I had a big negative split. First 7 miles at 7:57/mile average pace, last 6.11 miles at 7:39/mile average pace. It was the best possible running day for me at this point in my running life, and I am thankful for all that conspired to get me through the day's efforts. Everything went just about as I had hoped, and it was nice to see that a pre-race plan can be followed and succeed.
Soon enough, the gang had assembled, in various states of fatigue, at the Gazelles tent, and we began the process of putting on warmer clothing now that we were done with the heavy lifting. I convinced some folks to do the cooldown 2 miles with me, but only Alex ended up doing the full 2 miles. Everyone else decided that a mile was plenty, I think. Can't say that I blame them. The cooldown miles were very slow. Very, very slow. But, I felt pretty darned good after I was done with them. The race was still finishing up as we did our mile out and back on the course, so we got to see some friends fight through the last mile.
Once we got back, Richard was there, with his bride and their dogs. Patrick was there, too, with his doggie. It was really great of them to come out and spectate, and I enjoyed seeing Richard again. It's been a couple of months since he's been able to run with us, so we took advantage of the chance to sort of catch up on things. Hopefully, he'll continue to get better, and he can rejoin us in the new year.
Frank and Brian ran a very controlled and relaxed half marathon today, and they looked awfully happy with how they felt. I think there were quite a few PR's or course PR's at least among the Gazelles, and that sort of thing sure makes it easier to forget how uncomfortable you were on Rain Creek, for instance. I know it worked for me. :-) I hung out and talked with almost everyone there in Gazelles World, and then it was finally time to go. Hard to leave when it's so pretty outside, but the Real World was calling.
So, that's the story. Thanks again to Alex for all his help today. It was cool to be just a little like Lance, and enjoy the benefits of a good pacer and taskmaster. It was also interesting and helpful to run alongside Sue today. I've not had much success running a race side by side with someone in the past, at least not for the whole race, and today I found out that it can be a pretty good thing. I kept waiting for her to blast by me, but we just helped each other grind it out today instead.
For the week, I tip over 40 miles for the first time in a while, at 42 miles. Tomorrow is something in the easier/recovery mode, and I then after a couple of days running at home, Thursday will be a return to Gazelle-ing. Cool.
Motive Bison Half Marathon
The quick report is that I had a really great day at the races. I felt a little like Lance out there, with a pacer out front leading the way for me. Thanks, Alex! Final time 1:42:20, 7:49/mile pace, a huge PR (over a minute), and within a few seconds of the projected McMillan time from the Scenic 10 miler. Negative splits, fast miles late, etc. Sue ran pretty much the whole race with us, and she had a great day, too.
Lots to write about, but I'll do that later on.
Lots to write about, but I'll do that later on.
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Casual Running , Stretching & Motive Race Goals
This morning was simply spectacular. Perfect crisp running weather, bright sunshine, and except for a fairly substantial breeze, it was really nice. Today's workout was the Day-Before-The-Race super easy 30 minute run, strides and stretching. I took advantage of the workout description by starting and finishing dead last in the herd, going super easy. (We ended up with 3.1 miles at 9:42/mile). I felt great out there, and the easy miles loosened my legs up just as designed. Alex wanted to do 10 striders, but we compromised on 8 x striders, and those finished off the deal. Everyone was smiling and happy after a week of indifferent weather, and I think there was a good bit of excitement about tomorrow's race.
Stretching was very nice, too, as we used our new favorite spot in the sunshine. It was cool enough that the sunshine felt great on us as we went through the full stretch-a-thon. Since it was such a short run, there were 4 golden retrievers there at the stretching as guest dogs. They were all better behaved than Ranger, that's for sure. :-) All in all, it was well worth getting out there. Delivering the coolers to Bonnell in time for the first wave of runners means waking up at 6:00am, which isn't awful, but I do get cheated out of an hour's sleep for a workout like today. I did get in a nice nap after arriving at RunTex, though, so it all worked out fine. :-) I didn't sleep through the workout's start in my car, so that was a good thing, too. This time, I woke up and stayed awake when my alarms went off in the car.
As for race goals for tomorrow, I guess I'll lay out a tiered approach. The weather is supposed to be perfect, between 45 and 50 degrees. As always, my primary goals are to run a negative split such that my pace for the first 7 miles is slower than my pace for the last 6.11 miles, and to run my best miles at the end so that I can pass people. Specific time goals are as follows:
Comfortable Goal: 1:48:00, 8:15/mile pace, my course PR from last year. This should be pretty easy to break. Famous last words...
Reasonable Goal: 1:44:52, 8:00/mile pace. Again, should be attainable. This would still be off my lifetime PR, but would be a nice run on this course.
Silver Medal Goal: 1:43:30, 7:52/mile pace. Lifetime PR time from Indy 2006. On this course, this will require some hard running late, but it's within the realm of possibility.
"Is This Chart Right?" Goal: McMillan's tables say 1:42:15, 7:49/mile pace matches my Scenic 10 Miler race effort. The courses aren't equivalent, but I'll keep this in mind, at least if things are going great late in the race.
Alex is thinking about "jogging" along with me, acting as a bodyguard and pacer, since even my wildest dream pace would still be a minute per mile slower than his PR pace for the half. Frank might tag along, too, depending on how his back is feeling.
My race plan is to get through mile 7 at something at or near 8:00/mile pace, regrouping during mile 8 (there's a few nasty little climbs during the first part of mile 8), and then racing the last 5.11 miles to go after overall time goals, depending on how I feel. With this race, the key things are to protect your legs during that long steep downhill during mile 4, and then to get through the long climbs in miles 5, 6, and 7 without totally blowing your race. Once you get to mile 7.5 or so, the course is pretty benign, with only some subtle inclines to mess with your mind late in the race.
Stretching was very nice, too, as we used our new favorite spot in the sunshine. It was cool enough that the sunshine felt great on us as we went through the full stretch-a-thon. Since it was such a short run, there were 4 golden retrievers there at the stretching as guest dogs. They were all better behaved than Ranger, that's for sure. :-) All in all, it was well worth getting out there. Delivering the coolers to Bonnell in time for the first wave of runners means waking up at 6:00am, which isn't awful, but I do get cheated out of an hour's sleep for a workout like today. I did get in a nice nap after arriving at RunTex, though, so it all worked out fine. :-) I didn't sleep through the workout's start in my car, so that was a good thing, too. This time, I woke up and stayed awake when my alarms went off in the car.
As for race goals for tomorrow, I guess I'll lay out a tiered approach. The weather is supposed to be perfect, between 45 and 50 degrees. As always, my primary goals are to run a negative split such that my pace for the first 7 miles is slower than my pace for the last 6.11 miles, and to run my best miles at the end so that I can pass people. Specific time goals are as follows:
Comfortable Goal: 1:48:00, 8:15/mile pace, my course PR from last year. This should be pretty easy to break. Famous last words...
Reasonable Goal: 1:44:52, 8:00/mile pace. Again, should be attainable. This would still be off my lifetime PR, but would be a nice run on this course.
Silver Medal Goal: 1:43:30, 7:52/mile pace. Lifetime PR time from Indy 2006. On this course, this will require some hard running late, but it's within the realm of possibility.
"Is This Chart Right?" Goal: McMillan's tables say 1:42:15, 7:49/mile pace matches my Scenic 10 Miler race effort. The courses aren't equivalent, but I'll keep this in mind, at least if things are going great late in the race.
Alex is thinking about "jogging" along with me, acting as a bodyguard and pacer, since even my wildest dream pace would still be a minute per mile slower than his PR pace for the half. Frank might tag along, too, depending on how his back is feeling.
My race plan is to get through mile 7 at something at or near 8:00/mile pace, regrouping during mile 8 (there's a few nasty little climbs during the first part of mile 8), and then racing the last 5.11 miles to go after overall time goals, depending on how I feel. With this race, the key things are to protect your legs during that long steep downhill during mile 4, and then to get through the long climbs in miles 5, 6, and 7 without totally blowing your race. Once you get to mile 7.5 or so, the course is pretty benign, with only some subtle inclines to mess with your mind late in the race.
Friday, November 10, 2006
OCD?
For the last few weeks, I've embarked upon a silly project that has yielded some measure of satisfaction. You know those cups full of loose change that you've collected in your car ashtray, or random cups on your dresser or a bowl in the kitchen? Well, I've decided that stuff has to go! So, I fill my ashtray (it's a separate entity in my Tahoe) with change from the various stashes in the house every morning, as well as a small stash in my pants pocket, and off I go into the World.
Sure, it's silly when I get to the counter at lunch and whip out $1.37 in change to go with some paper dollars, but it's satisfying to see all those coins disappear from my collection. Methodically, I've knocked out probably $8-10 in change over this time. Geeky? Sure. Am I marking myself as a nerd (again)? Yep. But, I'm enjoying this project.
Probably the best part is that at most places I go, the waitperson behind the counter either cannot or will not count the change, and just trusts me that I've given him or her the amount that I am saying. Sometimes they'll count it, but mostly they just sort out the various coins and dump them in the register. :-)
I'll return to discussions of running tomorrow. I promise not to get going on my fun with the paper shredder and junk mail...at least for now. :-)
Sure, it's silly when I get to the counter at lunch and whip out $1.37 in change to go with some paper dollars, but it's satisfying to see all those coins disappear from my collection. Methodically, I've knocked out probably $8-10 in change over this time. Geeky? Sure. Am I marking myself as a nerd (again)? Yep. But, I'm enjoying this project.
Probably the best part is that at most places I go, the waitperson behind the counter either cannot or will not count the change, and just trusts me that I've given him or her the amount that I am saying. Sometimes they'll count it, but mostly they just sort out the various coins and dump them in the register. :-)
I'll return to discussions of running tomorrow. I promise not to get going on my fun with the paper shredder and junk mail...at least for now. :-)
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Fartleks, The Solo Version
Tonight, I had to get my pre-Bison Half Marathon fartlek workout in, the last speedy stuff until the race on Sunday. Typically, this is run with a crew of between 5 and 10 people, all sharing the pacing work so that you can spend at least half the time just tagging along behind someone else doing the work of setting the pace. You also get some variety in pacing with the crew, and it's generally more fun to work hard with friends. Having said all that, my schedule conspired to prevent joining the gang this morning, so I set out at 7:30pm tonight to do my pre-race work.
I checked things out ahead of time, and I could still wear the iPod, since I could set the Garmin so that it would light up when each fartlek interval stopped and started, and I could notice that at a glance while running in the dark in the 'Hood. Having figured that out, I left the house for the fun and games. 15 minutes of easy warmup ensued, and then it was time to start up the 10 x 2:00 fartlek intervals, with 1:00 easy jogging between the faster bits. On my relatively hilly neighborhood streets, I pushed and pulled through the fartleks, trying to find a faster pace that didn't seem like a dead sprint. I wasn't checking my pace or anything as I went, and HR wasn't an issue on this sort of workout (it could go as high as it wanted), so I was "running how I feel" all night. Hard running, but somewhat in control, or so I tried to make it. I found my way to the water tower trail during interval number 6, and except for one sort of scary step over a dip in the dirt road, no harm was done. I exited the trail on interval number 10, and then spent about 15 minutes cooling down on an easy run.
As it turns out, I ran way harder tonight than usual for this workout. I guess I should have expected that, but it was faster by a bunch than the last time I did the 2:00 version of the fartlek workout. I averaged 7:38/mile on the fartlek section, including the 1:00 recovery segments, which was faster by 20 seconds/mile than the last time. My recovery bits were paced about the same, but I was really blasting most of the first 8 intervals, touching 6:45-6:50/mile pace for the majority of them. Pretty cool. For the night, I scored 7.12 miles at an average of 8:23/mile, which is the fastest I've ever done this workout.
After some balance drill stuff to loosen up, and some stretching in the house, I was done. This was a big confidence booster with the Bison Run coming up, and now I get to chill out for 3 days until Sunday. I'll find out then what this workout and the mile repeats on Monday did or did not tell me about my racing form. Should be interesting!
I checked things out ahead of time, and I could still wear the iPod, since I could set the Garmin so that it would light up when each fartlek interval stopped and started, and I could notice that at a glance while running in the dark in the 'Hood. Having figured that out, I left the house for the fun and games. 15 minutes of easy warmup ensued, and then it was time to start up the 10 x 2:00 fartlek intervals, with 1:00 easy jogging between the faster bits. On my relatively hilly neighborhood streets, I pushed and pulled through the fartleks, trying to find a faster pace that didn't seem like a dead sprint. I wasn't checking my pace or anything as I went, and HR wasn't an issue on this sort of workout (it could go as high as it wanted), so I was "running how I feel" all night. Hard running, but somewhat in control, or so I tried to make it. I found my way to the water tower trail during interval number 6, and except for one sort of scary step over a dip in the dirt road, no harm was done. I exited the trail on interval number 10, and then spent about 15 minutes cooling down on an easy run.
As it turns out, I ran way harder tonight than usual for this workout. I guess I should have expected that, but it was faster by a bunch than the last time I did the 2:00 version of the fartlek workout. I averaged 7:38/mile on the fartlek section, including the 1:00 recovery segments, which was faster by 20 seconds/mile than the last time. My recovery bits were paced about the same, but I was really blasting most of the first 8 intervals, touching 6:45-6:50/mile pace for the majority of them. Pretty cool. For the night, I scored 7.12 miles at an average of 8:23/mile, which is the fastest I've ever done this workout.
After some balance drill stuff to loosen up, and some stretching in the house, I was done. This was a big confidence booster with the Bison Run coming up, and now I get to chill out for 3 days until Sunday. I'll find out then what this workout and the mile repeats on Monday did or did not tell me about my racing form. Should be interesting!
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Election Day & Easy Running
Tonight, I had another nice recovery effort cruising through the 'Hood. I got in some distance on the water tower trail, too. It was light enough to see the dirt trail clearly, and except for trying to spook myself by seeing or hearing things in the woods, it was fun running. I really felt great tonight, and my legs responded well after yesterday's hard running. Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. Just over 5.5 miles at a relaxed 9:05/mile pace. I do these more or less by HR, checking the HR if I feel like I'm starting to press, and adjusting accordingly. It all worked out tonight, that's for sure.
As for Election Day, I did get out and vote, although I'm not a serious political animal. I do think it's interesting that the American People seem to be telling Government that they want changes in the way things are being done. Now we'll see if that's what happens when the new Congresss and state governments take their seats in January. The Guv withstood the multi-party assault on his job here, so for another 4 years (or whatever the governor's term is), we've got a runner in charge of Texas, at least. :-)
As for Election Day, I did get out and vote, although I'm not a serious political animal. I do think it's interesting that the American People seem to be telling Government that they want changes in the way things are being done. Now we'll see if that's what happens when the new Congresss and state governments take their seats in January. The Guv withstood the multi-party assault on his job here, so for another 4 years (or whatever the governor's term is), we've got a runner in charge of Texas, at least. :-)
Monday, November 06, 2006
Mile Repeats, Repeated [Entered 11/7/06]
Monday, on a sort of spooky weather day, it was time again for mile repeats on the rolling Zilker Park road course. As I drove down to RunTex, there was all sorts of lightning flashing in the distance, but it turned out to be a distant thing for the whole morning. Temperature was just okay, as Texas weather changes once again. We got some misty stuff during the repeats, but nothing dangerous. It made for some spooky footing going up the clockwise direction, on the steeper hill, but other than that, no worries. I get ahead of myself, though.
Gilbert told us a funny story about his race experience in Dallas over the weekend, which cannot be repeated here, but we'll just call it a cautionary tale. Then, he sent us off. As usual, I needed the full warmup to get loose, but by the time we had drilled the drills, I felt pretty good. Maybe a little heavy-legged, but nothing debilitating. Most of my long-time pace people weren't there this morning, so I got a whole new group today. As we settled in, it was Nelson, Steve, Norma, Bonnie, and Christina. Gilbert told us to run the first repeat a little easier, and then to find a steady pace. He also wanted us to do one more repeat than the last time, which meant 5 x 1 mile for me.
On our first repeat, we got pulled along a bit chasing down Eric, Braz and Jerry, who started with us, but pulled away. That caused us to go a little quicker than usual for the first mile. Alternating directions, we sped up a little on the second mile. I was trying to find the 7:15 pace that Gilbert suggested to us as the workout progressed, but we just kept running hard instead. Finally, on lap four, I followed others in our group, and we ended up running slightly easier, but still not 7:15. On the last lap, of course, it was "run how you feel" time. By the halfway area of the last repeat, I had settled into second place, behind Norma and just ahead of Nelson, and that's how we finished up. It was a very strong set of mile repeats, and everyone finished pretty much together, even on that last harder one.
My splits were: 7:07, 7:05, 7:04, 7:13, 6:48. It was a PB for 5 repeats at 7:03/mile average pace. The 6:48 wasn't a single lap record, but it was still pretty cool to be strong enough to push the pace down that far at the end of a hard workout. I finished most of the repeats feeling fairly good, recovering pretty quickly, but after that last one, I had to spend a little extra time catching my breath.
It was great to find new recruits for future pace work on the track and on road-based Gazelles workouts. We're now deep enough into the AT&T marathon training that it is becoming clearer who is running like each other, and that will be helpful the next time we hit the track (next Wednesday, for instance). The cooldown run was pleasant, but a little fast. Nelson and I sort of got going a little too quickly. Oops.
Full stretching afterwards, and my day was done. It was a really great day at the running office yet again. I know it can't last, but it's sure great for my mental outlook in the meantime. For the day, 8.8 miles. The rest of the week is basically getting ready for the Bison half marathon on Sunday.
Gilbert told us a funny story about his race experience in Dallas over the weekend, which cannot be repeated here, but we'll just call it a cautionary tale. Then, he sent us off. As usual, I needed the full warmup to get loose, but by the time we had drilled the drills, I felt pretty good. Maybe a little heavy-legged, but nothing debilitating. Most of my long-time pace people weren't there this morning, so I got a whole new group today. As we settled in, it was Nelson, Steve, Norma, Bonnie, and Christina. Gilbert told us to run the first repeat a little easier, and then to find a steady pace. He also wanted us to do one more repeat than the last time, which meant 5 x 1 mile for me.
On our first repeat, we got pulled along a bit chasing down Eric, Braz and Jerry, who started with us, but pulled away. That caused us to go a little quicker than usual for the first mile. Alternating directions, we sped up a little on the second mile. I was trying to find the 7:15 pace that Gilbert suggested to us as the workout progressed, but we just kept running hard instead. Finally, on lap four, I followed others in our group, and we ended up running slightly easier, but still not 7:15. On the last lap, of course, it was "run how you feel" time. By the halfway area of the last repeat, I had settled into second place, behind Norma and just ahead of Nelson, and that's how we finished up. It was a very strong set of mile repeats, and everyone finished pretty much together, even on that last harder one.
My splits were: 7:07, 7:05, 7:04, 7:13, 6:48. It was a PB for 5 repeats at 7:03/mile average pace. The 6:48 wasn't a single lap record, but it was still pretty cool to be strong enough to push the pace down that far at the end of a hard workout. I finished most of the repeats feeling fairly good, recovering pretty quickly, but after that last one, I had to spend a little extra time catching my breath.
It was great to find new recruits for future pace work on the track and on road-based Gazelles workouts. We're now deep enough into the AT&T marathon training that it is becoming clearer who is running like each other, and that will be helpful the next time we hit the track (next Wednesday, for instance). The cooldown run was pleasant, but a little fast. Nelson and I sort of got going a little too quickly. Oops.
Full stretching afterwards, and my day was done. It was a really great day at the running office yet again. I know it can't last, but it's sure great for my mental outlook in the meantime. For the day, 8.8 miles. The rest of the week is basically getting ready for the Bison half marathon on Sunday.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Long running [Entered 11/07/06]
Saturday, it was nice and cool (just cool enough for fun running, about 59 degrees) and mostly overcast while we were out there. We were scheduled for a "recovery" long run, in the 10-13 mile range, and Gilbert had picked an out and back route that covered some of the proposed new AT&T marathon course. Gilbert and Bernard were out of town running in Dallas (they finished 3rd and 5th at The Half around White Rock Lake), so we were sort of self-governed today.
My tribe set out for 13 miles. I had mapped it out via Gmap beforehand, and it looked like right at 13 miles, plus or minus a tenth or two, and that would certainly hit the spot. A fast finish was sort of optional, but I figured if I felt good at the end, I'd push it at least a little bit. It was a fun group that started out, with Frank and Rich joining our crew as "guest runners" from faster groups. Frank is just coming back after his great Chicago marathon run, and Rich is ever so carefully coming back from a stress fracture. The rest of the crew was, hmmmm, Amy (who darted ahead and was not seen until stretching), Rachel, Javier, Colleen, Sue, Jennifer, and other folks who I failed to write down at the time of the run. Darn it. Probably a selection of people from the pool containing Bonnie, Norma, Shannon and Christina. Anyway, we had fun getting started, but as a precaution, we stopped for a quick sip of water at Mopac, since we weren't sure anyone had put out stuff at O. Henry. That turned out to be a valid worry. No goodies at O. Henry, but that was okay coming back since it was just one extra mile to get to Mopac. Going out, it would have been 7 miles to the first water, which would have been a problem, perhaps.
Anyway, the group stretched and contracted from time to time, an amoebic sort of blob, but we managed to make all the proper turns going up Exposition, over 35th to Jackson, up to Bull Creek, and then back down to 35th and over to Shoal Creek, where I had put out Gatorade and water. For the first time ever, our conversation lit upon Josef Mengele, which was strange, but let it be said, dear readers, that it was a brief mention of Herr Mengele. It was in the context of describing therapeutic devices used in orthopaedic repairs. We took a fair stop at the full aid station, and I even took a GU, just for fun. Another group of Gazelles was there, tanking up, when we arrived, including Steve, Bonnie, and some other folks. We exchanged greetings, and they set out ahead of us.
I hung back with Frank and Rich at this point, and pretty much everyone else seemed to pull ahead as we went back to Exposition. We weren't toddling around, but it looked like the group's inertial pace today was different than mine. No worries. I was feeling great, just enjoying the day and the company. It's been far too long since I ran this long with either Rich or Frank, and it was refreshing to get to chat with them as we cruised along. As we passed O. Henry, Rich and I decided to start a fast finish, but Frank stuck to his plan and stayed on normal long run pace, so we pulled away a bit at that point. Rich stayed with me to Mopac, where we grabbed a quick drink of water. The other folks ahead of us did not stop for water there, so they got some extra distance on us. Wily race strategy! :-)
From Mopac, I was left in the dust by Rich, who is obviously feeling a lot better nowadays. My fast finish was respectable for the last few miles, and for the day, it was quite a good run. HR numbers were fantastic, staying in the happy zone for all but the fast finish, essentially, which was a great sign that the fine fall training season is continuing for me.
Splits: 9:52, 8:53, and .33 miles at 8:56/mile pace. 28 second water stop at Mopac. Then, 8:53, 8:49, 8:50, 8:43, and .52 miles at 8:43/mile pace to the Shoal Creek powerade/water/GU stop. 2:27 stop there. Coming back, 9:11, 8:52, 8:36, and .72 at 7:56/mile pace (fast finish started in there somewhere). 1:00 water stop at Mopac. Final fast finish at 7:34, 7:26, and .17 at 7:21/mile pace. Overall, 8:57/mile pace, including all stop time! Pure running pace was 8:39/mile. 12.74 miles.
We knocked out the usual striders and then had a fun stretching session with the rest of the herd. Most of the Chicago people had come out Saturday for 7 to 10 miles, and it was great to see them out there with us.
Good stuff. For the week, right at 35 miles.
My tribe set out for 13 miles. I had mapped it out via Gmap beforehand, and it looked like right at 13 miles, plus or minus a tenth or two, and that would certainly hit the spot. A fast finish was sort of optional, but I figured if I felt good at the end, I'd push it at least a little bit. It was a fun group that started out, with Frank and Rich joining our crew as "guest runners" from faster groups. Frank is just coming back after his great Chicago marathon run, and Rich is ever so carefully coming back from a stress fracture. The rest of the crew was, hmmmm, Amy (who darted ahead and was not seen until stretching), Rachel, Javier, Colleen, Sue, Jennifer, and other folks who I failed to write down at the time of the run. Darn it. Probably a selection of people from the pool containing Bonnie, Norma, Shannon and Christina. Anyway, we had fun getting started, but as a precaution, we stopped for a quick sip of water at Mopac, since we weren't sure anyone had put out stuff at O. Henry. That turned out to be a valid worry. No goodies at O. Henry, but that was okay coming back since it was just one extra mile to get to Mopac. Going out, it would have been 7 miles to the first water, which would have been a problem, perhaps.
Anyway, the group stretched and contracted from time to time, an amoebic sort of blob, but we managed to make all the proper turns going up Exposition, over 35th to Jackson, up to Bull Creek, and then back down to 35th and over to Shoal Creek, where I had put out Gatorade and water. For the first time ever, our conversation lit upon Josef Mengele, which was strange, but let it be said, dear readers, that it was a brief mention of Herr Mengele. It was in the context of describing therapeutic devices used in orthopaedic repairs. We took a fair stop at the full aid station, and I even took a GU, just for fun. Another group of Gazelles was there, tanking up, when we arrived, including Steve, Bonnie, and some other folks. We exchanged greetings, and they set out ahead of us.
I hung back with Frank and Rich at this point, and pretty much everyone else seemed to pull ahead as we went back to Exposition. We weren't toddling around, but it looked like the group's inertial pace today was different than mine. No worries. I was feeling great, just enjoying the day and the company. It's been far too long since I ran this long with either Rich or Frank, and it was refreshing to get to chat with them as we cruised along. As we passed O. Henry, Rich and I decided to start a fast finish, but Frank stuck to his plan and stayed on normal long run pace, so we pulled away a bit at that point. Rich stayed with me to Mopac, where we grabbed a quick drink of water. The other folks ahead of us did not stop for water there, so they got some extra distance on us. Wily race strategy! :-)
From Mopac, I was left in the dust by Rich, who is obviously feeling a lot better nowadays. My fast finish was respectable for the last few miles, and for the day, it was quite a good run. HR numbers were fantastic, staying in the happy zone for all but the fast finish, essentially, which was a great sign that the fine fall training season is continuing for me.
Splits: 9:52, 8:53, and .33 miles at 8:56/mile pace. 28 second water stop at Mopac. Then, 8:53, 8:49, 8:50, 8:43, and .52 miles at 8:43/mile pace to the Shoal Creek powerade/water/GU stop. 2:27 stop there. Coming back, 9:11, 8:52, 8:36, and .72 at 7:56/mile pace (fast finish started in there somewhere). 1:00 water stop at Mopac. Final fast finish at 7:34, 7:26, and .17 at 7:21/mile pace. Overall, 8:57/mile pace, including all stop time! Pure running pace was 8:39/mile. 12.74 miles.
We knocked out the usual striders and then had a fun stretching session with the rest of the herd. Most of the Chicago people had come out Saturday for 7 to 10 miles, and it was great to see them out there with us.
Good stuff. For the week, right at 35 miles.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
'Hood running
Tonight, I took a moonlight cruise through the neighborhood for my Thursday recovery run. It was a nice, crisp evening, with temps dropping through 60 degrees during the run. I kept it relaxed and easy, and ended up with 6.8 miles at just over an hour. Average pace was 9:04/mile, and it felt comfortable. HR numbers were good, so call it a victory.
We've got a shorter long run on Saturday, so I might go out for an easy 4-5 miles either tomorrow or Sunday, just for fun. We'll see.
We've got a shorter long run on Saturday, so I might go out for an easy 4-5 miles either tomorrow or Sunday, just for fun. We'll see.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Tempo Racing
Well, another good day at the running office! This morning, on the way down to the tempo race workout, I tried to talk myself into skipping the workout, running an easy 7 instead, or maybe just doing the tempo at a relaxed 8:00/mile pace. See, for me the demons come before the runs, not always during the run. Anyway, I was fairly beaten up from W-W-W-Wilke on Monday, with some stiff hips, but I was there, out of the car, so I guess I had to run.
Gilbert was in a fun mood, telling all those who skipped Wilke that they had to go and meet him over there for it today while the rest of us ran tempo. The reaction from those folks was priceless. Gilbert said it was a joke, but emphasized that Wilke is a big-time workout, and shouldn't be skipped. The conditions were pretty good today, temps around 57 degrees, with a fine mist coming down sporadically. The nice and easy 1.2 mile warmup came and went, and by the time the drills were done, I was feeling pretty good. A bit heavy-legged, perhaps, but nothing hurt, so I suppose I had to give it a good effort after all. :-)
G gave us some pre-race tips, mainly for some of the newer Gazelles, repeating the old "80% effort" mantra, telling us a negative split was a key, and suggesting 10K pace plus 15 seconds as a good target pace. That's all well and good, but I'll stick with our joke of 4 miles tempo at 5K pace for a mental target. A few more words, and we were off!
Kenny ran with us today, sort of casually, but that still put him out in front of me, along with maybe 5 other people. I settled in with a pack of about 6 runners, tucked in behind Christina and some other folks. I was looking to hit the first mile feeling fairly comfortable, and succeeded with that goal. After we crossed the footbridge there, I eased around the folks I was with, and from that point on, I was running alone.
I did a good job of picking up the pace for mile 2, and hit the turnaround at a time that gave me a shot at my tempo PR of 28:57. As I headed back, I noted that Rachel was within striking distance of me, so I couldn't ease up just yet. After the turnaround, I stopped looking at my watch, going strictly by feel. I pushed when I felt like it, and did some micro-recoveries when needed to get back in order. As I made the corner at Point Neff, I thought I heard footsteps right behind me, so I picked it up a little more. On the footbridge with just a mile left, I glanced back, and saw Rachel close enough that she had a shot at running me down. After all the work invested in the tempo already, I really didn't want to give it up in the homestretch, and I'm not sure how I could have reacted had she caught up with me. So, I pushed even harder.
Now, since I wasn't looking at the watch anymore, I had no idea of how fast we were (or were not) going, but I knew that I felt like I was working hard at it today. It was sure nice to count down those 1/4 mile markers on the trail in that last mile! I wasn't looking back anymore, and I didn't hear those footsteps, but I kept the hammer down all the way to the line just in case. It was with great relief that I crossed the finish line, and then I was very happy to see my time. Rachel came across pretty soon after, and I thanked her for pushing me along. Competition does interesting things to you...
The numbers: 7:30, 7:09, 7:06, 6:44. 28:29, a big 30 second PR, and a full minute faster than 3 weeks ago for this same workout! 7:07/mile average pace. I've also never had a mile split like that 6:44 final mile, either. I guess things are going pretty well for me this fall training season.
After standing around a bit, we formed up for some easy cooldown running, maybe a half mile or so, and then we did striders (I got 5 of them before Gilbert called us over). G was excited about how we all did today, and there were a lot of times within a minute of me, so it was a compact finishing scrum. Maybe some of those folks will join our group on Saturday for the longer run?
For the day, just under 7 miles total. I did the full stretching with Lisa, and that was a day.
Gilbert was in a fun mood, telling all those who skipped Wilke that they had to go and meet him over there for it today while the rest of us ran tempo. The reaction from those folks was priceless. Gilbert said it was a joke, but emphasized that Wilke is a big-time workout, and shouldn't be skipped. The conditions were pretty good today, temps around 57 degrees, with a fine mist coming down sporadically. The nice and easy 1.2 mile warmup came and went, and by the time the drills were done, I was feeling pretty good. A bit heavy-legged, perhaps, but nothing hurt, so I suppose I had to give it a good effort after all. :-)
G gave us some pre-race tips, mainly for some of the newer Gazelles, repeating the old "80% effort" mantra, telling us a negative split was a key, and suggesting 10K pace plus 15 seconds as a good target pace. That's all well and good, but I'll stick with our joke of 4 miles tempo at 5K pace for a mental target. A few more words, and we were off!
Kenny ran with us today, sort of casually, but that still put him out in front of me, along with maybe 5 other people. I settled in with a pack of about 6 runners, tucked in behind Christina and some other folks. I was looking to hit the first mile feeling fairly comfortable, and succeeded with that goal. After we crossed the footbridge there, I eased around the folks I was with, and from that point on, I was running alone.
I did a good job of picking up the pace for mile 2, and hit the turnaround at a time that gave me a shot at my tempo PR of 28:57. As I headed back, I noted that Rachel was within striking distance of me, so I couldn't ease up just yet. After the turnaround, I stopped looking at my watch, going strictly by feel. I pushed when I felt like it, and did some micro-recoveries when needed to get back in order. As I made the corner at Point Neff, I thought I heard footsteps right behind me, so I picked it up a little more. On the footbridge with just a mile left, I glanced back, and saw Rachel close enough that she had a shot at running me down. After all the work invested in the tempo already, I really didn't want to give it up in the homestretch, and I'm not sure how I could have reacted had she caught up with me. So, I pushed even harder.
Now, since I wasn't looking at the watch anymore, I had no idea of how fast we were (or were not) going, but I knew that I felt like I was working hard at it today. It was sure nice to count down those 1/4 mile markers on the trail in that last mile! I wasn't looking back anymore, and I didn't hear those footsteps, but I kept the hammer down all the way to the line just in case. It was with great relief that I crossed the finish line, and then I was very happy to see my time. Rachel came across pretty soon after, and I thanked her for pushing me along. Competition does interesting things to you...
The numbers: 7:30, 7:09, 7:06, 6:44. 28:29, a big 30 second PR, and a full minute faster than 3 weeks ago for this same workout! 7:07/mile average pace. I've also never had a mile split like that 6:44 final mile, either. I guess things are going pretty well for me this fall training season.
After standing around a bit, we formed up for some easy cooldown running, maybe a half mile or so, and then we did striders (I got 5 of them before Gilbert called us over). G was excited about how we all did today, and there were a lot of times within a minute of me, so it was a compact finishing scrum. Maybe some of those folks will join our group on Saturday for the longer run?
For the day, just under 7 miles total. I did the full stretching with Lisa, and that was a day.
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