Weekly Summary [Entered 7/18/07]

The end of the July 4th week featured a couple of workouts and runs. Thursday, the 5th, I got out for a super easy HR run of about 6 miles, at 9:30/mile pace, and hit the gym for a leg/core workout. I cut some of the core stuff a little short (only single sets of the Roman Chair exercises), but did the full leg workout. A rather quiet workout day, but at least I got the work in. That night, I had a guitar ensemble gig in Bastrop, which was a good chance to play all of our repertoire in front of an audience before we did our wedding gig on Saturday. I made a couple of nervous flubs, but it wasn't terrible. All in all, I'm glad we got the chance to play, and we're certainly ready for the wedding now.

Friday, I hit the gym again for a cycle/upper body workout. I did 30 minutes on the cycle, using the model of indoor cycle that they use for the spinning classes (it has more of flywheel setup, which feels more bike-like to me), and then had a good stretching session. Due to time constraints, I went right to the upper body exercises after that, and it went well enough. I continued my negative contraction emphasis and slowed down the exercises, which made them much tougher. Also, on bench, I did the second set at 95 pounds instead of 85, and although I was only able to do 6 reps at 95 lbs., it was pretty cool to finally see the 25 lb. weights on the bar instead of two 10 lb-ers. Aesthetically, it was more pleasing.

Saturday, I made my final long run with the Gazelles for many weeks to come. Due to vacations and other weekend commitments, I'll be missing the next 4 weekend runs. Anyway, Saturday was muggy but not quite as warm, and it ended up raining on us in the last 3 miles. A fairly pleasant weather day, actually. The course was moderately hilly, with a tough middle section featuring a new hill on River Street. I had a good time, running with Renee, Lisa C., Sue and Amy for the most part, along with some other folks. In keeping with my new long run pacing strategy, it was more fun than usual, and we stayed right at 9:15/mile pace for most of the actual running. Renee, Lisa, Sue and I added some extra distance at the end of the run to bulk the run up from 10 miles to just under 13, and it was just fine. The conversation was enjoyable, and we got the work done. We had to stretch a little from the last water stop to the finish, some 6 miles, but with the rain saving us a little, it didn't cause problems. I just did one GU today, at 5 miles, but again, on a somewhat shorter run, that wasn't an issue, either. I scored 12.8 miles, more or less, at something like a 9:18/mile running pace. With water stops, it moved to 9:45/mile. All good, and my HR numbers were solidly in the long run training realm. I'll tag this as a very successful "short" long run.

I led the stretching for the last time until August, after some form drills and bouncing and hopping with Gilbert. A fun day at the running office, for sure.

For the week, I was right at 30 miles (I skipped the second recovery run on Tuesday), and I feel very rested and ready for the week ahead.

Oh, yeah, the wedding gig went very well. It's super easy to play those type events, because no one really cares about the music...they just want to see the bride and groom do their thing and then hit the reception for the wine and champagne. :-) It stormed on us coming back from Georgetown, but that was the only negative for the event. Off to Alabama now!

Tempo Racing & A Gym Visit

Independence Day morning a hardy group gathered at RunTex for the scheduled tempo run/race. Since the trail is still flooded in several key spots on our normal course, Gilbert had us do a longer 2 mile warmup over east on the trail to a spot on Lakeshore Dr. After a quick cup of water, and a final admonishment to run this at something like 10K pace plus 10 seconds/mile (yeah, right!), we were sent off.

The course was a point to point affair, instead of the usual out-and-back, which made for a different experience. There was none of the usual greetings from our fellow Gazelles as we hit the turnaround, and the course was ever so slightly tougher than the usual route. No worries, though. I started out near the back of the pack, and by the end of mile 1, I was running alone just ahead of Courtney (?), who I passed near the Longhorn Dam. At the end of mile 2, near the softball fields, I was feeling okay, and I had been pretty consistent with my pacing. Now it was time for a little negative split action. I saw Karen and her new dog as she was training it going the opposite direction, which was pretty cool. I thought I was dragging during mile 3, but it turns out I was picking it up then. During the last mile, I freely admit that I was digging the 1/4 mile markers as they counted down the race. Again, I thought I was slowing down even more during mile 4, but those feelings were due to my increased speed, not to a bonking event. Vasil was ahead of me then, and I was slowly catching him, but with a half mile to go, he decided to pick it up to stay ahead of me (he told me this later). It worked for both of us, though, and after negotiating the little drops and climbs around the rowing center, I held it together pretty well to the finish just past the Congresss bridge. My time was slightly slower than the last tempo run, but that course is very slightly shorter than this one, so it was a wash. My pace was the same as last time out, 7:40/mile.

Splits: 7:47, 7:49, 7:39, 7:27. 30:42. For the day, 6.35 miles of running action.

We walked from the finish, crossed over Town Lake at First Street, and then the bottom fell out of the sky, giving us the rain that had been hovering in the area. We trundled over to RunTex and huddled under the awning while Gilbert gave us an advance look at Saturday and Monday, and then we got out while the rain was temporarily stopped to knock out 6 striders in the parking lot at the Chamber of Commerce building. Yee haw.

I messed around a while, and then finally got the stretching done. After that, I just hung out for a while and enjoyed the company of my running pals. Lisa and I chatted, and then it was time to get going finally. Let's go to the gym!

I noshed on a PowerBar as I drove up to Gold's, and so I was charged up enough for the work ahead. I changed out of the wet running clothes and put on dry gym clothes, which was actually sort of silly, but what the heck. Core workout was floor exercises and a serious set of planks. I bumped up the time on planks to a full minute each, which was pretty tough, but it's where I need to be with those. Upper body was the full version of that workout, using the negative concentration technique and the new order of exercises as well. Thanks again, Marty, for your suggestions! I went up to 95 lbs on the second set of bench press, as an experiment, and was able to grind out 6 unassisted reps. Amazing how much 10 pounds can seem! Then, dumbbell chest flies, and finally tricep pulldowns. Those tricep extensions were pretty rough, and doing them slowly really increased the "Yowser" factor. Then, it was time for the other side of the body, and I did lat pulldowns and then bicep curls. Curls are way tougher when I do them properly, but I know they're doing some good.

Now, I was done and the rest of July 4th can be all fun and games. Maybe the rain will stop at Wimbledon and they'll actually play some matches today!

Oh, yeah. I was reminded once again, when I heard two tunes from it today on the iPod, that Run DMC's album, "Raising Hell," is just awesome. It never fails to make me smile when I hear those phat beats and actual LP vinyl scratching by JamMaster J. And the rapping over the top of that foundation is just too much fun. It's on my top 30 all-time list of albums. I say, "Check it out!" You be illin'.

GymStuff [Entered 7/4/07]

Tuesday, I failed to do the recovery run. Oh, well. But, I did get to the gym for a nice workout, so I'll give myself a "B minus" for the day. Started with a different cycle, one like the model they use in spinning class, and it did feel smoother than the electronic versions that I've been using. Just 12 minutes on that to get my legs warm. Then, I did a good long stretching routine, which felt great. Core workout was floor exercises and the evil Roman Chair exercises, and I was surprised to find that I wasn't too sore from yesterday's circuit workout. On legs, I really piled it on. I did the full routine, and experimented with emphasizing the negative (lowering) cycle of each repetition, which did make the exercises more difficult. I also incorporated the idea of moving from larger, more complex muscle groups to smaller, more specific ones, and that changed the way some of the exercises felt. All in all, I was pleased with the workout, and no one broke into my car this time, so I'll score this as a success. :-)

Circuits and a New Window

I was sporting my homemade cardboard and plastic (and duct tape) passenger window on the Tahoe as I made my way down to RunTex for the long warmup circuit workout today. It was raining pretty insistently as I drove, so I was happy that my cardboard engineering worked as well as I had hoped. It was quite strange not being able to see out of that side window, though. I never realized how much I use that side mirror until it was not available. :-)

Anyway, with the trail flooded in a bunch of places, we had to modify our long warmup route to Austin High School, going to the north side of the trail at Congress, but I felt really great doing so. Lately, I've been dragging a bit on the warmups, getting to the workout site towards the last of the pack, but today, that was not the case. The drainage canal near Austin High was totally full, so we had to do a long detour around that. Still, it came to 2.35 miles of warmup. Gilbert had us start doing circuits immediately, so we threw ourselves into the routine upon arrival. It was the usual circuit, with two additions. The first was that the guys had to do 6 pullups at the end of each circuit (I scored 4, 6, 5 and 4, which is better than the last time we tried these!). The second was that on each circuit starting with the second one, we were to do one round of medicine ball tosses. Those can start wearing on you a bit by the time you get to the later stages of each set.

After four circuits (400m runs between), Gilbert called us over to the Forum for extra stuff. Today, we just did the 15/30/45 deal and the Arch/Smash set, ending with 2 x 1:00 of "Fast Feet." I did much better on the core stuff today, so the gym work is starting to show its worth. That's very cool. Kudos to Alex and Anne for their stints singing the "Iyo Ngwe" song during Fast Feet! Woo-hoo-hooooooo!

I ran back with Alex, Frank, Vasil and Colleen, but Frank peeled off at Pfluger to do the longer cooldown run today.

I felt strong all day, and that's a relief after my unpleasantness after the 16 miler. No signs of residual dehydration, muscle cramping, or anything like that. Cool.

For the day, just over 5 miles. This week is intentionally lower in mileage to allow our bodies to recover and rebuild, so I'm looking forward to it. Next week will be a challenge while I'm on vacation at the beach, especially the 18 miler, but I hope to be up to that test.

I didn't get a chance to hang around afterwards, as I had to get up to the auto glass place for my 8:15 appointment to get a new passenger side window in the Tahoe. I made it with time to spare, and they were finished well within their estimates, so that was relatively painless. Now I can see again!

Sweet Little Sixteen

Maybe not "sweet," but it was sixteen miles this morning. Due to the vast quantities of water being poured through Mansfield Dam, Town Lake has become a semi-raging river for a change, and it's way over the banks at most of the low-water spots of the trail. I took a look this morning, and it's almost 4 feet deep at the low-water crossing near Austin High, and the rowing center is entirely under water. Amazing, really.

I say all that to report why we started today's jaunt from Austin High School instead of RunTex. From RunTex, we'd have to do some serious cross-country bushwacking to avoid the big water, so Gilbert chose a new starting spot and we revised the planned route. Instead of the Grove loop, which I enjoy very much, we had to go to our backup plan of the out-and-back Shoal Creek run. The Shoal Creek route is pretty easy to administrate with water/Accelerade, but out-and-back courses can be sort of dull sometimes.

Weather was muggy, warm, yadda yadda yadda. The sun came out with about 4 miles to go, but it didn't make it that much worse. After a little talk from Gilbert ("Don't try to impress the other Gazelles this morning, just run nice and easy"), we set out for our journey. There were multiple distance options, but for those of us running Chicago, it was pretty much a 16 mile day. I settled in with Marty, and watched almost everyone else scurry on ahead. I was running based on feel and later by HR, trying to keep the effort level appropriate for a long run. With the heat, I want to finish the long runs feeling sort of strong (today, Gilbert said it was not a "fast finish" run), so I'm perhaps being too cautious. We'll see as the season progresses.

The first few miles saw us getting down to our working pace, and once we turned onto Enfield and its hills, it was time to tank up at Gilbert's rolling water/Accelerade stop. Working with Pete's suggestions about summer hydration, I chugged down 4 total cups (16 oz) of fluids. As warm as it seemed already, and with the hilly terrain that we'd face off and on, it seemed smart. I took off from that water stop with Marty, but fairly soon on Exposition, I found myself running alone through the hills. This was where I switched to HR as a guide for effort. I chose an arbitrary "long run" number, and tried to stay around that HR number for the next 5 miles or more. It would ease up a bit on the hills, but it recovered quickly on the flats and downhills. I caught up with Monique, Laura and others at the overpass at Mopac, and cruised along with them for a bit, until we got passed by Thon and Carrie. I tagged along with those two to the second water/Accelerade stop at Shoal Creek. Tons more fluids, and I experimented today with a gel from the Accelerade/Endurox folks at this stop. I was sweating up a storm, but I felt okay. So far, so good.

Splits miles 1-5: 10:02, 9:07, 0.62 miles at 9:02/mile (2:02 water/Accelerade stop), 9:11, 9:23, and 0.73 miles at 9:23/mile (3:07 water/Accelerade/Accel Gel stop). Running pace was 9:23/mile for actual running, and 10:20/mile with stops.

Now we were on the sneaky uphill trip up Shoal Creek. It seems flat in spots, but it's mostly a gentle uphill. We used to enjoy this feature when the marathon course went down Shoal Creek, but that's changed with the new loop course. C'est la vie. I was alone all the way to the turnaround point on Great Northern, running as a HR slave, but it worked out well for me. I felt fine, and it was probably good to practice running alone since I'm going to have to do my 18 miler in a couple of weeks solo. As the various Gazelle pace pods turned around at 10, 12, or 14 miles, it was a boost to give them all shout-outs as they passed me going back to the finish. I sort of lost my mathematical skillz during this stretch, and so I couldn't decide how much further it was to the turnaround, even though I put the water and Gatorade out this morning before I went down to AHS. Go figure. Anyway, soon I reached Great Northern, and met up with Leslie, Lisa and their crew as they finished their water stop. They dashed off, and I hooked up instead with Eric and Colleen for the return trip. Again, I took onboard 4 cups of fluids, and took my second Accel Gel. Let's go south, shall we?

Splits miles 6-8: 9:15, 9:06, 9:18, 0.22 miles at 8:56/mile. Long 3:52 water/Gatorade/Accel Gel stop. Running pace 9:19/mile, right on target. With water stop time, 10:22/mile.

Heading back, it was a relief to cruise along with Colleen and Eric. I could just follow along with the pace they were setting, and was able to let my mind wander for a while. The course was generally downhill with a few bumps, and except for crossing 2222 and trying to take on a motorcycle and a delivery truck, we had an uneventful run to the Shoal Creek water stop. Rogue was there this time with their own water stop, but we stuck to our own supplies, tanked up, and moved on. It was time to focus on finishing with some strength.

Splits miles 9-12: 9:13, 9:17, 9:02, and 0.22 miles at 8:47/mile. Last water/Accelerade/GU stop was a pedestrian 3:16. Running pace 9:16/mile. With water stop time, 10:18/mile.

Now it was the point in every long run where the conversation becomes more and more muted, reducing itself finally to grunts, finger pointing (directional, not obscene) and single-word answers. The toughest stretch of the run came at the end, with the hills of Exposition and the overpass on 35th Street. I followed Eric and Colleen up and over the overpass, and after saying that I didn't plan on a "fast finish," I guess I was relatively faster through the hills, and once again found myself running alone by the end of the long first hill coming down Exposition. It was no longer a HR run at this point, I was merely trying to stay focused on the job at hand (or foot), aiming to finish in pretty good fashion.

There wasn't a water stop at O. Henry, since we were finishing just a mile and a half further on, but it was still sort of a bummer to pass by there without a quick pick-me-up. Oh, well. I felt like I was crawling by now, without any point of reference except my now warped internal pace clock. (I did not look at my watch after the last Shoal Creek water stop). I resolved to finish this run without walking, to give me something to work towards in the last mile or so. On Lake Austin Blvd., I saw Alberto, an ex-Galloway person, who was race-walking towards my finish line. I found an opening, and crossed over to chat ever so briefly with him before "kicking" to the finish. It felt really good to turn onto Veterans and enjoy that downhill, and except for being a bit disappointed to notice that I wasn't at 16 miles yet (at Mopac), I figured I'd meet my goal. Steve popped out of nowhere at Mopac, where I presume he was grabbing a quick cup of water. He helped me push to the finish, amid all the foot traffic, cars, and folks just checking out the flooding at Town Lake. I kept running until the watch ticked over 16 miles, and was grateful to have finished.

Splits miles 12-16: 9:26, 9:09, 9:03, 8:38, and 0.15 miles at 8:13 (thanks, Steve!). Actual running pace dropped to 9:12/mile, right on target, and with water stop time, I was still okay at 9:59/mile. I came up with 15.94 miles of actual running.

I was feeling quite a bit goofy when I finished, and it took a long time for me (it seemed) to catch my breath at the car. I grabbed the stretching gear and started drinking my Endurox right away. I felt like I was not right, so it was time to get into body-repair mode. It was already just after 8:30am, so I went over and dropped the ropes off, asked Alex to be the StretchMeister this morning, and went over to Gilbert's coolers to get even more fluids. I'm sure I looked ghastly. I know I felt pretty bad.

I did some high-knee form work to get my hips and legs loose (walking versions of those drills), and got several cups of water and Accelerade at the coolers to supplement the Endurox. Even after all that, I was still a little dizzy, so I shuffled back to the stretching area, and eased into the stretching a few exercises behind everyone else. Today, I was mostly the stretching advisor and not the leader. Alex did a great job taking over for me. I moved pretty slowly, drinking all the fluids I had with me, and got about halfway done with the stretching. At that point, I felt like little electrical pulses were shooting through my legs, which I did not take as a good sign. So, up again, and I took a towel with me to the coolers, where I soaked it in icy water to try to bring my temperature down. I also filled up my water bottle again for more hydration.

That series of treatments helped a lot, and I was able to finish up my somewhat abbreviated stretching routine at the same time as the group at large. After 40-50 ounces of post-run fluids and a cold towel, I was starting to feel more human, and even stopped at the Gazelles Store to purchase a very orange singlet to add to my collection. Contrary to folklore, I do not own every piece of Gazelles gear...but I do have a healthy sampling of same. :-)

I chatted for a while with folks as I slowly made my way to the car. I noticed a group of unicycle enthusiasts (6 of them! only in Austin...) trying to get through the deep water at the crossing on their unicycles, which just looked stupid to me. The current was really ripping just 20 feet away in the lake, after all. Oh, well. Darwin's Principles thinning the herd, I guess. :-)

Uneventful drive home, and I was happy to get back. Even after the aggressive hydration during and after the run, I was down 3 pounds when I got back. I'll work on that today and tomorrow, to try and get back up to speed. I feel okay now, but I am certainly tired.

My HR numbers, interestingly enough, were spectacular. Overall HR was right on, and I spent a much larger percentage of my running day in the happy zone than I've done in the past. All that, and the running pace was still well within the "1/2 to 1 and 1/2 minutes slower than MGP" guidelines that we hear about so often. So, except for scaring myself with my dehydration/bonking/whatever, this was quite a good run for me. Next weekend is, mercifully, a "recovery" long run, so we get to back down a few miles. The whole week is a little less intense, as well, which I believe is intentional. It's a chance to rebuild our bodies a bit after a pretty tough week of training.

For the week, I tipped the mileage scales at 42.5 miles. 5 runs, fitful but okay gym compliance, a new core workout tried, and one broken passenger window on the Tahoe. A full and fruitful week. May next week be even happier.

Gym, Cycle, and a little B&E Action

Interesting visit to Gold's today. I got there after lunchtime, parked, and went inside for fun and exercise. The people watching was pretty good today, by the way. Started off with 25 minutes of cycling, and the legs felt great after spinning away for a while. I saw Marty while I was on the bike, and we chatted a bit about how I should organize the various exercises in my routine, specifically the upper body stuff. He gave me some great tips, which I utilized later on in the workout. Anyway, I got in a good stretching session after the cycle, and decided to save the core stuff until I got home, since none of the exercises on my schedule required gear at the gym. I did a quick 3 exercise set of leg weights since I didn't get to the gym yesterday (quad extensions, hamstring curls, seated calf raises). That was mostly just to finish up the leg rehab going into tomorrow's 16 miler. I finished things off with a set of four upper body exercises, using Marty's tip of going from big groups (bench press or seated rows) to smaller muscle groups (tricep pushdowns or bicep curls). I also did the exercises much slower today, and that made them a lot more intense. Who knew? So, I was feeling pretty good about my day until I went out to the parking lot.

I bopped up to my Tahoe, clicked the locks, and noticed a Handi-Wipes container on my floorboard. I thought that was a little weird, and in sort of the same moment, I saw that the center console was wide open, my checkbook was gone from the cubby hole in the dash, and there was a copious amount of car passenger window glass covering the floor and passenger seat. Yep, my car got busted into in the parking lot at Gold's. Broad daylight. Between 1:20 and 2:00pm (when someone reported it who was coming through the parking lot to work out). Well, S#$@! I uttered a handful of colorful descriptions of the jerks who committed this offense against me and my property, tossed my workout bag into the back seat, locked the car (that was actually funny to me....later), and stomped back inside to report the incident. Nothing else had been taken, so I could fix all the problems, but it still honked me off.

I filled out the form that Gold's had (so that they could get their closed circuit camera evidence, if any, to the police), and started calling people. First, car insurance, and got the claim started. Next, to Mary Anne to get the name of our bank contact. She didn't have it, but Sarah found the little refrigerator magnet with the business card on it, and I stopped payment on the checks that were in the book (just four checks, but still...). Next, conversation with the property crimes policeman who interviewed me via phone and gave me a case number. Next, back to the insurance company with the police information. Then, it was time to wait on CSI: Austin. Marty waited around to see if he could do anything for me, which was really nice. Thanks, Marty! I told him he just needed to be at the run on Saturday.

Time passed. I got hooked up with the automotive glass people and made an appointment for Monday morning (that's as early as I could get in), found out that this would be on me, since the cost of the window is far less than our deductible, and went to get a snack. CSI showed up an hour or so later, and I amused myself by chatting with her while she searched for fingerprints (she found two). She said that the two questions that she gets all the time are: (1) Does that fingerprint dust come off my car? (yes), and (2) Where's your Hummer? (only on TV, kids, only on TV).

So, except for really making me angry at the hoodlums that decided to perpetrate this crime, the tale will have a reasonably happy ending. I had some library cards and some store cards (those cards that give you "points" when you swipe them in) in the checkbook, along with a couple of checks that I was going to deposit (birthday and anniversary gift checks). According to my banker, it should be almost impossible for someone to cash those checks, since they'd have to have ID showing they were me, but still...

The moral of this tale? Don't leave anything of value in your vehicle at the gym or at the lake or any site where you leave your vehicle behind while you run/hike/bike/exercise. Lesson learned. Along with the knowledge that all of us are but one thin layer of window glass from having our personal pace and property invaded and violated.

Thursday, and the Running is Easy

Another Thursday, another recovery HR run. It was especially fun to go out tonight because Garmin delivered a new watch to my doorstep this afternoon. Start to finish, it was one week for them to receive my non-functioning watch and to replace it with a new one. I give them big kudos for customer service, once they accepted that it was dead. Under warranty, so it was free as well. So, after getting it all set up with the running log software and setting all the display screens to my preferences, I headed out tonight at dusk for a nice run. The weather seemed cooler and maybe a touch less humid, and I felt really great out there. Legs good, breathing easy, HR nice and low. Recipe for success. I scored a shade over 6 miles, 57 minutes and change, 9:28/mile average pace, and HR a new record for low average for these runs. All in all, I was happy with the workout.

Instead of going to the gym today, I experimented and did the long core workout that my massage guy, Ron Perry, has filmed for DVD. It's a tough little workout, especially when you're sort of trying to figure out exactly what's supposed to be done on each exercise as you're going. I was glad to get a bunch of new ideas for core exercise, and I'll use some of them at the gym the next time I go. This workout is a good standalone effort, too, for days that I don't go to the gym (or as a substitute for the core portion of the gym workouts). Thumbs up, Ron!

Tomorrow, it's a gym/cycle day, and then Saturday, we'll be doing 16 miles or so somewhere in the city limits of Austin. The major rainstorms up and down the lake system that feeds into Town Lake have caused havoc with the water levels along the trail, and our planned route for Saturday is definitely not going to be available. We'll see what happens.

And the Gym...

I visited Gold's around lunchtime, and was rewarded with much better people-watching than yesterday. I truly don't understand how some people can wear short or pants so low in a workout setting. I understand WHY, but not HOW. Do they use double-stick tape to hold the pants/shorts on so there's no wardrobe malfunction? Call me puzzled. :-)

Anyway, I had a good workout again. Good core workout with Roman Chair and floor exercises, although I'm thinking it might be time to experiment with 3 sets of everything at least once a week. I'll ponder that. The upper body stuff went very well in spots (bicep curls, lat pulldowns, incline press), but I was a little off on others (bench press, tricep pulldowns). C'est la vie.

It's all for the greater good, or at least for the better functioning of the running machine, so as always, I can ignore the fluctuations on a daily basis as long as the trendline over a longer time frame is upwards. Ooooh, math and statistics! Such a geek.

Thursday is EZ HR running again and a core/leg weights gym visit. We'll be around 16 miles for the long run on Saturday, but the route is much flatter than the last couple of runs, so it should be a pretty reasonable outing.

Two Laps at a Time

Wednesday's fun with Gazelles was 800m repeats. Weather was the now-usual high humidity, drizzle, rain, drizzle, humidity arc that we've grown to know and love over the last few weeks. The warmup was pleasant, though, and for a change, we could easily get through the low water crossing near Austin High. I guess the water levels have dropped over the last few days in Town Lake?

Drills and then the 50/50/50... strider lap and we were ready to go. Gilbert divided us up into big bunches, and my group was sent out to start at about 3:40/800m. We were to do between 6 and 8 repeats. I led the first repeat, and we nailed the pace. It was gratifying to get back to that level of pacing after struggling a little last week. I drifted back into the pack for numbers 2 and 3, but we nailed those repeats as well. On number 4, I was back up front, and went too fast on the first lap, but managed to dial it back enough that we finished more or less on time. I'm pretty sure it was repeat number 4 that had the heaviest rainfall. I did a better job on number 5. After that, Gilbert told us to stop at 6, and to "drop the bomb" a little on the last repeat. So, Brian took off with Amy, and I trailed along behind them. I almost caught Amy at the very end of the repeat, but I was pleased with my time nonetheless. It was a pretty good set of repeats, and a very consistent set on time.

Stats: 3:39, 3:39, 3:38, 3:38, 3:39, 3:19. Overall average about 3:35, or 7:13/mile. Most of the repeats were at 7:20/mile pace, though.

After the repeats, we were supposed to go over and do 10 pullups. Sadly, I still can't do that many. I'm getting better, and I actually did 4 in a row before giving out this time. Still, that's not great. I did another couple of pullups in another "set," but I was done after 6 total. At least I have something else to shoot for, right? :-)

Colleen and I ran back after that, and had a nice talk. Amazingly, the low water crossing was flooded out by the time we headed back. I guess they've opened up the floodgates upstream again. It's sort of scary how fast water finds a new level when it's unleashed from its barriers. A good stretching session with Colleen, Rachel and Lisa followed that as we recovered from the morning exertions. Another beautiful day with the Gazelles! For the day, about 6.8 total miles. This week looks like it will tip over 40 miles again before dropping a little bit next week. We'll see.

EZ Runnin', Gym and Yardwork

Sounds exciting, huh? Such is a day here at Casa Clement. I eased over to Gold's in the morning for core and leg weights, and that went pretty well. I think most of the mirror-watchers come to the gym later in the day (noon and afternoon), so the people-watching wasn't as good as usual. Sigh...

Time passed, errands were run, and then the intermittent rains eased back enough to leave merely jungle-level humidity and heat for mowing. So, I got out there and did additional heat training and crosstraining pushing the mower around the yard. The steady rains that we've had this summer have caused the grass to grow much heavier and quicker than in past years, which is great for aesthetics, but lousy for the mower guy (me). I managed to get through all that while enjoying a podcast on the iPod, and then commenced rehydrating upon returning to the cool of the house.

Hours passed, and at 8:00pm, I headed out for the EZ HR run in the 'Hood. I bumped up the time and distance a little bit more as I ease up to the full 7 miler. Tonight, I scored 56:54 and just over 6 miles. Average pace was 9:28/mile. My HR was a little higher than I'd like, probably due to all the other activity that preceded the run, but the pace felt nice and easy, so mission accomplished. A little stretching, and my workout day was done. Now, I just have to get enough food and fluids so that I'm ready to go for tomorrow's 800's.

Up, Up and Away (W-W-W-W-Wilke!)

Today was the first Wilke workout of the marathon training season. This is often a milestone, especially for those who are experiencing Wilke for the first time. Gilbert gave some folks the option of doing the shorter warmup version (starting and finishing at the park at Barton Springs), but for veterans he suggested the longer version (start and finish at RunTex). Let the record show that I tried to gin up a good excuse this morning for missing Wilke, and I really did feel a bit out of sorts upon awakening, but couldn't justify skipping...sadly. :-) I was pretty much the last guy on warmups, but that was okay with me. I took my time getting over to Wilke, just to make sure that I gently brought the running machinery up to operating temperatures.

The long-form runners got to skip the drills, so we quickly got the workout details (minimum of 3 x Wilke, max of 7 x Wilke...with a suggestion that marathoners all do 7, then 3 backwards and 3 short uphill striders), and we were sent off. There was a mist in the air that made the asphalt slippery in spots (and later it rained on us for one or two repeats for the full basket of fun), but it was time to go in spite of that.

I just picked a spot about halfway through the pack, and held that spot or moved up a bit in the order as the workout went along. I've more or less learned how to negotiate Wilke after years of trying it, and for me, I just pick a good hill-climbing gear, focus on form as much as possible, and get on up the hill. Gilbert told us this time to start a little further back than usual, and we were to finish quite a ways further up the hill than usual (it was pretty flat for the extra distance both at the top and bottom, but still longer).

I met Courtney today as she introduced herself on one of the downhill recovery jogs, and that was pretty fun, just as a change of pace during the repetitive nature of this event. I joined up with Brian and Brad for repeat number 5, which felt to me like it was going to be my last one. I had made a internal deal with myself at the start to aim for 5 repeats with an option on all 7, depending on how I felt. When I got to 5, and by the time we reached the finish, I was done. I made some Wilke noises on the last couple of repeats, but I held up pretty well, I think. The three backwards Wilkes went really well, with no walking steps, and as usual, that part of the workout makes your quads absolutely turn to deadened putty. It's sort of cool that your quads feel like that, because you know you've really been working, but you also can't wait until you figure out a way to somehow make that feeling go away so you can run home. :-) The cure? Well, our coach has figured that out, too. We finished up with 3 shorter uphill striders, and despite the fact that it seems so contrary to sensibility, your legs really do feel better afterwards. Go figure.

After quite a few cups of replenishment fluids, I fell in with Chris(?), Brad and Brian for the jog back to RunTex. It's amazing, but since we were running back pretty casually, my legs felt better and better as we went along. We all chatted away, and it was a pretty enjoyable journey. The stats for the day are something like 7.8 miles total, and my HR on warmup/cooldown was really in the pocket. For a change.

I got in a full stretching session, which I needed, and I got a chance to hang out with Lisa C. for a while, too. Another Wilke workout in the books, and although I sort of disappointed Gilbert by "only" doing 5xWilkes, I'll call this one a success. Tomorrow is EZ running in the 'Hood and a gym workout. One day at a time. Just one by one...

Mountain Bonnell

This morning was fairly cool for this time of year, maybe 72 degrees, but humid as always. Whatever the conditions, though, it was time for the first Mountain Bonnell run in quite a while. I've either wimped out or begged off of the scattered times during the spring that Bonnell was an "option" on a Scenic run day, mainly because I was nursing a quirky hip flexor. Not much of an excuse, but at the time it made sense to me to be careful. But, today, there was no excuse and I was sort of looking forward to the Assault on Bonnell that would happen during the 7th mile of the run.

Gilbert again stressed that we should be at conversational pace until the "fast finish" from O. Henry water stop. I have no problem with those instructions. And off we went. The faster folks filtered through during the first half mile, and we were mostly settled in by mile one. There was a pack of mostly guys trailing a pack of mostly gals as we all sort of found our pace together, and by the time we reached Lake Austin Blvd., we had formed up a large pack of 12 people or so. Pretty much the same folks as last week's Barton Skyway adventure in the rain, with some new folks. There were several people who I still haven't met (note to self: introduce yourself!), and the rest of the bunch were Brian, Marty, Larry, Leslie, Lisa C., Venus, Renee, and Monique, among others. I settled in about midpack and tried to let others set the early pace, and soon found Gilbert with the first water/Accelerade stop. After a pretty efficient stop there, we were off to the hills. Early pace was about 9:20/mile overall, with a nice slow first mile and then a gentle acceleration over those next couple of miles. So far, so good. I was feeling pretty snappy.

In the hills, I tried to follow folks instead of driving the pace, and that worked out well. There was a surprise extra water stop on Scenic, which we took advantage of, and then we were off again, for the tougher hills ahead and then Mt. Bonnell. All systems were still "Go," and I continued to follow for the most part. It always seems to me that those first couple of hills around Scenic are tougher just because your body is having to reset itself for that type of running. By the time we get to Pecos and beyond, you're sort of in "hill mode," and it all seems to flow a bit easier by then. Anyway, we turned as a large pack onto 35th, then Bonnell Rd., and everyone got just a little quieter as they looked inward for their hill-climbing mantra. As we hit the bottom of Mt. Bonnell, the pack immediately scattered like a Tour d'France mountain climb. Everyone has a different gear for such a steep and long hill, and we all settled into the effort to come. Larry bounced up the hill like it was nothing, and I paired up with Brian as we drove ourselves up the slopes. We caught one of the new folks right near the top of the second rise of the hill, and it was big relief to get to the flat area on top! Except for dodging a stream of much heavier automobile traffic coming down the hill towards us, it was just another Bonnell climb. But, it's always sort of a badge of honor to get on up.

We got a nice long water/Gatorade/GU break at the top, regrouped, and headed into the second half of the journey. In that post-Bonnell euphoria, we sort of glided along for a while. We went over and touched the stop sign at Balcones Woods, and per Gilbert's instructions, we then turned around, came back up to the top, and then went down Bonnell the same way we had ascended. That way is a longer trip, and it's a steeper descent, but it wasn't bad. It's been quite a while since I've come down via Mt. Bonnell Road, after all.

Larry kept me motivated to push up the hill on 35th, and then Brian, Larry and I settled in for the cruise down Exposition. It was nice for a change to have someone else drive the pace machine, and I sort of drifted along those couple of long hills on the way to O. Henry and the final water stop. We chatted away about subjects hither and yon, and it was fun to get to know a little about Larry while we cruised down the street. Sooner than you think, it's time for the O. Henry water stop. We had picked up the pace coming back, but nothing terribly fast just yet. Lisa C. caught up with us at the water stop, and after we had tanked up again (I drank at least 3 cups at each water stop, and 4 at most) including my second and last GU, it was time for whatever flavor of "fast finish" that we could muster.

I wasn't optimistic about how I'd do coming in, but as always figured I'd run how I felt and let the times be what they would be. You usually want at least MGP for the fast finish, and preferably, as Larry suggested, faster than your anticipated MGP, so that you can consider running faster at your marathon than you currently believe. Okey dokey. So, off we went. I told Larry he should go on ahead and run how he felt and let us find our own pace for those last 3 miles, and after some discussion, he took off. I found my legs about a half mile down the road, and was soon running alone, but I could hear Lisa and Brian behind me, I thought, so I kept moving along. Once I hit the trail, it was good to be able to count down the mile markers, just like it was a tempo race. That always helps me endure the last bits of the long runs, especially when we're supposed to be accelerating. I passed a few folks who weren't Gazelles, but with around 1.25 miles to go, I knew there were footsteps that had been dogging my heels for a while, and it had to be someone I knew. I resisted the urge to look back, however, figuring I'd just keep focused forward and see how it played. On the footbridge with a mile to go, though, I couldn't stand it, and peeked back to see Lisa C. cruising along just a few steps behind! She said something like "You caught me," and I just buckled down for the last mile. I kept hearing those footsteps until about a half mile to go, when I must have gotten a little extra distance between us. I wasn't sure if I was still getting faster, but I was pretty sure I wasn't slowing down too much.

Anyway, once you get to Auditorium Shores it's mentally downhill from there. I know I had that serious eye squint going on as I tried to hold my form and pace to the end. I passed a bunch of the faster Gazelles coming towards me as they did their striders, and several of them had encouraging words which helped in those last yards. I was really happy to see the finish, and the long day's work was done.

I chugged a bunch of water at the coolers, and then enjoyed the outdoor shower to pour cool water over my head to try to start my body cooling down. That's a wonderful feeling! I fussed about the first strider or two, but as usual, I felt much smoother and loose once I had done 4 of them. Once again, Larry pushed me enough to make me run them faster, which was the right thing to do. Thanks, Larry!

We found a nice shaded spot for stretching, and a large herd of Gazelles gathered to enjoy the post-run times together. Good stretching session, I thought, and we even had watermelon cut up for us to enjoy once we were done! Excellent.

The stats for the run were 14.2 miles total, 8:50/mile running pace (a little quick, maybe, but my HR numbers were in the long run range), 9:22/mile pace overall with water stop time included. The 3.2 mile fast finish averaged 8:17/mile, which is perfectly fine with me. I've done faster in the past, but this was okay, a good bit faster than MGP. Once again, I lost 4 pounds during the run, even after fairly aggressive hydration during the run and after. It's just startling to see that much of a drop, but it's easy to fix. Hello, water bottle!

For the week, I hit 40 miles running, which is a big jump over the last weeks. However, that's mostly due to 4 miles on the long run and adding the second recovery run. The Monday workout was longer miles than the circuit workout from the week before, too. It's all coming together, and I'm feeling better and better about how things are going. This next week, the mileage increase should be much more modest.

Four In A Row

For the first time in quite a while, I ran for the fourth day in a row tonight. Not a big deal, you say? Maybe not. But, I've come up with excuses not to run that extra day so far this marathon training season, and I failed to find a way to skip it tonight. Those 2 recovery runs each week are important in having some easy miles for both musculo-skeletal and cardiac reasons, and I know this. But, it's easy to not do everything we're supposed to do, too. :-)

For the last three weeks, I've slowly reintegrated the full number of gym visits back into my weekly routine, and equally slowly, I've added first one, then two recovery runs as well. For now, I'm just running for a number of minutes without regard to distance on those runs, which works easiest for me in the 'Hood. I figure by the first week in July, I'll be up to the regulation 7 mile recovery distance, and I can start meeting my friends down at Town Lake for those very entertaining easy runs, full of conversation. For the time being, I'm adding a few minutes a week to the runs.

Tonight, I scored 5.6 miles, just over 52 minutes, a relaxed 9:17/mile pace. HR info was solidly in the happy recovery zone, and it seemed cooler out there this evening. Summer solstice and all, it was maybe 5-10 degrees cooler due to the wave of rain events that we've enjoyed these last couple of days. I'm looking forward to a day off of running tomorrow (but a gym visit, of course), and then it's Mountain Bonnell for the first time in a while.

So far, this has been a very good workout week, and I can tell that I'm starting to climb back into shape. I'm being patient about all of that, but as long as I continue to do all the right things, the running will come back to me.

Gym Visitation

I flaked out yesterday after the 1000's, and didn't go to the gym for core/upper body workout. I did, however, do a complete core workout here at home, using the exercise ball and, uh, the floor. No arms except pushups, but that won't kill me.

Today I got over to Gold's, though, and sailed through a core/leg weights day. I added reps to the floor exercises and back raises, and added 5 seconds to each of the plank exercises, so there's progress there. On the leg weights, I did everything, and even added back in the "Butt Blaster" machine that Gilbert likes us to use. I bumped up the weight on hamstring curls, quad extensions and both kinds of calf raises, too. It was a solid workout.

There was quite a bit less mirror-watching from the assembled masses today, for some reason. The iPod chose a lot of Springsteen, the Beatles and Chicago today for my listening pleasure. Chicago II was the first album I ever bought, back in 1971 or 1972. The double LP cost me something around $6, as I recall. I've still got it. They were my first "favorite group," and I still enjoy their music to this day. I sure do miss vinyl LP's. It was always so cool to look at all the cover artwork, the liner notes, and the song lyrics...certainly it was better than on CD, where you have to break out the magnifying glass (or your eyeglasses) to read all the info. Naturally, it's easier to take care of CDs, but when you'd drop an LP on the turntable for the first time, and the needle touched down at the outer groove with a soft "tick," it was a special moment. At least it was for me. :-)

Two and a Half Laps at a Time

Today we got to have fun with track running, 5 x 1000m at Austin High School. It was pretty tough conditions today, really warm (80 degrees) and steamy (the rain came as I left RunTex), so the workout was a little tougher than it would have been otherwise. We had a good crew that chattered comfortably as we trundled over to the track, and except for having to do some cross-country work to avoid the overflow from the lake (they're running lots of water through all the dams, trying to release gradually all the recent rainwater), it was a pleasant run.

Drills and then the 50/50/50/50... deal, and it was time to go. Rogue was there doing some sort of circuit workout, so the track was pretty crowded. The group to which I was assigned by G was large in number, but we'd string out fairly soon. He wanted us to aim for 4:20-4:30 per 1000m, which he said would be "easy." Um, not so much. I came into the workout thinking 4:30-4:40 per 1000m would be about right. At any rate, off we went, and after a really slow first lap (my fault), I managed to dial it back down so that we finished the first 1000 close to the 4:30 target. 200m of walk/jog, and then Number Two. That one was better paced, but the overall time was about the same as the first. The third was about the same time as well, but when I finished, there were only two other folks with me at the end. The rest of the group had paired up and matched up in smaller pods behind us. That made perfect sense to me. When I got ready to start the fourth repeat, no one else was ready to go, so I just took off on my own. That turned out to be my fastest repeat of the day. I asked Gilbert whether I should do 5 or 6 repeats as I got back to the starting line, and of course he said "For you, six." Okey dokey. Accordingly, I held back just a bit on that fifth repeat, knowing I had to do six. Time was still pretty good, or at least it was consistent. By the time I finished, though, G had changed his mind, and stopped most of us after 5 repeats. I knocked out 3 x 200m striders, and I thought I did pretty well with those. Gilbert did yell across the track on the third one for me to "Butt Kick!," and I tried to respond. After that, I was done.

The times: 4:34, 4:35, 4:33, 4:28, 4:32. Average repeat was 4:32, 7:18/mile pace. I'm slower than I was at this time last year. But, I'll get that back by the end of Chicago training. These paces are about right for a 3:35-3:45 marathon goal, though, according to most sources.

I ran back to RunTex with Vasil and Frank, and had a good time chatting away. I was drenched upon completion, of course, and when I went over to stretch, I think I was actually a little light-headed. I had to rest a bit just to get enough energy to stretch. It was fun to chat with Laura and Colleen, who are leaving Austin for varying amounts of time this weekend.

When I got home, I checked my weight out of curiosity, and I was still down 3 pounds from my morning weight. That's after all the cups of water and Accelerade during the workout and the 12 ounces of Endurox, and even some more Gatorade consumed on the ride to RunTex and then back home. Three pounds in a single speedwork session. Dang. Anyway, it was a good workout, despite my slightly slower times compared to last year. I scored some 7.8 miles total. This will be a bigger mileage week for me, well over 30 miles, so that's cool to bump up over that numerical barrier. Hopefully, I'll get to the gym later on today after I replenish some fluids and mail off the Garmin to RepairWorld.

Watch Repair and EZ Runnin'

In a burst of technological wizardry, I managed to take apart my old Polar HR watch and replace the battery. I eventually got it back together again, and it might even be watertight. We'll see. I will admit that it took three different tries of screwing down the backplate on the watch and reopening it to get all the buttons lined up and ready to rock. I accomplished all of this without using too many "special purpose" words, which was a major victory. While doing all this, I discovered that the little set of tiny screwdrivers that I've had for a while are pretty substandard metal. They all stripped out their tips while I wrestled with the repeated closures of the watch, and that caused some significant angst. Once I switched to my eyeglasses repair kit, though, I found a screwdriver made of stout enough material to accomplish the job, and that made me happier. I took a few minutes to make sure I knew how to do elementary stuff like starting and stopping a run and taking a lap split, and then I was ready to go. Such are the excitements of a day here at Casa Clement. Note to Self: Procure a set of higher-quality micro-screwdrivers. :-)

Garmin finally responded, by the way, and it looks like they are treating my watch repair as a warranty issue, so I'll be sending the 305 to Kansas tomorrow to be rehabbed. Hopefully, it will get back before I leave for a beach vacation in a little less than 3 weeks.

After all that, it was a relief to simply lace up the shoes (clean and dry after the rainy run on Saturday) and head out into the 'Hood for some EZ HR running. I was shooting for 40-50 minutes today, as I slowly ramp up the mileage on my solo running. Once again, the idea was to keep my HR fairly low. I ended up doing just fine. It was weird wearing two watches (harkens back to those days before the 305 Garmin), but it was no big deal. I scored 5.2 miles, 50 minutes, more or less, 9:35/mile. It was a good little run and served the purpose.

Some good tunes today between the gym and tonight's run on the iPod. The coolest thing was that tonight on the easy run, the iPod kicked things off with James Brown ("Please, Please, Please"), and finished up with Little Richard ("Good Golly, Miss Molly"). It just doesn't get any better than that! In between, Frank Zappa(!), Chicago, Creedence, Cream, and even Harry Nilsson ("Me and My Arrow"), among many others. Music is my favorite drug, that's for sure.

Oh, yeah, I fired up the Father's Day waffle iron and used the fancy chocolate chip waffle mix that they gave me with it to whip up some evening sustenance for my kids. They gave it all a big "thumbs up," so that's pretty cool. I'm more of a regular waffle guy, but I must admit that the fancy ones were pretty tasty. Next time, I'll make up the batter from scratch (for which I'll get to use the digital kitchen scale that I also received on Sunday), and I'll report the results of that experiment as they occur. I'm thinking blueberry for me, maybe one plain and one blueberry...we'll see. So many choices in this life.

Vogueing at Gold's (Strike a Pose!)

This morning, I made my Tuesday visit to Gold's for Core and Leg workouts. I noticed a larger than normal preponderance of folks who just couldn't take their eyes off of themselves in the collected mirrors there. I'd just as soon not check myself out while pushing bits of iron around. But there were a bunch of people who really were captivated by their own images. Guess that's why most of the walls are covered in mirrors, huh? :-)

Anyway, I got in 10 minutes of easy cycling to warmup, and then did most of the regular stretching routine to work out any residual junk from yesterday's Secret Hill workout. Legs felt great, for the record. Core stuff went well, even the hated Roman Chair exercises. The leg weights went perfectly well, pushing the muscles around (including a lot of those muscles that are only small contributors to the running motion) for some strength-building while working out residue from previous running efforts. I'm not trying to do any max weight sets for the legs, so doing sets of 15 reps really does more to rehab my legs than tire them out. As much as I like to complain about the gym, it really does help.

I noticed on the Gold's Video channel that Ashlee Simpson has had major plastic surgery in the last year or so, and has that wonderfully natural white blonde hair, as well. I had the iPod on, so fortunately I could not hear her sing...I presume that her voice is much the same as it ever was. Speaking of the iPod, it delivered an excellent mix of tunes this morning, including a new Asylum Street Spankers' song called "Whatever" that I need to learn. It's funny.

Oh, I found my old Garmin 201, and after a year just sitting there, unused, I turned it on today, and it has a full charge! While the 305 is getting repaired/replaced, at least I'll have a modestly accurate accounting of my running mileage. Gosh, I might just put a new battery in my old Polar HR watch while I'm at it, and go back to the two watch scenario for long runs. Technology slave. :-)

The Fool(s) On The Hill

Happy Birthday, Sir Paul! Mr. McCartney is 65 today. Hard to believe, isn't it? I am an unapologetic Beatles fan, and I have long celebrated Paul and John's birthdays by playing Beatles tunes on my various entertainment platforms on those days. While we may not have been "fools" this morning for running the Secret Hill workout, we were indeed on the Hill, so that Beatles tune is most appropriate today. Now, I've got to go and select a new Beatles tune to commit to memory on guitar and voice. Maybe "I've Just Seen A Face."

With apologies to Jan's work with "The Secret" DVD/Multi-platform inspirational/motivational megalith, I finally learned about the Secret...Hill workout this morning. I had either ducked it or missed it the few times it's happened this spring, and as a rule, one is not allowed to know of the specific location of said Secret Hill until and unless you participate in said workout.

My Garmin is officially toast (sigh...), so I ran with "just" a watch this morning. A goodly number of fall marathoners and others took off on time from RunTex for the hilly adventures ahead. Weather was as usual. But, I might becoming accustomed to the heat a little bit. 79 degrees didn't feel as bad today as it did a week ago. Maybe I was just sleepy, instead. :-) We cruised gently over to the parking lots off of Robert E. Lee and did our drills and strides, and Gilbert met us at that point and sent us further on up the road. Since I had no firm idea where we were headed, I trailed along midpack, and was kicked around a little bit by the long hill that climbs up from Rbt. E. Lee to the Secret Street. It was yet another occasion that the newbie might say, "Wow! Great hill workout!" essentially before the workout officially began. I know that's how I was after my first Wilke workout 3 years ago. :-)

Gilbert had parked at the end of the shallower portion of the long hill climb, but before the slight turn onto the steeper climb that finishes the repetition. We grabbed a cup of water/Accelerade, and then G asked us to knock out 4 repeats, no timing involved, with a concentration on form (lifting the knees, strong push off, drive the arms, etc.). After the 4 full repeats, there would be more fun stuff to follow. Okey dokey.

We all jogged down to the start of the repeat, and we were off. I hung out in the middle of the pack, but usually closed on whoever had started ahead of me, so I was happy with my performance. This workout is similar in design to Wilke, with an eye to building leg strength, but the road is kinder for longer. It's a longer hill, nearly twice as long, but I sort of enjoyed the work this morning. The fact that it slants off sort of slaunchwise keeps you from seeing the whole path at once, and that helps you to compartmentalize the repetitions into manageable bite-sized chunks. Sooner than I expected, I was done with my 4 repeats, and launched into the extra stuff. Even though it wasn't about time today, I was happy to note that I actually slightly improved my time up each repeat throughout the morning. I made some "Wilke noises" at the end of number 4, but I did not slow down. Victory!

As at Wilke, we did 3 repeats running backwards up the steeper final bit of the course, with the first backwards running going the full distance (about 50-100 yards, I estimate), and then 2 final backwards running repeats going just up to halfway (which was most of the really steep part of the course). That backwards running absolutely burns your quads! We finished off with 3 shorter uphill striders, which actually helped my legs to rejuvenate a bit. G tortured a few folks by making them run up the hill while he held them back with a harness and elastic band device. I'm thankful that I was not chosen for such special treatment. Rich and Frank had that fun, though, and did good jobs of running against serious resistance.

Some more fluids later, and it was time to head back. I paired up with Amy, and we had a nice chat on the way back, at a reasonable cooldown pace. It was around 2.2 miles each way for warmup/cooldown. My legs felt pretty burnt on the way back, especially my quads, but that's the way they're supposed to feel, so I'll score this as a successful outing.

Endurox and full stretching later, my day was done. I'll guess that we covered around 7.4 miles total today (Frank had a slightly higher number, but I usually just give myself a standard 800 meters for all the drills, and that, along with not counting the weird distance that accumulates while at the water cooler, accounts for most of the difference). Tomorrow is a recovery run, 40-50 minutes, nice and easy, and a gym visit (core/legs). Wednesday is apparently 1000's on the track, which are entirely different than doing them on the Zilker road course. Should be a party!

Happy Father's Day/Birthday

This year is one of those years where Father's Day and my birthday coincide. While my family takes pains to celebrate both occasions, it's still sort of a drag when I get cheated out of one of my big days. :-) At any rate, I'm another year older, along with those two kids who earned me the "father" designation. As always, happy birthday to Barry Manilow and Venus Williams, with whom I share this natal anniversary.

The only downside to this happy day was that it seems that the water that invaded the Garmin has apparently killed it. It will not turn on, and apparently, the battery inside immediately discharges once it's off the charger. I hope that some sort of warranty provision or credit card warranty or guarantee will provide coverage to replace the unit. It worked fabulously well for a year, but almost exactly at the end of that year, it has sprung a leak and died. Boo hoo. I'll have to rely on others for my GPS data now, at least until I get mine fixed/replaced. Gadgets...

Barton Hills Road [Entered 6/17/07]

Saturday, we met, in the rain, for a shorter, but hillier run. We started down at Porter Middle School (now the Ann Richards Academy for girls), and laughed a lot about how it seems that we have rain every time we do this route. It is true that last year, at exactly this same weekend, it rained on us pretty hard starting about halfway through the run.

Anyway, we got ourselves organized, and off we went. I ran with a fairly cohesive pack of maybe 10 folks for most of the day. I just tagged along, chatting with folks, until we got to the first water stop at about mile 3. It was there that I noticed that the formerly bulletproof Garmin 305 had somehow taken on water inside the faceplate. Could this be related to the progressively quieter alert beepers? A perforated speaker cone, perhaps? At any rate, the watch seemed to be working just fine, so I continued on. Our pace was nice and relaxed, in the 9:20-9:30/mile range for most of the run. My HR was in a good range, as well, for the first time in a long while on a long run.

The crew today? Renee, Leslie, Lisa, Marty, Brad, Jan, Brian, Collin, a new girl who I didn't meet, and probably someone else who I'm forgetting now. Brad took off by the first water stop, feeling good, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time running with him this morning.

We were having a lot of fun today, which seems to happen every time the rain comes. Goofiness ensues. We discussed a few vocabulary words ("anathema" and "penultimate") among many other topics. Who knows where this stuff comes from? After 6 miles or so of level to gently downhill running, we hit the streets leading to Wilke for the hilly finish to the run. I was feeling pretty good at that point, and started moving up in the pack a bit. After tanking up with Accelerade and water at the corner of Barton Skyway and Barton Hills Rd., it was time to tackle the "Lollipop" circle at the top of Barton Hills Rd. I always remember this as being tougher than it is, but even without the haze filter of memory, it does have a couple of testing hill climbs. I picked it up a little more in that portion of the trip.

At the water stop for the last time, I saw Alex and Ty briefly, who had apparently gone and done a couple of Wilke repeats just for fun in the middle of the run. Now that's a bit goofy! :-) One more helping of water, and I took off for the finish. I ran alone up Barton Skyway and then was happy to see that the road flattened out one hill before I thought it did (I think 3 hills, and there are really only two hills, but tough ones). A turn onto Lamar, and soon enough, I had found my way back to the finish. The rain had stopped by now, and it was actually pretty cool out for a change this late in the year.

We knocked out striders on the track, and then had a fun stretching session. It was a good running day. To add to the fun, Brian, Frank, Alex, Jan and Brad joined me at Kerbey Lane for a birthday breakfast! I had my first mimosa (who knew they were this good!), and we all were overserved with plates of breakfast delights. Nice! It's little things like that breakfast that remind me how lucky I am to have found the Gazelles, particularly those terrific friends. The running and training is almost secondary to the relationships with those folks who I've come to know so well. We traded lots of funny stories, which shall go unrecorded in these pages. A splendid time was had by all.

The stats, by the way: 10.35 miles, average running pace 9:13/mile (those last 3 miles were in the 8:10-8:40/mile range), and with water stop time, it drifted to 9:52/mile overall. 6 striders. Just right at 28 miles this week, too, since I skipped that one recovery run. Still, I scored a complete set of gym visits, and hit the bike on Friday. Another good week. Monday I get to do the Secret Hill workout, which I'm excited about. After all, you are not allowed to know where the Secret Hill is until you participate in that workout. Cool!