35, 5, and 2

For those that have never seen such a speed limit sign. Set your cruise to 82 and you'll be fine, as much more than that and you'll get pulled over.

80?!?

Hell, with a speed limit that high, it'd only take you 21 days to drive across Texas.

Can't help but notice the skid marks heading off the side of the road, though...

(Nice to see a photo in the blog! Woot!)

The 80 mph speed limit is out in west Texas on both Interstate 10 and 20 west of Kerrville and, I think, Abilene. Kerrville is about 500 miles from the New Mexico state line. It's nice. And your instructions worked well. Thanks!

I appreciate your reply, Michele. As a result, I had to adjust my thought on this set of marathons because the goal of doing 5 marathons in 5 months is not to do PR's (which I did want to do and to always do the best I could), but to finish all of them in an official time. I don't want to have to run 6 to get 5. The Houston Marathon is the iffiest for completing in 6 hours. I'm not at the point of being an 'all-weather' 6 hour marathoner, although an overcast sky is best for me.

That's the good thing about the End of the World Marathon...it's a 9 hour course limit! (Joel is running the Day After the End of the World Marathon on Dec 22). So, I think I'll be in good form for Houston, 3 weeks after the End of the World.

Much obliged.

I'm just a teensy bit envious of both you and Joel running the End of and the After marathons. I'd love to do the halfs. Not a real fan of traveling the week before christmas (crowds). Be sure to post your medal!!

Thanks for stopping by, Dot. Well, if you change your mind, the course in Humble is very near IAH.

**

Friday, I ran 3 miles prior to my annual physical. It was the first mileage since Fort Worth. It was a test on my achilles to see how it felt. I started off jogging and the tendon didn't like it much, so I stopped to walk about 200 yards, then started jogging slower. The tendon was more receptive to this slow build up and by the last mile was broken in and compliant.

2.8 miles, 35.55, 12:51 pace, avg hr of 134, max of 158 during the 3rd mile. It was around 50 degrees and clear skies...even sunny.

1. 13.54, 122 bpm
   
2. 12:55 pace (.8 miles), 133 bpm
   
3. 11:45, 148 bpm
   

I am a big believer in the medication for swelling called Meloxicam. It really does great in my body for muscle damage and, now, tendon damage. I told my PCP about how much it helps reduce the swelling and asked if he'd write me a prescription for it for when I get a minor injury. Not only did he say, "Sure.", he wrote it for a 15 mg pill (I had previously had a 7.5 mg pill) and with 2 refills. I'm a happy camper.

Thanks for stopping by.

As much as I've wanted to keep this blog up, I haven't been able to do that. And not to waste keystrokes on explaining why, I thought I'd take a bit of time to look back and catch up on the times in order to have a complete record of what has occurred since mid-November. There's no reason to read any of these, as I don't remember much about the flavor of the runs. I'll probably write some about the End of the World Marathon and the Houston Marathon, as I roll through the calendar.

Wednesday, November 21, 6.66 miles, 1:27:04, 13:04 pace, 146 bpm, max 162 bpm

1. 12:57, 142 bpm
   
2. 12:47, 145 bpm
   
3. 13:07, 145 bpm
   
4. 13;17, 146 bpm
   
5. 13:16, 143 bpm
   
6. 13:03, 150 bpm
   
7. 13 pace, 149 bpm
   

Saturday, November 24, 8.81 miles, 13:20 pace, 138 bpm avg, 164 max bpm (Saturday after Thanksgiving)

1. 13:52, 123 bpm
   
2. 13:41, 133 bpm
   
3. 14:01, 133 bpm
   
4. 13:49, 136 bpm
   
5. 13:19, 141 bpm
   
6. 12:07, 151 bpm
   
7. 12:53, 144 bpm
   
8. 13:13, 143 bpm
   
9. 12:58 pace, 145 bpm
   

weird splits.

Thursday, November 29, 8.07 miles, 1:42:04, 12:39 pace, 152 bpm avg, 166 max bpm.

Had to be cool for me to be able to go out at that bpm.

1. 12.38, 142 bpm
   
2. 12:39, 151 bpm
   
3. 12:42, 154 bpm
   
4. 13:03, 153 bpm
   
5. 12:57, 151 bpm
   
6. 12:29, 153 bpm
   
7. 12:28, 154 bpm
   
8. 12:13, 158 bpm
   

Monday, December 3, 6.71 miles, 1:26:42, 12:54 pace, 145 bpm, 162 max bpm

1. 12:44, 137 bpm
   
2. 12:33, 146 bpm
   
3. 13, 146 bpm
   
4. 13:02, 146 bpm
   
5. 13:20, 143 bpm
   
6. 12:52, 148 bpm
   
7. 12:46 pace, 146 bpm
   

Thursday, December 6, 8.78 miles, 1:58:34, 13:30 pace, 141 avg bpm, 160 bpm max

1. 13:22, 130 bpm
   
2. 13:28, 139 bpm
   
3. 13:46, 139 bpm
   
4. 14, 140 bpm
   
5. 13:55, 138 bpm
   
6. 13:24, 140 bpm
   
7. 13:22, 144 bpm
   
8. 13:13, 147 bpm
   
9. 12:47 pace, 151 bpm
   

I'm sure I wasn't pleased with this run and hoped for a bit more aerobic fitness in the next few runs. Little did I know that it would be 8 days before my next run.

Now that Houston is done, what are you setting your sites on?

ounce wrote:Little did I know that it would be 8 days before my next run.

Not sure what to make of those pace and HR postings, but you have a great knack for foreshadowing.

dot520 wrote:Now that Houston is done, what are you setting your sites on?

Hey, Dot. Another round of weight loss and work on this concept called 'speed.' Maybe you've heard about it? I have the Texas Independent Relay to do during the latter part of the March, but no marathons until the next Houston.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:Little did I know that it would be 8 days before my next run.

Not sure what to make of those pace and HR postings, but you have a great knack for foreshadowing.

Howdy, Mark. The pace and HR postings are a result of not being able to be consistent with running, due to conditions out of my control. The knack is short lived, unfortunately.

Well, I remember the thought process for this run. It was 1 week before the Friday, Dec 21, End of the World Marathon and it had been the Fort Worth Marathon on November 9 was the last long run that I had done. So, do I run a typical less than 10 mile run because it's one week before a marathon or do I see how I do with a mid-range run to remind my body on what a run longer than 9 miles feels like?

Option B. Friday, December 14, 13.9 miles, 3:09:45, 13:39 pace, 147 avg bpm and 169 max bpm.

1. 14:02, 130 bpm
   
2. 13:34, 137 bpm
   
3. 13:47, 140 bpm
   
4. 13:37, 145 bpm
   
5. 13:30, 144 bpm
   
6. 13:24, 142 bpm
   
7. 13:34, 144 bpm
   
8. 13:57, 146 bpm
   
9. 13:27, 150 bpm
   
10. 13:35, 152 bpm
    
11. 13:26, 156 bpm
    
12. 13:55, 156 bpm
    
13. 13:50, 159 bpm
    
14. 13:21 pace, 163 bpm
    

The HR slowly rose, as the pace fluctuated. I was more interested as to how my body held up because the End of the World Marathon had an 8 hour cutoff. My own cutoff for the race was sooner than that, but I thought I could do it. The body held up well, albeit at a slow pace and a pace that won't work for Houston.

Because of what went on in the 4th quarter, I had gained 20 pounds due to not being in my regular form of life. After the 2012 Houston, where I had PR and had lost 30 pounds, I read a story of a retired doctor I know that said for every 10 pounds you lose, you get faster by 9 minutes. I had lost 30 pounds and I had run 27 minutes faster than the 2011 Houston, which is spot on to his ratio.

Monday, December 17, 5.66 miles, 1:20:04, 14:08 pace, 140 avg bpm, 160 max bpm during mile 5.

1. 13:01, 133 bpm
   
2. 12:58, 142 bpm
   
3. 13:12, 141 bpm
   
4. 13:05, 143 bpm
   
5. 13:01, 147 bpm
   

Friday, December 21, The End of the World Marathon, Humble, Texas. 30 degrees at the start. a 4 loop course that ended up totalling much more than 26.2 miles. I believe they announced it was 26.5 miles, before the race, but after 3 laps it was 20.7 miles. So that was seriously mis-measured. I was running out of time, when I was going through the laps, because I had to be back home in a certain window of time. The combination of the mis-measuring coupled with my lack of over all time, plus the disgust over the gross measuring error caused me to stop running the race after the 3rd lap. The race director has a lot of respect in the Houston area on directing good races, as he's a 50 state marathon runner plus a few other things. I understand this was the first time to use this off-road course.

But the course had knee-high grass at the start to run about 200 yards through, plus other berms, so one could use a lot of energy navigating the course's laps. I did so. I walked lots of the 3rd lap to stew over everything. I'm not going to type the splits, as I want to forget this one.

Is the clock right on this post? It was 3 am when you wrote this? Time for a nap wasn't it?

dot520 wrote:Is the clock right on this post? It was 3 am when you wrote this? Time for a nap wasn't it?

Hey, Dot. Your clock was right (although I'm on central time).

Chapter 2 - "Pace is more important than distance"

I've been getting caught up on some of my reading, this week, and I've run some baseline distances from which to judge as the months go. One was to run 8-400's at 75% of max HR (150 bpm). Another stat to report is how slow I run 100-115 yard sprints.

But the meat of this chapter is based on an article in the Sept 2012 Running Times named "Canova 101", pages 38-43, that I read on Wednesday after doing the baseline 8-400's. So, the baselines and the Running Times article are not related at all. The article spoke to me and did something that hasn't happened in a while about my marathoning. The article gave me a different way to get faster. Namely, run at a race pace as far as I can or want, then train to extend the distance at the pace I want to be the marathon race pace.

Of course, the goal race is the January 2014 Houston. And, of course, there's no telling how this is going to go, but I have my machete in hand to clear away obstacles. But Houston's weather, like a rainforest's, will make the clearing arduous this summer.

So the benchmark non-stop 8-400's at 75% was going to be new to me. I believe Maffetone's benchmark is 65% and I comfortably run at 65%. I had no idea what kind of pace 75% would produce, much less what kind of consistency of time I would get.

Up at Memorial Park where the 3 mile loop is, there is also a 440 yard track. The weather was cloudy and 54 degrees with a east wind of 5-10 mph. Sometimes I hit the lap button a little late, which is why I list the pace and not the time.

1. 11:30 pace, 150 bpm, 167 max
   
2. 12:14 pace, 148 bpm, 162 max
   
3. 12:17 pace, 147 bpm, 150 max
   
4. 12:35 pace, 147 bpm, 151 max
   
5. 12:34 pace, 147 bpm, 150 max
   
6. 12:31 pace, 150 bpm, 154 max
   
7. 12:35 pace, 150 bpm, 153 max
   
8. 12:54 pace, 151 bpm, 153 max
   

I was surprised that was the pace. It made me wonder what I was holding back. At this point, I hadn't found the Canova article.

After this, I ran 10 sprints ranging in distance from 317 feet to 370 feet. It was supposed to be a 100 yard sprint, but the start and finish lines were off to the left and I wasn't consistent on stopping the clock. My fastest time was 24.92, based on mile pace. The purpose was to wake up the muscles. My interpretation is that it was to be a shock to the system or put another way, "WTF!?!"

So the 8-440 benchmark was on April 2. Finding the Canova article that evening was really interesting. "Pace is more important than distance." I put a lot of thought into it on April 3 and decided to see what kind of pace I could consistently do. So I used the controlled environment of Memorial Park to run it because I wouldn't have to worry about stopping for traffic. But what pace and how long could I control it?

It was cloudy and 50 degrees, so I couldn't blame the weather for a bad performance. I started out at a pace that seemed a bit fast and looking at my watch, it said 11:30 pace. So, I adjusted and found a nice effort of around 12:30. I ended up at a 12:26 pace and felt that I could've gone another mile at that pace. I was surprised I could do 12:26 at a avg HR of 150. Tuesday's 8-440 was 12:23 pace at 149 avg bpm. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

1. 12:24, 146 bpm
   
2. 12:38, 148 bpm
   
3. 12:25, 150 bpm
   
4. 12:26, 153 bpm
   
5. 12:28, 152 bpm
   
6. 12:14, 153 bpm
   

So Friday, I had the curiosity to run another 6 miles at pace in order to see if I could do back to back 6 miles at a similar pace. The goal on all of the runs is to run as far as you can at pace or to the target mileage distance.

Friday was clear, very sunny, and 60 degrees. This time, I was running on sidewalks and had to take traffic into account. Six miles, 1:12:35, 12:05 pace, 148 avg HR, max HR of 163 bpm at mile 1 for some reason, 12:18 first half pace, and 11:52 second half pace.

1. 12:21, 143 bpm
   
2. 12:17, 145 bpm
   
3. 12:15, 147 bpm
   
4. 11:58, 151 bpm
   
5. 12:03, 152 bpm
   
6. 11:38, 153 bpm
   

This was a lot of fun. I always try to run the 2nd half faster than the first, but I couldn't believe I got into a groove that was so fast (for me) in the second half of the run. When I was zeroing in on a pace during the first two miles, I wondered if I could hold a 12:20 pace. I knew that was faster than Thursday's run, which was fine because it'd be okay to me to find a faster pace on just the 2nd run of the new process. I would see the pace slowing down slightly and I would increase pace. Sometimes I wouldn't look at my watch, then when I did, I had sped up quite a bit and it didn't see to tax me, even with the sun beating down on me.

My quads were kind of beat up after so many days of running faster, so the weekend is for rest. When I feel like I'm in a good place with the distance on the pace, then I can increase the distance. I think I can increase the distance, now.

Nice to see you back, Doug. Always a pleasure.

Thank you kindly, Michele.

Looking good, Doug! I'm interested to see how this approach is going to work out for you. There really is little more motivating than picking up the pace in the late part of a run. And besides, it's a lot of fun.

Thanks, Mark. It IS fun running faster in the last half, but what's really fun is seeing the average pace continue to drop and drop, unexpectedly.

I, too, am interested in how this is going to shake out. I have all Summer to play with it, since I'm only doing 1 marathon, this cycle. I've been doing CrossFit since February and am really working on core and upper body strength, plus running high teens to low 20's each week.

So, we'll see how it goes and how healthy I stay.

***

I try to do CrossFit on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, each week, at 5 a.m. And if the weather is not too chilly nor the workout overly intensive, I'll run the 2.2 miles to and fro. Sometimes, I want to see how tired my legs are for the run back. For everything that was done during the workout, I was 90 seconds slower per mile coming back.

The strength training was to get a 1 rep max on Front Squats. I squatted to 125 lbs, which was a PR for me. The WOD (workout of the day) is usually something that 6-12 minutes and gets my heart rate between 80% and 90% of max. So the WOD was: For time 500m row, 40 air squats, 30 sit ups, 20 push ups and 10 pull ups. I don't have the upper body strength to do a traditional push up, nor a pull up, so there's a modified of each by doing knee push ups and using a band to do the pull ups.

My runs were at a pace of 12:38 going & 13:55 on the return.

Well, this morning's weather was warm enough to run to CrossFit, but I felt I needed to give my running legs a rest.

The strength training was to do a 1 rep max of a Power Clean. Which can be exhibited on this link: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=power+clean+crossfit&mid=06F28DF4C7CF0AB4525A06F28DF4C7CF0AB4525A&view=detail&FORM=VIRE1

I got to 115 lbs, which is a PR for me. I tried 125, but I couldn't get under the bar enough. Tomorrow, I might try for 120.

The WOD was 5 round of each of Even minutes: 150 m sprint. Odd minutes 12 push press, exhibited here: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=push+press+crossfit&view=detail&mid=65BEBA2F8DF75583808765BEBA2F8DF755838087&first=0&FORM=NVPFVR

So, you do the sprint, then with whatver time is remaining, you can rest until the start of the next minute, when you start the push press. I had 70 pounds on the bar, which by the 3rd round, I had to do a few, get my breath, then finish. But I did all the rounds within the minute allowed, however, it was close by the last round. My HR got to 165 (83%)

This evening, I went back over to CossFit for a one hour yoga class. I really like yoga.

I pushed myself Wednesday, and this week. I didn't push myself over the edge of the cliff. My body knows me. My body knows that if I am presented with a new sensation, particularly in a leg location (in this case my left quad), that I will stop. I might restart again to see if the sensation is gone, but I will stop. I don't want to risk more damage, until I assess it.

A few hours after Wednesday's CrossFit, I went for a run. It was 76 degrees, cloudy and a SE wind of 5-15 mph. Due to the weather and the cumulative effect of CrossFit on Monday to Wednesday, I was slower than earlier in the week and could only complete 5 of a planned 8 miles. My left quad began barking differently enough and with the combination of the heat and the week's work, I stopped and walked the rest.

After getting back home, I had this overall feeling of being tired throughout. Dog tired. So, there wasn't anything else to do but comply with my body's request. I wasn't sore anywhere, not even any tightness or stiffness when I walked. Just wore out.

I wasn't able to attain the pace from eariler in the week, but the average pace was below 13 minutes and the average HR was 143 or 71.5%. Today is no exercise at all. Then, I'll decide whether to run 10 or so on Friday morning or Saturday morning. We had a cold front pass through after my run that dropped temperatures 25 degrees in a few minutes, so Friday morning will be in the 40's and Saturday morning will be in the 50's. Much different environment for a run. Houston just about never has cool weather like this in April, so it's been real nice.

1. 12:59, 133 bpm
   
2. 12:46, 141 bpm
   
3. 12:41, 146 bpm
   
4. 13:10, 148 bpm
   
5. 13:11, 146 bpm
   

It should be an interesting summer under a pace-based program, instead of HR based. There's not a lot of literature on this, so I'll be winging some of it.

Wise choice listening to your body, Doug. You may want to ease back a little for a day or so and let your body bounce back stronger.

Happy BD, by the way! Hope you have fun plans in store.

Mark B wrote:Wise choice listening to your body, Doug. You may want to ease back a little for a day or so and let your body bounce back stronger.

Happy BD, by the way! Hope you have fun plans in store.

Thanks, Mark. I did run this morning, report to follow. Regarding my birfday, I went down to Bubba's Shrimp Palace in San Leon (on the west side of Galveston Bay) because I only try to eat fried shrimp sparingly, because I love it so. Never been there before, but heard good things. So, I go in there wanting to eat about 12. The menu had two options: 8 for $14.99 or all you can eat for $18.50. No brainer there. It was great and the view of the Bay was really nice.

***

So Wednesday evening, I figured I had used up a whole lot of my carb storage and I decided to do a carbo load and run Friday morning. No exercise on Thursday. I was very interested to see how the run would go as far as pace. For a good pace, I need cool weather, rest and carb fuel. I get all three. But will there be any trash in the legs?

A 47 degree starting temperature at 4:45 a.m. with no wind. Eight miles is the target. I start out and it seems I'm not getting into a good groove, as if I have a small anchor that I'm dragging. When I get to Memorial at about mile 3, I'm doing a 12:33 pace, but it seems that I'm finding a groove. Running on the trail with people passing me, I step it up a bit and by the halfway point, I'm at 12:23 pace. Crap, and I'm going to have to hold that pace for the trip back.

Something happens and I'm running faster. I don't know why, but my average pace is dropping. Guess I got the trash out of my legs. So, the last mile, I put the hammer down where I was hoping for a sub-12 minute mile. That was a good run and possibly a recipe for handling future runs.

8 mile run, 1:37:34, 12:08 avg pace, 145 avg HR, 160 max HR during mile 8, 12:23 first half average and 11:53 2nd half pace.

1. 12:20, 138 bpm
   
2. 12:46, 139 bpm
   
3. 12:23, 144 bpm
   
4. 12:01, 149 bpm
   
5. 12:05, 144 bpm
   
6. 12:06, 147 bpm
   
7. 12:01, 147 bpm
   
8. 11:26, 150 bpm
   

I was real pleased with the run, today. The weather was really first rate and was instrumental in the good time. I'll give myself a rest day for Saturday and do another 8-10 mile run on Sunday morning. It'll be warmer and maybe some rain. Thanks for stopping by.