Term Limits?

ounce wrote:Thanks, 1L.  Yup, high and dry.  Plan on running, tomorrow.

Good to hear.  Enjoy your run.

Thanks, Nancy.  All the freeways are clear, except for a bridge on I-10 just east of Houston where 9 barges broke free due to the high water and struck the bridge around midnight.

-30-

Boy, it sure was muggy, this morning.  All that moisture rising, which is causing some scattered, streaming storms, this morning, but nothing like yesterday.  78 degrees.  That was going to make for an interesting run.

Oh yeah.  Speaking of running, I did run 3 miles, this morning.  Cadence was set at 161 and I took my pulse after the run.

3 miles, 42:48 14:16 pace, 160 avg cadence, 0.70 m avg stride length
1.  14:32, 160 spm
2.  14:34, 161 spm
3.  13:55, 160 spm
After run HR, 150 bpm.

It was, well, a little less a than difficult run.  The weather was part of the problem and rather than fighting the weather by increasing the pace, I just let the pace happen.  My legs were aching a bit.  I was wondering if it was yesterday's abductor & adductor weights, but I think the 3 days of running, the weights, and getting back into the groove.

10 miles for the week.  Monday, I'll work on doing 5 miles.

Y'all have a good weekend.  Thanks.

We heard about the barges breaking away.  

Nice run in those conditions.  Maybe not as fast as you'd like but you kept the cadence up.  The important thing is that you're running!  Keep up the good work.

nkrichards wrote:We heard about the barges breaking away.  

Nice run in those conditions.  Maybe not as fast as you'd like but you kept the cadence up.  The important thing is that you're running!  Keep up the good work.

Inspectors are not able to check out the bridge because the current is too strong and the water is too high.  A drone took some video and one of the freeway pillars is in really bad shape.  That'll take some time to repair.

Thank you on the run.  Yeah, the cadence is hanging right in there.  It'll be interesting to see how the 5 miles goes on Monday.  I'm optimistic.

KBFitz wrote:On Blood Pressure Monitors: I had the same difficulty you report with getting reliable BP readings from a cheap BP monitor. So my cardiologist suggested I get and Omron monitor. I got an Omron 5 Series monitor for $39.99 on Amazon (Aug 2018) and brought it with me to two different pharmacies with BP monitors. The Omron 5 was within 10% of both professionally calibrated BP monitors at the pharmacies. I've been pleased with it ever since.

Thanks, Kevin.  My monitor is the Omron 5 Series model BP742.  It was my folks' machine and is probably 8+ years, but the nurse 'certified' it as accurate enough against their wall-mount, mercury-driven device.  Seems like Omron makes a durable product.

With 17 weeks to go, the tweaked schedule (added 1 mile to long runs) called for a 5 mile run, this morning.  The weekend was a calm period.  No new bruises that I can see.

It was 77 degrees with a dew point of 76.  The cadence remains at 161 and I believe I will stay at 161 for the duration of the schedule because increasing even just 1 spm will slow my progress.  161 is close to my pre-MI of 164, so I am figuring a modest reduction in overall pace, but not enough to be too slow.

5 miles, 1:09:51, 13:58 pace, 160 avg cadence, 0.72 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 14:04, 2nd half pace 13:52
1.  14:17, 160 spm, 70 sl
2.  13:42, 160 spm, 74 sl
3.  14:03, 161 spm, 71 sl
4.  13:56, 160 spm, 72 sl
5.  13:53, 161 spm, 72 sl
After run HR - 162.

The start of the run was amazingly easy.  I'm going to have to figure out what I did to make that happen and duplicate the crap out of it.

I kept plugging right along and fighting off Fretting Freda's "It's, it's longer than 4 miles!!!!" comments.  Around mile 4, my heel started to drag.  This is a Doug-classic symptom that means I'm starting to get tired.  This serves 2 purposes:  1.  It lets me know when my endurance starts to become a mental game.
2.  It lets me know whether my choice of long run is close to being correct.

Dragging the heel is corrected easily by leaning forward a bit to stop the drag.  For THIS run, it worked for the duration.  And the 5th mile was a correct ending mile.  I might could've gone 6, but the cadence would have suffered...which may have been a good thing to have a separate confirmation of how far my endurance takes me.

It is wayyy too early to tell if the weights and the other two days of running are contributing to the endurance mindset and the endurance itself.  I have also lost a few pounds with the express purpose of lowering my BP and the side benefit of being faster.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nice run!!  It's always nice to see that last mile slightly faster than the earlier miles and you kept the cadence right up there as well.  I think 5 miles was a good choice.

Thanks, Nancy.  5 miles was the Goldilocks distance.  Part of me (maybe the 'coach' in me) says that since my cadence didn't drop, I should've gone farther.  But since 4 was the original distance on the schedule, 6 might've been pushing things.

However, since this Monday's long run would be 6, maybe 7 might push things.  7 is still short, so if I flop, I can do 7 the the following Monday.

Just typing out loud.

Today, I went to the gym and increased the weight on 4 of the 8 things that I do.  It appears that 2 of the 4 might could've put on more weight than what was just added.

3 miles in the morning with a parking garage is on tap.  I appreciate y'alls comments.

On a different subject, PBS is running Ken Burns new documentary "Country Music."  It's been a really good show.  They'll run it again.  About 16 hours.

Thanks.

ounce wrote:Thanks, Nancy.  5 miles was the Goldilocks distance.  Part of me (maybe the 'coach' in me) says that since my cadence didn't drop, I should've gone farther.  But since 4 was the original distance on the schedule, 6 might've been pushing things.

However, since this Monday's long run would be 6, maybe 7 might push things.  7 is still short, so if I flop, I can do 7 the the following Monday.

Just typing out loud.

Today, I went to the gym and increased the weight on 4 of the 8 things that I do.  It appears that 2 of the 4 might could've put on more weight than what was just added.

3 miles in the morning with a parking garage is on tap.  I appreciate y'alls comments.

On a different subject, PBS is running Ken Burns new documentary "Country Music."  It's been a really good show.  They'll run it again.  About 16 hours.

Thanks.

Careful you don't push past the scheduled distance to much.  A planned progression should help get you to your goal safely.  It might feel OK to push farther on the day but you may pay for it later in the training.  You're making good progress and the runs are well within your ability at this point.  Stick to the plan. Have fun at the parking garage.  

We heard about the country music documentary a couple days to late.  We were able to record the 3rd and 4th shows but missed the first two.  We set the DVR to record them if/when they replay them.  Ken Burns does a really nice job.  

On a slightly separate note we're involved in the filming of an adventure series in Central Oregon.  They are doing one episode on the Deschutes River.  The goal is to highlight both recreation and agriculture that relies on the water in the basin.  I'll give you a heads up and a link when they get something put together worth looking at.

My, my, a 71 degree dew point felt pretty less than sticky this morning.  Must be wintertime in Houston.

Running up to the parking garage was pretty cut 'n dried.  The only question I had for myself was how many reps of the garage to do and how many levels.  And, of course, my heart rate.

I ended up doing the whole garage twice.  My heart rate went up to 162 after completing the 1st ascent (sounding like it's a mountain ).  Subsequent checks would show that 162 was the max HR for the whole run.

However, the run back didn't start too well.  I wasn't hurt or damaged, but the legs and cadence were not happy to perform at a 161 cadence.  In fact, I just about started walking.  Around 0.15 miles, I had to stop for cars at a stop light.  Evidently, that short stop must've reset the legs, because I was back to the 161 cadence for the rest of that mile.
That split sucked at 14:51, but that's minor against the knowledge that if I'm sucking that I can stop for 10-15 seconds and motor on.  I'll test that idea over the weeks ahead.

Thursday is going to be weights, again, and Friday will probably be 3 miles (maybe 4) as the sorta long run, so at the LR pace doable for the temperature and dew point, which means all 13's.

Y'all have a good day.

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:Thanks, Nancy.  5 miles was the Goldilocks distance.  Part of me (maybe the 'coach' in me) says that since my cadence didn't drop, I should've gone farther.  But since 4 was the original distance on the schedule, 6 might've been pushing things.

However, since this Monday's long run would be 6, maybe 7 might push things.  7 is still short, so if I flop, I can do 7 the the following Monday.

Just typing out loud.

Today, I went to the gym and increased the weight on 4 of the 8 things that I do.  It appears that 2 of the 4 might could've put on more weight than what was just added.

3 miles in the morning with a parking garage is on tap.  I appreciate y'alls comments.

On a different subject, PBS is running Ken Burns new documentary "Country Music."  It's been a really good show.  They'll run it again.  About 16 hours.

Thanks.

Careful you don't push past the scheduled distance to much.  A planned progression should help get you to your goal safely.  It might feel OK to push farther on the day but you may pay for it later in the training.  You're making good progress and the runs are well within your ability at this point.  Stick to the plan. Have fun at the parking garage.  

We heard about the country music documentary a couple days to late.  We were able to record the 3rd and 4th shows but missed the first two.  We set the DVR to record them if/when they replay them.  Ken Burns does a really nice job.  

On a slightly separate note we're involved in the filming of an adventure series in Central Oregon.  They are doing one episode on the Deschutes River.  The goal is to highlight both recreation and agriculture that relies on the water in the basin.  I'll give you a heads up and a link when they get something put together worth looking at.

Yes, ma'am, I'm conscious of the distance increase. Jumping 5 to 7 is not, in my opinion, as big a deal as jumping from 11 to 13 or 18 to 20 in this training cycle.  At mile 11 or 18, you're body is very taxed at that point, so hopping 2 miles can be problematic.  But at mile 5, every subsequent run in the schedule includes transiting mile 5 to get to the end of the run.  So if I'm doing okay nearing mile 3 turnaround, maybe push the turnaround a half mile and do 7.

Doing 7 on Monday will add another week of cushion for later in the cycle, in case I need to step back a week between now and the 30K race on December 15.  Maybe use the week before the 30K as a step back/taper LR of 9 or 10 miles.

The first show was origins to 1933 when Jimmie Rogers died and also included the Carter family.  Show 2 was 1933 to 1943, which included Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and how Western Swing was different than Country, the singing cowboys (Gene Autry), then Roy Acuff and the Grand Ole Opry.  I like country music and the show really has been good, especially where I have specific memories of those events.

As far as your cinematic debut, yes, keep us informed and when the red carpet debut will be on "Entertainment Tonight."

Thanks, Nancy.

Playing a little catch-up here. We're in the thick of getting the house ready to sell, so I've been a little distracted (okay, a LOT distracted) dealing with things like roofers, shower renovators, yard guys and a few "Honey-do" items that have been sitting undone for years. Sheesh. If we pull this off and get sold/purchased/moved, I think the first thing both of us will do afterward is collapse. 

So, without El Cheapo or the Less Cheap But Inaccurate option, what are you doing for HR during your run? Are you just using the manual measuring now, or are you going to break down and get the FitBit? Real-time BP is less important, but knowing what your HR is doing can come in handy.

Glad you didn't drown in the storm, and even gladder that you're making progress. Hope fall comes in without another hurricane.

Mark B wrote:Playing a little catch-up here. We're in the thick of getting the house ready to sell, so I've been a little distracted (okay, a LOT distracted) dealing with things like roofers, shower renovators, yard guys and a few "Honey-do" items that have been sitting undone for years. Sheesh. If we pull this off and get sold/purchased/moved, I think the first thing both of us will do afterward is collapse. 

So, without El Cheapo or the Less Cheap But Inaccurate option, what are you doing for HR during your run? Are you just using the manual measuring now, or are you going to break down and get the FitBit? Real-time BP is less important, but knowing what your HR is doing can come in handy.

Glad you didn't drown in the storm, and even gladder that you're making progress. Hope fall comes in without another hurricane.

Quite alright.  You haven't given Fluff the new shower head instructions, have you?

As far as HR, that's been on the back burner since their return.  Just within the past 24 hours have I thought about it.  Thinking of a Polar, but anything is fair game.  Something linkable would be good for Show 'n Tell with the doc.  I might even (dare I say it?) purchase a HR strap for the 220 and give it 1 last chance.  It would be a cheap way out, too.

Yeah, Imelda was something else.  Thanks.  We usually have had our first Fall cool front by the 3rd week of September, which also re-directs anything coming in the Gulf towards the east.  Maybe the first weekend in October is our next attempt at a first cool front.

And Nancy is making sure I do my due diligence on doing too much, too early.  And I'm thankful for that.  I am waiting for 1 day, just 1 day, when I did not acquire a new bruise. 

-30-

Went to the gym and did the same weights and motions.  Today, it was not as easy on most of the routines.  But that's okay.  I'll just try to keep showing up and plugging away.

I believe tomorrow that I'll run 3 miles, and not 4.  That'll be 12.5 for the week.  I still think I'm in a decent place, regarding the marathon.  That'll give me 2 step back weeks to use for later.  One would be for the week before the 30K.

Y'all have a good weekend.

So, I wasn't able to complete 3 miles, this morning.  I stopped at 2.5.  HR at that point was 132 bpm.  
Hypothesis.  When the legs aren't at 100%, the heart doesn't have to work as hard.

I was fine at mile 1, but things started to wear down.  The legs were the problem, specifically the left abductor (the muscle that runs along the ITB.  Now, I'm not saying my ITB is flaring up.  I'm just giving the location of the abductor using a familiar body part.

Two of the muscles worked on T & Th is the abductor and adductor.  So, maybe I'll just do a maintenance weight.

2.5 miles, 35:00, 14:00 pace, 160 avg cadence.
1.  14:08, 160 spm
2.  13:48, 161 spm
3.  14:02 pace, 156 spm

So, the 3rd mile shows some bleeding of time and cadence.  But that's okay.  I'll rest up for Monday's long run of 6 or 7 miles.

Regarding an HR strap, I looked on amazon for the right HR strap for my watch.  I clicked on the link and to my surprise, I had purchased it on December 1, 2015.  It cost $40.  Today, $60.  

Sigh.  Well.  Okay.  C'est la vie.

Good to see that you're listening to your body Doug.  I sometimes struggle with weight training and the effect that it has on my running.  I think it's great in the long run but have noticed that some days I'm not able to complete a training run as well as I'd like due to fatigue from weight training.  I guess it's all about the big picture not just a single training run.

Enjoy your weekend and your long run on Monday!

Funny you should mention 'listening.'

Last Thursday, I thought that I hadn't been listening, lately. Then Friday, the opportunity presented itself and the rest is history.

I may have to reduce weights, but resting 2 days before a Monday long run will hopefully insulate me from what happened Friday.

As far as tomorrow's long run, something has co.e up and I won't be able to run it on Monday, but I will run it on Tuesday.

Ah weights. I haven't touched 'em since high school, when I found they bulked me up in a very annoying way.

Still, I know there's a real benefit to them. Maybe someday I'll live someplace with a weight machine and try a little? Hm.

Get the strap. Shave the chest. See what happens!

Mark B wrote:Ah weights. I haven't touched 'em since high school, when I found they bulked me up in a very annoying way.

Still, I know there's a real benefit to them. Maybe someday I'll live someplace with a weight machine and try a little? Hm.

Get the strap. Shave the chest. See what happens!

Well, the poundage in weights haven't changed, but some of the design has.  Besides, weight bearing exercises would be an excellent start.  Once you're better at push ups, you can put Fluff on your back and work your way up to Alita!  I read where humans lose 10% of muscle mass for each 10 years, starting at age 40.  That didn't mean much to me 10 or more years ago, but now it does.

The ONLY benefit I see to having a Garmin strap is its reporting ability online and on the phone.  My density of hair where the strap goes is not reason to shave there.  Now, where electrode patches go?  Yes, although the stick-em on those do not leave red patches when yanked off, like they used to do.  It could be the depth the signal has to travel and back that may cause the issue.

But thanks for the idea!

Go Astros.

This morning.  Ah, 79 degrees with a dew point of 72.   There was a breeze, though!  Whelp, it wasn't good conditions, but off I went. 

Some things that rattled around in my head was, of course, 6 or 7 miles, leg cooperation, would I tire out, etc.  The only thing that didn't enter into my mind was going under a railroad trestle, just past mile 3, then again on the way back.  It's always been there.  But when one hasn't ran past 6 miles in a couple of months (maybe 4 months), it can be a shock to this flatlander's mind.  That trestle takes 2 or 3 runs for the legs and mind to master it.  It mastered me, today.

7 miles, 1:38:14, 14:02 pace, 157 avg cadence, 0.73 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 13:53, 2nd half pace 14:11
1.  14:02, 160 spm, 71 sl
2.  13:44, 161 spm, 73 sl
3.  13:51, 160 spm, 72 sl
4.  13:46, 160 spm, 73 sl
5.  14:41, 155 spm, 71 sl (comeback through trestle)
6.  14:12, 156 spm, 73 sl
7.  14:03, 153 spm, 75 sl
end of run HR - 150 bpm.

The trestle isn't much going, usually because I have to pee.  But it's always been cause for a slow split coming back, even if I have to pee again.  In subsequent weeks, I'll get better.  I'll be able to resume the 161 cadence sooner.  It'll take some time though.  16 weeks to go.

I was hoping to get a sub-14 last mile split.  Oh well.  While the legs were worn, they did their job.  I never hurt, but I do owe the legs 'something' for their cooperation.  After all, they DID attain faster splits for miles 6 and 7.

Now, I need to figure out how to finish the week.  Keep it as is W-run, Th-weights, & F-run or change it up.  One thing is for sure, one event is not going to happen.  I think my legs will like me more, if I don't do the parking garage tomorrow.

Time to break out the TENS to show the legs some love.  Thanks for stumbling in.

Looks good. I'd go with your stated plan. 

And the whole manscaping thing? Totally overrated. 

And yeah... some pushups would probably be a good idea.

Moochus graceeus, Mark.  One thing that I'll have to keep an eye out for, regarding my Garmin, is it seems the battery is wearing out.  Yesterday, the watch used half of its battery for an hour and 45 minutes of use.  I have noticed that before, so I'll keep an eye on it on long runs and I'll make sure it's fully charged prior to use.  Sometimes, it will be off the charger for a couple of days before use, yet show 100%. 

This morning, I went to the gym and did the same set of weights, lifts, and stretching.  I reduced by 10 lbs the weight on the abductor & adductor machine, so maybe to lessen the strain when running. 

Tomorrow, I am thinking about running 4 miles, then weights again on Friday.  (Also thinking about doing the interval workout, instead of the sorta long run.)

Thanks.

These 77 degree mornings are coming to a close on Monday, if the strength of the front measures up to its marketing.  In fact, the high for Tuesday could be 77 (more likely to be low 80's).  Time will tell.  But this front will be the same front that will go through Louisville for 1L's IM.
I might just again delay Monday's long run until Tuesday with the hope of some low in the 60's.   

I ran 4 miles, today.  I just started the engine and went.  I felt fine approaching 1.5 miles, so I just went to 2.0 and turned around.

4 miles, 54:29, 13:38 pace, 160 avg cadence, 0.75 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 13:33, 2nd half pace 13:43
1.  13:44, 161 spm, 73 sl
2.  13:19, 159 spm, 76 sl, 150 bpm during this mile
3.  13:44, 160 spm, 73 sl, 162 bpm during this mile
4.  13:42, 160 spm, 73 sl
end of run bpm - 150 bpm

I finally figured out that if I turned off the gnome's beeping, I could take my HR as I ran.

The first two miles were nice, but the coming back two were a little more labored.  Definitely not able to maintain sub-13:30 for any distance.  The weather has something to do with it, but weight is an issue as well. 

My legs didn't hurt, in fact, nothing hurt.  So maybe backing off the -ductor machines helped.  8 miles is the target for Monday or Tuesday.  I would posit that the cooler weather will help the HR to reduce.  I'll be doing weights, tomorrow.

Don't be bashful.  Thanks.

Sounds like you're finding the right balance for weights. Nice!

I'm kind of amazed by the difference in weather in North America right now. You've been sweltering for quite a while with ridiculous temperatures and humidity, but over in the upper left corner, we had an early and very pronounced shift to autumn weather. Hopefully our weather will work its way southeast and give you guys a break (but probably also give you some rough weather in the transition).

Mark B wrote:Sounds like you're finding the right balance for weights. Nice!

I'm kind of amazed by the difference in weather in North America right now. You've been sweltering for quite a while with ridiculous temperatures and humidity, but over in the upper left corner, we had an early and very pronounced shift to autumn weather. Hopefully our weather will work its way southeast and give you guys a break (but probably also give you some rough weather in the transition).

Thanks, Mark.  I totally understand not wanting to lift weights.  I was that way up to this past Spring.  I don't have to start lifting now, at 62.  But the sooner I start, the more I'll be able to change while not having to change. 

As far as weather, there's been this stubborn High pressure that's centered in Miss/Ala and goes as far west as Austin.  Then, there's a Jet Stream that dives south along the Pacific coast into Mexico and goes north and around the High.  A stronger High east of the Rockies is making its way south and pushing 2 cool fronts south and the current High southeast.

Usually, our first cool front comes the 3rd week in September.  This also serves to deflect most tropical systems away from SE Texas and our hurricane season comes to a 90% close (something could generate in the Gulf, though).

So, the meaningful cool front arrives Monday and should be followed by another front in 8 days.  There's to be joy in HTown.  And there'll be more joy if the Astros win game 1 of the ALDS, this afternoon.

-30-

I went to the gym and lifted weights, again.  The weights were easier than on Wednesday.  Probably because I lifted on Wednesday.  I started a new exercise, today, on obliques.  Very simple and y'all have probably done or are doing it.  It's taking a weight in one hand, arm down by your side.  Then lowering the weight along your side, just stretching the oblique opposite to the arm holding the weight, then back up straight.  I hope doing that on both sides will work the side muscles.

Hopefully, we'll be enjoying the LAST weekend of Summer.  Y'all enjoy the weekend.