Term Limits?

Good to see you're ready for the big day...and thanks for the Taper Madness.  It added some excitement to 365Runners for a couple days.

Hope the cold front comes in on schedule and you get the weather you're hoping for.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the excitement at the 5K today and then relax when you get home.

More importantly...take what you're given and enjoy the race.  I'll check in during the race tomorrow.

Good luck.  Have fun!

nkrichards wrote:Good to see you're ready for the big day...and thanks for the Taper Madness.  It added some excitement to 365Runners for a couple days.

Hope the cold front comes in on schedule and you get the weather you're hoping for.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the excitement at the 5K today and then relax when you get home.

More importantly...take what you're given and enjoy the race.  I'll check in during the race tomorrow.

Good luck.  Have fun!

Yeah, it's easier to generate material from what you and Mark (had he shown up) by twisting it to the other degree.

The 5K race this morning was about 70 degrees, but I was 'marshaling' a stretch of the course.  Specifically, keeping people leaving a business from just barreling through the course and waiting until the coast was clear.  I enjoyed it.  I tried a new route, today to downtown because of construction.  That worked real well.

The front is pushing the rain ahead of it and as I write this, the front has cleared to downtown, but the dry, cool wind is about 40 miles behind it.  Not quite sure how 'cold' this air is going to be.  For example, it's 67 here, 56 in Dallas (250 miles north), and 46 in OKC (another 250 miles north).  But the wind will be picking up shortly and the morning winds will be NE/NNE at 15.  Weather people are predicting 44 at 6 a.m.  Just have to wait about 15 hours, at this point.

I decided against seeing a movie this afternoon.  Even though I didn't walk as much during the 5K as I thought I would, vegging out will be fine. 

'Take what you're given'  I'll do that.  'Play the hand you're dealt' I usually say.

I heard a disc jockey mention the on the radio that a runner could say, "I've got the runs!"  I found that funny.  I might even use "I got the runs" on next year's bib.

Think I'll go take a nap.

Thanks, Nancy.  I'll try to report in, tomorrow.

This is the one year ago, Saturday before the race weather from a post a year ago:
It's been very windy all day at 21-32 mph sustained, gusts 31-46 mph out of the NW.  At this writing, it's 51 degrees with a dew point of 29 degrees (42% humidity), and clear skies.  Seasonal is 62 and 45 degrees.

In the morning, 30 degrees w/10 mph wind.  High of 52, probably around 2-3 pm.


So, it's calm and 67 degrees with a dew point of 66, now.  In the morning, 44 w/15 mph N wind.  54 at noon.

Presently, 46 degrees with a dew point of 32, clear skies, and a north wind of 15.  Wind chill of 41.

Everything seems fine and I'll leave in a few minutes.  Being outside will adjust which head covering to wear for the race.  I wouldn't expect any updates before noon CT.

Thanks, Nancy.

Slept in this morning...you did 10K before I woke up.  Paces look good.  

Just saw that you passed the 15K mark and your pace looks good.  Way to go!

Woohoo!  Nice finish Doug!!!!

Take the rest of the day off and rest.  Nice race!!

Thanks, Nancy. The highlights are unofficial 13:44 pace (ran 13.31 miles).
New post August Max HR number of 178 bpm.
Battery on the beeper stopped before the race started.
Avg cadence was 156 (target would've been 162, so pretty durn good).
No heart pain.
Last third of a mile was at 12:23 pace.
I think only 3 people past me in the last 2 miles and I wasn't pushing until the last 3/4this. Others were just walking.
A couple of niggles. Feel good and accomplished.

By doing the math, I figure my avg pace was 14 flat/mi.  I wasn't interested in the average pace, rather keeping the HR reasonable.  Well, that's not quite right.  I'm always interested in average pace, but since the time limit was 4 hours, it's not #1.  HR management was #1, today.  And aside from the strap malfunctioning twice that I know of, it went well.

One thing I found out that I can tell Nancy that doesn't work, if you stop to walk through an aid station or stop to take care of a nature's call, HR doesn't drop more than 1 or 2 beats.  That relates to stops of less than a minute.  I stopped to pee 3 times in the race, all in the first 7 miles.  I need to figure out how to change that.

The watch and strap didn't get with the program in the first couple of miles.  That's due to me forgetting to wet the strap.  Why it burped during mile during mile 12, I don't know.  There was one time during the race where I caught myself going faster, when the HR shot up.  I slowed.  80% of the race was spent at a HR of less than 160.  Mile 11.16 was the first 161 bpm.  The highest HR, as mentioned in an earlier post, was 178 during the last two-tenths.  Also during the last two-tenths was the fastest pace and amounted to 1% of the total pace time or 1 minute and 8 seconds.  The other 182 minutes were 13 or 14 minute paces.

Other than the 3 pit stops, I ran the whole thing.  The weather was great for that, except the sun.  But the breeze negated most of the sun for the whole race.  I carried a split in half Milky Way bar for mental clarity.  During mile 12, there was one person that had a Tupperware container full of Girl Scouts Thin Mints.  I grabbed one.

I grabbed water only 2 times in the whole race.  I never really got thirsty, but moreso, I didn't want to stop to pee again.  After the race, I chugged 2 pints of water.

All in all, I was pleased with the race and the outcome.  Starting at mile 7, I noticed that SO  MANY  PEOPLE walked.


13.1 miles, 3:03:24, 14:00 avg pace, 147 avg HR, 178 Max HR, 156 avg cadence
1.  14:29, 118 bpm, 146 spm (pee break)
2.  14:02, 112 bpm, 146 spm
3.  13:38, 141 bpm, 156 spm
4.  14:08, 142 bpm, 150 spm
5.  13:52, 144 bpm, 156 spm
6.  13:34, 148 bpm, 152 spm
7.  13:33, 151 bpm, 156 spm
8.  14:11, 150 bpm, 150 spm
9.  13:53, 153 bpm, 152 spm
10.  13:51, 156 bpm, 156 spm
11.  13:51, 158 bpm, 156 spm
12.  13:48, 159 bpm, 156 spm
13.  12:23 pace, 168 bpm, 160 spm  (based on 0.36 miles recorded)

I have a couple of other notes on the race, but this is the lion's share.  Thanks for reading.  My race season for 2020 has been completed.

Congratulations, Doug!  I was stalking, I mean, following you.  I'd say it was well run.

My tri Coach ran a PR with a 4:13 and another friend ran his first sub 4. So a good day in Tx for them.

Boy am I glad to see that you've checked in with us!  I just read that two men had heart attacks during the half...one just after finishing.  I knew you finished but I thought...could it be him...NO!  

Nice race Doug.  Not bad stats.  You did well to finish as strong as you did.  Looks like you planned and executed your HR goals well...saving yourself for the end.  

Congrats

You're allowed to take a break and enjoy life for a few days now.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Congratulations, Doug!  I was stalking, I mean, following you.  I'd say it was well run.

My tri Coach ran a PR with a 4:13 and another friend ran his first sub 4. So a good day in Tx for them.

Thanks, 1L.  Stalking's okay.  I don't believe you, but 'stalking' is fine.

With the yearly amount of your buddies coming out here, you should come out here for the 2022 Houston.  It'll be the 50th Houston Marathon and you'll be 50 plus a few more, so it'll work.  It'll be 10 years since your last visit and Houston is flatter than ever before, which you hate.  New AG!



But, sigh, if you have to stalk me, I'm so sorry.

nkrichards wrote:Boy am I glad to see that you've checked in with us!  I just read that two men had heart attacks during the half...one just after finishing.  I knew you finished but I thought...could it be him...NO!  

Nice race Doug.  Not bad stats.  You did well to finish as strong as you did.  Looks like you planned and executed your HR goals well...saving yourself for the end.  

Congrats

You're allowed to take a break and enjoy life for a few days now.

Nancy, right state, wrong city.  That happened at the Austin 3M Half Marathon.  They are in critical condition and in their 40's.

I agree that I was in the 140's much sooner than I would've liked, but I was able to keep it through mile 6.  The strong finish was a result of the prior 12 miles.  I only started heavy breathing during the last half mile.  Maybe next year, I can be faster at these HR's.

That last mile where 3 people passed me?  Well, there about 7 people that passed me, but I passed them back when they stopped for something.

Last year, I ran 3:12:58, so a 10 minute 34 second improvement.  I guess I was in better shape, this year.

If I wake up in halfway decent shape, in the morning, I'll go lift weights.  Night, y'all, and thanks.

Boy, I slept hard, last night.  There wasn't a whole lot of stiffness in the legs, but it was distributed on both sides equally.  My right ankle had some light swelling on the inside.  I believe it's from an area above the right, medial (inside) ankle bone in the lower leg.  It's a thing that hurts when I've been standing on my feet for >4 hours, running or not.  I guess it leaked the fluid and it collected around and below the right, medial ankle bone.

I found the 5K splits on the app
5K   14:15 min/mile
10K  14:06 min/mile
15K  14:25 min/mle
20K  13:55 min/mile
finish 12:07 min/mile (7 tenths of a mile)

I've been thinking about how to arrange running and weights over the next few months.  I've thought of alternating weights 3x a week and running 2x one week, then running 3x and lifting 2x the next week.  The running could be aerobic 3x (135 bpm) and 'speedwork' at 80-85% (144 to 153 bpm) the 2x week.

Just an idea.

ounce wrote:Boy, I slept hard, last night.  There wasn't a whole lot of stiffness in the legs, but it was distributed on both sides equally.  My right ankle had some light swelling on the inside.  I believe it's from an area above the right, medial (inside) ankle bone in the lower leg.  It's a thing that hurts when I've been standing on my feet for >4 hours, running or not.  I guess it leaked the fluid and it collected around and below the right, medial ankle bone.

I found the 5K splits on the app
5K   14:15 min/mile
10K  14:06 min/mile
15K  14:25 min/mle
20K  13:55 min/mile
finish 12:07 min/mile (7 tenths of a mile)

I've been thinking about how to arrange running and weights over the next few months.  I've thought of alternating weights 3x a week and running 2x one week, then running 3x and lifting 2x the next week.  The running could be aerobic 3x (135 bpm) and 'speedwork' at 80-85% (144 to 153 bpm) the 2x week.

Just an idea.

Splits to be proud of in my opinion.  You managed the race well.  And the fact that you're a bit stiff and sore but not really hurting is an indication that it was a well executed plan...in my opinion.

You plan moving forward sounds pretty reasonable to me.  You might want to kind of play with the time/distance.  Maybe building slightly for 3 weeks and then taking an easier step back week to recover before you build again.  You don't need to build quickly as I'm assuming this is to build base not prepare for a race.

Don't forget to ease off for a day or two...or more and give your body a chance to recover.  Once again congrats on a well executed race.

Nancy, it appears your premonition was correct. Local media, just this evening (6:50 pm CT) reported 2 Houston marathon runners had heart attacks.

A 74 year old had his at mile 16, but died.
The second man is 50 and is alive. He had his AFTER crossing the finish line.

Who does that remind you of?

ounce wrote:Nancy, it appears your premonition was correct.  Local media, just this evening (6:50 pm CT) reported 2 Houston marathon runners had heart attacks.

A 74 year old had his at mile 16, but died.
The second man is 50 and is alive.  He had his AFTER crossing the finish line.

Who does that remind you of?

Well...that's weird.  I did go back and realize the report I originally read was at the Austin Half...not Houston.

Interesting coincidence that their were two at each race on the same day...one during and one after the event.

Thoughts and prayers to all involved...and their families.

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:Nancy, it appears your premonition was correct.  Local media, just this evening (6:50 pm CT) reported 2 Houston marathon runners had heart attacks.

A 74 year old had his at mile 16, but died.
The second man is 50 and is alive.  He had his AFTER crossing the finish line.

Who does that remind you of?

Well...that's weird.  I did go back and realize the report I originally read was at the Austin Half...not Houston.

Interesting coincidence that their were two at each race on the same day...one during and one after the event.

Thoughts and prayers to all involved...and their families.

The 74 year old is named Harry Vroulis.  He was running his 36th Houston and had 25 official finishes.  He had a physical, as the story says, a few weeks before the race.  His last official finish was 13 years ago.  I never knew him.

https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2020/01/20/runner-dies-after-suffering-heart-attack-during-chevron-houston-marathon-officials-say/

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I did weights, this morning.  I went to the 2nd of 2 gyms as a result of my gym being closed on Feb 7.  This one is a 'Sport' version and has a Bball court and a 3 lane swimming pool.  Most of the machines are the same, but at this gym they are a little closer together.  This place also has 1 or 2 of the sled pushing/pulling machines, but have no idea where it could be pushed/pulled, without running over someone's feet.  They also have what appears to be a tractor tire flipping machine, because they sure don't have room to have a real tractor tire to lift up and over, unless they use the court.

This Sport version gym is a real open 24 hours gym.  At 5:15, there were probably 2 times the number of cars and 3 times at 6:25 as my old gym.  I'm glad that I don't go in the evening.  There's probably a zumba style class going on, too.

Over half of my usual routines were more difficult due to TAPER MADNESS. This meant an either shorter or lighter sets.  I saw a guy doing lunges and immediately thought to add that, once the quads are ready.
It was good to be lifting again.

It's one thing to come up with a strategic goal.  It's another thing to develop a plan.  The ultimate strategic goal is to run an official finish at the 2022 Houston.  And to assist in that goal is to run the '21 Half.

That was easy to type.  But thinking about how fast I need to get over the first year to support the second year's goal, then produce a plan.  Ahhh, there's the rub.  Rub #2 - doing both at a 'livable' HR.

The last marathon that I completed was 2016.  Looking back at the previous blog, I found the splits for that race and they are below:
2016 Houston Marathon
5:56:43, 13:37 official pace, 159 avg bpm, 171 max bpm during mile x, 160 avg spm, 0.75 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 13:11, 2nd half pace 14:03.
1.  13:07, 140 bpm, 165 spm, 74 sl
2.  13:07, 146 bpm, 164 spm, 75 sl
3.  13:01, 150 bpm, 164 spm, 76 sl
4.  12:55, 153 bpm, 164 spm, 76 sl
5.  13:09, 152 bpm, 165 spm, 74 sl
6.  13:07, 153 bpm, 164 spm, 75 sl
7.  13:07, 154 bpm, 160 spm, 77 sl
8.  13:21, 155 bpm, 161 spm, 75 sl  pee break
9.  12:56, 157 bpm, 166 spm, 75 sl
10. 13:37, 158 bpm, 151 spm, 78 sl
11. 13:07, 161 bpm, 162 spm, 76 sl
12. 13:23, 162 bpm, 160 spm, 75 sl
13. 13:08, 162 bpm, 165 spm, 74 sl
14. 13:13, 163 bpm, 159 spm, 77 sl
15. 13:23, 165 bpm, 158 spm, 76 sl
16. 13:13, 166 bpm, 161 spm, 76 sl
17. 13:20, 165 bpm, 165 spm, 73 sl
18. 14:18, 163 bpm, 154 spm, 73 sl  stopped for a moment
19. 13:36, 165 bpm, 163 spm, 72 sl
20. 13:58, 164 bpm, 161 spm, 72 sl
21. 13:39, 166 bpm, 162 spm, 73 sl
22. 14:04, 165 bpm, 155 spm, 74 sl
23. 13:56, 164 bpm, 161 spm, 72 sl
24. 14:20, 163 bpm, 154 spm, 73 sl
25. 13:56, 164 bpm, 155 spm, 72 sl
26. 14:12, 161 bpm, 153 spm, 74 sl

The 5K splits:

5K	08:15:40AM	00:40:56	40:56	13:11	4.56
10K	08:56:30AM	01:21:47	40:51	13:09	4.57
15K	09:38:25AM	02:03:41	41:54	13:30	4.45
HALF	10:28:25AM	02:53:42	50:01	13:12	4.55
25K	11:00:54AM	03:26:11	32:29	13:24	4.48
30K	11:43:55AM	04:09:12	43:01	13:51	4.33
35K	12:27:11PM	04:52:28	43:16	13:56	4.31
40K	01:11:49PM	05:37:06	44:38	14:22	4.18
Finish Net	01:31:23PM	05:56:40	19:34	14:21	4.18

Reviewing the numbers on the splits, I notice;
1.  Cadence is set at 165 or 164.
2.  First splits are in the low 13's and the HR is low 140's.
3.  HR of ~161-166 from mile 11 to the finish.  wow.  The 161 is 80% of max HR (200 from 2009).  Now, 144 is 80%, but I'll see if I can scoot that up some, over time.  Post-heart attack, 'max HR' definition is to the HR that it doesn't hurt.

So, getting cadence up is one action item.  That shouldn't take but 6 weeks to get it up to 165 from 162. It might spike the HR, but that'll settle down.

Getting <13 min/mile as the race pace for '21 Half is a goal.  If I can be comfortable at 13 or faster for next year's Half, it gives me something solid to work with for the '22 Full.

Do I think I can replicate the 2016 performance?  Yes, but it'll take 2 years to do it and staying healthy.

Thoughts?

I was rained out, this morning, attempting a 4 mile run.  Durn, it was cold at 44 degrees!

At noon, today, I started a 5 day fast.  I will continue to workout, but will only be weights until Monday.  Running can wait and any endurance that I lose won't be a big deal.

I'm also going to start working on getting into child's pose and to re-learn going down into a full squat, then going up.  Sounds simple, but I haven't been able to do it for 2 years.

After the fast, I'll be diligently doing keto.  It's amazing that I was casual keto for pretty much the whole training season, but still able to finish the Half.  'Casual' keto is my term for eating carbs but not making it the primary source of energy, which means I didn't lose weight.

Tomorrow, weights.

44° and rainy sounds... familiar. But not near Houston.

Might need to increase the fat update for keto to keep from freezing up. I recommend sticks of butter.

I have oodles and oodles of stored fat that saves me having to purchase as much butter. Although I do have 5 lbs of butter in the freezer.

Thanks for stopping by, Mark. You've been missed, at the risk of sounding maudlin.

-30-

I, in fact, did lift weights, this morning. It was easier than Tuesday's difficult morning. I was told to expect lifting while fasting to be more tiring. At present, it's not so, but maybe on Saturday it might.

Saturday, I think I'll get on the Gravitron machine and see if it takes less of a counter weight for me to do a few pull ups. Back in December, it took 170 pounds.

Thanks for stopping by. And Mark? We're having a special in February on posts. Post 2 days in a row and grief goes down 1%!!!!

ounce wrote:Reviewing the numbers on the splits, I notice;
1.  Cadence is set at 165 or 164.
2.  First splits are in the low 13's and the HR is low 140's.
3.  HR of ~161-166 from mile 11 to the finish.  wow.  The 161 is 80% of max HR (200 from 2009).  Now, 144 is 80%, but I'll see if I can scoot that up some, over time.  Post-heart attack, 'max HR' definition is to the HR that it doesn't hurt.

So, getting cadence up is one action item.  That shouldn't take but 6 weeks to get it up to 165 from 162. It might spike the HR, but that'll settle down.

Getting <13 min/mile as the race pace for '21 Half is a goal.  If I can be comfortable at 13 or faster for next year's Half, it gives me something solid to work with for the '22 Full.

Do I think I can replicate the 2016 performance?  Yes, but it'll take 2 years to do it and staying healthy.

Thoughts?

I agree that you can replicate the 2016 performance and think the plan to take 2 years to get there is a realistic one.  HR does become more of an issue as we age...especially when we're aware of past cardiac issues that we need to live with.

Here's what I find interesting.  I'm dealing with a lot of the same issues and struggles as you are.  Right now I'm concentrating on other activities but keeping running in the mix.  I often think that I should give a marathon another try.  I just can't seem to get past it.  But I realize that like you, I need time to build my running base back up.  I have often thought that a two year plan...with half marathons in the mix early on...would be the way to go.  If/when I decide to commit to another marathon I want to make sure that I have a two year block of time in my life that's not full of travel and other activities that will conflict with marathon training.  I can't do this halfway if I'm going to be successful.  

So thoughts...good plan...go for it!

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:Reviewing the numbers on the splits, I notice;
1.  Cadence is set at 165 or 164.
2.  First splits are in the low 13's and the HR is low 140's.
3.  HR of ~161-166 from mile 11 to the finish.  wow.  The 161 is 80% of max HR (200 from 2009).  Now, 144 is 80%, but I'll see if I can scoot that up some, over time.  Post-heart attack, 'max HR' definition is to the HR that it doesn't hurt.

So, getting cadence up is one action item.  That shouldn't take but 6 weeks to get it up to 165 from 162. It might spike the HR, but that'll settle down.

Getting <13 min/mile as the race pace for '21 Half is a goal.  If I can be comfortable at 13 or faster for next year's Half, it gives me something solid to work with for the '22 Full.

Do I think I can replicate the 2016 performance?  Yes, but it'll take 2 years to do it and staying healthy.

Thoughts?

I agree that you can replicate the 2016 performance and think the plan to take 2 years to get there is a realistic one.  HR does become more of an issue as we age...especially when we're aware of past cardiac issues that we need to live with.

Here's what I find interesting.  I'm dealing with a lot of the same issues and struggles as you are.  Right now I'm concentrating on other activities but keeping running in the mix.  I often think that I should give a marathon another try.  I just can't seem to get past it.  But I realize that like you, I need time to build my running base back up.  I have often thought that a two year plan...with half marathons in the mix early on...would be the way to go.  If/when I decide to commit to another marathon I want to make sure that I have a two year block of time in my life that's not full of travel and other activities that will conflict with marathon training.  I can't do this halfway if I'm going to be successful.  

So thoughts...good plan...go for it!

Thanks, glad you like it.  As far as the marathon, you have to get the blessing from your family to do it.  I think if they're ecstatic and confident that you can do it, then that will help your mindset, as well.  And you have to find the motivation, plus the time.  Right now, you're having a lot of fun with your present activities.  Which is great!  Now, which one or two do you want to scale back or stop to fit a Half into?

You might get enough enjoyment out of running a Half or two that marathons are too much of a time sink.  That's okay.  Your family will probably be relieved.  Heck, you might sell running a Half by saying you're going to start training for a marathon.  Then acquiesce and choose the half. 

You and I aren't getting any younger.  If I wasn't hell bent on finishing 2 marathons, I could quite easily enjoy just training for a Half.  It's a relief when I come to the turn off point for the marathoners, knowing I only have 6 miles to go and not 19.  Also, afterwards, you're not the walking dead.

I don't have to deal with family.  I just have to get the mindset, don't break, and lose weight.

-30-

Speaking of losing weight.  I'm down 8 pounds since Wednesday at noon.  Unfortunately, I have to go to New Orleans tomorrow morning, instead of next Tuesday (which was my plan).  It's a 5 hour drive and I'm not confident that I'll be able to drive over and back safely without some sort of food.  I've bought a few things, in case I need it.  I hope to be back in Houston before sunset.  I will be diligent on staying the course.  The fast ends Monday noon.

I slept in, this morning.  Regarding weights, there are a couple of machines where I wanted to make sure I was doing it right.  Youtube is a great resource.

Y'all have a good weekend.

Have a safe trip!