Training with Flies

Saw your efforts on Strava this morning.  Good for you for giving a warmup a try.  Sorry to see that the weather didn't cooperate...hope it cools down soon.  As mentioned previously I'll gladly send some of our COLD weather your way.

Go to the gym...

nkrichards wrote:Saw your efforts on Strava this morning.  Good for you for giving a warmup a try.  Sorry to see that the weather didn't cooperate...hope it cools down soon.  As mentioned previously I'll gladly send some of our COLD weather your way.

Go to the gym...

My work schedule has been unusual the past 6 weeks, but might just return to traditional, next week.  That means I'll be able to hit the gym at 5 a.m. again.  Looking forward to that.

On Saturday, I'll run 12 or 13 miles, but it appears I won't be able to run at Memorial Park because the Houston Open will be going on.  The Park says the loop will be open, but they 'encourage' people to use other parks this weekend.  So, I'll go to a running park about 6 miles west and do my 12 or 13 there.  I haven't ran there since Hurricane Harvey in Sept, 2017.  So, a new route to view on Strava.
 
Your desire to send us cold weather has materialized.  Keep in mind that seasonal now is 75 for a high and 58 for a low.  Good running weather all next week!

Houston, TX

TONIGHT

Nov 10
Mostly Cloudy

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62°

20%
6:41 AM
5:28 PM

TOMORROW

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Nov 11
Thunderstorms

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45°

60%
6:42 AM
5:27 PM

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SATURDAY

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Nov 12
Mostly Cloudy

60°



40°

0%
6:43 AM
5:27 PM

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SUNDAY

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Nov 13
Partly Cloudy

60°



48°

0%
6:44 AM
5:26 PM

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MONDAY

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Nov 14
Rain

60°



46°

60%
6:45 AM
5:26 PM

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TUESDAY

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Nov 15
Mostly Cloudy

58°



42°

0%
6:46 AM
5:25 PM

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WEDNESDAY

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Nov 16
Showers

56°



40°

40%
6:46 AM
5:25 PM

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THURSDAY

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Nov 17
AM Showers

58°



42°

40%
6:47 AM
5:25 PM

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FRIDAY

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Nov 18
Mostly Cloudy

60°



46°

0%
6:48 AM
5:24 PM

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SATURDAY

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Nov 19
Partly Cloudy

62°



48°

0%
6:49 AM
5:24 PM[/size]

I'll be watching Strava for that cool weather run on your new route.  

nkrichards wrote:I'll be watching Strava for that cool weather run on your new route.  

Yup.  Well, it happened.  The cold front came through on time on Friday.  That cold weather of yours is here for all next week.

It was 42 degrees with a wind chill of 36 and partly cloudy.  I'd forgotten how rolling the course I took was.  It's been 10 or so years, since running at Terry Hershey Park about 6-12 miles west of my apt, depending on where you park.  I drove 6 to the parking lot under Beltway 8.  Back for hurricane Harvey in 2017, where I parked was completely under water.  In fact, the whole 6 mile route was probably under about 10-15 feet of water, as the asphalt path is within eyesight of Buffalo Bayou.  The target was a 12 mile run.

So, I started out at 7 a.m., which is the first daytime run since probably the Half last January.  Immediately, there's a decline of 20 feet or so.  I thought, "oh boy, I hope I'll be able to go up this incline as I finish."  I started at a 156 cadence.  The path was full of easy rises and not so easy rises.  Flat didn't happen too often.  But I was able to maintain the cadence for 10 of the 12 miles, where this sharp, by my standards, rise happened just before mile 10 and I just couldn't get up that rise and had to stop.  At that point, I walked 90% of the remainder.  My left upper hamstring was whiney.  

I was quite pleased that I was able to maintain the 156 for all the ups and down of the 10 miles.  What startled me was with 2 miles of walking, my average pace was STILL under 15 at 14:48/mile.

12 miles, 2:57:39, 14:48 pace, 133 avg bpm, 154 max bpm
1.  14:30, 121 bpm, 157 spm, 73 sl
2.  14:16, 128 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
3.  14:21, 132 bpm, 157 spm, 73 sl
4.  14:07, 133 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
5.  14:07, 136 bpm, 157 spm, 72 sl
6.  13:54, 137 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
7.  13:37, 135 bpm, 155 spm, 72 sl
8.  14:12, 140 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
9.  13:58, 143 bpm, 157 spm, 72 sl
10. 14:39, 142 bpm, 156 spm, 69 sl
11. 17:53, 128 bpm, 108 spm, 80 sl
12. 18:07, 126 bpm, 110 spm, 79 sl

Aside from not doing hills at all, this cycle, I was quite surprised at being able to hold the cadence.  I wasn't concerned about the heart rate and my breathing was doing well.  Heart out of the hammock!

I got to thinking that if I choose to do another marathon training, next year, I'll have to run this course a few times as a step back long run.  On the marathon course, there are 7 or so non-flat places in the 2nd half of the course.  The worse of that 7 doesn't hold a candle to the two or three on today's course that made me stop on the return.

Post-run stiffness was as if I ran 18 flat miles, especially where the hamstring meets the gluteus.  The weather played a big roll in making this run doable and survivable.

Thanks for reading.  Have a good Sunday.

ounce wrote:

nkrichards wrote:I'll be watching Strava for that cool weather run on your new route.  

Yup.  Well, it happened.  The cold front came through on time on Friday.  That cold weather of yours is here for all next week.

It was 42 degrees with a wind chill of 36 and partly cloudy.  I'd forgotten how rolling the course I took was.  It's been 10 or so years, since running at Terry Hershey Park about 6-12 miles west of my apt, depending on where you park.  I drove 6 to the parking lot under Beltway 8.  Back for hurricane Harvey in 2017, where I parked was completely under water.  In fact, the whole 6 mile route was probably under about 10-15 feet of water, as the asphalt path is within eyesight of Buffalo Bayou.  The target was a 12 mile run.

So, I started out at 7 a.m., which is the first daytime run since probably the Half last January.  Immediately, there's a decline of 20 feet or so.  I thought, "oh boy, I hope I'll be able to go up this incline as I finish."  I started at a 156 cadence.  The path was full of easy rises and not so easy rises.  Flat didn't happen too often.  But I was able to maintain the cadence for 10 of the 12 miles, where this sharp, by my standards, rise happened just before mile 10 and I just couldn't get up that rise and had to stop.  At that point, I walked 90% of the remainder.  My left upper hamstring was whiney.  

I was quite pleased that I was able to maintain the 156 for all the ups and down of the 10 miles.  What startled me was with 2 miles of walking, my average pace was STILL under 15 at 14:48/mile.

12 miles, 2:57:39, 14:48 pace, 133 avg bpm, 154 max bpm
1.  14:30, 121 bpm, 157 spm, 73 sl
2.  14:16, 128 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
3.  14:21, 132 bpm, 157 spm, 73 sl
4.  14:07, 133 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
5.  14:07, 136 bpm, 157 spm, 72 sl
6.  13:54, 137 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
7.  13:37, 135 bpm, 155 spm, 72 sl
8.  14:12, 140 bpm, 156 spm, 73 sl
9.  13:58, 143 bpm, 157 spm, 72 sl
10. 14:39, 142 bpm, 156 spm, 69 sl
11. 17:53, 128 bpm, 108 spm, 80 sl
12. 18:07, 126 bpm, 110 spm, 79 sl

Aside from not doing hills at all, this cycle, I was quite surprised at being able to hold the cadence.  I wasn't concerned about the heart rate and my breathing was doing well.  Heart out of the hammock!

I got to thinking that if I choose to do another marathon training, next year, I'll have to run this course a few times as a step back long run.  On the marathon course, there are 7 or so non-flat places in the 2nd half of the course.  The worse of that 7 doesn't hold a candle to the two or three on today's course that made me stop on the return.

Post-run stiffness was as if I ran 18 flat miles, especially where the hamstring meets the gluteus.  The weather played a big roll in making this run doable and survivable.

Thanks for reading.  Have a good Sunday.

That was a good run!!  I didn't look closely at the elevation data on Strava.  Considering that you normally run with little to no elevation change this was a phenomenal run.  To achieve those paces, hold your cadence, and go that distance on a hillier run is huge!  I definitely think that this is a good place to sneak in the occasional mid-distance run during future training.  

And it's good to see that you made your heart work a bit more than usual...that's when improvement occurs.

Good for you.  Hope you rested and enjoyed your weekend.

Thank you, thankyouverymuch.  The weather contributed to the run because I never got hot.

The upper quads are experiencing post-marathon, rigor mortis soreness.  I popped the TENS on them, but it's going to take some days, walking, and some easy running to get them to feeling better.  The hammies have relaxed faster than the quads.

I need to bump up the cadence.  If I can do hills at 156 for 10 miles, then I can probably do 12 miles flat at 160 or at least most of the 12.

So, thank you Houston Open for opening a new avenue of training.  Hopefully, the weather will be conducive to doing the hills around Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow will be lifting.

There was still residual stiffness in the quads on Monday morning.  But I did go lift and have recouped all of the weight amounts from 3 weeks ago, so I'm pleased with that.

Monday afternoon was a 6 month follow up with the cardiologist.  BP 130/70 and HR of 56.  Also did a 2 page heartbeat graph.  He and I talked about how my running was going from a heart perspective.  I told him that "son of a bitch heart just sits back and doesn't get above 127 on a 12 mile run."  But told him about the Saturday run at Terry Hershey park with hills and it had to actually beat in the 140s for a while.

He poked on my lower calf at the shin to see how the venous insufficiency was, but didn't mention anything and I didn't follow up.

We re-visited the May discussion about cutting back on Plavix and aspirin.  He reviewed his notes from the stent and said the plaque in my heart was 'mild.'  I also brought up the conundrum between stroke doctors who don't want blood thinners versus cardiologists that do.  My dad had strokes in his mid-80s, but they didn't have any long lasting effects.  So, there's family history.

He said for most patients, dropping the Plavix would be his concession, but for me, he would drop the aspirin.  I didn't quite understand why, unless it was the stroke history.  BUT, I'm off the aspirin.

At this point, let me explain that down here there are re-piping ads on TV where old houses have a lot of gunk in the pipes and that the house can be re-piped by cutting through the sheetrock, removing the old pipe and installing new pipe.

I then asked him about how I'm not able to run longer distances AND lift weights more than 1x/week and used the re-piping metaphor.  I asked him if there's too much gunk in this 65 year old body's veins and arteries that would be causing this lower energy level of not being able to do more lifting at the same level of running.

In no uncertain terms (but nicely) said that there is nothing wrong with the pipes in my body and my heart.  It's just...aging.  He said that might be tough hearing, but that's what it is.  I said, "well, I'd rather know that's what it is than thinking there's something to correct."  I told him that after I quit running half marathons in 5 years or so, then I'll concentrate on lifting weights.

As far as marathons, I would have to lose a lot of weight before doing a marathon training cycle.  But I have to think about keeping up the mileage that I have been doing after the January race.  Because this time last year, I could only do 6 miles on a long run.

I wonder if losing the weight would allow the body to adapt to running at this mileage and lifts 2x/week.  That 10th official Houston marathon is a big carrot.  The task of losing weight needs to be the largest carrot and it's not right now.

Off to bed.  Supposed to be 42 degrees with a breeze making a 36 degree wind chill in the morning.  Will do 6 in the morning.

Thanks for reading.  Responses not compensated.

Sorry I haven't posted here more.  I have been following your running on Strava.  Your cadence graphs have been impressively consistent.  And it's good to see that you're getting your HR up a bit...that's when you'll be making those adaptations you need.  I'm predicting a fun and well run half in January.

Happy Thanksgiving.

nkrichards wrote:Sorry I haven't posted here more.  I have been following your running on Strava.  Your cadence graphs have been impressively consistent.  And it's good to see that you're getting your HR up a bit...that's when you'll be making those adaptations you need.  I'm predicting a fun and well run half in January.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving, Nancy.

I haven't been posting as much, as well.  The 156 cadence was very comfortable, but I still think a higher cadence will get me faster.  So where last week's planned 12 mile was only 6 at 158 (a 2 step increase), Wednesday's (yesterday) 12 mile run was at 157 and I was successful at doing 12 of the 13.1 miles at the 157.  That was encouraging, too.  The 13th mile was at a slower cadence and time.  I wasn't even thinking of running 13.1 until about mile 11.  I'm glad that I did run the extra mile.  It showed me that while I can finish 13, I need a little more work over the next 5 weeks at 13 or 14, so I can cover that 13th mile at the same pace as the other miles.

Whatever happens, I'm ready for the Half.  Might even think about doing a negative split and increase the cadence a couple of steps more.  I've never strategized about a negative split.

How do you do that, Nancy?

Nice job on your good long run.

I have run at least one negative split marathon (Pensacola in 2008 and got 2nd place in my AG so that felt good). I had horribly positive splits my last two. How to do it? Don't start out too fast and go for really steady. I realize hills and things can affect that and that is understandable. And then the last few miles kick it in. Of course you have to fuel and not be injured and hopefully it's not too hot out. A lot depends on the day, you know? Being healthy, having had a good night's sleep, etc. 
Years ago a couple of men I ran with would race me the last few blocks of our daily 6 mile run. That was really good for us, see who could make it back to the Y first. But can you try really pushing the last few yards/blocks/whatever of your daily run and see if that does anything?

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!

ounce wrote:

nkrichards wrote:Sorry I haven't posted here more.  I have been following your running on Strava.  Your cadence graphs have been impressively consistent.  And it's good to see that you're getting your HR up a bit...that's when you'll be making those adaptations you need.  I'm predicting a fun and well run half in January.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving, Nancy.

I haven't been posting as much, as well.  The 156 cadence was very comfortable, but I still think a higher cadence will get me faster.  So where last week's planned 12 mile was only 6 at 158 (a 2 step increase), Wednesday's (yesterday) 12 mile run was at 157 and I was successful at doing 12 of the 13.1 miles at the 157.  That was encouraging, too.  The 13th mile was at a slower cadence and time.  I wasn't even thinking of running 13.1 until about mile 11.  I'm glad that I did run the extra mile.  It showed me that while I can finish 13, I need a little more work over the next 5 weeks at 13 or 14, so I can cover that 13th mile at the same pace as the other miles.

Whatever happens, I'm ready for the Half.  Might even think about doing a negative split and increase the cadence a couple of steps more.  I've never strategized about a negative split.

How do you do that, Nancy?

Julie wrote:Nice job on your good long run.

I have run at least one negative split marathon (Pensacola in 2008 and got 2nd place in my AG so that felt good). I had horribly positive splits my last two. How to do it? Don't start out too fast and go for really steady. I realize hills and things can affect that and that is understandable. And then the last few miles kick it in. Of course you have to fuel and not be injured and hopefully it's not too hot out. A lot depends on the day, you know? Being healthy, having had a good night's sleep, etc. 
Years ago a couple of men I ran with would race me the last few blocks of our daily 6 mile run. That was really good for us, see who could make it back to the Y first. But can you try really pushing the last few yards/blocks/whatever of your daily run and see if that does anything?

Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!

You've got time to get comfortable with the distance and dial in the finish for a very good half!

I'm impressed that Julie has run a negative split for a marathon.  I haven't accomplished that goal.  Even my BQ was a slight positive split.  I'm getting closer.  If you really want advice on running a negative split, ask Michele.  She has it dialed in even for a marathon.

That said, I am getting better at running a negative split in races up to half distance and training runs up to 16 miles.  Other than easy runs with Janice I don't think I've run anything that wasn't a negative split in the last 18 months.  I think that is key...practice, practice, practice.  To get to the point where you can do it in a training run I think there are some keys.

• Start very conservative so you have the energy to finish well.
  
• Don't try to run training runs at race pace.
  
• Fuel early and often.  If you wait till you recognize that you need fuel it's to late.  If you're starting to wobble, notice brain fog, or recognize tired legs you waited to long.
  
• Work up to your goal gradually.  So maybe right now you can only do the last 100 metres at a faster pace.  Do that for now.  Then do more....25 miles, .5 miles, 1 mile, then eventually the last few miles.  It takes time.  And you don't have to sprint...you just have to speed up slightly.
  
• Starting slower and lowering your training run pace goals will allow you to develop the skills and confidence in your ability to finish faster.  I know it seems counterintuitive and I fought it for a long time...but it does work.  We slower runners may not have to slow as much as Michele but we do need to run under race pace during training in order to develop the skills to push hard when the going gets tough at the end.  You have to be able to run a negative split in training...consistently...before you'll be able to run a negative split in a race.
  

It's hard to wrap your head around running slower to run faster.  I fought it for a long time.  I now believe that it does work.  And I also believe that it can make you a better runner...and make running more enjoyable.

Enjoy the journey.

Thanks for the shoutout, Doug.   Yes, I do come by here an read to keep up with you all every2 wks or so.  Just happy to see everyone still running and Julie back posting.  Maybe I'll get back at it next year.This past year has been full of changes for me - but I'm getting through it all.

So, we're back to 70s in the mornings & 80s in the afternoons, which is a real de-motivator on running.  By late next week, we'll have highs back to seasonal 66 degrees.

Monday, I was able to do 5 miles at 157 cadence, with the last mile at 159.  A 15:13 pace.  It felt fine, even though it was 67 degrees in the dark.
Tuesday, I lifted and did the usual 35 minute short workout.  The sitting bench press was more difficult at 125 pounds, so I dropped it to 120 and it was a bit easier, but probably should've dropped to 110.  The traditional horizontal bench press in its 3 iterations flat, decline, and incline, I do at 90.  I am SO looking forward to a full workout after January 15.

Wednesday, it was 71 degrees at 4:30 a.m.  I wanted to run 4 at 156, a lower cadence.  I could only manage 1.6 miles, then walk back.  How fun.

So, I plan on a Saturday run with the mindset of a 78 degree morning and just complete 10 miles.  The temp should be around 64, though.  Would love to do 12.  One of those 'just sweat it' runs from July.

Saturday was 69 degrees for a 12 mile run consisting of 4-3 mile loops at Memorial Park at dark:30 in the morning at 156 cadence.  Not exactly a challenge, but at 69 degrees I will sweat more than at 50 degrees.  I was determined to complete the 12 as if it was 80 degrees in August.  I did wring out my headband 3 times, which was unremarkable for the temperature.

I started slowing down around mile 10 to a plod.  I stopped for a bit, then re-started.  Three gazelles passed me.  That caused me to get back to 156 cadence and I finished the run at the 156 cadence.  Sort of surprised me that I did that, but will file that in the back of my head.  

Yesterday, I lifted for a 35 minute workout.

Usually, I will rest a day, then run the next.  But I wanted to run, this morning, to try to tell the body that I could run 4 miles the day after lifting.  That usually has a 20% chance of success.  However, this week is different as Friday's long run will be the last run until after Christmas.  So there's a little extra incentive to make this week count.  I also wanted to have 2 rest days between today's run of 4 miles and Friday's 12.

While the temp was 70 degrees, I tuned out any back talking from the body, except for stabbing pains.  Today is the last day of 80 degree days for the rest of the year.  As Julie already knows, a cold front, as I type this, is 40 miles from me.  It's going to drop temps over the next 24 hours and by Friday morning, the air temps will be 39-40 degrees...a scant 30 degrees colder than today.

I finished the 4 miles with not much problem.  Turning off the whiners helped out.

The Half is 32 days away on January 15.  I'm very capable of finishing it under all but icy conditions.  Since I'm running the half, instead of the full, I signed up to volunteer on Saturday for the 5K run.  I have volunteered for the race start corral area.  I've done that for the past few years, except in those years, I was a course marshall, which was fun.  I just want to see another part of the race production.

Stay warm, Julie.  I'll be interested to hear your temps.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy those cooler temperatures.  

I think it's awesome that you volunteer for the race.  They wouldn't happen without dedicated volunteers!

Hope the 12 goes well...I'll be watching for it on Strava.

And enjoy your break from training over Christmas.

nkrichards wrote:Enjoy those cooler temperatures.  

I think it's awesome that you volunteer for the race.  They wouldn't happen without dedicated volunteers!

Hope the 12 goes well...I'll be watching for it on Strava.

And enjoy your break from training over Christmas.

Oh, yes.  For today, normal high is 65.  We're at 67 and the temps will be in the lower 60's until the 23rd, when it's supposed to be in the 40s for a high.  About a 10% chance of snow Christmas weekend.  

Nancy, I have been meaning to tell you something about my right foot's plantar plate swelling after a run.  Remember after Thanksgiving when I ran most of 12 miles that was real hilly, by my standards?

I don't know why, but evidently the result of running more on the balls of my feet for so long caused my foot not to swell anymore.  My 2nd toe is still bent like Marty's, but no more icing it down.  No clue as to why.

Yes, I'll enjoy my time off even though it'll be cold.  I'll be all healed up for the last 3 weeks.

I love reading your description of cold. It was low 20s here this morning with 22 mph winds, windchill of 6. Edit to add, I did run 7.6 miles this morning. The temps weren't bad, just the wind but we ran mostly north-south and it was WNW winds. Next week for my husband's birthday we have a low of -11 actual temp, and much lower windchills (but I won't run in that). But you get worse summers, this is just my time of the year to be unhappy about the weather (and the short days).

Julie wrote:I love reading your description of cold. It was low 20s here this morning with 22 mph winds, windchill of 6. Edit to add, I did run 7.6 miles this morning. The temps weren't bad, just the wind but we ran mostly north-south and it was WNW winds. Next week for my husband's birthday we have a low of -11 actual temp, and much lower windchills (but I won't run in that). But you get worse summers, this is just my time of the year to be unhappy about the weather (and the short days).

Yes!  Weather is a very relative thing.  I interviewed for an accounting project that would've ran from October to February in Wichita.  I gratefully didn't get it.  This Siberian stuff that comes for your husband's birfday would've been one of those single digit or lower events.  7 is my lowest low temperature for Christmas 1989 and I wasn't running then.  

We might get to 30-32 next Christmas weekend for a low.  Just 40 degrees warmer!

Our summers are pretty gnarly.  Good luck, next week, on the weather.  Thanks for writing.

With the Half 29 days away and a 9 day hiatus beginning now, I felt like I needed to challenge the body and brain with a 12 mile run.  It would give me an idea as to how the body is able to execute a near half marathon distance, again.

The weather was expected to be in the low 40s range.  

Back on December 10, the temp was 69 degrees with the same figure for humidity for a 12 mile run.  That day, the time was 3:03:26 for a 15:41 pace.  10 of the 12 miles were in the 15's and 2 in the 16s.  It could be characterized as a plodding run at the end.  I was sweating like a run in July.

Today, it was 47 degrees and clear.  I thought I had set the cadence at 156, which I felt was a comfortable cadence for me for the distance.  Afterwards, I discovered the cadence was 157.  Boy, that was a great discovery!  I held that cadence throughout the whole run.  That was a great thing to know.  During mile 11, I got to thinking about running 13 miles.  After all, I am running a half in January.

I did run 13 miles.  All the splits were less than 15, except for mile 1 at 15:09.  The pace was 14:27, which is very decent.  I ran 13 in 3:07:68. Much better than the last time I ran 13.  Very pleased with that run, especially this late in the training cycle. 

A good time to heal up for the race on January 15.  I have no niggles to heal, so it'll be just micro muscle tears.

Thanks for reading.

I have a bit of time to scribble down the splits from Friday's 13 mile run.

13 miles, 3:07:58, 14:27 pace, 131 avg bpm, 146 max bpm, 157 avg cadence, 0.71 avg stride length1
1.  15:09, 119 bpm, 157 spm
2.  14:54, 126 bpm, 157 spm
3.  14:39, 127 bpm, 157 spm, 69 sl
4.  14:54, 124 bpm, 157 spm, 69 sl
5.  14:35, 127 bpm, 157 spm, 70 sl
6.  14:03, 128 bpm, 157 spm, 73 sl
7.  14:03, 131 bpm, 157 spm, 73 sl
8.  14:07, 134 bpm, 157 spm, 72 sl
9.  14:12, 133 bpm, 157 spm, 71 sl
10. 14:12, 137 bpm, 157 spm, 71 sl
11. 14:07, 141 bpm, 157 spm, 72 sl
12. 14:39, 141 bpm, 157 spm, 68 sl
13. 14:16, 143 bpm, 157 spm, 71 sl

While I didn't split in the 13s at all, what I was able to do was motor along at the same pace.

This next comment might make Nancy go  .  When I did my PR in 2014, I actually did about 1 or 2 warmup miles before going inside the building.  That was an hour before the race because I know that my first mile is always the slowest.

So, I might warm up a mile.  One thing 95% of my runs do not include as part of the time is pee breaks.  Part of the reason in 2014 to warm up a mile or two was to decrease the amount in the bladder.  That part of the warmup worked well, as did the first mile split.

Honestly, a warm up mile doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. Since I strained my hamstring, I start every run with a block or so of walking then stretch before starting to run.

nice job on the 13 miler! You sound very prepared.

Now we are expecting 11" of snow and -40 windchills...I walked across the street to give my neighbors a little something this afternoon and the freezing rain had made the sidewalks pretty slick.
Enjoy your nice winter! I guess it's payback for your hot summers, right?

Julie wrote:Honestly, a warm up mile doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. Since I strained my hamstring, I start every run with a block or so of walking then stretch before starting to run.

nice job on the 13 miler! You sound very prepared.

Now we are expecting 11" of snow and -40 windchills...I walked across the street to give my neighbors a little something this afternoon and the freezing rain had made the sidewalks pretty slick.
Enjoy your nice winter! I guess it's payback for your hot summers, right?

Thanks, Julie.  I do a 'warm up' of walking for about 5 minutes, purely to get my heart up to ~80 bpm.  Two years ago, while beginning a run, I was having some pains that seemed to the wind up to another MI.  I headed off to the hospital, but the Troponin level was too low to say a heart attack occurred.  The warmup on the hospital treadmill was walking 3 minutes, then another 3 minutes done a little faster.  So, it was called angina and I was sent home.  But I used that treadmill warmup as my warmup before a run.

Weather.  Well, our front will be dry and due to arrive around 5 p.m. Thursday.  A rarely used Wind Chill Watch will be issued Thursday at 6 p.m. and last to noon Friday.  Friday morning, 17 at the big airport with a wind chill of 1 caused by sustained winds of 25 mph with gusts to 40-45 mph.  We will have a very rare 45 hours at freezing or less.  In February 2021, when the power grid collapsed, we had 43 straight hours of freezing..

But next Thursday, the 29th, a high of 70.

I will certainly enjoy the next 7 days.

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas.  Don't party to hard on New Years!

Don't always have internet service but I check Strava when I can so I'll be watching for your training runs as you prepare for the race.

Happy New Year, Nancy.  You, too, Julie.

I ran on the 26th.  Wanted to do 6, but did 3 because the water was turned off for the cold weather at Memorial Park.  Usually, I can run 6 miles without watering, especially when it's not Summer.  But I didn't snap to the idea that the City would turn it off.  It was 35 degrees, after all.  And I didn't carry water.

However Friday, I ran 6 miles on the streets.  I set the cadence at 157, but bled some for the last 2 miles at 153 and 152.  it was 66 degrees.

This morning, the idea was 12, in spite of it being 71 degrees.  I did it once, I could do it again.  Right?  Hello?  Well, nope.  It's supposed to get cooler, in a day or two, so maybe I can run 9, one day this week.  13 days to the race.

Cool front arrived.  Supposed to get down to 51 by in the morning.  So, I thought I would drive up to Memorial Park and run 9 miles.  9 would be long enough to be useful and short enough to heal faster than doing 12.  It'll also remind me that I'll just have 4.1 miles to go.  Mind game.

I'll carry water in the car, even though the water fountains were working on Monday.  I'm not expecting any problems.

Looking forward to it.  Thanks for reading.