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Training with Flies

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:Nancy, I remember the gnome agitating you, but you were consistent on internally managing your cadence.  I just can't.  I need the 'stroke...stroke...stroke' cue.

Last week and this past Tuesday when I ran, I would get this whining in the upper 1/3rd of my right chest that started around 1/4 mile into the run and would subside at 1/2 mile point.  Then, sporadically in the next mile.  NOTHING in the 3rd mile.

In between last Thursday and this past Tuesday, I analyzed what I was doing before and at the start of the run, plus anything else that might be influencing the whining.  I came up with 2 things.  1 - I wasn't walking the 1/4 to /12 mile as a warmup to get my heart rate up, like I used to.  That meant that I was starting to run around 60 bpm, then started running, then the HR almost double in a quarter mile.  Which brought up #2 - Why did this happen at all?  I didn't have it at all, last year.  My conclusion was in the interval between the Half and last week, I wasn't doing any running to speak of.

So maybe, maybe the arteries around the heart had become smaller, since I wasn't as active, like last year.  And I need to practice getting my heart rate up before running, so the vessels can maybe expand.

With that hypothesis, Tuesday I walked about a 1/4 mile before running.  The result was a little better, but still there.  I was on the right track, but it was still whining.  Then on Thursday, I decided to run/walk 3 miles because my walking HR is in the 100s and running is around 126-135 bpm.  When I r/w, I walk the first half mile, so I can run the last half mile.  It resulted in a smaller whine in that first 1/2 mile run and pretty much no more whining for the rest of the 3 miles.

The overall result is to 1 - walk a half mile before a 3 mile run. 2 - do 3 mile r/w until the whining stops, then you can choose to do 3 mile runs OR a r/w.

Hope that your plan alleviates the whining...and that it's not something more serious.  Good to hear you're keeping an eye on it.

You're right the gnome did irritate me...and still does.  I haven't been paying much attention to cadence lately.  Well it would probably be more accurate to state that I haven't been intentional about keeping it high but I have been looking at it after runs.  Oddly enough the cadence graphs on my Friday and Saturday runs are telling.  My knee has been a bit funky the last few days.  It was quite painful at the start of my runs both Friday and Saturday.  And the cadence was significantly higher during those first miles when I was running cautiously.  Hmm.  

Stay healthy!

I've noticed that once my right knee gets into my regular running or walking stride, the knee stops hurting. But, extend my leg a little farther or make a sharp left or right turn during a walk and BAM! the knee bitches for a couple of strides.

-30-

I went to Memorial Park on Monday for a run/walk but it didn't work out so well. I've scheduled an appt with the cardiologist.

Training with Flies

ounce wrote:Nancy, I remember the gnome agitating you, but you were consistent on internally managing your cadence.  I just can't.  I need the 'stroke...stroke...stroke' cue.

Last week and this past Tuesday when I ran, I would get this whining in the upper 1/3rd of my right chest that started around 1/4 mile into the run and would subside at 1/2 mile point.  Then, sporadically in the next mile.  NOTHING in the 3rd mile.

In between last Thursday and this past Tuesday, I analyzed what I was doing before and at the start of the run, plus anything else that might be influencing the whining.  I came up with 2 things.  1 - I wasn't walking the 1/4 to /12 mile as a warmup to get my heart rate up, like I used to.  That meant that I was starting to run around 60 bpm, then started running, then the HR almost double in a quarter mile.  Which brought up #2 - Why did this happen at all?  I didn't have it at all, last year.  My conclusion was in the interval between the Half and last week, I wasn't doing any running to speak of.

So maybe, maybe the arteries around the heart had become smaller, since I wasn't as active, like last year.  And I need to practice getting my heart rate up before running, so the vessels can maybe expand.

With that hypothesis, Tuesday I walked about a 1/4 mile before running.  The result was a little better, but still there.  I was on the right track, but it was still whining.  Then on Thursday, I decided to run/walk 3 miles because my walking HR is in the 100s and running is around 126-135 bpm.  When I r/w, I walk the first half mile, so I can run the last half mile.  It resulted in a smaller whine in that first 1/2 mile run and pretty much no more whining for the rest of the 3 miles.

The overall result is to 1 - walk a half mile before a 3 mile run. 2 - do 3 mile r/w until the whining stops, then you can choose to do 3 mile runs OR a r/w.

Hope that your plan alleviates the whining...and that it's not something more serious.  Good to hear you're keeping an eye on it.

You're right the gnome did irritate me...and still does.  I haven't been paying much attention to cadence lately.  Well it would probably be more accurate to state that I haven't been intentional about keeping it high but I have been looking at it after runs.  Oddly enough the cadence graphs on my Friday and Saturday runs are telling.  My knee has been a bit funky the last few days.  It was quite painful at the start of my runs both Friday and Saturday.  And the cadence was significantly higher during those first miles when I was running cautiously.  Hmm.  

Stay healthy!

Training with Flies

Nancy, I remember the gnome agitating you, but you were consistent on internally managing your cadence.  I just can't.  I need the 'stroke...stroke...stroke' cue.

Last week and this past Tuesday when I ran, I would get this whining in the upper 1/3rd of my right chest that started around 1/4 mile into the run and would subside at 1/2 mile point.  Then, sporadically in the next mile.  NOTHING in the 3rd mile.

In between last Thursday and this past Tuesday, I analyzed what I was doing before and at the start of the run, plus anything else that might be influencing the whining.  I came up with 2 things.  1 - I wasn't walking the 1/4 to /12 mile as a warmup to get my heart rate up, like I used to.  That meant that I was starting to run around 60 bpm, then started running, then the HR almost double in a quarter mile.  Which brought up #2 - Why did this happen at all?  I didn't have it at all, last year.  My conclusion was in the interval between the Half and last week, I wasn't doing any running to speak of.

So maybe, maybe the arteries around the heart had become smaller, since I wasn't as active, like last year.  And I need to practice getting my heart rate up before running, so the vessels can maybe expand.

With that hypothesis, Tuesday I walked about a 1/4 mile before running.  The result was a little better, but still there.  I was on the right track, but it was still whining.  Then on Thursday, I decided to run/walk 3 miles because my walking HR is in the 100s and running is around 126-135 bpm.  When I r/w, I walk the first half mile, so I can run the last half mile.  It resulted in a smaller whine in that first 1/2 mile run and pretty much no more whining for the rest of the 3 miles.

The overall result is to 1 - walk a half mile before a 3 mile run. 2 - do 3 mile r/w until the whining stops, then you can choose to do 3 mile runs OR a r/w.

Training with Flies

nkrichards wrote:Rabbits always help...more than we realize I think.  

That's a long time to have to sit still!!  And as it starts to get uncomfortable it seems like it lasts even longer than it actually does.  I'm not claustrophobic but during the short time that they slide you into the tube and ask you to hold your breath during the scanning for the nuclear stress test I get very uncomfortable.  It's even worse the second time as I know it's coming...even though I also know it's quite short.

Hope lifting went well.

Have a good weekend.

This MRI machine was oriented horizontally (think a hamburger bun), rather than the traditional vertical donut style.  I even had a window to look out through.

I went to bed, last night, thinking I was going to lift this morning.  And I woke up with the alarm, but I laid there and thought, "let's see if I'll go back to sleep."  I've lifted twice and I've ran twice.  Am I tired?  2 hours later, I woke up.  Guess I was tired.

I received the MRI report, this afternoon.  There were 7 findings.  #7 was the tendonitis on the lateral side of the knee, which is where I was getting PT.

1. [size=16] Medial meniscus tear.[/size]
   
   
2. [size=16]Type II signal of the lateral meniscus tear.[/size]
   
   
3. [size=16]tricompartmental osteoarthritis/chondromalacia.  [/size]
   
   
4. [size=16]T2 hyperintense focus in the proximal to mid ACL is compatible with a ganglion cyst of the ACL.  Superimposed mucoid degeneration of the ACL is also seen.[/size]
   
   
5. [size=16]Lateral patellar tilt and 9 mm lateralization of the patella is noted.  The TT-TG distance is 22 mm.[/size]
   
   

For a knee that doesn't hurt, I sure have a lot of things wrong.  


The medial meniscus tear is something that I've felt for 18 years in the guise of it only hurts when I need to stop running in that particular pair of shoes.


To me, #4 is the worst.  The 'degeneration' is exactly what you would think about something.  The ACL is falling apart.
#2 has 4 different types and 3 sub-types for each of the 4 main types.  Type IV is the worst.  I tried.
#3 well, there are 3 compartments in the knee to become arthritic.  And mine is all three.
#5 is one I'd have to look at again, but the "TT-TG distance" shows normal as less than 15 mm.  Bad or Serious or, well, you get the picture is greater than 20.


Weight loss can individually help the meniscus tears.


My PCP has given me a surgeon from which to make an appointment.  After reading and asking Dr. Google, it seemed like my running days are over.  As the afternoon went on, I got to thinking about it.  My knee still doesn't hurt.  If I hadn't gotten the MRI, I wouldn't know.


With all of the things wrong with that knee, then what does the left knee look like?  If a knee was going to hurt, it was always the right knee.
I wonder if a new knee would be the way to kill all of the issues or if fixing X & Y would take care of the other 5 issues?


Either way, I don't know when I would do it.  It's a long way back.  I could buy some time by losing weight and stopping running.  Either way, I think I'll be seeing 2 surgeons with the 2nd doc being the 2nd opinion.


AND WE GET A HIGH OF 88, NEXT FRIDAY!!!  Oh well.  


Seriously though, I'll run on Monday.  I'm playing with fire, maybe.  Or maybe the lug nuts are loose on two wheels.  I may change my mind.


Y'all have a nice weekend.

Just Training for Life

ounce wrote:

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:I'll recommend two things:
1.  Don't run CIM, but keep on running in order to maintain your base.  Race as it fits, not because you have to.
2.  Run CIM for fun.  You haven't run CIM past 18 miles without imploding, so make the goal to just finish at whatever pace, however LONG you're out there, to run the whole thing without imploding.  THEN, you'll know in your mind what it feels like to do it.  And THEN you'll train for a BQ, if life permits.
3.  Otherwise, farm life is the boss and revert to #1.

I'll check out your sure to be Half Boring to read about.

Thanks for the input Doug.  

I'm leaning toward #2...today.  You never know what I'll be thinking tomorrow.  I dug out my CIM results from 2021.  I made it through mile 19 @BQMP and mile 20 wasn't to far off.  The fade really started in mile 21 and it was only the last 1.2 miles that were horrible.  I was shooting for a 4:30 finish as I figured that's what I'd need to get bib but my actual BQ only requires 4:35.  I didn't fall completely off that pace till the very end of the 25th mile.  So, it's doable if the stars are aligned. 

If you asked me today I would say that I'm going to run CIM with the goal of starting at BQ pace and then making a decision somewhere after the halfway point about continuing at BQ pace or slowing so that I could finish feeling well. 

Running a half at BQ MP over 12 weeks before CIM is nothing to be ashamed of...maybe I do have time to get ready physically if I can just get my head on straight.  And if not I can still be proud of doing my best.  

Nice 10 miler today left me feeling good.

Well, I was off a couple of miles.  At the risk of injecting personal marathon history, I won't run a marathon if I don't think I can finish it in the allotted time under any conditions.  I have to be able to decide based on quantifiable data because I have invested SO much time, miles, and getting up at midnight to run 24 miles in a long run in 5 hours and 30 minutes.  That's my warm and fuzzy.

If I can't, I will gladly run the Half because I'll be SO overtrained.

But you do you and I'll be rootin' for you!

Oh, I have another song for you to review.  "You're Not the Best" by Charlie Robison.  He sang this song on his wedding day to Emily Strayer in 1999.  She is one of The Chicks (used to be The Dixie Chicks) and they divorced in 2008.  

Sadly, while looking for who he first married, I saw where Robison died last week of cardiac arrest at the age of 59.  In 2018, Robison retired from singing because of a botched vocal chord surgery that left him unable to sing.  He had a few songs that I enjoyed.

We're pretty much on the same page.  If I don't think I can finish CIM feeling good I won't start.  That means feeling good even at a slower "fun" pace.  If I run I'll choose my pace based on how training goes for the next 11 weeks...or I'll stay home.  Unfortunately CIM does not offer a half so I can't drop down.

I had a really good run this morning...even with a busy farming schedule and a bit of DOMS after restarting my core/strength work.  Very encouraging.

I'll listen to the recommended song.  It's fun to try new things. 

Rest day tomorrow which means I just need to do my core/strength work and farm but no running. 

Just Training for Life

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:I'll recommend two things:
1.  Don't run CIM, but keep on running in order to maintain your base.  Race as it fits, not because you have to.
2.  Run CIM for fun.  You haven't run CIM past 18 miles without imploding, so make the goal to just finish at whatever pace, however LONG you're out there, to run the whole thing without imploding.  THEN, you'll know in your mind what it feels like to do it.  And THEN you'll train for a BQ, if life permits.
3.  Otherwise, farm life is the boss and revert to #1.

I'll check out your sure to be Half Boring to read about.

Thanks for the input Doug.  

I'm leaning toward #2...today.  You never know what I'll be thinking tomorrow.  I dug out my CIM results from 2021.  I made it through mile 19 @BQMP and mile 20 wasn't to far off.  The fade really started in mile 21 and it was only the last 1.2 miles that were horrible.  I was shooting for a 4:30 finish as I figured that's what I'd need to get bib but my actual BQ only requires 4:35.  I didn't fall completely off that pace till the very end of the 25th mile.  So, it's doable if the stars are aligned. 

If you asked me today I would say that I'm going to run CIM with the goal of starting at BQ pace and then making a decision somewhere after the halfway point about continuing at BQ pace or slowing so that I could finish feeling well. 

Running a half at BQ MP over 12 weeks before CIM is nothing to be ashamed of...maybe I do have time to get ready physically if I can just get my head on straight.  And if not I can still be proud of doing my best.  

Nice 10 miler today left me feeling good.

Well, I was off a couple of miles.  At the risk of injecting personal marathon history, I won't run a marathon if I don't think I can finish it in the allotted time under any conditions.  I have to be able to decide based on quantifiable data because I have invested SO much time, miles, and getting up at midnight to run 24 miles in a long run in 5 hours and 30 minutes.  That's my warm and fuzzy.

If I can't, I will gladly run the Half because I'll be SO overtrained.

But you do you and I'll be rootin' for you!

Oh, I have another song for you to review.  "You're Not the Best" by Charlie Robison.  He sang this song on his wedding day to Emily Strayer in 1999.  She is one of The Chicks (used to be The Dixie Chicks) and they divorced in 2008.  

Sadly, while looking for who he first married, I saw where Robison died last week of cardiac arrest at the age of 59.  In 2018, Robison retired from singing because of a botched vocal chord surgery that left him unable to sing.  He had a few songs that I enjoyed.

Just Training for Life

ounce wrote:I'll recommend two things:
1.  Don't run CIM, but keep on running in order to maintain your base.  Race as it fits, not because you have to.
2.  Run CIM for fun.  You haven't run CIM past 18 miles without imploding, so make the goal to just finish at whatever pace, however LONG you're out there, to run the whole thing without imploding.  THEN, you'll know in your mind what it feels like to do it.  And THEN you'll train for a BQ, if life permits.
3.  Otherwise, farm life is the boss and revert to #1.

I'll check out your sure to be Half Boring to read about.

Thanks for the input Doug.  

I'm leaning toward #2...today.  You never know what I'll be thinking tomorrow.  I dug out my CIM results from 2021.  I made it through mile 19 @BQMP and mile 20 wasn't to far off.  The fade really started in mile 21 and it was only the last 1.2 miles that were horrible.  I was shooting for a 4:30 finish as I figured that's what I'd need to get bib but my actual BQ only requires 4:35.  I didn't fall completely off that pace till the very end of the 25th mile.  So, it's doable if the stars are aligned. 

If you asked me today I would say that I'm going to run CIM with the goal of starting at BQ pace and then making a decision somewhere after the halfway point about continuing at BQ pace or slowing so that I could finish feeling well. 

Running a half at BQ MP over 12 weeks before CIM is nothing to be ashamed of...maybe I do have time to get ready physically if I can just get my head on straight.  And if not I can still be proud of doing my best.  

Nice 10 miler today left me feeling good.

PHT, Cadence, Foot strike...recovery and rebuilding

Thanks for clarifying the granddaughters.  What they'll do will all shake out.

Regarding the weather for next Sunday, you can't really look at today and generate any certainty, except that there will be weather.  4 days from race day (in this case Wednesday) will be the first day that you can plan your clothing for the race.  I can tell you that if there is X type of clouds or sunny skies for one day before the race, race day, and the day after the race, is the same (like 3 days of sunny or 3 days of cloudy), then you can generally count on that happening because 12 hours sliding one way or the other won't change anything.

I looked at the Forecast Discussion for the Sacramento office of the NWS for the end of this week and I have italicized certain sentences:
EXTENDED DISCUSSION (Thursday THROUGH Sunday)...

Ensembles are still in agreement on bringing another, more potent
trough across the western CONUS late next week, bringing periods
of rain and mountain snow, gusty winds, and colder temperatures.
The details of this system are still fairly murky, especially
regarding the evolution of the low, the amount of moisture
associated, and how low snow levels will be. Even so, IVT plumes
do suggest a decent fetch of moisture will be drawn up into the
southwest flow into NorCal Thursday afternoon-Friday morning,
which coincides with when we`re expecting the heaviest
precipitation. Latest EFI is highlighting Wind for Thursday
afternoon corresponding to when a 100knot 200 mb jet will be over
the region, primarily producing very gusty winds across the Sierra
and surrounding mountain ranges.

Ensembles continue to advertise another trough digging into the
region shortly after the THU-FRI trough, but there are still quite a
bit of uncertainty in the timing and moisture with trough #2, so
confidence in the forecast beyond Friday afternoon is low.


So, right now, I'd say travel days to either Sacramento or Folsom won't be dry.  About the only thing you can do for Sunday is rule out temps higher than X and lower than Y for your fashion selections.  On Tuesday, Nov 29, you can peek at Friday and Saturday's forecast and look for consistency.

Term Limits?

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

Wandering aimlessly...

So this week...

Mon - Beachbody Chest/triceps, Swim 1650 yds
Tue - Brick w/11.5 mi bike & 2 mi run, BB back/biceps, Pilates
Wed - BB shoulders
Thur - Swim 750 yds...fun swim as several of the dashers were there getting in their last swim before the race.
Fri - Rest day but I'm super busy!

It's still HOT here but the prediction is for cooler temps for the race tomorrow.  And I'm in heat #2 which starts at 8:00 so I'll be off the course by 9:30 if all goes well.  The race director puts me in an earlier heat because of my heart attack and she put several locals in heat #2 so it should be fun!

I'm well prepared to participate tomorrow...not so well prepared to actually race.  Hope Fast Freddy doesn't show up to early!

Off I go...

Term Limits?

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Happy Birthday, Doug!

Thanks, Miche1e.  Best of luck on Monday!

nkrichards wrote:

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Happy Birthday, Doug!

+61! and congrats on still doing the pushups.

That's some pretty big life changes...glad to hear that you were able to find a job that suits your skills.  I give you kudos for trying Voice Cat.  Sorry it didn't work out.  Better to have tried it than to wish you had and wonder if you could make it work.

Take your time adjusting to your new schedule and your commute...running will be there when you have time.  I think that it will be as much a part of your life as you want it to be.  Good luck.

Thanks, Nancy.  I want to get back to running. 

I've never driven so long for a job in Houston.  It's about a 3 month gig or maybe longer.  I told the firm that I want them to keep me busy, so we'll see what happens.  I enjoy it, but the client has conflicts with GAAP.

I worked mostly in tax preparation rather than actual accounting.  I do have enough training to do the accounting for the farm.  I am a very black and white type person.  I think you have to be to enjoy accounting.  My favorite job was when I sat in the back room and reviewed tax returns prepared by other employees.  My job was to find their mistakes.  I loved it!

Hope you continue to enjoy the job and that they keep you busy...and that you can find time to commute and run a bit.

Yeah, I'm a bean counter.  I liked Tax as well, but the conveyor belt I found myself on wasn't tax, unless it was payroll taxes or sales taxes.  After my first sales tax audit by the State of Texas, I adored being involved in audits to see where the skeletons were and leading the auditors in a different direction.  I had a North Carolina auditor doing one.  There was a $17,000 potential finding in the closet, so I led him in a different direction to where he found and collected $700.  He was happy.  I was happy.

Regarding Barbara Bush, below is a picture from the late 70's of her running in Memorial Park.  Her husband also ran in Memorial Park, even as Vice President.  After tomorrow's funeral (11 a.m. CT) at their church near Memorial Park, the procession will leave the church and drive through Memorial Park before heading out to Texas A&M in College Station to be buried adjacent to the George H. W. Bush School of Public Policy in a small family plot, next to their daughter, Robin, who died at age 3 in 1953 from leukemia.

It's interesting to hear the stories about famous people and realize that they are just normal people.  It's especially fun when they have a connection to your area.  I would imagine Houston was an interesting place to be last week.

Funny how people are so different.  I'm definitely a math/science person and the rules are quite black and white.  I'm not very tolerant of bending the rules.  Mark is obviously a word person...I couldn't do what he does.  We always laugh...when our kids were young we entertained them during long drives with questions like "If there were 5 ducks on Grampa's pond and 2 flew away how many would be left."  We have friends who played word games with there kids in the car...that never crossed my mind.  I hate social situations where word games or trivia games are suggested.  I did well in school and was often picked early for the spelling bee...I couldn't spell to save my soul!!!! 

Hope Houston settles back down this week and that you're able to find time to run a bit.

The Secret Service and Mrs. Bush started planning her funeral some 15 years ago and it seemed to go on without a hitch.  White pearl necklaces and blue dresses were the style here, last week.

When 41 went in to the hospital on Sunday with sepsis, I was thinking, 'Here we go again.' because it takes 41 a few weeks to get over bronchitis.  Septicemia is not an easy thing for a non-93 year old to shake, let alone a 93 year old.  So that caused some concern in the town.  But according to son Jeb, he's supposed to get out Friday.

It seems one of the first things a new president does is to get with the Secret Service to plan his funeral.

One interview of the two of them that I saw had the reporter ask why she likes pearl necklaces so much.  Mrs. Bush replied, "Because it hides the wrinkles!"  To which Mr. Bush added, "She's Wrinkle-stiltskin."

-30-

Yesterday morning, I ran 3 miles in a new pair of Kinvara 8's.  My Garmin was not charged, so I don't know the time.  Probably a good thing.  I do know my cadence gnome was keeping a better cadence than I was, but I managed to be somewhat bull headed and finish.  It was 62 degrees with 100% humidity.  No bad effects afterwards.

I plan on running in the morning.  Enough days have gone by to where I have to start building my base, now.  I should be running more frequently and posting more frequently.

Local weather people (on and off of TV) say that we have actually had a seasonally average Winter and Spring with many days below average and even snow.  I think our first 90 degree day averages to May 6.

Thanks for coming by.

I imagine the Bush family are pretty much royalty in Houston, aren't they? Glad that H.W. is bouncing back, but after such a long and close marriage, I'd be surprised if he makes it all that much longer. Sad, but sweet.

Glad you're back to trying morning running, though it's annoying about losing base. It'll come back. 

Surprising about the forecast. Our summer outlook seems to be warmer and drier than usual. Fire weather. Ugh.

We got up to 86 today, I think. It'll be in the mid-50s tomorrow, with rain. Gotta love spring.

Yes, Mark, 41 and Barbara are #1 in Houston.  After she died, the Houston mayor dubbed her the First Lady of Houston.  She has many elementary schools in the Houston area named after her.  41 has a high school named after him in the adjoining county and the big airport (IAH) was named for him.  

#2 in Houston is Jim McIngvale, also known as 'Mattress Mack."  He received nationwide kudos after Harvey, but we already knew he was that type.  You might read his Wiki entry.

#3 would be  J.J. Watt, who plays for the Texans.  Again, J.J. was already known as a very nice person and a helluva football player, but his initial tweet to HOPE to get $200,000 for Harvey help ballooned to $37M.  A lot of the money stayed in the Houston area, but he also distributed to Beaumont area (90 miles east) and down in the Corpus Christi area, where it made landfall in Rockport which is across Corpus Christi Bay from Corpus.  He's back from a season ending leg injury, this season.  But even if he gets hurt again and retires, he'll still be much beloved.

As far as running, it is what it is, but I believe I can attain my 20 mile per week base by mid-July.

86 degrees up there?  Wow.  We hit 86 degrees yesterday, too!  Hottest day so far, this year.  It was 57 degrees, this morning, so that was nice.

I ran 3 miles, this morning.  The watch was working and I ran 3 averaging 13:58, which is okay.  It is what it is and I will either get the stamina in that pace range or faster.  During the summer mornings, heat increases my pace by a 60-90 seconds/mile.

Regarding weather, there are 3 types of Houston summers, hot, hotter, and hotter 'nell.  So, we'll have a normal season there, too.

Thanks, Mark.

Homeward Bound...?

That story absolutely trumps mine.  I may have asked the same.  

Bike commute #2 for the year (hey, it was close to 80 today, couldn't resist) = much better than #1.

Finally Fifty

Another good week since the last update...

We're kinda gotten into fall now?  Last weekend was nice and chilly (even moreso because I was in PA - more on that in a minute) and it's in the mid-70s this week, though I guess it's heating up again this weekend?  I don't know anymore.  It's October, damnit, I want to be cold in the morning!

So last week wrapped up with an interesting couple of days.  A childhood-through-adulthood buddy of mine works for Rodale and was going to be in PA for their Fall Classic ride and had invited me to come up and ride with them - at half price!  On the DL, I also got to stay at the Rodale family farm with him, but I'm not sure that was ever actually approved by the company.  Whoops.  Since the ride was Sunday, I headed up Friday night (after a last-minute job I took because a long-time client was moving to a new job within the agency and this was her goodbye party... felt like I should be the one to work it) to have a little more time to catch up.

Saturday brought my first ever triple run day - my one and only real "racelike" training run for Tussey... which is this Sunday.  The plan was 3x 5mi @ "progressing to race pace," whatever that means, with 1hr in between each run.  The short story is that it went really well, with the last run coming in at 4mi @ ~6:35 w/ 1mi cool down.  Hurt like a bitch, I bonked really hard on run #2 (which my buddy ran with me... he blew up about 5k in, which is much farther than I thought he'd last), and learned some lessons about how to run a relay.  That all wrapped up around 12:30, which left just enough time to take a quick shower, eat lunch, and get ready for the shakeout ride put on by Rodale (another freebie of the weekend thanks to my buddy) at 2:30.  So, yes, 4 "workouts" in one day.  Needless to say, after dinner and a couple beers, I was asleep by 9pm.

Sunday's ride was a helluva lot of fun, given that I hadn't really ridden a bike in 6mo and definitely didn't put forth any effort on Saturday.  Buddy and I basically ran course support, despite getting lost (oops), which meant extended stretches at 20-24mph with some spinning in between while we chatted with other participants.  The ride ended on the local velodrome, so I got a quick introduction to the sensation of dropping in from the curve and hammering down the back straight.  Lots of fun.  Afterwards, there was an insane amount of food and UNLIMITED FREE BEER (WHAT?!)... and a free T-shirt and pint glass (I've lost count of the freebies at this point) that I sorta worked off by bar-tending for a bit.  

---

This week has been all easy runs, with Monday at Great Falls after work; yesterday and today were just 6mi commutes home from work, today's w/ 6x strides.

A funny thing happened with our Tussey relay group... our third dropped out.  Yes, despite me requiring a definite response one month before the event so we'd know whether we are running 18&15mi (Haley&I, respectively) or 22&28, our third had a bunch of life stuff come up and we're now a duo.  Which is kind of what we talked about wanting to do all along, since we know each other's race energy/psyche/etc.  So, yes, I'm suddenly doing not 4 but 6 segments over the course of 8-9hr.  Which will actually be GREAT, because it's going to be the length of my 50mi but with breaks in between to actually eat and drink and figure out nutrition and stuff.  

Oh, and there's an on-course training run for my 50mi the day before; it's 19mi.  Time to strap in for the next 2.5 weeks - we're looking at 70+mpw until taper.

Voice Cat LLC & voice-cat.com

Houston had only 44K in 1900 and Galveston had 37K.  Buffalo Bayou has always existed.  Both Addicks and Barker reservoirs were constructed after a flood from Dec 6-9, 1935 ravaged downtown.  From wxresearch.com:
20.6" in 35 hours over Westfield, TX. Houston reported 5.52" of rain. Satsuma in northwest Harris County had 16.49" of rain. Bayous were 52 feet above normal. The city's pumping station was unable to supply water for a few days and the city had no protection against fire. Buffalo Bayou at Houston 54.4 feet with 40,000 cfs. Buffalo Bayou at Addicks 85.6'. 2/3 of rural Harris County was flooded. Halls Bayou was over its banks. Spring and Cypress Creeks were out of their banks. (1)(4)(3)(6)


I haven't seen any numbers on how much of the county(ies) were flooded.  Buying a used car (even a new car) will have to be a cautious exercise.

So the below map is from the Harris County Flood Control District on August 30 showing in a bluish color where the flooding along Buffalo Bayou is in subdivisions.  This is the middle map of 3 maps.  West is at the top, North to the right, East at the bottom and South to the left.  I-10 is just out of view on the right.

Since Allison in 2001, there has been tons of work done to the different bayous in Harris County.  Not so much to Buffalo Bayou in the area below, other than raising the height of the two reservoirs which is scheduled to be finished in 2019.



Below are the different bayous in Harris County.  All but two of the bayous empty into the Houston Ship Channel, which empties into Galveston Bay, then the Gulf..  I have not ever heard the Ship Channel being too full.  It's very wide and I think it can handle the new supersize boats that fit through the Panama Canal, now.  Most of the petro-chemical refineries in Houston are located along the Ship Channel.  Both Port Arthur and Corpus Christi have sizable petro-chemical refineries with Port Arthur being the largest in the country.  The Baytown Refinery, about 15 miles east of Houston, is the #2 refinery in the US.

Finally Fifty

Oz & Nancy - Yeah, well...  I do remember reading somewhere that long runs over 3hr have greatly diminishing returns, so I try to cap most of my ROAD runs at 3-3.5hr.  That said, many of my "long runs" this summer were 4hr+ hike/runs in the mountains/on trail.

Wrapped up the cutback week with a surprisingly quick 7-miler (most miles in the low 8s) and some strides.  I had a good - not great - long run/workout #2 on Friday.  Planned 12mi w/ 2x 4mi @ HMP, which was pretty ambitious but maybe doable?  Not quite doable, though.  Ended up with 12.25 w/ 4mi + 3mi @ HMP before I decided it wasn't worth digging that deep to eke out the last mile.  The first interval had me pretty much redlining the entire time, which was weird, so I knew that it was gonna be a struggle to get that one done.  Second interval started great until the 3rd mile when things rapidly turned sloppy.  No big deal, still some solid training at race pace.  

Next week will bring a jump in mileage up to the low 60s, so I think the struggle will be keeping my paces slow enough to accommodate the increased load.  

At least I should have some yummy beer by Sunday - the bulk of fermentation is done (sitting at ~78-79% attenuation now, usually hit 79-81% by bottling) so dry-hopping will occur in a couple hours with bottling on Wednesday.  All the IPAs I've made to date have carbed up SUPER fast - 3-4 days instead of the usual 7-10, so Sunday will be the taste test.

Trails for Two

Trail Run: About 16.5 miles (Garmin user error left unit saying only 15)

Weather: Clear and cool to start, then warming up. 53° to 74° Gear: Lone Peaks, shorts, T. Fuel: Larabars, nuun, S-caps.

Our longest trail run in the intermission between Smith Rock and Elijah Bristow (It was actually longer than Smith Rock.), so it serves as Peak #2 for our racing this year. We opted for the woods to take advantage of the shade (it got up to 92° yesterday) and to make it more of a "time on your feet" workout than running at a targeted pace. We started at about 6:30 a.m. to keep as cool as possible.

It was a solid, enjoyable run. We walked when we felt like it, which is good practice for the 12-hour event coming up in mid-June, and we moved at a decent pace otherwise. Alita tripped once, but was none the worse for wear. Whew!

The last 5 miles were a little tougher, as the fatigue built and the temperature rose, but we got it done.

I must have accidentally switched off my Garmin at one point, because I lost about 1.5 miles of running. Luckily, we were doing loops, so it was easy to figure out how much got skipped. It's funny, though, because Alita's Strava app said we did 17.8 miles, and the Health app on my iPhone said we did 19.9 miles! Maybe we did, maybe we didn't -- it's hard to tell with all the trees in there -- but I'll go with the corrected Garmin and err on the shorter side.

Walked first and last 5 minutes. Average HR for entire run: 121

Long Distance Runner, What You Standin' There For?

Today was VO2max and then a recovery run. Due to my late start I was only able to get in my VO2max run, which to be honest was fine with me.

VO2max workout plan 6x600 with 400 jog between.

I will start by saying this workout really put she's my current limits today. I started to feel the toughness of this workout med way through the 3rd interval and by time I got to 6th one I was cooked hence the slow down. Overall I give myself an A for the workout and very satisfied with it.

Easy warm up for 4 miles

Intervals
#1 1:49 (4:52 pace)
#2 1:52 (5:00 pace)
#3 1:52 (5:00 pace)
#4 1:50 (4:55 pace)
#5 1:51 (4:58 pace)
#6 1:54 (5:06 pace)

Plan for tomorrow double easy runs. Will see if I stick to that or make it Recovery runs with the same VO2max workout on tap for Thursday.

It's Ounce's Birfday!

nkrichards wrote:Glad I didn't miss the party!

So how are we celebrating?

1. Another serving of bacon?
   
2. Another helping of cake?
   
3. A nice long run?
   
4. All of the above??
   

Whatever you choose I hope you enjoy the day...and the year...

Happy Birthday!!!

You were right on time.  Thanks, Nancy.

I chose #1 and #2.  I am the pastry chef in the family and chocolate cream pie (with a scratch crust) is #1 birfday item.  For mine, I usually make something different.  This year, a pineapple upside down cake from scratch.  It's cooking right now.

I also make a chocolate mint brownies and chocolate fudge.  The fudge recipe I created myself.  I even have taken the fudge recipe and made it vegan, dairy-free, and no added sugar (use xylitol) for Reina.

I enjoy the experimenting part.

Voice Cat LLC & voice-cat.com

Tuesday, October 13.
This was a track workout at a local high school.  It consisted of 4-800 w/400 recovery.  It was in the 80's, but the humidity was very, very low.  So low, in fact, the heat index at 5 p.m. was 89, when the ambient temp was 93.  Strange things.  Our run started around 6:45 where the sun was just about to be too low against the trees.

One thing that I need to really accustom my feet to (remember about the PF pain back in August and September?) is a longer stride length.  And I have to do this slowly.  I think I can do the track workouts at a longer stride length, but must baby the stride length on a regular run.  In fact on the coming Thursday run, I tried fartleking a longer stride for 50 feet on, 50 feet off.  It's a theory.

800 #1 - 11:21 pace, 152 bpm, 165 spm, 84 sl
800 #2 - 11:08 pace, 160 bpm, 168 spm, 85 sl
800 #3 - 11:29 pace, 165 bpm, 168 spm, 83 sl
800 #4 - 10:35 pace, 165 bpm, 170 spm, 89 sl

As a reminder about my stride, I get extended length by rotating my hips so my leg moves rearward further.  The run seemed to have gone well.  I think the low humidity and the sun being down helped #4.  No foot pain.

---

Thursday, October 15  4 mile tempo run
1 mile easy, 2 miles harder, 1 mile easy at Memorial Park.  It was during mile 3 where I thought about fartleking the extended stride length.  I don't remember the temperature.

1.  13:10, 147 bpm, 167 spm, 72 sl
2.  12:27, 158 bpm, 166 spm, 77 sl
3.  11:57, 160 bpm, 167 spm, 80 sl
4.  13:15, 156 bpm, 167 spm, 73 sl

Overall, it went well.  Saturday will be a 12 mile long run and the weather is supposed to be cooler than 70 degrees in the morning.

Voice Cat LLC & voice-cat.com

Wednesday, October 7.
I intentionally missed the Tuesday evening track work because the plan was the silly 8-400 w/400 recovery.  I knew the following week's track work was 3-800 w/400 recovery.  So on this day, I ran 3-800 w/400 recovery.

800 #1 - 11:31 pace, 146 bpm, 168 spm, 82 sl
800 #2 - 11:16 pace, 151 bpm, 170 spm, 84 sl
800 #3 - 11:04 pace, 154 bpm, 171 spm, 83 sl

No problems noticed.

---

Thursday evening, October 8.
This was a tempo run. 4 miles - 1 mile easy, 1 mile moderate, 1 mile faster and 1 mile recovery.
3 miles, 37.14, 12:24 pace, 157 avg bpm, 173 max bpm, during mile 3, 167 avg cadence, 0.78 m avg stride length.
1.  13:04, 147 bpm, 165 spm, 75 sl
2.  12:12, 159 bpm, 167 spm, 78 sl
3.  11:53, 167 bpm, 167 spm, 81 sl

I was really trying to run harder on the last mile.

---

Friday morning, October 9
9 miles as the 'mid-week' sorta long run.  It was 70 degrees with a 70 degree dewpoint.  Gone is the cool morning, again.

9 miles, 2:00:29, 13:23 pace, 148 avg bpm, 163 max bpm during mile 9, 167 avg cadence, 0.72 m avg stride length
1.  13:44, 118 bpm, 167 spm, 70 sl
2.  13:36, 149 bpm, 167 spm, 71 sl
3.  13:32, 146 bpm, 167 spm, 71 sl
4.  13:08, 148 bpm, 167 spm, 73 sl
5.  12:43, 151 bpm, 166 spm, 76 sl
6.  13:16, 149 bpm, 168 spm, 72 sl
7.  13:23, 153 bpm, 167 spm, 72 sl
8.  13:17, 157 bpm, 167 spm, 72 sl
9.  13:13, 160 bpm, 166 spm, 73 sl

This was a hope-I-could-do-it run.  And I did it.  I don't really remember much about the run, but it looked pretty consistent across the splits.

Funkadelic Happening

HoustonFIT posted the times for the Tuesday and Thursday runs.  For the early weeks, regular HoustonFit and TeamFit will do the same workouts and probably at the same starting location.

Weekday runs:

• Tuesday morning (hills/speed) - 5:30am, location will vary depending on the workout
  
• Tuesday evening (hills/speed)- 6:30pm, location will vary depending on the workout
  
• Thursday morning (tempo) - 5:30am, Memorial Park, TBD
  
• Thursday evening (tempo) - 6:30pm, Memorial Park Living Bridge
  

As you can see, they run one in the morning and one in the evening.  Their plan runs you 3-4 times a week, including the long run.  So, these are 2 of the 3-4 times a week.  Therefore, it's not a mileage dense program.

Two questions.
1.  Is there a problem with me executing both sessions?  The sessions start at 30 minutes, then work up to 45 and then maybe an hour as the weeks roll by.
2.  If I just do the morning or evening session, is it a problem for me to easy run it to the Memorial Park meeting place (3 miles to and fro)?

My bias on #1 would be that it depends on the session and whatever other running I'll be doing that week.
My bias on #2 would be that it's not a problem, if I'm otherwise doing fine.

Thanks.

Survival of the fittest

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:Well, Mark, Nancy's had her appointment and she hasn't reported in on what she'll be able to do.

I think we should create a scenario on what they told her.  Do you want to play the part of Nancy or the PT?

Nancy:  

Doctor:

Nancy:

Doctor:

Nancy:

Doctor:

Insurance company:

Or possibly option #2:

Nancy: 

Doctor:

Doctor:    

Nancy: 

Doctor: 

Nancy: 

Doctor: 

Nancy: 

Doctor: 

Nancy: 

Doctor: 
Nancy: 

Insurance Co: 

Doctor:

50+ Years Behind, 50 Miles Ahead

Mike MacLellan wrote:Agree with Mark, to an extent.  If your pace is truly slow enough - you have to be completely honest with yourself here - I would say you COULD run the whole first hour.  But the idea of doing it to somehow get ahead for later is a bad one.  Truly, your effort level should be ZERO (this is a hard zero, not a "well, it's pretty easy..." - ZERO) for the first three hours.  Everything catches up to you in hours 4 and 5 and 6 etc., as I've learned.

Re: your glutes (that's a weird thing to write), have you tried one-legged deadlifts?  I just discovered them today and wow, they target the glute like no other exercise I've done.

I'm not a doc or a PT, but I did get some good insight and advice a while back from a PT I really respect.  She said that injuries -- like yours -- often appear suddenly but have been building in the background for a while.  Usually due to some imbalance in your muscles somewhere, usually the core, and that some muscle has to take over.  In your case the hammy.  So it takes time #1 to heal, and #2 to correct with strengthening more so than PT work.

In my particular case I have hammy issues on my right leg, most likely caused by a weaker core and a weak right glute that doesn't fire effectively when I run, forcing the hammy to go into overtime and compensate.  I've been working hard on my core and glutes the last 8 months, and guess what, very few hammy issues.  Certainly none that stop me from racing or training, although I still get more soreness in that area than others. > that could now be chronic.

Get some advice on what could be the underlying issue and tackle that.  My 2-cents for what its worth.

I Think I'll Go To Boston...

ounce wrote:Nick, this is just conversational, but of all the postings that I've read about anything related to running Boston over the years here and the V-Team boards, two things stuck out to me the most:
1.  Run the course on your last long run before the race with a bunch of people that do it every year.  Better yet, ask or plead with Miche1e to run the course some time as a long run.
2.  Where to stay, which I haven't really attained a final understanding.

However, it seems like you've figured out #2.  I'm not suggesting anything about #1, as it's just conversational.

The good news is that I am going to train to race Boston, but I am not planning on racing Boston this time.  Since this is my first Boston I want to take in everything, just learn the course, and have fun with it.  Then, I might just race it the next time around.  I wonder if Michele would let me run this race with her  ?

I Think I'll Go To Boston...

Nick, this is just conversational, but of all the postings that I've read about anything related to running Boston over the years here and the V-Team boards, two things stuck out to me the most:
1.  Run the course on your last long run before the race with a bunch of people that do it every year.  Better yet, ask or plead with Miche1e to run the course some time as a long run.
2.  Where to stay, which I haven't really attained a final understanding.

However, it seems like you've figured out #2.  I'm not suggesting anything about #1, as it's just conversational.