The 1/2 marathon race results have been posted and I finished 89th out of 692 finishers. I was 25 of 103 in my age group.
My friend Tim beat me by 4 seconds. A co-worker's wife, who just beat me in a five miler in August, finished 50 seconds ahead of me, finishing 6th of 160 women in the 30-39 AG.
To crack the top 10 of my age group, I would have needed to run 1:31:50. In 2000, I ran 1:30:53 on this course, but I was only 38 years old then. To get into the top 3 in my age group, I would have needed to run 1:20:49, which is 81 seconds faster than my PR, which was set when I was 29 or 30. No chance there. My time would have had me 7th of 44 in the 50-59 division, if I was four years older and still as fast.
Overall, I'm pretty happy finishing that high in the field. It's probably my highest percentile finish in any race in quite a while.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Rest Day today and numbers geekiness
I'm a little beat up and tired, but not really sore from yesterday. Nonetheless, today will be a rest day.
My 46 miles last week was the most miles I've done in a week since my peak week of 74 miles while training for Western States at the end of May. My run yesterday put me over 1500 miles for the year as well.
I've only run under 1500 miles three times since 1990. In one of those years, 1996, I started the year in pretty poor shape and I had to build my base from scratch. I finally got into decent shape, and then burned myself out by racing too many ultras in the summer. I then moved to AK and my mileage dropped off for the rest of the year. I ended up with 1427 miles that year.
In 1998, I had my worst running year in the last 23 years. I was really struggling with my job, our second child was born, and that gave me an excuse to avoid running for a while, and I managed to let myself balloon to a lifetime high weight of 227 pounds. Late that year, I finally got my act back together somewhat and I finished two marathons, one in Fairbanks, AK and the Chicago marathon. Both races are memorable for how poorly I performed. I ran 967 miles in 1998, with almost half of those miles in November and December. I ran the two marathons on practically no training at all.
In March of 2002, I tore my ACL and lost most of a season. There were 6 or 7 weeks between my injury and my surgery, and I ran just a couple short runs in that time frame. Then, after my knee surgery, I couldn't run for 11 weeks. But, I worked hard the second half of the season and finished a 50K and a 50 miler. I finished with 1365 miles, with 2/3 of those miles in the last 5 months of the year.
I'm guessing I'll run 1800-1850 total miles this year, with most of the remaining 300-350 miles done in the next 5 weeks, followed by 6-8 low mileage weeks. If I reach 1850 miles, this will be my 8th highest total in 24 years of running.
My 46 miles last week was the most miles I've done in a week since my peak week of 74 miles while training for Western States at the end of May. My run yesterday put me over 1500 miles for the year as well.
I've only run under 1500 miles three times since 1990. In one of those years, 1996, I started the year in pretty poor shape and I had to build my base from scratch. I finally got into decent shape, and then burned myself out by racing too many ultras in the summer. I then moved to AK and my mileage dropped off for the rest of the year. I ended up with 1427 miles that year.
In 1998, I had my worst running year in the last 23 years. I was really struggling with my job, our second child was born, and that gave me an excuse to avoid running for a while, and I managed to let myself balloon to a lifetime high weight of 227 pounds. Late that year, I finally got my act back together somewhat and I finished two marathons, one in Fairbanks, AK and the Chicago marathon. Both races are memorable for how poorly I performed. I ran 967 miles in 1998, with almost half of those miles in November and December. I ran the two marathons on practically no training at all.
In March of 2002, I tore my ACL and lost most of a season. There were 6 or 7 weeks between my injury and my surgery, and I ran just a couple short runs in that time frame. Then, after my knee surgery, I couldn't run for 11 weeks. But, I worked hard the second half of the season and finished a 50K and a 50 miler. I finished with 1365 miles, with 2/3 of those miles in the last 5 months of the year.
I'm guessing I'll run 1800-1850 total miles this year, with most of the remaining 300-350 miles done in the next 5 weeks, followed by 6-8 low mileage weeks. If I reach 1850 miles, this will be my 8th highest total in 24 years of running.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
1/2 marathon report
Yesterday, I ran an easy 7.8 hilly miles, just cruise controlling the run. I was really happy when I realized about halfway through the run that I was moving almost effortlessly, not thinking about pace or effort or anything else - just moving and feeling good. These kind of runs are good indicators to me that I'm getting into decent shape - a good pace with almost no effort.
After my run, I took a look at the VDOT charts in Daniels' Book of Running. I realized that running 1:39:00 or so, as I hoped to do in today's 1/2 marathon, was not going to be quite the cruise-control effort I'd originally thought. My best race of the year so far, based on the VDOT chart, was my Labor Day weekend 5K, which was at level 47.5. To run a 1:39 today, I'd need to run at level 46, which is fairly close to my max from a month ago.
But, I thought I was capable of running at that level, even with a solid week of training behind me, and no taper at all. My goal was an 8:00 opening mile and then 7:30s for the rest of the way. I didn't do it exactly that way, but the end result came out pretty well.
We had a perfect day for racing here in VT - mostly cloudy, a slight breeze, and cool - 50F at most, I'd guess. There was a 5K that started 10 minutes before the 1/2 marathon, and then at 11:15 or so, we were off. I'd lined up pretty close to the front - maybe 15 rows behind the starting line on a narrow lane where we started. This turned out to be the perfect starting place to start, as I wasn't in the way, yet didn't find too much traffic in front to me.
There were 900 runners entered in today's race, which is the limit and the race filled weeks ago. I first ran this race in 1986, when there were probably fewer than 100 runners, maybe only 50 or so, we started on a dirt road outside of town, there was no 5K, and there was one porta-potty. Today, there were probably close to 2000 runners between the two races and this is the second biggest race in VT. Today's race set a "PR" of sorts for me, when I started a race 22 years after my first time running the race. I don't know if there are any other races where I have a gap of more than 10 years from first to latest running. My first attempt at 100 miles was at the VT100 in 1997 and I ran it again in 2007, so I have a 10 year gap there. Today was also the 25th anniversary of this race, so my run in 1986 was very early in the history of the race.
Oh yeah - the race itself.
I took it easy to start, trying to control my pace. I knew that in the crowd, it would be easy to start too fast. I simply wanted an 8 minute warm-up mile, and I was OK with the 7:50 that I ran. It felt truly easy, which made me feel very confident.
At the 1 mile mark, I deliberately sped up and started to pass people. I hit the second mile (by my Garmin - not the race markers) in 7:32. This race is run on a certified course, but my Garmin registered it as 13.27 miles. That's about 1/6 of a mile longer than the certified distance, and I worked hard to legally cut the tangents. I know the error from the Garmin is small, but it's usually very, very accurate. I'm kind of curious if the certification was done for the entire width of the road, while they forced us to run in the eastern lane on the out and back. Not a big deal, but this was the biggest difference I've seen on a certified course with the Garmin.
Just past the second mile marker, the rolling hills started. Mile 3 was the second hilliest mile of the course and it took me 7:42. The next three miles were still rolling, but less climbing overall, and I ran 7:34, 7:34, and 7:36. Around the 4 mile mark, a friend who I teach skiing with in the winter, passed me, but didn't recognize me. I caught back up to him and we started talking and running together. We were having fun, because we were passing people and no one was passing us. By the end of the race, my friend would be the only person to pass me in the last 10 miles.
Miles 6 through 10 are the hilliest part of the course, mile 2 excluded, but my friend Tim and I were working together and we were running well. As it turned out, he told me that I slowed him down early, which helped his pace over the length of the course, and he probably sped me up, forcing me to work hard enough to stay close to my goal pace. Our splits for miles 7 through 10 were 7:25, 7:13, 7:33 and 7:26. The 7:13 was for the hilliest mile of the course.
I took a gel just before the 8 mile mark, thinking the aid station was just around the corner. Regretfully, I was wrong, and I ran almost half a mile with a gel half-stuck in my mouth before I got some water. During this stretch, Tim pulled away from me, but I kept fighting to stay close.
I was trying to keep my level of effort constant, slowing down on the ups and working the downs and the flats. At times, I'd close the gap on Tim and then I'd back off on a hill and lose ground.
Mile 11 was a 7:20. In mile 12, I worked really hard to catch Tim. I got within 5 feet or so, just off his shoulder, and then we hit an uphill. I backed off a bit on the intensity again, and he increased the gap. After this hill, the course was relatively flat the rest of the way, and I was working hard. Regretfully, so was Tim. I ran 7:15 for mile 12 and didn't close the gap at all in the latter half of the mile. Mile 13 is mostly on trails, mostly flat, and I was sure I'd get Tim here. I pushed hard the entire mile. I ran 6:53. I didn't gain a step on Tim.
Because of the distance difference, it took me another 1:58 to get to the finish after my Garmin recorded the 13th mile, which the Garmin recorded as a 7:13 pace. I didn't catch Tim, but I ran 1:38:56 - 4 seconds faster than my goal.
In some ways this time reminded me of my days racing 5Ks, back when I actually had a little bit of speed. I'd work my butt off for the entire race, only to finish within 5-10 seconds of a predicted time. Today, I was within 4 seconds for almost 100 minutes.
Overall, I'm happy with the run. The second half was done pretty much all out, but I'd forgotten how tough this course is. I wasn't tapered, I ran speed work on Wednesday, and I ran a hilly almost-8-miler on Saturday.
I still have 2 long runs and 2 Yasso 800 sessions between now and my marathon in 5 weeks, but I believe I'm going to be capable of sub-3:30 on 11/9. I'm just going to have to want it enough.
After my run, I took a look at the VDOT charts in Daniels' Book of Running. I realized that running 1:39:00 or so, as I hoped to do in today's 1/2 marathon, was not going to be quite the cruise-control effort I'd originally thought. My best race of the year so far, based on the VDOT chart, was my Labor Day weekend 5K, which was at level 47.5. To run a 1:39 today, I'd need to run at level 46, which is fairly close to my max from a month ago.
But, I thought I was capable of running at that level, even with a solid week of training behind me, and no taper at all. My goal was an 8:00 opening mile and then 7:30s for the rest of the way. I didn't do it exactly that way, but the end result came out pretty well.
We had a perfect day for racing here in VT - mostly cloudy, a slight breeze, and cool - 50F at most, I'd guess. There was a 5K that started 10 minutes before the 1/2 marathon, and then at 11:15 or so, we were off. I'd lined up pretty close to the front - maybe 15 rows behind the starting line on a narrow lane where we started. This turned out to be the perfect starting place to start, as I wasn't in the way, yet didn't find too much traffic in front to me.
There were 900 runners entered in today's race, which is the limit and the race filled weeks ago. I first ran this race in 1986, when there were probably fewer than 100 runners, maybe only 50 or so, we started on a dirt road outside of town, there was no 5K, and there was one porta-potty. Today, there were probably close to 2000 runners between the two races and this is the second biggest race in VT. Today's race set a "PR" of sorts for me, when I started a race 22 years after my first time running the race. I don't know if there are any other races where I have a gap of more than 10 years from first to latest running. My first attempt at 100 miles was at the VT100 in 1997 and I ran it again in 2007, so I have a 10 year gap there. Today was also the 25th anniversary of this race, so my run in 1986 was very early in the history of the race.
Oh yeah - the race itself.
I took it easy to start, trying to control my pace. I knew that in the crowd, it would be easy to start too fast. I simply wanted an 8 minute warm-up mile, and I was OK with the 7:50 that I ran. It felt truly easy, which made me feel very confident.
At the 1 mile mark, I deliberately sped up and started to pass people. I hit the second mile (by my Garmin - not the race markers) in 7:32. This race is run on a certified course, but my Garmin registered it as 13.27 miles. That's about 1/6 of a mile longer than the certified distance, and I worked hard to legally cut the tangents. I know the error from the Garmin is small, but it's usually very, very accurate. I'm kind of curious if the certification was done for the entire width of the road, while they forced us to run in the eastern lane on the out and back. Not a big deal, but this was the biggest difference I've seen on a certified course with the Garmin.
Just past the second mile marker, the rolling hills started. Mile 3 was the second hilliest mile of the course and it took me 7:42. The next three miles were still rolling, but less climbing overall, and I ran 7:34, 7:34, and 7:36. Around the 4 mile mark, a friend who I teach skiing with in the winter, passed me, but didn't recognize me. I caught back up to him and we started talking and running together. We were having fun, because we were passing people and no one was passing us. By the end of the race, my friend would be the only person to pass me in the last 10 miles.
Miles 6 through 10 are the hilliest part of the course, mile 2 excluded, but my friend Tim and I were working together and we were running well. As it turned out, he told me that I slowed him down early, which helped his pace over the length of the course, and he probably sped me up, forcing me to work hard enough to stay close to my goal pace. Our splits for miles 7 through 10 were 7:25, 7:13, 7:33 and 7:26. The 7:13 was for the hilliest mile of the course.
I took a gel just before the 8 mile mark, thinking the aid station was just around the corner. Regretfully, I was wrong, and I ran almost half a mile with a gel half-stuck in my mouth before I got some water. During this stretch, Tim pulled away from me, but I kept fighting to stay close.
I was trying to keep my level of effort constant, slowing down on the ups and working the downs and the flats. At times, I'd close the gap on Tim and then I'd back off on a hill and lose ground.
Mile 11 was a 7:20. In mile 12, I worked really hard to catch Tim. I got within 5 feet or so, just off his shoulder, and then we hit an uphill. I backed off a bit on the intensity again, and he increased the gap. After this hill, the course was relatively flat the rest of the way, and I was working hard. Regretfully, so was Tim. I ran 7:15 for mile 12 and didn't close the gap at all in the latter half of the mile. Mile 13 is mostly on trails, mostly flat, and I was sure I'd get Tim here. I pushed hard the entire mile. I ran 6:53. I didn't gain a step on Tim.
Because of the distance difference, it took me another 1:58 to get to the finish after my Garmin recorded the 13th mile, which the Garmin recorded as a 7:13 pace. I didn't catch Tim, but I ran 1:38:56 - 4 seconds faster than my goal.
In some ways this time reminded me of my days racing 5Ks, back when I actually had a little bit of speed. I'd work my butt off for the entire race, only to finish within 5-10 seconds of a predicted time. Today, I was within 4 seconds for almost 100 minutes.
Overall, I'm happy with the run. The second half was done pretty much all out, but I'd forgotten how tough this course is. I wasn't tapered, I ran speed work on Wednesday, and I ran a hilly almost-8-miler on Saturday.
I still have 2 long runs and 2 Yasso 800 sessions between now and my marathon in 5 weeks, but I believe I'm going to be capable of sub-3:30 on 11/9. I'm just going to have to want it enough.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Planned DNF
For only the second time in my life, I just entered a race that I have no intention of finishing.
Back in the old days - the year 2000 - I took a one year break from running ultras. I ran short stuff for that year, with a year-long goal of a sub-3:15 marathon, to qualify for Boston. My target marathon was NYC. My last long run was a planned 22 miler, with 16 easy miles and then 6 hard miles to finish. I decided to do the run as part of a marathon in NY - the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon. A good friend from college who had been chasing my marathon PR for years was running that day, and it was a chance for us to hang out for the weekend. (He did get my record, running 2:55 that day, and I don't think he's run a decent marathon since then.) I started out at a 9:00 pace, and I felt great. By mile 6 or so, I was picking up the pace. By mile 10, I was running sub-8. At mile 14, I dropped to a sub-7:30 pace and took that to the 22 mile mark. Then, I stopped and waited for my wife to pick me up. But, the aid station people told me she couldn't get to me right there. So, I started walking. Then, I got bored and started running easily. I ended up finishing the race in 4:02, I believe, with a 20 minute rest in there. So, my planned DNF didn't work.
As it turned out, I should have raced that day, as I believe I could have run 3:20 or better that day. At NYC, I had a cold and struggled to a 3:43.
My last long run in my current marathon training is scheduled for 10/18 - two weeks from tomorrow. That happens to be the day of the Maine Track Club 50K and 50 miler, a race that a number of my friends run on a regular basis. The race is done on a 4-mile loop. I want to run 24 miles - 18 easy and 6 hard - and I want a flat course with easy access to aid. This course is perfect for doing that.
The race starts with a one-mile out and back, so you hit the start-finish area at miles 2, 6, 10, etc. After my 4th full loop, I'll be at 18 miles. From there, I'll run a hard loop and then half of a hard loop. At that point, I'll have to walk back to the start/finish area. From there, I'll spend some time cheering on some fellow runners and just hanging out.
This time I'm really going to DNF. Honest.
Back in the old days - the year 2000 - I took a one year break from running ultras. I ran short stuff for that year, with a year-long goal of a sub-3:15 marathon, to qualify for Boston. My target marathon was NYC. My last long run was a planned 22 miler, with 16 easy miles and then 6 hard miles to finish. I decided to do the run as part of a marathon in NY - the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon. A good friend from college who had been chasing my marathon PR for years was running that day, and it was a chance for us to hang out for the weekend. (He did get my record, running 2:55 that day, and I don't think he's run a decent marathon since then.) I started out at a 9:00 pace, and I felt great. By mile 6 or so, I was picking up the pace. By mile 10, I was running sub-8. At mile 14, I dropped to a sub-7:30 pace and took that to the 22 mile mark. Then, I stopped and waited for my wife to pick me up. But, the aid station people told me she couldn't get to me right there. So, I started walking. Then, I got bored and started running easily. I ended up finishing the race in 4:02, I believe, with a 20 minute rest in there. So, my planned DNF didn't work.
As it turned out, I should have raced that day, as I believe I could have run 3:20 or better that day. At NYC, I had a cold and struggled to a 3:43.
My last long run in my current marathon training is scheduled for 10/18 - two weeks from tomorrow. That happens to be the day of the Maine Track Club 50K and 50 miler, a race that a number of my friends run on a regular basis. The race is done on a 4-mile loop. I want to run 24 miles - 18 easy and 6 hard - and I want a flat course with easy access to aid. This course is perfect for doing that.
The race starts with a one-mile out and back, so you hit the start-finish area at miles 2, 6, 10, etc. After my 4th full loop, I'll be at 18 miles. From there, I'll run a hard loop and then half of a hard loop. At that point, I'll have to walk back to the start/finish area. From there, I'll spend some time cheering on some fellow runners and just hanging out.
This time I'm really going to DNF. Honest.
Thursday night run, Friday morning lifting
I ran an easy 9 miler last night, the first 4 with my friend Tania at about a 9:05 pace, and then 5 more solo miles. The first 4 of those 5 solo miles were at about that same pace, and then the last mile was all uphill and a bit slower. Considering the speedwork I did on Wednesday, I felt pretty good. The previous week, on Thursday's run, I felt a lot more tired than I did yesterday.
I stayed up too late last night watching the VP debate, and got moving kind of late this morning. Normally, I could just do my scheduled workout and be a little late for work, but I needed to be on time today, so I could leave on time to see my son's soccer game. So, I did my lifting this morning, but skipped the stair climber intervals. This morning's lifting was primarily upper body - DB incline presses, 3 point DB rows, Swiss ball push-ups/jackknifes, static lunges, cable rows, DB squat presses, and close grip lat pulldowns.
Tomorrow morning, I'll do a very easy 8 miler on a course from my house. I've mostly been running less hilly courses recently, because my marathon will be on a flat course, but I'll run a hilly course tomorrow, at a very easy pace. The only goal tomorrow is to spend some time on my feet so I'll be a bit tired for Sunday's half marathon. I deliberately want to run the race a bit tired, so that pushing in that run will simulate the later miles of a marathon a bit.
Fitness-wise, I think I could run about 1:35 if I tapered and raced all out. But, my target time is 1:39. I want to start with an 8-minute mile, and then drop to 7:30s for the rest of the race. I'm curious if I can hold that pace the whole way.
I stayed up too late last night watching the VP debate, and got moving kind of late this morning. Normally, I could just do my scheduled workout and be a little late for work, but I needed to be on time today, so I could leave on time to see my son's soccer game. So, I did my lifting this morning, but skipped the stair climber intervals. This morning's lifting was primarily upper body - DB incline presses, 3 point DB rows, Swiss ball push-ups/jackknifes, static lunges, cable rows, DB squat presses, and close grip lat pulldowns.
Tomorrow morning, I'll do a very easy 8 miler on a course from my house. I've mostly been running less hilly courses recently, because my marathon will be on a flat course, but I'll run a hilly course tomorrow, at a very easy pace. The only goal tomorrow is to spend some time on my feet so I'll be a bit tired for Sunday's half marathon. I deliberately want to run the race a bit tired, so that pushing in that run will simulate the later miles of a marathon a bit.
Fitness-wise, I think I could run about 1:35 if I tapered and raced all out. But, my target time is 1:39. I want to start with an 8-minute mile, and then drop to 7:30s for the rest of the race. I'm curious if I can hold that pace the whole way.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Three Consecutive Days
When Kevin Setnes coached me for two seasons, the training week was broken into two parts. There was the Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday (TWR) portion of the week and then the weekend.
When getting ready for an ultra, the TWR portion of the week would start at 8-10-8, then go to 10-12-10, then 12-15-12, and finally peak at 15-18-15. As training progressed, the Tuesday and Thursday workouts would include tempo work as well.
I was looking through my training log for this season, and saw that I hadn't done even an 8-10-8 three day progression all year. When I look at every 3-day series from this entire calendar year, the best I've done for a minimum value over a 3-day period is 6.1 miles. That was in May, when I ran 6.1, 11.2, and 8.0 miles in 3 consecutive days.
Clearly, I did not train this year the way that Kevin trained me, and I had a lot of success working with Kevin, running a PR at AR50, finishing Laurel Highlands, Wasatch, and Hardrock over two seasons. And yet, I seem to have abandoned that style of training.
Tonight after work, I'm planning to run an easy 8 to 10 miler. Assuming I do that, my mileage for the past 3 days would be 8-7.8-8+. October is not the time to start putting together my first decent 3-day streaks of the year, but perhaps now is better than never.
I noticed last night in Ultrarunning magazne that the Maine Track Club 50K and 50 Miler is on 10/18. That's a race I've run multiple times (the 50K) and I even won my age group in the 50K when I was 39. OK, I was the only runner under 40 that day, but my plaque says "Open Division Winner". Another year, I was leading the 40+ division all day until my "alleged" friend Gilly dropped from the 50 miler to the 50K on short notice, and I couldn't quite catch him in the last mile.
Anyway, on 10/18, my training plan is a 24 miler on relatively easy terrain, where the first 18 miles will be done at a moderate pace, and the next 6 will be done hard. It seems kind of crazy to drive to Maine for a deliberate DNF, but a number of my friends will be there, and the course is perfect for my training. So, I think I'm going to enter this one. That means just one more solo long run, a 22 miler 9 days from now.
When getting ready for an ultra, the TWR portion of the week would start at 8-10-8, then go to 10-12-10, then 12-15-12, and finally peak at 15-18-15. As training progressed, the Tuesday and Thursday workouts would include tempo work as well.
I was looking through my training log for this season, and saw that I hadn't done even an 8-10-8 three day progression all year. When I look at every 3-day series from this entire calendar year, the best I've done for a minimum value over a 3-day period is 6.1 miles. That was in May, when I ran 6.1, 11.2, and 8.0 miles in 3 consecutive days.
Clearly, I did not train this year the way that Kevin trained me, and I had a lot of success working with Kevin, running a PR at AR50, finishing Laurel Highlands, Wasatch, and Hardrock over two seasons. And yet, I seem to have abandoned that style of training.
Tonight after work, I'm planning to run an easy 8 to 10 miler. Assuming I do that, my mileage for the past 3 days would be 8-7.8-8+. October is not the time to start putting together my first decent 3-day streaks of the year, but perhaps now is better than never.
I noticed last night in Ultrarunning magazne that the Maine Track Club 50K and 50 Miler is on 10/18. That's a race I've run multiple times (the 50K) and I even won my age group in the 50K when I was 39. OK, I was the only runner under 40 that day, but my plaque says "Open Division Winner". Another year, I was leading the 40+ division all day until my "alleged" friend Gilly dropped from the 50 miler to the 50K on short notice, and I couldn't quite catch him in the last mile.
Anyway, on 10/18, my training plan is a 24 miler on relatively easy terrain, where the first 18 miles will be done at a moderate pace, and the next 6 will be done hard. It seems kind of crazy to drive to Maine for a deliberate DNF, but a number of my friends will be there, and the course is perfect for my training. So, I think I'm going to enter this one. That means just one more solo long run, a 22 miler 9 days from now.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Crazy idiot drivers
This morning seemed to be a morning full of idiots on the road. Usually, I only have to worry about cars at one place on my running routes. When I'm running before work, and I run past the Dunkin' Donuts in town, I have to be careful about the idiots with a cell phone in one hand, a cigarette in the other, and they're in a hurry to get coffee and 10 dozen donuts. I don't know what they put down when they leave the donut shop. If they had four hands, they'd be in heaven with a cigarette, coffee, cell phone, and a donut. I've had some close calls as cars race each other to turn into the parking lot there, to get the one parking spot right by the door.
Anyway, before I even started running this morning, I had one incident that kind of freaked me out. It was just barely getting light, and as I entered our town, the speed limit drops from 40 to 25, and I always slow down accordingly. The police like to set speed traps right there, especially during the morning commute. So, just as I was entering town, some idiot decided I was driving way too slowly, and he passed me on a double-yellow line, with poor visibility, doing more than twice the speed limit. He got through town about 2 seconds faster than me, as he ended up stuck behind a number of other cars.
I dropped my clothes and lunch at the office and then drove back downtown. My wife was dropping her car off for some work at a local garage, so I left my car there for her, so she wouldn't have to walk to work in the rain. My workout was 9 x 1/2 mile, and I started with an easy 1 mile warm-up. I was less than a minute into my run when a car came through downtown going really fast. I realized just before it got to me that our paths were going to cross right at a giant puddle of water. There was no time to react and the car hit the puddle and completely soaked me. I said a bad word very loudly, but I'm sure the driver never heard me and had no idea that he'd just soaked me. Or maybe he did.
So, I finished my warm-up, did my first repeat (slow - uphill), took my rest interval, and started the second repeat. By this point in time, I was outside of downtown, but I was by the little shopping center outside of town where our only supermarket sits. I was running about a 6:30 pace as I approached the access road to the supermarket and a pickup truck was leaving the market by that road. I suddenly realized that the truck was turning right, towards me, and the driver had no intention of slowing down or looking to the right. I stopped to avoid getting killed and yelled another bad word - well, actually the same word I'd yelled previously. I was angry enough that my second repeat was my fastest of the day, despite the brief stop. Just as I finished the second repeat, I was at a point on the road where the shoulder narrows. Right at that spot, there was a large puddle on the road. As I was working hard on the last bit of the repeat, I happened to glance up and seen an 18-wheeler bearing down on me. At first, I thought about staying on the shoulder because I was already soaked. But then, I realized that an 18-wheeler might do more than soak me, so I stepped way, way off the road to avoid the truck and the splash.
After that, things settled down and the run went OK. I did write yesterday that I was sure I'd run faster today than I did last week for this workout. I was wrong. My times were nearly identical to last week. I felt steady and relatively strong, but just not fast today. My times still point to a sub-3:30 marathon, but I don't have much of a margin for error.
In the past, when I've used the Yasso 800 progression that I use, I have done the workout once per week when my rep count was 6, 7, or 8. As I got to 9 and 10, I would switch to doing it every other week because it's a tough workout. But, this time around, I did 9 reps on back to back weeks, which might explain why I didn't run any faster this week.
As I started my 8th repeat, a stupid collie decided to chase me down the road, teeth bared and growling. Normally, I would be a little freaked out by a dog chasing me, but after all the car and truck issues this morning, I basically told the little f*cker to go back home and leave me alone. My tone of voice must have been pretty good, because he listened to me and turned around.
Maybe this day started badly because I stepped on the scale this morning and didn't like the number I saw. I feel like I've been eating really well recently, yet I can't seem to drop any weight. If I'm not losing any weight right now eating the way that I've been eating, I wonder what would happen if I ate what I really wanted to eat.
Enough negativity. I had a good run, I'm healthy, and I'm still financially solvent, for now, at least.
Anyway, before I even started running this morning, I had one incident that kind of freaked me out. It was just barely getting light, and as I entered our town, the speed limit drops from 40 to 25, and I always slow down accordingly. The police like to set speed traps right there, especially during the morning commute. So, just as I was entering town, some idiot decided I was driving way too slowly, and he passed me on a double-yellow line, with poor visibility, doing more than twice the speed limit. He got through town about 2 seconds faster than me, as he ended up stuck behind a number of other cars.
I dropped my clothes and lunch at the office and then drove back downtown. My wife was dropping her car off for some work at a local garage, so I left my car there for her, so she wouldn't have to walk to work in the rain. My workout was 9 x 1/2 mile, and I started with an easy 1 mile warm-up. I was less than a minute into my run when a car came through downtown going really fast. I realized just before it got to me that our paths were going to cross right at a giant puddle of water. There was no time to react and the car hit the puddle and completely soaked me. I said a bad word very loudly, but I'm sure the driver never heard me and had no idea that he'd just soaked me. Or maybe he did.
So, I finished my warm-up, did my first repeat (slow - uphill), took my rest interval, and started the second repeat. By this point in time, I was outside of downtown, but I was by the little shopping center outside of town where our only supermarket sits. I was running about a 6:30 pace as I approached the access road to the supermarket and a pickup truck was leaving the market by that road. I suddenly realized that the truck was turning right, towards me, and the driver had no intention of slowing down or looking to the right. I stopped to avoid getting killed and yelled another bad word - well, actually the same word I'd yelled previously. I was angry enough that my second repeat was my fastest of the day, despite the brief stop. Just as I finished the second repeat, I was at a point on the road where the shoulder narrows. Right at that spot, there was a large puddle on the road. As I was working hard on the last bit of the repeat, I happened to glance up and seen an 18-wheeler bearing down on me. At first, I thought about staying on the shoulder because I was already soaked. But then, I realized that an 18-wheeler might do more than soak me, so I stepped way, way off the road to avoid the truck and the splash.
After that, things settled down and the run went OK. I did write yesterday that I was sure I'd run faster today than I did last week for this workout. I was wrong. My times were nearly identical to last week. I felt steady and relatively strong, but just not fast today. My times still point to a sub-3:30 marathon, but I don't have much of a margin for error.
In the past, when I've used the Yasso 800 progression that I use, I have done the workout once per week when my rep count was 6, 7, or 8. As I got to 9 and 10, I would switch to doing it every other week because it's a tough workout. But, this time around, I did 9 reps on back to back weeks, which might explain why I didn't run any faster this week.
As I started my 8th repeat, a stupid collie decided to chase me down the road, teeth bared and growling. Normally, I would be a little freaked out by a dog chasing me, but after all the car and truck issues this morning, I basically told the little f*cker to go back home and leave me alone. My tone of voice must have been pretty good, because he listened to me and turned around.
Maybe this day started badly because I stepped on the scale this morning and didn't like the number I saw. I feel like I've been eating really well recently, yet I can't seem to drop any weight. If I'm not losing any weight right now eating the way that I've been eating, I wonder what would happen if I ate what I really wanted to eat.
Enough negativity. I had a good run, I'm healthy, and I'm still financially solvent, for now, at least.
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