Getting back to Boston

Pushed it a little tonight, perhaps because I was excited to actually be running on real pavement again. Well, almost, there were still slushy patches here and there, but certainly I didn't need the screw shoes. Started out at 9:43 pace and bumped it up some. Didn't get to MP; legs are still a little heavy from negotiating snow and ice for a week, but it felt pretty good to at least put it in second gear for a change. Finished with 6.03 at 9:07 average.

More slip-sliding tonight. The stuff that melted this afternoon is refreezing, very thinly, and you can't see it. Don't know how I avoided busting tail. In spite of that, a good run, 9:27 average for 5-plus, including three laps around the lake and three decent uphill sections. More freezing fog expected tonight, so tomorrow's drive oughta be loads of fun.

Progression run in the rain tonight, once a cramp in my left foot eased out. Took four miles to warm up/uncramp, then put the hammer down. Mile 5 in 8:08, mile 6 in 7:48. I'd pretty much take a 7:48 average at St. George or Boston right now, but we're a long way from that. One of those runs that just left me with a better outlook on life. I seem to get those more when I push the pace a bit, but I can't push the pace on every run or I'll get hurt. But this was one of the more therapeutic runs lately, left me feeling better about things, even those that have been weighing on my mind at lot.

Jeez, I just can't do a whole run without speeding up. Because I get bored and want to finish? Because I want to get off a busy street before I become road pizza? Because I tend to route myself so that I have a downhill run near the end? All of the above? At any event, started off at 10:00 pace and wound up at MP for the last 0.33, albeit sharply downhill. Good run. Three loops around JBH, then out the back, down West End, down Backus all the way to Silent Grove, then down the steep hill to Cimmaron and back home. Definitely hustled on Backus, which was BUSY.

Doing something long tomorrow, just not sure where or when. Basketball game starts at 12:40, so have to finish before 11 or start after 3. Given those choices, think I'll do an early run, shower, change and pick up T. Maybe the trail in Fayetteville. Probably not the north-south loop on 40th and Carley.

Twelve and a half today. Not sure why it was difficult, but it was. Maybe I'm just not used to doing 12 right  now. That will change over the next few months as I add LRs back into the program. The course wasn't particularly hard; rolling but no Sherpa climbs. Went Overo to Backus to Gutensohn to Carley to Tyson Parkway. Right on Tyson to 40th. Back up 40th all the way to Falcon, with a detour over to the convenience store to get a Gatorade and energy bar (which ended up costing me $15, but that's another story). Right on Falcon to Silent Grove, through JBH and out the back, down Pump Station back to Silent Grove, and back to the house. A $10 bill in change fell out of my pocket twice; I somehow found it the first time, not the second, which is what that bar and Gatorade wound up costing $15. Anyway, hammies feel really drained right now, and I'm supposed to leave for the basketball game momentarily. Wound up with 45 plus for the week, which is the most since before Thanksgiving. Today's run was exactly twice as long as yesterday's, and took me 59:40 longer (yesterday was 58:25).

Had originally planned an easy 5 today. Then I looked at the weather forecast -- another winter storm tonight and tomorrow. Runs might be limited for a couple of days. So I decided to get more miles in today before the storm hits. So I wound up doing 9.6, including the last 0.4 or so at sub-MP. Felt pretty good for the last four miles or so (amazing how it takes me five miles now to warm up). Weather was mid-30s, overcast, not much wind. Felt pretty good except for the drainage.

Snowing here all day and into tonight, but I needed a big dose of endorphins in the worst way. So I set out on a six-mile dash through the flakes. It was kinda fun, since I didn't have to worry about busting tail on the ice (yet) and the flakes were falling straight down instead of whipping into my eyes like a week or so back. Just tried to keep a steady pace until the inevitable late-run surge; I guess I just get ready to get these runs over with at some point, and the quickest way to do that is to speed up. Wound up with a 9:29 average, which is pretty much where I want my GA runs to be right now.

Trying to decide how to approach the 5K Saturday, assuming they even have it because of the weather. This slop has not been conducive to any kind of speed training. I may try to do some 400s tomorrow if conditions permit, but that's as close to a race as I want to do any speedwork. Probably just try to set out at an even pace and see how long I can hold it. A big variable, of course, is what the course is going to be. I expect hills, being on the UA campus, but which hills and at what point of the course? That's going to affect the tactics more than anything except possibly the weather.

Things are discouraging on the domestic front, which is why I needed the endorphins. Certainly no cause for optimism. I just hope John's instincts are right, but even if they are, it may be too late. If so, I'll just have to accept it and get on with the rest of my life. Which would be a lousy way to start my 50s.

Took the last two days off -- one for exhaustion and bad weather, one because we went car shopping last night (a truly frustrating experience). So I figured I needed to get back out there tonight to wake the legs up, with the 5K only about 38 h ours away. Warmed up for three miles, then put the hammer down for the last mile and a half. Wound up at MP or slightly below, which felt a lot harder than that. Maybe the exhaustion isn't quite gone.

Not quite sure how to approach the 5K. My only speedwork has been progression runs, and none of that has approached 5K pace for very long. Don't know exactly what the course will be either. It occurs to me I might get an AG award by default. I think I'll just do what I usually do for 5Ks -- try to go out at 7:00 pace or thereabouts and hold it as long as I can, and hope they do what I think they will with the course and bring it downhill on Razorback Road to the finish. That will help me put on a finishing "kick". Having said that, a PR would be a fluke, or a miracle, given the state of my training. But then I did almost no speed work before I got the PR last September. I credit that to pure guts; I just refused to give in to the pain and fatigue. Saturday might be more of the same.

Working out the kinks before tomorrow's 5K. Slow 3 around the park. Not sure how slow because the Garmin needed recharging, but slow enough. I think I'll need some stretching tonight and before the race. Again, no great expectations, but just hope to get in a good run. If nothing else, a tempo run.

Not sure what you'd call a 2.95 mile race, but I ran one this morning. So I guess it was a PR for that distance. Race was billed as a 5K, but I was correctly advised before the start by a woman named Abrena who ran it last year (and was wearing her 2009 Boston Marathon tech shirt) that it was a tad short. She, however, also said that because of the hills, my time would likely be about equal to a full 5K.

Race started at the UA Gardens and went up Razorback Road past the stadium to the Pit. Right on Maple, down Sorority Row to Arkansas Avenue. Right on Arkansas past Old Main, then right on Dickson to Brough Commons. Left on Garland, then down the hill to Pomfret, past BWA and the softball field to Lot 56, then through 56, back into the Gardens and finish at the starting line. So you have an uphill on Razorback, two uphills on Maple, Arkansas is slightly downhill, two BIG hills on Dickson, steep downhill to Pomfret, slight downhill past BWA, slight up/down into 56, and flat to the finish.

First mile, being largely uphill, was quite slow, 7:54 pace. Second mile, steep up/down, 7:23. Third (almost) mile, mostly downhill, 6:48 pace. Official time, 21:18. They had a kind of chip timing I had not seen before. The chip looked like a keyring and they attached it to a wristband. When you got to the chute, a woman quickly scanned it with a handheld device. So it's conceivable that my real time was actually a few seconds quicker than 21:18, but not more than 3-4 seconds faster, so I'll go with 21:18 for my "5K". Turns out, nearly a month later, that I finished 13th overall.

I'd warmed up with a jog and strides, a little over 2.5 (warming up was important, as it was 29 degrees). Then the race, then after getting something to eat and drink I ran the course again with a detour around the perimeter of Lot 56 to cool down. So total run was approaching 9 miles. On the cooldown, I was still passing people who were running the "10K" part of the race (which was just two laps of the 5K course).

Pretty pleased with the run, especially with the steep uphills. My hill training seems to be paying off. I was catching people going up Dickson toward Brough, including Abrena in her Boston shirt (neon yellow and easy to spot). Didn't pass her, but I made up ground. Nice race for my first competition of the new decade.

I asked Abrena if she'd be in Boston in 2011. She said she's qualified for 2010 and will run then, but won't run in 2011 because her husband has had enough of marathon trips. I can kinda relate.

Forgot the Garmin today, so mileage is based on markings on the Fayetteville trails and time by the clock on my cellphone. Started out at 12:58 and decided to run 13 or so. Got to the approximate turnaround point, looked down at the cellphone and it had been one hour. So I decided to convert it into the old hour-out run, which I haven't done in a while -- run out for one hour at a decent clip, try to run back faster than I ran out. It worked, too. Got back to the car at 2:55. My guesstimate on the mileage is 13.3, but it could be a tenth or so either way. That works out roughly to 8:48 pace, not bad a day after a hard, hilly 5K.

One thing I know -- it was COLD and got colder. Current windchill as I type this is 17. That may be a little bit warm. It was cold and the wind was HOWLING. Fortunately not too much of it was dead into the wind, mostly the first two miles, when I was cold anyway because I hadn't gotten the old heat engine going yet. Mostly was a crosswind as I ran north-south on the trails.

After a night off for Domestic Turmoil, The Sequel, back on the road tonight. Decided to do speedwork the no-muss no-fuss no-thought way: Fartlek. Warmed up for a mile and a half then started doing surges intended to be about two minutes. Worked pretty well. Ended up doing six surges totaling 1.75 miles, all in the low 7 or high 6-minute ranges, somewhere around where I hope my 5K pace gets to eventually. Totalled 7-plus miles in an hour-2. Good run. Feel like I'm getting some speed back, not in time for my 4.75K on Saturday, although that could be basically considered a hilly tempo run.

About to decide to do the Bentonville Half, if I can scrounge up the entry fee in between fixing the truck. Good thing I'm getting a tax refund (and even better that that annual hassle is done, along with the FAFSA for T's financial aid). I'll decide about Hogeye probably after Bentonville. Maybe the full, maybe the half, maybe the 5K, maybe nothing.

Left on my run tonight at 10:10 P.M. after the basketball game (we won). Decided to do an easy run, which I thought it was, but darn if I didn't average 9:12. If that really becomes my easy run pace, I might just be able to do a 3:19. This reminded me of one of those old treadmill runs in NLR when I swear I was running while asleep. Not sure the eyes were open more than half the time. Also don't think I've done a run this late since I was training that summer in Tulsa after I'd get off work at 10:30 or 11. Anyway, knocked this run out OK. Trying to get to about 45 or so for the week, maybe even push 50.

Another semi-easy night at JBH. Think I slept through some of this one too, but got in 6.22, just about a 10K in 58 minutes, which is faster than I ran my first 10K rqace in October 2007 (how things have changed).

John and I talked this afternoon and one of the things we discussed was how to put the lessons of marathoning, and particularly marathon training, into use in other aspects of my life. Taking a systematic approach to those things just as I took a systematic approach to build my endurance and my speed to qualify for Boston. Makes sense. Now if I can just find a Pfitz or a Hudson to guide me through THAT...

Since I was very pointedly not invited to join Pam and Tyler for dinner tonight, I decided to put the time to use with a run. Didn't have the Garmin, but I think it was about 7.25 in about 67  minutes. Decent run and a decent, if not exhausting, pace. Almost could describe it as easy. If I put in 10 tomorrow, that will give me my first 50-mile week of the new decade.

Finally got Pam's car out of the shop today; nearly $2000. Plus paid $250 to get the old car title, since I never paid sales tax on it anywhere. Yuck. Anyway, that's out of the way. Finally. Now just have to get the Kia taken care of somehow. Guess that's where the tax refund will go.

Think Pam and I will go to the baseball game tomorrow. I think she's more open to doing things wth me at the moment, even if her overall feelings haven't changed. Oh well. Take positive signs where I can find them, no matter how small.

Amazing how warm 55 degrees feels when I've spent much of the last two months running in sub-freezing weather. Wouldn't say I was overheated, but I was sweating a bunch despite running in shorts and a tech shirt. Ran the old Shiloh loop with a tweak, diverting over to Wagon Wheel on the way back. Ran in the construction-to-be zone on WW once the sidewalk ended to stay out of traffic, which worked fine; it's graded gravel and smooth and probably actually preferable to running on the concrete, either road or sidewalk.

Run went pretty well until the last two miles, when I started to run out of gas. Tells me, as if I didn't know, that my diet has been lacking. I had thought about looping through JBH to get the run up to 15 miles, but the dead legs took that idea out of play. Just decided to get through the second loop and get into the icebath, which I did. Still wound up with a 53-mile week despite missing Monday night.

Ran instead of going to the baseball game, although I might go to tomorrow's game with T if it doesn't rain.

Cold, wet day in the Ozarks. In spite of that, got in a baseball game and a run. Rain stopped about 20 minutes before first pitch and held off until the 8th inning. Took T back to the dorm (with the baseball he got from a Hog player during the game), came home and did a really slow 6.1. Legs are quite stiff and sore from yesterday's run, so there was no temptation to pick up the pace much at all. Still managed to average 9:31, though.

Also signed up for Bentonville this morning. It'll be good to get in a half this spring. Have no idea if I'll be in any kind of shape to run it, like, fast, but we'll see how it goes. Course looks fairly favorable for a fast time, better than the course I set my half PR on a year and a half ago. I'll probably see how that goes, or at least how further training is going, before I decide whether to sign up for Hogeye. At least I know I won't be on call that weekend.

Tried to do mile repeats tonight. Tried being the operative word. Plan was to do four, maybe 5 repeats at 10K pace. Of course, my 10K pace is purely a guess right now, and my guess was 7:20 or thereabouts. Warmed up for two miles, ran a mile. 7:23, not great, not terrible. Jogged for three minutes, tried again: 7:12. Maybe a touch fast, but more like it. Started jogging again. Then the brown bear arrived, and he wasn't happy. Took care of that, jogged some more, started repeat #3. Quads then forcefully reminded me that they hadn't yet recovered from the weekend. Got less than a quarter mile at 7:23 pace before they more or less shutdown. Took a long jog in between, tried again. Nope. About the same distance, 7:15 pace, no more. Jogged the last two miles to return home.

Probably should have waited until tomorrow to try this run, but I felt I needed some speed work before the half in Bentonville. I still do. Other thing I should have done, since I have done no speedwork in several months, is cut the intervals back from a mile to .8, or one lap of the park. That, I think, would have been more manageable, and I probably could have done at least four full reps, maybe five. Remember, dunderhead, you're 49 now, not 29.

Now two days of recovery and maybe try something else quick on Thursday.

No plan for tonight -- just started the watch and ran, never checked pace. Only looked at the watch once to check distance because I wasn't sure I hadn't zoned out and lost count of my laps at the park (I hadn't). Felt like I was running a little faster than usual, but that perceived effort has fooled me before. The wind started to pick up as the run progressed, and I was pretty sure I bumped up my effort to counter the wind, but again I wasn't sure.

Got home, stopped the watch and looked. Less than an hour for 6.88. Every mile faster than the one before. The last 0.88 was at sub-8 pace, roughly GMP. The kind of run I seem to be good at. Now if I could just get myself to run negative splits in a race, I'd have something. Anyway, a nice way to rebound from last night's dead legs.

Went out for 6 easy tonight. Ended up not so easy, but that's OK. Still less painful than watching the basketball game, in which a bad Arkansas team rolled over and died against a worse LSU team. Yuck. Again ran every mile faster than the one before it. If I can do that in Bentonville -- or St. George or Boston -- I've got something.

Nice. Three days after I crashed and burned on mile repeats, I pulled off an even tougher tempo run -- 2 X 15 minutes at essentially the same pace, which worked out to four miles. Average pace for those four miles: 7:29.5 -- just about exactly what I was shooting for Probably my best tempo run ever as far as hitting a target. A couple more of those and I might start to think I can run a decent half at Bentonville.

Went to the baseball game today, then got in a run, the Shiloh-Wagon Wheel loop. Finished it in five seconds less than an hour for 6.56. I'll take that. As I always seem to do, it got faster and faster, although I ran two straight 9:10 miles so it wasn't a case of every mile faster than the one before it. Plus the last .56 slowed all the way down to 8:39 pace, possibly because I had to run most of it on the grass due to all the traffic on Silent Grove. Especially the so-and-so who intentionally put on his highbeams right in my eyes... Anyway, good run. Set up for another 50-mile week if I can get in 9 or so tomorrow, in spite of work and another ball game. Think I may take my running stuff and run the trail from the south end right after the game.