Getting back to Boston

Easy 10, some of it in the rain. Seem to have recovered from weekend frivolity (49 miles in three days) with no ill effects.

Double today at MAFC -- 4 miles by myself, 4 with Jen. She really didn't want to be out there; she felt bad, her knee hurt, she was in a bad mood, but she persevered and got through in 57 minutes and change, with me as the pacer on the running portions. I told her I was proud of her for toughing it out, and I wasn't kidding. Half the battle is showing up, the other half is sticking it out when you don't feel like it. She did both today. I'm kinda dragging too, but got the 8 done. If I did 8 tomorrow and Sunday, that would be 55 for the week, which IIRC would be my highest total during a work week at Sparks.

Easy 9+ at Chaffee with Lionel. At least most of it was easy. At the end, felt pretty good, and I hadn't put the hammer down in a while, so I did. Last half-mile was sub-7:15. I kept accelerating, trying to drop Lionel, and he wouldn't drop -- and he still had six more miles to do! It was cool, fairly windy, and I'm pretty sure the temp went down a few degrees during the run, but all in all pretty comfortable. I think the mitochondria may be there for me now; it wasn't that much of a strain to hammer that last half mile after doing 9 already. We'll see how I do in a race, if I can ever find one on a day I'm not working,. May wind up running the Trinity 5K on the 25th just for S&G.

Ran with Jen on her Texas Road course, which I discovered crosses into Oklahoma. It was cold and blustery, but OK.

Afternoon, 70 laps at MAFC, with and without Jen. That after a morning highlighted by a sore back and a headache. Felt about 81, not 51. But better by the afternoon after a nap, and she wanted me to join her at the gym. So, as usual, I got there early and got a couple of miles in before she arrived. She was having a running text battle with her mom for the whole workout. Then she shut down to go try a water aerobics class, and I headed home to rest up for...

 Speed work at Southside. Having decided to enter the 5K in Russellville Saturday morning, thought now would be a good time to actually try to run fast. Plan was for 5 X 800 at 5K pace. I actually got to goal 5k pace on the last rep, so guess I didn't over do it. With warm/cool, including some extra jogging with Rose and Mary Jo, wound up with a good 6-mile workout. Temp was about 45, no wind, a little chilly for singlet and shorts but certainly overheating was not going to be an issue. No idea what that means for Saturday; I guess I'll try to go out in the low 7 range, try to accelerate after I get a bit warmed up, and then try to hold on.

9:55 pace, AHR 126, two hours. Just what I wanted. Threw some extra hills into the route on 74th Street, still kept the AHR down. Now off to take Jen to the WAR meeting and meet some of the crew.

Gallowalking with Jen this morning. Thanks to the Garmin, was able to determine that we ran 2.3 at a sub-10 pace, and walked the rest. Overall average was sub-14. I think she's starting to realize that she can run farther than she had thought, and before long this run will be almost or completely non-walking.

Hoping to get in another shortie later. 

Midday run at Chaffee with Kathy. I planted the seed in her mind that she can BQ at Chicago (which she seriously can), and I'm going to coach her toward that. She's running OKC before then, but afterward, I take over. Good run. She can really push the pace even with her 4-to-1 run/walk ratio; I walked some with her and we still averaged sub-10. And BQ pace for her is 9:32. Definitely within her capabilities, even if she's not convinced yet.

Cold, blustery run/walk with Jen. She complained that the temperatures stiffened up her knee and didn't want to run much. I wanted to run to generate some heat and get out of that wind, but I stayed with her all the way. So that's my mini-taper for Russellville. We'll see how it shakes out tomorrow.

Kicked off the 2012 racing season with my return to the 5K at Russellville. Got third in AG there last year; didn't figure I'd do as well this year. I was wrong. I was 8 seconds faster and one place higher. It was colder than snap, 23 degrees, but at least it was sunny and no wind. Ran first mile in 7:18, then 7:14, then 7:18. Not quite as fast as I wanted, but consistent. Felt strong, so I probably could have pushed harder than I did. But I'm happy with this time in this weather (wearing tights) and very little speed work.

Indoors at MAFC -- seven miles alone, one with Jen. She shut it down after one because her left knee really hurts. I'm afraid she's done some cartilage damage, but I'm not going to tell her that. But I think I've convinced her to give it a few days and let it heal. Hopefully I'm wrong, it's just some irritation and will go away with time.

Easy 10 this morning before Valentine's Day lunch with Jennifer, and other related activities. I was pretty tight and sore for the first 4; things kinda shook loose on the downhill on Old Greenwood. Then I got into a rhythm and just kept going, all the way down Phoenix to Massard, then back home up Rogers. 

Tomorrow will be kind of easy, prior to the Hadd test on Thursday. 

Hadd test today at Southside. Couldn't do it exactly like I did the first time; the heart rate monitor took five full laps to lock in, so the first rep wasn't going to be worth much. Thus, I started my first rep at that five-lap point and ran six more laps. Then I did a five-lap cooldown afterward, to total 10 miles for the day.

Each rep was faster than the corresponding rep from the test on Dec. 30; some were a lot faster, some a few seconds. But even the least improvement was 9 seconds, or 6 seconds a mile. Six seconds a mile is a lot; it would be almost three minutes in a marathon. I'm pretty sure I pushed the last rep harder than I pushed the 5K last Saturday. Do another one in five weeks and see where that shows me, then get ready for the half in Bentonville.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run 12 or so at WAR with Staci. Not sure how that's going to work after a hard 10 today, but maybe it'll be OK. My noon date in Fayetteville has been postponed, so that's good; I can take a nap after the run instead of driving up there. I may need that nap; we're getting absolutely crushed at work and I'll have to stay later than usual.

Just checking in. Won't run today, most likely won't run all week. I managed to get the double whammy of influenza A, and pneumonia on top of it. At least that's what Dr. Shipley says. She put me on Tamiflu, a Z-pak and gave me a (quite painful) Rocephin shot in the butt. Plus told me to take plenty of Vitamin C and zinc, all of which I have done and am doing. She also told me not to go back to work until I finish the Tamiflu, which will be Saturday. Fortunately, that's when I'm supposed to return to work. I'd like to go back to work and get that day's pay, but don't know yet if I'll feel like it.

I've been miserable. Fever, productive cough, headache, muscle aches, diarrhea, etc., etc. Jennifer won't come over, and I don't blame her. I wouldn't wish this on most people (although I can think of a few in Alabama or Central Texas that it would suit). Going to the basketball game tomorrow is pretty questionable too. We'll see how I feel tomorrow afternoon.

Running will wait until next week. It's a setback in my basebuilding, but that's all it is. Glad I didn't get sick like this last February with Boston looming. I have time to catch up before Stockholm, never mind Indy. Also will make hitting my mileage goals more difficult. But I can't blame running for this illness; that goes to my place of employment. Hospitals are wonderful places to get sick, and I did. Surprised it's taken me this long to catch something with what I do, even as often as I wash my hands. Next year, I get the flu shot for sure.