Getting back to Boston

Got a good night's sleep after getting back from LR, and work wasn't too bad today, so decided to get in an evening run. Basically repeated yesterday's run, with a little extra twist on two of the three laps through the park, so it came out to 7.38. Also ran it quite a bit faster than yesterday -- almost 7 minutes faster for 0.15 mile farther. Felt good to push the pace, really for the first time since the 5K PR on 9/5/09.

Only a half-day of work tomorrow, so will get in an early afternoon run, I guess. Maybe try to do 16 or so Saturday. Saturday should take me over 1900 miles for the year, in three-fourths of a year (in spite of a couple of URIs and the two wasted weeks due to the move to Springdale).

Ran 2.5 times around the Hunt Park loop -- backwards. Actually skipped the front corner of the loop on lap 2, hence the 2.5 (UNINTENTIONALLY, DUE TO GOING BACKWARD, I SUPPOSE). Dunno why I went into all-caps there, either. Anyway, legs slightly rubbery but not bad. Will try to do 16 or so tomorrow and get over 1900 for the year, topping my 2008 total in early October, nine weeks before my marathon. Also am getting out Pfitz this weekend and trying to devise a 9-week plan to get ready for Memphis, with probably some Hudson tweaks thrown in.

Down to the Fayetteville trails for my first LR in what seems like forever (actually it was August 29 at Pinnacle Mountain State Park). Started from the Mud Creek trailhead on Old Missouri Road, then down Scull Creek, then Frisco Trail, then turn around and do it all over again, with an extra loop on Joyce and Old Missouri as well as Mud Creek Trail at the end to get me up to 16 miles. Quads were barking from the start and they didn't get any better over two hours, 40 minutes. But I finished, and I kept the average under 10:00 in spite of some short walk breaks. I gotta quit doing 10 p.m. runs on Friday and then getting up to run at dawn the next morning; 48-year-old legs need more recovery than that.

There were a LOT of people out on the trail. No large gaggles of Crackheads like I'd see in LR/NLR, but twos and threes and fours. More runners than cyclists, I think, and plenty of walkers too. Their investment in the trails seems to be paying off in public use. And it was a beautiful, if chilly morning. Started off in the upper 30s, I think it was in the low 60s when I finished at 10:30. Not a cloud in the sky, but enough shade where the morning sun was not a problem as far as visibility.

Today marks a milestone: I topped 1900 miles for the year. That was my total for all of 2008, and I went over that mark with 89 days left in the year. I think 2600 is quite doable. Put together a 9-week training plan for Memphis last night, since today is 63 days to St. Jude. I should run about 550 miles before I line up in the corral at Memphis, if it goes according to plan.

Still DOMS in the quads, but got in an easy 3 in the drizzle around noon, and the quads feel better afterward. Will try to do 4 or 5 later. I think the Sunday doubles are going to be the way to go. Get in the miles, get the kinks out, and recover from Saturday's pounding. Ended up doing 4.82 later, total of 7.85. Legs did feel pretty good, considering.

It still feels weird not living in Central Arkansas any more. I've been there so much of my life (82-85, 87-92, and 06-09). By comparison, not nearly so much time in NWA, but a whole lot of time wishing I WAS here. Now I am, and it's taking some adjustment. 

Last night was an unscheduled day off; weather was miserable and I was ready to crash after dinner. So I did. Decide to do a double today to make up for it. Got up at 5:30 and went out for an easy 7. Finished just as the SHS cross country team was assmebling for a predawn workout -- and just before the skies opened up; it was quite a thunderstorm. Finished in 1:09, just under 10:00 pace.

After dinner tonight, went back to the park for just about the same thing, only quite a bit quicker, and with hill sprints thrown in on the way back home. Wound up with 7.02 in 1:05, even considering the jogged recoveries between sprints. Legs fdeel amazingly good as I sit here, although I may pay for this tomorrow -- and I'm supposed to do a fartlek tomorrow. A good pasta dinner won't hurt my recovery, either.

Found out Scott is entered in the half in Memphis, Which introduces a new complication -- what if the boss doesn't want to let both of us be out of town on the same weekend? Scott has seniority and first dibs if there's a conflict. But I may not have hospital privileges yet by then, so I can't cover the hospitals anyway if that's the case.

The parentals are supposed to come up this weekend to see the new Casa Spiderpig -- or are they? Dad has a reunion of his freshman football team from 50-plus years ago up here. Mom's supposed to accompany him. But Mom is being treated for H1N1, fairly symptomatic, and isn't sure she's coming. And since they've been joined at the hip for 50 years now, Dad isn't sure he's coming if she doesn't. So I don't know if they'll be here or not. I do know Mom is really not interested in hanging around while they trade old football stories all weekend, so she'll probably hang out with Pam if she does come.

Fartlek tonight, in the rain. Didn't figure tomorrow morning would be any better weatherwise, so decided to get it over with tonight, and as it turned out, rain slacked off and I was able to ditch the rain jacket for most of the run. Main issues were a loose, loudly barking dog that seemed to chase me every other lap, and one nagging toenail (already black, probably soon absent).

I meant to run eight two-minute surges, ended up running nine (lost count, I guess), but pace was remarkably consistent, if a little faster than I had intended. By the Garmin, I ran either 0.27 or 0.28 miles on every single surge, mostly 0.28, and pace ranged from 7:08 to 7:24. It was dark and I couldn't see the pace on the Garmin, so it was pretty much by feel. I would have wanted to run about 7:25 if I'd set the workout feature to tell me how fast to run, but a little quicker than that didn't seem to be a problem. Told my wife I'd be gone an hour and a half; I was back nine minutes early.

Maybe 10 slow miles, but not easy. Very difficult to get myself to run that far. Took me almost two hours. Then, as soon as I finished, we were placed under a tornado warning and spent a few minues in an interior bathroom. I'm gonna chalk up the bad run to the humidity and an empty tank after last night's fartlek.

The parents arrived at Casa Spiderpig this afternoon. So did the cold and wind. Got out in it regardless and got in a good 6-miler, with at least the last 1.1 miles at MP or below. Cold wind felt pretty good, actually, after last night's stifling humidity. Still worked up a sweat (I'd sweat in a blizzard, I think), but was quite comfortable. Particularly surprising considering I didn't sleep well at all, probably less than 4 hours.

Won't have time to do the full LR tomorrow because of the early starting football game, but will get in some miles early, I think, before going to the stadium to sit with Pupe. Then I'll do a long run Sunday.

Mileage is an estimate due to forgetting to charge the Garmin, but it's pretty close. Three small loops and one big loop at JBH, plus the 0.7 mile there and back. Legs were kinda stiff this morning, but good running weather. Took about 55 minutes.

Pupe's coming by in about an hour, and we're going to the game together, picking up T along the way. Pam's not gonna go, because she gave up her ticket to T's roommate thinking Mumber wouldn't go, and she's not real happy about it... 

Basically 10 miles hard, 6 miles easy this morning. Fayetteville trails were covered with mud in three or four low-lying areas after last week's heavy rain, and I thought I was going to bust my fanny a couple of times sliding around in the mud. No spills, though. I was able to run about five miles at GMP (about being the key word), then kinda jogged the last six miles on the roads in NE Fayetteville until I got back to the car. I seem to have recovered from the run pretty well; maybe the six-mile jog served as a recovery run. Good run, but... need better runs than this if I'm going to be ready to race in Memphis in 55 days, though.

Progression run tonight. Was supposed to be an easy run, but legs felt good, and I don't know if I have the luxury of enough time to do "just" an easy run. I've missed too much work this cycle. I need to get some speed work in there on just about everything, I think. I may be wrong and I may be taking on too much. Anyway, after a 9:20 first mile, decided to pick up the pace, then pick it up some more, and finally for about the last third of the run tried to do GMP. Went a little past GMP, actually, but IMO that's OK. Tempo runs have their place too, to get me used to going fast so that "only" GMP feels more comfortable.

Funny how circumstances compel you to adapt and adjust. I'd planned to run 10 miles tonight in a tempo-interval format, with two miles at GMP, half pace and 15K pace. But my Garmin came off the charger cradle last night and did not fully charge, and I still need the Garmin to help me keep my pace where it should be (shameful but true). So I decided to do a MLR instead. Then the presence (again) of the roaming black dog in the park prompted me to do long loops in order to minimize my time in his area, which in turn led me to extend the MLR from 10 miles to 12. And for good measure, I ran what I think was a progression pace (again hard to say for sure without the Garmin or a stopwatch, or even knowing for sure when I started). I do know that at 8:37, I sent my wife a text to alert her that I'd decided to run 12 miles and that I was at the halfway mark. I finished the run 54 minutes later, so I'm pretty sure I averaged 9:00 for the last 6 miles. What I ran for the first 6, I have no idea.

So now, assuming the Garmin actually gets charged properly, I'll do that 10-mile tempo interval run on Thursday. Tomorrow, an easy recovery run, after I get back from my first afternoon of nursing home rounds. And if the rest of the week goes well, including Saturday's LR, I'll go ahead and sign up for Memphis.

Another running milestone today. With about 400 meters left in my slow recovery run, the yearly total topped 2000 miles. A little quick math reveals that if I've averaged 9:20 per mile for those 2000, which sounds about right, that's 1.12 million seasons on the road, the trail and the treadmill this year. Or 13 solid days, take your pick. Kinda daunting considering that 27 months ago I weighed 185, had a spare tire and a double chin on the way to triple, and couldn't run around the block. The double chin is gone, although some of the excess skin remains. Ditto for the spare tire around my middle. Ditto for about 35 pounds of me. And now it takes me several trips around the block just to get warmed up properly.

Looks like the work schedule will work out for Memphis, so assuming nothing untoward happens in training in the next week, I'll go ahead and sign up to run.

Kind of a tempo run tonight; I think Hudson calls it threshold intervals or something. Warm up, 2 miles at GMP, brief recovery, 2 miles at HMP, brief recovery, 2 miles at 15K pace, finish slowly. In my case, ended up being a touch over 10 miles. Of course, my pacing being the joke that it is, the closest I got on the two miles at each pace were HMP: 7:39 and 7:32. The 15K pace was 7:31/7:11, for which I'll excuse myself on the grounds that it was dark, getting cold and I was just trying to finish ASAP (cough cough).

Easy 5 this afternoon looping around Hunt Park. Now run 17 straight days after missing most of September, and the legs are doing OK. Do a long run tomorrow, then probably pull the trigger and register for Memphis.

At least once in every training cycle, I have a Saturday where the legs just don't want to run. Today was that day. It got so bad that about the 9 mile mark, I considered calling Pam and telling her to come get me. Instead I kept going. And going. And going. Ended up with 17.58, and a 74-mile week. My first 70-plus mile week since April or May, not sure which. Of course, that's padded a little by the fact I did 16 on Sunday instead of last Saturday and 17 today, but even if I'd done the run on Saturday instead of Sunday, it would have been well over 60 this week.

Started out on Cimmaron, then Overo, west on Backus, south on White Road, west on Elm Springs, south on 40th Street, east on Don Tyson, south on Carley, east on Main Street in Johnson, northeast on Hewitt in Johnson, north on Johnson Road, back west on Don Tyson, north on Carley, east on Sunset, north on West End, then Cheyenne, then Pump Station, then Silent Grove, then a loop around Lake Springdale, then up through Hunt Park, back down Fleming to Silent Grove, and finally home. Whew! It's exhausting just remembering all that. 

Still trying to decide if I want to run Soaring Wings next weekend. Probably not. Just run with the Crackheads instead, although I might change that if I decide I need some speedwork. 

Ran 7 this evening at 9:21 pace. Felt much easier than a slower pace did yesterday, even from the beginning in the 17-miler. Glad the legs snapped back quickly, although they usually do if I give them a chance (ice bath, stretching, good night's sleep, etc.).

Unscheduled rest day today. Business dinner at Doe's was followed by a bear encounter. Decided to give the GI tract and the legs a break and bag the run, since this is a stepdown week anyway. Went to bed early, too. Will resume the quest tomorrow.

As good a run as I've had in a loooong time. Legs felt pretty good after last night's URD. Had planned to do 8-9 easy when I left the house, but soon decided it would be a shame to waste a favorable night like this on a slow run. Warmed up with 4 at a moderate pace, up to Shiloh Rehab and starting back, and cranked the pace on the return trip. Turned back into JBH, still at sub-GMP, and kept that going for four laps of the short loop, total of 5.6 or so at sub-GMP, almost fast enough to be considered a tempo run.. Slowed then for "recovery", briefly, but darn if the last three-tenths weren't back under GMP. Total of 11.95 at 8:24 average pace. An 8:24 average pace at Memphis would be sub-3:40 -- darn close to my 2011 BQ. And I would have easily broken two hours for a half-marathon. Again, it amazes me that I'm not out of breath in the least as I type this a couple of minutes after coming in the door. If my leg muscles were in as good a shape as my cardiovascular conditioning, I'd be going sub-3, much less BQ in the Ancient Flatus division.

Easy walk/run tonight. The walk came first; my wife decided to venture out of the house for some rare exercise and asked me to accompany her, which I gladly did. About 150 yards down the sidewalk, turn around and return. It was dark and Pam doesn't know the neighborhood sidewalks yet, so my night vision/sidewalk experience helped her; there are a couple of places you could trip if you don't avoid the hazards. Dropped her off back at the house and left for a solo recovery run. Solo, that is, except for the reappearance of the crazy black dog in the park. He's going to bite me sooner or later, unless I get a rock, some pepper spray or a .22 pistol. I wish it did any good to call animal control, but they're not going to go out in a park at 9:00 at night, and he's not out there during daylight hours.

Legs were still quite heavy from last night's MP/tempo run. I thought they'd loosen tonight after a few miles, but they didn't. Still managed to maintain a mediocre 9:50 pace without any visits from the walk monster.

Couple of days before I return to central Arkansas, rejoin the Crackheads for a morning, and celebrate Mumber and Pupe's 50th wedding anniversary. Sheesh, fitty years is a LONG time.

Another good run tonight. Warmed up for 18 minutes, then started intervals, or fartlek surges, whatever you wanna call them, two minutes each with 5 minutes or less in between. Ran them on the short loop at JBH, which is fairly flat but has one significant dip with an equal rise afterward. Last time I did this run, I planned it where I was jogging through the dip. Tonight, all six surges went through and out of the dip. Paces of the surges were 7:27, 7:00, 6:59, 6:39, 6:29 and 6:28. Completely unplanned, but I couldn't have planned it any better -- each surge got faster.

Early but short day at work tomorrow, then T and I head for Bryant in the afternoon. Dunno if I'll get up early for a short jog or run when I get back. Considering I'm batchin' it tonight since Pam's already down there, I'm leaning toward an early 3 or 4 before work.

Up early today, only 10 hours or so after finishing last night's intervals, for a quick 4 before I went to work and then driving to central Arkansas for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Don't know exactly how long I took, but it seemed to be a pretty quick pace, and I was back at the house about 10 minutes before 7 after leaving at 6:08 or so. It was windy and chilly, but fortunately the rain didn't start until later. May not be so lucky tomorrow in Maumelle with the Crackheads.

Back in Maumelle today, rejoining the Crackheads after about a six-week absence. I was worried about time because I was supposed to be back in Bryant at my brother's house by 9:30, and had to run 16 plus drive back to Saline County, shower and change. That helped inspire me to run a little faster, I guess, and the result was a pretty good time -- finishing 15.9 in less than 2:30, even with some pit stops along the way.

Started out slowly with Pat and Chris, and the first mile was over 10 minutes. Then, after the first pit stop, I picked up the pace for 2 and 3. Mile four again slower due to rather prolonged pit stop. Then I started stringing together low-9-minute miles. Short walk break on an uphill pushed mile 10 back up to 10:00 pace, then picked it up the rest of the way, and the last two miles were sub-9 pace.

Now anniversary festivities for my parents for the rest of the day, with some football and probably a nap in there somewhere, and back to NWA tomorrow.

Drove back from Bryant this afternoon (nearly falling asleep and running off the road in the process), then ran 6 in the rain after our return. Wasn't a steady rain, nor was it very cold, so it wasn't a bad run. Legs felt pretty good, so I picked up the pace from the normal Sunday recovery runs.

Turning 49 tomorrow. Almost wish I'd turned 49 LAST October, because I would have qualified for Boston if I had, but I didn't, and I've got to come up with a good race. Will that be in Memphis? Dunno yet. Field is full, but I may have a way to get in anyway. We'll see if my running network comes through for me. 

Took my birthday off from running just because I was tired. Maybe there's something to this rest thing. Went out tonight, legs felt great, and I pretty much cooked 12.3, with 3.6 in sub-GMP surges to boot. Didn't check pace on any of the surges (well after dark and never lit up the Garmin to look), just kinda ran by feel. Surges were at 7:47, 7:47, 7:44, 7:32 and 7:34 paces. Finished 12.3 in less than 1:46; easily would have finished a half-marathon distance in under two hours if I'd continued running, even with a shoe-tying break that almost caused me to pass out when I stood up afterward (that was about the 10 mile mark).

Thinking now I may have to do my long run Friday afternoon, because I have to work this weekend, plus the ball game Saturday night. That may not be too bad. Have a chance to recover that way before the game, and I can still get in a recovery run Saturday if I finish work in time. We'll see how it works.

Easy 7.51 tonight after work, just looping around JBH and down West End. Legs kinda tight early, loosened fairly quickly. Much easier doing this at a 9:30ish pace than trying to slow down to >10; it's too much work to make myself run that slow.

Looks like the plan will be to do my LR on Friday afternoon, since Saturday will be occupied with work and football. We'll see if that is necessary on other working weekends. Depending on weather, it might be preferable more often than that.

More than a usual easy run. For one thing it was POURING. Southern Arkansas and north Louisiana seems to have had numerous tornadoes tonight; all we got was a deluge, but there was plenty of that. Reminded me of the weather at Toad Suck, only minus the thunder. And the dog was out, which chased me off my planned route. I just decided to run fast and get it over with. Finished 5.1 in sub-45. I'll take it. Plan a long run tomorrow if work schedule cooperates.

Plan was to work early today, hopefully get through at a reasonable time, get a long run in, then go to the football game. None of that happened, except for the early work part and the football game part. Didn't finish work until well after noon, then had to go back and retrieve my coat. Only had time to run about 5, which I did, then went back to get the coat, then went to the game. Game was a blast. Work was a slog. Felt like I really didn't know what I was doing. I was afraid I'd get a bunch of calls during the game, but didn't get any. I did get a call that the other nursing home had an admission, but I was going there first thing Sunday anyway, and I was able to clarify an order when I went back to get the coat.

Hopefully I'll be through Sunday in time to get in a good run, maybe not 20 miles but a decent run. Today's run was good, sub 9 pace which felt easy. Just short.