Getting back to Boston

Started off the new year with a progression run, modifying an old course slightly. Up Burnham to Free Ferry, west to Rogers, down Rogers under the freeway to 66th, up 66th to FF, and back home. Comes out to just under 7. Hudson called for a 7 miler with a one-mile progression this week, so that's almost what I did. The progression was about 1.3 though; not quite to MP, but down in the mid-8s. This sucker was one hilly route, so I think I got more value than just a routine 7. Leg was a little bothersome early; later just sore glutes from the hills.

It occurred to me that I would like to average about 7 miles a day all year, so this is a good start. That would get me over 2500 again, maybe 2600. Now if I can get my sleeping pattern straightened out...

Nine today -- once around the golf course, three loops around the tennis courts. Picked it up some on the last loop, but not sure it would qualify as much of a progression run. Anyway, finished the week with 41 on six runs. Feel like I'm starting to get into the swing of training with 15 weeks to go.

Looking back at the Garmin data, the last two miles were under 9:00, so I guess it was a progression. Leg took a little longer to loosen than I would like, about 5 miles, but it eventually did quit hurting.

Lack of sleep finally caught up with me. I slept until almost 11, with Max as my sleeping buddy

This was supposed to be an easy run, but I wanted to get it over with, so I ran sub-9 pace. Which makes it moderate, I guess. Leg acted up most of the day but wasn't too much of an issue once I got going. Three laps around the mall in all. Shower, drive to Bryant, catch the plane in the AM, and witness a Buckeye roast tomorrow night.

I seem to be handling the bumped-up mileage pretty well -- so far. We'll see what happens when I get over 50, like next week.

This was supposed to be 6 easy miles with a 1-mile progression at the end. Didn't work out that way. I headed over to SHS after dark to see if the track was accessible. It was, and well-lit enough that I didn't need the headlamp I brought along. I headed out at what seemed like a moderate pace; looked at the watch and it was barely over 8:00. Decided to go with that for the first two miles, running 8:13 and 8:16 (and because the Garmin was measuring a bit short, might have been going even faster). Backed it off just a tad for the next four miles, but still nothing above 8:27. Then put the hammer down for the last mile: 7:50. Then walk/jogged two miles for a cooldown.

Overall average, even with the cooldown, of 8:19. and like I said, that was probably. Since I know exactly how far I went (30 laps of a 400-meter track), I can definitely say that I went 7.45. I used the Garmin for 29.25 laps,  which is 7.27 miles, and the Garmin says I went 7.20. So, the usual 1% Garmin error -- short, this time.

Very pleased with this run. Leg largely behaved, which is a lot better than it did in New Orleans and Dallas the last two days. Wasn't running against any ineligible players, either (grrr). Cheatin Ohio bastiges...

Easy 10K around the tennis court loop at 9:00 pace, then went over to run 10 Hudson hills adjacent to the golf course. First run in the Green Silences. Run went well; left leg acted up, feet did fine, although I've been feeling some plantar twinges lately which persisted tonight, nothing new and no blisters. Otherwise, no issues, and sprints felt faster in the GS.

Was supposed to do 7.5 tonight with 1.5 at HMP. Nope. Not. Happening. Leg hurt bad, had no energy, and to make it worse, stepped in a hole and felt like I tweaked my hip. How I didn't do a face plant when I stepped in that hole, I have no idea. But I just thought shutting it down was the intelligent thing to do. Come back and try again tomorrow. Or Monday. Or whenever. Even after 10 hours sleep, still had no energy.

Snow returns to Arkansas today. Already about an inch when I drove home, still coming down when I ran two hours later. Weather wasn't much of an issue; it was only mid-20s and the white stuff kept drivers inside so I could run on the road for the most part. The damn leg was the issue. It finally loosened up in the last two miles, but that just got it down to a dull ache. Before that, it REALLY hurt. Miserable. But I HTFU and got it done anyway. We'll see what the weather allows tomorrow. Might be time to slide down to Harbortown and use the dreadmill.

Basically a 10K in the snow. Hobbled the first three miles in 10+ pace. After some stretching, found it felt better to run faster, and ran the last 3.2 in 8:41 pace. I'm supposed to do 12 tomorrow with 2 at GMP. Don't know if that's going to work. They're gonna have to open up Ben Geren, for one thing; I ain't running the hills around here, nor am I going to run 8 laps around the mall. Got the run in, though. Now to decide if I'm gonna watch the BCS game (remember, the C is silent).

Thirteen miles of slog today in just over 2 hours. Temp about 25, wind same. Which meant I spent about six miles running dead into it. Tried to run 2 at GMP; might have managed 1.25. Might being the key word. I can definitely tell that I've missed a bunch of training because of the AT and the sciatica. I now have 96 days to correct that. But today's a good step toward doing just that.

Intervals on the dreadmill at Harbortown today. I was going by there to sign my new lease, so thought I'd kill two birds and get a workout in. Bad move. Until that place gets some kind of fan, or I bring my own, horrible place to run. Turned the AC on at 60 degrees, no help; still felt like I was running in a sauna. And the weather outside was not bad -- below freezing, but sunny and little wind. Running in track pants at SHS would have been fine. Note for next time... Also did a little upper body work, just to say I did, a few butterflys.

Anyway, the plan was 6 X 800 at 5K pace with 400 jog intervals, warm up/cool down 1.5 miles, total of 7.25. Pulled it off, except most of my intervals were walked. I chalk that up to the lack of air flow in that room. I was frankly surprised at how well my legs handled it. I'm having more discomfort now sitting here than I did running. Cardiovascular discomfort, and heat stress, yeah. But the legs handled it OK. My 5K pace is what I would like it to be, about 6:58. I probably would have done that if Iron Pig had actually been 5K instead of 2.76 (I averaged 6:50 for the 2.76). But it wasn't.

Easy run at Ben Geren with strides and drills tacked on the end. Wound up at 8.04, four strides, dipsy-doos, high knees, and buttkicks. Wasn't a great run, didn't need to be. Leg acted up more than I'd like, but got through it. Evidently the leg will have good days and bad. I just have to hope the bad days become less frequent as well as less severe. Already done 34 miles since Monday; this should wind up as a 50-plus week.

Also volunteered myself to set up an FE at an Italian restaurant in Boston the night before the race. Already have three attendees (counting me). I'll try and drum up some more later if I don't get more inquiries. Just wanted to get our foot in the door. There will be other forumites there at 6, my group arrives at 7.

Progression run tonight at Cross Park, 12 laps around the lake. Seven laps, 4.00 miles, moderate effort. Hard progression for four laps (2.29 miles) -- 8:31, 8:19, 8:20, and the11th lap at 7:50, just about GMP. Then jogged a lap to cool down. Probably the toughest progression run I've done in a while. Considering I didn't sleep worth a darn last night and worked 11 hours today -- plus was fighting nausea for a while -- I'm quite pleased with it.

Plan either tempo intervals or an easy run tomorrow night, and the other one on Sunday to complete what would be about a 55-mile week. And, best of all, the leg was virtually no issue at all. It's yapping at me right now, but didn't act up during the run at all, and very little during the day. I wish I knew what I could do to have more days like today, other than sit a lot and stand up as little as possible.

Pure recovery run tonight. No progression, no nothing. Got a tiny bit faster as the leg pain resolved, but that's all. Did 6.20 after work, which was kinda dumb in that I didn't wear lights or reflectors or nuthin', but no major close calls. That puts me over 50 miles for the calendar week, which is the first in quite a while. I'll have to dig out the old log to find out how long. May well be since before Memphis, which would be 14 months or more. (Addendum: It was mid-April, so nine months back. Still, it's been a while -- and I took a day off that week.)

Intervals at Ben Geren. Warmup, 1.5 miles at what was supposed to be 10K pace, 1 mile interval, another 1.5 at 10K, then 2ish cooldown. Total of six laps of the trail, or 7.67. Ran the reps at 7:43 and 7:31 pace, which is almost what I wanted. Can't complain too much, though; it was hard enough just to run that fast. First tempo intervals of the cycle; hopefully it gets better from here.

Total for the week: 55 plus. First 50-plus since April. Not sure how long it's been since I did 55.

Six miles plus strides at SHS. Didn't know if I was going to run. Went to Fayetteville today to see T, got back here and immediately took a nap, still felt groggy when I woke up, but decided to go try it. Run got me going, I was able to run low-9 pace and it felt pretty easy, then I ran strides for the last two laps. Totaled 10K plus about 100 yards back to the car; the Garmin read just 6.22, meaning 10K, so it was about 1% low again.

Trying to decide whether to add a longish run tomorrow or just stick to the script for this week which assumed I'd be working. See how I feel, I guess. I've done pretty well running 12 straight days, so I may skip the day off for a few days.

Decided to take advantage of the day off and get in a long run. So I devised a loop that I could do once for an 8-miler, twice for a 14-miler, and didn't seem horribly hilly. Some hills, but not like, say Oucho's. Or so I thought. By the end of the second loop, it seemed every bit the equal of Oucho's.

Left the Casa, went down Waldron to Rogers. Then the loop started: Continue south on Waldron, work around past Hardscrabble and Southside, up Old Greenwood to Rogers, down Rogers back to Waldron. Then repeat. After the second loop, went up Waldron to Free Ferry and returned home that way to push the mileage up over 14. I did a pretty good job of maintaining the pace through most of the run, but the last two miles the legs were dead. Even then, I kept the pace in the 9:30s, which is darn good considering how little energy I had left. Definitely an HTFU run. Overall average pace: 9:20.

Exactly three months until Boston. All I have to say is, I'm glad Boston's not in March. I'm gonna need just about all of those 90 days to get ready.

Ice bath afterward. That may have hurt as much as the 14...

Recovery fish tonight. Still quite sore, not much sleep, 13 hours at work today. It was a struggle, to put it mildly. Got through it, though. We'll see what the weather does tomorrow before I decide whether to take the SRD. Might need to save that for next week with the trip to Branson with Mumb and Pupe. See how work goes, too.

Ladder intervals after work, in the dark, at the SHS track. Get there to discover that quite a bit of the track is still covered in snow -- and that, worse, some of the snow melted and refroze. Slipped enough on the warmup laps that I wasn't sure it was safe to run intervals, but decided to try. Plan was 1 mile - 1K - 800 - 400 - 400 - 800 - 1K - 1 mile, with the miles at 10K pace and the 400s at 3K pace. Didn't quite work that way. The miles ended up being at MP, and the second 800 and 1K were reversed because I lost count of the laps on the 800 and ended up running 1K (it's bad when you can't count to two and can't remember where the heck I started). But I got it all done. Mile paces were 8:07/7:53, 1K were 7:30/7:30 (amazingly), 800s were 7:05/7:37, and 400s were 6:16/6:32. With warmup, cool and 200 jog intervals, total of 8.76. Still some slipping in the intervals, but didn't pull anything or wipe out.

Recovery run at SHS. Took about three miles to loosen up after last night's ladders. After that, was able to run a decent pace, got down to 8:30s for the last mile. I probably shouldn't have run that fast, but I didn't want to spend all freakin' night out there after working 12 hours -- so I sped up to save a whole six minutes. Woo hoo! Got it done, anyway. Tomorrow, eight miles including 2 X 2 at 10K pace. Let's see if I can do that -- and if the weather permits it.

Ended up doing my tempo intervals, but I tweaked them. Instead of 2 x 2 miles, I did 3 x 1 mile at 10K pace -- well, two of them were at 10K pace. Intervals at 7:54, which is basically MP, then 7:24 and 7:28 (more like it). With warmup, interval jog and cooldown, did 7.41, which put me just short of 50 for the week. Could have done one more lap, but why bother?

Also probably could have done one more interval -- maybe. With 12 weeks to go, why push it too far and set myself back? I pushed it quite a bit just to do what I did tonight, as heavy as my legs felt last night. Sciatica, which had gone away for a few days, made a bit of a reappearance, which may explain why the first interval was slower. Went away probably during the first recovery jog.

Off to Branson tomorrow. Tyler changed classes and now has a night class on Tuesdays, so we can't go to the Auburn game. Probably OK, saves me $50 and a bunch of driving. I can probably listen to game on the radio (or why bother?)

Combo run at the condo overlooking Table Rock Lake. Ran to the fitness center, which is only about 250 yards from here, then hit the treadmill for an hour. Started at 6.3 mph, gradually bumped it up, then did 1.2 miles at GMP before a three-minute cooldown. After running back to the condo, total was 7.15. GMP felt pretty comfortable on the TM, so that's a good sign. Cranked up the overhead fan, but it was still pretty sweaty.

This place is plush. Our condo is a five bedroom patio home. Upstairs, where you come in, has three bedrooms, two full baths, a big living area, an open, huge kitchen and a laundry area. Downstairs has two more bedrooms, including another master and a kids' room with bunk beds, a pool table, another living area and a THEATER. Yes, I said theater. Seats 10-12 in reclining seats, overhead projector onto big wall screen, you can watch TV or DVDs or plug in your PlayStation and play that on the big screen, or plug in an iPod and listen to music through the sound system. Lights dim themselves when you crank up the projector. Rest of the place has big flatscreens everywhere. I figure there's more $ worth of TVs in this place than I have earthly possessions. No wonder Pupe's using a whole week's worth of timeshare points for three nights in this place. You could do a family reunion in this thing no trouble.

The fitness center, by the way, takes up the bottom of a similar place up the hill. Plenty of equipment, maybe too much; it feels a bit cramped. I had the area to myself last night. Could do a 13 with an interruption, since the TM has an hour limit, but I don't know if I can get psyched for two hours in there. Think I'll just do intervals in there tomorrow and do a long run in FS Thursday.

Scott had bunion surgery yesterday, so he's pretty hobbled. Cast, crutches, etc. He won't be going downstairs, that's for sure. I think he came up here to get out of Tammy's hair for a few days.

Got up this morning and scouted out the area. There is NOTHING remotely flat around here. But Pupe told me there were trails over at Big Cedar, and I figured at least those shouldn't be too horribly mountainous. Which was true as far as that goes, but they definitely are very hilly. I found a trail marked "5K Run" and decided to follow it. Went all the way to the end, which was more than 2 miles, so I don't think there's anything 5K about it. Wound up running 4.55.

I think I may do a double today. After I got back to the condo, found an actual map of the property showing the trail. I had run most of it, but not all. I could go back and do all of it, or just do the two-mile out and back again. That would give me a 9-mile plus day. Then do intervals on the treadmill at the fitness center tomorrow before I go back.

Update: Double done. Did 5.3 on the treadmill, plus the .3 to and from the fitness center. Total of 10-plus for the day. Not an overly strenuous day for a double-digit double. Still working on that enormous basket of crab legs, sausage and shrimp I had at Joe's on the river this afternoon, so this burned off some of those calories.

Intervals at SHS. Was supposed to be 6 X 800 at 5K pace. Well, it was 4 X 800 and 4 X 400 and something like 5K+15 pace. Struggled to maintain even that pace. No snap in the legs at all, but got through it when I wanted to take it in. Total run about 7.25 including warm, cool and recovery.

I cannot believe it is 70 freakin' degrees in January. Bleah. Got out on Phoenix for a recovery out and back. Legs were very tight for the first two miles, and the sciatica was actin' up a bit. Things slowly loosened up as I went, and for the last mile I even felt up to running at GMP without too much undue stress.

Looking at 15 either tomorrow or Sunday, and another slow run the other day. It's supposed to be unseasonably warm into Sunday, so if I'm gonna do a 15-miler, better start early before it gets too warm.

Planned to do 14 this morning. Couldn't quite get there. Well, I guess I could, but the feeling I got was that to get there would do more harm than good. So I bagged it after 10+. Maybe I'll go out this evening for a double to get the miles I missed.

Well, I did go out for the double at 9:30, after watching the Hogs clobber Vandy at Memorial Gym. Nice, nice win. Boosted my spirits for certain. Anyway, still pretty stiff from this morning, and figured I needed to work out some kinks before trying to go to bed. As usual, started off pretty slow, got faster as I loosened up. Wound up with 5.76 at a 9:28 average. Total for the day, 16.11 in 2:37:39, a 9:47 average. Would have liked to have gone a bit faster, but right now I just need miles at any speed, I think.

This puts me up to 47 miles for the week despite skipping Wednesday. And I don't know that I've ever done doubles twice in a week; I have this week. Probably aim for 8 tomorrow for a 55-mile week. Maybe even get in some MP miles if the legs permit. That will also give me a 200-mile month (may already be there after tonight; not quite sure). Haven't had one of those in a while.

More uncharted territory today. Ran a few streets I've never seen before, working myway through 8.3 to finish off a 55-mile week. Down Burnham to Rogers to 58th, up 58th to Cliff, around past SHS to Old Greenwood, down to Country Club. Right on Country Club, worked my way around the north side of Hardscrabble to Valley, back to Burnham, back up to Free Ferry, under the freeway, right on 62nd, left on Gordon, down a street whose name I don't know, out on Rogers by Hooters, and back home.

Legs felt like lead, as I thought they would. But I also figured I needed to get some miles in now in case the snow and ice wipe out a good bit of next week's training. Get in 6 or so tomorrow and it'll be a 215-mile month.

Easy 6 at Ben Geren (well, maybe moderate), followed by strides in the parking lot. The Garmin quit in mid-first lap, but pace felt moderate and I finished somewhere in the 55-56 minute range, which would be a moderate pace. Then six 100-yard strides (more or less) for a total of 0.32. Finished the month with 215 miles. Legs felt pretty good considering the high mileage recently. Then I put screws in the Nikes so I'll be ready to run in the slickness tomorrow and/or Wednesday.

Progression run on the ice at the Southside track tonight. Got about a half-inch of sleet this morning, then it snowed maybe an inch, but the wind blew most of the snow away. That's OK. The old screwshoes worked beautifully, very little slippage. I was even able to push the pace a bit as the run went on; pretty sure the last mile was GMP or thereabouts. I'm guessing because the Garmin died after one lap (weird, because my cellphone did something similar this morning, and both of them should have been fully charged last night).

Temp when I finished was 16, wind chill of 1, but I had enough layers on that it really wasn't an issue. Gloves, balaclava, tech shirt and tights under wind shirt and track pants. Maybe too many layers. Tech shirt was soaked when I finished. It's supposed to be even colder tomorrow. Maybe I'll run, maybe I'll go to Fayetteville to go to the Georgia game with T. We'll see how the roads look tomorrow, and whether I want to deal with the short night's sleep before work on Thursday.

Wasn't going to run tonight. Then I got POd at the end of the basketball game (hosejob by the officials) and decided I better run off some steam. So drove back over to SHS. A lot less ice there, but still plenty, and strangely it seemed a lot more slippery than last night. Didn't come near falling, but skidded quite a bit. Anyway, did four miles in 38:30, came home and put three more screws in each shoe. We'll see if it's still icy tomorrow (sunshine cleared a lot today even though it never got much over 20 degrees), and if so, if more screws helped.

Too much ice on the track to run without screwshoes, didn't want to mess with screwshoes again. So I sucked it up and went to Harbortown for a dreadmill session. No air flow as usual; couldn't get the AC to come on. Did 6 at about 9:00 pace, then the final 2 at 7.7 mph, which equals 7:47 pace. Hard, but I managed. The one thing I like about the Harbortown fitness room is that there's a shower right there, and I used it -- fullblown cold water for about a minute.

Progression run in the snow at SHS. Pushed the last two miles because I was tired of snow hitting me in the face, and the last two laps and change were GMP, or close enough for government work. Ran in the screwshoes in two inches of fresh stuff; it was actually kinda fun, except running into the wind in the homestretch, where my face got peppered with flying flakes.

Supposed to do 10 tomorrrow. Not sure that's going to happen, but we'll see.

Meanwhile, Max just knocked the cordless phone off the desk and is chasing it across the floor like a catnip toy. El gato esta loco. Muy loco.

After taking the weekend off from running, if not work, got in 16.4 today. Cold enough that dehydration wasn't an issue, but cramping was, at least after I finished. Three miles (total) of GMP, with 2.5 after the second lap of the golf course loop, and the last 0.5 pushed on the third golf loop. Then I went grocery shopping. I think walking around Walmart was harder than the last lap of the run. I thought it went pretty well for my first 16-miler in forever, especially throwing in some GMP.

Eleven laps around the lake at Carol Ann Cross Park. Real, real slow. Legs very sore and stiff after 16 yesterday. Garmin cutting out in mid-run, which is nice; will try to reset it and see if that fixes anything. Just a get-er-done run, as Larry would say.

Four inches of snow today and more coming down. Outdoor run just isn't happening, not unless Gellco is selling snowshoes. So I drove over to Harbortown for the dreadmill session. Got in there and realized to my delight that someone had turned the heater off, which made it much more bearable. Not that I still didn't send sweat flying everywhere for nine stationary miles, but it wasn't nearly as smothering as it could have been.

Hudson's plan today was 5 X 1 mile at 10K pace. Good thing about dreadmill intervals is that you can kinda force yourself to hit your pace, and I did. Set that mutha on 8.1 mph and off I went, well, after 1.5 mile warmup, anyway. Then I did 440 jog recoveries at somewhere between 10:00 and 11:00 pace, then a 1.5 cooldown at 9:45 or so. Had to take two pitstops after intervals 2 and 4, so I'd have to do math to figure out total time. Which seems to be about 77 minutes, give or take a few. That's OK.

Didn't seem to take all that much out of me, so hopefully legs will have some snap Saturday morning at Russellville. Assuming that Russellville happens, that is.

Four slow in the snow at SHS. Still probably 3 inches left on the track; it was really hard work shuffling through it until I got a path stomped down after several laps. Even at that, 10:00 pace was about all I could manage. It's supposed to melt before the 5K at Russellville, although not sure how much snow they got compared to here. All in all, just one of those runs you just get through and chalk up.

Three easy laps on the road loop around the tennis courts at Ben Geren. Garmin acting up, so used the old wristwatch for timing. I guess the pace was around 9:20; I just ran what felt comfortable. And for once, I wasn't along out there. Two women were out training circling the same loop in the other direction. Talked to one of them, who finished her 12-miler at the same time I finished my run. She said she was training for the half at Little Rock, and the other woman, who ran 20, was training for the full. Should have gotten her phone number, she was kinda cute. Married, I'm sure, though.

No idea what I'm gonna be able to do in Russellville tomorrow. First race since Toad Suck, so that's a long time out of the competitive saddle. I'll just try to run 7:00 pace and see what happens. Apparently the course is pretty flat, no traffic concerns, etc., so that's good. And the 12:30 start gives things a chance to warm up into the 40s.

Surprised heck out of myself. Drove over to Russellville for the race, and there's snow everywhere. Including quite a lot on the trails. I'm thinking, OK, my legs are a little sore from the tempo run the other day, and now I've got to dodge white stuff? This is not going to go well. Plus the Garmin was malfunctioning, so the pace would have to be by feel. Decided I wasn't going to worry about the time much, just run as well as I could and pass as many people as I could. There was chip timing, but no mat at the start, which is kinda screwy.

First mistake was lining up too far back. That was an issue because the trail was only about 10 feet wide, and there was no going off the edge to pass somebody unless I had snowshoes on. So there was a lot of dodging traffic -- and ice. I was really surprised to get to the 1-mile mark and see 7:09 (started my watch when I hit the line, not at the gun). By then, the field had thinned out and I only had to dodge frozen stuff, which wasn't too often once the course got out of the densest woods.

So now I'm just trying to pass people. Kids, adults, just pass people. But no women; the women's race was separate and an hour earlier. Did a good job too. Passed plenty, nobody passed me in the last two miles. I was not entirely happy with my effort (thought I could have pushed it a bit more), but was not too disappointed to hit my watch button at the line and see 22:37 (with no mat at the start, chip time would be 22:42). I was just about a minute slower than my goal, but as I said, I left some of my race on that tempo run Wednesday afternoon, and this was my first race in nine months.

I talked to Alex from the hospital and her husband for a few minutes, then ran the course again, slowly, to get in a few more miles. Get back to the start and they're beginning the awards ceremony. I thought maybe, just maybe, I might get some AG bling, so I hung around. Was surprised when a guy walked up beside me and said, "Are you Spiderpig?" Turns out he's a RWOL lurker from West Fork named Lance who is also training for Boston. Also turns out he's a lot faster than me; he won the 41-45 AG in 19-something.

So they're running through the awards, women, kids, then men. Lance collected his award. Then they get to the 50-54. He announces first, and I'm thinking, OK, I'm not TOO far behind that. Then second. Then third, and he calls MY name. I think I had to pick my jaw up out of the snow. I was really stunned.

After the awards, double-checked my time and the overall finish. I was 56th out of 126 men.  The main thing is I got the hardware, and a nice shot of confidence going into the last nine weeks of training.

Caught up on some sleep last night, or more accurately this morning. Got up at 7:15 to feed the cats, stretched out on the couch, and next thing I know it's 10:30. So went out after noon for a 12-miler. Tried out a new route, and a new gadget. Garmin's not working, so I downloaded an Android app called RunTracker that makes my phone into a GPS device. Seemed to be at least as accurate as the Garmin, and gives audio updates every five minutes (" time 19 minutes, 59 seconds, distance 2 point 06 miles, pace 9 minutes 29 seconds per mile."). Never had to get it out except to pause it while waiting to cross at lights, etc.

Since it was a new route, I wasn't sure of the distance, so the audio updates helped. Past Southside, down Old Greenwood to Phoenix, all the way down Phoenix to Rogers, back up Rogers to the mall. Wound up doing a lap and a half around the mall to get to the 12 miles I wanted. Legs felt pretty good until I started up the big hill on Rogers toward the freeway in the last three miles. Still wound up with a sub-9:30 average and a 60-mile week, so I did OK.

Hard progression run tonight at SHS after a full day of work. Stretched out for about 30 minutes, then went to the track. Started off at a moderate pace, felt pretty good, and decided to push it after two miles. Used the RunKeeper, which overestimated distance by about 4%. It was telling me I was well under 8:00 pace, but I didn't think so. Turned out my average for the 36.2 laps was about 8:02 pace; subtract the two warmup miles, which were probably about 9:00 pace, and that's just about where I want it.

I think the 5K on Saturday, regardless of hitting or not hitting the PR, was useful in that it signaled to my legs that it's time to pick up the pace; 9:40 stuff is not gonna get it any more. A month ago, this run probably would have been at 9:00 at the same effort level. Tonight was really not bad. I felt I could have maintained this pace for several more miles, and I didn't eat or drink anything along the way.

Now to catch up on the sleep I didn't get last night...

Recovery run tonight at Cross Park. Decided to run tonight and rest tomorrow night to watch hoops (although I might end up running anyway). Eleven laps, slow. Barely managed to finish in less than an hour. Legs really heavy, which is not exactly a surprise after three tough runs in three days. Got it done, though. Now to get some sleep...

(NOTE: THIS WORKOUT ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE THURSDAY, FEB. 17)

Planned three at tempo tonight. Legs didn't feel quite right, and got a mild twinge at the end of mile 2. Decided shutting it down was the better part of valor; jogged out to finish the total distance. No further twinges, but I still think I made the right choice. Pulling a hammy now is not what I need.

ALL OF THIS TOOK PLACE FRIDAY, FEB. 18

Miserable day at work. The patient that went south yesterday, died today. I've been beating myself up all day about the woulda/coulda factor. What could I have done differently? Don't know that anything would have made a difference. Talking to the family was horrible. They were all in the room when I declared her.

So tonight's run was self-therapy as much as training. Tweaked an old route to get 6+ out of it, then ran strides at the end. Even with the strides and recoveries, I finished nearly 7 miles in 1:03, so it was basically 9:00 pace. Didn't feel difficult, though. Didn't have much time to dwell on the patient; I was trying not to get run over by Friday night traffic, of which there was plenty.

I guess I just have to learn from this and go on. I hope I never get used to this, but I suppose I will if I stay in this job long enough.

OK. I see that I typed Thursday's workout in the Wednesday box and Friday's workout in the Thursday box. There was no workout on Wednesday. That is all.

Tonight was supposed to have been a tempo workout -- 2 at HMP, 2 at 10K. Almost got there. The first two was essentially MP, but the last 2, which I almost didn't run, went quite well and actually was at 10K pace. Total was 8.60 in about 71 minutes. I warmed up for 11 laps before I really decided to try intervals. First set was a bit sluggish, but maintained MP. Jogged for three laps, felt pretty good and went for it, and the pace went better. I was more comfortable doing 10K pace than I was at MP. Then jogged another mile to finish the workout. Even got the little post-workout glow.

Lot better day at work too. Nobody died, or went downhill rapidly, and only had to do two admits. So tomorrow shouldn't be too bad.

Out for a slow one after work (and a Mexican dinner). Two laps around the mall with a loop down by St E's and Cross Park in between. I thought the RunKeeper was overreading the mileage, but turns out it may have been just about right according to mapmyrun. Total of 8.89 at 9:21 pace. Didn't feel like I was going that fast. Managed to get almost 46 miles into a work week along with 84 hours. You have to be either really dedicated or really insane to train for a marathon and work this job -- unless you skip training every other week.

Easy four laps around the tennis courts tonight. Started getting into daydream mode, thinking about what it will be like to run past Fenway Park and the Citgo sign, down Commonwealth Avenue, turn onto Hereford and then on to Boylston to the finish. As usual when I do that, I start running faster. I'll be interested to see if the real thing provokes the same response.

Planning 18 tomorrow. After I got back from Ben Geren, I sat down to map a route I thought would be pretty close. Turned out it was 18.2 without any tweaks at all. Only thing I'd have to change is turning around just short of Wells Lake Road.

Our dose of early spring has gone away. It was in the 40s and falling this afternoon, and it's supposed to be below freezing tonight. That's OK. I'd rather it stay cold, as long as it's dry. That'll make tomorrow's 18 a little easier too.

Time to start doing big runs. Today qualifies: 18.2, nearly 300 vertical feet from low point to high point. Ran 9:15 average pace. Last five miles were brutal; trying to cramp, just hurt like heck. It wasn't all that warm, 50ish, but sunny and windy, so that dehydrated me more. Took two gels, drank at least 30 oz. of water. Not enough. And for some reason the tip of my right index finger is now numb (???) But I got through it. First 18 miler since April, I think, although I'd have to look. It was that run where I finished in the sleet in Springdale, whenever that was.

I tried to push miles 5-8 at something approximating MP, but without the Garmin, not really sure what that is. I'll call it three at MP, though.

Up in Fayetteville today to take Tyler to the basketball game. Got up here early and got in 8 on the trail while he was still in class, Still pretty stiff from yesterday for the first couple of miles, but loosened up OK. Pace for the outward part was 9:50, probably 9:30 on the return run. Warmer than I would like for late February, but carried water and got through it OK. Showered and changed at T's place, so now we go do a late lunch and go to the game. Then I'll go back to FS tonight. I'm tethered to those cats, but oh well. They keep me relatively sane.

Hudson had me down for ladders today. I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen as soon as I got up this morning, and it didn't get any better as the day went on. Finally ventured over to SHS at 6:30, and for a while I wasn't even sure a decent recovery run was going to happen. Really took me five miles to get loose. But once I got loose, and Big Dog started playing some great tunes, I put the hammer down. I'm guessing the last mile and a half or so were about at MP. It felt like I was flying those last few laps. Still may or may not get any ladders done this week, but I intend to get the miles in anyway. Once I loosened, only real problem was forgetting the headband. Rained today, temp about 60, and it's humid. Real humid. Heat wasn't an issue, but vision was.

Well, I did a full set of ladders. Three, to be exact. Plan was for 3 x 1600 at HMP, 3 X 1000 at 10K, and 3 x 800 and 3 x 400 at something faster than that.

Let's see how I pulled this off. Had to take a notebook out there and write this down, because no way was I going to remember the splits without the Garmin to do it for me.

1600s -- 7:42, 7:23, 7:43. Don't know what happened on that second 1600. First one I was still warming up, last one was the last rep I ran (reversed the order on the last set). Ideal would have been roughly 7:30.

1000s -- 4:32, 4:35, 4:40. That's probably about right.

800s -- 3:37, 3:35, 3:42. Around 3:35 would have been ideal.

400 -- 1:40, 1:41, 1:39. If I strung 12.5 of those together, I'd get my 5K PR by about 7 seconds, so that's where I wanted it.

Took me two full hours. Don't think I've ever done two full hours of track work without a break, even when I was on the track team. Jogged the warmup, went into the reps, kept moving between reps except for two very brief stretch breaks (and to write down my times).

I don't want to look at the calendar and see if I'm supposed to do this again. I hope not. But I got this one done.

Very stiff and sore after the ladders last night, plus driving to Fayetteville today and sitting through a baseball game and dinner with Pam (nothing awkward there, no sir). Got out tonight at 9 p.m. for a few slow miles; took most of the run to get my average down below 10:00 (and get the stiffness out of the hips and hammies). Got it done, though. Pretty sure I won't be doing a tempo run tomorrow, though. Just get in 9 slow to get to a 70 mile week, probably, then think about a tempo run Monday or Tuesday. Or just bag that run and do whatever's on the schedule for next week, which will probably be just as difficult.

Finished off the 70-mile week with a slow 9 at Ben Geren -- golf course loop, then three laps around the tennis courts. GC loop was very slow; legs did not want to get going, and stopped twice to stretch. After that, they were better. Stopped back at the car to towel off and get a drink, then was able to go faster on the gravel trail. I'd say the last two laps constituted a moderate progression; I was probably down around 9:00.

Fifty days to Boston. Wow. It'll be here in no time. Knock on wood, once the AT and the sciatica or whatever it was subsided, I've been healthy. Just normal soreness, like I had today. Need to stretch more regularly, I think. Haven't decided yet whether to take tomorrow off or finish out the month with a few more miles. Probably just see how the legs feel after work. I think it would probably be prudent to take more days off in between hard workout instead of just mindless recovery runs over and over, or at least shorten those recovery runs.

New brand of torture from Brad Hudson tonight. Five miles easy, then alternating miles at MP-15 and MP+60, total of 15 miles. Pretty much nailed it as planned, after giving my legs a day off Monday. Ran 4 easy to start, so I could try to get the speedwork done before it got too dark to see my watch. Goal was 7:35 for the fast miles, 8:50 for the slow ones. Averaged 7:35.2 for the fast, 8:42 for the slow. Then cooled down with an extra mile to get to the total of 15. Total time 2:09 and change.

Definitely would not have wanted to try this workout after working until 7 p.m., but had early admit duties and ER was slow, so got to leave early. Waited until almost 5 anyway, hoping it would cool down some; high was pushing 70. Wasn't too bad anyway, then it cooled pretty quickly once the sun started to set. It was probably low 50s when I finished at 7:15ish.

I think I do a similar workout in a couple of weeks, although with the fast miles a little slower (and more of them) and the slow miles a little faster. Definitely built some confidence tonight though.

Easy 6, hard 2 around the tennis courts. Whole thing was a progression, really, but put the hammer down for a lap and a third. Took about an hour-15. Legs not too bad after the tough 15 last night. Back in time to eat and watch hoops.

Workout fail tonight. Schedule called for 2K @ 10KP, immediately followed by 1K @ 5KP, times 4 (I think; I'll have to go back and look). Quickly determined that 5KP was not happening tonight with these legs, so dropped that part of it. Even 10KP was a major struggle. Then during the second rep, I started getting some twinges. Decided the possible benefits weren't worth the risk. Then jogged out three more miles to finish with 8.25, only that "jog" was at 8:30 pace and very comfortable. If MP feels that comfortable in Boston, I'll be in good shape.

Couple of developments today on the social scene. Last one first. When I got to the track tonight at 7, the stadium lights were on, a lot of cars in the lot and a lot of people leaving the stadium to get in their cars. And they were all women. A few more women were still inside, some walking laps around the track, and I saw lots of the departees carrying water bottles. I'm presuming this is some kind of a women's fitness group. If this is going to be a regular Thursday night thing, this will be an excellent place to meet fitness-minded women. Some of whom might actually be single :)

Then this morning. I'm making rounds, sitting in the work room on 6 West, and Connie's there. Connie's the nurse who asked me back in November if I were single; answer at that point was "not yet." She asked the same question today. Answer: "I am now." So she proceeds to inform me that she's going to fix me up, and there's a new nurse she wants me to meet. Liza's there, to make it even better. So she brings in the new nurse, named Kay, to meet Liza and me (Liza first, so the matchmaking is not quite incredibly obvious). Later on, she slips me Kay's phone number.

Let's just say Kay has potential. I'm not gonna call her this week, but we'll see what happens. I went back up there later to see another patient; Kay was in the work room, and I was able to determine, with the facilitation of the case manager, that she is a golfer but not a runner. So we've got that in common. Might be time to dig out the clubs this summer... 

Slow run in the rain. Not easy, but slow. Then ran eight hill sprints at the end. All I can say is I got it done.

URD yesterday. Just needed to sleep, and did. Tonight, a full 12 hours, then 10 miles at the track. Took the Walkman and tunes kept me distracted. Felt a twinge in the AT area which reminded me of the tendinosis, but it's not swollen and the twinge went away after I ran 200 meters or so with forefoot strike. Surged the last couple of miles, a bit, but not up to MP.
That's OK. I still plan to do 20 tomorrow, so I didn't want to empty the tank. Now to go refill it with carbs before I sack out.

Twenty miles today. 30 miles in the last 18 hours. Time today 3:05:28. As close to an ultra as I'm ever likely to get... And boy, am I tired and sore. Still gotta drive to Bryant before Red Nelson's funeral tomorrow, too. Gonna go soak, take a nap, eat and drive down.

Started yesterday in Bryant, drove through torrential rain to Arkadelphia (man, I need new tires) for Mr. Nelson's funeral, then back to Fort Smith. Got in a late run at the track, just an easy 6 with strides thrown in.

One of the speakers at the funeral invited us to imagine the inside of the store. Boy, that brought back some memories, since I spent a lot of time in that store. I still like hanging out in sporting goods stores, and Southwest Sporting Goods is why. My running career really began in that store, I guess. The track shoes I wore at AJHS came from there. So did my sweats and singlets and warmups and jockstraps...

But more than that, Red Nelson was just a good, friendly, decent man. You could see why he built such good relationships with his customers. I'm glad I got to know him, and it's obvious that where his kids were concerned, the fruit didn't fall far from the tree.

So what did I do last night after my run? Went to a sporting goods store and bought some sweatbands. Red would have preferred I buy them from him, but I think he'd understand.

Boston's getting closer. I need to call and make one more change to our Sunday night reservation, but that will be it. Down to about 40 days. Dad wants me to back off my training afterward. I'll probably take some time off, but I don't think I'll back off all that much. Enough to have some time hopefully for a love life, though.

Mile reps tonight at the track, on the second try; track practice was in progress when I went over there at 4. Back a little after 5, track clear. Goal was 5 @ 10KP. Not too far off; reps were 7:46, 7:17, 7:19, 7:21, 7:28. I'd say my goal 10KP right now would be around 7:20, so pretty close except for that first rep, when I was still warming up (and with mid-40s and quite a stiff wind, warming up is an accurate term).

Worked on Maclin's pace sheet today trying to figure out a plan. I still think even effort is the way to go for me; take advantage of the downhills without going crazy, relax a tad on the uphills. So I cut out and laminated a pace band for that strategy. Also bought name tags for the FE dinner and a white marker to mark my name on my shirt for Boston. Nope, not obsessed a bit...

Thursday was kinda all messed up (when I finish this, it will be obvious why I refer to it in past tense). Two work-related meetings, on my off day. I mean they were OK, one was useful, one was actually fun, but still they took about three hours out of my day. Plus I got like zero sleep Wednesday night. Finally got some shuteye around dawn and slept for about three hours, but man, I was dragging. Tried to take another nap in late afternoon and failed.

Anyway, so the second meeting (more like a party) was at Fuji at 7. Ate way too much. Fortunately laid off the alcohol, which is more than I can say for some of my colleagues :) But I was still stuffed when I left at 9:15, and I hadn't run a lick all day. Dark force was very strong -- bag it and get some sleep. But I felt I needed to run. Waited an hour to let the salmon hibachi settle, then headed to the track. Stomach was OK. Legs weren't. Dark force again very strong -- walk, stop, go home, curl up for a nap alongside the track, anything but run. But I kept going, and actually managed a "progression" for the last two miles, which probably took me down to 9:15ish. Not sure I didn't snooze during the run, which took 75 minutes and change. Finished at 11:35 p.m. Came home, soaked, and went straight to bed, so the update is being written at noon Friday.

Big earthquake in Japan yesterday. Kinda scary. I know the New Madrid is gonna let loose one of these years; it's been quiet for 100+ years. And when it does, watch out. We won't have a tsunami like Japan and Hawaii are having, but a whole lot of buildings aren't built to earthquake code in the Mid-South and the walls will come tumbling down. And the people inside them...

So we're down to 38 days. Really, really close now. Really only 2.5 weeks of intense training left. Then taper madness. I'm nuts anyway, so a taper just puts me farther over the edge. I've been reading up on Aussie carb-loading (think I'll try it for the half next weekend) and worrying about my paces (they're OK) and whether I'll be able to hit all the key workouts in the next three weeks (we shall see). Ordered some Ultrafuel for the carb-loading, but Gatorade Pro may work just as well (have some of that too). Also expecting a new pair of Nikes to arrive either today or tomorrow. Will those be my Boston shoes? We shall see. If I don't like them, I'll send them back and order some Adidas, I guess. Or I may still use the Brooks GS for the race shoe.

Easy run today, or should I say runs. Went to BG and did two road laps around the tennis courts, but the Garmin refused to lock in. So went over to the track. It still wouldn't lock in, but at least I'd know the exact distance. So I ran 18 laps plus, 4.5. With the BG laps, total of 7.3. Puts me over 50 for the week, 98 for the month.

Craptastic evening at the track. Garmin took forever to lock in. When it did, it was wildly inaccurate with distance and therefore pace. Plus the legs were just dead. Plan was for four miles at HMP. Didn't happen. At least not four miles nonstop at HMP. What it worked out to was one mile, one mile, then I just decided to go eight laps nonstop and see what happened. Turned out that the two miles were better than either one of the miles. Paces were 7:45, 7:28, 7:25 and somehow 7:12. No idea how I got these legs to do a 7:12 tonight. It was 75 degrees, I was sweating like a pig and the legs had no life.

I've decided that at this point, I can't do three quality runs a week. Maybe I could if I cut back (or out) on the recovery runs. I can do two decent interval workouts, or an interval and a long run, but I can't do intervals twice and a long run. With 37 days to go, I guess I'll just muddle through until the taper.

At some point, was gonna get the interstate run out of the way. Run across the Garrison Ave. bridge to OK. Did it yesterday. Legs actually felt fairly good. Total was 10.25 in 1:33. A little more than scheduled run, but it was OK. Finished the training week with 67 miles.

Now back to work.

Tonight's run went amazingly well. Warmed up, did 3 miles at 7:53 average, jogged a mile, di 3 miles at 7:26 average, then warmed down for nine laps. Total 9.75. Goals probably would have been 7:50 and 7:25, so pretty darn close. Especially considering I had such a lousy run 48 hours ago, then worked 12 hours today.

BAA put up the bib numbers today. I'm #12603. Apparently Corral 1 will be numbers under 1000, so I'm still in corral 13, right in the middle of Wave 2. Right where I figured I would be. Also found out my fellow Crackhead Ali will be there running with the medical group; we're gonna get together for some liquid carbloading, I think. That'll be fun.

EStimated 5.16, slow, around the mall. Legs pooped, body more so. Got 2 hours sleep last night, if that. Then got slammed at work. Still felt like running, but not much and not fast. This qualified as both. Now shower and early bed and maybe feel better tomorrow.

Solid progression run at the track. It was supposed to be 6 easy, 2 hard, but I pushed it a little earlier as I got comfortable. Averaged under 9 for the easy 6, averaged a little over 7:30 for the last two. If I'm still running 7:30s in the last two miles Saturday, I think I'll like the outcome. Now to really back down for the race. And see if I can arrange some after-race diversions... :)

Five easy including strides and drills. Six strides and highknees, buttkicks and lateral run. A little sluggish, but got 'er done, and the strides felt OK.

Pretty momentous day. Asked Kay out and she said yes! Connie and Eve were both there to add to the pressure/embarrassment. First unattached date in 28 years. Yikes. I think I've figured out how to handle myself, but we'll see how I do when the pressure's on. I just hope I don't disappoint her.

What a screwed up mess this was! Most of the field, including me, took the first wrong turn we could, less than a quarter-mile from the start. A guy I was with figured it out, got me turned around, and we eventually ran the entire course plus about 1.4. We met people going the wrong way so many times, people were taking wrong turns everywhere, the volunteers were little or no help, and the poor race director is asking everyone at the finish how far they ran. My legs didn't feel very good this morning. It was surprisingly cool, which was good, and windy, which wasn't, but the wind was not too much of an impedance. I didn't have the Garmin, or any watch at all, so I just kinda ran by feel once I left the guy who got me back on the right course. If his Garmin gave us the right distance, I ran an average of 8:09 miles. Basically a long MP run. I was running this race to train. I had hoped to run faster, but once we got off/back on course, it turned into an MP run, and I thought I did that part OK. Not too beat up now. I'll take a soak, a nap, and get ready for my date tonight. Where I placed? No telling. I think a bunch of people were lying to the race director about how far they ran, and she's going to hand out prizes based on those works of fiction. Forget it. I got my finishers' medal (a dogtag) and a T-shirt, and that's fine. Hopefully I'll feel pretty good for the date, which is more important to me than this race anyway.

Boy, I've fallen behind on my updates. Typing this on Wednesday. Took Sunday off; I was just exhausted after work. Got out for 10K easy at the track Monday night, then drove back home and did 8 hill sprints up Duncan. Lots of kids at the track at 9 p.m.; it's spring break week, I take it. One was singing along to ... Bohemian Rhapsody. Maybe there's hope for this generation yet. Run went OK. Still a bit sore from the "half", but no problems, and the sprints were OK too. This starts off my peak week. Which is not how I scheduled it; thus, the schedule represented cerebral flatus. One, I need a three-week taper. Two, next week is a work week, so doing 70 miles after work is completely insane, even if I manage to get home early a few times (22 miles after work? What was I thinking?). So I'll do 22 on Sunday, early, then start the taper. Man, it's down to the home stretch now. I have to take it in stride if some runs don't quite go as planned. One run at this point is not going to make or break my performance on the 18th, unless I do something stupid and get injured. I know I'm in shape, I've done the vast majority of my scheduled runs, and I've been healthy since the sciatica and the AT cooled off. That's all I can ask for. Finish the training, eat right, sleep right, and do my best. And I must say, my attitude is much better since my date Saturday night. It's unfortunate that I need validation from others, but I do. And having a good time with Kay, and seeing her have a good time, was a whole lot of validation. Hoping for more where that came from...

Revising this week's schedule on the fly, as usual, although I actually went back to the originally planned run tonight. I had intended to do intervals tonight, as part of changing peak week from next week to this. But I was still a bit sore from Saturday's "half"/MP run, and I waited too long between watching the HI board for news on the basketball coaching search, and chatting with LooHoo1 on FB. So stuck with what was written on my schedule all along, 6 easy followed by 2 hard progression. Went well. Did the 6 at 9:15 average and the 2 at 7:40, and the 7:40 really felt comfortable. I thought I was more in the 7:55 to 8:00 range, then looked at the watch at the end and it said 15:20 for the two miles. Maybe 7:50 pace is more in my range than I thought.

Speaking of watch, sent the Garmin back to the factory for the second time today. I'm hoping I'll have it back in time for the 22-miler on Sunday, but not counting on it. May have to depend on RunKeeper for my paces instead. I'm not thrilled about carrying the cell on a 22-miler; although it makes sense from a safety standpoint, it risks water/sweat/falling off my belt damage. I already fried one cellphone by getting it rained on during a run. I guess I can go back to the ziploc trick and hope that doesn't mess up the GPS.

Nailed another specific endurance workout, and I didn't think I'd be able to say that. Goal was to do 4 X 3000 with each rep under 14 minutes. I did. 13:50, 13:54, 13:55, 13:59. With warm/cool and recovery, a total of 11.25 at the track. Track was quite busy tonight, including a couple of really cute blondes, but no one got in my lane and workout was unimpeded.

Easy 6 at Ben Geren, just took it slow, probably 9:35-9:40 pace. Gonna try to do another monster interval set tomorrow before going to Fayetteville for baseball. Saturday, either a shortie or URD, with noon appointment at the relationship counselor (figure that one out). Sunday, big mutha -- 22. Then it's taper time.

Intervals at the track. Went to Plan B, a bit; I had some nausea/GI issues early, which forced a 30 minute delay, then I needed to get done and leave for Fayetteville. So I did three reps instead of four, and ran at MP instead of HMP. Actually, they were in-between MP and HMP. But I think I got the benefit out of them, certainly more than if I'd bagged them entirely when the stomach started acting up.

Now to Baum for baseball. Dunno if T and CJ will go with me or not. They're welcome, but it's their call. I'm going either way.

Easy 6-ish today. Got my new pair of Adizero Adios today and immediately went to try them out. Felt very much like the Manas did, maybe a tad better cushioned, although the only way to tell would be to take them on a longer run. And I don't have too many longer runs left. I may take the Nikes on tomorrow's run and wear these on the 17 miler on April 4, then decide which one to wear in Boston. Then again, I might change my mind after I get to Boston.

Weather has cooled off nicely. Almost too cool this morning, supposed to be a bit cooler tomorrow. Good time to start off a 22-miler early and finish before it warms up much, not that there will be a whole lot of warming.

So basically I'm about 18 hours from the start of the taper. What a trip its been, starting when I looked in the mirror in NLR and didn't like those multiplying chins. Through the challenge with Julie, joining the Crackheads, the crash and burn at LR and the commitment to do it again and get it right, joining this blog, getting the encouragement from Sasha, getting hooked up with the RWOL loonies and all the tangential stuff, the move, the whack, the divorce, getting my professional and personal life put back together, the one thing on the horizon has been the marathon, specifically Boston. Now it's almost here.

I'll have to figure out something to do next. Maybe it will be going back to Boston, or going for a PR this fall at Sacramento or Tucson, or something. Maybe it'll be backing off on the running a bit and focusing on personal connections. We'll see. Running needs to be there somehow, though. It's my release, my safety valve, my makeup for too many cheeseburgers and strawberry shakes. And at this point, many of my friends are my friends because of running.

Last LR is in the books. Went out conservative, worked my way down to 8:47 pace -- and stayed there. Average remained right there for probably 14 miles, until the cellphone ran out of juice and powered off right after the 20-mile update. But since I know I was right by the monastery at 20, I could map the rest on mapmyrun: 1.91 miles. So there's my 21.91. Having to estimate my total time as well, since the phone shut down, but I'm assuming that at worst I maintained the 8:47 average, maybe even a bit of a closing kick in those last two miles. So 21.9 times 527 seconds per mile comes out to approximately 3:12. I'm happy, and I'm ready to go BOTT in Boston. The hard work is done. Taper down, sharpen up and hammer it.

Six easy with strides in the rain. That about it. Legs felt pretty good after 22 yesterday.

Note: run logged for Monday was actually run on Tuesday and logged on Thursday. Yes, I'm running behind...

Took last night off because I was beat. Did the workout tonight I'd planned for last night. Intervals at the track, 5 X 2400 at HMP. Nailed 'em. Each rep faster than the previous one, from 11:16 down to 10:56. Total of 12.44 (20K) with warmup, cooldown and recoveries. I'm really happy with how things are coming together late in the cycle.

Also have another date scheduled with an attorney named Shala. She actually called my back while I was running the first warmup lap. Good to be getting another date so soon, and it'll also be good to have someone for comparison to Kay, as much as I like her,.

For the question on Sunday's blog entry, this is a family forum, so I'm not going to define exactly what BOTT means. But it's the opposite of sandbagging, where you softsell your prospects and then go out and run way faster. I'm setting a very ambitious goal for Boston, and then I'm going to bust it for nearly 3.5 hours on the 18th to reach that ambitious goal. Which may mean that I crash and burn along the way. So be it. That goal: 3:25:00, which should get me safely in for 2012 regardless of the rolling registration.

EIght or nine became three, thanks to GI issues and a very late start (no more getting out of work early, I'm afraid). That's OK, I didn't feel very good anyway.

Dyslexic tonight. Schedule read 2 X 3 miles at HMP. I thought it said 3 X 2 miles. Not a gigantic difference, I know, especially since the recovery was the same. At first I thought I'd back off and do them at MP. First one was. Second one was HMP, third one was even faster. Splits were 15:37/14:50/14:46. With warm, cool and recovery, total of 10 miles. Went pretty well considering it was well over 75 degrees when I started and probably 73 when I finished. If Patriots Day turns out unusually warm, at least I won't be completely unprepared. Unless it's sunny.

Easy 8 at the track, extended to get me over 40 miles for the week. Not OCD or anything, am I?

Four laps around the golf course loop. Weather was quite favorable -- low 50s and overcast -- except for that wind. Which was a mutha. Probably was pushing 30 mph at times. It was great running downwind, but into the wind? Wow. Wind contributed to a bit of a bonk on the final loop. But even with that "bonk", I averaged 8:18 for the entire run. Easily the fastest long run I've ever had without a bib pinned to my shirt. At least 7.5 miles were at MP. If this doesn't give me confidence for the 18th, nothing will.

Intervals tonight, cut a little short. It was hot (almost 80) and I felt a little queasy after two reps, so I bagged the last rep and jogged the recovery laps instead. Still got two 3000-meter reps at the appropriate pace, though, so I accomplished the objective of demanding a little bit from the legs.

Once around the golf course loop at Ben Geren. Warm and humid, but got through OK. Days are clicking right off...

Up to Fayetteville today to see T and go to the baseball game. While waiting for T to get out of class, did a loop around campus from his apartment -- down MLK to Frisco Trail, up the trail to Maple, down Maple to Razorback, and back to the apartment,. Very warm, very humid, very many coeds out in shorts and neon colored tanktops (apparently due to some kine of sorority thing this weekend, since all the tanktops had sororities on them). Weather was brutal, and of course plenty of hills, but got a 9:18 pace. Hogeye is this weekend. I do no envy anyone doing 26.2 in this weather over those hills, even with a very early start.

Also swung by Fleet Feet. Robbie and Lance were both there, and another guy I don't know who has run Boston three times. He had lots of tips for me, stuff to take, stuff not to take, how to handle Wellesley (his advice: stay left). Got me even more jacked up than I already was. Bought enough Roctane gels to cover me for the race, too.

Won the game 2-0, too. Afterward went to Foghorns for beer and nuclear wings. DVH came in while I was there and got a little ovation. If he'd been drinking beer, I'd have bought him one.

Very slow, very warm, very humid. Felt much harder/faster because of the humidity. But got 'er done. Into the final week now...

Errands tonight, no running.

Did 10K at the track with strides. Started off slow, gradually got faster just because it felt comfortable. It was about 15-18 degrees cooler than my Sunday night run, which helped. Did 10 X 100m strides which felt smooth. All in all a good confidence boost. Hard run tomorrow, then basically cruise into Boston.

Dress rehearsal. Three at MP, two warm/cool. Went well, even though it was almost 80 when I started. Don't think it will be 80 in Hopkinton on Monday. At least it better not be.

I probably wouldn't have run last night anyway, but huge thunderstorms took care of that. Hail, 60 mph winds, tornado sirens, the whole nine yards. Sleep was a little bit delayed. Anyway, plowed through the last day of work without any blatant malpractice, then got two easy laps of the tennis court trail at BG. Wind was howling, just like it will be in Boston on Monday. Downwind was much easier, upwind much, much harder. If the forecast of WSW holds, my BQ/PR gets a lot closer to reality. Took it very easy tonight, then stopped on the way home to get Chinese (didn't really even break a sweat). Now in nine hours, I'll be on the plane for Boston. It's finally here.

Wish I could say the trip to Boston was uneventfal; it wasn't. Lots of turbulence. I believe if the flight from FSM to Memphis had lasted 30 seconds more, I would have thrown up. And Memphis to Boston wasn't much better. Survived the flight, getting to the hotel via subway was easy, did the expo (huge and crowded), met Alison for coffee and catching up, back to the hotel, shower and go to the FE.

FE was a blast. We had a big upstairs room and it was full. It was wonderful to finally meet these imaginary friends I've been tracking on RWOL and Facebook for a year and a half now. Stayed too long, wanted to stay even longer, but I'd been awake since 2:30 a.m. and I was exhausted. Then it took another hour and a half to fall asleep once I got back to the room.

Another FE tomorrow, a short run, the carbload at Maggiano's, and then the race on Monday.

One last run before Boston. Ran from the hotel through Boston Common and Beacon Hill over to the Charles, then down the Charles for a while. Picked it up to as fast as I could go for three minutes, trying to carb-deplete for Aussie carbloading, and ran a half mile in those three minutes. Then I drained my water bottle full of Ultra Fuel. We'll see if this helps tomorrow.

I'm prepared. I've done what I can do, what I wanted to do. The weather is going to cooperate. I have a plan. Now I have to execute it. If I do, I'll be back here next year.

I have had so much fun in the 24 hours I've been here. The people is Boston have been wonderful. People encouraging me, wishing me well, asking if I'm ready to run. Met some really great people at the two FE's, people who were already my virtual friends but are now my real friends. We have this obsession in common, and that bonds us even though we'd never met until last night -- or this morning. It will be fun to share the Village experience with them tomorrow, and share the run. and the celebration afterward. I don't think I'll ever come close to forgetting this weekend. Now I just have to cap it off with a solid run. That, after all, is why I'm here.

I ran Boston. And I finished. And I kissed two coeds. Other than that, it pretty much stunk. Cramps all over the place, I cramped in places I didn't know you could cramp.

More details later...

Well, I got top 10,000 with a 12,000+ bib, so maybe I didn't stink all that much... So let's dissect this and figure out what went wrong. On one of the running boards where I hang out, they have a saying, which is not entirely family-friendly, abbreviated as BOTT. BOTT, stripped of its crude connotations, means pick a goal, commit to it, and go for it. My BOTT goal was 3:25, which would have been a 7-minute PR. BOTT is a high-risk strategy. If it pays off, it pays off big. And that's what I was going for. But if it goes wrong, you look like death warmed over at 30K. Which I did.

Plan from Greg Maclin's spreadsheet was to take it easy the first mile, like 8:07ish, then settle it around 7:50 pace for a while. And I did that: 8:08, 7:50, 7:52, 7:47. Picked it up a little in mile 5 with a nice downhill, to 7:40, then 7:51, 7:38, 7:40. Ten-K split was 48:46, less than three minutes above my 10K PR. I'm trying to monitor my body, see how I'm feeling, and so far so good.

One issue: I took a 12-ounce bottle of Gatorade on course, hoping to avoid the congestion around the early aid stations. Plan was to drink half at mile 2, the other half at mile 4. Well, I didn't. I don't remember exactly when I finished that 12-ounce bottle, but it was at least mile 6, maybe even later. Which means I started myself in the hole as far as hydration goes. I know better, but I did it anyway. Maybe I blow up anyway, but better hydration would certainly have helped. The weather was beautiful, but anything over 50 degrees is problematic for me when I'm running 26.2, even when I'm drinking more than I did.

Anyway, back to the course. I'm trying to have fun out there, high-fiving a few kids, but I'm also trying to focus, running tangents when traffic allows, working on my breathing. Mile 9 was 7:50, then 7:52. But now trouble starts to pop up, and the times show it: 8:03, 8:07. I'm hoping it's just a bad patch that I'll come out of, but not looking good, and I knew it. Next two miles: 7:58 (including those two coeds), then 8:03. Halfway split: 1:43:37. Not looking good for that 3:25 goal, but if I can hold things together and run a small positive split, I can get a PR and a BQ.

Now the calves are starting to twitch like they do in all my marathons. Never happens in training -- NEVER -- but every time in a race, and always in the same spot. Hammies don't feel too good either. I try shortening my stride, speeding up, few other things, but I'm deteriorating and I know it. Thought at this point is hold pace as long as I can, maybe the downhill going into Newton will snap me out of it.

Mile 14 split was 7:56, then I missed the next mile marker (which in itself is a bad sign), so I got a two-mile split for miles 15-16 of 16:16. Uh oh. And the cramps aren't coming now, they're here. But they're moving around. A calf will tighten, then loosen, then a hamstring, then my right foot, then the other calf, then some toes... That went on for the rest of the race. Going uphill actually seemed to help; maybe the slope stretched the calves a bit. And the walk monster is starting to creep in when the cramps hit. Miles 17-20: 8:27, 8:41, 8:29, 8:43. The 30K split was 2:29:37, so 8.9K took 47 minutes.

Then came HBH: 9:13. I made sure I didn't walk up HBH, but I sure wasn't running very fast. Mile 22 with the big downhill went a little better, 8:22, but I'm still hurting big time. I'm still hoping at this point that I can squeeze in under 3:35, which would at least be a nominal BQ if not good enough to get in for 2012, but every time I try to speed up, the cramps get worse. Pretty much walking through water stations (and guzzling Gatorade and water) at this point. Mile 23, I'm about to die: 9:50; 24 had a little downhill and I managed 9:06, then 9:02 for 25. The little dip under Mass Avenue got me, and mile 26 was 9:23. But after mile 23, I know BQ is gone. I just want to finish without walking any more.

Right on Hereford, left on Boylston. Normally I have a little surge in the final half-mile, but not this time. My "surge" on Boylston is to get back to what I should have been running anyway, 8:00 pace. Finish time 3:38:06.

I kept expecting one of those medical volunteers in the chute to bodyslam me into a wheelchair, and I don't think I would have objected a bit. Not sure how I kept moving down Boylston to the blankets and the food and the fluids, but I was drinking everything I could get my hands on. It took me about five minutes to get my sweatpants on after I retrieved my bag from the bus, it seemed; the legs did not want to move. Brain wasn't working too well either; navigating to Jury's to meet some friends was a laborious process.

How did I screw it up? I think 3:25 was too optimistic, and I think I let myself dehydrate very quickly; the Gatorade bottle strategy was a fail, and I definitely should have hit more water stops than I did. If I'd targeted 3:30, though, I might have pulled that off, or at least faded a lot less. But I'm still fairly new at this stuff; Boston was only my fifth marathon. Now I just have to figure out somewhere to requalify, if not for 2012, maybe 2013. The OCD in me says try something like Newport or VCM, the medical professional in me says "you moron, you just beat hell out of yourself for 218 minutes and you want to do it again in six weeks????"

But even with a 10-mile death march, I wouldn't have traded this weekend for anything. Throughout my three-year obsession, I imagined what Boston would be like. I was wrong. It was better than I expected.

It's been about 55 hours now since I crossed the starting line in Hopkinton. A lot has changed in those two days. I'm now a Boston Finisher. And I will always be a Boston Finisher. And I made an incredible number of friends in those three days. So yeah, I guess dreams do come true -- even if a little slower than I had hoped.

Easy 3 at the track before the thunderstorm arrived. Legs were a little stiff, not horrible, no worse than many recovery runs in the last cycle.

Speaking of a thunderstorm, there was one in Rogers last night when I arrived for my date with Vicky. In spite of the weather, it went very well (although it kinda ruined any chance for a moonlight stroll, which might have been fun). We'll be going out again soon. There's a little different vibe going here, and I like it. I think our goals for a relationship are similar, which helps. We're on the same page there.

Progression run at Ben Geren today, with the last 1.4 at MP. Overall average just a smidge over 9:00. Legs are not bad for a week out from a hard marathon. I'm pretty pleased.

Starting to analyze my training, not my tactics, to see what was lacking. I have some ideas I'll expound upon in my next entry.

Eight miles at the track tonight, around the outside lanes this time. Worked out to 29 laps for 8 miles. A young woman was walking her dog around the inside and remarked that she wished she had my energy. She was maybe 24, maybe not that old. I told her I was 50; I also told her I ran 26.2 10 days ago, and that four years ago, I couldn't get around the block without stopping. Within a few minutes, she and the dog were both running, and I was encouraging them. She asked if I had any tips. I said do what you're doing, start slow and build up slow.

As I mentioned in the last entry, before tornado warnings and all sorts of climatic fun, I was analyzing my training. I think I need more lower body strengthening to protect against cramps. I also think I needed more MP miles. I tweaked Hudson just a bit too much. So the goal from Sacramento is to correct that. I'm gonna have to get in some health club this summer, to have access to good weights as well as treadmill and/or indoor track for summer running.

Warmed up at the track tonight with 5K at 8:40ish. Then 11 laps at MP. Then hammer down, two laps at sub-7 pace. Felt really comfortable. Legs are mostly back, I think. Finished April with 135 miles, with about 20% of that on one memorable day. We'll see how much the legs are back at Bentonville next Saturday.

First 10-miler since Boston, now that the rain finally let up. Once I loosened up, it went pretty well. Negative split, 9:06 average. But I had to go and make it interesting. Caught my toe on the sidewalk just past St. Ed's on Rogers and splatted. No face plant, but scraped up my left elbow pretty well, somehow; also left knee and left hand. Right side unscathed. Also seemed to land on left ribcage, somehow; maybe that landed on top of the elbow, not sure. Anyway, a decent run. I'll get in some track work tomorrow night and then coast into the 10K Saturday.

Last night's date postponed; Vicky had family issues of some sort. Somehow this does not surprise me. Still think there are possibilities there, but it's disappointing. Suffice it to say, to no one's surprise, my love life is in disarray, to put it mildly.

Going to Bryant this afternoon, I guess. Get the parental visit out of the way. Probably will go to baseball game Thursday night, then back up there Saturday for the race. Lot of traveling this week at $3.79 a gallon, but whatcha gonna do?

Was gonna try to run some intervals tonight to get ready for the 10K. Uh, no. Legs not loose, ribs still hurt from my little tumble. Did a lap and a half at something approaching 10K pace, then did 6 strides at the end. Probably at this point my legs just need rest after 10 yesterday.

Easy, easy 3 down Burnham and up 66th, with hills X 6 toward the end. Ribs still hurt quite a bit. May have to ice them this afternoon. Otherwise run went well. Very warm and sunny this afternoon, so thankful I didn't have to go any farther. Now we'll see how the legs feel at 8 a.m. in Bentonville. No expectations whatsoever; just go out at 7:20 and see how long I can hold it. If, by some miracle, I can hold it comfortably, I'll think about pushing on the return leg.

Ran the Battle for Hope 10K. Good news is I won my age group and 8th overall. Bad news is I ran five miles plus with a pulled hammy to do it. Strongly considered shutting it down, but I still would have had to get myself back to the finish line, so just decided to keep running. I actually passed two people in the last four miles, so they were sucking even worse than I was. Official time was 50:47, which stinks until you consider I was running on one leg. Managed to maintain something resembling marathon pace anyway. Now I'm on the DL for a while. Good thing didn't have anything important scheduled soon.

Easy progression tonight at SHS. Hammy felt tight, but no pain. Left one was just as tight, actually. But encouraging nonetheless.

Another easy run today, after work and weather intervened for the last few days. Again, zero problems with the hammy. I made no effort to push the pace in any way, although the last 1.5 miles was close to 9:00 pace.

Strug-gle. Man, this was a hard 14. I feel like I've lost so much fitness (and my new scale suggests as much; I'm up to 162). Got through it at 9:20 average, but it was HARD.

An "easy" 10K at the track after work. Didn't feel easy. It was 81 and humid at 9:00, for one thing. Not a dry thread on me after this one. Was able to pick up the pace throughout, sorta, but still took 57 minutes. Oh well, have to remember I'm supposed to slow down anyway when it's hot and/or humid, and it definitely is. There will be a lot of runs like this over the summer, unless I'm doing most of my runs at Altman. Which I might be. I'm getting closer to joining, especially since T will be here this summer; I want him to have some place to work out, swim, etc.

I knew the bad weather was coming in tonight. Didn't know when, or how much, but decided to try to get in my run after work. As I drove to SHS, I could see distant lightning. Decided to start out and keep going until the lightning was within three miles, as defined by the five-second rule. Didn't take too long; I was on my seventh lap. Went ahead and finished two miles, even though it wasn't raining yet. That didn't take too long either; as I was getting into the car, the rain started. And then the radio blared the announcement of a tornado watch for my area until 4 a.m. I already knew Joplin, Mo., about 140 miles north of here, had been hit by a big tornado this evening, so I didn't take too much convincing.

Five miles at SHS. They're set up for tomorrow night's graduation, so it was a little strange running past the stage and the chairs set up on the football field. Progression (slightly) to a 9:00 average. I think we're about to lose our last vestige of cool spring weather, so glad I got this one in.

Severe motivational issues for the past week. Work didn't help, but I just couldn't get myself out the door. Going to work was hard enough. This morning, finally got out the door before it got TOO much over 80 degrees. Decided to finally weigh myself before and after a run to see how much fluid I lost. The total: 3.7 pounds, or 1.7 liters. And that was running at 9:40 pace; what if I'd pushed it harder? Distance was 6.3 in just over an hour. Tried to stay in the shade as much as I could, which wasn't all that much.

I think the plan for the foreseeable future, other than joining the fitness center, is to try to do short runs consistently rather than a long weekend run followed by three days off. We'll see how that works. We'll also see how Tyler's summer job works; he starts training in two weeks. Got him moved down from Fedvul yesterday with Pupe's assistance. Wasn't bad, actually, even though it was 90-plus.

Out on the roads tonight for 6.55. Track is out of commission for a few weeks; they're putting artificial turf down in the stadium and have a dirt ramp over the track to protect it from the heavy equipment. So unless I want to climb over am 18-inch mound every lap, no track. I guess I could go to Northside, unless their plastic grass is also going in now too. Averaged 9:45, which is about right given the adjustment for the heat.

Summer is definitely here. It says 79 outside right now, so it was probably 83 or so when I started tonight's run, and it's humid enough to make a difference too. Wasn't a dry thread on me when I got home. But I guess I have to suck it up, or I'll put on another 15 pounds. I'm going to go sign up at Altman tomorrow, too. Need indoor and cross-training options.

Last night's run, with high heat and high humidity, was the last straw. I drove over to Altman today and signed us up for a six-month membership (prepaid). Then Tyler and I went back over there later and worked out. He reported 30 minutes of pool walking and lunges. I did (about) 80 laps of the indoor track, which works out to 6.04 miles if my count was accidentally accurate. I gotta get a click counter; no way I can keep count of laps accurately when I'm clicking off one every 40-45 seconds for an hour. Didn't wear a watch, so only have a rough estimate of pace (~9:00), but it felt like I was really pushing hard. Of course, that could have something to do with the fact it had been only 18 hours since my last run.

I'll still do some outside runs; I think I'd go bonkers doing what I did today day after day, and the dreadmill will only offer limited variety. But it gives me more cross training options, and I can run there if there are thunderstorms and other assorted nastiness (and ice and snow in the winter). Plus I can also run right after (or during) work.

Treadmill intervals today at Altman. I was frankly surprised at how well they went. Did 880 X 5 at 8.1 mph (7:24 pace) with 440 recovery intervals, then 0.61 at 8.7 mph (6:53). I think I probably could have done all six reps at 8.7, and 440 yards was plenty of recovery time.
Total of 7 miles even in 60:42.

I'm even starting to think about finding a late August/early September race to go for a BQ, if I can maintain good training through the summer. Part of that, I guess, will depend on whether I get into London, and if I can pull off joining the medical team at Boston like Ali has done. If I can do that, no reason to bust balls to get a BQ. Just run it for fun and try to qualify for 2013.

I needed something to renew my motivation after Boston, and I found it: Fatness. I don't like all the weight I've gained, and I'm now motivated to run it off. So while I'm doing that, I'll work on other things. I'm also going to emphasize XT, particularly upper body work. If TTM can haul butt with all that upper body muscle he's carrying, why should I look like a straw?

Indoor run at Altman. Seventy laps, 5.28 miles, took 47:39. 

Treadmill run at Altman before the baseball game. Felt pretty good after six miles and decided to bump it to MP for the last three miles. Or actually for the last 24 minutes, which worked out to three miles. I planned an 80-minute run and got in 9.05 in that time. Up to 33 miles this week; I could even get a 50-mile week if I throw in a double-digit run sometime this weekend.

Did 135 laps at Altman this afternoon, which works out to 10.19 miles. Average wound up at 8:55. I wore the Garmin just to check my heart rate, which averaged 139 once I remembered that I hadn't programmed the monitor into the new watch. Once I did that, it worked just fine. Anyway, 139 isn't a bad heart rate for sub-9 average for ancient flatulence like me.

Legs were still pretty stiff from yesterday's progression run, plus running seven straight days after taking so much time off, but it worked well enough. It got me over 50 miles for the week, which I haven't seen in a while.

Hit the dreadmill at MAFC today for an easy 6. Actually ran for exactly an hour and got in 6.27. Had a little twinge in the left calf left over from yesterday; didn't feel any worse during the run, but didn't get better either. Might be time to take a day off tomorrow and let it rest. Liza was there and did an hour on the elliptical at a pretty good clip, so no ill effects from her 5K yesterday. Eight straight days now with a total of 56 miles; if the streak doesn't make it to nine, that's OK.

Started working on a training plan for a BQ attempt this morning, either at Top of Utah or Fox Valley. I think I'll do four weeks, see where I stand, and if things are going well, I'll go ahead and enter one of the two. Right now, I'm leaning toward TOU, largely because I think there's a better chance of cool weather there. Plus I can get a cheaper flight to SLC than O'Hare.

Back to work tomorrow after a much-needed nine days off. Oh well. Gotta pay the bills somehow, and it beats digging ditches.

Took last night off with this twinge in my calf. Not entirely gone today, but enough better that I thought I could test it  with a little treadmill run. Did 3.5 in 31:28, and the calf seemed to loosen upas the run went on. Possibly that was because of some gait alterations I made that seemed to reduce the stress; I tried to be light on my feet.

Did 100 laps at Altman after work, a bit of a progression run. Wound up with 8:46 average. Calf was tight at first, again loosened up. I felt tired, overall, but sucked it up and did the run anyway. I know full well you have to suck it up and train on some days you'd really rather not.

Really trying to modify my diet and get some of this weight off. More veggies, less meat, certainly less fried stuff, more water, less soda. That and the running will have to work together

Easy treadmill run, with the last quarter at MP. Took 65:39. I'd taken three days off from running, although I'd lifted and done core work in between, so the legs were fairly fresh.

Combo run at Altman -- four miles on the track, four miles on the mill, four miles on the track.

First four took 35:35, an 8:53 average. The four on the mill took 35:39, or 8:54. The last four on the track took 34:25, an 8:39 average. And that last four on the track HURT. It felt really slow because the legs were so heavy, but obviously I was able to maintain some kind of speed (which maybe should tell me something).

It's 95 days until TOU, if my math is right. I'll probably need to decide something by July 1 so I'll have basically an 11-week cycle to get ready. Eleven weeks is plenty for me if I have a deecnt base (see Memphis 2009), maybe even a bit too long.

Lifted for a few minutes today, then 6 on the mill. These little 15 minute lifting sessions aren't gonna do a whole lot of muscle building (which is probably good given that I'm still running marathons), but it'll maintain tone, add a little strength and maybe rearrange my pounds a bit. The run was basic; 6.2 mph, threw in some incline because the left calf was a bit twingey, then cranked up the incline to 4% for the last mile. Which almost impersonates HBH. I have to start doing some outside runs, though. Maybe on Friday; have a noon work meeting at the hospital tomorrow, then I'll run afterward. Time to do some more TM intervals, I think.

A little VO2 max pounding today on the mill: 6 X 880 at 5K pace, with 440 recoveries. With warm and cool, a 7.25 mile workout, which took me 62:39 if I remember correctly. Set the mill at 8.7 mph (6:57 pace), which would be a 5K PR. Legs weren't overly thrilled about the workout, but I managed it without undue distress. Probably need a few more of those this summer. Maybe I can even do a couple on the track without DM "assistance."

Got the Kinvaras today and went to the track to try them out/break them in. I'm coming to a realization -- I have a hard time running much over 9:00 pace if I don't have the TM to slow me down. First mile was about 9:30, second mile was 9:08, you get the idea. If that's my new "slow" pace, than why can't I run faster than 8:06? The Kinvaras were fine. I've run in enough minimalist shoes that it's not much of an adjustment at all, between all the Adizeros and the Green Silences.

I've just about come to the conclusion that I'll be entering Top of Utah. London looks extremely unlikely due to high demand and some Seven Continents Club that I didn't know about until it was too late. SCC is apparently their VIP club and gets first crack at in-demand races like London. And Top of Utah is the right weekend to give me a chance to get a sub-3:30 before open season starts on BQ-4:59 and less.

I'll go ahead and submit a request for London, expect to be turned down, try to qualify at Logan for Boston, then do the AAMA team if I don't qualify (or don't get in if I do qualify). Training is going well enough that I should at least have a shot at a BQ, although what I'm going to do with really long runs in the summer heat is an open question (5 a.m. vs. treadmill). I suppose I need to do at least a couple of them outside, starting probably a week from Tuesday.

Just noticed that I've now done more mileage in the first 17 days of June than I did in 31 days in May. Probably will be close to 200 miles in June, over 200 in July and August, health permitting.

First outdoor run of the summer. BLEAH! Felt like I was running after donating six units of blood. No energy at all. Complete slog.

LT intervals on the mill. This time 2 X 1.5 at 10K pace (8.1 mph -- 7:24). With warm, cool and recovery, a total of 7 miles, making 51 for the week. Wasn't easy, wasn't horrible. Legs were a little stiff from last night's slog through the heat, but they loosened quickly.

Easy indoor track run. Actually had somebody to run with, sorta. Attractive chica passed me on 2nd lap, but wasn't going fast enough to leave me behind. So I trailed her for 2.5 miles, largely for the scenery. Since she was at ~9:00 pace, worked out fine. Just maintained the same pace after she peeled off to lift weights and do lunges.

I'd considered a rest day after feeling really blah all day at work, but wound up doing a good mill run: 7.18 with 3.26 at 7.6 mph, which is roughly my GMP. Went better than I expected.

Guy on the TM next to me was walking at 4.5 mph, which is a really fast walk. As I was doing the cooldown after the MP, he asked if I was training for a marathon. I said I was. He said I really made it look easy. That was a nice compliment. Then a personal trainer stopped me in the locker room and asked how much running I was doing. I guess people are noticing.

Tomorrow, not sure. Maybe an easy 4 or 5 after the soccer game, maybe a rest day. We'll see how I feel.

Slow 67 laps at Altman (5.05) at 9:17 pace. Had no problem keeping it slow, and was interrupted early by a page. Chica was there too, running some, doing more lifting. I also did some lifting after the run, all upper body and core. Haven't noticed my right glute niggle lately; maybe the strength work has taken care of that (knock on wood).

Semi-progression run on the track at Altman after work, 4.00 in 37ish. Last mile was at GMP. Kept it shorter than usual because the plan is to get up at dawn tomorrow and get in a run before work, and I don't wanna do that one on dead legs.

Run before work was a fail; goofball failed to realize that MAFC doesn't open until 7 on Saturday, which does not compute when I'm officially supposed to be at work at 7.

So what I did instead was run during work; finished my rounds, went to run instead of to lunch, and decided to keep going until (a) I finished 10 miles or (b) I got called to the ER. B happened first, but not by too much; I got in 8.20 miles before I got buzzed. Pace was somewhere around 9:20, not pushed but not EPMC either.

Silky's running Western States today. Dude is crazy, but I have to give it up to him. He's raising like $13,000 for the Wounded Warriors with this particular stroke of insanity covering 100 miles and who knows how many hours.

Oh yeah, date tomorrow, woman named Colleen (I think that's how she spells it). Thanks to the fix-up elves, so I haven't met her, but we had a nice phone conversation last night. She raises dogs for a living. I gotta decide on a restaurant that's open on Sunday night and call her with time to meet.

Indoor run at MAFC. And boy, did I bonk. Maybe I should have eaten more than one small bowl of oatmeal in the preceding 16 hours. Felt like to push it farther risked missed a couple of days later in the week, so shut it down instead of going on toward the goal of 14 to 15.

Progression run at MAFC. Cranked it up for the last 20 laps to MP or even a bit faster. Then I did some lifting afterward. Running and lifting both seem to be getting a bit easier. Not really losing any weight, though.

Had a little spice thrown into my easy 8-miler today at MAFC. As I was reaching the 4-mile mark, a young woman named Crystal stepped on to the track and started running in the inside lane. I'm guessing Crystal's probably 25 or so. I passed her in the outside lane, still plodding along at my easy pace, probably 9:30 or so. Half lap later, I look over and she's trying to pass me on the inside.

Normally I would have just let her go, but not today. I decided to play the game, and I accelerated to match her pace -- which meant I was running faster just to keep up, since she was on the inside lane. This went on for four laps; she'd push even faster and I'd counter, just staying beside her. Felt like we were at HMP, roughly. Then after four laps, she slowed and I heard a "Damn!" from her. Exactly what I'd wanted -- run her into the ground. Then she waited for me to come back around and gave me a big thumbs up. Which put a huge smile on my face.

After I finished my run, I went over to talk to her as she lifted weights. I told her that was a lot of fun, which it was. Nice to get the competitive juices flowing. And it turned a dull run into something to remember.

Now I'm about to get ready for Date #2 with Colene. Speaking of fun.

Ladder intervals on the mill at MAFC. One mile at 8.1 (7:24), 1K at 8.4 (7"08), 880 at 8.6 (6:57), and 440 at 9.2 (6:32), with 220 jog intervals, twice. Total of 8.65 in all. Sweated like a pig, but got through it pretty well.

Finished June with 165 miles. Not great, but not bad as I ramp up for TOU. Figuring about a 55 mile week, maybe a touch more.

Still nothing definitive from Marathon Tours. I called them; they said they had my app and I'd hear something within a week. Oh well. All I can do is wait. It would be easier (and cheaper) if they turn me down, but I hope they don't. If they do, I may plan on Berlin in the fall.

Eighty semi-slow laps at MAFC today. Glutes were a little stiff after yesterday's ladders, and there is some chafing to deal with as well, but things loosened up pretty well after a couple of miles.

Completed the first half of 2011 with 1052 miles. Went back and looked at the log, and I missed 51 days of running so far this year, due to weather, injury, exhaustion, travel, taper, work, blah blah blah. Meaning on the other 131 days, I averaged better than 8 miles. If I can maintain an 8-mile average and cut the RDs in half, that would put me at 1250 or so for the second half of the year. Bump up the daily mileage later in the year, maybe get 1350-1400. I think the actual goal will be to keep the RDs to about 20, one every two weeks or so plus the occasional can't-be-avoided miss.

Tomorrow, the first run with WAR at Chaffee. Cindy won't be there due to surgery (I think), but it'll be nice to have people to run with. Hopefully there will be people there wanting to run my 9:20ish pace.

Ran outside for once, with the WAR group (or two of them, anyway). Ran two loops of a 4.25-mile loop at Fort Chaffee from the club building there. Hot? Yep, even at 7 a.m. It was 85 when I finished. Kept it real slow, above 10:00 pace.

Ran a half-marathon inside today at MAFC. That wasn't the plan when I left; I'd intended to do 5 or 6. But the legs felt pretty good, and I wasn't puring out the sweat TOO badly, so at first I planned to stretch it out just a little over 10 miles, to get to 60 for the week. Then by the 6-mile mark I was cruising along well and decided to do a full 13.1, which is 174 laps. I ran the first 87 laps in 59 minutes and change and the last 87 in about 57 minutes. Overall average was 8:54. Considering the first mile took 9:36, that's a pretty good progression.

I still haven't done the long runs like I probably need for this cycle with 11 weeks to go. But today's a start, anyway, a two-hour run and a 62.87-mile week.

Ten laps at Creekmore Park after work, since MAFC was closed for the holiday. Temp: 95. Sweating: profuse. Distance I actually wanted to run: one lap. Pace: 9:20. Relative pace: too damn fast. Kept trying to slow down. I need people to run with to keep me slowed down.

Hope to be back at Creekmore tomorrow night to attend WAR meeting, but that will depend on what the ER looks like.

I'm gonna try to keep track of my outdoor miles for a while until I get better acclimated or it cools down. July total: 14.63.

104 today in the Fort. No outside running for me. Instead I struggled through 93 laps at MAFC. I was STARVING. And nauseated. And had to take a potty break. But I got it done. Tomorrow might be a rest day.

Bagged the RD. Did lifting and core after work, followed by 4 easy, followed by 1 at MP. Went pretty well. Legs feel better now than before I started. And the streak goes on; now at 10.

Eight on the mill at MAFC: one mile warmup, six miles at MP, one mile cooldown. Wasn't sure I could maintain 6 at MP, but it really got easier as I went along. Forgot water bottle, though, which wasn't a good move. Although it didn't seem like I lost quite as much fluid as I have on some other TM runs.

Tomorrow marks four years of running, since that start-and-stop loop around McCain Park Drive. Nearly 7400 miles have passed under the old feet since then. Almost three coast-to-coast runs across the U.S. I never woulda thunk it.

Over four years of running, I've averaged just a scoche (sp?) over 5 miles per day, every day. Thus, I figured a 5-miler today would be appropriate to mark the four-year anniversary, and that's what I did. Finished seeing my patients early and went down to the gym for a run. Pager interrupted me three times, but nothing urgent and I finished the run and went up to deal with the minor issues (which mainly were discharging two people after they had procedures). I was still a little stiff from last night's MP run, but it went OK. Also saw Khristian down there and I think we'll finally start to get acquainted next week. :)

Still planning to get up early tomorrow and do 5-6 before work, but we'll see how that goes. Still need a rest day at some point, although I'm thinking that will be Sunday. Unless it's tomorrow. I think I'll just run to SHS and back tomorrow from the Casa instead of driving to Chaffee for the WAR run, since I have to finish before the rest of them start and get to work.

Did the Free Ferry/Old Greenwood/SHS/Valley Road loop at dawn. It felt like I was trying to breathe molasses, and I'd be lying if I said I ran every step of the way, but I maintained a 10:00 average. Well, that's not true either; I ran the last 2.5 considerably faster to get DOWN to a sub-10 average. But I got it done. Now off to work. I'm definitely awake now, but focus may be another issue. And I got in 50 miles since Sunday, including most of a work week.

Late morning addendum: With all the indoor running I've been doing, my hill fitness apparently has gone away, because those hills today kicked me hard. Guess I need to start playing with the incline button on the 'mill some.

Probably take that RD tomorrow in preparation for a massive indoor LR on Monday, maybe 16. Doing 212 laps does not sound appealing, but getting up at 5:30 to run for 2.5 hours in this soup doesn't sound good either. At least I can put water/Gatorade bottles by the track and grab them as I go by. Might be a good time to incorporate the cooler into my LR regimen.

Took the day off. Glutes a little sore, legs a little tired, just decided not to run.

Planned to do 16 inside today. Because the glutes were still hurting, and because of the importance of hydrating even on an indoor run, decided to break it into two-mile segments, at least initially -- run, drink, stretch. From a hydration standpoint, it worked well. From the standpoint of the glutes loosening, no. They got worse, not better. After six segments, I bagged it. Felt like going further invited more/long lasting problems. Even so, I ran the last two miles at 8:30ish pace. Overall average 9:03. We'll see how the glute feels tomorrow. It's the same place that has been bugging me off and on for a couple of years, just refused to loosen today.

Glute felt a little better today, so decided to test it. It was still sore, but got better as the run went on. I was able to progress the run decently, although not certain of paces due to lack of a watch today. Ended up with 67 laps. Could easily have gone farther, but T was waiting on me after his workout and, again, I didn't want to overdo it and set myself back. I still think I need to do some hill work, either actually outside or on the mill, which should help with the glute issue. But overall, compared to where I was 24 hours ago, I'm pretty pleased.

Mile repeats on the mill tonight. It rained earlier and was almost cool (85) but horribly humid. I probably would have done this on the mill anyway to keep the paces where I wanted them, especially with SHS still out of commission. Tonight it was 10K pace (7:24) X 5 with 440 jog intervals. With warmup/cooldown, a 10-mile workout. Hard. Very hard, especially with the glutes still on strike. But a good workout to get done.

Went out to run with the Crackheads at ADEQ this morning. Temp 79, dewpoint 77. Once the sun got over the trees, it quickly became brutal. I started out with ROUD plans, bumped them up to 14 miles when I felt pretty good through 6. Bad move. By 9, I was ready to bail -- but I was five miles from the car. That last 5 was as much walking as running, maybe more, and the whole 14.4 took me three hours. I don't know that I could have finished if I'd tried to do, say, 16. There wasn'was very little left in the tank when I got back to ADEQ.

May or may not be any running to report today, but I needed to post anyway. We had Tyler's birthday gathering last night at Larry's Pizza in west Little Rock, just family and friends. No cake or singing Happy Birthday or any of that, just quiet. Afterward, I left to drive back here, he made plans to go out with his friends. I got home around 9, was asleep by 11.

At 11:30, the phone rang. It was Tyler, and he was shaken. He and CJ had gone to Sean's apartment. When they left the apartment some time around 11, there was a guy outside with a gun. Took Sean's cellphone, Tyler's wallet, ID and cash; not sure if anything else taken. T was obviously very rattled and upset, and I quickly joined him. He had not talked to the police at that point; they arrived soon. Some people nearby saw the incident and thought they knew the robber, but to my knowledge, no one has been caught.

T then texted me at 4 a.m. that he couldn't sleep because his mind wouldn't shut down. I can believe that. I can't imagine being held up at gunpoint, and I'm just thankful the guy didn't panic and start shooting.

I didn't sleep very well either, even though I was exhausted after a very long day. Before I went back to bed, I'd talked to Pam a couple of times, called the bank to cancel his debit card, and tried to figure out how T can get on the flight to go see Pam Monday without an ID (also stolen). He can do it, but he'd better get to the airport really, really early.

I may or may not go to MAFC and run later. At this moment, running doesn't seem all that important.

Back to MAFC after work for 8 on the track. Glute acting up again; I may just have to bite the bullet and get it evaluated. In spite of that, ignored the discomfort and did a progression run. Last half-mile or so were close to or at MP. Even got chicked along the way by Erica from WAR, even though she ran 6 laps and I ran 106...

Pushup challenge is proving to be quite difficult. Those big sets with not much rest are HARD. Did 160, I think, today and barely finished (needed a couple of shake-out breaks). I feel stronger, but the endurance isn't there. Maybe I need to help it out with some high-rep, low weight lifting in between.

Kinda hill fartlek tonight on the mill. Threw in random climbs of anywhere from 1.5% (for a mile) to 10% (for 220 yards) throughout a 10K run, than did the last 0.25 at MP. Totaled 58:10 for the 10K; decent pace without pushing too hard. Other climbs were 3% (half mile), 6% (440), and 8% (440). Total vertical gain 474 feet. Glutes protested a little, but probably not more than they would have anyway on a slow 10K.

Also got in some mid-afternoon XT, upper body, abs, glutes and even some leg extensions. Hope that I can continue that through the summer and fall and really supplement the running, maybe get the glutes in shape so they calm down.

Took last night off with a case of PITA. Still there tonight, but manageable enough that I decided to do an easy run on the track, and felt OK to bump it up from 4 miles to 70 laps (5.28). Pace was probably mid-9ish, although I didn't wear a watch and couldn't tell from the clock on the far wall because of the glare. But the glute behaved itself, sorta.

Finished rounds early and managed an uninterrupted 6 on the mill at MAFC after lunch. Started slow for about 4.5, worked up and did the last 880 at MP. Glutes felt better when I finished than they've felt in a while. I'm sure they'll be quite stiff at 4:30 tomorrow, but for now, almost normal. Encouraging. I might even break down and buy my plane tickets to Utah this weekend.

Up at 4:30 a.m. to meet a couple of WAR members for a run around Chaffee. Temp in the 80s, humidity brutal, no breeze, glute uncooperative -- not a pleasant morning. Company was nice, run wasn't. Then I had to go to work. Man, do I need a nap. But I HTFU and got it done. They kept going and did another 7. I'm not sure I could have, if I'd had the time. I felt worse than last week and the weather was about the same. Maybe I'll get in 14-16 on Monday at Altman. I need to, anyway.

This run went better than I could have imagined: 240 laps at MAFC, at least 3 miles at something approximating MP. I broke it into two-mile segments again for hydration purposes, changed shirts once and headbands once, and it worked. The glute behaved itself for the most part, although the last four miles were not real comfortable. Still maintained sub-9 pace all the way to the end and averaged 8:28. I could have gone longer, too, but thought it would adversely affect my runs for the rest of the week if I did so. I hope to get in a 60-mile week in spite of the trip to Branson.

Treadmill progression run. Went pretty well for having done 18 miles the day before. Even got to MP for the last mile. Running with Cindy tomorrow at 5 a.m, then driving to Branson. Maybe a double TM run when I get there.

Running date with Cindy, first of what I hope will be many, many. We met at Marketplace Grill, I think is the name, at Phoenix and Massard. I got there at 4:55 a.m., she was waiting on me, and we just ran down and back on the sidewalk on Phoenix. As usual in July, it was a sweatfest, and the conversation noticeably lagged in the last mile as we just tried to keep going. But it was fun, and we had a good chat for the first half-hour. And we have another date Sunday night. Leaving for Branson this afternoon after I finally get tires put on the Prius. I may do a treadmill run this evening when I get there. I'm hoping to get in 60 miles this week; treadmill doubles might be a good way to do it. Addendum: Yep, got in the double once I got to Branson. Forgot that the mill here (singular) has a 30-minute time limit, but no one was waiting and another 16 minutes got me through the fish. Last half mile at MP. Once again, the glute felt better as I went faster, although bending over to tie my shoe with about a mile left was pretty agonizing. Keep doing nine miles a day, I'll get that 60 this week. New tires are pretty sweet, too; felt smoother, less road noise, and I'm willing to bet the mileage improved a bunch. Shoes: Kinvara am (4.10), Green Silence pm (5.00).

10K on the mill in 55:00, last mile at sub-MP. I keep thinking that mill is going to blow up, but at least it can handle 7.7 mph for a few minutes. MP is getting more and more comfortable, so much so that I'm thinking of 7:55 pace. Probably not smart, since 7:48 caused a blowup in Boston, but we shall see. Next week, I definitely need some HMP/10KP interval work.

Shoes: Kinvara.

Tomorrow, planning a double, with the dawn half maybe outside (felt pretty good at 6:30 when I went out to the car).

Sasha, I really wish you'd change "easy miles" to "slow miles" in the format. Today's run was slow, but it darn sure wasn't easy. Green Mountain Drive in Branson, Mo., has absolutely zero flat areas. It's uphill, then down, then up, then down, then up, then down, then up, then up some more. Then I turned around and ran back the way I came. Mapmyrun says it's 4.51; I'll take its word for it, since the Garmin is at home on my desk. Glute was not happy all night and didn't do much better today, although I guess it loosened some after a couple of miles.

More conference today, then probably an easy 4 tonight on the mill. If I hit my 60-mile week, I'll also hit a 200-mile month, which are a couple of nice round numbers. Getting to 200 ain't bad with the way the glute has been misbehaving, and the heat.

 ... Well, that easy 4 became 6.5. Still easy, but the legs (and glute) felt good on the mill. So I did 3.2 in the first 30-minute block, and 3.3 in the second (finished with five seconds to spare). Which gets me to 51 for the week, I guess, with two runs to go (maybe 3 if I get crazy and do a double on Sunday). But 62 or 63 would be a pretty good week. I probably need to be taking ibu before I go to bed, or at least at some middle-of-night point of which I have several, so I'm not so stiff in the morning. Since TOU will be a morning run, being loose at the start would be really helpful.

Been kinda stressing out all day about emotional issues. Which may or may not even exist. I guess I'll start finding out Sunday night if there was any reason for concern.

Tempo run on the mill. Or attempt at same. Forgot it was going to cut me off after 30 minutes at a time, and started tempo segment after 17+ minutes of a segment. Which allowed me to get in 12+ minutes at tempo pace. Probably just as well, as bad as I was struggling. I might not have finished those last 7 minutes.

Anyway, did 8.54 total, which IIRC puts me at exactly 60 for the week, and should be over 200 for the month. Hoping to do a double tomorrow to get 10 more miles. I think 210 would be a pretty darn good month for missing five days, although I got two, maybe three runs back doing doubles.

Shoes: Kinvara. (yeah, I know you can set the blog up to track shoe mileage, but I've been doing it in my handwritten log, which I left at home Wednesday. So I'll transfer this info to the log when I get back.)

Fifty minutes and change on the mill this morning in Branson. Which gets me to 65.53 miles for the week IIRC; knock out another 5 or 6 this afternoon at MAFC and I'll have my 70+ week. Wouldn't have predicted I'd get in 70+ on a road trip week, but considering I have zero interest in Branson's touristy aspects, what else was I gonna do?

Thought there was going to be a date tonight. I should have known better. I don't get to date #3. The old boyfriend that Cindy thought she was over.. she's not over him. And he showed up this weekend. So now she has to figure things out. I think I know how this will end up/has already ended up. Back to square one, or off the board completely. This is going to take a while for me to work out, I think.

So, after that news, I needed to run and I needed to hurt. So I ran for an hour and six seconds at MAFC, busting the last 0.79 at under MP. Total of 6.79. Physical pain, come and gone. Mental pain, still there.

70 laps at MAFC after work, while the outside temp was 110. Even an easy fish was hard after 72 miles last week, but I got 'er done.

Up at 4:30 tomorrow to join the 5 a.m. group at Marketplace, then maybe do a double after work. Hopefully I sleep better tonight than last night, for sure.

Today was the hottest day recorded in Fort Smith history. So what did I do? I ran in it. Temp at 7 p.m. when I got off work: 113 (high was 115). I changed clothes at MAFCm, drove down to Creekmore Park and ran six laps, which really weren't all that bad. Very hot, obviously, but next to no humidity and a little breeze. Could have gone farther, and actually did stretch the run from four laps to six, but that was plenty to prove to myself that I could. Drove back to MAFC and did four miles on the track, with the last mile at MP. Very good run overall, completing 7.65 in less than 70 minutes. And the legs don't feel bad, almost an hour later. I'm pretty pleased.

133 lovely laps at the MAFC track after work. I got off to a rollickng start by forgetting to bring a headband, thereby ensuring I'd be half-blinded and/or have to carry a towel with me (both proved to be the case). Legs felt pretty good after yesterday's "double", so I stretched the originally planned 10K to 10M (plus I knew I didn't have to cook afterwards; Tyler and I had agreed to meet at a Mexican restaurant). So I probably needed to run 10 to make up for all the calories I was about to eat.

Anyway, maintained about 9:00 pace throughout until I put the hammer down in the last 16 laps or so. Not sure if it was MP or not, but it felt like it. Finished 10 in approximately 88 minutes, maybe a touch less.

Another Badwater run at Creekmore, this because I (a) worked late and (b) forgot to take running clothes and (c) MAFC closes at 8 on Friday. So I didn't have time to go home, get clothes, drive back and run. Thus I went to the store, got stuff for dinner, went home, changed, drove to Creekmore and ran seven laps. About 106 at the start, maybe 102 at the finish. Still hotter than, well, you know. But got it done.

5 a.m. at Chaffee, predawn fun. It was only 88 when I got out there. Fortunately, not too humid. I just finished last night's run at 8:30, so too quick a turnaround, and shut it down after 6.3 instead of going 8 or 9. That's OK. Twelve hours of work lie ahead. First, a short nap...

94 laps at MAFC this morning. Back and legs both very stiff at the beginning, so started very slowly. Took a stretch break after one mile, felt much better afterward, but still was barely under 9:00 pace. Until about five miles left, when some kid jumped on the track, started running and passed me. He got about 40 yards out front, slowed a bit, and I decided I was going to slowly reel him in. Which I did in about a half mile. When I passed him, he quickly stopped, but I kept going at the same pace, which felt about MPish. That took me the last 1.8 to the finish, roughly, at ~MP. Felt pretty good, actually. Total of 7.09.

Right after the run, T called me; Pupe had arrived to move him up to UA. So I showered, went home, we loaded the vehicles, took them to Fayetteville, unloaded and carried everything up two flights of stairs to his apartment (and then much of it up more stairs to his bedroom). A fairly concentrated 45-minute workout, but amazingly the back behaved. My foot slipped off the curb as I was carrying T's big TV back to the car (no place for it), but somehow I neither fell nor dropped the TV. I couldn't do that again if I tried.

Called the fix-up elves for more of their magic, plus I have a promise from Kay of a meeting and some other options I'm considering on my own. Just have to carry through with them. Somebody's out there; I'm pretty sure of that.

I'd planned to do 20 tomorrow, but I have to take the Prius in to get the dashboard display screen replaced. Maybe I run afterward, maybe I wait to Wednesday. We'll see how long it takes. After 7 plus a move, I'm quite pooped right now.

Easy 7.5 on the mill. Legs felt better afterward than before. Briefly thought about going ahead and doing the 20 today, the legs felt so good. We'll see tomorrow if I should have.

Some of this run might actually have been at MP, but if it was, it would have been the first eight miles or so. After that, the legs got very heavy very quickly. Definitely an HTFU type of run. Even had problems with the cartilage in the left knee for the last four miles, but sucked it up and got it done anyway. All I can say is I got the run done. Garmin wasn't charged and I didn't have a watch, but I think the run took roughly three hours. Will I be ready to run a good race in 38 days? Dunno.

Going to run with Cindy tomorrow. We'll see how that goes -- and how the legs work at 5 a.m. after 20 today. Don't think I need to worry about holding back to stay with her.

Up early to run with Cindy and two of her friends on Phoenix. Thunderstorm had blown through earlier, so it was fairly humid, but cool with a bit of a breeze. Really a nice morning for a run. Scenery wasn't bad either :) We ran about 9:45 pace going out, about perfect for a recovery run, then Cindy and Rose, I think her name is, put the hammer down for the last mile and I couldn't let them run off and leave me. So the last mile was sub-9. That's OK. Legs feel pretty good. I'll do a second run later, probably on the mill at MAFC. I'd like to get somewhere over 70 miles again this week.

Second run in the books, 6.42 on the mill in exactly an hour. Or should I say, I ran for an hour and the distance happened to be 6.42.

Easy 106 laps at MAFC. Don't know how easy, because I didn't wear a watch, but didn't seem to be any strain. I'm guessing it was probably 9:30ish average.

Went to Chaffee this morning and ran with the WAR crew after not much sleep. Temps were nice, around 70, although very muggy after overnight rain. I got 9.36 done at reasonable pace. May do a double this afternoon; this didn't seem to take much out of me other than that I'm ready for a nap. As it is, up to 62 for the week. With a double, 75 or even 80 is a possibility for the week.

Run 2: Easy run on the track at MAFC, squeezed in before they closed at 5. Got me to 15 miles for the day, but felt much easier that if I'd done 15 all at once. Three-hour nap didn't hurt either.

Back to MAFC today. Warm up for 1.5 miles, then mile reps on the mill: Four at HMP, one at 10KP, with 440 jog intervals. Then warm down on the track. Went better than I expected. Legs protested for the first rep, then got in gear, and cranking it up on the last rep was no problem.

Total for the week: 78 miles. Definitely feel better about my chances in Logan after this week. I still need a lot more speed work, including prolonged MP work, that I haven't done to date. But the speed work can start this week when my volume comes down.

Easy progression on the indoor track (pretty soon I'll be back at SHS; probably could be now, in fact). Started off really slow, 10:00ish, and gradually got faster. Last 0.7 were at MP or faster. Legs felt pretty good, once I got loose, didn't sweat too awful much, and I felt strong as I accelerated. So a pretty good run to follow up on 78 last week. Tomorrow, a double; Phoenix with Cindy and the crew in the AM, something at the gym in the evening.

5 a.m. run on Phoenix with Rose and Keith (Cindy didn't make it). Able to comfortably negative-split it, finishing with 9:21 average that didn't feel that fast. Distance 4.06. Probably a fish after work. Shower and nap first though.

Got in that fish, treadmill run with hills thrown in to spice things up (and because I've been short on hill work). Also did some weights before the run, working on the calves. Hoping a little extra strength will ward off the calf cramps. We'll see. Total of 5.31 miles in 50:00 even, 9.37 for the day. Both runs in the new Asics Speedstar shoes that arrived yesterday.

Not sure if I'll run tomorrow. That may depend on whether Cindy will be out for dawn patrol Thursday morning. I'm getting close to needing a day off, though. Have another new pair of shoes to try out, Kinvara 2s. Starting to wish I'd gone to 10s instead of 9.5, but maybe they'll stretch just a tad.

4 with the crew at Marketplace, including Cindy. Rose decided to pick up the pace with about a quarter mile to go, then we all did. Keith ended up outsprinting me, but it felt kinda good to go all-out like that. We'll see if I have anything left to do HMP on the mill tonight after work. We'll also see if Eve is at work after yesterday's little incident. Didn't get to talk to Cindy, so no update on status, but her quick exit afterward may not be good news. Or it just may mean she needed to be at work early. Dunno.

Tempo run after work, 4 miles at HMP in a 7-mile run on the mill. Went pretty well. Then I heard from Cindy. She's back with the ex, and has asked me not to run with the 5 a.m. group any more. So I guess that's over. Not a surprise, but still very disappointing.

Moderate progression on the track at MAFC. Felt pretty comfortable; close to MP for the last quarter mile but not quite. Work unusually light for a Friday, which is nice. Could use two more days like this to ease out of the week. Hoping to get about 10 tomorrow at Chaffee before work and 6ish on Sunday, which would put me close to 50.

Oh, man, this was ugly. No energy, no breakfast, no breeze, high humidity. Major, major bonk. A 10.6-miler felt like 30. Barely got to work on time after starting at Chaffee at 5 a.m. But it's done. Thinking very strongly about skipping tomorrow, but we'll see how I feel in the morning.

Mid-day, work day run (you figure it out). After first mile in 9:07, last six miles in 47:50. That would equal six miles at MP. Actually felt pretty good, one of those runs where I felt stronger after I finished than before I started. Fortunately, V didn't call (and if he had, my phone was dead) and no one paged until I was in the shower afterward. So that catapults me into the last week before TAPER MADNESS (Vinny Price laugh). Thinking a couple of good interval runs, an MLR maybe Tuesday, a long run next weekend with a nice chunk of MP, then cruise into taper for Utah. As if I'm not insane already.

Easy afternoon run on the track at MAFC, followed by whirlpool and a trip to stock up on gels. This evening, I may run to SHS and back. An easy double, but that will be 11 miles plus. Tomorrow, probably 15.

Yep, did that double. Really, really sweaty going to SHS. The new turf looks nice, but it's got ads painted all over it. I understand the economic necessities, but sheesh. High school football shouldn't be on sale to the highest bidder like that.

Progression run at MAFC. Felt really tight and slow for the first four miles, and the split confirmed it: 37:09. Then 35:18, 34:40, and the last split was 33:33. Total 2:20:42, average 8:47. Now to get horizontal for a while.

Morning workout consisting of some XT followed by easy 5.25 on the mill. Going back tonight for 6 or so with some hard progression.

I'm finally starting to feel like I'm going to be ready for TOU. My body feels like a marathon body again. About time, I'd say.

Body felt a little older when I went back this evening to finish the double. Really, really stiff. In spite of that, started to push the pace at about 4 miles and I'm pretty sure it was down around MP, although wasn't wearing a watch to confirm it. Did 81 laps, 6.11 miles, then got in the whirlpool. Again.

Good tempo intervals on the mill at MAFC. Warmed up for 1.5, stretched a bit, then did 3 at MP, recovered for a mile, 2 at HMP, another mile recovery, 1 at 10KP, then 1.5 cooldown. Total of 11 in less than 94 minutes. It really went better than I expected, especially when my legs were really tight during the warmup. That one-minute stretch break did the trick, and I had no further problems for the rest of the run.

That's also 84 miles in the last 8 days. If I'm not ready to run a good race at Logan, it won't be because I didn't put in some miles.

Got out this morning for a hill route: 66th, FF, behind Trinity, back home on Rogers. Back and legs were both very tight at the start. Back loosened, legs didn't. Hills ate me up. Might need to go to the gym this afternoon for 3 or 4 plus whirlpool. Right now, I'm at 55 miles. I should absolutely get 80+ this week.

I hate typing mileage in the "Easy Miles" box after a day like today. There was absolutely nothing easy about it. Struggle from start to finish. Humid, sunny, not much breeze, and I didn't feel good to start with. Just a miserable/sucktastic morning. But it's done, it's in the books, and it's TAPER TIME!!! In three weeks I'll be in Logan, and hopefully I'll be off the course and scrambling to find a computer to get registered for Boston by now.

But I'm also aware that I could have a bad day on the 17th, just like I had one today. Part of what goes with this obsessive pursuit, especially for us silverbacks who don't recover like we once did. Hopefully 20 days of taper is enough and the legs will be fresh on the 17th (cross fingers, knock on wood, etc.). Yeah, it's silly, but I'm just grateful to have a diversion in my life. And as of next Saturday, I'll have two: Razorback football season begins.

T's driving down from Fedvul some time today, don't know when. I'm willing to bet (it's 12:10 p.m. now) he's not even awake yet.

I seem to always follow a crappy run with a good one. Today was another example. Went to MAFC for a fish to shake off yesterday's 20. But as I got going, I felt pretty good, I went a little faster, and I felt a little better. So I ended up doing 110 laps, with the last two miles or so at basically MP or less. Wound up with a sub-9 average in spite of a cautious start. It also put me at 83 miles for the week, my second highest ever unless I'm forgetting something.

Legs felt every one of those 83 miles last week this evening. In spite of that, got in an easy fish on the track at MAFC. Pace was right at 9:00, which is just what I felt comfortable running tonight. Tomorrow, I'll try some 3K intervals at HMP on the mill and see how those work. Reserving the right to go to Plan B, of course.

Tempo intervals on the mills: 3 X 3K at 8.1 mph, with 440 jog intervals and 1.5 warm/cool. Went pretty well, legs felt comfortable and didn't have to strain to maintain pace. I feel like I need a rest day pretty soon, but probably will wait until Thursday just to get one more run in August, being the compulsive that I am. But I have to get up early to get to work by 7 for a meeting, so maybe I won't feel like running by 7 p.m.

Schedule said 9 with 3 at moderate progression. Wasn't sure I'd do any at mid-afternoon; my back was a bit sore. That eased off, and I decided to go ahead and run. But then the legs were really dragging. In spite of that, started off at about 9:00 pace and progressed, and the last two miles were at MP. But I started getting stomach cramps in the last mile, and given that I was not anxious to undergo a brown bear attack, I decided to shut it down after 8. Which got me to 270 for the month. Not bad for an old guy.

Probably a fish tomorrow, then take off Friday before AM runs on Saturday and Sunday to wrap up the first week of taper.

Very easy fish at the gym. Plan was to do it all on the mill, but all the mills were taken. So I did 18 laps before a mill opened up. I was glad it did, because it was a major slog on the track. Started out as a slog on the mill too, but it loosened up fairly quickly. So I started the month with a good, not great run after getting slammed at work.

Back at SHS for the first time in three months, and the first run period in three days. Took a while to get going, as usual, but felt pretty good for the last two miles of the fish. Tomorrow, with cool weather FINALLY having arrived, plan to do 16 or so.

Got in my last MLR. Intentionally picked a hilly course, one because I wanted some downhills like I might see in Utah; two, because after this run, the course in Logan will look really easy. Did two 8.55-mile loops. First one in 1:18, second in 1:13. Legs were really feeling in late in the run, especially because the last 1.7 is pretty much all uphill, but sucked it up and got 'er done anyway. Now I feel like the hay is in the barn. Couple more sharpening runs and 10-12 on Saturday and I'll be good to go.

Four easy miles on the mill, then back home for hill sprints on Duncan. I could tell I havent done hill sprints in a long time (not that I ever did them well), but they went OK. Total of 8.

So the plan is intervals tomorrow on the mill, a shortie Friday before or after I go to Tyler's doctor appointment, 10 or so on Saturday, drive to Little Rock, come back Sunday, and do a shortie Sunday. Or maybe not.

Ten days. And counting. I even started packing today, a little...

Intervals on the dreadmill. One-mile warmup, 3 at HMP, 1 easy, 1 at MP, 3 at sub-HMP, 1 cooldown. Total of 10 in 80:53. Darn near MP average. And that mile at MP felt ridiculously easy. Maybe I've actually gotten myself ready for a good race, in spite of a 115-degre summer. We'll find out in less than nine days now (yikes!)

Five easy on the track at MAFC, with strides at the end (3/4 lap stride, 1/4 lap recovery). Felt pretty good. Doing 10 or so tomorrow, then its RACE WEEK. And I am ready. MY confidence is good, no niggles. I wish I'd dropped about 5 pounds, but oh well.

Waited too long to leave Bryant to get to run at the gym this afternoon, so waited for dark/cooler temps to run at the track. Did 5 easy, then pushed one more lap. Legs felt a little heavy for a couple of miles after missing yesterday, then loosened up OK. Have a dress rehearsal, a mini-interval run and maybe an Aussie carb-load run on Friday once I get there, and that's about it.

Been thinking about the altitude. Of course, nothing I can do to prepare for it. I guess all I can do is make sure I concentrate on my breathing so that I get as much oxygen as I can given the thin air. Even Mumber asked me about it at lunch today.

Last intervals of the cycle: 1 warmup, 1 at MP, 1 at HMP, 1 cooldown on the mill. That's it. Took less than 34 minutes. Took about a half-mile to get loose, then I was fine. Tomorrow, dress rehearsal on the mill after work, then the hay is REALLY in the barn (as if it's not now). I feel ready. Also learned there will be a 3:30 pace group, which I think I will join. And this time, maybe I'll stay there.

Dress rehearsal done (while temps outside in the high 90s; I'm gonna be in for a shock when I go out the door Saturday morning in Logan). Warmed up with 2 miles on the track, then 3 miles at 7.6 mph on the mill, and two mile cooldown. Had to work a tiny bit harder than I would have liked to maintain pace, but then I had just finished a long day at work, and there was no discomfort whatsoever. Just a lot of sweat.

Now the hay is baled and barned. I just have to get out there Saturday morning, trust my training and do it. Mike is going to call me Friday and we'll drive the course, hit the expo, maybe run the last 2-3 miles of the course in town to get all the twists down, and carbload. Then it'll be time to do it. Boston or Bust! The balls are definitely on the table now.

Easy 4 just to shake out the kinks before work. Which takes me over 1600 miles for the year. It's also my last training run; Thursday will be SRD, Friday I'll do a jog with Mike along the course, and Saturday, well, is hammer time.

Easy shakeout run in Logan on the last section of the TOU course, after Mike and I, and his friends from Logan, had driven up to the start. Seemed to handle the altitude OK. Hope I do tomorrow as well.

More details to come, but I can define TOU in two words: Bonk City. Yuck. Too bad, because the race is great and I loved the course, but the legs just were not there, and I wasn't tough enough to overcome them.

OK, here we go, 48 hours later. Splits are from the autolap on my Garmin, set for 1.01 miles (it read 26.48 total, so that is pretty darn close).

I slept pretty well, given how I generally don't deal well with hotels. Up at 4 a.m., got dressed, went to the lobby to get some breakfast and wait for the bus. Felt physically OK, but a little weird psychologically. Not the normal prerace butterflies, almost like I knew I wasn't going to run well (self-fulfilling prophecy?). Bus finally arrived, went to Olsen Park, got off one bus and right back on another one, then headed for Hardware Ranch and the start. Couldn't see any of the course in the dark, but Mike and I had already driven the course on Friday afternoon, so I'd seen everything already. We get to Hardward Ranch, and it's raining, but there's a heated tent there to keep us dry, and it wasn't as crowded as I had expected. I found Mike and his group inside (or they saw me and called me over, more accurately), so we chatted for a while. Went up for one more bathroom break -- Candace hit the portapotties, Mike and I found other secluded locations. Mike and Candace were going to wait until well after the start to let the traffic clear, but I was going to try to run with the 3:30 pace group, so I headed down the hill to find them.

Found them quite quickly, and the pacer told me he was shooting for a 3:00 positive split and handed me a pace band. Three minutes sounded a bit aggressive, but I thought I'd give it a try; maybe the downhill would allow me to do that without emptying the tank. The first gun went off for the wheelchair racers; five minutes later, the second gun for the rest of us. Then, about 45 seconds later, some idiot fired off a cannon or howitzer or mortar or something, just as I ran by. I thought for a second my right eardrum had burst, and that ear still isn't quite right.

Anyway, the pacer took off at a 7:45 pace, and I could not keep up. At all. Not just because of the traffic, but because the legs weren't going that fast. OK, I decided, forget the pace group, let's just try to even split this course, save some energy to have for the second half.

First mile was 97 feet net downhill, but I ran 8:03. OK, fine, chalk that up to early congestion, but things are starting to thin out.

Second mile, 78 feet down, another 8:03, but the traffic is thinning. I am noticing that the altitude (5614' at the start) seems to be having an impact in that I'm sucking a little air, but something that happens at sea level too for the first couple of miles before I settle in. Legs don't feel highly energetic, but nothing hurts.

Mile 3, 7:59, 44 feet down. OK, this is more like it. Course is very twisty and turny, and the pace bunny is long out of sight, so I give up any thought of catching him. I see a blonde with pigtails, a white running skirt and a wide-elbows stride, easily recognizable, so I lock on her and try to keep up/catch up. She would stay in my sights for about 14 miles. I'm also really trying to run the tangents on all of the turns, while the blonde is doing nothing of the sort. She's pretty much hugging the yellow lines in the center of the road. I'd be willing to bet if she wore a Garmin, it read at least 27 miles at the finish.

Mile 4. 64 feet down. I'd made one last bathroom stop before the start, but  at this point the bladder is feeling uncomfortably full, so I hit the portapotty at the mile marker. Only took a few seconds, and I got the fourth mile in 8:14. Lost a few seconds, but maybe I can make them up now that the bladder is empty. This is the first time I've ever had to take a whiz during a race, BTW. Usually it's a little full, I ignore it and the urge goes away (or my body reabsorbs some of the fluid, not sure which). But not today.

Mile 5, 55 feet down. Legs still not very lively, but I seem to be settling into this pace, and I make up five seconds I lost in the portapotty with a 7:55. And we're now back below 5280' above sea level, so no longer mile-high, and the breathing seems to be getting easier, whether it's because we're lower down or because I've gotten through the early-race stuff.

Mile 6, 48 feet down. Make up another six seconds with a 7:54, and I'm really focusing on the tangents, while the blonde doesn't. At some point, don't remember exactly where, I caught her, but that didn't last long, maybe a mile.

Mile 7, 98 feet downhill, and I turn in a 7:56. Probably should have pushed that mile a little harder, but at this point I'm back on schedule with an average of just over 8:00, even with the bathroom break.

Mile 8, 110 feet downhill. This one, I take better advantage with a 7:45, and I'm now below goal average. One hour, four minutes into the race. Just have to hold this for 146 more minutes.

Mile 9, 58 feet downhill. It would be a mistake to assume that this course was downhill all the way. There is some rolling stuff in there. The constants are the mountains on either side, and the Blacksmith Fork River is usually close to the course. I turn in an 8:04 for this mile, as it flattened out a bit, but I'm still under GMP.

Mile 10, only 28 feet downhill, and I crept back up to an 8:10. In retrospect, this may be where I started sensing that the second half would not go well.

Mile 11, 27 feet downhill, and 8:04. Now the average is back over 8:01, which is basically what I need for sub-3:30. I didn't burn myself up on the downhill -- or did I?

Mile 12, 92 feet downhill, and I absolutely did not take advantage. 8:12. Oh yeah, I haven't mentioned the weather since the start. It was probably low 40s, maybe high 30s at the start. It's warmed up a little since then with the sun coming up -- if you could see the sun. Which we haven't. It's been raining off and on, mostly on, and there's been hail and all kinds of fun stuff. I can feel the beginnings of a blister on my left foot from the wet socks, and my lightweight Kinvaras are no longer so light. Plus there has been thunder and lightning, lots of it. I would learn on Sunday that they considered stopping the race because of the lightning, but there was no good way to get 2000+ runners off the course in that canyon. By this point, the storm is actually easing off, but there are wet spots on the course that have to be dodged a bit.

Mile 13, 85 feet downhill. We're almost out of the canyon. But now I have another concern. The GI tract is starting to act up. I actually did not eat very much for breakfast, had my usual two pitstops before I got on the bus, and I've just had one gel at about mile 7, but now the colon is complaining. I've been known to ignore such urges in the past and they (sometimes) go away, so that's the plan for now. And it did ease off, temporarily. Mile 13 split was 8:08. We finally hit a timing mat for the tracking, and it was 1:44:49 at 13. Slightly over goal pace, but I'm still hoping I've saved some energy and can at least run even splits, which would get me a PR. I'm not sure, but I think at this point, the blonde is long gone.

Mile 14, 78 feet downhill. The legs are not feeling good right now. Glutes, hip flexors, IT bands all hurting. The quads are fine. People talk about downhills trashing their quads; it hasn't happened to me yet. But my last mile in the canyon is 8:04. And the GI issues are not going away. I'm not anxious for a chocolate mile, but I'll push this as long as I can.

Mile 15, 73 feet downhill even though we're out of the canyon. Another 8:08. Really needing to go to the bathroom, but both portapotties are full at the aid station. So onward I slog.

Mile 16, 48 feet downhill. I'm going to lose this GI battle at some point, and it's going to be now. I finally give up and hit the portapotty, and this mile winds up being 9:10. I'm hoping that the little 45-second break will rejuvenate my legs for a while.

Mile 17, 47 feet downhill. We're now out on the main highway in Nibley. Legs did feel a little better, and I did this mile in 8:07. Probably not going to get a PR, but maybe I can at least break 3:35 and be able to submit a Boston entry on Monday.

Mile 18, 46 feet downhill. Still on the highway in Nibley. The legs are not. Feeling. Good. I'm sensing an imminent bonk and there's not a thing I can do about it. 8:32 for this mile.

Mile 19, turned off the main highway and starting the last 8 miles of twisting and turning. And the bonk is here. The walk monster jumped on my back shortly after we turned off the highway. I'm trying to keep the walks short, but this mile is 10:32. This mile is also actually uphill 47 feet, but the hill is not why I'm walking.

Mile 20, and the bonk continues. Somewhere in here, the 3:40 pace group passes me. This was my worst mile of the day: 13:02. I'm starting to wonder if (a) I should just bag it and DNF, (b) if I don't bag it, can I finish in less than four hours, and (c) can I keep Mike and Candace from passing me before the finish? Mile 20 is basically flat, only 9 feet uphill, but when you're walking, it doesn't matter.

Mile 21, 70 feet downhill going into the community of Providence. A little more running and a little less walking, but it's still 11:22. Just don't let Mike catch me.

Mile 22, actually 12 feet uphill, but a bit of a recovery; I did this mile in less than 10 minutes. I'm sure there was a little walking in there, but better.

Mile 23, 26 feet downhill. Mike, Candace and I ran the last 3-miles plus of the course together on Friday afternoon, and I know exactly where we started, right around the 23-mile marker. At this point, my goal is just to run that last segment without stopping. I certainly didn't run mile 23 without stopping; time was 12:08.

Mile 24. I started running right where I had started the preceding afternoon. However, the goal to keep going for the last 3.2 without walking didn't happen. This mile (36 feet downhill) was 10:55.

Mile 25. OK, screw this. I'm going to break four hours, I'm not going to let Mike and Candace catch me, and I'm going to do these last 2.2 without walking. I may be in pain, but I can run 2.2 miles without stopping. And I did this mile, in 9:19. We're on Main Street in Logan here, and I'll be darned if I walk through downtown, even if there is an uphill here. Net for the mile was 7 feet up. I'm not running very fast, but I am running.

Mile 26. Turned off Main Street, over one block, back south for five blocks, then over a block to turn for the finish. There's a little downhill here, the same one we went up in Mile 25, but this mile is net flat. Thanks to that little down hill, I "sprinted" to a 9:03.

Mile 26.22. East on 200 South, north a block and a half on 200 East into the park and the finish. I guess I managed something impersonating a sprint, or at least back to what I should have been running. This last section was in 1:43. Across the line in 3:54:52. Sub-4, Mike didn't catch me, and I ran those last 2.2 without walking. Three minor victories.

Get across the line, get my cool medal with the moose engraved on it, and head for the food and fluid. The legs are really, really wobbly. I see some people coming across the line behind me who have blue lips and are shivering. I'm shivering a little myself, and I wouldn't be surprised if my lips were blue too. It hasn't rained in an hour, but it's still quite chilly and overcast. I thought about lying down and propping my feet up on a tree to drain some of the lactic acid, but I wasn't sure I could get up if I did that. I did find a chair for a few minutes to get off my feet. I also went over to get my bag from the bag drop and put on a longsleeved shirt, which felt much better. The shivering stopped once I got the shirt on, and I'm eating and drinking everything I can get my hands on -- ice cream, cheese, fruit. AMazingly passed on the cups full of goldfish crackers, which I usually eat by the handful.

Mike finds me a few minutes later. Candace didn't quite make her goal either, running a 4:01:14, and she'd gotten a little wobbly too. I wound up 108 places in front of her in the final standings, and 109 in front of Mike.

They had shuttle buses to take us back to our hotels, and I went over to catch one. But when no bus showed up in 15 minutes, I decided if I could walk back to my hotel in Boston, I could walk back in Logan. And I did. By now, the clouds are completely gone and it's a beautiful, clear, cool day (temp around 60 by this point). My path takes me by that one-block section of the course on 300 North where they turned off Main, and I'm cheering on the people who are still on course as I walk back to the hotel. And I'm really glad when I get to the hotel that there's an elevator -- and that I didn't forget to take my room key. But housekeeping is in my room when I arrive, so filling up the whirlpool tub has to wait. I update Facebook from my phone, then fill the tub with warm water when the housekeeper leaves.

What went wrong? So many possibilities. Too much indoor training. Too little hill work. Not enough taper. Bad carbload. The altitude. Too old? Maybe even too MUCH training. Remember, goofball, you got a BQ on a nine-week cycle. Maybe 20 weeks is just too much. But I don't have 20 weeks before CIM, I have 11. So if I nail CIM on a short cycle, that will answer a lot of my questions.

But, finally and for once, I DID NOT CRAMP in a marathon.

Still in post-marathon rest mode. Legs feel pretty good. My back has been a little achy, which I attribute to hotel beds and too much time in airplanes, but it's better today too. Went to MAFC after work and did 30 minutes on the recumbent, maintaining a cadence of 90+. It said I rode 7+ miles; not sure what that means, but the ride went well and I worked up a bit of a sweat. Then finally got in the now-repaired whirlpool.

Have a running date Friday morning, probably, with Kelly at Creekmore, time to be determined. Not gonna get the hopes up too much, but we'll see how things go. Then after I get back from Bama, start training again, and then begin a nine-week cycle the next weekend.

Met Kelly at Creekmore Park for three laps, then did three more laps on my own after she left. Hip flexors are still a bit stiff and sore. We'll see if today loosens them any. Enjoyed the run with KK. Won't be anything other than running outings for a while, but that's OK for the time being.

Shakeout 10K at the high school after getting back from Alabama. Legs felt better as I went along, as often happens, and mid-60s weather didn't hurt. Last two laps at MP, total time under 57, so not bad for eight days out from a marathon.