Getting back to Boston

Started the new year with a group run at the WAR room, with Lionel, Sheri, Pattie, Ronda, James, David, Kathy, Logan and others. We did 7 (at least David and Kathy did) then I did another 3 solo. The cold rain started during the extra 3. Not cold enough to freeze yet but it may get there.

Right now my plan/resolution is to do at least 300 days this year and average 8.5 or so. That would get me a 50-mile weekly average and the mileage PR. Hoping also that consistent, higher volume training will help get a BQ along the way.

Cold and rainy all day; finally wound up hitting the mill at the hospital around 9 pm for a steady 80 minutes.

Treadmill progression run, only one day off the schedule after taking Saturday off (sleep and stoopid cold weather). Took a nap before going to the gym and felt pretty groggy at first, but legs felt strong during the MP segment. HR was 142 according to the treadmill HRM, which sounds about right. I'm sure it would have crept up if I'd kept going at MP or faster.

4 p.m. run after a morning in the dentist chair. Legs actually felt pretty good after last night's progression run and I maintained low 9/high 8 pace. One week from now I'll be on the way to Colorado. Wow.

A very cold 8 this morning after work, Legs were very heavy. Short turnaround got me I guess.

Started out cold, got colder and windier. But it was either do it today or do it indoors tomorrow, so I knocked out my 14 miler. Then I went to get my TB test done. Now I can shower and sleep. I've done 57 miles so far in 2015 with a day off. Keep that average up, I can get close to 3000 miles this year.

Slow 7 with hill sprints. Legs were still too tired from yesterday's 14 for it to be easy.

Good treadmill run after work, since it was in the teens and the gang wasn't starting until 8 anyway. Two mile warmup, bumped up the pace with 25 seconds of fartlek at ~6:40 pace per mile, then marathon pace before and after the last fartlek segment. Total of 11.2, exactly 100 minutes, and felt much better after the finish than before I started. Gotta love those endorphins... Making up for skipping yesterday due to lack of sleep.

Recovery run on the mill after work, since it was freezing rain outside.

Moderate progression run on the mill at 1 a.m., bumping up to BQP+ for the last two miles. Legs were a tiny bit heavy (17 hours since last run) but maintained/progressed with no problem. Plan remains to do a short run every day on the trip, whether on the hotel 'mill or on the roads, but we'll see how the best-laid plans go. I seem to be making some progress on the weight loss front; I'll have to try to avoid the temptation to pig out in Colorado.

Treadmill run in Avon at 7300 feet. Altitude a bit of an issue, long hours in the car more so. Skiing tomorrow; we'll see how that goes -- and when I feel like running again.

Finally got out with Kathy, Lo, Erica and Hobe after five days off. Legs felt like I was still on the mountain in Vail, but I was able to crank up to BQP for the last mile plus anyway. Just needed to get back out there. Probably should have run Sunday but I was too groggy and never even left the house.

Recovery run before work. GI tract decided not to cooperate. Really not cooperative at all. Last 3.5 miles were ... messy. Even after that, I felt queasy and like it was about to happen again, which persisted after I got home and got cleaned up.

Progression run after work. Legs kinda heavy after running at 4 p.m. yesterday but finally got loose in the last 3 miles.

Hill repeats on the treadmill after cold rain zapped me this morning and lack of sleep zapped me this afternoon. Actually was left unpaged for the 37 minutes it took to do the actual repeats/recoveries. The warmup/cooldown? Another matter. Reps were one minute at 5KP with jog recovery; I put them at 2/3 of 5KP for 1:30 so the distance was roughly equal.

Easy recovery run on the mill right before work. So close in fact that I showered at work and swiped my badge right at 7, before I even got my socks and shoes back on. I was still pretty stiff after last night's hill repeats but loosened up 3-4 miles in. Easy run tomorrow prior to the hour run.

Easy run between hoops game and work. Hip flexors still quite sore from hill reps Thursday night. I've got to get them stronger between now and Mississauga, and I think that will require some weight work, or at least plyometrics. Worked on knee lift for the last half mile which may also help there.

Tempo run today disguised as a race. Worked overnight, got five hours sleep, got up. drove 90 minutes to Danville, arrived with not enough time for a warmup prior to the race (and wasted some of that waiting for a restroom). Once the race started, I was doing about 2:02 laps with twinges in both thighs left over from the hill repeats the other night. The twinges weren't getting any better. After four miles, I walked about half a lap to let the twinge subside, then when I resumed running it was more comfortable and I could run faster. Last couple of miles were faster than the rest. My goal was to top my 7.52 miles from 2013; I was about 275 yards short of that but topped my finish from last year. Then I did 10 laps slow to warm down. Weather was about 50 and quite windy, into the wind on the finish side, downwind on the opposite side, and I found myself getting quite warm on the downwind side. I finally ditched my T-shirt while walking, down to the singlet underneath, and was much more comfortable. I didn't need that extra shirt, basically.

Went out the door at 8:45 intending just to do an easy 4 to get out the kinks and not skip a day. Lo and behold, I got out there and my legs felt better than I thought. So I wound up doing 8 and even threw in hill sprints on 58th Street on the way back. That wore me out, which is good. Maybe I'll get back on a normal sleep schedule tonight.

Easy and way too warm -- 72 and sunny in January?

Regular sleep schedule? Ha! Slept in two three-hour shifts yesterday. Wound up not running at all, but I did a strength workout at 2 a.m. Today up at 4:15 to run with the crazies. There was a tight spot in my right hammy and it took almost two miles to get going -- just about the start of the big uphill to the amphitheater. I kept mid-8 pace basically back to the shelter, then did 5 more on my own. I don't know if I'll get 21 more miles this month to get to 200, but it's at least plausible now. And the MP work felt pretty good once the hammy loosened.

Now back to sleep...

See entry for Jan. 28 for run that actually happened today.

Some of this run may turn out to have been marathon pace. Or faster, since I averaged under 9:30 for 11 miles with multiple walk breaks. Temp right around 40, darn near perfect. I did walk/run with the FSM group for three miles or so, dropped the hammer downhill on the bike trail, then did 4.6 solo after they left. Didn't seem like I was going all THAT fast and I took two brief walk breaks in the solo portion but I still finished in 1:45

Easy run with David from Creekmore. Cold, getting colder, and very windy -- into our faces on the return leg. Averaged slightly under 10:00 pace. Very sore after weekend of moving.

Twelve on the mill at work with 8 at MP or faster. Felt pretty comfortable. Too many interruptions from the pager, but otherwise a very good run which kicked in some endorphins.

Slow 8 on the mill, as steady as my pager would allow :(

Ten on the mill, amazingly interruption-free (or limited interruptions anyway). Cranked out the last half mile at MP+, and threw in a mile of two of gradual uphill in the middle. Felt pretty good actually.

Progression run on the mill while Liza took care of the hyperactive pager. Cranked it up to MP plus for the last 11 minutes or so.

Did a lot of thinking as I ran too, as I have been for the last couple of days. It's not going to work with Jen, largely because she doesn't want it to work. I still care about her but I need to move on. Fortunately, I'm connecting with Dianne, who is available and, more importantly, interested. I'm excited about that, and so is Dianne. So I'm looking forward to a rapid transition to the next phase of my social life. I've been trying to get with Jennifer for weeks to talk about where we are (or aren't) and can't even do that. If I have to cut it off by text, that's what I'll do, but I'd rather not.

The marathon pace mileage is a guess. I got interrupted so often during the treadmill run that I'm not sure. Not even certain of total mileage because the mill somehow reset itself without stopping at somewhere around 3.3 miles. So I did another hour, with much beeping and associated expletives, after that reset.Legs felt good after two days off but the rest of me was very sleepy. Still am.

After work went down for the marathon start and wound up getting interviewed on Channel 5. I'll check the website later to see if its up there. Got to see a lot of friends this morning. I almost wished I were running. Almost.

Morning run of uncertain pace and speed since the Garmin died after mile 3 (hadn't been charged in a week). I know it was sub-10, but not how much sub-10. I was trying to push it a little. Clock time (about 2:04) not real helpful because of several waits to cross Rogers, Zero, Phoenix, etc. But it felt like a decent effort.

Shower and sleep now, then up for Fayetteville for women's hoops and first date with Dianne. She's been funny about it, acting like a goofy teen instead of a 49-year-old grandma. But I guess in some ways she's that 13-year-old kid who had a crush on me way back when. Fortunately I'm a little more self assured than the 17-year-old oblivious subject of that crush.

Crack o' chickens with the crazies, plus three on my own.

Slow and easy with Kathy, David and Logan.

Quite a week. Got dizzy Sunday afternoon, which we finally decided was due to Cialis. Then I got sick. Coughing up brown/green stuff, felt miserable, probably triggered by the asthma attack last week. Finally felt like running last night, and got in 15K on the mill after work this morning with some hard stuff at the end. Pretty good level of fitness for taking a week off; hard stuff wasn't bad. Now I'm in a hard nine-weeks mode again. Just like 2009. Hope it works out the same. I'm a lot happier now though. Things are going very, very well with Dianne. We both care a lot about each other, and the relationship is deepening. Which is a good place to be for running and for life. 

After a day off for ice, snow (and sleep), back at it this afternoon for an easy 8. Still around freezing but the sunshine had just about melted everything. No ice to negotiate at all

After a day off for a pity party after Dianne decided she's not ready for a relationship right now, back on the mill at the hospital to hammer 10+ with 10K at 7.6 mph. Went pretty well, I thought; held 7:53 without much difficulty. Wish I could say the same about my love life, where there is nothing but difficulty.

More snow at the Casa and didn't want to risk running on the streets, so I drove to SHS and did 36 laps on the track in the screw shoes. Not a slip to be had. Snowed the whole time, but lightly. I kept a fairly constant 10:15ish pace; still kinda sore from last night's tempo run on the mill. Driving home was kind of interesting, even though I avoided Cliff Drive in favor of Old Greenwood, Rogers and Burnham, Still lots of slippage. I really need to get chains for the old Bimmer.

Two crunchy, icy, sloppy hours. Wound up 10.75 miles

Ice and snow finally melted, leaving only occasional puddles. Tonight's 6 was a lot easier even though it was faster than I was running in the slop. Still pretty sore though; may need another recovery day tomorrow,

Left hip was really sore when I started; I considered just bagging today as if it were an injury, because I've never quite had a pain like that. Fortunately, it worked out quickly and I was able to do 15K with some progression. Also had some comic relief. Turned onto Waldron at the 3/4 mile mark and a fellow was getting off the bus there. Looked like he was going home from work; I noticed he was wearing big work boots. He decided to run with me, jabbering all the way. He informed me (about three times) that those were steel toed boots that weighed about four pounds, that he was 38, and that he would run with me to the Seasons Inn. I told him I had six more miles to do after that (I underestimated; it was 8.3). Sure enough he stopped at the motel and I kept going. Nice fellow; he was African-American but had a thick white Southerner accent which was interesting. He kept me entertained for a few minutes and then thinking about it afterward and chuckling. Good run. The hip behaved. I broke out the old Adios, thinking I may still want to go back to those for race shoes, and did OK with them for nine miles.

Back on the treadmill after two days off for a twinge in the left hammy (plus three inches of snow last night which melted very quickly). Twinge recurred briefly then went away within a half mile, and I was able to pick it up to MP at the end.

Eighty minutes on the mill -- 7 miles slow, MP+ for the last 12 minutes. Felt comfortable at 7.5 mph and no twinges at all. HR was in the low 120s until I cranked it up in the last 12.

Treadmill run, ranked up to MP+ for 15 minutes and to 9.1 mph for one minute. Felt pretty good, especially given lack of sleep.

Easy recovery run on the mill at work. Took a while to get loose

Pushed one in the rain with MP at the end and then a jog warmdown

Crack o' chickens run with the gang. Very sore and slow for first two miles, finally got loose toward the end. It was high 40s but foggy and humid.

Slow and easy in the rain. 

Planned to do 14 hard. Not enough sleep to do that, or legs either. I did 2.5 hard and had to shut down even before I got to amphitheater hill. After the first 5 mile loop I let Lia and Terry go on and I did another 3 slow. Maybe will do 20 easy on Monday morning. Or tomorrow.

Warm afternoon progression. Too warm. Finished in time for NCAA selection show though.

Tried to get a run in at work but too much beeping to continue. I'll try to run in the morning instead.

Treadmill run at work after a day off for rest/too busy at work.

9 on the mill with 5 at MP or more. Actually went 50 minutes without getting paged, enough to get the MP work done and then some. Legs aren't great but since I haven't gotten to the track for intervals lately, needed to do something beyond GA/recovery level.

Slow recovery run on the treadmill.

10:00 pace on a 75-degree afternoon. That was plenty thank you

Fartlek run at 5:15, 12 intervals at 10KP lasting 30 seconds each, spaced out about five minutes after a three mile warmup. Wound up doing 10.3. Legs felt pretty good considering I ran at 7 p.m. last night.

Easy run

Slow, wet and windy with the chickens crew.

Decided to run Bentonville as a training run at BQP for 13 miles on a tough course, and tack on some mileage before and after to get into long run territory. Worked perfectly. I averaged 8:15, just what I'll need to get a safe BQ time in Canada, and that in spite of the last four miles being uphill. The course in Mississauga is not nearly that tough. Weather was around 40 and occasionally rainy but not much wind. If I can get weather similar to that in five weeks I'll be happy. All in all a very successful run. And I still finished 7th in age group despite taking it easy. If I'd raced it I might have gotten an AG award. Or I might have blown up. Yes, I have to go double that distance in Canada at the same speed, but I'll have tapered on an easier course with net downhill.

Easy 9 wth walk breaks on a 65-degree afternoon. Still very stiff after yesterday's race, and the old niggle in the right glute came back in the final half-mile. I hope this is just temporary, although I can deal with it. Wound up at just under 11:00 pace overall. Wound up with 52 this week and well over 520 this year.

Midday easy 8, having failed to get out the door while the temps were in the 40s...

Ten miles on the treadmill. Wasn't sure I'd do any; when I got on there was a really sharp pain in my left hammy which I'd never felt before. I got off, stretched a bit, walked at 4 mph for about a half mile, then bumped it up to a slow jog, then up to 9:40 pace, and after 50 minutes I felt pretty good and started throwing in 3:00 bursts at 10KP. Amazingly the beeper cooperated for the most part (or I could wait until after a burst to return the call) and I got 8 reps done and finished the 10 at a jog. Very little out of breath, surprisingly, three minutes at that pace didn't do it and two minutes recovery seemed to be enough. I could have kept going with that workout longer but I needed to get back to work at some point.

Estimated mileage today; treadmill decided to reset itself in midrun at about 6.9. Came in at 6, did 5.5, clocked in, finished the run with only two beeping interruptions. A couple of the thigh twinges from last night but very brief and did not persist.

Only got in 30 minutes on the mill before I had to go to ER.

Slow achy 6 miler. I could have done it this morning after work but waited for the front to move through. Considerably less humid now but also windier. And I was stiff from sleeping, I guess. Got it done in 10:30 average though.

Ten with the peeps this morning. Gallowalked with them for 3, felt pretty good, pushed the pace with company from one of Tieu's friends, and ran the last 7+ well under 9:00 with some at MP. Felt pretty strong in spite of no sleep and running at 5:30 yesterday. Wound up with 55+ this week.

Hilly and slow this morning. 74th Street, Free Ferry, Old Greenwood to Gary, then downhill to the hospital. Cool and rainy, which was OK. Not much traffic out there on Easter morning, which was OK too.

Slow, hot and humid. Tried to do hills and quickly got a twinge in the right hammy so shut that down before doing any more damage.

Ladder intervals at Ben Geren. Right hammy behaved itself, but ladders are never easy, and these weren't either. Humidity didn't help although it was in the mid-60s.

Easy 6 with the chickens. Still around 70 and humid so it was a sweatfest. I'll be glad when that front comes through later. Hopefully the rain will be gone by the morning. I'll probably start at chicken time again, if not earlier, to try to finish before the sun gets real warm.

Managed to get quite a few hills in on my final long run, including the amphitheater loop. The idea is for Mississauga to feel like a piece of cake after what I've been doing in training. I ran the first 13.1 in less than two hours, then slowed down quite a bit in the final nine miles, but even for that I was well under 10:00 average pace. I hit 22 at 3:24:19 then walked two-tenths to cool down, and still got in under 3:30. I'm sore but not horribly so. Chocolate milk, ice bath, then probably a late breakfast and a nap, I'm ready for some tapering after this one.

Walked a mile and a half, jogged 4.5 to work out the kinks. Which there were lots of.

Six miles in the rain with 10 hill sprints. Yesterday skipped due to thunderstorms in KC, stomach upset and lack of sleep due to stomach upset. That's better fortunately.

Tried to do 9 with 6 hard descending to MP. Thigh twinge, then lack of sleep, then nausea all got in the way. Bleah. Shut down the hard run after less than 15 minutes when that twinger just wouldn't go away

Humid progression run after work; really should have been shirtless and considered it a couple of times. The thigh niggle behaved; it was there but felt like a tight spot instead of pain, and I could run without limitations. Cranked it down to BQP+ for the last mile and felt pretty good. Then I slept pretty well which is just as good. Rain/thunder all day tomorrow; fortunately I have the rehab lab available all day. I'll probably run right after work. Question is whether I'll wake up early to watch the Gunners in the FA Cup at 11:20. I'll probably watch the second half anyway.

Hour on the mill after work, cranked it up for the last four minutes including sub-7 pace at the very end.

10 after work with 8 at MP. Took me a while to get the legs going but once I did I was able to maintain faster than MP, particularly with a bit of breeze in my face to cool me off. Because it was humid as heck. Shirt came off at the halfway point; Jacob would have approved (although he wouldn't have had the shirt on to begin with). Good confidence builder two weeks out. Yep, in 14 days I'll be charging toward Lake Ontario. Hopefully finish shortly after 10 a,m. Arkansas time.

A bunch of my friends are in Boston, mostly to run, some to watch. It's killing me not to be there. I enjoy that weekend so much. Hopefully in 14 days and an hour I will have earned the right to return.

Beautiful, sunny, cool morning after work for an easy fish. In the first half mile I saw a car with Massachusetts plates. It's Patriots Day. Coincidence? Not a chance! I'll be back in Hopkinton next April. I watched the race online after my run and found I knew where the runners were better than the announcers did. They weren't sure the women were on HBH. I knew. I knew when they were about to go under Mass Avenue. I did not expect that. I've never watched the race online before and I've run it twice.

Easy 6 with some hill sprints. Felt a tiny twinge in the groin nd didn't push past four hills, but the turnover was good (the whole point here). Weather forecast is better (warmer but no rain). On the plane in nine days...

Tempo intervals at BGP. Left IT band was tight and took quite a while to loosen, plus the first mile of the interval was dead into the wind. Finally got to the pace I wanted though (and possibly beyond). Survived it, maybe the mitochondria will be a little stronger in 11 days. Now for a first encounter with Robin. We'll see how that goes.

Easy 6 with strides among the sprinkles. Since last post we lost a cat and may have gained another one. Cici had melanoma and had to be put down. But my lunch date Robin is thinning out her cat herd and offered us Haven. I think we'll take her if Haven and Wormy don't kill each other on sight. Anyway, run felt pretty good after the first mile, picked up the pace downhill from Southside and felt up to some strides in the last 0.6. Road Dog run tomorrow; we'll see if I feel up to MP work then.

10 miles with the Road Dogs with 6 miles at 8:08 average, then a 0.7 cooldown afterward. Enough terrain on that run to make it challenging, but none of the miles were slower than 8:22, and 8:22 miles will get me a BQ. I was very pleased with it. Hank was the only Dog that beat me. He was in sight when I shut down the MP work at 8 miles, but that's fine. I accomplished what I wanted, and he's faster than me anyway.

Easy and slow. Both IT bands pretty tight after yesterday's MP/Road Dog run. Needed three miles to get loose. Sunny and warmed up quickly, so plenty of sweat. Tried out the stick-on nipguards. They seemed to be OK and I'll likely use them next Sunday since NuSkin has not been entirely reliable and they're already pretty chafed.

Easy 8K with four hill sprints. Pace felt a lot easier than a slower pace felt yesterday, which means the legs are coming around. Dress rehearsal in the morning, weather permitting.

Dress rehearsal at Southside. Weather was probably very much what I'll see in Canada -- 49 and sunny with a bit of wind. Warmed up, 800 at 5KP, minute recovery, 1.5 at MP+, minute recovery, another 800 at 5KP, easy run back to the car. Tomorrow I'm on the plane -- and hopefully sleeping on it.

Estimated mileage walking around Mississauga and Niagara Falls. I figured that was enough time on my feet.

Shakedown tun along Etobicoke Creek with three minutes hard at the end. We'll see what I have for tomorrow. That old tight spot in the left hammy was there but didn't seem to slow me any.

Marathon 16 is done. Felt strong at the start under overcast skies. Started to slow after 9 miles, pretty much knew at the half that BQ wasn't happening. Then the right IT kicked in hard. Last seven or eight miles (OK, 14K) was a hobble. Fortunately, as usual, I found an attractive female to zero in on and eventually pass, and that helped me maintain what little pace I could manage instead of a complete punt. Still couldn't break 4 hours but was able to break 4:10. I have got to work on lower body strength this summer before the Frankfurt training cycle. Thighs and butt just aren't up to the stress of 3.5 hours at BQ pace. Or four hours at slower pace.

Recovery jog at the WAR meeting at Chaffee. Felt OK, although it was hotter than stuff.

No run today, but went to Mercy for weight work. Mandy filled me in on exercises I can do for my hip flexors, although they don't have any machines that specifically isolate the flexors. Some upper body work as well, but mostly legs, two sets of everything for glutes, quads, hammies and gastroc/soleus. We'll see if I'm sore tomorrow afterward.

My back locked up on Saturday morning rum from Goldtrap with the peeps. They ran off and left me so I did my own course.

54 minutes on the treadmill before work. Cranked up to MP+ for the last 16 minutes which felt pretty strong. Still had the left flexor/quad spot I felt in Canada but not enough to slow me down.

Good run after work. Until I tripped on the sidewalk at 74th and Rogers a quarter mile from the end. Legs took a while to loosen but were fine for the last five miles or so.

Stayed upright this time for 6 miles.

Treadmill run at work, went uninterrupted long enough to allow me to get in 5K at 7:30 pace. Which might have won Mary Jo's 5K in the morning, but that's OK. Got it done and don't have to worry about it now.

Humid 9K slog after work. Legs felt like the marathon was three days ago, not 15 days. And the weather didn't help either. Had to work harder than I wanted just to keep pace below 11:00. But it's done. I did the run with my cellphone sitting in the restroom where I changed into running gear. Fortunately it was still there when I realized it and went back 90 minutes later.

Crack o' chickens run with the gang. Sheri and Cindy have cut out the Gallowalking and they're proving a little tough to keep up with. I had to drop the hammer in the last mile to catch Sheri before I finished my 7 miles. Then I walked around Walmart for a while doing my grocery shopping, which makes a good post-run warmdown. I tried to stay away from others given my postrun sweatiness though. Decent run, better than yesterday. Still a humid slog though.

Pushed the pace this morning on the bike trail, 7 miles at sub-9 before a 0.4 cooldown. Felt pretty good. There was some guy with us, don't know his name, who took off ahead and that got my juices going. Then once I caught him I decided to keep going.

Then a 1.75 mile trail "run"/hike at Robin's place. Lot of rocks and roots out there so it wasn't much slower than a run, and a big hill to descend/climb.

Slow MLR with the peeps. Left hammy tightened up and I had to make a pit stop so the last 8 miles were solo and I did my own course to get to 13.

Recovery run between the 4 a.m. thunderstorm and the 8 a.m. thunderstorm. As humid as you would expect given those conditions. I'd done a little bit of yoga last night, mainly stretching. Not sure if it helped or hurt, although I seemed to loosen up a little quicker than usual. Maybe that was because of the humidity.

Easy progression after work. The calf niggle was gone. Very sharp pain for the first 200 meters in the left quad area, but that resolved quickly. No clue what led to that; hope it never happens again.

Bad, ugly slog. Humid, but that wasn't it. Just no energy at all. Walked probsbly 2+ miles.

Felt a lot better this morning, able to maintain a mid-9 pace throughout even with a 90-second walk break. Today gets me to 15,000 miles since July 2007. Heckuva lot of rubber laid on the roads (and a bit of skin from time to time as well). Setting off on my next 15,000 now. Hoping to be a little more consistent this time.

Easy progression in the rain. I liked it better when it was raining. When it stopped it got stifling QUICK.

Another front came through overnight and it was cooler, down around 67 at the start with some breeze. So I decided to do the Zero loop, which I hadn't done in months, and which can only be done on weekends and holidays unless you like playing matador with 18-wheelers. Started slow, picked it up the last four miles or so and got under 10:00 average. Not a great run, but not bad, just piling up GA miles and rebuilding after Toronto.

Also signed up for the Go! Mile, which is in three weeks. Guess I need some speedwork somewhere in there.

10:00 pace for 10 miles after work. Overcast, about 65, occasional drizzle. Could have been a lot worse. I'd thought about doing 12 but I kinda bonked at 8 and headed back for the car. 

Recovery run after work

Workout at the track with Lia, Terry and Kent. They did their own thing, I did Billats X 22. Probably could have done a couple more but I was beat and didn't want to risk pulling something on my first real speedwork in months. Pace varied pretty widely but most of them were what I wanted or faster, and the legs functioned at high speed. Overall a very good workout.

Afternoon double. Three miles at Mercy while T lifted weights, then 4 miles with the WAR peeps from Creekmore to mark National Running Day. Neither one was much fun. I swear Mercy's track is at least 10% long, and it was 90 out there this afternoon and I had no water, no headband and wearing cargo shorts (peer pressure got me). But it's done and no heatstroke.

Hot and humid. Shut it down early. Not acclimating well at all.

Acclimitization not going any better. Plenty of walk breaks, still felt like I was dying.

Slow and humid with Kathy L. Five was all I wanted to do in that soup. It was freaking 80 degrees at dawn!

Treadmill run before work after missing yesterday with a bad headache/sleep deprivation and Saturday/Sunday with baseball. So I needed a hard run. Warmed up for 2, cranked it to BQP for 4, then finished out the hour at 8.0 mph, which wound up being 1.12 miles. So a solid 7.12 miles in that hour, which is only slightly below BQP average. Legs felt pretty good, as they should after that little "taper".

I thought I'd get in another treadmill run before work. Then the phone buzzed on the way to the hospital. Ahmad wanted me to cover his pager because he was catching a 6:20 flight. I figured OK, I'll be at the hospital anyway and I can get my run done. Start the mill, run a whole minute and the pager goes off. Ir's a transfer from Sparks. I don't normally do transfers, so I had to kinda give that my full attention and figure out what needed to happen (didn't help that it took him four hours to get over here from four miles away). And the pager didn't slow down much. So there I am with a total run of one minute.

Progression for 15K on the mill at work, despite numerous interruptions. Took me forever to get the average below 10:00 thanks to all the beeping, then they left me alone for the last 45 minutes or so and I was able to crank it, including MP+ for the last 20 minutes. Good run after a rather bad week for running.

Nice and slow, 10:00 pace after work

Bike trails at crack o' chickens. Just the gang, the humidity and the horseflies.

Took another crack at the road mile in Little Rock. Different course this time, same weather (sunny, 78 and humid). My warmup got me very warm. What it did not do is get me loose. The hammies were tight and definitely slowed me down, but I pushed for everything they could give me, and managed to break 7 and beat Lionel. With tight muscles, and minimal speed work, I thought that was OK. But I want to focus on this race for a few weeks next year after London, do the speed work I need to get below 6:30. Wasn't a bad run, just a little disappointing that I couldn't get loose.

Slog in the soup. Too soon after the race to do 10+ I think.

Distance estimated on the dreadmill, which reset itself somewhere around the 3.5 mile mark (hate when that happens). I was working more on knee lift after watching Lalita's video of my duck run Saturday. We'll see if it starts to take hold.

Progression run on the mill, running through interruptions for once. Cranked it up to 7.6+ mph for the last two miles, then walkdown 0.25 while I returned the last three calls :) Walked outside to take my wet gear out to the car and hit a wall of humidity, as if I needed confirmation of the decision to run on the mill. Bleah.

Nice and slow on the mill with only one interruption.

Took yesterday off with a sore spot on my left foot, so made up for it with an 11-mile progression/tempo on the mill. Cranked it up to MP+ then 10KP+ for the last 26 minutes, I think, before a mile cooldown (some of that at 9:00). Good run. Needed it. 

Actually outside for once. Cooler, but still soupy. Hips didn't want to loosen. Got over 1000 for the year today.

Warm and soupy again. I saw a chart over the weekend that if you do your run in conditions > 75 degrees/>60% humidity (both true this morning), that the effort required to maintain a certain pace is equal to a pace 1:45 per mile faster in sub-55 temps. Which means my 10:00 pace this morning is equal to 8:15 in cool weather, which is BQ pace for me. And it felt like I was working that hard to do that fish. But I have a hard time slogging along at 11:45 pace, which is what I would have to do to maintain my recovery pace in this weather. I just don't want to stay out there that long. But maybe I should not push pace at all and do 10:45ish.

Speed work at SHS with a whole bunch of people. Even Don came over from Ozark for the predawn craziness. We all did our own thing, which in my case was 8 X 400 at mile pace with 200 walk recovery, plus warm and cool for a total of 7.

Progression run with the chickens. I was still really stiff from Tuesday's intervals for the first three miles or so, plus it was really humid. Then a nice breeze picked up (and it rained like crazy about 45 minutes after the run ended), so I felt like going faster. Reeled in Kent and eventually passed him on that loop, plus I did short loops before and after to get to a total of 8.

Got on the treadmill after work since the rehab room was closed for the holiday. I was a little tight in the hips, wasn't sure what I was going to do. After 10 minutes started throwing in surges, first one minute, then two, and realized I felt pretty good. So after seven miles I decided to do 10 and crank the last three miles up to MP. Which I did. Could have gone farther, but at some point I needed to sleep.

Nice and slow with Kathy, Erica and Tieu. Saw a bunch of others out there, including (shock) Tiff actually running with Chris! It rained overnight, so it was cooler, but very very humid. Kathy had me going faster than I really wanted to go, and I wasn't really keeping up with her anyway. I went a little faster after the turnaround because I wasn't taking walk breaks any more even though I wasn't actually running as fast.

Progression run on the mill before work. Took the IT bands forever to loosen, it seemed, but finally got to where I could crank it to 9:00 and then 8:00 for the last five or six minutes.

7 miles, 90% humidity, sub-10:00 pace which felt like 5K pace. I was literally bending over and grabbing my shorts at the end like I used to when Willie Tate made us run gassers till we puked. Now I need sleep.

Slow and humid

Tempo run on the mill, got up to 8.2 mph

Wiped out for four days with the 18-in-21 work stretch and the Kansas City Gold Cup trip (very glad we did it; atmosphere was unreal). Back in the saddle today for not quite 5 with the chickens.

Speed wrk at Southside. Waited an hour too long to get out there and paid for it; it was 85 when I finished at 9:00. Good pace on 8 200s, but I don't think I could have done any more reps. And I definitely was getting the lungs burning. Some football players were out there running sprints and doing pushups but not a fullblown workout yet.

Memorial run for Brent Morrison out at Wells Lake. I'm estmating 400 runners, so a pretty impressive turnout at 6:30 in the morning. David E. even drove over from Morrilton. Lots of orange, that being Brent's favorite color, including my Cottonwood shirt. Orange balloons released at the site of his death too, along with flowers stacked at a makeshift memorial. After the 5K jog, I did three laps around the lake and ran back to my car to get to 6.

Progression 13.1 on the mill, starting at 6.6 and going up to 7.3. Total time exactly 1:57:00. I'd planned to do 6, but I felt good, I had time and the alternative was to get up at 4 a.m. or something and come back to do 13, so I decided to get it over with. Then coffee and dinner with Rainey. So far so good on that front. 

Easy 7+ on the mill without too many beeping interludes. Legs were a little sluggish, more than tired or sore, but I had no trouble maintaining 9:40 pace.

Progression run on the mill; only two interruptions. Cranked it up as high as 7.8 in the last 10 minutes, then warmed down for a mile.

Easy 6+ on the mill at work despite distinct sleep deprivation (awake at noon, never went back to sleep). Part of what kept me awake was a weird sharp twinge behind my left knee, felt like more in the skin than anything else but there's no bite or pimple or anything. Still a little tender but did not bother me when running. What did bother me when I started was the left Achilles which was quite painful for the first 3-4 minutes before it loosened up. I was able to crank it up to MP+ for the last 10 minutes before a 6-minute jog out.

Cooked up my training plan for Frankfurt tonight. Pfitz based with some Hudson and Anderson mixed in. Pfitz got me my BQ; time to try it again, I guess.

Progression run on the mill, cranked down to MP for 1.5.

Tempo run on the mill with 5 miles at 7:30 pace.

Easy 70 minutes on the mill.

Late night easy 5 on the mill. I'll try to get up early enough tomorrow to do some light speedwork at the track before it gets stoopid hot. Gina wants to come over this evening so a late run isn't happening. Which is perfectly fine with me.

Slow crack o' chickens slog. Very very slow

5K on the mill at the hotel in Batesville. No fan, no circulation. Which reminds me why I don't run on the mill at Mercy.

Bleah. The worst AG award I've ever won. Walked three times and still beat all but one (once the top 3 were moved up to Grandmasters). Only about 70 degrees, but very humid, very hilly and bright sun. Fortunately much of the course was shaded; I'd hate to think how it would have been with no shade. No wind either though.

Seven on the mill before work, cranked up to 8:00 for the last mile-ish. Needed to get back in the saddle after missing two days.

Often-interrupted mill run

82 degrees at 5 a.m. and I'm trying to slog 12+. Didn't happen. Rest of the chickens ran off and left me and I turned around at 4 miles. Felt like the HI was more like 102. Whatevver acclimation I had to the heat is long gone, and probably too late to get it back. I need miles more than anything, so I think I'll be sticking mainly to the mill until Mom Nature decides to cool things down.

Eight + on the mill before work. Five miles slow, finished the first hour at MP, then 12 minutes at MP+ before a five-minute cooldown walk. Amazing how much easier it is when the HI is in the 60s instead of the 80s or 90s. Also broke in the new green Altras. The old ones had definitely lost their cushion; I can tell a huge difference.

Progression run on the mill. Four miles easy, MP then MMP+, and 0.4 cooldown. took an hour even with interruptions.

Outside run, interrupted by GI issues, but weather and legs were OK.

Treadmill run. 9:40 pace for 44 minutes, then cranked to MP+ for 19 minutes.

Took the weekend off then got out at 5:15 for a solo 15. No breakfast. Bad move. Bonked at about 11 and just struggled home from there.

Slow and humid

Slow 5 with hills at the end

Progression run. Chickens left without me, which worked out OK because I could run my own pace and not worry about keeping up/leaving people behind.

Pretty sore after yesterday's progression, so it took 3+ to get loose.

Billat intervals at the track X 24, running to and from the track to warm/cool. Pace about 6:30. Some of the recovery intervals got extended by a tad but overall achieved what I wanted.

Skipped today because of sleep deprivation/first date with Veronica/niggle in the left hammy. Of the three, sleep deprivation was the main factor. I was whipped before I even got to work.

Treadmill run at work; pager cooperated for once. Started before midnight, finished after, so will be continued on Tuesday's log. 7 miles at 9:00, 4 at MP+, half-mile walkdown. Thigh niggle was still there but didn't slow me and loosened. Overall a good run.

The rest of Monday/Tuesday's treadmill run

Bit of a progression run after work, got down to high-8 pace.

Another progression run after work, was in the high 7s for the last 0.3. Weather has been pretty darn good for August, 60s, some breeze, today was overcast for the most part so no solar heating.

PLanned to do 15, felt like crap and left hammy was tight, so cut it off at 8.

Intervals at the track

Out slow with the chickens. Learned later that while I was out running, Bubba died. It is not fair for a wonderful little boy to die at age 5 while human garbage continues to live and run for President (political commentary ended).

Easy 6 for Bubba, since he can't run for himself any more. You are missed my friend. Requiescat in pace.

Nice and slow before tomorrow's race.

Fought the humidity and lost at Burns Park this morning. Couldn't get air, really. Walked twice. Still managed 6th in my real age group and 3rd in my GP age group, so it'll be nice points. But I'm pretty disappointed. First mile was like 7:15 but that's about when the air quit flowing.

Progression run on the mill. Went OK, not too much residual from yesterday's slow 5K.

MP run on the mill. Lack of sleep during last night's shift meant not enough time to do the 15 I'd planned, so I did as much as I could, finishing at 7:20. Then showered and came upstairs. MP miles felt pretty good; able to push to 7.5 then 8 mph at the end. Lotta work to do in the next 47 days but this was a good one.

10K on the mill during a thunderstorm, mostly on the clock. I'd planned to do up to 7 until beeping took care of that plan. I was a little stiff after yesterday's MP run but eventually loosened up a bit. Still sleep deprived yet; I didn't get to sleep until after 11 this morning and the storm woke me up at 4.

Progression run on the mill. Felt pretty good at MP for the last two miles but was breathing harder than I would have liked. Got it done without too much issue though.

Took yesterday off with bad case of hitting the wall. Back at it today on the mill at 6.2. Legs wanted another day off, frankly, but I trudged through. Finally started getting loose after 4+. Beeper went off after 5.5 to dissaude me from going any further.

Mill run at the hotel in Dallas before my Global Entry interview.

Late night intervals at the track; it was still 80 degrees when I started at 10:15 and not much cooler when I finished. 5 x 600 at somewhere around 7:15 pace. May have extended the recovery periods beyond the suggested :90 to get some water, but not much, and I was still sucking wind after each one and well into the warmdown miles. Actually ran faster than I was planning; I was thinking 7:30ish. But I couldn't see the watch except under the lamps at each end and 7:15 just felt like a fast comfortable.

Progression run on the mill at the hospital. Wasn't sure how far I'd go after last night's intervals; maybe only 5. But I loosened pretty quickly and felt OK and started to push the pace, and cranked it to MP for the last 16 minutes before a 0.5 cooldown. It was nice to go home after one of those instead of putting my scrubs and beeper back on.

Looks like the 20K Saturday has been scrubbed. Miss V wanted to go out with me Friday night. Given that choice -- a minimally important race or an evening with a woman I like very much -- didn't take long to decide.

Back in the saddle after four days off for Tyler's ER visit, work, sleep deprivation and general worry. Don't know how I would have gotten through this without Veronica's support. The lady is a keeper, y'all. Now I just have to keep her. It was nice and cool but the legs were a bit rubbery after the hiatus.

Easy fish after work.

4 a.m. treadmill run. Mostly uninterrupted by beeping, but when it beeped, it came fast and furious. Got it done though, 10:00 average even with interruptions and cooldown.

Slog. Bonk. Death march. Cramps. Weird twinge in right leg. All of the above apply. Weather wasn't an issue for once but the legs were not ready to go 20, especially on a route with a whole bunch of hills. I thought they might toughen me up for Frankfurt's rollers. Maybe so, but it was tough today. Took four hours plus to get it done with way too much walking, but once the cramps set in it was tough to do anything more.

Back on the mill 15ish hours after the 20 miler for a recovery run. And I took it very easy. Almost didn't mind the beeping because it meant a walk break. But eventually I felt good enough to stretch a 5-miler to 6.33. Why that precise number? Because it put me at 26.22 miles in a 22-hour period. A full marathon. The way I felt yesterday morning, Frankfurt might have taken 22 hours (not quite, but it would have been 5+). The niggle in the side of my right calf, which my usual paranoia tried to turn into a fibular stress fracture, was gone. I figure it had something to do with the road camber I was negotiating. Done now. 

Tomorrow night, and into Wednesday morning <very big grin>, I'll be in Tulsa. So not sure when I'll get a run. Maybe when I get back, maybe I wait until later. I'll try to get up Thursday and run with the chickens. Don't think I'll run with the crazies, not with Chile Pepper on Saturday.

Pushed it a bit today after a day off following Tuesday's wonderfully sleepless night 

Cruised for 51 minutes with race tomorrow. Then driving to Bentonville to see V. I'm hoping for a memorable weekend :)

Didn't get to the course in time for a decent warmup, largely thanks to my insistence on eating breakfast (wish I could blame V but she was not at fault in any way). So I spent two miles warming up and two miles with heavy legs after that. Finally in the last 4K I got loose enough to push it a bit. Averaged 8:27 including at least 30 seconds lost tying a shoe at about 6K. Thanks to a shortage of folks in the 55-59 Grand Prix AG, I got second place points, although I was 15th in my actual 50-54 AG thanks to outsprinting a guy from Colorado in the last 200 meters.

I'd say basically it was a marathon pace run. I'd have to beat that average for the full 26.2 in Frankfurt to get BQ. Who's to say that that's not possible with favorable weather and enough sleep, but I'd have to say it's not likely. But we'll see how it goes. Maybe start at 8:35 pace for 4 or so, see how I feel and if I can pick it up from there.

Progression run on the mill thanks to a lull in the beeping. Only two interruptions in 100+ minutes. This was the run I'd intended to do yesterday if I'd gotten decent sleep. Next Monday will be my last 20.

Easy 55 minutes before work. Pretty comfortable throughout.

Slow 4.5 after work. Only 12 hours since last run so did not push in any way.

Fartlek run on the mill at 2:30 a.m. Did 200m, 400m, 600, and 2000m at 7:30 pace. Beeper largely behaved for once. Overall a good run.

Often-interrupted, slow 7 on the mill at work. Legs were kind of heavy for a while so the slow pace was welcome. Beeps weren't. A few hours sleep after work, then to Tulsa for the concert with T and V. Hope (a) everyone has fun and (b) T and V hit it off. Not sure if I'll spend the night up there or come home; numerous variables come into play there. So Saturday's running plans are a bit in question. I'm guessing a mid-afternoon treadmill session might be the call, but we'll see.

Long, slow slog. I was OK for the first 13 or so but bonked quickly after that. Legs very, very heavy. It went slightly better than my last 20 but not much, as in 3:44. Doesn't do much for my confidence going to Germany. Had a weird weekend though, not much sleep until Sunday when I slept all day. Got up at 3:45 today to run, so unless I get a nap at work tonight I'll be up for 27+ hours straight. Anyway, it's taper time now. I don't know how I could have any more madness than I already have though. My life is kinda nuts now, in a good way because V is a lot of it, but still it makes focusing on training even more difficult. It'll be nice to let things settle down in November and December before I crank it up after NYD.

Slow hour on the mill. Legs still felt yesterday's 20 so took it easy. I went to bed at 7:30 this morning and woke up at 6:26 p.m. I'd say I needed it. And I still feel like I need a nap now.

Lactate stackers at the track, one minute at sub-5KP with two minute recoveries. Pace generally in the high 6s, so not bad. Got in a total of a mile at pace. Didn't want to overload with the 10K on Saturday, but wanted some quality work.

The track workout recorded for Wednesday was done today; Wednesday was a URD.

Easy 5+ in the rain, Cool front brought in the rain and temps dropped 10 degrees in 45 minutes. Felt really nice out there. Hips were sore from yesterday's track work but not too bad.

Didn't know what I was going to get today. Mid-taper, sore hips from Thursday's track work (which I somehow logged on Wednesday), hilly course. But the weather was ideal, cool and overcast, and I had a good running partner in Lia who was dogging it after running Chicago on Sunday. She beat me by a few seconds but we stayed close and she helped me stay motivated on those darn uphills. The hip soreness worked out a little and I was able to maintain better pace. I think I actually negative split; of course two big downhills in the second half helped. Sixth in calendar AG, 2nd in Grand Prix AG, so some nice points. I would have liked to break 50, but overall I'm happy with the run. Now what I do in Frankfurt in eight days is another issue.

Easy 5 in the new Altras. 48 hours to departure!

Up early for an easy 4 before going to the airport. In 18 hours I'll be in Germany!