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Location:

San Antonio,TX,

Member Since:

Dec 13, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K PR - 18:01 - Nov '14

10K PR - 38:37 (workout) - Oct '14

Half-marathon - 1:22:43 - Jan '14

Marathon - 2:58:43 in Boston! - Apr '13

50 mile - 7:49:30 (2nd) - Nov '15

Short-Term Running Goals:

- Balance

- Run more trails, volunteer, more social running, run with a team

- Race a lot more.  learn.

Race results / possible schedule:

Apr 2 - Hells Hills 25k trail - 4th

Apr 9 - Toughest 'n Texas 20-mile Trail - 2nd

May 7 - Paleface - Trail Marathon - 3rd

May 29 - American Hero road 25k - 2nd

Jun 25 - Pedernales Falls 30k nighttime Trail - 5th (sick)

Jul 16 - Muleshoe Bend 30k nighttime Trail - 3rd

Jul 23-24 - Fossil Valley 9-hour nighttime Trail - 2nd

Aug 6 - Colorado Bend 30k nighttime Trail - 4th

Aug 27 - Reveille Peak 30k nighttime Trail (entered)

Sep 10 - Franklin Mountains 50k (entered - not all-out effort...I hope)

Sep 17 - Lighthouse Hill 20-mile trail (entered)

Sep 24 - J&J 50 mile trail

Long-Term Running Goals:

Compete in a few more ultras without going off course (again)

Sub-18 in a 5k

One.  Good.  Marathon.

Personal:

I started running at age 30, in late 2009.  I have 2 daughters (10 and 8 yrs old).

  

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony A5 Lifetime Miles: 1054.70
Kinvara 2 - Gray/red Lifetime Miles: 1551.08
Kinvara 3 - Gray/red Lifetime Miles: 1244.23
1160s Lifetime Miles: 888.70
Saucony A5 Red Lifetime Miles: 565.10
Saucony A6 - Yellow Lifetime Miles: 214.00
Saucony A6 - Red/blue Lifetime Miles: 61.50
NB MT101 Trail Lifetime Miles: 302.00
Fastwitch 6 Red #1 Lifetime Miles: 286.50
Fastwitch 6 Red #2 Lifetime Miles: 267.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
194.4356.33250.76
1140s #3 Miles: 79.21New Blue Asics Miles: 28.531140s #2 Miles: 34.00Saucony A4 Miles: 35.271150s Miles: 72.00
Weight: 0.00
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.006.2110.21

Another Tempo Tuesday, another unofficial PR.  Weather was ideal (which apparently is critical for me) at 35F, 3-5 mph winds.  Plan was for 4 easy, 6 fast, but I decided to turn on the jets for another minute or so to see what the 10K would be.

4 warmup miles at about 8:02 AP.  Then a 10K in 42:07 (6:47 AP).  Splits were 7:09, 6:53, 6:45, 6:49, 6:43, 6:34, 1:14 for 0.21 (5:54 pace).  So a pretty fierce finish!

AP for the run 7:16.

So, a couple things this run helped me realize: 1) sub-43 is a dumb goal for my 10K in April.  2) a 1:35 (7:15 pace) should be pretty easily attainable in 2-1/2 weeks at the HM.  I mean I was on pace on this 10-mile run that included 4 warmup miles, and a couple of the tempo miles today were on dirt roads.  So I feel good about hitting that goal now unless it's hot at the race in Longview, in which case I will melt down as I usually do in the heat.

Now I'm all antsy to get out and do some racing.

1140s #3 Miles: 10.21
Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

8:25 AP in some great running weather, about 45F.  In fact the rest of this week (including the weekend) looks great.  Just had to complain about it enough.

No soreness at all from my 10K yesterday, which was just about race pace effort for most of it.  I think stabilizing my mileage here (upper 50s/week) since December has helped my legs get accustomed to that level of punishment, and recover fast.  This summer will be a good time to base build easy miles while very slowly working toward 70.  Right now, while the weather is nice, I will keep the intensity up and just hover around 60/week until OKC.  It took me awhile (and a few injuries) to learn not to increase mileage AND intensity at the same time but I think the message finally got through.

New Blue Asics Miles: 6.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
11.000.0011.00

55F, ~15mph south wind.  Not feeling it today.  I tried to speed up a bit on the way home with the tailwind and managed a few 7:30s but felt really sluggish.  8:02 AP for the run.

I saw a lady who was plopped down in the grass at a bus stop today.  She was staring at me with a shocked and disgusted look.  I checked and did not have any boogers hanging out, so I said good morning and she just continued to stare at me in disgusted silence.  Then there was an older gentleman just standing still, right in the middle of the street, having a conversation with himself.  I didn't want to interrupt, so he did not get a "good morning."

1140s #2 Miles: 11.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

6 @ 8:11 AP in racing flats.  I'm working my way up in distance with them; if there continues to be no pain or ill-effects, I think I will try to use them in the HM in a couple weeks.

Saucony A4 Miles: 6.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(11)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.000.007.00

40 degrees and windy (NNW 22-27 mph).  Tried to stay on crosswind roads, mostly.  Felt pretty good today, 7:49 AP.  20-miler tomorrow!

1140s #2 Miles: 7.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(14)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
13.007.0020.00

29F to start, 43F to finish...Awesome day to run.  This was my first 20-miler back in the U.S. and I got to explore some new areas.  I ran to one of the many wind farms around Abilene, and actually found some solid hills!  We have a zillion humongous electricity-generating windmills around our town (gee, wonder why) but I've never really seen them up close.  Sometimes you'll see an "oversize load" 18+ wheeler slowly carrying a single fan blade on the interstate.  Anyway, about 8 miles into the run I found myself on an isolated road with 100+ foot tall windmills on either side, whooshing away.  Very surreal, it was a cool experience.

Oh yeah, I had a great run too.  Plan was 10 ez, 10 @ GMP.

AP for 10 ez was 8:04.  Splits were 8:24, 8:05, 8:14, 8:11, 8:00, 7:59, 7:52, 7:58, 7:58, 7:54.

AP for 10 "mp" was 7:12. Splits were 7:38, 7:25, 7:17, 7:22, 7:19, 7:15, 7:08, 7:04, 6:54, 6:40.

"MP" in quotes because that is more like HMP.  Believe it or not, the last 3 miles were into a decent headwind.  AP for the run - 7:38.

Sooo, I did this run at my goal marathon pace on average.  My time of 2:32:36 is 18 seconds faster than my 20-mile split at Houston.  The difference is I was on death's door in Houston at the 20-mile point, but able to run a 6:40 mile into the wind today.  Mostly it's the 30-degree difference in temperature, but I think I'm more fit too.

One thing I should probably point out...I just checked the map data, and I climbed a net 200 feet going out and descended 200 feet coming back home.  So that skews the last 10 miles a little.

1140s #3 Miles: 20.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(11)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
12.000.0012.00

61F, wind S 15-20.  My hips are still kinda sore from Sunday, and I didn't like the temperature or wind so I blew off Tempo Tuesday and just did some solid aerobic base miles.  8:07 AP.  The wind was only moderate by our standards, and I was able to run sub-9s on the direct headwind legs; when the wind is bad I can't even do that, but still not a good day to try and hit any specific paces.  I will make up for it on Thursday, it's supposed to be nicer.

1140s #3 Miles: 12.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
10.000.0010.00

36F, 13 mph wind.  8:04 AP.  Nice and cool this morning, but I just did base miles again.  I had to borrow some of tomorrow's miles; I want to do some faster stuff in racing flats tomorrow but don't want exceed 9 total miles.

1150s Miles: 10.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.255.5010.75

AM#1 - 31F, 5mph winds.  Great day to run fast.  I warmed up 3 miles @ 8:05 AP, then did 4 mile repeats with an easy half-mile inbetween.  The mile repeats (with rest intervals) were:

6:37, (3:59), 6:28, (3:51), 6:20 (3:40), 6:14, (4:20 cooldown).

AP 7:19 for 9 miles.

I am now a fan of racing flats.  I just kept getting faster, even my half-mile "rest" was speeding up.  I redlined by the end of the last one as the last half-mile was a little uphill.  Probably shouldn't have pushed so hard 2 days before my 5K...oh well.  Goal will be a sub-20.

Damage assessment from the flats - not much, but my right achilles or lower calf is a bit tender/sore.  Not bad to run or walk on, so hopefully it goes away.

***********************

AM#2 - I was in a class this morning that did a mock-PT test...crap.  So, quarter-mile warmup, then 1.5 at about a 6:45 pace (after pushups and situps).  I just kinda cruised since I was a good bit in front of everyone, but maybe shoulda made it more of a jog since it was not officially scored.  I just hate giving crappy effort.  Right achilles feeling a bit more tender now, but should not affect Saturday's race.  I am starting to re-think flats for a half marathon though, we'll see.

Saucony A4 Miles: 9.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(7)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.370.004.37

8:42 AP.  Hopefully my legs are ready to go tomorrow for the 5K, and are recovered from the fast stuff yesterday.  Right now they are angry at me.

New Blue Asics Miles: 4.37
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Race: Local APD 5K (3.13 Miles) 00:19:41, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 2
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
2.003.135.13

Conditions for the race were mid 50s and windy.  I got to the race and the south wind is blowing down every sign or stand they put up.  I'd guesstimate 15-20 mph.  Thankfully, two-thirds of the race was east/west.

Warmed up a couple miles and started near the front.  Not a bad turnout for Abilene, probably a couple hundred people.  Mile 1 I started out in 6th, and worked my way up to 4th by the end of the mile.  Split was 6:14.  Mile 2 I moved into 3rd where I would stay the rest of the race - I just could not catch up to the 2 guys in front, but they were close (10-15 seconds ahead maybe).  Mile 2 split was 6:25.  The last mile was tough.  About halfway through, we hit a wall of wind.  I knew I wouldn't catch up at that point as my legs became silly putty.  Still, Mile 3 was 6:22.  The last bit was tailwind, and I did the 0.13 in 40 seconds (5:06 pace).

Big PR, way better than I thought would be possible.  I might just try and wear flats for the half next weekend if the lower calf/achilles (not sure which it is) soreness goes away.  I'm definitely not used to the shoes yet but getting there.

Saucony A4 Miles: 5.13
Weight: 0.00
Comments(11)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
14.000.0014.00

50F, no wind.  It all died out right after the race (of course) and hasn't come back yet.  I ran to a wind farm again and most of the windmills were still - you don't see that here much!

Anyway, I took it easy but gradually picked it up to GMP the last 6 or 7 miles.  Felt pretty comfy the whole run.  7:46 AP.

*Here's a link with a short video about the race yesterday.  They caught my finish at about 45 seconds into the video, if you can get it to work.  Then the poor honor guard trying to hold the flags steady in the wind...

1140s #3 Miles: 14.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(5)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.005.0011.00

40F, 10 mph winds.  Plan was 6 easy, 5 tempo, just looking for sub 7s on the tempo piece.

I didn't hold out too much hope for this workout -- I worked literally 30 hours straight from Sunday afternoon to Monday evening, and went about 40 with no sleep.  However, I got a solid 8 hours last night so I guess it was enough.

6 easy in 8:01 AP, then 5 tempo in 6:52 AP (6:54, 6:55, 6:51, 6:50, 6:52).  Just kept a nice stready pace; felt decent, all things considered.  7:30 AP for the run.

I checked the weather in Longview for Saturday - going to be mid 60s for the race...similar to Houston.  Oh well.  Sub-1:35 is still in play, I think, but my visions of 1:31 or 1:32 are dissipating.

1150s Miles: 11.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(7)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.020.006.02

8:19 AP.  Can't think of anything else to say, so I'll just say I hate daylight savings time.

New Blue Asics Miles: 6.02
Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
11.000.0011.00

64F, south wind 22-25 mph.  Tough wind today, but I just did base miles anyway, 8:07 AP.  Nothing interesting except that I almost got hit by a fast-moving tumbleweed.  That would've stung a bit.

I'm considering going shirtless for the race on Saturday.  Cons - I will blind oncoming traffic, and there will be race phototography there.  Pros - it will feel a lot cooler, no one will be able to tell how much sweat, gatorade, snot, drool and water I have on me, and maybe it will help me endure a little better...run better splits at the end?  Not sure.

1140s #2 Miles: 11.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(7)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
5.000.005.00

8:11 AP in Longview this morning.  Low 60s and humid, same as the start of the race will be tomorrow.  As expected the day before a race, it felt terrible - like 1:45 would have been tough, forget 1:35.  But I think I know not to pay attention to that.

1140s #2 Miles: 5.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Race: Longview Half Marathon (13.14 Miles) 01:39:56, Place overall: 38, Place in age division: 6
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
0.0013.1413.14

64F, 92% humidity.  I've never really bombed in a race, so I guess it was about time.  I've probably had half a dozen training runs where I've ended up covering this distance faster.  Most things that could go wrong, did.  I forgot my energy drink/caffeine in the morning, and I normally never do anything more than a recovery run without it.  Then the temp/humidity ended up about like Houston, except we were in direct sunlight for this one.  Today confirmed to me that I lose all my endurance above 60 degrees.  The course was also hilly; it was never flat, always up or down.  I could use some hill training.  To make matters worse, I didn't learn my lesson about adjusting my pace to the conditions, and I started out as if I had perfect conditions again.  I'll steal the Proverbs quote from Preston's blog the other day - "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly."  So those are my million excuses!  Mostly, I just...ran...bad.  I was pleading for the finish line around mile 4.

7:03, 7:03, 7:12, 7:25, 7:18, 7:32, 7:49, 7:47, 8:04, 8:07, 7:59, 8:04, 7:39, 0:53.

About halfway through, I mentally died.  Probably could have given a little more effort but I had completely wilted mentally and physically in the heat.  Ended up pretty dehydrated as well.  I wish I could pull something positive out of this...guess it is technically a PR, and I got in a solid medium-long run.  Time to take an easy week and reset everything.

Saucony A4 Miles: 13.14
Weight: 0.00
Comments(7)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.000.006.00

67F, 19-24mph wind.  Just did an easy 6 at an 8:50 avg.  Plan is to do easy runs this week, then a solid 20-miler this weekend.

New Blue Asics Miles: 6.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

64F, wind S 27-36 mph.  Kinda rough going out there today, but I rode a tailwind the last couple miles and ended up at MP for the last 2.  8:20 AP for the run.

1150s Miles: 8.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
8.000.008.00

51F, 7 mph wind.  7:55 AP -- Started out 8:20s and had a natural progression to 7:30s.  Really trying to cherish these cool mornings while they last, I wished I had time for more miles today.

1140s #3 Miles: 8.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(3)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.003.0010.00

50F, low winds, another great morning for running.  If only there were some sunshine, it would be perfect.  Ran 5 easy going out, then a progressive 5 coming back (7:33, 7:23, 7:13, 7:05, 6:50).  Average for the 10 miles was 7:44.  Guess an entire week of easy runs was too much to ask, who could've guessed?

1150s Miles: 10.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
6.140.006.14

8:32 AP.  Cut off the run, not feeling too well.  Looks like I'll be forced into not running tomorrow due to work so maybe the rest will be good, although I won't get much sleep.  If everything goes ok with work tomorrow, I should still be able to get in my 20-miler on Sunday.

New Blue Asics Miles: 6.14
Weight: 0.00
Comments(9)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
14.006.0020.00

Perfect weather: temps in the 40s, overcast, 10 mph wind.  7:32 AP for 20 miles.  I did 8 easy, 12 at "MP".  I was supposed to do a 10 + 10, but my plans changed; see below for the reason.

So I decided to go exploring a new route with this 20-miler.  We'll call it the prison loop.  Twice before, while running on isolated country roads, I've been stopped by shady-looking characters looking for directions to the prison.  Now I'll be able to help them!  Apparently there is a state prison just 7 or 8 miles from my front door...neat.  Well, my watch just beeped mile 8, and a car pulls up next to me.  I quickly glanced over and it says "Perimeter Security" on the side of the car.  The guard obviously wants to talk, but he's nice enough to let me keep running during the conversation.  We establish that I'm just out for a run and he says, "we were just wondering what you were doing running around a prison."  I asked, "was that a bad idea?"  He said, "well, our prisoners all wear white."  Guess what color shirt I had on.  I said, "Oh, so that WAS a bad idea."  He just kinda chuckled and we talked for another minute or so, and he "let me go" once he figured out I wasn't a threat (or an escaped convict).  Once he turned around I glanced at my watch and my pace had gone from 7:50s to 7:20s.  Well, I figured I might as well start the MP portion right then.  So I did 12 faster miles today.  To make the 20-mile loop complete, I looped around the water treatment/sewage plant.  Sometimes I just feel so lucky to have so many beautiful places to run.

First 8: AP 8:00.  Splits 8:14, 8:03, 8:09, 8:06, 7:59, 7:48, 7:49, 7:50.

Last 12:  AP 7:13.  Splits 7:34, 7:32, 7:28, 7:27, 7:18, 7:23, 7:19, 7:24, 7:13, 6:54, 6:49, 6:20.

I averaged a faster pace on this 20-miler than I did on my HM race last weekend.  In fact, my last 13.1 today was 1:35:17.  What was I doing in Longview??  Am I just hyper-sensitive to warm weather?  As excited as I am about this run, part of me considers it almost fake since I had nice weather today, and you never get nice weather for races.  I'm particularly excited to pull off a 5K pace mile for mile 20.  I wanted to empty the tank to see what I had left and there was plenty.  With good temperatures at OKC, my time should be really, really good.  I just wish I didn't fold so hard in the heat, because it's more likely to be warm there in May.

1150s Miles: 20.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(13)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
11.000.0011.00

47F, wind N 12 mph, light rain/mist.  Nice and refreshing morning for a run.  I just did base miles today, 8:03 AP.

My legs knew it was Tempo Tuesday, but I had to deny them any speedwork today.  I have my PFT tomorrow (pushups, situps, 1.5 mile run) so I will move the tempo run to Thursday.  My goal will be to crack 9:00 (6:00 pace) on the run portion.  I think I'm in shape for it but I always underestimate how much the pushups and situps take out of me.  FYI, less than 2 years ago I ran a 13:30 (9:00 pace) and almost failed this test...

1140s #3 Miles: 11.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(4)
Race: AF PFT (1.5 Miles) 00:08:53, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
4.501.506.00

What the hey, let's make it a race report...  I got to my test early and did 4 warmup miles.  Then started the test - there are 4 components: a waist measurement, # pushups in a minute, # situps in a minute, and a 1.5 mile run.

I got max points on waist, pushups, and situps.  I hit 57 (max points) pushups with about 15 seconds to go, and 54 situps (max) with about 10 seconds to spare.  Then I needed just a 9:34 on the 1.5 mile run to get a perfect score, but my goal was to break 9:00.  Jogged about a half-mile to the start line...  My quarter-mile splits for the run:

1:25

1:30 (2:55)

1:31 (4:26)

1:31 (5:57...mile PR)

1:32 (7:29)

1:24 (8:53!)

woohoo!  I've actually never broken a 6-minute mile before, so this is a pretty nice result.

Saucony A4 Miles: 2.001140s #3 Miles: 4.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(21)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
7.155.8513.00

Low 40s, great running weather.  I wanted to do 7 easy, 6 tempo (6:50s) but fell a little short.  Not sure why, I was pretty sure I'd be able to pull it off but I guess it wasn't my day.  The tempo miles were 6:55, 6:54, 6:53, 6:54, 6:57, 7:21.  I was dead tired and actually stopped after 5 and started jogging it in, giving up, but then remembered that I always regret doing that.  So after about 0.15 at a jog, I tried to pick the pace back up.  Never got it back below 7, but I definitely suffered quite a bit while trying so hopefully that makes me faster down the road.  AP for 13 miles was 7:36.

1150s Miles: 13.00
Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Slow milesFast milesTotal Distance
194.4356.33250.76
1140s #3 Miles: 79.21New Blue Asics Miles: 28.531140s #2 Miles: 34.00Saucony A4 Miles: 35.271150s Miles: 72.00
Weight: 0.00
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