Mile Repeats at Zilker

Today we ran mile repeats at Zilker Park on the south side of Barton Springs Rd. I woke up at the usual time and wanted to go right back to sleep. The goal for the weekend was to get caught up on my sleep, but I still feel like I am in a big hole.

The weather was warm and soupy...typical for this time of year, but at least it wasn't raining. We headed over to the park, did our drills and then got into running mode. I ran with Sean, Joseph, Anne and Gretchen. We did 5 repeats and all of mine were under 7 minutes. I was pretty consistent and the only disappointing thing was that I wasn't able to do my fastest repeat last. I got carried away with Sean and spent myself on the 4th repeat.

Repeats
06:58.2, 06:54.5, 06:58.6, 06:46.0, 06:51.0

All in all it was a very good day. I feel strong and any nicks I had from Indy are now gone.

Approximate mileage - 9.3 miles

Volunteering at the Cap Triathlon

Today I thought I would pay back a bit and volunteer at the Capitol of Texas Triathlon down at Town Lake. I got to the course about 5:45 and ran into Henry at the volunteer tent. We headed over to the lake to help corral the people at the start and send them off into the swim. It was a lot of fun seeing all the people. We ran into numerous Gazelles as well as a few old friends from the Galloway group. Gilbert's team won the relay and Alex and KKx2 came in third place. I guess she didn't cheat. :)

Anyway, doing a triathlon is definitely something that I want to do in the near future. So if all works out well I will be at the Cap Tri as an athlete next year.

Short Pace Run

I was out late last night with the boys so I didn't expect to run today. Since I am working the Triathlon in the AM I can't get in pace run. I took the girls to the pool and then decided to run a quick 4 miles at 5PM. My legs were warm from swimming around so I took off from the start and felt really good. I did the first mile in 7:48, second in 7:35, third in 7:13 and the last mile in 7:15. It was hot and humid, but it felt good to get rid of some of the beer from Saturday night. This is the last of the fun for awhile because I begin my Chicago training next week. I plan on being a lot better when it comes to the beers and my diet. The goal is to get to 190 by the time I hit the starting line. With the heat and more intense workouts, it should be doable.

Stats - 4.1 Miles/30:20/7:21 pace

Long Run in the Rain

Today I met a few of the group to run 10 miles. We took off a little before 7AM. I am still recovering from my trip to California. Jet lag really messes me up. It was cloudy and really humid when we started. I fully expected to get the run in rain free, but as we started out clockwise on the trail it started to rain. By the time we got to the Rock it was coming down really hard. We kept going along even with a bit of thunder and lightning. We lost one group member at the Pfluger bridge and then lost Alex at I-35. Sean and I kept going as the rain dissipated and completed the loop along Riverside. It cut off a little bit, but the rain was coming back and we wanted to avoid it. I stretched with the group and then headed home.

Stats - 9.88 Miles/1:26:34/8:45 pace

Easy Run in Sunnyvale

I was still in California so I took advantage of the cool morning (50s) and went for a short run before my meetings. The area is really industrial so I kept it short. Not much to report.

Stats - 4.13 Miles/32:50/7:57 Pace

Run in Palo Alto - Stanford Campus

I started the day with a very long flight with half the Asian population of Austin to San Jose, and shared my row with one serious, little bastard. He was into serios booger picking, booger eating, and screaming. Once I landed, I treated myself to an In and Out Burger double-double hamburger. I know it's not on my lose weight plan, but I felt like splurging since I hit 201 yesterady after the workout. I was in meetings until 7PM Austin time and then it was time to go for a run.

I ran with one of my Sun buddies, Paul Read, and the Palo Alto Run Club again. Today was the Stanford route where we run through part of the Stanford University campus. I saw that dump, Maples Pavillion, where the Stanford basketball team plays. It is very small from the outside. We passed by the football stadium, and I saw the signature Stanford tower. It was a very nice run.

I have to share this story. There is this really weird dude who I had the unfortunate experience of talking to last week...very weird dude! He was there again tonight. He has many interesting views on running. I wish I had a picture of him. He wears this Oakland A's windbreaker, off-brand running shoes, women's sun glasses, and a baseball cap. Then no matter what run we do, he takes off like a bat out of hell...running with the big dogs, and dies a mile into the run. Then I guess he walks back to his car and goes home. Today he lasted a bit longer due to a couple of early traffic lights, but still died very early. It was pretty warm today and he still had on the windbreaker. At the first light he unzipped...and no shirt...weird! Anyway, enough of the wacko.

Stats - 4.5 Miles/around 36:30

Wilke (Minimal)

Today was our monthly visit to Wilke. It was warm and humid again, but at least there was a bit of a breeze. Jay, Alex and i were the only ones that ran over to the hill from RunTex. I like that part of the run because the actual Wilke workout is kind of short on distance. My quad has been feeling better so I wanted to take it easy on the hill today. G said to do 3-7 and not to worry about speed, but to focus on form. I ran the first one and felt a twinge in my quad. I ran two more to complete the minimum. I ran three more repeats backward. G noticed that my left foot turns out during the backward ones, so I spent time focusing on that.

We ran back to RunTex and I came away unscathed. I got to the gym and did two sets of my arm exercises and stretched.

Stats - 6.54 Miles

Moderate 10 Miles

Today I met Alex at RunTex for a moderate 10 miles on the trail. We are trying to get our legs ready for the Monday pace runs when we begin our Chicago training in a couple of weeks. We started at 6AM and its seemed a lot cooler than on Saturday. We took water right before the dam and again at the Rock. It was a nice easy run...very enjoyable. We did 4 strides at Auditorium Shores. My legs felt great...hopefully they will stay way after Wilkie.

Stats - 10.2 Miles/1:30:20/8:51 pace

The Old City Loop

Today I ran with Jay, Jan, and Henry and we did the old Galloway city loop. The weather seemed cooler at our 6:30 start, but it got hot really fast. I just wanted to get in a solid 10-11 miles at around 9 minute pace. We headed west on the trail to the Pfluger bridge and then headed up San Antonio over to 6th street and then over to LaVaca. From there it was the old route up Guadalupe to 45th street. Jay's accelerade stop at the tennis courts was a life saver. I didn't carry water and was very thirsty. I didn't carry any gels with me and I think I could have used one at the half way point. We went down Duval through the campus and then down to the capitol. Jan and I stopped for water there. Both of us had rough days last summer and wanted to make sure we didn't over do it this early in the summer. Jay and I went west at the trail and did ran back to the Pfluger foot bridge and back to the zero mile marker.

I did 4 strides and then joined the group for stretching. We got stuck out on the parking lot which really sucks when all you have is a towel.

I witnessed a nasty traffic accident on the way home so I played good citizen and provided information to the police. I was behind a car turning left when she decided to turn right in front of another car. The oncoming car plowed the idiot lady turning left and pushed her into a car stopped at the light. I was very lucky the oncoming car veered right instead of left or she would have hit me head on.

So all in all a nice morning where I am thankful I can run.

Stats - 10.69 Miles/1:34:35/8:51 pace

Easy Run in the Hood

I got home really late last night so I slept a little late and went to Caroline's awards ceremony. I got home around 8:45 and went for a quick 4 mile run. It was already hot as hell outside. The extreme temps of summer have come very early this year. I did my usual out and back to the south end of Circle C and back to the house. I felt a lot better with the day off on Thursday after the hard 7 miles on Wednesday night.

Stats - 4.10 miles/33:30/8:10 pace

Run with the Palo Alto Run Club

Today I am in San Jose on business so I did a run with the Palo Alto Run Club. I got into San Jose around noon and drove to my hotel. I caught up on some work in the afternoon and then headed over to Palo Alto to meet up with the group. The weather was cool and overcast here and perfect for running...except for a pretty strong wind. I thought they were doing a 5 mile run through the Stanford campus, but I was mistaken. It turned out to be a run they call the Baylands run with is about 7.25 miles long through some neighborhoods and then into a wildlife preserve called the Baylands. The Baylands part reminded me of Minto Brown park in Salem, but without the trees. I didn't really know anyone or the route so I went faster than I wanted to, but not really fast. We hit a couple of really bad patches of these little black bugs. I got one in my eye and the were all over my face and in my hair. YUCK!

My legs were really trashed from yesterday's lunges and Lucy working on them so it was hard to get into a good groove. It was also weird starting a run at 8:15PM Austin time. My body just isn't used to running at that time and with food on-board.

I completed the run OK and actually felt pretty good. I got back to my hotel and stretched and now it's bed time. Tomorrow is definitely a rest day since I have early morning meetings. I will make up the distance on Friday AM.

I am in San Jose next week too, so I will probably join these folks again next week.

Stats - 7.22 miles/1:02:47/8:42 pace (The pace was probably closer to 8:30, but we hit a few stop lights)

Circuit Training at AHS

Today we did circuit training at AHS followed by some fast feet and no-breathe sprints. The weather was really nice today. It was actually in the 50s and not too humid. We jogged over to AHS, did the "usual" drills and then headed off for 3 circuits. We ran an 800s and then did step ups, pushups, crunches/leg lifts, back raises, superman jumps, and then lunges. Gilbert gave me some personal coaching for my lunges. I was doing them wrong due to my right leg quad hurting. I got through the 3 sets and then headed over to the football field where we did one set of fast feet for one minute, then ran 3 sprints holding our breath. We did another set of fast feet and then another set of 3 sprints. It was a really good workout.

I went to they gym and did my lifting routine for my arms and my ab workout. I did a partial stretching routine and headed off to work.

I got in to see Lucy and she really worked my legs well. They are really sore right now, but they will be good to go in the long run. She found a lot of stuff in there from the race. I am going to see her every two weeks through my Chicago training.

Approximate total mileage was about 5 miles.

Easy 8 Miles

Today I ran with Alex on the trail at 6AM. We will eventually turn these runs into pace runs once we get going with our Chicago training. We ran counter-clockwise on the trail and then added an additional mile around Auditorium shores to make it about an 8 mile day. The run felt good and at a good pace. It was a lot better than what we did last Thursday.

We did 4 strides and called it a day. I got to the gym where I did some ab work on the Roman chair and the ab machine. I did my full stretching routine to keep my right leg loose. It feels pretty decent today.

Easy Run

Today I ran with Jay and Jan on the 7 mile loop. It's the third time this week, but it's been a weird week since I haven't been with the Gazelles. A thunderstorm blew threw at 5AM so it was nice and cool when we started at 7AM. It was still very humid though. My right leg has still been feeling weird. I am beginning to think it is IT since it is moving around and now I am feeling something in my hip. We ran at an easier pace than I did on Thursday so I felt OK. We stopped for water at the Rock and headed back to Auditorium shores. I ran 5 slow strides and still felt OK. We headed back to RunTex for our group stretch. It was another nice, casual day!

Stats - 7 miles/1:00:47

Elliptical and Weights

Today I rode the elliptical trainer for 15 minutes and then did my complete weight routine. I did my leg exercises and really focused on my leg extensions and leg curls so I can make sure and not make my leg worse. It was a good workout and everything came through unscathed.

Moderate Run on 7 Mile Loop

Today I ran with Alex on the 7 mile loop. Summer is definitely here. We started off at an easy pace and then picked it up pretty quick. We stopped for water at the Rock and then finished off the run. My legs were feeling pretty good and my back has been feeling great.

When we got back to the Rock G said to do some strides. I ran my first one OK, and on the second one, my right hamstring started to hurt. I tried another moderate one, and the same thing happened. I had to watch the group do the "ch, ch" drills without me.

Stats 7 miles/55:47/7:58pace

Elliptical and Weights

Today I rode the elliptical trainer for 20 minutes and then did my arm weights and some easy ab work. My back is still a bit sore and I am bringing it back slowly. I used the roman chair to do 3x20 crunches and then did two sets of abs in the ab machine. I did some light stretching and headed off to work.

I am meeting the Gazelles in the AM, but I think I will just do another 7 miles on the trail instead of doing the tempo run. I think Saturday will bring another 7 mile trail run before I head back to the group on Tuesday. I have to travel to San Jose the next two weeks so I will only be able to hit the Gazelles the next two Tuesdays. I will run with a friend and the Palo Alto Running Club the next two Wednesday nights in California.

Easy 7 Miler Around Town Lake

Today I met Alex for an easy 7 mile loop on Town Lake. The rest of the Gazelles were doing Meriden and there is no way I was doing that two days after the race. Summer is here a bit early with temps in the high 60s and humid as hell. We ran a pretty decent pace and it was really nice to easy for a nice distance without worrying about training for something. I am going to enjoy running this month easy prior to beginning Chicago training in early June.

Stats - 7 Miles/1:01:50/8:50 pace

Recovery Run

Today I met Alex for a recovery run at Town Lake. Summer is back...it was warm and very humid at 7 this morning. We did a counterclockwise loop from RunTex around to Congress and back to RunTex. We ran into Sean near the little foot bridge and talked for a bit and then kept going. My legs were pretty stiff today, so it was a good way to loosen up.

Stats: 5 miles/47:10

Mini Indy Marathon Race Day (5/7/05)

Race Day

After our night of messed up sleep the 5AM alarm clock went off way too early. I hit the snooze button twice before we finally started moving around. I drank my Accelerade and ate a Clif Bar. I tried to do some "body-weight" adjustment, but things weren't flowing well in Indy. The weather was clear and sunny with temps near 60. It was a little warmer than we expected, but still nice for a half. We got outside around 6ish and did a 1.3 mile warmup down the finish straight, through the IUPUI campus and then back to the hotel. We did the "USUAL" drills in the parking lot, headed back up to the room to put on our Gazelle singlets, take care of last minute business, and head on over to the start. We dropped our stuff off at the FEDEX trucks and started walking over to the start line. We made a last minute potty stop and got in the "B" corral about 7AM. There weren't many folks in there at all. It was really nice to be up front. I started feeling like another hydration adjustment, but didn't go. I wish I would have since it would have saved me some time in the end.

The corral filled up pretty quickly so Alex and I settled in a good spot where we could get a nice tangent into the first turn. Someone sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" and then the queen of the 500 festival sang the national anthem. The wheel chair folks started off first and the runners started a few minutes later. The gun went off and we took off. The first part of the course was slightly downhill and I was really careful not to get pulled out too fast. I saw Jeff and Andy go by on the right as we were in front of the zoo.

First mile - 7:42

I wasn't happy with the first mile since I was shooting for a 7:20 pace for the first 10 miles, but I didn't want to get it all back in the first mile. I wanted to chip away at it and put myself in position to run the last 5k really strong. We headed north along White River Parkway and then headed west on Michigan toward Speedway. I felt like I was in a really good rhythm the next few miles and hope I can remember how that felt for future long races.

Miles two and three - 7:18, 7:18

We had about 2.5 miles until we hit the track on some straight roads with some 90 degree turns. There were many bands and cheerleaders along the route, but no one reallys stood out. As I mentioned in my Friday entry, the scenery for this race is unimpressive to be nice.

Miles four and five - 7:13, 7:14

I started to tire a bit going into mile 6. It could have been the faster pace for miles 4 and 5. I ate some Enervitine at mile 5 and took on some additional water. There seemed to be plenty of water, but the gatorade stations seemed to be few and far between. I had to pee pretty bad as we entered the speedway. It was nice to run under the bridge and get some shade for a bit. I finally gave in and ran into a bathroom right in the infield near turn two. Of course I couldn't just do a splash and go, so I wasted at least a minute in there...definitely something to work on for future races. Running on the track was great. The music was good and I was thinking of all the history that this place has. As I ran by turn 4 I was thinkig of Little Al and Emmo touching at the end of the 1989 Indy 500. As I turned onto the front straight I thought of the 33 cars taking the green flag at the start. I tried to stay near the bottom of the track so the camber wouldn't mess me up. When I got to the entrance of the pits, I remembered a huge crash by, I think, Scott Brayton into the pit wall entrance. I made sure and touched the bricks as I crossed the start finish line and headed off into turn one. The exit out of the track was kind of weird running along an alley-like road and back onto 16th street back towards downtown.

Miles six through eight - 7:28, 8:14 (hydration adjustment), 7:26

The next little section was a little zig zag outside the Marathon Oil refineries. We finally got onto 10th street which is the start of three long straight sections. I wanted to take off at the mile 10 marker, but I was feeling a bit tired. I continued to run as I felt and my times dropped a bit. I was feeling the heat, but was staying mentally strong. I was taking on water at every other stop and drank the rest of my enervitene at mile 9.

Mile nine and ten - 7:33, 7:34

I knew my McMillan goal of 1:34:XX was out the window, but I still wanted to walk away with a PR. I picked up the pace for mile 11 and 12. There was a poor guy laid out during mile 12 who was being worked on my paramedics. When I hit New York street at mile 12.1 I knew I had to bust a good last mile to PR. I stayed focused on my form and ran strong. I saw Mr. and Mrs. Olson on the side of the road cheering for me...that was really nice and gave me a lift. I saw the 3/4 mile, 1/2 mile, and 1/4 mile markers and kept charging toward the line. It felt really good to finish in 1:37:48...a 24 second PR over the 2004 3M half marathon.

Last 3 miles - 7:25, 7:26, 7:09
Last .1 miles - 0:45.28

I realized my McMillan goal may have been too aggressive since it was based on a 5k on an easy course in perfect conditions. The thing I was most happy with was that I was able to run as I felt and my body adjusted to the conditions and I was able to finish strong. I started out the first 5 miles at a 7:20 pace, slowed a bit in the 2nd 5 miles to a 7:40 pace, and then picked it back up to a 7:21 pace for the final 5k.

I grabbed some food and went over to the Indy Runners tent to meet the guys. I grabbed a bratwurst at one of the food tents and headed back to the tent for some beer. We hung out for a bit and then headed back to the hotel. We headed back to the pizza place and moved through another Colossus and had a couple of Hennepins. I was feeling good! The guys dropped me off at the airport and I was back on my way to Austin. I grabbed two cheese burgers and a shake in Dallas and got on my next plane. I was home by 10PM after a very long day.

Race Stats -
overall place: 1194 out of 25054 - top 5%
division place: 168 out of 1847 - top 9%
gender place: 1064 out of 12421 - top 9%
time: 1:37:48
pace: 7:28
5m time: 36:46 (7:21 pace)
10m time: 1:15:04 (7:40 pace)
last5k: 22:44 (7:20 pace)

Weekend in Indy - Friday (5/6/05)

Day two of my three days in Indy started pretty early. We got up at 6:30 to get in an easy run before the day before the race. We did a little loop starting near the finish line over to the starting line and then east to see the first part of the course. We headed north along side this little river to New York street which is the finishing street. From the corner of the river to the finish line is exactly a mile...a very nice reference point for some severe "butt-kicking." The Indy veterans showed us the two false finish lines before the actual line. This was so helpful come race day. There was an indoor bridge on the IUPUI campus and then another place where the photographers took pictures. Total mileage was about 3.5 miles/32:27.

We cleaned up after the run, hit Einstein's for some bagels and then it was off to the expo. There were no lines at all and it was a very nice expo. I bought a couple of shirts and then did some sampling at some of the booths. Alex and I jumped in the Indy car simulators for a game and then we headed off to lunch. We got back to the hotel and then headed off for a drive of the course. The course was very flat and not too nice except for the start, Speedway, and the finish. We stopped and took the bus tour of the speedway which was totally awesome. I used to be such a huge Indycar fan and getting to Indy one day has always been a dream. It would have been nice to see the cars run, but this was still very cool.

We picked up some supplies on the way back and then hit the hotel for a bit. I felt like I had been doing too much, but since it was only a half marathon, I wasn't too worried. I took a nap while watching TV so I did get a little R&R. We headed north to a suburb called Carmel to meet a friend of the Caroline posse for dinner. We ended up at a nicer place than we expected for some good pasta. The waiter was a clown who didn't get that we just wanted some pasta and wanted to get out quickly. He was giving us the whole ambience thing and we were like, bring me some damn food and then the check.

We got back to the room about 9PM and got all of our stuff together for the AM. I think we did lights out around 10PM and I was hoping for a good night's sleep. We were in for a couple of surprises. First at 11PM, Alex's phone went off...right about the time I was finally falling asleep. Then at almost 3AM, another alarm went off. As I got up and flipped the light on, I could see Jay pummeling the alarm clock in a daze. Alex and I rushed the table where his phone was and I finally figured out it was the fire alarm that was going off. We looked outside and didn't see any flames and it finally stopped so we went back to bed. So much for good sleep!

Weekend in Indy - Thursday (5/5/05)

Thursday -

I flew up to Indy with Jay on Thursday afternoon. We had a pretty uneventful flight up to Dallas and then Jay almost got mugged by some old bastard trying to get off the inter-terminal tram. The flight up to Indy was pretty quick as I caught a few winks. Alex, Jeff and Andy were waiting for us at the airport. We rolled to the Marriott where got our stuff squared away and ordered up a roll-away for Alex. Since he is both younger and smaller than Jay and I it was only fair...and it looked like a decent bed anyway.

We took a stroll down the street to check out the finish line area and then walked across the park where the finishing line festivities take place. We headed near the NCAA Hall of Champions and over to the starting line area. From there we headed into downtown and saw interesting historical stuff. Indy has some nice statues and buildings down there. We ended up at a place called Bazbeaux's pizza for one beer and lots of pizza. Alex and I shared a pizza called a Colossus which had half meat and half veggies. This place is even better than Mangia back in Austin. We headed back to the room and settled in. Jay headed over to Jeff and Andy's room for some guitar playing and Alex and I watched some TV and crashed early.

Easy 4 Miles

Today I ran an easy 4 miles in the neighborhood as my last official run before Saturday. The weather was damp and humid since it rained last night, but it was pleasant and not warm. I did my usual route out to Escarpment and down to highway 45 and back. I ran as I felt and ended up going at a pretty good clip. I don't know if it means my slow run is now faster or what. I ran the 4 miles right around 32 minutes for an 8 minute pace. My Mcmillan chart says my easy runs should be in the 8:06 to 8:36 pace, so I was in the ballpark.

I will do some stretching, pushups, and situps tonight in front of the TV as well as pack for the trip. Tomorrow is a rest and travel day so I will fly, do some stretching, get some good food (I hear pizza is on tap), and hopefully get a good night's rest. On Friday we are doing a light run in the AM, and then hit the expo. After that I guess we need to get off of our feet, so maybe a movie would be cool...some type of guy flick. Hopefully we get a chance to drive the course and then of course some pasta for dinner. It's going to be fun!

3x1000s at Zilker

Today was another awesome weather morning for this time of the year in Austin. We had repeats on the agenda at Zilker Park around the soccer fields. We headed over to the soccer fields and did our usual drills. The crew was kind of small today...no Sean, Henry, or Jan. Gilbert wanted most folks to do 8 repeats easy. Alex and I got a rare reprieve and only had to do three. I wanted to do mine at half marathon pace and thought that's what I was doing according to my Garmin. When I got to work and did the calculations, I found out I was way fast. In a way it's going to make running a 7:20-7:00 minute pace seem easy on Saturday. G told us to run like we feel on Saturday and not worry about the watch. He says it will limit our efforts and put us into a box. I might leave the Garmin at home...what the hell?

Repeat 1 - 4:11/6:44 pace
Repeat 2 - 4:14/6:49 pace
Repeat 3 - 4:15/6:50 pace

Total mileage was 6.25 miles.

Tomorrow brings an easy 4 miles in the neighborhood.

Half and Half Run

Today I met Alex for a 4 mile easy and 3 mile pace run. G told me to run the 3 miles at 10k pace. The weather was kind of chilly and great for this time of year. I wore two layers on top which proved to be too much near the end of the run. We went out a good pace counterclockwise on the I-35 loop. I think we ran too fast for the early sections, but I was feeling ok with the pace. We hit the 3 mile marker on the north side of the trail and took off...Alex more than me. My Garmin was all FUBAR due to the trees and Mopac bridge so I wasn't able to get good splits for the 3 miles. I ended up running that section in 21:33 which was a 7:11 pace...exactly my pace for for the Capitol 10k.

Overall stats - 7 miles/55:54/7:59 pace overall (34:33 for the first 4 miles/8:33 pace)

I talked to G after the workout and he gave me some race tips and told me to go out at 7:20 for the first 8 miles and then kick it in for the last 5 at 7:00 pace. It sounds doable and would put me at 1:34:22 for the race. That would be a PR by 4 minutes from the 2003 3M half marathon. I am very much looking forward to the race. My legs feel good and my back continues to improve. It should be a great trip.