Recovery Run

Today was my usual recovery run with Wish. We did a variation on our SW Austin route at a nice clip.

Stats - 8.5 miles/1:11:03/8:21 pace
AHR - 134
MHR - 154

Yasso 800s at AHS

Today I got up early and met the group for 800s at AHS. It was still cold this AM so I put on compression shorts with tights and 3 layers up top. I only needed two layers, but I wanted a top layer to keep warm after the workout. We jogged over to AHS, did our drills and then started 8x800 with two minutes rest in between. I ran with Liliana, Larry, Randy and a guy that I don't know. G said 3:15 to 3:20 for our group and that was perfect for me. The first repeat was too slow which seems to be the trend with me, but we got in a good rhythm and G told me to hold back when we ran a 3:13. The splits were 3:25, 3:20, 3:15, 3:13, 3:15, 3:19, 3:16, 3:10 for an average of 3:17. I felt really good through the mid section, but had to really focus for the last two repeats. It was a good workout and I am feeling good with 11 days to go until the marathon.

Stats - 8.77 miles
MHR - 166

Run and Weights

I am in wind down mode getting ready for the marathon in a week and a half. I need to cut my mileage so I decided to run for 45 minutes at the gym and then spend some time with the weights. I haven't lifted in a few weeks and I could feel it. I ran for 45 minutes and covered a bit over 5 miles. The power went out during my run and all of us on the treadmills came to a screeching halt...not a fun thing. Once I got on a new treadmill and got restarted I finished up and hit the weights. I did 3 sets of all my arm exercises and two sets of my leg exercises. This will probably be my last weight workout for my legs until after the marathon. I did some ab work and the full stretch routine to get ready for tomorrow's 800s.

Stats - 5.15 miles/45:00

Sort of Pace Run

Since I did my long run yesterday I skipped the 3/5 pace run at the lake and got a little extra sleep. I ran after I took the girls to school and did a variation of my 8 mile loop at a pretty good overall pace. It was cold again this morning, but it was sunny and the wind wasn't too bad. My legs were a little tired during the run, but I ran how I felt and the results were pretty good.

Stats - 8.08 miles/1:05:33/8:07 pace
AHR - 140
MHR - 153

Sunday LSR

I moved my long run to Sunday because when I woke up yesterday I had really bad chills. I slept in and felt a lot better after I woke up. I met Wish and his Sunday group this morning for a tour of Mt. Bonnell and Mt. Barker. The route was new for me which is nice after 5 years of running here in Austin. It was really cold again and we got rained on in a few spots. It was one of those runs where you just want to finish and with the marathon in two weeks it was not a time to do anything stupid. We stopped for water at the cleaners where I ate a CarbBoom. We went through the bigger hills and then came back on Perry Lane, crossed over MoPac at Windsor and took West Lynn down to 5th Street. We headed east toward Lamar and then jumped on the trail heading east for some finishing miles. We crossed over the First St. bridge and I said my goodbyes. My stomach blew up after eating pizza last night for dinner. I got a cup of water at Auditorium shores and then finished up with a bit of a push on the wet trail. My actual time is a bit off because I forgot to stop my watch at a couple of stops. I think averaged between 8:35 and 8:40 for the run.

I felt good throughout the whole run and it was a nice change of pace to do a new route with some new folks.

Stats - 14.71 miles/2:08:51/8:45 pace
AHR - 134
MHR - 159

Run at Home

The cold front blew in on Wednesday night and we went from a high of 89 on Wednesday to temps in the low 40s with rain and wind on Thanksgiving Day. I geared up to run, but only got about a quarter of a mile when the wind hit me and I said screw it. Since I didn't run yesterday I moved the run to today. The weather was a little better, but still cold with a big head wind out of the north. I did my 8 mile loop to the north and wanted to keep the pace in the low 8:00 range. I had a nice run and I actually got a little warm once I had the wind at my back. I picked it up the last couple of miles and accomplished my time goal.

Stats - 8.11 miles/1:06:59/8:15 pace
AHR - 137
MHR - 152

400s at AHS

Today we met for 400s at AHS. It is the last day of warm weather for awhile which will be nice. The goal today was to do 20 repeats, 4 sets at a time, with a lap in between each set. I ran with Rachel, Alicia, Steve, Carrie, Grace, and Amy Skud. My goal was to do them all between1:30 and 1:35 which is the range on the McMillan site. G told us to start at 1:36 and then lower 2 seconds each set. Our first repeat was really slow at 1:42 and threw off the average for the rest of the set. I averaged 1:37 for the first set, 1:34 for the second set, and 1:32 for the third set. I was feeling pretty tired going into the last set. I tweaked my knee at the start of repeat 16 so I pulled up in the first turn and watched a couple. I ran the last two with the group and ran a 1:27 for the last one. I averaged 1:31 for the last set. It was a tiring, but good workout.

Stats - 9.82 Miles
MHR - 168

Easy Run at the Lake

Today I met Rachel and Marcy at the Rock for an easy 7 on the trail. It has been a long time since I have done one of these type of runs. It was nice to go a bit easier than I have been doing my recovery runs. We were able to catch up and have some laughs. The pace was nice and easy and definitely needed for me.

Stats - 6.9 miles/1:01:34/8:55 pace
AHR - 133
MHR - 149

Moderate Run at Home

I got home from Tucson really late last night so I skipped the Gazelle workout. I decided to do a moderate pace run at home after I took the girls to school. I did an out and back on Escarpment in some warm and humid conditions. I felt good, but am still tired from my week of travel.

Stats - 7.01 miles/57:13/8:10 pace
AHR - 146
MHR - 165

Time in Tucson

This is a recap of my time in Tucson. I had to fly early on Wednesday back to Austin and then fly early on Thursday to Tucson for some time with by brother and to see a couple of UofA games. I wasn't able to run either day so I had a couple of days off. On Thursday night we went to see the UofA play football against Arizona. We hit an old college hangout of mine called Gentle Ben's. We had dinner and a couple of pitchers of beer before heading to the game. Arizona upset Oregon 34-24 in a very exciting game. We ran on the field after the game which was something I never did when I was in school there. After we cleared the field we headed were walking to the car when the Arizona marching band came around the corner onto the Arizona mall. We waited on them and they played an impromptu concert on the steps of the Admin building. It was really cool.

On Friday I was finally able to run. I ran a loop I remembered from my time out there two years ago. It is so dry there that my breathing was off and I felt thirsty the whole time. It was a nice run with scenery that is a lot different from Austin. I had lunch with my parents and then spent the evening with my family at my brother's house.

Stats - 7.58 miles/1:02:18/8:13 pace
AHR - 142
MHR - 163

On Saturday morning I had to get in 15 miles and was not looking forward to it by myself. I broke the miles into two segments with a pit stop at my brother's house in between. I did the mileage in a good pace.

Stats - 15.25 miles/2:04:48/8:10 pace
AHR - 141
MHR - 158

The Tour De Tucson bike race was also this morning so I got back, ate, and then walked back to see the cyclists come through. It was pretty cool to see them come by in packs during the 109 mile route. We watched for about an hour and then headed back for some college football. My parents left for home in Phoenix and my brother and I headed back to the campus area for dinner and for the Arizona basketball game against Virginia. I haven't been to an Arizona home basketball game since I was in school so it was a nice treat for me. It was a great game, but Arizona lost 75-72. I flew back on Sunday. It was a good trip!

Awesome Run in the Bay Area

Today was one of the most beautiful runs I have done. When I travel I always like to stay at a hotel where I can get a nice run in nearby. I stayed in the east bay town of Newark (near Fremont) last night and thought there wasn't anything close by. The front desk mentioned a 3.1 mile loop with mountain lion warning signs so I skipped that. I did some searching on the web and found I was a couple of miles from a bay area preserve where there is a path called the Alameda Creek Regional Trail. I drove over there as the sun was barely coming up and found the path. I parked in a residential area and jumped on. My Garmin died right away and I was a bit upset, but then I thought what a wonderful place for the damn thing to die...right here in a nature preserve with beautiful scenery around me. I took off and about a half a mile in I saw some mileage markers so at least I had a frame of reference so I wasn't late for my meetings. I headed west into the bay and when I reached the end I was literally surrounded by water. I could see the buildings of San Francisco because the sun was reflecting on the buildings. I could see the silicon valley to the south and Oakland to the north just as the sun was rising. I said a little prayer of thanks for the beautiful scenery around me and headed back. I had no idea how fast or slow I was going, but knew I had 4 more miles to cover. I got back to my car and found I had covered about 8 miles in a little over an hour. It was an awesome run!

Stats - Approximately 8 Miles/pace - who cares!
MHR - Who cares!
AHR - Who cares!

EAS Race for the Water 10 Miler - Happy Birthday Emma!

Today was a new race in Austin, the EAS Race for the Water 10 Miler. The race benefits the Gazelle Foundation. My plan was to run at my MGP, 7:40, and potentially go faster if I was feeling good. I parked south of RunTex and jogged up to the start area. I then did the warmup with the Gazelles. It was another humid morning, but a little cooler than yesterday with a breeze out of the SE. I lined up with Larry, Rachel, and Brian and took off with the gun. The start was nice and wide so no issues there. Once we were on Cesar Chavez, I settle into a conservative pace that was below my MGP, but causing me no stress at all. We went through the hills of Pecos and scenic where I slowed a little, but nothing major. I was trying to keep a consistent effort through there without blowing up my heart rate. Once we climbed up scenic, I knew it was downhill from there. I ran into Lucy at the top and she said she would run me in which was really nice. She got water for me at one stop near the Hula Hut and kept me going. Around that time I looked down and my pace was 7:33. I decided I wanted to finish sub 7:30 so I picked it up...and picked it up until I felt like I was flying. I was flying across Lake Austin Blvd. which during marathons past has been my graveyard. We crossed over onto Cesar Chavez and I kept it up. Mile 8 clicked off at 7:20 and mile 9 at 6:53. I dropped Larry and Lucy somewhere along there and was pushing for another sub 7:00 for mile 10. The last mile was the slight uphill on Cesar Chaves to San Antonio. I still felt great and was in a zone. I turned onto San Antonio and pushed for the finish. My last mile was 7:00 and I still had more in the tank. I ended up 1:14 slower than my 10 mile PR. That course was all down hill and I was pushing hard for that entire race. Today really showed my progress and where I am in my training for Dallas. I feel a lot better than I did right before Chicago and feel a lot more confident. It was a great day at the races. I ended up with 22.54 for the weekend which is perfect.

Today is also my daughter Emma's 11th birthday. She has grown so fast into a lovely little lady!

Race Splits - 7:12, 7:32, 7:44, 7:22, 7:37, 7:42, 7:34, 7:20, 6:53, 7:00
Stats - 10 miles/1:14:07/7:25 pace
AHR - 155
MHR - 171

Overall Mileage - 12.54

10 on the Trail

This is our last 20+ mile weekend of my training for Dallas. I am running the Gazelle Foundation 10 mile race so I decided to split the miles over the weekend. The other goal was to run the race "tired" tomorrow so I can see what I have left for the marathon. I got to RunTex at 7AM and planned to run alone. I ran into DV who I have never run with before. He is really fast, but is coming back from injury and still planning on running his first marathon at Dallas. The weather was warm and very humid which sucks for this time of year. My heart rate definitely reflected the warm weather. We ran together for the first 6 miles and then he took off. I finished the last 4 miles on my own finished a good clip and felt a bit tired. I visited with Brian, Brad, and Jan, got my race packet, and called it a day.

Stats - 10.19 miles/1:24:20/8:16 pace
AHR - 146
MHR - 162

Run at Home

Today was my usual run with Wish through the streets of SW Austin. I got home really late last night from San Jose and didn't sleep well. I wanted to get in the run so I got up at my normal time, dropped the kids off at school, and headed out. The time flew by as usual and we ended up at a pretty rapid clip for this loop. These are really nice workouts to get ready for Dallas.

Stats - 8.17 miles/1:07:05/8:12 pace
AHR - 137
MHR - 159

More Treadmill Running

I am in San Jose today and was wide awake at 5AM. It was way too dark and foggy to head outside so I hit the hotel gym for my fartlek workout. I warmed up for two miles and then started the workout. It was kind of easy on the treadmill. I went from 8:49 pace to 7:41 pace every other minute for 12 sets. I finished up with about a 1.5 mile cool down. It was really hot in the gym and I was soaked when I finished up.

Stats - 6.1 miles/52:00/8:31 pace

Tuesday Run/Lift/Run

Today was my weekly trip to the gym. I ran for 45 minutes a bit slower than last week since I went hard yesterday. I hit the weights for about 45 minutes and then ran for 15 more minutes. My legs were a bit heavy, but the weights seemed to loosen them up. The second run felt effortless. I did some ab work at home and did a quick stretch.

Stats - 6.92 miles/1:00:00/8:40 pace

2/8 Pace Run

Today a small group of us, Philly and Dallas marathoners, took off on a 2/8 pace run. I had a nice two day rest from running and my legs felt great. The downside was that we were on the go all weekend and I ate really bad. I also had my head in the Halloween candy bucket...not good!

As for the run I took off ahead of the pack for the warmup and stopped at the two mile mark, hit the potty and got a quick drink. Marcy and Randy had already taken off so I off I went. I just ran how I felt and monitored my progress. My heart rate was high all morning and I don't know what to make of it. It was a bit warmer and more humid than it has been, but nothing like this summer. I caught Marcy and Randy near the softball fields and kept going. I had one of those negative moments near I-35, but battled through it and kept running how I felt. I stopped for a quick sip at the Pfluger water fountains. Ward caught up with me near AHS and dropped me for good after the MoPac bridge. I wasn't racing him so no worries. I was still feeling good. Once I crossed the foot bridge, I kicked it up a few notches for the last mile. I felt like I was flying and ran the last mile in 7:18. I crossed the zero mile marker at 8.04 miles for the pace run and averaged 7:34 which is perfect. This was definitely my fastest pace run of the year by a long shot. My summer runs were in the 7:50 - 8:00 range.

I did a few strides and called it a day.

Splits - 7:34, 7:37, 7:36, 7:40, 7:34, 7:31, 7:39, 7:18

Pace run stats - 8.04 miles/1:00:51/7:34 pace
AHR - 157
MHR - 166

Overall mileage - 10.17 miles

Long Run a Day Early

Due to Caroline's soccer tournament this weekend I had to do my 15 mile long run at home. I used the same course that Wish and I ran yesterday for the first loop and then did an out and back to Convict Hill on Escarpment for the second loop. I started out with a water belt which I haven't used in years. It really bothered me so I had to stop about halfway through the first loop and empty it. I had planned on doing 5 miles easy and then 10 at pace, but we are doing a 2/8 pace run on Monday so I just ran how I felt for the run. After the first loop I was able to eat a gel and get some more fluids at home. I left the water belt and took off. I thought the second loop would be really monotonous, but I shed my top layer, felt a lot lighter and took off.

I had a really good workout and it was a nice change to run at home for my long run.

Stats - 15 miles/2:03:19/8:13 pace
AHR - 140
MHR - 161

Moderate Run at Home

I met Wish again for what is becoming a standing Thursday run. We ran the same Escarpment/Convict Hill/Beckett loop and had another really good run. Wish really needs to write a book of all his running stories as well as the time he spent writing for the State Press at ASU and for the Arizona Republic in Phoenix. He is a very interesting man and a lot of fun to run with.

Stats - 8.23 miles/1:09:18/8:25 pace
AHR - 134
MHR - 154