weeks of 25 October and 1 November - accidental new workout

Week of 25 October

Mon - Magill's Drills 7.19 1:07:30 9:24
Pace includes walking in drills.

Tue - 4.20 0:38:15 9:07 138

Wed - 7.86 1:11:35 9:06

Thu- 8.37 1:09:25 8:17 157 (79%)
Did 10 x 400m at 10k pace (40:00=96 secs). I concentrated on counting my steps for the first five and about 40 for each 200m (=200 step/min at 96/lap). Times were 97, 97, 96, 93, and 95 for the first 5. It felt harder than 400m should though and, somewhat dejected, I thought I'd just run a relaxed 2x1mile at probably 7:00 pace or whatever felt right. Well, I looked at my watch at 100m, expecting to see 26, and saw 24, which was the 96/lap pace I had just been doing. I think the forced fast turnover made my relaxed turnover faster, so I kept with the 400s alternating relaxed and fast turnover, doing the the next 4 in 96, 94, 96, and 96. (lost count and only did 9 total).

Friday 5.99 0:57:01 9:31
At Disneyworld. It was totally flat but felt like 80 degrees and 100% humidity. I felt like crap.

Saturday
The park trumped running and took a zero.

Sunday Running: Easy 7.41 1:07:16 9:05
Two laps+ around Universal.

Week - 41.02 6:11:02 9:03
Another lousy low 40s week

week of 7 November

Mon PM - Treadmill 4.05 0:29:00 7:10 Got home at 1am from trip to Disney. Didn't get up monday AM, but ran in the afternoon.

Tue - AM 7.85 1:08:59 8:47
Tue PM - 2.20 0:20:56 9:31
Family still at Disney; first double in forever

Wed AM - 7.84 1:07:35 8:37
Wed PM - 2.08 0:20:00 9:37
Another double

Thu - 7.87 1:09:30 8:50
Fri - Magill's drills 7.64 1:12:08 9:27
Magill's drills on the turf field; Did 1 100m in 18 sec following just for fun;

Sat PM - 3.20 0:27:23 8:33
Took son to pool for swim meet. Got there at 6:50 am. Got home after 2pm. Had a blinding headache and laid down instead of running. Got out around 5pm and felt better after I ran three at a decent clip. Form felt like it clicked.

Sun - 10.15 1:20:36 7:56 164 Felt good last night and wanted to run around 8/mile today. Felt great and form felt right. At faster pace, cadence was ~185 without thinking about it. Did 2 laps in 69:47. Garmin says 9.00 miles for two laps (7:45), but the Garmin has a bit of a problem on the trail and I believe it is 9.14 (measured with a calibrated bike), which is 7:38 pace. Jogged another mile+ at ~10 min/mile.

Week - 52.9
First time above 50 since the week of 23 August before my injury.

uh oh -- weight creeping up

I'm about 1.5 up and only 4 pounds less than when I ran 40:22 in warm conditions. The whole "I'll run less but weigh less" strategy is slowly going out the window. Must. Stop. Eating. Man I wish I'd run 5 seconds faster in April.

week of 17 October

18 7.86 mi - 1:07:31 19 0 mi - 0:00:00 20 7.85 mi - 1:09:00 21 7.84 mi - 1:09:44 22 3.19 mi - 0:28:49 23 10.03 mi - 1:25:34 24 6.9 mi - 1:02:49 43.68mi - 6.3hrs

Not enough sleep on the 18th and slept in on the 19th. My foot is behind me I think because I had some groin pain that was worse :-) I think it's the after effect of a small pull/strain I got picking some of the kids stuff off the floor. Man, I feel old. Anyway, my hip flexors (psoas I think) were kind of sore after Thursday, so I took it really easy Friday morning. I think I was sore because I've changed my form with the quicker turnover. Sat was a really nice 10 miler around the lake and I explored a new trail a bit. That's the longest I've run since the injury. It was 8:32/mile and it felt good. Avg HR 147. I really felt like I had the correct, very slight forward lean. If had video tape of it, of course, I probably looked like hell. Sunday morning was a run around the lake with the weekend coffee crew.

I have thoughts of going to the track to see where I am, so expect an injury report soon. I might hold off a while though. I'm thinking of doing a 10k on 20 Nov, but if I can't run even 800s at 4'/k pace, then there's no point in signing up (might do the 5k instead).

week of 10 October

Here's the week of 10 October cut and pasted from runsaturday.

11 6.16 mi - 0:57:17

12 7.86 mi - 1:13:15

14 7.87 mi - 1:15:32

15 7.86 mi - 1:12:46

16 4.55 mi - 0:43:15

17 7.86 mi - 1:11:13

42.16mi - 6.5hrs

Monday was a run in the neighborhood and Saturday was with friends around the lake and the rest were my standard 7.9 mile out and back that I've done about a million times. I did it as a run/walk just to be safe. I did about 3 1-minute walk breaks on Tues and then 7 breaks (one minute at the beginning of each mile) the rest of the week. My paces weren't too bad: 9:00 - 9:30. I've kept up the 180 steps/minute and have learned to run an easy pace with that stride. Feels right. I've also done lots of foam rollering, stretching, and icing. These seem to be coming along nicely.

I did a continuous run yesterday and actually ran 8:35 pace with an easy effort. I've done this route so many times I looked up my runs this year at roughly that pace.

• 23 Feb 2010, 1:06:38 (8:30), 37 deg, HRs: 166, 136, 142, 136, 148, 139, 146, 149, AHR: 142 (excluding 1st mile)
• 5 May 2010, 1:08:07 (8:39), 50 deg, HRs: 99, 135, 142, 137, 144, 137, 145, 142, AHR: 140
• 17 June 2010, 1:08:10 (8:39), 65 deg/65 dp, HRs: 154, 134, 142, 141, 148, 144, 146, 149, AHR: 143
• 18 Oct 2010, 1:07:30 (8:35), 46 deg, 147, 140, 142, 143, 145, 143, 144, 142, AHR: 143

I'm closer to the neighborhood than I'd expect. I ran what's probably my best race (40:21 in 65-69 degrees and fairly hilly) on 17 May. My AHRs were very even and this is a *very* hilly route. I wonder if my higher stride rate is letting me do better on the hills.

I need to get some miles in. I slept in today because I spent three hours doing homework with my son and then futzed on the computer, ending up going to bed at midnight. An off day a week isn't bad, but without being able to do doubles with my new work situation, getting to 60 mpw is going to require running every single day.

I've got my eye on a 10k on 20 Nov and 18 December. Course is super flat. It's not technically certified as a 10k, but it's two laps of a certified 5k course, so I guess I can count that. 20 Nov seems a little early for trying a 10k, but the December race was snowed out last year.

week of 3 October - 180 steps per minute

• Mo - Treadmill Run/Walk 6.50 @ 10:26
• Tu - Easy/Moderate 6.10 @ 8:44 - first continuous run outside. A little enthusiastic. HRs were XX (bad data), 141, 141, 145, 149, 153, 150. Getting outside seems to be really important to getting running coordination back.
  
• We - Easy 6.11 @ 9:34
• Th Run/Walk 1.66 @ 15:06 -- ran less than a mile. Foot hurt and I walked home.
  
• Fr Run/Walk 6.10 @ 9:25 -- Felt like my foot hurt less when I concentrated on increase my stride frequency
  
• Sa - Moderate 6.17 @ 8:21 - Same route as Tue, Fri. Concentrated on turnover and ran faster than I probably should have. Felt good though. HRs were XX, 148, 138, 155, 155, 155. First mile pace was 9:05. Then 8:14, :17, :14, :06, :06, and :09.
  
• Su - Run/Walk 6.21 @ 8:25 - same route. Not sure why 6.2 Fr/Sa and 6.1 on Tu/We. Did the 180 steps per minute thing again. Started off miles 2, 4, and 5 with a 1-minute walk. Still ran 8:25 pace. Splits were XXX/8:51, XXX/8:32 (walk 60'), 153/7:54(!), 151/8:36 (walked 60'), 8:32/152 (walked 60'), 154/8:13.
  
• This Week - 38.84 @ 9:25

I experimented with running with a higher turnover, trying to get in 15-16 right footfalls every 10 seconds. It seemed to work well. My foot felt better, but it was hard to run slow enough for it to really be an easy run.

week of 27 September -- slow but still skinny

I finally got out the door. Poolrunning lead to treadmill run/walking, which lead to 3 miles outside with 1 min walk between each mile.

My foot/ankle is doing OK. I feel it some, but not too much. I'm trying to be patient, just looking to improve each day and not send myself in the other direction. After my run today, I'm thinking getting under 40 this year probably isn't going to happen. I wasn't in nearly this bad a shape after the hip thing and it took me a good 3 months to get back in PR shape.

The one thing I have going for me is that I haven't put any of the weight back on. (If anything I've lost a pound.) As a result, it shouldn't take as much training to get sub-40 when I'm a good 8 pounds lighter.

Week of 27 Sept 10
Mo - poolrun 70'
Tu - TM run/walk 3 miles in 39'
We - TM run/walk 6 miles in 64' (10:36)
Th - TM run/walk 6 mile in 63' (10:33)
Fr - poolrun 70'
Sa - TM run/Walk 6.50 1:07:31 10:23
Su - Nbhrd run/walk 3.04 @ 9:32
This Week - 24.54 6:42:45 10:43 124

weeks of 13 and 20 September

Took a lot of time to make sure I'm fully healed. I'm not fully healed. I had this 6 years ago and it didn't take nearly this long. Could it be that I'm closing in on 40?

Anyway, the last two weeks were.

week of 13 Sept

Mon - Rest. Took a few steps and realized weekend running was a mistake.
Tu - Elliptical 60'
We - Elliptical 60'
Th - Poolrunning 60'
Fr - Poolrunning 60'. 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1 harder with equal rest
Sa - Elliptical 68'
Su - Elliptical 70'. 1/2/3/4/5/5/4/3/2/1 with equal rest

Week -- 6h25'

Mo - Poolrunning 75'. 1/2/3/4/5/5/4/3/2/1
Tu - Poolrunning 70'. ditto
We - same as Tues
Th - rest (work got in way)
Fr - Poolrunning 62'
Sa AM - treadmill run/walk 1.50 in 0:20:00 (13:20!). 5 walk/5 jog at 6.3/2.5' walk/5 jog/2.5 walk
Sa PM - treadmill run/walk 2.6 in 32' (12:18) with 19' run total
Su - treadmill run/walk 5.0 in 54:20 (10:52). Worked from 2' jog (6.0 mph)/1' brisk walk (3.6 mph) to 5' jog/1' walk.

Week -- 6h23' including 9.1 miles(!)

I poolran today (monday) and it felt fine the rest of the day, so it seems like alternating run/walk with poolrunning is sustainable. Hopefully I can increase the running while recovering.

I'm about ready to write off the rest of the year. I'm sure I'd have broken 40 this fall, which I waited through the stinking hot summer to do, so I'm kinda bummed. I've kept the weight off though. I saw 154 tonight, which is a full 10 pounds lighter than when I ran cherry blossom in 65:55, so IF I get my miles back up for a while, I shouldn't have a problem with sub-40. My goal was sub-40 by 40, so I have 8 or 9 months left. All the good 10ks are in the fall unfortunately. I also have schedule conflicts with the two best (vet day 10k and jingle all the way 10k) which are on the ultra fast (flat as a track) course on Hains Point.

Back to square one?

I ran on Sunday and couldn't walk without a limp Monday. Ugh. The current plan is to pool run or elliptical until the end of Sept (or until I get impatient again). If I do an hour of exercise a day and keep my weight down for the next two weeks, and I'm all better on 1 October, I think two months of running will be enough to take a crack at the Jingle All the Way 10k in early/mid-Dec.

Man do you lose it quickly

I did 4.7 on the treadmill today, mostly at 6 mph (10:00/mile) and 0 degrees with some at 9:40 at the end. I couldn't believe my HR was at 150 bpm at the end. Just a few weeks ago, I was doing ~8:50 at 135 in 75-degree weather. I haven't just been sitting on my duff either. Since the injury, my training has been.

We - off
Th -off
Fr - off
Sa - 50 min swimming
Su - 40 min treadmill (ill-advised)
Mo - 60 min swimming
Tu - 60 min elliptical
We - 60 min elliptical
Th - 60 min elliptical
Fr - 60 min elliptical

Apparently swimming and elliptical do about nothing for your running fitness. I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to run tomorrow. It's not better, but I think I'm at the point of just running through it. We'll see tomorrow. Any more time off and I won't be able to even take a reasonable crack at a 10k this fall. The good news is that my weight is still down. I ran 40:04 while at 161 doing ~65 mpw leading up. I think a month or two of 60mpw should get me there if I can ever get my mileage back up there.

Week of 30 Aug - injured

Pretty, huh? In retrospect I shoulda just jogged the 10 miler on Sunday. I thought the only way I could end up not running my sub-40 this fall would be an injury. I don't need speed training, plyometrics, tempos, ... Just less weight and decent mileage. Well, I was absolutely total fine on Monday and did my regular 8. On Tuesday, I had a tightness behind my ankle, which I, from previous experience, knew was the location of my peroneal tendon. I thought it would loosen up. It stayed tight and got tighter, but I ran my 8 anyway (cue the "stupid, stupid, stupid" sound effect). I felt OK afterwards, but after getting to work, it tightened up and I limped my way in from the car.

I thought I'd be an adult and took 3 solid days off. Didn't even cross train. Lots of ice and ibuprofen and I had no problem walking on Thursday. I took Friday off because I thought I'd be extra cautious. I tried to run Saturday, but I could feel my tendon. It didn't hurt, but was a little uncomfortable and just the fact I could feel where my tendon was wasn't a good sign, so I stopped at 5 minutes and walked home. Later in the day I swam 1700m at the pool (~50 minutes).

This morning, I went back and looked at my log. Actually I googled "peroneal tendonitis elliptical" and the first hit was a coolrunning thread where I was the second responder. I wrote I had peroneal tendonitis (diagnosed by an orthopedist). I felt it more on the edge of my foot, but also behind my ankle. I got it after my first race (a 10 miler). I just looked back at my logs. I ran in pain for 4 days, then over the next 10 days I used the elliptical trainer on 7 of them and took 3 off days. Then I ran 10 of the next 12 days, noting foot pain. After that I stopped putting foot pain it in my log.

Geez, I ran on it for 10 days with some pain after two weeks of elliptical? I figured if I waited for no discomfort, I'd wait forever, so I gave it a gentle go today. I did 40 minutes on the treadmill. I could feel it, but it wasn't terrible. It grew some over time, but not horrific. After the run I immediately iced. I'm walking around fine tonight, so I think I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I can get to 50 minutes without hurting the next day's run. There's always a balance with these things. If you want to be in shape X days from now, the best approach probably isn't to wait until you're fully recovered, but to come back running a little less and then work to full volume as you get better. That's how I'm rationalizing it anyway. Look forward to another "stupid, stupid, stupid" post soon.

week of 23 August -- Annapolis 10 miler training run

Only one week since my last post. Here was this week. No travel, so no missed days. I still need to figure out a way to get more miles in during the week though.

Mon-Fri was 8.6/9:17/132, 7.9/8:51/136, 7.9/8:57/136, 7.9/8:55/138, 8.6/8:48/136

The weather was awesome during the week and I got to run with temps in the low 60's. I got out late and ran in the blazing sun on saturday in about 80 degrees

Sa - 7.9/8:50/151. Harder than I wanted to run.

Sunday was the annapolis 10 miler. Ran a 1.7 mile/10:00/138 wup. I came up with my "plan" right before the gun went off. I'd start at whatever pace the people around me were running and then work my way to roughly marathon HR (usually at 172 mid-way in a marathon), maybe running the last mile fast if I felt like it. I was at 1:07:58 at the 9 mile mark and thought I could easily get under 1:15 if I picked it up, so I ran the last about as fast as I could and was surprised to see 1:15:03. Mile marker was off. Oh, well. (The mile markers were screwy the whole race. 1.1/8:44/162 cdn.

Here are the splits (garmin pace) and a comparison to 2008 (very similar weather) when I did the same sort of MP approach to the race.

-2008------- -2010--
7:46/156----7:48/155
7:29/165----7:24/165
7:40/169----7:19/168
7:59/169----7:22/170
8:00/170----7:45/171
8:07/170----7:46/172
8:08/171----7:31/172
7:56/170----7:35/173
7:41/169----7:26/174
7:52/173----6:42/187

Total for the week 61.1/8:44/143.

last 3 weeks - run on soft surfaces

Vacation, travel, and sore legs have put a damper on the mileage.

Week 2 Aug, 44.9 miles -- 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 3.1 (overslept), 7.9, 0 (travel for vacation), 10.2
Week 9 Aug, 52.5 miles -- 8, 7.4, 8, 8.3, 8, 0 (travel back from vacation), 12.7
Week 16 Aug, 49.1 miles -- 7.5, 5.5 (tired - on work travel), 0 (tired, sore), 7.9, 8.6 (lake route), 8.6 (lake route), 11 (treadmill)

Mileage isn't near what I'd like. I'm afraid that I've lost the advantage I've gained with the weight loss with the reduced mileage, but I think the scale still tips in my favor. My legs really got beat up the week of 9 August. We were on an island which was totally flat, but the bike paths and sidewalks I ran on were all concrete. It really does seem to make a difference. I ran in Burlington Mass on sidewalks on the 16th and still felt it. I thought it might be the surfaces and ran my old lake trail route on Friday and Saturday (about half street/sidewalk and half trail). My legs seemed to really respond. I'm going to try and get out a little earlier so I can manage the extra 7 minutes and run around the lake.

The 2 hour run took its toll as well. I don't think I can support long runs until I start finding the time for the medium long runs during the week or at least some double. With only 50 mpw, anything over about 12 is going to be tough to recover from.

July 2010

I haven't posted since 7 July. Now that Mindi's posted, I have to or I'll feel like a *total* slacker.

I have a new job and not much time, so I'm keeping it simple. Alarm goes off at 5:15am and I run the same 7.9-mile route over hills. That includes Saturday since my kids have swim meets that require us to leave the house at 7:30 (last one this morning!). Sometimes I'll run on the treadmill if I dawdle on the weekend and it's too hot outside. On Sunday's I'll run farther, 10 to 14, but not too far as don't think the rest of the weekly mileage is enough to support more than that. Pretty simple.

I don't have the time to run the 2 miles I was running after work and I've been trying to figure out a way to sneak in 12 in a mid-week run. I have a good route to run to work, but no real option for getting home. I used to have a good bus option, but the only one I can find now would take 2 hours. (I'm only 12 miles away, but I have to take a bus in the wrong direction, get a train to head back the other way, and then take a bus for the last leg. Ah, mass transit.)

So here are the numbers:

• Week of 5 July: 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 4.0, 7.5 (treadmill), 7.5 (tm), 11.4 = 54 miles @ 9:11/140
• Week of 12 July: 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 8.2 (diff route), 7.9, 7.9, 2 wup/8k in 33:32/1 cdn, 6.5 (tm) = 54 @ 9:06/139
• Week of 19 July: 7.9, 3.2 (overslept), 0 (worked to 11:30pm and had to be at work at 8am), 8.2, 8.2, 7.9, 12.0 (tm) = 47 @ 9:12/139
• Week of 26 July: 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 13.3 = 60.5 @ 8:48/142

[Note: HRs a pretty screwy b/c it read more the 20bpm high for the first 15 minutes or so.]

I was really pleased with the 8k. It's run at 9pm in July, so it's generally hot and humid (and hilly to boot) and I am terrible in the heat. Last year was unusually cool with a starting temp of 69 and finishing temp of 64 and I ran 33:47. This year I ran 33:32 when the temp was a steady 84 degrees. 15 seconds and 15 degrees faster. Not bad. (For some reason, I thought it was 1:15 faster until I double-checked my results. Another reason not to blog.) I was going to be pleased with under 35 given the weather.

traveling = eating

Wow, I've been neglecting this.

Week of 21 June

Sick and ran an ill-advised 2 miles on Monday am. Had 100.5 fever on Monday night and took Tues and Wed off. Ended up with 36 for the week.

Week of 28 June

Was in livermore, ca for work. I thought my running would suffer, but managed to get it all in by getting up at 04:20. Ran in some pretty vineyard country and got chased by a Rottweiler. 62 miles for the week.

When I got back, I found I gained a pound or two. Not bad for 6 days. I guess eating the complimentary eggs and bacon every morning along with restaurant food for lunch and dinner (like Mexican and BBQ) can help pack on the pounds.

I've only been doing easy running. It's all the complication I can handle at the moment and the heat isn't helping either. It's been over 100 the last couple of days and the overnight low tonight is 79 degrees. Yikes.

Time to sleep...

job, sugar, and blog-loafing

I'm horribly behind on this blog. My last post was 23 May, which not coincidentally, is the day before I started a new job. What's happened running-wise since then? Not as much as I'd like, but I've managed to lose some weight.

I watched Sugar: The bitter truth sometime in mid-April and I've gone from 164->157 after cutting out sugar. I wasn't drinking sodas or anything but what I've cut out seems to have made a huge difference. I've lost seven pounds despite reduced new-job running mileage.

On that, I'm having trouble keeping up here, but I just synced with my log at runsaturday.com. The weeks of 17 May, 24 May, 31 May, and 6 May totaled 51, 44, 59, and 62 miles. Way down from the mid- to upper-60s I was getting in March and April. The big difference is the lack or time for doubles. I was stealing 6-8 miles a week that way. If I can figure a way to get my mileage back up and keep my weight down, I should be flying.

5k with the kids

GotR race is tomorrow, but baby girl can't go, so we did a different 5k today.

Very easy logistics. Next to a commuter lot, so lots of parking close to the start. 9am start (I'd hate the extra temp if it were my race though!). 12 and under were free and they still got ridiculous schwag? The only downside was a long line to get t-shirts/chips. They inexplicably separated handing out bibs from chips and then had you single file in line to get you chip and t-shirt, so someone had to file through and find your chip. I've never seen that before. If they fix that, you could cruise up the this race at the last moment assured of plentiful, close parking. I'd do this again.

OK, now for the race!

Baby girl asked her (daddy) rabbit for 9:30s. We were moving along pretty good and I could hear her breathing. I kept asking if she wanted to slow down but she kept passing people. We finally started to slow down after the first mile. A bit later, we saw big brother who was on his way back telling us we had a long way to go. Thanks!

The early pace was a bit ambitious for her, but she held it together and didn't walk a step! She had plenty in the tank as she took off when she saw the finish about 1/4-mile a way. I started to follow and she said, "Dad, I have to beat you!" She finished a bit under 31:30, which is 3 minutes faster than in the fall. Big brother got in around mid 26:XX (forgot to stop his watch until 26:50), which is 6 minutes faster than the fall I think. He's getting to that age where he can push himself. When I saw him, he looked every bit like he'd run a hard 5k.

catching up - weeks of 3 and 10 May

Week of 3 May

Mo - easy 7.9
Tu - easy 7.9; 2.6 jog pm treadmill
We - easy 7.9; 2.1 jog pm
Th - easy 7.9
Fr - drills 7.2; 2.1 jog pm
Sa - moderate 7.6
Su - easy 12.5
Total: 65.6

Week of 10 May (taper/10k race)
Mo - easy 7.9; 2.1 jog pm
Tu - easy 7.9
We - easy 7.9
Th - easy 7.9
Fr - easy 4.7
Sa - jog 2.1
Su - 10k in 40:22
Total: 46.6

Carytown 10k results

Congratulations on finishing the Carytown 10K on May 16, 2010.
For your records, the weather at start time was mostly cloudy, 65 degrees F, 70% humidity, NE wind 3.5 mph.

There were 110 finishers in the Male 35 to 39 age group and 1528 finishers in the 10K Run Division.

Your overall finish place was 35, your age group finish place was 5 and your gender finish place was 32.
Your time was 40:21.68 giving you an overall pace of 6:30 per mile.

Your 4M split time was 25:55.09, Giving you a pace of 6:29 per mile, Overall place 38, Gender place 35
Your last 2.2 mile split time was 14:26.59, Giving you a pace of 6:32 per mile, Overall place 35, Gender place 32

The results email pretty much sums it up. It was 5+ degrees warmer than forecast and the expected dew point of 49 turned into 55, so it was more humid too. Checking weather underground, the 65 degrees turned into 69 by the end and although it might have been mostly cloudy at the start, the sun was definitely in the holes! So there's my excuse...

Although I ran 18 seconds slower that 3 weeks ago, I really thought this was a better race and I was in better shape. The weather made it much tougher and the course was also more difficult. I was really overheated when I finished and dumped a couple of cups of water on my head to cool down and get the sweat out of my eyes. I'm frankly surprised I ran as well as I did considering what heat normally does to me.

Splits were: 6:25, 6:28, 6:29 (5k at 20:06), 6:31, 6:28, 7:58 (6:34). I ran the first half just about perfect as the race was net uphill for the first half. I wanted to run a negative split, but it didn't quite happen. I feel like I gave it an honest effort.

I got to talk to Bill Rodgers before the race. He was walking around in seeming complete anonymity. I talked to him for probably 3 minutes and I don't think anybody around us knew who he was. He's just as nice as everyone says and seems genuinely interested in you when he talks to you. After he started the race everyone knew who he was and he had more folks around him after the race. I shook his hand again and exchanged a few words (he asked me my time, whether it was a PR, etc.). All in all a good day.

Carytown 10k here I come

I'm driving to Richmond (~90 miles) for a faster course on Sunday rather than run the local Capital Hill classic (note the "Hill" in "Capital Hill"). I think I need help.

At 60 degrees, it's going to be marginal for my Scandinavian blood, but it's supposed to be very dry (dew pt 43). I'm down 2-3 pounds since my sub-40 attempt also, so that can't hurt. I figure this will be my last semi-legitimate chance this year unless we get some really freakishly good weather.

Week of 26 April

• Mo - 7.7/134/1:08:41
• Tu - 7.9/129/1:09:22
• We - 7.9/146/1:04:09 moderate AM; 2.1/18:39 PM
• Th - 7.9/139/1:10:05 AM; 2.1/19:36 PM
• Fr - 7.25/130/1:08:42 drills AM; 2.1/20:22 PM
• Sa - 7.9/130/1:10:47 -- 75 deg humid
• Su - 13.4/161/1:52:21 workout -- 75-80 deg & 70+ dew point!

Quality

• Wed. Usual moderate run. Eased into it. This was easy end of moderate. Recovery from 10k
• Sun. 2 mile wup. 3 x 1 mile @160 bpm (80%) w/5' jog rest, 5' jog rest, 1/2/3/5/4/4/3/2/1 @ 10k effort with half rest, 5' jog rest, 6 x 30'' fast relaxed/30'' jog rest. Crazy hot and humid. Started at 76 and rose over 80. Dew point was over 70. I didn't drink at all (haven't put fountains back yet) and was totally wiped. Way overdid it.