6:50 Pace.
Feeling so much better and the weather hit the spot this morning, 59°. Tomorrow I'm hoping to jump in a race and use it as a workout. There are several races and I have not decided which one to do. It will definitely be low key for me since I have not done any workouts in 2 weeks and the mileage has fallen off a little.
Hoping to get back to 60 miles this week.
Ran with Sean. Not sure if that was the reason I felt better. Hopefully the lethargic vibe I've been having for the past week is behind me. 6:50 pace today. I lifted too.
Gym - Legs
6:52 Pace
Legs still weak. The last mile I decided to push it a little. Got down to 6:17 pace. In previous weeks this would be 5:4x-5:5x pace.
6:55 Pace
A new week. Let's get this thing started off right. The legs are extremely weak. Shouldn't be. I've had a very very light week.
I probably could have run but I didn't feel like getting up extremely early or running late. I'll start tomorrow.
Did nothing all day. I woke up early did my pre-race ritual but I had no energy so I decided to go back to bed. What proceeded to happen was pretty strange. I ended up sleeping the WHOLE ENTIRE DAY and night!. I woke up periodically to eat and answer nature's calls but then I went right back to bed. This is so unlike me. I didn't feel sick or anything. I just felt like I needed more sleep. Obviously something is wrong but the thing is, I don't know what triggered it. Hopefully this wears off soon.
Had 0 energy but since I have a race tomorrow decided to do something, anything. I did some light work on my legs and I was clearly weaker than normal. In some cases had to drop weight about 60 pounds. Get this, check out my strides:
* Record for slowest stride
Yes folks that is 6:23!!! Should I race tomorrow hmmmm???
7:46 Pace. The degradation of my body continues. 7:46 pace was all I could do and I wasn't getting any faster and the miles weren't getting any easier so I cut it short. I decided to do some strides for comfort. Then I did a 60 second quarter. The strides were definitely slower than previous weeks but I don't know what to make of the 60 second quarter.
7:14 Pace. I was supposed to do a workout but decided to skip. Physically I just wasn't feeling up to it. The legs were fatigued, the hip hurt and I decided to not even run 9 miles. Rather odd. Maybe the 30/30 and then the race last weekend took more out of me than I thought.
15:49 (Course PR)
| Mile 1 | 4:47 |
| Mile 2 | 5:00 |
| Mile 3 | 5:21 |
| Last .14 | 5:04 |
| Total Average Pace: | 5:03 |
The Susan B. Komen Race For The Cure is quite a large event. I would surmise that there were more participants in this race than in the Chevron Houston Marathon and Half Marathon. The official totals were well over 30,000 people. The weather and atmosphere were perfect. I arrived at the race on time and found a decent parking place then did my warm up. I went back to the truck got my kicks and jogged to the starting line. It was a little chaotic at this time. There were swarms of people and it was a little problematic getting up front but I managed to make it in time. As soon as I got up front I noticed Luis, J.P., and Ryan Smith warming up. I exchanged pleasantries and then did my strides. After I finished my strides I noticed that Sesar Figueroa was up at the front. Well, there goes any chance of winning this thing but I decided that I would use him to pace me early on. You see, the thing about this course is that the last mile is a series of up hills and then 1 long gradual incline to finish it off. I figure since the last one is the slowest mile I would try to knock out the first 2 pretty fast. Worst case scenario I would run maybe 5:10 the last mile. Eventually we all lined up and then we were off!
The first mile I remember well. Sesar took the lead early, with me tucked behind and then Luis. During the first mile I didn't feel too sharp, I was breathing a little bit, but wasn't in any distress. I could tell Luis was hanging right behind me because I could see his shadow. Sesar probably clicked off the first mile in 4:45, me 4:47, Luis 4:48.
The second mile, things started to take shape. Sesar started to pull away, but all he was probably doing was maintaining 4:45 pace. I slowed to around 5:00 minute pace. Right around 1.5 miles in Luis pulled ahead of me and I followed behind him. During this time I could hear J.P. breathing right behind me. Things were taking shape very predictably. I clicked off 2 miles in 9:47, Luis maybe 2 seconds in front of me.
During mile 3 the wheels came off. Every year miles 1 and 2 soften me up and then mile 3 deals me the knockout blow and this year was no different. As we crested the inclines Luis clearly started to pull away from me pretty quickly. I had nothing substantial left and when this happens on mile 3 then you are pretty much left with your butt exposed. And that is pretty much what happened. I licked my wounds and just finished out the last third of the race. I ended up running mile 3 at 5:21 pace. A pretty disappointing 3rd mile.
The last bit of the race ended up being a tad bit long but no worries, the first 3 miles are what counted. Sesar ran a very strong race on a tough course to finish in a great 14:56!!! Luis ran strong as well and finished in 15:24. I can't say I'm ecstatic over my result but I know this course beats me up every time. Maybe I could have ran it a bit smarter, going through two miles in 10 flat and maybe trying to hit the last mile in 5:05. But that still puts me around the same time that I ended up finishing with.
7:15 Pace
The legs felt like they have not recovered from the 30/30 workout. I’ll be happy if I break 16:00 minutes!
7:25 pace, speed limit of no faster than 7:00 pace at the behest of Sean. I need to keep everything under wraps till Saturday. Once again nice cool weather. The legs felt great. I tell ya, I could do speed work all day. It's the long stuff I don't like.
Komen Race For the Cure Saturday. Big time race for me. Big. The first time I ran the race I ran a 16:51 and it was one of the most painful races I'd ever run (Brought upon myself!). The second time I ran it I dropped 48 seconds and ran a 16:03. Let's hope for a similar improvement this Saturday!
4:54, 5:14, 4:39, 5:04, 4:47, 5:03, 4:52, 5:19, 4:52, 4:52, 4:44, 5:20, 4:41, 5:14, 5:08, 5:16, 5:10, 5:15, 4:57, 5:02, 4:51, 4:59, 4:59, 5:18, 5:21, 5:08, 5:06, 5:10, 4:47, 4:34
Nice cool weather. Nice group of guys that were ready to roll. Sean, Luis, Dan, J.P., Jose, and a new guy, Curt. Sean, Dan, Jose, and Curt did a 6 x 1 mile @ 5:20 pace with 30 seconds recovery. Luis, J.P. and I did the 30/30’s.
What can I say? I totally murdered the workout. I beat my previous best time by 41 seconds. The last time I did this workout I ran 15:41 and I was enthusiastic. The time before that I ran 16:23. That means I have dropped 80 something seconds the last 2 times I have done this workout. I am a different guy.
| Mile 1 | 6:45 |
| Mile 2 | 6:28 |
| Mile 3 | 6:22 |
| Mile 4 | 6:26 |
| Mile 5 | 6:00 |
| Mile 6 | 6:14 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:22 |
The turnover is definitely still there as you can see by my strides. All 5 were significantly below 4 and the 5th one probably would have been under 3:30 if I hadn’t decided to slow down significantly at the end of it. There is still minor inflammation in my knee but it should be gone by the workout on Tuesday. It was a nice day out. Ran a little bit with Sean and Luis for a loop and then did the strides by myself. Once again over 60 miles for the week. I will be taking it easy during the week. Race Saturday.
| Mile 1 | 6:46 |
| Mile 2 | 6:23 |
| Mile 3 | 6:28 |
| Mile 4 | 6:15 |
| Mile 5 | 6:20 |
| Mile 6 | 6:10 |
| Mile 7 | 6:10 |
| Mile 8 | 6:14 |
| Mile 9 | 5:49 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:19 |
It felt good to have a little more pep in the step although there is still some slight inflammation in the right knee. It’s obviously getting better though.
One word. Tired.
The legs had no strength in them, but I got the miles in. I was totally listless at the gym this morning. My body is trying to tell me something here. I'm going to back off a few days earlier than the original plan and just get ready for some intense racing in October. If everything goes well, I should be racing every week in October. The only additional gains/improvements will be had by racing and sharpening up. Here's to racing fast! Cheers!
I never had it today. The legs were flat. I probably worked a bit too hard on Sunday. This continues my incredibly bad run with tempo workouts. I still feel if I had given myself enough rest coming in, I probably would have done at least 2 more miles at 5:30 pace. It's days like these where I usually have a pretty short memory. So I will file this workout away and forget about it. Pretty good group out today: Sean, Luis, Dan, Vaughn, Jose
| Mile 1 | 6:29 |
| Mile 2 | 6:25 |
| Mile 3 | 6:26 |
| Mile 4 | 6:13 |
| Mile 5 | 5:40 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:16 |
Felt great today. Sunday’s are one of those “in between” days for me. The run is slightly faster than an easy run day but not as hard as a workout day. I throw in a little mini-hill session and it gets my motor pumping. A nice way to finish off the week at over 60 miles.
6:57 Pace. For the first time in a few weeks I actually felt the previous day’s workout. So I took it out pretty easy today, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t being tempted to go a bit faster. It seems that in the past few days a few guys have been running up behind me trying to hang for a few or then blow by me. Usually I like to mess around but today I behaved since I truly did need every bit of recovery I could get. I’m close to 60 miles for the week so everything is looking good from the mileage perspective. I’ll be out there again bright and early tomorrow.
I did this workout with Sean and JP this morning. Sean ended up being the pacer since he is part running cyborg(He runs his splits like a Swiss clock). Sean kept telling me that we may do this 800 workout Friday. But it didn't seem like he was ever fully committed. So finally I told him, "Let's do it!" and he said, "Your on, and only 1 minute recovery". You see the funny thing is that originally we were going to to do the workout with 2 minutes recovery. Which didn't intimidate me at all. But when he puts in the "Sean Special" (a fast workout with very little recovery) then things start to get interesting. I have to admit that I thought I had bit off a little more than I could chew but I had been running so well for the last 2 months that I wasn't going to back down. Plus I never turn down good speed work these days!
So we ended up doing the workout and I felt uncomfortable at all times. But at no point did I feel like the workout was killing me. My issues were more mental than physical, although I did have some back issues that affected my breathing a bit. Once I got to the last rep I knew I was home free and let loose a little bit.
To give the workout a bit more perspective you would have to look at the previous time I did this workout at the beginning of February. About a week after my 5k PR. I ended up doing the exact same workout but with 2 minutes recovery instead of 1 and I still ended up running about 5 or 6 seconds slower per 800. And from what I remember, the effort level was higher for that workout than the one I did today. I ended up messing up my hamstrings after that workout and I wasn't the same up until 2 months ago. So I definitely am a lot fitter and faster than when I ran my 5k PR. Now all I have to is run a race that will let me PR!!!
I seems my top end speed has improved...a lot. Maybe I do a workout tomorrow. Maybe I don't. RJ and Sean were going to be doing an 800 workout tomorrow but now that is up in the air. I am debating whether or not to do the workout solo. Maybe I should, it seems everything I'm doing is working these days.
Met up and saw quite a few important people on my non-descript run this morning. I happened to see Connie who is the best local massage therapist in Houston. She used to be on Carl Lewis' support team when he was traveling around the world winning events for years and years. She is somewhat of a local legend around certain circles of the running community. She is the one that takes Sean Wade apart and puts him together again and she has done the same with me. If she takes you on as a client, she'll tell you all kinds of stories about Carl, Sean, and other local running legends. And if you need tips she is more than happy to play that motherly role of nurturer. I always find my sessions with her interesting and eventful. Anyway I digressed. I saw her and asked her about my back which has been absolutely killing me recently. She basically told me to leave it alone and if I had any issues to let her know. I met another local massage therapist, Duval, who advised me to ice it in the evening and heat it in the morning before I run. Basically it is my left trap muscle that is the problem and I've just been grinding through the pain. I will take both advice to heart and see what happens. I also bumped in to my buddy Sam of "HoustonTexasRoadRacer" fame and got some updates on his progress with his Achilles injuries. Hopefully that guy heals up quickly because he was on his way to setting many PRs before the injury bug beset him. After that I hooked up with Sean and continued on with my loops of the park before he completed his mileage and bumped off. Then I decided to ramp up the pace for the last mile and that ended up being around 6 minute pace. The funny thing is that I did the progressive run yesterday but I felt no effects of it today. The 6 minute pace was nice and easy with very little effort expended. One of the major differences between the new me and the old me is that I usually do not feel the effects of the previous day's workout in my legs. I mean if you asked me to run sub 5 minute pace today, I would have felt it for sure. But running 5:45 pace or slower is nothing for me after workouts these days. This is a very good sign because it means I'm recovering well after my workouts and gives me an opportunity to be ready and willing for the next workout! You do this enough times and you will get faster no doubt.
Well I was a bit chatty tonight for whatever reason. Don't expect this to be a regular occurrence!
I'm out,
Bill
| Mile 1 | 7:04 |
| Mile 2 | 6:41 |
| Mile 3 | 6:35 |
| Mile 4 | 6:14 |
| Mile 5 | 6:03 |
| Mile 6 | 5:50 |
| Mile 7 | 5:24 |
| Mile 8 | 5:14 |
| Mile 9 | 5:12 |
Ran with the big boys today and improved on the last mile by 13 seconds comparative to my last progressive run. Went ahead and knocked out my long run for the week as well.
6:53 Pace. Taking it easy today. One thing of note is that I hurt my back. Specifically I believe it is my trapezius muscle. It hurt like crazy today during my run and affected my breathing at times. The last thing I need is something like this to start affecting my running.
After getting sick and feeling pretty bad during the week, I had to skip my workouts and cut a few miles. So I won't be able to make my 60+ mile goal this week but I will adjust my schedule accordingly. It's all gravy as I was able to come back and actually run a little quicker on my easy days. I'm just happy I'm not sick anymore as that last bug was pretty brutal. I definitely don't like feeling weak and helpless. Now back to the regularly scheduled program!
Today was supposed to be a tempo workout. I ended up having to abandon the workout. As a matter of fact I decided to abandon the workout and just do 6 miles easy. I couldn’t even do that. I had to walk back to the 0 mile marker . I broke out into a cold sweat and was in bed the whole day. You wouldn’t want what I have. I wouldn’t wish this on my fastest competitor. The limbs were weak, my head felt like there were little anvils banging around in there, no appetite, and my throat felt like I had a small cat clawing it up from the inside. It hurt just to think. I’ll probably just take tomorrow off completely and hopefully I’ll be in much better shape by Thursday.
7:21 pace. Definitely sick. The legs were weak and feeble. Just glad I got the mileage in.
6:58 pace
Gym - Legs
Ran a few miles @ 6:20-6:30 pace then bumped into Carlos and chatted with him a bit and finished up the run. Saw a pretty big Kenyan Way fast marathon group and also saw the usual familiar faces in full marathon training mode. The weather was pleasant enough considering it’s Houston we’re talking about. It’s been a good week. Back in full training mode.
I slightly screwed up the workout by resting instead of jogging the slow parts(For some reason I thought I was supposed to rest). So it was an easier workout. Oh well, at least I spent 15 minutes at sub 5 pace. I'll do better next time.
| Mile 1 | 7:12 |
| Mile 2 | 6:52 |
| Mile 3 | 6:38 |
| Mile 4 | 6:09 |
| Mile 5 | 6:05 |
| Mile 6 | 5:54 |
| Mile 7 | 5:32 |
| Mile 8 | 5:18 |
| Mile 9 | 5:25 |
| Mile 1 | 5:00 |
| Mile 2 | 5:08 |
| Mile 3 | 5:25 |
| Last .27 | 5:58 |
| Total Average Pace | 5:15 |
I've already vented to the race director about all of the mishaps of the 5k. This was basically the 1st annual race, so a few things didn't go according to plan. I believe they did an excellent job on about 95% of the things they had to take care of(Mainly the 10k). Unfortunately the things they didn't take care of affected my race VERY BADLY. The director was very humble and receptive to all of the suggestions I had so I'm not going to bash him here. Although it was definitely one of the more interesting racing stories I've had. Now I have to go back to the drawing board.
Tomorrow is race day.
7:18 Pace
The results from this workout came out of left field. If you would have asked me or ANYBODY before the workout what my main objective was, I would have told you it was to try and run around 5 minutes for a mile. As you can see that objective was destroyed. This is not totally unusual though, as I had a similar experience almost exactly a year ago. I ran a freakish fast workout(for me anyway) and then I injured my adductor muscles and was never able to duplicate or better the workout again. Until now. I'll try to build upon this. No marathon or long distance training to distract me. Just honing the speed and increasing the strength.
Luis, J.P., Joe, and Jose were the cast of characters. There were some fast times put down out there today.
7:54, 7:23, 6:38, 6:10 – 7:01 Pace
That’s a wrap – Another 60+ mile week in the books. Now time to take it easy this week. I will be racing next Saturday.
Not the most impressive of workouts, 1 Minute fast, 1 Minute slow, 2 Minutes Fast, 2 Minutes Slow, and so on and so forth… I expected to hit more sub 5 minute splits. The legs felt good, I just didn’t run fast. Didn’t force anything, stayed relaxed and didn’t look at the watch.
| Mile 1 | 7:09 |
| Mile 2 | 6:42 |
| Mile 3 | 6:33 |
| Mile 4 | 6:14 |
| Mile 5 | 6:00 |
| Mile 6 | 5:47 |
| Mile 7 | 5:28 |
| Mile 8 | 5:15 |
| Mile 9 | 5:26 (half mile) |
Cool Down
We had a big group this morning. Let’s see if I can get this right. We had Me, Sean, Lu, J.P. Mac, RJ, Mahta, Joe Flores, and Jose Lara. Eight strong guys and we sounded like a thundering herd, errr, maybe more like light-footed gazelles. Good run and I made a tiny improvement upon my time in this workout. But it was a lot easier this time around and I had something left in the tank. I stopped a little early in the last mile as I felt my pace dropping. As soon as I stopped J.P. ran by me. I was a little disappointed as I felt I had enough left in the tank to try and finish it up with J.P. had I known he was still behind me. But no big deal in the grand scheme of things. J.P. has been improving pretty quickly and Luis has been running extremely well. Next time we do this workout I’ll try and finish it up with back to back 5:15s instead of the 5:05. Definitely doable.
This was a shake out run. It was meant to get a little speed in without taxing the body too much. Not a bad workout. One of the main things I battle these days is running well with massive fluid loss. It seems like I’m losing so much water even before the workouts start and that gives these workouts an extra challenge. I surprise myself sometimes with how well I’m able to maintain speed and strength while my body is dehydrated. On the bright side, I should feel quite refreshed once the first fall cool front moves in.
Another 60+ mile week in the books.
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these so here I go. I haven’t been too descriptive about the state of my running or even my state of mind. I have been wanting to do this for a while but I just have not found the time to do so. Life has just been getting in the way. What I have been able to do is just post quick summaries of my daily progress. While I think this can be a tad bit boring, this has been a great help to me because I have been able to track my progress over a nice period of time. I still go back and read previous workouts or try to find the last time I ran a particular workout in a decent manner. But I also realize this can be rather mundane to the faithful reader. So alas, I have time, and I offer you a break between all the stats and details.
My running has finally gone on the uptick. I feel I’m getting stronger every week and gaining more confidence day by day. The hard work has been getting done and the results will be reaped in a short time. Last July 4th, I got things started with a nice rust buster 5k victory. Although I didn’t push myself in that race, I gained confidence that I wasn’t too far off from where I needed to be. I then decided upon a course of action to get where I need to be. Granted, all previous plans had failed in the previous 6 months, but that would not keep me from trying something new. I decided I was going to work even harder than I was working before. But I wouldn’t focus so much on huge mileage. I would focus on higher intensity. So for 3 weeks I would be working my tail off. On the fourth week, I would take it easy. Very simple but it has been effective!
My first test came when I ran a 30/30 fartlek at the end of July. I had not run a fartlek in a while but the previous time I had run one it was a pretty sad site for sore eyes. I passed the test with flying colors as I had run the second fastest 30/30 I had ever done at 15:41. Feeling high as a kite off of this workout I traveled down to Lake Jackson to truly test the fitness. I blasted out of the gate expecting a solo time trial effort but found myself in a race versus an Aggie harrier. I came up a bit short but once again I was able to find the silver lining as I felt I was still on my way up. Since then I’ve run a progressive workout and a tempo and a few other workouts and all were pretty darn good. So as I sit here typing I feel I am in uncharted territory since I believe I am in the best shape I’ve ever been in.
One of the things I have tried to do when I picked up this running habit is to not try to analyze too deeply what it is I’m doing or all the possibilities out there. I’ve simply made very simple easy to reach goals and I’ve accomplished pretty much way more than I ever expected. So I feel I’m playing with house money here and whatever I do now is gravy. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t expect bigger things, because I do. I just try not analyze it all and just enjoy the experience. One of my favorite British phrases is “To just get on with it”. And that is what I’ll be setting out to do the rest of the year.
And finally, I appreciate you, the faithful reader, for showing an interest in my running exploits. Hopefully I can generate a few performances worthy of your interest in the future.
Yours Truly,
Bill
6:59 Pace
7:00 Pace
I did the strides after my easy run and that isn’t going to work. Not in this weather. I’m going to do these in the middle of my easy run from now on.
6 Mile Tempo (Goal Pace 5:30)
| Mile 1 | 5:27 |
| Mile 2 | 5:19 |
| Mile 3 | 5:22 |
| Mile 4 | 5:44 |
| Mile 5 | 6:18 |
| Mile 6 | 6:21 |
| Total Average Pace | 5:46 |
I ran this with Sean, Luis, and Dan. I ended up betting the farm on this workout. I told myself that I was going to really test my fitness here and that’s what I ended up doing. I ran from the front and ended up running out of gas at the 3.5 mark. I ended up running the first 3.5 miles around 5:24 pace. The weather was pretty difficult as it was extremely humid. I believe I lost a good amount of water even before we started the tempo. With all that said, I’m happy with the workout and I know I’ll do better next time. The other guys did extremely well and left me in dust. After the workout and the rest of the mileage I was worn down to a nub and I was left in a catatonic state for a while.
7:19 Pace
7:31 Pace
If it wasn't for other runners I know, I probably would be running a lot slower sometimes. Today was one of those days until I ran into Sean and Dan. I went ahead and finished the run with those guys.
6:56 Pace
The legs are still pretty sore. Another 60+ mile week in the books.
This workout consists of 5 minutes fast, 5 minutes slow, 4 minutes fast and 4 minutes slow, and so on and so forth. The objective was to hit 5:05 pace for the first repetition and then get faster on each of the following repetitions. I didn’t quite manage to do that but at least I didn’t blow up and was able to maintain pace. The next phase will be to get those next few reps faster and faster. I give myself a B- on the workout.
6:52 Pace
Progressive Run
| Mile 1 | 7:04 |
| Mile 2 | 6:55 |
| Mile 3 | 6:37 |
| Mile 4 | 6:09 |
| Mile 5 | 5:59 |
| Mile 6 | 5:42 |
| Mile 7 | 5:24 |
| Mile 8 | 5:15 |
| Mile 9 (1/2 Mile) | 5:31 |
Today was a real treat. Three time Olympian Justin Chaston joined us for part of our workout. It was basically Justin, Sean, Luis, JP, Me, and later our Ethiopian friend Mahta. It was a lot of fun especially since I took another step forward in this workout. I was able to hang through Mile 8 and ran a quarter of a mile at 5:15 pace on mile 9 but then blew up and quit at the half mile point. Later on Mahta joined me at the gym as I worked out on my legs and he worked out on his core.
It's so nice to finally be able to see some progress after 6 months of no progress at all. I'm way past due!
8:19 Pace
Legs trashed from Saturday
16:02 (Race was about 20 seconds long)
| Mile 1 | 4:48 |
| Mile 2 | 5:10 |
| Mile 3 | 5:14 |
| Last .16 | 5:13 |
| Total Average Pace | 5:05 |
I had to wake up pretty early in the morning to head down to Lake Jackson for this race. This isn't something that I'd normally do, but all the races today were out of town. Since I'd heard good things about this race I thought I'd give it a try. I had been running well all week so I was pretty eager to see what kind of shape I was in. The drive took about 90 minutes and there was a little confusion at the end about where to go since they had blocked off the most direct routes to the race. After all this is more than just a race. It's also a festival and seemed like a pretty big deal for the town. So after finding an alternate route and getting some gas I finally arrived and parked. I had to grab my bib and race timing chip from the registration table. I also had to head to the restroom. All of this cut into my warm up time. By the time I finished my warm up I was drenched. I went back to my truck switched out shoes and put on the chip and headed to the starting line. There were a few people I had recognized from Houston, but no one that looked like they would give me a challenge. It looked like there were quite a few young guys(maybe high school age).
And we were off. I took off from the get go and had built a pretty sizeable lead in a half mile. I looked at the Garmin a few times and it read 4:20 for a while. Then I eased in to a slower pace and by a 1000 meters into the race I could hear heavy breathing behind me as someone was putting in a pretty good effort to come up behind me. By the time we finished the first mile, the guy was right behind me and we hit the first mile at 4:48.
During the second mile a lot things were going on in my head. The first and foremost thing was this was a pretty fast high schooler behind me. But I was pretty confident the guy would fade away after another half mile. After all, this has happened to me before. After a half mile we were running about 5:02-5:03 pace. It seemed like he wanted to move ahead and take the lead. I offered several times to move out of the way but then he would have second thoughts and just tuck behind. It was at this time I started thinking this dude is legit and for the first time in a looooong time I have a race on my hands. So I slowed it down a bit to save a little something for later if needed. We finished mile 2 at 5:10 pace.
The 3rd mile started out the same. I was still ahead and we were still moving around 5:10ish pace. We were both breathing pretty heavy. A little before mile 2.5 the guy pulled beside me. For the first time during the race I got to see what he looked like, but I couldn't recognize him. By mile 2.5 he pulled ahead a bit but I wasn't panicking and I might have preferred he take the lead and I just tuck behind him. The only thing is that is when he started to surge. Here is where the real race started. It was going to be an 800 race to the finish. For about 10-20 seconds I hung in there as best I could but alas I didn't have anything for him as he just began to slowly pull away from me. I ran a 5:14 3rd mile and I figure he must have run a 5:04 3rd mile.
The last part of the run was a bit long by about 20 seconds. He ended up finishing at 15:48 and I finished in 16:02. After the race we both congratulated each other but I think we were both stunned to have each other in the race. I think he was thinking this would be a small race and he would be able to just coast for the win. He told me he was planning on running 16:20. He also told me his name was Weston Caceres and was a senior at Texas A&M and was a 4:10 miler. He had been running well all summer and was from Lake Jackson. Which is probably more appropriate that the hometown boy win the local race. Nonetheless I was still pleased with my results. After confirming with a couple other runners that the course was long by about 20 seconds I figure this race is good for a 15:42 equivalent 5k. This pretty much confirms I'm in pretty good shape and I'm long overdue. It's been 6 months since I've had a decent race. I spoke with Sean and he seems to believe that with proper pacing (no sub 4:50 first mile) I could have run 20 seconds faster. I don't know about that but I do think I may have been able to cut 10 seconds off if I had run it a little better. Now that I have the confidence of having the speed that I had earlier in the year I may try to experiment with different ways to run the race in the coming months.
For now I'll go back to training again. For the next 3 weeks it's going to be hard core training and then another race. The motto is: Overload, Overload, Overload, Underload then Race!
Jog 7:26 Pace
Ran the strides with Devin. Nice easy and controlled. Feeling good. Doing a 5k time trial tomorrow to see what kind of shape I'm in. We'll see how it goes since it is going to be pretty hot. Hopefully all goes well.
Easy Run 7:02 pace
Feeling great these days.
JP and I give short responses to some questions about the registration process.
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/100727-houston-marathon-registration-lottery
Unfortunately I was unable to embed the video. You’ll just have to click through.
4:53, 5:20, 4:49, 4:59, 4:53, 5:01, 4:56, 5:20, 4:53, 5:35, 5:14, 5:23, 5:16, 5:23, 5:32, 5:22, 5:32, 5:59, 5:36, 5:43, 5:37, 5:43, 5:27, 5:50, 5:16, 5:37, 5:18, 5:26, 5:15, 5:18, 4:50, 5:01
Sean was out of the country on vacation so Luis, JP, and I decided to do a workout together. I basically wanted to do a 30/30 to see what kind of shape I was in. The last time I did this workout, I did it by myself in 16:23, and was slightly discouraged. It was a far cry from the regular sub 16 efforts I used to get out of this workout. After we completed our warm up, I was a little discouraged to realize that I had forgotten my flats at home. Darn! I wasn’t going to get a true evaluation of what kind of shape I was in. I put those feelings aside and did the workout. I started the workout not feeling well since I was breathing really heavy before we completed the first mile. The next mile ended up being mentally and physically tough since I was still breathing pretty heavy and had slowed down significantly. But then I found my way on the last mile and ended up finishing strong. I was totally surprised to see 15:41 as my time as this was significantly faster than my last fartlek in my flats. Several factors probably contributed to the time:
Luis surmised that I could probably subtract another 15-20 seconds off if I was wearing flats so that gets me REALLY excited about my progress. I’ve gone many months without any good progress indicators at all so you can only imagine how great I’m feeling now.
On a side note JP and I were interviewed by Fox 26 news about the Chevron Houston Lottery selection process. I’ll probably post the vid soon.
After 3 consecutive weeks of good solid work this is my week off. I will take this rest to heart since after it is over I will be back at it hardcore again.
| Mile 1 | 6:34 |
| Mile 2 | 6:33 |
| Mile 3 | 6:33 |
| Mile 4 | 6:56 |
| Mile 5 | 7:20 |
| Mile 6 | 7:33 |
| Mile 7 | 7:23 |
| Mile 8 | 6:51 |
| Mile 9 | 5:59 |
| Total Average Pace | 6:53 |
Ran with JP today. I was supposed to join him a little earlier but had trouble getting out the door. I did manage to jump in with him during the last part of his run as you can tell by my 6:30’s at the beginning of my run. I ended up slowing it down quite a bit to get the easy part in, until the last mile. This concludes a very tough 3 week period of training for me. That is, 3, 60+ mile weeks in a row, with some good workouts thrown in. This week I’ll take a couple days off and add some 6 mile days in there for a very light week. On Saturday I’ll throw in a race to see where I’m at fitness-wise.
| Mile 1 | 7:39 |
| Mile 2 | 6:41 |
| Mile 3 | 6:53 |
| Mile 4 | 6:46 |
| Mile 5 | 6:39 |
| Mile 6 | 6:48 |
| Mile 7 | 6:53 |
| Mile 8 | 7:10 |
| Mile 9 | 7:06 |
| Mile 10 | 7:02 |
| Mile 11 | 6:35 |
| Mile 12 | 6:22 |
| Total Average Pace | 6:54 |
| Mile 1 | 7:27 |
| Mile 2 | 7:03 |
| Mile 3 | 6:56 |
| Mile 4 | 6:40 |
| Mile 5 | 6:39 |
| Mile 6 | 6:31 |
| Mile 7 | 6:22 |
| Mile 8 | 6:25 |
| Mile 9 | 6:38 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:45 |
This was supposed to be a 6 mile tempo at 5:45 pace but we decided to cancel. Instead into a hard effort for me as my body was not totally recovered from the previous days’ exploits.
Progressive Run
| Mile 1 | 7:16 |
| Mile 2 | 7:02 |
| Mile 3 | 6:44 |
| Mile 4 | 6:15 |
| Mile 5 | 6:02 |
| Mile 6 | 5:43 |
| Mile 7 | 5:25 |
| Mile 8 | 5:39 |
Managed to get down to about 5:20 pace at the 7.5 mile point but then broke down and decided to continue to run through it to complete the 8th mile. Third workout in the last 4 days.
| Mile 1 | 7:28 |
| Mile 2 | 7:00 |
| Mile 3 | 6:42 |
| Mile 4 | 6:18 |
| Mile 5 | 6:13 |
| Mile 6 | 6:04 |
| Mile 7 | 5:58 |
| Mile 8 | 5:48 |
| Mile 9 | 5:48 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:24 |
I ended up running with Sean and got suckered into running another tempo run. The previous night I went to my cousin's birthday party which happened to be at a night club. My first venture into this kind of establishment in more than a decade. Needless to say, I inhaled quite a bit of smoke and didn't get to bed until 3 in the morning. I ended up sleeping for about an hour and 45 minutes and then got dressed and went out for this run at 6 in the morning. I am pretty surprised I was able to hang with Sean for 9 miles. At about mile 8 I started coughing up all the tobacco tar from the previous night but I managed to hang on till the ninth mile.
6 Mile Tempo
| Mile 1 | 6:04 |
| Mile 2 | 6:10 |
| Mile 3 | 6:07 |
| Mile 4 | 6:06 |
| Mile 5 | 6:14 |
| Mile 6 | 5:27 |
| Total Average Pace | 6:01 |
7:39 pace
7:30 pace
| Mile 1 | 7:37 |
| Mile 2 | 7:15 |
| Mile 3 | 7:08 |
| Mile 4 | 7:14 |
| Mile 5 | 7:00 |
| Mile 6 | 7:18 |
| Mile 7 | 7:34 |
| Mile 8 | 7:13 |
| Mile 9 | 5:43 |
| Total Average Pace | 7:10 |
Don’t know why I threw in the last mile at 5:43 but it felt good though.
6 Mile Tempo
| Mile 1 | 5:51 |
| Mile 2 | 5:50 |
| Mile 3 | 5:39 |
| Mile 4 | 6:08 |
| Mile 5 | 6:45 |
| Mile 6 | 5:57 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:02 |
It’s pretty much impossible to do workouts by myself these days. I don’t bother analyzing it anymore. I was going to try to do this like a progressive but the body shut down on mile 4. I just kept running just to get some work in.
Jump Rope – 4 x 20 Each Leg
| Mile 1 | 7:12 |
| Mile 2 | 6:47 |
| Mile 3 | 6:28 |
| Mile 4 | 6:18 |
| Mile 5 | 6:04 |
| Mile 6 | 5:49 |
| Mile 7 | 5:26 |
Cool down for mile 8
Ran with the guys. Felt like crap until we got to mile 7 (5:20s) and then I woke up. I was under the impression that was our last mile, but Luis ran for another mile close to 5 minute pace. I should have tagged along with him. We got rained on. Not a little bit o’ rain but a TORRENTIAL down pouring. I have to admit, it ended up being fun though. I’ve never ran through so much rain.
7:26 Pace
I had to reset my Garmin and once I did this I forgot to set it to auto lap after a mile. So all I have is the total time it took to run the race, no splits. I didn’t really have a focused plan. All I know is that I wasn’t going to go out my first race back and try to hammer. So as I toed the line I told Gerardo I wasn’t going to take it out hard. And I stayed true to the statement.
We were off. I stayed behind the leaders and picked a spot where I could navigate the easiest. A couple of guys led out in front of me. As the race started to unfold I noticed how slow the pace was so I pushed ever so slightly and that was enough to put me in the lead. I was hitting about 5:15 pace which is really slow for me on my first mile but it was good enough to be the lead guy. Everyone was packed tightly together after the first mile.
After the first mile a guy came out aggressively behind me. So I moved aside and he overtook me. I wasn’t too worried. I figured if he wanted to make his moves I would just follow behind him. I didn’t recognize the guy but he was running well so my only strategy was to stay close behind him and see what happens. After about .7 miles into mile 2 he begins to slow so I decide to continue the same pace we were on (5:15) and I end up overtaking him.
A little ways into the 3rd mile a large pack aggressively runs us down and overtakes us. I decide to position myself at the front of the pack. I didn’t want to get pinned in. I also wanted to get the best tangents on the turns. With about .8 to go I decide to make a surge. I quickly separate from the pack and I am on my own with 1 guy about 3 seconds behind me. I decide to coast a bit. I turn around and the guy is still 3 seconds behind me so I decide if he is not going to make a move then I’ll just sit on this lead as long as I can and then just kick at the end. I keep looking back and this emboldens the guy to make his move. He probably thinks I’m tired, but I’m just making sure he doesn’t sneak up on me. With a little over .1 to go he has cut down the gap to about a second so I kicked it in to the finish line to win the race.
This was probably the easiest 5k I have ever run. I never pushed, I only sat during the race and made a few moves when needed. Some guys were giving me a hard time about the time, but it was what it was. A rust buster. The race also gave me a new perspective. Maybe the best way to preserve a long and enjoyable running career is to know when to push. Maybe the best thing isn’t to run every race like it’s your last. Maybe the best thing to do is to run to win. To save your best efforts for the best races.
I’ll have to revisit that thought.
Since I have already missed a couple of days this week, I have decided to run the 4th of July 5k on Post Oak.
7:15 Pace
7:50 Pace
Legs felt sore, what else is new? I almost didn’t run and had to stop several times because of torrential rain. Luckily Bear Creek Park stayed dry enough for me get 8 miles out of the way. Unfortunately rain is forecasted for the whole entire week. I can’t remember the last time that happened. What is this Seattle or something?
7:22 Pace
I tried to run this as a progressive run but my legs were just too beat up. I ended running 2 miles with Kia, a 14:45 5k guy and then used a few people as rabbits to help me through the run. The legs are sore but I made it through another week of 60+ miles in the heat. I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. Hopefully one of these days it pays off.
There are a couple of races coming up on the 4th of July. I would like to race one of these but my schedule calls for a long run on Saturday and another 60+ miles for the week. I could just train through it and run it but I’m not sure what good it would do for me. A really slow 5k isn’t going to really do me any good. Its funny, I’m not really getting great results in my workouts but I keep plugging along and staying consistent. What the heck is my motivation?
7:07 Pace
I did this long run as a progressive long run. I started at 7:30 pace and worked my way down 5 secs per mile till I got down to 6:40 pace. Ran the last 4 miles with a buddy. Excellent run.
7:28 Pace
I did this as a progressive run from 8 minute pace down to 6:35 pace. I’m going to try do more progressive runs. Hopefully this will help my endurance.
4:35, 5:36, 5:01, 5:40, 4:49, 6:05, 5:02, 5:48, 4:59, 6:05, 5:20, 5:56, 4:51, 6:07, 5:02, 6:15, 5:08, 6:34, 5:22, 6:12, 5:12, 6:19, 5:23, 6:26, 5:05, 6:21, 4:57, 6:33, 5:16, 6:44, 5:12, 4:57, 4:46
My speed is definitely coming back a lot faster than my endurance. I was able to get down to sub 5 pace 7 times but it was clear my endurance just isn’t where it needs to be, particularly leg strength. These days when I’m doing tempos and speed work, my legs are the first things to break down. Maybe I’ll start out slower next time and then hope to pick it up at the end.
6 Mile Tempo
Goal 5:35 Pace
| Mile 1 | 5:38 |
| Mile 2 | 5:44 |
| Mile 3 | 5:47 |
| Mile 4 | 5:55 |
| Mile 5 | 6:09 |
| Mile 6 | 5:47 |
| Total Average Pace | 5:50 |
Tough as hell(The humidity was intolerable). Ran with a buddy of mine and he had to quit at mile 4. So I’m not going to be too hard on myself.
Decent session. Took a while but was able to pick up some speed at the end. A lot of 4:4x pace hill climbs with some 5:0x pace climbs sprinkled in.
6 Mile Tempo
Goal 5:35 Pace
| Mile 1 | 5:35 |
| Mile 2 | 5:38 |
| Mile 3 | 5:38 |
| Mile 4 | 5:49 |
| Mile 5 | 5:41 |
| Mile 6 | 5:33 |
| Total Average Pace: | 5:39 |
Synopsis - A great run and I just about needed it. It’s been a long long while since I’ve had any sort of semblance of my former self as far as speed and racing is concerned. While this wasn’t really my greatest tempo run ever for this distance. It does put me in the range of what I used to be able to do (5:30 pace) and gives me some hope moving forward. It was pretty much as hot and humid as all the other days but for some reason my legs were able to hold it together for a lot longer than in previous weeks.
I decided to do some jump rope and I believe this helped warm me up and get me ready. I also decided to cut my warm up from 3 miles to just 1. It’s just way too humid and hot and I sweat too much. I believe this saved me some energy. During the run I remained relaxed, maybe a bit too relaxed for mile 4, but relaxed nonetheless. This run gives me some well needed confidence and hope going forward.
By the way, today is my birthday and I think I gave myself a nice little gift.
Not necessarily the whole truth. These days I do a 2 mile run with my son in the morning. The sun is out and it is so hot and so humid I wonder if it is affecting my runs in the evenings. Just some food for thought. We ended up going to Schlitterbahn, Galveston and boy did we have a whole lot of fun. We got back late and so I didn’t get a chance to do my run. I wonder if floating in the water in a tube all day counts as cross training?
? Pace
Legs are so so tired. I have to do a long run in the morning so I decided not to go for 9 or 10 miles today so I could at least get my long run accomplished.
Warm Up
5-4-3-2-1 4.85 Miles, 6:20 Pace
Cool Down
After consulting with Sean he recommended doing this workout as it is a good workout to do when first transitioning from base work to speed training. It felt ok at the beginning but at the end the legs started to tire quickly as usual.
7:30 Pace
2 400s - 68, 69
I tried to do my run the morning after an evening tempo run(Wife going to class in the evening). Wasn’t going to happen, had to cut it short because the legs were trashed. I was contemplating doing the Rice All Comers Meet, specifically the 400 or 800 but after the 2 quarters I ran I decided to take a rain check. When I first started running at the age of 30, I was able to do a 59 second quarter. Not so today. Just nothing there.
Warm up
6 Mile Tempo
Goal – 5:35 pace
| Mile 1 | 5:40 |
| Mile 2 | 5:44 |
| Mile 3 | 5:58 |
| Mile 4 | 6:11 |
| Mile 5 | 6:21 |
| Mile 6 | 6:07 |
| Total Average Pace | 6:00 |
Cool down
Synopsis – The same thing happened to me this week as last week. Maybe worse. Just didn’t have anything in the tank, so I just mailed it in hoping to get SOMETHING out of this exercise.
My main goal was just to top the 60 mile mark. My original goal for the week was to top 80. My original original goal before that was to top 90. Needless to say I failed at the previous 2 goals. I now know that I won’t be hitting 100 miles a week anytime soon. It’s just way too hot and my body has been crumbling under the heat. But I reached 60 miles and that is an accomplishment in and of itself. This is the most miles I have accumulated in this current time span. The only thing is that I don’t really have anything tangible to show for it other than the miles. I actually feel about as slow as I have been in a looong time. I have no explosiveness and the ligaments above and around my knees are always tight and start to tighten up really quickly during my runs. I never felt this when it was cooler, its the heat and its kicking my butt.
7:17 Pace
In the morning I attended the Heights 5k. I usually race this every year but this year I’m not in the proper form so I decided to get my son in the kid’s 1k. I have to say he did pretty well for his 1st race. Before the race I gave him some tips. The main one was not to start out too hard. He wasn’t hearing that so I told him to just go out and have fun. When the race started he started out quick but actually I think he held back a little. He was still hitting about 7 minute pace though. About a quarter into the race he started to feel it and veer a little bit. I told him he could stop and walk but he wasn’t having any of that. At that point he was at 12 minute pace. Eventually we started nearing the end, and he picked out some older girls to chase after and he ended up finishing the last quarter of the race at 6:20 pace. Needless to say I was proud. He’s hooked. He ran the race at 9 minute pace. Not bad for a 5 year old.
Ryan Smith won the overall male and Katrina Price ended up winning overall female. I had a good time although it was extremely humid.
Long Run – I made an attempt to do this but had to abort. My knees tightened up big time and so I had to abort after the second loop. I ran both loops at 6:55 pace.
Warm up
6 Mile Tempo
Goal – 5:35 pace
| Mile 1 | 5:36 |
| Mile 2 | 5:43 |
| Mile 3 | 5:48 |
| Mile 4 | 6:03 |
| Mile 5 | 6:17 |
| Mile 6 | 5:38 |
| Total Average Pace | 5:51 |
Cool down
Synopsis: After feeling great the previous weeks and even feeling that I was in the best shape I’d have ever been in, I put up this big egg. I don’t have any definitive explanations. There are many candidates though:
7:44 Pace
Legs are shot from yesterday. I'm skipping tonight's run as well. Will have to go at it again tomorrow. No need to force anything here even though this will cause me to be significantly behind in mileage goals for the week. Not going to add miles on the remaining days. I will attempt to complete my schedule as planned.
I'm in great shape right now. Probably the best I've been in.
AM - 9.67 Miles
| Mile 1 | 6:56 |
| Mile 2 | 6:36 |
| Mile 3 | 6:27 |
| Mile 4 | 6:20 |
| Mile 5 | 6:21 |
| Mile 6 | 6:25 |
| Mile 7 | 6:38 |
| Mile 8 | 6:42 |
| Mile 9 | 6:41 |
| Mile 10 | 6:52 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:36 |
PM - 2.97 Miles
| Mile 1 | 7:29 |
| Mile 2 | 6:57 |
| Mile 3 | 7:15 |
| Total Average Pace: | 7:14 |
Once again I felt really great on my morning run but a couple of things made this day very challenging. I started late in the morning again, 9:30. Then we went out to eat and then had a picnic outside for a couple of hours with the family. Then at 4 I ran again, still pretty hot out. Luckily I ran into Mahta and I joined him a little bit on his long run. Then I had to rush home get changed and then go to the movies with my friend to see Robin Hood. I'm ending up going to bed sometime around 11pm. I stayed outside WAY too long and I didn't get enough rest. I may have compromised tomorrow's run. We'll see.
| Mile 1 | 7:07 |
| Mile 2 | 6:42 |
| Mile 3 | 6:39 |
| Mile 4 | 6:44 |
| Mile 5 | 6:37 |
| Mile 6 | 6:38 |
| Mile 7 | 6:36 |
| Mile 8 | 6:45 |
| Mile 9 | 5:54 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:40 |
I have to admit, before today’s run I was a little excited. Yesterday I had noticed a change in my leg strength. I was running sub 6:20 pace in highly adverse conditions with about as much ease as maybe a 7:00 minute pace run. Even though I crashed the last few miles I knew there was a change in me. So I was pumped up for today’s run. Sure enough, I was late out the door once again as I arrived at the park after 9am. It wasn’t as humid but it was sunny and hot with no shade. I started off my run right away at a pretty quick pace. The one thing I did notice was that I was still fatigued a little bit from yesterday’s run. So I kept it at an easy pace. The pace ended up anywhere from 6:30s to 6:40s. During the last mile as I was finishing up my run, a guy made an obvious attempt to try and catch me. And catch me he did. So we were running side by side for a while. Then he made a move and the competitor in me picked up the pace ever so slightly. I picked it up enough to where eventually I could hear him laboring a bit and finally he just let go right before the starting 0 marker. I ended up finishing at sub 6 pace. This was actually the first time I had been at sub 6 pace since my last race in early April. I have to tell ya, that was the easiest 5:51 pace that I have run in quite a while. All this is happening while I have run the most miles I have run in a couple of years. Today’s total puts me at 73 miles for the week, a little short of my 77 mile goal, but I’m still happy. I’m 5 weeks into my base building phase with no speed or tempo work yet and I’m liking the changes I’m seeing. I think I’m fit as a fiddle. I’m going to wait till my next cut back week and then I’ll throw in a tempo workout. Next week will be even tougher.
| Mile 1 | 7:20 |
| Mile 2 | 7:00 |
| Mile 3 | 6:36 |
| Mile 4 | 6:26 |
| Mile 5 | 6:17 |
| Mile 6 | 6:27 |
| Mile 7 | 6:36 |
| Mile 8 | 6:53 |
| Mile 9 | 7:27 |
| Mile 10 | 7:23 |
| Mile 11 | 7:29 |
| Mile 12 | 7:18 |
| Total Average Pace: | 6:56 |
As you can probably tell by the table above this run was all over the place. When I started the run I really didn’t feel all that different or any better than usual. By the 3rd mile I noticed that my pace had picked up considerably. I kind of dreaded this doing this run since I had such a late start for it. It was 9 am by the time I started and I had plans of doing a 15 miler. By the end of the 3rd mile it was hotter and definitely more humid than expected but I didn’t want to force myself to run at a much slower contrived pace because of the conditions. I decided to go with the flow. That flow had me running pretty quickly. Somewhere along the way Mahta jumped in as well. The amazing thing to me is that the 6:17 actually felt like 7 minute pace, even in the adverse conditions! Then eventually the reality of the situation came to the forefront. By the end of my 3rd loop I was badly dehydrated and a little light headed from the heat. I had to go and hydrate(I don’t usually hydrate during my runs). By the time my 4th loop came around I was done and there would be no 5th loop today. Like Sean always says, I needed to save a little something for tomorrow.
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