Mileage

I banged out ten treadmill miles back on Saturday morning. Ten boring miles at the fitness center, with nothing but the speed and incline buttons to amuse me. When I was preparing for the Eisenhower half-marathon several years ago, we were on holiday in Kansas City, and I ran 10 or 11 on the treadmill at the Crown Center and felt sore and tired the rest of the evening. Not this time. Ten on the treadmill does not compare to ten on the open road here in Tuscaloosa. I felt great the rest of the day. Weekly mileage: 29.

I also learned a few weeks ago that in 2012, I ran 994 miles. Pretty pissed off when I made this discovery. It was, by far, my best year of running, as mentioned. But leaving six miles out there is disappointing. On the other hand, it means there are still things to accomplish. I think right now I'm at 360 miles for 2013, so I'll miss the halfway pole, unless I want to to ramp up to 35-40 weekly miles from the mid-20s.

So keeping things in the mid-20 neighborhood for now is a good plan. But marathon training begins the end of this month. On the agenda is the Atlanta Marathon, October 27th. The wife and I are moving to Athens, Georgia next month, so it'll be a shorter trip into town.

Anyhow, the marathon training will really get the mileage up, and the miles will be difficult, since Athens is much hillier than my current stomping grounds. I think I'll make it to 1,000 miles easily enough.

Another PR

Ran my first race of 2013 this morning-- the Mayor's Cup 5K. It's a race that has grown in popularity in each of the seven years it's been run. Over 1500 folks toed the line for the 8 am start. Proceeds go towards the mayor's pre-K initiative, which is a special cause-- it gets kids learning and reading at an early age, and it encourages exercise in a region that needs all the fitness it can get.

Not to be forgotten is that we raced on April 27, a day that will live forever in our city's history. The F4 tornado that shredded our city two years ago on this day. For us, it's a memory similar to 9/11 and the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion. I remember that day and those hours like it was yesterday-- the buildings I drove by that day that were gone by evening, the time we spent in she shelter on the UA campus, and the friends we spent time with that evening. Even the brief thought that these may be my last few moments on earth.

We also remembered the folks at Boston Marathon whose lives are changed forever. Terrible things happened to people who are runners and support a major running event. It still breaks my heart-- it was an attack on innocence-- an attack on the running community of which I am a member.

I'm a little spoiled in that I don't really 'prepare' for races at this point-- a three-mile race doesn't intimidate me. I was more focused on getting to the front of the corral, hitting splits, and hopefully putting a good number on the board. It was also good to see some of my running friends, many of whom I don't get to see much anymore now that my time at the running store is over.

Last year, I had a minor hamstring issue and was unsure how I'd do. It turned out to be a non-issue, though the tight course and other traffic didn't help. This year I managed to get closer to the front, so I didn't have to weave through as much traffic. I even ran past our Thursday night trivia bar.

My goal this time out was to set a PR, beating the 23:07 at last year's Holt 5K, likely the toughest course in town, where the third mile is a solid uphill climb. I thought I could do better on a flatter course, but you just never know on race day.

As always, it took about a half mile to get my pace dialed in-- 2:05 and 1:47 for the first quarters, before I got settled. The course was similar to last year, we just ran it in the opposite direction. We headed down Paul W. Bryant Drive, past the football stadium that also bears his name, and through the Walk of Champions. So yeah, football is a pretty big deal around here. Also present near the stadium were the Central High School cheerleaders, plus Big Al, the UA mascot, with whom I slapped a high five. I thought it was nice that they all (plus the Bryant High cheer squad) wanted to be there to support the running/fitness community.

After that first half mile, I really red-lined it, running faster here than I do for my weekly tempo sessions, so I did question my will a little bit, finding comfort in the solace of a short race, knowing it'd be over soon. At about mile 2.5, I even passed the mayor, who has been a bit of a rabbit for me in the last few years. He's a distance runner himself, and a good one, at that. This was also something to hang onto toward the end, knowing I reached another goal.

I turned the last corner at 21:30 with a PR pretty much in my pocket, and I even thought a 21-something a remote possibility, but I didn't have anything left to give, so that (new) goal will live another day. I had to be happy with a 22:14, a new 5K best by nearly a minute, and a 43rd place overall finish, which put me in the top 3% of a race where I'd felt good about a top 10% finish.

So I ran hard and well, and I found another example of what I am truly capable of.

Planning

Went out for a solid seven-miler this morning, in great weather conditions. Light wind and cloudy, with temps in the 60s. I went out about 10:30, after eating two slices of buttered toast and half a glass of water.

I'm pleased with the result-- my average heart rate was 149, average pace 9:11. I've been working on keeping my HR lower, and this is a positive step, attributable, in part, to taking a bottle of water out with me. I also ran past the spigot in the park where I can refill. 

I also want to give a big shout out to whomever put a 2x4 down at a particularly muddy crossing point near the train trestle I cross underneath. This spot is popular for photographers, so perhaps someone put it down for that reason. Anyhow, it stays muddy there long after the rain has left town, and I used to have to slow down to find a stable enough place to plant and cross. Having that board there is big time and allows me to keep my stride.

This brings the weekly total to 20. I missed a three-miler Friday morning, but no worries, since there is no real plan to work. I'm starting to think I need a maintenance plan to stay accountable to myself and be a little more practical about building mileage. 

Saturday

The weather is officially starting to change here in Alabama-- chilly mornings and mild days. Chamber of commerce-type stuff. This is the type of weather that gets none of the headlines, and it'll be what we can expect for the next six weeks or so.

So I ran a six in shirt sleeves and shorts for the first time this season, and it felt great. I ran a chilly four-miler Friday morning in a Nike reflective vest and arm warmers, and needed it all. Today, I didn't.

I also tried to keep my heart rate below 150, and it worked for the first three miles or so. I have a hard time keeping the effort even once I climb a hill or two, so when effort has to increase, the heart rate typically stays there. This time I throttled back on the pace (my average pace was 9:16, but it's a long run and pace doesn't matter as much), but the HR stayed in the low 150s. I was pretty thirsty for the last little bit, so I'll try to change that for the next time.

That made 10 miles for the week. My right calf has felt fine, so I may hit 20 or so next week. Weight is the thing I'm chasing right now-- I was at about 157 when I ran the half in Huntsville, and I'm closer to 165 these days. Still healthy by many standards, but I'd like to get rid of these 7-8 pounds.

Easy Week

My left calf is feeling a lot better, but this is still a week of easier running. I'll hit the treadmill tomorrow afternoon, then hit the road Friday and Saturday mornings. Likely three five-milers.

This is the same left calf that acted up about seven years ago, when I lived in Kansas. I was training for the White Rock Half Marathon in Dallas, and even had a snazzy training plan drawn up by the cross country coach I met through work. I fell behind on my training plan and tried to check off every run on the plan, and I felt a jolt of electricity shoot into my calf one Monday afternoon at the start of a nine-mile long run. It healed, but it's one of the first things that go wrong when I overtrain.

I did ramp up mileage too quickly after my break, and my calf told me so. It's not too big a thing to me, since there is no big race on the horizon. The Mayor's Cup 5K is in six weeks, and I'll work to set another PR on what should be a flatter course. Spending time as a volunteer on the course really whetted my appetite for another half or full marathon, but the calendar is a little thin for now unless I want to travel.

So there really isn't a reason to go too far. The 'too fast' is something we'll get to.

Back Out There

After running the half marathon in Huntsville back in November, I took a five-week break, hiding behind the fact that I was starting a new job. It cost me a lot of fitness (although I drank a lot of Saturday morning coffee). 

Now I'm a little more used to the tides at work, and I'm starting to get back out there. Mileage is still on the low side, low 20s (though I'll show that even that may have been a bit too high). This meant that I was on the sidelines for the inaugural Run For Recovery, Tuscaloosa's inaugural half marathon. Though I was in no shape for a half, I wanted to be a part of it, so I volunteered to be a course marshal, clapping and encouraging those who came by. 

This turned out to be harder than running the half-- I got to my spot just past mile 12 at about 7:15 for an 8:00 am start. This meant I had nothing to do for about two hours, so I stood and waited in 35-degree temps. I'd run the three miles from my home to the race, so I did some road work of my own by then. Thankfully, I had overdressed for the run there, so I was a little warm on the way, but thankful for every layer as the sun continued to rise but the temperatures did not. A good friend (MVP of the day) handed me a pair of hot hands, which turned out to be the most important piece of gear I had. All the clapping meant the hot hands kept doing their thing, and I stayed pretty comfortable.

The down side was having to wait four hours for the last runner to pass my post. This meant I stayed out there for nearly five hours, which turned out to be harder than running the actual race. But I was still glad to be a small part of the event.

Anyhow, my mileage has gradually climbed into the 20+ range, though at a bit of a price. I broke my Saturday long run into two pieces, since I had to work 9-1. 4.3 to get there and 3.7 home after a bit of a short cut. At the beginning of the return trip, my left calf acted up again-- the same one I've had problems with in the past. Increasing weekly mileage too quickly was the cause. I did make it home, but today was and tomorrow will be rest days, before we begin a week of easier running. 

I also had a small pack with me, so I was carrying some extra weight, and doing it unnaturally, since it wasn't steady on my back. So it wasn't my best run. But it was an eight-miler. And I'm starting to feel like a runner again. 

Responsibility

I started out Saturday (yesterday) not really wanting to run. I didn't have anything to do, the First Lady was out of town, and the only thing I was interested in was sitting on the couch and drinking coffee on a 60-degree day. I'd scored some coffee product at a recent office Christmas event, and was eager to try some. I was not disappointed.

Of course, my inactivity got the better of me, and I laced up my Adrenaline 12s and went out for a run about 3:45, or roughly an hour before sunset. I covered much of the same ground I usually do, and felt pretty good, though my heart rate is still a bit elevated. More on that in a bit.

About two miles in, I was on the street, as a mother and child (two or three-year old?) at the corner house got out of the car, along with about a 20-pound terrier-looking dog that was not on a leash. This dog may have been in protect child mode as took off across the yard and ran me down from about 100 feet as I was running away from it and the house. It went so far as to bite me on the outside of my right calf.

Now I've been chased by dogs before, and I wasn't really alarmed when I saw this one come after me. I usually just keep on going and the dog will not chase anymore, as the threat moves away. That's what I expected to happen. So getting a nip on my leg was a surprise.

The lady came over and was sorry for what happened. She even asked if the dog broke the skin (it did), as if that would make a difference. I asked her to do better the next time. I was able to continue my run, which became a seven-miler in shorts and shirt sleeves.

I guess my message is that training your pet is part of being a good citizen. I was running on a road I've run on many times in the past, doing my own thing, running on a public street that I help pay for, without earphones. I constantly watch for traffic, hopping into someone's yard for a stride or two, or crossing to the other side of the street as needed. So I try to be a good citizen while I'm being a good runner. Meanwhile, a dog who doesn't know better because it hasn't been taught bites me on the leg. It doesn't take much to let your dog know where the boundaries are. Call Cesar Millan if you have to.

Just be mindful, respectful, and courteous of others. Your right to do what you want stops when it affects others, or when your dog bites me.

The seven miles got me to eleven for the week. I've done better at staying nearer to 9:00/mile pace, but worse at getting out for more than two runs a week. I also learned that my left hamstring is not really built for seven milers. So I'll keep the distances down and try to run three days a week, then four once the three becomes practical.

I don't really understand the heart rate thing-- the effort feels the same, and my weight has not changed. But I'm averaging upper 150 HR for the same runs that I've been in the 140s in recently. So it's something to watch.