Nice Weather

This run brought to you by a cold front and a couple if successive 40+ mile weeks. It's been a while since I ran this speed without worrying about a heart attack.

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Slower than normal with similar effort...must be some residual from yesterday's spin workout. It was my first one ever. I wasn't very good at it.

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Morning, Noon and Night?

This morning I ran with Will's Hills for (I think) the longest workout they do. 22 minutes one direction around the Waugh/Shepherd,Allen cloverleaf, and then 22 the other direction with no break. Will took off and I couldn't keep up with him. In my heyday we were neck and neck, so I have some work to do. I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to beat me this year at the Heights Fun Run 5K in June since I beat him last year. I didn't bring my watch but I'm going to be conservative and guess a pace of 8:30

5.18 miles, 44 minutes, 8:30 pace

This picture below shows my lunchtime run. The legs weren't responsive based on this morning's hill workout, but it was good to get out of the office.

Will I make it a three-a-day by running this evening? I've only done that a few times before, but it won't be based on how I feel so much as how much I have to do at work and home. We will see if I have time.

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Winds of Change

I'm a big complainer of the wind. Too cold, too fast, wrong direction, amd I making ANY forward progress . . . you get the point.

A really fast runner mentioned to me the other day that he sometimes chooses his route based on the wind direction. I think he gets to a fork in the road and goes right or left based on the wind direction. That made me wonder how he makes his choice -- delayed gratification by starting off running into the wind for the "out" portion and reaping the benefits on the "back" section? Perhaps he likes to run into the wind on the way back since the combination of the second half fatigure and wind makes you "tougher". Whatever his choice, I can pretty much guarantee you that his reasoning does not revolve around what is "easier".

I don't have any running routes that offer directional options, so I guess you can say that I'm at the mercy of the wind. Today I ran with the wind on the out and against the wind on the back. I think I prefer it that way -- not because of the logic above but because I typically start sweating around half way and it's nice to have the wind in your face as you get hotter and hotter finishing the run. It's like sailing with the wind at your back -- it gets really hot because the wind is at a standstill relative to your motion.

I forgot the Garmin today, but my GPS-enabled phone has a runner-friendly application that takes measurements for me. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but I assume it's at least as accurate as the Garmin since the GPS chip is better. I finally found out that my normal lunch route is 6.25 miles. The Garmin would never synchronize until I left downtown so I never knew how far it was, but the phone syncs up as soon as I step outside.

6.25 miles
46:10 minutes
7:23 pace

I ran the whole way without knowing the pace and I was pleasantly surprised that I was faster than the 7:45ish I was expecting.

Oh yes, I almost forgot to tie the title into this post -- those winds are bringing in 90 degree weather. I'm enjoying seeing my times drop right now as I get back into shape, but it won't be long before that is counteracted by the heat of the summer. Are you ready?

Altitude Training

I stayed inside today for some "altitude training" (my gym is on the second floor).  It seems like a waste to hit the treadmill when the weather is so nice, but it helps me to moderate my pace and I needed to be sure that I didn't overdo it today since I beat myself up over the weekend.

Just under eight minute pace and I'm feeling great.

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Congratulations to these Angie's Crazy Half Marathon Finishers

Jenny and Adam also just recently became engaged!

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I joined the Bayou City Road Runners on their River Oaks route and they gave me a beatdown. Saw Anne and Sim afterwards ... its good to be back and see all of my friends on the trail.

I'm TIRED. Not sure of the weekly mileage total, but you can bet the books advise against coming back so quickly.

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Nice run through River Oaks with Stephanie, Augie, Josh and Randy. We hammered it for a mile at the end for my first fast mile in a while.  Good to catch up with the crew.

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Happy Friday

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Missed Tour de Bayou ...

... but got a run in around the course after dinner.

Beautiful weather.

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Mobile Blogger Made This Easy

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Ying and Yang

Full "belly" of Chinese food slowed me down (Ying)
"Alive" by Pearl Jam sped me up (Yang)

In the end the Yang had the last punch as it started raining with one mile to go and I didn't want my phone to get wet.

6M, 7:57 pace

A Year Without Blogging

A lot can happen to a person in the course of a year. You can have a baby. You can set a PR at the 5K distance (17:46) without speed workouts. You can get laid off from a job, start a new one and then get transferred to another department. You can stop running seriously for about five months and bomb the New York City Marathon (3:37:10) in the process. Then you can run a half marathon in New Orleans with your wife for one of the most enjoyable races of your life, and hear the road calling you back. That faint sound can guide you to “cram” a few weeks for a race, the Crescent City Classic 10K in my case (40:58). Finally, like the springtime explosion of the verdant running trail along Buffalo Bayou, the fire is rekindled.

I won’t try to “catch up” in one encyclopedic entry because if I’m going to start blogging again then it’s going to have to be easy and can’t be time consuming. Life-changing events like having a baby (actually my wife technically had the baby – I just sat there hopelessly) can have the effect of altering priorities. Running fell down the scale a bit and blogging fell down a lot. Tracking and analyzing my runs almost fell completely off the chart . . . at least for now. Philosophizing gained ground, if you can believe that's possible for me.

Suffice to say there have been some welcomed and unwelcomed twists and turns, but lately I’ve been as happy as I’ve ever been in my life. And things keep getting better. I think I’ll go for a run now. I don’t know if it will be fast or slow, but I’ll probably enjoy it!