Week 12 (73.8) - Signs of life

I don't usually run seven days a week, especially in late July, but it's been nearly impossible to log the kind of miles I need for this damn Triple, so I made an exception. The result was record mileage both for a single month (267 in July) and for the week. Hopefully, I can top out at 80 or so sometime this month. I don't think my body can handle much more than that. I'm still having big trouble with the heat, but am doing better with the fueling part - I bought a box of Cliff bars, am still eating oatmeal with blueberries and started snacking on whole grain cereal at night. Plus, I'm drinking gallons of orange juice, blue Powerade and orange Endourox ...when I remember I have it.

Monday, I took a vacation day from work (this really helped boost the mileage) and had planned on doing at least 15. But it was 82 degrees at 6:15, so I did 12.6, soaked in Barton for 20 minutes then went home and slept for several hours. On Tuesday, I tried to do some intervals at Austin High with Roger, but wasn't really inspired enough. I did manage 2x800 in 3:00 and 2:59, felt hugely sluggish and called it quits. On the trail, I ran past a guy running with his wife. He picked up the pace and hung with me for a mile or so. He told me that he had just moved to Austin, started training for the San Antonio half and wants to do a 1:16:00. He also said that he'd just run his first marathon last year and qualified for Boston with a near 3-hour qualifying time, but his strength was the shorter distances. His name is Peter Gallimore. He's a 40-year old masters runner from Boston. My guess is that we'll all be chasing him this season.

On Thursday, I pysched myself up to run tempo. About midway through the 7 mile loop, Roger waved me ahead and I finshed just under 47 minutes. Although I've run this loop 4 or 5 minutes faster in cooler days, the 47 felt fast and made me happy. On Friday, I was sore and stiff and thought about sleeping in, but hated to start August off with a big fat zero in the mileage column, so I jogged an easy 5 miles. This turned out to be a good idea, because Saturday I was loose and felt much better. I ran with a bunch of Gazelles that I didn't really know, along with Roger and Peter Gallimore. Peter wanted to do 12 and I was hoping for 20. The pace was a bit fast. I think we were showing off. Peter was hardly breathing. I did log 20, probably at a pace just south of 7:30. Afterwards, I took a three-bag ice bath. I'd read in Runner's World that some really good runner (can't remember who) dumped the ice in first, sat gingerly down and then filled the tub with water. I tried this. It was pure torture. Not recommended.

Sunday, I'd planned on doing 15, but took way too long to drag my tired bones up and out the door. By the time I started running at 6:45, the car thermometer read a sizzling 83 degrees. So, 11 miles was all I could muster. Even that was in question for much of the way. I did run into old pal Rob Mroski on the trail. He and I trained together seven or eight years ago. I've always felt that Rob pushed me in the days when I really needed a push.

Next week, I'm hoping to top 70 again, but am starting to get concerned about my inability to actually follow through with the planned workouts. August is really important ...especially in stringing together long runs. Maybe 20/20 next weekend?

Congratulations to Black Shorts member Greg Thomas - 18th out of 6,700 in the San Francisco Half today.