Week 9 (65) - Distractions a plenty

Anyone who's been following the financial markets this past week knows that the Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac news has been a huge distraction to all of us portfolio managers trying ramp up their marathon training miles. I'd figured that this week was as good a time as any to experiment a bit with 2-a-days, but didn't actually leave work most days until well after 6, which may sound plenty early, but I get in to work at about 7:30 or 8:00, and have to travel a fair amount ...and I was bushed. Plus, the market was painful - we were all grappling with the notion of complete financial system meltdown and clients were hugely worried. I'm not. I did make it to the gym twice during the early part of the week, which was total bonus. Tuesday's are American History Movie night, where Amanda and Leticia's daughter Sydney eat American food and rent movies that have something to do with American history. Tuesday's feature was "the Great Escape". It gave me a spark of adrenaline.


If you haven't already seen this video, watch it. I know I sent it out to a bunch of people already. And no doubt, it's been making the rounds, but man-oh-man, it's so life-affirming. To me, it says - everything is going to be okay. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY It reminds me of those Chex Mix commercials, where everybody's dancing because Chex Mix has 60% less fat and tastes really good - Chex would make me dance too. Tonight, when I do my Sunday night HEB run, I'm buying some.


Running - I was up too late on Tuesday night to run on Wednesday morning. I tried to get up, but hit the snooze button about 10 times. I toyed around with doing some intervals on Thursday, but Roger suggested a LBL loop ...and that was good enough for me. I'm curious as to whether all my speed is gone. It's been months (Chuy's 5k) since I did anything uptempo. Maybe next week, I'll do some 800's. If anything up to this point, it's been a consistent run plan, all slow. Despite Wednesday's snooze, I did get in four respectable days during the week, with a fairly brisk 9 on Friday.


Saturday, I ran with the "Black Shorts Running Club" and yet again, Roger's plan put us right smack in the middle of both the Gazelles and the Rogues. We were all heading for Mt Bonnell. For a change, I was well stocked with fuel - 2 gels and a Gatorade bottle filled with Endurox. The morning weather started out terrible, but a cool breeze started somewhere along the way. I was surprised to have not worked up the usual massive sweat. In fact, it was so unusual, that it worried me a bit. I was having trouble keeping up with the Black Shorts. By the time I passed Seton on 35th, I'd pretty much lost Greg, Roger and Mike, who are running great these days. To save face, I cut down Guadalupe and weaved my way through campus. While they were in Jester drinking, I stealthfully dashed ahead and then took a left on 17th, but McNeal caught me on San Jac and herded me back. For the last three miles, I was lucky enough to run with Bruce Coleman and Larry Bright, two Performance Project guys. This gave me a little spark at the end. Since my Garmin is broken, I could only guess on the mileage - 2:20:34 - maybe ...17.6 or so. Probably more, but I hate to cheat. Not bad in either case.


Sunday, I got up about six times and finally made it to Barton at 7:30. There wasn't a soul around, which was fortunate since I felt like crap. I brought along some gel and a small grape Gatorade ...and $3 since I wasn't about to finish in time for a free soak. It took a while to get going. Lots of aches. I had my MP3 to keep me company, but am getting tired of the same 18 songs. Mental note - load some different tunes. The pace was a bit quicker than Saturday. I did the 10.1 mile Longhorn loop, added the 2.9 mile mini loop and a few loops around Zilker for good measure. In my mind, I ran Tahoe. I've run it dozens of times already. In my mind, I never make pacing mistakes. I always finish strong. This morning, I won.

I have 10 weeks to go. The rest of July will be a challenge. Lots of traveling. I'm not very good at running on the road, but hopefully, I'll be able to get my act together for once.

Happy Birthday to Mike McNeal, who keeps getting faster and faster every year.

Week 8 (62.6) - The first mini trip

I dug up some old mileage logs to get some perspective on my training - during the serious training years, from 2000 to 2005, I logged a total of 8 months above 200 miles ...with a high of 228. I only counted three long runs of 20 miles or more in 2003 when I ran a marathon PR. The quality workouts were very fast, but not long. I got pushed continually by Floyd Watson and Mike Woo and I chased Richard Mendez on race day. Most summers, I ran less than 100 miles per month. So, it's all uncharted waters here. I'm really intrigued by the massive miles that the Rogue Performance Project is doing, but am not sure it'd work for me. Still, I'm watching the experiment closely. Good luck Geezer, Bruce, Mike and Ken.

I took Monday and Tuesday off again, although Tuesday's break was unintentional as I had an early flight to Dallas and a late night. On Wednesday, I noticed a weird pattern emerging - I felt really crummy after the two-day rest, and struggled through the familiar Town Lake seven mile loop. No more two day rests if I can help it. Thursday's 7.8 mile run is identical to Wednesday's except that I feel less stiff and less sore. ...hmmm. But both days are filler since this week is all about the "mini-triple".

Thursday after work, I went to Kneads for a massage from Rachel, who's excellent by the way. On Friday, I ate a Tangerine gel for breakfast and brought two with me. The weather was cool despite the fact that I overslept and didn't get to Barton until almost 7:00. I really didn't have much of a plan except to run at least 13. I did 14. ...total struggle. I'm bored and know that I've got two more long runs to go this weekend. So my knees hurt. But my ankles seem to be getting better. After a rare paid dip in the springs, I picked up a couple bags of ice for a chilly bath, drank two slim-fasts, ate some Bear Naked grains and a powerbar. I feel like I'm doing a bit better with my eating. Not great. Long nap.

Saturday, Roger had a 18-mile route in mind for Mike, Greg and the Black Shorts Running Club. David Weaver joined us for the first six miles and pushed the pace to what felt like 7:15. As much as I love running with David, I was glad to slow down when he headed back to the Rock. We ended up doing 19 at a 7:30'ish pace. It wasn't easy. Roger saved me at the cleaners by sharing his last Gu, which was plain, a flavor that I'd always imagined tasted like Vaseline, but it was really more like marshmallow. I finished well behind Mike and Greg, but it was very encouraging. After a soak in Barton, a three-bag ice bath, consuming a variety of food and beverages and downing a couple of Advil, I took a two hour nap.

Sunday I didn't know what to expect from my body, but oddly enough, I wasn't sore at all. I'd planned on putting on headphones and doing the 10-mile loop plus four, but ran into Paul and Cindy Salazar, James Allen, Jennifer Stewart, Danny Spoonts and a few other familiar faces and ended up running my 14 with them for a three-day total of 47. During the run, Paul told me that he'd run a trans-Rocky ultra last summer and that although he was really stiff and sore at the start of his day two, he was able to run through it. I love hearing this kind of talk. But honestly, I'm not worried about not being able to run the entire distance unless I screw up and run way too fast on day one ...which could definitely happen.

Week 7 (63.7) - No shoes in Barton!

I took Monday morning off and tried to sleep in, but it didn't work. My internal alarm clock went off at 5:15 anyway. I did make it to the gym that night, and did some leg work. On Tuesday, after running 9+ miles, I eased into Barton to soak for 10 minutes and some guy with a big belly and a tiny speedo hollered "Oh my God!! You didn't just get into the water with your socks on!" While I was defending myself, an older, gray-haired Asian woman swam over and said "I wish you runners would shower before you got in the water. It's disgusting!" Rogues Bruce and Larry were standing around, so I was hoping that the shower comment was aimed at all of us and not just me.

Here's my thoughts on sweat in Barton - it's 99% water with trace amounts of electrolytes, mostly sodium. On the other hand, sometimes high levels of fecal coliform force the pool to close. Thankfully, both the e-coli and trace electrolytes are whisked away as up to 31 million gallons flow through the springs everyday. As I was getting out to shower and get dressed for work, the lady (who obviously had excellent eyesight) hollered from 50 feet away - "Oh no!!! Tell me you didn't just wear your shoes in the pool!!!" She attracted quite a bit of attention with this one, so I ducked my head and crept out, past speedo man and other people that I'm too embarrassed to look in the eye.

That afternoon I sent an e-mail to the Barton Springs Aquatics, who said that shoes were permitted, just not on the diving board. No comment on sweat. I did make the decision to shower before I get into the pool and to take off my shoes. But my wish list for other morning swimmers is for the speedo guy to cover himself up, and the lady to wear a swim cap. On Wednesday, I ran 8, showered and walked down to the pool in my flip-flops. The speedo guy had won. And he was there, so I gave him a really dirty look, but then I got to thinking that maybe his job sucked, or he had a kid who was having problems in school or he had a sick parent or something, so I let him off the hook.

On Thursday, I ran 8+ with Roger. Speedo guy and crazy lady were both there, and crazy lady looked mad again, so we jumped in (without shoes) then quickly jumped out and left. On Friday, crazy lady was having the disgusting shoes conversation with another poor guy, telling him that she's contacted the City Council, and he looks totally mortified, so I jump into the conversation and tell her about what Aquatics had said earlier, and that sweat is 99% water and that I think she should put her hair in a swim cap. She looks at me like I'm insane.

Saturday, Roger, Mike and I run 20+. It's hot and I'm very sore - ankles and knees mostly. I finish a couple minutes back of them. I think my body knows it has to run on Sunday, so it's saving some energy. I thought I'd be ready this time. I had pizza for lunch, ate oatmeal at midnight and had a gel in the morning. After an ice bath, I felt back to normal. On Sunday, Leticia rode with me. Her bike was all tuned up ...and had a set of new tires. But at the seven mile point, the whole gear assembly fell off. I ran ahead, retreived her car and drove back to the 7-11 on Riverside to pick her up. So, instead of running 15, I ended up with 10 or so, but that's probably fine since I'm hoping to run 13+ miles each day Friday through Sunday next week.

I've got 249.3 miles for the month. I'll have to do at least a mile tomorrow.

Week 6 (60.5) - Running on empty

It was a weird week. I flew into Ft Lauderdale for a conference Sunday night. Although I spend lots of time in Miami, I didn't think I'd been to Lauderdale. I'd brought running gear, and planned on getting in some beach miles either Monday or Tuesday (2? 10? 20?), but when the taxi got close to the Hotel, I realized that I'd been to this exact spot in January, and the beach sand is way too thick to run in. So that sucked. But it didn't matter Sunday night because I had to dash off to dinner at a fancy place called "the Capitol Grill". The problem with client dinners is that everyone seems to get offended when you order fish and salad ...and get really twisted up when you don't eat dessert. I usually hear about how thin I am and that I shouldn't have to worry. So, when the waiter brought out a huge dessert assortment, and everybody gave me the eye, I took one for the team and had palmagranite cheese cake, flourless dark chocolate cake and some Italian cream cake. And felt miserable. It got worse from here. My stomach must have gotten stretched out, so I ate too much at the breakfast buffet and dinner was another big event with appetizers and drinks and steak and huge deserts. And then my company hosted a breakfast with lots of Applewood bacon, which I hear is pretty healthy as far as bacon is concerned.

I didn't have time to run on Monday, which was okay since I'm a big rest advocate, but on the other hand, there wouldn't be any time to run on Tuesday. I got home late and slept late, and work was a bitch and I was completely swamped and my back started to hurt from the stress. I ran 7 on Wednesday afternoon in 100+ temps and everything kinda hurt, which doesn't seem quite fair since I hadn't run since Sunday. Thursday morning, I was super-tired but made it to Zilker at 6:15, and ran too fast, mainly because when I got to the trail, four runners flew across the footbridge which caused me to reverse direction and chase them down. Very stupid. But that's that happens when the mood strikes. No sense in fighting it. So it was 8 miles with a shot of much needed adrenaline. Friday I did 9, but was really stiff and felt the hard miles from the day before.

On Saturday, I decided to run with whoever was around at 5:30 at Rogue EQ. It turned out to be Geezer Colins, Mike Wilen and Ken Fries. We ran 4 on the trail and joined a bigger group, which included Bruce Coleman and Larry Bright for another 16.5? 17? I forgot to bring gu or gel and since I don't eat breakfast before runs, I was pretty much shot by mile 20. The appeal to the Rogue morning, besides seeing old friends and having a supported run, was that a sports nutritionist spoke afterwards. I know I don't eat well, but need to be reminded every once in a while. The most important thing I took away was that I've got to find a way to better fuel during the longer runs. I also need to eat more complex carbs/less hamburgers and buy some Endurox R4 for post runs.

After a record 4-bag ice bath and a long nap, I found orange-flavored Endurox at GNC, a dozen tangerine gels at HEB and a bunch of whole wheat noodles, which I plan on making into a big pasta salad to snack on next week. I had no plan for Sunday, hit snooze again and again until it was 7:00 a.m., drank some coffee, grabbed three gels, drove to Zilker, ran 7 miles, ate a gel (with lots of water) and ran another couple of miles before having another gel ...and then ran 7 more for 16+ total and 60+ for the week. Very encouraging - 7:25 pace. After reading Wilen and Geezer's blogs, I realized I'm on the low end of the mileage scale, but the miles I am doing are huge for me. I'll probably end up with something like 250 for June. That'll be a record month. And I feel really good. In fact, I'm thinking about running 5 tonight ...just to see if I can.

Week 5 (61.8) - This one hurt

My mind has taken leave this week. On Tuesday morning, I forgot to bring work clothes with me to change into after the Barton dip. I have a ton on unused vacation time, so coming in to the office at 9:30 isn't a big deal, except that I hired a new guy this week, and I hate to set a bad example. On Wednesday, I brought two different dress shoes. This isn't quite as stupid as it sounds as they are both standard black business man shoes. You'd have to look close to see a difference. On Friday, I realized that I'd run out of towels and had to dry off with a couple of t-shirts. I'm usually pretty good at getting ready the night before. Not this week. Other than the preparation issues, I had no problem getting up and out four of five weekdays.

Saturday, Mike, Roger and I ran a terribly tough 17.5 Scenic/Hancock/Campus loop. It really hurt me. In retrospect, the salad I had on Friday night was my downfall. I just ran out of fuel. I don't ever eat breakfast and had just one Gel. Since I'd planned on doing two long runs over the weekend, the recovery day was critical. The first step was a ice bath -30 pounds of ice - my teeth were chattering. Then, a two-hour nap. I usually sleep about six hours a night, which doesn't seem to be nearly enough when training big. And lots of food. Leticia and I ate pizza Saturday night. Then on Sunday, she volunteered to ride along with me as I tried to do 14. Her chain kept slipping off as we rode up and down Rollingwood Hills. I made it 11.5 miles before stopping, then finished the last stretch at a crawl. Still, almost 62 miles for the week and back-to-back long runs totally 31.5. Another ice bath on Sunday and another long nap before flying to Fort Lauderdale for a conference. I don't intend to run, but packed shoes and shorts anyway.

Week 4 (58.5) - Hot miles and purple hair

Amanda's hair is now purple, but it's not a particularly shocking color. In fact, it's starting to look fairly natural to me. I'm pretty much forgetting about it ...until we run into someone who hasn't seen it yet and they stumble and fumble for something to say, while I try and decide for the thousandth time if I'm a good parent. I meant to take a picture so I could post it. Maybe next time.

I've gone to the gym three times now and have picked out half a dozen leg-oriented machines to use. I'm probably lifting more than I should just so I don't seem too wimpy, but I'm at least making it a point to stay consistent with the amount that I hoist ...which really isn't much.

I'm way ahead of the run schedule ...and should know better than to add miles this quickly, especially with the nagging ankle thing still bothering me. But, I'm already having doubts as to whether four months is enough time build the kind of base I need. I took Monday off, but still managed to total nearly 58 miles. And as I sit here on the couch, I'm trying to decide if it would do me more good than harm to run another five tonight. Then, maybe I could sleep in tomorrow morning.

The heat and humidity is incredible. All of my runs now start at Barton and end at the Springs. Tuesday through Friday were all variations of the 7 mile trail loop at something approaching a 7:15 to 7:30 pace. On Saturday, we got started at 6:15. I suggested that we run the Campus/Mt Bonn loop in reverse which allowed Mike, Greg and Roger to blame me for every hill we came across. I thought the change was good and will probably do it again as one of my second long runs on Sunday. I felt sluggish for most of the run, but took a tangerine GU at the 10 mile mark and perked up enough to race Mike the last two miles at a silly 6:20 pace.

Amanda has been sleeping until noon, giving me time to nap on Saturdays. On the weekday's that I have her, she gets up at 5:30 a.m. It's sounds cruel, but she springs right up and gets in the car. I'm not sure if I could train with any consistency if she wasn't so willing to do this.

Sunday was another test. After 15+ on Saturday, I took a three ice bag bath which pretty much did away with muscle and joint pain entirely by Sunday. I was happy that my iPod worked, but it was drained with 40 minutes of running around the neighborhood. Still, I got in 10.6 miles and felt like if it wasn't 85 degrees by 10:00, I could have tacked on another 3 or so. I quickly drank two 20 oz gatorades and soaked in a tub of cool water for 15 minutes and feel good, albeit completely drained now.

I plan on running eight tomorrow. That'll be 66 in 7 days. Too much for my body, but good for confidence. Next weekend, I need to try and get in 30 in consecutive days. A+ work for me in the Vitamin and Glucosmine consumption dept.

Week 3 - Gaining momentum

I'm thinking that I must be a once-a-week poster, which probably isn't a bad thing since I have tons of other things I should be doing. So, for the week, I covered 51 miles; no intervals, no tempo, just miles. In a sense, it's like taking a break; moving my feet forward; building a base; might not do any intervals in June at all. Depends.

On Tuesday at HEB, my 16-year old daughter Amanda told me that her mother didn't like the new hair color she'd picked out. When I asked her what color it was, she pulled a purple shampoo bottle off the shelf. It still took me a minute or so to comprehend that purple was the color of choice for the summer. We talked about how her mother was probably concerned about how other people would judge Amanda, who countered by saying that she thought her mother was more concerned about how people would judge her. Although this was a good point, I was also wondering how I'd be judged. Would I be a better parent to say no? And what would happen if I did?

I planned on taking Wednesday morning off, but changed my mind. I needed a run.

Every run during the week started at the Barton parking lot and ended in the springs with a soak. My ankle(s) still hurt but not as much. I still can't figure this out. On Thursday, I used all the ice in the freezer for an ankle bath.

On Saturday, Roger, Greg, Mike and I decided to start at 6:45 instead of 7:00. This'll work its way back to 6:00 in no time. The plan was for 14 up toward Mt Bonnell, and although we weren't sure what turn to make from mile to mile, my Garmin read 14.1 when we ended at Barton. Afterwards, I went to Fit Sports(?), Fit City(?) for the ARC meeting where their plan was to announce the Sprint Series winners. I won the Master's division, edged out always-strong Scott Birk, but not too many of us guys actually ran the series, so I felt like an imposter. Plus, Mike Budde was the overall winner and he's 41, so I didn't really win Master's anyway. Plus, super-Master Keith Dowland was there eating tacos, as if to say I could have kicked everyone's ass if I wanted to. I've never gone to the Distance Challange year end wrap up and seldom stay for post race awards, but figured it was convenient and there was free food, but it took a long time to get started and I had a lawn to mow, so I was really anxious by the time they finally announced the winners and didn't get home until after 11:00. No time for my post long run nap. I hate it when this happens.

On track. Very motivated. I've already abandoned the schedule; not a schedule person at all, but fully expect to end June with 60+ mile weeks. And that would be about double a normal June for me.