Watt's Running

Finished in 53:48 with 8:39 pace.
 Mile 1 – 9:17.28
 Mile 2 – missed
 Mile 3 – missed
 Mile 4 – 25:33.33, avg 8:31.11
 Mile 5 – missed
 Mile 6 – 17:30.25, avg 8:45.13
 10K – 52:48

OK, Matthew and I are signed up for the 2007 Moonlight Margarita Run on August 2, 2007 at 8:24 PM. This is my first evening race. It covers basically the same course as the Freedom 5000 which started at the rock under the MOPAC bridge. This should be interesting. We’re thinking 9 minutes/mile or just under 28:00 minutes total. We’ll see, we’ll see.

Update: We rocked! Instead of staying together and running side by side, Matthew told me to run out ahead so pushed it as hard as I could considering the heat and humidity. I finished in 26:05 (with a pace of 8:24/mile) and Matthew finished just behind me in 26:18 (with a pace of 8:28/mile). Afterwards Matthew made me feel great when he said “Your were awesome Dad”. You know what… nobody has ever told me that, and it felt so good to hear. And you know what Matthew… “You were awesome too”.

Oh one more thing, no we didn’t have any margaritas afterwards, we just had the warm glow of Matthew doing a Personal Record (PR) for the 5K.

Matthew and I ran the Freedom 5000 on July, 4th at 8:00 AM. The weather was very moist and humid. We ran together and completed in 29:06 (9:22/M) which was better than we’d expected. Actually the official results state that Matthew beat me and finished in 29:05. He placed 264 out of 414 and I placed 265. By the time we were done we were very moist and humid too.

Had a great time running the Bay to Breakers with Justin on Sunday May 20,2007. See his thoughts on it in Bay to @#$%! Breakers, 2007 blog post. The weather was excellent – about 50 degrees. The course was excellent. I had expected one tough big (300′) hill, but with the intervening flats of the crossing streets and our pace it wasn’t bad. Also the next four miles to the end were either flat or downhill hill which was sweet. I love downhills. So we stayed together and finished in 1:24:02. I don’t have the splits on my watch anymore, but the first few were 12:30 because of the massive crowds. The ones at the end were closer to 10:20 to 10:40. Overall our pace was 11:16 per mile. So I would definitely do it again – especially doing it together, which made it twice the fun. Oh, and the nude runners were nothing to look at, but the centipedes and bunches of girls in mini-sailor costumes and devil outfits were much more fun to watch if I say so myself. Thanks to Justin for making this happen. I was only able to do this with the generous gift of a plane ticket.

Hey, there’s a massive hill at mile 2.5. What have Justin and I signed up for? Oh my gawd it’s over 300 feet! Are we ready to climb Mt Hayes? Whew! But from mile 5.5 to the end it’s smooth sailing – it’s pretty much downhill. Sweet. See this map. In any case I’m still looking forward to it.

P.S. I ran Town Lake 10 miles this morning in about 1:36 which is fast for me now, but I found it exceedingly hard. The temperature, the humidity, my inability to breathe, my tired legs, all of this made it a tough run. I ran it all, but had a few short walk/water breaks which were more than I normally do.

Well, well, well, my sweet son, Justin, sent me e-mail over a month ago and suggested that I travel to San Francisco to run the Bay to Breakers 12K. So I looked at it for about 1 minute and said no way. No time, no money and I haven’t run a race since the Cap 10K. So about two days ago he sent me another e-mail about the race. This time it included possible flight times. I responded by asking if he would join me, and he replied yes. Well I though that would be fun. So I checked to see if my frequent flyer would be available on such short notice. Darn, it wasn’t. So a told him it wasn’t going to happen. And did you know what he did… he bought me a ticket. Yup, an airline ticket to come and visit him and to run with him. How very nice. In return I registered us for the race and paid the entry fees. Today at work I told my manager that I’d be taking vacation next week. How sweet is that. A neat break to see my son. Oh and I’ll also be seeing his sweetie, Stephanie too, a double treat. We’ll do this one together – nice and slow and easy especially up the enormous hill. I’m very much looking forward to it.

I just finished the Austin-American-Stateman Capital 10K. I had picked up my bib number on Friday night. When I picked it up I was surprised to get a low bib number (505/blue). Somehow they considered me special and I didn’t deserve it. Maybe it is because I have done this race for the past 12 years. This race got me running in Austin. But I have to thank Nancy B. and Micki G. who convinced me to do the first one even though we walked it together. But I digress. When I arrived this morning I was in the second corral (one down from the elites). The corral was almost empty whereas the next one (orange) was packed, but I saw a few running friends and hung out with them before the race. When the race started I followed Sadie and Megan, but soon realized that they were running too fast so I stopped for a drink of water and I let them go ahead. This helped me because I then don’t keep trying to catch up to them. I’m kind of competitive that way. So I hustled along by myself and took two more water breaks along the way. Just after the 6 mile marker, Chris G. was yelling for me to use my kick for the last little bit. I appreciated that and tried my best down the chute. My official time is 53:42 or 8:46/M. My splits were: Miles 0-3: 26:15; 4: 8:34; 5: 8:37; 6: 8:46. For someone who is just taking a break from running and having no track workouts I was quite statisfied with the results.

It wasn’t pretty, but it’s now in the history books.

The weather was fantastic. It was cool and sunny with little or no wind. It was excellent weather. I ran by myself which is a bit sad, but that’s just the way I am. This year I didn’t have a running buddy. Unofficially my time was 4:28 or about 10:14/M. So although my goal was 4:15 and I didn’t make it. But at least I was out there and trying to do the impossible. Bottom line, I did my best. There wasn’t anything left in the tank when I finished. As is my problem I was stiff as a zombie starting around mile 20+. As a result I got slower and slower. I had to walk for quite a while around miles 24 and 25. Near the end the 4:15 pace group leaders, and lots of friends passed and tried to encourage me to run, but there was nada, nothing left – all I could do was walk. Only after the capital building did I begin again to shuffle along because I knew my family was waiting for me at the finish and I just couldn’t be seen walking then. So I hoofed it down Congress as best I could, but wasn’t pretty. I was stiff, stiff, stiff. What can I say. Last year was so fast at 3:50. Right now I doubt I’ll never get there again. So I’m happy to have completed my 5th marathon and finished it any way I could. Oh and I’m very proud to have the finisher’s shirt and medal which are both cool.However the medal ain’t expensive bling-bling. No gold, silver or platinum or precious stones, but it is precious to me, because of the investment in sweat and time that I spent to get it. I’m proudly wearing them today for everyone to see.

Update: Here is my heart rate. You see my heart rate drop after 4:00 because I was walking.

Update: Here are my splits.

Mile	Split	Total	Heart rate
1	10:10.74	0:10:10.74	132
2	09:10.25	0:19:20.99	142
3	09:02.42	0:28:23.41	138
4	09:28.12	0:37:51.53	140
5	09:09.09	0:47:00.62	146
6	09:00.25	0:56:00.87	144
7	09:20.88	1:05:21	146
8	09:20.45	1:14:42	148
9	09:20.99*	1:24:02	149
10	09:20.99*	1:33:24	149
11	09:28.93	1:42:53	150
12	09:20.85	1:52:13	150
13	09:15.29	2:01:29	148
14	09:00.12	2:10:29	148
15	10:06.07	2:20:35	146
16	09:25.45	2:30:00	147
17	09:42.33	2:39:43	147
18	09:41.09	2:49:24	146
19	09:40.19	2:59:04	145
20	09:41.24	3:08:45	147
21	10:47.52	3:19:33	138
22	10:28.81	3:30:02	142
23	10:09.66	3:40:11	141
24	12:01.58**	3:52:13	131
25	16:19.72**	4:08:33	116
26.2	20:12.96**	4:28:45	110

* missed split
** run/walk

Update: That’s me finishing.
Photo courtesy of Action Sports International

I was very happy with my results today for the 3M half marathon. I pushed it from the get-go so my heart rate was high throughout, but was able to maintain it over the entire race. I don’t know why. It’s a mystery. Although it’s not a PR, it’s the best I’ve done this season of such up and downs. I finished in 1:52:54 (8:37/M pace). If I plug this into the McMillan running calculator, it says I could do a marathon in 3:58:06 (9:06/M pace). Sweet! Anytime I think I can break through the 4 hour barrier it is special day. Even better I got another medal for my “ego” or “show-off” wall in the study.

These are my half marathon medals. The right cluster is Motive. The left cluster is 3M. The new one is on the bottom and second from the left.Afterwards I changed in the porta-pottie into warm dry street clothes, briefly went to the Rogue breakfast, and ate with Kelly and Bob, but left immediately afterwards and caught the bus back to the starting line and my car.

Here are my splits:

Mile	Split	Total	Heart Rate
1	08:47.67*	0:08:47.67*	147*
2	08:47.67*	0:17:35.34*	147*
3	08:47.67*	0:23:32.35	147*
4	08:37.02	0:35:00.37	148
5	08:38.50*	0:43:38.87*	141
6	08:38.51*	0:52:17.88	150
7	08:37.82	1:00.55	153
8	08:34.16	1:09:29	153
9	08:39.74	1:18:09	152
10	08:54.40	1:27:04	154
11	08:22.73	1:35:26	152
12	08:23.39	1:43:50	153
13	08:20.58	1:52:10	155
13.1	00:47.27	1:52:57	160

* missed split, divided evenly

Note: My heart rate monitor recorder again did not work and capture the data. So there is no graph. Ugh.

I went to bed at 10:45, but probably got to sleep at midnight. Just couldn’t turn my brain off. Got up at 5 AM. Got shaved, dressed and ate breakfast. Did all my normal things in preparation for a race day especially a long one. Left the house at 5:30 AM and drove to San Marcos, TX. It’s about a 50 minute drive. Arrived at 6:20 AM and parked. I went to the porta-potti. Then I rested in the car with the heater on. The outside temperature was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit. I changed my clothes a bit to adjust to the location, and temperature – took things off. Still had on two long sleeve shirts, shorts, gloves (two layers), and a hat along with ear covering. I found the 4:15 pace group lead by Dan-O and Kate just a few minutes before the start. This pace is 9:44/M. The race was through a series of country roads and rolling hills. Nothing much to look at – pastures, a few homes, and a large power plant – nothing exciting and after a while I’m so focused on ending the pain of the race I see nothing around me. Once the race started the crush of people (over 1000 of us) caused me to be about 50 feet behind my pace group. I sped up to catch them. At about mile 3 I was ahead of the pace group and I had to pee behind a telephone shed. I had felt the need for a while, but it was too late at the start to go. Now the pace group was ahead of me. Slowly over the next few miles I caught and passed them. I took a Clif-Shot every 5 miles and drank at every water stop. Around mile 13-15 I was getting tighter and stiffer. The last few miles were very tough. Especially when the last two miles ran into a headwind. Around then the two pacers passed me, but none of the original crowd was with them. The pacers were running alone (no Tony, or no Melodye, etc.). Nevertheless, I ran the whole thing (except for water stops) and finished in 3:15:10 or 9:49/M pace with a position of 512 out of 1120 and 16 out of 29 in my 55-59 age group. I was also disappointed that they didn’t hand out medals instead they gave out a coffee mug which I refused. Afterwards my legs were cramping badly and I could barely walk. I was so sore and stiff. So instead of staying and talking to friends I hopped in my car and drove home. During the drive I was yelling each time my legs cramped and throbbed. Thanks for speed control. By the time I was home at least the throbbing had subsided. On the way I rubbed my face and could feel and taste granules of salt. I might need to consider taking salts during my runs. This run was very tough for me. Oh, but I did PR (after the debacle of last year’s 20 miler where I ran faster, but hit the wall and walked the last 4 miles).

Here are my splits:

Mile	Split	Total	Heart Rate
1	09:26.80	0:09:26.80	132
2	09:31.49	0:18:58.29	142
3	11:00.00*	0:29.58.29	142
4	08:54.73	0:38:53.02	143
5	09:44.77	0:48:37.79	141
6	09:24.87	0:58:02.66	148
7	09:34.09	1:07:36	147
8	09:33.41	1:17:10	147
9	09:14.74	1:26:24	148
10	08:58.85	1:35:23	149
11	09:48.65	1:45:12	148
12	09:10.97	1:54:23	148
13	09:22.86	2:03:46	148
14	09:08.30	2:12:54	151
15	09:21.50	2:22:16	150
16	10:33.86**	2:32:49**	143
17	10:33.86**	2:43:23	143
18	09:53.50	2:53:17	143
19	11:26.48	3:04.43	141
20	10:24.30	3:15:08	146

* pee break
** missed split, divided in half