ECW Pump 2C Versus the Koala/Luke's Houston Half Marathon

ECW Pump 2C being off loaded in the shop


We were overhauling a pump all this week at the power plant. I went to the power plant at 1PM on Saturday hoping to perform the final pump test after the overhaul and make it home by dinner. It didn't quite work out that way. We had to change some instruments and a test procedure and didn't get the final pump test started until after midnight. The test went pretty well and I was hoping to get my evaluation done and make it home in time to drive up to Houston for the half marathon. If I left the plant at 4AM, I could get home by 5AM and get to Houston a little after 6AM with enough time to warmup before the 7AM race start.
But the technician who took the vibration data, wrote out the data on a local copy of the procedure instead of the control room copy. The control room operators couldn't find any of the vibration data to send me. I was able to work around that delay by getting the vibration data from the performance tech.'s database, but I still needed to get my evaluation reviewed and approved (in the middle of the night). I saw 4AM pass and calculated that if I could leave by 4:30, I could still make it to the race in time.

4:30 passed and I resolved my self to not running. My biggest worry became getting my evaluation and the test procedure signed off before I reached 16 hours on site. If I worked more than 16 hours, I would be faced with more paperwork and phone calls to get approval for me to exceed the worktime rules (no more than 16 hours worked in a day). At 4:57, the technical review was finally finished. I made it to the control room in record time and signed off the test procedure at 0509, exactly 15 hours and 59 minutes after I arrived at the plant.

A smart person would get home and go to sleep. But on the way home, I decided I'd drive up to Houston and run the half marathon anyway. I reached the 610 loop at 7AM and as I drove over Allen Parkway I could see the last runners passing under I-45. I parked at a spot I knew would be open and ran over half a mile under 7mpm to the race area. The chip person was still there and kindly (and quickly) gave me my chip. I made a quick stop at the port-a-potties and ran to the starting line and started my watch. The starting line timing mat was already turned off, so I knew I was just running on my own time. I started about 20 minutes after the gun.

With all of the adrenaline of getting to the race and trying to get to the turnoff from Allen Parkway before it was blocked, I ran the first mile in 5:55. I put on the brakes a little and then in the second mile started encountering the walkers at the back of the pack. My second mile was 6:33. The pack started getting very thick and it became pretty difficult to pass people going down Dallas back towards downtown. I decided to quit worrying about my mile splits and just run by feel. I had to do a lot of swerving and even had to step up on the curb a few times when people in front of me made unexpected moves. That probably wasn't too smart to stress my poor old legs that way.

I was lapped by the winner near the end of my second loop. After the lead police car passed, a couple people I was passing started cheering me and congratulating me on "my win" Then after the winner passed me, people started cheering me saying I had second place. I was embarassed, but it really was pretty funny to think of this big old bald guy in the lead pack.

I ended up with a 1:41:21, good enough for 284th overall. But hey, I passed over 1900 people! I had 1:23:58 on my watch. It's not what I was hoping to run, but I'm glad I stayed awake and finished the race.

Houston Marathon Training Week 7 of 18

75½ miles for the week

M – 6¾ miles recovery run, average pace 8:19 mpm, 81°F at 4AM [S-B/Dow/B-S]
M PM - missed
Tu – 9½ miles with LT for 4 miles, average pace 6:49 mpm, LT miles at average 6:29 pace, 52°F at 4AM [2xDow]
W AM - 7¾ miles general aerobic, average pace 7:21 mpm, 52°F at 4AM [S-B/Dow/2xB-S]
W PM – 9 miles general aerobic, average pace 6:54 mpm, ran each mile progressively faster, from 7:2X to 6:2X, 70°F at 7PM with wonderfully dry air [B’Wood track]
Th – 6¾ miles recovery run, average pace 8:28 mpm, 53°F at 4AM, [S-B/Dow/B-S]
F - 11 miles easy medium long run, average pace 7:54 mpm, 71°F starting at 11:30AM, sunny [SeaC/NTrail-3x2M/SeaC] A beautiful day, full sun and a bright blue sky and dewpoint in the low 40s.
Sa – 6 miles recovery run, average pace 8:20 mpm, 70°F at 10:30AM, cut run short to go to t he power plant (after the third phone call/page) [SeaC/Ntrail-/SeaC]
Su – 18¾ miles, with a half marathon race at an average pace of 6:24 mpm, Houston Hobby Airport had 56°F to 60°F from 7AM to 9AM [Allen Parkway]


A very strong cold front blew in Monday morning. In less than half an hour, the temperature went from the 80s to the 50s! The weather was wonderful this week!

Migrating Monarchs at the Nuke Plant

I spent a few minutes in the nuke plant parking lot yesterday afternoon just marveling at the thousands of Monarch Butterflies. This little tree is in front of our Nuclear Support Center building.





What a difference a week makes! After having to cut two runs short last week because of heat exhaustion, this week has been just beautiful. The low this morning got all the way down to 49.8 degrees. The morning skies have been filled with stars and a full moon and the days are in the 70s with a cloudless blue sky. Nearly Nirvana! Yesterday's track run was 9 miles progressively faster. The splits were:
7:28, 7:06, 7:00, 6:56, 6:52, 6:47, 6:46, 6:42, and 6:27
I felt great.

The half marathon is really up in the air now. I didn't get my application in in time for the packet mailback, so I'm going to have to find some way to get to Houston on Friday or Saturday to pick up my race packet. But we're overhauling a large pump at the powerplant and I'll probably have to work all day Friday and Saturday. AND the pump test is now scheduled for Sunday morning! AAAARGH! Wouldn't you know Sunday's low is predicted to be in the 50s.

Week 6 of 18

82¼ miles for the week
A very nice weekend after a wicked hot Wednesday. I had to cheat a little, but I was able to run a pretty strong 20+ miler on Sunday.

M – 6¼ miles recovery run, average pace 8:49 mpm, 83°F at 4AM [Dow/B-S/Ol]
M PM - missed
Tu – 10½ miles general aerobic, average pace 7:07 mpm, 74°F at 4AM [2xDow/B-S]
W AM - 7¾ miles general aerobic, average pace 7:29 mpm, 83°F at 4AM with the dewpoint in the high 70s, I had to cut this run short due to heat exhaustion and dehydration [S-B/Dow/2xB-S]
W PM – 7 miles general aerobic, crashed after five miles, average pace 7:26 mpm, 83°F at 7PM still very humid, this run was cut short due to heat exhaustion and dehydration too [B’Wood track]
Th – 7¼ miles recovery run, average pace 8:39 mpm, 83°F at 4AM, [S-B/Dow/B-S/Ol]
F - 13 miles medium long run, average pace 7:22 mpm, 84°F starting at 12:30PM, sunny [SeaC/NTrail-3x2M/SeaC] A beautiful day, full sun and a bright blue sky and dewpoint in the 40s. Amazing how much cooler 84°F in full sun can feel compared against 83°F in the dark when the dewpoint is 30°F lower!
Sa – 9 miles recovery run, average pace 8:36 mpm, 85°F at 1PM, another nice sunny day [SeaC/Ntrail-2M/SeaC]
Su – 21½ miles, average pace at 7:00 mpm, slowest 3-mile loop was 22:17 and fastest was 20:20. Houston Hobby Airport had 68°F to 80°F from 7AM to 9AM [7xMemPark Loop+] When I woke this morning it was 80°F outside (at 6AM). I checked the NWS and saw it was still in the 60s up in Houston. After Wednesday’s problems with the heat, I knew a long run in the 80s would be a death march, so I drove up to Houston’s Memorial Park. On my second loop, the Tornados came smoking by, so I turned around and ran in with them (hence the extra ½ mile). I think I’d be much faster if I ran up there more often.


A very strong cold front blew in this morning. In less than half an hour, the temperature went from the 80s to the 50s! I can’t wait for tomorrow morning’s tempo run.

The Strider’s half-marathon is this week, so I’m altering the schedule to make this a lower mileage week. We’re working a pump at the power plant, so I’m not sure whether I can run Sunday morning; after the $40 entry fee, I sure hope so.

WTF? Wednesday

Where're The Fifties?
You thought WTF stood for anything else?
The TCEQ had 82°F during my morning run from 4AM to 5AM. Walking out the door at 0355 this morning was like going into a sauna. Before the second half of October we should have had lots of mornings in the 60s and even a few in the 50s or, dare I say, 40s. Not this year.

My shoes went soggy and squishy just after six miles this morning and I cut a planned 8¼ mile run down to 7¾. I dragged myself as quickly as I could back into the air conditioning. I drank six pounds of water this morning and I still weighed over five pounds lighter than Monday morning. It was tough.

The 8-16 day forecast model shows excellent weather for the half marathon on Sunday the 28th: Low near 50 with a high near 60 and a north wind less than 10 mph
That would be so nice! Too bad it's just the long range forecast.

Here's a climate discussion from the National Weather Service:
IF YOU THINK IT`S BEEN UNSEASONABLY WARM...YOU`D BE CORRECT. IAH TIED A RECORD HIGH TODAY BUT THE REAL STORY IS THE PROLONGED UNSEASONABLY WARM TEMPS. IAH HAS YET TO RECORD ONE DAY IN OCTOBER WITH AN AVG DAILY TEMPERATURE BELOW NORMAL. IAH HAS AN AVG TEMP OF 78.5 DEGREES FOR OCT (+5.9). IT HAS BEEN WARM FOR A WHILE - IAH HAS NOT HAD AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE BELOW NORMAL SINCE SEPT 2 2007. LOOKING BACK...SEP HAD ONE DAY WITH A BELOW NORMAL TEMP...AUG ALSO HAD ONE DAY WITH A BELOW NORMAL TEMP (8/16 - TS ERIN)...JULY HAD 18 DAYS WITH THE AVG TEMP BELOW NORMAL AND JUNE HAD 5 DAYS BELOW NORMAL. IF THE AVG DAILY TEMPERATURE AVERAGES 74.1 DEGREES OVER THE LAST 14 DAYS OF THE MONTH...THIS WILL BE THE WARMEST OCTOBER ON RECORD (76.5 DEGREES IN 1947). FWIW...IAH IS ONLY 4.92 INCHES FROM TIEING THE 10TH WETTEST YEAR IN RECORDED HISTORY (62.51 INCHES - 1907).

Training Week 5 and a 10-Mile Race

74¾ miles for the week

M – 6¼ miles recovery run, average pace 8:52 mpm, 81°F at 4AM [Dow/B-S/Ol]
M PM - missed
Tu – 9.5 miles with 4 at LT, average pace 7:09 mpm, wanted to run 6:20s for the 4 miles at LT, but instead ran an average 6:35, 78°F at 4AM [2xDow]
W AM - 8¼ miles general aerobic, average pace 7:24 mpm, 76°F at 4AM [S-B/Dow/2xB-S/Ol]
W PM – 9 miles general aerobic, ran each mile a few seconds faster from 7:10 to 6:48 for the first 8 and the ninth mile in 6:18 just to prove to myself I can run a mile at LT pace, average pace 6:54 mpm, 78°F at 7PM dusk to stars [B’Wood track]
Th – 6¾ miles recovery run, average pace 8:19 mpm,
69°F at 4AM FIRST sub-70 run in 167 days, since April 27th [Dow/2xB-S]
F - 11 miles medium long run fairly easy, average pace 7:49 mpm, 82°F starting at 9:30AM, sunny [SeaC/NTrail-2x2M/SeaC] The schedule had 13 miles, but I cut this run to 11 to be ready for Sunday’s race.
Sa – 7 miles recovery run very easy, average pace 8:57 mpm, 83°F at 12:30, nice sunny day [SeaC/Ntrail/SeaC]
Su – 17 miles with a 10-mile race, race at 6:25 mpm, 6 miles after the race at 7:42 mpm, Houston Hobby Airport had 70°F to 71°F for the race with the dewpoint in the low 60s, starting at 7AM (Ellington Field weather station was OOC that morning but at 07 Saturday morning, Ellington ran 2 degrees higher than Hobby) [UofH Clear Lake] The Pfitz schedule has the first 20-mile long run instead of a race.

Sunday’s 10-miler was my first race since July. My 10-mile PR is pretty soft, so I was disappointed I didn’t reach it. I can’t really complain about the temperature. Even though the morning temperature was about five degrees warmer than average, it was still one of the three coolest runs I’ve done since April. I was shooting for 6:15 miles; here’s what I did:

6:08, 6:23, 6:20, 6:26, 6:25
6:27, 6:30, 6:33, 6:31, 6:26

Yep. Not a single mile near 6:15. Chip time was 1:04:08. I’m not happy about the 6:30s in the second half of the race. I don’t have any excuses for slowing. There was plenty motivation to run harder. I was in sight of a couple Tornado teammates, SimC and MiguelL, throughout the race and during mile 7 I was passed by a couple rivals from another club. But I let them just drift on ahead of me. After I finished, I felt pretty fresh within a minute or two. I guess I just wasn’t ready for a “race-effort”.

The race was great. The mile markers all seemed accurate, all of the water stations were well staffed, and I enjoyed the course with views of Clear Lake and NASA's Johnson Space Center. There was more than enough post-race food, even after my extra 6-miles. I had an enjoyable time seeing all of the Houston runners.

This week the training schedule has a cutback to 72 miles. But the Strider’s half-marathon is next week, so I’m altering the schedule to make this a high mileage week (in the 80s?) and then next week will be near 70 miles again. The half-marathon used to be a 20K. My 20K PR is a 6:16.3 pace. If we have favourable weather (anything near average) I’d like to run near 6:15 pace or better.

Not a Good Sign for Sunday's 10-Miler

Today was my second intense workout for Houston Marathon training:
10 miles with 4 miles at Lactate Threshold pace (same workout two weeks ago)


I started a little late again, so I cut the run down to two times on the 4¾ mile Dow course with four miles at LT pace on the return Dow- two miles and the second two Dow- miles going out.
I hit the first LT mile at about 6:20, but I was hot and tired and couldn't hold onto pace. The first two LT miles were at 12:57 and the 3rd/4th were at 13:21.
I was hoping to run Sunday's 10-miler in the low 60s, but that's not likely when I can't run four miles much faster than 6:35 pace. It wasn't too bad this morning, 78°F average temperature from 4AM to 5AM with the dewpoint in the mid 70s. Maybe it'll be much cooler Sunday. That's my only hope.

Houston Marathon Training: Week 4 of 18

It's hard to believe I've finished 4 weeks of training already.

79¾ miles for the week

M – 5¾ miles recovery run, average pace 8:26 mpm, 82°F at 4AM [Dow/B-S]
M PM - missed (ran on Thursday evening)
Tu – 10 miles general aerobic, average pace 7:02 mpm, 74°F at 4AM [2xDow/Ol]
W AM - 7¼ miles general aerobic, average pace 7:34 mpm, 70.3°F at 4AM [S-B/Dow/B-S/Ol]
W PM – 8 miles general aerobic, average pace 6:53 mpm, 80°F at 7PM sunset to moonrise [B’Wood track]
Th AM – 4¾ miles recovery run, average pace 8:04 mpm, 72°F at 4AM [Dow]
Th PM – 6 miles recovery run, average pace 8:18 mpm, 82°F at 7PM, way too many mosquitoes in the woods [SeaC/Ntrail-/SeaC]
F - 12 miles medium long run, average pace 7:25 mpm, 81°F starting at 10AM, sunny [SeaC/NTrail-2M1M-2M/SeaC]
Sa – 7 miles recovery run, average pace 8:44 mpm, 86°F at noon, mostly cloudy [SeaC/Ntrail/SeaC]
Su – 19 miles long run, 7:52 mpm, heavy rain the first 9 miles and then sunny and very humid the next 10 miles, 79°F to 84°F starting after 10AM [Oak-OCD-S.Oak-RR-Oak//SeaC/Ntrail-2M1M/SeaC]


I stayed pretty close to the Pfitz 18/70+ schedule again this week. This week will require some re-arranging for Sunday's 10-miler. I haven't run a race since July, so I'm really looking forward to this one. It would be really nice if that cold front would actually come through this weekend.

Chicago Heat

It was a pretty tough day up North, with Chicago running out of cups, fluids and ambulances and eventually closing the course.

But there was an incredible sprint to the finish by the winner?s?
Men's Finish Video



And another incredible finish:
Women's Finish Video
What an amazing sprint by Berhane Adere to catch Romanian newcomer Adriana Pirtea at the finish line!

60s!!!!!!!!!!!

Days since last run less than 70°F: 158 (April 27th)
The countdown is OVER! We had drier air come in Monday and with a nice clear sky and no wind, it got to 69.0°F from 5AM to 6AM! No coldfront, but thank goodness for radiational cooling The TCEQ had 70.3°F during my morning run from 4AM to 5AM, but that's close enough to less than 70°F for me. The countdown is OVER. Farther inland, at Angleton, the temperature got all the way down to 61°F, but up the coast on Galveston Island it only got down to 75°F.

Just 7¼ miles this morning at a little over 7:30 pace. I have to finish today's run with another 8 miles this evening. Yesterday was a decent 10-miler with temperatures in the low 70s; finishing up a few seconds over 70 minutes felt easy. It's so nice to walk out the door in the morning and have it be colder outside than inside.

Houston Marathon Training: Week 3 of 18

Days since last run less than 70°F: 157 (April 27th)
OK I'm getting really tired of this countdown. We had more humid air this week with the dewpoints going back to the upper 70s°F. It looks as though this might be the latest cold front arrival for years.

70½ miles for the week

M – 6¼ miles recovery run, average pace 8:27 mpm, 79°F at 4AM [Dow/B-S/Ol]
Tu – 9¼ miles with 4 miles at LT, average pace 6:59 mpm, 4 LT miles at 26:52 (6:43 average -couldn’t hold LT pace) 81°F at 4AM overcast with rain at end [Dow/Dow-/Ol]
W AM - 7¼ miles general aerobic, average pace 7:27 mpm, 79°F at 4AM [S-B/Dow/B-S/Ol]
W PM – 8 miles general aerobic, average pace 6:55 mpm, 83°F at 7PM sunset to moonrise [B’Wood track]
Th – 5¾ miles recovery run, average pace 8:27 mpm, 79°F at 4AM [Dow/B-S]
F - 12 miles medium long run, average pace 7:52 mpm, 88°F at noon, brokedown in the heat [SeaC/NTrail-2M-2M1M/SeaC]
Sa – 6 miles recovery run, average pace 8:42 mpm, 87°F at noon, overcast occasional sprinkles [SeaC/Ntrial-/SeaC]
Su – 16 miles medium long run, 7:28 mpm pretty steady pace the whole way, mostly cloudy with occasional light rain to occasional sun, 81°F to 83°F starting at 9AM with the dewpoint in the upper 70s°F and foggy glasses [SeaC/NTrail-2M/SeaC//SeaC/NTrail/SeaC]


I stayed pretty close to the Pfitz 18/70+ schedule again this week. Tuesday's LT run was a big disappointment. I had to split Wednesdays 14 mile Medium Long Run into a morning run and an evening run, but the pace was OK. Friday's run was another crash in the heat. What's worse, my right foot started hurting during the run. I think when the heat hits me, I lose form and start aggravating old problems. Sunday's run was much better with a slower start and and a stronger finish.

Despite the warm weather, this September was my highest mileage September ever, with 279 miles.



How about that Berlin Marathon? I can't imagine running over 26 miles at 4:44.8 pace!