Work Versus Week 2

Two Runs this Week Below 70°F!

52 miles for the week (September 21st to 27th)

M - 5¾ miles recovery run at 8:46 pace, 82°F at 4AM
Tu - 7¾ miles general aerobic at 7:31 pace, very warm and humid 83°F at 4AM
W AM - 6¾ miles general aerobic at 7:19 pace, 69°F at 4AM
W PM - 7 miles slowing picking up the pace on the track, average pace 7:01, 72°F at 7PM
Th - 5¾ miles recovery run at 8:31 pace, 68°F at 4AM
F - 12 miles general aerobic at 7:47 pace, 76°F from 10:30AM
Sa - 7 miles recovery at 8:47 pace, 79°F at 11AM
Su - received a 3AM call-in to work at the power plant, humid and foggy morning, low 76°F

After oppressive morning runs in the 80s Monday and Tuesday, the first 60s of the Fall came through to the coast. 69°F feels so much better than 83°F! But the warm and humid air was back by the weekend. Sunday's planned 18 miles would have been a struggle if I had a chance to run it.

Here is proof there is some athletic talent in my family. My nephew Cody is one of the incoming freshmen on the UCLA baseball team. He's third from the left in the second row.

Week 1 Is in the Book

123 days since last run below 70°F

66 miles for the week (September 14th to 20th)

M AM - 4¾ miles recovery run at 8:32 pace, 75°F at 4AM
M PM - 1¾ miles recovery run at 8:27 pace, 77°F at 9PM
Tu - 8 miles general aerobic at 7:12 pace, 72°F at 4AM
W AM - 5¾ miles general aerobic at 7:41 pace, 74°F at 4AM
W PM - 6¼ miles steady on the track, average pace 7:12, 85°F at 7PM
Th - 4¾ miles recovery run at 8:31 pace, 75°F at 4AM
F - 10 miles general aerobic at 7:32 pace, 77°F from 10AM
Sa - 7¾ miles recovery at 8:27 pace, 76°F at 9AM
Su - 17 miles LSD with emphasis on the ‘S’, average 8:16 pace, sunny but humid 84 to 86°F from before 10AM

Nothing fast this week, but at least I was able to complete all of the runs.

18 Weeks to GO!

Ready or not, the 18-week Houston Marathon training has begun. I haven't had a convincing recovery from hurting my right ankle back on Wednesday evening at the beginning of the month. I was desperate so I tried running in compression socks to help ease the stress on my Achilles tendon. I always thought Paula Radcliffe was silly in her compression socks and I'm not sure they really help at all. But at this point I'm willing to take advantage of anything I can, even if it is just a placebo effect. I ran a decent 8+ miler Friday, my first non-recovery pace run since that Wednesday the 2nd. So far the AT is OK. I certainly have max'ed out on the geek quotient though:

There's still plenty of time before the marathon. I've been considering taking some time off and starting fresh. But I just sent in my entry for the Space City 10-Miler. With only four weeks to go, that race is my biggest concern now.



The alligators at work have been loving this recent rain. Here's a picture of a 'gator party along the sidewalk between our office building and the power plant:

Not Again

2009 has been a frustrating year. In March, just as I was finally recovered from the marathon and ran a decent 8K race, my left knee started bothering me. I took a few weeks off, and struggled through the Summer to slowly build back up. Wednesday evening I ran five miles on the track and was feeling good. The first mile was a 6:53 and I slowly sped up to a 6:32 fourth mile. I was still feeling good and sped up to 6:00 pace for the last mile. But on the first turn of the third lap I felt a momentary pain in my right ankle. The pain came back a few more times on each curve. I debated immediately stopping, but slowed a little and finished the fifth mile in 6:22. After walking about thirty yards, my ankle tightened up and walking remained difficult every step. I'm suspecting I did something to my Achilles tendon. There's no swelling but it it still hurt some Thursday morning. I had to do a pressure test walkdown at the power plant, but thankfully my ankle quit hurting the more I walked. I was considering running Friday, but the ankle was still a little tender walking.
I can't believe this year. Whenever I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it ends up being a train.



I heard about this video clip from Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me this morning:

Speed Walker vs. Samurai

"And he doesn't run very fast"
I love it.

The Dog Days of Summer Are Over

It's been a difficult Summer, but it's finally cooling down here. It was 73°F this morning with a little ground fog and it felt wonderful. This was the coolest running conditions I've seen for over three months, or 104 days to be exact. The moon was out and Orion and Sirius were both visible in the East. I've used the constellation Orion as a signal that it's time to get serious about training for the Houston Marathon. Orion will be out each morning as the training gets intense, and by January when it's time to start tapering, Orion will be walking on the edge of the western horizon.

Summer '09 really was a bad one. Here are the data for Clute (June, July, and August):

2009
Average Daily Low Temperature 81.0°F
Median Daily Low Temperature 82.1°F
Average Daily High Temperature 91.0°F
Median Daily High Temperature 91.2°F

2008
Average Daily Low Temperature 79.8°F
Median Daily Low Temperature 79.0°F
Average Daily High Temperature 89.9°F
Median Daily High Temperature 90.0°F

2007
Average Daily Low Temperature 81.3°F
Median Daily Low Temperature 81.7°F
Average Daily High Temperature 90.4°F
Median Daily High Temperature 90.6°F

2006
Average Daily Low Temperature 77.4°F
Median Daily Low Temperature 77.0°F
Average Daily High Temperature 87.5°F
Median Daily High Temperature 88.0°F