Watt's Running

I’m trying to get prepared for my first trail race on April 18th, so I ran Town Lake Trail (TLT) yesterday morning on my new trail shoes that I had gotten in the mail on Friday. I tried to run on all the bumpy rocky surfaces to try them out. I noticed that I didn’t feel the rocks through the shoes as much as normal running shoes. This is a good thing. Either I felt good or the trail shoes are extra springy, but the last two miles I did in 8:07 and then 8:08 – zoom! I finished the 10 miles in 1:29:50. It’s been a while since I broke 1:30 doing the TLT. Near the end I noticed that I might be able to do it so I pushed hard at the end. It almost felt like a real race.

Yesterday I ran the last miles of the Austin Marathon. It was 22.5 miles and took 3:37 or 9:39/M. I felt strong for most of it. I again used chocolate-chip cookies as my fuel (as opposed to Clif Shots) and they seemed to work. I was able to eat them with delight and without gagging. I would run miles with the sweetness swirling in my mouth. Nice! The end was tough because I had to unexpectedly run zig-zag across the UT campus, across Dean Keeton, down Guadalupe, across MLK, down San Jacinto, across 11th, down Congress, and across 4th. Ugh! During those last miles I could only put one foot in front of the other. See the race route. Now why am I doing this long run even though I’m not running the marathon? Well it’s because it’s part of the running class that I’m taking. I do what I’m told. Also it makes me stronger (I think). So I do it. I’m looking forward to the 3M half next week and the Austin half in mid-February.

I ran the first and last miles of the Austin Marathon today. Our training group, that is, the beginners, were supposed to run 16 miles, but I decided I needed to up it to 18 miles, that is, what the intermediates were supposed to run. So now you should be saying. Why are you running 18 miles when you’re not planning on running the marathon? That’s an interesting question and one I really can’t answer. All I can say is that I had planned to do all the training, but not run the marathon so I’m still doing that. Note a few days ago I signed up for the last three races of the year – the RunTex Twenty, the 3M Half Marathon, and the Austin HALF Marathon (yes, only the half – I’m retired from the running the marathon). Since I was doing 20 miles next weekend I decided that I should do 18 miles to prepare for the race next weekend. Whatever that means. Yet I’m having misgivings now about signing up for the RunTex Twenty. I don’t know what got into me. That’s 20, two-zero, miles. But what is done is done. Now I have to follow through. Back to the run today… During an early part of today’s run I caught up and passed Sadie saying hello on the way by. Then near the end she caught up to me at a water stop and asked how old I was. I told her 59 and she said that it was remarkable (or something like that). Well a few minutes later and about a half mile down the road I was beat, started to walk and Sadie yelled at me and spurred me on to start running again. Thank you Sadie I needed that. I finished in 2:47 for 18.3 miles or about 9:08/mile.

I ran 18 miles from Runtex at Gateway in far north Austin to Rogue in downtown east Austin. The course was simplified (read this as less hills, because Ruth felt sorry for us after last week’s super hilly course). For some unknown reason I felt strong running and didn’t get stiff. Maybe it was the cookies I ate. You see the night before I found out I had only one Clif Shot for the entire run. So I filled a baggie with four chocolate chips and a few brownie cookies. Each water stop after about 5 miles I had some – messy but yummy. I never minded the flavor in my mouth unlike Clif Shots or other gels. I’m now wondering if those cookies were magic since today’s run was so good. Maybe I’ve not been fueling myself well. I ran with Keith, Richard and Terry. After the first water stop Keith went on ahead and was gone. I never saw him again. At that stop I waited for Richard and Terry who were behind me, but I didn’t realize that they didn’t stop and continued on. So for the next leg until the next water stop I was alone and wondering how I missed them. I kept up my pace and chased a crowd of people about a tenth of a mile ahead of me. I caught them at the second water stop and found Richard and Terry with them so ran with them until Lake Austin Blvd around mile 11 when I slowly went out in front. They caught me at the Mopac bridge and then on the trail I went out ahead again. Next Richard caught me at the Town Lake trail mile 0, but I kept pulling ahead. Somehow I just felt comfortable running at my own faster pace today. I wasn’t as stiff today. What’s up with that? Up Waller to Rogue, which typically is a death march, was not so bad either. I finished in 2:51:27 or 9:28/mile. Not bad if I say so myself. And Richard arrived about a minute after that, and Terry a few minutes later. I drove Mike, in Geezer’s group, north back to Runtex, and headed home. Good run. Here is a link to the route.

We started at about 7 AM on our 16 mile Mt. Bonnell long run. The weather was cool (about 50 degrees). I thought I had over dressed, but at the end I was glad I did – It kept me warm. I headed out with a bunch of people that included Terry, Richard, Nadia, and Terry’s friend Keith. However, as we ran the trail I again went out ahead, and was by myself for most of it. I don’t think I’m following my own comments from my last long run. I enjoy running with others, and what do I do – I go off by myself. I got to the top of Mt. Bonnell and Terry and Richard were about a minute behind me. I challenged them to catch me if they can. Well they could and they caught up with me at Mopac with about 5 miles to go. However, I again kept up my intense pace and again ran on ahead of them. I need to stay with the group. When we got to I-35 Keith was right behind me. I had heard his footsteps, but didn’t know who it was. Terry and Richard were farther behind. I was toast and Keith went on ahead, and I labored the last mile on very stiff legs to complete in 2:37:42. Keith has a Garmin and said it was 17.25 miles [not 16!]. This meant I ran at a 9:08 pace which included all my stops and the HILLS. Did I mention the hills!

The LAB long run is a loop course that is 3.5 miles around. We were told to do 4 loops. The first as warm up, the second and third at Marathon Goal Pace (MGP), and the last as cool down. My problem is that I don’t really have an MGP. So I lined up with Terry and Richard and many others with the 4:00 hour finish time which is 9:10/mile MGP. And we were off. The group seemed to be going out too fast for a warm up. They were doing 8:55/mile for the first two miles. Mile three was 8:33 – sheesh. However, I was keeping up and my breathing seemed under control. The fourth mile was 8:30 and I was right up with group but when we stopped for water after the first loop I left ahead of them and continued on by myself. [Note to self: Stay with the group. It's more fun that way] Mile 5 – 8:27, Mile 6 – 8:37, Mile 7 – 8:39, Mile 8 – 8:24, Mile 9 – 8:19, Mile 10 – 8:33. After the two loops of MGP [which was rather fast but I just couldn't seem to slow myself down] I started to slow down for the cool down loop. Mile 11 – 9:05. I was finally on MGP, but all of a sudden Terry and Richard caught up to me. Naturally I couldn’t let them go ahead [probably has to do with testosterone and my competitive streak] so I sped up and ran with them – BUT THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A COOL DOWN LOOP – HA! Mile 12 – 8:56, Mile 13 – 8:44, Mile 14 – 7:46. We sprinted to the finish and my watch was 2:00:29 or 8:36/mile. Not bad if I say so myself, but this really wasn’t MGP – sigh. Afterwards my coach, Peri, said that I looked thinner which also made me feel good. Again the weight loss has helped with my running. Gotta keep it up.

I got up real early at 5 AM and drove 45-minutes to Matthew’s to run with him today. He plotted out a 7 mile route starting out at his work. The weather was great – clear, sunny, and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I brought my old Timex GPS with me to get pace and distance. The sun had just risen as we started out so no need for lights or blinkies. We ran a course that went into the countryside and included sights of horses, cattle, goats, and barking dogs. For the most part the course was flat. We ran 7.4 miles in 75 minutes while chatting to help pass the time. [Although I was supposed to run 10 miles this week this distance was just fine] Our pace was about 10 minutes per mile. Here is the data recorder of our pace.

Select to see larger imageAfter arriving back to his house and changing, Beth, Matthew and I headed off for an 8:30 AM soccer game with his Under-4 team that he is helping to coach with a friend from work. Although their team lost, the children had fun. This was the last game of the season so afterwards one of the parents invited everyone back to their home for breakfast. Good food, good people, and good talk made for a good time. I especially enjoyed watching the children since it’s been years since my little ones were their size. I headed back home and arrived around noon. A very nice morning if I say so myself.

Today I ran with Terry and Vinkat. We headed from Rogue Equipment north and up the last 6 miles of the Austin Marathon, then we turned around and ran south and down – straight out and back route. We were running 9:00/mile and we completed it in 1:47:22 or 8:55/mile. Sweet. Although at the end I was pushing real hard to finish ahead of everyone else, most of the time I felt good. I was actually running and talking. Again I feel that the weight loss has been a critical component of my physical and mental health. Who would have known it. There is something about the purity of running that got to me today. Just me, my legs and the road – nothing but that. The smooth flow of movement as we headed down Congress as a pack stays with me afterwards now.

No Celeste today – sigh. She’s busy with her family on Saturday mornings. Before we started the quiet man from India asked if he could run with me and I said sure. His name is Vinkat. However once we started he ran on ahead and left me in the dust which was OK with me. So Terry was there, and we ran together. We also kinda ran with Kent and Aaron – by kinda I mean that at times we were together and other times we would separate. I’m concerned that by running with Terry only and then me not doing the marathon that he’ll not have a running buddy for it. This worries me. Running buddies are very very important to me, and I don’t want to let one down. I think that Terry and I should stick with another group of runners so he has some connection to some other people who will be doing the marathon. I need to talk to him about that in the near future. In any case the long run was long and had lots of rolling ups and downs. I choose not to use any fuel so by the end I was quite depleted. Although I forgot to start my timer I estimated that we completed 12.7 miles in 2:02 or about 9:36/mile which is decent. Afterwards Vinkat came and apologized, but I said that was quite OK and there was no need to apologize. My weight loss is helping me run more comfortably. I’m now down about 12 pounds to 148 which is good. I’ve got to start thinking about core strengthening – need to contact Barb about a 12 week program to see how much it would cost and possibly to try it out on Wednesday and/or Sundays.

Before we took off I met one or two people from my running class. We all commiserated that the “Cruz” kicked our butt. It seems that we were all quite sore afterwards. Ruth even mentioned to me that she has seen my blog. So here’s my shout-out to Ruth – Integrate parts of the Cruz into the weekly workouts from day one [in other words, use the track and do the calisthenics along with elements of the Cruz every 400m] so that when we get to the real Cruz we’ll be able to handle it better. OK, enough said about that. I headed out about 7 AM with Kent, Aaron and Richard from Bobby’s class for the 12-mile South Austin Ramble. There was also a guy from India that’s been running with us, but I don’t know his name. He’s very quiet. Terry is on vacation and Celeste is running a 30K trail race today so both of them weren’t there to run with me. For some reason deep within me I wanted to push this one. Soon the guy from India and I were ahead of most everyone. We got to the 6-mile turn around point at Salem Hill Road, and headed back. It was a nice feeling passing the crowd, but soon we had to wait for a train, and a mile or two later they caught up with us. I was slowing down, and their young legs just seem to do that. So I let the guy from India run on ahead, and soon he was out of sight. I kept up with Kent, Aaron and Richard and we finished in 1:51 or about 9:15 per mile. We were not running at a conversational pace, but sometimes you just have to push it.