One week to go

Easy 10 mile run today.  My legs felt a little heavy but for me that's kind of typical a week out from the marathon.  I'm going to stretch and roll my legs this week.  Also have a massage.  I have written out my race plan - looks solid but I am prepared to slow down on the initial 8 miles if the altitude becomes an issue.

Since this is a small race (I'm guessing from the #s in the past 500-700 runners), I can't decide if I will take some form of entertainment.  I think I will try and resurrect one of my shuffles and make up a suitable play list during my down time this week.  I can decide at the last minute and if I decide I'm hating it's small enough it shouldn't bother me for the rest of the run.

My cat is not eating again...I am not worried...either she does or she doesn't.  I'll only be gone 3.5 days next weekend so it shouldn't be too bad for my neighbor to kittysit her.  

4 more days of work.  Then 5 whole days off.  Then a week of no running.  Not sure what I'll do with myself.

Finally

Yesterday I noticed the temps and humidity were both much more
manageable than usual early in the day. It was quite pleasant but
humid in the evening. I turned my AC off and opened up some windows
last night and when I went to bed was treated to a symphony of rain.
No wild thunder. Just rain and wind. I pictured myself on the coast
with a storm blowing in from the coast. It is just not the same
listening to a rain storm with the windows closed. That has not been
possible until now.

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Woo,hoo

The guy I was gonna be a witness against pled out late last night.
Too bad it took 2 phone calls on my part for them to get around to
calling me at 10:45 today. Thank goodness my hair person is super
flexible and is fitting me in this afternoon. I am using my wasted day
off to clean house!
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It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

While it is supposed to be over 100 again today I feel like it is
starting to cool off a little. It was mid 70's this morning. Felt
great. Not overly humid. Had a fairly fast run with a solid last 2
mile close.
My laptop is having a hard time with my crappy broadband so I am
sitting on my porch typing this on my phone. Enjoyed breakfast on the
porch with Meesha today too. This is my kind of weather. Warm enough
for shorts and barefeet but not so hot that you're dripping the minute
you leave the AC.

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Grrrrr.....

Tomorrow I am scheduled to be in court as a witness against a fool
that hasn't recognized over the last 18mths that he was too drunk to
drive. I don't mind doing my part to make the streets of Austin safer
for everyone but I am mildly annoyed as I am pretty sure that the
courts are closed now and the prosecuter knows whether or not the
trial is on or not. I already cancelled a hair appt I have had for 2
months and will probably have to go to NM with skanky looking hair
unless I color it myself. I love how the person I talked to on the
phone says "I'll call you as soon as I hear anything". In my
experience that means either not at all or 10 min before I'm supposed
to be there.

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Glue

We are deep in our taper for New Mexico. Tuesday we ran a whopping 5 miles. A 3 mile hilly loop at a nice conversational 8:20 pace and then 1 mile at NM MGP (3:30 pace) - it felt so slow I even had time to pick a piece of lint off a finger. I was very consistant in pace and ended up 3 seconds fast. Then we did 200m push/200m recovery for 1 mile - on the push, I felt like my feet were stuck in glue. I felt soooooo slow. I was down in the mid 6min/mile range so I guess that's not too bad. I totally feel like I have lost every bit of speed I ever had.

As far as New Mexico goes, I plan to have a really good time. I feel like I have gelled better with the group this time and I feel pretty fit. I am not going to worry about a thing. Who knows what the weather will be like, we don't really know what the course will be like - we have an idea, but you never know until you get out there, we don't know if and how the altitude will affect us. Doesn't matter, I have my plan and if there is a problem, well I'll adjust. The best part is that I plan to be done the race by 9am! I'll have the whole rest of the day to suntan by the hotel pool, maybe go to a movie, take a nap, shop...whatever. It will be a fun mini vacation.

What would you do?

At the dinner event last night which was very casual, one woman (I
know her well) showed up wearing a very low cut top with the wrong
bra. Maybe it fit in the past but she has gained weight and it doesn't
fit now. She was practically falling out of the top. Maybe she needs a
mirror at home but it was nasty. Obviously I couldn't say anything
right then but I was embarressed for her. Do you say something or let
this happen again?

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Restaurant Review

Last night I drove to Dripping Springs for a birthday get together for
a really good friend I haven't seen in ages.

We all met at Rolling in Thyme and Dough. It is a bakery but they have
a variety of lunch items they serve Monday thru Saturday. Thursdays
they have a dinner menu from 6-9pm. Every week is different theme.
This week was a Homage to Julia Child. Most of the dishes looked kind
of rich - read cooked in butter, so I chose the Nicoise Salad. It was
the right choice. Light and the right amount. I treated my self to a
slice of peach pie for dessert.

All of the food is prepared from organic locally grown produce and meat.

The salad consisted of fresh greens with a vinagrette drsg (too much
drsg in my opinion) with fresh tuna, green beans, hard boiled eggs and
tomatoes. Other than the drsg issue it was good. My biggest complaint
was that they serve a slice (tiny) of baguette with it that in my
opinion was stale. If I'm paying $9.95 for a salad I could make for
$2.00 there better be a generous serving of bread and it better be
fresh.

They have an open mike. Most of the musicians were great however I was
wanting to hit the buzzer on at least one.

If you go, it is BYOB but there is a liquor store across the street.

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WOW!!!

Tweaked a few things in my routine and had an amazing run tonight.
Didn't hurt that it was at least 5 degrees cooler and it was shady for
almost the entire run.
Had some residual pain and stiffness in my right hip and hammie but
after 3 miles I was able to drop my pace about 1 minute per mile with
no effort. Seven miles of easy pace and then one mile of straights and
curves. No problem. Coulda done some hill repeats after that. Not
feeling the run at all and my shorts were not dripping at the end.
Great run.

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Running is an education in itself

Today we had our "base buster". It was 80 degrees and extremely humid at the start. Waffled about carrying water and in the end did...and I'm glad I did. Started with 4 to 5 miles of up hill. Not a problem. Ran at an easy pace. The next few were flat to rolling and then the last section down to Brentwood school were downhill to flat. I made myself be very disaplined about pace and nutrition. I estimate I drank about 64 oz of water - maybe more with the cups of water Karen had for us at the school. The last 8 miles consisted of 4 miles at progressive pace - I nailed it and ran it smart. The last 4 miles were supposed to be at MGP. I struggled a little for the first 2.5 miles and then just sucked it up and pushed the pace at the end. It was a good learning experience. I took 4 Gu's - for 21 miles, that should have been plenty...I still felt my legs were saying no on the last 4 miles. Over all I was happy with my effort.

Then I went to a talk Meredith gave about fluids and electrolytes. Very helpful. She helped me get some insights into some issues I have had. I need to do a sweat test. Providing I am not too tired in the AM, I will do it on my 8-9 mile run. I need to drastically increase the amount of Na+ I take in during these runs when it is so hot and humid and drink more too. Less Na+ when I'm not running and plain water after the run. Any NUUN should be taken prior to a run and possibly one litre max per day. She thinks with these small changes I should have fewer problems running out of gas at the end of the runs and less problems with fluid retention.

Running vs horse riding (ownership)

The biggest difference between the 2 is that it doesn't matter if you are a Dellionaire and you run...it is no advantage.  Running comes down to genes and hard work.  Buying a $200 pair of shoes makes no difference and doesn't affect anyone else.

If you have $50K+ to blow you can go to Europe and buy yourself a badass dressage horse...doesn't matter if you can ride or even safely handle the horse.  You can still own it.  Having any sort of horse and not having any sort of horsemanship skills is a recipe for disaster.  That nightmare effects everyone that has to handle the horse.  I dealt with that sort of crap at the barn today and the owner of the horse felt it was completely justifiable when it refused to get on her trailer and knocked her over.   She just didn't get it when I told her the situation was dangerous.  Just made excuses.

When I see that sort of thing I just appreciate Mr Low Maintenance Riley all the more. 

Stiff Toes

Had a massage today.  Everything was good - even my hip flexors - except my toes.  In fact my massage person (a different one than usual) was kind of concerned.  I'll admit that I can't spread my toes on the left foot.  I'm sure there is a ton of scar tissue from my neuroma and planters but she said my toes curl up in a bad way.  It's that way on both feet but I can spread my toes on the right.  At this point, I don't think it will be a career ending injury.

Easy 10 mile run today.  Ran with Karen and Megan.  Legs a little heavy at the start but had plenty left at the end.  Strides felt easy.  Temperature about 8 degrees cooler than usual but it was very humid.

Health Care Reform

That seems to be in the headlines a lot lately.  A friend at work showed me a news clip about an ER doc in Kentucky who said that there were 2 words missing from the Health Care Reform ideas...personal responsibility.  Duh!!  I've been thinking that forever.

I hear people complain that they can't afford health care/insurance or whatever.  Here is the problem with that complaint...

1.  the same person just consumed a 12 pack of beer and does so on a daily basis

2.  or is on their 5th DWI - that costs plenty

3.  or got caught with drugs

4  or is addicted to drugs

5.  or is morbidly obese - it costs a lot to get that fat and stay that fat.  It does not cost a lot to eat little enough to be thin...you just don't need that much food.

6.  or gets no exercise...walking 30 min a day is free other than a reasonable pair of shoes from Academy.

7.  or doesn't do anything to take care of a health condition they already have so the costs to care for it when they can be bothered have escalated.

8.  or smokes any amount.

I have seen zillions of people who have no respect for their body and have no interest in taking better care of themselves.  That is why health care costs so much.  A lot of those people blame everyone else for their health problems and have a lawyer on retainer to sue the poor medical community for something that is not their fault.  That is why health care costs so much.  It drives me insane...sometimes I think I need a different job.

To all of you out there that eat right, maintain a reasonable weight or or working towards it and exercise on a regular basis...keep it up and thank you for doing your part.

Making Progress

Karen is having us put a plan together for a marathon goal in New Mexico. Today we were to run 4 miles warm up, 4 miles progressive, 2 miles cool down. I ran with Karen for the first 4 miles (she ran in the AM so was only doing 4) - our easy pace consisted on 9:03, 8:09, 8:09, 7:59. She told us since it was so hot, we could run 2 more miles easy and then just 2 miles of progressive. Our pace was supposed to end up at 10-15 seconds faster than MGP. I ran 1 easy mile and then picked up the pace to 8:15, the last 2 miles were 8:01 and 7:32. The last mile was a little fast. I cooled down really easy with Brandon. A very successful workout. I feel nicely worn out but not at all sore.

Getting Ready

This weekend coming up we have our "Base Buster". Essentially it will be a practice run at progressive pace for the New Mexico marathon. My goal time in New Mexico is 3:28. I have contemplated different approaches but essentially will take it pretty easy on the up hill and down hill parts at the start and save my legs for the last half which is pancake flat.

One of my problems in Boston this year was not taking it seriously. I ate way too much the day before and was inadequately hydrated. I also spent way too much time on my feet. So this week I am working on eating correctly with a light meal on Friday night. I have one physical task to do on early Friday morning but after that I will take a nap, hydrate and rest. I am practicing what I will do in New Mexico. I also have a massage on Thursday. The best I could do before New Mexico was 4 days prior (I prefer 5-6 days) so I'll see how this goes. I can always cancel my massage before NM if I have a negative result this week.

I had a very good run on Saturday - 10 miles at 8:20 pace and then an easy run on Sunday - 10 miles at 9:00 pace. Sunday's run was much hillier and my legs were a little tired. I also ran in the afternoon when it was hot. Had planned an easy run on Monday but felt tired so will just suck it up and do 10-12 on Tuesday evening.

Meesha Rocks

I took Meesha for a check up today and the vet was stunned at how
great she looked. Somehow she gained a pound in the last month. Her
coat is glossy and soft. My vet said she didn't expect Meesha to still
be alive. She has chronic tachycardia which eventually will wear her
heart out. Meesha was also very well behaved. She only growled once.
The vet had to listen to her heart beat between purrs.

My vet is the best. She was perfectly happy to get down on the floor
to interact with Meesha and examine her. Meesha does not like being on
the table.

I guess I was worrying for nothing.

Toughen up

Monday - moderate paced 5 miles on Monday PM - my new mantra is "Toughen Up". So who cares if it is 100+ degrees...I'm still going to put out my best effort...no more whining about it! Had a decent run but did stop for a minute or 2 in the shade at mile 4.

Tuesday - 3 miles easy in downtown Austin in the AM. Annoying because of the traffic. Did this run to keep my legs loose for the afternoon run. 5 miles hilly loop in PM with 1 mile straights and curves. Calves a little tight when I got out of bed but a good coating of Freeze It worked great. Ran strongly for the 5 mile loop. Able to keep up with out killing myself on the hills. Straights and curves was interesting - my legs were not to happy with actually having to go fast. Felt good to stretch them out though. Very satisfied with my effort. I feel real benefit from this base building. I hope I can keep this progress going in the fall.

Feeling strong

Thursday of last week marked the last run of the week for me as I was at a horse show all weekend. 12 miles from Anderson High. Definitely one of my strongest runs of the season. No pain at all besides the usual stiffness for the first 1/2 mile or so. Forgot my Garmin so ran with my watch and by feel. I ran 6 days straight from Sat thru Thurs and totalled 60.5 miles. Did not feel it at all at the end of Thursday's run.

Horse show went well - many things learned and a plan is in motion to prepare me and Riley to kick some jumper butt in 2010. We will not be showing again until then. From now until the Houston Marathon, I will be working on basics for my self and building my strength so I can be a more effective rider. Riley will be working at getting fitter so that after Houston we will be both ready to really get to work for the show season. Strangely, while I am certainly the fittest rider I know, it still tires me out if Riley is difficult when he jumps. He is very powerful over the fences and I have a great deal of trouble staying with him.

This week is a down week for the North group. I will cut back a little but not a ton since I missed last weeks run on Sat. I will aim to run between 45-50 miles and plan to run everyday except Friday. Our first big long run is on August 15th so I also want to be sure I'm not fatigued going into that.

Meesha is not so good again. Eating very little. Seems to be spending more time laying around than usual but still seems bright. I'll take her to the vet for a check up this week.