Tartan Terrible 2012

Tartan Terrible is a fun little race that I run every year, sort of a steeplechase, with trails that include mowed grass, long grass, longer grass, sand, gravel, pavement, and even knee-high water.  Runners are well-advised to use old shoes.

This year we racers were also treated with rain, which started just when the race did, and ended when the race did.  Nobody seemed to mind - the evening was warm enough, and the rain actually helped us keep cool.  Besides, we ran through water anyway.

My race wasn’t great, although I did enjoy it a lot. Nephew Luke was there and ran it, doing rather well I think.  Nice to run a race with him again.  But my own time, 45:38 for about 4.3 miles, was about two and a half minutes slower than last year, and last year I had run 18 miles in the morning!  I had hoped to run as fast as last year, or faster.

Last year the sports hernia appeared right after this race.  That injury bothered for most of a year, so this year I was careful to walk up and down the steepest hills, to avoid that sort of abdominal stress.  Those hills are short, though, and I doubt they could account for most of the difference in time.  I’m just a bit slower, still working to recover from the hernia and its repair.  If the distance was 4.3 miles, the pace was 10:37.  It’ll have to do, and I had fun.

Whining:  The right knee with PFS grumbled a bit but didn’t cause any trouble.  The hernia repair was silent, and remains silent the day after the race.  Excellent news.

Memorial to an iron worker in a park in Anchorage, Alaska

20 Miles , Great Morning

Sunday, August 5, 2012:
On my 20-mile run today I was surprised to meet my nephew Luke, also training for his next marathon!  What a treat.  He jogged along with me for a few minutes, and we agreed to meet for a run in the park one day soon.  To make the run even better, this was the best morning for running in months.  At the middle of our run the temperature was 59 degrees, and the dewpoint was low as well.  Delightful running on the mostly-shady Gateway Trail.

Grass-fed beef, all the rest organic.

My run was pretty good.  At about mile six I noticed that I was turning to the left a little, and having to correct to the right.  This got worse, until near the end of the run I was leaning left (Sunshine noticed it when I ran past her and Sweet Pea), and having to correct a lot.  This is a known issue - comes from inadequate core strength - means I should get back to doing my core-strength exercises.  Duh.  I think it showed up this time, and not in other recent longish runs, because this was my third day of running in a row, plus quite a bit of yard work.  Hard work.  Those core muscles were tired.  But that's good for them, eh?

For some reason, all of that didn’t slow me down much.  I ran 30 seconds of each minute and finished the 20 miles in 3:37:17, not including bathroom and water stops, for a pace of 10:52.  Furthermore, I had something left at the end and was able to increase the pace in the last two miles.  This suggests a possible marathon finish below five hours, which would be the first time in a year if it happens.

Five gels and several salt tablets helped with the run.  I carried water, and drank a lot.  Until last month I’d never carried water on marathons that have frequent aid stations, but I did in the Vermont marathon and appreciated the opportunity to drink whenever I felt like it.  Maybe I will carry water in the West Virginia marathon as well.

Whining: The right knee with PFS mumbled a little, most of the way, but not enough to worry about.  No other pains.

Splits:  11:20, 10:30, 11:00, 10:07, 10:22, 10:43, 11:04, 11:47, 11:26, 11:04, 11:33, 10:12, 11:31, 11:03, 10:48, 11:30, 10:45, 11:00, 9:41, 9:49, total 3:37:17, distance 20 miles, pace 10:52.

Saturday, August 4:

I intended to run five miles with the SCV runners, but decided instead to run with the new guy Steve, who is just getting started in running.  We walked a couple of times, but otherwise he kept up a pretty good pace considering.  At about two and a half miles we went different directions, and I finished another mile and a half.  Four miles in 38:20, for a pace of 9:35, despite two walks with Steve.  Good run, no pains.

Friday, August 3:

Easy three-mile run on the grass trails in the park.  No pains.

Easier 5-Mile Run

This morning's post-run breakfast.  Oatmeal beneath

Five miles on the grass trails in the park this morning.  The temperature was about 65 with a dewpoint of about 60, somewhat cooler than we’ve experienced recently, although I still got completely soaked from sweat.

I did my run/walk, running 30 seconds of each minute, but I didn’t extend the runs up the hills as I had done last Friday on the same route, because  I felt a bit tired today from Monday’s longish run and yesterday’s yard work.  Finish time was 55:40, about 75 seconds longer than last Friday, pace 11:08.  Nice run.

Whining:  None.

Fifteen Mile Run

We like to do our longest runs on the Gateway Trail, because there are porta-potties here and there, and even water in a few places.  I ran 15 miles this morning, while my sweeties ran almost nine.  This was not a nice day to run - the temperature averaged about 75 and the dewpoint about 70.  I did OK, though, running 30 seconds of each minute, finishing in 2:43:51 for an overall pace of 10:55.  This is not quite as good as the 10:31 pace of a week ago, but that day I ran only 10 miles.

Today I was able to increase the pace a little in the last mile or two, which is good, but I doubt I could have maintained the overall 10:55 pace for the remainder of a marathon.  Not in this weather.  I did carry water, drinking at least 40 ounces, and took three Clif Shot gels as well.

Chicken thighs, chard with cranberries, cherries,
tomatoes, all organic except the chili pepper sauce.

Whining:  For while I felt a very local pain on the outside of the right hip, probably a bursa.  It went away.  Later, right after standing up to leave a porta-potty, I felt a sharp pain at the very top of the right shin bone, just below the knee.  The pain got bad enough to limit my pace, forcing me to walk for a couple of minutes.  It gradually got better, though, and was gone entirely within a couple of miles.

Splits:  11:18, 10:25, 10:55, 10:06, 10:34, 11:09, 11:04, 11:33, 10:43, 11:05, 11:29, 12:07, 11:09, 10:06, 10:07, total 2:43:51, pace 10:55.

More Like It!

Temperatures were in the low- to mid-sixties again this morning, as the Saint Croix Valley Runners gathered 16-strong to enjoy a comfortable morning run.  I decided to run the whole 5 miles, if I could, with no walking, but slowly, with a goal of finishing last.  It worked, too.  I ran all but perhaps 100 yards while we waited for one of us to pry a rock out of a shoe, and I didn’t even finish last.  Quite.

Four of us ran the "alternate" route, a.k.a. "Wayne’s route", which I prefer because it avoids Manning Avenue with its high-speed and high-volume traffic.  Time 50:03, distance 5.0 miles, pace 10:01.  It would have been slightly under 10 if that naughty rock had not jammed itself into the tread of a shoe.

This is the farthest I’ve run without walking (except briefly for the shoe) in a very long time.  I’d have to go way back in the logs to find another time.  It’s a hilly route, too.  I felt OK, but breathing was fast, indicating that I was working pretty hard even though the pace was quite modest.  Usually I can cruise at a breathing rate of one full breath every four footfalls, though it may increase to one breath every three footfalls toward the end of a race.  On this run it was one-per-three almost the whole way.  This will improve as I train more.

Whining: None!

Gluten-free Sunshine-made meat loaf with lots of organic trimmings

Cooler Morning, Nicer Run

This morning the temperature was in the mid sixties and the dew point was only 60, ten points lower than it has been recently.  A fresh breeze made the running even better.  I ran five miles on the wet grass trails in the park, running 30 to 40 seconds of each minute and up all hills, with some hills taking as much as two minutes.  This is a bigger feat than running up all the hills on the paved trails, because the hills on the grass trails are longer and higher.

This morning's post-run breakfast.
There is oatmeal under there.  All organic.

Time for the 5 miles was 54:25, so the overall pace was 10:53, the first time since surgery that I’ve run sub-11 on the grass trails.  It’s good.  I’m a happy runner.

Whining: None.  Even happier.

24 miles this week, ramping up toward 30 per week.

Wishing for Snow

I know - no one wants snow, not yet, but this weather is so uncomfortable I’d certainly enjoy one fresh, cool, even breezy morning - one of those mornings when my shirt dries off almost as fast as I can make it wet.  This morning the temp was 77 degrees with a dewpoint of 71.

Five miles on the park’s paved trails this morning, in 54:02, for a pace of 10:48.  Sub-11 again, good enough.  I didn’t feel much like running at the beginning of this run, I felt awkward and clunky, but gained strength and felt pretty good at the end.

Whining:  None.

Splits, per 2.51-mile loop: 27:38, 26:24, total 54:02 for 5.02 miles.

My sweeties brought this to me this morning while I was in my law
office watching an on-line continuing legal education webcast.