dusting of snow

Don't pay any attention to the weather forecasts here in middle Tennessee, because the weather folks can' t ever seem to get it right in regards to snowfall. Awoke this morning to slight dusting of snow on the grass and deck. Roadways were clear. Perfect weather for a run in the snow, the greeway should be clear and light dusting of snow on everything else.

Jumped in the car and drove the 4 miles to the trailhead. But, not before passing a car that had jumped the guardrail and was stuck on it. Guess they didn't realize the bridges were ice covered and it's not a good idea to brake when you make that realization. DUH. The greenway was clear except the for the bridges which were snow covered with a whopping quarter inch of snow. Biggie deal right? Still, the entire hour or so I was out running I could hear the sirens coming and going, wrecks all over town. Jeez. I don't know which is worse the city for not salting the overpasses or at least throwing down some sand. The cops know where all of the slick spots are located. On the way home, the same bridge where I saw the first accident, now had a 3 car rear end collision on one end of the bridge and another 2 cars on the other end.

Come on people. I know its not hard to drive on ice. Sad thing is getting caught up in an accident because of some other idiot. That was probably the case with 5 of the cars in the one accident. One person going to fast, and taking out everyone else. Or even worse the person that feels the need to drive at 5 miles per hour because they're so freaked out. These people just need to stay home. On days like today the ice is usually gone by 9 am or so, once the sun starts shining on it.

Hard to get to excited by such a little snow fall. Not even enough for the kids to play in, but the dogs did enjoy running around in it. Sad that it also causes a portion of the interstate to be closed down and a gajillion wrecks. Hopefully, no one was hurt. Don't know whose more to blame, the crazy drivers, the state, city, police, sheriff's or state troopers.

End of the year

December already and before you know it the year is going to be over. Time to reflect on 2009 and set some goals for 2010. Don't guess I really made a list of goals for 2009, like I did in 2008. Least not that I put down in writing. Biggest achievement in 2009 was the 3:05 marathon PR at the Flying Pig Marathon. Also, set a PR in the half marathon of 1:27.

Still haven't been able to race the RC Cola Moon Pie race to my potential. One of these days I want to run a sub 3:00 marathon, that'll probably have to happen before I hit 50. It sure isn't getting any easier. Convinced that high mileage is the key to faster races. Million dollar question is how much mileage is to much or what other factors do I need to monitor to stay injury free. I had a pretty good streak of no injuries up until this fall.

So, just need to slowly build the base back up. Should be ready to start some kind of training cycle for either a fast 5k or maybe marathon for the April/May time frame. Ideally, the marathon training cycle I used for the Pig would work with some 5k type of training mixed in, if that's the direction I chose or a marathon. Decisions, decisions.



The 4th annual Dirks' Fat Ass 50k is on for January 1. As in the prior years, this is a unofficial race. No t-shirt, no entry fees, no marked course, no course monitors. Just a bunch of like minded runners out for 50k for the hardy or maybe one loop for 10 miles or 2 loops for 20 miles or whatever distance suits your fancy for the first day of the new year. I'll have water, gatorade, and some kind of warm, salty food.

May the hills be with you

Cool volunteer shirt. The finishers technical shirt this year was spectacular. Black with monkeys on the sleeve for the number of monkey marathons run before today. (episode 4) Pretty cool touch.


If you can't run, volunteer. Today's assignment, the intersection of the 11.2 and the 5.8? on the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon. If you've never been to Percy Warner Park, this would be section of the main drive known as 9 mile hill. It actually is at 5 miles on the marathon course as they ascend the hill and then around mile 20.5 as they descend and head toward the finish.

I set a few signs out for the little rise to the intersection of the road and waited for the first pack of runners. I brought a thermos full of coffee and more than likely was just a tad wired when the runners started flowing through. 5 miles into a marathon everyone is still pretty cheerful, even though they may have been a little suffering up the hill. Still even with all of the runners its still spooky quiet. Heard some rustling in the leaves as one group of runners were running through and a 6 point buck was standing off the side of the road just watching the spectacle.

Big fail in the mission, no beer. I know, what a spot for a beer right after a long climb and right before mile 21. Big plans to set out a table with beer, with some kind of clever sign. Change of plans after looking at the weather forecast. Everything indicated rain. I fully expected it to be raining. Radar on race morning was a solid blob of green coming up from the south. So, I thought I'd be proactive and bring a pop up canopy for the finish area. That change in plans eliminated the trunk space in my car. Oh well, maybe next year, if I don't run. Beer at mile 20.5. But, I really want one of those cool monkey shirts. Oh what a dilemma for a simple minded runner, idiot perhaps?

Football

The Road to a Bowl!

Calling all Blue Raider fans!
Come cheer on the Blue Raiders
in their final home football game!

This Saturday, November 21 - 3:30pm kick-off - Floyd Stadium

Order your alumni discounted game ticket TODAY!

$6 per person (no limit on quantity)
Tickets are in the reserved end zone section.

Call 1-800-533-6878 to order your tickets.

THREE ways to get your tickets:

pick them up at the Alumni House through 4pm on Friday
pick them up at the alumni tent in Walnut Grove between 1pm - 2:30pm
pick them up at Will Call at the stadium
Tickets will not be mailed.

Let's fill Floyd Stadium and cheer on our team to another win!



Great weekend for football this past weekend. Dylan and I went to the MTSU game on Saturday. Didn't tailgate this time, but did drive through to see the turnout. Even less people than the prior weekend. Sad. Can't understand why Murfreesboro can't pack that stadium. MTSU beat the "ragin' cajun's", and improved their record to 7-3. One more home game next weekend.

Boys got to go into the locker room after the game. That's a big deal for them. Comment that stuck out to Dylan from the coach, "don't do anything stupid, tonight". Pretty cool, they only let a handful of kids into the "pressroom", boys consider it the locker room. Afterwards they went out on the field and played football.

Veterans Day

Thank you to all who have served and those who continue to serve.

A veteran - whether active duty, reserve, national guard or retired - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life." - That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

Thought this post would be a good spot to put this info.

Cover from the Aviation Cadet Photo Album, Class of 1960 & Reunion 2009 album. Also, shot of dad from the album.

Note from Mom: This is from the person who was putting the reunion of the class of 60-20N that Frank had been a part of; I don't have a copy of the picture that was used for the yearbook. You might want to read the comments from the people who flew combat missions during the Vietnam War; Frank flew in a B-66 for those missions. Frank and some other guys were sent from Spangdahlem to Thailand; they were using B-66's; they were gone for a few months.

These are screen shots from the first version of the album. I'll try and find a way to post the final product.





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Uh, oh

To far, to fast, to soon? 6.75 miles sunday, 3 miles yesterday and another 6 miles this morning. Felt a twinge in my foot around 4 miles, must not have been anything. Sheesh, hate treading water like this. Feel good, but still apprehensive. Coming back from an injury just blows.

Monkey marathon is less than 2 weeks away. Hope some of the leaves can wait, colors right now are pretty good. I've been assigned as a course monitor. Guess that means I'll be the guy pointing which way to go, somewhere out on the course. Maybe, I'll bring the megaphone and make a couple of signs to "motivate" the runners. Don't think I've ever been a spectator at a marathon. It will be cool to see everyone in action.

Need to throw some feelers out and see if anyone is interested in another Fat Ass 50k on New Years day. I haven't looked at the calendar yet, but which ever day I get off from work will be the day of the 50k. This would be number 4 or IV, or as a read somewhere IIII. (what the hell, someone decided to change Roman numerals which have been around forever) Evidently, IIII was used back in 1390.(politically correct attempt even way back then)

back to back

Didn't plan to run this morning, but needed to break up the remaining congestion in my chest and head. Only went 3 miles, but that's the first back to back run in 5 or so weeks. Sinus infection or head cold is just about gone. Made me sound bad, but it wasn't really that big of deal.

Did an easy 7 miles with the fella's on Sunday. Nice day and I could actually keep up. (they weren't pushing it) Good to catch up, haven't run with them in quite awhile.

Last race timing job of the year on Saturday. It went really well. Beautiful day for a race. First race where the top three places were almost all female. Young high school boy was able to stay ahead of the number 2 and 3 females who weren't that far back. Pretty cool to be able to watch them coming home for about the final 1,200 meters or so. Good turnout for the first year of the race.

these are days

Finally a decent run. Nice easy 4 miles this morning. Left the house right at dawn. Not a cloud in the sky, little wind and temperatures in the 40's. These are the kind of days that make me want to run forever. This morning I felt like running fast, but held back and just ran steady. Still just the second week of recovery. No need for speed, yet.

Starting over

I've started back running. So far, its only been a couple runs for a couple of miles. Easing back slowly. The build up in endurance and speed is a long slow process. I hope to be in marathon shape come spring time. Just glad to be back running.

Thinking about Dad the other day on the way to work. Something about the bright sun and the orange, gold and red sugar maple leaves. Couldn't remember exactly what day he died. Went back and dug out the old daytimers. (pocket sized calendar, you wrote in with a pen or pencil). Single entry on October 30, 1990. "Dad passed away".



I've spoiled the dogs. During my recovery, I've been walking the dogs every morning. Not much, just about a mile. Probably pretty entertaining, to watch. The yorkie, Lance with his little short legs can't hardly keep up. Harley, must be a hunter; he pulls the whole way, like he's on the trail of something. Guess, I'll have to make extra time to squeeze those guys in for a walk, once I'm completely back to running every day.

Got one more ride in on my bike last weekend. Really enjoy the bike, but its such a pain to navigate the walkers, runners, dogs and kids on the greenway. Went home via the back streets. Only went 13 miles round trip, but the hamstrings were super tight the next day. It would be nice to get a good ride in the country before the leaves have fallen off the trees completely.

Side lined

Still not running. Dylan and I went to the MTSU game on Saturday. It was cold, not so much the temperature probably mid 40's but the wind. I dressed accordingly and was comfortable. Dylan stayed warm by running around the whole game. Highlight of the day is when the kids go down on the field after the game and play on the fake grass.

MTSU looked terrible. The couldn't keep a sustained drive and only managed 2 field goals. Defense couldn't stop the run. But, at least they've won a couple of games this year. Their season isn't in a complete shambles. Unlike the Titans, whose best scenario now it to continue to lose all of their games and get Tebow in the first round.

The Titans looked pitiful. Hard to believe those guys get paid to play football. Kerry Collins couldn't get any help from his receivers, so he got sloppy and threw a couple of interceptions. The reverse before they pulled Collins was a joke. Looked like HS kids. Mistakes and lousy play at every opportunity for the Titans. Chris Johnson had a couple of decent runs, but they couldn't even capitalize on them. To bad they couldn't just call it a skunk at the half and be done with it.

I watched way to long, but finally turned it off sometime in the second half after Vince come into the game and threw his first pass for an interception. But, not until White (?) coughed up a fumble. Think it was the 5th Titan turnover. Geez the Titans usually force the turnovers. Sloppy field and nasty day, they should have had at least one turnover.

Fall

Really feels like fall now. Let the dogs out this morning and got a blast of cold air in my face. Marathon season..................Week 2 of no running for me. The sleeping in only lasted the first week. Granted I'm not getting up at the 3:30 am, but only sleeping in until 5:30 am. Have to get my run fix by either: biking, weights or surfing the net.

Biking has only happened once. The rain has been the biggest obstacle. I'm not hard core enough of a bike rider to ride in the rain. Plus, about the only time to squeeze in a bike ride is right at dawn and then the window before work isn't very long. Could ride on the trainer, but hate to ruin a perfectly good tire on the trainer and it really sucks anyway.

Weights have always been a staple of my workout week anyway. I just seem to be neglecting lately. Easy enough to get at least two workouts in a week. Doubt it'll keep the beer gut away, but at least the arms won't get all jiggly. Need to do some more surfing to find out if beer really does affect the absorption of calcium. Stress fracture connection? Hmmmmm. I really hate to give up my beer. I have started to supplement more calcium, just in case.

Another good indication that fall has arrived, the Bell Buckle Web School craft festival is this weekend. Hope the rain is done by then.

hindsight

What would I have done differently? Well, the only thing that comes to mind is maybe not doing a long run the day after a race.(it was only 13.6 miles) I've hurt myself in the past that way. Or maybe not doing speedwork 3 days after the race? Or doing 74 miles for the week. Who knows. But, it appears I have a stress fracture in the 3rd metatarsal. New injury for me. Not a stress fracture but in that location. I've been running with some discomfort for the last couple of weeks, but didn't really think much of it. It wasn't until the last couple of workouts, where it took more than a day to recover from a simple workout that I knew something wasn't right.

Right now I haven't run since last Sunday. It seems like an eternity. The running streak ended at 229 days. Can't say that it contributed to the injury, but perhaps it did, or maybe it was the increase in mileage?

Being injured is frustrating. Especially, because I can't really pinpoint one particular action that caused the injury. Perhaps, its the culmination of several factors. Regardless, I don't know of much to do differently, other than ease back into training after a race. The race shouldn't have taken much out of me. It was only a 10k. Warmed up for a couple of miles. Ran hard but didn't really seem like a race effort, more of a hard tempo workout and then a couple of miles of cooldown.

11 weeks until the Rocket City Marathon

Training for the sub 3:00 attempt hasn't been going well. I've bailed on the last 2, 20 mile runs. Never really even started with the intent of going that far. The heat and humidity were the biggest excuse. Welcome break in the weather this week should allow for the first 20 miler in 3 weeks. The speed and hill workouts have been going ok. BQ1 has joined me for a few of those workouts. Marathon pace isn't coming easily yet, but it took awhile last cycle.

Biggest disappointment this cycle is the mileage. I've targeted 80 miles per week. It's only happened once. The lack of the 20 miler, only gives me around 74 miles for the week. That's about what I was averaging on the last training cycle. To step it up a notch, I'm going to either need to start hitting the 20 milers every week or start to double twice a week. The double is tough, I've only managed to do that once or twice ever.

Damn near let the running streak go on Saturday.(but needed the mileage) Slept in and the the rain had already set in for the day. I wasn't about to go out for another run in the rain, the 3rd for the week. Ended up waiting until the rain had passed through completely and got the run in around 2:00 in the afternoon. Little warmer than I'm used to running and not as much down time till the run the next morning. Seemed to affect the last couple of miles of the next days long run. It was a death slog home.

Hate that I'm going to miss everyone running the Murfreesboro Half marathon. I was looking forward to riding around the course on the bike. Family getaway in the mountains instead. I'll need to get my long run done before we leave for the weekend. Probably end up doing it on Friday morning.

chillin' weekend

23 + mile end o' round

Commute from hell this evening. Speedy calls me at 5:00 to tell me I-24 is basically closed down/backed up for 10 miles. So, being the smart guy, I think just continue down Murfreesboro road home. Wow, wrongo. Stopped before I even got to Briley Parkway after an hour on the road and probably not even 10 miles closer to home. Been down this road before and figured out it would be better to stop for awhile. Beer on the way home made the pit stop neccessary anyway, might as well get something to eat. Speedy called and suggested I-40 or why the hell didn't you go I-65. Well, for one I'm working downtown now, so I-65 wasn't really a consideration. To far out of the way. Called PJ and she says the web cams show I-24 moving at Hickory Hollow parkway. Cops at Micky D's say the interstate is going to be closed to at least 10 pm. Who to believe cops or the web cam? Continue down Murfreesboro road at a snails pace. Pass my first opportunity to get to I-40 at Briley Parkway and keep inching along. Beer I rented wants out, time to stop again. Cut thru the parking lot for Dell Computer, stop and relieve myself and get back to Murfreesboro road, right behind the same damn truck with the kayak's I was behind before the pee break. Sheeeeit. Finally make it to the parkway that cuts through to the airport and I-40. Sweet. No traffic. Just extra 23 miles to I-840 and then another 10 miles or so home. Jeez, 30 minute commute this morning is a 3 hour 45 minute epic going home. BLAHHHHHHH. Working downtown sucks.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Only three lanes of Interstate 24 eastbound near the Bell Road exit were open Friday afternoon after some construction blasting went awry.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation confirmed that blasting has been occurring daily in this area at 2 p.m., but something went wrong causing debris to land on the interstate.

At times, traffic was backed up for more than 10 miles.

Workers hoped to have the interstate fully reopened by 10 p.m. A state fire marshal was expected to investigate the blasting.

Fail

Target race has come and gone. First objective met. Got first in my age group(more importantly the Free Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwiches for a year), but not quite where I wanted to be time wise. Should have been about 10 seconds quicker per mile. Reality check for the Louisville marathon. The training isn't where it needs to be. According to McMillan I'm not even in 3:10 shape. Need to scrap the hill workouts. They did make me stronger on the hills, but my speed suffered.

Back to the McMillan plan and pump up the mileage to around 80 miles per week. No, Louisville marathon, no Monkey bandit (volunteer ?): goal race will be in Huntsville, Alabama, the Rocket City marathon on December 12th. This is where I got my Boston qualifying time in 2004. Great place for a sub 3:00 attempt.

See the benefit of structure in the training plan and how all of the different pieces fit together. The sub 3:00 attempt is going to take a very concentrated effort across all of the different aspects of the program. Lots of miles to build strength. Lots of different kinds of speed workouts; tempos, steady state, and some shorter faster stuff for quicker turn over. Long runs with fast finishes and some fast miles in the middle. The days of the LSD (long,slow,distance) runs are over, no place for them in a fast marathon attempt.

The running streak is mostly novelty, but does help to increase the mileage. More importantly its helping to keep me injury free. The little aches and pains come and go. The plantar facia has finally subsided.

One piece of the training puzzle that was left out this cycle was training with faster runners. The fast guys made me faster. It wasn't really the the target workouts, those where on my own for the most part. It was the easy days, when those guys would push to their easy pace or better and force me out of my comfort zone. Hopefully, most of the guys will be back training this fall and we can feed off each other. Be nice to add some new runners to the group but kind of difficult to get anyone out to run at 4:30 in the morning.

Sunday drive

Barefoot running

Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Olympic marathon barefoot. Adidas was the shoe sponsor that year and didn't have a pair that fit Bikila. His comment on why he ran barefoot, “I wanted the world to know that my country, Ethiopia, has always won with determination and heroism." He won the 1964 Olympic marathon setting a new world record, but wearing shoes. So how come he didn't continue to run barefoot? The biggest presumption would be the shoe companies provide runners at this level with free shoes. Ok, but if running barefoot is better, why don't any other elites run barefoot? Some unknown runner wins a major marathon pretty regularly, they don't have any incentive from the shoe companies to run with shoes. Perhaps, they do and its' like the conspiracy theory. Any barefoot runner seen at the start of a major race is pulled to the side and put in shoes. Bet the shoe companies even have a vigilante squad of shoe shodders just for this operation. Probably even have some kind of turf war over which shoe company will shod the next barefoot runner.

What? Don't think enough fast runners are running barefoot to worry the shoe companies? But, isn't that one of the major reasons for running barefoot. It's more natural, efficient and faster. Drills run barefoot on grass help with form for runners who need to change their stride. But, aren't the fast runners already as efficient as they need to be? Most of them would like to have as light of a race flat as possible, why not just eliminate the shoe completely?

Perhaps it has more to do with the utility the shoe provides. The lightest racing flat, still protects the bottom of the foot from the road. Barefoot runners toughen up their feet to accomplish the same thing. Why don't the elites do the same? Does the addition of the 5 ounces of racing flat slow an elite down enough to consider running barefoot, or is it that it isn't worthwhile to pursue training without shoes to eliminate that 5 ounces?

Yes, every one is born barefoot. The cavemen didn't have shoes. So what, they didn't have microwaves, either. Think I'll continue wearing shoes, though I'd really like to find a lightweight shoe with cushioning in the forefoot and nothing in the heel. Yes, the shoe companies are evil and make shoes that most people don't need and I sure as hell wish they'd make a model for 2-3 years in a row without changing it to market it in a different manner or to the latest fad or demographic.

streakingJackMcMillan

Cool mornings the last couple of days, fall is approaching, even though it doesn't say so on the calendar. Time to start thinking about a fall marathon. Only have about 4 or 5 different marathons to chose from every weekend from now until the end of spring. Easier to decide on which training program to follow or make up your own.

In the past I've always used a set marathon training schedule, with everything laid out week over week. That's the approach I've taken for the last 12 years. This year is different, I'm flying by the seat of my pants. Nothing written down. I'm just going to run every day, that'll keep my running streak alive. Run fast once or twice a week or as the mood hits me. Run long at least once a week. Throw in a few fast finish long runs. Mix in some trails and run lots of hills and lots of miles.

I do plan on trying to average close to 80 miles per week. That's the one thing certain week over week. My last marathon effort was simplified by running more miles than I've run in the past. I'm to cheap to hire a coach and not fast enough that it would be worth it anyway. But, even a coach isn't a guarantee of training someone to a peak effort. Just look at the latest American Record broken in the 5k.

Jack Daniels Running Formula has helped me to set personal records in the every distance except the marathon. I'll sprinkle in a few of his speed workouts to get some leg turnover. Never did read the entire book. Once a runner is probably the only running book, I've read cover to cover. Most running books are pretty dry reading. I don't really care to know the science of why I need to run 20 miles, only that it's going to build some endurance, so I don't have the death march going in the last 10k of my next marathon.

Greg McMillan's program worked realy well in my last marathon effort, but I really only used three of the key workouts every week. I'm a big fan of his approach and his calculator works pretty well to give some guidelines on training paces and goals. I gave up on the trying to run long runs without any carbs. That's a disaster for me. Though I have trained my body to require less water.

Malmo's manifesto is great in it's simplicity. Other programs work for some, Hal Higdon, Jeff Gallowy and even FIRST. Dozens of marathon training programs out for the first timer, as well as those trying to qualify for Boston.

Racing the HHFMM (Flying Monkey)

I've been following the sub 3:00 marathon thread on runningahead for a couple of weeks. Saw a comment the other day about going sub 3:00 at the HHFMM (Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon). Wow, that would take an incredible effort or would it? Talked with different people about how much they think the HHFFMM course would slow someone from their marathon PR. I've heard from 5-15 minutes. More of a dependent factor is the type of runner, as McMillan talks about.

Sub 3:00's at the HHFMM aren't undoable. From the inaugural 2006 race, 4 sub 3:00's. Only 3 in 2007. Last year saw some quick times; 3 under 2:38, including a winning time of 2:36 and a whopping 6 sub 3:00's. The bar has been raised. Personally I'd be happy with a 3:30, just a smeasly 8:00 minute pace. Though a 3:20 was what I secretly was hoping for when I toed the line in 2007. I'd like to take another attempt, perhaps this fall as a bandit.

The hills at the HHFMM aren't really monsters. Ultra runners probably could run within 5 minutes of their PR's, just because they are use to much more elevation gain and loss. The elevation loss is what beat me up. I even tried to train to run faster down hills in preparation. Only should have been actually running on the course instead of the local hills. That's the cool thing about this marathon it's only 45 minutes away.

Most people would probably get closer to 10 minutes plus as compared to their marathon PR. Even if they have the resolve to hold back on their pace, the downhills quickly negate those efforts. Perhaps a high mileage runner wouldn't be as beat up by the hills as someone who doesn't run as much mileage. Just a guess. Still think getting within 5 minutes of their PR is probably only doable by the ultra runners and the true speedster type of runner.

not on track

Crap. Chikin 10k is less than 3 weeks away. My speed isn't where it was at this point in my training in the spring. The track workout this morning was 6 x 1,000 meters at I pace. Should have been 3:45, but all came in several seconds slower. Just couldn't keep the rhythm going. Next set was 4 x 200 meters at :41, this actually came in easier than the 1,000's. I pace and the 1,000 meters just never have came very easy. This wasn't really an exceptionally difficult workout, just not quite where it should have been.

Perhaps the decision to trade one speed workout a week for a hill workout wasn't as smart as I thought. I've been to Percy Warner Park 3 times in as many weeks. This past Tuesday's 7.34 miles of trails was actually the toughest yet. Don't know if it's because EB pushed the pace more or if I was just tired from the long run on Sunday. It sure seemed warmer and more humid, plus the bugs were everywhere. The trail is still dry even with all of the rain.

I'm a big Lance Armstrong fan. How cool is it that he can send a tweet and get a group of 1,000 to ride with him. I've only been watching his tweets since the Tour de France. Interesting stuff.

Red, white and done

Damn, think I whined louder than the dog this morning when I first got out of bed. Dog wanted out around 2:00 am, my foot was really sore, my plantar facia was yelling at me. But, that's the only real soreness and it was gone after this mornings recovery run. Ran the red and white trails at Percy Warner Park with EB, last night.

We started at the stone gates on Belle Meade Boulevard and immediately starting climbing up the steps to the entrance of the white trail. Guess this counts as single track. All kinds of surface, mostly soft or packed dirt, loose rocks, big rocks, tree roots and trees as big around as a small car. It was awesome. Only thing missing was a creek crossing. Only water was a spring which was really the only slippery spot on the trail.

Good thing EB made me bring some water. We stashed it at the trail head for the red trail. Only got two big gulps of water, but it was needed. I'd started the run with my excuse to run slow, "I'd run my long run the day before". She offered up her's, as well. Regardless of whether the pace was slow or fast. She led the whole way. It was all I could do to stay within about 20 steps. No wonder she's such a strong runner. The trails either climb or drop, no level track, just up or down, it was great. Little secret, (I walked up some of the extra steep stuff)

I'll be back. I'd wanted to run the red, white and blue trails, but gave in to common sense and skipped the blue on this trip. Don't know if this is really a good alternative to a second speed workout, but is good training for a bandit attempt at the Flying Monkey Marathon.

A win, Howl at the Moon 5k Race Report

I'll take it, first Master. Pretty embarrassing time. Hadn't even planned on running in this race until Wednesday. One thing's for sure, I sure can't run a fast 5k on mileage alone. It takes alot of 5k specific speed training. Jeez, my overall pace was about where I want to be for the Chikin Run 10k.

I knew going into the race the masters winning time from last year was pretty soft. I gave the fast guys another soft target, for next year. Pretty well run race. Dave Milner timed it. Loads of door prizes, with the big one being a set of Bridgestone Tires. Didn't hang around long enough to see if I'd won those. Used all of my luck up in the race. Thunder called me out at the start, whining about my running. Guess he's never run with me before. He ran a very strong race, but not where he wanted to be.

Ran the course as a warmup with EB, the eventual winner and the Philosopher. Man o' man, it was hot and humid. Tough night for a morning runner. Started out conservatively letting the young kids burn themselves out in the first half mile and letting the leaders pull out. Purposely left my Timex and Garmin at the car. I didn't want to know my splits. Heard the first mile anyway, a 5:57. Just about where I wanted to be. Used Thunder as a gauge for that first mile and settled into pace. It was so dark at the turnaround I couldn't see the leaders coming back out, only the one runner ahead of me. Passed him just after we got back onto Murfreesboro Road. That stretch of road seemed to last forever. Picked off another HS kid who must have gone out to fast and set my sights on the only other runner I could see ahead of me. In my mind I still thought I was running at around 6:00 pace. But, I should have known better. It was tough coming home, but not the "gonna bust a gut, puke" pace. Never did reel in that last runner, but no one passed me the entire race. Paula and Dylan were at the finish and yelled for me across the line.

hello old friend

Went back to Percy Warner Park on Tuesday after work instead of doing speedwork. Haven't been back since the HHFM (Flying Monkey Marathon)It was a two fold mission, get some hills and to see if running the HHFM again would be doable. Not that I could get in, the race has already filled for this year. Just need some redemption from last years race. I still believe a 3:30 is obtainable. Jeez, I averaged 8:14 pace in the rain on this trip.

I started from the stone gates on Belle Meade Boulevard to a light drizzle and started the climb up 9 mile hill. Easy to see why I was seduced into walking it during last years race. Just as much oxygen debt as a speed workout, only the interval must be a mile and a half long till the top of Luke Lea. Couple little chances to catch your breath on the way up, but they don't last very long.

One good thing about the rain, other than it would help to cool things off from maybe the upper 80's to low 70's, would be the absence of bikers. Wrongo, guess because it was a weeknight, loads of bikes. Seeing as how I was running against traffic, salmon, I could see the bikes coming for the most part. This was a big advantage. Only problem is all of the blind curves and the fact that the bikes like to take up the entire road. I tried to stay to the right side of the road, but still had to jump off the pavement into the ditch on one occasion or get creamed by a biker. Ok, I love to ride my bike, and I've even ridden in PWP once in the rain. Still, bikes and runners, walkers, dogs, lovers, and cars are all just alittle to much for that park.

Still love PWP, favorite place in middle Tennessee for a run. You seem completely isolated from everything, yet turn the corner and meet a group of runners, bikers or walkers. Not just on the road either. The trails run parallel and crisscross the 11.2 main drive almost for its entire route. Except for maybe over by the golf course or Iroquis steeplechase and that's a different environment from the rest of the route. Wide open, about the only places on the drive where the sun actually hits the road.

Don't know if it was the constant rain, but only saw a few birds. American gold finches are my favorite, but the turkeys are always kinda cool as well. Did see just one deer the entire time, until my cooldown when they were starting to come down into the field by the stone gates. Almost bumped into the one deer on the run. Thought to myself that is one big ass dog, wasn't until it moved that I realized it was a deer. Plus, the musky smell was probably what woke me up.

well

Another warm morning. I should be getting used to it, but don't seem to be. Sweating buckets and chafing in all the wrong places. YUCK. This mornings workout was supposed to be 2 x 2 miles at T pace with 2 minute recovery followed by 3 x 800 meters with the same recovery and then 3 x 400 meters with the same recovery.

Pulled into the parking lot to meet BQ1 and the whole herd was there. Kinda surprised me. We all started out together, but the fast guys went one way and BQ1 and I the other. BQ1 is coming off his second week back to running so wasn't sure how he'd do with the speed workout. He hung right with me for about 3 quarters of a mile and fell off. The first mile came easily enough, but the second was tough. The recovery went by way to quick and the first mile of the second set actually felt easier. The second mile was a struggle. May have been a little to optimistic with the VDOT table and may have to adjust downward one level. Splits were 6:31,6:34,6:38,6:42. Target was 6:32, probably should have been 6:38.

We ran our warmup out to MTSU and did the tempo workout around the campus, so we could do the other stuff on the track. Made it to the track without BQ1 and started the 800 repeats. The first 200 meters came in on target, but I couldn't hold it for 400 meters and stopped. Tried again with the same result and bagged the workout. Just couldn't get the legs to turn over quick enough. BLAH.

I'll need to either change my target paces or change my plans. May try and do a McMillan/Daniels speed workout, one of each per week with a long run on the weekend. Still have about 6 weeks to try and get some speed before the next race. I'm ready for some cooler weather.

returning to Jack

This morning was the first speed workout in the 8 week cycle for the Chikin Run. I'm using the Jack Daniels program. This will be the first time I've used this program for the 10k distance, but I've used it successfully for 5 miles. This mornings session wasn't to bad, 3 x 1,200 meters at I pace and 3 x 800 meters at I pace.

First time using this program for more than 5 weeks. That's the buildup I've used in the past. One of these days I'll start at the beginning of the cycle. But, maybe that's why its worked so far. It just sharpens what ever speed I have at that point in my training.

Running streak is still intact at 161 days. I deleted the old counter on the blog because it started to run ads continually. The new counter is pretty simple. Got it here. It appears to be without any type of advertising or malicious content.

Tour de France is over. Pretty exciting tour this year, as compared with the last couple of years. Next year should really be a show. Lot's of new young talent and the old guard that continue to hang on and make it interesting.

V02 max

Doping has finally been thrown out to explain Alberto Contador's performance on stage 15 of the Tour de France. Greg Lemond openly questioned his performance in a french newspaper column. Reporters from the same newspaper asked Alberto the question in a interview. According to Lemond, Alberto's V02 max calculates to 99.1. Greg has the highest ever recorded by a cyclist at 92.5.

I used the following calculator to estimate mine at 52.5.

From the same website:

MAX VO2 functionally represents the maximum amount of oxygen that can be removed from circulating blood and used by the working tissues during a specified period. World class endurance athletes generally have high readings. Maximum Oxygen Update (Max VO2) values for selected groups and individuals are as follows:

General Population, Female, Aged 20-29: 35-43 ml/kg/min

General Population, Male, Aged 20-29: 44-51

US College Track, Male: 57.4

College Students, Male: 44.6

Highest Recorded Female (Cross-Country Skier): 74

Highest Recorded Male (Cross-Country Skier): 94

Steve Prefontaine,US runner, 84.4

Frank Shorter, US Olympic Marathon winner, 71.3

Grete Waitz, Norwegian Marathon/10K runner, 73.5

Ingrid Kristiansen, ex-Marathon World Record Holder, 71.2

Derek Clayton, Australian ex-Marathon World Record holder, 69.7

Rosa Mota, Marathon runner, 67.2

Jeff Galloway, US Runner, 73.0

Paula Ivan, Russian Olympic 1500M Record Holder, 71.0

Jarmila Krotochvilova,Czech Olympian 400M/800M winner, 72.8

Greg LeMond, professional cyclist, 92.5

Matt Carpenter, Pikes Peak marathon course record holder, 92

Miguel Indurain, professional cyclist, 88

Although precise measurements are done on a treadmill with equipment measuring oxygen uptake, you can estimate yours from a recent running race. The race distance should be between about one mile and a marathon (or about 1500 meters to 50 km). Distances outside this range will not give meaningful results, since performance is limited by factors other than VO2 MAX.

changing of the guard

Bernard Hinault shoves a spectator off the podium.

Photo credit © Roberto Bettini

Out with the old guys, the young bucks are showing who's got it. Alberto Contador put on a show Sunday on the first test of the Swiss Alps on stage 15 of the Tour de France. He really laid down the hammer and no one else could respond. Secured the yellow jersey for Team Astana and relegated Lance to domestique in second place in the general classification. Still lots of racing left in the alps. Stage 20 should be another great stage on Saturday.

Hate it that Lance couldn't stay with Contador. The excuses have all been thrown out; age, training, broken collarbone. Lance came into this race to win the yellow jersey. I just hope he can be a true professional and help Team Astana keep Contador in the yellow. Hope he doesn't become a bitter old man, like the "badger" Bernard Hinault.

For us older runners we can use age graded results to see how we fare compared to the youngsters. I've been using Pete Magill's road rankings on his site "Younger Legs for Older Runners". I'm still middle of the pack, roughly in the lower 70% range. FM is in a whole other playing field, mid to upper 80%. Interesting stuff.

Run Chikin Run 10k course preview

The course as I ran it from General Bragg HQ's toward the starting line. The official map is here.

Really excited about having a 10k here in Murfreesboro. Seems 10k's are a rarity in the last several years. I've only run in less than a half dozen in the last 10-15 years. The biggest would be the Peachtree Road Race. But, I've only run in two 10k's in the last few years here in Tennessee. What I really want is to place 1st or 2nd in my age group to get some Chik-fil-a sandwiches for a year. That's way better than any age group awards I've won in the past. BUT, it's going to mean alot of my age group fast guys will have to stay home and I've got to run a fast race.

This morning I decided to run on the course of the Run Chikin Run 10k. It's starts at the pavilion on the new section of the greenway and goes out to Stones River Battlefield and back. I started out from the parking lot across the railroad tracks from the General Bragg Headquarters trailhead. From this point it's around a half mile or so to the start/finish area for the Chicken Run. I started around 4:30 am, so it was still dark. The sun didn't start coming up until around 3 miles in and didn't rise completely until I was finished.

I found a few of the mile markers, but never did find the start or finish. Looks like the markers are done with duct tape, temporary perhaps. Didn't stop to see if they were nailed down or not. Did notice loose pieces of duct tape around spots where a mile marker should have been.

Wished I'd have brought my camera to take some pictures. I really enjoy the Batttlefield loop. It's the spot where EB and I do a lot of speed training. Also, one of the loops that gets incorporated into at least a couple long runs each training cycle. Several wildflowers in bloom; blue chickory and black eyed susan and Queen Ann's lace were a few. Don't know what will be blooming on race day. Doubt the deer will be out either. They were out in numbers this morning. At least a dozen or so.

The course is mostly flat. From the starting point on the new portion of the greenway towards General Bragg HQ trail head is all open. Nice shaded portion for a half mile or so before you cross Old Nashville Highway and enter Stones River Battlefield. Lots of shaded sections in the battlefield. Mostly smooth asphalt until you get to the half mile section on Van Cleave, roughly around 1.5 miles into the race. This section is old asphalt that is slowly turning back to nature. A quick 100 meters or so of grass, adjacent to the Slaughter Pen area gets you on to the main 2 mile loop around the battlefield. Course continues toward the visitor center for the battlefield. Past the 3 mile mark is the start of the only rise of any significance on the course. It only rises about 90 feet or so. Shouldn't really slow anyone down enough they wouldn't get it back on the downhill on the other side. After you past the 4 mile marker you go back onto the 100 or so meters of grass and back the way you came. Slight rise just before the 5 mile marker, but the same amount of fall in the last half mile.

beyond category

The Tour de France rolls on Tuesday. Monday is a rest day. Most teams will just ride for 2 hours instead of the usual 4 or so hours. Sunday was the end of the first week of racing. The real fireworks haven't really happened yet. I'd expect the battle for the yellow to begin on stage 13. That's the first stage in the coming week with some mountains. Team Astana should have someone in yellow by stage 13, before the individual time trial or team time trial.

The stage to watch is going to be stage 20. This is the last chance for someone to take away the yellow jersey before the ride into Paris the next day. The finish will be on Mount Ventoux. The climb is the final "hors categorie", beyond category climb of the tour. 21 kilometers at an average grade of 7.6%.

From wikipedia: Mont Ventoux has become legendary as the scene of one of the most gruelling climbs in the Tour de France bicycle race, which has ascended the mountain thirteen times since 1951. The followed trail mostly passes through Bédoin. Its fame as a scene of great Tour dramas has made it a magnet for cyclists around the world.

The only other mountain stage in the tour more famous is Alpe d'Huez. The tour didn't include that route in this years tour. Probably because Lance Armstrong has been in the yellow jersey 4 times the tour has included Alpe d'huez as a stage finish. He has also won the stage on its summit twice.

Revenge of the burrito

Don't know why any runner would ever need any kind of colon cleansing. I'm sure you've seen the infomercials about the need for a clean colon. Jeez, all you need to do is eat a burrito. For me, usually within an hour the cleanse process has begun. This morning, even after one trip to the bathroom, the urge hit me less than a mile from the house. I wasn't prepared, so I had to adapt,improvise and overcome (Clint Eastwood, Heartbreak Ridge). No gory details. Don't know any runner that hasn't had to do the clamp down run because of mother nature or just took care of business. They're lying if they haven't.

If you haven't watched any of the Tour de France this year, you're missing out. Lots of drama, beautiful scenery and exciting finishes. It's on daily on Versus, usually live in the morning or then a recap show in the evening for those of us who have to work. The weekend usually has a recap show of the prior week. Lance Armstrong is showing that he and team Astana are the team to beat. Today is stage 5, they'll be racing for another 2 weeks. Lot's of time to catch at least one stage or the recaps.

My running streak continues. I'm at 140 or so days straight running. I've decided to change the recovery runs away from the golf course. (to much risk of a sprained ankle) Plus, instead of just a slow slog, I've been running the recovery runs within a minute of marathon pace. Actually feels better to run at "my pace". Sadly this is the pace my long runs were a few years back.

One thing about the increase in mileage and streaking, without any speed workouts, the speed goes away quickly. The base is still in place to start the speed again. I'm still averaging 55 miles a week. Guess the adage if you want to run fast, you have to train fast holds true.

Glad they've finally put the "king of pop" to rest. Hopefully, the media can now move on to something else. I never really was a fan, danced to my share of his music back in the day. Never had any respect for him when his appearance started to change and he started weirding out. The abuse allegations and his move out of the country just sealed the deal. No respect for him as individual. They music, yes.

Wildflower duathalon

Rode in my first ever duathalon this morning. Temperatures were in the lower 60's to start, so I wore the arm warmers. The bike route was an out and back from the house to Old Fort Parkway. The first transition wasn't to bad. I wore my running shorts under my bike shorts. (not a real tri-guy, huh) Carried my running shoes, locks and camera in a small back pack.

The run went really well. I've only run after riding the bike a handful of times. This time the pace clicked in really quickly. Before I knew it seemed like I was clipping along about 30 seconds per mile slower than marathon pace and it felt great. I'd brought the camera along to take some pictures of the the wild flowers along the way. Ended up only stopping a few times on the way back. Most of the flowers were either with the sun directly in the lens or the flowers had already bloomed.

T-2 was quite a bit longer than the first transition. I went to the restroom to change out of the running shorts and into the bike shorts. Felt great to have the wind in my face and cooling me off after the run. Headed back out on the greenway with plans on doing a few loops of the Stones River Battlefield to get some extra miles on the bike. Changed my mind rather quickly after a swarm of walkers, runners, bikers and dog walkers had descended on the greenway. Only had one close encounter. One of the big benefits of the greenway is the shading effect of the trees and bushes, but they also block the view around corners. I was coming around some walkers and headed right towards a couple of kids running at a pretty quick pace, I had to grab a handful of brake and the back end of the bike skiddes sideways about a foot to avoid the collision. I was going slow enough that I was able to do this without a crash. But, I'd bet some of the bikers who blast down the greenway a little bit quicker wouldn't have been as fortunate. (I know I've been that biker on one occasion, lesson learned.)

Ended up with only a total of 12 miles on the bike. Six miles out and back. The run was 6.7 miles.

One day

Big difference in the weather this morning. Temperature in the mid to low 60's and a drop in the humidity. Bet everyone whose raced the last two weekends would've have enjoyed this mornings weather on race day. Cool enough I'd have to have worn arm warmers on the bike.

Yesterday's long run was a sweat fest. Don't think I've ever sweat that much. My shorts were dripping. Speedy's shoes were sloshing. Tough morning. Nice new route in the country around the Blackman community. Glad the bible park didn't make it. It'd be a shame for country side to go commercial.

Still not as warm here as it was in Texas. Different kind of heat, though. Checked the weather yesterday and it was 83 degrees at the same time it was 76 degrees for our Sunday run. Zero humidity made a huge difference, plus the wind was constantly blowing. Kinda like standing in front of a blow dryer, dry heat. Not like the sauna bath here in Tennessee.

2009 Tour de France

Starts Saturday, July 4th in Monaco, from Saturday July 4th to Sunday July 26th 2009, the 96th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,500 kilometres.

These 21 stages have the following profiles:

10 flat stages,
7 mountain stages,
1 medium mountain stage,
2 individual time-trial stages,
1 team time-trial stage.


Distinctive aspects of the race
3 mountain finishes,
2 rest days,
55 kilometres of individual time-trials,
20 Category 1, Category 2 and highest level passes will be climbed.

Big change will be a mountain stage the day before the parade to Paris on the final day.

Slowing down

Summer is here. It's hot. Time to slow down just a little bit. I've been training pretty hard, since September or so of last year. Ran a hilly marathon, a fast marathon, a 50k, a half marathon and a 10 mile race. The twice a week speed workout is what I'm going to take out of the mix. I'll continue to do a long run, probably cap it around 11 to 13 miles. The rest of the week will just be easy runs. Volume of runs will stay around 50 miles per week. That should be sufficient to keep a decent base. In about 4 weeks, I'll start the speed work again. Oh, and I guess that streak thing will keep going as well. 127 days as of today.

Started this plan right after Moon Pie. It was really nice to sleep in for a couple of days. Only problem with sleeping in, is having to compete with the cars on the roadway. Plus, it seems I'm right back to the same boring out and back courses I've been running for years. This morning I ran with most of the guys from the herd. Nice to be back with the group, running a relaxed pace. Big plus, a new course and no cars.

Hope to get back on the bike a couple times per week as well. Lance just won the Nevada City Classic in California. He's been training at altitude from a base in Aspen since the Giro ended. He's down a couple of pounds from the last time he rode in the Tour de France. It'll be fun to watch him and the rest of the Astana team at the tour this year. Starts the week of July 4th, I believe.

Negative split

A negative split. That's the only thing that I was able to accomplish at the race in Bell Buckle. This was the 4th time I've run the RC Cola Moon Pie 10 mile race. Holy crap it was hot. Hottest I've ever raced. Told BQ1 I was going to slow down from planned pace until mile 5 and then pick up the pace. The slow down in the front half was easy enough. Ended up slowing to almost a 7:00 pace until the hill and then only mustered a 7:49 for that mile.

The fast miles on the back half didn't happen. I was pretty much set in for a tempo pace run after 3 miles, that didn't happen either. The heat slowed me to a pace slower than the marathon last month. Ouch. Speed work wasn't even necessary. No speed happening today. Funny thing though, I won first in may age group. All of the fast guys were smart enough to stay home.

The herd was pretty will represented and 3 out of the 4 of us ended up with some hardware. EB steadily got me again, though I had her in my sights until the final turn. To quick, I couldn't reel her in. She ended 3rd female overall.

It was nice to be the one reeling in those falling off pace on the back side of the race. Only a handful of runners, but still felt good to be able to make the pass and have it stick. I carried a hand held bottle and still took water at every stop. I'd drink half of it and dump the other half over my head. Except for the station at mile 6, I got gatorade instead of water.

Racing in the heat

I've tried to acclimate as much as possible to get ready for the heat for Saturdays RC Cola Moonpie 10 mile race. Heat still seems to just wipe me out. One more workout in the heat on Tuesday night. But, 2 days of training in the heat, per week, isn't really enough. Should make race day a little more tolerable.

This will be the first year of actually training for this race. Usually its just the first race of the year off of marathon training in the fall. I've actually done some speedwork and hilly long runs. Still don't seem to have the endurance from the peak of my marathon training. My PR on this course is a pitiful 1:09:32. McMillan calculates a 1:06:04, which is a 6:36 pace. Seems doable, until you factor in the heat, hills and humidity.

I would really like to run a 1:06. I've gone out at that pace or quicker in the past and died on the back half. I'd really like to go negative and this course is perfect for that. Don't want to go out to conservative and make the negative an easy thing. Best plan is to do like I did for the Flying Pig Marathon. Run on perceived effort, float up the hills and push on the down hills. Maintain pace on the flats.(hardly any of that) and push the final half mile home which is sloping down hill.

workin' for the weekend

Took today off from work. Got my speed workout in this morning, solo. Overslept by almost 2 hours this morning. Must have been tired, didn't even wake up when the storms blew through this morning. This afternoon I went for a bike ride out in the country. Great day for a ride. Temperature was about 88 degrees and it was sunny.

I've decided Highway 266 is just to narrow and not enough of a shoulder for the bike. I'm only on that section of the road for less than a mile, but I'm just not comfortable with an 18 wheeler 6 inches from my elbow.

Don't know if the driver who wouldn't pass me on the little country road was worse. He followed behind me up a hill and back down the other side and around a couple of turns, before he decided to pass me. No other cars where coming the other way. I was only going 25 mph down the hill and around the corners, on the white line with no shoulder. He had plenty of room to pass. Pain in the ass, I was afraid my tire would catch the edge of the road and I'd be off the side of the road. Thanks buddy.

Cold beer sure tastes good after a hot ride.

penny for your thoughts

Found a penny on the run the other day that had about a third of it broken off. It was one of the newer pennies minted after 1982 when the composition changed to mostly zinc. From the US Mint website.

In 1962, the cent's tin content, which was quite small, was removed. That made the metal composition of the cent 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc.
The alloy remained 95 percent copper and 5 percent zinc until 1982, when the composition was changed to 97.5 percent zinc and 2.5 percent copper (copper-plated zinc). Cents of both compositions appeared in that year.

It made me wonder with the inflated prices of metal, especially copper: is a penny worth more than a penny? Yes, for pennies minted before 1982. Does that mean the government will start melting the older pennies? Or perhaps that's cost prohibitive.

Busy weekend. Took the boys fishing in the Stones River on Saturday and Sunday. Darrell was the only one to catch anything. They had fun though, we waded the river instead of sitting on the bank. I think the cooler water actually helped my legs recover from my long run on Sunday.

Saturday morning we did a training run on the RC Cola Moon Pie course in Bell Buckle. Pretty cool morning, around 60 degrees to start. Probably be closer to 70 degrees come race day. Very quiet morning, I saw more wildlife on my long run Sunday, than out in Bell Buckle.

Bell Buckle training run

Met a group to run the RC Cola Moon Pie course in Bell Buckle this morning. Nice cool morning, about 60 degrees to start at 7 am.