Location:  All over Bear Creek Park
Distance: 14.66
Average pace: 11:32
Average Heart Rate: 169

Ack, I'm behind on my running logs!

First of all, I didn't upload my Garmin data to the web, so I don't have the supercool Google map that Garmin creates.  I'll post it tonight, because it shows the crazy, meandering route I took on Saturday. God bless GPS!

Saturday's run was my longest so far.  At the end, I felt better than I thought I would, though it took me a looooong time to finish.  

My warmup was my best so far - by that, I mean I didn't struggle through the first mile to find my "rhythm".  Within 5 minutes, I was feeling good and very energetic…kind of surprising.  After silly walks, Steeeve gave us the route.  My plan was to run the first portion with the SMARTlite folks because of pacing, then break off to add extra miles for the full SMART 16 miles.   So, I followed Barb, et al through the Ryka Loop to the Picnic Loop, then headed off towards the Soccer Loop.  By the end of the 2nd soccer loop, I was 5 miles in and still feeling surprisingly good - proof that all this training is doing some good.  

After the 2nd Soccer Loop, I started looking for the turnoff back to the Picnic Loop.  I headed back towards Clay, and turned onto a street that looked familiar……but it was a dead end.  So, completely lost, I took the Clay Rd route back to the Park.  I had wanted to avoid this route, since it's on a busy street and has very little shade.  This stretch was the most difficult part of the run for me. 

Returning to the Park, I was at 10 miles.  I returned to the shade of Schultz Loop, and immediately felt better. So, here is where I started getting creative with my route.  I wanted to maximize my mileage along the loops surrounding Pavillion 6, so I did a lot of backtracking. 

Starting around mile 12-13, I started to feel the miles in my legs.  It was also during that 1 mile that I felt my energy starting to drain out, and the Gu wasn't helping.  I guess my glycogen levels were nearing zero at this point, so my body was starting to whine, "are we therrrre yet??" 

As I made my last Ryka Loop, I saw Ann, Barb and Steeeve pull up in their cars.  I had lost everyone several miles back, since I improvised my own routes at the end (and also cuz I'm slllooooowww).   They had come through looking for me, and to give info about breakfast.  I really appreciated them checking on me - honestly, I assumed everyone had already left, since I was taking a reaaalllly long time.  But even though I was fine (and felt bad that they were all waiting for me), it's really nice to know the Striders account for everyone.  Yay Striders!!  

That afternoon, I took a 5 hour nap.  FIVE HOURS. 

Location: Austin Town Lake
Distance: 4 mi

Was in Austin for a meeting, and my hotel was right on beautiful Town Lake.  The weather was beautiful and wonderfully cool compared to Houston, so I couldn't pass up the chance to run.   The hotel location was perfect - it was just one elevator ride and 20 steps from my room to the running trail.

I started by heading east.  The trails were relatively crowded with runners, walkers and tourists.  Not as crowded as Memorial, but enough for me to feel safe exploring new trails.  Some sculling teams were out for practice, as well as a few kayakers and small sailboats.

About 5 minutes into my run, my Garmin was flashing low battery.  I had brought everything EXCEPT my Garmin charger.  I hoped that the battery would hold out for the run.  Nope. 1 minute later, the battery went out.  What a disappointment - the GPS function was perfect for exploring new trails, and still logging my mileage.  Fortunately, there were 1/4 mile markers all along the trail. 

I did 2 miles heading east, then looped back west for another 2 miles.  I was supposed to put in 7 miles total, but I had to get ready for dinner with my brother.  I planned to put in the last 3 miles after dinner, but I got back to the hotel at 11pm.   *sigh*   So much for my plans to break up the mileage over 1 day. 

Hello from Austin, originally uploaded by escapevelocity.

View of Town Lake from the Radisson.

Location: Terry Hershey Park
Distance: 10.68

I actually arrived at Terry Hershey on time!  Met Barb, Kay and Carol at 6:20am so we could get an early start on our "relaxed pace" run. The first three miles were particularly difficult, because of my usual difficulty easing into runs and also because of some painful cramps. :/  For the first half of the run, I lagged behind the relaxed pacers.  After a water break at the turnaround, I started feeling much better.  The cramps were gone, and I was actually feeling a bit energized - despite the fact we were running directly into the glaring sun.   Even with my visor, it was pretty hot. 

Barb started developing painful leg cramps, and by the time we got to Highway 6 (around the 8 mile mark), she had to start walking.  I ended up jogging slowly ahead of her, and looping back around to make sure she was OK.  It was actually good for me to put in the extra distance - even though it turned out to be only .68 more, I still owe the Warmup and Cooldown gods some mileage.  So anything helps.

After getting home and showering, I took a nice 2 hour nap that felt more like 5.  ahh, sleep.

(PS - map courtesy of MotionBased.com, Google Maps and Garmin.  Love. That. Toy.)  

Location: Stratford HS Track (GPS map courtesy of my supercool new Garmin)
Distance: 6.87

Saturday's workout was Yasso 800s at the Stratford HS track.  I got to the track late (ugh) and only got to put in 1 mile for my warmup.  At Thursday's Bootcamp, Steeeve talked about cutting some of the exercises short, thus owing things to the crunches god, or the lunges god, etc.  Well, I've definitely been running a tab with the Warmup God.  *sigh* 

After some silly walks, Steeve explained the Yasso 800s.   The basic theory behind the workout is that you can predict your marathon time based on how long it takes to run 800s.  So, for example, my goal for the NYC Marathon is 4:59:59 (I just want to get listed in the NY Times Marathon Section that lists finishers under 5 hrs - heh).   I have nooo idea if this it realistic for me, given my usual pace and previous marathon time of 5:45.  But if not, then hey - I'll be happy with a t-shirt.  Anyways, so my goal is 4 hrs 59 min….this means, I should run each 800m in 4 min 59 seconds. 

So, we did 6×800 with a 400m recovery between each.  Below are my times, thanks to my supercool new Garmin: 

1st 800: 4:55
2nd 800: 5:09
3rd 800: 4:54
4th 800: 4:54
5th 800: 4:49
6th 800: 4:38

Woohoo!  All but one of my 800s were below my target time.  I'm definitely relieved about this - it would have sucked if I couldn't get any of the 800s under 4:59….but I did have to work hard for each of those 800s.  Should it always be that hard, or should it be easier at this point?  Anyways, my recovery laps were pretty slow - about 3 mins each.   During the 5th 800m, I started experimenting with my running form - I started applying the same rules as in dragon boating….keep my feet low to the ground, reach further with each stride, keep my core centered, focus movement in my legs, avoid wasted movement.   Apparently, something worked because my 5th and 6th 800s were definitely faster.  Though, I did sprint the last 100m on the 6th 800 because I was soooo ready for it all to be over.  

Afterwards, I tried to do a 1 mile cooldown, but only managed to eke out 3/4 a mile.  It was so humid, I think I lost 10lbs through sweat.   ew.

First, the bad news.

At the end of July, my trusty Polar S210 stopped working.  I was hoping it was just a dead battery, so I shipped the watch to one of the Polar Service Centers.   Two weeks ago, a Polar tech called with the diagnosis: water had gotten into the watch through a crack in the casing, which made it completely unrecoverable. 

Now, the good news. 

Yup - I gots me a Garmin Forerunner 305, with heart rate monitor and GPS goodness.  I started using it at this weekend's Yasso 800s, and I love it.  Lots of cool bells & whistles, but the GPS functions are what make it awesome.  I'm still figuring it out, but so far it's been great.  I love seeing my mileage during a run - somehow, it makes it easier.  And I'm totally going to get addicted to uploading my workouts, seeing maps of my routes, and all kinds of overly-detailed data that appeal to my inner geek.  Love. This. Toy. 

Location:  Terry Hershey
Distance:  dunno, but whatever it was, it was enough.  

The Terry Hershey SMART group was scheduled to do Bootcamp C tonight, so I decided to brave the slow chaos of I-10.  I left the office in the Galleria just after 6pm, thinking I could get to Terry Hershey in 45 minutes.  No.  I finally arrived at Terry Hershey at 7:10pm, almost an hour later. 

I had missed the first Bootcamp when SMART started, which is why I made the trip out to Terry Hershey.  I also forgot to read the full description of the bootcamp before I left work, so I went in blind.  This turned out to be a good thing.

When I got to the park, everyone was in the middle of their warmup runs.  I started down the path, and turned around when I saw Vic, so I cut my warmup short.  

So, the Bootcamp was basically a continuous series of crunches, pull-ups, push ups, lunges, and other core exercises with a bunch of sadistic 800m intervals thrown in.  I think we did four 800m, but I was too busy trying to stay vertical to keep count.  The hot, muggy air wasn't helping, either.    Once again, thank god for the Strider coolers.   It would be awesome if anytime someone got water or gatorade from one of the coolers, angelic music suddenly started playing in the background.  Cuz that's what it's like.  

After the second or third round of crunches-lunges-dips-pushups-back extensions-etc and then intervals, I started looking for signs of an end….are we there yet??  On one of the 800ms, I asked Vic if we were almost done.  "Ooooh no," he said. "We're only halfway."  Great.  And whenever Lee would announce yet another interval, I would hear Trey say "crap".  Me too, brother.  Me too. 

Another few rounds of core and intervals, and I asked someone else "how much more?"  "Still halfway…." they said.  hmmm.  As I stood near the beloved Strider coolers, Steeve told everyone to gather around the benches.   Immediately, I wondered what he was going to make us do next…..hop up and down the benches?  Climb a tree?  Or worse, do another interval?   No, Steeve announced the end of the workout, and said the cooldown run was optional…and pizza at NY Pizzeria was mandatory.   Yup, I skipped the cooldown.  

In the end, it was a good workout - though I'll probably feel those 40 weighted lunges when I try to climb into my car tomorrow morning.