Location: Memorial Park track
Distance: 5.7 mi
Temp: 85, dripping humidity. 

Ok, they wasn't actually called Death Bursts, but that's pretty descriptive.  The workout was 800m kick-yo-ass intervals.  Run 600m at 800m pace, then recover for 100m, and then do an all out sprint for the last 100m.   Do 400m for recovery, then repeat. 8 times.  I barely managed to eke out 4.  

We started out with a 2 mile warmup, then arrived at the track.  It was so humid, I was already soaked by the time we finished the warmup.  

Started the workout. The first one was difficult, but I managed to get through it.  By the end of the second one, I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to 8.  After the third one, I decided I was going to stop at 4.  

My paces for each 800m:
1: 8:46
2: 9:33
3: 8:43
4: 10:19

When I started on my 3rd 800m, Matt ran next to me, coaching me for the final 100m.  He said to use the 100m recovery, and as I begin the final 100m sprint, to imagine a train conductor slowly increasing the speed so that I'm at my max at the end.  And remember to pump my arms.  So, as I started the final 100m, I focused on the gradual increase in speed and pumping with my arms…..and suddenly I was running really fast.  I mean, like reaallly fast (for me).  Like run from the cops fast.  I totally surprised myself.  I crossed the line marker, and started my recovery (aka, gasping for air and fighting the urge to lie down in the grass).  Matt ran past, and I'm pretty sure he said something really encouraging, but my brain wasn't registering.   He's really a great coach, and I really appreciate the motivational instructions/tips - he really helps me pull out more effort that I didn't know was there.  I'm sure when I'm finishing NYC, I'll hear him saying "pump those arms!"  

I tried a 4th interval, but I was done.  The last interval was more of a recovery lap than anything else, and while the last 100m was nowhere near the effort of the previous one, I started seeing spots at the end.   hmm, not good.  I flopped onto the bench and stayed put until everyone was done.  The humidity, and that crazy sprint, zapped everything out of me.  Even Hoang said he was drained.  I would have been happy to lie down on the bench for a quick nap. 

Despite the humidity, it was a good workout.  I partly dread Chip's workouts because they're usually really hard - but ultimately, I know those will make me a better runner.   

Check out the super-cool speed graph generated by Garmin for the intervals.  Notice the overall drop in speed over each interval.  Garmin rocks. 

This is one of the best purchases I've made in a long time, thanks to fellow SMARTies Maureen and Bessie.  It's clips securely onto a hat visor, and uses 5 super-bright LED bulbs that are prefect for running along dark, bumpy trails at night.  Plus, it helps me be more visible to cars, which is important since for most Houston drivers, the only things on the roads are them, small mammals (which are usually smushed) and other cars.   Check out a great review at one of my favorite gear sites.  

Location - Conroe, TX
Distance - approx 9.5 (had Garmin woes again)
Temp - 74
Avg HR - 151
Pace - 12:43

Went up to Conroe for some hill work.  I was late getting to Memorial, so I headed on up to Conroe.  I made it to the meeting spot at the church parking lot, but didn't see any cars…..worried that I was in the wrong place, I drove further up the road but found no other church. I turned around and the others were arriving just as I pulled back in.  Turns out Matt and Bill (?) had waited for me back at Memorial (sorry!!!).  

Barb and I decided to start before the others.  But before we left, Steeeve gave a warning about the route - "there's no shoulder, and you'll probably get yelled at by angry fishermen."  Ok, I thought, this is going to be interesting. 

So, when Barb said there were some big hills in Conroe, she wasn't kidding.  The first two hills were a little intimidating - they were so high, cars would appear on one peak, then disappear for a minute until they reappeared on the next peak.  Definitely not the hills we have in the city. 

But, I actually didn't mind the hills as much as the drivers.  Steeve was right about the lack of any shoulder to run on - it was either the road, or bumpy grass.  And while we didn't encounter any angry fishermen, we did dodge a number of pickup trucks speeding past us.  The scariest parts were the tops of the hills - I kept worrying a truck would come flying over top, giving us miliseconds to scramble off the road.  

The group of fast runners veered off to do more hills (showoffs :P), and Barb and I turned off into a neighborhood with pricey-looking homes.  The neighborhood was built on a slope, so although we didn't encounter any more steepish hills, it was still an effort.   The neighborhood was peaceful and quiet - at one point, we saw a mother deer with three babies crossing the road.  Later on, Carrie spotted another deer munching on grass in someone's yard.  Made for a nice run. 

After we finished the run, my legs felt great.  No pain in the achilles.  I figured it was the worn out shoes after all.  Too bad it wouldn't last, though.  

Afterwards, we went to Ryan's for breakfast buffet.  I ended up missing the exit on the way there.  Great. 

Location: Stratford HS Track
Distance: 5.02mi
Temp: 76

This was a hard workout made even harder by the humidity.  The workout was 16 x 60/60:  60 seconds at 5k pace, then 60 seconds recovery.  Repeat 16 times.  This was one workout where I managed to program my Garmin correctly….thanks to Chip, who showed me how to program intervals during one of the Memorial Park track workouts.  

I did the intervals with Barb, and we kept a 9:30 pace (range 9:13 - 9:45) for each "on" interval.  My overall average heart rate was 155, though the "on" intervals ranged from 157 - 178.   Hmmm….I wonder if there's a way to separate out the "on" intervals from the recoveries, and get the average pace/hr for just those.   

Actually, the workout itself wasn't too bad - the energy drain came from enduring the humidity rather than the intervals.  At one point, some random guy joined us on the track - shirtless, but wearing full length jeans.   Ugh, I was so sweaty in my shorts, I can't imagine what it must have felt to run in JEANS.  Moisture wicking fabric, people! 

I tried to do a 1 mile cooldown, but had to stop because my achilles tendon was getting more and more painful.  I mentioned it to Barb and Steeve, who said my shoes might be worn down.  Time for a new pair! 

Afterwards, we went to Starbucks courtesy of the Striders.  Seriously, what other running club buys its members coffee and pastries after a hard workout?  

This will be my quickest race report. Ran the Cross Country Relay with Sarah, Randi and Margo. Our team was called Stride-Hers. We had a mini competition about who was going to be the slowest. I was the last leg, “D”. The first mile out was OK, but on the loop back my throat started feeling dry and scratchy. I don’t have allergies, so I think it must have been dust from the trails. The only thing I was anticipating on the course was the killer hill at the 1.5 mark. Got to it…and had to walk up it. Finished the last .5, and crossed the finish. I had bumbled up my Garmin, so I have no idea what my time was. I’m guessing 23 minutes for the 2 miles.

Afterwards, Margo gave each of us a bar of dark chocolate. That makes her the best Cross Country Team Captain ever.

So, I normally find myself at ease with most forms of electronic gear, but not when it comes to my Garmin.  I love it and all the minute, super-detailed information it records during every run (elevation gain? total time vs moving time?), but I'm still fumbling around with it most of the time.  This becomes painfully obvious after examining the three weeks' worth of workout data I just uploaded from the watch.

Example 1:  Turn off device when not in use. 

According to Garmin, I did 157.34 miles on September 11th.  It's true I covered that distance….on Continental Flight 1841.  I was heading to Austin, and the Garmin must have gotten turned on inside my bag and recorded the flight.  Ok, maybe this example isn't really about me not being at ease with the Garmin….but it's just one of a collection of weird workout entries Garmin is reporting.  

What doesn't make sense is that it took me 12:12 hours (moving time) to get to Austin at a 4:39 pace.  Huh?  And shouldn't the pace be waaay faster in a plane?  It's also reporting an average heart rate of 94 bpm.  I definitely wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor on the plane, so where did the hr data come from? 

Example 2: Lap vs Start/Stop

I keep mixing up the "Lap" and "Start/Stop" buttons. If I want to mark a lap during a run, I tend to hit "Start/Stop" instead of "Lap" - which means the Garmin stops recording.   I usually turn the Garmin back on, but this on/off creates multiple portions of my runs that get recorded as separate workouts.  Great.

The squiggly lines in the map above illustrates my button confusion.  It's from Sept 22nd, when I ran the Cross Country Relay (race report to come).  The squiggly lines are me wandering around the Strider Tent, starting line and relay hand-off BEFORE I do my relay portion. ha.

Example 3: Start/Stop vs stop vs Reset

Let's take things another step forward (or backwards, I suppose).  This map looks like a single long run, but it's actually half of my Cross Country Relay run combined with half of a SMARTie workout.  Great. 

The green bubble shows where I started my leg of the Relay (yes, I hit "Start" again).  You can see where I followed the trail (red line) to the 1 mile turnaround at Studemont…..then it looks like I made a really sharp turn and ran the 2nd mile in a straight line.  What actually happened was that I wanted to hit "Lap" at the turnaround…..but I hit "Stop" instead and the Garmin stopped recording.  I didn't realize it until just before the 1.5 mile mark, when I glanced down at the Garmin and noticed that the mileage wasn't changing.  Yeah, I know I'm slow but not THAT slow.   That's when I realized I had hit STOP at the turnaround.  I hit START, but the Garmin wouldn't start up again.    So, the straight line back to the green bubble is just the GPS connecting the two points.  

The red line between the green and red bubbles show that turning OFF the unit isn't enough.  You have to reset the timer before the next workout….otherwise, Garmin will think you're continuing the workout 3 days later.  

There were more examples in my Garmin log, but I thought these were the funniest.  What would be really funny is if I wore the Garmin and heart rate monitor for a day to see what kind of mileage I put in over a 24 hour period.  What would be my average pace walking through the office?  Would it show my heart rate dropping as I fall asleep during endless meetings?  Would the maps show me trying to avoid annoying people and Council members?   I'd just have to remember to hit START at the right time.  

I've just realized that this webpage hasn't been displaying correctly in Internet Explorer 6.  The columns were all shifted right.  Also, the sidebar widgets showing my mileage, workouts, links, etc aren't showing up.  I think I've fixed it.  hmm.