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. 

Sorry about the temporary pause in blogging.  I've still been running, though.   And now that it's only TWENTY SEVEN DAYS LEFT [begin panic mode] till New York, I'm back to my regular blogging schedule.   I'm sure this comes as great news to the entire escapevelocity.org audience (all five of you).  

Chances are you've heard about this morning's Chicago Marathon.  Because of the record high 90 degree heat, the race was shut down after three hours, and runners not yet at the halfway point were forced to turn back.  But it doesn't stop there - they ran out of water and Gatorade (!!!!), 300 people sent to hospitals, and a 35 yr old man died just before mile 19.   Read reports from runners and spectators at the Runner's World forum and the Chicago Tribune.  

I think it was the right decision to close the race.  Whether the failure was mostly due to the heat or bad planning by race officials (heat advisory = bring more water/gatorade, no??), clearly lots of runners needed medical attention.  But I can imagine the huge disappointment it would be after months and months of training.  People are reporting on the forums that they were anywhere between mile 21 and the finish when cops told them to stop.   If I'm past mile 21, and someone tells me to stop after months of training with bootcamps, TLTs, Yassos, bat guano-scented runs and other forms of voluntary torture….well, let's just say there'd be trouble.   Sure, I'll probably be in pain and shuffling along at that point….but that's what makes crossing the finish line so important.  

Update:  Randi, fellow Memorial Park SMARTie, finished her first marathon at 4:43:15!!!!! 

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.