Location: Memorial –> Sabine
Distance: 8 mi
Avg Pace: 11:15
Avg HR: 170 
Temp: 59

This was a hard run.  I think the work week, and possibly Wednesday night's run, had caught up with me.  Even before the halfway mark, I felt like I was done - but once you're past the catacombs, you might as well finish the whole loop.  Though, I'm glad Maureen wanted to do the full 8 miles - even though I felt like I was dragging (I stayed about 20 feet behind Maureen most of the time), I'm glad I put in the miles. 

The air was pretty chilly - almost too chilly - especially along the Bayou.  I think the wind made the temperature feel about 5 degrees colder than it did in the Park.   We also noticed that the ripe guano smell of the Waugh Bridge bat colony was particularly strong, even long after we'd passed the Bridge.   Again, probably the wind.

On the way back, my hands started to feel numb from the cold, with that pins-and-needles feeling you get when your foot falls asleep.  I tend to clench my hands when I run, especially when I'm tried, and I become most aware of it in cold weather.  I have to remember to relax my hands!  But it's good because the chilliness reminded me to take some cheap, disposable cotton gloves to NYC.  If my hands are cold on a Houston evening, I'm sure they'll be even more cold at 5:30am in New York. :) 

Location: Memorial –> Waugh Bridge
Distance: 5.5
Avg Pace: 10:14
Temp: 66

Another night of great running weather.  Temps were in the high 60s, and at that perfect place between too chilly and too warm.  Maureen was at the packet stuffing for the Houston Half this Sunday, so I ran with Michelle, Loren and Richard.  Half the group did the Sabine 8-mile route, and the others did the Waugh Bridge 6 miler.  I stayed with the Waugh Bridge crowd, since the Sabiners were all really fast and I would have had to run the route alone.  Plus, my hatlamp thingy was still broken, and running along the Bayou in the dark is creepy enough, even with a working lamp and a running partner.  

But it was a really good workout, and I kept a pace a little faster than my usual.  I started out running with Michelle, who is really fast.   Then, I heard Loren and Richard talking about the NY marathon behind us, so we started talking about the course, etc.  The whole time, though, I'm trying to keep up, thinking, "if I don't keep up with these folks, I'll have to run the bayou alone…"   I was actually doing better than I expected, thanks to the weather.   

We did have a minute of sheer panic trying to cross Shepherd back to Memorial.  Runners familiar with the Memorial/Shepherd/Allen Parkway routes know that intersection isn't the typical 4-way setup.  Lots of streets feed into that one block area, from all different angles, making crossing at any point a little hairy.  Anyways, I think someone miscalculated there timing of the traffic lights, and within seconds of reaching the middle of the street, cars were coming at us from all directions.  Someone yelled, "stay in the center lane!"….which might have been OK, except that the center lane was actually the left-turn only lane.  So, a few times, cars wanting to turn left started driving towards us in the lane before realizing we were in the road.  Cars were whizzing past, and there aren't any lights where we were (except for car headlights) so cars wouldn't spot us until they were close.  Not good.  Finally there was a break in traffic, we sprinted over to the sidewalk and it was over.  The whole thing probably lasted only 60 seconds max, but it felt longer.   "I just saw my life flashing before my eyes," I said.

We got back to the Park, and I pretended that I didn't want to collapse after keeping up that faster pace.   Later, Loren said "You guys were killing me" because it was a fast pace for him too.  I told him I was SO happy he said that, because I was totally dying too.  

Aftewards, Loren and Judith shared their past NYC Marathon experience, including tips: take it easy on the Verazano, expect a pick-up in energy on 2nd ave and Central Park because of the huge crowds.   

Luna sent this picture from the Clinton-Washington subway station in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn (my old 'hood, woo).   

(click to view full size) 

Location: Rose Garden Run (with loops)
Distance: 6.0
Pace: 10:23
Avg HR: 172
Temp: 65 (wonderful)

Chip's route was the regular Rose Garden, with a few tweaks.  We'd stay on the north side of Kirby, and add tempo at several points along the way.  (The start/finish markers in the map are different because my Garmin took a while to locate a satellite).  

Before the run started, I was talking with Maureen and Matt and one of the clips for my headlamp-thingy snapped off.  Oops!  Fortunately, I carried it in my hand on the run, and it worked just fine. 

The weather was excellent - cool, with very little humidity.  No more of that suffocating feeling during 90 degree workouts. Maureen and I made our way along the route, and got passed by the super-fast runners as they were heading back to the Park.  Matt turned around to join us for a few miles to make sure we took the right route.  When we crossed back over Memorial, Matt took off and then Bessie arrived to be our final shepherd for the evening.   After finishing, I was hardly sweating and didn't feel thirsty at all.   I love this weather. 

Shoe Update:

On Saturday's TLT run, I wore the Adrenaline 5s (versus the current 7 model) - no blisters at all on my left foot, but I did get some irritation (not quite a blister) on my right toe.   So, I decided to experiment.   I wore an Adrenaline 5 on my left foot, and an Adrenaline 7 on my right…..and my feet were very happy.  I figured if one strategy was mixing insoles, why not try mixing shoes?  hee hee      I probably won't mix shoes for the Marathon, though - I've decided to run in the Adrenaline 5s.   I'm pretty sure they have at least 26.2 miles left in them.  

A woman named Linda from Allied Waste Services called, saying she had found my wallet.   She was cleaning around some port-a-cans next to the golf course, and saw the wallet in a ditch.   She found one of my business cards, and called me at work.  

The wallet was damp, probably from rain or dew - it didn't smell, but I was still grossed out.  The only thing missing was $60 cash.  All my credit cards, debit card, gift cards, driver's license, etc were where I left them.  Even the loose change was still there.  I destroyed the credit cards though, since they've been canceled. 

I gave Linda a box of Ghiradelli chocolates and some cash in appreciation.  

So as of this afternoon, I have my ID back, a new car window, a new bank account and replacement credit cards in the mail.  Things are back to normal (hopefully).  

Went to Bear Creek this morning for the SMART TLT workout - did 12 miles (running log to come later).  It was a beautiful day, great running weather, and the park was full of people attending events like soccer meets, cross country races, a boy scout somethingorother, and lots of golfers. 

But among all the people and activities, there was also some loser who broke into 12 cars, including mine.  He took my wallet with all my credit cards,. Luckily, my Treo and Ipod were spared. 

The theft happened sometime between 8:00 and 9:45am at Pavillion 6 at Bear Creek Park.   Before the run, I had put my bags into a Luke's Locker bag, wrapped it up, and then stuffed it under the front seat.  I thought putting it out of sight would be enough, but it wasn't.  After our run, we decided to eat at Panera Bread.  When I got to my car, I noticed something on the ground, right under the driver's side door - a pane of shattered glass.  I stared at it, with a sinking feeling.  I looked inside my car, and noticed things sitting on the passenger seat that weren't there this morning.  One was my bag, which was sitting open.  I walked around to the passenger side, and saw that my passenger window had been broken, my bags pulled out from under the seat, and my wallet was gone.  Crap!   Clearly, the thief took the time to pull out the bag from under the front seat, unwrap it, dump everything out, open my purse and take my wallet. 

Steeve and fellow Striders flagged down a Constable (note: Bear Creek is a County park, HPD responds to City parks).  After taking my info, the Constable said the thief had also broken into 12 other cars that morning.  In fact, they've been trying to catch him for months.  The Constable said he was even doing undercover work, sitting in unmarked cars, waiting to catch this guy.    He also said this guy would only take people's credit cards, which is why he left my Treo sitting there.  Actually, I'm relieved he took "just" my wallet and not my Treo or iPod.  

The best part, though, is that the Constable said the thief was using stolen credit cards at places like Kroger, Target and BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY.  Pretty funny. 

I spent the rest of the day at the bank setting up a new account and trying to get my window fixed.  Unfortunately, I will be windowless until Monday morning……which means I won't be driving to Terry Hershey tomorrow for the Strider 10K/20K run.   

The worst part of this all is that this is the SECOND TIME this has happened to me in 2 MONTHS.  Why me??  What is it with these incidents with my car?  Last September, I was hit by a City of Houston employee (the cops thought it was hilarious that a City employee hit a County employee. harhar).   Then a month later in October, I was hit by a guy without ID or insurance.  

Lesson:  Don't leave ANYTHING in your car, even if it's under the seat.  Put everything into the trunk. 

Lastly, I have to say how awesome the Striders are, especially Steeve, Barb, Michelle and Jessica.  They postponed breakfast to wait around with me, Barb drove to the Constable's office, Steeve insisted I take $20 (as emergency money), Michelle, Jessica and Barb cleaned up the glass and everyone helped flag down the Constable.     I really, really, really appreciated that.   Striders are fabulous!

Wanted to share some cool marathon/running-related multimedia goodies I've stumbled upon…..

NYC Marathon Pacing & Info Spreadsheet

In the Runner's World Discussion Forum, this guy created an AWESOME customizable pacing spreadsheet for the NYC Marathon.  This is probably one of the coolest things I've seen - you plug in your goal time AND your strategy (even effort, even pace, fairly even effort, etc), and the spreadsheet automatically calculates your target pace, splits and estimated time of day at major checkpoints.  It even considers variables along the race course for the splits, such as elevation changes and bridges - i.e., your effort will be higher going up the Queensboro bridge than when going down, etc.   

Once you specify your target goals, the spreadsheet will also create a pacing wristband (for printout, if desired), a very detailed elevation map, estimated starting times by bib# and corral sections, and lots of maps including the only spectator map I've found so far.   This thing is awesome - the only thing it can't do is my laundry.  

Visit the NYC Marathon discussion thread to download the spreadsheet.  The same guy created similar spreadsheets for other races including the Boston Marathon.  

TheFinalSprint.com's Running Podcasts

I've recently gotten hooked on podcasts.  One of the best series of running-related podcasts I've found is from TheFinalSprint.com.   Their podcasts feature interviews with the famous and elite of the running world.  Just a few of the interviews that I've downloaded so far: 

- Jeff Galloway
- Dean Karnazes - ultra-marathon runner
- Rudy Garcia Tolson - paraolympic Gold Medalist
- Ryan Hall - several interviews about breaking the Half record in Houston, and preparing for the Olympic trials
- Alan Webb
- Gail Devers
- Alan Culpepper
- Deena Kastor
- Jack Daniels
- Brian Sell
- Meb Keflezighi

I haven't been able to listen to all of them yet, but it's a great selection of interviews.  The entire library is on iTunes, or you can listen to them directly from their website.  Here's a partial directory of their podcasts. 

Runner's World Podcasts on the NYC Marathon

Another series of podcasts is the NYC Marathon coverage by Runner's World.  Not as diverse as TheFinalSprint, but there's some interesting commentary about the NYC course.