Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 37:10
Pace: 9:17 min/mi

Comments: Despite my best intentions, the running routine pretty much fell apart over the second half of March. Not gonna hash out the details but it's time to get over this half-assed shit.

I put in a decent four miles this morning. I considered putting in a slightly more ambitious distance but I think the better plan is to keep things simple and aim for getting back into the every-other-day-or-better pattern.

But my legs felt good and the conditioning is still there to some extent. So I've got something to work with.

New Shoes: Asics Gel-Kayano 22

So in addition to being rather ugly, the Asics I bought turned out to be maybe a half size too small. So I went to trade them in and encountered probably the worst service in a shoe store I have ever experienced. I finally just handed one of the employees the shoes and said "keep them" and walked out. Lesson learned, I guess.

Anyhow, I still needed a new pair of shoes.

But I knew the brand and style fit and the size I needed. So I looked online and found exactly that in a rather less grody color style (and for a bit cheaper). So they arrived and now I only have to go run in them and see how they work.

Long Run

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:41:36
Pace: 10:09 min/mi

Comments: I meant to do this run on Saturday but Friday night indulgence made that inadvisable. I felt I could use the extra day rest anyway so I wasn't too concerned. Still, I didn't feel particularly confident starting out.

In fact, I had my doubts about even being able to finish this one until mile four or so. Rationally, I knew I could do it but my head space was not where it needed to be. So I defaulted to "gut it out."

Most of the run, as a result, was overslow. Several miles even flirted with the 11 min/mi pace. But on the last three miles I kept trying to increase the pace and, on the final one, I got it under 9 min/mi. So there is some strength in the legs.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 34:59
Pace: 8:44 min/mi

Comments: I wanted to get this run in this morning but I didn't sleep well and lost that extra hour before heading to work. I was concerned the rain would make it impossible to get out the door after work but the skies cooperated for once.

I was still a bit sore at the start. I took more of a beating with the weekend long run that I initially believed. I warmed up OK but the extra temps made this a challenging effort. I slowed down ever mile of the run but still kept them all under the nine-minute mark. So that's a little win.

Recovery Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 40:00 min (est)
Pace: 10 min/mi (est)

Comments: This was a pretty awful effort. I actually pondered a run yesterday afternoon but decided against it due to the wind factor. "Hey," I thought, "I'll be that much more rested and recovered for tomorrow morning." Not even quite.

My quads and calves were sore starting out but that eased off quickly enough. Things felt decent up to the two mile point and then it became a full on slog. I haven't struggled with a run like that since last summer.

It got to that unpleasant point where I have to fight the urge to walk it in. Luckily my GPS device died so I didn't have that to add to the temptation. I just sucked it up and stumbled through the four miles. At the very least, since daylight savings time has arrived my public humiliation was in the dark.

Long Run

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 1:43:42
Pace: 10:21 min/mi

Comments: This was not a powerful performance by any means. This was a case study in just holding my shit together to finish. My running wasn't really consistent prior to the half-marathon and didn't get much better afterward. So a horrible long run was my prescription to get my shit together.

Starting out I gave myself the option of eight or ten miles. When I hit the decision point I was miserable enough I figured two more miles couldn't make it any worse. Might as well suffer a bit more now than in the weeks to come.

My splits told the story. The first four miles were in the ten minute range. Except for a slight rally on mile six I just kept getting slower and slower and slower. Final mile: 11:26. Yeesh.

New Shoes: Asics Gel-Kayano 22

It's been seven-plus months and since I picked up my pair of Asics Gel-Kayano 21. They have just gone past 250 miles which isn't in the critical range but definitely getting into the ballpark of the shoe's optimum lifespan.

So I decided to grab a new pair to start switching out as they get less responsive to the mileage. I popped over to RunOn! in Coppell and tried on a half dozen pairs or so. After all the effort I ended up sticking with the Asics Gel-Kayano but in the next generation of the shoe -- the 22.

Ever since Asics has moved the stitching for the side decoration back where it doesn't hit the ball of my big toe, this has been a really reliable shoe. (Before then I would inevitably form a blister right there when my long runs got into the double digits.) This edition is pretty butt ugly but it doesn't have any orange or dayglow colors so I can live with it.

Fitness Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 36:54
Pace: 9:13 min/mi

Comments: And so another unplanned running hiatus. Of course there are a myriad of reasons for this one. Not the least of which I've been pretty down the last several weeks for some reason.

But it's time to pull myself out of that and no better way than getting back on the pavement. And the next half-marathon ain't getting any farther away.

The rain let up today early enough that I could get this in after work and, temperature-wise, it was pretty much ideal. I felt like complete butt the first half mile or so but warmed up well enough after that. We'll see what I can accomplish over the weekend.

Recovery Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 42:48
Pace: 10:41 min/mi

Comments: I took a well-deserved day off following the race which was marked by various sore spots but no sharp pains, thank goodness. I considered doing a two-miler last night but decided not to chance it.

So today's run was epically slow and that was deliberate. I just wanted to get my legs moving and the heart rate up -- nothing more. I actually felt more like I was jogging cadence for a lot of this one.

My legs felt pretty good the whole way. A few of the aches are definitely still present but I certainly don't feel any worse than after a solid long run. All of which bodes well for making another stab at a half in six weeks.

The Cowtown Half-Marathon

Race: The Cowtown Half-Marathon
Watch Time: 1:58:29
Official Time: 1:57:03
Pace: 8:56 min/mi

Comments: It has been two years since the last time I ran the Cowtown Half Marathon. That was my last race until the 5K I did last week. Work had a lot to do with that as well as finances. But it's way past time to get back in the saddle and this was probably the best race to do it.

I went into this one way undertrained and I knew it. I did put in a few long runs over the past two months that gave me confidence I could finish but how fast and in what condition was anybody's guess.The one thing that I was sure of was that I had to start slow or I had no chance to survive.

It turned out a reasonably slow start was 9 min/mi pace. I initially thought that was way too fast but, in fact, the only miles I did slower were the dreaded bridge into downtown and the last mile -- both boasting brutal uphills. I hit a pretty solid pace at about mile two and really only wavered from it on those inclines and when I rode the downhills to slightly faster times.

So instead of a brutal slog, most of the race went very well. I didn't push it too much but still had better pace times than I expected. But you can't dodge lack of conditioning forever and, just like the last time I did this race, the big hill into downtown sapped my reserves.

After that I had to work for it. I did alright on the descent back to the river but the uphills on the last mile were brutal. There was nothing in the tank. I even had to fend off the idea of walking it in.

But I really wanted that sub-two-hour race and at that point walking would put that out of reach. So I sucked it up and kept plugging at it. And it paid off. I surged across the finish just with almost three minutes to spare. A great effort for a return to distance racing.