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We had an interesting weather event, this morning.  A 75 mile, EF0 tornado!  Caused minimal damage (fences down plus a flying trampoline into some power lines).  One TV station caught it on one of the traffic cameras as it crossed I-45.  Looked more like an impromptu dervish.  EF5 is a huge, tornadopocalypse size.  This one was 60-85 mph.

I'm wondering if they sent the tornado your way due to your interest in the weather...

Glad to hear you're safe.

Wow - having been close enough to tornadoes that I could see them and then see all the damage - well Yikes!  Glad you are safe.

Wow! An EF0 isn't huge, but it can cause some mischief. Sort of like a dust devil on steroids.

I just saw on the news that your area got a bit or rain...hope you're out running and not out swimming!

Stay safe.

Thanks, y'all.  Yeah, I'm fine.  I got 3.5 inches, yesterday, mostly in the morning.  There was a lot of training of rain over the same area that caused the flooding problem from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m.  I was not under the train.

What seems to be the popular human interest video of the rain was the man rescuing a bus driver and the one passenger.  If you happen to see it again, you'll note the rescuing man walking from the bus in the water by a white car with water up to the bottom of the windows.  Well, the REST of the story is that white car was the rescuing man's flooded out car.

So far, I've received 5.66" of rain, this month.

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I ran the Devil's loop (6.66 miles), this morning, or 6.72 miles officially.  It was my first run in almost two weeks.  I ran it at a 13:30 pace with negligible niggles.

Since the Brazos Bend 50 is April 8 and I didn't run Houston, last Sunday, I'm not going to be trained to run the 50 miles.  But I do think that I might be able to run their 50K race on the same day.  So, I have about 11-13 weeks to train for it.

I've also decided to change the goal 100K race from the Javelina Jundred to the Blazin' 7's 100 in Cat Springs, Texas, about 90 miles from Houston.  It's being held either the last weekend in September or the first weekend in October on the 7IL Ranch, which is a working ranch that also allows horses to walk the trails the runners will be running.  The race is a 100 mile race amongst other races, including a 100K. 

It'll probably be warm then, but at last October's JJ in Arizona the temperature at the peak of the day was 95 degrees with a dewpoint of 102.  Reina won't be able to run the distance, so I changed the locale instead of driving 1,200 miles to Arizona.

That's the news.

Thanks for the update.  Glad to hear you're safe and running when you can.  I know how tough it is to change goals once they are public so good for you for doing the sensible thing.

nkrichards wrote:Thanks for the update.  Glad to hear you're safe and running when you can.  I know how tough it is to change goals once they are public so good for you for doing the sensible thing.

+1

You're wise to adjust your plans. Get yourself fixed (not that way, of course), do what you can now and keep working toward the bigger goals in the future.

Thanks, y'all.  Heck, running a 50K after training 13 weeks won't be a piece of cake, but I'll have a long time to do it.

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For some reason, our little part of Texas is going to be hit with a rare event of a particularly intense Jet Stream with no rain.  Just sustained winds of 30-40 with gusts of 50-60 mph on Sunday.  Hopefully, we won't get blown into Louisiana.

Y'all have a good weekend.

The wind was an event, if you got something blown down.  Otherwise, it was just extra windy with a crystal blue sky.

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This morning, it was 49 degrees for my Devil's Loop run.  I was curious how the run would go.  It's been such a fickle training period.  None of the run was painful nor even a little alarming.  Part of that goes to me raising the level of what constitutes 'pain' since I need to get some stamina in my system. 

The run went well.  My Garmin was low on juice about a 1/2 mile into the run, so I don't have the numbers, but it was a reasonable time.  I ran at a 162 cadence.

I'm also leaning towards running most of the training on the streets, instead of the long runs at Brazos Bend.  I was not getting any confidence that I was running well at BB.  Part of it was making sure that I was on the correct trail and part of it was the Altras evidently not being the right shoe for me.  So, I wasn't getting into a groove.  The trails at BB can be ran in road shoes.  I imagine I'll run one or two at BB, once March rolls around.  The race is on April 8.

My first and only 50K was ran in December 2006 at Huntsville State Park in a time of 8:45, with a 9 hour cut off.  I ran 14 miles and walked 17 miles.  It was the 3rd marathon or longer that I had ran in 6 weeks.  So, I was in much better endurance shape than today.

This morning, I decided to run 3 miles at a faster pace to see what would happen.  I EVEN attached my HR strap for the journey.  It was 65 degrees with a dewpoint of only 64 degrees!!!!!  The weather folks are threatening seasonal temps for the rest of the week (60 for a high and 45 for a low), with [dare I say it] 30's for Friday morning.

3 miles, 38:22, 12:47 pace, 155 avg bpm, 168 max bpm, 163 avg cadence, 0.77 m avg stride length
1.  12:55, 145 bpm, 163 spm, 76 sl
2.  12:42, 156 bpm, 162 spm, 78 sl
3.  12:43, 163 bpm, 163 spm, 78 sl

I was really concentrating on the turnover, so I wouldn't slow down because, hey, it's only 3 miles.   Call it speed work, call it boogity-boogity work.  Just go faster and maintain.  I am happy with the effort and the response by the body.  I started to get an almost sharp pain at the beginning, but it settled down and off I continued.

Kaplah.

Separately, I did some recon on the probable 100K race in late September in Cat Springs, Texas against the Wild Hare 50 mile course in Warda, Texas that I paced Reina in November 2014.  The two ranches are probably 20 miles apart and where Texas starts to roll some going west of Houston.  The Wild Hare course is a Longhorn cattle ranch and also a mountain bike course.  So it has switchbacks and somewhat steep flat ground to bottom of a creek bed topography to tackle.  More suited for a bike than a runner, in my opinion.  The 7IL Ranch is a cattle ranch along with horse trails for people to bring their horses and ride, plus this Blazin' 7's race. 

So I asked a girl that has ran both if the Wild Hare course was similar to Blazin' 7's.  She said no.  Blazin' 7's was certainly not as rolly as Wild Hare and has firm ground with some sandy areas, but it does have some big bushes with pointy leaves that can be avoided pretty easily.  After asking, she said the race could be done in road shoes or the just barely trail shoes (no lugs).  I was a happy camper.

With some luck, the weather will be in the low 80's versus the Javelina race which will always be in the mid-80's to even the mid 90's, like last year's version.  The first or even second cool fronts will have passed Cat Springs by the end of September.  Cat Springs is about 90 miles from Houston.

Sounds like you've got a plan forming up, there. Looks good.

BTW, doing some longer runs on roads is fine and will help build aerobic capacity. Don't ignore trails completely, of course, so your body isn't totally in shock on the big day.

Mark B wrote:Sounds like you've got a plan forming up, there. Looks good.

BTW, doing some longer runs on roads is fine and will help build aerobic capacity. Don't ignore trails completely, of course, so your body isn't totally in shock on the big day.

Aye, Captain Night Dweller.  I just need to have some weeks of consistency, so I can go to BB on a day where running the longer distance is a given on the streets.  Then, I can concentrate on the terrain.

14 hours to do the 50K.  Heck, I might even finish in the daylight!
30 hours to do the 100K in September.

Tomorrow, I'll run 10-12 miles.  Something like that.

Thanks.

Good to see progress in both your training and your race plans. 
Nice job on that faster 3 mile run.

Boy your temps have been and will be up and down though.  Tough to acclimate!

I did not run on Friday because I overslept.  Luckily, I was free (or reasonably inexpensive) to run today.

It was 47 degrees this morning with about 45% humidity and a 5 mph WNW wind.  I ended up overdressing for the run, as evidenced by the removal of one of the shirts around mile 2 for me to pick up on the way back.  (Remember that.)  Cadence was 162.

The idea was to raise the pain threshold and get the 10 miles in.  The pace was to get going and see what the pace was for the first couple of miles and hope it wasn't too slow.

10 miles, 2:12:16, 13:14 pace, 144 avg HR, 163 max HR during mile 10, 161 avg cadence, 0.75m avg stride length, 1st half pace 13:15, 2nd half pace 13:13.
1.  13:18, 89 bpm, 162 spm, 75 sl
2.  13:05, 131 bpm, 162 spm, 76 sl
3.  13:02, 148 bpm, 162 spm, 76 sl
4.  13:30, 147 bpm, 160 spm, 74 sl
5.  13:14, 151 bpm, 162 spm, 75 sl
6.  13:10, 154 bpm, 162 spm, 76 sl
7.  13:16, 152 bpm, 162 spm, 75 sl
8.  13:24, 154 bpm, 162 spm, 74 sl
9.  13:11, 157 bpm, 162 spm, 76 sl
10. 13:05, 159 bpm, 160 spm, 77 sl

I was pleased, very pleased with the pace.  Anything around 13:15 is good, considering the trials and troubles since last May.  The HR was higher than usual, but as the endurance gets better, the HR will, as well.  Except for that immensely pleasurable 89 on the first mile.  

I wanted to maintain the pace throughout the whole 10 miles and run non-stop for the last 4.  I almost accomplished the non-stop, except that, uh, at mile 9 I figured out that I forgot to pick up the shirt.  So, I stopped, ran back a third of a mile and ran back.  As former Texas governor Rick Perry so wisely put..."Oops."

I just about ran pain-free, except for a short bit when my left knee was upset at mile 7.  I figured out my stride wasn't as straight as it should be.  I concentrated on running as straight as I could and the pain resolved itself.  

I had a really good run.

nkrichards wrote:Good to see progress in both your training and your race plans. 
Nice job on that faster 3 mile run.

Boy your temps have been and will be up and down though.  Tough to acclimate!

That's true on the temps.  It's been a roller coaster ride on temps since November.

Thanks on the 3, Nancy.  Finally building a foundation.

That sounds like an excellent run, Ounce! Great news. And good work with the mid-run adjustment to quiet the grumpy knee. Very perceptive of you to figure it out on the fly. 

Thanks, Mark, but I don't think it's so much perception on my part as it is being hit in the head enough times to know when I wasn't running straight.  It seems I run pain-free longer when I run straight.  If I get a little wobbly, I get bopped on the head...or in the knee.

I figured out another thing about a pain in another part of my left knee that occurred after a run that also is related to being wobbly.  I would try to describe where, but it would take too long.  Suffice it to say that demon is hushed, too.

The next thing to determine is whether my knee begins to hurt near the end of long runs enough to merit wearing the knee brace.

Running straight - who would have thunk?  Anyway, like I suggested to Tim, are you doing any leg extensions to strengthen your quads?  This always helps me to keep my knees straight - so to speak, which is what I think you were actually telling us with your comment.  You don't need a gym - just an ankle weight which you can buy anywhere or off Amazon.  I actually have one that is pretty similar to this that I have used for years:  https://www.amazon.com/lbs-Comfort-Ankle-Weight-Sets/dp/B009T9YSRO/ref=sr_1_3?s=exercise-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1485814427&sr=1-3-spons&keywords=ankle+weights&psc=1

This morning, I got up to run 8 miles.  This was 1 mile more than last week and just 2 miles less than last Saturday's long run.  Another good test to see how the legs were going to respond.  Aside from increasing the endurance, I also wanted to run with less stopping.  Sometimes, a stop is unavoidable, like for traffic.  However, many times it was because I didn't have the endurance for much past 2.5 miles.  At the time of morning when I run, it's easier to run the first half non-stop because traffic is lighter at 4:30 than at 6:30.

It was 44 degrees with a light west wind, which would be in my face on the way back but not an issue.  Cadence was set at 163.

8 miles, 1:45:36, 13:12 pace, 140 avg bpm, 156 max bpm during mile 8, 163 avg cadence, 0.75 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 13:13, 2nd half pace 13:11
1.  13:19, 98 bpm, 163 spm, 74 sl
2.  13:05, 142 bpm, 163 spm, 75 sl
3.  13:10, 143 bpm, 163 spm, 75 sl
4.  12:59, 147 bpm, 163 spm, 75 sl
5.  13:24, 142 bpm, 163 spm, 73 sl
6.  13:15, 144 bpm, 162 spm, 75 sl
7.  13:04, 148 bpm, 163 spm, 75 sl
8.  12:50, 151 bpm, 163 spm, 77 sl

I was able to non-stop run miles 1-4.  That accomplished a secondary goal.  The way back was done with 3 stops.  Things went well, again.  The quads were a little tight, but starting at the knee the tightness went away divided in thirds over the first three miles.

I was pleased to see that miles 3-8 of this run were at a lower HR than Saturday's 10, and today's cadence was 1 spm more than Saturday's to boot.  And my cadence was as consistent as could be, too.  Usually, the cadence set on the gnome will produce one less spm in actual running.  So I would usually run 162's, but today, it was better than usual.  Stride length was a little less over Saturday, but I extended my stride for the last tenth of a mile to get the 77.

So, two good runs in a row and I didn't even have the Border Patrol after me!

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No, Miche1e, I don't do leg extensions.  But I'll see what I can do.  Thanks, Mike's mom.

Impressive consistency in that run Doug.  Considering the amount of running you've been able to do I'd be especially pleased with that performance if I were you!

I do agree with Michel on working your leg strength...I've found it very helpful.

Keep at it...

+3 on the leg strengthening work here. That muscle on the inside of your thing just above the knee (vastus medialis) plays a big role in knee stabilizing, and it tends to get weak very easily. Leg extensions work, as would some partial squats -- no deep knee bending, no more than 25-35° from straight up) to get that "wobble" out of there.

Great job on both runs. Nancy is right: your pacing is very consistent, and your HR is pretty steady, too. Keep it up!

Well, it's been an interesting week.  I didn't run last Wednesday because I spent about 9 hours on Tuesday driving up to Dallas and back.  I just wasn't up for the run.  I'm doing that again in the morning, but I'll spend Tuesday night up there and come back Wednesday.  I left about 3:30 in the morning and got to spend some time during their rush hour starting at 7:30.  It's awfully dark before daylight.

Friday, I ran 12 miles, but it didn't go as well as the prior Friday's 10 mile run.  Pace fell off in the later miles and I think I was again reminded that I can't bring my left leg into the equivalent of a squat or child's pose, even if there's no actual weight bearing squat going on.  It really wants to stay at 90 degrees or greater all the time, if I want to run.

All last week, we had some football game in town.  It was interesting that evening rush hour had an additional component of a 60% morning rush hour going on, at the same time.  I must tell y'all there was this new night club called 'Club Nomadic' that was built and opened, last Wednesday.  This was the place where Bruno Mars was showing at $2,500 a ticket for 6,000 people on Thursday night.  Friday night had what's her name, Taylor Swift, on Friday night.  She announced that she just played her entire 2017 concert tour that night.  Guess what!  Club Nomadic was disassembled starting Saturday and is going to be moved to Minneapolis, the site for next year's football game.

I imagine they won't have temperatures in the 70's, this time next year.  The local media is reporting that 150,000 people flew out today and was described as Thanksgiving Day on steroids for quantity of bodies.

I was thrilled to see George and Barbara out at midfield.  Those two are truly cherished in this town, more so than anybody else in the State, even J.J. Watt.

Wasn't a bad game, either.  Another factoid, the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team) have been brought in to search for Brady's jersey.  The Texas Rangers are still a respected law enforcement agency in Texas.

Sounds like quite the hootenanny in Houston. Glad you didn't founder in the sea of humanity. 

Sounds like you had an "interesting" week!

I don't follow football much but had the game on in an effort to catch some of the ads and the highlights...I would scroll back a few seconds to see what I missed whenever the crowd screamed really loudly.  It got less and less interesting as the lead increased.  I will admit that I did watch the 4th quarter and OT quite attentively though.  I didn't have a favorite but it's always fun to watch a comeback.

I didn't see the path of the storm that affected New Orleans today...hope it didn't come through Houston as well.