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5ksandcabernets: November 2009

5ksandcabernets

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Guys night out

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Fort Worth Turkey Trot - 19:08

Back to what I do best. Run fast for short distances.

I pr'd with a 19:08 (unofficial time). Was going for sub 19 but got
caught up in the wash the first half mile and took too long to get my
breathing under control.

Mile splits

1 - 6:10
2 - 6:13 (a little hill)
3 - 5:55 (finally started to feel good but the race was over.)
.16 - 5:20 pace

My Garmin said the course was a little long. Hmmm. Nine second faster
and I'm in 18 territory. Maybe next time.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Sent from my iPhone

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Isn't pasta supposed to be good for you?

Mile 6:   7:11
Mile 7:   7:34
Mile 8:   8:44
Mile 9:   9:31
Mile 10: 8:13

These are the splits of my last five miles of Thursday morning's 10-miler with Team Rogue. I know what you are thinking: "Ah-ha, you ran Mile 6 too fast and you were spent the last four miles of the run."

Wrong.

During this entire run, I just didn't feel right, and felt nothing like I did during Tuesday's 10-miler, when I ran the last 5 miles in sub 7:00-mile pace. To be honest, on Thursday morning, I felt exactly the way I felt during the Portland Marathon. Sluggish. Weak. A little delirious.

So, what's going on here? I'm not real sure. One of the guys I run with at Team Rogue - we call him Geezer - told me after Portland that every long run I have after that should be about correcting mistakes. Like I blogged a few weeks back, I think one of my mistakes is that I drink too much water during the marathon.

But Thursday morning, I didn't drink that much water - maybe less than two cups. This leaves me to glean something from my diet - and I think I've found the culprit: white pasta.

On Tuesday evening, I had the biggest bowl of spaghetti with clam sauce. The day before Portland, I had some dish that included tons of white pasta. Now that I think of it, if I run the day after I eat spaghetti, I've always had terrible runs.

And Thursday morning, I had terrible runs, so to speak, and a terrible run. Physically, I felt the same as I did in Portland. Weak. Sluggish. Disinterested. It was hard to believe that I was the same guy that, on Tuesday, ran 10 miles in 7:15 pace.

Maybe this is what happens when you become an over 40-runner, though I doubt it.

Anyway, long story short: No pasta (unless its wheat) the week before I run a marathon. Don't drink too much water (unless its Chicago 2007 all over again).

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Trying to add things up

October 4: I'm fully hydrated. Hadn't drank wine in two days. Well-tapered. I take gells and drink water every three or four miles. And then I go out and run a 4-hour marathon in temperatures in the 40s and on a flat course.

Today: I awaken with a hangover from drinking 3 glasses of wine the night before. I feel so bad that I take ibuprofen. I run 17.5 miles in 2:16 (7:50 pace) on a hilly Austin course with temperatures in the 60s and rising and 100 percent humidity. During the run, all I take is a few swigs of water. No gells. No salt. Nothing else.

Huh???

If I ever figure this marathon thing out, I'll let you know. But right now, I'm as confused as ever.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

I've got to get out of the rabbit hole

In my new job, everyday I see stories that are shocking or sad or crazy: A father making less than $30,000/year somehow qualifying for a $150,000 mortgage; a senior citizen with perfect credit talked into emptying his retirement account to buy four investment properties in two weeks.

And of course, by the time I see these files - stuffed with all the personal information of the borrower or co-borrower - the borrower is well on their way to losing their house.

I see these train wrecks everyday. And the stories are fascinating. Sadly fascinating.

And that's the problem. In my old job, as a newspaper reporter, I'd spend days and days and days researching a story, chasing down every single lead, uncovering every stone, before writing the story.

But now, now? The veterans at my new job call that falling down the rabbit hole.

See, the key to this job is speed and efficiency.

Sure, we want to get the complete story of who "misrepresented" the facts on a mortgage loan application and we want to find out why the borrower all the sudden stopped making payments on his/her $400,000 home that they somehow got after they said they made $10,000/month as a gardener.

But you can spend too much time reading the collection notes or perusing fabricated bank statements - chasing rabbits down the rabbit hole. Next thing you know, your unfocused curiosity has cost you half a day and you are wayyyy behind.

So, I've got to stay out of these rabbit holes.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

October 2009 mileage

I ended the month with a 16 mile run on Halloween. Got it done in 2:01. Because I took a lot of time off after my October 4 (Disastrous) Portland Marathon, October was my lowest mileage month since December.

October mileage - 124.64
Time: 16 hours, 39 minutes, 53 seconds
Pace: 8:01 min/mile

2009 mileage: 1,896.76
2009 pace: 8:07 min/mile