The shape I'm in

Today was my usual Tuesday 6 a.m. run with the folks from Luke's Locker off of University Drive. We usually do 6 or 7 miles at a pretty quick pace. And for me the pace is faster than half-marathon pace but slower than 10k pace. I use the run as an indicator of the kind of shape I'm in. So I was pretty happy when I hit the stop button on my Garmin 305 and it read;
Miles: 6.12
Time: 48:27.
Pace: 7:54
Woooo-hoooo. Thats a workout PR.
Now, there are a couple of things worth mentioning. At mile 3 or so, we usually stop at a water fountain. It's about a 30 second break or so. During this break, I hit the stop button on my Garmin. So the total time does not include that break. Last week, I didn't stop for the water break, and my pace was 8:03.
Still, I'm not going to apologize for being smart to take a quick respite. Afterall, it was 70 degrees with the humidity at 68 percent. Sticky.
For much of the last three miles, we did this crazy speed drill where it was 35 seconds fast, 60 seconds recovery. Good thing Monday night that I only drank one glass of Vina Robles Cabernet Sauvignon or it would have wound up all over my running shorts this morning.
The cool thing about using the Garmin is it tells you how long your heart rate was at a certain level. Things start to get pretty hard when my heart rate hovers over 88 percent maximum. Today, I spent 39:47 in that "red-line" area.
Just to show you how much a difference the temperature makes, I did this same run on Feb. 19. It was 38 degrees outside. My heart rate never got above 84 percent. This morning, my average heart rate was 88 percent.
Cheers

What I missed about running

I got the okay from my doctor's nurse Tuesday to go ahead and run again. She told me to take it slow so I won't reinjure my right leg, but if you are a runner and you are reading this, you know that telling a runner to take it slow is like telling a TV weatherman to get it right. It's impossible.
I haven't run since March 8 and while out, I thought about a lot of things I miss not being able to run:
*Downloading my run from my Garmin 305 forerunner to Sport Tracks. I am a geek about the science of running, my heart rate, my pace, how long I spent in a certain zone. I've spent as many hours staring at my computer analyzing a run as I have spent stretching before a run.
*Eating what I want without guilt. No surprises here, though the desire to run faster makes me eat as nutritiously as possible.
*Soreness after a long run: My body talks to me when I know I've had a nice long run, or put together two or three good workouts in a row. My quads ache a little. My left knee gets a little stiff. The blister on my right big toe stings a little.
*The taste of my post-workout shake: Usually after a run lasting at least an hour, I drink a big bottle of Gatorade or Endurox. It's more sugar in one setting than I'll probably have at any other time during the day. But it's yummy, and, according to all of the sports scientists, well-needed.
*Getting my 2nd wind: It takes about 10 minutes for my lungs and the rest of my systems to get all warmed up during a run. But when I'm ready, some days I feel like I'm floating.
*Familiar faces: I do most of my runs around 7 am on the Trinity Trails in Fort Worth. I always see the same faces at the same point in my run. It's like clock-work.
The man on a bicycle.
The really old man _ gotta be at least in his 70s _ walking in the cold, wearing a suit coat to protect him from the elements, his face sun-burned, his gray hair covered by a worn wool hat.
The hispanic woman jogging. It always seems like when I'm done, she is just getting started.
The Tuesday morning running group from Luke's Locker led by Noreen.
*Saturday long runs: I missed these the most. Saturdays on the Trinity Trail is like, man, like a religion for me. I park my car. I stretch. And before my eyes is like this symphony of activity. The shuffling of feet. The vroom of cars going down Riverfront Drive. Runners in groups talking to each other. The crazy guy named Loy.
Even though I rarely speak to anyone, these people are like family, this atmosphere is like my own Norman Rockwell painting. You got elites and 12-minute milers sharing the crushed limestone and the paved sidewalks that make up the Trinity Trails. It's spiritual man. Just spiritual.

It's gotta be the shoes.

Some people who know that I run often ask me about running shoes. How much should they pay? How should they feel? What to look for?
I always refer them to a running store, like Luke's Locker, and tell them to get fitted by a professional. I always say that things will be easier if they get a “real” running shoe, because it will prevent injuries and make the running experience more enjoyable.
But, an interesting post at the Science of Sport, a running blog that I absolutely respect, says the training, not the shoes, has the biggest effect on running injuries.
When I started running four years ago, I was pounding the pavement in some old Asics that I used to mow the lawn. After about three months, my knees were killing me. Was it the shoes? Or was it the fact that I was doing something my body wasn't used to?
Who knows. I eventually went to Run On, a running shop in the Dallas area, and they fitted me with some Brooks Beasts. This is a shoe for heavy runners who overpronate. But they were perfect for me at the time. (I wasn't heavy, but I overpronated). I eventually started wearing the Brooks GTS Adrenaline models. And have run both my marathons in them.
The only thing I don't like about the Brooks Adrenalines is that they don't last very long. After 300 miles, they are shot. I'm running in Asics now and am nearing 300 miles in a pair I bought at the beginning of the year. They seem to be holding up fine.
Looking for a scouting report on shoes? Here are the ones I've worn since I began running four years ago and a one-sentence comment. You can always go to Runner's World, which does a very good job of ranking shoes.
Brooks Beast: Good for me when I first started running long slow miles, but way too stiff and bulky.
Brooks GTS5: Favorite shoe. I did most of the training for my first marathon in these and never had one injury.
Brooks GTS6: A little narrower than the GTS5s and gave me bad blisters. But I started wearing 2Es and the shoe felt fine.
Asics Gel Empire: I ran my fastest 5K in these (21:09) so they have to count for something. But I always got the weirdest quad cramps.
Saucony Omni Moderate: These shoes gave me terrible shin splints. I even got shin splints when I walked in these shoes at work.
Saucony Hurricane: Felt like I was running in high heels and always had hamstring problems.
New Balance 767: Stiff shoe.
Brooks GTS7: Just like the GTS6s _ the wider shoe fit my foot well, but they wore out fast. I did most of my training for my second marathon in these shoes and they seemed to wear out the padding on the bottom of my feet.
Asics GT-2130: These are the shoes I'm wearing now. No complaints so far.
Feel free to take my running shoes survey at the top of the page.